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India-Pakistan
Nuggets from the Urdu press
2011-05-23
F-16s useless against drones

Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Nawa-e-Waqt (18 April 2011) that even if Pakistan’s F-16 warplanes were made to fly 24 hours they could not bring down the US drones targeting people inside Pakistan’s frontier. But air force chief Rao Qamar contradicted him saying the Pak Air Force had the capability of bringing down the drones. Punjab law minister added that according to General Kayani the army could bring down the drones.

Bhutto and Mujib both killed by America!

Famous columnist Hamid Mir wrote in Jang (18 April 2011) that America killed Bhutto because he was going against America’s policy. When he mentioned the killing of Bhutto by America to American ambassador and scholar Ms Shaffer she asked for proof, on which Mir said Kissinger had threatened Bhutto publicly after Bhutto’s nuclear programme was discovered. About Mujib too he said that although the Bangladeshi army shot him, it was mastermind America who killed him.

Zardari’s father and Babar were Bhutto’s enemies

Veteran politician Mumtaz Bhutto told Jang (19 April 2011) that Hakim Ali Zardari – President Zardari’s father – and PPP’s Law Minister Babar Awan were both enemies of Bhutto once but opportunism attracted them to the party.

Get China to stop American drones!

Disgusted by loss of sovereignty of Pakistan, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif was quoted by Jinnah (18 April 2011) as saying as he left for a tour of China that all links with the US should be broken in favour of China who should help stop the drones.

Hizbut Tahrir wants khilafat instead of democracy

Banned organisation Hizbut Tahrir was reported by Jinnah (18 April 2011) holding a rally at Regal Chowk in Lahore where it called for the establishment of khilafat as against democracy which was against Islam. The rally was lathi-charged and water-cannoned by the police. Banned Hizb also held a similar rally in Peshawar.

Eunuchs become maulvi!

Reported in daily Express (19 April 2011) several eunuchs (khusra) of Lahore and Karachi expressed dissatisfaction with their careers as dancing transvestites and decided to become clerics instead. They stopped shaving hard and let their beards grow long after which they were greatly respected in society. In their photographs they looked like some famous religious politicians of Pakistan. They said they felt spiritually elated too.

Pakistan too important for America!

World famous strategist ex-ISI boss Hameed Gil told Express (17 April 2011) that after the drones crisis Pakistan had become even more important for America and therefore it should not be scared of Washington. PPP spokesperson Sharmila Farooqi said no one should stage a Long March against drones.

Amjad Islam Amjad defrauded

Daily Jinnah (20 April 2011) reported that some fraudsters in Karachi were informing people how they had come into possessing a car by lots only if they would remit money in an account before getting it. The fraudsters sent in pretty girls to the houses of the ‘lucky winners’ with flowers and sweets. After the money was remitted however the company giving out cars simply disappeared. The paper informed that famous Urdu poet and writer Amjad Islam Amjad was trapped like this and had lost his life’s savings.

Pak-Afghan talks useless!

Veteran politician Naseem Ahir told Jinnah (17 April 2011) that recent Pak-Afghan talks would be useless because they were mere American drama because both were taking orders from America. He said America was strong in Pakistan but back home it was very weak.

General Akhtar for blocking NATO supplies

General (Retd) Naseer Akhtar told Jinnah (17 April 2011) that if Pakistan wanted the drone attacks stopped it should block the NATO supply trucks going across Pakistan to Afghanistan. He said Pakistan should actually tell the Americans that it was going to block the supplies.

Americans turned terrorists

Daily Jinnah (20 April 2011) reported that there was a growing trend among Muslim immigrants in the US to turn extremist in their thinking and also to go to regions of crisis and take part in what they considered jihad against America. Young Umar went from the US to Somalia where he grew into a hardline Islamist. He was a Christian with a Muslim father and turned to Islam after leaving his mother’s religion. Adam Ghadan in California also converted to Islam and is now inside Al Qaeda. Pakistani Faisal Shahzad was an American who turned extremist and came to Pakistan to take training as a terrorist under Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud. Major Hasan Nidal an American army doctor is facing trial for murdering Americans in revenge.

Pakistan trying to control Afghanistan

PMLQ leader Gohar Ayub told Jinnah (17 April 2011) that Pakistan was trying to control events in Afghanistan after America decided to get out of there after NATO was unsuccessful to achieve its objectives. He said if Americans sent a sweeper to Pakistan the Pakistani rulers will start saluting him.

Judiciary should not destroy democracy

President of the Supreme Court Bar Council Asma Jahangir was quoted by Jinnah (14 April 2011) as saying that she was going to tell the judiciary that it should not sink democracy (baira na daboa jai). She said one judge was going to retire in two and a half weeks when he was confirmed which put a load on the treasury. She was addressing the Multan bar.

The smiling columnist

Famous columnist, who according to him smiles every time he rebuts the Americans, Hamid Mir wrote in Jang (14 April 2011) that once American officer Deputy Secretary of State Richard Boucher complained to him that he was unfairly accusing America of killing Bhutto. The columnist smiled attractively and replied that it was not an accusation but a fact. America had used military generals, religious parties and secular leaders like Asghar Khan. He gave reference of Irshad Tirmizi the ISI brigadier who had mentioned it in his book.

Use Mithaq-e-Madina type of order

Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif was quoted in Jang (14 April 2011) as saying that to end terrorism some social order based on Mithaq-e-Madina should be brought about. He said Musharraf had brought the current terrorism on Pakistan. He was addressing the Rangers Headquarters.

Awan ate sweets after Bhutto’s death!

Son of General Zia, Ijazul Haq told Jang (14 April 2011) that PPP law minister Babar Awan was once linked to Jamaat Islami and General Zia and had demanded death to Bhutto when the latter was in jail. After Bhutto was killed Awan publicly ate sweets to celebrate his hanging. In daily Jinnah, Ijaz said that Awan used to raise slogans in his father’s name. When Babar was not given ticket by the PMLN he joined the PPP 15 years ago.

Gaddafi loved pretty nurses

Daily Nawa-e-Waqt (15 April 2011) reported that the beautiful Ukrainian nurse who was close to Gaddafi stated that the dictator was very fond of having pretty girls around him but he did not do anything improper with them.

Universities without vice chancellors

Reported in Nawa-e-Waqt (14 April 2011) 6 of the universities in the province of Punjab were functioning without vice-chancellors. This situation prevailed since two years. The education university has invited candidates for the post twice but because of torrents of sifarish from powerful people no appointment was made, rendering the universities dysfunctional.
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India-Pakistan
Nuggets from the Urdu Press
2009-10-09
Musharraf and US killed Benazir!

Columnist Nazir Naji wrote in Jang that Musharraf and the US together killed Benazir in 2007. After the bomb attack on her in Karachi she sent Zardari to Washington to meet State Department official Richard Boucher and tell him that the security promised by the US was not given to her by Musharraf. Zardari called Boucher but Boucher feigned upset stomach and did not meet him. Musharraf and the US killed Benazir in Rawalpindi.

A clash of extremes

Ex-amir of Jamaat Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmad wrote in Jang that in Pakistan there were two types of people: those who went to English schools, shaved and wore jeans and spoke English at home; and those who went to traditional schools and had beards, some adopting the extreme brand of Islam of the Taliban. Unless moderation is exercised by both there is bound to be a clash between the two.

Liaquat murdered for Objectives Resolution

Writing in Jang Dr Israr Ahmad stated that after Liaquat Ali Khan passed the Objectives Resolution in the parliament to make Pakistan an Islamic state international Zionists plotted his death and killed him in 1951. And then when their man General Ayub took over and got rid of parliament he was patted on the back by Washington.

Governments criminal act

Talking about giving Americans several acres of additional land in Islamabad, Hafiz Saeed was reported by Nawa-e-Waqt as saying that political and religious parties should unite to prevent the giving of adda (base) to America. He said the criminal silence of the government over the issue was a sign of extreme slavery.

Ambassador Haqqani and visas

Chief Editor Jinnah wrote that American spies are caught in Pakistan and deported but once back in America they get visas from Ambassador Hussain Haqqani and return to spy in Pakistan. This happened in two cases, once in the case of a man named Schmiddle
Schmiddle? Seriously, where did the chief editor see a name like that -- a novel by Charles Dickens?
who was caught visiting sensitive places and was deported. He returned on a visa given by Ambassador Haqqani.

Imtiaz Billa and wealth

Writing in Nawa-e-Waqt Rana Abdul Baqi stated that ex-ISI officer and IB chief Imtiaz Ahmad alias Billa had asserted that he had served the country for many years and seen a lot of people getting rich, but could Mr Billa also explain how so much wealth reached his home?

'I hate Americans!

