Benazir non-investigation: the cover-up continues even after the UN report:
One fact that the UN investigators did not know or could not get to is what was Rehman Malik doing around the mid night of the evening Benazir was assassinated. The mystery has deepened after an eyewitness has revealed that Rehman Malik was seen in the Regent’s Hotel Karachi (at Shahra-e-Faisal) around mid-night. While there is no doubt about that, it is speculated that he had brought Khalid Shahenshah with him. Would Rehman Malik explain his conduct and whereabouts on the 27th and 28th of December?
This report by the News is an indication that the present government’s top leadership including Zardari, Gilani, and Rehman Malik are part of the cover-up of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Rehman Malik still has to answer the questions raised in the report about leaving Benazir without a back-up car. Until and unless, the government moves against the big wigs, the people will be justified in believing that they all were involved, one way or the other.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan–Private US defense contractors held Pakistani and Afghan citizens kidnapped from Pakistani tribal territory inside the building of the US Consulate in Peshawar when it was attacked by armed men on April 5.
Immediately after the attack, US diplomats and employees in the consulate were shifted to the American-run Khyber Club in the University Town suburb of Peshawar. US military and intelligence personnel moved the detained Pakistanis and Afghans to Islamabad, either to the US Embassy building or to one of its several safe houses in the Pakistani capital.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The group has been attacking Chinese, Sri Lankan and Pakistani citizens during the past five years. This was a rare attack against US interests by the group.
Sources in several Pakistani security agencies in Peshawar knew of US activities and considered them part of US help to Pakistan to fight terrorists. But it is not clear if US personnel had the authority to nab Pakistani citizens or any other nationals on Pakistani soil.
WASHINGTON: Costing Pakistan almost 1.5 million dollars a page, the UN report on Benazir’s murder has not moved the case even an inch in any direction but it has well served the purpose of PPP rulers, and killers of BB alike, for the moment.
The UN probe gave Zardari two years, some months and a half to keep the sensitive issue in a limbo so that he might focus on consolidating power. It also indirectly gave him a clean chit and some face saving excuse to act against his top cronies, Rehman Malik, Babar Awan, Brig Cheema, Saud Aziz and company being on top of that list. The UN has also served another purpose. It has given official currency to all the wild and not-so-wild rumours, which were afloat in the country. Yet all the conspiracy theories and all the unexplained mysteries, which, even after the report, still remain in the market. But these have now been endorsed by the world body.
WASHINGTON: Pakistan has said that it has acquired advanced nuclear fuel cycle capability and can offer it to the rest of the world under IAEA safeguards.
The offer, contained in a national statement presented at a two-day summit which concluded in Washington on Tuesday, reflected Islamabad’s desire to gain recognition as a nuclear state.
“As a country with advanced fuel cycle capability, Pakistan is in a position to provide nuclear fuel cycle services under IAEA safeguards, and to participate in any non-discriminatory nuclear fuel cycle assurance mechanism,” the document said.
At the summit, Pakistan also reiterated its proposals for establishing a strategic restraint regime in South Asia.
The policy paper released during the conference stressed that such a regime would “promote nuclear and missile restraint, a balance in conventional forces, and conflict resolution”.
In present time when more and more righteous people like Dr. Israr Ahmed are departing this Earth, the worst and most corrupt people under the Sun are being given the privileges of power and authority. These unworthy people are naturally making the most of these opportunities to fill their pockets, fulfill their interests by employing all means even if the nation would severely suffer as a consequence.
Part of the problem lies within us as a nation as well. We have now “learned” to suffer. We don’t stand up, we never ask the rulers, we never hold them accountable for what they are doing. We must question the ruling elite on their suspicious, unjustified and unfair actions. We must speak up against decisions and actions which are exploitative and damaging for the people.
Is this the kind of Administrator people deserve? Does he even know what his responsibilities and obligations are? Does he even bear the load of being a civil servant? Is this kind of a person really deserve to be on such a position?
The ruling elite must mend their ways before a time comes when they would be thrown out on the streets by the people!
ISLAMABAD: Kayani’s worldview is Pakistan centric; he is respected as his military has won victories against enemies where the superpower could not succeed; like all good military leaders, he has good political sense; having recognised the failure of pre-emptive kill-capture doctrine, the US and West are listening with more attention to his advice; the strategic and operational framework outlined by him for ongoing conflict is in-sync with the national interests and good news for Pakistan.
Having gone through the article ‘General in the hood’, one gets more convinced that a lot needs to be thought right first, before endeavouring to put right, between the two countries. The article reinforces the perception; ‘What is good for Pakistan gets portrayed as bad for India’. The urge to write became more compelling due to a deliberate effort of quoting issues, which actually form the basis of threat to Pakistan. Interestingly enough, Pakistan’s predicament is that if it is not successful against the extremists, it gets portrayed as epicentre of terrorism and threat to world, especially India, and if it succeeds, our neighbour still feels threatened and portrays these as back to Brass Tacks. The blame game continues, despite knowing far too well, the extent to which Pakistan has gone against the miscreants with tangible results.
