February 24, 2003	Monday	Zul Hijjah 22, 1423

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WASHINGTON, Feb 23: Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are in safe hands and the United States is satisfied with the measures Islamabad has taken to secure them, says a senior official of the US State Department.

During a briefing to the Washington-based Defence Writers Groups, the official and her aides reviewed the entire spectrum of the Islamabad-Washington relations, from Pakistan’s nuclear weapons to the recent defence pact between India and Iran.

Discussing the nuclear issue, which has plagued Pakistan’s relations with the United States since 1990, the official said Washington believed Pakistan had control of its nuclear arsenal.

“Our overall assessment is that Pakistan has control of its nuclear arsenal and there is very little doubt about the fact that they have got it under wraps.”

Talking about security concerns within the country against seizure, diversion, accidents, or theft, she said: “We are always concerned with certain circumstances like this and we want to work — and we do — we’ve got conversations that go on with the government of Pakistan in terms of export controls and exports in general and things along those lines. So we work that, of course. There is always a concern with anyone. But our overall assessment is that their nukes are controlled.”

She said Pakistani authorities had had numerous conversations with US officials about the security of their nuclear weapons and “that they are working with us and that we’ve got assistance in small amounts to help them, if they need it.”

But America was not providing the kind of assistance it gave to the Russians to secure their nuclear weapons. Neither had Pakistan asked for it, she said.

She said when Pakistan detonated its nuclear devices in May 1998, “a whole new set of sanctions became super imposed over Pressler, which was for the acquisition of nuclear technology”.

The purpose of these sanctions, she said, was to get Pakistan to sign the CTBT and roll back its nuclear programme.

“But that hadn’t worked. And...we wanted to be able to deal with Pakistan in a way that would free us to have conversation with them and to see whether we can make any progress on the nuclear issue,” the official said.

She said Pakistan’s foreign minister was right when he said that Pakistan was America’s “most sanctioned ally.”

“The fact is Pakistan has been severely punished, (it) paid a very high price for going nuclear. They clearly saw it in their national interest and national necessity to go forward with this.”

In reply to a question about Pakistan’s alleged assistance to North Korea in its nuclear programme, she said: “There is not much I can tell you about this because this involves intelligence and I will just reiterate what Secretary of State Colin Powell had said, which is that he has had the conversation with President Musharraf and President Musharraf assured him. We’ve gotten a 400 per cent assurance and that we are looking forward and they have definitely responded. You’ve seen how they’ve responded. They’ve been pretty categorical in their denials. That is as far as I can go to answer that issue.”