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Pakistan aims to steer US policy while declaring Taliban truce
Trefor Moss JDW Asia-Pacific Editor - London
Key Points
A high-level Pakistani delegation has travelled to Washington to participate in a crucial US government policy review
In Pakistan the army has ended all operations against militants following ceasefires in Bajaur and Swat
Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kiyani, and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi arrived in Washington, DC, on 22 February to provide Pakistani input into the Obama administration's continuing policy review on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Their talks with senior US officials came as the Pakistani military ceased all active operations against indigenous Taliban militants, a Pakistani army spokesman told Jane's on 26 February.
A ceasefire in the Swat valley, which was established in mid-February, was continuing to hold, the military spokesman said, with no violence being reported between militants and government troops. Local Taliban leader Sufi Mohammed said on 24 February that "successful talks" were continuing with the government on the establishment of Shariah law in Swat in exchange for an indefinite cessation of violence.
The Swat truce was followed by the announcement of a ceasefire in the Bajaur agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas on 24 February. The army spokesman confirmed that the truce was "so far only temporary", but that it could be extended as a "goodwill gesture" towards the people of Bajaur following seven months of army operations there.
The end of operations in both Swat and Bajaur means there are no longer any active fronts in the Pakistan army's campaign against militancy.
Exiled Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who is thought to be hiding in Pakistan, issued a statement on 25 February calling for "mujahideen" to end their attacks on Pakistani forces and unite "to liberate Afghanistan from the occupation forces", adding to Western unease surrounding the ceasefire.
With allied casualties in Afghanistan having already reached unprecedented levels in the first two months of 2009, there are concerns that Pakistan-based fighters will only intensify their attacks in Afghanistan if they are not actively engaged by the Pakistani army.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Qureshi reacted to the controversy over the US policy of conducting unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) strikes inside Pakistan by urging the US to give Pakistan UAVs of its own.
"We feel that if the technology is transferred to Pakistan, Pakistan will be in a better position to determine how to use the technology and, without alienating people, achieve the objective," he said in Washington on 25 February.
The government's credibility on the issue of the UAV strikes has been seriously damaged by its admission that the US has been using a base in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. Satellite images also revealed the existence of a newly built hangar at the base and this has fuelled suspicions that the US is launching its UAV operations from inside Pakistan - something the government has repeatedly denied.
© 2009 Jane's Information Group
Trefor Moss JDW Asia-Pacific Editor - London
Key Points
A high-level Pakistani delegation has travelled to Washington to participate in a crucial US government policy review
In Pakistan the army has ended all operations against militants following ceasefires in Bajaur and Swat
Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kiyani, and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi arrived in Washington, DC, on 22 February to provide Pakistani input into the Obama administration's continuing policy review on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Their talks with senior US officials came as the Pakistani military ceased all active operations against indigenous Taliban militants, a Pakistani army spokesman told Jane's on 26 February.
A ceasefire in the Swat valley, which was established in mid-February, was continuing to hold, the military spokesman said, with no violence being reported between militants and government troops. Local Taliban leader Sufi Mohammed said on 24 February that "successful talks" were continuing with the government on the establishment of Shariah law in Swat in exchange for an indefinite cessation of violence.
The Swat truce was followed by the announcement of a ceasefire in the Bajaur agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas on 24 February. The army spokesman confirmed that the truce was "so far only temporary", but that it could be extended as a "goodwill gesture" towards the people of Bajaur following seven months of army operations there.
The end of operations in both Swat and Bajaur means there are no longer any active fronts in the Pakistan army's campaign against militancy.
Exiled Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who is thought to be hiding in Pakistan, issued a statement on 25 February calling for "mujahideen" to end their attacks on Pakistani forces and unite "to liberate Afghanistan from the occupation forces", adding to Western unease surrounding the ceasefire.
With allied casualties in Afghanistan having already reached unprecedented levels in the first two months of 2009, there are concerns that Pakistan-based fighters will only intensify their attacks in Afghanistan if they are not actively engaged by the Pakistani army.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Qureshi reacted to the controversy over the US policy of conducting unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) strikes inside Pakistan by urging the US to give Pakistan UAVs of its own.
"We feel that if the technology is transferred to Pakistan, Pakistan will be in a better position to determine how to use the technology and, without alienating people, achieve the objective," he said in Washington on 25 February.
The government's credibility on the issue of the UAV strikes has been seriously damaged by its admission that the US has been using a base in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. Satellite images also revealed the existence of a newly built hangar at the base and this has fuelled suspicions that the US is launching its UAV operations from inside Pakistan - something the government has repeatedly denied.
© 2009 Jane's Information Group
