Pakistan banishes CIA from Shamsi airbase

THE CIA has been ordered out of a desert airbase in Pakistan from where it launched deadly Predator drone strikes against al-Qa'ida and other militant leaders under an agreement once approved in secret between the US and Islamabad.
The Shamsi base in Baluchistan has been at the forefront of the US's counterterrorism operations in the region. But the fall-out from the mission by US navy SEALs on May 2 to kill Osama bin Laden at his compound in Abbottabad appears to have finally brought to an end the secret arrangement with the CIA, which allowed the intelligence agency to hit terrorist and Taliban targets in North Waziristan on the border with Afghanistan.
Pakistani Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar said the US had been told to stop launching strikes from Shamsi. The move represents the latest blow to US-Pakistani relations, which have been seriously damaged since the killing of bin Laden.
Washington has made it clear that Pakistan must have colluded to hide the al-Qa'ida leader for five years within its borders. At the same time, Pakistan is furious the US engaged in a military strike on the Abbottabad compound without its knowledge.
Pakistani authorities have also claimed that dozens of women and children have been killed by the Predator attacks, and outrage over the strikes has sparked civilian protests.
The numbers are disputed by the US, where officials say no civilians have been killed since August last year and that about 30 died during the previous 12 months.
Mr Mukhtar said: "We have told them to leave the airbase."
The news took the US by surprise yesterday. The CIA declined to comment, but a US official said: "This is news to us. American operations against terrorists in Pakistan are continuing."
Since President Barack Obama took office in 2009, the number of Predator attacks from Shamsi has accelerated, resulting in the deaths of 20 of the 30 most wanted al-Qa'ida leaders hiding in Pakistan's tribal northwest.
The most recent success was last month, when Ilyas Kashmiri, an al-Qa'ida leader with a $US5 million bounty on his head, was killed by a CIA Predator strike. Kashmiri is believed to have played a key role in planning the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. He was also one of four or five names on a list handed to the Pakistan government last month by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the extremists the US wanted hunted down in joint operations with Pakistani.
Anticipating the closure of Shamsi, the CIA has been shifting some operations from Pakistan to Afghanistan and is understood to have a base at Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan, from where it has been launching strikes.
However, the increasing political and military tensions between Pakistan and the US could increase should the drone strikes continue, even if they are launched from Afghanistan, because such a move would breach Pakistani sovereignty.
The closure of the operations at Shamsi, a small airfield about 320km southwest of Quetta, would be a blow for the CIA, although with relations between Washington and Islamabad at such a low ebb it seemed unlikely the base would remain a permanent location for secret missions. Pakistani politics and growing anti-US sentiment in the country made it inevitable the CIA would have to find alternative arrangements for its Predators.
General David Petraeus, who is due to take over as director of the CIA on September 1, will be landed with the Pakistan issue on his first day at the agency's headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Two dead in Peshawar blast, 13 injured

PESHAWAR: Two people were killed and 13 others sustained injuries when a vehicle blew up with a loud blast at Shoba Chowk here on Thursday, Geo News reported.

The gas cylinder of the vehicle blew up and caused the blast, Senior Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bashir Ahmed Bilour confirmed.

The injured and dead were shifted to Lady Reading Hospital.

Fire erupted after the blast and was successfully extinguished by fire fighters.

Police and bomb disposal squad reached the blast site while the law enforcement agencies’ personnel have cordoned off the area.

Pakistan says security forces kill 40 militants in northwest

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces have killed at least 40 militants in a tribal area near the Afghan border over the last three days, a spokesman for a paramilitary force said on Thursday.
Pakistan's military and security forces have been on the defensive since U.S. special forces killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani town on May 2.
The Pakistani Taliban movement, a close al Qaeda ally, launched numerous attacks to avenge his death, including the siege of a naval base in Pakistan's biggest city Karachi, suicide bombings and shootings using large numbers of fighters.
The Taliban have also adopted new tactics such as using a militant husband-and-wife team in a suicide bombing.
Major Fazal-ur-Rehman, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps, said an operation against militants was launched on Monday in three villages in Mohmand region.
"They were attacking our soldiers from there but now we have cleared these villages (of militants)," he said. At least 40 militants and one soldier were killed in fighting.
There was no independent verification of the deaths. Militants often dispute official casualty tolls.
Rehman said the militants had fled to those villages to escape security crackdowns in other areas.
Mohmand is one of seven ethnic Pashtun tribal areas where al Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups operate, plotting attacks on the Pakistani state as well as U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Islamabad has been under intense pressure to prove it is a reliable partner in the U.S. war on militancy. The discovery that bin Laden had been living in Pakistan raised suspicions intelligence services may have been sheltering him.
Pakistan has denied any collusion with bin Laden.
Pakistan's cooperation is more important than ever as the United States seeks to wind down its war in Afghanistan and defeat al Qaeda and its allies.
But Pakistan's generals are furious because they were kept in the dark about the raid that killed bin Laden.
(Reporting Shams Mohmand; Writing by Kamran Haider; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

