The News Pakistan.
27/11/01

Pakistan Tidak Akan Sokong Serangan Darat Amerika

(Pakistan Says It Will Not Support US Ground Troops)

Oleh: Mariana Baabar

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan telah menyatakan Isnin lalu, dengan tegasnya, bahawa ia tidak menyokong pengerahan komando AS dan tentera yang telah mendarat di pangkalan udara Afghan di pinggir Kandahar pada 26 November.

'Dari awal dulu lagi Pakistan telah menyatakan bahawa ia tidak akan mengongsi bahan risikan, menyediakan pangkalan udara, ruang angkasa dan laluan untuk pesawat pasukan sekutu dan sokongan logistik kepada mereka. Kita tidak berganjak dalam perkara ini,' demikian kata General Rashid Qureshi, seorang jurucakap tentera, memberi taklimat kepada jabatan asing. Namun, katanya, Pakistan tidak akan menarik sokongannya terhadap A.S.

Dia telah menjawab soalan mengenai ratusan komando AS yang mendarat di pingir Kandahar. Lapuran media asing melapurkan kehadiran komando yang bertujuan memberi rangsangan 'psikologi' kepada puak Pushtun yang bersikap anti-Taliban, disamping usaha utama mereka - menangkap Osama bin Laden dan ahli jaringannya (Al-Qaeda), yang dipercayai masih berada di Kandahar.

Walau bagaimana pun, Qureshi berkata dia tidak dapat mengulas kenapa komando AS dikerahkan di pinggir Kandahar, kerana ia merupakan sebahagian taktik pasukan bersekutu. Sebelum itu, dia mengakui bahawa Pakistan tidak diberikan maklumat seperti ini.

Apabila disoal mengenai reaksi Pakistan terhadap penyusupan anggota al-Qaida ke wilayah Pakistan daripada sempadan Afghanistan, General itu berkata: 'Kami tegas dengan pendirian bahawa tidak ada pergerakan menyusupi Pakistan. Seandainya ada juga yang melakukannya, undang-undang akan menentukan hukumannya. Tindakan secukupnya telah dilaksanakan di sempadan, dan pemantauan sudah pun ditingkatkan. Askar biasa sudahpun dikerah untuk membantu pasukan yang lama bertugas di sempadan dan setiap laluan memang sentiasa diawasi.

Qureshi mengesahkan beberapa kawasan di Pakistan yang telah dibom oleh AS, tetapi tidak menyebabkan sebarang bencana. Apabila disoal kekerapan kawasan Pakistan yang kerap dibom, dia menjawab: 'Mereka bukannya sengaja menggugurkan bom itu di Pakistan. Ini adalah bom yang tersilap sasarannya, setakat sepuluh ela di luar kawasan Afghanistan.'

Namun, Pakistan dijangka membangkitkannya dengan rakan sekutunya. 'Kami memang sentiasa berhubungan dengan rakan sekutu. Kami harap perkara ini akan diambil kira,' katanya. Apabila disoal lagi, dia menjawab tidak mungkin sebarang pengeboman itu akan menjejaskan bangunan strategik Pakistan.

Jurucakap Jabatan Luar berkata apabila disoal, bahawa Pakistan telah pun mengemukakan beberapa soalan kepada ICRC (Palang Merah Antarabangsa) dan PBB mengenai pembunuhan terbaru di Mazar-e-Sharif yang melibatkan ramai warga Pakistan.

'Kami telah menyatakan bahwa tahanan perang harus dihormati mengikut undang-undang sejagat. Inilah yang ditekankan Majlis keselamatan PBB. Tetapi kita tidak ada butiran lanjut insiden itu. Kami telah meminta ICRC dan PBB menhyelidik apakah ada warga Pakistan yang terbabit dan kami mahukan butirannya,' kata Khan. Ditanya apakah ada pertemuan dengan Pakatan Utara secara rasmi ataupun tidak, Khan berkata tidak ada sebarang pertemuan yang pernah dilaksanakan.

'Namun kami mempunyai hati terbuka untuk perjumpaan seperti ini dengan semua pihak Afghan. Saya pernah bermesyuarat dengan semua pimimpin Pakatan Utgara empat tahun dulu, dan kami memang berhubungan dengan semua pihak. Ada segelintir pemimpin munafik Pakatan Utara itu seperti Haji Qadeer dan yang kini berada di Bonn datang ke Pakistan walaupun kami tidak bermesyuarat dengan mereka,' kata Khan.

Apabila ditanya apakah yang diharapkan oleh Pakistan dalam pertemuan di Bonn, Khan telah menjawab: 'Keamanan di Afghanistan adalah satu pertanda baik untuk Pakistan. Kami idamkan satu kerajaan peralihan yang stabil secepat mungkin, yang akan menyekat penghijrahan pelarian manusia di negara ini. Apabila berlaku pemulihan dan pembangunan semula, tiga juta pelarian di sini tentu akan pulang semula.'

Khan telah menyebut Lakhdar Brahimi (wakil PBB) pernah berunding dengan Pakistan mengenai persidangan Bon ketika dia berbincang panjang di Islamabad. 'PBB telah menghantar jemputan mereka secara terus,' katanya kepada satu soalan. Khan juga berkata harapan Pakistan agar persidangan itu mencapai kejayaan dan memberikan peluang kepada orang Afghan.

