Washington: The United States has sharply warned Pakistan that it must cut ties with the Haqqani network based in its tribal region along the Afghan border and help eliminate the militant group’s leaders, according to officials from both nations.
In what amounts to an ultimatum, Obama administration officials have indicated that the US will act unilaterally if Pakistan does not comply, The Washington Post reports.
The message has been delivered to Pakistan in high-level meetings and public statements over the past several days, the report said.
Amidst growing pressure on Pakistan to act against the Haqqani Network, Pakistan ISI chief General Ahmed Shuja Pasha visited Washington DC quietly on Tuesday for a one day visit to meet with his CIA counterpart General David Petraeus.
As first reported by the Post, the CIA officially declined to comment on whether the meeting had taken place. However, sources said that General Pasha had met with David Petraeus, CIA officials at the CIA headquarters in Langley and separately with senior White House officials at Ambassador Husain Haqqani’s residence in Washington before leaving for Islamabad. The Haqqani Network was the focus of their discussions.
The meeting between the intelligence chiefs was the third high level meeting in a week to discuss the Haqqani Network and its presence in Pakistan with US officials urging Pakistan to take action.
On Tuesday, Admiral Mullen had said that he had no doubt that the Haqqani Network was responsible for the attacks on the US Embassy and NATO HQ in Kabul on September 13, and the attack on US soldiers in Wardak on September 11 in Afghanistan. Admiral Mullen also said that the ISI, supporting proxies, must disengage from this part of their strategy.
On Friday, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen met COAS General Kayani in Seville, Spain for four hours, where he reiterated his desire for Pakistan to take action against the group.
On Sunday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in New York, where the first and last thing discussed was the Haqqani Network.
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