Benazir assassination: Cell phones of suspects recovered

ISLAMABAD: In the latest development in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case, the joint investigation team conducting the inquiry has managed to recover the cell phones of two leading suspects.

Prior to this, the suspects in the case SP Rawal Town, Superintendent Police Khurram Shehzad and former CPO Saud Aziz both refused to provide the cell phones they had used on the day of Bhutto’s assassination. Both suspects initially claimed that they had lost their sets, and later also reportedly provided the investigation team with fake phones.

In an earlier report in The Express Tribune, Public prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar had revealed that the police officers had not given the mobile phones which they had used on the day of the assassination.

“Saud Aziz gave mobiles phones of 2008 and 2009 models. After forensic laboratory tests it was proven that this phone was not used by the police officials and in fact was in the use of Ramzan, a resident of Karachi,” the prosecutor maintained.

The unique International Mobile Equipment Identity number on the suspect’s cell phones has now opened new leads for the investigation team. The most important lead is the numbers of several government officials with whom the former suspects had been keeping in touch on the day of the assassination.

Proxy war in Afghanistan must end

ISLAMABAD, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said on Friday that proxy war in Afghanistan must end.”Pakistan does not want a disastrous future for Afghanistan.Both Pakistan and Afghanistan will decide their matters mutually”, he said.Salman Bashir, while talking to newsmen after attending a ceremony at Naval Headquarters, said that Pakistan wanted peace in the region and would continue playing its role in that regard.

He added that the situation in Afghanistan was becoming adverse and both the countries would have to work jointly to bring back peace and stability there.

To a question, the Foreign Secretary rejected Russian media reports regarding al-Quaeda’s involvement in suicide attack at Moscow airport.He said that Russia had not yet officially sought Pakistan’s help in probing the attack.

He also rejected the news reports that the suicide attackers were allegedly trained in Pakistan.

When asked about the forthcoming ministerial interaction between Pakistan and India at Thimpu, Bhutan, next month, the Foreign Secretary hoped that the interaction would be positive and constructive. He said that Pakistan had been in contact with India in this connection.

“Pakistan is thankful to the international community for support and assistance in tough time during floods in Pakistan. Islamic countries also helped Pakistan at the time of trouble”, said the Foreign Secretary when asked about contribution by Islamic countries with respect to flood relief activities.

He said that the contributions of the Pakistani nation, government and institutions in flood relief activities should also be highlighted at international level.

Naval Chief Admiral Noman Bashir, who was also present on the occasion,reiterated Pakistan Navy’s commitment to continue serving the nation.

He said the Navy fully participated in rescue and relief activities during floods and would continue rehabilitation activities in future with same vigour.

Earlier, Mrs Taranum Bashir, Chairperson of Pakistan Foreign Office Women Association (PFWA), handed over a cheque of Rs4,578,000 to Admiral Noman Bashir,for ongoing relief activities of the Pakistan Navy in flood- hit areas.

Still waiting for the ROZs

By Seema Raza Bokhari

The war discourse between the US and Pakistan is generally dominated by the ‘do more’ mantra, with the US calling for military action in the northern areas. But more recently, there has been a shift of emphasis from the military to the economic arena. This became abundantly evident in US Vice President Biden’s remarks on the importance of the “developmental needs” of Pakistan. His words were echoed by the State Department spokesperson, Philip Cowley, reiterating that Pakistan’s economic growth is “vitally important” for the US. What could have caused this change of heart and tone?

The US security assistance to Pakistan, no matter how meagre, could not be expected to continue indefinitely. There is also a growing realisation that rising poverty levels and a deteriorating economic situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan may jeopardise military gains. The US also needs assurance that the Kerry-Lugar aid of $7.5 billion will be spent on meaningful developmental projects. But foremost, the US wants peace and stability in the region.

Towards providing economic support, two long-standing issues, having immense trade and industrial significance for Pakistan, have been raised by the US government: duty-free market access to Pakistani textiles and establishment of the long-promised ‘reconstruction opportunity zones’ (ROZs) in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The US government initially announced the opening of the ROZs in Pakistan in 2006. These industrial zones were to be established in the tribal areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, including Peshawar, areas of Balochistan bordering Afghanistan and the earthquake-affected northern areas. The entire area of Afghanistan was declared an ROZ. Exports from industries in the ROZs would have duty-free access to the US. These export zones were envisaged to help build infrastructure and industry in the war-ravaged areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. They were expected to provide livelihood to thousands of unemployed locals who had no better option than to join the ranks of the terrorists.

