Petraeus: Taliban militants threaten existence of Pakistan, but US feels nuclear weapons safe

July 28th, 2009 Pakistan unhappy with India's nuclear-powered subISLAMABAD — Pakistan says India's new nuclear-powered submarine is "detrimental" to the region's peace and stability and it will take "appropriate steps" in response. The statement comes amid lingering tensions between the two nuclear powers over last year's terrorist attacks in Mumbai that India blames on Pakistani militants.

May 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Stating that Pakistan's nuclear weapon is a "deterrent" against India, the country's top diplomat to the US Saturday expressed willingness to enter into an agreement with New Delhi to phase out all nuclear arms possessed by the two countries. Appearing on US television to make a public appeal to donate aid for the displaced people in the Swat valley, Pakistan's ambassador to the US Hussein Haqqani insisted that the nuclear weapons of his country are safe and there should be no concern about their security.

May 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pakistan has said that it is ready to phase out its nuclear weapons if India too agrees to do the same. Terming Pakistan's nuclear arsenal as a 'deterrent' against India, Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, Hussain Haqqani said Islamabad is willing to ink an accord with New Delhi in order to destroy the nukes possessed by the two neighboring countries.

May 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A top US general has said that al Qaeda's senior leadership has moved to the western region of Pakistan, and warned that the next few weeks would be pivotal for the country's future. General David Petraeus, the head of the US Central Command, noted that Pakistanis have also realised this and had galvanised themselves to protect their country from militants.

May 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari Sunday said Islamabad is not adding to its nuclear arsenal as it does not need any more, but it would not disclose the location of its weapons to the US. Pakistan is 'not adding to our stockpile as such', Zardari said on NBC's Meet the Press programme.

May 10th, 2009 Petraeus: al-Qaida not operating in AfghanistanWASHINGTON — The chief of the U.S. Central Command says al-Qaida no longer is operating in Afghanistan.

May 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON -Terming Pakistan as the "nerve center of al Qaeda's global operations", the US Central Command chief General David Petraeus has said that top commanders of the outfit are utilizing the terror safe havens situated in country's ungoverned tribal regions to plot terror strikes around the world. General Petraeus said that Al-Qaeda was also using the Pakistan based sanctuaries to channelize finance, recruit young men and pass orders to affiliates operating across the world.

May 8th, 2009 Gates: Taliban won't get Pakistani nuclear weaponsKABUL — Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the Taliban "overreached" when they advanced on a district of Pakistan just outside the capital city. Gates, visiting next-door Afghanistan, says he is encouraged that the Pakistani Army is taking on the Taliban.

May 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has claimed that his country's nuclear weapons are safe, rejecting US concerns that some of these weapons are at risk of being acquired by members of the Taliban. 'They are in safe hands,' Zardari told CNN in an interview Tuesday.

May 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Dispelling fears about the safety of the nuclear arsenal of the country, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the country's nuclear weapons are in safe custody. In an interview with a US television channel, Zardari ruled out threats posed by the militants to the nuclear weapons, as long as the military exists in the country.

May 4th, 2009 Mullen says he believes Pakistan nukes are secureWASHINGTON — The Pentagon's top military officer said Monday that he is comfortable that Pakistan's nuclear weapons remain secure, but is gravely concerned about Taliban advances there and in Afghanistan. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that the United States has worked with the Pakistanis to improve the security of their nuclear arsenal and he believes that country's military is focused on keeping them secure.

April 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - With the Taliban inching precariously closer to Islamabad, and fears of a takeover of the country by the insurgents getting stronger, the United States has expressed serious concern about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal getting into the hands of the Taliban. Washington feels that Pakistan's nuclear armaments are in safe custody for the time being, but it is worried about the weapons of mass destruction getting into the hands of the extremists after they topple the democratic set up in the country.

April 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Expressing serious concern over the rising extremism in the country, the US Central Command chief General David Petraeus has said that religious extremists operating along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border pose a direct threat to Pakistan's existence. Addressing a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting on Obama's revamped policy for Pakistan and Afghanistan General Petraeus said that the outlawed groups such as the Taliban and Al-Qaeda based on the Pakistani soil along the Afghan border are posing more serious threat to Pakistan's existence.

April 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's National Security Adviser Jim Jones is confident the new US Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy would be successful in removing terrorist safe havens in the two countries. 'It's extremely important that for us to be successful that we remove that safe haven of operation that insurgents have been able to navigate in, and I 'm quite sure that with our plan right now that we'll get there,' he said in an interview broadcast Tuesday on National Public Radio (NPR).

January 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - With the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan growing 'increasingly perilous every day' the US military under President Barack Obama considers the region its top priority, according to the seniormost US military commander. 'I think that the top priority for us right now is Afghanistan-Pakistan.