Middleman

A mission for Zia

Pakistan's General Muhammed Zia ul-Haq has attracted controversy ever since he seized power in a 1977 coup. He has been criticized for his refusal to hold elections. His relationship with the U.S. has been testy, following his rejection last January of a $400 million U.S. military and economic aid package as "peanuts." However miffed, Washington can hardly ignore the strategic importance of a nation that borders on Iran and on a Soviet-occupied Afghanistan. Moreover, Zia's role as chairman of the Islamic Conference has made him a peace-seeking go-between in the conflict between Iraq and Iran. Last week, fresh from his visit to the warring capitals, Zia was in the U.S. to address the United Nations General Assembly and consult with President Carter. In New York he met with a group of TIME editors to discuss the war and other topics. Excerpts:

On his mission. At the behest of the Islamic Conference, I went to Tehran and Baghdad. I went not as a mediator or peacemaker, but on a fact-finding mission. I was received cordially and warmly in Tehran. I huddled with [Iran's President Abolhassan] Banisadr and his team. They gave their side of the story, saying that Iraq had violated the 1975 agreement [sharing control over the Shatt al Arab between Iraq and Iran]. They regarded Iraq as the aggressor and said that they would not agree to any cessation of hostilities. They were not prepared for any foreign mediation, [which] they said could not occur so long as each side regards the other as the aggressor. They reported on the damages they have suffered, including the fact that the Abadan refinery is gone, and other installations have been damaged.

In Baghdad, I heard Iraq's side of the story. Iraq contends that Iran also has violated the 1975 agreement and interfered in Iraq's internal affairs. They said they regarded the Shatt al Arab agreement as a humiliation of the Arab people. They said they plan to hold no Iranian territory except for certain disputed areas.

On U.S. aid. During the visit of [U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew] Brzezinski in February, the question arose of the U.S.'s providing Pakistan with military hardware. I explained that it is not so much a question of specific arms commitments. What I wanted from the U.S. was a credible commitment to the independence and security of Pakistan. As for the $400 million U.S. loan offer, it was clearly made with a view toward helping the Afghan freedom fighters. Pakistan cannot be used as a conduit to Afghanistan. We would be inviting a severe rapping on the knuckles if we did.

On the Soviet presence in Afghanistan. They now have 90,000 troops there. The insurgency of the Afghan freedom fighters is still very much alive. I think the Soviets perhaps wanted to settle things in Afghanistan in a few months. But now they have been there for ten months, and the job is still not done.

Pakistan's assistance to the 1 million Afghan refugees in our country has been of a humanitarian nature. The Afghan freedom fighters are buying arms with Arab money and shipping them through Pakistan. We have nothing to do with it. We cannot seal off the entire 1,400-mile border in very rugged terrain. However, Pakistan is not supplying these arms, nor are the Americans or the Chinese involved in gunrunning in Afghanistan.

On the prospect of free elections in Pakistan. The problem is the lack of a developed political system. When you have 75% illiteracy, when you have cases in which money can buy votes, when you have a proliferation of small splinter parties and no tradition of democracy, then I believe that the election result can be chaos. You [Americans] have a highly developed political system. We have a country that emerged only 35 years ago, and in which there has been only one fair election [in 1970]. The armed forces are the only stable element in Pakistan today. Recently, we have been trying to foster some electoral processes at the local level--for town councils and such bodies--in order to build an edifice for eventual democracy at the national level. sb

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