Musharraf says nuclear weapons, missile program operational

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 11 Kyodo

Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Wednesday that Pakistan's nuclear weapons and missile program has become operational under his government which has raised nuclear armed units equipped with these strategic assets.

Musharraf told a press conference that although Pakistan had carried out the first test of a missile and nuclear weapons in May 1998, they were not operational when he came into power in October 1999.

It was under his command that a cold test of missiles carrying dummy nuclear weapon was carried out and people were trained to fire the missiles with nuclear weapon system, he said.

''We did not have any single unit capable of firing the missiles in October 1999,'' and it was his government that created army, navy and air force strategic commands to handle all the strategic assets, he said.

Musharraf ridiculed one of his predecessors and former army chief Gen. Aslam Beg, who had claimed that Pakistan's nuclear weapons program had become operational as early as 1990.

Pakistan carried out the first test of a ballistic missile in April 1998 and tested nuclear weapons in May 1998 in response to similar tests by India.

Musharraf assumed power in a military coupe in October 1999 and carried out the weaponization program which includes the miniaturization of the nuclear weapon, mounting it on missiles and developing its firing mechanism.

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