WASHINGTON: The United States believes that Pakistan's nuclear weapons are in safe hands, a State Department spokesman said on Wednesday, rebutting an earlier report that Islamabad's deadly atomic arsenal was vulnerable to theft.
Two US publications, The Atlantic and the National Journal, citing unnamed sources, last week said Pakistan had transported nuclear weapons in low-security vans on congested roads to hide them from US spy agencies.
(Read: Pakistan’s nuclear weapons vulnerable to theft, alleges report)
State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters in Washington that the United States was not persuaded that safety had been compromised.
"We have confidence that the government of Pakistan is well aware of the range of potential threats to its nuclear arsenal and is accordingly giving very high priority to securing its nuclear weapons and materials effectively," Toner told reporters.
"We continue to have confidence... that they're taking appropriate steps," he said.
Pakistan at the weekend rejected as "pure fiction" the report's assertion that transporting the weapons in such a manner had made them more susceptible to theft by Islamist militants.
(Read: Pakistan rejects reports of nuclear insecurity)
COMMENTS (18)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
i'm feeling better that our Nukes are pain in the butt of our foes.
Pak Nukes vulnerable to theft.......NONSENSE.
@THE: Attempting that turnaround can only make you look dumb if anyone actually wants to put the effort into addressing it.
That aside... eh, if they're safe they're safe. That's really all that matters. After all, the only ones that can find a true use for them in the current setting are non-government/military militant groups. Though I'd feel sorry for any country believed to be their place of residence after they acquired them since urgency would take the place of being politically correct on an almost worldwide-scale towards them.
“We have confidence that the government of Pakistan is well aware of the range of potential threats to its nuclear arsenal" ---- and this includes potential US threat as well and I am pretty sure the PAK army is taking appropriate steps to safeguard the assets from the mother of all evil the US of A.
Did they mention what the expiry is on this 'certificate of approval'?
US ‘confident’ in Pakistan nuke security but is the US ‘confident’ in it's own nuke security? That's the real question! LOL
Assalam-o-Allaikum Warahmatullah.What is going wrong with US' officials because their mostly matters starts from Pakistan and ends on Pakistan especially their favorite hobbies have been to interfere in Pakistan's nuclear matters and trying to prove links with Taliban/Haqqani/Alqaeda network instead of improving US' sinking economy and creating job facilities for unemployed US' citizens.
Swallowing words. This statement was not required if that report was not hyped. I find the US strategy ridiculous. They are acting like fools.
they are always worry about others business!
All right, gets us a clean chit of health. Thank you military.
So what's the new game dude (US).... turning to Iran....is it?
Quoting the right statement might be given by US: "Yooo Wazup Pakistanis.... you are good to go now... we have a special operation in Iran so we will catch you guys latter... till you people handle Indo-Pak Relations"
This kinda implies US has some control over those nuke hence its confidence in their security.
Now we can definitely say, they are stalking our nukes, they are after it.
Nukes are in safe hands. But whether the PAK government/establishment is in safe hands?
Naval bases and Rawalpindi compounds were attacked once. It is only a matter of time that those guys will try again.
We reject these allegashuns.
Oh wait.