Economic interdependence has the power to prevent conflicts, so say the proponents of globalisation and free trade. Pakistan should, therefore, press on the US for an early legislation of the ROZs, not just to bolster the economy, but to create a reason for security and order to prevail in the region.

As for the issue of duty-free market access, the World Trade Organization (WTO) prevents preferential treatment among members. A waiver seems highly unlikely given that the EU’s waiver request for recently granted tariff concessions to Pakistan still remains blocked in the WTO, hence the efforts for the Generalized System of Trade Preferences (GSP), which allows preferential treatment to exports from developing countries under special conditions. The GSP route may perhaps be adopted for US concessions as well. The GSP concessions are, however, time bound and can be terminated.

A Free Trade Agreement with the US, though difficult to achieve, seems to be a better option. Pakistan has been trying hard for it in the past, but with little success. The moment calls for renewed efforts to eke out a bilateral trade agreement from the existing ‘strategic partnership’. The establishment of the ROZs can also help Pakistan to move forward in this direction once a trade pattern is established between the two countries.

As the US government heightens its pitch for economic assistance to Pakistan, policymakers should seize the moment for meaningful gains. If a price tag has to be placed on the war, it had better be in quantifiable terms.

The ‘bin Laden’ of marginalisation

Larbi Sadiki

The real terror eating away at the Arab world is socio-economic marginalisation.

Conventional wisdom has it that ‘terror’ in the Arab world is monopolised by al-Qaeda in its various incarnations. There may be some truth in this.

From Tunisia and Algeria in the Maghreb to Jordan and Egypt in the Arab east, the real terror is marginalisation

However, this is a limited viewpoint. Regimes in countries like Tunisia and Algeria have been arming and training security apparatuses to fight Osama bin Laden. But they were caught unawares by the ‘bin Laden within’: the terror of marginalisation for the millions of educated youth who make up a large portion of the region’s population.

The winds of uncertainty blowing in the Arab west – the Maghreb – threaten to blow eastwards towards the Levant as the marginalised issue the fatalistic scream of despair to be given freedom and bread or death.

Whose terror?

The gurus of so-called ‘radicalisation’ who have turned Islam into a security issue have fixed the debate, making bin Laden a timeless, single and permanent pathology of all things Muslim.

It is no exaggeration to claim that since 9/11 so-called radicalisation has replaced new Orientalism as the prism through which Western security apparatuses view Middle Eastern youth and societies. Guantanamo Bay, profiling, extraordinary renditions, among others, are only the tip of the iceberg.

The policing, equipment, funding, expertise and anti-terror philosophy being fed to the likes of Algeria, Libya and Morocco are geared towards fighting the ‘bearded, radical salafis’ whose prophet is Osama bin Laden. But, the tangible bin Ladens bracing suicide in its entirety have emerged from the ranks of the educated middle classes whose prophet is Adam Smith.

Al-Qaeda, literally “the base”, may today be the swelling armies of marginals in the Middle East, not the ‘salafis’.

It is not the Quran or Sayyid Qutb – who is in absentia charged with perpetrating 9/11 despite being dead since 1966 – Western security experts should worry about. They should perhaps purchase Das Kapital and bond with Karl Marx to get a reality check, a rethink, a dose of sobriety in a post-9/11 world afflicted by over-securitisation.

From Tunisia and Algeria in the Maghreb to Jordan and Egypt in the Arab east, the real terror that eats at self-worth, sabotages community and communal rites of passage, including marriage, is the terror of socio-economic marginalisation.

The armies of ‘khobzistes’ (the unemployed of the Maghreb) – now marching for bread in the streets and slums of Algiers and Kasserine and who tomorrow may be in Amman, Rabat, San’aa, Ramallah, Cairo and southern Beirut – are not fighting the terror of unemployment with ideology. They do not need one. Unemployment is their ideology. The periphery is their geography. And for now, spontaneous peaceful protest and self-harm is their weaponry. They are ‘les misérables’ of the modern world.

The ‘bread compact’

The bread compacts which framed the political order in much of the Arab world came unstuck in the mid- to late-1980s.

In the 1960s, regimes committed to the distribution of bread (subsidised goods) in return for political passivity. In the 1980s, the new political fix shifted to giving the vote instead of bread.

