30-04-09 US can make sure Pak nukes are secure:Obama

US President Barack Obama on Wednesday said Washington "can make sure that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is secure," even as he expressed grave concern over the deteriorating situation in the militancy-stricken country.At a White House press conference to mark his first 100 days in office,Obama expressed confidence about US control over Pakistan's nuclear weapons,perhaps through military-to-military cooperation, in the face of extremist advances in the country.In the process,he also hinted that Washington had contingency plans to handle the situation if it went out of Islamabad's hands. Asked if he could reassure the American people that,if necessary,America could secure Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and keep it from getting into the Taliban's hands,Obama replied:"I'm confident that we can make sure that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is secure,primarily,initially,because the Pakistani army,I think,recognizes the hazards of those weapons falling into the wrong hands."The carefully calibrated reply referring to primary security appeared to suggest the US has secondary back-up plans in the event of any exigencies,something the intelligence analysts' community has long considered inevitable.When the reporter followed up to seek a more precise answer,asking if in the worst case scenario,the US military could secure the nuclear weapons,Obama responded crisply:"I'm not going to engage in hypotheticals of that sort.I feel confident that that nuclear arsenal will remain out of militant hands.Okay?"The exchange was punctuated by a suo motu expression of concern about the situation in Pakistan by the US President,not because it was about to be overrun by Taliban,he said,but because the civilian government was very fragile and was not delivering basic services and governance,which was providing space for extremists.It was a surprisingly blunt vote of no-confidence in a civilian government whose leader is about to embark on a visit to Washington next week.There has been speculation in some quarters that Washington is not averse to another military takeover if the civilian government does not assert itself over the extremists