GaliGali Azadari, Moharram, Duldul without Taliban Attacks

ISI , IJI Mehran Bank, Habib Bank Nexus

Army denies new ISI chief related to Shah Rukh Khan
By News Desk
Published: March 11, 2012

Interestingly, Islam is among the batch of officers who have been ‘groomed’ by the Chief of Army Staff in the ‘new look’ ISI.

The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) has denied reports that the new ISI director-general designate Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam was distantly related to Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan. The Times of India had reported that the new ISI chief shared a tenuous link with Shahrukh Khan.

The report had also said that the new ISI chief is the nephew of Indian National Army hero Shah Nawaz Khan, while actor Shahrukh Khan’s late mother Lateef Fatima was Shah Nawaz’s adopted daughter.

Pakistan Army spokesperson Maj-Gen Athar Abbas denied the report of the link with Shahrukh Khan as incorrect. He did not comment on the spymaster being a nephew of Shah Nawaz.

Islam’s father served as a brigadier in the Pakistan Army and Shah Nawaz, who was a major-general in the INA, was his uncle, leading Pakistani defence analyst Ikram Sehgal told Press Trust of India.

Shah Rukh Khan’s late mother Lateef Fatima was the adopted daughter of Shah Nawaz, the PTI had said.

Islam, who was yesterday appointed the new head of the powerful spy agency, comes from a military family and was born in Rawalpindi. It could not immediately be ascertained whether Islam had ever met Shah Nawaz, who died in 1983.

Shah Nawaz served in the British Indian Army during World War II. He was captured in 1942 and then joined the INA.

Shah Nawaz was captured by the British and put on trial with other INA officers in 1946. They were convicted for treason but were discharged due to pressure from the public.

He later joined the Congress party and was elected to the Lok Sabha four times.

Before Islam’s appointment as the ISI chief, some media reports had suggested that Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan’s uncle Maj-Gen Isfandyar Ali Khan Pataudi, a deputy director general in the spy agency, was in the running for the top slot. However, sources told PTI that Pataudi was never seen as a serious contender for the post of ISI chief. (With additional input from NNI)

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2012.











Mar. 10, 2012 1:28 AM ET
Pakistan's top court targets army
ASIF SHAHZAD, Associated Press THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES

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Former Pakistan army chief, retired General Mirza Aslam Beg, center, leaves the Supreme Court after hearing of the Mehran Bank scandal in Islamabad, Pakistan on Friday, March 9, 2012. Pakistan's powerful military establishment is under rare scrutiny from the country's top court, which after a gap of 16 years has opened an investigation into allegations it funneled money to politicians in the 1990's to influence elections. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)
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ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's powerful military establishment is under rare scrutiny from the country's top court, which after a gap of 16 years has opened an investigation into allegations the army funneled money to politicians to influence elections.

The case has showcased the emerging power of the Supreme Court, which is also hearing a contempt case against the prime minister that could see him imprisoned. The court's activism has led to some uncomfortable headlines for politicians and pierced the perception of the generals' invulnerability.

But it's unclear who, if anyone, will be held accountable.

Indeed, some critics say by moving against the generals now, the court is just seeking to deflect criticism that it focuses solely on the alleged misdeeds of the elected civilian government and wants to dislodge President Ali Zardari, with the supposed nod from the military itself.

The court is also demanding answers from the army and spy agencies over the fate of hundreds of "missing" Pakistanis: suspected militants or separatists picked up and held by military authorities for months and years in secret detentions.

Analysts say the developments are part of jostling between the army, the court and the government, with each wanting to stake a claim on its sphere of influence. There seems to be a balance among them so far, with no side willing or strong enough to strike a decisive blow against another. Speculation of a military coup or the imminent ousting of the government, frequently raised in the media just a few months ago, has receded.

The court is acting on a petition filed in 1996 by former Air Vice Marshal Asghar Khan, demanding it investigate what he claimed were payments to right-wing politicians made by the army-run Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency, known as the ISI. The money was to be used to ensure that the Pakistan People's Party — currently in power — would not win the 1990 general elections.

Without explaining why, the court began hearing the case last month. Testimony this week has shone a light on longtime allegations that the ISI has tried to influence elections.

On Thursday, Yunus Habib, a 90-year-old banker from the state-owned Mehran Bank, testified that he doled out the equivalent of $1.5 million in bank funds to politicians and ISI officers on the orders of then army chief Gen. Aslam Beg and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who was considered close to the army.

Some of the politicians who allegedly took the funds remain powerful political players, including opposition leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He has denied taking any money.

On Friday, former ISI chief Lt. Gen. Asad Durrani testified that he was directed by Beg to distribute the money among politicians from the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad, a right-wing political alliance allegedly set up by the military establishment to counter the PPP. He said Beg told him the money had been collected from the business community in Karachi.

The alleged bribes didn't give the alliance victory, however. It won 53 seats in the National Assembly, 49 less than the PPP that went on to form the government.

What happens next is uncertain.

Khan's lawyer Salman Raja said he wanted criminal cases brought against all those who distributed and received the money. That would roil the political scene and likely be opposed by the army. Moreover, the nature of the evidence against them is unclear.

Retired justice Tariq Mahmood said the case was a "morale booster" for the current government, but that it was unlikely anyone would be put on trial. "The government now has a chance to bring the intelligence agencies ... under its control," he said.

Political analyst Moeed Pirzada said the case put both the military and Nawaz Sharif on the defensive, which benefits the current PPP government, but would likely remain inconclusive. He said the court saw the case as "an opportunity to assert itself" following criticism by some over its pursuit of President Asif Ali Zardari.

Supreme Court justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudry has been accused of pursuing a vendetta against Zardari's PPP government. Zardari opposed Chaudry's reinstatement to the job in March 2009. The court has ordered Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gilani to reopen a corruption probe against Zardari.

Gilani has refused, arguing that Zardari has immunity from prosecution so long as he remains president. If found guilty of contempt for ignoring the order, Gilani could be imprisoned for six months and lose his job.

___

Associated Press writer Chris Brummitt contributed to this report from Islamabad.
===========
ACCEPTED: Rs3.5 million is the amount Nawaz allegedly received from Younis Habib. Shahbaz Shahbaz allegedly received Rs2.5 million, says Raja Riaz.
LAHORE:

The house met on Friday for about 90 minutes. The proceedings though short were eventful.

Shortly after the Question Hour, Leader of the Opposition Raja Riaz, rising on a point of order, started criticising Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for “taking money from generals”. The diatribe ended with a demand: the chief minister must come to the house and answer legislators’ questions, under oath.

This was followed by treasury members chanting slogans against President Asif Ali Zardari and thumping of desks. The Opposition retaliated with desk-thumping and slogans against the Sharif brothers. Riaz tried to continue but stopped because of the commotion.

Amidst the din, PPP’s Sajida Meer asked the speaker to let the opposition leader continue because it was his right to express his point of view. The advice was ignored. This led to the PPP boycotting the proceedings.

PML-Q’s Asghar Goral then pointed out the quorum, a requirement that treasury members were unable to meet. The session was then adjourned till 3pm on Monday.

The harsh exchange was not confined to the house. The PPP and PML-N leaders also expressed their disdain for each other before the session started.

“Shahbaz and Nawaz Sharif claim that their politics is based on principles,” commented Raja Riaz while talking to reporters. Former Mehran Bank president Younis Habib’s statement in the Supreme Court, he said, had exposed the ‘principles’ they stood for. Riaz quoted Habib as saying that Shahbaz had been given Rs2.5 million while Nawaz had received Rs3.5 million from the army to topple the PPP-led government in 1990.

The opposition leader said that the PPP had tried to tell the public that PML-N was a “party of dictators” that had always gained power with the support of generals.

Riaz also criticised the Sharif brothers for fleeing the country after reaching an agreement with General (retd) Pervez Musharraf. They lied to the nation even after the contract was made public, said Riaz, adding that they had yet to apologise to the public.

