DATE=2/7/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PAK MISSILE TEST (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258903
BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Pakistan says it has successfully test-fired a
new short-range ballistic missile capable of hitting
targets up to a distance of 100-kilometers.
Correspondent Jim Teeple reports from Islamabad, the
missile firing (Monday) is just the latest in a series
of weapons tests by hostile neighbors India and
Pakistan.
Text: A government statement issued in Islamabad says
the new surface-to-surface missile has a greater
payload capacity and better accuracy than present
Pakistani missiles. The statement says the missile
can carry a variety of warheads, but does not say if
the missile is nuclear-capable.
The statement also says prior notification of the test
was given to all of Pakistan's neighbors.
In 1998 both India and Pakistan carried out nuclear
weapons tests, and last year both countries tested
mid-range ballistic missiles believed to have a range
of nearly two-thousand-kilometers.
Pakistan's missile test comes as tensions between the
two neighbors are high, following the hijacking of an
Indian Airlines plane by Kashmiri separatist militants
in December. India accuses Pakistan of involvement -
a charge Pakistan vehemently denies.
In recent weeks and days both countries have exchanged
artillery and mortar fire across the "line of
control", which divides Kashmir into Indian and
Pakistani governed regions. (SIGNED)
NEB/JLT/RAE
07-Feb-2000 09:08 AM EDT (07-Feb-2000 1408 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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