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Role of intelligentsia has never been negated in any type of war. During World Wars (WW) I & II, the allies remained successful in number of operations because of timely receipts of information and clandestine operations. However, after WW-II U.S launched agency CIA against KGB. During Cold War period both the agencies remained dagger drawn against each other. Anyhow, Pakistan felt a threat on it western frontiers once in 1979, Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. At that time U.S and Pakistan came closer to each other despite differences over the development of our nuclear programme. The coincidence of interests also forced ISI and CIA to operate jointly against Soviet Union. Thus, CIA in collaboration with ISI have activated against KGB and finally able to defeat and disintegrate Great Soviet Union.

By Zaheerul Hassan 

But just after the disintegration of Great Russian Empire, CIA has shaken hands with a new ally agency i.e. RAW. Change of ally was obvious since Pakistan can never be party to U.S. against China. CIA in collaboration with RAW and MI-6 again accelerated her campaign against nuclear programme and started overtly and covertly. At this occasion ISI unfolded the foreign conspiracy and security of the country.

The role of major intelligence agencies in international relations, threats are often addressed within the context of security studies — especially those focusing on nuclear deterrence, alliance formation and interstate conflict. In general, a threat perception is “understood as anticipation on the part of an observer (the decision maker) of impending harm – usually of a military, strategic or economic kind – to the state”. Thus, in international relations we talk about threats aimed at the territorial integrity, political sovereignty, major national interests and core ideology of the state and its regime. The truth of this quoted statement has been proved once Al-Qaida launched attack in U.S. on 9/11.

Pakistan was forced to become ally after 9/11 in Mushraf’s regime. Since then Pakistan has faced in fact two types of threat, e.g. external and internal. Foreign sponsored ethnicity, sectarianism and economic instability emerged as fundamental variables of internal security threats which gave birth to local Taliban and exploited by external forces. Religious extremism has created an unenviable image of Pakistan in the eyes of rest of the world and has affected the country adversely. CIA penetrated foreign agents along with sophisticated weaponry, suicide attacks and target killings have become everyday occurrence in the country. Indian intelligence agency RAW of under the garb of development programmes has established 13 consulates’ along the western border. It was ISI and country’s security agencies which came out to fight back the foreign sponsored covert and overt agenda against sole Islamic nuclear power. continue

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by S.M Hali

General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s statement about the constitutional role of Pakistan Army has put to rest rumours and speculations of an army takeover. It has also refuted Yousuf Raza Gilani's charge of the army plotting to throw the political government out when Kayani declared: "The army has no desire to derail democracy."

The Pakistan Army’s past role in the six and a half decades of the country’s existence does spell doom and gloom for democratic institutions at its hands. There have been four military takeovers and Pakistan has been ruled by the army for over 33 years. With such a track record, the government was wary of the army’s intentions, but it should not have denigrated it, forcing a clash between the institutions.

One expects that those who claim to be the champions of democracy would endeavour to keep the banner of democracy aloft. But it appears that the same democrats are sacrificing this notion at the altar of their own self-preservation. With the memogate scandal being examined by the Supreme Court, one would expect that the current political dispensation in Islamabad would let justice prevail and the judicial proceedings take their legitimate course, instead of putting impediments in the way of the judicial system. The questions are: Why are they against the judicial process? Do they fear the exposure of their own veiled complicity in the macabre plot to upstage the military?

The Mossad plays an important role in the operation of State functionaries of Israel. Similarly, the India’s security agency, RAW, has a significant task in the Indian system of government. One never hears the Israeli or Indian administration castigate Mossad or RAW. But in Pakistan, it is the government and its sympathisers in the media, who have turned their knives on both the ISI and army. There was a time, when the Pakistani army would not refrain from toppling the applecart of democracy and usurping the reins of power at the drop of a hat. Sometimes it was the corrupt practices of the democratic setup; while, at times, it was sheer lack of governance. The current setup in the army has resisted all temptations to assume power. There have been numerous opportunities, but they have not availed them mainly to give democracy, still at a nascent stage in Pakistan, a chance to take root, and thrive. continue

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As the US seeks to end its missions in Afghanistan, relations between Pakistan and the US appear to be heading for a crash landing. The army is expected to issue within a week its detailed response to the findings of the US probe into the November 26 Nato airstrikes which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. By Kamran Yousaf

There will almost certainly be several differences in opinion. Although Pakistan had already rejected the report’s conclusions in its initial responses, the detailed reply will be significant because it will set the tone for future cooperation with the US, a military official said. “The US investigation report is being analysed and a detailed response will be given within a week,” confirmed the official, who asked not to be named. Indications are that the army will totally reject the findings as questions are being raised about the impartiality of Brigadier General Stephen Clark, who led the US inquiry. “Brig Clark had commanded the same company which was involved in the Salala incident, so how can he be impartial,” the official asked. Though the US probe has conceded that Nato must accept the major blame for the attack, it found that Pakistani soldiers fired first at American and Afghan forces.

However, the army said that Pakistan’s position was unambiguous: the November 26 attack was “totally deliberate and Nato was solely responsible.”

Army denies that US briefed General Kayani
Meanwhile, the army denied reports that the American military briefed army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on its investigations. Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby told the media that a report by military investigators was delivered to Gen Kayani on Sunday by a US officer based in Islamabad, who explained the findings in person. The full report from the joint US-Nato investigative team was not released publicly until Monday, to allow time for the Pakistani leadership to read it first, Kirby said.

“We wanted General Kayani to be able to see the entire thing,” he said, calling the approach “an appropriate professional courtesy” to Kayani. However, a Pakistani security official told AFP that “no such briefing took place and the report was not handed over in person to the army chief.” “The report was delivered to the concerned department (at army headquarters) but not to the chief,” the official said. The disagreement over the facts looks set to be the first of many this week.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29th, 2011.

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Alarmed by the growing popularity of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), two bitter rivals of the past have started warming up to each other. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif has conveyed to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leadership that his party will not obstruct the Senate election scheduled for March next year. As a quid pro quo, he demanded that the government announce fresh parliamentary elections immediately after the Senate polls.

Officials from both the PPP and PML-N told The Express Tribune that the two parties were readjusting their positions on the fluid political chessboard and might reach an understanding soon. They admitted that the ‘unmatched’ rise of the PTI was the trigger behind this. Officials said Sharif’s message was delivered to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani by ‘top PML-N leaders’ a week ago. The prime minister then shared it with the PPP leadership at the meetings of its parliamentary party and core committee.

Both sides confirmed that they have negotiated in recent weeks, but did not say their talks were meant specifically to evolve a consensus on checking Imran Khan’s growing popularity. “This is a proposal from Mian Sahib (Sharif) … but has never been a point of discussion for us,” said PPP Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira. “Let’s see what happens,” was his answer when asked whether Khan’s gains could draw the two parties closer to each other. continue

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By Mirza Hassan

Pakistan has rejected the US report on NATO attack in Mohmand Agency that killed 24 Pakistan Army Soldiers, saying that with Brigadier General Stephen Clark as head, the investigation can never bring out unbiased findings. Reports said Pakistan dismissed the report on the Nato assault as the head of investigation team Brigadier General Stephen Clark has been linked to the strategic team involved in the attack. And that is why, he is believed to be an inappropriate choice to carry out investigation as a neutral party.

A report by military investigators was delivered to General Ashfaq Kayani on Sunday by a US officer based in Islamabad, who explained the findings to the general, Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby told reporters. The full report from the joint US-Nato investigative team was not released publicly until Monday to allow time for the Pakistani leadership to read the findings first, Kirby said.

