Terroristan throwing tantrums. Again. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6413641.stm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>US may be 'undermining' Pakistan</b>Â
By Shahzeb Jillani
BBC News, WashingtonÂ
[Photo caption: Mr Durrani warned the US not to push too hard]
Pakistan's ambassador to the US has warned that American pressure to do more in the war against terror could undermine President Musharraf.
He said the country could be destabilised as a result.
Ambassador Mehmud Ali Durrani told the BBC that recent US congressional threats to cut off military aid to Pakistan could create major problems.
He said it could strengthen anti-American extremist elements in Pakistan and jeopardise warm relations.
(The extremist elements in TSP are already ISI's best friends. So 'warning' seems more like a threat.)
<b>Pressure growing </b>
The ambassador's statement is an attempt to paint a doomsday scenario for Pakistan if the US continues to step up pressure on Pakistan's military leadership.
[Photo caption: Pakistan has thousands of troops near the Afghan border]
Pakistan is the only Muslim country armed with nuclear weapons and the thought of "a destabilised Pakistan" where staunchly anti-American Islamists could prevail over an apparently moderate leader has long worried many in Washington.
Ever since President Musharraf signed a controversial peace deal with the militants in North Waziristan last September, US pressure has been steadily growing on Pakistan to act more decisively in crushing the Taleban and al-Qaeda threat in its tribal areas.
Pakistan has been trying, rather unsuccessfully, to convince the western world that the country is doing, and has done, all it can to tackle the extremist threat.
<b>'Frustration' </b>
The Pakistani ambassador's statement reflects the frustration Pakistani officials are experiencing on this front.
He told the BBC: "We are telling Americans that <b>Pakistan is your friend. We want to help you. Let's work together</b> instead of exerting undue pressure on us."
(This kind of talk feels very familiar, but I can't put my finger on where I heard similar 'soothing' words before... In any case, reminds me of a snake hypnotising its prey before it strikes.)
[Photo caption: Mr Cheney met President Musharraf earlier this week]
In January, the Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives passed a measure effectively linking all future military sales to the country's performance in the fighting the war on terror.
The proposed legislation is currently under consideration in the US Senate.
The White House publicly says it values the co-operation from President Musharraf and does not support putting new conditions on the country.
But, as hinted during Vice President Dick Cheney's visit to Pakistan earlier this week, the Bush administration is reportedly growing impatient with what it regards as inadequate results from Pakistan.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
03-03-2007, 12:13 PM (This post was last modified: 03-03-2007, 12:24 PM by Husky.)
India's psecular bleeding hearts are quiet.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Hindu targets</b>
Pakistan's minority is marked for extortion and kidnapping<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367773.stm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Friday, 2 March 2007, 15:24 GMTÂ
<b>Hindus feel the heat in Pakistan</b>Â
Riaz Sohail
BBC News, KarachiÂ
[Photo caption: Wealthy Hindus like Garish Kumar are targets for kidnappers]
The kidnap and murder of a Hindu engineer in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh has increased the insecurity among fellow Hindus.
Garish Kumar disappeared last month near Hyderabad city, 250 km (160 miles) from the port city of Karachi in Sindh.
His dismembered body parts were later found near a madrassa (Islamic religious school).
Police initially said the crime was committed by an outlawed Muslim militant group. Five people were arrested.
However, Hyderabad's police chief, Shaukat Shah, the incident now seems to be a simple kidnapping for ransom case.
<b>Minority report </b>
Kumar's father, Saspal Das, is a trader from Kunri town in Sindh's central district of Umerkot.
[Photo caption: Most Hindus are poor peasants and serve as bonded labour]
(What's that the islamics and their christo/communist/psecular supporters claim again? 'Islam brought egalitarianism to Hindus and the poor and oppressed Hindus voluntarily converted'? Yeah, right. Another islamic 'truth'.)
"No one listens to the Hindu minority," he complains. ""We have no security.
