A decision by a top Pakistani Parliamentary panel to rename North West Frontier Province as Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa could be an important milestone in the six decade-long struggle for the recognition of Pashtun ethnic identity.
The 26-member parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms yesterday achieved consensus on renaming NWFP as Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa.
The movement for renaming the NWFP, parts of which are now on the frontline of Pakistan’s campaign against the Taliban-led insurgency, saw many ups and downs over the past few decades as the country made its way though dictatorial regimes and democratic governments.
Since 1947, Pashtun nationalists like Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Khan Abdul Wali Khan and Ajmal Khattak led the movement for the acceptance of their people?s distinct identity.
The Awami National Party, which emerged as the ruling Pakistan People?s Party?s main coalition partner in the NWFP after the 2008 general election, pushed for changing the name of the province to Pakhtoonkhwa.
The party did not want to miss an opportunity as it was aware that President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani were in conformity with the demand.
Zardari and Gilani frequently referred to NWFP as Pakhtoonkhwa in public appearances, something that was unimaginable for Pashtuns.
Such developments rejuvenated the spirit of ANP leaders, who cashed in on the situation despite some opposition to the renaming of the NWFP from sections of people in the province.
"There has been a long debate as to why the ANP could not muster support for the name Pakhtoonkhwa despite the fact that Pashtuns are in a majority in the province," said legislator and dissident ANP leader Arshad Khan.
The proposal to rename the NWFP is part of a groundbreaking constitutional reforms package finalised by a parliamentary panel yesterday.
The package seeks to slash President?s sweeping powers and remove changes made to the constitutional by former military rulers Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf to strengthen their grip on power.
The ANP pushed for the NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa as Pashtuns comprise 75 per cent of the province?s population of 20 million, but the move was opposed by the opposition PML-N, which said the name would alienate minorities in the province.
The PML-N suggested non-ethnic names like Khyber and Abaseen (the Pashto name for the Indus river) before the parliamentary committee reached comprise by settling on Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa.
Analysts believe the compromise was influenced by senior ANP leader and Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour?s veiled threat that the NWFP should get the name Pakhtoonkhwa or else the people could opt for the "Bengali model", a reference to breaking away of East Pakistan in 1971 due to ethnic divisions.
The ANP also showed flexibility on the issue of renaming the province as the party faced criticism from certain pockets, especially Dera Ismail Khan, the Hazara division and, ironically, people in some Pashtun-dominated areas.
The ANP also played down the demand by non-Pashto speaking people for a referendum on the issue and opted for its approval by parliament through a constitutional amendment.
"If the issue had gone to referendum, it would have been catastrophic for the ANP," said a senior government official on condition of anonymity.
The NWFP legislature had passed a unanimous resolution suggesting Pakhtoonistan as the new name for the province but it was modified to Pakhtoonkhwa to avoid controversies attached to the name since Partition.
Some circles in the ANP are still opposed to adding Khyber to Pakhtoonkhwa but the party?s senior leaders have pacified them by saying the opportunity to rename the province should not be missed.
"The opponents will call it Khyber and the supporters as Pakhtoonkhwa," said school teacher Khan Faraz.
"We have scores of other bigger problems like price hikes, shortages of flour, sugar and electricity and lack of employment," he added.
The residents of NWFP capital Peshawar have shown mixed reaction to the move to rename the province, with a majority adopting silent posture as no major celebrations were witnessed except for a gathering at Qayum sports complex that was attended by provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain.
About 2,500 people attended the gathering though Peshawar has a population of over 200,000.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
U.S. campaign to reform Kandahar is rife with pitfalls
www.washingtonpost.com
The coming battle for control of this ancient crossroads city will be the toughest challenge of the war in Afghanistan -- not because it will be bloody, necessarily, but because it will require the hardest item for U.S. commanders to deliver, which is an improvement in governance.
Kandahar is the heartland of the Pashtun people -- a place of competing tribes and clans, of hidden wealth accumulated from drug trafficking and smuggling, and of notorious power brokers symbolized in the public mind by Ahmed Wali Karzai, the leader of the provincial council and brother of Afghanistan's president.
Reforming the local government is like disassembling a pyramid of pick-up sticks. One wrong move and the whole pile collapses. Yet if the United States accommodates the existing power structure, it will appear to be condoning corruption here -- a bad message for the public in Afghanistan and America alike.
Talking with U.S. officials about the coming campaign, I heard a range of good ideas but not a clear strategy. The American officials know they can't deliver on their counterinsurgency promise of protecting the population without breaking the hold of the local chieftains. Yet they are wary of toppling the system and opening the way for what might be even worse chaos -- and new resentment at American meddling.
The Kandahar campaign will have a military component as U.S. troops clear Taliban strongholds surrounding the city, such as Zhari, Panjwai and Arghandab. But in Kandahar, the problem isn't the enemy so much as our nominal friends such as Ahmed Karzai. The battle for the city will be political more than military -- and it will require skills and expertise that are in short supply.
"It's amazing what we don't know about Kandahar," says one of the top U.S. military commanders. He just supervised a special push to gather intelligence about power brokers, tribal leaders and their grievances and, as he put it, "who's who in the Kandahar zoo." Unfortunately, the United States is starting from a low base after years of intelligence collection that was "only marginally relevant to the overall strategy," according to a report in January by Maj. Gen. Michael Flynn.