“We wanted General Kayani to be able to see the entire thing,” he said. The approach represented “an appropriate professional courtesy” to Kayani, he added. A summary of the report was released Thursday and the officer who led the investigation, Brigadier General Stephen Clark, briefed reporters by phone the same day.

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Indian poverty levels higher than Pakistan's, says UN report
India, the world's second fastest growing economy, has been ranked as poorer than its blighted enemy Pakistan in a United Nations report on global poverty.

By Dean Nelson, New Delhi

The report also finds more 'gender equality' in conservative Pakistan than in 'tolerant' India. Its findings amount to a wake-up call for a nation which has taken great pride in its rapid economic growth and the increasing clout of its billionaire business leaders but has failed to share the spoils with its poor. Britain's Department for Internmational Development has pointed to this chequered progress to justify its continuing aid to India.

The Human Development Report reveals that while India ranks slightly above Pakistan in its level of 'human development' – based on life expectancy, schooling and per capita income – its wider poverty level is worse than Pakistan's. In absolute terms, 41.6 per cent of India's 1.1 billion people earned less than 78 pence per day compared with 22.6 per cent of Pakistan's 173 million.

The report quotes its 'multi-dimensional poverty index' which includes measures of schooling, child mortality, nutrition, access to electricity, toilets, drinking water, and hygienic living conditions, and reveals India is poorer.

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DAWN.COM Ayesha Jalal

Mohammad Ali Jinnah envisaged Pakistan as a modern democratic state. Threatened by a deadly insurgency in the northwestern tribal areas linked to the American-led war in Afghanistan, and rent by conflict between and within the elected and non-elected institutions, Pakistan today could not be further away from its founder’s vision.

The disregard shown to the rule of law by successive governments, military and civil, is an unconscionable blot on the legacy of the great constitutionalist lawyer, whose memory is invoked with ritualistic fervour. With recurrent derailments of political processes, deteriorating educational standards and curbs on the press, the public discourse on Jinnah’s vision has been open to widespread political manipulation and distortion.

Instead of realising professed ideals, Pakistanis are mired in a sterile debate between so-called ‘Islamic fundamentalists’ and ‘secular modernists’, the latter defined incorrectly as la din or anti-religion. To pose the problem in such terms leaves little scope for a satisfactory resolution of the central question Pakistanis face at this vital juncture in their history: what sort of Pakistan do they want—an inward looking, orthodox religious one or a modern, enlightened and progressive country? continue

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Imran Khan does not want confrontation with anyone at this moment. But he’s confronting them all right. Click here to watch his video message to the residents of Karachi.

SPECIAL REPORT | PakNationalists.com

You don’t want a fight with the bull but you go to his home wearing red. That’s what PTI is doing in Karachi tomorrow. Imran khan’s PTI is avoiding direct criticism of ANP and MQM, the two parties that hold Pakistan’s largest city hostage to violent and divisive politics. Most Karachiites are sick of both but can’t talk. And Imran won’t too. It’s called politics. The focus now is to get rid of the ruling PPPP and the second largest party, the PMLN.

PTI wants to avoid any sideshows at the moment. And this is a wise strategy.

But make no mistake: PTI is shaking all of them in the knees. And if anyone thinks ANP and MQM are happy to see PTI in town, he is mistaken.

PTI’s rally in Karachi tomorrow is the first major rally for any Pakistani political party in that city in a decade. It ends an abnormal situation where one or two Karachi-based parties have controlled Pakistan’s largest city using violent and divisive politics. Imran Khan’s rally will break this monopoly. continue

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Military observers now believe that the NATO aircraft which attacked and killed 24 Pakistani soldiers were in fact sent to rescue the TTP terrorists who had been encircled by Pakistani forces near Silalah check posts.

by Akhtar Jamal

The defence observers who are closely monitoring the situation told Pakistan Observer that reports suggest that Pakistani soldiers had encircled a group of TTP terrorists who had been active in the most difficult area where Pakistani armed forces had gained ground after paying much sacrifice. 

According to a report a group of TTP terrorists who had penetrated from Afghanistan had been surrounded by Pakistani armed forces in the region on November 25 and were about to be eliminated from within next few hours. But all of a sudden NATO aircraft reached and mercilessly attacked Pakistan army’s check posts. Pakistani officials in the region immediately sent messages to their ISAF counterparts in Afghanistan notifying the attack by aircraft but no action was taken and the attack continued for more than thirty minutes destroying all two Pakistan check posts in the area. continue

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One day an idea is discussed on Twitter in Pakistan. Next day, an anti-military draft is released in Hong Kong, and another submitted to the Supreme Court in Islamabad.

SPECIAL REPORT | PakNationalists.com

Here is an interesting sequence of events that shows how Pakistan’s military and its main foreign intelligence-gathering agency, the ISI, are targeted from the inside by a group of Pakistanis conspiring against a vital pillar of the State.

One day, a group of Pakistanis linked to foreign embassies decides to launch a legal campaign to oust and prosecute the two generals that lead the army and the ISI.

The next day, a rights group based in Hong Kong issues a detailed slanderous paper full of lies and insinuations against our military, mirroring and endorsing biased and motivated propaganda coming from foreign countries. Of course, the Pakistani viewpoint is not reflected in the document.

On the same day, a case is filed in the Supreme Court demanding Army chief Gen. Kayani and ISI’s Lt. Gen. Pasha are tried for treason.

What is Kayani and Pasha’s crime? The two have overreached – in the eyes of the conspirators – in probing whether someone from Pakistan wrote a secret memo to the US government seeking support to mount a coup against the country’s military and intelligence leaderships, replacing them with US stooges. continue

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The Inter Services Public Relations department (ISPR) has denied a media report which had stated that DG Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) Shuja Pasha had met Arab leaders to discuss a military coup in Pakistan. A statement released by ISPR on their website on Wednesday clarified that Pasha did not meet any Arab leaders between May 1-9, 2011 and the report was published “without verification at any level”.

It says:
DG ISI’s other visits to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UAE only, prior to or after this period, were part of routine intelligence sharing activity, during which he interacted with his counterparts only.

The ISPR statement says that a legal notice will also be served to the British newspaper to retract the story. Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, the whistleblower behind the Memogate affair, claimed that Pasha had visited Arab countries for discussions on a possible coup, according to media reports. continue

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The twilight of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – an outlawed umbrella of militant groups – appears to have set in.

The group responsible for most violence in the country is in disarray with its ‘chain of command’ crumbling, funds dwindling and infighting intensifying, admit Taliban foot soldiers. “It appears the TTP’s days are numbered … what was a well-coordinated militia just a year ago has fragmented now and dozens of splinters groups have emerged,” a disgruntled member of the network told.

At least two associates of the group in South Waziristan, the strongest bastion of TTP where its chief Hakimullah Mehsud is hiding, also confirmed this. They said Mehsud has further isolated himself due to threats to his life from the dreaded American drones and Pakistani spy agencies.

“He is virtually a lonely man running for his life … he is always on the move and doesn’t meet even his once most-trusted lieutenants,” said Muhammad, a nom de guerre because the militants seldom use their real names.

Muhammad, who lives in the North Waziristan tribal region, was in Islamabad for the treatment of some kidney ailment at a private clinic. Mehsud has stopped meeting members of his notorious network from Punjab, better known as Punjabi Taliban, suspecting that some of them might be spying on him for Pakistani agencies. continue

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Smith Richardson Foundation, an American think tank, claims that it paid $100,000 to Husain Haqqani to write a book, which attacks the Pakistan army and the military-mosque alliance and its implications for US policies. 

