Wary allies
May 27, 2011
After meeting with Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that no peace deal in Afghanistan will succeed unless Pakistan is part of the process.
Her remarks show how important US engagement in Pakistan is for Washington despite suspicions that some officials may have known that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been hiding in Pakistan.
After the US raid on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad on May 2 relations between Pakistan and the US sunk to a new low. Repeated CIA drone attacks in the tribal belt close to the Afghan border and a double murder case involving US CIA contractor Raymond Davis had put relations under strain even before the killing of Osama bin Laden.
The Pakistani government welcomed the death of bin Laden but was outraged by the secret US raid on bin Laden’s compound, calling it a serious breach of its sovereignty.
In the latest sign of distrust between Washington and Islamabad, Pakistan has told the United States to halve the number of military trainers stationed in the country.
After meeting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, Clinton will hold talks with army chief Ashfaq Kayani and the chief of Pakistan's intelligence agency, Ahmad Shuja Pasha.
Asking for more
Pakistan’s government has cooperated, a senior US official told reporters travelling with Clinton, adding that the US has always wanted more. "But now the sense of urgency is different."
Clinton said that "there is a momentum toward political reconciliation in Afghanistan but the insurgency continues to operate from safe havens here in Pakistan." Clinton added she believes that Pakistan and the United States have the same goals.
The United States has long pressured Pakistan to lead a major air and ground offensive in North Waziristan, the most notorious Taliban and al Qaeda bastion from where attacks are often launched across the border in Afghanistan.
Pakistan continues to emphasize that any such operation would be of its own time and choosing. Western officials have long accused Pakistan’s intelligence services of tolerating extremist groups which do not pose an immediate domestic threat to Pakistan.
Author: Ziphora Robina (ape, reuters, afpe)
Editor: Sarah Berning