Recognizing the severe gaps in their knowledge, U.S. commanders have adopted what might be described as "operational humility." They know they can make big mistakes if they aren't careful. Shaking up the power structure might put the United States on the side of the Pashtun man in the street, but it would open a power vacuum that could be exploited by the Taliban. Given the planned July 2011 start for withdrawal of U.S. troops, there isn't time for risky experiments in Kandahar. American officials worry, quite sensibly, about the law of unintended consequences.
So commanders are opting instead for an approach that one calls "re-balancing" the Kandahar power elite. The idea is to open up political space to tribes and clans that have been left out of the spoils system. "The basic problem in Kandahar is that you have a disenfranchised population," says Frank Ruggiero, a State Department official who is the top U.S. civilian representative in southern Afghanistan.
The tool that U.S. strategists hope to use to broaden the political base in Kandahar is the traditional Afghan forum known as the "shura." Officials are encouraging these gatherings regularly in the city and the surrounding districts, and urging local Afghan officials to make them more inclusive and a better forum for redressing grievances. They want to combine the shuras with better policing, aided by embedded U.S. trainers, and with new economic development projects.
Traveling here with Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I attended a shura hosted by Tooryalai Wesa, the governor of Kandahar province. This was not exactly a gathering of the dispossessed. The most emphatic speakers around the table warned that the United States shouldn't go after Ahmed Karzai. "If he's not here, the balance will be unbalanced," Wesa said after the meeting.
Curbing corruption in Kandahar may be mission impossible. But it's the task that the United States has set for itself, by promising through its counterinsurgency campaign that it is working for a better and more just Afghanistan than what the Taliban offers.
It's this dissonance between ends and means that worries a visitor here this week. The hardest part of this war, paradoxically, isn't the fighting on the ground, which the U.S. military conducts brilliantly, but the struggle in the Afghan political sphere, where we know precious little.
The coming battle for control of this ancient crossroads city will be the toughest challenge of the war in Afghanistan -- not because it will be bloody, necessarily, but because it will require the hardest item for U.S. commanders to deliver, which is an improvement in governance.
Kandahar is the heartland of the Pashtun people -- a place of competing tribes and clans, of hidden wealth accumulated from drug trafficking and smuggling, and of notorious power brokers symbolized in the public mind by Ahmed Wali Karzai, the leader of the provincial council and brother of Afghanistan's president.
Reforming the local government is like disassembling a pyramid of pick-up sticks. One wrong move and the whole pile collapses. Yet if the United States accommodates the existing power structure, it will appear to be condoning corruption here -- a bad message for the public in Afghanistan and America alike.
Talking with U.S. officials about the coming campaign, I heard a range of good ideas but not a clear strategy. The American officials know they can't deliver on their counterinsurgency promise of protecting the population without breaking the hold of the local chieftains. Yet they are wary of toppling the system and opening the way for what might be even worse chaos -- and new resentment at American meddling.
The Kandahar campaign will have a military component as U.S. troops clear Taliban strongholds surrounding the city, such as Zhari, Panjwai and Arghandab. But in Kandahar, the problem isn't the enemy so much as our nominal friends such as Ahmed Karzai. The battle for the city will be political more than military -- and it will require skills and expertise that are in short supply.
"It's amazing what we don't know about Kandahar," says one of the top U.S. military commanders. He just supervised a special push to gather intelligence about power brokers, tribal leaders and their grievances and, as he put it, "who's who in the Kandahar zoo." Unfortunately, the United States is starting from a low base after years of intelligence collection that was "only marginally relevant to the overall strategy," according to a report in January by Maj. Gen. Michael Flynn.
Recognizing the severe gaps in their knowledge, U.S. commanders have adopted what might be described as "operational humility." They know they can make big mistakes if they aren't careful. Shaking up the power structure might put the United States on the side of the Pashtun man in the street, but it would open a power vacuum that could be exploited by the Taliban. Given the planned July 2011 start for withdrawal of U.S. troops, there isn't time for risky experiments in Kandahar. American officials worry, quite sensibly, about the law of unintended consequences.
So commanders are opting instead for an approach that one calls "re-balancing" the Kandahar power elite. The idea is to open up political space to tribes and clans that have been left out of the spoils system. "The basic problem in Kandahar is that you have a disenfranchised population," says Frank Ruggiero, a State Department official who is the top U.S. civilian representative in southern Afghanistan.
The tool that U.S. strategists hope to use to broaden the political base in Kandahar is the traditional Afghan forum known as the "shura." Officials are encouraging these gatherings regularly in the city and the surrounding districts, and urging local Afghan officials to make them more inclusive and a better forum for redressing grievances. They want to combine the shuras with better policing, aided by embedded U.S. trainers, and with new economic development projects.
Traveling here with Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I attended a shura hosted by Tooryalai Wesa, the governor of Kandahar province. This was not exactly a gathering of the dispossessed. The most emphatic speakers around the table warned that the United States shouldn't go after Ahmed Karzai. "If he's not here, the balance will be unbalanced," Wesa said after the meeting.
Curbing corruption in Kandahar may be mission impossible. But it's the task that the United States has set for itself, by promising through its counterinsurgency campaign that it is working for a better and more just Afghanistan than what the Taliban offers.
