Issue (WIWE) status: Submitted, Unpublished

Weak Signal's progress: Fully-fledged

This Weak Signal came from: 
social networks

The source of this Weak Signal: 
Wikileaks (as reported by BBC News)

When did the Weak Signal manifest ? 
2005-now

Weak Signal's description: 

US and UK diplomats feared Pakistan's nuclear material could fall into the hands of terrorists, the Guardian reports some of the leaked cables as revealing.

Cables reported in the New York Times reveal the US has been attempting to remove highly enriched uranium from a research reactor in Pakistan since 2007.

In a May 2009 cable, US ambassador Anne W Patterson says Pakistan had refused a visit from US experts. She quotes Pakistan officials as saying removing the fuel would be seen in Pakistan "as the United States taking Pakistan's nuclear weapons".

Another cable concerning a US intelligence briefing in 2008, reported in the Guardian, said Pakistan was "producing nuclear weapons at a faster rate than any other country in the world".

Russian foreign ministry official Yuri Korolev feared that Islamists might infiltrate the ranks of the 120,000-130,000 people directly involved in Pakistan's nuclear and missile programmes.

"There is no way to guarantee that all are 100% loyal and reliable," he told US officials in February, according to the Guardian.