News
Monday, March 15, 2010
Army in Pakistan not interested in politics: Holbrooke
* US envoy says Pakistan’s political scenario much better compared to previous year, despite complications
LAHORE: US special envoy Richard Holbrooke has said the Pakistan Army is no longer interested in Pakistan’s complicated politics, reported a private TV channel on Sunday.
“Al Qaeda is under great pressure after losing key members of its leadership,” said Holbrooke, and described the arrest of Mullah Baradar – al Qaeda’s military leader in Afghanistan – as a significant development. He said al Qaeda’s top 10 to 12 key leaders had been eliminated over the last year.
The envoy said Pakistan had moved around 100,000 of its troops from it’s the eastern borders to the western borders.
In an interview with CNN, Holbrooke said the loss of frontline leadership had put al Qaeda under tremendous pressure.
Holbrooke acknowledged the role of the Pakistan Army in the ongoing battle against the Taliban, and said Pakistan had taken effective action against the Taliban in Swat and South Waziristan.
The envoy also said the US was working in close coordination with the political leadership of Pakistan and its army in the war on terror. He said the improvement in Pak-US cooperative relations was a “very big step forward”, and praised Islamabad’s successes against local and Afghan Taliban.
“In the last 13 months, since this administration took over [in the US], there has been a significant improvement across the board in the relationship between our government and the government of Pakistan,” he told CNN’s GPS programme, which was aired on Sunday.
The American diplomat believes distinction between Afghan and Pakistan Taliban, if it ever existed, is eroding. “It has allowed Pakistan to take a much more forward-leaning position … there was above all a backlash from the excesses of the Taliban in Swat, South Waziristan, and their attacks in places like Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Karachi have all contributed to an evolution.”
Citing the top American officials’ meetings with the Pakistani leadership, he said, “We feel clearly that we are working more closely together with them. And I think that is a very big step forward.”
Questioned if Pakistan would launch an operation against the Afghan Taliban suspected to be hiding in North Waziristan, Holbrooke said it was up to the Pakistanis to decide on the basis of their assessment of the situation. He said while Pakistan’s political scenario was going through complications, the overall situation was much better now compared to the previous year. daily times monitor/app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk