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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: William B. Kohn who wrote (10482)	11/14/2001 12:19:37 PM
From: Lola	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27666

Pak may have relocated nukes to Gilgit MANOJ JOSHI TIMES NEWS NETWORK NEW DELHI: Indian intelligence agencies tracked what may have been a movement of Pakistani nuclear weapons on September 13, some 36 hours after the World Trade Center attack. ‘‘We have information that a C-130 of the Pakistan Air Force with a heavy escort of F-16 fighters flew from Islamabad to Gilgit in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir,’’ a senior intelligence officer disclosed to the Times News Network. At that time there was some puzzlement over the movement, but subsequent information confirmed that this was part of Pakistan’s desperate effort to disperse its arsenal. The officer did not reveal as to whether the Indian intelligence picked up any other movements. But according to a Washington Post report on Sunday, Pakistan relocated critical nuclear weapons components within two days of the attack ‘‘to at least six secret locations.’’ The remarkable alacrity with which Pakistan moved indicates that it was either fearful of a US strike to neutralise its arsenal, or was acting to clear the decks for its historical double-cross of the Taliban. But, says an Indian official associated with the Indian programme, the redeployment would not have been a haphazard one. ‘‘You cannot take weapons to any cantonment or location,’’ he argues, ‘‘the issue of security of the weapons is paramount and so the redeployment may have been part of an established contingency plan.’’ Whatever be the case, Gilgit is an ideal location for several reasons. First, it has an all-weather airfield and a strong Pakistan Army garrison. It is proximate to Pakistan’s friend China and it has well-sited defences to take care of any possible Indian attack. Equally compelling is that it is a largely Shia area, immune to the jihadist tendencies visible in Punjab, NWFP and Baluchistan. The speed with which the relocation was done does leave a nagging sense of unease over Pakistan’s complicity in the WTC events. The redeployment occurred even as US ambassador Wendy Chamberlain had her tough-talking session with Gen Musharraf on September 13, and before US Secretary of State Colin Powell bluntly asked Musharraf the following day whether Pakistan would be a friend or foe in the conflict. The US is mum about investigations linking former ISI Chief Lt Gen Mahmud Ahmed with a $100,000 money transfer to Mohammed Atta, the leader of the hijack squad. Ahmed is a Musharraf favourite and was given the charge of the Rawalpindi Corps in October 1998 and a year later, he was the one who carried out the coup that brought Musharraf to power by overthrowing the elected government of Mian Nawaz Sharif. Early last month, however, he was forcibly retired in a shakeup that replaced other powerful generals considered close to the Taliban. timesofindia.com