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US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson has dispelled the impression that there is any US contingency plan to secure or shift Pakistan's nuclear arms from falling into the hands of militants. Patterson, while talking to a group of journalists here Wednesday said that all such reports are baseless and their sources are also not known.
"I will describe this as nonsense," the envoy said while commenting on the reports. "Some people think one day Usama Bin Laden will come and will take Pakistan's nuclear arms with him," she termed such reports as baseless and said that it has nothing to do with reality. Patterson was of the view that it is not possible to shift nuclear arsenals to somewhere else, and such reports are mere speculation.
She also refused to comment on whether the US is providing any technical or economic assistance to Pakistan to safeguard its nuclear assets. She said that US supports IDPs relief on purely humanitarian basis as the US government and American people are giving donations for the people in the camps to help them, and not to boost American image.
Patterson said that the US had announced US $110 million aid for the affected people, and if UN asks for more help, the US would provide more aid to help the displaced people. Responding to a question on US offer to send troops to Pakistan, she said the United States has offered sending of its troops for relief works but no request has yet been made by Pakistan.
President Zardari's statement regarding operation in FATA will be a big challenge for Pakistan, so as to cater to the needs of such a large-scale internally displaced persons, she said. "I am not a military expert to say something about the ongoing military operations success, and whether the operation could yield the required results or can give any deadline of its completion in Malakand," she said while responding to a question on the ongoing military operation in Swat. About any exit plan or timeline to end the war against terrorism in Afghanistan, Patterson replied, "Most of such wars take long time to be won."
She admitted that the militants on this side of Pak-Afghan border might be getting weapons from Afghanistan and financial support from the poppy money and drug peddlers.
On Pakistan-US co-operation, she stated, "We have extensive programmes of assistance for Pakistan. We have provided some of the military assistance, including helicopters, goggles to Frontier Corps, military training's are also underway.
We are not only providing training to Pakistani security forces but some US students are also here in Pakistan and are getting military training." Replying to a query on F-16 issue, she said there are some difficulties in the way of providing speedy supply of spare parts of F-16.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2009

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