Analysts Disagree On Threat To Pakistan Nuclear Arsenal

By Staff Writers
London (AFP) Dec 28, 2007
SpaceWar

Experts in Britain disagreed Friday on how likely it was that extremists could get their hands on Pakistan's nuclear arsenal following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

...Christian Le Miere, managing editor of Jane's security journal Country Risk, said that Pakistan's nuclear capacity "remains strongly in the hands of the military".

He suggested that Bhutto's death would not seriously affect this.

"The issue is cash -- if a scientist or...a group of scientists decide that their income is too low, they could go on the black market to offer material, that's the main danger," he said.

"They have still scientists out there that could pass information to the black market or hand over nuclear material to a state, in order to supplement their income."

He predicted that the military would step up security around facilities in the wake of Bhutto's death.