Pakistan's fielding nightmare began during the disastrous tour of Australia earlier this year and touched a new low when they dropped five catches to go down to England in the Super Eights.

'I will soon set up an academy for youngsters with the main aim of providing quality fielders to the national side,' the maverick pacer said on a TV show Saturday.

He said he would seek former captain Rashid Latif's assistance before establishing the academy.

'Rashid is already running academies and I would take his advice and help to set up an academy for youngsters,' he added.

The pacer said Pakistan's performance was falling due to sloppy fielding. Otherwise the team has all the quality of beating world class teams like Australia and South Africa.

'Fielding has become a concern for the team and it must be improved,' he said.

Akhtar also stressed the need for a quality fielding coach for Pakistan.

The fast bowler also defended Shahid Afridi whose captaincy is under criticism following two defeats in the ongoing world Twenty20.

'Shahid is a new captain, he should be given time, it is too early to raise (questions) on his captaincy,' he said.

The proposed Terrorist Expatriation Act would authorise the State Department to revoke citizenship of anyone who supports Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups or who helps in attacks against the US or its allies.

Identical bills were introduced this week in the House and Senate.

'We're fighting an enemy who doesn't wear the uniform of a conventional army or follow the law of war,' said Senator Joseph Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, who co-sponsored the Senate bill with Scott Brown, Republican of Massachusetts.

'Those who join such groups join our enemy and should be deprived of the rights and privileges of US citizenship and the ability to use their American passports as tools of terror.'

The bill would expand a 1940 federal law that authorises the State Department to strip Americans of their citizenship.

Under the 1940 law, Americans could lose citizenship for serving in the military of a country at war with the US, for treason or for voting in another nation's elections.

However, they can contest their loss of citizenship in court.

The Supreme Court narrowed the authority of the 1940 law by ruling Americans could lose citizenship only if they renounce it.

The 1967 ruling involved the case of a naturalised American born in Poland who voted in an Israeli election. The State Department took away his citizenship but he won it back in the Supreme Court.

The proposed act is likely to face a legal challenge if Congress approves it. Civil rights activists have warned of possible conflicts with the constitution's right of equal protection for American citizens.

From the Obama administration, only Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has so far promised to 'take a hard look' at the proposed legislation.

'Clearly, US citizenship is a privilege. It is not a right... And people who are serving foreign powers - or in this case, foreign terrorists - are clearly in violation, in my personal opinion, of that oath which they swore when they became citizens,' she said during a press conference. 'So we're going to take a hard look at this.'

Clearly, even as the Pakistani leaders were expressing their peaceful intent, elements in their country were preparing for war. These contradictory impulses have long been a feature of mutual relations. It has often been noticed that formal negotiations are preceded or followed by terrorist outrages to suggest that not everyone in Pakistan wants a restoration of normality.

Just as Pakistan is seen to harbour belligerent non-state actors, to use a phrase favoured by Islamabad, the Indian side has demonstrated an unmistakable willingness to walk the extra mile for the sake of peace even at the risk of courting domestic displeasure.

The most courageous attempt in this respect was made by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, when he defied the strident anti-Pakistani sections in his own party and in the Sangh Parivar to travel to Lahore in 1999.

To understand the risk he was taking where his own base of support was concerned, it would be necessary to recall the suggestion of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) stalwart that Vajpayee should have gone to Lahore in a tank and not in a bus.

Similarly, Manmohan Singh has been accused by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and others of acting under American pressure to reach out to Pakistan.

Yet, if the initiatives of two successive prime ministers are taken into account, it can seem they are going out of their way to make friendly overtures even if the response from the other side has often been discouraging and sometimes positively hostile.

For instance, even as Vajpayee was embracing Nawaz Sharif in Lahore in 1999, the Pakistan Army was preparing to launch its Kargil offensive. And two years later, Pakistani terrorists carried out an attack on the Indian parliament with the objective of eliminating the top Indian political leadership.

Later, the process of a composite dialogue did not deter Pakistan from switching from the seemingly less effective occasional bomb blasts in markets and trains to a frontal attack on Mumbai by its brainwashed psychotic killers. The result was the stalling of negotiations, which are yet to acquire the earlier momentum.

