President General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday cancelled his visit to Kabul to attend the three-day joint Pak-Afghan Jirga, on account of "engagements in Islamabad".
| Think another general might be ready to dump him? |
Gen Musharraf called up Afghan  President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday and informed him that he would not be able to attend the jirga, but assured him that Pakistan fully supported the talks and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would be attending in his place, Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said in a statement. The jirga begins in Kabul today (Thursday).
| I don't think Perv's presence lends that cachet he thinks it does. But his failure to attend gives the impression he doesn't want the jirga to succeed -- which nobody really expects it to do anyway. |
Mr Karzai emphasised the importance of the Pakistani president's attendance presence during their telephone conversation, the Afghan leader's office told AFP. A government source in Islamabad told AFP that Gen Musharraf's no-show was over security fears.
| Notice they didn't say whether they were in Kabul or Islamabad. |
The Afghan foreign ministry said Gen Musharraf's absence would not affect the talks, and welcomed the participation of Prime Minister Aziz, AFP reported.
| "We don't really care if he shows up or not." |
The initiative to hold the jirga was brokered by US President George W Bush in talks with the Pakistani and Afghan presidents in September last year.
| Both of whom consider Perv to be a weak reed that's getting closer and closer to snapping. Bush is more polite about it than Karzai. |
Talat Masood, a Pakistani political analyst, told AP that Gen Musharraf's pullout was "to convey a strong message to the United States. There have been a lot of statements coming out of Washington about violating Pakistan's sovereignty and so on. That could be one reason."
| Nobody here listens to Barak O'Bama, Boy Genius. Why should they there? |
"Another is that it shows that the chemistry between Karzai and him is so poor that he wants to back out at the last minute. Why call him just hours before the jirga? I don't see why he could not go to Kabul for a few hours," he said.
| Because he's afraid somebody else will take over while he's out of the country? Or somebody will shoot his plane down when he comes back? |
Mr Aziz and Mr Karzai will now address the opening session of the jirga, which aims to draw up a joint anti-terror strategy. Mr Aziz told reporters in Kallar Kahar that he was hopeful the jirga would help resolve security issues between the two countries. Tribal elders from North and South Waziristan, as well as invitees from the pro-Taliban Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl), are boycotting the jirga.
| ... since they're determined it's going to fail. |
One Pakistani delegate, who will not be attending, told AP that in all about 100 of Pakistan's 350 delegates are boycotting. |