Pakistan may have pledged its "full cooperation" with US efforts to hunt down Osama bin Laden, but behind the scenes Islamabad is battling to buy time for his Taliban hosts.
When hijackers slammed passenger jets into icons of US financial and military power on Sept. 11 and the finger of suspicion pointed to Afghan soil, the writing appeared to be on the wall for the world's least-loved regime.
Even Pakistan appeared ready to ditch what is widely seen as the costly creation of its intelligence community: "Pakistan comes first," stated a somber President Pervez Musharraf in an address last week.
Under intense US pressure, the military ruler was clearly more preoccupied with the survival of his own government and fragile state than his troublesome neighbors.
But fears of internal unrest in Pakistan have subsided, and the anticipated lightning US onslaught on Afghanistan has not materialized -- and Pakistan is struggling to maintain a friendly government over the border.
Two Pakistani delegations have been hurried to the Taliban stronghold in Kandahar, while Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar has poured cold water on any discussion of replacing the Taliban regime.
Pakistan has not followed the lead of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia by cutting its diplomatic ties with the Taliban -- ostensibly for keeping communications open.
Instead it has shifted the focus on using intelligence to get bin Laden and ringleaders of his Al-Qaeda network, in what some analysts see as a tactic designed to leave the hardline militia intact in some form.
Pakistan, it appears, is playing both sides: juggling its stated commitment to the anti-terror campaign while closely guarding its own interests, which rest in no small part with a friendly and stable neighbor on its western flank.
"Pakistan has joined the war against the terrorists, but not the war against the people who harbor them," said a European diplomatic source.
What Pakistan fears, analysts say, is the US war on terrorism comprising of an effort to wipe out the Taliban and install a new government including members of the opposition alliance.
The alliance has in the past been aided by New Delhi -- and Islamabad is alarmed by the prospect that it could be sandwiched between India on one front and a government indebted to its rival on another.
"There has been a cooling down of anti-Taliban rhetoric from the international community," noted a source from the UN Special Mission to Afghanistan.
"[British Prime Minister Tony] Blair, for example, was just days ago talking about the end of the Taliban.
"And now they seem to be getting cold feet over the prospect of diving into Afghan politics. You can imagine that Pakistan is happy about this," the source said.
But there is a catch: faced with the threat of US military strikes and despite appeals from Pakistan, the Taliban has repeatedly rejected demands to hand over bin Laden.
In response to this, a foreign intelligence source has suggested that Pakistan's shadowy Inter-Services Intelligence is actively seeking to provoke an "internal coup within the Taliban," in a move that would root out bin Laden and the hierarchy of Taliban officials.
In effect, the Islamabad-friendly Taliban, perhaps under a new guise, would still be there, but bin Laden would be out and, at least in theory, US public opinion satisfied.
"Pakistan is working hard to achieve a solution to ensure that very few Afghan lives are lost because the loss of Afghan lives would have unpredictable and potentially uncontrollable consequences in Pakistan," said M.A. Niazi, a Pakistani political analyst.
"Clearly Pakistan is not bothered whether [Taliban leader] Mullah Mohammad Omar stays in power or not -- they aren't trying to save anybody, including Taliban hardliners."
Reports from across the border suggest a Pakistani plot could be underway, with several commanders known to have close links to Inter-Services Intelligence apparently wavering in their support for Mullah Omar.
But such tactics have pitfalls. In mobilizing public opinion for a war against bin Laden, the Taliban have also become widely demonized in the western world, and international efforts are being made to organize a more broad-based government with the help of respected former king Zahir Shah.
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