Bangladore..
Pakistani Role in Global Terrorism
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enqyoobOLD
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Time to remember the innocent 7/11 blast victims trapped in railcars of Mumbai railway who are yet to be compensated, while TSP's Herr maximus leader Musharraf cools his heel swilling expensive British whisky with PUSsy (PakUS) aid of F-16s, overflowing swiss bank money, bailed out shortcut economy, ethan allen chairs and sofa sets, flanked by his terrorist ISI thugs and scantily clad chinese masseuses..
7/11 train blasts: 200 victims yet to be compensated
A year after the dreaded Mumbai 7/11 train blasts, sadly, the dependents and victims of the explosions caused by TSP terrorists have found little solace to rebuild their shattered lives. The police have filed charges against 10 Pakistanis who are said to be on the run.
7/11 train blasts: 200 victims yet to be compensated
A year after the dreaded Mumbai 7/11 train blasts, sadly, the dependents and victims of the explosions caused by TSP terrorists have found little solace to rebuild their shattered lives. The police have filed charges against 10 Pakistanis who are said to be on the run.
Rangadu, We need to compile a BR Terrorism Risk index. Can you think up factors that should go into such an index? The goal is to rate a country or region's terrorism risk taking local and external factors and indicators.
Eventually I want a BR Global Risk index based on geopolitical, economic, social and environmental factos. We can make it a composite index that uses some of the already developed indices weighted to account for the importance of that index.
Eventually I want a BR Global Risk index based on geopolitical, economic, social and environmental factos. We can make it a composite index that uses some of the already developed indices weighted to account for the importance of that index.
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enqyoobOLD
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Folks:
Will some kind and energetic BRFee pls go back a few threads, and pick up the history of the Lal Masjid tamasha? You can find a lot on the Rahnuma... threads and the Pak Enlightened... Positive News threads, incl. the awesome pictures.
Then PLEASE go through the last 2 weeks of all Pak-related threads, and copy all posts. Please put these in a single document and post it????
This Lal Masid thing has a LOT of info and lessons. Including the clearly demonstrated Paki government role in global terrorism, and the complete coincidence of the Pak Army, terrorist organizations, and ISI.
Also, this has the essential data for many years of Pak-baiting. About the SSG batting teenage girls... and running. About Pak Army running from aging mullahs...
Will some kind and energetic BRFee pls go back a few threads, and pick up the history of the Lal Masjid tamasha? You can find a lot on the Rahnuma... threads and the Pak Enlightened... Positive News threads, incl. the awesome pictures.
Then PLEASE go through the last 2 weeks of all Pak-related threads, and copy all posts. Please put these in a single document and post it????
This Lal Masid thing has a LOT of info and lessons. Including the clearly demonstrated Paki government role in global terrorism, and the complete coincidence of the Pak Army, terrorist organizations, and ISI.
Also, this has the essential data for many years of Pak-baiting. About the SSG batting teenage girls... and running. About Pak Army running from aging mullahs...
X-Posted
Storming the mosque humiliated Pakistan
By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 11/07/2007
Storming the mosque humiliated Pakistan
By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 11/07/2007
As the the Red Mosque in Islamabad was stormed, President Pervez Musharraf must have been praying it would not end in the massacre of innocent women and children. But even before the shooting had stopped and the bodies counted, it was clear that this had been a pivotal action in Pakistan's internal ideological battle.
The storming of Lal Masjid has increased opposition to Gen Musharraf among those who are sympathetic towards the Taliban in Afghanistan and who oppose his backing of the US-led war on terror. Radical Islamists have been roused by what for them was an emblematic act of martyrdom.
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It is supposed to be election year in Pakistan and the big question is whether the debacle has helped or hindered Gen Musharraf's chances. From the beginning of the crisis, the general's critics have questioned the timing of the mosque drama and suggested that it was contrived to draw attention away from a domestic political crisis.
Gen Musharraf has been beleaguered since his attempted sacking of the chief justice. His standing has been dented by faltering American support and the killing of more than 40 people by his political allies in Karachi in May.
To some extent, Lal Masjid will have re-established his damaged credentials as a bulwark against terrorism. He has had to enforce, brutally, his policy of enlightened moderation. By storming the mosque, he has been drawn further into a battle he had hitherto tried to avoid.
Gen Musharraf has always striven to balance the demands of America, which has bankrolled his regime to the tune of $10 billion since 2001, and Islamic radicals.
This equilibrium has been underscored in blood in recent months, whereby every military action taken in Pakistan's tribal areas against pro-Taliban militants has been met with a series of suicide bomb attacks against soldiers and officials.
The murky relationship between jihadis, the mainstream military and Pakistan's military intelligence agencies is in flux. Many of the main jihadist groups that have fought in Indian-held Kashmir and Afghanistan, and that are suspected of infiltrating militants into Lal Masjid, were financed and trained by military intelligence.
The tens of thousands of jihadis were considered to be a "strategic asset" by Pakistani generals, but now high command is at a loss over how to decommission this "freelance" force.
The dark arts practised by the top brass over the past few years to control the radicals - fattening the established radical religious leaders with political power and cash -are losing their sway as a younger, more extreme generation of radicals has come to the fore.
Gen Musharraf's American backers may come to look at Lal Masjid as a metaphor for his record on controlling extremism. His drive since 2002 to reform madrassahs has failed because of opposition from hardline groups.
Pakistan saw a spectacular rise in madrassah numbers in the 1980s, when the schools, backed by funding from the West and Arab countries, became recruiting grounds for volunteers fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan. Some madrassahs later supplied recruits for the Taliban.
Lal Masjid is a case in point. Critics noted that the Red Mosque first earned a reputation for militancy in the 1980s, under its founder, Maulana Abdullah, who used to work for Pakistan's military intelligence.
When he was assassinated, the mosque was taken over by his sons, Abdur Rashid Ghazi and Mohammed Abdul Aziz. Both were at one time in the pay of the government as civil servants.
That the Walter Mittyish revolutionary Ghazi has been transformed into an Islamist hero as result of Pakistan's anarchic governance is lamentable.
After he was accused of being involved in a Musharraf assassination plot, he boasted of how he merely lay low in Islamabad while the army scoured the country. The charges were later dropped.
When he was arrested after weapons were found in his car, again intelligence official ordered his release.
The Lal Masjid circus always had a contrived air of a deus ex machina, so when Ghazi declared yesterday, "My martyrdom is near", it was doubly tragic. He had his strings pulled by greater forces - either intelligence agencies or militant groups.
So what will Gen Musharraf's coalition backers make of Lal Masjid? He had planned to be re-elected by the existing assemblies. The US State Department disagrees. Last month, it issued a statement saying he would seek re-election from parliament after elections due later this year.
A State Department official said recently that Gen Musharraf had already pledged that, if he "continues in political life", he will "put aside the uniform". "We would expect him to follow through on his commitments," he said.
That points towards a scenario whereby he would jettison his uniform to preside over a broad-based secular coalition, possibly headed by the self-exiled former PM, Benazir Bhutto, whose previous governments were twice dismissed on charges of corruption.
Pakistan, in its 60th year, with its clownish antics and humiliating and resentful reliance on American money, has the aspect of a sorrowful, nuclear-armed circus.
The trail of terror leads to Pakistan
By DAVID WILLIAMS
Last updated at 23:42pm on 10th July 2007
The leaders of the 7/7 and 21/7 suicide plots are both thought to have planned their attacks in the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountain range on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.
Links between the terror gangs have always been played down by the security services in London but their counterparts in Pakistan talk of a connection.
They cite 'intelligence' that the suicide missions were conceived at the same remote terror camp near Peshawar attended by July 7 leader Mohammad Sidique Khan and July 21 boss Muktar Said Ibrahim.
The claim comes from Pakistan's Inter- Services Intelligence, which co-ordinates foreign, domestic and military intelligence and has in the past been accused of helping to train Taliban and foreign fighters.
The ISI is said to have a unique insight into the camps over which it takes little action. Officially, British investigators praise their 'partner' in the war on terror.
Unofficially, they are frustrated about Pakistan withholding potentially-crucial leads.
The ISI says intelligence points to Khan and Ibrahim being together or in contact with other Britons and Al Qaeda-linked radicals both in the jihadi training camps of Warizistan, in Dhamial, near the sprawling city of Rawalpindi, and in Lahore.
Captured militants apparently told SIS agents that both men were in a camp in North Warizistan, a tribal area where senior Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders are thought to be hiding.
Ibrahim has been linked directly or indirectly to at least six terror cells of homegrown Muslim extremists planning attacks in Britain.
Key members of these plots all travelled to Pakistan for training. Khan and Ibrahim are said by the ISI to have been separately tutored by the same Afghan bomb maker, experimenting in carrying out explosions by grinding and mixing different household materials.
The bombs eventually used by both terror gangs were similar and of a kind not seen before in Britain.
The main charge was made from hydrogen peroxide and mixed with an organic material.
