Al-Marsad newspaper: The former chief inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr. Yusri Abu Shadi, explained how a poor country like Pakistan managed to obtain a nuclear weapon in the mid-1970s.
He said during an interview with the program “In the Picture”, broadcast on the Gulf Rotana channel, that the Pakistani president at this time, “Zulfikar Ali Bhutto”, was very excited, because India detonated a nuclear bomb in 1974, and claimed that it was a peaceful bomb, in addition to the occurrence of 4 wars between India and Pakistan, the President felt that Pakistan’s national security is threatened.
He continued, Zulfikar hired a Pakistani expert in nuclear reactors and appointed him head of atomic energy, and another Pakistani person who was working in a uranium enrichment plant in Europe was hired, and he succeeded in obtaining the designs and fled with them and returned to Pakistan, pointing out that the Pakistani president separated the two. And make them both work separately.
He noted that the two were able to reach a high production capacity, and enrichment and uranium extraction facilities were established. He pointed out that some Arab countries, such as Libya, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, provided assistance to Pakistan, including spending on nuclear facilities.
He added, when India detonated the second bomb in 1998, Pakistan carried out 6 explosions, including 5 highly enriched uranium bombs.