Haqqani came up with a book within two years and the controversial memo reflects many of the thoughts stated in his book.The think tank also claims that it funded another $175000 to Carnegie Endowment for International Peace for developing a new US policy toward Pakistan in 2004 and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hired Husain Haqqani for the purpose. Smith Richardson Foundation is an American think tank whose mission is ‘to contribute to important public debates and to help address serious public policy challenges facing the United States.

The Foundation seeks to help ensure the vitality of our social, economic, and governmental institutions. It also seeks to assist with the development of effective policies to compete internationally and to advance US interests and values abroad. This mission is embodied in our international and domestic grant programs.’ The website of Smith Richardson Foundation shows under the link: http://www.srf.org/grants/grantsdb.php? username=&lg=1 that in 2003 a sum of $100,000 was given as grant to Carnegie Endowment for International Peace regarding ‘Mosque-Military Alliance in Pakistan and Implications for US Policy’. continue

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Photo credit: courtesy of Sarmad_Gilani on Twitter

Awww! No Fried Chicken For US Soldiers In Afghanistan?

US government is using the media to downplay the affect of Pakistani blockade. But the G.I.s want their fried chicken, Mr. Panetta.

SPECIAL REPORT | PakNationalists.com

The US military is doing its best to downplay the effect of Pakistani blockade on US and NATO supplies bound for Afghanistan. You can see Pentagon spokespersons almost every day using a variation of the same theme: ‘Oh it doesn’t affect us’, or ‘we’ve made arrangements’ or ‘important supplies don’t go through that route.’

The truth is that more than half of US supplies, everything from Special-Ops gear to ammunition to French fries, pass through the critical Pakistani supply line. While US military and CIA won’t reveal how much they are hurting because of the Pakistani blockade, which came into effect after a deliberate US attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, there are signs that US soldiers are beginning to feel the pinch.

US soldiers can stay quiet over shortages in fuel and ammunition [it’s good since they don’t have to go out fight as often], they can’t stand that fried chicken and French fries are fast disappearing from the menus on American bases in Afghanistan.

Some US soldiers who completed their tour of duty and left Afghanistan but remain in touch with colleagues are reporting some minor hardships. Some of them are servicemen who are opposed to the US war in Afghanistan. Almost all of them are using social media to get the message out. continue

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Showing disinterest in mending fences with “allies”, Pakistan Army’s top brass on Wednesday denied having taken up the Nato supplies blockade issue with the Western military alliance while confirming contacts with its top commander.

By: Sikander Shaheen

The development forecasts that the ice of hostility between Pakistan and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) appears to have stood far from melting, for the time being at least, till the surfacing of Nato investigation findings, scheduled next Friday, into the border attack incident. The probe Pakistan refused to become privy to, was launched following the country’s protest over the killings of its two dozen soldiers when Nato gunship choppers pounded shells at two Pakistani pickets in Mohmand Agency last month.

The Nato chief in Afghanistan General John Allen on Tuesday disclosed having contacted Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani a day earlier while hoping that coordination between both the sides would resume. General Allen told reporters in Kabul, he sensed progress in restoring border coordination with Pakistan in order to move on. He stated that resumption of Nato supplies was not figured in the particular telephonic conversation. continue

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CIA Is Using Afghanistan Against Neighbors

A suspected US role in the region is now confirmed. Welcome to the biggest CIA base of operations in the world.

SPECIAL REPORT | PakNationalists.com

The downing of a surveillance drone in Iran and missile attacks in Pakistan confirm suspicions that CIA is using Afghan soil to wage wars against neighbors. Russia and China are also exposed to US espionage from Afghanistan.

CIA is not only violating international borders but it has invited other spy agencies to do the same. Intelligence operatives from India, Jordan, and other US allies are encouraged by CIA to violate the law and enter Pakistan without permission. On 31 December 2009, a suicide attacker at a secret CIA outpost on the Pakistani border killed American and Jordanian spies. The embarrassment exposed how CIA and other spy agencies were jointly violating Pakistani sovereignty.

This is a key reason behind CIA and US military’s reluctance to leave Afghanistan. CIA has established intelligence outposts that target Iran, Pakistan and China, all immediate neighbors of Afghanistan.

The United States is quietly increasing Indian military and intelligence footprint in Afghanistan, which doesn’t even neighbor India.

Although American people have no appetite for more wars, CIA planners believe it would be a mistake to let go of a piece of land like Afghanistan that allows US spies to hide in the backyards of major powers in the region like Russia and China.

This secretive war by the CIA has not been sanctioned by US Congress and is illegal under international law. CIA officers who served in the region are open to murder charges because actions beyond Afghan borders violate the UN mandate for Afghanistan post-9/11. Rights activists in Pakistan are using this legal hole to pursue American gents in Pakistani courts.

For the same reason, legal experts working for the federal government in Islamabad have finalized recommendations for criminalizing CIA under UN and international law. Pakistan is contemplating internationalizing CIA violations in the next few weeks.

Suing CIA and US government for extrajudicial killings can open the door for copycat lawsuits covering a decade of CIA excesses and human rights violations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan’s tribal belt. In fact, the situation is so bad in the Pakistani tribal region that there are reports about fatwas to target any CIA agent in Afghanistan and Pakistan in retaliation for killing thousands of innocent Pakistanis and Afghans as ‘collateral damage’. continue

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In ten years since 9/11, Pakistan received only $448 million in US aid. Our losses? $70 billion. Our debt? $86 billion.

Humayun Gauhar |  Pakistan Today newspaper
PakNationalists.com

Get it straight. Since 9/11, Pakistan has received only about $448 million net in economic assistance. The Economic Survey of Pakistan says that the costs Pakistan has incurred on America’s failed ‘War on Terror’ are $68 billion. Deduct our external debt from $68 billion and we would have a billion of two left over, which the US should pay. Sad was the day we decided to help this multi-bankrupt country.

Yet propagandists and conspiracy theorists in the US corporate media (with their Pakistani poodles yapping in tandem) keep peddling the myth of the “enormous” American aid to Pakistan since 9/11. Figures vary wildly from $10 to 20 billion. This is perception management at its best.

After a study he conducted for the Woodrow Wilson Centre, Shahid Javed Burki said: “If US civilian assistance is completely withdrawn, it will only have an impact of 0.14 percent on Pakistan’s GDP growth.” Calculations were based on gross aid, 40 percent of which goes to American ‘consultants’. These are conservative estimates compared with how US aid is being spent in Iraq and Afghanistan, where more than 60 percent of the money remains with American ‘contractors’ and ‘consultants’.

Mr. Anjum Rizvi of Vibe TV helped me to put these facts and figures together to expose the myth of US ‘aid’ to Pakistan. Former State Bank Governor Ishrat Husain says that American aid does not help the government’s precarious fiscal situation in any meaningful way. Only “12-15 percent of the total amount is channeled for budgetary support… Assuming that the whole $3 billion [per annum] in economic and military aid is disbursed fully, this accounts for less than seven percent of the total foreign exchange earnings of the country… The increase in export revenues and remittances in the current year was almost twice that amount.”
What price then Hillary Clinton’s boast in Islamabad on May 27 that, “We provide more support than Saudi Arabia, China, and everybody else combined…but I will stand here and admit that I’m not sure many Pakistanis know that.” Of course they don’t, Madam Secretary, because its all bull and you know it and we know it.

1. Since 2006 militancy has spread like a contagion throughout Pakistan. So far, it has cost the country more than 35,000 citizens, 3,500 security personnel, destruction of infrastructure, internal migration, nose-diving production and growing unemployment.
   
