'Disappointed' US in talks with Pak over A Q Khan

WASHINGTON: Expressing "disappointment" over the release of disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist A Q Khan from a five-year house arrest, the US today said it is in talks with Islamabad as it "believes that Khan remains a potential proliferation risk".

"We remain very disappointed at the court's decision in Pakistan. We are in a dialogue with Pakistani government about Khan, and we believe he remains a potential proliferation risk," State Department spokesperson Robert Wood said during a press briefing.
The issue is likely to come up for discussion during the meeting between Pakistani officials and the Special US Representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke, who is currently visiting Islamabad.

"I would suspect that the issue (of A Q Khan) would come up in his (Holbrook's) conversations with the Pakistanis," Wood said when asked if the Special Representative would take up the US concerns with top Pakistani leadership during his meetings.

Khan's track record has been one of great concern to the US and a number of other countries around the world, he said. "We're going to do what we can to try to make sure that the types of activities that he had undertaken in the past don't continue," Wood said.