Pakistani intelligence backing al Qaeda: US admiral

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DAWN.COM

There are 'indications' that elements of Pakistan's intelligence service lend support to Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, the top US military officer said on Friday.
'There are certainly indications that's the case,' Admiral Mike Mullen told CNN when asked if elements of Pakistan's spy agency were backing the al Qaeda network and its Taliban allies.
'Fundamentally that's one of the things that have to change.' Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been widely accused of refusing to sever its links with Islamist groups that date back to the Cold War and the US-backed fight against Soviet forces in Afghanistan.
After the September 11 attacks, Washington demanded that Islamabad ensure the ISI cut its ties with the Taliban and al Qaeda, but there have been persistent reports that some members of the spy service remain in league with the extremist networks.
Mullen's comments came as President Barack Obama unveiled a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan, in which he called for Islamabad to crack down on insurgents operating within Pakistan's borders.
The admiral earlier told reporters that Pakistan's role posed a major challenge to the war in Afghanistan, although he acknowledged that Islamabad had made some progress in fighting insurgents on its border with Afghanistan.
'They've moved dramatically over the last seven, eight months with their Frontier Corps who's had a big impact,' Mullen said, referring to Pakistan's troops on the western border.
'It's dramatically improved' compared to two years ago, he added. 'They've done pretty well, they've done a lot.' Larger numbers of Pakistan regular army troops were also now operating in the border area in recent months, he said.
Mullen expressed hope for more progress but said there was a 'trust deficit' between Pakistan and the United States that he and other government officials were working to overcome.
A crucial part of the new strategy for Afghanistan was a 'regional approach' that would try to reduce tension on Pakistan's eastern border with India over the disputed territory of Kashmir to free up Pakistani troops to counter militants on the western border, Mullen said.
'One of the reasons the regional approach is so important is to de-tension the Kashmir border so that the Pakistani military is not completely tied up on that border, and they are able to train, equip and fight on the western border in the counter-insurgency effort,' he said.
Pakistan sees itself as fighting a 'two-front' war, in Kashmir and against insurgents in the northwest, he added.
Asked about what leverage the United States had over Pakistan, Mullen suggested that aid Washington was offering might be linked to progress in fighting insurgents.
'There are linkages between support, aid, whatever the case might be, that I think we need to evaluate in terms of that assistance,' he said.

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