Pakistani general holds talks after US claims spies aided attacks

Senior Pakistani officials have lashed out against the allegations of support for the Haqqani militant network, accusing the US of trying to make Pakistan a scapegoat for its troubles in Afghanistan. The public confrontation has plunged the US-Pakistan alliance to new lows.

Pakistan’s leaders have shown no indication that they plan to act on renewed American demands to attack the Haqqani network in its main base in Pakistan, even at the risk of further conflict with Washington. The US has given Pakistan billions of dollars in military and economic aid, but the relationship has been marked by mistrust.

The top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, last week accused Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency of supporting Haqqani insurgents in planning and executing a 22-hour assault on the US Embassy in Afghanistan on September 13 as well as a lorry bomb that wounded 77 American soldiers days earlier. Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, widely considered the most powerful man in Pakistan, has dismissed the allegations, saying the charges were baseless and part of a public “blame game” detrimental to peace in Afghanistan.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani also slapped down the accusations in a statement issued late on Saturday.

“We strongly reject assertions of complicity with the Haqqanis or of proxy war,” Mr Gilani said. “The allegations betray a confusion and policy disarray within the US establishment on the way forward in Afghanistan.

Pakistan claimed to have severed its ties with Afghan militants after the 9/11 attacks and supported America’s campaign in Afghanistan, but US officials have long suspected it maintained links. The comments by Admiral Mullen, who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were the most serious yet accusing Pakistan of ties to militants, although he did not cite any specific evidence.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has implied that American forces could even carry out unilateral raids inside Pakistan against the Haqqani network, operations that could have explosive implications in Pakistan where anti-American sentiment is widespread.

Pakistanis were outraged by the covert US commando raid that killed al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a garrison town not far from Islamabad in May. The US did not tell the Pakistani government about the operation beforehand.