Pakistan News and Discussion-8

10-16-2006, 11:30 PM

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /> Thanx General Gul for stating the obvious though belated. Why present coups against Mush r not working 'coz these don't have blessings of Uncle Sam.

US hand in '99 coup: Former Pak Intel Chief

Agencies | Islamabad

A former chief of Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI has alleged that the United States was behind the October 1999 coup staged by General Pervez Musharraf to overthrow the Nawaz Sharif government.

Commenting on President Musharraf's book In the Line of Fire, former ISI chief Hamid Gul said Musharraf has not stated in his memoirs that Washington was behind his military coup of October 12, 1999.

"It is absolutely true (dharamiya!) that America played a role in Gen Musharraf's take over of 1999," Gul has been quoted as saying by Daily Times.

Gul also said that successive governments should stop using ISI for political purposes.

He said that he had asked former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to eliminate the political role of ISI when she formed a commission for intelligence reforms, but she rejected his proposal.

Gul also said that Pakistan could defend itself with a nuclear bomb, "spirit of jihad".

"Pakistan is weak and vulnerable without democracy," he said adding military interventions have always been harmful for the country.

"Building a nation was the job of politicians only, but the military could also play a positive role from behind the curtain," he added.

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10-17-2006, 05:11 AM

PAKISTAN WITHERED AFTER SEVEN YEARS OF MILITARY RULE QUOTEConcluding Observations 

In a nut-shell the following concluding observations are in order from the foregoing discussion:

-Pakistanâs citizenry is frustrated and fatigued with seven years of Musharrafâs military rule.
-Pakistan as compared to the pre-1999 period stands deeply divided with fragmentation tendencies after seven years of military rule.
-General Musharraf has neither delivered to the people of Pakistan on the promises made in October 1999 nor has he delivered to the United States on the pledges he made post 9/11.
Both the people of Pakistan whose lives and political aspirations are deeply suppressed by Musharrafâs seven years of military rule and for the United States which strategically and politically invested so heavily in the Pakistani General, have reached the cross-roads, where crucial decisions have to be taken on the way ahead.

General Musharraf has neither turned out to be Kemal Ataturk to galvanize Pakistan to a hopeful future nor an âImpeccable Crusaderâ for the American cause against international terrorism.Â

The way ahead for Pakistan is âDemocracyâ and the United States should stop interposing itself on the side of the Pakistani General and the Pakistan Army to frustrate the natural aspirations of the Pakistani people for democratic rule.

10-17-2006, 06:48 AM

PM says foreign involvement in Islamabad rocket plotsQUOTEISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Monday that foreigners were involved in the planting of live rockets at various sensitive places in the twin cities.

âThe police promptly apprehended the culprits. We have found foreign involvement in the incidents. The investigations are still underway. It will be premature to disclose more details about it,â the prime minister told reporters after inaugurating the Outreach Scholarship Programme 2006 for IT students.

Mr Aziz said all the suspects arrested were Pakistanis, but they had foreign links. He said India has not yet handed over proof of Pakistanâs involvement in the Mumbai train blasts, adding that India had no right to blame Pakistan without proof.

He said incidents of terrorism in Pakistanâs neighbours were due to their internal problems and any unrest in these countries was also a danger to Pakistan. He said Pakistan wanted peace in the region and was playing its role in achieving the goal.


Ulta chor kotwal ko daante

10-17-2006, 09:56 AM

Musharraf and his PMsâ foreign junkets leave Pak exchequer broke! QUOTEIslamabad, Oct 17: Foreign visits by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and his three prime ministers up till 2004 cost the countryâs exchequer billions of rupees, and expenses on foreign visits by Musharraf and Prime Minster Shaukat Aziz had increased enormously over the years, official figures reveal.

Musharraf and the three prime ministers who served under him made 61 official foreign visits. These visits had cost taxpayers more than a billion rupees by December 2004, and in the later part of fiscal year-2005-06, these visits cost almost the same sum that was spent between October 1999 and December 2004, the Daily Times quoted the official figures as saying.

Between June 2000 and December 2004 Musharraf is said to have made 41 official visits and toured at least 71 countries, costing taxpayers more than Rs 658 million, said the paper.

The three Prime Ministers went on 20 foreign visits between November 2002 and January 2005, touring 34 countries. Of the 20 visits, Azizâs trips cost the exchequer almost Rs 352 million, it added.

