Pakistan, US discuss steps to fight against terrorism
By AZHAR MASOOD | ARAB NEWS
Published: Jul 9, 2010 20:54 Updated: Jul 9, 2010 20:54
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States have agreed to establish working groups for Pakistan's western border.
Pakistan's Interior Secretary Chaudhry Qamaruz Zaman, following the conclusion of the Pakistan-United States Strategic Dialogue on Interior and Border Security meeting, said Pakistan has nominated security personnel, customs staff, immigration and intelligence staff and other functionaries for the proposed working groups.
Zaman said the proposed groups would jointly manage the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. As suggested by the Strategic Dialogue's Security Group the countries will initiate computerized immigration at Chaman, Torkham and Khost. Both the nations will man forward posts to prevent militants and smugglers' movements in the two countries.
Earlier Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who headed the Pakistan's team at the meeting, categorically denied the presence of Afghan Taleban leader Mullah Umar and Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan. "We have been repeatedly saying that these two people are not in Pakistan. The United States has satellites that can track movements in these areas or I ask the American journalists reporting these stories to give us their location and we'll do the rest."
He also said the American Press was constantly blaming the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for providing sanctuary to Al-Qaeda leadership. "I will say here the ISI has done a great job in fighting terror perpetrated by Al-Qaeda and Taleban," he added.
US State Department counter-terrorism coordinator Daniel Benjamin and senior officials from US intelligence agencies, who participated in the meeting, are also discussing with Pakistan new strategy to curb terror, close coordination between American and Pakistan intelligence outfits, ways to increase law enforcement cooperation and other related subjects.
The US delegation acknowledged the challenges Pakistan faces and praised the government's efforts in addressing the terrorist threat.
Both groups shared insights into the challenges and best practices in combating terrorist groups and their support networks. The delegates discussed ways to strengthen law enforcement and judicial capacity and enhance counterterrorism legislation. The group reviewed mechanisms to detect and deter financing of terrorist groups and discussed ways to increase cooperation and information sharing on terror financiers
Meanwhile, ISI Director General Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha asked the Parliament's National Security Committee to prepare a National Security Policy. He asked the lawmakers to evolve a new strategy that could involve provincial governments and improve intelligence sharing mechanism
Pak, US agree on forming joint anti-terror working group
ISLAMABAD, (SANA): Pakistan and the US have agreed upon the formation of a joint working group on border management with regard to western borders to curb the activities of the extremists.
According to the joint communiqué, Pak-US strategic dialogues on security issues, the Pakistani side was headed by the Interior Minter Rehman Malik while the US delegation was headed by Ambassador Daniel Benjamin.
In the course of the strategic talks, a set of issues including improvement in intelligence sharing system between the two countries, checking of movement of terrorists, improvement in the performance of security agencies and other matters were brought under consideration.
The two countries stressed bilateral cooperation and mechanism in order to exert efforts to eradicate the menace of terrorism.
Both the countries agreed that they would mutually cooperate with each other to stop the supply of the terrorists and the menace would be addressed with a joint effort.
The US delegation appreciated the efforts of Pakistan which it made to tackle terrorism and the sacrifices which it had to render in order to cope with the threat while the US side also acknowledged the challenges faced by Pakistan in terms of dealing with extremism.
Similarly, the statement said, Pakistan lauded the provision of the US assistance to the law enforcing agencies for fighting terrorism in the country.
The delegations of the both countries brought under consideration the option of enhancing the capabilities of people and the law enforcing agencies to tackle the threat of terrorism.
The statement said revealed that the representatives of the both countries mulled over the ways for lawful transportation of goods.
According to the joint communiqué, the chalking out a mechanism for stopping the supply of financial assistance to the terrorists was also discussed during the strategic dialogues.
Pakistan and the US reiterated the determination that both the countries would strengthen the mutual contacts for the eradication of terrorists.