'Mereka seharusnya melupakan segala perselisihan lama yang menjerumuskan Afghanistan. Mengikut resolusi PBB, sebuah kerajaan yang melibatkan semua kaum diperlukan untuk menjadi asas hasil kejayaan,' katanya. Menyentuh perwakilan Pashtun di Bonn, Khan berkata tidak pun ada sebarang bancian untuk satu waktu yang lama tetapi mengikut taksiran, terdapat antara 55 hingga 60% Pashtuns dan 15-20 persen Tajik dan kumpulan yang lain.

'Semua kumpulan etnik seharusnya berpuashati dengan persidangan itu seperti juga dengan kerajaan yang baru nanti,' katanya. Apabila ditanya apakah Pakistan berpuashati dengan perwakilan Pashtun di Bonn, Khan berkata bahawa Islamabad tidak mempunyai senarai nama mereka yang bersidang, kerana PBB akan mengeluarkan nama-nama perwakilan itu semua. 'Hanya selepas itu kami dapat berkat apa-apa samada ia mencukupi ataupun tidak. Tidak perlu kita bersikap pessimis kerana masyarakat antarabangsa menyokongnya,' kata beliau. Sambil membuat komen pertemuan di Islamabad pada hari Selasa ini, Khan berkata bahwa persidangan mengenai pembangunan-semula itu telah ditaja oleh Bank Dunia.

Tamat.

Terjemahan: SPAR

Asal:

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/
nov2001-daily/27-11-2001/main/main6.htm

Pakistan not to support ground troops

By Mariana Baabar

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday said, in very categorical terms, it will not support US marines or other ground troops which landed at an Afghan airbase near Kandahar on Nov 26.

"Pakistan has made it clear from the beginning it will only share intelligence, provide air bases, air space and some corridors for the coalition airplanes and some logistic support. We do not go beyond this," General Rashid Qureshi, the military spokesman, told a regular Foreign Office briefing. He, however, said Pakistan will not withdraw this support to the US forces.

He was replying to a query on the landing of hundreds of US marines near Kandahar. Foreign media reports suggests the presence of marines will give a "psychological" boost to the Pushtun anti-Taliban tribals, besides pursuing their main task -- capturing bin Laden and members of his al-Qaeda network, believed to be in Kandahar.

However, Qureshi said he could not comment on why the US marines were mobilized near Kandahar, as these were a part of the tactical plans of the coalition forces. Previously, he had admitted Pakistan was not privy to this information.

To a question on Pakistan's response to the border-crossing by any al-Qaeda men, the General said: "We are secure in our knowledge; that there will be no movement inside Pakistan. If some (al-Qaeda members) do come here, they will be proceeded against by law. Adequate measures have been taken at the borders; and security has been beefed up. There is intense patrolling and regular army troops are supplementing the forces there, and all routes are being monitored."

Qureshi confirmed that some areas on the Pakistan side of the border were hit by US bombs, but there had been no damage of any consequence. To a question that the US bombings of Pakistan territories had become quite frequent, Qureshi replied: "They are not dropping bombs on Pakistan by design. These are stray bombs which have landed ten yards off Afghanistan".

However, he said that Pakistan would be taking up this issue with its coalition partners. "We are in constant touch with our coalition partners. We expect this will be taken into account also," he said. To another query, he said there was no chance of these bombings hitting Pakistan's strategic installations.

Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Khan, to a question, said that Pakistan had asked the ICRC and the UN about the recent killings in Mazar-e-Sharif in which hundreds of Pakistanis are reported dead.

"We have maintained that these prisoners-of-war should be treated under the international law. This has been emphasised by the UN Security Council resolution also. But we have no details of these incidents. We have asked the ICRC and the UN to find out if there are any Pakistanis and we want details of these," Khan said. To a query about official or non-official meetings between the Northern Alliance and Islamabad, Khan said not a single meeting had been held as yet.

"But we are open to such meetings if there is a chance. We have an open mind about all Afghan groups. I have met all leaders in the Northern Alliance about four years ago. We were four years ago in constant touch with both sides. There are still contacts with some. Some Northern Alliance leaders like Haji Qadeer and others going to Bonn came to Pakistan but we did not have any meetings with them," Khan said.

When asked what Pakistan expected of the Afghan meeting in Bonn, Khan replied: "Peace inside Afghanistan is a good indication for Pakistan. We want a stable transitional arrangement, as quickly as possible, which would ensure that no more displaced people would come here. With reconstruction and rehabilitation, the three million refugees here would start returning."

Khan said that Lakhdar Brahimi consulted Pakistan on the Bonn meeting when he had wide-ranging talks in Islamabad. "Invitations by the UN to the Afghans have been sent directly," he told a questioner. Khan said it was Pakistan's earnest hope and that of the international community that this meeting would be meaningful and the Afghans will give peace a chance.

"They should forget past differences which kept Afghanistan in turmoil. Under the UN resolution, an interim transitional broad-based and multi-ethnic government is needed for a permanent solution," he said. On the representation of the Pashtuns at Bonn, Khan said there had been no census for a very long time but some estimates say that there are about 55 to 60% Pashtuns and 15-20 per cent Tajiks and other groups.