Scientist Clifford Todd told Ibrahim's trial: "The only two occasions on which the authorities in this country had ever come across an improvised explosive device made from hydrogen peroxide and an organic substance were the 7th of July and the 21st of July."
The tutor for both men, Pakistan's investigators believe, was Dolat Khan. The electronics specialist had fled the city of Jalalabad in Afghanistan following the overthrow of the Taliban.
Three years ago, he was arrested and held for three months by intelligence officers in connection with a bombing but was released and has vanished. Under questioning, he admitted knowledge of remote-controlled bombs.
Khan and Ibrahim had already received terror training before their possible encounter in Pakistan – Khan in Kashmir, Pakistan and Afghanistan and Ibrahim in Sudan.
Both men were in Pakistan at the same time for eight weeks between December 2004 and February 2005.
According to a senior investigator of the ISI, Khan and Ibrahim are believed to have had 'direct or indirect' contact in Rawalpindi and Lahore.
Who put the two men in touch is unclear – no evidence brings them together in the UK – but investigators say the plots were the work of an Al Qaeda-linked planner.
Ibrahim was well connected with fundamentalists and one of his associates is a preacher currently awaiting trial for a UK based bombing plot.
Salahuddin warns of attacks inside India
By Tariq Naqash
MUZAFFARABAD, July 3: Chairman of Kashmir’s United Jihad Council Syed Salahuddin has warned that freedom fighters could resort to attacks inside India if cases involving excesses against women and other human rights abuses by the Indian forces continue to take place in occupied Kashmir.
In a statement issued the other day, he expressed concerns over the incidents of rape and molestation in Kupwara and Kunnan Bandipura. He said that it had become a daily practice of Indian forces to arrest the people, particularly the family members of freedom fighters. Families of those people who had been killed by the forces were harassed, he added.
Syed Salahuddin criticised the pro-India politicians for ignoring such violations of human rights.
He also expressed concern over the foreign visits of some Kashmiri leaders in the name of resolving the Kashmir issue. Instead of visiting New Delhi or western countries, the leaders should work for strengthening the Kashmiris, he said, adding that their visits and talk of some options and roadmaps were creating confusion among the people.
Criticising the attitude of some Hurriyat leaders, he said that if they would not bury their differences, history would not forgive them. He asked them to counter the Indian oppressive policies with unity of thought.
Syed Salahuddin urged the Kashmiri people to reject any electoral exercise under the Indian constitution and said armed struggle would continue till the complete withdrawal of Indian troops from the occupied Kashmir.
Who are these militants?
By Our Special Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, July 8: The stiff resistance coming from inside the Lal Masjid-Jamia Hafsa complex, with the heavily-armed militants refusing to surrender has continued to raise questions about the identity of those holed up there, as well as about the quality and quantity of weapons and ammunition they have stocked to take on the state’s military might.
For the sixth consecutive day, the militant supporters of Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi responded with automatic fire from inside the mosque-madressah complex, showing little sign of fatigue or shortage of ammunition. And the manner in
which the gunmen targeted an SSG group on Saturday night, killing their commanding officer and injuring a number of others, also demonstrate how well trained some of them are, both in combat actions and sniper firing.
Maulana Ghazi may well be a victim of his own big-mouth and adventurism, as otherwise he is not even half as radical as his elder brother Maulana Aziz, who was captured while trying to escape wearing a burqa. In fact, Maulana Aziz’s wife, Umme Hassan, who is still inside the complex, is believed to have more radical views. Some people even suggest that she may well be the real source
of inspiration for the militants’ so-called suicide squad. Whoever is their leader in the given circumstances, one thing is clear: the 30- or 40-odd militants holed up there have been indoctrinated to a degree that they may prefer to die than surrender.
This is precisely what is preventing the security forces from going for a kill, i.e., storming the huge complex to flush out the armed militants. Their assessment is that such a move could result in a collateral damage of unimaginable proportion because hundreds of women and men who, despite having their deep religious association
with the Mosque-Madressah clerics, have nothing to do with the militants or their ulterior motives.
Again the big question is: who are these militants?
Some of the premier intelligence agencies, having worked closely with Jihadis in the past, particularly when Islamic militancy was an essential tool of the country’s regional policy, may have a better idea about the identity or affiliations of many of those inside the complex. But as the events have continued to unfold, others are also getting some idea about who the armed men are, and how this mosque-madressah complex was being used as a hide-out for various militant organisations.
On day two of the conflict when over 40 radicals were captured as they tried to escape by scaling the complex wall, the authorities discovered that at least five of them were affiliated with Jamaat ud Dawa, formerly known as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba. The presence of these men showed that the doors of the complex were never closed for those fighting for a ‘common cause’.
Later, it was also suggested that a few of the militants were also affiliated with the now defunct Harkat-i-Jihad-i-Islami of the controversial Jihadi leader Qari Saifullah, who is believed to be in the custody of the authorities.
However, the way the events have shaped up over the past few days also indicate that the biggest grouping of militants belongs to the banned Jaish-i-Mohammed. The complex always had close affiliation with Jaish, but the first sign of its physical presence came when on the third day of the conflict the militants handed over the body of a man described as a journalist from a local newspaper. It was later revealed that he had been carrying a fake identity card and was identified as Maqsoodul Mehmood, who used to work for a Jasih-i-Mohammed publication and was cousin of the banned outfit’s supreme leader Maulana Masood Azhar.
By now it has also become quite clear that the person who ideologically controls these militants is Masood Azahr’s brother, Mufti Abdur Rauf.Some-time back, he was accidentally arrested by the local police, and somehow managed to get himself released. Shortly before the start of the operation, he had managed to slip out of the Lal Masjid, and is presently said to be in hiding.
Another militant leader, Qari Naveed Masood Hashmi, is also believed to be quite active, and some say he has been acting as the link between the militant organisations and those holed up inside the mosque-madressah complex.
It’s not clear how long it may take for the security forces for put an end to this saga, but because of the complexity of the situation, and the role some of the militants played in the officially sanctioned Jihad in the past, the mystery about the manner in which this complex was allowed to work as a major sanctuary for militants from Jaish and many other radical organisations may never be revealed.
However, President Gen Pervez Musharraf may like to find out from his aides and intelligence people regarding their earlier assessment of the reaction from other madressahs which, according to him, was one of the reasons for delaying such an operation. At one point, the president had told journalists that the reasons such an operation was being delayed was because there was a fear that radical students from 18 of Islamabad’s madressahs may join the Lal Masjid brigade to create havoc in the capital. No such thing happened, and even when the security forces walked into E-7’s Jamia Fareedia, there was no resistance. Some even go to the extent of saying that the Lal Masjid crisis is nothing but an intelligence fiasco.
How ironic. The Puki "victims" of the Samjhauta Express blasts (which occurred after the 7/11 train blasts and were engineered by the Puki-trained saboteurs) have been fully compensated by GoI. Goes to show where the GoI priorities are.bala wrote:Time to remember the innocent 7/11 blast victims trapped in railcars of Mumbai railway who are yet to be compensated, while TSP's Herr maximus leader Musharraf cools his heel swilling expensive British whisky with PUSsy (PakUS) aid of F-16s, overflowing swiss bank money, bailed out shortcut economy, ethan allen chairs and sofa sets, flanked by his terrorist ISI thugs and scantily clad chinese masseuses..
7/11 train blasts: 200 victims yet to be compensated
A year after the dreaded Mumbai 7/11 train blasts, sadly, the dependents and victims of the explosions caused by TSP terrorists have found little solace to rebuild their shattered lives. The police have filed charges against 10 Pakistanis who are said to be on the run.
link
London 7/11, 21/11: The trail of terror leads to Pakistan
London 7/11, 21/11: The trail of terror leads to Pakistan
The leaders of the 7/7 and 21/7 suicide plots are both thought to have planned their attacks in the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountain range on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.
Links between the terror gangs have always been played down by the security services in London but their counterparts in Pakistan talk of a connection.
They cite 'intelligence' that the suicide missions were conceived at the same remote terror camp near Peshawar attended by July 7 leader Mohammad Sidique Khan and July 21 boss Muktar Said Ibrahim.
The claim comes from Pakistan's Inter- Services Intelligence, which co-ordinates foreign, domestic and military intelligence and has in the past been accused of helping to train Taliban and foreign fighters.
The ISI is said to have a unique insight into the camps over which it takes little action. Officially, British investigators praise their 'partner' in the war on terror.
Unofficially, they are frustrated about Pakistan withholding potentially-crucial leads.
The ISI says intelligence points to Khan and Ibrahim being together or in contact with other Britons and Al Qaeda-linked radicals both in the jihadi training camps of Warizistan, in Dhamial, near the sprawling city of Rawalpindi, and in Lahore.
Captured militants apparently told SIS agents that both men were in a camp in North Warizistan, a tribal area where senior Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders are thought to be hiding.
