Pakistani Forces Battle Insurgents, Killing Dozens

By Griff Witte and Imtiaz Ali
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, November 1, 2007; 5:10 PM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 1 -- Pakistani forces fought pitched battles with insurgents Thursday in a scenic northwestern valley, leaving dozens dead. The violence came on a day when the Supreme Court indicated that President Pervez Musharraf's election to a new term will remain in legal limbo for at least a couple of more weeks.

Pakistan has been grappling in recent months with a growing Islamic insurgency and an uneasy transition toward democracy after eight years of military rule under Musharraf. The surging violence and the uncertainty surrounding Musharraf's future have revived speculation that he will declare a state of emergency, allowing him to postpone parliamentary elections planned for early 2008.

The Swat Valley, once a popular tourist destination in the country's northwest, has become the latest front in the war between Pakistani troops and insurgents. Following a tense truce earlier in the week, fighting picked up Wednesday night and continued Thursday, with the government claiming that as many as 70 insurgents had been killed. There were no immediate reports of deaths on the government's side, although an insurgent spokesman claimed that his group had taken about 40 troops hostage.

"Early in the morning, Pakistani helicopters deployed a group of soldiers on the mountain of Khwazakhela. They were soon surrounded by our fighters and now they are under our control," said Maulana Siraj Uddin, the spokesman.

He said insurgents had also taken two foreigners hostage, although he said it was "premature to say about their nationalities."

The government would not confirm either claim.

The fighting has sparked an exodus from Swat, with villagers packing their belongings and fleeing. Days and nights in the valley have been punctuated by massive explosions, as well as by buzzing helicopters that have strafed insurgent positions.
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The government is fighting to retake control of the valley, which has come under the sway of Taliban- and al-Qaeda-allied leader Maulana Fazlullah over the past year. With a pirate FM radio signal and an army of thousands of heavily armed fighters, Fazlullah has imposed an extreme interpretation of Islamic law on a large swath of territory in Swat. He continued to broadcast his message Thursday, despite the government's offensive.

"I ask Pakistani troops to resign from their jobs and not lay down their lives for a war which is in fact America's war," an emotional Fazlullah said in the broadcast.

The fighting came as a suicide bomber attacked a busload of air force employees in the central Pakistani city of Sargodha early Thursday. Ten people died and 40 were wounded.

It was the latest in a string of suicide blasts in recent weeks, several of which have struck far from the troubled border region with Afghanistan that is considered the heart of Pakistan's Islamic insurgency. The deadliest strike came in the southern port city of Karachi last month when at least one bomber detonated himself in a crowd of supporters cheering former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The attack killed 140 people and injured several hundred others.

(more) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...d=moreheadlines

Like I said, if you can't invade, you subsidize.

Edit to add: Space, I didn't see the article you posted, sorry.

No sweat.

I understand that Pakistan is potentially a more difficult and dangerous situation than any other we face in that part of the world. I only know what I have read, but evidently the political situation is growing ever more volatile.

Musharref is a military dicatator and a piece of filth. Why do we even deal with these animals? They have the bomb so the US ends up subsidizing another unsavory, totalitarian cast of characters.

Because we think the alternatives are all worse. In the case of an Islamist government, much much worse.

I've got news for you, that regime might fold.

Yes indeed, that is exactly why I am worried.

In the end, all nation-states have the right to self-determination. Musharreff is a military dictator and his regime is repsonsible for many dirt naps and horrors. As the Middle East continues to deteriorate, expect similar situations is Saudi Arabia(another puppet regime) and Egypt(yet another puppet regime). Also, remember the faces of the political class, so they can be identified when we hang them.

What leads you to believe that a successor regime would be any improvement for Pakistan or the west?

Near as I can tell, we are trying to "finesse" the return of a more democratic system to Pakistan with our support of Bhutto.

Who knows if it will be an improvement for the people of Pakistan. They are a sovereign nation. What right does the US or any other nation have in trying to influence their internal politics?

