Dawn – US wants tougher Pakistani action against Haqqanis

Washington, 1 August 2012. The Obama administration expressed renewed frustration with Pakistan on Tuesday, urging its reluctant counter-terrorism ally to break remaining links between its security services and the Haqqani network and stem the flow of bomb-making material into Afghanistan.

A State Department report credited Pakistan’s government with taking action against al-Qaida last year, even though the United States acted unilaterally in the commando operation that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. It called Islamabad’s attempts weaker when it came to snuffing out groups such as the Haqqani network and Laskhar e-Taiba.

At a Senate confirmation hearing, the diplomat nominated to be America’s next ambassador to Pakistan said that getting Islamabad to crack down on the Haqqani network would be his ”most urgent” responsibility.

”This will be a primary focus of my activities and diplomatic engagement with Pakistanis, to encourage further measures against the Haqqani network, further squeezing of the Haqqani network,” Richard Olson said.

The Haqqani network, a subsidiary of the Taliban, is based in northern Pakistan but moves into Afghanistan to launch attacks on US and Nato forces before returning to Pakistani territory.

The Pakistanis say they’re doing all they can to rein in the Haqqanis, but elements in the Pakistani intelligence and military communities maintain relations with him to hedge their bets for when the United States leaves Afghanistan in 2014.

Olson also commended Pakistan for helping the US so that ”we are virtually within grasp of defeating al-Qaida as an organization,” but said far more could be done to combat the threat of the Haqqanis.

Congress has been pressuring the Obama administration to slap the terrorist label on the network. By voice vote last week, the Senate approved a bill that would require the secretary of State to report to Congress on whether the Haqqani network meets the criteria to be designated a foreign terrorist organization and if not, to explain why.

The report is due within 30 days of the president signing the measure. The bill now goes to President Barack Obama.

Presenting the annual ”Country Reports on Terrorism,” the State Department’s counterterrorism coordinator, Daniel Benjamin, declined to comment on the pending legislation or his department’s review.

He noted that the administration has targeted top individuals of the Haqqani network with sanctions, even if it hasn’t issued a blanket designation for the entire group. US officials say the network represents perhaps the biggest threat to Afghanistan’s stability through its use of Pakistan as a rear base for attacks on American and coalition troops.

Congress is impatient. Some lawmakers believe the Obama administration is reluctant to act because it still hopes to coax the Taliban and affiliated groups into Afghan reconciliation talks that would help the US withdraw combat forces over the next two years.

The State Department’s report said violent extremists continue to find refuge in Pakistan, leading to more aggressive and coordinated attacks in Afghanistan.

One example was the Haqqanis’ September assault on the US embassy and Nato compound in Kabul, which included small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades from insurgents at a construction site less than a kilometer away.

Roadside and other bombs remain a major risk to coalition forces, the report said. Most are made from materials such as ammonium nitrate fertilizer and potassium chlorate manufactured in Pakistan, which has taken ”some measures” to restrict the flow.

http://dawn.com/2012/08/01/us-wants-tougher-pakistani-action-against-haqqanis/

Dawn – Foreign Ministry rejects Panetta’s comments on militant safe havens

Islamabad, 9 June 2012. Pakistan on Saturday rejected US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta’s recent comments on militant safe havens in Pakistan.

“We feel that the Secretary of Defence is oversimplifying some of the very complex issues we are all dealing with in our efforts against extremism and terrorism,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“We strongly believe that such statements are misplaced and unhelpful in bringing about peace and stability in the region.”

Panetta said on Thursday during a trip to Afghanistan that stabilisation efforts in Afghanistan would remain difficult as long as militants had safe havens in Pakistan.

“It is very important for Pakistan to take steps. It is an increasing concern, the issue of safe haven, and we are reaching the limits of our patience,” he said, using some of the strongest language from a senior US official on Washington’s strained relations with Islamabad.

