Colin Powell: Bush to grant Pakistan elite status

Bush to grant Pakistan elite status: Powell
Oman Observer
3/19/04

ISLAMABAD ?- The United States will reward Pakistan for its support in the war on terrorism with an elite military status despite concerns about nuclear proliferation, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday. As Pakistani troops unleashed their second major assault this week on Al Qaeda and Taleban fighters near the border with Afghanistan, Powell said President George W Bush would soon designate Pakistan a ?'major non-Nato ally.' Hours after his announcement, Powell told reporters en route to his next stop in Kuwait that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf had given him new information about the proliferation activities of scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.

He declined to provide details but said the information related to US concerns that current or former officials may have known about or encouraged Khan's dealings. Musharraf ?'gave me a summary of the relationship that A Q Khan had with those who were in authority over that period of time,' Powell said, adding he wanted to discuss the new information with his colleagues before commenting further. Powell said Pakistan's new status was not a reward for Musharraf's action against Khan but allowed that the designation would significantly enhance military co-operation and make it easier for Islamabad to acquire certain armaments from Washington.

The designation means Pakistan will join an exclusive club of nations ?- including Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines, which are given preferential treatment. Pakistan has become a key US ally in the war on terrorism allowing US troops to use its airbases and intelligence for the campaign to oust the Taleban regime in late 2001 and arresting more than 500 Al Qaeda fugitives.

Yesterday paramilitaries backed by army troops and helicopter gunships stormed tribesmen's homes in Kalushah and neighbouring Azam Warzak village in a hunt for heavily armed Al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters. En route to Kuwait, Powell, a retired general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Musharraf had briefed him on the operation in a ?'soldier-to-soldier' manner as it was going on.

Kalushah and neighbouring Azam Warzak village in a hunt for heavily armed Al-Qaeda and Taleban?- AFP
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