President Barack Obama Team On Wrong Foot with Pakistan?

President Barack Obama Team On Wrong Foot with Pakistan?

*Analysis: The Obama Team is working in the right direction with Pakistan and have to put their foot down and require for accountability as the current government of Pakistan under Zardari were following the path of their predecessor Pervez Musharraf. Last eight years under Pervez Musharraf administration, Taliban and al Qaeda gathered memento in strength and he was milking U.S. for $10 billion in economic and military aid plus got large sum of foreign debts erased. Pakistan has to get it's agenda right, otherwise there is no solution to Afghan conflict.

One thing good, if Iran can be involved in Afghan theatre that would replace Pakistan and solve to a large extent Afghan conflict. Lastly, Afghan-Pak border must be sealed, unable Taliban to reinforce militants in Afghanistan and poppy cultivation eradicated, would stop Taliban revenue. (DTN Defense-Technology News)

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON — April 17, 2009: US President Barack Obama has made rooting out extremism from Pakistan a key priority, but experts from both countries warn that his team is off to a shaky start. Japan on Friday holds a major donors meeting for Pakistan, but Islamabad has already bristled at proposed conditions in the US aid package. US Army armored humvees patrol in Paktika province, situated along the Afghan-Pakistan border. US envoy Richard Holbrooke, who will take part in the Tokyo talks, and Admiral Mike Mullen, the top US military commander, last week visited Islamabad, where they faced a storm of protest over US drone attacks that have killed both wanted militants and civilians. Pakistani analyst Shuja Nawaz, director of the South Asia Center at the Washington-based Atlantic Council, was not charitable about the Obama team's debut in Islamabad. "This was probably the worst ever visit by an American team to South Asia in history," Nawaz said. "It was a complete disaster. "If this is how you are going to win friends, I just wonder how you are going to create enemies," Nawaz told a seminar at The Jamestown Foundation, another think-tank. Nawaz faulted Holbrooke and Mullen for publicly demanding that Pakistan's civilian President Asif Ali Zardari rein in elements of the intelligence service believed to support extremists. Obama has thrown his support behind a bill before Congress to pump 1.5 billion dollars annually into Pakistan for at least five years to build schools and infrastructure that can nurture democracy. With the United States in a painful recession, the Obama administration has made clear to US taxpayers that it would set benchmarks on Pakistan's progress in fighting extremism. But Nawaz said such conditions made the aid politically untenable for Zardari, widely seen to be in a weak position faced with Pakistan's powerful military and intelligence service. Ahmed Rashid, a leading Pakistani journalist and Taliban expert, said that the United States would do well to set more general parameters for aid. He said he was "absolutely shocked" by the conditions in drafts of the US congressional aid bill to his country. "No political government can accept a bill like this in Pakistan, even if it is on its knees -- which it is, economically speaking," Rashid said. Obama, announcing his new strategy last month, said that the United States should take a broader regional approach that encompasses both Pakistan and Afghanistan in the fight to eliminate Islamic extremism. Leading members of the Al-Qaeda movement -- including its leader Osama bin Laden -- are widely believed to be holed up in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas near the Afghanistan border. Pakistan was the premier supporter of the extremist Taliban regime in Afghanistan, but military ruler Pervez Musharraf switched sides overnight and became a key US ally after the September 11, 2011 attacks. Marin Strmecki of the Smith Richardson Foundation warned that the United States ran the risk of telling Pakistan that "having security problems in the region is a good way to get paid to alleviate the problem." The United States should instead signal that "we want to build a positive long-term relationship with Pakistan for its own sake" and only quietly lay out US goals for Islamabad to fight militants, Strmecki said. Obama has also backed a bill to give duty-free access to US markets for some goods made in the troubled tribal regions of Pakistan. Stephen P. Cohen, an expert on South Asia at the Brookings Institution, said that the United States has made excessive demands of a weak Pakistani leadership -- from fighting extremists to safeguarding its nuclear program to treating women better and reforming its economy. "We've asked the Pakistanis to do too much -- there are limits to what a government can do that can barely stay in power," Cohen said. "If we think that they can do everything, they will wind up doing nothing well."

Pakistani Taliban In Swat Say Won't Give Up Guns

Pakistani Taliban In Swat Say Won't Give Up Guns

(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD - April 16, 2009: Pakistani Taliban will not lay down their arms in a northwestern valley as part of a deal that included the introduction of sharia law but will take their "struggle" to new areas, a militant spokesman said on Wednesday.

President Asif Ali Zardari, under pressure from conservatives, signed a regulation on Monday imposing Islamic sharia law in the Swat valley to end Taliban violence.

Pakistan's hard-line cleric Sufi Muhammad leaves Mingora with his supporters in Pakistani troubled valley of Swat on Thursday, April 9, 2009. A hard-line cleric who negotiated a peace accord that halted fighting between the Taliban and security forces in part of northwest Pakistan said Thursday he is leaving the region to protest the government's failure to impose Islamic law.

The strategy of appeasement has alarmed U.S. officials, while critics say the government has demonstrated a lack of capacity and will to fight the Taliban and al Qaeda.

Details of the deal have not been made public but government officials backing the pact have said part of it was that militants would give up their arms.

But a Pakistani Taliban spokesman in the scenic valley, a one-time tourist destination 125 km (80 miles) northwest of Islamabad, said they would be keeping their guns.

"Sharia doesn't permit us to lay down arms," Muslim Khan said by telephone. "If a government, either in Pakistan or Afghanistan, continues anti-Muslim policies, it's out of the question that Taliban lay down their arms."

Surging violence across Pakistan and the spread of Taliban influence through the northwest are reviving concerns about the stability of nuclear-armed Pakistan, an important U.S. ally vital to efforts to stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan.

