Afghan leader confronts Pakistan over terror support
By Ahmed Rashid in Islamabad
(Filed: 18/02/2006)

President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has handed over extensive intelligence dossiers to Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf detailing how suicide bombers who attack targets in Afghanistan are being recruited, trained and equipped in Pakistan.

Although Mr Karzai stopped short of accusing Pakistan's military regime of perpetrating the attacks, he said the US and Britain would be "stepping up pressure on Islamabad" to take action to stop the attacks, as British troops soon deploy in southern Afghanistan.
Mr Karzai was on a landmark three-day visit to the Pakistani capital Islamabad which ended yesterday.
At least 30 suicide bomb attacks have killed nearly 100 people in Afghanistan, including civilians, over the past three months.
Mr Karzai faces extreme pressure at home where anti-Pakistan sentiment is rising. There have been dozens of demonstrations over allegations that Pakistan's Interservices Intelligence (ISI) is giving support to the Taliban.
"We have provided President Musharraf with a lot of very detailed information on acts of terrorism being carried out in Afghanistan and we discussed in great detail what actions Pakistan could now take," Mr Karzai told The Daily Telegraph.
"Americans are dying, a Canadian diplomat has been killed, our people are suffering, so it is time that action is taken to stop these acts of terrorism and interference in Afghanistan internal affairs.
"After all this information has been given to the Pakistanis, we will see if the bombings will stop or not. We expect results, we expect that terrorist attacks will decrease," he added.
Asked what he would do if the ISI failed to deliver and the perpetrators only went deeper into hiding, Mr Karzai said: "We will uncover them again. We have the abilities to do so and we will come again and again to talk and talk to President Musharraf."
Mr Karzai also made it clear that the US and Britain had increased diplomatic pressure on Pakistan to stop any support to the Taliban. Britain is to deploy 4,000 troops in southern Afghanistan over the next few months, mostly to the province of Helmand, where the Taliban has recently stepped up its activities.
"Britain now has a very special role to play. There will be thousands of British troops deployed in the south against the Taliban and neither Britain nor Afghanistan is in any mood to tolerate any more casualties," said Mr Karzai. "Britain will be piling on the pressure."
The Afghan dossiers include the names and addresses of Pakistani recruiters, trainers and suppliers.
"In places like Karachi, Pakistani extremist groups working on behalf of the Taliban for a fee carry out the recruitment and then bring them to safe houses in Balochistan for training and equipping with the [suicide] vests," said a senior Afghan official who accompanied Mr Karzai.
The official said that all the top Taliban commanders were known to be living in Pakistan with their families and the issue had been repeatedly raised with Pakistan.
Pakistani officials no longer deny that Taliban activity is being co-ordinated from their soil, but they insist that the government has nothing to do with it. After his two-hour meeting with the Afghan leader on Wednesday night, Mr Musharraf called on "all the progressive political elements in Pakistan" to suppress elements who may be abetting the Taliban.
Earlier Mr Musharraf - who usually is vehement in denying any kind of Pakistani involvement - told Mr Karzai that the onus of fighting terrorism "was on both the countries".
He said: "Therefore it is incumbent on both Afghanistan and Pakistan, the governments, the intelligence agencies and the military of both sides, to jointly co-operate, co-ordinate and fight this evil."

Pakistans role in the "War on Terror" is a bit dubious to say the least . Why we haven't tackled this bizarre situation, that exists within it's borders before now, is puzzling !

We perhaps forget that Musharraf took power and is effectively dictator of Pakistan. It is only he and his people that keep Pakistan 'onside'. When he goes, if he's not replaced by another puppet, expect fireworks. Pakistan has always been the biggest recruiter of Islamic terrorists and without Musharraf, things will get very much worse. USUK know thisand support him for that reason alone. Remember, Pak only dropped into the Western camp when USUK invaded Afghanistan. Musharraf was clear what needed doing to keep the invasion forces away from him.

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'Never was so much owed by so many to so few.' Sir Winston Churchill.

Nearly 750,000 Iraqis have died since 2003 who might still be alive but for the US-led invasion. That is a cause for shame, not pride.

A very accurate description .Its one thing tackling a clear and present threat .It takes a bit more grey matter to predict and tackle a future scenario.
We're going to be busy in this region for many years to come (big sigh).....

Pakistan is an ally of convenience, but they certainly aren't a "friend." During Op Anaconda, their troops had a blast firing mortars on US positions, not to mention crossing over border and helping Al'Q/Taliban leftovers get across and into Pakistan.

As Kur said, they've had their hands in the terrorist cookie jar for years. Occasionally they'll throw us a crumb and claim support for the GWOT, but for the most part, terrorists are still allowed to cut their teeth within the borders.

bunch of proper B*ATARDS if you ask me i hope India kick the ***** out of them one day

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In times of peril the only chance in life
is giveing up all hope in it. Mei-Yao-Chien

It's a very how do I say it... delicate situation. Pakistan has not come out and allied with the wackos that make up the enemies of the western world. But as of now we have no substantial evidence going for us saying: "They have helped terrorists through their borders" and so on and so forth. In fact back in Late 2004, i believe, that they were patroling borders so Al Queda, (but not Taliban, as far as we know who were not responsible for the happenings of 9/11) could not slip into the borders. The Taliban were not declared a terrorist organization, so we didn't go into Afghanistan to take them out. They fled because Al'Queda was their piggy bank. So we can't officially say that Pakistan is an enemy of the state. My Opinion: 40% friend 60% enemy.

