Cut ties with al-Qaeda, LeT and Taliban: US tells ISI

The United States on Sunday asked the ISI to sever all its ties with extremist's groups including al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba, which it called an "existential threat" to Pakistan itself. It has been told in clear words, that cutting all ties with extremist elements means not only the Taliban and al-Qaeda related to Afghanistan or western Pakistan, but also those elements like LeT in Kashmir.

The United States on Sunday asked the ISI to sever all its ties with extremist's groups including al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba, which it called an "existential threat" to Pakistan itself.

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ISI, which is having undeniable links with these terrorist groups, has been warned by the Obama administration, which is more explicitly reflected in the new Af-Pak policy announced by US President Barack Obama on Friday, to set its house in order as soon as possible.

"What we need to do is try and help the Pakistanis understand these groups are now an existential threat to them and we will be there as a steadfast ally for Pakistan," US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Fox News today in an interview in which he clearly said that the ISI needs to cut its ties with extremists.

"They can count on us and they don't need that hedge," Gates said as he cited ISI's links specifically to the al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani militant network and to the forces of warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in Afghanistan.

It has been told in clear words, that cutting all ties with extremist elements means not only the Taliban and al-Qaeda related to Afghanistan or western Pakistan, but also those elements like LeT in Kashmir, as the US establishment has now realised and come to the conclusion that all these groups are linked together.