Pakistan rejects report of unsafe nukes
‘Nobody should underestimate Pakistan’s capability to
defend itself’:
PAKISTAN: Pakistan on Sunday angrily rejected a report that it had
been moving its nuclear weapons in unsafe conditions, saying nobody
should underestimate its capability to defend itself.
Two US magazines reported Friday that Pakistan has begun moving its
nuclear weapons in low-security vans on congested roads to hide them
from US spy agencies, making the weapons more vulnerable to theft by
Islamist militants.
The Atlantic and the National Journal, in a joint report citing
unnamed sources, wrote that the US raid that killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama
bin Laden in May at his Pakistani compound reinforced Islamabad’s
longstanding fears that Washington could try to dismantle the country’s
nuclear arsenal.
But in a statement, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said the report was
“pure fiction, baseless and motivated. It is part of a deliberate
propaganda campaign meant to mislead opinion.” Pakistan has consistently
rejected concerns over the safety of its nuclear arsenal and alluded to
a smear campaign.
“The surfacing of such campaigns is not something new. It is
orchestrated by quarters that are inimical to Pakistan,” said the
statement. The ministry said Pakistan was capable of defending itself.
“No one should underestimate Pakistan’s will and capability to defend
its sovereignty, territorial integrity and national interests.”
After the bin Laden raid, the head of the Strategic Plans Divisions (SPD),
which is charged with safeguarding Pakistan’s atomic weapons, was
ordered to take action to keep the location of nuclear weapons and
components hidden from the United States, the report said.
Khalid Kidwai, the retired general who leads the SPD, expanded his
agency’s efforts to disperse components and sensitive materials to
different facilities, it said. But instead of transporting the nuclear
parts in armoured, well-defended convoys, the atomic bombs “capable of
destroying entire cities are transported in delivery vans on congested
and dangerous roads,” according to the report. The pace of the dispersal
movements has increased, raising concerns at the Pentagon, it said. The
article, based on dozens of interviews, said the US military has long
had a contingency plan in place to disable Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in
the event of a coup or other worst-case scenario.
AFP |