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Pakistani security setup not fully cooperative: Armitage

* Pakistan rejects charge, says all agencies follow Musharraf’s orders
* Armitage, Rocca arrive on Thursday, meet Musharraf on Saturday

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: Richard Armitage, US deputy secretary of state, on Wednesday accused some in the Pakistani security establishment of being less than enthusiastic about working with the United States.

He said this hours before setting out for Pakistan, Afghanistan and some countries of Central Asia with assistant secretary for South Asia, Christina Rocca.

He told Reuters that President General Pervez Musharraf was dedicated to cooperating with the United States but that there were limits to how much his government could do in tribal areas near the Afghan border. According to the agency, US officials believe that that Taliban and Al Qaeda sympathisers have launched attacks on Afghanistan from Pakistan’s tribal areas and say that the issue is of major concern to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his advisers.

Mr Armitage said, “I personally believe President Musharraf is intent on being supportive of President Karzai. The ability of the government of Pakistan, particularly the military of Pakistan, to operate in the federally administered tribal areas is significantly inhibited.”

He added, “I personally believe that President Musharraf is genuine when he assists us in the tribal areas and he has from inside of the border but I do not think that affection for working with us extends up and down the rank and file of the Pakistani security community.”

AFP adds: Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan rejected the criticism. “The president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. All security agencies are answerable to him and they follow his direction faithfully. Our government is working as one unit,” he said. Mr Khan denied Afghan charges that Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters were regrouping in and orchestrating attacks from FATA. He took a swipe at Afghanistan for not doing enough to cooperate in trilateral efforts also engaging the 10,000 US troops hunting the extremists. “There’s a need to improve coordination between the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan, especially in the area of intelligence sharing. A greater effort needs to be mounted on the Afghan side,” Mr Khan said. “We feel that all sides should continue to work closely to achieve common objectives.”

Earlier, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Tuesday Mr Armitage would press Gen Musharraf on military cooperation in blocking the Taliban during their weekend meeting.

Shaukat Piracha adds from Islamabad: Mr Armitage and the top US envoy to South Asia Christina Rocca are to hold talks with Gen Musharraf in Islamabad on October 4. Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage will visit Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom from October 1-8. Sources told Daily Times that the talks would focus on Pakistani troops to Iraq, the war against terrorism, the situation in Afghanistan, and the stalled peace process between India and Pakistan.

“Mr Jamali will assist Gen Musharraf at the talks, but Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar are not available,” sources added.

Sources said Mr Armitage would leave for Tajikistan after meeting with Gen Musharraf, but Ms Rocca is likely to prolong her stay in Pakistan.

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