Ibrahim has been linked directly or indirectly to at least six terror cells of homegrown Muslim extremists planning attacks in Britain.
Key members of these plots all travelled to Pakistan for training. Khan and Ibrahim are said by the ISI to have been separately tutored by the same Afghan bomb maker, experimenting in carrying out explosions by grinding and mixing different household materials.
The bombs eventually used by both terror gangs were similar and of a kind not seen before in Britain.
The main charge was made from hydrogen peroxide and mixed with an organic material.
Scientist Clifford Todd told Ibrahim's trial: "The only two occasions on which the authorities in this country had ever come across an improvised explosive device made from hydrogen peroxide and an organic substance were the 7th of July and the 21st of July."
The tutor for both men, Pakistan's investigators believe, was Dolat Khan. The electronics specialist had fled the city of Jalalabad in Afghanistan following the overthrow of the Taliban.
Three years ago, he was arrested and held for three months by intelligence officers in connection with a bombing but was released and has vanished. Under questioning, he admitted knowledge of remote-controlled bombs.
Khan and Ibrahim had already received terror training before their possible encounter in Pakistan – Khan in Kashmir, Pakistan and Afghanistan and Ibrahim in Sudan.
Both men were in Pakistan at the same time for eight weeks between December 2004 and February 2005.
According to a senior investigator of the ISI, Khan and Ibrahim are believed to have had 'direct or indirect' contact in Rawalpindi and Lahore.
Who put the two men in touch is unclear – no evidence brings them together in the UK – but investigators say the plots were the work of an Al Qaeda-linked planner.
Ibrahim was well connected with fundamentalists and one of his associates is a preacher currently awaiting trial for a UK based bombing plot.
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enqyoobOLD
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As someone pointed out, the Al Zuwahiri rant came out way too soon. Shows that he is in an ISI safe house. Video-on-demand.
The whole Lal Masjid tamasha was organized to boost Mushy's sagging stock on DupleeCity.
Dubya needs enhanced focus on AQ to deflect the rising tide of rebellion in the Republican party about Eyerak. See sudden revelations of "AQ team coming or already inside!"
Yes, AQ is inside - even the furniture in the White House is supplied by them - but most reader of that news item seem to have figured out that it is just hype to deflect the bad news from Eyerak.
So the WHOTUS must have put the squeeze on Mush. Mush reacts by showing how embattled he is, and how tough he is on the AQ, by sending the poor SSG dudes to die attacking the KendoSticks Teenagers.
And the Al Zuwahiri video is just to reinforce the point.
The whole Lal Masjid tamasha was organized to boost Mushy's sagging stock on DupleeCity.
Dubya needs enhanced focus on AQ to deflect the rising tide of rebellion in the Republican party about Eyerak. See sudden revelations of "AQ team coming or already inside!"
Yes, AQ is inside - even the furniture in the White House is supplied by them - but most reader of that news item seem to have figured out that it is just hype to deflect the bad news from Eyerak.
So the WHOTUS must have put the squeeze on Mush. Mush reacts by showing how embattled he is, and how tough he is on the AQ, by sending the poor SSG dudes to die attacking the KendoSticks Teenagers.
And the Al Zuwahiri video is just to reinforce the point.
Tubelights flickering on or a false alarm?Tilak wrote:Storming the mosque humiliated Pakistan
By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 11/07/2007
Pakistan, in its 60th year, with its clownish antics and humiliating and resentful reliance on American money, has the aspect of a sorrowful, nuclear-armed circus.
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enqyoobOLD
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Gerard: You put the REALLY good news in the wrong thread: here it is.
Note that this guy was seen DRIVING WITH A PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT MINISTER IN ISLAMABAD.Printed from
The Times of India -Breaking news, views. reviews, cricket from across India
HuM chief Khalil spotted in Pak, India asks for handover
12 Jul 2007, 1325 hrs IST,TNN
SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
NEW DELHI: Fazalur Rehman Khalil, a militant leader who figures in India's list of 'most wanted' terrorists, was reportedly spotted in Pakistan along with a prominent Minister there. Sources say that Indian government has asked for his handover.
Khalil is the chief of banned outfit Harqat-ul-Mujahideen.
Khalil was detained by the Pakistani government several years back and remained in custody for six months. In 2004, he was released despite Indian government's requests.
TV reports quoted sources as saying that that the investigators in UK had exchanged information about Khalil with the Indian government.
Indian authorities then demanded that Khalil be handed over
TV reports further suggest that India had asked for his custody as a part of its Joint Terror Mechanism (JTM) with Pakistan, to which the neighbouring country is yet to revert.
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enqyoobOLD
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This is getting more interesting. The "Indian" contribution to the jehad might still be no more than dummies providing cover for Pakistani terrorists.
Wonder why they waste time filing such garbage anyway...
Printed from
The Times of India
Doubts over Kafeel's college certificates
10 Jul 2007, ..
DAVANAGERE: Records of Kafeel Ahmed, the engineer brother of doctor Sabeel, available at the University BDT College of Engineering in Davanagere (where he was a student from 1996 to October 2000) give room for some doubt. Several entries are incomplete or appear overwritten.
Firstly, a domicile certificate issued by the tahsildar of Bangalore South taluk on July 23, 1996, does not contain Kafeel Ahmed’s name. It has the name of Maqbool Ahmed as candidate and his father's name as Khader Ahmed.
The certificate has some overwriting in the number of years of stay in Bangalore - first written as 1943 to 1971. But it has been struck off and written as "since ten years" above it.
In black ink and in different handwriting, entries pertaining to residential address in the domicile certificate also give room for suspicion.
The transfer certificate (TC) issued by National College, Basavanagudi in Bangalore, on the other hand, has no information on Kafeel's nationality or religion.
The marks statement issued by CBSE, dated May 31, 1994, does not contain the name of the school where he studied Class 10. It doesn't contain any rubber stamp (seal of the institute) indicating the school from where he completed his matriculation, casting a doubt as to where he studied. The serial number of the marks statement: 0069765 and his roll number: 4110414.
The photocopy of this statement, attested by one Dr Ifthikharuddin, MD (OSM), professor, Government Unani College, Bangalore, was submitted to the UBDT College by Kafeel during admission, said principal Suresh Chandramohan.
The college admission ledger indicates that Kafeel is a Hindu, a clerical error as explained by the principal
Wonder why they waste time filing such garbage anyway...
TSP's ISI ring busted in Gujarat
The Gujarat police busted an Inter State Intelligence (ISI) network involved in smuggling fake currency, narcotics, arms and ammunition into India and seized boats and global positioning system equipment on Thursday. Six persons including two ISI agents were arrested from Kutch and charged with smuggling fake currency worth Rs 24 lakh into Mandvi in Kutch from Pakistan and then to Hyderabad. The network was busted on the basis of the information provided by one of the ISI agents, Mr Abdul Gaffar, who had been arrested recently.
The Special Operation Group official claimed that the gang that included fishermen met its Pakistani counterparts on the coastal border to push in arms, ammunition and fake currency into Gujarat and into the country through the state.
The Gujarat police busted an Inter State Intelligence (ISI) network involved in smuggling fake currency, narcotics, arms and ammunition into India and seized boats and global positioning system equipment on Thursday. Six persons including two ISI agents were arrested from Kutch and charged with smuggling fake currency worth Rs 24 lakh into Mandvi in Kutch from Pakistan and then to Hyderabad. The network was busted on the basis of the information provided by one of the ISI agents, Mr Abdul Gaffar, who had been arrested recently.
The Special Operation Group official claimed that the gang that included fishermen met its Pakistani counterparts on the coastal border to push in arms, ammunition and fake currency into Gujarat and into the country through the state.
Bangalore Police traces six missing Pak nationals
Nearly two years after 16 Pakistani nationals went ‘missing’ in Bangalore, the State police have traced six of them as “gone back to their country.â€
Nearly two years after 16 Pakistani nationals went ‘missing’ in Bangalore, the State police have traced six of them as “gone back to their country.â€
This is atrocious. How can India, the victim of dozens of massive terror attacks from TSPians, not take these missing denizens of the Land of the Pure seriously ? TSPians should have been hunted like cockroaches.bala wrote:Bangalore Police traces six missing Pak nationals
It’s only after the failed UK terror plot and its suspected Bangalore connection that the police have taken up the case seriously.
US News
Reassess. Some U.S. officials are also reassessing Musharraf's performance. U.S. intelligence agencies warn that al Qaeda and the Taliban have reconstituted safe havens in the badlands of western Pakistan. "I haven't seen anything since 9/11 that suggests this guy will do stuff of his own volition that's in our interests," says a U.S. official. "He always does the bare minimum." For example, despite Musharraf's pledges to crack down on radical religious schools, U.S.and British officials have had to point out specific madrasahs that were producing graduates primed for jihadist acts.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=56693
HOMELAND INSECURITY
Al-Qaida infiltrating America as patients
Clinics warn of medical visa scam by foreigners looking to get in U.S.
