[A-List] US imperialism: Pakistan

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

US challenges Pakistani retreat from offensive
STEPHEN GRAHAM, Kabul
The Herald, May 04 2004

A top US commander challenged Pakistan's counter-terrorism strategy near the
Afghan border and said foreign militants holed up there must be eliminated.

"There are foreign fighters in those tribal areas who will have to be killed
or captured," said Lieutenant General David Barno, commander of American
forces in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani government has offered an amnesty to foreign militants in
South Waziristan, a tribal region near the Afghan border where al Qaeda and
Taliban rebels are believed to be living.

On Saturday, the government pushed back by one week an April 30 deadline for
foreigners to surrender. Despite a threat of fresh military action, no
foreign militants have yet taken up the amnesty offer.

"It's very important that the Pakistani military continue with their
operations to go after the foreign fighters in particular, who in my view
will not be reconciled," Barno said. A two-week military operation in South
Waziristan in March left more than 120 people dead, but failed to capture
any top al Qaeda men.

Hundreds of militants escaped and officials say they have moved to caves
near the border with Afghanistan.

The bloodshed and limited success of the offensive have persuaded the
Pakistani government to opt for negotiations instead of brute force.

The Pakistani interior minister has said that all but top al Qaeda and
Taliban leaders can seek amnesties.

Barno, however, warned Pakistan that it was dealing with a terrorist network
which was "very crafty and has great ability to ultimately not give anything
up".

"We clearly still see significant elements of foreign fighters there -
Arabs, Chechens, Uzbeks . . . who are still using that area to advance their
terrorist aims."

The Afghan government, meanwhile, plans to transfer hundreds of Pakistanis
jailed for fighting with the Taliban from a notorious northern prison to
Kabul.

A spokesman for Hamid Karzai, the president, said the prisoners would be
moved to the Pul-e-Charki prison in the capital. Pakistan has called for the
release of some 500 Pakistanis being held in Shiberghan, the base of Abdul
Rashid Dostum, a northern warlord.

A spokesman for the Kabul jail, said more than 800 Taliban and al Qaeda
prisoners will be transferred within days. AP