Pakistan under President Pervez Musharraf is a very strong ally in the war on terrorism, a U.S. official said on Thursday while announcing a $750 million aid package for Pakistan’s Afghan border areas.
The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Richard Boucher, said the United States aimed to give Pakistan the new aid over five years for the development of its tribal areas on the Afghan border, where al-Qaida and Taliban operate.
Boucher’s visit to Pakistan came after speculation in the U.S. media of growing frustration with Musharraf’s inability to stem a tide of militants crossing to fight U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan, or to tackle al Qaeda camps in border areas.
It also follows a move by the U.S. House of Representatives to link aid to Pakistan to progress in battling militancy. But Boucher said the administration strongly opposed that legislation and he thought it would not be passed.
Protests over judge's firing
Boucher also said the United States would be closely watching a crisis that erupted last week when Musharraf moved to sack the country’s top judge, sparking a wave of protests by lawyers and opposition supporters.
“President Musharraf has been a very strong ally. Pakistan has been a very strong ally with President Musharraf as leader,” Boucher told a news conference at the well-guarded U.S. embassy.
But Boucher also appeared to echo a call from other U.S. officials who have visited recently, including Vice President Dick Cheney, for Pakistan to do more to crack down on Taliban and al-Qaida on its soil.
“We support Pakistan, we work with Pakistan, we all want to do more, we all want to be more effective in the war on terror,” he said.
The impoverished, semi-autonomous tribal areas on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan have been a base for al-Qaida and Taliban operations since 2001, when many militants fled there after the U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Boucher said the new aid package needed the approval of the U.S. Congress but another U.S. official said that was expected.
Deal not working
Despite Pakistani military efforts to clear out foreign militants, subdue their Pakistani allies and seal the border, the Taliban have been using the border lands as a springboard for attacks into Afghanistan, where the United States has 27,000 troops.
Boucher said a peace deal Pakistan struck in the North Waziristan region in September aimed at ending violence and cross-border raids was not working.
“At this point, the political deal in Waziristan has not stopped the militancy. Unfortunately, it has not stopped the bombings against Pakistani civilians, it hasn’t stopped the cross-border activity,” he said.
Referring to the political crisis over the government’s move last Friday to sack the country’s top judge, Boucher said: ”We do think this is a matter that needs to work its way through the Pakistani system.”
“We understand the sensitivity of accusations involving judicial figures, it’s a sensitive matter ...I’ve asked a lot of questions. We’ll watch closely as it works its way through.”
The proposed U.S. legislation aimed at linking aid to action on militancy has raised alarm in Pakistan, which saw similar restrictions on U.S. help in the 1990s over its nuclear program.
Boucher said the House of Representatives and the Senate had to get together to figure out the final form of the legislation.
“I’m fairly confident that we will not see something from the U.S. Congress that will undermine our relationship,” he said.