Islamabad, May 29: Pakistan’s nuclear scientist A Q Khan has said the Taliban and external forces cannot seize Pakistan's nuclear weapons as they are "highly secured" and only a handful of people know where they are kept.

“The safety of the nuclear weapons has been improved gradually over the years,” the Dawn quoted Khan as having said.  

 He explained that the nuclear weapons were not stored in one place and that very a few people knew about their location. 

 "You can count these people on fingers who exactly know about the location of (our) nuclear arsenals. These weapons are lying in tunnels and safe houses where no one can access them, except a very few relevant people," he said.

 Khan's views come following mounting fears globally that the escalating violence in Pakistan could result in the militants one day laying hands on the nuclear arsenal.

 Khan said that Pakistan's nuclear programme was proceeding without any break for the past 10 years. "Although I have not been associated with the programme, I know it has been running without any break and the process of uranium enrichment is in progress," he said.

 He stressed that though the Pakistanis were not giving "final shape to new nuclear weapons", the material was being made. It could be assembled any time if required, he added. IANS

Lastupdate on : Sun, 29 May 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
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