We should have a hands off approach, which is includes diplomacy and trade. However, with people of Pakistan, it me be quite some time before they can trust the west.



I think the best bet is to disengage with the interventionist tactics.

Disengagement and self determination were the policies I supported when the Islamist revolution got underway in Iran in '79. Given our history with the Shah, I thought we could benefit most by letting the revolution run its course, and hoping the extremist tendencies would die out over time.

Given that experience, I'm not so eager to keep hands off a nation so potentially dangerous to our (and India's) interests as Pakistan.

What happened in '79 was blowback for the coup 1953. In college, I wrote a thesis on Operation Ajax. If MI6 and the CIA didn't go to bat for the AIOC, Iran would have been a 'democracy' by now. However, the Anglo-American Establishment had other plans.



Given the history of US interventionism, I defer to the hands off approach. Conversely, we could continue down the same path, continue to diplomatically isolate ourselves from the world, and be the impetus for World War III.

Musharref is a military dicatator and a piece of filth. Why do we even deal with these animals? They have the bomb so the US ends up subsidizing another unsavory, totalitarian cast of characters.

the biggest democracy in the world

ie "government by the people"

where, pray tell, would that be?

India.

Good work, buddy!!!!!!!!

Pakistan wasn't all that bad of a place back in the day. Come to think of it, neither was Iran.

Are you being facetious? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Not at all. I was impressed with your knowledge of the region, and world facts, as well. India is, quite literally, the most populous democracy in the world.

Bad for whom?

Folks. Some of my best friends back in the day were Iranian and West Pakistani military.

I am sure both places were just fine for members of the respective country's militaries.

Somehow in those days I don't think they were enemies of the US either. Seems like we were all just normal people with different uniforms and languages. Never even thought much about politics.

One of my uncles was Air Attache to Pakistan back in the eighties, as I recall. He and his wife both learned Urdu. They thought well of the Paks they worked with, but didn't have many kind words for the political leadership, which was Ali-Bhutto as I recall.

I'd like to take a moment and thank the British for fucking up another part of the world.

Silence.....1......2......3....

God Save the Queen

You might want to thank them for the USA too.

God Save The Queen

Seriously, the lingering stench of British colonialism is still with us.

Seriously, British colonialism spawned the many of the world's great democracies - us, Canada, Australia, India, And GB itself.

I there anyone with a better record as a colonial "oppressor'?

Hmmm....

The Spaniards, the Dutch, zee French, the Portuguese...

Yeah, the Brits get the Douche-Of-The-Year Award.

Musharraf Declares State of Emergency in Pakistan


By DAVID ROHDE and SALMAN MASOOD
Published: November 3, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 3 — The Pakistani leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, declared a state of emergency about 6 p.m. local time today, Pakistani television reported.

All members of the Supreme Court were required to sign a new provisional constitutional order mandating the state of emergency, but 8 of the 11 justices signed an order calling the state of emergency illegal and gathered at the Supreme Court building, said Gohar Khan.

The declaration came days before the Supreme Court was expected to rule on the constitutionality of General Musharraf's re-election as president last month and of his ability to serve as both the country's president and military leader.

Just after 5 p.m. signs that a state of emergency would be declared started to emerge. All television stations were blocked as news media were reporting a meeting of General Musharraf and his top aides in the president's office.

A Pakistani intelligence official said that a list had been prepared of prominent Pakistani journalists and opposition politicians who would be detained.

Before transmission was cut off, Pakistani media reported that 1,000 additional police had been deployed in Islamabad, the capital, but as of 5:30 no additional police could be seen. Groups of journalists had gathered in front of the country's Supreme Court in expectation that judges could be detained.

Government officials have said over the past several days that if a state of emergency were declared, they would not declare martial law.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/03/world/asia/04pakistan.html

Before transmission was cut off...

...Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has been removed from his post as army troops take control of the Supreme Court....

