CIA asked us to let nuclear spy go, Ruud Lubbers claims

The CIA asked the Netherlands not to detain Pakistani scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan for stealing nuclear secrets from a Dutch facility, former Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers has claimed.

Speaking on Dutch radio programme Argos on Tuesday morning, Lubbers said the Dutch authorities held off from taking action against Khan in 1975 and 1986 because the US security agency wanted to gain more information about the scientist’s activities.