Munter defends move to talk to Taliban

Says only Afghans can solve their country’s issues.


Shahram Haq April 29, 2012

LAHORE:


Justifying Washington’s support for bringing the Taliban into the peace talks, US Ambassador Cameron Munter said that the Afghanistan situation could not be solved by keeping Afghans out of talks. 


Talking to media at the second annual dinner of the American Business Forum (ABF) at Royal Palm Golf and Country Club on Saturday, Ambassador Munter said that Afghanistan’s issues could be resolved only by the Afghan leadership – and the US and Pakistan were only supporting them in the effort to get out of the ongoing crisis.

To a question about the non-implementation of promised Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) in the tribal areas, the ambassador said, “I admit this is a failure.”  He said that though there was a misconception between Pakistan and US, it can be overcome through negotiations, people-to-people contacts and enhancing economic ties. He said that many senior Americans are coming to Pakistan for re-engagement on the economic and security fronts.

On Hafiz Saeed, Ambassador Munter clarified that the US had not announced a bounty for the Lashkar-e-Taiba chief, but had, under the Right to Justice programme, offered rewards for information leading to the capture of anyone involved in terror activities and those on the United Nations’ list of declared terrorists.  He also said that Hafiz Saeed was a probable suspect of the Mumbai terror attack.

On this note, the ambassador said that, though the Pakistani media was doing a “wonderful” job, it had, in this case, misreported the facts.

Earlier, addressing the gathering as chief guest of the ceremony, the ambassador said that US is firmly committed to its partnership with Pakistan – a relationship that, he said, is built on a foundation of mutual interests, respect and trust. An important element of that relationship is trade, rather than aid, he added.

An MoU was also signed for collaboration between USAID and ABF.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29th, 2012.

COMMENTS (22)

j. von hettlingen | 11 years ago | Reply

What did U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter mean, whe he said that "the Afghanistan situation could not be solved by keeping Afghans out of talks". Whiich "Afghans" was he talking about? The people or Hamid Karzai and his entourage? Pakistan's foregin minister Hina Khar said peace talks have to be "Afghan-led". It would mean bringing the Taliban and the regime to the negotiating table. But the Taliban refuse to deal with Hamid Karzai's cronies.

yaz | 11 years ago | Reply

Afghan Taliban and TTP are two different entities. Mulla Omar was never a terrorist. You can call them extremist or fundamentalist but they he was never a terrorist. afgahn Taliban did a few things that were unprecedented in the history of Afghanistan like law & order was exemplary and poppy cultivation was eradicated. But on womens issues they were hardliners and the Bamiyan issue was unnecessary. TTP is a purely terrorist organization with ulterior motives. It is foreign funded and is anti state. So lets not mix the two.

VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