Kabul hotel attack is down to political gameplay

Not so long ago I was in the grounds of the Intercontinental hotel in Kabul. I was sipping Afghan soup with an English-speaking Afghan student. She was sitting at a picnic table with her family. It could have been New York or Amsterdam. She explained that they had planned to go to the Kabul museum, but forgot to check the opening hours, and it was closed. "Stupid huh?" she laughed. So, she was just passing time in the park, looking at the magnificent view.
Last night I was reporting from almost the same spot. Journalists from all over the world were calling me on my mobile phone, asking for the latest about the ongoing fighting in and around the hotel, which had been attacked by suicide bombers. I had to take cover from outgoing fire from the hotel, rocket-propelled grenades and so on. I couldn't help but say: "Shit, what was that?" during one of the interviews with – I think – ABC Australia (sorry for the use of that word, colleagues) when two huge explosions were heard.
The question I got asked the most was: why did the Afghan forces not manage to secure the place properly? What does it say about the current status of the training of the police?
In these "phoners" as they are called, you have no more then three minutes to explain what is going on. And you have to keep it simple.
What I would have loved to explain is that the solution to the conflict here in Afghanistan lies not in more barbed wire in the park in front of the hotel or on any other places foreigners visit.
I would have loved to explain that the conflict in Afghanistan is, in fact, a political one. While discussions are going on about fewer troops, the west refuses to talk seriously about solving the huge political crisis that creates the kind of outburst of violence we saw last night at the hotel. The government of Hamid Karzai is digging its own grave with enormous corruption and patronage. In the meantime excluded groups find each other, make deals with whoever has an interest in fighting and commit attacks.
Of course, in an unstable situation like this the security forces – despite the training they get from the Nato – will be affected by this gameplay. They are instruments of commanders and ministers who are all trying to survive, to support their own group, and have lost any connection with normal Afghans. They are manipulated, used to facilitate attacks or sidelined by their boss' private militias. While I was watching ISAF-helicopters coming to the scene, being shot at by the insurgents on the roof, I tried to explain that the planned transition is doomed to fail as long as this situation stays as it is.
Another question was "is this a Bombay-like attack" in Kabul? Has the capital entered a new stage of violence? I tried to tell them: does this matter? As long as the political crisis is not addressed and Nato and the relatively small group of diplomats who are based here do not seek the political solution, there might be an attack even bigger than the one in Bombay. And rolling barbed wire over that lovely park where students and families try to have a normal life won't make any difference.

Mehran base attackers were facilitated from within: Navy

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence on Wednesday was briefed by the top military officials who indicated that the attackers of PNS Mehran Base received help from within the base, DawnNews reported.
The Deputy Chief of Naval Staff and Air Vice Marshal, PAF briefed the Committee on the Mehran Base Attack.
The committee stressed for making fool proof security of the national assets and adopting necessary measures for preventing them from terrorist attacks in future.
The Committee was informed that four terrorists who attacked the Mehran Base Karachi were facilitated from inside the base.
Terrorists assaulted the headquarters of Pakistan’s naval air force in Karachi on May 23 in the most brazen attack in the country since the killing of Osama bin Laden, killing 13 people, injuring 16 others and blowing up two military aircrafts.
The internal committee has completed its investigation whereas the joint investigation team is still carrying out its investigation.
The NA Committee decided to take the issue again after the completion of the report of joint investigation team.
A Sub-Committee was also constituted to look into the recruitment policy, security measures, salary and service structure of Airport Security Force (ASF).

PML-N to challenge AJK voter lists

LAHORE: PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif said fair elections were not possible in the presence of President Asif Zardari, adding that the party would challenge the Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) voter lists in the high court, Geo News reported.

He was addressing a party meeting in Lahore. He praised the efforts of independent workers for PML-N's victory. Rigging was allowed by holding elections on bogus voter lists, he added.

Pakistan, PPP govt can’t co-exist any more: Imran

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday urged the judiciary to intervene and save Pakistan from what he called a complete collapse of the state institutions.

ìThe higher judiciary is the only institution left that can intervene to salvage the country from the present corrupt and reckless government,î Imran Khan said in a statement. ìIt is time that the judiciary takes firm and resolute steps to implement its verdicts including the Lahore High Court (LHC) verdict barring the holding of two offices by the president,î he said.

Imran, who launched a ìremove the government save Pakistanî movement from Multan, contended that the blatant rigging of the AJK elections by the PPP government was vindication of the PTIís stand that holding of free and fair elections under a caretaker government formed by the president, who also held office of the PPP co-chairperson, was impossible.

The PTI chief said the armed forces must support the superior judiciary under the constitution to fulfil its mandate. “If the judiciary does not intervene the present corrupt and compromised rulers, they would take the country to a point of no return. While the country sinks in chaos, the parliament is a mere bystander passing resolutions to no effect,” he said.

At a time of grave internal and external threats, he noted, the PPP and PML-N leadership continued to politicise the army. He said the governance had all but collapsed with growing signs of civil disobedience.

“Pakistan and the present government cannot co-exist anymore. The Mir Jaffars and Mir Sadiqs of the country have brought Pakistan to the verge of destruction,” Imran Khan went on to say.

The PTI chief said if the people were not allowed to bring a real change through a transparent electoral process, the only other option left would be a bloody revolution with unpredictable consequences. “How can a co-chairperson of a political party that is participating in elections be expected to set up a credible caretaker government,” he questioned.

Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad resigns as Governor Sindh

Updated at: 1715 PST,  Monday, June 27, 2011
 KARACHI: Dr. Ishrat ul Ebad Khan after his party’s decision to quit the government both in center and province has also resigned as Governor of Sindh, Geo News reported.

He has sent his resignation to President Asif Ali Zardari.

At least 12 people killed in Waziristan drone strike

At least 12 people were killed in a suspected US drone attack in South Waziristan on Monday. According to details, in a fresh drone strike on the border between North and South Waziristan, nearby small town of Shawal, US unmanned aircraft fired four missiles which hit a vehicle, killing all twelve people onboard. Locals began retrieving bodies as the death count seemed to be rising.
The identities of the killed are not immediately known, but Washington often claims the U.S. drone strikes aim to hit militant hideouts in Pakistan's mountainous tribal belt. So far this year, the U.S. drones have carried out almost 40 attacks in Pakistan's northwest region, reportedly killing over 300 people

