Twirp: Terrorist Wahabi Islamic Rep Pakistan 4

[ravish]

Nareshji,

Your total silence on the post electoral political trends in this forum is felt very intensely. Hope to share your views shortly.

In respect of Pakistan’s plea for being treated as par with India, is totally contrary to the opinion held by many experts of this forum.As you may have noticed they hold a very low opinion of the present political dispensation in New Delhi, namely the UPA. On the contrary, the article you have quoted gives a contrary picture. It indicates a very successful foreign policy followed by the UPA which has resulted in very positive results. Therefore, Pakistan also wants to be recognized by the international community using the same yard stick. In other words, a Government whish in the past had been ridiculed and called names by the learned bloggers ; appears to have delivered some good things to the nation. Am I to believe my interpretation is correct ?

[Naresh]

<b>ravish Ji :</b>

Welcome back from your sojourn in more ambient areas and surroundings!

Our esteemed and enlightened Members – the vociferous vocal ones – are continuously addressing the “Effect” without exercising their God given Faculties and thereby addressing the “Cause”

The Indian Leadership – inept in most spheres no doubt – must have got “something” right.

As Bill Clinton said “It is the Economy, Stupid!” so I feel the Indian Leadership – I reiterate inept in many areas – has at least got the Rudiments of a path leading to a Healthy Economy right.

I refer you to the following IMF Web Site :

<b>5. Report for Selected Countries and Subjects</b>

I now quote the following Data :

Gross domestic product per capita, current prices :

1980 : India : USD 255.030 – Pakistan : USD 347.344

<b>In this case Pakistan’s GDP per capita is over 36% Higher than that of India</b>

1993 : India : USD 298.125 – Pakistan : USD 537.344

<b>In this case Pakistan’s GDP per capita is over 80% Higher than that of India</b>

2008 : India : USD 1,016.158 – Pakistan : USD 1,044.485

<b>In this case Pakistan’s GDP per capita is less than 3% Higher than that of India</b>

Yes. one can attribute this bridging of the Gap by India by 77% in 15 Years to the General Indian Business Acumen but then this Acumen was always there.

It is the Indian Governments and the Administrations in the Last Fifteen Years that have helped to create this Economic Uplift.

It is very easy to “Kick” the perceived “Morons” in the Indian Government as also the Leadership but those in the “Kinking” Group must also appreciate the constraints that exist as well as are imposed on any Indian Government which are an outcome of Mahatma Gandhi’s and Jawahar Lal Nehru’s repeated humungous Faux Pas - be they be in respect of China or Pakistan or the Indian Muslim Minority or other Utopian Ideas and Ideals.

The Indian Stock Exchanges by their Revival – they may well be staged by the new Government and its supporters in Commerce and Industry – do point to the confidence in the new Government and if the bottom does not now fall in respect of the Indian Economy then, without giving a clean chit to the present Government, one is “forced” to admit that the present Government has at least got “Something Right”.

Successive Indian Governments has not had the “Gumption” to have an Armed Forces Capacity which is Seven Times that of Pakistan and herein lies the perceived Indian Weakness thereby a corresponding Pakistani Strength.

With the latest development in Pakistan one has noticed – with no small measure of Satisfaction – that Pakistan has been reduced to the state of the <b>World’s Number One Wielder of the Begging Bowl ”Par Excellence” as well as “Bar None”</b>.

As is well said "As thou soweth so thou reapeth" - It may not be grammatically correct but I hope I have conveyed the meaning.

In addition to the Minorities Communal Leadership India is burdened with the “Liberal-Leftists” Groups and one again derives – this time a Lot of – Satisfaction from not only the Communist-Leftist Rout but also that of the opportunists of the Lallu Prasad Yadav and Mayawati along with Others of the “Ilk”.

In my humble opinion with Three to Five Years of Economic Stability and hopefully Development will lead India to become a “Middle Income Nation” whereby we will be able to have a much stronger nation whereas Pakistan keeps sinking into the morass of ignominy.

Of course this statement is made without taking into account any unforeseen circumstances or incidents being experienced by India in the relative period.

I do not unequivocally support the present Government but am willing to give it a chance to prove its worth or otherwise.

Let us "Wait and Watch!"

