PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF MEETS WITH CODELS REYES AND

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 ISLAMABAD 001517

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/02/2017
TAGS: PGOV PK PREL
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF MEETS WITH CODELS REYES AND
TIERNEY

Classified By: Charge Peter Bodde 1.5 (b),(d).


1. (U) Codel Reyes -- Congressman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX);
Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ); and Congressman Darrel Issa
(R-CA) -- and Codel Tierney -- Congressman John Tierney
(D-MA); Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN); Congressman
George Miller (D-CA); and Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC)
-- called on President Musharraf on April 3.

FIGHTING THE TALIBAN AND AQ


2. (S/NF) Answering a question from Congressman Tierney,
Musharraf acknowledged that the Taliban were active on the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border and that al Qaeda was operating
in North and South Waziristan and in Bajaur. The President
explained that the population of the Waziristans was less
than one percent of the entire population of Pakistan, and
that the Waziristans were the most remote part of the
country. He also noted that Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden
were probably in a remote area of Bajaur or across the border
in Afghanistan staying with Hekmatyar sympathizers. Several
times during the meeting, Musharraf stressed his commitment
to working with the U.S. to find both men.


3. (S/NF) Musharraf was frustrated by Western and Afghan
criticism of Pakistan's efforts on the Afghan border. He
reviewed some of the challenges to securing the border,
including high mountains and almost no road network. In an
attempt to address some of those challenges, Pakistan was
fencing some parts of the border and was reinforcing military
operations in the region.


4. (C) Musharraf complained that some Western commentators
seemed to think that the Taliban were generally Pakistani, or
that the core of the Taliban's support was in Pakistan.
Musharraf noted that the militants fighting the Coalition
were largely Afghans, and that the Taliban's strength was in
Afghanistan. He reminded the representatives that, during
the 1990s, Mullah Omar and the Taliban had controlled 90
percent of Afghanistan. He said that the same Taliban
elements who had defeated Turks, Uzbeks, and other Northern
Alliance members were still in Afghanistan and were the core
of the forces fighting the Coalition. He said that even if
Taliban militants were not crossing from Pakistan, Afghan
Pashtuns who had supported and fought with the Taliban
through the 1990s would be fighting against the Coalition.


5. (S/NF) Musharraf acknowledged that Taliban militants had
sympathizers in Pakistan who were hiding them, providing
medical help, and supporting them in other ways. Pakistan
was committed to choking off support from Pakistan to the
Taliban. He particularly mentioned shutting down training
camps for suicide bombers. That said, Musharraf emphasized
that ISAF had to root out the core of the Taliban in
Afghanistan.

RECENT ANTI-MILITANT ACTIONS


6. (S/NF) According to Musharraf, the Government had been
encouraging schisms between foreigners living in FATA and the
local population. As a result, local tribesmen had so far
killed 250 Uzbeks in South Waziristan. The government was
providing clandestine support to the locals, including
artillery fire. A large group of Uzbeks were trapped on a
ridge near Wana, surrounded by local militias, according to
the President.


7. (S/NF) Musharraf reported that the government was
working to create enmity between locals and foreigners in
North Waziristan. "I think Al Qaeda will be on the run.
They are already on the run," said the President.

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8. (S/NF) The President noted that the Pakistan Military
recently re-deployed two brigades from the Indian border to
the Waziristans, including into the Mir Ali area, where he
said "big wigs" were hiding. He said the Pakistan Military
had "sealed off" Mir Ali.

FATA POLITICAL AGREEMENTS


9. (C) Musharraf admitted the North Waziristan jirga
agreement had, so far, been 30-50 percent successful. He
said that implementation difficulties did not necessarily
mean the agreement had been a bad one. "Military action will
not work," he noted, stressing the need for political
solutions as part of an overall strategy. No agreement would
provide 100 percent results, but that truth was not a reason
to dispense with political agreements. According to the
President, the government was continuing to appeal to Pashtun
honor in upholding the agreement. He believed the appeal to
honor would eventually bear greater fruit.


10. (C) On the recently reported Bajaur undertaking,
Musharraf stressed that Bajaur elders had approached the
government with an offer or "undertaking" to attempt to
control militant activity, not the other way around. He
believed the efforts of the elders were a good sign and
should be considered.

