Clinton turns heat on Pakistan

US SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton has broken cover to deliver the Obama administration's toughest line yet on Pakistan, describing the nation as a "mortal threat to the security and safety of our country and the world".

Amid fears that the Taleban is tightening its grip in a province close to Islamabad, and in a strongly worded statement that made a marked contrast to the more softly-softly approach of President Barack Obama, Mrs Clinton accused the Pakistani government of "abdicating" to insurgents.

Her comments, made to the foreign affairs committee of the US House of Representatives on Wednesday, came after the provincial government reached a peace deal with Taleban militants and agreed to impose sharia law in a district neighbouring the Swat Valley, 70 miles from the Pakistani capital. Local police say militants have made Islamic broadcasts there, set up checkpoints and warned barbers to stop shaving men's faces.

The Taleban has also taken parts of the district of Buner in the remote north of the country. Eight platoons of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) were yesterday sent to guard government buildings and bridges in Buner, just 62 miles from Islamabad.

Militants killed two policemen when a van escorting the paramilitary personnel conducting a patrol near Swabi village was ambushed.

The attack coincided with reports of over 30 Taleban fighters moving into Shangla, another district near Swat in North West Frontier Province.

"I think the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taleban and to the extremists," Mrs Clinton told the hearing. She also echoed concerns that Islamic militants could overthrow the government and seize control of the 60 nuclear weapons estimated to be at Pakistan's disposal.

"We cannot underscore the seriousness of the existential threat posed to Pakistan by the continuing advances – now within hours of Islamabad – that are being made by a loosely confederated group of terrorists and others seeking the overthrow of the Pakistani state," she said.

Mrs Clinton also asked Pakistani expatriates to "speak out forcefully against a (Pakistani] policy that is ceding more and more territory to the insurgents – to the Taleban, to al-Qaeda, to the allies that are in this terrorist syndicate."

Analysts say her comments may damage relations between the US and Pakistan.

The Obama administration's so-called 'Af-Pak' strategy, which was announced recently and outlined the administration's policy for tackling unrest in Pakistan and Afghanistan, does not do enough to address threats emerging in Pakistan, according to a paper published by the Council on Foreign Relations. It recommended that Washington's primary regional objective should be "partnership".

Meanwhile, Pakistan has accused India and Afghanistan of backing an insurgency in its south-western province of Baluchistan.

Pakistan has accused India of meddling in Baluchistan in the past but Wednesday's comments from the interior ministry chief, Rehman Malik, in parliament were also the most explicit in recent years.

Mrs Clinton also called for "crippling" sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme if the US policy of engagement with Tehran should fail.

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RICE APPROVED USE OF TORTURE

CONDOLEEZZA Rice, the former national security adviser to President George Bush, personally approved the CIA's request in July 2002 to subject a suspected terrorist to waterboarding – a simulated drowning technique that is classified as torture.

A report released on Wednesday by the Senate intelligence committee provides the most detailed timeline yet for how the CIA's controversial interrogation programme was conceived and approved at the highest levels in the White House.

The report contradicts evidence given by Ms Rice to the Senate armed services committee last autumn.

Previously, she said only that she had attended meetings where the CIA interrogation request was discussed.