Beyond the Attacks

Riddle is certianly the right word to define Pakistan's political circumstances - as suggested by Jayshree Bajoria in her article in Council on Foreign relations website. Pakistan has the most diverse group of situations all jumbled into absolute caos. It's hard to believe that the country is still able to function with all these shortcomings and with the presence of many potentially dangerous elements that could spin the situation out of control at any given moment.

The existance of anti west, stubborn groups that are willing to go violent is hard enough for western powers to swollow. Add to it, the existance of neuclear capability of any sort alongwith corrupt admisitration, makes any western leader shiver in their dreams.

And if that's not enough, there's political instability in shape of corrupt political parties who have all had some share of power at least once and will do anything to get it back - hostile neighbours (not just India) that would take any oppertunity to undermine whatever stability pakistan does have - Military dictatorship, that west seems to have come into terms with but thinks it's not bearing fruits any more - and the world renowned secret services that are out of control.

More recently an independent private digital media and rejuvinated judiciary and Courts0 have also entered the mix to make it even more complicated and out of control.

Even though most western newspapers and magazines focus on the War on Terror and any violent attempt is attributed to the Islamists, Taliban or Al-Qaeda (NewsWeek)- like Attacks on Benazir Bhutto (BBC News) that clearly have footprints of internal power struggle than Al-Qaeda. Benazir also endorsed this in her letter to President naming people that are either part of the government, had a hand in setting up corruption cases against her, or the ex-ISI cheif who she's had a personal vandetta with for a while. Even though the war on terror has a very little direct impact internally yet it does have indirect implications. In the war on terror general public opinion inclines more towards anti western sentiment for supposedly dragging pakistan into this war by indirect threats than the sympathy towards western need to engage in this war.

Aftermath of Benazir Attacks

'US contingency plan for Pak needed' (Times of India)
The US government should prepare a 'contingency plan' for Pakistan in case Pervez Musharraf regime falls because of presence of nuclear weapons, a top opposition lawmaker has said...

Pakistani politics gets dirty after Bhutto attack (Reuters)
KARACHI (Reuters) - Bad blood between Benazir Bhutto and President Pervez Musharraf's allies in Pakistan bubbled to the surface on Tuesday, after an attack on the opposition leader that killed 139 people four days earlier.

Female suicide squad threatens to attack Bhutto (Times of India)
Farooq Naik, a senior lawyer, said that the chairperson of the Pakistan People's Party had received a letter purportedly written by the leader of a female suicide squad...

Pakistan considers procession ban (Al-Jazeera)
Plan comes as a minister rejects Bhutto's demand for foreign help in attack probe...

Benazir mulls ''virtual'' rallies (The News Pakistan)
WASHINGTON: Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto said Tuesday she is considering "virtual" mass rallies and campaigning via phone to avoid mass viol...

ISI & Terrorism as per CFR-US

Below is the viewpoint of the Council of Foreign Relations about Pakistan's ISI. It is very relevent within the sphere of - Pakistani politics - especially after the twin blasts in the Benazir Bhutto's homecoming procession - the global(Bush's) war on terrorism - and India and Afghanistan's claims of ISI's involvement.

ISI's Background and the viewpoint of The Council Of Foreign Relations-US

Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has long faced accusations of meddling in the affairs of its neighbors. A range of officials inside and outside Pakistan have stepped up suggestions of links between the ISI and terrorist groups in recent years. In autumn 2006, a leaked report by a British Defense Ministry think tank charged, “Indirectly Pakistan (through the ISI) has been supporting terrorism and extremism—whether in London on 7/7, or in Afghanistan, or Iraq.” ...

Oct 19th - Bomb in Karachi

126 dead as blasts hit near former PM Bhutto in Pakistan (Jerusalem Post)
Suicide bombing hurts hundreds as crowd welcomes the former premier after eight years in exile; Bhutto remains unhurt...

Bombs Target Bhutto Procession in Pakistan (Wall Street Journal)
Bhutto was targeted by twin bombings that killed up to 126 in Karachi. The former premier, who wasn't injured, returned to Pakistan earlier in the day after an eight-year exile...

India condemns attack on Bhutto in Pakistan (The News Pakistan)
NEW DELHI: India condemned on Friday the bloody attack that targeted former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi and urged determined ac...

