Pak calls US media report on its nuke arsenal 'pure fiction'

Pakistan today described as "pure fiction" a US media report about possible American plans to secure the country's nuclear arsenal in the event of any extremist threat, saying no one should "underestimate" its capability to defend its national interests.

A statement issued by Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said the article "The Ally From Hell" in The Atlantic journal was "baseless and motivated".

She dismissed the article as "pure fiction, baseless and motivated".

"It is part of a deliberate propaganda campaign meant to mislead opinion. The surfacing of such campaigns is not something new. It is orchestrated by quarters that are inimical to Pakistan," she said.

Janjua said: "No one should underestimate Pakistan's will and capability to defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity and national interests."

The article had accused Pakistan of lying to the US administration in the campaign against terrorists and failing to detect the presence of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

It said that army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had asked officials of the Strategic Plans Division to take additional steps to secure Pakistan's nuclear arsenal in the wake of the US raid that killed bin Laden in the garrison town of Abbottabad on May 2.