Medical clinics across the country have been flooded with requests from foreign nationals from Pakistan and other Muslim countries to help them gain visa entry into the U.S. as patients.
The post-9/11 trend concerns authorities who fear al-Qaida could be using the medical industry to infiltrate terrorist cells into the country.
Sylvester told WND the clinic recently has received additional requests for letters from nationals in Pakistan and other al-Qaida hotbeds. Foreign nationals can use the letters to obtain B-2 visitors visas from the State Department to receive medical treatment.
In 2004, a Pakistani national from Bahawalpur – another known hotbed for terrorist recruits – demanded the Caster Eye Center in Los Angeles issue him a letter of invitation he could present to the U.S. consulate to obtain a visa.
"I want a free visa for sergury [sic]," Nabeel Ahmed Bhatti wrote in an e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by WND. He claimed to have what he described in his limited English as a "short problem" with his left eye.
Pakistanis posing as disabled travelers
Additionally, the FBI and Homeland Security have warned consular officers in Pakistan, as well as law enforcement in the U.S., to be on the alert for al-Qaida terrorists posing as medical aides to disabled persons.
In November 2003, for example, WND has learned U.S. intelligence intercepted information about a plot by al-Qaida to employ the scam to obtain U.S. visas for terrorist operatives at the U.S. embassy in Islamabad.
Here is the text of the warning issued in a closely held intelligence-driven action bulletin by Homeland Security at the time:
"As of mid-November 2003, Islamic extremists were supposedly planning to send operatives to the United States and United Kingdom to conduct attacks. The attacks will allegedly take place in April 2004. The operatives will be Pakistani individuals who would obtain U.S. visas in Islamabad, Pakistan. The operatives will accompany a disabled person and act as the disabled person's assistants when obtaining the visa."
The two-page DHS intelligence bulletin, marked "SENSITIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT INFORMATION" and obtained by WND, added that operatives could conceal weapons, explosive materials or other contraband inside prosthetic limbs or in wheelchairs on board inbound flights to the U.S.
"This method fits with current al-Qaida methodology," the bulletin said, "as al-Qaida has been trying to recruit individuals who would draw less scrutiny from U.S. law enforcement entities."
HOMELAND INSECURITY
Al-Qaida infiltrating America as patients
Clinics warn of medical visa scam by foreigners looking to get in U.S.
Medical clinics across the country have been flooded with requests from foreign nationals from Pakistan and other Muslim countries to help them gain visa entry into the U.S. as patients.
The post-9/11 trend concerns authorities who fear al-Qaida could be using the medical industry to infiltrate terrorist cells into the country.
Sylvester told WND the clinic recently has received additional requests for letters from nationals in Pakistan and other al-Qaida hotbeds. Foreign nationals can use the letters to obtain B-2 visitors visas from the State Department to receive medical treatment.
In 2004, a Pakistani national from Bahawalpur – another known hotbed for terrorist recruits – demanded the Caster Eye Center in Los Angeles issue him a letter of invitation he could present to the U.S. consulate to obtain a visa.
"I want a free visa for sergury [sic]," Nabeel Ahmed Bhatti wrote in an e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by WND. He claimed to have what he described in his limited English as a "short problem" with his left eye.
Pakistanis posing as disabled travelers
Additionally, the FBI and Homeland Security have warned consular officers in Pakistan, as well as law enforcement in the U.S., to be on the alert for al-Qaida terrorists posing as medical aides to disabled persons.
In November 2003, for example, WND has learned U.S. intelligence intercepted information about a plot by al-Qaida to employ the scam to obtain U.S. visas for terrorist operatives at the U.S. embassy in Islamabad.
Here is the text of the warning issued in a closely held intelligence-driven action bulletin by Homeland Security at the time:
"As of mid-November 2003, Islamic extremists were supposedly planning to send operatives to the United States and United Kingdom to conduct attacks. The attacks will allegedly take place in April 2004. The operatives will be Pakistani individuals who would obtain U.S. visas in Islamabad, Pakistan. The operatives will accompany a disabled person and act as the disabled person's assistants when obtaining the visa."
The two-page DHS intelligence bulletin, marked "SENSITIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT INFORMATION" and obtained by WND, added that operatives could conceal weapons, explosive materials or other contraband inside prosthetic limbs or in wheelchairs on board inbound flights to the U.S.
"This method fits with current al-Qaida methodology," the bulletin said, "as al-Qaida has been trying to recruit individuals who would draw less scrutiny from U.S. law enforcement entities."
Bush Aides See Failure in Fight With Al Qaeda in Pakistan
By MARK MAZZETTI and DAVID E. SANGER
WASHINGTON, July 17 — President Bush’s top counterterrorism advisers acknowledged Tuesday that the strategy for fighting Osama bin Laden’s leadership of Al Qaeda in Pakistan had failed, as the White House released a grim new intelligence assessment that has forced the administration to consider more aggressive measures inside Pakistan.
The intelligence report, the most formal assessment since the Sept. 11 attacks about the terrorist threat facing the United States, concludes that the United States is losing ground on a number of fronts in the fight against Al Qaeda, and describes the terrorist organization as having significantly strengthened over the past two years.
In identifying the main reasons for Al Qaeda’s resurgence, intelligence officials and White House aides pointed the finger squarely at a hands-off approach toward the tribal areas by Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who last year brokered a cease-fire with tribal leaders in an attempt to drain support for Islamic extremism in the region.
“It hasn’t worked for Pakistan,â€
By MARK MAZZETTI and DAVID E. SANGER
WASHINGTON, July 17 — President Bush’s top counterterrorism advisers acknowledged Tuesday that the strategy for fighting Osama bin Laden’s leadership of Al Qaeda in Pakistan had failed, as the White House released a grim new intelligence assessment that has forced the administration to consider more aggressive measures inside Pakistan.
The intelligence report, the most formal assessment since the Sept. 11 attacks about the terrorist threat facing the United States, concludes that the United States is losing ground on a number of fronts in the fight against Al Qaeda, and describes the terrorist organization as having significantly strengthened over the past two years.
In identifying the main reasons for Al Qaeda’s resurgence, intelligence officials and White House aides pointed the finger squarely at a hands-off approach toward the tribal areas by Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who last year brokered a cease-fire with tribal leaders in an attempt to drain support for Islamic extremism in the region.
“It hasn’t worked for Pakistan,â€
From here :
Press Briefing by White House Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend
Excerpt from speech:
Press Briefing by White House Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend
Excerpt from speech:
Excerpt from Q & A session:…….. The NIE notes the al Qaeda and its affiliates have sought safe haven in the federally administrated tribal areas of Pakistan and replaced senior leaders and operational commanders that have been captured or killed.
Al Qaeda continues to attempt to create global terrorist alliances, raise resources, and recruit and indoctrinate operatives, including for homeland attacks. Importantly, the NIE assesses that al Qaeda has protected or regenerated three of four key elements in planning an attack on the homeland: a safe haven in Pakistan, operational lieutenants, and top leadership. …………..
we continue to work with President Musharraf and the Pakistani government to capture key al Qaeda operatives and pressure al Qaeda and the Taliban in the federally administrated tribal areas. Al Qaeda has made several attempts to assassinate President Musharraf, and the Pakistanis understand the threat that al Qaeda and violent Islamic extremism pose to their country. We will continue to press them to take action to ensure that no part of Pakistan remains a safe haven for terrorists. ………
Q Fran, why has the administration continued to say things as the President said in 2005, we have put the enemy on the run and now they spend their days avoiding capture, given that they have now regenerated elements of their homeland attack capability and they have safe haven in Pakistan? How can the administration have said these things?
MS. TOWNSEND: Well, they're not inconsistent, Martha. Actually, we have kept them on the run. They do seek to avoid capture every single day. The fact is, look, you're looking at a developing -- …………..
Q My second question, if I could -- for the citizen watching this and hearing that in Pakistan there is a safe haven, why should that American citizen not say, well, why don't we go into Pakistan and deal with it that way?
MS. TOWNSEND: There's no question the President has made perfectly clear if we had actionable targets anywhere in the world, putting aside whether it was Pakistan or anyplace else, we would pursue those targets. There's a number -- but it's hard for me to say to you, what is the target, what is the opportunity, what is the likelihood of success, what is our confidence in the intelligence. You'd have to know all those things for me to accurately sort of predict for you, and that's one of those things you're only going to know when all those factors come together.
But there's no question President Musharraf is taking on extremism. He gave a speech after the seizure of the Red Mosque and said, we're going to battle extremism in every nook of Pakistan and we are going to rid Pakistan, all of Pakistan, of extremism. So he's clearly committed to taking it on.
