US commandos are preparing for a possible raid in case Pakistan's nuclear arsenal falls into the wrong hands.
As violent protests continue in Pakistan over the military campaign in neighbouring Afghanistan, concern is growing in Washington over the stability of the regime of General Pervez Musharraf.
The commandos, schooled in removing nuclear weapons or raiding suspected nuclear facilities, have been secretly training with an elite Israeli unit, the Sayeret Matkal, veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote in the New Yorker magazine.
Pakistan is believed to have 24 warheads.
Officials in Washington fear Musharraf, who came to power two years ago in a military coup, might be overthrown by dissident generals and a fundamentalist regime installed as the death toll mounts in Afghanistan.
Another fear is that elements of Pakistan's intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), might seize one or more warheads for possible blackmail or use against India.
Anxiety increased in Washington last week with the news that Pakistani authorities were questioning two retired nuclear scientists over suspected links with the Taleban.
Thousands gathered in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta yesterday in response to a call for demonstrations from Taleban leader Mullah Mohamed Omar.
The Pakistani supporters vowed to wage jihad (holy war) if the US bombing to flush out Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network continued.
A Muslim provincial leader, Mohammad Idrees, warned that Islamic protests would become uncontrollable if Musharraf did not stop supporting the strikes.
US President George W. Bush will meet Musharraf in New York on November 10 to discuss the war on terrorism.
- REUTERS
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