Musharraf:'I'm nobody's poodle.'
Pakistan leader says US airstrikes infringe Pakistan's sovereignty.
Facing a rising tide of anti-American sentiment in his country, Pakistan leader General Pervez Musharraf says that covert US airstrikes against Al Qaeda targets in Pakistan are "an infringement of national sovereignty." In an interview with the British
Guardian, Gen. Musharraf admitted his popularity was in decline, and insisted he was "
not a poodle" of George Bush.
"When you are talking about fighting terrorism or extremism, I'm not doing that for the US or Britain. I'm doing it for Pakistan," he said. "It's not a question of being a poodle. I'm nobody's poodle. I have enough strength of my own to lead."
If necessary he had "teeth" to bite back, he added. "Yes sir, I personally do. A lot of teeth. Sometimes the teeth do not have to be shown. Pragmatism is required in international relations."
British critics of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's relationship with the US president have often derogatorily described Mr. Blair as Mr. Bush's 'poodle,' because they say he only seems to do what the US president wants.
The
BBC reports that public sentiment in Pakistan
turned against Musharraf in January after a US Predator drone fired missiles at a house in the Bajaur tribal area, and after a recent visit by Bush. The drone was trying to kill Al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri. Instead, 18 others were killed.
Bloomberg News reports that the head of the UN mission in Afghanistan says that Pakistan and Afghanistan need to
improve security cooperation in order to prevent the Talibanization of key regions of their countries.
"Stability in Afghanistan and stability in Pakistan are closely linked," [Tom] Koenigs said yesterday in the Afghan capital, Kabul, according to the UN. Pakistan is aware it has to "prevent the Talibanization of Afghanistan and Pakistan."
Pakistan must work with Afghanistan to secure their 2,430-kilometer (1,510-mile) border, said Koenigs, who met Pakistani government officials recently during a visit to the country.
In his interview with the
Guardian, mentioned above, Musharraf agreed that there was a growing problem of "Talibanization" in the Waziristan region of Pakistan, where many Taliban fighters are suspected to be in hiding.
The battle against Al Qaeda was almost won in Waziristan, he said. "Because of our successes in the cities where we got 600-700 of them, and then in the mountains where we occupied their sanctuaries, thankfully they are on the run."
But a new form of local fundamentalism was taking its place in Waziristan, which is ruled directly from Islamabad under colonial-era laws. "Extremism in a Talebanized form is what people are now going for. Mullah Omar and the Taleban have influence in Waziristan and it's spilling over into our settled areas."
Reuters reports that a Pakistani Taliban leader on Thursday vowed to fight an "
unrelenting holy war" against the Americans and the British in Afghanistan.
Speaking by telephone from South Waziristan tribal region, where his forces have gathered strength in recent months, Haji Omar denied harbouring Al Qaeda members, but said he was organizing attacks inside Afghanistan.
"There is no Al Qaeda here. There is only local Taleban, the Taleban of Waziristan," Omar told Reuters. "We do send mujahideen (holy warriors) to Afghanistan. We send mujahideen to areas where American and British troops are concentrated... we will continue our jihad against them. It is our religious obligation".
Mr. Omar is not on any wanted list because he and other militant leaders in the Waziristan region signed a peace agreement with the Pakistan army in 2004.
The
Los Angeles Times reports that the Taliban and their allies are
fighting a dirty war in the tribal regions of Pakistan, kidnapping and executing people suspected of providing information to the Americans in Afghanistan. Human rights organizations put the death toll of such acts at 53 over the past two years, but local residents say it is much closer to 150.
It was not known whether any of the victims were working as informants or spies for US forces. But secret documents on memory disks stolen from Bagram air base and sold at a bazaar outside its gates appear to confirm that US Special Forces used informants in Pakistan as well as Afghanistan. The files contained what appeared to be highly sensitive material, including the identities of informants and their families, and some of the information they had provided.
None of the informants' whose names appeared on a drive sold at the Bagram bazaar, however, match those of victims killed in Pakistan. And many of the killings pre-date the files found on the drives.
Reuters reports that also on Thursday the US and Pakistan governments started a "strategic dialogue" that sought to show how the two countries were partners on many issues. But the dialogue ran into trouble right away over Iran. While the US was saying that it wanted punitive actions against Iran for its nuclear program, Pakistan was saying that
it would not endorse sanctions and "stressed Iran's importance as a neighbor."
Asked if Pakistan backed sanctions on Iran, [Pakistani Foreign Secretary Raiz Khan] said his country was not on the Security Council and so "will not be engaged in any discussion" on the issue. Pakistan is concerned about Iran but opposes the use of force to keep it from developing nuclear weapons and does not support efforts to change Iran's government, Khan said.
"We want a friendly Iran. Iran is a very important neighbor of Pakistan," Khan said. The issue is sensitive for Pakistan, which like its South Asian rival, India, developed nuclear weapons in defiance of international opinion.
The
Associated Press reports that the Bush administration will proceed with the sale of
F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. India, which flies aging Russian fighters, has expressed "disappointment" over the move. But Pakistan says it would not be able to buy as many jets as it likes because the country's resources are strained after last year's earthquake. Approval from the US Congress is still needed before the sale can go ahead.
Also...
•
Musharraf urges Pakistan, China to cooperate in energy sector (Xinhua, China
•
Kadima, Labor sign deal in Israel (Chicago Tribune
•
US leaders visit Iraq; front-line troops say, 'Yeah, so?' (CNN)
•
Rumsfeld critics must grin and bear it (Associated Press)
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Tom Regan
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