US officials often describe Pakistan as an unreliable partner in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and demand tougher action against militant groups, especially those said to be based in Pakistan’s tribal regions.

The United States wants Pakistan to go after the Haqqani group, which is close to the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda, and is blamed for some of the deadliest attacks on Western forces in Afghanistan.

“Pakistan has repeatedly said that it will not allow its territory to be used against any country, nor will it allow any safe havens on its territory,” the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, adding that Islamabad will “follow its own timeline” and strategy on operations against militants.

http://dawn.com/2012/06/09/foreign-ministry-rejects-panettas-comments-on-militant-safe-havens/

Dawn – US warns running out of patience with Pakistan

Kabul, 8 June 2012. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta warned Pakistan on Thursday that Washington is losing patience over its failure to eliminate safe havens for insurgents who attack US troops in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Panetta lashed out at Pakistan and the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network during a brief visit to Kabul overshadowed by fury over a Nato air strike that allegedly killed 18 civilians, an issue that the Pentagon chief did not address in public.

Panetta left Kabul less than five hours after his arrival, as Afghan President Hamid Karzai pledged to cut short a trip to Beijing and head home over the deaths of around 40 civilians Wednesday in the air strike and a suicide bombing.

“Even though we are seeing an uptick in violence in recent days, the overall level of violence is down from past years,” said Panetta, who is assessing plans to withdraw US combat troops by the end of 2014.

The Haqqani group, a faction linked to the Taliban and al Qaeda that is believed to be based in Pakistan’s lawless tribal district of North Waziristan, is blamed for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan’s 10-year war.

“It’s an increasing concern that this safe haven exists and that there are those like the Haqqanis who are making use of that to attack our forces,” Panetta told a news conference with his Afghan counterpart, Abdul Rahim Wardak.

“We are reaching the limits of our patience here,” he said.

“For that reason, it’s extremely important that Pakistan take action to prevent this kind of safe haven,” he said.

“We have made that very clear time and time again and we will continue to do that. But as I said, we are reaching the limits of our patience,” he added.

The Afghan and US governments have suggested the war in Afghanistan cannot be won unless safe havens in Pakistan are dismantled.

Analysts say Islamabad allows the Haqqanis to operate to hedge against any influence by their arch-foe India in Afghanistan, while critics in Pakistan accuse the Americans of deflecting blame for the increasingly deadly war.

The Pentagon chief said the Haqqani network was to blame for an attack last week on Forward Operating Base Salerno in eastern Afghanistan.

US military chief General Martin Dempsey, asked about Panetta’s remarks, said the strong words on Pakistan were largely because the Haqqani network was more active in eastern Afghanistan, where the transition from Nato forces is expected to be particularly difficult.

Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington that he shared Panetta’s frustration but acknowledged that Pakistani forces were fighting militants on parts of their own soil.

“Make no mistake about it: Although we are extraordinarily dissatisfied with the effect that Pakistan has had on the Haqqanis, we are also mindful that they are conducting military operations – at great loss, by the way,” he said.

The United States leads 130,000 Nato troops fighting the Taliban insurgency and is planning to withdraw the bulk of combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, and hand responsibility for security to the Afghans.

But civilian casualties caused by US and Nato air strikes have been a frequent source of tension between Karzai and the United States.

The Afghan president, who was attending a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Beijing, issued a stinging rebuke of Nato’s latest air strike.

“Attacks by Nato that cause life and property losses to civilians under no circumstances could be justified and are not acceptable,” Karzai said of the incident on Wednesday in Logar province, south of Kabul.

Karzai “will shorten his trip to China and will very soon return to the country” following the deaths in Logar and those from a Kandahar suicide bombing on the same day, his office said.

Nato’s US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said “multiple insurgents” were killed in the air strike, which was ordered after troops came under fire during an operation against a Taliban commander.

Local police said that 18 civilians, including women and children, were killed in the strike. Dempsey promised an investigation.

