US welcomes Pak move to restore deposed CJ

Washington, Mar.16 (ANI): The Obama administration here has welcomed the Pakistan Government's decision to reinstate deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.Washington gave its reaction after uthorities in Islamabad informed it about its decision.

According to sources, Chaudhry will assume his responsibilities on March 22.

Meanwhile, a report requested by United States President Barack Obama on overhauling US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan has warned that Pakistan needs urgent help to fight its challenges, saying it could be the launch pad for the next 9/11 otherwise.

The report published in the Telegraph said President Obama had entrusted the task to overhaul the US policy to former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Middle East expert Bruce Riedel.

Riedel's working group has concluded that stabilizing Pakistan was now the higher priority, the paper quoted its source.

Riedel said in the report, prepared in conjunction with the National Security Council (NSC), that he believed that unless serious action was taken, Pakistan would become a 'terrorist university', representing a far greater threat to the security of the US and Europe than Afghanistan did before 9/11.

"Recent apocalyptic intelligence on the situation in Pakistan has shocked the Obama administration and convinced Riedel's review team that radicals trained in Pakistan are the greatest threat to western security," the paper said.

It quoted a source familiar with the White House Pak-Afghan policy review discussions as saying that Riedel said on the record that a failed state in Pakistan was America's 'worst nightmare' in the 21st century.

"The Pakistani government seems unable to control its military or intelligence people. The Tribal Areas are already a failed state and a safe haven for terrorists. If that spreads, the whole country will become a terrorist university. The chances of a spectacular in the US or Britain is exponentially increased. And Pakistan has nuclear weapons," Telegraph cited the review report, as saying.

It said the Riedel review had reportedly concluded that seven out of 10 Taliban and other militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan were "reconcilable", who could be bribed, cajoled and persuaded to turn away from extremism.

"The review, likely to be published within days, will recommend that non-military aid to Pakistan is quadrupled. Payments to Afghan tribal chiefs will also increase. In return, the Pakistani government will be expected to agree to a wholesale overhaul of its military which will see US special forces retrain Pakistani soldiers in counter-insurgency warfare," The Telegraph said.

Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and a co-chairman of the Riedel Review, has warned that the international effort in Afghanistan could only succeed if Pakistan's Tribal Areas were under control. (ANI)