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| India-Pakistan |
| Extremist Groups Renew Activity in Pakistan |
| 2003-02-08 |
| WaPo carries a long (Yes, even longer than this) analysis of Pak jihadi groups. These are excerpts, but the whole article's worth reading... A year after President Pervez Musharraf announced a ban on Muslim extremist groups, a move hailed in Washington as a turning point for Pakistan, several of the organizations have reconstituted under different names and are once again raising money and proselytizing for jihad against India and the West, according to Pakistani officials and members of the groups. We knew that... Over the past few months, leaders of four groups banned by Musharraf have been released from house arrest or jail. One of them, Hafiz Sayeed of Lashkar-i-Taiba, has been traveling around the country to meet with supporters and whip up enthusiasm for renewed attacks on Indian forces in Kashmir. Another, Azam Tariq of Sipah-i-Sahaba, serves in parliament. He's also forming a new organization, since the old one's banned, to do the same old things... Pakistani authorities have released almost all of the hundreds of militants detained after Musharraf pledged on Jan. 12, 2002, to dismantle extremist groups that he said were "bringing a bad name to our faith." Since Musharraf's address, however, no effort has been made to disarm the groups, and donation boxes have reappeared in stores, mosques and other public places. Pakistani officials deny that Musharraf has reneged on his commitment to curb extremist groups, noting that scores of al Qaeda operatives have been rounded up in Pakistan in recent months, frequently in cooperation with the FBI. Which is not the same thing as curbing the domestic extremism. The domestic loons are protected, except for when they go too far, by their affiliations with the fundo political parties... Perhaps nowhere is Musharraf's unfinished business more visible than on the outskirts of this farming community near Lahore, where a group called Jamaat ul-Dawa — the religious and political affiliate to Lashkar-i-Taiba and now its apparent successor — occupies a sprawling, 190-acre compound protected by barbed wire and bearded men with Kalashnikov assault rifles. The group continues to churn out books and periodicals preaching the virtues of jihad in Kashmir, Chechnya, the Middle East and elsewhere. Violence for the sake of violence. This is not a religious thing in Pakland, it's a cultural thing. That's a fact we tend to forget... Sayeed said he does not recognize Musharraf's pledge last spring to "permanently" end militant crossings of the Line of Control dividing Indian and Pakistani Kashmir. "Who's he think he is? The president? I do what I damned well please." Another hard-line group banned by Musharraf, Jaish-i-Muhammad, is reorganizing under the name of al-Furqan, according to officials with the group. Everybody's got an alias, but the machinery never changes... The reemergence of "jihadi groups," several of which have been linked to the Taliban and al Qaeda, has caused deep concern among Western diplomats. They say it holds the potential for renewed confrontation between Pakistan and India, both of which possess nuclear arms and nearly went to war last spring, and calls into question the depth of Musharraf's commitment to the U.S.-led war on terrorism. I believe Hafiz' intent is to actually push the two into nuclear war, so he can establish a khalifate on the radioactive remains... Last month, American frustration with Musharraf flared into the open when the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Nancy Powell, during a speech to businessmen in Karachi, called on the government to fulfill its pledges to "end the use of Pakistan as a platform for terrorism." The remark caused an uproar in Pakistan, whose government is unaccustomed to such blunt talk from Washington's envoy. Regardless of the truth of the matter. The truth of the matter is that Pakland as a matter of policy is continuing to subvert Kashmir, causing thousands of casualties and millions of dollars worth of economic damage at little cost to itself. Over on the other side of the country, the fundo groups are trying to do precisely the same thing, with only "demi-official" (as Hurree Chunder Mukkerjee would term it) involvement by personages within the government. From all indications, however, the government still maintains a lenient attitude toward groups focused on the Kashmir conflict, such as Lashkar-i-Taiba and Jaish-i-Muhammad. Trained and supplied by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, these organizations have long been regarded as an instrument of state policy. "I don't think they're terrorists," said a senior military intelligence officer who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Anyone who has a beard -- just put an al Qaeda stamp on him. You have got to be slightly more realistic. We are talking about our own people." "How could our own people be terrorists? That would make Pakland a terrorist-supporting state, wouldn't it?" Though guerrilla incursions into India were curtailed early last year, pressure on the groups eased in the spring. That lasted pretty well, didn't it? Two months. In May, militants attacked an Indian army camp in Kashmir, killing 34 people, most of them women and children. The incident brought the two countries to the brink of war, a crisis that was defused only when Musharraf, under intense U.S. pressure, pledged to "permanently" end infiltrations across the Line of Control. American and Indian officials say incursions dropped sharply in June and early July, but U.S. officials now concur with the Indian assessment that "Of co-o-o-o-urse we trust you, Perv!" The government has also allowed considerable latitude for militant leaders who were supposed to have been reined in. Even during their detention, for example, Sayeed and two other militant leaders — Masood Azhar of Jaish-i-Muhammad and Fazlul Rahman Khalil of Harkat ul-Mujaheddin — stayed in ISI safe houses, where they were permitted visitors and the use of cell phones, according to statements filed by their relatives in court proceedings related to their cases. Khalil was also one of the signatories of Binny's declaration of war against us and all we stand for. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 Pakistan is like a car with a bent frame. No matter how much money you put into it to fix it, it is still a car with a bent frame. It is probably time to cut our losses, or maybe wait till after the Iraq deal goes down. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-02-08 12:45:32 |