Spending on delegations led by Shaukat Aziz during this fiscal year was almost Rs 900 million; documents showed a budgeted sum of Rs 759.1 million plus an additional sum of Rs 150 million. Similarly, Musharrafâs visits during the same fiscal year cost the exchequer the budgeted figure (Rs 200 million) plus a supplementary grant of Rs 100 million. 

Poor Paki, but wait our committeewala Moron Singh is also doing same, just flying and flying.

Naresh · 10-17-2006, 01:43 PM

Mudy Ji :

Mush the Tush and Short Cut As Is are collecting Air Miles!

They have left Moron Ji âFar Behindâ

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

10-18-2006, 12:29 AM

QUOTEPak court frees LeT founder 
PTI | Islamabad
A Pakistani court on Tuesday ordered the release of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba founder Hafeez Muhammad Saeed, ignoring the Government's argument that his "increasing activities" could hurt relations with "neighbouring" countries.Â

In his order, Lahore High Court Judge Justice Akhter Shabbir asked the Government to immediately release Saeed, who was detained on August 28, saying his detention was against the constitution and law.

According to Saeed's Attorney Nazeer Ahmad Ghazi, the judge held the arrest order and the reasons given by the Government as "unlawful" and ordered his immediate release. A detailed judgement was expected later. The arrest of the head of the self-proclaimed NGO Jamat-ud-Dawa was challenged by his wife Mehmoona Saeed.


Mullah, Mushy and Fauji back again.
Revolving door is working perfectly.

10-18-2006, 05:48 AM

QUOTEMush the Tush and Short Cut As Is are collecting Air Miles!

They have left Moron Ji âFar Behindâ
Nareshji,
Here is Mr. Moron Singh committewala's phoren visit details. He and his buddy can beat Mushy and Short cut hands down. <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />
link

10-18-2006, 09:27 PM

QUOTEhttp://www.gulfnews.com/world/Pakistan/10075436.htmlÂ
Rights group says cleric forcibly seized Shiva temple
10/18/2006 6:10:37 AMÂ Gulf News
Karachi: Butchers and a self-proclaimed Muslim cleric have encroached upon a historic Hindu temple and part of its compound, located in Karachi's low-income locality of Lyari, said Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).

The cleric and his followers have seized the Shiv Mandir (temple), claiming that it used to be a mosque in the past, Iqbal Haider, general secretary of the HRCP, told Gulf News.

"They have erased the pictures of Hindu deities from the tiles of the temple, and forced Hindu worshippers to move to a small nearby room, where not more than two people can worship at a given time," he said.

And as if it is not enough, the local butchers have occupied temple's compound and are using it to slaughter animals, including cows - considered scared by Hindus, he said.

A number of Hindu families, which stayed on in Muslim-majority Pakistan, after the Partition of subcontinent live in the almost 100-year-old Pandavas Compound where this temple is located.

Evicted

Residents said that butchers forcibly evicted more than two dozen families out of the compound and they continue to harass and intimidate the remaining ones who live here.

"We conducted our investigations regarding the controversy and have been shocked by the indifferent attitude of the authorities," Haider said.

"In fact the self proclaimed cleric is a land grabber. The authorities have not tried to force him out of the compound nor to restore the sanctity of the temple," he added.
http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Pakistan/10075436.html

We won't hear anything out of Moron Singh Committewala on this issue, he can only voice his concern for Cartoon. <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif' />

Naresh · 10-19-2006, 12:27 AM

QUOTE(Mudy @ Oct 18 2006, 05:48 AM)Nareshji,
Here is Mr. Moron Singh committewala's phoren visit details. He and his buddy can beat Mushy and Short cut hands down.Â <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />
link
[right][snapback]59284[/snapback][/right]

Mudy Ji :

I would rather confine myself to Moron Ji only.

The committeewalas get their Sanction from their Ultimate Commander, the Ex- Waitress from a Greek Restaurant in Cambridge.

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

10-19-2006, 01:41 AM

QUOTEAQ Khan/[Paki Army]-kind of work global crime: Carnegie forum expert 
Pioneer.com
Arun Kumar | Washington
A top US expert has suggested international criminalisation of the kind of activities indulged in by AQ Khan to give Pakistan its atomic bomb as a handle to solve the proliferation problem.

While Libya's dramatic exposure of the dangers and scope of Khan's infamous network in 2003 forced a reluctant Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to take him out of commission, the basic dilemmas raised by Pakistan remain relevant for Iran and other future flashpoints, George Perkovich, vice-president for studies of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said late on Tuesday.

