PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF DETERMINED TO DEAL WITH BORDER

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 ISLAMABAD 021879

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2016
TAGS: AF EAID ECON ETRD IN MOPS PGOV PK PREL PTER
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF DETERMINED TO DEAL WITH BORDER
AREAS

Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (S) Summary: In a November 7 meeting at his Army HQ
office, President Musharraf told Asstsant Secretary Boucher
that he would propose selective mining of the border with
Afghanistan. Saying that it is too early to judge whether
the North Waziristan jirga agreement is a success, the
President reaffirmed the government's determination to
restore stability, halt creeping "talibanization" and cut-off
cross-border support for the insurgency in Afghanistan.
Although supportive of the concept of coordinated jirgas with
Afghanistan, he expressed frustration with President Karzai's
advocacy for a broad-based national gathering rather than
proceeding with event narrowly focused on the Pashtun tribal
lands along the Pak-Afghan border. Musharraf also noted
personal irritation that Karzai has not been proactive in
repatriating fugitive Balochi militant leader who the
Government of Pakistan asserts has safe haven in Kandahar.
The President believes that Pakistan and India have come to
agreement on texts resolving the Siachen Glacier and Sir
Creek disputes, but that the Indian side is not willing to
move forward. Looking toward the mid-November Composite
Dialogue talks in New Delhi, the President indicated that
Pakistan expects the new counterterrorism mechanism to serve
both Indian and Pakistani needs. President Musharraf pressed
for a bilateral Free Trade Agreement and was surprised to
hear that negotiations on a Bilateral Investment Treaty have
stalled. End summary.

FATA and Border Strategy
--------------

2. (S) When asked for his assessment of the situation in
Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the President opened by
saying that it is still too soon to judge whether the North
Waziristan Agency jirga agreement is working. We know that
cross-border insurgency continues, he offered as an example,
and that "talibanization" is continuing in the agency.
Despite challenges in implementing the agreement, Musharraf
said that the North West Frontier Province Governor and his
political agents must persevere, backing up the government's
insistence that all sides live up to their obligations with
force if necessary. Power must be restored to the civil and
tribal authorities (the political agents and maliks); the
Governor has the Frontier Corps and levies at his disposal to
ensure that this happens. We need to give it more time, he
concluded.


3. (S) The President characterized the October 30 air
strike against a madrassa-cum-militant training camp as a
good and necessary operation, even if it has prompted public
outcry and media criticism. The President sighed that the
media consistently misses the point that a serious terrorist
threat has been neutalized. Assistant Secretary Boucher
commended the Bajaur operation as a strong signal that
Pakistan is willing to take military action against militant
camps, a lesson that will not be lost on Taliban and other
extremist elements elsewhere in Pakistan. Musharraf agreed,
saying that Governor Orakzai emphasized the point by sending
a post-strike message to militants underscoring that the
government will strike training camps and support facilities
whenever they are discovered. The President also took heart
from the declaration of Bajaur tribal leaders in the days
before the strike that they too wanted to enter into a North
Waziristan-type agreement; it shows that many tribal members
are tired of the instability and trouble that these militants
have brought to their regions, Musharraf concluded.


4. (S) The President said that, at his meeting with the
Army Corps commandes later in the day, he intended to raise
the prospect of mining areas along the border to interdict
cross-border traffic by anti-Coalition militants. This is a
sensitive issue, as it would interfere with traditional
tribal easement rights, but one that the President indicated

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was necessary. Selective mining would help to channel
cross-border traffic to lawful monitored crossing points.
Both Assistant Secretary Boucher and Ambassador Crocker
stressed the need to ensure that minefields were properly
monitored to prevent resourceful enemy agents from digging up
the mines and deploying them against Pakistani, Afghan and
Coalition forces.


5. (C) Boucher briefed the President on developments in
Washington since his September meetings with President Bush
and other Administration leaders. The State Department and
other agencies have been working to identify funding to
support the government's strategy for the tribal areas;
although final numbers are not yet available, Boucher assured
the President that our support would be substantial.
Describing the findings of a feasibility study on
Reconstruction Opportunity Zones, Boucher noted that a
variety of potential products had been identified. President
Musharraf asked about the potential for developing new
industries in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and
acknowledged that the legislative adjustments to tarriff
rates give the zones concept a mid-term time horizon.

