Father of Pakistan’s nuclear program, AQ Khan, hospitalized with COVID-19 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, often referred to as AQ Khan, was admitted to a military-run hospital’s COVID-19 ward after his health deteriorated over the weekend, Pakistan’s state-run APP news agency reported late on Tuesday. 
Khan is often dubbed the “father of Pakistan’s nuclear program.” He founded the Engineering Research Laboratory (ERL) to help the South Asian country develop uranium-enrichment capability. It was renamed Khan Research Laboratory (KRL) in 1981. 
“Khan had tested positive for COVID-19,” his spokesperson told APP, adding that he was taken to KRL hospital on August 26. 
Born in 1936 in the Indian city of Bhopal, Khan graduated in metallurgy from the University of Karachi in 1960. He went on to pursue higher studies in West Berlin and Netherlands, and was awarded a doctorate in metallurgical engineering by the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium in 1972. 
Pakistan placed him under house arrest in 2004 after he confessed to selling nuclear secrets to foreign countries. Several of his collaborators in Europe have been arrested in Germany, Switzerland and South Africa. Khan was released in 2009.