The air strike did not come up in Thursday’s talks between Panetta and Wardak, a senior US defence official told AFP.

For the past five years the number of civilians killed in the war has risen steadily, reaching a record of 3,021 in 2011, with the vast majority caused by insurgents, the United Nations says.

In Kandahar on Wednesday, 23 civilians were killed when two Taliban bombers blew themselves up at a makeshift bazaar and truck stop near a major Nato base.

Panetta’s stop in Kabul came at the end of a nine-day tour with stops in Singapore, Vietnam and India, in which he touted a US strategic shift toward Asia after a decade of war.

http://dawn.com/2012/06/08/us-warns-running-out-of-patience-with-pakistan/

Dawn – Next weeks key to US-Pakistan ties: Senators

3 November 2011

Washington: Two US senators just back from a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan said on Wednesday that the coming weeks will show whether Islamabad can be a reliable ally against extremists.

“It does feel, at times, like Pakistan is playing both the role of fireman and arsonist in Afghanistan,” said Democratic Senator Mark Udall, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“The next few weeks will demonstrate or not whether we can work together effectively with the government of Pakistan” against foes like the Haqqani network blamed for attacks in Afghanistan, said Democratic Senator Jack Reed.

Reed said he had pressed top Pakistani officials to curtail the Haqqani network’s operations in Afghanistan, notably its couriers, as well as other groups blamed for planting deadly roadside bombs targeting US forces.

“Action needs to be taken in days and weeks” said Udall, who said US intelligence agencies and their Pakistan counterparts have been working together but need to strengthen their cooperation.

“We’d like it to be stronger, we’d like it to be more disclosive, there have been some shortcomings, there have been some mixed signals, but all in all we continue to cooperate with them and they cooperate with us in many ways,” he said.

The United States has reported a sharp rise in cross-border attacks against its forces, amid a deterioration of relations after US forces secretly raided Pakistan to kill the world’s most wanted man, Osama bin Laden.

Top US officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Pakistan last month to press for action against Islamic extremists, particularly the Haqqani network.

Reed said Clinton’s visit had “dramatically” improved Pakistani leaders’ attitude towards US pleas for help, citing “renewed interest for the government of Pakistan to cooperate with us,” but said he hoped for concrete actions.

“The words are right, the sentiment is right, but there has to be real steps going forward to help us,” said Reed, a former US Army Ranger who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“They’ll probably be invisible to most people but they have to be very real,” said Reed.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/11/03/next-weeks-key-to-us-pakistan-ties-senators.html

BBC News – Karzai reaches out to Pakistan over India pact

5 October 2011

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has sought to reassure Pakistan about a strategic partnership agreement he signed with India in Delhi on Tuesday.

“Pakistan is a twin brother, India is a great friend. The agreement that we signed yesterday with our friend will not affect our brother,” he said.

India has promised to help Afghanistan when foreign forces withdraw in 2014.

Correspondents say the deal is viewed with suspicion in Pakistan, which sees Afghanistan as its backyard.

Close relationship

“This strategic partnership… is not directed against any country… this strategic partnership is to support Afghanistan,” President Karzai said during a lecture organised by an Indian think-tank on Wednesday.

His two-day visit to India has been planned for months but it follows a series of attacks in recent weeks which have damaged ties between Kabul and India’s rival, Pakistan.

India is a major player in Afghanistan and has already pledged $2bn (£1.3bn) in assistance.

At Tuesday’s press conference in Delhi, Mr Singh said violence in Afghanistan was undermining security in South Asia.

He said that the strategic partnership between the two countries would create an “institutional framework” so that India could help in Afghan “capacity building” in the areas of education, development and people-to-people contacts.

The pact is believed to include an Indian commitment to increase its training of Afghan security forces, including the police, although Mr Singh made no reference to that in his press conference remarks.