"We are targeted because we are Hindu. There is no other reason for kidnapping Garish."
Pakistan is home to some 2.5 million Hindus, 95% of them living in the southern Sindh province.
[Photo caption: Most are poor, low-caste peasants.]
('Egalitarian' islam again. Apparently it did not see fit to convert certain communities and jatis because islamists don't accept them.)
However there are also some successful upper caste businessmen. In Sindh, they are a hot commodity for bandits.
They lack the protection afforded to local tribal Muslims.
Whole tribes often go to war with one another in rural Sindh over any slight to their members.
That cushion is not available to the Hindu minority.
<b>Protection money</b>
[Photo caption: Hindus have to pay thousands of pounds to avoid kidnapping]
In recent years kidnapping for ransom and armed robberies have multiplied in the area and Hindus have increasingly been the focus of attacks.
Many pay protection money regularly to local gangs or influential figures. But in spite of this they are still targeted.
Santosh Kumar, a rice trader from Larkana town in upper Sindh, and his two brothers were kidnapped in separate incidents in 2006. They were later released after paying a huge ransom.
Another wealthy trader from the nearby city of Sukkur in Sindh, Sundeep Kumar, was kidnapped in 2005.
He was released after paying <b>a ransom of over a million rupees ($16,000)</b>, according to local sources.
<b>The ransom can sometimes go up to five times that amount. </b>
But not all Hindus are as rich as Sundeep Kumar.
Last August, a youth, Ramesh Lal, was kidnapped. His relatives could not afford the ransom, and his body was later found at a police check post.
In the last three years at least five Hindu traders have been killed after being kidnapped or offering resistance.
<b>"Powerful oppress the weak"</b>
[Photo caption: Even Hindu women and children are not spared by the kidnappers]
Ramesh Lal, a Hindu MP in Pakistan's parliament says, "The Hindus are not as rich as portrayed."
"Often the kidnappers ask a huge amount that the families cannot pay. As a result the hostages are killed."
The President of the Hindu council in Sukkur district, Mukhi Aishwar Lal says, "the powerful always oppress weaker communities... Hindus are weak so they are targeted."
He relates how a few years back a Hindu family travelling by local bus were kidnapped by local bandits, while rest of the passengers were allowed to go.
Around that time some foreigners were also kidnapped in the same area. The police secured their release without any payment, but the Hindus were released after a huge ransom was doled out.
Such incidents increase the feeling among Hindus that they have no say in power and authority in the country.
<b>Political apartheid</b>
In Pakistan's political system, the minorities, such as Hindus, Christians and Sikhs, remain outcasts despite represented in every major political party.
After Gen Pervez Musharraf seized power in 1999, he scrapped the controversial separate electorate system introduced former dictator Gen Zia-ul-Haq in 1980s.
Under the separate electorate system, non-Muslims could only vote for candidates of their own religion. Seats were reserved for minorities in the national and provincial assemblies.
Critics said Muslim candidates no longer had any incentive to pay attention to the aspirations of the minorities.
Gen Musharraf hoped to reverse that by the simple step of abolishing the system. But that appears to have failed.
Sudham Chand, a Hindu community leader who led a local campaign to scrap the separate electorate system was killed in broad daylight. His murder conveyed many a message.
The killers were not arrested. His brother later migrated to India.
Ramesh Lal, a member of the National Assembly, says that the restoration of the conventional electoral system is of little use if the minorities have no security.
And still, he complains, no one asks the minorities what problems they are suffering.
Mukhi Aishwar Lal agrees that Hindus in Sindh are still afraid.
They are frightened to move outside freely. Some even put themselves under a self-imposed curfew after 2000 hours a few months ago.
"No-one is targeting the minorities," argues Kishanchand Parwani, Advisor for Minorities' Affairs to the Sindh Government.
But he admits that, although the minorities are supposed to be equal citizens according to the constitution, the reality is different. He accepts that they feel like second class citizens.
