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Taleban Government Appoints Two New Ministers

FTS19961117000219 Kabul Radio Afghanistan Network in Pashto 1500 GMT 17 Nov 96

Under a decree by his eminence Amir al-Momenin [Mola Mohammad Omar], Mawlawi Ahmad Jan has been appointed as the acting minister of mines and industries and Mawlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani as the acting minister of borders.

Rabbani on Afghan Arabs, Bin-Ladin, Taleban

FTS19961202000853 London AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT in Arabic 02 Dec 96

[Part two of interview with "deposed" Afghan President Borhanoddin Rabbani by Amir Taheri in Paris; date not given]

[Taheri] You are surely aware of the doubts several countries have regarding your government, especially the United States.

[Rabbani] We are, but what we do not know is the real reason behind these doubts. During the jihad against the Soviets some elements attacked our movement as a movement loyal to the Americans because we always insisted on having the closest relations with the United States because the United States, as a superpower, was capable of counterbalancing the Soviet Union at the time, and it supported the liberation war we waged. After the liberation we pursued a policy of close rapprochement with the United States because that best reflected our national interests. I visited Washington and met with (President George) Bush twice. Our message was that Washington should hear what it wished to know about Afghanistan from us and not from other parties or foreign governments.

Before this year the Americans never complained against us on any issue pertaining to our policies or the developments in Afghanistan in general. Early this year Robin Raphel [U.S. assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs] came to see me in Kabul and said that Washington was concerned about the terrorist training camps on Afghan territory. I asked her if she could mention a single location of such camps. She mentioned Jalalabad. I explained to her that Jalalabad was under the control of a council headed by Hajji Qader, the ally of Abdulrab Rasul Sayyaf, both of whom were hostile to the government at the time. I suggested to her that the United States should send a team to investigate the matter. They sent (Senator Hank) Brown. When Brown came to me I told him that he had complete freedom to go anywhere he liked to locate the terrorist camps and that we would then seek to close them down. Nobody told us that that was an urgent matter in the eyes of Washington and its regional allies.

[Taheri] That is really astonishing because the U.S. media had for years been saying that several people involved in "terrorist" operations in the United States, including the perpetrators of New York's World Trade Center explosion, had received training in Afghanistan. You know that some recent attacks on U.S. positions in the region were planned and executed by elements trained and based in Afghanistan.

[Rabbani] That may be so but what has the Afghan Government or our movement got to do with that? During the liberation war our movement (Jam'iyat-e Eslami) continuously opposed the involvement of foreign fighters in our work, because we had an abundance of manpower. Hundreds of thousands of Afghan youths came forward to volunteer as mojahedin and they did well because of their knowledge of their country's terrain and their strong incentive to fight the invaders. We felt that the non-Afghan brothers who really wished to help us could do so by sending us the value of what would be their travel expenses to Afghanistan in cash. We needed funds and arms, not men, but some mojahedin groups did receive foreign volunteers for reasons of their own. The Hezb-e Eslami, with its numerous wings, was active in that field. Those wings were the forces most supported by the United States, Pakistan, and their regional allies. During the war of liberation thousands of foreign volunteers flooded into Pakistan and Afghanistan, encouraged by their governments, including some Gulf states' governments, but few volunteers actually participated in the fighting. At any rate, our forces did not use foreign fighters, although we did use the services of some foreign doctors who came to us as volunteers. After the liberation most of them left Afghanistan. Some settled in Pakistan but the majority went back to their homelands or to other areas in search of other scope for jihad.

[Taheri] You have mentioned the part played by the Hezb-e Eslami wings in the camps of what is now known as "the Afghan Arabs," but Golboddin Hekmatyar, the leader of Hezb-e Eslami, was appointed prime minister in your government. You also entered into alliances with leaders of other wings of that party, such as Yunus Khalis and Sayyaf.

[Rabbani] That is true but these alliances were based on a program which included the exclusion of all armed foreign elements from Afghan territory. Our own government was itself the victim of terrorism for about four years. We helped in the restoration of peace to Tajikistan after years of civil war. What interest would we have in training terrorists to strike at countries whose friendship and aid we badly need?

[Taheri] You mean to say that there were absolutely no foreign armed groups in the territories under your government's control?

[Rabbani] There were camps in Paktia, Konar, and Nangarhar before they came under our control. As soon as we entered into alliances with the wings governing these areas, most of these camps were closed down. Some 10-20 Arab families, with children, were in Jalalabad under the protection of Hajji Qader, but we were assured by the people concerned that they were not armed. Also, Jalaloddin Haqqani, leader of one of the mojahedin groups, looked after the few remaining "Afghan Arabs," against our wish to deport them all from the country.

Another group of "Afghan Arabs" was under the protection of Mawlay Akbari, another local leader. Of course, Qader, Haqqani, and Akbari had close ties with Pakistan. Let me also remind you that the Arabs were not the only people in these camps. There were volunteers of other nationalities, from Kashmir and the Philippines. Does anyone really need reminding that Afghanistan is a country that is landlocked on all sides and that reaching its territory necessitates passing through other countries? So which neighboring countries did the "Afghan Arabs" pass through to enter Afghanistan? I raised this issue with (Benazir) Bhutto on more than one occasion. Fighting foreign terrorism requires cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many "Afghan Arabs" have homes and families in Pakistan. They use Pakistani territory in their travels to their homeland and in fighting their governments. Of course, preventing the use of Afghan territory as a springboard for operations against other countries has been and will continue to be one of our government's political priorities. I have given Egyptian President (Husni) Mubarak and Tunisian President (Zine El Abidine) Ben Ali categorical assurances that no Egyptian or Tunisian nationals use our territory for acts of terrorism.

[Taheri] And yet Hekmatyar participated in a conference of groups and movements held in Khartoum to declare jihad against the United States and its allies, and he also invited Dr. Hasan al-Turabi, general secretary of the Sudanese National Islamic Front, to visit Afghanistan.

[Rabbani] That was before he rejoined the government ranks. I have already said that he was readmitted to the government on the basis of a program including closure of the camps used by foreign fighters. I have no reason to believe that he has not honored his commitments under the agreement, although some factions of the Hezb- e Eslami continued to sponsor a few volunteers alongside whom we fought in the past. As regards Hekmatyar's invitation to al-Turabi, that did not take place. Al-Turabi was in constant contact with us during the jihad and, as far as we knew, he had close relations with the Americans at the time. He later on offered to lead a mediation mission to Kabul but nobody responded to that offer.

[Taheri] What about Usamah Bin-Ladin who, early this year, gave interviews to some British and German papers while in Afghanistan?

[Rabbani] He was in Nangarhar under the protection of Hajji Qader. Before that he was under the wing of Khalis who benefited from Bin-Ladin's financial campaigns to collect donations during the liberation war. Again the Pakistanis had knowledge of Bin-Ladin's movements between Nangarhar and Khartoum, coming and going via Peshawar.

[Taheri] But according to press reports, the Taleban Movement promised to arrest the "Afghan Arabs."

[Rabbani] That is the Taleban's affair. All I know is that, after detaining a few dozen "Afghan Arabs" and moving them to Kandahar last September, Taleban has now allowed the reopening of some camps.

[Taheri] Why?

[Rabbani] The Taleban movement is deeply divided on that issue. Perhaps some elements close to the Pakistani authorities had promised to arrest the "Afghan Arabs" and to close their camps, but other elements in the Taleban leadership and some local mojahedin leaders who joined the Taleban perhaps want to protect the "Afghan Arabs" and are most likely doing so for money.

[Taheri] Is Bin-Ladin one of those?

[Rabbani] Our information is that Bin-Ladin left Afghanistan supposedly for Khartoum after the Taleban captured Nangarhar, Konar, and Paktia. The latest reports received by us indicate that he was seen in Kabul in the company of some Taleban leaders in November. We have to assume that he repeatedly traveled between Sudan and Afghanistan via Pakistan.

[Taheri] Are you implying that the Taleban's policy on the "Afghan Arabs" has changed?

[Rabbani] First of all, I do not know what their original policy really was, but I do know that they are opening new camps for foreign movements' members. Perhaps the aim is to train foreign volunteers to fight on their side. The Taleban have suffered grave losses, of dead and captured, in the recent battles and they perhaps want to use some "Afghan Arabs" to consolidate their ranks. The fact is that "Afghan Arabs" have participated in the fighting between the conflicting blocs and factions at all stages since the defeat of the communist regime to this day. Sayyaf, for instance, recruited Arabs where he is in Lajiham [as transliterated] to fight units of the Shiite Unity Party who were led by the late Abdol Ali Mazari.

[Taheri] All that is really confusing. Is there any information as to the current number and whereabouts of the "Afghan Arabs" in Afghanistan?

[Rabbani] Our information is that the old camps of Badr-1 and Badr-2 which we had closed down in Khasteh have been reopened. The number of foreign volunteers is estimated at 600, many of them Arabs, with others from Pakistan, Kashmir, and the Philippines with them in these two camps. Khasteh is near the Pakistani border. Actually, these two camps use a newly built all-weather road which links Khasteh with Miranshahr in Pakistan. Are those people being trained to fight alongside the Taleban against the government or to fight their governments in their own countries? I cannot be certain about anything at present, but what is new is that a number of training camps have been built in the districts of Shenadan, Wahran, and Farah [as transliterated] in the west. Our information is that about 1000 "Afghan Arabs" are at present receiving training in these new camps. Again we cannot be sure about the purpose of the training. Is it to fight us or is it for the purpose of proceeding to carry out operations in other countries?

[Taheri] There is another issue of interest to many countries, namely the drugs issue. Afghanistan has become a main center for smuggling heroin.

[Rabbani] That is true. The problem began under the communist regime. After liberation we realized the danger that drugs pose to our people. So we created a special directorate to combat the production and smuggling of narcotics and, despite our minimal resources, we allocated a good part of our budget for that purpose. Our government formulated a cooperation program with Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey in that field. We also sought technical aid from the United Nations to fight the production and smuggling of drugs but we did not get the desired cooperation. Some had convinced the Americans that the Taleban would end the drugs trade but they now realize that they were deceived. The elements controlling the Taleban cannot possibly give the United States and its allies what they want. One sometimes has to follow a mirage. Four-fifths of the heroin produced in Afghanistan over the past two years came from areas under Taleban control. The picture should be clear to the Americans through the satellite photographs.

[Taheri] Your critics maintain that your government is trying to form a bloc with New Delhi, Moscow, and Tehran.

[Rabbani] That is false. Afghanistan's position among nations is one of nonalignment. We want normal relations with all neighbors and others without joining any military bloc. We have not concluded anything that is in any way akin to a military agreement with any party. We fought the aggression committed against our government in Kabul without anyone's help. We fought using our own willpower and resources. We have close relations with numerous countries, especially Egypt, Turkey, Germany, and France. We welcomed the Turkish offer to hold a conference in Ankara on the Afghan problem. I have written to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Bin-'Abd-al-'Aziz seeking his assistance in making fresh efforts to establish peace in Afghanistan either through a direct Saudi initiative or in the context of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. We sincerely hope that a conference will be held in Jeddah to help find a political formula to avoid more bloodshed in Afghanistan. We are not in a position to tolerate the existence of a blacklist in hostile countries. We need everyone and we would be grateful to anyone who helps the Afghan people in this time of crisis. A friend in need is a friend indeed. I sincerely wish that Pakistan and the United States would reconsider their policies toward us on the basis of the existing facts on the grounds. These two countries now have a better understanding of the Taleban movement and its real ideology, and they should realize that the salvation preached by the Taleban would not stop at Afghanistan's borders. The United States and Pakistan should think hard before creating a monster like Frankenstein's, who turned on his maker. Pakistan is really in grave danger because some tribal elements in its border northwestern districts still have special concessions given by Britain, and they do not recognize the legitimacy of the Pakistani Government. The Pakistani Government should embark on a thorough and comprehensive dialogue with us before it is too late.

[Taheri] Can I ask you about Najibollah's death?

[Rabbani] When the Taleban attacked the capital, Kabul, we convened an emergency meeting of the government attended by senior military commanders. After much discussion all the conferees agreed on temporary withdrawal from Kabul to avoid bloodshed. We then sent envoys to everyone whose safety we thought would be in danger if he remained in Kabul after our withdrawal. We sent a special envoy to Najibollah, whom we were protecting on behalf of the United Nations, offering to take him and his brother with us. He told our envoy that he was grateful for that offer but did not wish to leave Kabul because "certain arrangements" had been made that would help him ensure his safety. We did not pause for long about that matter and we assumed that the arrangements he was referring to were made through the United Nations which was committed to protecting him pending his appearance before a judicial court to face trial for the crimes he committed against the Afghan people. We learned later that some channels of contact in the United States had promised to smuggle him out of Kabul to the West, presumably via Pakistan. He, in return, promised to provide all the information he had about his long cooperation with the Soviets and his work as head of the Afghan security organ (Khalid) and then as head of the communist regime in Kabul. We do not know the identity of that American channel of communication but we know that the Taleban undoubtedly knew about the deal and decided to kill him before his contacts could act. A Taleban unit went to Najibollah's headquarters and opened fire killing him and his brother. After his death he was left hanging for hours. Our information is that Najibollah's contacts arrived in an armored car to rescue him but they arrived half an hour too late. He wasted the opportunity for his own survival.

[Taheri] Had Najibollah agreed to go with you, would you not have executed him?

[Rabbani] No. We had promised the United Nations that we would protect him until an elected government determined his fate. We do not smear our hands with people's blood like that.

[Taheri] To foreign observers it seems as if there is a double deadlock, military and political, in Afghanistan. What are your expectations for the near future?

[Rabbani] The deadlock cannot last forever. The elements of popular uprisings against the Taleban are growing in various parts of the country, especially in Herat and Kabul. When such movements surge forward, our military forces will make the necessary moves to support them. That is how our counterattack took place in October. The people rose against the Taleban north of Kabul enabling our forces to regain the initiative. We, of course, will continue our efforts for a political solution. There are now several channels open for that purpose. Of course, I cannot go into details at this point but we are under no illusions. We realize that we have to be prepared for war despite the winter season which hampers the fighting very much. But one thing is certain: We will drive the Taleban from all the cities it now occupies, including Kabul, and, after that, form a government of national unity.

Social Origins of Taleban

FTS19970124001403 Paris Les Nouvelles d'Afghanistan in French 24 Jan 97

[Article by Mariam Abou Zahab, an INALCO [expansion unknown] instructor: "The Social Origins of the Taleban"]

There are many questions about the Taleban movement. Where do they come from? What is this Islamic law they are trying to enforce completely? What is the status of the other populations they do not control (in this issue the Hazaras and the Uzbeks)? What are the international implications of their coming to Kabul? Are there prospects for a solution? In this second part, specialists on Afghanistan provide some answers.

They are described as students or illiterates. They are sometimes said to be manipulated by Pakistan, sometimes Pushto nationalists. We look at their chiefs' ideology. But who are they, the rank and file Taleban soldiers? Where do they come from?

Even if the Taleban include in their ranks some professional soldiers and some former Khalqis have joined them for various reasons, often ethnic or tribal, most Taleban come from private Afghan or Pakistani madrassas. Unlike the leaders of the resistance's basic parties, who have often graduated from the Shariat department of Kabul and Al Azhar University, a good number of the mullahs who lead the Taleban movement were trained in Pakistani madrassas of the Deoband sensibility, thus a part of the tradition of special relations between Deoband and Afghanistan. (Footnote 1)

The majority of Taleban belong to the lowest rungs of Pushto society. Many, natives of the poor countryside of Zaboul and Ouruzgan Provinces, do not enjoy the prestige and the power connected with owning land. There are many orphans among them: small, private madrassas or ones linked to a resistance party--essentially Maolawi Mohammadi's Harakat-e Enqelab-e Islami--and who often lived inside mujahidin bases, which under the Soviet occupation took in the children of chahid (martyrs) or the poorest families. The students of these madrassas were housed and fed and got an education that would make it possible for them to earn their living. Furthermore, starting very young, they were mobilized for the jihad. We should remember that non-religious education, which was already very little in evidence in these rural areas before the Soviet occupation, had disappeared completely during the war and that, in any event, it was associated with communism and thus utterly rejected.

In the 1980's I visited a number of these madrasses, in particular in the northern part of Zaboul Province and I cannot forget what I saw there: the students' living conditions, a majority of whom were between 6 and 12 years old, were extremely harsh. Ill fed, sleeping on the floor in dilapidated buildings, the children lived in diplorable hygienic conditions. Lessons, basically oral ones, consisted mainly of learning the Koran by heart, which generally takes three to four years of study. Students learned how to read Persian and Arabic though not to write it.

The madrassas established in Pakistan by the Jamiat-e Ulama-e Islam (JUI) (Footnote 2) for the refugees recruited from the same social strata. According to the 1 December 1995 issue of the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, at that time 1,383 madrassas were officially registered in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), 684 of which were affiliated with the JUI. There were 99,307 Pakistani and 13,772 Afghan students. The JUI's madrassas had foreign financing (Footnote 3), as was acknowledged by Maulana Fazlur Rahman in March 1995: "We accept donations from every Muslim country, organization, and other donors. Without them, we wouldn't be able to run these madrassas." The refugees did not turn to these madrasses because they couldn't gain access to Pakistani high schools but because this type of Islamic education corresponded to the traditional training they wanted, in particular within the context of the jihad. Besides it seems to be an established fact that most of the madrassas located in the tribal zone provided their students with military training.

The Akora Khattak Madrassa

The mullahs who lead the Taleban movement have often graduated from prestigious Pakistani madrassas and in particular from Jamiah al Islamiyah and Dar ul Ulum Sarhad, both located in Peshawar, and from Dar ul Ulum Haqqaniyah, the Akora Khattak madrassa located five kilometers from Nowshera (NWFP). The latter, established following the 1947 partition by Abdul Haq Akorwi, a Deoband graduate, trains one-third of Pakistan's Deobandi graduates. Recruiting almost exclusively among Pushtos, it is currently headed up by Maulana Sami-ul Haq, the son of the founder and the chief of his own JUI faction that is opposed to the PPP [expansion not given], unlike the majority trend led by Fazlur Rahman, which supports the Benazir Bhutto government. (Footnote 4) The study of this madrassa by Jamal Malik (Footnote 5), which has been linked since the beginning to Afghanistan, is one of the most eloquent. The proportion of Afghan students there is very high: from 15[percnt] in 1959-60, it rose to 37[percnt] in 1970--i.e. 204 students out of 550--and it rose to 60[percnt] in 1985--about 400 students out of 680. Of a total of 799 graduates between 1977 and 1984, 129 were Afghan (16.2[percnt]), 34.9[percnt] of whom belonged to a family with a religious tradition. The madrassa's enrollment records do not mention tribal background, which would be contrary to Islam's egalitarian principles, though they do mention the graduates' geographic origin. Most come from Kandahar, Ghazni, Jalalabad or Paktia. (Footnote 6) It should be pointed out that during the same period 93 graduates were originally from the Pushto areas of north Baluchistan and 133 others from Bannu and North Waziristan, which is not insignificant when we remember that Maolawi Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi got support from the Wazir and Mahsud tribes in his fight against the Soviet occupier. One can deduce that ties were established between the Afghan and Pakistani students, given their ethnic and cultural affinities and that the Pakistani students were mobilized for the Afghan jihad. The Dar ul Ulum Haqqaniya madrassa provides a top education and no military training is given its students. They have however taken an active role in the jihad, leaving in rotation for Afghanistan for several months without that disrupting their studies. The interest of Saudi Arabia and Zia ul Haq's Pakistani Government in this madrassa, which claimed to be "on the front line of the jihad" was thus considerable. Dar ul Ulum Haqqaniya's resources and in particular the monies spent by the Pakistani Government under the rubric of zakat (legal alms) thus increased significantly starting in 1982. (Footnote 8)

For the past few weeks the Urdu-language press, which is generally favorable to the Jamaat-e Islami and the Afghan Hezb-e Islami, has launched a Taleban rehabilitation operation. The visit by Maulana Sami-ul Haq to Kandahar, his meeting with Mollah Mohammad Omar, and his pleasure at again meeting a number of his former students [at the mullah's] was extensively covered by the press with a level of sympathy that would be somewhat astonishing if one did not know of the fear that the rise of the JUI inspires in certain circles in Pakistan.

A Millenary Movement

How can one interpret the Taleban movement?

The very austere life in the madrassas, the privations [the students] endure, and a militant Islamic education that mixes pachtounwali (the Pushto moral code, editor's note) values and the sharia, have radicalized the Taleban and mobilized them to take revenge. In this way, the movement is part of the extension of the social restructurings that took place in Afghanistan during the war. It is a reaction by the less well off and young social strata to the Khans and traditional notables, a reaction of the periphery against the center, and of the countryside against the city, which is seen as a place of perdition where traditional Pushto values are in danger.

The movement is also part of the tradition of millenary Pushto movements which appear at moments of crisis when moral and religious values are threatened and when the solution appears to be in a return to the old order and a moral approach to public life. The jihad that was proclaimed by the Pushto mullahs under such circumstances is based on cultural and religious values, with pachtounwali and the sharia not being seen as distinct or in conflict. There is an internalizing of pachtounwali in Islam, which partly explains the particular type of sharia currently enforced by the Taleban. In this sense, the Taleban movement is deeply Afghan.

Last, the Taleban movement's millenary character is ever more pronounced when you frequently hear it repeated that Afghanistan's savior will come from Kandahar and when certain accounts pertaining to the appearance of the mehdi (Footnote 9) call for him to appear from Kandahar in a context that might evoke what the last few years have been like. It is clear that it is not only foreign military and financial assistance, wherever it came from, that has helped the Taleban make such rapid progress. The popular backing and the personality of Mollah Omar, among others, make you think of movements that were observed in these areas during the last century. None, though, lasted as long as the Taleban's.

(2 November 1996)

Footnotes

1. Cf. in particular Barbara Daly Metcalf, Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband 1860-1990, Princeton University Press, 1982, and Rizvi S. S. A., History of the Dar ul Ulum Deobrand, Deoband, 1980. 109 Afghans graduated from Deoband between 1867, when it was founded as a theological seminary, and 1967. Deoband is a theological school founded in 1867 in northern India and which was the source of a fundamentalist reform movement in the Hanafite tradition (the rite practiced by the Sunni of Afghanistan and the entire Indian sub-continent).

2. Cf. on this subject Mariam Abu Zahab, "The Jamiat-e Ulama-e Islam and the madrassas" (Les Nouvelles d'Afghanistan, No. 68) and "The Teaching in the Madrassas" (Les Nouvelles d'Afghanistan, No. 71).

3. Pakistan's prime minister Benazir Bhutto has acknowledged that the Baluchistan madrassas received financing from Saudi Arabia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

4. Rivalries between the Pakistan religious parties (the two factions of the JUI and the Jamaat-e Islami) have been exacerbated by developments in the situation in Afghanistan since 1992, with the JUI having acquired great importance at the expense of the Jamaat-e Islami. This explains, at least partly, the populist strategy adopted by the Jamaat in the domestic policy area and aims to make it once again the top religious party.

5. Jamal Malik, Colonization of Islam: Dissolution of Traditional Institutions in Pakistan, Manohar Publishers, Delhi and Vanguard Books, Lahore, 1996.

6. Jalaluddin Haqqani, among others, is one of Akora Khattak's famous graduates.

7. Cf. Jamal Malik, op. cit., p. 207 for a study of the content of the monthly [magazine] Al Haq published by this madrassa.

8. Cf. Jamal Malik, op. cit. Zakat funds, which accounted for 5.2[percnt] of the resources in 1980, rose to 18.9[percnt] in 1984.

9. In Sunni Islam, the mehdi is supposed to return at the end of time to reestablish justice on earth.

Pakistani Students Dead, Captured in Fighting

FTS19970719000091 Islamabad The Nation in English 14 Jul 97 pp 1 7

[Report by Ahmed Rashid]

KABUL -- Over 200 Pakistani madrassa [religious school] students have been killed in fighting in Afghanistan since the Taliban were driven out of Mazar-e-Sharif on May 28. Afghan opposition leaders, General Malik Pahalwan, Ahmad Shah Masud and Karim Khalili are now holding an estimated 550 Pakistanis as prisoner in at least four different locations. However, the Pakistan government, which is involved in shuttle diplomacy for the release of several Afghan Taliban leaders held prisoners, has made no formal request to either the faction leaders or international humanitarian agencies to seeking the release of Pakistanis held prisoner. Islamabad appears unconcerned with their plight, although some Pakistani prisoners are known to be seriously wounded and ill.

According to Taliban field commanders and soldiers at the front and senior Western officials and humanitarian aid agency representatives, General Malik is holding 225 Pakistani prisoners in Maimana in western Afghanistan. The presence of these prisoners has been confirmed by international agencies present in the region. Last week the prison was reported to have been accidentally bombed by Taliban fighters, killing 44 and wounding 50 Taliban prisoners. However, the Taliban deny the bombing. It is not known if Pakistani prisoners also died in the bombing raid. According to multiple but highly reliable sources, Malik is also holding an estimated 200 Pakistanis in Mazar-e-Sharif, while Masud is holding over 100 Pakistanis in the Panjshir Valley, although Masud's spokesman claims to have 200 Pakistani prisoners. At least 50 of these Pakistanis were captured last November during Masud's abortive drive on Kabul. Reliable Afghan sources said Hizbe Wahadat led by the Hazara leader Karim Khalili is also holding not less than a dozen Pakistanis in Bamiyan.

In interviews with several Taliban Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers, the Taliban leadership categorically denied that Pakistanis are fighting alongside their forces. Pakistan also denies that their government personnel or madrassa students are involved inside Afghanistan. In contrast opposition leaders claim that these prisoners are Pakistani personnel, but there is no evidence to confirm this and most of the prisoners appear to be madarassa students.

However, the presence of these students, who come from madrassas outside the control of the government, has been made much easier because of the refusal of the Federal Government or the NWFP and Balochistan governments to close the borders with Afghanistan. Most of the Pakistani students interviewed said they had crossed easily from major crossing points--Torkhum in NWFP and Chaman in Balochistan--using normal mini-buses which are operating a shuttle service from Peshawar and Quetta.

Most of these madrassa students were captured when between 3000- 4000 Pakistani students answered Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar's call for reinforcements after the Taliban defeat in Mazar. Thousands of Afghan madrassa students, Afghans living in FATA and refugee camps also answered the call. Many Pakistanis were captured in the headlong Taliban rush to Mazar from Kabul along the Salang Highway, when they thought Mazar had fallen to Taliban forces. However, within days the Taliban were pushed back and thousands of their troops in the north and along the Salang Highway were trapped in pincer movements by Malik, Masud and Khalili.

Meanwhile, Pakistani students continue fighting with their Taliban brothers. At Jabel Seraj, north of Kabul, there are at least 50 Pakistani students on the front-line and Taliban field commanders, who did not wish to be quoted said the Pakistanis were fighting well and had made many sacrifices for the cause of Islam. A few Pakistanis are known to be on the front-line at Mohammad Raqi in the east and Jalrees in west, where the opposition belt around Kabul is tightening in a huge 180 degree are around the city at a distance of between 60-80 kilometers from Kabul.

Pakistani students are still roaming around the bazars in Kabul waiting for a military assignment and weapons to be made available. There are Sindhis from Nawabshah, Mirpur and Sukkur, Muhajirs from Karachi and Hyderabad, Punjabis from all over the province but the bulk are Pashtuns from the NWFP and Balochistan. The majority belongs to particular madrassas rather than Islamic political parties in Pakistan although they have been joined by several Sunni militants, who have arrived to avoid the present crackdown against them in Pakistan and receive military training. The bulk of the Pakistanis are from two institutions in particular, the Darul-Uloom Haqqani in Akora Khatak near Nowshera in the NWFP which has more than 8000 Afghan and Pakistani students in 12 affiliated madrassas and the Jamia Uloom- ul-Islamiyah in Karachi, which also has a large Afghan students enrollment. Haqqania is run by Maulana Samiul Haq who has been proud to declare that most of his students have joined the Taliban since the Mazar battle. "Mullah Omar personally rang me to request that I let these students to go to Afghanistan on leave since they are needed there," Maulana Haq was quoted in earlier Press reports.

Many of the top Taliban Ieadership have graduated from Haqqania. These include the famous former Mujahideen Commander Jalaluddin Haqqani who is now in charge of the Jabel Seraj front and spent six years in Haqqania before the Jehad in 1979 as, both a student and teacher. Others include Ahmed Jan the Minister of Mines and Industries, Maulvi Qalamuddin, head of the powerful Department of Observances of Religious Commands or the Religious Police, Maulvi Arifullah Arif the Deputy Minister of Finance who spent 14 years at Haqqania, and several others. Several prominent figures including the deputy to Maulvi Mohammed Hassan, the Governor of Kandahar graduated from Islamayiah in Karachi.

In the past few days a high-level Pakistani delegations has been shuttling between Mazar and Kandahar ostensibly to get peace talks moving between the two sides. However, sources said the delegation has been more involved in trying to obtain the release from General Malik, of several Taliban leaders including the former Foreign Minister Mullah Mohammed Ghaus, Maulvi Abdul Mansur, Chief of the Taliban air force and Maulvi Abdul Rezaq, the former Governor of Herat, who were captured during the Mazar fighting. Afghan opposition and Western aid workers who recently returned from Mazar say the Pakistani delegation told Malik that the release of these three men would be a goodwill gesture after which the Taliban would agree to hold peace talks. However, Malik has categorically said that peace talks must start first and before any prisoner exchange begins.

However, the Pakistan government has neither approached Malik nor Masud for the release of its citizens nor has it made any official request to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Afghan Red Crescent Society nor Dr Norbet Holl's UN Special Mission to Afghanistan, to try and secure the release of these prisoners or even obtain verification about their numbers, their health and the conditions in which they are being held.

Officially Islamabad may deny even presence of these Pakistanis, but there appears to be no reason for the appalling lack of any private humanitarian effort by Islamabad to recognise the reality on the ground. The Pakistani prisoners are said to be in a terrible plight, some are wounded and others are ill. Reliable sources say that Masud has even been willing to release several Pakistani prisoners who are seriously ill in Panjshir, but there has been no response from Islamabad.

Meanwhile, at least 200 Pakistanis and possibly many more have been killed in fighting since the battle for Mazar at the end of May. The Taliban have gone to considerable expense, care and political foresight to make sure that Pakistani dead bodies are returned to their villages in Pakistan. The Taliban have sent such bodies as far as Karachi and Hyderabad.

The prisoners exchange issue is the key to any future peace talks between the opposing factions but the simple fact is that the opposition forces hold more than double the numbers of Taliban. They also hold 10 top Taliban leaders. Thus the Taliban are talking from a position of relative weakness, when they demand the release of their prisoners before any peace talks begin and use Pakistan as a go between. According to several international agencies and other humanitarian groups involved in the prisoners issue, the Afghan opposition presently holds an estimated yet still staggering figure of 3600 Taliban as prisoners.

Malik holds some 1,000 Taliban in Maimana, 1,000 in Sheberghan and 800 in Mazar-e-Sharif. Some of those prisoners held in Maimana had been moved south from Mazar for security reasons and to enable Malik to have better control over them. Meanwhile, Masud holds between 600-700 prisoners in the Panjshir. General Naderi's Ismaeli forces north of the salang tunnel an estimated 100 Taliban and Hizbe Wahdat hold an unspecified number which is not less than 100. In contrast the Taliban hold an estimated total of 1900 prisoners from the opposition forces. The Taliban hold some 1200 prisoners in Kandahar including the former Governor of Herat, Ismael Khan, who is said by Western NGO visitors who saw him this week, to be in good health. Ismael Khan was betrayed by General Malik when he switched sides to the Taliban in mid-May. Some 500 of these 1200 prisoners were those captured during the battle for Kabul last year, but the remaining 700 are reportedly those captured along with Ismael Khan and who were handed over to the Taliban by General Malik. The Taliban also hold some 700 prisoners in Kabul, but some of them are known to be Kabul civilians rather than opposition fighters.

According to Western agencies, between Monday and Wednesday the Taliban had arrested some 200 Hazara and Panjsheri citizens of Kabul in a major security drive and a search for illegal weapons. Hazara sources said that on July 8, Hazara shopkeepers closed down the Taimanay bazar in north west Kabul in protest, but opened up shops the next day out of fear of more reprisals. Some 300 Hazaras were arrested in June after the Mazar defeat, but many of them were later freed. The arrests signal fears of anti-Taliban activities by the non-Pashtun residents of Kabul, but for the moment the Taliban appear secure in Kabul.

The lack of a clear policy in Islamabad towards the Afghan conflict, the continuing series of diplomatic and political blunders by Pakistan, starting from the premature recognition of the Taliban government and the present aim to call a regional conference in Islamabad which is unlikely to be attended by any of the regional powers who are backing the Afghan opposition, has already led to Pakistan's isolation in the region and total mistrust of Pakistani intention by the Afghan opposition leadership. Pakistani Consular officials were booted out of Mazar by General Malik for a second time last week after spending only seven days there, since they returned for the first time after closing down the Consulate in May after the Mazar debacle.

Pakistani diplomatic representation is unacceptable now to any Afghan opposition faction and how Islamabad can still claim to be even-handed, have a policy of no favorites and maintain a dialogue with the opposition when its diplomats are not accepted appears unrealistic. However, for Pakistan to ignore the fact that it has hundreds of its own citizens being held prisoner in Afghan jails and the failure to make any attempt to either secure their release or learn about their condition, appears to be a major humanitarian miscalculation by Islamabad and could lead to growing anger at home by those families whose children are being held prisoner.

Activities of Harkatul Ansar Viewed

FTS19971011000444 Islamabad The News in English 09 Oct 97 pp 1 8

[Report by Kamran Khan]

KARACHI -- After an exhaustive probe, the United States authorities have concluded that the kidnapping, three years ago, of five westerners from Indian-held Kashmir was actually carried out by the Pakistan-based Harkatul Ansar guerrilla organization under the cover of Al-Faran group, this was disclosed in background interviews with knowledgeable sources in Islamabad last week.

Sources said that the US authorities expected to make that announcement shortly, identifying Harkat ul Ansar as a terrorist organization that had kidnapped the five westerners from the Valley and had murdered, if not all, at least two of their hostages. One of the five kidnapped westerners had escaped from the captivity soon after the incident.

In their quest to reach the bottom of the case, the sources said that the American, British and German officials had joined hands and had actively sought the help of the Indian authorities, who remained under international pressure for the safe release of the hostages.

Two British nationals, an American and a German were among the four western hostages feared to have died or were murdered during their three-year long captivity with the previously unknown Al-Faran Group. "All hopes have faded for the safe recovery of the hostages from their kidnappers," said a senior Pakistan official familiar with the case.

While the expected announcement from Washington will put the Pakistani authorities in a difficult situation, it may create some jubilation in India where authorities consider the activities of Harkatul Ansar, particularly in the Valley, as a major threat to the Indian security forces. Sources acknowledged that Harkatul Ansar volunteers also operated in other parts of India.

Soon after the sensational kidnapping near Srinagar in 1994, the Al-Faran group had demanded of the authorities to release several top ranking Harkatul Ansar leaders who had been arrested by the Indian security services. They included Maulana Masoud Azhar, the Secretary General and leader of the Indian operations of Harktul Ansar.

Sources said in their battle to free Kashmir from Indian control, the freedom fighters in the Valley get active support of at least 5000-men strong Harkatul Ansar that believes in extending military support to the subjugated Muslims all over the world.

High-level serving and former security officials acknowledge that they were aware of the Harkat's battle operations against the Soviet army during the Afghan war. "Fighting along with the troops of Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani in the Paktia province of Afghanistan, Harkat's boys gave severe jolts to the Soviet army," recalled a former intelligence official.

Privately Pakistani security officials concede that they have some knowledge of the fact that religiously motivated Pakistani youth do cross borders into India to take part in the freedom struggle there, but they stress that Pakistani authorities do not exercise any control over those boys and security services make every effort to discourage their activities.

During an investigation by this correspondent into the activities of this increasingly militant organization last year, several Harkatul Ansar sources had informed that Harkatul Ansar was born in central Punjab in the early eighties when a group of religious Punjab philanthropists decided to offer some kind of assistance to the Afghan Mujahideen. "We started off by offering relief services in Afghan Mujahideen camps in the NWFP. Later, we extended these services to the Mujahideen who subsequently had become very fond of the Harkat's selfless services," an Harkat activist said, giving a background of his organization.

"Ours is basically a Sunni organization close to the Deobandi school of thought. We are not a sectarian organization and would like to stay away from the current sectarian tension in the country. Our people are mostly impressed by the "Tablighi Jamaat". Most of our workers do come from the Tablighi Jamaat. We regularly go to its annual meeting at Raiwind," added another Harkat official, throwing some light on the organization's ideology.

Senior police officials in Punjab, however, felt the Sipahe Suhaba Pakistan (SSP) is closely tied to the Harkatul Ansar and both organizations draw direct or indirect support from a friendly Arab country and several rich Arab nationals.

Harkat insiders disclosed that financial support for their organization came mostly in the shape of donations from businessmen in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. One Harkat source said that a group of Indian Muslim businessmen in Britain whose relatives and friends had suffered most in the carnage of Muslims in the aftermath of the demolition of Babri Mosque in India, contributed generously for its secret operations in India.

Giving an outline of its operations, several Harkat insiders said separate units within the organization look after the training, operations and finances. One Harkat warrior, who had participated in a military operation in Srinagar, gave an insight into the working of this secretive organization. He revealed that a typical Harkat sympathizer joins the organization during the mass contact campaign or through its offices by offering his life for Jihad anywhere in the world. The new recruit, after a necessary in-house security clearance, is then sent for a forty-day training program. Later, he is sent to the relevant Harkat commander who delivers weapons and select routes to transport the Mujahid to the area of active operation where he would operate under a field commander. Each worker volunteers his services for a period ranging between 40 to 120 days.

Under the set procedure, the Mujahid is told in advance that in case of martyrdom his body would not be brought back to Pakistan and he would be buried at the place of the operation. The Harkat, its activists claimed, took full care of the families of 'Shaheeds'. "Our brave warriors are buried in Kashmir, Tajikistan, Bosnia, Burma and the Philippines. Muslims in those countries would never forget these courageous boys from Pakistan," according to an Harkat activist.

CIA Said Trying To Recover Missiles Bequeathed to Afghans

FTS19980831000884 Paris Le Point in French 29 Aug 98 p 39

[Report signed "O.W.": "The Forgotten Stingers"]

Urgent. Secret service in disarray seeking to recover missiles. This is the torment facing the CIA, which is concerned about the proliferation of the fearsome American Stinger ground-to-air missiles, bequeathed to the Afghan resistance in the 1980's during the war against the Soviet Union. Highly efficient -- almost 100 percent so at less than 3,500 meters, and a maximum range of 5,000 meters -- these missiles, which weigh 10 kg, are 1.5 meters long, and reach speeds of 1,935 kph, were not distributed by American agents in the resistance, but by Pakistani intermediaries. These intermediaries were keen to encourage their proteges within Afghan fundamentalist circles, such as the fighters for Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hez Islami [name as published] party. Initially, the CIA was hesitant, but Vincent Cannistraro, a former CIA officer and ex-director of intelligence at the NSC, managed to force the idea through. He himself negotiated with Pakistani head of state Zia in 1986. "Then US President Ronald Reagan signed the order form when he saw a video showing the first 10 missiles hitting their targets: Soviet MiG's," Vincent Cannistraro said.

All in all, 1,000 Stingers were distributed, worth $30 million, at least three of which were given -- as Le Point's special correspondent was able to find out -- to the allies of radical commander Jalaluddin Haqqani [name as published] in their stronghold in Khost, one of the Arab combatant training centers bombed by the Americans. Out of the 1,000 Stingers, between 200 and 250 were actually launched. Around 100 are in the hands of the Pakistani secret services, the Isi. Several hundred were bought on the black market by intermediaries at a price of between $100,000 and $250,000, and resold to Iran, to the Bosnian forces, and probably to North Korea and Libya. "These missiles are no longer operational," one former CIA officer says, "because they are delivered with batteries that last two years." Wrong. These batteries can easily be cobbled together by an electrical engineer, as confirmed by Paul Beaver, an expert from Jane's Defense International in London. According to the information we have, the Taleban have several of them. Some of the missiles acquired by foreign emissaries in the Afghan resistance were bartered for acetic anhydride, a component used in the production of heroin. The CIA experts are chewing their nails. Once again, this is a singular kickback.

[Description of source: Paris Le Point in French -- right-of-center general interest weekly magazine featuring domestic and international political news]

Taleban: US Missiles Fail To Hit Targets

FTS19980821000122 Islamabad The News in English 21 Aug 98 pp 1 8

[Report by Rahimullah Yusufzai]

PESHAWAR: As expected, the US struck in Afghanistan Thursday night with at least five missile attacks in Khost and Jalalabad to destroy Saudi dissident Osama Bin Laden's bases. However, Taliban spokesmen claimed Bin Laden had survived the attack.

The attack was launched between 9.20 and 9.45 pm, barely half an hour after a Bin Laden confidant, Dr Ayman Al-Zawahiri, spoke on satellite phone with this correspondent "from somewhere in Afghanistan." At that time, Dr Al-Zawahiri said Bin Laden was safe and sound.

There was great confusion earlier whether it was an air raid by American jet-fighters or a missile attack. Taliban officials were unaware if it was a missile or air attack. However, it was later confirmed that Tomahawk Cruise missile were fired from American slups in the Arabian Sea. These missiles are known for their accuracy and long range, up to 2000 kilometres.

Mulla Abdul Hye Mutmain, a Taliban spokesman in Kandahar in southwestern Afghanistan, also thought it was an attack by US jet-fighters. He informed that the planes attacked two or three places in Khost and also Jalalabad. "The Americans failed to hit their targets. Osama Bin Laden is safe and the casualties are not as high as we expected in such attacks. We are still waiting for details about the number of people killed and injured," he said.

Mutmain, who is head of the information department in Kandahar which serves as headquarters of the Taliban Islamic Movement, said their jet-fighters would have tried to tackle the intruding American planes had the military airbases at Khost and Jalalabad been operational. "We cannot be overawed by such attacks. We know how to defend our country," he stressed.

Information was hard to get as Taliban leaders were not traceable and those who were accessible and awake at that time in the night said they themselves were waiting for details of the air strikes and damage caused in Khost and Jalalabad. The news was first broken by the CNN and, thereafter, began a scramble for bits and pieces of information from a war-ravaged country like Afghanistan where the communication system is almost non-existent.

Prior to confirmation of reports that it was a Cruise missile attack, there was speculation as to how the US jet-fighters made their way to Khost, which is in southern Afghanistan on the border with Pakistan's North Waziristan agency, and Jalalahad, capital of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan bordering Khyber and Kurram agencies in Pakistan. Some reports at that time said the planes flew from US ships and took the Guadar route to enter southern Afghanistan and bomb targets in Khost and Jalalabad. There were also speculation whether the Americans used bases in the region, ranging from those in the Gulf to Central Asia, to reach Afghanistan. It was also pointed out that the advanced US jet-fighters can refuel in the air and, thus, flying from a distant place wasn't an insurmountable problem.

It was also pointed out that sending jet-fighters to Afghanistan overflying Pakistan in a politically volatile area was fraught with risks.

Taliban and Pakistani sources said the Khost airfield and some of its surrounding area was destroyed by the missile attack. The Al-Badr camp near the Pakistan border in Khost where Bin Laden held his news conference in May and where he reportedly spent lot of time, was also said to have been attacked. So were the Zhawar camp belonging to former mujahideen commander Mulla Jalaluddin Haqqani, all in Khost. All these bases were built during the "Jehad" against the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan and were used for keeping troops, maintaining stockpiles of arms, and training fighters.

However, Khost governor Mulla Abdullah said Khost airport wasn't attacked and the Zhawar and other bases which were targeted escaped damage.

In Nangarhar, the target was said to be the Hadda farm near Jalalabad where Bin Laden lived in a newlybuilt house in a colony which also housed Hezb-i-Islami chief Mulla Yunis Khalis and other mujahideen leaders. Bin Laden took refuge in Jalalabad when he came to Afghanistan in May 1996 from Sudan. It was reported that a house belonging to late mujahideen commander Engineer Mahmood was the target of the missile attack. It apparently wasn't hit. Some casualties reportedly occurred in the missile attack on Jalalabad.

[Description of source: The News--independent daily, member of the Jang Publishing Group]

Terrorist Camps in Afghanistan Viewed

FTS19980918000342 Karachi Newsline Sep 98 pp 36 37 39 in English 01 Sep 98

[Article by Rahimullah Yusufzai: "Exporting Jehad?"]

Al-Badr, named thus by deposed Afghan Prime Minister Gulbaddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islamia and its Pakistani ally, the Jamaat-i-Islami, is a complex in the Gurbaz district of Khost province in southern Afghanistan comprising six camps. Hundreds of Afghans, Pakistanis and Muslim militants from several other countries have spent time at these camps and received military training there. Some of those under training, such as Abu Talha from Cheechawatni in Punjab, chalked their names on the roadside rocks. Graffiti in Urdu and Arabic, such as 'Jamaat-i-Islami Zindabad, [Long Live Jamaat-i-Islami]' 'Shaheen Shahend Group,' and 'Victory is at hand,' is visible all over the place. The remotely located camps are situated in the lap of mountains on the border between Pakistan's North Waziristan Agency and Afghanistan. Two jeepable roads provide access to them. They are guarded by a mountain-top command post and a few checkposts on the road manned by armed guards, and are barricaded by barbed wire fences.

The two camps in the Al-Badr complex going by the names Al-Badr-I and Al-Badr-II were raided and shut down by the Taliban Islamic movement about two years ago on the plea that the Hezb-i-Islami (Hekmatyar) was using them for anti-Taliban activities in Khost.

Relations between the Taliban and Hezb-i-Islami were never cordial. In fact, the two had fought for control of several provinces in Afghanistan before confronting each other in Khost. It was only a matter of time before the Al-Badr camps were cleared of Hezb-i-lslami men by the Taliban because the latter feared that Hekmatyar's supporters would always be looking for opportunities to avenge their humiliating military defeats by them.

After capturing Khost and the adjoining provinces of Paktia and Paktika, the Taliban spent some time consolidating their positions before striking at the Hezb-i-Islami-run camps. On that occasion, Syed Abdullah, the Taliban Governor of Khost, maintained that his government had credible reports that the camps had become centers of anti-Taliban planning and activities. He felt the Hezb-i-Islami was contemplating revenge on the Taliban because it had suffered the most at their hands. "Qazi Hussain Ahmad's Jamaat-i-Islami is very close to the Hezb-i-Islami and the two were jointly running these camps. We took over the camps and asked the 107 Pakistanis living there to return to their homeland. They were very honorably allowed to enter Pakistan at the Pak-Afghan border near the camps," he explained.

What Syed Abdullah didn't explain was the fact that the camps were handed over to the Harkatul Ansar, a militant Islamic group that is sending volunteers to fight in Afghanistan, Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and certain other trouble spots in the world. The Harkatul Ansar was renamed Harkatul Mujahideen when it was declared a terrorist outfit by the US government. In the past, the Harkatul Ansar was very close to the Jamiatul-Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) Pakistan, especially to its faction led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman. There are still strong links between the two, but the Harkatul Muiahideen has now become more radical and seems to have established international links to pursue its agenda.

Coincidentally, the Harkatul Mujahideen leader is also named Fazlur Rehman (Khalil) and like the JUI leader, belongs to Dera Ismail Khan in the NWFP. It was probably due to the Harkatul Mujahideen and the JUI's friendly terms with the Taliban that the camps were handed over to the former after being seized from the Hezb-i-islami and the Jamaat-i-Islami. The Hezb-i-Islami's pointsman for running the camps and establishing links with like-minded groups and individuals from other countries was its well-known commander, Khalid Farooqi, while those from Taliban ranks assisting in this task included former military commanders Mullah Wahidyar and Mansoor and Jalaluddin Haqqani. The latter has been running a huge camp called 'Salman Farsi Ghund' in Khost for years where he trains and equips Afghan fighters and also volunteers from other Islamic countries. In a recent interview in Khost, Haqqani said he initially established the camps to house the first mujahideen radio station in Afghanistan. In due course of time, he said a madrassah [school] workshop was built, specifically for the repair of arms since it was not always possible to transport weapons to Pakistan for repair. Later, a clinic and ammunition dumps were also established at the camps. He denied that his camps were ever used for military or terrorist training and disputed American claims of having dealt a fatal blow to the infrastructure in the area. "Two Red Army air and ground attacks, artillery shelling and scores of air raids failed to destroy the Zhavara camps. What can 60 or 70 long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles do to a place as fortified as Zhavara? he asked.

The camps in Khost attracted much attention when deposed Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her interior minister Maj. Gen. (Retd) Naseerullah Babar publicly alleged that they were used to impart military training to a number of Pakistanis who later indulged in terrorist activities. Both asked that the camps be closed down as they were posing a security threat to Pakistan.

Ms Bhutto had also complained about the activities of Arab volunteers who came to Pakistan during the Afghan 'jehad' and later stayed on, prompting governments in Egypt, Algeria and Saudi Arabia to complain to Islamabad that these militants were using Pakistani soil to mount terrorist attacks in their countries. In 1996 Babar also provided information about the arrest of two batches of 33 and 107 Pakistanis, mostly from the Punjab and Sindh, on the Pak-Afghan border who had received military training in the Khost camps. He didn't provide details on that occasion about the political affiliation of the arrested Pakistanis, but it was obvious that they were mostly Jamaat-i-Islami members. Government officials also hinted that some of them could be MQM activists seeking military training in different guises. The arrested men were nabbed when they tried to cross over to Pakistan, booked under the notorious Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) by the political administration of the North Waziristan agency, and sent to the central prison in Dera Ismail Khan. All of them were freed after interrogation.

Al-Badr I and II were not the only military training camps in Khost. There were others, such as the Abu Jindal, Al-Farooq, Salman Farsi and Khalid Bin Waleed camps. Abu Jindal subsequently came to be known as the Arab camp, and it was here that Saudi dissident, Osama Bin Laden, held his famous press conference in May this year in which he announced the launching of his International Islamic Front for Jehad Against America and Israel. Volunteers from almost every Arab country were to be found there, although the majority belonged to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Algeria. The more famous among them were Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, head of the Islamic Jehad in Egypt, Shaikh Taseer Abdullah who is a right-hand man of Bin Laden, the two young sons of the blind Egyptian preacher and Gama'at-i-Islami leader Shaikh Omar Abdur Rahman, who was convicted for planning the bombings in New York and is now imprisoned in an American jail, and Shawki Islambouli, the younger brother of an Egyptian army officer, Khalid Islambouli, who shot dead President Anwar Sadaat during a military parade in Cairo.

In his interview on that occasion, Khost governor Syed Abdullah refuted the Hezb-i-Islami and Jamaat-i-Islami contention that the seizure of the Al-Badr camps by the Taliban and the eviction of Pakistanis and Afghans was an un-Islamic and anti-jehad act. "The Taliban aren't opposed to a genuine jehad. In fact, our movement itself is a jehad against sin, corruption and cruelty in which the mujahideen indulged after the installation of an Islamic movement in Afghanistan in 1992," he argued. He added that the Taliban would never allow their area to be used for activities against Pakistan because the Pakistan government and people had supported the Afghans in their hour of trial during the Soviet occupation of their country.

However, Abdullah's contention was disputed by the PPP government (1993-96) which repeatedly pointed accusing fingers at the Khost camps as a center from which religious fanatics were unleashed to strike in Pakistan. The Harkatul Mujahideen, because of its Sunni base, also became a platform for anti-Shia elements, one sign of which was the subsequent naming of one of the Khost camps the 'Amir Muawiyya' camp. There were also reports that Sunni extremists wanted in Pakistan took refuge in these camps and lured others to follow in their footsteps.

The Harkatul Muiahideen has been recruiting young men from all the provinces of Pakistan and from both sides of the Line of Control in Kashmir. A sizable number of its recruits are students of religion from madrassahs [religious schools]. In fact, they are the Pakistani version of the Afghan Taliban and some are actively involved in the ongoing fighting in Afghanistan. Others have sacrificed their lives fighting in Indian occupied Kashmir. Along with the Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, the Harkatul Mujahideen is one of the two major Pakistani suppliers of manpower for the battle in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Khost camps have attracted so many young men from the Punjab province that it has come to be known as the Punjabi Ghund (camp)--even though men from the NWFP, Sindh and Kashmir as well as Arabs live there. The inmate comprise teenagers as well as grey-haired men. Some of the permanent residents of the camps, like Mohammad Yaqub alias Abu Huraira of the Harkatul Mujahideen, commanded respect from all and sundry. Abu Huraira, who was often referred to as an 'ustad [teacher]' by the younger Harkat boys, was one of the nine members of the Harkatul Muiahideen killed in the August 20 US airstrike against the Khost camps.

Syed Abdullah, who is still the governor of Khost, claimed after the American cruise missile attack that the camps had largely survived the mujahideen commanders like Shah Khan Gurbaz, who has been named head of a garrison now being set up at the Arab or Abu Jindal camp, also disputed Washington's claims that the camps have been made inoperational. Nonetheless, the Taliban leaders refused journalists access to the camps for about two weeks, arousing suspicion about whether they were indeed intact or being rehabilitated. However, the Taliban recently allowed journalists to visit the camps and Syed Abdullah has announced plans to set up a madrassah in the Salman Farsi camp and a garrison in the Arab one. Will these proposed changes satisfy President Bill Clinton who, after the airstrike on Afghanistan, called the Khost camps 'the world's largest facility for terrorist training,' or should one expect more American and western attacks on this infrastructure?

Afghan Camps Damaged by US Strikes Described

FTS19980905000423 Islamabad The News in English 04 Sep 98 p 4

[Report by Rahimullah Yusufzal]

PESHAWAR: The Taliban have decided to make use of the camps recently attacked by the US with Tomahawk cruise missiles by establishing a madrassa [seminaries] and a garrison there.

During a recent visit to Khost in southern Afghanistan, the provincial Taliban governor Syed Abdullah told this correspondent that the madrassa being set up in the Salman Farsi camp in Zhavara near the Pakistan border would be commissioned in a few days time. He also said the Al-Badr or so-called Arab camp, where the Arab volunteers used to put up, would now house a Taliban garrison.

Syed Abdullah claimed the Arabs, Pakistanis and Kashmiris based in the camps were leaving.

"We don't know their destination but I was told the Arab mujahideen were going towards Kabul," he informed. He thought some Arabs were already based near Kabul and those displaced from the Khost camps could join them there.

Shah Khan Gurbaz, a former mujahideen military commander who has now joined the Taliban, has been named as head of the new garrison. In an interview with The News in Khost, he informed that he had already shifted some of his troops and weapons to the camp and would make the garrison fully operational soon.

Mulla Jalaluddin Haqqani, who originally built the camps in Khost in the early 1980s, disputed the US claim that the camps had suffered substantial damage due to the airstrike. "The camps at Zhavara survived two air and ground offensives by the Red Army and couldn't be captured or destroyed despite frequent air raids and shelling. What can about 60 or 70 long-range, largely-inaccurate American missiles do to a fortified place built into mountains?" he asked. He claimed the Salman Farsi camp has emerged largely unscathed and the Al-Badr camps, also known as Abu Jindal or the Arab camp, have suffered minimum damage. He conceded that the Khalid bin Waleed and Amir Muawiyya camps had suffered some damage. He also claimed that the ammunition dumps in the camps were almost all intact.

Both Haqqani and Syed Abdullah denied that the Khost camps were used for military or terrorist training. They said Arabs, Pakistanis and Kashmiris who couldn't return to their countries due to various reasons were mostly living in these camps. They said seminaries were being run in the camps and the five mosques built there offered religious services not only to the inmates of the camps but also Gurbaz villagers living in the vicinity. Haqqani recalled that he had built the Zhavara camp in the 1980s to house the first mujahideen radio station and in due course of time he set up a clinic, a madrassa, ammunition depots and also a workshop to repair damaged arms there. At no time was the Zhavara camp used to impart military or terrorist training.

The Arabs, Pakistanis and Kashmiris came much later and set up base there. But even they never indulged in any terrorist activity," he contended.

[Description of source: The News--independent daily, member of the Jang Publishing Group]

Muslim Radicals Declare 'Open War' on US

FTS19980918000321 Karachi Newsline Sep 98 pp 40 41 in English 01 Sep 98

[Article by Behroz Khan: "Remains of the Day"]

Radical Muslim groups, which were attacked by the United States in eastern Afghanistan, now await a go-ahead signal from the Taliban leadership to either resume activities in Khost or relocate their training camps elsewhere in the country.

"We can rebuild the damaged portions of the mud houses and the camps will be fully operational within a week's time. The American air strikes cannot deter us from our goal. It is up to the Taliban and the mujahideen high command to decide whether to stay in Jawar or relocate the camps," says Kashmiri guerrilla leader Bakht Zamin, at a Mansehra base. The commander, affiliated with the Hezb-ul-Mujahideen, was in one of the training camps in Khost when American Tomahawk cruise missiles rained down on them on the night of August 20, leaving over two dozen people dead. The majority of the people who died were either Pakistani or Kashmiri nationals while seven Arab nationals also perished in the attack.

Being hand-in-glove with the extremist Islamic groups and supporting their cause in the Muslim states, it is believed that the Taliban will opt for relocating the camps rather than expelling these militant outfits. "Our operations have not been disrupted by the air strikes. Thousands of mujahideen have already been trained and our cadre is intact. The killing of 22 persons cannot affect our task," says the Harkat commander, who hopes to return to Afghanistan in the near future to resume his training activities.

All the six training camps in Khost were hit by dozens of missiles fired by the US in pursuit of the Saudi multi-millionaire Osama bin Laden, who took refuge in Afghanistan after his eviction from Sudan in 1996. According to US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, 70 to 75 missiles were launched from American ships close to Pakistani waters in the Arabian Sea to hit targets in Sudan and Afghanistan. Seven of the missiles hit a pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum which the Americans believe was manufacturing chemical weapons, a charge categorically denied by Sudan.

"Not we, but America is the biggest terrorist in the world. It has let loose a reign of terror on Muslims all over the world. Can America prove the involvement of Osama bin Laden or those killed in the air strikes in the bombing of embassies in Dar-es-salam and Tanzania," asks Dr. Ahmad Sarwar a Pakistani national who was also in the Amir Muawiya training camp on the night of August 20. "I heard a whistle like sound, followed by a fireball. And within seconds the missile hit the ground some 15 yards to my right. There was a deafening explosion and six to seven others in succession," recalls Dr. Sarwar, who accompanied the three injured persons who were shifted to the Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar from Khost. "It is our turn now. We will reply to the US attack. The superpower attacked our religious schools in Khost in the night like cowards, but we will strike in broad daylight," says the bearded doctor. Ahmad Sarwar claims these camps imparted only religious education and had nothing to do with military or 'terrorist' training. "Did the Americans kill Osama? Only innocent people and students of religious schools were targeted. The attack destroyed the hostels, two mosques and a few houses of the civilian population," the doctor says angrily.

"Now we declare an open war on America", says Habibur Rehman, 22, who received severe burns on half his body in the missile attack. "We will avenge the blood of our brethren and tell the Americans that faith is mightier than tanks and missiles," says Habib in a pain-choked voice. On the night of the attack, "I was woken up by the sound of a big explosion. There was dust and fire all around. People were running for shelter. I was in severe pain." But despite his ordeal. Habib is determined to go back to Afghanistan to complete his course. "Such strikes cannot stop us."

Habibur Rehman's fearlessness and determination to return to his camp in Afghanistan is surprising.

What is it that hardens a 22-year-old to the vagaries of wars? Interviews with those returning from these camps after completing military training reveal that Afghani, Pakistani and Kashmiri teachers train the militants in elementary to medium and high-skilled guerrilla warfare on light and heavy weapons. The camps are run by the Arabs, Pakistanis and Kashmiris in coordination with each other under the supervision of the Taliban administration. Reportedly, an average of 250 people are trained at a time in each camp and the duration of the course ranges from 40 or 90 days to six months. Describing life inside the camps, one of the mujahideen, Jasim, says the day starts with (Fajr) morning prayers and an hour of exercise, followed by classes till mid-day. "We get military lessons and practical training at the camp," says Jasim, adding that in the afternoons the mujahideen enjoy sports. Dars-i-Quran classes are held after dinner. The courses taught include training for normal combat to hit-and-run to sabotage. A number of educated people and students from pre-medical and pre-engineering classes have joined the rank and file of the mujahideen. "Jehad is more important than studying in college," declared one of Bakht Zamin's lieutenants.

Established with the help of US and Pakistani secret agencies in the early '80s to train fighters to combat Soviet forces in Afghanistan, these camps have also been visited by William Casey, then director ClA, and the late General Akhtar Abdur Rehman, then director general of the ISI. At the time, several camps run by mujahideen commanders were operating in the provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar and Khost in Afghanistan, sharing a border with Pakistan. And the mujahideen commandos had been trained by American instructors and Pakistani military officials, in line with guide books of the US Marines. Some of these guides were later recovered from the houses of Arabs in Peshawar, when there was a crackdown on extremists in 1993. Similar books translated into Arabic were also confiscated from a camp in Jalalabad. The camps in Khost, supervised by Commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, accommodated most of the Arabs who crossed into Afghanistan in the wake of the crackdown.

Osama bin Laden has become a new source of inspiration for the radical Arab groups. Osama took refuge in Afghanistan in May 1996, after his eviction from Sudan. The number of Osama's supporters from Arab countries presently hiding in Afghanistan is estimated to be around 200. The 43 year-old tall and frail-looking Saudi dissident, who used to carry a Kalashnikov assault rifle on his shoulder, is escorted by a squad of his trusted supporters. Mindful of his security and the hunt launched by the United States, Osama keeps changing his sanctuary from Nangarhar to Kandahar to Khost. He has announced the formation of the International Islamic Front for jehad against America and Israel and believes that his mujahideen would evict the infidel forces from the holy land, a reference to Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, back at the training camps in Afghanistan, radical groups angered by the American attack on their bases, have vowed to strike back and target installations of their enemy. "We will be back with full force and vengeance" says one Harkat leader.

London-Based Islamic Center Publishes Usamah Bin-Ladin's Biography

GMP20000422000025 (Internet) Islamic Observation Center WWW-Text in Arabic 22 Apr 00

[Biography of Usamah Bin-Ladin, "written by brother Mujtahid with minor modifications"]

Usamah Bin-Ladin was born in 1377 hegira, corresponding to 1957, to a Syrian mother from Damascus. He is the 43d among his brothers and sisters, and the 21st among his brothers--the children of the famous contractor Muhammad Awad Bin-Ladin.

His Father

Usamah's father, Muhammad Awad Bin-Ladin, arrived in Jeddah from Hadhramaut around the year 1930. Those who knew his father remember that he was an epitome of perseverance, hard work, and self-reliance. Therefore, in a few years time, Muhammad Bin-Ladin turned from a construction worker at the primitive Jeddah Port into the largest construction contractor in the Kingdom. In addition, Usamah's father was courageous and willing to take risks. Thus, he managed to convince King Sa'ud that he was the best to handle difficult and challenging projects. During King Sa'ud's rule, he managed to establish a good relationship with senior members of the ruling family, including Faysal, who was prince then. When the famous dispute took place between Faysal and Sa'ud, he was one of those who persuaded King Sa'ud to step down in favor of Faysal.

This was not all. Muhammad Bin-Ladin paid the salaries of all state employees for almost six months after Sa'ud's departure when the treasury was completely empty. To repay him, King Faysal issued a decree awarding all construction contracts to him. The king practically entrusted Muhammad Bin-Ladin with the Ministry of Construction.

In 1969, Muhammad Bin-Ladin took it upon himself to rebuild Al-Aqsa Mosque after the fire that broke out at the mosque. He had already contributed to the first Saudi expansion of the two mosques [in Mecca and Medina]. That is why the Bin-Ladin family says that they had the honor of building the three [holy] mosques.

Muhammad Bin-Ladin was a religious, generous, and modest man, in spite of his enormous wealth. He had kept the bucket with which he used to carry construction materials and hung it in his living room to show pride in his perseverance and to remind himself and his children that he was a simple man before he became the biggest contractor in the region. Muhammad Bin-Ladin died in 1970 in a plane crash. It is said that he was inspecting the famous Al-Hada road project when the plane crashed.

Muhammad Bin-Ladin had possessed a strong personality. He had kept all his children in one residence. He was extremely careful about their discipline and observance of religion and morals. Muhammad Bin-Ladin died when Usamah was nine and a half years. The strongest person in the family after the father was the eldest son, Salim Bin-Ladin, who enjoyed a strong personality and prestige. It is said that King Fahd could not force the family to make him a partner until after Salim's death in a plane crash. Bakr Bin-Ladin could not fill the vacuum left by Salim.

His Study and Marriage

Usamah was brought up as a good Muslim. He has been a practicing Muslim since his early childhood. He married for the first time when he was 17 years old. His wife was a daughter of a maternal uncle in Syria. He received his elementary, secondary, and university studies in Jeddah. He earned a university degree in public administration science. During his studies, he familiarized himself with the activities of famous Islamic currents and met many Islamic personalities. Nothing special happened during his studies.

Contrary to the claims of some Arab and Western newspapers, Usamah did not travel to any country other than the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, and Sudan. All the reports about trips to Switzerland, London, and the Philippines are baseless. Also, the claims that Usamah became religious after a stage of deviation are untrue and unfounded.

How Was Bin-Ladin's Mentality Shaped?

In addition to the conservative atmosphere in which Usamah was brought up, Muhammad Bin-Ladin, Usamah's father, used to host a large number of pilgrims every year, some of whom were well-known Islamic figures. Usamah's brothers continued this tradition after the death of their father. This provided Usamah with an opportunity to learn from some distinguished figures from among the guests. However, at the university, there were two people who left a lasting impression on his life. They were Muhammad Qutub and Shaykh Abdallah Azzam. Islamic education was a mandatory course for all university students.

Bin-Ladin Begins Jihad

Usamah's relationship with Afghanistan began in the first weeks of the Russian invasion of that country. He was shocked by the news of the occupation of a Muslim country and the displacement of its people in this manner at the hands of atheist Communists. Usamah wanted to have a first-hand look at the situation since its very inception. So he arranged with the Islamic group a trip to Pakistan. The group took him from Karachi to Peshawar, where he met with a group of mujahidin commanders, such as Sayyaf and Rabbani. He was already familiar with their names, because some of them used to frequent his father's place during the hajj season. Usamah was careful to keep the trip a secret because he was unaware of the stand of the state. He was also careful to make the trip exploratory in nature before making a decision on that issue. The trip lasted one month, and he was convinced that the issue deserved most of his attention.

When he returned to the Kingdom and felt that he could speak about the trip, he started to tell his brothers, relatives, and fellow students about his observations. He also managed to conduct a public relations campaign in favor of the mujahidin. The result of the campaign was a huge amount of donations and contributions to the mujahidin. Usamah took the donations and went on another trip to Pakistan, in the company of a large number of Pakistanis and Afghans who work at the Bin-Ladin Corporation. Usamah spent another month there. He repeated these trips, carrying donations with him, in the company of people of different nationalities. He went only to the areas of the camps, without entering Afghanistan. This situation continued until the year 1982.

In 1982, Usamah decided to cross the border and enter Afghanistan to take part in the jihad. He saw the rugged mountainous terrain of Afghanistan, so he decided to use his experience as a contractor. He brought a huge number of bulldozers, excavators, and other equipment to help the mujahidin go through the mountains, build roads, and set up camps. Usamah made more visits to Afghanistan and supervised the delivery of funds, weapons, and equipment. He sometimes took part in some battles, but irregularly. Some people of the Peninsula were influenced by Usamah's visits and started to head to Afghanistan, but in small numbers, since the issue had not yet become a public campaign and organized in establishments, offices, and camps.

The year 1984 saw the emergence of the first model of institutional action of the jihad of the Arabs in Afghanistan; namely, Bayt al-Ansar [House of Supporters] in Peshawar. Bayt al-Ansar was established as an advance station or temporary residence to welcome the people coming to take part in jihad before they head for training and then jihad. In spite of the establishment of Bayt al-Ansar, Usamah did not have his own agency or infrastructure, including camps, stores, supply, and communications. He did not have his own front. He used to send the newly arriving young people to one of the combatant parties, such as Hekmatyar, Sayyaf, or Rabbani.

The establishment of Bayt al-Ansar coincided with the setting up of a services office in Peshawar by Shaykh Abdallah Azzam, may God rest his soul. The office and Bayt complemented the work of each other. The office carried out the media mission, collection of donations, and urging the Muslims, especially the Arabs, to sacrifice their lives and donate their money for the cause of jihad. Meanwhile, Bayt al-Ansar carried out the practical mission of receiving and directing those who wish to take part in the jihad or who want to learn about the situation of the Afghans. During that period, the relationship between Shaykh Abdallah and Usamah grew stronger; however, it was the opinion of both people that it would be better to keep their work separate and to have several fronts, while maintaining good coordination.

In 1986, Usamah decided to expand the organization of jihad and to have his own camps and lines of supply. Indeed, he managed to build six camps. By virtue of his experience in constructions, he managed to move and transfer these camps more than once according to the war conditions. Thus, Usamah gained experience in camps and managed to adopt Arab mujahidin from the first moment of their arrival and to train them and make them take part in the battles. This made the idea of taking part in jihad sound very attractive, because young people started to spread the news of how simple the idea was and to lessen the fear of participating in jihad, since the people who receive, train, and command the participants were all Arabs.

During that period, a huge number of Arab mujahidin started to report to Bayt al-Ansar and the camps. Those people included high-school and university students and perhaps illiterate people and others who had come to atone for their grave sins. They included engineers, doctors, and even efficient officers who were experienced in combat.

In the beginning, the Arab mujahidin took part in several skirmishes and limited fighting. They then took part in fierce battles, the most famous of which was the Jaji battle at the end of that year. In that battle, the Arab mujahidin defeated elite and well-armed Russian units and killed a number of the best Russian commandos.

Between 1986 and 1989, the Arab mujahidin fought five major battles with the Russians and hundreds of minor clashes and skirmishes. It was one of the best periods for the mujahidin because there was an opportunity to carry out jihad without harassment by the rulers of the Kingdom or the Pakistani Government. During that period, Usamah returned to the Kingdom only for a very short while. He spent most days of the year in Afghanistan. He was busy carrying out jihad and training and supervising the mujahidin. God blessed his company, although he was away from his business doing other things.

Al-Qa'idah [The Base]

In the end of the 1980s, specifically in 1988, Usamah noticed that there was an increase in the activity and travels of the Arab mujahidin to the battlefront and also in the number of wounded and martyred people, and that he did not have a record of this activity despite its importance and the fact that this was part of the ABC's of the military. The lack of information often caused embarrassment to Usamah with some families, which inquired about their sons by telephone or by sending an envoy to know the fate of a family member who had joined him. Usamah felt that the lack of information is shameful, besides being a basic administrative mistake. Therefore, he decided to keep records for the Arab mujahidin.

The idea of the records expanded to include full details about everyone who had arrived in Afghanistan through arrangements by the shaykh's group. The records were arranged in a way to include the date of arrival of the person, his joining Bayt al-Ansar, and then details of his joining the training camps and then sending him to the front. The records became like an independent administration. There was a need to give it a name for internal purposes. Usamah and his aides agreed to call it the Base Registry, since the base includes Bayt al-Ansar, the training camps, and the fronts.

So this is the base. It is not the monster depicted by the Americans in a Hollywood style. Of course, the word base continued to be used by the group associated with Usamah. The Americans, and other people who are ignorant of the modus operandi of jihad groups, got the impression that it was the name of a terrorist organization.

Return to the Kingdom

In 1989, specifically after the withdrawal of the Soviet Union from Afghanistan, Usamah returned to the Kingdom to finish a few things there. He thought this trip was like other trips to the Kingdom. However, this time it was different from the previous trips. Usamah learned after his arrival that he was banned from travel. He thought that the reason was the Russian withdrawal and the understanding reached between the major powers and the Kingdom. No doubt, this was one factor, but Usamah was surprised to learn about the main reason, which he had not thought about.

Usamah started to plan for launching a jihad front against South Yemen from the Kingdom and North Yemen. The rulers of the Kingdom were worried about the diplomatic embarrassment this would cause. They were also more worried because this plan by Usamah was evidence that the man wants jihad for its own sake and not to use the opportunity of common interests with major powers and governments. This was the main reason for preventing him from travel, and God knows better.

Warns of the Danger of the Iraqi Regime

Usamah's behavior during that period showed that the man started to act as if he was an official who was concerned about a cause. The rulers were greatly upset when he spoke publicly about the danger of the Iraqi regime and predicted that this regime would invade the Gulf. He said this in public and recorded lectures at a time when the Iraqi regime was one of the strongest friends of the Kingdom. King Fahd had returned from a visit to Iraq then.

Secret Advice to the State

The Saudi Interior Ministry was not content with preventing him from travel. It also warned him against carrying out any public activity, telling him that he could be arrested or placed under house arrest if he did not comply with the orders. Despite the hostile attitude of the state toward him, Usamah wrote a letter including advice to the state. The letter was delivered via one of his brothers to Prince Ahmad Bin-Abd-al-Aziz. The letter included general advice and personal ideas. The general advice demanded comprehensive reform, while the personal part was a repeat of his predictions about Saddam's ambitions in the region and the need for preparation for this situation. Prince Nayif had made it a point to meet Usamah when he read a report about his lecture about Saddam's ambitions.

After the Invasion of Kuwait

As soon as Usamah heard about the invasion of Kuwait in the news, he acted in a manner that reflected his feeling of a large part of responsibility. He wrote another letter to the state, explaining his view of the best way to protect the country from the Iraqi threat. He included several suggestions on the best way to mobilize the nation against this danger and the best way practically to face it. He also suggested asking all the Arab mujahidin, who listen to him, to come to the defense of Saudi Arabia. The letter was delivered in the same method the first letter was delivered. The state's reaction was a promise to examine this issue.

In spite of his doubts about the regime's position on religious and national issues, Usamah had expected a request for some contribution to the defense of the country. He thought that the regime, in spite of its religious violations, had some concern about the country and a desire to protect it. But instead of benefiting from the offer Usamah had made, the state made a decision to invite US troops. This decision was the reason for the greatest change in Usamah's life. Usamah says that when he heard the news about calling US troops, this was the greatest shock in his life. In his opinion, this was the first time since the Prophet's mission that the infidels control the Arabian Peninsula by their military forces. He was also shocked because the US forces did not come through occupation or against the will of the rulers. Rather, they came at the request of those rulers, who rushed to seek the help of the Americans. Usamah felt frustrated and worried about the future of the Peninsula following this serious development. At that point, he realized that sending letters and memorandums to Saudi officials is useless and that he must think about another method.

Usamah acted on two fronts. First, he sought to obtain a fatwa [religious ruling] that every Muslim, especially the people of the Peninsula, should prepare to fight. Indeed, Shaykh Bin-Uthaymin issued such a fatwa, and Usamah used it to spur young people to go to Afghanistan and get some training there. In response to his call, a large number of young people traveled to Afghanistan. Second, he sought to assemble the largest number of ulema [Muslim scholars] in an independent Islamic institution other than the Senior Ulema Commission so that this new institution would be an authority for the people. In his opinion, the Senior Ulema Commission had turned into a tool in the hand of the state after issuing a fatwa sanctioning the invitation of [foreign] forces.

Although Usamah's movement was restricted, since he was almost under house arrest, he managed to achieve some of his goals, especially on the first front. However, his attempts to gather the ulema in an independent body were not successful because of the restrictions imposed on his movement and because the ulema, including young ones, had not yet comprehended the idea of independent institutions.

Usamah Terrorized by the Authority

Usamah did not comply with the restrictions imposed on him. He delivered a number of lectures and held a large number of meetings with ulema and activists in the area of the Islamic call. The authorities did not accept this. Therefore, Usamah was summoned several times and strictly warned that he must freeze his activities. To intimidate him, the authority sent a detachment of the National Guard in Jeddah to raid his farm in the suburbs of Jeddah and conduct a surprise search. He was not present when the raid took place. The detachment arrested some workers on the farm (they were released later) and wrote down a list of the items they found on the farm and videotaped the farm and its warehouses and other facilities. When Usamah learned about the incident, he was extremely angry and wrote a strong protest letter to Prince Abdallah. Usamah was surprised when he received a reply from Prince Abdallah, denying his knowledge of the incident and promising to punish those responsible.

Outside the Country Once Again

The accumulation of these incidents, whether at the level of the country or on the personal level, made Usamah think seriously about leaving the country. But how can he do that when he is banned from travel and all his movements are closely watched? Bin-Ladin, however, managed to leave the country easily and publicly.

How Did He Leave the Kingdom?

The days went by while Usamah experienced an unbearable situation. He was a man of action, jihad, and movement, but all of a sudden he found himself under house arrest. Another thing he could not put up with was the presence of [foreign] forces in the Arabian Peninsula. He thought he would be contradicting himself if he claimed that he had fought the infidels in Afghanistan because they occupied a Muslim country, while the infidels were now in the Arabian Peninsula, which is a more sacred place.

Usamah bitterly tolerated the period of the war "Desert Storm." He then reached a conviction that he could not be honest with himself if he remained in the Kingdom. His escape was not easy, since he is a well-known figure and his house was always guarded. That is why he thought of a method that is close to a normal style, and this method was a success.

One of his brothers was close to Prince Ahmad Bin-Abd-al-Aziz, deputy interior minister. Usamah spoke with his brother, telling him that he had many financial commitments in Pakistan and other areas and that people owed him certain obligations and he owed others some obligations. He said he could not ask another person to resolve all these issues on his behalf, since some of them were based on trust and personal relations.

His brother was convinced of the idea and promised to explain this to Prince Ahmad. Prince Nayif was about to take a leave, so Usamah's brother waited until Nayif went on leave and spoke to Prince Ahmad. He managed to persuade him to return Usamah's passport and allow him to travel. Prince Ahmad agreed and allowed him one trip and he asked the security agencies to watch him. Thus, Usamah abandoned the method of escape and disguise and left the country in a normal manner.

When he arrived in Pakistan, the first thing he did was to write a tender letter of apology to his brother, telling him that he was not planning to return and that he would cause him embarrassment with Prince Nayif. He apologized to him, telling him that the price was high and that it deserved resorting to such a method.

To Afghanistan Once Again

Usamah knew that it would not be safe for him to stay in Pakistan because of the Saudi-Pakistani security cooperation. So he hurriedly entered Afghanistan once again. His presence there coincided with the collapse of the Communist regime and the fall of Kabul and the beginning of war among the Afghan factions.

The first measure he took to deal with this issue was to issue a directive to Arab youths not to get involved in the ongoing conflict and not to side with any party. He maintained this stand until the Taleban entered Kabul. He decided then to side with the Taleban.

The second measure he took was to make huge efforts to reconcile the factions. Regrettably, however, his efforts did not achieve any result worth mentioning. While in Afghanistan, his country's intelligence, led by a well-known prince, cooperated with the Pakistani intelligence to kill or kidnap him. But all attempts failed because his sympathizers within the Pakistani security agency and the other country were quick to leak information to him so he would remain cautious.

He remained in Afghanistan for several months and continued his attempts to settle differences. After his repeated failure, he knew that he had reached a dead end. Usamah felt that his presence in Afghanistan was useless, especially since many people were lying in wait for him and would continue to try to kidnap or assassinate him. After studying the situation with a number of his close associates, he decided to look for another place from which he can serve Islam other than Afghanistan.

To Sudan

Leaving for Sudan was one of Usamah's options. This was not because it would be a new base for a new plan, but because he had heard a lot about this new country. The Islamists had started to talk about this country's enthusiasm about Islam and Muslims and its eagerness to implement an Islamic plan. Usamah thought he could provide something to this country through his trade and construction experience and his relations with the Kingdom and the Gulf. Besides, Sudan would provide him with a shelter to replace Afghanistan.

Usamah left for Sudan on a private plane in a secret flight toward the end of 1991. He took with him a number of his companions, while others followed him via other routes.

While in Sudan, the Sudanese Government was very hospitable toward him, but at that stage he was not in need of any financial support, because his money was still under his control. He managed to normally transfer a part of his funds and equipment from the Kingdom to Sudan.

Usamah did not contribute to any military action in Sudan, but he greatly contributed toward building roads, farms, and other construction projects. The most famous of these was Al-Tahaddi [Challenge] Road from Khartoum to Port Sudan.

Although Usamah left the Kingdom as explained above and although he was exposed to kidnapping and killing attempts in Afghanistan by the Saudi regime, he did not declare a hostile stand toward the ruling regime. He did not want to sever ties with religious personalities, merchants, and some influential people in the Kingdom. This policy was beneficial. Usamah managed to convince a large number of those people to support Sudan and hold investments in it. During that period, he was offered more than once a return to the country and was given guarantees, but he did not welcome the idea at all.

Interest in him grew noticeably at the end of 1992 when an order was issued to freeze his assets. Afterward, Usamah's case turned into a hot issue on the agenda of the US intelligence, and this issue was regularly raised between the Americans and the Saudi authorities. Pressures on Usamah intensified to make him return and the authority tried to embarrass him by putting pressure on his family and blackmailing him through them, but to no avail.

When the Saudi Government despaired of his return, King Fahd issued a decree abrogating his citizenship in early 1994. It is said that Usamah threw the civil status book onto the lap of one of the people dispatched by the authorities to persuade him to return before abrogating his citizenship. Usamah told this person: "Don't deal with me the way you deal with subordinates. Take it. I don't need it." These developments, which ended in abrogating his citizenship, coincided with other developments in the Kingdom, which Usamah had closely followed. The Islamic current had sent a number of memorandums, demanding reform. The last of these developments, which coincided with the abrogation of citizenship, was the case of the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights [CDLR] and the arrest campaign of its founders and sympathizers before the CDLR moved to London. These developments prompted Usamah to take the first declared initiative against the Saudi Government in early 1994 when he issued a personal statement responding to the decision abrogating his citizenship. After this statement, Usamah decided to act publicly, in cooperation with others. This led to the emergence of the Commission for Advice and Reform.

The Commission for Advice and Reform

When Usamah and a number of those cooperating with him saw the campaign launched by the state against the CDLR and the arrest of a number of its founders and others, some people advised him to form an alternative body, which he called "The Commission for Advice and Defense of Legitimate Rights" to replace the CDLR, which was suppressed. Usamah did not know that the CDLR was about to resume its work from London.

The CDLR reemerged from London, so his associates advised him to change that name and to choose another name because the CDLR chose its name first and the name must be changed in full. So the name was changed to "The Commission for Advice and Reform." The new commission began to issue different statements in its own name, and not in Usamah's personal name. The commission opened an office in London and appointed Khalid al-Fawwaz in charge of it. It is fair to say that the language of the statements of that commission was different from Bin-Ladin's recent statements.

We go back to his stay in Sudan. Throughout his stay in Sudan, Usamah was the focus of many Islamic movement pioneers from all over the world, journalists, and intelligence men and agents of the United States and some Arab countries. During that period, Usamah had maintained ties with ulema, preachers, and merchants in the Kingdom. He had also maintained ties with many old friends in jihad, whether those who remained in Pakistan and Afghanistan or those who returned to Arab countries.

During his stay in Sudan, two important developments were tied to him. The first: The incidents in Somalia and Yemen. The second: The Riyadh bombing.

As for the incidents in Somalia, they are well known. There was a small faction, led by a group of those who received training in Afghanistan. They played a role in qualitative operations against the Americans. As for Yemen, the United States and Yemen kept silent on incidents in which several Americans were killed in a hotel in Aden. Usamah takes pride in these operations, but he does not attribute them directly to himself. He just considers them part of his general circle.

As for the Riyadh bombing, evidence strongly indicates that the group behind it had a relationship with Usamah. Usamah did not deny the relationship and did not deny his support for the action, but he was accurate in that he did not attribute it to himself directly in any speech on any occasion.

Following the incidents in Somalia and the Riyadh bombing, Usamah's stay in Sudan after 1994 began to greatly embarrass the Sudanese Government, which came under strong pressure from the United States and Arab countries to expel or extradite him. The Sudanese tolerated the pressure for some time, but it was clear that they were not willing to remain patient for a long time. The Sudanese began to put pressure on the Arab Afghans to leave Sudan. Usamah was aware of the pressure against Sudan because the Sudanese had kept him informed of this. They might have told him once that he should consider leaving.

When Usamah felt that the Sudanese could no longer put up with him and were embarrassed to tell him that, he started to make arrangements for his departure by himself. To prepare for his departure, Usamah contacted his old friends of the Afghan mujahidin and chose from them Shaykh Yunos Khales and Shaykh Jalaloddin Haqqani, who had a strong influence in the Jalalabad region. This happened before Taleban extended its influence outside Kandahar, when Afghan areas were split between Afghan factions.

After securing a place for him in Jalalabad, Usamah prepared to leave Sudan in a top-secret operation. For this purpose, he chartered a private plane that carried him, along with a number of his followers, to Afghanistan, where he was received by Shaykh Yunos Khales and Shaykh Haqqani. After his arrival there, he sent a message to Afghan factions telling them that he was still committed to not interfering in their differences and struggles. This was before the Taleban captured Jalalabad and then Kabul.

Since his arrival in Afghanistan, a series of dramatic developments has taken place. These include the Al-Khubar bombing, the Taleban's capture of Jalalabad, the attempt to kidnap Usamah, and the statement of jihad against the Americans, which he issued in November 1996.

In June 1996, a large explosion rocked the city of Al-Khubar, killing 20 US military personnel and wounding hundreds. Usamah did not claim responsibility for the Al-Khubar bombing. He supported the bombing, without claiming responsibility for it. Meanwhile, the Saudi authorities were careful to pin the charge on Shiite elements, supported by Iran, in an attempt to discredit Bin-Ladin. The Saudi authorities continued to avoid holding Bin-Ladin responsible until one of the Saudi officials made a statement to AFP following the incidents of Kenya and Tanzania, in which he slipped and said that the reason for severing ties with the Taleban was that it sheltered the people wanted in Al-Khubar bombing from the group that accompanies Bin-Ladin. This statement was not repeated and no similar statement was made. On the contrary, the Saudis tried to blow the case of Hani al-Sayigh out of proportion to achieve the same goal.

Shortly after the Al-Khubar bombing, Usamah issued his first statement titled "Declaring Jihad to Drive Out the Infidels From the Peninsula of the Arabs." This time, the statement was not issued in the name of the Commission for Advice and Reform; it was issued in Bin-Ladin's name personally. The 12-page statement said that the situation of the Peninsula, under the presence of infidel forces, had not been experienced since the era of Prophet Muhammad, God's peace and blessings be upon him. The statement was sent by fax in the form of a booklet. It attracted the attention of some newspapers and news agencies.

At that stage, the Saudi ambassador in Islamabad tried to pressure Yunos Khales and Haqqani to hand over Usamah. The ambassador tried to tempt them by making certain offers, but Yunos Khales's reply was categorical. He said: If an animal seeks refuge with us, we will protect him. So how about a man who sacrificed himself and his money for the sake of God and jihad in Afghanistan?

Afterward, Taleban invaded the region where Usamah was staying. By that time, Usamah had known some details about the Taleban, since Yunos Khales and Haqqani had already joined Taleban and considered themselves part of the Taleban army. However, Usamah had no idea what his situation would be after he had become in the region under their control. Usamah did not have to wait for long. Mola Omar, the leader of Taleban, sent a delegation to meet Usamah and to reassure him and tell him that he is still a guest. Mola Omar pledged to protect him, but he asked him to stop any media activity. Usamah had given interviews to CNN and the British Channel Four during that period.

The other development that happened afterward and that forced Usamah to move to Kandahar was the kidnapping attempt, which was leaked to Usamah and aborted before it was carried out. Mercenaries from the tribes on the Pakistani-Afghan border had been financed to carry out a lightning attack on the area where Usamah was staying and kidnap or kill him. Pakistan and other known countries had arranged the operation, but the news leaked to Usamah quickly so he made arrangements quickly to move to Kandahar, the stronghold of the Taleban, which is safer.

Face to Face With Mola Omar]

During Usamah's stay in Jalalabad, an important development took place: The Taleban entered Kabul almost without battles. This helped the Taleban, since it became the largest power in Afghanistan, despite the limited recognition of it. In the meantime, Usamah was planning to move to Kandahar to be safe from the kidnapping attempt, which we have previously noted. This development facilitated Usamah's move to Kandahar, since he traveled via Kabul. He went to Kabul by car and from Kabul to Kandahar by plane. When he arrived in Kandahar, Usamah was careful to meet Mola Omar, the amir of the Taleban, in person, because up until that moment, he had not met Mola Omar in spite of the frequent correspondence between them. The meeting took place in a very friendly atmosphere. It actually took place before the recent differences had surfaced between them. Mola Omar welcomed Usamah and expressed his happiness to host him. He said that he and the Taleban were honored to defend Usamah as an esteemed Arab guest and as a mujahid who fought with them in the Afghanistan war. In the same meeting, Mola Omar spoke about the serious challenges facing the Taleban after entering Kabul, especially facing the forces of Dostum. He told Usamah that it would be better if he decreased the media campaign and that this was only a request, and not an order or an obligation. Usamah responded by saying that he had already decided to reduce or totally freeze his media activity. So, Mola Omar was satisfied with this answer.

Saudi Recognition

Meanwhile, the Saudi Government had recognized the Taleban, in a move believed to aim at embarrassing the Taleban to cooperate with it on the case of Usamah. The Saudi Government went a step further when it invited all members of the Taleban government and Mola Omar personally to perform hajj and 'umrah [minor pilgrimage] and host them as official guests. In fact, one of the key figures of the Taleban government, Prime Minister Mohammad Rabbani, visited the Kingdom to perform hajj. However, it seems that "good hospitality" did not change his attitude and the stands of his government. The position of Taleban toward Usamah did not change. The Taleban politely turned down the requests of several delegations sent by the Saudi Government, including diplomats, businessmen, Usamah's relatives, and intelligence figures.

Usamah Party to the Afghan War

Another development happened in those days making Usamah more popular with the Taleban. Usamah abandoned his neutral stand toward the dispute of the Afghan factions and decided to side strongly with the Taleban against Dostum. He ordered his men to fight alongside the Taleban. When Shah Masud insisted on becoming a party to the war, Usamah made the religious scholars who accompanied him issue a fatwa to the effect that fighting Masud is considered rightful jihad. This decision played an important role in helping the Taleban, since they had not yet arranged their affairs and all their initial victories happened almost without a fight. This is because of the concern of the people for the Taleban and the fact that field commanders surrendered to their authority. As for Dostum and Masud, their forces were more united because they convinced their followers that the war was ethnic, and not religious. What helped to keep them united was Dostum's dependence on the Uzbeks and Masud's dependence on the Tajiks. Masud and Dostum sought to persuade their followers that the Taleban were nothing but Pashtuns who wanted to control them. Add to this the fact that the Western world felt the danger of the Taleban only after the fall of Kabul and their protection of Usamah. This made Masud and Dostum win generous support from Russia, America, Turkey, Iran, and other sides. The Taleban were about to collapse in the face of the regular and united forces, which were supported by other parties. At least in two cases, it was Usamah's battalions that repulsed those forces from Kabul. The Taleban did not forget this and Usamah became more popular with them.

Another factor that made Usamah more popular with the Taleban was the fact that he freed up a number of specialized young people to help the Taleban in planning, management, and development of the new state. Although the group that was with Usamah is modest in knowledge, for the Taleban it was a team of university professors.

Another Kidnapping Attempt

The Americans and their allies did not despair of capturing Usamah. After they realized that it was impossible to persuade the Taleban [to extradite Bin-Ladin], the Americans, along with the Pakistanis and a third country, thought of preparing a plan to kidnap Usamah by carrying out a commando operation from Pakistani territory.

Training on the operation began in the end of the spring of 1997, provided that implementation would take place at the beginning of summer. The operation was kept under total secrecy. However, because Pakistan was a party to it, it was impossible to keep it secret, since the Pakistani military intelligence had many sympathizers with Usamah. The news was leaked to Usamah and other Arab parties, which leaked it to the press. Thus, the US plan was exposed and canceled. The Americans first denied the story, then later acknowledged that it was true. They attributed the cancellation of the plan to fear of casualties within US ranks.

Taleban Ulema With Bin-Ladin

Toward the end of 1997 and the beginning of 1998, Usamah decided to resume his activity. He first started with the ulema of Taleban and Pakistan. Usamah managed to get a fatwa from around 40 ulema in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The fatwa supported his statement to drive the infidel forces out of the Arabian Peninsula. The fatwa was circulated on a large scale in Pakistan and Afghanistan and was leaked to the press. The newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi published excerpts of it.

Through this statement, Usamah wanted to achieve two objectives. First, a comprehensive Islamic plan to mobilize Muslim ulema against US presence in the Arabian Peninsula, based on the fact that these signatures would be collected from other sides and countries. Second, to get a moral and Islamic cover within Afghanistan because he had decided to revive his media activity and he did not want to be in a weak position with Mola Omar.

The World Islamic Front

This development coincided with--God knows if this was one of its reasons or consequences--the assembly of a number of leaders of Islamic groups, especially the Egyptian jihad group, in Afghanistan. A large number of delegations flocked from Pakistan and Kashmir to see Usamah. One of those leaders talked Usamah into expanding the concept of war with the United States to fight it everywhere. This conviction grew larger to include, instead of fighting America, killing every American in the age of combat everywhere and anytime, along with the Jews. Those who convinced Usamah of the idea cited two justifications: One political, while the other was based on Islamic shari'ah.

The justification that is based on shari'ah is that the Americans are occupying the lands of the two holy mosques. Therefore, every American is considered supportive of the occupation of the Arabian Peninsula. Since the Americans and the Jews fight the Muslims everywhere and anytime and sanction the shedding of the blood of Muslim civilians, then killing the Americans and Jews is sanctioned, no matter where or when.

The political justification is that the United States has become enemy number one for Islam and is lying in wait for the Muslims and the Islamic groups. The United States no longer has any rival. Therefore, it is necessary that the Muslims should feel that they are enemies of the United States. This should turn into a major Islamic issue all over the Islamic world.

This conviction turned into action, by issuing a statement of the World Islamic Front in February 1998, which calls for killing the Americans and Jews everywhere and anytime. The statement was signed by Bin-Ladin; Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri for the Egyptian Jihad Group; and Rifa'i Taha, one of the officials of the Egyptian Islamic Group. It was also signed by the leader of one of the Kashmiri factions and one of the famous Pakistani leaders. The statement was disseminated and published by the press. The statement was a turning point for Usamah in several respects.

First, the statement represented a shift toward a global plan, instead of focusing on the issue of the US forces in the Arabian Peninsula.

Second, the statement represented what some people deemed abandonment of the caution Usamah had earlier been careful to maintain in his Islamic stand and the insistence to expand the circle of shedding blood.

Third, it was the first time that Usamah became a party to what looks like an Islamic alliance of jihad groups. In the past, he used to work with his own group and to reject declared alliances, while approving of the idea of cooperation and coordination, but without a declared alliance.

Dispute With Mola Omar

Mola Omar was not pleased with these activities. He considered them a violation of the moral commitment between him and Usamah during their previous meeting. Mola Omar sent a message to Usamah, asking him about what had happened. Usamah replied that the circumstances that necessitated halting media activities had ended and that there was no need for remaining silent. Usamah used the card of the ulema to strengthen his position, since the Taleban respect the opinion of the ulema, who all respect Mola Omar. Mola Omar was angry, but hid his anger and continued to try to convince Usamah to maintain his silence. Instead of remaining silent, Usamah took an escalatory attitude and called a news conference around May 1998. He arranged for the news conference secretly in an area near the border with Pakistan in the suburbs of Khost. A small number of journalists were invited. A few days before the conference, Usamah had given a lengthy interview to the American network ABC. In the news conference and in the interview, Usamah referred to the possibility of incidents against the Americans within a short period. He did not specify where.

Mola Omar again sent a message to Usamah, objecting to what happened and asking him to give an explanation. Usamah did not have any persuasive style to convince Mola Omar, except for the ulema. Indeed, Usamah's reply was that he accepts the judgment of the ulema. Mola Omar rejected the idea. This was not out of disrespect for the ulema, but to close this door. Mola Omar did not want to make it a habit for any person who wants to rebel to ask for the judgment of the ulema. Relations between the two men became tense. Mola Omar, who could have prevented Usamah from carrying out media activities, preferred to remain patient and to resort to persuasion for the time being.

US Embassies Bombed

Following Bin-Ladin's statements that he would strike within weeks, the Americans remained in a state of anticipation. The Americans took precautions against any attacks by declaring a state of maximum alert. However, all their precautions were taken in the Arab region, the Gulf, and, to some extent, in the Horn of Africa. While the Americans were on full alert, the strike was carried out against locations not anticipated by them; namely, their embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The two embassies were blown up by two booby-trapped trucks on 7 August 1998.

Commenting on the Western handling of this issue--whether through official parties or the media and research centers--might be more important than trying to delve into the actual blast. This is because the political, security, and strategic effects of this incident are more important than the incident itself. Apparently, the repercussions of such incidents are more important than the incidents themselves, in view of their own impact and nature. At the time, US official spokespersons were cautious not to accuse certain parties. In spite of this, media agencies, political experts, and official sources, which decline to be identified, contributed a great deal of comments, information, and analyses that help examine the repercussions of this incident. Upon conducting an in-depth examination of what was issued by those parties, we notice the following:

First, Islamic movements, or what the West calls Islamic fundamentalists, were the principal suspects. All other parties, such as Iran, Iraq, and Libya, were simply excluded. Many parties spoke about Shaykh Bin-Ladin and the Egyptian Jihad Group. Extensive reference was made to Bin-Ladin's threats of carrying out a strike within weeks. These threats came in Bin-Ladin's interview with the US network ABC. A reference was also made to the Jihad Group's statement, which was published in the Al-Hayah newspaper two days before the blast. Bin-Ladin was linked to the Egyptian Jihad through the statement of the World Islamic Front for Fighting Jews and Crusaders. These two parties were among the signatories to the statement.

Second, those bombings reopened the file of the Al-Khubar blast. Those responsible for the blast had not been announced until that date. It was noticed that the US press, for the first time, cited US officials as saying that America considered Bin-Ladin responsible for the Al-Khubar blast, and even for the Riyadh blast. In the past, US sources had cast doubt on the Saudi story about the involvement of Shiites and Iran and pointed to the possibility of the existence of domestic opposition that is responsible for the Al-Khubar blast.

Third, it was noticed in press and analytical commentaries that the two incidents were linked to the US presence in the region in general and in the Kingdom in particular. The two incidents were also linked to US policy toward Israel and Iraq and US support for governments in the region and their cooperation in the arrest of wanted Islamists and encouragement of the arrest of others. On the other hand, this issue seemed important through embarrassing the Arab regimes that collaborate with America in its policy against Islam. These regimes felt that those jihad members had moved from confronting them to confronting their American masters. Meaning that they have logistical capabilities that are greater than just confronting those regimes. This causes a high degree of embarrassment.

Although there are many indications that certain Islamic parties are responsible for the incident, well-known parties did not claim responsibility for the incident. The only thing to be officially announced was the statement of the so-called "Islamic Army for Liberating Holy Places," which was unheard of before. However, the content of the statement is directly linked to the groups, about which there were indications, since the statement attacked US policy, demanded the departure of US forces from the Arabian Peninsula, and demanded the release of Shaykh Umar Abd-al-Rahman. The statement went as far as identifying the party that issued it by demanding the release of shaykhs held in the Kingdom's prisons, such as then-Shaykhs Salman and Safar. At the time, the groups that carry out such actions probably believed that the message could be delivered without claiming responsibility for the action in public. This is because the Americans and Arab regimes knew who was behind the issue through an intelligence examination of the statement. As for the public, it would be enough for it to read the demands in the statement without knowing its source. And if these groups did not want any negative effects of the incident to be linked to them, they would have gotten rid of this through not claiming responsibility for the incident openly and publicly.

The final conclusion that should be pointed out is that Islamic parties, which are believed to be behind the two incidents, have demonstrated through the two incidents that they have logistical, technical, and human resources to carry out the operation. These parties have also demonstrated that they managed to exploit the maximum element of surprise, and that they also managed to coordinate the two incidents with a huge size of destruction.

The Americans Retaliate

Bin-Ladin did not speak publicly. He was only quoted as denying responsibility for the bombing. However, it seems that the Americans had another conclusion, which they had reached from the first week after the bombing; namely, that Bin-Ladin is 100 percent responsible for the two explosions whether he admitted it or not. Based on that alleged information, the Americans carried out their well-known operation of striking Sudan and Afghanistan. Dozens of Cruise missiles fell on Sudan and Afghanistan to strike two specific targets in Sudan and Afghanistan. But was the US retaliation smart?

Taking a close look at the issue shows that America is now unknowingly implementing parts of the programs of jihad groups. Perhaps, it was God's will that Clinton's scandals increased at the time and became a factor in the timing of the US strike. Then, the US strike became one of the reasons behind the mounting outrage and hostility against America in the Islamic world, which is exactly what the jihad groups want. America had dragged Saddam into occupying Kuwait and given political and military signals that encourage Saddam to enter Kuwait. America did this to justify landing and keeping its forces and maintaining its domination over the region. Likewise, the jihad groups succeeded in dragging America into launching this strike to achieve what these groups had sought in terms of mobilizing the Islamic public against America, proving that these groups are equals with that superpower, and then justifying a long-term conflict with America following this mobilization, irrespective of whether this policy is correct or not.

The US strike in all its details-- the timing, the quality of the target, the method, and the quantity--was evidence of the confusion and misjudgment on the part of the Americans. It is not possible to explain these details strategically, politically, or militarily. Had Clinton's scandal with Monica not been behind this action, then there would be no explanation other than the triumph of arrogance and self-conceit over planning, study, and wisdom. As for the timing, America did not make an open accusation against Bin-Ladin. It was unable to do that except after months of investigations. Even after the strike, Kenyan and American investigators continued to refuse to point a finger of accusation against anyone. Before the case of Kenya and Tanzania, America had refrained from launching a strike except after obtaining concrete evidence, and not only indications. But this conclusive evidence cannot be obtained in only two weeks after the Kenya and Tanzania incidents. Besides, the time factor is also important to prepare the world public to accept, at least partially, the idea of the strike, but all of this did not happen. Therefore, the strike was very embarrassing for America's allies in the Arab and Islamic world. Compare, for example, this hastiness in launching the strike with America's rejection of launching a strike against Iran up until now on the pretext of lack of evidence, although Saudi Arabia's allegations of the Iranian role in Al-Khubar are stronger than America's evidence of Bin-Ladin's role in Kenya and Tanzania.

The targets selected by America were laughable and even shameful. Immediately after the strike, it became clear that the selection of the targets was catastrophic for America. For example, America alleged that Bin-Ladin had used the pharmaceutical factory in Sudan to produce chemical weapons, or at least components of chemical weapons. America also alleged that the selection of the target was based on confirmed intelligence information. It is known that making a decision to launch such a strike means that the Americans trust those intelligence reports to the extent that they disregard all the serious risks of this operation. This means that if Sudan managed to prove that the factory was no more than a real pharmaceutical factory, which is what happened, then this would harm the credibility of the US intelligence. This would also destroy US justifications for any future strike, since successive analyses about this factory continued until it became clear that it had nothing to do with Bin-Ladin.

But regardless of the claim of the intelligence, the US strike was a compounded error. On the one hand, the strike was an infringement on a sovereign country. This contravenes so-called international law, international norms, and the methods of civilized nations, to use the words of America itself. America alleges that it is very careful to respect these values. On the other hand, the US strike surprised Sudan, since there were no previous signals from America of the existence of such an activity at the factory. On the contrary, America had greatly softened its tone against Sudan during the period that preceded the strike, thus giving the impression that America despaired of linking Sudan to the terrorism it alleges. Anyway, all those who follow jihad movements in general and Bin-Ladin in particular know that their ties with Sudan were severed completely. They also know that these groups are dissatisfied with the Sudanese Government, which they consider as having abandoned a religious duty in order to clear itself of the accusation of terrorism. Some jihad trends even go as far as categorizing Sudan with Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The target that was struck in Afghanistan is also evidence of glaring stupidity, since the United States could not tell the difference between Islamic countries and jihad groups, and also between Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. It is common knowledge that Islamic groups do not operate like armies, which have centers for command and communications or centers for logistical support and ammunition. These centers are targets, which, if struck with precision, help paralyze the armies. As for jihad groups in Afghanistan, you find them in a trench, a tunnel, a cave, or a tent between trees. Those familiar with the situation in Afghanistan burst into laughter when the Americans called the struck target "Bin-Ladin's infrastructure." Anyway, most of Bin-Ladin's followers in Afghanistan were present in northern Afghanistan at the time and rejoicing with the Taleban over their victories over Dostum. In addition, a large number of Bin-Ladin's followers and supporters are outside Afghanistan. Some of these followers and supporters declare that they are present in Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan, while some others do not declare where they are. Therefore, the so-called infrastructure was only an attempt at heating up the atmosphere and persuading the ignorant US public.

Furthermore, America's strike against Afghanistan is more dangerous than the strike against Sudan because it amounts to agitating and infuriating the Taleban and pushing it into the battle against America. Apparently, the Americans compared Afghanistan with Iraq and Libya after they saw the effect of the missiles on these two countries. But the opposite happened, since Afghans in general and the Taleban in particular are inclined to defiance and confrontation, and not to submission and fear. This is what made Taleban leader Mola Omar vow at the time to defend Bin-Ladin even if all countries of the world waged war on Taleban. Apparently, the Americans sustained further, unexpected damage by attacking Afghanistan when it became clear that most of the victims were Pakistani mojahedin in Kashmir. This is what prompted their leader, at a news conference, to declare war on America, as well as India.

Jihad groups were in desperate need for the method the Americans presented the strike in the media and officially. This method portrays those groups in general and Bin-Ladin in particular as America's real opponent and equal and as a force that succeeded in forcing America to act in a confused manner. Bin-Ladin is no longer that person who is shown on US and Western channels, which argue to prove that he is a force to be reckoned with. On the contrary, Bin-Ladin has now become America's monster number one, according to the statements of the US President and officials themselves. Millions of people in the world have watched how the US President, the secretary of defense, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were careful to mention Usamah Bin-Ladin in their speeches and answers to the press in order to justify the strike. This portrayal and this method gave strong momentum to the supporters of the jihad trend, especially Bin-Ladin's followers, boosted their morale, and made them feel like a superpower in the face of the United States. Those hasty, erroneous strikes even seemed as evidence to them that they made America lose its mind and, consequently, it became confused and did not know where to strike.

Regarding the Arab and Islamic public, the story is not different, since the public is experiencing a crisis of heroism and a crisis of sacrifices. The public is waiting for one that satisfies the feeling of taking revenge and curtailing America and its terrorism, as it terrorized and harassed Muslims in Palestine, Iraq, the Arabian Peninsula, Africa, Turkey, and elsewhere. Therefore, watching US officials admit that they were confused and afraid of Bin-Ladin through those strikes satisfied this feeling and boosted Bin-Ladin's popularity. This is especially since Bin-Ladin, unlike America's alleged opponents of the rulers of Arab countries, cannot be accused of collusion. The record of this new leader is completely different from the record of those leaders, such as Al-Qadhafi and Saddam. If Bin-Ladin declared his confrontation of America, then no one would cast doubt on this declaration. These effects were observed on the ground after the strike, since voicing admiration and support of Bin-Ladin does not cause security embarrassment anymore. In Pakistan and the Islamic east, the public not only admires Bin-Ladin, but also considers him a leader and savior of the Islamic nation from the domination of the Americans. Demonstrations were staged there, in which demonstrators carried pictures of Bin-Ladin.

Moreover, those who lived with Bin-Ladin and the Arab mujahidin, and even non-Muslims who were able to meet Bin-Ladin stress an important fact; namely, that this man and members of jihad groups consider death in their war with America as one of their greatest wishes. Therefore, these strikes cannot be considered effective in frightening or terrorizing those groups. The members of these groups had lived under Russian and Communist bombardment for many years and waged many fierce battles with the Russians and others to the extent that they have become addicted to the sounds of explosions. They find it difficult to sleep without them, as one of their companions said.

Other losers in this turmoil are the Arab governments, which live under the protection of America. These governments have appeared despicable and small between two superpowers--the United States and Bin-Ladin. The US strikes caused great embarrassment to those governments, which could not support the strikes lest they should prove their absolute collusion. Nor could these governments denounce the strikes lest they should recognize Bin-Ladin indirectly. These feelings were clear in the Saudi media, which completely ignored news of the strikes. The Kingdom's television, radio, and local press only carried a brief report about the strikes, without making any reference to Bin-Ladin. The Saudi press abroad, which cannot ignore Bin-Ladin, was allowed to mention Bin-Ladin's name, provided he is not referred to as a Saudi.

For its part, Taleban felt deeply embarrassed after the first explosion and before the US strike. The Americans, however, saved them from embarrassment through the stupid strike, especially since the two strikes coincided with the participation of Arab Afghans, most of whom are followers of Bin-Ladin, in Taleban's battle against Dostum in northern Afghanistan. The Arab Afghans played a key role in eliminating Dostum, especially since the first offensive, which was launched by Taleban alone, was unsuccessful. During that period, the Americans again tried to negotiate with Taleban on Bin-Ladin, but Mola Omar refused to negotiate with them. Then, the Americans only sent a letter to Mola Omar, in which they explained their request; namely, that the United States is concerned about its security and the security of its citizens, which is the reason for its dialogue with the Taleban. Mola Omar only replied to them by saying that if the Americans were serious about requesting security for themselves, then they should leave the Islamic world, especially the Arabian Peninsula.

Did the Americans Have Another Choice?

Yes, they had a much wiser choice. However, Almighty God not only made them drop this choice, but also wanted them to blow Bin-Ladin's issue out of proportion to cover up for Clinton's scandals. This other choice could have besieged Bin-Ladin and the jihad groups. The Americans were not guided to this choice; namely, staying patient and tolerant and magnifying the image of innocent people, especially Muslims, who were killed in the Kenya and Tanzania bombings and portraying Bin-Ladin and members of jihad groups as bloodthirsty people, who are the exception among the Muslims themselves, and who do not even care about killing their fellow companions of innocent Muslims.

The Americans perhaps had an opportunity to greatly benefit from religious institutions in Egypt and the Kingdom in distorting the image of these groups through linking them to the killing of dozens of innocent Muslims for the sake of killing a few Americans only, and in depicting those groups as the last ones to adhere to religion. Had the Americans shown patience, tolerated the impact of the strike, and moved in that direction, Bin-Ladin and the jihad groups would have been put in a critical position with the peoples and the Taleban. This is because that action, which the Americans can question its legitimacy on the Islamic level through the said institutions, would greatly harm the popularity of those groups and make America appear as the party that is unjustly wronged and treated. But what happened was that the Americans were deprived of this choice in a way that they could not recover, because they had gone too far in exaggerating the reaction and inflating Bin-Ladin and proving that he harmed them.

America Launches Campaign Against "Bin-Ladin's Aides"

In the weeks that followed the two bombings and the US retaliation, America embarked on an arrest campaign against some Arabs and Muslims under the pretext of their links to Bin-Ladin. The method of announcing [arrests] now used by the United States is similar to the method used by some Arab countries. As soon as these countries arrest or kill a "group leader," another "group leader" appears and they arrest or kill him and it becomes clear that the leaders in those groups outnumber the members! The United States has used this method to improve its image in its pursuit of Bin-Ladin's alleged network. The US Government has exploited the ignorance of the American people and exaggerated the issue to compensate for its failure in the war of "terrorism" and the pursuit of Bin-Ladin. As for Bin-Ladin himself, he remained under Taleban's protection during that period for fear of a surprise assassination or kidnapping. At the time, the spokesman for the movement denied the rumor that Bin-Ladin was under house arrest, and said that Bin-Ladin was free to move all over Afghanistan.

Saudi Arabia Did Not Lose Hope

The Saudi Government did not stop its attempts to put pressure on Taleban to hand over Bin-Ladin. For this purpose, the Saudi Government used the last arrow in its quiver; namely, dispatching Turki al-Faysal--the most experienced Saudi prince in Afghanistan's affairs--to Afghanistan. Turki al-Faysal left for Afghanistan accompanied by Abdallah al-Turki, Islamic affairs minister, and Salman al-Umari, Saudi charge d'affaires in Kabul. In Kandahar, the Saudi delegation met Mola Omar and requested handing over Bin-Ladin to the United States. A heated argument took place between the Saudi delegation and Taleban.

During the meeting, Mola Omar said that if they [the Saudis] were speaking for the United States, then they should not blame him if he said that he was speaking for Bin-Ladin. This statement by Mola Omar was intended to embarrass the delegation, which requested handing over Bin-Ladin to the United States, although Mola Omar did not approve of Bin-Ladin's recent policies. At the meeting, Turki al-Faysal claimed that he had come at the request of Mola Omar in order to receive Bin-Ladin. Mola Omar denied making such a promise and even criticized the legitimacy of making such a request in the first place. Thus, the argument between the two sides became so heated to the extent that Mola Omar said harsh words to the Saudi delegation, which the interpreter hesitated to interpret. Mola Omar chided the interpreter and insisted on interpreting the words verbatim. Before Turki al-Faysal left, Mola Omar asked him to take the Saudi charge d'affaires with him because he is so-and-so. After Turki al-Faysal returned to Riyadh, he requested an apology from Mola Omar, who refused to apologize. Mola Omar also refused to return the Saudi charge d'affaires. So the Saudis decided to expel the Afghan charge d'affaires in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia Expels Taleban's Representative

At the end of September in the same year, the Saudi Government decided to expel Taleban's representative without an official justification. But the reason for this was known afterward through the Taleban themselves. In brief, the reason for the expulsion--as mentioned above--was the movement's rejection of all Saudi requests to hand over Usamah Bin-Ladin or curb his activity or hand over other "Arab Afghans" who are present in Taleban's areas. Officially, nothing was issued except for a single shy statement by a responsible source who declined to be identified, according to AFP's story at the time.

Saudi Slip of the Tongue: Bin-Ladin is Behind Al-Khubar Bombing

The said statement by the Saudi official was tantamount to a slip of the tongue, which the Saudi official took back. Afterward, it was learned that that official was punished for the leak. The statement said that the reason for expelling Taleban's representative was their failure to cooperate with the Saudi Government on extraditing some wanted followers of Bin-Ladin who reside in Taleban's areas despite the existence of proofs of their involvement in the Al-Khubar bombing. This slip of the tongue was the first time a Saudi party says that those responsible for the Al-Khubar bombing were followers of Bin-Ladin, while Saudi Arabia had claimed--and continued to claim--that those responsible for the incident were Shiites.

The Expulsion of Taleban's Ambassador is Natural

The Saudi Government's decision to expel Taleban's representative was not strange inasmuch as their quick recognition of Taleban was interesting. Perhaps, the first recognition of Taleban was based on misjudgments to the effect that this new entity should join the new world order under US auspices. The Kingdom is the best one that can do this, in view of its spiritual standing in the Islamic world and its influence and experience in Afghan jihad in the past. The Saudi Government decided to deal with Taleban in the same method it had dealt with former party leaders based on the belief that the Taleban are Afghans, just as former parties, and the method that worked with the parties would work with the Taleban. That is why the rulers of the Kingdom ignored the issue of Bin-Ladin at the beginning and contributed the recognition--without anything in return--as a favor to the Afghans, who would be careful to return this "great" favor.

The Saudi Government took another step by inviting Taleban leaders to perform the hajj and umrah as official guests of the Saudi state. Tempting offers, which entice humans, were made to some Taleban leaders. The Saudi Government also tried to use its religious influence by sending some ulema or letters from shaykhs to influence Taleban's positions. All the Saudi Government had hoped was that the Taleban would agree to deal with the rest of the world on a "Pakistani-Saudi" basis, or, at least, that they would accept the Saudi Government's minimum demands of handing over Bin-Ladin or downsizing him. But none of this materialized in spite of the repeated Saudi attempts.

The Saudi Government did not lose hope and tried to influence Taleban through some personalities, which it regarded as flexible wings in Taleban, but the result was negative. Therefore, the Saudis became involved, since they neither contained Taleban nor were absolved of the accusation of collaboration or dealing with the Taleban after their confrontation of the United States. It was inevitable to get rid of this accusation after the relationship with the Taleban became pointless. Thus, the expulsion decision was made. It is highly likely that the timing had to do with Prince Abdallah's visit to Washington, since the decision was issued one day before Prince Abdallah's arrival in Washington. The decision was tantamount to an acquittal of the Saudi Government of the relationship with the Taleban, who shelter America's enemy number one: Bin-Ladin. It would not have been proper for Prince Abdallah to be a guest of the Americans while his country continues to be pleased with Taleban--the exporter of "terrorism."

Bin-Ladin Saves Kabul Once More

On the level of Bin-Ladin and "Arab Afghans," a funny development coincided with those events and strengthened their position in the eyes of the Taleban. This happened when Arab Afghans managed to protect one of Kabul's fronts against Ahmad Shah Masud while the Taleban were preoccupied with the Bamiyan front, where the Shiites are, and the northern front, where Dostum is. Ahmad Shah Masud, who is considered an experienced field commander, had carried out a successful military operation by exploiting the fact that the front was empty of Taleban troops. The Arab mujahidin were swift-moving and they had a buildup near northern Kabul, where the front opposite to Ahmad Shah Masud is situated. The Arabs showed incredible courage in that battle, in which around 50 Arabs only held out their ground in the face of Ahmad Shah Masud and prevented him from entering Kabul. Those who follow Afghan affairs probably noticed that since then, Masud began making statements against Bin-Ladin, while he had ignored him in the past. Another development took place on the level of the Arab mujahidin when they were joined by other non-Arab nationals from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and other countries. Most, or almost all, of these mujahidin feel that they are followers of Bin-Ladin.

Saudi Press Adopts the Government's Position

No sooner was the Saudi decision to sever diplomatic ties with the Taleban issued than the Saudi press turned against Taleban and changed its rhetoric on the pattern of the Arab revolutionary media in the 1960s. All of a sudden, those who had been described by the same press during the period of good relations as students applying the Islamic shari'ah turned into mercenaries, highwaymen, drug traffickers, and centers of international terrorism and cultural backwardness. Other newspapers did not attach importance to this area as much as they attached importance to Bin-Ladin's case. These newspapers highlighted Taleban as an opportunist group that protects Bin-Ladin today for temporary interests and sells him out the next day. At the time, the Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper alleged that Mola Omar broke his oath and that handing over Bin Ladin was only a question of time.

Taleban Execute a Spy for Saudi Arabia

The Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper's expectations were wrong to the extent that the Taleban took the world by surprise when they executed a pro-Saudi person. This person came after a prince assigned him to kill Bin-Ladin, as Taleban's sources say. According to Taleban's story, the Taleban, in cooperation with Bin-Ladin's group, arrested several mercenaries, including some persons from Bin-Ladin's home country, who were planning to carry out sabotage operations in Afghanistan and also planning to assassinate Bin-Ladin. The arrested persons include Afghans and Arabs, as well as some persons from Bin-Ladin's home country. Their interrogation revealed that they were dispatched by the prince in charge of the file of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Bin-Ladin's Mother Embroiled in the Game

In spite of the failure of Turki al-Faysal's visit, the Saudis did not lose hope and decided to use another method that has nothing to do with the Taleban; namely, exercising pressure on Bin-Ladin directly. Bin-Ladin's mother was banned from travel and was prevented from visiting her son when he was in Sudan. The Saudi Government knew that Bin-Ladin was yearning to see his mother. Therefore, the Saudi Government arranged a visit for his mother by a private plane to take her to Kandahar in order to use her to put pressure on her son and blackmail him. Usamah's mother was indeed flown [to Kandahar] together with her husband, who comes from Al-Attas family--a well-known family from Hadhramaut. The mother arrived and Usamah indeed met his mother, whom he had not seen for years. It is not strange that the meeting was very emotional, but Bin-Ladin was perfectly clear in that his issues were not subject to discussion despite the blackmail. The brokenhearted mother returned after she was delighted to see her son, Usamah, but did not achieve any demand for the one who dispatched her with her husband.

The Absence

Bin-Ladin suddenly reappeared on some US newspapers and two television channels in early 1999, thus again embarrassing the Taleban. Bin-Ladin's answers and comments did not indicate any change of position. Later, after the Americans and the Saudis despaired of the Taleban heeding diplomatic pressure, it was decided to use all possible means. This prompted the Taleban to decide to isolate Bin-Ladin from the world to achieve two objectives. First, protecting him. Second, preventing him from causing them another embarrassment they can do without, especially since they disagreed with Bin-Ladin over the recent fatwa. Bin-Ladin has remained isolated for protection purposes up until now. During this period, there were reports that he left Afghanistan, but these reports were not confirmed. At the beginning of the summer of 1999, the Al-Jazirah Channel showed a documentary on Bin-Ladin. The interview with Bin-Ladin, which was a part of the documentary, was videotaped during the same past period; namely, in early 1998.

Imposing Blockade on Taleban

As was announced and reported, the United States decided to use its influence on the Security Council to impose a blockade on Taleban until it hands over Bin-Ladin. The Security Council's endorsement of the resolution was evidence that the Council's entity was willing to implement US orders in a shameful manner. We do not want to comment a lot on this because the world's mere submission to the United States on such an issue reflects the situation of the world at present. What is important is that America and others did not understand that this method does not work with the Taleban, and that it is unthinkable that they would extradite Bin-Ladin.

The Current Situation

Usamah Bin-Ladin is still present in a private place for protecting him, along with a significant number of Arab brothers. There has been no significant development that would alter his situation. His relationship with the Taleban is still unchanged in terms of showing respect and appreciation and providing protection, while expressing reservations about his recent actions. Also, there has been no change in his ties with other parties.

Questions and Answers

The first pivot: Why has the United States officially, and through its head, Clinton, adopted Bin-Ladin's confrontation?

The second pivot: Why is Bin-Ladin so popular with the Muslims in general?

The third pivot: Why do Al Sa'ud comment on Bin-Ladin in this manner?

What you have described as an international consensus on labeling Bin-Ladin as terrorist--and perhaps you mean governments and political parties--is a part of the US stand and does not require a special analysis.

Regarding the first pivot, there is a very important observation, which is that despite the old US interest in Bin-Ladin--I mean the intelligence--the US political and media attention started only after the declaration of the World Islamic Front. Nothing new happened over the past two years with regard to Bin-Ladin's sacrifices and jihad. The man has been known for his sacrifices and endeavors since he knew Afghanistan.

Notice also that he did not start to antagonize America publicly until after the declaration of the World Islamic Front in 1998, when the US Administration and afterward the US media showed an unusual interest in him. In fact, when he issued the jihad statement in 1996 on expelling US and other non-Muslim forces from the Arabian Peninsula, there was very limited attention to him. In fact, some of those who are following Bin-Ladin's case assert that the Americans perhaps tried to avoid responding to that statement fearing that this would put him in the limelight, which would make him famous.

Notice also that although his name was linked to the Al-Khubar and Riyadh bombings, the US authorities did not make any serious effort to prove this, compared to their attempts to tie him to the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. The same previous observation is valid here. The Americans were careful at that stage to belittle the importance of any role for Bin-Ladin in the bombings of Riyadh and Al-Khubar, while categorically confirming and asserting and playing up his role in the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

It seems to me that the reason for the change in the US attitude toward the total disregard of the 1996 statement to the interest in the bombings in 1998 is because the Americans realized the difference between calling for the eviction of infidel occupation forces from the Arabian Peninsula, which infidels are not allowed to enter, and the call for killing the Americans everywhere and anytime. The Americans know that the first call has a strong argument and is based on teachings of the shari'ah and is widely accepted by the Muslims, since it calls for expelling the infidel invaders from the holiest Muslim country. Besides, this call is perfectly acceptable to non-Muslims, including the US public opinion. This is because expelling occupation forces from an occupied country is a legitimate and justified demand and finds a receptive ear by liberation forces. Demanding that people be given their rights is a very embarrassing issue for the US Government, which claims to support the right of people to self-determination. This applies to the operations in Riyadh and Al-Khubar. In those two operations, which the Americans have information on Bin-Ladin's role in them, the target was the US forces inside the Arabian Peninsula. So the target was military forces, and the justification is their presence in the form of occupation forces on holy lands.

As for the second call or declaration of the World Islamic Front, it was different because it was a call for killing Americans, civilian and military, not in the Arabian Peninsula, but everywhere. The Americans know that this kind of rhetoric is unlikely to receive any sympathy from the US public opinion. Besides, this talk will not receive the same acceptance the first statement received from the Muslims. This is because it is not based on cogent proof from the Islamic shari'ah that parallels the argument advanced in the first statement.

Afterward, the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania came to prove the content of the statement of the Front. At least, this is how the Americans portrayed it. The target in the bombings was not US forces. It was a handful of Americans, irrespective of the innocent victims that may die with them, even if those victims were Muslims. As long as there are American victims, it is okay if hundreds are killed. The field here is not the holy lands, and not even the United States itself. This way, it would be possible to deprive Bin-Ladin of Islamic and international sympathy by depicting him as a bloodthirsty person without a religious justification or an acceptable political logic.

Hence, the US enthusiasm to face Bin-Ladin after the declaration of the Front and the two bombings. But God decreed that this US enthusiasm coincide with Clinton's scandal with Lewinsky. This led to a ludicrous confusion in US policy, followed by the Islamic reaction, which we will discuss in the second pivot.

The second pivot: Why has Bin-Ladin won this popularity among ordinary Muslims? This issue stems from the first. In my opinion, the most important factor here was not the statements of Bin-Ladin or the Kenya and Tanzania bombings or the Riyadh and Al-Khubar bombings. The key factor--and God knows if I am right--was the US reaction, represented in hitting Afghanistan and Sudan, and Clinton's statement that he had made the decision to strike the two countries in retaliation against Bin-Ladin. To envisage this outcome, we should understand the current Islamic mentality, which is hostile toward the United States because of its stands against the Muslims. Meanwhile, we see the submission of the rulers of the Arabs and Muslims to the United States, and their willingness to carry out its orders and plans. This is why the Muslims are thirsty for and greatly enthusiastic about anyone who stands against the United States and proves that he can hurt it. Is there better evidence that Bin-Ladin had hurt the United States and quenched the thirst of Muslims than Clinton himself standing and repeating Bin-Ladin's name three times while announcing the strike against Sudan and Afghanistan as a retaliation against Bin-Ladin? Afterward, the US media, followed by the international and Arab media, got busy describing the ongoing war between Bin-Ladin and the United States. I believe--and I hope that people will not misunderstand me here--that had the United States not responded in this manner, Bin-Ladin would probably not have turned into this legendary hero. In fact, had the United States waited a little bit longer and tried to exploit the religious gaps in the statement of the World Front--seeking the help of the ulema of the authority recommended by the Saudi and Egyptian Governments--and had it focused on the blood and remains in Kenya and Tanzania, where a large number of Muslims were killed, Bin-Ladin would not have achieved this popularity. Perhaps, God wanted to confuse the Americans when He decreed that their President get involved in that scandal and thus the equation was completely reversed.

