NEWS: Protests in Pakistan support Nuclear Scientists

Following Iran's admission to the U.N. nuclear watchdog of possession of nuclear technologies that are identical to the type used in Pakistan, the Pakistani government detained and began questioning eight nuclear scientists that have been perportedly linked to the transactions. This prompted the powerful coalition of religious parties (MMA) to protest in the streets Sunday, dismissing the alleged illegal source of any funds aquired by the 'national hero's'.

AP Breaking News
Supporters of the radical Islamic opposition coalition, Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, trailed a truck stacked with megaphones through the city center of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, bringing traffic to a halt. They held banners reading: "Stop terror against national heroes" and "Atomic power saved Pakistan." Speakers railed against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government, saying it had caved in to pressure from abroad, including the United States, by leveling accusations against scientists who helped produce the Muslim world's first nuclear bomb as a deterrent against Pakistan's larger, nuclear-armed rival India.


This seems to be an escalating issue dividing a country already heated by political differences. The Pakistan population has had much disagreement with the current leader, and this seems to be increasing in many different directions with every passing day. The Pakistan government has been implicated in nuclear technology transactions with many countries including; North Korea, Libya, Iran, and Iraq, and has been under the spotlight in the recent term as equipment, and technical support, have been sold to countries with little governmental stability. Pakistan senior officials have been attempting to distance themselves from the accused nuclear scientists, by announcing the questioning of the scientists and publically denying any knowledge of the transactions.

The coalition, Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, is the same group that opposed Musharraf's support of the U.S.-led war on terrorism.









[Edited on 25-1-2004 by SkepticOverlord]