Pakistan Politics – Page 25 – Aboard The Democracy Train

December 1, 2013

Pakistani Party Identifies Man It Says Is C.I.A. Station Chief

Shireen Mazari at press conference (Credit: watchinga.com)

The political party of the former cricket star Imran Khan on Wednesday identified a man it described as the Central Intelligence Agency’s top spy in Pakistan, in an escalation of Mr. Khan’s campaign to end American drone strikes in the country.

In a letter to the Pakistani police, Mr. Khan’s information secretary, Shireen Mazari, accused the C.I.A. director, John O. Brennan, along with a man identified as the agency’s Islamabad station chief, of “committing murder and waging war against Pakistan.”

In Washington, a C.I.A. spokesman declined to comment on the case.

Ms. Mazari demanded that the authorities prevent the station chief, whose identity has not yet been confirmed, from leaving the country so that he can face prosecution in a Pakistani court.

That seems unlikely, but the move is expected to infuriate American officials, who had to recall a previous C.I.A. station chief in 2010 after he was identified in the local news media, also in relation to a legal suit brought by anti-drone campaigners.

But while that outing was blamed on smoldering tensions between the C.I.A. and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency, this time it appears to be driven more by Mr. Khan’s increasingly confrontational stance against drone strikes.

In an appearance on a television talk show on Wednesday evening, Mr. Khan said he had named the station chief essentially to punish the C.I.A. for a deadly drone strike this month in the province his P.T.I. party controls, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Now, he said, it was up to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government to take the next step against the American spy agency.

He has vowed to block NATO supply lines into Afghanistan in retaliation for the Nov. 1 drone strike that killed the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud. On Saturday, his supporters moved to deliver on that promise by searching trucks and roughing up drivers as they passed through Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on the way to Afghanistan.

In her letter on Wednesday, Ms. Mazari claimed that the station chief did not enjoy diplomatic immunity, and suggested that if interrogated by the police he might divulge the names of the pilots who fly the drones.

The high-profile attempt to obstruct C.I.A. operations in Pakistan was said to be a response to the Nov. 21 drone strike that struck a seminary linked to the Haqqani network, a Taliban-affiliated militant group at the center of American security concerns in Afghanistan. The strike, which killed the Haqqanis’ spiritual leader and five others, occurred in the Hangu district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, in a rare drone strike outside Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Mr. Khan has been a leading advocate of ceasing military action against the Pakistani Taliban, even though Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has been the region hardest hit by Islamist violence this year, with hundreds killed in attacks. The Taliban also sprung several hundred prisoners to freedom in an embarrassing and well-organized jailbreak in July.

Mr. Khan has used the drone issue to leverage his popularity against Prime Minister Sharif, who is his main electoral competitor in Punjab Province, and indeed has largely succeeded in framing the political debate on drones in recent years.

Some Sharif supporters criticized Mr. Khan for trying to score political points by outing the C.I.A. station chief. “This a thoughtless move,” said Siddiqul Farooq, a central leader of the governing Pakistan Muslim League party. “It is selfish and compromises the national interest.”

Since the escalation of the C.I.A.’s drone war in Pakistan in 2008, the Islamabad station has grown to become one of the spy agency’s largest outposts in the world. The agency’s expansion in Pakistan has been an irritant to America’s relations with Pakistan, with one of the low points coming in January 2011 when an agency contractor, Raymond Davis, shot and killed two men in Lahore.

The influence of the C.I.A.’s Islamabad’s station chief has sometimes eclipsed even that of the American ambassador in Pakistan. A previous station chief clashed repeatedly in 2011 with Cameron Munter, the ambassador at the time, over the intensity of the drone campaign. The Obama administration ended up siding with the C.I.A., and Mr. Munter later resigned.

When the identity of an earlier C.I.A. station chief was made public in 2010, it was also as part of litigation related to the drone campaign. But such court applications are mostly seen as public relations devices, and at the time American officials privately accused the ISI spy agency of a gross breach of trust.

While the C.I.A. station chief discloses his identity to senior Pakistani intelligence officials, he is technically a covert operative and his name is not commonly known in Pakistan or elsewhere.

The C.I.A. did not say whether its station chief would be affected by Wednesday’s action. Similar disclosures in Israel in 1999 and Argentina in 2001 led to the C.I.A. station chiefs in those countries being recalled to the United States.

Reporting was contributed by Salman Masood from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Mark Mazzetti from Washington.

