New Delhi: President Pervez Musharraf is now the supreme guardian of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
Musharraf issued an ordinance late on Thursday night, making himself the head of the National Command Authority (NCA), which is responsible for the development and control of atomic weapons.
Earlier, the Prime Minister as head of the government was the NCA chairman. The Prime Minister will now be its deputy chairman.
The other members of the NCA are the ministers for foreign affairs, finance, defence and interior, the three service chiefs, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and the director general of the Strategic Plans Division.
The ordinance came two days ahead of the proposed lifting of Emergency and appeared to be aimed at addressing fresh international concerns about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal in the wake of the political uncertainty gripping the country.
Earlier in the day, Musharraf finalised an order to revoke the Emergency and to amend the constitution to protect decisions made by him since the measure was imposed on November 3.
When the NCA was set up in 2000, it was envisaged as an "institutionalised command and control mechanism consistent with Pakistan's obligations as a nuclear power".
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