Pakistan's US ambassador urges patience over talks with Afghan tribes

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Pakistan's new ambassador to the United States is urging patience for those in Washington frustrated with his government's pursuit of peace deals with tribes along the lawless Pakistani-Afghan border. Ambassador Husain Haqqani said in an interview with Associated Press reporters and editors Friday that the United States should judge the outcome of talks being conducted by Pakistan's "fledgling democracy," not the often contentious process of negotiating. That may be difficult advice for US critics who say the peace talks have removed military pressure from the region and allowed Taliban and al-Qaida militants to regroup and stage attacks on US forces operating in Afghanistan. Haqqani said Pakistan's government, which won February elections against the party of staunch US ally President Pervez Musharraf, is working to strike agreements that would require the tribes to give up their weapons, withdraw support for foreign fighters in their midst and "end attacks inside Pakistan, across the border and around the world."