Famous chief reporter Ansar Abbasi wrote in Jang that once he met an American under secretary lady in Islamabad and told her, 'We hate you Americans; and that, 'You are cruel (zalim), savage (wehshi) and merciless (bereham) and have no respect for human lives. But he was grieved to find that she went back and misquoted him in The New York Times.
Typical. He was abominably rude to a lady, then expected her to remember his cruelty verbatim. She probably heard it as zelam, wachy and beerham, and now Mr. Abbasi's wife is furious. I would be too, if Mr. Wife said such things to another woman.
Hasan Nisars wisdom
Columnist Hasan Nisar in Jang: One blessing of loadshedding is that all mosque loudspeakers go dead too and one is saved from listening to the makruh (unholy) sounds that emanate from them.
But, but President Obama said it's the most beautiful sound on earth!
More 'Aslam-Begisms
Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt ex-army chief Mirza Aslam Beg said that General Zia had sworn inside the Kaaba that he would not hang Bhutto but he did not keep his word. America used Musharraf against the Taliban. Later America bought Baitullah Mehsud, Sufi Muhammad and Ajmal Kasab to fulfil its designs in the region. He said army was no obstacle in indicting Musharraf, but the government was not sincere.
The worst sin being insincerity. Honestly!
Hamid Gul did the trick!
According to Khabrain a general who wished to remain anonymous said that in 1990 President Ghulam Ishaq Khan had just asked Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi to form government when ISI chief Hamid Gul rang up to say that the ISI wanted Nawaz Sharif as prime minister. President Khan changed policy and asked Nawaz Sharif instead. The president had thought that Gul was conveying the armys message but when he discovered that it was Gul himself he later got rid of him as ISI chief.

More 'Hamid-Gullianisms

Ex-ISI chief Hamid Gul was quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt as saying that Indian investment in Afghanistan was against Pakistan.
Clever man
.He said ex-army chief General Jehangir Karamat had studied at a Jewish university (Stanford) after his retirement.
No, no Dr. Gul (one must have a PhD to achieve rank, after all) -- Stanford is in America, which makes it an American university. Perhaps you are thinking of the Technion in Israel.
And that Holbrooke did not want democracy to flourish in Pakistan. He said Ahmad Shah Abdali was Pakistans hero.

Pameela Khan predicts

Famous palmist Pameela Khan was quoted in Daily Pakistan as predicting that the killers of Benazir would be captured but the PPP will have to pay the price of mid-term elections. All this, while the star of Nawaz Sharif will keep on rising. Musharrafs star in 2009 will be in decline and he will go through tough times.

Indias loadshedding

Well-known lady of letters Kishwar Naheed wrote in Jang after her return from India that despite the fact that India had diverted Ravi, Beas and Sutlej Rivers it was suffering from loadshedding. In Amritsar, factories remained shut for three days for lack of power.
In India that's a sign of prosperity, unlike in Pakistan, Ms Naheed.
Columnist surprised

After writing columns about doubts expressed about the authenticity of 9/11, Ataul Haq Qasimi confided to Jang that he was forced to close his inquiry into how the Americans had deceived the world about 9/11 because of the massive stream of more evidence provided by provoked Pakistanis who wanted to disclose the deception of the US in accusing Al Qaeda of the deed.
I'm sure that sentence makes sense to someone, but I can't parse it.
American pressure is mounting

Columnist Salim Yazdani revealed in Jang that the people of Pakistan were outraged at the signs that America was increasing its influence in Pakistan. The presence of 2,000 marines in Islamabad and the news of changes inside the ISI had actually worsened this outrage.

Baitullah killed Benazir

Reported in Khabrain Benazir Bhutto was killed by Baitullah Mehsud through killers who did it with Rs 4 lakh that he gave them. One night before the assassination mastermind Hasnain Gul alias Ali was made in charge of getting rid of Benazir 'because she was sent by America. He sat on the stage of Liaquat Bagh venue to make sure that the target would not escape. Hasnain Gul handled two suicide-bombers Ikramullah (jacket) and Bilal (pistol).

In praise of Hafiz Said

Chief Editor Khushnood Ali Khan wrote in Jinnah that India was after Hafiz Saids blood but so are CIA and Mossad because they are scared of the great Muslim warrior. The followers of Hafiz Said have always been the scourge of India which sees him in its nightmares. He is the father of thousands of martyrs. But Black Water is here to uproot Islam and Muslims.
Oh my goodness. How do they get through the day without a nervous breakdown?
Mastermind killer of Benazir

According to Khabrain the mastermind Punjabi terrorist who organised the killing of Benazir in Rawalpindi was Hasnain, a graduate of the madrassa of Akora Khattak after which he went to Miranshah for training in terrorism. A friend of his got killed in Lal Masjid operation after which he swore revenge and was used by Baitullah Mehsud. Qari Ismail of Akora Khattak told him that orders had come from on high (oopar sai) to kill Benazir.
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India-Pakistan
Petraeus: Next Two Weeks Critical to Pakistan's Survival
2009-04-30
Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command, has told U.S. officials the next two weeks are critical to determining whether the Pakistani government will survive, FOX News has learned. "The Pakistanis have run out of excuses" and are "finally getting serious" about combating the threat from Taliban and Al Qaeda extremists operating out of Northwest Pakistan, the general added.