Who can forget the 1988 bread riots that eventually brought the Islamists to the verge of parliamentary control of Algeria in 1991? The riots in Jordan at around the same time inspired state-led political liberalisation in 1989.

For Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan and Egypt, the impoverished Arab states, in need of the liquidity of Euro-American and International Misery Fund aid, infitah (open-door policy) was the only blueprint of forward economic management. Within its bosom are bred greed, land grab, corruption, monopoly and the new entrepreneurial classes who exchange loyalty and patronage with the political masters as well as the banknotes and concessions with which both fund flash lifestyles.

Thus the map of distribution was gerrymandered at the expense of the have-nots who are placated with insufficient micro credits or ill-managed national development funds. The crumbs – whatever subsidies are allowed by the new economic order built on the pillars of privatisation, the absence of social safety nets and economic protectionism – delay disaffection but never eliminate it.

Below the surface the pent-up anger of the marginals simmers.

‘Tis the season of ‘bread intifadas’

The ‘khobzistes’ have returned. At home they are marginals; abroad, they are largely persona non grata for being born in the wrong geography, inheriting the perfect genes for ‘profiling’ and being too culturally challenged for some European assimilationists. Their only added value is as objects of social dumping in capitalism’s sweat shops.

Potentially, they are the fodder of chaos in the absence of social justice, culturally sensitive sustainable development and democratic mediating networks and civic channels of socio-political bargaining and
inclusion.

Bread uprisings have a plus and a minus. On the positive side, they act as elections, as plebiscites on performance, as an airing of public anger, they issue verdicts on failed policies and send stress messages to rulers.

The response comes swiftly: when initial oppression becomes too heavy and politically costly, bargains begin. They include promises of jobs and policy, reversals of hikes in food prices and even scapegoats in the form of ministerial dismissals.

This is where Algeria and Tunisia are today.

In Tunisia, in particular, the government has been clumsy, nervous and completely out of line for threatening the use of force and then employing it. Fatalities have been on the rise. The death toll is heavy and may already have produced irreversible tipping-point logic.

Bargains, but no democracy

On the negative side, there is no ‘democratic spring’ in Algeria. Bread riots come and go. But regimes stay on.

The absence of a critical mass that produces a tipping-point dynamic means that regimes know how to buy time, co-opt and fund themselves out of trouble when pushed. Genuine democratic bargains do not ensue. The states have not invested in social and political capital.

Oppositions and dissidents have not yet learned how to infiltrate governments and build strong political identities and power bases. This is one reason why the protests that produced ‘Velvet revolutions’ elsewhere seem to be absent in the Arab world.

The momentum created by the bread rioters is never translated into self-sustaining critical mass by opposition forces. Regimes wait until the last minute after use of force fails to kill off the momentum through the offer of concessionary and momentary welfare.

Tunisia will be the first Arab exception to this: Ben Ali is in no position to act Machiavellian and intransigent. He is weak, and the party following and army that has protected him for 24 years may be withdrawing loyalty as the crisis deepens.

The ‘fishers of men’

The misery belts tightening around the pockets of affluence and opportunity from Algiers to Amman hint at the microcosm of the unevenness of global distribution.

Just as Sidi Bouzid, El-Kobba, Ma’an or Imbaba function internally in that belt of misery, so do the cities of Arab states globally. They are the periphery, literally the misery belts tightening around rich ‘fortress Europe’ – a Europe that is increasingly more interested in the technology of security, surveillance systems, ‘radicalisation’ theories, policing and the mental nets functioning as ‘fishers of men’ according to one study. Today the ClubMed geography is in rebellion mode.

Frontex is the EU agency that spearheads the task of constructing fortress Europe. It is at the front, fighting against the boat people that threaten the lifestyles and comfort of the EU. Its planes, frigates and patrols literally fish men from the tiny boats laden with Arab and African human cargo destined for EU shores.

These desperados weather the high seas knowing that their chance of survival is not more than 10 per cent. Many drown. Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi’s act of insanity was not the only suicide. The ‘harraqa’, as North African boat people are called, seek exodus by stealth, and by death.

Those who do not drown are chased back to their shores of departure. Some are caught and returned to countries of transition such as Libya.

A 2009 EU agreement assigns maritime patrolling and policing to Libya so that boat people do not reach Italian ports, discarding the ethical implications of entrusting refugee protection to countries with dubious human rights records.

