The Hindu : U.S. General meets Musharraf

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 25, 2002

International

International

U.S. General meets Musharraf

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD June 24. Amidst reports that Osama bin Laden could be hiding in the tribal areas of Pakistan, the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Central Command (Centcom), Tommy R. Franks, today called on the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, and exchanged views on the "geo-strategic environment" in the region and the U.S.-led coalition campaign in Afghanistan.

Pakistan was at pains to emphasise that visit of Gen. Franks had nothing to do with reports of Osama lurking in its territory and insisted that it was one of those routine visits by him to the region to take stock of the situation.

The statement attributed to the head of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, Bob Graham, on Sunday that Washington believed Osama is hiding in Pakistan had strengthened the impression that Gen. Frank's mission could be related to the Osama hunt.

``Our best intelligence estimate continues to be that he is alive and probably some place in those tribal areas on the western side of Pakistan,'' Senator Bob Graham had told Fox television.

Gen. Franks, who is to visit Afghanistan after a two-day stay here, had a detailed discussion with Gen. Musharraf on the current situation.

It is presumed that the ongoing joint operations by the Pakistan and U.S. authorities in the tribal areas in search of the Al-Qaeda and Taliban activists was on the top of the agenda.

There have been reports in a section of the Pakistani press suggesting that the U.S. was pressuring the Musharraf Government to allow its forces to conduct search and seize operations in any part of the country. However, the military government is believed to be cautioning Americans against any hasty actions.

The Government has admitted that for the first time in the history of the country, military and para-military forces have pressed into service in the sensitive border areas bordering Afghanistan in search of Al-Qaeda and Taliban cadres and activists on the run.

Over 300 activists of Al-Qaeda and Taliban are reported to have been apprehended by the Pakistani forces and handed over to the U.S.

An official statement on the meeting between Gen. Musharraf and Gen. Franks said that during the course of the call, discussion focused on the `prevailing geo-strategic environment' in the region.

Pressure on Pakistan to step up the vigil on its eastern borders could increase after a spokesman of the Al-Qaeda, Suleiman Abu Ghaith, claimed on the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television that Osama and his network were alive and well and that "America must prepare itself and fasten its seat belt.''

To a question on the statement by Mr. Graham, the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Aziz Ahmed Khan, maintained that the report on the possible presence of Osama in Pakistan could at best be termed as "guess work".

In a related development, the official U.S. development agency, USAID, is all set to reopen its offices in Pakistan. The agency had shut down its operations after Pakistan undertook nuclear tests in May 1998.

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