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Zardari rebuffs Obama's call for more action against militants | Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has cold-shouldered President Barack Obama's call for more action against the
militants hiding inside the country's lawless tribal region, and has instead asked the White House to speed up the military assistance to the Pakistani Army and
more importantly 'intervene forcefully with India'. In a written response to Obama's
letter, Zardari said the government is determined to take action against Al-Qaeda
and the Taliban and other allied militant groups. Zardari, in his response, has
underlined that Pakistan's efforts against the extremists operating from its soils
would be based on its 'own time line and operational needs,' The Washington Post
reports. Zardari's 'resistive' stance was conveyed to visiting CENTCOM Chief General
David Petraeus, who was told by Pakistan's military chief General Ashfaq Kayani
that Washington should not expect 'a major offensive in North Waziristan.' Obama's
call for doing more, and Zardari's snub clearly highlights that the rift between
Islamabad and the White House has widened. Pakistani officials also made it clear
that while Islamabad is committed to the 'war on terror', it does not want foreign
countries to dictate terms to it. "We're committed to this war, but we'll fight
it on our terms. . . . We will prioritize targets based on our interests. We don't
want them to be dictated to us," the newspaper quoted a Pakistani intelligence
official, as saying. "The Pakistani Taliban is the clear and present danger. They
are what matters most. Once we are done with them, we will go after the Haqqani
network," he added, on conditions of anonymity. The remarks comes days after the
Obama administration urged Pakistan to take on the Haqqani network, a long time
'asset' of Pakistan's spy agency (ISI) which uses the tribal area of North Waziristan
as its sanctuary. However, the US demands were snubbed almost simultaneously,
as Pakistani officials said that action against the Haqqani network is contrary
to the country's interests in Afghanistan. |
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