Lahore, Apr. 29 : The Pakistan Army, which has until now vowed to stay away from the country's politics, may be compelled to act and initiate a coup if the government continues its submissive performance, a former Saudi intelligence chief has said.

According to Turki al-Faisal, Pakistan has failed to deal with the Taliban in the right manner.

Faisal said the Taliban is not a `monolithic organisation', and that Islamabad must have the right policies to counter the problem.

Faisal, who oversaw the funding two decades ago that helped create the Taliban during the fight against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, told the Washington Times that there was no threat to Pakistan's stability for the time being.

"Pakistan could survive the Taliban threat provided its military remains intact. As long as the armed forces are intact, the state is not going to be at risk," he added.

Commenting on Obama's decision to send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan, Faisal said the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces must be withdrawn from Afghanistan as soon as possible, as they are "not welcome" there. (ANI)