US paradoxes in FATA

US that granted the status of a non-NATO ally to Pakistan due to its role as a frontline state in the War on Terror since 9/11, has gradually intensified pressure on Islamabad, coupled with a number of paradoxes, especially after the new elected government concluded peace agreements with the Taliban leaders in the Federally Controlled Tribal Areas (FATA) as a result of a continued wave of suicide attacks.

The US Deputy Secretary of State, John Negroponte who visited Pakistan in the end of March this year, ensured 750 million dollars assistance for tribal areas and emphasised, "the elimination of poverty from the tribal regions to bring about a positive change in the attitude of tribesmen", saying, "peace and tolerance as a prerequisite to sustainable development of FATA" has now taken a U-turn. On May 20, 2008, favouring the US concerns regarding the tribal peace move, Negroponte agreed with the American Congress lawmakers and the administration in putting pressure on Pakistan to call off its deals with the tribal militants and arrest Baitullah Mehsud.

Quite contrarily, Democratic Senator John Kerry, supporting the FATA peace pacts, disclosed that during "his meetings with the new leaders in Pakistan in February, 2008, he had realised that unlike the US, Islamabad had been confronting a growing domestic Pashtun insurgency" - "the nature of terrorist threat in FATA is different from that of the United States." Like Kerry, Secretary of State Rice also pointed out in an interview to the BBC on May 24, 2008 that the US recognised Pakistan's decision "to engage the militants as a sovereign decision of a friendly government."