Bhutto to stay abroad after Pakistan emergency: aide

Former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto will not return to Pakistan from Dubai after President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency on Saturday, a spokesman for her Pakistan People's Party told AFP.

"She can't go back to Pakistan now due to the state of emergency," Zubeir Bashir, the PPP's spokesman for the Middle East, said. "If she goes back they would arrest her."

No official reason was given for the state of emergency, but the declaration came as Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999, awaited a Supreme Court decision that could have overturned his victory in an October 6 presidential election.

"We condemn Musharraf's decision to declare a state of emergency. We don't accept it," said Zubair, adding that Bhutto might give a news conference in the Gulf Arab emirate of Dubai later on Saturday or on Sunday.

"Army rule is bad. It stops everything and makes the country's progress zero," Zubair added.

Bhutto made a surprise return to Dubai on Thursday after earlier cancelling her planned departure from Pakistan because of rumours of an impending state of emergency.

She had flown from Dubai to Pakistan after eight years in self-imposed exile just two weeks before that, on October 18. Hours later, her homecoming parade in the southern city of Karachi was targeted by a suicide bombing that killed 139 people

http://www.africasia.com/services/news/new...02.0dye64lt.php

Martial Law

Rice said yesterday Musharraf should avoid imposing martial law and go ahead with elections due by Jan. 15, Reuters reported. Moderate forces in Pakistan, such as Bhutto, must work together to prepare for the elections, Rice said, adding she hadn't spoken to Musharraf in recent days.

Martial law wouldn't affect the work of the Supreme Court and the 11-member panel will complete hearings by Nov. 6 in the case challenging Musharraf's candidacy, Justice Javed Iqbal, who heads the panel, said in court yesterday.

Musharraf, who has survived at least four assassination attempts by Islamic extremists since 2001, has faced his greatest challenge since he seized power in a military coup in 1999. Religious parties oppose his support for Bush's campaign against terrorism and the country's opposition parties are demanding his resignation.

The general won the mandate for a second five-year term on Oct. 6.

Pakistan's stocks slumped the most in two months on Nov. 1 after a suicide bomb attack, the second this week, killed at least eight people and concern mounted that the Supreme Court will rule Musharraf ineligible for a second term.

Suicide Bomber

A suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked a Pakistan Air Force bus, killing at least eight people and wounding 4 others near the industrial city of Faisalabad.

More than 450 people have been killed in bombings since security forces stormed the Red Mosque in Islamabad in July, ending a challenge to the government by clerics seeking to impose Islamic law in the capital.

Pakistan is in the final phase of returning to full democracy, Musharraf said on Oct. 30, according to the official Associated Press of Pakistan. He said the first phase from 1999 to 2002 involved him managing the affairs of state while the second from 2002-2007 saw a fully functioning parliament where his role was confined to giving advice to the government.

Former Prime Minister Bhutto said on Oct. 31 she had heard ``rumors'' Musharraf planned to impose a state of emergency, GEO television reported. Musharraf must respect the court's decision, she said.

Twin Attacks

Bhutto, 54, who leads the second-biggest opposition party in Parliament, was the target of twin suicide bombings on Oct. 19 after she returned to Pakistan, ending eight years of self- imposed exile. At least 136 people were killed and over 500 were injured.

As part of the deal allowing her return, Bhutto did not object to Musharraf being re-elected Oct. 6 by the current Parliament and state legislatures, a vote boycotted by the opposition. Bhutto is hoping that the laws will be changed to allow her to run for a third term as prime minister in parliamentary elections.

Musharraf had agreed to give up control of the army by Nov. 15 as part of the deal.

Musharraf sparked the most serious opposition to his rule in March when he dismissed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry on charges of misusing authority. Lawyers and opposition parties staged nationwide demonstrations until a 13- member panel of Supreme Court judges reinstated Chaudhry in July.

