Hotspot: Pakistan

The beat goes on in Swat and Shangla...government hopes to have 'area back open for tourists by December'

Artillery and helicopter gunships pounded positions of militants in Swat and Shangla districts on Sunday amid reports of civilian casualties in Shakardara and Thotano Banda areas.With no major ground offensive taken during the day, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) claimed a number of militants had been killed in different places.It said that 120 militants had been killed in fierce clashes over the past four to five days. The militants denied the claim and said that only nine of their men had been killed.Meanwhile, the militants are reported to have kidnapped five people, including arms dealer Fazal Hakim, Matta traders’ leader Shah Rawan and car dealer Abdul Qayyum. It is believed that they were critical of the militants and had nationalist inclinations.


“Militants’ strongholds in Jatkot near Kuza Banda and Bariam Bridge near Matta were pounded by helicopter gunships. A number of miscreants were killed,” said a government spokesman.In the adjoining Shangla district, militants continued to control the district headquarters of Alpuri. Although they left Puran, the hometown of former federal minister Amir Muqam, they held positions on heights outside the town.Some people from Alpuri said the militants were entrenched on hilltops overlooking a key road linking the town with Bisham from where troops have been advancing.The ISPR claimed that security forces had consolidated their positions at Rheem Sar Banda, about 6km from Shangla, which they had secured after an operation.


A jirga of elders and political leaders requested both the sides to cease fire.


In other tribal jirga news, Tribes rise up against the militants.

The Bakakhel Wazir and Gurbaz tribes of the Bannu Frontier Region on Sunday decided to take action against militants attacking security forces in the area.A jirga of the two tribes was held in Bakakhel Mandi which decided that houses of people found involved in attacks on security forces would be demolished and they would be fined Rs500,000.The jirga said that the violators would also be expelled from the area.


And in the leak of a classified report, the NY Times reports US hopes to use Pakistani tribes against Al Qaeda. (I wonder if the NYT is even aware that this strategy is working in Iraq?)

Meanwhile Pakistan responds to the NYT's other leak.

Pakistan Monday said as a responsible nuclear weapons state Pakistan has always attached great significance to the security of its strategic assets.Commenting on a news published in ‘The New York Times’ titled “US Secretly Aids Pakistan in Guarding Nuclear Arms”, Foreign Office Spokesman Muhammad Sadiq said it gives distorted and exaggerated picture of Pakistan’s efforts to learn from best practices of other countries with regard to their nuclear safety and export controls.


Musharraf to visit Saudi Arabia on Tuesday

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will go to Riyadh Tuesday for talks with King Abdullah over the political crisis in his country, Saudi official sources said Monday.


Elections called, Benazir does backflip.

"Inshallah (God willing), the general elections would be held on January 8," a government statement quoted General Musharraf as telling supporters in Karachi amid rumours of a possible meeting between him and Ms Bhutto. Both General Musharraf and Ms Bhutto were in the city at the same time following the departure from Pakistan of top US diplomat John Negroponte.


Benazir softens her stance vis a vis Musharraf?

PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto appears to have softened her attitude towards President Pervez Musharraf following a visit by a top US envoy to Islamabad, which aimed at promoting reconciliation between her and the general.Although still critical of Gen Musharraf, Ms Bhutto said in an interview to CNN on Sunday that she was waiting for him to respond to the message Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte brought from Washington.


Perhaps this is why?

PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto could soon be facing the same corruption charges that have forced her into exile for more than eight years, according to a report published in The Sunday Times.TST correspondent Christina Lamb quoting Attorney-General Malik Mohammad Qayyum said that a government amnesty lifting the charges – which enabled Ms Bhutto to return to the country last month – was legally invalid and was likely to be overturned.“I don’t think it will survive the challenge,” Mr Qayyum told the TST. Quoting Ms Bhutto, the TST correspondent said she was unconcerned.


All political prisoners to be released.

The caretaker Pakistan cabinet has decided to release all the detained political workers and leaders with the announcement of the schedule for the general elections. In its first meeting chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro, the cabinet directed Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Syed Afzaal Haider to start co-ordinating with the provincial governments and all concerned for the release of political workers, lawyers, human rights activists and students taken into protective custody since the proclamation of emergency.


War by Facebook.

Defying a growing crackdown on dissent by President Pervez Musharraf, young Pakistanis are using blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook to hit back at a state of emergency. Plans for “flash” protests in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and other cities are being posted at the last minute to skirt a ban on all political rallies under repressive emergency laws. The Internet has become a vital tool for them, with the government shutting down the country’s biggest two private television news channels on Sunday and rounding up thousands of opposition leaders.


Benazir, US Envoy visit Geo (I don't know - it sounds like democracy is alive and well in Pak. They even have a protest camp! Paging Code Pink)

U.S. Ambassador in Pakistan, N W Patterson and Pakistan Peoples Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto Monday visited Geo News offices here.US envoy expressed her grave concern over suspension of Geo News transmission and said that media could not be restrained.Benazir Bhutto recorded her comments in a book placed at the protest camp set up by Geo Network.

And in other Pakistan democracy is alive and well news.

Journalists, lawyers, political workers and civil society activists on Sunday staged protest demonstrations against curbs on Media in all major cities and towns of the country.

Still with me? Well, Imran Khan is back on his hunger strike for as long as it takes (or until he gets thristy) and his ex Jemima has taken to the streets of London in support.

Mmm. Pancakes.