PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF admitted yesterday that Taleban and al-Qaeda militants were using Pakistan to carry out cross-border attacks into Afghanistan, but denied that his security services were involved.

In a frank admission before President Karzai in Kabul, the Pakistani leader sought to repair damaged relations with Afghanistan, which is in the grip of a Taleban insurgency.

“There are al-Qaeda and Taleban operating in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Certainly there are some who are crossing from the Pakistan side and causing bomb blasts and terrorist activities in your country,” he said to officials at the Foreign Ministry in Kabul.

“We know they are doing this, but the question is [whether] this is sponsored . . . Let me give you my personal assurance that we are with you against the Taleban and alQaeda,” he said.

Afghan officials, with their American and British counterparts, have long suspected that elements in the Pakistani regime, particularly the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), have secretly supported the Taleban, which was created a decade ago with Pakistani help.

General Musharraf’s pledge that “neither the Government of Pakistan nor ISI is involved in any kind of interference in Afghanistan” may go some way towards easing concerns in Kabul.

Mr Karzai responded by saying that the two states would fight terrorism hand in hand. He told his guest: “We are asking for your help. It is not an accusation. It is not blame. It is asking a brother to help us.”

In spite of the rapprochement, there are doubts that General Musharraf has the power to prevent militants from using Pakistan for operations against its neighbour.

Yesterday Pakistani troops continued their withdrawal from the lawless border region of Waziristan after a failed three-year campaign against Islamic militants allied to the Taleban and al-Qaeda. The Pakistani military lost 700 soldiers, and several hundred civilians and militants were also killed, but the operation produced few results.

The retreat came after an agreement between the Government and tribal elders on Tuesday that in effect conceded control of the restive region to the militants, who have established a Taleban-style rigid Islamic rule. The deal was seen as a face-saving move for the military, which has been shaken by heavy casualties during the campaign in the mountainous terrain.

The Government released hundreds of tribal prisoners captured during the operation in return for an assurance by a tribal council that the militants would stop cross-border raids and not shelter foreign fighters.

A spokesman for the militants, who called themselves local Taleban, said that no such commitment was made. Waziristan, known as the Wild West of Pakistan, was regarded as one of the most likely hiding places for Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, his deputy. It is divided into North and South Waziristan, a 4,473sq mile (11,590sq km) land of high, difficult mountains inhabited by a million fiercely independent Pashtun tribesmen with strong ties across the border in the Paktia and Khost provinces of Afghanistan. The region has become a huge troublespot for the American and Afghan forces, particularly as Taleban insurgents escape to the Pakistani side after attacking coalition posts. The militants openly recruit volunteers to fight in Afghanistan.

After the deal on Tuesday the Pakistani military has stopped air and ground operations in the area and granted amnesty to the militant leaders wanted in terrorist attacks. Most were linked to al-Qaeda and have been involved in fighting in Afghanistan. The Government said that foreigners would be allowed to stay if they respected the law and the peace agreement.

Some analysts described the deal as one of the most obvious capitulations by the Musharraf Government since it began its campaign to root out foreign fighters from the area. “It is not a good sign,” said Samina Ahmed, director, Pakistan and Afghanistan, for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. “The Government seems to have given in to all the militant demands without getting very much in return.”

Although Waziristan had for a long time been the main base for al-Qaeda-backed militants and a stronghold of religious extremists, the first signs of a Taleban-like rule started to emerge in January. The militants, mostly the students of local madrassas (Islamic schools), gained popularity by pretending to fight crime. They created an environment of fear when they killed so-called bandits and left the bodies hanging in the open. They circulated videos of these punishments as part of their propaganda campaign. The militants have set up offices for recruitment as well as for administering justice.

The Talebanisation of Waziristan has spilt over into parts of the North West Frontier Province, where mullahs have formed militias to enforce their version of Islam. Barbers are warned not to shave beards, people are prohibited from playing music, even at weddings, or watching TV. Women are barred from leaving their homes on their own. Defiance is punishable by heavy fines.

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