The third pivot: Why do Al Sa'ud comment on Bin-Ladin in this manner? As we have said, this is also related to the first pivot. The Al Sa'ud family did not disown Bin-Ladin because he is a "terrorist." They disowned him because he became more famous and greater than them. There are many "Saudi" terrorists, and yet the Al Sa'ud disowned only Bin-Ladin. The reason has to do with the psychological state of Al Sa'ud more than it has to do with Bin-Ladin. The Al Sa'ud do not want anyone who belongs to the country that is named after them to be greater than them. Usually, the Al Sa'ud deal with such a problem by dwarfing the person whose stature gets greater. They did this to Al-Qusaybi, Ayid al-Qarni, Salman al-Awdah, and Safar al-Hawali. As for Bin-Ladin, they had no way of dwarfing him because he was far from their influence. The only solution was to strip him of his affiliation to the Kingdom. Thus, we saw how the statements of Prince Nayif and Prince Sultan on the case of Bin-Ladin reflected their discomfort and displeasure with Bin-Ladin's fame. Based on this attitude, we would not find it strange if an order was issued abrogating the citizenship of Al-Khattab, who is waging jihad in Chechnya, should his fame continue to grow. Just wait for statements by Nayif about Al-Khattab similar to his statements about Bin-Ladin.

The sources:

--First-hand, personal information, which means close companionship.

--Stories by a large number of those who had a first-hand experience with Bin-Ladin, including ulema, escorts, followers, and even members of the Bin-Ladin family.

--The statements of the shaykh in his own name or in the name of the commissions or the parties with which he was associated.

--Articles on him in Arabic and English.

--Recordings of television interviews with CNN, ABC, and other stations.

Issues and Analyses About Usamah Bin-Ladin

Bin-Ladin's Personality

Bin-Ladin had a good upbringing, in terms of performing the duties ordered by Islam and observing a code of ethics and rules of politeness in general. His father raised him in a way through which he got used to responsibility, self-confidence, generosity, and modesty. Rarely do we find one person who combines all these traits. Bin-Ladin is also known for his shyness and tendency not to speak a lot. He looks serious most of the time, yet he tries to be cheerful. In general, he avoids raising his voice or laughing too much. He was known for all these traits even before engaging in jihad.

After engaging in jihad, he acquired other traits, such as sacrifice, patience, and endurance. His self-confidence and ability to shoulder responsibility made him a good commander, whether in terms of the field concept or the concept of commanding a group. Bin-Ladin is greatly popular with his followers. They love him so much. However, those who know him very well say that, for one reason or another, his "charisma" is not predominant. This could be because he avoids singling himself out from his followers and deals with others in excessive familiarity. This makes him lose some of his prestige. Bin-Ladin is careful to share with the young people who accompany him all their activities and daily life. He avoids singling himself out in terms of his food, clothing, or place of living. Although he is married to several women, he spends more time with his followers than with his family.

Leadership and Mental Capacity

In terms of his mental capacity, Bin-Ladin is said to have a great measure of intelligence, self-confidence, power of observation, and common sense. However, those who know Bin-Ladin's personality say that judging these mental faculties, in conjunction with his capacity for leadership and planning, shows that he hesitates a little in making decisions and assessing matters, to a degree that causes harm in some cases. But some people justify his hesitation by saying that he prefers not to make hasty decisions and to consult ulema and clerics, and that this hesitation is not caused by a lack of self-confidence. Indeed, Bin-Ladin is careful to consult the ulema, even when there are difficult security conditions. Perhaps, this was one of the reasons for his delay in making decisions. While some people deem this a sign of maturity and careful consideration, others say that expanding the circle of consultation to include operational matters and waiting to hear the opinion of a number of ulema who are difficult to contact goes against decisiveness and resolve in leadership.

Courage and Caution

One of the outstanding traits of Bin-Ladin, on which his enemies and supporters agree, is courage. His associates say that a huge bomb could explode not far from where he is standing, and yet this would not make him turn a hair. During the incidents of Afghanistan, he came under heavy artillery fire more than 40 times--in three cases people were flying on his right and left--and yet there was no indication that he was affected at all, except feeling sad over the loss of loved ones.

One of the serious incidents, which he miraculously escaped with the help of God, was when a Scud missile exploded 17 meters from him. He was taken to a hospital or a local doctor more than once for treatment from wounds he had sustained. Once, he was about to die because the cloud of chemical weapons had reached him. His permanent wish is martyrdom. He thinks that he is living an extra age, so to speak, because he had escaped death so many times. This feeling gave him an additional dose of faith and an urge to please God more, since God gave him more courage and indifference toward the plans of the enemies. For him, life and death are the same.

In spite of his courage, he was very cautious. He learned from his personal experience and from what his friends--who were experienced in security matters--had told him about many aspects of security precautions. For example, it is said that he does not allow any electronic device in the place where he lives, even if it is an electric clock, since this could lead others to his place through special equipment. In addition, he has a team for security and watch, who are especially trained on this. It is also said that since he became an opponent of parties that have influence and a strong intelligence, he no longer trusted anyone, except for the group he knew very well. He does not accept outside recommendations. It is natural for someone like him to shroud his movements and travels in total secrecy and to use diversion methods and tricks when he moves.

Emotions and Strictness

Paradoxically, Bin-Ladin combines emotion and tenderness on the one hand and strictness and stubbornness on the other. He is greatly moved when a person dear to him gets hurt or when someone reminds him of an emotional story he had experienced. However, despite this feeling, he does not change his attitudes. For this reason, he suffers a great deal. He often thinks about the young people who were hurt because of him inside or outside the Kingdom. At the same time, it does not occur to him to change his attitudes because of what happened to those people. The same thing goes for his attitude toward his family, brothers, and mother. He is extremely dutiful toward his mother and greatly cares about her and worries about the harassment she is exposed to; however, he does not take this factor into consideration when making decisions and plans.

As for his brothers, we will see when we talk about his family that Bin-Ladin cares about family bonds and fears for his brothers, but he does not give this any role in his decisions and plans. One of the sentiments that affect Bin-Ladin is his passionate love for Hejaz. He used to say that a tent under the mountains of Hejaz is better than a palace on the Nile. He considers his love for this country dual, first because God honored it with the [Islamic] message, and second because he was born and raised there and he had beautiful memories in it. Despite this, Bin-Ladin finds no parallel to the land of jihad and his memories there. That is why he considers some places in Afghanistan to be the most beautiful spot and its memories the best. It was in these places that the most dangerous confrontations with the Russians took place, in which Bin-Ladin personally took part and in which he lost a number of his men.

Culture and Education

It is said that Bin-Ladin has had a good share of education, general knowledge, and academic and Islamic studies. He is an avid reader, and he has an unusual interest in information, documents, archiving, and following the press and special reports. Therefore, he is careful to take with him a team of researchers and information specialists wherever he goes. Bin-Ladin has been eager to improve his knowledge of Islamic sciences and the Arabic language. Thus, he always makes it a point to have a knowledgeable escort.

Bin-Ladin is known for his love and appreciation of poetry. It is said that he wrote poetry, but probably it was not good enough to be made public. It is said that he is obsessed with accuracy in using the Arabic language when he takes part in any media activity or writes a statement or letter. But it is also said that he does not like to attribute what is published to himself and prefers that it be jointly attributed to other scholars in his company.

Thought and Methodology

Throughout his life, Bin-Ladin has been influenced by Islamic movements in general, but he never joined any of them organizationally. He was only influenced by the ideas and concepts raised by these groups, such as the comprehensive character of Islam, the issue of rule, return to Islamic sciences, the biography of the Prophet and the caliphs, and the need for collective work for the Islamic plan. Bin-Ladin was also influenced by some jihad figures, thinkers, and figures engaged in the Islamic call, most prominently Muhammad Qutub and Shaykh Abdallah Azzam. Although Bin-Ladin is famous and has followers, he does not represent an independent school of thought. Bin-Ladin is not prolific, in terms of speech, writing, lecturing, and academic output. All the lectures he delivered do not exceed a handful. That is why very few recordings are available for him and within a very limited circle. Also, he did not author any books or write any letters, other than the statements attributed to him and the organizations he founded.

If we want to characterize Bin-Ladin's style, he is closer to the general character of Islam-abiding young people in the country of the two holy mosques. He believes in the salafi [traditional] approach in terms of depending on evidence from Islamic shari'ah, while respecting the views of other ulema and not offending them, even those who are allied with the rulers, with very few exceptions. He also respects Islamic groups that operate in the Islamic world, although he has certain observations on them in certain issues. As for judging the Muslims, he believes that the Muslims in general are powerless. They are either confused or deliberately deviant for worldly interests and gains. Although Bin-Ladin pays attention to the question of rule, as is the case of most Islamic movements and groups that call for change, and although he considers most, if not all, ruling regimes to be un-Islamic, he avoids accusing leading personalities of infidelity. As far as we know, he was never quoted as accusing any of the well-known personalities of infidelity.

Because Bin-Ladin lived a long time in a country that is replete with superstitions and fads, he learned the art of balancing the rejection of these fads and superstitions and dealing with the social and political reality without confrontation. In brief, Bin-Ladin represents an independent school, whether from the intellectual aspect or the operational and strategic aspect. We will see, God willing, that his operational program and strategic plan are not the outcome of his special individualistic view or his personal opinions. Most likely, they are the outcome of several factors, including the influence of the surrounding environment, especially the academics and specialists he consults.

Bin-Ladin's Family

Muhammad Awad Bin-Ladin died at the age of 54. After his death, the eldest son, Salim Bin-Ladin, took over the affairs of the family. Salim enjoyed a strong personality, which led to the unity of the family and kept it disciplined on the one hand and protected it from the intervention of the ruling family on the other. Usamah regarded his brother, Salim, as a father. He liked his strong personality and concern about protecting the family. Salim died in the early 1980s (Usamah's father died in the middle of 1386 hegira) in a private plane crash, like his father. His death was a loss to the family and its impact was felt quickly when members of the ruling family, including King Fahd, became partners in the big Bin-Ladin Company and the small Bin-Ladin companies.

The Bin-Ladin family suffered a great deal from the intervention of the ruling family. The partnership turned into unilateral influence. This was clear in many projects, most important of which was the project to expand the two holy mosques. The king got his full share on time, while Bakr Bin-Ladin received his share in small amounts. This is although the king was only a nominal partner, which means without capital or effort. This partnership took place by force, and not willingly.

Usamah was almost the 21st among the sons, but the rest of the members of the family looked at him as if he were the wise man of the family, especially when he rose to fame in Afghanistan and after the death of his brother, Salim. Usamah was the authority and arbiter in the family's internal disputes. During the jihad days in the 1980s, his brothers, sisters, and relatives were quick to host him at their homes upon his return to the Kingdom. Since his stay in the Kingdom was usually short, he used to make them agree to meet at the place of the oldest member of the family. Each time he returned to the Kingdom, his brothers used to introduce their children to him one by one and his sisters would bring their children and introduce them to him. Some of his sisters would ask him to name their children to be blessed by his choice of name.

The relationship continued like this, until he left for Sudan and then for Afghanistan. Of course, his family continued to take pride in him and remained careful to stay in touch with him as much as they could. As for reports that his brothers had disowned him, these are untrue. It was a false statement issued in their name. People close to the family know that the family was threatened and warned against making any hint that the statement was false. The important thing is that the family stayed in touch with Usamah, and this was not without the knowledge of the state, which wanted this to remain as an emergency channel of communication. The state used this channel more than once when he was in Sudan and Afghanistan. Naturally, it is now very difficult for his family to get in touch with him.

Usamah married for the first time at an early age when he was 17 years old. His first wife was the daughter of one of his maternal uncles. The rest of his wives were from families in Mecca. One of them was of noble descent. At least three of his wives managed to obtain high academic degrees while they were married to him. Bin-Ladin's wives are still with him in Afghanistan. They were also with him in Sudan, except for one, who is said to have stayed behind because of difficult circumstances against her will.

As for Usamah's children, they are probably over 20 in number. Usamah follows a strict policy in raising his children. His sons must master horse-riding and swimming and be exposed to harsh living conditions to get used to this style of life. The girls should study the Koran and Islamic sciences and other things that befit them. Therefore, Usamah got tired when he lived in the Kingdom because his sons lived close to their cousins in a luxurious atmosphere. He found it difficult to expose them to difficult living conditions without this meaning severing their bonds with their relatives. For example, some of Usamah's brothers used to show their love for his children by buying one of them a car on passing school tests. Usamah deemed this alien to his traditions, but he had to be courteous toward his brothers so he would accept the gift and then dispose of it (unless it is American-made of course!)

Because of his busy schedule, Usamah used to devote some time to his family, whether his small family or big one. When he was in the Kingdom, he used to devote a whole day every week to his family. He would assemble with them his mother and sisters. He often spent that time outside Jeddah, and most of the time at his farm.

Usamah managed to take all his children with him, except for three of them--the oldest and two others. The oldest went to the Kingdom to get married, and he was banned from travel. As for the two other children, they are still at an elementary age, but they are already banned from travel, perhaps to blackmail Usamah or to keep them hostages to protect the members of the ruling family from the "wrath" of Bin-Ladin. As for reports that Usamah married one of the daughters of Mola Omar, these are baseless and a fabrication by an intelligence source, which then spread without having any foundation.

Bin-Ladin and Al Sa'ud

Contrary to what is believed and to what many people allege, Bin-Ladin does not have--and has never had--any special relationship on the personal level with Al Sa'ud. All the contacts that took place in the past, including the contacts during the days of jihad and during the Gulf crisis, were made through his brothers. His brothers had a special relationship with Ahmad Bin-Abd-al-Aziz and Abd-al-Rahman Bin-Abd-al-Aziz. They also had a good relationship with King Fahd, Abdallah, Sultan, and the successive princes of Mecca.

Usamah may have met some princes accidentally at some gathering or at one of the homes of his brothers, but certainly there was no special relationship. As for the rumors, which were taken for granted, that he had a special relationship and used to coordinate with Turki al-Faysal, since the latter was interested in Afghanistan, these are baseless. In fact, Bin-Ladin was often suspicious of the role played by Turki al-Faysal in Afghanistan. They met only once, and at that meeting they had an argument, in which Usamah accused Turki of playing a suspicious role during the war between the parties. Usamah was of the opinion that the Saudi Government had assigned Turki the task of prolonging differences between the mujahidin. In fact, Usamah has had suspicions about the entire Saudi Government since the 1980s, but he preferred to remain silent in order not to influence the support for jihad. He did not want to provoke the state.

As for his brothers, their relationship with Al Sa'ud got very complicated because of the trade partnership with many princes. The king and a number of princes are still partners in a number of the Bin-Ladin companies. However, as we have said, Al Sa'ud were careful to maintain the relationship with the Bin-Ladin family as a channel of communication with Usamah in case they need this channel, as happened following the Kenya and Tanzania bombings.

The Relationship With the United States

Contrary to what is said in some writings, Bin-Ladin had no relations with the United States, neither direct nor indirect. All allegations to this effect are baseless fabrications. The truth is that Bin-Ladin's attitude toward the United States has been hostile since he knew Afghanistan. One of his confirmed statements at the beginning of the 1980s, when the United States pretended in front of the world that it supported the Afghan jihad, was that the next battle would be with the United States. For him, this was not a mere prophecy, but was a position that had a basis. The evidence is that since then, he has vowed not to buy any US commodity, except if this was absolutely essential. He also made his family and those on whom he had influence adopt the same attitude.

Since we are talking about Bin-Ladin and the United States, we must comment on the relationship between the United States and the Afghan issue.

First, there was a very powerful US role in Afghanistan, which cannot be denied. This role was in the form of political, financial, and military intervention and recruitment, infiltration, and spying. This activity targeted, among others, the so-called Arab Afghans.

Second, the US intervention took place directly through real presence of US individuals, whether from the intelligence or other political sides. This also happened indirectly through Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

Third, there were Afghan teams, which cooperated with the United States in almost an exposed manner, such as the groups of Mojaddedi, Jilani, and Mohammad Nabi. These groups were willing, right from the beginning, to loosen up on the jihad plan. All the US and Saudi support went to them in the beginning.

Fourth, the groups that were considered clean at that time, such as the groups of Rabbani, Hekmatyar, and Sayyaf, received indirect US support via Pakistan or Saudi Arabia.

Fifth, there was a US-Pakistani-Saudi understanding on taming the mujahidin after the Russians' departure. If this failed, then the alternative would be to ignite differences between them, and this is what happened.

Sixth, contrary to what is believed, the Americans had no role in forming the Taleban. The Americans thought at the beginning that the Taleban were an appropriate force for a balance. So they remained silent on them and did not realize their danger until it was too late.

Seventh, the US role is still present and powerful in Afghanistan, despite the fact that the Taleban cut off the US lines. This role is played through Pakistan and by supporting Shah Masud and through the international pressure and the blockade.

Eighth, Bin-Ladin could have received a US weapon, either through buying it or from one of the other parties, but it never happened that Bin-Ladin received any weapons from the United States. In fact, he never dealt with any US officials.

To recap, we say that Bin-Ladin has never had any relationship with the Americans. The relationship was one of hostility, but it never occurred to the Americans that Bin-Ladin would be a problem for them one day.

The Relationship With Pakistan

Bin-Ladin enjoys great respect within the circles of ordinary Pakistanis, the Pakistani army, and a large number of Pakistani ulema. However, he did not set up any relationship with official Pakistani sides. He was perfectly aware that they had an understanding with the Americans and the Saudis and that the relationship with them would bring no good. However, the respect he enjoyed with the army and the ulema helped him a lot, whether during the jihad days or at present. This is because the Pakistani army is an establishment in which religion plays an important role and that has a number of commanders who sympathize with the cause of jihad. We can say that this respect ensured indirect support for Bin-Ladin in several stages, whether in terms of information or logistical support.

The Relationship With the Afghans

Usamah liked the Afghan people and admired many of their traits. He wished he could help reduce the ignorance and poverty from which the Afghan people suffer. Usamah does not deny the spread of superstitions and fads and the predominance of some tribal habits over religion. However, he believes that the Afghan community has traits that counterbalance these drawbacks. He also believes that addressing these problems is not done through directly denying them, but that they need a comprehensive plan that will take several generations to be realized. As for the Afghans as groups, Usamah was very careful not to be identified with any of them, so that he would not lose the other groups. He, along with Shaykh Abdallah Azzam, sought to reconcile and unite these groups. He also sought to mend fences between them after the collapse of Communism, but he failed. So he decided to leave Afghanistan. When he returned to Afghanistan and before he became under the protection of Taleban, he maintained his position and sent messages to all the parties that were there, telling them that he was not siding with one party against another. Those parties assured him that he would be protected wherever he went or traveled. This indeed was the stand of all the groups. The Afghan people think Bin-Ladin deserves their love because he is an Arab who came from the Hejaz country, the land of the two holy mosques, and because he abandoned wealth and luxury to wage jihad against their enemy.

The Relationship With Taleban

After the Taleban took over, the equation changed because most of Afghanistan became under their control. Despite this, Bin-Ladin took his time and did not make a decision to change his policy and side with Taleban until after he became convinced of their policy and trend and was certain that their plan was to implement Islamic law in Afghanistan, and that they were not afflicted, like other parties and leaders, by the desire for pure control and the readiness to burn the country to compete over power and neglect the application of Islam. At the beginning, the Taleban supported him all the way. They were happy to inherit him from the people who were in control of Jalalabad before them. Although Taleban's support for Bin-Ladin was based on principled foundations, other elements helped make the relationship closer. One of these elements was the role of the Bin-Ladin group in saving Kabul twice from the attack of Ahmad Shah Masud after one of the fronts was exposed. Another element was his role in persuading a number of specialized Arab young people to provide consultation to the Taleban concerning their plan to rebuild the country.

Bin-Ladin also played a role in alerting the Taleban against being fooled by the gas companies that wanted to lay pipelines from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean through Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also helped them get samples of international contracts of this kind. The Taleban supported his idea of expelling the infidel forces from the Arabian Peninsula. This continued to be their position, as we said in the historical review, until the declaration of the World Front, when they started to show reservations about his actions, especially his media activity, which often greatly embarrassed them. However, the fact that they had reservations did not mean, in any way, that they were willing to extradite him to any other party. The Taleban reject the extradition from two angles. The first is religious, which is that it is not allowed to extradite any Muslim, let alone a mujahid, to an infidel. The second is that Taleban attach great importance to chivalry and gallantry and to the protection of guests, even if the host were to be killed. This is what Shaykh Yunos Khales told the Saudi ambassador, when he said to him that even if an animal sought shelter in his house, he would not hand it over, so how about a mujahid who abandoned his country and wealth for the sake of jihad.

The Relationship With Islamic Groups

Usamah did not belong to any Islamic group. He may have had some strong relations with some personalities that are thought to be supportive of some groups, but he did not belong to any group. Usamah tried to maintain a good relationship with these groups, based on respect. He also did not talk about them or criticize them, except privately and within an academic context, and not as slander or vilification. Although the Islamic groups respected Usamah personally, they were cautious in dealing with him. The reason was not any reservations about him personally, but because they feared the Arab intelligence activity around him. Of course, the position of the Islamic groups changed with new developments, especially after Usamah's name was tied to the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

The Relationship With Iran and Iraq

There is no relationship with Iran and Iraq. Some allegations were made in the writings of American Jews to give an impression that Bin-Ladin, Iraq, Iran, Hizballah, Hamas, Al-Turabi, and all others are one universal terrorist group, who have public differences, but are in agreement secretly!!!

The Rich Bin-Ladin

Many people speak about Bin-Ladin, as if his stature is based on wealth alone. No doubt, money made him special. Also, there is no doubt that his sacrifices and financial contributions played a role in his fame, but this should be placed within its right context. This is because many people contributed money toward good deeds. In fact, some people made contributions more than Bin-Ladin. The reason why Bin-Ladin became special is that he made jihad the origin of all things in his life, while financial activity was only a branch and dedicated to the service of jihad. All the influence, relations, and power that resulted from financial activity were in the service of jihad. Others who make contributions to serve Islam and to serve jihad purposes could not do the same thing.

How He Invests?

Before Bin-Ladin's final departure from the Kingdom, his financial activity was a replica of the activity of his brothers, whether in the contracting business or trade and industry. Besides his partnership in the main company, Usamah had separate activities, even when he was in the Kingdom. But he was different from his brothers in that he had independent activities, by keeping a specific policy in his financial activity. His purpose by this commitment was to ensure an Islamic character of this activity and prevent ill-gotten gains.

His Financial Policies

Part of these policies is that he absolutely rejected investment in a non-Islamic country, unless this is unavoidable. For example, if the financial channels that lead to this Islamic country must go through a non-Islamic country. Part of these policies, of course, is avoiding any activity that may be suspected of usury. This is why he used to avoid investing in the stock market and Western shares because he thinks that the investor cannot be sure that his shares will not be polluted by usury because the money is deposited in banks that deal in usury and because profit is mixed with interest. Also, part of his policies is that he likes to supervise personally most of his financial activities, although those who work with him are honest. He is also careful to consult ulema and students on all financial activities, so as to avoid breaching any Islamic law inadvertently.

Three Shocks

Financially, Usamah was exposed to three shocks, which greatly affected his financial activity. The first shock was the decision of the Saudi Government to freeze his known assets, including movable and immovable assets, after it felt that there was no hope of his coming back. These assets were estimated at $200-300 million when they were frozen. The funds were placed under the control of official parties. This is the estimation which the media speak about when they talk about Bin-Ladin and his assets. As for the funds at his disposal right now, this is another story.

The second shock was when the Sudanese Government failed to pay the cost of the projects implemented by Usamah; mainly, the Road of Challenge, which links Port Sudan and Khartoum. It is believed that Bin-Ladin could not get more than 10 percent of the funds he had demanded from the Sudanese Government, which are probably in excess of $200 million.

The third shock was when he had to get rid of a number of companies, which the Saudi Government learned about. All this happened before he entered the stage of open conflict with the United States. It is not strange now that his circumstances should prevent his success in any trade activity.

Tangled Funds

But the issue does not end here, because the social and political situation in the Kingdom is so complicated and entangled in a way that makes these shocks insufficient to strangle Usamah financially. This issue has some details, but it is unwise to provide the details here because it may embarrass some people. However, the idea basically is that every riyal that goes to King Fahd or Prince Sultan may eventually find its way to Bin-Ladin, against the will of King Fahd and Prince Sultan. A word to the wise is enough.

Does Not Please Opponents

Bin-Ladin's financial problem, for his opponents, is not confined to these shocks. In fact, this problem is not confined to his own financial abilities in the first place. Perhaps, it does not depend on his financial situation for two main reasons. First, despite his generosity and contributions, Bin-Ladin's personal funds were not the main source of financing the jihad activity he had adopted. The trust of benefactors in him was so great, and they used to give him without any reluctance. Some of them even gave him tens of millions. The second reason, which is known to so-called "terrorism experts," is that the so-called terrorist operations do not cost a lot, when you have people with conviction. This is because those people are not mercenaries who receive money for their operations. All that these operations need is good planning and training. As for the cost of weapons, equipment, and explosives, it is not in the millions, especially in some Arab areas. In Yemen, for example, an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] costs less than a television set. In Somalia, a TNT device costs less than sugar. The issue is not one of cost inasmuch as it is a case of adoption and readiness. Thus, the Americans' talk about monitoring the funds of Bin-Ladin by computer, Internet, and satellites shows failure and deception of those who do not know. This talk is nonsense.

Jordanian Tells of Torture in Bin-Ladin's Prison

GMP20000620000032 London Al-Sharq al-Awsat in Arabic 20 Jun 00 P 3

[Report on an interview with Muhammad al-Bayid, a Jordanian recently released by Taleban Movement, in Irbid, Jordan, by Muhammad al-Shafi'i in london; date not given: "Five Arabs, Including a Saudi, Are Detained by Al-Qa'idah Organization on Charges of Spying"]

Muhammad al-Bayid, alias Abu-al-Mubtasim, has accused Usamah Bin-Ladin's Egyptian and Saudi fundamentalist supporters in Kandahar of using the method of "repudiation" [al-takfir] for dealing with and getting rid of their opponents. He said that five Arabs are in Taleban's prisons accused of spying on Bin-Ladin, including one who says he is Saudi called Siddiq al-Thaqafi.

The 27 years old Al-Bayid is a Jordanian citizen of Palestinian origin. The ruling Taleban Movement in Afghanistan recently released him after detaining him for more than eight months.

In a telephone interview with Al-Sharq al-Awsat from his house in the Jordanian city of Irbid, Abu-al-Mubtasim said: "I was accused of spying for Israel's Mosad and the intelligence services of several Arab countries. I was treated very harshly, beaten, kicked, and hanged by the feet like a carcass in Bin-Ladin's prisons."

He added that he came under pressure to sign confessions that he had gathered information for Arab and Western intelligence services about Usamah Bin-Ladin's location, his connections with Taleban, whether the latter was sending volunteers to fight in Chechnya, how this was done, and the involvement of the Afghans and Taleban in Kashmir and the jihad in Chechnya.

Al-Bayid was reported to have been executed before Taleban released him three weeks ago following a pardon from Taleban Ruler Molla Mohammad Omar. He said, "The personal animosity of Abu-Hafs, the military official in charge of Al-Qa'idah Organization and Bin-Ladin's right-hand man, and another Egyptian fundamentalist from Alexandria called Sayf-al-Adl, Bin-Ladin's Director of Intelligence, was behind his painful experience and accusation of spying for Arab and Western intelligence services."

He went on to say that he saw in Taleban's Sarbozah Prison [as transliterated] in Kandahar five Arabs accused of spying on Bin-Ladin. They include a Saudi called Siddiq al-Thaqafi who has been in detention for more than two years, a Syrian youth called Abd-al-Rahim Abd-al-Razzaq Janku who is in his early twenties, a Kurdish youth, and a 70 years old Iraqi accused of the same charge who later died in prison. He added that there are about 120 cells in this prison, each of which can accommodate 40 prisoners. He pointed out that around 3,000 Afghan prisoners from the northern opposition forces led by Ahmmad Shah Mas'ud are in the same prison.

Abu-al-Mubtasim said that his military training with the mujahidin in Peshawar, his involvement in the Afghan's jihad against the Russian forces, and his presence among the ranks of the Arab Afghans defending Taleban's positions did not count during his interrogation by colleagues who are very close to Bin-Ladin.

He said: "The idea of "repudiation", which has nothing to do with Islam and its doctrines, has become an entrenched principle for the secret Egyptian Jihad Organization's leaders, including its former Leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu-Hafs (Muhammad Atif, Al-Qa'idah's military leader that the FBI is offering a $5 million reward for his capture). Both of them are unusually very close to Bin-Ladin and guard him around the clock when he travels in Kandahar and its suburbs.

Abu-al-Mubtasim claimed that Bin-Ladin does not know what is happening around him because he has put himself in the hands of his fundamentalist advisers from Al-Qa'idah. He added that Bin-Ladin is surrounded by individuals whom he says are outlaws who have proscribed the Muslims' honor and possessions.

Talking about the early period of his detention in Bin-Ladin's prisons before being moved to Taleban's Intelligence Service prisons, Abu-al-Mubtasim said: "I went to Kabul to telephone my mother in Jordan. I felt that I was under close surveillance from the adjoining room and was being monitored by an Egyptian fundamentalist called Abu-al-Samh. I was afraid of him because he had earlier accused me of killing fundamentalist Abu-Islam al-Masri in the United Arab Emirates, which I used to visit very frequently to raise financial contributions for the Arab Afghans before I was finally expelled from it about three years ago." He added: A group of Arab Afghans arrested me in Kabul. They accused me of telephoning an officer in Israel's Mosad Intelligence Service and giving him sensitive information about Bin-Ladin's location, the timing of his moves between his four wives, and other information about how the Arab mujahidin were sent from Afghanistan to the Caucasus to help in the jihad under Ibn-al-Hattab's command.

He said: "The accusation was made in one of the training camps in Kabul. I gave them the number of the telephone that I had called and told them: Call this number to see that I am telling the truth. But Sayf-al-Adl, a 35 years old Egyptian fundamentalist from Alexandria who is Bin-Ladin's Director of Intelligence and had accompanied him on most of his trips between Somalia, Sudan, and Afghanistan, tricked me. He said that Shaykh Usamah wanted to meet me in person in Kandahar to hear my answers. They moved me to Al-Faruq training camp and threw me in an underground dungeon. Abu-Hafs, Bin-Ladin's right-hand man and Al-Qa'idah's military commander, came the next day and said that he wanted to cleanse me of vice, adultery, and the sins I had committed. He brought me 15 papers full of confessions attributed to me, did not ask me any single question, and asked me to sign them so as to spare my life."

Abu-al-Mubtasim went on to say: "The mental and physical suffering did not stop there. They proscribed my sons' possessions according to their famous principle of (proscription) that they believe in and took them all.

I asked him: How many thousands of dollars did they take from you? He said after a pause: "There is no need to mention it."

Talking further about Bin-Ladin's prisons, he said: "I refused to sign the papers, objected to this method, and expressed my disappointment for spending 12 years of my life in the mujahidin's ranks in defense of their causes. Abu-Jandal, a Saudi fundamentalist who is one of Bin-Ladin's aides and has a black belt in Taikondo, hit me on the head with his strong fist and then punched me with his hands and kicked me with his feet. He threatened to kill me if I did not confess everything. I became very afraid and felt that my soul was leaving my body as it was coming under successive punches."

He added that he seized the chance to sleep during the day and think of all that he had gone through since the fight against the Soviet forces in Afghanistan, his involvement with the Arab mujahidin in the war with the Taleban forces, and the torture and severe beatings he had undergone every night for a whole month." He said: "The beating party used to start at 2100 hours and end after the dawn prayers, because it was in line with the daily routine of Bin-Ladin's aides who stay awake all night and sleep during the day."

He pointed out that his move to the Taleban Intelligence Service's prison gave him a feeling of safety and made him confident that the truth would appear. He said that Taleban's leaders fear God, deal with their prisoners and detainees the Islamic way, and do not subject them to torture in order to extract false confessions from them.

Abu-al-Mubtasim believes that the intercession of Jalaluddin Haqqani, Taleban's Borders Minister, with Molla Omar following the mediation of Abu-Harith al-Urduni opened the way for the amiri pardon and his release. He said: I fought under Haqqani to repel Shah Mas'ud forces and Haqqani sent a written guarantee to Abdul Haq Wathiq, Assistant Director General of Afghanistan's Intelligence Service, in which he confirmed that he had known me since the Khost siege and praised my jihad and religious observance. This paved the way for the matter to reach Taleban's Ruler Molla Mohammad Omar.

He pointed that Molla Omar did not know about what his imprisonment and detention until his mother and brother came to visit him in prison in Kandahar. They met there with Mohammad Tayyeb Agha, the Prince of the Faithful's interpreter and special aide who speaks the Arabic language fluently. The Arab and Afghan leaders argued about how to receive my family. Molla Omar welcomed and lodged them in the Guest House and a vehicle was put at their disposal. His elder brother Hatim (Abu-Ja'far) vowed before some Taleban leaders that he personally would execute his brother if he were proved guilty of the charge of spying.

Abu-al-Mubtasim cried on the telephone and said with a trembling voice: "I had bought my shroud to absolve myself in front of God and his Prophet before Molla Omar ordered a new investigation of the case before the shari'ah court."

He added: "I found in court 150 papers full of confessions and other things attributed to me that I had not committed or heard of before." He said that he had signed after the severe beating and the suspension like a lamb. These included accusations of being the agent of Israel and the intelligence services of the United States and several Arab countries. Other accusations said that he had returned to Afghanistan as part of a plan to kill Bin-Ladin and Molla Omar. He shouted: "I am amazed how can these people who have grown beards and put on Afghan clothes forget the Prophet's hadith before making these accusations against me: "To demolish the Ka'bah stone by stone is better before God than to sanction the blood of a Muslim."

[Description of Source: Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; editorials reflect official Saudi views on foreign policy]

Harakatul Chief Says War Could End If India 'Liberates' Kashmir

SAP20001108000013 Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu 06 Nov 00 pp 1 7

[Interview by Wajid Abbasi]

Islamabad -- If India liberates Kashmir by any means, we would end our war, because Islam does not teach fighting without a reason. I was an artillery expert during the Afghan jehad and was known for laying explosive mines. My father himself took me to the field of jihad. The famous Indian film singer, Babar, joined the Afghan jehad after leaving the film industry and was martyred.

These views were expressed by Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, the chief of Harkatul Mujahideen, in a special interview given to "Ausaf" about his jihadi and personal life. He said that he had been associated with jihad for the last two decades. He said, "During the Afghan-Russia war, I fought on the Ghazni, Paktia, Jalalabad, and Makika fronts. After getting formal education up to grade nine, I shifted to Mianwali for Koranic education. While I was getting religious education, I gave a private exam for 12th grade [as published]. I developed a desire for jihad during my schooldays. This desire turned into a reality when my father took me to Afghanistan."

Narrating different events of jihad, he said, "A lot of times, I saw death very closely. One by one, my associates died, but I was not lucky enough to be martyred. I lost hundreds of friends, but I have not been able to forget Commander Abdur Rasheed, Maulana Shabbir Ahmad, and Commander Babar. Commander Babar was a famous Indian singer. His voice was very touching. One day he left the film industry and came to Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani. He had a heavy body, so Maulana did not consider him appropriate for jihad and sent him to me. I made him go through the toughest training. He was determined and did not want to go back in any case. So, he gradually became an experienced mujahid. Babar changed the words of his songs and changed them into jihadi hymns. His voice was so beautiful and touching that even the communists of Khost used to make requests to hear to his hymns on the wireless. The mujahideen were fond of his songs and he used to arouse the jihadi spirit in the mujahideen with his hymns. Then he was martyred in an encounter.

When somebody asks me what I have lost and gained during my jihadi life, my answer is always that I gained the lost legacy of Muslims. I am satisfied with my past and I am thankful to God that he chose me for the field of jihad."

Continuing, he said, "There is a lot of difference between the Kashmiri and Afghan jihad. During the Afghan jihad, the entire world supported Afghans, but in Kashmiri jihad, no one is with the Kashmiris. Kashmiris are carrying out their jihad alone."

Replying to a question, he said, "I will show my children the path that my father showed to me. I have named my children after famous mujahideen. My eldest son is Salahuddin, then second one is Mohammad Bin Qasim, third Abdur Rehman, fourth Usama, fifth Mazla, and the sixth is Hamza. I have named my daughter after the first martyred woman of Islam, Samia." He said jihad is not dependent on governments. Our people as well as outsiders sabotaged jihad, but we believe that jihad cannot end as long as there is a single mujahid alive."

[Description of Source: Description of Source: Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu -- Newspaper with strong anti-India views. Gives wide coverage to fundamentalist religious groups]

Taliban orders former king's supporters arrested

SAP20011008000051 Islamabad The Nation (Lahore Edition) (Internet Version-WWW) in English 08 Jan 01

[SANA report: "Taliban order arrest of NA supporters"]

Kabul -- The Taliban authorities have issued directives to the officials to arrest the supporters of the former Afghan monarch Zahir Shah. The decision was made in a meeting of religious scholars, national elders and elite in Khost province. The meeting strongly condemned the so-called alliance between Zahir Shah and Northern Alliance.

Bakhtar News Agency reports that Governor Khost Province, Mulla Abdul Rauf Arif, Minister for Frontiers and Tribal Affairs, Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani and Deputy Minster, Mulla Abdur Rahim Akhundzada, Security Commander of Khost Province, Qari Naimatullah and former Governor Khost, Haji Abdul Qayyum Khan and a number of National elders spoke on the occasion. The meeting discussed the current internal and regional situation, alliance between the former Afghan King and Northern Alliance and US threats against Afghanistan.

The meeting decided that anyone who runs a pro-Zahir Shah campaign would immediately be arrested by the association of the nationalities. In case of the arrest of such a person, none of the national elder, government officials and Imams of mosques would have the right to make recommendations for his release. The meeting concluded by denouncing the words and deeds of the former Afghan monarch.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The Nation (Lahore Edition) in English -- Independent daily, member of the Nawa-i-Waqt group]

Pakistan: Usama Bin Ladin regrets restrictions imposed by Taleban

SAP20010403000014 Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English 03 Apr 01

[Report by Ismail Khan: "Osama regrets curbs by Taliban"]

Peshawar -- Osama bin Laden has regretted Taliban's restrictions on him, saying that the United States and its western allies are using him as a pretext.

In a letter to the supreme leader of the Taliban, Bin Laden said: "It is surprising that the United States is free to do whatever it feels like and I have been placed under restrictions. History will record this fact."

The letter was delivered to Mulla Omar by the Taliban minister for state and frontier regions, Syed Jalaluddin Haqqani, who ran the famous al-Badr camp in Afghanistan's southern Khost province which received a hail of US missiles in August 1998. Mr Haqqanni called on the supreme Taliban leader in southwestern Kandahar shortly before leaving for Saudi Arabia to perform Haj.

A senior aide to Mulla Omar confirmed the meeting but denied that Mr Haqqani had delivered any message from Osama. "The meeting did take place but he did not deliver any letter from Osama," Tayyab Agha, senior aide to Mulla Omar, told Dawn on telephone from Kandahar.

In his letter, Bin Laden noted that the world community's reaction to the demolition of the Buddha statues in the Bamiyan province had proved the West's general antagonism towards Islam.

He quoted the former US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, as having said that there were other issues besides Osama, which the Taliban needed to resolve. He insisted that it was proof enough that he was being used as a pretext.

Bin Laden claimed that no matter what, the US and its western allies would never recognize the Taliban's Islamic emirate.

He said he was grateful to the Taliban and was extremely thankful to Mulla Omar for his role, adding that he saluted the courage demonstrated by the Afghan people.

It may be added that prosecutors in the US are likely to end arguments by the middle of this week in their case against four defendants, allegedly followers of Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, accused of conspiring to kill Americans in the August 1998 bombings of US embassies in East Africa.

NNI ADDS: Mulla Omar ruled out the possibility of handing over Osama bin Laden to the US, saying that he was ready to "sacrifice" what was left of his shattered country before giving up his "guest" to the US.

"Half of my country has been destroyed by two decades of war. If the remaining half is also destroyed in trying to protect Bin Laden, I'm prepared for this sacrifice," he said.

"He is not going to be handed over if there is any prospect that he will be convicted," a Taliban source confirmed.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn in English -- Internet version of most widely-read English-language daily]

Pakistan: 'Special' Emissaries of Taleban Chief Give Message to Religious Leader

SAP20010921000094 Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English 21 Sep 01

[Dawn Bureau Report ]

PESHAWAR, Sept 20: Special emissaries of Taliban Supreme Leader Mulla Muhammad Omar held a secret meeting with the Chief of Jammiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam (JUI), Maulana Fazlur Rehman, at his residence in Dera Ismail Khan on Thursday, party sources told Dawn here on Thursday.

It is learnt that a Taliban team arrived in D.I. Khan on Wednesday. They conveyed his personal message to the JUI chief. The team held various rounds of talks and discussed each and every aspect of the situation emerging after the attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon in the US.

Besides others, the Taliban team consisted of Minister for State and Frontier Regions, Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani, and Governor of Kabul, Maulana Adbul Ali. The JUI leader was assisted in the talks by Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani, JUI head of Balochistan.

During the meeting, according to sources, the issue of handing over Osama bin Laden and the possible attack on Afghanistan were on top of the agenda.

The Taliban leaders apprised the JUI Chief of the recent visit of the Director-General of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Lt-Gen Mahmood, and his talks with the Taliban Supreme Leader Mulla Omar.

Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman assured the Taliban leaders of all possible help in case of the US attack and made it clear to them that his party would back their stand, the sources added.

Later on, Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman confirmed his meeting with some important "guests", but did not disclose that those were the Taliban leaders. He told Dawn at his residence in D.I. Khan that his party had decided to wage a war against the United States if it attacked Afghanistan.

The Central Shura of Jammiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) held a meeting on Wednesday night before the arrival of the Taliban team. The Central Shura of the party in its meeting extended full support to the ruling Taliban militia in Afghanistan in this critical juncture, according to Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, the JUI chief of Balochistan.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn in English -- Internet version of most widely-read English-language daily]

Afghanistan: Taliban council of ministers dispatches delegations to provinces

IAP20010923000082 Kabul Radio Voice of Shari'ah in Dari 1530 GMT 23 Sep 01

An extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers was held today chaired by Mola Mohammad Hasan Akhond, deputy head in charge of administration of the Council of Ministers. The session was attended by all ministers and deputy ministers representing various ministries.

Quoting the press office of the Council of Ministers, Bakhtar Information Agency reports: At the beginning of the session, comprehensive discussions were held on the country's defence and security issues. The session also studied the issues related to organizing the affairs of Mojahedin in the capital and provinces as well as a number of other political issues. It also evaluated various dimensions of threats against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and against the country's independence and territorial integrity. The session adopted the necessary decisions on various issues.

The session also discussed the issue of supplying primary needed goods throughout the country, especially in Kabul City. The session gave specific instructions to relevant officials.

In the course of the session a commission was set up headed by Mowlawi Khalilollah Pirowzi, head of the Academy of Science. The commission includes esteemed Mowlawi Arsalan Rahmani, deputy minister for Hajj and Endowment; esteemed Faridoddin Mahmud, deputy head of the Academy of Science; esteemed Mola Ramatollah Wahedyar, deputy minister in charge of martyred and refugees; esteemed Mohammad Naim Kochi, esteemed Mowlawi Taleb Jan, esteemed Mowlawi Abdol Ghafur and esteemed Mowlawi Hamidollah Wayez. The delegation has been commissioned to travel to the south zone and carry out tasks jointly with another delegation headed by esteemed Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani, minister of border affairs and tribes, who is already in the south zone.

The session also assigned another commission headed by esteemed Mowlawi Zahirorrahman Haqqani, deputy minister for border affairs and tribes. The commission includes esteemed Mowlawi Seyd Asmatollah Asem, deputy minister for public health; esteemed Ezatollah Haqqani, deputy minister for planning; esteemed Mowlawi Najibollah Haqqani, deputy in charge of administrative affairs, and esteemed Mowlawi Mohammad Rostam Hanafi, deputy minister for public works. The commission has been given the task of travelling to eastern zone.

The session also appointed another commission headed by esteemed Mowlawi Karamatollah Forqanyar, deputy minister for Hajj and Endowment. The commission includes esteemed Mohammad Musa Hotak, deputy minister for planning; esteemed Mowlawi Seyd Ahmad Shahidkhel, deputy minister for education; esteemed commander Khayal Mohammad Hoseyni and representatives of Shi'i including esteemed Ayatollah Taqatodosi, esteemed Seyd Mohammad Nawab Haydari and esteemed Sajjadi. The commission has been given the task of visiting the provinces of Maydan, Ghazni and Wardak.

The session has commissioned the delegations to talk about the threats against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and related issues to religious scholars, elders and leaders of tribes, the officials of the Islamic Emirate and the people of the above mentioned zones in order to organize the affairs of Mojahedin and mobilize people to defend the lofty objectives of the Islamic Emirate, which guarantee the welfare and prosperity of our country's Muslim people. The delegations have been asked to highlight Islamic and national duties and responsibilities of all people and to make every efforts in order to enlighten the people's opinion regarding the existing problems.

[Description of Source: Kabul Radio Voice of Shari'ah in Dari/Pashto -- pro-Taleban station broadcasting from Kabul]

AFP: Taliban angrily rejects speculation that regime may crumble

SAP20010928000001 Hong Kong AFP in English 0153 GMT 28 Sep 01

ISLAMABAD, Sept 28 (AFP) - Afghanistan's Taliban regime has angrily rejected speculation that it may crumble from within before a shot is fired in the US war against terrorism, saying its support among the fiercely independent Afghan people has never been stronger.

In eastern Khost province, where US cruise missiles targeted alleged terrorist camps in 1998, Taliban Governor Mullah Abdul Raoof Arif said the Islamic militia was still firmly in control despite international efforts to promote a more broad-based system of government in the war-ravaged country.

"We are not going to flee. We will have our graves here and the Taliban's Islamic system will remain," he told the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press.

"People of Khost are themselves ready to fight in case of a US attack, and even people from the Wazir tribe living on the border with Pakistan have offered to fight alongside the Taliban.

Analysts have been keenly watching for signs of cracks in the secretive Islamic militia amid intense international pressure to hand over Saudi-dissident Osama bin Laden, accused of masterminding the September 11 suicide hijackings in the United States.

The regime, headed by a reclusive group of Islamic clerics, is used to its international pariah status and revels in its bitter opposition to all things "Western".

But there have been growing international efforts to support the armed opposition groups, and organise a new, broad-based government for Afghanistan, focusing on the popular figure of exiled former kind Zahir Shah.

Arif denied reports that local tribes in Khost had announced support for Shah.

"There is no such issue, local tribes and local ulema (Islamic scholars) have set up a 34-member commission which is waiting to follow any order from the Taliban," he said.

The deputy chief of the Taliban secret service, Mullah Abdul Haq Wasiq, claimed the Afghan people had rallied behind the ruling militia, provoked by proud memories of the Afghans' defeats of British and Soviet invaders.

"A big number of opposition commanders have been in contact with us and have expressed their desire to join and fully cooperate with the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) and the Islamic army," he said in a statement read over the official Bakhtar news agency.

After more than two decades of war and social disintegration, Afghan warlords are notorious for switching sides and selling their loyalties to the highest bidder, fuelling speculation that Taliban commanders may start defecting to the opposition under the threat of US attack.

Sources along the border near the northwestern Pakistani city of Pehawar said several pro-Taliban commanders in Paktia, Nangahar, Laghman, Kunar and Khost were wavering in their backing of the fundamentalist militia.

One source, a Pakistan-based Afghan businessman in regular contact with three commanders in Kunar and Nangahar, said the Taliban was losing its grip in several districts as it shifted its forces to defend more strategic sites.

"The commanders are unhappy with the way things are going. Some commanders in Kunar, for example, are no longer making money from the timber trade now the borders are shut," said one source, a member of a now-neutral mujahedin (Islamic fighter) group.

He said their were mutterings of discontent in Dari Suf in Laghman province, the Pech valley and northern Asadabad in Kunar and areas around Jalalabad in Nangahar.

An independent source added that Taliban Minister for Tribes Jalaluddin Haqqani -- a powerful figure in the province of Khost -- had also distanced himself from the militia, although reports that he had quit Taliban ranks could not be confirmed.

"The Taliban position in major towns is safe for the moment, but they don't have any real presence in some of the outlying areas. They have abandoned a lot of posts, and local commanders are close to abandoning them," another Afghan source said.

"They have a feeling of wait and see. They do not want to be targets (of the US)."

The United Nations says it has received reports of the Taliban forcibly enlisting young men in the western city of Herat and other reports have indicated that the militia is sending reinforcements to the north of the country to counter an offensive by opposition forces.

But the reports and further details of the shifting allegiances have been sketchy and difficult to verify, with the border with Pakistan closed and just a trickle of travellers making it across the border.

[Description of Source: Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Taliban adopts strategy to resist US move to replace present setup in Kabul

SAP20011005000004 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 05 Oct 01

[Report by Kamran Khan: "Six-pronged Taliban strategy to meet US plan" ]

KARACHI: Mullah Omar-led Taliban militia and their supporters in Pakistan are working on a six-pronged strategy based on Pashtun nationalism and religious sentiments to build mass resistance against a United States-sponsored drive to replace the present Taliban set-up in Afghanistan with an internationally recognised moderate broad-based government.

Afghanistan watchers, both in and outside the government of Pakistan, have conceded that so far the results of the Taliban's efforts to mobilise Pashtun support on both sides of the Durand Line have been positive, meaning that an international push from Rome for a new pliable government in Kabul would most definitely meet stiff armed resistance from a major chunk of Afghan populace.

Identifying the six elements of Taliban strategy to gather maximum Pashtun support, official and independent Afghanistan analysts in their interviews with this correspondent said Mullah Omar and his aides are presently concentrating on: (1) Bringing the former Pashtun mujahideen commanders to their fold (2) Influencing the powerful Pashtun tribal leaders inside Afghanistan with offers for cushy government positions (3) Use of sentimental issues to create dissension amongst Afghani Pashtuns who are prepared to help anti-Taliban forces (4) To use Pashtun-dominated Pakistani tribal belt as a strategic reservoir (5) To use Islamic sentiments in the hard-line Pakistani religious cadre to gain military strength in the impending military confrontation (6) To gain favourable response from the Pashtun composition of Pakistani border forces.

There is a general feeling amongst Afghanistan analysts that the Taliban leadership is now reacting to Pakistan's decision to extend an unstinting support to the international campaign against terrorism by devising a strategy that may put Islamabad under tremendous internal pressure.

Reports reaching Peshawar and Quetta from Jalalabad and Kandahar have spoken of considerable response from the former Pashtun mujahideen commanders such as Gulbadin Hekmatyar, Maulvi Yunis Khalis and Maulvi Nabi Mohammadi who are believed to have communicated to Mullah Omar their support in any military confrontation against the external forces, Zahir Shah and northern alliance.

"America is doing exactly what the former Soviet Union did in Afghanistan, it wants to repeat the most dreadful blunder that the Soviets had committed by implanting its own Babrak Karmal in shape of King Zahir Shah," said Gulbadin Hekmatyar in an interview published Thursday.

Some Pakistani sources who recently had the opportunity to have dialogue with Taliban leaders in Kandahar said that diplomatic developments in Rome suggesting that the former King Zahir Shah will emerge as the figurehead in the post-Taliban Afghanistan has fuelled a sense of brotherhood in the former mujahideen community that had despised the former king's indifferent posture in the Afghan jihad against the former Soviet Union.

Former mujahideen Pashtun community is also perturbed that international forces want to force a change in Afghanistan by establishing an alliance between a secular-minded Zahir Shah and non-Pashtun Northern Alliance. "Taliban are playing heavily on Pashtun nationalism with a cry that outside forces are trying again to implant an anti-Islamic force on Afghanistan," said a senior official who deals with Afghanistan.

Because of Zahir Shah factor and the Russian decision to appoint Gen. Mohammad Fahim Khan, the former head of Khad, the infamous Afghan intelligence service of communist era, as the head of Northern Alliance's military command, highly informed Afghan sources said, the Northern Alliance has lost the support of Prof Abdur Rauf Sayyaf and thousands of his followers..

"No religious Pashtun Afghan can digest Gen. Fahim, Zahir Shah and President Bush, all in one go," opined a former ISI [Inter Service Intelligence] official who had dealt extensively with the Afghans during their war against the former Soviet Union. "These names are enough for Hekmatyar, Mohammadi, Khalis and Sayyaf to join hands and stand up."

Sayyaf, a famous mujahideen commander, represented a crucial Pashtun support for the Northern Alliance and his much expected outright support for Taliban will add a new vigour to Mullah Omar's vows to confront an external solution of the Afghan crisis.

The former Pashtun mujahideen community headed by Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani, one of the most famous commander of Hizbe Islami (Yunis Khalis) is currently spearheading Taliban drive to allure influential Pashtun tribal heads to important government positions in various provinces.

Pashtun tribal leaders of Afghan origin have been lobbied by Taliban that their indifferent posture would lead to an establishment of a non-Pashtun secular government over Afghanistan and by facilitating so the tribal leaders were inviting the wrath of God.

Independent Afghan sources, however, said that history showed that tribal leaders in Afghanistan had traditionally supported the wealthy patrons and in rare circumstances only they had resisted the temptation of monetary gains. It will be interesting to see if the tribesmen would support their leaders in their decisions.

Afghanistan watchers say that a crucial task facing Taliban is to limit the popular Pashtun support that important anti-Taliban Pashtun commanders such as Abdul Haq, who abandoned his luxurious lifestyle in Dubai last week, are mustering to form an anti-Taliban Pashtun alliance in Peshawar.

Abdul Haq, who was known as one of the most successful mujahideen commanders against the Soviet forces, returned to Peshawar from Dubai via Rome where he met with King Zahir Shah. Anti-Taliban forces are hopeful that Abdul Haq would be able to muster enough support of Pashtun tribal leaders in Nangarhar and other strategically important provinces to stage a military uprising against Mullah Omar and his followers.

Afghan sources said Taliban worried about Haq's potential were trying to curtail his influence by using his brother Din Mohammad to convey to Pashtun tribal leaders that Haq had secretly joined hands with Russians through Gen. Fahim of Northern Alliance.

To reinforce their internal strength the Taliban are banking heavily on the outside Pashtun support, particularly from tribes settled on key strategic points along the Pak-Afghan borders. Officials and other independent sources have confirmed that Taliban have intensified their contacts with important tribal leaders on the Pakistani side of the semi-controlled borders since the crisis broke out in the US.

"We have to recognise that Pakistani tribal belt will provide a strategic depth to Taliban. They will get continuous support from an area which will be beyond the enemy's reach," noted a Pakistani official now serving as a political agent in the tribal belt of NWFP [North-West Frontier Province].

Thousands of Afridi tribesmen took to the streets in the most religious and populous Khyber Agency Monday to shout "Osama is our hero" and "death to America". The armed tribesmen vowed to battle against the US forces in Afghanistan.

Such rallies, though rare in large Pakistani cities, are almost daily routine in the tribal areas of NWFP, where tribesmen are enlisting themselves for jihad. "Thousands of people have been enlisted for jihad by various tribal maliks, but, we don't know how many of them would actually go to participate in any battle," said a political agent in the NWFP.

Pakistani sources have said in recent days the tribesmen have also sent hundreds of small and medium sized weapons, particularly useful in guerrilla warfare, to the fellow tribesmen on the Afghan side of the border. A key plank of Taliban strategy is to capitalise on extremist religious sentiments in jihadi groups and seminaries in Pakistan, who are already sending their men and material to Taliban leadership in Kandahar.

"We are proud that the first martyrs of this new war to save the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan are from our organisation," claimed a Jaish-e-Mohammad activist who identified himself as Abu Ammarah. "The eleven people who gave their lives along with their Taliban brothers were from different towns in Punjab and Sindh provinces." Abu Ammarah also released the names of Jaish-e-Mohammad members who died in battle with Northern Alliance early last week

"We never bring bodies back to Pakistan. Our martyrs have been buried in Afghanistan and we have notified this to their families in Pakistan," Abu Ammarah said. Jaish-e-Mohammad sources said all of those Pakistanis who were killed near Mazar-i-Sharif last week had entered Afghanistan from the Chaman border last Friday (September 21).

Although Jaish-e-Mohammad and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen had made no official announcement, but informed activists in both organisations had recently disclosed that some of their members have been directed to move inside Afghanistan and report back to their Taliban commanders. Pakistani religious groups had played a pivotal role in Taliban's battle against its opponents in Afghanistan.

In a recent development, sources in Lashkar-e-Taiba have revealed that in recent days scores of its followers have travelled to Afghanistan to participate in a "new jihad between Islamists and infidels".

Lashkar-e-Taiba's weekly news magazine Zarb-e-Momin was first to print the picture if the downed US spy plane, presented to its reporter by Taliban in Kandahar last week.

Breaking his silence over the government's stance on terrorist attacks in the US, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the head of Lashkar-e-Taiba said in a statement Sunday: "By permitting America to use our airspace and land, Pakistan would lose its sovereignty and honour. The nation should unite at this juncture and stop the rulers from taking such a suicidal decision."

On Wednesday Maulana Sufi Mohammad of Tehrike Nifaze Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM), a group dedicated to turn Pakistan into a Taliban style state, announced that he had enlisted 5,000 TNSM followers who would soon go to defend Afghanistan against infidels.

Pakistani officials have been trying in vain to limit men and material support from Pakistani organisations to Taliban. "It is wrong to declare the Taliban's battle against Northern Alliance a jihad," observed Interior Minister Lt. Gen. (retd) Moinuddin Haider last week. "When the two groups of Muslims are fighting, you may call it anything but jihad," he said.

Last week federal authorities in Islamabad ordered banks to freeze the accounts used by the Al-Rashid Trust and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, the two Pakistani groups mentioned in a list of 26 organisations cited by President Bush for being directly or indirectly involved in acts of terrorism.

On Friday last, Pakistani authorities took their drive against these two groups a step further by ordering Harkat-ul-Mujahideen to shut down its offices located on the Pakistani side of Kashmir.

Informed sources said that because of a peculiar composition of border security forces deployed on 1400 miles long Pak-Afghan borders, Taliban leaders are not expecting a hostile treatment on borders in their efforts to ship resources to and from Pakistan, particularly the tribal areas.

These sources said at personal level tribesmen based on the Afghan side of the border are known to have ties with the elements in the border forces, who in some cases belong to the same tribe.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News in English -- Independent daily, member of the Jang Publishing Group]

Rift Reported in Taliban, Finance Minister, 'Prominent Commander' Said Back US

SAP20011010000149 Islamabad Pakistan in Urdu 10 Oct 01 pp 17

[Report by Javed Iqbal Qureshi: "Wedge in Taliban set-up, US musters support of Finance Minister, army head"]

Islamabad -- Creating rift within the Taliban, the US authorities have won over the support of their finance minister (in fact Deputy Chief of the Taliban Council of Minister in-charge of Economic Affairs), Maulvi Abdul Kabeer and his close associate and prominent commander, Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani.

These two figures will be included in the broad-based government to be installed in Kabul after the collapse of the Taliban. According to knowledgeable sources, Maulvi Kabeer, who also serves as the Governor of the eastern Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan was appointed as head of the Eastern Zone, comprising the provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar and Laghman by Mullah Omar.

The powerful sub-group of Maulvi Kabeer includes the Deputy Interior Minister, Maulvi Noor Jamal, Taliban's Chief of Army Staff, based in the eastern provinces, Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani and dozens of local tribal chieftains and commanders. This clique is being considered as the richest among the Taliban. The group's sphere of control includes the poppy-rich areas of eastern Afghanistan and their involvement in international heroin trade is also being alleged.

The sources said that the United States has revived its previous ties to this group, which is also involved in the smuggling of antiques. The sources say that with the proclaimed support from this group for the US, the Taliban's control over areas from Torkham (Pakistan border) to Kabul will end without a single bullet being fired.

The sources said that US authorities have termed as the virtual conservative clique, the Taliban sub-group led by Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the deputy of Mullah Omar and former Foreign Minister (Deputy Head of the Council of Ministers in-charge of Administrative Affairs, who after the death of Taliban Prime Minister Mulla Rabbani last year, virtually heads the Taliban cabinet).

The US authorities, the sources add, have also chalked out a strategy to use the Taliban Defense Minister, Mulla Ubaidullah to their benefit. Maulvi Ubaidullah enjoys the support of all the Taliban field commanders. But as he has strong tribal animosity with Mulla Hassan Akhund, their differences are being fanned to create a wedge in the Taliban organism.

Besides, the US officials have also evolved a mechanism to use the services of former Taliban Foreign Minister Mulla Ghous and the sitting Interior Minister, Mulla Abdul Razzaq in materializing their game plan. Mulla Ghous was captured by the forces of General Abdul Malik during the Taliban massacre in Mazar-e-Sharif (1997). Later, he mysteriously escaped detention but the Taliban leader removed him from his post, considering him as an unreliable person.

Sources said US officials have also obtained information from Pakistani authorities on the four closest aides of Mullah Omar, with whose support the Taliban supremo has ruled over Afghanistan for the last five years. These highly educated and multi-langual Taliban leaders are shy like Mullah Omar himself and prefer to remain in the background.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Pakistan in Urdu -- Widely read daily generally supportive of the Pakistan Muslim League]

Pakistani politicians, religious leaders condemn US attacks on Afghanistan

SAP20011009000051 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 09 Oct 01

[Repot by correspondent: "Attacks termed aggression against Afghans"]

Peshawar -- People from different walks of life throughout the NWFP [North-West Frontier Province] Monday expressed deep resentment over the US and its allies' air attacks on Afghanistan and termed it as direct aggression on the poor Muslim country.

Chief of National Awami Party Pakistan (NAPP) Ajmal Khattak said the attacks would further devastate Afghanistan and asked for immediate halt to it. He said for restoration of lasting peace in the region a solution must be found according to the traditions and values of Afghan culture. Ajmal feared spell over of the war to the neighbouring countries and said that in order to resolve the issue a representative Jirga should be convened.

He asked the neighbouring countries to stop intervention in Afghanistan and let the Afghans live in peace and decide their future themselves. Leader of Pakistan People's Party and former interior minister Maj Gen (retd) Naseerullah Babar expressed deep resentment over the US attacks on Afghanistan and condemned Pakistan government's support to them. He said it was very unfortunate that all efforts of Pakistan for the past 28 years were washed away by a decision of a "coward leader".

He said the support of Northern Alliance to the US and its allies has further triggered the chances of Afghanistan's disintegration. He said these attacks would cause colossal losses to human lives, who are already ravaged by the continued decades long war.

He said ulema [religious scholars] including Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maulana Samiul Haq, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani and others should have gone to Afghanistan a week ago along with their families to boost the morale of the Taliban and Afghans.

He condemned them for sitting in their homes in peace and just shouting hollow slogans. In Batkhela, Jamiat Ahle Hadith Nooristan leader Maulana Taj Muhammad Nooristani of Afghanistan said the US attacks on Afghanistan will further increase the anger against America in the Muslim world.

He blamed both the Taliban and Northern Alliance for the present situation in Afghanistan and said their internal differences gave an opportunity to the US to intervene in Afghanistan. He said if Pakistan extended logistic support to the US in attacks on Afghanistan, the government will face tough resistance from the people who are with their Afghan brethrens in their time of distress. In Orakzai Agency, the religious leaders decided to extend all-out support to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the wake of US attacks.

A meeting held at Darul Uloom Zargari was attended by religious scholars from Orakzai, Kurram, Khyber, North Waziristan and South Waziristan agencies. It was decided that all ulema would work under the leadership of Mualana Fazlur Rahman to prepare people for jihad in Afghanistan. Leader of Pakistan People's Party (Sherpao) Sikandar Hayat Sherpao expressed concern over the US attacks on Afghanistan but said these were inevitable due to the inflexible attitude of the Taliban regime. In a statement the younger Sherpao said the air strikes were aimed at targeting terrorist camps and their collaborators.

He hoped the US-led coalition would adopt all precautionary measures and make the operation short and objective-oriented to ensure the safety of Afghan civilians. The PPP leader regretted the miseries of Afghan people, saying they should not be subjected to further sufferings. In Mingora, the Tehrik Nafaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi's central leader Maulana Sufi Muhammad termed the US attacks on Afghanistan as un-Islamic and said in these circumstances Jihad was mandatory on each and every Muslim. He was addressing an emergency meeting of the Tehrik's central shura at its headquarters in Aman Dara.

The shura warned the government of Pakistan of armed struggle in case it provided airspace and ground facilities to the US for attacks on Afghanistan. The meeting renewed its pledge of unconditional support to the JUI in its efforts against the US attacks on Afghanistan. Sufi Muhammad said the activists of TNSM would soon join the Taliban in Afghanistan for Jihad against the US.

He said the TNSM has started preparations for sending youth for jihad to Afghanistan and was now registering names of volunteers. In Hangu, NWFP Amir of JUI Maulana Amanullah announced the waging of jihad against the US following its aggression on Afghanistan. He said the US aggression on Afghanistan has once again awakened the Muslims and there would be an open war against the US and its allies. Amanullah said President Musharraf was "the American puppet" and his decision has caused insecurity among the people.

He said the president's decision would have far-reaching affect on the future of our society. He was addressing a Dastar Bandi function at Jamia Uloomi Islamia Zargari, Hangu. In Hangu, the JUI has arranged a lashkar (force) of thousands of youth for jihad in Afghanistan. The lashkar will move towards Afghanistan after meeting with Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Commander Jalaluddin Haqqani in Khost.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News in English -- Independent daily, member of the Jang Publishing Group]

Chief of Taliban army contacts Jamaat-i-Islami chief

SAP20011013000020 Karachi Jasarat in Urdu 11 Oct 01 pp 1 7

[KPI report: "Taliban leadership contacts Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad"]

Peshawar - The chief of the Taliban Army, Jalaluddin Haqqani, has contacted Qazi Hussain Ahmad, the central chief of Jamaat-i-Islami, and exchanged views on deciding on a strategy with regard to the new Afghan situation. Qazi Hussain Ahmad disclosed his contact with Jalaluddin Haqqani while replying to a question during a meet-the-press program at the Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday [10 October]. He said that the Taliban leadership had contacted Jamaat-i-Islami in writing. He said Jamaat-i-Islami would play the same role as it had played against the Soviet Union.

[Description of Source: Karachi Jasarat in Urdu -- Jamaat-i-Islami newspaper catering to the Islamic audience]

Taliban officials deny any differences with Mullah Omar

SAP20011013000022 Islamabad Pakistan in Urdu 11 Oct 01 pp 1 7

[Special report: "Mullah Abdul Kabir and Jalaluddin Haqqani are loyalists of Mullah Omar: Spokesman"]

Islamabad - Mullah Abdul Kabir, Taliban's finance minister and governor of Nangarhar province, and Gen. Jalaluddin Haqqani, the chief of the Taliban forces in the eastern provinces of Afghanistan, have appealed to the media to be careful about reports concerning the Taliban government. In a statement on Wednesday [10 October], they said that they had taken an oath of allegiance to Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid and they were his loyalists in spite of all US conspiracies. They said differences could never be created between them. Qari Hafeezur Rehman appealed to the nation to pray to God for the Afghan brothers who desperately needed their prayers in this hour of difficulty and to donate medicines, warm clothes, blankets, and tents at the Afghan Embassy.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Pakistan in Urdu -- Widely read daily generally supportive of the Pakistan Muslim League]

Pakistan daily: Taliban warn of long guerrilla war; say Usama Bin Ladin alive

SAP20011020000024 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 20 Oct 01

[Report by Aslam Khan: "Taliban warn of long guerrilla war; Army chief warns Pakistan will lose strategic depth to India"]

ISLAMABAD: The Taliban have prepared a strategy to start a long guerrilla war from the mountains against any invading troops that seize their cities and a new government that is formed there to wage "a never-ending war to free Afghanistan again from invaders."

This was stated here Friday in an exclusive interview to The News by the legendary Mujahideen commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, the commander-in-chief of the Taliban's southern military command -- akin to the Taliban army chief -- and Mullah Omar's top military strategist and commander.

"We will retreat to the mountains and begin a long guerrilla war to reclaim our pure land from infidels and free our country again like we did against the Soviets," Haqqani, the man who has planned the current

Taliban military strategy against the American attacks, which has resulted in incredibly low casualties despite the magnitude of the air attack, said. Haqqani, who is also responsible for the safety of Osama bin Laden, was speaking from an undisclosed location inside Pakistan. His son, Naseeruddin Haqqani, served as the interpreter for his legendary father, the only commander of the Mujahideen that fought the Soviets who was allowed by the Taliban to remain in their ranks.

Following is the transcription of the recorded interview:

Q: In case US forces take over main cities such as Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad, will Taliban surrender? If not, will they attack these cities to reclaim them?

Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani: First of all, it is next to impossible for the Americans to do so. Remember that the Soviet also controlled several of Afghan cities once. What happened to them? We [the Taliban] never had a single city but look at us now.

Even if the Americans or others manage to [capture Afghan cities] and a new government is installed there, we will not accept it. We will retreat to the mountains and begin a long guerrilla war to reclaim our pure land from infidels and free our country again like we did against the Soviets.

Q: How do you plan to deal with a ground invasion by American troops?

A: We are eagerly awaiting the American troops to land on our soil, where we will deal with them in our own way. I tell you the Soviets were a brave enemy and their soldiers could withstand tough conditions. The Americans are creatures of comfort. They will not be able to sustain the harsh conditions that await them.

Let me also tell you that the Soviets fulfilled their commitments with even their enemies and Muslims, whereas the Americans are untrustworthy and betray even their friends what to speak of enemies. Afghanistan will prove to be the graveyard of the Americans.

Q: What is the Taliban's view of a broad-based national government?

A: The Afghans are with the Taliban simply because it is an Islamic government. The so-called broad-based national government will by its very nature be secular, which will never be acceptable to the Afghans.

No one from the Taliban will be a part of such an unacceptable government, which will be filled with American, Russian and Indian stooges.

Q: What do you make of Pakistan's support for a broad-based national government for Afghanistan?

A: Let me remind you that on Pakistan's Eastern border is India -- Pakistan's perennial enemy. With the Taliban government in Afghanistan, Pakistan has an unbeatable 2,300 km strategic depth, which even President Pervez Musharraf has proudly proclaimed. Does Pakistan really want a new government, which will include pro-India people in it, thereby wiping out this strategic depth?

I tell you, the security and stability of Pakistan and Afghanistan are intertwined. Together, we are strong but separately we are weak.

Q: What is the current status of Afghan defences against the American military strikes?

A: We have so far held on to our defences. There is no retreat from anywhere. The military strikes have miserably failed to inflict any serious or crippling damage to our defences.

Q: How many Afghans have been killed so far in the air raids?

A: Around 450 Afghans have so far been martyred in the cowardly American strikes.

Q: How many prominent members of the Taliban government been killed?

A: Not a single important leader or military commander of the Taliban has been killed in the past 12 days of constant US bombardment. Mullah Omar, Osama bin Laden and all other commanders are safe and sound and carrying out their duties. However, about 25 Taliban soldiers have been martyred.

Q: Have all the planes and helicopters in Taliban possession been destroyed as reported?

A: This is all propaganda. Only one military helicopter and two Ariana Airlines passenger planes have sustained damages. The rest of the planes are safe.

Q: Are Osama bin Laden and his group of Arabs helping the Taliban in defending Afghanistan?

A: We don't think in terms of nationalities like Arab, Indian or Pakistani. All with us all Afghans. Whoever migrates to Afghanistan in the name of Islam, we consider them all Afghans be they from Saudi Arabia, Britain, Chechnya, Pakistan, India or any other country of the world. And yes, we are all fighting this war together.

Q: What plans do Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda have to deal with potential attack on their suspected positions?

A: I told you. We are all fighting together.

Q: Why did Osama bin Laden not accept the Ulema's recommendation that he leave Afghanistan?

A: The Afghan Ulema never ordered Osama bin Laden to leave Afghanistan.

What they actually said was that he is free to decide for himself.

Neither did we call him nor will we send him away. We have neither kept him by force in Afghanistan nor will we force him out.

Q: How true are the reports of defections in Taliban ranks?

A: There is absolutely no truth in such claims. The propagandists had claimed that Qazi Abdul Hye of Sar-e-Pul region in the north had defected along with his forces. This claim was made when he was cut off some days ago in a siege by the Northern Alliance.

However, after he broke through the siege, he and everyone of his 4,000 soldiers was back. He is a great scholar of Islam as well as a great military commander. And he is definitely with us. No defections at all.

Q: Is Mullah Omar ready to quit as the Taliban leader and hand over power to an acceptable person who can negotiate a ceasefire in order to save the Afghans or to surrender Osama bin Laden?

A: We pledged allegiance at his hands and made him the Amir-ul-Momineen (leader of the faithful). As long as he keeps serving Islam and Shariat, we will never leave him and he will remain our leader. Why should he step down? Who are others to demand that Mullah Omar should step down?

We don't like George Bush. Why doesn't he step down and someone sensible take his place in America?

Q: When was the last time that you met Osama bin Laden?

A: Of course, I can't answer that for security reasons. However, let me state clearly that Osama bin Laden is not only safe and sound, he is also in good spirits.

Q: How many countries support the Taliban?

A: There are several countries that support us including very important ones. But for obvious reasons I am not going to name them. We can understand that America is dangerous and it will harm any country that openly comes to our support. So the countries that support us have the right not to do so openly, which they are doing.

Q: Gulbadin Hikmetyar has announced to fight along side the Taliban. Will you accept him in your ranks or try him for various crimes as the Taliban earlier pledged?

A: We have a tradition whereby when an external, common enemy threatens the Afghans, we set aside our internal differences and unite against the threat. Besides, Mullah Omar is the final authority to decide whether we will accept Hikmetyar's help or not.

Q: How did you come to Pakistan? Did you use a visa?

A: I am also the [Taliban] minister for border regions. Our tribes are settled on both sides of the Durand Line since ages. Our houses are divided on both sides of the border. Both sides are my home. Pakistan is my home. And besides, my migration hasn't ended.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News in English -- Independent daily, member of the Jang Publishing Group]

Pakistan daily: Scathing attack on cleric directed against Taliban army chief

SAP20011020000021 Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu 20 Oct 01 p 2

[Article by Hamid Mir: "The attack on Maulana Samiul Haq"]

The most powerful country of the world is showering bombs and missiles on the weakest country of the world, for the past two weeks. The United States thought that the Taliban would be perished in two or three days, but it is yet to achieve any big success in Afghanistan. On the other hand, the world opinion is not willing to accept the US attacks on Afghanistan as war against terrorism.

Pressure is also being mounted on the United States to begin ground offensives along with air attacks, in response to which commandos have been dropped in Afghanistan.

The United States fully knows that a pitched battle against the Taliban would not be possible for its forces on the terrain of Afghanistan. That is why it is letting loose a vigorous propaganda campaign against the Taliban, as a tool of psychological warfare.

Just a few days ago, a report was published in the New York Times and a Pakistani English newspaper about the defection of Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakkil. The purpose was to mobilize some Taliban commanders to come to Peshawar and address a press conference.

After the failure of this move, a psychological onslaught was initiated against the Taliban. Under this campaign, a report was published, stating that the head of one of the biggest seminaries of the North West Frontier Province had assured the secret service agencies of his cooperation in catching Usama bin Ladin. The name of the head of the religious school was not mentioned in the report, but it was a clear reference to Maulana Samiul Haq.

The Maulana called me the next morning, saying that the report was directed against him -- with the purpose of discouraging the people and creating misunderstanding among the Pakistani clerics and the Taliban.

He said that if a liberal and moderate journalist does not like Usama bin Ladin, he is free to criticize the latter but should, at least, avoid publishing false reports.

However, the fact of the matter is that such journalists thrive on false reports.

The amazing thing is that the journalist spreading misinformation about Maulana Samiul Haq is sitting in Karachi, publishing expert analysis on the situation in Afghanistan, for the past two months.

The former ISI chief, General Mahmood in Islamabad, called Maulana Samiul Haq, along with Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani and Qazi Hussain Ahmad several weeks ago. The purpose of the meeting was to convince them to meet Mullah Omar in Kandahar and have him hand over Usama bin Ladin. But they all expressed their inability to do so.

Since then, at least, Maulana Samiul Haq has not been contacted by any secret agency.

However, one of the major Pakistani dailies claimed that the Maulana was active against Usama bin Ladin, in connivance with the secret agencies.

There are several reasons behind such reports. First, Maulana Samiul Haq had exposed the US plan to attack Afghanistan ahead of the 11 September incidents, following which he set up the Defense of Afghanistan Council.

Second, in the past, he had held meetings with Usama bin Ladin, and some important figures in the Taliban hierarchy are graduates of his Dar-ul-Uloom (The house of knowledge, name used for Islamic seminary) Haqqaniah.

The Taliban ambassador in Islamabad frequently visits Akora Khattak (the hometown of Maulana Samiul Haq in the NWFP) for consulting the Maulana on different matters.

The new army chief of the Taliban, Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani, has remained a student and a teacher at the Dar-ul-Uloom. He had also taken an active part in the election campaign of Maulana Abdul Haq, the father of Maulana Samiul Haq, in the 1970 general elections in Pakistan.

When the Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan in 1979, Maulvi Haqqani returned to Paktia Province of Afghanistan to take part in jihad, at the order of Maulana Abdul Haq.

In 1996, Usama bin Ladin was the guest of Maulvi Haqqani in Jalalabad, and it was through the latter that the relationship flourished between the Taliban and Usama bin Ladin.

The appointment of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, commander-in-chief of the Taliban forces, is being construed as the direct involvement of Usama bin Ladin in the military planning of the Taliban.

Jalaluddin Haqqani commands respect among some commanders of the Northern Alliance as well. And, in his presence, the chances of a rebellion in the Taliban rank and file have greatly minimized.

Therefore, to blemish Haqqani's credibility, a scathing attack was made against his teacher, Maulana Samiul Haq.

However, this attack has not worked. Maulana Samiul Haq says that though he is an old man; he would expose the black sheep among the journalists, and prove that such stories are false. He plans to do this by taking active part in the jihad of the Taliban, inside Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu -- Newspaper with strong anti-India views. Gives wide coverage to fundamentalist religious groups]

Afghanistan: Taliban agree on interim leader in case of martyrdom of Mullah Omar

SAP20011020000092 Rawalpindi Jang in Urdu 20 Oct 01 pp 17

[Report by Reporter: "Taliban agree on substitute for Mullah Omar in case of his martyrdom"]

Chaman -- The Taliban militia has unanimously agreed on a substitute for Mullah Omar, if the latter is martyred.

They have also expressed their determination to remain united until the end, even after their leader is martyred.

Taliban sources told daily Jang from Kandahar that the Taliban high command, during its several days of deliberation, decided to remain united till the end.

Unflinching support was also expressed for Mullah Omar.

They decided that any one from Akhtar Usmani, Akhtar Mansoori, Jalaluddin Haqqani and Wakil Ahmad Mutawakkil would be chosen as an interim leader, in case Mullah Omar is martyred.

[Description of Source: Rawalpindi Jang in Urdu -- Largest circulation daily]

AFP: Taliban Commander Meets Pakistan Official re: Future Government

JPP20011020000077 Hong Kong AFP in English 0030 GMT 20 Oct 01

ISLAMABAD, Oct 20 (AFP) - A senior Taliban military commander has met Pakistani officials to discuss a possible broad-based government in Afghanistan, a foreign ministry spokesman said Saturday.

Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, who is based in the Taliban's southern stronghold of Kandahar, travelled to Pakistan to meet Pakistan officials and other Afghans this week, Pakistan foreign office spokesman Riaz Muhammad Khan told reporters.

"These meetings and discussions are basically focused on discussions regarding the assessment, future and prospects of a broad-based government," Khan said after confirming that Pakistani officials had met Haqqani.

"Many Afghans are in Pakistan and they are meeting each other," the spokesman said.

"Now Pakistan's interest as a neighbour is to know their opinion, their assessments and how they look at, in particular, the prospects of a broad-based government emerging in Afghanistan."

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Pro-Taliban Militia Leader Warns of Impending Guerrilla Wafare

EUP20011113000209 Milan Corriere della Sera in Italian 13 Nov 01 p14

[Report by Maria Grazia Cutuli: "'We Are Not Beaten; We Await Them in Our Mountains'"]

Islamabad -- The Taliban are preparing to leave the main cities of Afghanistan. After the fall of Mazar-e Sharif, the loss of Kunan, the advance on Herat and on Kabul, the fundamentalist militiamen have entered the second phase of the war in which the fighters of Allah will be entrenched in their mountain lairs, digging trenches in the desert, and setting up new lines of defense in the most inaccessible parts of the country. It is not a defeat, their supporters claim. It is simply a "strategic withdrawal" to regroup the ranks of the jihad, reviving the same guerrilla techniques used against the British invaders in the 19th century and against the Soviet troops in the eighties.

The new strategy was illustrated to Corriere della Sera by the members of two Pakistani organizations -- close both to Mullah Omar (the Taliban's supreme leader) and to Usama Bin Ladin -- that are playing an active role in the "holy war" against the West. The first was Hussein Hamad Deeshani, the military commander of Herakat-ul-Jihad Islami, a group to which a number of the "terrorists" on the FBI's black list belong. Having come back from Afghanistan a few days ago, he is now spending a short time in Islamabad pending his return to the front. "The surrender of Mazar-e Sharif was agreed on by the Taliban with the leaders of the Northern Alliance," he claimed, adding: "It is a withdrawal that makes it possible to save both men and arms in order to counterattack at a later date."

According to him, also the "handover" of Kabul is imminent. The Taliban are apparently only taking their time pending the consolidation of defensive positions in the mountains. They are reportedly prepared to give up all of the cities "including Kandahar," the moral capital of the Koran's militiamen, in order to get entrenched on the outskirts and to launch their murderous attacks from there. "The US air strikes have caused the Taliban serious damage," Hussein Hamad Deeshani admitted, "but all of us who operate in Afghanistan are capable of holding out in the bush for another 10 years. Even the Northern Alliance will end up moving over to our side."

So does the country's future hold chaos? Or are these the dying quips of an increasingly less convincing propaganda machine? Herakat-ul-Jihad Islami has lost about 80 men in the US air strikes but its commander carried on with all the vehemence a preacher: "Do you know how many people have died among the Taliban, the Arabs, and the Pakistanis? A mere 500 militiamen, no more. What is that?"

The foreign legions are still the mainstay of the future guerrilla forces for an unconventional army such as that of Mullah Omar. Alongside the volunteers in Herakat-ul-Jihad Islami, also two other Pakistani organizations, chips off the same block, are operating in Afghanistan. They were first set up back in the days of the Soviet invasion: Herakat-ul-Mujaheddin and the Army of Mohammad, against both of which George W. Bush has pointed the finger of accusation, charging them with terrorist activities. And alongside them, there are Arabs of all nationalities who are not necessarily officially incorporated into al-Qa'ida, Usama Bin Ladin's network. "While Mullah Omar could count on the help of 12,000 Arabs before 11 September, the number of volunteers has shot up today. They are coming from all over the world, including from the West. We have a former US serviceman who has converted to Islam, who has fought in Chechnya, and who is now with our men. There are volunteers who hold German nationality and even some with Italian nationality," one Herakat-ul-Mujaheddin activist told me, adding: "Some are immigrants, others are not. They are full fledged Westerners."

His code name is Janghir; he is 31 years old, with a beard longer than Usama's. His initiation took place when he was barely out of childhood, during the holy war against the Russians. He perfected his training in the art of war in the training camp in Khost, an Afghan terrorist center bombarded by the United States back in 1998. "Each group is entrusted with oversight over a part of the territory. But the command stays with the Taliban under the leadership of Jalaloddin Haqqani, the head of land operations," he explained. Resistance in the mountains does not frighten anyone. "We have been used to eating dry bread dipped in water and to sleeping in trenches for years."

The exodus from the cities heralds a war of attrition. But try as Janghir might to revive his memories of the glorious era of the jihad, it would in fact be a form of solitary resistance more similar to that enacted by the Chechens against Moscow than to the Mojaheddin's war in the eighties. Right now there is no superpower behind the Taliban, no country prepared to back a new guerrilla movement; but there are the "martyrs": "In other words, fighters like myself prepared to sacrifice their lives. The order could come at any time. The 11 September attacks were not justified because there was no war on," Janghir said, "but ever since the United States has begun its air strikes, it has been legitimate to strike at the enemy." The Herakat-ul-Mujaheddin activist issued a warning: "You must all watch out, including you Italians. Remember that the moment your troops set foot in Afghanistan, you will become targets for us."

[Description of Source: Milan Corriere della Sera in Italian -- leading centrist daily; largest circulation of Italian dailies]

AIP: US aircraft bomb Taliban minister's house, religious school in south

IAP20011117000003 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 0730 GMT 17 Nov 01

Peshawar, 17 November: US aircraft severely bombed the house and religious school of a famous commander and formerly a prominent commander of the jihad against the Russians, Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani.

According to AIP [Afghan Islamic Press] sources, American aircraft severely bombed the house and the religious school belonging to the prominent commander of the jihad against the Russians and minister of tribal and border [affairs] of the Taleban government, Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani, in Mata China, some three kilometres west of Khost town [the capital of southeastern Province of Khost] last night. As a result, two people were martyred and four others were injured.

Afghan Islamic Press learned from a spokesman for Haqqani: "The Americans intended to eliminate Haqqani. For this purpose they bombed his houses in Kabul and Gardez [the capital of southeastern Paktia Province] as well. As a result, several people were martyred.

Mata China was attacked twice last night.

On the other hand American aircraft heavily bombed the southern town of Kandahar last night and this morning.

According to Afghan Islamic Press sources, six people were martyred and 15 others were wounded as a result.

There are also some reports about air raids on Konduz [the capital of northern Konduz Province] but no further details have been received by the Afghan Islamic Press so far.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; good contacts with Taliban leadership. Faxes reliable, hand-written news reports, describing itself as independent and self-financing]

Report Says Arab Fighters in Afghanistan Split Into 5 Groups

GMP20011127000068 London Al-Hayah in Arabic 27 Nov 01 p2

[Report by Ahmad Muwaffaq Zaydan from Islamabad: "Arab Afghans Dispersed in Afghanistan and Some of Them Succeeded in Escaping From Konduz; Most of Them Are in Kandahar and the East and a Few Are Cut off"]

The constant US strikes on Afghanistan and the destruction of Taliban's means of communications have apparently forced the Arab Afghans to split into scattered islands all over Afghanistan that are unable to coordinate with each other.

Afghan sources that recently returned from Kandahar told Al-Hayah yesterday that the Arab Afghans' forces are still walking about in large numbers in the city and showing a readiness to confront the US landing forces like yesterday's one. The Arab Afghans who are in Afghanistan now are divided into five groups.

1. The Kandahar group that is still entrenched in the city, the Taliban's stronghold, and has sworn to defend it regardless of the price. This group feels safer than others because it has the confidence of the pro-Taliban Kandaharis in addition to the presence of Taliban Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar in the city. The rugged mountains around Kandahar provide an important safe hideaway for this force if it decides to evacuate the city. Some circles believe that the movement has prevaricated the surrender of the city all these past weeks in order to carry as much equipment, ammunition, and supplies as possible to the mountains.

2. The Konduz group and this is divided into two groups. One was forced to surrender and then rebelled at the Qalai Janghi. Anyone who has escaped will be tried as "a war criminal" or "a terrorist." The second Konduz group includes those who were smuggled across the mountains' rugged roads. It is believed that "Khattab", the Chechen leader who reportedly led 2,000 Arab and Chechen volunteers during the Konduz siege, was among those who were smuggled. Some sources say they have arrived in Kandahar to join their comrades.

3. The Jalalabad group, which ran the training camps in Darunta on the road to Kabul. After the city's fall, the group moved to the Tora Bora Mountains, which Arab fighters under Usama Bin Ladin used as the base for their military activities during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Circles believe that dozens of Arab Afghans are living in these hideouts. US planes are daily bombarding the area but to no avail because it is full of caves on the mountainsides, which bombs cannot reach.

4. The Paktia and Paktika group. These are the Arab Afghans who fled to this area because they have close ties with Leader Jalaloddin Haqqani who knows the area and its conservative tribal population very well. There are hideouts in this area, especially on the outskirts of Khowst city, which the mujahidin had built during the Soviet invasion.

5. The dispersed group. Some Arab Afghans were cut off and most of them were in areas that were handed over suddenly to the Northern Alliance after the local Taliban forces' surrender. Sources believe that these Arab Afghans are forcing their way with difficulty to reach the Taliban strongholds in Kandahar and the east.

Western sources have reported that the Arabs and foreigners hiding in the caves are using local citizens and paying them money to bring them food and information about what is happening in the main cities and on the main roads.

According to these divisions, some believe that the Arab Afghans' deterrent response to the US presence is not going to be easy.

[Description of Source: London Al-Hayah in Arabic -- Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; commentaries occasionally critical of US policy.]

AIP: US aircraft bomb areas in eastern Afghanistan

IAP20011123000026 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 1149 GMT 23 Nov 01

Peshawar, 23 November: American aircraft bombed Khost this morning, and one woman and a girl were martyred as a result.

During the morning prayer, American war planes bombed the house of a tribal leader, Haji Mohammad Naim Kochi, 20 km to the south of the Khost bazaar in Khost Province. One bomb fell on another house, and as a result one woman and a girl were martyred. Haji Mohammad Naim Kochi helped the Taleban government. And in 1992 he also worked in the [previous] mojahedin government.

In another development, Osmani in Paktia Province was also bombed. During the jihad [against the Soviets] Osmani was [prominent commander] Jalaloddin Haqqani's base.

Konduz was also bombed.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; good contacts with Taliban leadership. Faxes reliable, hand-written news reports, describing itself as independent and self-financing]

Afghanistan: Former Jihad Commander Appointed as Governor of Khowst

SAP20011128000068 Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu 25 Nov 01 pp 8 6

[Report by correspondent: "Ex-jihadi commander Haji Abdur Rehman appointed as governor of Khowst"]

Miran Shah -- US bombers have once again bombarded the former jihadi centers of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani located in Zawar. However, no human or material loss has been reported. Likewise, former jihadi commander Muhammad Naeem Kuchi was also targeted last [24 November] night in Dibli, but no loss has been reported.

According to details, US bombers are continuously attacking the commanders of former organizations at the the borders of Khowst. Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani's school and mosque have been targeted thrice. As a result, hundreds of men, women, and children have been martyred and hundreds injured.

In line with the decision of jirgah, elders of different areas of Khowst have elected ex-jihadi commander Haji Abdur Rehman Zoran, the head of Zoran tribe, as the governor of Khowst.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu -- Newspaper with strong anti-India views. Gives wide coverage to fundamentalist religious groups]

Afghanistan: Local commanders seek about Rs 600,000 to free Pakistani Mujahideen

SAP20011202000061 Rawalpindi Jang in Urdu 29 Nov 01 pp 1 7

[Report by Muhammad Jamil Khan: "Jalalabad: 750 Pakistani Mujahideen in custody of local commanders"]

Peshawar - According to sources, two local commanders of Jalalabad, Muhammad Zaman and Hazrat Ali, have 750 Pakistani Mujahideen in their custody. Majority of these Pakistanis are untrained and below 20 years of age. Some religious scholars have contacted these commanders for the release of these Pakistanis and the commanders have agreed to release them for 500,000 to 600,000 rupees. In this regard, the religious scholars are having talks with relatives of these commanders present in Pakistan.

According to sources, in areas occupied by the Northern Alliance, the families of Arab mujahideen are being looted, women are being humiliated and children are being subjected to violence. According to sources, trained mujahideen have safely reached Pakistan via mountainous passages after vacating Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif, and other areas, whereas large numbers of untrained mujahideen were arrested by local commanders as they approached Jalalabad by road.

Some families have had their men released after paying 100,000 to 300,000 rupees to the commanders. The NWFP [North-West Frontier Province] government is trying to get these mujahideen released without any payment, but in that case they would be arrested by Pakistan government. Maulana Fazlur Rehman's brother Maulana Ataur Rehman, Maulana Gul Naseeb, Jalil Jan, and Abdul Wadood Faqiri are having talks with relatives of Commander Hazrat Ali and Commander Muhammad Zaman Khan in Pakistan.

According to some reports, many Pakistani and Arab mujahideen have moved to Khost and Darangoon, the areas supportive of Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani and Arsalam Rehmani. In this situation, the families and children of Arab mujahideen are facing the worst conditions. The Arabs can neither come to Pakistan nor can they go back to their country. Their families have appealed to the Pakistan government through religious scholars that they should be given asylum so that they could live their lives in peace. These religious scholars have appealed to Muslim relief organizations to make special arrangements for their resettlement on humanitarian basis.

In Miran Shah and tribal areas, there is a lot of tension. Due to the bad treatment of Pakistani mujahideen, it is feared that Afghans and their families living in these areas may be harmed. At some places, one or two such incidents have started to occur.

[Description of Source: Rawalpindi Jang in Urdu -- Largest circulation daily]

Pakistan: Afghans reported spying for US on satellite phones

SAP20011204000027 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 04 Dec 01

[Report by Rahimullah Yusufzai: "Satellite phones both boon and bane in Afghanistan"]

Peshawar -- There are so many satellite telephones now in use in Afghanistan that this war-battered country seems to have undergone a telecommunication revolution. And most Afghans now in possession of such expensive phones say these were a gift from the Americans.

Anti-Taliban military commanders appear to be the greatest beneficiary of the US largesse. Those who do not possess a satellite phone are considered weak and ineffective. Some of the commanders have effectively made use of the phones by promptly informing the US authorities about Taliban and Arab hideouts so that they could be bombed. Others have misled the Americans and allegedly organised US bombing raids against their personal and political opponents to settle old scores.

The Taliban recently caught an Afghan in Kandahar with a satellite phone and charged him with spying for the Americans. He was accused of pinpointing Taliban targets that were to be attacked by the US warplanes. True to their reputation and in keeping with the Fatwa [religious decree] by pro-Taliban Ulema [religious scholars], the man was hanged after being found guilty of spying for the US. The Taliban have reportedly apprehended two more men carrying satellite phones in Kandahar. There is no reason to suggest that their fate would be any different.

Well-known mujahideen commander Abdul Haq, whose brother Haji Abdul Qadeer is now the governor of eastern Nangarhar province, was also caught in possession of a couple of satellite phones. The Taliban had accused him of spying for the US after capturing him along with eight of his men in Logar province and summarily executed him. Sections of the American media and certain former US government officials later reported that he had used the satellite phones to request CIA help to rescue him. Help did come in the form of US bombers and helicopters but it was too late and too little to save his life.

Supporters of Taliban commander and minister Mulla Jalaluddin Haqqani have alleged that the bombings of his homes in Kabul, Gardez and Khost were carried out by the US warplanes after the Americans were tipped off by his opponents using satellite phones gifted to them by Washington.

An Afghan who travelled to Peshawar from Khost said the people in his area were afraid of a former mujahideen commander and tribal elder Badshah Khan Zadran because they thought he would call in US aircraft by using his satellite phone whenever he wanted to punish those daring to oppose him.

An Afghan intellectual, requesting anonymity, said the satellite phones were being grossly misused to settle old scores. He said the Americans had not hesitated to bomb areas when told that there were Taliban or Al-Qaeda's Arab members hiding there. He advised the Americans to check and cross-check all such reports before organising bombing sorties because Pashtun populations in eastern and southern Afghanistan had suffered heavily due to the bombardment. Such a policy, he warned, would only earn hatred for the US among the Pashtuns. Besides the anti-Taliban military commanders, international journalists are the second big group of people possessing satellite phones in Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News in English -- Independent daily, member of the Jang Publishing Group]

Pakistani sources claim Taliban's top slot still safe, mixed with local population

SAP20011212000020 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 12 Dec 01

[Report by Kamran Khan: "Taliban human assets still well intact"]

Karachi -- As a new Hamid Karzai-led interim government prepares to take power in Afghanistan for an initial period of six months, Mulla Omar and almost each of his close associates is known to have survived the two month long air and ground attacks by the United States forces, Pakistani officials responsible for monitoring development inside Afghanistan on daily basis have reported.

At the same time, the Pakistani officials said, the non-Afghan Al-Qaeda movement headed by Osama Bin Laden is fast losing its men and leaders and the ongoing Tora Bora operation in eastern Afghanistan may soon herald the near complete elimination of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials feel that in the absence of any widespread killing or defection of hardcore Taliban, shrewd backroom negotiations by important Taliban commanders with the Pashtun [Pashtun] dominated anti-Taliban forces in the east, west and south of Afghanistan provided Mulla Omar a leverage to protect the human assets of the Taliban movement.

Pakistani military security agencies have reckoned that the Al-Qaeda and Taliban explicitly followed separate strategies to meet the US military might. The Al-Qaeda opted for a 'last-man, last-bullet' strategy, while the Taliban leadership ordered strategic retreat all over Afghanistan. The divided strategy, Pakistani officials said, created a major gulf between the Al-Qaeda's Arab leaders and Taliban mullahs.

"Unbelievably not one top cabinet minister of Mulla Omar was killed, arrested or defected to opposition forces during the two month long non-stop bombing," noted a senior Pakistani security official.

Mulla Mohammad Khaksar, the deputy minister for interior affairs, remained the only important Taliban official to announce defection after September 11. Reports about the defection of Qari Ahmadullah, the minister for intelligence affairs, remained unconfirmed notwithstanding his earlier public confession of capturing the dissident Pushtun commander Abdul Haq and for bringing him to justice.

"Whether the Americans like it or not the anti-Taliban Pushtun forces have gained ground with an implicit Taliban support all across the Afghan Pushtun belt," observed a senior Pakistani official who noted that it was unfair to suggest that a common Afghan hated the Taliban rule.

Credible reports reaching Pakistan from Kandahar said that much before agreeing to surrender Kandahar to the forces of pro-Taliban former Mujahideen commander Mulla Naqibullah, the supreme Taliban leader Mulla Omar, his interior minister Mulla Abdul Razzak and minister of defence Mulla Ubaidullah Akhunzada along with scores of heavily armed followers were given safe passage to leave the town.

Pakistani sources said that the complete safety of Taliban leaders and supporters in and around Kandahar province was the exclusive responsibility of Mulla Naqibullah who would now govern Kandahar along with Gul Agha. The same deal also guaranteed security of former Taliban governor of Kandahar Mulla Mohammad Hassan and his men.

Earlier on in the conflict, Mulla Omar had directed two of his key cabinet ministers Abdul Wakil Mutawakil, the foreign minister, and Mulla Nuruddin Turabi, the justice minister, to go into hiding. Despite repeated stories in The New York Times about Mutawakil's defection the Taliban foreign minister remained loyal to Omar.

Mulla Omar apparently followed the same strategy in each of the provinces where he quickly ordered his representatives to surrender power to local warlords in exchange for immunity to his supporters. For that reason alone the transition remained smooth in most provinces, particularly in the western province of Herat where the Taliban governor Maulvi Khair Mohammad Khairkhawa personally welcomed Ismail Khan, a former Tajik speaking Mujahid commander.

Maulvi Walijan, governor of Jawzjan province, and Mulla Muhammad Shafiq, governor of Samangan province, also struck identical deals with Ismail Khan whose forces smoothly moved into these provinces without causing any collateral damage to the Taliban followers.

In eastern Afghanistan, the key Taliban commanders such Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani, the minister for border affairs, and Nangarhar province governor Mulla Abdul Kabir, also the head of eastern zone, reached a negotiated settlement with the key figures of the eastern Shura [Advisory Council] such as Haji Qadeer and his close associates. The deal won a complete immunity to all Taliban leaders and men in Nangarhar province.

In western Afghanistan, like Kunduz, a big majority of the Taliban fighters were allowed by the anti-Taliban commanders to simply melt away into the local population before resorting to the target killing of non-Afghan al-Qaeda supporters. As a result of this strategy, important Taliban figures such as Jalaluddin Haqqani would continue to exercise considerable influence on the Nangarhar affairs in the months and years to come.

Pakistani officials said that mosques and religious seminaries all across Afghanistan would continue to serve as the power base for the Taliban, whose supreme leaders still, apparently, enjoy the support of some 800 Afghan religious scholars who had brought Omar to power by naming him as the 'Ameerul Momineen' [leader of the faithful] of Afghanistan in 1994.

"Without at least tacit support of these religious scholars, who belong to every ethnic minority of Afghanistan, the new government in Afghanistan would remain unstable," said a government source. "The role of these Afghan religious scholars may prove decisive for the future of Taliban movement in Afghanistan," he said.

Pakistani officials privately acknowledged that despite the best efforts of government of Pakistan hundreds of Afghan Taliban and their leaders managed to reach here through various mountain passes in the last weeks. The Afghan Taliban have secured initial shelter in the tribal areas and with people who run religious madaris [Islamic seminaries], particularly in the NWFP [Northwest Frontier Province] and Balochistan provinces.

The government's Afghan watchers now believe that the secret understanding reached between the new Pushtun leaders of Afghanistan such as Hamid Karzai, Gul Agha, Haji Qadeer and the Taliban leaders and followers would go a long way in cementing a Pushtun resistance to counter the hegemonistic political designs of the Northern Alliance leadership.

Hamid Karzai, the new Afghan head of state, was surprised on Sunday over the recent visit of India by nominated interior minister of Afghanistan Yunus Qanooni and his anti-Pakistan statements in New Delhi. Karzai is yet to be informed about the proposed visit to India by Dr Abdullah Abdullah, the new Afghan foreign minister.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News in English -- Independent daily, member of the Jang Publishing Group]

Pakistan Army Fails To Arrest Ex-Taliban Defense Minister in Raid, Son Detained

SAP20011220000124 Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu 20 Dec 01 pp 17

[Report by Correspondent: "Raid on Home of Maulvi Jalalauddin Haaqani"]

Mir Ali -- The residence of the former Minister of Defense and Border Affairs in the Taliban government, Maulvi Jalal-ud-Din Haqqani (in the Pakistani tribal agency of South Waziristan) has been raided by the army. His son has also been arrested.

The raid was conducted to nab Maulvi Haqqani. However, he was not at home at the time.

According to details, army personnel dispatched from Islamabad along with lady inspectors raided the house of Maulvi Haqqani at 11 o'clock on the night of Id-al-Fitr. They searched his house with the help of the lady inspectors. The troops arrested the son of Haqqani, Hafiz Sirajuddin and his former deputy, Moulvi Nizamuddin alias Tor. However, both them were released after a 12-hour detention.

According to local people, some Americans also accompanied the Pakistani troops in white clothes.

Talking to daily Ausaf from an unknown destination in Afghanistan, Maulvi Haqqani said that he did not intend to return to Pakistan at the moment. He said that he had been struggling for the betterment of Afghanistan and will continue to do so.

Meanwhile, a KPI report from Miran Shah says that the family of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani has been asked to vacate the official residence in Pakistan and also to leave the country.

The report said Frontier Corps personnel raided the houses of Maulvi Haqqani but he was not at home. The personnel asked the family to vacate the house and was given till this evening to go back across the border.

It quoted the son of Maulvi Haqqani, Badruddin as saying that talks were continuing with local elders of the Pakistani tribal town, where they the family is residing.

When contacted local militia officers refused to divulge any details.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu -- Newspaper with strong anti-India views. Gives wide coverage to fundamentalist religious groups]

Afghanistan: Further on US bombing of leadership convoy

IAP20011221000065 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 1710 GMT 21 Dec 01

Text of report by Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency

Peshawar, 21 December: American aircraft today and last night in Paktia [Province, south of Kabul] bombed a convoy of leadership and jihadi commanders of Khost which was on its way to Kabul to take part in the ceremonies marking the transfer of power. As a result of the bombing 65 people have been martyred.

A spokesman for Paktia Council Mr, (?Said Yaqeen) told Afghan Islamic Agency from Gardez, the capital of Paktia Province, that last night a convoy of tribal leaders and jehadi commanders of Khost [South eastern Afghanistan] was moving from Khost to Gardez. The convoy continued its journey on another road 25 kilometres away from Gardez, near Sato Kandaw. This morning American aircraft bombed it several times.

He said that 65 people, including some leaders and commanders, had been martyred as a result of this bombing.

This convoy was making a scheduled trip from Gardez to Kabul to take part in the ceremonies marking the transfer of power in Kabul on 22 December. However, 25 dead bodies reached Khost this evening. According to Afghan Islamic Press Agency sources, 14 vehicles in the convoy were completely destroyed.

According to one report commander (?Mohammad Ebrahim) brother of commander Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani [former minister for tribal affairs under Rabbani and under Taleban regimes] has been martyred. Further reports about the names of the dead and wounded tribal leaders and commanders have been coming in.

However, Afghan Islamic Press has no further details about this. Earlier today Afghan Islamic Agency reported that 15 people had been martyred.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; good contacts with Taliban leadership. Faxes reliable, hand-written news reports, describing itself as independent and self-financing]

Pakistan daily reports 80 tribal elders dead in US bombings in Afghan provinces

SAP20011222000034 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 22 Dec 01

[Report by Behroz Khan: "80 tribal elders killed in US bombing"]

PESHAWAR: Over 80 people are reported dead and scores of others were injured when US warplanes resumed bombing in two south-eastern provinces of Afghanistan on Friday in pursuit of terror suspect Osama bin Laden and Taliban fighters.

"About 60 people died in the bombing in Khost bazaar on Friday morning as a result of bombing resumed by US planes after few weeks. One of my nephew, Timoor Shah is among the dead ones", said Haji Amin Kochay, brother of Haji Naeem Kochay.

Eyewitnesses informed from Paktia that at least 20 persons were killed and dozens others were injured during air strikes in Sarkando area of the province, which they said, had fallen victims to the misinformation campaign unleashed by the anti-Taliban elements.

Haji Amin said a tribal Jirga [grand assembly] was in session at Khost when US jets pounded the venue with several bombs adding that the bombing lasted for almost two hours. "This is criminal on the part of the informers, who misguided the Americans and caused the death of innocent civilians", Haji Amin said.

He said these tribals had assembled in a bid to form a delegation to be sent to Kabul to assure support to Hamid Karzai-led new Afghan government, but the enemies of peace, he said, provided wrong information to the US forces and gave the impression as if the meeting was being held in support of the Taliban.

Haji Amin said locals informed him from Khost that streets in the small dusty town were littered with blood and residents fled for safe haven, as the bombing prolonged and targeted residential areas. "No presence of Taliban can be proved in Khost and Paktia to justify the bombing. And after all, the victims of the bombing are civilians and not fighters from the Taliban movement or the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden", Haji Amin said.

The brother of Haji Amin, Haji Naeem Kochay was minister for Frontier in Taliban government. In Sarkando area of Paktia province, locals said the US warplanes dropped bombs on villages, which left at least 20 persons dead and a number of others injured.

The bombing on Paktia and Khost, locals believe, could be in pursuit of Osama bin Laden and some local Taliban leaders, including Taliban leader, Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, who had escaped an earlier assassination attempt, when US planes dropped bombs on his residence and the adjacent madrassa (religious school), which killed 16 persons and injured more than a dozens last month.

Tribals from Paktia said that neither Osama bin Laden nor any top leader of his al-Qaeda organisation has showed up in the area in the recent past. Khost was targeted with cruise missiles in 1998 in pursuit of Osama bin Laden.

AFP adds: An Afghan news agency reported meanwhile that 65 people were killed in US bombing. Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said that the convoy hit by the warplanes was a military target and she was unaware of reports that the bombing could have been a mistake.

"I don't know about this report, but we did attack a convoy," she said. "Definitely it was a military target." Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that many had died in the strike on the convoy. "It was a large convoy, and there were a lot of people killed and a lot of vehicles damaged, or destroyed," he told a Pentagon briefing.

General Peter Pace, Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the convoy was attacked around Khost, southwest of Tora Bora, former stronghold of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. "We had some intelligence indicators that were cross-referenced and determined by Central Command that in fact what we had was a convoy of vehicles, about 10 to 12 that contained leadership," Pace said.

The convoy was pummelled by AC-130 gunships, and fighter aircraft launched from US carriers, Pace said. A command and control compound from which the convoy had departed was also hit, Pace said.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News in English -- Independent daily, member of the Jang Publishing Group]

Iran: 65 Afghan tribal elders reported killed in US bombing overnight

IAP20011222000034 Tehran IRNA in English 0055 GMT 22 Dec 01

Islamabad, Dec 22, IRNA -- At least sixty-five Afghan tribal elders have been killed in a last night U.S planes attack on their convoy, moving towards capital Kabul for the inauguration of Afghanistan's new government.

American fighter planes rained bombs on the vehicles on a road at Sato Kandaw, 25 kms south of Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, said eye witnesses, who crossed into the Pakistani border town of Miranshah.

Paktia is on the Pakistan frontier and also borders eastern Nangarhar province, where US warplanes have carried out intense bombing raids over the past two weeks to force fighters of Osama bin Laden out of their mountain hideouts.

Correspondents in Miranshah say that tribal chiefs and commanders were among the victims. However, the Pentagon officials have defended the attack on the convoy, saying that senior Taliban and Al-Qaida members were traveling in the vehicles.

According to the report fourteen vehicles in the convoy were totally destroyed and the victims included Taliban commander Mohammadi Ibrahim, brother of the renowned Afghan commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani. TK/MMZ/RR End

[Description of Source: Tehran IRNA -- official state-run news agency]

Pakistan: Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani's School, Offices in North Waziristan Closed

SAP20020107000044 Rawalpindi Jang in Urdu 03 Jan 02 pp 8 7

[Report by correspondent: "Maulivi Jalaluddin Haqqani's school, offices in North Waziristan closed"]

Miran Shah -- The political administration has sealed the religious school and offices of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the supreme commander of the former Taliban government who had been living in North Waziristan for the last 30 years, on Wednesday [2 January] evening after the expiry of the deadline. The 2,000 students studying at the school were expelled. The political administration searched the school with the help of the Scouts, however there was no Taliban or al-Qa'ida member there.

Moreover, US aircraft flew above the Pakistan-Afghanistan border adjoining North Waziristan on Wednesday [2 January]. Meanwhile, it has been learned that Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani is alive. After being injured in a US bombardment, he has recovered now and is presently in Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: Rawalpindi Jang in Urdu -- Largest circulation daily]

Afghanistan: Taliban minister Haqqani 'might have died' of wounds after US bombing

IAP20011226000071 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 1500 GMT 26 Dec 01

Peshawar, 26 December: It has been reported by very reliable information sources that Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani [Taliban border affairs minister] was severely wounded in mid-December as a result of US aerial bombing.

Reliable information sources told the Afghan Islamic Press at Miranshah [Pakistan south eastern border] this evening that Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani was severely wounded as a result of the aerial bombardment by the United States on 16 December in the Zani Khel region, west of Khost Province. Five of his bodyguards were martyred.

The sources also said that he had then been transferred to an unknown location. Mr Haqqani has not been seen since that date and it is possible that he might have died as a result of the injuries he sustained.

In another development the people of the provinces of Paktia and Khost today told the Afghan Islamic Press that a large number of people were martyred in Paktia and Khost in the US bombing. However, it is difficult to say whether or not Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani was among them. A resident of the Zadran region in Paktia Province told the Afghan Islamic Press that many dead have been buried in the Haqqani family graveyard and Mr Haqqani's relatives are visiting the grave yard with deep respect. It is for this reason that the rumors about his having been martyred and buried in this graveyard are becoming stronger.

It has however been 100 percent proven to the Afghan Islamic Press that he was wounded. (It should be mentioned that the Afghan Islamic Press had filed a report on the bombardment in AIP report 612). Haqqani was a powerful commander in the time of the jihad [against the Russians] and was the minister of tribal and border affairs during the time of the Taliban.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; good contacts with Taliban leadership. Faxes reliable, hand-written news reports, describing itself as independent and self-financing]

Pakistan: Tribal Elders Take Over School, Offices of Taliban Supreme Commander

SAP20020105000120 Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu 05 Jan 02 pp 8 7

[NNI report: "Darpa Khel tribe takes control of Haqqani's seminary"]

Miran Shah: Elders of the local Darpakhel tribe in the North Waziristan Agency of Pakistan have taken control of the seminary and offices of Taliban Supreme Commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Haqqani set up a school in the Pakistani area 20 years ago where thousands of students received religious education.

To arrest Haqqani, the [Pakistan] Government recently tightened the noose around his relatives. All his relatives have now been expelled from their houses.

Local administrators--Ghulam Khan and Khalid Mumtaz--raided the seminary and told the elders of the area that Haqqani had no authority over the school. Therefore, the elders took control of the seminary.

Authorities have directed the elders that the premises should be used only for imparting religious education to students and if any member of the al-Qa'ida network was found there, action would be taken and even the seminary could be dismantled.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu -- Newspaper with strong anti-India views. Gives wide coverage to fundamentalist religious groups]

Afghanistan: Pakistani tribe de-Talibanizes former Afghan official's religious school

IAP20020105000014 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 0650 GMT 05 Jan 02

Peshawar, 5 January: The [Peshawar] Pashto daily Wahdat ["Unity", publishing in Pashto, but most of the writers are Afghans who previously worked for the Hezb-e Eslami newspaper Shahadat] writes in its 5th January edition:

[Headline] Darpakhel tribe captures and takes over control of the madrasa [religious school] and offices of Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani [the former minister for tribal affairs under the Rabbani and Taleban regimes]. Only religious education will be given in the madrasa, tribal elders promised.

[Article] Miranshah, Wahdat news: The Darpakhel tribe has captured and taken over control of former Taleban commander Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani's, madrasa [religious school] and offices. This happened after the change in [Pakistan's] Afghan policy. Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani, who has been running the madrasa for the past 20 years, has been dispossessed. The tribes have been told by the [Pakistani] political administration that Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani has no right to run the madrasa, and that the elders of the Darpakhel tribe have captured and taken over control of Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani's madrasa and offices.

The tehsildar [area officer] of the [Pakistani] political administration has sworn to the tribal elders that only religious education will be given in the madrasa. If Al-Qa'idah or Taleban members are found in the madrasa, the administration will take severe action, and there is a possibility that the madrasa will be demolished.

That was the news which was published in the daily "Wahdat".

It should be recalled that Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani is included in the [wanted] list issued by the [antiterrorist] allies, and America want to capture him. America bombed the areas in which he was thought to be present. It is also said that he was injured in the American bombing of 16 September [actually November] 2001.

In its 5th January edition, another Urdu daily, Islamabad's Osaf ["Qualities"], quotes Javed Ibrahim Paracha, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League and of Defence of Afghanistan, and a deputy head of Afghanistan's Council of Sarhad [i.e. Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province - NWFP], as saying that, if oppression is not stopped against the Arab mojahedin, we will surround the prison in Kohat [a city in NWFP].

Islamabad: Javed Ibrahim Paracha, a member of Defence of Afghanistan and deputy head of Afghanistan's Council of Sarhad, said yesterday that, if oppression and cruelty are not stopped against the Arab mojahedin prisoners at Kohat prison, he will ask people to surround the prison. During his telephoned protest about oppression of the Arab prisoners, he said that "after Friday prayers at Badshahi mosque in Kohat, a written protest was approved, condemning the oppression and cruelty by the FBI against the Arab mojahedin and demanding an end to it.

Referring to the Arab mojahedin, he said in the written protest that they had entered Pakistan with legal passports and visas, and that America and the FBI were oppressing them in Kohat prison without any proof or investigation. He said when they were being taken from Kohat prison to the airport, their feet were chained. He added that, if this oppression and cruelty are not stopped, we will surround the prison and will teach the American teams a harsh lesson. He added that the defence council [as given] would also summon a separate meeting.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; good contacts with Taliban leadership. Faxes reliable, hand-written news reports, describing itself as independent and self-financing]

Afghanistan: US soldier killed while investigating US bombing at request of elders

IAP20020105000029 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 1113 GMT 05 Jan 02

Peshawar: According to reports reaching [us] from Khost Province, yesterday an American was attacked in (?Matah Chinah) west of Khost [Province in southeastern Afghanistan].

Travellers arriving in Miram Shah [Pakistani border area] told Afghan Islamic Press that late yesterday afternoon an attack took place in Matah Chinah, 6 km west of Khowst, as a result of which one American was killed and another American soldier and two Afghan guides were injured. The dead body of the American and the injured were taken away by helicopter.

Matah Chinah was heavily bombed by US aircraft on 16-17 November; 34 students were killed in Jalaloddin Haqqani madrassa.

According to reports, this group of 25 soldiers had come at the repeated demands of tribal leaders to see whether American aircraft had targeted military sites or sites in the city. They had not been there 24 hours when the US soldiers were attacked.

Eyewitnesses also said that helicopters were flying over Khowst Province yesterday.

It is noteworthy that there is no joint council in Khowst Province, and three tribal leaders -- Pasha Khan Zadran, who supports former Afghan king Mohammad Zaher Shah, Zaki Khan, who supports former Afghan President Borhanoddin Rabbani, and engineer Zakim Khan Zadran, who enjoys the support of some tribal leaders and jihadi commanders -- claim superiority.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; good contacts with Taliban leadership. Faxes reliable, hand-written news reports, describing itself as independent and self-financing]

Ex-Mujahideen Leaders Join Forces To Struggle Against Interim Afghan Government

SAP20020105000102 Rawalpindi Nawa-i-Waqt in Urdu 05 Jan 02 pp 1 7

[Report by Suhail Abdul Nasir: "Hekmatyar, Sayyaf, Haqqani agree on joint struggle"]

Islamabad: The situation in Afghanistan has entered a new phase after the removal of the Taliban government and the induction of the interim administration.

Former Mojahedin leaders, who struggled against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, are once again aligning themselves.

According to the latest information, Gulbadin Hekmatyar, Prof Abdur Rab Rasool Sayyaf, and Jalaluddin Haqqani have agreed to wage a joint struggle against the foreign interference in Afghanistan and the formation of an Islamic government in the country.

Gulbadin Hekmatyar is presently in Tehran but a number of his party leaders have returned to Afghanistan.

Ittehad-i-Islami leader Abdur Rab Rasool Sayyaf was part of the Northern Alliance while fighting against the Taliban, but his group is not part of the interim government.

According to sources, Sayyaf is presently in Kabul but he is virtually under the government custody because his contacts with other groups.

Jalaluddin Haqqani was injured in the US bombing on Khost more than 25 days ago and there were reports that he had been killed. However, his family says that he is alive and busy in organizing Jihad activities.

The sources said the head of the interim government, Hamid Karzai, is well aware of this situation and knows that his government might face serious threats from the southeastern belt, particularly the area from Kabul to Kandahar, in the coming months.

Karzai, whose only base of support is the United States, wants a compromise with these emerging forces. For this very purpose, he has started to establish contacts with Jalaluddin Haqqani.

The sources said that the convoy of people, bombed by the US planes while it was on its way to Kabul to participate in the transfer of power last month, also included one of Haqqani's brothers.

They said that the bombing was made at the instigation of an influential commander of the eastern council, with the objective of foiling the link between the two leaders--[Haqqani and Karzai].

[Description of Source: Rawalpindi Nawa-i-Waqt in Urdu -- Pakistan's second largest circulation's daily, widely respected]

Afghan tribal elders join US to target suspected al-Qa'ida center

IAP20020107000002 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 0654 GMT 07 Jan 02

Peshawar, 7 January: There are American ground forces in the Zawar [Kili, believed to be an Al-Qa'idah compound] area in [the area of] Khost [Paktia Province south of Kabul, bordering Pakistan], and aircraft are also bombing the area.

News agencies in Miram Shah [Pakistani border town] told AIP this morning that last night and this morning US aircraft had bombed the Zawar area in [the area of] Khost many times.

According to the news sources, last night and early this morning the Americans arrived in various areas of Zawar in four helicopters and started a mopping-up operation.

US aircraft are bombing various areas. It is known that the location is dangerous for the US forces.

According to well-informed sources, there were some fighters loyal to [Minister of Border Affairs in the Taleban government] Jalaloddin Haqqani in Zawar. Yesterday, after the [US] forces reached the area, they were eradicated from the area.

It should be mentioned that Zawar is an important area to the USA; this area was attacked with cruise missiles in 1998 by the Americans, because they thought there was an Al-Qa'idah centre there.

Paktia and Khost tribal elders are taking part in mopping-up operations with the US troops in Zawar.

The area was bombed many times last week. According to latest reports, the mopping-up operation is continuing.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; good contacts with Taliban leadership. Faxes reliable, hand-written news reports, describing itself as independent and self-financing]

Afghan tribal elders to decide fate of boy US suspects of killing soldier

IAP20020107000017 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 0550 GMT 07 Jan 02

Peshawar: 7 January: The [Pakistani newspaper] Wahdat daily news in Pashto continues the story of a US commando who was killed [on 4 January].

According to Wahdat in Miram Shah [Pakistani border town], after US aircraft had bombed the area of Zawar [Kili, thought to be the site of an Al-Qa'idah compound] in [the area of] Khost [in Paktia Province, bordering Pakistan], US commandos reached the area of Zawar with tribal elders from Gardez [capital Paktia Province] in eight helicopters. The commandos saw the area which had been bombed the night before by the American aircraft. As a result of the bombing, sixteen people were killed and five wounded.

Zawar was the site of the established bases of [Hezb-e Eslami leader Golboddin] Hekmatyar and Jalaloddin Haqqani [later Taleban minister for border affairs] during the jihad [against the Soviets].

It was clear that the US commandos wanted a fourteen-year-old boy who [they said] had killed an American and injured another during the attack by US forces

They [US commandos] warned local people that if the murderer was not handed over, the village would be heavily bombed.

A meeting will be held by the Gardez and (?Zudin) tribal elders and a decision will be taken.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; good contacts with Taliban leadership. Faxes reliable, hand-written news reports, describing itself as independent and self-financing]

Afghanistan: Tribal leader confirms US forces arrest four in eastern province

IAP20020121000129 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 1430 GMT 21 Jan 02

Peshawar, 21 January: One of the major supporters of the American forces in Khost [Province], Zakim Khan, has said that those arrested in the Zini Khel village will be interrogated about [the whereabouts of] Jalaloddin Haqqani.

Confirming reports on the arrest of a number of people in Zini Khel, commander Zakim Khan told the Afghan Islamic Press from Khost this evening that American commandos had arrested Serajoddin and three of his friends in order to obtain information about Jalaloddin Haqqani.

He added that in the past Jalaloddin Haqqani used to visit Serajoddin's house, and last November he [Jalaloddin Haqqani] was wounded as a result of American bombing. Investigation is continuing from those arrested.

He described as unfounded reports alleging that those arrested were also suspected of the killing of an American soldier.

With regard to Haqqani, he said reports indicate that he is still alive. It should be said that some weeks ago the allied forces said that it was possible that Haqqani had been killed as result of American attacks.

Zakim Khan is among the three influential commanders in Khost area, and he is regarded as a supporter of the American forces in the region.

Zakim Khan told the Afghan Islamic Press that in Paktia and Khost [provinces] his supporters outnumber those of the others. He said that at present he is supplies 12 to 13 districts of Paktia. He added that he also has more supporters in Khost than anyone else. But he added that so far there is no single administration in Khost.

It should be said that in Khost Prof Borhanoddin Rabbani's supporter, Zakim Khan, the former king's supporter, Badshah Khan Zadran, and another independent group, led by Engineer Delbarjan Armani, are claiming to be the majority in the province. This is the reason so far no single administration exists in the province.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; good contacts with Taliban leadership. Faxes reliable, hand-written news reports, describing itself as independent and self-financing]

AIP: US Missile Attack 5 Feb Killed Three Afghan Civilians; Not Al-Qa'ida Members

IAP20020207000019 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 1011 GMT 07 Feb 02

Peshawar, 7 February: Three civilians have been martyred [killed] as a result of an American missile attack on Zhawar Kalai.

Reports say that a missile hit Zhawar Kalai, Khost Province, at around 1400 or 1500 hours [local time] on 5 February 2002 as a result of which two young people were killed on the spot and a third died on the way to hospital.

The Zhawar Kalai, which is situated 35 km southwest of Khost and 15 km from the Pakistani border, is a few kilometres from the centre of Zhawar which was the target of heavy attack by American aircraft in January.

The centre of Zhawar, which was a base of mojahedin commander Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani, is described by Americans as an Al-Qa'idah base.

Speaking to Afghan Islamic Press on the latest incident, elders of Gorboz tribe today identified the dead men as Mir Ahmad, Jahangir Khan and Daraz Khan. They said the men aged between 20 and 30 were just wandering in the area.

One elder said: "There are no Al-Qa'idah people in the area."

The three martyrs were buried in Patlun Kalai near the Khost bazaar.

American military sources had earlier said that a missile was fired and its was believed to be Al-Qa'idah leaders. However, eyewitness told the Afghan Islamic Press that they [those killed] were local people and not Al-Qa'idah members.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; had good contacts with Taliban leadership. Faxes reliable, hand-written news reports, describing itself as independent and self-financing]

UK Guardian: Al-Qa'ida Fighters Escaping to Gulf Through Iran Drug Route

EUP20020213000144 London The Guardian (Internet Version-WWW) in English 13 Feb 02

[Article by Rory McCarthy: "Al-Qa'ida Fighters Escaping to Gulf Through Iran Drug Route"]

Fighters loyal to the Taliban and al-Qa'ida have evaded US military operations in Afghanistan by crossing the border into Pakistan and escaping to freedom along the established drug smuggling route to Iran, a Guardian investigation reveals today.

Detailed accounts from witnesses, al-Qa'ida sympathisers and sources close to the Taliban in Pakistan indicate that many Arab fighters loyal to Usama Bin Ladin crossed into the country through desolate mountain passes, avoiding well-armed military border patrols.

Once in Pakistan's tribal regions they found support from an underground network of Islamic extremists. Some are still hiding in Pakistan, while others have already fled the country after spending thousands of dollars to buy their escape through Iran using the tribal drug trafficking mafia.

The confirmation that well-trained al-Qa'ida figures have fled through Iran and are back in their homes in Gulf countries will ring alarm bells in Washington. The FBI yesterday released details of a man called Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei who it said had entered Yemen from Afghanistan and was poised to carry out an imminent terrorist attack against US targets.

The Iranian connection will also worsen already strained relations between Tehran and the Bush administration. Senior US figures have accused Iran of allowing al-Qa'ida fighters into the country.

A hardline cleric interviewed by the Guardian admitted helping dozens of Arab men, women and children who crossed into Pakistan near Parachinar from the al-Qa'ida base at Tora Bora. Maulana Javed Ibrahim Paracha said the Arabs were "quietly going back to their homes".

Hamid Mir, a Pakistani newspaper editor known to be close to the Taliban regime, said many Arab fighters were escaping from southern Afghanistan and from Pakistan's tribal belt through Iran and back to their countries.

"The Arab al-Qa'ida are trying their best to leave the country and to reach the Gulf," he said. "The smuggling mafia have started a new business helping these people to leave."

Several senior officials from the collapsed Taliban regime have also fled to Pakistan. A group of at least six Taliban deputy ministers and diplomats have formed a political party and say they hope to join the government in Kabul later this year.

However, Islamabad's military regime insists there are no Taliban officials in Pakistan.

Abdul Hakim Mujahid, the Taliban's representative in New York, told the Guardian it was easy for Taliban figures to leave Afghanistan secretly. "All the borders are possible to cross," he said.

Many other more hardline Taliban officials are still living in Afghanistan, often under the protection of their local tribes, he said.

Taliban fighters are believed to have gathered around Khost, in eastern Afghanistan. They include Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Taliban frontiers minister, who was once considered by Pakistan as a possible leader of a "moderate Taliban" faction but turned down the offer. He is now regarded by the Americans as a leading hardliner.

[Description of Source: London The Guardian (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- prominent center-left daily]

Arab Afghans Sources Claim 'Dozens' of Al-Qa'ida Members Escaped Through Iran

GMP20020215000074 London Al-Sharq al-Awsat in Arabic 14 Feb 02 p4

[Unattributed report: "Arab Afghans Sources: Dozens of Al-Qa'ida Members Have Arrived in Arab Countries Through Iran"]

London, Tehran, Al-Sharq al-Awsat, news agencies-Arab Afghans sources have revealed that dozens of Usama Bin Ladin's Al-Qa'ida Organization members have succeeded in leaving Afghanistan and reaching Arab countries through Iran.

