| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"nkdatta8839" |
| Date: |
07 Apr 2004 02:27:23 PM |
| Object: |
Pakistan Army's Links With Extremist Groups Causing Concern |
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20040402-105643-9703r.htm
Washington Times
April 03, 2004
Musharraf walks fine line in war
By Margaret Coker
...... Islamic nationalism has been the most powerful political force
in Pakistan since the nation's birth in 1947 as an independent
homeland for Muslims on the South Asian subcontinent.
Support for domestic and international Islamic movements runs
deep, both in government circles and corner tea shops. Pakistan's
intelligence agency played a key role in the creation of the
ultraconservative Taliban movement in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s.
Today, Pakistan's tribal leaders are believed to harbor many Taliban
and al Qaeda members who fled Afghanistan after the U.S. invasion in
the autumn of 2001.
After September 11, Gen. Musharraf said he would sever historic
ties between the Pakistani government and Islamic militants. But the
results so far resemble a fumbling balancing act rather than a
convincing strategic about-face.
Gen. Musharraf has done little to purge the ranks of the country's
army and intelligence agency, both of which analysts say are full of
pragmatists convinced that relations with Islamic guerrillas are
helpful to Pakistan.
Additionally, the president has been slow to counter the
educational and religious establishments run by domestic Islamic
political parties and considered breeding grounds for religious
warriors. .....
================================================================================
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/23/international/asia/23STAN.html
NY Times
March 23, 2004
Militants Pakistan Pursues May Be Gone
By DAVID ROHDE
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 22 For two years, Afghan officials have
said it publicly and American troops have bitterly complained about it
privately.
A large group of foreign militants who they suspect are allied with Al
Qaeda and possibly Osama bin Laden himself appeared to be safely
hiding in Pakistan's tribal areas and mounting cross-border attacks on
American forces in Afghanistan. Pakistani forces at the border
appeared to do little to stop them.
"If they'd cut the restraints," said one American soldier on patrol
near the border last week, referring to their orders to stay on the
Afghan side, "we'd go into Pakistan and kill them."
Developments in recent days indicate that Pakistan is finally willing
to press its troops on the border to go after the foreigners, after
two assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf by Islamic
militants but they also point out that it could have happened a lot
sooner.
The discovery of hundreds of foreign militants in South Waziristan,
the focus of the current operation, also suggests that if there is a
Qaeda stronghold where Mr. bin Laden is hiding, it may be there.
But no concrete evidence has emerged to confirm Pakistani officials'
suggestions that Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, is
trapped with the militants.
It also appears that Pakistani troops sent to the fiercely independent
tribal areas more than two years ago failed to find militants who
might have been living on their doorstep. Pakistani officials say the
current battle involves 400 to 500 militants who gathered in villages
only 10 miles from a large military base in the town of Wana without
Pakistani forces realizing it.
"Yes, we must confess they were surprised," a Pakistani military
spokesman, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, said at a news conference on
Monday, referring to the members of the raiding party that finally
discovered the militants. "They had underestimated the strength of the
miscreants there."
Afghan and some American officials contend that Pakistani forces have
simply not tried to find the militants, or in some cases overtly aided
them.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador to Afghanistan, said in an
interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that two Taliban
commanders believed to be orchestrating attacks in southern
Afghanistan were operating from Pakistan.
"We know several key Taliban figures are there," he said, "and there
is some sense that some of the remaining Al Qaida leaders are in the
border area on the other side."
Pakistani officials say no one, including American officials,
suspected that there were so many militants in South Waziristan.
Pakistani forces uncovered a sign of the strength and sophistication
of the militant network on Monday, officials said. Army engineers
destroying the house of a local tribesman who sheltered militants
discovered a network of tunnels.
One tunnel was more than a mile long and linked the compounds of two
local tribesmen who had been wanted for months for harboring militants
and carrying out attacks on American forces, officials said. The
tunnel then extended to a nearby dry riverbed.
Mehmood Shah, the chief of security in the tribal areas, conceded that
militants might have used it to flee. "It is possible that some might
have escaped through this tunnel," he said. "It has been there for
quite some time. I don't know how effective the cordon was on the
first night."
A Wana area resident who saw some of what happened that night but
feared reprisals if his name were used said in telephone interview on
Monday that most of the militants escaped on the first night of the
operation before the cordon was firmly in place. The resident and a
Pakistani security official also said the leader of the Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan, Tahir Yaldash, who was believed to have been
surrounded along with scores of Chechen fighters, might have escaped.
Pakistani officials said no tunnels were discovered when a house where
tunnels were found on Monday was raided last month.
