bhatnagr@ucunix.san.uc.edu (Raj Bhatnagar) (06/25/91)
======================================================= The following is a summary of news about Pakistan from the June 21st issue of India Abroad. ======================================================= US BACKS PAKISTAN NUCLEAR INNITIATIVE The Bush Administration said last week that it supports Pakistan's proposal calling for mediation by the United States, the Soviet Union, and China of Nuclear disarmament talks with India aimed at banning nuclear weapons in South Asia. BHUTTO THREATENS A MASS CAMPAIGN (Reuter) Islamabad - The Pakistani Opposition Leader Benazir Bhutto has threatened to launch a nationwide campaign against alleged vote rigging in general elections last October which she says robbed her People's Democratic Alliance (PDA) of victory. BAKER WARNS CHINA ON MISSILES Secretary of State James A. Baker warned China last week that any transfer of ballistic missiles to Pakistan and Syria would seriously jeopardize its relations with the United States. . . .while he declared that the US had no evidence that China had supplied M-9 surface-to-surface missiles to Syria, Baker did not deny reports of Chinese deliveries of M-11 missiles to Paskitan. The M-11 has a range of 192 to 240 miles and is capable of carrying nuclear weapons. GULF ARMS TO PAKISTAN? On June 9 two national newspapers in Islamabad - the English-language "News" and the Urdu-language "Jang" - reported such an offer by Washington and said the weapons would include tanks and artillery stockpiled in the Persian Gulf region and Europe. Neither paper gave any details on the amount of weapons purportedly involved. According to "Jang", the weapons were to be delivered after Pakistan accepted all US demands on limiting its nuclear program, and it added that Islamabad would pay only the shipping costs. Later in the week a senior official in the administration dismissed the reports and said absolutely no decision had been taken about how the excess weaponry from the Gulf war would be distributed. End of article ===============