US wants Pak ruling coalition to resolve differences over anti-terror operations

Voicing concern at the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan’s restive tribal areas, the US on Tuesday...

Voicing concern at the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan’s restive tribal areas, the US on Tuesday asked the PML-N to narrow its differences with the ruling PPP over the operations launched against militants in the country’s northwest. This message was conveyed to former premier and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif during a two-hour-long meeting in his residence here, sources said.

The meeting came a day after the PML-N said it was not taken into confidence about the crackdown launched on militants in the northwestern Khyber Agency since Saturday. Boucher, who is visiting Pakistan for the second time since April, has already conveyed the concerns of the US administration over the deteriorating security situation in the tribal belt to the country’s top political and military leadership during meetings in Islamabad on Monday.

He also said the government is not concentrating on the problem of militancy because of the impasse over the restoration of deposed judges and a “cold war among coalition partners”, The Dawn newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Boucher asked Sharif to narrow his differences with the ruling Pakistan People’s Party as this could affect the overall security situation, the sources said.

PML-N leaders told reporters that Sharif told Boucher that the PML-N was not taken into confidence about the operation against militants. Sharif also said the use of force should be the last resort for the government and that such issues should be settled through negotiations. Briefing journalists after the meeting, senior PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan indicated that there were differences between his party and the US administration over the future of President Pervez Musharraf.

“We have a clear view that General Musharraf is the biggest obstacle in the path to a bright future for Pakistan. We believe that as long as this impediment is not removed, Pakistan’s democratic, political and judicial issues cannot move forward.

The US stance on this is not close to our stand,” Khan said. The PML-N also made it clear to Boucher that “Pakistan’s internal issues should be decided by Pakistan and its political establishment”, Khan said. “In such matters, there should not be any interference by our foreign friends and external powers that cannot facilitate things,” he said.

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Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani assured Boucher that the Pakistan government will “never negotiate” with militants or allow foreigners to use its soil against another country while following a policy of political dialogue and economic development to counter terrorism.