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Musharraf: From CIA with love?
5.27.01   B. Raman, dir. Inst. for Topical Studies

These circles attribute this decision not to disturb Tenet from his post to an important behind-the-scene role, which he has reportedly been playing since last year in working for a rapprochement between the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) & Israel in West Asia and between India & Pakistan over Kashmir. Bush & his senior aides, who do not want the President to personally play an active mediatory role in West Asia or elsewhere similar to the high-profile roles played by Clinton, reportedly felt that US interests could be better served by continuing to use the deniable, stealth services of the CIA chief. It is said that Tenet was involved in the secret goings-on which preceded the subsequently-aborted cease-fire between the India govt & the Hizbul Mujahideen and in the events preceding & following the non-initiation of combat operations in Kashmir by the India govt. He operated directly as well as through Maj.Gen. (retd) Mahmud Ali Durrani, who like Gen.Musharraf, was a blue-eyed boy of the late Gen.Zia-ul-Haq and who is now a close confidante of the self-styled Chief Executive.
Maj.Gen.Durrani had in the past served as ISI station chief in Washington and was responsible for the ISI's liaison with the CIA & the FBI. Last year, Jamaat-e-Islami circles in Pakistan had alleged that he had, at the instance of the CIA, played a role, in consultation with Gen.Musharraf, in persuading the Hizbul Mujahideen to agree to a cease-fire. However, the whole exercise was sabotaged by Lt.Gen.Mohammad Aziz, the then Chief of the Gen. Staff (CGS), who is a Sudan from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and had not been consulted by Gen.Musharraf & Maj.Gen. Durrani. Gen. Musharraf had him subsequently transferred to Lahore as a Corps Commander. It is claimed by these circles in the US that the Ramzan initiative of the India govt (non-initiation of combat operations) was to have been reciprocated by the Gen. with an order to his troops for restraint along the Line of Control (LOC) and action to moderate the activities of the jehadi terrorist organisations in Jammu & Kashmir which, in turn, would have been reciprocated by India with permission to the Hurriyat leaders to visit Pakistan.

While the Gen. issued the restraint order to his troops, he allegedly went back on his word to the CIA to issue a similar restraint order to the jehadis on the ground that this was being opposed by some of his Corps Commanders. It is said to be correct that some of his Corps Commanders & retired military officers such as Lt.Gen.Hamid Gul & Lt.Gen. Javed Nasir, former chiefs of the ISI, had strongly urged that any restraint by the jehadis should be conditional on progress in a resumed political dialogue with India. Lt.Gen.Nasir reportedly even urged that if the dialogue was resumed, any restraint on the jehadi organisations should be only as a quid pro quo to a similar restraint by the India govt on the alleged anti-Muslim activities of the RSS, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad & the Shiv Sena, but his advice on this issue did not reportedly enjoy the support of other officers, serving or retired.
It is claimed that in the face of this log jam, Tenet once again stealthily stepped into the scene through his recent visit to Islamabad and worked out a formula, which could be projected by both India & Pakistan as a vindication of their respective stand hitherto. Ever since capturing power in October,1999, Gen.Musharraf has been repeatedly expressing his desire for talks at any place, at any time and at any level. Even if the forthcoming summit has really been midwifed by the CIA as claimed, this need not detract from the significance of the turn of events. But, one has to keep one's fingers crossed till the summit actually takes place. Gen.Musharraf, sarcastically called in Pakistan General Retreat, had in the past repeatedly reversed decisions which were opposed by the jehadis. If the jehadis outside & inside the army continue to oppose the summit, it is to be seen whether he would resist their pressure and stick to his decision to come to India.

The summit would at least provide an opportunity to our Prime Minister to test the military dictator's sincerity and to judge whether the reasonableness projected by him is an act of desperation to move Pakistan out of its continuing diplomatic isolation & economic difficulties or just one more crafty move to catch India on the wrong foot. In the past, India had had no qualms about negotiating with Pakistan's military dictators, but Gen.Musharraf cannot be compared to them: The past dictators were either Punjabis or Pakhtoons, who hold the majority of the posts in the military. Gen.Musharraf is a Mohajir, who is looked down upon by the Punjabi officers as a Mohajir parvenu. As Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, often points out, the past dictators seized power themselves, but it was Gen.Musharraf's subordinates who seized power in his absence and made him the ruler. He, therefore, owes his gratitude to them and cannot easily over-rule them. The past dictators enjoyed absolute power, but Gen. Musharraf is only the first among equals.
He has conceded more demands of the Islamic fundamentalists during his 19 months in office than Gen.Zia. Till now, he has been extremely amenable to pressure from the Jehadis. In recent weeks, significant sections of Pakistan's civilian bureaucracy and, particularly its economic managers, have been coming round to the view that Pakistan's continued involvement in Afghanistan & J&K was coming in the way of its economic recovery and that the harping of the military leadership on the nuclear flashpoint theme in the hope of thereby internationalising the Kashmir issue was scaring foreign investors away There has been a dramatic drop in foreign investments since the Gen. seized power.
[ "involvement in Afghanistan and J&K was coming in the way of its economic recovery" = Pakistan charged in Congressionally required human rights reports of aiding terrorists which auto-suspends foreign aid delivery; "dramatic drop in foreign investments" = cut-off of U.S. tax$ welfare checks ]

The Corps Commanders, however, do not share this perception and continue to believe in their present policy of keeping Indian security forces bleeding in J&K in the hope of thereby weakening them and keeping the jehadis fighting & dying at the hands of the Indian security forces in order to prevent their returning to Pakistan and talibanising the country.
India should guard itself against any illusion that the summit could lead to peace in J & K. What will really lead to peace is better governance and attention to the grievances of the people in the State , effective control of human rights violations by the Security Forces and a willingness, capability and readiness to take the proxy war to Pakistani territory.