Before we take another strategic U-turn on Afghanistan, Pakistan’s Policymakers must read this:
Pakistan is conceptualized as a theater of war in American operational plans as the term Af-Pak suggests so strategic dialog under the presence of such perception is nothing more than an illusion
One option for Pakistan is to work on isolating the extra-regional powers [countries not bordering Afghanistan] and then pitch the extra-regional powers against one another by manipulating the rifts between major EU countries (which are already wary of prolonged Afghan mission) and the U.S.
This strategic dialog is an important component of an overall military strategy led by Gen. Petraeus in which enhancing U.S image and closing the trust deficit both in COIN operations at tactical level in Afghanistan and at strategic level in Pakistan.
The idea of offering Pakistan the carrot of a prolonged negotiations for a civilian nuclear deal was floated as far back as April 2009 with the aim of aligning US and Pakistani interests
Majid Mahmood
An Assessment
Summary
Recent days have seen a deceptive shift in U.S policy towards Pakistan. In a stated aim to ‘redefine’ its relationship with Pakistan a process of strategic dialog has been orchestrated by the United States creating much buzz in Pakistan over the issue. This brief essay will examine the real purpose of this strategic dialog, American plans for the region, strategic implications for Pakistan’s continued alliance with the US, and the formulation of alternative policy options for Pakistan.
UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (UPI) — Afghan and U.S. leaders should be grilled by a U.N. panel examining the assassination of Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, her husband said.
Bhutto, a former prime minister of Pakistan, was killed Dec. 27, 2007, following a campaign rally for her Pakistan People’s Party. She had returned to Pakistan from exile to run in January 2008 parliamentary elections.
Pakistan’s decision-makers should draw an important lesson from the talks. Given the limits on Washington’s capacity to address Pakistan’s concerns – just as there are constraints on Pakistan’s ability to support all of America’s geo-strategic interests – Islamabad needs to change its US-centric mindset, learn to mobilise its own resources, rather than look to Washington to solve all its problems and fashion a foreign policy that is in sync with the multipolar world we live in.
Aimed at setting a new strategic direction for Pakistan-US relations and overcoming mutual mistrust, the recent talks in Washington were more significant for their atmospherics than any tangible outcome. Dialogue, of course, is a process, not an event. But the expectations raised by both sides about the fourth round had exceeded what was achieved in the two-day talks.
ISLAMABAD: What is so strategic about the strategic dialogue? Not too long ago, the Pentagon tried to play with the GHQ’s India-centric national security paradigm. Finally, the GHQ won, the Pentagon had to give in. Not too long ago, the US State Department tried to pressurise the GHQ into submission to civilian executive. Finally, the GHQ won, the State Department lost out.
Richard Holbrooke, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, now says, “How can you have a strategic dialogue without including the military?” The New York Times announced, “Army Chief driving Pakistan’s agenda for talks.” The Washington Post declared, “Gen Kayani is driving the nation’s agenda.” Reuter’s announced, “General Kayani in Washington: Pakistan’s most powerful man.”
LONDON, UK—Pakistan is unfortunately one of those countries where traitors masquerade as politicians and treachery is deemed to be ‘legitimate politics’. There is no prize for guessing how did the desire the revoke the 17th Amendment got transformed into a full-fledged exercise for subverting the constitution. The answer is that it was a part of the scheme that involved the NRO and the formation of a coalition government in which all the parties are opposed to the Two Nation Theory of Pakistan. Mian Nawaz Sharif saw the game plan a bit late but he did see it and withdrew from the coalition. If he had not withdrawn, the judges dismissed by Musharraf would not have been restored and NRO would have become law. But the puppet masters have not given up; they are still eager to implement their original plan albeit with slight alterations due to new circumstances.
The plan is devious and not easy to understand. Some of those in the committee reviewing the Constitution have some idea of the true nature of the exercise they are engaged in but most of them do not know what is going on; they do not have a clue what is good for the country and are unable to see through the machinations of parties with anti-Pakistan agenda. The reports of ‘consensus’ and ‘absence of leaks’ makes one suspicious of the entire project. I fear that a ready to sign ‘draft amendment’ is a sinister plot. The public and the press must have a debate on what the committee recommends. The Constitution is too important a matter to be left entirely to politicians.
It seems to me that all the ingredients are being in place to undo Pakistan from the back door without even a fight. It seems the parties in the ruling coalition are in a hurry to fulfill the agenda of international plotters. The puppet masters had been relying on the gullibility of Nawaz Sharif who has been saying he would support no action that would destabilize the country.
