Dr Abdul Qadeer to be buried with state honours: Sheikh Rashid

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said that Pakistan's national hero and nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan will be buried with state honours and all chiefs of the armed forces and cabinet members will attend his funeral.

Dr Khan died early on Sunday in Islamabad after developing medical complications.

Briefing journalists in Islamabad on Sunday, Rashid said that the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) will also attend the funeral of Dr Khan. "Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed all the cabinet ministers to be present at the funeral," he stated.

He pointed out that Dr Qadeer's funeral prayers will be held in Faisal Mosque at 3:30 pm which will be offered by the Islamic University vice-chancellor. "He will be buried as per his will," he added.

Nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan passes away at 85

He said that all the security arrangements are in place and the law enforcement agencies are on high alert for the funeral of the late nuclear scientist. The interior minister said that the services and efforts of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan for Pakistan and its nation will be remembered forever.

Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan was born in Bhopal, India in 1936, and later migrated along with his family to Karachi.

Khan received his early education from Karachi’s DJ Science College. In 1961, he went to Europe for higher studies and earned his PhD degree from the universities of Germany and Holland.

Dr Abdul Qadeer approached the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1974 and informed him about his expertise in the challenging process of Uranium enrichment through which nuclear energy is acquired.

A.Q. Khan: Nuclear hero to Pakistan, villain to West

Qadeer offered to serve Pakistan with his capabilities and Bhutto immediately asked him to return to the country. He became a national hero not only in Pakistan but in the Islamic world when in May 1998 Pakistan gave a befitting response to India by conducting its nuclear tests.

He was at the centre of a global nuclear proliferation scandal in 2004. After a confession on national television, he was pardoned by then-president Pervez Musharraf but remained under house arrest for years in his palatial Islamabad home.

Dr Khan was awarded three presidential medals. He was awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Order of Excellence) twice and the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Crescent of Excellence) once.