Raja asked the Sharif brothers to “resign immediately” for taking money from the army otherwise, he warned, another rebel like Javed Hashmi would rise from within the party and reveal the ‘truth’.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, in his talk with reporters, called the allegations “false” and “baseless”. He said that the PPP government had crossed “all limits” in corruption. The government was trying to divert the public’s attention from its own wrongdoings – corruption and compromising the commissions formed to investigate the May 2 attack and the murder of Saleem Shehzad, he said. Sanauallah said that since the matter was sub-judice he could not discuss it in any detail. He, however, assured the public that the Sharif brothers will appear in court to clear their names. “The PML-N will comply with the Supreme Court’s decision, whatever it is,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2012

Top Pakistan Taliban commanders 'at each other's throats'

Top Pakistan Taliban commanders 'at each other's throats' Reuters Published: January 3, 2012 Any division within the TTP could hinder the Afghan Taliban, al Qaeda's struggle in Afghanistan against the US. PHOTO: AFP/FILE ISLAMABAD: Al Qaeda, the 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. There has been a noticeable decrease in militant attacks in Pakistan, but there continue to be random acts of violence across the country. Al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban commanders are asking the TTP to provide more men for the fight in Afghanistan and are looking to smooth over the dispute between Mehsud and Rehman. Long-standing feuds Taliban sources said Rehman had ordered his fighters to kill Mehsud because of his increasing closeness with al Qaeda and its Arab contingent. Mehsud’s former deputy has also alleged the TTP chief received money from Pakistan’s arch-rival, India, to kill a former Pakistan spy agency official acting as a mediator between the Pakistani Taliban, Afghan insurgents and the Pakistani government. The reported enmity between Mehsud and Rehman is not the only conflict within the TTP ranks. Mehsud has a long-standing feud with militant commanders Maulvi Nazeer in South Waziristan and Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan, both of whom have non-aggression agreements with the Pakistani military. Mehsud’s men have also fought with the militia under the control of Fazal Saeed Haqqani, the former TTP head in the Kurram tribal region. He has accused Mehsud of killing his commanders and innocent people and kidnapping for ransom. Haqqani, who is close to the militant Afghan Haqqani network, broke away from the TTP last year. A pamphlet distributed by militants in North Waziristan this week announced the formation of a council to try to resolve the conflicts. “All jihadi forces have jointly, on the recommendation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, formed a five-member commission which will be known as the Shura Muraqba,” the pamphlet said, using the term by which the Afghan Taliban describe themselves. “The Shura Muraqba will be working to resolve differences and problems between mujahideen.” It said that any “mujahideen” found to have committed an “unlawful” killing or kidnapping would be punished under Islamic law. It is likely any attack on a fellow “mujahideen” commander would be considered “unlawful”. “All mujahideen should respect the decisions of the council that has been set up,” a senior commander of the Haqqani faction in Kurram said. “If people continue to do as they like, the situation will not improve. Things will instead get much worse.” =============== From the caves of Tora Bora to an office in Qatar: is the Taliban going mainstream? JEROME TAYLOR WEDNESDAY 04 JANUARY 2012 inShare PRINT A A A EMAIL Latest in Asia Indian tiger fights to regain its bite Chinese manufacturing delivers new year bounce From the caves of Tora Bora to an office in Qatar: is the Taliban going mainstream? Legionnaire's found at Hong Kong's government headquarters Peace broken in Kashmir as forces fire on protesters Chinese police destroy villagers' new mosque Two Koreas are at a turning point, says South's leader Fugitive surrenders 17 years after Tokyo gas attack Icons of Tinseltown and Tibet celebrate Buddhist festival Shot 'terrorists' may have been religious refugees Ads by Google Inflation Is Coming The World's Financial System Is Crumbling. Here's The Worst-Case. www.ifii.com/Hyperinflation14.5ct/min to Afghanistan 14.5ct/min to Afghanistan mobiles. Double credit with every top-up! VectoneMobile.nl/FreeSIMBritish Military Records Trace Military Ancestors online now 1686 to WW2 records. Free search forces-war-records.co.uk/recordsThe Collapse of The Euro The Euro is about to implode but that doesn't mean you can't profit. MoneyMorning.com/Euro_Defaults From the blogs New year, new home Our Online House Hunter, Alan Cleaver, begins at the beginning with a series of articles for those w... Scandal, surprise and soap opera – a year of the Bundesliga With 2011 now over, followers of the Bundesliga are looking back on what has been a year full of sca... The 2011 “Questions to Which the Answer is No” Awards Here are my favourites in the series of Questions to Which the Answer is No from the past 12 months. The potential British sports stars of 2012 2012 will see the Olympics come to London and the Euros take place in Poland and Ukraine in what pro... Suggested Topics Cults And Sects Taliban Afghanistan The Afghan Taliban announced yesterday that it had reached a landmark deal to open a political office in Qatar in what could be its first concrete step to sue for peace after a decade of insurgency warfare. A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, released a statement stating that a “preliminary deal” had been reached for “negotiations with the international community”. The statement added that it would depend on key commanders being released from US military custody at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The idea of opening up an office has long been sought by American officials who are desperate to find a political exit strategy for Afghanistan after 10 years of bitter warfare. Secret talks between the Americans, intermediaries and the Taliban have been held for months, but with limited success. Until now, Taliban commanders had been reluctant to ever admit publicly that they might be willing to sit down to peace talks. Opening up a legitimate political office would allow Taliban commanders to negotiate with America and international diplomats without fear of assassination or arrest. Western officials have also been keen to promote Qatar as a suitable venue because it would take the talks outside the influence of the ISI – Pakistan’s powerful spy agency which has long been suspected of harbouring and nurturing the Taliban’s insurgency. According to a report in The Hindu newspaper, the influential Qatar-based Egyptian cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi has played a key role in the talks aimed at setting up an office. Western officials believe prisoner exchanges and ceasefire zones will be an essential part of building up confidence between the two sides. However Washington is determined that the Taliban must abandon any ideological or practical allegiance to Al-Qa’ida. In return the Taliban will likely seek a significant political role within the southern Pashtun regions of Afghanistan where its insurgency blossomed, as well as the release of its leaders. Key Taliban officials currently held in Guantanamo include Muhammad Fazl, the Taliban’s former deputy defence minister, Muhammad Nabi, a key financier, and two former provincial governors Khairullah Khairkhwa of Herat and Noorullah Nori of Balkh. The Taliban, meanwhile, is still holding Bowe Bergdahl, a 25-year-old U.S. Army sergeant from Hailey, Idaho, who was taken prisoner in June 2009. Attempts to negotiate with the Taliban have repeatedly hit stumbling blocks. In 2010 British and American intelligence officials were duped by a market stall holder from Quetta who made them believe he was a senior Taliban commander. He then disappeared after pocketing large sums of cash. Former Afghan president Burhannuddin Rabani, who was tasked with negotiating with the Taliban, was killed by a suicide bomber last year whilst Afghan president Hamid Karzai ordered his ambassador to Qatar to be withdrawn late last year when it emerged attempted talks with the Taliban had been taking place. He has since relented under US pressure and signed up to the plan. It is not yet clear whether hardline Taliban commanders, including its spiritual chief Mullah Omar, would countenance any negotiations with Nato or the Afghan government in Kabul. ======================

Pakistan ISI urged attacks on U.S. targets-officials

22 Sep 2011 00:16

Source: reuters // Reuters


* Militant links examined to US Embassy, other attacks

* Debate rages over future of U.S. Pakistan policy (Adds comment from senior Pakistani official)

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - U.S. officials say there is mounting evidence that Pakistan's chief intelligence agency has been encouraging a Pakistan-based militant network to attack U.S. targets.

The allegations, if fully confirmed, heighten a painful dilemma for President Barack Obama's administration. Washington is under growing political pressure to take action against the Haqqani network after a spate of deadly attacks U.S. officials have attributed to it. These include last week's strike against the American Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Some U.S. intelligence reporting alleges that Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence directorate (ISI) specifically directed, or urged, the Haqqani network to carry out the Sept. 13 attack on the embassy and a NATO headquarters in Kabul, according two U.S. officials and a source familiar with recent U.S.-Pakistan official contacts. However, officials cautioned that this information is uncorroborated.

Another U.S. official familiar with internal government assessments said that at the very least, the available intelligence strongly suggests the ISI has been egging on elements of the Haqqani network to launch attacks at American targets in the region.

While American officials have aired allegations of ties between the ISI and the Haqqani network in recent days, they have not publicly cited evidence that the Pakistani agency, or elements of it, urged its proxy to attack U.S. targets.