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

[Naresh]

<b>This is a long war, We will continue fighting until an Islamic system is enforced : Muslim Khan</b>

<b>Taliban militants will not attack the military in the main town of Pakistan's Swat Valley to avoid triggering battles that would result in civilian casualties and destruction, a militant spokesman said.</b>

The army on Monday hailed the announcement as a sign that the outnumbered militants were ``staring defeat in the face,'' but Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan denied it was a call for a cease-fire and said the insurgents were not withdrawing from Mingora. <b>``This is a long war and we will fight it strategically,'' he told late Sunday from an undisclosed location in the valley. ``We will continue fighting until an Islamic system is enforced.''</b>

Pakistan began the offensive last month against militants in the northwestern region after they ignored the terms of a cease-fire. Its Western allies, worried the nuclear-armed nation was buckling under the threat of the militants, have hailed the operation. Close to 2.1 million people have fled the valley and surrounding districts, but up to 20,000 remain in Mingora, where the military entered Saturday after encircling it. Many of the estimated 4,000 militants in the valley are believed to be there, raising the prospect of bloody urban fighting. Khan, the militant spokesman, said its troops would not engage the army in Mingora because <b>``we have seen when the army retaliate for our attacks they always kill civilians. Their attacks always damage public property. We do not want that,'' he said.</b> Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said Monday that since the militants ``have started using ploys to escape. They are now remembering the civilians whom they used to behead and decapitate.'' He said the operation in the city would go on as planned. Commanders have said they aim to eliminate the militants in the valley and on Friday said any form of cease-fire was highly unlikely.

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

[Naresh]

<b>Several killed in Lahore Short Circuit in Air Vacuum</b>

<b>LAHORE : Terror struck Lahore for the third time in two months when an explosives-laden vehicle apparently targeting the ISI headquarters went off in crowded Civil Lines area, killing at least 30 people and leaving nearly 150 injured.</b><b>(Watch )</b>

<b>A suicide car bomb flattened a police building in Pakistan's city of Lahore, killing many people.</b>

At least four men with rifles stepped from the car and opened fire on the intelligence agency building, then set off a massive blast when security guards returned fire, officials said.

Interior minister Rehman Malik suggested the attack could be retaliation for the government's military offensive to rout Taliban militants from the northwestern Swat Valley.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the latest bombing. Police said one suspect was detained.

Reports said some suspects picked up in connection with the March 3 terror attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team here, were inside the ISI office when the blast took place.

The blast could be an attempt to free Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, Pak media reported. The blast took place on a day when Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed was to be presented in the Lahore high court close by.

Raja Riaz, a senior minister in the Punjab provincial government, told reporters that about 30 people died. Fayyaz Ranjha, a senior health official, told state-run Pakistan Television that at least 116 people were wounded. Police put the number of injured at 250.

The explosion sheared the walls off buildings in a main business district. TV footage showed bleeding bystanders and emergency workers carrying the injured toward ambulances.

"The moment the blast happened, everything went dark in front of my eyes," witness Muhammad Ali said. "The way the blast happened, then gunfire, it looked as if there was a battle going on."

Sajjad Bhutta, a senior government official in Lahore, told reporters that a car carrying several gunmen pulled up in a street between offices of the emergency police and the Inter-Service Intelligence agency, Pakistan's premier spy agency.

"As some people came out from that vehicle and starting firing at the ISI office, the guards from inside that building returned fire," he said. As the firing continued, the car suddenly exploded, he said.

The spy agency and police building were both badly damaged. An AP reporter saw dozens of troops entering the spy agency building to supervise the rescue work, while gunshots were heard from inside the building even one hour after the blast.

Television footage showed officers dragging a black-shirted man from the scene.

Malik blamed the attack on militants that government forces are fighting in the Swat Valley and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas near Afghanistan.

"These terrorists were defeated in FATA and Swat and now they have come here," he told reporters.

The attack came as General David Petraeus, head of the US Central Command, was in Islamabad for meetings with government and military leaders.

The Wednesday’s blast comes less than two months after the attack on the police academy at Manawan, close to Lahore on March 30 this year, when armed gunmen laid a siege resulting in the killing of 10 people including eight policemen.

Lahore was also the scene of an attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team on March 3, in which eight people, including six police officials were killed and six cricketers were injured.