The government has struggled to come up with an effective strategy, alternating in different areas between military offensives and peace deals.But the militants have been gaining strength and violence in both Pakistan and Afghanistan has been on the rise.

MILITANTS TO AFGHANISTAN?

Some Taliban fighters last week moved out of Swat and into Buner district, only 100 km (60 miles) from Islamabad, and Khan said his men would push into new areas.

"When we achieve our goal at one place, there are other areas where we need to struggle for it," he said.

Militants infiltrated into Swat in 2007 from strongholds on the Afghan border to the west to support a radical cleric.

The White House voiced disappointment over the introduction of sharia law in Swat saying the decision went against U.S. goals of promoting democracy and human rights.

Visiting U.S. Senator John Kerry said late on Tuesday he was pessimistic about the pact: "I have serious reservations about whether or not it will hold."

The insurgency had made progress over the past few months and the government needed to act with urgency, he said. "I don't think that the effort has been resourced the way that it needs to be either in personnel or strategy," Kerry said.

Afghanistan said its security could be hurt by the deal in Swat, even though the valley is not on the Afghan border.

Khan said militants would go to Afghanistan to fight U.S.-led forces if Afghan Taliban called for help. "Our struggle is for a cause and that's to enforce Allah's rule on Allah's land. We will send mujahideen to Afghanistan if they demand them," he said.

One security analyst, retired Brigadier Syed Mehmood Shah, said peace could be found if the government disarmed the militants: "The agreement should be given a chance."But another said the Swat militants were part of an expanding network."

There is no comprehensive counter-insurgency strategy from the military or government. They are not taking it seriously," said Khadim Hussain of the Aryana Institute think-tank.

In a decision militants will welcome, the Supreme Court ordered the release on bail of a radical cleric held since just before soldiers stormed his Red Mosque complex in Islamabad in 2007 to clear out gunmen.

Taliban Execute Eloping Young Lovers In Afghanistan

Taliban Execute Eloping Young Lovers In Afghanistan

*Analysis: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has signed a regulation imposing Islamic sharia law in the Swat valley in the northwest of the country, as part of a deal to end Taliban violence. Under Taliban rule, there will be no music, any kind of entertainment, schools, women are not permitted to work or walk on the street alone....so on. The execution of the eloping young couple is just the beginning of Taliban's control, which would reflect in FATA tribal area. We feel sorry for the people of Pakistan, who are innocent victims of the future set forth making of Pakistan. (DTN Defense-Technology News)

(NSI News Source Info) April 15, 2009: A young couple who tried to elope in one of the most lawless and conservative parts of Afghanistan have been publicly executed by Taliban gunmen after their parents handed them over to be tried by insurgents. Officials from the south-western province of Nimroz say Gul Pecha, in her late teens, and her boyfriend Abdul Aziz, 21, were shot by a firing squad outside a mosque in their home village of Lokhi on Monday. Image taken from the Pakistani private Dawn News channel on April 4, 2009, shows a burqa-clad woman face down on the ground being held by her arms and feet by three men while a man flogs her in Swat valley. Pakistan ordered an investigation into the video of a woman being flogged in the former resort of Swat, where the government signed an agreement with a pro-Taliban cleric to allow sharia law. Apparently filmed on a mobile phone, the video shows two men pinning down the burqa-clad woman by her feet and shoulders, as a bearded man in a turban flogs her 34 times with a whip. The couple had fled to a nearby village and were planning to start a life together without the permission of their parents, according to the province's police chief Abdul Jabar Pardeli. But they were found by their parents and turned over to the Taliban, who held them for four days in Lokhi's mosque before putting them on trial. Ghulam Dastageer Azad, the governor of Nimroz, said the couple's execution was "against Islam, against the law and against the constitution". An unofficial justice system, often dispensing brutal punishment to people found guilty of petty crimes or breaking the Taliban's strict interpretation of Islamic values, has become the hallmark of areas where insurgents enjoy a high degree of influence. A recent report by a human rights group said the Taliban systematically terrorise civilians with threatening "night letters", executions and limb amputations in order to force communities not to support the government. Taliban commanders are even issued with manuals telling them what techniques to use and who to target. Officials say the couple's home district of Khash Rod is under almost complete Taliban control. Sadiq Chakhansor, the head of the provincial council, said he thought the couple were intending to flee to Iran, where many young people from the region grew up as refugees, enjoying a relatively liberal environment before returning to their much more restrictive homeland. Although the provincial governor, chief of police and leader of the local council all claimed Taliban gunmen were responsible for the murders, a spokesman for the movement denied Taliban involvement. "I have contacted our fighters in the area and I can say that none of them were involved," said Qari Yousuf Ahmadi. "But it was a very bad thing for these people to escape from their homes without permission and it is right that they should be punished according to Sharia law." There are almost no Afghan or foreign troops in Khash Rod, which is seen as a resting area and a passageway for militants moving through into neighbouring Helmand province where most of Britain's effort in the country is directed.

Pakistan: ISI Chief In US For Talks On Intelligence Cooperation

Pakistan: ISI Chief In US For Talks On Intelligence Cooperation

*Pakistan: ISI Chief Pasha Snubs US Special Representative Richard Holbrooke And Admiral Mike Mullen....DTN Defense-Technology News April 8, 2009

*Analysis: On April 8, 2009., Director General Inter-Services Intelligence Lt Gen. Shuja Pasha refused to meet Richard Holbrooke and Admiral Mike Mullen in Islamabad as a protest that ISI has links with Taliban and Islamic extremists groups. For a change, the U.S. strategy has worked by choking the pipeline of economic and military aid, which made Pakistan administration realised the value of U.S. aid and promoted Lt Gen. Shuja Pasha in Washington for clarification on ISI position with Taliban. It seems U.S. adminstraion will take its course setting meeting with Lt Gen. Shuja Pasha, as there is no schedule or time set so far on this aspect. (DTN Defense-Technology News)

