LONDON: American spy satellites have reportedly photographed heavily armed conveys leaving the top secret Pakistani nuclear weapons complex at Kahuta, near Islamabad and heading for military airfields.
They have also filmed what some analysts said were special racks designed to carry nuclear bombs being fitted to Pakistani F1 6 aircraft, “The Sunday Times” reported today, quoting American intelligence sources in Washington.
The report said uncertainty remains about Pakistan’s real nuclear capability, “the intelligence community is divided as to whether this is a real threat or just bluff,” one intelligence sources if quoted as having said.
“Some people in the CIA believe they could put a bomb together in two weeks. A third faction thinks they may be as much as six months away from going nuclear,” the report said. “Tf there is a serious risk of war, what is the military going to do? They are going to make sure that the weapons are ready for use, said Leonard Spector, a respected nuclear proliferation expert.
In the past week special task forces have been set up on the Pentagon, the CIA and its military counterpart, the defence intelligence agency, to study the possibilities of war and its likely outcome. There is now a consensus that if war breaks out, a nuclear exchange is possible, the report said. According to the report, General Colin Powell the chairman of the U.S. joining chiefs of staff, was briefed last week on the situation and told that if war broke out, Pakistan would he defeated
Article extracted from this publication >> June 8, 1990
