Chaudhry Abdul Majeed | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Died | 17 January, 2006 Islamabad, Pakistan |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Known for | Pakistan's Nuclear Program |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Atomic Physics |
| Institutions | Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission |
Chaudhry Abdul Majeed (Urdu): عبد لماجد was a Pakistani atomic physicist and an atomic expert. He was known to be the one of the pioneer of Pakistan's nuclear program and had worked closely with dr. Munir Ahmad Khan's plutonium reprocessing project. He rose to prominence when he was arrested by Pakistan's intelligence Agencies in a joint operation in late October 2001. Majeed was also a one of the founding member of Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood's Ummah Tameer-e-Nau charity; an NGO which caused a international embrassement for Pakistan.
Majeed was educated in Punjab, Pakistan and he studied applied physics at University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. However, in the 1960s, Majeed went to Belgium where he recieved his Ph.D in Atomic Physics and was trained at a plutonium facility in Belgium in the late 1960s.
Majeed came back to Pakistan after India's nuclear test in 1974. He joined Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) under the leadership of Mr. Munir Ahmad Khan (late). He expertised on plutonium technology. Majeed is known for his contribution in plutonium reprocessing Plant.
He was the one of the founding member of a Pakistani militant NGO Orgranisation Ummah Tameer-e-Nau. He is accused of travelling through afghanistan without notifying the Pakistani authorites. He was arrested in October 2001 in Islamabad by joint-operation of Inter-Services Intelligence and Federal Investigation Agency, along with fellow atomic scientist, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, because of their connections to Talibans. The Foreign Office spokesman of Pakistan had confirmed the raid and said "They have not been arrested and they are not under detention," the spokesperson said,"adding that they were questioned over their involvement with an Afghan relief agency founded by Mahmood. It is just an investigation to look into the credentials of various non-governmental organizations who may have been working inside Afghanistan," the spokesman added.
According to the FIA and ISI's Intelligence report, he confessed that Osama Bin Laden did asked them to built a radiological bomb. Majeed also confirmed that Osama Bin Laden said that he could be able to smuggled the natural uranium from Uzbekistan. Majeed, however, clearly refused to Osama and said: it's not easy and they cannot built a nuclear bomb for him alone. He also said to Osama that he is not the nuclear weapon designer and that Pakistani authorities are too sensitve and may arrest them for nuclear trificking.
American intelligence official said that the first interrogation of the two Pakistani scientists has resulted in an assessment that Mr. Mahmood and Mr. Majeed did not know enough to help build a nuclear weapon. "These two guys were nuclear scientists who didn't know how to build one themselves," the American official said. "If you had to have guys go bad these are the guys you'd want they didn't know much."
Mahmood was released in late December of 2001 and was put in house arrest. However, Majeed was not released and was interrogated harshly. According to his family, he was not allowed to meet any of his family member, including his children and wife. During a harsh interrogation of 5 years, he suffered a severe heart attack and was taken to local hospital where he was announced to be passed away.