Pakistani Supreme Court Gives Benazir Bhutto Major Victory 4.7.01   Barry Bearak NYTimes NEW DELHI   … Since 1999, Ms. Bhutto, the Radcliffe and Oxford-educated heir to a political dynasty, has been living in self-exile in Britain and the United Arab Emirates. The court decision raises the possibility of a return to the country where her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected prime minister in 1971 and hanged in 1979 by the military govt that had supplanted him. Pakistan is under the control of a military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who deposed Ms. Bhutto's archrival, Nawaz Sharif, in a coup in Oct. 1999. Mr. Sharif is living in exile in Saudi Arabia. Although the general promises an eventual return to civilian govt, he has repeatedly said that he considers Mr. Sharif & Ms. Bhutto crooks and that neither is welcome to return to Pakistani politics. Nevertheless, Ms. Bhutto was talking about just such a comeback today. "I have called all my colleagues over for a consultation as to setting a date," she said to Sky News, the British-based outlet. "One big hurdle to my return has been removed, and it's important for me to go back and be part of the democratic process in my country." Ms. Bhutto and her husband were convicted in April 1999 of accepting kickbacks from a Swiss company. They were sentenced to 5 years in prison & fined $8.6 million. At the time, Mr. Zardari was already in jail on other charges. In setting aside Ms. Bhutto's conviction, the Supreme Court issued a statement that did not explain the reasons for the decision. All along, Ms. Bhutto has insisted that the case against her was a political maneuver set in motion by Mr. Sharif. In February, that accusation gained credence when The Sunday Times in Britain published transcripts of reported conversations between the original trial judge and pivotal figures in the Sharif govt. Today in an interview with the BBC, Ms. Bhutto said of the judges in her case, "They can stand up to the forces of dictatorship and uphold the scales of justice." … Numerous allegations of corruption remain against Ms. Bhutto. If she does go home, she may well be taken into custody and find herself facing additional charges. Her career has been a series of such pinnacles and canyons. In the male-dominated world of politics in a Muslim country, she managed to become prime minister from 1988 to 1990 & again from 1993 to 1996. She was once considered a great hope for good govt in notoriously corrupt Pakistan. But her years in office were marked by the familiar scenes of scandals, favoritism & political vendettas.	British court releases Bhutto's bank records 4.12.01   AFP ISLAMABAD   Govt said today a British magistrates court had released 22,000 documents detailing assets & bank records of Benazir Bhutto and jailed husband Asif Ali Zardari. An official statement said the court had released the documents to Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau (NAB) through the British High Commission here. Court Orders Retrial for Bhutto 4.8.01   Pamela Constable WashPost pA23 KARACHI Pakistan   Politics are back. 18 months after the army seized power in Pakistan, banning all political activity and vowing to build a new system of sanitized grass-roots democracy under military tutelage, its carefully scripted scenario has suddenly changed. Benazir Bhutto, two-time former prime minister who has lived in exile for years to avoid being jailed after being convicted on corruption charges, received an unexpected reprieve Friday when the country's Supreme Court set aside her conviction and ordered a retrial. The decision elated her followers in the Pakistan People's Party, who danced and shared sweets outside party offices. It also raised the sudden prospect of a political comeback for Bhutto, who now lives in London but immediately began consulting with party leaders about when and whether she should risk returning to Pakistan. "This will create a huge challenge to the regime's agenda. It makes her look both morally clean and politically resurgent," said Rifaat Hussain, a political scientist in Islamabad, the capital, and a former diplomatic aide in Bhutto's govt in the early 1990s. "It has given a whole new twist to the political climate in Pakistan." At the same time, Pakistan's other major political party, the Pakistan Muslim League, held elections two weeks ago and chose Mian Azhar, a reformist politician from Lahore, as its new president, reportedly with the tacit approval of the military govt. Before the vote, the Muslim League had been mired in bickering and confusion. Its standard-bearer, former PM Nawaz Sharif, Bhutto's longtime rival, was overthrown in the military coup of Oct. 1999, imprisoned for months and then sent into exile in Saudi Arabia last December. Both parties are still weak & discredited after 2 decades of disappointing leadership by Bhutto & Sharif, who were each elected twice as prime minister and then driven from office. But after 18 months of enforced dormancy,
both parties have been given new life and relevance. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, has also been acting increasingly like a politician instead of a general. Last month, he announced he would not retire from the army as planned this fall, and in interviews and news conferences since then he has hinted that he might want to become president. Musharraf has pledged to restore civilian rule by Oct. 2002, and the military govt has begun holding elections for local, regional & national parliamentary seats. But political analysts suggest Musharraf might now want to form an earlier, interim govt in conjunction with the Muslim League. "Without wanting to sound haughty or arrogant, I have a feeling that I have a role to play in ensuring continuity & sustainability. … Therefore, I cannot retire," Musharraf said in a magazine interview last week. "The govt is examining all aspects of my becoming the president in 2002." In one way, the court's decision on Bhutto reflects well on the Musharraf govt, because it shows the judiciary to be independent of military influence. But in another way, it injects a wild card into the govt's careful script for a controlled political transition. Musharraf & his aides have been counting on the continued absence of Bhutto & Sharif, the country's two leading politicians. Sharif is out of the picture, unable to return for 10 years under his exile agreement. But Bhutto's unexpected legal reprieve has opened the door for her political homecoming. In a BBC interview Friday, Bhutto said the court ruling has "removed the biggest hurdle for my return to the country." Earlier, she said she had planned to come home after local elections were completed in August, "but today's judgment creates a whole new situation. It will now be sooner than later," she said. Nevertheless, legal & political analysts said it was far from certain whether Bhutto, who has been raising 3 children in comfortable exile while her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, serves a prison sentence in Pakistan for corruption, would risk facing a new trial and the possibility of being sent to prison herself. "Does she have the raw will to stage a comeback? I don't think so," said Ayaz Amir, a leading political columnist for Dawn newspaper. "I think the political keenness she had in the '80s has been dulled by time, children and the millions she has made." Even attorneys for Bhutto said they were not certain what she would do next. In addition to the charge on which she was convicted, allegedly accepting 6% kickback for a govt contract when she was prime minister, Bhutto & Zardari still face charges in 9 corruption cases. The Supreme Court has not yet announced its reasons for setting aside her conviction, but it is widely believed that the justices were responding to recent revelations of judicial impropriety in the case. The country was scandalized late last year when secret telephone tapes came to light in which aides to Sharif could clearly be heard pressuring a senior judge to convict Bhutto quickly. "She is now presumed innocent until proven guilty, and legally she can come back. But I believe she'll think twice," said Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, a lawyer who represented Bhutto in appealing the corruption conviction. "If our appeal had failed, it would have been curtains. Now she can keep herself alive."
Pakistani junta arrests 100s in opposition party crackdown   4.3.01   Vilani Peiris WSWS Pakistan's military regime headed by General Pervez Musharraf carried out a widespread crackdown on opposition parties to prevent a protest rally in the provincial capital of Lahore on March 23 Pakistan Day calling for the restoration of parliamentary democracy & early national elections. In the days leading up to the demonstration, police rounded up an estimated 2,000 activists from the 16-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) formed last December to oppose the junta. The alliance includes the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Among those detained were 28 political leaders, including ARD leader Nawabzada Nasurullah Khan, PML acting president Javad Hashmi and ARD secretary general Zafar Iqbal Jhagra. On the day of the rally, 6,000 police were deployed to prevent people from assembling at the venue, Mochi Gate Park, which was sealed off with barbed wire barricades. Hundreds of people were arrested trying to take part in the rally and others were detained when they marched to the Nawabzada's house. The district military administration in Lahore attempted to justify the repression by saying that the measures were taken "to protect general public and the property" and claimed that most of those detained had been released. However, the real purpose of the police crackdown, most widespread since Musharraf seized power in Oct.1999, was to shore up the regime, which is facing sharp economic difficulties as well as growing social tensions and unrest. The detentions coincided with the second phase of local elections being held in 20 of the country's districts. No political parties were permitted to stand candidates in the poll, which is being held to provide democratic window-dressing for the military regime. The first phase took place in December and the protracted process is due to be completed in August. Two days before the police crackdown, on March 19, the ruling junta met in Islamabad to discuss how to consolidate their rule. According to a report in the Times of India, the commanders discussed among other issues a comprehensive political strategy to consolidate the army's hold on power. One plan was to appoint Musharraf as the country's president with greater powers under a changed constitution. Musharraf also used the meeting to promote eight generals loyal to him. Musharraf has since hinted at his plans to retain power beyond October 2002 deadline for elections by the Supreme Court. In an interview with the Washington Times, Musharraf said "the Pakistani environment is not fully conducive to real parliamentary democracy, as it is understood in the West" and alluded to the possibility of changing the constitution to strengthen the presidency. At a press conference on March 25, he bluntly ruled out retiring as scheduled this Oct. and indicated that time was already short to prepare for national elections next year. When asked whether he planned to seek the presidency, Musharraf said it was within the "strategy and parameters of the govt … whatever needed to be done would be done surely." While the opposition is seeking to exploit the junta's growing unpopularity, its leaders have made clear that their aim is not to get rid of the dictatorship but to reach a political accommodation with it. During a recent press conference, Nawabzada warned the military that the suppression of opposition parties would only "create a gap which would be filled by undemocratic forces" and lead to further protests. He also held out the possibility of talks with the junta, saying that ARD "has not closed doors for negotiations." There are already splits in the opposition ranks. Members of the PML loyal to Sharif, who is now in exile in Saudi Arabia, supported the Lahore rally but his opponents refused to collaborate with Bhutto's PPP. Sharp divisions have also emerged within the PML over the election of a new party president. The intl response to the police roundup has been distinctly muted. The US State Dept issued a perfunctory statement saying that the arrests "hamper Pakistan's return to democracy". The British Commonwealth called on Musharraf to announce a plan for democratic rule. Far from seeking Musharraf's removal, these routine protests are simply a means to keep the pressure on the military to implement the policies demanded by the major powers, including the economic measures dictated by the IMF and World Bank. Pakistan is in desperate need of further financial assistance. At his press conference on March 25, Musharraf admitted "debt servicing has gone up to $US36 billion from $14 billion during last 11 years." The amount is now equal to 55% of the budget expenditure and equivalent to the country's total foreign exchange earnings. Most of what is left of the budget, 26% goes to the military, leaving little for health, education and other services. Musharraf made an appeal to the country's rich to each lend $200,000 to help the treasury out of its precarious position. The administration has been forced to successively revise its estimates for economic growth for the financial year to June from 5.5 to 5% and to the current estimate of 4 percent. The trade deficit for the first seven months of this financial year has increased to $1.4 billion up by 22.5% over the same period in the previous year. According to an Intl Labor Organisation report, 6% of the workforce is unemployed and another 15 million people are underemployed. The regime is proceeding with its restructuring and privatisation program, which will inevitably lead to more job losses. It plans this month to auction 868 indebted private sector companies, which have 107 billion rupees in outstanding public sector loans. At the same time, state-owned banks will close 588 branches and retrench 50 percent of their workforce. Franco Passacantando, head of a World Bank delegation to Pakistan, last week called on the junta to speed up its economic restructuring. "We appreciate the govt's structural economic reform which we believe needs faster implementation," he told a press conference. So far the IMF has released only one installment of its loans to Pakistan last year after the regime imposed a general sales tax and began the privatisation of state enterprises. In a revealing statement, the Finance Minister Saukhat Aziz admitted last month that "more and more people are slipping below the poverty line and social indicators are deteriorating … Above all, the people of Pakistan are losing confidence in the govt's ability to manage its affairs." But he emphasised govt had to proceed with restructuring to get "strong support from the intl donors." Small farmers faced with severe drought have carried out a number of demonstrations. On March 22, the Awami Teherek carried out a protest calling on the govt to provide water. Police responded by arresting around 220 people including the organisation's president Rasool Baktish Paligo. According to media reports, the protesters were shouting: "We are at war with General Musharraf." In a recent press statement, Musharraf's press secretary, Major General Rashid Qureshi, pointed to the mounting social tensions in Pakistan. "The country has witnessed strikes, lockouts and breaks in everyday life causing the loss of billions of rupees," he said. "[We] can no longer afford to put the process of stability and the execution of our policies framed in the best national interest at risk …" When Musharraf seized power in 1999, he was able to capitalise on the widespread opposition to Sharif and his economic policies. Eighteen months later the junta has proven incapable of resolving the country's economic and social crisis and is resorting to police repression to try to stamp out opposition.   more	2 boys recovered from illegal police custody 12.6.01   Anwer Kamal News Intl HYDERABAD   : A high court official raided the Misu Bhurgari police post of Hatri police station and recovered two boys illegally detained by police in a 4x4 size bathroom since 11.11.01. The official reported to the court that at the time of raid, the faces of both detainees were covered and their hands were tied and they were lying in the bathroom. When the high court official (raid commissioner) Ghulam Murtaza Shah checked the police entry register, he found no entry regarding the arrest of Ali Nawaz s/o Jan Mohammed and Qurban Ali s/o Hakim. The SHO of Hatri police station, Hamir Khan Bhangwar, told the court that the police neither arrested the youths nor they were detained at the police post. He alleged that the raid commissioner had brought them at Hatri police station and he left them at police station with instruction that they be kept to produce before Sindh High Court (SHC) on December 4. A resident of Hatri, Jan Mohammad, had filed a habeas corpus petition in the Sindh High Court (SHC) Hyderabad Circuit through Aftab Ahmed Bhutto stating that SHO Hamir Khan Bhangwar and ASI Photu Khan along with 10 police constables raided his house on the night of 26 & 27 November. He alleged that during the raid, the police searched the entire house and stole Rs 10,000 cash, gold ornaments and 82 goats and added the police picked up his three relatives including Noor Mohammad, Gul Hassan and Mubeen along with his brother, Luqman and himself, Jan Mohammad. He informed the court that on the next day, the police released him (Jan Mohammed) with instructions to arrange bribe money for the release of his relatives and brother. He said instead of arranging the money, he approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) and filed a constitutional petition under section 491 against the SHO and ASI on 28 November for arresting his relatives and brother. He said a two-member bench comprising Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany appointed Ghulam Murtaza Shah as raid commissioner on his petition to visit the Hatri police station and ascertain the illegal police detention there. The raid commissioner raided the Hatri police station on the same day (November 28) but he did not find the relatives and the brother of the petitioner there. The court official also raided the Masu Bhurgari police post of Hatri police station but they were also not present there. On an information, the court official raided a govt cattle pen and recovered 42 goats out of 82 from there. The incharge of the cattle pen disclosed that the goats were left there by an official of Hatri police station. The raid commissioner directed the SHO to appear before the court on the next day of hearing and he submitted his report before SHC Hyderabad. Petitioner Jan Mohammed alleged that before appearing in the court, SHO Hatri Hamir Khan Bhangwar again raided his house and picked up two boys, namely Ali Nawaz and Qurban Ali and locked them at an unknown place. On the next day, the petitioner again filed an appeal before the SHC Hyderabad against the arrest of both boys and prayed for their recovery along with others. The bench again appointed Ghulam Murtaza Shah as raid commissioner and directed him to ascertain the illegal detention of both boys. The raid commissioner raided the police post of Hatri on November 30 and recovered the boys, Ali Nawaz and Qurban Ali. On inquiry, the Incharge of Misu Bhurgari police post, Mohammed Urs Chandio revealed that both the detainees were kept at police post on the directives of ASI Hatri police, Photu Khan. He further stated that the detainees were used to be shifted to Hatri police lock-up at night but during day they were brought to Misu Bhurgari police post. When the raid commissioner checked the police daily entry register he found no entry regarding the arrest of both the boys. He reached the Hatri police station and checked the roznamcha but he found nothing there about the arrest of Ali Nawaz and Qurban Ali. When the raid commissioner asked the SHO why the two youths were detained at Misu Bhurgari police post, he replied that he does not know anything about their arrest and the police does not require them in any case. The raid commissioner directed the SHO to appear before the court on December 4 along with the entire record. SHO Hamir Khan Bhangwar appeared before a SHC bench and stated that the three people (relatives and brother of the petitioners) including Mubeen, Noor Mohammed and Luqman were wanted by police in a case No. (FIR) 108/2001 registered by police against them under section 457, 382 and 413 PPC while one relative, Gul Hassan had already been released from the police station. About the arrest of two boys the SHO stated that the raid commissioner, Ghulam Murtaza Shah had left the detainees at Hatri police station with instructions that they be kept at the police station and produced before the court on December 4. The SHO said he requested the raid commissioner that Ali Nawaz and Qurban Ali be allowed to go to their home but he refused and instructed that they be kept at the police station. The SHC Hyderabad Circuit bench ordered the release of both the boys, and warned SHO Hamir Khan Bhangwar not to harass the petitioner again. The bench disposed of the case with this order. Pakistan arrests 1200 in crackdown 4.27.01   AP KARACHI   About 1,200 arrested in major crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Pakistan's southern Sindh province, police & politicians said Friday. Military govt launched crackdown Thursday, sending police & paramilitary troops to homes & political party HQs throughout Sindh province, (capital is Karachi). Regime ruling Pakistan launched crackdown to prevent pro-democracy rally planned for Karachi 5.1.01 organized by Alliance for Restoration of Democracy representing 15 political parties in Pakistan. Rally is to press army to return the nation to democratic rule. Army took power 10.99, throwing out civilian govt of Nawaz Sharif on charges of massive corruption, economic incompetence and mismanagement. Army sent Sharif into exile in Saudi Arabia after he was found guilty of hijacking & terrorism and sentenced to life in jail. Military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf promised general elections by the end of 2002 in keeping with a Supreme Court order. But the alliance is demanding immediate polls. Military banned public protests & demonstrations almost 1yr ago. Several religious groups defied the ban to hold large gatherings without any interference from military regime. Several members of alliance gone into hiding say they will resurface May 1 to defy the ban & hold rally. Pakistani Police Quash Protest 3.25. 01   Pamela Constable WashPost pA22 PESHAWAR, Pakistan The first serious public confrontation between Pakistan's military govt and opposition groups has left scores of activists in jail and the eastern city of Lahore in shock, after police quashed an attempted protest rally there Friday. At the same time, the crackdown has focused domestic and intl attention on the fledgling opposition movement, giving an unintended surge of morale and unity to the factionalized parties that had been trying for months, with little success, to rally support. "The govt's overreaction has gone according to the opposition's script," said Arif Nizami, editor of the Nation newspaper in Lahore. If the rally had been allowed to proceed as planned, he said, "it would have fizzled out." Thousands of police fanned out across Lahore on Friday, as activists began moving toward the rally site, a historic archway. They arrested at least 200 protesters. Much of the city was cordoned off until night, and opposition