The sources said in a telephone contact with Al-Sharq al-Awsat that dozens of Arab fundamentalist members of Al-Qa'ida moved under the protection of the drugs mafias that operate in the tribes-controlled border strip between Afghanistan and Pakistan. They added that these members crossed Helmand province into Iran and from there across the Gulf to their home countries by using forged passports.

The sources noted that one Arab fighter paid around 3 million Pakistani rupees (about $33,000) in return for traveling to Bandar Abbas under the tribes' protection and securing a forged passport that allowed him to travel through the Gulf ports. They added that the drugs mafias operating in the border strip between Khowst--which is controlled by Jalaloddin Haqqani, the borders minister in the Taliban regime-and the Pakistani city of Queta and into Bandar Abbas Port deep inside Iran's territories that overlooks the Arab Gulf have switched to the profitable business of smuggling Al-Qa'ida's members. These mafias' leaders have reaped vast profits from this trade estimated in hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Arab Afghans sources said that six deputy ministers in the former Taliban government are now inside Pakistan's territories. Rahmatollah Hashemi, Mullah Omar's adviser for foreign affairs, is one of them.

The sources went on to point out: The Pakistani authorities deny there are Taliban elements in their territories, apart from Alrahman Zahid, Taliban's deputy foreign minister, and Nour Mohammad Shakib, the president of the Supreme Court in Kabul. The Pakistani authorities detained both of them in Baluchistan province last month. But a group of Taliban ministers entered Pakistan and formed a party representing the moderate Pashtun elements. This group hopes to join the interim government in Afghanistan by the middle of this year and it includes Suhayl Shahin, the deputy of Abdol Salam Zaeef, the former Taliban ambassador in Islamabad. [Passage omitted citing agency and newspaper reports]

[Description of Source: London Al-Sharq al-Awsat in Arabic -- Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; editorials reflect official Saudi views on foreign policy.]

AFP: Former Taliban Commander Surrenders in Eastern Afghanistan

SAP20020311000034 Hong Kong AFP in English 0833 GMT 11 Mar 02

ISLAMABAD, March 11 (AFP) -- A former Taliban commander and brother of the ousted regime's border affairs minister who is wanted by the United States has surrendered to the Afghan authorities, a report said Monday.

Commander Mohammad Ibrahim, 47, accompanied by some 150 religious scholars and tribal elders from Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces turned himself over to the authorities in the eastern city of Gardez on Sunday, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said.

But the Pakistan-based news agency said Ibrahim, whose elder brother Maulawi Jalaluddin Haqqani commanded considerable influence as one of the top resistance fighters during the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, was still in Gardez and was "moving freely."

US-led forces are battling al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the mountains south of Gardez, capital of Paktia province.

Ibrahim was associated with the 1992-96 regime of former president Burhanuddin Rabbani and later served as Taliban commander in several eastern provinces.

Haqqani, a religious scholar who served as minister for border affairs, is on the US list of wanted Taliban leaders.

The Taliban regime was routed after the US and allied Afghan forces launched a military campaign over the Islamic militia's harbouring of Oasma bin Laden, suspected mastermind of the devastating terror attacks in the United States six months ago.

But the militia's chief Mullah Mohammad Omar, his "guest" bin Laden and other senior Taliban officials have eluded arrest.

[Description of Source: Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Urdu daily: Report says Saifullah Mansoor alive, has moved to another location

SAP20020317000064 Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu 15 Mar 02 pp 1 5

[Report by special correspondent: "Saifullah Mansoor had 300 graves dug before fighting"]

Miran Shah - According to reports coming from Gardez, fighting between US forces and the Taliban in different areas of Piktia has ended and Commander Saifullah Mansoor has moved to another location along with his men.

Sources from Piktia have denied reports that Saifullah Mansoor has been martyred. Sources said that before the fighting started, Saifullah Mansoor had 300 graves dug in the areas of Zarmast Shahi Kot [name as published] and the surrounding areas and requested the people of the area that if he and his men were martyred, they should be buried before the arrival of US forces.

According to sources, Saifullah Mansoor had the bodies of more than 100 men buried in those graves and had the rest of the graves refilled with dirt before leaving the area. US soldiers are looking for the dead bodies of Taliban and al-Qa'ida martyrs in the area, but they have found nothing except 25 dead bodies.

Sources say that Jalaluddin Haqqani is safe in Khost; however one of his brothers has announced his support for Hamid Karzai. It has been learned that the Taliban and al-Qa'ida would launch fresh attacks in April after contacting their men in other provinces of Afghanistan. On the other hand, Pakistani authorities have tightened security arrangements on the border, making illegal entry from Afghanistan to Pakistan more difficult. The Associated Press has said with reference to the Afghan commanders that Saifullah Mansoor has succeeded in escaping along with his men. Twenty persons have been arrested and 500 Canadian soldiers are searching for al-Qa'ida men in the area.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu -- Newspaper with strong anti-India views. Gives wide coverage to fundamentalist religious groups]

Anti-US Afghan Commanders in Paktia, Paktika Enjoy Former President's Support

SAP20020325000048 Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu 25 Mar 02 pp 1 6

[Report by Bakhtzada Yusafzai: "Burhanuddin Rabbani Extends Support to Alliance of Afghan CommanderJalaluddin Haqqani, Commander Mansoor, Commander Saifullah, and Arsala Rahmani Waging Guerrilla WarAgainst US in Paktia and Paktika"]

Peshawar -- It has been learned that an alliance of Afghan Commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, Commander Mansoor, Commander Saifullah, Commander Hakeem Mujahid, and Commander Arsala Rehmani, which is waging a guerrilla war against US forces in the Afghan border provinces of Paktia and Paktika, also enjoys the support of Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani, former president of Afghanistan and head of Jamiat-i-Islami Afghanistan. Usama Bin Ladin's adviser and associate, Iman Al-Zawahiri, was also present there until two days before the US attack on Shahi Kot. The Taliban and former jihadi commanders can fight against the secular system in their respective areas till the last moment.

According to details, a war which has been going on in Afghanistan's border provinces of Paktia and Paktika for the last few weeks has acquired a new form. According to sources, the Taliban commanders present in Paktia and Paktika, who have been waging a guerrilla war in these provinces since the Afghan jihad era, have formed an alliance against the United States. In addition to this, Taliban Commander Saifullah also enjoys the backing of Former Afghan President Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani.

According to the sources, Former Afghan President Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani strongly opposes the return of Former King Zahir Shah to Afghanistan and does not want the government of Zahir Shah's people to strengthen its position in Afghanistan. For this purpose, he sympathizes with Commander Saifullah and has promised to provide all kinds of assistance to him.

According to the sources, these prominent commanders of the former Taliban government who have formed an alliance to fight the US forces not only have a conservative approach, but they are also not ready to tolerate effects of secularism in areas under their control. According to the sources, there are about 700 US special forces present in these areas, whereas 1,100 Northern Alliance soldiers and forces of pro-Zahir Shah and pro-Hamid Karzai Bacha Khan Zardaran are also fighting the Taliban and al-Qa'ida. In spite of that, the situation is in favor of anti-US and anti-Karzai forces.

According to the sources, Jalaluddin Haqqani's brother Haji Ibrahim is an influential and powerful commander. According to the sources, the alliance of commanders of Paktia and Paktika was known as the Paktika force during the jihad against the Soviet Union and it had all the suppport of mujahideen in these provinces. According to the sources, Commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, the most important commander in the alliance, was the third biggest leader in the Taliban government. He was also in charge of the Taliban government's financial affairs and is very influential and powerful in his area.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu -- Newspaper with strong anti-India views. Gives wide coverage to fundamentalist religious groups]

Pakistan: US Begins Operation in Pakistan Against al-Qa'ida Members

SAP20020427000126 Islamabad Pakistan in Urdu 27 Apr 02 pp 17

[Report by Haji Mujtaba: "US Starts Operation on Pak Soil to Unearth al-Qa'ida Activists"]

US forces have launched an operation against al-Qa'ida members in Miranshah area of North Waziristan. According to details, 10 US troops suddenly landed in the area in two helicopters. Among them was also the US commander who had imparted training to mujahideen commander Jalaluddin Haqqani against Soviet forces. The US troops were accompanied by 200 jawans [lowest rank soldiers] of Militia and Tochi Scouts [paramilitary troops] led by Major Mudassar; Assistant Political Agent [deputy administrator of a tribal area] Javed Marwat; Tehsildar [revenue officer at sub-district level] Haji Muhammad Salim; Moharrars [police official responsible for registering cases] Khawaza Jan; Amanullah; and a large number of Khasadars [paramilitary troops]. They suddenly raided the former madrassa [religious school] Majmatul Uloom of Jalaluddin Haqqani in village Danday Darpakhel. The madrassa was empty and no al-Qa'ida member was found there, during the hour-long operation. It may be added that it was the first US forces operation in the tribal area and more such crackdowns are expected.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Pakistan in Urdu -- Widely read daily generally supportive of the Pakistan Muslim League]

US, Pakistani troops raid seminary in tribal area bordering Afghanistan

SAP20020427000084 Islamabad The Nation (Lahore Edition) (Internet Version-WWW) in English 27 Apr 02

[Report by correspondent: "US, Pak troops raid madrassa in Waziristan"]

Miran Shah -- The American forces along with Pak army personnel Friday started operation against alleged al-Qaeda members in North Waziristan Agency when they raided a Madrassa of deputy commander-in-chief of former Taliban government of Afghanistan in the area. Two US helicopters, carrying about ten US troops, landed at Dandi Darpa Khel area and began search of Majmal Uloom of Jalaluddin Haqqani to find alleged members of al-Qaeda. However, the madrassa was already vacated when the joint US-Pak team raided it. The American troops were reportedly led by a commander who had once given military training to Jalaluddin Haqqani against Russian forces.

The US troops were accompanied by about 200 Tochi Scouts [paramilitary force] personnel headed by Major Mudassir. Assistant Political Agent of the Agency Javaid Marwat, Tehsiladar Political Muharar, Haji Mohammad Saleem, Muharar Khawaja Khan, Muharar Amanullah and a large number of Khasadar [paramilitary force] also escorted them. The searching operation continued for about one hour.

US will not act alone in Pakistan: An AFP report from London says, top US commander General Tommy Franks said Friday the United States will not act alone in its bid to eliminate remaining pockets of al-Qaeda fighters in the largely lawless area of Pakistan bordering eastern Afghanistan. "What we are going to do is continue the cooperation. I think we have not seen a suggestion of unilateral operations being conducted in Pakistan by any nation that is a member of the coalition. "The secret is to continue to co-operate and surely the problems we find in Pakistan will be rooted out," said Franks, who is the commander of US forces in the region. Franks was speaking during a brief visit to Britain -- where he spoke with Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon -- on his way back from the Middle East. His assurances came after US defence officials said Thursday discussions were under way with the Pakistani government on arrangements that would allow teams with US military and intelligence operatives to respond quickly to time sensitive intelligence on al-Qaeda fighters in the border area. Many of the leaders of al-Qaeda and Taliban rulers are believed to be hiding in the rugged tribal northwest of Pakistan, able to travel between eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan through a mountainous border area that has been impossible to seal off.

Direct action involving US teams in Pakistan would mark a new level of cooperation in what has been a close but secretive relationship between the US and Pakistani militaries since the start of the US-led campaign in Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The Nation (Lahore Edition) in English -- Independent daily, member of the Nawa-i-Waqt group]

Pakistan tribesmen asked to kill raiding US troops to get al-Qa'ida reward money

SAP20020428000052 Peshawar The Statesman (Internet Version-WWW) in English 28 Apr 02

[Report by Haroon Rashid: "Pak-American raid on seminary yields no arrest"]

Peshawar -- Pakistani paramilitary forces joined hands with US forces to hunt for suspected Taliban leaders in tribal area of South Waziristan Agency, residents and journalists said Saturday.

Local people said more than a hundred Tochi Scouts, Pakistani paramilitary troops, assisted by about 10 to 15 foreign soldiers, raided a seminary set up by a former minister in Afghanistan's ousted Taliban government, Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani. However, no arrests were made. "They came in helicopters and searched the madrassa for over one hour," said Mullah Qaziullah, local religious leader from Miranshah.

This is the first such report of a joint US-Pakistani forces operation to come out of the tribal area. Despite repeated attempts, no official could be reached for comments. But Pakistan has in the past denied any joint operation or presence of US forces in the semi-autonomous tribal areas.

The seminary lies near the Afghan border in Darpakhel village on the outskirts of Miranshah, capital of the South Waziristan Agency. US troops were searching for Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, a former Taliban tribal affairs minister and also a famous guerrilla commander who fought the Soviets forces in the 1980s, the residents said.

Journalists claimed the operation continued for more than an hour but failed to find any suspects. Rehmatullah Khan Roidakhel, a local journalist who visited the religious school on Saturday, told The Statesman by telephone the raiding forces had broken doors and windowpanes of the school. He quoted witnesses as seeing 10 to 15 foreign soldiers accompanying Pakistani troops arrive in several helicopters for search. "People were sure that the whites were Americans," he said, adding the troops broke the doors despite the school night watchman offering them keys.

Tribesmen have already expressed their resentment over the presence of US forces in their area. A large gathering of tribesmen, armed with rockets and assault rifles, had asked people Friday to take the benefit of huge reward money being offered by Al-Qaida to kill or capture American soldiers.

Many observers believe the government is keeping silent on the issue, because of the presidential referendum set for April 30.

The seminary was set up by Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, but was shut down after the September 11 events. However, a few days back on the request and assurance of local tribesmen it reopened. However, no one was present at the time of the raid.

[Description of Source: Peshawar The Statesman in English -- Provides good coverage of developments in Afghanistan, activities of jihadi and religious groups]

Pakistan: US Commandos Said Disgraced Religious Books During Miran Shah Search

SAP20020501000162 Karachi Jasarat in Urdu 28 Apr 02 pp 8 7

[Sana news: Miran Shah: "Commandos trampled religious books during operation"]

Miran Shah - During the recent US commando operation carried out in the Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani religious school in Miran Shah, American soldiers disgraced religious books and trampled them under foot while conducting their searching. However, after failing to get anything, they demolished the walls and doors of the religious school. There is severe reaction from the people of the area against the degrading of religious books. They have termed the US commando operation as showing religious and national disrespect. It should be noted that the US commandos enjoyed complete cooperation of the Pakistani forces during the operation.

[Description of Source: Karachi Jasarat in Urdu -- Jamaat-i-Islami newspaper catering to the Islamic audience]

Pakistan: Tribesmen warn to resist US commando operation in seminaries

SAP20020508000083 Islamabad The Nation (Lahore Edition) (Internet Version-WWW) in English 08 May 02

[Report by Abdul Qadoos: "Tribesmen vow not to let US troops enter madaris"]

Miran Shah (North Waziristan Agency) -- The tribesmen of North Waziristan Agency have vowed to resist the operation in the Madaris both by US commandos and Pakistan military saying that only officials of the political administration accompanied by the tribal elders will be allowed to enter these institutions.

The decision was taken in the wake of the operation by Pakistan and US military for Taliban militia and al-Qaeda members reportedly present in a madrassa established by Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, former commander-in-chief and minister for frontiers of the ousted Taliban government. However, no one was arrested in the raid. The incident infuriated the religious minded residents of the agency.

The tribesmen are holding big public meetings in which youth come while wielding weapons and raising slogans like Allah Ho Akbar and death for Americans. In the Monday public meeting held at Spin Wam Tehsil of North Waziristan hundreds of people turned to the venue while dancing to tune of the drum. Interestingly, Taliban were against to such kind of music but on the other hand the religious minded tribesmen of North Waziristan appreciate it as their traditions.

The public meeting was addressed by the elders of Madakhel, Torikhel, Kabulkhel and Hassankhel tribes, and announced the formation of a volunteer combatant force of 250 youth, which will provide security to religious seminaries in the agency as elders say that these institutions were not established by the ulema themselves adding that they were being established on the demands of the people which want to impart religious education to their children.

Armed with AK-47 assault riffle Hafiz Kamal 30, who had also participated in jehad along with Taliban in battle for Mazar-i-Sharif said that Islam calls for jehad against infidels adding that it also stressed on elimination of both oppression and oppressor. He said that they will not tolerate the presence of any American on Pakistani soil in general and tribal belt in particular.

Talking to The Nation, Abdrehman, a JUI activist in North Wazirisitan Agency, who is also running a big seminary at Spin Wam alleged that some elements at the helm of affairs pushing Pakistan towards anarchy. He said people had raised against the operations in madaris and want the expulsion of Americans from Pakistani territory.

"There are only Pakistani Taliban and they had nothing to do with the Afghan war as we had supported Taliban only politically and morally. Those who entered Afghanistan to fight along Taliban verses US have made decision on their own," he remarked.

The religious seminary, who is known both in Pakistan and Taliban ranks as Saddar Abdurehman due to his contribution in jehad advised the military rulers to stop blind support for US as she had never come up to our expectations and had always cheated us adding that she had cheated us at the he time of the fall of Dhaka and said that this time US was going to deprived us of our nuclear programme. He dispelled the impression that the raid had conducted by only Pakistani troops and added that the raid was conducted in the presence of 9 US commandos. He said that the madrassa was empty as now it was being run by Maulvi Hayatullah Darpakhel.

Meanwhile, despite of the hue and cry of the tribesmen the combing of the tribal strip situated on Pak-Afghan border has entered to second week to search out the possible presence of suspected Al-Qeada activists. In this connection two religious seminaries had already searched in the North Waziristan Agency.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The Nation (Lahore Edition) in English -- Independent daily, member of the Nawa-i-Waqt group]

Afghans deny weapons found by British forces belong to Al-Qa'ida

IAP20020510000035 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 1315 GMT 10 May 02

Peshawar, 10 May: The weapons found by the British soldiers in Paktia Province do not belong to the Taliban or Al-Qa'ida, but they are from the time of jihad against the Russians.

Speaking to the Afghan Islamic Press from Gardez today, a representative of the Afghan Human Rights Office at the Waza District of Paktia Province, Taleb Jan, described as wrong the claim by the British forces that the weapons they have found belonged to Al-Qa'ida and Taliban. He said: "These weapons have been left at the Turikhel Mountains from the time of jihad. A famous commander of the time of jihad, Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani, had a jihad centre here by the name of Asmayee Brigade" where a large amount of light and heavy weapons were stored." He added: "A television team had visited this centre some time ago and had seen every thing from the close".

He said: "There were also weapons at the centre that the American forces had given to the mojahedin during the Gulf War. Those weapons were captured by the American forces from Iraqi forces. The anti-aircraft missiles among these weapons are noteworthy".

Taleb Jan added: "The Taliban or Al-Qa'ida have no connection with these weapons whatsoever, and neither these weapons were hidden from anyone. The people of the area knew these weapons as a memorial of the time of jihad and the common people want these weapons to remain in the place".

According to the Afghan Islamic Press sources, there were large amounts of weapons at this centre, which is located to the east of Gardez [the provincial capital of Paktia]. However, the British forces claim that the weapons belong to Al-Qa'ida and the Taliban. Reports also say that the elders and leaders of the area are very angry at the claim made by the British and they have told the local administration that the weapons should not be removed from the area and should be left as a good memorial of the jihad.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; used to have good contacts with Taliban leadership; following the fall of the Taliban is seeking a new role for itself as a news agency; describes itself as independent and self-financing]

Pakistan: Troops Likely To Comb Waziristan Refugee Camps for al-Qa'ida Members

SAP20020517000086 Lahore Daily Times in English 17 May 02 p A4

[Report by Iqbal Khattak: "Hunt for Al Qaeda; 4 Waziristan refugee camps to be combed; Pakistan wants troops deployed in area for 'other' assignments"]

Peshawar -- Four refugee camps in North Waziristan Agency may be combed for Al Qaeda and Taliban members soon, official sources told Daily Times here on Thursday [16 May].

Tehsil and Ippi camps in Mir Ali, sub-division of the agency, and Machas and Tabai camps in Miranshah, agency headquarters, will be searched very soon, they said.

"We will first look for any illegal refugees in these camps who will be deported to Afghanistan.

"The search is also aimed at finding possible Al Qaeda and Taliban members in these camps because reports suggest some may have taken shelter there in the guise of refugees," the sources said. However, the sources did not say when the operation will be launched. The four camps house thousands of Afghan refugees since the Afghan war started in the early '80s.

Sources in Miranshah said top political and army officials were assessing the situation in the conservative North and South Waziristan agencies before ordering the operation.

"The authorities now fully understand what hurts the tribesmen. For the time being, raids on seminaries will be suspended after a failed attempt on April 26 at a madrassa [seminary], run by pro-Taliban commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani," they said.

The federal government has given security measures in the hands of paramilitaries, minus the local tribal police, to assist the army and the political administration.

"This development underlines Islamabad's seriousness to satisfy American concerns by finishing the agenda as soon as possible because of the lingering standoff on the border with India.

"If war breaks out with India, Pakistan cannot afford to deploy thousands of troops along the Durand Line. They want the troops available for other assignments," the sources said, adding 45 more Pakistani commandos reached Miranshah late Wednesday evening as reinforcement.

Meanwhile, an army officer visited the Mir Ali Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, asking its administrator to vacate the hospital's hostel for paramedical staff for possible stationing of troops in the area. "I do not know the purposes, they have been asked to vacate the double-storey hostel," a source said.

But in areas like Shawal in Razmak sub-division, tribesmen are putting a stiff resistance to army deployment. Even the paramilitary forces were temporarily called back from the area on Thursday. The Shawal tribesmen have even disallowed polio vaccination teams to visit the area.

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times in English -- Daily published by the Friday Times Group]

Afghan Taleban commanders rebuilding their forces in southeast

IAP20020522000084 Mashhad Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Dari 1330 GMT 22 May 02

Afghan Taleban commanders rebuilding their forces in southeast

Text of report by Iranian radio from Mashhad on 22 May

Although the Taleban and Al-Qa'idah forces have been suppressed in Afghanistan from a military point of view, some reports say that certain remaining Taleban commanders have been making efforts to rebuild their forces in Afghanistan's southern and eastern provinces.

Reports coming in from Afghanistan say that five of the so-called Taleban have been killed and 28 taken prisoner by British forces in the country in the past month. According to these reports, one of the prisoners, Sayfollah Mansur [name phonetic], was in a very serious state of health and has been sent to Zabol [southern Afghanistan] for treatment.

Another report says that Mowlawi Kabir [name phonetic] is operating as a Taleban military commander in Khost [eastern Afghanistan], while Ebrahem Haqqani [name phonetic] and Sayfollah Mansur were in charge of Taleban military affairs in Paktia [eastern Afghanistan] before they were captured.

The report adds that Jalaloddin Haqqani and Mowlawi Qodratollah Jamal [names phonetic], the minister of information and culture of the collapsed Taleban regime in Paktika, are in charge of the Taleban's military affairs in Paktika and Mola Baradar [name phonetic] is in charge of the Taleban's military commander in Zabol Province.

It has been said that the major and important Taleban stronghold is in Zabol Province and Mola Baradar is making efforts to rebuild and activate the remaining Taleban forces in the two Provinces - Zabol and Urozgan [southern Afghanistan].

Meanwhile, Pakistanis have started a programme for purchasing weapons and ammunition in the Para Chinar [name phonetic] area and in three Afghan Provinces: Khost Paktia and Paktika [southeastern Afghanistan]. The same report says that Pakistani servicemen have been buying a [word indistinct] Kalashnikov [Russian made assault rifle] for 200 dollars, a machine gun for 300-400 dollars and an RPG-7 [grenade launcher] for 500 dollars.

It has been said that, after purchasing the weapons, Pakistanis hand them over to the Americans and in turn, the Americans send them to Khost and then to Kabul as confiscated Taleban and Al-Qa'idah weapons.

French Magazine Interviews Taliban 'Third-in-Command'

EUP20020701000329 Paris Paris Match in French 01 Jul 02 pp 52-53

[Report by Michel Peyrard: "A Few Days Ago a Meeting of Top Clandestine Leaders Took Place in Great Secrecy in Peshawar"]

The operations are codenamed "Anaconda," "Mountain Lion," "Condor," and "Harrier." Having been conducted since the spring by American troops and their allies, in the desert areas of southern Afghanistan, their undisclosed aim is to locate and neutralize Usama Bin Ladin and his al-Qa'ida lieutenants. Another objective of these repeated operations is to arrest or eliminate the principal Taliban officials who are believed to provide crucial logistical help to terrorists. "Mountain Lion" recently constituted the most highly developed Western attempt to hunt down these prey, entrenched in the semi-autonomous tribal area between Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, the record achieved by the 1,700 British marines deployed is as disastrous as that of their American predecessors. In order to save appearances, they filmed themselves destroying an underground ammunition store that in fact belonged to Ibrahim Omari, a veteran mujahid allied to the United States, before retreating before an invisible enemy -- mass dysentery, which, attacking their suffering intestines, forced them to beat an ignominious retreat before the mocking eyes of Washington and British journalists. If the hunt continued, it did so without making itself known, its planners having no doubts about the complex nature of the task in hand. In order to avoid embarrassment, all senior American officials, from George Bush to Donald Rumsfeld, via commander of military operations General Tommy Franks, are now refraining from naming Bin Ladin or Mullah Omar by name. However, they may have to resign themselves to doing so, since there have been several indications in recent weeks that America's public enemies are determined to regain the initiative. And, first and foremost, al-Qa'ida, whose spokesman said on Al Jazira on Sunday [23 June] that "the whole world and the mujahedin's friends will soon have the pleasure of seeing Bin Ladin on the television networks again." And also the Taliban, whose Afghan foreign minister, Dr Abdullah, like other leaders, keeps saying that they are regrouping in order to go onto the offensive.

It was in Peshawar, Pakistan, in the shelter of inconspicuous houses in residential neighborhoods, or the in anonymous setting of Koranic schools, that the network has been organizing. According to the Taliban themselves, over 1,000 men, members of the Islamist militia or al-Qa'ida, have found refuge in Pakistan. Many of them are in the tribal areas, but it is undoubtedly this great polluted city of 1.5 million inhabitants that constitutes their rear base. Though they do not fear the agents of the ISI, Pakistan's secret services -- "we have always had special ties with them," one Talib said -- the soldier monks never abandon their customary prudence, which is their guarantee of survival. Every meeting is accompanied by a wealth of precautions. Mullah Hunfi is not the least cautious. Under the reign of the theology students, Hunfi was in charge of the Torkham border, the only official crossing point between Pakistan and Afghanistan. There, he was responsible, among other things, for receiving and guiding the few individuals whom Kabul authorized to visit. As it did for most Taliban in the eastern zone, history stopped on 13 November, the day when Jalalabad fell. "Mullah Omar had delivered a speech on the radio shortly before that," he recalled with emotion. "He asked us to stay in our positions, and to fight to the death. When we heard him, we were all in tears, because we knew that it was impossible, because of the very heavy bombardments that we had suffered for over a month. But it is also true that some of us left Jalalabad because they did not like Usama (Bin Ladin.) We did not approve of Mullah Omar's decision to continue to support him, but we were afraid to speak out for fear of the intelligence services." Though he said he knew nothing about the Saudi, Hunfi made no secret of the intense activity in which the Taliban have been involved in recent weeks, following months of cautious hibernation. "We intend to attempt a comeback. We are on the point of making some decisions."

The soldier monks' strategy is simple. It is based on time, in the belief that the American forces and their allies cannot stay in the region indefinitely. They also expect promptly to eliminate the Karzai government's "collaborators." It is to this end that a meeting of the most senior Taliban leaders was held in Peshawar a few days ago. "For security reasons, it lasted only 25 minutes," Hunfi explained. "The Afghans were present, with Maulvi Abdul Kabir [name as published] (former governor of Jalalabad -- Paris Match editor's note,) as were the Pakistanis, with Maulana Fazlur Rehman [name as published] (head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islami Jui [spelling as published], the main movement supporting the Taliban -- Paris Match editor's note) and Maulana Sami-Ul Haq [name as published] (the leader of a rival faction to Jui -- Paris Match editor's note.) We discussed what actions to carry out in the coming months."

Among those attending the secret meeting, the most important personage was undoubtedly Abdul Kabir. Former deputy prime minister, governor of Jalalabad and of the Eastern Region, he was officially third-in-command in the Taliban regime and, following Mullah Rabbani's death in spring 2001, was often regarded as the real second-in-command, after Mullah Omar. A highly respected person among the tribes of the Southeast, whose contraband and poppy farming activities he tolerated, or even encouraged, he did not hesitate to take part in person in the military operations to silence dissidents: among other things, he is accused of having ordered the massacre of several hundred people, Hazars of the Bamiyan area, in May 1998. But the Americans are interested in him because of his special relations with Bin Ladin. It was in his province of Nangarhar, and under his protection, that the Saudi stayed during most of the period of the strikes. It was also Abdul Kabir who, a week after the bombing raids began, proposed to the United States handing the al-Qa'ida leader over to a "neutral country," in exchange for an immediate halt to hostilities. His proposal was intended to sound out America's intentions, and observers are now agreed that it was approved by the person concerned. What convinces the Western intelligence services of the pressing need to hear what the Taliban's third-in-command has to say is his presence with Bin Ladin shortly before their departure for Tora Bora. Two reliable witnesses saw them, on the evening of 12 or 13 November, leaving Jalalabad hand-in-hand, according to the Muslim custom, which expresses spiritual closeness. Another account attests to the rapport between the two. Mollah Towa [name as published] was Abdul Kabir's head of security, in other words, his principal bodyguard. He said he set off for Tora Bora on that fateful 13 November, accompanied by the governor and two important al-Qa'ida members: one was Khair Mohammed [name as published], Bin Ladin's personal interpreter, and the other was Ahmed Said Al-Kadir [name as published], an Egyptian of Canadian nationality, who is one of the nine most wanted members of the terrorist organization.

For months, several pieces of evidence have lent support to the theory that Abdul Kabir, whom former Taliban describe as "Usama's most resolute supporter" within the hierarchy, was in the Khost area, the soldier monks' final sanctuary. In this province, largely supportive of the Taliban, which has the twin merits of adjoining the tribal Pakistani area of Waziristan and of still being under the control of the warlords hostile to Kabul, the former deputy prime minister is apparently very busy: under the logistical guidance of Jalaluddin Haqqani [name as published], the Taliban's former commander-in-chief, whose capture the Americans have treated as a priority, Abdul Kabir has apparently been organizing in each village small cells of highly mobile fighters. In February, Abdullah Jan Tawhidi [name as published], deputy head of the Afghan interim government's secret services, said that his men had located the Taliban's third-in-command in a small neighboring village. "He was preaching in the mosque," he said. "I immediately notified the Americans." Shortly after that, 50 km southwest of Khost, a Predator drone fired a missile at a group of fugitives that may have included Abdul Kabir. However, his corpse was not among the three combatants that were killed.

It was in this same region of Khost that we made contact with the Taliban's third-in-command, following lengthy negotiations. He refused to meet with us in person, fearing that we might be followed. He suggested that a mutually trusted go-between record his answers to our questions, written down in advance. We subsequently had his voice identified by a reliable sources. Though the method was far from ideal, it has the merit of corroborating that which was hitherto mere supposition. It is indeed the first time that a senior Taliban official has spoken out since the end of the regime. The former deputy prime minister confirmed that he had taken refuge in this province in southwestern Afghanistan, with two tribes loyal to him -- the Hazar Buz and the Gur Buz. He leads a watchful existence there, making sure to change refuge every two or three days. He has not shaved off his beard, but he no longer appears with his turban, or only wears a yellow one, as worn by his hosts. His fugitive status is affecting his health, he said: he claims to be weakened. Like most of the Taliban with whom we met, who still bear the blame for a defeat without fighting, Abdul Kabir began by looking back over the circumstances of the retreat that he himself ordered. "The bombardments were very heavy, and civilians suffered as a result, allowing themselves to be massacred in vain. Afghanistan has experienced several wars, but that one that was waged on us last October and December was outrageous." However, he denied that the Taliban refused to fight at Tora Bora, leaving it to the Arabs to make a last stand. "Everyone here knows that we stayed until the last moment. It is not the Arabs that call us cowards; it is our enemies that are trying to demoralize us in this war!" Though he evaded all questions concerning Bin Ladin, the Taliban's third-ion-command reaffirmed his unfailing loyalty to Mullah Omar. "He is our emir, or, rather, the emir of all Muslims." Repeating a well known line of argument, Abdul Kabir preferred to set his struggle within the broader context of the events connected to 11 September. "What happened is part of a plan designed to discredit Muslim society and particularly the Taliban regime. We had our own problems, which we were on the point of overcoming by establishing peace in a durable fashion. All the ulemas (religious teachers -- Paris Match editor's note) have stated resolutely that we could not have been the instigators of all that happened in the United States. We have on several occasions condemned those events, which conflict with human rights. Just as we condemn, from the depths of our hearts, the Karachi attack, which killed 11 French citizens. We respect life -- that of Muslims and non-Muslims alike." He has no doubt about the Afghans' reaffirmed support for the cause. "Everyone has their own opinion, but what characterizes our people is their love of religion. It is for the sake of Islam that Afghans sacrificed their lives and are willing to do so again and again. Nobody here is unaware of the extent to which the end of our regime was a heavy loss for the Muslim world." Without denying the difficulty of his situation -- "We all have friends and enemies, but I must say that the pressure to which Almighty Allah is subjecting us is very great and that I personally never feel safe" -- Abdul Kabir said he knows no fear: "We have never feared anyone, either in the past, or now." This is why he rules out the possibility of surrender: "In order to avert a massacre, we preferred to withdraw rather than to fight. That was, and will be, our only surrender."

Does this mean that the Taliban are willing to resume the fight? That, as some of them told us, they are envisaging conducting actions against foreign troops, on a larger scale than the rockets that are regularly fired on the allies in the Khost area? This time the former deputy prime minister confined himself to a laconic: "No comment."

[Description of Source: Paris Paris Match in French -- right-of-center weekly magazine of French and world affairs, featuring photojournalism and society news]

AIP: US forces find arms cache in eastern Afghanistan

IAP20020703000058 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 0400 GMT 03 Jul 02

Text of report by Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency

Peshawar, 3 July: US forces have seized a large amount of light and heavy weapons in an area south of Gardez.

According to Afghan Islamic Press [AIP] sources from Gardez, the centre of Paktia Province, US forces - informed by their agents - dug out a large amount of arms in Sarana, 50 km south of Gardez, two days ago on 1 July.

According to the same sources, the arms were dug out in the village of Sarana near the house of a prominent jehadi commander, Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani.

According to the sources, the arms included thousands of heavy machine guns, rifles and bullets. Moreover, some British-made Blowpipe antiaircraft missiles, which were given to the mojahedin at the time of the jehad against the Russians, were also seized. It has been said that the seized arms include American-made Stinger missiles.

According to eye witnesses, the arms were being carried towards Gardez by at least six big trucks.

The Blowpipe missiles were considered as ineffective during the time of the jehad, that was why the mojahedin had not used them.

Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani was the minister of border affairs during the rule of the Taleban and now he is on the US wanted list.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; used to have good contacts with Taliban leadership; following the fall of the Taliban is seeking a new role for itself as a news agency; describes itself as independent and self-financing]

Pakistan: People of Kohat turn police, al-Qa'ida clash site into 'shrine'

SAP20020708000055 Islamabad The News in English 08 Jul 02 pp 18

[Report by Rahimullah Yusufzai: "Slain al-Qaeda fighters revered as martyrs"]

Peshawar -- The place where four suspected al-Qaeda fighters were killed last week outside Kohat is becoming a shrine for the faithful who believe the slain men were martyrs.

Eyewitnesses said people driving on the Kohat-Bannu road often stop at Jarma village to pray at the place where the shootout between the al-Qaeda fighters and the police took place.

Of particular interest to them is the spot where the blood of the fighters was spilled after they were hit by the shooting cops. Certain people encircled the dried blood with stones sometime after the incident and lighted candles in memory of the dead.

A match-box was kept there for use by those wanting to light candles. Several flags were hoisted in a nearby tree as a mark of respect for the deceased. Subsequently, the site of the shootout in Jarma was named the Shuhada-i-Islam Chowk (Martyrs of Islam Square).

Villagers alleged that law-enforcement personnel uprooted the signboard at night and took it away. But the new name is gradually catching on and the little-known Jarma village is becoming known.

Jarma is the second place in the NWFP [North West Frontier Province] with a shrine for al-Qaeda fighters. Last January, a place near Arawali Fort in Kurram tribal agency bordering Afghanistan quickly turned into a shrine when several al-Qaeda men killed in a clash with Pakistani troops were buried there.

The al-Qaeda fighters had been captured while trying to enter Pakistan from the Tora Bora mountains to escape the relentless US bombing. They were being shifted from the Parachinar to the Kohat jail when they overpowered and killed some of the guards and tried to flee. Tribesmen who considered bin Laden a hero of Islam and sympathized with the Taliban decorated the graves with flags and started praying there. It has reportedly become a much frequented place.

In neighbouring Afghanistan, a madressa near Khost and a cemetery for Arabs in Kandahar have also become popular shrines.

More than a dozen young Huffaz [those who memorize Koran by heart] of the Holy Quran were killed when US warplanes bombed the madressa in a bid to kill Taliban leader Mulla Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Many Afghans pray at the spot where the innocent teenagers lost their lives. The cemetery in Kandahar is revered because some of the Arabs buried there were patients at the Mirwais Hospital in that city and were killed when US troops and their Afghan proxies attacked their barricaded ward.

The Arabs, undergoing treatment at the hospital after being wounded in US aerial strikes, had refused to surrender. Authorities in Kandahar have now deployed police to prevent the faithful from praying at the cemetery.

In Kohat, pro-bin Laden and anti-US protestors last week demanded possession of the bodies of the four al-Qaeda fighters so that they could be given a decent and proper burial. They held a protest meeting in the Kotwali Mosque, staged demonstration and kept vigil outside the Combined Military Hospital in Kohat to pressure the military authorities to hand over the bodies to them. The markets in Kohat were also closed to protest the shying of the al-Qaeda men.

Speakers at the protest rally argued that the police should have nabbed the suspected al-Qaeda men instead of killing them. They were also critical of the Musharraf government for toeing the US line and sending troops to the tribal areas to capture al-Qaeda members at the behest of Washington.

To defuse the situation, the authorities reportedly shifted the four bodies to Peshawar at night and quietly buried them at a cemetery on Shami Road.

At least four organizers of the protest rallies in Kohat including former PML-N [Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz Group] MNA [member of National Assembly], Javed Ibrahim Paracha, Dr Abdul Rab, Maulana Mursalin and Haji Abid Paracha were arrested and booked on several counts. The charges against them ranged from treason to terrorism. They were dispatched to the central prison, Dera, Ismail Khan, where living conditions are stated to be terrible.

The use of strongarm tactics by the government may have calmed down the Kohat situation but there is little that can be done to contain the resentment against the US and its allies. There is a wide gap between the perception of the government and a section of the population with regard to al-Qaeda.

The official media has been referring to the slain troops and cops as martyrs while a sizeable number of the public think otherwise. They believe the slain al-Qaeda men were martyrs. The two sides are unlikely to agree with each other anytime soon.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News in English -- Independent daily, member of the Jang Publishing Group]

Al-Qa'ida Field Commander on Mulla Omar, Bin Ladin, Future Plans

GMP20020710000134 Afghanistan -- FBIS Report in Arabic 10 Jul 02

["Telephone" interview with Abu-al-Layth al-Libi, al-Qa'ida "field commander" in Afghanistan, by unidentified speakers -- date not given]

The Islamic Jehad On Line website at carries on 10 July a 30-minute recording of a telephone interview with "a brother field commander" called Abu-al-Layth al-Libi in Afghanistan. Date of interview is not given. The following is a full translation of the recording:

[An unidentified speaker introducing Abu-al-Layth al-Libi] In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate, praise be to Allah the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds.

May the peace and blessings of God be upon the leader of the valiant and the imam of the mujahidin, Prophet Muhammad, may a thousand prayer and blessing be upon him.

Following the suspension of contacts with the brother mujahidin in Afghanistan, there were many questions and great concern about their fate in the country. But, thank God, here is a glimmer raising hope and life in our hearts.

Amid the fierce [western] misinformation campaign, there reappeared once again the mujahidin, who have accustomed us to hold our heads high in the battlefield. Here is an interview with one of the brother field commanders replying to many questions and relating on the Shahikot battle, about which the US media have misled the whole world.

It was the biggest battle faced by the infidel forces on the land of Afghanistan. They clearly saw the power and might of the mujahidin, and therefore they revised their calculations and ran to make statements on television screens and in newspapers.

God said: "It is He who got out the unbelievers among the people of the book from their homes at the first gathering of the forces. Little did ye think that they would get out, and they thought that their fortresses would defend them from Allah. But the wrath of Allah came to them from quarters from which they little expected (it), and cast terror into their hearts, so that they destroyed their dwellings by their own hands and the hands of the believers. Take warning then, O ye with eyes to see."

[Al-Libi] In the name of God, and may be the peace and blessings of God be upon the noblest of mankind. O God, nothing is easy, but you have made it easy, just as you made pilgrimage. O God, facilitate our actions for your sake and reward us for them on the Day of Judgement, Amen, Amen, Amen.

My dear brothers in Afghanistan, my dear brothers among the generous, the people of the good lands that produced the mujahidin and the defenders of justice, may the peace and blessings of God be upon you.

Regarding your questions on the graces that God has bestowed upon us in the beloved struggler country of Afghanistan and the victories that He achieved through the hands of the mujahidin and that were witnessed by the whole world, we pray to God Almighty to increase His graces. The mujahidin made the whole world witness how US forces, the forces of the so-called biggest power on earth, were humbled and disgraced.

I would like in my brief talk to underline several points, which, I think, are basic and of interest to all mujahidin outside the land of Afghanistan. The first basic point is that I would like to reassure the lovers of jihad and mujahidin everywhere that the symbols of jihad they know are all well and in good health. Their affairs are as God has wished them. All of them are preparing and equipping themselves and arranging their affairs. We pray to God to bless their actions, insure their safety, guide their steps and opinions, and make us soldiers under their leadership and flag.

I would like to reassure everyone that the Amir of the Faithful, Mulla Mohammad Omar, is well and in good health. He has now almost taken control of all the groups, which were scattered. He is reorganizing his ranks. Praised be God, matters are at their best. We pray to God to bless his time so that it would be spent as God wishes.

It is the same with the other symbols that you know, such as the great honorable brother, Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin, and we pray to God to preserve him and make him hold fast; Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Shaykh Sulayman Abu-al-Ghayth. Their affairs are fine and blessed. We pray to God Almighty to guide their steps.

The other symbols that you know, the trainers and the powerful brothers with a long history in jihad, are all well and in good health.

This is the first point, which is to reassure the beloved ones everywhere about their brother mujahidin.

The second point is that the people of Afghanistan have not changed. Many of those who experienced the first phase -- the fall of the Amirate -- witnessed a big change among the people and population. People were afraid of the coalition forces, which came in powerfully. Many brothers left, thinking that the situation would never return as it was. But, praised be God and thanks to the efforts exerted by our brethren and the blood they shed for the sake of God, as demonstrated by the mujahidin's strong steadfastness and resolve, the people's attitude and nature changed. They became more certain that the mujahidin have the power to take the initiative once again.

I would like to mention in particular the Shahikot battle. According to the reports received from our Taliban brethren, this battle completely reversed the situation. It encouraged the mujahidin who were scared and reassured the people who dreaded the Americans. Praise be to God alone.

We the mujahidin in general are getting ready to begin the next phase in what is termed in military science the phase of guerilla warfare. We are trying to develop the fronts, where fighting was marked by skirmishes. We are now developing the fronts along all lines to make it a large-scale war -- the war of ambushes, assassinations, and operations that take place in the most unexpected places for the enemy. We are succeeding in that, thanks to God's graces and the cohesion, affiliation, solidarity of the mujahidin, both Arab and Afghan.

What we see is full cohesion. We have succeeded in establishing bases behind the enemy and inside its collapsing fortresses. Thank God also we have succeeded in reaching the phase of destroying bases and ammunition dumps and carrying out combat operations and assassinations. We have managed to carry out successful operations, praise be God. We ask God Almighty to bless our new operations, guide our shooting, straighten our opinions, and consolidate our steadfastness. For He is Omnipotent.

In this talk also, I ask the brothers to support the mujahidin with prayer. Truly, brothers, all we want is prayer and more prayer. Prayer will fulfill the aim and benefit the mujahidin first and foremost. Other things would follow. Thanks to our good brethren's earnest prayers, situations that looked gloomy and disastrous in our eyes became relief, support, and victory, God be praised. I call upon all brethren to beseech God Almighty through prayer and to never forget their brother mujahidin.

Here are some good tidings. Just before your contact, my brothers contacted me from inside and told me about the operations they carried out today and not yesterday or the day before. They shot down a helicopter. They also entered a US barrack and fought the Americans. But, we still do not know the results of this battle.

I also bring you the good tidings that in a day or two you will hear about a new epic. I pray to God Almighty to accept the deeds of the mujahidin.

I say that we have only succeeded in these operations thanks to jihad and the solidarity of Muslims everywhere. Today's jihad is a world jihad. It is an international jihad. Just as they face us with their power and might and say that they are waging a Crusade, we with our weakness, poverty, and resoluteness say that it is an Islamic jihad by all Muslim fronts and classes. We do not rule out anyone. We call upon God to bless their efforts, make their offers beneficial, and direct their hits. We pray to God for success for your actions and ours. For He is our Lord.

I hope that once you have prepared your questions, you would contact us once again. May the peace and blessings of God be upon you.

[Question not given]

[Al-Libi] Of course, having been greatly hurt by the Pakistani Government, let down by Pakistani intelligence, and powerfully hit in the fighting, Taliban got scattered. But, once it absorbed the shock, the Amir of the Faithful succeeded with God's graces in appointing a number of reliable brethren to reorganize matters for the coming phase. They keep us continuously informed. Among the main things they decided to do and pursued in their policies was to gather all the righteous and true mujahidin, including those they ignored in the days of the first Taliban state. They said, we learned a lesson from ignoring many mujahidin, including such leading figures as Shaykh Jalaluddin Haqqani and others who were known to the old jihad arena in the days of the parties.

Now, praised be God, their reorganization is good and their affairs are improving day after day. We pray to God to guide their steps. The recent operations in Kandahar and other states were organized by the Taliban, may God bless them.

The Amir of the Faithful threatened several people, including Qul Agha. He threatened him that if he continued with his policy of persecuting the mujahidin and hurting their families he would kill him. Qul Agha fled from the whole region. We do not know where he is now. Some say he left for the UAE and others say he left for Saudi Arabia. Only God knows where he is.

As to the situation in Afghanistan, the people yarn for the old days of Taliban and the state of Taliban. This is due to the violations that are taking place in the north. These are not violations of theft, but violations of sanctities. It is not correct, as mentioned in the false reports several days ago, that a big group of Qulbuddin Hikmatyar followers were arrested. True, many of these Pushtun leaders belonged to Hikmatyar's organization, but they came to complain to Karzai that the northerners, Fahim and his henchmen, were violating the sanctities of the Pushtun. Fahim's friends in Kabul lied and covered up the case -- hence the assassination attempt in Jalalabad. You must have heard about that.

The situation in general is moving in favor of the Taliban. Perhaps, you have heard that in the news. All analysts, except for those of the CNN and other suspicious networks, say that the situation in Afghanistan is critical and deteriorating.

Thank God, as far as the Taliban are concerned, things are proceeding well and their affairs are fine. I would like to reassure the brethren that we are in direct contact with the Amir of the Faithful, Mulla Mohammad Omar. We put our demands to him, and he entrusts us with other demands. His affairs are at their best.

[Question not given]

[Al-Libi] First, I would like to point out that we have spoken with the brethren in the Taliban Government about the symbols of jihad, including Qulbuddin Hikmatyar. We said that the man has shown good will and adopted a good stand in the last days of the Taliban state. They said, we have learned a lesson from our previous policies and we must cooperate with these leaders and pursue a policy that is in harmony with the policies of the other parties, but under one basic condition that this would take place according to the shri'a. We were told by the brethren in Taliban that there they are now in direct contact with Hikmatyar. To be honest, Hikmatyar is not an easy or simple man. He still has many followers due to his past record and history. His party was once the first in Afghanistan. Taliban would do well to deal with and coordinate with him. But, if he went against the legitimate government of Taliban or tried to pursue policies that are not acceptable under the shari'a, his situation would be the same as in the past. This is what the Taliban themselves said. We pray to God that Taliban and Hikmatyar have benefited from the previous phase and that Hikmatyar has become convinced that Islam is the solution. Taliban also knows that it has no other choice but to unify efforts and ranks, as the cause is bigger than everything else.

I would also like to add that Hikmatyar has experts that are needed by the Afghan arena. We know that the experience and expertise that Taliban has in field of military science is less than what Hikmatyar has.

[Question not given]

[Al-Libi] Regarding the Shahikot battle, we are in direct contact with the Islamic Amirate, the Amirate of the State of Taliban. We have written to them on all the facts and all that we witnessed in detail. The commander of the battle promised us more detail in the next couple of days. But, in general, I can tell you that I recently sat with Sayful Rahman Mansur. Of course, it was a broad front with scattered centers. So you could not count the targets. But, I asked Sayful Rahman Mansur, who sat in the rear and was in contact with all centers and also spoke to one of the space channels: What is the total number of dead, as reported to you? He said verbatim: From 400 to 600 US soldiers.

Of course, we are only fighting the Americans. They did not have anyone else with them. Before the confrontation with the Americans, we seized nine big trucks carrying northerners. But, Sayful Rahman freed them. We pray to God to accept his effort. Since that day we have not seen any Afghan renegades. So only Americans were killed.

As to what I saw with my own eyes -- that is, the ones that we fought and inflicted God's judgment on -- I can vouch that the American dead were 150-200. This is almost an accurate figure. We heard from sources that we consider reliable that General Fahim says in his private meetings that the number of US dead in Shahikot reached 800.

[Question not given]

[Al-Libi] Yes, brothers, the mujahidin outside the land of the mujahidin must believe what the mujahidin say, as well as their policies. The Taliban brethren in Afghanistan, especially those with Sayful Rahman Mansur, say that Sayful Rahman Mansur is still alive. Since the brethren say this, it is either one of two things: He is still alive, and we praise God for that. For he is handicapped and therefore God has exempted him from Jihad. Still, he fought and maintained a great stand. One of his great stands was that during the battle, the governor of Darbil told him: Go down and fight under our protection and you will return with your group honored and respected. He said: I will not do so unless all fighters came down with me, especially the Uzbeks, as the Arabs can manage on their own. There was a large number of Uzbeks reaching up to 103. They said: We cannot protect you. But he said: I will not go down until all mujahidin came down with me honored and respected.

This man, O brothers, was exempted by God from Jihad, as he could not use his hands. He could not even eat or hold anything with them. Still, he made this sacrifice. The last time I was with him, his men told him to leave the battleground. You are crazy, they told him. But, he said, yes I am crazy with God.

When Sayful Rahman tried to take part in one of the battles, I told him: Fear God and don't bother. He refused and insisted on taking part in the battle. I must at least reassure myself about the front lines, he said. In my last words to him before separating, I said: If matters were in my hand I would have stopped you and imprisoned you in the rear lines. He looked at me askance and said: You look at things with an eye on interests and another on corruption. I looked at him and saw in his eyes the love of martyrdom and I told him: You also look with an eye on paradise and another on hell. He then patted me on the shoulder and said: We shall meet in paradise, God willing. We then separated.

I repeat and say, we pray to God that our shaykh is among the living, because, by God, he was a great symbol and a brave man, who dug his grave with his own hands and said to Muhammad Tahir Jan, secretary of the Islamic Movement in Pakistan, when he heard that the Afghans might abandon him: O Muhammad Tahir, by God if only one of them remained in Shahikot, I would have been the second. Had anyone of you, no matter who he was, remained in the battle, I would have been the second man protecting him. I swear that none of you would have been killed, as long as I was ready to sacrifice my life for his sake. We ask God to protect him.

[Question not given]

[Al-Libi] This is the website we are using. The Amir of the Faithful has ordered us to use it. It is the Islamic Amirate website, which is under the direct supervision of the Amirate. You know the brothers who are in charge of this website and the efforts they are exerting. May God accept their actions. The Amir of the Faithful asked us to use this website, which is Islamic Amirate website. There is another website run by reliable brothers called Al-Neda website. We wish them all good. When I came here, the brothers told me that this website is also a good one and financed by brothers that you know. It is a good website and we hope that God would accept its actions.

We primarily and essentially use the Amirate website. But, when we were told about Al-Neda, we will not spare any effort or withhold anything that we can offer to this website. We pray to God to accept everyone's actions.

[Question not given]

[Al-Libi] This matter calls for a long discussion. But, it is no secret that the states that sought to strike at and split up the Taliban Government were vicious Iran, hypocrite Pakistan, Tadjikistan and Uzbekistan. When these states and regions were preparing for war against Afghanistan and Taliban, they had different aims. The Americans came in and then the Russians and the Europeans. None of them agreed on one aim. Even the Americans and the British did not have a single common aim.

All this has now come out in the open in their disputes on attracting and enlisting as many officials and commandants as possible. Every one wants them on his side and everyone is paying money to get these officials. Conflicting policies have led to a big quarrel, especially between General Fahim and the Pushtun commandants. You must have heard about the conflicts and the hundreds of dead.

Thank God, this is due to their reckless policies and the vicious things they do to people and women.

Incidentally, Kabul now has brothels and more video shops than bakeries. To us Taliban the evils introduced by the infidels serve the cause of the mujahidin. It reminds people that Taliban was a fair government that came to achieve justice, safety, and security for the people. Matters are extremely critical. Were it not for the sake of secrecy, I would have told you many things. Many of the commandants under Karzai and Fahim are now trying to negotiate with the mujahidin so as to penetrate their lines. God be praised, you will hear very good tidings about a split up in the ranks of the infidels and renegades.

Afghanistan: Political dissident extends operations to Paktia Province

IAP20020724000093 Mashhad Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Dari 1330 GMT 22 Jul 02

An Afghan dissident, Pacha Khan Zadran, who had been operating against the central government of Afghanistan in Khost and Paktia Provinces, has extended his activities to Paktika Province.

In accordance with a report by a correspondent of [the Iranian] Voice and Vision from Kabul, he has settled in the city of Khost [the capital of the eastern Khost Province] by the help of Mowlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani and Mowlawi Abdol Latif Mansur [both names phonetic], two political dissidents of the central government of Afghanistan.

According to informed sources, he has threatened the new government not to enter Khost. Reports indicate that security situation is very tense in Khost, Paktia and Paktika Provinces. The possibility of clashes between the forces of the Islamic transitional government of Afghanistan and Pacha Khan Zadran is raising every minute. Almost everybody who moves around Khost is armed. Being anxious about the eruption of further clashes, people in Paktia, Paktika and Khost Provinces are looking forward to fleeing.

In accordance with the reports, the security officials and the Islamic transitional government of Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence have not taken any measures to resist the Pacha Khan Zadran's threats.

The Afghan newspapers have described Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, ISI, agency as a supporter and guide to Pacha Khan. Afghan press has also reported that he had held talks with high-ranking officers of the agency in the northern Waziristan of Pakistan.

Afghan forces continue military operations against Taliban in eastern province

IAP20020715000136 Kabul Radio Afghanistan in Dari 1500 GMT 15 Jul 02

Mopping up operations by forces of the Ministry of National Defence are continuing in Katawaz, Zadran and Gard Tsery regions of Paktia Province.

The military correspondent of the Bakhtar Information Agency, quoting a high-ranking military official of the Ministry of National Defence, reports: In these operations, which have been organized by forces of Army Corps No 3, extensive areas have been cleared. (?Two) Kalashnikov rifles, 106 boxes of ammunition for light and heavy weapons, artillery and tanks shells, and BM-21 units have seized, and 12 of the enemy soldiers have been captured.

The personnel of the Army Corps No 3, in cooperation with the people, are searching for the remnants of the Al-Qa'idah and the Taleban, and the operations are continuing.

The forces of the Ministry of National Defence had earlier conducted similar operations in Zadran under the command of General Atiqollah and General Gol Haidar which were completed successfully. During these operations, a number of soldiers of the Al-Qa'idah and the Taleban, including eight men which belonged to Jalaloddin Haqqani, were captured and a large quantities of ammunition were seized.

[Description of Source: Kabul Radio Afghanistan in Dari -- ]

Afghan forces continue operations against rebels in east

IAP20021013000051 Kabul Bakhtar News Agency in Dari 1328 GMT 13 Oct 02

[Report by Afghan news agency Bakhtar 1328 gmt 13 October 2002, in Dari]

Kabul, 13 October: Defence Ministry forces in cooperation with the international coalition forces conducted vast clearance operations following the recent events in Khost Province.

Gen Gol Hayder, the operations commander of the south, verifying the reports in this respect, told the military correspondent of Bakhtar that the situation in the southern provinces is totally peaceful and the government security forces have thorough control of it. Some opportunist people in the rural areas of those provinces were trying to disturb the peaceful lives of people. The disturbance is now checked with the latest operations. A close source to the governor of Khost said that forces involved in the operations are looking for Malem Jan, a local commander, who previously was one of the commanders of [Taleban Minister] Jalaloddin Haqqani and later on he joined [ousted Paktia governor] Pacha Khan Zadran, who rose up against the government. There is no information about the whereabouts of Malem Jan, but his militants have been disarmed. It is said that 700 soldiers and six helicopters are involved in the operations.

Since Pacha Khan Zadran was ousted from the governorship of Khost [Paktia], he has launched many failed attacks on the different areas of Khost and Paktia provinces to secure his personal interests.

According to another report from the southeast of the country, a huge depot of arms has been discovered by the American forces and the depot of ammunition belongs to Pacha Khan Zadran and contains rockets, mines, heavy machine guns and other ammunition. The arms were loaded into 35 trucks and will be transferred to the military base of the Americans.

[Description of Source: Kabul Bakhtar News Agency in Dari -- Afghanistan's only news agency; headed by Mohammad Yusuf Rawanyar since 27 February 2002; formerly directed by Karzai-appointed Minister of Information and Culture Abdul Aziz Mansur from November 2001to February 2002; under Taleban was headed by Abdul Hanan Hemat]

Afghanistan: US soldiers search areas close to border for Taliban commander

IAP20021201000068 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 1352 GMT 01 Dec 02

Peshawar, 1 December: American soldiers searched areas close to Miranshah today.

Informed sources in the Pakistani border town of Miranshah said that American soldiers, alongside Pakistani soldiers, searched the Dandadarpakhel region close to the border with Afghanistan early this morning.

The sources say that the search began to arrest Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani, a well-known former commander, but reports say that they [US soldiers] did not find Haqqani there.

Haqqani, who was the minister of border affairs in the government of Taleban, is now in hiding. The American forces are trying to capture him alive. The American forces have searched the Pakistani and Afghan border areas in the search for him on many occasions.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; used to have good contacts with Taliban leadership; following the fall of the Taliban is seeking a new role for itself as a news agency; describes itself as independent and self-financing]

Afghanistan: Missiles hit US base fired from truck near Khowst airport

IAP20021201000075 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 1629 GMT 01 Dec 02

Peshawar, 1 December: Heavy explosions were heard from a pickup truck close to the Khost airport this morning.

Informed sources in Khost told the Afghan Islamic Press that heavy explosions were heard this morning from a pickup truck parked on a road to the west of the Khost airport. The sources say it seems the pick up was parked on the road during the night. Explosions started in the truck in the morning and a number of missiles were fried from the truck towards the airport.

An eyewitness told the Afghan Islamic Press from Khost: "I saw the burnt out vehicle and I also saw smoke coming out of the airport as a result of the missile hit."

There are no details, but after the explosions American and Afghan forces further strengthened security measures on all roads leading to airport and vehicles were searched in many areas.

It has been said that these explosions are the first of their kind taking place in areas close to a base of American soldiers in Khost.

In another development, American and Pakistani soldiers, accompanied by women soldiers, searched two madrasas [religious schools] and a number of areas in the Dandadarpakhel region, in Miranshah of Pakistan in search of a well-known commander Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani. Although there are no reports concerning the fate of Haqqani, but it seems that two Afghans have been arrested. There no further details.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; used to have good contacts with Taliban leadership; following the fall of the Taliban is seeking a new role for itself as a news agency; describes itself as independent and self-financing]

Afghan commander: Security improving but warlords undermine peace

IAP20030204000115 Tehran Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran Provincial Network in Pashto 0030 GMT 01 Feb 03

Security in the eastern Paktia Province is improving by the day but armed warlords continue to undermine peace in the region, a regional commander has said. Speaking in an interview with Iranian radio, Gen Atiqollah Ludin said that a former Taleban minister, Jalaloddin Haqqani, former Taleban commander Saifurrahman Mansur and other networks had resumed their activities in the area. He also said that some suspects who were thought to have been transferring weapons to Kabul had been detained. The following is an excerpt from the interview by the external service of Iranian radio on 1 February.

[Presenter] Esteemed listeners, we have conducted an interview with the commander of Paktia Province's Military Corps No 3, Gen Atiqollah Ludin, regarding the current situation in southeastern Afghanistan, to which we would like to draw your attention.

[Interviewer] Gen Ludin, as a high-ranking military official, how do you assess the security situation in Paktia Province?

[Ludin] In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. The situation in Paktia Province, praise be to God, has improved over the past few days. The situation is getting better as days pass. The local inhabitants of the region have also started carrying out their [normal] work.

[Interviewer] What is the cause of the attacks on military checkpoints on the outskirts of Khost Province?

[Ludin] As I have said in my earlier interviews, this is not a matter of concern for us or for the central government. Some people are armed in different regions, and we have enemies who want to undermine peace and security in our province. The US forces are carrying out their operations according to their plans. Therefore, our brothers [opposition] are facing problems [due to the US military operations].

[Interviewer] As you said, some people are armed; is it possible that locals may also have had a hand in the attacks against the government and US forces' operations?

[Ludin] [words indistinct] So far, since the formation of the transitional government, during these 14 months [since the Taleban defeat], we have not disarmed people. The people are armed. Most of these armed people are those commanders who act as warlords. They [local commanders] are not supported by any foreign country and want to earn by illegal means, and they are causing trouble.

[Interviewer] Gen Ludin, this kind of commanders whose profits are in danger - is it possible for them to unite with the Taleban, Al-Qa'idah or [Golboddin] Hekmatyar [head of the Hezb-e Eslami party] against the government?

[Ludin] During these 24 or 25 years of war, local commanders have used the power of the weapon and the gun. Their personal benefits are in danger. Well there are people who will want to unite and carry out destructive activities against the government.

[Interviewer] What measures have you taken to prevent them?

[Ludin] We have put measures in place and are ready to run our security operation in Paktika, Khost, Paktia and Logar Provinces. There are people who want to hamper ways the country's path of development, but there is no cause for worry.

[Interviewer] Gen Ludin, it has been said that recently in Paktia, government and US forces have jointly led an operation and collected some weapons. Do you have any information on this issue?

[Ludin] There were no US forces. They were local [Afghan] officers from our own military corps. They collected some heavy weapons and artillery. It has been a long time since we have started this campaign.

[Interviewer] It is also said that some people who used to transfer weapons and bombs related to the Taleban, Al-Qa'idah and Hekmatyar to Kabul have been arrested in Logar Province.

[Passage omitted: indistinct]

[Interviewer] Did these detainees belong to the Taleban or Hekmatyar?

[Ludin] These people are still under interrogation. We need to confirm what groups and people they are related to and have connections with. God willing, we will know soon.

[Interviewer] If we focus on the activities which you have pointed out, we see that they have increased. In Kandahar, as you may have heard, in Spin Boldak, the Taleban fought for 48 hours with US and government forces. As a military officer, how do you analyse this matter, as it occurred after 10 months [of no major Taleban resistance] ?

[Ludin] Over these two decades of war, for instance, a boy who used to be five [when it started] is now 30 years old and has grown up in a warring country. He did not receive any education, nor there was any scheme or programme in Afghanistan which could facilitate his education. We are facing such problems and these kinds of problems will exist for some time. The idea that they [opposition forces] will be able to succeed and will take over any military checkpoints or divisions is not a matter of concern [because it is unlikely]. But disruption still exists in the region.

[Interviewer] If there is no support, then how can they carry out such operations and cause disruption?

[Ludin] [words indistinct] It is possible. Maybe some one is standing behind them and helping them to carry out their further operations in Afghanistan. We do not want to create differences between our brothers. We take every step carefully and want to solve our problems on our own soil.

[Interviewer] Can you tell us who their supporters are?

[Ludin] As you may know the latest events [words indistinct]; we have detained 17 people.

[Interviewer] How do you assess the people's support for them?

[Gen Ludin] It is possible. [words indistinct]

[Passage omitted due to poor reception]

[Interviewer] We have received a report about Jalaloddin Haqqani [former Taleban minister and military commander] resuming his activities. Is it true?

[Ludin] It is obvious that Jalaloddin Haqqani and Saifurrahman Mansur [former Taleban commander] have resumed their activities. There are also other networks which have resumed their activities. These networks oppose the presence of the US and other peacekeeping forces in the region. They create obstacles and trouble for us. Nowadays the government is trying to move towards a democratic future. It wants to resolve the problems faced by the country in the past 24, 25 years. Everything will be fine and normal. God willing, peace will be established soon.

[Passage omitted due to poor reception]

[Interviewer] What are the views of your foreign assistants upon the issue?

[Ludin] We are working with the framework of our government and in compliance with our military corps. We have no contacts with foreigners and do not feel the responsibility to tell them everything.

Security forces claim 20 opposition fighters killed in southeastern Afghanistan

IAP20030410000044 Mashhad Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran External Service in Dari 0900 GMT 10 Apr 03

Security forces in southeastern Afghan Paktika Province said on Wednesday evening [9 April] that 20 people loyal to the Taleban and Al-Qa'idah terrorist network have been killed in the province.

Fighting between the government forces and Taleban remnants began in a Paktika town on Tuesday [8 April] of this current week and continued on Wednesday for the second day.

According to the security forces, the fighting began after Taleban remnants had carried out military operations on the outskirts of the border town of Barmal.

Amanollah, one of the deputies of Jalaloddin Haqqani, a commander of the failed Taleban, and a number of his people were killed in the last two days' fighting.

Security forces also reported the deaths of four soldiers from the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: [Description of Source: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran External Service]]

Al-Jazirah Reports Detention of Haqqani Brother, Attack on Coalition Troops

GMP20030510000127 Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic 1300 GMT 10 May 03

[Announcer-read report ]

Security sources have told the Al-Jazirah correspondent in Kabul that the security forces affiliated with the Afghan Ministry of Interior apprehended (Ibrahim) Haqqani, brother of Jalaloddin Haqqani, filed commander and former minister in the Taliban government, in the Afghan capital. The sources added that (Ibrahim) was using a false name.

In a separate development, a contingent of the US-led coalition forces came under a violent attack in eastern Afghanistan early Saturday [10 May], causing several casualties in the ranks of the US troops. The size of these casualties has not thus far been disclosed.

The [Pakistan-based] Afghan Islamic Press, which carried the report, said that the attack took place in an area near the city of Khost in eastern Afghanistan, and that the attackers used light weapons and rockets.

[Description of Source: Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic -- Independent Television station financed by the Qatari Government]

Arrested Brother of Afghan Taliban Minister Reportedly Sent to Guantanamo

IAP20030531000064 Peshawar Shahadat in Pashto 0001 GMT 31 May 03

Kabul, special report: Haji Mohammad Ebrahim, brother of the former famous resistance commander and minister of borders in the Taliban government, has been sent to the prison of Guantanamo from Kabul. Haji Ebrahim was himself a brave commander of the Mojahedin and he was living in Kabul for at last a year. Although Haji Ebrahim had his own house in Kabul he was living in a house given to him by [Afghan Defence Minister] Gen [Mohammad Qasem] Fahim. Haji Ebrahim was living in Kabul as a guest of state on the basis of an agreement. But some time back he was arrested by American soldiers and was taken to the Bagram air base. The sources say that Haji Ebrahim had no personal record or dossier but he was arrested for the purposes of investigation into his brother Jalaloddin Haqqani, and now he has been sent to Guantanamo.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Shahadat in Pashto -- ]

US Forces Search Residence of Taliban Official in Southeastern Afghanistan

IAP20030626000071 Tehran Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran External Service in Pashto 0030 GMT 26 Jun 03

US forces have searched the residence of a former Taliban official in southeastern Afghanistan. Our correspondent has reported from Khost that US forces searched the residence of Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani in the (?Esmail Khel) area.

Our correspondent says that the US forces destroyed Haqqani's residence in his absence, detained one of his bodyguards and took him with them.

Taliban leader Mullah Omar recently appointed Mowlawi Haqqani as person in charge of anti-American operations in southeastern Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran External Service]

Taliban Commander To Set Up Bases in South, Afghan Official Says

IAP20030806000118 Mashhad Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran External Service in Dari 1330 GMT 06 Aug 03

A US military base situated in the southeast of Afghanistan was hit by three rockets this morning [6 August]. A US military spokesman in Afghanistan, Mr Rodney Davis, confirmed this at a news briefing today and added: Unidentified armed people fired three rockets at a US military base in the Orgun area of Paktika Province today, Wednesday. He did not give any details about possible material or human losses in the attack.

Mr Rodney Davis also said that a non-military vehicle had hit explosives which had been planted on road in Paktia Province. He said that the incident had not caused any human casualties.

It is worth mentioning that unidentified armed men have recently changed their military tactics in the east and southeast of Afghanistan and have resorted to remote-controlled bombs.

Meanwhile, the US and Afghan government forces started a joint widescale operation in the south of Afghanistan at 1700 hours [local time, 1230 GMT] yesterday and the operation is still going on.

The operation is under way in Paktia Province, including in Zadran and Mandozai Districts [of Kandahar Province] and [words indistinct] areas.

In an exclusive interview with us, the deputy commander of Paktia Province's Military Corps No 3, Gen Mohammad Esmail Zazai, said that 10 suspicious people had been arrested and sent to Bagram air base during an operation which had been mostly carried out in former bases of Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani [the Taliban minister of border and tribal affairs].

He also reported that a huge number of different weapons had been seized during the operation. He added that unidentified armed men had put up no resistance to the government forces and had fled the battleground.

The deputy commander of Paktia Province's Military Corps No 3 said that Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani along with some his men was planning to set up a number of military bases in the Zadran area. He reiterated that they [Haqqani and his people] were spreading anti-government propaganda and were calling on people to rise up against the government.

[Description of Source: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran External Service]

Afghan Agency Reports Taliban Forces Assaulting Drivers in Paktika

IAP20030911000101 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 1306 GMT 11 Sep 03

On Khost-Gardez motorway, the Taliban [forces] have assaulted several vehicle owners who had musical equipment and broken their tape recorders.

The spokesman of Pacha Khan Zadran in Paktika, Ghami Khan [Mohammad Yar] told the Afghan Islamic Press today that Taliban sealed the Gardai Serai road near the region of Asmani Ghond on Khost-Gardez motorway the night of last Tuesday and Wednesday [9-10 September] and stopped the vehicles.

He said that the Taliban were searching vehicles and snatching tape recorders from them. Ghami Khan added that the Taliban assaulted those drivers who had tape recorders and told them if they found any such musical instruments with them in the future, they would be severely punished. He told AIP that on Wednesday he himself saw these broken tape recorders in that region. The spokesman of Zadran said that these Taliban [forces] were supporters of Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani. During the Afghan jihad against Russia, Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani was a well-known commander of the southern region who later, during the regime of the Taliban, was appointed as a minister for borders and tribal affairs. But now he is the most sought-after rival commander for the US [forces] in the southern region.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; used to have good contacts with Taliban leadership; following the fall of the Taliban is seeking a new role for itself as a news agency; describes itself as independent and self-financing]

Coalition Forces Seize 10 Taliban Suspects in Southeast Afghanistan

IAP20040117000026 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 1000 GMT 17 Jan 04

Peshawar, 17 January: The mopping-up operation that was launched by the coalition forces in the area of Zadran in Paktia Province [southeastern Afghanistan] a few days ago ended last night [16 January].

Well-informed sources told Afghan Islamic Press [AIP] from Zadran area, Paktia Province, today [17 January] the massive mopping-up operation that was launched by the coalition forces and Afghan troops in the area four days ago ended last night.

Ghamay Khan Mohammadyar, a spokesman for Pacha Khan Zadran [dissident commander in southern Afghanistan], told Afghan Islamic Press [AIP]: "The mopping-up operation that was launched to the west of Khost-Gardez main road by the coalition forces has been completed. The Mezi tribe is based in this area and this area is connected with Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani [prominent Taliban commander]. He said: "The coalition forces were forced to launch the operation because the Taliban usually carry out attacks on the Khost-Gardez main road, as they launched attacks a few days ago in this area."

Ghamay Khan Mohammadyar also told AIP: "At least 10 suspects working for the Taliban have also been captured in the operation."

There have been no reports of fighting in the area during the operation.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; used to have good contacts with Taliban leadership; following the fall of the Taliban is seeking a new role for itself as a news agency; describes itself as independent and self-financing]

UK-based Islamist Says Al-Qa'ida Dissidents Returned to it To Confront US

GMP20040227000051 London Al-Hayah in Arabic 27 Feb 04 p8

[Report by Muhammad Salah in Cairo: "'Al-Qa'ida' Dissidents Return to it To Confront United States"]

Hani al-Siba'i, director of the London-based "Al-Maqrizi Historic Studies Center", has expressed his fears that the Pakistani authorities would extradite Egyptian Islamist Khalid al-Zawahiri to the Egyptian authorities and pointed out that Islamabad had extradited to Cairo in the past years several Egyptian Islamists who were detained in Pakistani cities.

Speaking by telephone to Al-Hayah in Cairo yesterday, Al-Siba'i said that Al-Zawahiri was arrested last week with four other Egyptians whose names are not known yet during a campaign in the border area with Afghanistan that resulted in the arrest of 25 persons. He denied that Khalid Al-Zawahiri was related to Ayman al-Zawahiri, the "Jihad" group's leader and second man in "Al-Qa'ida" organization, adding that he had received information that US intelligence agents interrogated Al-Zawahiri and confirmed that he was not the son of the "Jihad" group's leader who had only one son, Muhammad, who was killed during the US bombardment that followed the invasion of Afghanistan.

Al-Siba'i said he was expecting a surge in "Al-Qa'ida" organization's activities in the coming stage after the developments in the US war on the Islamic movements caused dissidents from Bin Ladin and Al-Zawahiri to return to action with it again.

He added that many Arab Islamists broke away from "Al-Qa'ida" during the famous "Tora Bora" battle but returned to action under the organization after the "Taliban" Movement regained its strength in Afghanistan and appointed Jalaloddin Haqqani as Mullah Omar's deputy and after "Al-Qa'ida" opened a new front against the Americans in Iraq.

He explained that these dissidents, who included Egyptians, Libyans, and Saudis, opposed Bin Ladin's approval of Al-Zawahiri's plan to regroup all the young men in the "Tora Bora" Mountains after the US invasion of Afghanistan. Those opposing the plan warned that it would destroy the Arab presence in Afghanistan.

Among those who broke away during the "Tora Bora" battle were Abu-Hafs al-Muritani and a group he leads, Abu-al-Layth al-Libi and several members of the "Libyan Islamic Fighting Group", in addition to Egyptians who believed that the 11 September attacks broke a pledge that Al-Zawahiri made to Mullah Omar not to launch attacks on US interests without informing the Taliban leader first in his capacity as the commander of the faithful. They demanded from Bin Ladin and Al-Zawahiri the removal of Sayf-al-Adl as commander of the military operations that caused heavy losses for "Al-Qa'ida" and those allied to the organization. The disappearance of Sayf-al-Adl -- who is said to be detained in Iran -- the opening of a new front against the Americans in Iraq, and the US war on the Islamists in the world apparently helped overcome all the disagreements.

[Description of Source: London Al-Hayah in Arabic -- Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; commentaries occasionally critical of US policy]

Fighting Continues in Khost Province Between Afghan, Taliban Forces

IAP20040802000047 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 0713 GMT 02 Aug 04

Peshawar, 2 August: Bombing and clashes have been going on in the Zhawra area of Khost Province since early this morning.

Informed sources from Khost reported that clashes broke out between Afghan government forces and the Taliban fighters this morning in the Zhawra area, 35 km from southwest of Khost.

A resident of Khost told Afghan Islamic Press [AIP] that US bombers were constantly bombing the battlefield.

The sources said that clashes began when the Taliban launched full-scale attacks on government military checkpoints this morning.

A resident of Khost told AIP that there was no information on the casualties in the clashes but the body of a young man, whose names is Faysal, was brought from the battleground in the Tani area.

Informed sources from the Zhawra area reported that clashes were going on in the Pakistani border town of Miran Shah but nobody knows what is happening there.

The Zhawra area, which is close to the border with Pakistan, used to be the center of a popular commander, Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani. Mowlawi Haqqani went into hiding after the fall of the Taliban and US troops are looking for him.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans; used to have good contacts with Taliban leadership; following the fall of the Taliban is seeking a new role for itself as a news agency; describes itself as independent and self-financing]

Afghan Opposition Leader Says Meetings Held To Unite Opposition Factions

GMP20040914000084 London Al-Hayah in Arabic 14 Sep 04 p8

[Report by Ahmad Muwaffaq Zaydan in Quetta, Pakistan: "'Jaish-i Muslimin' Leader to 'Al-Hayah': Intensive Meetings To Unite Afghan Opposition Factions"]

Akbar Agha, leader of Afghanistan's Jaish-i Muslimin organization, revealed to "Al-Hayah" yesterday that intensive meetings have been going on for weeks to coordinate between all the Afghan factions fighting the American forces and the Afghan forces loyal to them.

In statements he made near the border with Pakistan, he said he personally held intensive meetings with representatives of Hezb-e Eslami Leader Golboddin Hekmatyar, "Taliban's" military commander Mullah Dadallah, Afghan commander Jalaloddin Haqqani, and others to coordinate stands and set up a joint military shura council to command the military action inside Afghanistan.

Agha added that he is expecting the Afghan provinces to be distributed among the groups participating in the new shura council so as to coordinate the actions and avoid conflict of interests and activities between the forces opposed to the US presence.

The Jaish-i Muslimin leader was one of the prominent commanders under the "Taliban" but then established this group. He stressed that he remains loyal to Taliban's leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and said he is surprised that all the operations taking place in Afghanistan are being attributed to the "Taliban" and stressed that these operations are the work of several Afghan commanders and groups, some of which are known and others unknown. He denied that there is any contact between "Taliban" and the Americans to negotiate with Karzai and pledged to continue the fight until the American forces are expelled.

[Description of Source: London Al-Hayah in Arabic -- Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; commentaries occasionally critical of US policy]

Afghanistan: Al-Qai'da, Taliban Reportedly Appoint New Leaders in Various Provinces

IAP20050519011057 Kabul Arman-e Melli in Pashto 19 May 05

[Unattributed report: "The Taliban and Al-Qa'ida appoint new officials in Afghanistan"]

According to informed sources, the Taliban and Al-Qa'ida have appointed new leaders in a number of Afghan provinces. These appointments have been made because Al-Qa'ida and the Taliban suspect that their former leaders might reach an agreement with the government.

It is reported that Serajoddin Haqqani, the son of Mawlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani, has been appointed as the leader in the southeastern provinces of Paktika, Paktia, and Khowst. Malem Mohammad Zaman, has been appointed as his deputy.

A senior Taliban member added that Mawlawi Saiforrahman, a known Taliban commander, is alive and conducting operations against the US forces in the provinces of Logar and Paktia.

He also said that there were Arab mojahedin [holy warriors] in the provinces of Khowst, Paktika, and Paktia and they are led by Abolhais Aljaziri. Abu Akhlas is commanding more than 100 mojahedin in the [eastern] provinces of Konar and Nurestan.

[Description of Source: Kabul Arman-e Melli in Pashto -- Four-page independent daily with broad coverage of domestic political issues, including interviews with political figures. Also carries international, science health issues, and readers' letters, some of which are critical of the government]

Tenth Part of Serialized Book on Al-Zarqawi, Al-Qa'ida Published

GMP20050601712009 London Al-Quds al-Arabi in Arabic 24 May 05 p17

[Part 10 of serialized book by Fu'ad Husayn, Jordanian writer and journalist: "Al-Zarqawi...the Second Generation of Al-Qaida"]

Tightening the Noose on Bin Ladin

Shaykh Usama did not abide by the travel ban that was imposed on him after he delivered a lecture in which he warned against the covetous ambitions of Saddam Husayn. He went on with giving lectures and holding a large number of meetings with scholars and pro-da'wah activists. The authorities did not tolerate that. They summoned him more than once and sent him strong-worded warnings to curb his activity and intimidate him. A detachment of the National Guard stormed his farm on the outskirts of Jeddah and carried out an unexpected search operation. Shaykh Usama was not there when the farm was stormed. The National Guard arrested some laborers at the farm, who were later released. The guards wrote down minutes and videotaped the farm, the storage areas, and other quarters. When Shaykh Usama learned about the incident, he wrote a letter of protest to [Crown] Prince Abdallah [Bin-Abd-al-Aziz]. He was surprised when he received a reply from Prince Abdallah denying any knowledge of the incident and promising to punish those responsible.

The Saudi Government's crackdown on Usama Bin Ladin and the overall circumstances in the country prompted Shaykh Usama to think seriously about leaving Saudi Arabia. However, this was not possible under the travel ban and the government's close watch on his movements. Shaykh Usama, however, could not tolerate the presence of US forces in the Arabian Peninsula. He felt that he was contradicting himself when he initiated jihad against atheists in Afghanistan for occupying a Muslim country while infidels were right at home in the Arabian Peninsula, a more sacred place. Shaykh Usama was bitterly frustrated during Operation Desert Storm. He felt that he could never be honest with himself if he stayed in Saudi Arabia. His departure, however, was not easy since he was a well-known person and his home was under surveillance around the clock. Shaykh Usama, therefore, planned for a normal way to leave.

One of his brothers was a close friend of Deputy Interior Minister Prince Ahmad Bin-Abd-al-Aziz. Shaykh Usama told this brother that he had many financial obligations in Pakistan and elsewhere. He explained to him that he owed people some funds and some people owed him money that he should get. He told him that an agent would not be able to solve these problems since his relationships there were built on personal trust. His brother was convinced and promised to clarify the issue to Prince Ahmad. [Interior Minister] Prince Nayif [Bin-Abd-al-Aziz] was about to take a holiday then. Shaykh Usama's brother waited until Prince Nayif went on the holiday and spoke to Prince Ahmad. He was able to convince him to give Shaykh Usama back his passport and allow him to travel. Prince Ahmad agreed and gave Usama Bin Ladin permission for one trip. He ordered the security services to watch him. Therefore, Shaykh Usama was able to leave the country normally without running away or hiding.

The first thing that Shaykh Usama did when he arrived in Pakistan was to send an apology letter to his brother in which he told him that he would not return to Saudi Arabia. He admitted that his brother might be embarrassed before Prince Nayif but he apologized and said that it was worth the dear price. While he was in Afghanistan, Saudi intelligence under Prince Turki [al-Faysal] worked together with the Pakistani intelligence to kill or kidnap Shaykh Usama. However, all attempts failed since sympathizers within the Pakistani security services and other Pakistani departments used to leak information to him promptly to enable him to take precautions.

Bin Ladin stayed in Afghanistan for several months. He continued to exert efforts to solve the dispute there but he reached a stalemate. He felt that his presence in Afghanistan was pointless particularly that there were so many adversaries who would try to abduct or assassinate him. After he examined the situation with a number of his close aides, he decided to look for a place other than Afghanistan where he could promote Islam.

In Sudan

Shaykh Usama thought of Sudan not only because it could be a new foundation for a fresh plan but because he heard so much about the enthusiasm of Islamists there in support of Islam and Muslims and their endeavors to implement an Islamic project. Shaykh Usama thought that he could give something to this country by means of employing his business relations in the kingdom [Saudi Arabia] and other Gulf countries. Sudan, he believed, would be a safe haven for him.

At the end of 1991, Shaykh Usama flew to Sudan secretly on a private plane. He took a number of aides with him. Other people joined him via different routes. In Sudan, the government welcomed him, but at this stage he was not in need of financial support since he was in control of his assets. He was capable of transferring some of his assets and equipment from the kingdom to Sudan. Shaykh Usama did not participate in any military act in Sudan but he strongly contributed to building roads, farms, and other projects. Most famous of these projects was the Al-Tahaddi [Challenge] Road linking Khartoum to Port Sudan.

Although he left the kingdom in the aforementioned way and although there were attempts by Saudi Government services to kidnap or kill him in Afghanistan, Usama Bin Ladin did not announce his hostility to the regime. Rather, he kept it all to himself since he wanted to stay in touch with pro-da'wah activists, businessmen, and some influential people in the kingdom. This was actually an effective policy. Shaykh Usama succeeded in convincing a large number of his contacts to support Sudan and embark on investments in the African country. During that time, he received offers and assurances to return to his country but he did not welcome the idea at all.

Toward the end of 1992, interest in Usama Bin Ladin grew when a decision was made to freeze his assets. The issue became a priority on the agenda of US intelligence and a major topic of discussion between US and Saudi authorities. Pressure mounted on Shaykh Usama to return to his country. The authorities tried to embarrass him by exercising pressure on his family to blackmail him but to no avail. When the Saudi Government gave up hope of bringing him bring back to the country, King Fahd issued an order to withdraw his citizenship as of 1994.

In the aftermath of the Somalia events and the Riyadh bombing, his presence in Sudan became very embarrassing for the Sudanese Government. The United States and Arab countries exercised severe pressure on the Sudanese Government to expel or extradite him. Sudan endured the pressure but it became obvious that it was not prepared to stand it for a long time. Therefore, it began to press Arab Afghans to leave Sudan. Shaykh Usama was aware of the pressure on Sudan since the Sudanese Government used to inform him of the situation. It told him straightforwardly that he should think about leaving Sudan in view of the escalating US and Saudi pressure. On 3 August 1995, he wrote a letter to King Fahd urging him to carry out genuine reforms.

When Shaykh Usama felt that the Sudanese could not stand his presence any more and was embarrassed to tell him frankly to leave, he began to arrange for his departure from Sudan. He secured a location in Jalalabad and prepared to leave Sudan in utmost secrecy. He arranged for a private plane to transport him with a number of his supporters to Afghanistan where two shaykhs -- Yunis Khalis and [Jalaluddin] Haqqani -- welcomed him. Following his arrival, he sent a letter to Afghan factions telling them that he stood by his word to stay away from their disputes. This was before the Taliban took control of Jalalabad and Kabul. Soon after his arrival in Afghanistan, dramatic events occurred once again including the Al-Khubar explosion, the Taliban's takeover of Jalalabad, an attempt to kidnap him, and anti-US jihad statements that he issued in November 1996.

Al-Khubar Explosion

In June 1996, a huge explosion rocked the city of Al-Khubar claiming the lives of 20 US forces and wounding hundreds of others. Soon afterward, the Al-Khubar bombing took place and Shaykh Usama issued his first statement, "Declaration of Jihad To Expel Atheists From the Arabian Peninsula." At that time, the Saudi ambassador in Islamabad tried to exercise pressure on Yunis Khalis and Haqqani to extradite Shaykh Usama. The ambassador made certain offers to gain their support. Yunis Khalis, however, replied: "We will protect a goat or any other animal if it comes to us to take shelter. How then when it comes to someone who sacrifices his soul and wealth in the cause of God and jihad in Afghanistan?"

Soon afterward, the Taliban launched an incursion in the area where Shaykh Usama was residing. Although Shaykh Usama learned about the Taliban from Yunis Khalis and Haqqani, who both joined the Taliban Army, he was not sure about his situation after the Taliban took control of the region. He did not wait long until Taliban leader Mullah Omar sent a delegation to meet with him and assure him that he was their predecessors' guest and their guest too. Mullah Omar pledged to protect Bin Ladin but he begged him to stop his media activity after his interviews with CNN and the British Channel Four television station.

Another incident occurred that prompted Shaykh Usama to move to Kandahar. He learned that an attempt to abduct him was aborted. Tribal mercenaries on the Pakistan-Afghan border were paid to carry out a lightning attack on his area to kidnap or kill him. Pakistan and other countries masterminded the operation. Shaykh Usama moved immediately to Kandahar where he thought it would be a safer place for him under the Taliban.

In Afghanistan

When Shaykh Usama was in Jalalabad, the Taliban entered Kabul almost without fighting. Consequently, the Taliban became the major power in Afghanistan despite little recognition of their government. Shaykh Usama, meanwhile, was planning to move to Kandahar and escape the abduction attempt that we mentioned before. The attempt facilitated the move of Shaykh Usama to Kandahar via Kabul. He took a car to Kabul and then flew to Kandahar by plane, where he met with Amir of Taliban Mullah Omar for the first time. The two men never met before although they had exchanged several letters. During that meeting, Mullah Omar discussed the grave challenges facing the Taliban after they entered Kabul particularly from [Abd-al-Rashid] Dustum's forces. He told Shaykh Usama that it would be preferable to tone down his media campaign. He told him that it was a mere request, and not an order or an obligation. Shaykh Usama replied that he had decided to soften or freeze his media activity for some time even before the mullah asked him to do so. Mullah Omar was pleased to hear that.

In the meantime, the Saudi Government recognized the Taliban Government in an attempt to embarrass Taliban to cooperate with it. The Saudi Government took one further step when it invited all the members of the Taliban Government, including Mullah Omar, to perform the pilgrimage or the umrah [minor pilgrimage]. It offered to receive them as official guests. In fact, one of the key officials in the Taliban Government -- Prime Minister Mohammad Rabbani -- visited the kingdom to perform the pilgrimage. However, the generosity of the Saudi Government did not change his position or the position of his government vis-a-vis Shaykh Usama. The Taliban turned down diplomatically requests of several delegations that the Saudi Government sent including diplomats, businessmen, relatives of Shaykh Usama, and intelligence officials.

Another development took place that bolstered Shaykh Usama's popularity with the Taliban. Shaykh Usama changed his previous neutral position regarding intra-factional disputes in Afghanistan. He decided to support the Taliban against Dustum and issued orders to his men to fight alongside the Taliban. When [Ahmed] Shah Massoud became a rival party in the war, Shaykh Usama asked scholars accompanying him to issue a fatwa saying that fighting Massoud was a lawful jihad. Shaykh Usama's decision played an important role in favor of Taliban since the latter were not all set for war. Their previous victories took place almost without fighting due to the fact that people supported them and field commanders conceded defeat to them. Meanwhile, the forces of Dustum and Massoud allied after they convinced their followers that the war was ethnic and not religious. Their solidarity increased when Dustum counted on Uzbeks and Massoud on Tajiks. Both Massoud and Dustum convinced their followers that the Taliban were Pashtuns who wanted to rule them. Furthermore, the Western world did not feel the threat of the Taliban until after the fall of Kabul and the Taliban's protection of Shaykh Usama. All these factors won Massoud and Dustum enormous support from Russia, the United States, Turkey, Iran, and other parties. The Taliban nearly collapsed when they confronted these organized and backed forces. Twice, at least, the brigades affiliated with Shaykh Usama defended Kabul and the Taliban never forgot Shaykh Usama's favor.

The other factor that raised Shaykh Usama's stakes with the Taliban was the help that his men offered to the Taliban in various fields including planning, administration, and development of the new state. Despite the modest experience of Shaykh Usama's men, the Taliban viewed them as a team of professionals.

The United States and its allies did not give up hope on capturing Shaykh Usama. When it became clear that the Taliban would not extradite him, the United States, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia began to think of a plan to abduct Shaykh Usama by means of an operation from the Pakistani territories by elite commandos. Training for the operation began toward the end of spring 1997. The top secret operation was scheduled for the beginning of summer. However, since Pakistan was a party, it was impossible to keep the secret in view of the fact that Pakistani military intelligence sympathized with Shaykh Usama to a great extent. Shaykh Usama and other Arab parties learned about the news and began to leak it to the press. The US plan was revealed and eventually cancelled. The United States did not admit the story at first but later did and decided to cancel the idea for fear of casualties among US forces.

Toward the end of 1997 and in the beginning of 1998, Shaykh Usama decided to revive his activity. First, he began with Taliban and Pakistani scholars. He succeeded in obtaining fatwas from about 40 Afghan and Pakistani scholars in support of his statement to expel infidel forces from the Arabian Peninsula.

The Global Islamic Front

The establishment of the global Islamic front coincided with the gathering of a number of leaders of Islamic groups -- particularly the Egyptian Islamic Group and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad -- in Afghanistan. A large number of delegations from Pakistan and Kashmir visited Shaykh Usama. Ayman al-Zawahiri, meanwhile, convinced him to expand the war with the United States everywhere. Thus, the war against the United States began to mean killing every American and every Israeli of fighting age everywhere and at anytime. Shaykh Usama was convinced when two justifications for the idea were provided, a legal and a political justification.

The legal justification was that the Americans were occupying the country of the Two Mosques and therefore every American was viewed as a supporter of the occupation of the Arabian Peninsula. Consequently, it was legitimate to kill the Americans everywhere and all the time since the Americans and the Israelis were fighting Muslims and shedding the blood of Muslim civilians everywhere and all the time. The political justification was that the United States lay in wait for Muslims and Islamic groups and, as a result, became the first enemy of Islam. Since the United States had no rival power, it was important that Muslims realize they were its enemy. The issue, therefore, became an Islamic priority everywhere in the Islamic world.

The belief was translated into action when a statement by the global Islamic front was issued in February 1998 that called for killing the Americans and Israelis everywhere and anytime. The statement was signed by Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin, Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri on behalf of the Egyptian Jihad Group, Rifa'i Taha on behalf of the Egyptian Islamic Group, a leader of a Kashmir faction, and a renowned Pakistani Islamic leader. The press published the statement, which was a major transition for Shaykh Usama on different levels:

First: He embarked on a global project rather than focusing on US forces in the Arabian Peninsula.

Second: He expanded the circle of bloodletting and abandoned the caution that he used to exercise regarding the legal Islamic position.

Third: For the first time, Shaykh Usama became a party in a semi-Islamic alliance of jihadist groups after he used to work with his group alone and to refuse open alliances. He agreed to the idea of cooperation and coordination with other alliances.

Mullah Omar was not happy with these activities. He viewed them as a violation of the moral commitment between him and Shaykh Usama. Mullah Omar sent a letter to Shaykh Usama to inquire about the situation. Shaykh Usama replied that the circumstances had changed and there was no need for the media hush-up. Shaykh Usama used the card of scholars to support his position since the Taliban never refuted the opinion of scholars despite their respect for mullah Omar.

Mullah Omar was angry but he contained his anger and tried to persuade Shaykh Usama to keep quiet. Shaykh Usama, however, aggravated the situation when he called a press conference in May 1998. He arranged secretly for the press conference in the Khost suburbs in an area near the border with Pakistan. A limited number of journalists were invited to attend the press conference. A few days prior to the conference, Shaykh Usama was interviewed by the American ABC network. During both the conference and the interview, Shaykh Usama hinted that acts against the Americans would take place soon but he did not identify where.

Mullah Omar raised objections once again and requested an explanation from Shaykh Usama, who had no means to convince him other than the scholars. Shaykh Usama said that he would agree to the legal opinion of scholars. However, Mullah Omar refused the idea, not in disdain of scholars but to prevent every deviant from taking advantage of them. Tension escalated between the two men. However, Mullah Omar could not prevent Shaykh Usama from his media activity and decided to tolerate the situation.

The Nairobi and Dar es Salaam Operations

When Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin threatened to launch a strike within weeks, the Americans were in a state of alert for fear of attacks. They took security measures in the Arab region, the Gulf, and -- to some extent -- the Horn of Africa. While the Americans were in full alert, the strike took place at an unexpected location -- at their embassies in Kenya and Tanzania where two vans laden with explosives were detonated on 18 July 1998.

Although official US spokesmen exercised caution in blaming certain parties, the media, politicians, and anonymous official sources made a flood of comments and analyzed the repercussions of the events. We examined their analysis and came up with the following remarks:

First: Islamic movements -- or what the West called Islamic fundamentalism -- were the prime suspects. All other parties including Iran, Iraq, and Libya, were simply ruled out. Many parties referred to Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin and the Egyptian Jihad Group, particularly Shaykh Usama's threats in the ABC interview, in which he said he would deal a strike within weeks, and a statement by the Al-Jihad Group that was published in an Arabic newspaper two days before the explosions. A connection was made between Shaykh Usama and the Egyptian Al-Jihad group via a statement by the "Global Islamic Front to Fight Jews and Crusaders" that the two sides signed.

Second: The bombings reopened the file of the Al-Khubar explosion. Those responsible for the latter were not announced by then. For the first time, the US press quoted US officials as saying that the United States believed that Shaykh Usama was responsible for both the Al-Khubar and Riyadh explosions. Earlier, US sources sounded skeptical about the Saudi story of the involvement of Shiites and Iran. They pointed out the likelihood of domestic opposition that was responsible for the Al-Khubar explosion.

Third: Comments by the press and academic circles linked the two incidents to the US presence in the region in general and in Saudi Arabia in particular. Moreover, they linked the two explosions to US policy vis-a-vis Israel and Iraq, US support for governments in the region, and the governments' cooperation with the United States to arrest wanted Islamic terrorists. The latter became particularly embarrassing for Arab regimes that cooperated with the anti-Islam US policy. The regimes felt that these jihadists were able to harm their American masters. In other words, the jihadists had far more logistic capabilities than these regimes and this was extremely embarrassing for them.

Although there was evidence that certain Islamic groups were responsible for the explosions, the well-known parties did not claim their responsibility. There was one official statement made by the so-called "Islamic Army for the Liberation of Holy Sites." The statement by the previously unknown group was directly linked to the suspected groups. The statement attacked US policy and called for the departure of US forces from the Arabian Peninsula. It called for the release of Shaykh Omar Abd-al-Rahman. The statement gave the identity of the party that issued it when it demanded the release of shaykhs detained in Saudi Arabian jails at that point in time, including Shaykhs Salman [al-Awdah] and Safar [al-Hawali]. The groups that carried out these acts must have known that the message could be conveyed without claiming responsibility openly. The intelligence agencies of the United States and Arab regimes realized who was behind the explosions. As for the masses, they did not need to know the party. The demands in the statement were enough for them. By declining to claim responsibility for the incidents in public, these groups got rid of any negative repercussions of the incident.

One more conclusion that should be mentioned was the fact that the Islamic parties suspected of masterminding the two incidents proved they had the logistic, technical, and human power to carry out such acts. They proved that they could employ the element of surprise when they coordinated to carry out the explosions and inflict substantial damage.

Shaykh Usama did not speak in public but he was quoted as denying responsibility for the explosions. Apparently, however, the United States made another conclusion in the first week after the explosion. It maintained that Shaykh Usama was fully responsible for both explosions whether he admitted it or not. Consequently, the United States launched their attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan. Scores of cruise missiles rained down on Sudan and Afghanistan that targeted two specific locations in both countries. Was it a smart US retaliation?

Without feeling it, the United States was carrying out parts of the program of jihadist groups. The US assault aggravated hostility against the United States in the Islamic world. This was exactly what jihadist groups wanted. These groups succeeded in provoking the United States to carry out its offensive to achieve their goal -- rallying Islamic public opinion against the United States and proving that these groups were the superpower's adversary. Subsequently, they justified a long-term conflict with the United States regardless of whether their policy was right or wrong.

The way the United States announced the strikes in the media and on official levels was just what these groups were dying to achieve. These groups in general and Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin in particular appeared as a real opponent to the United States and a power that forced Washington to act arbitrarily. Shaykh Usama was not only the man some US and Western channels argued should be taken into consideration. He also became a nightmare for the United States, as the US President and other officials admitted. Millions of people around the world witnessed how the US President, the defense secretary, and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff focused on Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin in their speeches and answers to the press to justify the strikes. Such a reaction gave momentum to individuals affiliated with the jihadist tenets, particularly Shaykh Usama's supporters. It boosted their spirits and made them feel as if they were a superpower against the United States. The hasty strikes appeared as proof that these groups had confused the United States.

As for Arab and Islamic public opinion, the story was fresh in memory. People lacked heroism and sacrifices. They were waiting for someone to retaliate for US terrorism against Muslims in Palestine, Iraq, the Arabian Peninsula, Africa, Turkey, and elsewhere. The scene of US officials admitting their confusion and fear of Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin quenched this thirst for revenge and bolstered the popularity of Shaykh Usama. Unlike Arab rulers who alleged that they were opposed to the United States, the shaykh was not accused of treason. The history of this new symbol was completely different from the history of those rulers. No one doubted his credibility when he announced that he would face the United States. These ramifications became significant after the strike. Public admiration and support for Shaykh Usama in many Arab countries was not a security embarrassment anymore. In Pakistan and the Islamic Far East, people not only admired him but they also viewed him as a commander and savior of the Islamic nation from the hegemony of the United States. Rallies were held in public there with people carrying his picture everywhere.

Another loser in this mess were the Arab governments that lived under US protection. These governments looked small between two superpowers -- the United States and Bin Ladin. They were so embarrassed. They could not support US strikes or else they would prove they were traitors and they could not condemn them or else they would indirectly recognize Shaykh Usama. Such feelings were obvious in the Saudi media when the television, radio, and local press in the kingdom reported the strikes briefly without any reference to Shaykh Usama.

[Description of Source: London Al-Quds al-Arabi in Arabic -- London-based independent Arab nationalist daily with an anti-US and anti-Saudi editorial line; generally pro-Palestinian, tends to be sympathetic to Bin Ladin]

Croatian Daily Interviews Jund al-Sham Commander on Jihad in Iraq, Al-Zarqawi

EUP20050601050006 Zagreb Vecernji List in Croatian 01 Jun 05 pp 14-15

[Report by Hassan Haidar Diab on "exclusive" interview with Jund al-Sham commander Usama Abu Janah at undisclosed location in Iraq; date not given: "We Must Destroy the Vatican"; for assistance with multimedia elements, contact FBIS at 1-800-205-8615 or fbisinfo@rccb.]

The gruesome images of murders, abductions, and decapitations arriving from Iraq have unfortunately become a routine matter.

The men whom we often see on our TV screens wearing intimidating black hoods with slits cut out for the eyes and weapons aimed at hostages are mostly war veterans from Afghanistan, B-H [Bosnia-Herzegovina], and Chechnya who resettled in Iraq after the end of the war or the fall of the Taliban regime. The best known of them, the notorious Ahmad Nazzal al-Khalaylah, also known as Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qa'ida in Iraq, was one of Usama Bin Ladin's closest associates during the war in Afghanistan.

Army of Damascus

At the time, al-Zarqawi was the commander of the Al-Mujahidin Brigade, which liberated the city of Khost.

Currently waging war in Iraq under the command of Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi are members of the Egyptian Jihad, Al-Jama'at al-Islamiyah, the Algerian FIS [Islamic Salvation Movement] and GIA [Armed Islamic Group], and the organization Asbat al-Ansar, which is known today as Jund al-Sham (Army of Damascus).

All of those groups are responsible for much of the bloodshed in the world and have close ties with Al-Qa'ida, and knowledgeable sources claim that they are financed directly by Bin Ladin.

The commander in chief of the Jund al-Sham group, Usama Abu Janah [name as published], whose name is on the list of the most wanted terrorists in the world, is a former fighter in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Chechnya who is today waging war in Iraq with his group. In an exclusive interview with Vecernji List, he revealed to us the details of his ideology, the reasons why they are abducting and murdering foreigners, Iraqi soldiers and policemen, and even Iraqi civilians, and he also discussed the Vatican as Satan's refuge and Al-Qa'ida's role in the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and confirmed to us that al-Zarqawi was wounded during fighting with US troops in the province of Al-Anbar.

Verifications

After many contacts, verifications, and negotiations, we managed to reach Usama, under the condition that we not reveal our meeting place and how we reached him.

The journey to the meeting was extremely arduous because Usama's mistrust of us meant that we had to change cars and drivers on the way to our destination, and we did not even know where we were going.

Usama, accompanied by many of his armed men, met us in a small house with darkened windows, and at the very beginning of the interview he let us know that he does not approve of the fact that we live in a European country and pay taxes to crusaders and nonbelievers.

Right next to him was an old man with a long white beard who showed approval of Usama's criticism of us. Usama introduced him as Abu Yusuf Sharqiya [name as published], his religious teacher and a former commander of the Jund al-Sham group.

Just one look at the 38-year-old Usama, with his long, reddish-brown beard, is enough to see that he is a young but extremely tough man.

This heated atmosphere during the meeting became even more tense when we asked about the abductions and brutal murders of foreigners in Iraq, to which Usama had this arrogant response:

"In Islam, Allah says that we must have compassion for prisoners, but also that we must treat our enemies the same way that they treat us. Islam's greatest enemies are the Americans, the Italians, the British, and all the other countries that are fighting against Islam and supporting the Jews. Your country (Croatia) could also become our target if it gets involved in the conflict in Iraq or fights against Islam. We regard the Vatican as Satan's main refuge, and it must be destroyed as soon as possible, because Islam cannot rule the world as long as the Vatican exists. Those countries would never have launched their war against us without the Vatican's blessing-- the war against Allah's religion. The Americans and their allies attacked Iraq and are murdering Iraqi children and women there. Just as they have killed children and women in Palestine, Bosnia, Kashmir, Chechnya, the Philippines, and Afghanistan. While they are using highly modern technology and airplanes to destroy us, we are using other available means, including the murder of hostages."

Al-Zarqawi Wounded

"Al-Zarqawi has said that we will not allow what happened to Bosnia, where 200,000 Muslims and a large number of mujahidin were killed, to befall us. In the end, the Americans came and took control of Bosnia." Usama mentions Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi very often and with obvious admiration, and so we asked him whether he is personally acquainted with him, what sort of relationship they have, and whether there is any truth to the rumors that he was wounded.

"Yes, al-Zarqawi was wounded in the province of Al-Anbar in fighting with the Americans and their mercenaries in the ranks of the Iraqi army. He is well on his way to recovery and continues to direct all of our actions against the enemy. We are in contact every day, because we coordinate our joint actions. Allah gave him life in order to fight against the enemies of Islam and enforce Islamic laws in Iraq.

"I first met al-Zarqawi at the Zaid bin Harith mosque in the city of Peshawar in Pakistan. I was also at his home in Jordan. He made a terrific impression on me. He is a great believer, and everything that he does is exclusively for Islam. We entered the city of Kabul together, after the Russians pulled out, and with us were the greatest Afghan mujahidin, Jalaloddin Haqqani and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who are today the most wanted people on the US blacklist, next to al-Zarqawi." At the very end of the interview, we asked Usama Abu Janah what the connection is between Islam and the murder of Iraqi civilians, soldiers, and policemen.

"They are slaves to the Americans, not to Allah, and as such they are our mortal enemies. We have a fatwa from Bin Ladin to kill anyone who cooperates with the occupiers and crusaders, and even to kill their children," Usama responded curtly.

[Box, p 14] Responsibility: Blacklisted Alongside Al-Qa'ida

The group Asbat al-Ansar (Jund al-Sham) founded by Abdullah Shreidi [name as published], who was killed in 2003 in the Ein al-Helweh Palestinian camp in southern Lebanon, is responsible for the attacks on the Russian Embassy in Beirut in 2001 and on the offices of the United Nations and foreign missions in Damascus in 2003, and in a videotape broadcast on the Arab television network Al-Jazirah a member of that group also took responsibility for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri.

The group, which now has a large number of fighters in Iraq under the command of Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, has been on the US blacklist since 11 September, right behind Al-Qa'ida.

[Box, p 15] Mujahidin in Bosnia: I Will Never Forgive the Croats

"I fought in Bosnia too. After the liberation of Kabul in 1992, we all set out in an organized fashion for Bosnia via Saudi Arabia, in order to help our Muslim brothers. I spent two days in your country (Croatia). I fought all through Bosnia, mostly against Croats. We will never forgive them for the cowardly murders of Abu Haris Libi and Shaykh Anwar Shaban [names as published], who were killed at an HVO [Croat Defense Council] checkpoint near Zepce. A lot of prominent members of Al-Qa'ida died in Bosnia. Al-Moataz [name as published], the former commander for the defense of the city of Jalalabad, died in combat near Zavidovici, and our brother Adnan Pezo [name as published] (the former director of the Islamic Youth organization) was also wounded there.

"Others who died near Zavidovici were Adu Abdallah Libi [name as published], also known as the Mountain Lion, the best fighter against the Russians, and many others of our brothers from around the world who came to defend Islam. The Muslims in Bosnia disappointed us. We gave them a lot, in blood and in money. We set roots there in the hope and belief that one day Bosnia would enforce Muslim laws and become Allah's state. It is sad to see our brothers who stayed there being arrested and extradited to the Americans. Despite our disappointment, we know that one day Islam will rule over Bosnia."

[Box, p 15] Rules: Exchange of Money for Nonbelievers

"The rules are clear: If we capture a nonbeliever, we begin by treating him as a prisoner, and then we demand a prisoner exchange or money. That happened when our leader Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi captured some Americans. A large number of prisoners were released from the Abu Ghurayb prison in exchange. We ask ourselves whether there is a fatwa (Muslim obligation) to kill prisoners. The Prophet Muhammad himself issued an order for the massacre of 750 prisoners. That command was carried out by his son-in-law, Imam Ali. The Prophet Muhammad killed 750 Jews with his own hands in war. That means that the Prophet Muhammad issued a fatwa for the murder of prisoners, and that is not considered a sin. Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi does not murder because he likes it, but rather in order to defend Islam against the enemy, which only understands the language of force. The Americans and crusaders do not understand the meaning of reconciliation and the offering of a hand. They understand only force, and we are following their example."

[Box, p 15] Goals: We Are Fighting to Create an Islamic World

What are the group's goals in Iraq?

"To found an Islamic state, and then to also enforce Islamic laws. In many Islamic countries life does not go on under Allah's command, and that even holds true of Saudi Arabia and Sudan. The only true Islamic country was Afghanistan when it was led by Amir Mullah Mohammad Omar. I pray to Allah that Afghanistan will be an Islamic country again as soon as possible. Allah demands that we fight for Islam and implement Islam. Islam will rule the world."

Caught off-guard by Usama's interpretation of Islam, we asked him whether al-Zarqawi shares his views.

"Not only he does; Bin Ladin and Basayev in Chechnya do too. We are working together to create an Islamic world, and in order for us to succeed we must first destroy the Vatican, Satan's nest, so that everyone becomes slaves to Allah."

[Description of Source: Zagreb Vecernji List in Croatian -- tabloid, best-selling daily]

Pakistan Ex-ISI Officer Claims To Have Trained Taliban, Mullah Omar, Met Usama

SAP20050714000010 Karachi Ummat in Urdu 08 Jul 05 p 3

[For assistance with multimedia elements, contact FBIS at 1-800-205-8615 or fbisinfo@rccb. Interview with Col Sultan Amir by Wajeeh Ahmad Siddiqui; date and place not given: "Mullah Omar Received Training From Me: Col Sultan Amir Alias Col Imam"]

Col [ret] Sultan Amir Tarar, known as Col Imam among the Afghan mujahidin is a prominent figure of the Afghan Jihad against the former Soviet Union. He remains associated with the Special Services Group [SSG] and Inter Services Intelligence [ISI] of Pakistan Army. He also served as consul general of Pakistan in Herat [province] during the Taliban period.

Introducing himself, Col Imam said: "I hail from Chakwal, Punjab. Born in a small village, I am Rajput and Tarar by caste. After studying in local educational institutions, I joined Pakistan Army and was commissioned in 1965. Later, I was posted to an infantry unit. God had blessed me with an exemplary physique. Therefore, I was inducted into the SSG. I performed better there, and was sent to the United States for different courses. Then I joined the paratrooper wing. On my return from the United States, I was appointed commandant of the jumps school of the SSG. General Pervez Musharraf was very senior to us and we had an opportunity to work with him.

Musharraf was senior captain and we were junior captains. We fought together during the 1971 war. No one could compete with him in official work. He used to guide his juniors. He was a balanced officer. He was extremely strict during parades but showed frankness like friends in private meetings in the mess. During my service with the SSG, I was introduced to the Afghan mujahidin in 1974 or 1975 through General Naseerullah Babar [former interior minister]. Later, others were assigned to this program, and I returned to the army and was appointed unit commander.

Later, I was recalled to the ISI and was appointed to take charge of training. At that time, the program had been assigned to the ISI. I was not working in this program single-handed; 200 officers were assisting me in imparting training. My chiefs included General Akhtar Abdur Rahman and General Hameed Gul. Under their supervision, we carried on with the program along the pattern set by my predecessors. As I remained associated with it for most of the time, I earned fame, but the mujahidin had also demonstrated performance. It is an honor for me that the mujahidin trained by me also performed well against the Soviet Union, and now during peacetime as well, they are producing well administratively.

Q: You are a known figure of the Afghan Jihad. You imparted training to Afghan mujahidin and remained Pakistan consul general in Herat during the Taliban period. How do you see today's Afghanistan in the light of your past experience?

A: Communism penetrated in Afghanistan during Zahir Shah's period. All of his successors had also established good relations with the Soviet Union. Officers of the Afghan Army and civil bureaucracy were sent to the Soviet Union for training. The officials of Soviet Communist Party had brainwashed these officers and they were impressed by communism. In this way, the influence of communism started growing in Afghanistan. It spread extremely fast in the cities including Kabul, Mazar-e Sharif and Herat. In reaction, Afghan Muslims launched an Islamic movement in the rural areas. This movement gained momentum in the period of Sardar Daud [former president]. Besides other groups, Zamanan-e Musliman of Maulvi Younus Khalis, who had much influence in Nangrahar and Paktia provinces had joined this movement.

Jalaluddin Haqqani was also a member of this group at that time. These people safeguarded Islam against communism in their respective areas and struggled against the foreign ideology imposed on them. When communist officers of the Afghan Army saw that the struggle was gaining momentum, all of a sudden they toppled the government of Sardar Daud and the Communist party captured power. In this way, Nur Mohammad Tarakai became the head of Afghanistan. He did not succeed and Hafeezullah Amin replaced him. Even then the Soviet Union was not satisfied and manipulated in Amin's murder and installed Babrak Karmal.

Karmal did not prove himself to be useful and Dr Najibullah was installed. Unfortunately, he also could not prove himself as well. When the Soviets murdered Hafizullah Amin, they thought that the Afghans were not capable of taking over the affairs of their country. Therefore, the Soviets arrived on the conclusion that Afghan affairs will not run smoothly unless they invade the country. They believed that Soviet troops would take control of the major cities and the problem would be solved within a few months, but as the Soviet Army landed, stiff resistance began in Afghanistan. The Afghan people started migrating, and various small groups launched a movement against Communism.

The [resistance] movement began to step up but these groups lacked resources. Assistance was also not coming from abroad. Therefore, these people sold their personal assets and after buying weapons from the tribal areas of Pakistan, they started fighting. In December 1979, the resistance further intensified and the freedom movement continued to grow. The facilities Pakistan had extended to the mujahidin included shelter for Afghan refugees and medical treatment for the injured. Pakistan did not create any hurdle in the purchase of rations and fuel by Afghans. Pakistan bore the brunt till 1981. In late 1981, US President Ronald Reagan came to power and he decided to provide aid to the Afghans.

The former US officials were confused whether or not these people would be able to fight the Soviet Union. Even the United States was discouraging Pakistan from annoying the Soviet Union and helping the Afghans. Instead, Pakistan was advised to convince the mujahidin and restrict their movements to within its territory so that they cannot cross back into Afghanistan as they were totally defenseless. They neither had weapons nor wealth to fight the Soviet Union. However, it was the good luck of the Afghan mujahidin that a military general was in power in Pakistan. He decided that Pakistan would not only check the Soviet Union but also force it to pull back. In the first three years of jihad in Afghanistan, the United States had seen that the Afghans were offering stiff resistance. So it decided to help them.

Besides providing assistance, arrangements were made to give them guerrilla training. First, this training was imparted on an extremely small scale but this was gradually upgraded. As the United States increased aid, arms started to pour in from all over the world. These weapons were purchased from the funds the United States was providing, and whatever weapons could be better used in the guerrilla war were provided to the Afghans. More or less 95,000 mujahidin were trained in almost 10 years.

Q: When did you join the training program?

A: I joined the program a long time ago. It was during the period of Sardar Daud. Golboddin Hekmatyar and Ahmad Shah Masud came here [Pakistan] with a program of resistance against the communists. A few students also accompanied them. I joined this program for a brief period in late 1974 and early 1975. Afterwards, I gave it up because Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's dismissal from power [5 July 1977] led to the dismantling of this program. I discharged my professional responsibilities in another wing of the army. This mujahidin training program continued for some time during the Bhutto regime. This job was done secretly on an extremely small scale. Later, the program was re-launched during Gen Ziaul Haq's period in 1980.

I was called back in 1983 and appointed to take charge of training. I worked in this position till retirement. Training the Afghans was extremely easy because they were already well versed with weapons. These were short-term training courses. The mujahidin were made familiar with the use of weapons and assigned a limited target so that they do not face problems. They were provided training according to the target assigned. In their assignments, they were to hit the target within a stipulated time. On their return from the mission, they were once again provided with specific weapons. In this way, thousands of teams continued to move throughout Afghanistan. That was why we remained busy almost round the clock.

It was due to this training that the Soviet Army found it extremely difficult to stay in Afghanistan. They remained confined only to the big cities. The mujahidin had blocked all their routes. Therefore, the Soviet Union had no option but to use air routes. If the Soviets used land routes, they would be accompanied by tanks, armed personnel carriers and aircraft. I believe the Soviet troops were extremely professional. They were extremely brave. However, when they faced stiff resistance in Afghanistan, they dealt with the Afghan people and the mujahidin with extreme brutality. About 1.5 million Afghans including a large number of mujahidin were martyred in 10 years, but even then there was no let up in resistance; rather it continued to intensify.

At last Soviet Union was compelled to decide to withdraw from Afghanistan. Afghan leaders and we, who were working as their advisers, committed one mistake throughout this struggle. We had provided military training to them, and as a result they had become extremely skillful and expert, but they could not be given political training. There were two reasons. Firstly, no one had even imagined that the Soviet Union would decide to pull back within 10 years. The Soviet decision was extremely surprising for all of us. We had never expected that Soviet Union to make this decision.

Even when the Soviet Union announced its withdrawal, we were confused whether the report was correct or a fabrication. The Soviets were certainly facing difficulties but we never expected that they would pack up so quickly. We believed that they would stay in Afghanistan for five to seven more years. That was why a political group could not be formed and political training could not be imparted to the resistance leadership. Secondly, there was not a one but seven Afghan groups and they lacked ideological harmony. The Afghan nation is well known for its lack of harmony. This is the reason they never sat down together and formed a political setup that could immediately take over the country. When the Soviet Army departed, the Afghan nation had to face numerous problems in forming their own government and running politics.

Q: Will you like to name prominent Afghan leaders and mujahidin who remained in touch with you during this training program?

A: I was lucky enough to have been in touch with almost every renowned leader. They were extremely brave and great people. I still highly respect them from the core of my heart. I had developed extremely deep and close relations with all the seven leaders. I was in touch with all prominent commanders and all of them would contact me from time to time and we would arrange training for their mujahidin. They included extremely prominent people. For instance, when the incumbent Governor Herat Province Mohammad Ismail Khan revolted against the Afghan Army, he was a senior captain. In 1978, he joined the mujahidin. General Alauddin Khan would visit Pakistan almost every year and bring his mujahidin for training.

There was another extremely prominent Afghan commander Mullah Naseem Akhundzada. However, he was not in the headlines because he carried out his activities on the fronts where the media teams had no access. He was commander of Alizar tribe of Helmand Province and had an extremely large number of soldiers under his command. He commanded almost 20,000 to 25,000 mujahidin. Many commanders of Kandahar Province became prominent and this included Mullah Malang whose real name was Maulvi Mohammad Saleh; Commander Abdur Razzaq and Mullah Yar Mohammad, who later became members of Mullah Omar's advisory council; Mullah Faizullah Akhundzada; Mullah Naqeebullah who later changed his name to Mullah Gul Akhund; and an extremely prominent commander of Hekmatyar Group, Sarkatab Ata Mohammad. There were countless number of commanders and I was in touch with almost all of them. They were in the thousands.

Q: You have said that you imparted training to Afghan nationals, but the Soviet Union said that Pakistani and foreign mujahidin particularly Arabs were also trained. Was that training imparted under your supervision or was there some separate arrangement made for that?

A: This story has some truth. When the jihad began and gained momentum, a large number of mujahidin were required. At that time more than 4 million refugees had come to Pakistan. This was the largest influx of refugees in the world history. These refugees had brought their scholars with them. They established their seminaries in refugee camps in Dera Ismail Khan, Zhob, Loralai and the mountains of Quetta. They established seminaries wherever there were refugee camps. Therefore, these seminaries served as mujahidin recruitment centers. When students of these seminaries were able to pick up a gun, they would join the mujahidin.

As far as the question of the training of Pakistani mujahidin in these seminaries was concerned, I provided training to those who were selected by prominent mujahidin from inside Afghanistan. I had nothing to do with these seminaries. As the scope of training expanded, we assigned the basic training to mujahidin and began the training in superior and bigger weapons. The mujahidin had established basic training centers for their respective parties inside Afghanistan. Whenever seminaries were closed for vacation, the Afghan students returned to Afghanistan and the Pakistani students also accompanied them.

These Muslim students had developed the spirit of jihad. Their language [Pashto] was commonly spoken. Therefore, there was no cultural restrictions on their movement neither from their home nor from our side. The CIA and the Americans were aware of this fact, and they had no objections. These people received basic training at the camps of mujahidin and then joined them in jihad. On their return, they rejoined the classes to get an education. As far as foreign mujahidin are concerned, they used to come from outside the country, got the basic training and joined the mujahidin directly. They were in contact with different leaders. For instance, the Arab mujahidin would contact Prof Abdur Rab Rasool Sayyaf.

Similarly, those who belonged to Islamic groups like Jamaat-e Islami Bangladesh, Jamaat-e Islami India or the Islamic organizations of Far East, joined Hekmatyar. There were also some people, who had direct access to prominent commanders including Jalaluddin Haqqani. They were imparting the same training in the seminaries and training centers. The mujahidin themselves had made elaborate arrangements for training. For instance, Sayyaf had established a big training center in Ali Khalil area of Paktia Province. A large number of Arabs, who were later labeled as Al-Qa'ida for propaganda purpose, visited Sayyaf's training center.

Q: What kind of Arab mujahidin came for jihad?

A: There were three kinds of people. Fifty percent of them had developed the spirit of jihad. Some Arab governments had prohibited them but these people came there even without permission from their governments. However, some of them possessed valid documents while others had fake ones. Some others, who had no documents were apprehended but even then they managed to reach the battlefront. In my opinion, 25 percent of the people were fed up with their governments for certain reasons and it was extremely difficult for them to stay in their own countries. They received shelter and being Muslims they had established relationships and decided to take part in jihad. They decided not to return home.

The third kind of people were adventurers. You can name them tourists. Their beliefs were neither strong nor were their jihadi spirits high. They joined the mujahidin just for adventure. When they saw a conducive environment for their adventure, they extended their stay. However, the biggest number of people had come here for jihad with the true Islamic spirit.

Q: Which was the group that invited Usama Bin Ladin and Ayman al-Zawahiri?

A: This has an extremely long background. When jihad began against the Soviet Union and the United States began to support it, the entire Muslim world became extremely happy and started supporting the jihad. Muslim scholars also supported the jihad and thronged from different areas to witness it. Every capable and educated person helped the mujahidin. Those with funds supported their host groups individually. When the people started coming from the Arab world, the need was felt to organize them. A Jordanian Arab scholar, Abdullah Azam, was a teacher at the International Islamic University, Islamabad. He also joined the mujahidin. He was a great scholar. He formed a group of mujahidin and maintained a record of their particulars.

He collected funds from the Arab world. The title of his organization was Islamic International Fund. I am not aware of its Arabic nomenclature. It was almost an underground group. I was in touch with different types of like-minded people who spent funds on training and other requirements for the Arab mujahidin. Surprisingly, neither the ISI nor the CIA were concerned about them till 1999. Abdullah Azam was martyred in a bomb blast in Peshawar along with his two sons. At that time, he was doing an extremely important job. Two to three hundred Arabs contributed to the jihad against the Soviet Union but if other foreign mujahidin are added, the number exceeded 4,000.

When the Soviets departed, the number declined steadily. After Azam's martyrdom, the question arose as to who should fill the gap. Usama Bin Ladin, who had come four years ago, was a civilian and he had nothing to do with the militant training. However, he possessed considerable resources. Besides the resources of his family and friends, he himself possessed considerable wealth with which he used to help the mujahidin. At that time, no one had raised any objection to his assistance to the mujahidin. The Arab people requested him to take over the place of Abdullah Azam. He did not have the experience of Abdullah Azam. He had come with the spirit of jihad to extend just non-military assistance specifically in the field of engineering.

He accepted to become head of the organization. He met the mujahidin from other countries to learn about their personal as well as training requirements. You can name it International Islamic Front. The organization was labeled Al-Qa'ida after some time. In my opinion, the number of members of this group would be higher in other countries rather than in Afghanistan. The group does not have big structure inside Afghanistan.

Q: When did the second term of the training program end?

A: I joined the program in 1983. When Mr Sibghatullah Mujaddadi took over as president in Kabul in April 1992, our training program ended. Later in August 1994, I went to Herat and opened the Pakistani consulate there. Under a program, the military officers are also deputed to the Foreign Office. I remained there till the diplomatic relations were broken in the aftermath of 9/11. The training program had already been dismantled because it was linked to the withdrawal of the Soviet troops. The Americans ended the program in February 1989. The Soviets began packing up from there. Later, the Communist troops started to provide stiffer resistance against the mujahidin than Soviet troops. It created a lot of problems because the US had almost stopped its assistance [to mujahidin] due to the problems it was creating. Now, the mujahidin were fighting against their own people. This situation created more problems. The ongoing training course was going to end shortly. When mujahidin reached Kabul in April 1992, this training ended as well.

Q: Who patronized the Taliban? It is said that Gen Naseerullah Babar had organized the Taliban movement or otherwise, the United States had planned it. What do you know in this regards?

A: As I told you, the mujahidin were not provided political training. Therefore, no political infrastructure could be set up. Its reason was that the Soviet Union had decided to pack up and leave Afghanistan in haste and the mujahidin were not mentally prepared for that. The Pakistani advisers had also not made preparations in this regard. The Americans did not expect this as well. It was also an unexpected development for the mujahidin leadership. Another big reason was intra-mujahidin differences. On the other hand, the United States had stopped providing assistance. The mujahidin groups had been relying on assistance. They used to get weapons and fight in the war. Besides, they were also being provided with food. When all this stopped, senior people started pressuring the juniors in order to realize their own importance.

This created a civil war-like situation in Afghanistan. Warlords mushroomed everywhere and those who were more powerful gained control over their respective areas. They gained the support of other people and started to fight those who had not joined them. This happened throughout Afghanistan but the mujahidin did not like it. In this situation, the mujahidin particularly those who were called Taliban, consulted each other that the supreme cause for which they have offered sacrifices was not being served and that the leaders were busy in infighting. They decided to launch a struggle to end this civil war-like situation. The situation had deteriorated in Kandahar. The Taliban launched their struggle from Kandahar. They declared that they would root-out all the evils of society like looting and plunder and the sale of weapons.