While the ISI's motives in any such attacks are not clear, Pakistan has long wanted to play a major role in Afghanistan's future after the departure of NATO troops, and to counter what it sees as the growing influence there of arch-rival India.

This week, top U.S. officials, including Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, demanded that Pakistan's leaders take action against the Haqqanis, who are based in that country's tribal areas and are considered among the most dangerous insurgent groups in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

Still, despite the threats and an intensified campaign of violence that threatens U.S. efforts to stabilize Afghanistan, the Obama administration has few options for increasing pressure on Pakistan and none of them are good.

After years of efforts to cajole(To persuade by flattery, gentle pleading, or insincere language.
), coax(To persuade or try to persuade by pleading or flattery; cajole.
) and threaten Pakistan into cracking down on a host of militants operating from within its borders failed to bear fruit, U.S. officials are exasperated.

For the United States one alternative -- another cross-border raid, like the Navy SEAL mission that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May -- may be tempting in some quarters. But the risks are high and the backlash from Pakistan would be fierce, almost certainly harming what counter-terrorism cooperation exists.

"LITTLE LEVERAGE"

"The (U.S.) administration has thrown everything at this -- high-level meetings, tons of money, all of these overtures, and it hasn't gotten us anywhere," said Caroline Wadhams, a security analyst in Washington.

"This can't go on forever," she said, "but the problem is that we have so little leverage."

"Pakistan values its relationship with the U.S. and is committed to eliminating terrorism in Afghanistan and from our soil," said A senior Pakistani official. "We will look at all evidence shared by the U.S. side and deal harshly with anyone and everyone responsible for terrorism."

The long-simmering tension between the sometime allies, sometime adversaries came to a head last week after the brazen attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. It was a major blow as Obama hopes to nudge Afghanistan toward stability and gradually bring home U.S. forces after a decade of war.

Since then, American officials, including Obama's ambassador in Islamabad and Mullen, his top military officer, have issued unusually blunt criticisms of Pakistan's failure to curb the Haqqani group -- and made frank statements accusing Islamabad of links to the group.

Mullen, in a speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Tuesday he had pressed Pakistan's army chief in a four-hour conversation on Friday to break the country's links with the Haqqanis.

"We covered ... the need for the Haqqani Network to disengage, specifically the need for the ISI to disconnect from Haqqani and from this proxy war that they're fighting," Mullen said.
The Haqqanis, just one of a host of militant groups that have used western Pakistan as a base for attacks in Afghanistan, are seen as allied to both al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban. Supported at times in the past by the CIA, they have had long-standing ties to the ISI. [ID:nL3E7G524Z]

On Tuesday, regional tensions soared even higher when a suicide bomber killed Burhanuddin Rabbani, the former Afghan president who had headed efforts to secure a peace deal with the Taliban. [ID:nL3E7KL1VI]

While responsibility for the attack remains unclear, the shocking assassination threatened to do even more to reverse a tentative thaw in perpetually dismal U.S.-Pakistani ties a few months after Osama bin Laden was killed near Islamabad. The initial conclusion of U.S. government experts is that Rabbani's assassination was carried out by Afghan Taliban and had no connection to the Haqqani network.

Vali Nasr, who until this spring was a senior official in the U.S. State Department's Afghanistan-Pakistan office, said efforts to prompt Pakistani action against militants with increased public pressure had fallen short.

"They are not blinking," he said.

=============

Sparks fly as US, Pakistan spar over Afghan bloodshed
22 Sep 2011 23:42
Source: Reuters // Reuters

* U.S. issues strongest indictment of ISI role

* Pakistan rejects U.S. accusation

* Congressional support for curbs on aid rising fast (Recasts lead, adds former CIA official)

By Missy Ryan and John Chalmers

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The top U.S. military officer accused Pakistani intelligence on Thursday of backing violence against U.S. targets including the American Embassy in Afghanistan, a stunning remark that fueled a war of words and seemed certain to deepen tensions in South Asia.

Admiral Mike Mullen said Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) played a role in the Sept. 13 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, supporting militants known as the Haqqani network.

That network, he said, is a "veritable arm" of the ISI.The embassy attack was the latest in a series of violent episodes that were a blow to U.S. efforts to bring the Afghan war to a peaceful close. [ID:nS1E78L0MH]

Pakistan's interior minister rejected the U.S. accusations of Islamabad's links to the Haqqanis, one of the most feared insurgent groups operating in Afghanistan.

The minister, Rehman Malik, also warned against a unilateral U.S. ground attack on the Haqqanis, who are based in Pakistan's ungoverned tribal territories.

"The Pakistan nation will not allow the boots on our ground, never. Our government is already cooperating with the U.S. ... but they also must respect our sovereignty," Malik said in an interview with Reuters. [ID:nL3E7KM2MZ]

The harsh words appear to represent a new low in U.S.-Pakistani relations, which had barely begun to recover from the unannounced U.S. Special Forces raid that killed Osama bin Laden in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad in May.

COMPLETE BREAK IN TIES UNLIKELY

The tensions could have repercussions across Asia, from India, Pakistan's economically booming arch-rival, to China, which has edged closer to Pakistan in recent years.

A complete break between the United States and Pakistan -- sometimes friends, often adversaries -- seems unlikely, if only because the United States depends on Pakistan as a route to supply U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and as a base for unmanned U.S. drones. Pakistan relies on Washington for military and economic aid and for acting as a backer on the world stage.

Washington does not want to see further instability in the nuclear-armed country.

But support in the U.S. Congress for curbing assistance or making conditions on aid more stringent is rising rapidly. And Mullen, CIA Director David Petraeus and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have all met their Pakistani counterparts in recent days to demand Islamabad rein in militants.

Bruce Riedel, a former top CIA analyst with close ties to the Obama White House, which he once advised, told Reuters administration officials have told him that militants who attacked the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul on Sept. 13 phoned individuals connected with the ISI before and during the attack. [ID:nS1E78L225]

Following the attacks, Riedel said, U.S. security forces collected cell phones the attackers had used. These are expected to provide further evidence linking militants to ISI.

Obama Administration spokespeople declined comment on Riedel's statements.

CONTINUED ENGAGEMENT

Mullen, who appeared with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said U.S. aid to Pakistan "needs to be conditioned" on Pakistan's cooperation against militants. But as U.S. officials mull a host of unpalatable options for dealing with Pakistan, he cautioned against going too far.

"I think we need to continue to stay engaged. And I don't know when the breakthrough is going to take place. ... We need to be there, you know, when the light goes on," Mullen said.
A separate Senate committee voted on Wednesday to make conditions on U.S. assistance to Pakistan more rigorous, and contingent upon its cooperation in fighting militants such as the Haqqani network. [nS1E78K2AC]

Mullen, who is about to step down as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been a defender of U.S. engagement with Pakistan and has met more than two dozen times with his Pakistani counterpart, General Ashfaq Kayani.

The Haqqani network is one of three allied insurgent factions fighting U.S.-led NATO and Afghan troops under the Taliban banner in Afghanistan.

In earlier testimony, Mullen said "the Haqqani network ... acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency. ... With ISI support, Haqqani operatives planned and conducted (a Sept. 11) truck bomb attack, as well as the assault on our embassy," Mullen said.

Insurgents struck the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and nearby NATO headquarters on Sept. 13, killing at least seven people and wounding 19.

FLAT DENIAL FROM PAKISTAN

Of the Haqqanis, Mullen said, "We also have credible intelligence that they were behind the June 28 attack against the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul and a host of other smaller but effective operations."

Malik, the Pakistani minister, issued a flat denial of such accusations. "If you say that it is ISI involved in that (embassy) attack, I categorically deny it. We have no such policy to attack or aid attack through Pakistani forces or through any Pakistani assistance," he told Reuters.

The U.S. accusations underscore mounting exasperation in the Obama administration, which is struggling to put an end to the long war in Afghanistan.

Some U.S. intelligence reporting alleges the ISI specifically directed or urged the Haqqani network to carry out the attack on the embassy and a NATO headquarters in Kabul, two U.S. officials and a source familiar with recent U.S.-Pakistan official contacts told Reuters on Wednesday. [ID:nL3E7KM0IT]

Mullen said the embassy attack and a bombing this week that killed former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who personified hopes for peace negotiations with the Taliban, were examples of the Taliban's shift toward high-profile violence.
Such violence has been a blow to Washington's hopes to weaken a stubborn militancy and seal a peace deal with the Taliban as it gradually draws down the U.S. force 10 years after the Afghan war began.

