Cops: 'Mafia-style killing' was complex suicide
November 22, 2012
Police in Hamburg investigating the death of a man who was found shot in the head in a tied-up sack floating in a river, suspect that rather than having been the victim of a Mafia hit, he killed himself.
The body of 43-year-old Uwe Sattler was found in the River Elbe in July by a fisherman. He was wearing a rucksack full of rocks and had been shot in the head and put into a sack fastened with cable ties before he hit the water.
Local media was rife with speculation about a Mafia murder - but after extensive investigation, the police now say they are nearly certain that the Sattler killed himself.
"We are 99.999 percent certain it was suicide," a Hamburg police spokeswoman told The Local.
"There is no other explanation; no other motive and no other evidence."
Detectives have worked out that there was enough of an opening in the sack between the cable ties for Sattler to get an arm out and shoot himself so that afterwards the gun would fall to the ground. He would have had to have done this while perched on the edge of a bridge or jetty to ensure falling into the water.
Why he would make such an effort to do this remains a mystery - as does the whereabouts of the gun, which was never found. "It just goes to show, there is nothing that does not exist," the police spokeswoman said.
After using fingerprints to identify the body, police went to his flat in Hamburg which reportedly looked newly renovated - and held absolutely no furniture. Officers found only a small box of documents, including a note to say that the belongings in the cellar should be given to the building landlord, Die Welt said.
Back in the summer when detectives were trying to piece together Sattler's life, they also found little to work with. He was single and unemployed, and seemed to have no friends, nor any contact with his family. Despite intensive efforts, the police admitted in July that they had been unable to find a single friend or acquaintance.
He had moved from Berlin to Hamburg in September 2008, but no friends could be found in the capital either. Die Welt said that he had rented a van in 2004 and crashed head-long into a bridge pillar. He survived the crash but was seriously injured. When police went to his flat after the crash they found it was completely empty just like his place in Hamburg.
This would seem to be reason to suggest he was suicidal - although might leave open some questions about the immensely complicated method he supposedly chose in Hamburg.
The investigation has been put on ice, but the case remains open.
The Local/hc
see also: Anorak : The mysterious death of Uwe Sattler – Germany’s Gareth Williams
Showing posts with label suicide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label suicide. Show all posts
The Local (Germany) : Cops: 'Mafia-style killing' was complex suicide
Thursday, November 22, 2012
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Yahoo! : Blasts near Pakistan arms plant kill 59
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Blasts near Pakistan arms plant kill 59
By Augustine Anthony | August 21, 2008
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside Pakistan's main defence industry complex on Thursday as workers were leaving at the end of their shift, killing 59 people, officials said.
Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is on the front line of the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism and al Qaeda-linked militants have launched a wave of attacks on the security forces over the past year, bombing military camps, patrols and transport.
The violence combined with political uncertainty has helped undermine investor confidence and send the country's financial markets on a downward spiral.
"There were bodies lying everywhere and wounded people soaked in blood were screaming for help," said Shah, the manager of a petrol station near the industrial complex in Wah, 30 km (20 miles) northwest of Islamabad.
"Many of the wounded were either without legs or hands. I could see body parts hanging on trees," he said.
A Pakistani Taliban spokesman said the blasts were retaliation for military operations against militants in the northwestern region of Bajaur, on the Afghan border.
"If it doesn't stop we will continue such attacks," Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar said by telephone.
"The Wah factory is a killer factory where arms are being produced to kill our women and children," he said.
A hospital official said 59 people had been killed and 81 wounded in the blasts near the heavily guarded complex, the hub of Pakistan's defence industry where about 25,000 workers produce explosives, ordnance and weapons in about 15 factories.
Hundreds of workers were milling about outside the complex at the end of their shift when the bombers struck.
GOVERNMENT VOW
One of the bombers blew himself up outside the complex's main gate while the second detonated his explosives at almost the same time near another gate, said police officer Sardar Shahbaz.
Soldiers cordoned off the area and kept reporters back as ambulances arrived to take away casualties, a witness said.
Pakistani Taliban said last week they were behind a bomb attack on an air force bus in the city of Peshawar which killed 13 people. The blast was in retaliation for military operations in the northwest, a militant spokesman said.
Since July last year, Pakistan has suffered a wave of militant violence, particularly in the northwest, in which hundreds of people have been killed including many security force members.
Violence subsided when a coalition government that came to power after a February election opened talks with militants but it picked up again after their top leader, Baitullah Mehsud, suspended the talks in June.
This week's resignation of President Pervez Musharraf, under threat of impeachment from the ruling coalition, has raised questions about the government's commitment to tackle violence.
Although Musharraf's support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism was deeply unpopular, the government has vowed to keep up efforts to fight the militants.
But the first days since Musharraf's departure have seen squabbling among the ruling parties, raising concern about the government's ability to deal with security and economic problems and bring political stability.
Share and currency markets have dropped in the last two days after initial gains on Musharraf's exit. Pakistan's stock market, which rose for six years to 2007, and was the best performing in Asia in that period, has fallen about 27 percent this year.
(Additional reporting by Sheree Sardar)
(Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Jerry Norton)
By Augustine Anthony | August 21, 2008
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside Pakistan's main defence industry complex on Thursday as workers were leaving at the end of their shift, killing 59 people, officials said.
Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is on the front line of the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism and al Qaeda-linked militants have launched a wave of attacks on the security forces over the past year, bombing military camps, patrols and transport.
The violence combined with political uncertainty has helped undermine investor confidence and send the country's financial markets on a downward spiral.
"There were bodies lying everywhere and wounded people soaked in blood were screaming for help," said Shah, the manager of a petrol station near the industrial complex in Wah, 30 km (20 miles) northwest of Islamabad.
"Many of the wounded were either without legs or hands. I could see body parts hanging on trees," he said.
A Pakistani Taliban spokesman said the blasts were retaliation for military operations against militants in the northwestern region of Bajaur, on the Afghan border.
"If it doesn't stop we will continue such attacks," Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar said by telephone.
"The Wah factory is a killer factory where arms are being produced to kill our women and children," he said.
A hospital official said 59 people had been killed and 81 wounded in the blasts near the heavily guarded complex, the hub of Pakistan's defence industry where about 25,000 workers produce explosives, ordnance and weapons in about 15 factories.
Hundreds of workers were milling about outside the complex at the end of their shift when the bombers struck.
GOVERNMENT VOW
One of the bombers blew himself up outside the complex's main gate while the second detonated his explosives at almost the same time near another gate, said police officer Sardar Shahbaz.
Soldiers cordoned off the area and kept reporters back as ambulances arrived to take away casualties, a witness said.
Pakistani Taliban said last week they were behind a bomb attack on an air force bus in the city of Peshawar which killed 13 people. The blast was in retaliation for military operations in the northwest, a militant spokesman said.
Since July last year, Pakistan has suffered a wave of militant violence, particularly in the northwest, in which hundreds of people have been killed including many security force members.
Violence subsided when a coalition government that came to power after a February election opened talks with militants but it picked up again after their top leader, Baitullah Mehsud, suspended the talks in June.
This week's resignation of President Pervez Musharraf, under threat of impeachment from the ruling coalition, has raised questions about the government's commitment to tackle violence.
Although Musharraf's support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism was deeply unpopular, the government has vowed to keep up efforts to fight the militants.
But the first days since Musharraf's departure have seen squabbling among the ruling parties, raising concern about the government's ability to deal with security and economic problems and bring political stability.
Share and currency markets have dropped in the last two days after initial gains on Musharraf's exit. Pakistan's stock market, which rose for six years to 2007, and was the best performing in Asia in that period, has fallen about 27 percent this year.
(Additional reporting by Sheree Sardar)
(Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Jerry Norton)
Dawn : 23 dead in Pakistan hospital suicide blast
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
23 dead in Pakistan hospital suicide blast
August 19, 2008
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 19 (AFP) A suicide bomber blew himself up Tuesday at a hospital in the northwestern Dera Ismail Khan town, killing at least 23 people, police said.
The explosion happened as people gathered to protest over the death of a man in a suspected sectarian attack in the town, said provincial police chief Malik Naveed Khan.
“There are 23 confirmed dead and up to 20 wounded. We have found the legs of the suspected suicide bomber,” Khan told a private television channel.
Provincial police spokesman Riaz Ahmed said the dead included civilians from the crowd of protesters and policemen who went to the hospital to provide security.
August 19, 2008
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 19 (AFP) A suicide bomber blew himself up Tuesday at a hospital in the northwestern Dera Ismail Khan town, killing at least 23 people, police said.
The explosion happened as people gathered to protest over the death of a man in a suspected sectarian attack in the town, said provincial police chief Malik Naveed Khan.
“There are 23 confirmed dead and up to 20 wounded. We have found the legs of the suspected suicide bomber,” Khan told a private television channel.
Provincial police spokesman Riaz Ahmed said the dead included civilians from the crowd of protesters and policemen who went to the hospital to provide security.
Dawn : Twenty dead in blast at Pakistani hospital
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Twenty dead in blast at Pakistani hospital
August 19, 2008
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 19 (Reuters) A bomb went off in the compound of a hospital in northwest Pakistan’s Dera Ismail Khan town Tuesday killing 20 people, a senior government official said.
“We don't know whether it was a suicide attack but the bomb went off in the compound. I have initial reports of 20 dead,” said Syed Mohsin Shah, a senior city government official.
Supporters of a Shi'ite Muslim leader were protesting outside the hospital when the bomb went off.
The leader was shot dead earlier Tuesday and his body taken to the hospital.
August 19, 2008
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 19 (Reuters) A bomb went off in the compound of a hospital in northwest Pakistan’s Dera Ismail Khan town Tuesday killing 20 people, a senior government official said.
“We don't know whether it was a suicide attack but the bomb went off in the compound. I have initial reports of 20 dead,” said Syed Mohsin Shah, a senior city government official.
Supporters of a Shi'ite Muslim leader were protesting outside the hospital when the bomb went off.
The leader was shot dead earlier Tuesday and his body taken to the hospital.
Daily Times : Pindi suicide hit third in 3 months
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Pindi suicide hit third in 3 months
November 25, 2007
RAWALPINDI: The Saturday’s suicide bombings in Rawalpindi were the third strike by suicide bombers on armed forces in the city in the last three months.
On Sept 4, a suicide attacker blew himself up after boarding a bus carrying armed forces employees, while a roadside bomb went off near General Headquarters (GHQ) in RA Bazaar in Rawalpindi minutes, killing at least 25 people and wounded 66.
On Oct 30, a suicide explosion near Army House killed eight people and injured around 18.
November 25, 2007
RAWALPINDI: The Saturday’s suicide bombings in Rawalpindi were the third strike by suicide bombers on armed forces in the city in the last three months.
On Sept 4, a suicide attacker blew himself up after boarding a bus carrying armed forces employees, while a roadside bomb went off near General Headquarters (GHQ) in RA Bazaar in Rawalpindi minutes, killing at least 25 people and wounded 66.
On Oct 30, a suicide explosion near Army House killed eight people and injured around 18.
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AP : 2 Suicide Attacks Kill 35 in Pakistan
Sunday, November 25, 2007
2 Suicide Attacks Kill 35 in Pakistan
By MUNIR AHMAD | November 24, 2007
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Suicide bombers hit a bus carrying intelligence agency employees and a checkpoint near the headquarters of the Pakistan army on Saturday, killing at least 35 people, officials said.
The two attackers struck in Rawalpindi, a garrison city just south of the capital, Islamabad. A senior intelligence official, who asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of his work, said at least 35 people were killed.
In the first attack, an explosive-laden car rammed a bus carrying employees from the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, while the other bomber hit the checkpoint, said Mohammed Afzal, a local police official.
An intelligence agent at the scene said the destroyed bus was a 72-seater, but that more people were on board. The agent, who also requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of his work, said he believed casualty number would keep rising.
After the blast, troops and police quickly blocked off the area. They pushed people back and snatched cameras and mobile phones from journalists and bystanders. Agents fanned out across the area, picking up metal bits of what appeared to be the suicide bomber's car.
It was the second major attack against the ISI in recent months. On Sept. 4, a suicide attacker blew himself up after boarding a bus carrying ISI employees, while a roadside bomb went off near a commercial area in Rawalpindi minutes apart, killing at least 25 people.
The latest violence comes as Pakistan remains under a state of emergency, a move by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf that has prompted stiff criticism of the military ruler, including from his key Western ally, the United States.
Musharraf declared the state of emergency on Nov. 3, justifying it by citing the escalating danger posed by Islamic extremists, though his critics have noted many of his moves have been against political opponents rather than militants.
Islamic militants have launched dozens of suicide attacks this year. Most have taken place near the Afghan border, but several have taken place in the country's main cities, raising fears that violent extremism is spreading.
A bomber blew himself up in Rawalpindi on Oct. 30 at a checkpoint several hundred yards from the office of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, killing seven people.
Two weeks earlier, a suicide attack on opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's homecoming parade killed more than 140 people in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi.
Authorities cited the risk of further attacks when they barred Bhutto from holding a rally in Rawalpindi last month against Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule.
Tension between militant groups and the military are at a high because of an ongoing military operation to sweep the followers of a pro-Taliban cleric from the northern Swat valley.
By MUNIR AHMAD | November 24, 2007
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Suicide bombers hit a bus carrying intelligence agency employees and a checkpoint near the headquarters of the Pakistan army on Saturday, killing at least 35 people, officials said.
The two attackers struck in Rawalpindi, a garrison city just south of the capital, Islamabad. A senior intelligence official, who asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of his work, said at least 35 people were killed.
In the first attack, an explosive-laden car rammed a bus carrying employees from the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, while the other bomber hit the checkpoint, said Mohammed Afzal, a local police official.
An intelligence agent at the scene said the destroyed bus was a 72-seater, but that more people were on board. The agent, who also requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of his work, said he believed casualty number would keep rising.
After the blast, troops and police quickly blocked off the area. They pushed people back and snatched cameras and mobile phones from journalists and bystanders. Agents fanned out across the area, picking up metal bits of what appeared to be the suicide bomber's car.
It was the second major attack against the ISI in recent months. On Sept. 4, a suicide attacker blew himself up after boarding a bus carrying ISI employees, while a roadside bomb went off near a commercial area in Rawalpindi minutes apart, killing at least 25 people.
The latest violence comes as Pakistan remains under a state of emergency, a move by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf that has prompted stiff criticism of the military ruler, including from his key Western ally, the United States.
Musharraf declared the state of emergency on Nov. 3, justifying it by citing the escalating danger posed by Islamic extremists, though his critics have noted many of his moves have been against political opponents rather than militants.