Multan blast: Suspect taken into police custody

MULTAN: Police took into custody a man they suspected was responsible for the bomb that targeted a police building in Multan on Sunday.
10 people were injured in the incident, out of which four are police officials.
CPO Multan Amir Zulfikar denied that any policemen had died in the blast. Earlier, hospital authorities reported that three critically wounded policemen had died.
Express 24/7 correspondent Owais Jafri reported that the man who was taken into police custody was under 25 years old and sported a long beard.
Jafri reported that according to the police, the 10kg bomb was planted in the back of the police building in an area used for confiscated items. The bomb was reportedly planted on a motorcycle in the storage area.
Security arrangements in this area were poor, and policemen’s motorcycles had been stolen from there last week, said Jafri. He added that the cars present at the venue were tied with chains to secure them.
DCO Zahid Akhtar Zaman said it cannot be confirmed at present if it was suicide attack.
The civil defence officer said 8-10 kg of explosives were used in the attack.
The names of the three severely injured policemen are Khadim Hussain, Qaiser Abbad and Faisal Shahzad.
Two other people who were injured were given emergency medical treatment on the spot.

community police islamabad has started srvey of islamabad

Islamabad,community police has started survey of Islamabad.the police going to knock every door and collect the data of the house.they are collecting  information about,the persons living in the house,about job ,
and vehicle etc..in charge community police requested to cooperate in this regard.

Security arrangements for elections finalised

ISLAMABAD:  Security arrangements have been completed for the general elections of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly to be held in the capital on Sunday.

Over a thousand police officials have been deployed at 22 polling stations set up to facilitate the residents of AJK living in the federal capital.
Inspector General of Police Islamabad Bani Amin directed all the police officials to ensure security arrangements on the day of the elections to avoid any untoward situation.  He was accompanied by Chief Commissioner of Islamabad as he visited the polling stations on Saturday to see the security arrangements.
Walkthrough gates have been fixed at most sensitive polling stations and officials of special branch of police and bomb disposal squad will be deployed at almost all polling stations, the IGP said.
The IGP asked the supervisory officers, the superintendents of police and sub-divisional police officers to personally supervise the arrangements and remain on duty. Amin directed the official to ensure timely deployment of police force at the polling stations and asked for continuous coordination between all police departments and divisions.
He also directed police officials to set up special checkpoints, equipped with metal and explosives detectors, in and around the city, exit and entry points and the roads leading towards the polling stations. Officials from police training school will be deployed on these checkpoints.
Police will also comb through the surrounding areas of the polling stations in the capital early on Sunday morning.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.

Day against Drug Abuse, Illicit Trafficking today

Peshawar—Like other parts of the world, June 26 would also be observed here as international day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking to express determination for a drug free society.

The General Assembly passed resolution 42/112 on 7 December 1987, deciding to observe 26 June as International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The day is being observed to affirm that illicit drugs continue to pose a health danger to humanity and the member states of the UN confirmed unequivocal support for its Conventions that have established the world drug control system.

The General Assembly recognized that despite continued and increased efforts by the international community, the world drug problem continues to constitute a serious threat to public health, the safety and well-being of humanity, in particular young people, and the national security and sovereignty of States.

Moreover, it undermines socio-economic and political stability and sustainable development of a country.

SHO among 10 killed in D I Khan attack

D I KHAN: Ten policemen including a station house officer (SHO) were martyred in an attack on police station located in Tehsil Kolachi area of Dera Ismail Khan on Saturday, Geo News reported.

According to the report, armed men stormed the police station, taking police personnel hostage out of which four police personnel were recovered.

Police official said that resistance from the attackers inside the police station has ended.

Earlier, ten to twelve armed men wearing suicide jackets attacked the police station.

Security forces launched the operation soon after the incident and exchange of heavy fire were witnessed from the both sides.

Three bomb also exploded when the armoured personnel carrier (APC) entered the premises of the police station, resultantly the building of the police station caught fire while the APC was also destroyed.

 

Burqa-clad rebels kill 7 police in Pakistan siege

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — At least seven policemen were killed Saturday when militants in suicide vests, some of them clad in burqas, laid siege to a police station in northwest Pakistan, police said.
Up to eight militants attacked Kolachi police station near the border with South Waziristan tribal district, using guns and hand grenades to take a group of policemen hostage in an attack that also left five militants dead and seven more police wounded.
"Seven of our policemen were martyred in the attack," regional police chief Imtiaz Shah told AFP.
Shah said the siege began when attackers dressed in women's burqas took out guns at the station's main gate and killed policemen deployed there.
The militants then damaged the boundary wall with hand grenades, enabling more rebels to follow them into the building.
About 17 policemen were on duty at the time and were taken hostage by the militants once they ran out of ammunition, the police chief said.
As security forces were called to the scene and cordoned off the police station, two of the attackers detonated their suicide vests, while three others were shot dead by security forces, Shah said.
"About two to three attackers are left now, and security forces are trading fire with them as they have left the police station building," Shah said.
Earlier, district police chief Mohammad Hussain Khan told AFP that seven policemen were also wounded in the attack.
Khan said that since the police station was close to the lawless tribal belt, it was likely that the attackers had come from there.
A security official confirmed the attack and casualties.
Television footage showed thick black smoke billowing from the roof of the fortress-like police station and security forces and police firing at militants.
Nearly 4,500 people have been killed across Pakistan in attacks blamed on Taliban and other Islamist extremist networks based in the tribal belt since government troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad in 2007.

