02 November 2001

Pakistan Trying To Stop Cross-border Traffic With Afghanistan

The U.S. government is confident that the Pakistan government is fully committed to the global coalition against terrorism and is making every effort to prevent help from going to the Taliban in Afghanistan, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, briefing reporters in Washington November 2, 2001

Boucher said that there are pockets of sympathy for the Taliban in Pakistan and it is possible that private individuals may be trying to provide help to the Taliban.

Following is an excerpt from Boucher's November 2 briefing containing his comments about Pakistan's effort to stop cross-border trafficking with Afghanistan:

Question: Yesterday -- I think it was yesterday -- State Department officials were saying that there may be -- probably is -- smuggling across from Pakistan to Afghanistan, didn't think the Pakistani government was complicit, but the US was asking in Islamabad trying to find out. Are there any results from that inquiry that you can tell us about?

Mr. Boucher: I don't know I would describe it that way. That is certainly not something I said here. I would say that we are confident -- I said that yesterday -- we are confident that President Musharraf's government is fully committed to the global coalition against terrorism. We are confident that they are making every effort to ensure that there is no help going to the Taliban. I think Dr. Rice said yesterday that they are confident that they are taking steps to avoid any kind of smuggling or other private support.

Indeed, there are pockets of sympathy for the Taliban in Pakistan, and it is not possible to rule out the possibility. It is possible that private individuals may be trying to provide help. But as I said, Pakistan fully supports our objectives. It is ending the use of the territory of Afghanistan as a haven for terrorists. And bringing peace through the establishment of a broad-based and representative government is the goal of Pakistan as well, and we are confident that they will take steps to avoid any possible support for the Taliban coming out of Pakistan.

Question: Well, no one was saying they were complicit that I had talked to, nor did you.

Mr. Boucher: No, but you're asking, have they taken steps? Yes. We are confident they are taking steps to stop anything.

Question: No, I asked you -- well, I thought the question was clear, but let me try it this way. It was not known in this building if indeed there is much traffic -- nighttime truck traffic -- of arms and fuel going from Pakistan to Afghanistan. There was a confidence that if so, it didn't have the authority of the Pakistani Government.

Mr. Boucher: Right.

Question: We will have to ask in Islamabad exactly what is going on. It is a very long border. So what I am asking is, if anything has come out of that, if there has been such discussion, anything for instance about better policing? Or authorities saying, we don't think it amounts to much, or it amounts to a lot? I'm just asking if there's any result to this consultation.

Mr. Boucher: I think the answer is, today I don't have any news for you on what, if anything, might be crossing the border, and what new steps the Government of Pakistan might be taking to stop it. But I think we are confident that they will take such steps, that they are taking such steps, and they are trying to exercise as much vigilance as possible along their border.