Islamic militants have launched dozens of suicide attacks this year. Most have taken place near the Afghan border, but several have taken place in the country's main cities, raising fears that violent extremism is spreading.
A bomber blew himself up in Rawalpindi on Oct. 30 at a checkpoint several hundred yards from the office of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, killing seven people.
Two weeks earlier, a suicide attack on opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's homecoming parade killed more than 140 people in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi.
Authorities cited the risk of further attacks when they barred Bhutto from holding a rally in Rawalpindi last month against Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule.
Tension between militant groups and the military are at a high because of an ongoing military operation to sweep the followers of a pro-Taliban cleric from the northern Swat valley.
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NYT : Bombers Kill at Least 15 in Pakistan
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Bombers Kill at Least 15 in Pakistan
By REUTERS | November 24, 2007
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Saturday, Nov. 24 (Reuters) — Two suicide bombers killed at least 13 other people on Saturday in the Pakistani garrison town of Rawalpindi adjoining Islamabad, the military said.
One bomber rammed a car into the back of a Defense Ministry bus outside an intelligence service office, killing 13 people on board. The second bomber blew up his car at a checkpoint outside the army headquarters.
The attacks come on the heels of a string of suicide bombings across Pakistan blamed on Islamist militants amid growing insurgency and three weeks after the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, declared emergency rule.
“There’s a total of 15 people who have lost their lives in the attacks: two suicide bombers and 13 others,” Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, an army spokesman, said. “There were 50 people sitting in the bus. Many are injured; many are O.K.,” he said.
In addition to the bomber, at least three security officers were wounded near the army headquarters checkpoint.
The remains of the bus were visible just inside the gate of the intelligence service compound before the police cordoned off the area and put up tents to obscure the view. Police officers and soldiers also seized cameras and cellphones of bystanders.
Twin suicide blasts in Rawalpindi in September killed 25 and wounded 70, many of them on an intelligence service bus.
By REUTERS | November 24, 2007
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Saturday, Nov. 24 (Reuters) — Two suicide bombers killed at least 13 other people on Saturday in the Pakistani garrison town of Rawalpindi adjoining Islamabad, the military said.
One bomber rammed a car into the back of a Defense Ministry bus outside an intelligence service office, killing 13 people on board. The second bomber blew up his car at a checkpoint outside the army headquarters.
The attacks come on the heels of a string of suicide bombings across Pakistan blamed on Islamist militants amid growing insurgency and three weeks after the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, declared emergency rule.
“There’s a total of 15 people who have lost their lives in the attacks: two suicide bombers and 13 others,” Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, an army spokesman, said. “There were 50 people sitting in the bus. Many are injured; many are O.K.,” he said.
In addition to the bomber, at least three security officers were wounded near the army headquarters checkpoint.
The remains of the bus were visible just inside the gate of the intelligence service compound before the police cordoned off the area and put up tents to obscure the view. Police officers and soldiers also seized cameras and cellphones of bystanders.
Twin suicide blasts in Rawalpindi in September killed 25 and wounded 70, many of them on an intelligence service bus.
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ABC : Pakistan Bombers Kill Despite Crackdown
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Pakistan Bombers Kill Despite Crackdown
Despite State of Emergency Intended to Thwart Terror, Dozens May Be Dead
By STEPHANIE SY | ISLAMABAD, Pakistan | November 24, 2007
A day after Pakistan's highest court ruled that emergency rule was "necessary" to thwart terrorism, twin suicide bombs exploded in Rawalpindi, the seat of military power in Pakistan.
The military confirmed 15 people had died, but there were unofficial reports that dozens were killed. Many were critically injured in the blasts.
The attacks were clearly aimed at the military. The explosions occurred Saturday morning within minutes of one another. One of the suicide bombers drove into a bus packed with Ministry of Defense employees assigned to the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency. Another suicide bomber struck a checkpoint at the Army's headquarters.
The Army blocked traffic on the major street where the bus bombing occurred and cordoned off the area around the checkpoint. Members of the media were prevented from filming scenes of the attacks, and authorities confiscated cameras.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad told the Associated Press, "There were 50 people sitting in the bus. Many are injured, many are okay."
These are the first suicide bombings since Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, placed the country under emergency rule on Nov. 3.
Part of Musharraf's justification for the emergency action is that the country is under threat of violent extremism, but critics have said that is an excuse for cracking down on thousands of his political opponents. While the bombings may lend credence to Musharraf's assertion about the threat of terrorism, others say the incidents weaken his argument for maintaining emergency rule.
"As far as the fight against terror is concerned, this emergency makes not the slightest difference," said former Pakistani diplomat Humanyun Khan. "That is clear now."
There have been more than 25 suicide attacks in Pakistan since July, several of them aimed at the military.
The latest bombings occurred on the eve of exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's return to Pakistan. Sharif, who was arrested and deported to Saudi Arabia after he tried to enter Pakistan in September, is said to have struck a deal with Saudi King Abdullah that will allow his return.
Under pressure from the Saudis, a close ally of Pakistan, Musharraf is expected to allow Sharif to remain in the country. His return comes a month after another exiled former prime minister and opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, was allowed to return.
Sharif and his party, the Pakistan Muslim League, are preparing to file nomination papers for the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections. However, it is unclear whether they will participate in the elections or boycott them. Among other conditions, Sharif and other opposition leaders are demanding that Musharraf lift emergency rule before the vote is held.
Musharraf has come under intense criticism for actions taken during emergency rule. Besides the mass detentions, he replaced the Supreme Court, suspended the Constitution, and forced television networks off-the-air. It is still not clear whether he will relinquish his emergency authority before the nation holds parliamentary elections in January.
Saturday afternoon, the Election Commission ratified the results of October's presidential election, when Musharraf was re-elected by Parliament to a second five-year term. The official notification of the results was held off until the Supreme Court ruled on six petitions challenging Musharraf's re-election. The last of those petitions was thrown out earlier this week, by a Supreme Court that Musharraf purged of dissenters during his emergency rule.
Musharraf has pledged to take off his uniform before he is sworn in as president. The court has ordered that the oath be administered by Dec. 1.
Despite State of Emergency Intended to Thwart Terror, Dozens May Be Dead
By STEPHANIE SY | ISLAMABAD, Pakistan | November 24, 2007
A day after Pakistan's highest court ruled that emergency rule was "necessary" to thwart terrorism, twin suicide bombs exploded in Rawalpindi, the seat of military power in Pakistan.
The military confirmed 15 people had died, but there were unofficial reports that dozens were killed. Many were critically injured in the blasts.
The attacks were clearly aimed at the military. The explosions occurred Saturday morning within minutes of one another. One of the suicide bombers drove into a bus packed with Ministry of Defense employees assigned to the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency. Another suicide bomber struck a checkpoint at the Army's headquarters.
The Army blocked traffic on the major street where the bus bombing occurred and cordoned off the area around the checkpoint. Members of the media were prevented from filming scenes of the attacks, and authorities confiscated cameras.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad told the Associated Press, "There were 50 people sitting in the bus. Many are injured, many are okay."
These are the first suicide bombings since Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, placed the country under emergency rule on Nov. 3.
Part of Musharraf's justification for the emergency action is that the country is under threat of violent extremism, but critics have said that is an excuse for cracking down on thousands of his political opponents. While the bombings may lend credence to Musharraf's assertion about the threat of terrorism, others say the incidents weaken his argument for maintaining emergency rule.
"As far as the fight against terror is concerned, this emergency makes not the slightest difference," said former Pakistani diplomat Humanyun Khan. "That is clear now."
There have been more than 25 suicide attacks in Pakistan since July, several of them aimed at the military.
The latest bombings occurred on the eve of exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's return to Pakistan. Sharif, who was arrested and deported to Saudi Arabia after he tried to enter Pakistan in September, is said to have struck a deal with Saudi King Abdullah that will allow his return.
Under pressure from the Saudis, a close ally of Pakistan, Musharraf is expected to allow Sharif to remain in the country. His return comes a month after another exiled former prime minister and opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, was allowed to return.
Sharif and his party, the Pakistan Muslim League, are preparing to file nomination papers for the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections. However, it is unclear whether they will participate in the elections or boycott them. Among other conditions, Sharif and other opposition leaders are demanding that Musharraf lift emergency rule before the vote is held.
Musharraf has come under intense criticism for actions taken during emergency rule. Besides the mass detentions, he replaced the Supreme Court, suspended the Constitution, and forced television networks off-the-air. It is still not clear whether he will relinquish his emergency authority before the nation holds parliamentary elections in January.
Saturday afternoon, the Election Commission ratified the results of October's presidential election, when Musharraf was re-elected by Parliament to a second five-year term. The official notification of the results was held off until the Supreme Court ruled on six petitions challenging Musharraf's re-election. The last of those petitions was thrown out earlier this week, by a Supreme Court that Musharraf purged of dissenters during his emergency rule.
Musharraf has pledged to take off his uniform before he is sworn in as president. The court has ordered that the oath be administered by Dec. 1.
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NYT : Attacks on Pakistani Military Kill 15
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Attacks on Pakistani Military Kill 15
By CARLOTTA GALL | November 25, 2007
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 24 — Two suicide car bombers attacked military targets on Saturday morning in Rawalpindi, the site of the military’s headquarters, killing at least 15 service members, a military spokesman said. The bombings raised tensions in the country, which is already beset with political and security problems.
The bombings were the latest in a series of attacks on the army and intelligence services, which have been linked to militants fighting an insurgency in northwestern Pakistan. Militants fighting in the Swat valley, a tourist spot just several hours’ drive from the capital, are under pressure from a large-scale military operation mounted last week to push them out of towns and villages in the region.
The military said Friday that it had pushed the militants out of a strategic town of Alpuri, which they occupied several weeks ago.
The country entered its fourth week of political turmoil under de facto martial law, imposed by the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who said it would help him fight terrorism. His opponents accuse him of using his extraordinary powers primarily to secure another presidential term by dismissing the Supreme Court and appointing a new one packed with his supporters.
The police have been deployed in large numbers to detain members of the judiciary, the lawyers’ movement and opposition political parties.
The Election Commission on Saturday confirmed General Musharraf as the winner of the Oct. 6 presidential election, after a ruling by the new Supreme Court rejected challenges to his eligibility to have run for another five-year term as president while holding the top army post. The court said General Musharraf should resign as army chief before taking the presidential oath. The attorney general, Malik Abdul Qayyum, told local news media that the president might take the oath on Wednesday.
A number of opposition parties met Saturday and said they would boycott the parliamentary elections, set for Jan. 8, unless their demands for the lifting of de facto martial law were met within four days. Among them is the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has announced that he will return from exile in Saudi Arabia to his hometown, Lahore, on Sunday. But political parties were also scrambling to meet the Monday deadline for candidates to submit their election papers.
One of Saturday’s bombings in Rawalpindi occurred when a small car rammed a bus full of intelligence personnel just as it was entering the gate of Hamza Camp, a walled compound where the Inter-Services Intelligence agency and Military Intelligence maintain offices and residential buildings.
Fifteen people on the bus died, said Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the chief military spokesman.
Minutes earlier, another suicide car bomber was turned away from a checkpoint near a side entrance to the army General Headquarters several miles away in another part of Rawalpindi, the garrison town just south of the capital. As he turned the car, he detonated the bomb, killing himself and wounding three soldiers at the checkpoint.
The bombings follow a pattern of recent suicide attacks that military officials say is a sign militants are hitting back at the forces that are pursuing them the hardest in what is a growing struggle. A bomber blew himself up in September in the mess hall of Pakistan’s United States-trained special forces unit, the Special Services Group, killing at least 15.
Also in September, two bombers attacked targets near the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, killing 25. One of the bombers had boarded a bus taking personnel from the Inter-Services Intelligence agency to work, killing 18. On Nov. 1, a bomber on a motorbike rammed an air force bus in the town of Sargodha, killing himself and eight others.
By CARLOTTA GALL | November 25, 2007
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 24 — Two suicide car bombers attacked military targets on Saturday morning in Rawalpindi, the site of the military’s headquarters, killing at least 15 service members, a military spokesman said. The bombings raised tensions in the country, which is already beset with political and security problems.
The bombings were the latest in a series of attacks on the army and intelligence services, which have been linked to militants fighting an insurgency in northwestern Pakistan. Militants fighting in the Swat valley, a tourist spot just several hours’ drive from the capital, are under pressure from a large-scale military operation mounted last week to push them out of towns and villages in the region.
The military said Friday that it had pushed the militants out of a strategic town of Alpuri, which they occupied several weeks ago.
The country entered its fourth week of political turmoil under de facto martial law, imposed by the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who said it would help him fight terrorism. His opponents accuse him of using his extraordinary powers primarily to secure another presidential term by dismissing the Supreme Court and appointing a new one packed with his supporters.
The police have been deployed in large numbers to detain members of the judiciary, the lawyers’ movement and opposition political parties.
The Election Commission on Saturday confirmed General Musharraf as the winner of the Oct. 6 presidential election, after a ruling by the new Supreme Court rejected challenges to his eligibility to have run for another five-year term as president while holding the top army post. The court said General Musharraf should resign as army chief before taking the presidential oath. The attorney general, Malik Abdul Qayyum, told local news media that the president might take the oath on Wednesday.
A number of opposition parties met Saturday and said they would boycott the parliamentary elections, set for Jan. 8, unless their demands for the lifting of de facto martial law were met within four days. Among them is the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has announced that he will return from exile in Saudi Arabia to his hometown, Lahore, on Sunday. But political parties were also scrambling to meet the Monday deadline for candidates to submit their election papers.
One of Saturday’s bombings in Rawalpindi occurred when a small car rammed a bus full of intelligence personnel just as it was entering the gate of Hamza Camp, a walled compound where the Inter-Services Intelligence agency and Military Intelligence maintain offices and residential buildings.
Fifteen people on the bus died, said Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the chief military spokesman.
Minutes earlier, another suicide car bomber was turned away from a checkpoint near a side entrance to the army General Headquarters several miles away in another part of Rawalpindi, the garrison town just south of the capital. As he turned the car, he detonated the bomb, killing himself and wounding three soldiers at the checkpoint.
The bombings follow a pattern of recent suicide attacks that military officials say is a sign militants are hitting back at the forces that are pursuing them the hardest in what is a growing struggle. A bomber blew himself up in September in the mess hall of Pakistan’s United States-trained special forces unit, the Special Services Group, killing at least 15.
Also in September, two bombers attacked targets near the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, killing 25. One of the bombers had boarded a bus taking personnel from the Inter-Services Intelligence agency to work, killing 18. On Nov. 1, a bomber on a motorbike rammed an air force bus in the town of Sargodha, killing himself and eight others.