The prime minister said that the two countries had also signed two agreements relating to Afghanistan’s energy requirements which represented “a new dimension in economic relations” to enable Kabul to integrate more effectively with the Indian economy and other economies in South Asia.

He said that the people of India sympathised with Afghanistan as it sought to cope with “acts of terrorism… particularly the assassination of [peace envoy] Burhanuddin Rabbani”.

“Rabbani was our guest in India in July and we were greatly encouraged by his vision,” Mr Singh said.

“His brutal assassination should… strengthen our resolve to jointly confront the menace of terrorism.”

President Karzai said that he was “grateful” for India’s help and reiterated that his government would work closely with the US, Europe and India to plan Afghanistan’s future.

Correspondents say Delhi is concerned about the security situation in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, particularly as foreign troops begin to withdraw from the region.

India is one of Afghanistan’s biggest donors, having pledged money for projects ranging from road construction to the building of the Afghan parliament – and is keen to play a bigger role.

Delhi has often accused Islamabad of links to groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Haqqani network that have carried out attacks in Afghanistan on Indian targets, including an assault on the Indian embassy in Kabul in July 2008, in which 40 people were killed.

Last week, US officials demanded Pakistan stop supporting the Haqqani network, an allegation Islamabad rejects.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15181095

BBC News – Afghanistan Haqqani militant Haji Mali Khan captured

1 October 2011

A senior leader of the militant Haqqani network, Haji Mali Khan, has been captured in Afghanistan, the Nato-led international force Isaf has said.

He was detained during an operation by Afghan and coalition forces in Paktia province on Tuesday, Isaf said.

He was heavily armed but did not resist, it added.

Haji Mali Khan is the senior commander in Afghanistan for the Haqqani network, blamed for some recent Afghan attacks and accused of links to Pakistan.

He is also a revered elder of the clan, the uncle of the network’s leader, Siraj Haqqani, and served as an emissary between the Haqqanis and Baitullah Mehsud, the former head of the Pakistani Taliban who was killed in a suspected US missile attack in 2009.

He is accused of setting up bases in Paktia and coordinating the transfer of money for militant operations.

The BBC’s Paul Wood in Kabul says Afghan officials describe him as the brain of the network.

The Haqqani are affiliated to the Taliban and have pledged allegiance to their spiritual leader, Mullah Omar. However, some in the West believe the Haqqani also have links to Pakistan’s intelligence agency, an accusation Islamabad denies.

Change of focus

Isaf said the capture was a “significant milestone in the disruption of the Haqqani network”, adding that the network remained a top priority for Afghan and coalition forces.

A large number of other insurgents was captured in the operation, in Jani Khel district, including Mali Khan’s deputy and bodyguard.

A senior Afghan intelligence official in Paktia province told the BBC that agents had information of a major attack that was being planned on Jani Khel.

A joint Afghan-Isaf force arrested Haji Mali Khan, whose real name was said to be Ali Khan, in the village of Mana, the official said.

A senior counter-terrorism official in Kabul told the BBC: ”Haji Mali Khan was in charge of suicide attacks, other attacks, money, finance and operations. He was not as brutal as other Haqqanis when it came to dealing with locals. For that he was liked and protected from time to time.”

US officials say they are close to deciding whether to label the Haqqani as a foreign terrorist organisation, and on Thursday the treasury department announced new sanctions on five individuals it said were linked to “the most dangerous terrorist organisations operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan”.

Mali Khan’s capture came days after the assassination of former Afghan president and negotiator Burhanuddin Rabbani, which was blamed on the network.

The killing prompted Afghan President Hamid Karzai to say on Friday that he was focusing on talks with Pakistan rather than the Taliban.

Afghan police said an attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul in June that left nine attackers, two police and 11 civilians dead, “bore the hallmarks” of the Haqqani.

The Haqqani network was also accused of carrying out a 20-hour attack last month on the Isaf headquarters and the US embassy in Kabul in which some 25 people died.