It may not be besides the point to predict, therefore, that if the Thimphu initiative does gather pace, a major terrorist attack may be in the offing. To understand why seemingly determined efforts are made to block the road to peace, it is necessary to look at the forces at work in the two countries.

Where India is concerned, it is clear that its prime ministers are keen to write their names into history books by breaking the logjam of India-Pakistan confrontation. It will be an achievement which will raise their status from the level of politicians to that of statesmen. Hence the initiatives of Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh even if their parties are not fully with them.

In Pakistan, on the other hand, while the civilian leadership may be amenable to the peace process, the army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) seem to be uninterested. It is noteworthy that Gilani sought to counter Manmohan Singh's point about Pakistan not doing enough to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure by saying the latest constitutional amendment gave the Pakistani civilian authority greater powers than before.

The Kerry-Lugar legislation too links the $1.5 billion annual American aid to Pakistan to the establishment of civilian control over the army.

But it is doubtful whether the army will quietly return to the barracks or ISI will desist from fomenting trouble abroad. The reason is the repeated spells of army rule in Pakistan have fostered a feeling of disdain among the military personnel towards the political class. They will be loathe, therefore, to meekly abide by civilian dictates and thereby squander the image of being the only powerful national entity that the army has built up over the years.

Even more important is apparently the belief in the army and ISI that a lasting peace with India is tantamount to Pakistan's final defeat. The reason is not only that India has won all the three wars - in 1947-48, 1965 and 1971 as well as the Kargil border conflict - but also that India is seen to have been consistently successful in its strategic manoeuvres while Pakistan has been at the losing end.

For instance, India was able to exploit Pakistan's internal differences to wrest Bangladesh from it, and it has also been able to hold on to Kashmir despite all of Pakistan's efforts to stir up trouble via a proxy war and terrorist attacks.

For the Pakistan Army, therefore, peace with India will turn out to be one which is on India's terms. What is more, the absence of tension will, first, mean that India's soft power will gradually overwhelm Pakistani society via Bollywood and cultural exchanges, and, secondly, help India to take even more rapid strides towards becoming a major regional power.

It is, therefore, understandable why the Pakistan Army continues to regard the terrorist groups as strategic assets. They are its only hope to destabilise India. It is only when the civilian leadership assumes total control in Pakistan, as in other democratic countries, that there will be a genuine chance of peace.

(08.05.2010 - Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. He can be reached at aganguli@mail.com)

'India is still seen as the major state-based threat,' General David H. Petraeus, the head of US Central Command who has just returned from a visit to Pakistan said in an interview to Council on Foreign Relations, a Washington think tank.

'In fact they've just completed an exercise, some 50,000 Pakistani military forces, similar to the old NATO exercises that we used to run in the days of the Cold War,' he noted when asked if he had seen a shift in the Pakistani army's thinking about its enemies.

'So there's no question about the image still in their mind of the threat that is posed by India to their security.'

'Having said that, the most pressing threat that emerged to their very 'writ of governance,' as they term it, came to be seen as that posed by the Pakistani Taliban-again, in particular over the course of the last year or eighteen months,' Petraeus said.

'The developments of the last year in Pakistan are significant in that you saw the people, the leaders, and the bulk of the clerics all recognize the very existential threat that was posed by the Pakistani Taliban, the Tehrik-i-Taliban, and some of its allies,' he said.

The Pakistani Taliban's claim of responsibility for the failed Times Square bombing also highlights the potential threat 'between some of these organizations and transnational extremism at large,' the general said.

Formed in 2007, the Pakistani Taliban has almost exclusively targeted elements of the Pakistani state. But the attack on New York City suggests its ambitions are expanding.

'There is clearly a symbiotic relationship between all of these different organizations; Al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, TNSM [Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi],'said Petraeus.

He added that it's not surprising that militants would look to wage attacks on American soil. 'There are a lot of organizations out there that are wannabe international terrorist organizations,' he said, 'because that's how you garner resources.'