leaders said several thousand more activists were detained throughout Punjab province, which surrounds Lahore.

"Punjab became like a jail," said Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, 80, a veteran politician who is president of the opposition Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy. "Police paraded in the streets with guns, and public meeting places were barricaded with barbed wire. There was no rhyme or reason for it." The scenes of mass arrests and armed forces blanketing the streets of Lahore contrasted sharply with the martial pomp and precision of an official parade in Islamabad, the capital, held to commemorate Pakistan National Day on Friday. The parade featured tanks, missiles, helicopters and thousands of smartly uniformed marching troops. "The images of the 2 events … . will define two opposite portraits of Pakistan," wrote columnist Imtiaz Alam in today's News Intl newspaper. The parade, headed by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's ruler, "will define a capital under military rule," he wrote, while the repression of protesters in Lahore "will convey an image of Pakistan still struggling for the original democratic justification of its very existence."

Atizaz Ahsan, a former senator from the opposition Pakistan People's Party, said that if the rally had been allowed to go ahead, "people would have had a cathartic release and then gone home." Instead, he said, "the recurring image of human rights being violated will do a lot of damage to the regime's image abroad. It will be very counterproductive for the govt." Musharraf's govt has banned all political activity since it took power in a coup in October 1999. But it has also vowed to restore civilian rule by October of next year and to hold local, regional and parliamentary elections before then. The opposition campaign is led by newly allied figures from Pakistan's two major parties, once bitter rivals. The leaders of the two parties, former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto of the Pakistan People's Party and Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League, both live in exile. But the rally highlighted sharp differences in Sharif's party, which is scheduled to hold elections for a new leader Sunday. Sharif loyalists backed the rally, but party dissidents have refused to collaborate with Bhutto's forces.

As preparations were underway for Friday's rally, which was intended to coincide with the national holiday, military authorities warned that the event was illegal and would not be permitted. They said they would not tolerate any breach of public order or allow any group to jeopardize the govt's agenda. Wednesday, Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi, the military spokesman, reiterated the govt's commitment to holding elections. A number of opposition leaders were arrested Thursday but released. Khan, who was placed under temporary house arrest Friday, said by telephone from Lahore that the opposition would continue to organize and plan future rallies despite the crackdown. "This govt said it would not impose martial law, and it was our fundamental and constitutional right to hold a rally," he said. "But this govt is very much allergic to political activity. They don't have popular support. They think those who are demanding the restoration of democracy are their real rivals, and they want to eliminate us."

Some opposition leaders suggested that the govt, in forcefully quelling the rally, was also trying to prevent Sharif supporters from allying with Bhutto's party, possibly in hopes of persuading them to participate in the elections. "The regime probably thought the rally would upset its apple cart while trying to make deals with like-minded anti-Sharif leaders," said Ahsan, a senior People's Party figure. "It may have thought people might be dissuaded from crossing over if it came down heavily."

Pakistani retreats in battle for reform 6.5.00   Pamela Constable WPFS Islamabad   The general rode into town last October, pledging to tackle the nation's daunting array of problems with discipline, efficiency and the implied threat of force that only a military ruler can command. The public, fed up with corrupt and hapless civilian rule, cheered him on. But now, 8 months after Gen. Pervez Musharraf seized power and suspended Pakistan's constitution and parliament, his credibility as a reformer is sagging badly as he backs down from confronting one traditional interest group after another. If a powerful army cannot force the country to shape up, Pakistani and foreign observers now ask in dismay, who can? Musharraf has backtracked on a pledge to slightly loosen the nation's blasphemy law, making it more difficult to charge someone with insulting Islam, after Muslim leaders threatened mass "agitation." He has scaled back his sweeping crusade against industrial loan defaulters. And he has postponed the nation's first income tax survey after shopkeepers across the nation shut down in protest for the past week. … Proposed general 15 percent sales tax, something Pakistan's elected leaders had been unable to do for years, requires all retail businesses to fill out annual forms listing their inventory and income for tax purposes. Traders' associations in all major cities have responded with outraged opposition, arguing that the tax collection system is fraught with corruption, that Pakistan already levies heavy taxes on utilities & production, and that the state provides grossly inadequate public services, such as education and health, in return for tax revenue. A massive network that smuggles luxury imports, such as television sets, has undermined domestic production as well as revenue collection. "Musharraf is trapped," said Rifaat Hussain, a political scientist at Quaid-e-Azam University. "He must do a difficult job without damaging the army's image. He has to balance the perception of the army as being pro-people with the need to use military authority for change. The big question is, how long can this regime remain benign and still do what needs to be done?" Ebola-type disease strikes in Pakistan 9.25.00   ABCNews At least 8 people have died after a highly contagious disease which causes internal bleeding broke out in the south-western Pakistani province of Baluchistan. The victims incl 5 members of the same family and two paramedical staff attending the patients. At least 10 people have been admitted to a govt hospital since the disease broke out last week, and their condition is described as critical. The disease, which is called Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever and resembles Ebola, was first detected in Crimea in 1944 and again in Congo in 1956. Health officials say symptoms of the disease include headache, fever and vomiting, and at its worst, it led to internal bleeding, as well as vomiting and defecating blood. Medical experts say the disease is often carried by ticks and is highly contagious through contact with infected animals and humans. Residents say concern is growing as medical facilities in the area seem unable to deal with the disease and people cannot afford the "highly expensive" preventive medicine needed for the victims. A team of health officials visited the area on Wednesday and collected blood samples for laboratory tests in Islamabad and officials say the tests may be sent on to South Africa and the U.S. for further testing. World Health Organisation officials have also collected samples for testing in Vienna. U.S. to help catch corrupt Pakistani officials 9.25.00   AAMIR SHAH UPI Islamabad   Pakistan's Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar said Monday U.S. promised to help his country catch corrupt officials hiding in North American. "The U.S. govt has given its assurance that it will help in our efforts to trace those accused of corruption," he said at a news conference in Islamabad. Officials in Islamabad earlier said Pakistan's anti-corruption investigators, the National Accountability Bureau, had asked Interpol to track down former navy chief Admiral Mansurul Haq. Haq is believed to be in U.S. The officials said they also had discussed the admiral's extradition with the U.S. officials who had promised to help bring him to Pakistan. "We will soon send a formal extradition request to the U.S.," said one official. Admiral Haq stepped down in 1998 after the Pakistani media reported his involvement in a defense contract scandal. The reports claimed that he had accepted millions of dollars in kickbacks from defense contractors. Pakistan maps out road to democracy 8.15.00   Zahid Hussain London Times Karachi   Pakistan's military regime yesterday outlined a plan for gradual restoration of democracy, beginning with local elections by July next year. The elections for the local and district govt will start in December and be completed by next July. Announcing his Govt's programme for devolution of power to the district level, General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's chief executive, declared that his main objective was to introduce democracy at the grass roots. He said that by strengthening local govts the military regime wanted to empower the common people. "We want to introduce democracy first at a lower level," he said

