In an editorial, the pro-Taliban Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Islam has expressed concern over media reports that the U.S. has been providing assistance to Pakistan in order ‘‘to protect’’ Pakistani nuclear weapons.
Noting that Pakistan’s Foreign Office has denied reports that the U.S. has been providing technology to Pakistan to make its nuclear warheads reliable for operational use without further testing, Roznama Islam expressed hope that the denial was true.
The Urdu daily added: ‘‘May the denial and clarification of the Foreign Office spokesman be completely true and the above-mentioned report be false. If the report is true even to a small extent, it means that Pakistan’s nuclear program and its nuclear assets have come under complete American siege and Pakistani nation’s assets have been looted.’’
It noted: ‘‘The way the U.S. media and government are running a disciplined propaganda [campaign] against Pakistan’s nuclear program shows to what extent the U.S. can go to suspend and paralyze the Pakistani nuclear program and how secret and open conspiracies they are able to hatch.’’
The editorial continued: ‘‘It is strange that the U.S. has concerns over the Pakistani nuclear program, while on the other hand they have inked a nuclear deal with the neighboring enemy of Pakistan [India] and equipped them with dangerous weapons.’’
‘‘Pakistan is in the grip of enemies from all sides and its nuclear power, security and sovereignty, everything is at stake,’’ it concluded.
Source: Roznama Islam, Pakistan, July 1, 2009
