The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, London

President Pervez Musharraf, defending his decision to declare emergency rule, has said Pakistan's nuclear weapons will not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands while the military is in control of them. The comments, in a BBC interview broadcast on Saturday, come as U.S. envoy John Negroponte visited Pakistan to put pressure on Musharraf to revoke the two-week-old emergency, make peace with opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and hold fair elections. Musharraf said that if elections were held in a "disturbed environment", it could bring in dangerous elements who might endanger Pakistan's "strategic assets". "They cannot fall into the wrong hands, if we manage ourselves politically. The military is there -- as long as the military is there, nothing happens to the strategic assets, we are in charge and nobody does anything with them," he said. Pakistan's foreign ministry said later that Musharraf had not meant there was any danger that the weapons could fall into the wrong hands. "He had argued that because the military organization is responsible for their safety and security, our strategic assets are totally secure and in no danger of falling in wrong hands," a statement from the foreign ministry said.

Musharraf, who took power in a coup eight years ago, cited rising Islamist militancy and a hostile judiciary as reasons for declaring emergency rule. He has said a general election will be held before Jan. 9 and he expects to step down as army chief and be sworn in as a civilian president beforehand.

In the interview conducted on Friday, Musharraf dismissed opposition leader Bhutto's chances of winning elections.

He blamed Bhutto, who has called for him to relinquish power, for ruining chances of a deal which would see her serving as prime minister under his presidency.