In the last -- just this month, they've lost upwards of 80 soldiers in the fight. So there should be no question that Pakistan takes it seriously for their own reasons. And we're working with them to encourage them to deny Pakistan as a safe haven. They don't want Pakistan as a safe haven, themselves. ……………
Q Madam, well, credit goes to the law enforcement authorities, as far as any deaths have not taken place here in this country. But also there is a report that U.S. is fighting this war outside the U.S. My question is that now you are confirming that Osama bin Laden, which we have not been talking about for some time, is now alive and he is the head of the al Qaeda, and most of the attacks taking place under his leadership. And I'm sure somebody knows where he's hiding, and also you confirm that al Qaeda are not taking safe haven in Pakistan. Pakistani government has told the U.S. that they will not allow under any circumstances anybody to enter that area where al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden is. So where do we stand? What is the future catching Osama bin Laden and all those hiding in safe haven in Pakistan?
MS. TOWNSEND: Well, there is no question -- and when we talk about Pakistan and bin Laden, we're talking about the federally administrated tribal areas. As you know, President Musharraf, in an effort to extend the writ of the Pakistani government in a way that has never been before, entered into this agreement with tribal leaders in the area. It hasn't worked for Pakistan. It hasn't worked for the United States. It's clear that President Musharraf is serious about taking action in the tribal areas. We've seen a whole spate of activity over the course of the last several weeks. And I think it is fair to say President Musharraf is committed to the fact that he will not permit that to be a safe haven. And we will work with him to ensure that safe haven is denied to them.
Q -- as President Karzai of Afghanistan is coming to meet with President Bush -- he has been complaining that al Qaeda is coming across the border from Pakistan into Afghanistan. His government is in trouble also because they want to destabilize the freedom -- the democracy in Afghanistan. Where do we stand as far as dealing with al Qaeda in Afghanistan?
MS. TOWNSEND: As you know, when both President Karzai and President Musharraf were here with the President, the President encouraged greater intelligence and cooperation across the board. We had tried to assist in facilitating that cooperation. We have seen greater cooperation. I think the President looks forward to getting a sense from President Karzai of his take on it.
Q Fran, is it a fair reading of the key judgments that you released today that the federally administered tribal areas you discussed is, in fact, the central front in the war on terrorism, to use the President's phrase? And, if so, tell us how, if at all, you have renegotiated your own operational arrangements with General Musharraf, President Musharraf, so that we would have greater access in there.
MS. TOWNSEND: Okay. Well, to use the President's phrase, Iraq is the central front in the war on terror. And --
Q Is that supported by the key judgments, then?
MS. TOWNSEND: There is no question, based on the statements of bin Laden, himself, not to mention others and al Qaeda, that they regard Iraq as the central front in the war on terror.
The other piece to this -- you asked me about arrangements with President Musharraf. It is no secret there have been a series of very senior-level U.S. government officials to engage with President Musharraf and address this very issue, beginning with the Vice President. And, obviously, there are conversations between the President and President Musharraf. Secretary Gates has been out, Deputy Secretary Negroponte, and a raft of senior intelligence officials.
We will continue to work with the Pakistani government to address the threat that comes from the tribal area. It is a serious one, but it's not only a serious threat to us, it's also a serious threat to the stability of Pakistan. I'm obviously not going to go into the details of it, because I'm not going to put our people, or Pakistani officials, at risk. In the last two weeks they've had nearly 80 killed, and I'm not going to do that. ……………
Q Is it shorthanding it too much to say that General Musharraf, through his efforts in the tribal areas there against al Qaeda, is the key person, the point man in protecting the United States, and whether he has success there or not is the whole ball game?
MS. TOWNSEND: No, it is not accurate, because we work together as a partner. We work jointly, whether it's with his intelligence service, his military, our military. We work together as partners. To suggest that it's kind of all on his shoulders, I just don't think is -- I don't think it's fair and I don't think it's accurate.
Q Does he give us all the operational capability the United States would like to have?
MS. TOWNSEND: You know, it's funny -- I'm glad you asked me that, because frequently when people ask me about our counterterrorism cooperation and our allies around the world, the suggestion is, do they give you everything you want. That is almost never the case. And you know what? If I only cooperated with those who gave me a hundred percent of what I thought I needed or wanted, I wouldn't have a whole lot of allies around the world.
Every ally is important. Every ally comes to the table in the fight against terrorism through the lens of their own national interest: What do they need to get in the fight? What's a threat to their own international security or the security of their own people? And so we always work to strengthen those alliances, we always work to find more common ground so that we're more closely aligned. But it doesn't mean that we get everything we want. But we also can't walk away from people just because we don't get everything we want when we want it.
Q What kind of percentage do we get from Musharraf?
MS. TOWNSEND: I'm not going to -- I'm not -- it's really a tempting invitation; I'm not going to do it. ……………………
Q Fran, I think a lot of Americans watching this will have two very simple questions: Where is Osama bin Laden? And why, nearly six years after the President said we would get him, dead or alive, do we not have him? How has he possibly eluded our grasp?
MS. TOWNSEND: Well, there is no question that we have put extraordinary resources against finding him. If I could answer directly, with a pinpoint on a map where he was, he wouldn't be there. So the question is, does he -- it presumes, frankly, that he sits in a single place with an address, a street address and a phone number, so it should be easy for us to go and get him. I wish, Sheryl, that it were that easy. It's not.
You can assume, just based on sort of operational security behavior, that he's moving around, he doesn't make it easy, he doesn't have a lot of contact, and he is in a very remote area that is not easily accessed certainly by Americans, and frankly, by the Pakistanis, themselves.
And so the President has made perfectly clear, we will be relentless. He will be captured or killed. And it is a huge priority for us, for our intelligence and military. And we will continue until we're successful. ………………….
FROM WSJ
U.S. Sounds Alarm on al Qaeda Moves Pressure Intensifies on Bush To Eradicate Pakistani Haven;
Unrest Surrounds Musharraf
By JAY SOLOMON in Washington and ZAHID HUSSAIN in Islamabad
July 18, 2007; Page A6
New terrorism-threat alarms from Washington are being sounded in large measure because of what intelligence reports say are signs that al Qaeda has rebuilt a base in Pakistan that could be a launching pad for attacks in the West.
U.S. policy makers, under pressure to eradicate this haven with or without the cooperation of Islamabad, describe a vexing dilemma. Any major unilateral effort by the Pentagon inside Pakistan, say U.S. officials, could spark a local backlash strong enough to topple President Pervez Musharraf, a leader President Bush has called Washington's strongest ally in the fight against al Qaeda.
The U.S. intelligence community, in an assessment released yesterday, said Osama bin Laden's terrorist network remains "the most serious threat" to the U.S. homeland. Pakistan's tribal areas, which abut the Afghanistan border, have become a haven and operational command for al Qaeda's senior leadership -- probably including Mr. bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, U.S. intelligence officials say.
Al Qaeda leaders, according to U.S. officials, are using the border region to train recruits from Europe and Africa while reaching out globally to affiliate groups, particularly in Iraq and North Africa. Al Qaeda's core leadership "can execute some level of control over the organization," while both recruiting and deploying personnel, said Ted Gistaro, an official on the staff of the Director of National Intelligence and a principal author of yesterday's assessment, the National Intelligence Estimate.
Many counterterrorism officials question whether Gen. Musharraf, who is also Pakistan's military chief, has the will or political support to mount a major operation inside the tribal areas against al Qaeda and the Taliban, the Islamist fundamentalists who ruled Afghanistan until late 2001.
"The Bush administration is in a huge bind here," says Seth Jones, a terrorism analyst at the Rand Corp., a think tank with offices in Washington. "It doesn't have much of a military option."
Some U.S. politicians questioned the timing of the assessment's release, saying it could be used to distract the public from the Bush administration's troubles in Iraq. Others said it shows the administration's failures in combating terrorism. Senior intelligence officials said the report had been originally requested in 2004.
Growing unrest surrounding Gen. Musharraf helps explain why worries among U.S. terror-watchers have escalated so markedly in recent weeks. A suicide bomber killed 15 people yesterday, at a rally in Islamabad for Pakistan's suspended chief justice, police said.
Meanwhile, U.S. and Pakistani officials say the security environment in Pakistan's tribal areas has deteriorated markedly during the past 18 months. In September, Gen. Musharraf struck a peace agreement with tribal leaders in the area which resulted in Islamabad withdrawing troops in return for the tribes' pledge to forcibly remove foreign and al Qaeda fighters. But the pact has had the opposite effect, say these officials, by allowing al Qaeda and the Taliban to increase their autonomy and presence in the area, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA.
There are also signs that the Taliban and al Qaeda presence has spread into the nontribal regions of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province. There is also emerging evidence that the Taliban's influence is reaching the Pakistani capital.
This month, Gen. Musharraf's troops launched a siege on the Red Mosque, a center of radical-and-fundamentalist teaching in Islamabad, that resulted in the deaths of dozens of students and leaders identified by Pakistan as Taliban supporters. Pakistani officials said the action was taken after Gen. Musharraf recognized the threat of the growing "Talibanization" of Pakistan. The Taliban and al Qaeda have used the bloodshed as a rallying call for an even broader campaign against Gen. Musharraf's government.