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - April 15, 2009: Director General Inter-Services Intelligence Lt Gen. Shuja Pasha is arriving in the United States late Tuesday on a two-day visit for talks on intelligence cooperation, as the US military chief Admiral Michael Mullen warned that violence in Afghanistan is set to rise in the coming months. US Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen and Navy Rear Adm. Scott van Buskirk talk with Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani and Director General ISI Major Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha. Official sources in Washington said that Gen. Pasha is expected to meet the CIA chief and other US intelligence and security officials. So far no meeting is scheduled with senior military or political officials. His talks, however, are expected to focus enhancing intelligence cooperation between the two countries in the fight against Taliban and al Qaeda militants. Lt Gen. Shuja Pasha’s visit to the US comes amidst increasing concerns voiced by US generals regarding the ISI’s alleged relationship with militant organisations. During a recent visit to Pakistan, Admiral Mike Mullen briefed a select group of media personnel on US apprehensions regarding the ISI’s alleged support for certain organisations. On the day, Gen. Pasha arrived in Washington, a leading news magazine, US News and World Report, warned that for Afghan and American officers fighting the Taliban, ‘the most persistent worry is that ISI operatives share sensitive information about future operations with the militants.’ Last week, Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the US forces for the greater Middle East region which includes both Afghanistan and Pakistan, told a congressional panel that he too had been concerned about the ISI leaking information to the Taliban. As a result, many within the US military remain suspicious about how much cooperation, particularly in intelligence matters, can really occur with Pakistani forces, he said. But he also said that the US ‘must do everything we can to assist’ the Pakistanis but this ‘has to be done very carefully.’ Admiral Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has also expressed similar concerns about the ISI, saying that has been ‘very attached’ to many of these extremist organisations. He warned that ‘in the long run, they have got to completely cut ties with those in order to really move in the right direction.’ ‘The ISI fundamentally has to change its strategic approach, which has been clear to focus on India as well as Afghanistan,’ he said. ‘And I don't believe they can make a lot of progress until that actually occurs.’ Admiral Mullen said the Pakistani Army chief had appointed in Lt Gen. Pasha, ‘one of his best guys’, as the new director of ISI. ‘I'm encouraged with his (Gen. Kayani’s) views and I'm encouraged with how he sees the problem.’ But ‘it's going to take some time to get at it inside ISI’. Also on Tuesday, Admiral Mullen warned that the arrival of extra US troops in Afghanistan would increase violence there. ‘I look forward to a very active year. I want to be clear that my expectations are as we add more troops, the violence level in Afghanistan is going to go up,’ he told ABC television. ‘That said, it will put us in a position to start to turn the tide and provide security for the Afghan people which is absolutely critical in addition to training the Afghan forces, which I expect to improve significantly over the next 12 months,’ he said. The United States is sending an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan to join some 38,000 already deployed there. ‘I'm very sure that the additional 17,000 combat troops, plus the additional 4,000 training troops, will have the right impact,’ Admiral Mullen said.

Pakistan: Taliban Begin Enforcing Islamic Law In Bajaur

Pakistan: Taliban Begin Enforcing Islamic Law In Bajaur

(NSI News Source Info) April 11, 2009: The Pakistani Taliban have begun enforcing Islamic law in the Bajaur tribal region even as scores of militants consolidated their hold on Buner district, located just 100 km from the federal capital. Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, the militant commander in Bajaur Agency and a deputy of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud, announced the decision to enforce Shariah in the region during a broadcast on his illegal FM radio station on Friday. Mohammad also barred women from stepping out of their homes without male relatives, banned shaving of beards and warned people against availing assistance from the Benazir Income Support Programme, a government project to provide financial aid to women. During a 40-minute speech on radio, Mohammad said he and his fighters would spare no effort to strictly implement Islamic laws in the region. The Taliban have formed an "action group" to ensure the enforcement of Shariah and to punish people who violate their edicts. Mohammad said that shaving of beards and men not wearing skull caps are "practices of Jews and their followers" which the Taliban would not allow in Bajaur. People who listened to his radio broadcast described Mohammad's tone as "aggressive". The militant commander also said people supporting the Benazir Income Support Programme and NGOs would be produced before Shariah courts. Pakistan's army soldiers patrol a road in Loisam town, in the Bajaur tribal region. Pakistani forces have turned the corner in the country's main front in its war against militancy with the capture of the strategically important village after heavy fighting, the commander of the operation said on Saturday. Meanwhile, scores of Taliban fighters from Swat who entered Buner district, located just 100 km from Islamabad, have begun consolidating their hold on the region and taking control of more areas, including the shrine of Sufi saint Pir Baba. Earlier, following peace talks with a tribal jirga, the militants had announced that they would pull out of Buner. The security forces offered no resistance as the militants took over more areas, the Dawn newspaper reported. "They have taken control of vast areas in Buner. They are freely moving around while police and other law enforcement personnel remain confined to their posts," said a man who lives near the shrine of Pir Baba. He said the militants had earlier announced that they would leave after holding a march in the area. Local residents said the militants had occupied the homes of influential people organising an anti-Taliban lashkar or militia and were patrolling the road leading to Daggar, the headquarters of Buner district. Militants set on fire TV sets, pictures and paintings and audio and video cassettes before Friday prayers. They locked the shrine of Pir Baba and stopped followers of the saint from visiting the site. The militants also delivered sermons in village mosques. A Pakistan's army soldier walks past damaged houses in Loisam town in the Bajaur tribal region. Pakistani forces have turned the corner in the country's main front in its war against militancy with the capture of a strategically important village after heavy fighting, the commander of the operation said on Saturday. "We have been asked by our seniors not to interfere with the Taliban," an officer of the Pir Baba police station told Dawn. He said the Taliban had advanced weapons, some of which he had "never seen before". The officer said the militants had not harmed anyone so far. "Their prime targets have already fled," he added. A militant spokesman announced that people who had fled the area should return to their homes. He warned that those who had taken up arms against the Tailban would not be spared. Local residents said the militants met hundreds of local people, especially youths, who remained with them the whole day. The Taliban were also seen patrolling several parts of Buner in vehicles they had captured. People flee from the troubled Bajaur region in Pakistan. About 100,000 Pakistani villagers have fled clashes between security forces and militants in the northwestern region raising the danger of a big humanitarian problem, a government official said on Friday. Security forces and militants have been fighting in the Bajaur region on the Afghan border, a known sanctuary for al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, since the militants attacked a security post last week. An official at the commissioner's office at Saidu Sharif in Swat had said on Thursday that the Taliban had agreed to leave Buner after talks with a peace mission of tribal elders. However, sources privy to the talks between the militants, administration officials and a local jirga said no agreement had been reached. :

