Pakistan a mortal threat to world: Hillary Clinton

Pakistan A Threat to World Security

A stunned Obama administration said on Wednesday that Pakistan posed a "mortal threat" to the United States and world after a rampant Taliban moved to within 60 miles of Islamabad by taking control of Buner district just outside the capital region.

The rapid advance of heavily armed and un-uniformed Taliban towards Pakistan's capital region, home to the country's army (headquartered in nearby Rawalpindi) and much of its nuclear assets (in nearby Kahuta), is sending shock waves across Washington. Administration officials, lawmakers, and South Asia experts are tripping over each other to express grave concern and offer prescriptions to tackle the deteriorating situation.

At a Congressional hearing on US foreign policy priorities, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reflected some of the urgency and panic when she implicitly blamed the Pakistani government, the army, and civil society for ceding space and territory to the advancing Taliban without a fight.

"Pakistan poses a mortal threat to the security and safety of our country and the world," Clinton said. "And I want to take this occasion ... state unequivocally that not only do the Pakistani government officials, but the Pakistani people and the Pakistani diaspora ... need to speak out forcefully against a policy that is ceding more and more territory to the insurgents ..."

Not enough voices are being heard against the Taliban's progress, she added.

Clinton's blunt remarks are the strongest to come from Washington, where typically, administration officials and regional experts have previously put their trust in Islamabad's bonafides and accepted its word that it was fighting terrorism. For the first time, the US is now saying Pakistan is not; and in fact, it is abdicating its responsibility.

President Obama meanwhile invited President Zardari of Pakistan and President Karzai of Afghanistan to Washington to discuss the speedy developments that seems to have stunned Washington. The three-way talks are likely to take place May 7-8.

Also this week, Washington's top general Admiral Mike Mullen, rushed to Islamabad in what is turning out to be a monthly sortie to get a handle on the situation.

In an interview on CNN, Pakistan's ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani insisted the situation was not so serious and the government in Islamabad was in control of the developments.

Contesting reports about Taliban advancing to within 60 miles of Islamabad, Haqqani split hairs while maintaining US officials were making "factual errors." Islamabad was 60 miles from Buner "as the crow flies" and longer if one took into account that Swat is a isolated valley across mountains, he said. Pakistan's peace deal was also with a movement which supports Taliban and not Taliban itself, he added.

But at the Congressional hearing, Clinton told worried lawmakers that Taliban's advance poses "an existential threat" to Pakistan and urged Pakistanis worldwide to oppose a government policy that is yielding to them.

"(We) cannot underscore the seriousness of the existential threat posed to the state of Pakistan by the continuing advances now within hours of Islamabad that are being made by a loosely confederated group of terrorists and others who are seeking the overthrow of the Pakistani state," Clinton said.

"I don't hear that kind of outrage or concern coming from enough people that would reverberate back within the highest echelons of the civilian and military leadership of Pakistan," she added.

Lawmakers too expressed immense concern over the deteriorating situation amid a stream of stories in the US media from Pakistan even as Iraq has faded into the background.

The House International Relations Committee chairman Howard Berman, a Democrat from California, said that he and several other Congressional colleagues who had just returned from a trip to India and Pakistan were happy at the dramatically improved ties with India, but deeply concerned about the security situation in Pakistan.

"We cannot allow al-Qaida or any other terrorist group that threatens our national security to operate with impunity in the tribal regions (of Pakistan)," Berman said, adding, "Nor can we permit the Pakistani state - and its nuclear arsenal - to be taken over by the Taliban or any other radical groups, or otherwise be destabilised in a manner that could lead to renewed conflict with India."

Clinton assured lawmakers that the US is advancing its relationship with India as part of a wide-ranging diplomatic agenda to meet today's "daunting challenges" topped by the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

AQ Khan is the world's greatest proliferator: USA

AQ Khan is the world's greatest proliferator: US

Describing Pakistan's rogue nuclear scientist A Q Khan as "probably the world's greatest proliferator," the US has said that thedamage he has caused is "incalculable." World Nations are slowly realising this that how, deliberatelypakistani govermet & Rogue pakistani Army allowed the Nuclear Smuggler ( A.Q.Khan )to profilerate nuclear technology to all rogue nations around the world to save their ass.

"With respect to A Q Khan, there's no doubt he is probably the world's greatest proliferator. The damage that he's done around the world has been incalculable," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday in response to a question from a lawmaker at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

"We have made it very clear that the network had to be dismantled and it was. There are people who were connected with A Q Khan who are out of business or who were imprisoned. And there are ongoing efforts to continue to obtain useful information," Clinton said.

Khan, 73, was slapped with US sanctions along with those on his network. He was put under house arrest in 2004 by then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf after he admitted having passed nuclear know-how to North Korea and Iran.

Khan was released by a Pakistani court from house arrest in February this year.

