India-Pakistan |
Pariahs of the world |
2011-07-13 |
[Dawn] I HAVE said it before, let me scream it again: 'Not in my name', your shenanigans, sirs! I aim my angry shout at those who have brought our country to its present sorry pass -- no prizes for guessing who 'they' are, of course -- the recent raft of allegations being akin to several last straws on the poor camel's back. The camel being our poor country, of course. Whilst we will leave Saleem Shahzad's brutal murder aside for a bit, it is poetic justice, is it not, that the dagger that has plunged deep into the back of the Deep State was wielded by none other than its own one-time hero, the oft-crowned with gold crowns (I kid you not) father of Pakistain's bum, Dr A.Q. Khan, aka Mohsin-i-Pakistain. By golly was he a sight to behold once upon a time; doing what he willed; striding across the Pak stage like a colossus; giving not a whit for elected prime ministers and other such, encouraged by the generals who had complete control of our bums and the factory out of which they came, and whatever went on within its secretive walls. And now that same man accuses a former COAS and another general of bribery. Before we go any further, a little anecdote about His Arrogance. In 1989, when I was the sorely missed Benazir Bhutto's press secretary, Khalid Hasan did a critical piece on AQ Khan in The Mohammedan, an English-language newspaper that used to come out from Islamabad. AQ scrawled the prime minister a letter in pencil, on a paper torn from a child's notebook (I ask you) to the effect that the government was so ineffectual that it could do nothing about journalists like Khalid Hasan etcetera. The PM marked the letter to me which I returned some minutes later with the remarks that there was complete freedom of the press and the government could do nothing at all in the matter; that the only course open to AQ was to sue Khalid Hasan/the paper. I also added that he needed a quick course in staff duties, especially in the proper and appropriate way to address a D.O. letter to the prime minister of the country. Do I have to say that the note, file and all, disappeared, never to be seen again? It is ironical is it not, that it was none other than the army high command who raised A.Q. Khan to the level of a demigod, so much so that even relatively junior officers would not hear a word against this hero. I remember a cousin and platoon-mate and buddy who was a colonel at the time, walking out of my house just because I said AQ was getting too big for his boots -- this was 1989 -- I had left the army in 1976. Then you-know-what hit the fan and the then army chief kicked him off the totem pole and (like the Commando he was/is) went on kicking him until he was black and blue. All of the blame was put on AQ as if anyone would believe that he was the only one involved in selling nuclear materials and know-how to others. Indeed, he simply could not have proliferated without the tin-hats knowing; I mean for God's sake, C-130s take off in the middle of the night from Chaklala airbase and no one knows? Duh? Remember also that AQ was the most well-protected, well-watched, well-spied-on person in the Land of the Pure. And they didn't know he was flying off to ![]() I am not saying Jehangir Karamat or that other chap mentioned in the letter leaked by AQ himself took those dollars and jewels, what I am saying is that AQ could not have sold nuclear technology by his lonesome self. And that the tin-hats (or some of them) would have asked for their share of the loot ... I mean we, er, know their proclivity to make money. The fact is that our country has been very poorly served by the tin-hats -- to the point that we are the pariahs of the world with all of us carrying the can for them. Serve them right that their own creation has come to haunt them. Of course, the propagandists of the Deep State are again spreading it about that this is, what else, but a Jewish/Indian/American plot to do in Pakistain. Why do they simply not ask AQ to say he did not leak the letter or that it is a fake? So then, the Ghairat Brigades led by our Rommels and Guderians must be thrilled that the Americans are putting the brakes on military aid -- just what our illusory sovereignty needed, if you ask me. One hopes one will see a demonstration on the lines of the one praising the ISI with well-painted and expensive placards that was taken out in Islamabad after the Osama/Abbottabad affair, to the effect that Pakistain's ghairat is at last restored. What we will wait to see, however, is what other sources of military aid our geniuses come up with, to ensure their continued angry belligerence towards the rest of the world. And now to Saleem Shahzad's horrific murder. Surprise, surprise that the commission looking into it has announced its disappointment at people not coming forward to testify. I should have warned the concerned to beware of Justice Saqib Nisar who is not afraid to say it like it is -- good on you, My Lord -- as I noticed during the hearings on the 19th Amendment in the Supreme Court. Well, they are terrified of being beaten to death themselves, even those who know exactly what happened to Saleem: please understand that you are dealing with a monster, My Lord. |
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India-Pakistan |
Pakistan denies bribe from N.Korea for nuclear technology |
2011-07-08 |
