Pakistan's leaders urge West not to panic

PAKISTAN'S leaders insist the world should not panic about the nuclear-armed nation losing its fight against Islamist militants.

When questioned on CNN about the chances of Islamabad's nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of extremists, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said the insurgents would have to defeat the world's seventh biggest army first. "My Government is not going to fall when one mountain is taken by one group or the other," he said.

Whether the world is reassured by the comments depends a lot on the effectiveness of the offensive against the Pakistani Taliban and their allies in the Swat Valley.

It is now up to Pakistan's military to show it has the will and the capacity to conduct a sustained and successful campaign against the Taliban. If it fails, Mr Zardari's soothing assurances will become more difficult to believe.

President Barack Obama is applauding Pakistan and Afghanistan for their commitment to helping the U.S. fight terrorists holed up in their territory, but he also is cautioning that the path to success is slow and unsure.“The road ahead will be difficult,” Obama said Wednesday after a series of meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari that yielded few announced new commitments. “There will be more violence, and there will be setbacks.”

There are no plans to deploy U.S. ground troops to Pakistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday, despite concerns over increasing violence between Pakistani troops and Taliban militants.