Pak Major General visited Terrorists training camps: Kasab

"Are you ready for jung (war)?" top Lashkar-e-Toiba operatives Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur Rahman Lakhvi asked Ajmal Amir Kasab and his fellow terrorists. "Yes, we are," they replied. "The duo told us that they had been fighting Indian forces in Kashmir for 15 years, and that we had to attack Hindustan from within by targeting its major cities."

This is part of the chilling 37-page confession made by Kasab that was read out for the first time in the special trial court on Friday. The confession — which was later retracted by Kasab, who said it was given under coercion — reveals the manner in which the plot to attack Mumbai was meticulously planned and ruthlessly executed.

Referring repeatedly to his "Klashan" (an AK-47 rifle), Kasab laid bare the intensive training that went into wielding the automatic weapon, turning it into an instrument of mass destruction. Kasab and nine other terrorists were carefully watched by "ustads" (trainers) who imparted not just arms training, but also held indoctrination sessions.

The attackers were told they were targeting India's economic might by shooting down foreign nationals in Mumbai. "We had to attack places such as Malabar Hill, the Taj and Oberoi Hotels that were frequented by foreigners. We had to specifically kill Americans, British and Israelis," Kasab's confession says.

"Lakhvi and Saeed divided us into pairs — the buddy system. He made five buddy teams of us 10 mujahids. Lakhvi said that on the 27th day of Ramzan, we would launch a fidayeen attack on Mumbai," said Kasab. "We had to set fire to Taj and Oberoi Hotels and also plant bombs around them. The bombs were meant to lead to chaos and traffic jams. This would have prevented security forces from reaching us on time," he continues.

At CST, Kasab was ordered to fire indiscriminately and "not distinguish between Hindus and Muslims". But the brief was different for the hotel sieges: the terrorists were told to single out foreigners and spare the Muslims.

An enigmatic character who crops up in Kasab's statement is a "Major General Sahab" who visited a camp at Baitul Mujahid to oversee their progress and skills. Kasab claims to be the best shooter of the group and Imran Babar, the worst.

Skills to hoodwink the Indian naval and police forces were also part of a one-month training module. The terror recruits were taught to pretend to be fishermen and assume false identities. Kasab was `Sunil Devesh Chaudhary' from Hyderabad. "We were trained to go without food for 60 hours, but yet be able to climb mountains with a heavy bag," he says in his confession, adding that "this training was very difficult and tough, and 10 cadet mujahids ran away".

More
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_Pakistan
www.cfr.org/publication/9514/
www.danielpipes.org/comments/2859

China's Tactical Support to Pakistan Terrorism Troubling China Itself

Terrorists-hit Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region has signed a deal for developing friendly relations across the border with the politically volatile North Western Frontier Province of Pakistan. The deal is expected to help China obtain the support from local leaders in NWFP, most of whom are independent of the Zardari regime in Islamabad, to cut off the links between separatists in Xinjiang and terrorists across the border in Pakistan.

Beijing also wants help to track down Xinjiang rebels hiding in Pakistan. sources said. It comes soon after the athiest Communist Party of China signed an agreement with the Jamat-e-Islami in Pakistan. Both agreements suggest that China has lost hope in the Zardari government's ability to help it in the area of tacking terrorists. Beijing is now dealing with Pakistan at the level of its domestic politics.

The agreement comes in the wake of intense crack down on Islamic rebels in Xinjiang, who are known for getting arms and training support from terrorists’ bases in Pakistan. The Chinese ministry of public security had earlier released details of several Xinjiang terrorists while suggesting that most of them had been trained in Pakistan. The Muslim dominated Xinjiang region is a hotbed of a separatist movement for creation of an independent East Turkmenistan nation of Uighur.

This comes within a week of the Tibetan provincial government signing an agreement on developing trade and friendly exchanges with the government of Nepal. Kathmandu is playing a key role in helping Chinese leaders to track down Tibetan rebels, who escape from China and seek shelter in the Himalayan kingdom.

Though these agreements talk of developing trade and cultural exchanges across the border, they are obviously meant for sensitive political purposes. Beijing is obviously pushing provincial governments along international borders to play a more active role in dealing with neighbouring countries in the political sphere.

The central governments of China and Pakistan are apparently behind which what is being described as a move to develop “friendly provincial level relationship”. The deal was signed in Urumqi, the Xinjiang provincial capital by Pakistan’s ambassador Masood Khan and Xinjiang’s governor Nur Baikeli on Tuesday.

China is engaged in broadening the Karakoram highway, which passes through the Khunjerab Pass at an altitude of 4,693 meters connecting Xinjing with NWFP. Islamabad has been trying to persuade China to use this highway as a major international route to bring imported goods from the Gudwar port further up in Pakistan. This is what makes the agreement between Xinjiang and NWFP particularly significant. The deal is also the result of a realisation that the Zardari regime cannot help China control terror.

