WASHINGTON, Feb 14: Head of the US Defence Intelligence Agency has warned that a coup against President Pervez Musharraf could result in an “extremist Pakistan”.

Testifying on global threats before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this week, Vice-Admiral Lowell Jacoby said President Musharraf’s Islamist opponents were not happy with his policies and they could try to instigate a political crisis through violent means.

“This could result in an extremist Pakistan,” he warned.

Director Jacoby praised Gen Musharraf’s efforts to restore democracy and said that since the October elections, Pakistan had made a steady progress towards establishing a functioning democracy.

But the polls, he said, also allowed the Islamists to emerge as a significant political force in the country.

Gen Musharraf, he said, continued to face significant political and economic challenges and opposition.