International
Pak., U.S. to sign treaty on use of Karachi airport
By B. Muralidhar Reddy
ISLAMABAD, JAN. 23. After dithering for several weeks, Pakistan has finally agreed to provide the United States and its allies full operational facilities at the Karachi International Airport to make it the hub of the U.S-led peace-keeping operations in Afghanistan.
The News, English daily, in a front page report, today quoted the director-General of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Air Marshal (retd.) Aliuddin, as saying that a formal agreement with the U.S. on use of the airport was likely to be signed in the next few days. After the withdrawal of facilities at Jacobabad and Pasni airports, the permission to use Karachi would compensate for the setback to the U.S. operations.
Pakistan had reportedly allowed the U.S. and its allies to operate from Jacobabad and Pansi airports after the coalition launched military operations against Afghanistan in the first week of October. However, the Musharraf Government had maintained consistently that its cooperation to the coalition was limited to use of air space, intelligence sharing and logistic support.
A number of religious parties in Pakistan had launched a major agitation in protest against the Musharraf Government's decision to allow the U.S.-led forces to make use of the airbases.
On Tuesday, Rashid Quereshi, press secretary to the Pakistan President, vehemently denied a news report in The Nation, English daily, that the U.S. was pushing Pakistan to lease it around 20,000 acres to set up military bases, no fly zone area and related facilities for its ground troops and other servicemen in Baluchistan for ten years.
Mr. Aliuddin, while confirming the decision to allow the U.S. and its allies forces to use the Karachi airport, said that ``it is expected that 400 to 600 troops of 11 nations, that are part of the peace-keeping forces in Afghanistan, will be using Karachi Airport. These troops will not be stationed on a permanent basis but will be in the transit phase.''
The deputy director-general, CAA, Arshad Rashid Sethi, said the use of the airport by the peacekeeping forces would help in bailing out the CAA from a financial crunch. The operations, however, would not fully compensate the losses incurred by the CAA from the recent Afghan situation, he added.
A 25-member team of coalition experts had reportedly visited the Quaid-i-Azam International Airport, the Karachi Port Trust and Port Qasim on Thursday last and reviewed facilities of communications and lodging.
The DG, CAA, said the peacekeeping forces had earlier wanted to operate from Islamabad or Peshawar. However, the CAA had rejected the proposal as both the airports were being jointly used by the Pakistan Air Force and civilian aviation, and there was not enough space on the civilian side for any large-scale operation.
According to an initial estimate, about 10 to 12 heavy C-130 type aircraft and two to three 747 or jumbo planes would daily operate through Karachi Airport. The CAA would charge normal commercial rates but it was not certain how long the forces would use the facilities at the Airport.
``However, the shortest estimated period is six months,'' Mr. Aliuddin said. ``As there is no fixed time, we will charge them on a daily basis. All the facilities will be used for military purpose and not for trade or business.''
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