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pakistantoday.com.pk
rs15.00 vol ii no 155 22 pages lahore edition
thursday, 1 december, 2011 muharram-ul-haram 5, 1433
dismisses appeals Pakistan stops Islamabad to attend Bonn moot sharing intel with US Gilani tells Merkel he will refer ambassador’s participation to parliamentary committee g appears to set conditions for pakistan to attend conference
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tary Committee on National Security, which was meeting on Friday (tomorrow) to discuss and deliberate upon the NATO strike in Mohmand Agency that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The German leader had said there should be at least ambassador-level participation on the part of Pakistan, but the prime minister said after the parliamentary committee’s decision, he would contact her and respond to her proposal, said an official handout issued here by PM’s House. During the conversation, the German chancellor expressed her country’s solidarity and friendship with the people and government of Pakistan. She expressed her condolences to the families of those who had lost their lives during the NATO/ISAF strikes. The prime minister thanked Merkel for her gesture and said he was touched by her sentiments and Pakistan valued the love and friendship of Germany. Merkel said Pakistan’s attendance at the Bonn conference was of the utmost importance to Germany and said Pakistan’s representation was essential to making the conference meaningful. The prime minister said Pakistan held Germany in the highest esteem and attached the highest importance to the peace, stability and sovereignty of Afghanistan. However, in the current scenario in which Afghan soil had been used against Pakistan, both the cabinet and the government had decided that Pakistan attending the Bonn Conference was no longer possible, he added. Gilani also said public opinion in Pakistan was inflamed by the fact that Afghan soil had been used against Pakistan in the attack. Before Merkel, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had also urged Islamabad to attend the moot, reportedly saying in Korea that Pakistan’s decision not to attend was “regrettable” but stopped short of apologising for the deaths of 24 soldiers in the NATO strikes.
ISI DG turns down CIA chief’s request to restore intelligence cooperation until US takes ‘certain steps’ g
ISLAMABAD
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ShaIQ huSSaIn
N the wake of Saturday’s NATO/ISAF air strikes on two Pakistani border posts that killed 24 troops and wounded another 15, the intelligencesharing, which is critical to counterterrorism and a communication channel to pass on information about the militants and terrorists’ movement on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border, has also suffered a blow following the blocking of supplies to Afghanistan, notice to the US to vacate Shamsi airbase and Islamabad’s refusal to participate in the Bonn Conference. As the Obama administration tries for the restoration of NATO supplies and withdrawal of Islamabad’s demand for the airbase to be vacated, through secret channels it is also urging Pakistan to raise the level of intelligence cooperation, which is the most vital component of counter-terrorism. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief General David Petraeus called his Pakistani counterpart Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief General Ahmad Shuja Pasha seeking restoration of intelligence cooperation two days ago, but Islamabad declined to cooperate until certain important steps were taken by the US with a formal apology at the top level. The other demands of Pakistan are stern punishment for NATO officials involved in the strike, compensation to the victims’ families and a firm assurance that such an act of aggression would not be repeated. Apart from intelligence cooperation, military-to-military ties between Pakistan and the US have also suffered to a great extent but channels are being kept open on the request of Washington to iron out dif-
ferences that erupted after the attack in Mohmand Agency. “Some important calls are being made at the level of the military leadership, with the US side expressing condolences over the killing of Pakistani soldiers and asking for reversal of anti-Washington decisions, but they are being told that the government would decide what should be the future nature of Pakistan-US ties,” said a Pakistani official, who asked not to be identified by name. ALTERNATIVE ROUTES: A diplomatic source meanwhile confirmed that the US and other NATO states were looking for alternative routes to ensure a smooth supply of goods to their troops stationed in Afghanistan. However, he hastened to add that Washington and its allies were exploring other routes even before the Mohmand Agency strike and one could say that the process had been accelerated. “NATO reduced 50 percent of its dependence on Pakistan when it comes to supplies for Afghanistan before the Mohmand Agency strike and if the situation doesn’t improve between the two sides, the level would be reduced further with shifting of the goods to other routes,” he said. At present, he said, the US authorities were more concerned about the loss of intelligence cooperation with Pakistan and equally important, the role of Pakistan in the Washington-backed Afghanistan reconciliation process with the Taliban, which they see as not paying any dividends without Islamabad’s support. “So it is exactly these two things that the US administration has been urging Pakistan to not walk away from, as that would be catastrophic for Washington’s exit strategy for Afghanistan,” he said.
