Pakistan may become terrorist hub : Study

New Delhi, Oct 22 (UNI) Pakistan is likely to remain unstable in the coming years, becoming a major hub of terror outsourcing, a study has warned, as senior officials of the two countries meet here today for the second meeting of the Joint Anti-terrorism Mechanism.

The study, coming in the immediate aftermath of the devastating terrorist attack on former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi, says that internally, Pakistan would face serious security challenges in Balochistan and Waziristan.

While Waziristan would become a global hub of terrorist outsourcing, Balochistan would continue to pose problems of governance.

The study, published by the Observer Research Foundation(ORF), a think-tank, says that elections in the country, expected to take place in January-February 2008, are likely to witness large scale rigging and 'electoral management' by intelligence agencies to retain and strengthen the Army's political power.

''The elections would further weaken the political system in the country, rendering opposition parties weak and ineffective before the political and financial muscle of the Army,'' it says.

MORE UNI