Pakistan Displays Defiance In Washington

Pakistan Displays Defiance In Washington

*Pakistan: U.S. New Conditions Incorporated Into Pakistan Aid Bill....DTN Defense-Technology News April 10, 2009

*U.S. Envoy To Afghanistan And Pakistan Richard Holbrooke's Trip Exposes Standoff Between U.S., Pakistan....DTN Defense-Technology News April 9, 2009

*Pakistan's ISI Has Contacts With Extremists: US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates....DTN Defense-Technology News April 7, 2009

*Analysis: Pakistan is still in denial and living in a delusional world, it has to make up it's mind to fully control and administrate FATA tribal area and not to hand it over to Islamic extremist pro-Taliban group., otherwise there is no solution to ending Afghan conflict. (DTN Defense-Technology News)

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - April 11, 2009: Pakistan’s new found defiance against the United States was on full display in Washington on Thursday evening when Ambassador Husain Haqqani urged Americans not to attach ‘intrusive’ conditions to the aid they offer. ‘Once again there’s talk of fixing Afghanistan and Pakistan. ‘Once again there’s talk of fixing Afghanistan and Pakistan. Please do not fix us,’ said the ambassador in a joint appearance with his Afghan counterpart at a Washington think-tank, the Atlantic Council.

Please do not fix us,’ said the ambassador in a joint appearance with his Afghan counterpart at a Washington think-tank, the Atlantic Council. ‘The world is not a problem for America to fix. The world is a place for the Americans to understand.’

He also defended the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI), an institution seen by civilian quarters in Islamabad as too intrusive and too politicized.

‘It is important that the institutions that are to be partners in this (anti-terrorism) effort do not start feeling under attack, whether it is ISI or the Pakistani military,’ he said.

‘Mistakes have been committed on all sides. But this lack of trust will be addressed by talking to us, not by beating down on us.’

Mr Haqqani said that the Pakistanis these days were very concerned about an ‘unbridled indictment’ of their security services, giving no credit to Pakistan for the efforts that have been made.

‘We lost a lot of people along the border with Afghanistan. We have become a major victim of terrorism. More Pakistanis have died as a result of terrorist incidents in the last two years than in any other country.’

Diplomatic observers noted that Pakistan’s new defiant posture is not an instant flare up of sentiments on the part of the Pakistani leaders.

The change of mood followed a collective decision of the government and the security establishment to adopt a tough posture.

No blank cheques When President Barack Obama announced his new strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan late last month, telling Islamabad not to expect blank cheques from Washington, Ambassador Haqqani welcomed it as a step in the right direction.

He said Washington had consulted closely with Islamabad on formulating the policy and it was not formed in the clouds.

But on Thursday, he appeared offended with President Obama’s reprimand that the US will no more write blank cheques. ‘We will not accept a blank cheque, nor would we write any,’ said the Pakistani envoy.

Aid package Mr Haqqani, who until Thursday was all praise for a $7.5 billion aid package, trumpeting its introduction in the US Congress last week as a show of support for democracy in Pakistan, appeared much less enthusiastic while talking about the same package at the seminar.

Referring to the US government’s decision to dole out hundreds of billions of dollars to mismanaged corporations and risk-taking Wall Street brokers, the ambassador said Washington should re-think its priorities.

‘A company at the verge of failure is quite clearly able to get a bigger bailout than a nation that has been accused of failure,’ Mr Haqqani said. ‘That's something that in this town needs a review.’ He said investments in Pakistan's schools and infrastructure to help battle Al Qaeda and home-grown terrorists would be worth the money. Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the US is re-focusing efforts to fight the resurging Taliban and terrorism, deserve more than ‘some failed insurance company or some car company whose achievement is that they couldn't make cars that they could sell,’ he said.

Mr Haqqani said Pakistan will ask for its own ‘Marshall Plan’ — up to $30 billion in aid from its allies at the ‘Friends of Pakistan’ meeting in Tokyo on April 17.

Restrictions on Pakistan The Pakistani ambassador was also unhappy with the metrics and conditions attached to the aid to Pakistan, saying that they were too ‘intrusive.’

He urged Congress to revisit the bill and remove some of the recommended restrictions. Pakistan, he said, the importance of using the money accountably and effectively.

‘But there is a difference between accountability and intrusiveness. And that is something that needs to be understood,’ he said.

Regional contact group The ambassador also opposed President Obama’s suggestion to form a regional contact group for fighting extremists in the Pak-Afghan region, saying that such groups had been formed in the past as well but they did not succeed.

‘It is much better for us to be able to engage bilaterally with various regional powers instead of trying to create a new institutional mechanism which could run into some kind of logjam because there will be too many people, too many ideas.’

He explained that one of the reasons behind the many problems in the border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan since 1979 is that too many external actors have been involved. ‘Al Qaeda is an external actor.

