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Saudi-Pak 'nuke axis' shocks the West

Paul Taylor in London

Western governments are concerned that Saudi Arabia may be seeking to acquire a nuclear weapons capability after its defence minister visited Pakistan's secret nuclear facilities, a senior British official has said.

Saudi Defence Minister, Prince Sultan toured the Kahuta uranium enrichment plant and missile factory with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief in early May and was briefed by A Q Khan, the father of Pakistan's atom bomb, diplomatic sources said.

The visit, reported briefly in a Pakistani newspaper at the time, raised eyebrows in London and Washington.

The site is so sensitive that former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto has said she was not able to visit the installations during her time in office.

''There is concern that... the Saudis are showing interest in acquiring a nuclear capacity,'' the British official said.

US President Bill Clinton was reported to have raised the issue of the spread of nuclear weapons with Sharief when he visited Washington in early July for talks on the Kargil issue.

The New York Times quoted a US official as saying that Washington had also asked the Saudi government to explain the purpose of the visit but had received no clear response.

The diplomatic sources said there was concern that Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil producer, might have agreed to finance the Pakistani effort and might try to buy missiles and nuclear know-how for itself.

Although Saudi Arabia is an ally of the West, and a major client of the US and British arms industries, Washington is keen to avoid a missile and nuclear arms race in the West Asia.

UNI

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