Has US taken control over Pak's nukes?

An Islamic alliance in Pakistan has charged that the United States has taken over the country's nuclear weapons and the leadership at Islamabad has no control over them.

'Pakistan's nuclear weapons are no more in the hands of the rulers even though they talked of nuclear war in response to threats from India,' Qazi Hussain Ahmed, President of the Islamic alliance Muttahida Majlis-e Amal, was quoted by The Dawn as telling a public meeting at Hyderabad in Sindh province on Friday.

Ahmed accused President Pervez Musharraf of reneging from a promise made in a televised address to the nation by not stepping down as the Chief of Army after December 2004. It was unconstitutional that one man should hold offices of president and army chief as a result of which the army and other national institutions have become controversial, he said.

Ahmed blamed the government for creating a particular class of rich generals, bureaucrats, privileged and capitalists. The same class of people purchased properties abroad through wealth 'looted' by them in the country whereas 50 per cent of people continued to live below the poverty line, he claimed.

Whenever the army took over the reins of the country, the Constitution became the first casualty while the Generals violated their oath, he charged, adding that Musharraf and his "junta" were patronizing mafias that had grabbed national resources.