Pakistan on Wednesday dismissed Western concerns over the security of its following the publication of more US State Department cables by anti-secrecy organisation WikiLeaks.
A fresh cache of US diplomatic cables released on Tuesday and Wednesday show widespread concern about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons with worries stretching from Washington to Riyadh to Moscow.
A senior Pakistani government official familiar with his country's nuclear weapons program waved off Western handwringing.
A senior official in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency said the country's nuclear weapons were "the safest”, and that spent fuel rods in the nuclear reactors were "safe and secure”.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani's office, in a statement issued after a meeting with the new US ambassador, Cameron Munter, said the revelations would not "have any effect on the strong, strategic partnership between Pakistan and the USA, as both sides were resolute to address the misperceptions in the interest of long-term cordial bilateral relations”.
WikiLeaks shook the diplomatic world on Monday when it published reports from more than 250,000 confidential cables in partnership with five Western newspapers, including The New York Times and the Guardian in Britain.
Noting that there were more than 120,000 people working in Pakistan's nuclear program in and around the facilities, "Regardless of the clearance process for these people, there is no way to guarantee that all are 100% loyal and reliable."
Nazarov fretted that people with "strict religious beliefs" had been hired to protect the nuclear facilities, giving extremist organisations more opportunities to recruit from within the program.
"Over the last few years extremists have attacked vehicles that carry staff to and from these facilities. Some were killed and a number were abducted and there has been no trace seen of them," he reportedly said.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani's office, in a statement issued after a meeting with the new US ambassador, Cameron Munter, said the revelations would not "have any effect on the strong, strategic partnership between Pakistan and the USA, as both sides were resolute to address the misperceptions in the interest of long-term cordial bilateral relations”.
WikiLeaks shook the diplomatic world on Monday when it published reports from more than 250,000 confidential cables in partnership with five Western newspapers, including The New York Times and the Guardian in Britain.
Noting that there were more than 120,000 people working in Pakistan's nuclear program in and around the facilities, "Regardless of the clearance process for these people, there is no way to guarantee that all are 100% loyal and reliable."
Nazarov fretted that people with "strict religious beliefs" had been hired to protect the nuclear facilities, giving extremist organisations more opportunities to recruit from within the program.
"Over the last few years extremists have attacked vehicles that carry staff to and from these facilities. Some were killed and a number were abducted and there has been no trace seen of them," he reportedly said.
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