2. The US has so far provided $13 billion in aid to Pakistan, of which almost $9 billion were military disbursements. The government expects to receive $1.45 billion this year from CSF as reimbursements for money Pakistan has already spent on US behalf.
   
3. America has made the process of auditing Pakistan’s invoices for reimbursement more stringent and rejected several claims in recent years. continue

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Just as Pakistan announced it would revise terms of engagement with the US and Nato, it is now considering doing the same with eastern neighbor Afghanistan, in what appears to be a continued revamping of foreign policy. The bone of contention this time is the previously hailed Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade agreement, which is allegedly being misused in the wake of Islamabad suspending Nato supplies through the country’s land route.

[Pakistan’s blockade entered a third week on Saturday, the longest closure of the 10-year war.]

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR:

Pakistani officials believe that the trade agreement is being used to bypass the suspension of supplies in the aftermath of the November 26 Nato attack on military check posts, one of the many steps taken by the government in protest.

Behind closed doors, an official of the foreign office told senators during a recent senate panel meeting that the government is now seriously considering reviewing conditions of the agreement, which allows landlocked Afghanistan to transport goods via Pakistan.

“Since the current terms were being violated, new terms of cooperation will be discussed after we complete our own internal exercise,” an official said. He added that reports had been received that the agreement was being “misused”.

The provision of Nato supplies through Pakistan has already caused massive financial damage to the country. According to official records, the Pakistani economy has suffered a loss of Rs55 billion in revenue as a result of missing records of whether 29,000 containers crossed the border or not after being loaded in Karachi. In addition to this crucial missing information, 19,000 Nato containers are also missing on the electronic record of their exit points in Pakistan. continue

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Thousands of Sri Lankans gathered in Colombo on Friday after the Jumma prayers to condemn the actions of NATO/US-ISAF coalition and to denounce the unprovoked attacks of last month that resulted in the deaths of over two-dozen Pakistani soldiers.

The Sri Lanka Pakistan Friendship Association along with Pakistani community in Sri Lanka organized a peaceful demonstration today outside the Devatagagha Mosque in Town Hall, Colombo to protest against the recent NATO attack on Pakistan's military check posts on Afghanistan border.

The Governor of Western Province Alevi Maulana, several Sri Lankan government ministers including Minister Mervyn De Silva, Deputy Mayor of Colombo Municipal Council and several high profile personalities participated in the peaceful protest against the attack, which Pakistan says a blatant violation of its air and ground space.

Protesters including journalists, government employees, lawyers and members of civil society gathered near the Colombo Municipal Council building complex and asked the US and NATO to "Stop terrorizing Pakistan". A heavy contingent of police was present to provide security to the protesters and to ensure peaceful demonstration. No unwanted incidents took place throughout the protest.

The organizers of the demonstration, Pakistan Sri Lanka Friendship Association, ministers and representatives of political parties addressed protesters and called for a resolute stand against the aggression. They termed the NATO attack as blatant aggression and terrorism, and appealed to the international community to stop such violations. continue

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Pakistan will shoot down any U.S. drone that intrudes its air space per new directives, a senior Pakistani official told NBC News on Saturday.

According to the new Pakistani defense policy, "Any object entering into our air space, including U.S. drones, will be treated as hostile and be shot down," a senior Pakistani military official told NBC News.  The policy change comes just weeks after a deadly NATO attack on Pakistani military checkpoints accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, prompting Pakistani officials to order all U.S. personnel out of a remote airfield in Pakistan.

Pakistan told the U.S. to vacate Shamsi Air Base by December 11. continue

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Frontier Corps has taken the control of Shamsi Airbase here on Saturday. According to the sources 51 US troops have vacated the airbase and their luggage has been shifted to Afghanistan and FC took the control of base. The base was previously used by the UAE leaders as they have been allotted hunting areas by the government of Pakistan in the vicinity of the base. Pakistan government has ordered US to vacate the base after the Nato attack on country’s check-posts in Mohmand agency of tribal region which led the killing of 24 soldiers.

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DG Military Operations Maj Gen Ashfaq Nadeem Thursday said Nato airstrike was pre-planned. Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Defence, the DG MO said that after the attack on Salala checkpost, it was wrongly informed that Volcano check post had been hit. He said that when the Company Commander rushed to the check post he saw that Nato helicopters had returned and kept the firing assault on until the two check posts were completely destroyed. The Senate Standing Committee on Defence meeting was chaired by Javed Ashraf Qazi.

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A new trend of attacks in Afghanistan aims at helping Pentagon and CIA prolong their stay in the country. New culprit to watch: Afghan warlords working with CIA.

SPECIAL REPORT |  Afghan Analysis Unit
PakNationalists.com

The coordinated attacks on Afghan Shias on Tuesday appear to be the handiwork of US-allied Afghan warlords out to create conditions to prolong the stay of US military and intelligence in the country. Under this scenario, pro-US warlords and contractors linked to CIA appear to be key suspects.

The warlords are part of the government and work closely with US military and CIA. This new terror wave serves to push a weak Obama administration to heed military’s desire for a prolonged engagement.

Pakistan can’t be implicated in the attack because Islamabad wants foreign forces to leave and Tuesday’s attacks only serve to provide US military another excuse to stay. So, it is important to understand who benefits from this new trend in attacks, especially targeting Afghan Shias. Afghan resistance groups did not indulge in sectarian attacks since the start of the conflict in 2001. Question is: if they didn’t do it for a decade, why now?

Raising sectarian tensions in the region is part of US military psy-ops to mobilize majority Sunni countries against Shia Iran. Sectarian attacks were unheard of before US military and intelligence teams landed in Iraq in 2003. Some factions of the Taliban did indulge in atrocities against Afghan Shias in late 1990s. But in the ten years since the removal of the Afghan Taliban government, there hasn’t been a single attack targeting Shias. continue

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Believe it or not, but a coup against Zardari government or giving the incumbent rulers a safe exit back to exile safe havens to plot against Pakistan might be just what Washington and others are hoping for.

SPECIAL REPORT | PakNationalists.com

So, is President Asif Ali Zardari escaping from the country? Or is he being quietly eased out of power by the military?

There is a general feeling that both the United States and the client government of President Zardari in Islamabad have reached similar conclusions: that the American idea of using his government to contain Pakistani military from the inside has failed.

If he continues in power, both he and his key aide and former envoy to Washington Mr. Husain Haqqani might face treason charges. Even if that doesn’t happen, the party stands to be discredited for good.

The Pakistani military is also on the ascent for the first time in several years. It is gradually ending US interference in Pakistan and correcting major flaws in its Afghan strategy, including limiting US influence through Pakistani proxies.

Historically, Washington used the same recipe for getting things done in Pakistan: support discredited self-exiled politicians against the military until they’re no longer useful, and then prod the military to take over and use the insecurities of whoever is in charge to extract strategic concessions. When things get rough with the military, Washington reverts back to self-exiled politicians to pressurize the military. This is what happened in 2006 with Benazir Bhutto.

Theoretically, Washington and President Zardari would like nothing more than a military intervention at this point. It would save both, allowing them a second chance, and would put the military on the back foot and possibly even allow the US to call for sanctions on Pakistani military for the first time, an idea that many in US military and CIA are promoting these days through US broadsheets. continue

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AHMED QURAISHI | The News International
PakNationalists.com

Break The Secret Pak-US Deal

It killed a former prime minister and formalized a role for US in Pakistan’s governance. Get rid of the deal but ensure that failed politicians don’t become ‘democratic heroes’ again.

The removal of Mr. Husain Haqqani from his post and the withdrawal of key facilities given earlier to US military and NATO were sorely needed moves to amend a major flaw in Pak-US ties. That flaw includes the secret US-brokered deal that destabilized Pakistan and shaped the current political setup in the country. Question is: Is it time to revoke that deal? And how should it be done?

