Pakistan opposes US nuke oversight
April 15th, 2008

A PLAN by the US to seek direct "oversight" of Pakistan's powerful nuclear arsenal and the command structure that controls it was heading for rejection last night after it was denounced in Islamabad as "outright interference" in the country's affairs.

The secret plan, disclosed in the Pakistan media, would for the first time see US officials deployed in Islamabad with "direct access" to the National Command Authority that manages Pakistan's nuclear assets.

It is the first time since the country became a nuclear power in 1998 that Washington has sought direct access to the nuclear arsenal.

Last weekend, US President George W. Bush was quoted as saying that if the US suffered another 9/11-type attack, it would most likely have its antecedents in Pakistan rather than Afghanistan.

Washington is believed to be deeply worried that Islamabad's nuclear assets could "fall into the wrong hands" as a result of political turmoil.

The Bush administration is concerned about the Pakistan Government's determination to negotiate with al-Qa'ida and Taliban-linked militants.

Shireen Mazari, head of the Institute of Strategic Studies, said the US move was "perhaps the most dangerous effort at intruding into Pakistan's sensitive areas in the ongoing effort to gain direct access to nuclear-strategic matters".

But US apprehensions gained additional momentum yesterday when first details emerged of planned peace talks.

The national Government in Islamabad and the provincial Government in Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier Province, have agreed to constitute two separate tribal councils to start negotiations with Islamic militants.

The constitution of the councils is being backed by Baitullah Mehsud, the main militant leader in Pakistan and the man blamed for the wave of suicide bombings that have hit targets across the country.

Reports yesterday said Mehsud was "optimistic about the outcome of the impending peace talks between the militants and the Government".

Last night, a senior official at the US embassy in Islamabad, Liz Colton, did not reject reports about the plan to gain access to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.

"We are in touch with all elements of the Pakistan Government all the time. But we do not publish or discuss details of our diplomatic discussions and assignments," she said.

The fracas came as Pakistan's new National Assembly yesterday passed a unanimous resolution demanding a UN investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

The political killing was blamed previously by President Pervez Musharraf on Mehsud, who has consistently denied involvement.

"The commission should seek to probe and identify the culprits, perpetrators, organisers and financiers behind this heinous crime and bring them to justice," the resolution said.

Bhutto was assassinated in a gun and suicide bomb attack on December 27 during an election rally in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi.

After the killing, Mr Musharraf rejected the idea of a UN probe as requested by officials of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, including Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari.

Instead, the murder was probed internally with the help of British police. According to a report by Scotland Yard, Bhutto was killed by the force of a suicide blast and not by gunfire.

 

Pakistan names national security advisor to PM

Pakistan on Tuesday appointed Mahmud Ali Durrani as advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security, said an official statement.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 93 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President, on the advice of the Prime Minister, has been pleased to appoint, with immediate effect, Mahmud Ali Durrani, as Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security," the statement said.

Ali Durrani owns the status of a federal minister of Pakistan.

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