[Dawn] A Pak general strongly deniedNo, no! Certainly not! on Thursday a report that he took $3 million in cash in exchange for helping smuggle nuclear technology to ![]() Mahmoud! Bring my limo around! NOW! The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistain's nuclear bomb, had released a copy of a letter from a North Korean official dated 1998 detailing a $3 million payment to Pakistain's then-chief of army staff, General Jehangir Karamat. "I was not in the loop for any kind of influence and I would have to be mad to sanction transfer of technology and for Dr Khan to listen to me," Karamat told Rooters in an email. The story, he said, is "totally false." In addition to the payment to Karamat, the letter says former lieutenant general, Zulfiqar Khan, was given a half-million dollars and some jewellery. He also denied the accusation. "I have not read the story," Khan told Rooters, "but of course it is wrong." The Pakistain Army declined to comment. But Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua told news hounds at a weekly press briefing that "such stories have a habit of recurring and my only comment is that this is totally baseless and preposterous." Still, kinda funny such stories have a habit of recurring, ain't it, Tehmina? Why do you think that is? Despite Pak protests, Western intelligence officials said they believed the letter was authentic, the Post reported. It appears to be signed by North Korean Workers Party Secretary Jon Byong, the newspaper said, and other details match classified information previously unrevealed to the public. In exchange for the money, generals Karamat and Khan were to help Khan give documents on a nuclear program to North Korea, the Post said. The newspaper said it was unable to independently verify the account. Khan has admitted giving centrifuges and drawings that helped North Korea begin making a uranium-based bomb. It already has nuclear weapons made with plutonium. Former military leader General ![]() PervMusharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... wrote in his memoir that Pakistain and North Korea were involved in government-to-government cash transfers for North Korean ballistic missile technology in the late 1990s, but he insisted there was no official policy of reverse transfer of nuclear technology to Pyongyang. "I assured the world that the proliferation was a one-man act and that neither the government of Pakistain nor the army was involved," Musharraf wrote. "This was the truth, and I could speak forcefully." |
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India-Pakistan |
Pakistani nuclear chief says North Korea bribed officers for technology |
2011-07-07 |
Abdul Qadeer Khan, the founder of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, released documents that he said proves that North Korean officials paid millions of dollars to top members of the Pakistani military establishment in exchange for nuclear technology. One of the documents provided by Khan included a North Korean letter dated July 15, 1998, which reported that $3 million had been paid to Jehangir Karamat, then the chief of staff of the Pakistani army. The letter also stated that $500,000, as well as three "diamond and ruby sets," had been paid to Lt. Gen. Zulfiqar Khan. Both officials denounced the letter as a fake. A senior U.S. official said that the signature on the letter appeared authentic, and that the account was consistent with the U.S. government's knowledge of events. The former IAEA official charged with investigating Khan said that he had also heard similar accounts of bribes paid by North Korea to Pakistani military officials. |
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India-Pakistan | |
Kayani seeks to repair dented army pride | |
2011-06-20 | |
[Dawn] Pakistain's military chief is working to repair his army's maimed pride in the bitter aftermath of the raid that killed the late Osama bin Laden, ... who went shovel-ready... a humiliation that has strained US-Pak relations and raised questions about the top general's own standing. Retired and serving officers interviewed by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named spoke of seething anger within army ranks over the secret strike the Americans carried out on May 2, undetected by Pakistain's military. The US helicopter-borne operation set off a nationalist backlash: The usually untouchable army was sharply criticized in the press and on television talk shows, people demonstrated here in the capital demanding accountability, and open calls were made for the resignation of Gen. Asfaq Parvez ![]() ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... the military chief. The army is Pakistain's strongest institution, and Kayani the nation's most powerful leader, but he "has to be very careful," said retired Lt. Gen. Talat Masood. Like others interviewed, he doubted Kayani's underlings would try to unseat him in an intra-army coup, but he noted occasions in the past when disgruntled officers were found to be plotting against their chief. These rumblings generally occurred after the army suffered an embarrassing defeat, most notably Pakistain's 1971 loss of East Pakistain, now Bangladesh, when India took 90,000 Pak prisoners of war who weren't released for a year. Last month's raid on the al-Qaeda leader's Abbottabad compound resurrected public comparisons to that Bangladesh debacle. In one sign of dented military prestige, Pakistain's Supreme Court ordered the withdrawal of a two-star general after his men were caught on video killing an unarmed youth. The court took the unusual action "in light of the hostile environment in the society toward the military," said defense analyst Hasan Askar Rizvi. The public disquiet weighs heavily on the