|
Karzai threat seen as pressure tactic in Pakistan
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's threat of a cross-border pursuit of militants is more of a tactic to build pressure on Pakistan than a signal of real intent, analysts said on Monday.Unnerved by Pakistan's efforts to make peace with militants in its tribal areas, Karzai made the warning on Sunday after the Taliban launched a bold and successful mass jailbreak in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. The Pakistan Foreign Ministry summoned the Afghan ambassador to Islamabad to lodge a strong protest about Karzai's statement on Monday, spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said. "When communication breaks down, opinions get fertilised," said Afrasiab Khattack, a senior leader of Awami National Party, an influential ethnic Pashtun nationalist party. The Awami National Party is a secular party that competes with Islamist parties for influence over Pashtuns, the ethnic group most Taliban belong to. "I think it's high time for them to open communication to avoid any further escalation," said Khattack, whose party is a junior partner in the 2 1/2-month-old coalition government in Islamabad and is in power in North West Frontier Province. Analysts said Karzai's threat was a repeat of what some U.S. and NATO officials had suggested in the past, and the Afghan army couldn't act independently of U.S. and NATO military command on such a matter. "Now he has spoken their language," said Rustam Shah Mohmand, a former ambassador of Pakistan to Kabul. The former envoy suspected Karzai, who stands for re-election next year, was seeking to divert criticism, after getting back from an international donors conference in Paris last week. While donors pledged $20 billion in aid to Afghanistan they said Karzai must fight corruption and improve governance. For Karzai to lash out at Pakistan is nothing new, but his outburst coincided with growing impatience with Pakistan among Western allies. The escape of more than 1,000 prisoners, including 400 Taliban, from Kandahar's jail last Friday was another embarrassing demonstration of the enemy's strength for Karzai. Posted by: Fred 2008-06-16 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=241868 |