Foreign secretaries agree on further dialogue

Commit to strengthening cooperation on counter-terrorism and seeking ways to break the deadlock over Kashmir
 slamabad: Pakistan and India ended two days of foreign secretary-level talks here yesterday, agreeing to carry forward the resumed bilateral dialogue process, strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation and continue discussions in future on how to break the deadlock over the Kashmir dispute.
Indian Foreign Secretry Nirupama Rao and her Paksitani counterpart Salman Bashir led the delegations at three rounds of talks on peace and security including confidence building measures (CBMs), Jammu and Kashmir and promotion of friendly exchanges.
The issues were discussed in a "comprehensive manner," said a joint statement issued at the conclusion of the talks, adding that both sides "emphasised the importance of constructive dialogue to promote mutual understanding."
Cordial atmosphere
Analysts here note that no breakthrough was expected and none emerged from the talks, the last of a series of meetings held by senior officials of the two countries on various issues dividing them following the agreement between Indian and Pakistani prime ministers in the Bhutanese capital Thimphu last year to resume the dialogue.
The joint statement said the talks were held in a "frank and cordial atmosphere" and both sides "reiterated their intention to carry forward the dialogue process in a constructive and purposeful manner."
It said the two sides noted the ongoing implementation of various nuclear and conventional CBMs.
Building trust
"They also decided to convene separate expert level meetings on Nuclear and Conventional CBMs to discuss implementation and strengthening of existing arrangements and to consider additional measures, which are mutually acceptable, to build trust and confidence and promote peace and security."
The dates for the expert level meetings will be determined through diplomatic channels. The foreign secretaries noted that both countries recognise that terrorism poses a continuing threat to peace and security and they reiterated "the firm and undiluted commitment" of the two countries to fight and eliminate this scourge in all its forms and manifestations, the statement said.
"They agreed on the need to strengthen cooperation on counter-terrorism," it added. The statement said the foreign secretaries exchanged views on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and "agreed to continue discussions in a purposeful and forward-looking manner with the view to finding a peaceful solution by narrowing divergences and building convergences."

Pakistan, India inch towards rebuilding trust

By Muhammad Tahir
ISLAMABAD, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Top Pakistani and Indian diplomats stood together in Islamabad at the end of their two-day talks on Friday to announce that they had "very productive and constructive engagement" for the resolution of outstanding issues through peaceful, sustained and serious bilateral dialogue.
The joint statement issued by the Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao following their talks could be seen as a sign of the positive outcome of the talks as both sides used to issue a brief statement at the conclusion of the past bilateral talks. But this time the two sides not only issued a detailed joint statement but also replied to questions in a rare show of understanding.
India had suspended the composite dialogue with Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai attacks by blaming the Pakistan-based group " Lashker-e-Taiba" (LeT) as a culprit behind the attacks. The Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, who had met on the sidelines of a regional summit in Bhutan in April 2010, had agreed to revive the official talks and had assigned the foreign secretaries to explore ways to bridge the trust deficit.
India had earlier regularly rebuffed Pakistani calls to resume a substantive dialogue, saying Islamabad has not done enough to tackle militants or bring the Mumbai attack organizers to justice. Pakistan admitted that the attacks were partly planned on its soil, but it denied any official involvement and has arrested several suspects including a leader of the LeT operations chief Zaki-ur- Rahman Lakhvi.
Sources privy to the talks told Xinhua that the Pakistani and Indian foreign secretaries originally planned to hold separate press briefings after the talks, but they changed the schedule at the last minute by holding a joint press conference as both sides felt satisfied over the talk results and a need to share something with the media.

Kayani asks Wazirs to keep close eye on terrorists

Staff Report

PESHAWAR: Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani told leading Ahmedzai Wazir elders on Thursday that military had not come to Tribal Areas for operations against local and foreign terrorists alone.

“We have not come for fighting (the terrorists) alone. We have come here to help develop your areas,” Kayani told a jirga of Ahmedzai Wazir tribes in Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan. A Wazir elder who participated in the jirga said that Gen Kayani told the elders that whatever development promises the army had made they were fulfilled.

“Last year, I promised Cadet College and today we have made it operational. I promised electricity and it will come soon. We promised Wana-Angoor Adda expressway and its construction is on,” Kayani was quoted as saying during the jirga. Kayani visited South Waziristan headquarters especially for inauguration of Wana Cadet College – a reward for the Ahmedzai Wazir tribes’ unflinching support against the foreign terrorists.

A journalist, who attended the jirga and was unwilling to be named, said the body language of Kayani did not reflect that post-Abbottabad situation had brought him under any pressure. “Wazir tribes stood by the army,” the army chief told the tribal elders who pledged to keep their areas off to “unwanted elements,” a reference to terrorists.

“We will support peace and help the government achieve this goal,” the tribal elders responded to the military chief who said the Wazirs should keep close eye on terrorists as it “is against the dignity and honour” of the Wazir tribes. Kayani said he was leaving for Kotkai, once stronghold of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, to inaugurate Kotkai-Jandola road construction after this jirga, reassuring the Ahmedzai Wazir tribes that Mehsud areas were totally taken back from the Mehsud terrorists.

General Officer Commanding of South Waziristan Maj Gen Rizwan Akhter warned the Ahmedzai Wazir elders that their areas were used in plotting terrorist attacks across the country. “Whatever happens in the country one way or the other is linked to Wana. We want the local tribes to keep their areas guarded” against elements damaging peace. “The government is bound by the 2007 peace agreement. But its violations are talking place from (Wazir) side. Even if my brother provides shelter to a foreigner (terrorist) he would be my enemy,” he told Wednesday visiting media personnel from Islamabad having been flown in a day before for Kayani’s visit coverage.

Meanwhile, the Ahmedzai Wazir elders won Taliban leader Mullah Nazir’s support to the 2007 peace deal reached between them after flushing out the Uzbek terrorists from their areas in popular uprising. “We have finally been able to meet (Mullah) Nazir and convinced him that he should continue to stand by the peace deal which stipulates that no foreign terrorist would be allowed to stay in Ahmedzai Wazir areas,” tribal sources close with knowledge of the meeting between the ‘peace committee’ members and the Taliban leader told Daily Times by phone from Wana.

The sources said the meeting by the peace committee “cooled down the temper” of Mullah Nazir who was “upset” by several drone strikes and military-led search-and-cordon operations in Wazir areas since last month. “We made Mullah Nazir understand Pakistan’s limitations to stop the drone strikes and the military’s search operation by reminding him that 2007 peace deal allows no space to foreign terrorists on Wazir soil,” the sources quoted peace committee members as telling the Taliban leader.