Filed under
Carlotta Gall,
Lahore,
lawyers,
Pakistan,
Pervez Musharraf,
Rawalpindi,
suicide
by Winter Patriot
on Sunday, November 25, 2007
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Independent : Suicide blasts kill at least 35 in Pakistan
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Suicide blasts kill at least 35 in Pakistan
Today's return of exiled former PM Sharif will add to political turbulence
By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent | November 25, 2007
At least 35 people were killed in Pakistan yesterday when suicide bombers struck twice – one attack targeting a bus carrying members of an intelligence agency, the other at an army headquarters check-point. The two explosions took place in Rawalpindi, the military city just south of the capital, Islamabad.
In the first attack a car laden with explosives was driven into a bus carrying staff from the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI). The bus was apparently a 72-seater vehicle, but more people may have been on board. "We suspect that pro-Taliban militants who are fighting security forces in our tribal areas are behind this attack," an official told the Associated Press.
Hizer Hayat, the owner of a nearby grocery store, said the blast occurred at 7.40 am. "After the explosion, I went out on the street and found the ignition switch for a car amid the debris. I later gave it to an intelligence agent," he said. The attack was the second major assault against the ISI in recent months. In September a suicide bomber detonated a device after boarding an ISI bus, also in Rawalpindi. On that occasion 25 people were killed.
Islamic militants have been blamed for dozens of suicide attacks this year. Most have occurred near the Afghan border, but several have taken place in the country's main cities. In Afghanistan, suicide attacks have also shot up, with more than 130 this year. The latest, against Italian troops building a bridge west of Kabul, killed nine civilians yesterday, including three children, and an Italian soldier.
Amid political turmoil in Pakistan, the former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, is expected to arrive back in the country today after seven years in exile. He is due to fly to Lahore from Saudi Arabia. Mr Sharif previously tried to return in September, only to be immediately deported by President Pervez Musharraf. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, a former cabinet minister and close aide to Gen Musharraf, said that on this occasion Mr Sharif would not be pushed out.
His return will add a new ingredient to Pakistan's already turbulent political stew. Unlike another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, he has always ruled out any sort of deal with Gen Musharraf, who ousted him in a military coup in 1999 and forced him to leave the country.
Ihsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Mr Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party, said the Saudis had been stung by criticism in Pakistan, and were also aware that Gen Musharraf had scheduled parliamentary elections for 8 January. "They don't want Saudi Arabia to become an election issue in Pakistan," Mr Iqbal said.
Today's return of exiled former PM Sharif will add to political turbulence
By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent | November 25, 2007
At least 35 people were killed in Pakistan yesterday when suicide bombers struck twice – one attack targeting a bus carrying members of an intelligence agency, the other at an army headquarters check-point. The two explosions took place in Rawalpindi, the military city just south of the capital, Islamabad.
In the first attack a car laden with explosives was driven into a bus carrying staff from the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI). The bus was apparently a 72-seater vehicle, but more people may have been on board. "We suspect that pro-Taliban militants who are fighting security forces in our tribal areas are behind this attack," an official told the Associated Press.
Hizer Hayat, the owner of a nearby grocery store, said the blast occurred at 7.40 am. "After the explosion, I went out on the street and found the ignition switch for a car amid the debris. I later gave it to an intelligence agent," he said. The attack was the second major assault against the ISI in recent months. In September a suicide bomber detonated a device after boarding an ISI bus, also in Rawalpindi. On that occasion 25 people were killed.
Islamic militants have been blamed for dozens of suicide attacks this year. Most have occurred near the Afghan border, but several have taken place in the country's main cities. In Afghanistan, suicide attacks have also shot up, with more than 130 this year. The latest, against Italian troops building a bridge west of Kabul, killed nine civilians yesterday, including three children, and an Italian soldier.
Amid political turmoil in Pakistan, the former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, is expected to arrive back in the country today after seven years in exile. He is due to fly to Lahore from Saudi Arabia. Mr Sharif previously tried to return in September, only to be immediately deported by President Pervez Musharraf. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, a former cabinet minister and close aide to Gen Musharraf, said that on this occasion Mr Sharif would not be pushed out.
His return will add a new ingredient to Pakistan's already turbulent political stew. Unlike another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, he has always ruled out any sort of deal with Gen Musharraf, who ousted him in a military coup in 1999 and forced him to leave the country.
Ihsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Mr Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party, said the Saudis had been stung by criticism in Pakistan, and were also aware that Gen Musharraf had scheduled parliamentary elections for 8 January. "They don't want Saudi Arabia to become an election issue in Pakistan," Mr Iqbal said.
Filed under
elections,
emergency,
Lahore,
Nawaz Sharif,
Pakistan,
Pervez Musharraf,
Rawalpindi,
Saudi Arabia,
suicide
by Winter Patriot
on Sunday, November 25, 2007
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Daily Times : 30 killed in two suicide attacks in Rawalpindi
Sunday, November 25, 2007
30 killed in two suicide attacks in Rawalpindi
* Attack on bus kills 28 ISI meng Two die in attack near GHQ
* ISPR confirms 16 deaths
* Private ambulances, police not allowed near sites
By Aamir Yasin and Imran Asghar | November 25, 2007
RAWALPINDI: Two separate suicide car bombings on Saturday morning rocked the garrison town of Rawalpindi, killing at least 30 people and injuring dozens more.
The first incident occurred at 7.49am when a suicide bomber rammed his car into a 72-seater bus parked in front of Ojhri Camp on Murree Road. The bus, which was carrying Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials to work, was completely destroyed according to eyewitnesses. They said 28 officials and a bystander were killed in addition to the bomber.
Shoaib Abbasi, owner of the Oriel guesthouse across the street from the intelligence compound, said that when he came out on the street after the blast, the bus was burning fiercely, reported AP. “Firemen tried to open the emergency doors while they were dousing the interior, but I can’t believe anyone inside survived because of the intensity of the fire,” he said.
GHQ attack: The second incident occurred at 8.05am as a second suicide bomber attempted to enter the General Headquarters (GHQ). Upon being asked for identification at the GHQ’s checkpost, he blew himself up, resulting in the deaths of one security official and a bystander, according to eyewitnesses.
ISPR claims: Meanwhile, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said 16 people were killed in both incidents. “Sixteen persons, including a suicide bomber, died in the suicide attack on a Ministry of Defence vehicle near Hamza Camp on Murree Road,” it said. It said the suicide bomber hit the rear of the bus, which was carrying almost 50 people. “In another incident, a suicide bomber riding in a car blew himself up near the GHQ checkpost. Two security personnel are critically injured,” it added. “Both were suicide attacks,” confirmed army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad.
Two senior intelligence officials, requesting not to be named, told AP that at least 35 people were killed. One of them, who was at the scene of the attack on the bus, said the bus was overloaded and it was believed that more than 72 people had been killed or injured.
Sealed off: Troops sealed off the entire area around Hamza Camp and GHQ soon after the blasts and no police official was allowed access to the two spots. Similarly, private ambulances were also not allowed to shift the injured and the dead to the military hospitals.
President General Pervez Musharraf and caretaker Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro condemned the two suicide blasts and expressed their grief and sorrow over the deaths that occurred. Gen Musharraf said the government would continue its crackdown against the elements that were behind the attacks and would expose them before the public. He said the government’s fight against terrorism would continue with more vigour.
Soomro, meanwhile, said the country would not be blackmailed by the elements behind the attacks. He directed the Rawalpindi administration and heads of hospitals to provide the best medical care to the injured. He also directed law enforcing agencies and police to step up security.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed condemned the incident on a private TV Channel and said this would affect the election process, as there would be less voter-turnout, reported Online.
* Attack on bus kills 28 ISI meng Two die in attack near GHQ
* ISPR confirms 16 deaths
* Private ambulances, police not allowed near sites
By Aamir Yasin and Imran Asghar | November 25, 2007
RAWALPINDI: Two separate suicide car bombings on Saturday morning rocked the garrison town of Rawalpindi, killing at least 30 people and injuring dozens more.
The first incident occurred at 7.49am when a suicide bomber rammed his car into a 72-seater bus parked in front of Ojhri Camp on Murree Road. The bus, which was carrying Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials to work, was completely destroyed according to eyewitnesses. They said 28 officials and a bystander were killed in addition to the bomber.
Shoaib Abbasi, owner of the Oriel guesthouse across the street from the intelligence compound, said that when he came out on the street after the blast, the bus was burning fiercely, reported AP. “Firemen tried to open the emergency doors while they were dousing the interior, but I can’t believe anyone inside survived because of the intensity of the fire,” he said.
GHQ attack: The second incident occurred at 8.05am as a second suicide bomber attempted to enter the General Headquarters (GHQ). Upon being asked for identification at the GHQ’s checkpost, he blew himself up, resulting in the deaths of one security official and a bystander, according to eyewitnesses.
ISPR claims: Meanwhile, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said 16 people were killed in both incidents. “Sixteen persons, including a suicide bomber, died in the suicide attack on a Ministry of Defence vehicle near Hamza Camp on Murree Road,” it said. It said the suicide bomber hit the rear of the bus, which was carrying almost 50 people. “In another incident, a suicide bomber riding in a car blew himself up near the GHQ checkpost. Two security personnel are critically injured,” it added. “Both were suicide attacks,” confirmed army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad.
Two senior intelligence officials, requesting not to be named, told AP that at least 35 people were killed. One of them, who was at the scene of the attack on the bus, said the bus was overloaded and it was believed that more than 72 people had been killed or injured.
Sealed off: Troops sealed off the entire area around Hamza Camp and GHQ soon after the blasts and no police official was allowed access to the two spots. Similarly, private ambulances were also not allowed to shift the injured and the dead to the military hospitals.
President General Pervez Musharraf and caretaker Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro condemned the two suicide blasts and expressed their grief and sorrow over the deaths that occurred. Gen Musharraf said the government would continue its crackdown against the elements that were behind the attacks and would expose them before the public. He said the government’s fight against terrorism would continue with more vigour.
Soomro, meanwhile, said the country would not be blackmailed by the elements behind the attacks. He directed the Rawalpindi administration and heads of hospitals to provide the best medical care to the injured. He also directed law enforcing agencies and police to step up security.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed condemned the incident on a private TV Channel and said this would affect the election process, as there would be less voter-turnout, reported Online.
Filed under
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Rawalpindi,
suicide,
terrorism
by Winter Patriot
on Sunday, November 25, 2007
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LAT : Sharif gets a hero's welcome
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Sharif gets a hero's welcome
Ten of thousands of supporters hail the deported leader's return to Pakistan as the politics get more complicated.
By Laura King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer | November 25, 2007
LAHORE, Pakistan -- Tens of thousands of cheering, chanting supporters showered former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with rose petals as he triumphantly returned from exile today, posing a thorny new challenge not only to President Pervez Musharraf but also to the pro-Western opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
Sharif's comeback, just 11 weeks after he was summarily deported by Musharraf, the military leader who once overthrew him, marks a complex new phase in the political turmoil that has gripped the nuclear-armed country, a key U.S. ally, for much of the year.
As Musharraf-decreed emergency rule enters its fourth week, his opponents are jockeying for position, seeking an advantage not only against him but possibly against one another as well. Sharif is more religiously conservative and less overtly friendly to the West than either Musharraf or Bhutto.
"Obviously, it's huge," said University of Oregon professor Anita Weiss of Sharif's return. The author of several books on Pakistan said that many Pakistanis see in Sharif "a mature, elder" -- she paused for emphasis -- "male statesman."
In Lahore, the eastern city that is Pakistan's political nerve center, Sharif's backers sought to muster a display of support comparable to the enormous crowds that turned out to welcome Bhutto last month -- before her homecoming procession was shattered by a suicide bombing that killed nearly 150 people.
"Look at all these people," said party leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, shouting to be heard in the airport's cavernous arrival terminal, which was filled with chanting supporters who had surged past police barricades. "And we had only a few days' notice."
The celebrations, which drew tens of thousands of people, continued long into the night
Sharif's plans were finalized Friday after a meeting with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, who flew the former leader here in a special plane and provided him with a bulletproof Mercedes, which he did not use, however, for his tumultuous journey into the center of Lahore from the airport.
With fireworks arcing into the sky, supporters danced in front of his convoy, slowing progress to a crawl. Honking cars and buses, with flag-waving supporters dangling from rooftops and out windows, jammed the road long into the night.
Sharif, clad in a traditional white shalwar khameez, or tunic and baggy trousers, topped with a black vest, told supporters he had not made compromises with Musharraf to be allowed back into his homeland.
"My return is not the result of any deal!" he told the crowd at the airport.
Much of the impetus for Sharif's return is thought to have come from Saudi Arabia, which was embarrassed by its role in the previous deportation. Musharraf, who made a 24-hour visit to the kingdom last week, was reportedly told by Saudi officials they were unwilling to risk prestige and popularity by appearing to hold Sharif against his will.
Amid the jubilation today, Sharif's followers appeared to ignore that he was an unpopular prime minister in 1999, when Musharraf's coup was widely welcomed. As Pakistan's leader, he was plagued by accusations of corruption and incompetence.
"It shows how much there is hunger for change," said Khalid Butt, the editor of the Pakistan Observer.
At the airport, supporters hoisted Sharif and his politician brother, Shabbaz, onto their shoulders, shouting, "Nawaz, Nawaz!" And "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif!"
"After all these years, our leader is home," said Hajira Rasheed, a party worker in her 50s who wore a baseball cap emblazoned with Sharif's image.
The arrival came on the eve of the deadline for registering to take part in parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan. 8. Party officials said Sharif and his wife and brother would all register as candidates, though the party still held open the option of a boycott.
Bhutto, too, prepared to register her candidacy on Monday, signaling that her Pakistan Peoples Party was probably unwilling to sit out the contest. Opposition parties say it would be extremely difficult to hold a free and fair election while the country remains under de facto martial law.
Under the decree, Musharraf suspended the constitution, fired the chief justice and imposed curbs on independent news channels.
"The constitution of Pakistan should be restored, and there should be rule of law," Sharif told his supporters at the airport.
Even if Sharif's party agrees to take part in the upcoming vote, it was not clear whether he himself would be allowed to run, because he has criminal convictions stemming from his efforts to resist Musharraf's coup against him.
Musharraf turned on Sharif after the then-prime minister tried to fire him. Their confrontation came to a dramatic climax when Sharif tried to prevent Musharraf's plane from landing after a trip abroad. The general was able to make radio contact with senior military staff on the ground, and the takeover was complete by the time his plane landed.