The raid on the Red Mosque also led leaders in FATA to call off the truce with the Islamabad government. In recent days, militants in the tribal areas and Islamabad have killed hundreds of Pakistani troops and citizens in suicide attacks. Mr. Zawahiri has also called for the assassination of Pakistan's leader.
Senior U.S. and Pakistani officials said the raid on the Red Mosque was part of a broader effort by Gen. Musharraf to push back the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Pakistan's government isn't declaring its truce with the tribal leaders dead, but it has rushed troops into the North West Frontier Province in recent days. Pakistani troops have also re-manned checkpoints in FATA's North and South Waziristan districts.
Pakistan and the U.S. are also seeking to drastically increase developmental aid to the tribal areas in coming months. The two countries have pledged nearly $2.8 billion for the FATA during the next five years largely on schools, roads and medical clinics. Islamabad and Washington are also cooperating to further develop a Frontier Corps of troops focused on policing the Pakistani-Afghanistan border.
"Now having dealt with the mosque, it's pretty much crossing a line and there's no going back," said Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of state for South Asia. "I think it shows that the government of Pakistan is prepared to move, to act, against a dangerous militancy."
The Pentagon has launched limited operations inside the tribal areas, such as missile strikes and intelligence gathering activities, but senior U.S. officials balked at more aggressive action for fear of destabilizing Gen. Musharraf.
Many Pakistan watchers say Gen. Musharraf would be hard pressed to rid the tribal areas of al Qaeda and the Taliban, even if he has the will to do so. The groups operate in remote mountainous areas that neither Islamabad nor earlier British colonial governments ever controlled. Elements of Pakistan's security forces helped fund and arm the Taliban in its earlier years, raising questions about their willingness to conduct military action against the militia.
Gen. Musharraf's ability to act could be compromised by his increasing political weakness at home. The Pakistani leader has survived in power in part through a political alliance with a coalition of Islamist parties, many of whom are sympathetic to the Taliban.
Many of Gen. Musharraf's supporters in Washington hope the Pakistani leader seizes on the Red Mosque incident both to crack down on Islamist militants but also to build bridges with secular political parties that have opposed his rule. These groups have supported the Pakistan leader's moves against the Taliban and the Red Mosque while still calling for a return of civilian rule to their country.
Write to Jay Solomon at [email protected]
U.S. Sounds Alarm on al Qaeda Moves Pressure Intensifies on Bush To Eradicate Pakistani Haven;
Unrest Surrounds Musharraf
By JAY SOLOMON in Washington and ZAHID HUSSAIN in Islamabad
July 18, 2007; Page A6
New terrorism-threat alarms from Washington are being sounded in large measure because of what intelligence reports say are signs that al Qaeda has rebuilt a base in Pakistan that could be a launching pad for attacks in the West.
U.S. policy makers, under pressure to eradicate this haven with or without the cooperation of Islamabad, describe a vexing dilemma. Any major unilateral effort by the Pentagon inside Pakistan, say U.S. officials, could spark a local backlash strong enough to topple President Pervez Musharraf, a leader President Bush has called Washington's strongest ally in the fight against al Qaeda.
The U.S. intelligence community, in an assessment released yesterday, said Osama bin Laden's terrorist network remains "the most serious threat" to the U.S. homeland. Pakistan's tribal areas, which abut the Afghanistan border, have become a haven and operational command for al Qaeda's senior leadership -- probably including Mr. bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, U.S. intelligence officials say.
Al Qaeda leaders, according to U.S. officials, are using the border region to train recruits from Europe and Africa while reaching out globally to affiliate groups, particularly in Iraq and North Africa. Al Qaeda's core leadership "can execute some level of control over the organization," while both recruiting and deploying personnel, said Ted Gistaro, an official on the staff of the Director of National Intelligence and a principal author of yesterday's assessment, the National Intelligence Estimate.
Many counterterrorism officials question whether Gen. Musharraf, who is also Pakistan's military chief, has the will or political support to mount a major operation inside the tribal areas against al Qaeda and the Taliban, the Islamist fundamentalists who ruled Afghanistan until late 2001.
"The Bush administration is in a huge bind here," says Seth Jones, a terrorism analyst at the Rand Corp., a think tank with offices in Washington. "It doesn't have much of a military option."
Some U.S. politicians questioned the timing of the assessment's release, saying it could be used to distract the public from the Bush administration's troubles in Iraq. Others said it shows the administration's failures in combating terrorism. Senior intelligence officials said the report had been originally requested in 2004.
Growing unrest surrounding Gen. Musharraf helps explain why worries among U.S. terror-watchers have escalated so markedly in recent weeks. A suicide bomber killed 15 people yesterday, at a rally in Islamabad for Pakistan's suspended chief justice, police said.
Meanwhile, U.S. and Pakistani officials say the security environment in Pakistan's tribal areas has deteriorated markedly during the past 18 months. In September, Gen. Musharraf struck a peace agreement with tribal leaders in the area which resulted in Islamabad withdrawing troops in return for the tribes' pledge to forcibly remove foreign and al Qaeda fighters. But the pact has had the opposite effect, say these officials, by allowing al Qaeda and the Taliban to increase their autonomy and presence in the area, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA.
There are also signs that the Taliban and al Qaeda presence has spread into the nontribal regions of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province. There is also emerging evidence that the Taliban's influence is reaching the Pakistani capital.
This month, Gen. Musharraf's troops launched a siege on the Red Mosque, a center of radical-and-fundamentalist teaching in Islamabad, that resulted in the deaths of dozens of students and leaders identified by Pakistan as Taliban supporters. Pakistani officials said the action was taken after Gen. Musharraf recognized the threat of the growing "Talibanization" of Pakistan. The Taliban and al Qaeda have used the bloodshed as a rallying call for an even broader campaign against Gen. Musharraf's government.
The raid on the Red Mosque also led leaders in FATA to call off the truce with the Islamabad government. In recent days, militants in the tribal areas and Islamabad have killed hundreds of Pakistani troops and citizens in suicide attacks. Mr. Zawahiri has also called for the assassination of Pakistan's leader.
Senior U.S. and Pakistani officials said the raid on the Red Mosque was part of a broader effort by Gen. Musharraf to push back the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Pakistan's government isn't declaring its truce with the tribal leaders dead, but it has rushed troops into the North West Frontier Province in recent days. Pakistani troops have also re-manned checkpoints in FATA's North and South Waziristan districts.
Pakistan and the U.S. are also seeking to drastically increase developmental aid to the tribal areas in coming months. The two countries have pledged nearly $2.8 billion for the FATA during the next five years largely on schools, roads and medical clinics. Islamabad and Washington are also cooperating to further develop a Frontier Corps of troops focused on policing the Pakistani-Afghanistan border.
"Now having dealt with the mosque, it's pretty much crossing a line and there's no going back," said Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of state for South Asia. "I think it shows that the government of Pakistan is prepared to move, to act, against a dangerous militancy."
The Pentagon has launched limited operations inside the tribal areas, such as missile strikes and intelligence gathering activities, but senior U.S. officials balked at more aggressive action for fear of destabilizing Gen. Musharraf.
Many Pakistan watchers say Gen. Musharraf would be hard pressed to rid the tribal areas of al Qaeda and the Taliban, even if he has the will to do so. The groups operate in remote mountainous areas that neither Islamabad nor earlier British colonial governments ever controlled. Elements of Pakistan's security forces helped fund and arm the Taliban in its earlier years, raising questions about their willingness to conduct military action against the militia.
Gen. Musharraf's ability to act could be compromised by his increasing political weakness at home. The Pakistani leader has survived in power in part through a political alliance with a coalition of Islamist parties, many of whom are sympathetic to the Taliban.
Many of Gen. Musharraf's supporters in Washington hope the Pakistani leader seizes on the Red Mosque incident both to crack down on Islamist militants but also to build bridges with secular political parties that have opposed his rule. These groups have supported the Pakistan leader's moves against the Taliban and the Red Mosque while still calling for a return of civilian rule to their country.
Write to Jay Solomon at [email protected]
phor malayalee biraders wonlee,
(zins you totally do not understanding wurdu
phalowing ij posted in malayinglish aj clariphicajun)
there seemjs big mishunderstandings
musharraf haj said dhat he will wype out
terrorijm from yevery karner wof the country
he mins he will wype out terrorijm wonlee
phrom yevery karner of the country
karner doej not means islamabad lahore karachi pissawer
rawalpindi baluchistan waziristan goatistan and narth waste phrontier colony
but dhere ij won problem you see no one knowj
where ij dhe baki karner once dhey find the corner
dhen its zuper zimble to wype out the terrorijm from
the karner
dhat ij the clarificajun i heard
NSN Newj
Center of bakistan (not corner)
(zins you totally do not understanding wurdu
phalowing ij posted in malayinglish aj clariphicajun)
there seemjs big mishunderstandings
musharraf haj said dhat he will wype out
terrorijm from yevery karner wof the country
he mins he will wype out terrorijm wonlee
phrom yevery karner of the country
karner doej not means islamabad lahore karachi pissawer
rawalpindi baluchistan waziristan goatistan and narth waste phrontier colony
but dhere ij won problem you see no one knowj
where ij dhe baki karner once dhey find the corner
dhen its zuper zimble to wype out the terrorijm from
the karner
dhat ij the clarificajun i heard
NSN Newj
Center of bakistan (not corner)
Mariane Pearl sues al Qaeda over husband's killing
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The widow of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against al Qaeda, other radical groups and Pakistan-based Habib Bank Ltd over the 2002 abduction, torture and murder of her husband.