It's this dissonance between ends and means that worries a visitor here this week. The hardest part of this war, paradoxically, isn't the fighting on the ground, which the U.S. military conducts brilliantly, but the struggle in the Afghan political sphere, where we know precious little.
U.S. campaign to reform Kandahar is rife with pitfalls
www.washingtonpost.com
The coming battle for control of this ancient crossroads city will be the toughest challenge of the war in Afghanistan -- not because it will be bloody, necessarily, but because it will require the hardest item for U.S. commanders to deliver, which is an improvement in governance.
Kandahar is the heartland of the Pashtun people -- a place of competing tribes and clans, of hidden wealth accumulated from drug trafficking and smuggling, and of notorious power brokers symbolized in the public mind by Ahmed Wali Karzai, the leader of the provincial council and brother of Afghanistan's president.
Reforming the local government is like disassembling a pyramid of pick-up sticks. One wrong move and the whole pile collapses. Yet if the United States accommodates the existing power structure, it will appear to be condoning corruption here -- a bad message for the public in Afghanistan and America alike.
Talking with U.S. officials about the coming campaign, I heard a range of good ideas but not a clear strategy. The American officials know they can't deliver on their counterinsurgency promise of protecting the population without breaking the hold of the local chieftains. Yet they are wary of toppling the system and opening the way for what might be even worse chaos -- and new resentment at American meddling.
The Kandahar campaign will have a military component as U.S. troops clear Taliban strongholds surrounding the city, such as Zhari, Panjwai and Arghandab. But in Kandahar, the problem isn't the enemy so much as our nominal friends such as Ahmed Karzai. The battle for the city will be political more than military -- and it will require skills and expertise that are in short supply.
"It's amazing what we don't know about Kandahar," says one of the top U.S. military commanders. He just supervised a special push to gather intelligence about power brokers, tribal leaders and their grievances and, as he put it, "who's who in the Kandahar zoo." Unfortunately, the United States is starting from a low base after years of intelligence collection that was "only marginally relevant to the overall strategy," according to a report in January by Maj. Gen. Michael Flynn.
Recognizing the severe gaps in their knowledge, U.S. commanders have adopted what might be described as "operational humility." They know they can make big mistakes if they aren't careful. Shaking up the power structure might put the United States on the side of the Pashtun man in the street, but it would open a power vacuum that could be exploited by the Taliban. Given the planned July 2011 start for withdrawal of U.S. troops, there isn't time for risky experiments in Kandahar. American officials worry, quite sensibly, about the law of unintended consequences.
So commanders are opting instead for an approach that one calls "re-balancing" the Kandahar power elite. The idea is to open up political space to tribes and clans that have been left out of the spoils system. "The basic problem in Kandahar is that you have a disenfranchised population," says Frank Ruggiero, a State Department official who is the top U.S. civilian representative in southern Afghanistan.
The tool that U.S. strategists hope to use to broaden the political base in Kandahar is the traditional Afghan forum known as the "shura." Officials are encouraging these gatherings regularly in the city and the surrounding districts, and urging local Afghan officials to make them more inclusive and a better forum for redressing grievances. They want to combine the shuras with better policing, aided by embedded U.S. trainers, and with new economic development projects.
Traveling here with Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I attended a shura hosted by Tooryalai Wesa, the governor of Kandahar province. This was not exactly a gathering of the dispossessed. The most emphatic speakers around the table warned that the United States shouldn't go after Ahmed Karzai. "If he's not here, the balance will be unbalanced," Wesa said after the meeting.
Curbing corruption in Kandahar may be mission impossible. But it's the task that the United States has set for itself, by promising through its counterinsurgency campaign that it is working for a better and more just Afghanistan than what the Taliban offers.
It's this dissonance between ends and means that worries a visitor here this week. The hardest part of this war, paradoxically, isn't the fighting on the ground, which the U.S. military conducts brilliantly, but the struggle in the Afghan political sphere, where we know precious little.
The coming battle for control of this ancient crossroads city will be the toughest challenge of the war in Afghanistan -- not because it will be bloody, necessarily, but because it will require the hardest item for U.S. commanders to deliver, which is an improvement in governance.
Kandahar is the heartland of the Pashtun people -- a place of competing tribes and clans, of hidden wealth accumulated from drug trafficking and smuggling, and of notorious power brokers symbolized in the public mind by Ahmed Wali Karzai, the leader of the provincial council and brother of Afghanistan's president.
Reforming the local government is like disassembling a pyramid of pick-up sticks. One wrong move and the whole pile collapses. Yet if the United States accommodates the existing power structure, it will appear to be condoning corruption here -- a bad message for the public in Afghanistan and America alike.
Talking with U.S. officials about the coming campaign, I heard a range of good ideas but not a clear strategy. The American officials know they can't deliver on their counterinsurgency promise of protecting the population without breaking the hold of the local chieftains. Yet they are wary of toppling the system and opening the way for what might be even worse chaos -- and new resentment at American meddling.
The Kandahar campaign will have a military component as U.S. troops clear Taliban strongholds surrounding the city, such as Zhari, Panjwai and Arghandab. But in Kandahar, the problem isn't the enemy so much as our nominal friends such as Ahmed Karzai. The battle for the city will be political more than military -- and it will require skills and expertise that are in short supply.