Armed & historically dangerous ¹ Tribesmen not shy about gun culture, vow to resist U.S. 9.28.01   Marcus Stern 9.11.01 terrorist attacks in the U.S. and noted that he has American relatives. But he also said the U.S. would be making a huge mistake by going into Afghanistan. "We will resist. This is our history. It is our way," he said. "Not a single Afghan will stay here, including me. We will go and fight. I am ready to sacrifice my whole family." He said this while sitting on a rope bed, sipping sweet green tea and surrounded by a passel of sons, nephews and grandsons. The words of sacrifice were not idle. His son fought against Soviet commandos when the Soviet Union tried to occupy Afghanistan in the 1980s. The war ended for his son when he stepped on a land mine and was killed. The shy, polite boys and young men nodded solemnly as their patriarch said he was prepared to see them "martyred" fighting Americans. One was the teen-age boy of the son killed by a Soviet land mine. As he looked ahead to a possible war against the U.S., Arbab Tahir Khalil recalled the one against the Soviets. He was living in the Afghan town of Gulai near Jalalabad, not far from the Pakistani border. "The mujahedeen would come to my home, 100 of them, at 2 o'clock in the morning. We would get up and feed them happily because they were fighting for the motherland." Another of the men present for the interview yesterday was Hasan Gul Tander. He sat in a gray and brown turban and matching vest, recalling his days fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan alongside Arbab Tahir Khalil's son. He talked of a night battle when 300 mujahedeen confronted 500 Soviet soldiers in the town of Shewaki, near the Afghan capital of Kabul. When the battle was over, the mujahedeen had forced a Soviet retreat, downing one helicopter, destroying 40 tanks and killing 170 Soviets, he said. When asked how 300 mujahedeen had managed to drive off 500 Soviet soldiers armed with helicopters and tanks, Hasan Gul Tander had a simple answer: "Terrain. We knew how to use it. They didn't." He also credited the victory to "our strong belief in God. We were fighting infidels." The Pakistani govt has been trying to reduce the number of guns in both the settled and tribal areas of the North-West Frontier Province, a rugged and almost lawless region that borders Afghanistan. The region is now a cultural blend of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The effort to make guns less ubiquitous has been greatly successful in the settled areas. While many people keep guns at home, no longer do you see a line of Kalashnikov rifles resting against a restaurant wall while the owners dine. And while the manufacture of weapons has been reduced significantly in Darra in recent years through govt efforts, the smells and sounds of gun-making are still ever-present. It is not surprising. The region, the fabled gateway between Central Asia and South Asia, has had a long love affair with its swords and guns. "A man without a gun is like a woman without jewelry," said Arbab Tahir Khalil, describing the role of the gun in Pashtun society. "It makes him look handsome. "We sleep with our guns under our pillows," he added. "And before there were guns, it was swords." Pakistani forces, militant tribesmen clash 3.4.06   Bashirullah Khan AP Miran Shah, Pakistan   Pakistani helicopter gunships fired on armed pro-Taliban tribesmen after they clashed with security forces Saturday near the border with Afghanistan in the aftermath of a military strike on a suspected militant hide-out. About 25 militants were killed in the fighting in the lawless North Waziristan region, an army official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media. Pakistan army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, confirmed the clashes but declined to give any details about casualties. At least 3 paramilitary soldiers also were killed and about 12 were wounded, most in vehicle ambushes, according to other security and intelligence officials in the region. They said helicopter gunships had been used to target the tribal fighters' positions. The violence came as President GWBush visited the capital, Islamabad, about 190 miles to the northeast, and voiced solidarity with Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in fighting terrorism. Pakistan has deployed about 80,000 forces along the Afghan frontier, but has failed to assert the govt's control in the tribal regions that have resisted outside influence for centuries. Waziristan is known as a hotbed of al-Qaida and Taliban militants who draw support from the local Pashtun tribal people. Many of the rebellious tribesmen involved in Saturday's unrest were believed to be Islamic students who are sympathetic with the hard-line Taliban militia. Anger has been stirring among the tribesmen since Pakistan's army attacked a suspected al-Qaida camp earlier this week in the village of Saidgi near the Afghan border, about 10 miles from Miran Shah. Military officials said 45 people, including foreign militants, were killed in the attack by helicopter gunships and ground forces, but the tribesmen claim local people died. The fighting began Saturday in Mir Ali, a town near Miran Shah, when tribesmen opened fire on vehicles carrying paramilitary rangers, an army officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media about it. Army spokesman Sultan said the tribesmen were led by a local cleric Maulvi Abdul Khaliq, who this week called for a jihad, or holy war, against Pakistan's army. The tribesmen used rockets and other weapons to target security forces who responded against militant positions when the munitions started landing near homes and shops. "We acted swiftly to avoid civilian losses ... We are exercising maximum restraint," Sultan said. Earlier Saturday, Khaliq demanded that authorities stop killing "innocent" people and only carry out operations against militants in coordination with locals. He urged local elders and lawmakers not to visit the office of the region's top administrator to protest the Saidgi operation. The boycott was announced from loudspeakers mounted on pickup trucks and mosques in Miran Shah. Bazaars and government offices closed after the announcement, and 500 families left the town, fearing a showdown between security forces and the armed tribesmen, who are mainly students from Islamic schools, a local intelligence official said. Another official, who also declined to be named because of a lack of authorization, said many families were leaving in haste, without packing many belongings.

Pakistan says 300 extremists have been slain Musharraf touts his policy of enlisting tribes to battle foreign militants in south Waziristan border region. 4.13.07   Mubashir Zaidi, Henry Chu L.A. Times Islamabad   Tribal fighters near the border with Afghanistan have killed 300 foreign militants allegedly linked to Al Qaeda over the last few weeks, President Pervez Musharraf said Thursday. Speaking at a counterterrorism conference here in the capital, Musharraf acknowledged for the first time that Pakistan's military had been assisting the tribesmen in their battle against mostly Uzbek militants who have found a haven in the remote, lawless region of South Waziristan. "The people of South Waziristan now have risen against the foreigners," Musharraf said. "They have killed about 300 of them, and they got support from the Pakistan army. They asked for support." Under a controversial deal struck last year, Musharraf scaled back troop deployments in the mountainous area in exchange for a pledge by tribal leaders to drive out militants tied to the Al Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban movement. Hundreds of foreign radicals have taken shelter in South Waziristan in recent years, fleeing Afghanistan after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 or crackdowns in their home countries.

Critics have questioned the efficacy of such an agreement in a region known to sympathize with the Taliban, but Musharraf said the recent clashes showed that the strategy was working. Because of South Waziristan's isolated location, however, the death toll cited by the Pakistani leader could not be verified.
Fighting began early last month after a reported confrontation between an Uzbek and a tribal elder. Last week, tribesmen in Wana beat traditional war drums to rally more fighters.

Musharraf has been under increasing U.S. pressure to show results on his stated commitment to stamp out militancy and capture Al Qaeda followers hiding in Pakistan, especially in the border areas. Analysts say pro-Taliban forces receive training in camps on Pakistani territory and cross into Afghanistan to carry out attacks against American and other coalition troops.
Musharraf, an army general who seized power in a coup in 1999, said Thursday that 700 Al Qaeda members had been held since late 2001. He dismissed suggestions that the Pakistani military establishment was engaged in a double game, declaring support for the U.S. war on terrorism while tacitly allowing or even encouraging militants to operate.

"If Pakistan is bluffing, if I am bluffing and the ISI is bluffing, I think we should be out of the [anti-terrorism] coalition," he said, referring to the military's Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
In neighboring Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan troops killed at least two dozen Taliban militants in Zabol province early Thursday, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement. The joint force called in an airstrike after identifying "a large group" of Taliban fighters on a ridge, the statement said. After the militants scattered, some on motorcycles, warplanes pounded caves in the area.
The statement said 24 Taliban fighters died, but the Associated Press quoted an aide to the governor of Zabol as saying that 35 bodies were recovered. U.S. and Afghan troops also uncovered a cache of weapons in a cave, the coalition said.

In eastern Afghanistan, 2 coalition soldiers were killed and one injured when their convoys were struck by two bombs within half an hour of each other, military officials said. No further details were released.
Officials said two soldiers died Wednesday evening in a bombing in southern Afghanistan, where Canadian forces form the largest coalition military presence.   [ Canadians = U.S. Pashtuns, uniformed in gurkha green. ]

Pentagon

U.S. fights al Qaeda in Pakistan
Covert action on Pakistani-Afghan border
4.25.02   D.Priest, T.E.Ricks & K.Vick Wash.Post

Unlike that battle and others earlier in the war, U.S. Special Forces & covert soldiers from the Army's Delta Force are now operating in small groups against handfuls of al Qaeda fighters. Moreover, the al Qaeda fighters are no longer concentrating but have gone underground or are mixing with the population, forcing the Americans to devise strategies to draw them out. To carry out this operation, American forces are active not only in Paktia & Paktika provinces in Afghanistan, areas south of Kabul where U.S. officials say pockets of al Qaeda fighters remain, but also in adjacent tribal areas in Pakistan where Islamabad govt has limited authority, officials said. Pakistani govt is nervous about U.S. operations on its territory, esp. with approach of referendum Tuesday on extending by 5 years rule of President Pervez Musharraf, who seized power through a bloodless coup in 1999.

Although expansion of war into Pakistan is U.S. military recognition that al Qaeda is operating on both sides of the border, it risks increasing political turmoil in Pakistan, where Musharraf's support for the war has sparked considerable opposition from Islamic political parties. Pakistan has asked the U.S. to be as quiet as possible about U.S. activities inside the country, which also involve the presence of American warplanes, Special Operations troops & regular forces at 4 Pakistani bases. The top spokesman for Pakistan's military govt said yesterday he had no knowledge of U.S. military operations inside Pakistan. "I think there's some confusion," said Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi. "What I'd heard earlier is that the only thing that may be happening is a communication link. I don't think any Special Forces or Delta Force commandos are operating inside Pakistan."

Central Command spokesman Army Col. Rick Thomas said "Pakistan has been a staunch ally in the war against terrorism" and that, as part of that, the U.S. military has established liaison arrangements with the Pakistani military. "Beyond that, it is our policy not to discuss current or future operations," he said. A former U.S. official steeped in Pakistani affairs offered a different view. "It is my impression that there is some quiet cooperation going on, but it's going to be kept as quiet as possible," said former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan Robert B. Oakley. NYTimes reported yesterday Pakistan agreed to have U.S. advisers accompany Pakistani troops on patrols in border areas, but it has not been disclosed until now that the U.S. military has already participated in attacks in Pakistan.

