Hillary Clinton Sends Clear Message to Pakistani Militants

ISLAMABAD, Oct 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton landed in Islamabad on Thursday to deliver a tough warning to Pakistan to cut suspected ties with militant groups which have severely strained ties between the uneasy allies.

Clinton, arriving from the Afghan capital, Kabul, went immediately to the U.S. embassy and then to a dinner meeting attended by top U.S. and Pakistani military and civilian leaders. The heavyweight U.S. team, including new CIA director David Petraeus and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, was a clear sign that Washington is determined to get its message across.

They met Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minster Hina Rabbani Khar, who were expected to be joined by Pakistan's powerful army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, and Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the head of the Inter-services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency which U.S. officials have singled out for its alleged support of militant groups. [See photos of reactions to Osama bin Laden's death.]

In Kabul, Clinton used a news conference to send a "clear, unequivocal message" to Pakistan saying it should help efforts to broker an end to the decade-long war in Afghanistan and crackdown on safe havens used by militants. "They must be part of the solution and that means ridding their own country of terrorists who kill their own people and cross the border to kill in Afghanistan," Clinton said. "We're going to be fighting, we're going to be talking and we're going to be building. And they can either be helping or hindering, but we are not going to stop our efforts."

Dempsey, who took over as the top U.S. military officer in September, planned a candid discussion with Pakistan's military brass "abou! t sustai ning areas of common interest and improving areas where our interests have diverged," his spokesman Colonel David Lapan said. Pakistani analysts agreed that the U.S. officials would be sending a tough message to Pakistan. "I think they've decided that they want to have a final word about the Pakistan-U.S. relationship, especially with reference to Afghanistan," said Tanvir Ahmed Khan, Pakistani foreign secretary from 1989-90.

The addition of Petraeus could be especially significant, said political analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi. "America will produce evidence before the army chief, that you are involved (in supporting the violence in Afghanistan). With David Petraeus coming as well, they have definitely brought evidence," he said. "He will provide evidence that you are involved, ISI is involved," he added. "But nothing will come out in public."

Clinton's visit to Pakistan, which had not been announced for security concerns, comes at a tricky moment in relations between Washington and Islamabad following charges by U.S. officials that Pakistan is playing a double game with militants who operate on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border. [See a slide show of six potential terrorist targets.]

U.S. and Afghan officials have drawn links between elements within Pakistan and both September's 20-hour attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul and the assassination of Afghanistan's top peace envoy days later. The tensions have complicated the outlook as the Obama administration pushes ahead with plans to draw down troops and hand security control to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.

DETERMINED MESSAGE

U.S. officials had earlier said Clinton would seek to strike a constructive tone in discussions with Pakistani leaders, who have strongly denied backing insurgents and accused the United States of ignoring Pakistan's own interests in the battle against militants. But Clinton on Thursday took a clearly combative tone, saying Islamabad had a choice to make. "It is a time for clarity. It is a time for people to declare themselves as to how we are going to work together," she said.