[Dawn] JUST how grim is the state of the US-Pakistain relationship was made clear by comments from America`s highest-ranking military officer in Washington on Friday. In the words of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen Martin Dempsey, the relationship is "a mess". His words were blunt, but should come as no surprise. The Pakistain military is clearly convinced that its soldiers were intentionally attacked, a stance Gen Dempsey called "incomprehensible". The head of Pakistain`s military operations, in briefings to politicians on Thursday, apparently made no bones about this belief that the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... strike was deliberate and perhaps even pre-planned. Theoretically such an idea would imply the end of any alliance there may have been. Although a move that extreme is unlikely to take place, Gen Dempsey`s Leavenworth classmate Gen Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... has deployed air defence weapons along the Pak-Afghan border, authorised troops to defend themselves without waiting for official go-ahead and recalled border coordination personnel, apparently for consultations. So calling it a "mess" would not be an inaccurate way to describe this increasingly dysfunctional military relationship.
But while the militaries continue to talk at each other, the governments finally seem to be talking to each other. After its initial uproar, the Pak administration appears to have decided it is time to dial the tension down a notch. Reports emerging from Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar`s meeting with the American ambassador indicate that the Pakistain government has signalled a desire to move on from the incident, even if that involves reshaping the terms of cooperation. And while there was some tough talk from the prime minister during his meeting with Gen Kayani on Friday, in recent days he too has toned down his rhetoric and acknowledged the reality that the relationship is an important one.
Probably deliberately rather than through lack of coordination, the army continues to take a different approach. Initially the two militaries did need to adopt aggressive postures to maintain troop morale and protect their national security credentials. But the price of continued lack of cooperation or a breakdown of border coordination is too high. The American investigation should be sped up -- as Ambassador Munter has indicated -- and Pakistain needs to cooperate with it. There are risks to doing so, of course; it will be difficult for the administration to defend an outcome that might be unpopular with the public. But by leaving itself out of both the Bonn conference and the investigation, Pakistain is missing out on opportunities to clarify the terms of future cooperation and to shape outcomes along the border and next door in Afghanistan. Even if the line taken is a tough one, it is time to start talking.
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12/12/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
And now cometh IRAN ...
* WORLD NEWS > IRAN COMPLAINS TO AFGHANISTAN ABOUT US DRONE, i.e. allowing the US to use Afghan = aka Muslim territory for covert drone missions oer Muslim Iran.
[Dawn] THE death of three Rangers in the terrorist attack in Bloody Karachi on Friday indicates the presence of Al Qaeda or its deadly affiliates in the nation`s biggest city as well as the bad boys` success in developing new and sophisticated killing techniques. While the police are not yet sure whether the Safoora Chowrangi forces of Evil belonged to Jundullah -- not to be confused with the Iranian Baloch group -- they say there is a pattern to how the bad boy organization has of late been striking in Bloody Karachi. There was no jacket wallah in the Friday morning attack; it was a uni-directional improvised bomb which killed the Rangers in what is reportedly the eighth attack of its nature in Bloody Karachi. Previously too, Jundullah used this technique with deadly effect in attacks on navy buses in Bloody Karachi. On Friday, the forces of Evil had chosen their target after carefully observing how, where and when the Rangers parked their van. The killers placed the IED near a garbage dump to camouflage it. Even though the van was parked a little away from the usual place, the IED, laced with nails and bolts, blew up in the direction of the vehicle and killed or injured the Rangers.
That the security agencies have had some progress in going after Al Qaeda is evident from the acknowledgment by the Global Islamic Media Front, a jihadist website, that Moeed Abd al-Salam, the man killed in a raid by Pakistain Rangers on a hideout in Gulistan-i-Jauhar in November, was one of its founders. Friday`s murders could be a retaliatory response. Al Qaeda and its various affiliate groups have often used Bloody Karachi as a base. The authorities` failure to penetrate these sleeper cells has enabled Al Qaeda, whose leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Second in command of al-Qaeda, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... , has declared war on Pakistain, to carry out well-planned and daring raids on military targets with telling effect. The audacious raid on PNS Mehran last May would not have been possible without, one, cooperation from sympathisers within the security establishment and, two, an undercover system of training, funding and planning operations. It is this well-organised clandestine structure that needs to be unearthed and destroyed.
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12/12/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] A Pak Taliban front man and another commander have denied the group is in peace talks with the government.
The faceless myrmidons contacted The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by telephone Sunday, a day after Maulvi Faqir Mohammed, recognised by many as the Pak Taliban's deputy chief, announced the group was negotiating with the government. He was the first named commander to confirm talks.
Spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan denied the claims, saying there would be no negotiations until the government imposed Islamic law, or Shariah, in the country. He has previously denied reports of peace talks by unnamed commanders and intelligence officials.
"Talks by a handful of people with the government cannot be deemed as the Taliban talking," Ehsan told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by telephone from Qazi's guesthouse an undisclosed location.
Maulvi Faqir Mohammed has long been identified as the group's Bajaur head. But he reportedly decamped to Afghanistan in recent years to escape army operations. He has long been identified as head of the Pak Taliban in Bajur and said a deal with the government there could be a "role model" for the rest of the border region.
But another commander, Mullah Dadullah, also now claims to be Taliban chief in Bajur. Dadullah contacted the AP on Sunday and denied the group, also known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban, or TTP, was negotiating with the government.
"As TTP chief responsible for Bajur, I am categorically saying there are no talks going on between the government and the Tehrik-e-Taliban at the Bajur level or the central level," Dadullah said, also speaking from Qazi's guesthouse an undisclosed location.
