ISLAMABAD (AFP) -- As Pakistan marks its 60th anniversary, the country finds itself chafing under military rule with its identity and very existence threatened by a rising tide of Islamic extremism.

Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network and its Taleban allies plot insurrection and global terror from bases in Pakistan's northern tribal zones, and military ruler Pervez Musharraf is under intense to strike hard against them.
But security experts say the threat of radical Islamic terrorism is the product of military rule -- and only a return to democracy can help to bring it to an end.
The Pakistani military has ruled the country for more than half of its existence and its influence is pervasive. It has its own economic empire, running industries, banks and housing estates.
""The country is fighting two last battles which will decide the soul of Pakistan -- first is the fight against extremism and second is the rise of a people's movement for genuine democratic rule,"" political writer Najam Sethi told AFP.
""The establishment of civilian supremacy is the one at the heart of the country's soul while the fight against extremism is an international concern which we have to address.""
Pakistan has sent 90,000 troops to fight Taleban and Al-Qaeda militants who found shelter in its lawless tribal regions after the fall of the hardline Taleban regime in Afghanistan in 2001.
The military government says it is doing what it can to combat the militancy which it blames on the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of neighboring Afghanistan.
For ten years, Pakistan along with the United States and Arab countries backed a fierce and protracted guerrilla war, funneling funds and arms worth billions of dollars to radical Islamic groups fighting the Soviets