Top Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan passes away

Islamabad: Renowned Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, often referred to as AQ Khan has passed away on Sunday. He was 85.

Yesterday, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan's health started deteriorating, following which he was brought to the KRL hospital in an ambulance at 6:00am Sunday morning.

Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan passed away at 7:04am as his lungs collapsed, said doctors.

His funeral prayers will be held at Islamabad’s Faisal mosque at 3:30pm today. Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan will be buried with all-State Honors and national flag will fly at half-mast.

Khan is often dubbed the “father of Pakistan’s nuclear program,” having founded the Engineering Research Laboratory to help the South Asian country develop uranium enrichment capability.

It was renamed Khan Research Laboratory in 1981.

Born in 1936 in the Indian city of Bhopal, Khan graduated in metallurgy from the University of Karachi in 1960.

Qadeer pursued higher studies in West Berlin and the Netherlands, and was awarded a doctorate in metallurgical engineering by the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium in 1972.

In May 1974, upon learning India's surprise nuclear test, Khan wanted to contribute his efforts to build an atomic bomb and met with officials at the Pakistani Embassy in The Hague.

Unbeknownst to Khan, his nation's scientists were already working towards feasibility of the atomic bomb under a secretive crash weapons program since 20 January 1972 that was being directed by Munir Ahmad Khan, a reactor physicist, which calls into question of his "father-of" claim.

In April 1976, Khan joined the atomic bomb program and became part of the enrichment division, initially collaborating with Khalil Qureshi – a physical chemist.

During his time in the atomic bomb project, Khan pioneered research in the thermal quantum field theory and condensed matter physics, while he co-authored articles on chemical reactions of the highly unstable isotope particles in the controlled physical system.

Abdul Qadeer khan has always been a popular public figure and a symbol of national pride with many in Pakistan who see him as a national hero.

Moreover, Khan is the only Pakistani to have honoured twice with Nishan-e-Imtiaz.