‘Pak boycott has implications for Bonn moot’

Pakistan’s decision of boycotting the Bonn Conference will have serious implications, as the moot is being held to push forward the ongoing reconciliation process between Kabul and the Taliban, which is bound to face serious hiccups without active participation by Islamabad.
The US and its allies, including Germany, are making hectic efforts to persuade Pakistan to reverse its decision of boycotting the conference, but Islamabad is adamant on its stance following the NATO strike in Mohmand Agency.
Some officials in the Foreign Office, including Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, reportedly favoured going to Bonn as it could provide Pakistan with an opportunity to highlight its case on NATO airstrike, not because they feared negative perception of Islamabad in case of non-participation. Some analysts also spoke in favour of attending the moot. “By boycotting the Bonn Conference, Islamabad is definitely denying an opportunity to itself to portray its views on the Afghan peace process. In my view, since Pakistan is a major player, it should have attended the moot and presented its views forcefully,” Lt General (r) Talat Masood said.
He said boycott might be a message that Islamabad was angry at NATO strike, but it could have been sent in a stronger way by participation. Some senior Foreign Ministry officials even suggested a low-level participation in the moot and said the ambassador in Berlin should attend, however, the proposal was rejected by top government authorities.
Pakistan has already signed the declaration of Bonn Conference and not attending the moot does not mean withdrawing from the declaration. The Bonn Conference, which is being held to push forward the Afghanistan reconciliation process, is deemed to fail without the presence of Pakistan, NATO members feel.
Some observers also believe that Pakistan’s absence in Bonn would deal a serious blow to the conference. They feel that Pakistan has a critical role in the Afghan peace process and if it is not at any talks related to the process, there is no use of holding such negotiations. “The boycott of Bonn Conference by Pakistan would have negative implications on the overall Afghan peace process, as Islamabad is a major player vis-à-vis Afghan peace,” said noted analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi.
“The absence of Pakistan would badly affect the Bonn moot. The conference would, however, be held even if Pakistan does not attend, as Islamabad could later be briefed on the decisions of the moot,” he said. The announcement about the absence of Pakistan at Bonn has also raised concerns in the western capitals about the active role of Islamabad for the success of Afghan reconciliation process in the coming months. They feel that Islamabad is no more interested in playing the role of facilitator between Kabul and the Taliban after the NATO airstrike and their plan was to allay Islamabad’s complaints in negotiations at the Bonn Conference and also on the sidelines of the moot.
Army releases video of NATO strike aftermath

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army released footage on Wednesday it said showed the remains of two bombed mountaintop outposts on the Afghan border that were hit in the deadly NATO raid that killed 24 soldiers. The footage showed aerial views of the two destroyed outposts, Boulder and Volcano, and close-ups of the site of an attack that the army described as a “deliberate act of aggression” by NATO helicopters and a war plane. White smoke could be seen spiralling from large swathes of blackened ground either side of the remote rocky mountaintop where both posts were situated. Army spokesman Brigadier Syed Azmat Ali said the smoke was a result of the nearly two-hour incident in the early hours of Saturday. The footage was filmed on Sunday morning, he said. It was not clear why it had taken until Wednesday to release the video. Scattered sandbags, tarpaulin sheets and corrugated iron sheets can be seen lying around one of the abandoned posts, and Pakistani soldiers wander through the wreckage, one taking photographs. A single white flag flies from a branch stuck in the soil. In another shot a stone hut can be seen, metres from the remains of a rock wall, next to which magazines of ammunition have been abandoned. AFP