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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (44080)	4/22/2003 6:00:48 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50167

Nuclear inspection regime needed for Pakistan: US expert (Updated at 2250 PST) WASHINGTON: A leading South Asia expert has advocated a US nuclear inspection regime in Pakistan as he believes Islamabad's nuclear facilities are riddled with al-Qaeda sympathisers who might smuggle fissile material out to terrorists, said a report on Tuesday. Writing in the International Herald Tribune, Selig Harrison made out a strong case for such inspections and said that in addition to its 48 existing nuclear weapons, Pakistan is also believed to have enough fissile material in storage to make 52 more, making it a fit to be brought under American scrutiny. Harrison said the US is doing nothing either to punish Islamabad or to prevent it from continuing to help Pyongyang despite clear evidence that Pakistan provided North Korea with nuclear technology and sold nuke technology to other wannabe nuclear powers like Saudi Arabia. Harrison said the US did not need to make an "either-or choice" between keeping Pakistan as an ally against al-Qaeda and making sure that it stops transferring nuclear technology. "Both critical objectives can be achieved with a determined carrot-and-stick diplomacy," he affirmed. Explaining this, Harrison, who is now the director of the Centre for International Policy in Washington DC, said the US should tell Pakistan in no uncertain terms that intrusive inspections are necessary to guard against nuclear transfers and leakage of fissile material to terrorist groups. In return, the US could offer economic incentives to Islamabad, including access to the US textile market that Pakistan has been seeking in vain. If President Pervez Musharraf were to balk at this, the Bush administration should make it clear that it will go ahead with sanctions and, if necessary, suspend all US economic aid if Pakistan continues to resist inspections and continues to clandestinely sell its nuke technology, Harrison said.