Insight with Zahid Hussain: Pakistan’s struggle with militant Islam

The Pakistan correspondent for The Times, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal, Zahid Hussain, talks to Kirsty Lang about America’s key ally in the global "war on terror". But whose side is Pakistan really on?

The madrassas of Pakistan are incubators for some of the world’s most feared terrorists. Osama bin Laden himself is believed to be hiding close to the Pakistan border.

After 9/11, Pakistan’s President, Pervez Musharraf, wowed to fight extremism in his country. But the Pakistani intelligence services and army are riddled with jihadis and their supporters.

The current government’s power was founded on its support for radical Islamist groups, such as those fighting in Kashmir.

What implications will this battle for control of Pakistan have on the rest of the world?

Zahid Hussain is the Pakistan correspondent for The Times, The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek. He is the author of Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam.

Kirsty Lang is the Presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Front Row and BBC4’s The World.