"These acts of violence are as much about headlines and playing on the fears of a traumatized people, as they are about inflicting casualties -- maybe even more so," Mullen told the Senate panel.

"We must not misconstrue them. They are serious and significant in shaping perceptions but they do not represent a sea change in the odds of military success."

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell and Mark Hosenball in Washington and Michael Georgy in Islamabad; editing by Mohammad Zargham and Todd Eastham)


===


Pakistan warns U.S.: 'You will lose an ally'23 Sep 2011 22:24

Source: reuters // Reuters


* Mullen: Pakistan's spy agency tied to Haqqani network

* Khar says U.S. cannot afford to alienate Pakistan (Adds drone strike, U.S. senator comment)

By Qasim Nauman and Missy Ryan

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Pakistan warned the United States it risked losing an ally if it kept accusing Islamabad of playing a double game in the war against militancy, escalating the crisis in relations between the two countries.

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar was responding to comments by Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, who said Pakistan's top spy agency supported attacks on the U.S. Embassy and other targets by the Haqqani network, the most violent and effective faction among Islamist Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

It is the most serious allegation leveled by the United States against nuclear-armed, Muslim-majority Pakistan since they began an alliance in the "war on terrorism" a decade ago.

"You will lose an ally," Khar told Geo TV in New York in remarks broadcast on Friday. "You cannot afford to alienate Pakistan, you cannot afford to alienate the Pakistani people."

The White House on Friday reiterated its call for Pakistan to cut its ties to the Haqqani network and shut down safe havens on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

"It is critical that the government of Pakistan break any links they have, and take strong and immediate action against this network so that they are no longer a threat to the United States or to the people of Pakistan, because this network is a threat to both," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Mullen, speaking in the Senate on Thursday, alleged Haqqani operatives launched the bold attack last week on the Kabul embassy with the support of Pakistan's military intelligence.

The charges came amid mounting exasperation in Washington as the Obama administration struggles to curb militancy in Pakistan and end the long war in Afghanistan.

Pakistan's chief of army staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, rejected Mullen's comments as "very unfortunate and not based on facts."

"Singling out Pakistan is neither fair nor productive," he said, according to a military statement released on Friday.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For more Pakistan stories click [ID:nAFPAK]

http://link.reuters.com/kac58m

Pakistan blog http://blogs.reuters.com/pakistan/

Key political risks to watch in Pakistan [ID:nRISKPK]

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The tensions could have repercussions across Asia, from India, Pakistan's economically booming archrival, to China, which has edged closer to Pakistan in recent years.

A complete break between the United States and Pakistan -- sometimes friends, often adversaries -- seems unlikely, if only because Washington depends on Pakistan for supply routes to U.S. troops fighting militants in Afghanistan, and as a base for unmanned U.S. drones.

'CO-DEPENDENTS'

Pakistan relies on Washington for military and economic aid and for acting as a backer on the world stage.

"The message for America is: 'They can't live with us, they can't live without us," said Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.

But support in the U.S. Congress for curbing assistance or making conditions on aid more stringent is rising rapidly.

A Senate committee voted this week to make conditioning of U.S. assistance to Pakistan more rigorous and conditioned on its cooperation in fighting militants such as the Haqqani network. [nS1E78K2AC]

"We are going to have to have an agonizing reappraisal of our relationship, and obviously amounts of aid and conditions on aid are going to be part of it," said John McCain, a senior Republican senator and 2008 Republican presidential candidate.

Before the Kabul attack, relations were starting to recover from the unilateral U.S. raid into Pakistan that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May.

The dangers could be enormous if Washington and Pakistan, a largely dysfunctional state teeming with Islamist militants and run by a weak, military-cowed government, fail to arrest the deterioration in relations.

At stake are the fight against terrorism, the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and -- as Islamabad plays off its friendship with China against the United States -- regional stability.

HUMILIATION

The United States has long pressed Pakistan to go after the Haqqani network, which it believes operates from sanctuaries in North Waziristan on the Afghan border.

Pakistan says its army is too stretched fighting its own Taliban insurgency. But analysts say the Islamabad government regards the Haqqanis as a way to exert its influence on any future political settlement in Afghanistan.

Where the Pakistani military will not or cannot go, the Obama administration has increased the tempo of drone strikes on militants with tacit, wary backing from Islamabad. Yet the strikes are yet another thorn as Pakistani officials fret about being seen as taking orders from the West.

On Friday, intelligence officials in Pakistan said a suspected U.S. drone fired two missiles at a house in North Waziristan tribal region, killing at least three militants.

The area is not associated with the Haqqani network, which Mullen told senators was a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI.

Mullen, CIA Director David Petraeus and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton all have met with their Pakistani counterparts in recent days to demand Islamabad take action against the Haqqani network.

Any Pakistani offensive against the Haqqanis would be risky. The group has an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 seasoned fighters at its disposal and analysts say the Pakistani army would likely suffer heavy casualties.

Mahmud Durrani, a retired major general and former Pakistani ambassador to Washington, said both sides should ease tensions to avoid American military action beyond drone strikes or economic sanctions.

"There's a possibility. It's wide open. But it will be absolutely, totally disastrous." (Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony in Islamabad and Alister Bull and Susan Cornwell in Washington; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by John Chalmers, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Peter Cooney)

===

US fails to bully Pakistan
By Asad Ahmed - Sep 27th, 2011 (No Comment)
10
Islamabad: A senior Pakistani analyst, who is known to be influential in US administration, Najam Sethi said that Pakistan has began to show their cards during Pak-US tension, adding that, Pakistan could not be made under US pressure any more.
In a Pakistani TV current affair show ‘Aapas Ki Baat’ on Geo News, senior analyst Najam Sethi said that this was the last series of US efforts to bring Pakistan under pressure, but she could not be succeeding that’s why she was becoming heckle.
Sethi, who was present in US right now, said that it has been an open fact now that both countries have absolutely different kind of interests in the region.
The agenda of nationalism in Pakistan surfaced after US threats so it has been proved that Pakistan would only work for its own interest and agenda and in this regard, Pakistan army has devised short term and long term strategies, Sethi said.
He is of the view that Pakistan army could never make Haqqani network its enemy because Haqqani network could begin efforts to occupy the Pashtun areas of Pakistan after US withdrawal and handling such ugly situation could be difficult for Pakistan.
He quoted a report of US paper that the militants who attacked Kabul on Sept 13, were in contacts with ISI officials during their action, and the transcripts of such calls were presented before Director General ISI Shuja Pasha during his latest US visit.
He added that he is getting signals that normalcy is returning and there are indications that the hostility between two countries would reduce.


=============


Pakistan pushes back against US charges, woos China

27 Sep 2011 21:42
Source: Reuters // Reuters

* Chinese support crucial for Pakistan

* Negative message from U.S. "disturbs" Pakistanis

* U.S. asks China for help with Pakistan (Adds comments by White House and Pakistani foreign minister)

By John Chalmers and Chris Allbritton

ISLAMABAD, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Pakistan warned the United States on Tuesday to stop accusing it of playing a double game with Islamist militants and heaped praise on "all-weather friend" China.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, speaking exclusively to Reuters, said any unilateral military action by the United States to hunt down militants of the Haqqani network inside Pakistan would be a violation of his country's sovereignty.

However, he side-stepped questions on the tense relations with the United States and offered no indications of any steps Pakistan might take to soothe the fury in Washington.

The outgoing chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, last week described the Haqqani network, the most violent faction among Taliban militants in Afghanistan, as a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's ISI spy agency and accused Islamabad of providing support for the group's Sept. 13 attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul.

"The negative messaging, naturally that is disturbing my people," Gilani said in the interview from his office in Islamabad. "If there is messaging that is not appropriate to our friendship, then naturally it is extremely difficult to convince my public. Therefore they should be sending positive messages."