November 26, 2013December 11, 2013

Pakistan Sheds Crocodile Tears on Drone Attacks

Pak PM with US President (Credit: McClatchy.com) — Pak PM with US President
(Credit: McClatchy.com)

The Nawaz Sharif government – perhaps because of its history of emerging from the womb of the army – is eliminating ‘bad Taliban’ much more covertly than its predecessors.

Behind the angry posturing of Pakistan Muslim League (N) interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and a coterie of politicians publicly denouncing the US for `sending a drone through peace talks,’ the US and Pakistan are coordinating against Taliban militants who threaten Western interests and attack inside Pakistan.

The discrepancy between what Pakistan says and does, came to light on Oct 23, when prime minister Nawaz Sharif met US President Barak Obama and denounced drone attacks. Around the same time, victims of drone strikes in Pakistan testified in the Capitol against the killing of innocent people in the tribal areas.

But US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee member, Alan Grayson gave food for thought when he told the media: “With all due respects to an ally, it is well within Pakistan’s capability to end those drone strikes tomorrow.” He called Pakistan’s air force “very powerful,” – with the capability of controlling its own air space.

So long as the US calls the shots and gives aid to Pakistan, the government uses its officials to counter public anger. While the interior minister Chaudhry Nisar is the “bad cop,” who spews anger at the US for “violating Pakistan’s sovereignty,” the prime minister’s advisor, Sartaj Aziz is the “good cop,” promising the US will halt strikes during talks with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.

It is an old military strategy with a new set of characters. Mark Mazetti, author of the `Way of the Knife,’ writes that Pakistan asked the US to launch its first predator drone strike in 2004 to eliminate tribal leader, Nek Mohammed, after he led a rebellion against the state. Afterwards, Pakistan claimed it had fired the missile that killed the tribal leader who it had once patronized.

Apparently, like his predecessors, Nek Mohammed and Baitullah Mehsud, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander – Hakeemullah Mehsud – killed in a drone strike on Nov 1 – had become dispensable. The US offered $5 million for his capture after Hakeemullah coordinated with a Jordanian agent in December 2009 – and wiped out a sizeable staff of CIA employees stationed in Khost, Afghanistan. Pakistan too put PKR 50 million head money on him for his lethal attacks against the state.

Before the drone was lobbed against Hakeemullah, the government let the garrulous media chatter about its plan to engage with its Taliban militants. It simultaneously took JUI (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman into confidence about arranging a “peace meeting” with the Taliban in North Waziristan.

But as events unfolded, Sharif’s visit to Washington.. followed by his announcement from London, Oct 31 that “peace talks with the Taliban have begun,” .. were met by puzzled silence in Pakistan. The TTP spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid told journalists the same day that they were unaware of any talks. And, parliamentary leaders publicly complained that they had been kept in the dark.

Still in North Waziristan, months of friendly communiqués between the government apparently put militants at ease. The administration’s imposition of curfew added to the impression that it was for upcoming TTP-government talks. On Nov. 1, the Taliban gathered in a mosque near Hakeemullah’s sprawling farm house – bought by his cousin, Latifullah Mehsud – for a meeting on whether to talk to the government.

The US had set the ball rolling to nab Hakeemullah shortly after NATO troops snatched Latifullah in early October from the custody of Afghan intelligence officials – and interrogated him at Bagram base. Latifullah was a key link between the Taliban groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Karzai government had planned to use him as an interlocutor in “peace talks” with the Taliban, despite the TTP’s known role of attacking state institutions inside Pakistan.

These increased cross border attacks have in recent months caused Pakistan’s Foreign Office to complain that Afghanistan is being used as a safe haven for TTP militants.

For two days, US drones fired missiles into North Waziristan.. searching for their target. The second attack on Nov 1 was successful. Hakeemullah and his two companions were killed outside his $120,000 farm house, after the TTP returned from the mosque meeting. Neighbors reported surprise at seeing the Taliban commander before his vehicle was struck. Hakeemullah was understandably a rarity here, being on the run from drone attacks that occur mostly in this Pak-Afghan border area.

With the assassination of the TTP chief, and his replacement by Mulla Fazlullah – who escaped the 2009 military operation against him in Swat – an enraged Taliban pledged attacks on the military and senior government officials in the Punjab for being a “slave” of the US.

