Nuclear security tightened as attacks surge
Pastor Dale Morgan
Nuclear security tightened as attacks surge*
From correspondents in Islamabad
January 26, 2008 08:28pm
Article from: Agence France-Presse
PAKISTAN has tightened security around all its nuclear facilities amid a
surge in militant attacks in the country, but no specific threat had
been made against the sites.
In a rare briefing to foreign media, retired Lieutenant General Khalid
Kidwai rejected international fears Pakistan's weapons could fall into
the wrong hands and warned against any foreign intervention over the issue.
"The state of alertness has gone up," said Mr Kidwai, who is director
general of Pakistan's strategic plan division which controls the
country's nuclear program.
Mr Kidwai did not give details on how security had been bolstered.
The United States and other Western allies have expressed concern about
the security of Islamabad's estimated 50 warheads, with Pakistani forces
battling a growing insurgency by militants linked with al-Qaeda.
"There is no conceivable scenario, political or violent, in which
Pakistan will fall to the extremists of the al-Qaeda or Taliban type,"
Mr Kidwai said.
"The fears are based on a lack of objective understanding of Pakistan's
ground situation and lack of information."
Mr Kidwai's comments come one day after the chief of Pakistan's powerful
army, General Ashfaq Kiyani, dismissed fears that al-Qaeda could seize
the country's nuclear weapons.
The normally reclusive Mr Kiyani rejected speculation that Pakistan's
warheads could be at risk amid the turmoil sparked by the assassination
of former premier Benazir Bhutto in December.