A GREAT NEWS
Pakistan rejected the UN nuclear chief's criticism of its atomic weapons safety yesterday, saying its arsenal would not fall into the hands of extremists and chastising his "irresponsible" remarks.
Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told a weekly press briefing that Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), should "be careful about his statements and ought to remain within his mandate".
"Pakistan is a responsible nuclear weapons state," he said.
"Our nuclear weapons are as secure as any other nuclear weapons state. We therefore believe statements expressing concern about their safety and security are unwarranted and irresponsible."
The response followed ElBaradei's reported remarks to the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat on Tuesday.
He was quoted as saying he feared "chaos... or an extremist regime could take root in that country, which has 30 to 40 warheads", and was "worried that nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of an extremist group in Pakistan or in Afghanistan".
Pakistan rejected the UN nuclear chief's criticism of its atomic weapons safety yesterday, saying its arsenal would not fall into the hands of extremists and chastising his "irresponsible" remarks.
Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told a weekly press briefing that Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), should "be careful about his statements and ought to remain within his mandate".
"Pakistan is a responsible nuclear weapons state," he said.
"Our nuclear weapons are as secure as any other nuclear weapons state. We therefore believe statements expressing concern about their safety and security are unwarranted and irresponsible."
The response followed ElBaradei's reported remarks to the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat on Tuesday.
He was quoted as saying he feared "chaos... or an extremist regime could take root in that country, which has 30 to 40 warheads", and was "worried that nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of an extremist group in Pakistan or in Afghanistan".