Has strong reservations about negotiation

Islamabad, March 30:

Pakistan’s new premier has vowed to tackle Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, but the United States will remain nervous about the commitment of this frontline state in the “war on terror”, analysts say.

With the power of stalwart US ally President Pervez Musharraf eroding fast, Washington sent two special envoys to Islamabad last week in a bid to woo new Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his government.

Gilani, who is from the party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, set out his policies to parliament yesterday and said that rising Islamic militancy was the biggest threat to the nuclear-armed nation.

But his offers to negotiate with militants who renounce violence has caused jitters among US officials, who are already reeling from the loss of the “one-stop shop” they had in the form of former dictator Musharraf.

“The US nervousness will continue for some time till they recognise the political changes in Pakistan,” political analyst Hasan Askari told AFP.

“The Americans will closely mointor what Pakistan is doing against terrorism — they have strong reservations about negotiation,” said Askari, who is teaching at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.

A key issue with the new Pakistani government will be its tolerance for unilateral US missile strikes on militant hideouts in its mountainous tribal badlands bordering Afghanistan.

The Washington Post reported last week that the United States was escalating such strikes amid fears that Gilani’s administration will curtail such attacks.

The strikes followed a “tacit understanding” with Musharraf and army chief General Ashfaq Kayani that permits US strikes on foreign rebels in Pakistan, but not against Pakistani Taliban, the Post quoted officials as saying.

A senior partner in the new coalition government, former premier Nawaz Sharif, warned the US envoys who came last week that it was unacceptable for Pakistan to become a “murder-house” for the sake of US policies.

“The US appears to be nervous on negotiations because it thinks they give unnecessary space to the extremists. Further, the US wanted greater freedom itself to undertake direct military action in the tribal areas,” Askari said.

“However the recent visit of the US diplomats to Pakistan has made it clear that the US will have to talk to the political forces and the parliament for policy on terrorism rather than rely on one person — Musharraf.” Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher spent four days in Pakistan last week.