Dangerous US standoff with Pakistan over nuclear fuel: leaks

Fav Tag: Wikileaks ISLAMABAD: For years the United States has led top secret efforts to remove highly enriched uranium from Pakistan, worried it could be used to make an illicit nuclear device, according to leaked US cables.

The New York Times said the documents, part of quarter of a million confidential American diplomatic cables released by Internet whistleblower Wikileaks, showed that the effort had so far proved unsuccessful.

Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is one of the most sensitive topics for the United States as it tries to improve relations with its frontline ally in the campaign against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Militants embarked on a nationwide bombing campaign across Pakistan in 2007, the same year that the Times said the secret efforts began.

In May 2009, it quoted then US ambassador Anne Patterson as saying that Pakistan was refusing to schedule a visit by American technical experts.

The Times attributed the reason to a nameless Pakistani official who said: "If the local media got word of the fuel removal, 'they certainly would portray it as the United States taking Pakistan's nuclear weapons'".

Islamabad has been adamant that its nuclear weapons are in safe hands and US President Barack Obama has publicly concurred.

But the Times said the leaked documents showed the United States trying to remove the uranium from a research reactor, fearing it could be diverted for use in an "illicit nuclear device".