U.S. to Pressure Pakistan On Support for Taliban

U.S. to Pressure Pakistan On Support for Taliban

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
September 12, 2001

The United States is placing pressure on the military government of Pakistan to cooperate in its efforts to find and punish the perpetrators of Tuesday's catastrophic terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

Washington's concern stems from Pakistan's support for the Taliban in Afghanistan, which has provided a safe haven to terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organization since 1996, and is a further hint that U.S. authorities believe bin Laden is behind the attacks.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage summoned Pakistan's ambassador, Maleeha Lodhi, to the State Department Wednesday, along with Mahmud Ahmed, the chief of Pakistan's intelligence services, who was in Washington for other meetings with U.S. officials. On Thursday, the new U.S. ambassador to Islamabad, Wendy Chamberlin, is expected to meet with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to communicate Washington's message. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the meetings were "essentially to share views" on the terrorist situation, but he did not dispute a reporter's interpretation that the meetings were meant to lean on Pakistan over its support for the Taliban.

"We have not made a determination yet as to who is responsible for yesterday's attack," Powell told reporters.

"But we thought as we gathered information and as we look at possible sources of the attack, it would be useful to point out to the Pakistani leadership at every level that we are looking for and expecting their fullest cooperation and their help and support as we conduct this investigation."

U.S. diplomats want to see "how helpful they (the Pakistanis) might be if we find a basis to act upon that information", Powell added.

Pakistan has helped U.S. counter-terrorism efforts before, most notably in helping arrest and extradite a Pakistani gunman who shot and killed several employees of the Central Intelligence Agency outside CIA headquarters.

But Islamabad has angered Washington by being one of only two countries that recognize the Taliban as rulers of Afghanistan. There are also reports that bin Laden maintains training camps in Pakistan. And India, which enjoys rapidly improving relations with the United States, has pressed for Pakistan to be placed on the U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism because of its support for militants in Kashmir.

There were also calls in the U.S. Congress for the Bush administration to pressure Islamabad for help in determining who was responsible for Tuesday's catastrophe.

"The word should go out to those who pretend that they wish to be our friends that they're going to have to make some very difficult choices," said Senator Joseph Biden, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

"Pakistan in particular is going to have to make a very difficult choice very soon, for we are counting," Biden said. "We are counting and we are looking. Words will not be sufficient, actions will be demanded."

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