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SI VIS PACEM PARA BELLUM

As they wouldn't hand over Bin laden ,They became an obstruction that had to be removed
Yes we did! They fled because the Northern alliance high on US dollars and US/UK SF support clobbered them .
Enemy of the state ? Thats a film isn't it ?My opinion is 4% friend ,96% enemy !

Never trust them BASTARDS

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Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

Bush praises Pakistan terror role

US President George W Bush has praised Pakistan's role in the war on terror, but said more needed to be done to defeat al-Qaeda.
Speaking during a 24-hour visit, Mr Bush reaffirmed a "broad and lasting strategic partnership" with Pakistan. He also said he believed the future of Pakistan lay in democracy.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf meanwhile said he looked forward to a new era of co-operation between his country and the US. Mr Bush praised Gen Musharraf for his "bold decision" to fight terror following the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States.
Mr Bush said the Pakistani president "understands the stakes, he understands the responsibility, the need to make sure the strategy is able to defeat the enemy".
Mr Bush said more work remained to be done to defeat al-Qaeda.
The best way to achieve this, he said, was to "share good intelligence, to locate them [al-Qaeda], and then be prepared to bring them to justice". He said neither the US nor Pakistan would "back down in the face of these killers", adding: "We will win this war together."
President Bush said a large part of his discussions with Gen Musharraf had been on democratic reform. He said he believed "democracy is Pakistan's future".
"President Musharraf understands that in the long run the way to defeat terrorism is to replace an ideology of hatred with an ideology of hope," he said.
President Bush said presidential elections planned for 2007 in Pakistan were a great opportunity, adding that they needed to be "open and honest".
Gen Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, conceded that his military post and uniform were still an issue that needed to be addressed.
But he claimed he was the one responsible for bringing to Pakistan what he called the essence of democracy.

Security blanket
The Pakistani president acknowledged that there had been some "slippage" in his country's fight against al-Qaeda, but he said "we will succeed".
Reaffirming his support for Washington in the war on terror, Gen Musharraf said it was "absolutely clear - that we have a strategic partnership on the issue of fighting terrorism". The BBC's Jonathan Beale, who is travelling with President Bush, says as the two leaders emerged from more than two hours of talks, US Black Hawk helicopters hovered in the distance - the heavy security presence further evidence that their declared war on terror has not been won. There was intense security in and around the capital during Mr Bush's visit, with a no-fly zone for commercial flights and private aircraft, and thousands of riot police and paramilitary troops on guard.
Several conservative Islamic parties and student organisations have rallied supporters across the country for anti-US marches over the past week, with many demonstrators also condemning Western countries for printing cartoons that satirised the Prophet Muhammad.
Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan was detained ahead of a march he was due to lead on Saturday, his spokesman said

Mr Bush has called Gen Musharraf his "buddy"

Bush urges Pakistan to boost terror effortBy Massoud Ansari in Karachi
(Filed: 05/03/2006)

President George W Bush praised Pakistan's military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, for his commitment to the war on terror, but warned yesterday that greater efforts were still needed.
At the same time, Mr Bush urged Gen Musharraf to embrace democracy and press ahead with plans for presidential elections next year, insisting that "in the long run the way to defeat terrorism is to replace an ideology of hatred with an ideology of hope".
Speaking on his first visit to the country which the United States sees as one of its most crucial allies against al-Qaeda, Mr Bush reaffirmed what he called a "broad and lasting strategic partnership" between Washington and Islamabad - forged after the September 11 attacks.
"President Musharraf made a bold decision for his people and for peace… when Pakistan chose to fight terror," Mr Bush told a joint press conference in Islamabad after hour-long talks with Pakistan's leader, who has survived three assassination attempts over the past four years."He understands the stakes, he understands the responsibility and he understands the need to make sure our strategy is able to defeat the enemy."
In pointed comments aimed squarely at the country's faltering attempts to round up al-Qaeda suspects, Mr Bush said the best way to defeat the terrorists was to "share good intelligence, to locate them [al-Qaeda], and then be prepared to bring them to justice".
The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that Mr Bush came primed with complaints from Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, whom he met last week, that Pakistan has dragged its feet in hunting Taliban suspects.
During a recent visit to Pakistan, President Karzai's delegation handed over transcripts of confessions by 13 Pakistani alleged terrorists arrested and detained in Afghanistan, with details of 40 suspected Taliban leaders in Pakistan, including telephone numbers, locations and descriptions. Yet, Afghan officials complain, Pakistan has not acted on the information - claiming it was "out of date".
Yesterday, at least 80 pro-Taliban tribesmen were reported to have been killed by Pakistani helicopter gunships after they had traded mortar and gunfire with security forces near the Afghan border. Three soldiers died in the fighting around the towns of Miran Shah and Mir Ali in the North Waziristan tribal region, about 190 miles from Islamabad.
Gen Musharraf said his talks with Mr Bush had "revived and maybe strengthened" their battle against terrorism, although he hinted at tensions.
"If at all there are slippages, it is possible in the implementation part," he said. "But as long as the intention is clear, the resolve is there and the strategy is clear, we are moving forward towards delivering and we will succeed."
Yet Mr Bush's promise last week to supply nuclear technology to India, while refusing to offer the same help to Pakistan, rankles. Shortly before Mr Bush arrived, the Pakistan government - blamed for allowing its chief nuclear scientist, Dr A Q Khan, to pass nuclear know-how to Iran, Libya and North Korea - announced it would co-operate on nuclear matters with China.
Mr Bush tried to connect with ordinary Pakistanis yesterday by taking to the nets in his first encounter with a cricket bat. As he did so Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain and opposition politician, was under temporary house arrest to prevent him leading a planned protest march against the US visitor.