The Hindu : International : Pakistan slams Western campaign

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Saturday, Dec 15, 2007
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Pakistan slams Western campaign

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: A day after President Pervez Musharraf strengthened his grip over the nuclear programme by removing ambiguities in the hierarchy of the National Command Authority, it met and took note of the “hostile campaign” in the Western media against Pakistan’s strategic assets, and sent out a warning against “misadventures.”

Gen (Retd) Musharraf passed the National Command Authority ordinance on Thursday, placing it under the command of the President, rather than “head of government,” the phraseology used in the 2000 ordinance when the NCA was first set up. Thursday’s ordinance came ahead of the January 8 election, in which two former Prime Ministers opposed to President Musharraf are leading the campaign of their respective parties.

At a meeting on Friday, the NCA reiterated that the security of the nuclear assets was foolproof, and advised against creating “irresponsible alarm.” According to the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan, and apparently alluding to reports that the U.S. was planning to unilaterally secure Pakistan’s nuclear weapons to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, the NCA also said the country “was capable of defending its interests and cautioned those contemplating misadventures.”

The NCA meeting approved a number of proposals for strengthening the deterrence capability of the country, APP said.

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