'Well, it could be - there have been multiple plots that have involved the United States and Pakistan, citizens on both sides who have chosen to take these actions,' a State Department spokesman said Friday when asked if there was any connection between the two cases.

'I'm not aware that there's any specific connection, but clearly, we are looking to see, while this individual was in Pakistan, who he met with, what support, if any, was provided,' spokesman Philip J. Crowley told reporters.

'And that is the reason why we are working so closely with Pakistan on this investigation.'

Asked whether the US was in touch with India about the Times Square incident, Crowley noted the two countries have a regular dialogue on counter-terrorism issues, but could not say at this point if there was an Indian link.

'I mean, we have regular dialogue with India, including on counter-terrorism issues,' he said. 'I can't say at this point there's an Indian link to this case, but we do have dialogue with India on a regular basis on terrorism issues.'

Earlier, ABC News citing unnamed sources traced Shahzad's links to another Pakistani militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad and suggested he was a childhood friend of one of the alleged masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai massacre.

However, the television network did not identify the Pakistani mastermind.

The Pakistani Taliban are denying any role in the failed car bombing, but have praised Shahzad for a 'brave job done', ABC said noting the suspected bomber was also in contact with former Tehreek-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud who was killed in a US missile strike in 2009.

'The Mehsuds had been family friends of Shahzad, who is a son of a former high ranking Pakistani military officer,' ABC News said quoting Pakistani sources.

Shahzad was reported to be in touch with a man named Mohammad Rehan, a suspected Jaish militant who helped him to travel to Peshawar and then to Waziristan and introduced him to Taliban.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)

The blunt warning came from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton who acknowledged Pakistan's increased cooperation in the war on terror, but said the US wants and expects even more from Islamabad.

'We've made it very clear that if, heaven-forbid, an attack like this that we can trace back to Pakistan were to have been successful, there would be very severe consequences,' Clinton said in an interview to CBS' '60 Minutes' programme to be broadcast Sunday.

Faisal Shahzad, a naturalised American citizen who was born in Pakistan and says he had terrorist training there, has confessed to planting the car bomb that fizzled out in Time Square last week. Investigations have also uncovered his possible links to the Pakistani Taliban and a Kashmiri Islamist group.

Pakistan's attitude toward fighting Islamic terrorists has changed remarkably, Clinton said suggesting Ialamabad was earlier playing a double game with lot of lip service but little action.

'We've gotten more cooperation and it's been a real sea change in the commitment we've seen from the Pakistan Government. [But] We want more. We expect more,' she said in the interview excerpts of which were released on Friday.

Since the relationship with Pakistan turned around, the results are encouraging she said. 'We also have a much better relationship, military to military, intelligence to intelligence, government to government than we had before.'

'I think that there was a double game going on in the previous years, where we got a lot of lip service but very little

produced. We've got a lot produced.

'We have seen the killing or capturing of a great number of the leadership of significant terrorist groups and we're going continue that,' Clinton said.

But Defence Secretary Robert Gates has offered to step up assistance to Pakistan though he doubted Islamabad's capacity to expand its crackdown on insurgents with security forces stretched battling militants in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

'With their military operations in the west, they've started to be pretty thinly stretched themselves, as well as taking a substantial number of casualties,' he told reporters on a trip to Kansas, Missouri Friday.

But the US was 'willing to do as much ... as they are willing to accept,' Gates said. 'We are prepared to do training, and exercise with them. How big that operation becomes is really up to them.'

Citing anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, Gates said, 'They (Pakistani leaders) are also very interested in keeping our footprints as small as possible, at least for now.'

Meanwhile, White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes also said Friday the US had been working with Pakistan and would keep assisting a Pakistani 'offensive - the largest offensive they've undertaken in some years - in order to root out extremists within their borders, including the Taliban.'

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)

During their meeting on the sidelines of the SAARC summit in Thimphu, Bhutan, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 'also agreed with our stance and expressed willingness to resolve all bilateral issues through talks', Gilani said in his monthly radio address.

