Posted: November 11, 2003

The American-Pakistani relationship has its roots in the 1950s, when, prompted by concerns over Soviet expansionism and Pakistani fears of India, the two nations signed a mutual defense assistance agreement in 1954. The U.S. provides economic and military assistance to Pakistan; in FY2002 and FY2003, American assistance to Pakistan was more than $1.5 billion. Over the decades, the U.S.-Pakistani relationship has been shaken by Pakistani support of regional terrorism and Islamic extremism, Pakistani- Indian tensions, and Islamabad's pursuit of nuclear weapons and missile proliferation.

Today, Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf is trying to balance conflicting domestic, regional and international concerns. On the one hand, since September 11, 2001, Islamabad has been a key player in the American-led war on terrorism (see below). In so doing, Musharraf seeks to gain additional security and economic assistance from the U.S. On the other hand, in order to maintain political support, he needs to appease his significant domestic Islamic extremist opposition. As such, he allegedly continues to host and harbor domestic Islamic extremist groups that threaten India as well as the U.S. and the international community. Finally, Pakistan seeks to maintain its position as a regional superpower and is suspected of continuing to develop a nuclear weapons program.

Counterterrorism Efforts
Although Pakistan helped bring the radical Taliban to power in Afghanistan, in the wake of September 11th Pakistan joined the global coalition against terrorism. Despite the threats and protestations of domestic Islamic extremists, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has actively cracked down on Al Qaeda terrorists seeking refuge in Pakistan, helped identify and detain extremists, allowed the U.S. military to use bases within the country, permitted American law enforcement authorities to set up shop, and tightened the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Government of Pakistan has arrested hundreds of suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists, and has transferred many of them to U.S. custody. Islamabad, working with American authorities, has captured several key Al Qaeda leaders including Abu Zubaydah (March 2002), suspected of being the top recruiter for Al Qaeda's training camps in Afghanistan, Ramzi Binalshibh (September 2002), suspected paymaster for the September 11th hijackers, and Khalid Shaikh Muhammad (March 2003), alleged Al Qaeda chief of operations and suspected mastermind of September 11th.

It is also believed that Pakistani authorities aided in the capture of Abdul Rahim al- Sharqawi, a.k.a. "Riyadh the Facilitator," suspected of coordinating logistics and finance for Al Qaeda. He is being held in an undisclosed location and details surrounding his capture have yet to be revealed. Most recently, in September 2003, Pakistani police nabbed Indonesian Rusman Gunawan, the younger brother of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader and Al Qaeda representative in Southeast Asia, Hambali. Gunawan is believed to be in charge of JI's Pakistan branch and is said to have arranged trips for Hambali to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In January 2002, the Government of Pakistan detained hundreds of extremists and banned five terrorist organizations: Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Tehrik-I-Jafria Pakistan (TJP), and Tehrik-I-Nifaz-I-Shariat-I Mohammadi (TNSM).

According to the State Department, Pakistan is a "vital partner in the global Coalition against terrorism, playing a key role in the diplomatic, law-enforcement, and military fight to eliminate Al Qaeda." American-Pakistani joint counterterrorism efforts include cooperation on border security, criminal investigations and training projects. In 2002, the U.S. and Pakistan established the Working Group on Counterterrorism and Law-Enforcement Cooperation.

Pakistan has joined the global effort against terrorist financing and the nation ranks third in the world, behind the U.S. and Switzerland, in seizing terrorist assets. The government has frozen the bank accounts of 24 Islamic militant groups.

In September 2003, Treasury Secretary John Snow said that Pakistan had made "enormous strides" in curbing money laundering used for terror financing. Snow singled out Pakistani efforts against "hawala" - the ancient Arab informal system of money exchange. The "hawala" banking system has been used by terrorists to send money around the world with few, if any, traces. In 2002, Pakistan passed a law requiring hawala dealers to register with the government and document their transactions. Since then, the government has ordered the closure of dozens of unregistered hawalas.

In late September 2003, Arabic satellite television broadcast an audiotape allegedly by Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in which he urged Pakistanis to overthrow President Musharraf for "betraying" Islam. The Pakistani president dismissed the threat and said: "Pakistan is part of the war on terrorism and the pursuit of terrorists, al Qaeda and their associates will continue despite these threats."

Domestic Islamic Extremism
Pakistan shares a long border with Afghanistan and a substantial percentage of the Pakistani population supports Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. Many fugitive Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters are believed to be hiding in Pakistan's remote and semi-autonomous tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

In the October 2002 Pakistani national elections, a coalition of six Islamic parties known as the United Action Forum (MMA) won 68 seats, almost 20 percent of the total number of seats, in Pakistan's parliament, the National Assembly. The MMA controls the provincial assembly in the North West Frontier Province and is a coalition partner in the Baluchistan assembly, representing Pashtun-majority regions that border Afghanistan. In late September 2003, the Baluchistan assembly called for the withdrawal of Pakistani troops hunting Al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives in the region. Although the resolution has no legal binding force on the central government, it is a significant statement of opposition to the President's counterterrorist activities.

Despite the Pakistani crackdown on Islamic militants and their organizations, Islamic extremists are believed to have re-established pro-Al Qaeda and pro-Taliban organizations in several Pakistani cities. Coalition troops in Afghanistan have complained that Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters attack coalition troops in Afghanistan and escape across the border into Pakistan. And U.S. government officials have expressed concern that members of Pakistan's intelligence community are actively assisting Taliban and Al Qaeda fugitives.

