May 17, 2002	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 4, 1423

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PARIS, May 16: A major French trades union on Thursday called for an immediate halt to the joint submarine construction programme in Pakistan after 11 French naval workers were killed last week in a suicide blast.

The CGT labour union also attacked both the French defence ministry shipbuilder, the Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN) and the defence ministry for being “irresponsibly lax” concerning security following the Sept 11 attacks.

“After a time of reflection and moments of silence”, questions needed to be asked of those responsible in DCN and the ministry, the CGT’s secretary-general Jean-Louis Naudet told a media conference.

Given what occurred in Karachi, Naudet said the union did not believe the contract should continue and therefore demanded an “immediate halt to the construction programme.”

The union claimed it had warned authorities of security risks in Pakistan following the Sept 11 attacks.

“Our warnings and those of the CGT in Cherbourg, made to the DCN and the defence ministry, fell on deaf ears,” Naudet said.

According to the CGT, the vehicle which transported the workers took the same journey every day since Sept 11.

The union “denounced the irresponsible laxness by these authorities who knew you never take the same journey the second time in a car, particularly in a country known for terrorist attacks.”

The CGT also pointed out that by contrast, the workers, technicians and sub-contractors were lodged in a hotel while the engineers occupied residences which were guarded on 24 hour basis and also had chauffeurs.

“The authorities must take the entire responsibility for what happened to the workers who were easy targets for terrorist groups.”

The CGT also said it was against “all exportation of arms and all transfers of technologies to countries of high risk.” —AFP