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TAKE A LOOK on US-Pakistan tensions [ID:nL3E7KN1E0]

Or see: http://link.reuters.com/kac58m

Anti-American sentiment in Pakistan [ID:nL3E7KQ1Q6]

Pakistan blog: http://blogs.reuters.com/pakistan/

Key political risks to watch in Pakistan [ID:nRISKPK]

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Since Mullen's comments, Pakistan has launched a diplomatic counter-attack and attempted to drum up support from its strongest ally in the region, China. Pakistani officials have been heaping praise on China since its public security minister arrived in Islamabad on Monday for high-level talks.

"We are true friends and we count on each other," Gilani said in separate comments broadcast on television networks after talks with Meng Jianzhu on Tuesday.

The military, Pakistan's most powerful institution, said it appreciated Beijing's backing. Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani thanked Meng for China's "unwavering support."

'ALL-WEATHER FRIENDS'

China and Pakistan call each other "all-weather friends" and their close ties have been underpinned by long-standing wariness of their common neighbor, India, and a desire to hedge against U.S. influence across the region.

"They (the Pakistanis) are trying to use their diplomatic options as much as possible to defuse pressure on them. They hope China will help them in this crisis," said security analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi.

Asked why the United States had suddenly ratcheted up its criticism of Pakistan, Gilani implied that it reflected Washington's frustration with the war in Afghanistan ahead of a withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country in 2014.

"Certainly they expected more results from Afghanistan, which they have not been able to achieve as yet," he said. "They have not achieved what they visualized."

Rejecting allegations that Islamabad was behind any violence across its border, he said: "It is in the interest of Pakistan to have a stable Afghanistan."

The White House on Tuesday reiterated military demands.

"The Pakistani government needs to take action to deal with the links that exist there," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Asked if Washington would take action if Pakistan fails to cut ties with the Haqqani network, Carney said: "We are obviously always reviewing our aid programs. We obviously take it very seriously and discuss these matters with our Pakistani counterparts."

CONCILIATORY REMARKS TO U.N.

Yet there is no indication American officials are ready to cut ties with volatile, nuclear-armed Pakistan.

"There are differences from time to time in the relationship with Pakistan, as there is in any partnership. Those differences have been made public and we continue to discuss those differences in private," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.

At the United Nations on Tuesday, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar struck a conciliatory note, saying Islamabad was committed to achieving peace in Afghanistan and cooperating with the U.S. and Afghan governments.

She suggested that current tensions between Pakistan and its partners were partly due to the difficulties all were facing in their fight against terrorism. [ID:nS1E78Q1S9]

"Given the volatility of the situation, it is perhaps understandable that there is a high level of anxiety and emotions," Khar told the 193-nation General Assembly.

"But we must not lose sight of the goals. We must work closely and as responsible partners in a cooperative manner and not rush to judgments or question each other's intentions."

The United States has been pressing Pakistan to attack the Haqqani network, which it believes is based in North Waziristan near the Afghan border. Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the group, says it is no longer based in Pakistan and feels safe operating in Afghanistan.

Analysts say Pakistan sees the Haqqanis as a counterweight to the growing influence of rival India in Afghanistan and is highly unlikely to go after the group.

CIVILIAN NUCLEAR COOPERATION

Gilani said Washington did not help itself when it struck a deal on civilian nuclear cooperation with India, not Pakistan.

"There is an acute shortage of electricity in Pakistan. And there are riots. And the opposition is playing to the gallery because there is a shortage of electricity," he said.

"But they (the United States) are doing the civilian nuclear deal not with Pakistan, but with India. Now how can I convince my public that they are your (Pakistan's) friends and not the friends of India? ... The perception matters."

Asked about Gilani's comment, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, "The U.S. does not consider this a zero sum game: U.S.-India or U.S.-Pakistan. We need and we seek good, strong relations with each."

Much of the Pakistani public believes that since the end of the Cold War, the United States has tilted towards India, which has fought three wars with Pakistan since the violent partition of the subcontinent in 1947.

In a demonstration of that distrust, hundreds turned out on Tuesday for anti-American rallies in Pakistani cities.

Also on Tuesday, a suspected U.S. drone strike on a house in Azam Warsak village in South Waziristan's tribal region on the Afghan border killed at least three alleged militants, local intelligence officials said. (Additional reporting by Missy Ryan, Alister Bull and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Editing by Todd Eastham)

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US bombers could blitz areas in Pakistan

Updated at: 0246 PST, Thursday, September 29, 2011
WASHINGTON: Support is growing in the U.S. Congress for expanding American military action in Pakistan beyond drone strikes already used to target militants in Pakistani territory, a senior Republican U.S. senator says.

The comments by Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential Republican voice on foreign policy and military affairs, follow remarks by the top U.S. military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, accusing Pakistan last week of supporting the militant Haqqani network's September 13 attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul.

Graham said in an interview on Tuesday that U.S. lawmakers might support military options beyond the drone strikes that have been going on for years inside Pakistani territory.
Those options may include using U.S. bomber planes within Pakistan.

The South Carolina Republican said he did not advocate sending U.S. ground troops into Pakistan.

"I would say when it comes to defending American troops, you don't want to limit yourself," Graham said. "This is not a boots-on-the-ground engagement -- I'm not talking about that, but we have a lot of assets beyond drones."

"A perfect world ... would be Afghan, Pakistan and (U.S. and NATO) coalition forces working jointly on both sides of border to deny safe havens, inside of Afghanistan and on the other side," in Pakistan's western tribal regions from which the Haqqani network and other militants are believed to operate, Graham said.

Graham said U.S. lawmakers will think about stepping up the military pressure. "If people believe it's gotten to the point that that is the only way really to protect our interests I think there would be a lot of support," Graham said.

The Haqqani network is allied with Afghanistan's Taliban and is believed to have close links to al Qaeda. It fights U.S. and NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan, operating out of bases in Pakistan's North Waziristan.

U.S. drone aircraft in recent years have targeted mostly al Qaeda figures rather than Haqqani militants. (Reuters)

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INTERVIEW-More US military action in Pakistan possible -Graham

28 Sep 2011 20:22
Source: Reuters // Reuters

* Patience has worn thin with Pakistan in Congress

* Mounting support for tightening pressure on Pakistan

By Missy Ryan and Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Support is growing in the U.S. Congress for expanding American military action in Pakistan beyond drone strikes already used to target militants in Pakistani territory, a senior Republican U.S. senator says.

The comments by Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential Republican voice on foreign policy and military affairs, follow remarks by the top U.S. military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, accusing Pakistan last week of supporting the militant Haqqani network's Sept. 13 attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul.

Graham said in an interview on Tuesday that U.S. lawmakers might support military options beyond the drone strikes that have been going on for years inside Pakistani territory.

Those options may include using U.S. bomber planes within Pakistan.

The South Carolina Republican said he did not advocate sending U.S. ground troops into Pakistan.

"I would say when it comes to defending American troops, you don't want to limit yourself," Graham said. "This is not a boots-on-the-ground engagement -- I'm not talking about that, but we have a lot of assets beyond drones."

"A perfect world ... would be Afghan, Pakistan and (U.S. and NATO) coalition forces working jointly on both sides of border to deny safe havens, inside of Afghanistan and on the other side," in Pakistan's western tribal regions from which the Haqqani network and other militants are believed to operate, Graham said.

Graham said U.S. lawmakers will think about stepping up the military pressure. "If people believe it's gotten to the point that that is the only way really to protect our interests I think there would be a lot of support," Graham said.

The Haqqani network is allied with Afghanistan's Taliban and is believed to have close links to al Qaeda. It fights U.S. and NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan, operating out of bases in Pakistan's North Waziristan. (For a factbox on major militant groups in Pakistan, click on [ID:nL3E7G524Z])

U.S. drone aircraft in recent years have targeted mostly al Qaeda figures rather than Haqqani militants.

'PROTECT LIVES'

Increased U.S. military action on Pakistani soil, including the idea of U.S. soldiers crossing the porous border from Afghanistan, would be deeply unpopular in Pakistan. Pakistan viewed the U.S. military raid in May that killed al Qaeda chief Osama in Laden in a Pakistani garrison town as a grievous breach of its sovereignty.

"Don't underestimate how we feel about those who try to kill our troops," Graham said in the interview.

"My belief is that Congress will be supportive of any action that the (U.S. military) experts deem necessary to protect lives of American soldiers" in Afghanistan.

