'Kashmir Issue Is Central'

PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF: (In Arabic: In the name of God most merciful and compassionate).Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to this press conference. Let me say that we have hadvery useful discussions. The visit of the United States Secretary of State comes at a timeof great challenge for Pakistan. His presence here symbolizes the new, rejuvenatedrelationship between Pakistan and the United States. We discussed a whole range ofbilateral issues. The two sides agreed to work together in order to develop and strengthencooperation in all possible areas.

The terrorist outrage in New York and Washington on 11th September was rightlycondemned by the whole world community. The government and people of Pakistanspontaneously expressed shock and grief over the death of innocent people, offeredcondolences to the bereaved families all over the world, and affirmed solidarity with theAmerican people. We joined the world community in offering cooperation to bringperpetrators, organizers, and the sponsors of the terrorist attacks to justice.

Compliance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions by the Talibangovernment would have saved Afghanistan from the damage it is suffering since 7th ofOctober. We grieve for the innocent victims in Afghanistan. We regret that the Governmentof Afghanistan jeopardized the interests of millions of its own people.

Our decision to support the international campaign against terrorism in all itsmanifestations is based on principles. The extraordinary session of the OIC, theOrganization of the Islamic Conference, Foreign Ministers held on the 10th of October hasendorsed this position taken by Pakistan. It has also denounced the minority and fringevoices that tried to cause harm to Islam and the Muslims.

I emphasized to the Secretary that the root causes of most acts of terrorism lie inpolitical oppression and denial of justice. In order to achieve durable peace or durableresults, the current war on terrorism must address and eliminate its root causes. Thesituation in Afghanistan presents a challenge as well as an opportunity. We should focusnot only on combating terrorism, but also on helping the Afghans establish a durablepolitical system and the rehabilitation and reconstruction of their country. We agreedthat durable peace in Afghanistan would only be possible through the establishment of abroad-based multi-ethnic government representing the demographic contours of Afghanistanfreely chosen by the Afghans without outside interference. Former King Zahir Shah,political leaders, moderate Taliban leaders, elements from the Northern Alliance, tribalelders, Afghans living outside their country, all can play a role in this regard.

The political process needs to be placed on a fast track in order to forestall thepossibility of a political vacuum. It should not lag behind the fast-moving events in themilitary field nor should any attempt be made by any warring faction to impose itself onAfghanistan in the wake of the military strikes against the Taliban. The success of anypolitical process will also depend on the economic conditions. Afghanistan has beendestroyed by over two decades of conflict. The socio-economic infrastructure has beendevastated. Agriculture is in ruins. Pastures have been destroyed. Millions of mineslitter the landscape. A massive reconstruction effort is required to revive the economy.

Assistance would also be required for the repatriation of the millions of Afghanrefugees in Pakistan and Iran and for the millions of Afghans displaced internally due tofighting, drought, and economic difficulties. A durable political settlement, economicreconstruction, and return of Afghans to their country would also eliminate the terroristswho have found safe havens in a war-torn Afghanistan. This is why I believe that themilitary campaign in Afghanistan should be short and targeted and it should be followedimmediately by application of viable political and economic strategies.

I briefed Secretary Powell about Pakistan's desire to develop tension-free relationswith India. I emphasized that normalization of relations would require that the Kashmirdispute is resolved in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people. Kashmir remainsat the heart of Pakistan-India tension. We agreed on the need for the two sides to addressthis and other bilateral issues with sincerity and with a sense of purpose.

Secretary Powell informed me about US willingness to play a helpful role in theresolution of Pakistan-India differences. We agreed that peace and stability in South Asiais not only in the interest of Pakistan and India but also of the entire region and theworld at large.

In the end, I would like to say that we have ushered in an era of closer bilateralrelations between Pakistan and the United States. Thank you very much.

SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much, Mr. President. Good afternoon ladies andgentlemen, I am delighted to be here in Pakistan and I've had very excellent discussionswith the President and his cabinet and other colleagues in the course of the morning andour discussions will continue into the afternoon. President Bush asked me to come toPakistan to demonstrate our enduring commitment to our relationship with Pakistan. We arefocusing today on the terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan, the al-Qaidaorganization and Usama bin Laden. But we didn't stop there. We are also looking forward tostrengthening our cooperation on a full range of bilateral and regional issues. And I madethe point to the President that this isn't just a temporary spike in our relationship, butwe believe, as a result of the actions taken by Pakistan over the last five weeks, we'retruly at the beginning of a strengthened relationship, a relationship that will grow andthrive in the months and years ahead.

