AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Girls hold placards while standing on a U.S. flag during an anti-U.S. rally in Hyderabad September 25, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Akram ShahidBy Michael Georgy
ISLAMABAD | Mon Sep 26, 2011 5:05am EDT
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's military will not take action against the Haqqani militant group that Washington blames for an attack against its embassy in Kabul, despite mounting American pressure to do so, a Pakistani newspaper reported on Monday.
Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani held a "special" meeting with his top commanders on Sunday to discuss the security situation, the military said, after a week of tension and tit-for-tat rhetoric with the United States.
The United States accuses the Pakistani army's powerful spy agency of supporting the Haqqani militant group, a chief driver of violence in eastern Afghanistan and a serious obstacle to President Barack Obama's plan to wind down a long war.
In stunningly blunt comments last week, the top U.S. military officer called the Haqqani network a "veritable arm" of the ISI intelligence agency and accused Pakistan of providing support for the September 13 attack on its Kabul mission.
The Pakistani commanders agreed to resist U.S. demands for an army offensive in North Waziristan, where the United States believes the Haqqani network is based, the Express Tribune reported, quoting an unnamed military official.
"We have already conveyed to the U.S. that Pakistan cannot go beyond what it has already done," the official told the newspaper on condition of anonymity.
The unilateral American special forces raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani town in May heavily strained ties between Washington and Islamabad.
Both sides appeared to be working to repair the damage and then a war of words erupted after the Kabul attack.
Underscoring the magnitude of tensions, Pakistani stocks fell over 2.7 percent on Monday, in part due to concerns about the worsening relations between Islamabad and Washington.
The United States has long pressed ally Pakistan to pursue the Haqqani network, one of the most lethal Taliban-allied Afghan groups fighting Western forces in Afghanistan.
"CONFUSION AND POLICY DISARRAY"
Pakistan denies it supports the Haqqanis and says its army is too stretched battling its own Taliban insurgency to go after the network, which has an estimated 10,000-15,000 fighters.
Analysts say the Pakistani military could suffer heavy casualties if it were to attempt a crackdown on the group, which has developed extensive alliances with other militant organizations in the region, and has mastered the rugged mountain terrain.
Pakistan says Washington overlooks the sacrifices it has made since joining the U.S. "war on terror" launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Pakistani officials say about 5,000 soldiers and security forces have been killed fighting militants and 30,000 civilians have died.
Widespread anti-American sentiment in Pakistan also makes it difficult for the army to cave in to U.S. pressure.
"Are we responsible for the attacks that Taliban do throughout the country. It was a big mistake of our rulers that they supported Americans," said Khan Alam Marwat, 40, a car salesman in Islamabad.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, who heads the Haqqani network, says the group no longer needs sanctuaries in Pakistan, and it feels safe operating in Afghanistan.
Two weeks ago, militants launched an assault against the U.S. embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul. U.S. officials blamed those attacks on the Haqqani network.
U.S. officials said there was intelligence, including intercepted phone calls, suggesting those attackers were in communication with people connected to Pakistan's principal spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate.
The Pakistan government and army have rejected the U.S. allegations. On Saturday, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani rejected the charges as a sign of American "confusion and policy disarray."
(Additional reporting by Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan and Sahar Ahmed in Karachi; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by John Chalmers)
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