The Afghan people appreciated and helped them. Wherever the Taliban went, the people cooperated with them. They captured Kandahar and gradually expanded their control to other areas. The people were extremely happy with them. In this way, the Taliban emerged. Those at the helm of affairs at that time including Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani helped them. They provided funds to the Taliban and asked their mujahidin to cooperate with them. Dr Abdullah also came to the help of Taliban. Rabbani ordered high level commanders in Kandahar like Mullah Naqeebullah to help the Taliban in terms of weapons and funds. Small mujahidin groups of other parties also cooperated with them.

Hekmatyar resisted the Taliban but his own people were also good Muslims and good jihadis. They were not fighting the Taliban from the core of hearts. Therefore, the Taliban continued to make advances and reached Kabul. When they reached Chaharsiab, Hekmatyar left the area. He did not want to fight. He was facing the army of Rabbani's Commander Ahmad Shah Masud. The Taliban asked Masud to give up power because he was not performing well. Exactly seven months later, Rabbani stopped assisting the Taliban and started propagating that the Taliban enjoyed Pakistan's support and they had come at Pakistan's behest.

Rabbani was thinking that the Taliban were fighting against Hekmatyar only. On the other hand, the United States also psychologically helped the Taliban. The Under Secretary of State for Central Asia Miss Raphael used to visit Pakistan fortnightly and made good remarks about the Taliban. They were described as good people. The Americans wanted the Taliban to uproot the warlords and as they had no political setup of their own, they would not be able to become a big political force and would be buried politically. According to the Americans, these boys and youth [Taliban] would not be able to do any big job but at least they would eliminate anti-United States and anti-Rabbani forces like Golboddin Hekmatyar.

Naturally, the United States was also helping them. However, the war started in Kabul, the Taliban ousted Rabbani troops and stabilized themselves in the capital. Then they devised their own strategy. This caused concern for the United States and it felt that the Taliban were more hardcore than their predecessors. So the United States stopped its assistance and became active against them. It imposed sanctions on the Taliban to weaken them. The United States did not appreciate whatever good job they had done. Instead, it continued to put pressure on them. So far as Pakistan is concerned, the reality is that Pakistan was not aware of who these Taliban were. I knew them as low ranking mujahidin. They had received training from me. I knew them personally.

The government was confused over where these mujahidin came from and what group they belonged to. I told them that these people belonged to all the parties. These are the Taliban. They had never been in power in the past. They have been at the forefront in the jihad in Afghanistan during the last 1,000 years [as published], but they had never demanded any sharing of power. Therefore, they had never emerged into the limelight. For the first time, they took over the government and the people came to know that Taliban were also a force. This community, whether they are Pakistanis or Afghans, is held in high esteem in Pashtoon [Pashto-speaking] areas.

When somebody asks questions about them, they are described as Taliban Mullahs [clergy]. They are not expected to lie or be involved in wrong deeds. So they enjoyed a respectable position in society, but at the same time, they were also not expected to capture power. Therefore, when the Taliban captured the government for the first time, the people were surprised. However, the people cooperated with them because they had an extremely neat and clean past. They were considered as extremely good people. The Pakistan Government had not given them any training. These were already trained. They had taken part in militant activities against the Soviet Union. They were self-reliant in weapons because they had snatched and stockpiled the weapons to the extent that they had no place to dump them.

A big arms depot called Qasr-e Jadeed was set up in Kandahar during the period of Sardar Daud. After it was over-dumped, almost four times more weapons were lying in the open outside. All these tanks, vehicles, aircraft and other equipment were Soviet-made. Taliban unscrewed their tanks and then reassembled them to use against the enemy. Pakistan also never extended them any assistance in terms of weapons. That was why, their stock of weapons gradually started to become exhausted during the war. They were not able to repair the vehicles or weapons once they became faulty.

As regards Naseerullah Babar's contribution, it was a coincidence. He wanted to inspect a trade route to link Pakistan to Central Asia. He chose the route from Quetta to Kandahar and Herat which leads up to Central Asia. I was also aware of this route. Therefore, he summoned me and asked to accompany him as a guide. I took his delegation to Afghanistan and arranged meetings with the people in Kandahar and other provinces. We made many stopovers on the way and held meetings with the Afghans. At that time, Taliban were not on the scene. Babar held no meeting with any Taliban group. Babar and Taliban were totally different from each other. The Pakistan People's Party [PPP] had no concern with the Taliban. Babar was the interior minister in the PPP government.

He traveled across the Afghan territory and the people felt that Gen Babar had a role in organizing the Taliban. How can anyone be trained in only one week? The Taliban were already trained. However, Babar had a role in bringing the Taliban leaders to one platform.

Q: Why was the United States intention in using the Taliban and on what issue or stage did differences emerge between them?

A: I think the Americans were extremely worried about the warlords. When the Taliban appeared on the scene with their good reputation, the Americans thought that these youth would comply with its orders if they came to power. When the United States saw that they were more committed to their own policy and cause and they were dreaming of establishing their own rule, the US changed its policy.

Q: The Taliban had made the caliphate era as a role model to rule the country. Is it possible in this contemporary age as today the problems and resources are totally different?

A: This is a debatable issue whether or not the footsteps of the Sahaba [companions of the Prophet] can be followed today. However, the Taliban did a good job in some areas that no one could in Afghanistan during the last 3,000 years. They had disarmed the Afghan nation. They asked the people to lay down weapons and the people voluntarily deposited their weapons in the Islamic spirit. This was a major achievement. Opium is cultivated in Afghanistan in huge quantities. It was a big source of income for the Afghan people. They cannot earn a livelihood by cultivating any other crop. After coming to power, the Taliban waited for foreign assistance for one or two years so that they would be able to eliminate poppy cultivation because it was extremely difficult to stop this without assistance.

At last under a religious decree, they brought the poppy cultivation to nil. Thirdly, they neither had an army nor the police but even then they established peace in the country. If contemporary philosophers claim that the system of caliphate cannot be enforced today or it creates problems, he should see that the Taliban had received no foreign assistance, the state exchequer was empty and the country had no army or police but still the Taliban had established peace. I am an eyewitness to all this. I feel that the people trusted them. Whenever they issued an order, the people cooperated with them. That is why criminals had no room in Afghanistan. They did not usurp the rights of the people. They themselves lived a simple life. They did not snatch anything from others, rather they delivered things to them. They provided protection to women.

Women were extremely insecure in the society. Particularly in Kandahar and Herat, the conditions had worsen for women. They were not able to get out of their homes. The Taliban provided protection to them. For once a lady could travel alone without any fear. This thing cannot be guaranteed in developed countries of the 21st century, but the Taliban made it possible. Therefore, it was proved that the caliphate can be successful even in the 21st century. Six incidents of rape are reported in the United States every minute, but no such incident took place during the Taliban period. If a report came that someone has committed murder or robbery, he was convicted the same day. It means they provided justice to the people on the spot.

The body of the accused of murder or robbery was hanged from a tree or at a crossing in order to create public fear of crime. As a result, complete peace returned to Afghanistan. The Taliban captured several provinces without sending in a single soldier. However, only four persons, that is the governor, deputy governor, police chief and secretary were deputed. These four persons gathered the people and told that Mullah Omar had sent them to rule the area. Then they established the government with the help of the local people. So the Taliban enjoyed the confidence of the people. The people did not consider the Taliban to be dishonest. When the country was hit by famine and the animals started dying, Mullah Omar sent his teams and ordered the people to hand over all their cattle to these teams so that they could be taken to the provinces where grass was abundant.

As the famine ended and you have resources, your cattle would be handed back. I was surprised to see that all the people handing their cattle over to these teams on just on a small piece of paper. Nobody protested against the order or hid his cattle. If all this had happened in our country, the people would have slaughtered their cattle and distributed the meat in their locality. Our people would never have handed the cattle over to the police. This is a matter of confidence and trust. Our people have no confidence in our system of government. They do not trust the police. The Taliban enjoyed the confidence of the people. That was why narcotics were eradicated and weapons recovered. Women and children were protected. They did all this without the help of the army and police.

All this happened because of faith and the system which you call the caliphate or system of Koran and Sunnah [traditions of the Prophet]. This is also workable today provided there is somebody to run it.

Q: You would have met Mullah Omar, Bin Ladin and Al-Zawahiri. How did you find them? What was their behavior and mental approach?

A: In my first meeting with Usama in 1986, I found him to be an extremely serene person. He is basically a civil engineer. He was interested in only one thing, that is how many roads, shelters and tunnels should be constructed to facilitate the mujahidin in Afghanistan so that they could defend themselves against the Soviet shelling. I have never seen him planning any negative activity. The mujahidin came under pressure in Jalalabad and faced difficulties in capturing it. They told Usama about it. He brought his group over there. This was my second meeting with him when I saw him and the Arab mujahidin.

They stayed there in Afghanistan from 1989 to 1999. He was a respectable figure, who had come to Afghanistan in the spirit of jihad, and was helping Afghan brethren. At that time, I did not feel that a time would come when he would be treated like a terrorist and a man who wanted to upset global peace. When a let-up came in the fighting, he moved to Sudan with his close associates. Afterwards, I had no opportunity to meet him. When he returned to Afghanistan, I was in Herat. He was staying as the guest of Borhanoddin Rabbani in Jalalabad. I have never met Al-Zawahiri.

My first meeting with Mullah Omar was held in 1985 when he came for training as a common mujahid. I never thought that this mujahid would one day become 'chief of the faithfuls' [amirul momineen] Mullah Omar. I knew his commander Mullah Faizullah Akhund and had developed a good friendship with him. I did not even recognize Mullah Omar. When our meeting was held in 1994, he himself told me that he had received training from me. He had received the training in a Pakistani area. After 1994, we often met each other. I was visiting Kandahar and meeting Mullah Omar there. He is an extremely simple man like other common Afghans.

He was determined to do something for his country. He was worried about how to prevent the country falling into the hands of the warlords and the armed units disrupting the peace. Mullah Omar was successful to a great extent in this task. He had gained control over 95 percent of Afghanistan. In his personal life, Mullah Omar was an extremely simple man. He spent just a little on himself. I have always seen him in a single dress. Probably he would change his dress on Friday to wash it. I always met Mullah Omar at lunch time. He used to take only one dish, that is potato and soup. I have never seen him having any more dishes. His style of eating suggested that he had been hungry since morning.

Perhaps, he would take meat in the evening, but I never met him in the evening. He was not talkative but was a good listener. He never involved himself in debates. If some special guest visited him and he had given some advice to him, he would respond in only one sentence that "I [Mullah Omar] have listened to you. I have learned some new things which I did not know before. God willing, when I will do that, I will keep your advice in mind." Our delegations visited him and held lengthy discussions but Mullah Omar just listened to them. His attitude toward our people was extremely affectionate, but he would never change his orders. He would strictly implement his orders.

During the jihad against the Soviet Union, he was a low-ranked mujahid. I mean he was not a senior jihadi but his character earned him the highest position. The Taliban accorded him great respect. The common Afghans also held him in high esteem. Most of the pictures of Mullah Omar are imaginary. He is about six feet two inches tall. He is a smart man. His physique is extremely good. He has a light slender body. He lost his right eye during the jihad against the Soviet Union and was treated in Pakistan. He has a long thick beard. He always covered his head with turban. He never posed as if he was an important person. He used to make the people realize that he was not a scholar but a common and simple Afghan, who has been assigned a responsibility and he was making every possible effort to shoulder it. He used to consult the religious scholars in government affairs therefore, he was an extremely successful ruler.

Q: How far were you involved in the important decisions the Taliban were compelled to take after 9/11?

A: We held meetings after that. I came to Kandahar and frequently met with Mullah Omar. He was working extremely secretly. He was well aware of his fate. He knew even before 9/11 that the United States would launch an operation against him. He was mentally prepared for that. The members of his advisory council were also ready to face the catastrophe. They never seemed worried. They hoped that if the United States attacked them or conducted an operation, the Muslim community would at least register its protest. When the decision was taken to attack Afghanistan, I was present. Mullah Omar was highly shocked that the Muslim community did not express even concern over the decision. However, his behavior was normal. He was not embarrassed but busy in preparations. I was also accompanying a delegation of scholars. I held a meeting with him but saw no negative change in him. He appeared quite calm.

Q: You have worked with the CIA as well. Has the CIA not learned a lesson from war [between mujahidin and Soviet forces] that Afghanistan cannot be captured?

A: I worked with the CIA in the first 10 years of the Afghan Jihad. At that time, they were helping us in the war against Soviet Union. I was surprised that they [CIA] were such good people that they would immediately provide us various necessities including equipment, weapons, photo maps, wireless sets and other items according to the requirements of any plan. It often happened that they would arrange for the things we required within no time. They extended forthright cooperation to us beyond our expectations. I feel that they provided 30 to 40 percent more assistance to the Afghans than was actually needed. This assistance included weapons and other items.

When Geneva Accord was signed [April 1988] and the Soviets decided to withdraw, the entire CIA team was replaced with new people. We were surprised to see that the new people were ill-mannered and non-cooperative. They never listened to us. We saw that the policy had changed altogether after the Geneva Accord. Good people were withdrawn and replaced with those who were ill-mannered and looked like police personnel of some Third World country. We were disappointed and felt that the motive was to discourage those who had defeated the Soviet Union. When the Afghans were fighting the Soviet Union, the United States supported them. I had close association with the CIA in this regard. At that time, I noted that the Americans were surprised at how this nation was fighting a superpower like the Soviet Union.

Senior US officials came to see them and were surprised how such accurate hits were possible from Stinger missiles and how it performed so well. The Afghan mujahidin were giving better results in the use of the Stinger than the experiments the Americans had carried out. The record of the Afghans in fighting was excellent. The CIA officials did not believe in the Taliban claims; therefore, they came to see the performance in person. We took them to a safe place near the Pakistani border. One Afghan mujahid stood on the hilltop and saw an aircraft. He took out a Stinger to target the aircraft. The other aircraft saw him and attacked him. Another team of mujahidin targeted the other plane as well. The Americans were surprised at the bravery of the Afghan fighters. In spite of the fact that the enemy enjoyed full control of the airspace, the Taliban targeted their aircraft and shot both of them. Then they remarked: "The Stinger is a good weapon but when it is on Afghan shoulder, it is excellent".

When the CIA officials found these people to be so valiant and imbibed with the religious spirit that they were ready to sacrifice even their lives, they became concerned. They decided not to allow them to organize themselves. Therefore, they manipulated the Geneva Accord. This accord was totally against the objectives of jihad and jihadi groups. The jihadi groups were not taken into confidence on it. The people who had forced the Soviet forces to retreat were ignored. Pakistan and the communist regime of Kabul were forced to sign the accord. This accord was designed to sabotage the Afghan jihad. The mujahidin were ordered to form their own government and Washington assured them that it would recognize their government.

Obviously, the mujahidin were not ready for that. They hastily formed a government in exile and surprised the Americans. The Americans had never thought that these people could unite and agree to to be lead by one person. The president and prime minister were chosen and a cabinet was formed. The United States prohibited Pakistan from recognizing this regime. This decision shocked the mujahidin. They had formed the government on Pakistani territory at Pakistan's behest but the same Pakistan was not giving it recognition because the United States had forbidden this. We wasted our own services at US behest. Now the Afghans do not trust us like they did in the past. Previously, they realized that we had helped them a lot but now they have started saying that you helped us at US behest and when the United States ordered, you stopped helping us.

Then pressure was put on the Afghan mujahidin to form a broad-based government involving the communists as well. Pakistan made this demand at US behest which worsened the situation. The United States wanted to eliminate the Islamic revolutionary spirit among the Afghan mujahidin. This is the basic reason of this whole episode that those who had fought in the name of religion should not reorganize themselves. I felt that the United States wanted to create a situation to once again recapture Afghanistan. Almost every superpower has desired a presence in Afghanistan. History has always repeated itself in this country. Alexander The Great, Chinese Hun nation, the Iranian monarch Dara, Hindus and Sikhs have all captured Afghanistan, but were ousted. The British Empire thrice invaded Afghanistan but met with an extremely bad fate.

Once their entire army could not return and in another they faced a humiliating defeat. The Soviet Union also invaded Afghanistan with its world's biggest army but it also met a tragic fate. Every superpower had a desire to control this trade route and capture the world's most precious resources including oil and gas.

The United States has not invaded Afghanistan out of fun, but out of compulsion. It intends to govern the entire world by gaining control over all resources. Whereas, it is compulsion of the Afghans that they have never permitted aliens to stay peacefully in their territory. History is evidence of that. It has to be seen how long the United States will stay here. The problem with the United States is that it has captured Afghanistan but is now finding it difficult to remain because the Afghans are not permitting it to do so.

The agents of the US are also not happy with the US. They have developed a hatred against the United States and abuse Washington. Another problem is that it would be a most difficult job for the Americans to withdraw from Afghanistan. I feel that if the United States withdraws, that we would greatly suffer because we have handed over all our facilities to the Americans. If the United States withdraws, we would have no friend in our neighborhood because our friendship with the United States has annoyed all our neighbors. Not only the Afghan and the Iranian Governments but the Chinese Government as well is suspicious of us. India is already our enemy. Irrespective of how much flexibility we show, it [Afghanistan] would not cease hating us. Our interest in Afghanistan is for a patriotic Afghan Government to be formed in Kabul which should understand the compulsion and problems of Pakistan. Then, we would be able to escape.

[Description of Source: Karachi Ummat in Urdu -- Sensationalist, pro-Usama bin Laden Urdu daily. Harshly critical of the US and of India. Circulation of 20,000.]

AFP: More on Pakistani Forces Find Unmanned 'Drone' Aircraft in Al-Qa'ida Raid

JPP20050913000166 Hong Kong AFP in English 1317 GMT 13 Sep 05

[By Zahid Noor]

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Sept 13 (AFP) - Pakistani forces recovered an unmanned drone aircraft and a major weapons cache in a raid on a suspected Al-Qaeda hideout in the tribal areas near Afghanistan, a top commander said Tuesday.

Militants used the Chinese-made vehicle to spy on security forces in the rugged area, where Pakistani soldiers have been battling Islamic militants for more than a year, Lieutenant General Safdar Hussain told reporters.

The find, believed to be the first of its kind in Pakistan, came on the same day as President Pervez Musharraf unveiled plans to build a fence along part of the border with Afghanistan to curb the movement of militants.

Twenty-one people were arrested in Monday's raid on a compound and religious school near Miranshah, capital of the North Waziristan tribal zone, added Hussain. The buildings are owned by relatives of a former Taliban minister.

"The terrorists used the RPV (remotely-piloted vehicle) to check the position of security forces and attack them," the general said, adding that the drone was capable of carrying weapons.

A military officer from the army's Signal Corps said the vehicle had a sophisticated, wide-angle camera to take pictures of targets on the ground, while Hussain said they had seized a CD which pinpointed Pakistani troops.

Security forces also found a "suicide jacket" and Jordanian, Afghan and Pakistani passports along with Al-Qaeda training material from the compound, Hussain said.

Additionally they uncovered a cache of weapons including 17 machine guns, 29 rockets, 51 grenades, eight improvised bombs and 10 landmines, he added.

Pakistan's network of Islamic schools, or madrassas, came under international scrutiny because one of the July 7 London suicide bombers attended one.

"This madrassa (religious school) was an Al-Qaeda and Taliban stronghold and operational centre which we have secured now," General Hussain said.

The commander whose relatives own the building, Jalaluddin Haqqani, was a former anti-Soviet fighter who later served as the Taliban's minister for frontier regions. He is still on the run.

Some of the detained suspects were "important" and there were also a number of foreigners, Hussain said, without disclosing their nationalities.

"The busting of this stronghold has broken the back of Al-Qaeda in the tribal area," he added.

Last week key US ally Pakistan said it was sending 9,500 more troops to the border before the Afghan elections, bringing the total to 80,000.

Around 250 Pakistani soldiers and many more alleged militants died last year in a crackdown on insurgents who fled to the area from Afghanistan in late 2001 and early 2002, after US-led forces toppled the Taliban regime.

However Kabul says the militants have used new bases on the Pakistan side of the border to launch a campaign of violence in the run-up to Afghan parliamentary polls on September 18.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Pakistan: Additional 5,000 Troops Deployed Along Pakistan, Afghanistan Border

SAP20050914000043 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 14 Sep 05

[Report by Behroz Khan: "5,000 more troops sent to Pak-Afghan border; Toy-like plane being used for spying by militants; political Moharer held; MNA, religious leader accused of ties with suspects"]

PESHAWAR: Corps Commander Peshawar Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain on Tuesday [13 September] ordered deployment of 5,000 additional troops along the Pak-Afghan border to ensure holding of peaceful parliamentary elections in Afghanistan.

"I am sending about 5,000 more troops to the tribal area to seal the Pak-Afghan border. This will be in addition to the existing 75,000 troops deployed along the border," said the commander while briefing newsmen here on the seizure of weapons and ammunition and arrest of local and foreign nationals during raids and search operations in North Waziristan Agency.

Lt-Gen Safdar said 21 suspected terrorists have been arrested in Miranshah and Mir Ali areas of North Waziristan since September 10, adding that the search operations were continuing and all the terrorists and miscreants would be taken to task.

A tiny toy-like small plane equal to the size of a large kite was also on display, which the commander said was being used for spying purposes by the terrorists to locate Army deployment in the region.

The Army officers helping the corps commander regarding the sophisticated communication system even claimed that the plane could carry missiles to hit targets. "There are some important persons among the arrested suspects," he said but did not elaborate.

The corps commander did not agree with a questioner suggesting that Pakistan would erect a fence along the 2,500-kilometre long and porous Pak-Afghan border saying it was mainly the concern of Afghanistan. "Infiltration is the concern of Afghanistan and not ours. We have deployed our troops along the border and would ensure peace and security on our part," he said.

He said a political Moharer was among the arrested suspects and investigations were being held to fix the responsibility in case he is involved in helping the militants and terrorists in any way.

The general said two important people — Maulana Nek Zaman MNA [Member of National Assembly] and Maulana Sadiq Noor from North Waziristan Agency — were among the suspects, who have been accused of having close links with terrorists. "We will proceed against them in accordance with law if they are found involved in helping terrorists," Gen Safdar said and added that a close relative of Maulana Nek Zaman has been arrested in connection with terrorist acts.

A huge quantity of weapons and ammunition recovered from hideouts and houses during the search operation was also put on display, which included the latest communication system, jacket of a suicide bomber, mortar shells and different kinds of weapons including heavy and light machineguns.

"Abdullah Mahsud has opened an office in Makeen area of South Waziristan to recruit fighters for creating law and order problem in the region. These offices are not for Jihad but creating disturbances," replied the commander when his attention was drawn towards reports that different militant groups have opened offices in Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan and other parts of the troubled agency.

He said Abdullah Mahsud was enjoying the company of unwanted elements and criminals adding that his troops were hunting him and only time was the factor to take this criminal to task.

He again hailed Baitullah Mahsud, another tribal commander from the agency who signed a peace agreement with the government saying, "Baitullah Mahsud is a soldier of peace". Gen Safdar said a handout recovered from the arrested suspects revealed that Maulana Sadiq Noor was asking for help and donations from the tribesmen for Jihad and said the arrested persons gave the information that they belonged to Noor's group.

He also said that Abdullah Mahsud and his deputy, Sanaullah, were paying money to poor people for planting Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), adding that the money to Mahsud's groups was making its way through Afghanistan.

"Zakhim Khan Mahsud and Sadiq Noor are paying up Rs 10,000 to people in reward for planting one IED," he said.

The general said that huge quantity of weapons and ammunition was recovered from the a Madrassa owned by former Taliban minister, Commander Jalaluddin Haqqani in Dandi Darpakhel area of North Waziristan and said that the base of al-Qaeda and other terrorists has been completely destroyed. He said it was a big achievement of the army, made possible with the active support of the local religious elders, tribal chieftains and the administration.

AFP adds: A military officer from the Army's Signal Corps while giving details of the Chinese-made drone held seized from tribal militants said the vehicle had a sophisticated, wide-angle camera to take pictures of targets on the ground.

Security forces also found Jordanian, Afghan and Pakistani passports along with al-Qaeda training material including audio and video CDs about the anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan, motivational songs in Arabic and a number of maps, mostly in Russian. The weapons cache included 17 machineguns, 29 rockets, 51 grenades, eight improvised bombs and 10 landmines.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News in English -- Widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Circulation estimated at 55,000.]

AFP: Pakistan Recovers Truckloads of Arms From 'Biggest' Al-Qa'ida Base: General

JPP20050915000071 Hong Kong AFP in English 0722 GMT 15 Sep 05

["Pakistan Busts Tribal Region's Biggest Al-Qaeda Base" -- AFP headline]

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Sept 15 (AFP) - Pakistan has busted the biggest Al-Qaeda [Al-Qa'ida] base in the tribal zone of North Waziristan and recovered 15 truckloads of arms and ammunition in a swoop that will cut violence in neighbouring Afghanistan before key elections, a general said Thursday.

The militant den was in a madrassa, or Islamic school, and a nearby compound owned by the son of a former minister of the hardline Taliban regime that ruled Afghanistan until late 2001, Lieutenant General Safdar Hussain told reporters.

He said the owner, Sirajuddin Haqqani, whom he described as a senior Al-Qaeda insurgent, managed to escape from a nearby hideout which was also raided.

"The raid on the Haqqani madrassa and compound is still going on but we can say we have busted the biggest Al-Qaeda terrorist den in North Waziristan," Hussain, who commands troops in northwestern Pakistan, told reporters in the city of Peshawar.

The general first gave details about the raid, during which 21 militants were arrested, on Tuesday but this was first time he revealed the scale of the suspected hideout.

"We have recovered 15 truckloads of ammunition and weapons from there and arms and ammunition are still being recovered," he said.

He said 11 of those arrested were foreigners.

The operation would help to reduce bloodshed blamed on Taliban militants in the run up to Afghanistan's parliamentary elections on Sunday, the general said. Militants are suspected of crossing from Pakistan into Afghanistan to launch attacks.

"Naturally it will reduce violence in Afghanistan," he said. "We also busted a communications centre which was used to coordinate operations in Afghanistan."

Hussain said the border between the countries had been completely sealed and 763 guard posts had been established to prevent militants moving from Pakistan to Afghanistan.

On the day of the elections, Pakistan would conduct "extensive air surveillance with helicopters", he said.

However Afghanistan had only set up 120 posts on the border, he said. "They need to do more to stop infiltration," he said.

Pakistan pushed tens of thousands of troops into the tribal regions early last year to crack down on Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who fled there after the hardline Islamic Taliban regime was ousted by US-led forces in 2001.

Last week Pakistan said it was sending 9,500 more troops to the border before Afghanistan's elections, bringing the total to 80,000.

Hussain said Pakistani forces had killed 353 militants in the tribal areas since March 2004, including 175 foreigners such as Uzbeks, Tajiks, Turkmens, Chechens and a few Arabs.

Nearly 270 Pakistani troops have also died and more than 670 have been wounded, some losing limbs.

Haqqani's father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, was a former anti-Soviet fighter who later served as the Taliban's minister for frontier regions. He has not been found since the Taliban fled.

Hussain said an official who tipped off Sirajuddin Haqqani and allowed him to escape had been arrested.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

AFP: Rockets Fired at Pakistan Army Camp Near Afghanistan Border

JPP20050919054001 Hong Kong AFP in English 0646 GMT 19 Sep 05

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Sept 19 (AFP) - Two rockets have been fired at a Pakistan army camp near the Afghanistan border in the same area where troops last week raided a suspected Al-Qaeda [Al-Qa'ida] compound, an official said Monday.

The rockets, fired from over the border Sunday, caused no casualties because they landed in a plant nursery near the camp in North Waziristan province, the administration official said.

"Two rockets landed and exploded in a nursery close to the army camp Sunday night but caused no casualties," the official, in the border town of Miranshah, told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Troops returned fire towards the border, he said.

It was not immediately clear who fired the missiles. Similar attacks have been blamed on militants suspected of links with Taliban and Al-Qaeda remnants who sneaked into the area in late 2001 after the US-led invasion on Afghanistan.

Pakistan strengthened its deployment of troops in the border region by thousands of soldiers before elections in Afghanistan on Sunday, to prevent militants crossing over to disrupt the vote.

Just kilometres away from the rocket attack, troops continued to surround a compound that they raided last week, busting what the military called the biggest Al-Qaeda base in North Waziristan and recovering huge caches of weapons.

The compound, which includes a residence and a madrassa, was said to be owned by Sirajuddin Haqqani, a senior Al-Qaeda insurgent. His father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, was a minister in the Taliban government before it fell in the US-led campaign.

Sirajuddin Haqqani fled before the raid, apparently after being tipped off.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Nephew of famous Afghan Taleban commander arrested in Pakistan

SAP20051001950003 AVT KhyberTV in Pashto 1600 GMT 29 Sep 05

Nephew of famous Afghan Taleban commander arrested in Pakistan

Pakistan's AVT Khyber TV news report in Pashto 1600 gmt 29 Sep 05 [Processed by IC]

The nephew of the former Taleban commander Mawlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani has been arrested during a military operation against foreign terrorists in Miranshah city of north Wazirestan. One soldier was killed and six others were injured in this operation.

The Pakistani army launched a military operation, using helicopters and artillery, in Khattai village of Hamzori region this morning [29 September]. During this operation, Ahmad, the son of Khalilorrahman and nephew of the former Afghan minister of border affairs and important Taleban commander, Jalaloddin Haqqani, was arrested after a short clash with suspected militants.

Ahmad was on the most-wanted list issued by the Pakistani government. Military operations are still under way in the region.

(Endall)

Pakistan: Forty Militants, 5 Army men Killed in Fresh Clashes in Waziristan

SAP20050930027001 Lahore Daily Times (Internet Version-WWW) in English 30 Sep 05

[Report by Iqbal Khattak: "40 militants killed in North Waziristan; Military uses Cobra helicopters to attack militants; Army loses five soldiers in operation; Haqqani?s nephew arrested"]

PESHAWAR: As many as forty militants and five soldiers were reportedly killed in fresh clashes between security forces and miscreants in Khatey Kali area, 60 kilometres west of North Waziristan Agency's headquarters Miranshah on Thursday [ 29 September].

The firing between the two sides continued till the evening as security forces cordoned off the entire area and suspected militants trapped in the mountainous region were trying hard to break the siege.

Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan, the Inter-Services Public Relations director general, told Daily Times that security forces had cordoned off the Khatey Kali area after suspected militants attacked paramilitary personnel and soldiers. He said they had arrested former Taliban commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani's nephew Ahmed on terrorism charges. He added that Ahmed was involved in terrorism activities and his arrest was a major breakthrough.

Two weeks ago, security forces raided Haqqani's madrassa in Miranshah and seized a huge cache of weapons, including a drone and arrested more than a dozen suspected militants. In Thursday's operation, the military used Cobra helicopters to pound militants. Gen Shaukat said he had no reports of casualties on either side but tribal sources put the number of casualties at around 40 on the militants' side.

"There are casualties on both sides. But what we have heard, which is not confirmed by the security agencies, is that 40 militants and around five soldiers were killed in the daylong exchange of fire," residents in Miranshah told Daily Times by phone.

They said that bodies were lying on the ground and neither side could retrieve them due to heavy fire. A jirga (tribal court), however, was negotiating temporary ceasefire to let both sides retrieve the bodies. Gen Shaukat acknowledged that the jirga was meeting. "We prefer the militants surrender peacefully and also to ensure that women and children are allowed to leave the cordoned area. We take extra care of non-combatants," the military spokesman said. However, he stopped short of confirming that the jirga was negotiating the ceasefire to help both sides retrieve the bodies. "The cordon of the area is still on and the operation continues," he said.

It is the first time that the militants engaged the security forces in North Waziristan as most of the recent operations met no significant resistance.

Meanwhile, a revenue officer's bodyguard was killed and six army personnel were injured during a fire exchange between soldiers and militants in the Hamzoni area of North Waziristan, NNI reported. According to details, the assailants opened fire on army personnel when they tried to surround the Jaton Khati village. Mir Jush was killed during the army helicopters' bombing on the village.

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times in English -- Independent, moderate daily, run by veteran journalist Najam Sethi, published by the Friday Times group. Catering to the middle class, with an estimated circulation of 2000.]

AFP: Two More Killed in Pakistan Tribal Area Offensive

JPP20050930054008 Hong Kong AFP in English 1053 GMT 30 Sep 05

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Sept 30 (AFP) - A soldier and a policeman died in fresh clashes between suspected militants and Pakistani forces backed by gunship helicopters in a tribal region on the Afghan border, officials said Friday.

Pakistani troops have been battling Al-Qaeda-linked [Al-Qa'ida] rebels in the lawless area since late 2003. Around 250 soldiers and hundreds of insurgents have died during that time.

Gunbattles erupted Thursday after tribesmen opened fire on a military convoy travelling towards Khatey Killay, an area near Miranshah, the main town in rugged North Waziristan, killing the soldier, residents and officials said.

The troops had been heading towards a madrassa, or religious school run by the nephew of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a fugitive commander from Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime, where insurgents were suspected to be hiding.

A tribal policeman was also shot dead on Thursday by militants during the operation to surround the madrassa, a security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Taliban commander's nephew was later arrested, the security official said.

Pakistani military helicopters pounded more suspected rebel hideouts in nearby hills early Friday as the firefights continued overnight, officials said.

Earlier this month Pakistan said it had raided the largest Al-Qaeda hideout in North Waziristan and recovered a huge hoard of weapons from another religious school compound owned by a Taliban sympathiser.

Pakistan has pushed thousands of troops into the tribal areas to hunt Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who crossed the border after Afghanistan's hardline Taliban Islamic regime fell in late 2001.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Pakistani TV program on Tribesmen Resisting Army Operation in North Waziristan

FEA20051123013672 - OSC Feature - 0948 GMT 23 Nov 05

Karachi Geo TV in Urdu at 1700 GMT on 22 November carries regularly scheduled "Capital Talk" program hosted by noted Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir. Program is based on Hamid Mir's visit to North Waziristan where Pakistan security forces have launched a major operation to locate foreign terrorists and their local supporters. Mir says: "following the US missile attacks on Usama Bin Ladin's camps in Afghanistan's Khowst province in 1998, injured Al-Qa'ida fighters were brought to North Waziristan, which, thus, became the center of attention of international media. After 9/11, the efforts began to get rid of local and foreign militants from North Waziristan." Mir says some time ago Pakistan's Army launched a "very big operation aimed at preventing illegal movement across the Pakistan-Afghan border and to vacate the area of foreign militants." Mir says " however, a few weeks ago suddenly the local resistance intensified against the Pakistan Army."

Mir says to know the situation in North Waziristan he tried to enter Shawa sub-district with the entry pass obtained from the local political agent, but security forces at the Shawa check post asked him to go back. Mir says after persuasions, security forces agreed to provide him security and let him go to Mir Ali town. Mir says, however, local authorities stopped him at the outskirts of Mir Ali forcing him to obtain "private security" at a nearby village. Mir says he saw "rocket attack" at a camp of Pakistan's Frontier Constabulary and the exchange of fire. Video shows Mir ducking behind a vehicle as exchange of gunfire is heard in background. Mir says he came to know that the tension has risen in the area following the killing of a local youth by security forces. Mir says he was surprised to see that the tribesmen preparing for a new attack against security forces at the village. Mir says two tribal youths were killed by security forces at Isha check post located between Mir Ali and Miranshah. Video shows Mir besides the dead bodies of tribal youths. Mir says the local people claimed that both were innocent.

Mir interviews Zaheerul Islam Shah, political agent of North Waziristan, who describes the youths killed at Isha post as "terrorists." Shah says they were carrying a "very important letter" and "eight hand grenades." Shah says when they were stopped at the check post, they shot at security forces and they were killed in retaliatory firing. Shah says the letter they were carrying talked of delivery of "missiles and explosives" to a particular person to "accomplish the mission tonight." Shah says both were "Al-Qaida terrorists" out on a mission. Shah says the "resistance and defiance" by tribal elements followed the security forces attack on Maulana Saddeq Noor's headquarters who was supervising the militancy in the area. Shah says other than "local resistance", the are also faces "cross-border terrorism" and many signals have been intercepted in this regard.

Video shows Islamic seminary in Miranshah, which was set up by former Taliban Commander Jalaluddin Haqqani. Mir says the security forces have carried out "six operations" against the seminary in last 2 years, including a major operation very recently, after which it was claimed that "15 truck-load of weapons" were recovered from the seminary. Mir adds that the local people, however, claim that the seminary has been closed long time ago. Mir interviews Maj. Gen Akram Sahi who says the Army had information of the presence of Serajuddin Haqqani and his associates at the seminary and they were involved in "terrorist activities." Sahi says "arms and ammunition in tons" were recovered from the seminary and the arrested persons are now being interrogated to establish their links. Mir says many Afghan and Pakistani passports as well as pictures of many Afghan commanders were recovered from the seminary.

Mir says he then entered a mountainous area of Khati Kila in Ahmekhel near Miranshah where a major Army operation was continuing. Mir says four Army personnel, including major Taj Mohammad, were recently killed in the area. Mir says helicopter gunships are being used in the operation. Mir shows unexploded shells fired from gunships and says these shells are scattered everywhere in the area. Mir interviews a local resident Yasin who says fighting is continuing for last 3 days and army helicopters are also being used. Mir says the operation continues to arrest Saddeq Noor. Mir says he returned to Miranshah as intense exchange of fire continued at Khati Kila.

Mir says North Waziristan Political Agent Zaheerul Islam Shah summoned a jirga [tribal assembly of elders] of Asmanzai tribe to control the situation. Mir says in address to the jirga, tribal elder Maulana Abdurrehman opposed the military operation and said the local tribe should not be considered as "illiterate and uncivilized" and they retain the right to approach "international court of justice" against the military operation. Mir says another tribal elder Maulana Dindar said that the operation should be only against "foreigners." Mir says the jirga was also addressed by Naik Zaman, member of the National Assembly, who has already been described as "terrorist" by the security forces. Zaman says the jirga has demanded that all operations should be conducted by the administration of political agent and there should b no direct military action. Zaman says he is a "patriotic" Pakistani citizen and he is ready to make any sacrifice for Pakistan and all allegations against him are "fabricated and unfounded." Mir interviews Senator Matin Shah representing the region who says that proper investigation should be carried out to find out whether a "conspiracy" is being hatched to create instability in the region. When Mir asks if he thinks India is involved in the incidents in North Waziristan, without being specific, Matin Shah says "everybody is involved." Matin shah says the army should exercise restrain and take action only against foreigners. Another tribal elder Malik Shehzad Khan Wazir says the army should respect local tribal traditions and all actions should be taken after taking the political agent into confidence. Wazir says: "we have repeatedly denied and still deny that there are no elements in our region, who are continuing their activities prejudicial to the government's policies." Mir says in spite of the local leaders denial of presence of foreigners in North Waziristan, the security forces say they have recovered large amount of arms and ammunition from the region. Mir says some people believe that "agents from Afghanistan" are also involved in acts of terrorism in Nort Waziristan. Mir says a CD is readily available in Miranshah, which shows beheading of an alleged "Afghan agent". Mir says although the CD is said to have been distributed by Al-Zarqawi group, but persons shown in the CD are all local Pushto-speaking. Mir says the CD shows the admission by an Afghan spy (Saadullah Khan) that he entered North Waziristan to blow up religious schools in Miranshah for which he was promised 2 million Afghanis in Kabul. Mir says (Saadullah Khan) clearly stated in the CD that "those who imparted him the terrorist training were the Americans."

Mir says he also visited Kurram agency, another tribal area neighboring Noth Waziristan, to inquire why it enjoys complete peace in contrast to violence in North Waziristan. Mir says security was very tight in Kurram agency and he found no sympathy among local population for foreign militants. Mir interview local resident Nisar Ali who says people in Kurram agency are against Al-Qa'ida. Mir says, however, Former National Assembly Member Javed Ibrahim Piracha has different view of Al-Qa'ida fighters. Piracha says people come to pay respect at the graves of Arab fighters who died in fight with security forces after fleeing Tora Bora bombing. Piracha says he respects Usma Bin Ladin and Mollah Omar. Mir interviews Kurram Agency Political Agent Tariq Hayat Khan who claims that his region is completely free from Al-Qa'ida influence. Hayat Khan says no foreigner can hide in "class composition and social structure" of Kurram Agency.

Mir says another factor contributing to instability in North Waziristan is lack of educational facilities. Mir says he visited Miranshah government degree college to find only few students in attendance. Mir interviews teachers and students who agree that the promotion of education is answer to North Waziristan problem.

Mir concludes by saying the situation in North Waziristan continues to deteriorate and it is becoming a "no-go" area for common citizens. Mir says dialogue with local tribal population could lead to the solution of the problem.

[Description of Source: Karachi Geo TV in Urdu -- 24-hour satellite TV channel owned by Pakistan's Jang group of publishers, broadcast from Dubayy]

[This item was originally filed as SAP20051122013002]

AFP Told: Two Dozen Taliban, Islamic Militants Surrender in Afghanistan

JPP20060105063007 Hong Kong AFP in English 1007 GMT 05 Jan 06

GARDEZ, Afghanistan, Jan 5 (AFP) - Two dozen Taliban and Islamic fighters Thursday surrendered to the Afghan government under a US-backed amnesty scheme and renounced violence, officials said.

They gave themselves up in the eastern city of Gardez, capital of Paktia province, government official Habibullah Mangal told AFP.

The militants, four from the ousted Taliban regime and the rest from the Hezb-e-Islami extremist faction led by wanted warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and another anti-government commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, had been living in exile in Pakistan.

Paktia governor Hakim Taniwal welcomed the surrender and said it would help reduce the level of violence perpetrated by Taliban militants and their allies since the ouster of the Taliban regime more than four years ago.

"It is a very important step, those who were in opposition with the government now have given up and have vowed to take part in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. This will weaken the opposition," Taniwal said.

Mawlawi Abdul Hodod, representing the former militants, said they would now take part in rebuilding the war-shattered country.

"We will take part in the reconstruction of the new Afghanistan, we will also help to bring more and more people from exile," Hodod said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has offered amnesty to members of the Taliban movement and other Islamic militias "whose hands are not stained with innocent people's blood".

More than 600 have taken up the offer, including former Taliban foreign minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil and the Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef.

An anti-government insurgency being carried out by the Taliban and other Islamic insurgents, including some with links to Al-Qaeda, has claimed more than 1,600 lives in the past one year, with most of the dead militants killed by Afghan and foreign security forces.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

AFP: Pakistani Troops Destroys Islamic School Suspected of Hideout for Militants

JPP20060315063011 Hong Kong AFP in English 0945 GMT 15 Mar 06

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, March 15, 2006 (AFP) - Pakistani troops using explosives Wednesday destroyed an Islamic school suspected of being a hideout for militants in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said.

The Khalifa Madrassa in the restive North Waziristan district was seized by troops and blown up, becoming the third religious seminary to be demolished in the area in the past fortnight.

The action followed fierce clashes between Pakistani paramilitary soldiers and Taliban-supporing tribesmen that have left around 170 militants and five troops dead.

"The Khalifa Madrassa was destroyed by security forces today as part of a campaign to deprive militants of any hideout," a local official told AFP in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.

The school was unoccupied at the time, officials said.

The madrassa was set up by Khalifa, an Islamic cleric from Afghanistan who died several years ago but who was an associate of former Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, local officials said.

Haqqani is now on a US list of most wanted militants.

Last week troops and helicopter gunships destroyed seminaries run by two local clerics, Sadiq Noor and Abdul Khaleq, who were wanted for leading the unrest against the army's operations in the tribal region.

On Monday Pakistani authorities ordered thousands of Afghans living in the tribal areas to go back to their native country.

Hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters have sneaked across the mountainous border from Afghanistan in the past four years, finding support from conservative Pakistani tribesmen.

Pakistan, a key ally in the US-led "war on terror" launched military operations in the tribal areas in October 2003 and deployed more than 80,000 troops along the border.

Kabul and Afghanistan have recently traded barbs over who is responsible for cracking down on militants who operate on both sides of the frontier.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Pakistan: Taliban Said Ready for Spring Attacks as Iraq-Trained Fighters Return

SAP20060320033001 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 20 Mar 06

[Corrected version: correcting attachments; Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad from the "South Asia" section: "Taliban's Iraq-style spring is sprung"; for assistance with multimedia elements, contact OSC at 1-800-205-8615 or oscinfo@rccb.]

KARACHI - As another spring approaches in Afghanistan, another Taliban-led offensive is planned. But this year, the Taliban believe, unlike in the previous offensives in the five years since they were booted out of power in Kabul, they are better organized than ever before.

A key to the Taliban's revival has been the links it has forged with the resistance in Iraq, which has provided hundreds of Taliban with hands-on training in that country, as well as logistical and tactical support.

One such support device is a compact disc released by the Jaishul Islam al-Iraq (Islamic Army of Iraq) that shows how urban guerrilla warfare is being conducted in Iraq and how this can be adapted to the resistance in Afghanistan. The CD, a copy of which has been obtained by Asia Times Online, is widely circulated among the rank and file of the Taliban.

The Jaishul Islam al-Iraq is an indigenous group commanded by many former top Iraqi generals and independent Islamists, and the CD therefore shows the very refined quality of their attacks. The group fully coordinates its activities with other groups, such as Ansarul Sunna, and it also has good ties with al-Qaeda.

The CD contains 10 separate clips, each one showing a significant aspect of Jaishul's strategy. These include:

· The structure of the group's intelligence;

· Infiltration of the rank and file of enemy forces;

· Exhaustive knowledge of the target;

· Precise identification of the "material" to be used against specified targets;

· The importance of dedicated foot soldiers.

One of the clips shows two vehicles seconds before one of them, laden with explosives, rams into a US armored vehicle. The other truck, which has been monitoring the progress of the target, can be seen frantically reversing from the scene.

Another clip shows guerrillas taking up positions near a spot used by a US helicopter carrying soldiers. As the chopper takes off, it is hit by a missile and crashes. Several soldiers can be seen burned in the wreckage, while one who survives can be seen pleading, in English, for his life. The response is a hail of bullets that kill him.

Other footage shows an attack on the US base of Tal Afar. The resistance, with the help of collaborators within the Iraqi forces, has planted explosives in the camp, which can be seen going off. In one picture, US soldiers watch the first explosion. In the next second, their building is blown up.

As a background to the images, Koranic verses are recited, as well as resistance songs in Arabic, such as "We will defend our land with full vigor."

The spring is sprung

Asia Times Online has learned that as many as 500 fighters who trained in Iraq are now in Afghanistan or Pakistan, while many others are expected to return soon.

The Taliban's connection with Iraq began before the US-led attack there in 2003 when Taliban leader Mullah Omar sent some of his men to stay with the Ansarul Islam, a Kurdish Islamic group in northern Iraq, to train and fight alongside Kurdish guerrillas against Saddam Hussein's forces. After the US invasion, many of these men went to other parts of the country to fight alongside various groups opposed to the US forces.

In 2003, one of the Taliban commanders who had been sent to Iraq, Mullah Mehmood Allah Haq Yar, returned to Afghanistan, where he rejected the traditional style of guerrilla warfare in operation since the anti-Soviet resistance of the 1980s - heavy reliance on AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades.

The first thing he taught the Taliban was the formation of groups that could fight independently and which would be task-orientated to specific missions. Many of these small groups were sent regularly to Iraq between 2004 and 2005, where they spent months with the Jaishul Islam al-Iraq, the Ansarul Sunna and other Islamic groups.

In return, these men passed on their new-found expertise to comrades in Pakistan's tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan, notably North and South Waziristan, the former being a veritable Taliban stronghold, the latter heading that way. And significantly, a la Iraq, they have organized scores of suicide squads, a relatively new phenomenon in Afghanistan.

Taking on Pakistan

In the first phase of their spring offensive, the Taliban aim to contain the Pakistani army by engaging it throughout the tribal belt. This will allow the Taliban freely to cross the leaky border with Afghanistan, or better, strike a deal with the army to leave the Taliban alone. According to contacts who spoke to Asia Times Online, a blueprint for such attacks in the tribal areas has already been approved by the Taliban's command council.

Within Afghanistan, heavyweights Kashmir Khan of the Hizb-i-Islami Afghanistan, Mullah Dadullah, Mullah Akhtar Usmani and Sirajul Haq Haqqani, son of former Taliban minister and commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, are already in the field to influence local tribes to support the Taliban movement.

Shabname, or "night messages", contained in pamphlets are being distributed asking people to revolt against foreign forces, which, the pamphlets say, are made up of people from countries where caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed have been published and his personality ridiculed.

Independent analysts believe that the Taliban, even with training, will be unlikely to achieve anything like the level of warfare being waged by the Iraqi resistance, which has a strong element of hardened professional soldiers.

Nevertheless, the Afghan resistance will be sufficiently competent and equipped and big enough to remain a serious threat to US and allied troops, and even force a rethink on their part.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English -- A Hong Kong-based Internet-only publication which claims to report on and examine geopolitical, political, economic, and business issues in English "from an Asian perspective"; root URL on filing date: ]

UK Reports Suggests Pakistan Army Losing Fight Against Islamist Militants

EUP20060504015006 London The Guardian (Internet Version-WWW) in English 04 May 06

[Report by Declan Walsh in Kundi Ghar: "New Frontline in the War on Terror. Experts Fear Pakistan Is Losing Fight Against an Islamist Militant Revolt in Its Tribal Belt"]

As hideouts go, the Shawal Valley in northern Pakistan is a militant's dream. Lonely goat trails wind through a rocky 25-mile corridor that nudges the Afghan border. Its fiercely conservative tribesmen and forbidding high-walled compounds have sheltered Taliban fighters and probably Al-Qa'ida fugitives.

Last weekend Brigadier Imtiaz Wyne, a Pakistani army commander, stood on the top of one of its highest peaks and declared his 5,000 troops had tamed the wild valley - almost. "This border is sealed," he said, pointing to a line of observation posts along the border.

But the cornered militants were fighting back, he admitted. His soldiers had suffered five major attacks in the previous month; on one occasion a captured soldier was gruesomely mutilated before being executed.

"They are a mix - foreigners, locals, Afghan Taliban, criminals," said the officer. "It's difficult to say who is the leader, but ultimately it is Al-Qa'ida."

A vicious mini-war has erupted between the Pakistani army and the "Pakistani Taliban" in North Waziristan, a turbulent tribal area that has moved to the front line of the Pakistani and US "war on terror". Every day sees fresh violence between the army and militants - a loose coalition of radical clerics, tribal leaders and Al-Qa'ida fighters.

The biggest upset occurred in early March, when 1,500 self-styled Taliban assaulted a military base in the main town, Miran Shah. The ensuing four-day battle involved artillery and helicopters gunships and left 145 militants dead, 25 of them foreigners, according to the army figures.

The fight is also ideological. Taliban clerics have imposed strict social edicts, such as a ban on music or films, and started to dispense summary justice. Last week Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, told the Guardian he was concerned "Talibanisation" was spilling into the settled areas. "There is an extremist mindset - attacks on barbers, no television or songs," he said.

A Pakistani intelligence officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the revolt was led by eight tribal and cleric leaders. Some have direct links to the Afghan Taliban. "We have apprehended people on their way to attack US positions in Afghanistan," he said.

Army generals, who have deployed 45,000 regular and paramilitary troops to quell the revolt, insist they have the upper hand. "I am hurt when anyone says there is no writ of government, because my forces are everywhere," area commander Maj Gen Akram Sahi said. His forces had killed 324 "miscreants", arrested 142 and blown up a madrasa (religious school) used to train jihadi fighters, he said. The death toll may include some civilian deaths, western diplomats believe.

Gen Sahi, who admitted that radical Islamic forces were supplanting traditional tribal rule in Waziristan, sought to discredit the revolt's leaders. After searching a house used by cleric Abdul Khaliq his troops found "the most dirty films", he said. "How can they talk of being Taliban?"

Measuring Militancy

Gauging the militants' strength is difficult. Foreign journalists are banned from the tribal areas, most local correspondents have fled, and it was not possible to interview any residents during a recent media trip. Analysts and local media believe, however, that the Taliban are gaining ground.

A diplomat with access to western intelligence, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the army was "floundering" in its efforts to wrest control of the turbulent area. "Military equipment, training, and communications are inadequate given the task at hand," he said, estimating the number of Taliban fighters at more than 5,000.

The militants have tightened their grip using Iraq-style scare tactics. More than 150 pro-government figures have been killed in the past year, at least a dozen of whom were decapitated, according to Pakistani intelligence.

They are also supported by Al-Qa'ida fugitives who have found refuge in their homes. Haji Khalil, an elder in Miran Shah, told the Daily Times newspaper that "hundreds" of foreign militants - Uzbek, Chechen and Arabs - were living in the tribal areas. "Nobody can differentiate between them and the locals because they wear local dress and speak Pushto fluently," he said.

The revolt is probably being funded from the Middle East, the diplomat said. Donors are recruited using videos showing Taliban attacks on American forces in Afghanistan or gory beheadings of alleged US collaborators.

Afghan Links

The military says it has lost 50 soldiers in the last year and more than 400 since it started operations in South Waziristan in 2004. Even so, many Afghan officials question whether the army - and in particular its Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) - is truly committed to stamping out the Taliban. "The ISI is not interested in a prosperous and peaceful Afghanistan. They want to see a weak Afghanistan," said Governor Merajudin Pathan by phone from Khost, the closest Afghan province.

Waziristan has a rich history of militancy. During the 1980s struggle against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan it was a base for mujahideen fighters. The US and Saudi Arabia funded their fight; Pakistani intelligence organised it. That support has returned to haunt the US.

One of the main jihadi leaders to receive CIA weapons was Jalaluddin Haqqani, a cleric who ran a network of Wahabbi madrasas spanning Waziristan and Khost. He became a Taliban minister and helped Usama Bin Ladin establish a presence in Afghanistan. Now Haqqani's son, Siraj, is believed to be a leading figure in the Taliban revolt.

The presence of Al-Qa'ida bases in South Waziristan sparked the first Pakistani military strikes in 2004. But the Al-Qa'ida hunt has failed to come close to the biggest catch of all. An intelligence source said Bin Ladin was probably hiding in the tribal belt, although not in Waziristan. "For now, it's probably just too dangerous," he said.

[Description of Source: London The Guardian (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- prominent center-left daily]

Taliban Asks Foreign, Local Militants Not To Fight Pakistan Army in Tribal Areas

SAP20060708033001 Lahore Daily Times (Internet Version-WWW) in English 08 Jul 06

[Daily Times staff report: "Amarat-e-Islami will not fight Pakistani soldiers"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

MIRANSHAH: Amarat-e-Islami has declared that its mujahideen, whether they are ansaar or mohajir, will not fight Pakistani soldiers because this war would benefit America and its allies fighting the mujahideen in Afghanistan.

Pamphlets written in Pushto and distributed on Thursday night in Miranshah read: "Amarat-e-Islami has declared that Wazir and Mehsud tribes of South Waziristan and the mujahideen of North Waziristan will remain loyal to Jalaluddin Haqqani, mujahideen commander and a former Taliban minister". The pamphlet stated that the mujahideen in South and North Waziristan should form a committee to collect funds and assign clerics and honest tribesmen to use the funds for the mujahideens' welfare. It added that all commanders should consult each other before doing or deciding anything, follow the Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), and urge others to do the same. The pamphlets were signed by Bakhat Jan, a commander of Jalaluddin Haqqani, and Usmani.

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of the independent, moderate daily, run by veteran journalist Najam Sethi and published by the Friday Times group. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated hardcopy circulation of 20,000; root URL as of filing date: ]

UK Source Says Three Taliban Leaders Behind Deaths of UK Soldiers in Afghanistan

EUP20060709031001 London The Observer (Internet Version-WWW) in English 09 Jul 06

[Report by Jason Burke: "Hunt for the Taliban Trio Intent on Destruction"]

The trio are known as 'the junta'. They live in the shadows of southern Afghanistan, masters of bands of determined fighters who want to destroy any outside military presence. And that means destroying the British army in Afghanistan.

Coalition intelligence officers in the country held an emergency meeting last week to co-ordinate the hunt for the three, who are believed to be behind much of the current upsurge in fighting.

As fears in London grew over the spiralling violence in southern Afghanistan, British, American and French officers discussed how to track down, capture and kill the Taliban leaders. They are: Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran tribal leader and guerrilla fighter; Mullah Mohammed Omar, the reclusive one-eyed cleric who led the Taliban regime when in power; and the lesser-known Mullah Mohammed Dadullah Akhund, an ultra-violent and media-savvy commander who is emerging as the number-one enemy of coalition and Afghan government forces.

The Observer has learnt that an air strike in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province, where around 4,000 British troops are deployed, was aimed at Mullah Dadullah. American defence officials have claimed that the strike killed 35 Taliban, including 'senior figures'. But Dadullah appears to have escaped again.

US and British military officials are keen to downplay any focus on individual leaders: 'This is about tackling the roots of a complex and dynamic insurgency, not just taking out individuals,' said one US source in Kabul. Yet few doubt that killing or capturing any of the three leading figures in the Taliban would seriously weaken the militants.

The atmosphere in the leafy compound of the British-run headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul was tense last week. Though ISAF, and thus NATO, which runs it, has yet to assume overall control of military operations in Afghanistan from the Americans, a transfer which should occur in three weeks, the staff officers splitting their time between open-air coffee shop and meetings and briefings are increasingly concerned by the task that faces them.

Estimates of the size of the Taliban forces range from 1,000 active fighters - the number given by Major General Chris Brown to The Observer - to 5,000, the number given by American officials. Coalition bulletins have claimed a total of more than 900 Taliban killed since the beginning of the year. The truth is that no solid figures exist.

Afghan officials in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, where the insurgents are most active, speak of 'a broad range of actors who are united on an ad hoc basis to carry out individual operations'. Coalition reports now refer to the enemy as 'anti-coalition militants' or 'ACM', rather than 'Al-Qa'ida/Taliban' or 'AQT' as before. 'It's a semantic change but important evidence of our evolving appreciation of the varied nature of the foe,' said one coalition officer. However, the very complexity of the enemy - which includes religious militants, tribal militias, drug traffickers and bandits - has paradoxically reinforced an emphasis on identifying, tracking and killing leaders. 'At least that gives us something to shoot at,' said one senior soldier.

Intelligence reports and interviews in Kabul and Kandahar reveal that the new 'Taliban triumvirate' was put in place in the spring when Mullah Omar, who founded the original Taliban in 1994, appointed Haqqani to the command of the eastern sector of the insurgency, along the border with Pakistan, and gave Dadullah control of the militants battling the British in Helmand province.

All three men share similar backgrounds, though Haqqani is by far the oldest and most famous locally. All fought the Soviets before taking part in the campaigns of the mid-Nineties that saw the Taliban impose a rigorous rule on the anarchy that was Afghanistan at the time. 'They are good men, good Muslims and good mujahedin who have proved themselves,' said one Taliban supporter in the bazaar in Lashkar Gah, a few hundred yards from the British base there.

Both Dadullah and Omar received a low-level religious education and have lost legs to mines. All three are from Pashtun ethnic tribes that straddle the Afghan-Pakistani frontier, all hate America and all have powerful backing in the conservative religious networks that exist in Pakistan. Haqqani, a respected Islamic scholar, has additional lines of financing that reach back to oil-rich fundamentalists in the Gulf. According to several sources, one of Haqqani's wives is a Kuwaiti aristocrat and members of the Saudi Arabian royal family are thought to have contributed to the construction of several large religious schools under his control.

It is from these schools that Haqqani, a senior commander for the Taliban during the war of 2001 who is held in high esteem in his native dusty hills around the eastern Afghan city of Khost, has organised the dispatch of hundreds of young students to fight coalition forces during the summer break in their studies. Dadullah, for his part, has relied on contacts in the Pakistani city of Quetta and the frontier town of Chaman for fighters, many of whom are paid a salary, to bolster his largely local forces in Helmand.

Though the Pakistani government denies any support for the Taliban from within its territory, it is clear that much of the population along the frontier is deeply sympathetic to the religious militant movement. Scores of people gathered recently in the small Pakistani village of Mahmoudabad, a mile from the Afghan border, for the funeral of Abdul Baqi, 24, a local man who was killed fighting coalition forces near Kandahar. Baqi, a student in a madrasah or religious school, joined the Taliban this year and was killed during an attack by American jets on a Taliban stronghold in Panjawi district, just to the west of Kandahar. 'We are proud of him,' Abdul Qadir, his older brother, told reporters.

Much of the limelight has been seized by Mullah Dadullah. After being declared dead by coalition forces, the 40-year-old fighter surfaced last month in a video broadcast by al-Jazirah in which he was seen firing an automatic weapon and dispatching orders to suicide bombers. Dadullah is known as ruthless even among the Taliban. Some video images show fighters decapitating six Afghans they accuse of spying.

Though Dadullah is believed to be behind much of the resistance in Helmand, where six British troops have been killed, a classified American intelligence briefing on narcotics reveals that the fierce resistance to the attempt by troops to establish a presence in the hills in the north of the province owes as much to a powerful desire to protect drugs industry profits as it does to religious fervour.

The report details the close links between drug traffickers and Taliban leaders and alleges high-level corruption in the Afghan government. It also reveals the existence of mobile heroin laboratories in Pakistan which process large quantities of Afghan opium. The drug is then smuggled to Iran, Turkey and finally to Europe along routes that pass through the valleys where British troops are currently fighting.

The British military still hope that reconstruction may win over 'hearts and minds' despite the fierce fighting. Brigadier Ed Butler, the commander of British forces in Afghanistan, has reportedly requested engineers to aid building projects. Yet the overall reconstruction context is not promising.

Two years ago, The Observer travelled to the village of Sangesar, the birthplace of the Taliban and at that time still under government control - or at least government-friendly warlords. When asked what they wanted, local people replied: 'Security and a well.' Last week Engineer Asadullah, the head of the Ministry for Rural Development (DRD) in Kandahar province, said that Sangesar district now has dozens of wells - 32 were completed last year. Yet Sangesar, like so many other districts locally, is now strongly Taliban. 'You could say it's too little too late,' said Asadullah bitterly. 'Most of the money that was pledged from the West for reconstruction has not been spent on projects but has gone on experts and rents in Kabul,' Asadullah said.

Observers say the British government is over-estimating the impact even a successful mission would have. 'The UK element is part of a broader military strategy that is part of a national political strategy that itself is heavily influenced by a regional situation,' said one Western diplomat in Kabul. 'Even if it works 100 per cent, it will not be the answer without a huge effort elsewhere.'

The result may be that Haqqani, Omar and Dadullah - 'the bad, the ugly and the uglier', as one intelligence officer put it - are likely to be at large for some time yet, along with as many Taliban as they can put in the field.

[Description of Source: London The Observer (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Sunday edition of The Guardian, the prominent center-left daily]

Asia Times: 'In Search of the Taliban's Missing Link '

CPP20060918720003 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1023 GMT 15 Sep 06

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad : "In Search Of The Taliban's Missing Link "; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - Despite spending many millions of dollars, US intelligence, five years after the ouster of the Taliban from Kabul, remains in the dark over the command structure of the Taliban.

The Taliban have a tight high command from where - and this is the mystery - precise orders, such as targets, are relayed to the fighters in the field. Cracking this code is key to putting a brake on the insurgency that gathers strength by the day.

When the Taliban's spring offensive began in June, the US-led coalition's intelligence identified the people in the Taliban's command council and their usual modus operandi and location in the guerrilla war.

All coalition tactics were based on this information, such as search operations, troop postings, logistics and arms allocations. The primary aim was to net Taliban leader Mullah Omar and close aides, such as Maualana Jalaluddin Haqqani, Mullah Dadullah and Mullah Gul Mohammed Jangvi.

Months later, these men have not even come close to being captured. That leaves the questions unanswered: How (and from where) do they manage to relay their instructions into the battlefield? Asia Times Online has learned that this year alone, international intelligence operations in Afghanistan have spent millions of dollars trying to find out, even as fighting in the past month has been the heaviest ever.

Significantly, the Taliban are now drawing increasing support from the Afghan population. These additional numbers have allowed them for the first time to conduct their own large-scale search operations against NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) troops in the south.

As a result, NATO this week requested additional troops, with no success. The alliance, which took command of military operations in southern Afghanistan on July 31, had wanted 2,000 extra soldiers to reinforce the 19,000-strong International Security Assistance Force.

Throwing more troops into a conventional battle (artillery and air strikes especially) might not be the best way to go as long as there remains a basic lack of understanding of where the enemy's command center is and how the mujahideen receive orders. What is known is that among the rank and file of the mujahideen there is a strong system of communication, with instructions flowing freely and quickly.

And despite claims by coalition forces to the contrary, the Taliban are not obsessed with taking control of provinces or districts. They abandoned that tactic at the end of July, and a lull in fighting followed.

Since then, the new policy has been that the local population join in the fight against NATO, especially hunting down its convoys.

What is worth noting is that what is happening in Afghanistan has happened before, against the British many years ago and against the Soviets more recently. This latest battle against a foreign invader is being fought as a classic Afghan war, although the sequence of events is somewhat different.

In the past, resistance leaders migrated to neighboring states early in the campaign. This time it is happening much later. Previously, command councils were formed at the end, and the mass mutiny started earlier. This time it is the other way around.

Of one thing the Taliban are convinced, blindly some might say: Afghan tradition dictates that foreign forces will be resisted to the last. Further, the Taliban believe that by the end of the spring offensive, Mullah Omar will again declare himself head of the Islamic Emirate of Taliban for a final battle against the foreigners.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Pakistan: 'Taliban Armed Force' Patrols Areas; Talibanization Spreads in NWFP

SAP20060930033003 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 30 Sep 06

[Report by Behroz Khan: "Settled NWFP areas also under threat of Talibanisation"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The one after the other peace agreements with militants in south and north Waziristan agencies have not only strengthened religious groups in the tribal region, but sent a strong message to the adjacent settled districts of the NWFP to be the next to witness a visible parallel administration supervised and controlled from this troubled belt along the Pak-Afghan border.

Interviews with tribesmen belonging to both agencies based in DI Khan revealed that lifestyle of the people in DI Khan, Tank, Lakki Marwat and Bannu is undergoing a rapid change, as the writ of religious groups reigns supreme.

"People live in fear in the tribal as well as settled areas," was a brief comment of a lawyer in DI Khan, as he had to abandon his native south Waziristan and make this multicultural city situated on the bank of Indus river as his permanent abode. The lawyer had to pull his 16-year-old son back from a training camp in Wana run by militant groups on the pretext that his college has reopened after the two and a half months summer vacation.

"I did not know that my son will land in a training camp while visiting his village in summer," the lawyer said, whose name is not being disclosed for security reason. It is a fact that every family from the Mehsud tribe has volunteered to send one person to the armed force operating under Amir of the Mujahideen, Commander Baitullah Mehsud. However, locals said the Afghan Mujahideen leader, Commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, who is the Amir of all the Afghan and Pakistani fighters, has appointed Haji Muhammad Omar as the overall in charge of the Mujahideen in South Waziristan agency. But the role and respect of Baitullah Mehsud has not been eclipsed by the appointment of Haji Omar and the fighters, mainly active on the Afghan side of the border at the moment, affiliate themselves with Mehsud.

The administration of South Waziristan is run through a Shoora of elders, which is responsible for peace and security and awarding punishment to sinners under the Shariah laws. "Apart from seizing civil liberties and encouraging the youth for "Jihad", the Taliban rule in South Waziristan has provided a sense of security to the people," said another lawyer at the DI Khan district courts.

Muhammad Hashim, who is also from South Waziristan said the people in DI Khan, Tank and Bannu have mentally accepted the fact that the Taliban-style of governance was their fate. About 98 per cent of the people in South Waziristan have grown beards, the youth dress like the Taliban of Afghanistan and the trend is now taking its roots in the settled districts.

Only Taliban CDs and cassettes are allowed to play in the tribal region and shopkeepers doing business in CDs and other electronics in Tank and DI Khan have either closed down businesses or switching to something else due to warnings issued by local Taliban to them.

Meanwhile, the arguments of President Gen Pervez Musharraf during his trip to the United States regarding the peace agreement have not been received positively by religious and militant groups, party to the deal.

Interaction with tribesmen from North Waziristan in DI Khan and telephonic contacts with representatives of the religious groups in Miranshah, headquarters of North Waziristan agency, suggest that the clerics, militants known as 'Mujahideen' and the students of religious seminaries, identifying themselves as the Taliban, have expressed reservations over the arguments of President Musharraf that the agreement reached with them on September 5 was not with militants but the Utmanzai tribe.

Government representatives, Taliban, Mujahideen, clerics and the tribal elders on behalf of the Utmanzai tribe, including Wazir and Dawar tribes, have singed the peace agreement. The impression among the militants and clerics is that as if the government has backed out of the pact by dissociating itself from the real party to the conflict, those who fought the security forces and are now in control of the affairs of the agency.

The Taliban armed force has started patrolling the roads and streets in Miranshah and Mirali areas wherein they stop and search vehicles and people during night to ensure foolproof security in the agency, a source from Mirali told The News.

Locals in Miranshah said that no peace deal would bring results minus Taliban and the impression at the moment among them is that they (militants) have been de-recognised by the government.

Contacts with the representatives of the militants bore no fruit, as they are reluctant to speak about the validity or otherwise of the agreement, but one of their spokesman asking anonymity said that such statements at the highest level were indicative of the fact that Mujahideen and the Taliban are no longer under obligation to honour the peace deal because the government only own the Utmanzai tribe while it has signed the agreement with the Taliban, Ulema and Mujahideen.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; root URL as of filing date: ]

Asia Times: 'Taliban Lay Plans for Islamic Intifada '

CPP20061006720004 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1044 GMT 05 Oct 06

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad : "Taliban Lay Plans For Islamic Intifada "; headline as provided by source]

THE PASHTUN HEARTLAND, Pakistan and Afghanistan - With the snows approaching, the Taliban's spring offensive has fallen short of its primary objective of reviving the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan, as the country was known under Taliban rule from 1996-2001.

BOTh foreign forces and the Taliban will bunker down until next spring, although the Taliban are expected to continue with suicide missions and some hit-and-run guerrilla activities. The Taliban will take refuge in the mountains that cross the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where they will have plenty of time to plan the next stage of their struggle: a countrywide "Islamic Intifada of Afghanistan" calling on all former mujahideen to join the movement to boot out foreign forces from Afghanistan.

The intifada will be both national and international. On the one hand it aims to organize a national uprising, and on the other it will attempt to make Afghanistan the hub of the worldwide Islamic resistance movement, as it was previously under the Taliban when Osama bin Laden and his training camps were guests of the country.

The ideologue of the intifada is bin Laden's deputy, Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, who has assembled a special team to implement the idea. Key to this mission is Mullah Mehmood Allah Haq Yar. Asia Times Online was early to pinpoint Haq Yar as an important player (see Osama adds weight to Afghan resistance , September 11, 2004).

Oriented primarily towards Arabs, especially Zawahiri, Haq Yar speaks English, Arabic, Urdu and Pashtu with great fluency. He was sent by Taliban leader Mullah Omar to northern Iraq to train with Ansarul Islam fighters before the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. He returned to Afghanistan in 2004 and was inducted into a special council of commanders formed by Mullah Omar and assigned the task of shepherding all foreign fighters and high-value targets from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan.

He is an expert in urban guerrilla warfare, a skill he has shared with the Taliban in Afghanistan. His new task might be more challenging: to gather local warlords from north to south under one umbrella and secure international support from regional players.

A major first step toward creating an intifada in Afghanistan was the establishment of the Islamic State of North Waziristan in the Pakistani tribal area this year. This brought all fragmented sections of the Taliban under one command, and was the launching pad for the Taliban's spring offensive.

Subsequently, there has been agreement between a number of top warlords in northern Afghanistan and the Taliban to make the intifada a success next year. Credit for this development goes mainly to Haq Yar.

Haq Yar was recently almost cornered in Helmand province in Afghanistan by British forces. Before that, he spoke to Asia Times Online at an undisclosed location in the Pashtun heartland straddling Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Asia Times Online: When are the Taliban expected to announce the revival of the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan?

Haq Yar: Well, the whole Islamic world is waiting for the revival of the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan, but it will take some time. But sure, it will ultimately happen, and this is what the Taliban's struggle is all about.

ATol: Can you define the level of Taliban-led resistance in Afghanistan?

Haq Yar: It has already passed the initial phases and now has entered into a tactical and decisive phase. It can be measured from the hue and cry raised by the US and its allies. Daily attacks on NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) forces are now routine and suicide attacks are rampant.

ATol: To date, the Taliban have been very active in southwestern Afghanistan, but traditionally success comes when a resistance reaches eastern areas, especially the strategically important Jalalabad. When will this happen?

Haq Yar: Well, I do not agree that the Taliban movement is restricted to southwest Afghanistan. We have now established a network under which we are allied with many big a nd small mujahideen organizations, and in that way we are fighting foreign forces throughout Afghanistan. In a recent development, the deputy chief of the Taliban movement, Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani, is now positioned in the eastern zone, including Jalalabad, from where he is guiding attacks on coalition forces. This eastern zone is also part of the Taliban's stronghold.

ATol: What is the role of bin Laden and Zawahiri?

Haq Yar: We are allies and part and parcel of every strategy. Wherever mujahideen are resisting the forces of evil, Arab mujahideen, al-Qaeda and leaders Osama bin Laden and Dr Zawahiri have a key role. In Afghanistan they also have a significant role to support the Taliban movement.

ATol: Is the present Taliban-led resistance against the US and its allies a local resistance or is it international? That is, are resistance movements in other parts of the world led from Afghanistan?

Haq Yar: Initially it was a local movement, but now it is linked with resistance movements in Iraq and other places. We are certainly in coordination with all resistance movements of the Muslim world.

ATol: What is the Taliban strategy with groups like Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and the Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (Khalis)?

Haq Yar: The Hezb-i-Islami of Hekmatyar and the Taliban are fighting under a coordinated strategy and support each other. The leadership of the Khalis group is now in the hands of his son, who is coordinating everything with Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani.

ATol: What is the Taliban's weaponry? Is it old Russian arms or they have acquired new ones - and if so, where are they getting them?

Haq Yar: The Taliban have all the latest weaponry required for a guerrilla warfare. Where does it come from? Well, Afghanistan is known as a place where weapons are stockpiled. And forces that provided arms a few decades ago - the same weapons are now being used against them.

ATol: The Taliban contacted commanders in northern Afghanistan. What was the result?

Haq Yar: About one and a half years ago these contacts were initiated. Various groups from the north contacted us. We discussed the matter with (Taliban leader) Mullah Mohammed Omar Akhund and then, with his consent, I was assigned to negotiate matters with the Northern Alliance.

The first meeting was held in northern Afghanistan, where I represented the Taliban. Many individuals from various groups of the Northern Alliance attended the meeting and they all condemned the foreign presence in the country, but insisted that the Taliban should take the lead, and then they would follow suit. Another meeting was held after that in which various individuals come up with some conditions, and there was no conclusion. There was no collective meeting, but there are contacts.

ATol: What is the role of the tribal chiefs?

Haq Yar: The tribal chiefs have always been supportive of the Taliban and still are. How could they not be? The US bombed and killed thousand of their people and the puppet (President Hamid) Karzai government is silent. All Afghans are sick and tired of US tyrannies and daily bombardment, whether they are commoners or chiefs, and that is why they are all with the Taliban.

Actually, we have also worked on organizing that support. On the instructions of Mullah Mohammed Omar Akhund, I met with tribal chiefs last year and prepared the grounds for this year's battle (spring offensive), and all tribal chiefs assured me of their support. And now there is support - it is there for everybody to see.

ATol: It is said that the Taliban are now fueled by drug money. Is this correct, and if not, how do they manage their financial matters?

Haq Yar: It is shameful to say that the Taliban, who eliminated poppies from Afghanistan, are dependent on the drug trade to make money. This is wrong. As far as money is concerned, we do not need much. Whatever is required, we manage it through our own limited resources.

ATol: Are you satisfied with the media's role?

Haq Yar: Not at all. They do not publish our point of view. They never tried to talk to the genuine Taliban. Rather, they go after not genuine people who are basically plants and rejected by the Taliban leadership.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Pakistan: Taliban Runs 2d Office After Govt's Peace Deal With 'Wanted' Militants

SAP20061014033002 Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English 14 Oct 06

[Report by Ismail Khan: "Why the Waziristan deal is a hard sell"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR, Oct 13: New facts have emerged about this year's September 5 deal between the government and militants in North Waziristan that may explain the unease felt by international players involved in the conflict in Afghanistan. Although the agreement secured the public endorsement of US President George W. Bush, western and Afghan officials are privately critical of the deal.

Sources say there are a number of factors fuelling suspicion. Firstly, the deal was signed with militants and not with tribal elders, as is being officially claimed. The signatories are the two principal parties to the conflict: (a) the administrator of North Waziristan as the government representative, and (b) militants and clerics who until September 5 were on the wanted list. Among them are Hafiz Gul Bahadar, Maulana Sadiq Noor, Azad Khan, Maulvi Saifullah, Maulvi Ahmad Shah Jehan, Azmat Ali, Hafiz Amir Hamza and Mir Sharaf.

The first two in the list are top militant clerics and the remaining six were nominated by them to co-sign the agreement, sources say, adding that they were all pardoned by the government subsequent to the deal. The agreement identifies them as 'fareeq-e-doum' (second party). As the names indicate, no tribal elder from the Utmanzai tribe was among the signatories, as claimed by the government. The 45-member inter-tribal jirga handpicked and nominated by Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai countersigned the document as the interlocutors. Period.

As such the argument that the peace agreement is against the Taliban, and not with the Taliban, just does not hold water. One expert asks: "How could the militants in North Waziristan, who owe their allegiance to Mullah Omar and his commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, who is responsible for southern Afghanistan, sign a deal against their brothers in arms?"

Secondly, the deal stipulates that foreign militants living in North Waziristan would either leave or live peacefully. But no mechanism has been put in place to oversee and verify either their conduct or the departure of those who violate the agreement. Over a month after the signing of the deal, there is no progress on this front.

Contrary to the government's assertion, troops deployed in and around Miramshah, except those manning the borders, have been removed from check-posts and relocated to their camps. All weapons seized from militants have been returned and their men released.

There have been more kidnappings, robberies and murders since then as the Khasadar force -- a ragtag, untrained tribal force left to man the posts -- has neither the teeth nor the wherewithal to rein in the militants or control crime, area residents point out.

Eyewitnesses say there are now not one but two Taliban offices in Miramshah to maintain law and order, control crime and address public complaints, a serious violation of the agreement by the Taliban who had undertaken not to form a parallel administration in the tribal region.

There is growing evidence that militants are now more assertive than they were before the September 5 agreement. Recently they wrested custody of suspects, along with a vehicle the latter had snatched, telling the Khasadars that they would deal with the suspects themselves. Nothing is known as to what happened afterwards as the hapless Khasadars merely looked on.

The agreement says that there will be no cross-border infiltration but Nato military officials stationed in Afghanistan have been quoted as saying there is a 3oo per cent increase in militant activity in the border regions. The death of a local militant commander, Maulvi Mir Kalam, and his men in an operation across the border and the capture of 10 of their comrades by security forces is a case in point.

The deal also stipulated there would be no targeted killings but recent reports indicate that alleged spies have been assassinated by militants in the region.

In essence, there are two main verifiable clauses in the agreement: one, that the militants would not attack government forces and installations and, two, that the government, for its part, would not undertake any ground or air offensive. That the two sides have stuck to their word on at least these two points explains the relative peace in an otherwise volatile tribal region.

Equally crucial and perhaps central to this whole agreement were the two other clauses, the presence of foreign militants and cross-border infiltration. It is unclear what additional steps the government has taken to stop militants' movement across the border since the truce. But if the death of Mir Kalam and the reported arrest and subsequent release of three 'mujahideen' in the Kurram tribal region -- at the request of militants in North Waziristan -- are any indication, the government will find it hard to defend its position that the truce is directed against the Taliban and not in their favour.

Indeed, peace is the desired goal. But one look at the agreement and the situation on the ground and it is glaringly evident that the government has chosen the path of pacification by appearing to capitulate to the militants than take corrective measures to ensure lasting peace. Peace is vital but not at the expense of abdicating state authority, as appears to have happened in Waziristan's case. Therefore, when President Musharraf said at a recent gathering that "there is no guarantee that it [the agreement] will succeed", it was pretty clear why.

Given the complexity of the situation, and to be fair to the president, it should be mentioned that Gen Musharraf also said that if anybody had a better idea of how to deal with the situation, he would be a patient listener.

But he is not the only player in the region, however critical his role in the war on terror may be. On cross-border infiltration, Kabul is being joined in its complaints by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). With a growing Taliban insurgency and mounting casualties being taken by the 37-nation Nato-led ISAF, Pakistan is coming under a lot of pressure to do more.

Islamabad may be asking Nato and Kabul to replicate the peace pact with the Taliban in Afghanistan but it will be difficult to push this argument along -- as Pakistan has sought to -- by citing considerations of Pushtun nationalism and a possible sense of deprivation.

Half of the Afghan parliament is Pushtun, and except for foreign minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta and interior minister Zarar Maqbal, Pushtuns hold all the powerful positions in the cabinet. President Hamid Karzai is, of course, also a Pushtun. They are also fairly well represented in the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police, so to suggest that Pushtuns face alienation in Afghanistan would be a misrepresentation of the ground realities in that country. The days of the Tajik-led Northern Alliance's dominance are over.

Indeed, Pakistan would do well to avoid using the ethnic card. It is a double-edged weapon that can cut both ways, considering the growing sense of deprivation amongst the smaller provinces at home.

It would also be unfair to liken the Taliban's resistance to a Pushtun uprising. This view betrays a lack of understanding of contemporary Pushtun society. Ethnic Pushtuns they are, but the Taliban have never espoused any nationalist ideology. Theirs is not a nationalist struggle; their resistance is fired by a desire to wage 'jihad and defeat the infidels'.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; root URL as of filing date: ]

London Daily Reports on 'Book' by Al-Qa'ida 'Theorist' Abu-al-Walid al-Misri - V

GMP20061028837003 London Al-Sharq al-Awsat (Internet Version-WWW) in Arabic 28 Oct 06

[Part V of a report by Muhammad al-Shafi'i, datelined London, on a book entiled "Chatter on the Roof of the World" by Abu-al-Walid al-Misri, whose original name is said to be Mustafa Hamid, and is also known (in London) as Hashim al-Makki, and is described as the "theorist" of the Afghan Arabs: "Chatter on the Roof of the World. The Theorist of the Afghan Arabs: 'The Muslim Brotherhood Caused us Much Hardship and Pain Throughout Our Work in Afghanistan.' Abu-al-Walid al-Misri: 'Pakistani Intelligence Kept the Mujahidin's Military Efficacy Low'."]

In the fifth installment in the serialization of the book "Chatter on the Roof of the World" by its author Abu-al-Walid al-Misri, the theorist of the "Afghan Arabs" and the in-law of Sayf al-Adl, Al-Qa'ida's military commander, Al-Masri talks about the spoils of war they saw in the wake of the first operation in which the Arabs participated against the Communist forces. He says: It was the first time we see the spoils of war. We were astonished and our feelings were indescribable. We used to hear about the spoils of war in history books on the conquests and the Muslims' flourishing days.

Abu-al-Walid al-Misri is one of the oldest Arab fighters in Afghanistan. He signed the book "Chatter on the Roof of the World" which was found by the US forces in his real name, Mustafa Hamid. Abu-al-Walid is known among Islamists in London by the name of Hashim al-Makki. Al-Sharq al-Awsat had published several articles by him after the fall of Taliban in which he criticized [Usama] Bin Ladin and his "strategic" view of the exacerbation of the conflict with the United States, and which led to the "Afghan Arabs" losing the Taliban state in which they had lived in safety and security.

Abu-al-Walid says in his new book: "We later discovered that the rivalry over showing off and leadership is yet another serious trait in the Afghan personality. It took me several years to discover that personality -- on my part at any rate -- until I became aware to a certain extent of its basic components. However, after the victory [over the Soviet forces] and the mujahidin gaining control over the country I was surprised to find that there were traits of which I was not aware until that late hour." With regard to character and temperament there were many similarities -- in our view -- between the Afghans and the ancient Arabs, and the most prominent difference between the Afghans and the new Arabs is their rejection of humiliation, their love of religion, and their quick acceptance of the option of death if their freedom is threatened or their Islam is in danger.

On the following day, our Afghan escort, Muti'allah, accompanied us to the site of the latest battle. When we reached a relatively wide valley in the midst of which was a stream we saw three armored vehicles that were burned down. Muti'allah went ahead of us carefully and asked us to watch out for mines. I felt cold sweat dripping from my body. I wanted to ask him how we watch out for the mines, when he answered me in action before I spoke. He was leaping with agility like a deer over the rocks and stone elevations. The other mujahidin did the same, and we -- I and my two friends --imitated them with some success and a great deal of fear.

The mines they used were locally made and contained several sticks of dynamite with an electric detonator and a small battery. The key to the circuit were two cardboard pieces that get folded when one steps on them and the charge blows up. It was a dangerous and imprecise device, and a dog or goat passing over it could detonate the mine. In any case, a number of armored vehicles had been blown up, and that was enough to demoralize the attacking forces which surrendered a short time after the mujahidin opened fire at them.

It was the first time in which we came across the mines problem which has become one of the problems of the Afghan war and which -- according to UN estimates -- will remain for a 1,000 years. Estimates of the number of mines that were left beneath the ground after the war vary: there are 10 million mines by some estimates, and 100 million by others.

Abu-al-Walid says if there is a description other than infidelity that can be given to the communist regime of [Nur Muhammad] Taraki [president of Afghanistan from April 1978 to October 1979] it is foolishness. Foolishness was the distinguishing feature of the behavior of Taraki and his communist party Khalq in all spheres of his domestic policy or military policy. They became arrogant and over-confident and used force in excess, turning the people against them. Moreover, they were openly hostile to Islam. Militarily, they embarked on reckless adventures that lost them large sections of the army, and the regime almost fell had it not been for the Soviet intervention. One of the indications of such foolishness was the "heavy" military campaigns that were launched deep inside mountainous areas. Taraki's military commanders -- together with a group of Soviet fools -- launched large campaigns with infantry forces backed by tanks, heavy artillery, and aircraft against the mujahidin forces in the rugged mountains. The results were tragic and were brought about by the mujahidin who had faith and determination and who fought fiercely. Those foolish campaigns led to supplying the mujahidin with a vast military wealth of weapons and hardware.

At the time, Taraki had 5,000 Soviet military experts who worked in the various Afghan army commands up to the detachment [fasilah] level. They took part in directing and commanding most of the campaigns against the mujahidin. From the beginning of the war to its end -- except for brief periods -- it was clear that the Soviets believed in a military ideology that relied wholly or to a very high degree on massiveness: massive equipment and massive numbers of soldiers and equipment used.

Haqqani: The Beginning of a Long Friendship

The Afghan war proved that the decisive weapon in war is the soldier who has faith, not massive numbers or technology. The communist regime lost the war on the morale level when the people did not respond positively to communist slogans, but decided to confront them with arms whatever the outcome. The Soviet forces throughout the war did not demonstrate a high morale or real belief in the aim of the war, namely to defend a friendly communist regime from foreign interference. Communism had died in the souls of Soviet soldiers before they came to Afghanistan, and then it died before their eyes in Afghanistan despite the outstanding efforts of their state to keep it alive. That is why when those soldiers returned to their country frustrated and defeated, communism in the Soviet collapsed. The Red Army -- the mainstay of the state and the protector of the regime -- realized that it is protecting a long-dead body.

We left Muti'allah's center in the Zerok region of Oruzgan and we headed -- in accordance with our host's itinerary -- toward the mawlawi [a religious title] Jalaluddin Haqqani center in (Sirana). They said to us he is a religious scholar and a brave and famous military commander and that he is the second man in the Yunus Khalis' Hizb Islami. We were forced to go round a long distance in the mountains that were covered with pine trees to get from Zerok to (Sirana) to bypass Nakka where the Taraki government still maintained a strong garrison. Several kilometers before we got to (Sirana), they asked us to stay until Haqqani, who is outside (Sirana) and who is engaged in a battle with the communist forces, is notified. We waited for a whole day until we received permission to proceed to meet with Haqqani who received us with 20 of his men in the midst of a woody area in a valley between two mountains. They did not open fire as in the Muti'allah camp. Moreover, Haqqani ordered his men to remain near the trees, away from the sunlight. It was clear that the situation was tense and they ere expecting aerial bombardment of their area following the previous days' battles which -- we had learned -- they won deservedly.

The mujahdin gathered around us with their old weapons and they gradually grew in numbers. Haqqani asked me to address them. That was quite embarrassing. I did not consider myself equal to those men, and I was not an orator. The men sat on the ground, with their rifles in their hands, waiting for us to address them. I delivered a short speech and I recall saying: "The banner of jihad that was raised in Badr [seventh century A.D. battle between early Muslims and Meccan infidels] has reached you. It is a big trust and a great honor for you, and the nation of Islam has its eyes on you as you raise this long-awaited banner. Indeed, the world has its eyes on the result of this battle that is taking place in Afghanistan between Islam and communism..." I recall that I ended my speech with the Koranic verse: "You who believe. If you help God He will help you and make you stand firm."

Jalaluddin Haqqani elaborated on my speech and then he invited us to climb to a house at the top of a nearby hill to complete our discussion. Haqqani explained to us the situation in Afghanistan and in their region -- Paktia province -- in detail. He also explained to us the situation among the jihadist organizations and the mujahidin's needs. The mujahid Haqqani, with whom I forged a deep friendship that survives to this day, told us that the fighting of the past two days resulted in a great victory. He invited us to see the traces of the battle on the main road not a long distance away. I still remember our visit to the location of the battle on the road between the cities of Gardiz and Khowst not far from Gardiz, the capital of the province, but separated from it by the high (Sati Kando) mountains. It was a winding road between the mountain peaks.

The convey that had been heading toward Khowst fell into a cruel ambush whose devastating effects were clearly seen, with more than 20 trucks completely destroyed and the bodies of their drivers and their assistants were charred, and white bones were protruding from them, in addition to more than 10 armored vehicles that were burned down. There were the bodies of soldiers who had fallen behind their firing positions, while some were burned inside their armored vehicles or on the main road. There was a body of a soldier, or an officer, who had crawled to the side of the road and leant his back on a rock and died beneath it. The body had disintegrated and become as black as coal, while the bones of his skull were laid bare, his two hands were on his belly, and his jawbones were open in a desperate cry for help.

In the midst of that tragic tableau I found a big book, and its glossy pages were covered with blood. It was an anthology of poems in Russian and was illustrated with amateurish romantic drawings of officers and soldiers with beautiful girls. There were also [drawings of] many flowers, trees, bottles of wine, and birds. I assumed that the entire anthology was about officers and soldiers who went to the battlefronts and left behind them their kinfolk, lovers, and the joys of life. The blood that stained the pages added a tragic conclusion to the life of a human being who lost his life in a strange land. He was killed as he was firing at innocent people while he was reading poems about love and the pain of parting, like Nero who set Rome on fire while he was singing poems. The Russian soldier had fallen, and we did not know where his body was in the midst of the charred assembly. He lost his life senselessly and about 11 years after his death communism fell and the Soviet state fell in the same mountains in Afghanistan.

The momentum of events increased after the battle on the road. Morale rose in an unexpected manner. Delegations of mujahidin from neighboring provinces arrived, especially from Ghazni, asking for assistance and especially for anti-armor weapons (RPG) [Ruchnoy Protivotankovy Granatomyot]. The Government forces in Gardiz began to grumble about their commanders. Suddenly, 11 middle-ranking officers who had fled from service arrived and said they were preparing a big surrender operation together with their soldiers, and the plan almost succeeded but the government intelligence service (Khad) discovered the matter and the officers were compelled to escape quickly before they were arrested and executed.

We sat down with the officers who belonged to different services of the armed forces. They painted to us a picture of the situation within the army and among the ranks of the Kabul regime. The picture suggested that the regime was corroding with extraordinary speed. That picture was correct to a great extent, and in December of the same year [ 1979] the Soviets were forced to bring in the Red Army to control the country and prevent the collapse of communism in a neighboring country, especially as the alternative will be Islam. The blows that were dealt to the government forces --such as the ambush on the Gardiz-Khowst highway -- had exacerbated the situation among the officers. They became divided into ordinary officers and others who belonged to the ruling Khalq Party and who were supported by Soviet advisors who were the real decision makers inside the army. The foolhardy raids which the Soviets and their followers among the Khalq officers had decided to launch ended tragically in mountainous terrain that was very favorable for the destruction of armies by men driven by unusual religious zeal. Yet despite that, there was a tangible need for the mujahdin to get training. The training the mujahidn had received at the time did not exceed training in the firing of old rifles and some light weapons which they had recently captured. They needed to be taught in the use of everything else by the soldiers and officers who had joined them.

The RPG Surprise

The mujahidin's story with the anti-tank RPG rocket launcher was amusing. They had no knowledge of the existence of that weapon in the first place. In one of their ambushes along the same road, the Gardiz-Khowst road, they attacked a convoy of infantrymen transported by trucks, behind which there were a number of armored vehicles and artillery pieces. The convoy was dispersed and most of the infantrymen escaped, while the armored vehicles and tanks continued to fire their heavy machineguns. The situation froze there and the mujahidin were unable to collect the booty or evacuate the wounded or dead. They saw a soldier carrying that strange weapon and asked him about it, and he told them it was an anti-tank [weapon]. And it became known to them as "anti-tank" until they learned its original name. They asked him to open fire at one of the tanks but he was afraid to go forward, and merely explained its use to one of the mujahidin who took the weapon, went forward, and fired the first anti-armor salvo in his military life, and indeed in the history of the entire province. The tank's turret was blown off. That was not the first surprise. The greater surprise was that all the crews of the tanks and armored vehicles jumped out of them with their hands in the air. It transpired that their fear of the RPGs was greater than the mujahidin's fear of the tanks.

From that day this strange weapon entered the records of the mujahidin's military service. The fact is they excelled in using it throughout the war, and they even used it against aircraft and helicopters. It frightened aircraft flying at low altitudes. We discovered at a late stage -- after the end of the war -- that the mujahidin used to refuse to use the RPG's telescope when aiming. At first we thought they did not have it. The fact is the telescope greatly enhances the weapon's value and potential in the battles and its great ability to hit the target. Some Afghans used to laugh when they saw an Arab use the telescope, and when we asked them why they laughed they said the telescope is only for those with poor eyesight. After enquiring and researching we learned years later that the Pakistani intelligence service which trained the Afghans in the use of artillery had refused to train them in the use of artillery telescopes. Therefore the mujahidin's artillery in most cases was to agitate and scare off, although there were limited exceptions toward the end of the war.

The tactics of using artillery were extremely backward and almost nonexistent except for the technical advice which Pakistani officers gave to the Afghan artillery men, advice that was more harmful than useful. It aimed to increase the mujahidin's reliance on the ammunition supplies that came from Pakistan and on the harmful advice of the men of the Pakistani intelligence service who were anxious to keep the mujahidin's military efficacy at a low level that does not develop in order to maintain US-Pakistani interests in steering the political aspect of the conflict in a manner compatible with the -- precisely regulated -- limits of rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Training was one of the aspects of the mujahidin's military problem throughout the war. It was also closely linked to the political aspect of the entire cause. In the following years of the war, when the Arabs appeared on the scene, we will see aspects of that problem among them as well. These days I often remember the delegation that came from Ghazni province that was led by the young mawlawi who was oozing strength and determination. I met him as soon as he had arrived at the (Sirana) center and he was still panting as a result of climbing the mountain. He asked me in classical Arabic: "Are you Arab?" I learned from him that they live in open rural areas and suffer a great deal because of the tanks, and that he came to asks for assistance from mawlawi Jalaluddin, for he had learned that they had an "anti-tank" and they wanted at least one such weapon.

When I asked him about the problem of the aircraft he said they do not care much for them, for they -- the jets -- come, drop their bombs, and go, while the tank is used by the army to get inside the homes and violate sanctities and shed blood without their having a means to ward off the tanks. When I asked him in surprise why they did not fear the aircraft his explanation was even stranger. He was sitting on the top of the house with his elderly mother, and suddenly the aircraft arrived and began to drop their bombs over the village. When he wanted to run down for protection from the bombing, his old mother admonished him and said: "You are a mawlawi who has learned God's Book and you fear an unbeliever?" He felt ashamed and remorseful and stayed with her until the bombardment ended, and then he went down to help with providing relief to the wounded and moving the martyrs' bodies. The story about the mother was strange to me, but similar stands by both men and women were real. It was one of the hidden aspects of the Afghan legend.

When I asked the mawlawi about his jihadist program and its purpose, his answer which still echoes in my ear was: "We will fight the communists until we conquer Bukhara and Samarqand [in Soviet Uzbekistan]." I stared at his face in astonishment. How did that mountain man remember those names that lie in forgotten Islamic history? How dare he? His words penetrated deep inside me and I felt as though it was a prophecy that will be inevitably fulfilled, although it was beyond imagination. How true was the prediction of that young mawlawi as I now see in front of me mujahidin from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan training and fighting to defeat the remaining communism in their countries. The young mawlawi then surprised me with a question whose seriousness I realized only several years later. He said to me: What is your confession? It was another surprise, for it was the first time I was asked such a question.

Until that moment I did not specifically know what my confession was, and indeed it was of no importance to me. I remembered that the Shafi'i [one of the four schools of thought in Sunni Islam] school of thought prevails in Egypt, and I concluded that I must be a Shafi'i as well. I told the man that I am a Shafi'i. However, he continued his question: What do you know about Muhammad Bin-Abd-al-Wahhab [founder of Wahhabi movement]? Coincidentally I had brought with me a book that was a collection of Bin-Abd-al-Wahhab's works. I liked it very much especially as what I used to hear about him was very hostile to him and his movement. However, when I began to read his books I liked his style and method. Very naively I began to enumerate Bin-Abd-al-Wahhab's positive aspects to the young mawlawi. Several years later I realized why I never saw that mawlawi again. It was my first and last conversation with him.

When the Gulf role in Afghanistan grew, I heard in 1986 from some salafis that the greatest threat to the future of Afghanistan is the Afghan Shiites and not the Soviet occupation. As much as I was astonished by that argument that was put forward by a young Muslim who was prominent in the seminars and conferences in the east and west, as much as I failed to convince him of the importance of deferring that threat and tackling it until after the Soviet withdrawal. However, he looked at me doubtfully. In his view, every Muslim with a sound faith does not hesitate to support his argument completely.

In the same year, I met another person from the same school. He was from North Africa. He had relinquished the jihad in Afghanistan and began to urge others to do the same. Of course, he urged me as well to do so, and when I asked him the reason he said that the Hanafi [one of four Sunni schools of thought] school of thought contains at least 10 matters in which it -- deliberately and with predetermination -- contravenes the Prophet Muhammad's tradition. I apologized that I am not a scholar to judge Abi-Hanifah's "deviations" and I will believe without argument that Abi-Hanifah deliberately contravenes the Prophet's traditions in 10 matters, but I am certain -- as far as I know -- that Babrak Karmal, the president of the communist regime in Kabul [from 1979 to 1986], does not agree with Islamic canon law or the Prophet's tradition on a single matter, so which is more fit to rule Afghanistan: the law of Abi-Hanifah or the law of [Karl] Marx? Of course, he did not like what I said and I did not see him after that except once after the Russian withdrawal. In his view the Muslim camp was confined to a few persons, and he was at their head of course. I did not see that clearly except in stages.

At the present time I believe there is complete clarity, now that the experience has been completed and all -- or most -- of what was hidden, or vague, or incomprehensible to us has emerged clearly. All the mistakes and advantages existed on our side, the Arabs, even in a simple group such as the three of us. Most of the traits and main features of the subsequent Arab presence existed in us, such as poor qualification on the religious, political, and military levels to embark on such a great confrontation between Islam -- which is represented by unqualified and zealous individuals, and behind them there was a lost, bewildered, and enslaved nation [ummah] whose sanctities were violated [sentence incomplete].

We had great, ambiguous, and undefined dreams, and we did not know how to achieve them in real life. Those dreams reflected the extent of our ignorance of the reality of the world, and indeed of our own reality. Perhaps such ignorance was one of the reasons for the boldness of our moves. It is the courage of ignorance that astonished many people and brought us a great deal of problems, accusations, and doubts and led us to clash with many others. What surprised us more than anything else was that the first clash and the most painful clash for us was brought about by that Muslim side which we tried to hang on to in the same way a drowning man hangs on to a straw in stormy waters. I am referring to the Muslim Brotherhood whose followers caused us much hardship and pain throughout our work for the Afghan cause. Then some of its "blessings" pursued us when we tried these days to move on to work on the Tajikistan cause.

The Afghan "experience" has revived within us many hopes. It made clear to us and enlightened us about many practical ways and provided us with a measure of perspicacity and experience. But it also debunked many other hopes and dreams, the first of which was the Muslim Brotherhood, and the latest of which were those naïve hopes about the state that was about to emerge in Afghanistan that rules on the basis of the line of the Prophet Muhammad as practiced by the orthodox caliphs. There are also other dreams especially with regard to bringing together "the nation of Islam" behind a cause or a leadership. Although we still believe that striving toward such a unity is a religious duty yet our present belief is that it remains impossible until God has mercy on us, because experience has proved to us that such unity is above the ability of all mankind -- "Even if you had given away everything in the Earth you would not have brought their hearts together, but God has brought them together" [Koranic verse].

It is a purely divine miracle, although striving toward it is a religious necessity as we have said, notwithstanding our certainty that we are unable to achieve that task. That is similar to fighting against modern mighty armies that enjoy superiority in everything except in faith. That is what we saw and sensed with our six senses in Afghanistan. It is an impossible task when measured by human standards, but it was achieved before our eyes in Afghanistan. In short, I did not notice in that experience that we have the true Muslim who represents religion and who can stand up to human beings who are unbelievers and heavily armed with the prerequisites of material strength.

Our moral and ethical forces have not been harnessed, for we are still soiled to a dangerous level by the pre-Islamic [jahili] values and ethics and we are defeated within ourselves -- however loudly our claims to the contrary may be -- in the face of the West's atheistic civilization. It is easy for us to deviate or to be bought or to be exploited in serving their [West's] will and plans, wittingly or unwittingly. Our movements in Afghanistan and then in Bosnia were merely examples of that tyrannical control from a far or a close distance of the best Islamic action in modern times, namely jihadist action. Jihadist action emerged and grew in Afghanistan but it did not evolve a leadership, or a method of action, or organizational instruments, or a clear and well-integrated thought that covers the fields of action that are required militarily and politically under clear and disciplined canon law concepts.

All that has not happened in Afghanistan, and so far it has not happened anywhere else as far as I know, not in Bosnia, Tajikistan, Egypt, or even Algeria, despite the great progress in jihadist work in that country until the time of writing these lines. Afghanistan has proved that what is of consequence is the final results of jihadist action and not the degree of military progress of such action at any particular stage. We have learned from Afghanistan that however loud, ear-piercing, and earth-shaking the jihadist shouting may be it does not under any circumstances mean that we have sound jihadist action or a sincere Islamic leadership. Often the intensity of the shouting contradicts the degree of sincerity.

* To be completed.

[Description of Source: London Al-Sharq al-Awsat (Internet Version-WWW) in Arabic -- Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; editorials reflect official Saudi views on foreign policy. URL: ]

Asia Times: Taliban Preparing for this Year's Spring Offensive

CPP20061211715003 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1116 GMT 08 Dec 06

[Asia Times: "Time Out from a Siege"]

By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - In the years following their ouster in 2001, the Taliban waged a low-intensity war against foreign forces in Afghanistan, characterized by uncoordinated, sporadic attacks in which the Taliban suffered large losses.

During this period, this correspondent met many Taliban commanders, including some who were members of Taliban leader Mullah Omar's shura (command council). Although they were the core of the Taliban movement, they were mostly young lads educated in madrassas (seminaries) and they displayed a singular lack of vision.

Most of these meetings took place on the Durand Line near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and invariably the young men appeared extremely nervous, even with fear in their eyes.

These were the men on whom the resistance depended. Yet remarkably, after years of meritocracy, this year's spring offensive was a stunning success, extending Taliban control over vast swaths of the south and southwest and inflicting heavy casualties on foreign forces.

There is no doubt that increasing public disenchantment with the administration of President Hamid Karzai in Kabul helped the Taliban win popular support, but it does not explain their dramatic military success.

One might argue that the youthful Taliban leaders have matured into intelligent and savvy commanders. Not so. They remain about as blinkered and shortsighted as they have ever been.

What did happen was that around April, military operations were handed over to legendary mujahideen commander Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani, a non-Taliban veteran of the campaign against the Soviets in the 1980s (see Taliban's new commander ready for a fight/A). In the mid-1990s, after the bloody civil war that followed the Soviets' withdrawal, Haqqani had surrendered to the Taliban when they reached Khost province.

In preparation for this year's spring offensive, Haqqani quickly replaced the highly dedicated but militarily naive Taliban field commanders with his team of battle-hardened mujahideen. His motto was, "Where there is no vision, there is no hope." Haqqani made an agreement with Mullah Omar under which once his men brought victory to a front, they would depart for a new one, leaving the Taliban behind to administer as they saw fit under their brand of Islam.

This arrangement can best be described as a marriage of convenience. On the one hand, it would be wrong to assume that the Taliban are the most popular movement in southwestern Afghanistan. Rather, they are seen as the best alternative to corrupt and inefficient local administrations.

On the other hand, the mujahideen certainly don't see themselves as subservient to the young Taliban. What they have in common is a hatred of the occupying forces.

Thus the Taliban movement acts as a unifying force for all anti-American forces in the country, while at the same time bringing discipline and order into local affairs.

Face to face with a fighter

While in Musa Qala, a Taliban stronghold in the north of Helmand province in the southwest of Afghanistan, this correspondent made satellite-telephone contact with a commander in the Nawzad district of the province. He is laying siege to a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Afghan National Army (ANA) base in the area, although at the time a week-long ceasefire was in operation.

I was told that it was unsafe to make my own way to meet the commander, so transport would be sent to fetch me from the hotel where I was staying.

Several anxious hours passed with no sign of my pickup. Finally, as lunch approached, a tall, sharp-eyed, well-built man walked into the hotel lobby and sat by a pillar and ordered green tea. He seemed oblivious to his surroundings.

I sat next to him and ordered lunch, which I ate in silence. But when I tried to pay, the stranger grabbed my wrist and pushed away my hand, barking. "He is our guest. I will pay the money." He then handed over a Rs1,000 (Pakistan) note (US$16), which the wai ter pocketed without comment.

"I am Abdul Sattar and will take you to Nawzad," the man said, at last breaking into a smile. We set off in a high-powered double-cab vehicle across deserted, trackless plains that stretched into the horizon.

We passed through Gila-i-Tangi, a beautiful hill town, and continued until we arrived at a settlement of mud houses. Two youngsters were waiting for us and took us to a one-roomed house set on a large plot with trees, flowers and vegetables.

My heart skipped as we entered the room: about a dozen youths were standing, all of them holding AK-47s. Ammunition was stacked against the walls, as well as more AKs, machine-guns, rocket-propelled grenades and rockets.

A light-skinned man with piercing eyes and a strong-looking body came forward and hugged me. "Welcome to the base of the mujahideen in Nawzad. I am Abdul Khaliq Akhund."

Akhund had once been associated with Ahmad Shah Masoud, the legendary "Lion of the Panjshir" and leader of the Northern Alliance that resisted the Taliban throughout their five-year rule. Masoud was assassinated by al-Qaeda shortly before September 11, 2001, apparently as a gift from Osama bin Laden to the Taliban for allowing al-Qaeda to operate in Afghanistan.

However, Akhund, who fought mostly in the Kandahar area against the Soviets, pledged allegiance with Mullah Omar once the Taliban emerged as a power.

Akhund, by all reports an excellent military strategist, is best at home on the battlefield. He was field commander for Mazar-i-Sharif and other northern provinces during Taliban rule. When they fell, he went to Helmand.

"This is a tribal society. I am a respected member and also respected as a mujahid," Akhund said. "I continue to live in this Nawzad district. When the Americans conducted military operations, I was informed by my tribespeople and I used to leave the area. When the operations ended, I went back to my place."

By now it was dusk and we all said our evening prayers before dinner was served. This consisted of bread baked at least three days before, which made it hard to chew and tasteless - it helped to dip the bread into a bowl of watery curry. Each person also received a small portion of dried meat. Akhund split his and threw a piece at me. "You are a guest. Eat well."

"You never attack people of your tribe who join the government?" I asked Akhund.

"No. They are our strength. Why should we? I share the same opinion for former Taliban who have joined the Karzai administration or who were elected in the last parliamentary elections. They are not in the government with real will or conviction. That have changed loyalties out of compulsion," the war veteran-turned-Talib explained. This is an unusual attitude, as the Taliban generally condemn anyone who stands in elections.

"Do you think a person like Mullah Abdus Salaam Rocketi would join the Karzai administration with conviction?" Akhund asked as he took a sip of water. Rocketi was a close aide of Mullah Omar in charge of southwest Afghanistan's military operations when the US attacked in 2001. He surrendered and after a brief detention was released. In the 2005 parliamentary polls he was elected from Zabul province.

"Everything was done under duress. Rocketi was against the Pakistani establishment and he knew that if he tried to go to Pakistan they would settle a score against him. He was such a prominent person that he could not hide in Afghanistan, so finally he surrendered. I know him inside out, he would never be comfortable sitting with the Americans or their stooges," Akhund said.

"The same is true of those Afghan national heroes who fought against the Soviets and who are now part of the Kabul administration ... for instance, Toran Ismail Khan [from Herat province ]. I know him, he is a sincere fellow. I know he is very uncomfortable sitting in Kabul as a federal minister [for energy and water]. I know he is desperate to be a part of the Afghan national resistance to kick out t he foreign forces, but at the same time it is also a fact that the Taliban mistreated him in the past and he is not ready to trust them yet. That's why he is sitting in the Afghan government," said Akhund.

Akhund is convinced that sooner rather than later relations between former Northern Alliance commanders and the Taliban will be fixed, despite all the past bitterness.

"Of course, Ahmad Shah Masoud was fighting the Taliban and, had he been captured, he would have faced dire consequences. But it is also a fact that what happened to him [assassination] was not the Taliban's policy ... just like what happened in the US [September 11] was not the Taliban's policy," said Akhund.

"I believe that nowadays all distinctions between Shi'ite and Sunni, Pashtun and Tajik, have been forgotten and the Afghan nation is ready to take on foreign forces with a new zeal. Now it is winter and it is difficult to mobilize men, either on the plains or the mountains. But once the spring and summer of 2007 come, the Karzai administration, along with its foreign allies, will be sacked from Kabul," said Akhund confidently.

In recent months Akhund has led the Taliban to successes in the Baghran district, and he played a major role in defeating British troops in Musa Qala recently. Now he has brokered a ceasefire with NATO troops in Nawzad.

"You will see, they will soon withdraw from Nawzad as well. Nevertheless, the battle will not be over, we will just take it to the next front until they leave Afghanistan altogether," Akhund said.

By now it was late at night and time for the final prayers of the day, after which everyone prepared to sleep. It was freezing cold, but Akhund covered himself from top to toe in his shawl and forcibly handed me a blanket - the only one in the room.

The next morning after prayers, as I did my ablutions at a small running watercourse outside the house, I heard the voices of women and children in another building.

"There are women and children at the war front?" I asked Akhund at breakfast, which as the previous night consisted of stale bread and tea.

"Yes, we decided to besiege the ANA and NATO base only because this village was around it. The villagers have voluntarily provided us with a few houses to establish bases and for dumps for our arms. The rest of the population lives normally, just as they always have. This is how today's Afghan national resistance is being formed," said Akhund as he said farewell to rally his men to take up positions.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Pakistan: Report--Govt Not Likely To Resort to Military Option in N. Waziristan

SAP20061223037001 Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English 23 Dec 06

[Report by Ismail Khan: "Time to revisit Waziristan deal?"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR, Dec 22: Is it time to revisit the North Waziristan deal? Indications are that the government is contemplating to at least make a re-assessment of the September 5 agreement that drew international criticism and brought new pressure from the US and the Nato to dismantle 'safe heavens' for the Taliban and Al Qaeda in its tribal borderlands.

Governor NWFP Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Mohammed Jan Aurakzai, the sole architect of the agreement, has convened a meeting of the 45-member inter-tribal grand jirga at the Governor House on Saturday to take stock of the post-September 5 scenario in the restive tribal region.

The Saturday meeting will not only take stock of the situation in North Waziristan but also assess its implementation in the backdrop of criticism that Pakistan has capitulated to the militants and that the agreement has done nothing to stem cross-border infiltration and deal with the presence of foreign militants.Director US National Intelligence John Negro Ponte said Pakistan would have to reckon with the situation sooner or later while the State Department acknowledged that the situation along the Pak-Afghan border was 'a mess'.

The two statements coming one after the other in the last week or so from key figures of the US establishment were a clear departure from the more cautious wait-and-see approach of the Bush administration.

The statements have come amid concerns in the US and the Nato that an emboldened Taliban would use the winter break in fighting to make more recruitment, train, arm and reorganise in time for the so-called spring offensive early next year.

Pakistan, on its part, has been steadfast in sticking to its argument that the North Waziristan agreement offered the only approach to resolve the issue through negotiations as coercive tactics have failed to achieve its objectives.

But Lt-Gen Aurakzai's latest initiative to reconvene the inter-tribal jirga and discuss the situation betrays a sense of urgency as well as unease to cope with mounting pressure from the principal backers of the war on terrorism.

The inter-tribal jirga is expected to be told to revisit Miramshah, regional headquarters of the volatile North Waziristan, and discuss the situation with the main interlocutors, in this case the militants, and the 15-member oversight committee that was formed to liaise between the government and militants.

Government officials who defend the agreement acknowledge that while it did not offer a perfect solution to what is a very complex issue, it did offer a window of opportunity to deal with a very difficult situation.

The agreement has been successful in that both militants and government ceased hostilities against each other and there is now a semblance of peace in the restive tribal region.

But if reports are anything to go by, it failed to address three main issues: the setting up of parallel administration, cross-border infiltration and presence of foreign militants.

Some circles now privately acknowledge that the failure to implement the agreement on those critical issues lie in the government failure in the post-September 5 scenario to open up direct channels of communication with militants calling the shots and broaden the base of the agreement to include tribal figures, as well as the ineffectiveness of the oversight committee to ensure its implementation.

It is a fact that while the agreement was signed with the militants, it did not include tribal elders which would have made it more effective in terms of the implementation of its clauses. It also did not let the oversight committee work more than just liaise between the two parties to the agreement to oversee and ensure its implementation.

There are additional problems that the government would need to address before it sends the tribal jirga to Miramshah.

Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the key militant leader and principle interlocutor in the agreement, is precariously poised in the absence of full backing from former mujahideen and Taliban commander, Jalaluddin Haqqani.

This is reflected in his inability to extend the term of the agreement and influence to neighbouring Mirali sub-district in North Waziristan, an area security officials acknowledge is infested with foreign militants.

Mr Bahadar, though well-meaning, is also delicately poised to take on foreign militants both in Miramshah and Mirali, owing to his own limited influence and full support from the senior Taliban leadership.

And this is despite the fact that there is growing local unease and discomfort with foreign militants, particularly those of the central Asian origin due to growing kidnappings, robberies and target killings.

The government, on its part, has also demonstrated a certain sense of paralysis and numbness to seize the opportunity and exploit differences amongst militant commanders on dealing with the issue of foreign militants in South and North Waziristan. Dithering and reluctance to take quick crucial decisions on the part of the administration contributed to the present state of affairs in the tribal region. The decision to post good and competent officers on Friday to make use of their imagination and exploit the situation should have been made earlier.Given the state of affairs and mounting pressure on Pakistan to deal with cross-border infiltration and foreign militants, the government appears to be caught between the rock and the hard place. The choices are stark and options very limited.

However, there are no indications that the government is in a mood to resort to the military option to handle the situation at hand. Even in terms of political solution, it has very limited room to manoeuvre, apart from the option to rely on the inter-tribal jirga to press the interlocutors to live up to their promises and make them agree to broaden its base to include tribal elders and grant more authority to the oversight committee to ensure the implementation of the September 5 agreement.

Reopening the North Waziristan Agreement, for whatever it is, and renegotiating it would be a dangerous move that would further complicate matters. Instead the government now needs to build on it and press home the point to the tribal elders and militants that time is running out and better act now than regret later.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; root URL as of filing date: ]

Pakistan: Taliban Confirms Death of Mullah Usmani in Airstrike

SAP20061227027001 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 27 Dec 06

[Report by Rahimullah Yusufzai: "Taliban confirm Usmani's death in Afghan air strike"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR: Taliban officials are now confirming that one of their top military commanders Mulla Akhtar Mohammad Usmani was among those killed in an airstrike in the southwestern Helmand province on December 19.

Requesting anonymity, an important Taliban military commander said it was true that Usmani was in the vehicle that was hit during an airstrike by US-led coalition forces in Helmand. "He was martyred along with other Taliban fighters. Gradually, the news of his death is spreading among the Taliban," he told The News from an undisclosed location.

Other Taliban members had also started to concede Usmani's death. One of them said the Taliban could in due course of time officially confirm that Usmani was dead. Earlier, the Taliban had denied the claim by the spokesman of the US-led coalition forces that Usmani was killed in the airstrike. Instead, they were claiming that a local Taliban commander Maulvi Abdul Zahir and his two companions were killed in the attack.

Colonel Tom Collins, the US military spokesman, had claimed that forensic analysis and intelligence information had enabled the coalition forces to verify that Usmani was killed in the precision strike on his vehicle. He said visual proof could not be provided as Usmani's body was obliterated in the attack. He admitted that no DNA test was carried out to confirm the information about Usmani's killing.

During Taliban rule, Usmani served as the chief of the Taliban-led Afghan army. He also served as corps commander of Kandahar and was one of the most trusted military commanders of Taliban movement founder Mulla Mohammad Omar. Along with Mulla Dadullah, he was one of the two leading Taliban military commanders fighting against foreign forces and Afghan National Army.

His death is a big loss for the Taliban. Following the ouster of Taliban from power in December 2001, Usmani is the second member of their "Rahbari Shura" (supreme council) to have been killed in US-led military operations in Afghanistan. Earlier, Abdur Razzaq Nafiz was killed during fighting in Zabul province. The remaining eight members of the shura are Mulla Ubaidullah, Mulla Biradar, Jalaluddin Haqqani, Saifur Rahman Mansoor, Mulla Dadullah, Mulla Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, Mulla Mohammad Rasul and Hafiz Abdul Majeed.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; root URL as of filing date: ]

Pakistan: Geo TV Discussion on US Charge of Tribal Areas Supporting Taliban

SAP20061229412001 Karachi Geo News TV in Urdu 1800 GMT 28 Dec 06

[Discussion between Afghan Affairs Correspondent Sami Yusufzai on phone line in Peshawar and senior Pakistani journalist Kamran Khan in studio in Karachi on US Assistant Secretary of State Ricjard Boucher's charge that Pakistani tribal areas have become "command and control system" for Taliban--live; taken from regularly scheduled "Today With Kamran Khan" program, words within double slant lines are in English]

[Kamran Khan] The US administration has now formally stated that it has information that the Taliban are using Pakistan's tribal areas not only as a sanctuary, but they have also established their //command and control system// in these areas and from there they are sending arms [to Afghanistan]. This charge had so far not been formally made in such a //specific// manner at the highest level in the United States. Although the Afghan government and the US media have been claiming this, but US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, while addressing a press conference in Canada, spoke //specifically// in this connection and said that the Pakistan's tribal areas have, in fact, been proved to be the sanctuary for the Taliban's //control and command// system. Boucher, however, stated that Pakistan is cooperating with the United States in this matter and Pakistan and the United States are jointly trying to solve this issue and not only Pakistan and the United States, but Afghanistan is also trying to solve the issue. Boucher said that the United States has apprised Pakistan about its concern and Pakistan shares this concern with the United States. At the same time, Pakistan has announced that it would mine and fence the border along Afghanistan adjacent to the tribal areas. Mining and fencing would be done in //selected// areas. The Afghan government has not liked the Pakistani step and has opposed it. A UN official, who is posted in Kabul, has also said that the United Nations will have reservations on the Pakistani step as the human right organizations consider this process as not the right approach.

Whether Pakistan's tribal areas have really become the Taliban's //command and control center// and their sanctuaries or not? Whether this charge is true or not? We will ask this from Afghan Affairs Correspondent Sami Yusufzai, who is with us on telephone line from Peshawar.

Sami, now the charge has been formally made by the US Assistant Secretary of State and you also have been viewing the //issues// individually. How far would it be true to say that the Taliban's //command and control system// has been set up in the Pakistan's tribal areas and that the Taliban are not operating from Afghanistan, but from these tribal areas? What would you say about the validity of these charges?

[Yusufzai] Yes Kamran, I was earlier in Kabul for 2 to 3 weeks and it appeared that the Afghan //intelligence// and the US //intelligence// had jointly set up //centers// near Khost, Paktia, Kandahar and near the border areas and they were fully engrossed in compiling reports about the Taliban's presence in the areas inside Pakistan. They had set up small //cells// after which they found evidence that the Taliban leaders are present in Waziristan and Quetta and in some areas and villages near Chaman and that the Taliban are regrouping at smaller level and preparing (?plans) in these areas. I myself met with the //intelligence// people and they themselves showed me a video about [Taliban commander] Jalaluddin Haqqani's religious seminary called (Munbail Uloom) in Miram Shah [in Pakistan]. This seminary was closed down after the collapse of Taliban 5 years ago, but I myself saw in the video shown by the //intelligence// people that the seminary, which is close to Miram Shah in Data Khel, has now reopened and the Taliban, who from their dresses appeared to be from Kandahar and Helmand in southern Afghanistan, were arriving there. Earlier, the international community did not back and support Karzai regarding his allegations against Pakistan, but it now appears that Karzai has been successful to //convince// to some extent the United States, the United Kingdom and other very important countries about his allegations.

[Khan] Sami, the claim that the Taliban are living here in Pakistan's tribal areas and in Baluchitan areas, including Quetta, had not been //disputed//, but to say that arms are being sent from these areas and that the Taliban regroup and take vow in these areas and plan from there and that they return there after carrying out attacks [in Afghanistan] and that the //control and command// system is also in these areas are allegations of very serious nature.

[Yusufzai] Yes, it is right to say like that if these people are going to Afghanistan. [Sentence as heard] In reality the Taliban are present in some areas of Pakistan and it is very easy for them to stay there because three millions Afghans are living in Pakistan. Islamabad, however, says that it has no knowledge and it is very difficult for it to identify these elements as three million Afghans are living in Pakistan. The issue, however, is not that the Afghan government and others are saying that there is no doubt that the Taliban are present in Pakistani areas, but the issue is that of the Afghan government's serious allegation that there are some agencies in Pakistan, which are //sponsoring// the Taliban. I think that when President Musharraf in an interview had said that it is possible that some former ISI [Inter Service Intelligence]] personnel may be involved [in helping the Taliban], it provided ammunition to the Afghan government to back its charge that some [Pakistani] agencies have the knowledge that the Taliban are regrouping in some areas of Pakistan and when the Taliban //commanders// come to Pakistan from Afghanistan in winter, some of their //commanders// and //leaders// in Pakistan also come back with them.

[Khan] Reports have also been received at the same time that the US forces in an attack killed an important Taliban Commander Mullah Akhtar Usmani. Mullah Akhtar Usmani was an important Taliban commander. These reports are few days old. Has it been finally confirmed that Mullah Akhtar Usmani was killed by the US forces?

[Yusufzai] Yes, it has now been confirmed by the Taliban in Helmand province and my //personal// sources in Taliban have also confirmed that Usmani was killed in Helmand. Some spies were shadowing him and the car in which he was traveling was directly targeted. Mullah Akhtar Usmani was a very important leader and almost all financial resources of the Taliban were with him. So, I think that this is the biggest setback the Taliban have suffered since its last //collapse// [ 5 years ago]. The Taliban's very important commander has been killed.

[Khan] Thank you very much. Sami Yusufzai was talking to us. US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher has formally stated at a press conference that the United States believes that the //command and control system// of the Taliban has been established in Pakistan's tribal areas and arms are being sent to the Taliban [in Afghanistan] from there and they regroup and plan from Pakistan's tribal areas for carrying out attacks in Afghanistan. The United States had so far not formally made such a serious charge.

[Description of Source: Karachi Geo News TV in Urdu -- 24-hour satellite news TV channel owned by Pakistan's Jang publishing group, broadcast from Dubayy. Known for providing quick and detailed reports of events. Programs include some Indian shows and dramas which the group claims are aimed at promoting people-to-people contact and friendly relations with India.]

Pakistan: Kidnapped PAEC Employees Freed, Kidnappers Claim To Be Taliban

SAP20070116081004 Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English 16 Jan 07

[Report by Abdul Sami Paracha: "Six kidnapped employees of PAEC freed: Shootout leaves four dead"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

KOHAT, Jan 15: Six employees of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), who had been kidnapped by armed men on Sunday night from their camp office near a uranium mining field in Karak district, were freed by police early on Monday morning after an encounter in which three kidnappers and a constable were killed.

Three vehicles taken away by the kidnappers were also found and a pick-up belonging to the kidnappers was seized.

Official sources told Dawn that only half an hour after the men had been kidnapped, at around 9:30am, a police team managed to find the place, near Gurguri, where the kidnappers had been hiding.

Police ordered the kidnappers who numbered 13 to surrender, but they opened fire. Police retaliated and the exchange of fire continued till about 2am, resulting in the death of police constable Naimatullah. Two of the three kidnappers killed in the exchange of fire were Abdus Sattar (of North Waziristan) and Inayatullah (of Buland Khel in Thall tehsil). Two kidnappers, Yaqoob Khan (of North Waziristan) and Sher Zaman (of Buland Khel in Thall tehsil), were injured. Other members of the gang managed to escape.

An injured kidnapper told interrogators that their local Taliban chief, Amir Ahmed Gul, had told them that they were going to attack a foreigners' camp in Thall. He said they did not know that the chief would use them for kidnapping people. He said they were taking the kidnapped people and the vehicles to the seminary of Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani near the cattle market in North Waziristan.

However, the interrogators said that the kidnappers were posing themselves as Taliban to misguide them.

The Teri and Banda Daud Shah police have registered a case under sections 302/324/353 of PPC and 5 Explosives Act 411/148/149/13 AO and 7 Anti-Terrorist Act. They have been also charged under section 17/3 of Haraba and 156. Police seized five hand-grenades, three Klashnikovs, four cellphones and Rs 1,430 cash from the kidnappers.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; root URL as of filing date: ]

Al-Qa'ida Trains Jihadists in Waziristan

EUP20070118029004 Paris Liberation (Internet Version-WWW) in French 18 Jan 07

[Report by Philippe Grangereau and Khawar Mehdi: "Al-Qa'ida Trains Jihadists in Eastern Pakistan"]

Washington -- The Al-Qa'ida organization, which was ousted from its Afghan sanctuary following the United States' overthrow of the Taliban at the end of 2001, has established a new operational stronghold in Pakistan, in the tribal area of Waziristan. According to our information, the terrorist organization again has special training camps there for foreign Islamist combatants, where, among others, candidates for suicide attacks in Afghanistan and Europe are trained.

"Stick" -- Two of these camps are led by an Iraqi and an Uzbek, Liberation was told by several well informed sources resident in Waziristan. One of Al-Qa'ida's training camps is apparently commanded by Abu Kasha [name as published], an Iraqi who goes by the name of "Arab Malang" ("Arab dervish.") "He tries to project the image of himself of as a mystic," one source explained, "and generally goes about with a hiking stick, with no visible weapons, accompanied by just a few men."

