FOREIGN MINISTER DENIES PREDICTING NATO FAILURE IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 022251

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2016
TAGS: AF PK PREL NATO
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER DENIES PREDICTING NATO FAILURE IN
AFGHANISTAN

REF: A. KABUL 05625


B. CROCKER-NORLAND EMAIL 29 NOV 2006

C. GRENCIK-NORLAND EMAIL 29 NOV 2006

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


1. (U) Following a November 29 press account (reftel) that
described Pakistani Foreign Minister Khushid Kasuri as
privately telling visiting foreign ministers of NATO member
states that the Taliban is winning in Afghanistan and
advising NATO members from sending in more troops, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) issued a November 30 press
statement categorically denying that the Minister had ever
conveyed such a message. The MFA statement, reproduced in
full below, said that the Minister has consistently presented
Pakistan's long-held position that a comprehensive strategy
-- military, economic and political -- is necessary to
resolve Afghanistan's problems. According to MFA (Americas)
Director General Sohail Mahmood, in addition to the MFA
statement, Pakistan's High Commissioner in London has written
to the editors of the "Daily Telegraph" challenging the
accuracy of press report. The MFA Spokesperson also
responded strongly to a statement by the Afghan Foreign
Ministry that Pakistan has told NATO officials that the
Taliban should be included in a new government, denying that
statement and rejecting the Afghan Ministry's claim that
Pakistan is interferring in Afghanistan's internal affairs.


2. (SBU) In a November 29 conversation with the Ambassador,
FM Kasuri was equally forceful, saying that he has never
described ISAF as a failed mission, discouraged NATO members
from giving their full support to ISAF or implied that the
Government of Pakistan (GOP) was seeking a new government
coalition in Kabul that would exclude President Karzai. To
the contrary, Kasuri said, the GOP supports President Karzai
and the elected government of Afghanistan as the only
legitimate government of Afghanistan; building a stable and
secure Afghanistan, he concluded, can only serve the national
interest of Pakistan.


3. (SBU) During a November 30 meeting, Foreign Secretary
Riaz Khan also told the Ambassador that the "Daily Telegraph"
report was dead wrong with regard to the remarks attributed
to the Foreign Minister. As to comments the "Daily
Telegraph" attributed to the Governor of North West Frontier
Province suggesting that Britain's long history of military
encounters in Afghanistan should have led it to think twice
before assuming command of the ISAF mission, ForSec Khan
suggested that Governor Orakzai was responding in kind to
public complaints by Afghan and NATO member state officials
that Pakistan is not doing enough to stop the Taliban
insurgency. (Note: Orakzai's comments, reflecting a
negative assessment of developments in Aghanistan, were
widely reported in the local press November 25-26. End
note.) Khan concluded by quoting President Musharraf's
observation to UK PM Blair that Afghanistan's problems will
be solved in Afghanistan, not in Pakistan.


4. (C) The Ambassador took the opportunity presented by the
ForSec's clarification to underscore the importance of GWOT
partners not succumbing to the blame game. Noting that he
had called upon Governor Orakzai in Peshawar the day before,
the Ambassador said that he had told the Governor that the
USG has its own concerns and frustrations over the
implementation of the North Waziristan agreement, but that we
convey our views directly and quietly, without going to the
press. We would appreciate the same consideration from our
Pakistani partners, the Ambassador concluded, noting in
closing that the only party to benefit from this public
sniping is our common enemy. The ForSec agreed that the U.S.
has been circumspect in sharing its concerns to the GOP, but
that the same could not be said of officials of other
NATO/ISAF member states.

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5. (C) Comment: Post has contacted other NATO member
missions who have hosted high-level visits to Islamabad in
the past month (e.g., UK, the Netherlands, Hungary); all
confirmed that FM Kasuri had not/not said anything
approaching the remarks attributed to him in the "Daily
Telegraph" article. Despite this universal confirmation by
diplomats who have recently met the Foreign Minister that
remarks such as these are simply not in Kasuri's repetoire,
post has been dismayed to find colleagues from NATO member
missions who accepted the accuracy of the reporting without
question. To some extent, this is due to the popularity and
prestige of the reporter -- Ahmed Rashid, a well-respected
chonrincleer of the Afghan wars and a vocal critic of
President Musharraf -- within Islamabad's diplomatic
community. This is not the first time that Post has noted
inaccuracies in Rashid's reporting; it is deeply unfortunate
the this latest report has frayed the incipient bonds of
trust between Islamabad and Kabul.


6. (U) November 30 MFA press statement:

(Begin text) The Daily Times of 30 November 2005 has quoted
some remarks attributed to the Foreign Minister by the Daily
Telegraph. The Foreign MInister's comments have been
distorted and misrepresented. The Foreign Minister did not
say that the Taliban were winning the war in Afghanistan and
NATO was bound to fail nor has he advised any country against
sending more troops. The Foreign Minister had only
reiterated what Pakistan has been stressing all along - the
need for a comprehensive strategy. The Foreign Minister had
emphasized that military approach alone would not resolve the
problem in Afghanistan. It must be combined with political
and ecomic approach. The international community must
encourage national reconciliation and undertake an extensive
reconstruction programme for South and Southeast Afghanistan
in addition to what it is being done for the rest of
Afghanistan and address the problem of narcotics.

CROCKER