The secret deal of 2006-07 was a dangerous escalation in foreign meddling in Pakistan. It devised arrangements to shape how a future government in Pakistan looked and behaved. It turned the US into a decisionmaker in Islamabad, interfering in issues as diverse as deciding our national interest, how ISI should be run, whether India is a threat, and how much footprint CIA should have in our country.

Needless to say, the United States invaded and occupied other nations to do some of the things it was able to do here without direct military intervention. Direct ties between our political parties and foreign governments, and secret meetings between our officials and foreigners at neutral locations, like Abu Dhabi, were a byproduct of this flaw. Even our allies, like the Turks and the Chinese, were aghast at what we were doing. Selling ourselves cheap emboldened our foreign detractors. It is no coincidence that this period coincided with the worst campaign of demonization of Pakistan in world media. Interestingly the main culprit in this was the same country that we allowed to meddle in our affairs. continue

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By H.D.S. Greenway – THE BOSTON GLOBE

ONE CAN only watch in horror as relations between the United States and Pakistan continue to deteriorate, for there will be no chaos-free exit from Afghanistan without Pakistan. We have become accustomed to the loud accusations of perfidy leveled at Islamabad — it is playing a double game, Americans say, protecting terrorists who are attacking our troops in Afghanistan. But to make an enemy out of Pakistan is to lose sight of the fact that Pakistan is far more important to US interests than Afghanistan ever was.

Republican contenders for Barack Obama’s job fall over each other suggesting ways to be tough on Pakistan. But it was Jon Huntsman who put his finger on the problem. “I would recognize exactly what the US-Pakistani relationship has become, which is merely a transactional relationship,’’ Huntsman said. American aid should be contingent on Pakistan’s keeping up the fight on terrorism and on keeping American supply lines to Afghanistan open, he said.

And that’s the trouble. For although the Obama administration still talks about a strategic relationship with Pakistan, it has long since become a transactional one. Here’s your money, the United States seems to say, so now do what we say and do it now!

Pakistan, on the other hand, would have liked a true strategic relationship in which the United States would take cognizance of Pakistan’s strategic fears, needs, and national interests. Instead, US officials keep scolding Pakistan for not subordinating its strategic interests to America’s. continue

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The Nation PK

President Asif Ali Zardari, who flew to Dubai suddenly on Tuesday, complaining of heart pains, had been feeling increased pressure over the "Memogate" scandal and he may resign, according to a dispatch posted on Foreign Policy magazine's web site. "The noose was getting tighter — it was only a matter of time," The Cable, Foreign Policy's blog, quoted a former US government official as saying. The official expressed the growing expectation inside the U.S. government that Zardari may be on the way out, the dispatch said.

The former US official told The Cable that when President Barack Obama spoke with Zardari over the weekend regarding NATO's killing of the 24 Pakistani soldiers, Zardari was "incoherent." He said that parts of the U.S. government were informed that Zardari had a "minor heart attack" on Monday night and flew to Dubai via air ambulance on Tuesday. He may have angioplasty on Wednesday and may also resign on account of "ill health." the dispatch said.

"This is the ‘in-house change option' that has been talked about," Shuja Nawaz, director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council, told The Cable. Nawaz said that this plan would see Zardari step aside and be replaced by his own party, preserving the veneer of civilian rule but ultimately acceding to the military's wishes to get rid of Zardari, according to The Cable. "Unfortunately, it means that the military may have had to use its muscle to effect change yet again," Nawaz was quoted as saying. "Now if they stay at arm's length and let the party take care of its business, then things may improve. If not, then this is a silent coup with [Pakistani prime minister Yousaf Raza] Gilani as the front man." continue

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PKKH

Summary
Government of Pakistan is not playing its role in recording casualties in drone attacks while Pakistani security officials release false information to the media regarding victims of CIA’s drone attack in Pakistan. The Conflict Monitoring Center’s monthly report on drone attacks highlights contradictions in government’s public stance on drone attacks and its seriousness to record names and other identities of the victims of drone attacks. According to CMC’s findings there is a need to launch official investigation to find out why ‘anonymous’ security officials release details of every single drone attacks and why these officials overlook civilian casualties. The report says that at one occasion Pakistan’s Army Chief was condemning civilian casualties in drone attacks while same casualties were declared ’suspected militants’ by Pakistani security officials. The Conflict Monitoring Center keeps record of every single drone attack and issues monthly and annual reports on drone attacks. According to the data collected from mainstream national and international newspapers as well as from local newspapers of Peshawar, American Central Intelligence Agency has killed a maximum of 37 and minimum of 26 human beings inside Pakistan during the month of November 2011 with missiles fired from unmanned drone aircrafts. The CIA has carried out 4 drone attacks during the month which is half to the number of drone attacks in October 2011. Apart from two most wanted British militants, most of those killed were unknown human beings. Three out of these four attacks were carried out in North Waziristan while the only drone attack in South Waziristan reportedly targeted the basecamp of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The attack on TTP’s basecamp was the deadliest attack of the month in which 18 suspected militants were killed on November 16, 2011. The CIA carried out three drone attacks on three consecutive days i.e. on 15, 16 and 17th of the month, while one drone attack was carried out on 3rd November. Nationwide protest was observed against drone attacks and US military incursions in Pakistan during the last week of the month. The CMC also states in its report that about 30 civilians were also killed in drone attacks in Somalia during the month of November 2011. continue

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A noted South Asia defence analyst who spent six years in Pakistan as Australia's military attache has condemned as "unpardonable" Nato's attack on border posts in Mohmand in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed.

"The US assault is unpardonable," wrote Cloughley in Counter Punch, a bi-weekly American newsletter. "It was one of the only too frequent Cowboy Yippee Shoots, as we used to call them in Vietnam when I served there in the Australian army. Some things don’t change," said Cloughley, who contributes regularly to Jane's weekly said.

Cloughley, who now lives in France, said he was in Mohmand three weeks ago, visiting 77 Brigade, "whose officers and soldiers were slaughtered by US aircraft, and I know exactly where Pakistan’s border posts are located. And so do American forces, because they have been informed of the precise coordinates of them all."

"Nobody can deny that the posts are well inside Pakistan," he wrote. continue

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The results of a Gilani Research Foundation Survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan revealed that majority (62%) of Pakistanis believe American influence in Pakistan has risen during the PPP government. A nationally representative sample of men and women from across the four provinces was asked whether they agree or disagree with the view that American influence has increased during the PPP government, or there has been no change?

Responding to this 62% agreed that the US influence had increased, 19% disagreed whereas 12% believed that there was no change in it. However 7% did not give a view.

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Ruling party’s top newspaper says Washington has violated international law.

REUTERS | People’s Daily
PakNationalists.com

China's top state newspaper on Tuesday accused the United States of flouting international law and fanning terrorism after a NATO attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, and it warned that the Islamabad's grip on security could be dangerously weakened.
The condemnation in the People's Daily, the main newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party, kept up Beijing's angry words in support of its partner, Pakistan, whose prime minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani, has said that "business as usual" with the United States was over after the attack on Saturday.

NATO called the killings a "tragic, unintended incident," and U.S. officials said NATO and American investigatons will determine what happened in the attack in northwest Pakistan. But the People's Daily said the attack already laid bare deeper problems in the U.S. approach to militant threats. 

"Above all, we must be clear that the United States and NATO have trampled on international laws and rules," said a commentary in the newspaper.