Sikh leaders say the US should learn from the US-Pakistan record that effective engagement is better than negligence. The Party wants Washington to reestablish the Sikh Desk in the US Embassy in New Delhi and open a US Consulate in the Sikh city of Amritsar. The Party believes that US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue is a welcome development and will indirectly help in balancing India’s behavior in the region. The Sikh leaders also called for nuclear parity between Pakistan and India.
NEW DELHI, India—The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Amritsar, which is an Indian political party representing the Sikh nation, views US-Pakistan strategic dialogue in a very positive light. The Sikh leaders welcome the reduction in trust deficit between the United States and Pakistan because they believe that an Indian state that violates human rights, commits the genocide of Sikh peoples and of its other religious and ethnic minorities can only be restrained in the presence of strong neighbors such as Pakistan and China, says a press release received by the Daily Mail.
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Muslim League (Q) Secretary General, Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Tuesday said that Pakistan should not repeat its mistakes and must not have any favourite in Afghanistan.
The US needs Pakistan more than Pakistan needs the US; therefore, Pakistan should play its cards intelligently, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed stated this while speaking at a seminar on ‘Pakistan’s Geo-strategic Challenges and Response’, which was organised by the NUST Business School of the National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST). It was held in connection with a series of the talks to celebrate Pakistan Day.
Speaking on the subject, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed stated that Pakistan had been facing crisis for the last three decades. He identified five major developments that took place in the region over the last three decades, which influenced the geo-strategic environment of Pakistan. Soviet’s invasion of Afghanistan made Pakistan a central point for the international diplomacy.
How about exchanging Taliban Number Two Abdul Ghani Baradar for terror master Brahamdagh Bugti and the dismantling of the terror network targeting Pakistan’s Balochistan?
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Pakistan has agreed to hand over Afghan Taliban’s number 2, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, to Afghanistan. How about asking for Mr. Brahamdagh Bugti in exchange? Or for the dismantling of the Afghan-based terror infrastructure targeting Pakistani Balochistan?
There are signs that Afghanistan’s role as a base for anti-Pakistan operations over the past seven years is gradually shrinking. But it is not completely over yet. The rollback in that role is directly linked to what the United States wants. And Washington’s recent change of heart regarding Pakistan’s role and legitimate regional security interests are the result of the Pakistani military standing its ground, not any genuine change of heart in US policymaking circles. This is why you did not see any US official jumping in excitement at the idea of Pakistani military training the Afghan National Army, which is what our army chief has proposed.
New Pakistani Envoy to Syria “Invades” School With Family!
The new Pakistani ambassador to Syria, appointed by President Zardari, has summarily sacked the entire staff and faculty of the Pakistan International School in Damascus and appointed almost all his immediate family members for a collective monthly salary of $38,000 (Rs3.2 million).
The sacked teachers and staff members of the school run by the embassy, who were removed for no reasons and without any prior notice, have been compelled to go into litigation against the Pakistan Embassy, The News has learnt.
The Pakistan International School in Damascus (PISOD) is run by the embassy of Pakistan but within five months after the arrival of new ambassador, Aminullah Raisani, in September 2009, the management and faculty of the school was changed altogether without giving any reason and the school was stuffed with the relatives of the ambassador.
By Anjum Niaz | The News
The yellow sticky ‘post-it’ became Benazir’s Achilles Heel. It’s alleged that she would use them whenever she didn’t want to leave a permanent record on the files. As prime minister, she often appointed people based not on merit. President Farooq Leghari knew what was going on. He was from her party. But when he had had enough of jobbery, he dug out all the yellow ‘stickies’ and prepared a dossier based on them to dismiss her government.
Prime Minister Gilani and President Zardari are today following the same unethical practice of a spoils system. The ambassador to Syria is the latest howler. He’s Zardari’s appointee. A mere graduate, we’re told. Ambassador Aminullah Raisani has carted his whole extended family to Damascus and provided them with jobs at the Pakistan International School. How smart is that! During his two-year term, the man will rake in close to a million dollars as salaries paid to his sister Saeeda (who has been made the principal); another sister Ms Abbas (Urdu teacher); daughters Amna and Quratulein (teachers-at-large) brother-in-law Ishaque (accountant); nephews Atiq and Ali (business teachers); granddaughter Nayla (math teacher); son-in-law of sister Abdullah and cousin Ahsan (teachers without portfolio); and cousin Rasheed (biology teacher).
