Author:
Publication: The Times of India
- Internet Edition
Date: December 6, 2001
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=1540058531
If Pakistani officials insist loudly
their nuclear secrets are safe from terrorists, they talk in whispers about
two of their top nuclear scientists who have been detained for weeks.
Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood and Abdul
Majeed, who retired from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) three
years ago, are currently being held by military intelligence officials
in an undisclosed location.
No formal charges have been filed
against the pair, who have been held for the better part of five weeks.
But officials said they were being investigated for possible links to terror
suspect Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda movement.
"They are detained to probe the
extent of their involvement and links with the Taliban and al-Qaeda," said
one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The case has drawn considerable
international attention, coming at a time when Pakistan is under intense
scrutiny as a possible source of nuclear material and expertise for terrorists.
And it demonstrates the sensitivity
of the military regime in Islamabad to an issue that has become a priority
for its new-found ally and potential benefactor, the United States.
Islamabad has reacted with increasing
annoyance to repeated questions being raised over how secure those nuclear
assets are. "There is an excellent command and control system in place
that we have evolved and there is no question of their falling into the
hands of any fundamentalist," said President Pervz Musharraf.
With nerves on edge following the
September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Pakistani officials
are keeping a tight lid on the case of the two scientists.
(AFP)
