Pakistan tour: US president likely to visit Peshawar

Obama to address press conference at Balahisar Fort "to convey a strong message to al Qaeda and its associate...

ISLAMABAD: US President Barack Obama is expected to visit Peshawar during his planned tour to Pakistan this year, The Express Tribune has learnt.

He will address a press conference at the historic Balahisar Fort, situated in the heart of the city, during a short visit to the provincial capital, an official revealed. “Obama would like to convey a strong message to al Qaeda and its associate Taliban on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghan border,” the official said.

The Afghan border is situated hardly 40 kilometres from the fort and only five kilometres west of the summit of the historic Khyber Pass.

The Balahisar Fort, which is located on a mound, also provides a better security environment for the US president than any other place in the city. The fort, whose inner walls span an area of 10 acres while the outer walls expand out to cover 15 acres, rises 90 feet above the ground. It has served as the Frontier Corps headquarters while parts of the fort have also been used by officials of the US army to train the Frontier Corps during recent years.

In October 2008, a small contingent of US military officials began a training programme aimed at turning the Frontier Corps into an effective counter-insurgency force. The aim was “to train the Frontier Corps in counter-insurgency warfare to make them more effective in the tribal areas”. The Pentagon had spent millions of dollars to equip the Frontier Corps with new body armour, vehicles, radios and surveillance equipment. According to analysts, Obama could visit Pakistan before July 11, which is when US troops will start pulling out from Afghanistan.

The US-led war on terror and its focus on al Qaeda militants in North Waziristan, and Pakistan’s role in it are the key issues that will bring Obama to Pakistan, the official said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2011.