Pakistan President swears country's nuclear weapons are safe as the Taliban creeps towards Islamabad

By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 11:12 AM on 27th April 2009



Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari today ruled out the possibility of his country's nuclear weapons falling into the hands of the Taliban.

Zardari said Pakistan had a strong command and control system for its nuclear weapons that was fully in place.

'I want to assure the world that the nuclear capability of Pakistan is under safe hands,' he said.

His comments follow fears that the Taliban is advancing towards the Pakistani capital of Islamabad and heightens fears in the United States about the stability of its nuclear-armed ally.
Pakistan

Pakistani students belong to Lower Dir district chants slogans during a rally against the government military operation

Pakistan's foreign minister have told U.S. officials 'not to panic' over Taliban advances in western Pakistan, saying his country would not surrender or capitulate to militants.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan has sent militants in its tribal regions a 'clear signal' that they must lay down arms and accept the writ of the Pakistan government.

'We mean business, and if we have to use force we will use force. We will not hesitate,' Qureshi said.


More...

* '300 Taliban suicide bombers on way to Islamabad,' claim Pakistan officials

Last week U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Pakistan was 'basically abdicating to the Taliban and the extremists.'

But Qureshi insisted officials were working to squash Taliban resistance.

'We have now a common enemy and we've devised a common strategy to deal with the enemy. We will not surrender, we will not capitulate, and we will not abdicate.,' he said.
Pakistan

The latest fighting has claimed the lives of 31 militants in Dir, in the Swat Valley

His words come as government forces sent helicopter gunships and troops to attack Taliban militants in Pakistan's Swat Valley.

At least 31 people were killed in the operation in Lower Dir, which sparked anger from radical cleric Sufi Mohammad who claimed it was in breach of a peace deal.

Lower Dir is about 170 km (104 miles) north-west of the capital Islamabad.

The region forms part of Malakand division where President Asif Ali Zardari sanctioned the imposition of Islamic sharia law this month after a peace deal with Mohammad.

The deal in Swat allowed Taliban officials to implement a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

But a spokesman for Mohammad, who was released from jail last year after renouncing militancy, said there would be no further dialogue with the government until the Dir operation was stopped.

But Qureshi said the pact is still in effect and that Pakistan wanted to concentrate more of its military forces on its western tribal region.

Several thousand people have already began fleeing the Lower Dir region, a day after security forces killed 31 militants following a Taliban attack.

'I am leaving everything here and taking my family, said Karimullah, a farmer in the Samarbagh area of Lower Dir district.

'We can't take a risk with troops fighting the Taliban.'
Pakistan

Local residents flee from a troubled area of Pakistan's Lower Dir district following the latest offensive

Surging violence across north-west Pakistan and the spread of Taliban influence have heightened concerns about insecurity in nuclear-armed Pakistan, an important U.S. ally whose help is crucial to defeating al Qaeda and stabilising Afghanistan.

Pakistan's allies want to see coherent, decisive action by Islamabad against militants.

Analysts say Zardari must take action before talks in Washington with President Barack Obama and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai on May 6-7.

A Taliban spokesman in Swat breathed defiance as the security forces swung into action.

Government officials said the militants had taken over a telephone exchange in the small Swati town of Bahrain.

'The more they carry out operations the more we will expand across Pakistan,' Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said.

'God willing, one day we will touch its last boundary.'

Security forces launched the offensive in Lower Dir after militants attacked a convoy of paramilitary troops and 12 children were killed by a bomb hidden in a football.

Helicopter gunships and artillery targetted militant hideouts in the villages of Lal Qala and Islam Qala.
Pakistan

Pakistani paramilitary maintain a position in Dir as the offensive threatens the survival of a pact with Taliban forces

A military spokesman said the bodies of 31 militants were found in the battle zone late yesterday.

Critics said the approval of sharia law in Swat valley, 125 km (80 miles) north-west of Islamabad, was akin to appeasing the militants.

Mohammad sparked uproar last week by denouncing the parliament, democracy and the Supreme Court as un-Islamic.

Taliban commander Fazlullah, ordered his men to pull back to Swat on Friday, but officials and residents said armed fighters who hailed from Buner could still be seen in the area.