The tense ties between Pakistan and the United States worsened last week after Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the Haqqani network as a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's ISI spy agency.

Graham, known as a hawk, said on Sunday that the United States must consider all options "including defending our troops" in confronting Pakistani support for militant networks active in Afghanistan. [ID:nS1E78O02D]

Such remarks from the U.S. Congress, where patience has worn thin with Pakistan, have intensified speculation that the United States might resort to another cross-border raid such as the one that killed bin Laden, intensify drone attacks in Pakistan's lawless tribal regions or send in bomber planes to attack militant hide-outs.

Lawmakers are proposing to restrict U.S. aid to Pakistan by placing more rigorous conditions under which Pakistan, which possesses nuclear arms but is desperately poor, can access American military and economic assistance.

The United States has been frustrated by what it sees as Pakistan's unwillingness to stamp out militants like the Haqqanis and the Taliban in Afghanistan, where U.S. forces have been engaged in a war for the past decade.

The unusually public criticism from Washington has provoked anger among Pakistani leaders who warn that the United States may lose a key ally in an unstable region. [ID:nL3E7KR32X]

(Editing by Warren Strobel and Will Dunham)



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Fewer trainers seen among US military in Pakistan

28 Sep 2011 23:25
Source: Reuters // Reuters

* US comments on Haqqani network spark friction

* US staff likely to mostly support equipment

(Updates with Mullen comment)

By Missy Ryan and Chris Allbritton

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD, Sept 28 (Reuters) - U.S. and Pakistani officials are continuing talks on the future U.S. military mission in Pakistan but Washington likely will see its influence on Pakistani special forces curtailed as tensions rage between the two nations.

A U.S. official said both countries had been discussing an agreement that would authorize between 100 and 150 U.S. military personnel to be stationed in Pakistan, fewer than have been there in the recent past.

"That's what they're driving toward," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The nature and size of the U.S. military presence in Pakistan remains in doubt, like the overall relationship, after the top U.S. military officer drew links last week between Pakistan's intelligence agency and a violent militant group blamed for attacks on American targets in Afghanistan.

Admiral Mike Mullen, who steps down this week as chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the Haqqani network as a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's ISI spy agency and accused Islamabad of providing support for the group's Sept. 13 attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul and other attacks.

Those allegations have kicked off a war of words that may jeopardize years of U.S. efforts to nudge Pakistan toward action against the Haqqani network and other militants who operate from Pakistan's lawless tribal regions.

Mullen defended his remark in an interview on Wednesday with National Public Radio, saying he "phrased it the way I wanted it to be phrased" and would change "not a word."

Mullen said he thought Pakistan maintained ties to the Haqqani network to try to improve its own security and he felt the need to speak up because the group was "so intently focused right now on killing Americans."

The Haqqani network is allied with Afghanistan's Taliban and is believed to have close links to al Qaeda. It is now seen as a chief threat to U.S. plans to establish a modicum of peace as it gradually withdraws from Afghanistan.

EQUIPMENT RELATED

In the past, there had been some 200 to 300 U.S. military personnel stationed in Pakistan, many of them training Pakistan special forces to confront militants, as part of Washington's Office of the Defense Representative-Pakistan.

But Islamabad, furious over the U.S. special forces raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May, without Pakistani knowledge, sharply reduced the size of the mission this spring.

The U.S. military declined to disclose how many U.S. personnel are now in Pakistan.

A Pakistani military official acknowledged that negotiations are ongoing, but declined to say how many U.S. personnel would be authorized.

"We will convey what is required, but it will be primarily equipment related," the Pakistani official said on condition of anonymity.

Another U.S. official said most of the U.S. staff expected to be permitted, once a deal was finalized, would be military liaison personnel, mechanics, engineers and others who help Pakistan maintain and operate military equipment rather than special forces trainers.

The Obama administration has been struggling to come up with a way to successfully prod Pakistan into action against the Haqqanis and other militants.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States was close to deciding on whether to label the Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist group. [ID:nS1E78R1R0] (Reporting by in Islamabad; Editing by Warren Strobel, Cynthia Osterman and Bill Trott)


===========






Support wavers for U.S. economic aid to Pakistan

28 Sep 2011 20:24
Source: Reuters // Reuters

* Lawmakers want security conditions on economic aid

* Lugar says little of the economic aid has been spent

* Some fear cuts could harden anti-Americanism in Pakistan

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Senator Richard Lugar says the U.S. effort to aid Pakistan named after him and two other lawmakers has not had enough time to achieve one of its main goals: dispel Pakistani mistrust of the United States.

Few others in Congress seem keen to give it more time or money.

Following U.S. accusations that some in the Pakistani government have aided anti-U.S. militants, Congress is reevaluating its 2009 promise to triple nonmilitary aid to Pakistan to a total of $7.5 billion over five years.

The non-military aid came on top of billions in security assistance Washington has provided since 2001, and is now rethinking as well.

The economic aid was intended to convince Pakistan the United States could look beyond counterterrorism cooperation and show concern for Pakistan's long-term development, in areas including infrastructure and agricultural.

That approach was heartily endorsed by the Obama administration, and the 2009 law authorizing the aid was named after its sponsors: Lugar, a Republican, and two Democrats, Senator John Kerry and Representative Howard Berman.

But Pakistan's suspicions of the United States do not appear to have eased, and U.S. mistrust of Islamabad definitely has grown. Washington last week said Pakistan's powerful ISI spy agency backed the Afghan Taliban-allied Haqqani network, and provided support for the group's Sept. 13 attack on the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul.

Now, U.S. congressional appropriators in both the Republican-run House and Democratic-run Senate want to toughen and broaden restrictions on military aid to Pakistan and extend them to economic aid as well.

"Our message to Pakistan is: We can't help you unless you help us," said Senator Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Senate foreign aid appropriations subcommittee.

In an interview with Reuters, Graham said he had been a supporter of Kerry-Lugar-Berman, but "there's been a turn there. ... We're not writing checks without being able to identify progress."

Starting next year, lawmakers are proposing to make economic as well as military aid conditional on Pakistan's cooperation in fighting militants such as the Haqqani network.

Such conditions are almost certain to inflame sensitivities further in Pakistan.

The appropriators haven't even bothered to specify an amount of new economic aid for Pakistan for fiscal 2012, leaving it to the Obama administration to come back to Congress and request funding if the conditions are met.

The proposals must be approved by the full House and Senate and are subject to running budget battles in Congress.

A LOST APPETITE

Other key senators also sound unenthusiastic about voting more aid to Pakistan, even if it means backing down on the Kerry-Lugar-Berman promise.

"I am very reluctant to vote for the additional economic aid while they are giving support to the Haqqani group. ... So I'd be very reluctant to vote for anything like Kerry-Lugar," Democratic Senator Carl Levin, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told Reuters outside the Senate this week.

"I think that Congress has lost its appetite for dealing with a country that is clearly in some ways a friend of the United States, and in other ways hedging its bets and siding with those who are placing our forces at risk," said Karl Inderfurth, assistant U.S. secretary of state for South Asian affairs in the Clinton administration.

The nation's top military officer said last week that U.S. aid to Pakistan needs to be conditioned. But Admiral Mike Mullen also warned lawmakers to be careful: "I think it's a very dangerous long-term outcome should we cut it (aid) off."

Lugar told Reuters that one reason the Kerry-Lugar-Berman program has not yet had a chance to work is that very little money had actually been spent. That is due in part to disagreements between the U.S. and the Pakistani government about how programs will be administered, he said.

The U.S. Agency for International Development says that in the last two years, nearly $2 billion in U.S. economic aid had been disbursed to Pakistan, but that just $534 million could be considered Kerry-Lugar-Berman funding. Some of the rest was disaster aid, or linked to other U.S. programs.

Lugar still thinks American development aid could help change perceptions about the United States in Pakistan, where poverty is widespread. "It could and would have, but it won't unless the money is spent," he said in a brief interview outside the Senate.

"I think it's a good approach, but the question is what our overall relationship will be" with Pakistan, he added.

Berman, in a statement e-mailed to Reuters, said Americans were "right to be frustrated with Pakistan" but warned against any blanket cutting off of aid.

This "may make us feel good in the short term, but will only harm our long-term interests in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the rest of South Asia," Berman said.

