Hold your breath: Hafiz Saeed could be Pakistan’s next Prime Minister

Islamabad, Oct 29: What is the worst thing that could happen? Hafiz Saeed, the boss of the dreaded terror group Lashkar-e-Tayiba could well become the next Prime Minister of Pakistan.

A report published by the Oxford University and Strategic Foresight Group said in a detailed analysis that in the year 2020, 'Extremist and religious political parties in Pakistan [are] become increasingly popular. Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT) is able to build its party infrastructure and contest the federal elections successfully in alliance with other extremist groups and active unofficial support from the military. Pakistan [could] then elect Hafiz Saeed as the head of government.'

The study -- Humanity at Risk - Global Terror Threat Indicant (GTTI) -- by Oxford University and Strategic Foresight Group (SFG) said that Pakistan was the breeding ground of terrorism.

As per the GTTI, while the Afghan Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Taiyyaba (LeT) pose the maximum threat to international security in future, Pakistan is placed on top of the list of countries with the highest number of terrorist bases and safe havens.

'If we look at the most dangerous terrorist groups, based on hard facts and statistics, we find that Pakistan hosts or aids majority of them. Also, there are a significant number of groups based in Afghanistan, which operate with the support of Pakistan,' the report says.

The over 80-page report, which has been prepared to discuss the challenges in the next decade, presents an analytical framework and tool to enable policy makers to look into the future.

'The rise of competitive extremism of all shades, misuse of weapons of mass destruction and economic disruptions can undermine human progress or even survival in the period from now until 2030. They are all interlinked with terrorism', the report reveals. Strategic Foresight Group had analysed almost 200 groups actively involved in committing acts of terror in the first half decade of the twenty first century. During that period, the groups motivated by their own interpretation of Jihadi ideology accounted for only a fourth of almost 200 groups around the world.