As tensions play out at home, powerful Pakistani general heads to U.S. for talks

By: Mehreen Zahra-Malik

Pakistan’s newly appointed army chief General Raheel Sharif attends the change of command ceremony in with outgoing army chief General Ashfaq Kayani (not in picture) at army headquarters in Rawalpindi November 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mian Khursheed.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Days before Pakistan’s powerful army chief was due to visit Washington for talks on regional stability and fighting militancy, General Raheel Sharif engaged in thinly veiled criticism of the nuclear-armed country’s civilian government.

A terse statement from the army’s PR wing underlined the tension between Pakistan’s military and its civilian government, just as the United States prepares to receive Sharif weeks after the prime minister held talks there.

After top generals met to review a major crackdown on extremists, the Pakistani military said it would be “undermined” if the government did not take “matching governance initiatives”.

That was taken to mean police reform, action on militant financing and better governance of restive tribal areas.

“He (Sharif) is foreign minister, prime minister, president and army chief all rolled into one,” said a Pakistani newspaper editor, while also questioning the military’s motives.

“His greatest achievement is that he has cemented this idea that the army is no longer interested in politics.”

Sharif’s hold on key policy areas goes beyond the normal remit of a military chief, and helps explain why officers and officials in Washington will be keen to speak to him when he visits from Nov. 15-20.

The general, not related to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has helped recast the image of the military, which has ousted several civilian governments and ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history.

Since taking office two years ago, Sharif has been credited with broadening Pakistan’s strategic policy to focus less narrowly on India and recognize the threat to internal security posed by the Pakistani Taliban and other militants.

SELECTIVE CRACKDOWN?

Raheel Sharif, a chain-smoker happy to pose for selfies with everyone from soldiers to the prime minister’s grandchildren, is dubbed the “Man of Action” of Pakistani politics.

Military campaigns against the Pakistani Taliban, criminal gangs in Karachi and anti-Shiite militants have enhanced his public appeal. #ThankYouRaheelSharif has trended for months on social media websites like Twitter.

The crackdown against militants, leading to a drop in political violence in Pakistan, has been broadly welcomed by the United States, as past military chiefs have been less willing to attack jihadist strongholds along the Afghan border.

Around 10,000 U.S. troops are still stationed in Afghanistan.

It was also under the general that the first official peace talks between the Afghan Taliban and Kabul government were held at Pakistan’s Murree resort in July, although negotiations have stalled with little hope of resumption any time soon.

But critics say the 59-year-old is not doing enough to disarm the Pakistani military’s jihadist proxies, namely India-focused Lashkar-e-Taiba, accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and the Haqqani network which attacks Afghan and Western forces in Kabul.

“In the beginning he was very promising,” said Moeed Yusuf, director of South Asia programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

“Since then, I think there’s been a bit of a question mark all over again … Is he going to go after the Haqqani network? Is he doing enough on the India terrorism base?”

In Washington next week, General Sharif is due to meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry as well as the U.S. Secretary of Defense, the National Security Advisor, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a senior Pakistani military official.

“We will talk specifically with him about our counter terrorism cooperation,” said a U.S. State Department official, requesting anonymity.

“We’ll talk very clearly with him about concerns on the activities of certain militant groups who continue to use Pakistani territory to fund-raise.”

Pakistan’s nuclear proliferation will also be discussed, as General Sharif seeks to dispel U.S. concerns that “loose nukes” could fall into the hands of militants, a Pakistani military official said.

GROWING DIVIDE

The Pakistani government responded to the army’s recent statement by reminding the military to remain “within the ambit of the constitution.”

But Raheel Sharif’s aides said he supported democracy.

Last year, after weeks of mounting anti-government protests, the army chief overruled some generals who were convinced it was time for the military to step in and force the embattled prime minister to resign.

    “He will point out problems and gaps; he does not shy from sharing concerns,” General Asim Bajwa, head of the military’s media wing, told Reuters. “But at the end of the day he supports democracy unwaveringly.”

(Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Kay Johnson and Mike Collett-White)

 

Lahore killings part of Qadri-Shujaat ploy: Farooq

ISLAMABAD – Terming the killing of Model Town killing of 12 people by the Punjab police a ploy of Qadri-Shujaat duo, Chief Coordinator of PML-N Siddiqul Farooq has said that Tahirul Qadri wanted to derail the incumbent political dispensation, as he did not want to see the country progress under the democratic order.
Addressing a press conference here at the party’s central secretariat on Sunday, Siddiq said that Threek Minhajul Quran (TMQ) chief Dr. Tahirul Qadri and PML-Q chief Ch. Shujaat Hussain and Pervaiz Elahi had held series of meetings in London and hatched a conspiracy against the strong democratic order in the country. Under the plan, homecoming of Qadri was advanced to June 23 from July to derail the present democratic government by counting on the “blood of some workers”.
He said the conspirators took advantage of the action to remove illegal barriers outside the TMQ offices according to the plan, which was hatched to disrupt and sabotage the development process currently underway in the country. Siddiq further said that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had set up a judicial commission to probe the Model Town incident and expose this conspiracy. He hoped that the commission would lay bare the actual facts before the nation.
Replying to a question, he claimed that fearing of being exposed, both Qadri and Chaudries had boycotted the judicial commission. He recalled that in 1990 Qadri had staged a drama on his house, which was exposed by a judicial inquiry.
Qadri himself does not meet the crtiteria set out in Articles 62 and 63 of Constitutions as in the past he was declared a “liar and actor with penchant for fame” by a high court judge in his inquiry report of the incident, he added.
Siddiqul Farooq asked in which capacity and under which law Qadri could call for security forces to take over Benazir Bhutto Airport and Model Town upon his homecoming.
“Why has Minhajul Quran administration not provided footage of CCTV cameras to the judicial commission so far?” he said.

Govt creating hurdles for itself, says Shujaat

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE – PML-Q President Ch Shujaat Hussain has said that he would personally receive Pakistan Awami Tahreek chief Allama Tahirul Qadri at Islamabad International Airport Monday morning and warned the rulers not to create hurdles in their peaceful plan.
Addressing a press conference here at his residence Sunday, Shujaat said that they have joined hands with the PAT chief for Islam and Pakistan and wanted to take the agenda of transforming the country into a true democratic state forward. Responding to a question about the hurdles being created by the government in the homecoming of Qadri, Shujaat said that the government was creating problems for itself by creating hurdles in their peaceful plan.
He recalled that previously when Qadri had staged a protest sit-in in Federal Capital they remained peaceful and no damage was done to public or private property. To a question, he said that nervousness of the government was beyond comprehension and by creating hurdles in the way of the peaceful plan of PAT and PML-Q the rulers were actually digging a ditch for itself.
Shujaat said that the government was doing nothing and was just surviving on advertisements. He claimed that the Model Town massacre was the outcome of a well-thought-out plan of the Punjab government but he did not explain the benefit the government was planning to draw out of it. To a question about the ongoing military operation against militants in Waziristan Agency, Shujaat said that the whole nation is standing with their valiant soldiers in the war.
Meanwhile, PML-Q, the major political party supporting the PAT will accord warm welcome to Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri at Islamabad Airport under the leadership of the party chief, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, while the PML-Q has completed all the arrangements in this regard.
Raja Basharat, PML-Q senior leader who was organising the arrangements told TheNation on Sunday that party chief, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Moonis Elahi and other party leaders would welcome PAT chief on his return at Islamabad Airport.  He said PML-Q Punjab President Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was in Gujrat to accord a big welcome to Dr Qadri on his way to Lahore from Islamabad Airport on Monday (today) and would stay at Gujrat on Monday night.
PML-Q Punjab President, Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi has said that rulers have learnt nothing from Minhaj-ul-Quran tragedy.  He made this remark while talking to the media at the residence of Dr Qadri after meeting his son Hassan Mohyuddin.
He said that arrests and raids prior to the arrival of PAT chief had exposed the rulers.  Pervaiz said that government was itself creating law and order situation by arresting the PAT workers in the name of so-called security measures.
Khurram Nawaz Gandapur, PAT senior leader when contacted to know about their preparations for according grand welcome to their leader Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri claimed that government was arresting their workers but the number of Dr Qadri’s supporters was so big that could not be marred with these cowardly acts.
He said that around 1000 PAT workers in the cities of Chakwal, Sargodha, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Mandi Bahauddin have been arrested by the police, besides more than 150 in Rawalpindi.  He said that only two PAT activists were arrested in Lahore but released after sometime.
He said that Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri would stay at Gujrat on Monday night after addressing a reception organised by PML-Q and reach Lahore on June 24 to address a mammoth public gathering at The Mall.  Gandapur said that PAT Lahore organisation would not go to Islamabad but prepare themselves for a big gathering at The Mall, while party organisations from Rawalpindi, and nearby cities of Pothohar and GT Road would reach Islamabad Airport to accord historical welcome to Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri.

