I'm not sure how reliable this is, but it is still interesting, although I am not sure how successful it will be. If the US really wants Pakistan to return to a democracy, they will have to put pressure on Musharaff to allow Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to return to the country, since they are the only ones who could take votes away from the MMA Rediff calls it a âUS Roadmap for Pakistanâ and a senior State Department official says it may be a (US Embassy) âbudget document delineating time frames and costs of implementing policiesâ but it has now been confirmed that in a serious security breach at the US Embassy in Islamabad, the entire US game plan has leaked, which includes clipping General Pervez Musharrafâs wings by early 2004 and strengthening democracy in Pakistan. âAmerica has set 2004 as the target for ending Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's right to dismiss the Cabinet and the National Assembly... In its 'mission plan' for 2004, the American embassy in Islamabad says a key area of focus is consolidation of the 'emerging democracy' in the nuclear-armed nation, where military coups and fragile democratic institutions are a cause for international concern,â is how the leaked documents have been described.
In a series of 5 short articles published by the credible Indian Internet portal Rediff.com, between May 14 and 20, writer Josy Joseph claimed possession of the leaked US Embassy Documents and extensively quoted them on several hot button issues, including Kashmir, but surprisingly not a single media outlet in India, Pakistan or in the US picked up the story which contains explosive and highly controversial plans proving the extent to which the US side was directing and interfering in Pakistani affairs under General Pervez Musharrafâs regime. Click Here to Read Part-1 of the Series | Part-2 | Part-3 | Part-4 | Part-5
While attempts to get a response from the US Embassy in Islamabad produced no result on Friday, a senior State Department official, when asked to comment on the leaked documents and the so-called âRoadmap for Pakistan,â told me on May 23, 2003, âthe State Department has seen the Rediff.com reports and there was a lot of buzz in the Department but he would neither confirm nor deny its contents.â While the repercussions of the leaked Roadmap could be devastating for General Musharraf, as it may simply pull the rug from under his feet, shaking the all pervasive belief that Washington was solidly behind him, democracy lovers in Pakistan and abroad would feel some satisfaction that finally the US was getting convinced not to invest all its political and economic capital in shaky individuals but to strengthen national institutions which could prove more reliable and durable over a long period of time.
The US Roadmap, as revealed by Rediff, which has not yet produced any evidence of these documents except strong claims that it had them in its possession, contains elaborate details of the US plans for Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the subcontinent. They also spell out a detailed American strategy, with specific annual targets, to resolve the Kashmir standoff in a phased manner. The US strategy proposes three basic steps:
Press Pakistan to prevent the infiltration of terrorists across the Line of Control.
Urge Pakistan to move against terrorists and help it bring them to justice by improving its law-enforcement capabilities.
Facilitate an Indo-Pakistan dialogue on Kashmir.
In 2003, one of the American targets is to replace Kashmiri terrorist leaders and extremists by 'Kashmiri politicians'. This is clear in the way the US has ignored leaders of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference and other fringe elements in recent days, after its appeal to them to take part in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election last year proved futile.
In 2004, India and Pakistan should be nudged to develop 'diplomatic and political alternatives to military pressure' to address 'bilateral disputes', and negotiate new confidence-building measures, or CBMs.
"Confidence building measures" always make me think of Lucy and Charlie Brown with the football...
Finally, in 2005, when these CBMs are implemented, the US hopes to see 'diplomatic and political solutions used successfully to address bilateral issues'. This is when a framework for the 'eventual political resolution of Kashmir' will be laid out. Though he isn't mentioned by name, Rediff said America has set 2004 as the target for ending Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's right to dismiss the Cabinet and the National Assembly.
On Nuclear Non-Proliferation issues, the 'Mission Plan' of the American Embassy a strategy to prevent Pakistan from becoming a 'source for nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons, missiles or related technology'. The first step involves helping 'Pakistan develop and strengthen its national export control systems', while, at the same time, continuing to 'urge Pakistani officials to clamp down on possible rogue actors and entities to ensure they don't pass on sensitive information and equipment'. In 2003, the Americans hope to ensure that there is no 'operational deployment of nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles' and to 'nudge' the Pakistanis to implement the export controls adopted last year. By 2004, they expect full and effective implementation of these controls. Simultaneously, the Americans are encouraging 'Pakistan to exercise restraint in further missile development, and to neither mate nor deploy nuclear weapons or missiles' to minimize the risk of a war with India.