Garish Kumar's father, Saspal Das, still retains faith in the system: "I will fight till I get justice for my son."
But many Hindu families who stayed in Pakistan after partition have already lost faith and migrated to India<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Yes, they should all just come to India (so too all Bangladeshi Hindus). Terroristan and Bangladesh are always ethnically cleansing the Hindus there.
India ought to send its crores of illegal bangladeshi islamic terrorists to Pakistan in return.
But then the racist TSPians will once again kill Bangladeshi muslims for "not having the superior Paki genes", like the Pakis did in the Bangladeshi war. That's an inter-islamic problem though. Bangladeshi muslims have forgotten where in the islamic hierarchy they are.
<b>A spokesman of the Neo Taliban has vehemently denied it.He has even claimed to have spoken to him. According to the spokesman, Obaidullah was in Afghanistan when he spoke to him. However, reliable police sources in Balochistan insist that the information about his arrest by the ISI is correct. According to them, his arrest was made possible by precise intelligence about his hide-out in Quetta furnished by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to the ISI. Not only that; US intelligence officials insisted on accompanying the Pakistani security officials when they raided the hide-out as they used to do in the past during raids on the hide-outs of important Al Qaeda operatives such as Abu Zubaidah in Faislabad, Punjab, in March,2002, Ramzi Binalshibh in Karachi in September,2002, and Khalid Sheikh Mohammad in Rawalpindi in March,2003. They say that the US agencies took this precaution to ensure that the Pakistanis did not let him escape.
5. These Baloch police sources also claim that the delay on the part of the Americans and the Pakistanis to confirm his arrest is due to the fact that the Americans want to have him flown out to the US military base in Diego Garcia for urgent interrogation by American interrogators without any Pakistanis being present.</b> If the report of his arrest is confirmed before he is flown out of the country, the Pakistani police will have to produce him before a court and thereafter the Americans will lose control of him as it happened with Omar Sheikh, the master-mind behind the kidnapping and beheading of Daniel Pearl, the US journalist in 2002. A similar thing happened last August in respect of Rashid Rauf, who was allegedly involved in the plot to blow up a number of US-bound planes. His arrest was officially announced by the Pakistani security agencies. Thereafter, the courts have assumed jurisdication over him and his being handed over to the British has been inordinately delayed.
...
8. This is the second major success of the US against the Neo Taliban leaders. The first was the killing of Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Osmani,reportedly No.4 in the Shura, on December 19, 2006, in an American airstrike in southern Afghanistan. He was located while he was talking on a satellite telephone with someone in Pakistan. He was the Neo Taliban's important fund-raiser from the narcotic smugglers and others.He was the Commander of Kandahar before 9/11. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Pakistan is the most "fenced" country in South Asia</b>!<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Islamabad, Mar 3: After Iran has started fencing its porous border with Pakistan, the latter has perhaps become the most fenced country in South Asia. Initially, India had fenced its borders with Pakistan, and recently the latter had erected fences with Afghanistan.
Now, the country is fenced from three sides, while in the South it has a natural fence in the form of ocean.
Iran is fencing 700-km of the Pak-Iran border with the objective of checking the illegal movement across the international border, reported The News.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
And sea is fenced by US or NATO. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>Arrest in Pakistan Spurs Hope of Stronger Effort</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"<b>It's pure coincidence and our good luck that we found . . . Obaidullah within 24 hours of Cheney's visit," said the (senior Pakistani intelligence) official, who spoke from Quetta and on condition of anonymity</b>. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--> <!--emo&:liar liar--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/liar.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='liar.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>Pakistan rejects US authority to cross its border</b>
They are arresting Taliban for US, sending misslies to keep H&D, they want to continue with so called peace-process even after Samjhutta Express bombing where majority of Pakis died, Do you thinking these paid Pakis can refuse US? Nah Nah !!!. From where they will get hafta?
