Cheney Stops in Afghanistan Amid Taliban Resurgence (Update5)

By Brendan Murray

Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Vice President Dick Cheney made unannounced stops in Pakistan and Afghanistan to press the two U.S. allies for more aggressive action along their border to thwart a resurgence of the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Cheney spent about four hours in Islamabad for talks with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf following a weeklong trip to Japan and Australia and a stop in Oman last night. He then flew to Afghanistan for a meeting with President Hamid Karzai.

The trip to the region underscores American concern about countering al-Qaeda's attempts to re-establish training camps and an anticipated spring offensive by the Taliban launched from the remote mountainous region along Pakistan's 1,510-mile-long (2,430 kilometer) border with Afghanistan.

The U.S. is ``deeply aware of the difficulties in dealing with the border areas,'' White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said today in Washington. ``It's clear al-Qaeda is in fact trying to build new strength and so is the Taliban.''

The vice president made no statement after emerging from his meeting with Musharraf or upon arrival at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. The schedule for his meeting with Karzai hasn't been announced. Steve Kappes, deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency, accompanied Cheney in Pakistan.

Cheney's message to Musharraf was delivered ``in confidence,'' Snow said, and there is no plan to release a transcript.

More to be Done

Musharraf, Snow said, remains ``committed to doing everything possible to fight al-Qaeda, but having said that, we also know that there is a lot more that needs to be done.''

During his meeting with Musharraf, Cheney expressed ``apprehensions of regrouping of al-Qaeda in the tribal areas and called for concerted efforts in countering the threat,'' the Pakistani government said in a statement.

Pakistan, Afghanistan, U.S. forces, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan will have to take ``joint responsibility of stopping illegal crossings,'' the Pakistani statement said.

Cheney met with Musharraf in Aiwan-e-Sadr palace at the request of President George W. Bush, who earlier this month ordered an increase in the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Bush also is asking NATO allies to strengthen their commitment in Afghanistan to deal with the Taliban, a fundamentalist Muslim group that governed Afghanistan under a harsh code of Islamic law until the U.S. drove it from power after the Sept. 11 attacks.

U.K. Troop Increases

U.K. Defense Secretary Des Brown announced today in London today that his nation would deploy 1,400 troops more to Afghanistan, bringing British troop strength to 7,700.

NATO's Afghan force now has about 34,000 troops from 37 countries, led by the U.S. with 15,000. The U.S. also retains 12,000 troops under American command in counter-insurgency operations and the hunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

NATO blames the loss of control over the border partly on a decision last year by Musharraf to give tribal leaders in the region greater autonomy. Musharraf and Karzai, meantime, have bickered over who's responsible for controlling the region.

Musharraf has refused to scrap the North Waziristan accord and said it doesn't bar the military from making security sweeps in the area. The Brussels-based International Crisis Group, an organization that tries to resolve conflicts, said in a report last year the September 2006 agreement helped the Taliban because it limited Pakistani army operations.

`The Way Forward'

``The peace agreement with tribal elders was the way forward. Political and administrative steps taken in the tribal areas would help curb al-Qaeda and Taliban activities,'' Pakistan's government said in its statement today.

Pakistani officials have they've deployed more than 80,000 soldiers and has about 1,000 military posts on the frontier.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday the U.S. is ``aware'' of the political constraints Musharraf has in dealing with the tribal areas and going after terrorists there.

``To not say that would be not to face reality,'' she said on ABC's ``This Week'' program. She called Musharraf a ``stalwart fighter'' against al-Qaeda.

Cheney made the stops under tight security. Reporters traveling with him were barred from disclosing the visit in advance. In Pakistan, he was shuttled from the Chaklala Air Force Base in a caravan of military helicopters.

Illustrating the Taliban's renewed aggression, militants attacked a village in southern Afghanistan on Feb. 15 during a meeting between village elders and NATO forces, killing a woman and wounding six others. Roadside bombings almost doubled last year and suicide bombings grew almost fivefold, making 2006 the most violent year since the Taliban was overthrown, Bush has said.

Musharraf joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism in 2001, when he ended Pakistan's support for the Taliban regime that sheltered bin Laden. Pakistan has arrested more than 600 terrorist suspects since then, including alleged al-Qaeda commanders Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Mohamed Abdullah Binalshibh, both accused of helping plan the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brendan Murray in Afghanistan at brmurray@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: February 26, 2007 11:38 EST

		Email this article Printer friendly format