Mariane Pearl, whose story is told in the recently released movie "A Mighty Heart" starring Angelina Jolie, filed the suit at U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, according to her lawyers.
"Plaintiffs seek to hold responsible those terrorists, terrorist organizations and the supporting charitable and banking organizations for the senseless kidnapping, torture and murder of Daniel Pearl," the suit said.
It seeks an unspecified amount of money, whatever the court "deems appropriate", to prevent the defendants from committing similar acts.
Pearl was the South Asia bureau chief of the Journal when he was kidnapped in Karachi in January 2002 while seeking an interview with suspected Islamist militants. After several days in captivity he was beheaded on video.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The widow of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against al Qaeda, other radical groups and Pakistan-based Habib Bank Ltd over the 2002 abduction, torture and murder of her husband.
Mariane Pearl, whose story is told in the recently released movie "A Mighty Heart" starring Angelina Jolie, filed the suit at U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, according to her lawyers.
"Plaintiffs seek to hold responsible those terrorists, terrorist organizations and the supporting charitable and banking organizations for the senseless kidnapping, torture and murder of Daniel Pearl," the suit said.
It seeks an unspecified amount of money, whatever the court "deems appropriate", to prevent the defendants from committing similar acts.
Pearl was the South Asia bureau chief of the Journal when he was kidnapped in Karachi in January 2002 while seeking an interview with suspected Islamist militants. After several days in captivity he was beheaded on video.
Bush's (Latest) Pakistan Problem
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/artic ... rorism.htm
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/artic ... rorism.htm
The national intelligence estimate warned that a resurgent al Qaeda has "regenerated" a comfortable safe haven in the northwestern tribal regions of Pakistan—a country that also happens to be one of Bush's most frequently praised allies in the struggle against terrorism.
The upshot is tough. Not only has al Qaeda survived a six-year "war on terrorism," but it has also harnessed the invasion and occupation of Iraq to fuel its own growth, managed to rebuild its operational leadership, and resumed plotting ambitious attacks on the United States, all from inside a nation that has received as much as $10 billion in U.S. aid since 2001.
So, given that a key plank in Bush's counterterrorism strategy is to deny terrorists sanctuary, the NIE puts pressure on the Bush administration to take direct action to eliminate this new safe haven. After all, if al Qaeda does manage to pull off an attack in the coming months that is traced back to Pakistan, Bush administration officials will not be able to claim that they had no warning.
Prices of imported beef from India increases $355/t
KARACHI: The price of Indian frozen beef has gone up due to its surging demand, which has resulted in a decline in exports of the commodity to Pakistan. The prices of Indian frozen beef increased $355 per tonne or 27.30 percent to $1,655 per tonne from $ 1,300 per tonne, resulting in the shortage of imports by 560 tonnes during June. According to the importers, around 70 containers, that is, 1,960 per tonne of red meat are imported from India in a month to cater the demand, which has declined to 1,400 tonnes during June. Meat importers said the surging Indian consumption of beef is behind the shortage of import to Karachi, which also increased the wholesale prices.
There are around 12 Karachi-based importers of the Indian buffalo’s meat, which is supplied particularly to hotels, restaurants and catering centres, while there are importers who supplied Indian meat to other cities of the country. The prices of this beef have also surged by Rs 10-15 per kg reaching to Rs 110-115 per kg from 100 kg in the domestic wholesale market. A leading importer of frozen Abdul Aziz Maniya said the wholesale prices would come down again by August, as the supply of red meat is expected to improve from India. He said the local consumption of imported frozen beef has been increasing as it is getting popularity amongst the cooking centres and hotels. staff report
[quote]No emergency, elections on time, media must not sympathise with religious extremists: Only politico-military moderates can thwart radicals: Musharraf
* Says NWFP CM endorsed federal govt’s anti-Taliban strategy
* Govt has earned some ‘space’ for action against extremists
By Najam Sethi
ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf hoped the general elections would return moderate forces to parliament with whom he would work to develop a greater national consensus to restore credibility to the political system and take on the forces of religious extremism. That is why, he said, the next general elections were critical for Pakistan and had to be free and fair in order for their results to be accepted as legitimate and representative of the popular will.
President Musharraf was talking to a select group of owners and editors of the print and electronic media at his Camp Office in Rawalpindi on Wednesday morning.
Asked whether he thought he was personally indispensable in the scheme of things, he suggested that no purely civilian government without the support of the military which he led as army chief could hope to effectively counter the challenge and threat of extremism in Pakistan. He insisted he had no personal ambitions to fulfill or ego to satisfy.
He also laid to rest rumours that a state of emergency might be imposed in the country so that elections could be postponed. There will be no state of emergency in the country and presidential and general elections will be held on time “as per the Constitutionâ€
* Says NWFP CM endorsed federal govt’s anti-Taliban strategy
* Govt has earned some ‘space’ for action against extremists
By Najam Sethi
ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf hoped the general elections would return moderate forces to parliament with whom he would work to develop a greater national consensus to restore credibility to the political system and take on the forces of religious extremism. That is why, he said, the next general elections were critical for Pakistan and had to be free and fair in order for their results to be accepted as legitimate and representative of the popular will.
President Musharraf was talking to a select group of owners and editors of the print and electronic media at his Camp Office in Rawalpindi on Wednesday morning.
Asked whether he thought he was personally indispensable in the scheme of things, he suggested that no purely civilian government without the support of the military which he led as army chief could hope to effectively counter the challenge and threat of extremism in Pakistan. He insisted he had no personal ambitions to fulfill or ego to satisfy.
He also laid to rest rumours that a state of emergency might be imposed in the country so that elections could be postponed. There will be no state of emergency in the country and presidential and general elections will be held on time “as per the Constitutionâ€
[quote]VIEW: Pakistani organisational culture —Humair Hashmi
Chance observations may also support Hofstede’s conclusion that Pakistani people accept, in most cases without hesitation, the unequal distribution of power in society. Obeying powerful people and groups without questioning appears to be a typical Pakistani national character trait
In ground breaking research on organisational culture spread over fifty countries and tapping 116000 respondents, Geert Hofstede identified four major dimensions of national organisational culture: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and masculinity.
The first dimension relates to a group’s acceptance of the unequal distribution of power; the second to how organisations feel threatened by ambiguous situations; the third to the tendency of fending for oneself rather than caring for others in an organisation. The fourth highlights the predominance of traditionally masculine values like assertiveness, aggressiveness and competitiveness in an organisation. These cultural dimensions operate as value systems that regulate people’s behaviours.
Hofstede and his co-researchers found that the applicability of these cultural dimensions varies according to geographical regions. For instance, in the USA they found a high level of individualism and a low level of power distance prevalent in organisational cultures. In some Asian countries they found a high level of uncertainty avoidance and collectivism. Based upon such evidence Ivancevich and Matteson, both professors at the University of Houston, Texas, deduced that Pakistani organisational culture may be low on individualism because of a tight social framework and emotional dependence on others, both characteristic of the culture here. One might add that Pakistani culture may also rank high on uncertainty avoidance.
Possibly it is typical of the Pakistani psyche to be intolerant of uncertainty regarding the future. We as a people prefer to see the future as stable and predictable. Chance observations may also support Hofstede’s conclusion that Pakistani people accept, in most cases without hesitation, the unequal distribution of power in society. Obeying powerful people and groups without questioning appears to be a typical Pakistani national character trait. Of course there are exceptions, as in all cases, where individuals and groups in Pakistan continue to struggle against power hoarders. But they are exceptions rather than the rule.
Observation may also lead one to speculate that Pakistanis prefer set rules and regulations to govern their behaviour. Low-risk work and life options are preferred to the aggressive and competitive attitudes prevalent among Europeans and North Americans. Hence, some Asians, including Pakistanis appear to be intolerant of ambiguity.
In the late forties and early fifties, Fritz Heider had proposed that humans strive to understand and predict the world they live in, including their social world. He proposed that we formulate theories about what is going on around us, such that we attribute certain “causesâ€
Chance observations may also support Hofstede’s conclusion that Pakistani people accept, in most cases without hesitation, the unequal distribution of power in society. Obeying powerful people and groups without questioning appears to be a typical Pakistani national character trait
In ground breaking research on organisational culture spread over fifty countries and tapping 116000 respondents, Geert Hofstede identified four major dimensions of national organisational culture: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and masculinity.
