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Timeline of Events in A.Q. Khan's Nuclear Network and the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea (DPRK's) Nuclear Program
1970s: A.Q. Khan worked at Urenco, a British-Dutch nuclear
consortium, in Holland. During this time, Khan smuggled plans
for a gas centrifuge enrichment process to Pakistan.
1976: Khan founds the Engineering Research Laboratory (ERL).
1981: The ERL is renamed the Khan Research Laboratory (KRL).
1990s: During the decade of the 1990s, A.Q. Khan visits
the DPRK 13 times under the auspices of the Pakistani government.
1990: A.Q. Khan receives Pakistan's "Man of the Nation"
award.
1992: Khan initiates talks with North Korea to obtain
intermediate-range ballistic missiles in return for gas centrifuge
designs and other technical assistance.
1993: Reportedly at the insistence of Khan, Pakistani
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto travels to North Korea to retrieve
electronic files of missile designs.
1998: Pakistan test-fires a 937-mile-range Ghauri missile,
this missile, designed by A.Q. Khan, is based on the North Korean No-Dong, a version of the Scud missile.
1999: During a visit, Khan claims to have seen three plutonium
nuclear devices at an undisclosed North Korean location,
approximately "one hour north of Pyongyang."
2000: At Pakistan's first international arms exhibition in
November, Khan Research Laboratory was present, openly
offering brochures that advertised the availability of enrichment
components as well as complete gas centrifuges.
2003: In April, a cargo ship bound for North Korea was
interdicted in the Suez Canal; it contained aluminum tubing that
matched the specification for the centrifuge designs provided by
Khan.
2004: Khan, on Pakistani national television, admits
heading a clandestine global network that trafficked illicit nuclear
materials and know-how. Khan signs an affidavit stating that his
network supplied the DPRK with drawings, sketches, technical data,
and depleted uranium hexaflouride gas. |