But Petraeus also said wearily that "we've heard it all before" from the Pakistanis and he is looking to see concrete action by the government to destroy the Taliban in the next two weeks before determining the United States' next course of action, which is presently set on propping up the Pakistani government and military with counterinsurgency training and foreign aid. Petraeus made these assessment in talks with lawmakers and Obama administration officials this week, according to individuals familiar with the discussions.

They said Petraeus and senior administration officials believe the Pakistani army, led by Chief of Staff Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, is "superior" to the civilian government, led by President Ali Zardari, and could conceivably survive even if Zardari's government falls to the Taliban.

American officials have watched with anxiety as Taliban fighters advanced earlier this month to within 70 miles of the capital city of Islamabad. In recent days, the Pakistani army has sought to reverse that tide, retaking control over strategic points in the district of Buner even as the Taliban struck back by kidnapping scores of police and paramilitary troops. The see-saw nature of the battles Wednesday demonstrated to U.S. officials that, as one put it to FOX News, "even with intent and superior technology, the capability may not be there" for the Pakistani army to defeat the extremists.

As for the security of the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last Saturday, in an interview with FOX News in Baghdad, that the U.S. believes the arsenal to be "safe" but only "given the current configuration of power in Pakistan." She described as "the unthinkable" a situation in which the the Zardari government were to be toppled by the Taliban, adding "then they would have the keys to the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan, and we can't even contemplate that. We cannot let this go on any further..."

The officials who spoke with Petraeus, however, said he and they believe that even were Zardari's government to fall, it was still conceivable that Kayani's army could maintain control over the nuclear arsenal. That is because the Pakistani arsenal is set up in such a way -- with the weapons stockpile and activation mechanisms separated -- so as to prevent easy access by invaders. Moreover, the Taliban is not believed at present to possess the sophisticated technical expertise necessary to exercise full "command and control" over a nuclear arsenal, and would probably require weeks if not months to develop it.

The anxiety with which U.S. officials are monitoring events in Pakistan is compounded by a battle here at home over how best to help the Pakistanis. Some members of Congress want to attach benchmarks to any aid provided to Islamabad -- a move opposed by the Obama administration -- while still others wish to transfer authority over key funding streams from the Defense Department to the State Department, also opposed by the administration. At a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, Chairman Ike Skelton,D-Mo. asserted that the existing funding mechanism, the Coalition Support Initiative, under which the U.S. reimburses Pakistan for military expenditures undertaken in support of the U.S. global war on terror, "is not serving the interests of either our country or Pakistan very well." Michele Flournoy, U.S. under secretary of defense for policy, rejected that view, saying the initiative has proved "absolutely critical" to the missions in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

At the same hearing, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, whose bureau oversees South and Central Asia, told lawmakers the Obama administration favors the Defense Department retaining control over the new funding mechanism for Pakistan being proposed, a Title X provision entitled the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capabilities Fund (PCCF).

The goal of PCCF is to provide funding for the immediate training and equipping of the Pakistani army to fight a counterinsurgency war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The Pakistani army, U.S. officials say, has historically been modeled to fight a conventional war against India, as opposed to unconventional warfare against non-state actors like terrorist groups.

A final problem, officials told FOX News, was that no one in the U.S. possesses "an understanding of the Taliban's true objective." It remains unclear to policymakers here whether the group truly seeks to overthrow the Zardari government or merely to carve out a territory within Pakistan in which it can establish safe haven, impose Sharia law, and plot attacks on external targets.
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Afghanistan
US to supply Afghan forces via Tajikistan
2009-04-22
[Iran Press TV Latest] The US and Tajikistan strike a deal on a transit route that will supply Western occupation forces in Afghanistan with non-military cargoes. The United States has been considering for some times possible supply routes to landlocked Afghanistan following the closure of its main supply base in Kyrgyzstan.

Responding a question about signing the transit deal with Tajik officials, the US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said on Tuesday that "Yes, it's done."

Boucher said within one month from now, they will be able to send non-military stuff to support US-led war in Afghanistan, via a Tajikistan transit route.

Washington was forced to find an alternative supply route for coalition forces in Afghanistan following Kyrgyzstan announcement earlier this year that it was not going to renew a lease deal which would allow the US to use the country's Manas airbase. The Kyrgyz announcement came while the Khyber Passage, the main route linking Pakistan to Afghanistan was already compromised by Taliban and al-Qaeda forces making it almost impossible for the US to use the route.
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Sri Lanka
US taps Delhi on Lanka foray: Marines to evacuate civilians
2009-03-07
The Obama administration will sound out foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Monday on India's support for a US-led invasion of Sri Lanka to evacuate nearly 200,000 Tamil civilians trapped inside territory controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with precariously declining stocks of food or medicine.

