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US asks Pakistan to stop militants from using its soil
[DAWN] The US State Department has urged Pakistain to take military action against Taliban leaders who allegedly used its territory for cross-border attacks, besides continuing to encourage them to resume peace talks with Kabul...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the Worldand didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj PrunefaceAziz  ...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in goodjihadis and badjihadis as a matter of national policy... told news hounds in Islamabad earlier this week that Pakistain could not accept the Afghan demand to abandon its peace efforts and take immediate military action against the Taliban leaders. Instead, Mr Aziz offered to push for resuming the reconciliation talks as soon as possible. When asked for comments on the Pak position, a State Department official reminded Islamabad that in December last year Afghanistan and Pakistain signed a joint statement, agreeing, "not to allow use of their respective soil against each other". The official noted that Afghanistan and Pakistain had also agreed to "sternly handle any elements crossing over and getting involved in violence on either side, through active intelligence sharing and intelligence-based operations". Last month, Afghanistan's Caped President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. urged Pakistain to evict Taliban forces of Evil through military action or arrest and hand them over to Kabul for trial and punishment for killing innocent Afghans. President Ghani also said that he would no longer seek Pakistain’s help in arranging reconciliation talks with the Taliban. But Mr Aziz said on Tuesday that the Afghan outrage at Pakistain was "an expression of frustration" at the delay in reconciliation talks. He said it was unfortunate the Taliban had gone ahead with their Spring Offensive, pushing aside Islamabad’s efforts for re-starting the talks. But the State Department official reminded Mr Aziz and other Pak officials that Pakistain had made a commitment to Afghanistan and other partners not to allow the holy warriors to use its territory. "This is the commitment that Pakistain has made to its partners, and we expect it to take steps necessary to promote dialogue, reduce violence in Afghanistan, and encourage the Taliban to engage in meaningful negotiations," the official said. When reminded that Mr Aziz clearly signalled they would not take military action against these Taliban leaders, the US official noted that Paks’ commitment to support a reconciliation process was clearly stated through the Quadrilateral Coordination Group as well, which includes Afghanistan, China, Pakistain and the United States. "That is the basis and expectation on which we will continue to engage Pakistain," he said. The US official pointed out that at a recent congressional hearing, the United States underlined the need for an effective engagement with Pakistain as critical for promoting peace and stability in the region. Asked what was the US policy regarding Pakistain’s support for the Haqqani Network and other Afghan Taliban groups allegedly operating from the Pak soil, the official said: "We have consistently expressed our concerns at the highest levels of the government of Pakistain about their continued tolerance for Afghan Taliban groups, such as the Haqqani Network operating from Pak soil. We did so again following the devastating suicide kaboom on April 19 in Kabul." He said the US administration had "pressed" the Pak government to follow up on its commitment not to discriminate among terrorist groups, regardless of their agenda or affiliation, by undertaking concrete action against the Haqqanis. Posted by: Fred 2016-05-07 |
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