Osama bin Laden phone calls show he had powerful people watching over him

it may not be the 'smoking gun' US investigators were looking for but mobile phone records showing calls between Osama bin Laden's courier and a group inked to Pakistan's ISI indicated he had powerful people watching over him. 

Since he was tracked to a large mansion in Abbottabad's army garrison town last month, neither Washington nor Islamabad have been able to explain how he had remained safely hidden 'in plain sight' for at least five years.

His whitewashed three story villa stood out as the largest and most secretive house in the village, where his next-door neighbour, a serving Pakistan Army major, had an uninterrupted view of the compound. It was built in defiance of local army rules which banned the third storey he lived in, but no-one came to complain.

Retired generals and security analysts alike have all said "it's impossible" he could have lived there without the knowledge of some elements of the security services, but until now no-one has offered any evidence which might explain how he did.

The records show he was in contact with commanders from Harkat ul Mujahideen (HuM), regarded as an ISI-backed terror group in Pakistan's proxy war with India in Kashmir.

It would have been a smart choice of support group. Although it had been involved in the 1999 hijacking of an Indian airliner, the 2002 suicide attack on the US consulate in Karachi, and the murder of Daniel Pearl by British terrorist Omar Saeed Sheikh, it has since kept a low profile in Pakistan.

MV Suez: Released sailors return after 10 months

KARACHI: Pakistan Navy PNS Zulfiqar carrying 22 crew members of the Merchant Vessel (MV) Suez, including four Pakistanis, reached Karachi dockyard on Thursday.
Navy officials, human rights activist Ansar Burney, Governor Sindh Ishratul Ibad Khan and the daughter of Captain Wasi were on site to greet the sailors on their arrival.
Governor Sindh and Captain Wasi thanked Pakistan Navy, Ansar Burney and the media.
Khan said that Pakistan as a nation has sent out a message of love to India and wish India would reciprocate.
Indian crew member MK Sharma appreciated that Pakistan secured the release of 22 crew members irrespective of their nationality.
“I was born and brought up in India but this is my new life and I will always be thankful to Pakistan for this,” Sharma said.
The sailors will be given a grand reception at the dockyard from where they will be taken to the Governor House. The foreigners will return to their countries after the ceremony.
Two representatives from Egypt, one from India and one from Sri Lanka have reached Pakistan to escort their citizens back home.
The six Indian sailors will fly to Lahore tonight and cross over to India when Wagah border opens tomorrow morning (Friday).
The crew members of MV Suez, including six Indians, 11 Egyptians and one Sri Lankan, were shifted to PNS Zulfiqar after the ship began sinking due to technical problems and strong winds. The MV Suez, owned by an Egyptian company, had been first boarded by Somali pirates in August last year. Its crew was finally released on June 14, after a payment of $2.1 million.

Pakistan army asks 4 officers about extremist ties

ISLAMABAD — The Pakistan army is questioning four more officers about suspected links with a banned extremist group that has called for the military to oust the country's government, the army spokesman said Wednesday.
A day earlier, the army said it detained a senior officer working at army headquarters, Brig. Ali Khan, for suspected links with the group, Hizb-ut-Tahrir. The four army majors who are being questioned have not been detained, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas.
Western officials have long suspected some Pakistani military officials of having ties to Islamist militant groups, especially al-Qaida and the Taliban. Those fears spiked after American forces discovered and killed Osama bin Laden in an army town not far from Islamabad — although the U.S. has found no evidence senior Pakistani officials knew his location.
The Pakistan military has repeatedly denied that it supports extremist groups, and investigations into suspected militant sympathizers are usually conducted in secret. The army's decision to acknowledge it is investigating officers over links to Hizb-ut-Tahrir could be an attempt to counter Western suspicions that it tolerates backers of militants within its ranks.
The family of the arrested brigadier has denied he has any ties with extremist groups and has demanded he be released. A brigadier is the equivalent of a one-star general.
Khan's lawyer, retired Col. Inam Rahim, claimed that his client was arrested for demanding that someone within the military be held accountable for the covert U.S. Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden last month in the army town of Abbottabad not far from Islamabad.
The raid humiliated the Pakistani military, which didn't know about it beforehand, and raised questions about how bin Laden could have lived in Abbottabad for five years without authorities knowing.
The army did not reveal the names of the four majors who are being questioned about suspected links to Hizb-ut-Tahrir.
Hizb-ut-Tahrir's spokesman in Pakistan could not be reached for comment.
Hizb-ut-Tahrir is an Islamist organization that wants to re-establish the caliphate, the administrative structure that once governed a large section of the Muslim world. It insists it has rejected violence, although observers say the group promotes an intolerant mindset that can ultimately lead some followers to embrace militancy.
Although it is banned in some countries, including Pakistan and parts of Central Asia, the group is active in Western countries such as the United States, where it finds protection under free speech and association laws.
Analysts say the Pakistani army is better than the country's police at rooting out extremists, but current and former military officers have participated in attacks in recent years.
Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American who tried to bomb New York City's Times Square last year, allegedly was in contact with a major in the Pakistani military.
In 2009, Pakistani army headquarters in Rawalpindi was attacked by 10 men in military uniforms reportedly led by a former soldier. Also, the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, are alleged to have been carried out with the guidance of a Pakistani spy known only as "Major Iqbal."
One constant fear is that extremists in the military could somehow infiltrate Pakistan's nuclear program to steal materials for a terrorist weapon, but that program is governed by a multilayered security system that involves scrutiny of individuals' backgrounds and beliefs.
Also Wednesday, gunmen riding motorcycles opened fire on a bus carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, killing four people and wounding seven others, said senior police officer Hamid Shakeel.
Pakistan has a long history of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Extremist Sunni groups like the Taliban have also turned their guns on the Pakistani state.
A group of Islamist militants attacked a police checkpoint on the outskirts of the northwest city of Peshawar on Wednesday morning, triggering a shootout that left 12 insurgents dead, said Peshawar police chief Liaquat Ali Khan. Police were tipped off about the attack and acted quickly, suffering no injuries on their side, he said.
____