officer corps and down through lower ranks, Masood said. "It could all result in loose talk," he said, but he thought it wouldn't go beyond that. He noted that within days of the bin Laden raid, Kayani met with key corps commanders in an effort to assure his ranking officers they had not been humiliated. There's "quite a lot of anger" within the military, retired Gen. Jehangir Karamat, a former chief of staff himself, said in a telephone interview from the eastern city of Lahore. "Maybe there is talk," he told the AP. "Maybe anti-US feeling has gone up in the army. But actually there is in the country a whole lot of anger over the way it happened and the humiliation suffered, and it is inevitably reflected in the army." But, he added, "all this talk of him fighting for his job, his survival, I don't see any signs of that." Kayani is consistently described as a "professional soldier" by his own men and knowledgable foreigners. But the general, who as a younger officer did some training in the US, may face criticism because of the Mighty Pak Army's close past cooperation with the US military and dependence on US aid. At the same time, the Paks have come under sharp criticism in Washington for having apparently missed bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad. Knowledgable observers here said the fracture with Washington could set back military-to-military relations between the two countries by years, as the Americans seek to step up the joint fight against al-Qaeda and other thug groups in the Afghan border area. "There is a very strong resentment, a very strong sense of betrayal of being discredited in the eyes of our own public. What our enemies have not been able to do they (the US) have done to us," said a senior military official, who asked that his name not be used to speak candidly.
Pakistain is holding up visas for CIA officials waiting to come here, and Pakistain's intelligence agency has nabbed alleged CIA informants said to have helped lead the Americans to bin Laden. In Washington last week, Adm. Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs of State chairman who has been to Pakistain to try to patch up differences, said letting the relationship with this nuclear-armed nation deteriorate isn't an option. If the relationship crumbles or "were we to walk away, I think it's a matter of time before the region is that much more dangerous and there would be a huge pull for us to have to return to protect our national interests," Mullen added. | |
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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
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.
![]() 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.
![]() 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.
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.
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.
![]() 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.
![]() 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.
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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Afghanistan |
India Befriends Afghanistan, Irking Pakistan |
2009-08-19 |
KABUL -- After shunning Afghanistan during the Taliban regime, India has become a major donor and new friend to the country's democratic government -- even if its growing presence here riles archrival Pakistan. From wells and toilets to power plants and satellite transmitters, India is seeding Afghanistan with a vast array of projects. The $1.2 billion in pledged assistance includes projects both vital to Afghanistan's economy, such as a completed road link to Iran's border, and symbolic of its democratic aspirations, such as the construction of a new parliament building in Kabul. The Indian government is also paying to bring scores of bureaucrats to India, as it cultivates a new generation of Afghan officialdom. India's aid has elevated it to Afghanistan's top tier of donors. In terms of pledged donations through 2013, India now ranks fifth behind the U.S., U.K., Japan and Canada, according to the Afghanistan government. Pakistan doesn't rank in the top 10. Afghanistan is now the second-largest recipient of Indian aid after Bhutan. "We are here for the same reason the U.S. and others are here -- to see a stable, democratic, multiethnic Afghanistan," Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Jayant Prasad said in an interview. Such a future for Afghanistan is hardly assured, as the run-up to Thursday's presidential election shows. On Tuesday, a pair of mortar shells hit near the presidential palace in Kabul while Taliban insurgents attacked polling stations across the country, as part of wave of violence aimed at preventing people from casting ballots in the election. Despite backing the Taliban in the past, Pakistan doesn't want to see an anarchic Afghanistan, say Pakistani security analysts. "Pakistan is doing nothing to thwart the elections in Afghanistan and everything to help Afghanistan stabilize and have a truly representative government," says Gen. Jehangir Karamat, Pakistan's former ambassador to the U.S. and a retired army chief. Yet India's largess has stirred concern in Pakistan, a country situated between Afghanistan and India that has seen its influence in Afghanistan wane following the collapse of the Taliban regime. At the heart of the tensions is the shared fear that Afghanistan could be used by one to destabilize the other. "We recognize that Afghanistan needs development assistance from every possible source to address the daunting