"It's amazing what we don't know about Kandahar," says one of the top U.S. military commanders. He just supervised a special push to gather intelligence about power brokers, tribal leaders and their grievances and, as he put it, "who's who in the Kandahar zoo." Unfortunately, the United States is starting from a low base after years of intelligence collection that was "only marginally relevant to the overall strategy," according to a report in January by Maj. Gen. Michael Flynn.
Recognizing the severe gaps in their knowledge, U.S. commanders have adopted what might be described as "operational humility." They know they can make big mistakes if they aren't careful. Shaking up the power structure might put the United States on the side of the Pashtun man in the street, but it would open a power vacuum that could be exploited by the Taliban. Given the planned July 2011 start for withdrawal of U.S. troops, there isn't time for risky experiments in Kandahar. American officials worry, quite sensibly, about the law of unintended consequences.
So commanders are opting instead for an approach that one calls "re-balancing" the Kandahar power elite. The idea is to open up political space to tribes and clans that have been left out of the spoils system. "The basic problem in Kandahar is that you have a disenfranchised population," says Frank Ruggiero, a State Department official who is the top U.S. civilian representative in southern Afghanistan.
The tool that U.S. strategists hope to use to broaden the political base in Kandahar is the traditional Afghan forum known as the "shura." Officials are encouraging these gatherings regularly in the city and the surrounding districts, and urging local Afghan officials to make them more inclusive and a better forum for redressing grievances. They want to combine the shuras with better policing, aided by embedded U.S. trainers, and with new economic development projects.
Traveling here with Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I attended a shura hosted by Tooryalai Wesa, the governor of Kandahar province. This was not exactly a gathering of the dispossessed. The most emphatic speakers around the table warned that the United States shouldn't go after Ahmed Karzai. "If he's not here, the balance will be unbalanced," Wesa said after the meeting.
Curbing corruption in Kandahar may be mission impossible. But it's the task that the United States has set for itself, by promising through its counterinsurgency campaign that it is working for a better and more just Afghanistan than what the Taliban offers.
It's this dissonance between ends and means that worries a visitor here this week. The hardest part of this war, paradoxically, isn't the fighting on the ground, which the U.S. military conducts brilliantly, but the struggle in the Afghan political sphere, where we know precious little.
Asfandyar praises media role on 18th amendment draft
ANP Chief Asfandyar Wali on Thursday hailed the role of media with regard to the draft of 18th amendment.Talking to media outside the National Assembly, Asfandyar wali said 18th amendment was not only limited to the name, adding that the province could not be deprived of its right.He said we have got our identity and we are now happy. Pakhtoonkhwa is not only the province for Pashtuns, ANP chief added.Asfandyar said name of Raza Rabbani will be written with golden words in the constitutional history of Pakistan.
Karzai Lashes Out at West Over Afghan Elections
President Hamid Karzai accused the West on Thursday of trying to ruin Afghanistan's elections, intensifying a showdown with parliament over whether foreigners will oversee a parliamentary vote this year.
Karzai's international reputation took a battering last year after a U.N.-backed fraud watchdog threw out a third of the votes cast for him in last year's presidential election. He is now wrangling with parliament and the United Nations over fraud protection measures for a parliamentary vote due in September.
"Foreigners will make excuses, they do not want us to have a parliamentary election," a defiant Karzai told a gathering of election officials. "They want parliament to be weakened and battered, and for me to be an ineffective president and for parliament to be ineffective.
"You have gone through the kind of elections during which you were not only threatened with terror, you also faced massive interference from foreigners," Karzai told the officials. "Some embassies also tried to bribe the members of the commission."
He singled out Peter Galbraith, the American former deputy of the U.N. mission in Kabul, sacked after accusing his boss of turning a blind eye to fraud, and French General Philippe Morillon, head of an EU vote monitoring mission.
"There was fraud in the presidential and provincial election, with no doubt there was massive fraud. This wasn't fraud by Afghans but the fraud of foreigners, the fraud of Galbraith, of Morillon and the votes of the Afghan nation were in the control of an embassy," Karzai said.
He accused Galbraith of telling an election official he would be "digging himself an early grave" if Karzai was declared first round winner and said Morillon had tried to block the announcement of results to force Karzai to accept a political alliance.
ELECTION STAND-OFF HURTS SUPPORT FOR WAR
Last year's election stand-off -- which ended when the U.N.-backed body ordered a second round but Karzai's opponent quit -- eroded support in the West for the eight-year-old war. A new election confrontation could further sour public opinion in a decisive year, when Washington is sending an extra 30,000 troops.
Ahead of September's parliamentary poll, Karzai issued a decree in February revoking the power of the United Nations to appoint the majority of members of the election fraud watchdog.
The lower house of parliament rejected Karzai's decree on Wednesday, a move diplomats described as a rebuke for the president, although the motion would still need to pass in the upper house to restore U.N. oversight of the vote.
Karzai told the election officials and reporters his decree was vital to Afghanistan's sovereignty.
The United Nations has called for reforms to Afghanistan's election commission to prevent fraud, before it will agree to free up donor funds needed to pay for the September 18 vote.
"The foreigners have said if you don't dismiss these men, we will not give you any money," Karzai said, adding he would announce changes to the election commission next week.
The fraud watchdog is a separate body, which was led by a Canadian during last year's election and ordered the election commission to overturn Karzai's first round victory.