"The risk in fighting terror this way is that it will ignite latent sympathy and support for terrorism, as well as hurting many innocent people and damaging international law," said a commentary in the Chinese-language newspaper. "The soil nurturing terrorism will become even more fertile, and the space for terrorism to spread even broader," it said. continue

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According to the latest news feeds pouring in from Rawalpindi, the Pakistani Army Chief has suspended the regular chain-of-command system and all forward operating units have been ordered to retaliate in case of aggression from the eastern border with Afghanistan. The implementation of this order allows Pakistan Army units based at checkpoints along the Afghan border to retaliate in case of any NATO/US incursions without seeking permission from the military high command.

Pakistan had recently blocked the NATO supply routes into Afghanistan due to the unprovoked NATO/US attack on a Pakistani checkpost which left 25 soliders dead. Relations between the two forces have been tense since the attack and NATO's belligerent behaviour has left it in a dangerous Afghanistan with an evenly irked nuclear powered neighbour.

The Afghan End-Game certainly seems to be approaching at a blistering rate and international powers have already started siding with the fast emerging winner. With more non-cooperation measures, such as the evacuation of Shahbaz air base (Jacobabad) & the withdrawel of fly over rights, looming on the horizon relations between the US led NATO and Pakistan are destined to take a new low.

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Pakistan s nuclear programme has made some extraordinary progress by developing one of the world s smartest nuclear tactical devices, it has been learnt. According to a western diplomat, the former dictator and the then President General Pervez Musharraf, during one of his meetings with US officials, had deemed it proper to convey it to the Americans what Pakistan possessed and how the country s nuclear scientists had secured the defence of Pakistan.

by Ansar Abbasi

The diplomatic source said that New Delhi also knows what Pakistan has produced and what is really unmatched. The Indians got this source said and believed that Musharraf intentionally conveyed this to the Americans so that the country is not treated by the US like Afghanistan and Iraq Pakistan is neither a signatory to NPT nor CTBT, however, it has unilaterally decided to use its nuclear programme only as deterrence against any foreign aggression.

After becoming the target of the Western capitals particularly Washington, which have been unleashing all sorts of propaganda against Pakistan s nuclear programme, Islamabad has developed one of the most credible and foolproof command and control systems for its nuclear programme. The US authorities have acknowledged the credibility and security of Pakistan s nukes.Wikipedia quotes a Washington-based science think tank as saying that Pakistan is increasing its capacity to produce plutonium at its Khushab nuclear facility. continue

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by Kudashkina Ekaterina: english.ruvr

Interview with Ahmed Quraishi who is Senior Research Fellow at an independent Pakistani think tank Project Pakistan 21.
I think it just appears, it seems that there is a huge disconnect between what the US Government in Washington talks about in terms of peace and stability in the region, and what the US military commanders are doing on the ground in Afghanistan.

I’ve just come out of a four hour briefing by the Pakistani military given to the Pakistani media here in Islamabad, and they just gave us a timeline and some video footage of what exactly transpired in the early hours of November 26 on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and it just seems very obvious and very clear from whatever they’ve shown us, that this was a deliberate act of attacking the Pakistani military, and it appears the purpose was to draw the Pakistani military into some sort of escalation, a military escalation that would result in direct military engagement between the US lead NATO’s ISA force (ISAF) and the Pakistani military. We were told by the Pakistani commanders that during this battle that went on for about two hours they considered escalating the situation but the commanders on the other side deescalated it very quickly. But from whatever information that they have, it is quite obvious that two Pakistani check posts were deliberately attacked.

Now, why the United States are doing this, I think it’s very clear that two or three points to be considered: number one is that the United States military is facing a horrible defeat across Afghanistan. Maybe the most of the people cannot really understand that depth and the dimension of this statement; it is really horrible what is going on on the Afghan side, the very fact that after 10 years there is actually a complete political and military breakdown and if not for the current presence of international forces in Afghanistan, would be seen a complete chaos and mess in Kabul and elsewhere in that country. So, it is really a terrible situation, it is just seems that the US military leadership is intended on shifting the entire blame for that mess onto Pakistani shoulders. continue

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Gen Martin Dempsey, the most senior figure in the US military has refused to Apologize for an air strike at the weekend that killed 24 Pakistan soldiers.

Telegraph UK

A policeman stands guard near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Chaman 
November 28, 2011 Photo: REUTERS By Rob Crilly, Islamabad, Ben Farmer
in Kabul and Chris Irvine

Gen Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke as Pakistan closed its borders to Nato convoys supplying international troops in Afghanistan.  The Pakistani army claimed the attack lasted almost two hours, and that it continued even after commanders on the ground contacted Nato to ask what was going on.

In an interview with ITV News, Gen Dempsey said he telephoned the Chief of Pakistan’s army General Ashfaq Kayani and “expressed regret”

“They have reason to be furious that they have 24 soldiers dead and that what killed them was the ordinance of a partner,” he said.
Asked if there was anything apologise for however, Gen Dempsey said: “absolutely not”.

Gen Dempsey also admitted that the US relationship with Pakistan, viewed from the outside is “the worst it’s ever been”.
The White House last night said President Barack Obama was taking the incident “very seriously” and wanted to get to the bottom of the “tragedy”.

Closing the crossings will halt almost half of supplies for the Nato-led force, including British troops. Accounts differ about what happened in the early hours of Saturday when American aircraft attacked two border posts inside Pakistan, but the fallout is clear: a deep diplomatic crisis threatening cooperation against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants. Pakistan immediately shut its borders to convoys carrying fuel and supplies and said it was reviewing all military and diplomatic ties with the US and Nato. continue

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Anglo-American Invaders of Afghanistan are apparently in deep trouble with their supply routes cut – It is hoped that the Pakistani Military’s stance is permanent and not something that can be bought. We all must remember that this stance is the price for those martyred at the Salala check post.

By M. Zainulabedin Ameer

Saturday morning had grim news for the Pakistani nation; NATO helicopters and a warplane flew in more than 2.5 kilometers into the Mohmand area of Pakistani territory and attacked a check post that had a Pakistani flag clearly visible. When the news broke, we were told that 22 soldiers were martyred while some were left struggling. While there was immediate outrage at political gatherings, few more succumbed to their wounds, bringing the death toll to 30 by late Sunday night. Meanwhile, through Saturday night the Americans apologized for the incident and promised a joint investigation.

Defending its action, NATO has claimed that the strike at the check post was in response to attacks coming from the area. This is apparently a blatant lie because the area had been freed of militancy. Possible explanations for this unprovoked attack have come from various quarters. One said that this was expected, as previously, shortly after the Raymond Davis affair, a drone strike killed 23 innocent tribal people, and that was seen as the American method of extending their thanks for letting their terrorist go free. This time, we have paid the price for removing their asset, Ambassador Haqqani. While not everyone will agree to this reasoning, one thing is for sure; the attack was no mistake, and the NATO forces intended to harm no one else but Pakistani soldiers. continue

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by Reuters

China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday it was “deeply shocked” about a NATO cross-border air attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and urged respect for Pakistan’s independence and sovereignty.

“China is deeply shocked by these events, and expresses strong concern for the victims and profound condolences to Pakistan,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement on the ministry’s website. “China believes that Pakistan’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected and the incident should be thoroughly investigated and be handled properly,” he said.

Pakistan has reacted with fury over the NATO cross-border air attack that could undermine the US effort to wind up the war in Afghanistan. NATO described the killings as a “tragic unintended incident” and said an investigation was under way.

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By Reuters

Pakistan’s military on Monday denied reports that Nato forces in Afghanistan came under fire before launching a cross-border attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers over the weekend.  “This is not true. They are making up excuses. What are their losses, casualties?” said army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas in a text message.

