Pak-Afghan peace ''jirga' eclipsed by rumblings in Pak

Kabul, Aug 9 (UNI) The Pakistan-Afghanistan peace ''jirga'' which began here today was overshadowed by events in neighbouring Pakistan as President Musharraf pulled out of the event amidst rumblings about the possibility of declaration of emergency.

The Pakistani Prime Minister Mr Shaukat Aziz who came in his stead, called on Afghanistan to drop its misconceptions about Pakistan's intentions, saying the future of both countries was deeply intertwined.

Aziz said though following the shock of 9/11 attention had returned to Afghanistan leading to dislodging of the Taliban government and shaping of the Bonn process, the hopes of the process were yet to be realised.

Afghanistan is not yet at peace with itself, and the process of national reconciliation has been elusive, Aziz said. Without mincing words, the Pakistani Prime Minister stated that Afghanistan could not blame anyone else for this issue which lay at the heart of the malaise of the people.

Both Pakistan and Afghanistan were faced with grave challenges.

Pakistan had no desire to control Afghanistan and fully respected its sovereignty and independence in the same manner as it would like Afghanistan to respect Pakistan's. Dismissing allegations of Pakistan's support to any form of militancy, he said, Pakistan could not escape the consequences of this militancy were it to do so.

Outlandish accusations had to be stopped and common dangers faced.

Analysing the problems facing both countries he said the problem of militancy, extremism had three dimensions, the Al Qaeda, the Taliban from Afghanistan who went into Pakistan and the Talibanisation of the tribal areas of Pakistan.

It was necessary to also distinguish the Taliban from the population sympathetic to them. Socio economic development would also have to be part of this comprehensive approach.

While this did not mean abandoning military operations, the problem could not be solved by the military action alone.

The Afghanistan jihad that had benefited the world had also inflicted damage on Afghanistan as also on Pakistan and the international community need to pay attention. Calling for a Marshall type plan to rebuild the country, Aziz suggested setting up of special economic zones tied to export markets in the US from the border regions of both countries.

Afghanistan need to deal with elements of its population that were estranged. While acknowledging Pakistan's responsibility in taking action against militants who crossed the border into Pakistan, Aziz also stressed on the responsibility of Afghanistan as well as international forces stationed here to prevent the crossings. ''I must emphasise both sides are responsible for controlling movement.'' He said the problem was further compounded by the presence of millions of Afghan refugees in the border areas. The humanitarian problem added to the complication in fighting militants.

Defending President Musharraf's North Waziristan agreement he said while the agreement may not be fully satisfactory it was clear that a military solution was not the answer. The need was to win hearts and minds.

Pakistan was expanding its Frontier corps and frontier constabulary. Earlier addressing the gathering, the Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke about the destruction of the country by the Taliban who initially had been welcomed and supported by him as well as other leaders.

Karzai said the current spate of kidnappings especially of women and foreign women was completely alien to Islamic and Afghan culture and was giving Afghanistan a bad name.

The same problems were afflicting both countries, he said, drawing comparisons between the kidnapping of Chinese in Islamabad and the Koreans in Ghazni. The questions about who was training and financing them need to be answered if the problems were to be solved, he said.

UNI