NEW YORK, Dec 7: The former director of policy planning in the Bush administration, Richard Haass, has expressed deep apprehension over a potential breakdown in political order in Pakistan and fears that the nuclear weapons could possibly be compromised as a consequence.

In an interview with the New York Times writer for the ten page expose on Pakistan — in paper’s Sunday magazine section — in the backdrop of the ongoing global war on terrorism, Mr Haass notes, “Sure to be a nightmare is a breakdown in order.

‘‘They haven’t institutionalized succession in any meaningful way. At worst, you could have a loss of control over their nuclear weapons.”

Mr Haas, who currently heads the influential Council on Foreign Relations, believes, “Pakistan is an incredibly important country, but I don’t think there’s an awareness of it in the United States.”

“If you’d ask most people what are the biggest issues in the world, they’d say the Middle East, Iraq, North Korea, perhaps Afghanistan, a long list. But not a lot of people would say Pakistan,” Haass told the Times.

In the extensive article the paper examines the Pakistan army’s long shadow on the body politic of Pakistan and its control of the economic institutions.