Islamabad: Warning that Pakistan faced more of an internal threat than from external forces, President Pervez Musharraf said the country may be "pulled down" by religious and sectarian extremists and vowed to prevent such an danger by stepping up raids on militants.

"There is no external threat which can do any harm to us. We are capable of handling any external thereat. The enemy lies within and this element of religious and sectarianism which may pull us down", Musharraf said in a hard-hitting speech on October 3 at an annual dinner of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association in Islamabad.

His remarks came after seven minority Shia Muslims were killed and several injured when gunmen fired at their bus in Karachi on October 3 while they were on their way to Friday prayers. Police believe that the attack was carried out by banned Sunni extremist outfit, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

Stating that religious extremists posed a serious threat to Pakistan, he said as their acts "impact on us internally and impact our reputation externally. That is the area which we have to guard against.

"We have been hijacked by unenlightened exponents of the religion. The vast majority is a silent majority. We will not allow this country to be used and misused by international extremists".

His criticism of religious extremists also came a day before the arrival of US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca to Pakistan.

PTI