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Operation in north-west not a hunt for Osama: Pakistan

Nirupama Subramanian

Islamabad denies role in Kashmir terrorism

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani security forces on the north-west border are not on a manhunt for Osama bin Laden but are engaged in a broad offensive against terrorism, a senior officer in the army said on Tuesday.

Rejecting the theory that Osama was hiding in Pakistan as speculation, Major-General Shaukat Sultan, Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations, said it was "unfair" to point a finger at his country when the U.S., with its high-technology surveillance and advanced intelligence, had not been able to trace him.

"He could be anywhere. Our own thinking is that he is still in Afghanistan," Maj-Gen Sultan said in an informal conversation with The Hindu .

He reiterated Pakistan's commitment to the war on terror and its role in the U.S.-led coalition forces. "But we are not into a single man-hunt. It is a broad war on terror. Overall, we want to finish terrorism," he said.

Asked if that also stood good for terrorist acts in Jammu & Kashmir that New Delhi blames on Pakistan, he said his Government "outrightly" condemns terrorism. If India had evidence to back its allegation, it should share it with Pakistan.

Major-General Sultan said "there is nothing that Pakistan is doing" to promote terrorism in Kashmir. "The reality is that there is a proper freedom struggle going on there. You cannot equate it with terrorism," he said.

In Waziristan, Pakistan has committed 80,000 troops. It has lost between 350 to 400 men in the fighting, and over 800 are wounded. The forces had killed 500 "miscreants" and rounded up 1,000 persons.

Maj-Gen Sultan said he used the word miscreants because many of them were not hard-core terrorists but misguided youth. Pakistan was also trying to find a "political solution" to eliminate terrorism in those areas by getting tribal elders involved to speak out against sheltering foreign mercenaries.

Asked about the situation in Balochistan, he said the unrest was "misrepresented" in the Indian media as a nationalist or separatist movement, and rejected reports of human rights violations by the security forces.

The Balochistan unrest was a law and order problem created by only two "sardars" - the Nawabs of Bugti and Marri - who did not have the support of all their people, he said.

Repeating Pakistan's allegation that India was giving financial assistance to those behind the unrest, he said the evidence to back this was provided by the Interior ministry to the Indian Home ministry at the recent meeting of the two Secretaries.

He described the uprising as driven by the self-interest of its leaders. The Nawab of Bugti was unhappy that the Government had terminated his royalties from the Sui gas fields, which fall in his land. The Government had stopped paying him because he was using it to build his private militia rather than for the welfare of his tribe.

As for the Nawab of Marri, he was fighting the Government because he was fiercely opposed to all attempts to develop the area. According to Maj-Gen Sultan, the leader feared that development would loosen his control over his tribe. The solution in Balochistan was for the two tribal chiefs to disarm their militias, after which the Government was prepared to talk to them. "We have already squeezed them to quite an extent, and succeeded in cutting off their sources of finance and arms. Many of their followers are leaving them. Soon they will have no option but to disarm their militias," he said.

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