MyPakistan1947
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By TOM WRIGHT And MATTHEW ROSENBERG
ISLAMABADU.S. Sen. John Kerry told Pakistan's civilian and military leaders that Washington wanted to hit the "reset button" on deteriorating relations, amid mounting Pakistani anger over the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Sen. Kerry, who has become a trouble-shooter for the Obama administration in Pakistan, met with senior civilian and military leaders during a 24-hour visit meant to soothe Pakistani anger at not being informed about the raid, while also keeping up pressure on Islamabad to do more in its fight against militancy.
Sen. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he told Pakistani leaders about concerns voiced by members of the U.S. Congress about the presence of bin Laden in Abbottabad, a garrison town 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the capital, and the continued inability of Pakistan's military to shut down Afghan Taliban "sanctuaries" on its territory.
The U.S.-Pakistan relationship was at a "make or break" moment, Sen. Kerry said. "There are members of Congress who aren't certain it can be patched back together again. That's why clarity in this relationship is so critical right now."
To get that clarity, Sen. Kerry said he had agreed with Pakistan's leaders to a "road map" of actions both sides will follow over the next few months. Two senior U.S. officials will arrive later this week to further detail those steps, before a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which hasn't yet been scheduled, Sen. Kerry said.
It remains unclear how Washington aims to bridge the huge strategic differences that separate the U.S. and Pakistan over how to end the war in Afghanistan.
In one step, Pakistan has agreed to return the tail section of a U.S. helicopter that was damaged during the raid on bin Laden's compound, Sen. Kerry said. U.S. Navy SEALs blew up the helicopter but the tail section survived intact.
The U.S. has been concerned about its military technology getting into the hands of other countries, especially China. The return of the tail section is likely to be viewed as a goodwill gesture by Pakistan.
In a joint statement, the U.S. and Pakistan also said any future action against "high value" militant targets would be carried out together. After the bin Laden raid, Pakistani officials threatened grave consequences if the U.S. carried out such an operation again.
Sen. Kerry, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, met for a few hours Sunday night with Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and the head of the country's main spy agency, Lt. Gen. Shuja Ahmed Pasha. Gen. Pasha, the chief of the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, told lawmakers Friday that he was willing to resign over the U.S. raid.
On Monday, Sen. Kerry met with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, while also talking to Gen. Kayani again.
Sen. Kerry gave no indication of whether Pakistan had agreed to the U.S. demand that it mount military operations against the Haqqani network, an Afghan Taliban faction that uses Pakistan's tribal regions to launch attacks on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. He said he had discussed the Haqqani network with Gen. Kayani, as well as Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani group which carried out the attacks on Mumbai in 2008, and Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, who is believed to be sheltering in Pakistan.
Gen. Kayani, in the days after the Abbottabad raid, told a meeting of military advisers that Pakistan favored talks with the Afghan Taliban, including the Haqqanis, according to people who were present.
The U.S. views the Haqqanis as irreconcilable and has targeted its leaders. The U.S. says elements of Pakistan's military continue to support the group, a charge that Islamabad denies.
Pakistan's military has argued that it was too stretched fighting homegrown militantsa fight which has led to the deaths of some 3,000 soldiersto open other fronts. Sen. Kerry acknowledged the deaths Pakistan has suffered fighting what he termed a "common enemy."
He also attempted to assuage Pakistani anger over being kept in the dark about the raid, saying the operational secrecy around the raid didn't mean the U.S. doesn't trust the country's leaders.
But he said the U.S. couldn't risk letting bin Laden get away by disseminating information about the raid. To make his point, Sen. Kerry said he told Pakistan's leaders that even he wasn't informed about the raid until after it happened, when Mrs. Clinton called him.
"My goal in coming here was not to apologize," he said.
That is unlikely to play well with Pakistanis, who are furious about the U.S. action on Pakistani territory, and concerned about how they were able to get in an out of the country unobstructed. That bin Laden was able to hide in Abbottabad has generated much less anger here than the U.S. raid.
Sen. Kerry said there was no evidence at this point to suggest Pakistan's leaders had any knowledge that bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad, as some U.S. officials have suggested. "Our relationship is too important to be stuck speculating about something there is no evidence about," he said.
Separately, a Saudi security official working at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Karachi was shot and killed Monday by two men on a motorcycle, amid sectarian tensions and continued protests against the kingdom's regional policy.
Police officers in Karachi, Pakistan's financial capital, are working on the assumption the that the killing was likely carried out by a Shiite sectarian group angered by Saudi Arabia's decision to send troops to Bahrain this year to put down largely Shiite antigovernment protests there.
