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Musharraf continues to support terrorism: Report
New York, Sept 21: Ahead of President Pervez Musharraf`s US visit, an influential American daily today said Pakistan continues to provide Kashmiri terrorists with sanctuary and access to areas bordering India and considers violence a `legitimate toll` to achieve its goal of wresting control of Jammu and Kashmir.
New York, Sept 21: Ahead of President Pervez Musharraf's US visit, an influential American daily today said Pakistan continues to provide Kashmiri terrorists with sanctuary and access to areas bordering India and considers violence a "legitimate toll" to achieve its goal of wresting control of Jammu and Kashmir.
Stressing that Pakistan's behaviour has fallen well short of what Americans are entitled to expect from an ally in war on terrorism, the daily said though Islamabad cooperated in the arrest of some leaders of al-Qaeda terror network, it has never adequately sealed the Afghan border.
"That made it possible for key Qaeda fugitives to escape and now allows Pakistani recruits to join a reviving Taliban," it said in an editorial.
The paper noted that after the Cold War, Washington grew increasingly unhappy over Pakistan's strong support for the Taliban, links with Kashmiri terrorists and covert development of nuclear weapons.
Stating that Pakistan's help in Afghanistan, "though less than ideal," is still needed, the paper said US is hoping Musharraf would contribute peacekeeping troops to Iraq. "If that can be done under a United Nations flag, it makes sense. Otherwise, America must look for ways to reduce its dependence on Musharraf. Fighting terrorism effectively requires allies untainted by terror," it stressed.
The daily also said Pakistan has behaved "extremely irresponsibly" with respect to nuclear weapons.
"American experts believe it may have helped both North Korea and Iran develop nuclear weapons technology. Pakistan's own nuclear weapons are thought to be under Musharraf's control, but in a country whose history has been scarred by repeated military coups, that is not totally reassuring. Democracy remains a distant mirage," it added.
By abruptly switching sides in the wake of September 11, 2001 attacks on the united states and letting Washington use Pakistani bases to fight the Taliban, Musharraf managed, in weeks, to lift Pakistan's status in Washington from pariah to strategic partner, the editorial said. "Yet beneath the surface of Washington's new closeness with Islamabad, mutual suspicions continue to fester. Neither country has fully delivered what the other expected, though America's shortcomings and Pakistan's are scarcely equivalent," it said. Bureau Report
"That made it possible for key Qaeda fugitives to escape and now allows Pakistani recruits to join a reviving Taliban," it said in an editorial.
The paper noted that after the Cold War, Washington grew increasingly unhappy over Pakistan's strong support for the Taliban, links with Kashmiri terrorists and covert development of nuclear weapons.
Stating that Pakistan's help in Afghanistan, "though less than ideal," is still needed, the paper said US is hoping Musharraf would contribute peacekeeping troops to Iraq. "If that can be done under a United Nations flag, it makes sense. Otherwise, America must look for ways to reduce its dependence on Musharraf. Fighting terrorism effectively requires allies untainted by terror," it stressed.
The daily also said Pakistan has behaved "extremely irresponsibly" with respect to nuclear weapons.
"American experts believe it may have helped both North Korea and Iran develop nuclear weapons technology. Pakistan's own nuclear weapons are thought to be under Musharraf's control, but in a country whose history has been scarred by repeated military coups, that is not totally reassuring. Democracy remains a distant mirage," it added.
By abruptly switching sides in the wake of September 11, 2001 attacks on the united states and letting Washington use Pakistani bases to fight the Taliban, Musharraf managed, in weeks, to lift Pakistan's status in Washington from pariah to strategic partner, the editorial said. "Yet beneath the surface of Washington's new closeness with Islamabad, mutual suspicions continue to fester. Neither country has fully delivered what the other expected, though America's shortcomings and Pakistan's are scarcely equivalent," it said. Bureau Report