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Pakistan prime minister considers negotiating with militants
Farhan Bokhari JDW Correspondent - Islamabad
Key Points
Pakistan's new prime minister has said that his government is against stepping up military action
The US and the Pakistani military would oppose a deal with the Taliban
Yusuf Raza Gillani, Pakistan's new prime minister, has said that his government would rather negotiate with insurgents in the country's restive border regions than step up military action.
Gillani's remarks - which came in a 29 March speech - risk setting him at odds with the United States, which opposes negotiations with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda-backed insurgents. As recently as 25 March, US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte was in Islamabad to urge Pakistani leaders to stay the military course and not to offer the militants talks.
"We are ready to talk to all those who give up arms and adopt the path of peace," said Gillani, shortly after securing a vote of confidence from the newly elected lower house of parliament. "Terrorism and extremism are our greatest problems. They have put the country in danger. Therefore, it is our first priority to bring peace to the country and fight terrorism."
The speech prompted warnings from senior Western diplomats who said they believe that any offer of negotiations will be seen by militants as a sign of weakness.
A Western defence official based in Islamabad told Jane's that there was growing anxiety in Washington over reports that Al-Qaeda is seeking to train more Western volunteers at secret camps in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region and then send them home to carry out attacks. "The concern over these reports has been amplified with the position taken by the new Pakistani prime minister," the official said. "This is no time for conciliation with these elements."
He also cited recent intelligence reports suggesting that the US military and the CIA had stepped up the number of reconnaissance flights over the border region in the past three to four weeks. "With closer monitoring of that terrain, it is possible that air strikes by CIA-flown drones armed with hellfire [missiles] will become more frequent this summer, especially if there are more attacks [by insurgents]," he said.
Pakistani sources told Jane's that the position of the Pakistani military had hardened since the summer of 2007 when 240 soldiers and army officers were captured by militants led by Baitullah Mehsud, a prominent pro-Taliban leader, and that, like the US, it was opposed to striking a deal.
In 2006, President Pervez Musharraf's government made a controversial peace agreement with Pakistani tribes with links to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban along the border with Afghanistan. The agreement failed to hold and was criticised for allowing militants time to re-organise and regroup.
On 2 April, General Ashfaq Kiyani, the chief of army staff, met Gillani and other senior leaders to brief them for the first time since the new government was formed on the military's assessment of the 'war on terror'. A senior figure in the new government said that the briefing was meant to "evolve a consensus between the military and politicians on the way forward".
Farhan Bokhari JDW Correspondent - Islamabad
Key Points
Pakistan's new prime minister has said that his government is against stepping up military action
The US and the Pakistani military would oppose a deal with the Taliban
Yusuf Raza Gillani, Pakistan's new prime minister, has said that his government would rather negotiate with insurgents in the country's restive border regions than step up military action.
Gillani's remarks - which came in a 29 March speech - risk setting him at odds with the United States, which opposes negotiations with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda-backed insurgents. As recently as 25 March, US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte was in Islamabad to urge Pakistani leaders to stay the military course and not to offer the militants talks.
"We are ready to talk to all those who give up arms and adopt the path of peace," said Gillani, shortly after securing a vote of confidence from the newly elected lower house of parliament. "Terrorism and extremism are our greatest problems. They have put the country in danger. Therefore, it is our first priority to bring peace to the country and fight terrorism."
The speech prompted warnings from senior Western diplomats who said they believe that any offer of negotiations will be seen by militants as a sign of weakness.
A Western defence official based in Islamabad told Jane's that there was growing anxiety in Washington over reports that Al-Qaeda is seeking to train more Western volunteers at secret camps in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region and then send them home to carry out attacks. "The concern over these reports has been amplified with the position taken by the new Pakistani prime minister," the official said. "This is no time for conciliation with these elements."
He also cited recent intelligence reports suggesting that the US military and the CIA had stepped up the number of reconnaissance flights over the border region in the past three to four weeks. "With closer monitoring of that terrain, it is possible that air strikes by CIA-flown drones armed with hellfire [missiles] will become more frequent this summer, especially if there are more attacks [by insurgents]," he said.
Pakistani sources told Jane's that the position of the Pakistani military had hardened since the summer of 2007 when 240 soldiers and army officers were captured by militants led by Baitullah Mehsud, a prominent pro-Taliban leader, and that, like the US, it was opposed to striking a deal.
In 2006, President Pervez Musharraf's government made a controversial peace agreement with Pakistani tribes with links to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban along the border with Afghanistan. The agreement failed to hold and was criticised for allowing militants time to re-organise and regroup.
On 2 April, General Ashfaq Kiyani, the chief of army staff, met Gillani and other senior leaders to brief them for the first time since the new government was formed on the military's assessment of the 'war on terror'. A senior figure in the new government said that the briefing was meant to "evolve a consensus between the military and politicians on the way forward".
