October 17, 2003	Friday	Sha'aban 20, 1424

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WASHINGTON, Oct 16: The Afghan defence minister still has his own militia in Kabul while the president depends on US troops for protection, say Pakistani officials and scholars while explaining why Afghanistan was still unstable two years after the collapse of the Taliban regime.

Afghan officials and their supporters, on the other hand, argue that the government in Kabul may be weak, but Pakistanis not doing all it could to help stabilize Afghanistan.

This summing up of differences between Pakistan and Afghanistan came at two discussions recently of Washington think-tanks where US officials were also present.

The discussions, attended by some very senior visitors from Islamabad, covered a number of contentious issues usually considered too sensitive to discuss at an open forum.

But the organizers encouraged the participants to be frank and open, assuring them that the proceedings were off-the-record and that there would be no attributions.

Taking advantage of this immunity, participants reviewed all major internal and external factors that influence the process of policy-making in Pakistan, particularly towards Afghanistan.

The Afghan claim that some elements within the Pakistani establishment still support the Taliban and they are helping the remnants of the former religious militia to retain a foothold in Afghanistan came up for discussion at the both briefings.

Pakistani officials argued that there could be little stability in a country where the defence minister (Mohammed Qasim Fahim) keeps his own private militia inside the capital and the president (Hamid Karzai) has to depend on foreign troops for his protection.

They named 11 warlords who maintain their own militias, “armed with tanks and aircraft,” as one official said. They suggested extending the jurisdiction of the UN-backed peacekeeping force to other Afghan cities, already granted by the UN on Tuesday, and urged the international community to launch a major campaign to de-weaponize Afghanistan.

“Let individual Afghans have their rifles if they want to but take away the tanks, heavy guns and aircraft,” said another official.

Speaking about Islamabad’s cooperation in the war against terror, Pakistani officials pointed out that several Pakistani soldiers have been killed in the recent past while battling Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters in the tribal areas.

Some speakers argued that it would be wrong to say that there had been no progress in Afghanistan during the last two years. They said the country was totally devastated in more than 20 years of war and civil strife and it needed time to fully recover but the recovery had already started.

They said that credit must be given to President Karzai for keeping together a fractious coalition of armed ethnic and sectarian groups. The present Afghan government, they said, also had held a loya jirga and had already prepared the first draft of the national constitution.

Preparations are under way for holding Afghanistan’s first-ever elections and President Karzai is trying hard to extend his control to the provinces as well.

Some supporters of the Afghan government pointed out that the Pakistanis could help the Karzai government consolidate its position by sealing off the Pakistan-Afghan border.

The Pakistanis argued that it was physically impossible to seal off 2,500km of a rugged, mountainous terrain but they were doing their best.