Military brass, civilian leaders huddle on eve of PM’s Kabul visit

Political, military leadership worried about Obama's Afghan end game, fearing it may be an abrupt pullout.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan’s top political and military leaders huddled here on Friday on the eve of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s visit to Kabul to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

A meeting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet, a body that seldom meets, chaired by the prime minister and attended by Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee Lt-Gen Khalid Shamim Wynne and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, also comes in the wake of leaked US diplomatic cables suggesting that the civilian and military leaderships had been at odds with each other on key national issues.

Gilani’s trip to Afghanistan is being given extra importance as the Obama administration is preparing to review its policy towards the region later this month and there have been reports that both Pakistan’s political and military leadership are worried about an abrupt pullout from the war-torn country.

A handout by the premier’s media office did not mention whether the meeting discussed the leaks or divulged upon other pressing issues like US President Barack Obama reviewing the Afghanistan-Pakistan policy later this month.

It did, however quote Gilani on the Afghanistan-India issue. “The conflict and strife in Afghanistan has for thirty years adversely affected Pakistan in multiple ways,” Gilani said.

“Despite our best efforts, our quest for just and durable peace in South Asia has so far proved elusive.” “The multiplicity and size of challenges that are facing our national security,” Gilani said, “demand that we may have to make a departure from our traditional thinking and look for out-of-the-box solutions and alternate strategies.”

Though it wasn’t officially confirmed, some media reports said there might be a trilateral meeting among Gilani, Karzai and US President Obama, who paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan late Friday night.

WikiLeaks

But both Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and all three services chiefs preferred not to come up with a public stance on the revelations of WikiLeaks following the meeting.

“It is a national issue being talked about everywhere… it is natural that it comes under discussion. But the decision was not to go public on it because it may further complicate the matter,” an official said.

The meeting took place two days after WikiLeaks revealed that Kayani had, in the past, been critical of the policies of politicians and at one stage had mulled a takeover or kicking President Asif Zardari out of power.

Gilani convened the powerful cabinet body in an apparent attempt to control the damage that might have otherwise been caused after secret discussions between Pakistani political and military figures and American diplomats became public.

According to the handout, Gilani rejected hyped fears that there might be a ‘clash of institutions’ in Pakistan. “Our success in meeting the challenges once again illustrates the tremendous resolve and resilience of the people of Pakistan and the strength of the institutions,” the premier added.

“It demonstrates the spirit of nationalism on all issues of national security. There is complete unanimity among all state institutions and all political parties.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2010.