Pakistan shares nuclear secretsBy Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad and James Lamont
in New DelhiPublished: April 29 2009 18:50 | Last updated: April 29 2009 23:31
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senior civil and military officials are sharing tightly held
information about the country’s nuclear weapons programme to western
countries in a bid to allay fears about the security of warheads in the
face of a Taliban advance. The unusual move highlights global
concerns over the safety of up to 100 atomic bombs in Pakistan’s
possession, as the country tries to repel Taliban militants that last
week advanced to within 100km of Islamabad, the country’s capital.
Pakistan is secretive about its nuclear programme, developed outside
the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in an arms race with India. A
senior western envoy in Islamabad said diplomats had been given
assurances about the security in place for the weapons systems and also
their distance from Taliban-held territory.Pakistani officials
presented this as a move to satisfy the west that its weapons would not
fall into Taliban hands. “We have renewed our pledge to keep our
nuclear weapons safe,” said a senior Pakistani official. The briefings
were aimed, he said, at “reassuring” the international community that
there were adequate safety measures “to keep a complete lid on our
weapons”.Last night, the Pakistani army claimed it had halted
the latest Taliban incursion in the Buner district, 100km north-west of
Islamabad, after two days of fighting. At dawn on Wednesday, the army,
which has been accused in the west of failing to challenge the
militants, airlifted troops behind Taliban lines and, it claimed,
forced them to retreat.
Although the whereabouts of Pakistan’s weapons are secret,
analysts say that some are placed far from the Indian border to allow
Islamabad adequate response time in the event of an attack from its old
enemy, and fellow nuclear power, India.Copyright The Financial Times Limited
2009
