Musharraf's claims of fighting terrorism

There's no debate that Musharraf's "state of emergency" is targeting his democratic opponents and not the Taleban, but how the Taleban are benefitting from Musharraf's moves is getting very little coverage.

Taliban fighters are tightening their grip in areas in the north-west of Pakistan as a result of the country's state of emergency, officials in the Swat valley have said.

Pro-Taliban fighters have advanced in recent days and government officials say they now control as much as 70 per cent of the valley, just a few hours' drive from Islamabad.

And this isn't even the tribal areas further west.

If the Taleban/Al Qaeda needed to move people, supplies, or communications for a terror attack, "our ally" Musharraf has granted them all the time and space they need.

Related: (AFP) "The United States reportedly has secret contingency plans to safeguard Pakistani nuclear weapons if they risk falling into the wrong hands.....

"We can't say with absolute certainty that we know where they all are," one unidentified former US official told the newspaper, adding that any US effort to secure Pakistan's nuclear arsenal "could be very messy.""