Pak President General Zia gets Saudi Arabia to bankroll final phase of nuclear programme

When former Pakistan president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto made his famous remark about producing a nuclear bomb even if the entire country was forced to eat grass, he had no idea exactly how prophetic his words were going to be. Neither could he have foreseen that the man who eventually made him a martyr, albeit a very dead one, would pursue his goal with the same obsessive doggedness that Bhutto himself had shown.Last fortnight, Pakistan President General Zia inched closer to fulfilling Bhutto's dream by getting Saudi Arabia to bankroll the final phase of Pakistan's nuclear programme to the tune of $800 million (Rs 640 crore).President Zia-ul-Haq : Guarding deviously acquired technologyIn purely technical terms, Pakistan's nuclear programme was moving ahead according to schedule. But around July last year, the financial side of the programme started to go awry and threatened to delay the programme indefinitely. The original deal was that Libya would finance the entire project and, according to Libya's own estimates, had already provided up to 60 per cent of the cost. But the Libyan connection was throwing up some unforeseen, and uncomfortable problems.For one, the US Government has been applying increasing pressure on Zia to dismember the Libyan link. The major reason for Zia's sudden switch to the Saudi camp, however, was the equally powerful pressure that Libya's Colonel Gaddafi was beginning to apply.According to intelligence reports, Gaddafi has all along been demanding that the Libyans have full access to the weapons technology and, in fact, be given the first bomb produced so that it could be exploded inside Libyan territory and labelled the Islamic bomb.Gaddafi (left) and Prince Fahd : Loser and winner in the nuclear auctionLibya's Demands: Gaddafi has claimed that he was promised this by Bhutto. Zia, however, had no intention of giving the Libyans access to his carefully-guarded and deviously-acquired nuclear technology.Interestingly, the Libyan search for nuclear weapons has been no secret. Before Pakistan's offer, Gaddafi's number two man, Major Jalloud, had openly tried to purchase nuclear weapons and technology from India, China, France and the Soviets.The proverbial straw that snapped the Pakistan-Libyan connection was Gaddafi's threat to cut off further aid unless his scientists were given access to the nuclear technology that Pakistan had acquired so far. Nobody, least of all the Pakistanis, doubted that Gaddafi would carry out his threat.The Pakistanis were faced with three choices. They could abandon the programme - a choice that Zia turned down without hesitation. They could turn to the Iraqis for cooperation and financial aid or they could seek financial aid elsewhere in the Islamic world.In August, Pakistan started secret negotiations with Saudi Arabia by approaching Crown Prince Fahd. The Saudis jumped at the offer for two very simple reasons. They have always been enamoured with the concept of an Islamic bomb, and, more important for Pakistan, the Saudis would do anything to keep the Iraqis from acquiring nuclear capability and thus toppling the Saudis from the pre-eminent position of power within the Arab world.Negotiations: When the Pakistani request was first made, Fahd immediately appointed Prince Turki, the deputy minister for defence and aviation and Sheikh Yamani, the Saudi petroleum minister, as chief negotiators.Yamani and Turki held a number of meetings with their Pakistani counterparts, Agha Shahi, Pakistan's foreign minister, Abdul Qaudir Khan, director of nuclear research, and the prime mover of Pakistan's nuclear programme, Munir Ahmed Khan, head of the Atomic Energy Commission.The meetings were held in Islamabad, Riyadh and a number of west European capitals. The most important clause in the final agreement, from the Saudi point of view, was that Pakistan was barred from supplying Iraq with any technology developed in the programme.The Saudi fear is well justified. Iraq has always expressed its willingness to bankroll part of Pakistan's nuclear aspirations. The Iraqi nuclear programme is not as advanced as Pakistan's and suffered a major setback recently when an Iranian (though intelligence sources insist it was an Israeli) bomber destroyed the nuclear centre at Al-Tawit, near Baghdad, in the initial stages of the current Iran-Iraq war.The Iraqis, however, laid down the same conditions as Gaddafi-unrestricted access to Pakistan's nuclear technology. Pakistan's agreement to this would have meant making Iraq an equal partner in the project. Hence the Pakistan switch to Saudi Arabia.Initially, however, the negotiations with Saudis were delicately poised. The Saudis, through Sheikh Yamani, made an initial offer of $250 million (Rs 200 crore) with the condition that Iraq be kept out of Pakistan's nuclear patch. Agha Shahi, however, adopted a tough stand and told Yamani that the money was far too little for their needs and threatened to negotiate a deal with Iraq.Shahi was probably bluffing but he obviously plays good poker. The Saudis caved in and upped the ante to $500 million (Rs 400 crore), a sum that was again rejected by the Pakistanis. Then, in November, at a secret meeting held in Paris. Prince Turki and Yamani offered Pakistan Rs 640 crore- an offer that was accepted with alacrity.Zia's Motives: In the Indian context, Pakistan's Saudi connection represents a new and uncertain element in sub-continental affairs. On the one hand, Saudi backing of Pakistan's nuclear programme is preferable to a radical state like Libya and an unpredictable leader like Gaddafi.But there is also the disquieting reality that India's relations with Saudi Arabia have never reached an encouraging proximity, thereby reducing any possible levers of pressure that India could apply to ensure that the Islamic bomb is not misused.Zia, who has been making surprisingly friendly noises towards India in recent weeks, insisted last fortnight in Bahrain that Pakistan is developing nuclear energy for "peaceful purposes". But the good general has seldom proved to be a man who keeps his word-the fact that he has not kept any of the promises he made when he mounted Pakistan's saddle is proof enough of that.There is also the more frightening fact that a man who carries a big stick will surely be sorely tempted to use it if his authority was in any way threatened. or if domestic unrest forces him to divert attention elsewhere. Either way.Zia in control of an Islamic bomb is as explosive an element as a hungry wolf in a chicken farm. The Saudis might yet have occasion to regret their tit of uncontrollable generosity.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 29, 2013--- ENDS ---

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Pak President General Zia gets Saudi Arabia to bankroll final phase of nuclear programme

When former Pakistan president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto made his famous remark about producing a nuclear bomb even if the entire country was forced to eat grass, he had no idea exactly how prophetic his words were going to be.

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