Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 24, 1994 TAG: 9408240057
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Contradicting assertions by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, ex-premier Nawaz Sharif said Tuesday that Pakistan already has a nuclear bomb, a news agency reported.
``I confirm that Pakistan possesses the atomic bomb,'' the independent Pakistan Press International agency quoted Sharif as saying.
Bhutto and other Pakistani political and military leaders have said Pakistan is able to make nuclear weapons, but has chosen not to.
Sharif, Bhutto's rival, followed this line when he was prime minister from 1990-93. In his speech Tuesday, he did not indicate when Pakistan assembled a nuclear bomb.
Sharif's remarks were part of his ongoing attempt to embarrass Bhutto's government. He lost a close election to Bhutto last year and says he wants to bring down her government before it serves a full five-year term.
According to U.S. officials and others with knowledge of Pakistan's secretive program, the country has all the components for a bomb and could assemble one in a matter of days or even hours.
- Associated Press
by CNB