March, 21 2005	Monday	10 Safar 1426

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WASHINGTON, March 20: A team of international nuclear experts scheduled to visit Pakistan early next month will not inspect facilities used for making weapons, diplomatic sources told Dawn. The Nuclear Suppliers Group, a 44-nation alliance that oversees global exports of materials and equipment, had announced earlier this week that it is sending a team of experts to Pakistan. The NSG represents the world’s top nuclear exporters. Media reports quoted chairman of the group Richard Ekwall as saying that his team will assess whether controls are in place to prevent illicit exports of sensitive atomic technology from Pakistan.

But diplomatic sources in Washington said the NSG is a regulatory organization which deals only with civilian nuclear facilities. According to them, NSG members cooperate with each other in regulating trade in nuclear technology.

A senior South Asian diplomat rejected media reports as incorrect that the Group’s visit shows that the international community was further tightening its grip on Pakistan’s nuclear programme.

“Absolutely incorrect”, said the diplomat. ”Pakistan would not have wanted to join the group if it had seen it as ‘tightening of the noose,’ as some media reports have said.”

On March 15, a government spokesman in Islamabad announced that Pakistan wants to join the NSG. The announcement was made on the eve of a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Pakistan wants to join the NSG because of the benefits the membership brings. It is not a political group but a club of suppliers and joining the NSG would enable Pakistan to buy and sell nuclear equipment, the diplomat in Washington said.

The international media, however, linked the NSG’s visit to the investigations into the activities of the Khan network.