IAEA chief, el Baradei, voices concern over safety of Pakistani nukes

Beirut: The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN atomic watchdog, Mohamed el Baradei, has added his voice to mounting concerns over the safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. In an interview to Arabic daily Al-Hayat on Tuesday, Baradei expressed his fear that it could fall into extremist hands.

"I fear that chaos... or an extremist regime could take root in that country which has 30 to 40 warheads," el Baradei was quoted as telling the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat .

He stressed that he was "worried that nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of an extremist group in Pakistan or in Afghanistan."

Concerns about the safety of the Pakistani nuclear arsenal mounted ever since president Musharraf imposed a state of emergency in the troubled country in November last year.

Though Musharraf said in December that Pakistan's nuclear weapons were under control, concerns mounted afresh with the December 27 assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

"I fear that a war in the Middle East or in the Muslim world could have grave repercussions in Pakistan, more than in Iran," el Baradei said.

On Iran, Baradei, who is due to visit the country for talks at the end of this week, reiterated warnings against any attempt to solve the problem by force. "Any attack on Iranian nuclear facilities will only complicate the problem," he said. 

The US intelligence estimate "provides an opportunity for a peaceful dialogue to solve the problem through negotiation," el Baradei said.

With regard to Syria, the United Nations nuclear chief also told Al-Hayat that authorities in that country did not authorise international inspectors to visit a site bombed by Israel last September. Speculation fed into international media after the September 6 attack by Israeli jets suggested that the site may have been used to store nuclear materials from North Korea.

Syria had denied these allegations.

Meanwhile, el Baradei's concern over the safety of Pakistani nukes drew a swift and emphatic response from the Pakistani foreign office, whose spokesman said that the multi-layered safety ring that guarded the arsenal were sufficiently secure. He also took umbrage at el Baradei's comments and suggested that the UN agency chief stick closely to the parameters of his mandate.