Pakistan-Afghan-US Relations Tense in Wake of Rabbani Murder

Islamabad — More worries are in the offing for Pakistan after the handover of the proofs by the Afghan government to the Pakistani embassy in Kabul about the plot behind the murder of Afghan peace leader Burhanuddin Rabbani that was hatched in Quetta.

According to the spokesperson of Afghan National Security Directorate, the assassination plot against Rabbani was planned in Satellite Town of Quetta and the job was done by Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) through Quetta Shura, the Afghan Taliban’s governing council.

The person who carried out the suicide attack that killed Mr. Rabbani is a resident of Chaman of Baluchistan province, according to the statements issued from President Karzai’s office.

Afghan National Security Directorate spokesperson Lutfullah Mashal confirmed while taking to the media on Saturday in Kabul that the documented proofs including the pictures, addresses and maps of Rabbani murderers have been given to the Pakistan embassy.

Bismillah Muhammadi, the Interior Minister for Afghanistan, claimed that the Afghan intelligence agencies have arrested a suspect named Hameedullah Akhondzada who is the alleged mastermind behind Rabbani’s murder.

Muhammadi said that the Afghan government is also sending a fact finding mission to Pakistan to sort out the evidence regarding the murderer.

The Afghan government, taking a very strict stance, also suspended the peace talks with the Taliban in what has become a tense phase in Pak-Afghan relations. The Afghan government asked the Pakistani government to take action against the murderers of Rabbani, threatening otherwise to take the matter to the United Nations.

Subsequently, hundreds of Afghan citizens took to the streets of Kabul to protest against Pakistan and the ISI over its alleged involvement in the murder of Rabbani as well as Pakistan Army shelling in an Afghan region.

Protestors chanted slogans such as “Death Pakistan” and “Death ISI.”

The Afghan government’s allegations against Pakistan and its controversial intelligence service have been rejected by the Pakistani government, raising tensions in the region. Complicating matters is Pakistan’s perception that Afghanistan cannot survive without Pakistani support because of economic relations between the two nations.

In addition, Islamabad views the allegations from Kabul as stemming from U.S. pressures on the Karzai regime to cast blame on Pakistan for political purposes.

In fact, additional pressure on the Pakistani government comes because the United States had also leveled the same allegations against Pakistan regarding ISI involvement in the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. The combination of charges from this and the Rabbani murder put Islamabad in a precarious position.

All Parties Conference in Pakistan: A Response to Pressure

In an effort to counter the mounting pressure, the Pakistani government called the All Parties Conference (APC) in Islamabad to show a national consensus of all the political parties in Pakistan.

The purpose of the Conference was to produce a united front against U.S. pressure. At the Conference, Pakistani Prime Minister remarked: “Our national interests should be respected. Our nation is determined to defend its geographical frontiers, independence and sovereignty. Our armed forces are united as always. They have never disappointed their people.”

Nonetheless, the All Parties Conference (APC) is just of symbolic importance. It is meant to show that the United States should not push Pakistan against a wall, as Pakistan has already done to the U.S.

New Round of Diplomacy between USA and Pakistan?
According to sources, despite the tense relations between Pakistan and the U.S., a new round of Foreign Ministers meetings are likely to be scheduled to reduce the tension between the U.S. and Pakistan. The sources confirmed that the meeting would impact the outcome of diplomatic efforts of the both the countries.

The U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan reportedly started a multinational tour through Asia and the Gulf on Friday ahead of two major conferences on Afghanistan’s future. The exact date of the U.S. special envoy’s visit to Pakistan has yet not been conveyed to the ministry of Foreign Affairs by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad but they are expected in mid-October.

Pakistan Ready to Talk with Taliban

The Pakistani President and Prime Minister have finally agreed to dialogue with the Taliban, arguing that military efforts have made matters worse in the country.

This change in strategy comes after the All Parties Conference. Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, echoing a call from the conference to “give peace a chance,” resisted U.S. pressure to increase military efforts to combat extremism and terrorism in the country.

Elements of this change in direction also came through in the latest Washington Post column written by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

“As the United States plans to remove its ground forces from Afghanistan and once again leave our region, we are attempting to prepare for post-withdrawal realities. The international community abandoned Central and South Asia a generation ago, triggering the catastrophe that we now find ourselves in. Whoever comes or goes, it is our coming generation that will face the firestorm. We have to live in the neighborhood. So why is it unreasonable for us to be concerned about the immediate and long-term situation of our Western border?” Zardari wrote.