Pakistan Fears Unrest at Home

Don't listen to the ones at the top: while Pakistan's government blithely dismisses that the country could follow in the footsteps of Tunisia and Egypt, many other officials worry that Pakistan has the same ingredients that led to those uprisings. "Our institutions are working and democracy is functional," Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said. But while he might be right that Pakistan probably won't explode into riots this week, diplomats and other officials are concerned that conditions in the country make it a matter of time until it does: an economy that is stable but plagued by official corruption; a growing Islamic fervor; and a venomous resentment of the United States. All that's lacking, experts say, is a figure who can connect lower-class frustration with the passions of committed Islamists.