In 2004, the Americans also hope to establish a functional intelligence and investigative database that would be linked to provincial CIDs and the National Crisis Management Cell. This database will be linked to the PISCES border control system. By 2005, the US hopes to see this criminal database online and accessible to all police stations around Pakistan. The frontier constabulary is also being modernized to allow it to credibly police the region. In 2002, the Khyber Pass Area Project was launched and construction of roads into the Tirah Valley was started. By 2004, the Americans hope to build roads 'into last remaining inaccessible areas of FATA' and ensure that the Frontier Constabulary maintains 'presence throughout tribal areas' of Pakistan. In the current year, the Americans hope to prompt Pakistan into taking effective measures to regulate the hawala/hundi system, while expanding financial intelligence units to include law enforcement agencies. By 2005, Pakistan will hopefully be given full responsibility for the anti-money-laundering/ terrorist-financing units.
According to the documents the US embassy in Pakistan has recommended a massive list of military wares, financial aid on several fronts and other assistance as it re-engages Islamabad. The list submitted at the end of 2002 has UH-II utility helicopters, AH-I attack helicopters, VHF/UHF aircraft radio sets, T-37 flight training aircraft, AN/FPS-117 surveillance radars, E-2C warning and control aircraft, Bell 407 reconnaissance helicopters and I-GNAT unmanned aerial vehicles among other things.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
05/25/2003 2:53:43 AM ||
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KIRKUK, Iraq (AP) - Arabs and Turks in Iraq's main northern oil city threatened Sunday to boycott a vote for mayor as an American general approved six final members of a city council charged with healing ethnic feuding that is threatening the region's stability. Bitter squabbling prevented the six from being sworn in a day earlier, and the intervention by Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, did little to soothe the ethnic passions that roiled the first meeting of the 30-person city council.
Arabs and ethnic Turks immediately threatened to boycott a vote for mayor, saying the post was certain to go to a Kurd. The meeting adjourned in the late afternoon after Arab delegates asked for a delay until Monday - a move some saw as a stalling tactic. So this is where the Texas democrats went!
The Arabs ``were not ready to propose candidates (for mayor), and we accepted the request for a delay,'' said Kamal Karkuki, a Kurdish delegate. U.S. officers cautioned, though, that the elections would be too important for the groups to boycott. "Yer gettin' a democracy whethers yas like it or not. Now vote!"
The Kirkuk region, which produces almost half of Iraq's oil, is populated by an explosive mix of Kurds, Arabs, ethnic Turks and Christians. Ethnic tensions turned violent earlier this month when Kurds and Arabs fought, leaving about 11 people dead.
The Kirkuk city council, elected Saturday by a group of 300 delegates approved by the U.S. military, reflects that mix. Each of the four main ethnic groups elected six delegates from among their own. Six independent delegates also were elected, but Arabs and Turks protested after it became clear those seats would be filled by five Kurds and one Christian. They figured out that Gen. Odierno knows who's been our friends this last decade.
The situation became so heated that Odierno, who is overseeing the balloting, intervened and said he would review the voting for the independents. Odierno must approve the independents and had said he would take their ethnic makeup into account. Bad move, General. Let's start explaining to these folks what 'one man, one vote' means.
Delegates met Sunday at a heavily fortified government building to hear Odierno's decision. About a dozen U.S. soldiers in bulletproof vests and carrying assault rifles stood by the door to the auditorium where the meeting was held. ``I have reviewed the procedures of yesterday's advisory vote,'' Odierno said. ``I found no procedural problem with the independent vote.'' Odierno then swore in the six independent delegates, and later escorted the 30 council members into another room to chair their first meeting. ``I believe that, with this council, we will be able to move successfully in Kirkuk,'' Odierno said.
Arabs and ethnic Turkish council members attended the meeting on Sunday but threatened to boycott a vote for mayor expected in the next few days. ``It's now sure that the mayor will be a Kurd,'' said Mustafa Kamal Yaycili, a council member from the ethnic Turk community. ``We did not see the justice that we expected from the general.'' "Our boy didn't win!" Sheesh. He sounds like a Chicago republican.
Arab council member Wasfi al-Asi echoed those sentiments, saying: ``We are not satisfied, and we may boycott.''
But the Arab delegation appeared to be deeply divided, with some saying the Americans were unlikely to change their opinion and that a boycott might be counterproductive. You -- yes, you -- the smart one, back there. C'mon up here, we want to promote you.
Maj. Jeff Cantor said that despite the threats he did not expect the Arabs to stay away: ``I think they realize it's too important for them to boycott.'' Why, the new mayor just might go forward without them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/25/2003 2:25:39 PM ||
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ZAMBOANGA CITY â Philippine security officials on Sunday arrested a man believed to be a ranking Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leader behind a Manila bomb attack that killed 22 people and wounded 100 others in December 2000. The Filipino in custody is believed to be Muklis Yunos, who was arrested along with an Egyptian Islamic missionary, near the southern city of Cagayan de Oro, where President Arroyo was expected to visit on Monday.
Making sure the booms are in place? Maybe Gloria should go somewhere else Monday...
The man was caught while about to board a flight to Manila with his face covered in bandages to disguise himself, the militaryâs southern command spokesman, Lt. Col. Renoir Pascua, said.
