(7 Feb 2009)
1. Yousuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan's Prime Minister, getting out of car
2. Gilani greeting people near car
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Yousuf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister of Pakistan:
"Dr Qadeer's network has been broken. It is no longer exist, and secondly it is the court's decision. We can't interfere in the matters of court. As far as his security is concerned, and concern about the world, that would be taken care of."
4. Gilani waving goodbye, walking to car, getting into car
5. Wide of security
STORYLINE:
Pakistan defended on Saturday the easing of restrictions on Abdul Qadeer Khan, saying the man who once confessed to passing nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya no longer posed a risk because his smuggling network had been dismantled.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Saturday that international concern about Khan's new freedoms "would be taken care of."
He didn't elaborate.
Khan emerged from five years of de facto house arrest on Friday after a court declared him a "free citizen" subject to a secret agreement with the government.
The move alarmed the new US government, which has made countering the spread of nuclear weapons a top foreign policy priority.
The White House said President Barack Obama wants assurances from Pakistan that Khan isn't involved in the activity that led to his detention.
It was unclear how much latitude has been granted to Khan, who has begun distancing himself from his confession and denying he did anything illegal.
Khan's wife said on Saturday that her 72-year-old husband was receiving friends at home, though visitors were still subject to security checks.
Khan was detained in December 2003, and admitted on television in early 2004 that he operated a network that spread nuclear weapons technology around the world.
He was immediately pardoned by former President General Pervez Musharraf and placed under de facto house arrest.
Unanswered questions remain about the technology Khan allegedly shared and with whom he shared it, and whether Pakistani authorities knew what he was doing or profited from sales.
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