Military Leaders Defend Pakistani Nuclear Security

Pakistan’s army chief on Friday rebuffed international concerns that terrorists could steal a Pakistani nuclear weapon amid the political chaos that has gripped the country for the last month, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Jan. 23).

Pakistan is “capable of safeguarding and securing nuclear assets against all categories of threat,” Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani told military personnel after a test launch of Pakistan’s nuclear-capable Shaheen 1 missile (see GSN, Jan. 25).

“Referring to international concerns regarding speculative scenarios, [Kiyani] dismissed such concerns as unrealistic and based on a lack of understanding of Pakistan's command and control mechanisms,” said an army statement.  “He stressed that creating irresponsible alarm by certain quarters would be counterproductive” (Agence France-Presse/Google News, Jan. 25).

Pakistan’s political conditions and strict military security measures would prevent religious fundamentalists from taking over the country and its nuclear weapons, the top official in charge of Pakistan’s nuclear stockpile said on Saturday.

Khalid Kidwai, a retired general and chief of Pakistan’s Strategic Plans Division, said Pakistan employs 10,000 soldiers to guard its nuclear arsenal with $10 million in U.S. support, the Associated Press reported.

“There's no conceivable scenario, political or violent, in which Pakistan will fall to extremists of the al-Qaeda or Taliban type,” Kidwai told international reporters during a news briefing.  “Pakistan's nuclear weapons, fissile material and infrastructure are absolutely safe and secure.”

Kidwai said he has no indication that terrorists are targeting Pakistani nuclear sites, but his office has reviewed the threat posed by al-Qaeda and tribal militants following recent attacks on Pakistan’s intelligence and security apparatus.

Kidwai said that while Pakistan accepts no U.S. or international investigations of its nuclear security measures, it has implemented various nuclear security “best practices” that the United States provided funding for it to put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Pakistan can launch a nuclear attack or retaliation, but it maintains its nuclear arsenal only for its deterrent capability, Kidwai said.  The authority to launch a nuclear strike rests with Pakistan’s National Command Authority, in which 10 political and military leaders would make such a decision “hopefully by consensus but at least by majority,” he said (Matthew Pennington, Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Jan. 26).

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