He's been reading a few too many adventure novels...
âThat is confirmed, a man believed to be Muklis Yunos was arrested today,â Pascua said, adding that both men were being interrogated at an undisclosed location. Intelligence officials believe Yunos is the head of the MILFâs âspecial operations groupâ thought to be behind a series of bombings in the South and in Manila in recent years. However, conflicting reports reaching Camp Crame identified the arrested suspects as Egyptian Algabre Mahmud and his companion Alex Soriano. Reports said that the two were arrested at around 7 a.m. while they were about to check-in for a Philippine Airlines flight bound for Manila. The report added that that Mahmud was escorting Soriano, who was wounded, when they were arrested by airport security elements. Soriano is reportedly included on the project list of the District Intelligence Unit 10.
So it's not even a squeaky clean alias...
The two were turned over to the custody of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and are now undergoing investigation.
Ow.
At press time, it is unclear whether Yunos and Soriano are the same person.
Betcha they are, though...
An Indonesian terrorist, Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, confessed to Manila police last year that Yunos had helped him carry out the December 2000, bombings in Manila.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/25/2003 2:07:48 PM ||
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Amid purely internal concerns, attention focused on the violence earlier this week in Ain al-Hilweh. Questions were asked about the link between the Palestinian factions in the camp and members of Islamic cells who were arrested several weeks ago in connection with reported plots to assassinate US Ambassador Vincent Battle and bomb the US Embassy in Awkar. Security sources see a strong link between these terrorist cells, particularly in Tripoli and Akkar, and the Palestinian refugee camp in Ein el-Hilweh, explaining the camp is a source of financing and planning for these cells. Occasionally, they said, it also provides men for military operations outside the camp.
The sources said Al-Qaedaâs presence in Ein el-Hilweh was âweak.â However, all of the Islamic factions in the camp could rapidly turn into Al-Qaeda supporters under the right circumstances, they added. This is one of the main reasons why the Ein el-Hilweh camp is a source of concern for the Lebanese authorities, unlike the cells outside the camp, which are more or less under control. But the sources said the authorities cannot completely prevent operations by cells outside Ein el-Hilweh, like the bombing of McDonaldâs two months ago, but they can reduce their scope. The sources also asserted there was a good deal of cooperation between European and US embassies on the one side, and Syria and Lebanon on the other, in the exchange of information on terrorist activities in Beirut and Damascus. However, the understanding over terrorism did not apply to Hizbullah. The US considers the Lebanese resistance a terrorist organization, while European diplomats object to Hizbullahâs security wing rather than the resistance as a whole. Europeans recognize Hizbullah as a political entity; the US ignores the fact that the resistance is a political party active in Parliament and Lebanese politics generally. Cooperation between Lebanon and Syria to contain terrorist activities is extremely close, sources said. The sources revealed Damascus has recently turned over to the Lebanese authorities two Lebanese, members of terrorist cells accused of plotting to assassinate Battle and bomb the US Embassy.
The recent festivities in Ein el-Hellhole represent a black eye for Lebanon, regardless of how they try to spin it. A supposedly sovreign country permits a sore of pure anarchy to fester, apparently unable to stop it. Al-Qaeda's presence is "weak," but it's there. The Takfir wal-Hijra thugs from Dinnieh have moved in they're trying their best to take over. Syria might see them as tools, but they're not seeing themselves that way. So these turbans continue shooting up everybody in sight, sending out cells of bad guys to blow things up or shoot people, and they can do nothing at all about it, other than provide some intel.
Michael Young has more on this subject, more cogently argued than I can put it. The Blogger link is, as usual, busted, so you have to scroll down...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/25/2003 9:27:34 PM ||
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TRIPOLI - Libya has dropped its plan to withdraw from the Arab League, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said here Sunday, May 25, at the end of a meeting with Libyan leader Muammar Kadhafi. "Libya has renounced its withdrawal from the League and this decision was obtained by my personally insisting on this with Mr. Kadhafi, who agrees," Mubarak told reporters.
Muammar just can't seem to make up his mind, if any...
Libya had reiterated as late as early April its decision to withdraw from the 22-member Arab League in protest over the group's inability to take "a firm and strong position" toward the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Kadhafi has also several times in the past threatened to quit the Cairo-based League over its impotence, notably over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In March 2003, he also added that Libya "is above all an African country ... the African Union (AU) is sufficient enough."
"Yeah. We're Africans, dammit!"
The country's withdrawal was frozen after heavy lobbying by Mubarak and Arab League chief Amr Moussa. Under League rules, a member wishing to quit must also lodge an official demand, which Tripoli had not done. The withdrawal would have then become effective one year later.
Muammar didn't bother to fill out the paperwork. It figures.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/25/2003 2:19:26 PM ||
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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.
