Blackwater
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WASHINGTON: The United States is not considering terror tags for Pakistan and its intelligence agency ISI despite charges of their patronage of terrorist groups, American officials said on Friday, following the designation of the Pakistan-backed Haqqani network as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
"We are making absolutely no effort to begin a process to designate Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism," a Senior Administration Official told journalists in a background briefing, adding, "If anything, they have been an extremely valuable ally in countering extremism and terrorism, and we are committed to continuing and maintaining and increasing that coordination and cooperation."
The remarks came in the face of copious commentaries in Pakistan's own civil society and media about the country's slide into extremism and patronage of terrorism, unhindered and in some cases supported by the government, the military-intelligence, and the judiciary. Pakistan also brazenly cracked down on people who helped the US eliminate Osama bin Laden attracting wide censure in the US and elsewhere.
One official also reeled back the description by former US military chief Mike Mullen of the Haqqani Network as a "veritable arm" of the ISI, saying "this in no way is the consensus, unanimous view of this Administration." Weeks after a case in which the ISI was also accused of illegally funneling money to the US (in the Fai case), the official maintained that the administration's action was "targeted specifically at the Haqqani Network. It is not targeted in any way at any organ of the Pakistani Government."
The officials also clarified that there is no relationship between an FTO designation and a state sponsorship one. "There is none....there's no legal relationship between these things. In plenty of countries, we have had groups designated and it's never made any difference in terms of our deliberations regarding the bilateral relationship with that country, except of course to strengthen our resolve to work with them to deal with their extremism problem," one of the two officials who briefed said.
Reflecting the complex, tricky, and often contradictory policy under which Washington tries to deal with Pakistan despite its dalliance with terrorism, one of the officials said the administration had previewed the Haqqani designation with senior civilian and military leadership in Pakistan for several weeks and "they did not express concern about this designation." But the designation was criticized by Islamabad as soon as it was announced, with a warning from one unnamed Pakistani official that it will "negatively impact future relations with Pakistan."
But the US officials maintained they did not "foresee that this will have a negative impact on the overall relationship," and said Washington will continue to engage with Pakistan "to ensure that we are cooperating as effectively as possible to eliminate the threat posed to both US. and Pakistani interests." There was no mention of the Haqqani network attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul which killed one of its diplomats and military personnel, and which US sources had said was conducted at the behest of the Pakistani intelligence.
The US officials conceded that Washington and Islamabad have had a difficult time: in the last 18 months but things were looking up and "we expect that trajectory to continue."
Over the coming weeks, a series of bilateral senior meetings are expected to take place in the lead-up to the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, including the possible visits to Washington of Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, President Zardari, and military chief, Pervez Ashfaq Kayani, as the two sides try and put their ties back on track.
No terror tag for Pakistan, ISI: US - The Times of India
"We are making absolutely no effort to begin a process to designate Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism," a Senior Administration Official told journalists in a background briefing, adding, "If anything, they have been an extremely valuable ally in countering extremism and terrorism, and we are committed to continuing and maintaining and increasing that coordination and cooperation."
The remarks came in the face of copious commentaries in Pakistan's own civil society and media about the country's slide into extremism and patronage of terrorism, unhindered and in some cases supported by the government, the military-intelligence, and the judiciary. Pakistan also brazenly cracked down on people who helped the US eliminate Osama bin Laden attracting wide censure in the US and elsewhere.
One official also reeled back the description by former US military chief Mike Mullen of the Haqqani Network as a "veritable arm" of the ISI, saying "this in no way is the consensus, unanimous view of this Administration." Weeks after a case in which the ISI was also accused of illegally funneling money to the US (in the Fai case), the official maintained that the administration's action was "targeted specifically at the Haqqani Network. It is not targeted in any way at any organ of the Pakistani Government."
The officials also clarified that there is no relationship between an FTO designation and a state sponsorship one. "There is none....there's no legal relationship between these things. In plenty of countries, we have had groups designated and it's never made any difference in terms of our deliberations regarding the bilateral relationship with that country, except of course to strengthen our resolve to work with them to deal with their extremism problem," one of the two officials who briefed said.
Reflecting the complex, tricky, and often contradictory policy under which Washington tries to deal with Pakistan despite its dalliance with terrorism, one of the officials said the administration had previewed the Haqqani designation with senior civilian and military leadership in Pakistan for several weeks and "they did not express concern about this designation." But the designation was criticized by Islamabad as soon as it was announced, with a warning from one unnamed Pakistani official that it will "negatively impact future relations with Pakistan."
But the US officials maintained they did not "foresee that this will have a negative impact on the overall relationship," and said Washington will continue to engage with Pakistan "to ensure that we are cooperating as effectively as possible to eliminate the threat posed to both US. and Pakistani interests." There was no mention of the Haqqani network attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul which killed one of its diplomats and military personnel, and which US sources had said was conducted at the behest of the Pakistani intelligence.
The US officials conceded that Washington and Islamabad have had a difficult time: in the last 18 months but things were looking up and "we expect that trajectory to continue."
Over the coming weeks, a series of bilateral senior meetings are expected to take place in the lead-up to the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, including the possible visits to Washington of Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, President Zardari, and military chief, Pervez Ashfaq Kayani, as the two sides try and put their ties back on track.
No terror tag for Pakistan, ISI: US - The Times of India