"We had some people there to look at the situation to identify what the possibilities might be. We would do whatever we can to help these people," assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs Richard Boucher told a group of South Asian journalists yesterday.

The plan to be put before Menon, who will have a series of meetings here with officials of the new US administration from Monday, is for a marine expeditionary brigade attached to the US Pacific Command (PACOM) to go into Sri Lanka with the support of the US navy and air force, according to American sources privy to the plan.

A team from PACOM was in Colombo a fortnight ago to discuss the outlines of the plan with the Sri Lankan Army, these sources told The Telegraph.

At the time of the PACOM team's visit, the US state department sent James Moore, deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Colombo, to Jaffna peninsula for an independent assessment of the situation there. Moore's report is said to have persuaded Hillary Clinton's state department to line up behind the idea of a US-led evacuation of Tamils.

If the invasion comes about, it will be the first time that the Obama administration will flex its muscle overseas in a new show of American power.

The initiative is expected to have a mixed reaction here, especially among groups opposed to US military actions, which backed Obama in the 2008 presidential election.

But spinmasters of the Obama administration have quietly begun work here to describe any such military mission as a "coalition humanitarian task force".

However, if the humanitarian task force lands in Sri Lanka before the LTTE lays down arms as demanded by Colombo or without agreement from the Tamil Tigers, who may fire on the task force, its mission will be tantamount to an invasion leading to possible US casualties.

Yesterday, Boucher spoke on telephone to Sri Lanka's foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama. The two men discussed "Boucher's concern over the fate of the civilian population being held hostage by the LTTE in the tiny coastal pocket in the Mullaitivu district," according to a foreign ministry press release issued in Colombo today.

Any request by the Americans for Indian support for a US-led military mission in Sri Lanka is likely to put Menon in a spot.

There are serious differences in the Indian government on how to deal with the mounting crisis in its southern backyard with the national security adviser, M.K. Narayanan, opposed to any support for military action.

Narayanan's main concern is a possible fallout on the Lok Sabha elections as the result of an evacuation without the explicit approval of the LTTE and any consequent spilling of Tamil blood.

But external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee is aware that if a US-led rescue of Tamil civilians takes place without any role for India beyond that of a spectator, New Delhi will suffer grave loss to its reputation as a regional power and an emerging global power.

The possibility of an international rescue effort led by the US loomed large during the weekend with France reportedly expressing support for Washington's efforts.

On Friday, John Holmes, the UN's undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, briefed the Security Council that he had urged the Sri Lankan government during a visit to Colombo "to do all it could to make it possible for the civilian population to get out safely, including by means of agreement to a temporary halt to hostilities or a humanitarian corridor to allow people to leave, if this could be arranged and agreed, and in general ensure a peaceful, orderly and humane end to the fighting".

Last week, Mukherjee displeased the Sri Lankan government by asking Colombo to accept a ceasefire offer by the LTTE. "While this may fall short of a declaration of willingness to lay down arms, it is our view that the government of Sri Lanka should seize the opportunity presented by the offer to bring about a pause in the hostilities."

The Sri Lankan government is demanding that the LTTE should lay down arms and has responded to Mukherjee with the stand that "once they (LTTE) lay down arms, it would automatically lead to a ceasefire"
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Bangladesh
FBI agrees to help probe BDR carnage
2009-03-05
US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has agreed to help Bangladesh in forensic investigation into the BDR carnage.

Acting Deputy State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid told a regular press briefing in Washington Tuesday that they have received a request from the Bangladesh government for the FBI help in forensic investigation.

"I believe the FBI has agreed to do that," Duguid told a correspondent. He, however, could not give further details about when, where and how the FBI will work.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sought the FBI assistance during telephone conversation with US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher on March 1.

Boucher spoke on behalf of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and offered the US assistance.
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India-Pakistan
Joe Biden awarded Hilal-i-Pakistan
2009-01-10
President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday conferred one of Pakistan's highest civilian honours on US Vice President-elect Joseph Biden in recognition of his "consistent support for democracy and socio-economic development" in the country.

The ceremony for conferring the Hilal-i-Pakistan award, which was held at the presidency here, was attended by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and US Ambassador Anne W Patterson.

The citation for the award said Biden was being recognised for his "consistent support for democracy and socio-economic development in Pakistan and for his outstanding contribution to the strengthening of US-Pakistan relations".

