PRESIDENT KARZAI ON EXPECTATIONS FOR THE ANKARA

C O N F I D E N T I A L KABUL 001454 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/FO DAS GASTRIGHT NSC PASS FOR AHARRIMAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PK TU AF SUBJECT: PRESIDENT KARZAI ON EXPECTATIONS FOR THE ANKARA TRILATERAL AND PAKISTAN BORDER ISSUES REF: A. STATE 54917 ¶B. ANKARA 986 ¶C. KABUL 1345 Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). ¶1. (C) Ambassador used April 27 meeting with Karzai and CENTCOM CG Admiral Fallon to preview the upcoming trilateral with President Musharraf in Ankara. The Ambassador presented Ref A suggestions on ways to achieve a productive exchange. ¶2. (C) Karzai had a press conference on the Ankara meeting as Fallon and the Ambassador were arriving for the meeting, proving an opportunity to raise Afghan-Pak issues. The bottom line result was a good discussion, no fireworks -- but probably no progress either. Karzai had read Musharraf's latest public pronouncement and said he deliberately had taken a more conciliatory line in his press statement. Both Fallon and the Ambassador pressed Karzai to make progress in Ankara, along lines in Ref A. Political Dimensions of the Border Dispute -------------- ¶3. (C) Privately, the Ambassador told Karzai that his border problems with Pakistan were interfering with his security and commercial interests and that he needed to find a way to neutralize the issue -- not solve it, but neutralize it. The Ambassador suggested giving the problem to the non-legal, non-binding OIC to study. This could be done with the proviso that no step taken after 2002 could be included in their findings, so as to open the door to no-risk, on-the-ground solutions now. He looked thoughtful, but didn't bite. His real concern is the pressure he is under from the Pashtuns on the Pak side, who are determined not to be cut adrift by a border decison. The press here is vocally anti-Pakistan. Public Conciliatory Note -------------- ¶4. (U) In public remarks on April 27 at the Afghan Development Forum in Kabul, Karzai sounded a conciliatory note with respect to Pakistan. Referring to the April 26 suicide bombing attack on Pakistani Interior Minister Sherpao, Karzai criticized the attack, said he ahd attempted to reach out by telephone to contact Sherpao last evening, and pointed to the common enemy faced by Afghanistan and Pakistan in terms of Taliban extremists. With Ankara in mind, he clearly made a concerted effort to take the high road given recent Pakistani-Afghan verbal jousts. WOOD