By IANS
Islamabad : The presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan will Thursday jointly open a meeting of tribal leaders from their two countries in Kabul, with analysts predicting that nothing may come out of the exercise.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and his host, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, will declare open the jirga aimed at improving bilateral relations and evolving a policy to “deny sanctuaries, training and financing to terrorist elements” on each other’s soil.
But Pakistani media reports said that there was opposition to the Aug 9-11 meeting, from both sides of the border.
The move had been made with “pessimism upstaging optimism about the event’s success”, the Daily Times said Wednesday.
Pakistani officials accuse the Afghan government of suffering from “ISI phobia”, a reference to the powerful Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) that is said to support Taliban rebels battling the joint forces of the Karzai government and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
“Like their Pakistani counterparts, Afghan officials in Kabul are under the impression that the jirga is unlikely to end with significant results as almost all (Pakistani delegation) members have been chosen by ISI,” the daily said.
Tribal elders, especially those in Pakistan’s North and South Waziristan, have warned of dire consequences to anyone who participates or cooperates with the jirga.
According to an official, the elders have declared that the house of any resident of Waziristan who takes part would be burnt along with a penalty of Rs.1 million (approx $17,000).
Leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, has excused himself from attending along with several key politicians and lawmakers representing Pakistan’s tribal areas.
The tribal leaders’ warnings seem to have had an impact on officials in the delegation too — a truncated Pakistani delegation left for Kabul on Tuesday, without Ayaz Wazir, director general of the Afghanistan desk in the foreign office and another official who was not named.
Deputy director Tariq Wazir was included on the team instead. Reporting this Wednesday, The News called it “a surprise move”.
“The director general has been stopped from departing to Kabul on advice of the Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan,” an official said. “The decision to send Deputy Director at Afghan Desk Tariq Wazir to Kabul has also been withdrawn,” said the official, who did not want to be identified.
The Pakistani delegation includes Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, NWFP Governor Lt. Gen. (retd) Ali Mohammad Jan Orakzai, Balochistan Governor Owais Ghani, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Minister for States and Foreign Regions Yar Mohammad Rind and Minister for Tourism G.G. Jamal.