An interesting despatch from Dawn
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->US senators call for direct strike inside Pakistan: Pressure tactics may trigger Musharrafâs ouster: ambassador
By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, March 2: Members of the US Senate have urged the Bush administration to launch military strikes at alleged Al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan, prompting the Pakistani envoy in Washington to warn that such an attitude could bring down the present set-up in Islamabad.
Senior Pentagon officials added fuel to the fire by claiming that their troops have already targeted Taliban and Al Qaeda sites inside Pakistan and that they have an agreement that allows them to do so.
Senator Carl Levin, Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the panel would press the Defence and State departments to consider taking military action against alleged Al Qaeda camps inside Pakistan if they learn that attacks inside Afghanistan have been planned at these sites.
"It's a critically important point, and I think we've got to insist, on this issue, that we be given a clear answer," Mr Levin said.
Lt-Gen Douglas Lute, chief operations officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, however, told the committee US soldiers could target terrorist sites inside Pakistan if thereâs an imminent threat.
âWe have all the authorities we need to pursue, either with (artillery) fire or on the ground, across the border,â he said.
âIf just across the border, inside Pakistan, we have surveillance systems that detect a Taliban party setting up a rocket system which is obviously pointed west, into Afghanistan, we do not have to wait for the rockets to be fired. They have demonstrated hostile intent and we can engage them,â Lt-Gen Lute said.
Retired US Marine Gen. James Jones, former top Nato operational commander in Afghanistan, also told the panel that forces under the US command called Operation Enduring Freedom have a legal right to strike across the border.
"That mission, everybody agrees, could be done," he said.
Lt-Gen Lute, however, clarified that they would have to seek the Pakistan government's permission to go after a munitions factory further inside the Pakistani border.
Pakistan remained the target throughout the debate, with both Democrat and Republican senators claiming that the country is either unwilling or unable to prevent the Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents from establishing camps inside the tribal zone.
Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama said that if international laws allowed US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the same laws could be applied to take actions against Al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries inside Pakistan.
Democratic Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana said that the Pakistani leaders âneed to contemplate which is harder for them -- acting to do something about this, or us acting to do something about this."
Senior US defence officials present at the hearing did little to stop the tirade against Pakistan, a country the administration describes as a close ally in the war against terror.
Instead, they complained that the North Waziristan deal has led to an increase in cross-border attacks, and joined the lawmakers in urging Pakistan to do more to address the problem.
Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Eric Edelman said the agreement led to âan almost immediate and steady increaseâ in cross-border infiltration and attacks.
"We've expressed, over a period of time, directly to President Musharraf and to others our scepticism and reservations about the agreement,â he said.
Mr Edelman indicated that recent visits to Islamabad by Vice-President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Robert Gates were also aimed at persuading Pakistan to do more.
"There's no question that that sanctuary exists, and that it's a major asset for the Taliban,â said Lt-Gen Lute.
The only person who spoke for Pakistan was the committee's former chairman, now senior Republican Party member John Warner.
âI think under the leadership of Musharraf, they're doing the best they can, but the realities are there's fragility in the political system in Pakistan," he explained.
Senator Warner said the situation would be much worse for the United States and its allies if Islamists came to power in Pakistan.
In an interview to a Western news agency, Pakistanâs envoy in Washington, Mahmud Ali Durrani, also warned that such pressure tactics could destabilise Pakistan and may even bring down President Musharraf.
Asked if it might trigger President Musharraf's ouster, he replied: "I don't know. Possibly it could bring him down. It could destabilise the whole country. It could cause mega problems there. That is possible."
"What I'm worried about today more than anything else is this unhinging of the cooperative relationship... In this very critical field of (cooperation on) counter-terrorist operations, there seems to be a problem. We need to fix it," Ambassador Durrani told Reuters.
The hostility against Pakistan is so strong that even the capture of senior Taliban leader Mullah Obaidullah did not help reduce the criticism.
