Minister- Pakistan will keep nuclear arms from extremists

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's armed forces will keep their nuclear weapons out of the reach of extremists, a Cabinet minister said Saturday.

Information Minister Nisar Memon's comments follow reports that U.S. intelligence officials accused Pakistan of helping North Korea develop its nuclear weapons program. Pakistan has denied the charge.

"Each and every resource of Pakistan, particularly the nuclear assets, are under the custody and strict vigilance of our armed forces and will never fall in the hands of extremists," Memon told The Associated Press.

Memon repeated Pakistan's denial that it helped North Korea's nuclear weapons program. "Pakistan has never indulged in such kind of activity," he said.

Pakistan, under President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, is a key ally of the United States in war on terrorism. However, before Musharraf took power in the 1990s Washington cut off all military and humanitarian aid to Pakistan for pursuing its nuclear weapons program despite U.S. warnings.

Western fears that fundamentalist Islamic groups could gain access to Pakistan's nuclear weapons revived following the Sept. 11 attacks, especially after it was disclosed that two top Pakistani nuclear scientists were detained on suspicion of sharing technical information with Osama bin Laden. They were subsequently released.

Musharraf, an army general who seized power in 1999, has said Pakistan's nuclear program is safe and is for only peaceful purposes.

But nuclear-armed rival India said Friday that "the clandestine transfer of nuclear and missile technology between Pakistan and North Korea and the building up of a nuclear arsenal in the region are matters of grave concern to India."

Also on Saturday, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, who is the prime minister candidate of an alliance of six hardline Islamic parties, told The Associated Press that he will follow a moderate nuclear policy if elected as head of the next government.

The Islamic group holds the third largest number of seats in the 342-member National Assembly, a major gain over previous showings. But no party commands even one-quarter of the seats, and negotiations among all major contenders are underway to form a governing coalition.

"We will pursue a balanced approach on Pakistan's nuclear program," Rehman said.

Memon said the world need have no fears about Pakistan's nuclear program.

"We are even in the favor of declaring the South Asia a nuclear-free Zone," he said.

He also insisted that "Pakistan's strategic assets have been secure since the nuclear program started and, thank God, there has been no leakage of any kind."