NUCLEAR THIEF A Q KHAN DEAD

Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who is considered the father of his country's nuclear weapon programme, and a selfconfessed proliferator, who passed nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea, died due to lung problems on Sunday, his family said. He was 85. Khan's health condition started deteriorating on Saturday night, after which he was rushed to the Khan Research Laboratories Hospital in Islamabad, according to his family members. Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his condolences to Khan's family, saying on Twitter that he was loved by the nation because of "his critical contribution in making Pakistan a nuclear weapon state". "For the people of Pakistan, he was a national icon," he said.