From Israel to Spain, fences are erected to keep non-Europeans out. They are allowed to dream of Europe … but not of setting foot in it.

The time has come for the Arab Gulf labour markets to do more for the Arab marginals.

The ‘geography of hunger’

In Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth one finds resonance with the misery engulfing Tunisia and Algeria today, where the have-nots, or the mahrumin, and the khobzistes strike back at the state and target its symbols. They fight back and thus “struggle … and with their shrunken bellies [and humiliated egos] outline of the geography of hunger”.

In this geography of hunger and marginalisation, the ruling native becomes the new coloniser. By contrast to the have-nots, the ruling natives and the economic ‘mafias’ are sheltered not only in mansions and villas, but also within ‘a hard shell’ that immures them from the “poverty that surrounds” them.

In The Wretched of the Earth one reads about the “poor, underdeveloped countries, where the rule is that the greatest wealth is surrounded by the greatest poverty”.

To map out the “geography of hunger” is not complete without marking out the geography of authoritarianism. In both Algeria and Tunisia, the big interests and profiteers supporting Bouteflika and Ben Ali seem to fulfill Fanon’s prophecy about corruption “sooner or later” making leaders “men of straw in the hands of the army … immobilising and terrorising”. It is the security forces and the army that run the show in both countries.

Fanon, the ideologue of the Algerian revolution, is probably turning in his grave at the thought that a country of “one million martyrs” sacrificed for independence is today battling for new freedoms from housing shortages, rising food prices, autocracy and overall marginalisation.

The figures construct on paper stories of growth and stability that are not matched by the reality of marginalisation.

For how long republics of paper and men of straw can withstand the hell-fire of the Algerian and Tunisian eruptions fuelled by marginalisation remains to be seen. What is certain, however, is that the beginnings of a ‘Tunisian democratic spring’ are in the offing.

Shooting in Lahore – US official quick on the draw, kills two

LAHORE – An American national associated with the US Consulate in Lahore shot two young motorcyclists while another vehicle used by the US Consulate ran over a man in a bid to rescue the diplomat near Qartaba Chowk on Thursday.

The Old Anarkali Police managed to arrest the American, identified as Raymond Davis, after a brief chase following information that the US officials were involved in a shooting and rescue incident. Davis told police that he opened fire at the two motorcyclists – later identified as Faizan Haider and Faheem Shamshad – because he thought that they were going to rob him. He said the men had pointed a handgun in his direction and he believed they were going to shoot him.

Davis, who is said to be a technical adviser in the American Consulate, opened fire at the two men from inside his car, killing Faheem instantly while Faizan died of his injuries at Services Hospital. Witnesses Khalid and Naeem told Pakistan Today that after shooting the two motorcyclists, the American came out of his car and took their pictures from his mobile phone, adding that afterwards he called somebody on his wireless set and “spoke to the person in Urdu”.

Khalid and Naeem said that as they were trying to stop Davis from fleeing, a black Land Cruiser appeared on the scene. “The driver of the Cruiser steered his vehicle onto the wrong side of the road, running over a young motorcyclist, two women and three passers-by,” they said. The motorcyclist, identified as Ubaidur Rehman, died in hospital later.

They said that when the Land Cruiser reached the spot, Davis spoke to the occupants and later got into his Honda Civic car and fled the scene.Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Aslam Tareen said that Davis had claimed that he shot at the two motorcyclists while resisting a robbery. The CCPO said that although the police had found foreign currency and two unlicensed pistols from the possession of the two deceased motorcyclists, but “they were not robbers”.

He said Davis used a 9mm pistol and failed to produce permission to carry the weapon, adding that two cases had been registered against Davis under Section 302 and investigations were underway. Haider’s cousin Riaz told Pakistan Today that his cousin was innocent, adding that according to his information, Haider and his friend chased and later stopped Davis’ vehicle because he had knocked down and injured a passer-by.

He said Haider was carrying an unlicenced weapon because “the family had enemies.” Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has taken notice of the incident and ordered the CCPO to investigate the matter personally. After Davis’ arrest, reports kept making the rounds in the provincial capital that the police had released Davis. However, CCPO Tareen confirmed to Pakistan Today that Davis had not been freed and two murder cases had been registered in the Lytton Road Police Station against him.

