Pakistan Army acknowledges presence of US base in Hasanpur near Tarbela
(NSI News Source Info) October 19, 2008: GRIM new intelligence assessments about the rapidly deteriorating situation in Pakistan were disclosed yesterday amid reports the US had deployed hundreds of military "advisers" close to the hub of the country's nuclear arsenal.
Officials involved in drafting a new, classified national intelligence estimate for policy planners in Washington said it portrayed the situation as "very bad", "very bleak" and "on the edge". It is said to summarise the embattled Islamic nation in three words: "No money, no energy, no government."
Its reported tone was matched during a secret emergency session of Pakistan's parliament in Islamabad yesterday when one of the country's most senior leaders -- giving MPs the Government's view of the situation -- conceded for the first time that a grouping of al-Qa'ida, the Taliban and local jihadi militants was seeking not just to launch terrorist attacks but to take over the country.
The gloomy assessment was provided behind closed doors by Information Minister Sherry Rehman.
Disclosure of the two assessments came as diplomats in Islamabad were warned for the first time to restrict their movements because of the threats posed by the militants and not to "go out of station" -- travel too far from their embassies.
A government official was quoted as saying the directive had been issued following last month's kidnapping of the Afghan ambassador-designate and three other foreigners.
The assessments came as the Pakistan army acknowledged for the first time the presence of US "trainers" who have been deployed at a base close to the Tarbela dam, 20km from Islamabad, the site of the main hub of the country's nuclear arsenal.
Tarbela is the site of the brigade headquarters of Pakistan's crack commando unit the Special Operations Task Force, and reports in Pakistan have claimed a 300-strong "US training advisory group" is now based at Hasanpur, a small town 6km away.
The local airstrip has been upgraded to "war readiness" and underground shelters, bunkers and tunnels had been built, reports said.
The presence of the US group -- and, in effect, the establishment of the US's first "base" in Pakistan -- follows a statement by the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, conceding Washington had deployed "trainers" in the country.
Some critics -- notably disaffected former Pakistan army officers, at least one of whom has close links to the militants -- have claimed that Pakistani land has been sold to the US to set up a fully fledged base.
General Hamid Gul, a former boss of the ISI spy agency, was quoted in leading newspaper The News yesterday as saying he "did not buy" the argument that the Americans were at Tarbela to "train" Pakistani soldiers. The newspaper said he recalled an earlier statement by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in which she conceded the US did have a plan to secure Pakistan's nuclear assets.
Pakistan army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas denied the US had been allowed to buy any land for a base at Tarbela. He said that "US trainers have been involved in the training of our commandos even in the past. They come, train our men, and go back".
The intelligence estimate being prepared for US policymakers was said to conclude that the growing al-Qa'ida- and Taliban-backed insurgency, combined with the Pakistan army's reluctance to launch an all-out crackdown against them, was plunging Pakistan deeper into turmoil and violence.
The NIE's conclusions were said to reflect the consensus of all 16 US intelligence agencies.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Pakistan Army acknowledges presence of US base in Hasanpur near Tarbela
Pakistan Army acknowledges presence of US base in Hasanpur near Tarbela
(NSI News Source Info) October 19, 2008: GRIM new intelligence assessments about the rapidly deteriorating situation in Pakistan were disclosed yesterday amid reports the US had deployed hundreds of military "advisers" close to the hub of the country's nuclear arsenal.
Officials involved in drafting a new, classified national intelligence estimate for policy planners in Washington said it portrayed the situation as "very bad", "very bleak" and "on the edge". It is said to summarise the embattled Islamic nation in three words: "No money, no energy, no government."
Its reported tone was matched during a secret emergency session of Pakistan's parliament in Islamabad yesterday when one of the country's most senior leaders -- giving MPs the Government's view of the situation -- conceded for the first time that a grouping of al-Qa'ida, the Taliban and local jihadi militants was seeking not just to launch terrorist attacks but to take over the country.
The gloomy assessment was provided behind closed doors by Information Minister Sherry Rehman.
Disclosure of the two assessments came as diplomats in Islamabad were warned for the first time to restrict their movements because of the threats posed by the militants and not to "go out of station" -- travel too far from their embassies.
A government official was quoted as saying the directive had been issued following last month's kidnapping of the Afghan ambassador-designate and three other foreigners.
The assessments came as the Pakistan army acknowledged for the first time the presence of US "trainers" who have been deployed at a base close to the Tarbela dam, 20km from Islamabad, the site of the main hub of the country's nuclear arsenal.
Tarbela is the site of the brigade headquarters of Pakistan's crack commando unit the Special Operations Task Force, and reports in Pakistan have claimed a 300-strong "US training advisory group" is now based at Hasanpur, a small town 6km away.
The local airstrip has been upgraded to "war readiness" and underground shelters, bunkers and tunnels had been built, reports said.
The presence of the US group -- and, in effect, the establishment of the US's first "base" in Pakistan -- follows a statement by the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, conceding Washington had deployed "trainers" in the country.
Some critics -- notably disaffected former Pakistan army officers, at least one of whom has close links to the militants -- have claimed that Pakistani land has been sold to the US to set up a fully fledged base.
General Hamid Gul, a former boss of the ISI spy agency, was quoted in leading newspaper The News yesterday as saying he "did not buy" the argument that the Americans were at Tarbela to "train" Pakistani soldiers. The newspaper said he recalled an earlier statement by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in which she conceded the US did have a plan to secure Pakistan's nuclear assets.
Pakistan army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas denied the US had been allowed to buy any land for a base at Tarbela. He said that "US trainers have been involved in the training of our commandos even in the past. They come, train our men, and go back".
The intelligence estimate being prepared for US policymakers was said to conclude that the growing al-Qa'ida- and Taliban-backed insurgency, combined with the Pakistan army's reluctance to launch an all-out crackdown against them, was plunging Pakistan deeper into turmoil and violence.
The NIE's conclusions were said to reflect the consensus of all 16 US intelligence agencies.
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