"The leadership vacuum created by the sad demise of (Palestinian) President (Yasser) Arafat can only be filled by Osama Bin Laden and (Taliban leader) Mullah (Mohammad) Omar, the real leaders that are the only dedicated individuals with the mass support of the Muslim world," said this front-page statement in Pakistan's mass circulation, Urdu-language newspaper Nawa-e-Waqt.The author was none other than Gen. Hamid Gul, the notorious former head of Pakistan's intelligence service (ISI), perennial agitproper and America-hater, who is "strategic adviser" to the six-party coalition of politico-religious extremists known as MMA. In a subsequent interview in the same newspaper (Nov. 19), Gul flayed U.S. foreign policy now in the hands of "warrior princess" Condi Rice. "The U.S.," he said, "has created the dilemma of the socio-political and economic collapse in Pakistan. Now with Rice's appointment, the U.S. will influence and control Pakistan's nuclear program, which is our only remaining strength, through which the right nuclear balance in the region (with India) is maintained."
MMA is planning nationwide demonstrations this week to protest President Musharraf's military offensive in the federally administered tribal areas (FATA) to find Osama Bin Laden. Presumably to preempt the extremist demos, Musharraf announced military operations in FATA were now completed and the army was satisfied Bin Laden was not hiding somewhere in the 2,500-killometer-long Afghan-Pakistan frontier region. The unmarked border snakes through rugged mountains and remote plains, and with less than 10,000 troops engaged in the search, and the first snowfalls of winter, finding the proverbial needle in a haystack would have been less arduous.