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

[Naresh]

<b>Thirty Five get 72 Virgins and 36 Boys, 250 trying!</b>

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

[acharya]

Very intersting to understand this Paki poster


<b>
It's almost funny; the only force that makes Indians feel proud of whatever(militarily or otherwise) they are is of course not their abilitiy, capability and substantiality of any matter pertaining to their self-imagined greatness, but their intolerable massively worthless partial population over internetwork, which is extremely logical to themselves, merely. </b><b>
Their logicality seems to be serving the verbal aims of their childish dramatic bollywoodlike cast of mind only whilst the facts are blatantly opposite all the time. </b>Around more than 1000 Talebans have been reportedly killed in only a week's duration, such is the might of Pakistan Army. The best that the whole world can expect from abhorrent cattish cowardice Hindus is but presenting subject matter intended to arouse sophomoric preeminence respecting themselves, that is all.

Posted On 5/21/2009 7:46:58 AM

[Naresh]

<b>Six killed in Peshawar twin blasts; 2 terrorists killed in operation</b>

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->PESHAWAR : At least 6 persons were killed and 100 others injured in two consecutive bomb blasts occurred in populated locations in Peshawar on Thursday. Dozens of vehicles and shops were destroyed.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

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

[Guest]

some other paki fora-<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->East Pakistanis discussion, just want to point out a few facts:

1. Jute was a major export earner and was the cause of Pakistan's good financial health for a long time. This was particularly a high value export during the Korean war. As substitutes were invented later, their export value decreased considerably. There is no conspiracy, economists using economic data can prove that<b> East Pakistan subsidized West Pakistan for a long time.</b>

2. Pakistanis and later Indians ransacked and destroyed the country from head to foot. Indians literally carried away our assets on trains.

3. Bangladesh has the highest concentration of population of any decent sized country. According to estimates, the country will eventually go underwater due to global warming. <b>There are few places we can go (my idea is to colonize Antarctica)</b>.

4. We all need to understand Machiavelli a bit better. As long as you don't touch a man's property, livelihood and honor, you are fine. <b>As East Pakistanis, we felt treated like an inferior race and degraded. Our language ridiculed and suppressed</b>. All this, while being the majority in the country. West Pakistanis behaved like the new Goras. No nation will accept such treatment, and you would have lost that war whether India intervened or not.

5. Since many of you have grown up reading "Pakistan Studies" (and I too have read these books of fiction), you are unlikely to know much about what happened or the history. Even the simple and harmless facts are wrong. For instance<b>, you celebrate "23rd March" when the actual event was on the 24th (actually passed on the wee morning of the 25th). </b>

6. Present circumstances in Pakistan are sad and I agree that there is massive foreign involvement. Nevertheless, there are clear and coherent reasons, and the fact that at this fora you are blind to the elephant in the room is most disheartening; there are clear reasons why Pakistan is in this state, and more than evil India, your own choices are to blame.
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[Guest]

ISPR releases telephonic conversation of Muslim Khan with unknown persons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrFWHYHJ4Es
I couldn't contact you before as we are in such a place that we couldn't communicate.
Drones are making a mess,they killed some just a few days ago.
IED burned three vehicles in miramshah/miranshah.

In the last few minutes he says that I will deliver your message by afternoon.

2:
six guys were killed in some attack.
10 houses were destroyed.

<b>Number 2 to 1: You should send fighters to punjab and bomb the houses of these generals.
Number 2 is also frustrated with 1 and the bajauris for not sending help.</b>
He is also saying that number one should give an ultimatum of 8 days(if i heard correctly) before taking action.
He also mentioned some BBC journalist.

[Guest]

<img src='http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/assets/images/2009/05/28/090528161420_1.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Peshawar blast

[Naresh]

<b>Islamabad security porked up after Peshawar bombings.</b>

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

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Pak has 60 N-bombs, adding more’</b>
pioneer.com
S Rajagopalan | Washington
A new report from the US Congressional Research Service says that Pakistan, with 60 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, continues fissile material production for weapons and is adding to its weapons production facilities and delivery vehicles.

The report, circulated to lawmakers, is in line with US military chief Mike Mullen’s recent confirmation during a classified briefing about evidence that Islamabad was expanding its nuclear arsenal.

<b>“Pakistan’s nuclear warheads use an implosion design with a solid core of highly enriched uranium (HEU), approximately 15-20 kg per warhead. Islamabad reportedly continues to produce highly-enriched uranium for weapons at a rate of at least 100 kg per year,”</b> it says.

Since the 1990s, Pakistan has also pursued plutonium-based warheads and continues to produce plutonium for weapons with assistance from China, the report says and points out that the 40-50 megawatt heavy water Khushab plutonium production reactor has been operating since 1998.