"Is combating proliferation more important than hunting terrorists or promoting regime change? If bombing, invading or sanctioning a country - whether Pakistan or Iran - cannot solve the proliferation problem, what levers can compel changes in nuclear policy?" asked the author of India's Nuclear Bomb in a book review in the Washington Post.

"International criminalisation of activities described so cogently by Corera certainly wouldn't hurt," Perkovich himself answered in reviewing BBC journalist Gordon Corera's new book, Shopping for Bombs - Nuclear Prolif-eration, Global Insecurity, and the Rise and Fall of the AQ Khan Network.

The book offers a fascinating, detailed account of how Libya surprised the world with its undetected nuclear acquisitions and how the US and UK secretly persuaded Libya leader Gaddafi to verifiably give them up.

That proved to be a major turning point for Khan. Washington and London had started getting detailed intelligence on the surprising extent of his network's activities in 2000.

But before taking action against it, US and British intelligence agencies wanted to learn more "to be sure that all the tentacles were under surveillance. Otherwise they could simply go underground and emerge soon after in a new-and unknown-form." (IANS)

Naresh · 10-19-2006, 04:38 AM

[center]India puts Pakistan on notice : Talks will collapse if Pakistan doesnât deal with terrorism[/center]

NEW DELHI : Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Wednesday told Pakistan that bilateral talks between the two countries would collapse âunless the government of Pakistan clearly deals with the issue of terrorismâ.

He said that the resumption of the stalled composite dialogue process next month depended on Pakistanâs dealing with the terrorism issue that âtroubles India the mostâ. âWe have put Pakistan on notice that any democratic government of India would find it difficult to continue on the present path (of dialogue) to address all outstanding issues unless the government of Pakistan clearly deals with the issue of terrorism,â Singh told a weeklong conference of Indian Armed Forcesâ commanders that concluded here on Wednesday.

He said that the institutional joint anti-terrorism mechanism agreed by him and President Pervez Musharraf at talks in Havana âwill be a test of Pakistani intentions and capabilities to implement the assurances that they have given us since January 2004â.

Singh said that âour enemiesâ were using Bangladeshi migrants to incite terrorism in India. âThe economic pull on migrants from Bangladesh of the Indian market offers opportunities to our enemies who seek to incite terrorism in India,â he said.

Singh urged the conference to accommodate Indiaâs neighbours and give them greater stakes in Indiaâs economic prosperity. âEssential to our quest for a modern India true to its genius is a peaceful and prosperous periphery. I have often said that the countries of South Asia have a shared destiny. We can, to an extent, help create such thinking by giving our neighbours a greater stake in our economic prosperity. We must be willing to make necessary adjustments in our domestic policies to accommodate this,â he said.

The Indian prime minister talked of a âdangerous and unstable neighbourhoodâ and uneven development and its consequences and stressed that âpolitical stability and a focus on human development in the region are in our strategic interestâ. He said that the commanders should think of both conventional and anti-terrorism wars.

âTerrorists are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the way they deal with death and destruction. Our armed forces also have to deal with insurgents in difficult terrain. There is, thus, a necessity for us to upgrade our capabilities, which have traditionally been geared towards conventional threats, as well as our surveillance and interdiction systems,â he said.

Singh said that technology had empowered non-state actors to the point where terrorism was a major trans-border threat in many countries and the commanders should include in their strategy a âtransformed security challenge that now include anarchistic ideologies, communalism of various kinds, threats from pandemics and terrorism over and above conventional threatsâ. Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and chiefs of all three forces were also present.

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

10-19-2006, 07:23 AM

BRAVO!!!!!!!!!! <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />
Pakistan to hang Briton during royal visit QUOTEISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan has sparked a row with Britain after saying it would hang a British national during an upcoming visit byÂ Â Â Â Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

British Prime MinisterÂ Â Â Â Tony Blair urged Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to halt the execution of Mirza Tahir Hussain scheduled on November 1 and warned of "very serious consequences" if it goes ahead.

Musharraf has already ordered three stays of execution for Hussain, 36, who has spent half his life in a Pakistani jail for killing a taxi driver and who at one point had his conviction quashed.

"Mirza Tahir Hussain's new execution date is November 1," an official at Adiala Prison in Rawalpindi, a garrison city adjoining the capital Islamabad, told AFP on condition of anonymity.