Islamic parties oppose Musharraf's security operations in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan and his backing for the U.S.-led war on terrorism since 2001, when he ended Pakistan's support for the Taliban regime that sheltered al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The Taliban were ousted from power in Afghanistan in 2001.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...&refer=home

Just one?

NEW DELHI: The government reacted very cautiously to the developments in Pakistan even as the Opposition and Left parties strongly condemned the imposition of emergency by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday evening.

The Ministry of External Affairs in a circumspect statement said that it “regretted the difficult times Pakistan is passing through”.

“We trust that conditions of normalcy will soon return permitting Pakistan’s transition to stability and democracy to continue,” said MEA spokesperson Navtej Sarna. Immediately after the official announcement on imposition of emergency in Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee. The government’s cautious response comes from the assessment that India needs to do businees with whoever is in power in Islamabad.

However, the Left and BJP were less circumspect. The BJP condemned the imposition of Emergency and wanted India to put pressure on the General.

“Musharraf has shown his true colour as a dictator,” BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said adding that this would have an impact on the entire region.

“Whatever little rudiments of democracy existed in Pakistan has been eliminated by this act,” he said, and added, “The government of India should condemn the act in strong words and talk to international community to put pressure on Musharraf for restoration of democracy,” he said, emphasizing that emergency in Pakistan will add to the instability of the region.

The Left parties called it a setback for democracy and said that it was a “pre-meditated blow” to stall the Pakistan Supreme Court ruling on whether Mr Musharraf’s recent election win should be overturned. The Congress merely hoped that the “present turbulence” will settle down soon....

“Musharraf has shown his true colour as a dictator,” BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said adding that this would have an impact on the entire region.

“Whatever little rudiments of democracy existed in Pakistan has been eliminated by this act,” he said, and added, “The government of India should condemn the act in strong words and talk to international community to put pressure on Musharraf for restoration of democracy,” he said, emphasizing that emergency in Pakistan will add to the instability of the region.

The Left parties called it a setback for democracy and said that it was a “pre-meditated blow” to stall the Pakistan Supreme Court ruling on whether Mr Musharraf’s recent election win should be overturned. The Congress merely hoped that the “present turbulence” will settle down soon.

After weeks of speculation President Musharraf imposed emergency after a week of insurgent attacks and ahead of a Pakistan Supreme Court decision on whether Mr Musharraf’s election victory should be overturned. Soon after the official announcement of emergency, eight of the Supreme Court judges rejected the emergency.

For India, the emergency in Pakistan comes at a time when bilateral trade is going up and Indo-Pakistan talks are continuing at least according to schedule. In fact the petroleum ministers of the two countries are scheduled to hold talks on the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline next week. Under the circumstances, there is a question mark over petroleum minister Murli Deora’s trip to Islamabad to hammer out the transit issue on the gas pipeline.

Due to the ongoing domestic crisis in Pakistan, there has already been a slowdown in the Indo-Pakistan peace process. Even though talks have been going on as scheduled under the composite dialogue process, there has been very little progress in any area. Recently India and Pakistan today held the fourth round of expert-level talks on conventional confidence building measures but with both government battling domestic problems there was little movement on the issues under discussion. Similarly the meeting of the anti terror mechanism also ended with little progress....

South Asia
Nov 2, 2007


Musharraf faces up to an emergency
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - With Admiral William J Fallon, US commander of CENTCOM, due in Pakistan on Thursday to finalize collaboration on pressing issues concerning the "war on terror" in Pakistan and Afghanistan, besides addressing the tension over Iran, top decision-makers in Islamabad are in a quandary. The issue is whether Pakistan can afford to take bold steps in the "war on terror" without taking extraordinary steps to solidify the regime of President General Pervez Musharraf.

The matter is one of extreme urgency. Almost the entire North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Federally Administered Tribal



Areas have revolted against the state of Pakistan in favor of the Taliban. And polls conducted by US institutions suggest the hunt for al-Qaeda is extremely unpopular in Pakistan, which also faces wave after wave of suicide attacks in its bigger cities.

