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Panjgor (Pakistan), with inputs from our Islamabad Bureau:
Many would dismiss this as sensationalism of the authors of this report. But the following events in the last two days have led us make this statement.
Pakistani nuclear scientists behind bars
The Pakistani government had ordered the arrest of Bashiruddin Mehmood. Many may ask so what. What is relevant is that the arrest of Bashir-ud-din Mehmood is the first one of a Pakistani connected with Pakistan's Nuclear Program. He is a retired scientist of Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission and had been conferred with a national award by the Government of Pakistan in 1998.
Till a few days back (i.e. before 11th September) no one would have imagined that a Pakistani nuclear scientist would be behind bars in Pakistan for having pro-Taliban leanings. And significantly his arrest has been followed by that of two other of his colleagues. In this context we may note that Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program has been put out to pasture for quite some time. As a next step, we expect that under US pressure Dr. Khan would be taken into "preventive custody" by the Musharraf government, soon.
Here we may suggest that the US had better take all Pakistani's with nuclear expertise into defensive custody and hold them in the US. Leaving these elements at large is a potentially explosive situation, since many of them are rabid Islamists and have a sneaking (and some not so sneaking) admiration for the Taliban. Bashiruddin Mehood had opposed Pakistan's signing the NPT (Nuclear no-Proliferation Treaty) and had opened a trust to help the Taliban.
Hence to neutralize any threat coming from Pakistan's nuclear potential and expertise falling into wrong hands, it is prudent for the US to lock the stable before the horses escape. It is not at all unlikely that some of these experts may be spirited away by the forces inimical to the US. And this may happened with the covert support of anti-American elements inside the Pakistani administration. The US better act now and lift "lock, stock and barrel" Pakistan's nuclear expertise and capability before it falls into the hands of the Jihadis.
Only after the experts and the devices they have built up is located physically outside Pakistan and is stashed away safely into the USA, can the world breathe freely. Till then the specter of nuclear weapons in Jihadi hands is a terrifying possibility. We hope that the US does some hard-headed thinking and takes some hard decision fast, on this critical issue.
We guess some feelers to this effect have already been send by the US to the Pakistani government. We presume so, since only a couple of days back, President Musharraf had made a categorical statement that Pakistan will never surrender its nuclear assets. Why make such a statement, unless someone has asked him to surrender these assets. The US wants India and Pakistani to stay away from reaching a nuclear flashpoint and in fact cool down by not starting a subsidiary war along with the American war on terror. To pre-empt this, the Americans could have sounded off President Musharraf on handing over his nuclear potential to the USA for 'Safekeeping'. This reasoning acquires the forces of realism in the context of neighboring India which is expected to launch a pre-emptive strike if the government of President Musharraf shows signs of falling with the consequent danger of the Jihadis sweeping away Pakistan's nuclear devices. A frightening prospect for India and the rest of the civilized world.
Firing on a US Helicopter inside Pakistan
The second incident is the firing on a US chopper inside Pakistan at the Panjgor airbase which the fourth one to be given by the Pakistani government to the US. Panjgor follows the airbases of Jacobabad, Pasni and Dalbandin which have been handed over to the US Military. The fact that for the first time since the beginning of the war an American chopper has attracted fire from Pakistani soil. A few days back a chopper crashed near the Dalbandin airbase under conflicting reports of the Taliban having fired at it amidst American denials of Taliban claims.
Casualties of Pakistani Volunteers from the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
The first Casualties of Pakistani Volunteers from the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen on the 24th of October was a event that sent shockwaves for reasons other than the casualties themselves. At the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the Pakistani border guards turned back the bodies of the Pakistani volunteers. The Pakistani government must have rightly feared that the funeral processions for these Pakistani Jihadis that were planned in different Pakistani cities from where these slain Jihadis hailed, would have acted like a tinderbox to the already inflamed anti-American and anti-government sentiment in Pakistan.
We have reports that despite the border with Afghanistan being sealed off, there has been a continuous inflow of Jihadi volunteers from Pakistan into Afghanistan. And these volunteers are from all parts of the world including Britain! It is quite natural for the Pakistani authorities to deny that this flow into Afghanistan is taking place. Their attempt to hide the continuing involvement of Pakistani volunteers in the ranks of the Taliban, by refusing to accept their mortal remains, is a part of this game.
And the such refusal by the Pakistani authorities is not new. They had done this earlier during a war with India at Kargil in 1999, when they refused to accept the bodies of Pakistani regular troops killed in war. In fact these Pakistani regular troops were then disguised as Mujahideen. These events seem to be repeating themselves now.
Lawyers against the Pakistani government's support to the US
Upto now it was assumed that only the ill-educated roughnecks in Pakistan supported anti-American jingoism. We were told that they were the noisy minority while the silent majority were firmly behind the Govt of Pervez Musharraf. But an unobtrusive development couple of days back belies this. Lawyers in Pakistan have voiced their opposition to the Pakistani support to the US. With the custodians of the law, voicing what is in their minds; the hidden trends are becoming more evident. And a recent poll in Pakistan stated that 82% of the Pakistanis oppose their government's support to the US.
Act Now before it is Too Late
All that has been said above is based on the very real possibility of established authority in Pakistan, collapsing in matter of weeks if not days. The above events are the evident cracks for everyone to see. A civil war situation can suddenly come about any day in Pakistan. The USA better read the writing on the wall and act fast to remove Pakistan's nuclear potential (weapons and expertise) to a safe place outside Pakistan - before it is too late.
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