But, Islamabad says it will continue to pursue peace talks with its Taliban. In so doing it has found Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan’s reactions especially useful to soak up the anger. Khan’s visible shock at Hakeemullah’s assassination – and angry moves by the PTI and religious parties toward stopping NATO convoys to Afghanistan has served to deflect attention and let off steam.

It is the same strategy that Gen. Musharraf used after 9/11 -when public anger at the US invasion of Afghanistan helped propel the coalition of Islamic parties, Mutehidda Majlis-i-Amal in the border areas. Then too, the US was allowed to become the favorite whipping boy of the masses.

But as the US prepares for withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan in 2014, it is less interested in Pakistan’s domestic politics and more in achieving its aims. Only a day after Sartaj Aziz said that drone attacks would be temporarily halted while it talks to the TTP, the US lobbed a drone missile over a madressah in the settled Hangu area and killed members of the Haqqani network. These Afghan Taliban were instrumental on attacks on NATO troops in Afghanistan.

The killing of Afghan Taliban financier, Naseerullah Haqqani in Islamabad also indicates cross intelligence agencies at work… and a falling out between multiple Taliban groups, once loosely commandeered by Hakeemullah Mehsud.

Meanwhile, the federal government – which earlier found Imran Khan’s anger “useful,” is less amused that he is carrying out his threat to block NATO supplies as a lever to stop drone attacks. That is being treated as an attempt to disrupt law and order.

As a dozen years of war has revealed, the younger generation of Taliban is angrier and less controllable than the militants trained by Pakistan in the 1990s to take over Afghanistan. Indeed, there is a shortage of “good Taliban,” like Mullah Omar, Mullah Baradar and the Haqqani network.. taking refuge in Pakistan.. who merely attack NATO troops in Afghanistan and don’t attack state interests within Pakistan.

Instead, the Taliban today fight the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan.. even as they forge bonds across the Durand Line. This so called border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is ignored from Pashtuns from both sides, at the cost of growing militancy in the region.

Inside Pakistan, the failure to tell the truth to nearly180 million people fuels the conspiracy theories being regurgitated in the media. While the Western world acts out of their own interest, officially naming it as the scapegoat has only served to spew venom and hatred toward outsiders.

In this complex scenario, how Pakistan gets rid of its ‘bad Taliban,’ while deflecting anger away from it.. and simultaneously gains a foothold in Afghanistan.. will be a high wire act worth watching.

November 20, 2013

Reko Diq project – take a decision before it is too late

Reko Diq Balochistan (Credit: tethyan.com)

CHAGAI, Nov 17: The CEO of Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) manages to wear local attire (shalwar kameez) for a meeting with the then chief minister of Balochistan. An hour prior to the meeting, I go and meet the secretary mines who is busy in other matters.

As he sees me: “Oh yes, we do have a meeting in one hour, let me call the section officer concerned to give me a briefing.”

A project of national importance is going to be discussed and the secretary wants to have a briefing of just a few minutes from his section officer before he goes for the meeting for a multi-billion-dollar project that could change the fate of the country and the province.

As the TCC team walks in, greeted by the then chief minister and seated, the meeting starts with the chief minister in his humorous style, saying: “We are going to do the project ourselves.”

At first, I thought that he was just joking but when he repeated the sentence three times, I could realise that it was the end of his humour. It seemed that all including the secretary finance and the secretary mines were taken by surprise. I, being the only person in that room who had physically monitored the execution of a similar project (Saindak copper and gold project), replied: “Sir, there is no way that you can do the project yourself and I can tell you why?” But he was not ready to listen.

Another meeting followed with a very senior officer of the government of Balochistan. During this half-hour meeting, we had no eye contact understood that perhaps this upright and honest man had to toe the line of his boss and did not want to say what he had to.

TCC, Saindak project and NFC award were discussed and my apprehensions expressed during this meeting unfortunately proved to be true as nowhere could be seen the kind of development against the amount of funds spent from the NFC award. Where has all that money gone?

The desire of the then provincial government to operate a copper project could have been a dream fulfilled by taking over the already operating Saindak project but this somehow never happened. The same running contract was simply extended rather than being negotiated for much better terms that could have become an additional source of revenue for the province.

This is where the previous government miserably faltered, on one hand, adamant on working on the Reko Diq project and on the other hand let the Saindak project slip away. Money for jobs further added to the agonies of the masses in Balochistan.

The delay due to indecisiveness by the government made the TCC to shift its stance from specific performance to damages claim. The country can face dire consequences and it can be devastating in case the decisions in international courts go against the government. The claim against damages could amount to billions of dollars and at this stage, the country is in no position to meet such a liability.

