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The title Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf chose for his recently released memoirs, In the Line of Fire, is proving prescient: Ever since the book came out two weeks ago, that's exactly where he and his country have been.
Despite Pres Musharraf's commitment to help suppress the Taliban, Pakistan's military intelligence agency ISI is widely believed to be assisting Taliban insurgents in waging war against NATO forces in Afghanistan. At the very least, ISI would appear to be operating beyond the control of the president.
The Times of London foreign correspondent Christina Lamb reports from Afghanistan.
Something very odd has happened here in Kabul. Suddenly the word Pakistan is on everyone’s lips. Not just Afghans, who have been banging on about their neighbour ever since the fall of the Taliban five years ago led to most of Mullah Omar’s men fleeing to the safe haven of Pakistan. But top US and UK military commanders, NATO ambassadors and the UN are suddenly all singing from the same hymn sheet which is that Pakistan has been playing a double game. In other words at the same time as publicly supporting the war on terror, Pakistan’s military intelligence ISI keeps helping its old friends in the Taliban and there will never be stability in Afghanistan until it is reined in.
. . .
[R]ecently ISI have gone too far, not just providing a safe haven, but also training camps and even arms. Many of those arrested in fighting in Afghanistan have told of attending ISI training camps.
Earlier today General David Richards, NATO's commander in Afghanistan, met personally with Pres Musharraf in Pakistan.
Pakistani military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said discussions during the hour-long meeting covered ways of increasing co-operation between the two sides in fighting terrorism."He [Gen Richards] has come here to discuss Nato's expanding role in Afghanistan and security co-operation between the important partners in the war on terror," he told the AFP news agency.
Ahead of his meeting with the Pakistani President, Gen Richards reportedly told a television news channel that more could be done to fight terrorism.
Gen Richards fears that, if living conditions in Afghanistan do not improve within six months, many more Afghans will begin to support the Taliban.
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