WASHINGTON, Oct 29: Pakistan is believed to have asked the Bush administration to prevent the Afghan government from reopening the Pukhtunistan issue, sources told Dawn on Wednesday.

“Some Pakistanis see Washington’s dark influence behind new agitation for the creation of Pukhtunistan “ an attempt to unite the Pukhtun tribes divided by the Afghan-Pakistan frontier,” writes Washington-based British journalist Martin Walker in a recent column published in several US newspapers.

The sources say that Pakistan’s complaints began after a new map published in Kabul showed NWFP and Balochistan, including the cities of Peshawar and Quetta, incorporated into Afghanistan.

Mr Walker’s column also mentions “secret talks” with American blessing, between Afghan leader Hamid Karzai and Khan Abdul Wali Khan, whose father coined the term Pukhtunistan.”

Diplomatic sources in Washington say that while the Americans deny any involvement in the Pukhtunistan issue, they are not averse to the re-emergence of Pukhtun nationalism in Pakistan’s Pukhtun belt.

“They believe that a secular, nationalist ideology can effectively counter the growing influence of religious parties in Pukhtun areas,” said a senior Western diplomat based in Washington.