Pakistan Arrests General Suspected of Radical Ties

By ZAHID HUSSAIN

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan's military said Tuesday it has arrested a brigadier general for his alleged radical Islamic connections as the nation's powerful armed forces face the growing threat of an Islamist backlash within their ranks.
Brig. Gen. Ali Khan, who served at army headquarters in Rawalpindi near Islamabad, was detained in the aftermath of the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in early May, an army spokesman said. He is the highest-ranking officer to be arrested for alleged connections to Islamic militants who are suspected of trying to infiltrate Pakistan's military.
An army spokesman said Brig. Gen. Khan was posted at headquarters two years ago and was believed to be associated with Hizb ut-Tahrir, an outlawed radical Islamic group. The group, which has roots in the Middle East and has also been active in Britain, clandestinely dropped pamphlets in military cantonments after the bin Laden raid calling on soldiers to rise against the military leadership. It accused Pakistan's military leaders of being complicit in the U.S. operation. It also called for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate.
"The military has zero tolerance for any such activity and strict disciplinary action will be taken against those involved," said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the chief military spokesman. It isn't clear how many more arrests were made in connection with the pamphlet probe. Brig. Gen. Khan isn't believed to have played a role in any sheltering bin Laden received in the garrison town of Abbottabad, where he was killed last month.
Brig. Gen. Khan, 59 years old, is said to have a brilliant service record and comes from a family with three generations of military service. His father was a junior commissioned officer and one of his brothers is a colonel serving in military intelligence. One of his sons and a son-in-law also are army officers.
Brig. Gen. Khan couldn't be reached to comment.
A senior intelligence official said some low-level officers and soldiers could also be involved with militant groups linked to al Qaeda.
Pakistani security agencies have arrested several naval personnel who were believed to have helped last month's raid by militants on a key naval airbase in the southern port city of Karachi. In a 16-hour siege, the militants destroyed two U.S.-made Orion maritime surveillance aircraft and killed 10 personnel.
Analysts said the pamphlets and the raid on the naval base had highlighted the level of infiltration of the armed forces by al Qaeda and its affiliates. At least two army officers were court-martialed last year for links to Hizb ut-Tahrir.
The covert U.S. raid that killed bin Laden has inflamed anti-U.S. sentiment in the military, making staff more amenable to the influence of radical Islam, analysts said, warning that the danger of a full-scale revolt is growing as Islamist groups seek to exploit low morale. The credibility of the military is at its lowest point since the defeat in the war against India in 1971.
Pakistan has been under increasing pressure from the U.S. to crack down on militant sanctuaries in the border areas with Afghanistan and cut all ties with extreme Islamist networks. Relations between Pakistan and the U.S. have nose-dived as Pakistan's army felt humiliated by the perceived violation of sovereignty of the bin Laden raid and the discovery that the world's most-wanted man had lived undetected in a high-security zone.
The covert American raid has also brought Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, the chief of army staff, under huge pressure from the officers opposed to any further cooperation with the U.S. Gen. Kayani has been touring garrisons to rally support, but has been confronted by angry officers.

Pakistani army officer detained for militant links

Authorities detained a senior officer serving at Pakistani army headquarters for suspected links with a banned militant group, the army spokesman said Tuesday.
The announcement could be an attempt by the military to counter Western suspicions that it tolerates militant sympathisers within its ranks.
Western officials have long suspected some Pakistani military officials, especially ones serving in the army's powerful intelligence agency, of maintaining ties with militant groups like the Taleban and al-Qaida.
Those suspicions have spiked in the wake of last month's US raid that killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in an army town not far from the Pakistani capital.

US needs Pakistan more than Pakistan needs US - Former American envoy

WASHINGTON, June 21 (APP): The United States needs Pakistan more than the key South Asian country needs the U.S., a former American ambassador to India acknowledged while citing Washington’s heavy reliance on Pakistani cooperation for decade-old Afghan mission.“We tend to need Pakistan more than Pakistan needs us. That’s the current dilemma, because in many ways the United States is utterly dependent on Pakistan for logistical access to Afghanistan,” Ambassador Thomas Pickering said.Pickering, who served as U.S. envoy in New Delhi in 1992-93, favoured developing close ties with India in an interview with think tank National Bureau of Asian Research, said the view that India provided entry point to the entire region was naive.

“I think that is a fairly naive view. On the one hand, India is flattered,or was in the past, by the notion that the United States sees it as the largest and most significant power in South Asia, while Pakistan finds that view utterly reprehensible.
“Pakistanis would like American aspirations and interests in the region to afford them a position of full equality. To some extent, that went the way of the past with President Clinton. Now with Afghanistan, the trappings of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship are causing some degree of heartburn in India,” added Pickering, who represented the U.S. as envoy at the UN and in several countries.Pickering saw in American dependence on Pakistan a paradoxical situation as he felt that the United States is in Afghanistan more to avoid destabilizing Pakistan than for almost any other reason.
The former diplomat’s comments follow last week’s candid recognition by outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates at a Press Conference when he said Washington needs Pakistan beyond Afghanistan. He emphasized that Pakistan is not only important in South Asia but also in the Central Asian region.
“We need each other. And each side recognizes that. Our relationship has been a complex one for decades. And the way I put it is we just have to keep working at it,” Gates later told FOX News Sunday, while stressing continued  engagement with Islamabad.
Gates spoke as some voices on Capitol Hill suggest limiting U.S. assistance for Pakistan and seek a speedy pullout from Afghanistan. President Barack Obama,who has been mulling the size of troops reduction in Afghanistan, due to begin next month, will make an announcement on Wednesday. Maintaining over 100,000 troops in Afghanistan costs U.S. around 110 billion dollars annually.
Since 2001 invasion of Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks,the U.S. has relied on vital Pakistani cooperation and ten years into the war as much as 60 per cent of the supplies for U.S. and NATO troops based in Afghanistan pass through a major Pakistani port and land routes.  NATO eyes pulling out all combat troops from Afghanistan by 2014 when Afghan forces are expected to assume responsibility for security in their country.