Pakistani Islamic extremist groups have targeted the U.S. and Western interests in Pakistan. In 2002, Islamic extremists kidnapped and murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, attacked a vehicle outside the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi killing 11 French engineers and two Pakistanis, and attacked the U.S. consulate in Karachi, killing 12 people. Militant Islamic Sunni organizations also target Pakistan's Shia minority.

Kashmir
Following the granting of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947, war broke out over the future of the Muslim-dominated Kashmir region. India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir. In 1972, following another conflict, a "Line of Control" was established giving India control over 45 percent of the region, Pakistan control over 33 percent, and China rule over the rest. Since 1989, Islamic militants allegedly supported by Pakistan have been waging a violent separatist rebellion to bring independence to Indian-ruled Kashmir or its merger with Pakistan. More than 30,000 people have died in Kashmir as a result of the violence.

There are 15 Islamic extremist groups fighting in Kashmir for an end to Indian rule. Their targets include the Indian government, Indian troops in Kashmir and civilians in Kashmir and in other parts of India. India claims that these Muslim separatist groups have training bases in Pakistan and receive money and arms from the Pakistani government, while Pakistan claims it provides only moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri "freedom struggle." The leading pro-Pakistan Kashmiri separatist group is Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), one of the older militant groups, comprised mostly of Kashmiris. It has been active since the early days of the Muslim separatist rebellion and is the militant wing of Pakistan's largest Islamic political party, the Jamaat-I-Islami.

Hopes for an end to the conflict rose briefly in the summer of 2000 when Hizbul Mujahideen agreed to a cease-fire and negotiations with the Indian government. The two-week truce ended when talks broke down after HM demanded that Pakistan be part of the talks. Even during the cease-fire however, Islamic militants opposed to the truce carried out seven attacks in a 24-hour period in early August 2000 that killed at least 85 people in Kashmir. Most recently, HM claimed responsibility for a September 2003 bomb attack in a busy market in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed six people.

Another Islamic separatist group fighting to end Indian control of Kashmir is the Harakat ul- Mujahidin (HUM), a Pakistan-based Islamic militant group that is comprised mainly of Afghans, Pakistanis and Arabs. HUM's primary target has been Indian troops in Kashmir although it has also engaged in bombings of civilians.

According to the State Department, HUM's Secretary General Fazlur Rehman Khalil is linked to Osama bin Laden and signed his February 1998 fatwa calling for attacks on U.S. and Western interests. HUM is believed to be linked to the Kashmiri militant group al-Faran that kidnapped and later killed five Western tourists in Kashmir in 1995. HUM was also responsible for the December 1999 hijacking of an Indian airliner in which one passenger was killed. The hijacking resulted in the release of HUM leader Maulana Masood Azhar and Ahmed Omar Sheik, who was convicted in the kidnapping/ murder of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl.

Upon his release from prison, HUM leader Azhar founded Jaish-e-Muhammad (JEM), another Pakistan-based terrorist group that operates in Kashmir, in early 2000. JEM is suspected of receiving funds from Osama bin Laden and the U.S. froze the assets of JEM in October 2001 and designated it a foreign terrorist organization in December 2001. The Indian government has implicated JEM in the December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that killed nine people.

Also on the list of U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations is Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT), the armed wing of the Pakistani religious organization Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI). According to the State Department, LT is one of the largest and best-trained groups fighting in Kashmir today. Since 1993, LT has conducted a number of attacks against Indian troops and civilian targets in Kashmir. Along with JEM, it is implicated in the December 2001 Indian parliament attack. In March 2002, Al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah was captured at an LT safehouse in Faisalabad, suggesting, according to the State Department that "some members are facilitating the movement of Al Qaeda members in Pakistan."

LT has expanded its reach beyond South Asia. In June 2003, a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, charged 11 men from the Washington, DC, area for conspiring with LT to engage in jihadist combat. They were accused of training in Northern Virginia in order to prepare for military missions abroad. In August and September 2003, four of the 11 men pled guilty to conspiracy and gun charges. In late September 2003, the remaining seven defendants were re-indicted on expanded charges including conspiracy to levy war against the U.S., to provide material support to Al Qaeda and to contribute services to the former Talibanrun government in Afghanistan. According to the indictment, the men trained with AK-47 weapons in Virginia and Pennsylvania and three of the men received training and weapons at an LT training camp in Pakistan.

As mentioned above, President Musharraf banned numerous Islamic militant groups in January 2002. These organizations, however, are said to be still operating under different names. In June 2002, Pakistan pledged to the U.S. that it would cease all "cross-border terrorism." In May 2003, Islamabad promised that all terrorist training camps in Pakistani-controlled areas would be closed. While President Musharraf claims to be taking significant action against Kashmiri terrorists, ongoing attacks in Kashmir and in India, as well as continued attempted cross-border incursions, appear to contradict his assertions.

Nuclear Weapons and Missile Proliferation
India and Pakistan, the two superpowers in South Asia, are engaged in an escalating arms race. Following India's May 1998 testing of nuclear weapons, Pakistan followed suit. Both countries are believed to have active nuclear weapons programs. According to press reports, Pakistan has aided Iran and North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. These media reports, which Pakistan vehemently denies, has led many in Congress to seek sanctions against Pakistan, and they potentially conflict with Administration efforts to reward Pakistan for its anti-terrorist activities.

Most recently, the India-Pakistan arms race has been fueled by Pakistan's October 2003 test-firing of a medium-range, nuclear-capable missile. With a range of 435 miles, the Hatf-4 missile can hit major targets in India.