Malik sought US help to protect Zardari: cable

WASHINGTON: Interior Minister Rehman Malik sought the US government’s help to protect President Asif Ali Zardari, says a cable the American embassy in Islamabad sent to Washington on Nov 11, 2009. 

The contents of the message were kept secret on a request by the-then ambassador Anne W. Patterson.

Another cable sent on Nov 27, 2009, also classified by the ambassador, informs Washington that President Zardari’s departure remains uncertain as PPP moves forward on constitutional reforms.

An earlier cable describes President Zardari as good at practical deal-making and notes that the former president, Pervez Musharraf, liked him better than he liked Benazir Bhutto.

A US diplomat endorsed Mr Musharraf’s views, saying that Mr Zardari did not carry the baggage that Ms Bhutto had to because of her long association with the party.

The diplomats note that Mr Zardari had slowly replaced those who were close to Ms Bhutto with his own “childhood or jail days cronies.”

On Saturday, WikiLeaks published its entire cache of 251,000 US diplomatic cables without redactions to protect those named within, a move condemned by all five of the whistle-blowing website’s original media partners and by several Western
governments. The cache includes interesting information about Pakistan as well, giving a rare peep into the official US views on developments inside the country and on key players.

One cable shows that Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani thought he could have overthrown the PPP-led coalition government but decided not to do so.

This information is included in a conversation between former ambassador Patterson and Gen Kayani in which the latter expressed unhappiness over a clause in Kerry-Lugar Bill which, he thought, curbed the army’s autonomy.

Gen Kayani told the ambassador that he could have overthrown the (then newly-established) government during the 2009 long march on the judges issue if he had wanted to, but he decided to give the political government a chance to continue.

Another cable shows that in 2009, the interior minister offered to share with US officials the entire record of the National Database and Registration Authority to help them track suspected terrorists. He also suggested signing an agreement with the US to legalise the offer.

One of the cables reveals that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif believed that the terrorists who attacked Mumbai on Nov 26, 2008, were Pakistanis.

The cable sent by Acting Principal Officer Clinton Taylor of the US Consulate in Lahore on Dec 9, 2008, describes how the Pakistan Muslim League-N leader told a visiting delegation of US Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham that he had
listened to the phone call made by one of the attackers to an Indian TV channel, and even though the individual claimed he was Indian, he had a Pakistani accent.

“We must take strictest action against those elements. Once India produced concrete evidence, we should proceed…,” Mr Sharif told US lawmakers.

One cable states that Mr Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had agreed through “back channels” to a “non-territorial solution” to Kashmir.

The April 21, 2009, cable says that Mr Singh confirmed this to a visiting US delegation, led by then House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman, saying that the solution included free trade and movement across LoC.

Mr Singh also said that India wanted a strong, stable, peaceful, democratic Pakistan and makes no claim on “even an inch” of Pakistani territory.

Mr Singh’s comments authenticated Mr Musharraf’s assertions last year that India and Pakistan had reached that stage where they were preparing the final draft for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

Yet another cable, sent to Washington before the PPP government was sworn in, assured US policymakers that the change would not affect Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.

“The arsenal is under the control of some of the most impressive officers in the Pakistan military. No matter what civilian government might come to power in the next year, we do not see the military’s control of the arsenal changing. We continue
to engage regularly with Pakistan on the security, accountability and control of sensitive nuclear materials,” the cable says.

A cable sent on the completion of the first year of the Zardari government, notes that Mr Zardari had taken many positive steps as president. “He has dealt with the security crisis and resulting humanitarian crisis in the Malakand Division.

“He has initiated key legal reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and has laid the groundwork for more extensive government operations to clear terrorists from the Fata.

“Mr Zardari, however, still has numerous challenges ahead of him, not least dealing with poor service delivery by government departments and addressing serious credible allegations that he and his government are corrupt, which is damaging his ability
to succeed either domestically or internationally.

“He needs to increase government revenues, reduce popular subsidies in areas such as energy, and increase power generation and distribution capabilities.

“He will have to maintain control of the political process, keep the support of opposition political leaders for the democratic process even as they oppose his policies, and convince the military to stay out of the political arena.”

On July 12, 2007, Ambassador Patterson sent a cable to Washington about the military operation against the Red Mosque militants. She notes: “Confusion continues (and probably will continue) as to a definitive death toll. As clean-up operations
are coming to a close, the military has announced 73 militants and 10 security forces killed during ‘Operation Silence’.

“In contrast, there are widespread press reports claiming 287 deaths. Local television and newspapers have reported pictures and details about 100-foot long mass graves being dug on the outskirts of Islamabad.

“The press is detailing cold-storage of the bodies, funeral arrangements, and a refusal to share information with families.

Senior police sources confirm 287 bodies, mostly adult males. Family members of the deceased remain at the Red Mosque looking for bodies. As of 1300, the military has not made any public statements about the alleged burials.”

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