U.S. envoy to meet Zahir Shah in Rome

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, OCT. 4. As part of its efforts to further isolate the Taliban militia, the Bush administration has sent a senior envoy to meet the former monarch of Afghanistan.

The Director of the Policy Planning Bureau of the State Department, Mr. Richard Haass, will be meeting the former King, Mohammad Zahir Shah, in Rome this week. Washington has been actively courting anti-Taliban forces in the last two weeks in the hope of coming up with an alternative to the present scheme of things in Kabul.

The State Department has said that it was in touch ``with all members of the Afghan factions in exile and elsewhere'' but that since September 11 ``the issues involving Afghanistan have become even more important and even more pressing to the U.S.''

The visit of Mr. Haass has to be seen in at least two contexts: first, the ongoing efforts by different Afghan factions, including the Northern Alliance, to come together and in the U.S. giving this effort more than just a symbolic boost. Secondly, the Bush administration is quite busy on the political front, getting support from allies who are quite wary of jumping on the Washington bandwagon.

The Defence Secretary, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, is on a three-day trip to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Egypt and Uzbekistan. Significantly, he is not travelling to Pakistan. The Bush administration is sensitive to the position of Islamabad and has apparently decided against using Pakistan as a frontline base for military operations against Afghanistan. Hence a renewed focus on Central Asian States such as Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The administration is also trying to finetune its efforts against terrorism by talking to nations that have traditionally been on the ``wrong side'' of the U.S. on the issue.

If Washington believes that countries such as Sudan, Syria and Iran have showed remarkable differences in their attitude in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, the latest addition is that of Libya. Officials from the U.S., Britain and Libya have met in London.

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Section  : International
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