TALIBAN IN QUETTA


11. (S/NF) Congressman Tierney asked about the security
situation in Quetta. Musharraf explained that, of four
important Taliban commanders, three were Afghans who moved
back and forth across the border. He believed Mullah Omar
had not been in Pakistan since he was a teenager. Musharraf
reported that U.S. and Pakistani intelligence agencies were
tracking Mullah Omar, along with Dadullah Lang and Haqqani.
The one Pakistani militant leader -- Baitullah Mehsud -- was
in South Waziristan. He said that Baitullah Mehsud was
encouraging suicide attacks, including against Pakistan
military targets. "We must get him. We will get him,"
promised Musharraf.

AFGHAN REFUGEES


12. (C) Musharraf said that there were no "local" Taliban
in Balochistan. He said the Taliban there were all Afghan
refugees. The refugee camps were a continuing security
problem, noted Musharraf. He emphasized Pakistan's desire to
close camps and to encourage refugees to repatriate.

FATA DEVELOPMENT


13. (C) Musharraf reported that his government had already
provided USD 100 million for FATA development. He said he
was working to strengthen political agents and the FATA
Development Authority in order to enable further development
efforts. He was also working on improving the capacity of
the Frontier Corps and the Levies (tribal police) to support
the political agents.

EXTREMISM


14. (C) Musharraf described Pakistan's political future as
a tussle between moderates and extremists. He was convinced
the "people" -- particularly the rural masses who made up 60
percent of Pakistan's population and with whom Western
observers seldom interacted -- would defeat extremism. He
predicted that in the next election, moderate parties would
prevail throughout Pakistan, including in the NWFP and
Balochistan. (Note: The religious parties currently control

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the NWFP government and are part of the ruling coalition in
Balochistan. End Note.) Musharraf explained that religious
parties had done better than expected in the last election
because of public sentiment against the U.S. actions in
Afghanistan, but that the NWFP and Balochistan populations
were disenchanted with the actions of the religious parties
since they assumed power.

ELECTIONS


15. (C) In responding to a question from Congressman
Miller, Musharraf promised that the coming general election
would be fair and "totally transparent." Musharraf cautioned
the codels not to confuse partisan campaign tactics with
factual complaints about the election system. While it was
true that both his supporters and detractors were complaining
about names being struck off the voter roles, the voter
registration project was designed to end historic patterns of
fraud, where some people would have 10 identification cards
and vote 10 times. He said the government had already issued
50 million new fraud-proof identification cards, and that
anyone with a card could appear at any election commission
site to register to vote.

DEMOCRACY


16. (C) Democracy was more than just elections, said
Musharraf. He had introduced true democracy to Pakistan by
establishing democratically elected local governance systems
that gave the population experience in representative
democracy. He had created guaranteed women's seats at the
local council and National Assembly level, and had guaranteed
religious minority representation at numbers greater than
their percentage of the population. In 1999, Pakistan
offered one television channel; today, the population could
access 43 stations. The press, he noted, was free.


17. (C) He had created an independent election commission
and had invited all political parties to nominate
commissioners. The opposition had failed to nominate anyone.
He had created a National Security Council including
provincial, national, and senior military representatives to
encourage healthier cooperation between civilians and the
military and to try to prevent the kinds of stresses that
have led in the past to coups d'etat.


18. (C) Musharraf agreed with several members of Congress
that Pakistani political parties lacked internal democracy.
He said he had tried to encourage more democratic structures
in political parties, but noted he had not met with success.
When asked about the potential return of Benazir Bhutto or
Nawaz Sharif, Musharraf demurred.

THE UNIFORM


19. (C) Answering pointed questions about whether he would
remove his uniform before the next election, the President
responded that he would make a final decision on the issue
closer to the election. That said, Musharraf emphasized that
the electoral assembly would vote freely on who would be the
next President whether or not he was wearing his uniform.
Musharraf also explained that his uniform had allowed him to
ensure prompt reaction to the earthquake; had enabled
military action in FATA; and expedited military responses to
infrastructure emergencies like failed bridges.
Historically, he said, civilian governments had much slower
and more cumbersome responses from the military.





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