(IPS) news focus

- Amid fear of a backlash from right-wing religious parties and the public in general, the military government is in a fix over the extent of cooperation it could extend to Washington in tracking down those responsible for the attacks in the US this week.

Although Washington has not formally laid out clear plans on the kind of cooperation it expects from Islamabad, there is a consensus among religious leaders here that Pakistan should not allow the use of its soil or airspace for any actions against Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden, a suspect in Tuesday's attacks, has been given a safe haven by the ruling Taliban.

''On the basis of my contacts with Taliban, I am sure that neither the Taliban government nor Osama bin Laden was involved in these terrorist attacks,'' declared influential right-wing leader, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who heads the Jamiat Ulema Islam .

''People in Pakistan will not allow the use of Pakistani soil against Afghanistan. I hope the military leadership will respect the expectations of the people,'' warned the maulana , who enjoys close ties with the Taliban administration.

Another leader affiliated with one faction of the Jamiat Ulema Islam , Samiul Haq, says: ''The expected US attack on Afghanistan will be considered an attack against the sovereignty of Pakistan and conspiracy against the defense and nuclear capability of the country.''

The American leadership, he adds, appears to be in a hurry to link Taliban and Bin Laden to terrorist attacks even in the absence of substantive evidence against them.

''Without producing proof, an attack on Afghanistan will only reflect nothing but the hatred of the US government towards the Islamic world. We will not allow them to use Pakistani soil,'' says Haq, who runs a chain of religious schools across Pakistan.

Specific list

Although Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf has assured full cooperation to the Bush administration in his communications with the US Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. envoy to Pakistan Wendy Chamberlin, he has not given any indication on what ''full cooperation'' entails.

''Until the areas of cooperation are not defined, we cannot say about allowing US troops to use the Pakistani soil,'' commented Major General Rashid Qureshi, Musharraf's press secretary, while denouncing terrorism and expressing support for any international action against it.

In Washington, Powell was quoted as saying the US government has delivered a ''specific list of things that we think would be useful for (the Pakistani government) to work on with us''.

Knowledgeable sources say the list included a request for detailed intelligence information about Al Qaeda, bin Laden's organisation, and the Taliban regime and permission to deploy US special forces capable of striking into Afghanistan.

Although Pakistanis in general have been saddened by the loss of lives in the attacks on the World Trade Centre towers and on Pentagon, they find US claims of Bin Laden's involvement in the attacks as ''ridiculous''.

They say that the Taliban are an easy scapegoat for a government struggling to save its face in the aftermath of the massive intelligence failure that led to the deadly attacks in highly secured American cosmopolitan cities.

''How could Osama, stranded in the middle of nowhere, plan such sophisticated, well-planned terrorism? This is rather ridiculous that Osama is blamed for anything that goes out of American's control,'' asked Nasim Javed, a local businessmen.

''It appears that the US is trying to find an excuse to send in forces in Afghanistan and in the process force Pakistan to allow the use of its territory for the purpose. Pakistani people won't allow that,'' he said.

Keep a balance

The military leadership realises the uneasiness of the situation and is trying to keep a balance between the expectations of the people and that of the United States.

It understands that siding with the United States in any action against Afghanistan may subject it to public wrath. On the other hand, its non-cooperation with Washington may result in stricter economic sanctions or may even land Pakistan in the list of terrorist countries, observers say.

While the military government is struggling hard to keep itself in the good graces of the Bush administration, it is also doing its best to keep people at home satisfied, while maintaining good ties with the Taliban.

According to a report published in the Islamabad-based English language daily The News on Friday , the military generals are trying to keep a balance between the religious sensitivities at home and its commitments of cooperation to the United States.

''It may not be possible for the military government to allow foreign forces to land in Pakistan and allow them to use the Pakistani territory as a staging ground for a military action. In no case the military government can afford to give an impression to the Afghanistan government that it actually aided the American or another international military strike against Afghanistan,'' the press report, quoting military sources, said.

The government's cautiousness is understandable in view of the general public's mood and overriding anti-American sentiment prevailing in the country, which has its roots in what people here call ''biased American policies towards the Muslim world''.

''We would like to urge world leaders and opinion makers to take time to reflect, rather than resorting to harsh responses, or arriving without proper investigations to conclusions as to where the responsibility lies,'' says Hina Jilani of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in a press statement.

Dubbed by the right-wing Islamic parties as a pawn in the hands of the Western world, the HRCP has also called for a just international order rather than impulsive military responses. ''It is important now to devise an international order that can ensure justice and equality for all people,'' she said.

'Attracts hatred'

Among ordinary Pakistanis, the anti-American rhetoric is quite strong, and efforts to pin the blame for the attacks on Islamist groups has galvanised this sentiment.

''Why are these attacks were not conducted in Denmark, France or any other country? Why is the United States or its installations always targeted? The US government may want to see what's wrong with its policies and why it attracts hatred around the world,'' questioned Mohammad Abbas, who works at a government department.

''Our government should tell Bush to change their policies towards the world, rather then trying to police everybody the American way,'' he said.