New U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura accepted a compromise offer from Karzai this month that would let the United Nations appoint a minority of members of the fraud watchdog, rather than the majority as it did last year. Parliament's rejection of Karzai's decree means the status of that deal is now in doubt.
"I am working on it. That's all I can say," de Mistura told Reuters late on Wednesday.
BlackBerry Users Will Defect
Despite bells and whistles, the device misses the 'fun factor.'
Call it a matter of touch-screen envy, but many BlackBerry users are starting to feel the 24-month-contract itch.
And they're willing to switch to Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone or Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Nexus One, according to a recent study.
Conducted by the online market researchers Crowd Science, the survey results show that Research in Motion (RIMM) BlackBerry users are more likely to abandon the brand than iPhone or Android users. When asked of the likelihood of buying a particular brand of cell phone or smartphone if the purchase was made the following day, 39% of BlackBerry owners said they "definitely or probably would" nab an iPhone. And roughly one-third of the participants claimed they'd snatch up an Android phone.
Meanwhile, the fierce Google-Apple war seems to have bled into the user base.
An overwhelming majority of iPhone users -- 92% -- would likely stay loyal to the Apple device, and only a tad fewer Android owners -- 87% -- made a similar claim.
However, Apple zealots who unleash a fervent hatred for opposing teams may have met their indignant match. While 15% of iPhone users "definitely or probably would not" recommend an Android device, a whopping 45% of Android users would never dare give Steve Jobs' baby a thumbs up. Whether that's a product of outsider's scorn or buyer's remorse, the study didn't pose the question.
But as the battle between Apple and Google rages on, BlackBerry users look on with a degree of envy.
Despite commanding a hefty lead over the iPhone in the smartphone market share -- 42% versus 25%, respectively -- the numbers for RIM have begun to drop, along with Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows Mobile and Palm (PALM).
According to comScore, RIM's market share dropped a percentage point in the fourth quarter of 2009 from the third quarter, and Apple's rose 1.2%. PCWorld's Tony Bradley calculated that, given the same rate of rise and decline, Apple could surpass RIMM's market share by February 2012. And buoyed by the success of the Motorola (MOT) Droid, Android showed the biggest gains -- rising 2.7% to 5.2%.
Crowd Science Chief Executive John Martin addressed the study in the company blog. "These results show that the restlessness of BlackBerry users with their current brand hasn't just been driven by the allure of iPhone." He added, "Rather, BlackBerry as a brand just isn't garnering the loyalty seen with other mobile operating systems."So what's the allure of the competitors? Why are BlackBerry users more willing to jump ship?
BlackBerry has long been the choice of tech-savvy executives who are wirelessly tethered to their jobs. But as evidenced in the study, only 7% of BlackBerry owners still use their device exclusively for work. For years, the smartphone has ceased to be merely associated with work -- an evolution that Apple played a large role in influencing. However, the BlackBerrys, the Palm Treos, and the Windows Mobile devices never successfully adopted the veneer of "recreational smartphones" nearly as well as Apple or Android.
Put simply, iPhones, Droids, and Nexus Ones just look like more fun. And as the "fun factor" became a significant reason why smartphones became as popular as they did, any manufacturer still focusing on the business aspects fell out of favor with users.
What's the appeal of a physical keyboard if the iPhone can remember where you parked? Why use Microsoft Exchange when the Droid works seamlessly with Gmail -- a service more businesses are using anyway? Is there a point to waiting for a BlackBerry version of an app that has dozens of variants available in the App Store or Android Market?
Unless a new BlackBerry device sheds the brand's stodgy work image, RIMM is going to miss out on all the fun -- and customers.
Copyrighted, MarketWatch. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of MarketWatch content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of MarketWatch. MarketWatch shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
Russia's Medvedev promises 'crueler' measures
MAKHACHKALA, Russia – President Dmitry Medvedev made a surprise visit Thursday to the violence-wracked southern province of Dagestan, telling police and security forces to use tougher, "more cruel" measures to fight the "scum" responsible for terrorist attacks.
In his dress — a black T-shirt under a black suit coat — and rough language, Medvedev was following the lead of Russia's powerful prime minister, Vladimir Putin.
Twin suicide bombings this week in Moscow — which Islamic militants from the North Caucasus claim to have carried out — has refocused attention on the violence that for years has been confined to the predominantly Muslim republics in Russia's southern corner.
An explosion Thursday morning killed two suspected militants and wounded a third in Dagestan near the border with Chechnya. Police said the men may have been transporting a makeshift bomb. The day before, two suicide bombings in Dagestan killed 12 people, including nine policemen, a frequent target of attacks because they represent Russian authority.
The suicide bombings on the Moscow subway killed 39 people on Monday and have left nearly 90 hospitalized.
Federal Security Service director Alexander Bortnikov said the organizers of the Moscow attacks have been identified as "bandits" from the Northern Caucasus, and some have been detained.
"We know the personalities of organizers," he said in televised remarks. "We have detained a number of people, conducted interrogations, got evidence."
Medvedev said much more needed to be done to stop the attacks.
"The measures to fight terrorism should be expanded, they should be more effective, more harsh, more cruel," he said during a televised meeting with local officials.
In recent months, police and security forces have killed at least two high-profile Islamic militants, but they have been unable to capture the veteran Chechen militant Doku Umarov, who has claimed responsibility for the Moscow subway attacks.
