Miliband backs Pakistan dialogue

By James Robbins
Diplomatic correspondent, BBC News

Militants have been responsible for attacks in the province

Pakistan's new government, which was elected in February 2008, is still feeling its way.

The previous reliance by President Musharraf on military strikes against extremists - heavily backed by the United States - failed to prevent sharp increases in suicide bombings in Pakistan over the past 18 months.

But now that the president's power has been sharply reduced after the defeat of his supporters in February's elections, the coalition government under Prime Minister Gilani is setting out new approaches.

Constitutional game

In Peshawar, UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband listened to relatives of victims of a recent attack.

Several urged dialogue with followers of al-Qaeda and the Taleban based in the federally administered tribal areas stretching from the edge of the city along the border with Afghanistan.

Others blamed the United States and President Musharraf for attempting to destroy militancy by force, and pointed to the damage done when innocent civilians become the victims of strikes.

Mr Miliband told them a military strategy had to be combined with dialogue in both Pakistan and Afghanistan - reaching out to those willing to work within the constitution.

Democracy is the ally of stability David Miliband

"It's very important that on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border a message clearly goes out - if you're willing to play by the rules of the constitutional game, there is a place for you, and we want reconciliation to be pursued at a local level," he added.

But unless Pakistan's government diverts far money from military spending to education and health care in desperately poor border areas where banditry and extremism flourish, it is hard to see stability taking hold.

Still, Mr Miliband stressed the positive: "Six weeks after the election, I think one can say that democracy is the ally of stability.

"I'm meeting party leaders and the prime minister. I hope they can build a stable coalition which will last for the full four or five years with a programme which takes Pakistan forward."

He insisted that extremism in Pakistan hurts not only the people of the country itself, with increasingly frequent suicide bombings in major cities.

The foreign secretary told me that 70% of terrorism investigations now under way in Britain have a link back into Pakistan. Young British men with Pakistani roots are still coming to Pakistan's border areas with Afghanistan to be radicalised and trained for terrorism.