M A I N   N E W S

After Kayani’s warning, US says will pursue terrorists in Pakistan
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

Days after Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s warning that the US should think “ ten times” before launching any operation on Pakistani soil, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today delivered an unusually tough message to Pakistan, reiterating that the US would pursue terrorists in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Addressing a joint press conference with President Hamid Karzai at Kabul on Thursday, she declared, “ ...we are going to seek you in your safe havens whether you are on the Afghan side or on the Pakistan side.” She will be meeting Pakistani leaders on Friday after arriving in Pakistan late on Thursday evening.

The visit of the US Secretary of State takes place amid increasing militancy and Taliban-assisted attacks on the US embassy and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan. She added that terrorists posed a threat to Pakistan as well and that the Obama administration expected the Pakistani government, military and Intelligence services to “take the lead” in not only fighting insurgents based in Pakistan but also in encouraging Afghan militants to reconcile with Afghan society.

Using unusually strong language, which is sure to upset Pakistan, she said at Kabul, “ We intend to push Pakistan very hard...our message to Pakistan is very clear...we are going to be fighting, talking and building...and they can either be helping or hindering but we are not going to stop...the government and the people of Pakistan must be part of the solution...”.

Pakistan’s army, while briefing defence committees of the two houses of Parliament, meanwhile claimed that it had lost 3,097 personnel in the war against against terror and that 721 more army personnel had been permanently disabled. The total number of Pakistanis killed in the conflict exceeded 40 thousand, the committees were told.

A Member of Parliament, who attended the briefing, recalled General Kayani claiming that Pakistan spends on three soldiers what India spends on one. He was responding to criticism that a disproportionate percentage of the country’s budget was being spent by the armed forces. The General reportedly told the MPs that only 18 per cent of the budget went to the armed forces and as much as 75 per cent of which was spent on salary and rations.

Asked to explain why his ‘old friend’ Admiral Mike Mullen had stabbed Pakistan in the back, the General reportedly shot back, “ Mike did what he thought was in the interest of the United States and I am doing what I think is in Pakistan’s interest”.