Pak nukes are safe

ISLAMABAD (Agencies) - President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday ruled out the possibility of his countrys nuclear weapons falling into the hands of the Taliban.
I want to assure the world that the nuclear capability of Pakistan is under safe hands, he told a panel interview with Reuters and other international media at President House.
The Talibans creeping advances towards Islamabad in recent weeks heightened fears in the United States about the stability of its nuclear-armed ally.
Western allies that need Pakistans support to defeat al-Qaeda and succeed in stabilising Afghanistan, dread the idea of any threat to the security of Pakistans nuclear weapons.
Zardari said Pakistan had a strong command and control system for its nuclear weapons that was fully in place.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview with Fox News last week that the United States could not contemplate the possibility of the Taliban taking control of Pakistans nuclear assets.
President Zardari said that troops had now ousted the Taliban from Lower Dir, 75 km west of Swat, where the military said 20 militants died on Monday.
But he said more police were needed on the ground to prevent the militants from regaining control there.
Zardari said the peace deal with the Taliban remained valid until the NWFP (North West Frontier Province) government tells me otherwise.
There will be a reassessment of the situation by the provincial government and if needed well come back to parliament and the parliament will decide, he said.
Zardari said an offensive in Swat was a possibility but that the geography of the region limits our capabilities.
It is a very populated area... the casualties would have been heavy, he said.
The advance from Swat into the neighbouring district of Buner, of hundreds of
President Zardari said that Pakistani intelligence believes Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is dead but acknowledged they had no evidence.
The Americans tell me they dont know, and they are much more equipped than us to trace him. And our own intelligence services obviously think that he does not exist any more, that he is dead, Zardari told reporters.
But there is no evidence, you cannot take that as a fact, he said. We are between facts and fiction.
Zardari was responding to reports that Pakistani Taliban in the troubled Swat valley have said they would welcome bin Laden if he wants to visit the former hill resort which is now in the hands of extremists.
The question is whether he is alive or dead. There is no trace of him, the President said.