Al Qaeda is not something that is indigenous to Pakistan and Afghanistan. These are people who came from outside, with an outside idea.’

Drone attacks

The ambassador said that Pakistan was not happy with the drone attacks because they did not show sufficient regard for Pakistan’s national sovereignty. ‘It will be easier for Pakistanis to accept the American technology being used to take out terrorists if it is done in partnership with Pakistan.’

There’s also concern on collateral damage, he said, explaining that the loss of life angers the people and provides opportunity to al-Qaeda for waging its propaganda.

‘The point is working out a mechanism whereby our concerns about sovereignty and collateral damage are addressed. We consider the US as partner and we expect them to consider us as partners,’ he said.

Pakistan: U.S. New Conditions Incorporated Into Pakistan Aid Bill

Pakistan: U.S. New Conditions Incorporated Into Pakistan Aid Bill

*Analysis: In simple nutshell, US is warning Pakistani administration and army to act on militants, as terrorism originating from Pakistan is becoming a global menace to society all around the world, otherwise economic and military aid could be a factor. (DTN Defense-Technology News)

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - April 10, 2009: Pakistan will have to undertake not to support any person or group involved in activities meant to hurt India and to allow US investigators access to individuals suspected of engaging in nuclear proliferation if it wants to qualify for a threefold increase in US economic assistance. Pakistan will have to undertake not to support any anti-India activities if it wants to qualify for US economic assistance. The clause requiring such a pledge is incorporated in a bill moved in the US House of Representatives on April 2, seeking to provide $1.5 billion of annual assistance to Pakistan for a period of five years. Clause (J) of the bill, called the Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enhancement or the PEACE Act of 2009, requires Pakistan ‘not to support any person or group that conducts violence, sabotage, or other activities meant to instil fear or terror in India.’ This means that Pakistan will have to ban all Kashmir groups involved in armed struggle in the valley against India. Clause (K) of the bill binds Pakistan to ensure access of US investigators to ‘individuals suspected of engaging in worldwide proliferation of nuclear materials, and restrict such individuals from travel or any other activity that could result in further proliferation.’ If adopted, the act would enable US investigators to seek direct access to Dr A. Q. Khan and other members of his group accused of providing nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. The Indian lobby on Capitol Hill played a key role in including the two clauses into the bill and had formed a special task force for this purpose. The Pakistani caucus, which once started as an effective lobbying group, has been rendered useless by the Pakistani Embassy in Washington. To ensure that it cannot function as an independent body, the embassy purged all senior people from a support group created to provide technical support to the caucus. Consequently, the Pakistan caucus, which on papers has the support of almost 100 lawmakers, has become a non-functioning body with no clout on the Hill. Although two separate bills are now being moved in the House and the Senate for tripling US economic assistance to Pakistan, the motivation for doing so did not come from the Pakistan Embassy or the lobbies. The motivating force behind the move is America’s fear that if not helped, Pakistan, a nuclear nation of 170 million people, could turn into a safe haven for terrorists armed with atomic weapons. The need for Pakistan’s help in fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda militants in Afghanistan and Fata also played a key role in motivating US lawmakers for seeking to increase the aid to Pakistan. But this did not prevent the House members from seeking strict restrictions against Pakistan in return for the aid. Clause (H) of the bill requires Pakistan not to provide any support, direction, guidance to, or acquiescence in the activities of, any person or group that engages in any degree in acts of violence or intimidation against civilians, civilian groups, or governmental entities. Clause (I) needs Pakistan to redouble its efforts to prevent the presence of the Taliban and Taliban-affiliated groups in Pakistan that support insurgents in Afghanistan. To ensure transparency and provide effective accountability of all US assistance and reimbursements provided to Pakistan, the bill wants Islamabad to improve counterterrorism financing and anti-money laundering laws to comply with international standards, to include applying for ‘Financial Action Task Force’ observer status and adhering to the United Nations International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. The task force is an inter-governmental body whose purpose is the development and promotion of national and international policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The bill also requires Pakistan to take all appropriate measures to adapt its armed forces to be able to conduct effective and sustained counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations. The bill, however, also recognises Pakistan as an invaluable friend and ally to the United States, ‘both in times of strife and in times of peace.’ It notes that the two countries share many common goals, including combating terrorism and violent radicalism, solidifying democracy and rule of law in Pakistan, and promoting the social and material well-being of the people of Pakistan. The bill assures the Pakistani people that the United States seeks a ‘sustained, long-term, multifaceted relationship’ with Pakistan based on friendship between the peoples of the two countries, the commitment to democracy and the rule of law, and the mutual interests of stability, security, and prosperity. ‘It is critical for the United States to support Pakistan's democratic government and strengthen its democratic institutions, including its parliament and the judicial system,’ the bill notes. The bill also makes it clear that the United States supports Pakistan's struggle against extremist elements and ‘recognises the profound sacrifice made by Pakistan in the fight against terrorism, including the loss of more than 1,600 soldiers since 2001 in combat with al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other extremist and terrorist groups.’

