VERBAL ATTACKS BY AFGHAN PRESIDENT WEARING ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 022479

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2016
TAGS: AF MOPS PK PREL PTER
SUBJECT: VERBAL ATTACKS BY AFGHAN PRESIDENT WEARING ON
PAKISTANI NERVES

REF: ISLAMABAD

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


1. (U) Summary: A series of public statements by Afghan
President Karzai accusing Pakistan of fomenting instability
and violence in Afghanistan have deeply irritated Pakistani
officials and popular opinion generally. Although official
statements in response have thus far been restrained,
Pakistani patience with Karzai's verbal assaults is very
thin. End summary.


2. (U) A steady stream of media reports over the past week
quoting President Karzai's negative public remarks about
Pakistan are seriously testing the patience of Pakistani
officials, from President Musharraf on down. Pakistani media
has widely covered -- and deplored -- President Karzai's
inflammatory statements, including that Pakistan seeks to
enslave Afghanistan; that a spate of suicide bombings were
intended to intimidate Karzai in advance of Pakistani Foreign
Minister Kasuri's December 7-9 visit to Kabul; that the
government of Pakistan is responsible for "tyranny" against
the Afghan people; that that Pakistan is "more than a boss to
the Taliban"; etc.


3. (U) To date, Pakistani officials have exercised
restraint in their public response. President Musharraf,
speaking following a December 14 meeting with the Norwegian
Foreign Minister, expressed concern for the law and order
situation in Afghanistan, calling on the international
community to ensure peace and stability in the country; he
then noted that Pakistan is cooperating with the Afghan
government to the extent possible, regretting that Kabul
responds by blaming Pakistan for interference and creating
instability. Taking questions from journalists on December
13, Foreign Minister Kasuri refused to comment on Karzai's
statement that Pakistan is the boss of the Taliban, urging
instead that Kabul speak to Islamabad directly, rather than
through the media. In a November 13 PTV interview, MFA
Spokesperson Tasneem Aslam suggested that President Karzai
should focus his attention on solving internal problems
instead of leveling baseless accusations against Pakistan,
observing that peace in Afghanistan is in the interest of
Pakistan. At a December 14 seminar on Pak-Afghan relations,
Senator and PML General Secretary Mushahid Hussain Sayed
called on Afghanistan to end the blame game. Other
conference participants -- drawn from parliament, civil
society and senior editors -- argued that both countries
should resolve this differences directly. Even the editor of
Pakistan's leading (and independent) Pashtun-language current
affairs show told poloff that he was furious over President
Karzai's insults, condemning the comments as "un-Pashtun."


4. (C) The moderated tone of these Pakistani officials
cloaks a deeper, potentially destructive frustration with the
readiness with which Karzai has resorted to accusing Pakistan
of hostile intentions towards its neighbor. In a December 13
briefing to EU diplomats on his Kabul visit, Foreign Minister
Kasuri suggested that he might have been inclined to consider
agreeing to Pakistani participation in President Karzai's
envisioned national unity jirga (reftel) -- an event many
Pakistani officials have dismissed as little more than a
photo op -- but for President Karzai's incendiary accusations
following Kasuri's return to Islamabad. National Security
Advisor Tariq Aziz told the Ambassador on December 14 that he
and Presidential Chief of Staff Hamid Javaid have counseled
an infuriated President Musharraf to not to respond to
Karzai's comments in kind. The President has heeded their

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guidance thus far, but according to Aziz, Musharraf's temper
makes a retaliatory salvo increasingly likely. The
Ambassador stressed the importance of continued restraint.


5. (C) Comment: Karzai's critical remarks -- however well
received by Afghan audiences -- have a highly corrosive
effect here. Ironically, anger over criticism from Karzai
seems to be one of the very few issues on which Pakistanis
seem to be united. The normally sharply divided and
fractious Pakistani media has been virtually unanimous in its
condemnation of Karzai's comments. None of it helps our
efforts to promote cross-border initiatives to build trust
and normalize relations between these two neighbors --
parallel jirgas, parliamentary exchanges, cooperation on
border security, etc.
CROCKER