Pakistan Security Brief

Gilani to Karzai: U.S. has failed us both; Top DOD, CIA Position Rotations; $981 in U.S. aid to be released to Pakistan; Gilani defends ISI against Guantanamo Bay report; Afghan and Pakistani soldiers clash at border; Political reforms in FATA delayed; School attacked in Peshawar; India and Pakistan open trade talks; Four TTP militants arrested.

Gilani Proposes Partnership with Afghanistan and China

• The Wall Street Journal reports that in an April 16 meeting in Kabul, Prime Minister Gilani told Afghan President Karzai that the U.S. had failed both Pakistan and Afghanistan and that Karzai should “forget about allowing a long-term U.S. military presence in his country.” Gilani also reportedly urged Karzai to form a long-term partnership with Pakistan and China in order to revitalize Afghanistan's economy and negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban. Though U.S. officials have privately played down the Pakistani proposal, General Petraeus has met Karzai three times since April 16, “in part to reassure the Afghan leader that he has America's support, and to nudge forward progress on the partnership deal.” Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.S., Hussain Haqqani, has said that the media reports are inaccurate while Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua declared that, “It is the most ridiculous report we have come across.”[i]

Top DOD, CIA Position Rotations

• According to press reports, General David Petraeus, the top commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, is to be appointed as the director of the CIA. The current director, Leon Panetta, will become Secretary of Defense. The changes, to be announced on Thursday, will formally occur when current Defense Secretary Robert Gates retires later in 2011. In another key appointment, Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the man who opened the U.S. diplomatic mission in Afghanistan after the U.S. invasion in 2001, will be returning as Ambassador to Kabul.[ii]

U.S.-Pakistani Relations

• Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has announced that the U.S. is expected to release $981 million in aid to Pakistan before the end of June. $381 million of the aid comes from the Kerry-Lugar bill, while another $500-$600 million would come from the Coalition Support Fund, for Pakistan’s assistance in the war on terrorism. Meanwhile, the Express Tribune reports that Pakistan’s previous request for an $11.3 billion loan was initially denied by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), before the United States intervened on Pakistan’s behalf to secure the loan. Dr. Ehtisham Ahmad, Pakistan’s former representative to the IMF, stated that the IMF “had a very low opinion of Pakistan’s ability to deliver promised reforms, which was the primary reason for the initial refusal of the bailout.”[iii]
• In response to the newly released Guantanamo Bay files which describes Pakistan’s Inter-Intelligence Services (ISI) agency as a terrorist organization, Prime Minister Gilani has said that all state institutions, including the [ISI], were operating constitutionally and legally.” Gilani additionally said that the ISI’s operations possessed the full support of the government. [iv]

FATA

• A Pakistani security officer was killed and two others injured when Afghan forces fired on a border checkpoint in the Angoor Adda area of South Waziristan on Wednesday. In retaliatory fire, Pakistani security officers killed three Afghan soldiers. Six local residents were injured and dozens of shops were damaged due to the clash. Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistani and Afghan security forces traded fire in North Waziristan. No injuries were reported and the two incidents appeared to be unrelated.[v]
• Planned political reforms in the FATA have been delayed due to reservations of the security agencies in the country. An unidentified source told the Express Tribune that, “The reforms cannot be implemented in [the FATA] as long as fighting against terrorists continues in the tribal regions and [neighboring] Afghanistan.” The proposed reforms aim to remove restrictions on political activities as well as curtail the powers of the administration to arbitrarily detain people. Meanwhile, a tribal parliamentarian told the media outlet that “the reforms were being introduced at the behest of the United States which wanted to deprive [FATA] of political autonomy the region has been enjoying since the creation of Pakistan.”[vi]

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

• A government-run school was attacked in the Adezai area of Peshawar on Tuesday. Unidentified militants had planted five bombs on the outskirts of the building before detonating the devices. Meanwhile, two bombs went off in Swabi, partially damaging a power transmission line.[vii]

India and Pakistan Begin Trade Talks

• On Wednesday, India and Pakistan began their first trade talks since the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. The two-day meeting in Islamabad aimed to boost business between the two countries and increase bilateral trade. Pakistan’s commerce and trade secretary Zafar Mahmood stated that, "I believe that this meeting will take the dialogue process forward and by the end of the meeting all issues relating to facilitation and promotion of bilateral trade could be addressed with consensus."[viii]

Four TTP Militants Arrested

• Four suspected Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants were arrested in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The men were allegedly planning to target Islamabad’s “Red Zone” and other buildings located in Rawalpindi.[ix]