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| Mullen on mysterious visit to Islamabad |
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Sunday, July 13, 2008
By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir
ISLAMABAD: The tough-talking US military commander, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Admiral Michael Mullen who came to Islamabad Saturday 'unannounced' from Kabul, had important meetings here including one with Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and left for Washington the same day. No official from either side was prepared to comment on his activities on the soil of Pakistan except acknowledging that he was here for a day.
Mystery shrouding his 'secret' visit indicates that he was here with a different 'mission'. The spokesperson of the US embassy was ungenerous and somewhat economical with her words and offered no comments on this count. "I don't have the schedule of the Admiral," she said when asked about the number of hours Admiral Mullen stayed in Pakistan. On every query she said that he was here for a one-day visit.
Admiral Mullen has come to the region a number of times ever since he assumed the office two years ago. He met Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul a day earlier and then had marathon discussions with his commanders who are facing the most difficult period of their stay in the war-torn country. It is believed that the admiral is in his last year of the command but he has certain plans to execute before leaving.
The US authorities have repeated their offer to provide specialised training to the personnel of the Frontier Corps for fighting terrorism and the government would seriously consider it, the sources said. But Pakistan at the same time is asking for improvement of coordination in efforts on counter-terrorism.
Pakistan is asking the US to improve intelligence sharing that is acutely limited despite the seven years of partnership in the so-called war on terror. The US administration has been reluctant to provide either electronic intercept equipment or raw intelligence about extremists, for fears best known to the Pentagon or State Department.
Earlier the admiral had said that he is working to supply shortage of military trainers for local security forces in Afghanistan and his top priority is to muster an additional brigade of US troops to carry out that mission. "I am pressing the system very hard to see if we can generate any additional trainers," he said.
The Washington Post correspondent in his dispatch from Kabul said Saturday that the admiral warned Friday that al-Qaeda leaders operating in Pakistan's tribal areas are planning new terrorist attacks against the United States, making it imperative that Pakistan's new government take action to eliminate their sanctuary there. He said that the al-Qaeda threat from Pakistan represents a "huge challenge" for the US, but said Pakistan has been lacking in its execution of a strategy to eradicate the safe havens for terrorists and insurgents in the lawless region known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). Mullen called on Pakistani authorities to enforce any deals they strike with tribal leaders in the FATA and to insist not only on the expulsion of al-Qaeda but also a halt to the flow of insurgents across the border into Afghanistan. However, Mullen predicted slow progress, citing Pakistan's complex tribal allegiances and sensitivities over sovereignty that have limited US military involvement in the region. "We're just not going to solve it overnight," said Mullen at a gathering of defence reporters. "It's going to take longer than most people realise."
Islamabad's ambassador to Washington, Hussain Haqqani, said other day that US leaders have told his government that if the United States suffers an attack that is traced back to Pakistan, Washington will have to take steps to retaliate. "Those [statements] have been made," Haqqani told editors and reporters Friday. "We want to make sure that it doesn't come to that." Haqqani reiterated that in targeting extremists, "Pakistani preference remains to not have outside forces' action on the Pakistan side of the border."
Despite overtures by a provincial leader and the Pakistani military, talks with extremists like Baitullah Mehsud have so far not produced any agreements, Haqqani said. "There will be no agreement similar to agreements of the past," he said, referring to earlier deals that either were not honoured or fell apart.
Haqqani listed new conditions his government will impose in any deal with insurgent groups. Fighters will now have to pledge not to launch attacks in either Pakistan or Afghanistan. All foreign fighters in the tribal areas must be expelled. And extremists must promise not to give safe haven to any group targeting any of Pakistan's allies, including the United States.