Although elaborated by the present CM on the floor of the house several times, there seems to be a very strong restraining factor that is not allowing the government of Balochistan to initiate fresh negotiations and an out-of-court settlement with TCC that could prevent an impending “calamity”.

While there is still time before the proceedings in international courts kick off in January 2014, the province should be allowed to take a decision unilaterally on merit before it is too late.

Deprivation in Balochistan is the main impeding factor and this project has the capacity to eliminate this deficiency.

It would be a wishful thinking for the present government to fix responsibility for merely extending the Saindak contract rather than it being negotiated for much better terms for the province or for the Saindak project being run by the provincial government instead?

At present, 1,250 Pakistanis with a supervisory staff of only 200 Chinese are running the Saindak project. Surprisingly, there have been no serious counter-checks or monitoring of the blister copper that is being exported.

In spite of the passage of 18th Amendment, it is yet to be seen that this amendment is implemented in letter and spirit in Balochistan in particular. However, if the Council of Common Interests (CCI) was religiously followed, it could transform into an effective mechanism to regulate centre-province relations, upholding the constitution, but the CCI is also being taken too casually.

The use of force combined with the centre’s denial of an absolute political and administrative autonomy and authority to the Balochistan government is further fuelling the grievances of the Baloch, thereby incapacitating the present chief minister in addressing their grievances and bringing them back to the political mainstream.

Although the chief minister has the acumen, the will and the desire to change the fate of Balochistan and its people, but this can only be possible provided entire trust is reposed in him by the centre and he is fully empowered to make this dream come true.

The writer is the former project director and deputy managing director of Saindak Copper Gold Project, Chagai district, Balochistan

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2013.

November 8, 2013

Taliban takes Revenge through Election of New Leader

Mullah Fazlullah (Credit: thenewstribe.com)

The new head of the Pakistani Taliban, Mullah Fazlullah, has ruled out peace talks with the government, vowing revenge for his predecessor’s death.

A Taliban spokesman told the BBC the militants would instead target the military and the governing party.

Mullah Fazlullah was named the new leader six days after Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a drone strike.

Mullah Fazlullah is a particularly ruthless commander whose men shot the schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai.

‘Just a trap’

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came to power in May pledging a negotiated settlement to the insurgency.

Mullah Fazlullah, believed to be in his mid to late 30s, led a brutal campaign in Swat between 2008 and 2009, enforcing hardline Islamic law that included burning schools, and public floggings and beheadings.

A military operation was launched to retake the area.

Mullah Fazlullah fled over the border into Afghanistan but Islamabad says he has continued to orchestrate attacks in Pakistan.

He was accused of being behind a roadside bomb in September that killed Maj Gen Sanaullah Niazi, the top commander in Swat, along with two other military personnel.

Mullah Fazlullah was known for his radio broadcasts calling for strict Islamic laws and earning him the nickname “Mullah Radio”.

In one undated video he pledges to do everything possible to introduce the laws, saying: “We will eliminate anything that will get in the way of achieving this goal: father or brother, soldier or police.”

The shooting of Malala Yousafzai in October 2012 sparked outrage in Pakistan and across the globe.

The teenager had spoken out against the Taliban’s restrictions on girls’ education.

She was airlifted to the UK for hospital treatment and now lives in Birmingham with her family.

This year Malala, now 16, addressed the UN General Assembly and won the European Union’s Sakharov human rights prize.

Prior to the latest Taliban announcement, the BBC’s M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad said that Mullah Fazlullah was not a member of the Mehsud clan and, if appointed, would face a challenge to control the Mehsud fighters, who make up the bulk of the Taliban’s manpower.

The TTP is a loose umbrella organisation of about 30 militant groups.

Khalid Haqqani has been named deputy leader of the TTP, but he is not thought to be linked to the Haqqani network that is fighting Nato-led troops in Afghanistan.

November 4, 2013

TTP alleges ‘double dealing’ by government

PESHAWAR, Nov 4: Blaming the Pakistan government for the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud in the US drone attack, the Taliban on Sunday announced they would not hold any peace talks with the government and threatened to avenge the killing of their leader.

There were reports about differences among various factions of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) over finding a successor to Hakimullah Mehsud. The Taliban, however, denied that.

“After consultation with all the factions, it has been unanimously decided that we will not hold any peace talks with the government. It’s a puppet government of the US and it deceived us in the name of peace talks,” the TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told this correspondent from his Afghan cell phone.