Speaking on the occasion, Baikeli said the agreement provides an opportunity to enhance economic cooperation and establish joint ventures in the business sphere. He also invited the governor and chief minister of trouble torn NWFP to visit Xinjiang.

"This agreement provides a platform to intensify cooperation in economic, scientific and technological fields between Xinjiang and NWFP", the Pakistani media quoted Masood Khan as saying. He invited Baikeli to visit Pakistan this year.

The deal will help develop close cooperation between NWFP and Xinjiang in the areas of trade, science and technology, culture, education, agriculture, sports, health and tourism, the Chinese media said quoting official sources.

The Hi-Tech Paksitani Terrorists is Ready to strike India

Unholy Jihad of A Rogue Nation

There is a new enemy at the gate. Equipped with GPS systems, satellite phones, detailed maps, winter clothing and, of course, top-notch weaponry. He is "well-trained and motivated" for a head-on confrontation with security forces. And he does not come alone or in small batches.

The Army and paramilitary forces have ramped up a red alert all along the western border with Pakistan
to thwart the deadly designs of the new wave of militants infiltrating across the Line of Control in large groups, without even waiting for the snow to melt like earlier times.

The haste in sending out large number of killers has a scary purpose. Apart from keeping the pot boiling in Kashmir in order to ramp home the point of a Kashmir ``uprising' to the Americans, it is also designed to target leaders in the run-up to the polls and disrupt elections wherever possible.

While the Army has redeployed forces to further strengthen the counter-infiltration grid along the 778-km Line of Control (LoC), home minister P Chidamabarm has directed BSF to maintain a high state of vigil along the International Border (IB) in Rajasthan and Punjab as well.

The alert seems well founded with BSF detecting 1000-odd bunkers constructed by Pakistan Rangers across the international border in Jammu. "These bunkers would certainly help infiltrators enter India from Poonch and Akhnoor centres," said K Rajendra, IDP, Jammu zone. BSF officers said they felt points of ingress could the Chicken neck area, Palanwala, Pargwal, Abdullian, Kanachak and Sawzian.

"There are intelligence inputs that Lashkar-e-Taiba militants might try to sneak across the IB through the fenced border the way they did in Kanachak area in Jammu sector last year," said an official. There were also speculation about Taliban men infiltrating into Kashmir but this is denied by top officials in Delhi.

Officials say the ``tactical'' aim of militants trying to infiltrate into J&K is to disrupt the Lok Sabha polls in the valley, in particular, which stretch from April 16 to May 13. At the same time, the possibility of terrorists gaining quick access through Rajasthan and Punjab to launch terror strikes in the mainland is not ruled out.

That last year's J&K assembly polls were successful and largely violence-free has not gone down well with Pakistan's ISI-Army complex. At that time Pakistan was under US pressure not to create a "diversion" with India and remain focussed on the war against Al Qaida-Taliban. Satellite intercepts had pointed to considerable heartburn among jehadi groups.

It is also felt that by heating up the LoC and instigating long-drawn firefights, the larger ``strategic'' game, covertly guided by Pakistan, could be to drag Kashmir on to US President Barack Obama's agenda by bolstering Islamabad's argument that the Af-Pak theatre was linked to Kashmir. This, Pakistani agencies hope, could lead to Washington pressuring New Delhi to resolve the "regional hotspot".

The violence levels in J&K have certainly shot up. Army and intelligence estimates indicate there are already around 800-900 militants present in J&K, with around 48% of them being of foreign origin. Moreover, another 400 or so from Lashkar, Hizb and Al-Badr cadres are waiting on the "launch pads" along the LoC for an opportunity to cross over. There are still around 40 terror-training camps directed against India operating on Pakistan's soil.

The recent winter-infiltration tactics of the militants, clad in multi-layered winter clothing, equipped with even ice-axes have become a source of concern for the security forces. "Militants used to infiltrate in larger numbers before the LoC fence was erected in 2004. Since then, with the fence slowing them down, the strategy shifted to sneak across in small groups," said a senior officer.

"But suddenly, this year, larger groups of 20-30 militants are trying to infiltrate in one go. They are much better trained and equipped, almost like regular soldiers now. If they are detected, they are ready to hold ground and fight back from positions of advantage," he added.

The new strategy ties down larger number of troops. So much so that even IAF Mi-17 helicopters are now being pressed into service to ferry troops and supplies to faraway encounter sites. IAF helicopters were, in fact, used during the two recent high-voltage encounters. First, a large group of 25 or so heavily-armed militants were intercepted in the Kupwara sector on March 20. Seventeen terrorists and eight soldiers, including an officer, were killed in the fierce five-day gun battle.

Then, the security forces detected another large group of around 35 militants in the Gurez sector on March 25-26. But this time, only one militant was killed, with the others managing to give the security forces the slip.