My guess is no. The important people like to keep their options open by having all sorts of political groups hang around in case they prove useful in the future.
 Following widespread allegations that some elements within the Jamaat-e Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam may have links with Al Qaeda, Pakistani intelligence agencies have been spurred into action. If these allegations are proved, they could lead to a worldwide ban on the two parties.
| That would be a reasonable course, but I can't see it happening, either. They have too much power in Pakland to allow themselves to be suppressed â at least for now. I think Perv has succeeded in weakening them, with their own assistance. |
The development could also mean the end of the MMA government in the NWFP and the falling out of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q with the MMA in Balochistan where the two share a coalition government. For their part the JI and JUIF leaders have lashed out at the government.
| But since they've made a career of that, how much notice is actually being taken? |
The two parties say the government has mischievously spread the word that religious parties may be banned the world over if their links with Al Qaeda and terror activities are proven. However, leaders of the two parties say the claims of terror links are nothing but ârumoursâ and are a part of the governmentâs drive against the religious parties.
| JI's involvement with Hizbul is mere rumor. The fact that many Qaeda thugs have been extricated from safe houses belonging to JI members is mere rumor. Sami's involvement with the Talibs is mere rumor. |
Sources also say these allegations against religious parties could be a result of the Mutahidda Qaumi Movementâs constant demand that the JI be banned and leaders of Islami Jamiat-e-Tulaba be arrested. âJI should have been banned long ago because it is responsible for introducing the culture of terrorism in Pakistan,â MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar told TFT. âWe [MQM] have been demanding a ban on JI and other extremist parties for a long time now and will welcome such moves.â
| In a world built on logic and reason that'd be a mere statement of the obvious. |
Sources say the recent deportation of JUI leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman from Dubai had much to do with reports of his partyâs alleged links with terrorist organisations and investigations into JUI-backed madrassahs. Rehman, however, blames the Pakistan government for the deportation and says he is only keeping silent about the issue because he does not want to harm the national interest, though he did come up with allegations about how Islamabad was backing the Taliban and launching them into Afghanistan.
| It's amazing what slips out when the Lord High Fundos are in a fit of high dudgeon... |
âIf a ban is placed on the JI and JUI, their leaders will be completely prohibited from travelling abroad,â said a government source. âThe government has also ordered a separate inquiry into JUIâs links with Tripoli. Fazlur Rehman and his party have age-old links with Libya whose nature Rehman now has to explain.
| I'd guess his response will consist of bluster and walkouts. That does explain why he hasn't stayed bought, though... |
Leaders from Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizb-ut Tahrir, Jaish-e Mohammad and Tableeghi Jamaat could also be banned from travelling abroad,â he added.
| That would certainly be a relief for the rest of the world. But I can't see it happening. Pakland has nothing else to export. |
Reports available with TFT say that in the late 1980s, government security agencies conducted investigations into the alleged funding of the JUP and JUI from elements in Iraq and Libya respectively. The investigation was started after JUI and JUP leaders made a number of âsuspiciousâ trips to these countries but nothing became of the probe which was conducted at a time when the regime was pro-religious and openly backed the mujahideen.
| But I notice they didn't throw the records away. |
Now, following the recent bombings in London, Pakistani, British and American intelligence agencies have started investigating all organisations that have been sending religious students to Islamic seminaries abroad. In the last three years, thousands of madrassah students, including Pakistanis, have travelled to madrassahs around the globe.
| There is actually more of this sort of movement, I'd guess, than the combined intel agencies can keep up with. Probably the majority of the movement consists of drones, with no significance. Maybe 20 to 30 percent will be various levels of bad guys, moving for nefarious purposes. |
As for the recent LB polls, sources say President Pervez Musharraf is likely to reach an understanding with the Awami National Party (ANP) in NWFP and with the nationalist parties in Balochistan to replace the MMA in the two provinces. However, Musharrafâs failure to reach a compromise with mainstream liberal and secular parties like the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz may push these two parties closer to the JI and JUI. In fact, the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) comprising the PPPP and PML-N as well as several other smaller parties recently reached an agreement with the MMA to launch a combined movement against Musharrafâs government.
The Awami National Party is a Pashtun leftist party, one opposed to Talibanisation and the Jihadis and close to America. It seems likely to be in the new Peshwar government. The Baluchi nationalists are also leftists opposed to Talibanisation, but they are also hostile to the Pak military so palms will probably be greased to make that work. |