challenges it is facing. We have no issue with that," says Pakistani foreign-ministry spokesman Abdul Basit. "What Pakistan is looking for is strict adherence to the principle of noninterference." The two countries have sparred repeatedly about each other's activities in Afghanistan. Indian officials say their Pakistani counterparts have claimed that there are more than the official four Indian consulates in Afghanistan, and that they support an extensive Indian spy network. For years, Pakistan refused to allow overland shipment of fortified wheat biscuits from India to feed two million Afghan schoolchildren. India instead had to ship the biscuits through Iran, driving up costs for the program. The World Food Program, which administers the shipments, said the Pakistan government gave its approval for overland shipment in 2008 -- six years after the first delivery from India. "Why did it take six years ... is something that WFP cannot answer," a spokesman for the aid organization said. "However, we are indeed thankful to the government of Pakistan for allowing transit for the fortified biscuits." Mr. Basit, the foreign-ministry spokesman, didn't respond to a question about the Indian food assistance. India's aid has extended well beyond physical infrastructure to the training of accountants and economists. For a nation devastated by decades of war, these soft skills fill a hole, says Noorullah Delawari, Afghanistan's former central-bank governor and now head of Afghanistan Investment Support Agency, an organization that promotes private enterprise. "The country shut down for 20 years," he said. "We stopped producing educated people to run our businesses and government offices." Some believe there is room for cooperation between India and Pakistan in Afghanistan since both countries share an abiding interest in its stability. "The opportunity is there," says Gen. Karamat, "if we can get out of the straitjacket of the past." |
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India-Pakistan | ||
'US deliberately targeted Pakistani forces' | ||
2008-06-19 | ||
This is the first time the United States has deliberately targeted co-operating Pakistani forces, Jehangir Karamat, a former Pakistan army chief and ambassador to Washington, has been quoted as telling the New York Times, referring to a US air raid on a border post in the Mohmand Agency. Karamat said, There has been no statement by the US that this was friendly fire and that the intention was not to target Pakistani forces. The newspaper quoted two Pakistani officials from Islamabad as saying the Pakistani military was so angry over the American airstrikes last week that it was threatening to postpone or cancel an American programme to train a Pakistani paramilitary force in counterinsurgency tactics to be used for combating militants.
The US military has said the airstrikes were carried out in self-defence against militants who had attacked American forces in Afghanistan and then fled into Pakistan. But the Pakistanis continue to dispute important parts of the American account. Ending or delaying the programme, which is already under way, would deny the US what little leverage it has in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to combat a rising number of cross-border attacks from Pakistan into Afghanistan, the paper said.
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India-Pakistan |
Pakistan Armed Forces Should Arrest General Musharraf |
2006-09-28 |
Editorial in "Pakistan Weekly" No one has caused that much harm to Pakistan as much general Musharraf has caused it. He is irresponsible, self-centered, tunnel vision, thankless person who cannot see beyond his nose. He has always preferred personal interest over interest of Pakistan. Latest example is his irresponsible statement about charging former Deputy Secretary of State Mr. Richard Armitage about bombing Pakistan back to stone-age after 9/11. Mr. Armitage categorically denied that he made or conveyed any such remarks to general Musharraf. General Musharraf made these irresponsible remarks only to make millions of dollars out of his book sale at the cost of Pakistan. Does this man deserve to be the commander in chief of the armed forces of Pakistan or President of Pakistan? Certainly not. He has been a problem child, problem soldier, problem subordinate, problem commander in chief and problem (illegitimate) President of Pakistan. He has given enough of bad name to armed forces of Pakistan. He is an individual and armed forces of Pakistan are definitely not responsible for his acts. However, since October 12, 1999, all the actions he has taken for his personal interests have been discredited armed forces of Pakistan. There have been so many good commanders in chiefs who had the opportunity to break the law and illegally take over the country, but they showed professionalism and did not break the law. Fresh examples are generals Aslam Beg and Jehangir Karamat. Civilian institutions were in very vulnerable position both in General Aslam Beg and General Jehangir Karamats times, but they tried to subside their personal interest in the larger interest of Pakistan, but general Musharraf preferred personal interest over the interest of the country and illegally took over the reigns of the government. He has already laid the foundation of division of Pakistan into 3 pieces. Aside from the American think tanks map, general Musharraf has practically brought Pakistan to the brink where it can break into Balochistan, Waziristan and the remainder of Pakistan. General Musharraf is the citizen of Pakistan. His status is best described by the constitution of Pakistan. Under the article 6 of the constitution of Pakistan, general Musharraf committed the crime of high treason. Being a powerful man, because of the shield of his power, he is a fugitive who is wanted under the charges of high treason. