Pakistani Elders Advise Clinton

Tribal leaders and elders from north-west Pakistan met US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, on Friday in Islamabad. Her diplomatic visit to Pakistan has been marred by protests against the government, over Al-Qaeda and due to the devastating bomb blasts and attacks that have been striking the country, on an almost daily basis.

North-west Pakistan shares its borders with Afghanistan and the region is concentrated with extremists, associated with the Al-Qaeda and Taliban militia. The focus of Clinton's meet was to reduce the anti-Americanism amongst the locals. She said, "So many people in Pakistan think we are not helping at all and that's incredibly frustrating for us." She also said, " We're changing our aid approach because we need to do things that are highly visible in order to restore the awareness" .

Clinton was lashed out at, by a party leader in the north-west provincial assembly, saying that the American force was trapping their region in the stone age. He asked the US to negotiate an end to the ongoing conflict in both, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lawmaker Maulvi Kifiyat Ullah spoke in Urdu to Clinton, saying, "Your presence in the region is not good for peace because it stirs up frustration and irritation among the people. God has given you force, if wisdom can also be added, we can turn this world into a garden, get out of the stone age, start negotiations in Afghanistan, then in Pakistan."

Clinton was highly supportive of the prospects for negotiations and defended the US-led operation in Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks. She said, "We agree on negotiations and wisdom, but we could not leave such a blatant attack unanswered after we had tried to resolve it peacefully. We look for a chance to do exactly what you propose."

Clinton also met senior editors and business leaders in the eastern city of Lahore during a very tight schedule on Thursday. She told the editors "Al-Qaeda has had safe haven in Pakistan since 2002, I find it hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn't get them if they really wanted to," referring to Islamabad's official stand, that it doubted whether Osama Bin Laden and his senior lieutenants are in Pakistan.

After her talks with General Ashfaq Kayani, the army chief of staff, a military statement was released that only said that the two, "exchanged candid views on matters of mutual interest." Secretary of State Clinton is ending her three-day diplomatic deputation to the troubled Muslim state of Pakistan today, where the increasing attacks have killed over 2,400 people in just two years.