Zardari resists US insurgens timeline

Washington: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has resisted a direct appeal from President Barack Obama for a rapid expansion of Pakistani military operations in tribal areas and has called on the US to speed up military assistance to Pakistani forces and to intervene more forcefully with India, its traditional adversary.

In a written response to a letter from Obama late last month, Zardari said his government was determined to take action against Al Qaida, the Taliban and allied insurgent groups attacking US forces in Afghanistan from the border area inside Pakistan. But, he said, Pakistan's efforts would be based on its own timeline and operational needs.

Ongoing strains

The message was reinforced Monday by Pakistan's military chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, who told General David Petraeus, the head of the US Central Command, the US should not expect "a major operation in North Waziristan" in the coming months, according to a senior US defence official. North Waziristan, one of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on the Afghan border, is a sanctuary for the Afghan Taliban.

The letters between the two leaders, while couched in diplomatic niceties, reflect ongoing strains in a relationship that is crucial to both. The long-term success of Obama's new Afghanistan strategy depends on Pakistan moving forcefully against Taliban havens in the FATA and Balochistan. US ground troops are prohibited from operating inside Pakistan. To bolster Pakistan's government and military, the administration proposed, and Congress approved, a tripling in economic and development assistance and increased military aid.

In return, the US wants Pakistan to "move on our mutual interests, which includes the Haqqani network and includes the Taliban in Pakistan", Vice-President Joe Biden said Tuesday in an interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

Pakistani counterinsurgency operations this year have primarily targeted separate but allied groups whose attacks are directed toward Pakistani government targets.

"We're committed to this war, but we'll fight it on our terms... We will prioritise targets based on our interests. We don't want them to be dictated to us," a Pakistani intelligence official said.

Zardari did not mention India by name in his three-page letter to Obama, but he made repeated reference to Pakistan's core interests, unresolved historical conflicts and conventional imbalances.