We have had good talks today on how to build on our current, excellent cooperationagainst international terrorism. The United States views that what we are building hereis, as I just said, is a solid foundation for a long-term and improved relationship. Iexpressed our thanks to President Musharraf for his bold and courageous actions as part ofthe global coalition against international terrorism. I also expressed our condolences forthe many Pakistanis who were lost in the attacks on September 11. It reminds us once againthat this attack in New York and the attacks in Washington and what happened inPennsylvania, but especially in New York, was an attack against the civilized world. Some80 nations lost citizens in that attack and we must always keep that uppermost in mind. Iexpressed our thanks to President Musharraf for coming forward so quickly and recognizingthat the attacks of September 11 may have taken place on American soil, but they were infact attacks on Pakistan as well as all members of the civilized world.

As we met today in Pakistan--a great Muslim nation--I reiterated that we have noquarrel with the Islamic faith or the Afghan people. Our campaign is against those whopervert a great religion in the service of evil. We also discussed how to ease the plightof the Afghan refugees who are fleeing Taliban misrule. Pakistan has played a leading rolein receiving and caring for Afghan refugees for many, many years and the United States hasbeen the largest foreign donor of humanitarian aid. Even today as part of our militarycampaign, U.S. planes have been dropping badly needed food supplies to the Afghan people.

We also discussed, as the President noted, our mutual interest in a stable Afghanistan.I shared with him and he shared with me our thoughts on how to begin the process ofrebuilding Afghanistan even as the military element of our strategy continues and how tohelp the people of that country establish a stable broad-based government, one that doesnot harbor terrorists and one that welcomes refugees instead of producing them. I alsoreassured Pakistan of America's support and the support of the international community asPakistan joins the international community in this campaign.

For example, President Bush has lifted a number of sanctions to allow us to resumecooperation with Pakistan. We have also helped reschedule 379 million dollars inPakistan's bilateral debt and voted for new IMF loans. We had a very straightforwarddiscussion on the debt problem that is facing Pakistan and I have told the President thatI would take his strong message of what needs to be done back to my colleagues inWashington and do everything we can to address the debt issue with rescheduling, withrespect to other activities that we can take that will help Pakistan in this time of need.

Finally, we discussed ways to promote stability in South Asia, which we all know is acritically important part of the world. I praised President Musharraf's recent phone callto Prime Minister Vajpayee and we, too, believe that the Kashmir issue is central to therelationship and can be resolved if all parties engaged with a willingness to addresstheir concerns in mutually acceptable ways. Issues must be resolved through peaceful,political and diplomatic means, not through violence and reliance on force, but with adetermined respect for human rights. The campaign against al-Qaida and Usama bin Laden andthose who harbor them is our top priority. This is what brought me here today. But I amalso confident that over time we will be able to expand our cooperation to accomplish thefull range of bilateral and multilateral issues that are of importance to both of ournations.

President Musharraf's commitment to return Pakistan to democracy will enhance hiseffort to deepen social reform, improve education, and improve the lives of his people. Weshare those important and lofty goals and in the coming months the United States will takeconcrete steps to strengthen Pakistan's economy and further broaden our commercial andtrade ties. Together we can accomplish great things and the American people look forwardto the challenge of working with the people of Pakistan in those goal achievements. AndI'll be happy along with the President to take a few questions.

QUESTION: I am Saleh Zaafir, I am editor for special reporting, Jang.While condemning terrorism of September 11 and expressing heartfelt sympathies with yourgreat country, I wish to know your views about the struggle of the oppressed peoplegranted by the United Nations Security Council against oppressive regimes which is fairlyand sternly still engaged in state terrorism. How would you differentiate such legitimatemovements with terrorism? My clear reference is toward dispute of Kashmir, and will youimpress upon India to refrain from state terrorism towards the Kashmiri people? Thank you.

