* ~ App ved)F ar Rélease 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000100440002-1 Pakistan Reporte Near | Atom Arms Production . —_ | Acquistion of Weapon Could Halt US, Aid |) Pakistani Atom Weapon Reported Near By Bob Woodward _ Washington Post Staff Writ ident Reagan certified to ~ Congress last week that Pakistan currently “does not possess a nu- clear explosive device,” although according to intelligence reports considered reliable inside the ad- ministration, the country has re- cently made dramatic progress te- ward production of a nuclear weap- on. Presidential certification is re- quired by Congress as a condition of continued U.S, aid to Pakistan, which receives approximately $600 million a year in military and eco- nomic assistance. Pakistan has co- operated with clandestine U.S. aid to Afghan guerrillas fighting the . Soviet occupation of their country, | and has provided facilities for U.S. intelligence-gathering near the So- _ viet Union, According to a classified Defense Intelligence Agency report, Pakis- . tan detonated a high explosive de- vice between Sept. 18 and Sept. 21 as part of its continuing efforts to- build an implosion-type nuclear weapon, sources said, It was Pakistan’s second such test this year, according to the sources, who said the Pakistanis have been conducting the tests for years in trying to perfect a nuclear : weapons triggering package. / Intelligence reports also show ’ that Pakistan has enriched uranium ; to 93.5 percent at its atomic plant - at Kahuta, according to authorita- tive sources, A 90-percent level is normally needed to make a bomb. President Reagan in late 1984 told Pakistani President Mohammed Zia ul-Haq in a top-secret letter that § |- percent would be the highest ens | tichment level acceptable to the United States, In July, the White House warned Pakistani visit here that acquiring a nuclear weapon would resuit in the end of U.S. economic and military assist- ance, Pakistan has repeatedly denied that it is developing nuclear weap- ons, But a Special National Intelli- gence Estimate (SNIE) completed earlier this year by U.S, intelligence agencies cited numerous activities totally inconsistent with those as- surances, according to sources, The SNIE concluded that Pakistan ' would have a small nuclear weapon at a future, unspecified date. Charlies E. Redman, the State Department spokesman, said yes- terday that Reagan signed the See NUCLEAR, Al6, Col. 3 Prime Minister Mo- hammed Khan Junejo during his | NUCLEAR, From Al Pakistani certification Oct. 27, He added, however, that the Reagan administration still has “serious con- cerns” about the future and said the current certification should “not be interpreted as implying any U.S, approval of the Pakistani nuclear ~ program.” He eclined to. comment on any " intelligence reports, ’ There is disagreement among " intelligence and nuclear nonprolif- | eration experts about the exact sta- tus of the Pakistani program. One senior Reagan administration offi- cial confirmed that the program is advancing aggressively, but said that a new, multibillion-dollar U.S, | assistance proposal would provide leverage to deter actual congtruc- tion of a bomb. Another official said Pakistan could assemble a bomb within two weeks, Another well-informed source said it could be done in a shorter time and, in practical terms, Pakistan is only “two screwdriver - turns” from having a fully assem- bled bomb, QD Despite this evidence, sources said, keeping Pakistan from obtain- ing a bomb is a low priority on the | list of administration foreign poticy : goals. Said one senior official direct ly involved in monitoring the pro- gram, “This administration wouldn't come down on Pakistan if we found a bomb inZie’s bagerifent.” The reason, the Sources said, is Pakistan’s willingness to help the administration by acting as the pipeline for the hundreds of millions of dollars in CIA covert assistance that is provided the Afghanistan rebels—a top priority for Reagan and his administration. At the time of Junejo’s visit last summer to Washington, Reagan said that Pak- istan was a “front line” against “the brutal Soviet occupation of Afghan- istan.” Pakistan also cooperates with U.S. intelligence agencies in high- priority electronic intelligence gath- ering near the Soviet Union and in Southeast Asia, the sources said. On June 21 the Soviets issued a strongly worded, unusual warning to Zia charging that Pakistan had achieved the capability to build nu- clear weapons, which Moscow said it would not tolerate, according to sources, Within two days, the Reagan ad- ministration replied with its own protest, in effect telling Moscow to keep “hands off" Pakistan. This in effect made the administration a protector of the Pakistani program, and two sources said that the Pakis- tanis may have interpreted the ad- minstration’s remarks as approval. A senior administration official disputed this interpretation, how- ever, saying the White House made clear last summer to Junejo that a single bomb would result in termi- nation of all U.S. aid. The intelligence report that ura- nium has been enriched at levels in excess of 90 percent has alarmed nuclear weapons experts most. Leonard S, Spector, a nuclear pro- liferation expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said yesterday that, if true, “it would be-the last important step in the Pakistani program. It was the one outstanding gap in their pro- gram. and could be a terrible set- back to worldwide efforts to curtail the spread of nuclear weapons.” Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000100440002-1