The Pakistani Taliban have refused offers of a ceasefire in North Waziristan and South Waziristan, and are extending their engagement of Pakistani troops in the Swat Valley in NWFP where Pakistani troops face attacks from all sides, including the local population.

A local television station has shown footage of people collecting money for what they call the "mujahideen". The station reported that at one place in the Swat Valley, people collected Rs1.5 million (about US$24,500) in just three hours. Such popular support for the militancy forces Islamabad to question whether it should continue this losing battle, or launch a full-scale war against terror.

However - and this is crucial - should Musharraf decide on the latter approach, he would need to do so under special powers, such as martial law or a state of emergency.

Asia Times Online contacts confirm that in the past three days Musharraf has held several high-level meetings that included all four provincial chief ministers. The discussions centered on the issue of extraordinary powers. The same issue was raised with the policy planning section of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League.

Former premier Benazir Bhutto, who at the last minute canceled plans to travel to the United Arab Emirates, where she had spent years in exile, urged the government on Wednesday not to impose a state of emergency.

A senior security official speaking to Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity, said, "Major surgeries are essential in cases like Lal Masjid [a militant mosque in Islamabad], but such extraordinary events need extraordinary powers. If the courts intervene in such matters, the security forces will stop working and nobody will be able to stop the march of the Taliban into the bigger cities of Pakistan."

The official continued, "This is a major crossroads in the 'war on terror' at which Washington will have to approve an all-powerful government, even at the cost of democracy. Otherwise it can say goodbye to Pakistan as a 'war on terror' ally as it [Pakistan] would simply not be able to get results."

The massive engagement of the Pakistani armed forces in the Swat Valley has disrupted controls along the Durand Line that separates Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the result that in a matter of weeks, hundreds of fresh fighters have reached southeastern Afghanistan to bolster the Taliban-led insurgency from Jalalabad to Khost.

In this respect, Fallon's visit to Pakistan is significant as Washington wants Pakistan to stop this flow of precious Taliban assets from the Swat Valley before the US entertains the idea of a new theater in Iran. (King Abdullah of Jordan is also expected in Pakistan soon, as is US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.)

This returns Pakistan to the dilemma described above, of whether to go for all-out war, and if so, how to go about it as the country's judiciary has over the past several months steadfastly blocked any high-handed government moves. Even the results of last month's presidential elections, which Musharraf won, are under judicial review.

And a full frontal war would be unpopular among the masses, where Musharraf's standing is already low. The US-based World Public Opinion (WPO) revealed in a recent poll that fewer than half of urban Pakistanis support attacking al-Qaeda and cracking down on fundamentalists, and Pakistanis overwhelmingly rejected the idea of permitting foreign troops to attack al-Qaeda on Pakistani territory.

WPO reported that four out of five Pakistanis said their government should not allow US or other foreign troops to enter Pakistan to pursue and capture al-Qaeda fighters. And three out of four opposed allowing foreign troops to attack Taliban insurgents based in Pakistan. The findings also reveal that a majority of urban Pakistanis believed their government's decision to attack militants based in the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in July was a mistake.

A suicide attack on Tuesday, meanwhile, in a highly sensitive military zone, sent a strong warning to the government of the militants' strength. The bomber set off explosives about a kilometer from Musharraf's offices in Rawalpindi, killing seven people, including himself, and injuring at least 14 others.

And clearly there is more to come. On Thursday, a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying Pakistan Air Force employees, killing at least five people and wounding about 40, the military confirmed. The incident took place near Sargodha, a city in eastern Punjab province.

Against this backdrop, Musharraf has to decide whether Pakistan can afford to ditch democracy in the fight against terror, or whether Pakistan safeguards democracy and closes its theater of the "war on terror".

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief.

(all) http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IK02Df01.html