Pakistan: Sufi Mohammed Calls Off Swat Peace Deal

Pakistan: Sufi Mohammed Calls Off Swat Peace Deal

*Sufi Mohammed calls off Swat peace deal DAWN News Pakistan Thursday, 09 Apr, 2009 02:45 PM PST

(NSI News Source Info) SWAT - April 9, 2009: The chief of outlawed Tehreek e Nifaz e Shariat Mohammedi has withdrawn from the peace deal with the government and has said all peace camps in the region will be abolished, DawnNews has reported. Sufi Mohammed calls off Swat peace deal....‘ From now on, President Zardari will be responsible for any situation in Swat.' Mohammed, who brokered the peace deal between the Taliban and the government of Pakistan has claimed that the authorities have used delaying tactics in imposing the Nizam-i-Adal (Islamic courts) in the Swat region. The announcement casts serious doubt on the durability of a cease-fire in the Swat valley that U.S. officials worry will create another sanctuary for allies of al-Qaida responsible for a rising tide of violence in the nuclear-armed country. Imposing Islamic law in Swat, a one-time tourist haven, was the key plank of an accord worked out in February between the provincial government and Sufi Muhammad, a cleric who once led thousands of volunteers to fight U.S. forces in Afghanistan but has since renounced violence. Thanks in part to Muhammad's mediation, the agreement ended 18 months of terror and bloody clashes that had left hundreds dead and forced up to one-third of the previously prosperous valley's 1.5 million residents to flee. But the militants have retained their arms and this week pushed into a neighboring area where they fought deadly gunbattles with villagers and police. President Asif Ali Zardari has said he will only sign an order introducing Islamic law in the region once peace has been restored _ without saying how that would be determined. Muhammad, who had been camped out in the valley's main town of Mingora with hundreds of black-turbaned supporters, said they were leaving to protest Zardari's 'negative attitude.' 'From now on, President Zardari will be responsible for any situation in Swat, ‘ the white-bearded cleric told reporters. 'The provincial government is sincere and our agreement with the provincial government is intact, but we are ending our peace camp.' Television footage showed dozens of Muhammad's supporters crammed into a column of cars and driving out of Mingora, some of them clutching black and white flags. Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for the government of North West Frontier Province, said he believed the federal government was 'sincere' in supporting the peace effort, but said he couldn't say when the Islamic law bill would be signed. 'We are committed to bringing about a durable peace and we will continue our efforts in the changed situation,' Hussain said. Zardari aides said officials were looking into the matter but gave no further comment. Hasan Askari Rizvi, a political and military analyst, said Zardari may have delayed signing off on the agreement because of concerns within the year-old civilian government over negotiating with militants. 'The opinion is divided,' Rizvi said. 'A good number of people in the government think that this is not the right approach.' Zardari's foot-dragging also lets him save face with Western critics of the deal, he said. Under former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan struck a series of peace deals with militants along the Afghan border that U.S. officials say let the Taliban and al-Qaida regroup and focus their energy on attacking American and NATO troops in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama has made a sharp increase in financial aid to Pakistan conditional on it demonstrating more commitment to rooting out al-Qaida and other extremist groups. U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke said Tuesday after meeting Zardari in Islamabad that the situation in Swat had helped persuade more of Pakistan's political elite of the need to combat extremism at America's side. Pakistan desperately needs economic aid to ease the fallout from an economic crunch. It also faces an exodus of foreign investors in the face of rising violence and political uncertainty. On Thursday, one policeman died and five more were injured as protests erupted across the southwestern province of Baluchistan after the discovery of the mutilated bodies of three missing political activists. The trio included the leader of one of an array of Baluch groups campaigning _ or fighting _ for more autonomy and control over natural resources in the impoverished province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran. Activists immediately blamed Pakistan's spy agencies for the political activists' deaths. Police said they were investigating. Over the weekend, a previously unknown Baluch group freed an American U.N. worker after holding him for two months to press the government to release political prisoners.

U.S. Envoy To Afghanistan And Pakistan Richard Holbrooke's Trip Exposes Standoff Between U.S., Pakistan

U.S. Envoy To Afghanistan And Pakistan Richard Holbrooke's Trip Exposes Standoff Between U.S., Pakistan

*Analysis: Is Pakistan right to say ‘no’ to joint operations with US? Muhammad S Alvi says: April 8th, 2009 at 2:25 pm Yes, get rid of the Barbarians (Taliban). But it seems that Pakistan alone cannot do it. US help under Pakistani control is necessary. Taliban are the greatest enemy of Pakistan. US is offering plenty of civilian help for education and other civil uplift work in Pakistan. But most of it will go into corruption. When Zardari and company hears ‘no blank check’ they become disinterested. I believe that this is the reason why Pakistani government is taking a tough stand against US - they want US to soften its control on money. They want a ‘blank check’. (DTN Defense-Technology News)

