The Hindu : International : Unwarranted, says Islamabad

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 07, 2004

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International

Unwarranted, says Islamabad

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, APRIL 6. For the second time in recent days, Pakistan has clashed with the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan on the charge that it has emerged as a haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives and was not doing enough to drive them out of its territory.

In a strongly-worded statement, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry denounced the comments of the Ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad as `unwarranted' and maintained that the envoy was out of tune with the thinking of the Bush Administration on the role played by Islamabad in the fight against terrorism in general and against the Al-Qaeda in particular.

The comments of Mr. Khalilzad do not augur well for the joint fight put up by Pakistan and America, particularly at a juncture when the former is engaged in a grim battle against the Al-Qaeda in its areas bordering Afghanistan.

Implied in the Ambassador's comments is the suggestion that the U.S. could move against `terrorists' based in Pakistan.

When Mr. Khalilzad made similar comments at the height of operations in Wazirstan tribal agency last month, Islamabad not only lodged an official protest but also took up the matter at the diplomatic level in Washington. It was not clear if it extracted any assurances.

Pakistan's Information Minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, today said the army could deal with the problem and the comments were `harmful'. He said Pakistan would never allow foreign troops on its soil. "We are the country that has delivered the best results in this war... our progress is far better than anybody's," he claimed.

Mr. Ahmed said his country's troops "have sacrificed their lives in fulfilling their pledge to combat terrorists." Pakistan did not need anybody in its territories — neither can permission be given to anyone. "These kind of irresponsible statements can create political problems for us." He claimed that there were no training facilities for the Taliban in his country, and that Pakistan supported the Afghanistan Government of Hamid Karzai and shared information with U.S. intelligence.

The Foreign Ministry's acting spokesman, Jalil Abbas Jilani, also criticised the Ambassador's comments, describing them as unwarranted. "Perhaps, Ambassador Khalilzad is not aware of the position of his Government on the subject, which greatly appreciated Pakistan's efforts in eliminating and rooting out the terrorists' infrastructure."

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