Syed Saleem Shahzad: Everyone wants a piece of the Afghan war

How China eyes the rapidly unfolding situation in the Afghan war theater can be assessed by the Chinese Communist Party officially inviting an eight-member delegation of the Jamaat-i-Islami's leadership led by Qazi Hussain Ahmed to visit China. The JI is the main Islamist political party in Pakistan. "The delegation comprising the Jamaat-i-Islami's top leadership led by its chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed departed from Islamabad on Sunday evening. They were officially invited by the ruling Chinese [communist] party," the JI's chief spokesperson, Shahid Shamsi, confirmed to Asia Times Online. This is a visible Chinese bid to strengthen its relations with possible new players in the region. The JI is ideologically part of the global Islamic political movement and is very well connected with the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world. China wants to keep in touch with this important movement. In the late 1980s, on a trip arranged by Pakistani intelligence, Qazi Hussain Ahmed visited China to convince the Muslim separatist movement in the country to stop its insurgency. In Afghanistan, the JI has a deep-rooted connection with the Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar as well as ideological and friendly relations with the Jamiat-i-Islami Afghanistan led by Professor Burhan-ud-din Rabbani and the Ittehad-i-Islami Afghanistan of Professor Abdul Rab Rasool Sayyaf.

...Pakistan is aware that American aid will not be cut any time soon as Washington desperately requires Pakistan's help. Islamabad is therefore ready to impose its own terms and conditions to fight the American war in Afghanistan. Should all US efforts, including a troop surge, backfire, Pakistan is the only regional player with good relations with the Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan and the Taliban, and it has the ability to safely arrange an honorable exit for the US, compared to the humiliation it faced in leaving Vietnam in 1975.