Ehsan, the front man, said Dadullah rather than Mohammed was the head of the Pak Taliban in Bajur.
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12/12/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
HMMM, HMMMM, Pak Taliban versus Afghan Taliban???
[Dawn] Unidentified persons destroyed two shrines in Landi Kotal tehsil while beturbanned goons killed two rustics in Tirah valley of Khyber Agency in separate incidents on Thursday.
Officials in Landi Kotal said that unidentified persons blew up the shrine of Shiekh Nissa Baba while the shrine of Sheikh Bahadar Bara was set on fire in Kam Shalman area on the night between Wednesday and Thursday.
Both the shrines were completely destroyed, the officials said, adding that nobody was hurt in any of the two incidents people were not present in the shrine during the attacks.
Paperwork was started but nothing else was done against unidentified persons on the complaint of the caretakers of the shrines.
MNA Noorul Haq Qadri condemned the desecration of the shrines in Kam Shalman and demanded of the political administration to arrest the culprits and provide security to rest of the shrines in the area.
Sources in Bara said that activists of a banned myrmidon organization killed two rustics of Zakhakhel tribe in Kharhy Mela area of Tirah valley.
Also, in Bara the perforated carcass of a resident of Shalobar was found at a deserted place. The dear departed was identified as Gul Badshah. A chit left along the body said that supporters of the tribal lashkar would meet the same fate. However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... nobody grabbed credit for the killing.
In Shah Kas locality of Jamrud tehsil, security forces took into custody two suspected beturbanned goons and shifted them to Qazi's guesthouse an undisclosed location. Officials said that the nabbed men belonged to Charsadda district.
Meanwhile, ...back at the sandwich shop, Caroline was experimenting with ingredients of increasing volatility... in Shah Kas unidentified gunnies lobbed grenades at the residence of Sandroop Khan, causing damage to the house. Nobody was hurt in the attack. The reason of the grenade attack was stated to be an old family dispute.
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12/12/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The runaway deputy commander of the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, has confirmed he is in peace talks with the government and that an agreement is in sight.
He said the government had released 145 members of the group as a "gesture of goodwill" and the gun-hung tough guys had pledged a ceasefire.
"Talks with the government are in progress and both sides are likely to sign a peace deal very soon," he told Dawn on phone from an unknown location on Saturday.
Fata additional chief secretary Fazal Karim Khattak, however, denied peace talks or contacts between the government and krazed killers.
"Faqir Mohammad's claim is baseless and a pack of lies," Mr Khattak said.
He said the government would hold talks with only those people who surrendered weapons and gave up militancy.
Maulvi Faqir said if an agreement was signed for ceasefire in Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central, the TTP would be able to sign a comprehensive peace deal with the government in Swat, Mohmand ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... , Orakzai and South Wazoo as well. "Bajaur will be a role model for other areas."
Maulvi Faqir parried a question about the basis for the negotiations.
Maulvi Faqir had signed a peace deal with the government after security forces launched an operation against gun-hung tough guys in Bajaur and dismantled their hideouts. He then reportedly moved to Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... in Afghanistan.
The local administration also denied that Maulvi Faqir had returned to Bajaur's Mamond tehsil in Bajaur and said "the administration doesn't have any information about the TTP commander."
Agencies add: Maulvi Faqir said the Taliban were negotiating with the help of local tribal elders in Bajaur.
"These peace talks are continuing only in Bajaur but certainly we will start such peace talks in other areas after we reach a written agreement," he said.
Previous peace deals between Pakistain and gun-hung tough guys have rapidly unraveled, and were criticised by the United States and at home for allowing gun-hung tough guys space to regroup before launching new waves of attacks.
In late November, two senior Taliban capos confirmed peace talks with the Pak government in South Waziristan tribal district.
"We are satisfied with these talks, and want to initiate such talks in other areas," Maulvi Faqir said.
The commander refused to give details of the negotiations.
"Talks are going in right direction and soon we will be able to sign a written agreement," he said.
At the end of Sept, Pakistain's government pledged to "give peace a chance" and talk with its homegrown krazed killers.
Maulvi Faqir said the government had realised that there was no military solution to the conflict in Pakistain. "We have no wish to fight against our own armed forces and destroy our own country," he said.
"There has been development in our peace talks, but the government would have to show more flexibility in its stance, and restore the trust of Taliban by releasing their prisoners and stop military operations against them."
He said that Pakistain and Afghanistan should unite against what he called foreign occupations by non-Mohammedans.
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(KUNA) -- At least one security personnel was killed and four persons, including three cops and a civilian, were maimed when unidentified forces of Evil attacked the cars-convoy of a minister in India's northern most state Jammu and Kashmire's regional government, Sunday night, reported the IBN Television.
Ali Mohammed Sagar, the Law Minister and a big shot of the ruling party 'National Conference', was attacked when the convoy of his cars was entering his official residence in the state.
This is the first incident in recent years where a political figure has been targeted by forces of Evil in the state.
The Law minister barely managed to crawl to safety when the myrmidon attack took place. The TV report quoted him as saying: "Thanks to Almighty that I am safe. However, the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... it's very sad that one of my policeman died in this unfortunate incident".
Sagar has reportedly been on the radar of forces of Evil for long.
Indian side Jammu and Kashmire Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned the incident and directed the state police to ensure speedy investigation to arrest the culprits.
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12/12/2011 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Zawahiri
Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central
