US presses Pakistan on bomb fertilizer
WASHINGTON: US officials called Thursday on Pakistan to crack down
on the production of a common fertiliser, saying it was used to make bombs that
have claimed the bulk of troop deaths in Afghanistan.As the long-tense US-Pakistan relationship improves slightly, US officials credited Islamabad with taking the issue more seriously but said that much more needed to be done by authorities and producers of the fertiliser.
Calcium ammonium nitrate is responsible for more than 70 per cent of roadside bombs against coalition forces in Afghanistan despite a ban by Kabul on the fertiliser, Lieutenant General Michael Barbero told a Senate hearing.
Barbero, who heads a Defence Department unit that combats the bombs, said the Fatima Group, the Pakistani company that runs the factories, has been “less than cooperative” in discussions with the United States.
Senator Bob Casey, who put up pictures of maimed US soldiers at the hearing, said that Interior Minister Rehman Malik presented plans to prevent the bombs, known as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, during an October visit to the United States.
“While I’m pleased that Pakistan has developed a very detailed and comprehensive set of plans to counter IEDs, let me be clear, it’s time to finally and fully implement these plans,” Casey said.
“IED incidents have risen in Afghanistan. The flow of chemicals coming from across the border has not diminished,” said Casey, a member of President Barack Obama’s Democratic Party from Pennsylvania.
Casey said that Pakistan, which has been torn for years by violence, had an interest in halting the fertiliser’s misuse. Citing the US embassy, Casey said IEDs had killed 2,395 people inside Pakistan in the past year.
Casey called for restrictions on the sale of ammonium nitrate and a tracking system that charts the course of chemicals to distributors to buyers.
“Members of the fertiliser industry in Pakistan have the opportunity to be good corporate citizens. They should also understand that they are part of a broader global corporate community where reputations matter, just like they do here in Washington,” he said.
Barbero said the United States had requested that factories dye the calcium ammonium nitrate, which is milky white and can easily be disguised as detergent, so that border guards can detect it.
Ammonium nitrate is also produced in other nations, but virtually all found in Afghanistan has come from Pakistan, he said.
The fertiliser was also the chief component in the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City. In 2007, the US Congress passed a law that required registration of buyers.
Barbero said that US forces have also noticed the growing use by insurgents in Afghanistan of potassium chlorate, which he said was illegally imported into Pakistan to produce matches or for use in the textile industry.
State Department official Jonathan Carpenter said the United States has provided some $113 million to Pakistan since 2009 for efforts to counter the bombs and anticipated another $135 million from the most recent funding year.
The United States has long voiced frustration at what officials say remain strong links between elements of Pakistan’s intelligence agency and Islamic militants operating in Afghanistan, particularly the Haqqani network.
Pakistan has defended its record, saying it has borne the brunt of the US war. Analysts widely believe that Pakistan’s motivation is to preserve influence in Afghanistan in anticipation of the US withdrawal in 2014.
Rice withdraws US secretary of state bid
Rice, currently the US envoy to the United Nations, is close to President Barack Obama and emerged as the top target of Republican attacks on the administration's handling of the attack on September 11.
"If nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly, to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities," Rice said in a letter to Obama.
"That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country... therefore, I respectfully request that you no longer consider my candidacy at this time," Rice wrote in the letter.
Obama accepted Rice's decision, first reported by NBC, in a telephone call with the UN envoy on Thursday and issued a statement condemning the "unfair and misleading attacks" on her.
"Her decision demonstrates the strength of her character, and an admirable commitment to rise above the politics of the moment to put our national interests first," Obama said.
"The American people can be proud to have a public servant of her caliber and character representing our country," Obama added, saying that Rice would remain as UN ambassador with a place in his cabinet.
Republicans pounced on Rice after she said on September 16 that the Benghazi attack was a "spontaneous" reaction to an anti-Muslim video, using CIA talking points she now admits were wrong.
Extremists linked to Al-Qaeda are now blamed for the attack and Republicans charge the White House misled the US public as it did not want to own up to a terror attack weeks before the presidential election.
Rice's move throws the race to succeed Hillary Clinton, who has said she will not serve in Obama's second term, wide open.
Democratic Senator John Kerry will now be seen as the hot favorite for the post, though officials say no announcements on Obama's second term national security team are imminent. (AFP)
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KARACHI
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