The citation for the award said Biden was being recognised for his "consistent support for democracy and socio-economic development in Pakistan and for his outstanding contribution to the strengthening of US-Pakistan relations"


Biden, as a Senator, co-sponsored the Biden-Kerry-Lugar legislation for expanding socio-economic aid to Pakistan —USD 15 billion over next five fiscal years besides advocating an additional USD 7.5 billion over the subsequent five years.
They get billions of our money, Joe gets a swell award. You're welcome, Joe...
The bill calls for tripling non-military aid to Pakistan to 1.5 billion dollars annually during 2009-13 while making military aid conditional on certification that Pakistani security forces were working to prevent al-Qaida and its allies from operating in Pakistan or launching attacks into Afghanistan from its territory.

Earlier on January 5, Zardari had conferred top civilian honour 'Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam' on US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher for his role in promoting "stable, broad-based and long-term" bilateral ties.
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India-Pakistan
Washington loses a vital link
2009-01-09
KARACHI - In line with a compliance list recently handed over by US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia and Central Asia Richard Boucher, Pakistan was was due on Thursday to launch a crackdown against the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) and other jihadi organizations.

But the operation, which was to be coordinated by the Ministry of Interior, police and the Intelligence Bureau, was halted at the 11th hour by the Pakistani military establishment, well-placed contacts in Pakistan's intelligence quarters have told Asia Times Online.

And instead, powerful National Security Advisor retired Major General Mahmood Durrani was fired. He and other senior government officials had earlier admitted that Ajmal Qasab, the sole survivor of the 10 terrorists who launched a bloody attack on the Indian city of Mumbai on November 27, was Pakistani. The men had already been linked to the LET, a banned group in Pakistan.

Durrani has been a crucial link between the US, the government of Pakistan and the Pakistan military.

The new year began with a fresh initiative in the US-led "war on terror" in terms of which Boucher unfolded a two-prong approach: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari was to seek reconciliation with India by complying with its demands following the Mumbai attack, and Zardari was to visit Kabul to establish better coordination with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The head of US Central Command, General David Petraeus, is soon to launch a surge in Afghanistan that will double the number of US troops from 30,000 to 60,000. At the same time, Pakistan's tribal areas, where militants have extensive bases, will become open hunting grounds for Afghan and Pakistan tribal militias backed by joint patrols of the national armies of the two countries, in addition to North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces.

The first segment of the American package concerning India has, however, now been shot down with Durrani's dismissal, throwing into doubt the remaining part. This leaves Zardari's civilian government awkwardly caught between the competing desires of the US and its own military establishment.

After the exit of former president General Pervez Musharraf and the election of a civilian government early last year, Durrani's role as a go-between became crucial as he tried to balance the pressures on the government.

Durrani had a close rapport with American decision-makers on South Asian affairs and had been involved in backchannel American-sponsored efforts on disputed Kashmir and on Afghanistan. He was for a time Pakistan's ambassador in Washington.

After the Mumbai attack, a move was made to establish a National Intelligence Authority as a counterweight to the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, which has consistently been accused of dragging its feet in the "war on terror". A Pakistani professor at Harvard, who used to work as Zardari's staff officer and once was in the police service, was suggested to head this new body, but on the military's intervention the scheme was shelved.

Earlier, under US pressure, the Pakistani government had managed to outmaneuver the military by having the Jamaatut Dawa declared by the United Nations a front organization of the LET and having it placed on a terror list, along with the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

This gave the government justification to arrest leaders of the Jamaatut Dawa. However, the military establishment warned that unless India provided evidence against them, they must be released, and the government concurred.

The government then prevaricated, even claiming that leader Masood Azhar was at large and could not be traced anywhere in Pakistan. Neither Washington nor Delhi bought into this, and pressure was exerted for civilian agencies such as the police and the Intelligence Bureau to take action.

Provincial Home Departments prepared lists of wanted militants and action was about to start on Thursday after Durrani and others had set the scene by admitting that Qasab was Pakistani.

This was too much for the military leaders and they issued a "note of advice" to the president and Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani that Durrani had to go immediately.

The government buckled, and Washington has lost a vital point man as it prepares for a new phase in Afghanistan. US vice president-elect Joe Biden, who is due to visit the region soon, has much to be concerned about.
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India-Pakistan
Pakistani PM vows to punish anyone proved to blame for Mumbai attacks
2009-01-06
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Monday his government remained committed to punishing Pakistani nationals accused of taking part in the Mumbai attacks if "credible" evidence is given against them. Gilani made the comments during talks with Richard Boucher, the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, who arrived in Islamabad early Monday in a bid to defuse simmering tensions between Pakistan and India.

