Wednesday, November 14, 2007

US eyes Pakistan's nuclear arsenal

By Syed Saleem Shahzad
Asia Times

"......Contacts close to the power circles in Pakistan told Asia Times Online that there is a feeling that the US is prepared to take "hurricane" measures to ensure the safety of the country's nuclear arsenal. The thinking goes that by changing horses and supporting Bhutto, the US could exploit the current unrest by dictating new terms to Pakistan in the "war on terror" and coerce it into allowing the US to safeguard its nuclear stockpile.

US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is due to travel to Pakistan this week to meet with senior officials and call for free and fair elections, echoing Bhutto's stance......

Indeed, the US belief that it could in some way get its hands on Pakistan's "red" nuclear buttons, by exploiting unrest for which it is partly responsible, sends alarm bells ringing in Islamabad.

Enter, therefore, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, whom Musharraf is expected to meet "soon" in Riyadh for what the official Pakistani media describe as "important discussions".....

He elaborated that Muslim ruling elites are as a result becoming marginalized from their people and thus the masses could not be controlled. He clearly warned the pope to advise Western leaders that their policies would create an explosive situation in Palestine in the very near future and nobody, not even he (Abdullah), would be able to control it......."

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