"We have torn of the heads of the most notorious bandits, but clearly this was not enough. In any case, we will find them all and punish them," Medvedev said.
Swat operation saved country from terrorism
MINGORA: Lieutenant General Masood Alam, corps commander of Peshawar, on Wednesday said that successful military operation in Swat saved the entire country from the wave of militancy and terrorism.
He was addressing the soldiers in Frontier Constabulary (FC) camp in Kanju during his visit to Swat district. Operational commander for Swat Major General Ashfaq Nadeem, Brigadier Salman Akbar, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Police Malakand Division Qazi Jamilur Rehman and Commissioner Malakand Fazal Karim Khattak were also present on the occasion.
The corps commander said the militants were on the run from the area to Afghanistan and other tribal areas. He said those who had been arrested would be produced in the court of law. He said the role of Pakistan Army was to check the foreign aggression and safeguard borders and nobody would be allowed to harm national solidarity.
He said the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Maulana Fazlullah had tried to establish a state within state and challenged the writ of the government. He reminded that the provincial government had held talks and signed peace agreements with the militants but to no avail. The corps commander maintained that the security forces were compelled to take action against the TTP militants as they were carrying out terrorist activities.
He was addressing the soldiers in Frontier Constabulary (FC) camp in Kanju during his visit to Swat district. Operational commander for Swat Major General Ashfaq Nadeem, Brigadier Salman Akbar, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Police Malakand Division Qazi Jamilur Rehman and Commissioner Malakand Fazal Karim Khattak were also present on the occasion.
The corps commander said the militants were on the run from the area to Afghanistan and other tribal areas. He said those who had been arrested would be produced in the court of law. He said the role of Pakistan Army was to check the foreign aggression and safeguard borders and nobody would be allowed to harm national solidarity.
He said the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Maulana Fazlullah had tried to establish a state within state and challenged the writ of the government. He reminded that the provincial government had held talks and signed peace agreements with the militants but to no avail. The corps commander maintained that the security forces were compelled to take action against the TTP militants as they were carrying out terrorist activities.
UN Delays Release of Bhutto Assassination Inquiry Report
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday accepted a request from Pakistan's president to delay until April 15 the release of a report on the December 2007 assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The report was to have been released on Tuesday.
At the request of the Pakistani government, the Secretary-General appointed an independent commission last June to investigate the assassination of Ms. Bhutto. The commission, led by Chilean Ambassador to the U.N. Heraldo Munoz, interviewed a number of people, including several high ranking government officials in Pakistan.
Mr. Ban's spokesman, Martin Nesirky, says the commission examined all "relevant facts and circumstances" into Ms. Bhutto's murder. He says the report is being held back because of an "urgent," overnight request Mr. Ban received from Ms. Bhutto's widower - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari. "This was an independent commission, set up by the Secretary-General. It was a request that came from the authorities - the government in Pakistan. Therefore, if a request is received from the head of state and government of a country, then the Secretary-General has to consider that. And he [Mr. Ban] has decided to accept this request for a delay in the presentation of the report," he said.
Nesirky says neither the Secretary-General nor the government of Pakistan has seen the report's contents. "The intention is that it will not be seen by the Pakistan government until the 15th [of April]," he said.
Earlier, a U.N. official who had been briefed on the commission's conclusions told VOA that the report faulted the Pakistani government for failing to adequately protect Benazir Bhutto and for scrubbing down the crime scene soon after she was killed.
Efforts to reach the Pakistani U.N. Mission to ask why the government requested the delay were unsuccessful. A spokeswoman for the head of the commission declined to give a statement because, she said, the commission had just been notified of the delay.
Although Pakistan and the United States initially blamed Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud for Ms. Bhutto's death, close allies of the former prime minister assert that government officials or her political rivals might have played a role.
The independent commission was supposed to submit its report at the end of last year, but Mr. Ban extended its mandate because of what he said was a "substantial amount of information" collected by investigators, and the need for more investigation.
After the report is delivered to the Pakistani authorities, it will be up to them to determine who is criminally responsible for Ms. Bhutto's death.
Afghanistan is World's Top Hashish Producer
A new U.N. survey shows Afghanistan is not only the world's top opium producer, but it has surpassed Morocco in becoming the top global producer of hashish. From Paris, our correspondent has more on the findings by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.
The U.N. survey adds to international concern about Afghanistan's drug cultivation. While Afghanistan is not the world's-largest producer of cannabis in terms of acreage, it tops the list when it comes to producing hashish from the crop.
Overall, the study by the Vienna-based U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime found Afghan farmers produce between 1,500 and 3,500 tons of hashish per year.
Like opium, of which Afghanistan is also the world's top producer, cultivation of cannabis is largely concentrated in the more unstable south.
UN drugs office spokesman Walter Kemp says there is some good news in the report, farmers in other parts of the country appear to be turning away from drug cultivation.
"We see generally throughout the country, farmers in areas not in the south of the country are turning to alternatives, because they know that growing these illicit crops is illegal," said Walter Kemp. "Slowly, slowly, development assistance is coming through. The government and provincial governors are able to enforce the law better. International forces are also having their impact."
Afghanistan's illegal drugs industry amounts to a $3-billion a year business controlled by gangs and militants. The narcotics are smuggled through central Asian and Balkans routes and end up for sale in Russia, Western Europe and Asia.