He claimed the TTP leadership knew that the government was not sincere in peace talks but the Taliban leadership decided to hold negotiations for the sake of the Pakistani people.
“We did not want innocent Pakistani people to suffer any more and therefore decided to hold negotiations with the government. But the government, by helping the US in the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud, proved that there was zero sincerity in the mind of the rulers. It was neither sincere nor serious in peace negotiations,” a seemingly furious Taliban spokesman noted.

He warned the government would have to pay the price for, what he termed playing a double game with the TTP.

Shahidullah said Hakimullah Mehsud’s killing was a “huge loss” to the Pakistani Taliban, adding they would always feel his absence.“We are passing through a difficult phase and are still in the state of mourning. And that’s the reason we could not sit to choose his successor,” he remarked.

He said the TTP Shura would hold its meeting within the next few days and would choose the next Taliban leader. When told about reports that the Shura had held its meeting in North Waziristan but could not develop consensus over one name, the Taliban spokesman said it was not true.

He said all the Shura members had been informed about the meeting and they would soon gather at a safe place to choose Hakimullah’s successor. For the time being, Shahidullah said the Taliban commander from Jandola in the Frontier Region Tank, Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani, had been appointed as Ameer of the TTP central Shura.

“He is not an acting Ameer of the TTP as reported by the media. He would work as Ameer of the TTP central Shura and would, along with other members of the Shura, oversee affairs of the network till the new Ameer is nominated,” the spokesman explained.

About the announcement of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to stop the Nato supplies through the province, the spokesman said, “It is an encouraging attempt as it would at least cause some damage to our enemy but it will not help restore our trust in the government.”

However, other militant leaders welcomed this decision of the PTI government.“Though we oppose the PTI leadership as it is now a party to the system, we appreciate this decision of stopping the Nato supplies,” a senior militant commander operating in Afghanistan said.
He, however, said they would soon start targeting the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership for its alleged support to the US in the region.Meanwhile, Taliban sources said the TTP Shura had started its meeting but after a day-long session, the participants could not reach a consensus on the nomination of the TTP leader.

“The Shura held several sessions on Sunday but they could not convince each other on one name. The meeting has been postponed for three days. It has been decided to invite senior members of the TTP and create a consensus on one name,” one of the Shura members told this correspondent.

Pleading anonymity, he said three names of senior Taliban commanders were presented at the Shura meeting. They were Maulana Fazlullah, Hafiz Saeed Khan and Maulana Gul Zaman.
Maulana Fazlullah is the leader of the Swat Taliban and is presently based in Afghanistan’s Kunar province. Hafiz Saeed Khan is the TTP leader in Orakzai Agency. He belongs to the Orakzai tribe and is a resident of the Mamozai area in the militancy-plagued Orakzai Agency. Among the militant circles, he is known as one of the most hardline and dangerous militant commanders. Besides his native Orakzai Agency, Taliban sources said he had organised dozens of deadly attacks on key installations in major cities of the country, including the US Consulate in Peshawar through four suicide bombers, the Peshawar airport, military checkpoints, mourning processions of the Shia community and worship places of Ahmadis. It is said it was Said Khan who organised a suicide car blast on the tribal jirga in Orakzai Agency on October 10, 2008 and killed over 50 people. He proudly claimed the recent suicide car attack on the compound of Mulla Nabi Hanafi in Orakzai Agency.

Like Maulana Fazlullah, he, too, had two wives and is the father of three children.The third militant commander is Maulana Gul Zaman. He, too, belongs to the Orakzai Agency and is the TTP Ameer in the Khyber Agency.

October 17, 2013

KP Law Minister Killed in Suicide Attack over Eid

Israrullah Gandapur (Credit: pakp.gov.pk)

PESHAWAR, Oct 16: At least eight people, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa law minister Israrullah Gandapur, were killed Wednesday when a suicide bomber exploded outside his residence in Dera Ismail Khan, police said.

More than 30 people were wounded in the attack, including Gandapur’s elder brother, said Irfan Mahsud, the assistant commissioner in Dera Ismail Khan.

Deputy Superintendent of police, Jan Mohammad Khan, confirmed the minister’s death.

Provincial health minister Shaukat Yousafzai also confirmed Gandupar’s death. “I talked to the minister’s brother and he told me that Gandapur has been martyred,” he said.