"That's something that American intelligence is very interested in," Haqqani said. "No safe haven or safe passage for any group that wants to plan attacks against any friend of Pakistan." Fighters will also have to promise to de-commission large weapons and account for smaller arms, the envoy said. Haqqani predicted that key players in the tribal areas will eventually comply with the government's demands. "There will be people other than those who belong to hard-core groups that would be willing to agree to these conditions, and those are the reconcilable people that we would like on board," he said. "There are people from the tribal areas, from the Mehsud tribe for example, that would be willing to subscribe to these conditions in return for the benefits."
"We intend to overcome any misgivings that have undermined intelligence sharing in the past," Pakistan's envoy said.
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KP floods toll reaches 408
By Nisar Mahmood
PESHAWAR: Casualties due to rain and flood-related incidents were on the rise as more deaths were reported from various areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Friday.
Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain p more |
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‘US has no plans to send troops to Pakistan’
WASHINGTON: The United States (US) has brushed aside an Afghan demand to strike at militant safe havens across the border, saying it has no plans to send combat troops to Pakistan.
“We have no plans to s more |
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PM’s directive to HEC is illegal
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: The chairman of the NA Committee on Education has formally sought from the prime minister withdrawal of his recent directive barring the Higher Education Commission (HEC) from directly reporting to t more |
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Flash floods kill 102 in a narrow Shangla strip
By Ikram Hoti
BISHAM, Swat: Out of over 500 people killed by torrential rains and flash floods across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 102 were killed only in a 10-kilometre narrow mountainous strip in Shangla in the 78 hours of Wednesda more |
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95 victims of plane crash identified, Malik tells Senate
By Muhammad Anis
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Friday claimed that 95 out of the 152 dead bodies of the plane crash victims had been identified and 78 handed over to relatives.
Responding to points of orde more |
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Zardari to visit UK despite Cameron snub
By Tariq Butt
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari is going ahead with his four-day official visit to Britain, starting from Aug 3, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said in categorical terms on Friday.
This b more |
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14 die in G-B rains
By our correspondent
GILGIT: Fourteen people, three of them girls, died on Friday in various parts of Gilgit-Baltistan as torrential rains continued to wreak havoc in Gilgit-Baltistan, senior government officials said.
Four more |
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Mullen asks ISI to shift its focus ‘strategically’
WASHINGTON: Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has asked the Pakistani spy agency to “strategically shift its focus” as any ties with the terrorist outfits that had come to light in more |
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Security concerns main reason
By Murtaza Ali Shah
LONDON: President Asif Ali Zardari’s official visit to the UK from August 3 to 7 will cost the taxpayers of Pakistan tons of British pounds as sources have revealed the details of what arrangements are being ma more |
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Fake degrees: SC rejects appeals of three MPs
By Sohail Khan
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday dismissed the appeals of one National Assembly and two provincial assembly members and upheld the decisions against their fake degrees.
A three-member bench of more |
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ECP to check assets of all MPs from next polls
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: In what would serve as a great step towards political reformation in the country, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is finalising a proposal to verify all the declarations of the members of t more |
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Indo-Pak experts want to use water as tool for cooperation
NEW DELHI: Use water as a tool to build trust and cooperation, urged delegates at an Indo-Pak seminar ‘Water is life’ organized by Aman ki Asha and the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation here to discuss the more |
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Cameron’s remarks: ISI team cancels visit to UK
ISLAMABAD: Following the shocking remarks made by the British Prime Minister David Cameron against Pakistan, an ISI’s anti-terrorism experts delegation has cancelled its visit to Britain.
Defence sources more |
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CCP issues notice for tying ticket with food coupons
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has issued a show cause notice to a company for tying the sale of cinema ticket with food coupons.
According to the CCP, the show cause notice was more |
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US needs to change war strategy: Haroon
NEW YORK: Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, said that there might have been a relationship between the ISI and the Taliban, but in a war such contacts were considered necessary.
“ more |
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briefs...
Average inflation for FY11 projected at 11-12 pc
By Shahnawaz Akhter
KARACHI: In an unexpected move, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday tightened the monetary policy stance by enhancing th more |
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ISSN 1563-9479 
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