Some Pakistanis see Washington's dark influence behind new agitation for the creation of "Pashtunistan" -- an attempt to unite the Pashtun tribes divided by the Afghan-Pakistani frontier.

The boundary, known after the British diplomat who negotiated it in 1893 as the Durand Line, has long been controversial, and Pakistani officials are angrily brandishing a new map published in Kabul that shows Pakistan's North West Frontier Province incorporated into Afghanistan, including the city of Peshawar.

They also claim that secret talks have taken place, with American blessing, between Afghan leader Hamid Karzai and Pashtun leader Khan Abdul Wali Khan, whose father coined the term "Pashtunistan."

A coalition of six fundamentalist, pro-Taliban and pro-Osama bin Laden parties under the umbrella of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal came to power in NWFP in last October's general elections.

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is in a bind. Pressed by the United States to establish control over the border regions in order to clamp down on al-Qaeda, the resulting Pakistani military incursions are force-feeding local resentment and fueling the demands for Pashtunistan.

In Kabul, Hamid Karzai needs Pashtun support to have any chance of extending his two-year term of office.

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