“It appears that Islamabad is constructing two additional heavy water reactors, which will expand considerably Pakistan’s plutonium production capacity, at the same site. The continued expansion of the complex and production of weapons materials could indicate plans to increase its nuclear weapons arsenal in the near future,” says the report, put together by non-proliferation analysts Paul K Kerr and Mary Beth Nikitin.

Pakistan has two types of delivery vehicles for nuclear weapons: aircraft controlled by the Pakistan Air Force and surface-to-surface missiles controlled by the Pakistan Army.

<b>“Pakistan could deliver its nuclear weapons using F-16s purchased from the United States, provided modifications are made,” the report says, adding: “It is widely believed that Pakistan has made modifications to the F-16s previously sold to them.”</b>

Although concerns have been raised about the impact of these sales on the strategic balance in South Asia, the US Government maintains that the sale of additional F-16s to Pakistan will not alter the regional balance of power.

The contract for provision of an additional 36 aircraft was signed on September 30, 2006, as was the contract for the weapons for those aircraft and a contract to perform the mid-life upgrade on Pakistan’s F-16A/B model aircraft.

“Pakistan’s F-16 fleet will therefore be expanded, but it is unclear what portion of the fleet will be capable of a nuclear mission. Mirage III and V aircraft could also be used, although would have limited range. A-5s may have been modified to carry a nuclear payload,” the report says.
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[acharya]

<b>US strategic plan</b>
Published: May 28, 2009

A.H. Amin
Every movement in history has a direction, a quantum, a modus operandi. According to the father of the philosophy of war Carl Von Clausewitz everything in strategy moves slowly, imperceptibly, subtly, somewhat mysteriously and sometimes invisibly. The greatness of a military commander or statesman lies in assessing these strategic movements.

The USA inherited a historical situation in the shape of 9/11.At this point in time it was not making history if we agree that 9/11 was the work of Al Qaeda for which so far the USA has failed to furnish any solid evidence. After 9/11 when the USA attacked Afghanistan ,US leaders and key military commanders were making history. They had a certain plan in mind. The stated objectives of these plan were the elimination of Al Qaeda. The unstated objective was the de-nuclearisation of Pakistan. This scribe has continuously held this position held consistently in articles published in Nation from September 2001,all through 2002,2003,2004,2005 and till 2009.


The US strategic plan followed the following distinct phases:
* An initial manoeuvre occupying Afghanistan in 2001.

* Establishing and consolidating US military bases near the Afghan Pakistan border.

Most prominent being the Khost, Jalalabad, Sharan and Kunar US bases. Some military bases like Dasht I Margo in Nimroz and three other bases in Kandahar, Badakhshan and Logar were so secret that their construction was not even advertised.

Even in case of sensitive areas the contracts were awarded to the US Government owned Shaw Inc and the CIA proxy operated Dyncorps Corporation. Patriotic Afghans trained in USSR were removed from Afghan Intelligence because they would not agree to be a party to USA's dirty game in between 2001 and 2007.

Similarly many patriotic Afghan officers trained in USSR were removed from the Afghan military establishment.

[ravish]

Nareshji,

I have read with interest the recent media reports on terror attacks in Pakistan. It increasingly is coming closer to Islamabad and thus is an indicator of the deterioration in the security situation . It is also a direct reflection of the falling standard of the Pak Army to react in the face of these increasing attacks. In your considered view, what is the real cause for this poor performance?

[Naresh]

<!--QuoteBegin-ravish+May 29 2009, 11:31 PM-->QUOTE(ravish @ May 29 2009, 11:31 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Nareshji,

I have read with interest the recent media reports on terror attacks in Pakistan. It increasingly is coming closer to Islamabad and thus is an indicator of the deterioration in the security situation . It is also a direct reflection of the falling standard of the Pak Army to react in the face of these increasing attacks. In your considered view, what is the real cause for this poor performance?
[right][snapback]97900[/snapback][/right]
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<b>ravish Ji :</b>

Very simple indeed!

The Pakistani Armed Forces in General and the Pakistan Army in Particular are One with the Taliban as well as the Al Qaida and the Destruction of India’s Kufr thereby Islamizing India is their Single aim.

Of course the Indian National Leadership and the Secular Liberals “Huggy-Huggy Kissy-Kissy” along with the Corresponding Media refuse to accept it.

I do hope that the Indian Government realizes the Dire and Grave Situation which now prevails in Pakistan which will lead to “De-stabilization” Pakistan is going to cause a Huge Influx of Refugees which I would reckon will go over the 50 Million mark – alarming but possible – just as India received 12 Million Refugees from East Pakistan during 1971.

