GLOBAL INSECURITY
Pakistan scientist: Our nukes are ready
Missiles 'can be fired in only 10 minutes, they are on the launchers'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: December 05, 2008
1:00 am Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily


Samar Mubarakmand

A Pakistani scientist who has worked to develop his nation's nuclear weapons says the missiles are on rocket launchers and can be fired in 10 minutes.

The comments come from Samar Mubarakmand amid growing tensions between India and Pakistan following the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. Many have blamed the attacks on sources in Pakistan.

Mubarakmand's statements were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, which posted a report on its website.

The statements originally were published in the Roznama Express newspaper in Pakistan, said MEMRI, the which monitors and reports on the media in the Middle East.

(Story continues below)




"Our Shaheen missiles hit targets [during testing]; the world recognized their delivery system," said Mubrakmand. "None of India's cities can remain safe from our missiles. ... Pakistan's width is less than India's, which is 1,200 to 1,400 kilometers. Therefore, no corner of India is safe from the Shaheen II.

"We have also developed cruise missiles," he said. "And Pakistan is the fourth country in the world to have cruise missiles."

The scientist said Pakistan should take an authoritative position in discussions with India.

"We should talk to India strongly. ... Even while giving the message of friendship, we should make [Indians] realize that we are not weak," he said. "Being a small nation, if we abandon the option ... to launch a nuclear attack, then there won’t be any use of the second option. This way you end one advantage."

"Our missile system is ready, [and] can be fired in only 10 minutes – they are on the launchers," he said.

Mubarakmand, who according to MEMRI, has "steered the Pakistan nuclear program for the past several decades alongside disgraced nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan," also insisted Pakistan's nuclear weapons "are in safe hands."

"I am very satisfied with the defense preparedness. As long as [we] didn't have nuclear weapons, India had a three and a half advantage [over Pakistan]. But this advantage was leveled when we conducted the nuclear testing," the scientist said.

"Following the nuclear testing, we tested missiles like the Shaheen, the Ghaznavi, the Shaheen II, and the Ghauri. After this, India's tone and language [vis-Ã*-vis Pakistan] changed," he said.

"The nuclear tests carried out by India were of eight to 10 tons, whereas our [atomic tests] were of 25 to 30 tons, and the one we conducted in Kharan [Desert, in Baluchistan] were of 10 to 12 tons. This is why our weapons are better [than India's]," he said.





http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php? ... geId=82722