The Washington Post stated on Tuesday that US Vice President Dick Chaney's visit to Pakistan on Monday signaled the US' growing impatience with Islamabad's failure to crack down on Islamic extremists. The paper said the visit was an indication of administration's concern over the presence of radical Islamic fighters in the unruly border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Officials are concerned that al-Qaeda is more active in Pakistani tribal areas close to the border and that Musharraf has been insufficiently aggressive about taking action -- despite promises to President Bush and other senior officials that he would address the situation, the paper said.
"We don't want Afghanistan to return to being -- nor the border provinces in Pakistan to become -- safe havens for Al Qaeda, where they can plan attacks on the United States and other Western countries," a senior administration official was quoted as saying.
The administration is also under new pressure on Capitol Hill, where Democrats have pushed through legislation in the House that would end U.S. military assistance to Islamabad unless Bush certifies that the Pakistani government is making all possible efforts to curtail Taliban activity in Pakistan. The President has proposed $785 million in assistance to Pakistan next year, including $300 million in military aid, the paper said.
The Post quoted Barnett R. Rubin, a New York University scholar of South Asia who has been critical of the Musharraf government as saying, "Cheney doesn't go someplace unless it's very serious. The government of Pakistan is paralysed, and Cheney is there to give them a shove."
Mahmud Ali Durrani, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, told the paper that a representative from Pakistan's intelligence service was present to meet with counterparts from the CIA and that any intelligence the United States offered would be taken seriously. "Pakistan has always said, 'If you know something, tell us,' " he said.
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