| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Perv thinks the IAEA don't trust him |
| 2005-04-21 |
| President Pervez Musharraf said on Wednesday that he would never allow foreign inspectors into the country to examine Pakistan's nuclear facilities. "That is tantamount to admitting that we cannot be trusted in our own house," he told a breakfast meeting of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines. Asked whether he would allow inspectors from the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect the country's nuclear facilities, President Musharraf said: "Why?" "Our nuclear programme is for the protection of the people of Pakistan," he said. "You have to understand that this is a very sensitive issue for us. "And our people are sensitive to outsiders coming into our country asking questions. It's as though we cannot be trusted," he said. "If the IAEA has questions about our nuclear programme then let them ask us. We have nothing to hide. "We will give them all the information they want but we will not allow their inspectors into our country to question our officials or inspect our facilities. "If we did that it would be admitting that we can't be trusted." The president said the same also applied to nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan. "You have to understand that Dr Khan is a national hero in our country. "We will question him. No one should doubt our intention to give all the facts on this matter," President Musharraf said. The president said efforts would be made to promote peace with India and find a solution to the Kashmir dispute. He said Islamabad had made resolving the Kashmir issue a priority to market Pakistan as an investment haven in South Asia. "We need to resolve this issue once and for all in a flexible manner. The time of conflict management is over. It has to be conflict resolution. We must resolve this now or never." He said acts of terrorism, like an attack on the recently resumed bus service, 'must be suppressed at all cost'. The president said he wanted to correct misconceptions about Pakistan, rejecting accusations that Islamabad supported militants and helped organize Al Qaeda network. He said Pakistan was willing to give intelligence training as part of counter-terrorism cooperation with the Philippines to support peace talks between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |