A son-in-law of the disgraced Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan — who sold nuclear secrets to Iran and North Korea — has been arrested in Islamabad for allegedly attacking two British diplomats, it emerged on Friday.
A gang of about five young men viciously assaulted the British couple as they walked through a wealthy neighbourhood, officials said.
Both suffered ”facial and other injuries” but were making a full recovery, the British high commissioner, Mark Lyall Grant, said on Friday.
Islamabad police said they arrested Saad Ali Khan, whose father-in-law, Abdul Qadeer, was once revered as a national hero for developing Pakistan’s nuclear bomb.
”He had some quarrel with the British diplomats,” said Safeer Bhatti, head of Islamabad’s Kohsar police station.
Lyall Grant said the two suffered injuries and the matter is now in the hands of the police.
”Both the diplomats suffered facial and other injuries. Happily those injuries, though serious at the time, are not long-lasting and so they are making a full recovery,” he told reporters.
”There was more than one youth involved and the attack did last for some minutes.”
News of the assault rippled across the international community of the normally peaceful city, which has a large population of foreign diplomats and Pakistani civil servants.
The attack took place early on Sunday a few streets from the house where Abdul Qadeer has been under house arrest since February last year.
Khan fell into disgrace after confessing on television that he sold nuclear secrets to at least three different countries. Pakistan has refused to allow international experts to question him further.
A British official familiar with last weekend’s attack said it appeared to have no link with Abdul Qadeer. Instead, it appeared to be a ”hate crime” committed by ”educated, drunk rich kids”, he said.
The British couple, who have not been named for security reasons, told colleagues they were strolling home from a nearby friend’s house when a car swerved menacingly towards them.
When the British man made a finger gesture in retaliation, the car skidded to a halt, a group of young men leaped out and attacked the couple with their fists and feet.
They particularly targeted the woman, a high-commission administrative officer, punching her in the face while restraining her partner.
They used bad language and appeared to know the couple’s nationality, said one official.
”They were cussing and swearing in fluent English, referring to them as Brits,” he said.
The alarm was raised by the guard of a nearby house occupied by another British diplomat, and high-commission medical staff treated the couple’s injuries.
On Friday morning the woman, who still bears the scars of her attack, had resumed work.
Saad Ali was brought before a magistrate who ordered two weeks’ detention pending further investigation.
Police are questioning him about the identities of his alleged fellow attackers.
At a press briefing on Friday, the British high commission was at pains to stress that the recent bombings in London have not put the relationship between the United Kingdom and Pakistan under strain.
Lyall Grant said the problem lies not with any country but within a section of global society driven by fanatical views. Referring to the attacks on July 7, he said: ”They were British … all four were brought up, educated and presumably radicalised in the UK. There is no question of blaming Pakistan for the attacks. Nor will UK-Pakistan relations be adversely affected.”
The high commissioner said Britain is receiving excellent cooperation from Pakistan in the investigation into what two of the bombers did and whom they met during trips to the country, but he declined to give details. — Guardian Unlimited Â