Mullah slap to UK

10-19-2006, 10:36 PM

Captured Taleban say they were sent to fight by Pakistani mullahsQUOTE19 October 2006

BARMAL, Afghanistan - Handcuffed and weary, three confessed Taleban fighters told this week how they crossed into Afghanistan from Pakistan to carry out a âjihadâ against troops after mullahs said it was their duty as Muslims.

The young men â two Pakistanis and an Afghan â were captured after a fierce five-hour battle in Paktika province Tuesday, just a few kilometres (miles) from the border.

During the battle, 24 of their fellow fighters were killed. The bloodied and broken bodies were later shown to reporters by the Afghan army at a base in Barmal district.

The dead were mostly Afghans but included an Arab, Chechens, Pakistanis, Turks and a man from Yemen, an officer said, citing information from the captured three, identity cards and, in one case, a name on a bullet belt.

âMullahs in Pakistan were preaching to us that we are obliged to fight jihad in Afghanistan because there are foreign troops â there is an Angriz (British) invasion,â dishevelled Alahuddin told reporters.

âA Pakistani Taleban commander, Saifullah, introduced us to a guide who escorted us to Barmal,â he said. âThen he left and we joined a group already here and came to the ambush site.â

It was only Alahuddinâs second day in Afghanistan and it went horribly wrong.

His group of 32 Taleban lay in wait for an army convoy, launching a clumsy attack mainly with AK-47 machine guns.

The Afghan soldiers and their International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) counterparts retaliated. Two columns of support quickly arrived and surrounded the attackers as attack helicopters were called in.

After five hours of fighting, 24 Taleban and a soldier were dead. Some of the rebels not killed by the troops blew themselves up with their own grenades, soldiers said.

One of the dead had a Pakistani ID document on his chest when he was shown to reporters, while the others had other papers on them that the Afghan army said gave their nationalities.

Alahuddin said he was misled into believing that Afghanistan was overrun by foreign âinfidelsâ, especially the British forces hated since their 19th century wars in the region.

âWe were sent to Afghanistan blindly. We call on our other friends in Pakistan and say, âThere is no jihad here, everybody is Muslim,ââ he told AFP.

A few hours later, the three men were on the floor of a helicopter with their eyes taped shut being taken to Kabul for interrogation.

Alahuddin was from Miranshah in Pakistanâs North Waziristan tribal area that is just on the other side of the border with Afghanistanâs Paktika.
Truce agreement

The Pakistan government last month signed a truce with the areaâs pro-Taleban tribal elders who agreed to stop militants from crossing the border to carry out attacks in support of the Taleban insurgency.

In return the Pakistan army â which says it has 80,000 men along the border to stop infiltration â cut back its presence.

Political analyst Samina Ahmed, from the International Crisis Group, this week called the deal âirresponsible to say the leastâ.

For âall practical purposes, now the Taleban are running the show,â she told a meeting in Brussels.

Another of the captured men, the confused and clearly uneducated Zahidullah, was also from Miranshah. He said that he too was brought into the fight by a mullah who put him in touch with the Taleban.

âWe came to Afghanistan to carry out jihad against British forces â as Muslims we are obliged to do jihad against them, this is what we were told,â he said.

The captured men had no identification documents to prove that they were Pakistanis. However an AFP reporter recognised their dialect as being from the Waziristan area.

There are around 40,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, around a half of them Americans. Just over 5,000 are from the British army, which also has one of its generals, David Richards, in command of the ISAF force.

The US-led coalition that works alongside ISAF and the Afghan security forces said last month it had seen a 300 percent increase in incidents in the area since a North Waziristan truce reached weeks before the September accord.

General Murad Ali, the deputy commander of southeastern military corps, was proud of the actions of his men in the counterattack, seen as a sign of the increasing professionalism of the Afghan army.

He openly accused the Pakistani military of aiding the Islamists tearing at the fragile young Afghan democracy.

âThe cooperation of Pakistan with Taleban and Al Qaeda is visible,â Ali said.

âThey cross into Afghanistan even in areas where Pakistani posts are installed, but they are not prevented. They carry out attacks and then return.â

Such accusations anger Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf who is under pressure from Afghanistan and its international allies to end extremist support for militants.

Musharraf says the root of the problem lies inside Afghanistan.