LAHORE: Punjab University students shout slogans during a protest on Wednesday against the cross-border NATO air strike on Pakistani troops. afp
ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
As the Bonn conference scheduled for December 5 draws nearer, the United States and other allied nations are mounting pressure on Pakistan to participate, the latest bid in this regard coming on Wednesday from the leader of the host country, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who requested Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to reconsider the decision to boycott the international moot on the future of Afghanistan. Gilani, however, turned down the request but said since Pakistan regarded Germany as a close friendly nation, he would refer the issue of participation at the ambassador level to the Parliamen-
continued on page 04
pakistan’s boycott has implications | page 04
Gaffe or honest admission? Shamsi disclosure blows cover ISLAMABAD
Staff RepoRt
In an attempt to showcase the government’s stern reaction to the NATO airstrikes in Mohmand Agency, Federal Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar inadvertently confirmed age-old rumours of the US using Pakistani airbases for its clandestine drone operations, saying the government would take over Shamsi airbase at all cost and “no drone would be allowed to fly from Pakistan”. Mukhtar told reporters after attending a convocation in Islamabad that no compromise would be made on the country’s sovereignty and the Defence Committee of Cabinet’s (DDC) decision to get the Shamsi airbase vacated would be implemented in it true essence. “We will not tolerate any further violation of our border… if we feel necessary, all agreements and cooperation between Pakistan and the US would be reviewed in the coming days,” the defence minister said. He said after the expiry of the deadline on December 11, the government would take over the Shamsi Airbase, adding that “Pakistan will not back down from its eviction decision”. “We are also considering stopping NATO supplies from Shahbaz Airbase,” he added.
firdous says us will also have to vacate Jacobabad, pasni bases | page 09
off covert UaE-US deal ISLAMABAD IRfan BukhaRI
The members of the royal family of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who used to regularly visit Pakistan during the hunting season in the winter, might be thinking otherwise this year because of security reasons after the disclosure of the fact that the NATO, ISAF forces were operating from Shamsi Airbase — currently under the control of the UAE government — to target Taliban militants in Afghanistan and the Tribal Areas. Diplomatic sources in Islamabad believe that the UAE government is ‘concerned’ over official disclosure of the fact that it had allowed the NATO-ISAF forces to use Shamsi Airbase to target terrorists. The officials of UAE Foreign Ministry too in the past had asked the US to keep UAE’s cooperation with NATO, ISAF secret due to the same reason.
On May 11, 2005, Ahmed Al Musally, director of the Asian and African Affairs Department at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs told then US deputy chief of mission in the UAE to keep UAE’s cooperation with the US confidential. A diplomatic cable sent on May 14, 2005 by then ambassador to the UAE Michele J Sison, which was leaked by WikiLeaks says that Al Musally complained that retired Gen Tommy Franks, former commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), in his memoir ‘American Soldier’ had mentioned that US forces had made use of Sheikh Zayed’s private airstrip in Balochistan. “Al Musally told the US envoy that the UAEG [UAE government] desires to keep details of the UAE cooperation with the US military in Afghanistan and Pakistan confidential, because the [UAE] government is concerned that public acknowledgement of
this assistance could pose risks to the security of UAE officials within the UAE or in Pakistan. Moreover, Al Musally noted that members of the UAE’s ruling families frequently visit Pakistan for hunting and the information may compromise their security. He noted that there are 500,000 to 600,000 Pakistanis residing in the UAE… Maybe they can’t do anything here [in the UAE], but they might try there (i.e. Pakistan), especially when our leaders travel there,” the diplomatic cable says. Commenting on the issue, a diplomat asking not to be named said, “This official disclosure, which was earlier being reported in the press but had not been confirmed by any government official of Pakistan, the UAE or the US, may pose security threats to UAE citizens in the country.”
uae seeks nato apology over attack | page 04