US prepares to vacate Pakistan air base

The United States is preparing to accede to Pakistani demands that it vacate a remote air base in Pakistan used for drone flights, but the move is not expected to have a significant impact on operations against militants, US government sources say.

Washington is treading lightly not to aggravate an already fragile relationship that was bruised further by a Nato attack on a Pakistani military outpost last weekend that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers near the Afghanistan border.

Pakistan demanded that the United States leave the Shamsi Air Base within 15 days and blocked ground supply routes through Pakistan to US forces in Afghanistan.

Three sources, who declined to be identified because of the issue’s sensitivity, said US planning is under way to leave the base, a remote facility in Balochistan that has been a point of contention.

The cross-border incident escalated tensions between the two countries and the US military is conducting an investigation to find out exactly what happened on the ground.

The moves by the Pakistanis to block ground supply routes and the air base were not expected to significantly hinder US operations.

One US government source said the United States has spent months preparing for a possible eviction from the Pakistan base by building up other drone launching and staging capability.

Earlier this year, after the US raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, some Pakistani officials demanded that Washington vacate the Shamsi facility.

At the time, however, US officials said that American personnel would remain at the base and would continue to conduct drone flights in pursuit of militants.

But in one concession, the United States stopped conducting lethal drone operations from that base and limited operations to surveillance flights.

US officials believe that this time Pakistan appears much more resolute about carrying out the eviction threat.

Vacating the air base was seen more as an inconvenience rather than a critical blow to drone operations which the United States also conducts from Afghanistan and possibly elsewhere.

BLOCKED SUPPLY ROUTE
The United States also has to deal with the blocking of the ground supply route through Pakistan to Afghanistan.

US Congressman C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger, the senior Democrat on the House of Representatives intelligence committee, said that route accounts for less than half the supplies for international forces in Afghanistan and the military has contingency plans.

“We have a large distribution network to make sure that coalition forces are well-stocked,” he told Reuters. “It’s not going to affect our ability to follow through and execute our mission.”

Yet alternate supply routes such as the northern distribution network are not a perfect substitute and there are concerns that the cost of keeping soldiers fed, armed and fueled without use of Pakistani roads would be excessive.

Ruppersberger, who visited Pakistan to meet with officials after US forces killed bin Laden, said the relationship was poor at that point.

“We were starting to improve in the last month or so and then all of a sudden this unfortunate incident occurred, and now we’re right back to where we were again,” he said.

“It is to the advantage of both countries to work together,” Ruppersberger said. “In the end that will come. It’s about relationships, it’s about trust, and unfortunately that hasn’t been there for a while.”

Ruppersberger would not comment on the Shamsi departure.

STILL INVESTIGATING
US officials said there is still considerable confusion about details of the latest border incident.

Wary of further damaging an already delicate situation, US officials were reluctant to speculate about what happened before getting the results of military investigations.

“The focus of the administration at this point is on trying to find ways to show Pakistan that we’re serious about investigating the incident and forging a cooperative relationship in the future,” a US official said on condition of anonymity.

“No one at this point has the complete narrative on what happened,” Pentagon spokesman said.

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US urges Pakistan to reconsider Bonn talks boycott

WASHINGTON: The United States urged Pakistan on Tuesday to reconsider its decision to boycott a conference on Afghanistan in Germany next week, saying it plays a key role in the future of its war-torn central Asian neighbour.

Pakistan decided earlier Tuesday to boycott the December 5 Bonn conference as it widened its protest over lethal cross-border Nato strikes on Saturday that have exacerbated a deep crisis in US ties.

“It’s important to note that this conference is… about Afghanistan, about its future, about building a safer, more prosperous Afghanistan within the region,” State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

“It’s very much in Pakistan’s interest to attend this conference,” Toner said.

Toner, who declined to be drawn on whether the United States regretted the decision in Islamabad, said Pakistan had not informed Washington directly of its decision because Germany is the host of the conference.

But he repeated that “it’s in their interests, so we think… it’s important that they be there.”He added: “Pakistan has a crucial role to play in supporting a secure and stable and prosperous Afghanistan.

“It’s absolutely critical that Afghanistan’s neighbours play a role in its future development,” Toner said. “Its relationship with Pakistan has been critical in that regard.”

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Germany hopes Pakistan will still attend Afghanistan meet

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday she was “very sorry” about Pakistan’s announced boycott of a Bonn conference next week on the future of Afghanistan and would try to convince it to attend.

Merkel said Germany would “see what could be done to change” Islamabad’s decision to stay away from the meeting in the western German city.

“We are both interested in constructive development of Afghanistan,”Merkel, who will open the Bonn conference, told reporters flanked by visiting King Abdullah II of Jordan.

“Which is why I consider the conference hosted by the (German) foreign minister to be very important. We always said that conflicts can only be resolved in the region and Pakistan is part of this region which is why we are very sorry that this cancellation came today.”

Merkel said Berlin still hoped Islamabad would attend the Bonn meeting, which will draw delegations from around 100 countries to discuss commitments to the war-ravaged country after the withdrawal of Nato troops in 2014.

Among the invited guests is US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“I understand Pakistan’s concern about the loss of human life due to Nato troops but this should not distract from the fact that this Afghanistan conference is a very, very important conference,” she said.

“There was a loya jirga (grand assembly) in Afghanistan and there is now a very, very good chance for a possible political process. On the one hand I can understand (the boycott) but on the other, we will see what still can be done.”Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who is organising the conference, said later that Berlin was “of course” in contact with the Pakistani government over its pulling out and said it would be a “setback” if Islamabad did not attend.

“The success of the Afghanistan conference is not only important for Afghanistan but also for the entire region, for all neighbouring countries and of course and in particular for Pakistan,” he said.

Westerwelle added he understood Pakistani ire over the Nato bombing on Saturday and urged a speedy probe by the alliance to get to the bottom of how it occurred.

“You can imagine for a moment if something so horrible had happened to us and our country were mourning such a large number of victims —I ask that to be always be considered in judging decisions taken.”

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