Pakistan poses "a mortal threat" to world security: Hillary Clinton

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday Pakistan's government has abdicated to the Taliban by agreeing to Islamic law in part of the country and that the nuclear-armed nation now poses a "mortal threat" to world security.

Clinton was before the House Foreign Affairs Committee whose members asked her about Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari's decision to bow to pressure from conservatives earlier this month and sign a peace pact that imposes Islamic Sharia law in Swat.

U.S. officials have warned that the Swat peace deal could turn the region into a launching pad for militant expansion into Pakistan's more densely populated plains, arguing that the militants have made it clear they aren't interested in a ceasefire.

That fear started becoming a reality Tuesday when the Taliban seized control of the Buner district in the country's northwest, just over 100 kilometers from the capital, Islamabad. They moved on Buner after consolidating their hold on the Swat valley following the peace deal.

Witnesses told the international media heavily-armed militants from Swat occupied government offices and set up their own check posts as terrified residents fled.

They said the fighters ransacked the offices of international aid and development agencies and seized their vehicles, drove out government officials and set up their headquarters in Buner.

And a Taliban commander said Islamic Sharia courts would soon be established in the district as they have already done in Swat, to provide speedy justice to the people.

The information minister for Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) has warned that the occupation of Buner violates the Swat peace accord. But that is falling on deaf ears because the group has said it doesn't recognize the accord and is under no obligation to respect it.

According to local media the Taliban argues that it did not sign any deal with the NWFP government and now it is challenging the legitimacy of Pakistan’s government.

Spokesman Muslim Khan told CNN his group is demanding that the Taliban’s model of sharia law be imposed throughout Pakistan and beyond, “even in America”. In an interview with The Associated Press, he said Osama Bin Laden is welcome in Swat, adding another dark element to complicate an already bad situation.

If this is not reason enough for concern there is a warning about Pakistan from an American think tank. According to a report from the Council on Foreign Relations if "Talibanisation" of Pakistan continues at the current pace, "the next generation of the world’s most dangerous terrorists will be born, indoctrinated, and trained in Pakistan, the Council on Foreign Relations".

The report by Daniel Markey says that the ‘Talibanisation’ of Pakistan’s Pashtun belt is moving eastwards, creating "new terrorist havens" in once-tranquil places.

It adds that “Pakistan's non-Pashtun extremist and sectarian groups, some of which were historically nurtured by the state as a means to project influence into India and Afghanistan, also have the potential to prove deeply destabilising.”

The report also warns of “The geographic proximity of Pakistan’s nuclear programme to these sophisticated terrorists and the recent history of illicit transfers of material and know-how pose a unique threat.”

It concludes that "fragile state institutions, weak leadership, and inadequate resources limit the ability of Islamabad and Kabul to fight militancy in the near term or to foster moderation."

In making her case before lawmakers Clinton said the Pakistani government has to deliver basic services to its people "otherwise they are going to lose out to those who show up and claim that they can solve people's problems and then they will impose this harsh form of oppression on women and others."

Commenting on the expansion of Taliban influence Clinton said the U.S. cannot "underscore the seriousness of the existential threat posed to the state of Pakistan by the continuing advances now within hours of Islamabad that are being made by a loosely confederated group of terrorists and others who are seeking the overthrow of the Pakistani state."

She added, "I don't hear that kind of outrage or concern coming from enough people that would reverberate back within the highest echelons of the civilian and military leadership of Pakistan."