The bodies of six militants believed to be foreigners have been taken
to Rawalpindi for DNA testing, Pakistani official said. They said none
appeared to be Mr. Zawahiri or Mr. bin Laden.
Other signs that the Pakistani effort may be faltering emerged Monday.
Suspected militants attacked a resupply convoy 20 miles from the
fighting, killing 12 soldiers and wounding 22, and apparently escaped
with no casualties.
In addition, a delegation of 22 tribal elders sent to convey a
government demand that the militants surrender returned empty-handed.
Malik Ba Khan, a member of the delegation, said in a telephone
interview that the delegation had met with local tribal leaders who
had said that no foreign militants were present. "They said that the
wanted men are not there," he said, "and that they would inform the
government if they are seen in the area."
.
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| User: "nkdatta8839" |
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| Title: Re: Pakistan Army's Links With Extremist Groups Causing Concern |
09 Apr 2004 02:50:49 PM |
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Los Angeles Times
January 1, 2004
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are coddling fundamentalist fanatics
by Max Boot
To judge by Libya's promise to give up its weapons of mass
destruction, President Bush's get-tough approach in Iraq and
Afghanistan has impressed our enemies. But what about our ostensible
allies?
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia profess to be cooperating in the war on
terror, yet they have done a lot more than Libya to spread terrorism
and weapons of mass murder around the world. And, unlike Moammar
Kadafi, they have no reason to fear a visit from the 3rd Infantry
Division if they don't mend their ways. After all, the United States
doesn't invade its "friends," right? But with friends like these
.
Both the Washington Post and the New York Times have published
investigative articles showing that Pakistan was probably a prime
supplier of nuclear technology to Iran. This is quite plausible given
the well-documented links between Pakistan and another member of the
"axis of evil" North Korea. Last year, U.S. spy satellites
photographed a Pakistani cargo plane in North Korea loading missile
parts. There is widespread suspicion that, in return for this
technology, Pakistan shared nuclear know-how with Pyongyang.
Meanwhile, parts of the Pakistani government continue to aid the
Taliban insurgency against the U.S.-backed government of Afghanistan.
Supposedly outlawed extremist groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and
Lashkar-e-Taiba are allowed to openly raise money and spread
incendiary propaganda.
Saudi Arabia is equally complicit in helping our enemies. The Saudi
government spends billions of dollars supporting madrasas, or Koranic
schools, and mosques around the world that preach a virulently
anti-American strain of Islam. These institutions churn out jihadists
faster than Delta Force can hunt them down, not only in Saudi Arabia
but also in places like Pakistan.
Abd al Aziz bin Issa, a leading Al Qaeda member, recently called Saudi
Arabia "the primary source of funds for most jihad movements."
Despite the Saudi establishment's expensive advertising campaigns to
win the goodwill of the United States, the contempt in which it holds
this country is evident. Princess Reem al Faisal, a granddaughter of
the late King Faisal, was quoted in October as accusing the U.S. of
committing "atrocities" that rank among "the worst in human history"
the latest being the occupation of Iraq.
MEMRI, an invaluable website that translates Arabic publications, is
replete with similar sentiments from other prominent Saudis. Many of
their comments are aimed at exposing the supposed nexus between
"Zionists" and "Crusaders." Umayma Ahmad Jalahma, a professor of
Islamic studies at the state-run King Faisal University, last year
repeated the old libel that for Purim "the Jewish people must obtain
human blood so that their clerics can prepare the holiday pastries."
This year, for an encore, Jalahma claimed that the U.S. invasion of
Iraq was timed for Purim.
The superficially reassuring thing about Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is
that the leaders of both countries, Crown Prince Abdullah and
President Pervez Musharraf, have disassociated themselves from such
extremist rhetoric. Both claim to be allies in the war on terror and
to some extent they have delivered by detaining some suspects and
closing some bank accounts. But neither one has done nearly enough to
crack down on the extremists who have penetrated their own
governments.
In Pakistan, the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, and to a lesser
extent the army, is riddled with hard-liners who support jihadist
terrorists in Afghanistan and Kashmir. These radical Islamists may
have been behind the recent attempts to assassinate Musharraf. In
Saudi Arabia, Abdullah has to compete for influence with his
half-brother, Prince Nayif ibn Abdulaziz, who runs the powerful
Interior Ministry. Nayif has claimed that the 9/11 attacks could not
have been committed by Saudis; they had to be the work of Israelis.
After terrorist bombings that rocked Riyadh this year, Nayif cracked
down on Al Qaeda cells and some of the mullahs who supported them.
