ID :
182558
Mon, 05/16/2011 - 22:08
Auther :

Kerry conveys US concerns to Pakistan's leadership

From Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, May 16 (PTI) US Senator John Kerry Monday
conveyed to Pakistan's civil and military leadership the
"grave concerns" back home over the presence of Osama bin
Laden in the country and the existence of sanctuaries for
militants.
Kerry, the first senior American official to visit
Pakistan since the al Qaeda chief was killed on May 2, also
said that Pakistan and the US have agreed on a "series of
steps" to get their relationship back on track though "real
differences" persisted between the two sides in the wake of
the American raid that killed bin Laden.
The influential Senator, who is also the Chairman of
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was in Pakistan on a
mission to ease out tensions that have escalated following the
unilateral Abbottabad operation.
Kerry said he had conveyed to the country's top civil
and military leadership "as clearly as possible the grave
concerns in the US over Osama bin Laden's presence in Pakistan
and the existence here of sanctuaries for our adversaries in
Afghanistan".
Following his meetings with President Asif Ali
Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and army chief Gen
Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Kerry said, the two sides had agreed on
a "series of steps that will be implemented immediately to get
the relationship back on track".
"Our progress in the days ahead will be measured by
actions, not by words," said Kerry, in an apparent reference
to US concerns about elements in the Pakistan security
establishment continuing to support militants. He did not
elaborate.
Both sides need to have "very realistic expectations"
about their relationship as there are "some real differences"
between the two countries, Kerry told the media during a brief
interaction.
He did not give details about the steps to be
implemented by the two sides or take questions from the
reporters.
However, Kerry said the Pakistan government had
"recommitted to finding more ways to work together against the
common threat of terrorism and to explore how increased
cooperation on joint operations in intelligence-sharing can
maximise our efforts... to defeat the enemies we face".
He made it clear that these were only "initial steps"
and two senior US administration officials will visit
Islamabad later this week to work on "details of implementing
these initial steps".
Subsequently, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
will announce plans to visit Pakistan to "expand on those
discussions to help develop a new trust and a new level of
cooperation" between the two countries, he said.


Prime Minister Gilani recently warned that Pakistan
would respond with "full force" if the US carried out another
raid and Gen Kayani informed Kerry about the "intense
feelings" in the army over the raid against bin Laden.
Pakistan-US ties had gone into freefall after
helicopter-borne commandos swooped on a compound in the
garrison city of Abbottabad and killed bin Laden earlier this
month.
Though Pakistan initially welcomed the killing of bin
Laden, it subsequently criticised the US raid as a violation
of its sovereignty after the civilian and military leadership
faced anger and embarrassing questions about the al Qaeda
chief's presence in the country.
After CIA chief Leon Panetta raised questions about
the complicity or incompetence of Pakistan's security and
intelligence set-up in detecting bin Laden's presence in the
country, US lawmakers threatened they would review measures to
provide the country billions of dollars in aid.
Kerry said he had raised these issues in his meetings
with Pakistani leaders.
"I emphasised to our Pakistani friends... that many in
Congress are raising tough questions about our ongoing
economic assistance to the government of Pakistan because
of... the presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan," he said.
He said he had told Gen Kayani and Inter-Services
Intelligence agency chief Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha that Americans
understood "their feelings and the feelings of Pakistan about
the circumstances surrounding the operation against bin
Laden".
"We recognise that the Pakistani people and their
leaders take their sovereignty very seriously," he said.
At the same time, he said he had told the Pakistani
leaders that the extreme secrecy surrounding the raid against
bin Laden was essential to "protecting the lives of the
professionals who were involved and to ensuring that they
succeeded in capturing or killing the man responsible for so
much death".
In an apparent response to Pakistani criticism of the
US raid, Kerry said it was bin Laden and the foreign fighters
who followed him who "truly violated Pakistan's sovereignty"
over many years.
He also said he had not come to Pakistan to apologise
for the raid.
"My goal in coming here has been to talk about how do
we manage this important relationship... and put us back on a
track where isolated episodes, no matter how profound, don't
jeopardise the larger relationship between our countries," he
said.
Kerry said his meetings had reopened dialogue between
the two countries and allowed them to move forward "toward a
better partnership with Pakistan".

Prime Minister Gilani also told Kerry that Pakistan
needs to be given due recognition for its role in the war
agains terror and that the US and Pakistan need to work on
rebuilding trust.
Gilani said Pakistan wants "due recognition and
support of the international community, particularly of the US
at this stage rather than negative messaging and uncalled for
criticism, emanating from there," a statement from his office
said.
"He underlined that Pakistan was part of the solution
for ensuring lasting peace in the region and it was the need
of the hour that Pakistan and US should rebuild the trust and
confidence between their governments and institutions." PTI
WAJ

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