Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he has received a commitment from his Pakistani counterpart, Pervez Musharraf, to establish a joint commission to promote stability along the two countries' mutual border. The Afghan government has long complained that Taliban elements have used Pakistan's tribal zone as a staging area for raids into Afghanistan. US pressure on Pakistan appears to have helped increase Islamabad's interest in addressing Taliban-related security issues.
Karzai and Musharraf agreed to expand anti-terrorist cooperation during more than two hours of talks on April 23. The occasion marked Karzai's first visit to Pakistan in nearly a year. Senior Afghan officials believe that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is hiding out in Pakistan, and that the Taliban is utilizing Pakistan as an effective safe-haven to regroup and revitalize its military capabilities. At the same time, Afghan officials indicate that they have no reliable information on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden.
"Pakistan has to address this issue of extremism and if both countries can develop a proper strategy jointly in a strong and sincere manner then we can promote stability," said Karzai. "This has to be done for the sake of Pakistan also the actions of these extremists, if they continue, will have implications in Pakistan also. Religious elements in Pakistan need to help the Afghan people rather than undermine them."
The Afghan leader said he handed Musharraf a list of top Taliban leaders believed to be in Pakistan, urging their arrest because of "criminal" activity in Afghanistan. "We have given the names of some top Taliban leaders for the Pakistani authorities to take action on," Karzai told EurasiaNet. "A longer and more specific list of names of the criminals will be given soon."
Karzai said the list included two top former Taliban corps commanders, Mullah Dadullah Akhund and Maulvi Akthar Usmani, and Taliban commanders Mullah Brader and Mullah Hafiz Majeed. All four men are presently believed to be leading guerilla attacks on US and Afghan government forces in southern Afghanistan. In addition, all four have reportedly been implicated in war crimes, having allegedly ordered numerous massacres against the minority ethnic groups in northern Afghanistan during the late 1990s. "They all have the blood of the Afghan people on their hands," Karzai said.
Pakistani officials later denied that such a "wanted" list had been handed over by Karzai. Apparently, Islamabad is concerned about possible domestic and international consequences if it openly acknowledges that Taliban leaders have taken refuge in Pakistan.
Karzai said the joint commission's top priority would be to investigate how to prevent Taliban incursions into Afghanistan. In addition, Karzai indicated that the Afghan and Pakistani intelligence services would step up exchanges of information.
At a banquet in honor of Karzai's visit, Musharraf sought to assure Afghan leaders that the Pakistani government was sincere in wanting to curb Taliban raids. "The objectives of both the countries are the same. The threat and visualization of the concern is the same, therefore the strategic perception of the problem is the same," Musharraf said. However, senior Afghan officials privately indicated that they remain wary.
Karzai and Musharraf have reportedly established a close personal rapport since the September 11 terrorist attacks, but other Afghan leaders have bristled over what they perceive as growing support from Pakistan for Taliban attacks inside Afghanistan. They also complain that Pakistani officials often do not follow up on their commitments.
In this specific instance, Musharraf's ability to implement his pledge on improving border security may be hampered by a stand-off in the Pakistani legislature. The ruling Pakistan Muslim League is locked in a struggle with opposition parties made up largely of conservative Islamic parties that are critical of Musharraf's support for US military action in Afghanistan and Iraq. The religious parties are refusing to let the legislature carry out its normal business until Musharraf agrees to doff his uniform as army chief. At present Musharraf serves as both president and army chief.
The Afghan government is not alone in the belief that the Taliban continues to receive assistance from factions within Pakistan's political and security establishment. US and European diplomats in Islamabad and Kabul also believe that elements of the Pakistani intelligence service, or ISI, along with a religious alliance known as the MMA, are providing support to Taliban loyalists.
Over the past few months Afghanistan's security situation has markedly deteriorated and humanitarian aid agencies have abandoned some areas as the revamped forces of the Taliban and al Qaeda step up attacks against US and Afghan government troops in the south and east of the country. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
The two-day visit by Karzai and other top Afghan officials to Pakistan was facilitated by Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Special Envoy to Iraq and Afghanistan. In the days leading up to the visit, Khalilzad shuttled between Kabul and Islamabad, making sure that Pakistan got the message on the need to improve frontier security. Karzai's tough message to Musharraf was in part a product of quickly eroding US patience for Pakistan's ongoing, clandestine support for the Taliban.
Editor's note:
Ahmed Rashid is a journalist and the author of "Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia" and "Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia."