Despite the concern about political turbulence inside Pakistan, U.S. & allied offensive is underway because defense officials believe it is necessary to keep al Qaeda fighters & their allies in Afghanistan's vanquished Taliban militia on the run. Relentless pursuit of al Qaeda members, they calculate, will help deter new attacks on Americans, whether in Afghanistan or in the U.S. Officials also worry that Afghanistan is entering an extremely sensitive phase. As spring arrives, the melting of snow will open up secondary mountain passes and give Pakistani supporters of the Taliban more opportunity to sneak into Afghanistan. Also, a grand council is being formed in Afghanistan to pick a new govt in June. Meanwhile, there have been a series of violent attacks in & around Kabul recently, raising worries about political instability. Deployment of British Marines to the Afghan provinces last week effectively set up a screen for the new battlefield, cutting off some of the western approaches to the border area. The deployment also familiarized the British forces with some of the difficulties of operating along barren, waterless ridges as high as 12,000 ft.

In Afghan regions, U.S. Special Forces & Delta Force deliberately expose themselves to attack to draw out pockets of al Qaeda & Taliban fighters believed to be hiding in the border area, officials said. This is a novelty for counterinsurgency tactics, which usually are more proactive. Officials said the strategy is required because the militants are operating in groups of 15 or smaller. The U.S. forces, which themselves generally work in groups of just 3 or 4 people, have been assaulted by small arms fire, a rocket-propelled grenade and, in one incident, a knife. One Afghan ally working with the U.S. forces was attacked with an ax. "We have to get them to shoot at us," said one soldier. It is frustrating, one official said, because this tactic effectively means that al Qaeda "has the offensive." Also, the al Qaeda attacks frequently are launched from within larger groups of bystanders on the streets of villages & towns such as Khost, making the decision to counterattack difficult, officials said. "The decision to shoot or not shoot is one of the toughest decisions," said one source.

The enemy fighters tend to have sophisticated communications equipt and "better survival gear than we have," said one knowledgeable source. Some of the fighters have carried U.S. equipt apparently captured during last month's battle in the Shahikot valley. al Qaeda members have impressed their American opponents with their military skills, most notably ability to observe U.S. combat techniques and adjust accordingly. Despite months of bombing and last month's attack by thousands of U.S. & allied fighters, al Qaeda groups continue to execute well coordinated operations, officials said. In one instance, enemy fighters are believed to have launched a synchronized multipronged attack within a 10-minute period.
As in the opening 2 months of the war, U.S. Special Forces continue to work with Afghan allies and to call in airstrikes. But they are much less dependent on air power at this stage. Rather, warplanes & Special Operations attack helicopters are being used to close off caves, to destroy footpaths & routes through the mountains, and to scout & confirm electronic emissions believed to be coming from al Qaeda troops.

Another significant difference is that, unlike tactically experienced commanders of the Northern Alliance, which seized much of the country from the Taliban last fall, Special Forces troops are having to depend on Afghan allies with little fighting experience and whose allegiances are not well established. "This is unlike anything I have ever seen," said one source familiar with the history of counterinsurgency operations involving Special Forces. U.S. military officials said that their goal is to kill or capture as many al Qaeda members as possible, and that they believe they are succeeding, albeit slowly, in dozens of small encounters in which one or two fighters are shot. "They have no support" among the people of eastern Afghanistan, asserted one U.S. officer.
Not all analysts share this view, believing that the Pashtun heartland in southeastern Afghanistan remains sympathetic to the Taliban & their al Qaeda allies. Analysts worry as well that the fighting between Israel & the Palestinians is spawning a new crop of recruits from the Middle East that will connect with al Qaeda.

terrorism usual cover for narcostate on the floor 10.7.94   Hon. Peter Deutch FL HOUSE Mr. Speaker, I have now come across a report in the Wash. Post of Sept. 12 from Karachi, Pakistan, which states "Pakistan's army chief & head of its intelligence agency proposed a detailed `blueprint' for selling heroin to pay for the country's covert military operations in early 1991, according to former PM Nawaz Sharif." The report provides considerable detail on the degree to which Pakistan's military leaders have been involved in their pursuit of an Islamic nuclear bomb and export of fundamentalism into India. It says, "It has been rumored for years that Pakistan's military has been involved in the drug trade. Pakistan's army, and particularly its intelligence agency is immensely powerful and is known for pursuing its own agenda. Over the years, civilian political leaders have accused the military (which has run Pakistan for more than half of its 47 years of independence) of developing the country's nuclear technology and arming insurgents in India & other countries without civilian knowledge or approval and sometimes in direct violation of civilian orders. Historically, the army's chief of staff has been the most powerful person in the country." (Mr. FINGERHUT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. FINGERHUT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring to the attention of my colleagues … It is shocking … [ Col. North, Dir. Casey & Pres. Bush taught them how. BCCI started out as the first viable microbank. Wall St was its bane. ] 9.9.00   incl population of Bangladesh (E.Pakistan) went from 75 million in March 1971 down to 68 million in Nov. 1971 (as recorded by a subsequent census). That does not include the 10 million who fled to India to escape the atrocities. Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report Pakistan dismisses Indian allegations of cross-border terrorism 7.10.99   AP Pakistan Islamabad   Pakistan 10.6.99 dismissed as baseless Indian allegations of cross-border terrorism, saying, such "baseless charges," have never been backed up by India with facts or evidence. A Foreign Office Spokesman was reacting to Indian Foreign Secretary K. Raghunath's reported statement Tuesday that resumption of dialogue with Pakistan was possible if the latter ended cross- border terrorism. "These allegations are made as a smoke-screen behind which India continues with its state sponsored terrorism," in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK), he told APP here today. When asked Ragunath had linked resumption of talks with stopping of alleged cross- border terrorism by Pakistan, he, while spurning these allegations, said, pre-conditions for resumption of dialogue are unacceptable to Pakistan. "As such this pre-condition for resumption of talks is unacceptable to Pakistan," he said. Pakistan has consistently rejected this," baseless Indian allegations of support for so called cross-border terrorism," said FO Spokesman. When asked about Indian test firing of surface -to air missile, Akash on Tuesday, he billed it another step to de-stabilize peace in the region. The test of Akash missile," is yet another de-stabilizing step by India for peace and security in the region," said the Spokesman. "Pakistan has repeatedly offered India a Strategic Restraint Regime to ensure peace and security in South Asia," said FO Spokesman. India on Tuesday successfully test fired its Akash (Sky) missile with a range of 25 km in the Eastern State of Orissa. The missile has the capability of hitting many targets at a time. ISI infiltrated into Dalits, OBCs 12.26.99   UNITED NEWS OF INDIA NEW DELHI   The Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan has infiltrated into the Dalits and other backward classes to carry out subversive activities against India, a new book on Kargil says. Pak Proxy War: A Story Of ISI, Bin Laden and Kargil by Rajeev Sharma claims the ISI has been recruiting members of Dalit & the other backward classes since the mid-90s with the help of the underworld in Mumbai, Dubai & Nepal. The underworld funded the ISI's design and promoted a nexus among Muslims, Dalits & the backward classes at its biddings, it points out. It goes on to add that the ISI also targeted members of renowned Muslim organisations who did not buy their plan. The book exposes Saudi millionaire Osama Bin Laden's role in the Kargil infiltration and brings under scrutiny the ISI plan which led to the conflict that claimed thousands of lives on both sides. The book, the third by the author, a journalist with the Newstime- Eenadu group of newspapers, focuses on the proxy war waged by the ISI against India for the past two decades that culminated in the hilly terrain of Kargil. The ills of terrorism in a civilised society forms the basis of the book which delves at length on the terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. "It is unfortunate that hitherto the western world with its somewhat limited vision has fuelled the fire and inadvertently promoted countries like Pakistan in its acts of terrorism,'' says former air chief N C Suri in his foreword to the book.

[ Pakis call them freedom fighters in a struggle of national liberation. They call themselves martyrs for God, not a nation. India & trading partner U.S. call them terrorists since they own the assets targeted. It is all cover for munitions industry & distant narcoplantations operated by CIA assets laundering proceeds at a 40% cost in NY & London exchanges ] Foreign Terrorist Organizations Designations Under statute, State Dept rpt by Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism is subject to judicial review. SecState makes designations following interagency effort. Designations expire in 2yrs unless renewed. Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM) Formerly known as Harakat al-Ansar, the HUM is Islamic militant group based in Pakistan that operates primarily in Kashmir. Linked to the Kashmiri militant group al-Faran that kidnapped five Western tourists in Kashmir in July 1995; hijacking of an Indian airliner on 12.24.00   Long-time leader Fazlur Rehman Khalil, in mid-Feb. stepped down as HUM emir, turning reins to popular Kashmiri commander & his second-in-command, Farooq Kashmiri. Khalil linked to Bin Ladin, signed Feb. 1998 fatwa calling for attacks on US & Western interests, assumed position of HUM SecGen. Continued to operate terrorist training camps in eastern Afghanistan. Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) (Army of Mohammed) Islamist group based in Pakistan that has rapidly expanded in size & capability since Maulana Masood Azhar, former ultrafundamentalist Harakat ul-Ansar (HUA) leader, announced formation in February. Group's aim is to unite Kashmir with Pakistan. It is politically aligned with the radical, pro-Taliban, political party, Jamiat-i Ulema-i Islam (JUI-F) Azhar organized large rallies & recruitment drives across Pakistan throughout 2000. In July, JEM rocket-grenade attack failed to injure Chief Minister at his office in Srinagar, India, but wounded 4 others. . Following Azhar's release from detention in India, reported 3/4 of (HUM) members defected to new org which attracted large number of urban Kashmiri youth. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LT) (Army of the Righteous)   headlines   history martyrs & Hindi fort attacks incl Indian siege guns Kashmir, Kargil, Jamma & Red Ft Armed wing of Pakistan-based religious Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI), Sunni anti-US missionary org formed 1989. One of 3 largest & best-trained groups fighting in Kashmir. Not connected to political party. LT leader is MDI chief, Prof. Hafiz Mohammed Saeed. Operates chain of religious schools in Punjab. Almost all LT cadres are foreigners, mostly Pakistanis from seminaries across the country and Afghan veterans of the Afghan wars. Based in Muridke (near Lahore) & Muzaffarabad. Trains militants in mobile training camps across Pakistan- administered Kashmir & Afghanistan. Maintains ties to religious/military groups around the world from Philippines to MidEast & Chechnya through MDI fraternal network. Pakistan - India (L-O) 5.4.00   Ayaz Gul VOA ISLAMABAD   … India is fighting a Muslim insurgency in the two-thirds of Kashmir it controls, and accuses Pakistan of supporting the insurgents. Islamabad denies the Indian charges and says it only provides moral and political support to what it calls - freedom fighters - in Kashmir. … Pakistan's chief diplomat, Inam ul-Haq: The international community has always held that terrorism cannot be equated with national liberation struggles, and the struggle of the Kashmiri people is a struggle for national liberation. And therefore, it cannot be equated with terrorism. Religious minorities tread carefully under Taliban Rule 4.1.01   Pamela Constable WashPost pA21 KABUL, Afghanistan   … the Taliban recognizes only the lunar calendar & the current year is officially 1421 here. … Ayatollah Sayad Ahmad Tawasali, a Shiite cleric who heads a small mosque and Koranic school in Kabul, said he had "no problems" with the Taliban. He pointed out that unlike in Pakistan, there is no sectarian violence between Sunni & Shiite sects in Afghanistan. "Here things are peaceful & we do not have terrorism," he said. Slain Christians are mourned 10.30.01   Khalid Talveer AP BEHAWALPUR, Pakistan   Preaching over survivors' wails, a priest called for forgiveness yesterday as thousands of Christians & some Muslims mourned 16 people slain when masked gunmen opened fire on a church service in Pakistan. More than 5,000 people packed into St. Dominic's Roman Catholic Church, where the assailants stormed into a Protestant service Sunday morning and sprayed the congregation with bullets. The victims' bodies lay outside the stone church in white coffins during the 2½ hour funeral service. Catholic bishop Andrew Francis urged Christians to adhere to the biblical principle of turning the other cheek. "We are the followers of a man who loves, who sacrificed his life for a noble cause," Francis said, referring to Jesus Christ. "We are forgiving those who killed innocent people. But their case will now be heard in the court of God Almighty." The attack in this south-central Pakistani city was the worst in memory against the country's small Christian community. 14 worshippers, their minister and a Muslim police officer guarding the church were slain. Despite the priest's entreaties for calm, a group of about 250 young men chanted for revenge. "Blood for blood," they said. "We will pay them in the same kind." It was unclear whether the violence was related to unrest over U.S.-led airstrikes on Afghanistan. Police believe the killers might have come from a radical, banned Muslim group aiming to avenge the deaths of 35 Pakistani fighters last week in Afghanistan. The young Muslims had gone to Kabul to fight for the Taliban and were killed in a bombing raid. Police said one of the dead was Father Emmanuel, the Protestant minister conducting the morning services. They did not know his last name. After the U.S.-led airstrikes on Afghanistan began, the Pakistani govt ordered a police guard assigned to every Christian church. Muhammad Saleem, the single guard at St. Dominic's, was unable to stop the assailants. Yesterday, the number of guards at churches throughout Pakistan was doubled. Though St. Dominic's is a Catholic church, a Protestant congregation in Behawalpur that lacks its own building was worshipping there, as it has for 30 years, at the time of the shootings. The worshippers were members of the Church of Pakistan, which has about 800,000 members. The church, founded in 1970, brings together Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and other Protestants. Pakistan is 97% Muslim, and its isolated Christian community represents only part of the remaining 3%. There has been religious violence between Sunni & Shiite Muslims in the area, but this was the first such attack on Christians in recent memory, authorities said. Survivors said worshippers tried to flee or hide under pews to escape an indiscriminate hail of automatic weapons fire that left holes in the walls of the stone building. "I saw some attackers escaping. I couldn't recognize them," said Aina Bakshi, who was near the church when the gunfire began. "I saw small children crying; some of them were bleeding." Most shops were closed yesterday morning, as was Behawalpur's outdoor market. The victims' bodies were returned to their home villages after the funeral. 24 killed in Pakistan suicide bombings 3.11.08   Asif Shahzad, M.Ahmad, S.Jan, Z.Khan AP Lahore, Pakistan   Massive suicide bombs ripped through a seven-story police headquarters and a business on Tuesday, killing at least 24 people and wounding more than 200 others in attacks that deepened Pakistan's security crisis. The two blasts happened about 15 minutes apart in different districts of this eastern city. The first tore the facade from the Federal Investigation Agency building as staff were beginning their working day. City police chief Malik Mohammed Iqbal said a car packed with explosives was driven into a parking lot and detonated next to the building, which houses a department of the federal police's anti-terrorism unit. Twenty-one people were killed, including 16 police, officials said. Doctors at Lahore hospitals said the wounded included 32 girls who were hit by flying debris at a school near the police building. Paramedics carried a bloodied body on a stretcher from the building, while volunteers sifted through the rubble with bare hands, apparently searching for survivors. Uzair Ahmed, a watchman guarding a bungalow, said he heard a deafening boom and something hit him in the head and face. "I rushed out in panic ... Everybody was running and crying. Smoke was all around and that was it. I only came to my senses in the hospital," Ahmed, his head bandaged, said from his hospital bed. Scores of nearby houses sustained major damage. Gates and doors were torn off, windows blown in and air conditioners dislodged and left in the street. "It was like hell let loose on us," said homeowner Fazal Muqeem, 42. Tariq Pervez, the director-general of the Federal Investigation Agency, said it had earlier received information that it could be attacked, but the reports had pointed to an attack against its headquarters in the capital, Islamabad, not in Lahore. He gave no further details. The second bombing hit an advertising agency at a house in an upscale neighborhood less than 50 yards from a residence owned by Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and co-chairman of her party. Police officials declined to speculate on whether that was the intended target. Zardari was in Islamabad at the time. Salman Batalwi, chief executive of the SB&B agency, said the children of his gardener had been killed and several workers seriously wounded. "Nobody would want to target us. Maybe it's the wrong address or whatever," Batalwi told Dawn News television. The bombings come amid a spate of violence that authorities are blaming on Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants, spreading beyond their strongholds along the Afghan border, and as the victors of last month's elections prepare to form a new govt. There have been at least seven suicide attacks in the three weeks since the 2.18.08 vote. The party of Nawaz Sharif, set to be the junior partner in the incoming coalition, blamed military operations ordered by U.S.-backed President Pervez Musharraf for destabilizing the country and called for him to resign. "He has carried out indiscriminate operations in the tribal areas that have opened up new fault lines in Pakistani society," party spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said. A spokesman for the country's largest Islamic group, Jamaat-e-Islami, blamed Musharraf's friendship with the U.S. for a campaign of attacks inside Pakistan. "It started when we started having a friendship with America. There were no suicide bombings in this country before that," Syed Munawar Hasan told Dawn News television service. "Unless there are whole domestic and foreign policy changes, I don't think this is going to stop." Musharraf condemned the "savage" bombings and said they "cannot deter" the government's resolve to fight the scourge of terrorism "with full force," according to a statement carried by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan. After the attacks, small groups of city residents enraged by the bombing gathered on Lahore's main Mall Road, chanting "Musharraf is a dog, Musharraf is a pimp." Police were deployed to keep order but no trouble was reported. Until recently, Lahore had been spared the suicide attacks that have struck all other major cities in the past year. But now it has suffered three attacks within two months. On Jan. 10, a militant walked into a crowd of police guarding a courthouse and blew himself up, killing 24. A double suicide attack in Lahore killed four people at a navy training college last week. Tuesday's violence was the first major act of terrorism since Sharif's and Bhutto's parties announced over the weekend they would form a coalition govt after routing Musharraf's allies in the Feb. 18 parliamentary elections. The parties are vowing to restore judges axed by Musharraf to secure his own re-election last year, setting them on a collision course with a key U.S. ally in its war on terror. 16 dead in Pakistan terror blast 9.20.00   Andy Soltis NYPost A bomb hidden in a crate of grapes ripped through the biggest open-air produce market in Pakistan's capital of Islamabad yesterday, killing at least 16 people, authorities said. More than 80 people were injured, several seriously, in the latest terrorist attack to hit Pakistan. The bomb was hidden in a crate of grapes imported from neighboring Afghanistan. There was no claim of responsibility. US researcher seeks to exhume 'Christ' in Kashmir 3.11.02   Australian Broadcasting Corp. An American researcher who believes she has found the final resting place of Jesus Christ is campaigning to exhume a body at a Muslim shrine in Indian-administered Kashmir for scientific tests. NY based researcher Suzanne Marie Olsson is currently in Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, studying the Muslim shrine of Rozabal. While Muslims say Rozabal houses the tomb of Yuza Asaf, a Muslim saint, many researchers believe it contains the body of Jesus Christ. To put an end to speculation, Ms Olsson has suggested exhuming the remains at Rozabal for DNA testing & carbon dating. "This will trace him to his origin … and resolve the raging controversy over the identity of the place forever," she said. Ms Olsson has already dug up a shrine at the Murree hill station in Pakistan under the supervision of archaeologists Ahmad Hassan Dani & Saida Rahman. Murree is believed to be the resting place of Jesus' mother, Mary. "The exhumed remains have been sent for the DNA testing and the report is awaited," she said. "Now Rozabal holds the key. "If the remains there are sent for testing and then tallied with the results of the Murree project, it will either establish the link between the two shrines as being of similar origin and thus authenticate the Marium-Jesus theory or prove it wrong for good." However, her project has run into trouble with the managers of the Rozabal shrine, who are strongly opposed to its "desecration". "We will never allow it," said Mohammed Amin, one of the managers. Megiddo connection: Pakistan plane ticket = proof of terrorism

