Khan got his chance in 1972 when Pakistan's then president, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, convened a meeting of scientists in Multan and told them he wanted a nuclear deterrent.
Khan was the first to pledge his support. He was by then employed at the FDO laboratories in Amsterdam, where Dutch scientists were collaborating with their German and British counterparts to develop more efficient ways of enriching uranium for commercial purposes.
Much of the work was restricted and confidential because enriched uranium also makes up the essence of nuclear weapons. But Khan was given security clearance and access to the FDO 'brainbox' because he was married to a South Africa-born Dutch woman and had announced he planned to settle down in the Netherlands
Image: Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf meets with the country's top nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Photograph: Press Information Department/Handout
Also see: Pakistan's nuclear bazaar
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