Like most of the hundreds of other Arab combatants in Waziristan, he fled Afghanistan in 2001, probably with Usama Bin Ladin. It seems that he recently had Algerian, Somali, and Saudi would-be jihadists brought to Mir Ali, the village in North Waziristan where he is based, via Iran and Afghanistan. A "working division" has apparently been established. The Arab combatants apparently focus on attacks targeting Afghanistan, in coordination with Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. Another group of combatants from Central Asia, mainly Uzbekistan, are apparently tasked with launching offensives on Pakistani Army garrisons in Waziristan. This group, affiliated with Al-Qa'ida, is apparently led by Najimuddin Uzbek [name as published].

According to our sources, the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban insurgents, who are allied to Bin Ladin's organization, now exercise "almost total control" over Waziristan. It is from this area bordering Afghanistan that most of the attacks targeting the Afghan Government and coalition forces are launched. General Eikenberry, who commands the US troops in Afghanistan, said Tuesday that the number of suicide attacks increased from 27 in 2005 to 139 last year. At the same time, the US military recorded 4,542 armed attacks in 2006, as against 1,558 the previous year.

Fist on the table -- The United States, officially Pakistan's ally, has long refrained from saying anything about Pakistan's and the Pakistani secret services' suspected tolerance of Taliban acting from their territory. For Islamabad, the Taliban movement is a way of defending its interests in Afghanistan, where is sworn enemy, India, enjoys growing influence. However, protecting the Taliban is tantamount to tolerating its Al-Qa'ida allies.

Washington, whose patience is exhausted, has banged its fist on the table. On 11 January US intelligence coordinator John Negroponte said that Pakistan hosts the terrorist network's worldwide headquarters. "Al-Qa'ida has strong connections and operational relations that extend, from its leaders' sanctuary in Pakistan to its branches throughout the Near East, in North Africa, and Europe," he said. Al-Qa'ida is still the "terrorist organization that presents the greatest threat to the United States. We have killed or captured many senior operational members of Al-Qa'ida. But the core is resistant."

Swelling -- According to the sources contacted by Liberation, Bin Ladin's organization exercises major influence in Waziristan, thanks to its alliance with the local Taliban commander, Jalaluddin Haqqani [name as published]. For its funding it used, at least until 2004, the regular Pakistani banking network, which has branches in Waziristan (the United Bank, Allied Bank, and Muslim Commercial Bank.) In 2003 and 2004, according to the head of one of these banks, accounts that had until then been credited with just a few hundred rupees, suddenly swelled. These "very major" amounts came mainly from two sources -- the Pakistani city of Karachi and the Arab emirate of Bahrain. The network apparently now uses Islamist charitable organizations spread throughout Pakistan. Tuesday US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, visiting Afghanistan, said that Pakistan is an "ally in the war on terror." But he added that there is a "problem," because the "Al-Qa'ida networks operate from Pakistan."

[Description of Source: Paris Liberation (Internet Version-WWW) in French -- left-of-center daily newspaper]

Asia Times: 'Winter of Taliban's Content'

CPP20070125715020 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1116 GMT 24 Jan 07

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "The Winter of the Taliban's Content"; headline as provided by source]

KABUL - Like two snowmen trapped immobile in winter's grip, NATO-led forces and the Taliban-led insurgency eye each other icily, watching and waiting for the thaw that will allow them to renew what both believe could be the decisive battle for control of Afghanistan.

As soon as the snow starts to melt within a few months, Afghanistan will be locked in a titanic battle that will initially be centered along the key artery running across the south of the country from Herat in the west, through Kandahar and on to the capital Kabul in the east. This will become the highway to hell, or, if the Taliban win, the highway to the paradise on Earth that they promise for the country.

With the onset of winter last year, both sides had time to reconsider their positions, especially in view of the Taliban's most successful spring offensive since being ousted in 2001. About 4,000 people died last year, a fourfold increase over the previous year.

In southwestern Afghanistan, the Taliban emerged powerful and confident, both on the political and military fronts, clearly no longer the timid rats hiding in mountain holes from where they would come out randomly and try to bite their enemies.

All the same, the Taliban failed to force the withdrawal of any of the 31,000 North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in the country, something the alliance calls "a failure". The Taliban response is that last year was just a "warm-up". This year will be for real, they say.

Where they stand

Through the eyes of the US and NATO, the accepted view of the Taliban, given their initial performance in the field, was of a bunch of poorly organized troops whose only hope was to increase the number of their recruits, who in turn would become cannon fodder.

This all changed last year in the southwest when the Taliban, after being rejected by the masses, were asked down from the mountains to join in with the population. This provided the Taliban with essential grassroots support and logistics.

At this point, the Taliban abandoned their one-dimensional guerrilla tactics and developed a two-pronged strategy. On the one hand, militants would seize the main access points around Kandahar - the former Taliban spiritual headquarters in the province of the same name - and on the other, Taliban leaders would foment a popular armed uprising aimed at joining with the militants in the capture of Kandahar.

This is what happened in the mid-1990s when the Taliban emerged and seized power in the chaos following the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989: once the southwest was secured, eastern Afghanistan followed, and the two regions combined for the final assault on Kabul.

NATO commanders are now taking this possibility seriously, so much so that they see a foreign hand behind the planning - Pakistan or, more specifically, retired Pakistani army personnel.

One example, which was handed over to Islamabad by NATO, involved a prominent retired officer and former Pakistani diplomat who met with top Taliban commander Mullah Akhtar Osmani in Helmand province, only 10 days before Osmani was killed last month in a NATO air strike. In a protest note, it was claimed that Pakistani intelligence services were using retired officers to support the Taliban.

Be that as it might, the brains behind the Taliban's war is a veteran Afghan mujahideen commander against the Soviets, Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani. He organized the Taliban to keep NATO forces engaged across Afghanistan through guerrilla raids, the use of improvised explosive devices and suicide attacks, while at the same time steadily beefing up the Taliban's presence in carefully picked corridors for use in the battle for Kandahar.

Too quick off the mark

From September through November last year, the Tagab Valley northeast of Kabul fell into the hands of the Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the mercurial mujahid with political ambitions who for now is fighting alongside the Taliban against NATO forces.

To the south of Kabul, the Musay Valley became a focal point for fighters loyal to the Taliban and the HIA. On the grand chessboard of Afghanistan, these were tactical moves aimed as backup for a mass mobilization of Taliban troops.

Meanwhile, the Taliban increased their presence along the corridors from Kandahar to Herat and Kandahar to Kabul. Altogether, thousands of men were ready to flood into Kandahar and Kabul. All they were waiting for was reinforcements in northern Afghanistan.

In October, Commander Gholam Hossain of Bamyan, a Shi'ite, had traveled to Baghran in Helmand province and, along with another Shi'ite commander from northern Afghanistan, had promised that as soon as the Taliban launched their mass attack, they would join forces and provide as much logistical support as possible from the north.

But leading Taliban commanders wavered, believing they needed more men. They wanted to wait until March. With the date uncertain, men began to drift from key pockets, and the moment was lost.

NATO takes heart

"Everything turned out to be Taliban rhetoric as they failed to seize Kandahar and Kabul, despite their tall claims," NATO spokesman Mark Laity told Asia Times Online at the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters in Kabul.

"It is a fact that the Taliban cannot fight any decisive battle against NATO. They just cannot stand against the military strength of NATO forces. At the end of 2006, the Taliban tried to capture some strategic points and tried to carry out a conventional sort of warfare against NATO forces, but when NATO carried out operations, they could not withstand," Laity said.

"NATO carried out operations in southwest Afghanistan, such as Baaz Tsuka (in the Zari and Panjwai districts, south of Kandahar on either side of the Arghandab River), and there were cleanup operations of insurgent hideouts around Kabul. After such operations, the Taliban are no longer a threat to carry out any conventional armed strategy," Laity said.

He added that after Baaz Tsuka, the Taliban were forced to leave their positions near Kandahar. "They refused to fight with NATO and withdrew from the Panjwai and Zari districts and in some cases they even left their ammunition behind," Laity said.

Standing by a map on the wall, Laity pointed to the Musay Valley. "That valley had become a hub for insurgents from where they used to send suicide attackers to Kabul. We carried out massive operations and arrested a number of Taliban commanders and diehards. Now the valley is clear. The Tagab Valley in the northeast was also in the hands of insurgents. We carried out another massive operation to clean up and now the valley is clear of insurgents," Laity said.

Laity listed other NATO successes and told Asia Times Online of plans for the involvement of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police.

The point is, though, that Afghanistan is not as simple as one operation such as Baaz Tsuka. There is always another side to the story.

For instance, the Taliban don't see their withdrawal from the Zari and Panjwai districts as a reversal. They say they only pulled out after striking an agreement under which control of the area was handed over to tribal elders sympathetic to the Taliban.

This is similar to the deal struck in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province last September - NATO and the Taliban pulled back after power was handed to pro-Taliban tribals (see Rough justice and blooming poppies, Asia Times Online, December 7, 2006).

Such agreements are now common throughout southwestern Afghanistan, and clearly benefit the Taliban more than they do NATO, despite the NATO interpretation.

"This [Zari and Panjway] is a success of the Afghan people, who at the end of the day got peace through this agreement, and establishing peace is the actual purpose of NATO forces in Afghanistan," Brigadier-General Richard Nugee, a NATO spokesman at ISAF headquarters in Kabul, told Asia Tim es Online.

"W e spoke to the tribal elders and told them the merits of cooperating with NATO forces, which would promote a lot of reconstruction work in the area, including health facilities, roads and schools, and the demerits of cooperating with the Taliban, which would only bring devastation to the area and the Taliban would always lose whenever they fought.

"As a result, the Taliban elders were compliant and struck the peace agreement. Now we will support the Afghan National Army, the Afghan National Police and the Afghan National Auxiliary Police to move into the area and establish the writ of the Afghan government," Nugee said.

"Now the Taliban don't have much room for their strategy and asymmetrical attacks are the only way for them. These attacks do not harm NATO forces much. Eighty percent of the victims of these attacks are Afghans, and that is why various polls show that Taliban popularity has gone down to less than 10% in Afghanistan," Nugee said.

Not so fast ...

But just as the Taliban see their withdrawal from the Zari and Panjway districts as benefiting their long-term plans, they are not too concerned about the touted NATO success in the Tagab Valley northeast of Kabul, where they say the resistance is far from eliminated.

The valley is in Kapisa province, which is predominantly ethnic Tajik, and connects with the harsh terrain of Kunar province, which lies opposite Pakistan's Bajaur tribal agency. During their 10-year occupation of Afghanistan, the Soviets never controlled this area.

Obviously, the Taliban could not withstand the NATO bombardment of the area, so they simply melted into the forests of Nooristan province, the mountains of Kunar province and the plains of Bajaur.

They are now waiting, as they were last year, for the green light from southwestern Afghanistan, at which point they will emerge from their hiding places to join the planned mass rebellion. This could be any time after March, once the weather warms up.

NATO is all too aware that time is short, and also that after five years, many of which saw US forces raining bombs on Afghanistan, hard military aggression is not an option - it simply increases support for the Taliban.

NATO accepts that "Taliban" is a "generic name" for the insurgency, which includes most segments of Afghan society in the southwest of the country. Rather than bombs, a political solution is needed.

For instance, the British in Helmand call their mission a "security task" under which they aim to provide security to the people, rather than chase the "enemy" from its hideouts. All the same, they do clear pockets of Taliban along routes around Kandahar.

NATO has also redefined the Taliban into two categories - "reconciliatory" and "irreconciliatory". According to its information, southwestern Afghanistan comprises 80% reconciliatory Taliban with whom it has already started negotiations.

A new governor in Helmand province, an expert in tribal affairs, will attempt to invoke tribal traditions for rapprochement with the Taliban. At the same time, money and resources are being pumped in for infrastructure and reconstruction projects to help win hearts and minds.

This battle might already have been lost. The Taliban want all foreign forces out of the country, and they will fight to the last to achieve this once battle resumes over the next few months.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Four Al-Qa'idah fighters killed in eastern Afghan province - agency

IAP20070206950041 Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 1040 GMT 06 Feb 07

Four Al-Qa'idah fighters killed in eastern Afghan province - agency

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Miranshah, 6 February: A purported statement from an Al-Qa'idah operative revealed on Tuesday [6 February] that four members of the terrorist network have been killed in fighting against NATO and Afghan troops in southeastern Afghanistan.

The statement issued and signed by Abu Yahya al-Libi, a known Al-Qa'idah operative, said the four, three of them named as Shaykh Zubayr al-Libi, a Sudanese national, Salah al-Din Afghan and Hamza al-Ghaznawi. [sentence as received] It said they had been killed in battles with NATO and Afghan troops in Barmal District of the southeastern Paktika Province.

Some other members of the network who were wounded in the Barmal clashes have been shifted to secure places for treatment, the statement added.

Abu Yahya al-Libi, one of the four Al-Qa'idah top operatives who escaped from the highly-fortified US detention centre of Bagram last July, is believed to be leading the network's fighters in the southeast now. A Libyan national, he is described as a militant preacher and recruiter, who has released several statements since his escape.

A commander of Mawlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani of the Taleban, close ally of Al-Qa'idah, confirmed the death of the four members of the terrorist network in recent fighting.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said, one Pakistani fighter, named as Yusof also died in the fighting. He added there were currently 250 Arab fighters battling against NATO and Afghan forces in the southeast.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Pajhwok Afghan News, established in April 2004, provides daily news and features in Pashto, Dari, English and Urdu. Self-described as "independent," it often reports on security matters and the Taliban activities. It claims to be staffed, managed, and led entirely by Afghans. According to the site, it receives financial support from USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).]

Former Taleban official arrested in Afghanistan

IAP20070214950084 Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 1354 GMT 14 Feb 07

Former Taleban official arrested in Afghanistan

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Khost, 14 February: Six suspected Taleban militants, including a former official of the ousted Taleban regime, have been arrested during separate operations by the NATO and Afghan forces in the southeastern provinces of Khost and Paktia.

Salim Karwan, the spokesman for the provincial governor in Khost, told Pajhwok Afghan News that NATO and Afghan forces captured Mullah Daud Turabi, a senior official of the Vice and Virtue Department during the Taleban regime, in a pre-dawn raid in Gorbaz District of Khost.

After the overthrow of the Taleban government as a result of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Turabi took charge of the Taleban fighters in Khost and Paktia Provinces, said the spokesman, who added that the detainee was one of the senior commanders of the Taleban in the region.

The deputy chief of the Intelligence Department, Amir Jan, said that Turabi was operating under the command of Jalaluddin Haqqani in the area and was a frequent visitor to Miranshah, the headquarters of Pakistan's North Waziristan Agency.

In the neighbouring Pakita Province, security officials said they had arrested five people for their alleged links with Taleban militants. The suspects were captured during a raid in Zormat District of the province, said the provincial police chief Abdol Rahman Sarjang.

Weapons and some documents had also been recovered from the five detainees, said Sarjang, who added they were being investigated to get a clue to their other colleagues.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Pajhwok Afghan News, established in April 2004, provides daily news and features in Pashto, Dari, English and Urdu. Self-described as "independent," it often reports on security matters and the Taliban activities. It claims to be staffed, managed, and led entirely by Afghans. According to the site, it receives financial support from USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).]

Asia Times: 'Pakistan Makes Deal With Taliban'

CPP20070301715034 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1026 GMT 28 Feb 07

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Pakistan Makes a Deal With the Taliban"; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - The Pakistani establishment has made a deal with the Taliban through a leading Taliban commander that will extend Islamabad's influence into southwestern Afghanistan and significantly strengthen the resistance in its push to capture Kabul.

One-legged Mullah Dadullah will be Pakistan's strongman in a corridor running from the Afghan provinces of Zabul, Urzgan, Kandahar and Helmand across the border into Pakistan's Balochistan province, according to both Taliban and al-Qaeda contacts Asia Times Online spoke to. Using Pakistani territory and with Islamabad's support, the Taliban will be able safely to move men, weapons and supplies into southwestern Afghanistan.

The deal with Mullah Dadullah will serve Pakistan's interests in re-establishing a strong foothold in Afghanistan (the government in Kabul leans much more toward India), and it has resulted in a cooling of the Taliban's relations with al-Qaeda.

Despite their most successful spring offensive last year since being ousted in 2001, the Taliban realize they need the assistance of a state actor if they are to achieve "total victory". Al-Qaeda will have nothing to do with the Islamabad government, though, so the Taliban had to go it alone.

The move also comes as the US is putting growing pressure on Pakistan to do more about the Taliban and al-Qaeda ahead of a much-anticipated spring offensive in Afghanistan. US Vice President Dick Cheney paid an unexpected visit to Pakistan on Monday to meet with President General Pervez Musharraf.

The White House refused to say what message Cheney gave Musharraf, but it did not deny reports that it included a tough warning that US aid to Pakistan could be in jeopardy.

A parting of the ways

The Taliban saw that after five years working with al-Qaeda, the resistance appeared to have reached a stage where it could not go much further.

Certainly it has grown in strength, and last year's spring offensive was a classic example of guerrilla warfare with the help of indigenous support. The application of improvised explosive devices and techniques of urban warfare, which the Taliban learned from the Iraqi resistance, did make a difference and inflicted major casualties against coalition troops.

However, the Taliban were unable to achieve important goals, such as the fall of Kandahar and laying siege to Kabul from the southern Musayab Valley on the one side to the Tagab Valley on the northern side.

Taliban commanders planning this year's spring uprising acknowledged that as an independent organization or militia, they could not fight a sustained battle against state resources. They believed they could mobilize the masses, but this would likely bring a rain of death from the skies and the massacre of Taliban sympathizers. Their answer was to find their own state resources, and inevitably they looked toward their former patron, Pakistan.

Al-Qaeda does not fit into any plans involving Pakistan, but mutual respect between the al-Qaeda leadership and the Taliban still exists. All the same, there is tension over their ideological differences, and al-Qaeda sources believe it is just a matter of time before the sides part physically as well.

Pakistan only too happy to help

Ever since signing on for the US-led "war on terror" after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US, Pakistan has been coerced by Washington to distance itself from the Taliban. The Taliban were, after all, enemy No 1 for harboring Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda's training camps.

So when the opportunity arose, Islamabad was quick to tap up Mullah Dadullah. This was the perfect way in which Pakistan could revive its contacts in the Taliban and give the spring uprising some real muscle, so the argument went among the strategic planners in Rawalpindi - in fact, so much muscle that forces led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would be forced into a position to talk peace - and who better than Pakistan to step in as peacemaker and bail out its Western allies?

The next logical step would be the establishment of a pro-Islamabad government in Kabul - delivering a kick in the strategic teeth of India at the same time. After all, Pakistan invested a lot in Afghanistan after the Soviet occupation in the 1980s yet it received little in return. Whether it was former Afghan premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar or Taliban leader Mullah Omar, they refused to be totally Pakistan's men.

A man for all seasons

Mullah Dadullah, 41, comes from southwestern Afghanistan, so he is "original Taliban", and has a record of being a natural leader in times of crisis.

Mullah Dadullah made a name for himself during the Soviet occupation, during which he lost a leg. And with victories against the Northern Alliance after the Taliban took over Kabul in 1996, he pushed the alliance into the tail end of Afghanistan. This made him Pakistan's darling from Day 1.

He was Mullah Omar's emissary in the two Waziristan tribal areas before the spring offensive of last year. Here he brokered a major deal between the Pakistani armed forces and the Pakistani Taliban. Pakistan had lost more than 800 soldiers in operations against the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda and it needed a face-saving way to extricate itself from the mess.

Mullah Dadullah's peace deal provided this, and the army made an "honorable" withdrawal from the volatile semi-independent region. Whenever the ceasefire was violated, Mullah Dadullah would settle things down.

The 2006 spring offensive was veteran mujahideen fighter Jalaluddin Haqqani's show. Nevertheless, the main areas of success were not Haqqani's traditional areas of influence, such as southeastern Afghanistan's Khost, Paktia and Paktika. The Taliban secured major victories in their heartland of the southwest, Helmand, Zabul, Urzgan and Kandahar. And their leader was Mullah Dadullah, whose men seized control of more than 12 districts - and held on to them.

Pakistani strategic circles are convinced that as a proven military commander, Mullah Dadullah will be able to work wonders this spring and finally give the Taliban the edge over the Kabul administration and its NATO allies.

This, ultimately, is Pakistan's objective - to revive its role in Kabul - and Islamabad is optimistic that Dadullah's considerable diplomatic skills will enable him to negotiate a power-sharing formula for pro-Pakistan Afghan warlords.

Even if Mullah Omar disagrees about any major compromise, Islamabad believes that Dadullah would by then have made such a name for himself in the battle against NATO that Omar would have little option but to accept whatever terms were agreed on.

A new string in the Taliban bow

A notable addition to what can only be described as a limited Taliban arsenal this year is surface-to-air missiles, notably the SAM-7, which was the first generation of Soviet man-portable SAMs.

The Taliban acquired these missiles in 2005, but they had little idea about how to use them effectively. Arab al-Qaeda members conducted extensive training programs and brought the Taliban up to speed. Nevertheless, the SAM-7s, while useful against helicopters, were no use against the fighter and bomber aircraft that were doing so much damage.

What the Taliban desperately needed were sensors for their missiles. These detect aircraft emissions designed to misdirect the missiles.

And it so happened that Pakistan had such devices, having acquired them from the Americans, though indirectly. The Pakistanis retrieved them from unexploded cruise missiles fired into Afghanistan in 1998, targeting bin Laden. They copied and adapted them to fit other missiles, including the SAMs.

Now that the Taliban and Pakistan have a deal, these missiles will be made available to the Taliban. Much like the Stingers that changed the dynamics of the Afghan resistance against the Soviets, the SAMs could help turn things Mullah Dadullah's, the Taliban's and Pakistan's way.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia T imes Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Pakistan: Taliban Said 'Reluctantly Admitting' Arrest of Top Leader Akhond

SAP20070304033017 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 04 Mar 07

[Report by Rahimullah Yusufzai: "Taliban concede capture of Obaidullah, at last"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

DUBAI: Though the Taliban initially denied the arrest of their former defence minister Mulla Obaidullah Akhund in Quetta, one of their important military commanders and a few other officials are now reluctantly admitting that the news of his capture appears to be true.

Requesting anonymity, the Taliban military commander told 'The News' that he was now 80 per cent convinced that Mulla Obaidullah has indeed been arrested. Speaking from an unknown location, he said he was earlier unable and unwilling to believe that one of their top military leaders has been netted.

"One indication that the reports of his arrest are true is the fact that most of our military commanders and spokesmen have turned off their satellite phones. This has happened in the past also whenever someone important among the Taliban was captured," he explained.

This Taliban commander has proved reliable in the past. He had confirmed the death of top Taliban military commander Mulla Akhtar Mohammad Usmani in a US and Nato airstrike in Helmand province in December last year at a time when Taliban spokesmen were vehemently denying the claim by Western forces about the target killing of one of the most wanted men in Afghanistan. Subsequently, the Taliban reluctantly confirmed Usmani's death.

Talking to 'The News', certain low-ranking Taliban officials said they are gradually coming around to believe the news about Mulla Obaidullah's arrest. "There is gloom in our ranks. Our Taliban comrades everywhere are sad. It would take some time to overcome the shock of the arrest," a Taliban official remarked.

The Taliban members said switching off of phones by their senior military commanders and spokesmen always brought bad news. They said this is a sign that something has gone wrong for the Taliban and before long their apprehensions turn out to be true.

One other reason for switching off phones is o evade arrest. Taliban know that their captured colleagues would be investigated and even tortured by those taking them into custody to glean information about the whereabouts of important Taliban leaders and military commanders. After such high-profile arrests, important Taliban figures also try to change their satellite and other phones and change their place of hiding. This has helped them to avoid capture.

Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousaf Ahmadi earlier claimed Mulla Obaidullah hasn't been arrested. He insisted their former defence minister was in Afghanistan and leading Taliban fighters in battles against the US-led foreign occupying forces.

It was also suggested by certain Taliban quarters that another man named Obaidullah rather than Mulla Obaidullah was arrested in Quetta. A few reporters were also told that a videotape of Mulla Obaidullah would be made available to prove that he was still a free man. But it wasn't said when the tape would become available. In the past, the Taliban were not able to deliver on their promise to provide tapes of some of their major military operations. The largely resourceless Taliban have also been unable on certain occasions to provide timely footage of kidnapped foreigners.

Taliban sources said Mulla Obaidullah's arrest appears to have been made on the basis of information that had come from US military authorities in Kandahar. They said Pakistani authorities acted on this information and organised a raid to capture Mulla Obaidullah.

However, Pakistani security officials have been telling reporters that the raid to net Mulla Obaidullah was carried out by members of law-enforcing forces and intelligence agencies. They gave no hint that the US military and secret services provided intelligence or other inputs that led to Mulla Obaidullah's arrest.

The Pakistan government hasn't officially and publicly confirmed the arrest of Mulla Obaidullah and certain other Taliban figures. Two Pakistani security officials without disclosing their identity have, however, confirmed the arrests. Interestingly, the security and police officers in Quetta have been saying they were unaware of the arrests. It seems the raid was carried out by military intelligence agencies without taking the law-enforcing agencies in Balochistan into confidence.

Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao earlier told 'The News' that five people had been arrested in Quetta. When asked if among them was a top Taliban leader, he said those arrested appeared to be fairly important. When specifically asked about Mulla Obaidullah's arrest, Sherpao said he could not confirm this piece of information. "We are still carrying out investigations. We cannot say anything about the identity of the arrested men," he added.

Meanwhile, Taliban sources opined that Mulla Obaidullah's arrest came after the earlier capture of another of their commander and former governor of Zabul province, Amir Khan Haqqani, and one low-ranked fighter named Sarhadi. They claimed the five men including Mulla Obaidullah were apparently arrested in two different raids in Quetta with a gap of a few days. They also said Mulla Obaidullah was kept separately from the other captured Taliban members after his arrest.

There were also reports that a brother of slain Taliban military commander, Akhtar Mohammad Usmani, was also among those arrested in Quetta. Name of one Abdul Bari was also mentioned as one of the captured Taliban figures.

Earlier, there were rumours that senior Taliban commanders and former minister Mulla Jalaluddin Haqqani too has been captured in the Quetta raids. But it turned out later that Mulla Amir Khan Haqqani instead of Jalaluddin Haqqani had been arrested.

There are hundreds of Haqqanis among the Taliban because anyone having studied at the Darul Uloom Haqqania, one of the largest madris in Pakistan, at Akora Khattak in Nowshera district in the NWFP writes Haqqani with his name. In that sense, Mulla Obaidullah's capture would be a huge setback for the Taliban and could disrupt their military operations for sometime, particularly at this stage when the Taliban are preparing for their Spring Offensive in Afghanistan. But the Taliban like al-Qaeda has in the past adapted quickly to such adverse situations and named replacements to captured or killed Taliban operatives.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; root URL as of filing date: ]

Pakistan: 27 Uzbek Militants Said Captured by Tribal Commander During Clashes

SAP20070321081001 Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English 21 Mar 07

[Report by Ismail Khan & Alamgir Bhittani: "42 Uzbeks among 58 dead: Fierce clashes in S Waziristan"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR, March 20: Forty-two Uzbeks militants and 16 tribespeople were killed in two days of fierce clashes in the volatile South Waziristan tribal region, government and security officials told Dawn.

They said another 27 Uzbek militants had been captured by tribal militant commander Maulvi Nazir.

There was no independent confirmation of the death toll on both sides but information gathered from three different government security sources corroborate reports emerging from the restive region that the tribespeople who had once whole-heartedly welcomed foreign militants were now on a hunting spree for them.

Officials said announcements were made from mosques on loudspeakers in some villages in Wana, regional headquarters of South Waziristan, exhorting local tribespeople to stand up and wage a "jihad" against Uzbeks.

One official said Tojikhel, a sub-clan of the dominant Ahmadzai Wazir tribe in Wana tribal region, had asked its people to hunt down Uzbeks wherever they were found.

The exact number of militants from the central Asian republic associated with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan led by Tahir Yaldashev in Wana is not known but intelligence estimates vary from eight hundred to little over one thousand.

A security official said Mr Yaldashev had gone into hiding and had not been seen since the first flare between local tribespeople and Uzbek militants early this month that had left at least 17 Uzbeks dead.

Officials said among the 16 tribespeople killed in two days of fighting were four students whose bus was caught in a cross-fire on Monday.

The sources said 12 seriously wounded tribespeople - two women, two girls and eight students - were evacuated by helicopter from Wana for proper medical treatment.

The number of wounded has been put at more than a hundred with most being treated at a local hospital in Wana.

A senior security official told Dawn that militant commander Maulavi Nazir had given Uzbeks until Wednesday morning "to surrender, leave or prepare for action."

The government, it appears, has chosen to take a back seat and allow tribal dynamics to play out to deal with the situation, fearing that any intervention to side with tribespeople or militants supporting the action against foreign militants could discredit the whole campaign.

"Let the tribespeople deal with the situation. That's the best way to deal with the problem. There is a groundswell of support for action against Uzbeks and any attempt by the government to intervene in support of the tribal action would actually discredit it. There is tribal sensitivity involved here," the official said.

The latest flare-up, the second this month, occurred after the killing of an Al Qaeda-linked Arab identified as Saiful Adil last week. His body was found abandoned in the outskirts of Wana.

Maulavi Nazir, a top pro-Taliban militant commander in Wana region, suspected Uzbeks for their involvement in the murder.

The security official said a foreign militant and his tribal escort carrying blood money to the widow of Saiful Adil were also attacked on their way which added fuel to the fire.

Maulvai Nazir had strained relations with Uzbek militants due to their alleged involvement in local crimes, decided to take them on, banking largely on popular support for his action, government and security officials said.

The officials said militant commanders were now clearly divided over the issue with some supporting the Uzbeks.

At least three of those supporting the Uzbeks had signed peace agreement with the government in November, 2004, including Maulavi Abbas, and were siding with foreign militants, the officials said.

The sources said Siraj Haqqani, the son of a veteran Afghan mujahid and Taliban leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani, and his aide, Bakhta Jan, had reached Wana to intervene and persuade the combatants to stop fighting and settle the issue through dialogue.

But one official said the afternoon talks between senior Taliban figures and Maulavi Nazir and his tribal supporters had failed and another round was expected sometimes late Tuesday evening.

Hand-picked, Nazir owes his own position to the Haqqanis, who wield tremendous influence and power over militant commanders in the restive North and South Waziristan tribal regions.

Officials said the fighting was mostly concentrated in Zha Ghundai, Azam Warsak and Kaloosha areas of Wana region. "There is sporadic gunfire", one official said.

One report indicated that militants from banned jihadist outfits, who had also taken sanctuary in Wana, had also joined the tribespeople and blocked the Wana-Azam-Warsak road and checking vehicles for Uzbek militants.

"What essentially was a fight between a pro-government tribal elder and Uzbek militants has now turned into a larger fight, bringing in the likes of Maulavi Nazir. We were waiting for this to happen with bated breathes and thank God it has happened. Those who were too weak but wanted to take on the Uzbeks now feel emboldened. We were anticipating this for a long time and now it unfolding before our eyes", commented a government official.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; root URL as of filing date: ]

AFP: Pakistani Taliban Commanders Negotiating Ceasefire

JPP20070322969046 Hong Kong AFP in English 0821 GMT 22 Mar 07

WANA, Pakistan, March 22, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistani Taliban commanders tried Thursday to negotiate a ceasefire between tribesmen and foreign Al-Qaeda militants after fierce battles left 114 people dead, officials said.

Intermittent heavy weapons fire continued Thursday in the rugged South Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan, after a brief truce the previous night to allow the tribesmen and their Uzbek opponents to bury the dead.

The Pakistani government says the clashes, which broke out on Monday, show that its efforts to get Taliban-sympathising tribesmen to expel foreign extremists are working.

However intelligence officials said that the "jirga" or tribal council overseeing the negotiations included Baitullah Mahsud, a Taliban chief wanted in connection with a string of suicide bombings in Pakistan earlier this year.

Another member of the "jirga" or tribal council running the talks is Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of former minister in Afghanistan's 1996-2001 Taliban regime, Jalaluddin Haqqani.

"Top Taliban commanders have assembled in Wana to negotiate a ceasefire between Uzbeks and local Taliban backed by the government," a local security source told AFP.

"There is still a tense stand-off between the rival factions with occasional firing. Local tribesmen were adamant that first foreign militants should surrender and only after that they would agree to a ceasefire."

The fighting started Monday after ex-Taliban commander Mullah Nazir, whom the government says has come over to its side, ordered followers of Uzbek militant Tahir Yuldashev to disarm.

Officials said Yuldashev, who leads a group called the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, was formerly a close confidant of Osama bin Laden. He has been sentenced to death in absentia for bombings in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.

Yuldashev and his men were among thousands of militants who fled the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 and sought shelter with ethnic Pashtun tribesmen in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt along the border.

A local intelligence official said Nazir, the tribal leader, had "refused to meet the jirga."

The tribesmen also raided a private jail used by the Uzbek militants and found a large cache of arms including 188 Kalashnikov rifles, 175 rocket propelled grenades, 1,800 hand grenades and thousands of bullets, officials said.

Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said late Wednesday that 84 Uzbek militants and 30 local tribesmen, including nine civilians, had been killed. Another 83 Uzbeks were captured by the tribal forces, he said.

Local officials said Thursday they had no further information on the toll.

Sherpao said the battles showed the "success of the policy the government pursued in the region for the betterment of tribal people" and to persuade them to drive out foreign militants.

Local sources say the government has covertly armed, financed and helped the tribesmen and helped former "jihadi" fighters linked to insurgencies in Indian Kashmir and Afghanistan infiltrate the area.

Residents said Pakistani troops had also fired some shells at militant positions on Wednesday.

The government and army say they are not giving military, logistical or financial support to the tribesmen but add that they back their actions.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

AFP: Taliban Commanders Try To Negotiate for Ending Battle With Pakistani Tribesmen

JPP20070322058013 Hong Kong AFP in English 1212 GMT 22 Mar 07

[By S.H. Khan]

WANA, Pakistan, March 22, 2007 (AFP) - Taliban commanders tried Thursday to negotiate an end to four days of battles between Pakistani tribesmen and foreign Al-Qa'ida militants that have left at least 120 dead, officials said.

Army helicopter gunships hovered over the rugged South Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan but did not intervene, as the tribes and their Uzbek opponents exchanged sporadic heavy weapons fire, witnesses said.

Four Uzbeks and two local supporters were killed Thursday when tribesmen fired at their pickup truck in a village near the regional capital Wana, tribal sources told AFP. They were buried together in a grave.

The Pakistani government, which is under pressure from the United States to clamp down on militancy, says the clashes show its efforts to get Taliban-sympathising tribesmen to expel foreign extremists are working.

However intelligence officials said that the "jirga" or tribal council overseeing the negotiations includes figures wanted by the government, notably Baitullah Mahsud, a Pakistani Taliban chief blamed for a string of suicide bombings in Pakistan.

Another member of the council is Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a former minister in Afghanistan's 1996-2001 Taliban regime, they said.

Officials said they were unable to confirm local media reports that Mullah Dadullah, a top Afghan Taliban commander behind the recent kidnapping of an Italian journalists, was also involved.

"Top Taliban commanders have assembled in Wana to negotiate a ceasefire between Uzbeks and local Taliban backed by the government," a local security source told AFP, adding that the tribesmen wanted the foreigners to surrender first.

"There is still a tense stand-off between the rival factions with occasional firing."

BOTh sides agreed to a brief ceasefire late Wednesday to bury their dead.

The fighting started Monday after ex-Taliban commander Mullah Nazir, whom the government says has defected to its side, ordered followers of Uzbek militant Tahir Yuldashev to disarm.

An intelligence official said Nazir had "refused to meet the jirga."

Officials said Yuldashev, who leads a group called the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, was formerly a close confidant of Osama bin Laden.

Yuldashev and his men were among thousands of militants who fled the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 and sought shelter with ethnic Pashtun tribesmen in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt along the border.

The tribesmen also raided a private jail used by the Uzbeks and found 188 Kalashnikov rifles, 175 rocket propelled grenades, 1,800 hand grenades and thousands of bullets, officials said.

Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said the official toll given late Wednesday remained steady at 84 Uzbek militants and 30 local tribesmen, including nine civilians, had been killed. Another 83 Uzbeks were captured, he said.

Sherpao said the battles showed the "success of the policy the government pursued in the region for the betterment of tribal people".

Local sources say the government has covertly armed, financed and helped the tribesmen and helped former "jihadi" fighters linked to insurgencies in Indian Kashmir and Afghanistan infiltrate the area. The government denies this.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Pakistan: Report--'Senior Taliban' Took Part in Waziristan Ceasefire Negotiations

SAP20070323027002 Lahore Daily Times (Internet Version-WWW) in English 23 Mar 07

[Report by Iqbal Khattak: "Ceasefire brokered in Waziristan; Senior Taliban commanders part of ceasefire negotiations"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR: A Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazlur Rehman)-dominated tribal jirga on Thursday brokered a temporary ceasefire between foreign militants and Wazir tribes in South Waziristan, who have been fighting since Monday.

"Both sides have agreed to the jirga demand for a ceasefire," said Niaz Muhammad Qureshi, JUI-F information secretary for South Waziristan. "We are glad that the two sides conceded to the tribal elders and clerics' plea for silencing their guns in order to solve their issues through peaceful means," he added.

Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said that the toll in four days of fighting likely crossed 135 on Thursday. The dead include some 100 foreigners, 25 fighters of local tribes.

Senior militant leaders like Baitullah Mehsud, Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of senior Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, and an unnamed Taliban commander from across the Afghan border reached undisclosed locations in South Waziristan to take part in the ceasefire negotiations. "They are all monitoring the situation and discussing with key local militant commanders how things can be cooled down," said tribal sources.

Tribal sources said that Maulvi Nazir, commander of pro-Taliban tribal militants in Wazir areas, at one point was unwilling to negotiate a ceasefire with foreign militants and their local harbourers. "The jirga members convinced him after hours-long parleys," said sources in Dera Ismail Khan city, 200 miles south of Peshawar.

Security officials in Tank city said that pro-Maulvi Nazir militants on Thursday ambushed two vehicles carrying 12 Uzbek militants, killing six of them in Zarmilan, 35 kilometres south of Wana.

"Other foreign militants fled in the second vehicle while local militants lost two comrades in the ambush," the security officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

Otherwise, the clashes on the fourth day of the conflict were less intense, a military spokesman said. "The clashes continued but their intensity was low," Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad told Daily Times by phone from Rawalpindi.

Wana residents reaching Dera Ismail Khan city said that both sides were manning check-points in Azam Warsak and Kaloosha. "Both sides search you when you pass through areas they control area," Nazar Muhammad, a general merchant in Wana, told Daily Times by phone from Dera Ismail Khan.

Maulvi Nazir was quoted as saying that the foreign militants would be provided shelter as refugees only after they "disarmed" themselves.

"There can be no other arrangement as far as the foreigners' stay in (South) Waziristan is concerned," he told a group of elders who visited him near Wana on Wednesday.

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of the independent, moderate daily, run by veteran journalist Najam Sethi and published by the Friday Times group. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated hardcopy circulation of 20,000; root URL as of filing date: ]

Pakistan: 'Jirga' Fails To Broker Peace Between Foreigners, Locals in Waziristan

SAP20070324081001 Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English 24 Mar 07

[Report by Dawn correspondent: "130 foreigners killed in clashes: governor"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR, March 23: NWFP Governor Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai has said about 130 foreigners have been killed in the four-day gunbattle between local tribesmen and foreign militants in the restive South Waziristan Agency.

Talking to journalists after conferring presidential awards on nine people at a ceremony held at the Governor House here on Friday, Mr Aurakzai said tribesmen had also captured 62 foreigners. About 30 local people had been killed in the clashes in the Azam Warsak area of South Waziristan since Monday.

Asked if the government would seek custody of the captured foreigners from tribesmen, Mr Aurakzai said: "I don't think so because the situation is very critical." He said that according to government estimates the number of foreigners in South Waziristan was about 200, but it seemed that 400 to 500 foreigners were still living in the area.

He said there were some indications that Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader Tahir Yaldeshiv was in the volatile region. He said tribesmen had now realised that the presence of foreigners was a major obstacle to their progress. "That's why they (tribesmen) took up arms against them," he added.

Earlier, Governor Aurakzai conferred presidential awards on nine people on the occasion of Pakistan Day. Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani also attended the ceremony.

Those who received the awards were Dr Nasim Ashraf, Mohammad Ghalib Nishter, Javed Saifullah Khan, Ghulam Mohammad Qasir, Prof Raj Wali Khan Khattak, Ghulam Nabi, Aleem Roz Khan, Khawaja Khan and Mohammad Gulab Khan.

TANK: A tribal jirga on Friday failed to broker a peace deal between combatant foreigners and local militants to end the four-day fighting in the restive South Waziristan Agency, well-placed sources said.

The sources said talks collapsed when local militant commander Maulvi Nazir linked permanent truce with the surrender of foreign militants residing in the region bordering Afghanistan.

They said Maulvi Nazir had tabled two conditions for a ceasefire - surrender of the foreigners and a guarantee by them that in future they would demonstrate good conduct. But foreigners and their local collaborators turned down both the conditions, they said.

MNA from tribal area Maulvi Mirajuddin, influential tribal cleric Maulna Ainullah, Bakhta Jan, militant commander Baitullah Mehsud and Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of the prominent Afghan commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, were negotiating to broker a ceasefire.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; root URL as of filing date: ]

Pakistan: 'Ceasefire' Holding Between Locals, Foreign Militants in Waziristan

SAP20070324021001 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 24 Mar 07

[Corrected version: correcting quotation marks in subject line; report by Rahimullah Yusufzai: "Jirga-brokered truce holds in Sourth Waziristan; Combatants give authority to Jirga to end their conflict; Orakzai says 160 killed in fighting"]

PESHAWAR: The ceasefire between tribal fighters and foreign militants backed by their local supporters in Wana area was holding Friday even though emotions were still running high and the situation remained uncertain.

Government officials and members of the peace Jirgas [tribal councils] that mediated the ceasefire Thursday evening concurred that there was no fighting during the night and on Friday. They said both sides were abiding by the ceasefire and refraining from any provocative act that could trigger fresh fighting.

Contrary to claims by government officials earlier that no formal ceasefire agreement had been reached, some of the Jirga members insisted that both sides agreed to stop fighting and give the peace mission a chance to work out a durable solution of their disputes.

Maulana Merajuddin Qureshi, a pro-MMA MNA [pro-Muttahida Majlis-e Amal member of National assembly] from South Waziristan and leading member of the JUI-F [Jamiat Ulema-e Islam--Fazlur Rahman group] delegation that was sent to Wana to broker ceasefire, told The News on his return to Tank Friday evening that both sides had given "Wak' (authority) to the Jirga to help end their conflict.

"Jirga members are maintaining regular contact with the combatants. Nobody should expect quick results in view of the enormity of the task but we intend to keep this issue on our list of high priority," he said.

Apart from peace Jirgas that came from South Waziristan and North Waziristan, Afghan Taliban also played a role in mediating the ceasefire. Prominent among them was Sirajuddin Haqqani, eldest son of former Afghan mujahideen and Taliban military commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani. Tribal sources said his word carried weight and the combatants agreed to the ceasefire largely due to his efforts. They said all the fighters, whether the Uzbekistani militants or their tribal foes and friends, were unanimous in giving authority to the Afghan Taliban for putting an end to the conflict.

Maulana Merajuddin Qureshi also conceded that Afghan Taliban were in touch with the two sides and were keen to put an end to the fratricidal fighting in the Wana area.

However, he conceded that it won't be easy satisfying the local tribesmen under their commander Maulvi Nazeer who wanted all the Uzbekistani militants to leave their area. He reminded that these tribesmen prior to the ceasefire were demanding that the Uzbeks should shift out of the Wana area.

"They were asking the Uzbeks to surrender or face death. After the ceasefire, they are now willing to wait for the verdict of the peace Jirga," he explained. He added that not only South Waziristan but also North Waziristan was becoming inhospitable for the Uzbekistani militants due to their overbearing nature and long presence in these tribal regions.

Intriguingly, the Jirga members described the death toll as far less than that claimed by civil and military officials and duly reported by the media. One of the Jirga members, requesting anonymity, said the tribesmen supporting the Uzbek militants conceded the loss of only three of their fighters and those fighting the Uzbeks admitted losing five of their men. He said the Uzbeks lost four men only. If true, the total casualties in four days of fighting were a mere 12. It was unbelievably low compared to the claims by government officials that more than 150 fighters had died in the reportedly fierce clashes beginning last Monday.

The Governor of NWFP, Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Mohammad Jan Orakzai, said Friday that 160 people were killed in the fighting.

It may be added that there never was any independent confirmation of the reported deaths during the fighting in Azam Warsak and its surrounding villages. The figures came from one source and that was the government.

The number of hostages taken by the two sides during the course of the fighting also figured during the peace talks. A Jirga member said it emerged that the hostages were far less in number than those reported in the media. He said the next step after the ceasefire would be to arrange for a prisoners' swap so that the hostages could return to their homes.

According to Jirga members and tribal sources in Wana, the mediators met Maulvi Nazeer and his men separately before proceeding to Azam Warsak and Kaloosha for meeting Noor Islam and the tribesmen backing Uzbek militants.

Usman Jan, a deputy to Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) leader Qari Tahir Yuldashev, was reportedly also present during the meeting in Kaloosha village. The whereabouts of Qari Tahir, head of the Uzbekistani militants operating in Waziristan, were not known. He had sent Usman Jan to represent him in the talks and to give assurance that he wanted peace with the local tribes and was ready to abide by the decisions of the peace Jirga.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; root URL as of filing date: ]

Pakistan Tribal Leader Says Ready To Shelter UBL, Omar If They Keep Local Ways

SAP20070421005003 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 21 Apr 07

[Report by Javed Afridi, Mushtaq Yusufazi: "Tribal leader willing to give shelter to Osama, Denies any knowledge of Al-Qa'ida leaders' whereabouts"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

WANA: Leader of the tribal Taliban combating Uzbek militants and their local supporters in the restive South Wazirstan agency, Mulla Nazir Ahmad on Friday said he was willing to give refuge to any foreigner, including Osama bin Laden in the tribal territory, if he pledged to abide by the local tribal customs and traditions.

Mulla Nazir, 32, in his first ever appearance before the media, told journalists from Peshawar, Tank and DI Khan that Pashtun traditions guaranteed such incentive, where people like Osama or Mulla Omar were no exception. He, however, denied links with any of the two or having knowledge about their whereabouts. "I invited you to see for yourself, the changed environment here after the expulsion of foreign militants, who had made the area volatile for its own people.

Let the world know that Wana is now free from foreign militants," he told the journalists. He asked the officials from various government departments, who had left the area due to the turbulence, to return and play their role in the development of the agency. He also urged the government to initiate development work in the area that lost most of the basic infrastructure, especially electricity and telephone installations. He also urged mobile phone companies to start their service in the area.

Regarding recent clashes with the Uzbeks, Nazir said they (Uzbeks) were guest-turned outlaws, who went around killing and robbing tribesmen besides imposing their self-styled Shariah upon them. He said around 150 to 200 Uzbeks were killed or injured including Mufti Abu Bakar, one of their prominent commander. The clashes, he said, also claimed 25 of his men.

Nazir confessed to a limited assistance from the Pakistani armed forces in their fight against the foreign militants that included medical cover and securing the posts vacated by the Uzbeks, but denied their participation in active combat, as claimed by the local tribesmen, who were thankful to the Pakistan armed forces. "We got the freedom yet again. This time, from the Central Asians," Rasool Khan, an elderly tribesman at Azam Warsak, which was referred to as Uzbekistan until the operation began, told The News.

The journalists were shown a private jail of the Uzbeks in the area, which they said was used as a torture cell against their opponents. Mulla Nazir said that a peace committee has been established under him, comprising four other members Commander Mita Khan, Haji Abdul Hanan, Haji Malang and Haji Haleem Ullah, who would ensure expulsion of hostile foreigners and supporters from Wana. "The committee would side with the oppressed and fight against the oppressor," he said. He added the committee would take no action beyond Wana subdivision that includes the areas of the agency headquarters, Zarmilana, Angoor Adda and Shakai.

He claimed that the operation has rid the area of all the foreign elements, which, he said were either killed or made to flee. "They might have gone to Mir Ali (North Waziristan) or Afghanistan," he predicated.

Responding to a question, he said the Afghan Taliban attempted to negotiate between them and sent a delegation headed by Maulana Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of a prominent Taliban commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani. "Haqqani proposed a solution in accordance with Shariah, which Tahir Yaldashev (Uzbek supreme leader) refused," he claimed, adding they too refused to settle for less. The tribal leader said he did take part in Afghan war alongside the al-Qaeda-backed Taliban in Afghanistan before the US invasion in 2001 and claimed to have duel nationality of both Pakistan and Afghanistan. "I still pay frequent visits to Afghanistan as I have home in Birmal town of Paktika province and own property in Kandahar. I played there was as an Afghan citizen," he explained.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; root URL as of filing date: ]

Asia Times: 'How Pakistan Settled An Al-Qaeda Score '

CPP20070501721001 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1035 GMT 30 Apr 07

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad : "How Pakistan Settled An Al-qaeda Score "; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - Internal squabbling between the Taliban and al-Qaeda and exploited by Pakistan forced many al-Qaeda leaders to move from the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan to Iraq in search of new headquarters from which to operate.

Senior al-Qaeda member Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi, 46, was one of these men - and he paid dearly for the move after being fingered by Pakistan. On Friday, the Pentagon announced that Hadi had been arrested late last year and handed over to the US Central Intelligence Agency. Describing Hadi as "one of al-Qaeda's highest-ranking and experienced senior operatives", the Pentagon said he had been sent to the US Defense Department-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Pentagon did not say exactly where and when Hadi was arrested, but it is believed to have been in Iraq. Asia Times Online contacts confirm that he was exposed by Pakistani intelligence after it received news of Hadi's movements from Taliban sources close to the Pakistani establishment. Hadi, as a hardcore takfiri , (1) was seen as an enemy of Pakistan.

Although the date of Hadi's departure from the Waziristan tribal areas is not known, it was about the time that several powerful Taliban field commanders, including Jalaluddin Haqqani, Mullah Dadullah and the Taliban leader himself, Mullah Omar, affirmed their support for the Pakistani establishment as a "Muslim state with a Muslim army". They stressed that instead of investing energy to destabilize Pakistan, the focus should be on the jihad in Afghanistan against foreign troops.

The one-legged Taliban commander of southwestern Afghanistan, Mullah Dadullah, had been sent to Waziristan with a letter from Mullah Omar early last year and he played a pivotal role in stopping the internecine strife between the Pakistani Taliban/al-Qaeda and the Pakistani armed forces. In the months after this, Mullah Dadullah and the Pakistani establishment agreed to a deal to support the Taliban in Afghanistan (see Pakistan makes a deal with the Taliban , Asia Times Online, March 1).

This re-emergence of a soft corner in the Taliban's leadership for the Pakistani establishment was the beginning of the end of al-Qaeda's effective operations in Pakistan, and al-Qaeda leaders felt that it was time to move from Waziristan.

Al-Qaeda adherents were not prepared to serve as foot soldiers under the command of the Taliban. They saw themselves as warriors with a much broader strategy aimed at bringing down US military might. (For a report on Al-Qaeda's move from Waziristan, see Ready to take on the world , ATol, March 2.)

Why Pakistan was after Hadi

Pakistan's alliance in the US-led "war on terror" turned a whole generation of Arab fighters into foes. More than 700 Arab fighters were arrested by the Pakistani government after September 11, 2001, and handed over to US custody.

This prompted a segment of al-Qaeda to take revenge against the administration of President General Pervez Musharraf. A special cell was established in Waziristan, Jundullah (entirely different from the Iranian Jundullah), to carry out attacks, which it did on several occasions, against Musharraf. This placed Jundullah and takfiris like Hadi clearly in the Pakistani establishment's crosshairs.

In 2003, al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri spoke for the first time against the Pakistani establishment, calling Musharraf a "traitor" and urging Pakistanis to stand up against his rule. (For more on Hadi and his role in a conspiracy to attack Musharraf, see Pakistan and the al-Qaeda curse , ATol, October 1, 2003, and Al-Qaeda cell caught in US squeeze , June 15, 2004.)

Pakistan isolates al-Qaeda

By late 2003, the Pakistani military operation against al-Qaeda in South Waziristan had left the group somewhat battered, with its training camps destroyed, but at the same time this created lot of anger against the Pakistani forces. This helped al-Qaeda spread its takfiri and anti-establishment ideology among local tribes and led to the formation of the Pakistan Taliba n, which by last year had formed the Islamic State of North Waziristan and the Islamic state of South Waziristan.

In this context, Mullah Dadullah's arrival in South Waziristan as Mullah Omar's envoy early last year was aimed at building bridges between the Pakistani establishment and these renegade Pakistani Taliban who were becoming imbibed with takfiri ideology and who were bloodthirsty for the Pakistani armed forces. Suicide attacks were rampant on troops in the tribal areas, as well as in Pakistani cities.

Dadullah's role paved the way for the Pakistani Taliban to sit with the Pakistani establishment to negotiate a ceasefire, and Pakistani Taliban commanders such as Haji Omar and Haji Nazir talked to Islamabad. Soon, a peace deal was agreed for the two Waziristans, but on the sole condition that all militants who were at loggerheads with the Pakistani establishment would take a back seat, leaving the lead to political faces (see The knife at Pakistan's throat , ATol, September 2, 2006).

Pakistan's priorities were crystal-clear: it did not want anti-establishment elements thriving under the garb of takfiri ideology, although it had no problem with the Taliban regrouping and carrying out actions in Afghanistan.

Leaders such as Haji Omar, Baitullah Mehsud, Sadiq Noor - all close to al-Qaeda - and other prominent commanders were put in the background and Haji Nazir became the most powerful Taliban commander in South Waziristan. Nazir, who was little known only a year ago, was the one who ordered the recent massacre of takfiri and anti-Pakistani establishment Uzbeks in South Waziristan.

These developments, including the infiltration by the Pakistani establishment of the rank and file of the Taliban, rattled al-Qaeda, which realized that its ideology was no longer acceptable in Waziristan and Afghanistan, and that the only way it could stay in Afghanistan was if it agreed to fight under Taliban commanders.

This was intolerable for operators such as Hadi, and dozens of them began the move to Iraq from Waziristan and Afghanistan. And Islamabad swooped on the chance when its intelligence learned of Hadi's movements and passed on the information to the US, thereby closing a powerful chapter of al-Qaeda's operations.

Note

1. Takfiris hold that Muslims who hold anything less than an extreme view of Islam that is intolerant of non-Muslims are themselves no better than kafirs - infidels.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Asia Times: 'Pakistan Gains from Taliban Split'

CPP20070509715038 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1107 GMT 08 May 07

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Pakistan Gains from Taliban Split"; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - The Taliban are poised to launch Ghazwatul Badr to seize control of Kabul. The name of the offensive is a reference to the Battle of Badr commanded by the Prophet Mohammed in the Arabian Peninsula some 1,400 years ago.

The Battle of Badr was the key battle in the early days of Islam and a turning point in Mohammed's struggle with his opponents among the Quraish tribe in Mecca. The battle has been passed down in Islamic history as a decisive victory attributable to divine intervention and the genius of Mohammed.

In this century's version of the battle, more than 30,000 youths have been trained in the Pakistani tribal areas of North and South Waziristan as cannon fodder in a struggle that the Taliban believe will be the key turning point against foreign occupation forces and the Taliban's opponents in Kabul.

On the eve of the offensive, however, machinations within the ranks of the resistance have opened divisions among the field commanders. Plans to foment a mass uprising across Afghanistan will go ahead, but it could be that the offensive will have more than one leader and several movements, under the brand name of the Taliban.

Preparing for Ghazwatul Badr

Last year's spring offensive in Afghanistan saw a strengthening and regrouping of Taliban commanders, so much so that the resistance was the most successful since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.

As the Taliban see it, they are fighting against the subjugation of the Afghan people by the infidel armies of the West. As such, any Afghan who supports the Western armies is considered an infidel. This notion was promoted across the country, and found considerable resonance in a society with strong memories of the 10-year jihad against the godless Soviets in the 1980s.

People have been urged to leave areas controlled by North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led (NATO) forces and resettle in isolated communities. From here they are encouraged to wage war against the infidels, which includes Muslims sympathetic to foreigners.

After 2001, many small groups of Taliban militants gathered in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and last year the tribespeople of southwestern Afghanistan welcomed them back into the heartlands. This saw the emergence of strong local warlords. With the onset of Ghazwatul Badr, the same phenomenon is likely to happen in western Afghanistan, in the east and in parts of the north.

Last year's offensive honed the command skills of Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani and his sons Sirajuddin and Nasiruddin, as well as Mullah Dadullah and the leader of the Hizb-i-Islami Afghanistan, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and his commanders.

These would be the men, the Taliban believed, to expand the gains made in southwestern Afghanistan last year to other parts of the country, and ultimately to Kabul. But it will not be as clear-cut as that.

A mass uprising

With the spring offensive of 2006, the Taliban gained rapid support in southeastern and western Afghanistan with various warlords and tribal elders. The Taliban were no longer defined by their tunnel vision - they took on a messianic role against the destructive US war machine, notorious over the years for its indiscriminate aerial bombings and failure to deliver on promises for the reconstruction and well-being of the country.

The fierce NATO response to the resurgent Taliban led to the killing of hundreds of non-combatant tribespeople, including women and children. Tribal leaders had little or no moral ground to restrain the mounting anger among people to join in the retaliation against NATO.

This phenomenon helped the Taliban to expand their operations from the southwestern provinces of Zabul, Orzgan, Helmand and parts of Kandahar to the western provinces of Herat, Farah, Ghor and Baghdais, with the assistance of non-Taliban warlords. Similarly, they gained a foothold in the southeastern provinces of Kunar, Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Gardez and Nangarhar.

It is from this platform that this year' s mass offensive will be launched.

Haqqani, the legendary mujahideen commander against the Soviets, was appointed by Taliban leader Mullah Omar as the deputy chief of the Taliban movement and the all-powerful commander of last year's offensive.

The forces of resistance took some time to make an impression against the war machine of the US and its allies, especially in the western provinces and parts of the southeast, as these areas were practically beyond the orbit of the Taliban's influence.

So in the initial phase, Haqqani concentrated on realigning diverse tribes, fragmented religious groups and former mujahideen into well-trained combat units.

In the meantime, militants who had streamed into the Taliban's heartland of southwestern Afghanistan from all corners of the jihadi crescent gathered under the command of Dadullah to form a very strong base.

This unexpectedly big success gave Dadullah a lot of extra room in which to operate, and he spread his wings. He enhanced his influenced in North and South Waziristan and even established contacts with the Pakistani establishment.

Top commanders such as Haqqani and Hekmatyar viewed these events with some concern, although, because of Dadullah's success, they could say little.

These commanders felt that Dadullah was going beyond fighting a war of resistance against foreign forces to initiating moves that would ultimately serve Pakistan's political and strategic designs in the region. Under a deal between Dadullah and Islamabad, the Taliban, using Pakistani territory and with Islamabad's support, will be able safely to move men, weapons and supplies into southwestern Afghanistan (see Pakistan makes a deal with the Taliban, Asia Times Online, March 1).

Haqqani and Hekmatyar feared that the one-legged Dadullah would eventually leave behind charismatic figures such as themselves in all political and strategic matters.

Internal wrangling

A feature of Ghazwatul Badr was to have been a simultaneous wave of thousands of suicide bombers. The idea came from Haqqani, and he set up facilities for the orientation of new squads.

Dadullah, meanwhile, has over the past months stepped up his activities in North and South Waziristan to gather funds and human resources to fuel his struggle to hold on to southwestern Afghanistan. And as a result of Dadullah's efforts, Haqqani's suicide bombers were co-opted as ordinary fighters for the southwest, centered in Helmand province.

Baitullah Mehsood, Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Moulvi Sadiq Noor are the leading Pakistani Taliban commanders in North and South Waziristan, and as they are all close to Dadullah, they gave him their full support.

This cooperation between Dadullah and the Pakistani Taliban in the two Waziristans was unacceptable to Haqqani and his sons Sirajuddin and Nasiruddin, who are also commanders. They had been settled in North Waziristan for decades and had dreamed of the emergence of an elaborate conflict waged under their command from their bases in North and South Waziristan through tens of thousands of suicide bombers.

Haqqani, whose son Nasiruddin is from one of his Arab wives, is the only Taliban commander very close to al-Qaeda fighters. Most Arabs and other foreign militants, especially after the recent internecine strife in the Waziristans between al-Qaeda-linked militants and local Taliban commanders, now live under his protection.

Haqqani eventually raised his concerns at the Taliban's top shura (council). He pointed out that he had been installed as the main commander of the Taliban's offensives, yet Dadullah was meddling in the epicenter of Haqqani's command. The shura did not properly address Haqqani's objections.

Haqqani was not part of the original Taliban movement: he surrendered to them without firing a bullet once they emerged as a powerful force in the mid-1990s. And despite his stature as a top commander of the national resistance against the Soviets, he joined the Taliban as a second-level leader without complaint. It was only last year that he was appointed the main commander and a deputy chief of the Taliban movement.

Mullah Omar's and the shura's behavior disheartened Haqqani, and opened a rift with Dadullah as the latter diverted a flow of trained fighters to Helmand instead of their going to Paktia, Paktika and Khost, where Sirajuddin is the commander.

As a result, the intensity of attacks on NATO and Afghan troops has dropped considerably compared with last year, when Maulvi Kalam was the commander of the Taliban in these three southeastern provinces. Kalam was killed last September in a NATO air raid.

Haqqani, meanwhile, was appointed commander of the eastern province of Nangarhar, where the Taliban have marginal influence. His assignment is to sow the seeds of rebellion in the comparatively peaceful province.

During the resistance against the Soviets, Haqqani was close to Hekmatyar. Now that these legends are being sidelined by the Taliban leadership, they are finding common ground in eastern Afghanistan, where they have joined forces. In Haqqani's most recent mission, warlords loyal to Hekmatyar supported him in a successful operation.

So from their eastern war theater, Gulbuddin and Haqqani are watching the Taliban's new strongman, Dadullah, gain victories in the southwest. He is doing this with the powerful backing of the Pakistani establishment, which will allow Pakistan to open a channel of dialogue between Helmand and Washington, paving the way for a power-sharing formula between Kabul and the "moderate" Taliban.

These developments have in effect separated the eastern and southwestern areas of Afghanistan, and with it the Taliban's long Ghazwatul Badr march to Kabul as a single entity. This might not derail initial plans for an uprising, but if such an uprising is successful, it does not bode well for Afghanistan's longer-term stability.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Asia Times: Dadullah's Death Hits Taliban Hard

CPP20070515715027 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1054 GMT 14 May 07

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Dadullah's Death Hits Taliban Hard"; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - Now that Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah is dead, everybody, including Pakistani militants, al-Qaeda, Washington, Kabul and Islamabad, is weighing how this will affect the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

The one-legged Dadullah, 41, was killed on Saturday in the southern province of Helmand, US and Afghan officials said on Sunday. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's International Security Assistance Force confirmed the death, saying that after Dadullah had left his "sanctuary" in the south, he was killed in a US-led coalition operation supported by NATO and Afghan troops.

One thing is clear. Dadullah's death will have no impact on the Taliban's formal political command structure. Mullah Omar remains firmly as head of the Taliban, with Jalaluddin Haqqani as his deputy chief.

However, Dadullah's death is certainly a serious blow to the Taliban's "soul" and their field strategy, as Dadullah had emerged as a ruthlessly efficient leader in the battlefield.

He was to be the driving force behind this year's spring offensive - Ghazwatul Badr - and he had enhanced his influence in the North and South Waziristan Pakistani tribal areas, and even made contact with the Pakistani establishment.

While Dadullah lacked much formal education, his unschooled intelligence gave him an astute understanding of the human mind. In 2005-06 he brokered a peace deal between the Pakistani armed forces and the Pakistani Taliban in North and South Waziristan and then worked to recruit Pakistani nationals into the Taliban. He advised Pakistani militants to be focused against NATO troops in Afghanistan rather than taking the war to Islamabad against President General Pervez Musharraf.

Dadullah was a natural leader in the battlefield as well as in strategic back yards. He rose to prominence in the Taliban movement in the mid-1990s, but did not have the wealth of war veterans of the Afghan resistance against the Soviets in the 1980s, like Ahmad Shah Massoud, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Jalaluddin Haqqani and Ismail Khan, who received millions of dollars in international aid to fight the Soviets.

Dadullah's popularity was not because he distributed cash and goods among the mujahideen and then enjoyed his tea on a ridge while his men fought. He derived loyalty because he fought alongside his men and suffered the same harsh conditions as them. This is how he died, in a fight with his men at his side.

Under Dadullah's command, the Taliban had taken over almost 80% of southwestern Afghanistan, and both Kabul and NATO-led forces have trumpeted his death as a major breakthrough.

And beyond the propaganda boost, they are correct, as the impetus of the insurgency will suffer, at least in the short term. And significantly, Dadullah's demise marks a shift of the Taliban's military command into the hands of "non-Taliban" and non-Kandahari commanders of southeastern Afghanistan, such as Haqqani.

The Taliban's spiritual home is Kandahar in the province of the same name, from where most of the Taliban leaders come, including Mullah Omar. With Dadullah gone, and before him leading commander Mullah Akhtar Osmani (killed in December), there could be a weakening of Mullah Omar's iron grip on Taliban military affairs.

The movement could become more reliant on southeastern Afghanistan, away from the Kandahar heartland, where Haqqani and Saifullah Mansoor hold sway, as well as Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan's commanders under Hekmatyar.

Haqqani had recently been sidelined by Dadullah (see Pakistan gains from Taliban split , Asia Times Online, May 9), and now he could reassert himself.

Dadullah's cooperation with the Pakistani Taliban in the two Waziristans was unacceptable to Haqqani, who had been settled in North Waziristan for decades and had dreamed of the emergence of a conflict waged under his command from his bases in North and South Waziristan through 30,000 suicide bombers.

Instead, many of these recruits were diverted to fight with Dadullah. The face of the battlefield in Afghanistan could change yet again if Haqqani gets his way.

And Pakistan will be looking on with concern: its recently struck cooperation deal with Dadullah could be in jeopardy, as people like Haqqani were against it.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Pakistan: Report Details Career of Killed Taliban Leader Mullah Dadullah

SAP20070517005027 Karachi Islam in Urdu 15 May 07 pp 8, 6

[NNI report: "Mullah Dadullah Born in Uruzgan in 1969; Joined Taliban Movement in 1994"]

Quetta: Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah was born in an area of Afghanistan called Uruzgan Kalli Kakran. He was from the Kakar tribe of Pathans [Pashto speaking people ]. He received early religious education in a village mosque and later got admission in a seminary run by the Hizbe Islami at Kandahar for learning other sciences. However, he could not continue his studies due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and joined jihid. While waging jihad against the Soviet Union, he met the former Afghan commander, Ahmed Shah Masud, several times and participated in jihad against the Soviet Union along with him.

When the Taliban movement was launched under the leadership of Mullah Omar in 1994, Mullah Dadullah also joined it. He was considered among the important commanders of the Taliban movement. The Taliban captured Mazar-e Sharif and several other areas in northern Afghanistan under his command. He lost one leg in a landmine explosion while fighting against an important compatriot commander and former Herat Governor Ismail Khan for capturing his area. He was one of the 10 members of the Consultative Committee of the Taliban, of which Mullah Mohammad Omar and Jalaluddin Haqqani were also members.

The Taliban's Consultative Committee was reduced to nine members after the martyrdom of Maulana Akhtar Usmani some time ago. Now, this number has further reduced to eight in the wake of the martyrdom of Mullah Dadullah. There are conflicting reports about another Taliban commander, Maulvi Mahmudallah Haq Yar, who sustained injuries while fighting the British troops in Helmand some time ago. It is reported that the Afghan journalist, Ajmal Naqshbandi, who was kidnapped along with an Italian journalist a month earlier, was killed by the supporters of Mullah Dadullah. Several leaders of the Taliban movement had differences with this policy of Mullah Dadullah. Mullah Dadullah visited Quetta several times.

[Description of Source: Karachi Islam in Urdu -- Jihadi daily associated with the Al-Rasheed Trust, estimated circulation around 20,000. A pro-Taliban paper which claims to have introduced a new trend in journalism based on Islamic values. Following orthodox Islamic principles, the paper never publishes pictures of living beings.]

Pakistan: Differences Reported Between Tribes Over Eviction of Uzbeks

SAP20070521005021 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 21 May 07

[Report by Behroz Khan: "Tension grips Waziristan as Uzbeks find new sanctuary"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR: Tension is mounting again in South Waziristan because the Ahmadzai Wazirs are annoyed with the Mehsuds for sheltering the Uzbeks evicted from Wana last month.

Once brothers-in-arms and veterans of the Afghan war, commander of the Wazir militants, Mulla Nazeer, and Amir of the Mehsud fighters, Commander Baitullah Mehsud, are not in good terms with each other these days over the issue, sources from both sides told The News.

A meeting between the two at an undisclosed location about two weeks ago ended without resolving the problem, as Mehsud refused to evict the Uzbeks from the Mehsud territory after offering them refuge at the request of Commander Sirajuddin, the son of Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani. "Khalifa has asked me to give the Uzbeks temporary refuge," Mehsud reportedly told Mulla Nazeer, when he demanded expulsion of the foreigners.

Mulla Nazeer formed a force of the Wazir tribesmen to take on the Uzbeks in Wana and its surrounding areas, after the locals fled private jails of the foreigners, mainly members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan now headed by Tahir Yaldash, also locally known as Tahir Jan.

Late Taliban commander Mulla Dadullah was also involved in a patch-up between the Wazirs and their erstwhile guests from Uzbekistan, but Mulla Nazeer and his supporters showed reluctance to allow the foreigners stay further in the Wazir heartland.

Reports say the Uzbeks have settled at different places in the Mehsud area, including Kanigoram, Ladah, Shinkay, Dela Khunkhela, Nano and Srarogha. Officials from the political administration also concede that the Uzbeks leaving their previous abode in Wana have now been spotted in the Mehsud area.

According to some sources, as many as 160 families in addition to dozens of individuals have been offered sanctuary in the Mehsud region, which is away from the Pak-Afghan border. More than 60 Uzbek families, these sources said, have shifted to Mirali subdivision of North Waziristan agency to join their fellow countrymen and some Arabs living with the Dawar tribe since long. Signs of tension appeared when some of the Wazir tribesmen, together with the foreigners, stopped a couple of passenger vehicles near Jandola in the Mehsud area and searched for the Wazir tribesmen. "Now we have reports that Baitullah Mehsud has taken notice of the incident and asked his men not to resort to such activities," remarked a government official from the area.

More than 60 kilometres road between Wana and Tank passes through the Mehsud territory, while Baitullah Mehsud, the sources said, would depend on the cooperation of the Wazirs to have access to the Pak-Afghan border to send fighters against the anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan. The Wazir territory in North Waziristan agency is also purged of the foreigners, following the drive initiated against them in Wana, as the Utmanzai Wazirs in North Waziristan have pledged to show unity with the Wazirs dominating both the agencies.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; root URL as of filing date: ]

Asia Times: New Face of Taliban

CPP20070524715008 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1042 GMT 23 May 07

[Report by Hassan Abbas: "A New Face for the Taliban"; headline as provided by source]

Pakistan is experimenting with the Taliban yet again. The primary focus of the effort is to delink the Taliban from al-Qaeda and bring them back into the Pakistani sphere of influence.

Uzbek militants have been the first "casualty" of this realignment. Potentially, remaining Arab militants will be next. Tribal forces in South Waziristan under the leadership of Maulvi Nazir are at the forefront of this "movement". Extremist notions of religion remain their bread and butter, but new political objectives also guide their activities on the ground. This, in short, defines the neo-Taliban phenomenon.

It is critical to understand the background, motivations and alliances of Maulvi Nazir to comprehend fully what is transpiring in the region. Maulvi Nazir (also known as Mullah Nazir) is 32 years old, a dual citizen of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and married with a son and daughter.

Although he currently resides in the South Waziristan tribal area on the border with Afghanistan, he is a frequent traveler to Afghanistan's Paktika province and Kandahar, where he owns some property. As is common in the area, his extended family lives on both sides of the Durand Line that separates the two countries.

He belongs to the Kakakhel tribe, which is a sub-clan of the Ahmedzai Waziris (who dominate parts of South Waziristan). (1) Intriguingly, his first association was with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami, a favorite of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) during the days of the anti-Soviet jihad. His battle experience and guerrilla training are not that of an amateur. He later joined the Taliban movement in Afghanistan and remained politically aligned with Maulana Fazlur Rahman's Jamiat Ulama-e Islam.

He moved back to South Waziristan when the Taliban lost their ground to US-led coalition forces in November 2001. During this political vacuum, al-Qaeda funds started pouring into the Pakistan-Afghanistan tribal belt, and Nazir vied for this treasure with other competitors, including Nek Mohammad, brothers Mohammad Sharif and Noor Islam, and Maulvi Nur Abbas.

It took the Pakistani military and intelligence leadership some time to realize what was happening in the region because, at the same time, the Indian military was amassing on Pakistan's eastern border in 2002-03, creating a time-consuming distraction.

When Pakistan finally started confronting Taliban and al-Qaeda elements militarily in 2003, Nazir was already prominent on the most-wanted list. When he surrendered to the authorities in 2004 as part of a deal with militants, he got cleared and was soon released by the military. Apparently, he kept a low profile for the past couple of years - possibly at the behest of his handlers in the ISI.

When he was reincarnated in late 2006, he was supported by the Pakistani segment of the Taliban led by Mullah Dadullah. He also received approval from the Taliban shura (council) that includes Siraj Haqqani, son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran mujahid and an important leader of the Taliban.

Nazir established his credentials as a new emir of the Taliban by enforcing rigid sharia (Islamic) law in South Waziristan - apparently unhindered by government forces. He also directed his supporters not to confront the Pakistani military. He was supported in this endeavor by (1) about a dozen independent pro-Taliban groups of the area; (2) Punjabi Taliban (mostly members of banned sectarian and Kashmiri militant groups); and (3) his tribe members.

After establishing some degree of control in a matter of months, he challenged "immigrant" Uzbek militants operating under Tahir Yuldashev of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an action which led to a bloody battle. The Uzbeks lost about 200 people in the conflict - about a fifth of their total strength in the area. The Pakistan Army provided medical cover to Nazir's forces and also helped him secure the bases vacated by the Uzbeks.

Major-General Gul Muhammad, the commanding officer of Pakistani troops in the region, was quick to appreciate this development by saying, "Wana (scene of much of the fighting) will become a model for the entire Waziristan region as far as the campaign against foreign militants is concerned," while also emphasizing that Nazir had not joined the fight against Uzbek militants as a Taliban emir, but as a member of the Kakakhel tribe.

It is interesting to see a very similar theme postulated by Nazir when he addressed a press conference early this month: "I invited you to see for yourself the changed environment here after the expulsion of foreign militants, who had made the area volatile for its own people. Let the world know that Wana is now free from foreign militants." The above two statements explain the relationship between Nazir and the Pakistan Army. It is not an ideal scenario for Pakistan, but it has arguably opted for the lesser evil.

It is necessary to explore Nazir's motivation behind his campaign against the Uzbeks and foreign militants. Besides Arab militants in the area, there are some Uighurs (from Xinjiang, China) and Chechens as well. In the words of Nazir, the charges against Uzbek militants relate to their involvement in "killing and robbing tribesmen besides imposing their self-styled sharia upon them".

Uzbeks reportedly became enmeshed in local rivalries and were blamed for increasing not only crime, but also brutal assassinations of pro-government elders (who were often dubbed by Arabs and Uzbeks as US spies).

In addition, economic interests also play a part in this power matrix. Uzbeks started coming to the area during the late 1980s and early 1990s; however, the major influx began after key developments in 2001. Uzbek families managed to acquire large properties, some of which were bought and some of which were offered as gifts by the local people who entered into relations with them.

The Uzbeks worked hard and gradually developed some lands into model farms. This became the bone of contention between the settlers and the locals. Some locals partnered with the Uzbeks in business and also acted as their protectors. Others naturally developed a grudge. On the other hand, Nazir has always looked for economic opportunities, and soon after his first victory over Uzbek militants he publicly urged the Pakistani government to initiate development work in the area and specifically asked mobile-phone companies to start services there.

It will by no means be smooth sailing for Nazir, who leads a group of no more than 3,000 fighters - mostly Waziris. Family and friends of the assassinated leader Nek Mohammad, a legendary figure, are still supportive of Uzbek fighters and al-Qaeda elements.

Mehsud tribesmen (the largest tribe in terms of numbers in the area) under Baitullah Mehsud are also resisting Nazir. Haji Omar, a senior pro-al-Qaeda Taliban commander in South Waziristan and an arch-opponent of Nazir, while being interviewed by a British Broadcasting Corp (BBC) correspondent about Nazir's anti-Uzbek drive, gave a stern warning to the Pakistani military: "Do not become a party to the conflict, otherwise we will sign out from the peace agreement we reached with the government" in November 2004.

It is in this context that Nazir's recent pro-Osama bin Laden statement should be interpreted. (2) Contrary to Western media assessments, it is likely that this assertion is a mere public relations effort to win support of many in the region who are sympathetic to bin Laden. The statement should not be construed as blind support for all things al-Qaeda. For similar reasons, Nazir had to declare Uzbek leader Tahir Yuldashev an agent of US, Russian and Israeli intelligence before attacking his forces. Such slogans work wonders in the region.

To succeed, Nazir still faces serious challenges. Uzbeks, as indicated above, have supporters among the Mehsud tribesmen in South Waziristan, and some Uzbeks have now shifted to North Waziristan, which is largely out of range for Nazir.

Second, the Punjabi Taliban component of Nazir's forces may restart their sectarian killing business as a night job as soon as they succeed in their current task. Moreover, there are no guarantees about how Nazir will start behaving once in complete control of the area.

If recent history is any indicator, Nazir may be a passing phenomenon, but this overall strategy may open up an avenue for Pakistan to reclaim some of its lost territory.

Notes

1. For details about the dynamics of the Wazir tribe and its sub-clans, see Ilyas Khan, "Pakistan's Tribes: Who is Killing Who?", BBC, April 5.

2. Nazir said that although he has never met bin Laden, "If he comes here and wants to live according to tribal traditions, then we can provide protection to him because we support oppressed people."

Hassan Abbas served as the sub-divisional police chief in North West Frontier Province from 1996-98, and was the deputy director of investigations in Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau from 1999-2000. Currently, he is a fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and is the author of Pakistan's Drift into Extremism: Allah, the Army and America's War on Terror.

(This article first appeared in The Jamestown Foundation . Used with permission.)

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Two suspected Al-Qa'idah members detained in Afghan southeast

IAP20070528950020 Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 0909 GMT 28 May 07

Two suspected Al-Qa'idah members detained in Afghan southeast

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Khost City, 28 May: Afghan and Coalition forces detained two suspected Al-Qa'idah militants in a raid on a compound in the Nader Shah Kot District of the southeastern Khost province early Monday [28 May].

Credible intelligence led the forces to the location suspected of housing Al-Qa'idah operatives supported locally by the Mawlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani network, the Coalition said, adding the detainees would be questioned as to their involvement in militant activities.

During the Taleban regime, ousted in 2001 as a result of a US-led offensive, Mawlawi Haqqani was minister for border regions. Currently, he is fighting alongside the militants against foreign forces stationed in Afghanistan.

Wazir Badshah, spokesman for the Khost Police Headquarters, informed Pajhwok Afghan News the joint raid on two separate houses also yielded a gun and a passport with an Arab country's visa. He was unaware of the arrests.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Pajhwok Afghan News, established in April 2004, provides daily news and features in Pashto, Dari, English and Urdu. Self-described as "independent," it often reports on security matters and the Taliban activities. It claims to be staffed, managed, and led entirely by Afghans. According to the site, it receives financial support from USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).]

AFP: More on Kabul Police Bus Blast Killing 35, Two Japanese Said Among Wounded

JPP20070617969020 Hong Kong AFP in English 0821 GMT 17 Jun 07

[By Sardar Ahmad]

KABUL, June 17, 2007 (AFP) - A powerful bomb ripped through a police bus in the Afghan capital Sunday killing up to 35 people, police said, in one of the deadliest attacks in the city since the Taliban regime was toppled in 2001.

The bus was reduced to a skeleton of blackened and mangled metal. Body parts and bits of human flesh were flung across a wide area, with five foreigners among those wounded in the attack in the crowded city centre.

Police officials gave different death tolls after the blast, with the city's criminal investigation department chief Alishah Paktiawal telling AFP 35 police officers from the city's police academy and bystanders were killed.

This would make it the deadliest rebel attack in Afghanistan since the fundamentalist Taliban regime was driven from power and launched an Al-Qaeda-backed insurgency.

A car bomb in Kabul in September 2002 killed around 30 people.

Kabul police chief General Esmatullah Dauladzai said Sunday's attack killed 21 people and wounded 24, including five foreign nationals.

"Among those wounded were two Japanese, a Korean and two Pakistani nationals who were perhaps passing by the area when the explosion took place," he said.

"There are indications that the bomb was placed inside the bus but we will investigate further," he told AFP.

The Taliban said the bombing was ordered by one of its most senior commanders, Jalaluddin Haqqani, who had been rumoured to have died.

"The man who carried out the attack was a mujahed (holy fighter) who under Haqqani's orders had entered the police ranks," a Taliban spokesman Saluhuddin Ayobi told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.

"And again under his direct orders, today he strapped explosives on his body and exploded himself up inside the police bus."

Haqqani is "alive and leading the jihad (holy war) against the US forces and the puppet Kabul government," he said.

Police could not confirm it was a suicide attack. "No one knows what happened," interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said. "We are trying to find out."

The sirens of ambulances wailed across the city as the wounded were ferried to hospitals.

"Over 30 wounded have been admitted to Kabul hospitals," said ministry of health spokesman Abdullah Fahim. His initial reports put the death toll at more than 25.

"When I arrived you could see dead and wounded lying everywhere," said one young man who gave his name only as Abbas.

"Many of them were torn into pieces. Many of them were headless and others had no legs or arms.

"It was awful. You could see human flesh sticking on walls and trees," he told AFP.

The blast followed a suicide attack on Friday aimed at foreign forces in the west of the city that killed three labourers. It was the fourth such attack in the country in two days.

The targeted 45-seat police bus had been taking the officers to a police training academy, where many were instructors.

The blast struck in a crowded part of the city centre. Two minibuses were damaged nearby and witnesses said bystanders may also have been hit.

The attack came hours before a ceremony on the other side of the city to mark the handing over of the police training programme from German authority to that of a European Union mission.

"We will change the ceremony to an act of solidarity," public information officer for the mission, Michael Freienstein, told AFP. "We have a lot of colleagues dead right now."

There have been a handful of blasts on police buses in the capital in the past month with the fledgling police force bearing the brunt of insurgents attacks throughout the country.

"The police are the tip of the spear in Afghanistan's fight against the Taliban so the Taliban would like very much to set back police training," said US Major Sheldon Smith from a section of the US-led coalition training Afghan forces.

"The Taliban want to roll back all the progress that has been made here," he said.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Asia Times: Renewed Taliban Activity of Concern to NATO Command

CPP20070621715004 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1039 GMT 20 Jun 07

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Taliban Put Up a New Fight "; headline as provided by source]

KABUL - With the Taliban geared for their biggest push of the year to take control of southern Afghanistan, district by district, coupled with suicide attacks in the cities, Western intelligence believes that the killing of Mullah Dadullah was a big mistake.

The one-legged, charismatic and battle-hardened Dadullah, 41, was killed in mid-May in the southern province of Helmand in a US-led coalition operation. He had emerged as the overall field commander of the Taliban, as well as an astute diplomat: he had courted Pakistan to act as a peacemaker between the Western coalition and the insurgents.

Highly placed Western contacts familiar with coalition operations in Afghanistan told Asia Times Online that with Dadullah dead, the Taliban have become a much more elusive adversary and the "peace route" with Pakistan is now a non-starter.

Dadullah was a natural leader who had been able to assimilate fighters of varied backgrounds and train them to follow a single coherent strategy. Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani could possibly have taken his place, but he has been seriously ill, even rumored to be dead.

In these circumstances, the Taliban leadership decided to assign a number of seasoned commanders to different areas, where they would be in charge of their own tactics depending on local conditions. The idea was to scatter as many of them as possible to spread further already stretched coalition and Afghan National Army forces.

Although the commanders chosen were experienced, they were not well-known faces, and were thus able more easily to go about their business. For instance, Amir Khan Muttaqi was sent Kunar province, Mullah Kabir was activated in the Khost, Gardez, Paktia and Paktika areas, Mullah Bredar was assigned in the western zone that includes Ghor, Badghis, Farah and Herat.

For the southeast, the Taliban will keep coalition troops engaged with suicide attacks and guerrilla operations, while at the same time increasing operations in the southwest, such as in Badghis and Farah provinces.

Coalition troops are finding that when they focus on one sector, violence escalates in another. And they simply don't have enough resources to manage the whole of Afghanistan at the same time - especially when some of the coalition partners are not interested in ground operations.

The relative obscurity of the the new Taliban commanders also rules them out of becoming involved in any back-channel peace negotiations with Kabul. Indeed, rigid Taliban leader Mullah Omar is pulling their strings and there is no way he will ever sit with any Western coalition for dialogue.

Taliban on the move

As evidence of the new Taliban approach, southern Afghanistan has witnessed an array of devastating suicide attacks and guerrilla operations since Sunday, covering Kabul, Kunar, Nooristan, Khost and Paktia. There have also been incidents in Urzgan, Helmand and Kandahar.

The district of Mian Nashin in Kandahar fell and Afghan soldiers were forced to flee and call in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) air fire. Similarly, in the Chor district of Urzgan, the Taliban seized key positions from where they plan a major push deeper into the province.

There was a major battle in the district of Grishk in Helmand between NATO forces and the Taliban on Tuesday. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf, told Asia Times Online that the Taliban killed 16 NATO soldiers and destroyed three tanks. The claim could not be independently confirmed.

On Sunday morning, a suicide bomber blew up a police-academy bus in Kabul, killing 35 people and wounding 52. It was the country's worst bombing since the Taliban were ousted more than five years ago. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

The renewed Taliban activity is obviously of concern to the NATO command. Apparently as a result, Admiral William Fallon, the chief of the US Central Command, recently visited Pakistan for meetings with President General Pervez Musharraf, the vice chief of army staff, the chairman of the Joint Chi efs of Staff and the director general of Inter-Services Intelligence.

US assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte have also been in Islamabad. The crux of this fresh interaction is that insurgencies do not have borders. Unlike previously, though, this does not mean that the US wants to go in hot pursuit of the Taliban in Pakistan. Rather, it wants to track them from the Pakistani tribal areas into Afghanistan.

The Taliban have several command centers in Pakistan, including in North Waziristan and South Waziristan, Bajur, Noshki and Chaman, from where recruits are sent to Afghanistan. But the Taliban also have hubs in Afghanistan in Nooristan, Kapisa, Kunar, Helmand, Kandahar, Farah and Badghis.

Massive bloodshed awaits Afghanistan's vastness, and there is currently no room for peacemakers.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

AFP: More on Pakistan Busting Islamic Militants Supplying Suicide Bombers to Taliban

JPP20070701969019 Hong Kong AFP in English 0757 GMT 01 Jul 07

LAHORE, Pakistan, July 1, 2007 (AFP) -- Pakistani intelligence have busted a gang of Islamic militants supplying suicide bombers and explosive devices to Taliban fighters in neighbouring Afghanistan, police said Sunday.

The eight-member gang led by former fighters of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group was based in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, a senior police official said.

They used to collect materials and volunteers from the central province of Punjab, the official said, requesting anonymity. The suspects were arrested in Punjab over the past few days.

"During the interrogation they confessed to having carried out a series of suicide bombings and bomb blasts against foreign forces in Afghanistan over the past several years," he said.

He identified the gang leaders as Mufti Saghir Ahmed, a veteran of the 1980s war against invading Soviet troops in Afghanistan, and wanted militant Mohammad Safeer. Both are members of the Jaish group, he said.

Safeer was wanted over an attack on a church in the Pakistani town of Taxila in 2003.

"The suspects were preparing remote-controlled devices for the Taliban in Afghanistan," the official said.

"It's a major breakthrough in the fight against terrorism and reflects Pakistan's strong commitment to fight militancy," a senior security official said.

The network was supplementing Taliban fighters based in southern Afghanistan, he said. They had "links" with former mujahedin leader Jalaluddin Haqqani and his pro-Taliban son Siraj Haqqani, he added.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

AFP: Pakistan Information Minister Says Pro-Taliban Gang Plotted Attacks in Lahore

JPP20070701969029 Hong Kong AFP in English 1435 GMT 01 Jul 07

[By Rana Jawad]

LAHORE, Pakistan, July 1, 2007 (AFP) -- Pakistani police said Sunday they had busted a gang of pro-Taliban militants planning major terrorist attacks in the country.

An official statement released here said the militants "got training in Afghanistan in making explosive devices" and were "planning to carry out bomb blasts at several places in Lahore."

The eight-member gang was also involved in training other militants in bomb making and the use of explosive devices, the statement said.

Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani also said the militants were "plotting attacks inside Pakistan and they were trained in the neighbouring country."

Earlier a senior police official speaking on condition of anonymity said the militants during interrogation "confessed" that they were sending suicide bombers for attacks in Afghanistan.

The eight-member group led by former fighters of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad militant faction was based in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, the official said.

They used to collect materials and volunteers from the central province of Punjab, he said, requesting anonymity. The suspects were arrested in Punjab over the past few days.

The police official identified the gang leaders as Mufti Saghir Ahmed, a veteran of the 1980s war against invading Soviet troops in Afghanistan, and wanted militant Mohammad Safeer. Both are members of the Jaish group, he said.

"The suspects were preparing remote-controlled devices for the Taliban," the official said.

"It's a major breakthrough in the fight against terrorism and reflects Pakistan's strong commitment to fight militancy," a senior security official said.

The network had "links" with former mujahedin leader Jalaluddin Haqqani and his pro-Taliban son Siraj Haqqani, he added.

Last year, nearly 300 Afghan civilians were killed in about 140 suicide attacks, most of them claimed by the Taliban, according to Human Rights Watch.There were 25 suicide bombings in the country in 2005.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, who are key allies in the US-led "war on terror," have been tense over accusations that Islamabad is not doing enough to stop Taliban militants based in Pakistan from launching cross-border attacks.

Islamabad says it has nearly 90,000 troops on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to stop militants moving between the countries, and that it has arrested more militant leaders than Kabul.

Pakistan also insists the Taliban command structure is based in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar and security agencies in Pakistan continue to hunt down elements on its territory.

Lahore Police chief, Malik Mohammad Iqbal, told a news conference later that police recovered a large quantity of explosives from the gang.

"This is a major achievement," he said, adding that one of the suspects was an expert in making improvised explosive devices.

Safeer was a key figure who had a bounty of one million rupees (16,600 dollars) on his head over involvement in the 2002 attack on a church in Taxila, 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of Islamabad, in which three female nurses were killed, Iqbal said.

Jaish was banned by key US ally President Pervez Musharraf in 2002. It was blamed by India for the 2001 attack on its parliament in New Delhi.

The group is also linked to the 2002 kidnapping and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in the southern city of Karachi.

It was also accused of cooperating with Al-Qa'ida in two failed assassination bids on Musharraf in December 2003.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Pakistan: 8 Militant With Links to Jaish-e Mohammad, Taliban Arrested in Lahore

SAP20070702005002 Lahore Daily Times (Internet Version-WWW) in English 02 Jul 07

[By staff reporter: "Eight terror suspects arrested in Lahore"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

LAHORE: The police have arrested eight terrorist suspects here with links to banned militant outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad and the Taliban, police said.

The eight men are believed to have been behind an attack on a missionary school near Murree on August 5, 2002, killing six Pakistanis; and a grenade attack on a church in Taxila four days later in which four nurses were killed, Lahore police chief Malik Muhammad Iqbal told a press conference on Sunday.

The suspects include Safeer Ahmed, alias Muhammad Azeem, alias Umair, who was wanted by the Punjab government, which had a Rs 1 million bounty on his head.

Safeer, Mufti Sagher Ahmed, Ghulam Qadir and Muhammad Yasir Wifaq were arrested from a bus stand on Saturday night, while Muhammad Siddique, Abdul Moeed, Ubaidullah Asghar and Syed Muhammad Masood were arrested from a house in Iqbal Park, Ittefaq Town in a predawn operation on Sunday.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Iqbal said that Safeer was planning terrorist plots in Lahore. He said they had been trained in use of firearms and making remote-controlled bombs "in a neighbouring country". Police also seized a large quantity of arms, ammunition and bomb-making material from the suspects' hideout in Ittefaq Town.

He said the suspects had confessed they were part of the Jamiatul Furqan, a splinter group of the Jaish-e-Muhammad, which was banned in 2002. They had also confessed to the attacks in Murree and Taxila, he said.

AFP adds: A senior police official told AFP that the suspects supplied suicide bombers and explosive devices to Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. He said the eight-member group was based in Quetta, and used to collect materials and volunteers from Punjab. "During the interrogation they confessed to having carried out a series of suicide bombings and bomb blasts against foreign forces in Afghanistan over the past several years," he said.

"The suspects were preparing remote-controlled devices for the Taliban in Afghanistan," the official said, adding that they had "links" with former mujahedin leader Jalaluddin Haqqani and his pro-Taliban son Siraj Haqqani.

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of the independent, moderate daily, run by veteran journalist Najam Sethi and published by the Friday Times group. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated hardcopy circulation of 20,000; root URL as of filing date: ]

Asia Times: 'The World's Worst Suicide Bombers '

CPP20070725721002 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 0028 GMT 25 Jul 07

[Report by Brian Glyn Williams : "The World's Worst Suicide Bombers "; headline as provided by source]

Suicide bombing statistics from Afghanistan alarmingly demonstrate that, if the current trend continues, 2007 will surpass last year in the number of overall attacks.

While there were 47 bombings by mid-June 2006, there were about 57 during the same period this year. Compounding fears of worse carnage to come, Afghanistan's most lethal single suicide bombing attack to date recently took the lives of 35 Afghan police trainers near Kabul.

When considering the expanding use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and the discovery of the first Iraqi-style explosively formed projectile (EFP) in Afghanistan in May (ie), it is understandable that critics of the war in Afghanistan discuss it in alarmist tones.

About 80% of US casualties in Iraq come from IEDs, and members of the US and Afghan military who were interviewed for this study believe that the absence of mass-casualty suicide bombings and EFPs are the two factors that made Afghanistan less dangerous than Iraq. A deeper investigation of the wave of suicide bombings that have swept the country in 2006 and 2007 paints a less bleak picture.

Missing the target

An analysis of the attacks carried out in the past two years reveals a curious fact. In 43% of the bombings conducted last year and in 26 of the 57 bombings traced in this study up to June 15 this year, the only death caused by the bombing was that of the bomber himself. This means that, astoundingly, about 90 suicide bombers in this two-year period succeeded in killing only themselves.

There was one period in the spring of 2006 (February 20 to June 21) when a stunning 26 of the 36 suicide bombers in Afghanistan (72%) killed only themselves. This puts the kill average for Afghan suicide bombers far below that of suicide bombers in other theaters of action in the area (Israel, Chechnya, Iraq and the Kurdish areas of Turkey).

Such unusual bomber-to-victim death statistics are, of course, heartening both for coalition troops - who have described the Afghan suicide bombers as "amateurs" - and for the Afghan people - who are usually the victims of the clumsy bombings.

These statistics also represent a uniquely Afghan phenomenon that warrants investigation. A part of the reason for the low kill ratio lies in the Taliban's unique targeting sets. As Pashtuns with a strong code (Pashtunwali ) that glorifies acts of martial valor and badal (revenge), Afghan suicide bombers are more prone to hit "hard" military targets than callously obliterate innocent civilians in the Iraqi fashion. On the rare occasions where there have been high-casualty bombings of Afghan civilians, they tend to have been carried out by Arab al-Qaeda bombers. (1)

The Taliban's selective targeting is a calculated decision on the part of the Taliban shuras (councils) to avoid inciting the sort of anti-Taliban protests that led thousands in the Pashtun town of Spin Boldak to chant "Death to Pakistan, death to al-Qaeda, death to the Taliban" after a particularly bloody suicide bombing in that frontier city last year.

Taliban spokesman Zabiyullah Mujahed recently claimed, "We do our best in our suicide attacks to avoid civilian casualties. These are our Muslim countrymen, and we are sacrificing our blood to gain their freedom. Their lives are important to us, of course. But fighting with explosives is out of the control of human beings." Then he made an interesting admission that speaks to other factors that might explain the Afghan suicide bombers' failure rate. He stated, "We have a problem with making sure they attack the right targets, avoiding killing civilians."

Clearly, there is more to the Taliban bombers' stunning failure rate than simply "hard" targeting difficulties and an obvious reluctance to slaughter the Afghan constituency that the Taliban is trying to win over.

Members of the Afghan police, government and National Directorate of Security (NDS) who were interviewed about this trend during the months of April and May offered a surprisingly unanimous expl anation for the Taliban bombers' poor showing. (2) They said it lay in the ineptitude of the people the Taliban were recruiting as fedayeen (suicide) bombers.

Afghan officials continually told stories of lower-class people who had been seduced, bribed, tricked, manipulated or coerced into blowing themselves up as "weapons of God" or "(Taliban leader) Mullah Omar's missiles". Afghan NDS officials also spoke of apprehended bombers who were deranged, retarded, mentally unstable or on drugs.

Such claims should, of course, be accepted with caution, for two reasons. First, the targets of suicide bombings are prone to speak in disparaging tones regarding the mental state and motives of those who carry out bombing attacks against them. They tend to describe them as mindless, insane, fanatical, drugged or brainwashed.

Second, in his groundbreaking work Understanding Terror Networks , Marc Sageman has refuted the long-held notion that suicide bombers are impoverished, voiceless dupes tricked into killing themselves. Rather, he has shown them to be politically and religiously motivated. They are conscious actors who, like the multilingual and educated team that carried out the attacks of September 11, 2001, do not need to be brainwashed.

Certainly, in the Afghan context, there are bombers who fit the Sageman profile. Several Taliban leaders have carried out bombings, and the al-Qaeda team that scrambled on short notice to launch the symbolically important mass-casualty bombing at Bagram Air Base during US Vice President Dick Cheney's February visit was clearly composed of "professionals" (3)

Nevertheless, interviews and field work conducted in Afghanistan for this study revealed considerable evidence that the "duped, bribed, brainwashed" paradigm applies to a growing percentage of the bombers being deployed in the Afghan theater. (4) Afghan police told of numerous incidents where citizens in Kabul reported finding abandoned suicide vests in the city. They seemed to signify a last-minute change of heart in several would-be bombers.

In one case, they told of a mentally deranged man who threw his vest at an Afghan patrol, assuming it would explode on its own. (5) Several of the bombers apprehended by the NDS were carrying mind-altering hallucinogens or sedatives, which they had been told to take to calm their fears during their last moments of life. Others, including a Taliban bomber who was arrested while pushing his explosives-laden car toward its target after it ran out of fuel, appear to be inept beyond belief. (6)

Recent media and think-tank reports have also mentioned the utilization as suicide bombers of an Afghan war invalid who was blind, another who was an amputee and one who was a disabled man whose only motive was to make money for his family. Coalition troops who have spoken of seeing bombers blow themselves up far from their convoys have characterized it as the act of drugged or mentally unstable bombers.

While this might explain some of the Afghan suicide bombers' failures, there also appears to be a financial motive behind several of the bombings that offers further explanation. United Nations representatives spoke of a bomber who entered a Kabul Internet cafe in 2005. Instead of setting off his bomb in the middle of the cafe where it would do the most damage, he went into a bathroom to set it off, killing only two people. [ 7] There are many such examples of Afghan suicide bombers seemingly with a conscience or reluctance to inflict mass casualties.The possibility that a number of them are doing it simply for payments for their families might explain this. [ 8]

Research in the Pashtun areas to the southeast of Kabul reveals an even more disturbing trend than the employment of suicide bombers who are mentally unsound, using drugs or working solely for money: the use of child bombers.

Afghanistan's child bombers

Villagers interviewed for this study - living in front-line provinces such as Khost, Paktika and Paktia - have reported that Taliban recruiters were active in their areas. Many parents have lost their young, impressionable sons to those who prey on them. [ 9]

Parents often learn of their tragic fates only when the Taliban arrive at their homes to hand out their sons' "martyrdom payments". Villagers are, of course, outraged by such tactics, but there is often little recourse in light of the Taliban's dominance in the countryside.

In one case, a powerful tribal chieftain in Khost province who discovered that his son had been recruited by Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani for a "martyrdom operation" managed to get him back (after threatening to attack the Taliban with his tribe); unfortunately, this is an exception, as is the recent case of a captured 14-year-old suicide bomber who was personally pardoned by President Hamid Karzai. The president announced, "Today we are facing a hard fact, that is, a Muslim child was sent to a madrassa [seminary] to learn Islamic subjects, but the enemies of Afghanistan misled him toward suicide and prepared him to die and kill." [ 10]

Such recruitment for madrassa training of young bombers is even more widespread on the Pakistani side of the border. There have been several widely reported instances of the Taliban recruiting schoolchildren to be suicide bombers in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and in North-West Frontier Province.

In one notorious instance, Taliban soldiers arrived at the Oxford High English medium school in Tank and began to recruit young boys by asking them to fulfill their "jihad duty" and engage in an "adventure". According to witnesses, "The militants came to town with a mission, and wanted to convert us to their cause. 'They said that jihad was obligatory and those who heed the call are rewarded,' the principal said. 'As many as 30 students from each of the four government schools in Tank enlisted.' A similar number have also joined from private schools. The ages of those taken are between 11 ∧ 15 years."

According to one of the teachers involved, the students who were recruited without their parents' permission were subsequently trained as suicide bombers. The age of these bombers would explain why one of the courses in Taliban suicide camps teaches students how to drive a car.

In a similar case quoted by the United States' MSNBC cable network in March, two Pakistani teenagers who left school to train as suicide bombers without their parents' permission claimed, "We were told to fight against Israel, America and non-Muslims," said Muhammed Bakhtiar, 17, explaining why he wanted to become a suicide bomber. "We are so unhappy with our lives here. We have nothing. We read about jihad in books and wanted to join ... We wanted to go to the Muridke madrassa so we would have a better life in the hereafter."

While Mullah Nazir, a powerful Taliban leader in Pakistan's Waziristan provinces, recently made an unprecedented request for the Taliban to stop recruiting children, a recent video of a suicide-bomber ceremony in the region would seem to indicate that his appeal has been honored in the breach.

In the video that was obtained by the American Broadcasting Co (ABC), boys as young as 12 are shown "graduating" from a suicide-bombing camp run by Mullah Dadullah Mansour, the successor to his brother, the recently slain Mullah Dadullah.

As disturbing as this video is, it pales in comparison to the discovery Afghan security officials recently made in eastern Afghanistan. In an incident that caused tears of fury among villagers, a six-year-old street urchin approached an Afghan security checkpoint and claimed that he had been cornered by the Taliban and fitted with a suicide-bomber vest. They had told him to walk up to a US patrol and press a button on the vest that would "spray flowers". Fortunately, the quick-thinking boy instead asked for help, and the vest was removed.

While t his case is obviously an extreme example, it fits the trend and certainly goes a long way in helping to explain why almost half of Taliban suicide bombers succeed in killing only themselves. Many Taliban bombers come from small backwater villages and have to be taught how to drive on strange roads, travel beyond their locale or country, and then hit fast-moving, armored coalition convoys with improvised explosives. Even at the best of times, suicide bombing is a task that involves considerable resolve, determination and focus, and a degree of intelligence. Clearly, such vital ingredients are often missing in the Afghan context, where many of the bombers appear to be as much victims as perpetrators.

Commenting on the bombers' failure rate, US military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Fitzpatrick explained the lack of ambiguity that US military personnel have about the bombers who commit suicide instead of suicide bombings. "Certainly there are a fair number of failed attempts, and that's okay. I hope they don't get better."

While some have engaged in relativism in efforts to compare the coalition's "collateral damage" losses from close air support to the Taliban's "collateral damage" from suicide bombing, the coalition clearly has the moral high ground when the enemy has resorted to deploying children as "living weapons".

Notes

1. The bomber who killed 20 people in a mosque in Kandahar in 2005 was an Arab. The bomber in the Spin Boldak bombing of 2006 that killed 26 civilians was also said to be an Arab, and the Taliban later denied responsibility for the unusually bloody bombing. Similarly, al-Qaeda leader Abu Laith al-Libi has been accused of being the mastermind behind the February large-suicide bombing at Bagram Air Field during Vice President Dick Cheney's visit that killed 22 civilians. Most recently, National Directorate of Security officials this month arrested an Arab member of al-Qaeda who was planning to use suicide bombers to assassinate Afghan officials.

2. Author interviews, Kabul, April 2007.

3. In one case, a mullah drove a vehicle-borne improvised device into a bus. Most recently, the Kunduz bombing of May was carried out by a mullah named Jawad from Baghlan province.

4. Marc Sageman's excellent work has more applications for elite, transnational al-Qaeda-style bombers than the impoverished, illiterate Afghans who seem to make up the majority of the bombers in recent years.

5. Author interview in National Directorate of Security headquarters, Kabul, April 2007.

6. Story relayed to the author by Craig Harrison, director of UN security in Afghanistan, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) compound, Kabul, April 2007.

7. The media erroneously reported that the bomber had set the bomb off in the middle of the cafe.

8. As in other "zones of jihad", including Chechnya and Iraq, it appears that Arab financiers are offering payments ranging from US$11,000 to $23,000 for those who carry out bombings.

9. Author's findings while carrying out research in the region in April 2007.

10. This story was conveyed to the author in Gardez, Paktia province, by Tom Gregg of the UNAMA, on the morning after a suicide bomber hit the town. Local Pashtuns interviewed after the bombing called the attack "obscene" and "un-Islamic".

Dr Brian Glyn Williams is assistant professor of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Pakistan: Geo News Discussion on Army Operations in Tribal Areas, New Red Mosque

SAP20070802093001 Karachi Geo News TV in Urdu 1800 GMT 01 Aug 07

[Discussion between Sami Yusufzai, prominent tribal affairs analyst, on video line from Peshawar and senior journalist Kamran Khan in studio in Karachi on latest Army operations in tribal areas--live; taken from regularly scheduled "Today with Kamran Khan" program; words within double slant lines are in English]

[Kamran Khan] There was a lull in violence in Pakistan's tribal areas, especially in North Waziristan, today. Military squads are continuing their operations [against the militants]. According to reports, 58 militants have been killed until last night in the Army operations launched yesterday. Reports cite unofficial figures of about 58 militants killed in the Army //operations// and //activities// last night and this morning. This is the biggest loss suffered by the militants in North Waziristan. Although the figure has not been officially confirmed, but knowledgeable sources say that the militants suffered the biggest loss last night when the military squads launched a full-scale operation inflict a big loss of life on militants. Similar reports have been received from Mohmand Agency where a tomb and mosque were captured and named as Jamia Hafsa seminary and Lal Masjid [Red Mosque] respectively. Taliban were put under pressure in Mohmand Agency due to which the Taliban have started leaving the mosque.

We will go to Peshawar where we have with us on [video line] Senior Journalist Sami Yusufzai to know the latest situation.

Sami, reports are being received today that the militants have suffered a big loss in the operations launched yesterday and they have been forced to retreat. What reports you have received from North Waziristan?

[Yusufzai] Yes Kamran Khan, as you know the Pakistan Army launched an operation yesterday in which about 18 local Taliban, as they are called there, were killed. Their dead bodies have been sent to their respective homes in various areas. Reports speak of a sense of enragement in whole Waziristan, but no immediate activity was carried out on behalf of the militants and I think today was a rare day in the whole week when no report of untoward incidents was received so far from the entire area. It is, however, being reported that the local Taliban and the militants have spoken about taking revenge of the killing of their companions in the bombing and Pakistan Army's operation yesterday and they are preparing for anti-government activities.

[Khan] Sami, what are the reports from Mohmad Agency where a tomb and a mosque were captured and named as Jamia Hafsa seminary and Red Mosque respectively. We have received some reports that pressure has been increased there on Taliban and they, perhaps, are ready to evacuate both places. What information you have regarding the situation in Mohamand Agency?

[Sami] Yes Kamran Khan, the situation today is that the //numbers// of Taliban present at mosque and seminary of Haji Sahib Turangzai, which were occupied by the local Taliban, have come down and they are leaving. But there has also been a report that //students// have started coming to one seminary, where the Taliban had put the signboard of Jamia Hafsa. A baffling situation, however, prevails in the entire Mohmad Agency area and the reports say that //local political// agents and the government officials are concerned that this conflict at local mosque could open a new front in the tribal areas like Bajaur which could lead to a process of clashes between the local Taliban and the government.

[Khan] Who are the //commanders// of these local Taliban and the militants, who are waging a //guerrilla// war against Pakistan Army in the tribal areas? To what extent the local Taliban commanders have been identified and who are they?

[Yusufzai] Kamran, there are different Taliban commanders in different areas at present. For example, Baitullah Mehsud, who is the biggest Taliban commander in the tribal areas, enjoys a very big //influence// in both South Waziristan and North Waziristan and commands a large number of people. Besides, there is a small commander whose name is (Moedad Khan), who also has few people under his command. Besides, it is reported that Jalaluddin Haqqani, who was a former prominent commander during the Taliban era in Afghanistan, is himself leading the Afghan Taliban and militants present near Miranshah. In other tribal areas like Bajaur, it is reported that Maulana Faqir Mohammad is also commanding a large number of Taliban there and he has contacts with other //militant commanders// in other tribal areas and he is increasing the number of militants under his command.

[Khan] Thank you very much. Sami Yusufzai was telling us about the latest situation in tribal areas.

[Description of Source: Karachi Geo News TV in Urdu -- 24-hour satellite news TV channel owned by Pakistan's Jang publishing group, broadcast from Dubayy. Known for providing quick and detailed reports of events. Programs include some Indian shows and dramas which the group claims are aimed at promoting people-to-people contact and friendly relations with India.]

Asia Times: 'Taliban a Step Ahead of US Assault '

CPP20070813721003 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1021 GMT 10 Aug 07

[By Syed Saleem Shahzad; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - The ongoing three-day peace jirga (council) involving hundreds of tribal leaders from Pakistan and Afghanistan is aimed at identifying and rooting out Taliban and al-Qaeda militancy on both sides of the border.

This was to be followed up with military strikes at militant bases in Pakistan, either by the Pakistani armed forces in conjunction with the United States, or even by US forces alone.

The trouble is, the bases the US had meticulously identified no longer exist. The naive, rustic but battle-hardened Taliban still want a fight, but it will be fought on the Taliban's chosen battlegrounds.

Twenty-nine bases in the tribal areas of North Waziristan and South Waziristan on the border with Afghanistan that were used to train militants have simply fallen off the radar.

The US had presented Islamabad with a dossier detailing the location of the bases as advance information on likely US targets. But Asia Times Online has learned that since early this month, neither the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led coalition in Afghanistan nor Pakistan intelligence has detected any movement in the camps.

Human intelligence on both sides suggests the bases have been dismantled, apart from one run by hardline Islamist Mullah Abdul Khaliq. All other leading Taliban commanders, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, Gul Bahadur, Baitullah Mehsud and Haji Omar, have disappeared. Similarly, the top echelons of the Arab community that was holed up in North Waziristan has also gone.

The new battlefield

The al-Qaeda leadership has apparently now installed itself in Jani Khel village in the Bannu district of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). This includes Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The Taliban leadership, most prominently Haqqani, is concentrated in the Afghan provinces of Khost and Gardez, where much fighting is expected to take place.

A spillover of al-Qaeda's presence in Jani Khel is likely to spread to Karak, Kohat, Tank, Laki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan. Kohat in NWFP is tipped to become a central city in the upcoming battle, as the office of the Pakistani Garrison commanding officer is there and all operations will be directed through this area. In addition, Kohat is directly linked with a US airfield in Khost for supplies and logistics.

A second war corridor is expected to be in the Waziristans, the Khyber Agency, the Kurram Agency, Bajaur Agency, Dir, Mohmand Agency and Chitral in Pakistan and Nanagarhar, Kunar and Nooristan in Afghanistan.

The fiercest battleground, however, will be in Khost and Gardez, making the previous Taliban successes in Helmand and Kandahar during the spring offensive of 2006 a distant memory.

The Taliban's evolution

The death in May of Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah in Afghanistan during a coalition raid set in motion a major change within the Taliban's command structure.

The loss of the heroic commander was a huge blow for the Taliban in southwestern Afghanistan, as a major symbol of success had been killed - and there was no one of his stature to replace him, as another top Taliban commander, Mullah Akhtar Osmani, had earlier been killed in Helmand.

Amid the demoralization, the entire Taliban leadership left Helmand, Urzgan, Zabul and Kandahar and sat idle in Satellite Town in Quetta, Pakistan, for several weeks.

Finally, in June, Taliban leader Mullah Omar outlined new guidelines, which included: No members of the central military command would work in southwestern Afghanistan. Group commanders would be given control of specific districts and be allowed to develop their own strategy. This strategy would be passed on only to the Taliban-appointed "governor" of the area, who in turn would relay it to the Taliban's central command council. From these various inputs, the council would develop a broader strategy for particular regions. The Taliban would discourage personality cults like Dadullah's, as the death of a "hero" demoralized his followe rs. Four spokesmen were appointed to decentralize the Taliban's media-information wing. Each spokesman would look after only a specific zone so that in case of his arrest, only information about that zone could be leaked. They also have all been given the same name, at present it is Qari Yousuf Ahmedi.

This "unschooled" program produced results within weeks as the Taliban gained new ground in Helmand and Urzgan through widespread grassroots support, and Jalaluddin Haqqani's commanders gained prominence.

Where does Pakistan stand?

Pakistan's stance throughout the "war on terror" has been problematical, especially with regards to the Taliban, whom its intelligence agency had long nurtured. Certainly Islamabad distanced itself from the Taliban after their fall in 2001, and has periodically cracked down on them in Pakistan, but sections in the military, intelligence agencies and general public remain sympathetic.

But once the peace jirga concludes this weekend, a war has to be fought: the US is simply running out of patience.

Pakistan has said it is committed to such a battle against Taliban and al-Qaeda elements on its soil. Interestingly, though, of late the military establishment has activated its anti-American segment in the ruling coalition.

First, the secretary general of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, Mushahid Hussain Syed, called for a crushing response in the event of any US attack in Pakistan. Then retired Major Tanveer Hussain Syed, secretary for the parliamentary committee on defense, said ties with the US should be severed and the Taliban should be promoted in Afghanistan. Minister of Religious Affairs Ejaz ul-Haq weighed in by calling for a review of Pakistan-US relations and the country's participation in the "war on terror".

One can dismiss this as rhetoric. Washington might consider, though, that Pakistan has changed horses in midstream many times before.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Pakistan: Taliban Leader Snubs Jirga; Says No Talks Until US Troops Withdraw

SAP20070813005033 Islamabad Khabrain in Urdu 13 Aug 07 pp 1, 11

[Report by Kamal Azfar: "No talks until withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan: Taliban commander"]

Islamabad - The Taliban have refused to hold dialog with the jirga [assembly of elders] unless foreign forces withdrawal from Afghanistan and announced to continue their struggle to establish an Islamic state in Afghanistan with an enforcement of an Islamic system there. While talking to Khabrain on Sunday evening [ 12 August] at the conclusion of four-day Pakistan-Afghanistan peace jirga in Kabul, the former central minister for borders and tribal affairs and the military chief of the Taliban, Mullah Jalaluddin Haqqani, said peace will not be established in Afghanistan or Pakistan's Tribal Areas with the announcement of a declaration by the so-called jirga.

[He said] "We will reject every offer of dialog until the American and allied forces are not present in Afghanistan. We'll choose between enforcement of an Islamic system and martyrdom. Enforcement of an Islamic system will be the price our martyrs' blood." He said the jirga was a part of the US agenda. It has put forward a joint plan of foreign aggression in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Such jirgas will not help ameliorate the lot of the Afghan nation. Poppy cultivation had ended during the Taliban era and now men of Karzai are involved in it. To a question, Mullah Jalaluddin Haqqani said that we have no differences with the people of Pakistan. The people of Pakistan sided with us for a long time during the long drawn out jihad.

[He said]Pakistani rulers are responsible for the internal situation in that country and we have nothing to do with suicide attacks inside Pakistan. He said every option, including suicide attacks, is being used inside Afghanistan. The move has routed the foreign forces. To yet another question, he said that Taliban are organized and achieving successes. To another question he said that youth fighting against the foreigners in Afghanistan do not need any training at training centers. Every Afghan youth has been prepared by the war going on for the last 28 years. While replying to another question, he said Mullah Omar is leading the mujahid of the Taliban and they are in contact with him. When asked, he said they need not take shelter in Pakistan's Tribal Areas. The Pakistan Government and its policies are responsible for the deteriorating situation there and confrontation with the army.

He said the jirga meeting in Kabul was not representative of all tribes. He said the Taliban are not fighting in Iraq because they are facing war in their own motherland.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Khabrain in Urdu -- Sensationalist daily, generally opposes Pakistan People's Party. Circulation of 30,000.]

'Terrorist gang' busted in Afghan capital city

IAP20070817950002 Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 0235 GMT 17 Aug 07

"Terrorist gang" busted in Afghan capital city

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Kabul, 16 August: Intelligence officials claimed busting a 'terrorist network' and arresting a ringleader during a raid in this capital city.

Addressing a news conference here on Thursday [16 August], spokesman for the National Intelligence Department Sayed Ansari said the linchpin named Muhammad Taleb was resident of Zindan village of Khak-e Jabbar district.

The alleged terrorist Muhammad Taleb, alias Jamal, was nabbed along with his seven colleagues while smuggling missiles, he said.

Other members of the gang included Sherollah, Sayfollah, Muhammad Khan, Azimollah, Abdol Sattar, Najibollah and Toti Shah. They were residents of Khak-e Jabbar, Bagrami and Dehsabz districts of Kabul, he informed.

The detainee was a commander of the Hezb-e Islami of Golboddin Hekmatyar during the era of jihad, said the spokesman.

Muhammad Taleb joined the Taleban and served as deputy chief of Bagrami district and then head of the research branch of the intelligence department, he informed.

After the overthrow of Taleban, the detainee got closer to Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajoddin Haqqani and got training in Tal area of Pakistan's Kurram Agency, he continued.

Ansari said Muhammad Taleb was assigned with importing missiles and explosives in Kabul and using it in blasts in various areas of the city.

Taleb had confessed his involvement in terrorist activities during investigations, said the spokesman, who added he had claimed responsibility for a landmine blast in Sang-e Noshta area of Kabul on an ISAF convoy.

He said the detainee was also involved in a blast near Pol-e Charkhi and an attempt on life of Nangarhar Governor Gol Agha Sherzai some time back.

Terming the dismantling of the gang a remarkable success, Ansari hoped it would reduce the ratio of suicide attacks and landmine blasts in Kabul.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Pajhwok Afghan News, established in April 2004, provides daily news and features in Pashto, Dari, English and Urdu. Self-described as "independent," it often reports on security matters and the Taliban activities. It claims to be staffed, managed, and led entirely by Afghans. According to the site, it receives financial support from USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).]

Report Claims Local Taliban in Control of Most of Waziristan

SAP20070814386027 New Delhi Political and Defence Weekly in English 03 Apr 07 - 09 Apr 07 Vol. 5, No. 27, pp 5-6

[Report by Kanchan Lakshman: "WAZIRISTAN: TALIBAN'S WAR WITHIN"]

Despite the deployment of an estimated 80,000 troops along the Afghan border in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the situation is far from stable in a region that is crucial to Islamabad and Washington. This was confirmed over the past two weeks, when at least 227 persons, most of them reportedly al Qaeda-linked foreign militants, were killed between March 19-31, 2007, in clashes between local tribesmen and militants in South Waziristan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Approximately 160 persons, including 150 foreign militants, were killed in four days of clashes over March 19 to 22, between the al Qaeda-linked militants and pro-Government tribesmen in Shin Warsak village, seven kilo­meters west of Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan. Pro-Government tribesmen launched 'operations' in March 2007 targeting hideouts of the foreign militants as part of a strategy to drive them out of Waziristan. The first round of violence began on March 6 when approximately 19 people, including 12 Uzbek militants, were killed in a clash between the Wazir Zalikhel sub-tribe and foreign militants near Azam Warsak in South Waziristan.

The al Qaeda militants, numbering between 500-1000, are now effectively cor­nered in the hilly terrain, as all roads to the areas where they are holed up are controlled by Maulana Nazir, a pro-Government Taliban commander (chief of the Taliban Shura for Ahmadzai Wazir-dominated areas of South Waziristan), and his 1,500 supporters. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao dis­closed: "Fifty-four people were killed today [March 30] and two yesterday. They include 45 foreigners," adding further, "The fighting is going on...[ellipses as published] it intensified today after peace talks failed. Tribes are insisting on their demand that these people either surrender or quit the area." A Maulana Nazir supporter earlier told Associated Press that local tribesmen had killed 35 Uzbeks and lost 10 of their own men.

According to Institute for Conflict Management, throughout 2005, 285 people, including 92 civilians and 158 terrorists, were killed in Waziristan in 165 incidents. In 2006, the death toll was 590, including 109 civilians, 144 soldiers and 337 terrorists, in 248 incidents. Just in the first three months of year 2007 have seen approximately 288 people, including 37 civil­ians, eight soldiers and 243 terrorists, killed, an unambiguous indication of the state of play in Pakistan's most troubled region. Given Islamabad's understated accounts, the sup­pression of the Press and erratic reportage, the actual numbers could be much higher.

It is necessary to reiterate that the local Taliban are in effective control of most of Waziristan. The locus of current fighting is in the Azam Warsak, Shin Warsak and Kalusha areas of South Waziristan. Indications are that the violence could escalate since tribal leader Haji Sharif, on March 29, ruled out any nego­tiations with the foreign militants. Some pro­government tribal commanders have said 'operations' would continue until all foreign militants are 'expelled' from Waziristan.

The pro-Government tribesmen have, interestingly, targeted only the foreigners - mili­tants from a melange of countries, including Afghanistan, Central Asia and the Arab world. A majority of the foreign militants are reportedly from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which is led by Tahir Yuldashev and his local associ­ates, including Noor Islam, Javed Zalikhel and Maulana Abdul Aziz. While not much information is available on the strategic aspects of what appears to be a vigilante campaign, military spokesperson Major General Waheed Arshad claimed, "It's a success of the Government tribesmen strategy...[ellipses as published] the tribesmen are fed up with them because they and their activities adversely affect their lives and business."

The military regime believes that a vig­ilante movement by the local tribesmen could curb cross-border attacks by the militants in Afghanistan. The Pakistani government "is not intervening" in the clashes, an unnamed senior security official told AFP: "We hope this onslaught against foreign militants will help reduce cross-border activity. The foreigners were involved in this cross-border activity...[ellipses as published] This is a decisive battle for us."

There has not been any respite in the fighting despite the fact that a Jamiat Ulema-e­Islam [Fazlur Rehman faction (JUI-F)]-dominat­ed Jirga (tribal council) had mediated a truce between the two sides on March 22. Niaz Muhammad Qureshi, JUI-F information secretary for South Waziristan, stated after the cease-fire, "We are glad that the two sides con­ceded to the tribal elders and clerics' plea for silencing their guns in order to solve their issues through peaceful means." Militant leaders like Baitullah Mehsud, Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of senior Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, and an unnamed Taliban 'commander' from Afghanistan reportedly reached unnamed loca­tions in South Waziristan to arrive at the deal.

Reports indicate that Maulana Nazir, commander of the pro-Taliban militants, was at one point disinclined to a truce. However, the Jirga, in which Government nominees were also present, persuaded him after lengthy discussions. Islamabad has been try­ing since 2002 to evict or neutralise the for­eign militants in Waziristan. A majority of them, wanted in their home countries, have been holed up in Waziristan for years and it is highly unlikely that they could be persuaded to leave. Sources indicate that, after the Shakai agreement in 2004 (which failed to end vio­lence and eventually collapsed when Nek Muhammad, whose 'surrender' in April 2004 was a widely publicized event, turned his back on the Army and was eventually neutralised in a targeted missile attack on June 17, 2004), not a single foreigner left the region.

The marginal reduction in their numbers since then is primarily due to the fact that many have gone 'missing in action'. Further, the local Taliban have never acknowledged that foreign elements are present in the area. Indeed, after the military regime's accord with the local Taliban in North Waziristan in September 2006, a spokesman for the militants reiterated that there were no foreigners and that Islamabad had yet to provide any proof of their presence. On September 5, 2006, Taliban leaders in North Waziristan had signed a 'peace agreement' with the Government, promising to halt cross-border movement and stop attacks on Government installations and security forces.

However, the U.S. military and NATO officials now believe that attacks have risen sharply since the deal. Richard Boucher, Assistant Secretary of State, during a visit to Islamabad in March 2007, stated, "I think every­body recognises that, at this point, the political deal in Waziristan has not stopped the militancy." And US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on March 7 that the Taliban and al Qaeda were using Pakistan's tribal areas, particularly North Waziristan, to regroup. "I would say the Taliban and AI Qaeda have been able to use the areas around, particularly North Waziristan, to regroup and it is a problem," Gates told reporters at the Pentagon. Further, the outgoing US Ambassador to Pakistan, Ryan C. Crocker, said, on March 8, that the peace deal in Waziristan, though "well written", has not been implemented.

In an interview to Khyber television channel, Crocker stated: "We asked Pakistan to ensure that the agreement would be respect­ed. I personally appreciate the points written in the agreement but unfortunately the militants haven't respected the agreement because there are some tribal areas where the Pakistan Government doesn't have full control."

When operations were launched against the Taliban-al Qaeda combine in the FATA in 2002, the Army, under enormous pres­sure from the US, was convinced that a military victory was essential. Four years down the line, it is the proponents of a violent jihad who have achieved strategic success. In more ways than one, it is a signal that the Pakistan Army has failed in its quest for a military victory. The Taliban have de facto control over most of Waziristan and, more importantly, have full free­dom of movement and activities across the region. The current round of violence is only a continuation of the manifest retreat of the state.

Part of President Pervez Musharraf's operational strategy in arriving at peace deals in Waziristan has been to drive a wedge between the local Taliban and foreign mili­tants. Islamabad's policy in Waziristan remains a curious mixture of force, economic sanctions and political engagement. But none of these appears to be leading to order and stability in the region. Four years after Pakistani soldiers first entered FATA, there is very little to cheer about for Islamabad. The state has little effective presence in the area, and the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan are nowhere close to governance or stability.

[Description of Source: New Delhi Political and Defence Weekly in English -- Weekly journal carrying various articles addressing political and strategic issues in India today and published by the Indian News Analysis Service. ]

Key Afghan Taleban figure said arrested in Pakistan

IAP20070821950094 Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 1254 GMT 21 Aug 07

Key Afghan Taleban figure said arrested in Pakistan

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Peshawar, 21 August: Security officials in neighbouring Pakistan arrested a key Taleban commander during a raid last night.

