Report: A.Q. Khan's network still active

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 3 (UPI) -- The network of A.Q. Khan reportedly remains active in clandestine nuclear trading although the Pakistani scientist is under house arrest.

The International Institute of Strategic Studies, a British think tank, said the Khan network is still very much involved in the business of proliferation, The Independent reported Thursday.

Khan, who remains in Pakistan, was accused of secretly providing nuclear knowledge to Iran, North Korea and Libya. Now, says the report, Khan's extensive "contact book" has been sold to third parties for lucrative deals.

The report said disclosure about Khan's activities only resulted in exposing a part of his network.

"Khan's network was horizontal and in many ways self-supporting. He may have been the dealmaker, but many of his contacts have been able to organize their own deals," Mark Fitzpatrick, one of the report's authors, said.

The Independent reported it is not clear how much money Khan's network made but Fitzpatrick estimated just one deal with Libyans netted about $100 million.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf pardoned Khan after he publicly exonerated his country from his clandestine activity. But Musharraf has not allowed Western governments to question Khan.