Gilani spoke of "Pakistan's persistent efforts to defuse the current tensions with India, and his government's commitment to take action against any Pakistani national in case credible evidence is provided," his office said.

Earlier Monday, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that New Delhi had handed over to Islamabad what it said was evidence linking the Islamic militants who carried out the late November attacks to "elements in Pakistan."

Pakistan said it had received the dossier and was reviewing it. New Delhi has blamed the attacks - which left 172 people dead, including nine of the gunmen - on the banned Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is fighting Indian rule in divided Kashmir.

Islamabad had repeatedly said that India had not provided any evidence linking the Mumbai attackers with Pakistan.

Mukherjee said the Indian dossier included details of the interrogation of Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman - also known as Mohammad Ajmal Kasab - who is the lone surviving gunman and whom India says is a Pakistani national.

It also details the militants' communications with "elements" in Pakistan during the attack, recovered weapons and other equipment, retrieved global positioning system data and satellite phones.

A number of US officials have visited both Pakistan and India, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her deputy John Negroponte, following the attacks in a bid to defuse tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Boucher, who arrived in Pakistan early Monday, also met with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and President Asif Ali Zardari, who gave him an award for his "service to Pakistan." Zardari said Boucher had been "instrumental in promoting a stable, broad-based and long-term Pakistan-US relationship," the Associated Press of Pakistan news agency reported.
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India-Pakistan
FBI hands over Mumbai evidence over to Pak:
2009-01-04
The FBI has reportedly given to Pakistan evidence amassed on involvement of elements based in that country in the Mumbai carnage even as Islamabad today rejected India's fresh demand to turn over terror suspects linked to the strikes.

The evidence included the Laskhar-e-Toiba handlers' warning to the attackers about the arrival of Indian commandos while watching the mayhem live on TV and a "Aag lagao" (Light the fire) order, the British newspaper Sunday Times reported.
Not good enough, nope, nope, evidence doesn't meet the strict standards of an Islamic court, so no can do, nope, can't be done ...
The report said Pakistan has rejected the alleged FBI evidence Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi ruled out handing over the suspects insisting that there was no extradition treaty between the two neighbouring countries. There can be no comparison between Pakistan's extradition of terror suspects to the US and India's demand for the handing over of persons linked to the Mumbai attacks, Qureshi told reporters in his home-town in Multan, a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanded that Pakistan hand over terror suspects linked to the Mumbai attacks.

"We have a treaty with the US, we do not have an extradition treaty with India. Please do not compare, every situation is not identical," Qureshi said on the eve of arrival of a top US diplomat Richard Boucher visiting Islamabad to push Pakistan to act against the Mumbai attack perpetrators.

Another media report in a Pak daily quoting a senior unnamed Pakistani official said Pakistan may allow Indian investigators to "grill" the suspects after being provided with "sufficient evidence" of their involvement but will not hand them over to New Delhi.
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India-Pakistan
Descent into chaos?
2008-12-13
By Najam Sethi

US Senator John McCain is the fourth top American official to descend on Islamabad in one week on the heels of Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman US Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Miss Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, and Mr Richard Boucher, US assistant secretary of state for South Asia. Their joint message is that there is "incontrovertible" evidence of the "definite involvement" of Pakistan-based jihadi groups in general and the Lashkar-e-Tayba in particular in the terrorist attack on Mumbai.
The sole surviving hard boy is a Pak. His Mom and Dad live in Pakistain. He was a member of LeT and LeT -- at least -- trained him and sent him on his way with the help of parts of the Pak navy, whether officially or unofficially. Other than that there's not much to tie Pak to the attacks except for the other nine turbans, who're now beyond all cares and woe so they can't be made to blab.
If the government of Pakistan does not take "credible action" against the actors involved, says Senator McCain, India will be constrained to lash out with the implicit "understanding" of the international community. Apparently, the Indians and Americans will not be satisfied by the sort of "sham action" taken by General Pervez Musharraf after the jihadi attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001 when scores of workers and activists of hard-line religious parties and groups were hauled up in a great public show of "will" by the state and then quietly released over a period of months. "The cat and mouse game played by Pakistan and America during the Musharraf-Bush years won't work any more", said Senator McCain.

This statement puts paid to the position adopted by President Zardari that no such credible evidence has been shown to Pakistan so far. What he means is that the government of Pakistan is not willing or able to act against the non-state actors identified by New Delhi and Washington. Unfortunately, however, Pakistan's position is weak for several reasons. First, many local jihadi and sectarian groups make no secret of their continuing hostility towards "Hindu India". Indeed, some flaunt it openly in their magazines, pamphlets and public sermons and declarations. For example, Masood Azhar, the leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, actually took credit publicly for the attack on the Indian parliament in 2001 until he was told by his agency handlers to shut up and disappear.