5 dead in attack on Pakistan church Dozens injured in grenade assault near U.S. Embassy 3.17.02   N.O'Donnell & C.Grisanti NBC, AP & Reuters An American woman & her daughter were among 5 killed Sun. in grenade attack at Protestant church in diplomatic compound near U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. About 45 people were hurt in what Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, called a "ghastly act of terrorism." Pres. GWBush expressed outrage at the attack on the Protestant Intl Church, which is located in a heavily guarded diplomatic enclave about a half-mile from the U.S. Embassy. It was filled with worshipers at the time. "I strongly condemn them as acts of murder that cannot be tolerated by any person of conscience nor justified by any cause," he said in a statement. "We will work closely with Pakistan govt to ensure those responsible for this terrorist attack face justice." Attack occurred at 10:50 a.m. during a sermon before 60 to 70 worshipers. Dozens of police & soldiers rushed to the scene. U.S. Embassy identified dead Americans as Barbara Green & her daughter Kristen Wormsley, Sr at American School in Islamabad. Green & her husband, Milton Green, worked at the embassy, she in administration and he in the computer division. The others killed included one Afghan, one Pakistani and one person of unknown nationality, the Pakistani govt news agency said. 10 Americans were among the 45 injured, along with 12 Pakistanis, 5 Iranians, one Iraqi, one Ethiopian and one German, police said. The govt said injured also included Afghans, Swiss, Britons, Australians and Canadians. 6 or 7 were in serious condition, Dist. Judge Tariq Mehmood Khan said. It was the second attack against Christians in Pakistan since 9.11.01, which prompted Pakistan to abandon support for the Afghan Taliban and instead back the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism. U.S. Pakistan amb. Wendy Chamberlin called the attack a "cowardly act of violence against innocent people" and said it would only strengthen U.S. resolve to fight terrorism. U.S. agencies incl FBI, are working with Pakistani officials to investigate the bombing, U.S. diplomats told NBC News. "We are cooperating closely with Pakistani law enforcement officials in the investigation and are determined to see the guilty parties swiftly brought to justice," Sec.State Colin L. Powell said in a statement. Security was immediately tightened in Islamabad & other parts of Pakistan, incl port city Karachi, where slain Wall St Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped in January. "We will take whatever measures we judge appropriate to protect our people & their dependents," a State Dept official told NBC News. There were conflicting reports among witnesses about the number of attackers. Sr police official Khalid Khan Khattak told NBC News that a lone assailant rode up to the church on a bicycle from a wooded area in front of the church and hurled between 5 & 9 grenades at the congregation. Khattak told NBC the attacker was not Pakistani but did not give any details of his nationality. Police are cross- examining more eyewitnesses, Khattak said. Others said there were 2 attackers. 3 grenades exploded ,and the attacker or attackers eluded security guards at the scene, police said. "I saw 2 men come into the back of the church into the main sanctuary and threw what looked like hand grenades," said Cindy Jess, an American who did not give her hometown. Elisabeth Mundhenk, 54, of Hamburg, Germany, said she took refuge under a piano when the first explosion rocked the church but still suffered shrapnel wounds in the leg. "There was blood, blood, blood," she said while awaiting treatment at the hospital. "It was horrific. There was a horrible smell, and we could barely breathe." Although no group claimed responsibility, suspicion fell on Islamic militants angered by Musharraf's crackdown on Islamic extremism begun in January. The motive of the attack "is not clear at this point," the State Dept official told NBC News. "Extremist groups in Pakistan have repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to commit horrific crimes against their govt. ... The struggle to neutralize and destroy such groups has our full support." "It's a highly deplorable attempt to spoil our relations with foreign countries. Choosing this place is meant to embarrass the govt," Pakistani Law Minister Khalid Ranjha said. British Foreign Sec. Jack Straw called the attack a "serious outrage, particularly because it took place within what we thought was the well-protected diplomatic enclave." "This is part of a continuing effort by dissident extremist terrorists to try to destabilize President Musharraf's govt and the support which he enjoys from around the world, including the Western nations," Straw told the BBC. Sectarian violence has been increasing in Pakistan, but most attacks have targeted Pakistan's Shiite Muslim minority. Extremists from the majority Sunni Muslim community have been blamed. Despite increase in sectarian violence, Ranjha said officials believed the church was well-protected. Head of Pakistan's main Islamic party said it could not have been the work of a religious group. "We condemn this act in the strongest words and assure the Christian minority that we fully share their grief and tragedy and will support any action against people who did this," said Qazi Hussain Ahmed, a Jamaat-e-Islami leader. Such attacks in the Pakistani capital, where security is higher than elsewhere in the country, are relatively infrequent. "The attack shows that those who carried it out were committed people," Ranjha said. The last major violent incident directed at Christians occurred Oct. 28 when gunmen entered a church in the Punjab province town of Behawalpur and killed 15 worshipers and a Muslim guard. Religious tension had been expected to rise with the start this weekend of the Islamic month of Moharram, marking the beginning of the Muslim year. In January, Musharraf banned 5 Islamic extremist groups and announced measures extending control over religious schools considered a breeding ground for terrorism. More than 2,000 people were arrested, but many were released. A nondescript harbor for wanted men Alleged 9.11.01 plotter & others seized in Pakistan 'lived in a quiet fashion' in a Karachi building, neighbors say. 9.19.02   John Daniszewski L.A.Times Karachi   The building is a plain white concrete box on a commercial street in the part of the city known as the Defense Section. The only ornamental touch is the gray-tile facing on the corners. A more nondescript setting in a more undistinguished area of this densely packed metropolis is hard to imagine. It was here that Pakistani authorities tracked down one of the world's most wanted men: Yemeni Ramzi Binalshibh who allegedly sent money to the 19 9.11.01 hijackers, and who might have been a hijacker himself if not repeatedly denied a U.S. visa. One week after the raids that netted Binalshibh & 10 other Al Qaeda suspects, police remain posted outside the chained & padlocked entrance to No. C-63 15th St. Only a few passersby stop to gape at its bullet-pocked facade. Even the beige curtains of the third-floor apartment where Binalshibh was living are ripped & perforated by gunfire. On the balcony, someone has planted a Pakistani flag, small symbol of victory for what President Pervez Musharraf has hailed as one of his country's greatest achievements in its battle against terrorists. Through an open window, a plastic bag on the floor and a crushed water bottle can be seen from a neighboring building, but the flat itself has no visible furnishings. Neighbors say the Arabs who lived there apparently slept on carpets, keeping few possessions, a sign that they may have moved frequently. Zeshan, an employee at a public relations firm in an adjoining building, said no one suspected that behind the curtains lived "serious" terrorists. "We had no idea that they were foreigners & Al Qaeda," he said. Pointing to the window facing their office 15 ft away, he said that he & co-workers put up curtains out of politeness when they noticed that the apartment had become inhabited three or four months ago. They wanted to respect the privacy of the woman & two children they could occasionally glimpse over there. Only once did he see the man of the family; he appeared fair complexioned with a slight beard and was of medium height. The apartment would not have been very expensive; flats on this street go for less than $130. Neighbors say that both the real estate agent who rented the apartment and the building owner, a woman who lives in the suburbs, have been taken into custody for questioning. The tenants "lived in a quiet fashion and never created any problem," said Zeshan, who goes by one name. Nisar Shah, who lives in the building across the street, said the second-floor apartment also was occupied, by six or seven youths of foreign origin. He would see them occasionally at night playing cards on the roof, where they had installed a large satellite dish, but he said they almost never came out of the building during the day. Zeshan said last week's first anniversary of 9.11.01 started normally for him. He arrived at work about 9:15 a.m. and noticed nothing unusual on the street. About half an hour later, he heard 2 explosions and was stunned to see 100 to 150 police officers in the street firing into the neighboring building. At first, he thought that police had caught robbers in the act at an electrical store. Soon the police, incl members of Pakistan's elite paramilitary Rangers, had taken up firing positions on nearby roofs. As authorities explained later, they had developed information from a satellite phone interception that Al Qaeda suspects were living in the building. When they went to arrest the inhabitants, some suspects surrendered. The woman, barefoot, dressed in a white veil & a colorful traditional dress, ran out of the building with her children before being whisked off by police.

But others inside responded by throwing grenades that injured some of the police officers. After that, the police & Rangers launched tear-gar canisters and opened fire in a gun battle that did not end until nearly 12:30 p.m.

Among those who surrendered was Binalshibh, who was led out blindfolded & dressed in a blue T-shirt. Later in the day, police also brought out the corpses of two Al Qaeda suspects who had been killed. The bodies, wrapped in bloodied sheets, were placed into an ambulance to be taken to a morgue. 6 police officers were wounded.
A reporter who reached the roof opposite the building said that after the battle, he could see one of those killed lying face down on the floor as members of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, riffled through a pouch of documents they took from the top of an air-conditioning unit.

The whole incident has left neighbors puzzled. What were the Al Qaeda fugitives doing here? How were they traced to this spot? If they were really desperate terrorists, why were they not able to put up a more effective resistance? "Living in a commercial area like this, it is difficult to accept that they were such wanted men," said Salim Mahmood, Zeshan's employer at Media Strategists. "If I was one of them, I would not have chosen a street on which over 1,000 cars pass every day, a place where if you stick your head out you wind up in someone else's window. "Frankly speaking, it is all very curious."