According to eyewitnesses, the provincial law minister was exchanging Eid greetings with people at his residence in tehsil Kullachi, about 50 kilometres from Dera Ismail Khan, when the suicide bomber detonated his suicide vest.

“I saw so many dead people and injured people crying for help,” said eyewitness Haseeb Khan, whose new white holiday clothes were drenched in blood. “There were arms, legs and heads everywhere.”

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack.

Gandapur was a member of the ruling party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI), a party led by former cricketer Imran Khan which favours peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban.

He is the most senior member of the party to have been killed so far.

The Pakistani Taliban have said they are open to talks. But they also say they will not disarm, do not recognise the Pakistani constitution, and will not talk to the government until the army pulls back from their strongholds and all their prisoners are released.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain strongly condemned the incident.

“Pakhtunkhwa lost an astute parliamentarian, a decent Pashtun and a brave leader in the martyrdom of Israr Gandapur. May he rest in peace,” tweeted prominent politician Afrasiab Khattak.

October 17, 2013

Islamic Militants Fill Vacuum for Balochistan Quake Victims

ISLAMABAD: The chief of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, on Monday accused the US and India of trying to hamper efforts to help victims of Pakistan’s earthquake.

Saeed’s statement comes a day after the US and India agreed to step up cooperation and prevent financing of “extremist groups”, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD).

In annual talks between top economic officials, India and the US spoke of “expanding cooperation on countering illicit financing, including targeting the financial networks and fund-raising activities of terrorist organisations,” Indian Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said Sunday.

Saeed, however, once again denied accusations of any involvement in terrorism of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which is known in Pakistan for its relief work after natural disasters, particularly the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and 2010 floods.

“Their aim is to hamper the relief work of our charity Falah-e-Insaniyat foundation in the earthquake hit Balochistan, that’s why they are trying to stop our funding,” Saeed told reporters.

A 7.7-magnitude quake shook the southwestern province of Balochistan on Sep 24, killing more than 370 people and leaving more than 100,000 homeless.

Indian accuses JuD of being a front organisation for Laskhar-e-Taiba, which investigators blame for the three-day carnage in Mumbai that killed 166 people in 2008.

The JuD denies any links to terrorist activities.

October 11, 2013

Musharraf granted bail in Bugti murder case

Musharraf on trial (Credit: nation.com.pk) — Musharraf on trial
(Credit: nation.com.pk)

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to former president Pervez Musharraf over the death of Baloch rebel leader Akbar Bugti, bringing closer the former dictator’s possible release after nearly six months of house arrest.

Musharraf has now been granted bail in three major cases against him, including one relating to the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

His lawyer said the ruling meant he was a “free man”. But he is likely to remain under heavy guard at his villa on the edge of Islamabad, where he has been under house arrest since April, because of serious threats to his life.

A two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk, heard Musharraf’s appeal against the Balochistan High Court’s rejection of his bail application in the Nawab Akbar Bugti murder case.

The bench observed that substantial evidence was not available to involve Musharraf in the criminal conspiracy regarding Bugti’s murder and granted bail to the former president.

His lawyer Ibrahim Satti said the three-member bench had granted bail in the Bugti case in return for surety bonds worth two million rupees.

Though the court had summoned Jamil Bugti, a son of Nawab Akbar Bugti, who is a complainant in the case, he remained absent from today’s hearing.

Musharraf ‘a free man’

“Pervez Musharraf is a free man now after getting bail in the Bugti case,” said Qamar Afzal, another counsel for the former president.

As well as the Bugti and Bhutto cases, Musharraf also faces cases over the suspension of judges during emergency rule, which he imposed in 2007.

The Taliban have threatened to kill the 70-year-old former general, who as president allied Pakistan with Washington in the US “war on terror” in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Security remained tight at Musharraf’s villa, an AFP reporter at the scene said, with no sign of any preparations for departure.

Musharraf’s spokesman Raza Bokhari said the general was “gratified” by the bail ruling but determined to clear his name of charges which he has always maintained were politically motivated.

“After all these formalities are finalised he would be free to travel within and outside Pakistan, but this is just the beginning. These court cases are a long-run process,” said Bokhari.

“He will continue to fight these cases until his name is clear of these false, fabricated and fictitious charges.”

‘No decision to leave Pakistan’

The secretary-general of Musharraf’s political party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, said he expected “progress” on Thursday after the bonds are paid but denied Musharraf planned to leave Pakistan.