Musharraf promised to step down as military chief by month's end after his new loyalist Supreme Court ruled last week that his election by parliament last month was legal.
In the wake of Musharraf's coup, Sharif was charged with offenses including treason and hijacking and, in a plea bargain, agreed to go into exile for 10 years. He later said that pledge was made under duress.
Party officials said hundreds of Sharif supporters were rounded up by dawn, hours before his arrival, in a harsh reminder that Musharraf still wields sweeping powers in the wake of his Nov. 3 emergency decree. Police disputed the figures, saying those detained amounted only to dozens.
More than 5,000 people, most of them lawyers, human-rights activists and opposition politicians, were jailed in the days following Musharraf's decree. Many have since been released, but new arrests are still taking place, and several of the country's most senior lawyers remain in prison.
A day before Sharif's arrival, suicide bombers struck a heavily fortified area of Rawalpindi, the site of Pakistan's military headquarters. Up to three dozen people died in that attack, the first major suicide bombing since the start of emergency rule.
Musharraf said the escalating Islamic insurgency was the main reason for his emergency decree, although most observers believe the real aim was to silence the Supreme Court, led by activist Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.
Chaudhry, fired in the first hours of emergency rule, effectively remains under house arrest.
The re-emergence of Sharif as a political force poses a fresh quandary for Musharraf, who has come under heavy international criticism for his emergency declaration.
Musharraf's own party is a breakaway from the party Sharif heads, which still retains a large following and would be well positioned to siphon off support from the general.
It was unclear whether Sharif might try to ally himself politically with Bhutto. Some analysts believe Musharraf relented and allowed Sharif to return to diminish Bhutto's role as the main opposition leader.
Sharif's earlier homecoming, on Sept. 9, lasted less than four hours. When his plane landed in Islamabad's international airport, he never managed to make it out of the terminal. Musharraf's government sealed off the airport, and waiting government forces bundled Sharif onto a plane back to Saudi Arabia.
laura.king@latimes.com
Ten of thousands of supporters hail the deported leader's return to Pakistan as the politics get more complicated.
By Laura King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer | November 25, 2007
LAHORE, Pakistan -- Tens of thousands of cheering, chanting supporters showered former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with rose petals as he triumphantly returned from exile today, posing a thorny new challenge not only to President Pervez Musharraf but also to the pro-Western opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
Sharif's comeback, just 11 weeks after he was summarily deported by Musharraf, the military leader who once overthrew him, marks a complex new phase in the political turmoil that has gripped the nuclear-armed country, a key U.S. ally, for much of the year.
As Musharraf-decreed emergency rule enters its fourth week, his opponents are jockeying for position, seeking an advantage not only against him but possibly against one another as well. Sharif is more religiously conservative and less overtly friendly to the West than either Musharraf or Bhutto.
"Obviously, it's huge," said University of Oregon professor Anita Weiss of Sharif's return. The author of several books on Pakistan said that many Pakistanis see in Sharif "a mature, elder" -- she paused for emphasis -- "male statesman."
In Lahore, the eastern city that is Pakistan's political nerve center, Sharif's backers sought to muster a display of support comparable to the enormous crowds that turned out to welcome Bhutto last month -- before her homecoming procession was shattered by a suicide bombing that killed nearly 150 people.
"Look at all these people," said party leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, shouting to be heard in the airport's cavernous arrival terminal, which was filled with chanting supporters who had surged past police barricades. "And we had only a few days' notice."
The celebrations, which drew tens of thousands of people, continued long into the night
Sharif's plans were finalized Friday after a meeting with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, who flew the former leader here in a special plane and provided him with a bulletproof Mercedes, which he did not use, however, for his tumultuous journey into the center of Lahore from the airport.
With fireworks arcing into the sky, supporters danced in front of his convoy, slowing progress to a crawl. Honking cars and buses, with flag-waving supporters dangling from rooftops and out windows, jammed the road long into the night.
Sharif, clad in a traditional white shalwar khameez, or tunic and baggy trousers, topped with a black vest, told supporters he had not made compromises with Musharraf to be allowed back into his homeland.
"My return is not the result of any deal!" he told the crowd at the airport.
Much of the impetus for Sharif's return is thought to have come from Saudi Arabia, which was embarrassed by its role in the previous deportation. Musharraf, who made a 24-hour visit to the kingdom last week, was reportedly told by Saudi officials they were unwilling to risk prestige and popularity by appearing to hold Sharif against his will.
Amid the jubilation today, Sharif's followers appeared to ignore that he was an unpopular prime minister in 1999, when Musharraf's coup was widely welcomed. As Pakistan's leader, he was plagued by accusations of corruption and incompetence.
"It shows how much there is hunger for change," said Khalid Butt, the editor of the Pakistan Observer.
At the airport, supporters hoisted Sharif and his politician brother, Shabbaz, onto their shoulders, shouting, "Nawaz, Nawaz!" And "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif!"
"After all these years, our leader is home," said Hajira Rasheed, a party worker in her 50s who wore a baseball cap emblazoned with Sharif's image.
The arrival came on the eve of the deadline for registering to take part in parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan. 8. Party officials said Sharif and his wife and brother would all register as candidates, though the party still held open the option of a boycott.
Bhutto, too, prepared to register her candidacy on Monday, signaling that her Pakistan Peoples Party was probably unwilling to sit out the contest. Opposition parties say it would be extremely difficult to hold a free and fair election while the country remains under de facto martial law.
Under the decree, Musharraf suspended the constitution, fired the chief justice and imposed curbs on independent news channels.
"The constitution of Pakistan should be restored, and there should be rule of law," Sharif told his supporters at the airport.
Even if Sharif's party agrees to take part in the upcoming vote, it was not clear whether he himself would be allowed to run, because he has criminal convictions stemming from his efforts to resist Musharraf's coup against him.
Musharraf turned on Sharif after the then-prime minister tried to fire him. Their confrontation came to a dramatic climax when Sharif tried to prevent Musharraf's plane from landing after a trip abroad. The general was able to make radio contact with senior military staff on the ground, and the takeover was complete by the time his plane landed.
Musharraf promised to step down as military chief by month's end after his new loyalist Supreme Court ruled last week that his election by parliament last month was legal.
In the wake of Musharraf's coup, Sharif was charged with offenses including treason and hijacking and, in a plea bargain, agreed to go into exile for 10 years. He later said that pledge was made under duress.
Party officials said hundreds of Sharif supporters were rounded up by dawn, hours before his arrival, in a harsh reminder that Musharraf still wields sweeping powers in the wake of his Nov. 3 emergency decree. Police disputed the figures, saying those detained amounted only to dozens.
More than 5,000 people, most of them lawyers, human-rights activists and opposition politicians, were jailed in the days following Musharraf's decree. Many have since been released, but new arrests are still taking place, and several of the country's most senior lawyers remain in prison.
A day before Sharif's arrival, suicide bombers struck a heavily fortified area of Rawalpindi, the site of Pakistan's military headquarters. Up to three dozen people died in that attack, the first major suicide bombing since the start of emergency rule.
Musharraf said the escalating Islamic insurgency was the main reason for his emergency decree, although most observers believe the real aim was to silence the Supreme Court, led by activist Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.
Chaudhry, fired in the first hours of emergency rule, effectively remains under house arrest.
The re-emergence of Sharif as a political force poses a fresh quandary for Musharraf, who has come under heavy international criticism for his emergency declaration.
Musharraf's own party is a breakaway from the party Sharif heads, which still retains a large following and would be well positioned to siphon off support from the general.
It was unclear whether Sharif might try to ally himself politically with Bhutto. Some analysts believe Musharraf relented and allowed Sharif to return to diminish Bhutto's role as the main opposition leader.
Sharif's earlier homecoming, on Sept. 9, lasted less than four hours. When his plane landed in Islamabad's international airport, he never managed to make it out of the terminal. Musharraf's government sealed off the airport, and waiting government forces bundled Sharif onto a plane back to Saudi Arabia.
laura.king@latimes.com
Filed under
Benazir Bhutto,
Lahore,
lawyers,
Nawaz Sharif,
Pakistan,
Pervez Musharraf,
Rawalpindi,
suicide
by Winter Patriot
on Sunday, November 25, 2007
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Thaindian News : Saudi King gifts two bulletproof cars to Nawaz Sharif
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Saudi King gifts two bulletproof cars to Nawaz Sharif
November 25, 2007
Islamabad, Nov 25 (ANI): Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has gifted two bulletproof Mercedes cars and also lent former premier Nawaz Sharif a helicopter for use during the elections from his personal fleet, before his departure for Pakistan.
The vehicle would remain in use of Nawaz Sharif during the election campaign, The Nation reported.
King Abdullah during his farewell meeting with Sharif said: “As he (Nawaz Sharif) was dear to him, so he (king) was concerned about his security and well-being,” sources said.
Sources further disclosed that Nawaz Sharif had accepted the offer and later the car was airlifted here in Lahore, his hometown, on Friday where it was handed over to his nephew Hamza Shahbaz Sharif.
It is pertinent to mention that following suicide attack on the PPP rally in Karachi on October 18 in which more than 140 people were killed, the US Embassy had provided Benazir Bhutto with a bulletproof car equipped with latest explosive-device jamming system.
The car would remain in her use throughout the election campaign. (ANI)
November 25, 2007
Islamabad, Nov 25 (ANI): Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has gifted two bulletproof Mercedes cars and also lent former premier Nawaz Sharif a helicopter for use during the elections from his personal fleet, before his departure for Pakistan.
The vehicle would remain in use of Nawaz Sharif during the election campaign, The Nation reported.
King Abdullah during his farewell meeting with Sharif said: “As he (Nawaz Sharif) was dear to him, so he (king) was concerned about his security and well-being,” sources said.
Sources further disclosed that Nawaz Sharif had accepted the offer and later the car was airlifted here in Lahore, his hometown, on Friday where it was handed over to his nephew Hamza Shahbaz Sharif.
It is pertinent to mention that following suicide attack on the PPP rally in Karachi on October 18 in which more than 140 people were killed, the US Embassy had provided Benazir Bhutto with a bulletproof car equipped with latest explosive-device jamming system.
The car would remain in her use throughout the election campaign. (ANI)
Filed under
Benazir Bhutto,
Karachi,
Lahore,
Nawaz Sharif,
Pakistan,
Saudi Arabia,
suicide
by Winter Patriot
on Sunday, November 25, 2007
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AP : Former PM Sharif Returns to Pakistan
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Former PM Sharif Returns to Pakistan
By SLOBODAN LEKIC | November 25, 2007
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned home to a hero's welcome Sunday and called on President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to end emergency rule before elections, a fresh challenge to the U.S.-backed leader.
"These (emergency) conditions are not conducive to free and fair elections," Sharif told reporters at the airport after arriving from Saudi Arabia. "I think the constitution of Pakistan should be restored, and there should be rule of law."
Sharif, the head of one of the country's main opposition parties, said he had not negotiated his return with Musharraf, who overthrew him in a 1999 coup. Musharraf expelled Sharif when he first tried come back to Pakistan this year.
"My return is not the result of any deal," Sharif told reporters. "My life and death are for Pakistan."
Thousands of frenzied supporters pushed past police barricades into the airport in this eastern city, carrying Sharif and his brother on their shoulders and cheering wildly as Sharif stood among them on a raised platform. An armored car carrying Sharif left the airport on a procession toward a shrine in the center of the city, surrounded by screaming supporters.
Musharraf has grown increasingly unpopular since he declared a state of emergency on Nov. 3, locking up thousands of opponents, purging the Supreme Court and muzzling the media.
If Sharif and other opposition parties refuse to take part in parliamentary elections slated for January, it would undermine Musharraf's claim to be taking the country back toward democracy. Equally tricky for Musharraf would be an alliance between Sharif and another recently returned prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.
"If they come to us with a proposal of any electoral alliance, we will consider this positively," Bhutto said aboard a flight from Karachi to her hometown of Larkana, in southern Pakistan. "I welcome him home."
A spokesman for Sharif's part said he, his brother and his wife will all file papers Monday that would allow them to run if they choose to do so.
The presidential spokesman was not available Sunday for comment on Sharif's return.
However, the pro-Musharraf ruling party, which broke away from Sharif's group after the coup, is already wooing him as a potential ally.
Ruling party spokesman Tariq Azim urged the Sharif camp to "forget the old egos and start with a clean slate."
The scene at Lahore airport was eerily reminiscent of the early jubilation that greeted Bhutto when she came back to her home city of Karachi in October, but the number of supporters was far lower. Bhutto's return was greeted by a massive suicide bomb which killed about 150 people in a procession through the streets.
In a reminder that Pakistan remains under emergency rule, security forces had rounded up some Sharif activists and attempted to seal off the airport.
But the supporters who found their way through tight security swarmed into the terminal building waving the green flag of his party and shouting slogans including "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif!" and "Go, Musharraf, go!"
Police lifted batons to drive them back from the arrival area, but had no space to swing them amid the dancing, jubilant crowds.
Television footage showed Sharif, dressed in his trademark white shirt and a dark waistcoat, on an airport stairwell next to his brother, also a politician, and surrounded by security officials, waving to the cameras.
Tight security that had surrounded Sharif after his plane touched down appeared to melt away amid the chaos.
Both Bhutto and Sharif have been seeking to return to power after the parliamentary elections. But the ballot, which the West hopes will produce a moderate government able to stand up to Islamic extremism, has been thrown into confusion by Musharraf's seizure of emergency powers.
Major opposition parties — including Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party — have been lining up to take part in the elections with preliminary steps such as filing nomination papers.
Bhutto, a more liberal and openly pro-U.S. politician than Sharif, filed her papers to contest the election on Sunday in Karachi. She says her party could still pull out if Musharraf doesn't ensure the vote is fair.
Sharif indicated his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, would demand a restoration of constitutional rule before it took part in the vote, but that any decision on whether to boycott would be taken in conjunction with other groups.
Sharif has been angling for a return ever since Musharraf overthrew him and gave the jailed politician a choice: accept 10 years of exile or face life in prison on charges including hijacking and terrorism. The charges stemmed from Sharif's desperate attempts to turn away a packed civilian plane carrying Musharraf — then the army chief — back from a trip abroad.
As the Pakistan International Airways plane ran low on fuel, Musharraf used the cockpit radio to contact his senior commanders on the ground, who quickly took over the country. By the time the plane touched down in the southern city of Karachi, Musharraf was Pakistan's new leader and Sharif was under arrest.
In September Sharif boarded a flight from London to Islamabad, but police in the Pakistani capital swiftly sent him back to Saudi Arabia.
This time, the Saudi leadership reportedly pressured Pakistan to accept him. Saudi King Abdullah provided the plane that carried Sharif home.
Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Sharif's party, said some 1,800 activists were detained in a crackdown ahead of the former premier's return.
However, federal Information Minister Nisar Memon said he was exaggerating.
"There are no arrests as such," Memon said. "About 100 people have been confined so that they do not create any issues. We don't want the same mess as there was in Karachi."
Authorities issued no warnings that Islamic militants bitterly opposed to Musharraf and Bhutto for their pro-U.S. police might target the religiously conservative Sharif.
However, his arrival came one day after suicide bombers killed up to 35 people in nearly simultaneous blasts at the heart of Pakistan's security establishment in Rawalpindi, a garrison city adjacent to the capital, Islamabad.
It was not clear who was behind the explosions — which targeted a bus carrying intelligence agency workers and a checkpoint near army headquarters — but authorities said suspicion rested on Islamist militants who are fighting an increasingly bloody insurgency against government troops in the northwest of the country.
The army said Sunday that 30 pro-Taliban fighters and one Pakistani soldier died in an operation to capture militant positions in the Swat valley, a former tourist destination just 100 miles from Islamabad.
Musharraf cited rising religious extremism as a reason for declaration a state of emergency. However, many of those targeted under the crackdown have been political opponents, lawyers and members of the media.
More than 5,500 people have been detained since the crackdown began, but authorities insist virtually all have been freed since last weekend, when visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte urged Musharraf to restore the constitution.
Associated Press writers Sadaqat Jan and Paul Haven in Islamabad and Abdullah Shihri in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, contributed to this report.
By SLOBODAN LEKIC | November 25, 2007
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned home to a hero's welcome Sunday and called on President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to end emergency rule before elections, a fresh challenge to the U.S.-backed leader.
"These (emergency) conditions are not conducive to free and fair elections," Sharif told reporters at the airport after arriving from Saudi Arabia. "I think the constitution of Pakistan should be restored, and there should be rule of law."
Sharif, the head of one of the country's main opposition parties, said he had not negotiated his return with Musharraf, who overthrew him in a 1999 coup. Musharraf expelled Sharif when he first tried come back to Pakistan this year.
"My return is not the result of any deal," Sharif told reporters. "My life and death are for Pakistan."
Thousands of frenzied supporters pushed past police barricades into the airport in this eastern city, carrying Sharif and his brother on their shoulders and cheering wildly as Sharif stood among them on a raised platform. An armored car carrying Sharif left the airport on a procession toward a shrine in the center of the city, surrounded by screaming supporters.
Musharraf has grown increasingly unpopular since he declared a state of emergency on Nov. 3, locking up thousands of opponents, purging the Supreme Court and muzzling the media.
If Sharif and other opposition parties refuse to take part in parliamentary elections slated for January, it would undermine Musharraf's claim to be taking the country back toward democracy. Equally tricky for Musharraf would be an alliance between Sharif and another recently returned prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.
"If they come to us with a proposal of any electoral alliance, we will consider this positively," Bhutto said aboard a flight from Karachi to her hometown of Larkana, in southern Pakistan. "I welcome him home."
A spokesman for Sharif's part said he, his brother and his wife will all file papers Monday that would allow them to run if they choose to do so.
The presidential spokesman was not available Sunday for comment on Sharif's return.
However, the pro-Musharraf ruling party, which broke away from Sharif's group after the coup, is already wooing him as a potential ally.
Ruling party spokesman Tariq Azim urged the Sharif camp to "forget the old egos and start with a clean slate."
The scene at Lahore airport was eerily reminiscent of the early jubilation that greeted Bhutto when she came back to her home city of Karachi in October, but the number of supporters was far lower. Bhutto's return was greeted by a massive suicide bomb which killed about 150 people in a procession through the streets.
In a reminder that Pakistan remains under emergency rule, security forces had rounded up some Sharif activists and attempted to seal off the airport.
But the supporters who found their way through tight security swarmed into the terminal building waving the green flag of his party and shouting slogans including "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif!" and "Go, Musharraf, go!"
Police lifted batons to drive them back from the arrival area, but had no space to swing them amid the dancing, jubilant crowds.
Television footage showed Sharif, dressed in his trademark white shirt and a dark waistcoat, on an airport stairwell next to his brother, also a politician, and surrounded by security officials, waving to the cameras.
Tight security that had surrounded Sharif after his plane touched down appeared to melt away amid the chaos.
Both Bhutto and Sharif have been seeking to return to power after the parliamentary elections. But the ballot, which the West hopes will produce a moderate government able to stand up to Islamic extremism, has been thrown into confusion by Musharraf's seizure of emergency powers.
Major opposition parties — including Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party — have been lining up to take part in the elections with preliminary steps such as filing nomination papers.
Bhutto, a more liberal and openly pro-U.S. politician than Sharif, filed her papers to contest the election on Sunday in Karachi. She says her party could still pull out if Musharraf doesn't ensure the vote is fair.
Sharif indicated his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, would demand a restoration of constitutional rule before it took part in the vote, but that any decision on whether to boycott would be taken in conjunction with other groups.
Sharif has been angling for a return ever since Musharraf overthrew him and gave the jailed politician a choice: accept 10 years of exile or face life in prison on charges including hijacking and terrorism. The charges stemmed from Sharif's desperate attempts to turn away a packed civilian plane carrying Musharraf — then the army chief — back from a trip abroad.
As the Pakistan International Airways plane ran low on fuel, Musharraf used the cockpit radio to contact his senior commanders on the ground, who quickly took over the country. By the time the plane touched down in the southern city of Karachi, Musharraf was Pakistan's new leader and Sharif was under arrest.
In September Sharif boarded a flight from London to Islamabad, but police in the Pakistani capital swiftly sent him back to Saudi Arabia.
This time, the Saudi leadership reportedly pressured Pakistan to accept him. Saudi King Abdullah provided the plane that carried Sharif home.
Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Sharif's party, said some 1,800 activists were detained in a crackdown ahead of the former premier's return.
However, federal Information Minister Nisar Memon said he was exaggerating.
"There are no arrests as such," Memon said. "About 100 people have been confined so that they do not create any issues. We don't want the same mess as there was in Karachi."
Authorities issued no warnings that Islamic militants bitterly opposed to Musharraf and Bhutto for their pro-U.S. police might target the religiously conservative Sharif.
However, his arrival came one day after suicide bombers killed up to 35 people in nearly simultaneous blasts at the heart of Pakistan's security establishment in Rawalpindi, a garrison city adjacent to the capital, Islamabad.
It was not clear who was behind the explosions — which targeted a bus carrying intelligence agency workers and a checkpoint near army headquarters — but authorities said suspicion rested on Islamist militants who are fighting an increasingly bloody insurgency against government troops in the northwest of the country.
The army said Sunday that 30 pro-Taliban fighters and one Pakistani soldier died in an operation to capture militant positions in the Swat valley, a former tourist destination just 100 miles from Islamabad.
Musharraf cited rising religious extremism as a reason for declaration a state of emergency. However, many of those targeted under the crackdown have been political opponents, lawyers and members of the media.
More than 5,500 people have been detained since the crackdown began, but authorities insist virtually all have been freed since last weekend, when visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte urged Musharraf to restore the constitution.
Associated Press writers Sadaqat Jan and Paul Haven in Islamabad and Abdullah Shihri in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, contributed to this report.
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CTV : Exiled former Pakistani PM Sharif to return
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Exiled former Pakistani PM Sharif to return
CTV.ca News Staff | November 24, 2007
Another major figure in Pakistan politics is planning to return from exile as the country reels from major suicide bombing attacks.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is to arrive in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday.
Sharif has been living in exile in Saudi Arabia since shortly after his ouster from power in 1999.
Sadique al-Farooq, a senior member of the Pakistan Muslim League-N party, said Sharif is unlikely to stage a mass rally like opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, another former prime minister.
As Bhutto's caravan slowly made its way through the streets of Karachi on Oct. 18, a massive blast killed more than 140 of her supporters.
Al-Farooq said he still expected thousands to come out and greet the opponent of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who overthrew Sharif.
After doing so, Musharraf gave Sharif two choices: Accept 10 years in exile or life in prison on charges that included hijacking and terrorism.
The hijacking charge stemmed from Sharif's attempt to turn back an airliner bringing back Musharraf from a trip abroad.
Musharraf used the cockpit radio to contact his commanders, who staged a coup. When the plane landed, Sharif was under arrest and Musharraf was Pakistan's new leader.
Sharif had tried to return in September, but Musharraf had him sent back to Saudi Arabia.
However, there are reports the Saudis are pressuring Musharraf to accept Sharif back to Pakistan.
The bombings
The early-morning attacks on Saturday targeted Pakistan's security establishment. A car loaded with explosives rammed a bus containing members of Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan's spy agency. Minutes later, a bomber attacked an army checkpoint.
Two senior intelligence officials told The Associated Press that at least 35 died in the bus attack.
An army statement would only confirm 15 deaths, plus the suicide bomber. The second attack left two security personnel seriously wounded and the bomber dead, it said.
"We suspect that pro-Taliban militants who are fighting security forces in our tribal areas are behind this attack," one of the intelligence officials said.
Musharraf declared a state of emergency on Nov. 3 in part because of militant activity, but opponents have said he's focused more on squelching his secular opponents like lawyers, politicians and the media.
With files from The Associated Press
CTV.ca News Staff | November 24, 2007
Another major figure in Pakistan politics is planning to return from exile as the country reels from major suicide bombing attacks.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is to arrive in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday.
Sharif has been living in exile in Saudi Arabia since shortly after his ouster from power in 1999.
Sadique al-Farooq, a senior member of the Pakistan Muslim League-N party, said Sharif is unlikely to stage a mass rally like opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, another former prime minister.
As Bhutto's caravan slowly made its way through the streets of Karachi on Oct. 18, a massive blast killed more than 140 of her supporters.
Al-Farooq said he still expected thousands to come out and greet the opponent of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who overthrew Sharif.
After doing so, Musharraf gave Sharif two choices: Accept 10 years in exile or life in prison on charges that included hijacking and terrorism.
The hijacking charge stemmed from Sharif's attempt to turn back an airliner bringing back Musharraf from a trip abroad.
Musharraf used the cockpit radio to contact his commanders, who staged a coup. When the plane landed, Sharif was under arrest and Musharraf was Pakistan's new leader.
Sharif had tried to return in September, but Musharraf had him sent back to Saudi Arabia.
However, there are reports the Saudis are pressuring Musharraf to accept Sharif back to Pakistan.
The bombings
The early-morning attacks on Saturday targeted Pakistan's security establishment. A car loaded with explosives rammed a bus containing members of Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan's spy agency. Minutes later, a bomber attacked an army checkpoint.
Two senior intelligence officials told The Associated Press that at least 35 died in the bus attack.
An army statement would only confirm 15 deaths, plus the suicide bomber. The second attack left two security personnel seriously wounded and the bomber dead, it said.
"We suspect that pro-Taliban militants who are fighting security forces in our tribal areas are behind this attack," one of the intelligence officials said.
Musharraf declared a state of emergency on Nov. 3 in part because of militant activity, but opponents have said he's focused more on squelching his secular opponents like lawyers, politicians and the media.
With files from The Associated Press
Filed under
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Pakistan Times : Nawaz Sharif arrives Pakistan Today
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Nawaz Sharif arrives Pakistan Today
'Pakistan Times' Wire Service | November 25, 2007
LAHORE: PML-N workers in Lahore are all set to welcome the former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif his brother Mian Shahbaz Sharif and wife Kalsoom Nawaz who will be arriving in Lahore today, Sunday.
The workers will make 25th November a historic day by welcoming Mian Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif in an unprecedented way, says Hamza Shahbaz. Addressing a party meeting at PML-N’s office here on Saturday, PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz said the time has come for the workers to welcome their leaders.
He urged all party representatives to mobilize workers in their respective constituencies. He also said the people of this city will prove tomorrow that Lahore is the stronghold of PML-N. PML-N leader Khwaja Saad Rafique said that Sunday will get rise democracy in Pakistan.
He said the PML-N workers will break all barricades on their way to Lahore Airport. The two-time former premier is due to land in Lahore on Sunday afternoon on board a Saudi royal plane, his party said earlier. An official has urged Sharif's party not to organize a mass welcome home rally "because of the current threat of suicide bombings and the law and order situation."
'Pakistan Times' Wire Service | November 25, 2007
LAHORE: PML-N workers in Lahore are all set to welcome the former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif his brother Mian Shahbaz Sharif and wife Kalsoom Nawaz who will be arriving in Lahore today, Sunday.
The workers will make 25th November a historic day by welcoming Mian Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif in an unprecedented way, says Hamza Shahbaz. Addressing a party meeting at PML-N’s office here on Saturday, PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz said the time has come for the workers to welcome their leaders.
He urged all party representatives to mobilize workers in their respective constituencies. He also said the people of this city will prove tomorrow that Lahore is the stronghold of PML-N. PML-N leader Khwaja Saad Rafique said that Sunday will get rise democracy in Pakistan.
He said the PML-N workers will break all barricades on their way to Lahore Airport. The two-time former premier is due to land in Lahore on Sunday afternoon on board a Saudi royal plane, his party said earlier. An official has urged Sharif's party not to organize a mass welcome home rally "because of the current threat of suicide bombings and the law and order situation."
Filed under
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NYT : Foreign Fighters of Harsher Bent Bolster Taliban
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Foreign Fighters of Harsher Bent Bolster Taliban
By DAVID ROHDE | October 30, 2007
GARDEZ, Afghanistan — Afghan police officers working a highway checkpoint near here noticed something odd recently about a passenger in a red pickup truck. Though covered head to toe in a burqa, the traditional veil worn by Afghan women, she was unusually tall. When the police asked her questions, she refused to answer.
When the veil was eventually removed, the police found not a woman at all, but Andre Vladimirovich Bataloff, a 27-year-old man from Siberia with a flowing red beard, pasty skin and piercing blue eyes. Inside the truck was 1,000 pounds of explosives.
Afghan and American officials say the Siberian intended to be a suicide bomber, one of several hundred foreign militants who have gravitated to the region to fight alongside the Taliban this year, the largest influx since 2001.
The foreign fighters are not only bolstering the ranks of the insurgency. They are more violent, uncontrollable and extreme than even their locally bred allies, officials on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border warn.
They are also helping to change the face of the Taliban from a movement of hard-line Afghan religious students into a loose network that now includes a growing number of foreign militants as well as disgruntled Afghans and drug traffickers.
Foreign fighters are coming from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Chechnya, various Arab countries and perhaps also Turkey and western China, Afghan and American officials say.
