ElBaradei’s remarks irresponsible, says FO

ElBaradei’s remarks irresponsible, says FO
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=12207

By Mariana Baabar

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has rejected Tuesday’s statement of ElBaradei, Director General International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying as head of the UN nuclear watchdog he should be more careful about his statements, which ought to remain within the parameters of his mandate.

ElBaradei, taking cue from Washington, had said in an interview that there was possibility of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons falling in the hands of extremists.

As Islamabad sent its Charge d’Affaires to speak with the Chief of Staff of ElBaradei in Vienna, the spokesman at the Foreign Office here told the weekly press briefing: “ElBaradei has hinted at the possibility of its nuclear weapons falling into the hands of extremists. As head of the IAEA, which is a UN body, he has to be careful about his statements, which ought to remain within the parameters of his mandate. His remarks also ignore the fact that the strategic assets of Pakistan are fully secure and under multi-layered safeguards and controls exercised by the National Command Authority.”

The spokesman said that IAEA’s main concern was with safeguarding civilian nuclear facilities.

To a query, the spokesman said he was unable to comment on what goes on in ElBaradei’s mind. “We, however, noticed that he also said that if there is a new war in the Middle East, it would affect Pakistan more than the war-stricken country itself. I fail to comprehend his logic. I don’t know what prompted him to make such statement,” he said.

The spokesman said that Pakistan had on several briefed the IAEA chief about the structure and control mechanisms put in place to ensure complete safety of Pakistan’s nuclear assets.

“Pakistan is a responsible nuclear weapon state. Our nuclear weapons are as secure as that of any other nuclear weapon state. We, therefore, believe statements expressing concern about their safety and security are unwarranted and irresponsible”, he added.

The spokesman said that Pakistan attaches great importance to IAEA and has extended cooperation and assistance to the Agency on many important issues towards the fulfilment of its mandate.

“Our civilian nuclear programme is under IAEA safeguards and we have always fully complied with the IAEA obligations,” he said while reading from a prepared statement.

To a query about other similar statements this time coming from US presidential hopefuls, the spokesman said that in the case of Senator Hillary Clinton, Islamabad was of the view that her statement was rather vague.

“Regardless of the meaning of her remarks it must be clearly understood that our leadership at the highest level has repeatedly said that our strategic assets are completely safe and secure under fully indigenous, multi-layered institutionalised security, and command and control structure”, he said.

To another query the spokesman blamed the foreign media for initiating a campaign against Pakistan’s nuclear assets. “We reject all such baseless, ridiculous and sinister insinuations that reek of animus against Pakistan. These statements intend to see Pakistan destabilized. This campaign is further upsetting the people of Pakistan who are still in a state of shock”, he stated.

The spokesman disagreed with a questioner and said that Pakistan was never the darling of the western media even after 9/11.

“You can check the record. I think a section of the western media has always attacked Pakistan and sought to find something, which would project a negative image of Pakistan. This was true even during the Afghan struggle against the Soviet occupation. The recent issue of ‘Economist’ has a sensational title on the cover describing Pakistan as ‘the most dangerous country in the world’, but the article inside talks about some of the challenges faced by Pakistan which we will overcome”, he said.