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American Morning

America Under Attack: Pakistan Set to Hold Press Conference

Aired September 13, 2001 - 09:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to shift our sights a little bit towards the Middle East. Yesterday the leader of the Pakistan, the military leader of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, pledged unstinted cooperation with the United States as it tries to seek the suspects involved in this attack. That's a significant point in as much as Pakistan -- at least the allegation has been in the past, Pakistan has offered at least some aid and assistance to the Osama bin Laden organization.

Joining us now from Islamabad is CNN's Tom Mintier to give us a sense of further response which may be coming from the Islamabad government today -- Tom.

TOM MINTIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We were notified just a couple of hours ago, Miles, that the government spokesman was going to hold a press conference here at the Marriott downtown hotel where we are staying. What we have heard in the last few minutes is that we thought this was going to be a background briefing, that cameras were not going to be allowed in. So they're debate now whether to allow the cameras to stay in.

What we heard from the Pakistani president through American ambassador was: We are with you. And it was repeated several times. What we are waiting to find out is what "we are with you" really means. And I think that the U.S. government is probably wanting to know what it exactly means.

Wendy Chamberlain, new ambassador to Pakistan, spent more than an hour with the Pakistani president behind closed doors in the discussion. There was a call from the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell last night to the Pakistan president. He also appeared on national television saying that they deplored terrorism and would support the United States.

So we have to wait and see what that support is. As you know, Pakistan is only one of three nations that has relation with the Taliban, and I think that the U.S. would like to use Pakistan as a mediator to get their message into the Taliban and find some solution to this crisis, if Osama bin Laden is indeed implicated in this.

So we're waiting to hear from the Pakistani government. We don't know if that is going to be allowed before -- cameras or not. And if it is, we are going to try to bring it to you live -- Miles. O'BRIEN: Tom, do you have the sense that there are enough moderate forces inside the government in Pakistan to serve in that role? I mean, after all, when you are dealing with the Taliban you are dealing with a very secretive, difficult organization -- I guess, "obtuse" is the word. Is this the appropriate channel, do you think?

MINTIER: Well, you know, it creates a lot of domestic problems, if the United States has assisted in this. But there are a lot of Islamic fundamentalists here in Pakistan who would not agree with supporting the United States in any military effort against Afghanistan. They are even supposedly a couple of training centers inside of Pakistani territory that are a real problem for the Pakistani government if they're going to be dealing with the United States in planning for some kind of military action if it comes to that.

So, domestically, there are serious problems that exist if the Pakistani president decides to side in this with the United States. And -- we will have to wait and see what happens on the streets of Islamabad in the coming days as this is more widely known.

O'BRIEN: Tom, as you've been talking -- Tom.

MINTIER: There was really no statement on local television.

O'BRIEN: As you have been talking we've been looking at some footage we have of Osama bin Laden, who is the leader of this al Qaeda group, this widespread, well-funded group that has been linked to terrorist activities for a number of years. Just give us a little bit of context here. How has Pakistan been in any way linked to bin Laden?

MINTIER: Well, Pakistan has been accused for a long time of providing safe haven for Osama bin Laden's group, but not basically on the ground, but across the boarder, back and forth between Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden is, and on Pakistani territory, where a lot of his support comes from, maybe some of his financing coming from, some of his volunteers and associates may indeed come from Pakistani soil. So that relationship across the boarder has been kind of fuzzy over the years. But there has been, you know, some charges and accusations that the Pakistanis have been walking a line on both sides of the border, assisting Osama bin Laden and denying it at the same time. So that question is going to be answered in the next few days, about, "we are with you," what does that really mean? The Pakistani president saying to George Bush in the battle against terrorism, denouncing it, deploring it, and saying that we are with you.

I think, you know, U.S. President George Bush is probably waiting to hear what "we are with you" really means, and that conversation is going to be going on behind closed doors on secure telephone lines back and forth right now between the United States and Pakistan.

O'BRIEN: All right. As we look at pictures of Wendy Chamberlain, the new incoming U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, we await your guidance as to whether this is a background brief or an on-camera news conference. If it's the latter, we will of course bring it to you live as soon as it happens.

Thank you.

CNN's Tom Mintier live from Islamabad.

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