The commander, called Mumtaz, is a resident of the eastern Nangarhar Province [in Afghanistan] and believed to be a loyalist of senior Taleban leader Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani.

A security official who wished not to be name told Pajhwok Afghan News Mumtaz was detained by intelligence officials in Saddar Bazaar of Peshawar at around 2200 last night.

The official said another colleague of the detainee managed to escape. Mumtaz had been taken to a secret location by intelligence officials for investigations, he added.

A former Hezb-e Eslami commander, Akhtar Muhammad, confirmed the arrest and said Mumtaz was one of the strong commanders loyal to Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Another security official in Peshawar told Pajhwok the commander had been under observation for a long time and security agencies were trying to arrest him. Pakistani security agencies had detained Haqqani's brother Haji Khalil and his son in Rawalpindi some ago. However, they were released later.

Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani was one of the key commanders of the late Maulvi Yunas Khalis during the jihad era. He was minister for border affairs in the Taleban regime.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Pajhwok Afghan News, established in April 2004, provides daily news and features in Pashto, Dari, English and Urdu. Self-described as "independent," it often reports on security matters and the Taliban activities. It claims to be staffed, managed, and led entirely by Afghans. According to the site, it receives financial support from USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).]

Pakistan: Tribals Return to Waziristan as Situation Improves 'Considerably'

FEA20071018367590 - OSC Feature - Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) 17 Oct 07

[For a copy of the video clips, contact OSC at (800) 205-8615 or GSG_VSD@rccb.; for assistance with multimedia elements, contact OSC at 1-800-205-8615 or oscinfo@rccb.]

[Dawn, 17 Oct] Miram Shah: The government on Tuesday [16 October] said it was considering a 'request' by militants to cease-fire and negotiate an agreement to restore peace in the Mirali subdistrict after days of bloody clashes with security forces left over 200 people dead and many more wounded.

But residents of Mirali said a cease-fire agreement between militants and security forces had already been reached following mediation by a tribal jirga [assembly] from Hangu and Orakzai tribal regions.

They also said that security forces had reopened the Bannu-Miram Shah road and lifted the curfew that had been imposed on Mirali bazaar some time ago.

Military spokesman Maj Gen Wahid Arshad, however, denied that any cease-fire agreement had been reached with militants and said that the government was considering their 'request' for cessation of hostilities.

"The request is under consideration. Security forces and the political administration are discussing the issue and a decision to this effect may be announced in a day or two," he said.

He said the situation in Mirali had improved considerably after security forces fought back militants in three days of fierce clashes before Idd. "It's not like artillery duel across the Line of Control where cease-fire takes place."

Militants have said that they will not ask the government for a cease-fire but reports suggest that they may be changing their tactics after suffering heavy losses in recent clashes.

Maj Gen Arshad confirmed that authorities had allowed shops to reopen in the Mirali bazaar and also reopened the Bannu-Miram Shah road because of public demand. "We have done that to facilitate the people but security forces would continue to search vehicles for militants," he remarked.

A jirga [tribal assembly] of about 85 tribal elders and clerics of Dawar tribe met the Administrator of North Waziristan, Aurangzeb Khan, and assured him of full cooperation.

Mr Khan expressed regrets over the loss of innocent lives but said that people who used their territory to launch attacks on security forces were responsible for the losses.

He said that foreign militants could live in the area provided they abided by the law of the land and lived peacefully.

Some jirga members said that the government had agreed to abandon five checkpoints in and around Miram Shah, at Sargardan, Amin, Gora Qabristan, Stadium and Dattakhel and remove paramilitary troops.

But while the military spokesman denied that any permanent and old checkpoints had been abandoned, he did confirm that some temporary checkpoints had been closed down.

However, later reports suggested that paramilitary forces continued to man the checkpoints, although they were not actively searching vehicle.

As the dusk set in, Miramshah fort came under a barrage of rocket and missile attacks, suggesting that militants had decided to make the regional headquarters of Miramshah the main target of their attack.

The government says that over 200 militants had died in the fierce clashes and about 50 of them were foreigners.

Local residents have confirmed a report that a key militant commander, Eid Niaz, had been killed while a foreign militant commander, Abu Okasha, had been wounded.

Eid Niaz was appointed by the Taliban 'Islamic Emirate' to head the Shura in Miramshah. He was considered loyal to Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of commander Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Mr Niaz, however, had to stand down as head of the Taliban Shura in Miram Shah after opposition from Hafiz Gul Bahadar.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; root URL as of filing date: ]

Asia Times: 'Pakistan Plans All-Out War on Militants'

CPP20071022715023 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1043 GMT 18 Oct 07

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Pakistan Plans All-Out War on Militants"; headline as provided by source]

An all-out battle for control of Pakistan's restive North and South Waziristan is about to commence between the Pakistani military and the Taliban and al-Qaeda adherents who have made these tribal areas their own.

According to a top Pakistani security official who spoke to Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity, the goal this time is to pacify the Waziristans once and for all. All previous military operations - usually spurred by intelligence provided by the Western coalition - have had limited objectives, aimed at specific bases or sanctuaries or blocking the cross-border movement of guerrillas. Now the military is going for broke to break the back of the Taliban and a-Qaeda in Pakistan and reclaim the entire area.

The fighting that erupted two weeks ago, and that has continued with bombing raids against guerrilla bases in North Waziristan - turning thousands of families into refugees and killing more people than any India-Pakistan war in the past 60 years - is but a precursor of the bloodiest battle that is coming.

Lining up against the Pakistani Army will be the Shura (council) of Mujahideen comprising senior al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders, local clerics, and leaders of the fighting clans Wazir and Mehsud (known as the Pakistani Taliban). The shura has long been calling the shots in the Waziristans, imposing sharia law and turning the area into a strategic command and control hub of global Muslim resistance movements, including those operating in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"All previous operations had a different perspective," the security official told ATol. "In the past Pakistan commenced an operation when the Western coalition informed Pakistan about any particular hide-out or a sanctuary, or Pakistan traced any armed infiltration from or into Pakistan.

"However, the present battle aims to pacify Waziristan once and for all. The Pakistani Army has sent a clear message to the militants that Pakistan would deploy its forces in the towns of Mir Ali, Miranshah, Dand-i-Darpa Kheil, Shawal, Razmak, Magaroti, Kalosha, Angor Ada. The Pakistani Army is aiming to establish permanent bases which would be manned by thousands of military and paramilitary troops."

According to the security official, an ultimatum had been delivered to the militants recently during a temporary ceasefire. The army would set a deadline and give safe passage into Afghanistan to all al-Qaeda members and Taliban commanders who had gathered in Waziristan to launch a large-scale post-Ramadan operation in Afghanistan. They, along with wanted tribal warrior leaders, would all leave Pakistan, and never return.

After their departure, under the direct command and surveillance of newly appointed Vice Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani (who will replace President-elect Pervez Musharraf as Chief of Army Staff), fresh troops and paramilitary forces would be sent in to establish bases at all strategic points and disarm the local tribes. The Durand Line (the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan), would be fenced and border controls would be tightened.

The militants rejected the ultimatum.

What's at stake

A qualified estimate by intelligence officials is that Pakistani military pacification of the Waziristans would slash the capability of the Afghan resistance by 85% as well as deliver a serious setback to the Iraqi resistance.

The militants have little option but to stand and fight, rather than slip across the border or melt into the local population. Aside from the sanctuary and succor afforded them in the Waziristans, most of the fighters there are either Waziris, or from other parts of Pakistan, or foreigners. They would be unable to support themselves in Afghanistan, especially as most of the non-Waziris do not speak Pashtu - a fact that also prevents them from disappearing into the Waziristan populace.

Their presence in the Waziristans also has a direct bearing on their funding: money can be transferred through bank and non-bank channels, including th e informal fund transfer system known as "hawala".

Western intelligence that has been shared with Pakistan has determined that the two Waziristans alone provide the life blood - a steady stream of fighters, supplies and funds - for the resistance in all of southeast Afghanistan, including the provinces of Ghazni, Kunar, Gardez, Paktia and Paktika, as well as for attacks on Kabul. In addition, the Waziristans supply trainers to guerrillas in the Taliban heartland of Zabul, Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces.

According to intelligence sources, during Ramadan, the Taliban's entire top command, including Moulvi Abdul Kabeer, Jalaluddin Haqqani, Sirajuddin Haqqani, Nasiruddin Haqqani, and Mullah Mansoor Dadullah were in North Waziristan to launch a post-Ramadan offensive in southeast Afghanistan. The Pakistani military engaged the militants well in advance to block their offensive plan, but the same militant command is believed to still be in North Waziristan.

In addition, the town of Shawal hosts the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan's command. The Uzbeks are trying to reorganize themselves to stage an armed revolt against the government of Uzbekistan.

There is also a Kurd presence in the area, which has a direct bearing on the US's Iraqi occupation. A small number of fresh Kurd recruits come through Iran into Waziristan, get few months' training, and then return to Iran before infiltrating Iraq to fuel insurgency in Iraqi Kurdistan against this important US ally.

"If the planned battle is successful and Waziristan is pacified, the global Islamic resistance would be back where it was in 2003, when it had fighters but no centralized command or bases to carry out organized operations, said a Pakistani security official. "As a result, the guerrilla operations were sporadic and largely ineffective."

The safety of Taliban and al-Qaeda assets in Waziristan is a matter of life and death and, therefore, the militants have devised a forward strategy to target the Pakistani cities of Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, hoping to break the will of the Pakistani armed forces. The Pakistani military, meanwhile, is trying to break the will of the militants with ongoing bombing raids.

Underscoring the seriousness with which the military is planning for the coming battle, it is reported that Shi'ite soldiers from northern Pakistan are being sent to the Waziristans. In the past, the Pakistani Army has been plagued by desertions of Pashtun and Sunni troops who refuse to fight fellow Pashtuns or Sunnis.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Pakistan Bureau Chief, Asia Times Online. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Further on AFP: Explosion at Pakistan Militant Hideout, 9 Killed: Witnesses

JPP20071102969084 Hong Kong AFP in English 1240 GMT 02 Nov 07

[By Hasbunallah Khan]

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Nov 2, 2007 (AFP) - A missile strike destroyed an insurgent hideout in Pakistan's tribal belt at a house once owned by the late military chief of the Taliban, killing nine people, witnesses and sources said.

The attack happened in the North Waziristan tribal area, where US officials have said that Osama bin Laden's [Usama Bin Ladin] Al-Qaeda [Al-Qa'ida] network and its Taliban allies have regrouped to plot attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan and the West.

It was not clear who was responsible for the missile attack.

Residents and local sources said drones flew over the site in the village of Danday Darpakhel before two missiles hit the site, one of which exploded and destroyed the house formerly owned by Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah.

Mullah Dadullah was killed in May in southern Afghanistan. He was the most senior Taliban leader to be killed since the hardliners were removed from government in Kabul in 2001.

Drones are usually operated by US-led forces in Afghanistan and were used in a failed January 2006 attack on Al-Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Pakistan's lawless tribal region.

"There was a roar in the sky, we feared it was an air raid but we saw no jets. Then there was a huge blast," Noor Mohammad, a student at a religious school in the region's nearby main town of Miranshah, told AFP.

Local sources said at least nine militants were killed and 12 others wounded in the blast. Two foreign militants -- usually associated with Al-Qaeda in the tribal regions -- were among the dead, they said, quoting injured rebels.

They said the house was used as a training camp and explosives store by insurgents loyal to Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of Pakistani-based Taliban militants who have been blamed for a string of attacks in this country.

"The blast was so big that pieces of flesh were stuck to the walls of surrounding houses," said local resident Faqir Mohammad.

It was next to a defunct religious school formerly run by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a Taliban commander with a five-million-dollar bounty on his head who is said to be close to the regime's leader, Mullah Omar.

Pakistan's chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said his forces were not involved but added that local officials were checking the cause of the blast. "(The) army has not fired any weapon in the area," he told AFP.

The US-led coalition in Afghanistan said there was no activity reported on the Pakistani border, while the separate NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said they had no information.

The attack came as Pakistan's military ruler President Pervez Musharraf, a key US ally in the "war on terror," held talks with visiting US Central Command chief Admiral William Fallon.

Musharraf is under growing international and domestic pressure to wipe out militancy amid a wave of violence that has killed at least 400 civilians and troops since July.

Missile attacks have claimed the lives of several suspected militants in Pakistan's volatile tribal belt.

In December 2005, Egyptian Al-Qaeda explosives specialist Hamza Rabia was killed in a blast in North Waziristan. Residents again said it was a missile strike but the military insisted he was killed by one of his own bombs.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Pakistan: US Drone Missile Attack Kills Five Near Mianshah, Pentagon Denies

SAP20071103099001 Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English 03 Nov 07

[Report by correspondent: "Drone Missile Kills Five Near Miramshah"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

MIRAMSHAH, Nov 2: Five people were killed and six others wounded when a missile, allegedly fired from a US drone, hit a suspected militant compound near the Pak-Afghan border in the restive North Waziristan agency on Friday.

Residents said a pilotless US drone fired two missiles into the compound in Dandi Darpakhel in the outskirts of Miramshah at around 1.30 in the afternoon.

They said that one of the missiles did not explode while the other hit the target, razing the compound. "It looked as if nothing had stood there before," a resident of the area said.

The identity of the people killed was not immediately available, but residents said that the compound was used by a militant commander. At least two of the wounded were said to be of Uzbek origin.

The wounded were given first aid and taken away by men associated with the militant commander from South Waziristan.

One of those wounded in the attack included the compound's caretaker Noor Khan Mehsud. A vehicle and two motorcycles parked inside the compound were destroyed.

The compound is located near the madressah of Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Militants sealed off the entire area and did not allow anyone to get to the compound. Some residents put the death toll at 10 and the number of wounded at 12.

Reuters adds: The Pentagon said the US military did not carry out a missile strike on Friday in the Waziristan region.

"There was no indication that there was any US military asset," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman after speaking with US military officials in Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; root URL as of filing date: ]

Asia Times: 'Death by the Light of a Silvery Moon'

CPP20071113721002 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1056 GMT 12 Nov 07

[Article by Syed Saleem Shahzad ; headline as provided by source]

NAWA PASS, Pakistan border with Afghanistan - Sitting with four key Taliban commanders deep in a labyrinth of lush green mountains, I could see the Sarkano district of the Kunar Valley in Afghanistan, which is the provincial hub of the American military and a base for the Afghan National Army and Afghan intelligence.

Scores of guerrilla groups, each comprising a few dozen men, hide on the fringes of the Kunar Valley and launch daily operations into Kunar and Nooristan provinces, and with each passing day they receive new recruits and their attacks grow in intensity.

A year ago, I spent two weeks with the Taliban in Helmand province (including a few days in captivity - see A 'guest' of the Taliban , Asia Times Online, November 30, 2006 ), but since then there has been a sea-change within the Taliban.

Without legends such as the slain Mullah Dadullah and Mullah Akhtar Osmani, and with an extremely ill Jalaluddin Haqqani, a neo-Taliban movement has emerged with a new leadership, new zeal and new dynamics. The revitalized and resupplied Taliban are geared to enter a new phase of war without borders to fight coalition forces in Afghanistan and the Pakistan army.

In a way, all that has gone before in the "war on terror" in the past six years since the Taliban were ousted from Kabul has been a dress rehearsal.

For its part, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders are preparing to take up the fight. According to Asia Times Online contacts familiar with developments, a joint Pakistan-NATO operation was approved at a meeting of Pakistan's corps commanders at the weekend. Significantly, they agreed that the boundaries would not necessarily be drawn between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Whether a conventional force such as NATO can contain the Taliban is another matter. Obviously, the Taliban are confident. I asked Shaheen Abid, the Taliban's head of guerrilla operations in the strategic Sarkano district, what was behind the group's revitalization.

Shaheen smiled in response and turned his gaze to three of his subordinate commanders - Zahid of the Nole region, Mohsin of the Shonk Karey district and Muslim Yar of the Barogai region.

"I only know how to fight. Answering complicated questions is beyond my ambit," Shaheen said apologetically, and immediately signaled for the Taliban's media relations officer of the Kunar Valley, Dr Jarrah (a jihadi name), to respond.

Jarrah began, "Before answering you, I will ask you a question. Who is qualified to claim that he has actually seen world?" Before I could reply to this rather strange question, Jarrah answered himself, "The one who has experienced true love, the one who has lived in an alien atmosphere and place, and the one who has spent time in captivity.

"The mujahideen have experienced all three things in the past seven years. We have been reared on a true love for our global struggle, we were forcibly displaced from one place to another and we spent lots of time in the detention centers of Cuba (Guantanamo), in Pakistan, Bagram (Afghanistan) and Abu Ghraib (Iraq) and braved the brutalities of the CIA (US Central Intelligence Agency), the ISI (Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence) and Afghan intelligence," Jarrah said.

"We actually see the world now. We are seasoned and therefore you will see actual fireworks against the one which claims to be the global superpower."

Shaheen then excused himself and joined his subordinates Zahid, Mohsin and Muslim Yar, all in their early 20s. "Please don't mind them, they are discussing their previous operations and planning fresh ones," Jarrah told me.

"We carried out attacks on a daily basis until last Thursday (November 8). We assign a particular group for a particular assignment. There are different sorts of attacks. We do send attackers called fedayeen in which fighters loaded with rockets and hand grenades and AK-47 guns attack an American base or the Afghan National Army or the intelligence headquarters in Sarkano.

"In such fedayeen attacks, there is zero chance of survival (for the attackers).

"Then we carry out specific attacks based on precise information provided by pro-Taliban elements within the Afghan establishment or by local people. And then the third and the most expensive attacks are those in which we fire missiles on an enemy position from a distance. It costs us 250,000 Pakistani rupees (about US$4,000) per operation.

"We launch all three kinds of operations many times a month. At present, due to the dim moonlight, operations have stopped for few days. We only launch operations during moonlight because Kunar is all jungle and mountains and without such light there is a strong chance of falling into the crevasses," Jarrah explained.

Jarrah said that the Taliban's operations are based on various tactics and are not only asymmetric attacks. "We have tribes and people who live in particular places. They openly resist foreign troops in the Kunar Valley. Then we have organized guerrilla groups - we use them as our special forces - and finally we have a missile battery. Not a single day passes without the enemy facing several of our attacks in various parts of Nooristan and Kunar provinces.

"The fighters have acquired a lot of confidence due to their successes and now they confidently play tricks. Recently, we used Afghan National Army uniforms and laid siege to American troops in Nooristan and killed and wounded many of them. In return, the Americans threatened to bomb a whole village. That's why the local people didn't spy on the Taliban's positions," Jarrah said.

Suddenly, in the far distance, we saw the dark skies of Kunar light up.

"That is a light bomb used by the enemy to trace the Taliban's positions. That is approximately 10 kilometers from here, and obviously a battle is going on between the enemies and the Taliban. We are not necessarily aware of such battles every time," Jarrah said.

After a dinner of rice and chicken curry and saying the final prayers of the day, we all slept in an isolated mud house of the village. The call to morning prayers marked the start of a new day and a new struggle. After saying prayers and eating breakfast, the men who had accompanied us the previous evening left, but within two hours a new group joined us.

"They rotate throughout the day and night. Some of the people will go back to Pakistan to stay with their families and new ones will join us. Some will finish their guerrilla operations in the Kunar Valley and join us here to rest, and then a new guerrilla group will be launched," Jarrah said.

"But do you sometimes have a serious dearth of fighters?" I asked.

"Not at all," said Jarrah, laughing. "Instead, the real issue remains how to accommodate all the guerrilla groups because people are flooding to us to join the jihad and we don't always have enough resources to provide for them all at the same time. But I think we will increase our resources soon, and then you will see a flood of fighters finding its way against the foreign occupying forces."

Before I could ask any further questions, a tall man who introduced himself as Maroof asked me, "What is your name, Mr Journalist?" "Saleem Shahzad," I answered. "What?" I repeated my name. "Aren't you the one who was detained by the Taliban last year in Helmand? I listened to your interview on radio after your release," Maroof said with excitement.

"He is with us now, what happens if he is killed?" I heard Maroof inquiring of Jarrah in a loud whisper. Jarrah chuckled, "If he is killed, it would be the will of God."

Maroof was in the Afghan National Army and was once detained by the Americans for being in the army but "facilitating" the Taliban. He says he did not cough up anything during interrogation, but when he was released he promptly joined the ranks of the Taliban.

"The mujahideen have now acquired such strength that neither Pakistan nor NATO can fight against us. The Taliban are standing on both sides of the border. More oper ations breed more Taliban, and this time the Taliban will rule the whole region," Maroof said confidently.

Jarrah summoned a few armed men and we took a long walk on a mountain trail, ending up at a goat farm.

This was the Taliban's missile battery, comprising about 200 Russian-made rockets, which the Taliban call Sakar 20. They are 2.5 meters long with a range of about 30 kilometers and the capacity to devastate an area of about 100 square meters. The Taliban's Sarkano district battery has six donkeys to carry the weapons.

"We use these donkeys to carry the missiles and other equipment when we attack an enemy installation. In this terrain, donkeys are the only 'vehicles' that can be used as transport," Jarrah said.

"These missiles come from old dumps of weapons the Taliban recovered after the fall of the communist government in Afghanistan (in the early 1990s). Russian technology is far superior to American," Jarrah said, and illustrated his point by taking out his Russian-made pistol.

"This pistol works like a revolver and you don't need to cock it like American pistols. It belonged to the Russian special forces. We have mostly Russian weapons stocks, but we have recently started using American weapons recovered from American troops or the Afghan National Army," Jarrah explained.

Behind the simple structures, I see the formation of a very well-trained army which was non-existent even a year ago. Only three years ago, the Taliban did not have a central command, secure bases, and the motivation they now obviously possess.

The ideologues of the neo-Taliban were raised and trained by the Pakistani military to bleed India, and now, using the same techniques, they aim to bleed NATO and the Pakistani Army.

But it was time to run - I had an appointment that evening with these Punjabi ideologues.

Next: The Punjabis: From proxies to diehards

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Tokyo Monthly: Hardline Commander Haqqani Said Gaining Power in Taliban

JPP20071112023001 Tokyo Sentaku in Japanese 01 Nov 07 - 30 Nov 07 p 18

[Unattributed article: "The Hard-Line 'Haqqani Faction' Is Gaining Power Within the Taliban"]

Commander Sirajuddin (Siraji) Haqqani, 37, a young leader, is now gaining power in the Taliban, the former governing body in Afghanistan. He has now become so powerful that he does not follow Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar's instructions. It looks as if he is going to take over the group. [boldface in original]

The Haqqani faction led by Siraji has formed units comprised of aggressive and ferocious young members. The faction looks down on elders and is notorious for cruelty, since it does not hesitate to behead women. The faction has played a leading role in the recent resurgence of the Taliban. Siraji was originally based in eastern Afghanistan and Waziristan in Pakistan. He is now expanding his influence to the southern and central parts of Afghanistan.

Siraji is the son of commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, who led Mujahedeen (Islamic warriors) in fighting against former Soviet Union forces in Afghanistan. Jalaluddin Haqqani is a powerful figure. He served as justice minister under the Mujahedeen administration following the collapse of Najibullah administration and then served as minister for border affairs under the Taliban administration. Lastly, he is said to be the one who helped Usama Bin Ladin escape to Pakistan. By using the personal connections he has taken over from his father, Siraji can collect funds and soldiers from supporters in the Middle East and Pakistan, and this is the source of his strength. The US military has put up a $200,000 (approximately 23 million yen) reward for Siraji and has been looking for him frantically.

[Description of Source: Tokyo Sentaku in Japanese -- monthly journal covering political, economic, and foreign affairs]

Commander Haqqani Gets His Son Freed in Exchange for 213 Pakistani Security men

SAP20071114099022 Peshawar The Frontier Post (Internet Version-WWW) in English 14 Nov 07

[Pakistan Releases 3 Relatives of Fugitive Taliban Commander Under Swap Deal]

PESHAWAR: A son and a brother of Taliban commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani were also among 43 local Taliban the Pakistan government freed last week. Their release came as a result of a swap deal involving 213 security personnel, who had been kidnapped in the restive North Waziristan region some two months back, a friend of the dreaded commander confirmed Tuesday. The Pakistani security men had been abducted by supporters of pro-Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud. Some of them were freed later in line with a jirga decision.

According to the source, the remaining 213 were released when the government agreed to exchange 43 local Taliban, some of them convicted on terror charges, from the Peshawar prison. Maulvi Sangin, a close friend of Jalaluddin Haqqani, told Pajhwok Afghan News three family members of the fugitive commander - his brother Khalil Ahmad, son Dr. Fazl-i-Haqqani and brother-in-law Ghazi Khan - were among beneficiaries of the prisoner exchange. He said the three family members of Haqqani had reached their home in Miranshah, North Waziristan.

As Peshawar Central Jail official Zaheen Sathi expressed ignorance about their release, one intelligence operative confirmed the agreement between the government and Baitullah Mehsud. He admitted Haqqani's relatives were freed under the deal. Haqqani, a noted jihadi commander, was minister for border affairs during the Taliban rule. He and his son are on a US list of most wanted men.

[Passage omitted on Baghlan blast investigation]

[Description of Source: Peshawar The Frontier Post in English -- Daily providing good coverage of the Northwest Frontier Province, Afghanistan, and narcotics issues]

AFP: Further on Afghanistan Says More Than 50 Taliban Killed

JPP20071212969087 Hong Kong AFP in English 1341 GMT 12 Dec 07

[By Nasrat Shoaib]

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec 12, 2007 (AFP) - More than 50 Taliban were killed in two days of intense clashes in southern Afghanistan after the rebels were pushed out of a nearby stronghold, the defence ministry said Wednesday.

The fighting took place in a district of Helmand province neighbouring Musa Qala, where the Afghan army mounted a campaign that on Monday drove out Taliban rebels who had been entrenched there for 10 months.

"The terrorists, after being defeated in Musa Qala, attempted to put pressure on Sangin district. During 48 hours of intense clashes around Sangin, over 50 terrorists have been killed," the ministry said in a statement.

It said three of the dead were foreign nationals, a reference to Al-Qaeda-linked foreign fighters who are said to be helping the Taliban in their insurgency against the government and its mainly Western allies.

Soldiers were now moving through the small southern town in Afghanistan's opium-growing core.

"We are using loudspeakers on top of our vehicles, in mosques and other places, and are calling on those who somehow have picked a gun to lay down their arms and live peacefully," said the top Afghan commander in the south.

Those who do so would be "forgiven and not pursued", General Gul Agha Ayoubi told AFP.

The militants stormed Musa Qala in early February, breaking a controversial deal in which British forces pulled out at the request of local elders who said they would handle security after months of intense fighting.

President Hamid Karzai has said he was asked by locals, including "Afghan Taliban", to retake the town and rid it of "Al-Qaeda terrorists" based there.

The 1996-2001 Taliban government sheltered Al-Qaeda, and they are said to be influencing some of the groups involved in an intensifying insurgency that has this year claimed around 6,000 lives. Rebels account for most of the dead.

Officials say other rebel groups not aligned with the network may be persuaded to stop fighting and side with the new administration.

The general said a "big number of people" had returned to Musa Qala after the fighting and that his soldiers were working to normalise the troubled town.

"As we entered the district, we erected the national flag of Afghanistan.It's flying over Musa Qala now," Ayoubi said.

His units would stay in Musa Qala for a while before handing over to law enforcement authorities, he said.

The Taliban also suffered "big casualties" in Musa Qala, the defence ministry said, without giving figures.

Militants meanwhile targeted an Afghan army commander in the main city in the south, Kandahar, with a suicide car bomb that killed a passer-by and wounded two Afghan soldiers, authorities said.

Suicide bombings are a favourite Taliban tactic. The Islamic rebels have carried out about 140 such attacks this year alone, mostly targeted at soldiers but killing many more civilians.

Authorities announced they had killed a senior rebel who was second to militant commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, the head of a faction operating mainly in the east and reportedly close to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

The rebel, identified as Mullah Sangin, was killed with three other Taliban in a firefight with Afghan and NATO-led troops in the eastern province of Paktika on Tuesday, said Ahmad Gul, an Afghan army spokesman.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Bin Ladin Warns Iraqis Against Joining Anti-Al-Qa'ida Tribal Councils, Unity Govt

GMP20071230637002 Jihadist Websites -- OSC Summary in Arabic 29 Dec 07

[For a copy of this video, contact OSC at (800) 205-8615 or GSG_VSD@rccb.. Selected video also available at .]

On 29 December, "Muhammad al-Ghazzawi" posted to the Al-Mujahidin Electronic Network website at vb/ several links to a 56-minute audio message by Al-Qa'ida Organization leader Usama Bin Ladin entitled "The Way to Foil Plots", produced by the Al-Sahab Media Production Organization, the media arm of Al-Qa'ida Organization.

The 56-minute audio recording plays against the background of a still image of Bin Ladin and a map of Iraq.

The following is a translation of Usama Bin Ladin's audio message:

"God be praised. We laud Him, we beseech help from Him and ask His forgiveness; we seek God's protection against the evils and mischief of our souls and from the bad results of our deeds. Whoever is guided by God cannot be misled by anybody, and whoever is denied guidance will find nobody to guide him. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except God, the One, without any partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is servant and His Messenger. Now then, to the dear Islamic nation in general, to our patient and steadfast brothers in Iraq's fronts and fortress towns in particular, to the people of knowledge and favor, to the leaders of the mujahidin groups and members of their shura councils, to the chieftains of the free and proud tribes, and to my brother mujahidin, may God's peace and blessing be upon you. My talk to you is about the plots that are being hatched by the Zionist-Crusader alliance, led by America, in cooperation with its agents in the region, to steal the fruit of blessed jihad in the land of the two rivers, and what we should do to foil these plots. It is no secret that America is using all military and political means to entrench its troops in Iraq. Having realized its military failure, it stepped up its political and media efforts to deceive Muslims. One of its wicked schemes was to tempt the tribes and buy their allegiance to form the councils of dissension, which they termed as awakening councils. Many free and proud tribes have refused to form such councils and to sell out their religion or defile their honor. I pray to God to entrench their feet firm on the path of right and make them a treasure in support of Islam. May God bless them, their families, and property, and may God reward them in the best way. At the same time, some weak-hearted people have accepted this. One of these was the misled and the misleading one, Abd-al-Sattar Abu-Rishah, and some of his family members. These have betrayed the religion and the nation. They have brought lowliness, scandal, and disgrace to themselves and to those who followed them. This disgrace will live with them forever unless they repent. The evilest of tradesmen are those who trade with their religion and that of their followers. They sell out their religion in return for a mortal world. Despite this, they have not enjoyed themselves in this world after the lions of Islam have immediately killed them as a punishment to them and deterrence to their likes. Bush and his soldiers were of no use to them. Thus, they have lost life in this world and in the hereafter. And this is the biggest loss. I advise those who proceeded on the path of temptation to wash out this infidelity and disgrace by a true repentance. Almighty God says: "Unless they repent thereafter and mend (their conduct); for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. [Koranic verse, Al-Nour (The Light), 24:5]

"Recruiting hypocrite chieftains of tribes is one axis. America, along with its agents in the region, is seeking through the other axis to form a new government that is loyal to it, like the Gulf countries' governments, instead of Al-Maliki government. This government will also be called a national unity government. This name appeals to many people, particularly those who have become tired of war. The Muslims should know the true nature of this government before welcoming it. The national unity government means that all groups of people agree to glorify the homeland more than glorifying anything holy to them. This means th at the homeland has the upper word and that it is above anything. Thus, all sides meet in the middle of the road and accept half solutions. This means that the Ba'thists and the other parties should relinquish some of their principles and the Muslims should relinquish some of their religion. This stipulates that the Muslim should accept the rule of the man-made laws and that these man-made laws should share the Islamic shari'ah in enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. This sharing is the capital polytheism that takes one out of his religion and puts the one who does so in hell forever. We seek God's protection from hell.

"In the name of the homeland and patriotism, the Gulf countries have supported America to allow it to invade Iraq so that its people will suffer from the woes they are suffering from now. All this was for the sake of not erasing the homeland of the map, as they claimed. The truth, however, was their fear of not erasing them, not the homeland. Their former ally, Saddam, was erased, but Iraq was not erased. In the name of the homeland and patriotism, the Crusaders are being strengthened in the land of two rivers too by installing a government that is agent to America, a government which agrees in advance to the existence of major US bases in the land of Iraq and gives the Americans whatever they want of Iraq's oil according to the oil law to continue to subjugate it and maintain absolute hegemony over the rest of the countries of the region. Regrettably, however, is that parties and groups that are affiliated with knowledge, [Islamic] call, and jihad participate in this high treason. This is a kind of confusing truth with falsehood. Some people saw some of these leaders cooperating directly with the Americans, as the leader of the so-called Islamic Party did. He openly called for signing long-term security agreements with America. The people have also seen other leaders cooperating indirectly through America's agents in the region, particularly the ruler of the land of the two holy mosques [Saudi Arabia]. Riyadh cannot receive and support these leaders unless they accept a national unity government. The sane people should learn a lesson from the fate of the HAMAS Movement's leadership. It [HAMAS leadership] relinquished its religion and did not achieve worldly gains when it obeyed the ruler of Riyadh and others by entering the national unity state and respecting the unjust international charters. Will the honest ones in HAMAS correct its course?

"Just as the rulers of Riyadh tempted the leaders of HAMAS, they are seeking to tempt the mujahidin groups in Iraq. They allow some groups to confidently move in the Gulf countries to receive support, but not official support, which these groups reject. The support is channeled under the banner of raising donations by some unofficial scholars and preachers. Many of them, however, are loyal to the state and seek to implement its policy in Iraq by pulling the rug from under honest mujahidin's feet. The mission of these scholars and preachers is to convince the leaders of these groups of the same previous condition; that is, accepting a national unity government, in addition to urging them to air tendentious propaganda against the Islamic State of Iraq and fight it if possible. This is one of the secrets of the fierce military and media campaign against the state. One sees it as very strange how these leaders lost the trust they held and went to put their hand in the hand of one of its most malignant foes, the ruler of Riyadh. His support for and collusion with America's invasion of Iraq have been confirmed. Is it a secret today to the Muslim youths, let alone their scholars, preachers, and the leaders of the mujahidin, that this ruler is the main US agent in the region? He took upon himself to tempt and tame every free, virtuous, and honest person with the aim of dragging him to the path of temptation and misguidance. He [the ruler of Riyadh] accepted this path to himself when he is in his nineties. It is the pat h of betraying the religion and the nation and submitting to the will of the Crusader-Zionist alliance. What a miserable path is their path. However, will the scholars and the honest ones come back to their senses? This is what we wish.

"The advocates of this approach justify their collaboration with the enemies of the nation, of the rulers of the region and their agents, by the fierce shocks the people of Islam have sustained at the hands of the Al-Sadr Army and the treacherous [Badr] brigades, led by Abd-al-Aziz al-Hakim and members of the Al-Da'wah Party inside and outside Al-Maliki's government. I say that the crimes of these sides have exceeded all limits, and one cannot believe what they are doing against the people of Islam. But these are facts on the ground and they are being tasted by our brothers there in Iraq. These people have ambitions and goals to expand their crimes outside Iraq. Despite all this, it is possible to stop the crimes of these militias and their expansion, God willing, by relying on Almighty God and by unifying the mujahidin's efforts to fight the invaders and their henchmen. This can also be achieved by urging all Muslims to support the mujahidin with all that they need.

"Amir Ahmad al-Khalayilah, Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, may God have mercy on him and on his brothers, was the first to hoist the banner of exposing these criminals, fighting them, and stopping their expansion. Instead of supporting them you have betrayed them, prevented the mujahidin from fighting them, and divided fighting into two parts; fighting the Americans only is an honest resistance, but for you, fighting these apostate militias and members of the army and the police, who are the supporters of America and its tools in occupying Iraq and killing its free people is a dishonest resistance of whose advocates you wash your hands of. God has nothing to do with these divisions. God's Messenger, may God's peace and blessing be upon him, used to fight his cousins from Quraysh [the tribe of the prophet]. It is religion that preserves blood, not race or homeland. Scores of your companions, of those loyal to and the unofficial scholars of the rulers in the land of the two holy mosques and elsewhere have shared you this twisted approach. This has given a great chance to these militias to go too far in destroying the land and killing the people.

"You wish to save your life but you have not followed the right path to do so, the ship cannot sail on land. [Verse of poetry]

"Furthermore, if it was your concern about deterring the evil of these sides that urged you to be loyal to the infidels and the apostate governments, then was it not your duty to be frank with your brothers who trusted you and obeyed you in order to establish an Islamic state? Was it not your duty to inform them that you have failed to achieve the agreed-upon goal and accepted a national unity state, whose truth is a pagan unity state in which the exalted word is not for Almighty God, but for the homeland and its priest? I call on the misguided ones to fear God in themselves and in their nation, not to waste the fruit of this chaste and pure blood that was shed for the sake of consolidating religion and entrenching the state of Muslims, and to resort to the truth, especially since resorting to the truth is better than indulging in falsehood.

"Brother mujahidin: What is our duty to foil these serious plots, which seek to foil jihad in the land of Iraq and prevent the establishment of an Islamic state on the entire land of the two rivers to serve as support for and assistance to the people of Islam everywhere, foil America's plan to partition Iraq, and serve as the first line of defense for our nation? I say and stress that one of the greatest duties is to pool the efforts of all honest mujahidin to be able to stand as one rank and to fight for the sake of upholding the word of God and to work persistently to foil all their plots. It would be useful here to recall an effort in the past to unify the leaders of Afghan mujahidin, which incl udes important lessons that are related to our topic. We had made these efforts with Shaykh Abdallah Azzam, may God have mercy on him. After months of seeking to achieve unity among them and removing the obstacles that some of them used to claim that they obstruct unity, after removing these obstacles, and after they claim that there was another obstacle, and so on and so forth until we had reached the conclusion, which Shaykh Abdallah [Azzam], may God have mercy on him, summarized in a few words to explain how difficult the mission was and how the amirs [leaders of jihad] were attached to the emirate. He said: 'Will the ruler of Riyadh abdicate in favor of the ruler of Jordan or vice versa for the sake of the nation's unity?' The answer of the brothers was that this is not possible. He said: 'And so, [Abdul Rasul] Sayyaf will not abdicate in favor of [former Afghan President Burhanuddin] Rabbani or [Islamic Party Leader Gulbuddin] Hekmatyar and vice versa.' One of the mujahidin had a strong opinion about these leaders. He was an old wise person who had a long experience in life with people. At the time, we used to reject his strong-worded statement about them. I will try to convey to you some of what he said. The conclusion is that those leaders are tradesmen who care about their leadership and give priority to their personal interests over the cause. We used not to believe what he said about them. This has delayed our realization of the sound conception of persons and events. The harmful consequences of this are no secret. With the passage of days and succession of facts, things began to become clear and to prove what he said about some of them. In fact, developments have come to confirm things that we had never expected due to the fact that we were young and lacked experience at the time. Today, however, you have learned that the Northern Alliance, led by Rabbani and Sayyaf, became supporters for America against the mujahidin in Afghanistan.

"The same thing applies to Iraq today. The Islamic Party and some fighting groups support America against Muslims. This is a clear infidelity and an open apostasy. We seek strength from Almighty God. Members of the Islamic Party and those fighting factions should disavow their leaders and correct the course of their parties and groups. If this is not possible, they should leave those hypocrite leaders and join honest mujahidin in the Land of the Two Rivers. America exerted great efforts in the past to convince Afghan leaders through the governments of Riyadh and Islamabad to join a national unity government with communists and secularists who came from the west. The government of Riyadh sought the help of its men of the unofficial scholars to infiltrate the ranks of the mujahidin. These were influential speakers who incite the people to perform jihad and collect huge funds to the leaders of the mujahidin. On the set time, they asked the Afghan leaders to unite with the communists and secularists under the so-called national unity state. At this point, their true nature was exposed to the effect that they are evil scholars and men of the tyrant. They obstructed the plan to achieve unity among the leaders of the mujahidin when they tempted one of them with a big amount of money and promised him to be the president of Afghanistan. However, they have not fulfilled their promise, but for the sake of this promise of the chair of president he procrastinated with us for a long time on the issue of unity. Eventually, it became clear to us that he had mortgaged his decision with the Riyadh intelligence chief, who personally arrived in Peshawar to follow up on the issue in cooperation with the Pakistani intelligence. His envoys to this leader were two well-known of the unofficial scholars, taking into consideration that most of the leaders had agreed on this as a result of the pressures exerted by Riyadh and Islamabad. At this point, efforts were made to foil this issue. We do not have much time here for more details. So, the current situation is similar to the past one. The governme nt of Riyadh continues until this day to carry out the same malicious roles with many Islamic action leaders and commanders of mujahidin in our nation. God suffices us against them.

"Among the reasons behind the Afghan leaders' failure to achieve unity is that the decision to achieve unity was in their hand. So, it is difficult for many people to appreciate the interests of jihad and the nation if they are parties to that equation. Thus, the leader or the amir will then mix the personal with the public and believe that he and his party are the best to lead all the mujahidin groups in support of the religion. In light of this, he will cling further to the emirate and exaggerate the mistakes of the other sides of the leaders and the parties. Furthermore, he does not see his own mistakes or those of his party. In such a case, he will be the defendant and the judge at the same time. So, he cannot pass a sentence against himself to quit the emirate and abdicate in favor of another amir on whom most of Muslims might be unanimous. Their case in this tragedy is like the case of the kings and presidents in our countries. When examining their objections and excuses it becomes clear that they are baseless due to delaying unity and most of them revolve around issues to improve the emirate. However, their insistence on this has led to wasting necessitates, the most important of which are the religion, the soul, and honor. Infidelity has emerged in Kabul, corruption has prevailed, roads were cut off, blood was shed, honor was violated, money was plundered, and the mujahidin became weak. The exalted word was really for former President Najib [Mohammad Najibullah] while leaders of the parties were misleading members of their parties into believing that they are the rulers of Kabul and that they will establish the shari'ah of Islam. Many members of their parties used to accept these lies. However, a number of the honest ones refused to sell their religion in return for worthless worldly things. They also refused to cancel their brains or to be driven like cattle. Everyone of the brother mujahidin should examine things, use his brain and not cancel it, and distinguish between his good intention about the leaders and being intelligent and smart who weighs things and men with the scale of Islam. He should not be an opinionated person who follows his leaders blindly. Those who remained with the leaders in Kabul, like Sayyaf and Rabbani, supporting them against Muslims after all that happened, have backed the infidels against Muslims. This is one of the nullifiers of religion. Their good intention about their leaders is not an excuse for them. They have to watch their hearts, should disavow polytheism and polytheists, and embrace Islam once again, for how many people were misguided from the right path as a result of their fanaticism to their leaders and seniors aimlessly? They should consider God's saying: 'Our Lord! We obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us as to the right path.' [Koranic verse, Al-Ahzab (The Confederates), 33:67)

"Among the lessons also is that the brothers should not be deceived by the names of the parties or their leaders. Sayyaf was one of the most prominent leaders of the mujahidin. He was very well-known. The name of his party was the Islamic Unity Party. However, he later helped America against Muslims. This is clear infidelity. The same thing applies to Rabbani, whose party is the Islamic Afghan Association. This is also the case of Ahmed Shah Masoud, who went to the Crusaders in Europe, offering himself openly as a tool to topple the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Some misled ones claim that he is a martyr. Although some of the Afghan leaders made mistakes, praise be to God, others remained firm, honest, and sincere. This is what we believe and God is their judge. Among these were Shaykh Yunis Khalis [leader of the Islamic Party-Khalis], may God have mercy on him, and Shaykh Jalaluddin Haqqani, may God watch over him. They both issued fatwa [formal religious ruling] on the necessity to perform jihad against the American invasion of Afghanistan and contributed to it. The whole world has never seen the sincerity and firmness of mujahid amir, Mulla Mohammad Omar, in fighting the alliance of global infidelity and in refusing to submit to them for this will make him lose the trust. He refused to abandon the shari'ah or extradite those who sought his support of the muhajirin [immigrant] Arabs because they are his brothers in religion even if the emirate and its chair disappear. These are great positions that show great men. This is what we believe and God is their judge. There is a great difference between the position of a Muslim ruler and the positions of the hypocrite rulers who cooperated with America in the global war against Islam. The first sacrificed his rule for the sake of his religion, and the others are sacrificing their religion for their rule. The difference between them is the same difference between faith and infidelity. There is a great difference between the positions of the faithful men and the positions of the hypocrites who look like men.

"Some people might say that some of the leaders of jihad in Afghanistan, who made mistakes, had a precedent because they had hoisted the flag of jihad at an early time against the Russians, and so, we should give them the excuse. However, I say that we should distinguish between the mistake that should be corrected for those who possess good qualities and the crossing of hudud [boundaries], which should be applied to everyone. The woman who stole during the time of the prophet, may God's peace and blessing be upon him, had a precedent in Islam and hegira. Despite this, she was punished in order to save the nation from the way of perdition. So, one should think of this. I have mentioned these leaders out of this, for they have committed one of the nullifiers of Islam, which is helping the infidels against Muslims. The approach of appeasing masters and leaders is common among many Muslims. This is why the advocates of this approach have deviated from the right path. It was said that 'the wound will open again later if it is not treated well.' [Verse of poetry] We should beware this. Applying hudud [punishment for committing a sin] is a religious duty through which the one who commits it can be cleansed and the Muslim society can become pure. Otherwise, this will be the road to perdition. The prophet, may God's peace and blessing be upon him, said: 'The thing that ruined peoples before you was that if a dignitary steals they will not punish him and if a weak person steals they will punish him. By God, if Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad, steals, I will amputate her hand.' The conclusion on this issue is that the brother mujahidin, especially in the shura councils, should not yield to the excuses of the amirs of groups by obstructing unity and accord. They might have real excuses, but they should not prevent the achievement of unity and adherence to the rope of God. The wise and intelligent ones should not insist on clinging to the branch even this will lead to the loss of the origin, especially since everyone will be lost. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn-Taymiyah, may God have mercy on him, said: 'When people abandon some of what God ordered them to do, enmity and hatred will spread among them, and if the people become disunited they will become corrupt and vanish, and if they are united, they will be good and have mastery. Unity is mercy and disunity is torture.' So, how would the case be at a time when you see parties, factions, and committees, which include great preachers who are affiliated withy our nation, are being tempted and fall at the doors of the rulers of Najd [Saudi Arabia]? One of the reasons for this is the delay of unity. Some amirs might have a hidden desire for the emirate, which is the real reason that prevents unity. We should not have fanatical enthusiasm about men, parties, or groups, but about the truth. We should help the one who adheres to the truth and if he orders us we will obey him.

"We will correct the one who deviat es from the right path and order him to adhere to the truth, for the most truthful thing is to adhere to the truth. One should follow the example of those who died of the exemplary ones. A living person cannot be saved from temptation. Know the truth and you will know its advocates. The truth is not known by men but men are known by the truth. Here, we should mention the people who were the first on the issue of unity and accord due to the credit they deserve. Muslims were pleased when a number of the amirs of groups, which are fighting for the sake of God, and a number of chiefs of steadfast and mujahid tribes unified their stand under the banner of monotheism and pledged allegiance to honorable Shaykh Abu-Umar al-Baghdadi as amir of the Islamic State of Iraq [ISI]. The abdication of these amirs out of adherence to the rope of God is a sign of their truthfulness, justice, fairness, impartiality, and concern about the interests of Muslims. This is what we believe and God is their judge. May God reward them in the best way. Their accord is a blessed and great step toward unifying the other efforts to form the major group of Muslims.

"Muslims have heard that some brother amirs and scholars in some mujahidin groups have not been able to be where the decision was made. I say that the annoyance of these brothers is not embarrassing, and restraining themselves from anger is the right path to take. This was due to the difficult security situation, which makes it hard for the brothers to move around or communicate. Nonetheless, the brothers have noted that they had sent you letters and waited for almost two months for your arrival, so that no final decision would be made in your absence. So when will you be able to arrive? Some of Prophet Muhammad's closest companions were agitated when they found that a decision was made under the shed of the Bani Sa'idah tribe without them, may God be pleased with them, being consulted. At the same time, Abu-Bakr, Umar, Abu-Ubaydah, and those who were with them at the time, may God be pleased with them, had no intention to ridicule the concerned parties, but made the decision because the situation and complications at the time forced them to rush to make it before consulting with the rest of the concerned parties, for fear of sedition and disunity. The agitated group later pledged allegiance to Abu-Bakr and later their allegiance was confirmed. What is meant here as a prerequisite by the shari'ah is the unity of Muslims under God's banner and their allegiance to one amir in order to establish and support God's religion. This matter should be accomplished expeditiously, because it is a great duty toward God. God Almighty says: 'And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves;' [Koranic verse; Al-Imran 3:103] The states that call themselves Muslim states are many. However, those with discerning know that they all lack the prerequisites that are regarded as the most important prerequisites of Muslim states, chief among which is upholding God's shari'ah, not to mention that the sovereignty of all of them is flawed, and that they all, without exception, cooperated, in one way or another, with America in the world war on Islam, which is a nullifier of one's Islam. Nonetheless, many people treat these states as if they were sovereign Muslim states. This treatment is religiously impermissible, given all that has been said.

"I would like to say that those who were agitated for not being consulted should not be embarrassed, as it was mentioned above, because their desire was to unify Muslims' ranks. However, had they believed that the time was not appropriate and had they had the intention to delay God's will and the Prophet's desire, may God's prayers and peace be upon him, for the opinions they had accumulated throughout the past years, their agitation would be unjustified, because it is impermissible to wait and hamper religious matters. But when the people were raised and lived far away from the Islami c state, most of them were sluggish and felt unembarrassed by the delay in establishing this state. Accordingly, the brothers should be advised in this matter.

"Despite the significance of shura in the emirate, which is very clearly confirmed by many texts; such as Caliph Umar's statement in which he said that the decision of the amir should be final, being the person who represents the unity of Muslims' ranks, should the conditions prevent the concerned parties from adopting a united stand. What would have happened had the same situation of the Bani Sa'idah shed been repeated, and what would also happen had the emirate not been established, unless after consulting all the concerned parties? Umar then would have not pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr without waiting for the consultation to take place, Abu-Bakr would have not accepted Muslims' pledge of allegiance to him, and the companions, may God be pleased with them, would have not also paid allegiance to Abu-Bakr.

"Had complete empowerment been a prerequisite of the establishment of an Islamic state at present, Islam would not have seen a state of its own. This is because everybody knows that given the huge military superiority of the adversaries, the latter can invade any country and topple its government, as happened in Afghanistan. They toppled the Ba'thist Iraqi Government. Nonetheless, the fall of the state is not the end of the world, nor does it mean that the Islamic community and the Islamic imam collapsed. As a matter of fact, jihad against the infidels should continue, as is happening in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia.

"Recalling how the situation of the first Islamic state was during the time of the Uhud and Al-Ahzab events; when the cries of war and the invading tribes were besieging Medina, the first capital of Islam; and how the conditions of Muslims were when only few people defected from Islam in the Arab Peninsula following the death of the Prophet, may God's prayers and peace be upon him, will emphasize that complete empowerment is not a prerequisite of making a pledge of allegiance to the imam, or of establishing an Islamic state. It is not right to say to the person that has been empowered to rule the Islamic emirate that he will neither be listened to nor be obeyed, because the enemy can topple his government.

"It is strange that we have not heard similar words from some of those who raise similar slogans and who live in the Gulf States, such as Kuwait, when the Ba'thists toppled their government. On the contrary, their eloquent orator was speaking loudly expressing support for legitimacy. That is, in support of the Al-Sabah rulers who do not follow God's shari'ah and who had not have the power, though little, to make decisions in Kuwait.

"Brother Muslims, since seeking unity of ranks under monotheism is one of the greatest duties, negligence of this duty is one of the deadly sins. Unless Muslims are brought together under one group and imam, the religion of God will not be applied, paths will not be safe, and seditions will not be repressed. Nor will security be achieved, conspiracies aborted, many of those of the common Islamic people who joined the mujahidin groups become disciplined, or other great matters be brought under control. God keeps order through [the power of] the sultan [ruler] more than He keeps order through [the power of] the Koran. A Muslim that delays the establishment of an Islamic state is more sinful than that who quits his group or abandons Islam, because by doing so he would be letting hundreds of millions of Muslims live under the tyrant and pagan regimes. Encroachment on religion has reached too far and it has become imperative to stop it, because this issue is very important and serious and should not be postponed. This is because on its bases the knowledge of Islam and Muslims' worldly victory and heavenly deliverance are founded, God willing.

"Brother Muslims in Iraq, repeated appeals were addressed to the mujahidin leaders urging them to get t ogether. However, some of them failed to heed these appeals while some others heeded the appeals. The amirs of the mujahidin groups and their shura councils' members took a serious move to set right what was wrongly done and sought to unify all the mujahidin under one banner to confront the campaign of Crusaders and renegades, because this is a righteous duty. God Almighty ordered us to be unified and prohibited us from taking unilateral stands. See how global and local infidelity, in all its forms, has united and the wolves of the tyrants are eating peaceful lambs on daily basis. All leaders should be united under one group and be committed to this group. This is a legitimate demand and a sacred duty at this present time. Prophet Muhammad, may God's prayers and peace be upon him, told Hudhayfah, may God be pleased with him, when he asked him about the action to be taken in a similar situation, that he should adhere to the Muslim group and its imam. If this was difficult to achieve, efforts should be directed to the establishment of the great Muslim group and this should become a duty to be performed by every Muslim and mujahidin, through pledging allegiance to the group that is the most committed to righteousness and truthfulness. God Almighty says: 'O ye who believe! Fear Allah and be with those who are true (in word and deed).' [Koranic verse; At-Tauba 9:119] He who follows the local and global campaigns of infidelity can see that they are primarily targeted against the Islamic State of Iraq. For America is repeatedly carrying out campaigns, one after another, against the same city. As a matter of fact, there has been an ongoing campaign against the whole of Diyala for the past six months. The same holds true for Mosul and Salah al-Din. Other campaigns are being carried out by the army, the National Guard, and the police, not to mention other campaigns carried out by the Al-Sadr and Al-Hakim militias. Besides, all neighboring countries without exception are targeting the Islamic State of Iraq, not to mention the awakening councils, parties, and groups of dissension led by Tariq al-Hashimi, who betrayed the faith and the Ummah. This is to be added to the media campaigns aimed at misrepresenting the Islamic State of Iraq for which the Riyadh rulers, their scholars, and their media outlets are to blame.

"I believe that all these ferocious campaigns against the mujahidin in the Islamic State of Iraq are staged because these mujahidin are deeply committed to righteousness and the Prophet's teachings, may God's prayers and peace be upon him, quoting Waraqah Bin-Nufal when he told the Prophet that 'no man has ever brought what the Prophet has brought, without being antagonized.' Amir Abu-Umar [al-Baghdadi] and his brothers are not of those who would bargain over their faith and accept half-solutions, or who would meet the enemies halfway. Rather, they come out openly with the truth and satisfy the Creator even if this were to result in angering the creatures. They do not heed the blames of others against them as long as they do their deeds for the sake of God. They refused to take by surprise, without exceptions, the governments of any of the Muslim world capitals. They refrained from being subjects to polytheists, because they were aware that religion is for God Almighty, Who supports whoever He wants of his slaves. He does not support the polytheists in order to strengthen His religion. Tyrant and polytheist rulers cannot strengthen the religion. What proves this is the Prophet's hadith, may God's prayers and peace be upon him, when he said: 'O boy, I am teaching you that you should worship God in order to keep yourself safe and that He would always be on your side. If you want to ask, ask God, and if you want to call for help, call for God's help; and know well that if the Ummah would do something good for you, it cannot do anything other than what God has written for you. If the Ummah would cause you harm, it cannot do anything other than what God has written against you.' This was narrated by Imam Ahmad.

"Had the leaders of the Islamic State of Iraq joined hands with any neighboring state so that the latter may provide it with backing and support, as some groups and parties have done, the situation would have been different. This is because they have budgets of 10 or 100 millions and their bounty is guarded by their spears. Had they known, this would be the best bounty, but they have lost their decisioinmaking and independence because they depend on the support of other countries. If the United States and its agent rulers exert pressure on the supporting state, the pressure would directly move on to the secretary of the party or amir of the group. The people have openly witnessed this thing happening in Lebanon. Following the resounding speeches about pride and dignity and about Palestine and its support, and following [Hizballah Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah's] challenge that the entire world cannot impose its will on him, Resolution 1701 was accepted, which was adopted by the United Nation, the US tool. The core of this resolution is the entry of Crusader armies into Lebanese territory. Are people unaware that these armies are the other face of the US-Zionist alliance? Nonetheless, [Hizballah] Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah is deceiving people. He welcomed these armies in public and promised to facilitate their mission even though he knows that they were coming to protect the Jews and seal off the borders in the face of the honest mujahidin. He did so to accommodate the wishes of the states that are backing him - those states that possess honorable and decent money, about which he talked previously. Why then should [former Egyptian President Anwar] Al-Sadat and [late Jordanian King] Husayn Bin-Talal be considered traitors for accepting treaties that stipulate the closure of borders before the mujahidin to carry out operations against the Jews? On the other hand, why should the Hizballah secretary general be honored for accepting a similar resolution? How would the people understand Hizballah's accusation of the Lebanese deputies' majority of being agents for the United States, although they certainly are? Furthermore, how Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim, who collaborated with America to invade Iraq and prohibited the people from fighting it, has been described as a martyr hero by the Hizballah secretary general? Isn't it real hypocrisy? Another type of this category of people is those who force their army personnel to take six-month renewable vacations when they are pressured by their financing and backing state. Has anybody in this world ever heard that an army takes vacation while the enemy is deployed in its country? This is part of the characteristics of those who make their decisionmaking dependent on financing states.

"If we want to elaborate on this issue, it will take us too long. However, free Muslims, like Amir Abu-Umar al-Baghdadi and his brothers, find it easier for them to sacrifice their lives than place jihad for the sake of God in the hands of any ruler or ally with such rulers against their Ummah. Many people are unaware of the background and conduct of the amirs of the mujahidin in Iraq because of the circumstances and security requirements of the war. However, I reckon that ignorance about the affairs of the amirs of the mujahidin in Iraq is harmless ignorance if they have been recommended by trusted, fair persons, such as Amir Abu-Umar [al-Baghdadi], who has been recommended by trusted, fair mujahidin. He was also recommended by Amir Abu-Mus'ab [al-Zarqawi], may God have mercy on him, and War Minister Abu-Hamzah al-Muhajir, who all were recommended for their patience and steadfastness under the thunderbolts of air raids in the Hindu Kosh Mountains. They are well known by your brothers in Afghanistan, and I trust God that they are as such. Refraining from pledging allegiance to one of the amirs of mujahidin in Iraq after their recommendation by trusted, fair persons under the pretext of not knowing their conduct leads to great evils, one of the gravest of which is obstructing the establishment of the great Muslim nation under one imam, which is a nullifier.

"In conclusion, I assure Muslims in general and our people in the neighboring states in particular, that they will see nothing from the mujahidin but all that is good, God willing. We are your sons. We are defending the religion of the nation, and we are defending its sons. The Muslim victims who fall during the operations against the infidel Crusaders or their usurper agents are not the intended targets. God knows that we are deeply saddened when some Muslims fall victim. Yet, we hold ourselves responsible and seek God's forgiveness for that. We beseech God to have mercy on them and let Paradise be their final abode and to compensate their families and relatives. You must be aware that the enemy deliberately takes its positions among the Muslims to let them serve as human shields for it. I would like to emphasize to our mujahidin brothers to be cautious not to expand in taking unilateral stands and to be keen about their operations in terms of targeting the enemy within legitimized discipline and far away from Muslims as much as they can without hampering jihad for the sake of God.

"In fact, our enmity is with the agent rulers, to whom we give no assurances. Rather, we are seeking to topple them and to refer them to the Islamic judiciary. How can we assure them while they have befriended the enemies of the nation and have done this nation great harm? How can we assure them while they have mixed the law of humans with the law of God Almighty? How can we assure them while the path to the broadest front for the liberation of Palestine passes through the lands that are under their control? I assure our kinfolk in Palestine in particular that we will expand our jihad, God willing, and we will not recognize the Sykes-Picot borders or the rulers appointed by the colonialists. By God, we have not forgotten you after the 9/11 events. Will anyone forget his own family? However, after those blessed raids, which hit the head and heart of global infidelity, the biggest ally of the Zionist entity, America, we are now busy fighting it and its agents, especially in Iraq, Afghanistan, Islamic Magreb, and Somalia. If it is defeated along with its agents in Iraq, God willing, then soon will the legions of mujahidin march, in successive brigades, from Baghdad, Al-Anbar, Mosul, Diyala, and Salah al-Din to restore Hittin to us, God willing. We will not recognize a state for the Jews, not even on one inch of the land of Palestine, as did all the rulers of the Arabs when they adopted the initiative of the ruler of Riyadh years ago.

"They were not sufficed by committing this great calamity, but the people have recently witnessed the sponsor of the subdued being dragged to Annapolis to exercise on them what the Americans did to her ancestors before; but not to be sold, rather to sell. What are the things they are selling? They are selling Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the blood of the martyrs. There is neither power nor strength except from God, Whom we pray to give them what they deserve. Thus, the people have become surer now of who are the trustworthy and who the traitors are, and also who are the ones that are being toyed with by the Zionists' hands. [Bin Ladin cites two lines of poetry that focus on anguish by the fall of Jerusalem and emphasize betrayal of God by states, not individuals.] Nor will we respect the international conventions recognizing the Zionist entity over the land of Palestine, as the HAMAS leadership did, or as stated by some Muslim Brotherhood leaders. It will be a jihad for the liberation of entire Palestine, from the river to the sea, God willing, joining hands with the sincere mujahidin there from the cadres of HAMAS and other factions, who denounced their leaders for deviating from righteousness. Blood calls for more blood and demolishing calls for further demolishing. I will repeat my swearing by saying: 'By God, we will support you even if we creep on our knees or taste what Hamzah Bin-Abd-al-Muttalib tasted, may God be pleased with him.'

"Finally, I would like to remind my precious Islamic Ummah by saying: O people, you have gained many experiences in the events that passed, so stop the passing of time and playing. Listen, realize, wake up, and take the lessons because the issue is enormous and grave. Where would you go, and what do you expect? The heat of the battle is increasing and it is only a little that separates you from what has been plotted against you. Our only rescue is by responding to God Almighty's orders and avoiding His prohibitions. Among His greatest orders is performing jihad for His sake in order to overcome the overt evil and subdue the covert one. Slaves of God, pay your debts and rush to perform your duties, particularly in the fields of jihad where your brothers have opened the road and secured the needs, taking into account that yourselves, honor, land, money, and whatever you possess are threatened, topped by the threats against your religion. [Bin Ladin cites two lines of poetry stressing that money cannot redeem religion.] The issue is serious, not ludicrous, and it was said before that 'I was eaten when the white ox was eaten.' Today is Baghdad, and tomorrow will be Damascus, Amman, and Riyadh. Fear God like His trusted people, and do not heed the blames of others for fearing Him. Your mujahidin brothers need little money for the ammunition and weapons by which they fight for God's sake - amounts which one merchant among you can afford that will lead, God willing, to defeating the head of the global infidelity. Until when will you continue to fear America and its agents? Don't you have a daring merchant who will free himself from submission and the cuffs of slavery and who will remember death and poverty so that he will prepare himself for the day when he meets God? The person was born without money and will leave this world without it. He should fear God and mange his days and money in a manner that benefit him in the other life; run his affairs with confidentiality; and use our prophet as a model.

"He disappeared from Quraysh in a cave and migrated secretly to Al-Ansar, may God be pleased with them. He makes his security preparations and he immigrates when the situation requires, remembering the reward that he will get and his active efforts in support of religion, and in rescuing the Ummah of Muhammad the Trustworthy, may God's prayers and peace be upon him, at a time enemies have gathered around it from all places. What a trust and honor have been bestowed by God on him, similarly as He did to Uthman, may God be pleased with him, when he solely equipped an army to fight the Romans. Prophet Muhammad, may God's prayers and peace be upon him, said at the time that Uthman would not be harmed after what he had done that day.

"God Almighty says: 'And spend of your substance in the cause of Allah, and make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction; but do good; for Allah loveth those who do good.' [Koranic verse; Al-Baqara 2:195] He also says: 'Not equal among you are those who spent (freely) and fought, before the Victory, (with those who did so later). Those are higher in rank than those who spent (freely) and fought afterwards. But to all has Allah promised a goodly (reward). And Allah is well acquainted with all that ye do.' [Koranic verse; Al-Hadid 57:10] It was said that one should behave like the generous if he cannot be one of them, because it is a good thing to do.

"The support of true mujahidin, particularly in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Islamic Maghreb, and Somalia is the main project for the entire Ummah and its first line of defense against all its enemies who harbor ambitions on it and by which it will find its righteous course in its earthly world and religion. Through this support, the Ummah will achieve its pride and safety as well as its security in all fields. Yes, they are the fields of your military, social, food, and economic security so that your oil and wealth will be preserved as well as your money, which is being robbed from you because of its unjust linkage to the dollar. The support of Mujahidin is the project of the entire Ummah for the sake of liberating all Palestine, which would make the Al-Aqsa Mosque smile and would free female and male prisoners, God willing. Believers will then rejoice God's victory. God is triumphant, but the majority of people do not know. My last prayer is to thank God."

Asia Times: 'Pakistan Wrestles With a Soldier of Peace'

CPP20080110721011 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1018 GMT 10 Jan 08

[Report by Imtiaz Ali : "Pakistan Wrestles With a 'Soldier of Peace' "; headline as provided by source]

Baitullah Mehsud, the most feared and dangerous militant commander in Pakistan's tribal region, has not only become the public face of militancy in the country, but is now also openly posing a serious threat to the US's efforts to bring stability to neighboring war-torn Afghanistan.

Mehsud leads the recently formed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (Taliban Movement of Pakistan), a joint group of various local Taliban outfits sharing the common objectives of implementing sharia (Islamic law) and waging jihad against US-led forces in Afghanistan.

Mehsud - who is suspected of having close ties with al-Qaeda - has been in the headlines of local newspapers for more than three years because of his prominent role in spearheading the insurgency against Pakistan's armed forces, who are currently hunting al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in the tribal areas.

Lately, Mehsud has become a menacing presence in Pakistan due to the widespread belief of his involvement in the deadly wave of suicide bombings - mostly targeted against security forces - that has shaken the whole nation. A United Nations report released in September last year blamed Mehsud for almost 80% of suicide bombings in Afghanistan.

According to some reports, Mehsud has compiled his own hit list of political leaders and high-profile government officials, and has formed special squads for carrying out such terrorist acts.

Already a household name in Pakistan, Mehsud rose to global notoriety two weeks ago when officials named him as the prime suspect and alleged mastermind behind the killing of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, which was the most high-profile political assassination in the recent history of the country.

Pakistani authorities have released the text of a Pashto-language telephone conversation allegedly intercepted by Pakistan's Interior Ministry, in which Mehsud congratulates "brave boys" for accomplishing a "mission", which - according to officials - refers to the assassination of Bhutto.

At 34 years old, Mehsud is a warlord based in the restive South Waziristan tribal agency and is said to be much revered by militants on both sides of the Pakistani-Afghan border. Locals say that he has more than 20,000 fighters, mostly from his Mehsud clan. Officials as well as his aides claim that he also has hundreds of trained fidayeen (men of sacrifice) ready to lay down their lives as suicide bombers upon his instructions.

According to his aides, Mehsud has taken an oath of allegiance to the Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Omar. Apart from sharing the same ideologies on sharia and jihad, Mehsud also shares with his spiritual leader an aversion to publicity and photographs. As a guerrilla fighter, Mehsud sharpened his skills under the guidance of legendary Pashtun commander Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani, who is widely believed to have helped Osama bin Laden escape targeted bombing by the US in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan in early 2002.

Known as amir (commander) among his followers, Mehsud was an unknown figure on the tribal scene until late 2004, when he filled the vacuum left by the famous tribal militant leader, Nek Muhammad Wazir, who was killed in a missile attack in June 2004. In February 2005, the Pakistani government brokered a deal with Mehsud in a bid to bring normalcy and peace to violence-stricken South Waziristan.

In return for amnesty, Mehsud promised not to attack security posts or cross into Afghanistan for jihad, but backed out of the deal in late August 2007 following the Red Mosque military operation in Islamabad. Local journalists from Waziristan say that the so-called peace deal raised his stature and allowed him to further strengthen his support base.

As a result, the government's writ is confined to the compounds of its security forces while gun-brandishing fighters control the countryside in the South Waziristan agency. Mehsud had his moment of glory when the government conceded to his demand to free militant prisoners in return for releasing more than 250 Pakistan i soldiers, seized by his fighters and held hostage for two and half months. Among the released militants were presumably a number of would-be suicide bombers.

The rising popularity of this young and committed jihadi on both sides of the border has made him a bridge linking the Pakistani Taliban with the Afghan Taliban on the other side of the frontier. Many believe that Mehsud has already been involved in the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan by dispatching his men to fight against the US-led coalition forces. A close aide of Mehsud, Hakimullah Mehsud, was captured by North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces in the border region while trying to cross into Afghanistan with five foreign fighters.

Once described as a "soldier of peace" by a top Pakistani military general, Mehsud is now not only defying Islamabad, but has emerged as a major irritant in the global "war on terror". Some of the latest reports from the frontier may be right in citing him as the new triggerman for al-Qaeda in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan - an area which carries immense strategic importance for the terrorist network.

Imtiaz Ali is a Pakistan-based journalist working as a special correspondent for the Washington Post.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Pakistan Police Claim Arresting Al-Qa'ida Terrorists in Guise of Defunct Outfits

SAP20080120101001 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 20 Jan 08

[Report by Salis bin Perwaiz: "Plot to bomb Muharram processions foiled"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

KARACHI: The intelligence agencies and the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Sindh Police have nabbed eight terrorists allegedly affiliated with al-Qaeda after a grand operation in the province. A huge quantity of C-4 explosive material and other items used in launching suicide attacks was recovered from their possession.

Five suspects were arrested in Karachi, while three were rounded up in Hyderabad, the sources said.

The sources said eight al-Qaeda militants were arrested by the CID in active collaboration with the intelligence agencies on Friday night. The militants planned to attack the main mourning processions in Karachi on the ninth and tenth of Muharram as well as military installations in the city.

Intelligence sources said the plan of staging suicide attacks was prepared by al-Qaeda but it had assigned the task to several banned militant outfits, including Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Karachi, Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami, Azad Kashmir and Multan and Jaish-i-Mohammad.

The sources added al-Qaeda did it to deceive the intelligence agencies that were mainly concentrating on the major al-Qaeda affiliated outfits like Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and the local Taliban-led maverick Baitullah Mehsud who is accused of masterminding the assassination of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto at Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi. However, the intelligence sleuths got wind of the plan and moved quickly to thwart it.

The police recovered 500 grams of cyanide from the possession of the arrested militants. Sources revealed that the said militant outfits had planned to mix the deadly cyanide poison in Sabeels established for the mourners. This could have resulted in huge fatalities to the mourners had the plan been implemented. Experts believe that a single drop of cyanide can cause death within a few seconds.

Provincial Police Officer Sindh Azhar Ali Farooqi told the media on Saturday that five terrorists belonging to various outlawed outfits, including a suspected suicide bomber, having links with banned outfits, were nabbed from North Karachi, foiling a big terrorist plot.

Farooqi said they had leads about entry of terrorists and surveillance was being maintained in the city. He added that Jamil Ahmed alias Wazir Akber -- a terrorist hailing from Multan -- had some months back rented a house in North Karachi to be used as a hideout for terrorist activities and store weapons and explosives with the help of his local associate, Syed Wasim Ahmed alias Imran.

A few days before Eid-ul-Azha, Jamil alias Wazir allegedly brought explosives, hand grenades and suicide jackets from southern Punjab and stored them in their New Karachi hideout.

On Jan 11, suspected gang leader Mohammed Aijaz alias Abdul Rehman along with his close associate Mohammed Hamid alias Qasim and suspected suicide bomber Aziz Ahmed alias Mohammed Khan -- a resident of Lodhran -- arrived in the city, he said. Farooqi added after surveillance, the CID and intelligence agency personnel arrested the terrorists after an encounter, who were on a mission to commit terrorist strike.

The arrested suspects include Syed Mohammed Nasim alias Imran (affiliated to banned outfit Harkatul Mujahideen, Karachi), Mohammed Ejaz alias Abdur Rehman (associated with Harkatul Jihad outfit based in Bhimbhar, Azad Kashmir), Jamil Ahmed alias Wazir Akbar (working for Multan-based Harkat-ul-Jihad-ul Islami outfit), suicide bomber Aziz Ahmed alias Mohammed Khan (associated with Lodhran-based Jaish-e-Mohammed outfit), and Mohammed Hamid alias Qasim (a militant of Harkat-ul-Jihad-ul-Islami).

Six-kilogrammes of C-4 explosives, suicide bomb blast jackets, three home-made bombs, six detonators, 15 metres of detonating wire, 500 grams of cyanide, sodium cyanide, frequency generator used for remote control, two TT pistols with 20 rounds, two kilogrammes of ball bearings and one kilogramme of nails were recovered from their possession, he added.

"They had planned to carry out bomb blasts and suicide attacks on mourning processions on 9th and 10th of Muharram, Army installations situated in Karachi, kill huge number of mourners by mixing poisonous cyanide in Sabeels along the routes, besides targeting various sensitive installations with suicide attacks in the city." Farooqi said.

He said four of them got training in a militant camp operating in Mir Ali tribal area last year. About the gang leader Aijaz alias Abdur Rehman, the Sindh Police chief said he had been imparting arms training at different militant training camps and was teacher of a training centre in South Waziristan since he returned from the Afghan Jihad. He is an expert in manufacturing home-made bombs and suicide bomb blast jackets and believed to be close aide of militant leader, Maulvi Sardar Haqqani, an active member of the Jalaluddin Haqqani group, he said.They are being interrogated and further disclosures are expected, he said.

Sources said no member of any militant outfit had been arrested for the last one year in Sindh. The three arrested in Hyderabad are also being questioned about the Oct 18 bomb blasts on the homecoming parade of Benazir Bhutto in Karachi.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; root URL as of filing date: ]

Pakistan: Arrested Terrorists Confess to Carrying Out Operations in Afghanistan

SAP20080124001001 Karachi Ummat in Urdu 22 Jan 08 pp 3, 5

[Report by Asif Saud: "Arrested Terrorists Have Carried Out Activities in Afghanistan as Well"]

The outlawed Harkatul Jihad-e Islami [HJI] terrorists arrested by the Crimes Investigation Department [CID] of the Sind police have also confessed to carrying out suicide attacks on the US positions and convoys in Afghanistan. Sources have told the Ummat that besides Pakistan these terrorists have been involved in organizing suicide attacks on Americans in Afghanistan. They have confessed to killing over 35 Americans in Afghanistan.

The sources said that the gang's ringleader, Mohammad Ejaz alias Abdul Rahman, is a resident of Rawalpindi. He got his early education in the same city. He stood first while studying electrical engineering. He is a bomb-making expert and has imparted training to many people. During investigations, Ejaz said that he has a command over Urdu, English, Arabic, and Pashto. First of all he joined the outlawed Jaish-e Muhammad [JM] and took part in jihad in Indian-administered Kashmir. During this period, he used to live in Bhimber, a town in Azad Kashmir. He also ran a JM camp where he used to train mujahidin in making and triggering bombs.

The accused further disclosed that he was adept at producing mines. He had produced antipersonnel and antivehicle mines at the training camp. He said that even a tank could be destroyed with an antivehicle mine. An antivehicle mine is buried in the ground 10-30-cm deep, and it explodes when anything weighing over 50 kg passes over it. He said that he had trained several mujahidin in producing these mines.

Ejaz said that he was also an expert in making explosive jackets and vehicles for launching suicide bombings. During interrogations, he said that he could prepare an explosive-laden vehicle to carry out a suicide attack within one and a half hours.

During interrogation, Ejaz further said that he then quit JM and joined HJI and then went to South Waziristan, where he established contacts with Taliban commanders. In South Waziristan too, he was made in charge of a militant camp where he imparted training to suicide bombers on how to carry out suicide attacks. The accused said that the people trained by him conducted suicide bombings in Afghanistan.

Ejaz said that in South Waziristan, he established links with different terrorist groups. During this period, he also trained Baitullah Mehsud's terrorists. He said that he had carried out a suicide attack on a US base in Afghanistan's Helamnd Province along with Commander Sangeen Khan Mahsud, a close aide of Baitullah. He revealed that a man, whose name was also Ejaz, was prepared for the bombing. He said that during the attack, the US forces retaliated, but he escaped. Ejaz further said that he then conducted another suicide attack in Urozgan Province along with a colleague. During interrogation, Ejaz said that he had killed over 35 US soldiers in Afghanistan.

According to the sources, Ejaz has disclosed that he had prepared three types of sophisticated bombs. One of them was named Dark Switch Device. This device is used to carry out explosion during the day. After attaching the device with explosives, it is kept in a bright place. As soon as there is darkness, the bomb goes off. The other device and explosives are planted at nighttime, which goes off with first ray of sun. The third one is called Water Switch Device. After attaching the device with explosives, it is kept at some place. When water fall on it, the bomb goes off. Ejaz said that he had produced these devices himself and also imparted training to terrorists at South Waziristan training camp on how to make and use these bombs. The accused said that he had successfully tested the Light Switch Device and the Dark Switch Device in Afghanistan. According to Ejaz, he established good relationship with some Taliban commanders in South Waziristan.

Ejaz said that after the Red Mosque tragedy, he formed a group in South Waziristan. He was the head of the group. One of his colleagues was Jamil Ahmad alias Wazir Akbar, whom he met in South Waziristan. Jamil, an HJI member, was a resident of southern Punjab. Jamil was an expert in motivating people to become suicide bombers and had brought dozens of young people.

According to the sources, Ejaz said that he then met with Aziz Ahmad alias Mohammad Khan, who was a JM member and belonged to Lodhran, Punjab. Jamil had motivated Aziz to carry out a suicide attack. According to Ejaz, Aziz was to be used in a suicide bombing to be carried out in Karachi. Ejaz said that he met with Mohammad Hamid alias Mohammad Qasim and Syed Wasim Ahmad alias Imran through Jamil. Hamid and Wasim were HJI members. Wasim was a resident of North Karachi Sector 11/E, where the gang had rented a house through Wasim.

The sources further quoted Ejaz as saying that in response to the Red Mosque tragedy, they had planned to carry out suicide attacks at three sensitive places in Karachi. One of the attacks was to be carried out in Askari-IV locality [an Army residential area]. The accused had also visited Askari-IV in connection with their plan. Police sources, however, said that information has been kept secret as to who facilitated their visit to Askari-IV. The bombers' second target was PNS Himalaya. The information extracted from the accused in this regard is also being kept top secret. Their third target was rangers' office at People's Ground in Karachi. The details in this regard are also being kept secret.

The accused further disclosed that they were also planning to hit a US vessel. They said they were captured, however, while they were collecting information in this regard.

A responsible police official says that the accused had also planned to mix cyanide in water tanks on the occasion of Muharramul Haram [the first month of Islamic lunar calendar when Shiites hold gatherings and processions]. They disclosed that cyanide was given to them by a mullah in a Taunsa Sharif mosque. The police official said that the name of the mullah was being kept secret. According to the accused, the poison was brought by Jamil.

Ejaz said that after getting cyanide, they tested it twice. They went to Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in Clifton, Karachi, put some poison on a currency note, and gave it to a beggar. They waited for an hour to see if the beggar dies after touching the cyanide, but he remained alive. They conducted the second experiment after a week. They put some cyanide in a rosewater bottle and sprinkled it on flowers at the same shrine. The accused said they believed that anyone buying and touching those flowers would die, but it did not happen. Ejaz said they had planned to mix cyanide with water in tanks placed on the route of Shiites' procession to kill those drinking the contaminated water. The accused said that Ejaz Ahmad formulated the plan to mix cyanide with water during Shiites' procession.

Police sources said Ejaz was also in touch with his accomplices abroad through the e-mail. They said that Ejaz is also a computer expert. The police had found several e-mail messages in Ejaz's computer through which he was in touch with his accomplices. The sources further said that when Ejaz's e-mail messages were checked, the hard disk of the police's computer crashed, as Ejaz's accomplices had installed a virus in the e-mails ensuring that the message could not be read twice. In this way, they ensured that if an attempt was made to read the messages again, the computer's hard disk would crash. The police sources said that now services of information technology experts will be sought to get information about the e-mails received by Ejaz.

The sources further said that the accused also had contacts with their close accomplices, Zafar Bilal and Omar Farooq. The police are now looking out for them; however, they could not be traced so far. It is also could not be known whether they are still in Karachi.

The sources said that Jamil himself always remains ready to carry out suicide bombing, while his duty is to train the youth for these attacks. Jamil had trained his wife also to launch such an attack. If a woman is required to launch suicide attack, he can use his wife. It is also learned that Jamil used to impart training to suicide bombers at a terrorist training camp in Mirali, North Waziristan, and was in contact with Maulvi Sardar Haqqani, a Jalaluddin Haqqani Group's renowned commander.

Police sources said that after Red Mosque incident, several small groups have come into being and they were launching their activities quite independently. One group does not have information about the other. They said like-minded people form a group in South Waziristan and then launch their activities. The police said the accused are still being interrogated.

[Description of Source: Karachi Ummat in Urdu -- Sensationalist, pro-Usama Bin Ladin Urdu daily. Harshly critical of the US, Israel, and India. Propagates Muslim unity to counter US/Western influence. Circulation 20,000. Editor-publisher Rafiq Afghan is an Afghan war veteran.]

Pakistan: 200 Suicide Bombers Reportedly Enter Cities, To Target US Restaurants

SAP20080126100007 Islamabad Khabrain in Urdu 25 Jan 08 pp 1, 6

[Report from monitoring desk: "Disclosure of presence of 300 terrorists across country made"]

Lahore/Islamabad/ Karachi -- Threat of terrorism has increased across the country. Security in all the cities has been put on high alert at the directives of the interior ministry. The terrorists arrested from Karachi on Muharram have disclosed that over 200 suicide bombers are present throughout the country. Jamil Ahmed alias Wazir Akbar and Mohammad Ijaz alias Abdur Rahman, dangerous criminals belonging to the Jalaluddin Haqqani group of Afghanistan, have revealed during investigation that over 200 suicide bombers are present in different cities of the country and the terror network has been expanded considerably.

Reliable sources of the agencies involved in investigation told ANN that 14 people were arrested from different areas of Karachi after pinpointed by the accused. They are being grilled from several angles. On the other hand, in their reports to the federal government, the intelligence agencies have hinted at the presence of 300 suicide bombers across the country. They said that over 150 of these suicide bombers are present in different areas of North West Frontier Province [NWFP] and tribal areas.

According to a private television channel, the Ministry of Interior has stated in a circular that 13 suicide bombers have entered into Islamabad, Quetta, and Lahore via NWFP and there is danger that they would be striking this month. The circular says that a new outfit of terrorists, Al-Quds Army, has been founded and it has dispatched 13 bombers to different areas of the country. The government has alerted all the law enforcement agencies. The intelligence agencies have informed the federal and Sind governments that there is danger of attacks on foreign restaurants in Karachi. According to the letter written by the special branch, there is a threat of terrorist attack on foreign restaurants and hotels including McDonalds', Pizza Hut, and KFC. Security has been beefed up after these reports.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Khabrain in Urdu -- Sensationalist daily, generally opposes Pakistan People's Party. Circulation of 30,000.]

Pakistan: Taliban Refutes US Troops Claim About Killing of Commander Sedgai

SAP20080128099007 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 28 Jan 08

[Report by Rahimullah Yusufzai: "US Claim About Death of Taliban Commander Disputed"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR: Members of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network have disputed the claim by the US military in Afghanistan that one of their commanders, Darim Sedgai, had died of his injuries sustained in an attack in Pakistan on January 16.

They insisted that Sedgai was alive and had more or less recovered from the injuries sustained by him in the attempt on his life in Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan. "Unknown gunmen fired at him about 10 days ago. Two bullets of Kalashnikov rifle hit him on the shoulder and the injuries weren't life-threatening," a member of the Haqqani network told The News. He spoke from an undisclosed location and requested anonymity.

In a statement issued in Kabul on Saturday, the US military claimed that Sedgai was a powerful commander linked to a top Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani. It said Sedgai died of wounds sustained by him when unknown gunmen ambushed him on January 16.

The US military had reportedly announced a $50,000 reward for informers who could provide information that could lead to Sedgai's capture. He was wanted to the US for his ties to Taliban and Al-Qaeda groups.

Sedgai originally belonged to Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal agency. He had joined former Afghan Mujahideen commander Jalaluddin Haqqani and fought under his command in Afghanistan. Presently, Sedgai was operating as commander of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the eldest son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, and the head of the so-called Haqqani network.

The US military has announced $200,000 on Sirajuddin Haqqani's head. However, the Afghan television station in Khost province has been repeatedly announcing a reward of 60 million Afghanis, or $1million, for his capture.

Sirajuddin Haqqani is Taliban commander for Paktia and Khost. Besides, he has links with Taliban fighters in Logar, Ghazni and Maidan-Wardak provinces. The US-led coalition forces and the Afghan government consider him a big threat because he is operating close to Kabul city and could eventually destabilise the Afghan capital. He was recently blamed for the suicide bombing at the Serena Hotel in Kabul in which at least eight persons, including a Norwegian journalist, a Frenchman and two Americans, were killed.

The US military statement in Kabul also claimed that two other commanders of the Haqqani network were also killed in the recent months. It named the two as Abdul Mannan and Mulla Sangeen.

Members of the Haqqani network conceded that Abdul Mannan was killed in Khost province some months ago. But they refuted the US military claim that commander Mulla Sangeen was also killed. They said Mulla Sangeen, a Taliban commander in Paktika province, wasn't even present when an attack clearly targeting him was launched in Khost. They said some other men were killed in the ambush. Mulla Sangeen reportedly made a phone call later to reporters in Afghanistan and Pakistan to deny the claims about his death. It was learnt that the Haqqani network members were trying to prepare videotapes of both Mulla Sangeen and Darim Sedgai to show that they were still alive.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; root URL as of filing date: ]

Pakistan: Minister Says Govt To Form Jirga for Talks With S Waziristan Militants

SAP20080208099002 Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 08 Feb 08

[Unattributed report: "Govt to hold talks with militants: Hamid"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

ISLAMABAD: The government is to hold talks with Taliban militants after a "de facto" ceasefire in a troubled tribal area between rebels and security forces, officials said on Thursday.

A Taliban spokesman in South Waziristan tribal district said a day earlier that Baitullah Mehsud had ordered an indefinite truce in the region. "There is no announced ceasefire, there is a de facto ceasefire between militants and government troops. Both sides are currently holding the fire," Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said.

The minister said a Jirga "comprising representatives of the government and tribal elders will be formed to negotiate peace but I cannot give you any timeframe in this regard". He said however that negotiations were the only way to achieve peace in the troubled region. will have to involve tribal elders, influential people and government representatives in the process of forming the Jirga," Hamid said.

"There are so many things involved. If we look at the past, several peace agreements were signed with militants but they violated all of . "However, there is no doubt that negotiation is the only way to convince these people to give up arms."

"Talks between tribal elders and militants had been in progress for the past several days," a government official in the region told AFP on condition of anonymity. The peace effort was led Maulana Deendar, Malik Amir Mohammad from the Mehsud tribe of South Waziristan and Siraj Haqqani, son of Afghan militant commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, he said.

"Several rounds of talks were held in Razmak," he said. A senior NWFP official said the government always preferred talks over the use of force. "The government believes in negotiations and in the tribal areas it has always tried to resolve the disputes through dialogue. Military operations are used only as a last resort," he said.

"Directives have been issued to local authorities to keep the negotiations channel open through Jirgas and other informal contacts through tribal elders," he said. Word that the government was talking to the Taliban enraged the Pakistan People's Party. "The government is holding talks with the man blamed by it for the killing of Benazir Bhutto. We condemn it," PPP central information secretary Sherry Rehman said.

In Washington, the State Department signalled it would oppose any agreement that resembled the last truce. "I think everyone understands, including President Musharraf, that that agreement with tribal leaders did not in fact produce the results that everyone, including President Musharraf, had intended," deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters. "We want to see an agreement that is effective. The last agreement was not effective by President Musharraf's own admission."

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; root URL as of filing date: ]

Haqqani sons operating in Afghanistan's Khost Province, governor tells paper

IAP20080325950071 Kabul Anis (Companion) in Dari 23 Mar 08

Haqqani sons operating in Afghanistan's Khost Province, governor tells paper

Text of report, "Khost Governor Arsala Jamal: The terrorists do not have a base in Khost nor control even a village", by state-owned Afghan newspaper Anis on 23 March

Continuing our interviews of political, cultural and national personalities and government officials, our reporter has this time conducted an exclusive interview with Khost Governor Arsala Jamal on issues relating to security, reconstruction, health, education and conditions for women in Khost Province. The following is the text of the interview:

[Q] Mr Arsala Jamal, how do you assess the situation in Khost?

[A] The people of Khost have always had good relations with the government throughout history. The people of Khost have always cooperated with the government and defended it.

Khost Province has a 184-kilometre border with Waziristan and a 30- to 32-kilometre border with Miramshah [of Pakistan], centres for international terrorists. Most of the terrorists enter Afghanistan on foot and resort to suicide attacks and mine explosions. Despite the fact that suicide attacks and mine explosions occur in the province sometimes, I assess the security situation in Khost as positive.

[Q] Do the enemies have a base in Khost?

[A] If the enemies and the terrorists want to get control of a village, a valley or a district, or intend to set up a court in Khost Province, they could only be dreaming. They do not have any base in Khost, nor control even a village. I am not making a political remark, I am explicitly saying that there is no place for the terrorists in Khost. The people of Khost defend the rule of the government and their territory, and without their cooperation, not even 10,000 police could defend the province because of its location.

Haqqani

[Q] Please give information about the network of Jalaloddin Haqqani [jihad- and Taleban-era commander, who re-emerged, reportedly after seven years in hiding, on 22 March 2008, vowing in a statement to continue fighting foreign forces in Afghanistan]

[A] Jalaloddin Haqqani is sick and old, but his sons, Serajoddin Haqqani and Badrudin Haqqani, are operating in the area. As far as they are from Khost and Zadran areas, they are operating in Set-e Kandow and Khost.

[Q] Please give information about the reconstruction and renovation process in Khost Province?

[A] Nine roads were resurfaced in Khost Province in 1386 [solar year ending 21 March 2008]. All the district headquarters of Khost Province have buildings and 35 water dams were built there last year. In the past six years, 8m dollars were spent on Khost, but projects worth 46m dollars were implemented last year in the province. Another 62m dollars has been requested for the implementation of reconstruction projects in Khost Province in 1387. If 75 per cent of the requested money is given, the shape of the province will change and, based on the request of the people, a big hospital and religious school will be constructed in the province. The hospital will cost 9m dollars and the religious school 1.8m dollars.

Eighty-three new schools have been built there. Except in two districts, roads in all districts of Khost Province have been asphalted. We have three asphalted roads connecting Afghanistan with Pakistan in Gholam Khan, Babrak Tana and Haji Maidan areas. The asphalting process of one of these roads has been completed, and 75 per cent of the work on the two other roads has also been completed.

Talking about the condition of healthcare in the province, the governor said: The healthcare condition is satisfactory in the province. We have some problems in the remote areas, but the health clinics are operational in other parts of the province and the healthcare condition is better compared with other provinces. More than 60 per cent of our people have access to drinking water. Khost is among three leading provinces in this sector in Afghanistan.

Thirteen girls enrol for university

Touching on the condition of education and higher education in Khost, Arsala Jamal said: Khost University is well equipped and around 1,700 are currently attending it. Last year, two girls took the university entrance exam and 13 girls will be admitted to university in 1387. We hope the number of girls going to university will exceed 100 in the third year. A total of 167,000 students are attending schools of which 40,000 of them are girls and the rest are boys. All the schools are open, except one in Babraktana due to a tribal problem. The construction of 83 schools was begun in 1386 and its work goes well. It should unfortunately be said that girls make up 25 per cent of the school students, which is a small number.

The number of girl students should increase. I ask the people, the governments and the clerics to pay attention to the education of girls and encourage them to continue their education.

Trade depends on resurfacing of road

Talking about the revenue of the customs department, the governor said: The customs department does not have much revenue these days as our transit trade has been stopped. We hope that revenue will increase with the inauguration of the trade route. Our big problem is Set-e Kandow Road. If the Khost-Gardez road is resurfaced, our economic problem will be solved. The Khost customs department does not have uniform revenue. If there is no fighting in Miramshah, the revenue of the customs office will reach 24m to 40m afghanis [about half a million to about 0.8m dollars].

The best source of revenue in this province is chromate stone, which the Ministry of Mines has reached an agreement with a private company to process. With this, the annual revenue of Khost customs department will reach 6m dollars. Precious stones were illegally transferred from the province in the past and despite the agreement with the private company six months ago, smuggling of the stones still goes on. The company has recruited a number of people to tackle this.

[Description of Source: Kabul Anis (Companion) in Dari -- Eight-page state-run daily, providing news, reports, commentaries on domestic affairs mainly in Dari; established in 1927]

Afghan daily comments on links between Taleban commander Haqqani, Pakistan

IAP20080819950125 Kabul Arman-e Melli (National Aspiration) in Pashto 17 Aug 08

Afghan daily comments on links between Taleban commander Haqqani, Pakistan

Excerpt from article by Ahmad Nawid entitled: "Haqqani wants to remove Taleban leader Mullah Omar from scene" by private Afghan newspaper Arman-e Melli on 17 August

Pakistan is a country that has never had good-will towards our nation and country since its establishment. It has tried its utmost to support the groups opposing the Afghan government and give financial support, equipment and even terrorist training to them to destabilize Afghanistan and send them to our country to carry out terrorist activities. It conducts a baseless propaganda campaign against the Afghan government and senior officials through these puppets. One such person is Serajoddin Haqqani [as published], who has served the ISI of Pakistan throughout his life. He has actively contributed to the destruction of his country and people at the behest of this terrorist organization [ISI]. Mr Jalaloddin Haqqani has given an interview to NBC on the instructions of ISI. In his interview, he has said: "Some senior Afghan officials [generals] are assisting them in fighting American and NATO forces."

Dear compatriots, I would like to shed light on the previous activities of Mr Haqqani before making a judgment regarding his speech. Jalaloddin Haqqani was a prominent commander of Mawlawi Yunos Khales's party and was living in Khost Province. He had close relations with ISI of Pakistan before carrying out armed activities. Therefore, he took part in operations independently and separately from the party. He paved the way for arrival of senior ISI officials such as Col Mohammad Yusof and... [ellipses as published] [into Afghanistan]. Therefore, ISI offered more facilities to Haqqani than anyone else. He handed over whatever he obtained in the war in Afghanistan. This caused the ISI to establish contacts between Haqqani and Arab countries, so that he could obtain excessive support from them.

Therefore, Jalaloddin Haqqani started building terrorist centres for them in the border regions with the financial support from ISI and Arab countries. He stationed them in border regions of Afghanistan to destabilize Afghanistan and kill innocent people. As a result, ISI boosted the relations between Arab countries and Haqqani so much so that it finally resulted in his marriage with an Arab woman. He obtained excessive assistance from the Arab countries in the name of jihad. [Passage omitted: More on Haqqani's links with ISI]

Haqqani boosted his relations with the Taleban so much so that he took part in carrying out terrorist and military acts and taking decisions as their key member. Now he wants to remove from the scene the leader of the Taleban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, with the support of this organization [ISI] and assistance of Baitullah Mehsud.

Mr Haqqani has made baseless statements in his interview with NBC on the instructions of ISI. He has said that some military generals assisted them in carrying out the attack on Serena Hotel and on 8 Ghowayi [attack on ceremony commemorating mojahedin victory on 27 April 2008]. He has claimed responsibility for these attacks. The Pakistani government, particularly its ISI has taken an active part in destabilizing and deteriorating the security situation in Afghanistan for a long period of time. He wants to create an atmosphere of mistrust between senior Afghan officials to achieve his destructive goals by making such baseless statements. [Passage omitted: More on troubles, problems suffered by Afghans during the past three decades of war].

The Afghan nation now knows that Pakistan's government is involved in destabilizing our country. The Pakistani government and ISI are involved in the recent violence and problems. They do not want security and peace to be ensured in Afghanistan, so that they can achieve their destructive goals.

[Description of Source: Kabul Arman-e Melli (National Aspiration) in Pashto -- Four-page independent daily with broad coverage of domestic political issues, including interviews with political figures. Also carries international, science health issues, and readers' letters, some of which are critical of the government]

Suspected Taleban commander arrested in Afghan east

IAP20081103950068 Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News in English 1135 GMT 03 Nov 08

Suspected Taleban commander arrested in Afghan east

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Kabul: Security officials in Logar Province on Monday [3 November] informed arresting an alleged commander of militant group led by Mowlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani.

Nasir Ahmad, commander of a special campaign unit in Charkh District of Logar Province, told Pajhwok Afghan News they arrested the local commander he introduced as Mowlawi Mirwais in Garm-Aab area of the district last night.

The militant official was arrested during a raid on his house, he added, the arrested did not resist.

The arrested was a resident of the area and was currently in custody with NATO-led forces in this province.

He termed Mirwais as important commander of Mowlawi Haqqani wing, who was busy in anti-government activities in the area since last three years.

Security organs in the province were trying to arrest the rebel commander since long ago and finally they succeeded last night, he added.

The commander was involved in setting ablaze Charkh District building, he blamed.

However Brig-Gen Gholam Mustafa Muhsini, police chief of the province, expressed unawareness about the incident; meanwhile there is no comment from the Taleban militants on the recent episode.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News in English Independent Afghan news agency]

Taliban Release Video Of German Who Targeted US Afghan Base

GMP20080320950038 Riyadh SPA (Internet Version-WWW) in English 1505 GMT 20 Mar 08

[Computer selected and disseminated without OSC Editorial intervention]

Islamabad, March 20 , SPA -- The Taliban have released a videotape of the last statement by a German of Turkish origin who carried out a suicide bomb attack earlier this month on a US post in eastern Afghanistan, a Pakistan press report said Thursday, according to dpa. German-born Cuneyt Ciftci, also known as Saad Abu Furkan, blew himself up in a delivery truck near a US base in the Sabari district of Khost province on March 3, killing two soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and two Afghan workers. Six others were wounded. The videotape, issued in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, also contains images of the scene of the attack, the daily News reported. "Three of our cameramen filmed the attack when it was taking place from three sides," Taliban sources told the English-language newspaper The News' Peshawar bureau chief, Rahimullah Yousafzai. In the videotape Ciftci, 28, said his attack was a sacrifice for Islam. "I am giving away my life for the glory of Islam," Ciftci was cited by Yousafzai, who watched the video, as saying. Some parts of his statement were in German, he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. Ciftic also made appeal to other Muslims to join him in jihad against the infidels. "Time has arrived to give sacrifices for Islam. Since we lack resources to fight the enemy (Western powers), we will have to turn our bodies into bombs. We will have to sacrifice our lives," he said. The reports of Ciftci's involvement in the Khost bombing first came up last week in the German press, including Der Spiegel, Focus and Bild. He had lived near Ansbach in the southern German state of Bavaria with a wife and two children and had been under observation by the security services for some time, according to those reports. Ciftci, the first German Islamist who carried out a suicide bombing in Afghanistan, is believed to have had links with Islamist terrorist cell broken up last September 5 in Germany. The plotters, who included two German converts to Islam and a Turkish Muslim, had allegedly been planning large bomb attacks on U.S. facilities in Germany. All have been linked to the Uzbek terrorist group Islamic Jihad Union. The videotape released in Peshawar also includes a message of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, one of the most wanted commanders in Afghanistan. Haqqani praised the Khost suicide bombing and eulogized the services of Taliban and other mujahidin who laid down their lives for the cause of Islam and Afghanistan, the report said. dpa ns me tl ds 201319 GMT Mrz 08

[Description of Source: Riyadh SPA (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- official news agency of the Saudi Government; URL: ]

Afghanistan: Taliban Leader Vows 'Renewed Campaign' Against US, NATO 'Invaders'

GMP20080322648003 Doha Al in English 22 Mar 08

[Unattributed report: "Taliban leader vows renewed attacks"]

A Taliban commander who has been in hiding for seven years has broken his silence in a video given to TV networks.

Jalaluddin Haqqani, appearing frail but defiant in the video aired on Al Jazeera on Saturday, vowed a renewed campaign in Afghanistan against US and Nato "invaders".

The video shows more than one attack, including what is believed to be a Taliban suicide bombing of an American compound in Afghanistan, alongside a taped message by Haqqani.

"It was our tactical plan to fade away and prepare for a guerrilla war."

He added: "We will defeat [George] Bush [the US president] and continue our jihad until doomsday."

Seven-year silence

Because he remained silent for seven years, many had assumed Haqqani was dead and rumours to that effect had circulated in the international media.

Haqqani is the head of the Taliban in south eastern Afghanistan, along the border area with Pakistan's North and South Waziristan.

Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Pakistan, said the video had prompted serious concern among Pakistani authorities, seen as allies to Washington in its fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

"This is a senior Taliban commander, in the past seven-and-a-half years nobody has seen him, now he's promising an intensified campaign that is likely to have its effects on the Pakistani tribal areas [the Waziristan region]," said Hyder.

Military "brains"

Haqqani is one of the most well known Taliban leaders and is believed to be the brains behind the the group's current attacks on US and coalition forces in Afghanistan.

"He is very well respected in his home province of Paktia [in Afghanistan]. In fact, Haqqani was the man who started the campaign after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan," said Hyder.

Haqqani's three sons are known to help lead his network of fighters, including Taliban and foreign fighters associated with al-Qaeda.

The group has claimed responsibility for several attacks in the past, including one on a luxury hotel in Kabul, the Afghan capital, in January which killed seven people.

[Description of Source: Doha Al in English -- Website of the Al Jazeera English TV, international English-language news service of Al-Jazirah, independent television station financed by the Qatari Government; URL: ]

Asia Times: 'New Pakistan Leaders Target Militants'

CPP20080326721002 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1041 GMT 25 Mar 08

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad : "New Pakistan Leaders Target Militants "; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - With Pakistan's democratically elected government now installed and Yousuf Raza Gillani sworn in as the new prime minister, the administration can get down to one of the main businesses of the day: dealing with militancy.

There has been much talk of a public backlash against the military operations orchestrated by President Pervez Musharraf against militants in the tribal areas and that the new government will seek to reverse the policies he adopted in the "war on terror" during his eight years as a military ruler.

However, Asia Times Online investigations reveal that the ruling coalition, dominated by assassinated former opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) of Nawaz Sharif, will attempt, through dialogue, to split the militants so that the Taliban and al-Qaeda will be exposed, much as has happened with the Sunni-dominated Awakening Councils that have turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq.

This decision comes at an important time. The Taliban have opened up a new front in Khyber Agency in Pakistan, as predicted by Asia Times Online last week . On Sunday, about 36 oil tankers that supply fuel to United States-led forces in neighboring Afghanistan were blown up in Khyber Agency. At least 70 people were injured. On Tuesday, US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte began talks in Pakistan to discuss, among other issues, the new government's role against militants.

Asia Times Online contacts maintain the government will stick to a script agreed with Washington before February's elections that all efforts will be made to bring public support behind the "war on terror" and more military operations against militants.

"Everything will remain the same. The only difference is that politicians will do their job and the military will do its job. Nobody will try to overlap with another," said a contact who is a close aide of the PPP's co-chairman, Asif Zardari, and who is also close to Washington.

The main role will be played by the Pashtun sub-nationalist Awami National Party (ANP), which leads the ruling coalition in North-West Frontier Province. The ANP has already scheduled tribal jirgas (councils) aimed to demilitarize the tribal areas and separate local tribals from radical jihadis, whether they be local or foreign.

Indeed, the anti-Taliban networking has already resulted in several al-Qaeda and Taliban targets being hit. And importantly, leading Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is on a "most wanted" list in Afghanistan, have left the North Waziristan tribal area for a safer district.

Government at work, eyes on Sharif

Apart from dealing with militancy, the new government has already tackled some sensitive issues.

On Monday, dozens of judges detained under emergency rule were released on the orders of Gillani, including former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. The judges were sacked last November by Musharraf shortly before the Supreme Court was to adjudicate on whether his re-election as president was legal.

The government is now expected to seek the release of insurgents from Balochistan province.

Former premier Sharif is said to be a conservative and he has already opened up dialogue with militants. He is using several channels, one being Javaid Ibrahim Paracha, a former member of Parliament from Sharif's PML who openly provided shelter for Arabs who had fled from Afghanistan into Pakistan after the US-led invasion there in 2001.

According to sources close to Sharif, the dialogue is aimed at stopping the militants from attacking Pakistani cities. But this does not mean that Nawaz is soft on the militancy. Rather, the sources say, Sharif's aim is to isolate the al-Qaeda leadership to get it arrested.

For the militants, the battle continues. "We will continue to choke all the supply lines to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) forces that go through Khyber Agenc y. At the same time, we will also cut off food supplies that go over land routes. If this is successful for a few months, it will be more devastating than a spring offensive," commented a top Pakistani al-Qaeda leader from the tribal headquarters of Miranshah in North Waziristan.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Germany: Video of German Suicide Bomber Documents 'Final Minutes' of His Life

EUP20080327085014 Hamburg Spiegel Online in English 27 Mar 08

[Report by Matthias Gebauer in Kabul: "The Smiling Suicide Bomber" For assistance with multimedia elements, contact OSC at 1-800-205-8615 or oscinfo@rccb.]

Cuneyt Ciftci, a young man from Bavaria, blew himself up outside a government building in Afghanistan, killing two US soldiers and two Afghanis. SPIEGEL ONLINE has obtained a video documenting the final minutes in the life of the first German-born suicide bomber.

It's the perpetual grin that is most disturbing. The young man looks directly into the camera. He seems cheerful in his small cap and white shalwar kameez, the traditional Afghan dress. He smiles as he hoists the heavy bags of chemicals on to his shoulders. Grinning, he points skyward to Allah.

His permanent smile comes despite his knowledge -- or perhaps precisely because of it -- that he will soon die. It's impossible to hear what he is saying. Flowery suras from the Koran are dubbed over his voice. "How lucky you are, that death brings you the sunrise," sings a man's voice. "That you go to the front, that you burn in the name of Islam." Then the young man says goodbye to his companions. Before he drives off, he kneels down in the dust and prays one last time.

The man is the 28-year-old German-born Turkish citizen Cuneyt Ciftci, who was born in the Bavarian town of Freising. Until April 2, 2007 he lived together with his family in Ansbach. The images come from a 45-minute DVD which SPIEGEL ONLINE obtained this week in Afghanistan from the media wing of the Taliban. SPIEGEL ONLINE was first offered the film, "Source of the Jihad," in Pakistan. A middleman with contacts to the Taliban wanted to sell it for a five-figure US dollar sum.

The actual makers of the video, however, were not interested in money. All they wanted was the price of a courier to Kabul. The only important thing was the message, namely that Cuneyt Ciftci blew himself up on March 3 in front of the Sabari District Center in the eastern Afghanistan province of Khost. And that it was a jihadi from Germany who claimed the lives of the 23-year-old US soldier Stephen Koch, his 22-year-old comrade Robert Rapp and two Afghans.

The filmmakers recorded the attack. They positioned themselves with two cameras around the District Center and waited for the blue Toyota Dyna light truck with Ciftci at the wheel. Calmly, without the wild zooms and wobbles common to terrorist videos, they waited for the big bang. When the huge cloud of smoke finally rose and the explosion was heard, they yelled: "Allahu Akbar -- God is great!"

Anyone who views the pictures can see why the bombers could not yet be identified from their body parts or DNA. The explosion was enormous. The editors of the Web site of the radical Islamist group Islamic Jihad Union, who first reported the suicide attack on March 6, bragged about 4.5 tons of explosives. That amount seems excessive. Nevertheless, the video images show that the US military actually escaped relatively lightly. The mushroom cloud from the explosion rose a good 80 meters into the sky.

But the Taliban's propaganda experts weren't just interested in the March 3 explosion in Khost. The three days immediately prior to the attack were documented as well. In one scene, a painstakingly accurate sketch of the American building to be targeted lies on the floor. Huddled around it are a number of men whispering inaudibly, their faces turned away from the camera. A line was drawn indicating the route to be taken by the truck bomb -- a perfectly planned act of terror.

Later, one sees the white sacks of chemicals used to manufacture the bomb, along with a trigger mechanism, including a long black cable that comes to an end right next to the driver's seat. And once again, there is an image of Ciftci smiling into the camera, this time sitting behind the wheel of the truck. Just a short time later, he would push the button -- and, at four minutes past four on that Monday afternoon, the target would lie in ruins.

The images show the last mission of an Islamist from the German state of Bavaria -- the end of a journey which took him from the quiet village of Ansbach to the front in Afghanistan. Cuneyt Ciftci found his way into Islamist circles in Germany via mosques in both Bavaria and the Baden-Wurttemberg town of Ulm before joining the jihad with the Taliban. Now, the smiling jihadi has become a recent entry into the eternal list of martyrs.

But the video is more than just a flowery farewell. It appears that the Taliban deliberately hand-picked the Turkish youth from Germany to appear in a recruiting video. Terrorist investigators already suspect that Ciftci was intended to be an example for a new generation of jihadis.

Although a number of Islamist terror plots have been hatched in Germany -- the most famous of which being the 9/11 attacks, which were partly planned by a terror cell led by Mohamed Atta in Hamburg -- Ciftci is the first suicide bomber to have been born and raised in Germany. That fact is making German security and intelligence authorities very worried. The DVD shows exactly what young radical Islamists, of which hundreds are known in Germany, can become within a short period of time.

Ciftci was already under suspicion due to his contacts to the Sauerland terror cell, whose three members were arrested in September 2007. He tried again and again to get German papers, something the police found suspicious. When the authorities asked him to come in for questioning in early April 2007, he feared he would be arrested and took off with his family. It was presumably Adem Y., also a member of the Sauerland cell, who told him at the time how to travel through Syria and Iran to Pakistan, where his destination was an Islamic Jihad Union terror camp.

From Pakistan, Ciftci must have at some point made it to the Taliban in Afghanistan. The propaganda DVD also features a recent speech by the Taliban legend Jalaluddin Haqqani. For years, it was unclear what had happened to Haqqani, a top Taliban commander.

The video marks something of a comeback for him. "With God's help, the United States will leave Afghanistan with their heads hung in shame," a confident Haqqani announces. He leaves no doubt as to the determination of jihadis like Ciftci. "One should not hurry in war," he says. "We have a lot of patience."

It appears that the Taliban deliberately hand-picked the Turkish youth from Germany to appear in a recruiting video. Terrorist investigators suspect that Ciftci was intended to be an example for a new generation of jihadis.

[Description of Source: Hamburg Spiegel Online in English -- news web site funded by the Spiegel group which funds Der Spiegel weekly and the Spiegel television magazine; URL: spiegel.de: ]

Investigators See 'German Jihadists' as Acting Under Direct Orders From Taliban

EUP20080406036001 Hamburg Der Spiegel (Internet Version-WWW) in German 07 Apr 08

[Unattributed report: "German Jihadists Under Taliban's Direction]

Security officials assume that German jihadists -- such as the 20-year-old Neunkirchen convert Eric B., who has appeared on wanted posters in Afghanistan since last week -- are operating under direct instructions from high-ranking Taliban and Al-Qa'ida figures. This is also evidenced by an analysis of the terrorist video showing 28-year-old Cuneyt Ciftci of Ansbach, Bavaria, as he apparently prepared for the suicide bomb attack carried out on 3 March in the Sabari district of Afghanistan's Khost province, in which two US soldiers and two Afghans were killed. Not only does Ciftci extol his plan ("Inshallah, may my creator elevate our religion through our hands and bring torment to the enemies") in the 45-minute propaganda video; for the first time in quite a while, high-ranking Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, who was believed dead, also makes an appearance, expressly praising the assassin and his attack. Haqqani was a minister under the Taliban before its chief Mullah Omar appointed him leading military commander in 2004. The video confirms close contacts between the Taliban and the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), according to the Federal Criminal Police Office [BKU]. Like Ciftci, Eric B., alias "Abdul Rafar," and Houssain al-M., both of who are now on the wanted list in Afghanistan, had contacts with what is known as the Sauerland cell of the IJU.

[Description of Source: Hamburg Der Spiegel (Internet Version-WWW) in German -- major independent news weekly; leans left of center]

Asia Times: 'Taliban Welcome Back An Old Friend'

CPP20080406721001 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 0307 GMT 05 Apr 08

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad : "Taliban Welcome Back An Old Friend "; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - Like a voice from the grave, legendary Afghan mujahideen leader Jalaluddin Haqqani has emerged from years of silence to boldly launch the Taliban-led spring offensive in Afghanistan, at the same time burying any doubts of a split between his coalition of resistance groups and Mullah Omar's Taliban.

In a video message released last week and which is only now coming into wider circulation, Haqqani, speaking in his trademark low-pitched voice and with his hair dyed red with henna, called on the people of Afghanistan "to stand up against the US-led forces in Afghanistan and drive them out".

The release of the message by Haqqani, who has a bounty on his head as one of the US's most-wanted men, coincides with an important North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) meeting in Bucharest, Romania, this weekend at which the divided alliance will try to hammer out a more coherent strategy in the war in Afghanistan which many analysts believe it is losing.

As Haqqani speaks on the video, he is accompanied by a background song which pledges his allegiance to Mullah Omar, laying to rest any doubts that he has set himself up as a rival to the mainstream Taliban.

Along with his son Sirajuddin, Jalaluddin Haqqani has built up a well-organized group, known as the Haqqani Network, with roots in Pakistan's tribal areas, that, now firmly allied with Mullah Omar, will pose a dangerous challenge to the coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Haqqani soundly dismissed any notion - as touted by senior NATO officials - that the Taliban were weakened and might forego their spring offensive. "All 37 allies (in NATO) will be humiliated and driven out of Afghanistan - jihad is compulsory and will continue until the end of time; we are without resources, but we have the support of God."

Haqqani said the Taliban and their allies in Afghanistan had come up with new plans to fight against NATO, but these did not have any room for reconciliation. "We are geared for war," Haqqani stated.

"(President George W) Bush and his allies have decided to kill us or arrest us - they consider us as weak and think of themselves as all powerful. They think we have no place left in the world to survive - they think we are destined either to die or to be captured... they think they are wealthy nations, with their money and with half of the world behind them.

"They think they can enslave poor Afghans - bomb us with their planes and gunship helicopters - they think they have everything and we are voiceless - the media are with them and they belittle our resistance. We kill 80 and they report two or one. I promise the Afghan nation that soon we will be victorious," said Haqqani.

The long speech by the Pashtun leader, who made his name fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s and remains the most-respected tribal figure in southeastern Afghanistan, is the most sophisticated yet of the Taliban's presentations to Pashtun people.

Copies of Haqqani's speech have spread all over eastern Afghanistan and are available in various formats, including on cassette tape and through cell phone downloads. After being silent for so long, and having been reported dead on numerous occasions, the impact of people listening to Haqqani is immense and will undoubtedly work as a galvanizing force among Pashtuns.

This especially as NATO has in recent months worked hard to portray the Taliban as a spent force consisting of a bunch of naive young lads with no credible leader left.

"They projected the rumor that Jalaluddin Haqqani had died in Dubai (in the United Arab Emirates). I am neither a shopkeeper nor a trader that I would travel to Dubai. Neither am I a politician who roams all around the world... the Americans thought that with their developed technology they could plant the news of my death in the media. But now the media are realizing their lies to demoralize the mujahideen," Haqqani said.

A graphic part of Haqqani's video shows a suicide operation carried out by a Turk-German n amed Cuneyt Ciftci, also known as Saad Abu Furkan. He is seen in the video blowing himself up in a delivery truck near a US base in the Sabari district of Khost province in Afghanistan on March 3. According to Western press reports, two soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and two Afghan workers were killed and six others wounded. But the video claims the killing of 63 people.

The Taliban's new battle

The inclusion in the video of this suicide attack - one of dozens that has taken place in the country in recent years - is important as it shows an unprecedented level of planning and organization not normally associated with the Taliban.

Footage shows a professionally drawn map, like an architect's, of a compound of the Sabari district headquarters. There is detail of the boundary walls, the protective inner walls, entry points, rooms, backyard and front portions of the newly built structure. Clearly the Taliban had contacts among the laborers or contractors. There are pictures of Taliban guerrillas sitting around the map discussing their plan to launch the suicide bomber in an explosive-laden vehicle.

This is a far cry from usual grainy Afghan videos of ambushes on military convoys in the mountains. Haqqani's video is reminiscent of those made by the Iraqi resistance in 2004-05, when operations were meticulously planned by former officers of Saddam Hussein's army and executed with precision.

In the many years since being ousted in 2001, the Taliban have had numerous ups and downs, from the successful spring offensive of 2006 to the failed mass uprising of 2007. Now, the Taliban have adopted a policy of preserving their strength by only hitting specific targets, rather than waste their resources in multiple direct confrontations with NATO forces.

The Taliban have also opened up a new front based in Khyber Agency in Pakistan just across the border from Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, as NATO has beefed up its presence in the traditional Taliban strongholds of Paktia, Paktika, Khost and Kunar provinces.

Last week, NATO announced the opening of an intelligence center near the Torkham border post, at the crossroad of Khyber Agency and Nangarhar province. But it was not able to thwart the biggest-ever guerrilla operation against a US base in the province a few days later. More than 200 Taliban participated in an overnight hit-and-run operation. Taliban sources claimed the killing of 70 US soldiers, but there was no confirmation of that figure from NATO or any other independent source.

According to the video, the Taliban will use as much foreign expertise as possible, as well as tapping into tribal elders and their supporters. This means that mainstream Taliban commanders like Mullah Beradar from southwestern Afghanistan and commanders who are allied with the Taliban but who keep their own identities, like Anwarul Haq Mujahahid from Nangarhar and Uzbek and Arab commanders, will join hands for a coherent overall strategy. This of course includes Haqqani and his considerable following.

A relatively new string in the Taliban's bow is the reliance on thousands of Pakistani and other jihadis put out of "work" since the struggle in Kashmir de-escalated. They are well trained, and as they did in Indian-administered Kashmir and other parts of India, they can be expected to target key infrastructure and high-profile targets, such as government buildings.

This year's suicide attack by the Haqqani Network on the Serina Hotel in Kabul, in which several people, including foreigners, were killed, and the attack in Khost on March 3 shown in the video, indicate one key direction in which the Taliban-led insurgency is headed.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

German Islamists Suspected of Planning Attack in Afghanistan

FEA20080407616314 - OSC Feature - Spiegel Online 04 Apr 08

[Report by Matthias Gebauer: "German Islamists Suspected of Planning Attack in Afghanistan"]

Security officials assume that German jihadists -- such as the 20-year-old Neunkirchen convert Eric B., who has appeared on wanted posters in Afghanistan since last week -- are operating under direct instructions from high-ranking Taliban and Al-Qa'ida figures. This is also evidenced by an analysis of the terrorist video showing 28-year-old Cuneyt Ciftci of Ansbach, Bavaria, as he apparently prepared for the suicide bomb attack carried out on 3 March in the Sabari district of Afghanistan's Khost province, in which two US soldiers and two Afghans were killed. Not only does Ciftci extol his plan ("Inshallah, may my creator elevate our religion through our hands and bring torment to the enemies") in the 45-minute propaganda video; for the first time in quite a while, high-ranking Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, who was believed dead, also makes an appearance, expressly praising the assassin and his attack. Haqqani was a minister under the Taliban before its chief Mullah Omar appointed him leading military commander in 2004. The video confirms close contacts between the Taliban and the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), according to the Federal Criminal Police Office [BKU]. Like Ciftci, Eric B., alias "Abdul Rafar," and Houssain al-M., both of who are now on the wanted list in Afghanistan, had contacts with what is known as the Sauerland cell of the IJU. (Spiegel Online, 7 Apr)

Two Islamic extremists from Germany may be planning attacks against targets in Afghanistan, investigators have warned. The men, who share connections to the Sauerland terror cell and suicide bomber Cüneyt Ciftci, are thought to have trained at terror camps in Pakistan.

Two German Islamists may be planning a terrorist attack in Afghanistan, German investigators are warning.

The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) on April 1 notified leaders of the Bundeswehr, Germany's military, as well as the United Nations and potential targets -- including a five-star hotel in Kabul -- that two men from Germany with known ties to terrorist groups could be planning a bomb attack against Germans in Afghanistan.

The men are identified as Eric B., a 20-year-old German Muslim convert, and Houssain al-M., a 24-year-old Lebanese native who holds a German passport.

Federal investigators connect the men to the Sauerland terror cell, a group of three would-be terrorists arrested in Germany last September. Investigators believe that the cell, comprised of two German converts to Islam and one Turkish national, was plotting a major attack on US military bases in Germany.

The Sauerland group and the two men named by German authorities this week also share connections to the Islamic Jihad Union, a terrorist organization that runs a training camp in northern Pakistan. Investigators believe all five men trained at the camp.

The terrorist group also claims to have trained Cüneyt Ciftci, a German-born Turkish citizen who is believed to have become the first German-born suicide bomber last month when he detonated a truck bomb in front of a government building in Afghanistan's Khost region, killing two US soldiers.

Officials within the BKA told SPIEGEL ONLINE that investigators kept an eye on Eric B. and Houssain al-M.'s movements after they left Germany last fall. The two men's first stop was Cairo, where they visited a radical Islamic cleric with ties to Germany.

At the end of November they proceeded to Dubai, then on to Tehran. Investigators lost track of them in early December, but they are believed to have crossed the border from Iran into Waziristan, a north-western Pakistani province where the Islamic Jihad Union has several training camps.

Houssain al-M. attempted the same crossing last summer with a member of the Sauerland terror cell. However both men were arrested by Pakistani secret service agents.

A German intelligence official told SPIEGEL ONLINE that the men were detained for days and interrogated by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency before being deported to Germany. The official suggested that al-M.'s interrogation could have "heightened his intention to take part in the holy war." Fearing that he would be monitored or apprehended by authorities in Germany, the official explained, al-M. quickly planned his return to Pakistan.

The current whereabouts of Eric B. and Houssain al-M. are unknown, but German authorities hope that their public alert may prompt the men to abandon any planned attacks.

"When they see their pictures everywhere and realize that we and the Afghan authorities are looking for them, maybe they will give up the worst of their plans because it is too dangerous," the official told SPIEGEL ONLINE.

[Description of Source: Hamburg Spiegel Online in English -- news web site funded by the Spiegel group which funds Der Spiegel weekly and the Spiegel television magazine; URL: spiegel.de: ]

[This item was originally filed as EUP20080404086004]

AFP: Military Says Afghan, US-Led Troops Detain Rebel Commander, Five Militants

JPP20080414969031 Hong Kong AFP in English 0645 GMT 14 Apr 08

KABUL, April 14, 2008 (AFP) -- Afghan and US-led troops have detained six militants including a commander "directly" involved in the preparation of suicide attacks in eastern Afghanistan, the coalition military said Monday.

Mohammad Ghanam and five other militants were captured during a raid by Afghan and US-led troops in the eastern province of Khost on Friday, the force said in a statement.

"Mohammad Ghanam, 33, was one of two militants who were the focus of the operation. He was directly involved in the preparation of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (IEDs)," it said.

The militant leader "has conducted attacks against coalition bases throughout Afghanistan," it added, without providing details of the attacks.

Ghanam was part of the Haqqani network, the statement said, referring to a group headed by key Taliban-linked militant leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani, part of an insurgency against government and foreign forces in eastern Afghanistan.

Bomb-filled jackets and other ammunition were also found in the compounds where the men were caught, the statement said, adding that troops destroyed the weapons at the site.

Khost, a restive region on the Pakistani border, has experienced increased suicide bombings in recent months, including a March 3 car bombing that rammed a joint Afghan and US base, killing two US troops and two Afghan workers.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack. The hardline movement, ousted from power in a US-led invasion at the end of 2001, are waging a growing insurgency and violence has spiked since early 2007.

More than 8,000 people, including 1,500 civilians and nearly 220 foreign troops, were slain in the conflict last year, according to a UN report.

More than 70,000 international troops are in Afghanistan to fight the insurgency and help the war-torn country rebuild.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Asia Times: 'The Taliban Talk the Talk'

CPP20080410721010 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1029 GMT 10 Apr 08

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad : "The Taliban Talk the Talk "; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - With the destruction of a bridge on the Indus Highway in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) region of Darra Adamkhel last weekend, the Taliban have taken another step towards choking the supplies that flood through Pakistan to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mission in Afghanistan.

At the same time, the Taliban believe an agreement Russia concluded with NATO at its summit last week will not alleviate the situation. Moscow agreed to the transit of food and non-military cargo and "some types of non-lethal military equipment" across Russia to Afghanistan. NATO is acutely aware that the 70% of its supplies that enter Afghanistan through Pakistan are in jeopardy with the Taliban's new focus on cutting transit routes.

These developments take place as the Taliban-led battle in Afghanistan is about to enter a new phase; for the first time since their ouster in 2001, the Taliban will scale back their tribal guerrilla warfare and concentrate on tactics used by the legendary Vietnamese commander General Vo Nguyen Giap, an approach that has already proved successful in taming the Pakistani military in the tribal areas.

"For the first time, the Taliban will have a well-coordinated strategy under which we will seize isolated military posts for a limited time, taking enemy combatants hostage, and then leaving them," "Dr Jarrah", a Taliban media spokesman, told Asia Times Online in a telephone conversation from Kunar province in Afghanistan.

"This is the second tier of General Giap's guerrilla strategy. The third tier is a conventional face-to-face war. This aims to demoralize the enemy," Jarrah explained. "We have been delayed by rainfall, but you shall see action by mid-April."

Jarrah claimed the Taliban have already launched some attacks over the past few weeks in Nooristan province, killing several American soldiers. Jarrah said retaliatory bombing only resulted in civilian casualties.

The Taliban and al-Qaeda used these tactics against the Pakistani military in the South Waziristan tribal area during 2007. This involved targeting remote military posts and forts and other installations on the fringes of towns such as Bannu. The Taliban would occupy the positions for only a few hours, long enough for them to take scores of soldiers as hostages. These would then be swapped with Taliban prisoners or used as bargaining chips for ceasefires and other demands.

The Taliban's new focus is the brainchild of several retired Pakistani military officers who are now part of the Taliban movement. They are complemented by men trained by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence's India cell to fuel the insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir.

These "neo-Taliban" have changed the face and dynamics of the Afghan insurgency. They are particularly careful not to blindly waste manpower, as in the past. During 2008, the main center of Taliban activity will be eastern Afghanistan.

"Almost 90% of the men have been launched for this spring," a Pakistani Taliban told Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity. He is known for his professional military skills and strategic planning.

"About 10,000 fresh men have joined hands with us. Of these, half of them have been trained and launched, along with the old lot, while the other half (5,000) are getting training and will be launched in the next phase," the man said.

He continued, "Chopping off NATO's supply lines from Pakistan is the prelude of our operations and, believe me, the NATO deal with Russia for an alternative supply line is useless. To me, this is a fallacy or a political slogan to pressurize the strategically illiterate Pakistani leadership that NATO can do without Pakistan."

The strategic expert pointed out that the transit agreement was signed between Afghanistan and Pakistan because historically NWFP has always been the lifeline for southeastern Afghanistan, and nothing has changed this status. Iran is the second choice, but it is not willing to allow its territory to be used to support NATO.

