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City of quetta pakistan fuels taliban { September 29 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,,1883738,00.htmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,,1883738,00.html
Taliban attacks double after Pakistan's deal with militants
Afghan offensives add weight to safe haven fear Relations between Karzai and Musharraf hit new low
Declan Walsh in Kabul
Friday September 29, 2006
The Guardian
Taliban attacks along Afghanistan's southeastern border have more than doubled in the three weeks since a controversial deal between Pakistan and pro-Taliban militants, the US military said yesterday.
Pakistan's military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, had promised the agreement with militants in North Waziristan would help to bring peace to Afghanistan. But early indications suggest the pact is having the opposite effect, creating a safe haven for the Taliban to regroup and launch fresh cross-border offensives against western and Afghan troops.
A US military spokesman, Colonel John Paradis, said US soldiers had reported a "twofold, in some cases threefold" increase in attacks along the border since the deal was signed on September 5, "especially in the south-east areas across from North Waziristan".
Waziristan was one of many sore points between General Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, who took their rivalry to Washington this week. Relations have hit an all-time low. Mr Karzai accuses Gen Musharraf of failing to shut down Taliban sanctuaries in Waziristan and other lawless Pakistani tribal areas. Gen Musharraf counters that Mr Karzai is scapegoating him to avoid facing up to his own weaknesses and a looming rebellion by Pashtun tribesmen. Gen Musharraf used US media interviews to belittle his rival, whom he accused of acting like "an ostrich with his head buried in the sand".
He also used the trip to plug his new memoirs on platforms as diverse as White House press conferences and The Daily Show, in which he sipped tea and ate cakes with its presenter, Jon Stewart.
On Wednesday George Bush hosted a dinner to try to mend fences between Gen Musharraf and Mr Karzai. Western allies worry that deteriorating relations between the two are affecting their ability to quell the Taliban insurgency.
It is of particular concern to Britain and Canada, who have lost 32 soldiers in fighting since July 1. A meeting at Chequers yesterday between President Musharraf and Tony Blair was overshadowed by a leaked Ministry of Defence document that suggested Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency was supporting the Taliban. The BBC also quoted the document as saying: "Pakistan is not currently stable but on the edge of chaos."
Gen Musharraf angrily denied the allegations. "I totally, 200%, reject it," he said. "ISI is a disciplined force, breaking the back of al-Qaida."
Downing Street reassured him that the leaked document "did not reflect the views of the government", while the MoD tried to play down the importance of the paper, saying it was merely research notes and did not represent official policy.
Nevertheless, diplomats on both sides of the border are worried about links between Pakistan and the Taliban. They highlight two areas of concern: around the western city of Quetta, where the Taliban leadership is believed to be based, and further east in Waziristan, a tribal cauldron of Taliban militants and al-Qaida fugitives.
That is why the three-week-old Waziristan deal is worrying officials in both Islamabad and Kabul. Under its terms the Pakistani army agreed to withdraw its troops in return for cooperation in halting cross-border infiltration by militants and an end to "Talibanisation" - the issuing of strict social edicts based on sharia law.
Critics said the deal was unenforceable and would allow the Taliban to regroup. Claims that the tribesmen signed the deal only after receiving approval from the Taliban's leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, fanned the controversy.
Nato's European commander, General James Jones, said he would give the deal 30 days before passing judgment. But as Gen Musharraf travelled from the US to Britain yesterday, there were further signs that the militants were not keeping their side of the bargain. The body of an Afghan man who had been shot in the head and chest was found in the mountains near Mir Ali in North Waziristan. One of several people killed in recent weeks, he was found alongside a note accusing him of being an American spy.
Tense times
Tony Blair met President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan for two hours last night at Chequers to discuss cooperation over Afghanistan and counterterrorism. General Musharraf was angry over a document by a defence analyst leaked to the BBC calling for the dismantling of Pakistan's intelligence service because of alleged links with terrorists. He denied the claims and Downing Street reassured the Pakistan leader that the leaked document "did not reflect the views of the government".
Gen Musharraf told Mr Blair he was determined to deal with the Taliban and reduce cross-border activity and was assured by the prime minister that Nato was in Afghanistan for the long haul. The general arrived in Britain after a tense encounter with his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, at a White House dinner in Washington.
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