Holbrooke says ‘bad guy groups’ based in flooded areas

Lashkar-e-Taiba are based in areas that are currently flooded, according to US special representative for Pakistan.

WASHINGTON: Five Pakistan-based “most dangerous bad guy groups,” including the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), are based in the areas that are currently flooded, according to US special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke. These groups pose a critical threat to Afghanistan, he said.

Holbrooke was speaking on  the Charlie Rose show on PBS.

“From the day Pakistan became independent [Pakistan and Afghanistan have] had a bad relationship,” Holbrooke said. “And now we’re in a situation where the sanctuary for the Taliban in Pakistan poses the most serious of all hurdles to our objectives in Afghanistan, and also endangers our national security,” he said.

While the main US enemy is al Qaeda lurking “across the border in the tribal areas of Pakistan,” Holbrooke said “there are about five of our most dangerous bad guy groups all grouped in this area in Pakistan where the floods are going on now.”

Besides al Qaeda, Holbrooke identified the “bad guys” as Afghan Taliban, the Tehreek-i- Taliban Pakistan, “the infamous Haqqani group” and LeT “a group that the Americans don’t pay any attention to...but the Indians sure pay attention because it is the LeT who attacked Mumbai in December of 2008.”

Holbrooke stressed the need “to retain the residual capability to strike at these groups while we build up the Afghan security forces” as the US draws down in Afghanistan.

Washington, he said, recognises that Islamabad and others, particularly New Delhi and Beijing, have legitimate security interests in Afghanistan, he said. “And this opened up the door to a very sustained strategic dialogue with the Pakistanis.”

“There are other countries who are having similar dialogues with [the US] but not perhaps at this level and the two I want to single out are India and China because they also have legitimate roles in the area,” Holbrooke said.

Asked if the ISI still has a relationship with the Taliban, Holbrooke parried saying the documents leaked by WikiLeaks “allude to a pattern which has been well-discussed, a pattern which has concerned us, that we’ve discussed with the Pakistanis repeatedly.”

“They have worked with us in regard -- remember the five groups I mentioned earlier. They’ve worked with us closely on going after the Pakistani Taliban.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2010.