 

US needs Pakistan more than Pakistan needs US - Former American envoy

WASHINGTON, June 21 (APP): The United States needs Pakistan more than the key South Asian country needs the U.S., a former American ambassador to India acknowledged while citing Washington’s heavy reliance on Pakistani cooperation for decade-old Afghan mission.“We tend to need Pakistan more than Pakistan needs us. That’s the current dilemma, because in many ways the United States is utterly dependent on Pakistan for logistical access to Afghanistan,” Ambassador Thomas Pickering said.Pickering, who served as U.S. envoy in New Delhi in 1992-93, favoured developing close ties with India in an interview with think tank National Bureau of Asian Research, said the view that India provided entry point to the entire region was naive.

“I think that is a fairly naive view. On the one hand, India is flattered,or was in the past, by the notion that the United States sees it as the largest and most significant power in South Asia, while Pakistan finds that view utterly reprehensible.
“Pakistanis would like American aspirations and interests in the region to afford them a position of full equality. To some extent, that went the way of the past with President Clinton. Now with Afghanistan, the trappings of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship are causing some degree of heartburn in India,” added Pickering, who represented the U.S. as envoy at the UN and in several countries.Pickering saw in American dependence on Pakistan a paradoxical situation as he felt that the United States is in Afghanistan more to avoid destabilizing Pakistan than for almost any other reason.
The former diplomat’s comments follow last week’s candid recognition by outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates at a Press Conference when he said Washington needs Pakistan beyond Afghanistan. He emphasized that Pakistan is not only important in South Asia but also in the Central Asian region.
“We need each other. And each side recognizes that. Our relationship has been a complex one for decades. And the way I put it is we just have to keep working at it,” Gates later told FOX News Sunday, while stressing continued  engagement with Islamabad.
Gates spoke as some voices on Capitol Hill suggest limiting U.S. assistance for Pakistan and seek a speedy pullout from Afghanistan. President Barack Obama,who has been mulling the size of troops reduction in Afghanistan, due to begin next month, will make an announcement on Wednesday. Maintaining over 100,000 troops in Afghanistan costs U.S. around 110 billion dollars annually.
Since 2001 invasion of Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks,the U.S. has relied on vital Pakistani cooperation and ten years into the war as much as 60 per cent of the supplies for U.S. and NATO troops based in Afghanistan pass through a major Pakistani port and land routes.  NATO eyes pulling out all combat troops from Afghanistan by 2014 when Afghan forces are expected to assume responsibility for security in their country.

 

CIA Instigating Mutiny in Pakistan Army

M K Bhadrakumar

 

The unthinkable is happening. The United States is confronting the Pakistani military leadership of General Parvez Kayani. An extremely dangerous course to destabilise Pakistan is commencing. Can the outcome be any different than in Iran in 1979? But then, the Americans are like Bourbons; they never learn from their mistakes.

 

The NYT report today is unprecedented. The report quotes US officials not less than 7 times, which is extraordinary, including “an American military official involved with Pakistan for many years”; “a senior American official”, etc. The dispatch is cleverly drafted to convey the impression that a number of Pakistanis have been spoken to, but reading between the lines, conceivably, these could also probably have been indirect attribution by the American sources. A careful reading, in fact, suggests that the dispatch is almost entirely based on deep briefing by some top US intelligence official with great access to records relating to the most highly sensitive US interactions with the Pak army leadership and who was briefing on the basis of instructions from the highest level of the US intelligence apparatus.

 

The report no doubt underscores that the US intelligence penetration of the Pak defence forces goes very deep. It is no joke to get a Pakistani officer taking part in an exclusive briefing by Kayani at the National Defence University to share his notes with the US interlocutors - unless he is their “mole”. This is like a morality play for we Indians, too, where the US intelligence penetration is ever broadening and deepening. Quite obviously, the birds are coming to roost. Pakistani military is paying the price for the big access it provided to the US to interact with its officer corps within the framework of their so-called “strategic partnership”. The Americans are now literally holding the Pakistani army by its jugular veins. This should serve as a big warning for all militaries of developing countries like India (which is also developing intensive “mil-to-mil” ties with the US). In our country at least, it is even terribly unfashionable to speak anymore of CIA activities. The NYT story flags in no uncertain terms that although Cold War is over, history has not ended.

 

What are the objectives behind the NYT story? In sum, any whichever way we look at it, they all are highly diabolic. One, US is rubbishing army chief Parvez Kayani and ISI head Shuja Pasha who at one time were its own blue-eyed boys and whose successful careers and post-retirement extensions in service the Americans carefully choreographed fostered with a pliant civilian leadership in Islamabad, but now when the crunch time comes, the folks are not “delivering”. In American culture, as they say, there is nothing like free lunch. The Americans are livid that their hefty “investment” has turned out to be a waste in every sense. And. it was a very painstakingly arranged investment, too. In short, the Americans finally realise that they might have made a miscalculation about Kayani when they promoted his career.

 

Two, US intelligence estimation is that things can only go from bad to worse in US-Pakistan relations from now onward. All that is possible to salvage the relationship has been attempted. John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Mike Mullen - the so-called “friends of Pakistan” in the Barack Obama administration - have all come to Islamabad and turned on the charm offensive. But nothing worked. Then came CIA boss Leon Panetta with a deal that like Marlon Brando said in the movie Godfather, Americans thought the Pakistanis cannot afford to say ‘No’ to, but to their utter dismay, Kayani showed him the door.

