Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

India-Pakistan

Perv Wins Another: Pak Supremes Toss Out 'Taliban Law'

2006-12-16

Pakistan's Supreme Court has blocked a fresh attempt to enact a Taleban-style law to enforce Islamic morality in North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The court instructed the provincial governor not to sign the bill, which is opposed by President Pervez Musharraf. North West Frontier Province, which is governed by an alliance of religious parties sympathetic to the Taleban, passed the legislation last month. Last year a similar bill was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. President Musharraf, who says he wants Pakistan to espouse an enlightened, moderate form of Islam, has denounced the bill as fundamental breach of human rights. Correspondents say it is almost unheard of for the same bill passed by a provincial assembly to be challenged twice in the courts by the federal government. The Supreme Court ordered the NWFP governor not to sign the Hisba (Accountability) bill into law until the case had been decided. It said it would take up the matter again in the third week of January, when the NWFP government is to be given a chance to defend the bill. The ruling came after a petition from President Musharraf, Attorney General Makhdoom Ali Khan said. NWFP Information Minister Asif Iqbal Daudzai, a member of the ruling alliance of religious parties, accused the government of being undemocratic. "We are really surprised. We drafted the bill in light of the Supreme Court's directives," he told Reuters news agency. "The federal government's decision to go to the court exposes their claims that they believe in democracy." The bill adopted by the NWFP assembly last month was a watered-down version of the legislation rejected by the Supreme Court last year, again after a petition from the president. The key difference between the bills is that the proposed department to be set up to enforce morality will not have its own police force. But it would, however, be able to requisition police "to promote virtue and prevent vice". The plan is exactly the same as reminiscent of the infamous Department for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue, set up by Afghanistan's former Taleban rulers. It became a focus of criticism by human rights organisations. Religious police would patrol the streets in Afghanistan, forcing women to adhere to a strict dress code and men to pray and grow their beards, among other things. Observers say the battle in the courts reflects a struggle between moderates and conservatives over the direction of Pakistan. Two of the country's four provinces are governed by the six-party Islamic alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e Amal (MMA). The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says President Musharraf has had a tacit alliance with the Islamic parties but he has become increasingly critical of them. His recent support for amendments to hardline Islamic laws on rape despite their strenuous objections prompted some analysts to think he might keep quiet about the Hisba bill as a trade-off. The fact that he has not, our correspondent says, will only fuel speculation that he is seeking to replace the Islamists with more moderate allies.

Link

India-Pakistan

MMA denies al-Qaeda bigs killed in Damadola

2006-01-20

Confusion on Thursday surrounded the identity of three of the four al-Qaeda members named by Pakistan’s intelligence officials as the victims of a CIA-led air strike in a remote region on the Afghan border. An al-Qaeda bomb expert, for whom the US had offered a $5m (€4bn, £3bn) bounty for information leading to his capture, and the son-in-law of Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, were said to be among the four killed. However, analysts queried the information because it did not appear to be derived from physical identification or DNA testing of the bodies. The CIA-led attack last Friday also killed at least 18 civilians, including women and children, provoking an angry reaction from the country’s Islamic and opposition parties. Pakistan’s intelligence officials on Thursday said one of those killed was Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri. An official identified him as “al-Qaeda’s chief bomb maker, the guy who was the architect of its explosive-making machinery”. The other two men were identified as Abdul Rehman al-Misri al-Maghribi, son-in-law of Zawahiri who was the target of the attack, and Abu Obaidah al-Misri, al-Qaeda’s chief in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province. The fourth victim has not been named, but intelligence officials said he was also an al-Qaeda member. Responding to the reports from Pakistani intelligence, a US official said Washington could not confirm whether the men had been killed in the air attack. The Muttahida Majlis e Amal [MMA], the main alliance of Islamic groups, questioned the accuracy of the information. MMA’s leaders this week led criticism in parliament of General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s president, calling for his resignation over the attack and repeating demands for an end to the country’s co-operation with the US. So far the alliance’s leaders have been alone in giving an account of the attack, based on information from supporters in the border region. “I can tell you on full authority that neither the Pakistani government nor the US took hold of the bodies. They were taken away for burial by people who came from Afghanistan, nobody knows where they were buried,” said one MMA leader who asked not to be named for fear of being questioned. He said: “If the Americans or Pakistanis do not have the bodies, how can anyone make accurate claims of their identities?” The Pakistani intelligence official confirmed the identities were made on the basis of intelligence information and not “facts gathered through DNA tests or any other means”.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

Wasti predicts fall of MMA govt

2005-08-25

Central Vice President of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Syed Kabir Ali Wasti, has predicted the fall of the Muttahida Majlis e Amal (MMA)-led coalition in the NWFP. In a press statement on Wednesday, he said that progressive and liberal forces led by federal minister Aftab Khan Sherpao would soon be taking over the province, adding that the PML’s mission was a crackdown on extremism in the NWFP. He asked the MMA to give up extremism and avoid being banned for supporting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, as was hinted in a United Nations report. He accused the MMA of rigging the local polls NWFP, usurping women’s rights and disregarding democratic norms by banning women from voting and contesting in the NWFP local council elections. He deplored MMA’s promotion of sectarian politics, and said, “Islam is a progressive religion, and does not embody the wearing of a particular dress, as the MMA seems to believe.” He said that it was unfortunate that the extremist Jamaat-e-Islami dominated the MMA, and asked the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam to revive the progressive and liberal spirit of the late Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi and other former leaders, who had held talks with communists in the Soviet Union.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

MMA and PML-N will launch struggle to depose Musharraf

2005-01-27

So what else is new? Former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, agreed to begin a unified struggle to depose President General Pervez Musharraf, after a long meeting in Jeddah on Wednesday. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz sources told Daily Times that it was a somewhat volatile meeting during which Sharif adopted an aggressive stance. MNA Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was present at the meeting and MNA Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, Fazl's right hand man, joined them at the dining table after the meeting. Qazi Hussain Ahmad, the chief of the Muttahida Majlis e Amal (MMA), had called on Sharif on Tuesday. "Sharif accused Fazl of giving the government a safe exit in critical situations and pointed out that Qazi had adopted a sterner posture against the rulers while Fazl had a soft corner for them," said the insiders. They quoted Sharif, "The reason for your soft stance against the government is that you want to save your Opposition leadership in the National Assembly and in the provincial governments of NWFP and Balochistan."

