US should focus on Afghanistan, not Pakistan: Kayani

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army chief told parliament’s defence committee the United States should focus on stabilizing Afghanistan instead of pushing Pakistan to attack militant groups in a crucial border region.

According to media reports, Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani also said Pakistan alone will decide if and when to launch a full-scale offensive in the North Waziristan region to attack militants.
He said the United States would have to think “10 times” before taking any unilateral action there. Pakistan is not like Iraq or Afghanistan, the parliamentarian quoted Kayani as saying. The MP spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The problem lies in Afghanistan, not Pakistan,” the parliamentarian quoted Kayani as telling the committee in a briefing on national security matters held at army headquarters.
Such views could deepen tension between the United States and its uneasy but important ally Pakistan.
“All intelligence agencies have contacts. Don’t the CIA and (the British spy agency) MI6 have such contacts? It is through these contacts that we get information,” Kayani said.
“The nice guys don’t give you information. It is contacts like this that yield intelligence. It is about whether you use this information positively or negatively.”