Kerry Seeks 'Reset' On U.S.-Pakistan Ties - WSJ.com
ISLAMABADU.S. Sen. John Kerry told Pakistan's civilian and military leaders that Washington wanted to hit the "reset button" on deteriorating relations, amid mounting Pakistani anger over the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Sen. Kerry, who has become a trouble-shooter for the Obama administration in Pakistan, met with senior civilian and military leaders during a 24-hour visit meant to soothe Pakistani anger at not being informed about the raid, while also keeping up pressure on Islamabad to do more in its fight against militancy.
Sen. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he told Pakistani leaders about concerns voiced by members of the U.S. Congress about the presence of bin Laden in Abbottabad, a garrison town 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the capital, and the continued inability of Pakistan's military to shut down Afghan Taliban "sanctuaries" on its territory.
The U.S.-Pakistan relationship was at a "make or break" moment, Sen. Kerry said. "There are members of Congress who aren't certain it can be patched back together again. That's why clarity in this relationship is so critical right now."
To get that clarity, Sen. Kerry said he had agreed with Pakistan's leaders to a "road map" of actions both sides will follow over the next few months. Two senior U.S. officials will arrive later this week to further detail those steps, before a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which hasn't yet been scheduled, Sen. Kerry said.
It remains unclear how Washington aims to bridge the huge strategic differences that separate the U.S. and Pakistan over how to end the war in Afghanistan.
In one step, Pakistan has agreed to return the tail section of a U.S. helicopter that was damaged during the raid on bin Laden's compound, Sen. Kerry said. U.S. Navy SEALs blew up the helicopter but the tail section survived intact.
The U.S. has been concerned about its military technology getting into the hands of other countries, especially China. The return of the tail section is likely to be viewed as a goodwill gesture by Pakistan.
In a joint statement, the U.S. and Pakistan also said any future action against "high value" militant targets would be carried out together. After the bin Laden raid, Pakistani officials threatened grave consequences if the U.S. carried out such an operation again.
Sen. Kerry, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, met for a few hours Sunday night with Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and the head of the country's main spy agency, Lt. Gen. Shuja Ahmed Pasha. Gen. Pasha, the chief of the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, told lawmakers Friday that he was willing to resign over the U.S. raid.
On Monday, Sen. Kerry met with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, while also talking to Gen. Kayani again.
Sen. Kerry gave no indication of whether Pakistan had agreed to the U.S. demand that it mount military operations against the Haqqani network, an Afghan Taliban faction that uses Pakistan's tribal regions to launch attacks on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. He said he had discussed the Haqqani network with Gen. Kayani, as well as Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani group which carried out the attacks on Mumbai in 2008, and Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, who is believed to be sheltering in Pakistan.
Gen. Kayani, in the days after the Abbottabad raid, told a meeting of military advisers that Pakistan favored talks with the Afghan Taliban, including the Haqqanis, according to people who were present.
The U.S. views the Haqqanis as irreconcilable and has targeted its leaders. The U.S. says elements of Pakistan's military continue to support the group, a charge that Islamabad denies.
Pakistan's military has argued that it was too stretched fighting homegrown militantsa fight which has led to the deaths of some 3,000 soldiersto open other fronts. Sen. Kerry acknowledged the deaths Pakistan has suffered fighting what he termed a "common enemy."
He also attempted to assuage Pakistani anger over being kept in the dark about the raid, saying the operational secrecy around the raid didn't mean the U.S. doesn't trust the country's leaders.
But he said the U.S. couldn't risk letting bin Laden get away by disseminating information about the raid. To make his point, Sen. Kerry said he told Pakistan's leaders that even he wasn't informed about the raid until after it happened, when Mrs. Clinton called him.
"My goal in coming here was not to apologize," he said.
That is unlikely to play well with Pakistanis, who are furious about the U.S. action on Pakistani territory, and concerned about how they were able to get in an out of the country unobstructed. That bin Laden was able to hide in Abbottabad has generated much less anger here than the U.S. raid.
Sen. Kerry said there was no evidence at this point to suggest Pakistan's leaders had any knowledge that bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad, as some U.S. officials have suggested. "Our relationship is too important to be stuck speculating about something there is no evidence about," he said.
Separately, a Saudi security official working at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Karachi was shot and killed Monday by two men on a motorcycle, amid sectarian tensions and continued protests against the kingdom's regional policy.
Police officers in Karachi, Pakistan's financial capital, are working on the assumption the that the killing was likely carried out by a Shiite sectarian group angered by Saudi Arabia's decision to send troops to Bahrain this year to put down largely Shiite antigovernment protests there.
Kerry Seeks 'Reset' On U.S.-Pakistan Ties - WSJ.com
