WASHINGTON, March 5: Pakistan had moved its nuclear arsenal to at least six secret locations when the United States launched an attack on Afghanistan after 9/11, says a report prepared for the US Congress.

The report also quotes US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telling a congressional hearing that the United States had made a contingency plan to prevent religious extremists from seizing Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.

“We have noted this problem, and we are prepared to try to deal with it,” said Ms Rice when asked what would happen to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons if there was a radical Islamic coup in Islamabad.

The report by the Congressional Research Service notes that President Musharraf’s order to move nuclear weapons to “six new secret locations” came at a time of uncertainty about the direction of US-Pakistan relations.

“Pakistan’s leadership was uncertain whether the US would decide to conduct military strikes against Pakistan’s nuclear assets” if it did not support the invasion.

The report claims that Pakistan possesses approximately 60 nuclear warheads and continues to produce more fissile material for weapons, adding to its weapons production facilities and delivery vehicles.

Pakistan stores its warheads unassembled with the fissile core separate from non-nuclear explosives, and these are stored separately from their delivery vehicles, the report notes.

A US Department of Defence report, however, says that Pakistan can probably assemble the weapons fairly quickly. Nevertheless, separate storage may provide a layer of protection against accidental launch or prevent theft of an assembled weapon.

Pakistan does not have a stated nuclear policy, but its “minimum credible deterrent” is thought to be primarily a deterrent to Indian military action, says the congressional report.

“Risk of nuclear war in South Asia ran high in the 1999 Kargil crisis, when the Pakistani military is believed to have begun preparing nuclear-tipped missiles,” the report adds.