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Summary WickiLeaks claim that Pakistan does not want the Taliban to seize control of Afghanistan.
Pakistan does not want the Taliban to seize control of Afghanistan when international forces pull out, according to a leaked account of a meeting with the recently retired head of its intelligence service.The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency has long been accused of siding with the Taliban as part of a strategy to ensure a friendly government in Kabul and to ensure arch-rival India cannot gain a foothold.However, this year its civilian government has taken pains to insist that any political settlement must be part of an Afghan-led process.According to WikiLeaks, an interview with Lieutenant-General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who stepped down as ISI director general last weekend, give an insight into the agencys secretive world and its position on Afghanistan.The account of the meeting in April last year, written by a researcher with the private intelligence firm Stratfor and obtained by WikiLeaks, suggests the ISI fears that a Taliban takeover would have dangerous implications for Pakistans security.We do not wish to see the Talibs dominate Afghanistan, he said. On the contrary, we want to see a broad-based government that can end the civil war in that country, which has had a disastrous fallout for us. Of course the Talibs will be a key player in a post-Nato Afghanistan, which we feel is necessary for true peace to take place.
