US ready with contingency plans to prevent Pak nukes falling to Taliban: Pentagon

September 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama plans to observe the anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks with a visit to the Pentagon. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters about Obama's plans on Tuesday.

August 6th, 2009 LONDON - Britain's Ambassador to Afghanistan, Sir Mark Sedwill, has said that as many as two-thirds of those fighting with the Taliban in that country could be persuaded to change sides. Ambassador Sedwill also said that he expected the voter turnout in the August 22 presidential elections to be lower than in the last presidential election, in 2004.

June 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Pentagon investigation into a US airstrike in Afghanistan last month that killed scores of civilians has concluded there were "problems" with how the attack was carried out, a spokesman has said. US Central Command is expected to soon release the report of the May 4 incident in Afghanistan's Farah province.

June 4th, 2009 MINGORA - The military offensive in Pakistan's Swat Valley may be nearing its end, with the Army claiming that it has forced the Taliban and other extremists to leave the region, besides sanitizing scores of militants. However, after the troops pull out from the different regions of the region, the biggest task of the local administration would be to prevent the extremists from resurfacing, and starting their reign of terror once again.

May 30th, 2009 LAHORE - Dismissing America's fears about Pakistan nukes falling into the Taliban's hands, the Pakistan Army has asked the United States to focus more on the weapons that the allied forces have lost in the war against terror in Afghanistan. In an interview to a private television channel, the ISPR spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said that a large quantity of the arms and ammunition being used by the Taliban in the country are coming from Afghanistan, and the United States should pay attention to this rather than expressing concerns over the safety of Pakistan's nuclear assets.

May 27th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Tariq Majid has said that the country's nuclear weapons are in safe custody and the world wide concerns about it being falling into the Taliban's hands are 'unfounded'. General Majid assured a US delegation here that Pakistan's nukes were absolutely safe and that there is an immaculate multilayered security arrangement guarding the country's nuclear assets.

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 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has, at the request of President Barack Obama, updated its plans for using military force against Iran, Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Friday. The US has not ruled out the possibility of a military strike if diplomacy fails to resolve the international dispute over Iran's nuclear activities, Gates said.

May 15th, 2009 LONDON - The United States has in place a detailed emergency plan to secure Pakistan's mobile arsenal of nuclear warheads, in case the nukes are in danger of falling into the hands of the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups. According to the US intelligence sources, the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the super-secret commando unit headquartered at Fort Bragg, has been given orders to remain prepared for action at short notice.

May 7th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Foreign Office on Thursday rubbished reports that Islamabad has shared information about its nukes with US authorities. Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told reporters here that information about Pakistan's nukes is sacrosanct and could not be shared with any other country.

May 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Concerned by reports of an imminent threat to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal from the Taliban, US Senator Richard Luger has asked President Obama to force Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to ensure the safety of the nukes. According to The Nation, Senate foreign committee member, Luga,r urged Obama to ask Zardari to step up security for Pakistan's nuclear facilities.

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.

April 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The United States, while welcoming the Pakistan military's offensive against the Taliban, has expressed hope that the operation would be sustained till the extremists are rooted out from the region. "The test of all of these Pakistani military operations, because we've seen them from time to time in the past, is always their sustainability," Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said.

April 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Punjab province is falling under the grip of the Taliban and the country needs to act quickly to eliminate this grave threat to the heart of our country, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Deputy Parliamentary leader Dr Farooq Sattar has said. Talking to reporters at Parliament House, Sattar claimed the Taliban were getting stronger in Punjab and the time had come to take immediate action against the people who posed a grave threat to Pakistan's security.

March 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Obama administration appears to be backing away from the phrase "global war on terror," a signature rhetorical legacy of the Bush administration, and now prefers to use the phrase "Overseas Contingency Operation". According to the Washington Post, in a memo e-mailed this week to Pentagon staff members, the Defense Department's office of security review noted that "this administration prefers to avoid using the term 'Long War' or 'Global War on Terror' [GWOT.] Please use 'Overseas Contingency Operation.' " The memo said the direction came from the Office of Management and Budget, the executive-branch agency that reviews the public testimony of administration officials before it is delivered.