Keighley MP Ann Cryer has condemned the nuclear tests carried out last week by Pakistan.

The Pakistani government tested its own nuclear devices in response to the tests carried out by India three weeks ago.

Mrs Cryer says: "I am deeply saddened by the futility of the actions of the Pakistan government. They won't bring solutions to the problems in Kashmir (a source of conflict between the two countries). They will only make matters worse.

"This situation won't do anything for the poor people in Pakistan. They need clean water, health care, shelter and a decent diet. If the Pakistani government ploughed the millions they used for the testing into these causes they would have the admiration of myself and the world."

But Khadim Hussain, manager of the Sangat Community Centre in Lawkholme, resp-onds: "No-one wishes the world to be polluted with nuclear arms, but the Pakistan government was pushed into a corner and it was necessary. Showing our capabilities is the biggest deterent. Pakistan would have been toppled if we had not carried out the tests. We have relations in Kashmir and we do feel this is the only way to protect them.

"Pakistan doing these tests won't make the world any more dangerous. We must focus on the real issue - the human suffering in Kashmir - and sign a non nuclear treaty.

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