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Pakistan facing serious internal threats: Hillary

Brussels/London: Calling the Lahore attack a “very eerie replica” of the Mumbai terror strike, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said Pakistan is facing “very serious” internal threats.

Ms. Clinton’s assessment of the security situation in Pakistan was shared by Britain whose Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that country was facing a “mortal threat” from its internal enemies.

Ms. Clinton also said Pakistan and Afghanistan should be seen as a single strategic concern. “The tragic events the other day in Lahore with the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, which was a very eerie replica of the attack in Mumbai demonstrate the ongoing threats that Pakistan faces,” Ms. Clinton told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels.

Ms. Clinton said it was becoming obvious that Pakistan faced “very serious internal threats” and that Afghanistan faced continuing external threats that emanated from Pakistan. The U.S.’ chief diplomat also touched upon the security situation in Pakistan in her address at the NATO meet. “We must recognise that one, tiny remote corner of the world — the borders of Pakistan — is the nerve centre for extremists who planned 9/11, the bombings in Madrid and London, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the recent carnage in Mumbai,” she told the meeting. “They are planning similar attacks right now,” said Ms. Clinton.

Ms. Clinton stressed the need for regional approach and better coordination within the U.S. government and NATO to address the threat in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mr. Miliband told BBC Radio that it was now vital that rival democratic forces in Pakistan unite to combat the “very grave” security situation. “It’s now vital that whatever the political differences between President [Asif Ali] Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the opposition... come together to unite against the mortal threat Pakistan faces, which is a threat from its internal enemies, not its traditional external enemies,” said Mr. Miliband. — PTI

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