archive: The Ultimate Enemy (Question and Answer with Masoud Khalili)
The Ultimate Enemy (Question and Answer with Masoud Khalili)
Mahendra Ved
The Times of India
July 21, 1999
Title: The Ultimate Enemy (Question and Answer with Masoud Khalili)
Author: Mahendra Ved
Publication: The Times of India
Date: July 21, 1999
Seven months after Masoud Khalili came to India in February 1996 as
Afghanistan's envoy, his government was exiled from Kabul. The
Taliban have since over-run 80 per cent (If the Afghan territory, yet
have failed to gain world recognition. Making the best of the
situation, Delhi-educated Khalili provides the media and the
diplomatic circuit the much-needed window to his strife-torn country.
"What has happened in Kargil is precisely what I have been saying
about the role of Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence in my country,
"he told Mahendra Ved.
Q: A number of those caught and killed by the Indian Army in Kargil
are said to be Afghans.
A: I don't deny that there are Afghans in Kargil. But they can be
Pushto speaking Pakistanis, or Afghans from refugee camps in
Pakistan. The ISI is active among these hapless people, exhorting
them to join the "jehad" in Kashmir. I may also add that mercenaries
in many countries call themselves Afghans, or Mujahideen, because they
or their trainers saw action during the Afghan war against the
Soviets. The rebels in Algeria thus call themselves Afghan
Mujahideen. Then, there are Arab mercenaries all over West and
Central Asia, some of them found in Kashmir. Pakistan and the Taliban
call them "Arab Volunteers". But in Kashmir, they are called
Afghans. The term "Afghan" is being abused, which is a tragedy. As
for the 30,000 Afghans living in India, they are upset at this. They
blame the ISI for this.
Q: So you see a connection between Kabul and Kargil.
A: Of course. Pakistan connects the two and has deep designs for
both. I have been saying it in all my public statements, but I am
afraid it has not been taken with adequate seriousness. Some weeks
before the Pakistani intrusion in Kargil, I was on Doordarshan with a
video film as evidence of the ISI's role in Kashmir. There is a basic
difference though in the way Islamabad is dealing with Kabul and
Kargil. They want to project our resistance against the Taliban as
something localised, not to be taken seriously by the world. But
through the mercenaries they have pushed into Kashmir, and now they
want to internationalise the issue.
Q: How does the government of Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani look at
Kargil?
A: The Line of Control which has been agreed upon by both countries.
This border should be respected. Now that has been violated by one of
the parties. It is very clear that Pakistan has done this. I would
say it is the work of the ISI, whether independent of, or with
blessings from, the Pakistan Government. Actually, this debate about
the role of ISI is meaningless. The sanctity of LoC must be restored
and respected. The situation on the ground should go back to before
the Kargil crisis start-ed. Bilateral talks should be held by India
and Pakistan to resolve the issues involved.
Q: Do you approve of Pakistan's argument that the country through
which armed intruders come has no responsibility for their actions?
A: My reply is an emphatic No. But I will put it differently. When
the US fired Tomahawks at Afghanistan in August 1998, not a single
Afghan was killed. Those killed were all Pakistanis and Arabs - the
trainers and the trainees in the camps opened by Osama Bin Laden. The
question you should ask is how Arabs of different nationalities
entered Afghanistan, and through Pakistan, Kashmir. They get tourist
visas from Pakistan's consulates in their countries. The ISI
recommends them. So, the cooperation between the Pakistan Government
and the ISI, which is touted as something independent and
larger-than-life, is complete. These tourists get trained and turn
terrorists, to be exported for "jehad" from Chechnya and Bosnia to
Cairo and Kargil. There are more questions to answer your question:
how come these 'tourists' return to Pindi and Peshawar every 3-4
weeks? Who pays for their so-called "jehad"? This is but a tip of
the iceberg.
Q: Are the Taliban rulers are drawn from this force?
A: Not any more. My feedback for last six months is that the youth in
areas the Taliban control do not join the war. The youth from
Peshawar, Quetta, Karachi and West Punjab have also stopped coming
in. They consider it a bad war in which they are at the best,
fodder. The main fighters, the ones who matter, are Pakistan Army
regulars, of course, in different disguise. Commander Ahmed Shah
Masood, who commands the Northern Alliance fighting the Taliban, told
me in mid-June that Pakistan had sent in 3,200 regulars. Of these
1100 were dispatched to Bamiyan and Darasu in Central Afghanistan,
which they recaptured for the Kabul rulers in mid-May. Here comes the
interesting part, a design and not a mere coincidence This force
immediately regrouped at the front 20 KM north of Kabul to complete
the final take-over of Afghanistan for the Taliban. But they are
stuck there. Their three massive operations last week, complete with
artillery fire and airstrikes, they have been beaten back by Masood.
Now, look at your calendar, at the events in Kargil. This tallies
with the Kargil developments. The ISI wanted to finish the Afghan
operations by spring and simultaneously, consolidate their hold in
Kargil. They have failed on both the fronts.
Q: How do you say with conviction that Pakistan or the ISI are
directly involved in the fighting in Afghanistan?
A: Well, for the record, at least three Divisions guarding Kabul are
manned and commanded by Pakistani regulars. Two of them are stationed
at Rishkour and Qargha, stationed in Kabul's suburbs, some 10 KM from
the city. The actual strength' of Pakistan's regulars is around
3,500. But they man the communication network, training, planning and
organise raids on our forces, which are just 25 KM away from Kabul.
Q: What is the main source of trouble in South West Asia?
A: There are three main elements causing trouble for the region. They
need to he ad dressed to by all countries of the region and by the
international community, practically and objectively. One: religious
fundamentalism. Two: Terrorism with or without religion as its
cutting edge. Three: Drug trafficking. Terrorism has made its
presence in Uzbekistan - President Karimov and his ministers were five
minutes away from the venue that witnessed a bomb blast last year.
Tajikistan is suffering because its rebels are finding sanctuary in
Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Narcotics is a problem common to the
entire region. Produced and processed in Afghanistan, it goes from
Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan to other world capitals.
The question is, who is cultivating and trading in opium? It is
Pakistan's ISI, which gets most of funds from drug trafficking.
Afghanistan does not have cynide required to process opium. It is two
LJS dollars per litre outside, but sells for $117. The ISI- Taliban
combine thrives on drug production and trafficking.
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