Some media outlets pointed out that Pakistan only captures a major terrorist leader when thereâs pressure, which justifies Washingtonâs current policy of continuing its pressure on Islamabad.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It will be observed from the above report that Pakistan has been seriously cornered by the United States in a desperate bid to stall the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Pakistan Ambassador has been most forthcoming in highlighting the limitations of Pakistan. Unfortunately, in the present set up of Pakistan, there is no political leader or party which can effectively take on the fundamentalists. In actual fact, the present situation that Pakistan is facing is the manifestation of Pakistanâs encouragement to terrorist elements for waging a low intensity conflict across the border into India with the ultimate aim of taking full control of J & K. A section of the pr3esent Military leadership of that country has perhaps foreseen the situation they are facing today both internally and internationally and that may be the reason of their continued participation in the India Pakistan peace process. At this point , the stance of many of the VHP supporters in this forum not to talk with Pakistan in view of its continued uncooperative attitude , will amount to playing in the hands of the Islamic extremists.
Ravish,
Nah, you have missed bigger and future picture.
Actually, NATO/US is planning for big push within few days. Currently, US is putting pressure on Paki Army to cooperate, not to Mushy. Mushy is in bed with US, but for some Paki Generals and those fundoos (they come handy when Mushy wants to use against India or to get money in Katora). This push is different then golden goose which Mushy had kept as retirement plan.
US is looking for this push, to control new fundoos and keep home crowd happy.
US and Paki love story is still on and will continue for ever.
This reminds me of song
<i>"Unforgettable, that's what you are
Unforgettable though near or far
Like a song of love that clings to me
How the thought of you does things to me
Never before has someone been more
Unforgettable in every way
And forever more, that's how you'll stay
That's why, darling, it's incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am unforgettable too </i>
<b>Taliban confirms key leader Obaidullah captured in Pak: Report </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Islamabad, Mar 4: After initial denials, an "important" Taliban commander and a few other "officials" have admitted that their former Defence Minister Mulla Obaidullah Akhund has been captured in Pakistan`s Quetta city.
"One indication that the reports of his arrest are true is the fact that most of our military commanders and spokesmen have turned off their satellite phones. This has happened in the past also whenever someone important among the Taliban was captured," the Taliban military commander was quoted as saying by media.
Requesting anonymity, he told the media from an unknown location that "he was now 80 per cent convinced" that Mulla Obaidullah has indeed been arrested last week.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pakis normally go for 400%. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
All of us Indians have been schooled in Indian History as per the Muslim or Secular ideologues.
It will come as a shock â like it came to me â that even Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was a âFundamentalist Muslimâ who tried his best to have Muslim domination of a Fee and Independent India. In this respect he convinced the British that he would convince the Indian Congress Party and Mahatma Gandhi that the 23% Muslims would get 50% of the Representation whereas the 77% Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians, Zoroastrians and Jews would take the balance 50%.
Shocking to say the least.
You have really analysed the situation in Pakistan and with the Muslims absolutely and entirely correctly!
The Indian Foreign Secretary â I believe the nephew of VKKM â after having developed an âunderstandingâ with the Pakistanis persuaded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give Mush the Tush âEqual=Equalâ status at Havana. Thank God the Indian Political Leaders and the Bureaucracy in New Delhiâs South Block defeated the âNephewâsâ stupidity.
Accommodating Pakistan â letting them continue their Terrorist Activities in India while continuing the Peace Dialogue â is the biggest mistake as there is no Pakistani Muslim willing to let India survice as a Nation.
It is every Pakistani Muslimâs wish to Conquer, Destroy the Non-Muslim Religions and Islamise India.
<b>Mudy Ji : I am not being paranoid but honest.</b>
Your candor reminds me of the following Song :
[center]<b><span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>You are the Top</span> <!--emo&:clapping--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/clap.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='clap.gif' /><!--endemo-->
At words poetic, I'm so pathetic
That I always have found it best,
Instead of getting 'em off my chest,
To let 'em rest unexpressed,
I hate parading my serenading
As I'll probably miss a bar,
But if this ditty is not so pretty
At least it'll tell you
How great you are.
