WASHINGTON, April 30: The United States said on Wednesday that Pakistan’s latest attempt to end militancy in the tribal region by engaging the militants has a better chance to succeed than similar efforts in the past if the military option is not taken off the table.

“We think that all the tools are in place for this treaty to have a successful outcome,” said a senior State Department official while releasing the annual US report on terrorism around the world.

“They certainly know the United States is watching it, and we’ll articulate our concerns if it turns out to be not as successful as in the past,” said Dell L. Dailey, coordinator of the State Department’s Office for Counterterrorism.

The State Department’s annual report on terrorism, however, depicted a dismal picture, noting that terrorist attacks in Pakistan doubled from 2006 to 2007 while terrorism-related deaths and injuries quadrupled.

The department also reported that Al Qaeda has rebuilt some of its pre-Sept 11 capabilities from remote hiding places in Pakistan, and terrorist attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan increased 16 per cent last year.

More than 22,000 people were killed by terrorists around the world in 2007, 8 per cent more than in 2006, although the overall number of attacks fell, the report said.

Terrorist attacks in Pakistan also soared, with the State Department recording more than 45 suicide bombings in 2007, up from a total of just 22 such incidents between 2002 and 2006. Among those logged last year were the December attack that killed former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and an October attack on her homecoming reception that killed more than 130 people, the worst suicide attack in Pakistan’s history.

The report claimed that Al Qaeda reconstituted some of its pre-9/11 operational capabilities through the exploitation of Pakistan’s Federally-Administered Tribal Areas, replacing captured or killed operational lieutenants, and restoring some central control by its top leadership, in particular Ayman al-Zawahiri.

A primary reason for its resurgence was a cease-fire the Pakistani government reached with tribal leaders last year, the report said. That truce has since ended but Pakistan’s new government is now renegotiating a similar agreement, reigniting Washington’s concerns.

But Mr Dailey said he had several reasons for being optimistic about the new deal Pakistan is negotiating with the militants.

“This has gotten an awful lot of attention from the United States, the first reason. “The second reason: they’ve just got a new government in,” he said.

Mr Dailey invited critics of the proposed agreement to look at “what was elected and who were elected in particular spots” in Pakistan in the recent elections.

He noted that in the NWFP, where the MMA won 45 seats in the previous elections, this year they lost all but five. He also pointed out that a prominent Taliban sympathisers in the Fata lost his seat.

Such developments, Mr Dailey said, indicate that this government has a chance to “really move forward” in the fight against terrorism.

“So we think that this treaty lays the groundwork for them to be successful in that area, keeping in mind that military may be a part of the tool and keeping in mind that the foundation has to be a political resolution in the long run,” he added.

Mr Dailey also noted that the United States will be providing $150 million a year for the next five years to bring economic and social developments to the tribal area.

Pakistan will double the funds for this plan which also calls for enhancing security arrangements in the region and for providing better training and equipment to the Frontier Corps.