 

The Americans realise that Kayani is fighting for his own survival - and so is Pasha - and that makes him jettison his “pro-American” mindset and harmonise quickly with the overwhelming opinion within the army, which is that the Americans pose a danger to Pakistan’s national security and it is about time that the military leadership draws a red line. Put simply, Pakistan fears that the Americans are out to grab their nuclear stockpile. Pakistani people and the military expect Kayani to disengage from the US-led Afghan war and instead pursue an independent course in terms of the country’s perceived legitimate interests.

 

Three, there is a US attempt to exploit the growing indiscipline within the Pak army and, if possible, to trigger a mutiny, which will bog down the army leadership in a serious “domestic” crisis that leaves no time for them for the foreseeable future to play any forceful role in Afghanistan. In turn, it leaves the Americans a free hand to pursue their own agenda. Time is of the essence of the matter and the US desperately wants direct access to the Taliban leadership so as to strike a deal with them without the ISI or Hamid Karzai coming in between.

 

The prime US objective is that Taliban should somehow come to a compromise with them on the single most crucial issue of permanent US military bases in Afghanistan. The negotiations over the strategic partnership agreement with Karzai’s government are at a critical point. The Taliban leadership of Mullah Omar robustly opposes the US proposal to set up American and NATO bases on their country. The Americans are willing to take the Taliban off the UN’s sanctions list and allow them to be part of mainstream Afghan political life, including in the top echelons of leadership, provided Mullah Omar and the Quetta Shura agree to play ball.

 

The US tried its damnest to get Kayani to bring the Taliban to the reconciliation path. When these attempts failed, they tried to establish direct contact with the Taliban leadership. But ISI has been constantly frustrating the US intelligence activities in this direction and reminding the US to stick to earlier pledges that Pakistan would have a key role in the negotiations with the Taliban. The CIA and Pentagon have concluded that so long as the Pakistani military leadership remains stubborn, they cannot advance their agenda in Afghanistan.

 

Now, how do you get Kayani and the ISI to back off? The US knows the style of functioning of the Pakistani military. The army chief essentially works within a collegium of the 9 corps commanders. Thus, US has concluded that it also has to tackle the collegium. The only way is to set the army’s house on fire so that the generals get distracted by the fire-dousing and the massive repair work and housecleaning that they will be called upon to undertake as top priority for months if not years to come. To rebuild a national institution like the armed forces takes years and decades.

 

Four, the US won’t mind if Kayani is forced to step aside from his position and the Pakistani military leadership breaks up in disarray, as it opens up windows of opportunities to have Kayani and Pasha replaced by more “dependable” people - Uncle Sam’s own men. There is every possibility that the US has been grooming its favourites within the Pak army corps for all contingencies. Pakistan is too important as a “key non-NATO ally”. The CIA is greatly experienced in masterminding coup d-etat, including “in-house” coup d’etat. Almost all the best and the brightest Pak army officers have passed through the US military academies at one time or another. Given the sub-continent’s middle class mindset and post-modern cultural ethos, elites in civil or military life take it for granted that US backing is a useful asset for furthering career. The officers easily succumb to US intelligence entrapment. Many such “sleepers” should be existing there within the Pak army officer corps.

 

The big question remains: has someone in Washington thought through the game plan to tame the Pakistani military? The heart of the matter is that there is virulent “anti-Americanism” within the Pak armed forces. Very often it overlaps with Islamist sympathies. Old-style left wing “anti-Americanism” is almost non-existent in the Pakistani armed forces - as in Ayaz Amir’s time. These tendencies in the military are almost completely in sync with the overwhelming public opinion in the country as well.

 

Over the past 3 decades at least, Pakistani army officers have come to be recruited almost entirely from the lower middle class - as in our country - and not from the landed aristocracy as in the earlier decades up to the 1970s. These social strata are quintessentially right wing in their ideology, nationalistic, and steeped in religiosity that often becomes indistinguishable from militant religious faith.

 

Given the overall economic crisis in Pakistan and the utterly discredited Pakistani political class (as a whole) and countless other social inequities and tensions building up in an overall climate of cascading violence and great uncertainties about the future gnawing the mind of the average Pakistani today, a lurch toward extreme right wing Islamist path is quite possible. The ingredients in Pakistan are almost nearing those prevailing in Iran in the Shah’s era.

 

The major difference so far has been that Pakistan has an armed forces “rooted in the soil” as a national institution, which the public respected to the point of revering it, which on its part, sincerely or not, also claimed to be the Praetorian Guards of the Pakistani state. Now, in life, destroying comes very easy. Unless the Americans have some very bright ideas about how to go about nation-building in Pakistan, going by their track record in neighbouring Afghanistan, their present course to discredit the military and incite its disintegration or weakening at the present crisis point, is fraught with immense dangers.

 

The instability in the region may suit the US’ geo-strategy for consolidating its (and NATO’s) military presence in the region but it will be a highly self-centred, almost cynical, perspective to take on the problem, which has dangerous, almost explosive, potential for regional security. Also, who it is that is in charge of the Pakistan policy in Washington today, we do not know. To my mind, Obama administration doesn’t have a clue since Richard Holbrooke passed away as to how to handle Pakistan. The disturbing news in recent weeks has been that all the old “Pakistan hands” in the USG have left the Obama administration. It seems there has been a steady exodus of officials who knew and understood how Pakistan works, and the depletion is almost one hundred percent. That leaves an open field for the CIA to set the policies.

 

The CIA boss Leon Panetta (who is tipped as defence secretary) is an experienced and ambitious politico who knows how to pull the wires in the Washington jungle - and, to boot it, he has an Italian name. He is unlikely to forgive and forget the humiliation he suffered in Rawalpindi last Friday. The NYT story suggests that it is not in his blood if he doesn’t settle scores with the Rawalpindi crowd. If Marlon Brando were around, he would agree.