(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD - April 9, 2009: The visit by Richard Holbrooke, U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the region has, for the first time, exposed sharp differences between the United States and Pakistan with regard to anti-terror operations. Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen (L) speaks as Richard Holbrooke, special U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, watches during a news conference in New Delhi April 8, 2009. Holbrooke will meet Indian officials on Wednesday amid concern in New Delhi that Washington's new regional strategy for Afghanistan is pandering to its old foe Pakistan. "The stance of the Pakistan side came as a rude shock to Americans," Pakistani newspapers on Wednesday quoted a source in the U.S. delegation visiting Islamabad as saying after parleys between the two sides. Differences between Washington and Islamabad with regard to their mutual cooperation in the war against terrorism, now called international contingency operations, had been simmering since long. However, their 'trust deficit' has emerged more vividly in the wake of announcement of the new U.S. policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has given a regional aspect to the Afghan problem. This trust deficit now seems to have changed into a full-grown standoff. "Islamabad has flagged certain red lines that cannot be crossed by the United States," uttered a seemingly defiant Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the foreign minister of Pakistan, while addressing a joint conference with Richard Holbrooke and Mike Mullen, after their talks in Islamabad on Tuesday. He categorically said: "Pakistan has made it clear to the United States that it would not accept any foreign boots on the Pakistani soil." Islamabad has been criticizing the U.S. drone attacks in the tribal areas along the Afghan borders, ever since their commencement in August last year. However, Washington persistently says these attacks have proved effective and would be continued. U.S. drones have so far made over 35 missile strikes in the tribal areas, killing more than 300 people, including a large number of foreign militants. U.S. officials claimed that 13 of the top 20 Al-Qaeda leaders have been eliminated in these drone attacks. However, Pakistan said these attacks are hampering its efforts to eliminate terrorism. Rather, Islamabad on Tuesday demanded drone technology and authority to itself carry out these attacks. For its part, the United States - alleging links between ISI, Pakistan's top military intelligence agency and Taliban - does not seem to trust the Pakistani forces. "There are challenges associated with the ISI," Admiral Mike Mullen explicitly said at a joint briefing in Islamabad, while addressing Pakistan's concern against U.S. allegations against the Pakistani spy network. "There is support (in the ISI) for some (militant) organizations," he further asserted. Perhaps that is the reason that General Asif Shuja Pasha, the ISI chief, reportedly refused to hold separate meeting with the visiting U.S. officials. Besides the ISI issue, differences also surfaced during the talks on the issue of carrying out joint military operations against militants in the tribal agencies. "Pakistan rejects the U.S. proposal for carrying out joint operations against militants," newspapers quoted Pakistan government sources as saying. Last week, there were reports in British and American media that U.S. and Pakistani forces contemplated joint operations in South Waziristan tribal agency to eliminate Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of Pakistani Taliban, for whom Washington has fixed 50 million dollars bounty. Earlier, while charting out the new war on terror policy of his administration, President Obama had said that the U.S. and Pakistani forces would continue cooperation to eliminate terrorism. However, Yousuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister of Pakistan, rejected these reports the other day, saying they were mere speculations. The new defiant posture of Pakistan is not an instant flare up of sentiments on the part of the Pakistani leaders. There are reports that Pakistan's defiant mood came after a collective decision of the government and the security establishment to adopt a tough posture. "The Pakistan Army chief, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, expressed Pakistan's concern (to the U.S. delegation) without mincing his words," Pakistani government sources said. Pakistan seems to be not bothered even about the tempting 1.5 billion dollar annual aid package, which Washington has promised in response to Islamabad's cooperation in the war on terror. "Blank check policy should be for both sides," Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in his press briefing, referring to a last week report, which quoted U.S. officials as saying that while extending aid, Washington would not give any blank check to Pakistan and would rather 'hold Pakistan accountable' for the spending it makes on war on terror. If the impression gathered from the joint press conference of Holbrooke and Qureshi and the ensuing media reports are some things to believe in, Islamabad appears determined not to 'do more,' at the call of Washington - as has always been alleged by the opponents - if not fully parting ways with its long-time ally.

Pakistan: ISI Chief Pasha Snubs US Special Representative Richard Holbrooke And Admiral Mike Mullen

Pakistan: ISI Chief Pasha Snubs US Special Representative Richard Holbrooke And Admiral Mike Mullen

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - April 8, 2008: Apparently upset with their remarks over alleged link between ISI, Taliban and Al-Qaeda, the Pakistani spy agency chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha refused to meet visiting US Special Representative Richard Holbrooke and American military commander Admiral Mike Mullen. In this Aug. 27, 2008 photo released by the U.S. Department of Defense, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen and Navy Rear Adm. Scott van Buskirk, from left, talk with Pakistani Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, center, and Director General, Military Operations, Major Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, on the flight deck aboard USS Abraham Lincoln, in the Gulf. Pasha, the new chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, oversaw military offensives against militants in Pakistan's restive northwest tribal areas. "Islamabad carefully stage-managed this unprecedented snub by the ISI chief as a means of telegraphing its resentment over a number of issues brewing between Washington and Islamabad," Stratfor, a US think-tank, reported. This sudden display of confidence on the part of Islamabad will complicate the Obama administration's strategy on the Taliban, the think tank said on Tuesday. Among the issues of resentment by ISI include, criticism from Mullen and US Central Command chief Gen David Petraeus, who said the intelligence agency was still dealing with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda and the increasing US unmanned aerial vehicle strikes in the Pakistani tribal belt. The ISI and its support base in Pakistan establishment is also upset with American strategy of treating Afghanistan and Pakistan as one theatre and the US's move to involve India in Afghanistan, Stratfor said. "The snub is also part of an emerging consensus between Pakistan's military and civilian government that Islamabad needs to increase its bargaining power with the US as an ally in the war against militant Islamists," the report said.

A Viral Video Raises Fears of Taliban Power in Pakistan

A Viral Video Raises Fears of Taliban Power in Pakistan

(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD - April 8, 2009: A viral video is raising an outcry in Pakistan — and highlighting the fact that in some parts of western Pakistan, the government is no longer in charge and the Taliban is.

Filmed in the Swat Valley, where the government recently signed a controversial peace deal with the Taliban, the video apparently shows a 17-year-old girl pinned down by as many as three men — among them her brother — while a fourth flogs her repeatedly, chastising her for having an alleged affair. She lets out a shriek with every lash, pleading for mercy.

Dozens of men look on, but nobody speaks out to stop the lashing. (See the video that has raised alarms in Pakistan.) Taliban Whip a Girl in Pakistan's Swat Valley The government's agreement with the Taliban in Swat included the imposition of religious law in the area, a move many legal experts and women's-rights groups had cautioned against.

Apparently filmed on a mobile phone, the video image shows two men pinning down a burqa-clad woman as a bearded man in a turban flogs her with a whip.

