WASHINGTON, July 30: A senior Bush administration adviser urged the United States on Monday to consider direct military action at alleged Al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan and link US aid to Islamabad’s performance in the war against terror.

Lee Hamilton, a member of President George Bush’s Homeland Security Advisory Council, wrote in an article published in several US newspapers that Washington could not allow Al Qaeda to retain a safe haven in Pakistan’s tribal areas and it could not permit another terrorist attack on the United States.

“Further US military aid to Pakistan should be conditional on Pakistani action. And we must be clear with Gen Musharraf that if Pakistan won’t take out Al Qaeda, the United States will.”

Mr Hamilton said the US did not have to send its own troops to destroy Al Qaeda hideouts.

“We have many tactical options that do not involve a substantial ground force: covert actions, special operations and air strikes, including unmanned aircraft. Before acting, we would have to be certain that our action was the only remaining option to eliminate the sanctuary,” he wrote.

He rejected Islamabad’s argument that a direct military action would cause the government to fall and enable extremists to come to power. “The reality is that his rule is endangered because of his own heavy-handed tactics, and his current behaviour has facilitated the growth of Islamic extremism,” he said.

He argued that extremists were not strong enough to take over the country; “it’s far more likely that another Pakistani general or a political bloc led by a former prime minister would take over were Musharraf’s government to fall.”

He admitted that the US had an agreement with Islamabad that prevented it from going after the alleged Al Qaeda safe haven in Pakistan. Gen Musharraf, however, had resisted taking direct action against the extremists, relying on a pact with tribes to do the job, Hamilton claimed. He noted that last week the Bush administration had declared that Musharraf’s strategy had failed.“The time has come to bear down on Musharraf,” he wrote. “For years, he has captivated the US by presenting himself as a secular moderate in a region beset by religious extremists. But his actions have not matched his rhetoric.”

Gen Musharraf, he wrote, had promised to cease Pakistan’s support for the Taliban and round up Al Qaeda, but failed to deliver. He promised to transition Pakistan toward open democracy, but continued to govern like a ‘military dictator’. Meanwhile, he had received $10 billions in US aid since Sept 11, said Mr Hamilton.

“The US must make clear that our interests in Pakistan go beyond the rule of its president,” he declared.

He warned that most ordinary Pakistanis saw the US backing an autocratic leader.