No sooner did Pakistan arrest leading Afghan Taliban figures, conspiracy theories surfaced in the US media in an attempt to malign Pakistan. Indians and their apologists in US were at the forefront of this campaign. Far from appreciating Pakistani stand, strong signs exist that CIA continues its double game against Pakistan. Despite statements to the contrary, Washington continues to bet on the puppet regime of President Asif Ali Zardari.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—The US duplicity in its dealings with Pakistan continues unabated and I have always maintained that the scale of their enterprise in destabilizing Pakistan can only be understood by finding linkages in seemingly unconnected events and publications.
Just when the Pakistan military has taken a strong position on its military operations in FATA and the pull towards dialogue with the tribals is becoming evident, the US subversive activities against Pakistan are becoming more overt, and old CIA connections are taking centre stage again including so-called “experts” on Pakistan! Let us look at some recent developments and see the linkages.
A photograph has surfaced that shows a terrorist wanted by Iran visiting a US military base in Afghanistan. Another terrorist wanted by Pakistan has also been spotted meeting Indian spies under American watch—in Afghanistan. Iran arrests one such terrorist but Pakistan’s pro-US government refuses to take a stand on a terrorist insurgency openly backed by rogue US elements, with Indian support.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—After occupying Afghanistan, rogue CIA elements launched a campaign to create a new state of Balochistan out of two conjoined provinces in Pakistan and Iran.
This was done to create the shortest possible supply route from the sea to Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan.
The Sunni-Shia divide was exploited in Iran and a language-based divide was used in Pakistan. In other words, the result was a sectarian Balochi insurgency in Iran and an ethnic one in Pakistan.
This is how Jundullah was born in Iran and Balochistan Liberation Army in Pakistan. Both were armed and supported by CIA using the Afghan soil.
But this American terror infrastructure is now crumbling. Fast.
Gen. (R) Hamid Gul says that Washington’s policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan have not borne fruit and that the US military will be ultimately defeated by the Taliban
Lieutenant-General Hamid Gul was a military commander in the Pakistani Army in the 1980s, and served as the head of the country’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency from 1987 to 1989.
But Gul’s rise to fame came during the Pakistan-Saudi-US effort to keep funds and logistical support flowing to the Afghanistan mujahidin, who were eventually credited with defeating Soviet military and political forces.
During the Bush administration, the US sought to put Gul on a UN list of international terrorists but their efforts were blocked by the Chinese delegation.
Domestically, Gul has been an outspoken opponent of Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani president, and has called for the Supreme Court to be reinstated as the rule of law in Pakistan.
Al Jazeera interviewed Gul during a short visit to Doha.
“In the summer of 2001 some Predators were equipped with two of Lockheed’s Hellfire AGM-114 laser-guided anti-tank missiles [$45,000 apiece]. So far there are four reported cases of the Predator-Hellfire combination being used. Two of these attacks resulted in the deaths of at least 13 innocent civilians.”
“On February 4, 2002, a Predator drone fired a Hellfire missile at ‘three tall men’ believed to be Al Qaeda members because they were clothed in long robes. The three men were later revealed to be poor people scavenging for metal in the Zhawar Kili battlefields. Families of the villagers were furious over the deaths of Daraz Khan, Jehangir Khan and Mir Ahmed. The 16 year-old niece of Daraz Khan said: “Why did you do this? Why did you Americans kill Daraz? We have nothing, nothing, and you have taken from us our Daraz.”
These are just few of the unheard stories of our beloved countrymen in tribal areas of Pakistan, who not only represent a very vital part of the nation’s stature, but also have stood by Pakistan in every hour of need and never have thought twice on giving any sacrifices for their homeland; who not only just live at one of our most mercurial borders but also assist our forces in guarding it.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—If it comes to a military-led intervention, both military officers and politicians will have to stay out of actual power. The army chief may not become a chief executive. The military might have to look into a new concept called the ‘Smart Coup’, where the military can bring capable Pakistanis to power with a firm executable plan of reform over five years, or more, fully backed by the military. There may not be time to put the plan to vote. It will have to be implemented. This would be the absolute last option. But we are nowhere near that right now. Gen. Kayani certainly has no such thing in mind according to people who have met him.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—”This was my first interaction with the soldier who commands the seventh largest military force on the face of the planet.”
With this catchy line, Dr. Farrukh Saleem began his brief and fascinating account of a meeting with General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
ISLAMABAD – In a bid to clear his position after he badly failed to pursue Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s case efficiently, Pakistan’s Ambassador to USA Hussain Haqqani called on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday.
Although, Haqqani’s meeting with the premier was not a top secret as Media Section of the PM Secretariat formally released details of the meeting soon after it.
According to details shared by the PM Secretariat, the Prime Minister asked Haqqani to convey US that Pakistan wanted the Obama Administration to give due respect to the sentiments and expectations of the people of Pakistan to help bridge the trust deficit and bring the people of both the countries closer.
