Pakistan a failed state: US Congressman Frank Pallone

[tekisui]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=&id=ff1cd4a5-4c6c-4f6c-abc2-965f0bf6a7ac&&Headline=Pakistan+a+failed+state%3a+Frank+Pallone">Pakistan a failed state: US Congressman Frank Pallone

Senior US Congressman Frank Pallone has declared that Pakistan is a "failed state" as Islamabad does not have control over its own territories and its land is being used by terrorists to launch attack against other nations, including the US and India.

"Pakistan is essentially a failed state. I do not believe the central government controls most of the territory of the country," the Democratic lawmaker from New Jersey said Sunday at a condolence meeting for the Mumbai terror attack victims.

"It is obvious that in the area near Afghanistan, which is used by Al Qaeda and the Taliban as a way to move into Afghanistan and oppose American forces there, there is no control. It is obvious that even though they have outlawed the organisations that were trying to sever Kashmir from India, they continue (to exist). So the government really has no control," he said.

"The Pakistani government has to step up. It has to play a role in these unorganised territories and make sure that they are not being used to launch another attack by Al Qaeda or the Taliban. If not, then the US has to go there itself," he added.

Condemning the Mumbai carnage, Pallone said the terrorists involved in the attack tried to give the impression that they were local Indian Muslims.

"The fact was that they were not. They were not the Muslims in India. They were those Muslims who were trained in Pakistan and came from Pakistan," he said.

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In 2002, Pallone was awarded India's third highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan for his contributions as member of the India Caucus in the Congress.