Pakistan

WikiLeaks: France, UK voiced concern about Pakistan nuclear security

Diplomatic advisor to France president said Pakistan remains an "army in search of a country."

Express May 28, 2011

France and the United Kingdom had voiced concern about the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, according to diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks.

Diplomatic Advisor to President Nicolas Sarkozy Jean-David Levitte, in a meeting with then Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan and US Ambassador to France Charles Rivkin, had said that the government of France was reversing its "benign neglect" towards Pakistan but raised concerns about the security of Pakistan's nuclear deterrent. Levitte and Holbrooke also agreed to approach the Chinese government separately to seek greater coordination on AfPak policy.

Levitte had said that Pakistan remains an "army in search of a country". The cables further stated:

He asserted that the Pakistani army is well regarded by the Pakistani people when not in power, but that it fails when in power. He further stated that PM Gilani is currently the “”civilian in charge”" but does not now seek the Presidency, nor does Nawaz Sharif, who views the current turbulent situation as an inopportune time to be President. As a result, Levitte said that the consensus GOF view is that the Pakistani government will “”remain as-is”" in the near future.

Levitte said the government "not sure that the Pakistani nuclear deterrent is secure," showing specific concern about the movement of nuclear weapons by the Pakistani military. He said France would provide technical assistance to Pakistan on issues of nuclear safety, but firmly stated that they would not supply nuclear energy technology.

In another cable from 2009, the UK had also voiced concern about the safety and security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons. Mariot Leslie, Director General, Defence and Intelligence had said that China could play a big role in stabilising Pakistan. Leslie had said:

Pakistan has accepted nuclear safety help, but under the IAEA flag (albeit British technicians). The Pakistanis worry that the US will drop in and take their nukes.

Cable Referenced: WikiLeaks no 226331, 223496

The full text of the cables can be read on Dawn.com, The Hindu and NDTV. WikiLeaks has previously released cables to other media organisations including Guardian and the New York Times.

COMMENTS (5)

Bruce Hayden | 13 years ago | Reply These attacks on Pakistani bases lately are simply psyops by the US in order to justify attacking and taking her nukes. Notice the timing. Right on the heels of conquering Iraq and Afghanistan. A dead man was living there? Give me a break! The US is simply Israel's bitch. Which means the Zionist bankers as a whole going straight to Rothschild. After Pak it will be Iran and then we'll turn on Saudi Arabia. Notice the sabre rattling has already started with Venezuela. I hate what America has become.

kdm | 13 years ago | Reply where is wikilikes regarding MQM.

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

MUHAMMAD HANIF | 13 years ago | Reply this is so unfortunate to hear muslim saying islamic fanatics, islamic fundamintalist.. someone want to separate islam from pakistan........ i ask everybody here ,,,,does islam and quran and the teaching of prophet (pbuh) tell us that we should be killing people, does it teach us extrimism......... DON'T use the word islam for these people.... call them Dehshatgar only....DON'T call them islamic fanatics or fundamitalist................ and i urge!!! THOSE who are true follower of islam and quran should lead us at every front... And if islam and religion is the cause of all this trouble.. than let us hand it over to america and france... leave religion behind..... """""ISLAM IS A COMPLETE SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM IN THE WORLD""""" o Musalmano why don't you understand.....

muhammad aamir sadiq | 13 years ago | Reply Everyone will have concern about our nukes since we have seen how our armed forces are filled with islamic fundamentalists.we saw in the GHQ attack,we've seen in the mehran base attack that the religious terrorists had help from soldiers on the inside.So how are we to believe that the people guarding the nukes are not islamic fanatics? France & UK are far away,they won't suffer the radiation but we live & work in this country if the religious fanatics on their suicide missions attack our nukes,we'll all suffer terrible consequences.It's time the forces cleaned up the religious fanatics from amongst their own ranks.

abdul sami | 13 years ago | Reply Obviously questions will arise when we can't protect our bases,our spy planes from the islamic fanatics that we ourselves have protected & trained.We are reaping what we have sown but the disturbing thing is that our establishment is still determined to stick to its protection,funding of islamic fundamentalists. I don't know what it will take for our army to see that it needs to sever its ties to religious extremists.The fanatics have brought our country to the door of complete destruction but our media & establishment still choose to promote islamic radicalism in our society instead of working to curb it . The army is not able to control the Frankenstein it has created & all pakistanis must suffer as a result.

Replying to X