INTERIOR MINISTER DISCUSSES BORDER AREA SECURITY,

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 ISLAMABAD 021222 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS KABUL - PLEASE PASS TO CFC-A E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2016 TAGS: MOPS PK PREL PTER SUBJECT: INTERIOR MINISTER DISCUSSES BORDER AREA SECURITY, NWA JIRGA AGREEMENT AND PENDING ACTION AGAINST LET LEADER Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (S/NF) Summary and Introduction: In an October 26 meeting with the Ambassador, Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao offered a candid assessment of the security situation in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Agencies (FATA), sharing his private assessment that vigorous Government of Pakistan (GOP) action is necessary to prevent Taliban and extremist forces from filling a post-jirga political- and security-vacuum in North Waziristan Agency (NWA). Noting that the jirga agreement had been blown out of proportion, the Minister called for Pakistani security forces taking a swift, firm action against tribesmen and militants who violate its terms. Sherpao recounted, in some detail, Ministry of Interior (MOI) implementation of directives that emerged from a mid-October policy assessment meeting with President Musharraf Successful implementation of this Border Control Exercise -- designed to channel cross-border traffic to a handful of crossing points equipped with modern immigration and customs technologies -- in Balochistan will be followed by similar program in North West Frontier Province (NWFP),including the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The Minister's description of the Border Control Exercise tracked with policy shifts that the Director General - Inter-Services Intelligence (DG ISI) flagged for Ambassador the previous week, while his assessment of the security situation in Balochistan and NWFP -- including reports of a nascent NWA-type agreement in Bajaur Agency -- was echoed by Presidential Chief of Staff Hamid Javaid in an October 30 conversation with the Ambassador. End summary and introduction. What's the View from the Potomac? -------------- ¶2. (C) Sherpao opened by asking for an assessment of President Musharraf's visit to Washington and the Ambassador's own consultations in the U.S. The Ambassador noted the broad interagency interest in the tribal belt along the Pak-Afghan border, particularly vis-a-vis the re-ermergence of the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. Many in WashDC understand that there is no quick fix to security challenges that were decades in the making, the Ambassador said, a message that President Musharraf was able to underscore during his meetings with Administration officials. The President's thorough explanation of the GOP multi-tiered FATA strategy, supplemented by the Ambassador's private discussions of directives by MOI and ISI to all Pakistani security forces to act vigorously against the Taliban in all venues, demonstrated that Pakistan's counter-insurgency strategy is moving in the right direction. The USG is seriously examining how best the U.S. can support GOP long-term initiatives for social and economic development in the FATA, as well as assistance to enhance the counter-insurgency capacities of the Frontier Corps (FC). ¶3. (C) That said, the Ambassador underscored the deep concern in WashDC regarding the Taliban insurgency and the security situation in the FATA and Balochistan, as the U.S. is seeing continued high levels of cross border activity targeting Coalition and Afghan forces. Equally worrying are media reports that, following the September 5th jirga agreement, the Taliban has filled a political vacuum in NWA, establishing offices, operating security checkpoints and asserting control over local populations. The Minister nodded in agreement, saying that the situation was reminiscent of South Waziristan Agency (SWA),which he admitted has been under Taliban control since a 2004 agreement ended GOP security operations against local militants. Border Management Exercise in Balochistan -------------- ISLAMABAD 00021222 002 OF 004 ¶4. (C) Sherpao described how President Musharraf has convened his convened security advisors in mid-October to design tougher approach along the Pak-Afghan border. The President's brain trust produced a strategy to enhance border security, beginning at the Chaman border crossing in Balochistan. The plan synthesizes tighter immigration and customs regulation of human and vehicular traffic at Chaman, where an estimated 30,000 people and 1000 vehicles cross to/from Afghanistan. Border-crossing cards will be issued to tribal members in the region, which must be swiped when crossing into/out of Pakistan. All vehicles, commercial and personal, will be subject to documented Customs inspections and tracked to identify patterns. Sherpao said that the MOI has built pre-fabricated shelters to protect new immigration and customs tracking equipment being delivered to implement the new procedures. Three additional border crossing points have been identified to follow the same procedures as Chaman, with the MOI examining 4-5 more to add to the program. When all are 7-8 are in operation, the GOP will close the remaining 25 existing legal crossing points, as well as 150 known illegal crossings, using a variety of methods -- including fencing, mining and security monitoring -- to make sure that cross-border traffic is channeled into areas with enhanced security procedures. (Comment: In an earlier conversation, DG ISI offered a similar description of the strategy to emerge following the meeting with President Musharraf -- but with the caveat that many of the President's prescriptions, such as mining the areas around the 175-plus closed crossing points, were simply not feasible. In his meeting with Sherpao, the Ambassador cautioned that, although the USG has no objection to well-deployed minefields, the GOP must be committed to 24/7 monitoring of any mined area in order to prevent ACMs from stealing the mines and using them against GOP and Coalition forces. End comment.) The same approach will be employed in the FATA and NWFP, following successful implementation in Balochistan. ¶5. (C) Sherpao reviewed the success of the GOP's targeting of Afghans in Balochistan engaged in the insurgency. The MOI has raided hospitals in Quetta in an effort designed to deny aid and comfort to wounded anti-Coalition militants. Hospital administrators and staff are under compulsion to advise the authorities of young men, particularly Afghans, seeking treatment for wounds associated with combat operations. Dovetailing with the issuance of new registration/identification cards to Afghan refugees, police and other