In an interview on Sunday with British newspaper the Guardian, Abbas said he did not believe Isaf or Afghan forces received fire from the Pakistani side. “I cannot rule out the possibility that this was a deliberate attack by Isaf,” said Abbas. “If Isaf was receiving fire, then they must tell us what their losses were.”

Pakistani army officials said the posts that were attacked were about 300 metres into Pakistani territory. Isaf officers, however, maintain that the border in that area is disputed. Abbas told the Guardian that the firing lasted for over an hour, and that Isaf made “no attempt” to contact the Pakistani side. “This was a totally unprovoked attack. There are no safe havens or hideouts left there [for militants] in Mohmand,” he said. “This was a visible, well-made post, on top of ridges, made of concrete. Militants don’t operate from mountaintops, from concrete structures.” continue

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By Umer Farooq – Express Tribune PK

Pakistani authorities on Saturday blocked the NATO supply route to Afghanistan after an attack on a border checkpost killed at least 24 Pakistani soldiers. The attack by NATO helicopters on a checkpost located in Mohmand Agnecy killed at least 24 soldiers and injured 12. Official sources confirmed the suspension of supplies, adding that all containers were stopped at the Takhta Baig checkpost in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency.

“We have suspended the supply and will not let even a single container move ahead,” the official added. “We have stopped NATO supplies after receiving orders from the federal government,” Mutahir Hussain, a senior administration official in Khyber tribal region, on the Afghan border, told AFP. ”Supply trucks are being sent back to Peshawar.”

Takhta Baig is the first checkpost followed by four more check-posts in the tribal areas and is the shortest possible route to Afghanistan.

Pakistan lodges protest with the US
Iffat Gardezi, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Pakistani Embassy in the US, has lodged a verbal protest over the attack. A Pakistan Embassy spokesperson told The Express Tribune that Iffat Gardezi had contacted the State Department at midnight (Eastern Standard Time). The spokesperson said that Ms. Gardezi had in strong words raised the issue of the death of Pakistani soldiers by ISAF and termed the incident as “unprovoked”.

(with additional reporting by Huma Imtiaz)

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Can he face grilling by military interrogators? Saving his career and reputation would be at the top of Haqqani’s mind.
MUHAMMAD ABD AL-HAMEED - PakNationalists.com

Suppose Husain Haqqani breaks down under grilling, when he finds himself unable to defend himself against the overwhelming evidence. He confesses to the military authorities that he did send the memo to Mike Mullen on orders of Zardari. As the stakes are very high, personal survival will be uppermost in his mind. He may decide to tell all in an affidavit in return for pardon, and also offer to appear as an approver in the Supreme Court against the President and all others involved in the memo affair.

He may also offer to disclose all that he had been doing in Washington on behalf of the President. Confronted with Haqqani’s affidavit and other evidence, Zardari will have two choices:

Resign as President and also as co-chairman of his party without any condition.Continue to claim that he has not done anything wrong, face treason charges in the Supreme Court and spend the rest of his life in jail (if not worse). He will not be able to claim martyrdom because he will get a fair trial and the Supreme Court is certainly not under the thumb of the Pakistani military.

Question is: What if Zardari chooses to resign?

Mr. Abd al-Hameed is based in Lahore. Reach him at mailto:mahameed40@gmail.com

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The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the federal government’s review petition of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), saying that the documents presented by the government’s counsel failed to make a case. The Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry delivered the verdict that was heard by a 17-member bench. Justice Chaudhry said that the court had discarded the review petition because the documents presented “do not belong to the case”.

By Express / Masror Hausen

When the court ordered Law Secretary Masood Chishti to present additional documents, he refused to comply with the request. He said that Babar Awan (who was not present in court) would present the additional documents on Monday as he was occupied with family matters today.

The court, again, ordered Chishti to read additional documents, adding that the bench did not expect the case to be argued and that a simple reading would suffice. Chishti refused to comply with court orders, saying that he is not in a position to do. He said he realises he will face contempt of court charges and is prepared to go to jail as he is “not interested” in his job.

During Thursday’s hearing, Awan had presented documents to an increasingly frustrated bench. “In the past four days, the federation has failed to tell the court how it was affected by the verdict,” Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had said. Awan submitted additional documents to show how the verdict had hurt the federation, but the court made it clear that additional documents cannot be accepted in a review appeal case. The chief justice said that being an ‘experienced lawyer’ Awan should have known this.
Although the bench did not officially accept the documents, it agreed to finally hear his arguments today (Friday).

Awan was not present during the hearing. The NRO was issued by former President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf in 2007. It granted amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats who were accused of corruption, embezzlement, money laundering, murder, and terrorism. It was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2009, throwing the country into a political crisis. continue

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Mohammad Malick: The writer is editor
The News, Islamabad

According to informed sources, armed with highly incriminating communication data evidence, the non-civilian part of the power equation has already worked out a national charter of demands in which Haqqani’s removal is a minimum starter. Word has it that the military establishment, while weary of seeking any direct role is also conscious of the public sentiment of being held responsible for helping the marauding government stay in the saddle. It wants the system to work without stepping in, if possible. A middle ground may yet be found in case Haqqani is made to walk his resignation talk and the matters reach level two. In such an eventuality and still holding a smoking gun, in the first phase the Rawalpindi chaps may ask the government to cause massive changes in top managements of various state institutions and corporations being headed by known incompetent and corrupt government cronies. If this covert effort of restoring some sanity to governance fails then we could well see a renewed effort to find out the accomplices in this dirty-memo case. You get it, right? continue

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Another Argument In Favor Of Ending Pakistan’s Role In America’s War

The Zardari government should review its policy of aligning Pakistan to the US war in Afghanistan.

THE NATION | EDITORIAL
PakNationalists.com

Senior Pentagon official Mark Lippert has testified to the US Senate Armed Services Committee that the Pentagon would consider a range of options if Pakistan did not cooperate against terrorism. Mr. Lippert appeared before the committee for his confirmation hearing as US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs.

During his testimony, Mr. Lippert exposed how far he is prey to the American biases against Pakistan. For one thing, he said that it was Pakistan’s responsibility to ensure that attacks did not emanate from its territory, once again raising the bogey of the Haqqani network, which according to intelligence reports operates out of Afghanistan, not Pakistan.

For another, he claimed the ability of militant groups to find safe havens in Pakistan posed a significant threat to US forces. This ignores the reality that the great mass of attacks on US forces comes from Afghanistan itself, and is rooted in that people’s resistance to foreign invasion and occupation.

The implication of Mr. Lippert’s remarks are that the US is contemplating military action against Pakistan, something which the Pakistani ruling elite should consider in a thorough review of foreign policy, which should include a clear decision to get out of an unfortunate and one-sided alliance.

It seems that Washington has developed wrong ideas about Pakistan after the Abbottabad raid and thinks it can use military means to impose its will. The US may not be aware of it but it should know that the Pakistani nation would fiercely resist any such attempt.

The incumbent government should also keep in mind that Pakistan is the source of its ability to rule, and its dependence on the US means that it is going against the wave of public opinion all in exchange for a presumed ability to stay in power. It should remember that being out of power in their own country is better than not having a country at all.

The fate of all those who acted as US lackeys should be kept in mind. The US is an ungrateful master. It is trying to prop up India as its regional counterweight to China.and is supporting India’s desire for regional hegemony. These wishes also include a number of prejudices against Pakistan, which India wishes the US to share. It appears that it has succeeded.

