“(Taliban) do have a presence in huge amounts of land in our side. Yes, that is the fact,” he said in an interview to CBS television network.

Once confined to the country’s tribal area bordering Afghanistan, from where they carried out strikes against the US-led coalition forces in the war-torn country, the Taliban had extended their influence in Pakistan’s inland, Zardari said.

“We are aware of the fact... Taliban... (are) trying to take over the state of Pakistan,” he said. “So, we’re fighting for the survival of Pakistan. We’re not fighting for the survival of anybody else.”

The Taliban, he said, had been taken for granted for a long time. “It’s been happening over time and it’s happened out of denial. Everybody was living in denial.”

Many thought they were weak and they would not be able to take over or challenge the Government, Zardari said. As a result, the forces to challenge them were not increased. But “we have weaknesses and they are taking advantage of that weakness”, he said.

Zardari’s remarks follow US President Barack Obama’s assertion that “safe havens” for Taliban and al-Qaeda would not be allowed in Pakistan.

Zardari, who is battling public opinion in Pakistan where most citizens believe that the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda was America’s war their Government was fighting by proxy, said: We’re not doing anybody a favour.”

“I lost my wife (former premier Benazir Bhutto) to it (terrorism). My children’s mother... It’s important to stop them and make sure that it doesn’t happen again and they don’t take over our way of life,” he said. Observers have also questioned how much power Zardari really has and whether he has the full support of the military and the powerful intelligence service. But Zardari said they are behind him.

“If that wasn’t the case, Islamabad would have fallen because obviously if the army doesn’t do its job, these men (Taliban) are not restricted. They’ve blown up the Marriott Hotel before. They’ve attacked us inland before. They would be all around us, wouldn’t they?” he said.