US watching Pak nukes

Two recent assassination attempts against Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf have renewed concern in the US over both the stability of a cr...

Two recent assassination attempts against Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf have renewed concern in the US over both the stability of a critical ally and the security of its nuclear weapons if Pervez Musharraf is killed or removed from office.

Administration officials would not discuss their contingency plans for Pakistan, but several said the White House was revisiting an effort begun just after the 9/11 attacks to help Pakistan improve the security of its nuclear arsenal.

It is also looking at ways to prevent the Al Qaeda or extremists within the Pakistani military or intelligence services from gaining access to the country8217;s weapons and fissile material. 8216;8216;It8217;s what we don8217;t know that worries us,8217;8217; said a senior US official, 8216;8216;including the critical question of how much fissile material Pakistan now holds 8212; and where.8217;8217; Three years ago, US officials estimated Pakistan had enough highly enriched uranium to manufacture 40 nuclear weapons. It is assumed that the figure has grown. 8216;8216;It8217;s one of the things that we8217;re concerned about 8212; nuclear materials or related information falling into the hands of terrorists or states who harbour them,8217;8217; a State Department official said.

Under US President George W. Bush and his predecessor, Bill Clinton, the Pentagon has analysed whether US forces could seize or secure Pakistan8217;s nuclear arsenal if it appeared likely to fall into the hands of terrorists or their sympathisers. But a number of administration officials said they had concluded it was impossible to be certain where all of Pakistan8217;s nuclear materials and weapons components were stored. One Pentagon official said any raid to secure Pakistan8217;s nuclear arsenal during a period of chaos would be 8216;8216;a highly risky venture8217;8217;.

The degree of the US8217; possible involvement in that process is a secret, in part because the Bush administration does not want to exacerbate anti-US sentiment in Pakistan.

But there are other reasons, administration and Pentagon officials say. Pakistan has not signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, and so the US is prohibited from sharing certain technology. In addition, the US8217; computerised, encoded nuclear safeguards are among the nation8217;s most prized secrets. Pakistan, too, might reject an offer of the safeguard technology, because it would have to share its own nuclear design secrets with the US.