Pakistan To Review Fight Against Taliban

I saw this coming for a while now. Sharif, the leader of the PML-N the second largest political party in Pakistan, stated that the war against the taliban will be reviewed. That will only mean one thing, Pakistan will yield to the taliban in the tribal areas. There are strong rumours that Sharif had met with Bin Laden, back in the early 90s, on several occasions and even received money from him.

Sharif's party was looking to get key ministries, such as the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Finance and Foreign Affairs. As of now I don't know if the party got them or not. AP

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — A key figure in Pakistan's new government told two top U.S. envoys Tuesday that his country is "no longer a one-man show" and that President Pervez Musharraf's strong-arm tactics against Islamic militants will be scrutinized.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's comments came as Musharraf swore in a loyalist of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as the head of a new civilian government.

Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher arrived in Islamabad early Tuesday, held talks with Sharif, then visited Musharraf at the presidential palace. They made no public comment on the talks. The envoys also met with army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the chief of the military's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said.

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Many Pakistanis resent Musharraf's support of Washington's aggressive campaign against al-Qaida and the Taliban — which operate in Pakistan's tribal and border regions — claiming it has stoked a bloody backlash.

The security of Pakistan must not be sacrificed in order to protect other countries, Sharif said.

"It is unacceptable that while giving peace to the world we make our own country a killing field," he said at a news conference.

"If America wants to see itself clean of terrorism, we also want that our villages and towns should not be bombed," he said, an apparent reference to recent air strikes near the Afghan border many Pakistanis blame on U.S. and allied forces.

The new civilian rulers have said they would negotiate with some militant groups — an approach that has drawn U.S. criticism in the past.