Development experts worry that the proposed restrictions on economic aid will thwart the main purpose of the law. It "was supposed to be an investment in the well-being of the Pakistani people," said Daniel Cutherell, a policy analyst at the Center for Global Development.

"Tying civilian economic aid to security indicators ... demonstrates that all U.S. aid is simply payment for cooperation on security issues," Cutherell said.


====

Two bombs hit Pakistan navy buses in Karachi, one dead

===

Another navy bus bombed, five killed

* 13 others injured as a bomb planted in a manhole explodes near Shahrah-e-Faisal in Karachi

* Taliban claim responsibility

* Schools run by navy in Karachi closed

KARACHI: Another powerful bomb ripped through a Pakistan Navy bus near Karsaz area in Karachi on Thursday morning, killing five people, including four naval personnel, and wounding 13 others, among them seven civilians.

It was the third attack on navy transport after two buses were bombed on Tuesday this week in the business hub city. The twin blasts had killed four navy officials and injured at least 56.

Now yet another improvised explosive device that was planted in a manhole right next to the main artery of Shahrah-e-Faisal went off at around 8:15am when a navy bus coming from PNS Mehran, a naval air station, reached the spot.

Four navy sailors, Muhammad Yameen, 25, Sabir Muhammad, 24, 35-year-old Mirza Ramzan Baig and Imtiaz, 34, and a passing motorcyclist Naveed, 27, who was on his way to his workplace, were killed in the bombing. Six injured navy personnel, Lt Wakeel Ahmed, Lt Dr Sadia, technicians Ziaullah and Tauseef Iqbal and driver Khadim Hussain, were ferried to the PNS Shifa, a naval medical treatment facility, while five wounded civilians, namely, Abdul Rehman, Shakir, Shoaib Rizvi, Hanif and Riaz, were rushed to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JMPC). Two other injured civilians, Zohaib and Asad, were admitted to a private hospital for treatment.

The Taliban claimed the responsibility for the attack, as they did for Tuesday’s twin assaults. Calling a foreign news agency from an undisclosed location, Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed the responsibility for all the attacks on navy buses in Karachi. Heavy contingents of police and rangers and officials of the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area after the blast.

According to the BDS, the timed device that wrecked nearby buildings and a vehicle contained 4 kilogrammes of explosive material. Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said the blast appeared to be the work of the same group that was behind Tuesday’s bombings.

DIG Investigation Iftikhar Tarrar said the bomb was concealed inside a waterline on the busy Karsaz Road. It was detonated at around 8:15am when the navy bus passed by, he added.

The police official, however, refused to name the outfit which carried out the attack, and just suspected that the bombing might have been conducted by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi or Jundullah. He said that “the investigation teams have got surveillance camera footages and further investigation is in progress”. A case under section 3/4 of the Explosive Act, 7 ATA and Sections 302, 427 and 314 of the Pakistan Penal Code has been registered against unidentified terrorists in the Bahadurabad Police Station.

Sources said that “law enforcement agencies have heightened security in the city but threats of more attacks are still feared”.

Chief of the naval staff condemned this act of terrorism and reaffirmed the resolve to continue fight against terrorists, said a navy statement. The navy chief said that through their acts, terrorists would never deter the determination of the Pakistan Navy.

The statement said that the bus was attacked almost in a similar style as the two navy buses were hit in Defence and Mohajir Camp area two days ago. A senior security official said that educational institutions run by the Pakistan Navy in Karachi had been closed for three days after Tuesday’s attacks.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the bombing that caused loss of lives and wounded many.

The president expressed deep sorrow and grief over the deaths of a civilian and four navy personnel. He also prayed for the early recovery of those injured.

The prime minister directed investigation agencies to probe the incident and submit a report so that effective measures could be taken to counter terrorists. atif raza/agencies

===
Bombing of three PN buses

Rangers launch operation, detain 100 suspects

By Atif Raza

KARACHI: Following bombing of three Pakistan Navy (PN) buses within two days in the metropolis, Sindh Rangers on Friday morning launched a search operation in different vicinities of Baldia Town, detaining around 100 suspects and recovering weapons.

According to sources, the search operation was initiated on a tip-off that some militants of a banned outfit, involved in recent bombings of PN buses, were hiding in these areas.

Reacting on the information, heavy contingents of Rangers, female personnel, commandos and police cordoned off different vicinities of Baldia Town, including Ittehad Town, Muhammad Khan Colony, Afridi Chowk, Mastana Chowk, etc at around 3:00am and started door-to-door search from 5:30am to 10:00am on Friday.

The Rangers detained around 100 suspects and shifted them to unknown place for interrogation. The sources said Rangers claimed to have detained only 11 criminals in this operation and recovered huge cache of weapons from their possession.

The recent bombings on PN buses have claimed around nine lives of people, including eight navy personnel. “The Rangers have launched the search operation in these areas to root out criminal elements and maintain peace in the city,” they said.

Moreover, the sources said the search operation was aimed at nabbing militants, who were hiding in these areas with intention to flare up such terrorist activities in the metropolis in coming days.

They further said that dozens of vans and vehicles carrying over 250 Rangers personnel and many policemen took part in the operation. Meanwhile, police sources said Pakistan Rangers launched the operation while the Sindh police only assisted them.

Eyewitnesses said the Rangers after initial investigation transported the detained people to unknown destination. They further said the residents of these areas also staged a protest against the operation, alleging that the Rangers had arrested innocent people without any justification. They informed that all commercial and social activities in these areas were suspended during the operation.

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KARACHI: A Pakistan Navy (PN) officer succumbed to his injuries on Friday. According to a report, officer Ashraf, son of Jalaluddin, who injured in a terrorist attack on a Navy bus at Karsaz Road on Thursday, breathed his last at PNS Shifa Hospital. Police said the victim was the resident of Naval Colony, Dalmia and hailed from Punjab. The death toll from Thursday’s bomb attack on PN buses rose to six. staff report
====

Two bombs hit Pakistan navy buses in Karachi, 4 dead
26 Apr 2011 06:33

Source: reuters // Reuters


(Updates toll, adds Baluchistan attack, detail)

By Faisal Aziz

KARACHI, April 26 (Reuters) - Two bombs exploded near buses carrying navy officials in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi on Tuesday, killing four people and wounding 56, officials said, the first major attack on the military in seven years in the city.

Police said the bombs targeting the buses in two different parts of the city exploded simultaneously using remote controlled devices.

A junior naval officer and a civilian female doctor were among those killed in the twin blasts, Pakistan Navy spokesman Commander Salman Ali said.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attacks yet, but analysts said that the attacks may be part of a wider militant campaign to hit security forces across the country.

"It appears to be part of the same militant campaign but I don't see any logic in targeting the navy because unlike army and air force they are not involved in any operations against the militants," said Tasneem Noorani, a security analyst and former interior secretary.

"They may have targeted navy out of desperation because the other forces (air force and army) may have become very careful and are difficult to attack."

Note: He must not be aware of the fact, what Muslims will think if PAK NAVY sent its warships to participate jointly with US and other GCC Invading Forces in Bahrain.

The attack on the military in Karachi was the first since 2004 when gunmen ambushed a convoy escorting the Karachi army corps commander. The general narrowly escaped that attack.

Karachi is Pakistan's biggest city and commercial hub. It hosts the country's central bank, the main stock exchange as well as the two main ports. Most foreign companies working in Pakistan have offices in Karachi, which is also the main base for the navy.

"Explosive devices were planted on the road and they exploded as the buses were passing. Both buses were carrying navy officials," senior police officer Iqbal Mahmood said.

In 2002, 11 French engineers and technicians working on the construction of submarines for the Pakistani navy were killed, along with three Pakistanis in a suicide car bombing outside a hotel in Karachi.

Separately, gunmen attacked and set fire to a bus in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province late on Monday, burning 15 people to death, including four children and two women, a senior government official said.

The attack took place in Sibi town, about 160 km east of the provincial capital of Quetta when the bus was parked at a roadside restaurant.
Ethnic Baluch militants have waged a low-level insurgency for decades for more autonomy and greater control of natural resources of their region. They frequently attack government installations and security forces in their violent campaign. (Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider and Imtiaz Shah in Karachi and Gul Yousafzai in Quetta; Editing by Zeeshan Haider and Sanjeev Miglani)

===
==

Four killed, 56 injured in Karachi blasts
Four killed, 56 injured in Karachi blasts Four people were killed and 56 were injured when two Pakistan Navy buses were attacked in Karachi.




