Pakistan, under pressure, hints at opening border
By Tahir Ikram, Reuters, 09/26/01
ISLAMABAD, Sept 26 -- Pakistan struggled on Wednesday to keep its border closed to Afghan refugees but hinted it might have to open it if many more Afghans arrived seeking refuge from a looming war.
Officials hinted at the change while the government held closed-door talks with a visiting U.S. military team working on how to stage the hunt for Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden.
Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, governor of the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, told journalists that Pakistan would keep its border closed despite looming U.S. attacks to find bin Laden and punish his Taliban hosts.
But Shah, speaking in the provincial capital Peshawar, said Pakistan would shelter any refugees who succeeded in entering illegally.
Pakistan's minister for frontiers, Abbas Sarfraz, also hinted at a change in policy by admitting the possibility of opening the border "if the situation becomes untenable, or if there is an attack..."
Washington has threatened military action against Afghanistan if the ruling Taliban continues sheltering bin Laden, the man the U.S. government blames for the devastating suicide attacks on New York and on the Pentagon in Washington.
With the Taliban standing firm, tens of thousands of Afghans are on the move inside their landlocked, rugged country as they try to avoid being caught up in the threatened U.S. strikes.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday it was preparing for an exodus of more than 1.5 million Afghans to neighbouring countries -- nearly one million could arrive in Pakistan and half a million in Iran.
"Pakistan will not be able to open its borders for two reasons," Shah said.
"Firstly, the (Afghan opposition) Northern Alliance openly criticise Pakistan. If people come from those areas, they could indulge in sabotage," he said.
"Secondly, the Taliban have also threatened dire consequences if attacked," he said, referring to Taliban threats to declare a holy war on anyone who supports a U.S. attack.
Pakistan is caught in a difficult position, housing more than two million refugees and facing a threat from the purist Islamic Taliban that it will declare a holy war, or jihad, on any country that helps the United States in its "war on terrorism."
REFUGEE'S REACTION
Tasnim Noorani, deputy minister at the Interior Ministry, told Reuters Television that the refugees could create trouble for Pakistan if they decided to oppose the government's policy on Afghanistan.
"The bulk of these refugees are peace-loving people who have taken refuge here," he said.
"This is the first time in the last 20 years, where we are facing that there may be a potential...confrontation between the government policies and the refugees' thought process. Those fears exist but the government is very mindful of that," Noorani added.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said he has thrown his weight behind Washington.
However, he insisted again on Tuesday that Islamabad -- the only government in the world to recognise the isolated movement -- would maintain diplomatic links with the Taliban.
He has said it hopes an attack can be avoided and innocent lives will not be lost.
But a refugee flood is already on its way, with thousands huddled along the 2,240 km (1,400-mile) border.
Frontiers minister Sarfraz warned that it would cost $122 million to cope with one million Afghan refugees for six months, and that this figure did not include food support.
A team of about six U.S. military and other officials began a highly secretive visit on Tuesday to pave the way for a possible strike against Afghanistan.
Officials refused all comment on the team's discussions but newspapers said the group was assessing the situation and had not come to discuss operational specifics.
Another higher-level U.S. military delegation was to visit Pakistan this month to discuss the specifics of the operation.
In the southern port city of Karachi 11 people were wounded when a hand grenade was lobbed at a public meeting called by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) -- a party of Urdu-speaking immigrants from India and their descendants.
The MQM said it would hold a public meeting instead of a march on Karachi streets, where Islamic groups have held anti-U.S. protests in the past week.
Pakistan's military government on Tuesday banned what the party called an "anti-terrorism march."
The MQM said hundreds of thousands of people were expected to attend its "rally against terrorism," which it said was aimed to show its solidarity with the international community in combating terrorism."
(With additional reporting by Andy Soloman)
157 dead on planes