Pakistan after 10.99 military coup special report 7.31.00   BBC NewsOnline Pakistan National Reconstruction Bureau "charged with formulating policy/strategy options for national reconstruction, and a return to democracy, with approval by National Security Council." 3.26.00   NRB Chairman Gen. (Retd) Syed Tanveer Hussain Naqvi has said that NRB is open to have ideas from people on the proposed framework of devolution of powers. He was addressing a workshop on "Devolution of Power to the Grassroots Level: Optimising the Govt's Framework" here 3.25.00. 2 day workshop organised by Liberal Forum Pakistan in cooperation with the Friedrich Naumann Fndtn. Poor should ask for return of colonial loot 9.26.00   A.B.S. Jafri It is absurd to expect good governance in Pakistan after forty years during which the U.S. ensured that Pakistan shall be ruled by General Ayub who would take the country into the Baghdad Pact. Then by General Ziaul Haq who would willingly ruin his own country to fight the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Washington has gone along blithely with a military ruler who had the nerve to proclaim that the term "democracy" did not exist in his book, nor the word "election". Now the same Washington insists on democracy in Pakistan. The hierarchy of relationships in Pakistan work as follows. The nucleus family is tied into other networks - the extended family, beradari, clan, and tribe. The Pakistani individual when not operating within this nexus of family, beradari, clan and tribe does not have other institutional connections. If his workplace has a union it is probably weak. He probably is not actively involved in political work since political organizations that have dominated the Pakistani scene have not developed deep structures. He has, therefore, few reference points outside the family and the clan and he drifts without focus. He drifts unless he joins two well-organized institutions: the military or a religious group. Putnam as well as the institutional economists who have begun to highlight the importance of institutions in promoting economic development would immediately see in this description of Pakistan a problem. They will notice that a typical individual in Pakistan, in defining his values, has very little to go beyond his allegiance to a family or to a clan. Unless, of course, he works in the military or is actively engaged with a religious group. Various nation-building efforts have failed in lifting the individual's sense of belonging from the narrow base of the family and beradari to institutions at a higher level. I am told of a little experiment once carried out in a class in a military school. The students were asked to list five things that came to their minds when they think about the characteristics of a typical Pakistani. Most lists had many more negative than positive attributes. A little later, they were asked to do the same thing with reference to Punjabis, Pathans, Sindhis, Mohajirs, and Balochs. This time around many more positive rather than negative characteristics were identified. NGOs   research links Pakistan NGOs INCORE IDRF   Reliefweb HRts Watch re Pakistan OMCT Women's Rights Project & Asia Watch   "Over 60 percent of women prisoners in Pakistan are detained under the Hudood Ordinance, penal laws prohibiting sex outside of marriage devastating women's rights." Double Jeopardy 1993   Forced trafficking of Bangladeshi women into Pakistan for domestic or sexual slavery has been going on for at least ten to fifteen years. more re women Family killed in Pakistan revenge 4.10.01   AP Multan, Pakistan   A revenge killing in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province Tuesday left 11 members of the same family dead, police said. 4 women & 3 children were among those killed in Vehari, 60 miles east of Multan, they said. There were few details about the killing, but police said it appeared to be in retaliation for a killing several days earlier in the same village. In rural Pakistan feuds are often settled by retaliatory killings that include women and children. Police were investigating. Pakistan Special Weapons News World Wildlife Fund United Nations   research links UNMOGIP peacekeepers U.S. Finding Tangled Alliances on Rights 4.8.01   Barbara Crossette NYTimes … The American position is made even more difficult because of the composition of the current Human Rights Commission. Among the members are Syria, Libya & Vietnam, backed by a strong lobby from the nonaligned movement, which has been resurgent in the UN system. Leaders of this group, including India & Pakistan, do not always allow scrutiny of their rights practices by commission-appointed monitors. … Russia Seeks Sanctions Against Pakistan for Aid to Taliban 4.9.01   Barbara Crosette NYTimes Russia is expected to lead a drive this month to persuade the Security Council to impose sanctions on Pakistan, strongest supporter of Afghanistan's militant Islamic govt, the Taliban, diplomats & UN officials say. The Russian campaign, coming after 2 rounds of UN sanctions against the Taliban, has the potential to place the Bush administration in a quandary. Pakistan, which Washington considers an ally, has serious economic & political problems and faces a rising tide of more than a million Afghan refugees. But Washington has also led the drive to isolate the Taliban for harboring Osama bin Laden, who is wanted for masterminding the bombings of two American Embassies in Africa in 1998.

Govt 1   2   3   4 4 regions •   great highlands in N w/ world's highest peaks, Himalayas •   Balochistan Plateau in W & SW sectors; broken highlands of many 1000ft ridges crossing NE to SW •   Indus Plain, most prosperous agricultural region 300 thousand sq.mi in E and from N to Arabian Sea in south •   desert areas in SE Admin. divisions provinces Punjab Sindh Balochistan NW Frontier NWFP Federal Capital Territory (Islamabad) 2 other regions Northern Areas Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) 130 million population (1998) concentrated in fertile Indus River valley & along river's major tributaries in N & NE. W & SW sparsely inhabited. Est. annual 3.0% growth rate (Human Dev. in S.Asia 1997) is highest of any developing country. Ranks 134th of 173 nations on UN Development Pgm index (Human Development Report, 1998). At least 35 million people live in abject poverty. Public access to health, education, clean water, sanitation and family planning remains low. Almost half of the population is less than 15 years old. Developing mixed economy based largely on agriculture, light industries & services. GNP increasing more rapidly than population but GNP per capita, est. US$430, is among lowest for developing countries. Growing industrial sector, manuf. generates half of country's exports. Gas, oil & mineral deposits contribute to economic growth which is uneven; widespread poverty persists, particularly in rural areas, where two thirds of the population lives. Up to 50% of workforce is agriculture. Development is failing to keep pace with the population growth. Common practice in urban areas for scavengers to burn solid waste in open air. Most hospitals burn waste close to facility. Major industrial sectors in Pakistan are textile, metal, dying chemicals, pesticides, cement, petrochemical, energy & power, leather, sugar processing, construction, steel, engineering, pulp, paper, tanning, food processing, beverages, electronic consumer goods and mining. Toxic and hazardous wastes in Pakistan are mainly the by-product of the chemical and petrochemical dying industries. Soil loss, waterlogging and salinity results in lower agricultural productivity. Intensification of agricultural production is reducing field margins & diversity in crops. Pollutants strain ecosystems and contaminate the food chain. Sewage & industrial waste discharge seriously affect aquatic ecosystems. Noise pollution is higher than the permissible limits of 85 dB in most big cities. Air in towns & cities getting worse from industrialisation & very rapid increase in number of vehicles. Av. motor vehicle emits 20 times as much hydrocarbons, 25 times as much carbon monoxide and 3.6 times as much nitrous oxide g/km compared to av. U.S. vehicle. Motor fuel adulteration, 2stroke rickshaw engines and old vehicles. Addition of lead to petrol to be completely phased out by 2005. Unleaded gasoline introduced throughout the country by 7.1.00. 40% Pakistan deaths are related to water borne diseases. WHO reports 25-30% hospital admissions connected to water borne bacterial & parasitic conditions which cause 60% of infant deaths. Drinking & bathing in polluted water are most common routes for diseases' spread. Symptoms like abdominal pain, hair loss, numbness in hands, loss of appetite, eye infections, irritation of skin, and fever. In many urban areas, proper sewerage systems are still not available. Domestic wastewater collects on the streets and sewage water is thrown into canals or rivers without any prior treatment. Rivers change into stinking pools of stagnant water during low water discharge. Drinking water lines and sewage lines in most areas are laid side by side, resulting in frequent contamination of potable water when the fresh water pipes erode. Pollutants penentrates subsoil water. Cotton cultivation requires large inputs of irrigation water and pesticides. 10,000 farmers are poisoned annually by indiscriminate use of pesticide in cotton growing rural areas. More than 70- 80% of pesticides used in this country are being used on cotton crops. Strong media campaign by 200 local, national & multinational companies with 6000 dealer distribution network has convinced farmers it is essential to use pesticides. Use of pesticides is increasing at the rate of 25% a year. Due to a complex cropping system & small land holdings, ground spray is preferred; aerial spraying is restricted to epidemics. Estimated 1,935 stockpiles of obsolete pesticides in the 41 agriculturally active districts of Pakistan are threaten thousands. Natural habitat loss & fragmentation accelerated in the last few decades. Most apparent in remaining upland forests, scrub forests & mangrove forests; arid and semi-arid rangelands; inland wetlands, Indus Delta and coastal waters. One of highest rates of deforestation in the world. Network of 225 Protected Areas comprising 14 National Parks, 99 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 96 Game Reserves, and 16 unclassified (private, proposed or recommended) are 10.4% of total land area (Biodiversity Action Plan for Pakistan, 1998). Based on global significance, 9 wetlands designated as Ramsar sites. Size, distribution and management of these areas do not meet the needs of the ecosystems they are meant to safeguard. Main causes of habitat loss are deforestation for fuelwood & timber, grazing & fodder collection for rapidly increasing livestock population, soil erosion, agricultural activities & overstocking which reduce vegetative cover, water diversion & drainage for irrigation and over-dependence on unsustainable use of natural resources. 4 four mammal species (tiger, swamp deer, lion and Indian one-horned rhino) are known to have disappeared within the last 400 years. In addition, the Asiatic cheetah & Kashmir stag have probably become extinct in the last few decades. Main activities causing species or population loss include hunting & trapping for sport, meat, trade, and eradication of livestock predators, over- fishing in both wetland, freshwater & marine habitats for commercial purposes, and over- collection of plants for medicinal & cosmetic uses apart from their fuelwood and fodder uses.

Moreover, there are signs that Pakistan, which initially backed the Taliban in hopes of creating a pliable govt next door, is now having doubts about its support, as the Taliban have become heroes to radical Islamic forces in Pakistan. The Bush administration, now engaged in a general review of sanctions as a foreign policy tool, has given no indication of how it will deal with Afghanistan. The first review of sanctions imposed on the Taliban in January at American & Russian insistence will come before the Council on Thursday. The Russians & French have compiled dossiers accusing Pakistan of direct support for the Taliban in its fight against an opposition army based in northeastern Afghanistan, diplomats say. But some Western diplomats & UN officials say that they have yet to see concrete proof of those allegations.

There are also questions about whether aid to the Taliban is coming from the administration of Pakistan's leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, or from freewheeling elements inside Pakistani intelligence agencies in league with Islamic parties. Pakistan continues to deny that it is giving material support to the Taliban. At a news conference, Shamshad Ahmad, Pakistan's UN envoy, dismissed the allegations of support. He said his country is "a law-abiding member of the UN, in full compliance with Security Council resolutions." He referred to resolutions that ban military aid to the Taliban but not to its armed opposition. "There is no ground for any sanctions on Pakistan," he said. UN officials, some of whom opposed the sanctions, say Russia, Iran and lately India have been equally to blame for fueling the war in Afghanistan, by supporting the armed opposition against the Taliban. Barnett Rubin, Ctr on Intl Cooperation director of studies at NYU, said in an interview that it was useful to bring the discussion of outside military assistance to Afghanistan into the open.
But he was critical of the sanctions policy as it is currently constructed. "What's totally missing to complement the sanctions is incentives to give Afghan people a concrete idea of what reconstruction might be available if they change their behavior," he said. Mr. Rubin, an expert on Afghanistan & Central Asia, added that a policy of sanctions without incentives "is not the way to get people to reorient their behavior more toward peace-building and to strengthen moderates who are either in the Taliban or on the Taliban side at the moment." He also questioned the support for Ahmad Shah Masood, a cosmopolitan former general in a previous Afghan govt who is leading the armed opposition and has long attracted Western support as the face of moderate Islam in Afghanistan.
In anticipation of Security Council review of the sanctions this week, Mr. Masood went to garner support in Europe, where he received praise from French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine, aspokesman for the French Foreign Ministry said. "Among the leaders who exist in Afghanistan," Mr. Rubin said, "Masood is the best, but the fact is that he represents very little in Afghanistan," noting that Mr. Masood is a member of the Tajik minority. "He has a very narrow political base."

Pakistan backs Taleban to 'avoid antagonism'
8.3.00   London Times

Can Pakistan spawn its own Talebanesque regime   satire
2001   Minos Ragistan