Their growing numbers point to the worsening problem of lawlessness in Pakistan’s tribal areas, which they use as a base to train alongside militants from Al Qaeda who have carried out terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Europe, according to Western diplomats.
“We’ve seen an unprecedented level of reports of foreign-fighter involvement,” said Maj. Gen. Bernard S. Champoux, deputy commander for security of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. “They’ll threaten people if they don’t provide meals and support.”
In interviews in southern and eastern Afghanistan, local officials and village elders also reported having seen more foreigners fighting alongside the Taliban than in any year since the American-led invasion in 2001.
In Afghanistan, the foreigners serve as mid-level commanders, and train and finance local fighters, according to Western analysts. In Pakistan’s tribal areas, they train suicide bombers, create roadside-bomb factories and have vastly increased the number of high-quality Taliban fund-raising and recruiting videos posted online.
Gauging the exact number of Taliban and foreign fighters in Afghanistan is difficult, Western officials and analysts say. At any given time, the Taliban can field up to 10,000 fighters, they said, but only 2,000 to 3,000 are highly motivated, full-time insurgents.
The rest are part-time fighters, young Afghan men who have been alienated by government corruption, who are angry at civilian deaths caused by American bombing raids, or who are simply in search of cash, they said. Five to 10 percent of full-time insurgents — roughly 100 to 300 combatants — are believed to be foreigners.
Western diplomats say recent offers from the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, to negotiate with the Taliban are an effort to split local Taliban moderates and Afghans who might be brought back into the fold from the foreign extremists.
But that effort may face an increasing challenge as foreigners replace dozens of midlevel and senior Taliban who, Western officials say, have been killed by NATO and American forces.
At the same time, Western officials said the reliance on foreigners showed that the Taliban are running out of midlevel Afghan commanders. “That’s a sure-fire sign of desperation,” General Champoux said.
Seth Jones, an analyst with the Rand Corporation, was less sanguine, however, calling the arrival of more foreigners a dangerous development. The tactics the foreigners have introduced, he said, are increasing Afghan and Western casualty rates.
“They play an incredibly important part in the insurgency,” Mr. Jones said. “They act as a force multiplier in improving their ability to kill Afghan and NATO forces.”
Western officials said the foreigners are also increasingly financing younger Taliban leaders in Pakistan’s tribal areas who have closer ties to Al Qaeda, like Sirajuddin Haqqani and Anwar ul-Haq Mujahed. The influence of older, more traditional Taliban leaders based in Quetta, Pakistan, is diminishing.
“We see more and more resources going to their fellow travelers,” said Christopher Alexander, the deputy special representative for the United Nations in Afghanistan. “The new Taliban commanders are younger and younger.”
In the southern provinces of Oruzgan, Kandahar and Helmand, Afghan villagers recently described two distinct groups of Taliban fighters. They said “local Taliban” allowed some development projects. But “foreign Taliban” — usually from Pakistan — threatened to kill anyone who cooperated with the Afghan government or foreign aid groups.
Hanif Atmar, the Afghan education minister, said threats from foreign Taliban have closed 40 percent of the schools in southern Afghanistan. He said many local Taliban oppose the practice, but foreign Taliban use brutality and cash to their benefit.
“That makes our situation terribly complicated,” Mr. Atmar said. “Because they bring resources with them, their agenda takes precedence.”
Large groups of Pakistani militants operate in southern Afghanistan, according to Afghan officials. In the east, more Arab and Uzbek fighters are present.
Mr. Bataloff, the Russian arrested in a burqa, insists he is a religious student who traveled to Pakistan last year to learn more about his new faith. In an hourlong interview in an Afghan jail in Kabul, he said his interest in Islam blossomed three years ago when he was living in Siberia.
“First, I heard from TV, radio and newspapers about Islam,” he said in Russian. “I found Islam had a lot of good things, especially that Islam respects all prophets, including Jesus.”
But he declined to describe many details of his trip and grew angry when asked about his personal background. “Homicide and suicide is not allowed in any religion,” he said, when asked about the allegations against him. “Why are you asking me these questions?”
Mr. Bataloff said he grew up in Siberia, but would not identify his hometown or region. He said he could not remember the names of the Pakistanis he met or the two Afghan men who drove the pickup truck.
He said he decided to go to a predominantly Muslim country last fall to study Islam and learn about “the morals, the customs, the ethics and the literature.” He flew alone from Russia to Iran, he said, and met a Russian-speaking “guide” in the airport.
After spending 10 days in Iran, he crossed into Pakistan and traveled to North Waziristan, a remote tribal area that is a longtime Taliban and Qaeda stronghold. There, he spent a year living and studying in a small mosque in Mir Ali.
Pakistani security officials say the Islamic Jihad Union, a terrorist group led by militants from Uzbekistan, operates a training camp in Mir Ali.
[In mid-October, in some of the heaviest fighting in four years, the Pakistani military said 50 foreign fighters were among 200 militants reported killed in three days of clashes around Mir Ali. The dead foreigners were said to include mostly Uzbeks and Tajiks, as well as some Arabs, the army said.]
Some of the suspects arrested in a failed bombing plot in Germany in September received training in the tribal areas, according to German officials. Several men involved in the July 2005 London transit bombings and a failed August 2006 London airliner plot did as well.
Mr. Bataloff said he met no foreign militants in his 10 months in the tribal areas. But American military officials said he had told interrogators that he had attended a terrorist training camp in North Waziristan. He said local militants forced him to go to the camp and taught him how to fire an AK-47 assault rifle, the officials said.
“I didn’t have any specific teacher,” he said, when asked about Pakistanis he met there. “There were local people who knew the Koran.”
A second foreign prisoner produced by Afghan officials identified himself as Muhammad Kuzeubaev, a 23-year-old from Temirtau, Kazakhstan. Afghan officials said he was a bombmaker arrested in September in Badakhshan Province in northern Afghanistan.
In an interview, Mr. Kuzeubaev, who also spoke fluent Russian, said he was visiting Afghanistan as a tourist. “I was close to the border,” he said. “I thought I would go explore the country.”
In Badakhshan, he said, two Afghan men abducted him and demanded he join Al Qaeda. He agreed to do so fearing he would be killed, he said. That night, the men showed him parts of a suicide vest and promised to take him to Pakistan for training.
“They showed me the explosives, the vest and grenade,” said Mr. Kuzeubaev. “The next day, they brought some kind of weapons.”
Two days later, Afghan police officers surrounded the house and arrested him, he said. Afghan interrogators beat him, chained him to a wall and prevented him from sleeping for four days, he said.
“They are saying, ‘You are the man who was making the vests,’ ” said Mr. Kuzeubaev. “But the ammunition and other explosives were not mine.”
By DAVID ROHDE | October 30, 2007
GARDEZ, Afghanistan — Afghan police officers working a highway checkpoint near here noticed something odd recently about a passenger in a red pickup truck. Though covered head to toe in a burqa, the traditional veil worn by Afghan women, she was unusually tall. When the police asked her questions, she refused to answer.
When the veil was eventually removed, the police found not a woman at all, but Andre Vladimirovich Bataloff, a 27-year-old man from Siberia with a flowing red beard, pasty skin and piercing blue eyes. Inside the truck was 1,000 pounds of explosives.
Afghan and American officials say the Siberian intended to be a suicide bomber, one of several hundred foreign militants who have gravitated to the region to fight alongside the Taliban this year, the largest influx since 2001.
The foreign fighters are not only bolstering the ranks of the insurgency. They are more violent, uncontrollable and extreme than even their locally bred allies, officials on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border warn.
They are also helping to change the face of the Taliban from a movement of hard-line Afghan religious students into a loose network that now includes a growing number of foreign militants as well as disgruntled Afghans and drug traffickers.
Foreign fighters are coming from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Chechnya, various Arab countries and perhaps also Turkey and western China, Afghan and American officials say.
Their growing numbers point to the worsening problem of lawlessness in Pakistan’s tribal areas, which they use as a base to train alongside militants from Al Qaeda who have carried out terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Europe, according to Western diplomats.
“We’ve seen an unprecedented level of reports of foreign-fighter involvement,” said Maj. Gen. Bernard S. Champoux, deputy commander for security of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. “They’ll threaten people if they don’t provide meals and support.”
In interviews in southern and eastern Afghanistan, local officials and village elders also reported having seen more foreigners fighting alongside the Taliban than in any year since the American-led invasion in 2001.
In Afghanistan, the foreigners serve as mid-level commanders, and train and finance local fighters, according to Western analysts. In Pakistan’s tribal areas, they train suicide bombers, create roadside-bomb factories and have vastly increased the number of high-quality Taliban fund-raising and recruiting videos posted online.
Gauging the exact number of Taliban and foreign fighters in Afghanistan is difficult, Western officials and analysts say. At any given time, the Taliban can field up to 10,000 fighters, they said, but only 2,000 to 3,000 are highly motivated, full-time insurgents.
The rest are part-time fighters, young Afghan men who have been alienated by government corruption, who are angry at civilian deaths caused by American bombing raids, or who are simply in search of cash, they said. Five to 10 percent of full-time insurgents — roughly 100 to 300 combatants — are believed to be foreigners.
Western diplomats say recent offers from the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, to negotiate with the Taliban are an effort to split local Taliban moderates and Afghans who might be brought back into the fold from the foreign extremists.
But that effort may face an increasing challenge as foreigners replace dozens of midlevel and senior Taliban who, Western officials say, have been killed by NATO and American forces.
At the same time, Western officials said the reliance on foreigners showed that the Taliban are running out of midlevel Afghan commanders. “That’s a sure-fire sign of desperation,” General Champoux said.
Seth Jones, an analyst with the Rand Corporation, was less sanguine, however, calling the arrival of more foreigners a dangerous development. The tactics the foreigners have introduced, he said, are increasing Afghan and Western casualty rates.
“They play an incredibly important part in the insurgency,” Mr. Jones said. “They act as a force multiplier in improving their ability to kill Afghan and NATO forces.”
Western officials said the foreigners are also increasingly financing younger Taliban leaders in Pakistan’s tribal areas who have closer ties to Al Qaeda, like Sirajuddin Haqqani and Anwar ul-Haq Mujahed. The influence of older, more traditional Taliban leaders based in Quetta, Pakistan, is diminishing.
“We see more and more resources going to their fellow travelers,” said Christopher Alexander, the deputy special representative for the United Nations in Afghanistan. “The new Taliban commanders are younger and younger.”
In the southern provinces of Oruzgan, Kandahar and Helmand, Afghan villagers recently described two distinct groups of Taliban fighters. They said “local Taliban” allowed some development projects. But “foreign Taliban” — usually from Pakistan — threatened to kill anyone who cooperated with the Afghan government or foreign aid groups.
Hanif Atmar, the Afghan education minister, said threats from foreign Taliban have closed 40 percent of the schools in southern Afghanistan. He said many local Taliban oppose the practice, but foreign Taliban use brutality and cash to their benefit.
“That makes our situation terribly complicated,” Mr. Atmar said. “Because they bring resources with them, their agenda takes precedence.”
Large groups of Pakistani militants operate in southern Afghanistan, according to Afghan officials. In the east, more Arab and Uzbek fighters are present.
Mr. Bataloff, the Russian arrested in a burqa, insists he is a religious student who traveled to Pakistan last year to learn more about his new faith. In an hourlong interview in an Afghan jail in Kabul, he said his interest in Islam blossomed three years ago when he was living in Siberia.
“First, I heard from TV, radio and newspapers about Islam,” he said in Russian. “I found Islam had a lot of good things, especially that Islam respects all prophets, including Jesus.”
But he declined to describe many details of his trip and grew angry when asked about his personal background. “Homicide and suicide is not allowed in any religion,” he said, when asked about the allegations against him. “Why are you asking me these questions?”
Mr. Bataloff said he grew up in Siberia, but would not identify his hometown or region. He said he could not remember the names of the Pakistanis he met or the two Afghan men who drove the pickup truck.
He said he decided to go to a predominantly Muslim country last fall to study Islam and learn about “the morals, the customs, the ethics and the literature.” He flew alone from Russia to Iran, he said, and met a Russian-speaking “guide” in the airport.
After spending 10 days in Iran, he crossed into Pakistan and traveled to North Waziristan, a remote tribal area that is a longtime Taliban and Qaeda stronghold. There, he spent a year living and studying in a small mosque in Mir Ali.
Pakistani security officials say the Islamic Jihad Union, a terrorist group led by militants from Uzbekistan, operates a training camp in Mir Ali.
[In mid-October, in some of the heaviest fighting in four years, the Pakistani military said 50 foreign fighters were among 200 militants reported killed in three days of clashes around Mir Ali. The dead foreigners were said to include mostly Uzbeks and Tajiks, as well as some Arabs, the army said.]
Some of the suspects arrested in a failed bombing plot in Germany in September received training in the tribal areas, according to German officials. Several men involved in the July 2005 London transit bombings and a failed August 2006 London airliner plot did as well.
Mr. Bataloff said he met no foreign militants in his 10 months in the tribal areas. But American military officials said he had told interrogators that he had attended a terrorist training camp in North Waziristan. He said local militants forced him to go to the camp and taught him how to fire an AK-47 assault rifle, the officials said.
“I didn’t have any specific teacher,” he said, when asked about Pakistanis he met there. “There were local people who knew the Koran.”
A second foreign prisoner produced by Afghan officials identified himself as Muhammad Kuzeubaev, a 23-year-old from Temirtau, Kazakhstan. Afghan officials said he was a bombmaker arrested in September in Badakhshan Province in northern Afghanistan.
In an interview, Mr. Kuzeubaev, who also spoke fluent Russian, said he was visiting Afghanistan as a tourist. “I was close to the border,” he said. “I thought I would go explore the country.”
In Badakhshan, he said, two Afghan men abducted him and demanded he join Al Qaeda. He agreed to do so fearing he would be killed, he said. That night, the men showed him parts of a suicide vest and promised to take him to Pakistan for training.
“They showed me the explosives, the vest and grenade,” said Mr. Kuzeubaev. “The next day, they brought some kind of weapons.”
Two days later, Afghan police officers surrounded the house and arrested him, he said. Afghan interrogators beat him, chained him to a wall and prevented him from sleeping for four days, he said.
“They are saying, ‘You are the man who was making the vests,’ ” said Mr. Kuzeubaev. “But the ammunition and other explosives were not mine.”
Filed under
Afghanistan,
David Rohde,
Russia,
suicide,
Taliban
by Winter Patriot
on Sunday, November 25, 2007
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NYT : Send the State Department to War
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Send the State Department to War
By MAX BOOT | November 14, 2007
THE State Department has announced that it will force 50 foreign service officers to go to Iraq, whether they want to or not. This is the biggest use of “directed assignments” since the Vietnam War, and it represents a long-overdue response to complaints that diplomats aren’t pulling their weight in Iraq and Afghanistan.