But, as Princeton professor Michael Doran argues in the new issue of
Foreign Affairs, there are sharp limits to how far he will go in
challenging the Wahhabi clerical establishment. To Nayif and others of
his ilk, the biggest threat comes not from fundamentalist fanatics but
from liberal reformers.
The remarkable thing is that a U.S. president who prides himself on
moral clarity has been willing to accept such equivocation for so
long. No doubt George W. Bush fears that if the U.S. presses either
regime too hard, the unintentional result may be to bring Osama bin
Laden's acolytes to power.
Both Musharraf and Abdullah need the U.S. at least as much as we need
them. Neither one can stay in power or, most likely, stay alive if
the radical Islamists prevail. In the long term, we do them no favors
by allowing them to coddle our mutual enemies.
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| User: "nkdatta8839" |
|
| Title: Re: Pakistan Army's Links With Extremist Groups Causing Concern |
08 Apr 2004 11:35:31 AM |
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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/20/opinion/20SAT1.html
THE NEW YORK TIMES
MARCH 20, 2004
EDITORIAL
Pakistan Changes the Subject
Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military dictator, would deserve
praise if his troops captured Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, Ayman
al-Zawahiri, whom they think they may have surrounded near the rugged
border with Afghanistan. Short of capturing Osama bin Laden himself,
there could be no clearer way for General Musharraf to demonstrate how
valuable his cooperation can be.
It is also hard to think of a more timely way to distract American
attention from the many legitimate questions now surrounding General
Musharraf's leadership and the true depth of his cooperation with the
United States. The general disclosed the possible surrounding of a
"high-value target" from Al Qaeda in a CNN interview following his
meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell. One subject that surely
came up in that meeting was the extent of military or government
involvement in Pakistan's nuclear weapons assistance to North Korea,
Iran and Libya. The story about Dr. Zawahiri overwhelmed coverage of
the nuclear issue.
Washington failed to protest when General Musharraf cut short the
prosecution of the nuclear scientist at the center of the scandal,
Abdul Qadeer Khan, with a presidential pardon. It did not object when
he blocked the investigation of any military involvement. The least
the administration can do now is to press privately for a full
accounting. Americans are at least as threatened by rogue states and
terrorists armed with Pakistani nuclear blueprints and bomb fuel as
they are by fugitives holed up in South Waziristan.
Pakistan's official version of the nuclear transfers that civilian
scientists acted entirely on their own for purely financial reasons
defies belief. There is no way sensitive nuclear hardware and uranium
could have been transported out of Pakistan without the knowledge and
complicity of the country's all-powerful military high command and
intelligence agencies. And Washington cannot know that the network has
been shut down until its enablers and protectors have been identified.
Washington also needs to insist on an end to the ambiguous relations
between Pakistan and the Taliban, which have allowed fighters to cross
the Afghan border and attack American troops. The problem is, in part,
a legacy of the Pakistani Army's close cooperation with the Taliban
until General Musharraf officially severed these ties after 9/11. A
more recent complication comes from the alliances General Musharraf
has made with Islamist extremist parties to prop up his dictatorial
rule. These parties, which are ideologically close to the Taliban, now
wield substantial power along the Afghan border.
Instead of urging General Musharraf to stop maneuvering against
unfettered elections and Pakistan's main secular parties, Mr. Powell
lavished undeserved praise upon him for democratic progress. Such
declarations diminish American credibility as a consistent force for
democracy. Behind a constitutional facade, General Musharraf rules as
a military dictator, accountable to no civilian authority and basing
his power on Pakistan's armed forces. It is the army high command that
General Musharraf must negotiate with if he truly wants to move
against the Taliban, Kashmiri terrorist groups or the nuclear weapons
establishment.
Mr. Powell struck a somewhat surreal note in Islamabad when he
announced that Washington was preparing to designate Pakistan a "major
non-NATO ally," easing access to military sales. Pakistan's efforts to
capture Dr. Zawahiri are welcome, but it is excessive to offer even a
symbolic promotion to one of America's least reliable allies.
================================================================================
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20040402-105643-9703r.htm
Washington Times
April 03, 2004
Musharraf walks fine line in war
By Margaret Coker
...... Islamic nationalism has been the most powerful political force
in Pakistan since the nation's birth in 1947 as an independent
homeland for Muslims on the South Asian subcontinent.
Support for domestic and international Islamic movements runs
deep, both in government circles and corner tea shops. Pakistan's
intelligence agency played a key role in the creation of the
ultraconservative Taliban movement in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s.
Today, Pakistan's tribal leaders are believed to harbor many Taliban
and al Qaeda members who fled Afghanistan after the U.S. invasion in
the autumn of 2001.
