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| 19 April 2004 | Monday | 28 Safar 1425 |
Pakistan should do more: Khalilzad - US envoy reiterates claim
KABUL, April 18: The US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Mr Zalmay Khalilzad, said here on Sunday that remnants of Al Qaeda and Taliban and members of Gulbudin Hekmatyar's Hizbe Islami were still in Pakistan and were involved in cross-border activities.
He said he hoped Pakistan would do more to deal with them.
"Al Qaeda, Hizbe Islami Hekmatyar and Taliban elements are in Pakistan and are crossing from Pakistan to attack our forces, attack Afghan forces and NGOs," he said while talking to a group of Pakistani journalists in the highly fortified US embassy in the Afghan capital.
When asked specifically whether he believed that Al Qaeda and Taliban were still in Pakistan, his reply was: "Yes, they are still there and some in Afghanistan too."
"For us Pakistan to become a sanctuary for these people to plan and to get trained and come back with weapons to attack will not be good," he said. Al Qaeda elements are in Waziristan and Gulbudin people also were in the tribal areas. But he did not comment on the whereabouts of the so-called high-value targets.
There are greater dangers in not dealing with them, he said while replying to a question and added that he subscribed to the idea that the Afghan territory should not be used against Pakistan and vice versa.
Acknowledging the complexities faced by Pakistan, the US ambassador emphasized that the recent operation in the tribal areas was a good step but more needed to be done to solve the problem.
Mr Khalilzad emphasized that he was "not hostile to Pakistan" but wanted to speak clearly about the nature of problems that affected relations. "Only friends can be frank to each other," he said.
He was of the view that "these forces were also not good for Pakistan as we saw in attacks on President Musharraf, and we all want Pakistan to deal with the problem". With reference to casualties in the Wana operation, Mr Khalilzad said: "I do appreciate the loss of life but the problem has not been solved and needs to be solved, the sooner the better."
With regard to reports of inadequate representation of Pukhtoons in the current Afghan administration, Mr Khalilzad claimed it was a mistake to say that. He pointed out that the father of the nation and the president were Pukhtoons and so were some of the key cabinet ministers.
He appeared unhappy over recent statements made by Pakistani officials in this regard. "It is not appropriate for Pakistan officials to talk that a certain ethnic group was not represented in the Afghan government. It is not right," he said, adding that "when a government official talks on such matters, it makes things harder and difficult and it is regarded as interference."
He said that in Afghanistan also somebody could say that Balochs were not adequately represented in Pakistan and so could be the case with Pukhtoons. Mr Khalilzad said he had "advised friends in Pakistan that it is not smart to do it because it is unhelpful and it seems to be interference".
He said the US administration and the Afghan president were committed to a government representing aspirations of all the Afghan people. Referring to various reconstruction initiatives in Afghanistan, Mr Khalilzad said his job was to accelerate the process but "if there are sanctuaries in Pakistan it makes my job difficult that is why I talk about that."
When asked how credible was information provided to Pakistan about Al Qaeda and Taliban elements on the basis of which an operation was launched in tribal areas and so many people were killed, Mr Khalilzad said this was a question which should be put to the authorities in Pakistan.
"It is a very complicated issue. We provide information on a case by case basis and Pakistan agencies have their own. Sometimes information is good but the enemy acts before you."
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