This should be the new reality to which the ruling elite must accommodate itself. It is only after breaking the alliance presently existing that the US can be convinced that accepting Indian prejudices as policy is a bad idea, and it must restore balance to the relationship that must proceed as that between two sovereign equal states.

This editorial appeared in Pakistan’s The Nation.

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General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has been dealt out another ace. President Asif Ali Zardari is left with no option but to wear defiance only to follow up the facade of defiance with damage control. Who drafted the memo? That matter seems to be in the final stage of being settled for good. Who actually authorized its delivery? Prima facie it has to be the drafter’s “boss” but that link hasn’t yet been established beyond reasonable doubt.

by Farrukh Saleem

PPP’s best-case scenario is the single-casualty-scapegoat-model in which the drafter falls without triggering a domino effect. According to Shaheen Sehbai and Mohammad Malick, DG-ISI met Mansoor Ijaz on October 22 for four hours during which “Mansoor Ijaz was exhaustively grilled over his claims and that Mansoor handed a fairly large quantity of records, both copies and originals. The records were subsequently put through a verification process and once the DG-ISI was convinced about their authenticity, he then briefed the army chief”. By the first week of November the GHQ must have put in place most pieces of the Memogate puzzle but there was a rather meaningful silence for the following two weeks. There is a possibility that the establishment may have been willing to accept PPP’s single-casualty-scapegoat-model, avoid a domino effect and gradually move back to status quo ante bellum-the state in which things were between the military and the PPP before the Memo. continue

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Those who know the characters that rule Pakistan at the top in the name of electoral legitimacy might not be surprised by the revelation that Ambassador Husain Haqqani wrote a secret memo to Admiral Mike Mullen in May, seeking his help for the removal of the top military brass in Pakistan. In return, he promised, of course on behalf of the Government of Pakistan, to do to what the Americans would want to get done, including the dismantling of “Section S” of the ISI.

By Rasul Bakhsh Rais

Why would they not be surprised? Because of the past record in power of a very powerful syndicate that has repeatedly occupied positions of authority in the country under the banner of ‘national political parties’ — it has robbed this helpless society with impunity and has grown much stronger using its financial muscle and international connections. The power cliques and their minions have played every possible trick to grab power, stay in power and use power for personal ends. Never had they any feeling for the people who apparently ‘voted’ for them, or the country that has raised them, given them the social standing, power and prestige that they enjoy, which allows them to move around the country and abroad, mighty and tall. continue

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By M. Zainulabedin Ameer

Dubbed as an equivalent of US President Nixon’s Watergate Scandal, MemoGate seems to have what it would take to impeach President Zardari. However, to say that his fate depends on the truth of this scandal isn’t definitive because recent history has shown that individuals like Zardari and ex-president General (retired) Musharaf have been known to survive huge setbacks, with the latter even exiting his rule with a Guard of Honor. In view of this, I might go as far as terming these individuals as invincible. Yet, despite what we feel may ensue, we can’t ever allow such things to go by uninvestigated and without consequence.

While it’s easy to pass judgment and declare President Zardari as the guilty party, particularly in view of the fact that he had a ton of cases for all sorts of crimes against him (none of which have been proven) – and I am no supporter of the man – everything must be looked at objectively. Zardari may have the propensity, or so we believe, to secure his position by an illegal agreement as mentioned in the memo, but it would be a good idea to remain mindful that it would be really convenient for someone to frame him. This of course will be another story if the evidence being furnished turns out to be credible, which is in fact the crux of the matter actually; whether the evidence in the memo and BlackBerry messages is enough to prove that Haqqani passed the memo to Mansoor Ijaz is paramount. continue

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Javed Hashmi says that Zardari and Gilani using Husain Haqqani as a scapegoat. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE

By Owais Jafri

Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) senior vice president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi said on Saturday that President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani should resign in light of the Memogate issue to save the democratic process in Pakistan.

Speaking during a press conference in Multan, Hashmi said that it could be the biggest blow to democracy in Pakistan if the memo is proven to be real. Hashmi said that Zardari and Gilani were using Husain Haqqani as a scapegoat and that they should avoid doing so.

“If the government has any complaint with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the armed forces, it should be discussed in parliament,” he said. “If the government does not want to discuss it in parliament, it is not their right to discuss it at external forums as these are our internal matters and the government should discuss them at internal forums.”

Hashmi said that the government had made a mockery of commissions. He added that the nation should be taken into confidence over the memo and everything should be shared with them.

“If the memo is proven to be false, they will be heroes of the nation,” said Hashmi.
The PML-N leader said the rulers should “accept their blunder or some other power will force them to accept it.”

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The ISI conclusively authenticated the delivery of treasonous secret memo to Admiral Mike Mullen before Chief of the Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani recently took up the serious issue with all seriousness with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.

Ansar Abbasi – The News

Informed sources said that a key ISI official personally flew to Europe recently and met Mansoor, the man who caused the storm, to ascertain the authenticity of the evidence as claimed by him. It was only after the ISI’s satisfaction over the kind of evidence that Mansoor produced that the army chief decided to take up the matter with the president and prime minister.

Although, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Washington Husain Haqqani categorically denied his involvement in the memo issue in any manner, Mansoor showed to the ISI all the relevant messages, e-mails and other evidence to prove that Haqqani was the person who initiated and drafted the memo.

Of late Mansoor, an influential Pakistani-American businessman, had told Geo TV n an interview that he had already shared his evidence with some Pakistani officials. He, however, had not disclosed that the official(s) he met was from the ISI.

Husain Haqqani, however, pleads that he is innocent and has nothing to do with the memo as referred to by Mansoor and confirmed to have been received by Mike Mullen after his initial denial. Haqqani also assures that he would be in Islamabad in a few days time to explain his position before President Asif Ali Zardari.

The Presidency as well as the government insists that Haqqani would be here very soon to clarify his position but some believe that he might not come unless he is sure that he would not be arrested or interrogated. continue

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APP

Russia on Monday, for the first time, publicly endorsed Pakistan’s bid to get full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made this announcement in response to Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani’s address at the 10th Heads of Government meeting of SCO, at the Constantine Palace.

The Russian Premier also supported Prime Minister Gilani’s proposals for implementing trade and energy projects. He announced financing 0.5 billion US dollars for the CASA- 1000 that would ensure power transmission from Turkmenistan Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Putin said in practical and tangible terms, Russia wants materialization of projects including TAPI (Turkmenistan- Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline project and the Central Asia South Asia Electricity Trade and Transmission Project (CASA 1000).
Later, the two leaders held bilateral meeting and discussed several important issues including fight against terrorism and extremism, besides calling for the need to adopt regional approach towards dealing with major challenges.

Russian Premier Putin termed his meeting with Prime Minister Gilani “very pleasant” and expressed satisfaction over bilateral and trade ties between the two countries. “Pakistan is important for us in trade and economy and it is an important partner in South Asia and in Islamic world,” he told Prime Minister Gilani. Putin offered Russia’s assistance in expansion of Pakistan Steel Mills and provision of technical support for the Guddu and Muzaffargarh power plants.

He said Russia could facilitate Pakistan in the execution of Thar Coal Project. Gilani said this was his fourth meeting with Prime Minister Putin. He mentioned that he joined other leaders at the SCO forum despite the occasion of Eid, because of the importance of the forum and also of Pakistan’s commitment to the regional issues.

He appreciated Russia’s support for mega projects including CASA 1000. Putin supported Pakistan’s stance on war on terror and agreed to pursue the policy of counter-terrorism for ensuring regional peace.The two Prime Ministers agreed that collective regional efforts were required to eliminate terrorism from the region to usher in peace and stability, and re-direct all energies towards economic interaction among the members of SCO.

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