President Zardari Rejects US Timeline for Fighting Tribal Insurgents

Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 1:02 pm

Pakistan News: President Zardari Rejects US Timeline for Fighting Tribal Insurgents, President Asif Ali Zardari has resisted a direct appeal from US President Obama for a rapid expansion of Pakistani military operations in tribal areas and has called on the US to speed up military assistance to Pakistani forces and to intervene more forcefully with India, its traditional adversary.
In a written response to a letter from Obama late last month, President Zardari said his government was determined to take action against al-Qaeda, the Taliban and allied insurgent groups attacking US forces in Afghanistan from the border area inside Pakistan. But, he said, Pakistan’s efforts would be based on its own timeline and operational needs.
Zardari in his three-page letter to Obama made repeated reference to Pakistan’s core interests, unresolved historical conflicts and conventional imbalances. He called on Obama to push Pakistan’s neighbors towards diplomatic rapprochement.
Zardari noted that military operations in the Swat Valley alone had cost Pakistan $2.5 billion and said that Pakistan expected the United States to provide increased material support.
The message was reinforced Monday by Pakistan’s military chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, who told Gen. David H. Petraeus, the head of the US Central Command, that the United States should not expect “a major operation in North Waziristan” in the coming months, according to a senior US defense official.

President Zardari Rejects US Timeline for Fighting Tribal Insurgents

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