Second, President Zardari's recent statement that "non-state actors want a war between Pakistan and India" is an admission of culpability since most non-state actors of repute in the region are based in Pakistan in pursuit of the Pakistani military's national security objectives in the region.

Third, the contradictory position adopted by Pakistanis on the issue of "Islamist terrorism" is evidence of guilt in the eyes of the world. For instance, we cannot say that neo-con America carried out the 9/11 attacks in order to create a pretext to attack Iraq and Afghanistan, and also claim in the same breath that "America had it coming" because of its imperialist and unjust policies in the Muslim world. In the case of 9/11, the remarkable thing is that both Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri have proudly and publicly "owned" the attack not once but several times even as most Pakistanis fervently insist that they didn't do it! In the case of India, the incompetence of its police and security services is excuse enough for most Pakistanis to make the contradictory claim that no Pakistani non-state actor was involved because such sophistication and audacity could only have been manufactured internally by the Indian intelligence services in their devious agenda to break up Pakistan. Of course, the Indian media's outraged rush to judgment had many holes in it but this is not reason enough for its Pakistani counterpart to build self-righteous edifices of innocence.

What are the options for Pakistan, India and the US-led international community in the wake of the Mumbai attacks? The options for all except Pakistan are laid down by their democratically elected respective governments. There are two reasons for this.
(1) There are no armed non-state actors there
(2) The military there has no autonomy and obeys the democratically elected civilian government of the day.
Our military IS the state and not just an organ of the state; our military fashions national security policy; and our civilian leaders and regimes can challenge its supremacy only at their own peril, as we saw in the 1990s, and again recently when the Zardari government tried to wrest control of the political wing of the ISI from the military.
But in Pakistan's case, this is not so. Our military IS the state and not just an organ of the state; our military fashions national security policy; and our civilian leaders and regimes can challenge its supremacy only at their own peril, as we saw in the 1990s, and again recently when the Zardari government tried to wrest control of the political wing of the ISI from the military. In the current situation, Pakistan's military doesn't want to hold any non-state actors accountable for the Mumbai attacks and the Zardari government cannot do anything about it, whatever the evidence.

A glimpse into the military's position was recently afforded when un-named military officials told the media that in the event of a war with India the Pakistani army would be withdrawn from the tribal areas and rushed to the eastern front while the "patriotic Taliban" would be welcomed to assist the national effort. This amounts to saying that the "war against terror" in the tribal areas is not Pakistan's war, despite the civilian government's ownership of it as "Pakistan's war".

Therefore concerned Pakistanis should have no illusions about Pakistan's ominous descent into chaos. This is reckless thinking on the part of Pakistan's civil-military leadership. It should be concerned about getting the state to function properly and Pakistanis to prosper instead of showing wounded pride and misplaced self-righteousness. International censure, sanctions and isolation are the first steps on the way to being declared a rogue state and dealt with accordingly.
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India-Pakistan
Pakistan financial crisis: US may tighten the noose
2008-11-22
Islamabad: As the government is seriously taking up the US strikes' issue, the American administration is likely to use its influence in delaying financial assistance from the Friends of Pakistan and possibly the International Monetary Fund (IMF), official sources suggest.

"The government expects the first tranche from the IMF by the end of the current month but if the Pakistan government continued its harsh language against the US, the American government might delay the process", a senior government official, privy to the latest developments, told The Post. "The US government can also influence the Friends of Pakistan to stay away from helping Pakistan unless Islamabad changes its attitude", he added.

Pakistan is aiming to somehow accumulate $25 billion from the 'friends', which may be enough to bring the economy back on track for the next 10 years.

The IMF recently agreed to pay $7.6 billion to help Pakistan come out of the persistent financial crisis. The government expects the first $3-4 billion tranche of the IMF loan, spread over 23 months, by the end of November, saving it from almost certain default on an international bond maturing in February.

But before the first tranche from the IMF could reach Pakistan, the military has started exercising to gun down drones. This is a clear message to the US that drones intruding into Pakistani space would be targeted in future.

"Whatever information, we have, the US government is not happy over the retaliatory statements by Pakistan. The (Pakistan) government will have to soften its stance to come out of the fiscal crisis", the official said.

US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said after the recent 'Friends' meeting that the group wanted to help Pakistan but that its "goal was not to throw money on the table, it is to support long-term goals for Pakistan".

His remarks appeared to suggest that immediate assistance for Pakistan would likely come from groups like the IMF or the World Bank.

The economic crisis comes amid a surge in violence by Taliban militants in Pakistan as well as neighboring Afghanistan.
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