He said that Davis would be produced in court today. Late on Thursday night, Faizan and Ubaidur Rehman’s families protested against the US officials in front of the police station. The protesters blocked Lytton Road, burnt tyres and shouted anti-American slogans.

Shershah scrap market carnage: As no one comes forward to testify, 9 men walk free

By Zeeshan Mujahid

KARACHI: Nine suspects, who had allegedly confessed to being involved in the Shershah market carnage, were acquitted on Wednesday because of a lack of evidence and witness testimony.

File photo of rangers around the market after the attack on Shershah market.

Justice Sajjad Ali Shah of the Sindh High Court, in his capacity as the administrative judge for the Anti-Terrorism Courts of the Karachi division, ordered their release after even the case’s complainant failed to identify any of them.

He had named Muhammad Tufail, Abid Ali, Asghar Ali, Tahseen, Abdul Rasheed, Johar, M Aijaz, M Iqbal and Muhammad Akbar in the case.

Thirteen workers and owners of shops in the Shershah scrap market were killed on October 19, 2010, when unidentified men on motorcycles opened indiscriminate fire in the market. Six shopkeepers, Kashif, Arsalaan, Rashid, Zeeshan, Arif and Imran, were injured.

On Wednesday, the accused men were produced before the judge by the investigation officer, who wanted more time to question them, arguing that they were not cooperating and had not confessed any connection to the crime.

The man who registered the case, Muhammad Nafees, was in court because of orders passed on January 19.

At the last hearing, the court had ordered for a joint interrogation team to submit a report. It was presented to the judge on Wednesday. When the judge asked Muhammad Nafees to identify the accused men present in custody, he said he had never seen them before and they were complete strangers.

Rao M Sharif, counsel for the complainant assisting the Special Public Prosecutor, said the complainant was not identifying the men because he was scared. If their remand were extended, we may discover something more, he added.

The bench declined the request, however, and ordered the release of all the men accused in the case.

Neither was any material connecting the accused to commission of the said crime placed on the record nor was an identification parade carried out and since all the accused were named with parentage, therefore the attendance of the complainant was directed.

The IO stated that despite all efforts by him none of the witnesses was ready to identify any of the accused.

The halfhearted request for the extension of remand by the IO was without any purpose, the AJ said in his detailed order.

He then directed the police to release the accused men under section 497 (2) of the CrPC after they furnish personal bonds before the IO.

Case history

An FIR was registered on October 20, on the basis of a written statement by complainant, Muhammad Nafees.

The Gulbahar police first arrested Lal Muhammad Magsi and later nominated Aslam Pervez, Shafi Muhammad and Nawaz.

The nine accused men acquitted on Wednesday had voluntarily surrendered before the Special Investigation Unit earlier this month while three others, Hameed alias Mulla Raju, Noor Muhammad alias Baba Ladla and Rashid, are still absconding.

Talking to the media on Wednesday, one of the acquitted men said that they are all poor workers in the graveyard adjacent to the place of the attack (Mewashah graveyard). We are not part of the alleged Lyari gang, he added.

Special Public Prosecutor Arshad Cheema said that the accused have been exonerated for want of evidence but they can face a trial if any investigator manages to find evidence against them. He said that the state should have been the complainant in this case rather than an individual person.

To another question on whether an order was passed against the complainant for lodging a false FIR, Cheema said that if at any stage it was proved that the FIR was false, prosecution under Section 173 of the CrPC would be initiated against the complainant.

From Calcutta to Kashmir

By Avirook Sen

For a march that kicked off so close to my home in Calcutta’s Shyambazar, this thing has gotten somewhat out of hand, and more than somewhat ridiculous.

On January 12, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) youth wing flagged off what they called the ‘ekta yatra’ – a march for unity.

The plan was to converge on Lal Chowk in Srinagar, the arson-prone heart of Kashmir, from all over the country, to hoist the Indian tricolour on Republic Day. Assert a fundamental right, remind the fellow in the firan where it’s at, and so on. Alas, the plan lacked idiot-proofing from conception to execution.

A bunch of merry right-wing youth from Karnataka in the south, boarded a train bound for Kashmir. But sometime after midnight, when the train had barely gotten a fifth of the way there, the poor boys fell asleep, dreaming dreams of national unity.

Alert security forces grabbed their chance. At a station in Maharashtra, they detached the bogeys containing the future flag-hoisters from the mother train. They then attached the bogeys to a train headed back to Bangalore, where the volunteers had breakfast.

