WASHINGTON — Meeting a key Pentagon demand, Pakistan's military is planning to move a major unit of its regular army into the tribal areas on its western border, a largely lawless area used as a haven by Al Qaeda and Afghan insurgents, Pakistani commanders have told U.S. military officials.
The army unit would supplement the country's Frontier Corps, an ill-trained force frequently routed by insurgents, a senior U.S. military officer said. A fully trained and equipped army unit would represent a change, long sought by U.S. officials, in Islamabad's stance toward the troubled region.
However, U.S. officials also question how effective or long-lasting the Pakistani push is likely to be.
"I think they are sincere in addressing what we have identified as the problem, but I am not sure they have wrapped their minds or their enthusiasm over what it will actually take," the officer said. "They are answering our request, but not in a way that will produce an enduring solution."
The disclosure came as President Bush and Pakistani Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gillani met Monday at the White House to try to smooth a relationship that has been increasingly strained by differences over how to handle the militant threat from Pakistan's tribal areas.
Defusing fears of a rocky meeting, the two leaders stressed the positive in their Rose Garden comments. Bush called Pakistan an ally and said it had made a "strong commitment" to securing the border region. Gillani said Pakistan "is committed to fight" against those who he said are waging war against Pakistan.
The two also discussed a Monday missile attack in a border village in which a senior Al Qaeda official was reported killed. However, neither leader mentioned the Pakistani army plans to move troops into the area.
But Pakistani officials have told U.S. military officials they are planning to use the country's XI Corps, which is based in Waziristan, in the southern end of the tribal region, to counter militants. The Pakistanis have told U.S. officials they have identified key border crossing routes where they plan to station army units.
U.S. military officials have identified the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, or FATA, as a refuge for Al Qaeda and a base from which militants mount attacks on American troops in Afghanistan.
