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US official hails army drive against militants
A senior US official on Sunday praised Pakistani offensives against militants and played down hopes negotiations could end violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:55 October 21, 2008
Islamabad: A senior US official on Sunday praised Pakistani offensives against militants and played down hopes negotiations could end violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Deputy US Secretary of State Richard Boucher also said the US and nuclear-armed Pakistan's other allies wanted to support its efforts as it struggles with a balance of payments crisis.
But a Friends of Pakistan group, which includes the US and is due to meet next month, would not simply offer Pakistan a cash advance, he said.
"We're glad to see serious military action against people whose only goal seems to be to blow up the Pakistan state and society," Boucher told a news conference in Islamabad.
Pakistani forces have been battling militants in the northwest since August and the military says well over 1,000 militants have been killed. There has been no independent verification of that casualty estimate.
The offensives were launched after a surge of militant violence since the middle of last year that has included a wave of suicide bomb attacks, one of which killed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Boucher held talks with Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, whose party leads a coalition government and who was elected president last month.
Boucher's visit comes during a period of tension between the allies over US military attacks on militants in northwest Pakistan, including missile strikes by pilotless aircraft and a September 3 US commando raid on a border village.
Boucher declined to answer questions on the strikes but said the US goal was to help Pakistan establish the writ of government in northwestern ethnic Pashtun areas, where militants orchestrate violence in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Logistical support
A small group of US personnel is helping to train Pakistani paramilitary forces and Boucher said the US wanted to help Pakistan deal with its own problems.
"The only way we're going to be able to solve this ... is dealing with this from both sides [of the border], so there are complementary actions," Boucher said.
A group of Afghans, including former Taliban and government representatives, met in Saudi Arabia last month for discussions on how to end the worsening conflict there.
All sides agreed that no real peace talks took place but the start of efforts to find a negotiated solution has been seized on as a glimmer of hope.
But Boucher played down prospects for negotiations, although he said there was room for a political process with those who abandoned violence.
"There's no practical negotiations going on," he said.
"All they're interested in is having more space to rebuild their capabilities," he said of the militants.
War on terror; Italy offers backing
Italy backs Pakistan's efforts to combat terrorism without negotiating with militants who refuse to lay down arms, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Sunday after meeting Pakistani leaders.
"Our political strategy... is to not legitimise terrorists but eradicate terrorism from inside of the civil society," said Frattini, who met with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi.
The Pakistan government issued a statement thanking Italy for writing off a $100 million (Dh367.8 million) debt by converting it into economic assistance for Pakistani social sectors.
Italy has more than 2,000 troops serving with Nato forces in Afghanistan, fighting a Taliban insurgency that military officials and analysts say has been partly fuelled by fighters crossing from Pakistan's tribal lands.
Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, Frattini endorsed Pakistan's strategy of trying to win over support from the conservative ethnic Pashtun tribes of the region, and not negotiate with militants until they laid down their arms.
"We do want Pakistan combating terrorism and fighting terrorists, not negotiating with terrorists. This is why we share the same point of view," the Italian minister said, adding that a bilateral accord on security should be signed early next year.
Pakistan is under pressure from the West to do more to eradicate the militant threat in its tribal areas. The Pakistani military, backed by tribal militias, is battling to drive out Al Qaida and pro-Taliban militants from the Bajaur tribal region and northwest valley of Swat.
Pakistan has lost well over 1,000 troops since 2001, and the militants have responded by launching suicide attacks in Pakistani cities. "Pakistan has paid very heavy price for fighting terrorism and should be helped in economic terms, cultural terms and political terms," Frattini said.
Pakistan is on the brink of a balance of payments crisis that could push it into a default on foreign debt unless support from multilateral lenders emerges.
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