London Daily Telegraph
September 21, 2009
Pg. 18
Pakistan Is Going After The Wrong Terrorists, Says US
By Saeed Shah, in Islamabad
PAKISTAN'S offensive against the Taliban has failed to target the insurgent networks posing the greatest danger to NATO forces in Afghanistan, according to America's ambassador in Islamabad.
Anne Patterson told of Washington's frustration with the "different priorities" of Pakistan's government.
The failure to agree common targets was hampering the struggle against the Taliban in Afghanistan, she said.
Mullah Omar, who created the Taliban movement in the 1990s and led its regime in Kabul from 1996 to 2001, is believed to be based in the Pakistani city of Quetta.
He directs the Afghan insurgency through a group known as the "Quetta Shura".
His most effective weapon is a network run by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran extremist, and his son Sirajuddin, based in Pakistan's tribal area of North Waziristan.
Pakistan's military offensive has not targeted any of these groups, concentrating instead on the Swat valley in the north-west. Mullah Omar and his allies focus their efforts on Afghanistan and are careful not to make trouble inside Pakistan. This appears to secure their safety.
Ms Patterson said America and Islamabad agreed on tackling al-Qaeda's leadership and the Pakistani Taliban.
"Where we differ, of course, is the treatment of the groups who are attacking our troops in Afghanistan," she said.
"And that comes down to Haqqani and Gul Bahadur and Nazir, to a lesser extent Hekmatyar, and yes of course there are differences there."
Gul Bahadur and Maulvi Nazir are Pakistani Taliban commanders who fight only in Afghanistan. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is a veteran Afghan warlord based close to the Pakistani border.
Ms Patterson acknowledged the constraints on Pakistan's ability to take action. "The Pakistanis don't have the capacity to go after some of these groups," she said.
"Some they do, but Sirajuddin Haqqani holds huge swathes of territory in North Waziristan, where he's been implanted for years.
"My view is that the Haqqani group is the biggest threat [in Afghanistan].
"It has shown the ability to reach all the way to Kabul with these huge attacks, which not only kill loads of people but are also politically destabilising."
The Haqqani network is blamed for a series of bombings inside Kabul.
Both Hekmatyar and Haqqani once had close ties to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, while Islamabad saw Mullah Omar's regime in Afghanistan as a key ally until the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
Western officials believe that Pakistan still views these figures as "assets", amounting to an insurance policy if the American-led coalition leaves Afghanistan and the Taliban sweeps back to power.
They think this explains President Asif Ali Zardari's reluctance to move against their networks, while confining his offensive to groups that pose a direct threat to Pakistan.
"What happens if America leaves [Afghanistan]?" asked Hasan Askari Rizvi, a local commentator. "If we pick a fight with every group in Afghanistan, after the Americans leave, everybody would pounce on Pakistan."


