Musharraf pulls out of anti-terror meet
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Wednesday cancelled a trip to Afghanistan to attend a key anti-terrorism meeting, citing a previous engagement amid heightened security concerns.
By Agencies |
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Wednesday cancelled a trip to Afghanistan to attend a key anti-terrorism meeting, citing a previous engagement amid heightened security concerns.
On the eve of a high-profile meeting of leaders from volatile regions bordering the two countries, Musharraf telephoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai to tell him that he would not attend, the foreign ministry said.
The Pakistani president would send Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in his place, it said in a statement.
"The president mentioned to President Karzai that because of his engagements in the capital, he could not personally attend," it said, adding that Musharraf had assured Karzai of Pakistan's full support.
Musharraf's no-show comes despite the fact the council, or jirga, was brokered by US President George W. Bush in a meeting with the Afghan and Pakistani leaders in Washington last September.
The Afghan presidency expressed annoyance at the pullout, saying Musharraf had agreed to the meeting when it was proposed by Karzai during the Washington summit.
"Based on agreements made earlier, we expected President Musharraf in Kabul to attend and address the representatives of Afghanistan and Pakistan at this important and historic event," Karzai's spokesman Homayun Hamidzada told AFP.
Using language which suggested Karzai sought to persuade Musharraf to change his mind, the spokesman said Karzai had emphasised the importance of the Pakistani president's "personal attendance in the jirga," during their phone conversation.
Nonetheless, Afghanistan is "doing everything we can to bring peace, stability and prosperity to both Afghanistan and Pakistan," he added.
On the eve of a high-profile meeting of leaders from volatile regions bordering the two countries, Musharraf telephoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai to tell him that he would not attend, the foreign ministry said.
The Pakistani president would send Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in his place, it said in a statement.
"The president mentioned to President Karzai that because of his engagements in the capital, he could not personally attend," it said, adding that Musharraf had assured Karzai of Pakistan's full support.
Musharraf's no-show comes despite the fact the council, or jirga, was brokered by US President George W. Bush in a meeting with the Afghan and Pakistani leaders in Washington last September.
The Afghan presidency expressed annoyance at the pullout, saying Musharraf had agreed to the meeting when it was proposed by Karzai during the Washington summit.
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"Based on agreements made earlier, we expected President Musharraf in Kabul to attend and address the representatives of Afghanistan and Pakistan at this important and historic event," Karzai's spokesman Homayun Hamidzada told AFP.
Using language which suggested Karzai sought to persuade Musharraf to change his mind, the spokesman said Karzai had emphasised the importance of the Pakistani president's "personal attendance in the jirga," during their phone conversation.
Nonetheless, Afghanistan is "doing everything we can to bring peace, stability and prosperity to both Afghanistan and Pakistan," he added.
Despite the official explanation for Musharraf's withdrawal, a senior government source told media that security concerns were behind the decision.
"The decision has been taken due to security concerns for the president," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity and declining to elaborate.
The military leader has survived a number of assassination attempts. The jirga, which aims to bring together tribal leaders from the troubled mountain region bordering the two countries - believed to be a haven for Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives - has been billed as an opportunity for them to thrash out an anti-terrorism strategy.
However leaders of two of Pakistan's seven tribal regions, restive North and South Waziristan, have already announced a boycott.
Musharraf's absence was calculated to send a strong message to his US allies, according to a Pakistani analyst.
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"This sudden development only goes to show how things have got worse between the allies in the war on terror," defence analyst Talat Masood said. "Musharraf is also trying to convey a very strong message that he is very unhappy with what the Bush administration and other presidential hopefuls have been saying about the role of Pakistan," he said.
"This should win him domestic support." Masood said the boycott by elders from North and South Waziristan "could also be a contributing factor and give a clear indication that the results would not be encouraging".
Musharraf has been under intensifying pressure to tackle militancy in the tribal regions, and has been angered by accusations from Washington that Pakistan has become a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and a regrouped Taliban.
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US officials and presidential candidates have threatened unilateral airstrikes on Pakistani territory to root them out, prompting a stern response from Musharraf. Karzai has also repeatedly stated that much of the violence that has dogged Afghanistan has been planned and carried out by Taliban militia based on the Pakistan side of their shared border.
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The jirga, due to be attended by around 700 tribal representatives, had been organised amid great fanfare and hopes that the elders would be able to use their influence to quell escalating terrorist activities. Violence in Pakistan's tribal region has spiked since the recent collapse of a peace deal between pro-Taliban militants and government forces deployed there since 2002 to hunt down Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Pakistan's military said Wednesday it killed at least 12 militants in a major raid near the border using helicopter gunships and mortars in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.
A local intelligence officer said the hideout was used by Al-Qaeda operatives.
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