The US military accused Pakistan of helping the Haqqani in that attack.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said the network was a “veritable arm” of Pakistani intelligence service the ISI.

Pakistan has long denied supporting the Haqqani group, but BBC correspondents say it has a decades-old policy of pursuing foreign policy objectives through alliances with militants.

Although Islamabad denies the network has safe havens inside Pakistan, the country’s former national security adviser told the BBC that it was operating in North Waziristan, in Pakistan’s restive tribal belt.

“Today North Waziristan is a hot bed,” said retired Major General Mahmoud Durani.

The army was too overstretched to take on the Haqqanis, he added.

Analysis, Paul Wood, BBC News, Kabul

The Haqqanis are thought, by their detractors anyway, to be as much a crime family as a group of Islamist ideologues.

They are accused of running protection rackets, smuggling gemstones, carrying out kidnappings for money and of being guns for hire for the Pakistani intelligence services.

If they are behind recent attacks in Afghanistan, that may be about securing a place at the table in any future peace negotiations and a slice of any future spoils.

Whatever the truth, they’re said to have access to an almost limitless supply of young men in the tribal areas of Pakistan willing to carry out suicide attacks. If confirmed, the capture of Commander Khan, while undoubtedly a success for Nato, won’t change that.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15136007

BBC News – Pakistan PM Gilani rejects US Haqqani pressure

29 September 2011

Pakistan will not bow to US pressure to step up its fight against militancy, its prime minister has said.

Yousuf Raza Gilani told a rare meeting of political and religious parties that relations between the two countries should be based on mutual respect.

Relations have hit new lows since the top US military officer said Pakistan backed the Haqqani militant group in Afghanistan, a charge Pakistan rejects.

Correspondents say many Pakistanis see the US comments as a threat of war.

Washington wants Islamabad to sever links with the Haqqani group, which analysts say has roots deep inside Pakistani territory.

US officials say they are close to deciding whether to label the group as a foreign terrorist organisation, and on Thursday the Treasury Department announced new sanctions on five individuals it said are linked to “the most dangerous terrorist organisations operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

“These financiers and facilitators provide the fuel for the Taliban, Haqqani Network and al-Qaeda to realise their violent aspirations,” said Treasury official David Cohen said in a statement.

Correspondents say that the department’s move means that US companies and individuals are prohibited from engaging in transactions with the targeted individuals – and any assets they hold under US jurisdiction are frozen.

Among the five is Abdul Aziz Abbasin, who the Treasury Department accused of a series of high-profile attacks and described as a “key commander in the Haqqani network”.

Angered and humiliated

But in the Islamabad meeting, Mr Gilani said that Pakistan “cannot be pressured to do more” in the battle against militancy.

“The blame game should end, and Pakistan’s sensitive national interests should be respected,” he said, in comments carried live on local television stations.

He said that Pakistan was united over any threat to its sovereignty.

Pakistan’s army head Gen Ashfaq Kayani and ISI spy chief Lt-Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha were also at the meeting.

Lt-Gen Pasha said told the meeting that any US military action against insurgents in Pakistan would be “unacceptable” and that the Pakistani army was capable of responding.

He said that Pakistan would not allow the situation to get to a “point of no return”.

The US has been targeting militants, including members of the Haqqani group, for months in Pakistan’s tribal areas near the Afghan border – some in the US Congress are now calling for it to go beyond drone strikes.

Pakistan’s military was deeply angered and humiliated when US commandos killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in a secret raid on Pakistani soil in May.

‘Shocked’

Tensions between the two countries rose still further last week when the most senior US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, made his accusations, calling the Haqqanis a “veritable arm” of Pakistan’s spy agency.

The BBC’s Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says the emergency meeting of Pakistan’s parties is the largest gathering of its kind in the country for years.

He says Admiral Mullen’s comments have caused much anger in Pakistan and led many people to feel the US is threatening war. The White House, however, made slightly more conciliatory noises on Wednesday.

