Pak senators say Kerry-Lugar Bill targets nuke arsenal

Islamabad, Oct. 3 (ANI): Pakistan's senators have slammed the Kerry-Lugar Bill saying that it targets the country's nuclear weapons.

Opposition senators, including Raja Zafar ul Haq, Waseem Sajjad, Ishaq Dar, urged the government to reject it as it was against the independence and sovereignty of Pakistan.

The Nation quoted Raja Zafarul Haq as saying that the monitoring of the Pakistan Army and courts will pose a serious threat to national integrity.

"What purpose it would serve once the bill is approved", Raja Zafarul Haq asked the Senate Chairman.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that Pakistan would only react when the US President signs the proposed bill.

Leader of the House, Syed Nayar Hussain Bukhari while responding to points of order about Kerry-Lugar Bill said it was such an issue needs decision of the entire nation.

"It is US legislation, not of Pakistan", he said requesting all the members to study the Bill thoroughly before the House takes it up for debate.

Earlier, Pakistan's envoy to the US, Hussain Haqqani, had said the Kerry-Lugar Bill has no provision to restrict Islamabad's nuclear programme.

However, he added, that the bill prevents Pakistan from being part of any outward proliferation.

He warned that many conditions attached with the bill may reflect lack of trust.

"Too much conditionality is never good, because it reflects suspicion. Once we have built the relationship of trust that we're seeking to build between the United States and Pakistan, many of these concerns on both sides will go away," Haqqani said. (ANI)