Reacting to a volley of statements from top US officials accusing the Pakistan Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of having links with the Haqqani Network and “exporting” terrorism to Afghanistan, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani finally broke his silence on Friday saying the allegations were “very unfortunate and not based on fact”, adding that they would not help the two countries in the fight against terrorism.
US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen had recently accused the ISI of exporting terrorism and a “proxy war in Afghanistan” through the Taliban-linked Haqqani network.General Kayani, who was personally accused by the US officials of not taking any action on intelligence provided to him by senior American military commander General John Allen to halt an insurgent truck bomb heading for his troops in Afghanistan, described the US statements as very disturbing and harmful to ongoing efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan.
ESPECIALLY DISTURBING: “This is especially disturbing in view of a rather constructive meeting with Admiral Mullen in Spain,” General Kayani said in a statement issued here by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The army chief and other military commanders had earlier opted to stay silent over the harsh statements of the US civilian and military leadership, but with no immediate end to the accusations in sight, General Kayani finally decided to respond and condemn the American authorities for taking to task its once most trusted ally in the war on terror.
A senior security official said that before issuing his statement, General Kayani held detailed discussions with his military commanders and ISI chief Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who recently concluded a ‘reconciliatory trip’ to Washington to meet his counterpart in the Central Intelligence Agency, General David Petraeus. “General Pasha’s assessment is that the Americans are in no mood to listen to anything other than a commitment by Pakistan to launch a military operation in North Waziristan against the Haqqani network,” the official said.
It was in light of this assessment and discussions with the other military commanders that General Kayani decided to respond personally and in a strong manner to the US accusations, especially the charges leveled by Admiral Mullen, who was hitherto considered as someone sympathetic to Pakistan’s cause and close to the Pakistani army chief among. On the specific question of contacts with the Haqqanis, General Kayani said: “Admiral Mullen knows fully well which all countries are in contact with the Haqqanis. Singling out Pakistan is neither fair nor productive.”
BLAME GAME: While categorically denying the accusations of a proxy war and the ISI’s support to the Haqqanis, the army chief said the blame game in public statements should give way to a constructive and meaningful engagement for a stable and peaceful Afghanistan, an objective to which Pakistan was fully committed. A diplomatic source, requesting anonymity, said the most significant part of General Kayani’s statement was about the Haqqanis’ contacts with other states, and that those who knew the Haqqani network and what it had been up to in Afghanistan during all those years also knew well which countries had made contact with them in the past and which ones were still doing it.
“We also heard in the past that even US officials came in contact with the Haqqanis before, and it was a year and a half ago that American troops set free two important persons among the Haqqanis, Khalil Haqqani and his younger son, who were caught after a gunfight between Taliban and US troops in Afghanistan,” he said. “Khalil is the uncle of Siraj Haqqani, who is the current chief of the Haqqani network and the son of veteran Mujahideen commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, who founded this militant group,” he said.
Kayani snubs Mullen for ‘disturbing’ remarks
