Original
Arnaud Story | Pramilla's Analysis
Footprints of a
nuclear deal: UPI analyzes Arnaud's Story
By
Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON: The State Department, which is now saying it is unlikely
that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have a nuclear pact, carried a
study on its official Web site last year saying the kingdom had
discussed a nuclear deal with its Muslim ally.
Earlier
this week, State Department's Deputy Spokesman J. Adam Ereli told
a briefing that he had "not seen any information to substantiate"
that Saudi Arabia was trying to acquire nuclear weapons from Pakistan.
The
spokesman also rejected media reports suggesting that the two
countries had already struck a deal that will allow Pakistan to
receive Saudi oil in return for nuclear know-how as "bald
assertions."
As
predicted in the original United Press International story,
both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan also vehemently denied the report.
"This
story has been going around for 25 years. It is absolutely wrong,"
Adel Al Jubeir, a senior adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah bin
Abdulaziz, told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.
"We
have not, do not and will not acquire nuclear capability,"
he insisted.
UPI's
Arnaud de Borchgrave, who broke the story from Islamabad earlier
this week, said Friday: "I knew that denials would rain down
from both countries. They were hardly in a position to confirm
a secret understanding 48 hours after it had taken place. Besides,
denials from both countries about many major events that subsequently
turned out to be correct news reports are fairly routine.
He
added: "The late President Zia ul-Haq denied repeatedly during
his 11 years in power that Pakistan was involved in a nuclear
weapons program. Saudi officials have also denied time and again
that they were funding Pakistan's madrassas (Koranic
schools) to the tune of several billion dollars since 1989 where
several million young Pakistani boys have been taught only the
Koran by heart -- and to hate America, Israel and India. Despite
all the adverse publicity, the Saudi clergy is still funding them
today."
A
US State Department study last year reported that senior Saudi
officials had discussed the prospect of nuclear weapons cooperation
with Pakistan.
The
report, published in the department's strategic journal the US
Foreign Policy Agenda, said although "Saudi Arabia does not
have weapons of mass destruction, it did ... buy long-range CSS-2
ballistic missiles from China."
"Very
senior Saudi officials have held conversations with officials
involved in the Pakistani nuclear program, and possibly with similar
officials in other countries," said author Anthony Cordesman,
a former Pentagon official who wrote the report for the State
Department.
The
report -- Weapons of Mass Destruction: The New Strategic Framework
-- also probes the impact of Pakistan's nuclear program on "broader
trends in the greater Middle East, including the growing overlap
of arms races," and "the impact of North Korean proliferation
and the India-Pakistan arms race."
Cordesman
pointed out that "while Pakistan is not part of the Middle
East, Iran uses Pakistan's nuclear and missile arms race with
India as one of its rationales for developing its own long-range
missiles; Iranian officials privately refer to tensions with Pakistan
as a possible reason for Iranian proliferation."
The
report first appeared in the August 2002 issue of the State Department's
journal and was published on the department's Web site.
US
officials, when contacted by United Press International in August
2002, said Saudi leaders also discussed the procurement of intermediate-range
missiles that Pakistan makes. The missiles are capable of carrying
nuclear warheads. US officials said Saudi officials were invited
to tour Pakistan's nuclear weapons facilities last year but no
sales were concluded.
In
November last year, a former US Defense Intelligence Agency
official said that Saudi Arabia has been financing Islamabad's
nuclear and missile purchases from China.
In
a research paper, DIA senior China analyst Thomas Woodrow said
that "Saudi Arabia has been involved in funding Pakistan's
missile and nuclear program purchases from China, which has resulted
in Pakistan becoming a nuclear weapon-producing and proliferating
state."
The
paper also pointed out that Saudi Arabia was "buying nuclear
capability from China through a proxy state with Pakistan serving
as the cut-out."
Woodrow
said that Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan Abdulaziz had "toured
(Pakistan's) uranium-enrichment plant and missile production facilities
in Kahuta (near Islamabad)" just after the May 1999 nuclear
tests. He said that the Saudi prince "may also have been
present in Pakistan" during the test-launch of its nuclear-capable
Ghauri missile in 1999.
"If
Riyadh's influence over Pakistan extends to its nuclear programs,
Saudi Arabia could rapidly become a de facto nuclear power through
a simple shipment of missiles and warheads," said the former
DIA officer.
Saudi
Arabia, he said, has given money to China for Pakistan's missile
and nuclear program.
The
writer is UPI's South Asian Affairs Analyst and Correspondent
for Daily Dawn in Washington, DC
