All terrorist networks have safe haven in Pakistan: Gates

Washington, Mar 2 (PTI) All major terrorist networks have
a safe haven in Pakistan to operate creating a big "problem"
to the US war against terror, Defence Secretary Robert Gates
has said.

"I think it's the safe haven on the Pakistani side of the
border, not just for Al-Qaeda but for the Taliban for the
Hakani network, for Gulbaddin Hekmatyar and other affiliated
groups that are all working together -- they're separate
groups, but they're all working together, and I think as long
as they have a safe haven to operate there, it's going to be a
problem for us," Gates told the MSNBC news channel in an
interview.

"Afghanistan, after all, 20 years ago I was on the other
side of that border as deputy director of CIA fighting the
Soviets, and we had the safe haven in Pakistan, and let me
tell you, it made a big difference," he said in his interview
on Sunday.

Gates, who met with Pakistani Army chief Ashfaq Pervez
Kayani last week in Washington, said the Pakistan leadership
now knows that what is going on in their tribal region is very
dangerous for their country.

"I believe, based on my talks with the Pakistanis here in
Washington this past week, that they clearly now understand
that what's going on up there in that border area is as big a
risk to the stability of Pakistan as it is a problem for us in
Afghanistan," Gates said.

The defence secretary said Afghanistan is now unlikely to
be a safe haven for the terrorists as long as the US and its
allied forces are in the country.

"Well, as long as we're in Afghanistan and as long as the
Afghan government has the support of dozens and dozens of
countries who are providing military support, civilian
support, in addition to us, we are providing a level of
stability in Afghanistan that at least prevents it from being
a safe haven from which plots against the United States and
the Europeans and others can be put together so that border
area, particularly on the Pakistani side, is the most
worrisome," Gates said.

The Obama Administration is currently having a review of
its Afghan policies, in which all stake holders including
governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan, besides its allies in
Europe are being consulted, he said, adding delegations of
Pakistan and Afghanistan were in the US last week to
participate in the discussion.

"We're talking to the Europeans, to our allies, we're
bringing in an awful lot of people to get different points of
view as we go through this review of what our strategy ought
to be," Gates said. PTI