Islamabad's Tribal Deals Spark Concerns

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Financial Times
May 16, 2008 By Demetri Sevastopulo, Farhan Bokhari and Jon Boone
Pakistani efforts to negotiate peace deals with militants in the tribal border regions with Afghanistan have raised concerns both in Kabul and Washington, and created a sharp dilemma for the Bush administration.
Islamabad has been trying to broker deals with militants in the tribal areas in the hope of stemming a spate of suicide attacks threatening to create more instability in Pakistan. On Wednesday Pakistan released about 30 suspected militants as part of apparent hostage exchange with Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of an umbrella military movement loyal to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Nato warned this week that the peace deals appeared to have led to increased violence in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan.
Dana Perino, White House spokeswoman, said recently that previous deals had not worked. US intelligence agencies have warned that past deals ended up providing a haven for al-Qaeda to regroup in the border region.
One senior US military officer said that while there were serious reservations about the deals, the Pentagon wanted to give the new government and General Ashraf Kiyani, head of the Pakistani military, “some time to move ahead”.
Lisa Curtis, an expert on Pakistan at the Heritage Foundation, said the issue posed a dilemma for Washington. She said the US was caught between wanting to support the new government, which it believes provides the best hope for long-term stability in Pakistan, while remaining concerned that the deals could provide a safer base for al-Qaeda.
“There is a concern these deals, while they might provide a temporary respite in terms of the suicide bombings in Pakistan, might actually heighten the international threat coming from the region,” said Ms Curtis.
While the US walks a delicate line publicly, it has stepped up pressure in the tribal areas, mounting missile attacks from CIA drones.
Angry local tribesmen protested on Thursday in a remote border region after a US missile strike late on Wednesday was reported to have killed at least 18 people. A Pakistani official said the strike broke a six-week lull in such attacks since the new government took office.
Western diplomats said the attack demonstrated renewed willingness by the US to use missile strikes, irrespective of the political fall-out for the new government. Some of the government’s leaders have called for a review of Pakistan’s support to the US-led war on terror, questioning methods such as missile strikes and arrests of suspected militants.
“This is an extremely difficult situation all around. If the US steps up the pressure, there is a chance that there will be more public protests in Pakistan,” said a western diplomat. “If the US restrains itself, then the problem is that there is an open field for Taliban fighters to freely cross the Pak-Afghan border.”
Yousaf Raza Gilani, the new prime minister, joined the criticism without pointedly referring to the US. “I strongly condemn this. It’s absolutely wrong. It’s unfair. They should not have done this action,” he said in comments on the privately owned television channel. “Several innocent people have been killed. We condemn it.”
A Pakistani official said the US had renewed warnings in private to the gov- ernment to curb the flow of militants into Afghan- istan. “They [US authorities] are now demonstrating their firepower,” he said.
 
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