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Karachi, Pakistan, October 31, 2009 – United States
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has hit out at the Pakistan
Government for failing to find Al Qaeda leaders hiding within its
borders.
Mrs Clinton says it is hard to believe that nobody in the Pakistani
Government knew where they were.
The visit was supposed to be about building the relationship between
Pakistan and the United States, but within hours of Mrs Clinton's
arrival, the Taliban had stolen the headlines.
A devastating car bomb blast in the north-western city of Peshawar left
more than 100 people dead on Wednesday.
It was a powerful reminder of the capacity of the terrorists and the
inability of the Pakistani Government to stop them.
After the attack, Mrs Clinton told Pakistanis that the US would stand
shoulder to shoulder in the fight against terrorism.
But later in a meeting with senior newspaper editors, she Clinton said
she found it hard to believe that nobody in the Pakistani Government
knew the whereabouts of Al Qaeda leaders hiding in Pakistan.
"I don't doubt that what we've been told here in Pakistan over and over
again - that there exists a trust deficit - is a challenge to the kind
of relationship that President Obama and I believe is both possible and
necessary with Pakistan," she said.
"But it is also clear, as I have stated both publicly and privately,
that we have questions that we are also seeking answers for."
Relationship struggling
Pakistani analyst and author Mosharraf Zaidi says Mrs Clinton's comments
may have angered some in the Pakistani government.
"I think things are pretty much as bad as they are going to get in terms
of US-Pakistani relations," he said.
"And to be fair to [Mrs] Clinton and to the State Department I think the
trip was - other than that one comment - the trip was largely a success.
"Quite frankly, I don't think that comment was an error or a mistake."
Mrs Clinton tried to clarify her comments. She praised the Pakistani
military for its efforts against militants in the Taliban heartland of
South Waziristan.
But she called for more action to round up the leaders of Al Qaeda, who
are also believed to be sheltering along Pakistan's border with
Afghanistan.
"It is just a fact that Al Qaeda sought refuge in Pakistan after the
United States and our allies went after them because of the attack on
9/11," she said.
"And we want to encourage everyone, not just the Pakistani Government or
the military, but Pakistani citizens to realise the connection between
Al Qaeda and these Taliban extremists who are threatening Pakistan;
they're part of a syndicate of terror."
But analyst Mosharraf Zaidi says many Pakistanis have become caught up
in anti-American sentiment, instead of facing up to the failings of
their own government and military.
Mr Zaidi says while most Pakistani's do not support the terrorists, they
have little faith in the Government either.
"Pakistani's have really had it with the whole global terrorist
enterprise being located in their country," she said.
"[But] we are not capable of actually having a sort of cold, analytical
discussion about some of these issues."
October has been one of the bloodiest months of the insurgency and many
Pakistanis are bracing themselves for further violence.
Source: ABC
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