Taliban own the night and part of the day in Waziristan!

Taliban own the night and part of the day in Waziristan, says Durrani
By Khalid Hasan
Daily Times, December 22, 2006

WASHINGTON: Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani said in an interview published here on Thursday that it is too early to pass a judgment on the North Waziristan accord between his government and tribal elders.

He added though that in that part of Afghanistan, “the Taliban own the night and part of the day”.

The interview, carried by the Washington Post, quotes the ambassador as stressing that it will be “premature” to hold that the other side is not abiding by its commitments. “Give it more time. It is premature to say the agreement is a failure,” he said when asked to comment on a statement by the head of National Intelligence John D Negroponte last week that back-and-forth travel by the Taliban and others “causes serious problems”.

Durrani said Pakistan is increasing the number of its troops at border crossings and is seeking US weaponry, including night-vision and listening equipment. “It’s not a perfect system” because tribal members are allowed to cross, and it is difficult to tell whether they are peaceful, he said, adding but if the “bad guys come in, our agreement with them (the tribal leaders) will go away”. He said Pakistan at times has talked about putting a fence up in the border area or even mining sections, but neither the US nor Afghan governments have responded to the ideas. He emphasised that the border infiltration is “not the factor in Afghanistan; it’s a small factor.”

The report noted that while American and Pakistani officials expect a resurgence in fighting when spring arrives, Durrani pointed out that one reason is that the Pashtun population in southern Afghanistan “is very disillusioned ... They have only seen the rough side of the stick” and need a lot more money for reconstruction and development. To counter the insurgency, he said that NATO and Afghan forces need to “dominate the space (and) they don’t have enough troops to do that”.

Durrani recalled that an important intelligence-sharing agreement, reached at the White House meeting in September between presidents Musharraf and Karzai, the United States was made the middleman, ensuring that data picked up by either side went to the other. Another suggestion at the meeting from Karzai, which he added is under negotiation, was that they engage tribes on both sides of the border in a loya jirga in which tribal elders would come together to reach common understanding.

Asked about the new nuclear agreement between the United States and , the ambassador said Pakistan does not object, although there is recognition that the un-inspected Indian reactors could be used to produce weapons-grade material. He added that he had talked to Pakistan’s senior nuclear military expert and was told that the pact does not worry him. “We have a strong deterrent,” the ambassador said he was told, and as India appears to progress, “we will too”.