Spokesman Jay Carney said he would not have used the same language as Admiral Mullen, while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the two countries have to “work together”.

At the meeting, Mr Gilani said that any attempts by America to put pressure on Pakistan to do more would fail.

“American statements shocked us, and negate our sacrifices and successes in the ongoing war against terror,” he told the gathering in his opening remarks.

“We should give up talking about assumptions for the sake of meaningful negotiations. Pakistan cannot be pressurised to do more. Our national interests should be respected. Our doors are open for dialogue.”

The prime minister also rejected allegations made by Admiral Mullen that Pakistan had helped orchestrate attacks on US targets in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has long denied supporting the Haqqani group, but BBC correspondents say it has a decades-old policy of pursuing foreign policy objectives through alliances with militants.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15106632

The Hindu – Can’t have selective approach in fighting terror: India to U.S.

New York, 27 September 2011. India has conveyed to the U.S. that countries with a “determined position to fight terror” cannot be selective in their approach in dealing with the menace and have to fight the scourge together “across the board”.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna discussed the issue of terror with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a bilateral meeting that lasted here for over 40 minutes.

Terming the meeting as “very good and constructive,” Mr. Krishna later told reporters that the two sides spent time on discussing the issue of terrorism and condemned the recent attacks on the American mission in Kabul and at the High Court in New Delhi.

“I made out the point that it is necessary for all those countries which have taken the determined position to fight terror will have to act together and fight it across the board without being selective in our approach,” he said adding that, “Secretary Clinton agreed with us.”

The talks also featured concerns over the Haqqani network with the External Affairs Minister pointing out that “whenever terror comes up for discussion, the Haqqani group is certainly a factor which is woven into terrorism.”

On whether America’s recent accusation against the ISI supporting the deadly Haqqani network has brought a sense of  unity between India and the U.S. on Pakistan, Mr. Krishna said “It is not a question of America agreeing with India and India agreeing with Pakistan.”

He said the countries have to see what is “our approach, reaction, response to terror”.

“If the position U.S. takes on terror is exactly similar to the position India takes that does not mean to say that they have been converted to our position or we have taken position similar to them.”

The two sides also followed up on the civil nuclear treaty and discussed what needs to be done further.

Ms. Clinton urged Mr. Krishna to ensure that India’s nuclear liability regime conforms with the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear damage, an American official said requesting anonymity.

Mr. Krishna and Ms. Clinton discussed a host of multilateral issues including the situation in Palestine, Sudan and Syria.

When asked to comment on the divergent views that India and the U.S. have on Syria and Palestine, Mr. Krishna said as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said in his address to the U.N. General Assembly, “We cannot order how nations set their house in order.”

On concerns that momentum of the India-U.S. relations appear to be slowing down, with certain defence contracts not being awarded to U.S. companies, Mr. Krishna said this is not an issue by which U.S. would be offended.

He said defence contracts are awarded on basis of merit and are a comparative tabulated evaluation done by a committee of experts. “I do not think anybody can take offence if we chose something else. U.S. has been into this long enough not to misjudge the relationship based only on a particular issue. We will have to take the generality,” he added.

Mr. Krishna said he was “quite satisfied” with the outcome of his talks.

Ms. Clinton complimented India on its active participation in the New Silk Road initiative to strengthen transit and trade in South and Central Asia. “The ministers compared notes on the upcoming New Silk Road conference in Istanbul in early November,” the official said. (PTI)

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2489778.ece

The Hindu – Glad that US recognised Haqqani, ISI links: Krishna

New York, 25 September 2011. India on Sunday said it was for good that the U.S. recognised the link between the Haqqani network and the Pakistan intelligence agency ISI, both of which have been blamed for the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanudin Rabbani.

“We have always been saying it. I am glad US finds it is also suffered under the ISI,” External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said here.

The two countries will discuss their bilateral relationship when Mr. Krishna meets Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday.

