ISLAMABAD   -   Hours before meeting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi hinted at discussing contentious issue of Osama Bin Laden’s hunter Dr Shakil Afridi with his American counterpart – a likely departure from the original policy.

Qureshi, who will meet Pompeo today (October 2) in Washington, said in an interview that Pakistan was ‘open’ to discussing Afridi’s case with the Americans.

Dr Afridi, who is a hero for the US and a traitor for Pakistan, plagued relations between the two countries. “Openings are always there,” said the foreign minister in an interview with Fox News. “He is viewed in a particular light in Pakistan; he is viewed as a traitor in Pakistan. But he is viewed as a friend in the US. So we have to bridge this gap,” he added.

The foreign minister, however, elaborated that future of Afridi lied with the courts and not with politicians. He said the imprisoned CIA agent went through due legal process and was given a fair trial and a chance to plead his case.

“He was sentenced; he was convicted and is serving a sentence. We expect you to respect our legal process, as we respect yours,” Pakistan’s top diplomat said, referring to interference by the US.

Last month, the US had asked Pakistan to ‘deliver’ and complained that Islamabad had failed to fulfil commitments in the past.

Secretary Pompeo, who visited Islamabad briefly with Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford and others on September 5, said at conclusion of the trip’ “We made clear to them that – and they agreed – it’s time for us to begin to deliver on our joint commitments. So we’ve had lots of times where we’ve talked and made agreements, but we haven’t been able to actually execute those.”

He added: “And so there was broad agreement between myself and Foreign Minister (Shah Mehmood) Qureshi, as well as with Prime Minister (Imran Khan), that we need to begin to do things that will begin to actually, on the ground, deliver outcomes so that we can begin to build confidence and trust between the two countries. That was the focus of the gathering.”

Later, briefing the journalists, Qureshi had said: “We presented realistic stance of Pakistan with responsibility, seriousness and honour.”

Pak-US ties have been frosty for several months. In January, the US suspended security assistance to Pakistan targeting the Coalition Support Fund. State Department said that the US was suspending ‘security assistance’ to Pakistan as the trust level between the two countries had drastically declined. Washington said that Pakistan would be able to receive the suspended funding if it took ‘decisive actions’ against the Haqqani Network and the Afghan Taliban.

Pakistan claimed that it fought the war against terror largely from its own resources ‘which cost over $120 billion in 15 years’. Pakistan said that the money it had received from the US was mainly reimbursements for supporting US-led coalition forces after they invaded Afghanistan in 2001.

The two countries also imposed tit-for-tat travel restrictions on each other’s diplomats in May - suggesting a new low in their troubled ties.

Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Muhammed Faisal recently said that Pakistan had not struck a deal over exchanging Dr Shakeel Afridi with former Pakistan ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani or Dr Aafia Siddiqui.

Amid speculations that Afridi might be handed over to the US, Faisal clarified that Pakistan had not made any such decision. “These are all rumours. We are not handing over Afridi to the US. There is no deal,” he said, adding that the decision to move Afridi from Peshawar to Adiala Jail was being dealt by the interior ministry.

Former Pakistan ambassador to the US, Senator Sherry Rehman, said that if Qureshi was ‘open’ to talks on Afridi with the US, it would be a ‘departure’ from the policy. “If it (the statement) is true, it would certainly be a departure from policy,” she maintained.

Before being elected president, Donald Trump had made a promise that he would have Dr Afridi released in ‘two minutes’. “I would tell them (Pakistan) let him out and I’m sure they would let him out,” he said in an interview with Fox News in 2016.

Soon after Bin Laden was killed in May 2011 in a US raid in Abbottabad, the US media reported that Afridi had contributed to the success of the CIA operation by collecting DNA samples of Bin Laden’s family.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has for the first time publicly revealed that it was seeking US assistance for peace along Indian border in return for Islamabad’s support for Trump’s campaign to stabilise Afghanistan – a conditional offer for cooperation. In remarks at Asia Society in New York, Qureshi said: “Today India is a strategic partner of the US. We have no problem with that. Have new ones, (but) why lose old friends.”

“If the US wants us to help (in Afghanistan) and we want to help in our own interest, then they have to tell their new strategic partner (India) to give us ease on the eastern side so we can concentrate on areas of mutual interest.”

A senior official in the foreign ministry told The Nation that Pakistan would give this option to the US during Qureshi-Pompeo meeting. “They (the US) can help us (Pakistan) in reviving talks with India. They can pressurise New Delhi. This is a sort of condition for the US. If we remain engaged on the eastern border (with India), how can we help them on the western border (with Afghanistan),” he maintained.

 

 

 

SHAFQAT ALI