However welcome, this is only a baby step toward a larger objective: to reorient the department and the government as a whole for the global war on Islamic terrorism. Yes, this is a war, but it’s a very different war from conventional conflicts like World War II or the Civil War. It is, in essence, a global counterinsurgency, and few counterinsurgencies have ever been won by force alone.
While maintaining military power remains important, even more crucial goals are aiding moderate Muslims, countering enemy propaganda, promoting economic growth, flexing our political and diplomatic muscles to achieve vital objectives peacefully, gathering intelligence, promoting international cooperation, and building the rule of law in ungoverned lands.
The government developed expertise in many of these areas during the cold war, but those skills were lost as budgets were slashed and jobs eliminated during the “peace dividend” decade of the 1990s. Because civilian capacity has been so anemic, an undue burden has fallen on the military — something that soldiers understandably resent.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recognizes the problem and has tried to reorient the State Department. She has, among other steps, moved diplomats out of Western Europe and into the developing world, set up a “war room” where Arabic-speaking diplomats can address the Middle Eastern press, and fostered a clumsily named Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization to plan for nation-building assignments.
Such efforts, however, are unlikely to succeed because they run counter to centuries of State Department tradition that emphasizes liaison work with established governments rather than creating governments from scratch or communicating with foreign citizens over the heads of their leaders.
Modern management theory holds that small, tightly focused organizations are likely to be more effective than large conglomerates that try to do a million different things. If we apply that insight to the State Department, it would make sense to undo some ruinous consolidations that occurred after the cold war, when the United States Agency for International Development was placed within the State Department’s sphere of influence and the United States Information Agency was folded into the department outright. No wonder our capacities in nation-building and strategic communications have withered — their practitioners are second-class citizens behind traditional foreign service officers.
The information and development agencies should be made independent again, and their resources expanded. The Agency for International Development, in particular, has seen a precipitous decline in personnel. In the 1960s, it had 1,900 officers in South Vietnam alone. Today it has only 1,200 to cover the entire world, forcing it to rely mainly on contractors. If we expand its ranks, it could become our lead nation-building agency, sort of a global FEMA, marshaling the kind of resources that have been lacking in Iraq and Afghanistan.
To buttress the growing corps of government reconstruction experts, we should have civilian reservists on call who could be summoned by the Agency for International Development in an emergency like military reservists. They could bring expertise in municipal administration, sewage treatment, banking, electricity generation, and countless other disciplines needed to rebuild a war-torn country. President Bush endorsed this notion in his last State of the Union address, but too little has been done to turn it into reality.
One of the most important shortages we have faced in Iraq and Afghanistan is in experienced police officers who can train local counterparts. Much of the job has fallen on the military police, whose troops are too few in number, and on civilian contractors, who are of uneven quality. We need to fill the vacuum by creating a federal constabulary force — a uniformed counterpart to the F.B.I. that, like the Italian carabinieri, could be deployed abroad.
Its efforts could be supplemented by municipal policemen if we pass a law allowing the federal government to call up local police officers without loss of pay or seniority and to compensate hometown police departments for their absence. Along with these police officers, we need a deployable corps of lawyers, judges and prison guards who could set up functioning legal and penal systems abroad.
Even with increased participation from civilian branches of government, the armed forces will still have a major role to play in what President Bush calls the “Long War.” But not necessarily a kinetic role. If we can train and advise foreign militaries, they can fight our battles for us. This model was demonstrated as long ago as the 1950s when Edward Lansdale and other advisers helped the Philippines put down a Marxist uprising, and has been repeated more recently in Somalia and the Phillipines.
Yet, important as it is, the United States military has not put enough emphasis on training and promoting experts in foreign military assistance. Such duty has traditionally been seen as a hindrance to promotion, which has made it tough to attract the best officers.
Lt. Col. John Nagl, a counterinsurgency expert, has suggested setting up an “adviser corps” of 20,000 soldiers. His idea would make advisory service not a career detour but a career in itself, equal, at least in theory, to infantry, armor and other traditional specialties. Some advisers, in turn, could be deployed as part of the “country team” at American embassies — something that happened routinely in the 1950s and ’60s but has since fallen into disuse.
Along with pushing advisory expertise, the armed forces also need to promote linguistic and cultural knowledge. Such skills are to be found primarily in Foreign Area Officers, but that is another career field whose practitioners are traditionally expected to commit career suicide. The military needs to increase the ranks of Foreign Area Officers and to provide more rewards for their much-needed service. We will have a hard time prevailing in today’s war as long as fewer than one-half of 1 percent of all service members have any grasp of Arabic.
Even while expanding governmental capacity, we also need to improve coordination among various branches of government, and between the government and nongovernmental and international organizations. That type of unified action has been in short supply in Iraq and Afghanistan, leading to nonstop complaints about how broken the “interagency” process has become.
James R. Locher, a former Congressional aide who helped draft the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act that brought greater coordination among the different branches of the military, is now leading a nonpartisan consortium of Washington policy and research groups that is trying to devise legislation to enhance the “unity of effort” among different branches of the government. Ideas under consideration include forcing civilian bureaucrats to serve a “joint tour” in a different agency and creating regional diplomatic coordinators who would marshal civilian agencies in the same way that the Pentagon’s Central Command and Pacific Command coordinate military units abroad. A partial prototype of this concept may be tested with the Defense Department’s new Africa Command, which is going to have a larger civilian component than the other combat commands.
Mr. Locher’s goal is to write a bill that would update the legendary National Security Act of 1947, which created the bureaucratic instruments (the C.I.A., Defense Department, National Security Council and the like) used to win the cold war. He hopes to have legislation ready in time for a new president in 2009. That’s an ambitious objective, but it’s one worth striving for if we’re going to adjust to the post-9/11 era of American foreign policy.
Some will no doubt object that to build up these capacities will encourage reckless “imperialism” or “militarism.” But improving our abilities in nation-building, strategic communications, security advising and related disciplines will actually lessen the chances that we will need to mount a major military intervention such as the one in Iraq. Our goal should be not just to deal with the aftermath of wars (Phase IV, in military parlance) but to solve problems before they grow into full-blown wars. In other words, to win Phase Zero.
Max Boot is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “War Made New: Weapons, Warriors and the Making of the Modern World.”
By MAX BOOT | November 14, 2007
THE State Department has announced that it will force 50 foreign service officers to go to Iraq, whether they want to or not. This is the biggest use of “directed assignments” since the Vietnam War, and it represents a long-overdue response to complaints that diplomats aren’t pulling their weight in Iraq and Afghanistan.
However welcome, this is only a baby step toward a larger objective: to reorient the department and the government as a whole for the global war on Islamic terrorism. Yes, this is a war, but it’s a very different war from conventional conflicts like World War II or the Civil War. It is, in essence, a global counterinsurgency, and few counterinsurgencies have ever been won by force alone.
While maintaining military power remains important, even more crucial goals are aiding moderate Muslims, countering enemy propaganda, promoting economic growth, flexing our political and diplomatic muscles to achieve vital objectives peacefully, gathering intelligence, promoting international cooperation, and building the rule of law in ungoverned lands.
The government developed expertise in many of these areas during the cold war, but those skills were lost as budgets were slashed and jobs eliminated during the “peace dividend” decade of the 1990s. Because civilian capacity has been so anemic, an undue burden has fallen on the military — something that soldiers understandably resent.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recognizes the problem and has tried to reorient the State Department. She has, among other steps, moved diplomats out of Western Europe and into the developing world, set up a “war room” where Arabic-speaking diplomats can address the Middle Eastern press, and fostered a clumsily named Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization to plan for nation-building assignments.
Such efforts, however, are unlikely to succeed because they run counter to centuries of State Department tradition that emphasizes liaison work with established governments rather than creating governments from scratch or communicating with foreign citizens over the heads of their leaders.
Modern management theory holds that small, tightly focused organizations are likely to be more effective than large conglomerates that try to do a million different things. If we apply that insight to the State Department, it would make sense to undo some ruinous consolidations that occurred after the cold war, when the United States Agency for International Development was placed within the State Department’s sphere of influence and the United States Information Agency was folded into the department outright. No wonder our capacities in nation-building and strategic communications have withered — their practitioners are second-class citizens behind traditional foreign service officers.
The information and development agencies should be made independent again, and their resources expanded. The Agency for International Development, in particular, has seen a precipitous decline in personnel. In the 1960s, it had 1,900 officers in South Vietnam alone. Today it has only 1,200 to cover the entire world, forcing it to rely mainly on contractors. If we expand its ranks, it could become our lead nation-building agency, sort of a global FEMA, marshaling the kind of resources that have been lacking in Iraq and Afghanistan.
To buttress the growing corps of government reconstruction experts, we should have civilian reservists on call who could be summoned by the Agency for International Development in an emergency like military reservists. They could bring expertise in municipal administration, sewage treatment, banking, electricity generation, and countless other disciplines needed to rebuild a war-torn country. President Bush endorsed this notion in his last State of the Union address, but too little has been done to turn it into reality.
One of the most important shortages we have faced in Iraq and Afghanistan is in experienced police officers who can train local counterparts. Much of the job has fallen on the military police, whose troops are too few in number, and on civilian contractors, who are of uneven quality. We need to fill the vacuum by creating a federal constabulary force — a uniformed counterpart to the F.B.I. that, like the Italian carabinieri, could be deployed abroad.
Its efforts could be supplemented by municipal policemen if we pass a law allowing the federal government to call up local police officers without loss of pay or seniority and to compensate hometown police departments for their absence. Along with these police officers, we need a deployable corps of lawyers, judges and prison guards who could set up functioning legal and penal systems abroad.
Even with increased participation from civilian branches of government, the armed forces will still have a major role to play in what President Bush calls the “Long War.” But not necessarily a kinetic role. If we can train and advise foreign militaries, they can fight our battles for us. This model was demonstrated as long ago as the 1950s when Edward Lansdale and other advisers helped the Philippines put down a Marxist uprising, and has been repeated more recently in Somalia and the Phillipines.
Yet, important as it is, the United States military has not put enough emphasis on training and promoting experts in foreign military assistance. Such duty has traditionally been seen as a hindrance to promotion, which has made it tough to attract the best officers.
Lt. Col. John Nagl, a counterinsurgency expert, has suggested setting up an “adviser corps” of 20,000 soldiers. His idea would make advisory service not a career detour but a career in itself, equal, at least in theory, to infantry, armor and other traditional specialties. Some advisers, in turn, could be deployed as part of the “country team” at American embassies — something that happened routinely in the 1950s and ’60s but has since fallen into disuse.
Along with pushing advisory expertise, the armed forces also need to promote linguistic and cultural knowledge. Such skills are to be found primarily in Foreign Area Officers, but that is another career field whose practitioners are traditionally expected to commit career suicide. The military needs to increase the ranks of Foreign Area Officers and to provide more rewards for their much-needed service. We will have a hard time prevailing in today’s war as long as fewer than one-half of 1 percent of all service members have any grasp of Arabic.
Even while expanding governmental capacity, we also need to improve coordination among various branches of government, and between the government and nongovernmental and international organizations. That type of unified action has been in short supply in Iraq and Afghanistan, leading to nonstop complaints about how broken the “interagency” process has become.
James R. Locher, a former Congressional aide who helped draft the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act that brought greater coordination among the different branches of the military, is now leading a nonpartisan consortium of Washington policy and research groups that is trying to devise legislation to enhance the “unity of effort” among different branches of the government. Ideas under consideration include forcing civilian bureaucrats to serve a “joint tour” in a different agency and creating regional diplomatic coordinators who would marshal civilian agencies in the same way that the Pentagon’s Central Command and Pacific Command coordinate military units abroad. A partial prototype of this concept may be tested with the Defense Department’s new Africa Command, which is going to have a larger civilian component than the other combat commands.
Mr. Locher’s goal is to write a bill that would update the legendary National Security Act of 1947, which created the bureaucratic instruments (the C.I.A., Defense Department, National Security Council and the like) used to win the cold war. He hopes to have legislation ready in time for a new president in 2009. That’s an ambitious objective, but it’s one worth striving for if we’re going to adjust to the post-9/11 era of American foreign policy.
Some will no doubt object that to build up these capacities will encourage reckless “imperialism” or “militarism.” But improving our abilities in nation-building, strategic communications, security advising and related disciplines will actually lessen the chances that we will need to mount a major military intervention such as the one in Iraq. Our goal should be not just to deal with the aftermath of wars (Phase IV, in military parlance) but to solve problems before they grow into full-blown wars. In other words, to win Phase Zero.
Max Boot is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “War Made New: Weapons, Warriors and the Making of the Modern World.”
Filed under
Afghanistan,
Condoleezza Rice,
Iraq,
lawyers,
suicide
by Winter Patriot
on Sunday, November 25, 2007
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NYT : Two Blasts Target Pakistani Military
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Two Blasts Target Pakistani Military
By CARLOTTA GALL | November 24, 2007
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 24 — Two suicide car bombers attacked military targets this morning in Rawalpindi, the site of military headquarters, killing at least 15 service personnel, a military spokesman said. The bombings raise tensions in the country, which is already beset with political and security problems.
The attacks were the latest in a series of attacks on the army and intelligence service that have been linked to militants fighting an insurgency in north-western Pakistan. Militants fighting in the Swat valley, a tourist spot just several hours drive from the capital, are under pressure from a large-scale military operation mounted last week to push them out of towns and villages in the region. The military said Friday that it had pushed the militants out of a strategic town of Alpuri, which they had occupied several weeks ago.
The bombings also come as the country entered its fourth week of political turmoil under de facto martial law, imposed by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. While General Musharraf said he is trying to fight terrorism, his opponents accuse him of using his extraordinary powers primarily to secure another presidential term for himself. He recently dismissed the Supreme Court and appointed a new one packed with supporters who have removed judicial obstacles to his remaining in power. Police have been deployed in large numbers to detain members of the judiciary and lawyers’ movement, and opposition political parties over the last three weeks.
The Election Commission today confirmed General Musharraf as the winner of the Oct. 6 presidential election, following a ruling by the newly appointed Supreme Court dismissing challenges to his eligibility to stand for another five year term as president while still holding the top army post. The court ordered General Musharraf to resign as chief of the army before taking the oath as president. The Attorney General, Malik Abdul Qayyum, talking to local news channels, said the president may take the oath on Wednesday.