You're the top!
You're the Coliseum.
You're the top!
You're the Louver Museum.
You're a melody from a symphony by Strauss
You're a Bendel bonnet,
A Shakespeare's sonnet,
You're Mickey Mouse.
You're the Nile,
You're the Tower of Pisa,
You're the smile on the Mona Lisa
I'm a worthless check, a total wreck, a flop,
But if, baby, I'm the bottom you're the top!
Your words poetic are not pathetic.
On the other hand, babe, you shine,
And I can feel after every line
A thrill divine
Down my spine.
Now gifted humans like Vincent Youmans
Might think that your song is bad,
But I got a notion
I'll second the motion
And this is what I'm going to add;
You're the top!
You're Mahatma Gandhi.
You're the top!
You're Napoleon Brandy.
You're the purple light
Of a summer night in Spain,
You're the National Gallery
You're Garbo's salary,
You're cellophane.
You're sublime,
You're turkey dinner,
You're the time, the time of a Derby winner
I'm a toy balloon thatâs fated soon to pop
But if, baby, I'm the bottom,
You're the top!
You're the top!
You're an arrow collar
You're the top!
You're a Coolidge dollar,
You're the nimble tread
Of the feet of Fred Astaire,
You're an O'Neill drama,
You're Whistler's mama!
You're camembert.
You're a rose,
You're Inferno's Dante,
You're the nose
On the great Durante.
I'm just in a way,
As the French would say, "de trop".
But if, baby, I'm the bottom,
You're the top!
You're the top!
You're a dance in Bali.
You're the top!
You're a hot tamale.
You're an angel, you,
Simply too, too, too diveen,
You're a Boticcelli,
You're Keats,
You're Shelly!
You're Ovaltine!
You're a boom,
You're the dam at Boulder,
You're the moon,
Over Mae West's shoulder,
I'm the nominee of the G.O.P.
Or GOP!
But if, baby, I'm the bottom,
You're the top!
You're the top!
You're a Waldorf salad.
You're the top!
You're a Berlin ballad.
You're the boats that glide
On the sleepy Zuider Zee,
You're an old Dutch master,
You're Lady Astor,
You're broccoli!
You're romance,
You're the steppes of Russia,
You're the pants, on a Roxy usher,
I'm a broken doll, a fol-de-rol, a blop,
But if, baby, I'm the bottom,
You're the top!</b>[/center]
Nareshji,
Made by day, especially day of Holi. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->It is every Pakistani Muslimâs wish to Conquer, Destroy the Non-Muslim Religions and Islamise India.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yes, and Indians especially so-called educated failed to see this. They have failed to understand Muslim mentality and especially Pakis mentality. Pakis are insecure people with lot of baggage, biggest baggage once they were Hindus and 400% product of Harem.
Pakistan state is owned by mercenary forces which is called Paki Army.
People think Pakistan is united because of ISlam, they are wrong. Bangladesh was carved out of Pakistan and rest of country is united because they don't have leaders for mass movement, Paki Army is very good in disposing off any future leader. Citizen of Pakistan are slaves of Paki Army.
link<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->What is known, though not officially confirmed by either Islamabad or Washington DC, is that Obaidullah was arrested in an ISI raid on February 26. What is not known, either officially or unofficially, is whether the wanted man was seized before or after US Vice-President Dick Cheney's surprise visit to Pakistan on that day.
<b>Pakistani media reports claim that CIA operatives first confronted the ISI with hard information on Obaidullah's whereabouts. Next, they insisted on accompanying the ISI team dispatched to Quetta to ensure the Pakistanis would not return empty-handed and concoct excuses for their failure.</b>
<b>This is the first top catch netted by CIA operatives in Pakistan in the last four years. The last time the US was successful in arm-twisting the Pakistanis into agreeing to a joint CIA-ISI operation was in March 2003 when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested from his hideout in Rawalpindi.</b>
The official silence over Obaidullah's reported arrest is because the US wants to fly him out to Diego Garcia to be interrogated by American Intelligence officials. For all its bluster, Pakistan has meekly conceded.
