ANALYSIS - Pakistani-U.S. ties better but tension looms

By Robert Birsel

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton patched up ties with uneasy ally Pakistan on her recent visit but strains are likely to intensify over Afghan insurgent factions fighting out of Pakistani border enclaves.

Clinton praised Pakistan's offensive against Pakistani Taliban fighters in the South Waziristan region near the Afghan border, and unlike previous U.S. visitors, she did not, at least publicly, demand that Pakistan do more on militancy.

Clinton did make one pointed remark about finding it hard to believe no one in Pakistan's government knew where al Qaeda leaders were, but considering Islamabad's spotty approach toward tackling militancy she could have been far harsher, as other U.S. officials have been in the past.

While the Pakistani army makes progress against the militants attacking the Pakistani state, Afghan Taliban factions allied with Pakistani militants and based in lawless ethnic Pashtun border lands are being left alone.

As the United States struggles against an intensifying Afghan insurgency, its frustration is bound to grow. But its anger will be kept in check by its need for Pakistani help to extricate itself from Afghanistan, Pakistani analysts said.

"The presence of these groups in Pakistan and the fact that you have a very bloody war going on in Afghanistan will quite obviously and justifiably result in American attention being focused on sanctuaries on this side of the border," said Samina Ahmed, Pakistani director of the International Crisis Group.

The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, said in an assessment leaked in September that Afghan insurgent leaders were based in Pakistan and Afghan insurgents were clearly getting support from Pakistani "safe havens".

He identified three insurgent factions: an Afghan Taliban leadership council known as the Quetta shura, a network run by veteran Afghan militant Jalaluddin Haqqani and fighters loyal to former Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.