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the armed forces of Pakistan to arrest general Musharraf and try him under article 6 of the constitution of Pakistan. General Musharrafs arrest will rehabilitate and restore the respect of the armed forces of Pakistan in the minds and hearts of common Pakistanis. They will uphold the rule of law and create an example for future adventurers like general Musharraf. It is matter of survival for Pakistan to stop people like general Musharraf from violation of the laws of the country. General Musharrafs presence at the national scene is not only defaming armed forces of Pakistan, he is practically undermining rule of law |
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India-Pakistan |
Durrani in, Karamat out |
2006-03-23 |
Jehangir Karamat, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, is being replaced by retired general of the Pakistan Army Mahmood Durrani. The formal announcement from the Foreign Office is expected to be made when the agreement the request to the host government to accept the nominated person as ambassador and plenipotentiary which has already been sent to the US government is approved and received back in Islamabad. It is not clear why Ambassador Karamat, who took up his post on a two-year contract, which is normal, around a year and a half ago is returning home. Maj Gen Durrani, an armoured corps officer like Gen Karamat, was Gen Zia-ul-Haq's military secretary for several years. He will become the third armoured corps officer to serve as Pakistan's ambassador to Washington. |
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India-Pakistan | |||||||||
Pak says nuclear deals should not be country-specific | |||||||||
2006-03-20 | |||||||||
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India-Pakistan |
4-5 Egyptians killed in Damadola |
2006-01-18 |
The provincial government said Tuesday that in addition to 18 civilians, four or five foreign militants were killed by the American airstrikes on the village of Damadola on Friday, but that their bodies were removed from the scene by companions. In all, 10 to 12 militants had been invited to a dinner in the village that night, it said. The findings, the first official statement that militants had been among those killed, were from a preliminary joint investigation at the scene by government agencies. The initial investigation found the attack was "directed against some foreign terrorists who were present in the area at the time of occurrence," the statement said, quoting Fahim Wazir, the political administrator of the Bajaur region, where the attacks took place. The deaths of 18 civilians, among them 6 children, have stirred anger among the population in Pakistan and put pressure on the government to explain what happened in Bajaur. Villagers from Damadola insisted to local journalists that there had been no militants in the area that night. Yet President Pervez Musharraf said the day after the strikes that there had been a foreign presence in the village, and he urged the population not to harbor foreign militants. The government has since come under a flurry of accusations from opponents that Pakistani and American government officials have leaked false information that Al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and other militants were in the village, in order to make excuses for the attack. The government statement goes part way to countering those accusations, since the bodies of the militants, it said, were taken away from the scene. "At least four to five foreign elements had also been killed in the incident, but their bodies were removed from the scene within no time by their companions, so as to suppress the actual reason of the attack," Mr. Wazir said, according to the statement. "It is highly regrettable that this attack led to the killing of 18 innocent local people," he said, "but this is also an undeniable fact, that at least 10 to 12 foreign miscreants were invited to a dinner in this village on that night." Investigations were continuing, the statement said. American officials have said the airstrike was aimed at Mr. Zawahiri. Pakistani officials say Mr. Zawahiri was not at the site of the attack, having failed to show up for the dinner. An American counterterrorism official said Tuesday that the attack had been based on good intelligence about Mr. Zawahiri's location, and said that there was still no conclusive evidence as to whether he had survived. The official said there were indications that the other Al Qaeda members killed in the attack had included some who, like Mr. Zawahiri, are of Egyptian origin. In interviews, American counterterrorism officials said American military and intelligence personnel had moved in recent weeks to intensify a campaign against Mr. Zawahiri, second only to Osama bin Laden in the Al Qaeda hierarchy. Mr. Zawahiri, believed to be hiding near the Afghan-Pakistan border, has served as Al Qaeda's primary intermediary with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian who heads Al Qaeda's efforts in Iraq. American officials believe that if Mr. Zawahiri is killed, he would not be easily replaced. President Musharraf addressed the nation on television on Tuesday night, yet in an hour and a half speech did