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Afghanistan/South Asia
Pakistan may make Nigeria a nuclear power
2004-03-04
Pakistan yesterday offered to share military assistance, including "nuclear power" with Nigeria, in defiance of President George Bush’s new counter-proliferation initiative.
Perv's asking for it, isn't he?
The offer was announced by the Nigerian defence ministry in a statement saying that General Muhammad Aziz Khan, chairman of Pakistan’s joint chiefs of staff, had made the offer to the Nigerian defence minister, Rabiu Kwankwaso, during a visit to the west African state’s capital, Abuja. "Speaking at the opening of the discussions, the Pakistani chairman of joint chiefs of staff ... said that his country is working out the dynamics of how they can assist Nigeria’s armed forces to strengthen its military capability and to acquire nuclear power," the Nigerian press release said. Neither the Pakistani nor the Nigerian governments clarified what Gen Khan had in mind.
Nigeria is currently lead by a Christian, so I don’t know how big a role Islamic solidarity would play in the assistance given, it’s probably more cash related, although I don’t know how a country like Nigeria can afford to pay much of anything.
They've got oil money to piss away on prestige projects, of course.
A week after AQ Khan’s confession, President Bush launched a counter-proliferation initiative based on international cooperation to curb transfers of nuclear technology and materials. Gen Khan’s offer to Nigeria appeared to be in blatant defiance of that initiative. The general made clear that the snub was intentional, declaring: "Pakistan had to take its destiny into its own hands to become a nuclear state because of the regular threats posed by hostile neighbours with special reference to the Kashmir conflict," according to the press release.
General Khan is the highest ranked Islamist in the Pakistani Army, being the 2nd most important General and of Kashmiri descent. He and a couple other Islamists brought Musharaff to power in the ’99 coup, and is due to retire at the end of the year, which may be why Musharaf will be stepping down as Army Chief at the end of this year too.
US officials are also baffled at Nigeria’s intentions, nearly five years after the country restored civilian rule, and at a time when it is under no threat from its neighbours. Two months ago, the Nigerian vice president’s office announced that it had struck an agreement with North Korea to gain access to Pyongyang’s missile technology. The offer was subsequently denied by North Korean officials and played down by a spokeswoman to Nigeria’s president, Olusegun Obasanjo.
Posted by:Paul Moloney

#14  Typo?

said that his country is working out the dynamics of how they can assist Nigeria’s armed forces to strengthen its military capability and to acquire nuclear power

The odds of that are 1 in 26^162 or 1.68x10^229 power. Too bad that is way way larger than the number of subatomic particles in the universe.
Posted by: ed   2004-3-4 7:14:58 PM  

#13  Nukes. Nigeria. Uh, nope. Doesn't compute.

PakiWakiLand, the suicidal dupe army of the Saoodis, is steadily creeping toward the center ring of the radar. All of the arm-waving (read: stories about all of the total fucking morons they have offered or given nuke tech to) makes it unavoidable: They must either figure it out for themselves and commit suicide, or be given their last cigarette. Disarm or die. Nothing redeeming so kill it.
Posted by: .com   2004-3-4 6:44:51 PM  

#12  Lead codpiece sold separately.
Posted by: Anonymous   2004-3-4 5:08:23 PM  

#11  Dear General Khan,

I am Rabiu Kwankwoso, a minister in the Government of Nigeria. I have 100,000 tons of uranium ore in a Swiss bank account that I am unable to access due to tragic circumstances. If you provide me with 1000 P-2 gas centrifuges I will transfer the Uranium ore to your account. I will then withdraw 70,000 tons of the ore, leaving you with 30,000 tons in payment for your generosity and consideration.
Posted by: 11A5S   2004-3-4 11:48:23 AM  

#10  Perhaps its time to take the nuclear weapons (all of them) away from Pakistan.
Posted by: phil_b   2004-3-4 9:47:22 AM  

#9  Steve, lol!
Posted by: B   2004-3-4 9:37:40 AM  

#8  Denial Part 2:
Nigeria said today an earlier claim that Pakistan's top general had offered to help Nigeria acquire nuclear power was a mistake and it should be ignored. "The reference to nuclear power in the statement earlier issued was a mistake, a typographical error," defence ministry spokesman Bellu Nwachukwu, told AFP, confirming the reaction of the Pakistani authorities to the issue.

