Pakistan warned over amnesty offer to militants
The US' top commander in Afghanistan has questioned Pakistan’s commitment to fight Taliban and al-Qaida militants along the border, saying appeasing extremists will only put off an inevitable battle.
Lieutenant General David Barno also voiced caution about prospects for catching al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, saying it was ”too early to tell” if a new US strategy aimed at winning the trust of ordinary Afghans would yield crucial intelligence.
The US military praised Pakistan for a crackdown in its South Waziristan tribal region in March, but the operation failed to net any top al-Qaida men and Islamabad has now offered an amnesty to foreign fighters who pledge to behave.
Barno said the US military was watching closely how Pakistan dealt with the rebels, but said a “significant” number had to be “killed or captured”.
“It’s very important that the Pakistani military continue with their operations to go after the foreign fighters in particular, who in my view will not be reconciled,” Barno said.
“We have some concerns that (the Pakistani operation) could go in the wrong directions.”
Attacks on US forces just across the border from Waziristan are frequent, and militants often melt back into the mountains toward the Pakistani region.
On Saturday, the Pakistani government extended by one week an April 30 deadline for foreign militants to surrender. Despite a threat of renewed military action, none has taken up the offer.
Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan insisted there was no rift with the United States.
“Pakistan is saying nothing different from what the US commander is saying. We also say that the foreign elements in our tribal areas must surrender, otherwise they will be killed,” Sultan said.
The two-week Pakistani military operation in South Waziristan left more than 120 people dead. But officials say hundreds of armed militants escaped to caves near the Afghan border.
Given the limited success of the offensive, the Pakistani government has opted for negotiations instead of brute force.
The US military and ambassador in Afghanistan back talks to bring former Afghan militants back into the political mainstream. But Barno said Pakistan was grappling with a terrorist network which was “very crafty and has great ability to ultimately not give anything up”.
“We clearly still see significant elements of foreign fighters there – Arabs, Chechens, Uzbeks … who are still using that area to advance their terrorist aims,” he said.
So far, Pakistani authorities have released 141 of the 163 Pakistani and foreign suspects captured in March, saying investigations proved them innocent.
Some of the foreigners in Waziristan are Afghan refugees. Others are Central Asian and Arab veterans of the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s who settled in Pakistan.
The Pakistani interior minister has said all but top al-Qaida and Taliban leaders can seek amnesties.
The US ambassador in Afghanistan said recently that many of those leaders were living in Pakistan and the border region, where bin Laden may also be hiding.
But the US has backed off earlier forecasts that it will capture the al-Qaida leader this year, despite a new intelligence-gathering drive.
Efforts to win over Afghans in border provinces with regular meetings and millions in reconstruction aid has helped uncover roadside bombs and weapons caches, Barno says.
“It’s too early to tell the overall effect on our high-value targets that we’re looking for,” he said.
Building relationships with community leaders and local officials “ultimately will be the key to our success”.
Barno has boosted his forces to some 15,000 from 11,000 at the end of last year, but the extra muscle has failed to prevent a surge of violence in southern and eastern Afghanistan.
More than 300 people have died across the country so far this year, including almost 100 in the past month.
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