The US Vice-President, Dick Cheney, has said that a part of Pakistan has become a safe haven for terrorists organisations like Al Qaeda and the Taliban and this would be one of the main challenges for the incoming Obama Administration.

Though Pakistan has cooperated with the US post-9/11, Cheney, in an interview to a television news channel yesterday, said, "They've got a portion of the country that isn't really controlled by the central government that's become a safe haven for the Taliban operating into Afghanistan, and for Al-Qaeda."

Cheney said, "Those (Iran and Pakistan) are going to be challenges that the new administration is going to have to deal with early on."

The Vice President said, "The situation in Iran is a regime that's a terror-sponsoring state, a prime mover and shaker where Hezbollah is concerned, but also actively and aggressively trying to develop nuclear weapons."