WASHINGTON, Jan 29: Pakistan was given a list of seven demands by the United States in the aftermath of the Sept 11 attacks and apparently left with little choice except to comply.

This is stated in the third of a series of articles in the Washington Post analyzing the first 10 days after the attacks and reporting how decisions were made by President George Bush and his cabinet.

According to the paper’s report published on Tuesday, Secretary of State Colin Powell had told Mr Bush that whatever action needed to be taken, it could not be done without Pakistan’s support. “Squeezing” Gen Pervez Musharraf too hard was risky, given the potential for fundamentalist unrest inside Pakistan, but Mr Powell “believed they (the US) had no other choice.”

A list was drawn up by Secretary Powell and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, and Pakistan, the Post said, was asked to do the following:

Stop Al Qaeda operatives at the border, intercept arms shipments through Pakistan and end all logistical support for Osama bin Laden; provide blanket overflight and landing rights; access to naval bases, airbases and borders; immediate intelligence and immigration information; condemn the Sept 11 attacks and curb all domestic expression of support for terrorism against the United States, its friends or allies; cut off all shipments of fuel to the Taliban and stop Pakistani volunteers from going into Afghanistan to join the Taliban; and break diplomatic relations with the Taliban should evidence strongly implicate Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network and should the Taliban continue to harbour him and his network.

These demands were conveyed by Mr Armitage to then ISI chief Gen Mahmoud Ahmad, who was in Washington at that time. This was on Sept 13, and Mr Powell rang Gen Musharraf at 1.30pm after the demands were handed over. “As one general to another, Powell said, “we need someone on our flank fighting with us. Speaking candidly, the American people would not understand if Pakistan was not in this fight with the United States.”

According to the Post report, Gen Musharraf said Pakistan would support the US with each of the seven actions demanded.