A senior Pakistani scientist suspected of helping to leak nuclear weapons technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea has been released after two years in detention, a Pakistan army spokesman said on Sunday. Mohammed Farooq, who worked at Pakistan’s top nuclear weapons facility, Khan Research Laboratories, was detained in December 2003, along with 10 other people, when it was revealed that the head of the facility, Abdul Qadeer Khan, gave sensitive technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.Farooq, who was director general at the laboratories, was suspected of allegedly leaking technology on Khan’s orders. He was freed last week, top army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said. ‘‘He has been released and allowed to go home,’’ said Sultan. Asked whether Farooq had been fired or would kept his job at the laboratories, Sultan said “he has been advised to restrict his activities and stay at home for security reasons.” Sultan would not say whether Farooq had been found guilty of any wrongdoing.
