U.S. military strike in Pakistan kills Al Qaeda weapons expert

[Guest guest]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0729/p99s01-duts.html

U.S. military strike in Pakistan kills Al Qaeda weapons expert

The attack has raised concerns in Pakistan about the United States'

increased willingness to take unilateral action in the war on terror.

By Montero

from the July 30, 2008 edition

An unmanned US predator drone killed a top Al Qaeda operative Monday

inside Pakistan's tribal belt, even as Pakistan's newly elected prime

minister made his first visit to Washington to discuss the war on

terrorists with President Bush. The timing of the two events suggests

that, as Pakistan's government struggles to form a coherent counter-

terrorism strategy, the Bush administration is determined to take

matters into its own hands.

Monday's strike is said to have targeted one of Al Qaeda's top weapon

makers, an Egyptian national, according to the Dawn, a leading

Pakistani English-language newspaper.

A missile apparently fired from a Predator drone killed at least six

people on Monday in a compound in South Waziristan, near the Afghan

border.

A security official said the strike might have killed a senior Al

Qaeda trainer known for his expertise in chemicals. The official put

the death toll at 12.

" Our report suggests that the missile strike might have killed Abu

Khabab Al Misri. But it remains unconfirmed, " the official cautioned.

The 55-year-old Midhat Mursi As-Sayid Umar alias Abu Khabab was

earlier reported to have been killed in a US missile strike in

Bajaur's Damadola area in Jan 2006. However, later reports showed

that he was not among those killed.

A report in the Los Angeles Times says that the United States acted

on its own in carrying out the strike, a break from protocol.

In the past, Pakistani authorities have sometimes aided in or carried

out the reported capture or killing of a senior Islamic militant at

around the time of such meetings.

But another, senior American official said that, in this case, the

strike was a " strictly unilateral " one by the U.S. without any

assistance from Pakistan. It was merely coincidental that it

overlapped with Gillani's visit, the official said.

If true, the US's willingness to take unilateral action is part of a

growing pattern that is causing a rift between Pakistani and American

officials, reports The Daily Times, another Pakistani newspaper.

Repeated United States missile strikes in Pakistan can harm relations

between the two countries, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee

General Tariq Majid told a visiting US commander on

Monday. " Expressing concern over repeated cross-border missile

attacks/firing by coalition and Afghan forces, General Tariq said

that our sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected, " an

[inter-Services Public Relations] statement quoted Tariq as telling

Acting CENTCOM chief Lieutenant General Dempsey. " Any

violation in this regard could be detrimental to bilateral

relations, " it added.

The strike came as Mr. Bush met for the first time with Pakistan's

new Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Pakistan's civilian

government, which was elected in February through democratic

elections, has struggled in its first 100 days of office to form a

counter-terrorism strategy that appeases both its citizens and the

West, according to an opinion piece in The Daily Times.

[The elected governments in Islamabad and Peshawar] are going through

a learning process and their socialisation with the realities of

world politics and a comprehension of the security situation on the

border may take some time. It is difficult to say whether they will

stick to the template they inherited from Pervez Musharraf or

redefine Pakistan's strategic partnership with US.

Earlier this month, The Christian Science Monitor reported that the

Pakistani government was opting for a two-pronged approach to tackle

militancy in the region.

" What we have is a government in which there is still no consensus "

on how to deal with the militants, says Ansar Abbasi, an editor with

The News, a national English daily. " The new government couldn't

possibly have followed [President Pervez] Musharraf's game plan, " he

says, so it is now simultaneously offering the olive branch and

wielding the stick....

The Army ... is not being given clear instructions or a mandate from

the government, which seems to lack direction in the face of a

multifaceted challenge.

For now, the government has taken the controversial tack of

negotiating with Taliban militants who reside on the country's border

with Afghanistan. But Washington says that negotiations have allowed

the Taliban and Al Qaeda to regroup, The New York Times reports.

Senior American officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza

Rice just three days ago, publicly scolded Pakistan for not doing

more to root out safe havens like the one bombed on Monday in Azam

Warsak, a village in South Waziristan near the Afghan border.

Last week, The New York Times also reported that many in Pakistan

fear that the Predator drone attacks are a prelude to a large,

unilateral attack.

Strong suggestions by the United States that it could resort to

unilateral intervention against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan

are generating increasing anxiety in the Pakistani press and among

government officials, who warn that such an action could backfire.

Over the last week, the Pakistani press has been filled with

commentaries warning that American attacks without Pakistan's

permission would further inflame anti-American sentiment, drive more

people into the camp of the militants and fatally undermine the

already fragile civilian government. Privately, one senior government

official said American strikes would produce " chaos. "

During his visit to the White House yesterday, Mr. Gilani is said to

have reassured Bush that Pakistan is willing to continue the fights

against extremists, The Washington Post reports.

During meetings between the two leaders, Gilani secured a pledge from

Bush to respect Pakistan's sovereignty, in exchange for promises from

Islamabad to increase efforts against insurgents.

But the Post adds that:

Later, in an interview with CNN Gilani was asked whether the missile

strike was a violation of Pakistani sovereignty. " Certainly, " he

said, adding, " There should be more cooperation on the intelligence

side, so that when there is a credible and actionable information

given to us, we will hit ourselves. "

The Christian Science Monitor reported on Friday that the outcome of

Gilani's visit would be critical.

The visit by Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to the

White House Monday will set the course of what will be one of the

United States' most critical and complex bilateral relationships in

the coming years.

But Mr. Gilani's visit also has an aura of urgency in Washington – a

sense that Pakistan and its relationship with the US cannot simply

coast through the final six months of the Bush presidency. The prime

minister's hold on power since the February elections that swept him

into office is fragile, and deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan

are focusing increased attention on the Pakistan factor in the war

there.