Terrorist ties
October 3, 2011
Relations between the Afghan government and Islamabad have plunged to a further low after Kabul categorically accused Pakistan of being involved with Burhanuddin Rabbani's murder. Rabbani had been head of the Afghan Peace Council, a body set up to mediate between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
'A great friend'
Pakistan's foreign office's spokesperson Tehmina Janjua has rejected the claims that her country's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, the ISI, had orchestrated Rabbani's murder.
A statement released by the Pakistan foreign office said that "proof" of Rabbani's assassination provided to Islamabad by the Afghan government was "insufficient" and "baseless." She also paid tribute to the former president, saying: "Rabbani was Pakistan's great friend and was well-respected in the country. He also lived in Pakistan for a long time, and had many good friends."
Top US and Afghan officials have accused the ISI of involvement in a series of attacks in Kabul, including the attack on the US embassy in the Afghan capital last month. Washington, in particular, has accused the militant Haqqani Network for sabotaging peace efforts in Afghanistan, and claims that the group is backed by the ISI.
Former Pakistani Foreign Secretary Tanveer Ahmed Khan told DW correspondent Shakoor Rahim in Islamabad that relations between Pakistan and the US were likely to remain tense for some time. "The US wants to see a bigger role for India in the region. In order to achieve that goal, it wants Pakistan to abandon its India-centric approach. Therefore, there will be good and bad times between the US and Pakistan. It is not an easy relation," opined Khan.
Haqqani says ISI not involved
Haqqani Network's operational commander Siraj Haqqani is reported to have said that ISI had nothing to do with Rabbani's murder. "We haven't killed Burhanuddin Rabbani and this has been said many times by the spokespersons of the Islamic Emirate," said Haqqani.
Yet many Afghanistan experts maintain that Haqqanis are Islamabad's favorites, and the ISI uses them as a bargain tool for its influence in Afghanistan.
Conrad Schetter, an Afghanistan expert at Bonn University's Center for Development Research, believes the ties between the ISI and Haqqani Network are still strong. "ISI supported the Haqqani group in the 1980s in its fight against the Red Army in Afghanistan. The Haqqani Network has proven to be a very loyal and reliable partner to ISI ever since. Today the Pakistani government supports the Haqqani Network so it can attain its goals in Afghanistan," Schetter told DW.
Islamabad says it is in contact with the Haqqanis but that it does not support the group. Pakistani officials have repeatedly said that they are committed to fighting the international "War on Terror."
Author: Shamil Shams (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Sarah Berning