While the rest of us laughed our heads off, spokesmen for the BJP objected in the strongest possible terms: “Our workers had valid tickets!”

There is a sense of deja vu about these events. In late 1991, a year before they demolished the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the BJP undertook almost the exact same march. The then president of the party, Murli Manohar Joshi, led the marchers.

Landslides (and a not a little Kashmiri outrage) prevented Joshi’s followers from reaching the spot. Joshi himself had to be flown in, amid what witnesses called the tightest security they had seen. Sympathetic commentators put the number of people getting to Lal Chowk at 40, including journalists. Curfew had been imposed on the town and announcements made that Lal Chowk had been handed over to the army.

There are varying reports of how the actual hoisting took place on January 26, 1992.

It is clear that security personnel helped Joshi with the flag, but when he was raising it to the pedestal of the clock tower on which it was supposed to fly, the rod broke and knocked the old man on the head. It has been reported that the flag was finally hoisted on a lamppost. Having raised the flag, a slightly dizzy Joshi left the scene and went off to plot the razing of a mosque.

Leading the marchers this time is a fellow called Anurag Thakur, MP, and the son of the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh. An official website lists his professions as “cricketer” and “industrialist”. Though what he really does is run an export house and make sure, with a little help from papa, that he’s in control of all cricket administration in his home state.

His own webpage has a picture of a cricket team with a trophy in front, he sits in the middle with a blue jacket, the boys are in white. The header reads: “If he can do this in sports, he can do better in politics. There is a need to bring young talent to the forefronts (sic) of politics.”

By the standards of Indian politics, this chap should visit the pediatrician if he catches a cold during his march, but at 36, he’s been pushed to the forefront all right.

Now all he has to do is find a suitable lamppost, and not injure himself, or cause injury to others. In Shyambazar, where it all began, Republic Day represents a peaceful holiday. That I have from the horse’s mouth.

The irony of India

“India has no interest in destabilising any of her neighbours, or even in seeing any of them in difficulty,” said the silver-haired gentleman in a thin-striped suit and with piercing eyes. It was a small talk, before a small gathering of Pakistani journalists here in Delhi, at the invitation of the Indian government. But the message was large.

It went something like this. India is nurturing its economy to sustain growth rates in the 9-10 per cent per annum range. At this rate, the size of India’s economy doubles in less than a decade, not bad for an economy which clocked in a GDP of a little more than four trillion dollars in 2010, placing it as the world’s fifth largest economy and still rising.

India has set for itself the target of becoming a middle-income country by the year 2025. That means it cannot afford to run volatile cycles of boom and bust, nor can it afford to fall behind in the race to innovate. Even as the silver-haired gentlemen was gently laying out the facts for us, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was preparing to present its third quarterly review of monetary policy, an announcement that lays out the state of the economy as seen by the central bank.

“[G]rowth has moved close to its pre-crisis trajectory even in the face of an uncertain global recovery,” noted the RBI. The “pre-crisis trajectory” the RBI is referring to is a growth rate of 8.5 per cent. That puts India in close competition with China, the world’s fastest growing economy. Note the last words of the observation above: “even in the face of an uncertain global recovery.” Meaning, as the economies of the US and the EU battle the prospect of a second recession, and a possible sovereign credit crisis, the economy of India is part of a growing set of economies in Asia, led by China.

In order to nurture and sustain these growth rates, India needs to overcome all instability in its neighborhood. The distinguished gentleman, as well as others we have met here thus far, have all been clear to point out that there is a great deal of concern with internal stability in India. “But at least in the case of the Naxals, for instance” quipped one senior journalist, “I’m glad the instability is borne of hunger and not religion. You see, you can feed a hungry human who has picked up arms against you, but what do you do with those who pick up arms in the name of religion?”

But religion has crept into the Indian political vocabulary and landscape. And curiously enough, it has entered through the back door of the secular, democratic nationalism that has been the hallmark of Indian politics ever since the Nehru years. Just a few days earlier, for instance, a train carrying BJP student activists to Srinagar had been surreptitiously turned around and taken back to the station from whence it had originated. And on January 24, senior leaders of the BJP were arrested trying to enter Srinagar with the intention of raising the Indian flag there on Republic Day.

