Afghan Taliban and Pakistani militants have held a series of meetings aimed at containing what could soon be open warfare between the two most powerful Pakistani Taliban leaders, militant sources have said. Hakimullah Mehsud, the head of the Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP), and his deputy, Waliur Rehman, were at each other’s throats, the sources said.

“You will soon hear that one of them has eliminated the other, though hectic efforts are going on by other commanders and common friends to resolve differences between the two,” one TTP commander said.

Any division within the TTP could hinder the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda’s struggle in Afghanistan against the United States and its allies, making it more difficult to recruit young fighters and disrupting safe havens in Pakistan used by the Afghan militants.

Despite multiple reports of the Rehman-Mehsud split, Rehman told Reuters on Tuesday there was no problem between the two. “There are no differences between us,” Rehman said.

The TTP, formed in 2007, is an umbrella group of various Pakistani militant factions operating in Pakistan’s unruly northwestern tribal areas along the porous border with Afghanistan. It has long struggled with its choice of targets. Some factions are at war with the Pakistani state while others concentrate on the fight against the United States and its allies in Afghanistan. continue

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Nation.com.pk

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday resumed hearing into NRO implementation case. Justice Asif Saeed Khosa was heading the bench. Meanwhile, the court summoned Chairman of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on January 10. The bench ordered investigations against former OGDCL chief Adnan Khwaja. ‘How were Adnan Khwaja and Ahmed Riaz appointed,’ Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa asked. The judge said that how come a matriculation pass and convicted person was appointed as MD. He said that the court was giving last chance to concerning department to implement the NRO verdict of the SC. “If court order was not implement, the court will not issue any order instead it will take action,” he ruled.

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When an aggressor foresees the defeat coming, it resorts to massive killing and destruction of the habitats and tries to undo the “fear of unknown.” The recent killing of 24 Pakistani sleeping military men is the outcome of this American strategy working across Pakistan and Afghanistan. Late historian Professor Howard Zinn used to argue that “history is a weapon” that can not be ignored. This week in a CNN talk, famous American author David McCullough (author of Truman and John Adams) reminded the audience that history is a powerful reader and a weapon for change and development of a nation. How strange that most Pakistanis seem to have neglected the role of modern history in their search for change and adaptability to the future.

Mahboob A. Khawaja, Ph.D. – Opinion Maker

Devoid of common sense and lessons of the living history, Pakistan is run by dead politicians who lack even self-consciousness –moral or intellectual identity, and whose record is full of crimes and corruption against the very people they claim to represent. The ruling Bhutto family-PPP now under Asif Zardari and his colleagues have infected the body politics of Pakistan with corruption and political tyranny, draining out all of the positive thinking and creative energies of the nation for change, development and for a promising future. Strangely and alarming appears to be the emotional outburst and mindless behavior of some hired agents of the Pakistani landscape to celebrate the day of Miss Bhutto who was killed in a political gathering. If there is any law and justice to protect the interests of the people of Pakistan, Zardari and his gang must be tried in a court of law for systematic and on-going corruption and killing of the population. In some instances, they were indicted but continue to rule the people. These political thugs and indicted criminals should not be allowed to hold offices of public responsibility. The besieged nation MUST see itself in the mirror and learn from the dead past, to change the future course of history and to articulate a new beginning – a new political system under the new educated generation of honest, intelligent and visionary leadership to strive for a promising future. continue

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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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