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September 11, 2006

Pakistan: Deal With Taliban Islamists Is Meaningless

Last Tuesday, September 5, an accord was signed between the Pakistan government and the Taliban who are virtually running the agencies of North and South Waziristan, which lie alongside the border with Afghanistan. Through the mountain passes, fighters and recruits travel to join their comrades in Afghanistan to battle against coalition forces. These have included British Pakistani Muslims.

The deal, reaching three pages, includes a clause which states "There shall be no cross-border movement for militant activity in neighbouring Afghanistan." The Pakistani Taliban who signed it are seven members of its shura, or advisory council.

In exchange for this commitment, the government of Pakistan agreed not to mount ground or air strikes against the Islamists, and to resolve any contentious issues by means of the traditional jirga or council of elders.

Dr Fakhr-i-Alam, political agent for North Waziristan signed on behalf of the Pakistani government, witnessed by Major-General Azhar ALi Shah.

The agreement was brokered via a grand tribal jirga, and will become implemented once the Pakistani army withdraw from checkpoints in the agency. The locally recruited "scouts" from the Khasadar will take over these posts.

Both sides agreed to return the other's weapons in the agreement, which had 16 clauses and four sub-clauses. Other points in the accord include: "There will be no target killing and no parallel administration in the agency. The writ of the state will prevail in the area."

The government would release its prisoners of war, and would not rearrest them, and "incentives" would be restored. Tribesmen will be allowed to display their weapons, but not to carry heavy weaponry. The government also agreed to compensate the Taliban for any loss of life and property during recent operations.

The government wants to see foreign militants removed from the region, but in the agreement it acknowledged that if they do not leave, then they are duty-bound to obey the rule of law. Rather sneakily one Taliban leader, Abdullah Farhad, said there were no foreign militants in the region, but if there were, then it was the government's duty to show evidence of their presence. There have been several cases of Al Qaeda members living in Waziristan. On December 1, the third in command of Al Qaeda, Egyptian-born Abu Hamza Rabia, was killed in a blast in the village of Haisori near Miranshah in North Waziristan.

A 10-person committee will oversee the implementation of the terms of the accord.

Following the signing, which happened in the football ground of the Government Degree College at Miranshah, and attended by 500 Taliban and tribespeople, the government announced that it had already removed most of its army staff from checkpoints in the highland regions, and withdrawn them to Miranshah.

A spokesman for the militants said that the government had promised to pay the Taliban 10 million rupees ($165,838) if it did not return to them vehicles and weaponry it had seized during military operations.

Negotiating with people who have a fixed agenda such as the Taliban is bound to fail. Britain's ludicrous Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Kim Howells said on Saturday, (September 9) that such an accord could be a model for Afghanistan. Howells (pictured below right) said in Islamabad: "We'll have to see how it turns out. It's very much an experiment...but it's got some interesting prospects....One wonders if it could be applied to the other side of the Afghan border. "

"It's certainly worth looking at. There has to be consent among the local population if there is to be any progress made. There can't be only a military victory, it's impossible," he said. This is not, I hope, government policy, but once again Kim Howells opening his mouth and uttering the first vacuous statement he can think of, as he did when he recently broke from government policy and condemned Israel's tactics during the Lebanon crisis.

Kim Howells is from the same department, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which is currently trying to "reach out" to the Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood, in a policy which has never been put before the British parliament to vote upon. Winston Churchill would be turning in his grave if he knew what shenanigans the FCO is up to, and at what expense (£8.5 million a year or $15.8 million squandered upon its "Engaging with the Islamic World Group" appeasing radical Islamists).

While Howells was making bland statements in Islamabad, the first breach of the Taliban accord was announced. Even though there is a clause which specifically states that "There will be no target killing", a seventy year old man was found shot dead in North Waziristan. Rahim Jan's bullet-ridden body was found near a market, west of Miranshah, capital of the agency. With the corpse were found two letters in Urdu, one of which said that the old man had "confessed to spying for the Americans".

At the same time, 45 Taliban members attended a jirga in Peshawar, where the governor of North-West Frontier Province, Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai, rewarded each member of the jirga with 100,000 rupees apiece ($1,658). This was for their work in brokering the accord. He also gave them commendation certificates, and said that a tribal jirga system is good for resolving disputes and creating understanding through dialoque. He said: "We should forget the past and focus on future. I can see that the future of tribal areas is bright, progressive and prosperous."

The death of the old man accused of spying was a sign of things to come.

Yesterday, the New York Times quoted Robert Grenier, former director of counterterrorism in the CIA, who said of the Waziristan region: "There's a link with broader international terrorism. There's a link with what is happening in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda, such as it is now, really has a center of gravity in the area."

Xenia Dormandy, former South Asia director at the National Security Council said that the signing of truces "is a potentially dangerous route to take because there is little pressure that you can bring to bear to make sure they can follow through on the agreements."

It is argued that while there is a near civil war taking place in the southwest of Pakistan in the oil and gas rich province of Baluchistan, Musharraf's government is being forced to reallocate its troop positions. At least 70,000 troops have been stationed in Waziristan for the past three years.

Yesterday, the Daily Times reported that the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Tasnim Aslam has said: "Nobody has talked about withdrawal of troops from Waziristan." She said in an interview: "NATO's concern should be on the Afghan side. They should have no concern about any area in Pakistan."

And today, according to the Pakistan Daily Times, a headless body has been discovered in South Waziristan. The body was mutilated beyond recognition, and was discovered in Karwan Manza village. Decapitation and mutilation is the usual punishment meted out to those deemed to be "American spies".

And yesterday, in the city of Wana, capital of South Waziristan, where the first Taliban sharia court was established by the Taliban in March, an elder of the Kakakhel Waziri clan was gunned down in a drive-by shooting. Malik Mohammad Ali had relatives in Afghanistan, he owned a house across the border, and had good relations with Afghan officials.

Now, what was that peace accord about?

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at September 11, 2006 8:57 PM

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