Opinion Clinton talks tough
A register of reports and views from the Pakistan press
Clinton talks tough
Allegations and counter-allegations between Pakistan and the US dont show any signs of receding,Daily Times reported on October 18,with an interview with General Athar Abbas,the spokesman of the Pakistan army,in which he talked about non-cooperation from the ISAF on hunting down a dreaded Pakistani Taliban leader. We have given locations and information about these groups to the Afghanistan government and ISAF… but apparently there has been no action. The man in question is Maulvi Fazlullah of Swat,also known as Radio Maulvi or Mullah FM for using his FM station as a mode of communication in the valley before a massive army operation in 2009 forced him to flee.
A report in The Express Tribune on October 20,headlined Clear on both ends: US talks war,Pakistan preaches peace,stated: Unprecedented talks held on Thursday between top civil,military and intelligence officials from Pakistan and the US made little progress in the effort to iron out differences on how to tackle the Haqqani network… The two-hour long discussions,led by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,were held against the backdrop of strained ties between Washington and Islamabad following charges by US officials that Pakistan is playing a double game when it comes to dealing with militants.
Hillary Clinton was seen to be talking tough,Dawn reported on October 21: Clinton arrived on Thursday on what observers here said was a dual mission to convey a tough message to Pakistan to act against the Haqqani network and dismantle militants safe havens on this side of the border,and try to repair the dents relations between the countries have suffered in recent months. In Islamabad,in the company of Pakistans foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar,The Express Tribune reported her as saying: You cant keep snakes in your backyard and expect them to only bite your neighbours, in a clear reference to the Haqqani network that the US has accused Pakistan of maintaining links with.
Pakistans former army chief and president Pervez Musharraf also blamed the current military and civilian leadership for the plunge in US-Pakistan ties,Dawn reported on October 21: Musharraf says the relationship between Pakistan and the United States is at its lowest point and plagued by total mistrust… the Pakistani military was guilty of terrible negligence in allowing Osama bin Laden to go undetected before he was killed in a US raid in May. And he says Pakistan hasnt done enough to target Taliban-affiliated militants known as the Haqqani network.
FM wave
Meanwhile,as if on cue,Radio Maulvi made an entry into current affairs through an interview in writing given to Reuters,which was reported by Dawn on October 21: Afghanistan-based Taliban leader Maulvi Fazlullah,a leading figure in the insurgency,has vowed to return to Pakistan to wage war as the country came under renewed American pressure to tackle militancy. We sacrificed our lives,left our homes and villages for the sake of Sharia,and will do whatever we can to get Sharia implemented in the Malakand region and rest of Pakistan, Sirajuddin Ahmad,a close adviser,told Reuters,describing Fazlullahs position. He was answering written questions submitted by Reuters.
Power play
Pakistans prime minister,Yousuf Raza Gilani,inaugurated work on the worlds highest concrete dam,on the Indus. The News reported on October 19 that Gilani,in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,called it a lifeline of Pakistan that would help meet its electricity and agricultural infrastructure requirements. This comes less than a week after a major expansion project of the Mangla Dam in PoKs Mirpur was inaugurated by Gilani.
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