Even as it revealed growing skepticism toward Pakistan’s powerful military, an extraordinary national security conference ended here late Thursday with a statement rejecting as “baseless” allegations from America’s top military official that Pakistan was facilitating militant attacks in Afghanistan.
Military leaders and more than 50 politicians representing 32 political parties gathered at the residence of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to discuss the charges made by Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Last week, Admiral Mullen told a Senate panel that the Haqqani network, a potent part of the insurgency battling American forces in Afghanistan, was a “veritable arm” of Pakistan’s spy agency. He also accused the agency of supporting an attack this month by Haqqani militants on the United States Embassy in Kabul, the Afghan capital.
The statements reopened a rift between the nominal allies and set off a furor in both countries, with the White House on Wednesday seeking to temper the remarks. In an interview with National Public Radio on Thursday, however, Admiral Mullen stood by his testimony, revealing a divide within the Obama administration that has, unusually, placed Admiral Mullen publicly in the hard-line position toward Pakistan. He has been the American official leading the effort to improve cooperation.
He would not change a word of his testimony, Admiral Mullen insisted, saying, “I phrased it the way I wanted it to be phrased.”
Since his remarks last week, an atmosphere of crisis has gripped Pakistan, and the meeting on Thursday was called to address fevered speculation among politicians and in the media that the United States was preparing to attack Haqqani havens, which American officials have said are in North Waziristan, a part of Pakistan’s tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
On Thursday, the politicians issued a 13-point resolution saying that Admiral Mullen’s “assertions are without substance and derogatory to partnership approach.” They extended full support to the country’s armed forces “in defeating any threat to national security.”
The meeting of top officials here was addressed by Mr. Gilani and the foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar. The Pakistani Army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Gen. Khalid Shameem Wynne, also attended the meeting, which lasted more than seven hours.
Most notable was a briefing by Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, the director general of the spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, or ISI.
Various accounts provided by participants and news networks, which cited unnamed sources, quoted General Pasha as saying that while Pakistan “did not want to take relations with the United States to the point of no return, it also was capable to defending itself in case of an attack.”
“Any U.S. attack against Pakistan in the name of extremists would be unacceptable,” he said.
He also denied that the Haqqani network was even in Pakistan or that contacts with the group were significant. Instead, he said, it operated inside Afghanistan and along the porous border, echoing what has become a familiar refrain among top Pakistani officials.
General Pasha “told the participants that Haqqani network has three wings and ISI does not maintain contacts with Haqqani’s militant wing,” said Imran Khan, an opposition politician, talking with reporters after the meeting.
Mr. Khan, who has been advocating against military operations in the restive tribal regions, said that the participants agreed to “give peace a chance.”
“There is no military solution,” said Mr. Khan, a former cricket star. “It has failed in Afghanistan. It has failed in our tribal regions.”
The military leadership also faced some skepticism, however. GEO, the country’s leading television news network, reported that during the meeting, one participant, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a Pashtun politician who has a reputation as a straight-shooter, put General Pasha on the spot by saying, “Peace can be attained in Afghanistan within a month if you want.” It was not clear how the general responded.
The leading opposition politician, Nawaz Sharif, who was toppled in a military coup in 1999, also criticized the role of the ISI and the army. “There must be something that the whole world is pointing its fingers towards us,” Mr. Sharif was quoted as saying by local news networks.
The head of the army, General Kayani, rose and said that he could answer Mr. Sharif’s concerns, though it was not clear how he attempted to do so.
Earlier, in an opening address that was televised live, Mr. Gilani also rejected the “assertions” and said that “Pakistan cannot be pressured to do more” to fight militants. The “blame game is counterproductive,” he said. “This should end and Pakistan’s red lines and national interests must be respected.”
President Asif Ali Zardari did not attend the meeting. Instead, he met with Sania Mirza, an Indian tennis star, and her husband, Shoaib Malik, a Pakistani cricketer. Mr. Zardari had met with the army chief and prime minister Wednesday, according to a presidential spokesman.
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