Pakistan envoy: Leaks have damaged our relations with US

One of Pakistan's most senior envoys today warned America that the WikiLeaks revelations will harm diplomatic relations.

Wajid Shamsul Hasan, the high commissioner to London, reacted angrily to the leaked diplomatic cables showing that Britain and the US worried about the safety of his country's nuclear arsenal.

Rejecting US offers to help safeguard Pakistan's nuclear material, he said it was like Islamabad stepping in to protect the Twin Towers before 9/11. In a sign of the irritation felt in Pakistan over the leaks, he added: "You are dealing with the relationship with states.

"You have built them over the years and all of a sudden something gets out —it's top secret, it's classified, it harms the relationship."

He defended his government's record on nuclear security. "We have had 27 months in power. We have had a very successful, foolproof control and command system looking after the nuclear arsenal and there is no question of it falling into the hands of any miscreants," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.