No deal to protect nuclear arsenal, Pakistan says

Mon Nov 9, 2009

Islamabad has strongly rejected a report that the US has been negotiating a deal with the Pakistani military about the security of the South Asian country's nuclear arsenal.

The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in statement on Sunday that the nation's nuclear materials are completely safe and secure.

“Nor will Pakistan, as a sovereign state, ever allow any country to have direct or indirect access to its nuclear and strategic facilities. Any suggestion to this effect is simply preposterous,” the statement read.

A report that appeared in the latest issue of The New Yorker magazine said that US officials had negotiated pacts with Pakistan to provide security for its nuclear arsenal amid rising militancy across the country.

The report also suggests that a threat to the security of nuclear facilities might come from a “mutiny” by extremist elements within the powerful military.

A wave of attacks on military targets over the past few weeks has raised concerns over the nuclear arsenal's security.

However, senior civilians and military officials in Islamabad have dismissed the concerns, saying that Pakistan's nuclear weapons are in safe hands.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/110798.html.