WASHINGTON, Oct 3: The US pressure to step up the military campaign in the tribal belt will only make the people living in that area enemies of Pakistan and the United States, says Zamir Akram, a foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

In his lecture at Washington’s Middle East Institute, Mr Akram also defended Pakistan’s strategy of engaging tribal elders, warning that the military option alone cannot bring peace to the tribal region.

He rejected the argument, often repeated in the US media, that peace deals with the tribes allow the Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters to regroup.

Mr Akram also rejected the suggestion that Pakistan should increase military strikes on tribesmen living inside its border.

“When we hear people in Washington … say that Pakistan needs to do more, the question is: ‘Do you understand what you are asking us to do?,’” he asked. “Would you in the United States or in Britain or wherever else be prepared to do the same thing against your own people? Would you go into Texas or wherever on the border areas and actually kill Americans?” Explaining the fiercely independent nature of the tribes living along the Pak-Afghan border, Mr Akram said: “If you lose support of the tribes, there is no way you can control those territories.”

The Pakistani official also criticised a recent US law that links American aid to Pakistan’s performance in the war against terror, warning that such pressure tactics were not helpful. The law, he said, angers Pakistanis and reminds them of previous sanctions by the United States against Pakistan. Mr Akram urged the United States to boost support for social programmes meant to end unemployment and ease anger in poor areas where terrorists try to recruit young people.