Maintaining military supplies to Afghanistan this year will be a great challenge for the US, which is why Richard Boucher, the top US official for South Asia, and US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte were in Pakistan's Khyber Agency recently to try to get tribal elders on side. But because of the Taliban's threats, only three elders turned up for secret meetings.

A load of 'nonsense'

Brigadier General Carlos Branco, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, is skeptical of the Taliban's claims, calling them unrealistic and no more than propaganda.

"Every year they claim a spring offensive. What offensive are they talking about? Blowing up cell phone towers in Helmand and Kandahar (provinces) or blowing up power stations in Ghazni? This is not an offensive," Branco told Asia Times Online in a telephone interview from Kabul.

"You know much better than me this (cutting supply lines) is not true. We rely on various means of transportation; besides, we do have a lot of supplementary stocks with us. Therefore, a few attacks will never have any effect. We do have sea problems (Afghanistan is landlocked) but this claim of completely chopping off our supply lines has no base in reality. I completely deny their claim," Branco said.

Commenting on the Taliban's new strategy, Branco dismissed it as old wine in new bottles.

"The Taliban haven't had a new strategy in the past, neither will they have one in the future. They will do what they did in 2007. They avoided any confrontation with NATO or the Afghan National Army and instead they attacked district headquarters and claimed they had captured the whole district. But before the arrival of our troops, they left.

"They did indeed attack some of our forward operation bases, but their attacks were ineffective as they lack the military capability... it makes me laugh when they try to compare their guerrilla strategy with that of General Giap's," said Branco.

"This is really nonsense. General Giap used coordinated guerrilla attacks and employing conventional tactics with a range of weaponry. The Taliban's tactics are useless. The tried to use those tactics in 2006 and suffered heavy losses. I don't think they will be able to repeat those tactics. They are not able to confront us on open ground, not even at the platoon level," Branco said.

Similarly, a United Nations representative who spoke to Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity said the tide had changed against the Taliban. He said this had been brought about by the National Solidarity Program - a rural development initiative - and with a more visible and effective presence of the army and police, especially in Paktia and Kandahar provinces.

He said governance is improving after some "inspired appointments" and that international organizations like the UN are gaining improved access in almost all areas.

Other observers, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), see the situation differently. The ICRC said in a press release from Kabul dated April 8: The president of the ICRC, Jakob Kellenberger, is in Afghanistan for a seven-day visit to get a first-hand look at the situation in the country. "We are extremely concerned about the worsening humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. There is growing insecurity and a clear intensification of the armed conflict, which is no longer limited to the south but has spread to the east and west," said Mr Kellenberger.

"Intensification of the conflict has forced a growing number of people from their homes. While the ICRC has stepped up its humanitarian activities in recent years, dangerous conditions often prevent it from reaching groups such as displaced persons who need protection and assistance. The harsh reality is that in large parts of Afghanistan, little development is taking place. Instead, the conflict is forcing more and more people to flee their homes. Their growing humanitarian needs and those of other vulnerable people must be met as a matter of urgency. The Afghan people deserve to live in a secure environment and have access to decent health care, safe drinking water and adequate food supplies," added Mr Kellenberger. These are different views from different perspectives. The Taliban, NATO, the United Nations and humanitarian organizations, they each have their own agenda. Ultimately what matters is what happens on the battle field.

A new generation of neo-Taliban has emerged under Sirajuddin Haqqani (son of veteran mujahid Jalaluddin Haqqani). They are ideologically more radical than their elders, but much more strategically attuned, having proved themselves in Indian-administered Kashmir against Indian forces a few years ago and against the Pakistani military.

Now they have to prove their claim that the summer of 2008 will be a hot one in Afghanistan.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Asia Times: 'Brains, Not Brawn, in Afghanistan'

CPP20080428721009 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1025 GMT 28 Apr 08

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad : "Brains, Not Brawn, in Afghanistan "; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - Sunday's brazen attack on a military parade in the Afghan capital Kabul at which President Hamid Karzai was officiating marks the beginning of a new phase in the Afghan insurgency in which attrition will be the focus.

Taliban fighters armed with machine guns and grenade launchers sent salvos into the back of the stage on which Karzai was seated with a host of Afghan and foreign dignitaries gathered to mark the 16th anniversary of the fall of the last communist government.

Three Afghans and three Taliban were killed. Sunday's event was also aimed at showcasing the Afghan army's new training and equipment, mainly from the United States. It had been planned for weeks and security was at maximum levels, yet the Taliban came within 500 meters of the stage.

Sunday's attackers penetrated no fewer than 18 security rings around the parade's venue and they used their latest weaponry - small mortars that are only manufactured by a few Western countries, including Israel. In Al-Qaeda adds muscle to the Taliban's fight (Asia Times Online, April 19, 2008) it was reported how the Taliban will use specialized weapons to launch precision attacks on high-profile targets.

Asia Times Online contacts say the armed men belonged to legendary Afghan mujahid Jalaluddin Haqqani's network and were facilitated by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami network in Kabul. Hekmatyar is an Afghan warlord and politician par excellence.

Ironically, Sunday's parade celebrated the victory of the mujahideen over the communists, which in turn led to several years of the country's worst-ever factional fighting until the student militia - the Taliban movement - seized power in 1996 and kicked out all the mujahideen leaders from governance.

The parade was attended by senior North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and United Nations officials, tribal leaders, diplomats and parliamentarians and was the most high-profile assault by anti-Western coalition militants since the suicide attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul on January 14.

The incident serves as a sharp reminder to people in the capital that the Taliban are not a spent force, as senior US commanders in Afghanistan like to relate.

Last week, Karzai criticized US-led coalition forces for their conduct in the "war on terror" in Afghan villages, alleging the real terrorist threat lay in the sanctuaries of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Pakistan, not in Afghanistan.

These differences highlight the complex nature of the struggle in Afghanistan, and the constant changes both sides make as they try to exploit and bleed each other's weak spots.

The Taliban, for instance, have forgone their traditional direct-confrontation offensives against NATO's powerful war machine, while NATO is becoming less reliant on indiscriminate large-scale aerial bombing.

The Taliban tried to chop off NATO's supply lines through Khyber Agency in Pakistan, and this time NATO responded with intelligence rather than bullets, managing to get the Taliban's key patron in the agency to change sides. (See Taliban bitten by a snake in the grass Asia Times Online, April 26, 2008.)

Lessons of the battle of Nuristan

This month, US-led troops and Afghan security forces, backed by air power, reported they had killed a "significant" number of militants in a fight in the northeast province of Nuristan.

Initial reports said the attack involved Hekmatyar's fighters. However, the operation was conducted by a special Taliban guerilla group commanded by Shaheen Abid, whom Asia Times Online interviewed last November at Nawa Pass on the Pakistan border with Afghanistan. (See Death by the light of a silvery moon .)

In a change from previous years, NATO has made it a priority to understand the workings of the Taliban. So it was able to identify Abid as the leader of the attack, and tracked him back to Nawa Pass, where he was placed under surveillance.

On April 22, Abid's group launched another attack, on the Afghan National Army in easter n Afghanistan. But this time his movements were followed, and while returning to Nawa Pass he and nine of his group were killed.

By being smart, rather than relying on "smart bombs", NATO has eliminated a highly skilled Taliban combat group.

Similarly, commanders such as Haqqani have refined their methods, in Haqqani's case by orchestrating suicide attacks and missions such as Sunday's in Kabul.

Indeed, the Taliban have lined up a stream of attackers to target Kabul to rattle the Afghan government and NATO forces in coming days and weeks.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Asia Times: 'Push Comes To Shove in Afghanistan'

CPP20080430721011 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1035 GMT 30 Apr 08

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad : "Push Comes To Shove in Afghanistan "; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - In what has been described as "a good public relations exercise", Prince William, second in line to the British throne, has visited Afghanistan to meet British troops in Kandahar province.

The brief unannounced trip is indeed headline-grabbing, but it cannot disguise the fact that the Western coalition has a monumental battle on its hands against the Taliban-led insurgency, and the first round has already begun.

Surprise Taliban attacks from the northern Afghan province of Kapisa (the Tagab Valley) to the southern Helmand districts and from Kunar to Nangarhar provinces have conclusively engaged the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in its biggest operations since the deployment of its forces in Afghanistan in 2001.

In a telling development, several hundred US Marines this week engaged the Taliban in Helmand province near Garmser, the farthest south American troops have operated in that province.

The Taliban rule the countryside here all the way to the Pakistan border. The assault on Garmser was the first offensive by the 2,300 marines who arrived from the United States this month to bolster mainly British forces in the area.

This trend of deploying additional troops in direct confrontations is expected to continue, even at the risk of higher casualties, in provinces such as Nangarhar, Ghazni, Kunar, Helmand and Kandahar, where the Taliban have established strongholds.

This follows a recent NATO summit at which the member countries agreed to reconcile their differences over Afghanistan and commit more troops, especially to the south, where previously many NATO members were not prepared to send troops.

A new generation of warriors

The Taliban anticipated this "surge" a la the policy of troop reinforcements in Iraq and adjusted accordingly.

Having had several key commanders killed by NATO forces last year, the Taliban's fight has been supplemented by a new generation of warriors who are the sons of war legends dating to the resistance to the Soviet occupation in the 1980s. These leaders have autonomous command, but are allied with the Taliban.

Local warlords in northeastern Kapisa province belonging to veteran Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami have already started guerrilla operations against NATO troops. New commanders have emerged, though, including Anwar ul-Haq Mujahid in eastern Nangarhar province and Sirajuddin Haqqani in Ghazni, Kunar, Paktia, Paktika and Khost area. Kabul, too, as happened on Sunday, will come under increased attack - there was another shootout with militants in the capital on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, a group belonging to Anwar ul-Haq carried out a suicide attack on a pro-government tribal jirga (council) in the Khogiani district of Nangarhar province. Khogiani is the native town of Anwar ul-Haq's late father and mujahideen leader against the Soviets, Moulvi Younus Khalis. Khalis had announced his decision to battle against NATO forces in 2005, but he died a year later and his son has now taken over command. His main stronghold is the Tora Bora mountains and Khogiani. His group says it will spread the insurgency to the provincial capital of Jalalabad this year.

Sirajuddin Haqqani's network has already blown the starting whistle for the spring offensive with the brazen attack on the Afghan national day parade in Kabul on Sunday. Sirajuddin Haqqani is the son of famed mujahideen commander against the Soviets, Maualana Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Consolidation in the tribal areas

Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, based in the South Waziristan tribal area, has ended peace talks with the Islamabad government, just a week after ordering a ceasefire against security forces. A spokesman for Mehsud is reported to have said the talks broke down because the government refused to withdraw troops from the tribal areas, the strategic backyard of the Taliban's insurgency in Afghanistan.

Under a well-orchestrated program, the Taliban "switched off" their attacks on politically vulnerable Pakistan this month and they patiently allowed the Western-sponsored game of carrots and sticks involving tribal peace accords to play out, even letting anti-Taliban politicians into their region. For the Taliban, it was just a matter of buying time until the end of April to put the finishing touches to their spring campaign in Afghanistan.

For the past few weeks, the Taliban have been flexing their muscles against "vice" in Mohmand Agency and in Bajaur Agency. They have executed robbers and rescued two abducted Sikhs from gangs of criminals who were demanding ransom for their release. The abductors were then executed. Importantly, the Taliban have established parallel administrations which have undermined moves by secular political parties to activate local tribal networks against the Taliban.

In North Waziristan, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a Taliban commander, supported the tribal security forces (Khasadar) on the issue of their salary and negotiated on their behalf with the political agent representing the central government.

Tribal elders, the Pakistani security forces and the political parties watched these developments with some surprise, compounded when the the Taliban suddenly set a deadline for the withdrawal of security forces from the area, and then announced the suspension of peace accords signed only a few days earlier.

The timing of this suspension coincides with talks between the dominant party in the ruling government coalition, the Pakistan People's Party, and another key party, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz group (PML-N), in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

These talks broke down on the issue of the judiciary: the PML-N wants judges dismissed last year by President Pervez Musharraf restored. It says if it does not get its way, it will pull its members from the cabinet.

The Taliban sense that political uncertainty in the capital will render the government incapable of pursuing military options in the tribal areas.

The young chief minister of North-West Frontier Province, Amir Haider Khan Hotti, who used his family's rapport with Afghan President Hamid Karzai to muster support behind the peace accords, besides the British Foreign Office, appealed in a state of shock with the Taliban not to take hasty decisions.

But the peace agreements and their breach are a part of the Taliban's broader regional designs.

From February to April, under the garb of various ceasefires, the Taliban have solidified their supply lines from Pakistan into Afghanistan. Hundreds of fresh recruits have been able to pass unimpeded from the cities to the tribal areas, where they received brief training before being launched into battle.

Hand-in-hand with the suspension of the peace accords, the Taliban are stepping up pressure on the government to withdraw all troops from the tribal areas. If this happens, and it is possible, the Taliban will have a free hand to expand their training camps for fresh recruits.

US President George W Bush could not have summed up the situation better. In comments on Tuesday, he admitted the United States faced a "long struggle" in Afghanistan against a "very resilient enemy" intent on bringing the Taliban back to power.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Asia Times: 'Taliban Claim Victory from Defeat'

CPP20080505715029 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1022 GMT 02 May 08

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Taliban Claim Victory from a Defeat"; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - The Taliban have suffered their first major loss in this year's offensive, but they are putting on a brave face, even spinning the setback as a triumph in their broader battle against foreign forces in Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, several thousand US Marines captured the town of Garmsir in the southern Afghan province of Helmand in their first large operation since arriving to reinforce North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) troops last month.

The Taliban-controlled Garmsir had served as a main supply route for their insurgency in the area.

The Taliban, however, claim the loss of one base is not critical, and anyway, for NATO to hold on to its gain it will have to commit

thousands of troops to the outpost, which is located in the inhospitable desert, if it is to effectively guard the lawless and porous border through which the Taliban funnel men, arms and supplies.

The Taliban also claim that one of their underlying goals since the US-led invasion in 2001 has been to tie down as many foreign troops as possible, much as the mujahideen wore down Soviet troops in the 1980s. Various Taliban leaders have told the media they will not resist the forces in Garmsir, one of the biggest concentrations since the 2001 assault on the country.

Meanwhile, the Taliban say they will energize their drive to win over the Pashtun tribal districts on both sides of the border and turn them into "Taliban country", a process that is already well underway.

For NATO, the fight against the Taliban has almost gone full circle. From the initial large offensive involving thousands of troops, NATO resorted to limited special operations with heavy reliance on air attacks. This only increased the population's anger against the coalition as many ordinary citizens died in the onslaught from the sky, and the Taliban were able to capitalize on this discontent.

NATO command has now decided to increase its ground presence, even at the risk of greater casualties. As mentioned above, this suits the Taliban and its al-Qaeda-inspired goal of tying up troops.

As NATO consolidates in the Garmsir deserts, the Taliban will be busy in eastern Afghanistan's border provinces, aiming to bring the tribes there under Taliban control.

One of their weapons is fear, as happens in the Pakistani tribal areas, where through targeted killings of high-profile enemies, such as tribal chiefs, clerics and pro-government personalities, they effectively intimidate their rivals.

Now it is happening in Afghanistan, the latest being the suicide attack, carried out by Anwar ul-Haq Mujahid's Tora Bora group, in the Khogiani district of Nangarhar province against the police chief of Khogiani, who had informed US forces in 2001 about the Tora Bora mountains and al-Qaeda's sanctuary there. The police chief survived, but at least 18 other people were killed.

The mastermind of this strategy is Ustad Yasir, a regional commander of the Pakistan and Afghan border regions, though he was recently rooted out from Khyber Agency in Pakistan after the Taliban were betrayed there. (See Taliban bitten by a snake in the grass Asia Times Online, April 26.)

Having "lost" Khyber Agency, where the Taliban had targeted NATO supply lines, they now want to continue this tactic in adjoining Nangarhar province.

The Taliban don't forget - or forgive - though. On Thursday, they launched a suicide attack in Khyber Agency against Haji Namdar, who betrayed them. Only one of the four explosive plates strapped to the bomber exploded, so Namdar managed to escape unhurt, although 30 others were injured.

At the time of the attack, Namdar was appealing to the masses for donations for the Taliban's struggle in Afghanistan. But now he has been exposed as a traitor and in fact not pro-Taliban. This may allow the Taliban to make inroads into his large constituency, which is traditionally suspicious of the Taliban, who still very much want to regain a footing in Khyber Agency.

Taliban sources have also claimed the capture of an important US military camp in Khost province (close to the Pakistan border), but that could not be independently confirmed. The camp is said to have been taken by Jalaluddin Haqqani and handed over to al-Qaeda militants. If this is true, it would be a step in the Taliban's march to wrest control of Afghan tribes.

Meanwhile, the NATO soldiers guarding the Garmsir deserts, one of the world's hottest spots, with temperatures reaching 50-60 Celsius, face a tough time. The area is central to the country's flourishing opium trade.

On the Afghan side of the border, it is run by elements in the Afghan administration and security forces. (See The Taliban's flower power Asia Times Online) Across the border, it is mainly run by Pakistani-Iranian Baloch smugglers.

The Taliban only allow the transportation of drugs and related activities for payment, which means the drug cartels will facilitate the insurgency, and make it even hotter for NATO.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Asia Times: 'At War with the Taliban: A Fighter and a Financier, Part 2'

CPP20080523715001 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1055 GMT 22 May 08

[Asia Times: "At War with the Taliban, Part 2: A Fighter And a Financier'; headline as provided by source]

KUNAR VALLEY, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's troubled recent history, which spans the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, the vicious post-Soviet civil war and then Taliban rule, has thrown up a number of men who have obtained "legendary" status - whether through their tribal followings or from connections with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) .

These mujahideen resistance figures include Jalaluddin Haqqani,Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Ismail Khan and the late Ahmad Shah Massoud.

The new leaders of the anti-American resistance in Afghanistan, however, are cut from a different cloth. They are despised and victimized by the ISI and often condemned by tribal elders. They are the sons of a global ideology which is orphan all over the world except in the merciless border terrain of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Take Qari Ziaur Rahman, commander of the Taliban in Nooristan and Kunar provinces, which border Pakistan. He is not the son of a legendary mujahideen commander, but of a cleric named Maulana Dilbar. His ties do not lie with the ISI, but with Osama bin Laden, having instructed bin Laden in the lessons of the Prophet Mohammad's life.

Ziaur, in his early thirties, was raised in the camps of Arab militants, who instilled in him the passion to fight against the Americans - not only in Afghanistan, but across the globe. Ziaur did not get his command as any hereditary right. First he had to prove himself on the battlefield, which he did by taking on US troops in Kunar and Nooristan. He was the first to mount operations against the US in the Karghal district of Kunar and he engineered the second-biggest encounter ever in Nooristan.

His exploits drew the attention of the coalition forces, which placed him on a wanted list and distributed flyers from the air offering a reward of US$350,000 for his arrest or killing.

With the heat on, Ziaur tried to take refuge in Pakistan, but in a coordinated move by the US Central Intelligence Agency and the ISI, he was arrested. Fortune smiled on him though and under a scheme brokered by Pakistani tribal warlord Baitullah Mehsud he was released in a prisoner exchange for Pakistani military officials. Otherwise, he would certainly have ended up at the US's Bagram air base near Kabul, or even at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.

After his release, Ziaur was elevated from a military operations commander to the overall in-charge of the Taliban's affairs in Kunar and Nooristan. His duties include devising regional battle policies and arranging budgets. He also represents Kunar and Nooristan in Taliban leader Mullah Omar's shura (council).

Ziaur is widely tipped to become one of the most important Taliban commanders in the whole region. Asia Times Online spoke to him, and somewhat unusually - even brazenly - he allowed his picture to be taken.

ATol: Which Afghan province do you come from?

Ziaur: I come from the province of Kunar.

ATol: What madrassa (seminary) education do you have?

Ziaur: I memorized the Koran. Before that I studied in a primary school. Then I acquired education in the Arabic language. I did a diploma.

ATol: From which institution?

Ziaur: It belonged to some Arab fellows. The institution was supported by an Arab country.

ATol: At present you are the in-charge and commander of the Taliban in Kunar and Nooristan provinces?

Ziaur: I administer the Taliban's affairs, mainly finance.

ATol: So you mainly look after the Taliban's financial matters, not their military affairs?

Ziaur: I do look after military matters, but the main emphasis is on finance.

ATol: This means you are the in-charge of both financial and military operations in Nooristan and Kunar provinces.

Ziaur: Indeed.

ATol: NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] has made Kunar and Nooristan a hub of its operations. How do you assess NATO's plans and what is your counter-strategy?

Ziaur: From the Soviet days in Afghanistan, Kunar's impo rtance has been clear. This is a border province [with Pakistan] and trouble here can break the central government [in Kabul]. Whoever has been defeated in Afghanistan, his defeat began from Kunar. Hence, everybody is terrified of this region. The Soviets were defeated in this province and NATO knows that if it is defeated here it will be defeated all over Afghanistan.

ATol: How many NATO troops are there in Kunar?

Ziaur: Thousands ...

ATol: How many bases do they have?

Ziaur: I tell you ... They have a central base which is called Topchi. Then in Pechdara they have a big presence in Maragai ... then they have many other bases like Koranghal ... then in Tarla ... on another side of Kunar there is a pass called Zarokas ... they have a big base over there as well, also in the Souqe region ... then in Sarkano ... in Nooristan they have a base in Kamdesh ... Rawat ... then in western Nooristan in the Doab district.

ATol: Can you compare the Taliban's strength with that of NATO, as they have so many bases. I witnessed Taliban rule in many districts in Helmand [province]. Do the Taliban rule any districts in Kunar?

Ziaur: Thank God that this is a mountainous region. NATO has a presence in the bases only, other than that they do not control anything. The mujahideen patrol everywhere and they carry out attacks freely.

ATol: How many mujahideen attacks are there each day?

Ziaur: Many small-scale attacks are carried out every day.

ATol: What are the main areas of attack?

Ziaur: Koranghal is our main operation theater in Kunar. It is a slaughterhouse for the Americans. Many Americans have been killed there. Kamdesh in Nooristan is our main operation front. We killed many Americans there as well. Similarly, we are very active in Sarkano, beside many other areas.

ATol: What is the Taliban's strength in these areas of Nooristan and Kunar?

Ziaur: I cannot disclose the numbers. The main thing is that the masses are with the Taliban and the Talibanare in huge numbers.

ATol: Nooristan has a very strategic position. It goes up to Kapisa province, from where a route goes to Kabul from north. Do you have any plans to mobilize a Taliban attack on Kabul from this route?

Ziaur: The Taliban will apply all sorts of strategies.

ATol: Kunar and Nooristan were the strongholds of the Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan led by Hekmatyar. Do they still have a presence in the region? Do the Taliban have some sort of joint venture with them?

Ziaur: They just have the name. They are only a little bit active, and not to the extent that is mentioned in the press.

ATol: There were reports in the Western press that on April 19, Hekmatyar, commanders Abdul Ghaffur and Kashmir Khan were spotted by NATO in Nooristan and there was a fierce encounter in which NATO forces sustained losses. What is your take?

Ziaur: This is a lie. NATO attacks here and there. It claims it attacked in Nooristan because of Osama bin Laden, as if Osama is omnipotent in Nooristan. They claim [al-Qaeda deputy] Dr [Ayman] Zawahiri is in Bajaur [Agency in Pakistan] and then attack that area. This is all gossip.

ATol: It is said that the Taliban's real strength lies in Arab and Punjabi fighters. What is the proportion of Arab and Punjabi fighters in your total strength?

Ziaur: We are all one, all faithfuls are brothers. Whether they come from the East or from the West, Arab or Pakistani, we are one and for each other.

ATol: You look after the Taliban's finances, so where do they raise resources?

Ziaur:Through contributions by the people.

ATol: I witnessed poppy cultivation in Kunar. I was told by the local population that clerics have now issued a decree that the mujahideen can buy weapons from the sale of poppy. Can you shed any light on that?

Ziaur: This is not true. Indeed, it is a controversial issue whether poppy cultivation is prohibited in Islam or not. But the Taliban are not depe ndent on poppy cultiva tion at all.

ATol: NATO has offered reward money for the arrest or killing of Taliban commanders. What amount is on your head?

Ziaur: There is some. I do not know how much.

ATol: Yesterday in Kunar I observed constant flights of [US Predator] drones and B-52 aircraft. Why are they so active?

Ziaur: Because of the daily attacks [by the Taliban] in Kunar province. They are aware that this year there will be a decisive battle and they know they cannot fight in the mountains.

ATol: NATO bombs the Nawa Pass [leading to Pakistan] and in the process a few shells also hit Pakistan's Bajaur area. What is happening here?

Ziaur: This is because recently the mujahideen carried out a huge operation in the Nawa Pass, which was successful. Therefore, NATO is terrified and is trying to pre-empt any more attacks by bombing the area.

NEXT: A revolution of guns and culture

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Asia Times: 'A Struggle Between War And Peace'

CPP20080603721001 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1022 GMT 02 Jun 08

[Article By Syed Saleem Shahzad; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - Since 2006 in Afghanistan, coalition forces battling the Taliban-led insurgency have alternated between all-out offensives and ceasefire deals. Similarly in Pakistan, the authorities have chopped and changed between peace accords and military action against militants in the tribal areas.

This vicious - and unproductive - cycle in the South Asian "war on terror" theater can be expected to continue unless the major players drop the idea of piece-meal peace agreements and adopt a broad and consistent policy of grand reconciliation.

In the latest "peace' phase, Islamabad agreed a ceasefire this month with the Taliban in the tribal areas along the Durand Line that separates Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The ink on this accord had hardly dried than Ghairat Bahir was released last week from the United States Bagram air base near Kabul.

Ghairat Bahir is the son-in-law of veteran mujahid Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and a top leader of the Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA). He was arrested by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Islamabad in 2002 on American pressure when he was making desperate moves to activate the HIA's jihadi network in favor of the Taliban. He was handed over to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and kept in various secret locations before being moved to Bagram. He was recently sent to Pul-i-Charki jail in Kabul after apparently agreeing to cooperate with the administration of President Hamid Karzai.

Immediately after his release, Ghairat Bahir was received at the presidential palace in Kabul and offered powerful ministries for the HIA if he agreed to act as a power-broker between top insurgent commanders, including Jalaluddin Haqqani and Hekmatyar, on one side and the US-backed Karzai administration on the other.

While Ghairat Bahir's release has been welcomed in top jihadi circles - he is being feted in Kabul by top mujahideen leaders both a part of the government and in the opposition ranks - the development is being touted in the corridors of power as a major breakthrough in helping stabilize the weakening Karzai administration.

In the months prior to Ghairat Bahir's release, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had entered into ceasefire agreements with the Taliban in several districts of Helmand and Farah provinces, Badghis in the northwest and Herat in the west. The agreements were terminated when the Taliban launched their spring attacks in April and May.

Playing with peace

BOTh Pakistan and Afghanistan are aware of the shortcomings of such accords, yet they have persevered with them even though they offer little chance of enduring peace.

Under the Bonn Agreement of December 2001, hammered out by the international community after the US-led invasion ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, a framework was established for the country to stage elections and build a reliable political and economic infrastructure.

By the end of 2005, this had by and large happened, but none of the state actors and the international institutions working in Afghanistan had any idea what to do next, especially in the face of the Taliban's successful spring offensive of 2006, which took all by surprise.

The response was the implementation of ad-hoc peace deals with the insurgents, but the face of the is changing: many are now true radicals and extremely unreliable from the perspective of any establishment.

The best example is pro-Taliban Pakistani tribal warlord Baitullah Mehsud. He has been cultivated by al-Qaeda and is now part of a nexus headed by Takfiris (those militantly intolerant of "infidels") belonging to al-Qaeda and a group of former Pakistani jihadis who cut their teeth in Kashmir under Baitullah.

Although Baitullah has been touted by US intelligence as one of the world's most dangerous men against American interests, his contribution in fighting against NATO is nothing compared to the network of another Pakistani Taliban commander, Haji Nazir, a rival of Baitullah who has be en accused of links with the ISI.

Baitullah sees a very broad role for himself and for his comrades. They do not want simply to be members of a local resistance movement. They are riding the global ideological bandwagon of al-Qaeda and envisage a complicated strategy to win a war against the West.

Taliban leader Mullah Omar has openly opposed Baitullah's penchant for fighting against the Pakistani security forces, especially after Baitullah established the Pakistani Tehrik-i-Taliban - the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan - last year. When Baitullah did not heed Mullah Omar's advice, Omar distanced himself from Baitullah, as did other top Taliban leaders, such as Hafiz Gul Bahdur.

Baitullah did, however, recently agree on a ceasefire, but most people believe he is looking for a chance when it suits him to end the deal and resume attacks on the Pakistani security forces.

In Afghanistan, Karzai had made deals with several Taliban commanders, including Abdul Salam Rocketi and a group of the HIA. They were even elected as members of parliament, but time proved they were not helpful in making further peace deals with Taliban-led insurgents.

The reason was the rapid emergence of new commanders close to al-Qaeda, such as Baitullah. They are likely to outnumber the veteran Taliban commanders soon and the chances of dialogue will be further reduced.

In another development, the United National Front of Afghanistan, representing the strongest northern Afghan warlords and politicians, and the strongest force in the south, the Taliban and HIA, have admitted to opening channels of discussion. The US-backed Karzai is the only stumbling block - at this stage he is not acceptable to the southern strongmen or the northern ones.

Despite this, the development offers the Western coalition a chance to exploit the situation through leading Muslim countries which still have influence over the Taliban, notably Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. If the Western coalition gives leeway to such countries to play a major role and at a later stage even replace NATO with Organization of Islamic Conference forces, a consensus government of the northern and southern forces could emerge. This would effectively sideline al-Qaeda elements. The Taliban are undoubtedly natural allies of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, while al-Qaeda is a common enemy of all.

However, this approach will only be useful if people like Mullah Omar, Jalaluddin Haqqani and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar are in command. If these powerful persons are pushed into the background, the future of the region will be in the hands of people like Baitullah Mehsud, who only dream of a global war launched from Afghanistan.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

Asia Times: 'US Strike Hits Pakistan's Raw Nerve'

CPP20080613715017 Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English 1112 GMT 12 Jun 08

[By Syed Saleem Shahzad: "US Strike Hits Pakistan's Raw Nerve"; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has for a long time been split over strategic questions in Afghanistan. These divisions will be further sharpened following Tuesday evening's attack by United States warplanes on a Pakistani military post in Mohmand Agency in which 11 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were killed.

Indications that Pakistani soldiers were fighting alongside Taliban forces against Afghan army and US units in the border area will also bolster critics of US policy who argue that the Pakistani military is playing a "double game" and can no longer be trusted. All the same, should NATO "lose" Pakistan, it would be a devastating setback.

While the precise circumstances of the incident remain unclear, an eye witness, Taliban spokesman Zubair Mujahid, who represents the Taliban's commanders for Kunar and Nooristan provinces in Afghanistan, told Asia Times Online by telephone: "The multiple Taliban groups operating on both sides of the border - in the Afghan Kunar Valley and in Mohmand Agency - spotted NATO forces launching into Mohmand Agency's mountain-top Sarhasoko military post (below).

"We realized the Pakistani troops were struggling against the NATO forces so we activated our networks all over the area," Zubair said.

"The Pakistani security forces were under siege and were at the point of being evacuated from the post when we opened fire on them (NATO) from several positions. Our attack was so unexpected for NATO that they had to retreat. The Pakistan army lost 11 soldiers, the Taliban lost eight and NATO lost 20 soldiers during the operation."

An official Pakistani armed forces release called the air strikes "unprovoked and cowardly" and added that "the incident had hit at the very basis of cooperation and sacrifice with which Pakistani soldiers are supporting the coalition in (the) war against terror".

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell, meanwhile, said, "Although it is early, every indication we have is that it was a legitimate strike in self-defense against forces that had attacked coalition forces."

Damning report

The timing of the attack coincides with the release of a report this week by the US Defense Department-funded RAND Corp, entitled "Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan", which said that some active and former officials in Pakistan's intelligence service and the Frontier Corps - a paramilitary force - directly aided Taliban militants.

Significantly - as happened on Tuesday - the report suggested direct NATO operations in the Pakistani tribal areas to root out the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Confusingly, at the very moment the Taliban went to aid Pakistani security forces - which will boost respect for them among the lower- and middle-order cadre of the armed forces - the Taliban kidnapped seven security personnel in Dera Adam Khail in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and in Mohmand Agency they exchanged fire with security forces at a checkpoint.

This contradiction highlights the complex relationships between the Taliban, militants and the Pakistani establishment: nothing can be read as black and white. What can't be ignored is that ethnic Pashtuns are natural Pakistani allies and the Pashtun heartland is overwhelmingly under the influence of the Taliban, a factor Pakistan has to factor into its regional relationships.

The case of Taliban commander Haji Nazeer illustrates the point. Al-Qaeda leaders, Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud and even Uzbek warlord Qari Tahir often praise his services for fighting some of the toughest battles against NATO in Afghanistan. Yet they also curse him for his links to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), for which he acts as a point man to work against Uzbeks, the network of Baitullah Mehsud and Takfiri Arabs - those who take it on themselves to decide who is a true Muslim and who is not.

Haji Nazeer is not the only example of this, several big and small operators receive support or patronage from the Pakistani security force s, which allows think-tanks such as the Rand Corporation to blame Pakistan for actively supporting and facilitating the Taliban fight against NATO.

From 2006 onwards, US officials and NATO have on several occasions provided evidence directly to Islamabad on Pakistan's support for the Taliban. Yet the crux is, Pakistan needs to do this.

The US does the same in Iraq, where it struck deals with former Ba'athist elements to take on al-Qaeda, knowing that Sunni-nationalist Arab tribes would continue to fight against them, though with low intensity.

A lesser evil

By late 2003, foreign elements, especially Egyptians and Uzbeks, had regrouped in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal area and established two organizations. One was for international operations, the Jaishul al-Qiba al-Jihadi al-Siri al-Alami, the other, specifically aimed to operate inside Pakistan, was Jundullah. See The legacy of Nek Mohammed Asia Times Online, July 20, 2004.)

Between them, the two groups masterminded operations such as the March 11, 2004, Madrid train bombings and the July 7, 2005, London bombings and several attacks on the life of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as well as other officials and security installations.

Pakistan mounted several military operations against the groups and killed many commanders, including Nek Mohammed, but the insurgency intensified and new faces emerged, such as Baitullah Mehsud, and they established even better facilities for al-Qaeda operations.

These new commanders did not restrict their activities to South Waziristan, they spread their networks across the country. The previously calm Swat Valley in NWFP and the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad became two important bases for them.

The new self-proclaimed "Pakistani Taliban" quickly eliminated the local networks of the tribal elders, the only reliable front on which Islamabad could deal with the new militant movements. Over 130 tribal chiefs were killed and dozens fled to different cities. Any cleric who spoke in favor of harmony with Pakistan risked being killed and ending up with a message attached to his body: "A lesson for CIA-ISI proxies."

By 2005, suicide attacks began in Pakistan and the Pakistani security apparatus was at a loss over how to deal with the militants - neither the military nor the political approach worked.

Then an ISI network based in Balochistan province succeeded in making a connection with now slain Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah, who, after a lot of negotiation, agreed to play a role in South Waziristan. He acquired a letter from Taliban leader Mullah Omar in which he emphasized that all groups in South and North Waziristan should focus on the jihad in Afghanistan rather than become involved in other regional and global operations.

Then Pakistan-friendly and legendary mujahideen leader Jalaluddin Haqqani was announced as the military leader of the Taliban's spring offensive of 2006 and he led all factions into Afghanistan. Before this, he had signed a ceasefire agreement with Pakistani forces in the tribal areas. The upshot was that the Taliban had their most successful season since being ousted in 2001 and Pakistan saved itself from a major catastrophe.

Nevertheless, Uzbeks and a group of Egyptians under the uncompromising Sheikh Essa and his Pakistani adherents Sadiq Noor and Abdul Khaliq Haqqani were still obsessed in fermenting an Islamic revolution in Pakistan. They were not ready to move into Afghanistan to fight against NATO, they wanted to continue the fight against Pakistani security forces.

So Pakistan had little choice but to follow the American example of the Sunni Awakening Councils in Iraq and what the British did in Helmand province in Afghanistan: divide and rule.

Ideological affiliations and tribal rivalries co-exist in South Waziristan. While most support the Taliban, Wazir tribesmen were wary of the growing strength of the Mehsud tribe's new strongman, Baitullah Mehsud. Baitullah had the support of h is tribe, but his greatest support was several hundred Uzbek warriors who made Baitullah the biggest commander in the region.

The ISI exploited this situation and they tapped up Haji Nazeer, in particular playing on the fact that the Uzbeks did not fight in Afghanistan. Haji Nazeer was given US$150,000 to strengthen his network and also received truck loads of ammunition and a guarantee of free movement into and out of Afghanistan.

In January 2007, Haji Nazeer and his men carried out a massacre of Uzbeks, killing at least 250 of them and expelling the rest from South Waziristan. Haji Nazeer attracted many Arabs, such as Abu Ali Tunisi, who influenced scores of Pakistani jihadis to join Haji Nazeer, whose now-expanded network only fights against NATO.

A similar case is that of Haji Namdar, (See Taliban bitten by a snake in the grass Asia Times Online, April 26, 2008 and Taliban claim victory from a defeat Asia Times Online, May 3, 2008.) He is the biggest recruiter of warriors in Khyber Agency to fuel the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan and he raises funds for the Taliban. The ISI had to solicit his help, though, to break a Taliban network in the agency which was crippling NATO supply lines into Afghanistan (the attacks have since resumed).

NATO was aware of this contradiction but did not have any choice but to go along with the ISI.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online WWW-Text in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. Root URL on filing date: ]

UK Source Thinks Taliban's Haqqani Becoming Afghanistan's Biggest Threat To West

EUP20080622031001 London Independent on Sunday Online in English 22 Jun 08

[Report by Raymond Whitaker: "Warlord: My Encounter With Taliban Mastermind"]

In a month when Britain has lost nine soldiers in Afghanistan, including the first woman, and hundreds of Taliban fighters were freed by a daring bomb attack on Kandahar's main jail, the British public is only just becoming aware of the malevolent power of Jalaluddin Haqqani.

A man once known only to old Afghan hands is being credited with the resurgence of the Taliban since 2006. He is said to have introduced Iraqi-style suicide bombings to a country where they were unknown and are still considered by many to be un-Islamic. Wily and well connected, he is emerging as the biggest threat to Britain and its NATO allies in Afghanistan, where last month more Western troops were killed than in Iraq for the first time since 2003. He has experienced a comeback as spectacular as that of the movement he is now serving as principal military commander.

When I encountered Haqqani in March 1994, the fortunes of the legendary Afghan warlord were at a low ebb. He was a hero to the CIA and wealthy Arab backers during the fight against the Soviet invaders. As chronicled in the movie Charlie Wilson's War, torrents of money and arms had been channelled through Pakistan's intelligence service to resistance leaders like him. But, after the Russians pulled out in 1989 and the Communist regime collapsed in 1992, Haqqani and his fellow Pashtun chieftains had been outmanoeuvred.

Kabul had been seized by the Tajik commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, who installed his party leader, Burhanuddin Rabbani, as President. Now Haqqani was sitting outside the President's office, waiting for an audience in which he would seek favours, and the photograph I took of him shows all the discomfort of a man who would have preferred to be meeting Rabbani on the battlefield.

Already in his late 40s, the mujahedin commander might have been expected to fade into obscurity, especially when Pakistan despaired of his ilk and decided to foster the Taliban instead. Yet 14 years later, he is regarded as the Taliban's most effective military leader. The former darling of the West's intelligence agencies is now their leading target after Osama Bin Laden [Usama Bin Ladin], his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the Taliban figurehead, Mullah Omar.

Haqqani has shown his talent for psychologically significant blows, such as the attempted assassination of President Hamid Karzai during a military parade in the heart of Kabul in April, and January's attack on a luxury hotel that killed seven and sent shivers through the expatriate community in the Afghan capital.

This has accompanied the steady stream of suicide bombings that undermine NATO's military superiority and keep the civilian population on edge. On Friday, a suicide bomber on foot attacked a foreign military convoy in Helmand province, killing one NATO soldier and five civilians.

How did a man now in his 60s, who appeared to have been pushed to the margins, return to such a central role? Bin Laden himself, of course, was once seen as an asset by the US, and when the wealthy Saudi decided in the 1980s to take up the Afghan cause, one of the first Afghans he met was Haqqani. From a Pashtun clan with clout both in eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan's tribal territories, Haqqani was able to provide Bin Laden with territory for his first camps. It was an association that later stood him in good stead.

As one of the few Pashtun commanders able to demonstrate effectiveness in fighting the Communists - he seized Khost, the first town to fall to the mujahedin after the Soviet pullout - the rough-hewn Haqqani was admired by Arabs who dreamed of jihad but lacked the nerve to go to war themselves. He visited the Gulf states frequently, learned Arabic and was always able to raise money in the Middle East after the American tap was turned off, enabling him to maintain large numbers of men under arms.

Even when Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) switched horses and backed the Taliban, he remained on good terms with the agency and was able to make a comfortable retreat to his stronghold, Miram Shah, in the Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan.

Haqqani was the first mujahedin commander to surrender unconditionally to the Taliban, and remained on polite terms with the movement. Although he was never part of the tight inner circle, he took various minor posts during Mullah Omar's five years in power, between 1996 and 2001, eventually becoming interior minister.

He also helped his old associate Bin Laden to set up training camps on his return to Afghanistan. None of this necessarily meant that he was fully committed to the alliance between the Taliban and Al-Qa'ida, in the view of his old contacts in the CIA and ISI - but after 9/11 it was time to put that theory to the test.

According to at least one report, Haqqani was summoned to Islamabad and told he could be installed as president of Afghanistan if he formed a breakaway "moderate" faction of the Taliban, excluding Mullah Omar. Presumably, the Al-Qa'ida leadership would have been expelled from Afghanistan under the deal. But the warlord declined and returned to his stronghold. According to Steve Coll, author of Ghost Wars, a history of American involvement in Afghanistan, it was into Haqqani's territory that Bin Laden fled after he managed to elude the Americans in 2001.

Even then, Haqqani did not immediately assume a prominent role in the Taliban, although his forces were always ready to attack the Americans in eastern Afghanistan. It was only after the movement's 2006 spring offensive ran into trouble that he was asked to take command. The subsequent Taliban resurgence took NATO by surprise and spread dissension among its members over tactics and reinforcements.

NATO insists that it cannot be defeated in battle by the Taliban. That is certainly true - large numbers of Taliban militants freed in the attack on Kandahar jail were later killed when they tried to mass together to seize the city - but it is irrelevant. With a judicious mixture of hit-and-run attacks, suicide bombings and occasional "spectaculars", plus the constant vehicle bombings that claimed four British lives last week, Haqqani can destabilise nearly half the country and hold back economic reconstruction.

Recently, he appeared in a DVD to dispel rumours that he was dead, or that he had handed over to his 34-year-old son, Sirajuddin, who has assumed responsibility for military operations. He is a particularly formidable opponent for the West, with his long-standing connections to Pakistani intelligence apparently protecting him from any intervention in Waziristan, while his Middle Eastern links bring him money and recruits.

"This is not a battle of haste; this is a battle of patience," he says in the DVD. He speaks from experience. The commander I saw in the President's waiting-room 14 years ago appeared to be washed up, but he has outlasted his opponents. The Taliban, formed to get rid of old warlords like him, is now grateful for his help.

[Description of Source: London Independent on Sunday Online in English -- Website of leftist Sunday newspaper; has been consistently opposed to the Iraq war, often adopting a strong anti-US stance; sister paper of Independent Online; only available on Sundays; URL: ]

Pakistan: Son of Taliban Leader Haqqani Killed in Afghanistan's Paktia Province

SAP20080711098004 Islamabad The News Online in English 11 Jul 08

[Report by correspondent: "Haqqani's son killed in Paktia"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

Friday, July 11, 2008

PESHAWAR: An 18-year old son of veteran Taliban leader Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani was killed in a firefight with the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan's Paktia province Thursday. Taliban sources said Mohammad Omar Haqqani, one of the several sons of Jalaluddin Haqqani, was killed during fighting at Satto Kandao, the mountainous area that links Paktia with the Khost province.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Al-Qa'idah commander killed in Afghan east

IAP20080713950075 Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News in English 1126 GMT 13 Jul 08

Al-Qa'idah commander killed in Afghan east

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Torkham: A top commander of the Al-Qa'idah terrorist network has been killed in southeastern Afghanistan, said a spokesman for the dreaded organization led by elusive Saudi dissident Usamah Bin-Ladin.

Abu-Hasan al-Sa'idi had been a key Al-Qa'idah commander in the southeastern provinces of Paktia, Paktika and Khost, which have been in the grip of spiking violence.

In a brief statement emailed to Pajhwok Afghan News, the network's mouthpiece Ahmad Sulayman said: We have lost our top military commander in southeastern Afghanistan.

Sulayman added the commander was killed in a clash with Afghan and American forces 48 hours ago. Abu-Hasan al-Sa'idi (48), hailing from Yemen, was chief of Al-Qa'idah training camps in Paktia and Khost during the jihad against the Soviet forces

Taleban member Mohammad Khosti, in a telephonic chat with this news agency, said he too had heard of the insurgent commanders slaying in a clash that happened in the Sato Kandao area of the volatile Khost Province.

Abu-Hasan al-Sa'idi was killed along with Umer Haqqani - a son of Jalaluddin Haqqani - in the firefight, Khosti revealed. Last week, another Al-Qa'idah commander named Abdallah Muhammad al-Abid (Shu'ayb al-Jaza'iri ) was killed in the Zabol Province.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News in English Independent Afghan news agency]

Asia Times: 'Afghanistan's 'Sons of the Soil' Rise Up'

CPP20080713721002 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 1033 GMT 11 Jul 08

[Article By Syed Saleem Shahzad; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - The resilient Taliban have proved unshakeable across Afghanistan over the past few months, making the chances of a coalition military victory against the popular tide of the insurgency in the majority Pashtun belt increasingly slim.

The alternative, though, of negotiating with radical Taliban leaders is not acceptable to the Western political leadership.

This stalemate suits Pakistan perfectly as it gives Islamabad the opportunity to once again step in to take a leading role in shaping the course of events in its neighboring country.

Pakistan's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi are thrilled with the Taliban's sweeping military successes which have reduced President Hamid Karzai's American-backed government to a figurehead decorating the presidential palace of Kabul; he and his functionaries dare not even cross the street to take evening tea at the Serena Hotel.

June (28 US combat deaths) was the deadliest month for coalition troops since they invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 and fatalities have increased steadily since 2004, when 58 soldiers were killed that year. The total more than doubled to 130 killed in 2005, 191 in 2006 and 232 in 2007. One hundred and twenty-seven have died so far this year.

Pakistan's planners now see their objective as isolating radicals within the Taliban and cultivating tribal, rustic, even simplistic, "Taliban boys" - just as they did in the mid-1990s in the leadup to the Taliban taking control of the country in 1996. It is envisaged that this new "acceptable" tribal-inspired Taliban leadership will displace Taliban and al-Qaeda radicalism.

This process has already begun in Pakistan's tribal areas.

A leading Pakistani Taliban leader, Haji Nazeer from South Waziristan, who runs the largest Pakistani Taliban network against coalition troops in Afghanistan, recently convened a large meeting at which it was resolved to once again drive out radical Uzbeks from South Waziristan. This happened once before, early last year.

In particular, Nazeer will take action against the Uzbeks' main backer, Pakistani Taliban hardliner Baitullah Mehsud, if he tries to intervene. Nazeer openly shows his loyalty towards the Pakistani security forces and has reached out to other powerful Pakistani Taliban leaders, including Moulvi Faqir from Bajaur Agency, Shah Khalid from Mohmand Agency and Haji Namdar in Khyber Agency. Nazeer also announced the appointment of the powerful commander of North Waziristan, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, as the head of the Pakistani Taliban for all Pakistan.

The bulk of the Pakistani Taliban has always been pro-Pakistan and opposed to radical forces like Baitullah Mehsud and his foreign allies, but this is the first time they have set up a formal organization and appointed an amir (chief) as a direct challenge to the radicals.

At the core of their beliefs is a stress on traditional tribal values and following the tribal agenda of supporting the Afghan resistance against Western troops, rather than any global agenda such as attacks on Europe or the United States.

Soon after the announcement of the amir, two prominent Afghan Taliban commanders from eastern Afghanistan gave their support to the new Pakistani Taliban network. They are Moulvi Abdul Kabeer, a former Taliban governor in the province of Nangarhar before the US invasion in 2001, and commander Sadr-uddin. To date, the most important Afghan commander in the eastern region, Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani, has remained neutral, perhaps because of his close ties with Pakistan and also with the radical camp. Earlier, the Hezb-e-Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, another pro-Pakistan commander in Afghanistan, claimed several successful operations in the northeastern Kapisa and Wardak provinces - just a few score kilometers from Kabul. This is another significant development as it gives a boost to that segment of the insurgency which is more local than global.

This is the new picture emerging in eastern Afghanistan. If these groups, with Pakist an's support, can join hands with the Kandahari clans of the Taliban from the southwest, which already form a non-radical tribal resistance, it would give Islamabad the opportunity to make a proposal to Washington.

That is, the process of jirgas (tribal councils) should be restarted, this time only with the sons-of the-soil Taliban, to get them to lay down their arms and negotiate a new political role before the Afghan presidential elections next year.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. URL: ]

NATO Forces' Build Up Along Pakistan-Afghanistan Border Frightens Tribesmen

SAP20080716101002 Islamabad The News Online in English 16 Jul 08

[Report by Mushtaq Yusufzai: "Nato build-up gives tribesmen the jitters"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR: After deployment along the Pak-Afghan border across the Kurram Agency, hundreds of Nato troops also took positions across the North Waziristan Agency (NWA) on Tuesday, creating panic among the already terrified tribesmen.

Official and tribal sources told this correspondent from NWA that the Nato troops started arriving near the border areas on Monday night. "Some of them had been brought in choppers and others by armoured personnel carriers. The troops had also shifted heavy arms and ammunition including tanks, heavy machineguns and artillery to the border," said Haji Yaqub, a resident of border town Ghulam Khan.

The troops had been deployed near the border towns of Ghulam Khan, Saidgai, Shawal and Mir Safar. "They started setting up bunkers very close to the border while gunship helicopters are continuously hovering over the border," said one Roohullah, a resident of the border town of Saidgai.

He said they had never before seen movement of foreign troops in such large numbers near the border. "For us, it's just unusual as they are on the zero point," said Roohullah, adding that so far the troops had not crossed the border.

The sources said the Nato troops dug trenches at Mughalgai near Zhawar camp, a famous training camp of Afghan Mujahideen commander, Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, in Khost near Pakistan's Saidgai town.

Another bunker was set up at Gurbaz near Tarkhobi area of Khost, close to Pakistan's Ghulam Khan town. Similarly, the sources said, another trench was set up close to Mir Safar and Shawal towns of NWA.

According to sources, the Nato forces had planned setting up four new military camps along the border in the Taliban-dominated provinces of Afghanistan - Khost and Paktika. "They planned establishing four new military camps along the border and this latest deployment of the foreign troops was first step of their future planning," said the sources.

Senior government officials said the Nato forces were also misinformed about al-Qaeda training camps at Deegan, Mirali and Miramshah in North Waziristan. The sources said the Nato troops were also informed about the presence of senior Afghan Taliban commanders at the residence of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani at Danday Darpakhel, to condole with him the death of his son, Mohammad Omar Haqqani.

The 18-year-old son of veteran Taliban leader Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani was killed in a firefight with the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan's Paktia province on Thursday. It merits a mention here that Nato had already deployed a large number of troops close to the border between Afghanistan's Khost province and Pakistan's Kurram tribal region.

On the other hand, Pakistani Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's statement provided an opportunity to the US to deploy its troops near the tribal areas. "When a responsible person like the prime minister has himself said that foreign militants were hiding in Pakistani tribal areas and could cause another 9/11 like disaster then who will stop American forces from invading the country," Omar asked.

He said the Taliban would welcome the Nato forces if they entered into the tribal areas. (According to Reuters, the Taliban spokesman in Bajaur welcomed the build-up on the border as a chance to kill more Americans. "It's a gift that they're coming here on our land and making it easy for us to kill our enemies, the enemies of Muslims," Maulvi Omar said.

Meanwhile, the US-led Nato forces Tuesday night fired 30 mortar rounds from Afghanistan's Paktika province on Pakistan's Angoor Adda. A senior government official based in Wana, regional headquarters of South Waziristan Agency, confirmed the latest shelling on Pakistani territory, but said he had no further details about any loss. He said fearing airstrikers and shelling by the Nato forces on their villages, the residents started leaving their homes for safe and distant towns.

Agencies add: The Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said it was probably a routine movement and the media had created "unnecessary hype". Abbas told a private TV channel that there was no build up of Nato forces close to the Pak-Afghan border.

It was within their side and this was a routine movement for exercise or some operation there, he added. "We closely monitor all such moves so there is none of such thing very close to the border. Certainly we have coordination and communication with each other," he added.

Abbas said such things were well coordinated and informed before so that no misunderstanding could take place. A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said there was no question of troops entering Pakistan. "Our mandate stops at the border," spokesman Captain Mike Finney said. There was some "extra activity" on the border with troops searching for surviving insurgents after Sunday's attack that killed nine US troops, he said.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Pakistan: Report Details Foreign Fighters in Taliban Ranks in FATA, Afghanistan

SAP20080721101001 Islamabad The News Online in English 21 Jul 08

[Report by Hamid Mir: "8,000 foreign fighters in Fata ring alarm bells in Islamabad"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

ISLAMABAD: In a disturbing report presented to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, days before he travels to the United States, the latest figure of foreign fighters present in the tribal areas of Pakistan is estimated to be more than 8,000 but the government is reluctant to officially confirm this number.

At a special cabinet briefing on Sunday in which Asif Ali Zardari was also present, besides the prime minister and Adviser to the Interior Ministry Rehman Malik, said the government will have to use force if the process of dialogue does not produce the results but his view was opposed by the minister from FATA Hamidullah Jan.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his key ministers will visit Peshawar on Monday for a special meeting, which could decide the launching of a major operation against foreign fighters in Fata, Interior Ministry Adviser Rehman Malik told The News on Sunday.

It would be a short and effective operation like the one in Bara recently, officials told The News. Information Minister Sherry Rehman confirmed the briefing to The News without giving any number for the foreign fighters but expressed the determination of the government to pull them out. Mr Zardari listened to the briefing without making any comment.

Although officially the government of Pakistan accepts that foreign fighters are present, their unusually large number has set alarm bells ringing in Islamabad and possibly in other capitals as well. Interior Adviser Rehman Malik, when pressed by this correspondent, however, conceded that the number of foreign fighters was about 1,000.

According to the report presented to the PM, a majority of these foreign fighters are living in North and South Waziristan and Bajaur. Prime Minister Gilani has also been informed that some foreign intelligence agencies are pushing their agents into the Pakistani tribal areas from Afghanistan under the cover of Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters. These under-cover agents are trying to instigate the local population to fight against Pakistani forces as part of a "great game" in the region.

Taliban sources on the other hand are not ready to confirm that they are hosting thousands of foreign fighters in their areas. They claim that the number of foreigners is just a few hundred and most of them are living in the tribal areas from the time when the American CIA and Pakistani ISI encouraged them to come and fight against the Soviet Union.

Independent sources in both the Pakistani tribal areas and eastern Afghanistan have, however, claimed that number of foreign fighters started increasing in 2007. The biggest attraction for these young militant guests from the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe was the increase in the number of US troops in Afghanistan. A lot of young Muslims are coming to Afghanistan to fight the US troops who, they believe, have come to Afghanistan not to fight terrorism but to occupy more Muslim lands, including Pakistan, and to plunder their resources.

According to some Afghan sources, foreign fighters are welcomed not only in the Pakistani tribal areas but also in eastern, southern and western Afghanistan. The rising number of civilian causalities has created lot of hatred and resentment against foreign security forces in these Afghan and Pakistani areas. Angry locals believe that the foreign fighters are coming to avenge these killings.

A few years ago, Pakistan was the safest route for foreign fighters to enter into Afghanistan but now they rarely use this old route. Most of them come as tourists and traders directly from Dushanbe, Baku, Istanbul, Dubai, Sharjah, Delhi and Frankfurt to Kabul by different airlines. Many Afghans in Kabul, Karachi, Dubai and Delhi are working for them as travel agents. It is also very easy to make a new Afghan passport for them in Kabul.

Two American-born Al-Qaeda operators Adam Gadhan alias Azzam al Amriki and Abu Ahmad alias Amir Butt are known in the Afghan Kunar province for making travel arrangements of these young and educated Muslims from the US, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Canada and Australia. Most of these Western Muslims tell their Afghan and Pakistani hosts that they will take not only their revenge from the "occupying forces" but they will also take the revenge for the sacreligious cartoons of their prophet from Western governments who encourage such cartoonists in the name of freedom of expression.

Some of these foreigners have married into the tribes of Kunar, Nuristan, North Waziristan and South Waziristan. German-born Turkish fighter Saad Abu Furqan is also known in the Pakistani tribal areas for attracting young Turks to organise Jihad against what he calls the "crusaders" in Afghanistan. A very well known Taliban leader Ustad Dawood is working as coordinator between these foreign fighters and locals from Afghan Paktika province. Dawood speaks English and Arabic fluently.

A source who knows Ustad Dawood revealed that Al-Qaeda and Taliban are now slowly moving foreign fighters to areas round Kabul for a big attack on the Afghan capital Kabul in near future. Some of the foreign fighters have already entered Kabul as vendors and shopkeepers and provide a lot of intelligence to their commanders.

Ustad Dawood has also established contacts with his old friends in the Northern Alliance and is working with Jalaluddin Haqqani for an alliance between the Taliban, some Northern Alliance groups and the Hizb-e-Islami to jointly fight the foreign forces in Afghanistan.

An independent source said many experienced and hardened Al-Qaeda fighters were coming from Iraq to Afghanistan via Iran by road.These fighters enter the Afghan provinces of Herat and Balkh from Iran illegally.

The Nato forces are aware of this infiltration from Iran and have started bombing civilian vehicles moving close to the Iranian border indiscriminately. The bombing killed nine Afghan policemen in southwest Farah province on July 20 and seven civilians on July 17. Nato was also accused of killing more than 50 civilians in the Shindand area of Herat on July 17.

It is also learnt that many fighters from Saudi Arabia,Yemen, Egypt, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, Libya, Iraq, Syria and some from India and Bangladesh prefer to stay in the warmer areas of southern Afghanistan which is a safe haven for the Taliban. The fighters from Morocco, Algeria, Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and from western countries like to stay in the eastern Afghanistan provinces of Kunar, Nuristan, Paktia, Paktika, Khost and Pakistani tribal areas bordering these areas.

Sources say that fighters from African countries are not encouraged to come to Afghanistan or Pakistan as Al-Qaeda wants them to go to Darfur in Sudan or Iraq. The foreign fighters in the Pakistani tribal areas and Afghanistan are aware about the presence of some undercover agents in their ranks. Recently, they arrested two Uzbeks, three Afghans and one Pakistani for spying and executed them in North and South Waziristan when they confessed during interrogation that they were working for the CIA and ISI.

Foreign fighters avoid getting in touch with non-tribal Pakistani fighters because they suspect them of having links with Pakistani intelligence. Pakistani officials are putting pressure on the Taliban leadership not to encourage foreigners to cross the border into Afghanistan to fight US and Nato troops. The Taliban are also asking them to put down their guns and register themselves with the local political administration.

While some Taliban leaders in North Waziristan have started discouraging foreigners from crossing the border, some in South Waziristan are not ready to listen to the Pakistani government. Their defiance has created a lot of confusion and resentment in Islamabad because the Pakistan government is already under lot of pressure to use heavy force against the Taliban.

Defiant Taliban leaders are of the view that it is the right of every Muslim to join the Jihad against "crusaders" in Afghanistan and they will not ask any foreigner to leave their area or stop fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan. A Taliban leader said: "We are not against all the Jews and Christians, but we are against crusaders and Zionists, who should leave Afghanistan first and then we will ask our foreign Muslim brothers to leave the area but if the Pakistani rulers want to fight with us, we are ready."

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Mullah Omar's Aide Views Current Issues, Accepts Taliban Pact With Pakistan Govt

GMP20080725643001 Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic 1430 GMT 25 Jul 08

[Interview with Mullah Mohammad Hasan Rahmani, member of the Afghan Taliban Movement's Higher Shura Council and personal adviser to the Movement's Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, by Ahmad Zaydan; from "Today's Encounter" program; questions are in Arabic; Rahmani answers in Pashto fading into superimposed translation in Arabic; translated from the Arabic; place and date not given -- recorded; For assistance with multimedia elements, contact OSC at (800) 205-8615 or OSCinfo@rccb.]

[Zaydan] Welcome dear viewers to the "Today's Encounter" program. We will be hosting Mullah Mohammad Hasan Rahmani, member of the Afghan Taliban Movement's Higher Shura Council and personal adviser to the Movement's Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. Mr Rahmani, welcome to the "Today's Encounter" program of Al-Jazirah Television. My first question is: How does the Taliban Movement respond to recent statements by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in which he threatened to pursue the Taliban Pakistan fighters into the Pakistani territory and to chase, as he said, Mullah Mohammad Omar?

[Rahmani] In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate. No doubt that Karzai and his aides and his current weak administration in Afghanistan are unable to protect Afghanistan or even themselves. How can they attack Pakistan or carry out operations in Pakistan? This will never happen. These are mere allegations. The Pakistani Muslim people are aware of the betrayals and the crimes that Karzai has been perpetrating with the assistance of the Americans. Karzai is responsible for these acts of treason. Therefore, the Pakistanis have to defend their land and they have the right to do so.

These are the facts. Karzai will not launch a military campaign against Pakistan. What is taking place is a war of words and propaganda. There will be elections in Afghanistan and he is trying to win these elections. He is trying to win the minds of the people. Therefore, he is only deceiving the people.

[Zaydan] Some analysts in Pakistan believe that these Karzai statements are only a cover to provide a pretext for a US attack against Pakistan. How does the Taliban Movement view this?

[Rahmani] The fact is that the United States cannot launch war against Pakistan. It has regretted its war on Iraq and Afghanistan. The Americans faced fierce resistance and suffered extremely heavy material and moral losses in Iraq and Afghanistan. Therefore, they cannot invade Pakistan at all. The US policy is to try to find pretexts and divert attention from the mistakes that they have made and which they continue to make. The fact is that neither the United States nor Karzai can invade Pakistan or launch a war against it. The current circumstances are different; they are not like the previous circumstances.

[Zaydan] Now 10 years after the fall of the Taliban Movement in Afghanistan, what are the conditions of the Taliban Movement? Where is its strength? How do you view the future?

[Rahmani] God be praised, Taliban Movement continues to exist in Afghanistan, its country and its homeland, with its well known strength and its strong determination. Its strength continues to exist. However, the administration and conditions are unlike the conditions and administration of the past as far as the regime in Afghanistan is concerned. This is very clear to the world. Confidence in the Taliban military strength continues to exist. Taliban continues to control Afghan areas. The Movement has appointed an amir of its own in each province. In addition, large groups of Mujahidin, both from the new and veteran commanders, are working under the command of the Movement and they are trained and armed and they have extensive, new and old, experience in various arts of war. Their presence serves the Movement and it is very obvious to the people. They all can see that the Taliban power continues to exist. This perplexes the infidel world powers that are allied with the United States and which Taliban overcame with God's help.

[Zaydan] The question now is where is Mullah Mohammad Omar? How do you describe your relations with him? How are decisions made in the Afghan Taliban Movement?

[Rahmani] The Prince of the Faithful, the mujahid Mullah Mohammad Omar, is present and is in good health. He guides us and issues instructions, and we work by his advice and orders. We are under his banner but we do not reveal the place where he lives. We do not reveal this to anyone. There is no need to do that. But our contacts with him are very strong. We can contact him whenever we want. Contacts exist and coordination is available and there are no problems. All our work proceeds in accordance with his directives and orders.

[Zaydan] How do you make decisions in the Taliban Movement? What is Taliban's chain of administration? Is there a Shura Council, military committees, political committees? What is the nature of the decisionmaking process in the Taliban Movement?

[Rahmani] Concerning the Taliban administrative order, there is a coordinated, arranged, and well organized administration that manages the affairs of the Movement in Afghanistan in a practical, systematic, organized, and coordinated manner. There is a Higher Shura Council of which I am a member. It includes only 19 figures because three have been killed. There are other necessary administrations such as the information section, which takes care of the information and the dissemination of news to people through bulletins, directives, and other necessary instructions, which we think are basic requirements because they take much of our attention and concentration.

[Zaydan] What is the administrative divisions of the Taliban Movement? Is there a Shura Council? How many members the Council has, and who participates in it?

[Rahmani] There is a high level and effective Shura Council, including 22 members of the Taliban Movement. Some take care of political affairs and media affairs. Some take care of the affairs of the detainees and some take care of politics, the prisoners, and detainees, especially after the attempt to free the Qandahar Prison detainees. We are working to free our prisoners using whatever resources and tools at our disposal.

[Zaydan] How many Taliban Movement fighters are there?

[Rahmani] You are aware that Taliban in Afghanistan and the Afghans in general are efficient and have great experience in jihad. Their experience in jihad goes back to the jihad against the Soviets. These capabilities and skills were enhanced after the US invasion of our country. The Taliban confronted the Americans and their injustice and are prepared to continue this jihad. If I said that our mujahidin are numbered in hundreds of thousands I would not be paltering with the truth or changing the facts. The reason is that each Afghan is a mujahidin and all of them are fighting against the Americans in each village and town. Some have the spirit of jihad and whenever necessary you will find others ready to fight. If you want figures, the number is very big.

[Zaydan] Let us talk about the Qandahar Prison operation. Were there prominent names among the freed prisoners? How do you evaluate the operation of freeing the Qandahar prisoners?

[Rahmani] The issue is that every operation that Taliban mounts will be important if it is launched against infidelism, especially with regard to the Taliban detainees who are being subjected to all kinds of injustice. Therefore, Taliban considered that an attack against the prison and freeing the detainees would be important. It prepared for this operation 60 mujahidin riding on motorcycles, and prepared boobytrapped vehicles to carry out suicide attacks. The attack began at night with a truck driven by a suicide bomber. He parked it outside the prison gate. The suicide bomber abandoned the truck and detonated it by remote control, so he escaped death.

After the explosion, another group took over the task of freeing the prisoners, including important members of the Taliban Movement. All the Movement members are important. Some of them have experience in suicide bombings and some have experience in kidnap operations and other fields. I mean that there could have been important persons among them.

After that a group joined in the attack and took the freed prisoners to safe places. In the first explosion, between 18 and 19 of the prison's military guards were killed. After the prisoners left, security forces arrived to rescue the guards and the injured and evacuate the dead. They included senior officers. Another mujahidin from the Taliban fighters, who was wearing a military uniform and driving a military vehicle from the security vehicles, attacked them with his boobytrapped vehicle and detonated it in their midst. All of those who were present in this place were killed. It is strange that those who arrived to give first aid to the killed and injured from the government forces also perished. It was a unique operation. Enemies and friends alike would testify to its greatness.

[Zaydan] Were there important figures among those who were released?

[Rahmani] As I have said, each of the mujahidin is important for us, especially the experts among them in various fields, in terms of kidnap operations, as well as those who have military skills and experience in suicide operations. They included important persons, like these, in various domains. I do not want to go into details.

[Zaydan] After the Qandahar Prison operation there was the Arghandab operation. What is the link between the two operations and why did the Taliban Movement appear with this strength, deploying fighters in the street? What is the link between the Qandahar Prison attack and the Arghandab operation?

[Rahmani] In fact the mujahidin are always in a state of jihad. They always think of jihad and they never rest. After the attack against the prison and freeing the prisoners, the released men were on their way and some of them had not yet arrived at safe places. Thus, the mujahidin began fighting in the Arghandab to cover their withdrawal. The mujahidin had attacked the same area a year ago and launched several attacks against this area before that. At this particular time they mounted another attack. They carried big and successful operations, inflicted immense losses on the enemy, and killed a large number, about 60-90, of enemy soldiers, and destroyed about 15 enemy tanks.

These operations were within their comprehensive policy aimed at providing cover for the freed ones and taking them to safe places. God be praised, this operation greatly helped in attaining this aim. The enemy was preoccupied in fighting Taliban in Arghandab and was unable to pursue the freed prisoners. Naturally, this operation was planned and implemented by the Taliban heroes. It is one of the comprehensive and coordinated operations by the Movement, and such operations will be targeting important places and strategic centers in the city. Many will hear about great and strategic operations in the future which will cause great concern to the enemies at home and abroad.

[Zaydan] Let us talk about the financing of the Afghan Taliban Movement. Where do you get your financial support, supplies, and backing? What is the source of your financing in the Taliban Movement?

[Rahmani] You are aware that Taliban and every sincere Muslim do not depend on worldly and financial means alone. They provide and prepare material and financial means, as well as their resources and capabilities, for fighting and jihad. We are not ordered to prepare resources similar to the resources that are available to the enemies, in terms of arms and money, otherwise there will be no need to fight. The Taliban mujahidin rebelled against such policies. They are fighting using what they have in their possession, and all Muslims are aware of the injustice and aggressions that were perpetrated against the Taliban and the Afghan people. We will not forget the role played by the Muslim contributors who use their money against infidelism and the infidels. All Muslims sympathize with us, God be praised, by money, by their souls, or by their prayers.

[Zaydan] According to your estimates at the Taliban Movement, what losses have the US forces and the international alliance in all of Afghanistan sustained since the fall of Kabul? What were the losses of the Americans and the Westerners in Afghanistan -- both dead and wounded?

[Rahmani] It is well known that the Americans and the Crusaders are facing vehement resistance and jihad, the like of which they had never seen before. We cannot give specific and accurate figures about the dead of the Crusaders or their losses. However, the Americans and allied forces have perhaps lost 8,000 so far, and perhaps 10,000 or more of them were wounded. As for the Taliban losses, they are between 5,500 and 6,000 martyrs. As for the losses of the people in general, they are many and cannot be counted. The enemies destroyed many villages and homes. The number of dead civilians is estimated at 8,000 martyrs. Naturally all these figures are approximate. The numbers cannot be accurately ascertained.

[Zaydan] With regard to Usama Bin Ladin, are you in the Afghan Taliban Movement regretting your failure to deliver Usama Bin Ladin or your failure to expel him from Afghanistan? Have you and the Afghan people not been suffering all of these troubles because of this decision? I will hear your answer after the break.

Dear viewers, a short break and then we will be back with Mullah Mohammad Hasan Rahmani, personal adviser to the Afghan Movement's Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and member of the Afghan Taliban Movement's Higher Shura Council. [break]

Dear viewers welcome to Today's Encounter with Mullah Mohammad Hasan Rahmani. I have asked you before the break about your decision not to deport Usama Bin Ladin or hand him over to the Americans. You could have spared the Afghan people all the tragedies from which they are suffering now. Do you regret this decisions? asan Rahmani.

[Rahmani] You are aware that the Taliban are mujahidin who have strong faith and belief. They are fighting for the sake of this faith. Therefore, how can the mujahidin regret their decision not to hand over Usama Bin Ladin? One of the basic principles of our faith and belief is to preserve every Muslim from infidelism and save him from infidelism and the infidels. It is unreasonable for us to regret this, and we cannot think of regretting having refrained from handing him over to the enemy. We are proud of him and we are proud because he stood in the face of infidelism and the infidels and because of his confrontation of the enemies of Islam. We will not agree to hand over Shaykh Usama or other Muslims to infidelism and the infidels. We will never deliver any Muslim under any circumstances. This will never happen.

[Zaydan] How do you describe your relations with Usama Bin Ladin now? Where is he? Do you have any relations with him? What relations do you have with the Al-Qa'ida Organization? Do they participate in the battles that you are waging against the Western forces in Afghanistan?

[Rahmani] Usama Bin Ladin is a great mujahidin and we can never reveal his place or where he lives under any circumstances. It is well known that a Muslim is the brother of all other Muslims. Muslims support each other. They are united. Our source of strength is the support of Muslims. All Muslims cooperate with us and we need them. Muslims share with us our jihad, by their money, their bodies, and their prayers. We need the support of all Muslims. Shaykh Usama is in good health and we pray to God to preserve him and frustrate the enemies of the Islamic nation in their endeavors to reach him and locate his position.

[Zaydan] How is your relationship with the Pakistan Taliban? Baitullah Mahsud says his commander is Mullah Mohammed Omar. How is your relationship with the Pakistan Taliban, and how do you view the Pakistan Taliban's movements and actions?

[Rahmani] Muslims are brothers. Their aim and enemy are the same. Therefore, Muslims are united. Together they face one enemy. There is no division or difference between the Pakistan Taliban and the Afghan Taliban. They are one power. If they like to say that their commander is Mullah Omar then they can say so. He is their commander. We are Muslims and they are also Muslims. They can reach us whenever they want and very easily. They stood by us and are prepared to stand by us at all times. Our links are the same and they can participate with us in our jihad because it is the jihad of the [Muslim] nation, and they can do that whenever they want. Our relations are very strong.

[Zaydan] Do you support the peace treaties that were signed by the Pakistan Taliban fighters and the Pakistan Government? Do you back these treaties?

[Rahmani] There is nothing like establishing security in the country. We have been aware from the beginning that in Pakistan there had never been war between the government and anyone else in the past. However, since the Americans entered Afghanistan and bombed homes, schools, and residential areas, Pakistan Taliban and the people were forced to confront and fight the Americans. Therefore, they were forced to confront the Pakistan Government, but the loser was the government and the real enemy was the United States. All these things were carried out through the tricks and deception of the Americans. Therefore, the latest treaty to stop fighting and establish peace and security has been a positive step. We support and back this step because we do not want a war between Pakistan and the Muslim people in Pakistan because such a war makes the Crusaders live in safety and security.

[Zaydan] What is the nature of your relationship with Hekamtyar's Hizb-e Islami, Jalaluddin Haqqani, and others?

[Rahmani] According to our experience, we appreciate and thank all those who support us against infidelism and corruption. We appreciate the support of all Muslims and recognize their noble stand. We need them and we appreciate all those who supported Muslims and stood by them against infidelism and the infidels.

[Zaydan] A conference was held in Paris to collect donations and rebuild Afghanistan. The states that participated in this conference pledged to contribute billions of dollars. How does the Taliban Movement view this issue?

[Rahmani] These states come to Afghanistan, and announcements are issued that billions of dollars have been contributed. In fact the money that are announced for Afghanistan and the Afghan people deceive the Afghan people with the aim of fomenting wars among them. Meanwhile, the money is spent to serve the Americans and the Afghan government but nothing reaches the Afghan public at all. The money that was mentioned at the Paris conference goes to the Americans and their collaborator and treasonous administrations and they spend them in an unfair manner. They will not meet the needs of the people at all. They are spent, as the previous money was spent, to satisfy their pleasures and desires, on their luxury and as monthly salaries and administrative purposes. They disappear into their pockets. Conferences were held in London, Japan, and elsewhere and it was announced that huge sums of money would come to Afghanistan. But what was the result? Further suffering for the Afghan people and more money in the pockets and accounts of the collaborators. The people's suffering increases in all fields of services.

[Zaydan] How do you view stands like those of Rabbani and Sayyaf and their alliance with Karzai?

[Rahmani] Rabbani, Sayyaf, and their ilk announced at the beginning that they were against infidelism and the infidels but after they acquired money, power, mundane pleasures, and ill-gotten gains. They were deceived by the pleasures and temptations of this mundane world. They started working in pursuit of these pleasures and they stood by infidelism and the infidels.

We totally reject all these kinds of policies. We reject them because when someone declares that he supports jihad and the mujahidin and then stands by the infidels to realize his personal interests, he will not find a single Muslim to stand by him. He will not find anyone to approve of his deeds in any way whatsoever.

[Zaydan] What is the nature of your relations with the Iraqi resistance? Do you have contacts with them? Do you cooperate with the Iraqi resistance?

[Rahmani] You are aware of the role of the Iraqis in the Afghan jihad. Their relations are good with Taliban of Afghanistan. The Muslims who are fighting in Iraq generally have good relations with Taliban and we have strong ties with them. Based on this, and because of our ties of brotherhood, our relations are good. We extend assistance to them as much as we can. This cooperation is continuing.

[Zaydan] What is the nature of this cooperation?

[Rahmani] Our relations include exchanging experience and advice. Without going into details, I would say that we cooperate with them in all fields of jihad that benefit both of us.

[Zaydan] How do you view your ties with Iran and Pakistan?

[Rahmani] No country should take sides with a certain party or group but it must consider the public interests. However, since Pakistan and Iran are neighbors of Afghanistan, they must consider the public interests of the Afghan people. They must not stand with a certain side but must care for the needs and concerns of the people. This relationship should not be based on certain individuals; it must not be a personal relationship. This will not serve the political stability of the region. We ask Iran and Pakistan to stand by the Afghan people; we ask them to help these oppressed people.

[Zaydan] Dear viewers, at the end of this interview, we thank Mullah Mohammad Hasan Rahmani, personal adviser to the Afghan Taliban Movement's Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, and member of the Afghan Taliban Movement's Higher Shura Council, Thank you.

[Description of Source: Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic -- Independent Television station financed by the Qatari Government]

Pakistan: Security Forces Search Militants in Taliban Leader's Seminary in FATA

SAP20080730101001 Lahore Daily Times Online in English 30 Jul 08

[Report by staff reporter: "Forces raid Haqqanis madrassa in N Waziristan"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

MIRANSHAH: Security forces on Tuesday conducted a search of madrassa of a top Taliban commander, Jalaluddin Haqqani, in the North Waziristan Agency but no arrests were made, a security official said.

Hundreds of Frontier Corps and Levies personnel raided Mumba-e-Uloom and carried out the search for two hours from 2pm to 4pm, but found it to be abandoned. The seminary is located in Danday Darpa Khel, half a kilometre north of Miranshah, the agency headquarters.

The search, the first of its kind in a year after a peace agreement was signed with militants in the area, was carried out after reports that militants had taken shelter in the building.

Jalaluddin Haqqani is a prominent Taliban commander who fought during the 10-year war against the former Soviet Union. He also served as a minister in the 1996-2001 Taliban government.

Meanwhile, Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur appointed Shamsullah as the new commander of the South Waziristan Agency after the killing of Mitha Khan two weeks ago.

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times Online in English -- Website of the independent, moderate daily, run by veteran journalist Najam Sethi and published by the Friday Times group. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated hardcopy circulation of 20,000; URL: ]

AFP: Pakistan Denies Intelligence Aided in Kabul Blast

JPP20080801063002 Hong Kong AFP in English 1327 GMT 01 Aug 08

[Danny Kemp]

ISLAMABAD, Aug 1, 2008 (AFP) - Pakistan on Friday angrily rejected a report that the United States has accused Islamabad's main spy agency of helping to plan a fatal bombing at India's embassy in Kabul last month.

The New York Times report comes amid growing signs of a rift between Washington and Pakistsan's Inter-Service Intelligence that could affect efforts to tackle Taliban and Al-Qaeda [Al-Qa'ida] militants.

Citing unnamed officials, the Times said intercepted communications had provided clear evidence that the ISI was involved in the July 7 suicide attack on the Indian mission, which killed around 60 people.

"It's rubbish. We totally deny it," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told AFP.

"This is a baseless allegation that the New York Times keeps on recycling using anonymous sources. These stories always die afterwards because there is no proof," Sadiq said, speaking from a regional summit in Sri Lanka.

Pakistani military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said the report was "malicious propaganda".

"It is meant to defame ISI," Abbas told AFP. "This is a national institution which is vital for security. The ISI's role in fighting terrorism and extremism is exceptional."

India and Afghanistan have already accused Pakistan's shadowy spy agency, which backed the hardline 1996-2001 Taliban regime, of masterminding the embassy bombing.

Amid the rising tensions, the prime ministers of India and Pakistan are set to meet at the eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit opening on Saturday.

The Times and Wall Street Journal reported that US officials believe the embassy attack was conducted by forces loyal to Afghan militant Jalaluddin Haqqani, who is tied to Al-Qaeda and based in Pakistan's tribal belt.

The Times did not specify what assistance ISI allegedly provided to Haqqani but said that intelligence officals involved appeared to be acting on orders from above.

"The Indians are absolutely convinced it's true, and they're right," an unnamed US official told the Wall Street Journal.

The Times said intercepts had provided "the clearest evidence to date that Pakistani intelligence officers are actively undermining American efforts to combat militants in the region."

Officials also told the paper that the ISI was feeding militants in the tribal areas information about the US military efforts, helping them avoid missile strikes.

On Wednesday, the Times reported that a senior CIA official confronted Pakistani officials this month with evidence of ties between the ISI and Haqqani.

Pakistan's army also denied that report, saying it was "unfounded, baseless and malicious."

The ISI has long been accused by Kabul and New Delhi of maintaining ties to militant groups it supported during fights against the Soviets and India, while also helping the Americans with the occasional arrest of a top Al-Qaeda figure.

Any rift between the US and Pakistani intelligence agencies reflects deepening US frustration over Islamabad's role in a worsening insurgency in Afghanistan, analysts said Thursday.

"We need to know whose side the army and the ISI really are on," Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer who has long experience with Pakistani intelligence, told AFP.

The new intelligence "confirmed some suspicions that I think were widely held," one State Department official told the Times of the intercepted communications. "It was sort of this 'aha' moment. There was a sense that there was finally direct proof."

The paper said Pakistan was "no longer a fully reliable American partner" and that President George W. Bush on Monday confronted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani about the divided loyalties of the ISI.

According to the Times, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar told a Pakistani television network that Bush asked Pakistani officials, "Who is in control of ISI?"

str-dk/pst

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Militant Leader Denies Links Between Taliban in Pakistan, Afghanistan

SAP20080806098002 Lahore Daily Times Online in English 06 Aug 08

[Daily Times Monitor report: "'Afghan Taliban have no link with TTP'"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

LAHORE: A militant leader associated with Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani has said that the Afghan Taliban have no links with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), reported Dawn News on Tuesday. The channel quoted the TTP militant as saying that the Afghan Taliban were operating independently and had no links with the Taliban working in Pakistan's Tribal Areas. He rejected as propaganda speculation that the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan were working under one command, the channel reported.

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times Online in English -- Website of the independent, moderate daily, run by veteran journalist Najam Sethi and published by the Friday Times group. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated hardcopy circulation of 20,000; URL: ]

Pakistan: Militants Plan To Jointly Fight Coalition Forces in Afghanistan

SAP20080811105019 Karachi Ummat in Urdu 09 Aug 08 p 4

[Report by Muhammad Qasim: "Talks Between Taliban And Hizb-e Islami To Form Joint Military Command"]

Peshawar -- Well-known Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani has initiated efforts to forge a joint military command of the Hizb-e Islami [HI] and the Taliban against the coalition forces in Afghanistan. In the first phase of the process his son, Sirajuddin Haqqani, has held talks with two well-known HI commanders, Mansur and Kashmir Khan, at an unidentified place in the Eastern Afghanistan.

According to sources, during the talks it was discussed that the war for the occupation of Afghanistan is causing damage to the resisting militants, and that the policy of individual resistance is also not yielding the desired results. Sirajuddin requested the HI commanders to speak to their top leadership about the matter and propose the formation of a joint military command.

According to the sources, the HI commanders agreed on the need to form a joint military command; however, they voiced their opposition to the policy of occupying a territory and burning down the schools therein, after the successful operation. They said that the matter would be further negotiated if the Taliban were willing to change their strategy on the two points mentioned above.

They also made HI's desire to have the command of resisting militants in the Eastern Afghanistan explicit, and suggested that the Taliban should be given the command the resisting militants in the South-Eastern and Western Afghanistan, leaving Laghman and Central Afghanistan under the command of the resistant fighters of the Hizb-e Islami-Khalis. The HI commanders have also made it clear to Sirajuddin that the condition made by some of the former Taliban leaders, demanding the chief and other commanders of the HI to commit themselves to Mulla Umar's leadership, will not be discussed.

To form a joint command, the militants need to concentrate on driving out the coalition forces from Afghanistan. A concrete strategy will be devised to achieve this end. The HI sources, when contacted, expressed the ignorance about such a meeting. However, other sources have confirmed it, and have said that it is about time that all mujahideen form a joint military command to carry out their operations under a mutually agreed strategy.

[Description of Source: Karachi Ummat in Urdu -- Sensationalist, pro-Usama Bin Ladin Urdu daily. Harshly critical of the US, Israel, and India. Propagates Muslim unity to counter US/Western influence. Circulation 20,000. Editor-publisher Rafiq Afghan is an Afghan war veteran.]

French Soldiers Describe Confusion, Friendly Fire in Afghanistan Ambush

EUP20080820177011 Paris LeMonde.fr in French 21 Aug 08

[Report by Jacques Follorou: "Wounded Soldiers Tell of Ambush, Combats, Mistakes"]

Kabul -- In the evening of Monday 18 August France experienced its first heavy losses in Afghanistan during an ambush that cost the lives of ten French soldiers and left 21 of their comrades wounded. According to a military source based in Kabul, the fighting lasted from 1330 until nightfall. The last wounded were evacuated at around two in the morning on Tuesday.

The ten soldiers who died were from the 8th RPIMa [Marine Infantry Paratroop Regiment], based in Castres (Tarn), the 2nd REP [Foreign Paratroop Regiment], based in Cali (Upper Corsica), and the RMT [Chad Regiment de marche], based in Noyon (Oise).

As soon as the deaths were announced officially, Nicolas Sarkozy sought to justify the presence and dispatch of French troops on Afghan soil. "The cause is just," declared the French president. "It is the honor of France and its armed forces to defend it. On behalf of all the French, I renew the trust of the nation in our armed forces to fulfill their mission." At the same time, when interviewed by Agence France-Presse, a Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack. "This morning," declared Zabihullah Mujahed, "we set a trap for NATO troops in the Saroubi district with the aid of mines and rockets. We destroyed five vehicles and inflicted heavy losses."

The operation in which the soldiers were engaged was part of the extended mandate of French troops in Afghanistan, and in Kapisa Province in particular, a decision made by President Sarkozy following the NATO summit in Bucharest in early April. Soldiers from the 8th RPIMa, who arrived in Afghanistan on 23 July, were in the vanguard of a convoy, one that also included Afghan Army troops and US Army special forces, charged with regaining control of a zone abandoned to insurgents and lying between the provinces of Kabul and Kapisa.

Within the NATO command structure, in Kabul, it was confirmed Tuesday evening that the convoy's mission was to secure a road previously regarded as dangerous and little traveled between the districts of Saroubi, lying within a part of Kabul where French troops have been present since 2002, and Tag Ab, in the neighboring province of Kapisa to which the new contingent sent out by France this summer was dispatched.

This winding and endless road is ideal for ambushes and is in itself of little strategic interest as there are other roads into this region that is known as Kohistan. One can note simply the presence of a dam in the Saroubi district. This mission consisted of establishing a link between two provinces that are now under control of the French.

Speaking at a press conference in Paris, General Jean-Louis Goergelin, the army chief of staff, spoke of what he described as a "well organized trap." "When we arrived close to a pass, the section chief had the lead element of his section disembark to reconnoiter the site on foot." It was at that moment that "the sustained fire" of attackers surprised the patrol. "The section chief was immediately wounded in the shoulder, which contributed to the disorganization," added General Gerorgelin who described the attack as a "classic ambush plan." There then followed "a series of combats that lasted until late into the evening, on terrain that was extremely favorable to the enemy," said the general, while "air support was provided by the coalition."

This official account nevertheless seems very incomplete when compared with the accounts given by French soldiers wounded in the ambush who spoke with Le Monde Wednesday morning in Kabul.

These soldiers said the number of victims was due to the slow reaction by the command and serious coordination problems. The reconnaissance unit charged with approaching the pass on foot remained under enemy fire "for nearly four hours without reinforcements." "We had no more ammunition to defend ourselves with weapons other than our Famas [assault rifles]," said one of the wounded soldiers.

The wounded soldiers also claim that NATO air strikes supposed to enable the besieged soldiers to escape from the ambush missed their target and hit the French soldiers, as did shots fired by Afghan soldiers positioned further down. Radio communications were cut with the RMT, creating great frustration among the soldiers trapped on the pass.

"When we arrived at a distance of 50 meters from the line of peaks," explained one soldier, "the shooting began. It did not stop for six hours. The attackers included marksmen, they outnumbered us, and they were waiting for us. We heard them reloading their weapons."

The survivors of the attack also had questions regarding the absence of a rapid response force being placed on standby as is usual for this kind of risk mission. "It takes nearly three hours to reach the pass, enough time for the Taliban to be warned by their accomplices of our arrival."

Contrary to the official version, the victims were not all killed by the initial enemy fire but in the course of the clashes.

The area where the ambush took place, located north of Kabul, was long under the control of the Islamist movement Hezb-e-Islami, headed by warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. This organization is still present but the radical Islamist presence has become more diversified. Like Jalaluddin Haqqani in eastern Afghanistan, Hekmatyar moved from resistance to the Russian Army to fighting alongside Mullah Omar's Taliban movement.

It is this coalition of insurgents, Afghan Talibans and Hekmatyar fighters, allies of the Pakistani Taliban and of Al-Qa'ida that set the fatal trap for the French soldiers.

[Description of Source: Paris LeMonde.fr in French -- Website of Le Monde, leading center-left daily; URL: ]

Asia Times: 'Militants Ready for Pakistan's War'

CPP20080825715003 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0952 GMT 22 Aug 08

[By Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Militants Ready for Pakistan's War"; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - Pakistan has two options. The country can give in to militancy or it can conduct military operations against it, influential advisor to the Interior Ministry, Rahman Malik, said on Thursday. And the government is not going to negotiate with militants, he added.

His remarks follow a suicide bomb attack outside the country's main defense industry complex at Wah, 30 kilometers northwest of the capital Islamabad, which killed as many as 100 people. The Pakistani Taliban immediately claimed responsibility, saying the attack was in response to the military's recent air bombardment of Bajaur Agency, which led to the displacement of 250,000 people.

Rahman's comments amount to a declaration of war on growing Islamic militancy, but it could be that the new civilian Pakistani leadership is steering the "war on terror" in the wrong direction.

Rahman's remarks cannot be dismissed as a knee-jerk reaction in the heat of the moment. Only a few hours before the suicide attack, the chief minister of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Amir Haider Khan Hoti, announced in a policy statement that even if militants shunned violence and laid down their weapons, they would not be pardoned.

Similarly, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, who spoke to US President George W Bush by telephone on Thursday morning, rejected any possibility of dialogue with militants.

In the wake of Pervez Musharraf, who retired as president on Monday after flip-flopping on the country's approach to militancy for many years, the American-sponsored coalition of the willing in Islamabad appears ready for all-out war at any cost.

Ironically, this uncharacteristically clear Pakistani policy emerges as the political quagmire in the capital deepens. Former premier Nawaz Sharif has threatened to pull his Pakistan Muslim League out of the ruling coalition if judges sacked by Musharraf last year are not reinstated. He set a deadline for next Wednesday. The other main coalition partners, the Pakistan People's Party, the Awami National Party and the Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam, said they would put the matter to parliament for debate, a proposal Sharif is not keen on.

Who do they intend to fight?

The government's approach will be different from that adopted by Musharraf when he signed onto the "war on terror" in 2001, officials in Pakistan's top strategic circles tell Asia Times Online.

Then, Musharraf, who was also chief of army staff, acted as he saw fit, often not to the liking of Washington, which often accused Islamabad of dragging its feet in the fight against Taliban and al-Qaeda militancy.

The new elected government is expected to be an active partner in the South Asian war theater and its military will help the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The coordination will be similar to that between Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government and NATO.

NATO command will identify problem areas and Pakistan will hit those targets. A plan, drawn up between the Americans and Pakistan in 2007, will be implemented under which Peshawar, capital of NWFP, will serve as a base camp from where, under American guidance, the Taliban's bases will be targeted. The Taliban use these bases to launch operations into Afghanistan.

Channels have also been established for the US Embassy in Islamabad to coordinate with the Pakistani government. As a sign of the renewed goodwill, the US Embassy has announced US$50,000 as immediate aid relief for the people displaced from Bajaur. Other financial packages are expected to follow.

Up until 2007, under Musharraf, Pakistan made a clear distinction between the Taliban, al-Qaeda, the Takfiris (those who believe non-practicing Muslims are infidels) among al-Qaeda and criminal gangs who became a part of the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

The Taliban were viewed as a phenomenon spanning the southwestern Pashtun lands from Pakistan's Balochistan province to Afghanistan's provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Urzgan and Zabul. This is the heartland of the Taliban in which leader Mullah Omar and majority of his shura (council) live.

They have never troubled Pakistan and have not tried to impose sharia law or interfere in Shi'ite-Sunni feuds or meddle with the thousands of Hindus living in the border town of Chaman. These are the "real" Taliban and the core of the resistance fighting against the foreign occupation of Afghanistan.

Pakistan has never conducted any military operations against the Taliban in Balochistan - one NATO's main complaints.

In NWFP, the problem was more complex. There are Taliban such as Jalaluddin Haqqani steering the insurgency in Afghanistan, and Pakistan has never tried to target his outfit, despite repeated NATO requests.

Top al-Qaeda leaders also live here and in the tribal regions on the border with Afghanistan. They are not specifically anti-Pakistan and there was until 2007 a tacit agreement with the Pakistani security forces that they would be left alone. American intelligence was given a free hand to arrest them - al-Qaeda members had to look after themselves, with Pakistan acting more like a referee.

However, the Takfiris, who include aging Egyptian Sheikh Essa's group, are a different story. Pakistan has made a clear distinction with them, including Uzbeks under the command of Qari Tahir Farooq (Tahir Yaldeshiv) and has gone after them with its proxies in the tribal areas. The same went for Pakistani criminal groups such as the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, who joined the Takfiri camp, or camps under Pakistani Taliban Baitullah Mehsud, who is very close to the Takfiris.

Pakistan's relations with the Pakistani Taliban have depended on which leader they followed. If they were part of Mullah Omar's or Jalaluddin Haqqani's groups, they were left alone; if they were part of the Takfiri groups, the treatment was different.

In essence, this was Pakistan's war, and it fought it on its own terms, which was only partially beneficial to NATO. Under the new leadership, Pakistan's participation in the "war on terror" will be more for the benefit of NATO.

This could come at a very high cost. Those militants who were previously left alone will now be targets. In turn, they will conduct operations against Pakistan.

Osama bin Laden does not have the resources he had in 1989, when he tried to finance Nawaz Sharif to dethrone Benazir Bhutto's government (See The pawns who pay as powers play Asia Times Online, June 2, 2005). But his people certainly have ties within the security forces to allow them to launch operations like the failed one in the mid-1990s against Bhutto's government.

Last year, Bin Laden appointed an Amir of Khuruj (Revolt) for Pakistan, but he died of illness early this year. He has been replaced by Khalid Habib, a Moroccan, and he is now on standby for orders.

Thursday's attack at Wah is a portend of what lies in store for the country. That attack, although claimed by the Pakistan Taliban, was carried out by Pakistani criminal gangs with religious orientations and allied with the Takfiris.

Al-Qaeda has executed high-profile attacks, such as the assassination of Benazir Bhutto last December and the one on Bagram base in Kabul during US Vice President Dick Cheney's 2007 visit.

Should the Pakistani government really commit to its all-out war on militants, it will feel more of such wrath.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. URL: ]

Over 20 feared killed in US attack in Pakistan tribal area

SAP20080908950012 Karachi Geo TV website in English 08 Sep 08

C:

Text of report by leading private Pakistani satellite TV channel Geo News website on 8 September

Miranshah [North Waziristan]: Over 20 people reportedly killed and several injured during missile attack by US drones near Miranshah in North Waziristan on Monday [8 September].

Sources said that the US drones fired ten guided missiles at a house and madarssah [seminary] of son of Afghan commander Jalaluddin Haqqani in Danday Darpakhel area near Miranshah.

More than 20 people have been killed and dozens injured reportedly in the attack. Women and children are also included among the killed and injured.

The injured have been shifted to Miranshah headquarter hospital and other nearby hospitals.

[Description of Source: Karachi Geo TV website in English ]

Pakistan: Three killed in Waziristan in Attack Allegedly by 'US Spy Planes'

SAP20080908027001 Karachi Dawn News in English 0600 GMT 08 Sep 08

At least three people have been killed and 15 injured, including women and children, as missiles hit a madrassa in the Dandi Darpakhel area of North Waziristan. Sources say 6-7 missiles were fired by a US spy plane on a madrassa in the area. Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani's residence and madrassa are also located in Dandi Darpakhel area which could be a target of the missile attack. The dead and the injured are being shifted to a nearby hospital. A steep surge is being witnessed in cross-border strikes in Waziristan by the coalition forces based in Afghanistan. Such attacks have claimed several civilian lives in the past few days.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn News in English -- Pakistan's first 24-hour English language TV channel owned by the Dawn Group of Newspapers.]

AFP: Officials Say Suspected US Missile Strike Kills 21 in Pakistan

JPP20080908147008 Hong Kong AFP in English 1446 GMT 08 Sep 08

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Sept 8, 2008 (AFP) - At least 21 people including women and children were killed Monday in a missile strike by suspected US drones on a Pakistan tribal town near the Afghan border, officials told AFP.

The drones fired several missiles that hit a house near a madrassa or Islamic seminary in North Waziristan, the officials said, in the fourth such strike in the rugged tribal region in almost a week.

"Seven civilians and 14 militants have died in the missile strike," an intelligence official said, hours after the 11am (0500 GMT) strike.

Women and children were among the dead, as well as the militants, including nine "foreigners" believed to be of Arab origin.

A security official told AFP that more than 25 people had been wounded.

"The latest casualties include an important Arab militant identified as just Hamza and two other Arabs identified as Musa and Qasim," the official said but was unable to give full names immediately.

Some of the injured are in critical condition, hospital officials said.

Foreigner is a term used by Pakistan authorities for Al Qaeda [Al-Qa'ida] militants.

The drones were apparently targeting the house or the madrassa established by former Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani during the 1978-88 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, residents said.

Haqqani, who was a close aid to fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar, has not been seen since the fall of the hardline regime in Afghanistan in 2001.

Residents said two pilotless aircraft circled over Dande Darpakhel, three kilometres (about two miles) north of the region's main town of Miranshah, before at least one drone fired several missiles.

On Friday, three children and two women were killed in the same region during a suspected strike by a pilotless aircraft.

At least five militants were also killed the day before when a missile fired from an unmanned plane hit a house in the North Waziristan village of Mohammad Khel, officials said.

The latest strike follows Pakistani claims that US-led forces based in Afghanistan killed 15 people in a border village in neighbouring South Waziristan district last week.

That attack was condemned by Pakistan's parliament and the foreign minister who issued a tough statement calling the incident "shameful" and stating that only women and children had been targeted.

Around 3,000 Pakistani tribesmen chanted "Allahu akbar" and "death to America" in Wana, the district's main town, after Friday prayers to protest against that raid, which involved helicopter gunships and ground troops.

BOTh the US-led coalition and the separate NATO-led security force operating in Afghanistan have said they have no knowledge of the incident.

South Waziristan is a known haven for Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.

Missile strikes targeting militants in Pakistan in recent weeks have been blamed on US-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in Afghanistan. Pakistan does not have missile-equipped drones.

US and Afghan officials say Pakistan's tribal areas are a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who sneaked into the rugged terrain after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Pakistan: Attack on Haqqani Seminary Said Killed Al-Qai'da Leader; Family Denies

SAP20080910101001 Islamabad The News Online in English 10 Sep 08

[Report by Mushtaq Yusufzai: "Three more US attack victims succumb to injuries"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR: Amid reports of the death of al-Qaeda Pakistan chapter leader Abu Haris, three more people, who were critically injured in the Monday air strikes carried out by the CIA-operated drone on the house of veteran Afghan Taliban commander, Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani at Danday Darpakhel village near Miramshah, succumbed to injuries Tuesday.

Also, tribal as well as family sources of the Afghan commander denied reports that al-Qaeda Pakistan chapter commander Abu Haris was among several other foreigners killed in the air attack on one of Haqqani's houses at Danday Darpakhel village near Miramshah.

According to the sources, 22 people, mostly women and children belonging to the Haqqani family and some Afghan guests were killed. They said 25 people; belonging to the Haqqani family reportedly sustained critical injuries when a US drone fired six hellfire missiles on their house.

The wounded were shifted to various hospitals in Miramshah where three of them succumbed to injuries. Residents of Danday Darpakhel village said the incident occurred in the morning and some of the bodies were retrieved later in the evening due to lack of proper equipment.

They said a portion of the two-storey cemented house of Afghan commander, which was reserved for male guests, was razed to the ground. The villagers and tribal militants who rushed to the spot to take part in rescue work faced trouble with recovering the bodies and injured as some of them were lying under the heavy rubble of the collapsed roof of the building.

The dead were laid to rest later in the evening near Miramshah as it took time to the fasting villagers to dig over two dozens graves within a short time of time. According to family sources of the Afghan commander, the dead included elder sister of Jalaluddin Haqqani, his three daughters-in-law, grandsons, granddaughters and some girls of the villagers who would come there for learning the holy Qura'an and other Islamic teachings.

The family sources also admitted that some of the guests who had come from Afghanistan also died in the attack. The family, however, denied reports that senior al-Qaeda commander with a name of Abu Haris and a few others including Qasim, Musa were killed in the attack on their house.

There were reports that US forces were targeting Sirajuddin Haqqani, the 28-year old son of Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, who according to his family, along with other male members of the family was staying in Afghanistan.

However, the sources said one of Haqqani's several young sons, Yahya Haqqani, was seriously injured in the attack and was admitted to a hospital. "Besides several women, the family has lost over a dozen small children in the attack," remarked sources close to the Haqqani family, adding that several other children were still battling for life.

Meanwhile, despite repeated protests by Pakistan, US drone again on Tuesday morning violated Pakistan's airspace and flew over several villages of North Waziristan Agency. The angry tribal militants of Hamzoni village near Miramshah were seen firing shots from their heavy machine guns on the CIA-operated unmanned air vehicle (UAV) but as usual they missed the drone because of its rapidly changing positions.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Asia Times: 'Secrets of Taliban's Success'

CPP20080911715001 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 1053 GMT 10 Sep 08

[By Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Secrets of the Taliban's Success"; headline as provided by source]

Kandahar has traditionally been the city of Afghan royalty, warlords and the center of resistance movements against the British and Russia. It was also the spiritual heartland of the student militia, the Taliban, that emerged in the 1990s to combat the vicious civil war that was tearing the country apart.

The Taliban took over Kabul in 1996 and opened the country to al-Qaeda's training camps, while Osama bin Laden settled in Kandahar. After the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and the US-led invasion of Afghanistan a few months later, the Taliban agreed to lose their government but, in the tradition of the Afghan code of honor of Pashtunwali , they refused to hand over their most wanted guests to the Americans.

Seven years after 9/11, the resurgent Taliban movement is exclusively led by Kandahari clans, which still boast of their sacrifices for the Islamic brotherhood in the name of Pashtunwali , but they maintain that the Taliban have never harbored - and never will - an aggressive agenda towards the world community.

In a interview with Asia Times Online, Mullah Abdul Jalil, a pioneer of the Taliban movement in Kandahar, elaborated. "There is a lot of rhetoric out of anger and frustration against the West because of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) oppression of the Afghan people, but the Taliban leadership still strictly abides by its code of conduct for the resistance against foreign occupation forces in our country," said Jalil, who served as deputy foreign minister and foreign minister during the Taliban regime (1996-2001).

"Our code of conduct is documented in the Asasi Qanoon (Basic Law of Afghanistan). Under article 103, it is mentioned that we don't want any disruptions in any country of the world. The Taliban are only a national resistance movement against foreign occupation forces in Afghanistan," said Jalil.

Jalil, 49, hails from Kandahar and attended an Islamic seminary in Quetta, Pakistan, but did not finish his studies because of the emergence of the Afghan resistance to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Jalil is a thin, down-to-earth man, his hair and beard already snow white, which he ascribes to the years of turmoil he has witnessed in his country. He has never been a military commander, but has always been a part of Taliban leader Mullah Omar's closest inner circle and he is still proud to be one of his close confidants.

Along with the Taliban's foreign minister in 2001, Mullah Abdul Wakeel Muttawakil, Jalil was not comfortable with al-Qaeda being in the country, but when questioned on the matter he initially evaded answering with a smile, saying only that "it is unnecessary to open up controversies".

However, he did then elaborate, "Arabs are different from the Taliban. If today they boost attacks on Western targets, they do so independently. We have nothing to do with their claims. We have always limited our battle to that against NATO and although we could work in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Russia, China or Iran, we never had any role in these areas.

"Afghanistan has always been a poor country and has never had the capacity to be aggressive against anybody, nor will it do so in the future. This is exactly what Mullah Omar told the Chinese ambassador during the last days of our government in Afghanistan. Even if we provided a place for the people of Eastern Turkistan (Xinjiang province in China) because they migrated to Afghanistan, we did not fuel their (separatist Uyghur) movement from Afghanistan," Jalil insisted.

Jalil's comments did not ring true. Several Taliban commanders, including the slain Mullah Dadullah and Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, besides scores of al-Qaeda members, have maintained that the only way to win the Afghan war against NATO is to attack Western targets in Europe and America. I cited some of their statements to Jalil and asked, "Are they lying, or are you?"

"Nobody is lying. There are issues here to understand. First, there were people like Mu llah Dadullah (a senior military commander killed by NATO in 2007). He was emotional and often engaged in rhetoric - many times - different from Taliban policies, so much so that on several occasions he was warned by the Taliban leadership about his statements to the media.

"Second, it is necessary to understand that there is a sea of difference between the people who call themselves the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Taliban (led by Mehsud) and the Taliban. We have nothing to do with them. In fact, we oppose the policies they adhere to against the Pakistani security forces.

"We individually speak to all groups, whether they are Pakistanis, Kashmiris, Arabs, Uzbeks or whosoever, telling them not to create violence in Pakistan, especially in the name of the Taliban. But although we don't have any control over them, we don't allow such groups to come into our areas. None of these is involved with us in fighting against NATO troops in Afghanistan," Jalil said.

Warming to the subject, Jalil continued, "Nobody has the right to explain any war strategy on our behalf. Our strategy is decided by Mullah Bradar alone. He is the deputy of Mullah Omar and the present chief of military operations. Last year we laid down a policy of a guerrilla war. We cannot afford any mass uprising or face-to-face war, it would only cause a lot of unnecessary casualties."

"But don't you think that in this long process of a guerrilla war, especially as the Taliban don't have the latest weaponry, it would make the Afghan population sick and tired of the Taliban-led resistance?" I asked.

Jalil responded quickly, "Not at all. The Taliban emerged from Kandahar, which has a special dynamic in Afghanistan, and they have never accepted foreign occupation. The Taliban still draws its military leaders from Kandahar, and look at the history of Kandahar... when I say Kandahar I don't mean the present divisions, it means the entire regions of Helmand, Urzgan and Zabul... it has always produced the best military leaders.

"The Taliban are not a stand-alone entity. Ninety percent of the present resistance in Kandahar survives because of the masses. They provide shelter to us in their homes, feed us and provide money for us to go back and fight against the foreign forces, and they never mind if in the course of this they suffer casualties because of aerial bombardments," Jalil said. (At least 540 civilians have been killed in the conflict so far this year, a sharp increase over last year's total of 321.)

"Look, the conviction of the masses is the essential thing. The reason why there is not as strong a resistance in the north is that the people are not behind it. Certainly, people across Afghanistan are against the foreign occupation, but for a resistance (to succeed) it needs a special temperament, zeal and strength to face all sorts of hardships. Kandaharis have always shown this and that's why they are ahead of everybody in fighting against foreign troops," Jalil said.

NATO has projected divisions within the Taliban and pointed to the emergence of several former mujahideen leaders to rival the authority of Mullah Omar. Prominent among these is Jalaluddin Haqqani, Anwarul Haq Mujahid and commanders loyal to veteran Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, founder of the Hezb-e Islami (HIA).

"Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani is a very respected personality in Afghanistan, but he cannot command the resistance because of his age (58) and illnesses. He has always been a part of the Taliban shura (council) and has never parted ways with the Taliban. Now his son Sirajuddin Haqqani is a main commander, but he always coordinates his actions with the Taliban and is completely subject to the Taliban's discipline.

"Anwarul Haq Mujahid has now been officially appointed as the governor of Nangarhar province (which is under the Taliban's shadowy emirates banner) so all these (NATO) projections are wrong. As far as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is concerned, we are striving for the same cause, but we don't have any regular contact."

Jalil c ontinued, "However, let me tell you, most of the places which were previously Hezb-e Islami strongholds are completely under the Taliban's command. For instance, the HIA recently claimed the killings of (10) French soldiers in Sarobi (50 kilometers east of Kabul). Actually, it was done by Taliban commander Qari Baryal, who commands the region of Sarobi, the Tagaab Valley and up to Bagram (near Kabul). The same goes for Wardak and Kapisa (provinces), where the Taliban have largely replaced the HIA's network in the resistance."

There is widespread speculation that the Taliban might attack Kabul any day soon as they now have strong pockets all around the capital. Jalil differs, "Practically, we are in Kabul. We are in Sarobi, which is part of the Kabul district. We are in Maidan Shehr (Wardak province and just 30 kilometers east of Kabul), we are in Nangarhar, which is not far from Kabul. But at present there is no plan to mobilize any attack on Kabul. The reason is the non-availability of resources."

Given the Taliban's long and tough struggle since being ousted in 2001, I raised the issue of whether they might be tempted to compromise with former rivals, such as ethnic Tajik and former president Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani, who recently claimed to have had talks with the Taliban. Or perhaps the Taliban might even engage with the Americans or British.

"During the last (2005 parliamentary) elections, Rabbani and Professor Abdul Rab Rasool Sayyaf (a member of parliament) did speak to the Taliban through mediators. However, they wanted the Taliban's support in the elections. We rejected that idea and since then we have never communicated. We have never had dialogue with the British or with the Americans. There are individuals who have talked to them and this may have created the misunderstanding that the Taliban communicated with them," Jalil said.

I was taken aback by this response. After the US invasion, some overtures were made between the Taliban and the US Central Intelligence Agency - CIA. (See US turns to the Taliban Asia Times Online, June 14, 2003.)

Similarly, in the wake of moves to revive the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan pipeline project, an initiative began in Quetta last year (See Taliban, US in new round of peace talks Asia Times Online, August 21, 2007) which led to the idea of regional jirgas (tribal councils) to start peace talks with the Taliban. The scheme was destroyed because of the strong adverse reaction to the government storming the Taliban-sympathetic Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad last year.

"When Mullah Abdul Razzak held talks with the Americans he had left the Taliban. At that time he was completely independent that's why you cannot call it a dialogue between the CIA and the Taliban. It was purely a case of an individual act. Mullah Abdul Razzak only rejoined the Taliban one year ago. The same goes with Mansoor Dadullah or whosoever held the dialogue. They did it against the Taliban's policy." (Dadullah was later expelled from the Taliban.)

The interview was over and I broke the evening's Ramadan fast with Jalil, and suggested a photograph.

"No. This is the secret to our survival. We never allow photographs, and that is why we can move freely in Afghanistan and the tribal areas (of Pakistan) as nobody recognizes us. Especially with my white hair, nobody suspects me of being Taliban," Jalil said with a smile.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. URL: ]

BBC Monitoring Background: Conflict in Pakistan Tribal Areas

SAP20080911950028 Caversham BBC Monitoring in English 11 Sep 08

Background: Conflict in Pakistan tribal areas

Background briefing by BBC Monitoring on 11 September

Pakistan's tribal (Pashtun-majority) population lives along the border of Afghanistan in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Baluchistan province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

The FATA comprises seven Agencies and six Frontier Regions. The seven agencies are Bajaur Agency, Kurram Agency, Orakzai Agency, Mohmand Agency, Khyber Agency, North Waziristan Agency and South Waziristan Agency. The six frontier regions are Kohat, Peshawar, Bannu, Lakki, Dera Ismail Khan and Tank. The tribal areas that fall under the Baluchistan and NWFP provinces are known as the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA).

In the NWFP, the PATA include Chitral, Dir, Swat, Amb and the tribal areas in Kohistan and Manshehra districts. In Baluchistan, Zhob and Loralai districts, Dalbandin in Chagai district, Maari in Sibi district and Bugti in Sibi district comprise the PATA.

The FATA are semi-autonomous as per the Pakistani constitution. The courts of Pakistan have no jurisdiction in the FATA and laws enacted by the parliament also do not apply to these areas.

The FATA agencies are governed by Political Agents, who are appointed by the federal government. The FATA administration does not interfere in tribal affairs. According to the FATA government website: "Interference in local matters is kept to a minimum. The tribes regulate their own affairs in accordance with customary rules and unwritten codes, characterized by collective responsibility for the actions of individual tribe members and territorial responsibility for the area under their control. The government functions through local-level tribal intermediaries."

The FATA also has its own judicial system under which all civil and criminal cases in FATA are decided under the Frontier Crimes Regulation 1901 by a jerga (council of elders).

The tribal areas of Pakistan are fiercely independent and retained their freedom even under British rule. But the tribal areas have been marked by low literacy rates, scarce development funds, rigid traditions hampering development and fallout of the instability in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The region shot to prominence after the fall of the Taleban in Afghanistan in 2001, when many Taleban and Al Qai'dah leaders were said to have moved across the border to Pakistan's tribal areas. Since 2000, the tribal areas have seen a marked rise in pro-Taleban groups.

In December 2007, a local Taleban named Tehrik-i- Taleban Pakistan (TTP) emerged, which has been held responsible for several suicide blasts and attacks on Pakistan's leaders, including the one that killed former PM Benazir Bhutto in December 2007.

In June 2007, the National Security Council of Pakistan under President Pervez Musharraf decided to launch security operations to end the increasing Talebanization of Pakistan's tribal areas.

Recent clashes

Pakistan has been witnessing a resurgence in violence in several regions of its tribal areas from end-July 2008 until now. While, the nature and cause of these clashes differ from place to place and involve a variety of players, the role of the local Taleban appears to be a common link. The clashes in Kurram Agency are essentially sectarian conflicts exacerbated by the role of the Taleban. In Bajaur Agency and Swat, the ongoing clashes are a result of direct confrontation between Pakistan's armed forces and pro-Taleban militants. In North and South Waziristan strikes have been conducted by NATO forces from Afghanistan on alleged Taleban strongholds. Kurram, Bajaur and North and South Waziristan are four of the seven semi-autonomous FATAs along the border with Afghanistan. Swat is a provincially administered tribal area under the NWFP.

Kurram Agency

Clashes: At least 700 people have been killed in month-long sectarian clashes between predominant Turi and Bangash tribes. (Geo TV website, 7 September). The Shi'i Turi and Sunni Bangash groups inhabit the region in equal numbers. The origin of the recent series of clashes dates back to April 2007 when the Bangash tribe allegedly set ablaze a truck of the Turi tribe, killing one and injuring two others. (Geo TV website, 24 August). A report on 3 September in the Indian daily The Hindu said that the conflict erupted in April 2007 after Sunnis staged a rally in a town raising slogans against Hussein, the Shi'i martyr. Three days later, when the Shi'i took out a rally in protest, gunmen fired at them killing eight people. (The Hindu, 3 September)

The current round of fighting began around 8 August when Sajjad Hussain, younger brother of a National Assembly member Sajid Hussain Turi, was killed. (Dawn website, 9 August).

Taleban role: The Bangash tribe are reportedly backed by local Taleban. (The Nation 24, August). In a report on 3 September, The Hindu said that the Sunni tribes in the Kurram Agency are now controlled by the Taleban, who want to battle the Shi'i until they have control of the entire agency for additional access routes into Afghanistan.

Government role: On 15 August, the Pakistan PM's Advisor on Internal Affairs, Rehman Malik, gave a strong warning to the warring tribesmen asking them to remain peaceful or face an operation by the security forces. He set a 72-hour deadline for them to end the clashes and announced the setting up of a grand jerga of Shi'i and Sunni tribal elders to negotiate a settlement. (Associated Press of Pakistan [APP] news agency, 15 August). Six tribes, including the Turi and Bangash, announced their support for government efforts towards peace on 18 August. (Geo TV website, 18 August). However, clashes continued in the region and Geo website reported on 24 August that large number of people had migrated from Kurram due to continued fighting.

Afghan role: An Afghan government role in fuelling unrest in Kurram Agency was alleged by Bangash tribesmen after they arrested two members of the Afghan National Army. The two Afghans, the tribesman alleged, had been sent by Kabul to promote sectarian violence in Pakistan. (Khabrain, 22 August). Dawn News reported on 23 August that the tribesmen had executed one of the two arrested soldiers. The Pakistani government also alleged a foreign role in the clashes.

Cease-fire: The Turi tribe announced a cease-fire reportedly on the appeal of a peace jerga on 27 August (PTV, 27 August). The clashes continued despite the cease-fire announcement as the Bangash tribe carried on with its offensives. (The News website, 30 August). Following the cease-fire by the Turi tribe, clashes took a more direct form of fighting between anti-Taleban Qaumi Tribal Lashkar (army) and Taleban. The APP reported on 1 September that the local tribal lashkar formed to end the militancy in Kurram agency, on Monday [1 September] captured Bagzai area, stronghold of the Taleban, while six militants among nine were killed and 26 other injured in fresh clashes. The APP report also said that the local tribal elders of Kurram Agency had approached the elders of other agencies in order to convince them to make efforts for expulsion of the non-local Taleban from the Kurram Agency.

Fighting still continues in Kurram Agency with reports of over 700 deaths, including 400 pro-Taleban militants despite the unilateral cease-fire announced by Turi tribe and the federal government's ultimatum to halt the clashes, which has also long expired. The Turi tribe has also criticized the government for doing nothing to stop the influx of "outsiders". (Dawn website, 4 September)

Bajaur Agency

Military operation: Pakistani security forces launched an operation in Bajaur Agency on 6 August following reports of Taleban fighters consolidating their hold on this tribal region. In July, it was reported that Taleban had set up Islamic courts in Salarzai sub-district in Bajaur Agency. (Daily Times, 17 July). Following this, on 25 July, the Taleban reportedly captured four checkposts vacated by paramilitary troops. The checkposts on the Pakistan-Afghan border near Afghanistan's troubled Kunar Province, were vacated by the paramilitary troops due to growing attacks on military convoys by the Taleban. (The News, 26 July). The News also reported that there were fears amongst tribesmen in the region of an attack by US warplanes "as the Taleban had got control of the border areas with Afghanistan".

Taleban consolidating: The consolidation by Taleban over the tribal area was also hinted at by a report in The Nation on 26 July which said Tehrik-i-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) leader Baitullah Mehsud had "trained and lined up a whole new bunch of diehard commanders all set and ready to take on the security forces in case of any major offensive". Among these, Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, who is said to be Mehsud's deputy, hails from Bajaur. The same report also quoted a Pakistani official as saying that "TTP had become a major force in Waziristan, Bajaur and Mohmand Agencies, whereas it was increasing its influence in Khyber, Kurram and Orakzai Agencies."

Attacks: The federal government's decision to launch an operation was reported by Khyber TV on 1 August. On 5 August, a Pakistani parliamentarian from Bajaur asked the government to avoid military operation in the region and resolve disputes through tribal councils. (Khyber TV, 5 August). However, the troops began their operation on 6 August. Khyber TV reported on 8 August that Pakistani military was using its warplanes to attack Taleban camps. The fighting intensified on 10 August as Khyber TV reported that thousands of Bajaur Agency inhabitants had fled to neighbouring Mohmand Agency. The Frontier Post reported on 11 August that over 100 militants and 13 soldiers had been killed in four days of fighting in Bajaur.

Jang newspaper reported on 12 August that the alleged leader of Al-Qai'dah in Afghanistan Abu-Sa'id al-Masri alias Mustafa Abu-al-Yazid had been killed in Bajaur clashes on 8 August.

On 13 August, Daily Times reported that the Pakistani military dropped pamphlets in Utmankhel, Khar and Mamoond areas of Bajaur Agency to move to safer areas as more bombing was expected. Geo News website reported on 15 August that 135,000 had moved out of Bajaur to escape the clashes. On the same day, Daily Times quoted NWFP chief minister Amir Haidar Hoti as saying that the Bajaur operation was launched to target foreign militants including Uzbeks, Chechens and Arabs.

Geo TV reported on 21 August that after three weeks of operation the death toll in the operation had reached over 600. On 24 August, The News reported that TTP had declared a unilateral cease-fire in Bajaur which had been rejected by the government. "The military operation was started for achieving some basic objectives. We wanted to ensure protection to lives and property of the people and dispel the impression from the minds of residents that the government had lost its writ in Bajaur". The military would continue its operation till the government authority was restored, the paper quoted a senior military official as saying.

The paper also reported that peace talk efforts were being made in Bajaur through tribal parliamentarians belonging to Maulana Fazlur Rehman's Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F). According to this report, the government wanted Taleban fighters to vacate security posts along the border with Afghanistan, close their "Islamic courts", quit control over several government girls' schools and allow female students to continue their education.

On 2 September, The News website reported that the Pakistan army had killed 560 Pakistani and foreign fighters in the operation "but found no sign of Usamah Bin-Ladin or Al-Qa'idah number two Ayman al-Zawahri."

Ramadan: On 2 September, PM's Interior Adviser Rehman Malik announced that the military operation in tribal areas would be suspended for the month of Ramadan. However, on 6 September, The News reported that security forces were continuing to target suspected hideouts of militants in their strongholds - Mamoond and Salarzai subdivisions. On 8 September, The News reported that the military had restored state writ in areas surrounding the Bajaur Agency headquarters, Khar and that the tribal leaders in the area had raised a tribal army to keep the Taleban out.

Swat

Military operation: Pakistan's security forces launched "the second phase" of military operation against Taleban in the Swat district of the NWFP (Dawn News, 1 August). The operation began at end-July after the NWFP government decided to resume anti-Taleban operations that had been halted following a peace deal in May.

May peace deal: According to the 15-point peace deal signed on 21 May, following months of fighting, the Taleban had agreed to close their training camps, hand over lethal and heavy weaponry and not attack barber and music shops and girls' schools. The Taleban also agreed to allow women to work. The government in return had agreed to implement Islamic Shari'ah law and gradually withdraw its forces from Swat. (APP news agency, 21 May)

Second phase: The NWFP government decided to resume its military operation as the Taleban continued with their "spree of destruction and terrorism which had resulted in complete destruction of 61 girls' schools". (The News, 2 August). Geo News reported on 30 July that the militants had stepped up activity after accusing the government of failing to honour the accord.

Clashes: The APP reported on 4 August that the military had killed over 94 militants in five days of operation. The same report quoted a military official as saying "the local Taleban, in violation of the pact, kept on resorting to burning girls' schools besides killing three officials of the intelligence agency and abducting Frontier Corps [paramilitary forces] and policemen. The Taleban had in fact deviated from their original demands and were stressing only on the withdrawal of security forces."

Another report in The News on 5 September quoted a government official as saying that "the military leadership, angry at the killing of three military officials followed by the kidnapping of security forces personnel, firmly decided to deal with the militants with force as they were constantly violating the peace deal." The official further said: "The NWFP government had released 50 per cent of the Taleban prisoners, paid compensation to all and the draft of the Shari'ah Regulation was also in final stages... However, the militants did not honour their part of the agreement which included a halt to attacks on schools and government buildings, security forces and disbanding of militia, etc."

As the operation continued, The Taleban reportedly took 14 more security personnel hostage on 8 August taking the total number of abducted government employees to 39. (Daily Times, 9 August).

On 11 August, Dawn reported that the military was using helicopters to attack Taleban positions in Swat. Geo TV anchor Kamran Khan reported on his show on 21 August that security forces and Taleban continued to confront each other, but the military had not achieved any major success in recent days and civilians had casualties. On 31 August, Dawn News TV reported that the military had again used air strikes in which 40 Taleban were reportedly killed.

Ramadan: Pakistan government adviser Rehman Malik announced the suspension of military operation in Swat during Ramadan. However, the Taleban rejected government's offer and demanded a permanent cease-fire. (Khyber TV, 31 August). In the continuing clashes 30 militants were reported killed on 4 September and 10 more on 8 September. ARY One World website reported on 9 September that the security forces were continuing their operation against the militants with heavy bombardment in Kabal and Koza Bandai areas.

North and South Waziristan

The tribal agencies of North and South Waziristan have witnessed over six missile strikes, since July 2008, conducted by US drone and predator unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying over Pakistani territory from Afghanistan. According to Mashriq newspaper (8 September), US reconnaissance flights over Pakistani tribal areas have increased in the past six months. The most recent strike, which killed over 20, was reportedly conducted by US drones on the house of Afghan commander Jalaluddin Haqqani's son in Danday Darpakhel area near Miranshah in North Waziristan. (Geo News website, 8 September)

On 4 September, six people were killed, including two suspected Arab nationals, in Achar Khel villages near Miranshah. The attack was condemned by "pro-government" militant leader Maulana Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who said that he considered Pakistani security forces equally responsible for the killing of innocent tribesmen in the US air strikes. (The News, 5 September). In the same report, The News said that militant groups, one led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan and another led by Maulvi Nazeer in South Waziristan, had agreed to fight such attacks in future. The paper said that both the factions were considered to be pro-government.

Following the strike, Pakistan was reported to have blocked supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan, linking it with growing concerns over the situation in Waziristan. (Pajhwok news agency, 6 September) However, Pakistan denied this by saying that the supply had been only "temporarily suspended" due to security reasons and was later restored. (APP news agency, 6 September)

On 30 August, "a missile fired from Afghanistan" hit a compound near Wana in South Waziristan killing five people. ARY One World website quoted (on 30 August) a military officer as saying that "the missile had struck the house of a tribesman in the Zelli Noor area... The owner of the house had recently rented it out to some "foreigners", a term used in Pakistan to describe Al-Qa'idah fighters." The ARY One World report also said that the series of missile attacks on militants in Pakistan in recent weeks had been attributed to US-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in Afghanistan.

The News website reported on 25 August that the militants belonging to the "pro-government Pakistani Taleban" commander Maulvi Nazeer clashed with security forces in South Waziristan Agency. The report said that Maulvi Nazeer and his lieutenants had accused the military of siding with the US and NATO forces.

On 20 August, 12 people were killed, "most of them alleged foreign fighters", when a US Predator fired two Hellfire missiles on a house in Zari Noor village of the South Waziristan, The News reported (21 August). According to the report, "tribal sources based in Wana said the majority of those killed in the air strikes were reported to be Arab fighters staying as guests with the Wazir tribal elder."

On 12 August, 12 militants, including "three Turkmen, some Arabs and Waziri tribal fighters" were killed when a UAV fired four Hellfire missiles on Shnawana village in South Waziristan, The News reported on 14 September. According to the report, three Pakistan Army helicopters were also seen flying over the area.

The strike on 28 July on a mosque in South Waziristan was considered a major breakthrough for the US forces as a top Al-Qa'idah expert on chemical and biological weapons, Mursi al-Sayid Umar also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, was reported to be killed. (ARY One World website, 28 July). Another report in Ummat newspaper said that al-Masri's son was also killed in the strike. The same report also suggested that Al-Qa'idah leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was the target of the attack.

Prior to the series of recent strikes, Pakistani TV presenter Kamran Khan in his show on 15 July said that American and allied forces had started arriving near the border across Pakistan's North Waziristan and South Waziristan in large numbers. He added that the deployment of American and allied troops equipped with helicopters, heavy machineguns and artillery is hinting that, perhaps, a "major military operation" is about to be launched at the Afghan border next to North Waziristan and South Wazirstan.

