Musharraf Acknowledges Presence of Islamists in Pakistan
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
KABUL, Afghanistan — President Musharraf of Pakistan made an unusually frank acknowledgment yesterday that Islamic terrorists are operating in tribal areas on his nation’s side of the border with Afghanistan and providing support to insurgents fighting American and NATO troops.
General Musharraf’s comments came in a joint appearance with President Karzai of Afghanistan at the closing session of a four-day gathering in the Afghan capital, at which the neighboring nations pledged to cooperate in the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The traditional council, or jirga, was planned more than a year ago during simultaneous visits to Washington, D.C., by General Musharraf and Mr. Karzai. The Bush administration has for months urged the two leaders to work together and tone down mutual blame-laying over militants’ presence in the tribal belt that straddles their 1,500-mile border. Last month, Pakistan sharply contested American intelligence claims of a well-established Al Qaeda and Taliban presence in tribal areas on the Pakistani side of the border, where the central government has little or no authority.
After the release of a major American intelligence report in July describing those areas as a safe haven for these groups, Pakistani officials said they had not been provided with hard evidence to back up the claims.
In his address, however, General Musharraf acknowledged that “many of our border regions, especially the tribal areas, have been deeply affected by extremism.” “There is support from these areas to Taliban activity inside Afghanistan,” he said. “There is no doubt Afghan militants are supported from Pakistani soil.”
The jirga brought together about 600 tribal elders from both sides of the border. Conspicuously absent, though, were representatives from Pakistan’s tribal area of North Waziristan, which has been the focal point of fighting between Pakistani security forces and insurgents. Some of the Waziristan elders said local Taliban had threatened reprisals if they attended the gathering.
In a joint statement, representatives declared that “terrorism is a common threat to both countries, and the war on terror should continue to be an integral part of the national policies and security strategies of both countries.”