10-20-2006, 12:33 AM

PM has 'selective amnesia' on PakQUOTENew Delhi, October 19: Taking a dig at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the BJP accused him of selective amnesia when he says the proposed joint anti-terror mechanism will be a test for Pakistan.

Party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Prime Minister was required to explain why he had called Pakistan a victim of terror during his Havana trip.
..............

10-20-2006, 07:30 AM

QUOTEOne more American
Lahore has many cosmopolitan denizens but none better than its First Citizen. Our mole reports that the First Citizen has recently become a United States national and that this event has followed his second marriage to an American lady. Perhaps he should go and run Kansas City or some such rather than Lahore.

+++++
Nuggets from the Urdu press 

Mosque clash
As reported in daily Jang, a Wahdat road mosque was sealed when two groups clashed over the ownership of the mosque. The imam (prayer leader) was thrown out by the local population which brought in another imam of their own creed (maslak) of Islam. After some time the first imam came back with armed men and started firing indiscriminately, which led to mayhem and panic in the entire area. A heavy contingent of police arrived and sealed the mosque and summoned the two warring qabza groups to the police station to sort out the ownership of the mosque.

Al Qaeda was responsible for 9/11
In a column in daily Khabrain, Hamid Mir wrote that Osama bin Laden (OBL) didnât accept responsibility for the 9/11 attacks but congratulated the attackers as OBL didnât want to create any problems for Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Now, after five years he has accepted responsibility for the 9/11 attacks and some Pakistanis still fool themselves by blaming Jews for this attack. This is a real war and it wouldnât help if we start living in imaginary conspiracies. He said America knows that OBL is alive and new attack is being planned within America.

England queen is Qureshi!
Sarerahi wrote in daily Nawa-i-Waqt that during Ramadan the British queen has allocated one room for prayers in her palace for her Muslim servants. In contrast the leader of Christians is Pope Benedict who has broken the hearts of Muslims. The royal family of Britain is Qureshi (a tribe of Mecca) who migrated from Saudi Arabia and became rulers because of their leadership qualities. Now we would see her become Muslim in a near future.Â <!--emo& Tongue

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />

Fake Allamas are black sheep
According to daily Jang, Jamiat-e-Islam chief organizer mufti Safdar Ali Qadri stated that we as a nation are Ahl-e-Sunnat and an atomic power but are not united. The black sheeps in the guise of ulemas (religious scholars) are responsible for the degradation of our society. Everyone who has grown beards has started calling themselves Allamas and Maulanas, and these people do not have proper knowledge or intelligence. The government should crackdown on such fake Allamas. He said Maulana Noorani was a great Ahl-e-Sunnat leader and news channels shall start news bulletin in Arabic.

Hamid Mir responsible for Afghanistan bombing
In daily Khabrian, columnist Azam Sultan Suharwardi said when America invaded Afghanistan Hamid Mir was the editor of Urdu daily âSahafatâ in Islamabad. During that time his best story was published in the English newspaper Dawn with a title, âOsama has Nukesâ and not in his own Urdu newspaper, which didnât print his full story. This story was picked up by international media and provided moral ground for America to savagely bomb Afghanistan.

Osamaâs threat saved Afghanistan!
In a column in daily Khabrain, Hamid Mir wrote that Americans were angry and ready to use nuclear power against Osama bin Laden (OBL) in Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden threatened to strike back with nuclear weapons if US used nuclear weapons against Afghanistan. OBLâs threat was confirmed when Americans found nuclear laboratories in Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden had started working on a nuclear programme in Sudan in 1995 when Americans captured Al Qaeda members who were trying to buy enriched uranium. Americans then destroyed these Al Qaeda factories in Sudan with Tomahawk missiles. Al Qaeda men went on to acquire suitcase bombs from former Russian republics and took them to Europe.

Into the fire!
Daily Nawa-i-Waqt reported on a BBC online column that said that President Musharraf wrapped up the issue of the exile of Nawaz Sharifâs family in just a few lines. President Musharraf blamed foreign universities for producing Pakistani leaders that were corrupt and unaware of Pakistani culture. The columnist wondered why Pakistan is sending its brilliant minds for education at government expense to the very same foreign universities. President Musharraf ridiculed the entire civilian leadership but didnât comment on military dictators. The columnist asked why Musharraf wrote about his marriage to Sehba in chapter titled, âInto the fireâ?

