Revealing the gravity of the differences between Pakistan and the United States, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has disclosed that cooperation between the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had broken down and even he had not spoken or met any US official since the raid on al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden [on May 2].
In an exclusive interview to TIME magazine, Gilani also warned that continuing to work with the US could imperil his government unless Washington took drastic steps to restore trust and win over 180 million Pakistanis. He said that Washington and Islamabad differed on how to fight terror and forge an exit strategy in Afghanistan. But, for the first time publicly, he offered to support US drone strikes inside Pakistan, provided that Pakistan was in on the decision making.
Gilani warned that his government was accountable to an electorate increasingly hostile to the US. “I am not an army dictator, I’m a public figure,” the PM told TIME. “If public opinion is against you [referring to the US] then I cannot resist it to stand with you. I have to go with public opinion.” Speaking of the Abbottabad raid, Gilani said, “Naturally, we wondered why they went unilaterally. If we’re fighting a war together, we have to work together. Even if there was credible and actionable information, then we should have done it jointly.”
The PM said that he was first alerted to the raid through a 2am call from Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani. Gilani then called his foreign secretary and asked him to demand an explanation from US Ambassador Cameron Munter. “I have not met or spoken to [US officials] since,” he complained. “Whatever information we are receiving is from the media. Today, we have said that we want them to talk to us directly.” Gilani said that Osama bin Laden may have been found and killed in Pakistan, but Pakistan wasn’t the only place where the al Qaeda leader had traveled after fleeing Afghanistan in late 2001.
According to TIME, Gilani said he wasn’t even sure that bin Laden had been hiding in the Abbottabad compound for the past six years. The claim, Gilani said, “is not authentic,” adding that “terrorists don’t normally stay in one place for more than 15 days.” He accepted that there was an “intelligence failure,” but insisted that it wasn’t only Pakistan’s. “He was not confined to Pakistan alone,” the PM said. “He was everywhere.” And ultimately, he added, bin Laden was not his responsibility. “If they are concerned about bin Laden, they should be,” Gilani said of the US.
“That’s their issue. Bin Laden is not my citizen. When my citizens are being martyred, I’m responsible for that.” He pushed back against suggestions that his government had caved into the military by allowing it to hold an internal inquiry into the bin Laden affair, rather than enforce civilian oversight. “We are all on the same page,” Gilani said. The report said that the deepening rift between Washington and Islamabad also casts a shadow over Afghanistan, where their cooperation is vital to enable a US exit strategy.
Gilani emphasized his strengthening links with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the many bonds that unite the two peoples. “In our discussions with Karzai, we came to an agreement that terrorists are our common enemy. We both have suffered; we both have made sacrifices. So we have decided to unite to fight against them.” Despite his rapprochement with Karzai, the report said that Gilani acknowledged his abiding “difference of opinion” with Washington on how best to fight militancy. “From day one, my policy has been the three Ds: dialogue, development and deterrence,” he said.
“The first time I shared my strategy with President Bush, it sounded Greek to him. Today, the whole world is toeing the same line.” He criticized the US surge in Afghanistan: “Military solutions cannot be permanent solutions. There has to be a political solution, some kind of exit strategy.” Gilani told TIME he favored a political solution to the conflict next door, led by the Afghans. “It should be owned by them and be on their own initiative,” the PM said, adding that he saw Pakistan’s role as that of a facilitator.
The PM rejected the suggestion that Pakistan was drawing closer to China to compensate for any cooling of US support. “We already have a stronger relationship with China,” he said. “It’s time-tested.” At the same time, he didn’t believe Washington was really going to cut aid. If it did, he said, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Gilani, however, feared that a deteriorating relationship with Washington could hurt Pakistan’s fight against domestic militancy. “When there’s a trust deficit,” he said, “there will be problems in intelligence sharing.” Asked about the reason for this trust deficit, Gilani replied tersely, “It’s not from our side. Ask them.”
“Traditionally, the ISI worked with the CIA,” he said. Now, “what we’re seeing is that there’s no level of trust.” Relations have deteriorated sharply since last November when the local CIA station chief was outed, allegedly by the ISI — a charge the agency denies. They hit a low point amid the standoff over Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who killed two Pakistani men in a January incident and then claimed diplomatic immunity. Further strain has been caused by the CIA’s covert drone strikes against suspected militants in the tribal areas along the Afghan border.
Gilani says the drone war weakens his efforts to rally public support for the fight against extremism. “No one can win a war without the support of the public,” he said. “I say that this is my war, but when drones strike, the people ask, ‘Whose war is this, then?’ “Still, Gilani said — for the first time, publicly — that he was open to renegotiating the terms of the CIA’s programme. “A drone strategy can be worked out,” Gilani said. “If drone strikes are effective, then we should evolve a common strategy to win over public opinion. Our position is that the technology should be transferred to us.”
Still, he added, he would countenance a policy in which the CIA would continue to operate the drones “where they are used under our supervision.” The report said that despite his constant references to the trust-deficit, Gilani hoped to see a restoration of closer ties with Washington, but put the onus on Washington to gain the support of Pakistani citizens. “They should do something for the public which will persuade them that the US is supportive of Pakistan,” he said. As an example, he enviously cited the 2008 US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement. “It’s our public that’s dying, but the deal is happening there,” he said. “You claim there’s a strategic partnership? That we’re best friends?”
Frayed Pakistan-US relations nearing collapse?