In addition you will appreciate that nearly 25% of the Afghanistan Population moved mainly to Pakistan and a smaller amount took refuge in Iran and the CAR countries bordering Afganistan.

I would also refer you to Mr. Altaf Hussain’s following statement – of course in India at the Hindustan Times held Tamasha – asking India to forgive the Mohajirs for migrating to Pakistan and allow them to return to India.

<b>The Diviyun of India was the Gureatest Bulunder - Altaf Hussain</b>

It is perplexing as well as greatly worrying that it did not raise any “Heckles” with the Indian Establishment i.e. Bureaucratic, Central or State Governments, Political Parties etc. etc.

I would request your views on the present situation as also the above statement made by Altaf Hussain especially the influx of Pakistani Refugess due to the "De-stabilization" of Pakistan.

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

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->‘<b>Punjabi Taliban’ claim Lahore suicide bombing: monitors</b>
Thursday, 28 May, 2009 | 10:26 AM PST |
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/...monitors-ha-04
NICOSIA: A Pakistani Taliban group on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of a Lahore police building that killed 24 people, a US specialist militant monitoring group said.

<b>A group calling itself ‘Tehrik-i-Taliban Punjab’ made the claim in a Turkish-language statement posted on Turkish militant websites through an organisation called Elif Media</b>.

<b>The militant monitors SITE cited the group as saying the attack ‘targeted the ‘nest of evil’ in Lahore, and was a ‘humble gift’ to the mujahideen who suffer beneath the attacks of Pakistani forces in Swat.’</b>

It specified that a vehicle laden with 100 kilos of explosives was blown up outside a security building in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province in Pakistan, destroying the building and injuring hundreds more.

‘Tehrik-i-Taliban Punjab asks Muslims in Pakistan to stay away from areas where the enemy is ‘taking advantage’ of them, so that they are not harmed by jihadi attacks,’ SITE added.

The blast was the third deadly attack to rock Lahore in as many months.

A top security official told AFP after nightfall that 24 people died, including 13 policemen, civilians and security officers.

A senior investigator told AFP the attack was the likely handiwork of Al-Qaeda linked Taliban militants operating from Pakistan’s Waziristan region.

One of the attackers was shot dead by security guards as he approached the building, and two others perished in the explosion, the investigator said.


,<b> Baitullah Mehsud has accepted responsibility for the attack</b>
’لاہور حملہ سوات آپریشن کا انتقام‘
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/2...claim_rh.shtml 

<b>Pukhtun Talibans have roots in Afghanistan and Punjabi Talibans have roots in Turkey</b>??<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Where sect takes precedence over everything else</b>
By Nasir Jamal
Wednesday, 27 May, 2009 | 04:20 AM PST |
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/...erything-za-11
LAHORE: Sectarian strife cuts much deeper into the southern region of Punjab than is publicly realised and officially acknowledged. Sectarian emotions run high, and are rising.

<b>The recent events — such as the suicide bombing at an Imambargah in Dera Ghazi Khan in February and partially successful attempts of armed Jaish-i-Mohammad and other Deobandi activists to grab Barelvi mosques and madressahs in Bahawalpur in early April </b>— are only a few examples of the growing sectarian tensions in the region.

<b>Most people argue that sectarianism poses a great danger to the stability and peace of the area, a much bigger problem than the so-called Talibanisation of southern Punjab.</b>

‘Sectarianism is a real threat here,’ a senior lawyer in Muzaffargarh, who didn’t want to be identified, tells Dawn. ‘It has the potential to destabilise the entire province, in fact the whole of the country,’ he says.

  ...........

<b>Thousands of madressahs representing different schools of thought — Shia, Barelvi, Deobandi, etc — dotting the southern region of the province provide the cadre to the sectarian groups. ‘The madressahs are churning out militants for the sectarian and jihadi groups fighting in Afghanistan, Kashmir and now the tribal areas,’ says Zubaidul Islam Khan Sherwani, district secretary of the Pakistan People’s Party and president of the district bar association in Muzaffargarh. ‘These thrive on poverty and illiteracy because it is easier to indoctrinate a poor and illiterate person,’ he says as he recounts stories of recruitment by different groups for decades’ long jihad from his district.</b>

....