Zarb-i-Azb: Daggers drawn

A man, fleeing a military offensive in South Waziristan, is beaten up by the police after breaking the queue at a distribution point for internally displaced persons in Dera Ismail Khan.—Reuters File photo

Not by military means alone

By Ejaz Haider

A week after the attack on the Karachi airport, Operation: Zarb-i-Azb has been launched in North Waziristan. But Pakistan’s security doctrine and practices still need to evolve to face the militant threat

The attack on Karachi airport, brazen as it was, was not the first of its kind. Nor will it be the last attack on a high-value vulnerable area with multiple vulnerable Points.

The question is: how did we fare in our response?

There are two levels of response analysis. One deals with preemption, the other with responding to an attack after it is underway. The first is proactive, the second reactive. Preemption presupposes the existence of a highly effective and coordinated intelligence apparatus. The reactive is about fire-fighting. Proactive strategies are about preventing a terrorist group from doing damage. The reactive is about limiting damage.

Consider the Karachi attack.

A group of ten terrorists, heavily armed with small arms and light weapons, chose a less-frequented side of the facility. Their plan seemed to be to get to the tarmac and destroy aircraft parked along the gates or in the hangars. They also fired at the fuel dump which was a diversion as well as a successful attempt to start a big fire and cause chaos. Chaos works to the advantage of the attacker. It forms an integral part of his plan and acts as a force-multiplier. Conversely, it makes the defender’s job more difficult by forcing him to also respond to the suboptimal part of the attacker’s plan instead of focusing on the attacker’s optimal objective.

Additionally, as we saw in this case too, the element of surprise was with the attacker. Once the men reached the building, they caught the Airports Security Force (ASF) personnel by surprise. It is for this reason that any area-defence plan stresses layers. But a layered defence itself must have layers on the outside and on the inside. The layered perimeter defence must be set up in a way that can blunt the element of surprise of the attacker before he gets to the VA. If the attacker can be engaged outside the main target and neutralised there, the response, after the attack has started, will be considered very good and efficient.

In this case, as in the previous cases, that did not happen. There are many reasons for that. Here are some: the airport is too close to certain localities, the approaches are not fully covered, there’s too much human traffic, we do not have a security culture and while the ASF is responsible for protecting the airport and its main buildings, it has no presence on the outside.

Further inquiries into the attack could also throw up other questions, like who did the reconnaissance and for how long, what VPs were utilized by the attackers and whether there was any insider-outsider collusion.





That said, the attackers did reach the gate from where they had to enter. They also managed to take out ASF personnel posted at the gate. Round One went to them. Beyond that the going got a little tougher. Inside the VA the ASF had a layered defence and it allowed them to fight back, hold the attackers and prevent them from spreading out. This bought crucial time. The ASF was still fighting when better-trained and equipped reinforcements arrived. By then, however, the attackers had managed to create a spectacle and shown the facility to be vulnerable to any such attack. That part of their mission had been accomplished.

For the responders it was important to get the passengers out safely and confine the terrorists to a single area and take them out as quickly as possible. The attackers wanted the fight to drag on. The defender wanted to finish it quickly. That’s a constant in any such situation.

The attackers were ultimately taken out. They couldn’t damage the aircraft as they must have planned, though some reports suggest partial damage to a few aircraft. A part of the building was gutted by the fire they had started and 29 people, excluding the ten attackers, were left dead. The news had flashed across the world. The state appeared weak and vulnerable.

A large part of the attackers’ mission had been accomplished. As for the response, the plus side is that it could have been worse.

That is the point of concern. The nature of this war will not change, nor will the tactics of the attacker. Is there no way of denying the terrorist his mission?

This is where we have to revisit the idea of pre-emption: stop the enemy before an attack gets underway.

I do not have numbers but it seems, on the basis of nuts-and-bolts information, that we are spending more money on training and weaponising responders than we are on enhancing the capacity of the intelligence apparatus. The irony is that even the money we are spending on intelligence is being wasted because there are too many agencies that are working in silos and, if insiders are to be believed, often at cross purposes.

Put another way, we are not only spending less money on intelligence, we are wasting even the money we are spending. The solution is not just to give more money to the spooks but to also ensure the money is spent efficiently.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government began with the promise to chalk out a National Internal Security Policy (NISP). That policy was finally unveiled end-February this year. It was sent to me about two months before it was made public and I reviewed it – in terms of talking points – and sent it to the Interior Minister. We were supposed to meet and discuss those points further but for some reason that meeting never materialized. I made public the review after the government releasedsome parts of the policy.