not mention the American airstrikes. He spoke instead on various pressing national issues, like criticism of government relief for victims of the earthquake in October. The information minister, Sheik Rashid Ahmed, in a briefing to journalists in Islamabad, insisted that Pakistan had played no role in the attack, and despite its support for American in the war against terror, had not provided any intelligence in this case. "We have an understanding, and we support them, but in this incident no intelligence was given," he said. "The loss of life is regrettable," he said. "Pakistan is committed to the elimination of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations but our sovereignty should also be respected." For its part, the White House said the United States would continue to work with Pakistan to hunt down members of Al Qaeda, despite protests over the airstrike. Scott McClellan, a White House spokesman, expressed no regret for the attack, saying the United States would continue to "work closely with Pakistan and others to go after Al Qaeda and bring their leaders to justice." "Al Qaeda continues to seek to do harm to the American people," Mr. McClellan said. "There are leaders who we continue to pursue, and we will bring them to justice. The American people expect us to do so, and that's what this president is committed to doing." In television interviews over the weekend, a Republican and a Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee defended the raid, while Pakistan's ambassador to the United States questioned whether it had should have been carried out. Jehangir Karamat, the Pakistani ambassador to the United States, said Monday on Fox News that "to my knowledge there was no prior notification" from the United States to Pakistan about the particular raid. Still at issue, Mr. Karamat said, was "whether this strike should have been carried on our side of the border, and whether there was enough intelligence, accurate intelligence, to warrant this strike." |
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India-Pakistan |
Pakistani envoy sees no major Taliban problems |
2005-12-16 |
Pakistan's ambassador acknowledged on Thursday that "remnants" of Taliban and al Qaeda militants continue to operate in Afghanistan and his country's border, but insisted they are not resurging significantly. In an interview with Reuters, Jehangir Karamat said Osama bin Laden has lost effectiveness, that his al Qaeda organization has no overarching leadership capable of directing attacks worldwide and that it would be unwise to become "obsessed" with capturing the Islamist militant who directed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In addition, there are media reports that Pakistan's rugged Waziristan region along the Afghan border may be slipping back into the hands of Taliban and al Qaeda militants, despite the presence of some 60,000 Pakistani troops. In Afghanistan, "these are dissidents, political outsiders, some remnants of the Taliban on the run who are carrying out these episodic periodic attacks (but it is a) transient tactical phenomenon" that will end when the country stabilizes, Karamat said. "I think there is no large-scale organized Taliban presence anywhere" in Afghanistan and the overall outlook is "excellent," said Karamat, former chairman of Pakistan's joint chiefs of staff and chief of army staff. As for Waziristan, Karamat played down recent unrest, attributing it largely to "tribal infighting" and the involvement of Taliban and dissidents who prefer an unstable environment in which to traffic narcotics and weapons. A blast in North Waziristan killed an al Qaeda commander, Abu Hamza Rabia, and four other people on Dec. 3. Authorities in Pakistan say Rabia died when explosives at his hide-out detonated accidentally, but villagers said the blast was caused by a missile from an aircraft, possibly a U.S. drone. The former U.S. Sept. 11 commission, which wrote a 2004 analysis of what went wrong before and after the 2001 hijacked plane attacks, last month criticized Pakistan for continuing to be a sanctuary and training ground for terrorists. Karamat said Islamabad was vigorously working to keep the region under control with the border "strongly defended on both sides with no chance of any alien presence there." Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki al Faisal, said last week bin Laden has been marginalized but the failure to capture him enhanced a sense of al Qaeda's invincibility and the group remained capable of launching attacks. Karamat said he did not know the status of bin Laden -- widely believed hiding along the Afghan-Pakistani border -- but "I don't think he's effective (and) I don't think there is an overarching leadership that is directing operations worldwide." Recent edicts and tapes issued in al Qaeda's name are "a ploy to give an impression that there is overall control, guidance and direction" to the group's activities, he said. Last week, al Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri released a video urging militants to attack oil targets in Muslim states. Karamat said efforts are still under way to find bin Laden but "we shouldn't be obsessed with that" because it would divert attention from other anti-terror war operations. He said Pakistan continues to press the Bush administration for the opportunity to negotiate the same kind of civilian nuclear cooperation agreement reached in July with India, even though senior U.S. officials have publicly ruled out this possibility. |
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