Ex-CIA officer alleges Musharraf handed Pakistan’s nukes to US

John Kiriakou says Washington “essentially just purchased Musharraf” and, he claims, the Pentagon controlled Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal

Former CIA officer John Kiriakou has accused the United States of effectively “purchasing” former general Pervez Musharraf by funnelling vast sums of aid into Pakistan, the Hindustan Times has claimed.

Kiriakou also claimed, in an interview with ANI cited by the Indian media, that Musharraf handed over control of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal to Washington.

Kiriakou, who spent 15 years in the CIA as an analyst and later in counter-terrorism, told ANI that US ties with Musharraf’s government were “very, very good” and argued Washington preferred dealing with authoritarian rulers.

“So we essentially just purchased Musharraf,” he was quoted as saying.

He said Washington provided “millions and millions and millions of dollars” in both military and economic assistance and that US officials met Musharraf “several times a week”.

“Essentially, he would let us do whatever we wanted to do,” Kiriakou told ANI, while adding that Musharraf also had to placate his own military backers.

On a particularly striking claim, Kiriakou said he was told unofficially in 2002 that “the Pentagon controlled the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, that Musharraf had turned control over to the United States because he was afraid of exactly what you just described (nuclear weapons falling into terrorist hands)”.

Kiriakou accused Musharraf of playing a double game -- publicly aligning with the US on counter-terrorism while tolerating militant activity aimed at India to satisfy elements of Pakistan’s military.

“He had to keep the military happy… they cared about India,” Kiriakou said, adding that India and Pakistan were “on the brink of war in 2002”.

The former CIA officer also criticised Pakistan’s political elite, recalling a visit to Benazir Bhutto in exile. Describing her Dubai residence as a “$5 million palace on the Gulf”, he quoted her joking about her husband’s Bentleys: “So help me God, if he came home with another Bentley, I’m going to kill him!”

He also condemned the ostentatious lifestyle in the face of widespread poverty.