Four officials of the Pakistan Navy were killed and 56 others were injured in two bomb explosions in Karachi early on Tuesday morning.



Two officials were killed when a bus of the Pakistan Navy was attacked in Baldia Town, Karachi. Many others were injured in the incident.



In another incident, two officials were killed and 15 others were injured when another Pakistan Navy bus was attacked in Defence II area of Karachi. Police and rangers reached the locations and started investigations.



Meanwhile, MQM chief Altaf Hussain has condemned the blasts, and termed the incidents the worst kind of terrorism. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Chief Nawaz Shairf and Interior Minister Rehman Malik have also condemned blasts.



==

KARACHI: Four Pakistan Navy personnel have been killed while more than 50 have been injured in two bomb attacks on naval buses in Karachi on Tuesday morning.

In the first incident, two personnel were killed when a motorcyclist rigged with explosives exploded next to a bus in Defence Phase II.

A sub-lieutenant and female doctor were killed in the attack. More than 50 others have been injured.

One official was killed in the second attack in Baldia Town. It is not known how the second attack took place.

Pakistan Navy spokesman Commander Salman Ali confirmed one incident and said he was gathering details for the second blast that took place in another part of the sprawling city. “Explosive devices were planted on the road and they exploded as the buses were passing. Both buses were carrying navy officers,” senior police officer Iqbal Mehmood told Reuters.

The injured in both attacks have been taken to Pakistan Naval Station (PNS) Shifa Hospital.

Security around naval installations has been increased. The governor and chief minister of Sindh have denounced the attacks.

End of live updates




Explosions in Karachi: Live updates

By Atika Rehman
Published: April 26, 2011
Target of the explosion was a navy bus carrying officials in Defence Phase II. PHOTO: SHAHERYAR MIRZA/EXPRESS

KARACHI: Two explosions occurred in separate areas of Karachi, early on Tuesday morning.

The first explosion took place in the Defence Phase II area while the second in Baldia Town. Initial reports suggest that in both incidents, the targets were Pakistan Navy buses.

10:00 am

Express 24/7 correspondent Mirza says another person has succumbed to injuries, increasing the number of casualties to 4.

The Pakistan Navy buses that were targeted are easily identifiable and were en route to navy offices.

9:45 am

Express 24/7 correspondent Shaheryar Mirza reports that a

third bomb has been found and defused in the Baldia Town area. An official said that the device was planted in the rocks on the side the of the road and comprised of 7-10 kg of explosives.

9:30 am

Pakistan Navy spokesman Commander Salman Ali confirmed one incident and said he was gathering details for the second blast that took place in another part of the sprawling city.

“Explosive devices were planted on the road and they exploded as the buses were passing. Both buses were carrying navy officers,” senior police officer Iqbal Mehmood told Reuters.

Twitter update:

mirza9 SP Raja Umer Khattab says blasts linked, motorcycle bomb in defence blasy and possibly 2-4 kgs of explosives used. #karachi #pakistan

jehan_ara Why is the media surprised that authorities r asking them & the public to stay at a distance fm the blast to make way for emergency services

9:15 am

Police official suspects that between 2-3 kg of explosives were used in each blast.

9:10 am

Express 24/7 correspondent Shaheryar Mirza reports that a sub lieutenant and female doctor are among the two navy personnel killed in the defence Phase II blast.

Another navy official has reportedly been killed in the Baldia Town blast, but the nature of the blast is unclear. SSP Khitab says that the two explosions may be linked.

On a sidenote, one Tweet suggests a link between the blast and yesterday’s CID arrest of suspects involved in the Ghas Mandi blast:

jhaque_ Just yesterday Sindh police announced arrest of al Mukhtar terrorist members involved in Ghas mandi attack http://bit.ly/hhNfkD

9:00 am

SSP Raja Umar Khitab told the media that the bombs were remote controlled and not suicide explosions as suspected earlier. He declined to comment on the death toll.

8:55 am

Governor Sindh Dr Ishrat ulEbad Khan has ordered an investigation into the blasts.

Twitter buzz:

mirza9 One female doctor and one lieutenant killed in defence bomb blast on navy bus #karachi #pakistan police say bomb detonated from parked bike

jhaque_I wonder which terrorist arrest this was in retaliation to. they must be pretty desperate to have bombers attack Navy buses…weak target

DrAwab Blasts in a Navy bus in phase 2 DHA and baldia town Karachi… One dead several injured… sad start to a day

8:50 am

Express 24/7 reports that three people have been killed and upto 30 may be injured as a result of the two explosions.

8:45 am

Express News reports the Defence Phase II explosion was not a suicide bomb, but that a motorcycle stationed at a spot was blown up by a remote controlled device.

8:35 am

Rangers and police have cordoned off the area. The injured have been rushed to nearby hospitals.

8:30 am

Reuters reports that 15 people have been injured in the two blasts. 

“We are not sure whether it was suicide. We are busy in rescue work and 15 wounded have been shifted to the hospital,” a senior officer said by telephone. A second blast occurred in another district of the city, police said, but offered no further details.

8:20 am

Initial reports suggest that target of Baldia Town blast was also a navy bus. Rescue teams have been dispatched to the sites of the blasts.

8:05 am

A second explosion has reportedly occurred in Baldia Town, Karachi. Initial reports suggest that one person has been killed while three have been injured.

Twitter update:

mirza9 Blast possibly on bus taking navy workers in defence phase 2, still confirming details #karachi

BinaShah A motorcycle struck a naval bus and blew up. Five people wounded so far. Aaj tv reporting. Defense phase 2 near pns shifa

jhaque_ Well…thats an interesting way to be woken up #Phase2blast

jehan_ara Why is the Navy suddenly the target? Not that anyone should be.

7:50 am

Initial reports suggest that a suicide bomber on a motorcycle rammed his vehicle into a navy bus in Phase II Defence. At the time of the explosion, navy officials were on board the bus.

Reports suggest 10 people have been injured. The injured have been shifted to the nearby Pakistan Naval Station (PNS) Shifa Hospital, Karachi.





===

26 Apr 2011 04:23

Source: reuters // Reuters


(Adds quote cause of blasts)

By Faisal Aziz

Karachi, April 26 (Reuters) - Two bombs exploded near buses carrying navy officials in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi on Tuesday, killing one man and wounding over 30, officials said.

Pakistan Navy spokesman Commander Salman Ali confirmed one incident and said he was gathering details for the second blast that took place in another part of the sprawling city.

"Explosive devices were planted on the road and they exploded as the buses were passing. Both buses were carrying navy officers," senior police officer Iqbal Mehmood told Reuters.

Karachi, the country's commercial hub, is also home to the Pakistan navy.

Militants linked to al Qaeda and Taliban have repeatedly carried out attacks in the city in the past.

In 2002, 11 French engineers and technicians working on the construction of submarines for the Pakistani navy were killed, along with three Pakistanis in a suicide car bombing outside a hotel in Karachi.

The city also has a long history of bloody feuds between rival ethnic, political and sectarian groups, in which hundreds of people have been killed.

Last week, 22 people were killed in a bomb blast at a club for card players. (Additional reporting by Imtiaz Shah; Writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)





Two blasts hit Pakistan city of Karachi, 15 wounded
26 Apr 2011 03:31

Source: reuters // Reuters


(Adds navy spokesman's comment, detail)

Karachi, April 26 (Reuters) - A bomb hit a bus carrying navy officials in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi on Tuesday, wounding 15 people, officials said.

Pakistan Navy spokesman Captain Salman Ali confirmed the incident but said he had no other details.

"We are not sure whether it was a suicide attack. We are busy in rescue work, and 15 wounded have been shifted to the hospital," a senior police officer said by telephone.

A second blast also struck a bus carrying security forces in another part of the city, officials said, but offered no further details.

Karachi, the country's commercial hub, has a long history of bloody feuds between rival ethnic, political and sectarian groups, in which hundreds of people have been killed.

Militants linked to al Qaeda and Taliban have also carried out attacks in the city in the past. (Reporting by Faisal Aziz, Writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)