Pak, US close to agreement on neutralising militant groups

Islamabad, Sep 27 (PTI) Pakistan and the U.S. are close
to reaching "a wider understanding" on how to neutralise
militant groups and leaders like Lashker-e Toiba founder Hafiz
Muhammad Saeed and Jaiseh-e Mohammed's Maulana Masood Azhar
who had been protected by the "secret establishment" here.

Diplomats and politicians of the two countries held
discussions on this and other highly sensitive issues during
President Asif Ali Zardari's visit to New York to participate
in the U.N. General Assembly.

The two sides "are close to reaching a wider
understanding" on these issues, including "the key question of
how to neutralise the militant jihadi outfits hitherto
protected by the secret establishment in Pakistan", officials
close to the negotiations were quoted as saying by 'The News'.

The two countries held "detailed discussions on the
mechanics of what needs to be done in this regard", they said.

Talks between Pakistani officials and President George W.
Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. military
generals were focussed on how "jihadi lashkars thriving in
Pakistan with their leaders, including ex-Lashker-e-Taiba
chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, Jaish-e Mohammad leader Maulana
Azhar Masood and their likes, could be put out of business",
the report said.

The Pakistani side understands US concerns but "since the
P.P.P. leadership is new and is still trying to get full
civilian control over the secret agencies and their sponsors
in the civil and military establishment, a perception of not
being able to deliver on key issues has developed", insiders
said.

Though Zardari is in New York for the U.N. General
Assembly, his talks with U.S. officials have assumed greater
significance as there appears to be "serious negotiations
going on to defuse tensions on the Pakistan-Afghan border and
to remove the U.S. apprehensions about Pakistan's sincerity in
dealing with the jihadis," the paper said.

The report quoted a diplomatic source as claiming that
Zardari's meetings with Bush and Rice had "largely released
the pressure on Pakistan because the White House had been
convinced that given time and space, the P.P.P. leadership
will deliver on matters where General (Pervez) Musharraf and
his team double-crossed the Americans."

Another source said the U.S. had been insisting on
offering Pakistani military and paramilitary training to fight
al-Qaeda and Pakistan had agreed to go along in the months to
come.

"Memos have been sent by White House to all departments
that Pakistanis are to be helped," a source claimed, saying
the first manifestation of this change in U.S. attitude was a
direct offer by World Bank to Zardari to provide almost USD
2.3 billion as immediate help to ease economic crisis here.

This was in sharp contrast to the recent meeting between
the World Bank chief and Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, in which
the former had nothing to offer but criticism,the source said.

Similarly, the sources said, pressure on Islamabad from
New Delhi and Kabul had been "largely released because of
Zardari's meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
President Hamid Karzai".

The pact on opening trade routes with India will help
boost Pakistan's trade and business as the business community
had been demanding for years that land trade routes should be
opened, giving both importers and exporters a cost advantage
in greatly reduced shipping costs, the report said, adding
over 2,000 items will now be bought and sold via land routes.

Pakistani sources admitted that despite sacrifices and
efforts made to support the U.S. war on terror, the perception
that Pakistan was a problem and not a solution was widespread
in America and this was a failure of Pakistani lobbyists.

Most of these suspicions centre around the role of the
'secret' Pakistani establishment, which supported a large part
of the 'jihadi' structures despite telling the Americans that
it was fighting terrorists, the report said. PTI RHL
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