He also described the Thimpu meeting as 'meaningful and useful'.

The prime minister expressed the hope that the talks between the two countries 'will prove result oriented and pave the way for resolution of all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir'.

After the April 29 Thimphu meeting, India studiously avoided any mention of 'composite dialogue', saying both sides should move beyond nomenclature to introspect on the trust deficit entrenched in their relationship and chart the way forward.

The two leaders mandated their foreign ministers and foreign secretaries to work out the modalities of restoring mutual trust, paving the way for substantive dialogue covering all issues between them.

Pakistan has repeatedly been saying that the Thimphu meeting would lead to the revival of the composite dialogue.

HCA joint secretary D.S. Chalapathi confirmed to IANS Friday that Malik, who has been banned by Pakistan Cricket Board for one year, has been barred from entering Gymkhana.

'Yes. We have asked Gymkahana staff not to allow him to practice,' Chalapathi told IANS.

Malik was banned and fined by the Pakistani board for breaching the players' code of conduct and inciting player unrest during the disastrous Australia tour this year.

His teammates Rana Naved-ul Hasan was banned for a year, while Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan were handed life bans.

The HCA ban is in line with the policy of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) not to allow any banned player on official grounds.

The officials pointed out that all International Cricket Council members were bound by the rules on banned players.

Malik practised at Gymkhana ground along with Hyderabad cricketers Tuesday and Wednesday.

He was accompanied by his wife, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, her father Imran Mirza and former Andhra Cricket Association secretary V. Chamundeswarinath.

'He is not coming to Gymkhana since yesterday (Thursday),' Chalapathi said. He feigned ignorance about the former Pakistan skipper's presence for two days.

'I am not aware. I heard that he had come there,' the official said.

The HCA move to ban Malik's entry into Gymkhana came after criticism from various quarters for allowing him to play.

Some local players pointed out that even former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin was not allowed to practice at the grounds after he was banned by BCCI.

Similarly eight Indian Cricket League (ICL) players were also not allowed to practice after they were banned by the national cricketing association.

Malik was given the assurance during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Meng Chiang, Online news agency reported.

The meeting was held in a very cordial and friendly atmosphere and matters of mutual interest came up for discussion.

During the meeting, Meng appreciated Pakistan's efforts in the war against terrorism.

China also offered training facilities to Pakistani law enforcers.

Earlier, addressing the Pakistani community at the country's embassy, Malik said the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government was confronted with a number of challenges, including terrorism, when it came to power two years ago.

With the support of the masses and decisions of the political leadership, most of the challenges were either solved or reduced to some degree, he added.

In this regard, Malik especially referred to the National Finance Commission Award that had remained dormant for many years. However, the government had got it implemented with the consensus of all political forces.

The award deals with the re-distribution of resources among the provinces.

The other major problem the country was facing was the shortage of power, Malik said, adding that the steps taken recently in this regard were short term measures.

The government was also working on a war footing to address the issue of power outages, caused by a generation shortfall of 4,700 MW, the minister said.

Malik said the government was resolved to eliminate terrorism and informed the meeting about the successes achieved by the army and law enforcing agencies in flushing out terrorists from Swat and Malakand areas of Pakistan's northwest.

The deaths took place late Thursday during a joint operation by the army and police in Sheikhpora's forest, some 80 km from here, Inspector General of Police Farooq Ahmad told IANS.

The operation followed a tip that the militants were hidden in the forest, he said. 'When security forces challenged the militants, they resorted to heavy gunfire, resulting in a fierce battle.'

A lance naik and a naik from the army were also killed in the battle while searches were on in the dense forest to know if more gunmen were hiding.

The identity of the slain guerrillas was yet to be established.

Just two days earlier, a major and a soldier of the army were killed in north Kashmir when security forces were ambushed in Bandipora district's Chatibandi village.

As the melting snow has thrown open the mountain passes leading to the Kashmir Valley, army and intelligence officials say more armed guerrillas are waiting on the Pakistan frontier to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir.

'Security-wise, it could be a hot summer in Jammu and Kashmir this year,' an intelligence officer here said.