December 01, 2007	Saturday	Ziqa’ad 20, 1428

WASHINGTON, Nov 30: The Pakistan government has introduced a screening policy for employees at its nuclear installations to differentiate the people who are affiliated with religious parties from those who are simply religious, according to officials.

In a report, based on interviews with officials at the Pakistan Strategic Plans Division, Wall Street Journal reported that one employee recently was booted from the nuclear programme for passing out political pamphlets of an ultraconservative Islamic party.

Officials, including a two-star general who was not identified, told the journal that the new policy aimed at preventing religious fanatics getting access to the country’s nuclear assets.

“We don’t mind people being religious,” said the general. “But we don’t want people with extreme thoughts.” The general said the official recently sacked was also observed coaxing colleagues into joining him at a local mosque for party rallies. Even though the employee did nothing illegal, his behaviour was deemed too disturbing.

The electronics engineer who was fired for passing out pamphlets had been clearly warned, the general said, with an earlier job transfer out of a sensitive area.

Security agents continue to keep an eye on the engineer, he added. “They know he’s tutoring students in a small room off the side of his house.”

In the interview, the unidentified general outlined a multilayered system put in place over the past two years in line with the security methods of other nuclear powers. The new programme delves into personal finances and political views, the Journal reported.

sThe report acknowledged that the attempt to strike this delicate balance, between allowing faith and excluding fundamentalism, is difficult, as it meant probing degrees of religious sentiments.