The valley, was transformed in recent years into the front line of Pakistan's domestic war on terrorism. More than 1,500 people have been killed there, and at least 100,000 have fled. A cease-fire is now in place in exchange for the imposition of Shari'a law. But reports of the curtailment of women's rights and activities are now rampant; women have been barred from leaving their homes and simply walking on the streets in many towns. Human-rights activists from the region insist that the girl in the video and the countless other victims in Swat are too helpless to speak out. "Who can stop the Taliban when they claim to be working in the name of Islam?" asked Yasmine Khan, program coordinator for the Female Human Rights Organization (FEHRO) for Swat, who recently fled to Islamabad after allegedly receiving death threats by Taliban militants. "Things are out of hand, and the government cannot control things." However, the Swat-based Taliban denies that the incident took place in the valley. Several officials and commentators have expressed skepticism that the men performing the punishment in the video were Taliban militants. A local news organization noted that were it up to the Taliban, the victim "would have been shot." The 17-year-old alleged to be in the video now denies that she was the burqa-clad girl beaten in the footage. She failed to appear at Pakistan's Supreme Court for a hearing on Monday. Journalists in Swat speak of an atmosphere of fear in the valley; reporters say they are fearful of speaking out as well, afraid that they will be targeted by Taliban angry over the leak of the video. One journalist, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, "We are the prime suspects." The Supreme Court and its Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, are not keeping silent, however. While Chaudhry says the authenticity of the video must be established (noting that it could be part of a scheme against those in Swat "demanding the application of Shari'a law"), he voiced outrage at what the footage appeared to portray. "[This] certainly constitutes a serious violation of law and fundamental rights of the citizens of the country," he declared on Monday during a hearing on the incident.

Chaudhry reprimanded several senior officials, including Pakistan Attorney General Sardar Latif Khosa, for failing to take immediate action: "Before the video became public, what were you doing?" Chaudhry has asked the court to reconvene following a 15-day investigation. Pakistanis see Chaudhry's comments as his first act of political muscle-flexing since his dramatic restoration to power in late March.

The Chief Justice was dismissed two years ago by then-President Pervez Musharraf because he would not support Musharraf's assumption of dictatorial power. When Musharraf's successor, Asif Ali Zardari, reneged on an agreement to restore Chaudhry to the Supreme Court, widespread demonstrations a few weeks ago led to his reinstatement. Chaudhry has probably the highest reserve of moral authority in the country.

Pakistani pro-Taliban militants stand with their weapons on a street in Swat Valley in 2007 during Pervez Musharraf's era. But is it enough to safeguard rights guaranteed by the country's secular constitution? Hours after the Chief Justice's calls for an inquiry, federal investigators were reported to have taken testimony from the alleged victim. However, she once again denied being the woman in the video. Sherry Rehman, a former Information Minister and member of the ruling Pakistan People's Party believes in Chaudhry's commitment to pursuing the case. "If anything like this surfaces again," she says, "it will not be tolerated." But Rehman notes that the government will proceed with caution for fear of disrupting the fragile cease-fire. Khan, the women's-rights activist, however, is pessimistic that even Chaudhry can get anything done. She says the Supreme Court inquiry is merely smoke and mirrors and that it will take a "miracle" to bring justice to Swat. "Until now, nobody knows who murdered Benazir Bhutto," she says. "Where is that committee? Where are those results? Do you think anyone will investigate or help the poor people of Swat?"

Pakistan's ISI Has Contacts With Extremists: US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates

Pakistan's ISI Has Contacts With Extremists: US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates *ISI has contacts with extremists: Gates By Anwar Iqbal DAWN NEWS Pakistan *Pakistan calls for trust with US By BBC News (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - April 7, 2009: The ISI’s contacts with the Hekmatyar, Haqqani and the Nazir groups are a real concern for the United States, says US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates. In a recent interview to an Afghan television channel, Mr Gates also expressed concern over Pakistan’s agreement with the militants in Swat saying that such deals only allow the militants to reassemble and revive their strength. US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates listens to a reporter's questions at the Pentagon in Washington,DC. ‘The ISI's contacts with some of these extremist groups —with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Haqqani network, Commander Nazir (sp) and others —are a real concern to us,’ said Mr Gates. ‘We have made these concerns known directly to the Pakistanis. And we hope that they will take action to put an end to it.’ ‘Are US drones flying from Afghanistan to hit militant hideouts in the Pakistani territory?’ he was asked. ‘I can't talk about our military operations, obviously. But the president (Obama) has made clear that we will go after al Qaeda and their planning cells and their training centres, wherever they are in the world.’ The journalist reminded him that Afghan President Hamid Karzai had assured Pakistan he respects the country’s sovereignty. ‘So if the drones hitting targets inside Pakistan fly from Afghanistan, will not be disrespect to the sovereignty of another country?’ the journalist asked. ‘Well, all I can say, again, is that our priority is going after al Qaeda. And we will go after them wherever they are,’ Mr Gates replied. Talking about US concerns over the Swat peace deal, Secretary Gates said that similar agreements in 2005 and 2006 led to an increase in the number of violent extremists coming across the border into Afghanistan. The militants, he said, no longer had to worry about Pakistani troops because of the deals that were made under President Musharraf. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, right, gestures as U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, left, and U.S. envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, center, look on during their joint press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan on Tuesday, April 7, 2009. Pakistani and U.S. officials emphasized the need for trust between their countries to counter the al-Qaida and the Taliban threat, even as Pakistan's foreign minister complained Tuesday about American missile strikes on his nation's soil. Mr Gates said he believed the Pakistani government was coming to understand that the militancy in the NWFP was as great a danger to the government in Islamabad as it’s to Afghanistan. The Pakistani army, he said, was now fighting the militants and thousands of Pakistani soldiers had died while combating these extremists. ‘One of our goals in this new strategy is to see how we can improve cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, who have a common interest in getting rid of these extremists.’ Asked what the US could do to persuade Pakistan to adopt a more effective policy against the militants, Mr Gates said Pakistan was a sovereign country, and so the US could only encourage it to fight the militants as a partner in this war. ‘What we are doing is making clear to them that we are prepared to be a long-term ally and partner of Pakistan; that we will help them deal with their security problems.’ The United States, he said, was prepared to provide gear and training to enhance Pakistan’s counterinsurgency capabilities. ‘We're also prepared to try and provide additional economic assistance to Pakistan because they face a number of challenges in that area as well.’