"It should have read that we were going to help them acquire new Clear Powder Sure deodorant. They sweat a lot in Nigeria."
Posted by: Steve   2004-3-4 9:35:53 AM  

#7  I'm kinda hoping the Pakis become a glowing sheet of glass sooner rather than later. They, along with their Soddy overlords, seem bent on widening the bloody frontier of Islam at an ever-increasing place. Time for some targetted assassinations of holy men and military trolls?
Posted by: Frank G   2004-3-4 9:22:56 AM  

#6  Denial in 3..2..1..
Pakistan Thursday rejected Nigerian claims that its armed forces chief offered this week to help the African state acquire nuclear power. 'We are denying it. This is baseless. He said nothing of this kind,' military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said. Nigeria's defence ministry has accused the chairman of Pakistan's joint chiefs of staff General Muhammad Aziz Khan of offering to 'strengthen (Nigeria's) military capability and acquire nuclear power.' In a statement it said Khan made the offer with Nigeria's Defence Minister Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso in Abuja.
Posted by: Steve   2004-3-4 9:18:56 AM  

#5  Way to go ME countries - you can choose the Western culture, a life as close to Utopia that has ever existed - or you can have religious police caning people for smiling or listening to music in public...

The religous police only bother the common people, the Generals, Mullahs and Princes are free to do whatever they like; which is why Islamism is encouraged by the ruling elites of many Muslim nations. There isn't a better system than theocracy when you want to maintain your corrupt rule and expand it on a global basis.
Posted by: Paul Moloney   2004-3-4 8:04:40 AM  

#4  I would have thought that India and Pakistan would have come together to help us fight the WOT - as nobody but a few religious freaks can want the Wahhabi's to win this war.

Sadly, Pakistan -- "the land of the pure" -- was founded and is largely run by those very same religious freaks.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2004-3-4 8:00:51 AM  

#3  Isn't it funny how they are still in a pissing contest over Kashmir when the world is falling apart around them? As one who didn't know the difference between Iraq and Iran before 911, I would have thought that India and Pakistan would have come together to help us fight the WOT - as nobody but a few religious freaks can want the Wahhabi's to win this war.

Way to go ME countries - you can choose the Western culture, a life as close to Utopia that has ever existed - or you can have religious police caning people for smiling or listening to music in public...and 50 percent of you are women - do you really want your status to be far, far, lower than an American dog? Apparently - this is a tough choice in the middle east. The people(TM) better get their act together and decide if it's more important for them to hate Americans and Jews than it is to avoid an outright war. If Syria, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey(YES TURKEY) join to wage war, there will be no guarantees for them how this will turn out. I'm guessing that Russia will eventually line up on our side - out of naked self-interest.
Posted by: B   2004-3-4 7:46:29 AM  

#2  I'd stop looking at the military potential uses, and rather look at who holds the command of the Nigerian military and just as importantly look at the black market in that area. This country has a major rep in the world as a smugglers haven for both drugs and weapons. I suspect this would definitely be a conduit for smuggling these sorts of weapons to terror groups.
Posted by: Valentine   2004-3-4 6:06:35 AM  

#1  My initial reaction to this was wondering if Nigeria had any natural uranium deposits. According to the CIA world factbook, Nigeria does not, but it's northern neighbor Niger does. It would be interesting to study this angle some more, but I don't know enough off hand about the geography there to indicate if there would possibly be deposits in the north, close to Niger.
Posted by: sg   2004-3-4 4:46:35 AM  

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