NATO to confront General over ISI support to Taliban

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/14301.html

Press Trust Of India
Posted online: Monday, October 09, 2006

London, October 8:^The Commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan plans to confront President Pervez Musharraf with evidence that ISI is training Taliban fighters to attack British troops in the war-torn country and urge him to arrest deposed militia leader Mullah Omar “hiding in Pakistan”.

Lieutenant General David Richards, British general commanding NATO troops in Afghanistan, will fly to Islamabad on Monday to try to persuade Musharraf to rein in his military intelligence which he believes is training Taliban fighters to attack British troops.

He also intends to give Gen Musharraf the address of the Taliban leader hiding in a Pakistani city and request that he be arrested. He says he has satellite pictures and videos of training camps for Taliban soldiers and suicide bombers inside Pakistan.

Captured Taliban fighters and failed suicide bombers have confirmed that they were trained by the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI. The information includes an address in the city of Quetta where Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader, is said to be living quite openly.

The addresses of other senior members of the Taliban shura, or ruling council, have also been compiled. Musharraf had publicly acknowledged “a Taliban problem on the Pakistan side of the border”, said Richards. “Undoubtedly something has got to happen,” he was quoted as saying.

“We’ve got to accept that the Pakistan government is not omnipotent and it isn’t easy but it has to be done and we’re working very hard on it. I’m very confident that the Pakistan government’s intent is clear and they will be delivering on it.”

The initiative emerged as commander of British forces in Afghanistan, Brigadier Ed Butler called for more troop-carrying helicopters. He was responding to a promise by Prime Minister Tony Blair that the forces could have whatever extra resources they needed. But a defence source said it was difficult to see where new British transport helicopters could be found.

The Taliban’s re-emergence has coincided with mounting evidence of ISI involvement, prompting frustration in Afghanistan, where 40 British servicemen have been killed. “I feel real vitriol seeing our boys dying because of Pakistan,” said one British officer.

The report quoted a senior US commander saying: “We just can’t ignore it any more. Musharraf has got to prove which side he is on.”