Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will be hard-pressed at a White House meeting tomorrow to explain a peace deal with tribal leaders that Afghans fear will turn the border region into a safe haven for al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The deal would allow the terrorists to live peacefully if they give up arms and denounce violence.
Afghans complain that the arrangement will lift the pressure on the Taliban and al-Qaeda supporters living on the Pakistan side of the border and free them for waging attacks inside Afghanistan.
The Pakistanis reject the suggestion. "This deal would not only bring peace to our side of the border but can also be replicated in Afghanistan if it succeeds," says Pakistani FM Khurshid Kasuri.
President Bush says he understands what Gen. Musharraf is attempting to do but that the U.S. will be watching developments very carefully. "What [Gen. Musharraf] is doing is entering agreements with governors in the regions of the country, in the hopes that there would be an economic vitality, there will be alternatives to violence and terror," Bush told ABC News in a recent interview. "We have made it clear that he should not provide an environment that enables people to go from his country into Afghanistan."
The Bush-Musharraf meeting is to be followed by a separate session with Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday. The following day, the three leaders are to meet together at the White House.
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