Author: Staff and agencies
Publication: The Guardian, UK
Date: October 24, 2001
The former head of Pakistan's nuclear
research programme, who is also an outspoken supporter of Islamic radicals,
has been arrested in Pakistan and placed in "protective custody", the government
said today.
Sultan Bashiru-Din Mehmood was arrested
yesterday by Pakistani intelligence officials in the eastern city of Lahore.
"We don't know on what charges,"
his son Asim Mehmood said.
Relatives said that he had been
working recently on projects in Afghanistan, including land development,
educational reform and food programmes.
The authorities would not say why
Mr Mehmood, who was project director of Pakistan's nuclear program prior
to his retirement last year, was arrested.
He was a known supporter of Afghanistan's
Taliban regime and had links to other hardline Islamic groups in Pakistan.
Mehmood addressed a gathering of
intellectuals last week, calling for a halt to the US bombing and negotiations
with the Taliban.
He was detained with another scientist
from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Abdul Majid.
Pakistan is, like its neighbour
and arch rival India, a nuclear power armed with atomic weapons.
Islamic militants have held mass
demonstrations in Pakistan since October 7, in protest at the US bombardment
of Afghanistan and the Pakistani government's decision to provide logistical
support to US forces, open its air space to the bombers and share intelligence
information.