“There has been no deal with the government, nor has Musharraf taken any decision to immediately leave the country,” Muhammad Amjad told reporters.

Musharraf returned to Pakistan in March to run in the general election, vowing to “save” the country from economic collapse and militancy.

But he was barred from contesting the election, won convincingly by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif – the man he ousted from power in 1999 – and was hit with a barrage of criminal cases dating back to his rule.

He has been living in part of his 1,100 square metre house, declared a “sub-jail” under the auspices of the Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, where he is guarded by some 300 police, paramilitaries and marksmen.

Reports have claimed he is enjoying a comfortable life in detention. He has even had the services of his personal cook because of his fears of being poisoned.

Since Sharif won the election there have been repeated rumours that a deal would be reached to allow Musharraf to leave Pakistan before his trials were completed.

Musharraf spokesman Bokhari insisted no such arrangement had been cooked up.

One theory was that Musharraf might be allowed to visit his sick elderly mother in Dubai on compassionate grounds, but APML spokesman Amjad rejected the idea.

“Musharraf’s mother has been quite unwell for quite some time but he has not reached any deal nor has he made any request to leave the country to see his mother,” Amjad said.

Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was killed in August 2006 in an explosion in a cave where he had taken refuge during a military crackdown ordered by Musharraf who was president and army chief at the time.

Bugti had led an armed campaign to press for provincial autonomy and a greater share of profits from Balochistan’s natural resources.

The death of the Baloch chieftain sparked angry protests in parts of the country.

October 3, 2013

Taliban Resurgence – The tail wags the dog

Terrorist attack in Qissa Khwani bazaar (Credit: cnn.com) — Terrorist attack in Qissa Khwani bazaar
(Credit: cnn.com)

Washington DC, Oct 3: Three consecutive terrorist attacks in Peshawar – which have killed and injured hundreds of innocent people – reflect a growing impatience of the Taliban for the “pre-selected” candidates of 2013 elections to deliver to their demands.

These terrorist attacks – waged by criminal elements in a growing array of Taliban factions – have come after a long period of inactivity. In the lull before the storm, political parties held an All Parties Conference in Islamabad to vote for talks with the TTP. Spear heading the APC were prime minister, Mian Nawaz Sharif and the king maker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, Imran Khan.

Here it is relevant to mention that just prior to this year’s elections, the Pakistan army blessed this set of politicians in their bid for power – with the end game of Afghanistan in mind.

But the army – which has since 9/11 supported the Afghan Taliban, while restraining the Pakistani Taliban – has been unable to stop the militants blow back. Instead, its strategy for a pro-Pashtun government in Afghanistan has had major consequences. As Pashtuns from both sides of the Durand line will testify, the Pak-Afghan border is a meaningless entity. A fierce Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan has emboldened their Taliban partners to attack military and state institutions in Pakistan.

In this complex scenario, the newly elected political parties like Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf – which were spared from attacks prior to the elections – are now boxed in between terrorist attacks by militants and the demand for military action against them.

The Taliban is not monolithic, but divided in a bewildering array of groups. Among those striking ferociously of late has been the faction led by Maulvi Fazlullah – who has been sheltering in Afghanistan since the military operation in Swat in 2009.

The Taliban have correctly identified the US and Pakistan military as responsible for drone strikes. However, any moral argument they had won in favor of ending the strikes.. or ending the military operation in FATA.. have been weakened by their killing of common people.

The KP government’s failure to condemn the perpetrators of civilian attacks has apparently emboldened terrorists. Adding fuel to fire, the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf chief followed the massacre of Christians with the demand that the Taliban be allowed to open offices for negotiations.

Those who voted for “change,” – on the PTI’s call – have discovered that the brutal spilling of innocents blood, was not exactly the change they had in mind.

Indeed, if history is to serve as a rear view mirror, politicians need to heed that the worst terrorist attacks in Pakistan took place in 2008, after Musharraf and his coalition partners – the Mutehidda Majlis-i-Amal – concluded a series of peace accords with the Taliban. The accords were preceded by MMA-Taliban talks that looked the other way as the militants organized themselves.

In the present scenario, Taliban groups have unleashed terror against civilians even before talks have begun. Their modus operandi appears to be to keep spilling blood until the army withdraws from the tribal areas. The next step, as the Taliban declared in 2009 (prior to the Swat operation), would be to overthrow the constitution of Pakistan and avowedly implement Shariah (Islamic law). In practice, this means tribal law that ushers in pre-Islamic customary laws with a vengeance.

