Pakistan, Saudi Arabia in secret nuke pact

WASHINGTON, Oct 21: The US State Department said on Tuesday the claim that Pakistan had signed a pact with Saudi Arabia to supply nuclear technology in return for oil was incorrect.

"This story has been going around for a couple of decades. It seems very improbable to me that the Pakistanis will do so," a State Department official told Dawn.

"I am not in a position to confirm or deny but it does not seem likely," the official added. "Pakistanis," he said, "are very, very aware of US position on sharing nuclear technology."

The US position on nuclear proliferation, the official said, came up for discussion between Pakistan and the United States last year when reports in the American media suggested that Islamabad had shared nuclear know-how with North Korea.

"This was brought up by Secretary (of State Colin) Powell to President (Pervez) Musharraf, and Mr Powell said he had 400 per cent assurances from President Musharraf that Pakistan will not proliferate."

The official said even during the North Korean controversy, the US administration "came to the conclusion that they (Pakistanis) had done nothing to be sanctioned for."

"We have carefully reviewed the facts relating to the possible transfer of nuclear technology from Pakistan to North Korea and decided that they do not warrant the imposition of sanction under applicable US laws," said the official, quoting a State Department brief on the issue.

"And we believe it is very unlikely that the Pakistanis would transfer nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia knowing the US position on this issue," he observed. A spokesman for the Saudi embassy in Washington, Nail al-Jubair, said the story was "so absurd that it is not even worth issuing a denial."

The "unimpeachable source" that the story quotes, did not have his facts right, said the spokesman.

Mr Jubair said the story claims that Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Abdulaziz's visit to Islamabad was "arranged in the last 26 hours but a private newspaper in Riyadh reported the visit on Oct 12, the Arab News, Jeddah, reported it on Oct 13. Pakistani newspapers were reporting that visit around that time as well."

Earlier, a spokesman for the Pakistan embassy in Washington said the report was "malicious and ill-intentioned". Mohammed Sadiq, Pakistan's deputy chief of mission in Washington, said the report was "totally wrong" and "part of a campaign to malign Pakistan".

"This is against our policy. Even the US administration knows and appreciates our commitment to non-proliferation." "Pakistan would never proliferate its nuclear technology. It's a very clear policy. This was not even discussed in the talks we held with the Saudis. It was not even on the agenda. It is out of the question," said Mr Sadiq.

The report, published in a section of the US and Indian media, insists that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia concluded the secret agreement on nuclear co-operation during Prince Abdullah's visit over the weekend.

"Future events will confirm that Pakistan has agreed to provide Saudi Arabia with the wherewithal for a nuclear deterrent," the report said.