This is irony at its best. Here is a country that values its economic rivalry with China over everything else. A country that treasures and takes supreme pride in its six-decade long experiment with democracy. A country that is deeply religious, yet sees its own salvation in making sure the state is aligned with no particular faith. And in this very country, a political party that seeks to hold the highest elected offices of state, runs in the name of the supremacy of one religion over others, and which seeks to plant the flag of the secular republic in Srinagar, is physically prevented from doing so by the government of the day.

If India’s growth rates can persist in spite of the “uncertain global recovery,” if India’s democracy can thrive in spite of the BJP’s attempts to transform it into an illiberal republic, then we in Pakistan need to understand how irrelevant we are becoming in the 21st century world. And perhaps we need to see the irony in that: irrelevant in spite of being the epicentre of a superpower’s destiny.

Iraq Prepares For War With Iran

Strategy Page

The Iraqi Army is hustling to get ready to deal with Iran, by the time the last 50,000 U.S. troops leave at the end of the year. Increased oil production, and oil prices, has made it possible to recruit more troops, and equip more combat divisions. Particularly noteworthy is the creation of Chemical Defense Regiments, with the goal of one of these units being assigned to each combat division over the next few years. The only neighbor known to have chemical weapons is Iran. Iraqi diplomats spend a lot of time trying to improve relationships with Iran, but just in case things go south, the Iraqi military is preparing for the worst.

While Iraq has sought to obtain a lot of American weapons, particularly tanks, artillery and combat aircraft, it’s been easier, and faster, to get Russian type gear from Russia or East European nations. A lot of this stuff is newly made, but most of it is Cold War surplus. These vehicles and artillery are cheap, a lot of older Iraqis are familiar with them, and they are as good as anything the Iranians have.

The Iraqi ground forces currently have nearly 200 infantry and tank battalions, organized into over 70 brigades and 17 divisions. There are a lot of independent brigades, and divisions are still waiting to receive artillery and armored vehicles and support units. Meanwhile, troops spend a lot of time performing security tasks, to aid the effort to track down the few remaining Sunni Arab terrorists.

By the end of the year, the army will have about 230,000 troops. They will not be as well as equipped as during Saddam Hussein’s tenure (1960s-2003), but they are better trained. This is important, because Iraqi troops have long been the least effective in the Arab world, largely because of poor leadership. The war with Iran in the 1980s changed that, but Saddam purged most of the competent new leaders, soon after, as he feared they would lead a coup against his disastrous rule (he was probably right.)

The Iraqi Army has come a long way since 2003, when the old, Sunni Arab dominated force was disbanded, and a new one, loyal to a democratic government, and led by newly recruited and trained officers, was built from scratch. Because of that, the Sunni Arabs loyal to Saddam (and Sunni Arab rule) fought a four year terror campaign. One response was the army forming the best troops into special “intervention” units. This resulted in an army organization consisting of one “Intervention Corps” and three other corps of lesser quality. Most divisions have four brigades, and a total strength of about 12,000-15,000 troops.

The 1st Intervention Corps consists of the two motorized, one infantry and one armored divisions. One of the motorized corps is the also known as the Reaction Force Division. This is considered the most effective division in the army, and one to be used for the most difficult situations. Think of this corps as the new “Republican Guard.”

Another independent security forces is the 1st and 2nd Presidential Brigades (for guarding senior officials), which is controlled by the armed forces headquarters.

The other three corps are named after the part of the country they are based in.

The Northern Corps has two motorized divisions and an infantry division. Two divisions of Kurdish troops serve as mountain divisions, but lack a lot of heavy weapons (tanks and artillery).

The Central Corps is the area around Baghdad, and the thinly populated Anbar Province to the west. This corps has two motorized divisions, one infantry division and one commando division.

The Southern Corps has three infantry divisions, with another infantry division planned. One of the existing divisions is motorized and another is designated a commando division,

There are other security forces, mainly four divisions of Federal Police, the Counter-Terror Command (with seven commando battalions and support troops), the Border Police and half dozen battalions worth of “Emergency Police” (SWAT, riot control) distributed around the country. These other security forces are nearly as large as the army, but are not as heavily armed, or trained for heavy combat.

The navy is currently, basically a coast guard. The air force consists of about a hundred transports, helicopters and recon aircraft. The 50,000 U.S. troops are mainly deployed in bases around Baghdad, and northern cities.

