Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

America's New War: U.S. Redirects Pakistani Debt

Aired September 24, 2001 - 07:07   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Pakistan is getting a reward for officially cooperating with the United States in its war on terrorism. The American ambassador with the finance ministry in Islamabad is signing an agreement to reduce Pakistani debt to the United States.

CNN's senior international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is in the Pakistani capital -- good morning, Christiane.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Well, indeed, the U.S. assistance to Pakistan and consultations with Pakistan is going apace. A U.S. military delegation arrived here on Saturday night and is talking to their Pakistani counterparts about just how to conduct this war on terrorism, as they've outlined.

In addition, the U.S. ambassador here, Wendy Chamberlain, gave Pakistan a much needed critical breathing room, as she said, when she and the Pakistani finance minister just an hour ago signed an agreement in which they will reschedule Pakistan's foreign debt, part of Pakistan's foreign debt to the United States.

This is because they definitely want to shore up Pakistan at the moment. But they say this was already under way and under consideration as far back as January. In any event, at this critical time, they say, they do need to give Pakistan some breathing room and some ability to shore up their economy, which is very, very bad at the moment.

To that end, Pakistan is welcoming that because they need to reduce poverty, as the finance minister said, and, indeed, perhaps it'll go somewhere towards reducing anti-American tensions that do exist here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Naziur Ahmed (ph) is too poor to own a barber shop. At his street side stand, he and his customer, Shaheed (ph), tell us what they think of the terrorists who killed nearly 7,000 American civilians.

NAZIUR AHMED: This is very wrong. This was not done in the name of Islam. It was done to give Islam a bad name.

AMANPOUR: Pakistan, like so many other Islamic countries, has a love-hate relationship with America. Poverty, political powerlessness, religion and tradition live alongside pervasive American pop culture, films and fast food and the promise of freedom and prosperity.

(on-camera): What do you think, in general, when you think of America, that the culture is good or...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, the culture is good and we want to visit America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I want to visit. I want to meet the people of America. What is their thinking about human rights? What is their thinking about terrorism?

AMANPOUR: Because of the current crisis, there is stepped security even on the roads leading to the American embassy. And officials there are not handing out tourist visas these days. But usually at embassies around the Muslim world there are long lines of visa seekers looking for the American dream.

(voice-over): But scratch the surface just a little and you quickly see the dream has a dark side. America is like a mad elephant, says Mohammad the juice seller. America only cares about her own interests.

During the Cold War, America poured money and military equipment into Pakistan. But since then, it lost interest and Pakistanis feel betrayed. They are also enraged at the plight of Muslims around the world. The same man who wants to visit the United States is furious at what he calls America's double standards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When there is terrorism in other countries, like Kashmir, like Palestine, like Chechnya, America just, it do nothing.

AMANPOUR: Around the Islamic world, hard-line extremists use that anger to fire up their foot soldiers. But for most of the world's one billion Muslims, resentment can never justify the ruthlessness that the radicals brought on the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened is bad. It should not have happened. May Allah set everything right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Now, the Taliban ambassador here in Pakistan is again saying that they have no idea where Osama bin Laden is. Of course, the United States has rejected that claim. And the Taliban's rebel foes in northern Afghanistan claim they are making advances.

And that's where we find CNN's Steve Harrigan.

STEVE HARRIGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Christiane.

We did hear quite a bit of fighting overnight, most of the fighting, of course, here not taking place in this blistering afternoon sun, but at nighttime. We heard rocket attacks coming here from the opposition side, from the Northern Alliance heading towards Kabul. Then later in the day we did see Taliban planes fly overhead.

Now, the Northern Alliance is claiming some advances. They claim that they are making probing attacks towards the north against Kabul. They, of course, are hoping to play a role should there be any U.S. military action here in Afghanistan -- Christiane?

AMANPOUR: Steve, thank you very much for that.

Of course, here in Pakistan, as the government tries to bolster its case for standing with the United States, everybody is waiting for evidence. And now the government is welcoming statements coming from the United States that they will provide evidence and detailed briefings to their allies and to their governments who are standing with them -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right, Christiane, another question for you. Humanitarian aid organizations are now saying close to a million people are standing by on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Is there any entry point now or are all the border crossings closed?

AMANPOUR: Well, the official border crossings are closed, although Pakistan says it is going to build and take up a lot more tents in case there is an influx. There are obviously enormous numbers of mountain passes that people can come through that are not all monitored. This is a massively long border and there's a possibility that those people could start coming through those passes if the situation gets to that critical point.

ZAHN: All right, Christiane, we will be checking in with you throughout the morning as well.

Thanks so much for that report.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com