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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| MMA legislator threatens to take control of Pakistan |
| 2005-08-06 |
| A former Sipah-i-Sahaba leader and a member of the NWFP Assembly has claimed that âit will be difficult for the government to really ban us,â adding, âif we wanted to, we could bring life in Pakistan to a standstill and take controlâ. The challenge comes from Ibrahim Qazmi, a 28-year-old cleric whose interview appears in Fridayâs Washington Post. Datelined, Landi Arbab in the Frontier, the report bears the by-line of Post reporter NC Aizenman. Qazmi calls President Pervez Musharraf a âtool in the hands of Western forcesâ who continues to remain incapable of stopping the radical Islamic movement in Pakistan. Qazmi and many of his co-militants were arrested after 9/11 but released after a few days. Qazmi was out in just 10 days. He told the American journalist âwith a chuckleâ, âSo you see, despite the ban, we have only gotten strongerâ. The report observes that Qazmiâs story âunderscores Musharrafâs contradictory record as one of the most important allies in President George Bushâs war on terrorismâ. It also claims that although the Pakistan Army killed more than 300 militants in a campaign against Al Qaeda bases near the Afghan border last year, it has since proved âunable or unwillingâ to stop fighters from the ousted Taliban militia from slipping back into Afghanistan to launch bombings and attacks. Human rights activist Afrasiab Khattak told the newspaper, âThe crackdown after September 11, 2001, was just window dressing for Western consumption. None of the top Pakistani leaders were arrestedâ. The report quotes âanalystsâ to assert that President Musharrafâs resolve would likely continue to be counterbalanced by the same domestic political problems that have bedevilled him in the past, one being the militaryâs reluctance to âdefangâ militant organisations that were sponsored in the 1980s to fight in Kashmir. An unnamed Pakistani intelligence official told the Post correspondent that many military and political leaders believe the Kashmiri militant groups were still a vital lever against India. âThe idea of the authorities nabbing the people who challenged the Indian army in Kashmir sounds scary to all decision-makers,â he added. The report quotes PPP Senator Raza Rabbani as saying, âEven if I were to give him the benefit of the doubt, I donât think he (Musharraf) has the structures in place to implement such policiesâ. Samina Ahmed of the International Crisis Group told the Post, âThe people who created the Taliban are now effectively running half of Pakistanâ. Qazi Hussain Ahmed told the newspaper that his party had criticised some extreme Taliban practices, stressing that Islam prohibited terrorist attacks on innocent civilians. As for Kashmiri fighters, he said they were justified in their âholy warâ against India, and the same was true of the Taliban fighting the US-backed government in Afghanistan. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 only the WAPO would give credibility and print to the rantings of a know-it-all 28 year old. I agree the little fly will most likely be swatted before he hits 29. Darwin in action. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-08-06 10:52 |
| #2 i have a feeling mr qazmi will not live too see 29 |
| Posted by: Thraing Hupoluper1864 2005-08-06 09:40 |
| #1 Please, Mr. Qamzi, do continue talking. I'm sure Musharraf doesn't feel even the least bit threatened, and even if he did, he and his |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-08-06 00:32 |