Bush admn opposed to linking aid to Pak with war on terror

WASHINGTON: The Bush administration has conceded that Pakistan government's accord with tribal leaders in Northern Waziristan to rein in Taliban has not met its objective but is opposed to any linkage between military assistance to Islamabad's track record on the war on terror.

Submitting the administration's stance on the issue to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Affairs Richard Boucher said "all of us on both sides of border are trying to become more effective and do more in pressuring the Taliban, but there is pressure from both sides, including from the Pakistani side".

"And that's an important factor as they try to figure out how they're going to operate this year," he said when asked about his view's on President Pervez Musharraf's accord with tribal leaders.

Asked if the agreement was working, the senior State Department official responded "No," making the point that the Waziristan agreement has not done what it is supposed to do.

"It was designed to be an agreement with the tribal elders where they would basically kick out the foreign fighters, they would stop the Taliban activity and would stop the Talibanization. They haven't done that for a variety of reasons, whether it's inability or unwillingness. But they have not effectively controlled those areas. And so the government, in recent months, has really moved again with them to try to establish more effective control and reassert itself again. We want them to be effective. There's more to do, and they recognize that," the official maintained.

Boucher clearly said that the administration is opposed to any linkage between military assistance, including sales, to Pakistan's track record on the war on terror.

"We're opposed to the provision. We think that there is already effort from the Pakistani side, and that conditioning aid -- the implication is that they have to be forced into it. We think they're doing it for their own sake, as well as ours, and that we should look at them as partners," Boucher replied.

In a legislation called H.R.1, the House of Representatives has passed legislation mandating coming to terms with all that has been put out by the 9/11 National Commission and has specifically stressed that assistance to Pakistan is pegged to a number of issues including backing and support for the al Qaeda and the Taliban and certain non proliferation objectives.

Boucher also said that the current rules of engagement did not place a restriction on American forces.

The top administration official, however, did not want to get into the rule of "engagement" on the Pak-Afghan border.

Boucher disagreed with Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey that the existence of the Taliban in Pakistan is a "big part" of helping to fuel the conflict in Afghanistan.

"Pakistan is enormously cooperative.... No country has capture more al Qaeda or lost more men doing it than Pakistan. They have also increased the effectiveness of their efforts in the border areas. We all have a long way to go, and there's a lot more that we're doing and that they're doing, that we're going to try to do with them," he said.

"I don't quite want to say they're doing everything they can, because I don't think any of us are. They don't have effective control of the border areas. They have arrested some leaders; there are more to be tracked down and arrested. They have stopped some of the training camps; there are more to be tracked down and eliminated," Boucher said.

He stressed that Taliban is a threat to Pakistan as well as to us and the neighbours.

"The Taliban do operate from Pakistan. They find sanctuary there, they find sources of supply there. A lot of their command and control is on that side of the border. They're people that go back and forth. They're not under effective government control there, and we need to work with the Pakistanis to make it more effective," he said.

In his opening remarks, Boucher said "Pakistani leaders are committed to combating extremism and continuing to move the country towards a moderate course. Pakistan's success is absolutely key to the success of US strategic goals in the region.

But senior law makers were not convinced of the bonafides of Pakistan and Musharraf.

"Osama bin Laden remains at large, right across the border in Pakistan, in all probability. There are reports that he has reconstituted his terrorist training camps in Pakistan," Senator Joseph Biden said.

"Given the chance to kill him in Tora Bora, the administration instead pulled most of Special Forces out, our CIA teams and our Predators, and sent them to Iraq. The Taliban is back, keeping much of Afghanistan ungovernable".

"The government in Pakistan turns a blind eye to the Taliban cross-border attacks and to the high command based in Quetta," the Delaware Democrat noted.