Kemp says there are also serious concerns about the level of drug addiction among the Afghan population.
"The indications are that it is a serious problem in terms of opium consumption and also cannabis," he said. "But we will only have the hard date in the next few months."
The U.N. office also has a message for the international community.
"We are saying to governments that you have a strong responsibility not only to improve the situation in Afghanistan, but to stop the addiction in your own countries, which is driving this whole drugs trade," said Kemp.
In other words, the United Nations says fighting drug production and trade goes hand in hand with fighting the insurgency in Afghanistan.
The U.N. survey adds to international concern about Afghanistan's drug cultivation. While Afghanistan is not the world's-largest producer of cannabis in terms of acreage, it tops the list when it comes to producing hashish from the crop.
Overall, the study by the Vienna-based U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime found Afghan farmers produce between 1,500 and 3,500 tons of hashish per year.
Like opium, of which Afghanistan is also the world's top producer, cultivation of cannabis is largely concentrated in the more unstable south.
UN drugs office spokesman Walter Kemp says there is some good news in the report, farmers in other parts of the country appear to be turning away from drug cultivation.
"We see generally throughout the country, farmers in areas not in the south of the country are turning to alternatives, because they know that growing these illicit crops is illegal," said Walter Kemp. "Slowly, slowly, development assistance is coming through. The government and provincial governors are able to enforce the law better. International forces are also having their impact."
Afghanistan's illegal drugs industry amounts to a $3-billion a year business controlled by gangs and militants. The narcotics are smuggled through central Asian and Balkans routes and end up for sale in Russia, Western Europe and Asia.
Kemp says there are also serious concerns about the level of drug addiction among the Afghan population.
"The indications are that it is a serious problem in terms of opium consumption and also cannabis," he said. "But we will only have the hard date in the next few months."
The U.N. office also has a message for the international community.
"We are saying to governments that you have a strong responsibility not only to improve the situation in Afghanistan, but to stop the addiction in your own countries, which is driving this whole drugs trade," said Kemp.
In other words, the United Nations says fighting drug production and trade goes hand in hand with fighting the insurgency in Afghanistan.
Zardari wanted U.N. to quiz Rice, Karzai over Bhutto killing
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari asked the U.N. to delay a report on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto as he wanted investigators to quiz four personalities, including former U.S. top diplomat Condoleezza Rice, who had prior information on threats to her life.
Mr. Zardari is “said to have quietly given names of four international personalities — U.S. ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Saudi Arabian intelligence chief Prince Muqrin (bin Abdul Aziz) and the UAE intelligence chief — to the U.N. inquiry commission to ask them: How did they know the secret in advance that Benazir Bhutto would be killed?,” The News daily reported on Thursday.
The U.N. commission has been asked to meet these “four indirect witnesses” before submitting its report on Bhutto’s assassination in 2007, the paper said quoting its sources.
This new information had also resolved a two-and-half year old mystery about which two countries had warned Bhutto about a possible attack on her life when she returned to Pakistan from self-exile in October 2007, the report said.
It identified the two countries as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, “whose intelligence chiefs had warned the Pakistan People’s Party chairperson (about) threats to her life”.
It added that Prince Muqrin had warned Bhutto about threats to her life.
The report claimed that the U.N. commission was making contacts with the four personalities to “seek explanations from them as how did they already (know of) threats” to Bhutto’s life.
It quoted sources as saying that Mr. Zardari believed the “inside information” that could be shared by these four personalities “might greatly help the inquiry commission to identify the real killers whose secret plans somehow reached the intelligence agencies of Afghanistan, the U.S., UAE and Saudi Arabia, and which turned out to be prophetically correct”.
Pakistan’s permanent representative to the U.N. Hussain Haroon held talks with U.N. officials in New York to convince them that it was important to interview these four personalities, the report claimed.
Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar has said that Mr. Zardari wanted three friendly countries that had warned Bhutto before her return to Pakistan to share information with the U.N. commission.
Mr. Babar did not name these countries but media reports have said they are Afghanistan, UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Babar said one of these countries has shared its views with the U.N. commission and hoped the other two would also do so.
The News also quoted its sources as saying that Mr. Zardari was “not satisfied with the U.N. report” on the killing of Bhutto after he learnt that commission which was paid over half a billion rupees by the government of Pakistan to meet its expenses, did not contact the four international personalities.
The sources said Mr. Zardari knew the information given by these personalities to Bhutto as she kept him informed about these warnings.
Hours before her assassination, she had also told Mr. Zardari that Mr. Karzai had informed her that Afghan intelligence had information about a possible attack on her.
The sources said Ms. Rice was a “potential witness” because the U.S. provided a “steady stream of intelligence” to Bhutto about threats to her and advised her aides on improving her security.
The source said senior U.S. diplomats had multiple conversations, including at least two private face-to-face meetings, with top members of the Pakistan People’s Party to discuss threats to Bhutto’s life and review her security arrangements after a suicide attack on her motorcade the day she returned to Pakistan from exile in October 2007.
Mr. Zardari is “said to have quietly given names of four international personalities — U.S. ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Saudi Arabian intelligence chief Prince Muqrin (bin Abdul Aziz) and the UAE intelligence chief — to the U.N. inquiry commission to ask them: How did they know the secret in advance that Benazir Bhutto would be killed?,” The News daily reported on Thursday.