SECRETARY POWELL: In my conversations both here and my conversations in India, Iwill press upon both sides as I have here already today and it isn't a matter of pressing,we have a mutual view on this, that dialogue between the two sides is important, thatterrorism has no place in the civilized world and I have expressed my thanks to thePresident for his condemnation of terrorism with the kind that we saw in Srinagar on the 1^stof October. Mutual respect for each other, a desire to accommodate the aspirations of theKashmiri people and respect for avoiding confrontation and understanding that provocationis to be avoided. But above all, the beginning of a dialogue between the two sides is themost important thing that is needed now. And that is the message I will also be taking toIndia.

QUESTION: Could you please clarify the situation of . . . there have been acouple of different stories. One is the Taliban’s Foreign Minister has defected, thesecond one is that there is an offer on the table presented by the President last night toyou that the Taliban are prepared to hand over Usama bin Laden in exchange of two or threedays of halting of the bombardment. Can you tell us if there is any other offer on thetable that could resolve this?

SECRETARY POWELL: The President did not say that to me last night. And with respectto where the foreign minister is, I cannot confirm where he is.

QUESTION: Secretary Powell, what assurances were you able to offerPresident Musharraf that any post-Taliban government in Afghanistan would be one that isfriendly to Pakistan and did you meet with the representatives who are here representingZahir Shah in the meeting with the Pakistani Government and for President Musharraf, areyou prepared to support a U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan as long as it lasts--aslong as the U.S. believes it needs to last—in other words, is there a deadlinethat’s in your mind for such a campaign?

SECRETARY POWELL: I did not meet with the representatives of the King who are here.With respect to your first question, in our discussions there was no doubt that both ourcommon goal of seeing that the post-Taliban government in Kabul would be one thatrepresented all the people of Afghanistan and would be a regime that would obviously befriendly to all of its neighbors, to include Pakistan. That has to be one of our goals,otherwise we are just creating a new situation of instability and potential violence.

PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF: On my part of the question, we have decided to be with thecoalition in the fight against terrorism and whatever operation is going on in Afghanistanwithin the parameters—within the three parameters which have been enunciated--thatis, the intelligence cooperation, use of air space and logistical support. And to thisextent we will certainly carry on cooperating as long as the operation lasts. There are nodeadlines which have been fixed as you’ve indicated, but one really hopes that theoperation is short and obviously the duration of the operation is relative to theachievement of military objectives, and therefore one hopes that military objectives areachieved and the operation is short.

QUESTION: President Musharraf, may I ask what you mean by "moderateTaliban." Is there such a thing? Mr. Secretary, does the United States agree that amoderate Taliban belongs in a new Afghanistan?

PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF: Certainly there are a lot of moderate Talibans. Yes, Icertainly believe so. Extremism is not in every Taliban so one could…I wouldn’tlike to get into the details of who are moderates, but one knows for sure there are manymoderate elements within the Taliban community.

SECRETARY POWELL: The term "Taliban" defines the current regime but alsodefines a group of individuals—a group of people. And if you got rid of the regime,there would still be those who might find that the teachings and the feelings and thebeliefs of that movement still very important and to the extent that they are willing toparticipate in the development of a new Afghanistan with everybody being represented, thenwe would have to listen to them or at least take them into account. You can’t exportthem. You can’t send them to another country. You can’t ethnically cleanseAfghanistan after this is over, but you can certainly get rid of this particular regimethat has driven this country to such devastation and see whether those who used to beadherents of such a regime are now willing to participate in a different kind ofgovernment where the rights of all are respected and where it is accepted by theinternational community.

QUESTION: Our president has advised you or given the proposal that thisoperation against Afghanistan should be short and should be target-oriented, and Pakistanhas also concerns about Northern Alliance being included in the broad-based governmentthat you are looking for. What are your comments on this?

SECRETARY POWELL: First of all we would like the military campaign to be as shortas possible. We have no desire to extend the campaign beyond the achievement of its goal.As the President said it has to be as long as necessary to achieve the military goal. Withrespect to the Northern Alliance, I think we both agree that all, all elements have to beincluded in discussions of the future of Afghanistan that would include the NorthernAlliance, and the southern tribal leaders and all elements. When you say broad based itmeans all have to have an opportunity to participate in how Afghanistan will be governedin the future.

QUESTION: President Musharraf, your country according to a Gallup Poll andcertainly the symptoms on the street is very much against the U.S.-led campaign, 87 percent against the military strikes. How can you sustain your support if this does become anopen-ended commitment and it is not short and targeted as you, and I'm sure SecretaryPowell, would like it to be? What if it does take a long time as many U.