U.S. to help Pakistan seal border to Afghanistan from smugglers, crack down on extremists

By BARRY SCHWEID
AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration plans to help Pakistan stop smugglers from trucking weapons across its porous border with Afghanistan and may train Pakistani police to control Muslim extremists, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan said Tuesday in an AP interview.

The two projects have the enthusiastic support of President Pervez Musharraf, who understands "you are not going to solve the problem in Afghanistan without solving the social problems in Pakistan," said Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin.

"There has been a sea change in our cooperation," said Chamberlin, who took over as ambassador in mid-August, a month before the terrorist attacks on the United States. Pakistan quickly joined the U.S. campaign to strike back, despite its strong ties to the Taliban militia that harbors Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorist network in Afghanistan.

At the same time, though, Musharraf has called repeatedly for a prompt conclusion of the U.S. war against the Taliban, which Secretary of State Colin Powell and other U.S. officials say is only in its early stages.

"He wants to reduce the influence of extremism," Chamberlin said of Musharraf. "He views Pakistan as a victim of violence, as a victim of terrorism itself. This is what he would like to tackle, to get control and eliminate it within Pakistan."

For the former general, who seized power in a coup in 1999 and has since appointed himself president, joining the U.S.-led coalition is "a way of cauterizing the violence spreading from Afghanistan into Pakistan," Chamberlin said.

Protests by small groups of militants over the U.S. military's use of several bases in Pakistan has raised concern that Musharraf's hold on power could be threatened if extremism spreads.

President Bush plans to meet this weekend with Musharraf on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is comparable to the distance between Chicago and Texas. It is porous, and while Musharraf's government has tried to close it, smuggling persists, Chamberlin said.

Young Pakistan men and other Arabs trying to join Taliban fighters in Afghanistan are being stopped at the border when caught.

"We have repeated assurances that items such as fuel are banned" from the border, Chamberlin said. "Weapons, of course, are banned."

The U.S. is trying to help Pakistan halt military shipments in autonomous regions in the north, an area the British failed to control during the colonial era.

"We recognize the government's limited capabilities with a border that long," Chamberlin said.

Several U.S. government agencies are working on a border control project "to help the Pakistani government's capabilities in monitoring smuggling activity across the border," she said.

Chamberlin offered no details of the project that is being spearheaded by Rand Beers, the assistant secretary of state for international, narcotics and law enforcement affairs.

In seeking to counter terrorism, Musharraf this week banned the use of mosques for political propaganda. But he needs a far more effective police force to enforce that ban aimed at extremists, Chamberlin said.

"And this is where we can help," she said.

On Wednesday, Chamberlin will meet with FBI Director Robert Mueller on ways to boost Pakistani police's ability to deal with terrorism within the country.

If Mueller approves, the FBI, which already has a small office in Pakistan, would help train police there and in the United States.

"The Pakistani government is delighted with this proposal," she said.

Musharraf's political position within Pakistan has been the subject of considerable debate. Chamberlin's view is that he is secure, enjoying the full support of all four major political parties and "a silent majority who are fed up with a culture of violence that has spread to Pakistan."

But, she said, Musharraf is faced with a huge social problem – poverty, poor education and schools within mosques that provide religious training but do not prepare the students for a modern economy.

"What you get is a vulnerable population that can be exploited by extremists, and that is what is happening," Chamberlin said. "So it's a threat. Some people called it the Talibanization of Pakistan, where those extremists prey on this vulnerable population."

Chamberlin, a career diplomat, was U.S. ambassador to Laos from 1996 to 1999, and has served in Morocco, the former Zaire and Malaysia.

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