security agencies have been instructed to adopt a "no tolerance" approach when they encounter young Afghan me loitering in public places: if the Afghans are hanging about without proper documents, they will be swiftly repatriated across the border. (Note: Post forwarded a list passed by DG ISI to Ambassador identifying Afghans caught up in these Balochistan security operations; see TDX-315/75811-06. End note). Sherpao described these efforts as initial steps before the GOP confronts the critical challenge of the Girdi Jungle and Pir Ali Afghan refugee camps. FC units are currently staffing checkpoints to monitor traffic in and out of the camps, but in the Minister's assessment, "the camps have to go." Sherpao indicated that these new immigration and customs procedures have been outlined to Afghan Ambassador Tarzi, but that the strategy targeting hospitals and undocumented Afghans has not. (Note: In a October 30 meeting, Presidential Chief of Staff Hamid Javaid echoed Sherpao's assessment, telling the Ambassador that, although GOP raids between October 27-29 had nabbed another dozen Afghan militants, the GOP cannot defeat this enemy so long as the camps remain open. Jvaid said that President Musharraf is seized of this issue. End note.) South Waziristan Deja Vu -------------- ISLAMABAD 00021222 003 OF 004 ¶6. (S/NF) Turning to NWA, Sherpao described the jirga agreement as having been blown out of proportion by the media. The jirga agreement was never intended to be a a quick fix, he said. Even within these parameters, however, Sherpao agreed with the Ambassador's assessment that the Taliban has rushed in to fill a political void. The Minister pointed to clear instructions from the President that tribesmen must adhere to the agreement's injunctions against parallel administration and the spread of Talibanization, including orders to close Taliban offices that had opened in Miran Shah, before admitting that he could not contradict press accounts of a very different reality on the ground. The GOP is aware that ACMs formerly in NWA are on the move, crossing into Afghanistan from other FATA agencies, a practice that must stop. For the jirga agreement to succeed, Sherpao said, the government and tribal leaders must have a common understanding of the respective obligations, coupled with quick GOP reaction to infractions that threaten security. Sherpao admitted that serious threats are emanating from NWA , noting that the car bomb used in the March 3rd bombing of the U.S. Consulate had been wired and then driven from NWA to Karachi and that the missiles recovered in the October 2006 Rawalpindi/Islamabad plot targeting President Musharraf's camp office, the Parliament and other GOP offices also originated in NWA. Saying that Pakistan cannot afford another SWA situation, Sherpao concluded by noting that GOP security agencies are preparing an assessment of the jirga agreement to present to President Musharraf in late October/early November. Is Bajaur Next? -------------- ¶7. (S/NF) The Ambassador told Sherpao that he has shared serious USG concerns wtih DG ISI and President Mushrraf's Chief of Staff Hamid Javaid over reports that Pakistani authorities had released several militant detainees in Bajaur agency, including some associated with Tehrik-Nifaz-i Shariat-i Mohammadi (TNSM - Movement for the Enforcement of Mohammad's Sharia ). These reports are particularly troubling, as TNSM leader Maulana Faqir Mohammad is a declared enemy of both the GOP and the U.S. During his WashDC visit, President Musharraf recognized the nexus between al Qaeda and the TNSM militants in Bajaur, suggesting that this unholy alliance made the agency a logical choice for al Qaeda senior leaders seeking refuge. Sherpao noted the Ambassador's points, saying that the situation in Bajaur would also be on the agenda when the security agencies briefed the President. (Note: Mission will report septel on the Bajaur jirga, held October 28, followed by a massive anti-American rally on October 29 and October 30 security operations targeting a TNSM madrassa, in which 70-80 militants were killed. End note.) Strong Action after Eid -------------- ¶8. (S) Sherpao confirmed that the GOP plans a series of forceful actions following the Eid-al-Fitr holiday, plans initially briefed to the Ambassador by DG ISI. This includes the sacking of police chiefs in all four provinces, a step DG ISI explained as necessary because "the Taliban is everywhere" and current police leadership has not proven up to the task of confronting this nationwide threat. Sherpao told Ambassador that he has decided against any change in the two FC Inspector Generals (the Corps' highest ranking officers) at the this time. The Ambassador advised both Sherpao and DG ISI that the GOP should be sure to provide an explanation of these actions to the Pakistani public, emphasizing that sacking the police chiefs is a principled decision necessary to defend against the extremist threat to ISLAMABAD 00021222 004 OF 004 the nation. The Ambassador stressed that the public should also be told that the police and other security officials have been empowered to act against Taliban and other extremist militants wherever they are encountered. Such a message would make clear to Pakistani people that these actions serve the public interest and safety, while signaling to the international community the government's commitment to confront violent extremism; an early and well-crafted public statement would also be an effective response to the negative assessment of Pakistan's commitment to the GWOT in the international press. LeT Amir Hafiz Mohamad Saeed -------------- ¶9. (S/NF) Turning to another perennial figure in Pakistan's campaign against extremism, Sherpao previewed GOP plans to re-arrest the leader of Lashkar-e-Tayyba/Jamaat ud-Dawa (LeT/JuD),Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, after Eid. This time, Sherpao said, the charges will be under the Security of Pakistan Act (SOPA). The decision to proceed under the SOPA was taken following consultations with the Attorney General, following the embarrassing ruling by a Lahore High Court judge granting Saeed's petition for release after finding that provincial prosecutors had ordered his detention in bad faith. A charge under the SOPA will permit authorities to detain Saeed for 30 days, with an extension to 90 days if approved by a panel of two Pakistan Supreme Court and one provincial High Court judges; the detention order must thereafter be reviewed at 90-day intervals. The Ambassador welcomed this news and encouraged the GOP to extend the strategy to the rest of LeT/JuD's senior leadership, whose actions have expanded from attacks against India to direct support for the insurgency in Afghanistan. CROCKER