The CIA is believed to be in an exultant mood: If it is able to get hold of Obaidullah, he may squeal on his comrades which could lead the US forces to the hideouts of Dadullah, Jalaluddin and the elusive Omar. More important, he could provide real-time information on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri.
If this were to happen, it would be bad news for Musharraf. In his autobiography, he says he has a "fair idea" of what happened to Zia-ul Huq. That knowledge cannot but make him feel uncomfortable at the moment
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?m...t&counter_img=1
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Pakistan arrests 12 Indian fishermen</b>Â
PTI | Karachi
Pakistan has arrested 12 Indian fishermen who had mistakenly crossed over to its territorial waters off the Karachi coast.
Maritime Security officials said that five fishing boats had also been impounded and the fishermen have been handed over to the dock police.
"Maritime Security Agency (MSA) ship Nusrat has apprehended five Indian fishing boats along with 12 crew members onboard on March 2 for fishing illegally in Pakistani waters," a statement by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency, (MSA) said today.
The ship was on routine patrol in the Eastern Maritime Region when it found these boats fishing illegally around 23 nautical miles inside Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Pakistan, the statement added.
Commander Zakir, an official of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency said the Indian fishermen had been arrested around 50 kilometres inside Pakistan's economic zone.
Indian officials here informed that nearly 380 Indian fishermen languished in Pakistan jails despite periodic releases.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Indian psecular Congress government don't even bother to catch the Paki islamoterrorists who attack India (let alone illegal Paki terrorist infiltrators), whilst Indian fisherman who accidentally got into Paki waters are jailed in TSP prisons.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> <b>Pakistan calls key envoys home for consultations on major challenges </b> (Kuwait News Agency)
ISLAMABAD, March 5 (KUNA) - Amid growing international concern about an impending spring-offensive by Taliban in war-torn Afghanistan, Pakistan has called back home key envoys for consolations on major challenges confronting the country, said a report here Monday.
The two-day consultative meeting convened by Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan would begin on Thursday and bring together seven Pakistani envoys, daily Dawn reported citing diplomatic sources.
It said all vital aspects of the country's foreign policy and national security would be reviewed during the closed-door deliberations.
<b>Dawn said Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Munir Akram, Ambassador to the US Mehmud Durrani, Ambassador to China Salman Bashir, High Commissioner to the UK Dr Maleeha Lodhi, High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik, and ambassadors from Afghanistan and Iran would be attending the meeting.</b>
The consultations had acquired special significance, taking place amid growing international concern about a spring-offensive in Afghanistan and mounting pressure on Pakistan from the US, Afghanistan, the NATO, and other key members of the international community for 'not doing enough' to curb Taliban insurgency and cross-border terrorism.
The strained relations with the US, Afghanistan, and Iran over terrorism issues would also figure in discussions, sources told Dawn.
Pakistan had been the target of scathing criticism in the American and Western policy making circles as well as the US Congress in the past few weeks for letting its tribal areas turn into safe havens for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>US should recognise Pakistanâs interests in Afghanistan</b> <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In an extended testimony before the Senate Armed Service Committee on March 1, Barnett R Rubin of the Centre on International Cooperation, New York University, said the US should try to encourage greater transparency concerning <b>Indian activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan</b>.
He suggested that as the US increased pressure on Pakistan through the military assistance package, it needed to develop a multilateral approach with China because Pakistan, when it felt that the US was not supporting it, had tended to turn to China. âIt tried to do that after the US-India nuclear deal last year, and China turned it down. So it would be very important to have a joint approach with China and the other NATO members on this as well,â he added<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
He is batting for China. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
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