Pakistani nuclear scientist Qadeer may be killed: Bhutto

Benazir has alleged that Qadeer could be murdered to prevent him from revealing that he acted under Govt orders when selling N-secrets.

Pakistan's disgraced top nuclear scientist could be murdered to prevent him from revealing that he acted under government orders when selling nuclear secrets, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has alleged in an interview.

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Abdul Qadeer Khan, long regarded as a national hero for helping Pakistan obtain a nuclear deterrent, confessed in February to transferring sensitive technology to North Korea, Iran and Libya for money.

"There is a concern amongst many of us that Dr. Khan may be killed to silence him, and that it will be shown as a heart attack or something else," Bhutto told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Television.

Details of the interview were released to the media before it was scheduled to air later on Monday on ABC's Four Corners program.

Bhutto claimed Khan would never act alone. "I just know that wherever he went, he went under orders," she said.

In his confession broadcasted live throughout Pakistan, Khan claimed to have acted with his colleagues without the authority of the government.