SC adjourns Musharraf re-election case till Monday (The News Pakistan)
ISLAMABAD: An 11-member bench of the Supreme Court hearing petitions against the legality of president General Pervez Musharraf’s October 6 election w...

President orders for report on blasts within 48 hours
RAWALPINDI: President General Pervez Musharraf has issued directives to intelligence agencies for submitting report on Karachi bomb blasts within 48 h...

Thur-Oct 11th ki Khabrein

Bhutto sticks to Pakistan return (Al-Jazeera)
The former prime minister rejects a call by Pervez Musharraf to delay her return. Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister of Pakistan, is set to return to the country next week despite Pervez Musharraf, the president, calling for her to wait until the legality of his re-election is decided...

India PM meets IAEA head as nuclear deal clock ticks (Reuters)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog head, Mohamed ElBaradei, made a strong pitch for the India-U.S. nuclear deal on Wednesday saying it was essential for India's economic growth, despite concerns a domestic row could scupper the pact...

Musharraf tells Benazir to delay return (The Hindu)
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has asked former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to delay her return to Pakistan from a self-imposed exile till the Supreme Court decides on petitions challenging his re-election...

Thousands protest Western-style stores in India (Reuters)
MUMBAI (Reuters) - More than 20,000 traders, farmers and shopkeepers protested on Wednesday against the entry of private retail giants like Wal-Mart into India which they say would destroy millions of livelihoods...

US to continue cooperation with Pakistan: Townsend (The News Pakistan)
WASHINGTON: The White House reiterated that Pakistan''s president, Pervez Musharraf, had been a helpful ally in fighting terrorism and Pakistan offered...

Benazir, Zardari, Sherpao file petitions for withdrawal of references (The News Pakistan)
ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, her spouse Asif Ali Zardari and federal minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao have filed petitions in Acc...

Mon-Oct 8th ki Khabrein

The Power Elite Playbook, the Anglo-American Chessboard Part 4 - The People's Voice (ThePeoplesVoice)
The People's Voice The Power Elite Playbook, the Anglo-American Chessboard Part 4 The People's Voice, TN - 20 minutes ago A decade or two is irrelevant to the ultimate establishment of the North American Union (a step towards one world government ) which was formally organized ...

Majority of Pakistanis term Musharraf an ideal leader: US survey ( The News Pakistan)
WASHINGTON: President General Pervez Musharraf, an obvious and ideal choice for leadership of Pakistan in comparison to Ms. Benazir Bhutto and Mian…

Chopper escorting Musharraf crashes (Times Of India)
Four soldiers on board the chopper have died. The President's spokesman, Rashid Qureshi, was also on the chopper which crashed in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir…

IAEA chief arrives in India as nuclear row rages (Reuters)
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog head arrives in India on Monday on a long scheduled trip that has turned into a potential political flashpoint as a nuclear deal with the United States threatens to spark snap elections.

Here's what I found fer ya ! ! ! ! !

Who is Musharraf ? ? ?

FACTBOX: Five facts about Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf(Reuters)

Here are five facts about Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf:

1) The second of three brothers, Musharraf was born into a middle class Muslim family in India in August 1943. His family moved to the newly created majority-Muslim state of Pakistan following India's independence and partition in 1947. He spent seven years in Turkey, during his civil servant father's posting to Ankara. In 1956 the family settled in Karachi, where Musharraf attended Roman Catholic and other Christian schools.

2) Entering the Pakistan Military Academy in 1961, the keen sportsman and career military man first saw action as a young officer in the 1965 war against India, which saw him decorated for gallantry. Marrying in 1968, he endured the army's humiliating defeat by India in the 1971 war and served voluntarily for seven years in Pakistan's special service commandos group.

3) Promoted to the rank of general and named army chief in October, 1998, Musharraf seized power from then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999 in a bloodless coup. He first led the country as chief executive and then won a five-year presidential term in a 2002 referendum critics say was rigged.

4) One of President George W. Bush's most important non-NATO allies in Washington's war on terrorism, supporters paint Musharraf as a strong leader who can save Pakistan's moderate Muslim majority from militant, religious extremism seeping intocities from tribal areas along the northwest frontier. However a bloody army assault on Islamabad's Red Mosque in July, during which 102 people were killed, led to a rise in attacks by Islamist militants that have killed several hundred people.

