Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Useless UN 'Watchdog' Fears for Pakistan Nuke Arsenal

The clueless stooge Mohamed ElBaradei, who's twiddled his thumbs while the Iranians move full-steam toward acquiring nulear weapons, now frets that Al Qaeda could seize Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.

Though I'm sure he'll be happy to sit down with them and convince them to only use them for peaceful purposes.
THE head of the UN atomic watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei warned yesterday that al-Qa'ida could use the deepening political and security crisis in Pakistan to seize the country's nuclear arsenal.

"I fear that chaos ... or an extremist regime could take root in that country, which has 30 to 40 warheads," the Egyptian-born Mr ElBaradei told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat.

There has been worldwide concern over the security of Pakistan's nuclear warheads since President Pervez Musharraf imposed a national state of emergency in November.

Mr Musharraf said in December that Pakistan's nuclear weapons were under control.

But in unusual public comments, Mr ElBaradei said he was "worried that nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of an extremist group in Pakistan or in Afghanistan".

The intervention by the UN nuclear chief, on the eve of a visit to Iran, comes amid growing apprehension about the way jihadi militants linked to al-Qa'ida and the Taliban have cut a swath through Pakistan, seeking to take advantage of the country's political turmoil.

The militants are particularly active in remote areas where Pakistan's estimated 50 nuclear warheads are believed to be deployed, though officials in Islamabad have insisted there is no threat to their security or the country's arsenal.

There have been reports of deepening concern in Washington about the safety of the nuclear arsenal.

In her last major interview before her assassination, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto expressed concern that "al-Qa'ida could be marching on Islamabad in two to four years".
Most reassuring.

UPDATE: Here's another comforting thought: New Taliban Leader: More Dangerous Than Bin Laden?

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