[1] Beginning in 2007, the U.S. has mounted a secret effort to remove from a Pakistani research reactor highly enriched uranium that American officials fear could be used as an illicit nuclear device.
Seven months later, worry was also expressed by British Foreign Office official Mariot Leslie: "The UK has deep concerns about the safety and security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.
[6] In a conversation with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he found it "astonishing" that President Zardari was still in power in 2010 and that the Pakistani military's operations against militants along the Afghan border had been striking.
[10] A new rail link between Pakistan and Iran would be delayed for the time being, owing to poor conditions, low freight-carrying capacity and unrest from Baloch insurgents in the Balochistan region of both countries.
"[13] In November 2007, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, a politician and leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, invited Patterson to a dinner in which he sought her support in becoming prime minister and expressed a desire to visit America.
[14] In 2008, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani personally consented American drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas along the Afghan border to combat the Taliban.
When Interior Minister Rehman Malik recommended the U.S. to hold back "alleged Predator attacks until after the Bajaur operation", Gillani dismissed the remarks and was heard saying: "I don't care if they do it as long as they get the right people.
Their role is primarily training-oriented and to provide "intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance" support – ISR in military jargon – "general operational advice" and set up a live satellite feed from presumably CIA-operated American drones flying overhead.
[15][16] Jasmine Zerinini, a French specialist on Afghanistan-Pakistan affairs, said that Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had "learnt his lesson from Musharraf" by staying behind the scenes and not interceding in the country's political situation.
At the same time, Zerinini claimed that Kayani was manipulating the government into preventing policy change on Pakistan's war-ridden tribal belt and he had a role in provoking controversy surrounding the contentious Kerry-Lugar bill.