US demand action within "days and weeks"

In a rather bitter-sweet message, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked Islamabad on Friday to start dismantling militant safe havens along the Afghan border within “days and weeks”, but said the United States respected Pakistan’s sovereignty and would not undertake any unilateral action against terrorists on its soil. 

During an extensive interaction with media personnel and members of civil society, she urged Pakistan to do more to nudge and push the Taliban towards the negotiating table. Pakistan-US ties were important and they needed each other, she added.

According to news agencies, Ms Clinton admitted that the United States had held one exploratory meeting with the Haqqani network which, an official said, had taken place before a series of recent attacks on US interests in Kabul.

“In fact, the Pakistani government officials helped to facilitate such a meeting,” she told a roundtable with TV journalists.

Answering a question about allegations by the outgoing American military chief that a Pakistani intelligence agency was involved in attacks on the US embassy in Kabul through militants of the Haqqani network, she categorically said: “We have no evidence of that.”

Addressing a joint press conference with Ms Clinton after a meeting, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said militant safe havens existed on both sides of the Afghan border. Pakistan, she said, was committed to eliminating terrorism and encouraging the reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

Ms Clinton urged Pakistan to play the role of a peacemaker in Afghanistan by encouraging the Taliban to enter into negotiations in good faith. “We think that Pakistan for a variety of reasons has the capacity to encourage, to push, to squeeze … terrorists, including the Haqqanis and Afghan Taliban, to be willing to engage in the peace process,” she said.

U-turn?: Convince Taliban to talk, US asks Pakistan

After months of belligerent rhetoric, the US is now willing to hold talks with the Afghan Taliban – and is looking at Pakistan as its go-between.

Speaking at a flurry of events on Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she had asked Pakistan to “encourage the Taliban to enter negotiations in good faith.” These talks would also involve the Haqqani network, a move which speaks volumes for the US’ urgency to end the decade-old conflict in the war-torn country.

In apparent diplomatic double-speak, however, Clinton also insisted that Pakistan take action within “days and weeks” to dismantle alleged terrorist sanctuaries on its soil, warning that a failure to do so would have devastating consequences for all concerned. “We should be able to agree that for far too long extremists have been able to operate here in Pakistan and from Pakistani soil,” she said.

“It’s like that old story: you can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbours … eventually those snakes are going to turn on whoever has them in the backyard,” Clinton added.

Clinton’s requests for Pakistan to act as an intermediary were the first time the US had formally and publicly called for such action, and appear to reflect the Obama administration’s strong belief that Pakistan still holds significant sway over the Afghan Taliban. The secretary of state urged Pakistan to use its contacts with the “Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqanis and the other terrorist groups and try to get them into the peace process, but if that fails, to prevent them from committing more violence.”

Clinton has outlined three conditions for talks with the militants: they must lay down arms, abide by the Afghan constitution and respect basic human rights, especially women’s rights. On this latter point Clinton spoke at some length.

Despite reapplying pressure on Pakistan over alleged safe havens in North Waziristan, Clinton admitted, as had been earlier reported, that the US had already held a meeting with representatives from the Haqqani network, which was arranged through the ISI. “It was Pakistan who delivered the contact person,” Clinton said.

Later Clinton interacted with Pakistani civil society leaders at a townhall style forum where she was confronted with tough questions. One of the female participants likened the United States to an unsatisfied mother-in-law.