A number of opposition parties met today and said they would boycott the parliamentary elections set for Jan. 8 unless their demands for the lifting of emergency rule were met within four days. Among them is the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who has announced he will return from exile in Saudi Arabia to his home town of Lahore on Sunday. But political parties were also scrambling to meet the Monday deadline for candidates to submit their election papers.
One of today’s bombings occurred when a small car rammed a bus full of intelligence personnel just as it was entering the gate of Hamza Camp, a walled compound where the intelligence agency, the InterServices Intelligence, and Military Intelligence maintain offices and residential buildings. The bus was packed with security personnel arriving for work.
Fifteen people on the bus died, as did the suicide bomber, said Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the chief military spokesman.
Minutes earlier another suicide bomber in a car was turned away from a check point near a side entrance to the army General Head Quarters several miles away in another part of Rawalpindi, the garrison town just south of the capital. As he turned the car, he detonated the bomb, killing himself and wounding three army personnel manning the checkpoint. The Associated Press, quoting an unnamed official at the scene, reported that as many as 35 people died altogether, 33 in the bus and two more at the checkpoint.
The bombings follow a pattern of recent suicide attacks on special forces and intelligence personnel that military officials say is a sign that militants are hitting back at the forces that are pursuing them the hardest in what is an escalating struggle. A bomber blew himself up in September in the mess hall of Pakistan’s American-trained special forces unit, the Special Services Group, killing at least 15 men and wounding more.
Also in September, two bombers attacked targets near the military head quarters in Rawalpindi, killing 25. One of the bombers boarded a bus taking personnel from the InterServices Intelligence to work and killed 18 intelligence workers. On Nov. 1, a bomber on a motorbike rammed an Air Force bus in the town of Sargodha, killing himself and eight people.
By CARLOTTA GALL | November 24, 2007
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 24 — Two suicide car bombers attacked military targets this morning in Rawalpindi, the site of military headquarters, killing at least 15 service personnel, a military spokesman said. The bombings raise tensions in the country, which is already beset with political and security problems.
The attacks were the latest in a series of attacks on the army and intelligence service that have been linked to militants fighting an insurgency in north-western Pakistan. Militants fighting in the Swat valley, a tourist spot just several hours drive from the capital, are under pressure from a large-scale military operation mounted last week to push them out of towns and villages in the region. The military said Friday that it had pushed the militants out of a strategic town of Alpuri, which they had occupied several weeks ago.
The bombings also come as the country entered its fourth week of political turmoil under de facto martial law, imposed by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. While General Musharraf said he is trying to fight terrorism, his opponents accuse him of using his extraordinary powers primarily to secure another presidential term for himself. He recently dismissed the Supreme Court and appointed a new one packed with supporters who have removed judicial obstacles to his remaining in power. Police have been deployed in large numbers to detain members of the judiciary and lawyers’ movement, and opposition political parties over the last three weeks.
The Election Commission today confirmed General Musharraf as the winner of the Oct. 6 presidential election, following a ruling by the newly appointed Supreme Court dismissing challenges to his eligibility to stand for another five year term as president while still holding the top army post. The court ordered General Musharraf to resign as chief of the army before taking the oath as president. The Attorney General, Malik Abdul Qayyum, talking to local news channels, said the president may take the oath on Wednesday.
A number of opposition parties met today and said they would boycott the parliamentary elections set for Jan. 8 unless their demands for the lifting of emergency rule were met within four days. Among them is the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who has announced he will return from exile in Saudi Arabia to his home town of Lahore on Sunday. But political parties were also scrambling to meet the Monday deadline for candidates to submit their election papers.
One of today’s bombings occurred when a small car rammed a bus full of intelligence personnel just as it was entering the gate of Hamza Camp, a walled compound where the intelligence agency, the InterServices Intelligence, and Military Intelligence maintain offices and residential buildings. The bus was packed with security personnel arriving for work.
Fifteen people on the bus died, as did the suicide bomber, said Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the chief military spokesman.
Minutes earlier another suicide bomber in a car was turned away from a check point near a side entrance to the army General Head Quarters several miles away in another part of Rawalpindi, the garrison town just south of the capital. As he turned the car, he detonated the bomb, killing himself and wounding three army personnel manning the checkpoint. The Associated Press, quoting an unnamed official at the scene, reported that as many as 35 people died altogether, 33 in the bus and two more at the checkpoint.
The bombings follow a pattern of recent suicide attacks on special forces and intelligence personnel that military officials say is a sign that militants are hitting back at the forces that are pursuing them the hardest in what is an escalating struggle. A bomber blew himself up in September in the mess hall of Pakistan’s American-trained special forces unit, the Special Services Group, killing at least 15 men and wounding more.
Also in September, two bombers attacked targets near the military head quarters in Rawalpindi, killing 25. One of the bombers boarded a bus taking personnel from the InterServices Intelligence to work and killed 18 intelligence workers. On Nov. 1, a bomber on a motorbike rammed an Air Force bus in the town of Sargodha, killing himself and eight people.
Filed under
Carlotta Gall,
Lahore,
lawyers,
Pakistan,
Pervez Musharraf,
Rawalpindi,
suicide
by Winter Patriot
on Sunday, November 25, 2007
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WaPo : Two Suicide Attacks Heighten Tension in Pakistan
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Two Suicide Attacks Heighten Tension in Pakistan
Musharraf Rival Preparing to Return From Exile Today
By Pamela Constable | Washington Post Foreign Service | November 25, 2007
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 24 -- Fears of renewed terrorist violence in this tense country, now ending its third week under emergency rule, were heightened by nearly simultaneous suicide bombings near two military compounds Saturday morning that killed at least 15 people.
The attacks occurred as former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, a key political rival of President Pervez Musharraf, prepared to return from exile Sunday.
One explosion occurred when a suicide bomber crashed a car into a bus that was carrying employees of the military Inter-Services Intelligence agency to a highly guarded urban compound about 10 miles from this capital city. Officials said that 15 people in the bus and the attacker were killed in the 7:45 a.m. blast and that many others were injured. Some reports put the death toll as high as 35.
"I heard a big bang and I saw the bus in flames," said Wazir Gul Abassi, who owns a small hotel across the street from the intelligence compound. "The firetruck came 15 minutes later, and they tried to open the doors, but they failed. I don't see how anyone inside survived."
The second bomb exploded when a car tried to pass through a checkpoint outside army headquarters, several miles from the other attack. The area was deserted, and no one was killed, but two guards manning the post were injured, authorities said. No group asserted responsibility for either attack, and officials said they did not know who was behind them.
The explosions marked the first suicide bombings in Pakistan since Musharraf, who is also Pakistan's army chief, imposed emergency rule Nov. 3, cracking down on political and media dissent and removing members of the Supreme Court who were hearing legal challenges to his recent reelection.
The timing of the twin bombings evoked comparisons with a far more lethal suicide attack Oct. 18, when former prime minister Benazir Bhutto returned home after eight years in exile. Her motorcade was moving through a tumultuous welcoming throng in the city of Karachi when a bomb went off nearby, missing Bhutto but killing more than 140 people.
Sharif was overthrown by Musharraf in a bloodless coup eight years ago and is a far more bitter rival than Bhutto, who recently tried to make a power-sharing deal with Musharraf. Sharif flew back to Pakistan earlier this fall from exile in Saudi Arabia, but he was not allowed to leave the plane and was sent back.
This week, Sharif and his family announced he would return again, in time to meet the Tuesday deadline for filing as a candidate for parliamentary elections the government has scheduled for January. Musharraf traveled to Saudi Arabia last week and met with officials there, generating speculation that he was trying to stop Sharif's return.
If Sharif is successful in coming home this time, analysts said, his presence will dramatically alter the political equation here. The government has been trying to stage a controlled transition to civilian rule, in which Musharraf would step down as army chief and take office as a civilian president, probably later this week.
After that, the official plan is to proceed with the parliamentary elections, but it is not clear whether emergency rule would be lifted by then. Even if it is, critics say it will be virtually impossible to hold credible polls so soon after the arrests of thousands of opposition party activists. Bhutto has been placed under house arrest twice, and a handful of key opposition leaders are still in jail.
Government opponents are divided and confused about whether to participate in the elections. Bhutto already has filed candidacy papers, but leaders from several other parties have dismissed the polls as a sham. Sharif has said he hopes to forge a broad coalition against the elections, but he, his wife and several other relatives are also in the process of filing their candidacy papers for parliament.
No evidence connected Saturday's bombs directly to Pakistan's political contest, however, and the choice of military targets suggested they were more likely linked to the current intensive fighting between Pakistani troops and Islamic fighters in the Swat Valley and nearby tribal regions in northwestern Pakistan.
Musharraf has said he declared emergency rule in part to have a freer hand in combating terrorism and extremism, which have been spreading across the tribal northwest as well as other areas along the border with Afghanistan. In the past two weeks, thousands of army troops have been deployed to Swat, the current epicenter of the clash. Civilians have been evacuated from some areas because of the fighting.
Suicide bombers have struck government and military targets near Rawalpindi several times this fall. On Oct. 30, a bomber attacked near Musharraf's office, killing seven people. In September, two bomb blasts the same day left 25 people dead, including passengers on another bus carrying employees of the military intelligence service.
On Saturday morning, the guarded military compound in Rawalpindi was swarming with uniformed police and plainclothes agents, who repeatedly tried to prevent journalists from talking to bystanders and witnesses. Two Pakistani TV crews said police had confiscated their cameras, and a driver for two foreign journalists was threatened.
Large carpets had been strung across the entrance to the camp, and a firetruck was parked in front of it. Across the street, the wall of a commercial building, made of green-glass windows, was shattered in jagged patterns. Shards of glass and small pieces of twisted metal from the car used in the attack were also on the ground.
Ambulances from the compound were seen heading toward a government hospital, but the entire area was cordoned off by police, as was the scene of the bombing near army headquarters.
Special correspondent Shezad Khurram contributed to this report.
Musharraf Rival Preparing to Return From Exile Today
By Pamela Constable | Washington Post Foreign Service | November 25, 2007
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 24 -- Fears of renewed terrorist violence in this tense country, now ending its third week under emergency rule, were heightened by nearly simultaneous suicide bombings near two military compounds Saturday morning that killed at least 15 people.
The attacks occurred as former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, a key political rival of President Pervez Musharraf, prepared to return from exile Sunday.
One explosion occurred when a suicide bomber crashed a car into a bus that was carrying employees of the military Inter-Services Intelligence agency to a highly guarded urban compound about 10 miles from this capital city. Officials said that 15 people in the bus and the attacker were killed in the 7:45 a.m. blast and that many others were injured. Some reports put the death toll as high as 35.
"I heard a big bang and I saw the bus in flames," said Wazir Gul Abassi, who owns a small hotel across the street from the intelligence compound. "The firetruck came 15 minutes later, and they tried to open the doors, but they failed. I don't see how anyone inside survived."
The second bomb exploded when a car tried to pass through a checkpoint outside army headquarters, several miles from the other attack. The area was deserted, and no one was killed, but two guards manning the post were injured, authorities said. No group asserted responsibility for either attack, and officials said they did not know who was behind them.
The explosions marked the first suicide bombings in Pakistan since Musharraf, who is also Pakistan's army chief, imposed emergency rule Nov. 3, cracking down on political and media dissent and removing members of the Supreme Court who were hearing legal challenges to his recent reelection.
The timing of the twin bombings evoked comparisons with a far more lethal suicide attack Oct. 18, when former prime minister Benazir Bhutto returned home after eight years in exile. Her motorcade was moving through a tumultuous welcoming throng in the city of Karachi when a bomb went off nearby, missing Bhutto but killing more than 140 people.
Sharif was overthrown by Musharraf in a bloodless coup eight years ago and is a far more bitter rival than Bhutto, who recently tried to make a power-sharing deal with Musharraf. Sharif flew back to Pakistan earlier this fall from exile in Saudi Arabia, but he was not allowed to leave the plane and was sent back.
This week, Sharif and his family announced he would return again, in time to meet the Tuesday deadline for filing as a candidate for parliamentary elections the government has scheduled for January. Musharraf traveled to Saudi Arabia last week and met with officials there, generating speculation that he was trying to stop Sharif's return.
If Sharif is successful in coming home this time, analysts said, his presence will dramatically alter the political equation here. The government has been trying to stage a controlled transition to civilian rule, in which Musharraf would step down as army chief and take office as a civilian president, probably later this week.
After that, the official plan is to proceed with the parliamentary elections, but it is not clear whether emergency rule would be lifted by then. Even if it is, critics say it will be virtually impossible to hold credible polls so soon after the arrests of thousands of opposition party activists. Bhutto has been placed under house arrest twice, and a handful of key opposition leaders are still in jail.
Government opponents are divided and confused about whether to participate in the elections. Bhutto already has filed candidacy papers, but leaders from several other parties have dismissed the polls as a sham. Sharif has said he hopes to forge a broad coalition against the elections, but he, his wife and several other relatives are also in the process of filing their candidacy papers for parliament.
No evidence connected Saturday's bombs directly to Pakistan's political contest, however, and the choice of military targets suggested they were more likely linked to the current intensive fighting between Pakistani troops and Islamic fighters in the Swat Valley and nearby tribal regions in northwestern Pakistan.
Musharraf has said he declared emergency rule in part to have a freer hand in combating terrorism and extremism, which have been spreading across the tribal northwest as well as other areas along the border with Afghanistan. In the past two weeks, thousands of army troops have been deployed to Swat, the current epicenter of the clash. Civilians have been evacuated from some areas because of the fighting.
Suicide bombers have struck government and military targets near Rawalpindi several times this fall. On Oct. 30, a bomber attacked near Musharraf's office, killing seven people. In September, two bomb blasts the same day left 25 people dead, including passengers on another bus carrying employees of the military intelligence service.
On Saturday morning, the guarded military compound in Rawalpindi was swarming with uniformed police and plainclothes agents, who repeatedly tried to prevent journalists from talking to bystanders and witnesses. Two Pakistani TV crews said police had confiscated their cameras, and a driver for two foreign journalists was threatened.
Large carpets had been strung across the entrance to the camp, and a firetruck was parked in front of it. Across the street, the wall of a commercial building, made of green-glass windows, was shattered in jagged patterns. Shards of glass and small pieces of twisted metal from the car used in the attack were also on the ground.
Ambulances from the compound were seen heading toward a government hospital, but the entire area was cordoned off by police, as was the scene of the bombing near army headquarters.
Special correspondent Shezad Khurram contributed to this report.
Filed under
Karachi,
Nawaz Sharif,
Pakistan,
Pervez Musharraf,
Rawalpindi,
suicide
by Winter Patriot
on Sunday, November 25, 2007
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