The first dimension relates to a group’s acceptance of the unequal distribution of power; the second to how organisations feel threatened by ambiguous situations; the third to the tendency of fending for oneself rather than caring for others in an organisation. The fourth highlights the predominance of traditionally masculine values like assertiveness, aggressiveness and competitiveness in an organisation. These cultural dimensions operate as value systems that regulate people’s behaviours.
Hofstede and his co-researchers found that the applicability of these cultural dimensions varies according to geographical regions. For instance, in the USA they found a high level of individualism and a low level of power distance prevalent in organisational cultures. In some Asian countries they found a high level of uncertainty avoidance and collectivism. Based upon such evidence Ivancevich and Matteson, both professors at the University of Houston, Texas, deduced that Pakistani organisational culture may be low on individualism because of a tight social framework and emotional dependence on others, both characteristic of the culture here. One might add that Pakistani culture may also rank high on uncertainty avoidance.
Possibly it is typical of the Pakistani psyche to be intolerant of uncertainty regarding the future. We as a people prefer to see the future as stable and predictable. Chance observations may also support Hofstede’s conclusion that Pakistani people accept, in most cases without hesitation, the unequal distribution of power in society. Obeying powerful people and groups without questioning appears to be a typical Pakistani national character trait. Of course there are exceptions, as in all cases, where individuals and groups in Pakistan continue to struggle against power hoarders. But they are exceptions rather than the rule.
Observation may also lead one to speculate that Pakistanis prefer set rules and regulations to govern their behaviour. Low-risk work and life options are preferred to the aggressive and competitive attitudes prevalent among Europeans and North Americans. Hence, some Asians, including Pakistanis appear to be intolerant of ambiguity.
In the late forties and early fifties, Fritz Heider had proposed that humans strive to understand and predict the world they live in, including their social world. He proposed that we formulate theories about what is going on around us, such that we attribute certain “causesâ€
Hear ye! Hear ye!
What a find - these videos need widespread viewing - so please spread the word, and faith.
Pakistan Painindabutt! Pakistan puts ungli into a "taller than tallest mountain", "deeper than ocean" friend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkXmNAoJ ... ed&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE5n8IMt ... ed&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YedU8Esh ... ed&search=
Washington Wire
OUT OF AFRICA: Fears of an al Qaeda resurgence go beyond Pakistan. U.S. intelligence officials describe a regular “flowâ€
OUT OF AFRICA: Fears of an al Qaeda resurgence go beyond Pakistan. U.S. intelligence officials describe a regular “flowâ€
TIME mag:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... 79,00.htmlMusharraf on the Brink in Pakistan?
Meantime, in a telling twist, the spate of suicide bombings in Pakistan seems to have cooled the immediate sense of crisis in Afghanistan. Word on the streets of Kabul is that the suicide bombers from Pakistan's tribal areas who until recently headed west into Afghanistan to train Afghan militants or carry out attacks themselves, are now heading east into the cities of Pakistan, where they have new motives and better targets to attack. "Normally the Pakistanis come to Afghanistan, but now they are busier in Pakistan," says Waheed Muzhda, an Afghan political analyst who worked for the foreign ministry during the Taliban regime.
Jersey City Woman Finds Missile Launcher On Lawn
[quote](CBS) JERSEY CITY A Jersey City woman made a shocking discovery on her lawn this morning when she noticed a military rocket launcher lying in the grass.
Niranjana Besai was leaving her house, located at 88 Nelson Street, to go to work just after 8 this morning when she spotted the launcher on her front lawn. “I read it and it [said] ‘missile,’â€
[quote](CBS) JERSEY CITY A Jersey City woman made a shocking discovery on her lawn this morning when she noticed a military rocket launcher lying in the grass.
Niranjana Besai was leaving her house, located at 88 Nelson Street, to go to work just after 8 this morning when she spotted the launcher on her front lawn. “I read it and it [said] ‘missile,’â€
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Bomb plotter Barot injured in prison attack
Bomb plotter Barot injured in prison attack
One of Britain's most dangerous terrorists, Dhiren Barot, was released from hospital today after receiving treatment in secret for severe injuries inflicted in prison.
Police requested a news blackout to protect medical staff from possible attack while the 35-year-old, who was jailed for life last year after plotting to blow up New York, was treated at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.
Police would not release details of his identity or how he was injured, but he was understood to have been scalded in Frankland Prison, Durham, more than a week ago.
Police mounted a 24-hour armed operation to protect hospital staff and patients, as well as the terrorist himself, from possible attack.
Northumbria police would not confirm Barot's identity due to "Ministry of Justice procedures".
It said the jail attack was now the subject of an investigation by Durham Police and the prison authorities.
The force would not explain the nature of his injuries, but it is understood he was scalded and taken to the RVI for specialist treatment to his burns.
He was kept in isolation away from other patients.
Barot was initially examined at the infirmary on Monday and returned to prison that evening.
He was brought back the next day for prolonged treatment to his burns.
He returned to the prison at lunchtime today and any further treatment will take place in the prison hospital.
Northumbria police could not estimate the cost of the security operation, which included armed police in the hospital and the Air Support Unit.
The force said not all category A prisoners would receive such high security.
Superintendent Jo Farrell, who led the security operation, said: "It is often the case that Northumbria police is asked to assist the prison service with the security of prisoners needing medical treatment outside the prison."
"Security measures are always proportionate to the assessed level of risk, and maintaining public safety is paramount at all times."
"I must thank the hospital staff, prison staff, patients, members of the public and the media for their cooperation and assistance which allowed this sensitive operation to pass off without incident."
Barot, 35, was sentenced to life, with a minimum term of 30 years, for planning to plant radioactive, chemical or toxic gas bombs and pack limousines with nails and explosives in the UK and America.
The al Qaida mastermind had been moved to Frankland from Belmarsh jail, south east London, after fears for his safety.
Barot was arrested in August 2004 and accused of conspiracy to murder.
He admitted planning to bomb several targets including the New York Stock Exchange, the International Monetary Fund HQ, and the World Bank.
Barot, who recruited other bomb plotters, was sentenced to life in prison last November. It was recommended he serve 40 years but that was cut to 30 years on appeal in May.
Barot was born in India then moved to Kenya with his family.
They came to England in 1973 and his banker father had to work in a factory to support them.
Hindu Barot converted to Islam aged 20. He later travelled to Pakistan for al Qaida training and funding.
Copyright - Press Association 2007
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Excerpt from transcript of ABC ( Australia ) interview of Pakistani Minister for Religious Affairs Muhammad Ijaz ul Haq.
The interviewer is rather perplexed by why so many terrorists have been found to attend Pakistani Madrasah’s and how Lashkar e Toiba continues to flourish despite being banned
:
The interviewer is rather perplexed by why so many terrorists have been found to attend Pakistani Madrasah’s and how Lashkar e Toiba continues to flourish despite being banned
:………TONY JONES: At the same time that you say this is an extremely rare event. We see time after time links going back from actual terrorist plots or terrorist events in Britain, in Canada, even in Australia back to individuals who trained in madrasahs in Pakistan. What is happening?
If you say there is no political indoctrination, no terrorism happening in these madrasahs, why do these terrorists keep appearing from them?
IJAZ UL-HAQ: See, the problem is that for a long time in Pakistan since the jihad, what we call a jihad and to me it was a jihad against the Soviets when they invaded, there were a lot of organisations which have been banned by the Government of Pakistan now who were involved in such activities, some of them were in war in Kashmir previously and otherwise people tend to think that these banned organisations are also linked to these madrasahs somehow or other, but they're not. They're two separate things, the banned organisations which were involved in such activities and the madrasahs.
There may have been some recruitment from the madrasahs during the 1980s and late 70s but there were also recruitments from the universities all over the world. People came to contest in their jihad, people came from the Arab world, from Europe and everywhere. Americans and the Western countries were all allies in the war against the Soviets at that time.
TONY JONES: Well, I mean, for example Lashkar e-Toiba is meant to be a banned organisation in Pakistan. The madrasah has stopped working but they still openly operate?
IJAZ UL-HAQ: Well listen, you may be correct in asking me this question, Lashkar e-Toiba is a banned organisation. There is no doubt about it. They may be operating under another name, people allegedly say. They may be having one or two mosques that they are looking after. Absolutely they have no madrasah, they have nothing to do with the madrasahs, the people of the madrasahs, there are 15,000, 16,000, 17,000 madrasahs in Pakistan. They don't agree with them, their strategy, their concept, their philosophy. Lashkar e-Toiba is operating, I think, somebody has to go and tell them and stop them from doing so.
I'm here to streamline the madrasahs, bring them into the mainstream in Pakistan, the education we are working with them. And we were almost close to introducing modern education in all madrasahs across the board in Pakistan from class one to class 12 and they are the ones who agreed with us. But you know this thing of the mosque came in and it has been delayed for a little while. …………..
LINK