After September 11, Gen. Musharraf said he would sever historic
ties between the Pakistani government and Islamic militants. But the
results so far resemble a fumbling balancing act rather than a
convincing strategic about-face.
Gen. Musharraf has done little to purge the ranks of the country's
army and intelligence agency, both of which analysts say are full of
pragmatists convinced that relations with Islamic guerrillas are
helpful to Pakistan.
Additionally, the president has been slow to counter the
educational and religious establishments run by domestic Islamic
political parties and considered breeding grounds for religious
warriors. .....
================================================================================
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/23/international/asia/23STAN.html
NY Times
March 23, 2004
Militants Pakistan Pursues May Be Gone
By DAVID ROHDE
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 22 For two years, Afghan officials have
said it publicly and American troops have bitterly complained about it
privately.
A large group of foreign militants who they suspect are allied with Al
Qaeda and possibly Osama bin Laden himself appeared to be safely
hiding in Pakistan's tribal areas and mounting cross-border attacks on
American forces in Afghanistan. Pakistani forces at the border
appeared to do little to stop them.
"If they'd cut the restraints," said one American soldier on patrol
near the border last week, referring to their orders to stay on the
Afghan side, "we'd go into Pakistan and kill them."
Developments in recent days indicate that Pakistan is finally willing
to press its troops on the border to go after the foreigners, after
two assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf by Islamic
militants but they also point out that it could have happened a lot
sooner.
The discovery of hundreds of foreign militants in South Waziristan,
the focus of the current operation, also suggests that if there is a
Qaeda stronghold where Mr. bin Laden is hiding, it may be there.
But no concrete evidence has emerged to confirm Pakistani officials'
suggestions that Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, is
trapped with the militants.
It also appears that Pakistani troops sent to the fiercely independent
tribal areas more than two years ago failed to find militants who
might have been living on their doorstep. Pakistani officials say the
current battle involves 400 to 500 militants who gathered in villages
only 10 miles from a large military base in the town of Wana without
Pakistani forces realizing it.
"Yes, we must confess they were surprised," a Pakistani military
spokesman, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, said at a news conference on
Monday, referring to the members of the raiding party that finally
discovered the militants. "They had underestimated the strength of the
miscreants there."
Afghan and some American officials contend that Pakistani forces have
simply not tried to find the militants, or in some cases overtly aided
them.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador to Afghanistan, said in an
interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that two Taliban
commanders believed to be orchestrating attacks in southern
Afghanistan were operating from Pakistan.
"We know several key Taliban figures are there," he said, "and there
is some sense that some of the remaining Al Qaida leaders are in the
border area on the other side."
Pakistani officials say no one, including American officials,
suspected that there were so many militants in South Waziristan.
Pakistani forces uncovered a sign of the strength and sophistication
of the militant network on Monday, officials said. Army engineers
destroying the house of a local tribesman who sheltered militants
discovered a network of tunnels.
One tunnel was more than a mile long and linked the compounds of two
local tribesmen who had been wanted for months for harboring militants
and carrying out attacks on American forces, officials said. The
tunnel then extended to a nearby dry riverbed.
Mehmood Shah, the chief of security in the tribal areas, conceded that
militants might have used it to flee. "It is possible that some might
have escaped through this tunnel," he said. "It has been there for
quite some time. I don't know how effective the cordon was on the
first night."
A Wana area resident who saw some of what happened that night but
feared reprisals if his name were used said in telephone interview on
Monday that most of the militants escaped on the first night of the
operation before the cordon was firmly in place. The resident and a
Pakistani security official also said the leader of the Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan, Tahir Yaldash, who was believed to have been
surrounded along with scores of Chechen fighters, might have escaped.
Pakistani officials said no tunnels were discovered when a house where
tunnels were found on Monday was raided last month.
The bodies of six militants believed to be foreigners have been taken
to Rawalpindi for DNA testing, Pakistani official said. They said none
appeared to be Mr. Zawahiri or Mr. bin Laden.
Other signs that the Pakistani effort may be faltering emerged Monday.
Suspected militants attacked a resupply convoy 20 miles from the
fighting, killing 12 soldiers and wounding 22, and apparently escaped
with no casualties.
In addition, a delegation of 22 tribal elders sent to convey a
government demand that the militants surrender returned empty-handed.
Malik Ba Khan, a member of the delegation, said in a telephone
interview that the delegation had met with local tribal leaders who
had said that no foreign militants were present. "They said that the
wanted men are not there," he said, "and that they would inform the
government if they are seen in the area."
================================================================================
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