KEY POINTS:
Australia is prepared to send counter-insurgency experts to help Pakistan prevent its rebellious northwest becoming a new breeding ground for global terrorism.
Although rejecting any proposal to boost troop numbers in Afghanistan, Canberra is concerned by the frustratingly slow progress of the Nato-led war, and angered by the reluctance of European governments to commit more forces.
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon warned that the al Qaeda and Taleban insurgents infiltrating the largely lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the adjoining Northwest Frontier Province presented a growing threat.
His concern mirrors a similar assessment by the United States, and follows - without supporting - Afghan President Hamid Karzi's allegations that Pakistan is becoming an exporter of terrorism.
But Fitzgibbon's suggestion yesterday that Australia could send advisers into Pakistan was carefully couched to avoid offending extreme sensitivities in Islamabad, which this week attacked the US for using a Hellfire missile drone to attack alleged al Qaeda operatives.
Islamabad is also wary of further fuelling tensions in the already restive tribal areas and Northwest Frontier.
"Of course any assistance we do give in Pakistan could only come at the invitation of the Pakistan Government," Fitzgibbon told the National Press Club.
"I think it is apparent to all who watch these things closely that despite their best efforts and their heavy losses in the northwest region of the country [Pakistan is] making only very limited headway against the lawlessness of that particular region."
More than 1400 Pakistani soldiers have so far been killed in the region, with many more wounded.
Fitzgibbon said that a number of countries, including Australia, had great expertise in counter-insurgency work and that there might be an opportunity as an international community to provide advice and training.
With Australia already stretched by its 100-strong force in Afghanistan and other commitments in its immediate region, Fitzgibbon said he was not suggesting sending a deployment requiring force protection into the tribal areas.
Australia's contribution could instead be confined the military advisers in Islamabad.
Fitzgibbon said Canberra was prepared to discuss the move with the Government of Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani.
"I would like to think that they'd see merit in the international community, both through dialogue and other more tangible options, assisting them in that very significant challenge they have in those tribal areas."
Fitzgibbon said new international urgency was needed to significantly lift economic aid and increase education levels in the tribal areas, renew efforts to settle border disputes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and provide the Pakistani army with the skills and means to conduct counter-insurgency campaigns and civil operations.
He said that Australia - the largest non-Nato contributor and ninth-largest contingent overall - did not have the capacity to do more in Afghanistan.
