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| October 28, 2001 | Sunday | Shaba'an 10, 1422 |
Taliban ‘annoyed’ over Pakistan role
LAHORE, Oct 27: The Taliban government has given an indirect message to Pakistan that while the former has no objection against its neighbouring country in allowing the United States to use its facilities for attacks on Afghanistan, it should be careful in its language about the leadership of the Islamic Emirate.
Jalaluddin Haqqani, minister for Tribal Affairs and commander, southern region, at a recent meeting with former army chief Gen Mirza Aslam Beg discussed the matter and asked him to communicate the message to the relevant quarters.
Confirming the meeting and the message of the Afghan minister, Gen Beg told Dawn here on Saturday that the Taliban government also felt annoyed over Pakistan’s role in moves to prepare a so-called broad-based setup for Kabul when it formally recognised Mullah Omar’s government.
Efforts on the part of Pakistan for an alternative setup became illogical and irrational when it recognised the Taliban government, the Afghan minister told Gen Beg.
“We don’t mind Pakistan facilitating the employment of the American military power against Afghanistan, but we do mind the language used against Amirul Momineen (Lord of the faithful) and the Taliban government and the efforts to implant a broad-based government (in Kabul)”, the Afghan minister reportedly said.
The former army chief said while talking to this correspondent that hundreds and thousands of Pakistanis had already moved into Afghanistan to take part in the anti-US war and many more were waiting for a call from Mullah Omar.
In his opinion, this development had added a new dimension to the war and now the war did not concern Afghanistan alone. Instead, he emphasised, it had also become a war of the Pakistani people.
He said although aerial attacks had caused damage to the civic facilities and killed hundreds of innocent Afghan people, including women and children, they had added to the resilience of the Taliban to fight back.
Answering a question, the former army chief said having failed in its objectives despite incessant bombing, the US would now try to establish its foothold in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and possibly Tajikistan. This way, he said, the US could continue pressure on Afghanistan, extend its power and influence in Eurasia and reach oil and gas reserves in the Central Asian Republics. In his assessment, the US would use the Indian card against Pakistan and continue to harass it on the question of terrorism. The Pakistan government would experience hostility from the Afghan government while the people of Pakistan would draw closer to Afghanistan which would be a dilemma for the government and also a source of instability.
Alleging that the US had only a military agenda, not any political one, for Afghanistan, Gen Beg said a solution to the problem could be found only through a dialogue.
Answering a question, the former army chief said the military government’s decision to cooperate with the US on the issue of terrorism was based on good judgment. But the government went beyond the cooperation it had initially pledged by saying that the days of the Taliban government had been numbered or uttering words against Mullah Omar or in favour of a broad-based government.
He said now the failure of the US military action against Afghanistan had also become failure of the Pakistan government.
SHUJAAT: Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam) leader Chaudhry Shujaat Husain proposed on Saturday that Pakistan should not be a party to the efforts being made to install a new government in Kabul to replace the Taliban.
Talking to Dawn at his residence, he said, it would be a bad precedent for the United Nations to pick a government for a member country and try to install it. He warned that this would lead to calls, on various pretexts, for the UN to change the governments of other countries.
The former interior minister said the governments supporting the move now would be left with little justification to oppose it in their own case. He argued that it was the right of the people of a country to decide who ruled them. Also, he said, if the people were not satisfied with the working of their government, they alone were competent to remove it.
No outside organization, not even the United Nations, he said, had the right to install or oust the government of a country.
Answering a question, Chaudhry Shujaat said that the Musharraf government had no option but to follow the policy it was pursuing at present. In his opinion, no government, no matter who led it, would have been in a position to adopt a different policy in the given situation.
He called for a PNA-like government in Pakistan to improve decision-making in the country.
The PNA (Pakistan National Alliance), an opposition coalition against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government had led agitation that led to its overthrow in July 1977. Gen Ziaul Haq, the chief martial law administrator, had at one stage formed a multi-party cabinet, including representatives of some PNA components. The cabinet was, however, changed after Mr Bhutto’s execution in April 1979.
Mr Husain said the situation now required a broad-based government. Instead of choosing people from various parties on its own, he said, the government should ask various political parties to nominate their representatives.
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