The U.N. commission has been asked to meet these “four indirect witnesses” before submitting its report on Bhutto’s assassination in 2007, the paper said quoting its sources.
This new information had also resolved a two-and-half year old mystery about which two countries had warned Bhutto about a possible attack on her life when she returned to Pakistan from self-exile in October 2007, the report said.
It identified the two countries as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, “whose intelligence chiefs had warned the Pakistan People’s Party chairperson (about) threats to her life”.
It added that Prince Muqrin had warned Bhutto about threats to her life.
The report claimed that the U.N. commission was making contacts with the four personalities to “seek explanations from them as how did they already (know of) threats” to Bhutto’s life.
It quoted sources as saying that Mr. Zardari believed the “inside information” that could be shared by these four personalities “might greatly help the inquiry commission to identify the real killers whose secret plans somehow reached the intelligence agencies of Afghanistan, the U.S., UAE and Saudi Arabia, and which turned out to be prophetically correct”.
Pakistan’s permanent representative to the U.N. Hussain Haroon held talks with U.N. officials in New York to convince them that it was important to interview these four personalities, the report claimed.
Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar has said that Mr. Zardari wanted three friendly countries that had warned Bhutto before her return to Pakistan to share information with the U.N. commission.
Mr. Babar did not name these countries but media reports have said they are Afghanistan, UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Babar said one of these countries has shared its views with the U.N. commission and hoped the other two would also do so.
The News also quoted its sources as saying that Mr. Zardari was “not satisfied with the U.N. report” on the killing of Bhutto after he learnt that commission which was paid over half a billion rupees by the government of Pakistan to meet its expenses, did not contact the four international personalities.
The sources said Mr. Zardari knew the information given by these personalities to Bhutto as she kept him informed about these warnings.
Hours before her assassination, she had also told Mr. Zardari that Mr. Karzai had informed her that Afghan intelligence had information about a possible attack on her.
The sources said Ms. Rice was a “potential witness” because the U.S. provided a “steady stream of intelligence” to Bhutto about threats to her and advised her aides on improving her security.
The source said senior U.S. diplomats had multiple conversations, including at least two private face-to-face meetings, with top members of the Pakistan People’s Party to discuss threats to Bhutto’s life and review her security arrangements after a suicide attack on her motorcade the day she returned to Pakistan from exile in October 2007.
Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa new name for NWFP: Consensus at last
ISLAMABAD: The Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms on Wednesday concluded a landmark task by finalising its recommendations for the draft 18th amendment bill, after it arrived at a consensus on the renaming of the NWFP and the composition of the judicial commission.
The 26-member committee headed by Mian Raza Rabbani signed the final draft of the amendment package at the Parliament House and the draft is likely to be tabled in parliament in the next couple of days.
Renaming: In Wednesday’s deliberations, the Awami National Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz agreed to rename the NWFP Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa. However, the PML-Q and the PPP-Sherpao wrote a “note of reiteration” over the clause and vowed to vote against it whenever the draft is moved in parliament for approval.
PML-N demands: The parliamentary committee also included PML-N’s demands regarding the composition of the proposed judicial commission. The PML-N had demanded that the appointment of judges to superior courts should be based on the chief justice’s recommendations, who
must have the authority to appoint a retired judge, who never took oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO), as seventh member of the proposed commission. The committee also decided that the law minister, instead of the attorney general, would represent the government in the commission.
PPP-Sherpao chief Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said his party supported Pakhtoonkhwa as the new name for the NWFP, as the provincial assembly had adopted a resolution in its favour. PML-Q’s Amir Muqam called the proposed name for the NWFP “highly biased”, fearing it will create linguistic rifts in the province.
Under the proposed package, the Council of Common Interest has been given additional powers and the provinces have been given more say on national matters by enhancing their representation in the council, which would be authorised to deal with all subjects put under part-2 of the federal list. The committee also proposed the abolition of Article 58(2b), which empowers the president to dissolve parliament.
The 26-member committee headed by Mian Raza Rabbani signed the final draft of the amendment package at the Parliament House and the draft is likely to be tabled in parliament in the next couple of days.
Renaming: In Wednesday’s deliberations, the Awami National Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz agreed to rename the NWFP Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa. However, the PML-Q and the PPP-Sherpao wrote a “note of reiteration” over the clause and vowed to vote against it whenever the draft is moved in parliament for approval.
PML-N demands: The parliamentary committee also included PML-N’s demands regarding the composition of the proposed judicial commission. The PML-N had demanded that the appointment of judges to superior courts should be based on the chief justice’s recommendations, who
must have the authority to appoint a retired judge, who never took oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO), as seventh member of the proposed commission. The committee also decided that the law minister, instead of the attorney general, would represent the government in the commission.
PPP-Sherpao chief Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said his party supported Pakhtoonkhwa as the new name for the NWFP, as the provincial assembly had adopted a resolution in its favour. PML-Q’s Amir Muqam called the proposed name for the NWFP “highly biased”, fearing it will create linguistic rifts in the province.
Under the proposed package, the Council of Common Interest has been given additional powers and the provinces have been given more say on national matters by enhancing their representation in the council, which would be authorised to deal with all subjects put under part-2 of the federal list. The committee also proposed the abolition of Article 58(2b), which empowers the president to dissolve parliament.