FM on tension with India and Bin Laden

(29 Dec 2001) AUDIO AS INCOMING 1. Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar walking into conference 2. Cutaway media 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdul Sattar, Pakistan Foreign Minister "Taking into acount past experience and the existence of mistrust between the two countries, the possibility of a small action would trigger a chain of action and reaction, leading to conflict that neither side desires. It's unfortunately very high, the propensity for such an outcome is unfortunately very high and therefore it is incumbent upon responsible leaders to strictly refrain from such provocative statements." 4. Wide shot, news conference 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdul Sattar, Pakistan Foreign Minister "The Indian side has said in advance they will not have a meeting. I am sure that no reasonable person would like Pakistan to make a request that will give India the satisfaction of saying they have rejected it." 6. Wide shot, news conference 7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Abdul Sattar, Pakistan Foreign Minister "I told you Pakistan doesn't want any kind of war, local, general, nuclear, conventional. This is a very grave issue and it should not be lightly discussed. What you should know is that nuclear weapons are awful weapons and any use of these weapons should be inconceivable for any state. Of course these are weapons of defence and deterrence and we hope that the deterrence value of these weapons will be kept in view by anyone who is engaged in adventurism" 8. Mid shot, media 9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Abdul Sattar, Pakistan Foreign Minister "Unfortunately theres nothing I can do to prevent speculation. What I can tell you is, I have no information whatsoever that Osama bin Laden has come to Pakistan. Now those people who engage in speculation should corroborate the claims that they make, otherwise I can tell you one thing and that is the policy of the government of Pakistan: We will not permit the entry of Osama bin Laden, of members of al-Qaida." 10. Mid shot, media STORYLINE: Pakistan's foreign minister on Saturday said Islamabad would not request a meeting between General Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the upcoming SARRC summit. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is due to meet in Nepal from January 2 to 4. Abdul Sattar said India had already rejected such a meeting and Pakistan would not give it the satisfaction of requesting one. He also said Pakistan did not want any kind of war with India, be it conventional or nuclear, and emphasised that the purpose of its own nuclear weapons were defence and deterrence. Sattar said the actual use of nuclear weapons should be inconceivable by any state. Tension between Pakistan and India has been running high since the terrorist attack on India's parliament. India has accused two Pakistan-based militant organisations of being behind the incident. Sattar also stated that he had had no information regarding reports that Osama bin Laden had escaped from Afghanistan into Pakistan. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...