5) A failed attempt to sack Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in March created a judicial and political crisis. Musharraf's popularity slumped and the Supreme Court reinstated Chaudhry. With exiled ex-leaders Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif threatening to return, Musharraf has made some pre-election concessions -- dropping long-standing graft charges against Bhutto, and designating a successor to take over as army chief so he can finally shed his uniform and be sworn in as a civilian president by November 15.

Source: Reuters, Presidential Web site (www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/Biography.aspx)

Aaj ki Khabrein

US, Russia dominate arms sales to developing countries (Jerusalem Post)
According US congressional report, military rivals Pakistan and India top the list as buyers, followed by Saudi Arabia and Venezuela...

Bhutto amnesty signed by Musharraf (Al-Jazeera)
Pakistan's president grants amnesty for former leader, boosting power-sharing deal...

Pakistan awaits court ruling on vote, Bhutto deal (Reuters)
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court is expected to rule on Friday on whether to suspend an election President Pervez Musharraf is set to win, just as he closes in on a power-sharing deal with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto...

Musharraf, Bhutto Strike Accord (Wall Street Journal)
Musharraf and Bhutto struck a tentative deal designed to allow the old foes to shepherd Pakistan from military rule to civilian government amid political tensions and militant violence...

'Army has no role in politics' (Times Of India)
The military ruler, who came to power 8 years ago in a bloodless coup by ousting former PM Nawaz Sharif, is seeking a second term in the October 6 presidential poll...

Hearing of petitions challenging Musharraf’s nomination completed (The News Pakistan)
ISLAMABAD: A 10-member larger bench of the Supreme Court completed hearing of the constitutional petitions Friday, challenging validation of General Musharraf...

Pak prez polls: SC gives go ahead (Times Of India)
Pakistan's Supreme Court has ruled that the weekend elections expected to extend President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's eight-year rule can proceed as planned...

Aaj Ki Khabrein

Pakistan's Bhutto optimistic about Musharraf deal ( Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) - Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said on Thursday she was optimistic that a political deal could be reached with President Pervez Musharraf, but had yet to hammer out a conclusive text.

Iran has right to pursue peaceful nuclear program: India (The News, Pakistan)
NEW DELHI: India has said that Iran has right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme for peaceful purposes. Maintaining that India has the best

Pak power-sharing talks in final stage (Times Of India)
The statement by Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, a minister close to President Musharraf, came as Bhutto said in London that the government is about to issue an amnesty.

Musharraf admits ISI's role in politics (Times Of India)
The Pakistan president has said that the military and intelligence set-up should have no political role so as to allow an impartial and transparent general election.

Aaj ki Khabrein...

Talks with Musharraf totally stalled, says Bhutto
The former Pakistani premier dismissed the amnesty offer over corruption cases and termed it a disinformation campaign...

Musharraf may share power with Bhutto: Report
A media report quoted a Cabinet minister as saying that Musharraf will not hesitate to share power with Bhutto, if she gains enough seats to be part of a government...

Pakistan's Bhutto says talks with Musharraf stalled
LONDON (Reuters) - Talks with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf aimed a reaching a power-sharing deal have...

Benazir has a place in future political set-up in Pak.: Rice
WASHINGTON: Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto does hold a position in the evolving situation in Pakistan but the people would have to determine when...

Musharraf’s candidature: SC issues notices to parties
ISLAMABAD: A larger bench of Supreme Court Wednesday issued notices to the parties and Attorney General during hearing of three constitutional petitio...

Musharraf says to doff uniform by Nov. 15 after re-election
ISLAMABAD: President Pervez Musharraf has said he will doff military uniform till Nov. 15 after getting re-elected on October 06. The president...

Daily News

Former ISI chief to succeed Musharraf as Army chief
ISLAMABAD: The former head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, will succeed President Pervez Musharraf as Army chief, a military statement said, but gave no date for the succession. Promoted to the rank ...

Bhutto not to be prosecuted for corruption
Pakistan government's move to grant an amnesty from prosecution to the former premier, satisfied one of her key demands for a power-sharing deal with Musharraf.

Pakistan to Throw Out Bhutto Charges
Musharraf named a trusted ally to take over as head of Pakistan's army, and began steps toward giving Bhutto amnesty on corruption charges, in moves aimed at cementing his power should he be re-elected president Saturday.