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

"US out to harm Pak-Iran brotherly ties"

2004-02-12

According to Iran’s State News Agency (IRNA) a noted Pakistani analyst and former chief justice of the Supreme Court Syed Sajjad Ali Shah said the United States was heading with a conspiracy to spoil brotherly relations between the peoples of Iran and Pakistan. Didn’t ya just know that it was going to be the US fault? Ali Shah, who is chairman of Iran-Pakistan Friendship Association, told IRNA in an interview that both countries should be fully aware of designs aimed at creating mistrust between the two nations. His main focus during the interview was the situation, arising out of reports of nuclear proliferation by some Pakistani nuclear scientists and the US policy thereof. Referring to the US conspiracy, he said that America was employing various tactics to fulfill its evil designs, Insert a picture of evil US here, planning it’s diabolical schemes including dissemination of rumors by its media about Iran`s disclosure about the alleged assistance it received from Pak scientists. Certain circles have alleged that Tehran had given names of some Pakistani scientists to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who had been reportedly involved in nuclear proliferation. Reports also indicated that recent debriefing of some Pak nuclear scientists was done in the light of IAEA information. Wasn’t us And, because of that top Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan had to appear on the state-run television last Wednesday to seek apology, taking responsibility for nuclear proliferation. However, acting President of Muttahida Majlis-e Amal and President of Jamaat-e Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmed had said, a day before that during his telephonic talk with Dr. Khan, the founder of Pakistan`s atomic program had denied his involvement in nuclear proliferation. Well, he would, wouldn’t he? I've no idea. You're assuming the call actually took place, of course... Shah quoted Iranian authorities as stating that their nuclear program was indigenous, and what they had passed on to IAEA was about few business brokers, with no mention of Pakistan or its nuclear scientists. The IPFA chief pointed out that it was a matter of serious ponder why America welcomed Dr. Khan`s televised confession, while Iran had outrightly rejected the reports that it had given any information on this count to IAEA. This all happened amid propaganda in section of the press here over Iran`s role in unearthing alleged nuclear leakage`s abroad. EH? This is a Pak "expert" speaking. Don't expect coherence... Some elements are averse to growing Iran-Pak relations, especially strong ties among the public, Ali Shah maintained. He stated that taking advantage of Pakistanis` sensitivities over their nuclear assets, same elements have attempted to create resentment in Pakistanis for their Iranian brothers because they have high esteem and regard for Iran`s culture and the Islamic Revolution. Paks to Black Hats "we’re coming to get you, dobbers" The other important aspect of the conspiracy, he added, is that Washington was after Pakistan`s nuclear program, as it never wanted to see a nuclear power among the Islamic nations. The local press this week said that America had information about the alleged activities of some nuclear scientists long before and Pakistan was provided with some information and proofs. In this connection, the press referred to a chain of visits by top US military commanders and high-level State Department officials during the last year or so. Ali Shah demanded of Tehran and Islamabad to be mindful of the plots and skillfully guard against them. Did he just say that? Surely he couldn’t mean hide the evidence?

Link

India-Pakistan

Low turnout for anti-American protests in Pakistan

2003-01-03

Members of Pakistan's Islamic parties demonstrated Friday against possible U.S. military action against Iraq, but turnout was much smaller than organizers had hoped, officials said. In Islamabad Friday, 400-500 people turned out for a demonstration by the Muttahida Majlis-e Amal, a coalition of Pakistan's religious parties that controls two provincial legislatures. The largest turnout was in the MMA stronghold of Peshawar, capital of Pakistan's North-West Frontier province, where about 8,000 people listened to speeches by leaders of the coalition's two largest parties. "An attack on Iraq by the United States would not only be an attack on the Iraqi people, it would be an attack on all Muslims of the world," said Maulana Fazl-ur Rahman, the leader of Pakistan's Jamiat-Ulema-Islam party. Pakistan's cooperation in the U.S.-led war on terrorism has angered the country's Islamic leaders, who want U.S. troops and investigators to leave. But attendance at Friday's demonstrations was much lower than for protests during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan in late 2001. So much for the feared Arab, er, Pakistan street In Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, about 2,000 people showed up, officials said. In Rawalpindi, fewer than 1,000 people turned out. Get a bigger mob than that for a good old-fashioned stoning Anti-American sentiment in Pakistan has been aggravated by an incident along the Afghanistan border last weekend that left a U.S. soldier wounded. During that incident, a U.S. warplane dropped a 500-pound bomb on a building where the soldier's attacker -- who wore the uniform of Pakistan's border scouts -- was holed up. U.S. and Pakistani officials said the airstrike occurred inside Afghanistan, but Islamic parties in North-West Frontier's provincial assembly said the target struck was a religious school on the Pakistani side of the border. Lawmakers passed a resolution demanding Pakistan's federal government file a protest with U.S. officials over the incident. The man who shot the soldier was captured and is in Pakistani custody. He'll be held for a while and quietly released, or shot, depending on who he is and what he knows.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-6 More