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
.