The TTP’s demands ought to give the army and politicians pause as to exactly who they may be negotiating with. The ruthless killing of civilians is hardly adding to the Taliban’s populist base. Perhaps overconfidence by militants that they have politicians in their pocket facilitates these rapid attacks. However, it is the politicians – and ultimately military response – that will determine the security and stability of Pakistan.

In the meantime, the PML (N) government has announced that it will first give peace a chance by holding talks with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. At the same time, it is on record for saying that the violation of a cease-fire by the militants could result in a sustained military operation against them.

With tens of thousands already killed in Pakistan since 9/11, it is critical for the army to draw a workable strategy for the region. Given that US withdrawal from Afghanistan is in sight, Pakistan is throwing weight behind select Pushtun Taliban next door. What is important is that in pursuing the Great Game, it does not lose Pakistan.

October 3, 2013

Govt makes first contact with Taliban

Taliban insurgents (Credit: pkdebate.com) — Taliban insurgents
(Credit: pkdebate.com)

ISLAMABAD, Oct 2 – The PML-N government has formally established contacts with the Taliban leadership through ulema from Wafaq-ul-Madaris and those commanding respect in various Taliban factions operating in the country’s restive tribal areas.

Sources in the government confirmed having started the process of contact with the Taliban, while modus operandi of the dialogue would shape up in the coming days.

A delegation of ulema belonging to Wafaq-ul-Madaris had a detailed meeting with Federal Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan and some other key persons having a vital role in the whole process on Tuesday and discussed the key issues on which the foundation of peace parleys would be laid.

The sources further said now these ulema who are playing an intermediary role would approach the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan leadership to have their input and then in the light of the suggestions and proposals coming from both sides would devise some baseline for the peace initiative, and the two sides would follow basic guidelines for a formal contact.

They further said initially both the sides would be asked to stop operations against each other and then these ulema would sift the workable demands and devise a mechanism for bringing normalcy to the troubled areas.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif remained in constant touch with Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan despite his hectic schedule in the US where he remained for over a week in connection with the United Nations General Assembly session.

The prime minister, who landed back on Tuesday night, would be having a detailed briefing from the interior minister on the subject with specific reference to Tuesday’s meeting with the ulema.
The sources further said that as the prime minister would be having some other pressing engagements, including finalisation of names for the NAB chief slot and the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee chairman, the interior minister would be dealing with the dialogue process with the Taliban.

Sources in the ruling PML-N revealed that a meeting of the prime minister with the leader of opposition was fixed for October 3 (Thursday) at which they would finalise a name for the NAB chairman.

On the other hand, the prime minister would be finding a fresh summary for the appointment of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee chairman and he would have to pick a person for the slot as the incumbent would be retiring next week.

It is pertinent to mention here that previously the Ministry of Defence had put up the name of Lt-Gen Mahmood Haroon Aslam for the slot, but it was turned down by the premier before his departure for the US.

Agencies add: Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has welcomed an appeal for ceasefire made by Wifaqul Madaris ulema.

TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid Tuesday said the Tehrik would follow the suit, if the government decided a ceasefire prior to talks. Shahid also thanked PTI Chairman Imran Khan for his proposal to allow the TTP to open a political office. However, he added that the militia didn’t need such an office in Pakistan.

He said it was the unanimous decision of the TTP Shoora to move forward in light of the all-parties conference (APC) proposals.

This positive geture of Taliban can be considered as a major breakthrough for peace talks as the TTP on Saturday sharply criticised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for changing his mind and giving a precondition of laying down weapons. “By telling us that we will have to lay down arms and respect the constitution, the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, showed that he is following the policy of America and its allies,” a TTP spokesman said.

In an interview with a private TV channel, PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that if the Taliban refuse to obey the Constitution and the Parliament‚ action will be taken against them. “Talks are possible only with those who obey the Constitution and the Parliament”, Imran elaborated.
He said the Army and the political parties were on the same page to hold talks with the Taliban. He said top priority should be given to holding talks with the Taliban with the use of force as a last option. Military action alone was not the solution of the problem, he maintained.

He said some of our enemies were funding some groups of Taliban against Pakistan. He reminded terrorism and suicidal attacks started in the country owing to wrong policies of the former military dictator Pervez Musharraf.

To a question, he said all the parties have given mandate to the government for holding talks with Taliban and there should not be delay in launching of this process.