U.S. Worry Grows over Pakistan's Tribal Peace Deal

Xenia Dormandy, Director of the Project on India and the Subcontinent, was interviewed for NPR's Morning Edition on May 6, 2008 regarding the new Pakistani government's negotiations with militant groups.

Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Provinces are considered a safe haven for terrorist organizations, and militant attacks on civilians have increased in that region over the past several months. The Pakistani government hopes to reestablish law and order through an accord with these militants.

According to Dormandy, the U.S. government is concerned about the negotiations because "we don't have control over that at the moment." She says that because the negotiations are ongoing, "there's a lot of fear . . . in the U.S. government that we don't know what it's going to look like."

These fears are amplified by Pakistan's possession of nuclear weapons and the turmoil leading up to the recent parliamentary elections in February.

Click here to listen to the full program on the National Public Radio website.