Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, promised Monday that his country would not allow Islamic militants to disrupt the Afghan election from Pakistani soil, but Western diplomats in Afghanistan charged that Pakistan was, in fact, a sanctuary for Afghan militants.
| More like Pakistan is the home of the Taliban... |
While Mr. Musharraf, playing host to President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, vowed that anyone seeking to act against Afghanistan from his soil would be stopped, the diplomats said Pakistan was turning a blind eye to just such activity. "They are training, financing and organizing these operations on Pakistani soil," said a Western diplomat in Kabul, the Afghan capital. "There is evidence from people who have been picked up in Afghanistan than they are receiving training in Pakistan."
Three senior diplomats, who all spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were speaking now because Western intelligence agencies had concluded that the Taliban were planning major attacks to disrupt Afghanistan's first presidential election, scheduled for Oct. 9, including spectacular attacks in Kabul, the capital. They called on Pakistani officials to rein in Taliban operations immediately. "If these attacks do take place, the responsibility will be shared," one diplomat warned, referring to Pakistan. "Our process is being attacked from the territory of Pakistan. That is the responsibility of Pakistan." |