Tahir ul Qadriâs prescription for success
As reported in daily Jang, Awami Tehreek leader Tahir ul Qadri in a telephonic address said Muslims can only get out of their present situation by promoting ishq-e-rasool love for Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). He said during the month of Ramazan Muslim ummah shall strengthen its relation with God, and wear ishq-e-rasool as collar around their necks, so that God bless them with success.Â [what is this?]

AQ Khan, architect of Indian nukes! <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />
As reported in Daily Pakistan, President Musharraf in his book, âIn the line of fireâ said it is possible that India became nuclear power with the help of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khanâs network. Dr Khan was operating his network from Pakistan and Dubai, where Indians who were working for him disappeared mysteriously later on. Pakistani centrifuge designs could have been transferred to India through the network of Dr Khan.

My lord! I am guilty too!
As reported in Daily Pakistan, a girl became emotional when a man charged on hudood charges in Lahore High Court was arrested and handcuffed. She appeared before the court in dramatic Urdu filmi style and told the court, âMy Lord! I have to say somethingâ while her mother was trying to stop. She admitted that she was having sexual relations with a married man who was the father of three children. The Judge told her that this statement could be used against her. She said she didnât care and the court asked the police to register a case against her as she admitted her own adultery.

Cinemas to observe sanctity of Ramadan
As reported in daily Nawa-i-Waqt, the NWFP government has ordered shutting down cinemas to observe the sanctity of Ramadan. The 12 cinema owners were summoned by religious minister Amanullah Haqqani, senior minister Siraj ul Haq for an emergency meeting where police official were also present. Cinema owners were threatened by Jamaat Islamiâs Shabab-e-Milli and Amar bil marauf nahi anal munkir to close down the cinemas.

Missing links in Hamid Mirâs story
In daily Khabrain, Hamid Mir, responding to allegations by Azam Sultan Suharwardi, said that America started bombing Afghanistan before my interview of Osama Bin Laden was published in Pakistan. He said ex-ISI Chief Hamid Gul, professor of journalism Dr Mehdi Hassan and columnist Ajmal Naizi also held that Hamid Mirâs story provided America with the excuse to attack Afghanistan. America started bombing on 7th October and I interviewed OBL on 8th October in Afghanistan. He said CBS offered him one hundred thousand dollars for this interview but he wanted the credit to go to Pakistani journalism. Hameed Haroon agreed to print his interview with his byline as, ââInterview of Osama bin Laden by Hamid Mirâ, editor of daily Sahafatâ. This interview was simultaneously published by daily Dawn and daily Sahafat. Next day he found that portions of his interview were missing in his own paper because the night shift in-charge was under the pressure of secret agencies.

Claim for sold haveli
In daily Jang, humour columnist Ata ul Haq Qasmi wrote that President Musharraf has claimed in his book that his lineage can be traced back directly to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). He mentioned that his father and mother were good dancers and were also music lovers. His mother was a good singer and could play harmonium. In 1946 they sold their ancestral Nehr wali haveli and moved to a government house. In 1948 when they came to Pakistan they claimed compensation for their ancestral haveli. Qasmi asked whether they submitted the claim for their sold haveli or was it another haveli? <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

10-20-2006, 07:32 AM

QUOTEGovt was under siege in North Waziristan 
FT
Iqbal Khattak
While the deal might have given some respite to government troops in the short-term, it is unlikely to play to Islamabad's advantage in the long termÂ
Â Â
The September 5 deal struck by the government in North Waziristan has drawn both negative and positive reactions. However, even those supporting the deal do not accept the governmentâs claim that it is aimed against the Taliban.

âThe deal is with the Taliban; its plus side is that the area is now calm; its downside is that it will strengthen extremists and there is no guarantee that they will not cross over into Afghanistan and link up with the Taliban there,â says an insider.

This is corroborated by information now coming out and which shows that the deal has been signed by the administrator of North Waziristan with clerics that were, until Sept 5, on the wanted list. These clerics include: Hafiz Gul Bahadar, Maulana Sadiq Noor, Azad Khan, Maulvi Saifullah, Maulvi Ahmad Shah Jehan, Azmat Ali, Hafiz Amir Hamza and Mir Sharaf.

The issue of foreign militants living in North Waziristan has also not been dealt with satisfactorily in the deal. While they have been asked to either leave or live peacefully, the deal puts in place no mechanism to monitor their conduct. There is still no news about what has happened on that issue: are these people leaving or have they decided to stay?

