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'Secret' Document Reveals
Deep Pak-US Relations

Press Trust of India
9-3-2

New Delhi (PTI) -- A web newspaper run by a senior Pakistani journalist has published a "secret" document purportedly containing minutes of meetings between US and Pakistani officials and issues which, it claims, are to be raised during President Pervez Musharraf's forthcoming visit to United States.
 
The 'South Asia Tribune' claimed the document, a five-page 'non-paper', was "leaked to the media" apparently to embarass Musharraf as he prepared for his visit. It also printed the full document, claiming that the issues would be discussed at the Pak-US Joint Working Group (JWG) during the talks.
 
The document showed such a wide range of relations between the two countries that the US presence would become inevitable at every security point, the paper, edited by former editor of 'The News' Shaheen Sehbai, said.
 
"Releasing such sensitive papers to the media, specially involving US-Pak relations, also indicated the extent to which some officials were feeling betrayed by Musharraf's policies", it said.
 
The paper defined the 'non-paper', in diplomatic parlance, as "the text of language agreed between two sides in formal meetings". It also contains informal minutes which are exchanged to firm up positions and keep track of the specific issues to be discussed in specialised group sessions.
 
According to the document, 16 items are listed as 'Action Items for the USG' (US Government) and another 14 as 'Action Items for GOP' (Govt of Pakistan).
 
Interestingly, the main subjects include US seeking Pakistani assistance in the probe into the hijack of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 to Kandahar.
 
The subjects also include counter-terrorism methods, training and provision of sophisticated equipment to police, extradition of persons wanted by either governments, the issue of Pakistani nationals in American custody, exchange of information to probe and prosecute organisations of smugglers and a draft Pakistani legislation on money laundering.
 
The paper said the document showed that the range of US-Pak cooperation was "so wide that almost at every security point, US presence would become inevitable, either in the form of physical troops or machines, cameras or spying equipment relaying images and data to US officials sitting close by somewhere".
 
Another subject was improvement of law enforcement machinery in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), where the main anti-Al Qaeda operations are currently focussed. This issue would also be part of the JWG discussion, according to the document published.
 
A key area of cooperation was the exchange of wanted persons by the two governments, besides Pakistani Government agreeing to take steps to speed up trial of four fugitives wanted by US for Panam plane crash in 1973, the paper added.
 
 
Copyright © 2002 Press Trust of India Ltd. All rights reserved.






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