Even the army does not have a lot of heavy weapons. There are lots of newer armored hummers. Thousands of new armored vehicles are on order. Compared to Saddam’s force, the NCOs and officers (mostly from the Shia Arab majority), have less time in uniform, but are better trained. The Iraqis have learned a lot about fighting from their American mentors, but there are still a lot of bad habits (corruption, especially) that degrade combat effectiveness.

Connectivity between Moscow, Lahore & Karachi Blasts

On January 25, 2011 two blasts detonated just after the Magrib prayers in Lahore and Karachi. In Lahore at least 17 people embraced shahadat (killed), over 70 injured and some individuals are in critical condition in a powerful explosion at Bhati Gate near Kerbala Gamay Shah in a mourning procession. Out of killed six were police individuals. According to the witnesses and Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore, the blast took placed when 14 or 15 years old Child carrying a bag was stopped at the police entry point for checking purpose.

Another powerful blast rocked Malir 15 area of Karachi in which a motorcyclist hit the Police mobile Van and exploded himself once he has been asked to stop by the elements of law enforcing agency. In this blast two police persons got shahdat (killed) and five individuals injured. The similar nature of blast took place in Russia at the evening of January 24 when a suicide bomber detonated in the international baggage claim area of Moscows Domodedovo Airport, which rusulted into killing of at least 31 innocent people. More than 130 people were also wounded in the attack.

The above narrated incidents are giving clear cut indication of involvement of RAW’s hand due to the visual pattern of terrorists’ attacks. The timing of blasts, selection of soft targets, use of motorbikes, types of explosive and claiming of attacks by an unknown planted Jehadi organization are some of the indicators reflect that there is a single planner of intelligence organization behind these suicidal missions. Probability of illicit involvement of Israeli and Indian intelligence agency could not be ruled out by alleging Taliban or others Muslims. According to the sources, Plan of defaming Muslims and targeting Pakistan has been prepared in the nerve centre of RAW in collaboration of Israeli Intelligence agency. MI-6 of UK also provided them tacit support. In the first instance they started a deliberate propaganda against Pakistan community based in Uk, spreading rumors against the government and supporting rebels of Balochistan. Then they planned to hit the processions of Shia’s community and Data Ganj Bakhsh Shrine in Lahore and Karachi, whereas in Russia, tried to widen and creating the gap between Christians and Muslim communities while carrying out blasts at the airport. In this regard probably, the Indian intelligence agency does have Mossad and Western Intelligence Agencies’ support too.

There is a strong perception in Muslim Ummah that India, Israel and some of their Western masters has the agenda to pose them as terrorists, extremists and criminals. For example Andrew Norfolk field a report on Child sex trafficking and exploitation of white underage girls by gangs within UK were published in the daily times on January 5 and 6, 2010.The report revealed that 14 court cases since 1997 in which 56 sex offenders were convicted, comprising 3 whites and 53 Asian with majority of them being people of Pakistani origin but it does not identify the ethnic background of other individuals. Singling out one ethnic community is aimed to target the Pakistani community. In this context Jack Straw, the former Labor Home Sectary who during the BBC News night programme on January 8 2011 mentioned of cultural problem in the Pakistani community. Probably, he has forgotten to mention the sex free society of his country, which in fact is the basic root cause of the dilemma. Thus all this propaganda, overt and covert terrorism is the part of their strategy to degrade Muslim community as whole and targeting Pakistan in particular. It is evident from Pakistan’s internal political and security situation that it is passing through a very critical era of her history. Its traditional rival with the tacit support of Israel is clearly found involve in launching terrorism, supplying arms to the rebels, creating political instability by supporting anti Pakistan elements, India actually also has the desire to divert global attention away from her intelligence agencies and Col Prohit activities against minorities . It has also been learned that the wife of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Chief, Hemant Karkare is going to file a case against RAW in the Indian Supreme Court for murdering of his loving Husband. It is notable here that Karkare was suspectedly killed by RAW during Mumbai Attack in 2008.

Thus, in the light of above mentioned discussion we can find out that there is conspicuous connectivity between Moscow, Karachi and Lahore blasts. It also help in unveiling of hidden connection between Mossad, RAW and MI-6. To fight back the terrorism there is need of unity amongst the political parties, the parties’ leadership and ruling authorities should show cooperation in fighting terrorism rather than pulling each others legs and indirectly facilitating our rivals in accomplishing of her agenda against Pakistan. President, Prime Minister and COAS has condemned the blasts against innocent people.