The Hindu : U.K. closes down Karachi airbase

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 21, 2002

International

International

U.K. closes down Karachi airbase

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD OCT. 20. The emergence of an alliance of religious parties in Pakistan as a `third force' in the just-concluded general elections appears to have had its first fall-out on the country's foreign policy. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), operating in Afghanistan, has decided to close down its base in Karachi with immediate effect.

The decision of the Musharraf regime to lease out a portion of the Quaid-e-Azam international airport in the port city of Karachi to the United States-led coalition against the `war on terrorism' was criticised by the religious parties in Pakistan. These parties, which fought the election under the banner of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), are also opposed to the presence of the U.S. forces on Pakistani soil and want them to vacate their military bases in Pakistan.

A spokesman of the ISAF has been quoted as saying in Kabul that Britain is closing down its Karachi air base used to supply peacekeepers in Afghanistan and transferring its operations to Kabul. The base in Karachi was used to shift heavy gear that arrived by sea to Afghanistan, Major Gordon Mackenzie, spokesman for the British contingent of the ISAF, told a wire agency.

He has been quoted as saying that the base was now being decommissioned, as building work on British military facilities in Kabul was almost finished. However, analysts believe that the decision of the ISAF is linked to the good showing of the MMA in the Pakistan elections. The ISAF base in Karachi became the target of extremists early this year, but thanks to the timely detection of the plot, it escaped without any damage.

The English daily, The News, said the ISAF had selected Karachi with several airports as the hub for the Forward Mounting Base (FMB) in the middle of January 2002, to transport international troops and support logistics, including heavy arms and ammunition, inside Afghanistan.

The local command of the ISAF has not given any reason for the major decision to Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) or the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). "They (ISAF) have just intimated us that they have completed their work in Pakistan and now they are winding up the operation,'' the paper quoted sources as saying.

The paper said the commercial wing of the CAA issued verbal orders on Saturday to all the departments for the expeditious completion of bills to be taken from the ISAF for using facilities at airports, seaports and other places, including hotels. All the members of the ISAF in Karachi were lodged at Hotel Airport Inn, a subsidiary of the PIA, near the Jinnah International Airport.

``Our contract with the ISAF will expire on November 11,'' a PIA source has been quoted as saying. The paper said the ISAF had said that it was not interested in the renewal of the agreement.

"There is no information about the shifting of the ISAF operation to any other nearby country''.

At the time of inspecting the site before signing of the contract at the Quaid-e-Azam international airport in January 2002, a German delegation met separately with the CAA officials to get the facilities.

However, the CAA officials had declined to entertain any partner of the ISAF individually.

Following the CAA's refusal, the Germans joined other members of the ISAF at the time of inspection of the site and later they quit Karachi silently. Now, they are operating from Tajikistan.

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