Jirgas and Afghanistan
--------------

6. (C) President Musharraf said that the jirgas proposed at
the September 27 trilateral dinner with Presidents Bush and
Karzai are a good idea, but that Karzai is diluting their
value by trying to pull everybody into the tent. Why should
Punjabis, Sindhis and Pahshiris be involved in a traditional
Pashtun gathering intended to resolve security threats in the
border regions, Musharraf asked. Musharraf described his
vision for these jirgas as instruments to bring peace to the
people in the border areas, by soliciting tribal support
against extremism and militancy. We need these cooperative
tribal leaders to guide us as we combat the Taliban and their
doctrines, he said. Boucher assured Musharraf that President
Karzai shared the same core goals, but proposed expanded
participation in order to give the tribal leaders the support
of the rest of Afghan nation. Confirming that the President
has tasked Governor Orakzai to coordinate a Pakistan jirga,
Boucher encouraged am early coordination meeting between
Orakzai and his to-be-named Afghan counterpart soon, before
Foreign Minister Kasuri and Foreign Minister Spanta meet in
December. He also reiterated Secretary Rice's offer of U.S.
support, saying that Washington would look to Kabul and
Islamabad for guidance on how the U.S. could best be helpful.


7. (S) Musharraf then shifted the discussion to what he
described as a particular irritant in his relations with
President Karzai. Musharraf said that, some weeks ago, he
has sent and Inter-Sevices Intelligence brigadier to Kabul
with specific information on the location of Baloch militant
Brahamdagh Bugti, who has absconded to Kandahar and is now in
Kabul; similar information had simultaneously been conveyed
through diplomatic channels. (Note: Brahamdagh is the
grandson of Balochi sardar Nawb Akbar Bugtu , who was killed
by the Pakistani military in August. End note.) In a
telephone call two weeks later, President Karzai professed
ignorance of the Pakistani request to repatriate Bugti.
Musharraf said that he told Karzai that either the Afghan
intelligence chief was withholding information from the
President or Karzai simply did not have the will to act on
the Pakistani information. As Musharraf warmed to his
topic, he alluded to Indian support to the rebellious Bugti
tribe, blaming both the Bugtis and Indian intelligence
agencies for a recent series of fatal bombings in Quetta and
telling Boucher that he has sigint to prove Indian
complicity. Musharraf accused India of deploying
intelligence resources from its Afghan consulates and
reconstruction projects. India needs to be told to stop
these activities immediately, Musharraf said, or else
Pakistan will be forced to take counter-measures. (Note:

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Musharraf said that the Director General - Inter-Services
Intelligence will raise this issues in his Washington
meetings this week, End note.) Boucher noted that the U.S.
felt that India has a role to play in Afghanistan's
reconstruction, but that its activities in Afghanistan must
be limited to reconstruction and humanitarian relief.

India
--------------

8. (C) President Musharraf said that Pakistan would raise
its concerns about Indian activities in Afghanistan and
Balochistan when the Indian and Pakistani Foreign Secretaries
meet in New Delhi next week for the Composite Dialogue.
Commenting on the counterterrorism mechanism that he and
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had endorsed in September,
Musharraf said that Pakistan is sincere in its offer to
assist India's investigation of the July Mumbai train
bombing. The counterrorism mechanism, however, must be a
two-way street; India must also be receptive to Pakistani
concerns. Reviewing the emerging picture of the Mumbai
bombing, which appears to be the responsibility of a domestic
Indian extremist entity and the Pakistan-based
Lashkar-e-Tayyba. Observing that Musharraf had banned
Laskhar-e-Tayyba in 2002, Boucher suggested that the
counterterrorism mechanism start from this point of
commonality, as Lashkar is clearly a threat to both
countries.


9. (S) Boucher sought the President's views on a Siachen
deal. We could sign a deal tomorrow, Musharraf said, and I
have said as much to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Musharraf asserted that a deal on Sir Creek was also within
grasp, saying that he had personally proposed an arrangement
that would declare the affected coastal areas a common zone
for joint exploitation by both countries. Saying that he
understands that Prime Minister Singh wants to accept
Pakistan's invitation to visit, Musharraf said that it is
important that a significant deliverable accompany the visit.

Economic Relationship
--------------


10. (C) In the course of the discussion on the tribal
areas, President Musharraf digressed to request that the U.S.
initiate negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement.
Stating that Pakistan must balance a growing trade deficit by
increasing exports in order to maintain its high growth rate,
the President pressed hard for liberalizing trade relations
with the U.S. (Note: Musharraf said that he had been told
that the U.S. was negotiating a free trade agreement with
Malaysia, suggesting that negotiations were also possible for
Pakistan, End note.) Ambassador Crocker noted that, from
the U.S. perspective, the appropriate order of business is to
conclude negotiations on a Bilateral Investment Treaty before
embarking on negotiations on a free trade agreement.
Unfortunately, the Ambassador continued, the bilateral
investment treaty negotiations have stalled, as the Pakistan
side wishes to revisit issues that American negotiators
thought resolved long ago. President Musharraf was surprised
to learn that the investment treaty talks had bogged down and
promised to look into the situation.


11. (U) SCA/Caitlin Hayden has cleared this cable.

CROCKER