Pakistan’s foreign minister called for more international aid to combat extremists, saying that the Taliban could otherwise move into neighboring India and as far as the Gulf, as Pakistani forces killed dozens more suspected militants in tribal areas on Monday.
“They (militants) have a global agenda, they have a regional agenda, they are not confined to Pakistan. They could go into the Gulf, they could go into India, they can go anywhere,” Shah Mehmoud Qureshi said in an interview published Monday by the Financial Times.
The warning from Qureshi, comes two days before the first summit of European Union and Pakistan leaders in Brussels at which aid for Islamabad will likely top the agenda.
Close ties with GCC
” They (militants) have a global agenda, they have a regional agenda, they are not confined to Pakistan. They could go into the Gulf, they could go into India, they can go anywhere ”
Pakistani FM Shah Mehmoud Qureshi
The United States has begun lobbying the governments of the oil-rich Arab Muslim countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to be more generous in helping Pakistan deal with the fallout of the offensive in the Swat valley.
The GCC is a region which traditionally has had close business and military ties with Pakistan and is home to a large expatriate Pakistani community. Additionally, close ties have been built between the Pakistani armed forces and armed forces of the GCC member countries.
Mr Qureshi said U.S. efforts to encourage GCC aid were only meant to “complement” Pakistan’s own recent contacts with GCC countries seeking help. “They (the U.S.) are trying to help in whatever way they can, but Pakistan has independent relations (with the GCC)” he said.
The Financial Times quoted a GCC diplomat in Islamabad as saying that Pakistan needed to “revive closer relations” with the region “which have been neglected in the war on terror.”
Qureshi called for $2.5 billion alone in emergency relief and reconstruction aid for the northwest, where troops have been locked in heavy combat with Taliban militants since late April.
Qureshi’s comments come as Pakistan expands its anti-Taliban offensive in the northwest to the lawless tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, where the U.S. says militants are planning attacks on Western targets.
“There is a collective interest and there has to be a collective realization that this is not Pakistan’s problem. It’s a larger problem,” the Pakistani FM said.
Counter-terrorism
” There is a collective interest and there has to be a collective realization that this is not Pakistan’s problem. It’s a larger problem ”
Qureshi
The Pakistani foreign minister said the international community needed to help Islamabad improve its counter-terrorism capacity and stabilize the nuclear-armed state’s flagging economy.
“When we do it with our own resources, obviously other areas will suffer because we’ll have to divert resources. This cannot be ignored,” Qureshi said.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted last week to triple U.S. aid to $1.5 billion annually through the 2013 fiscal year. The House and Senate now need to reconcile their aid bills, which lawmakers say could take months.
Pakistan has earmarked 50 billion rupees ($617 million) for aid for the northwest in its budget for fiscal 2009-2010 starting from July 1, unveiled at the weekend.
Qureshi warned that if more money needed to be diverted from state coffers to help the two million people displaced by the fighting in the northwest, the country’s economy — and its efforts to fight the Taliban — would suffer.
More militants killed
” Airstrikes and shelling by gunships killed at least 31 militants. Ground forces are also active in the area ”
Pakistani military official
In the meantime, Pakistani forces killed dozens more suspected Taliban militants in tribal areas, officials said Monday, after the government announced a new assault against Taliban along the Afghan border, where Washington alleges al-Qaeda and Taliban rebels are holed up
Security officials in the region said that about 30 militants were killed in Mohmand agency, close to the provincial capital Peshawar.
“Airstrikes and shelling by gunships killed at least 31 militants. Ground forces are also active in the area,” said a military official in the area who did not want to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Another security official based in Peshawar said the toll was slightly lower, telling AFP: “Air strikes and shelling by gunships killed 29 militants while 25 were wounded in Safi town of Mohmand tribal district.”
Ground forces in and around Charmang were seen clearing the roads Monday near the border with Afghanistan, residents said.
On Sunday, the army said it had killed 30 suspected militants in attacks in South Waziristan, and more than 1,400 Taliban rebels since its northwest offensive began in late April. These tolls are however impossible to independently verify.
Security forces launched their offensive against Taliban fighters across three northwestern districts near Swat valley on April 26, after the insurgents advanced to within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of Islamabad.