ISLAMABAD, 7 October 2003 — US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said here yesterday not every member of Pakistan’s security forces was as committed to the US-led hunt for Taleban and Al-Qaeda as President Pervez Musharraf.

The envoy was speaking after talks with Gen. Musharraf on the hunt for diehard Taleban and Al-Qaeda fighters, many of whom are believed to be hiding in Pakistan’s rugged western tribal areas and staging bloody cross-border attacks on aid workers and US and Afghan troops.

The sudden visit by Armitage and Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina Rocca, announced less than a week ago, comes amid mounting Afghan claims that Pakistani forces are not doing enough to prevent the extremists regrouping and infiltrating back into Afghanistan.

“I said there was some question of some individuals in the security services who might not have the same affection, that is the same energy and the same regard, for these efforts as President Musharraf,” Armitage told reporters, clarifying comments he made in Washington last week.

He said he had full confidence in Musharraf’s commitment to capturing Al-Qaeda and Taleban suspects, and stressed that he believed the military was “200 percent” behind him.

“In no way do I have any sign that the military and the security forces as institutions are anything but 200 percent behind the nation and behind the president,” Armitage said.

His comments in Washington last week were interpreted by many in Pakistan as suggesting Musharraf did not have full control of the country’s security forces.

Armitage and Rocca also met Defense Ministry officials and Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, a day after visiting the Afghan cities of Kandahar and Kabul.

In Kabul Sunday Armitage praised the Pakistan military’s operation last week against a suspected Taleban and Al-Qaeda hide-out near the border town of Angoor Adda in the tribal zone of South Waziristan. The military captured 18 and killed eight alleged “terrorists.”

The envoy noted “the tremendous effort in the last couple of days of the Pakistani forces against Taleban and Al-Qaeda.”

He also praised Musharraf’s public campaign against Islamic extremism, referring to the president’s most recent comments Friday when he declared that extremism, as “the enemy within,” was the greatest threat facing Pakistan.

Armitage repeated his praise during talks with Musharraf yesterday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said.

Pakistan’s need for extra equipment and “capacity building” to hunt Taleban and Al-Qaeda fugitives along the porous border was also discussed, Khan told a weekly press briefing.

“Security assistance is a subject that has been discussed on both sides and I think we need capacity building especially in our efforts in the war on terrorism,” Khan said.

Foreign Minister Kasuri said “Pakistan-US relations, the regional situation, Afghanistan and the war on terror,” were discussed with Armitage and Rocca.

“Both sides expressed the hope of the continuation of the engagement between Pakistan and the USA,” Kasuri told the joint press conference with Armitage.

The US envoy stressed the importance of Washington’s relations with Pakistan, considered one of its most important allies in the two-year-old war on terrorism.

“This is a special relationship to the United States, one that President (George W. Bush) treasures particularly,” Armitage said.

Washington was seeking “a whole strategic relationship” with Islamabad, he said.

“We’re very interested in having a full... relationship with Pakistan, not simply one based on the global war on terror, but one that covers in higher depth economic and social, political as well as of course security.

“I was quite thrilled with the discussions this morning with President Musharraf.”

US Central Command Chief

Arrives for Talks

US Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid arrived in Islamabad as senior State Department officials held talks with Pakistani leaders on security issues yesterday. Abizaid’s responsibilities include US military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Pakistan has been cooperating with the US war on terror in Afghanistan but wants United Nations cover for providing peacekeeping troops for Iraq.

Pakistan Wants Arms Imbalance

With India Corrected

Pakistan said yesterday it does not seek disarming of rival India but only the correction of the arms imbalance created by India’s acquisitions. “We don’t want India disarmed. We only want Pakistan armed proportionately,” a spokesman told journalists. Masood Khan was replying to an Indian correspondent’s question about Pakistan’s protestations to the US over India’s purchase of advanced weapons systems.