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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

US asks Pakistan to live up to ‘war on terror’ commitment

* Negroponte says Pakistan must bring FATA under control
* US doesn’t want to see Tribal Areas being used as platform for terrorism

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Monday that it wanted Pakistan to live up to its commitment of urgently bringing security under control in the Tribal Areas, allegedly used as a safe haven by Al Qaeda and Taliban militants. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said Islamabad recognised that bringing the mountainous and unpoliced Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) under control was an urgent priority for Pakistan’s own sake. “But let me be clear: we will not be satisfied until all the violent extremism emanating from FATA is brought under control,” he said at a forum of the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy. “It is unacceptable for extremists to use those areas to plan, train for, or execute attacks against Afghanistan, Pakistan, or the wider world,” he said. “Their ongoing ability to do so is a barrier to lasting security, both regionally and internationally.” Negroponte said Pakistan’s government “must bring the Frontier area under its control as quickly as possible,” pointing out that Washington was prepared to provide “appropriate assistance” in order to achieve that objective. Platform for terrorism: Negroponte warned that Americans “don’t want to see the Tribal Areas being used as a platform for plotting and executing international terrorist activity against the West. “So any kind of agreement or understanding which might be negotiated, we would have to look at in the light of those imperatives for US policies,” he said. Negroponte said the US expected Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership to be “strong partners against violent extremists in Pakistan’s frontier areas”. To help extend the Pakistani government’s authority into those regions, he said, the US was implementing a multi-year programme to expand, equip, and train local security forces in the Tribal Areas. A successful strategy in FATA, he said, must include not only the possibility of military operations but also a serious and sustained economic development programme and improvements in education and governance. afp

Courtesy Daily Times

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