Observers also point out that having signed the deal with the militants, it is not possible that they have completely turned around and will now take up arms against the Afghan Taliban to whose leaders like Mullah Omar and Jalaluddin Haqqani they owe allegiance to.

However, supporters point out that two issues forced the governmentâs hand in North Waziristan: first, the two main tribes, Wazir and Dawar, are involved in militancy against security forces; and two, the continued army operation and heavy bombing and shooting have shifted loyalties from the government to the militants. âAll sub-tribes are involved in militancy against security forces,â former FATA security chief Brigadier (retd) Mehmood Shah told TFT in Peshawar.

The Wazir tribe lives mostly along the border while Dawars are spread from Miranshah to Bannu district. Compared to other Pashtun tribes, the Wazir have historically been able to evolve a system where internal feuds are dramatically reduced. Among most Pashtuns, a murder is to be avenged in such a way that the family or clan members of the murderer could be killed in revenge, setting off a longstanding feud among families. Among the Wazir, however, this does not apply and only the actual culprit is punished.

âWith this one change in customs, the Wazir have been able to greatly decrease vendettas that once begun go on for generations. This custom has also ensured that the Wazir are more united as a tribe,â says a historian.

The Dawar are locally called âadministered Wazirâ because during the British Raj, they were known for striking deals with the colonisers; they have also been nicknamed âbazaari Qabilsâ, which means âuntrustworthy tribesmenâ. On the other hand, the Utmanzai Wazir were more rebellious and generally kept a distance from the British. Their areas, even then, were regarded as âno-goâ zones. Dawar are also not known to have the same amount of âtribal integrityâ that the Wazir are famous for.

But today, says a history teacher at a state-run college in Miranshah, jihadi sentiments are more dominant among the Dawar than the Wazir. âIt is the Dawar who are more uncompromising,â he said.

The Madakhel sub-tribe of the Wazir, however, is also notorious for militancy both across the border and against Pakistani security forces. Its location on both sides of the Touchi River gives it strategic edge over other tribes and hence it is also able to facilitate militants in crossing over into Afghanistan, says one insider.

A government official told TFT the border could have been secured with the help of the Wazir âhad General Safdar (Hussain) not pounded their areas before talksâ. âThis situation needed political handling. The government could have gone to the Wazir and asked for their help against militants but now the tribe is completely against us,â he said. âThe Wazir are good negotiators and it is ironic that the government did not win them over,â he added.

Brigadier (retd) Mehmood Shah says another problem is that the tribal youth in North Waziristan is no more under the eldersâ influence and are being completely indoctrinated by their Islamic teachers. âEven where elders of a particular tribe ask their youth to leave madrassas, they donât listen anymore; tribal authority has, in this way, eroded and stands below the authority of religion and religious teachers,â Shah added.

This shows that the tribal structures, which the government was thinking of using to push back the Taliban, are now too weak in the face of new Islamic thinking. Under the circumstances, while the deal might have given some respite to government troops in the short-term, it is unlikely to play to Islamabadâs advantage in the long term.

10-20-2006, 10:08 AM

QUOTEBALOCH FREEDOM FIGHTERS ATTACKED TRAIN NEAR MACH(AFP)
19 October 2006
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle...on=subcontinent
QUETTA, Pakistan - Suspected tribal insurgents on Thursday attacked a passenger train with a rocket and small arms fire in the restive southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan, causing train services in the region to be suspended, an official said.

The attack came near Mach, some 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of Quetta, the provincial capital of Baluchistan, and damaged the engine but caused no casualties, railway official Javed Ahmed told AFP.

âQuetta Express was coming from the eastern city of Lahore towards Quetta when a rocket and small arms fire hit it,â he said.

âWe have suspended train services in the region for the time being,â Ahmed said, adding that an engine had been sent to bring the train, which is sheltering in a tunnel, to Quetta.

**acharya** · (This post was last modified: 10-20-2006, 09:18 PM by acharya.)

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10-20-2006, 08:10 PM

As India readies Pak terror dossier, CIA team on its way to take stockQUOTENEW DELHI, OCTOBER 19: As India prepares a dossier on terror to share with Pakistan in an effort to take forward the Havana understanding, a top CIA team, headed by its Deputy Director of Intelligence Carmen Medina, is coming here next week to discuss the terror situation in India following the Mumbai train blasts as well as the the Pakistan linkage. Sources said both sides will also discuss the security situation in Afghanistan.
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acharya · (This post was last modified: 10-20-2006, 08:42 PM by acharya.)

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