The internally displaced people as a result of the military action in Swat Valley poses a major challenge to the country,a noted Pakistani author on Friday said and warned they could become targets for recruitment by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Depending on how the refugee problem is handled would result in the future of Pakistan,Ahmed Shah Rashid said. Strategically,much is at stake. The fighting in Swat is not just against extremism but for the hearts and minds of future generations, Rashid said in an opinion piece published in The Washington Post. Pakistani public support for the campaign against the Taliban and help to the (internally displaced) could dissipate fast if international aid is not forthcoming, a senior UN official was quoted as saying by the Pakistani author. Moreover,dissatisfied (displaced civilians) could become targets for recruitment by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Already,police here have caught more than 50 Taliban adherents among the displaced,either hiding or trying to coerce youngsters into becoming suicide bombers,the author said.PAK-AUTHOR 2 LAST Worryingly,among the many secular Pakistani charities working here are extremist organisations such as Falah-i-Insaniat,as the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group that carried out the massacre in Mumbai last year is now known,the paper said. Falah-i-Insaniat also supports the Taliban and Al-Qaeda,Rashid wrote in the daily. Such groups - which are heavily funded by extremist sympathisers abroad - are not likely to run out of money soon. The real battles this summer against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda will be fought in Pakistan as much as in Afghanistan. By refusing to see this humanitarian crisis as an exercise in winning hearts and minds,however,the world seems to be sleepwalking its way to defeat, Rashid said.
