ISLAMABAD, 27 July 2007 — Britain’s foreign secretary said yesterday military action against terrorism must go hand in hand with economic and social development in Pakistan.
“Britain has a strong interest in the stability of Pakistan, in defeating extremism and in the development of tribal areas,” British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said yesterday after talks with President Pervez Musharraf and other officials.
Britain has announced a substantial increase in its development aid for Pakistan, and Miliband, on his first major trip abroad since assuming his post last month, said it was important that the aid should be targeted effectively in tribal areas, where militants are active.
Pakistan has bridled over comments by US officials over the past week suggesting the US military kept open the option of launching strikes against Taleban and Al-Qaeda targets on Pakistani soil, but the British minister said allies should work together in planning anti-terrorism strategies.
Musharraf is under pressure from the United States and Britain to help defeat the Taleban insurgency in Afghanistan, and wipe out Al-Qaeda cells hiding in Pakistani tribal lands.
“Our approach... is that the right way forward is one based on partnership between different countries,” Miliband told a news conference.
“The abiding theme is that economic, social, and political development has to go together.” Earlier in the day, Miliband said the United Kingdom backed efforts by Musharraf to tackle Taleban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants.
Responding to a question about the extradition of terror suspect Rashid Rauf, the British foreign secretary said, “Pakistan was dealing the matter in accordance with the constitution and law.”
He deflected two questions, one relating to Imran Khan moving British courts against the chief of Muttaheda Qaumi Movement Altaf Hussain and the second concerning back channel British efforts to arrange a deal between President Musharraf and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Intelligence sharing with Pakistan is considered vital by Britain. Over half of the counterterrorism operations of its security services are linked to Pakistan, officials said.
Battling terrorism and radicalization top Britain’s foreign policy agenda, and the security services need Pakistan’s help to thwart potential attacks.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri rejected remarks made by a White House spokesman last week, which suggested US forces could carry out attacks on Al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan.
“Such statements are irresponsible... In fact they are counterproductive to the sort of effort and cooperation that Pakistan and the United States are making. This may be election season in the US but it should not be at our expense,” he said at the news conference.
“Even talk of that nature undermines the support for the Pakistan government and its efforts,” Kasuri said.
Defending Islamabad’s counterterrorism strategy, Kasuri also said Pakistan had sent more troops to a frontier region near Afghanistan where critics say a September 2006 peace deal with local Taleban has allowed militants to thrive.
The United States has dubbed the deal a failure, saying it has given an opportunity for Al-Qaeda to regroup. A senior defense official said Wednesday in Washington that US special forces would be able to strike an extremist target in Pakistan’s tribal areas if they had urgent intelligence. Kasuri said Pakistan would use military force against those who would not “listen to reason” but ultimately, the situation in the tribal region of North Waziristan — where the peace deal has floundered amid suicide attacks, leaving scores dead — could only be resolved politically.
“We are told repeatedly that the North Waziristan agreement has failed. The point is, in the long-run you can only have a political approach,” Kasuri said.
He said Pakistan had sent more troops so tribal elders overseeing the deal can make sure commitments are fulfilled — for militants to desist from attacks on security forces, harboring foreign fighters and cross-border raids on US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