Mr. Krishna said it was fine to differ with the U.S. on Syria and Libya, noting that bilateral relations depended on entirely different set of conditions.

“We don’t have to agree on everything,” he said.

Referring to support of nations like China in India’s bid for permanent membership of the Security Council, Krishna said “this is a question which India is very serious about.”

He noted that the restructuring of the UNSC will be a long and arduous journey. “But India believes that ultimately it will find its rightful place in the Security Council,” he added.

Mr. Krishna met the Indian Ambassador and its Consul Generals in the country and discussed ways to improve the consular services and deal with public grievances. (PTI)

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2484427.ece?homepage=true

Dawn – Gilani moves to lower temperature

Baqir Sajjad Syed

25 September 2011

Islamabad: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has for the second time in two days condemned the US allegations linking the ISI with the Haqqani network, but with a difference. In a bid to move forward from the recent blame game being played out, he called for rededication to counter-terrorism cooperation.

“Let’s avoid mutual recrimination and recommit ourselves to working together for eliminating terrorism and for reconciliation and peace in Afghanistan,” Mr Gilani said in what was described as a “policy statement” at a dinner he hosted on Saturday for diplomats and donor agencies engaged in flood relief.

“We strongly reject assertions of complicity with the Haqqanis or of proxy war,” the prime minister said.

His remarks came shortly after Centcom Chief General James Mattis met Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The visit by the top US commander amid the crisis in ties generated by disparaging statements given by retiring Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen about Pakistan and the subsequent comments by Mr Gilani reflect the mutual desire to keep the bruised relationship from rupturing.

“Blame-game is self-defeating… It will only benefit the enemies of peace. Only terrorists and militants will gain from any fissures and divisions,” the prime minister emphasised and cautioned against being “carried away by emotions”.

Mr Gilani laid out Pakistan’s vision of the way forward seeking clarity about Afghan endgame and strategic coherence over reconciliation and peace to prevent recurrence of such differences that could imperil the entire relationship.

“There is a need for close policy coordination between Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States. We need to develop a clear and coherent strategy together. A clear roadmap so that all three i.e. Afghanistan, Pakistan and the US, are on the same page and work together for achieving the stated goal of reconciliation and peace”.

The prime minister suggested that operational difficulties, which are thought to be at the root of hard patch in the relationship, could be addressed if the needed clarity and strategic coherence was to be achieved.

The intensified “propaganda blitz against Pakistan”, Mr Gilani believed, was because of “confusion and policy disarray within the US establishment on the way forward in Afghanistan”.

The prime minister’s offer of getting past the row through “closer engagement”, however, had a caveat. He said cooperation would be premised on “mutual respect” and that “realities and dynamics of the situation on the ground also need to be objectively factored” while addressing Afghan imbroglio.

Mr Gilani reminded the US about Pakistan’s sacrifices in the war on terror and the counter-terror contributions.

He was responding to comments on Thursday by Admiral Mike Mullen, who said ISI was linked to militant groups who carried out the September 13 attack on the US embassy in Kabul.

It was the most serious allegation levelled by Washington against the nuclear-armed South Asian nation since 2001, and the first time it had held Islamabad responsible for an attack against the United States.

Mr Gilani said his country was not responsible for the security of foreign troops inside Afghanistan and it was itself a victim of terrorist attacks launched from Afghan soil.

“While there have been terrorist attacks in Kabul and Wardak, there have also been numerous attacks on Pakistan launched from sanctuaries and safe havens in Nooristan and Kunar in Afghanistan,” he said “It is as much the responsibility of the Afghan National Army, Nato and ISAF not to allow such cross-border militancy.”

The prime minister stressed the need for joint operations and coordination. At the same time, he said there was concern over the deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan and called the recent attacks in Kabul “disquieting”.

“We condemn these attacks,” he said.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/25/gilani-moves-to-lower-temperature.html