ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Aziz Ahmed today [Aug 27] denied the allegation that Canada had threatened to close the Karachi Nuclear Power Reactor by withholding supplies of uranium fuel. The allegation was made in an adjournment motion tabled by Khwaja Mohammad Safdar, acting Leader of the Opposition, in the Senate… .

The motion, based on a local newspaper report, alleged that the Federal Government had failed to convince the Canadian Government of Pakistan’s intentions to use the nuclear reprocessing plant to be purchased from France for peaceful purposes and that Canada had threatened to close the Karachi Reactor. [Mr Ahmed] said that Canada was not directly concerned with the … plant. [Canada] supplies fuel for the Karachi Reactor. Pakistan was getting this supply and discussions for its continuance were in progress with [Canada]… .

[Meanwhile, according to news agencies from Peshawar,] under the directive of [PM Bhutto], Mr Abdul Ghaffar Khan has been released, it was officially learnt… . The release has been ordered by [PM] in consideration of the old age of [Ghaffar Khan] and in view of … the … holy month of Ramazan.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2026