In Muzaffargarh, for instance, a Shia leader’s comments would imply that all <b>Pakhtuns/Afghans entering his hometown via Dera Ghazi Khan for work are militants and Taliban simply, first, because of their ethnic background, and two, due to their affiliation to the Deobandi school of thought.</b>

The forced occupation of two Barelvi mosques/madressahs, one in the Bahawalpur city and the other in a nearby village, by the Jaish activists in April provoked federal<b> Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Kazmi to accuse Deobandi madressahs of producing Taliban and encouraging extremism</b>. In a similar vein, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi declared in Multan a few weeks back that the <b>Sunnis (Barelvis) would block the way of militancy in south Punjab</b>.

‘<b>The Jaish’s attempt to occupy the mosques of another sect as well as the ministerial statements reflect the deep-rooted religious intolerance</b>,’ says a publicity shy police official in Bahawalpur who warned of a clash. <b>‘If the Jaish had done a wrong, the ministers were even more irresponsible,’</b> he says.

<b>The hardcore Deobandis, too, have a point of view. ‘If someone from our organisation(s) goes to the tribal areas or Swat, you (media) are very quick to label us all as Taliban and militant. What do you call the Shias who have gone to Hangu from this part of the country and triggered sectarian violence there? What about Barelvis who occupy our mosques and our madaris? Aren’t they Taliban or militants? To your eye, they aren’t,’ protests Rao Javed Iqbal, a Bahawalpur-based leader of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan</b>.

In so polarised a society, it will surely take more than an avowedly committed police, a few corrected politicians and a mix of indifferent and worried masses to pull south Punjab, or for that matter, Pakistan, to safety. At the outset, the formula of seeing everything through the old, maybe partially applicable, theories has to change. It is too complex for one doctrine – Marxist, nationalist, capitalist, et al – to solve. Sticking blindly to one school of thinking may be as risky as sticking to a sect.
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[Naresh]

<b>Iran calls in Pakistan envoy over mosque bomb</b>

TEHRAN : <b>Iran summoned Pakistan’s ambassador over the deadly bombing of a mosque in the southeast after Sunni rebels reportedly claimed responsibility, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.</b>

Mohammad Bakhsh Abbasi was summoned after Iran’s state television quoted the pan-Arab channel Al-Arabiya as saying that the Jandullah (Soldiers of God) group said it was behind Thursday’s mosque attack which killed 25 people.

According to state television, the chief of the Iranian armed forces, General Hassan Firouzabadi, said on Saturday that Iran ‘has located the base of the group’s head and informed Pakistan’s government of his arrest.’

The Iranian authorities said they immediately arrested three men involved in the bombing. The trio were executed on Saturday morning near the mosque in Zahedan city, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province.

<b>In recent years, the restive province has been the scene of a deadly insurgency by Jundallah, which is strongly opposed to the government of predominantly Shiite Iran.</b>

The province has a substantial Sunni minority and lies on a major narcotics-smuggling route from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Cheers

[Naresh]

<b>Pakistan gains in Swat as trouble flares elsewhere</b>

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan – <b>Taliban fighters clashed with Pakistani troops in a northwest tribal region Sunday, intelligence officials said, an ominous round of battles that killed dozens just as the military savored its victory over insurgents in the Swat Valley's main city.</b>

The fighting in South Waziristan, the main base for Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, could raise the odds that the army will extend the Swat offensive to the semiautonomous tribal areas near Afghanistan where al-Qaida and the Taliban have long proliferated.

The militant attacks could also be attempts to distract the military's focus from Swat.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Two intelligence officials told The Associated Press that insurgents attacked an army convoy Saturday night in Tiarza village in South Waziristan, sparking battles in various parts of the region. They estimated that 50 militants and two soldiers were killed.

Early Sunday, militants fired more than a dozen missiles at an army camp in South Waziristan's Jandola area. The military retaliated using artillery, and some troops moved into a Taliban-held village to force out the armed Islamist extremists<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In Swat's main urban center, Mingora, Taliban fighters had dug themselves into bunkers built into hotels and government buildings, and initially offered stiff resistance, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said.

<b>An unknown number of militants were able to escape Mingora town despite a military cordon around it, he said, raising the prospect that they could take the fight elsewhere</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Taliban warned they would attack Pakistani cities in retaliation for the offensive in Swat and neighboring districts, which the army launched after militants tried to expand their presence following a peace agreement.

They claimed responsibility for Wednesday's gun and suicide bomb attack in the eastern city of Lahore that killed at least 30 people. A day later, three suicide bombings killed at least 14 people in two cities in the northwest.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

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

[Naresh]

<b>Sindh cotton cultivation hit by acute water shortage</b>

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