The NISP begins by correctly identifying several factors, from the short- to the medium- and long-term. It also stresses the need for coordination. It concedes that the National Counterterrorism Authority needs to play an important role and that there should be a joint intelligence directorate. It details an ambitious agenda for a counter-narrative and the need to streamline seminaries et cetera. But as I pointed out, it has no plan for how to enhance the capacity of the organisations that will be implementing this agenda, including irony of ironies, the capacity of the interior ministry itself, the lead agency in this effort.

Result: all the good intentions contained in the NISP remain just that – intentions. There’s nothing in the appropriations bill for FY2014-15 that indicates allocations for making the NISP dream come true.

This translates into something simple. The state, in its war on terrorism, is putting too much emphasis on military operations and too little to almost no stress on counterterrorism policing. The enemy’s asymmetric advantage lies in urban terrorism. That is precisely where the army cannot be used. And yet, while we continue to add more weaponised units for responding to attacks, there is little effort to improve pre-emption.

If we couldn’t pick up militant chatter on preparations for the Karachi attack and prevent it, our intelligence apparatus needs a drastic overhaul. The only way to make military operations work is to complement them with effective counterterrorism effort in the cities.

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متحدہ کے رہنما کی گرفتاری، تازہ ترین رد عمل اور تاثرات

وزیراعظم نواز شریف کے خصوصی معاون برائے سیاسی امور عرفان صدیقی کا کہنا ہے کہ لندن میں الطاف حسین کی گرفتاری سے حکومتِ پاکستان کا کوئی تعلق نہیں ہے اس کے باوجود حکومت انہیں ہر طرح کی قانونی مدد فراہم کرنے کے لیے تیار ہے۔

انھوں نے کہا کہ حکومت لندن میں اپنے سفارتخانے سے اس واقعے کی تفصیلات جاننے کی کوشش کر رہی ہے۔

ان کا کہنا تھا کہ ان کی معلومات کے مطابق برطانوی حکومت نے اس گرفتاری سے قبل حکومت پاکستان کے پیشگی کوئی رابطہ نہیں کیا۔

الطاف حسین کو حراست میں لے کر تھانے منتقل کر دیا گیا ہے: متحدہ

Altaf Hussain arrested in London by Express News

لندن پولیس کا کہنا ہے کہ نارتھ ویسٹ لندن کی مجوزہ پراپرٹی میں ابھی بھی سرچ آپریشن جاری ہے

 

متحدہ قومی موومنٹ نے منگل کی صبح لندن میں قائد تحریک الطاف حسین کو حراست میں لے کر مرکزی لندن کے ایک تھانے میں منتقل کیے جانے کی تصدیق کر دی ہے۔

ایم کیو ایم کے ترجمان مصطفی عزیز آبادی نے بی بی سی اردو سروس سے بات کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ الطاف حسین کو منی لانڈرنگ کے کیس میں حراست میں لیا گیا اور پھر انھیں مزید پوچھ گچھ کے لیے مرکزی لندن کے تھانے منتقل کر دیا گیا ہے۔

لندن کی میٹرو پولیٹن پولیس نے اپنی ویب سائٹ پر الطاف حسین کا نام نہیں لیا ہے اور کہا ہے کہ ساٹھ سالہ شخص کو شمال مغربی لندن کے رہائشی علاقے سے گرفتار کر کے تھانے منتقل کیا گیا ہے۔

 

 

Paramilitary troops kill five, arrest three alleged militants in Turbat

FC besieged the area after the firing. PHOTO: FILE

QUETTA: Paramilitary troops killed five suspected Baloch militants after an alleged exchange of fire during a search operation in Turbat, Kech district of Balochistan in the early hours of Saturday.

Frontier Corps (FC) spokesperson Khan Wasay said that militants open fired at FC personnel during search operations in Pidarak and firing lasted more than an hour.

“FC retaliated to attackers and besieged the area. At least five militants were killed and three others have been arrested,” he said.Talking to The Express Tribune, he said: “Five militants were killed, while eight others have been arrested.”

The dead militants were identified as suspected commanders of the banned Baloch Liberation Front (BLF). FC further claimed to have recovered arms and ammunition from their possession.

Of those killed, four were identified as Akram Murad Hasil, Islam Murad Hasil, Kamal Kamalan and Sameer. Three these were residents of Pidarak while Sameer belonged to Pasni.

In contrast, FC personnel claimed that some of their vehicles sustained damage due to the intense firing by militants.

Security forces have in recent months launched search operations in different parts of Kech and Panjgur districts. However, Baloch nationalists claim that the operation is being carried out against unarmed Baloch political workers.

