Straw disappoints Pakistan

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, NOV. 23. The British Foreign Secretary, Mr. Jack Straw, appears to have disappointed Pakistan by reiterating the U.S.-led coalition viewpoint that persons holed up in Kunduz and Kandahar fighting with the Taliban should be brought to book.

Addressing a news conference here after a meeting with the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Mr. Straw conceded that the situation in Kunduz was grave where thousands of Taliban fighters, present and former, are holed up. Islamabad has been pleading with the U.S.-led coalition in the last few days to let people who were previously aligned with the Taliban surrender. Though Pakistan has not said it so many words, it seems to be in favour of allowing those held up inside Kunduz a safe passage.

The position of the coalition is that even if the present and former pro-Taliban fighters are willing to surrender, they should not be given a safe passage pending a detailed investigation about their antecedents. The coalition spokesman has been maintaining the last two days that the fighters should surrender to the Northern Alliance forces. The idea is to take them into custody and hold the necessary investigations about their antecedents.

Pakistan seems to be worried over the prospect of detention of those willing to surrender as a significant number of them are believed to be Pakistanis. If it turns out that the majority of those fighting along with the Taliban were indeed from Pakistan, it could cause serious embarrassment to Islamabad besides posing problems on the domestic front.

Flanked by the Pakistan Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdul Sattar, the British Foreign Secretary said that ``our position is very straightforward: that is that if people are ready to surrender ... then the surrender should be accepted. If these people are found to have been fighting for Taliban they have to be detained''.

This was one of the main topics of discussion between Mr. Straw and Gen. Musharraf. ``We all understand the potential humanitarian disaster that is possible in Kunduz,'' Mr. Straw said in response to a question about possible massacre of seven thousand persons holed up in the province.

Islamabad and the coalition forces also seem to have differences on the question of giving a place for those previously aligned with the Taliban. As Mr. Straw looked on, Mr. Sattar said that when several of the Northern Alliance commanders who had once sided with the Soviet Union could be forgiven, the same yardstick could be applied to generals previously associated with the Taliban militia.

Mr. Sattar was at pains to emphasise that the expression used by Pakistan about `moderate Taliban' has been misunderstood. He said what Islamabad wanted was only accommodation of all the Afghan elements who were willing to support the U.N. Resolutions.

In response to a question about the opposition by the Northern Alliance to the presence of British troops inside Afghanistan, Mr. Straw said that he discussed the subject with the Northern Alliance Foreign Minister, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, in Teheran on Thursday. ``He told me they have no objection in principle to the presence of our troops in Afghanistan but they wish to be consulted before we take a decision on the subject''.

Mr. Straw arrived here on Thursday night from Iran on the second leg of a diplomatic mission to promote a broad-based government in Afghanistan. He also met the U.N. envoy to Afghanistan, Mr. Francesc Vendrell.

Conference in Germany

During his talks with Gen. Musharraf and others, Mr. Straw also discussed the coming conference of Afghan factions in Germany, aimed at paving the way for a new government in Afghanistan. He was hopeful that the process could be completed as soon as possible.

In response to a question on the list of the Afghans who are taking part in the conference, Mr. Sattar said that ``new forces are rising. We hope and pray the conference would be a success.''

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