Pakistan Spy Scraps UK Talks           07/31 10:05

   LONDON (AP) -- A diplomatic spat with implications for international 
counterterrorism escalated Saturday after Pakistan's spy chief canceled a visit 
to London following comments by the British leader suggesting Pakistan exports 
terrorism.

   A trip to Britain by President Asif Ali Zardari is still scheduled, but 
relations between the two countries have been strained by Prime Minister David 
Cameron's blunt comments during a visit to Pakistan's nuclear rival, India. 
Cameron, who took office in May, said Pakistan must not be allowed to "promote 
the export of terror whether to India, whether to Afghanistan or to anywhere 
else in the world."

   Cameron later conceded that Pakistan had made moves against terror 
organizations, but said "it still needs to take further steps."

   The remarks outraged Pakistani officials. Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan's 
ambassador to Britain, called the comments "an immature reaction from an 
immature politician."

   A senior Pakistani intelligence official confirmed that Saturday 
Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha had called off a 
trip planned for next week, when he had been due to discuss security 
cooperation with British intelligence bosses. The official spoke on condition 
of anonymity in line with his agency's policy.

   On Saturday about a dozen protesters from the Islamist group Shababe Milli 
burned an effigy of Cameron in the city of Karachi.

   The demonstrators chanted "Down with Cameron!" and "God is great!" outside 
the Karachi Press Club. "Cameron-the loose mouth," a placard read.

   Pakistan insists that it has done more than any other country to combat 
terrorism, sending the army to fight Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants 
within its borders and cooperating closely with Western intelligence agencies.

   But its spy agency has long been accused of secretly aiding Afghanistan's 
Taliban and other Islamic militants.

   Pakistan's military-run spy agency operates largely beyond civilian control. 
But the official said the decision to scrap the spy delegation's visit was 
backed by the Pakistani government.

   Britain's Foreign Office declined to comment on Pasha's canceled trip, 
saying it did not discuss intelligence matters.

   It said Zardari's visit was still scheduled to go ahead next week. The 
Pakistani leader is due to stay with Cameron at his country retreat, Chequers.

   Shahbaz Sharif, chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province and a leading 
opposition politician, called on Zardari to cancel the trip, saying the money 
saved should go to help victims of devastating floods.

   "This money should instead be spent on the flood-affected areas," he said.

   More than 800 people have died in flooding in Pakistan in the past week. The 
country has been extremely hard hit by monsoon rains this year.

   Former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband accused Cameron of 
alienating an important ally.

   "Britain needs good relations with Pakistan, and Pakistan good relations 
with Britain," said Miliband, foreign-affairs spokesman for the opposition 
Labour Party.

   "The prime minister's comments this week told only part of the story and 
that has enraged people in Pakistan. It is vital he shows that he understands 
the need not just for Pakistan to tackle terrorism but that he will support 
them in doing so and understand the losses they have suffered," Miliband said.

   Britain and the United States regard Pakistan as a key nation in the fight 
against terrorism. Britain's former prime minister, Gordon Brown, said that 75 
percent of terror plots under investigation in Britain were linked to Pakistan.

   Britain is home to about 1 million people of Pakistani origin.

   Pakistani officials say their spies have worked closely with British 
counterparts to investigate the 2005 London suicide bombings and to thwart 
several planned attacks, including a 2006 plot to blow up trans-Atlantic 
airliners.


(CZ)