Published 02 Mar, 2009 12:00am
WASHINGTON Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani spent the last week in Washington, trying to convince the US administration and lawmakers that the Swat peace deal is not as bad as it sounds, says an influential US newspaper.
In an editorial published on Monday, The Washington Post quoted the two Pakistani leaders as arguing that the Swat region was distinctive and that only a mild version of sharia will be applied in the valley.
The army chief and the foreign minister also argued that the deal will allow the government to rein in the extremists who have been beheading local officials and demolishing girls schools.
'More convincingly, they point out that the army has been losing both battles on the ground and hearts and minds across the western part of the country,' the newspaper noted.
'A truce might be welcomed by the terrorized population of Swat while giving the government time to regroup.'
Giving the US reaction to these arguments, the Post noted that such deals in the past have not succeeded either in preventing the imposition of extreme Taliban-style rule or in separating Pakistani militants from the Afghan Taliban or al-Qaeda.
'By agreeing to the Taliban demand for sharia justice, the Zardari government will be allowing a rupture with the rule of law that could quickly spread to other areas,' the newspaper warned.
'It could also allow the creation of a haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives seeking safety from the US airstrikes that have killed a number of senior operatives in areas closer to Afghanistan.'
The Post reported that US casualties in Afghanistan were up sharply so far this year compared with 2008.
The newspaper pointed that Pakistans political system was being pulled apart by conflicts between the civilian government of President Asif Ali Zardari and rival political movements, even as the economy swoons.
The Post noted that the Obama administration, which has been publicly skeptical of the Swat accord, now 'faces the daunting challenge of persuading Pakistans military commanders and civilian leaders to squarely face the threat.'
To achieve this objective, the Post urged the US administration to use US military and economic aid as leverage.
'The aid should be provided but carefully conditioned on the adoption of a concerted military-political strategy for reasserting government control over the western part of the country and defeating extremist forces,' the newspaper argued.
'In the meantime, the administration should continue US air attacks on militant leaders. Unfortunately, those strikes are, for now, the only solid blows being dealt to al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan.'
