The reluctance of the Pakistani military leadership to launch a much-needed army operation in South Waziristan, the stronghold of the al Qaeda-linked Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has led to serious differences between president Asif Ali Zardari and army chief general Ashfaq Kayani amid rumours that the Pakistan People’s Party chairman may eventually sack Kayani in his capacity as the supreme commander of the armed forces.
Government circles in Islamabad attribute the worsening of civil-military relations to general Kayani’s delay in launching a decisive military offensive against the Taliban network in South Waziristan.
This is significant at a time when the Obama administration has made the release of US financial assistance to Pakistan conditional upon the dismantling of the al-Qaeda network in the region.
The army chief isn’t moving forward despite the brazen October 10 Taliban strike on the army’s general headquarters in Rawalpindi.
While the army chief argues that it is never good to act in haste, the president thinks the time is ripe for a decisive push into the heartland of the TTP. Another contributing factor to the civil-military standoff is the much trumpeted Kerry-Lugar bill which has controversial provisions for US financial assistance.
There are reports that Zardari has contemplated replacing general Kayani for his persistent opposition to the $7.5 billion aid package. The general is opposed to the bill because it makes non-military assistance conditional on the army being subordinated to the civilian government.
The bill requires the US secretary of state to certify at six-month intervals that the Pakistani military remains under civilian oversight, specifies such details as the need for the government to control senior command promotions and wants the military to act against militant networks in Pakistan, especially in Quetta and Muridke.
Meanwhile, the defence ministry has informed the president’s office in a communique that seven senior generals, including general Kayani and Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee chairman general Tariq Majid, are due to retire by November 2010.