Armed Baloch men surrender to FC

As many as 17 armed men affiliated with the banned Baloch Republican Army (BRA) surrendered before Frontier Corps in Dera Bugti on Saturday.

The men laid down their arms before the Bhambore Rifle’s Colonel Fiaz Farooq in Dera Bugti.

According to a statement issued by FC, the militants were previously members of the banned Baloch Republican Army (BRA). “The militants promised to live as law abiding citizen and will never be involved in anti-state activities,” read the statement. Officials of FC and local tribal elders were present on the occasion.

A number of armed men have surrendered following the announcement of a general amnesty by government of Balochistan. “Government has offered general amnesty which is helping the forces to restore peace in Balochistan,” the FC statement added.

North Korea fires 30 short-range rockets into waters off east coast

North Korea href=”http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=159646″ title=”Arirang News” target=”_blank”>
fired 30 short-range rockets into the East Sea in the early hours of Saturday morning.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says the rockets were launched between 4 and 6am from a coastal area near the port city of Wonsan, and flew for about 60 kilometers.
It added that North Korea did not send out any flight or navigation bans over the waters where the rockets splashed down.
The firing follows scores of short-range missile launches in recent weeks in apparent protest against the ongoing joint military drills between Seoul and Washington.
In its most recent move before Saturday’s firings, the North test-fired 25 short-range-rockets last Sunday.
While Seoul and Washington continue to call their drills defensive in nature, Pyongyang denounces them as a rehearsal for invasion and says its missile tests are a justifiable reaction.
The North has threatened to strengthen its nuclear deterrence and further demonstrate its military power against the South and the United States.
North Korea’s recent threats have raised concerns it might carry out a fourth nuclear test.
It already conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and in February of last year.
The South Korean military says it will closely monitor the possibility of more rocket launches by the North.
Hwang Ji-hye, Arirang News.

Punjab CMs set Pakistan, India agenda

Jawed Naqvi

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif (C), Indian Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal (L) and deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal greet the crowd during the final match of fourth World Cup Kabaddi Punjab 2013 tournament in Ludhiana. — Photo by AFP

NEW DELHI, Dec 15: If India-Pakistan talks appear to have hit the doldrums, the chief ministers of Punjab provinces on both sides would have none of it. They issued instead a joint statement on Sunday that, in a limited sense, goes beyond the stymied ambitions of their national bureaucracies, possibly even their political masters.The joint statement, believed to be the first such exercise between any two provinces of India and Pakistan, has proposed the free movement of academicians, students and interns, an idea that the home ministry in India would have none of.

The ministry openly discourages academics and intellectuals from almost any country to travel and communicate freely inside the world’s largest democracy. But India’s Punjab could prove to have the clout to make this change.

During the interaction between Pakistan’s Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Parkash Singh Badal, “it was mutually agreed to promote cooperation for the common interest of peace, harmony, economic growth and leveraging each other’s potential,” said their statement. It was issued in Amritsar at the end of Mr Sharif’s five-day tour of India during which he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other high-ranking officials in Delhi.

During the trip to Punjab, Mr Sharif visited the Punjab Agriculture University Ludhiana and also addressed the ‘Conference on Punjab-Punjab Cooperation’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). He also held meetings with Mr Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sardar Sukhbir Singh Badal and their delegation.

Recognising the benefits of mutual cooperation both sides agreed to facilitate exchange of academicians, experts and researches and to promote community contacts and understandings through exchange of delegation consisting of professionals and practitioners from different sectors, including agriculture, trade, industry and commerce.

The two would encourage exchange of students and interns from different educational institutions; that would “promote people to people contact through encouragement, development and participation in sports, cultural and tourism activities”.

A favourite subject of the two Punjabs, the chief ministers focused on the promotion of cooperation and sharing of learning in livestock sector, including dairy development, breed improvement, vaccinations, animal husbandry, veterinary sciences and water management.

They would encourage holding of joint workshops, training programmes and R&D projects in agriculture and allied sector, especially crop improvement.

Manufacturing of agriculture machinery and implements, exchange of knowledge and experiences in health and education sectors were the other topics mentioned in the statement.

The two provinces would share each other’s experience and good practices in land administration and public service delivery systems for improvement of governance and public facilitation. They would pursue policies for easy access for people of both sides to religious places of their respective faith. They would press for policies to reduce trade barriers for promotion of business and encourage new routes of trade.

Both the chief ministers resolved to pursue with their respective central governments to facilitate enhanced cooperation and formulate supportive policies in this regard.