On 2 July, Pakistani paper Jasarat had suggested that operations were being launched in tribal areas following the visit of US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher.

[Description of Source: Caversham BBC Monitoring in English -- Monitoring service of the BBC, the United Kingdom's public service broadcaster]

Pakistan: Militants Deny Killing of Arabs in Recent Missile Attacks by US Drones

SAP20080912102006 Islamabad The News Online in English 12 Sep 08

[Report by Mushtaq Yusufzai: "No Arab killed in US attack: Haqqani family"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR: Taking strong exception to media reports about the death of Abu Haris -- al-Qaeda's head in Pakistan -- and three other Arab nationals in the attack on the house of veteran Afghan jehadi commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Haqqani family Thursday rejected all such reports saying it was a malicious propaganda aimed at justifying killing of their innocent family members.

One of Jalaluddin Haqqani's family senior members called The News from an undisclosed location and said there was no truth in media reports which reported that Abu Haris and three other Arab nationals, Abu Hamza, Abu Musa and Qasim were killed in the airstrikes carried out by US drone on one of their houses at Danday Darpakhel village near Miramshah on Monday morning.

"Abu Haris is a Jordanian and has been a close friend of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani since jihad time when Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. He has never been part of al-Qaeda and is currently based at Sato Kandao area of Paktika province in Afghanistan," said family sources of the veteran Afghan Taliban commander, wishing not to be named.

Also, they denied reports of the killing of three other Arab nationals in the attack on their house, in which around 25 people were killed and the equal number was injured. "We don't know who these people are. We had never heard about them before. It is an attempt to justify airstrike on the house of Haqqani's son-in-law Yahya, in which mainly women and children belonging to the family of Afghan Taliban commander were killed," said the sources close to the Haqqani family.

The sources said an elder sister, a daughter, daughters-in-law and grandchildren of Jalaluddin Haqqani and four security guards of the house were killed in the attack. The sources also confirmed that some guests from Afghanistan were also killed when the CIA-operated drone fired six hellfire missiles on the house.

The rest killed in the bombing were girls of the village who had come there to learn the holy Qura'an and other Islamic teachings. Also, the sources said, there was no truth in media reports that two wives of Jalaluddin Haqqani were also killed in the airstrikes.

"Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani has two wives- one Afghan and another Arab. His Arab wife is living with her sons in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and his Afghan wife is living in the family old house in Miramshah," explained the sources close with the Haqqani family.

It merits a mention here that some media organisations reported that al-Qaeda's Pakistan chapter leader Abu Haris and three more Arabs were killed in the drone attack on the house of Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Meanwhile, suspected militants on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday fired 19 rockets from adjoining mountain peaks on the military camp in Miramshah.

Our Miramshah correspondent Malik Mumtaz reported some of the rockets fell on the Miramshah Grid Station, causing disruption in power supply to most parts of the tribal region. Suspected militants also fired rockets on Mirali FC camp which, according to military authorities, did not cause any human and material loss.

The security forces later fired mortar and artillery shells towards the places from rockets were fired on them. It may be recalled that tribal militants led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur on Monday threatened to launch attacks against the security forces if the government did not stop US drones flying over tribal regions and firing hellfire missiles and killing innocent tribesmen. The militant group, which is considered as pro-government, threatened to avenge the missile attack on the house of Jalaluddin Haqqani.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

AFP: Missile From 'Suspected' US Drone Kills 12 People in Pakistan

SAP20080912018002 Hong Kong AFP in English 1108 GMT 12 Sep 08

[AFP Report: "Suspected US missile kills 12 in Pakistan: official"]

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Sept 12, 2008 (AFP) -- A missile from a suspected US drone killed 12 people Friday in a Pakistani tribal area where US forces have been aggressively targeting Al-Qaeda militants -- fuelling anger from Washington's key "war on terror" ally.

The missile hit a house on the outskirts of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, a local official said, in the fourth such strike in a week aimed at Taliban or Al-Qaeda fighters hiding out in the rugged tribal area.

"The pre-dawn strike destroyed the house and 12 people were killed," the official told AFP, adding that another 14 people were wounded.

The 12 were believed to be rebel fighters, locals said, adding that the house hit in the Tol Khel area had been rented by an Afghan militant organisation, Al Badar, and was being used as an office.

Al Badar, backed by former guerrilla leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, has previously conducted operations against Afghan and international forces based across the border in Afghanistan, residents and a security official said.

Hekmatyar was briefly prime minister of Afghanistan in the 1990s after the end of its Soviet occupation.

He has backed the Taliban since the regime was removed from power following the US-led invasion of the country in 2001, after the September 11 attacks in the United States, and has demanded the withdrawal of foreign forces.

Missile strikes targeting militants in Pakistan in recent weeks have been blamed on US-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in Afghanistan. Pakistan does not have missile-equipped drones.

Thirty-eight people, including women and children, have been killed in the past week's missile attacks.

Pakistan and the United States have been drawn into a row over the strikes, with Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kayani this week strongly criticising them and insisting no deal existed to allow foreign troops to conduct them.

As well as missile strikes, Pakistan last week for the first time accused Afghanistan-based troops of carrying out a direct attack on its territory, a raid in the South Waziristan tribal zone that left 15 people dead.

The Pakistani army reiterated its position Friday, with an official statement, quoting Kayani, pledging to safeguard the country's "territorial integrity."

US and Afghan officials say Pakistan's tribal areas are a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who sneaked into the rugged region after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are widely believed to be hiding in the mountainous region.

A separate strike in North Waziristan on Monday targeted but failed to hit top Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, but did kill four mid-level Al-Qaeda operatives, a security official and a militant source said.

With tens of thousands of US and other international troops locked down in Afghanistan, US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Michael Mullen said Wednesday he had ordered a new strategy covering both sides of the border with Pakistan.

The New York Times also reported that US President George W. Bush in July secretly approved orders enabling Special Operations forces to conduct ground operations in Pakistan without Islamabad's prior approval.

In other unrest, meanwhile, Pakistani troops bombed Taliban positions for the second day running in a tribal town near the Afghan border, killing up to 23 militants, officials said.

Up to 100 Islamic fighters were killed in bombing on Thursday in different areas of Bajaur district, a hotbed of Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Pakistan: Predator Attack on Tribesman's House Kills 12 People in Miranshah Area

SAP20080913101001 Islamabad The News Online in English 13 Sep 08

[Report by Mushtaq Yusufzai & Malik Mumtaz: "US missile strike kills 12 in North Waziristan"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

MIRAMSHAH/ PESHAWAR: Another CIA-operated spy plane intruded into Pakistan's territory in North Waziristan Agency early Friday and fired two Hellfire missiles.

Senior government officials based in Miramshah told The News that the Predator had attacked an alleged training camp of militants from the Punjab. The officials claimed that all the 12 people who were killed in the attack were hardcore militants belonging to Jihadi commander Ilyas Kashmiri's group. The residents, however, claimed the dead included women and children.

Soon after the missile strike, some unidentified miscreants attacked a military convoy, which was on its way to Bannu from Miramshah near the Chashma Pul, injuring two security personnel.

In retaliation, the troops also fired shots at the attackers, wounding four tribesmen who were travelling in a passenger coach. Tribal sources told The News that two spy planes had been flying over the villages of North Waziristan Agency along the Pak-Afghan border for the past 24 hours. The residents said one of the planes, apparently a US Predator, fired two Hellfire missiles on a house owned by a tribesman Sadim Khan in Tolkhel village, two kilometres east of Miramshah. The residents, who immediately reached the spot for rescue work, said they had recovered 12 bodies.

According to the villagers, all of the dead were local residents belonging to Sadim Khan's family. The sources said the missile attack also damaged some other adjoining houses in the village, seriously injuring 10 people. The injured were rushed to various hospitals of Miramshah.

However, senior government officials based in Miramshah told The News that the Predator had attacked an alleged training camp of militants from the Punjab. The officials claimed that all the 12 people who were killed in the attack were hardcore militants belonging to Jihadi commander Ilyas Kashmiri's group.

They confirmed that a US Predator had fired two missiles at the school building that was being used by the militants.The officials said some tribesmen living near the alleged training centre were also killed and injured in the attack.

Sources close to the tribal militants operating in the NWA denied reports that the school building hit by the US spy plane was a training centre and those killed were militants."Every time after the US attack, the government people exaggerate casualties and play up the importance of the victims," said a tribal militant commander based in Miramshah, who wished not to be named.

It was the second attack in one week by the US planes in North Waziristan Agency. In an earlier attack carried out by the US Predator on one of the houses of veteran Afghan Taliban commander, Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, on Monday at Danday Darpakhel village near Miramshah, 25 people were killed and several others were injured.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

AFP Told: Residents Say US Missiles Kill 21 Near Afghan Border in Pakistan

JPP20080914058001 Hong Kong AFP in English 0223 GMT 14 Sep 08

[Nasrullah Khan, "US Drones Bring Fear And Firepower To Qaeda War in Pakistan" -- AFP headline]

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Sept 14, 2008 (AFP) - Two air-to-ground missiles ripped through the sky before smashing into the house where a Taliban leader with close links to Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was thought to be hiding.

"There was a glittering flash of light and a prolonged roar," said Hameedullah Khan, one of the first on the scene of Monday's suspected US drone strike in the Pakistani town of Dande Darpa Khel, near the Afghan border.

Two white drones circled the area for hours ahead of the attack that left 21 people dead, including women and children, residents told AFP.

"We recovered 10 bodies. Some were mutilated, some charred. We could not identify if the victims were locals or foreigners. But we could distinguish that children were among the dead," Khan said.

Missile strikes targeting Islamic militants in Pakistan's rugged tribal areas in recent weeks have been blamed on US-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in Afghanistan. Pakistan does not have missile-equipped drones.

In the past 12 days, five strikes have been carried out, targeting suspected Taliban or Al-Qaeda bases.

The reputed target of Monday's attack, veteran Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, was not among those killed, and the devastation left on the ground seems only to have strengthened the Taliban's influence on local civilians.

"After about an hour, the Taliban turned up," said Khan, who helped in the rescue work at Dande Darpa Khel.

"They ringed a building and erected a tent (to treat casualties) nearby," the 35-year-old said.

"Then they recovered more bodies and wounded who were sent to hospital."

Washington says Pakistan's mountainous tribal regions have become a safe haven for Islamic fighters waging an insurgency against international troops based across the border.

But the increasingly frequent missile attacks, for which the United States has not claimed responsibility, are straining Pakistan's relationship with its key ally.

Civilian deaths have stirred local anger and embarrassed the Pakistani government, already struggling to tackle the militancy that has seen 1,200 of its own people die in bombings and suicide attacks in the past year alone.

Pakistan's army, itself engaged in fierce clashes against militants linked to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in the border regions, has also condemned what it sees as unilateral US action that violates the country's sovereignty.

Residents in Dande Darpa Khel say until recently, one drone would comb the region late at night or early in the morning. But now, two or three will fly together, around the clock.

"They keep on flying in our skies with full immunity and people are scared," said Abdus Khan, a 22-year-old student, adding that the prospect of further attacks may lead people to flee the area.

The US believes that Bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are hiding in the tribal regions, but Pakistan security officials say the increase in missile attacks is ineffective.

"Pakistan's army is fully-fledged in crushing Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters," a senior military official told AFP.

"The Americans must show patience and let us succeed in our strategy. When they launch unilateral strikes it is only counter-productive," he added.

Riffat Hussain, head of peace and conflict studies at Islamabad's National Defence University, said the strikes were undermining the fight to combat militancy in the tribal belt.

"This is playing into the hands of the extremists, especially when civilian collateral damage is much higher than the actual damage the Americans think they are causing to militant outfits or sanctuaries," Hussain said.

"These attacks will further strain Pakistan's efforts to play up to its role as a key ally of the United States in the global fight against terrorism."

str-sz-rj/adm/sst

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Pakistan Report: No Major Al-Qa'ida, Taliban Leader Killed in Recent US Strikes

SAP20080915098015 Islamabad The News Online in English 15 Sep 08

[Report by Hamid Mir: "No al-Qaeda or Taliban leader was killed in recent US strikes"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

Monday, September 15, 2008

MIRAMSHAH: No prominent Taliban or al-Qaeda leader has been killed in recent US air strikes in the Pakistani tribal areas, a visit to the area has revealed.

All the injured victims of the US air strikes admitted in hospitals in Miramshah and Bannu are women or children. Four Arabs killed in the Dande Darpakhel area close to Miramshah last week were not associated with al-Qaeda. One of them, Abu Harris, has been living in North Waziristan since 1987.

Some media outfits had claimed that Abu Harris was the al-Qaeda chief in Pakistan but the local Taliban in Dande Darpakhel area told this scribe that Abu Harris was an old friend of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, who has not been an active militant for the last 20 years.

Family sources of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani claimed in Dande Darpakhel that Abu Harris was a Jordanian of Palestinian origin. He came to Pakistan in the early '80s to fight against Soviet troops in Afghanistan. He participated in the great battle of Khost in 1987 along with Haqqani. He never joined al-Qaeda, which was created in 1988 in Peshawar immediately after the death of General Ziaul Haq in a plane crash.

Abu Harris tried to go back to Jordan in 1989 but was unable to as he was wanted by the Jordanian authorities due to his links with some anti-government clerics. He moved to Dubai for some time but finally he settled down in Miramshah, where Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani was also living with his family.

Abu Harris was married to a local woman. He moved to Khost in 1995 but came back to North Waziristan after 9/11. He was living in a home next to the Madrassa of Haqqani for many years. The local administration of North Waziristan was aware that Abu Harris was an Afghan Jihad veteran and currently was not associated with militancy in Afghanistan.

During a long journey from Kohat to Miramshah, this scribe noticed that many areas in the south of the NWFP as well as in the tribal belt are no more under the full control of the government. These areas are managed by different militant groups, who have no central command structure. The security forces control only some major roads but have very little control over the villages or small towns in the area.

Meanwhile, a large number of local youngsters are getting frustrated and are joining different militant groups to continue their Jihad. There are three major militant groups in North Waziristan who often refuse to accept the authority of each other.

Miramshah is controlled by Utmanzai Wazir militants while the Mir Ali area is controlled by Dawar militants. Some Uzbek militants are living in the forests of Shawal area but US planes have never targeted them. Local militants accept Baitullah Mehsud as their Ameer, but now they are not in touch with him on a regular basis and make their own policies and decisions.

This scribe recorded many interviews in the Dande Darpakhel area on camera with the permission of the local Taliban. A militant group stopped and detained this scribe for many hours near Bannu and snatched the camera on our way back to Bannu. When I asked them to speak to the Taliban leaders in Miramshah, they said that they had no links with them.

These militants said that the Miramshah Taliban were controlled by Qari Gul Bahadur, who was loyal to Baitullah Mehsud but they were loyal to Commander Umar Khalid alias Abdul Wali, who runs a big training camp in Mohmand Agency.

They claimed that Qari Gul Bahadar was pro-Pakistan but they were no hypocrites. When I asked them why the US planes are not targeting Umar Khalid in Mohmand, they just laughed and cautioned that I should not dare come to Bannu again because they will soon "liberate" the area.

It is learnt that Umar Khalid is a new commander, who is hiring only those boys in Fata whose families suffered during the recent operations.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Pakistan: Bomber Rams Explosive-Laden Car Into Convoy in N Waziristan; 12 Killed

SAP20080921103010 Islamabad The News Online in English 21 Sep 08

[Report by Malik Mumtaz & Mushtaq Yusufzai: 12 killed in NWA suicide attack on Army convoy]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

MIRANSHAH/ PESHAWAR: Following a few months of tense calm in North Waziristan Agency, a suicide bomber on Saturday rammed his explosive-laden car into a military convoy near Miramshah, killing 12 people, 10 of them reportedly security personnel and two civilians.

Also, 12 people, majority of them security personnel, sustained serious injuries in the suicide attack and were airlifted to a military hospital in Bannu.

Sources told The News that a suicide bomber, who had parked his explosive-laden Toyota car at a filling station near Nawrak village in Mirali, drove to the main Bannu-Miranshah road soon after sighting a military convoy on the road.

According to military officials, the convoy came under attack when its was on its way to Miramshah, the headquarters of the militancy-hit North Waziristan Agency, from Mirali.

Official and tribal sources from Miramshah said 12 people, including 10 Army soldiers and two civilians, were killed and a similar number of people were injured in the attack. They said three vehicles of the military convoy were destroyed in the explosion.

Eyewitnesses said a nearby petrol pump also caught fire and an oil tanker parked there was blown up.

Villagers said there was already a curfew-like situation on the Bannu-Miranshah road as the military convoy was scheduled to pass through the area.

According to residents, the security forces after the blast opened indiscriminate fire in the air due to which the busy Bannu-Miramshah road was blocked for all types of traffic. There were also unconfirmed reports that two tribesmen were killed in firing by the security forces.

Residents from Miramshah told The News that members of the security forces after the arrival of the same military convoy in Miramshah town opened indiscriminate fire with their G-3 assault rifles in the bazaar. They alleged that the firing caused damage to three vehicles, bargain centres and three cars parked there.

An official of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), who confirmed the suicide attack on the military convoy in North Waziristan, said six people, including four soldiers and two civilians, were killed in the attack.

No militant group, till the filing of this report, had claimed responsibility for the first suicide attack on the security forces after signing of peace agreement between the government and the tribal militants, led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, on February 17, 2008.

Prior to the peace accord, the two sides had fought for about a month and suffered heavy losses.

It may be recalled that the local Taliban, led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a few days back threatened to scrap their peace agreement with the government and launch attacks on the security forces if the government didn't stop US drones from carrying out attacks in North and South Waziristan.

The threat came after a US Predator plane fired Hellfire missiles on one of the houses of veteran Afghan Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, in Danday Darpakhel village near Miranshah and killed 25 people, mostly women and children belonging to the Haqqani family.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Pakistan Report: Security Forces, Tribesmen Shoot Down US Drone in S Waziristan

SAP20080924098010 Islamabad The News Online in English 24 Sep 08

[Report by Mushtaq Yusufzai: "US drone 'shot down' in SWAT"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

PESHAWAR: Pakistani security forces and Wazir tribesmen Tuesday shot down a CIA-operated US Predator plane near Angoor Adda, in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) but AFP reported that the plane crashed.

Official and tribal sources informed this correspondent from Angoor Adda - a border town between Pakistan's South Waziristan and Afghanistan's Paktika province -- that Pakistani security forces and armed Wazir tribespeople fired at the US spy plane and downed.

"Yes, the security forces and Wazir tribesmen fired at the plane and shot it down," said a security official based in the border town, but wished not to be named. The wreckage of the drone was reportedly lying scattered in a border village.

The official said the drone had been constantly flying over Pakistani border villages since Tuesday morning. Also, tribal sources from Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan, said they received reports from their fellow Wazir tribesmen living in the border town that a US plane had been shot down.

Security officials said four US drones were flying over various towns of South Waziristan inhabited by the Ahmadzai Wazir tribesmen. However, despite several attempts by this scribe, Pakistan Army spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas did not attend telephone calls.

The US drones violated Pakistan's air space at the time when US President George W Bush was assuring his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari of respecting sovereignty of his country. The flights seemingly in search of yet another site for an attack across the border created panic among the already terrified tribesmen.

Official and tribal sources informed The News from Wana and Miramshah, the headquarters of South and North Waziristan tribal agencies, respectively, that the Predators intruded into Pakistani territory on Tuesday evening and continued flying over the border villages until one of the planes was downed.

The sources from Wana said four US drones came from Afghanistan and were seen flying over several border areas, including Wana, Birmal, Shakai and Toi Khula. The residents said the planes came early on Tuesday morning and after flying for a few hours disappeared at noon. However, four of them later reappeared in the evening and hovered over the Wazirs-inhabited areas of South Waziristan along the border with Afghanistan's troubled Paktika province and were still hovering over the region.

According to the residents of Wana, non-stop flights of US spy planes over the tribal region have terrified the tribesmen as these planes in the past had fired several Hellfire missiles resulting in the killing of dozens of people, majority of them innocent tribals, including women and children.

"The drones have been constantly flying over the villages located near the border with Afghanistan forcing majority of the residents on living outside their homes," Shakirullah, a resident of Dabkot village near Wana, said while talking to this scribe on telephone.

Meanwhile, tribesmen of adjoining North Waziristan Agency also claimed that two US drones had crossed into Pakistani territory on Tuesday morning and were continuously hovering over the area.

"The two planes are continuously flying over residential areas since Tuesday morning. At noon they briefly disappeared but re-appeared afternoon and are still flying over us," said Mohammad Javed, a resident of Danday Darpakhel village near Miramshah.

He said both the spy planes had been constantly flying over Danday Darpakhel village where a house and Madrassa of veteran Afghan Taliban commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani were attacked recently by two US drones killing 25 people, majority of them women and children belonging to Haqqani's family.

"Both the planes are flying at extremely low altitude frightening the villagers, especially the children," complained another villager Syed Halim. A security official based in Miramshah also confirmed the intrusion and said besides Danday Darpakhel, the drones were flying over other adjoining villages including Dattakhel, Spalga, Razmak and Mirali.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Pakistani Commentary Says TTP Deviates From Ideology of Afghan Taliban

SAP20080926090002 Islamabad Daily Express in Urdu 24 Sep 08 p 10

[Commentary by Muhammad Amir Khakwani: "They Are Not Taliban"]

Inadvertencies, blunders, and stupidities by the Afghan Taliban are another matter; however, the savages shedding blood from the mountainous regions of North West Frontier Province [NWFP] to the plains of Punjab do not belong to their [Afghan Taliban] category -- not at all. Individuals as well as organizations, factions, and armed groups have their own comportment and mien. The formidable deluge that outpoured from the precincts of Kandahar [province of Afghanistan] about 12 years ago -- whom the West gave the title of the Taliban -- is still sticking to at least some moral values even in their most adverse moments.

Because of their brutality, savagery, and callousness, the militants emerging from the Pakistani tribal areas seem to be a platoon of Genghis Khan's army. They do not seem to have any relations with the Taliban. I wish somebody would inform the artful journalists and wily television channels that Baitullah Mehsud and his comrades should not be associated with the Afghan Taliban. They are absolutely a chip of another block and of contradictory nature.

I was attending an iftar [evening meal for breaking the daily fast during Ramadan] party held by Prof Ahmad Rafique Akhtar, a unique scholar and mystic, on that black evening when the Marriott Hotel blast took place. The mystic had full control over his nerves in those gloomy moments. He avoided from commenting on the tragedy saying that information was still coming.

Responding to a question, he said: "We should confront the worst quite calmly. We are flabbergasted when one intends to go on with one's own planned road map. However, the heavenly road map for man is somewhat different from his own. If God's will is obeyed by keeping our own wishes and whims at bay, all problems automatically come to an end." It was my first meeting with him. It was not possible to have a lengthy discussion with a practical scholar when he was surrounded by his disciples. However, I envied the freshness of his thoughts and his lofty vision. He repeated his particular doctrine: "We should avoid forming organizations because only individuals have performed great deeds. Every individual should put God on the top of his priorities and keep on looking for him."

The professor remained silent for a moment at the question whether some kind of transformation really occurs on reciting a rosary. Then he slowly started: "From the face value, the reiteration of words may not appear quite impressive; however, these broken words may move the benevolence of God, and we shall get something from His blessings."

We departed quite late at night. We were heading toward Lahore when a member of a renowned jihadist organization called on my cell phone. His voice grew hoarse. He began: "Some stupid people have thrown our years of hard work into the drain. The honor we earned in the 1980s in Afghanistan and in the 1990s in Kashmir through sacrifices has evaporated today in the atmosphere of Islamabad."

In the morning, when I logged on to my computer, there was an e-mail from a former member of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hizb-e-Islami. He clearly wrote that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] had nothing to do with the Afghan Taliban and that rather they had created myriad hurdles for the Taliban movement.

It has been intensely felt in the last two days after going through the writings published in this regard and by watching television programs that our analysts prefer airing their own wishes and whims instead of keeping the ground realities before them. The truth is that now the question of whether it is the US war or the Pakistani war has been pushed in the background because these barbaric militants have made it a Pakistani war. The real question is whether Baitullah Mehsud and his comrades are a part and parcel of the Afghan Taliban or their only intention is to stab in the back of Mullah Omar and his guerillas. It is important to judge this hypothesis by the yardstick of arguments.

Guerilla warfare experts have been emphasizing the principle from centuries that no guerilla warfare can be carried on without keeping the base camp intact. The jihadist organizations working in Kashmir strictly adhered to this principle. The Afghan Taliban always kept it as their priority. Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, legendary leader of the Taliban, reached to help the Pakistani establishment more than twice in the last three years. Maulvi Haqqani intervened to assure the peace deal [between the Taliban and the Pakistani Government] when both agencies of Waziristan were passing through Armageddon. Earlier, the local tribes had reached reconciliation with the security forces through Mullah Dadullah's concerted efforts. The question is: why are these so called Pakistani Taliban deviating from the line of action delineated by the Afghan Taliban?

The journalistic quarters, quite aware of the problems confronted by the Afghan Taliban leadership, state that Mullah Omar is intensely worried. He fears that the game being played in the tribal areas, in fact, was sketched out in Delhi, Washington, and Kabul. He thinks that the idea of winning in Afghanistan will be clouded after losing the sympathy and love showered by the Pakistani public.

The second crucial question is: why are commander Mehsud and his allied groups targeting the jihadist factions that have been fighting against NATO forces for many years. Well-known commander Shah Khalid's group was a very important group in Mohmand Agency. It has been said about him that he did not let the US military set its foot in Afghanistan's Nuristan Province. Commander Waliullah of Mohmand Agency, who calls himself Omar Khalid, and his deputy chief laid siege to the Shah group's base camp with his 250 comrades. The tribal nobles intervened to end this confrontation. Kindhearted Shah Khalid preferred peace over bloodshed. When they [Shah Khalid and his followers] laid down their weapons, Omar Khalid's comrades fired at Shah Khalid, his deputy, and a dozen of his followers, killing all of them. His close aides were made captives, who were later released at the intervention of Fazlur Rahman Khalil and the Sheikhul Hadith [scholar of the sayings and traditions of the Holy Prophet] of Akora Khattak [a famous Islamic seminary]. According to the reports received from Afghanistan, Mullah Omar was rather flabbergasted after hearing the terrible news. He did not expect that Shah Khalid would be killed in such a cold-blooded manner.

The Maulvi Nazir group is considered one of the groups that fought crucial pitched battles in Afghanistan. Now commander Nazir is another main target of the Baitullah Mehsud group. Many of his comrades have been killed, and Nazir had a close shave many times. Haji Namdar was shot dead in cold blood when he was taking a lesson of the Holy Koran in Khyber Agency. They are the commanders who were not against the Pakistani Government or the Pakistan Army, and they were also very close to the Afghan Taliban.

The question is: why is the TTP killing all pro-Pakistan people? The compliance with the principles of Sharia is quite a far-fetched thing because these people are not even complying with the existing tribal traditions. There is a proverb in Pashto that a true Pashtun can never ever attempt to kill a woman or a child. The conduct of these people is before us.

I wish, the people who are extending concessions to these terrorists with their, ifs, buts, though, and although, should note that the writing is on the wall.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Daily Express in Urdu -- Daily owned by Century Publications of the Lakson Business Group. The second largest daily after Jang newspaper with a circulation of over 120,000. Provides good coverage of national and international issues and follows moderate and neutral editorial policy.]

Asia Times: 'The Fight Goes On, Militants Tell Pakistan'

CPP20081002715006 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 1057 GMT 30 Sep 08

[By Syed Saleem Shahzad: "The Fight Goes On, Militants Tell Pakistan; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - When United States President George W Bush and British Premier Gordon Brown interacted with their Pakistani and Afghan counterparts on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week, they expressed satisfaction for the conflict escalation against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the South Asian War theater. (See Militants shake off Pakistan's grip Asia Times Online, Sep 29.)

This escalation, particularly in Pakistan's tribal agencies, is a gamble based on the tactics used by the US's chief man in Iraq, General David Petraeus, in 2007. Following a "surge" in the war, the US offered an olive branch to the militants. This created a wedge between al-Qaeda and the Iraqi tribal resistance and led to a significant reduction in the intensity of the resistance.

In Pakistan, there is no sign of this happening. Indeed, the reverse is true.

On Monday, Pakistani security officials warned that the militants battling Pakistani forces, notably in Bajaur Agency, were obtaining weapons and reinforcements from across the border in Afghanistan. "The Pakistan-Afghan border is porous and is now causing trouble for us in Bajaur," a senior security source in the military told a news briefing in Rawalpindi.

The call to arms to join the militants is reverberating across the tribal areas in unprecedented fashion and the flames of war from Afghanistan that have burned for the past seven years could now engulf Pakistan.

This week, the Taliban officially rejected a Saudi Arabian-British backdoor initiative to strike peace deals with the militants. The charm of Islamabad's old comrades (veteran jihadis) and official handlers (secret agents) no longer works with the Taliban.

Back-channel efforts to strike deals with the Taliban and create a wedge between them and al-Qaeda have been going on since September 11, 2001, (see US turns to the Taliban Asia Times Online, June 4, 2003).

However, for the first time, the Taliban have reacted very strongly against such efforts. On Sunday evening, the Taliban issued a press release in Pashto, followed by one in English: In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, the lord of all that exists and may peace and prayers be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, companions in entirety.

The mainstream media are reporting about a "peace process" between the Taliban and the Kabul puppet administration (of President Hamid Karzai) which is being sponsored by Saudi Arabia and supported by Britain, or that there are "unprecedented talks" involving a senior ex-Taliban member who is traveling between Kabul and the alleged bases of the Taliban senior leadership in Pakistan. The ex-members of the Taliban who have surrendered or who are under surveillance are not associated with the of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan rejects all these false claims by the enemy, who is using this propaganda campaign, the aim of this propaganda is to create an atmosphere of disunity among Muslims in order to weaken the ummah . Our struggle will be continued until the departure of all foreign troops. Dr Talib

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Afghanistan/Kabul The message is clear: the Taliban and al-Qaeda are now one and the same and far from being ready to be divided they are fully geared up to themselves escalate the conflict.

Winning a lost war through Pakistan?

With the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan going from strength to strength, the Western military and political leadership figured on taking on the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Pakistan's tribal areas, where they have strong bases. This would be followed by peace talks.

The military offensive began last month ago in Agency Bajaur, the smallest of Pakistan's seven tribal agencies, semi-autonomous ethnic Pashtun regions. Troops were backed by aerial bombardment, the latter causing hundreds of thousands of people to be displaced.

And contrary to official claims, the militants have not been routed. Instead, all Pakistani pro-Taliban militants who had been rivals as well as foreign fighters have rallied under the command of the Afghan Taliban commander of Nooristan and Kunar provinces, Qari Ziaur Rahman. (See A fighter and a financier Asia Times Online, May 23, 2008.) All groups have accepted Rahman as their commander in chief for the area that spans Kunar, Nooristan, Bajaur and Mohmand Agency.

The Pakistani media have reported that Rahman's engagement in Bajaur has reduced Taliban attacks in Kunar. But this is not expected to last long, with all-out activity expected soon on all fronts.

According to the original plan, Pakistani forces were to make their attack in Bajaur and US troops across the border in Kunar would block any escape routes. The Pakistanis followed their side of the plan, but US ground troops were unable to stop the militants from taking shelter in Kunar.

The fault lay in the plan. Unlike Bajaur, which is relatively developed with a road network, on the Kunar side there are few passable tracks in the thick mountain jungles. There are also many caves from which militants and pro-Taliban villagers could target ground troops.

The Pakistani armed forces took heavy casualties, and despite official claims, the militants say they have only lost a few dozen men - and Rahman is not one of them.

Pakistan's strategic quarters now fear a military defeat could set off a chain reaction into the adjacent troubled Swat Valley, and beyond: there is even talk of relocating the provincial capital of North-West Frontier Province, Peshawar, to a non-Pashtun city such as Abbotabad.

At the same time, the low morale of the soldiers and officers is a worrying factor, especially among the Pashtun military cadre, which forms about 25% of the army. In one instance, in obvious disregard to directions from military headquarters, Pakistani border forces and tribals jointly downed a US Predator drone in the South Waziristan tribal area.

Further, following a clear demand made by Washington last week to President Asif Ali Zardari, the director general of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj, has been replaced by Ahmed Shuja Pasha, who is known for his intimacy with the Americans and anti-Taliban views. The heads of the external and internal security wings of the ISI have also been replaced. (This was predicted by Asia Times Online, see Militancy dogs Pakistan's new president Sep 9, 2008.)

This move will only deepen mistrust of the government as well as pro-American Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Pervaz Kiani.

Chasing elusive peace deals

The miscalculation over Bajaur means that the second phase of the Pakistan-US plan - the defeated militants forced into peace deals - has not materialized. Yet Pakistan and its Western allies have little choice but to go after peace accords in an attempt to de-escalation the conflict.

Former jihadi leaders who once sat in the Taliban's and al-Qaeda's camp and retired military officers who are regarded as the real fathers of the Taliban are now trying to build bridges between the Pakistan military and the Taliban.

The idea, as per Petraeus' Iraq plan, is that once dialogue is successful, al-Qaeda will be purged from the ranks of the local tribal resistance, with the latter then being offered a role in mainstream politics.

The chief of the banned Harkatul Mujahadeen, Maulana Fazlur Rahman Khalil, has been tasked to reach out to pro-Taliban militants in the Mohmand, Bajaur and Waziristan areas to initiate dialogue between the Taliban and the Pakistani establishment.

A former ISI official and consul general in Herat in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s, Amir Sultan, also known as Colonel Imam and regarded as a father of the Taliban, is another figure who has been shuttling from the tribal areas to Islamabad in an attempt to end the rift between the armed forces and the Taliban.

The militants a re not responding positively to these efforts. Various militant commanders have held talks with two pro-Pakistani Taliban figures - Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani and Hafiz Gul Bahadur of North Waziristan - and urged them to sever all backchannel contacts with the Pakistani security forces.

Earlier, in Mohmand Agency, the militants pursued Taliban commander Abdul Wali to end his impartiality and join hands against the Pakistani armed forces.

A decisive figure could be Haqqani, a veteran mujahideen commander against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s. If he decides to sever his contacts with Pakistan, the conflict in the country will become dire indeed.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. URL: ]

Editor Says Taliban Nearing Victory in Afghanistan, Will Reject Saudi Mediation

GMP20081006825015 London Al-Quds al-Arabi (Internet Version-WWW) in Arabic 06 Oct 08

[Article by Chief Editor Abd-al-Bari Atwan: "Taliban Getting Close To Deciding War"]

The US-led Western alliance, which is waging two bloody wars in Afghanistan and Iraq under the so-called war on terror, is getting closer and closer to the moment of truth and to admitting that it is hard to win this costly war. But the mechanisms which it is thinking of resorting to in order to get out of this crisis continue to reflect lack of thought and the inability to read the situations on the ground correctly.

Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, the senior British military commander, said yesterday in statements to the "Sunday Times" newspaper: "The war on the Taliban movement cannot be won because it is not the time of victories but of negotiations with the Taliban movement."

It might be helpful to recall that the war on terror, which was launched exactly seven years ago, aimed to topple the Taliban regime, destroy this movement which provided a safe haven to "Al-Qa'ida" organization, and arrest or kill the two movements' leaders, Mullah Mohammad Omar and Usama Bin Ladin.

This change in Western stands toward the Taliban movement was dictated by several reasons which can be summarized in the following points:

First: The growing Western human and financial losses in Afghanistan due to the military operations waged by the Taliban men with "Al-Qa'ida" organization's backing. These operations have so far resulted in the death of 600 American soldiers and the wounding of hundreds.

Second: The almost total collapse of the Pakistani state which has become a "failed state" incapable of controlling its borders and territories. The Waziristan borders area between Afghanistan and Pakistan, measuring 30,000 square km, has become an independent Islamic emirate under leadership of Major General Jalaluddin Haqqani and Pakistan's Taliban is now in control of almost two thirds of the country's territories.

Third: US military operations inside Pakistani territories to strike "Al-Qa'ida" and Pakistan's Taliban gatherings embarrassed the Pakistani Government and depicted it as a tool in the US administration's hand which does not respect its country's sovereignty. They [the operations] also mobilized the majority of Pakistanis against the United States and made them oppose any war with it against Al-Qa'ida and Taliban (80 percent according to a Gallop poll conducted in June).

Fourth: Failure of Hamed Karzai to control Afghanistan and win its people's trust. This government is confined to one of Kabul's neighborhoods and is incapable of standing fast against the Taliban's advance toward the capital. More than that was the spread of corruption in its ranks which reached its peak when it became evident that the president's brother Ahmed Wali Karzai was involved in the drug trade.

Fifth: The return of "Al-Qa'ida" organization to Afghanistan stronger than it was before 9/11/2001 in that it has a better safe haven in the border areas (Waziristan) in the northeast and Helmand in the south where it has set up bases to train its cadres and has the support of all the Taliban movement's wings, including the won which demanded extraditing Bin Ladin over to the Americans or Saudi Arabia so to keep the movement's rule.

Sixth: "Al-Qa'ida" used its military experience in Iraq to serve the Taliban's project in Afghanistan and Pakistan, such as the bombs planted on the sides of roads targeting military convoys and the suicide operations which did not exist at all in Afghanistan before the 9/11 events. According to field reports, Al-Qa'ida has carried out around 700 suicide operations in Iraq and 30 in Pakistan since the start of the year.

Seventh: "Al-Qa'ida's" return to Afghanistan and Pakistan now poses a big danger to the internal security of the United States and Europe in particular because the overwhelming majority of the organization's main operations in Europe and the United States were planned in Afghanistan (the attack on the World Trade Center's twin towers in New York, the destruction of the destroyer USS Cole in Aden, the bombing of the American Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, the attack on American tourists in Bali, Indonesia, and the bombing of a Jewish synagogue in Jerba, Tunisia). "Al-Qa'ida" organization did not succeed at all in mounting any major operation in the West from Iraq.

Eighth: Afghanistan is Asia's navel and has borders with seven countries and therefore it is difficult to blockade it like Iraq which is surrounded by hostile countries involved in the American alliance, apart from Syria which closed its borders totally in the face of the "mujahidin" thus making made thousands of Islamists join the organization's ranks from the "Muslim Maghreb" countries, Yemen, and Turkey. These will return to their countries and probably Europe and the West after undergoing military training and ideological mobilization.

The growing appeals to open a dialogue with Taliban might outwardly appear to be an admission of defeat but it also could be a clever plan whose aim is to drive a wedge between the movement and "Al-Qa'ida" organization, its strategic ally, or in other words, a repetition of the awakening councils' scenario in Iraq. American funds backed by clever moves by Arab intelligence services succeeded in buying some tribal leaders by focusing on the notion that "Al-Qa'ida" organization is terrorist and alien to Iraq which must be isolated. Some of the organization's tafkiri practices helped this approach succeed, such as cutting off hands and fingers, bombing the innocent, and assassinating the adversaries who disagree with the organization's ideology without examination.

The chances of the success of the plans to separate "Al-Qa'ida" from Taliban remain limited, if nonexistent, because the entire Afghan society is a conservative and extremist fundamentalist one which believes in the Hanafi doctrine. Moreover, the majority of Afghanistan's population is Sunni, unlike Iraq, and "Al-Qa'ida" is not an alien organization in Afghanistan and most of its members know the country very well and are married to Afghan women.

More important than all that is that the Pashtun tribes are proud and refuse to abandon those who seek their help in accordance with the "Pashtun wali" principle which considers handing over or expelling Muslims a great shame. This explains Mullah Mohammed Omar's refusal to hand over Usama Bin Ladin under the Saudi Government's pressures and ordered Prince Turki al-Faysal, head of Saudi intelligence, out of his council because he dared to say he would not leave except with Usama Bin Ladin on the same plane as otherwise Taliban would pay a heavy price.

Mullah Omar refused to bring Usama Bin Ladin before an Islamic court and judges who were clerics representing several Muslim countries, saying if they decided Usama did commit terrorist actions and should be extradited he would then do so but he would not if they refused to extradite. He then said his famous words: I will not extradite a Muslim to an infidel country.

Thus the talk about Saudi mediation with the Taliban movement at Karzai's request is not based on any logic. Saudi relations with Taliban are tense and the first is declaring a bloody war against "Al-Qa'ida" organization and took part effectively in the US war to bring down the "Taliban" and "Al-Qa'ida" organizations in Afghanistan.

Taliban feels it is at doorsteps of a big victory in the war against the United States and its allies and therefore it will absolutely refuse to accept to negotiate unless it guarantees a total US-Western withdrawal, takes over power in Kabul, and reestablishes its Islamic emirate.

As to "Al-Qa'ida" organization, it considers itself a partner in this victory and its statements even point out it is behind the current American economic and military collapses. It is no coincidence that the amount of money US President George Bush is asking from Congress ($700 billion) is the same as the cost of the war on terror which the organization claims responsibility for launching it.

The Soviet Union's collapse started with defeat in Afghanistan and the American collapse is starting in the same way. The theory of Professor Paul Kennedy, the history lecturer at the American Yale University, about the rise and fall of the superpowers is materializing clearly at present. He said there are three reasons for the downfall of the great empires. The first is the increase expenditures on internal security; the second is the expansion of military wars abroad; and the third is the emergence of strong commercial and economic competition from nascent superpowers.

All these reasons apply to the United States. The expenditures on internal security are at a peak for fear of terrorist operations and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have depleted the US treasury, and China, Russia, India, and Europe are the new superpowers competing with the United States commercially and economically.

[Description of Source: London Al-Quds al-Arabi (Internet Version-WWW) in Arabic -- London-based independent Arab nationalist daily with an anti-US and anti-Saudi editorial line; generally pro-Palestinian, pro-Iraqi regime, tends to be sympathetic to Bin Ladin. URL: ]

Asia Times: 'A Long, Hot Winter for Pakistan'

CPP20081014715008 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 1018 GMT 10 Oct 08

[By Syed Saleem Shahzad: "A Long, Hot Winter for Pakistan"; headline as provided by source]

The Taliban are escalating the conflict in Pakistan's cities, aiming to strike before the US and its partners can dig in for the all-out war that all quarters - the Western ruling establishments, Afghan government, Pakistani ruling military and political establishment and the two US presidential candidates - tacitly agree must be waged against the Taliban and al-Qaeda inside Pakistan.

The Taliban's pre-emptive strategy continued on Thursday when a bomb - disguised as a delivery of sweets - destroyed the headquarters of Pakistan's Anti-Terrorist Force in Islamabad. The blast occurred during a special session of parliament at which the director of the Inter-Services Intelligence, Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, was briefing lawmakers on Pakistan's strategy in the "war on terror".

The package of sweets was allegedly sent by Waliur Rehman, a commander of Jaish-i-Islami Pakistan, a militant outfit which is attached to the umbrella organization Pakistan Tehrik-i-Taliban led by Baitullah Mehsud. Waliur Rahman works out of Pakistan's Bajaur agency - a tribal area situated near the border with the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nooristan. The Pakistan Army is presently conducting a powerful military operation in Bajaur.

A letter recovered from gift basket read, "If Pakistan does not separate itself from the American crusade on Muslims, these sort of attacks shall continue."

According to reports, a vehicle with two occupants entered the Anti-Terrorist headquarters and asked guards to to deliver the package of candies to a top policeman's office. Interestingly, the police official had already given instructions for an employee to carrying the sweets inside for him. Within minutes, the bomb exploded.

Apart from a few guards, nobody was in the office. Some guards were injured, but the whole Anti-Terrorist Force building, where many jihadis have been detained and interrogated, was reduced to rubble.

The bombing comes just as Pakistan has decided to expand its partnership with the US in the "war on terror". Army officials were in the process of bringing parliamentarians on board before the country enters into a major battle against the militants. Similar letters have been sent to members of parliament, warning that if the policy of supporting US forces in the region is not abandoned, the entire country will face dire consequences.

Additionally, shopkeepers in the cultural capital of the country, Lahore, received letters, widely distributed in the markets under an organized campaign, instructing them to abide by Islamic norms and remove all "vulgar" movies from their shelves.

Last week, in a special briefing session of a Senate committee, Pakistani Secretary of Defense Kamran Rasool briefed lawmakers on the recent dynamics of Pakistani support for the "war on terror". Rasool openly admitted that Pakistan does not have any option but to follow US dictates, whatever they may be, because the country would collapse within three days if US financial assistance was withdrawn. His statement was widely criticized by the media and opposition parties.

Despite sparring over Pakistan in their second televised debate on Tuesday night, the two US presidential candidates ended up saying the same thing, though in somewhat different ways. While Democrat hopeful Senator Barack Obama said the US should only take action inside Pakistan if the government there was unable, or unwilling, to do so, Republican Senator John McCain was more conciliatory, recommending that the US use soft language with Pakistan, but carry a big stick.

This presidential posturing suggests that the focus of war in South Asia will eventually shift to Pakistan from Afghanistan and that before launching any final strategy, Pakistan's leaders must make adequate arrangements.

The main American asset in the North-West Frontier Province is Asfanyar Wali Khan, the leader of the Awami National Party which governs the province. Asfanyar has made Islamabad his home after a failed suicide attack on h is life last week in his town. He is not the only one taking security precautions. Official premises in the present "Red Zone" - the president's quarters, prime minister's house, parliament, supreme court and the diplomatic enclave - are to be secured in a highly protected "Green City". This new complex will reportedly be separated from the rest of Islamabad by an enormous wall.

All this is in preparation for Pakistan's emergence as the main theater of the "war on terror". This comes as the long winter begins and war goes cold in neighboring Afghanistan.

The war in Pakistan

The recent thread of events seems to start from a huge training program which the US has called an essential component in fighting the militancy in Pakistan. US Admiral Mike Mullen told the Los Angeles Times that American forces have secured bases north of Islamabad to train Pakistani soldiers. However, sources have told Asia Times Online that the situation on the ground reveals much more than a training program.

Hasanpur, a small town situated along the Ghazi Brotha Canal six kilometers from Tarbella Ghazi, is the center of activity. Sources in Pakistani security agencies told Asia Times Online that the airstrip in Hasanpur has been upgraded to war readiness in the last few weeks and new hangars have been built for military aircraft. Underground shelters, bunkers and tunnels have also been constructed. Following the arrival of American "training advisory groups", British military personnel were flown in and have reportedly taken over management of the facility.

Sources claim that the logistical capabilities of the US and British personnel, and extraordinary measures they have taken to upgrade the airstrip, suggest something far more advanced than a simple training site.

The security sources also maintain that new installations in the Hasanpur mountains are geared for direct participation in military operations. At the least, they are said to be capable of conducting independent drone operations from the high-altitude Hasanpur area.

As earlier reported, (See The gloves are off in Pakistan , Asia Times Online, September 23, 2008), US preparations are also underway at Tarbella, the brigade headquarters of Pakistan's Special Operation Task Force approximately 20km from Islamabad. In September, 300 American officials landed at this facility, with the official designation as a "training advisory group", according to documents viewed by Asia Times Online.

The report was widely reproduced in the Pakistani press and discussed in parliamentary committees. The main concern of the parliamentarians was that US activity so close to a Pakistani nuclear facility could jeopardize Pakistan's nuclear assets.

Supposedly, the frenzied US military preparations have an aspect of "October Surprise" - a longstanding term for unexpected twists that can help or hinder candidates in the month before US presidential elections.

For example, there is now an increased focus on attacks in areas where al-Qaeda leaders could potentially be spotted, arrested or killed. Rather than destroying Taliban sanctuaries or attacking the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Taliban center in South Waziristan, all focus has been on Bajaur - where a huge battle continues, causing the displacement of 500,000 residents.

Although the Pakistani military has failed to control the ground in Bajaur, preparations are now being made to assault North Waziristan, where most high-profile al-Qaeda leaders are believed to have shifted. Any al-Qaeda "successes" by US or Western forces would likely be used to the advantage of Republican candidate McCain.

The battle for 'October Surprise'

Lieutenant General Pasha told the recent session of parliament that Bajuar agency has been cleared of all militants and that state policy on the area will be established in coming weeks. Sources in the security agencies, however, maintain that so far Pakistan has only used fighter aircraft to bomb the militants. The army, according to sources, wa s not deployed on the ground because it is not prepared to take casualties. Until the army gains control of the ground, military operations in Bajaur will remain in limbo.

But the Pakistan Army is convinced, without any substantial proof, that it has displaced al-Qaeda leaders from Bajaur and that they have fled to North Waziristan.

Now, with American elections scheduled next month, the Pakistan Army will go to North Waziristan for the battle of "October Surprise". Fresh contingents of the army have been mobilized and action appears to be expected next week.

Sources said that the main target of the operation is Dr Ayman Al-Zawahiri. However, NATO allegedly favors the operation in North Waziristan because, like Bajaur, it is a nest of Afghan resistance, mainly of pro-Pakistan Jalaluddin Haqqani, a legendary Afghan mujahideen leader who has run the most effective militant network against NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Militants' winter offensive

Militants have their eyes set on November when they aim to spin the web of world events according to their will. Sources privy to their plans refused to reveal the details of global operations, but categorically refer to an extremely hot winter for Pakistan. Asia Times Online has learned on good authority that militants have planned attacks which would exceed this January's suicide attacks - which outnumbered those in war-torn Iraq.

As a source involved in the upcoming winter offensive told Asia Times Online: "Let October pass, then comes the mujahadeen's turn and then these mercenaries who bow down either for money or American might (will) have to decide whether we are more powerful or their American masters, and hence would have to decide whether they are with the American crusade in the name of war on terror, or with the global Muslim resistance against Western occupation forces."

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. URL: ]

Article Analyzes Battle Against Taliban, Al Qa'ida in Pakistan's Bajaur Region

SAP20081022494014 New Delhi Outlook in English 17 Oct 08

[Article by Kanchan Lakshman is research fellow, Institute for Conflict Management; assistant editor, Faultlines: Writings on Conflict and Resolution: "The Battle For Bajaur" -- text in boldface as formatted by source]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

It is now the nerve centre for military operations targeting the Taliban- al Qaeda combine. It would have its impact not only on how Pakistan prosecutes its campaign against terrorism and on the trajectory of conflict in neighbouring Afghanistan, but also on the future of Islamist terrorism and extremism across the world.

Bajaur Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan is now the nerve centre for military operations targeting the Taliban-al Qaeda combine. This extended battle in Bajaur will have a significant impact, not only on how Pakistan prosecutes its campaign against terrorism and on the trajectory of conflict in neighbouring Afghanistan, but also on the future of Islamist terrorism and extremism across the world.

Operation Sherdil (Lion Heart) began in August 2008 and was initially aimed at preventing the imminent fall of Khar, headquarters of Bajaur Agency, to the Taliban. While the military operations are intended to reclaim the whole of Bajaur from the Taliban - al Qaeda axis, particular emphasis has been focused on Salarzai Revenue Division (primarily in the Dara, Mullah Syed and Banda areas), Rashakai, Tang Khatta, Mamoond, Bai Cheena, Bicheena, Delay, Nisarabad, Niag Banda, Charmang and Khazana, the areas of largest concentration of the militant Islamist forces.

During the ongoing military operations in Bajaur, some 2,744 'terrorists' have already been killed, including 321 foreigners, and 1,400 injured, according to a military briefing during the joint session of Parliament in Islamabad on October 8 (since most of the 'terrorist' kills have been the result of aerial strikes, there is no authoritative separation of terrorist and 'collateral' fatalities). The military reportedly briefed the legislators about the worsening situation in FATA, NWFP and Balochistan and the US-led "war on terror" during the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament held in camera. This was only the third secret session of Parliament in Pakistan's history.

After Waziristan, Bajaur is arguably the most significant stronghold of militants who have entrenched themselves in the FATA, transforming the Agency into a nerve centre of the Taliban - al Qaeda network. Sources indicate that foreign al Qaeda militants are converging on Bajaur to bolster the ranks of the jihadis during the all-out military action against them. In fact, foreign militants are reportedly leading the counter-attack, since the Army action cannot be opposed solely by the local jihadis. The foreign militants - Arabs, Chechens, Uzbeks and Afghans - are reportedly led by an Afghan commander identified as Qari Ziaur Rehman. The militants' strength in Bajaur is estimated at about 2,000, including both foreigners and the Pakistani Taliban, according to Major General Tariq Khan, the Frontier Corps (FC) chief in the region. He said the Taliban's fighting strength had not decreased appreciably, despite heavy casualties, due to reinforcements coming in from the northwest and Afghanistan. "I personally feel that trained squads have been moved in," Khan added.

Ever since militants of different nationalities began using Bajaur as a safe haven, they have transformed the region into a well secured fortress, constructing tunnel systems and trenches across the Agency. Network of tunnels have been discovered in the Taliban strongholds of Tankkhata, Rashakai and Loyesam, and sources disclosed to the Daily Times that "They [militants] would fire at the Forces from some house and then use the tunnel to escape the Army's return fire." According to the report, "these foreigners were interested in renting houses by the roadside, and paid Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 25,000 in rent per month. The purpose of renting houses along the roadside was to attack the Forces if they launched action against the militants."

The militants' resistance is stiffening, with better tactics and communication systems, reinforcements, and arms and ammunition from across the border. Reinforcements are coming from other Agencies in the FATA and from Afghanistan (primarily from the Kunar province). Western diplomatic sources acknowledge that the "level of violence in Kunar has dropped appreciably since the launch of the operation in Bajaur, indicating a planning and operational linkage that overlaps the Durand Line."

The extremists, Army chief Kayani said during his visit to Bajaur on September 28, 2008, were attacking not only security forces and Government installations but were also blowing up girls' schools and health centres.

As has happened elsewhere in Pakistan, the conflict in Bajaur has led to a huge displacement of the civilian population. While there are no accurate figures of the number of refugees, reliable reportage indicates that an estimated 500,000 people have been displaced from the Agency since August 2008. There has also been a flight out of Bajaur by an estimated 70, 000 Afghans, following orders by the local administration to vacate the Agency. Many of the Afghans reportedly have crossed the border into Afghanistan, while others have shifted to the Dir Lower District. The Afghan refugees in Bajaur had been living there since the late 1970s, after fleeing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Despite the widespread violence, displacement and an expansion of the conflict into other areas, including several cities in Pakistan, the Army remains optimistic about reclaiming the territory. The FC Inspector General, Major General Tariq Khan, stated, on September 26, that the situation in Bajaur would be stabilised within two months: "My timeframe for Bajaur is anything from between one-and-a-half to two months to bring about stability." He stated that the troops had killed more than 1,000 Taliban - al Qaeda militants and injured 2,000 others since the offensive began in early August, and that five top commanders were among those killed in the ongoing operations. Among the commanders killed were Egyptian Abu Saeed Al-Masri, Arab Abu Suleiman, Uzbek Mullah Mansoor, and an Afghan commander identified as Manaras. The fifth was a son of Maulana Faqir Mohammad, the top Taliban commander in the region. Some 63 soldiers had died and 212 were injured in the operation so far, Khan disclosed further.

The stakes for the military in Bajaur are immense. As Pakistani commentator Ismail Khan notes, it has "created a surrender-or-die situation for the militants and a now-or-never moment for the country's security forces." Some in the Army believe that 65 percent of the Taliban problem would be eliminated if they were defeated in Bajaur. Describing Bajaur as a 'centre of gravity' for the Taliban, Major General Tariq Khan claimed, "If they lose here, they've lost almost everything." He explained, further: "Why we are calling this a test case? If we dismantle the training camps here, the headquarters, the communication centres, the roots which come in, stop the inter-agency movement and destroy the leadership. Out here we feel that about 65 per cent or so of militancy would have been controlled."

But this optimism is not generally shared, even within the Army. Military operations had been a mixed bag of success and setbacks and no timeframe could be given about the ongoing campaigns, sources in the military said in a media briefing on September 29. "It is a continual operation. It is not going to end in 2008 and it is not going to end in 2009. Don't be optimistic, as far as the timeframe is concerned. It is a different ground and it will take some time."

That the Army has a difficult task is obvious. But the situation is made worse by a trust deficit at the local level which, in turn, has been aggravated by US incursions in FATA. The mounting civilian casualties (which are impossible to estimate at present) and a steadily growing refugee situation have added to the complexities. Further, Islamabad has predominantly relied on an aerial strategy to target militant locations in Bajaur. Noted journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad observes, "the Army, according to sources, was not deployed on the ground because it is not prepared to take casualties. Until the Army gains control of the ground, military operations in Bajaur will remain in limbo."

Government and security officials have disclosed to the media that "they are baffled by the resilience and stiff resistance offered by the battle-hardened fighters, by their tactics and the sophistication of their weapons and communications systems." One senior official noted that "They have good weaponry and a better communication system (than ours)... Even the sniper rifles they use are better than some of ours. Their tactics are mind-boggling and they have defences that would take us days to build. It does not look as though we are fighting a rag-tag militia; they are fighting like an organised force."

There is, moreover, significant apprehension in Islamabad that increasing 'collateral damage' in an augmenting conflict may lead to a severe public backlash across Pakistan, and consequently undermine the political support required for a successful campaign in Bajaur. Reports already indicate that the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), which has a "strong political base in Bajaur and has had close ties with Gulbadin Hekmatyar's Hizb-i-Islami (which operates in Kunar) has already launched a campaign against the operation."

On its side, the Taliban appears to be determined to defend Bajaur till the last jihadi. More importantly, however, they are clearly escalating the conflict in Pakistan's cities. The latest instance of this strategy was visible on October 9, when a bomb blast destroyed the headquarters of Pakistan's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in Islamabad, though there were no casualties (four policemen were reportedly wounded) since there were few Policemen at the location at that time. The bomb, which was disguised as a packet of sweets, was allegedly sent by Waliur Rehman, a Bajaur-based commander of the Jaish-e-Islami Pakistan, a militant group aligned with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Waliur Rehman was reportedly wounded on September 25 when helicopter gunships targeted his hideout in Khar, headquarters of the Bajaur Agency. A note left at the ATS office said: " Human bombs would continue to target the security forces personnel if the Pakistani authorities do not stop fighting the US-led war against terror." Even the suicide bombing at Hotel Marriott in Islamabad on September 20, in which 60 people were killed, was a clear indication that the Taliban have brought the battle to Pakistan's cities. An emboldened Taliban also abducted Abdul Khaliq Farahi, Afghanistan's Ambassador-designate to Islamabad, from the upscale Hyatabad area in Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, in broad daylight on September 22, after killing his driver. Till the time of writing, Farahi remains missing.

Islamabad, evidently, has limited choices, and the options are circumscribed further by the immense pressure that is currently being exerted by Washington. Even as Operation Sherdil continues, sources indicate that preparations are underway to begin an all-out campaign in North Waziristan, where some militant leaders are believed to have shifted.NATO reportedly favors the operation in North Waziristan because, "like Bajaur, it is a nest of Afghan resistance, mainly of (the) pro-Pakistan Jalaluddin Haqqani (faction)." Significantly, the neutralization of any 'high-value target' in the FATA is expected to have considerable impact on the campaign strategy of Republican candidate John McCain in the U.S.

An eventual failure in Bajaur or the abandonment of Operation Sherdil midway (as has been the case for military operations in South Waziristan, Darra Adamkhel and Swat on earlier occasions), will undermine the entire effort to restore some measure of order along the frontier - and indeed, across Pakistan. The campaign in Bajaur is crucial to successes in the other provinces and will impact on the strategy of the Taliban - al Qaeda combine both in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: New Delhi Outlook in English -- Website of weekly magazine specializing in foreign affairs; URL: ]

Article on Afghan Government-Taliban Contacts, Iranian, Pakistani Ambitions

GMP20081021825004 London Al-Hayah (Internet Version-WWW) in Arabic 21 Oct 08

[Report by Jamal Isma'il, from Islamabad: "On the Basis of US Failure, British Grumbling, and Iranian Preparation, The Blocked Horizon of Karzai-Taliban Negotiations Awakens the Ambitions of Afghanistan's Neighbors"]

The announcement by Afghan President Hamed Karzai that he intends to seek the help of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdallah Bin Abd-al-Aziz in conducting negotiations between the Kabul Government and the Taliban Movement has constituted a new turning point in the Afghan situation. This is particularly true as this request is coupled with the announcement that there are two delegations from the Kabul Government and the Taliban Movement in Saudi Arabia, and that they have met under the auspices of the Kingdom to discuss the means for a political solution for the current crisis in Afghanistan.

This Afghan official request has come just a few weeks after the change at the top of government in neighboring Pakistan, which is usually accused by Afghanistan of nurturing the Afghan conflict, and supporting and arming Taliban and Al-Qa'ida. The new leadership in Pakistan, represented by President Asif Ali Zardari, and commander of the army General Ishfaq Parvez Kayani, has pledged not to allow such support. Moreover, Kayani has traveled to Kabul to meet the NATO commanders in Afghanistan, and to inform the Afghan Government about the efforts undertaken by the Pakistani army in the tribal regions. The Pakistani Government has sent Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to Kabul to talk to the Afghan Government, and to reassure it that Pakistan supports all the government's efforts to establish stability in Afghanistan. Pakistan followed this up by replacing the director of its military intelligence, who was accused of involvement in supporting Taliban, by another general known for his call for a military settlement against the Pakistani armed groups, and for his demand for halting any activities by Afghan Taliban on the Pakistani territories, even if it were peaceful activities.

Domestic and Foreign Necessities

Since the toppling of the Taliban Government at the hand of the US and coalition forces at the end of 2001, Afghan President Hamed Karzai has continued to describe the Taliban fighters, and the movement in general, as "enemies of the people, murderous and terrorist groups supported by foreign powers," and so on. Karzai has rejected any dialog with Mullah Mohammad Omar and those who he describes as Mullah Omar's clique conspiring against the Afghan people, and the US forces and US allies from other countries rejected any dialog with the Taliban Movement.

Two years ago, the United States rejected an agreement that the British forces had signed with the tribal leaders in the Sangin District in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan on behalf of Taliban forces in the region. The US pretext was that negotiating with Taliban Movement would strengthen it, and bestow legitimacy on it in the Afghan street. What has taken place to make President Hamed Karzai change his stance toward Taliban Movement and invite Mullah Mohammad Omar to work with him, and to form a joint government in Afghanistan to work toward stabilizing the situation and restoring calmness to the country?

The Deteriorating Situation

According to the statements of the coalition forces in Afghanistan, the Taliban operations have increased by 50 percent during the past months, the number of the civilians killed as a result of the bombings carried out by the coalition forces, especially the UN forces, has risen to more than 3,000 during one year, while the unemployment rate among the Afghan people has reached more than 80 percent. According to the UN reports, and the US statistics, 45 percent of the Afghan people do not have enough money to buy proper food this winter. The reports point out that 80 percent of the population in northern Afghanistan is near starvation this year. Washington spends 100 million dollars every day on the war in Afghanistan, but only 5 percent of this money is directed to the support of the Afghan people, and 40 percent of this 5 percent goes to the donor countries in the form of salaries to their employees in Afghanistan. While the salary of the Afghan employee does not exceed 14 dollars per month, the Afghan Government says that Taliban gives its fighters the equivalent of 200 dollars per month. This increases the deterioration of the situation for the government of President Hamed Karzai.

A report by US Intelligence this spring points out that the territories under the control of the central government in Afghanistan and of the coalition forces supporting this government do not exceed 30 percent of the area of Afghanistan. Moreover, the widespread corruption in the state organizations, the nepotism, the bribery, and the bad administration are all benefiting Taliban, as many Afghans now reminisce about and miss its era. According to the former commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan, General McNeil, "The situation in Afghanistan is not good. However, the NATO forces have achieved some progress in increasing the number of Afghan students registered at schools, also reduced the number of child death, and increased the numbers of the NATO forces in Afghanistan."

In its turn, Taliban has increased the number of its attacks, and has been able to spread its control over many of the rural areas until it reached the outskirts of the capital, Kabul. The western journalists in Kabul report that the population of the Logar Province and Wardak Province, which neighbor the capital, now resort to Taliban and its shari'ah courts rather than resort to the government and its feeble administrative apparatus and bureaucracy, which are financially corrupted.

The motive of Afghan President Karzai for pursuing the negotiations with Taliban might be his need to renew his term next year. According to sources in the Afghan Northern Alliance, Karzai was, and still is in touch with Golboddin Hekmatyar, leader of the Hezb-e Eslami and former prime minister, who leads armed opposition in east Afghanistan, and former President Sibghatullah Mojaddedi is the link between the two sides. The Northern Alliance offers as proof of these contacts the fact that the Karzai Government has recognized officially the Hezb-e Eslami, allowed it to operate and to fight the elections where it won 43 seats in the current parliament, which makes it the largest parliamentary bloc, also six ministers in President Karzai's Government have the background of belonging to the Hezb-e Eslami, and 13 of the governors of the 32 Afghan provinces are former leaders of the Hezb-e Eslami.

Dead End

Therefore, nearly seven years after toppling the Taliban Government, the Afghan Government and the coalition forces supporting it have reached a dead end in their attempt to destroy the Taliban armed men. Rather than destroying those armed men or cutting them to size and restricting them to a specific region, the Taliban fighters have been able to expand the area of their operations to reach regions in the Afghan north, not to mention their expansion into the east, south, and west of Afghanistan. The Afghan fighters have exploited the increasing popular anger caused by the bombing, to which civilians in various regions have been exposed, in order to turn this anger into an endless source for providing the movement with cadres and fighters in its operations against the foreign presence and against the current government in Kabul. This has made British Prime Minister Gordon Brown say that his government is looking for a strategy to get out of Afghanistan, it does not want to continue with an endless war, and it does not support the US escalation of the war as an alternative to political settlement in Afghanistan.

According to Brigadier Mark Carlton-Smith, commander of the British forces in Afghanistan, if the Taliban Movement were ready to look for a political settlement, this would rid Afghanistan of the armed rebellion. However Smith stresses that the aim of the negotiations between Taliban and the Kabul Government ought to be separating those with whom it is possible to reconcile, who are ready to become a part of the future of the country, from those with whom no reconciliation is possible.

On the other hand, the Afghan defense minister stresses that the talks ought to aim at finding a political settlement with the Taliban movement to guarantee its acceptance of the current Afghan Constitution, and of the peaceful alternation of power through democratic means, which is something that Taliban has not yet announced that it accepts.

The situation has reached the stage that the British side said through the British ambassador to Kabul that the US presidential candidates ought to avoid any more discussion of Afghanistan, and he described the foreign forces in that country as the blood of life for the Kabul regime, and he added that any additional forces would complicate the crisis, and that Washington's strategy in Afghanistan was doomed to failure.

From this background we can understand President Karzai's invitation to Mullah Mohammad Omar and Taliban to negotiate with his government, and to reach a peace agreement.

What happened? How did the negotiations start? Are the negotiations really between Taliban and the Karzai Government?

Mediators Facilitated the Meetings

After the US plans in Afghanistan collided with the reality of the Afghan mountains, and after the stumbling of the relations between the Northern Alliance, led by former President Burhanuddin Rabbani and General Mohammad Fahim, and the President Hamed Karzai Administration, as a result of Karzai resorting to restricting the role of the Northern Alliance, the alliance started to weave the fabric of future relations with Taliban by calling for dialog with it, and for involving it in the political decision. Engineer Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, former Afghan prime minister, was the first one to talk about involving Taliban in the government or engaging in a dialog with it. He was followed in this call by former President Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Al-Hayah learned that Engineer Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai tried during his last visit to Pakistan to convince the three countries that recognized the Taliban Government - Pakistan, UAE, and Saudi Arabia - to undertake any action in order to start negotiations between Taliban and the Afghan Government through the activation of the role of the Organization of the Islamic Conference for this purpose. According to what Engineer Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai said, the US and coalition forces and the Karzai Government have failed completely in Afghanistan, and if Taliban were to return to government, it would not be the same Taliban whose government was toppled in 2001, because of the changes in viewpoints at domestic, regional, and international levels. Ahmadzai said that the best that could happen to Afghanistan would be the drawing of a timetable for the withdrawal of the coalition forces in exchange for replacing these forces by Islamic peacekeeping forces from countries other than the neighbors of Afghanistan. Engineer Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai proposed the participation of forces from Indonesia, Malaysia, and other Muslim countries from Africa in the peacekeeping forces, because these countries do not have special interests in Afghanistan.

Collective Breakfast or Arranged Meeting

The first public meeting between officials from the Karzai Government and Taliban was at a breakfast table. The banquet was attended by Mawlai Arsalan, special adviser to President Hamed Karzai, who previously occupied ministerial posts in the Taliban Government and in the previous Mujahidin Government, and who was a well-known commander and had close links with Jalaluddin Haqqani, Taliban official in East Afghanistan. The breakfast was attended by Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the last Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, who currently resides in Kabul. The meeting was attended also by Dr Ghayrat Bahir, brother-in-law of Engineer Golboddin Hekmatyar, and former Afghan ambassador to Islamabad; and a number of other Afghan dignitaries.

Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, who was said to represent Taliban, did not say a single word about his representation of the movement at any current negotiations with the government. Moreover, Taliban Spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousaf Ahmadi announced that there would be no negotiations with the Karzai Government, which he described as "puppet in the hand of the occupation." This took place simultaneously with the announcement by Mullah Mohammad Omar, first leader of the Taliban Movement, that the movement was ready to give the foreign forces in Afghanistan safe passage if they were to decide to withdraw completely from Afghanistan, that there would be no negotiations with the Karzai Government, and that Taliban would not accept half solutions in Afghanistan.

Stances of Regional Sides

As soon as this ended, Iranian Foreign Minister Menouchehr Mottaki hastened to visit Islamabad, and announced, together with his Pakistan opposite number Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the commencement of a strategic dialog between Tehran and Islamabad for the purpose of cooperating over the situation in Afghanistan and its developments.

Despite the fact that this announcement could be understood as an attempt by the Iranian people to play with more than one card in the face of the western pressure (especially from the United States and Britain) calling for the imposition of siege on Tehran because of its nuclear program, any Iranian-Pakistani understanding over the future of the conflict in Afghanistan might spare that country falling again into wars on behalf of Iran, Pakistan, and the other world powers, as it happened since the fall of the communist rule in Afghanistan until the fall of the Taliban regime.

Moreover the Pakistani-Iranian strategic dialog is considered also an indication of the beginning of moves by the regional powers to face up to the situation in Afghanistan, especially after the escalation of the US financial crisis and its reflections on the political and military decisions abroad.

The other countries have preferred to keep silent over what can be considered the beginnings of the dialog in Afghanistan. However, Pakistani experts fear that such a dialog might aim at transferring the arena of conflict from Afghanistan to Pakistan in the light of the presence of the NATO forces in Afghanistan. Dr Shereen Mazari, former director general of the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad, has told Al-Hayah that the security and safety of Pakistan remain under threat as long as the NATO forces stay in Afghanistan. Mazari accused the Indian and Afghan Intelligence Services, of collusion with the United States, of involvement in the incidents in the Pakistani tribal regions, and in the explosions that occur every now and then in Pakistan. Despite her welcoming of any Afghan dialog, Mazari cast doubt on the feasibility of such dialog. The Afghan Government and the British forces have announced that one of the most important aims of this dialog is to create a split in the Taliban Movement, and to put an end to the relationship between the leadership of Taliban and Al-Qa'ida. Mazari says that time has proved that it is not right to rely on such an aim, because the leadership of Taliban has opted to sacrifice its state rather than sever its relations with Al-Qa'ida, and also during all these years, and despite all the circumstances that Taliban has gone through, no split has occurred upon which it could be relied to find an alternative leader for Mullah Mohammad Omar.

In the light of this situation we ought to wonder about the seriousness of the invitation for dialog, the seriousness of the response to it, and the mechanisms of implementing what would be agreed, as Taliban accuses the Karzai Government of being a puppet in the hands of the occupation. Will the US-British difference of viewpoints about Afghanistan push Britain into competing with the US role in Afghanistan by trying to polarize President Karzai? Or is all that is happening and that is being announced an attempt to cover up the current situation and whether the circumstances of the US presidential elections make it difficult for the White House Administration to follow a clear policy that would have consequences for the next administration, whatever this administration might be?

[Description of Source: London Al-Hayah (Internet Version-WWW) in Arabic -- Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; commentaries occasionally critical of US policy. URL: ]

Pakistan: 'Foreigners' Said Killed as Suspected US Drones Attack Seminary

SAP20081023027002 Karachi Dawn News in English 0900 GMT 23 Oct 08

Suspected American drones have fired two missiles on a religious seminary in North Waziristan which has killed 10 people. The missile strike targeted the Sirajul Uloom Madrassa set up by militant commander Jalaluddin Haqqani in Dandey Darpakhel area of Miram Shah. Security officials say the seminary was run by one of Haqqani's own commanders Mullah Mansur and was recently used as a guest house for local as well as foreign students. Sources say most of the dead are Ahmedzai Wazir tribesmen but locals say that foreigners were among the dead. Locals are still sifting through the rubble to find the remains of the dead. Meanwhile, a grand jirga from North Waziristan has complained to the Frontier [North-West Frontier Province] Governor Awais Ahmed Ghani about rise in drone attacks in the tribal belt and violation of Pakistani airspace. Mr Ghani has told the jirga that the government also condemns such missile attacks.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn News in English -- Pakistan's first 24-hour English language TV channel owned by the Dawn Group of Newspapers.]

Article on Attempted Afghan Government-Taliban Settlement, Stances of all Sides

GMP20081014825001 London Al-Hayah (Internet Version-WWW) in Arabic 14 Oct 08

[Article by Samir al-Sa'dawi: "Horizons of Afghan Settlement Between 'the engineer' and the Mullah, and 'Uncle Sam's Awakening'"]

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of Hezb-e Eslami, has always liked to repeat that he did not go forward to shake hands with President Ronald Reagan when he received the leaders of the Afghan Mujahidin to celebrate the withdrawal of the Soviet forces from their country in the late eighties of the last century. This "rebellion" by Hekmatyar was not the result of his insistence on "hostility to imperialism," but also of his refusal to be one of a group of leaders to whom the defeat of the Red Army was attributed, because he wanted to be the leader in this field.

When the "engineer," as Hekmatyar likes his supporters to call him, saw the indications of a possible settlement between the Afghan Government and Taliban, he hastened to assert his presence in the equation by sponsoring an attack near Kabul in mid August 2008. The attack resulted in the killing of 10 French soldiers. Hekmatyar has never forgiven France its support for his opponent the late Ahmad Shah Massoud during the fighting between the 20 mujahidin groups over the Afghan capital in the early nineties of the last century.

Hekmatyar controls a strategic region at the Afghan-Pakistan borders that starts from Konar Province, where he and his supporters have secret safe shelters hundreds of miles away from the stronghold of the leader of Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, in his birthplace in Urozgan Province in the middle of Afghanistan. Despite the large distance between the two strongholds, their "two hearts" agree on hating the foreign occupation. This helps them to forget their mutual distaste that has not been erased by the changed circumstances since the mid nineties when Taliban toppled the Mujahidin Government in Afghanistan, which was headed by the "engineer."

In addition to Hekmatyar and Mullah Omar, there is a third leader that shares with them the mission of confronting the foreign occupation. He is Shaykh Jalaluddin Haqqani, whose two strongholds in Pakistan and Afghanistan were raided twice by US aircraft in September 2008 without achieving the US aim of liquidating him.

Haqqani holds the middle part of the Pakistan-Afghan borders, starting from his strongholds in the two provinces of Paktia and Paktika. Haqqani is the "engineer" of the relationship between Mullah Omar and the leader of the Al-Qa'ida Organization, Usama Bin Ladin. This is in addition to his involvement in the Pashtun structure in the tribal regions in western Pakistan, which is impregnable to the state. This made the leader of Taliban in the late nineties ask for appointing him a commander of the armed forces of the movement, despite the fact that organizationally he did not belong to the movement.

While some observers believe that Haqqani still is closer to Bin Ladin and his Deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, it is probable that Hekmatyar's relationship with Al-Qa'ida does not exceed "skirmishes" with its members when they move in the region next to his stronghold; this is because of the traditional lack of trust between the two sides, and the fact that the leader of the Hezb-e Eslami blames Bin Ladin for his support for Taliban in controlling the government in Kabul.

As for Mullah Omar, he is "balancing" two tendencies in his movement. One tendency supports the Al-Qa'ida extremists as "brethren in jihad," and another tendency opposes the Arab fighters. Even if the latter tendency accepted the pledge undertaken by Mullah Omar to "host" them, it considered that it was released from this pledge with the US attack that toppled the Taliban regime at the end of 2001. Within Taliban, this latter tendency is led by Taliban's former Foreign Minister Abdul Salam Ahmad Motawakil together with the former prominent diplomat, Abdul Salam Zaeef. Zaeef became extremely famous when he was the only Taliban window of information to the world through his daily press conferences when he was appointed as Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan at the time of the 11 September 2001 attacks.

Motawakil and Zaeef, who have been considered for a long time to be among the "intelligentsia" of the movement, have returned during the past two weeks to the line of confrontation in the light of the increasing talk about "negotiations" between Taliban and Kabul, with the consent and encouragement of the United States, in an attempt to reach a settlement to end the war in Afghanistan. This is reminiscent of contacts that were made with Motawakil after 11 July in order to reach a settlement with the Movement. The United States still insists on the condition it laid down at that time for normalization with Taliban, namely severing its relations with Al-Qa'ida, a fact that indicates the difficulty of achieving a breakthrough in the renewed attempt to establish negotiations. This is particularly true as Mullah Omar hastened last week to lay down a condition for reconciliation with the Afghan Government, namely the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan!

Uncle Sam cannot be naive to the extent of believing that Motawakil on his own is capable of "purging" the Afghan territories, especially the regions next to the Pakistani tribal Pashtunistan region, of Arab hardliners. However, Motawakil might be able to re-spread a message among the Pashtuns in the Afghan south to say that the coalition with Al-Qa'ida was, and still is bad for the Mawlawis, who are the followers of the intellectual school from which Taliban emerged in Afghanistan.

The aim of this message might be to clone the "Awakening" experiment, which started among the Sunnis in Iraq, and similar indications of it appeared recently in the eastern side of the Pashtun tribal belt in Pakistan. This cloning might extend to the creation of Awakening militias in some Afghan regions in the hope of surrounding the strongholds of extremism at the Pakistani-Afghan borders in a pincer movement, and hence easing the pressure on the coalition forces, and preventing the collapse of the regime of Afghan President Hamed Karzai as a result of the strikes by the hardliners.

Perhaps the fear of this "Awakening" is what motivated Tehran to express its opposition to the idea of a settlement with Taliban when US voices encouraging such a step flowed, and the latest of which was the voice of US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

Within this context, it is worth noting that Ala'eddin Borujerdi, chairman of the Iranian Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said: The western countries ought to support the Karzai Government rather than try to negotiate with Taliban.

[Description of Source: London Al-Hayah (Internet Version-WWW) in Arabic -- Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; commentaries occasionally critical of US policy. URL: ]

UK Dispatch Describes Pakistan's 'Hidden War' With Taliban, Al-Qa'ida

EUP20081023015014 London Independent Online in English 23 Oct 08

["Exclusive dispatch" by Andrew Buncombe and Omar Waraich: "Pakistan's Hidden War"]

War has come to the world's only Muslim nuclear state. Not just terrorist bombs, but pitched battles bringing refugees down from the mountains and even into Afghanistan. In a powerful dispatch, Andrew Buncombe and Omar Waraich report on the conflict which has left 200,000 people caught between the Pakistani Army, the Taliban and the tribal warlords

There was a loud, sharp sound followed by flames and massive blast of wind that threw the young boy twenty yards through the air. It felt as if he had fallen off the mountain.

When he pulled himself to his feet, dazed and battered, he discovered nine members of his family were dead and that his mother was badly wounded. All were victims of a deadly artillery shell fired by the Pakistani military battling with Taliban fighters in the country's mountainous border region. As soon as they were able, the boy's remaining family and the rest of his village fled.

That was two months ago. Now 12-year-old Ikram Ullah sits with thousands of others in a wretched, fly-ridden refugee camp close to the north-west city of Mardan, his face streaked with dirt and tears as he tells his story and wonders what will happen to him. The food is poor, there are few proper facilities and there is nothing to do. "Life here," he says, crouching in the dust among rows of canvas tents, "is filled with sadness and grief."

Ikram is not alone. Aid agencies estimate up to 200,000 desperate people have been forced to leave their villages as a result of the fighting. Scattered in camps across northern Pakistan, they offer a glimpse into a deadly conflict largely overlooked by the West but which has created chaos and misery for the region's civilian population. All the while, as the Pakistan Army bends to pressure from the US to do more to confront the Taliban militants building strongholds and extending their influence in the tribal areas, so the fall-out for the civilians gets worse. Every day their lives are threatened both by the pounding jets that sweep into the valleys on bombing runs and by the clattering helicopter gunships that the Pakistan military is using to spearhead its assaults. The people sitting in the dust are the so-called "collateral damage" of Pakistan's own war on terror.

But the danger goes far beyond that. The spread of the Taliban and the seemingly endless cycle of violence they have created threatens the very fabric of Pakistan, an unstable nuclear-armed state that at times appears on the very brink of unraveling. Were that to happen the consequences both for the country and the region would be unthinkable. The civilian administration elected earlier this year, pulled back and forth by the various pressures upon it and its stalled, stuttering approach to confronting the militants, at times looks ill-prepared to tackle this most pressing of problems.

Until now, the conflict - which can trace its roots to the 1970s and 1980s when the Pakistani military and US government funded and encouraged Islamic mujahideen fighters to wage guerilla war against Soviet forces in Afghanistan - has largely played out in remote tribal areas located along its north-western border. For those in the West it has been a conflict easy enough to ignore, should they choose. The tribal agencies have long been considered an area all but outside the control of the central government.

But that has started to change. In recent months, militants have escalated their attacks on targets linked to either the Pakistani military and police or the West in what they say is a direct response to the government's decision to bow to US pressure. The most stunning of these was the truck-bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in September that more than 50 people dead, including half-a-dozen foreigners. There have also been attacks on the country's prime minister and the Anti-Terrorism Police's headquarters, while in August the Taliban claimed responsibility after two suicide bombers killed around 70 people at a munitions plant at Wah, 20 miles from the capital. A Taliban spokesman said afterwards: "Only innocent people die when the Pakistan army carries out airstrikes in Bajaur or Swat."

At the same time, areas outside of the tribal regions have seen the increasing influence of the Taliban. There was panic earlier this summer when it was claimed militants were threatening to lay siege to the strategically important city of Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province. (NWFP). In the province's Swat Valley, once a leading tourist attraction and considered the "Switzerland of Pakistan", the army has also stepped operations against militants. And last week shopkeepers in Lahore, long considered a bulwark against extremism, began publicly setting fire to DVDs of pornographic movies after receiving threats from militants.

* * *

The tribal areas are a world apart. Officially known as Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), they are squeezed in between Afghanistan and Pakistan's NWFP in a strip that runs north to south-west and contain some of the most mountainous and inhospitable terrain in the region. Large parts of these seven rugged agencies - North and South Waziristan, Kurram, Orakzai, Khyber, Mohmand and Bajaur - are also utterly lawless.

Peopled by Pashtun tribes famous both for their fierceness and code of traditional hospitality, the area has only ever nominally been in the control of the central government and has instead been governed by tribal leaders and their traditional jirgas, or community meetings.

The region's virtual autonomy dates to the creation of Pakistan. After the British left the subcontinent following Partition, the tribal areas technically became independent and it was up the tribal chiefs or maliks to agree whether or not to become part of Pakistan. As part of the deal that was agreed, the tribal chiefs managed to ensure they would retain the large degree of autonomy they had enjoyed under the British empire.

Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, it was through these tribal areas that dictator Zia ul-Haq - with funding from the US and Saudi Arabia - dispatched thousands of young fighters to join Afghan militias opposing the Red Army. Training camps were set up by the ISI intelligence agency along the border to prepare these fighters for battle. Praised by Ronald Reagan as "freedom fighters", these mujahideen, or holy warriors, were a crucial factor in the Soviet's decision a decade later to withdraw.

In 1994, following years of civil war in Afghanistan, the government of Benazir Bhutto, provided financial and military backing to a group of Afghan fighters based in the city of Kandahar and calling themselves "the students" or Taliban in their efforts to take control of the country. Bhutto argued that stability in Afghanistan and a government of its own sponsorship would help Pakistan. "I don't know how much money they were ultimately given," she later recalled. "I know it was a lot. It was just carte blanche." Two years later the Taliban seized Kabul and set in place an increasingly authoritarian rule that only ended when the US invaded following the 2001 Al-Qa'ida attacks on New York and Washington.

When the Taliban and Al-Qa'ida fighters they had given refuge to were forced from Afghanistan, it was into the tribal areas of Pakistan that many fled. Bin Ladin himself managed to slip away in late 2001 through the White Mountains after apparently having been surrounded by Afghan militia at Tora Bora. Ever since, he and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri have been linked to both the South Waziristan and Bajaur areas.

In these tribal areas, among fellow Pashtuns, the Taliban received warm welcome. As they were able to regroup and rebuild and to again take up battle against US and NATO forces inside Afghanistan. At the same time, their influence spread and increasing number of Pakistan Taliban were recruited to an anti-American jihad. A number of Pakistan Taliban leaders are now firmly established in the tribal areas.

It is these fighters that have been the focus of on-and-off operations by the military since Pakistan signed up to George Bush's war on terror. Both Pervez Musharraf and the recently elected civilian government have backed both negotiated settlements and military force to try and deal with the militants.

But in August, after constant pressure from Washington to do more to stop the flood of militants crossing into Afghanistan and attacking US and NATO troops, the Pakistan military launched a major operation in the Bajaur agency - home of the 12-year-old Ikram and his family. The effect has been devastating.

"When the fighter jets came into our valley four people were killed," says Abdul Rauf, a creased-faced 50-year-old refugee from a Bajaur village called Tauheedabada. "All the people were crying, we were frightened. After that we started to run away."

There are thousands of people like Rauf, thousands who have suffered tragedies like endured by Ikram. Aid agencies say a little under 200,000 people have been forced from their homes, but that is partly guesswork. "Since mid-August, we've seen an exodus of about 190,000 people from areas bordering Afghanistan. This includes Bajaur and Swat," said Vivian Tan of UNHCR. "The government tells us over 168,000 people are internally displaced in NWFP, while the Afghan authorities in Kunar province have reported about 20,000 people arriving since mid-August. We have no access to most of these border areas, so we're relying completely on government figures."

* * *

Pakistan's army is headquartered in the neat and well-tended cantonment district of Rawalpindi, the garrison city located near Islamabad. It from here that the fight against the militants is overseen and officers bristle at the suggestion that the military's efforts to root out the militants is only half-hearted.

On the wall of Lt Col Haider Baseer's office, beneath of photograph of Pakistan's founder, Mohammad ali-Jinnah, is pinned a photocopied map showing the location of some of the ongoing operations. A total of 120,000 troops are currently deployed. "We are operating in Swat, in Bajaur, in

Darra Adam Khel and North and South Waziristan," says the colonel, a military spokesman, whose office is located in a quadrangle containing sweet-smelling roses.

The colonel admits the military has been surprised by the resistance offered by the Taliban. A total of 1,400 soldiers and paramilitaries (from the Frontier Corps or FC) have been lost in operations since 2001. He says the Taliban is fighting a classic guerilla war and that both the terrain and the enemy is difficult. "Everybody has a gun," he says. "It's their culture."

The situation is made more difficult by the fact that this conflict pitches Muslim against Muslim and often - in the case of the FC - Pashtun against Pashtun. There have been reports of desertion and surrender. One military officer who has been based in Swat and Waziristan admitted this was, at least initially, a problem for many troops. "At the beginning, before we were inducted into this war, it was troubling. We asked ourselves, how are we going to fight against fellow Muslims? In the Pakistan army we were motivated to fight against India and if we die, we were told we become martyrs who go to heaven," he says. "Now I am convinced that I am fighting this war for my country and my religion. When I arrived in the tribal areas, I saw how the militants, the terrorists were working against the country and the religion. Now we see all the criminal elements getting into their fold. They do not represent Islam in any way."

What has certainly complicated matters in recent months is the involvement of US forces in the battle against militants. For a long time, the US has been using unmanned drones flown out of Afghanistan to attack suspected militant hideouts. Sometimes they claim to kill Al-Qa'ida members, often they kill civilians. In June, a US airstrike killed 11 members of the FC.

Such unauthorized air strikes have steadily fuelled popular sentiment against the US. But the situation was brought to boiling point in early September 3 when it was revealed US special forces had entered Pakistan and attacked the village of Jalal Khel in the Angoor Adda area of South Waziristan. Up to 20 people were killed, including women and children. The incident triggered angry protests from both villagers and Pakistan's political and military leaders. There were also a series of incidents of Pakistani and US troops exchanging fire along the border. "Obviously this is difficult. No-one wants to see foreign soldiers entering the country," says Col Baseer. "We have asked the US to stop the border incursions."

Yet the most serious allegation concerning Pakistan's seemingly lacklustre effort to confront the militants is that parts of the military establishment do not wish to. In particular, the shadowy ISI intelligence agency (whose director was recently changed) has been accused of maintaining operational links with the Taliban, the organisation it helped create three decades ago. Such allegations are nothing new; in 2002, for example, critics seized on a decision by Musharraf to arrest up to 2,000 militants in a purported crackdown only to release them all a few weeks later.

But this summer the CIA's deputy director, Stephen Kappes, travelled to Islamabad and presented what is said was evidence that mid-level ISI officials were involved in a suicide bomb plot hatched by a veteran Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani that targeted the Indian embassy in Kabul, killing 54 people. Haqqani had previously been described by an ISI official as an "asset".

Remarkably, members of Pakistan's government agree with the US assessment that such links remain. One recent afternoon in Islamabad, seated on the kind of overstuffed sofa so commonly found in South Asian sitting rooms, one minister said Pakistan had always considered Afghanistan its "fifth province". Such a view had created the problems the country was now facing. "The Taliban was created by the Pakistanis and the CIA. All the problems were created here. Who do you think created these people?" said the minister, who asked not to be identified. "That is why they are not prepared to take them on. They consider them their assets."

Even military officers who reject such claims admit that the US and Pakistan have different priorities when it comes to confronting the militants. This could explain why US military operations inside Pakistan using unmanned drones have largely targeted militants blamed for attacks inside Afghanistan, such as Jalaluddin Haqqani, his son, Serajuddin, and members of their network including brothers Daud Jan and Abdur Rehman. This network has been blamed by Washington being largely responsible for a 40 per cent increase in attacks in eastern Afghanistan this year.

The Pakistan military, meanwhile, has focused its efforts on militants believed responsible for attacks inside Pakistan such as Baitullah Mehsud, who operates out of South Waziristan and who was blamed for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto last December, Maulana Fazlullah, the Taliban leader in the Swat Valley and Faqir Mohammed, a Taliban leader in Bajaur.

"The priorities are mismatching," concedes the military's chief spokesman, Maj Gen Athar Abbas. "We cannot risk opening up another front while we don't have the resources." And while Maj Gen Abbas strenuously denies the charge of supporting the re-energised Taliban, he admits too, that indirect links are maintained. "Which agency in the world would break its last contact with them?"

* * *

One morning in mid-August, the day crisp and clean, up to 4,000 Pashtuns from the town of Salarzai in the Bajaur agency gathered to talk. Some had come from up to 10 miles away to attend the meeting, arriving in pick-ups and trucks. The younger men were dressed in Salwar Kameez and vests, while some of the older tribesman wore rough woollen clothes. Many were wearing traditional Chitrali turbans, worn only for special occasions. Almost everyone was armed with many carrying Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-launchers - "a gift from the Soviet jihad".

The jirga had been called by tribal elders after Taliban militants attacked and killed two chiefs, or maliks, and a Muslim priest just days before. One of the slain maliks was Shah Zarin Khan and it was his supporters who addressed the jirga first.

For centuries, the system of jirgas - which women are not permitted to attend - have been used by the Pashtun tribes to decide important issues and make rulings. On this morning, the meeting had been called to discuss setting up a defence force or lashkar, to take on the Taliban, who had increasingly been vying for power with the tribal elders.

Syed Akhunzada Chattan, the local MP, was among those subsequently called to speak. He told the people, sitting on stones that have for decades been used as seats: "The sanctuary that we gave the Taliban was because we thought they were good people, because they had established peace in Afghanistan, because they fought against a superpower in the form of America. Then the Taliban started hurting us. These people are the enemy of Pakistan, they want a weak Pakistan. We cannot surrender our area to these people. We have to throw them out."

As Chattan spoke, the villagers raised their fists in a show of solidarity. There and then it was decided to set up the defence force and to target the Taliban leaders. An announcement went out that anyone with information about a Taliban fighter would receive a reward of 10,000 rupees. On the other hand, anyone found harbouring such fighters would be fined 1m rupees and their home burned down. Within a week, claims Chattan, the Taliban had been driven from the area.

Against the backdrop of rising militant violence, the establishment of traditional lashkars has been promoted by the military and the government as a homegrown means of confronting the Taliban. While some reports suggest the tribes are acting against the Taliban's efforts to impose the strictest of moral codes, there appears to be more evidence that the tribes object mainly to the militants' efforts to seize control in the areas and to criminal elements and "miscreants" who use the cloak of the Taliban to behave like mafia.

The military insists it provides the lashkars with "moral support" and encouragement but denies reports that it has supplied them with weapons or money. But the emergence of the lashkars at a time when the military is also increasing its operations, suggests at the very least a degree of central planning.

* * *

Understandably the setting-up of the lashkars remains a perilous task. The Taliban has persistently targeted tribal elders believed to be working against them. Earlier this month in the Orakzai area, more than 30 such elders from the Alizai tribe were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a meeting in the village of Ghiljo. As in the meeting in Bajaur, hundreds of people had gathered to discuss the establishment of an anti-Taliban force.

Indeed, a second meeting called by the tribal elders in Salarzai was also targeted by a suicide bomber sent by the Taliban. "He was caught, stripped of his explosive vest and then shot dead," said Chattan, the MP.

The combination of lashkars and the increasingly heavy military operations in places such as Bajaur and Swat, appears to he having some results. Last week, Maulvi Omar, a spokesman for the coalition of around 40 Taliban groups operating in the tribal areas, announced that it was prepared for unconditional talks with the government if the military halted its current actions. It also offered to help oust "foreign fighters" from the tribal areas.

"We are willing to negotiate with the government without any conditions," he told the BBC's Urdu service. "We are also willing to lay down our arms, once the military ceases operations against us."

The Pakistani government the offer. Its decision indicated either that the army believes it has the upper hand over the militants or that there is ongoing pressure from Washington to continue its military strikes. Either way, it was the first time the authorities had turned down such an offer of talks.

* * *

Inside out the bombed-out interior there is a frenzy activity. Electricians, plasterers, metal workers and general labourers are furiously at work while all around them is the evidence of destruction. There is rubble, there is twisted metal, there are bombed out windows, but there is also a determination to have the Marriott Hotel ready for a grand reopening party on New Years Eve.

On the evening of September 20, a massive truck bomb was detonated at the gates of this Islamabad landmark, creating a huge crater and doing extensive damage to the building. At least 54 people were killed, including 17 security guards on duty at the gates and doors of the building. In the aftermath of the blast, a fire raged here for hours, sending up huge plumes of smoke and delivering the chillingly clear message that no-one was safe from militant violence.

While it is not entirely clear who was responsible for the blast - one Taliban spokesman denied responsibility and there are many in Pakistan who will gladly proffer the most Byzantine of conspiracy theories - most observers believe this was another militant strike on a highly visible target. The hotel was centre stage in the working and social lives of the city's political and diplomatic elite. And while Pakistanis made up the overwhelming majority of the blast's victims, it was also clearly interpreted as an attack on a Western target.

"There were 2,000 people inside the hotel at the time. A lot of lives were saved," says Maj Tahir Qureshi, the hotel's head of security, leading a way past the flurry of labourers and clouds of cement dust. "The only thing we could do was to stop them at the entry gates. Those security guards gave their lives to stop it."

There had been deadlier bomb attacks before the Marriott blast and there have been others subsequently, but it this attack that forced a wider audience to take notice of what was going on in Pakistan. A conflict that had largely been confined to the tribal areas or else bomb attacks on military and police targets, was now taking place against a Five Star backdrop. President Asif Ali Zardari, while in New York, described the event as Pakistan's 9/11.

In the aftermath, Zardari, whose wife, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated last December, vowed to continue the effort against militants. "Make this pain your strength," he said. "This is a menace, a cancer in Pakistan that we will eliminate. We will not be scared of these cowards."

The attack has also forced a wider debate about how best to confront the militant threat emanating from the tribal areas. Whether militarily or else through negotiation - as the West is now attempting with the Taliban in Afghanistan - Pakistan's recently-elected civilian leaders and its military have been forced to find a solution.

With so many people killed by the violence - one recent report suggested that in the first eight months of this year suicide bombings in Pakistan had killed more people than such attacks in Iraq or Afghanistan - there has also been endless soul-searching about the nature of the enemy. Noticeably this has emerged from within Pakistani society - commentators, politicians as well as ordinary people. Religious leaders have also spoken out against what is happening. Two groups of clerics have issued fatwas or religious orders against what now totals for than 100 suicide bombings since July 2007. they have killed around 1,200 people.

Peshawar sits on the very edge of the tribal areas. In the mid-80s Usama Bin Ladin had moved his family here from Saudi Arabia and developed his reputation as a patron of humanitarian and Arab causes and a supporter of the jihad. Today, for all its modernity and amenities, there is still a hint of the city's position as a frontier town.

The crenellated sandstone walls of a British-built fort now serve as the headquarters of the Frontier Corps. Meanwhile it along the historic trade route leading from Peshawar through the Khyber Pass and on to Kabul, that 85 per cent of the fuel used by Western forces in Afghanistan is transported. Last month the crossing point on this road into Afghanistan was temporarily closed by the Pakistani authorities because of what they said was poor security.

On a recent evening, the soft golden light of South Asia is slipping away as the faithful arrive to pray at the city's Sunehri mosque. In a large, airy upstairs classroom, the imam, Khan Mohammed Saeed, sits overseeing a group of young boys, hard at their study. The imam is no liberal; his view that Pakistan should be run according to Islamic law would alarm many both inside the country and abroad.

But asked about the militants located just miles from where he sat, he does not hesitate. "There are people in the tribal areas and the NWFP who have come to do bomb blasts and destroy our religion," he says. "Our religion does not give us permission to do these things? In none of our teachings or texts or what our learned scholars have taught, is there any permission to do these things."

WHO'S FIGHTING WHO

Military/government

Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistan president, widely known as "Mr 10 Per Cent" over numerous corruption cases. He became leader of the main opposition party, the People's Party of Pakistan, after his wife, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated last year, and became president following elections. Army chief of staff General Ashfaq Kayani says the army should remain out of politics but could yet change his mind.

Pakistani Taliban

The Taliban leaders in the wild and woolly tribal areas include former gym fanatic Baitullah Mehsud, wanted for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Maulana Fazlullah, the leader in the picturesque Swat valley (which was formerly a tourist destination) has his own clandestine FM radio station. Faqir Mohammed, in Bajaur, leads a religious group that forcibly imposed Sharia in the tribal areas during the 1990s.

Al-Qa'ida

Al-Qa'ida leader Usama Bin Ladin, and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, may be hiding in the border regions of Pakistan while senior Taliban leaders may be living in the Pakistani city of Quetta.

Tribal leader

Anwar Kamal, a former minister, was the first to rally his tribesmen and form a lashkar, or tribal militia, to beat back the Taliban more than a year ago. Mr Kamal's success in clearing the town of Lakki Marwat, adjoining the tribal areas, has recently been replicated elsewhere.

Faultlines of history

1947 Muslim Pakistan is created out of the partition of India at the end of British rule. More than half a million Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus are killed in riots and massacres following the largest mass migration in history.

1980 After Soviet forces intervene in Afghanistan, the US gives Pakistan military support as they join forces with Saudi Arabia to fund the Islamic mujahedin.

1998 The country explodes five nuclear devices.

1999 General Pervez Musharraf leads a military coup. After 9/11 Pakistan becomes a key US ally in the "war on terror". But as turmoil mounts he is forced to quit.

[Description of Source: London The Independent in English -- leftist daily; has been consistently opposed to the Iraq war, often adopting a strong anti-US stance; known for its distinctive front page; URL: independent.co.uk]

AFP: Security Officials Say Suspected US Strike Killed 11 in Pakistan

JPP20081023055012 Hong Kong AFP in English 1418 GMT 23 Oct 08

[By Hasbanullah Khan]

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Oct 23, 2008 (AFP) - Suspected US spy drones fired missiles early Thursday into a school set up by a top Taliban commander in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan, killing 11 people, security officials said.

The air strike apparently targeting veteran militant Jalaluddin Haqqani, a major target for US forces, was the latest in a string of attacks on Pakistani soil that have raised tensions between Islamabad and Washington.

It came hours after parliament passed a special resolution calling for an urgent review of Pakistan's anti-terror policy, including more talks with militants and a vow to defend Pakistan's territorial sovereignty.

Security officials said the madrassa, or religious school, near Miranshah, the main town in troubled North Waziristan region, was set up by Haqqani during the 1980s "jihad" against Soviet forces in Afghanistan.

It was currently run by one of Haqqani's own commanders, Mullah Mansoor, and was recently used as a guest house for "international and local students traveling from other areas".

"At 2:25 am, two spy drones fired three missiles at the madrassa of Mullah Mansoor. Eleven people have been killed in the missile strike," a security official told AFP.

A similar missile strike targeting another house owned by Haqqani on September 8 killed 23 people, including members of Haqqani's extended family, security officials said.

Haqqani was one of the most prominent Afghan commanders who fought the Red Army between 1978 and 1989. He subsequently became close to Mullah Omar, the leader of the 1996-2001 Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Since the fall of the Taliban, Haqqani has become one of the most active Taliban commanders launching attacks on international forces in Afghanistan from safe havens in Pakistan, security officials said.

His son Sirajuddin, also a leading Taliban commander, was an occasional visitor at the madrassa that was hit on Thursday, a senior security official handling tribal unrest told AFP.

The Pakistani army said it was gathering details about an "incident" in North Waziristan. "Details are being gathered about the exact number of casualties," chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP.

Residents said that all of the victims were local tribesmen, adding that locals had fired at two suspected US drones hovering above.

Missile strikes targeting militants in Pakistan in recent weeks have been blamed on US-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in Afghanistan.

Pakistani lawmakers passed a unanimous resolution during a closed-doors joint session of parliament demanding that the government do more to put an end to US military action on Pakistani soil.

"The nation stands united against any incursions and invasions of the homeland, and calls upon the government to deal with it effectively," it said.

But it also said that talks with insurgents were vital, adding: "Dialogue must now be the highest priority, as a principal instrument of conflict management and resolution."

The United States has stepped up attacks on militants in Pakistani tribal areas since a new civilian government came to power in Islamabad in March.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has vowed zero tolerance against violations of his country's sovereignty amid the strikes, which have stoked anti-US sentiment in Pakistan.

US and Afghan officials say northwest Pakistan is a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who sneaked in from Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

Taliban militants Thursday killed eight pro-government tribesmen in an ambush. The victims were returning from a gathering held to discuss ways to combat militants in the Orakzai tribal region, local official Ahmed Khan said.

"Armed Taliban stopped their vehicle, ordered the tribesmen to come out and shot them dead one by one," Khan said.

Security officials Thursday revised upward the toll from an air strike, a day earlier, at a militant compound in northwestern Bajaur tribal district to 33 rebels killed. Officials said Wednesday 10 insurgents were killed. There was no independent confirmation of the latest claim.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Pakistan: Suspected US Missile Strike Kills 8 Alleged Militants in N Waziristan

SAP20081024098002 Lahore Daily Times Online in English 24 Oct 08

[Report by staff reporter: "Suspected US strike kills 8 near Miranshah"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

MIRANSHAH: Suspected US drones fired missiles early on Thursday into a madrassa near Miranshah set up by veteran pro-Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, killing eight people and wounding six, security officials said.

The airstrike apparently targeted Haqqani - once known as a US ally and now a major target for US forces - hours after parliament passed a special resolution calling for an urgent review of Pakistan's anti-terror policy, including more talks with the Taliban and a vow to defend Pakistan's territorial sovereignty.

Security officials said the Madrassa Sirajul Uloom - three kilometres from Miranshah near Danday Darpa Khel on the Miranshah-Afghanistan road - was set up by Haqqani during the 1980s 'jihad' against Soviet forces in Afghanistan.

It was currently run by one of Haqqani's commanders, Mullah Mansoor, and was recently used as a guesthouse for 'international and local students travelling from other areas', they told AFP.

"At 2:25am, two spy drones fired three missiles at the madrassa of Mullah Mansoor," a security official said. "Locals are still looking for more people in the rubble."

"Eight militants were sleeping in the courtyard. All of them were killed. They were local militants," a villager standing at the scene of the strike told Reuters on condition he not be identified.

A September 8 missile strike targeting another house owned by Haqqani killed 23 people, including members of Haqqani's extended family, security officials said. ISPR Spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said the army was gathering details about the incident. "Details are being gathered about the exact number of casualties."

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times Online in English -- Website of the independent, moderate daily, run by veteran journalist Najam Sethi and published by the Friday Times group. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated hardcopy circulation of 20,000; URL: ]

Pakistani, US Strikes Kill 46 Taliban in Northwest

FEA20081024790554 - OSC Feature - OSC Summary 23 Oct 08 - 24 Oct 08

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Suspected US missile strikes into a school set up by a top Taliban commander in a North Waziristan killed 11 people on Thursday [23 October]. Meanwhile, Pakistani security forces also carried out ground and air strikes in Bajaur Agency on Thursday, killing at least 35 Taliban.

An AFP report on Thursday said that "suspected" US drones fired missiles early Thursday [23 October] into a school set up by a top Taliban commander in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan, killing 11 people, security officials said.

The air strike apparently targeting veteran militant Jalaluddin Haqqani, a major target for US forces, was the latest in a string of attacks on Pakistani soil that have raised tensions between Islamabad and Washington.

It came hours after parliament passed a special resolution calling for an urgent review of Pakistan's anti-terror policy, including more talks with militants and a vow to defend Pakistan's territorial sovereignty.

Security officials said the madrassa, or religious school, near Miram Shah, the main town in troubled North Waziristan region, was set up by Haqqani during the 1980s "jihad" against Soviet forces in Afghanistan. It was currently run by one of Haqqani's own commanders, Mullah Mansoor, and was recently used as a guest house for "international and local students traveling from other areas".

"At 2:25 a.m., two spy drones fired three missiles at the madrassa of Mullah Mansoor. Eleven people have been killed in the missile strike," a security official told AFP.

A similar missile strike targeting another house owned by Haqqani on September 8 killed 23 people, including members of Haqqani's extended family, security officials said.

Haqqani was one of the most prominent Afghan commanders who fought the Red Army between 1978 and 1989. He subsequently became close to Mullah Omar, the leader of the 1996-2001 Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Since the fall of the Taliban, Haqqani has become one of the most active Taliban commanders launching attacks on international forces in Afghanistan from safe havens in Pakistan, security officials said.

His son Sirajuddin, also a leading Taliban commander, was an occasional visitor at the madrassa that was hit on Thursday, a senior security official handling tribal unrest told AFP.

The Pakistani army said it was gathering details about an "incident" in North Waziristan. "Details are being gathered about the exact number of casualties," chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told AFP.

Residents said that all of the victims were local tribesmen, adding that locals had fired at two suspected US drones hovering above.

Pakistani lawmakers passed a unanimous resolution during a closed-doors joint session of parliament demanding that the government do more to put an end to US military action on Pakistani soil.

"The nation stands united against any incursions and invasions of the homeland, and calls upon the government to deal with it effectively," it said.

Pakistani Troops Kill 35 Taliban in Ground, Air Strikes

Pakistani security forces carried out ground and air strikes in Bajaur Agency on Thursday, killing at least 35 Taliban, Frontier Constabulary (FC) sources told Associated Press of Pakistan, APP.

Jet fighters continued targeting suspected Taliban hideouts in Loisam and Charmang, they said, and eight associates of Taliban commander Maulvi Omar were killed in an attack on a hideout in Badan. Omar's house had been destroyed in an earlier operation.

Ground forces pounded Taliban positions with artillery late on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, curfew was imposed in Sadiqabad, Sunday Morr and Nawakaly areas of the agency headquarters Khar.

Security forces 'are constantly making advancements' the FC officials said, and had 'strengthened their positions' in the strategically important Loisam town establishing checkpoints.

A Salarzai tribal militia burned down houses of Taliban men, including commander Qari Gulrez.

The tribe has banned the entry of relatives of Taliban in the areas it controls and has said it would expel, fine, and burn houses of those who sheltered Taliban.

The political administration razed the house of an unidentified Taliban commander in the Sidiqabad locality (Daily Times).

Taliban Kill 8 Pro-Government Tribesmen in Ambush

Taliban militants Thursday killed eight pro-government tribesmen in an ambush. The victims were returning from a gathering held to discuss ways to combat militants in the Orakzai tribal region, local official Ahmed Khan said.

"Armed Taliban stopped their vehicle, ordered the tribesmen to come out and shot them dead one by one," Khan said(Daily Times).

India gives Pakistan evidence of intelligence body role in Kabul embassy blast

SAP20081025950003 New Delhi PTI News Agency in English 0909 GMT 24 Oct 08

C:

Text of report by Indian news agency PTI

New Delhi, 24 October: India Friday [24 October] confronted Pakistan with evidence regarding involvement of ISI in the 7 July Kabul Embassy bombing, an incident that had threatened to derail the peace process between the two countries.

At the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism (JATM) meeting here, New Delhi also provided Islamabad with information regarding a number of terrorists and criminals hiding in Pakistan as it pressed for concrete cooperation in fighting the menace of terrorism emanating from the neighbouring country.

The Indian side also sought to know what action Pakistan has taken on the information provided about the elements behind the February 2007 blast on cross-border Samjhauta Express.

"Information on issues of mutual concern, including the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, was exchanged," said a joint press statement issued after the special meeting of the JATM.

The Indian side was led by Vivek Katju, Special Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs while the Pakistani delegation was headed by Aizaz Ahmed Choudhry, Additional Secretary in Foreign Ministry.

During the day-long meeting, the Indian side provided communication intercepts and other information to prove that ISI and other elements based in Pakistan were involved in the massive attack at the embassy, sources said.

India has said it has the "cleanest" evidence about involvement of ISI in the suicide attack on the embassy in which a Brigadier-rank Defence Attache and a senior IFS [Indian Foreign Service] officer were among the four Indians killed.

Besides India, Afghanistan and the US have also asserted that there was clinching evidence to prove ISI linkage.

Afghan authorities have held some people who have reportedly talked about ISI's link to the attack in which the embassy complex suffered severe damage.

India, which has maintained that an atmosphere free from violence is a must for the dialogue process to continue, had been angered by the attack and said that the future of dialogue had been "affected" by it.

At the meeting, the Pakistani side promised to convey the information about Kabul attack provided by India to the departments concerned and get back, the sources said.

"The meeting was held in a positive, constructive and forward-looking atmosphere," the joint statement said.

The JATM meeting was held as a consequence of discussions between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in New York on September 24 on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Pakistan has insisted that ISI was not involved in the attack on the embassy.

However, when the Prime Minister took up the issue with his Pakistan counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Colombo on the sidelines of SAARC summit in August, the latter promised to hold an "independent investigation" in this regard.

At the JATM meet, the Indian side is believed to have enquired about that investigation.

American intelligence agencies have directly linked the suicide attack on the Indian embassy to ISI and indicated that it might have been authorised by the top officials as those involved in assisting militants were "not renegades".

The conclusion was based on intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants who carried out the attack on 7 July. The US has already shared this information with India.

US officials believe the Embassy attack was carried out by members of a network led by Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani who is based in Pakistan.

Afghan authorities have already said there was convincing evidence about ISI's involvement in the Kabul Embassy attack.

On the February 2007 Samjhauta Express blast, the Pakistani side informed India that the information provided by New Delhi was wrong.

The Pakistani side indicated that it was not happy with the investigations carried out by India.

With regard to New Delhi's demand that Islamabad take action against Lashker-i-Toiba and Jaish-i-Mohammad, the Pakistani side said it had done so and cited measures taken against these terror groups, including a ban on them, the sources said.

Pakistan, in turn, alleged elements in India were behind militancy in Baluchistan and Federally Administered Territories (FATA) and gave "information" in this regard.

Aizaz told reporters that the attitude of Indian side was positive and it promised to act on information provided by Pakistan.

[Description of Source: New Delhi PTI News Agency in English ]

US Air Raid Said To Kill Taliban-Pakistan Field Leader, Family Members, Guards

GMP20081027693001 Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic 0508 GMT 27 Oct 08

[For assistance with multimedia elements, contact OSC at 1-800-205-8615 or oscinfo@rccb..]

Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic at 0508 GMT on 27 October carries the following announcer-read report: "Quoting sources close to the famous Afghan leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, wanted by the United States, Al-Jazirah's correspondent in Islamabad has said that Umar Khan -- a Taliban-Pakistan field leader-- was killed during a US raid on the Shakai region of the South Waziristan Province last night. The sources added that the raid's death toll amounted to 15 people including eight women and children, members of Umar Khan's family, and seven of Umar Khan's guards.

"Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani criticized US air raids on Pakistan's tribal areas, saying that they harm the so-called war on terror and weaken the government's position."

At 0510 GMT, the channel's anchorwoman interviews its Islamabad bureau chief, Ahmad Zaydan, live via satellite from Islamabad for an update on news related to the death of Umar Khan.

Zaydan says: "Sources close to the Afghan leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani, one of the most prominent Taliban-Afghanistan leaders who has carried out frequent attacks against the US forces in southern Afghanistan, has said to Al-Jazirah that US air raids on the Shakai region yesterday targeted a house occupied by Umar Khan, who is affiliated with the Jalaluddin Haqqani group, and who is also active in the Afghan provinces of Paktia and Paktika. Jalaluddin Haqqani sources have told Al-Jazirah that 15 people were killed during the air raid, including the well-known Afghan leader, Umar Khan, and seven members of his family, including his wife and children and eight of his guards [figures as heard]."

He adds: "Western diplomatic sources told Al-Jazirah in Islamabad that Western embassies in Islamabad have received envelopes containing a white powder. These countries are members of NATO in Afghanistan. The envelopes contained a letter saying that the threat was a result of these countries'participation in the military operations taking place inside Afghanistan. The sources added that 16 additional envelopes were seized at the Afghan Central Post Office."

[Description of Source: Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic -- Independent Television station financed by the Qatari Government]

Pakistan: Key Aide of Taliban Leader Haqqani Said Killed in S Waziristan Strike

SAP20081028098024 Lahore Daily Times Online in English 28 Oct 08

[Report by staff reporter/Agencies: "Haqqani's commander killed in Waziristan strike"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR: Muhammad Omar, a commander of Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, was among the 20 men killed in Sunday's suspected US missile strike in South Waziristan, officials said. Two lower-level commanders - Waheedullah and Nasrullah - and five Taliban from North Waziristan who had come to meet Omar also died. Omar was active in attacks on US-led and NATO troops in Afghanistan's Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces. He was a cousin of Taliban commander Nek Muhammad who was killed in 2004 in the first such US missile strike. A Taliban leader told Reuters by telephone the strikes were 'very accurate'. "The missiles struck rooms where the guests were having dinner. None survived."

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times Online in English -- Website of the independent, moderate daily, run by veteran journalist Najam Sethi and published by the Friday Times group. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated hardcopy circulation of 20,000; URL: ]

Asia Times: US, Pakistan Mission on Target after Killing of Al-Qaeda Leader

CPP20081029715006 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0208 GMT 29 Oct 08

[By Syed Saleem Shahzad: "US, Pakistan Mission on Target"; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - Ahead of their groundbreaking meeting in Washington this week, the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Michael Hayden, and the head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, will be buoyed by the killing of an al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan.

Militant sources have confirmed to Asia Times Online that Moroccan Khalid Habib, the head of al-Qaeda in Pakistan, was killed last week in a missile attack by an unmanned US Predator drone in the South Waziristan tribal area. His death has not been officially confirmed by either Islamabad or Washington.

The meeting between Hayden and Pasha is significant in that under the rule of president General Pervez Musharraf up until the end of last year, the ISI - which was frequently accused of having pro-militant tendencies - was kept away from US intelligence at the top level, with Musharraf personally handling all tactical matters.

The two top spymasters are expected to discuss a policy under which Pakistan and the US will continue to aggressively go after top Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders in an attempt to weed out hardliners from the Afghan national resistance and pave the way for communication with the remaining "moderates". The killing of Khalid is a notable success under this plan.

To date this year, the US has launched 25 cross-border attacks from Afghanistan into Pakistan, compared with 10 strikes in 2006 and 2007 combined. Eighteen of these attacks - most of them by drones - have occurred since August 31.

Soon after the meeting between Hayden and Pasha, General David Petraeus, the new US strategic commander for both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, will visit Pakistan to finalize military plans in light of the intelligence sharing that took place in Washington.

Khalid was installed as the chief of al-Qaeda in Pakistan by Osama bin Laden after the death in January of Abu Ubaida al-Misri (Abdul Hameed) through hepatitis. Abu Ubaida had been declared Ameer-i-Khuruj (commander for a mass rebellion) after the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) operation in Islamabad last July, in which a mosque with strong ties to militants was stormed by the security forces.

Khalid's task was to continue the coordination between various militant groups for a war against US interests as well as the pro-US government in Pakistan. The initiative was behind the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto last December.

Khalid, who was listed by the CIA as the fourth-ranking person in al-Qaeda's hierarchy, was successful in consolidating ties at a regional level between al-Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban and Pakistani militants, a grouping that has emerged as the neo-Taliban. These militants have absorbed al-Qaeda's ideology of global struggle, while at the same time defending al-Qaeda's and the Taliban's bases against military operations, apart from the insurgency in Afghanistan.

There is no inkling yet of who will replace Khalid, who had staunchly resisted any notion of dialogue between the Taliban and the Western coalition.

With Khalid dead, the next likely target is veteran Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, whose suspected bases in North Waziristan have been targeted on several occasions. Jalaluddin is the spiritual leader of the Haqqani network and a legendary figure of the Afghan mujahideen's struggle against the Soviets during the 1980s. Several of his family and aides have been killed in the attacks, but both Jalaluddin and his son Sirajuddin remain at large, possibly even in urban areas in Pakistan.

Former Afghan premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar could also be on the hit list. He is a former friend of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and had been contacted by Kabul through intermediaries over the possibility of initiating dialogue with the Taliban.

However, he refuses to become involved in any back-channel discussions for peace until all foreign troops leave Afghanistan, although he did assure Karzai that once the foreigners left, he would work with his a dministration in the political mainstream.

Hekmatyar, given his past links with the Pakistani establishment, was also approached by Pakistan, but he refused point-blank to talk with President Asif Ali Zardari's administration, branding him and the Pakistani military establishment as American agents.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. URL: ]

AFP: Officials Say At Least 32 Militants Killed in Pakistan Missile Strikes

JPP20081031158001 Hong Kong AFP in English 1836 GMT 31 Oct 08

ISLAMABAD, Nov 1, 2008 (AFP) - Suspected US missiles struck two deadly blows Friday killing 32 mainly Al-Qaeda operatives and injuring a key Taliban commander in a Pakistani tribal area near the Afghan border, officials said.

The two strikes within a few hours were the latest in series of attacks that have raised tensions between Washington and Islamabad.

In the first attack two missiles hit a pick-up truck and a house west of Mir Ali, a town in the troubled North Waziristan region bordering Afghanistan, killing 20 mainly Arab militants, officials said.

They told AFP the strike targeted an Al-Qaeda financial coordinator known as Abu Akasa Al-Iraqi and that there were unconfirmed local reports that he was among the dead.

Two further missiles fired by a suspected US drone at a militant hideout near Wana, the main town in neighbouring South Waziristan, killed 12 suspected rebels soon after, a senior security official said.

They included "foreigners", the official said -- using the term by which security services refer to Al-Qaeda operatives.

Officials said top Taliban commander Mullah Nazir was wounded in the strike.

"Nazir sustained injuries and was rushed to a hospital by Taliban. We are not sure about the seriousness of injuries to him" a top security official told AFP. "In the two strikes the majority of those killed were Al-Qaeda operatives and some Taliban local commanders."

Local administration official Mowaz Khan also confirmed Nazir, who leads the Pakistani Taliban faction accused by the United States of sending fighters across the border, was wounded in the attack.

The attacks came just two days after Pakistan, a key ally in the US-led "war on terror", summoned Washington's ambassador to Islamabad to deliver a strong protest over a number of similar strikes.

"Some 20 militants were killed in the attack and most were Arabs. It was a successful strike," another security official told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to the first attack.

Local residents said the strike hit the house of a Pakistani tribesman named Amanullah Dawar. It was not immediately clear whether the house or the vehicle, a pick-up truck, was blown up first, officials said.

Officials in North Waziristan said al-Iraqi was believed killed but added that they were still seeking confirmation.

He was known locally as Abdullah and officials said that while he was not part of the top Al-Qaeda hierarchy he played an important role as a financial "lynchpin".

Friday's attacks were the 17th and 18th such strikes in the past 10 weeks, according to an AFP tally. All have been blamed on US-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in neighbouring Afghanistan.

A strike on Sunday killed senior Taliban commander Haji Omar Khan, a lieutenant of veteran Afghan Taliban chieftain and former anti-Soviet fighter Jalaluddin Haqqani.

The attacks have sharply raised tensions between Washington and nuclear-armed Pakistan.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it called in US envoy Anne Patterson over the strikes.

"It was underscored to the ambassador that the government of Pakistan strongly condemns the missile attacks which resulted in the loss of precious lives and property," the ministry said in a statement.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has promised zero tolerance against violations of his country's sovereignty. The attacks have also become an election issue in the US presidential campaign.

A New York Times report last month said Pakistan's national security adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani made an unannounced visit to top White House officials after a strike in early September to voice his anger in person.

The attack on September 3 led to civilian casualties.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Suspected Taleban commander arrested in Afghan east

IAP20081103950115 Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News in English 1500 GMT 03 Nov 08

Suspected Taleban commander arrested in Afghan east

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Kabul: Security officials in Logar Province on Monday [3 November] informed arresting an alleged commander of militant group led by Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Nasir Ahmad, commander of a special campaign unit in Charkh District of Logar Province told Pajhwok Afghan News they arrested the local commander he introduced as Mawlawi Mirwais in Garm-Aab area of the district last night [2 November].

The militant official was arrested during a raid on his house, he added, the arrested did not resist.

The arrested was a resident of the area and was currently in custody with NATO-led forces in this province.

He termed Mirwais as important commander of Mawlawi Haqqani wing who was busy in anti government activities in the area since last three years.

Security organs in the province were trying to arrest the rebel commander since long ago, and finally they succeeded last night, he added.

The commander was involved in setting ablaze Charkh District building, he blamed.

However Brig-Gen Ghulam Mustafa Muhsini, police chief of the province expressed unawareness about the incident. Meanwhile there is no comment from the Taleban militants on the recent episode.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News in English Independent Afghan news agency]

Asia Times: 'US Division Doesn't Add Up'

CPP20081104715001 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 1037 GMT 03 Nov 08

[By Syed Saleem Shahzad: "US Division Doesn't Add Up"; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - General David Petraeus, who took over last Friday as the new head of United States Central Command (CENTCOM) with overall responsibility for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has arrived in Pakistan with Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher to push his plans in the South Asian theater of the "war on terror".

This involves the dual task of government-led reconciliation with Taliban insurgents in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the leveraging of diplomatic and economic initiatives with the countries influential in the war.

Petraeus' arrival on Sunday coincided with two events. One was a US Predator drone strike which killed 25 people, including possibly an Arab commander, Abu Akash, in the North Waziristan tribal area in Pakistan. At the same time, militants and Pakistan, on Islamabad's initiative, agreed on a peace formula under which Pakistan has stopped military operations in the tribal areas and the militants have assured they will not unleash a "winter offensive" in Pakistan. (See A long, hot winter for Pakistan Asia Times Online, October 11, 2008.)

Pakistan has already slowed operations in Bajaur Agency and shelved plans for operations in North Waziristan. All the same, the militants welcomed the month of November with unprecedented attacks, which, according to the militants, are a part of a carrot-and-stick game.

On Friday, a suicide attack on a police office in Mardan, North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), killed four policemen. These were followed by three more suicide attacks at different locations and a rocket attack at Peshawar airport in NWFP that killed several security personnel.

Tackling al-Qaeda

Petraeus is credited with saving the United States from defeat in Iraq through his initiative to engage the indigenous tribal resistance especially the Sunnis, and getting them to turn against foreigners, that is al-Qaeda.

If the same is planned for South Asia, it is sure to fail as al-Qaeda's traditions in the region are different from those in Iraq: al-Qaeda was a new phenomenon in Iraq, while it has been in South Asia for several decades.

After September 11, 2001, and the invasion of Afghanistan that year, al-Qaeda became even closer to the local tribes who became a part of the Afghan resistance.

After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, a large number of al-Qaeda and Arab groups (not all Arab groups were al-Qaeda) based in Afghanistan went to Iraq, leaving behind a small group of Arabs.

Most of them were trainers, like Iraqi Abu Akash, or ideologues like Abu Waleed Ansari, a Jordanian-Palestinian. Neither Ansari nor Abu Akash was directly linked with the hardcore of al-Qaeda. Ansari was more of cleric than a commander and he gave sermons to youths in North Waziristan to fight against foreign forces in Afghanistan. On the other hand, Abu Akash established a maaskar (training center) in North Waziristan at which he prepared youths for guerrilla battle.

Through this process, a new Arabic-speaking tribal Pashtun generation was raised. Now, at a time when numerically al-Qaeda and Arab warriors in South Asia are insignificant, this breed of tribal Pashtuns has become the vanguard of al-Qaeda's cause.

One could call them the neo-Taliban, and in most instances they have taken over the leadership of the Taliban. Veteran mujahideen leader Jalaluddin Haqqani was once close to the Pakistani establishment and he had a pure tribal mindset. But his sons Sirajuddin and Nasiruddin, who speak Arabic, lean towards Arabs and their cause.

Qari Ziaur Rahman is another case in point in eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Arabic-speaking commander of Pashtun ethnicity is closer to Arabs and there is no chance of him siding with the establishment in either country.

There is no official word on whether Abu Akash has been killed, but even if he is dead he will have left a strong legacy.

Abu Akash (or Abu Akasha as his comrades call him) is not a veteran of the Afghan jihad against the Soviets in the 1980s as he is in his mid-30s. He is an expert in explosives and guns and after arriving in North Waziristan he tapped Uzbeks and Tajiks of Central Asian origin to act as trainers.

He also used his young trainees to control traffic in North Waziristan. This was a simple drill but some local tribes did not like it and in 2007 he was expelled to the Shawal region that spans the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. But he returned within a few months and blended even further into tribal society, so much so that he could speak the local dialects of Urdu and Pashtun and at one point Pakistani intelligence reported that they suspected Abu Akash was Punjabi, not Arab.

Abu Akash and his likes will make it very difficult for Petraeus to divide and defeat the resistance, as in Iraq.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. URL: ]

UK Source Says Taliban Papers Reveal Intent To Fight, Spread Insurgency Training

EUP20081111031003 London Times Online in English 11 Nov 08

[Report by Anthony Loyd in Tang Khata, Bajaur: "Captured Battle Plan Shows Strength and Training of Taliban Forces"]

The map tells a war story of its own. Sketched by a Taleban [Taliban] commander, it is of a stretch of territory fought over in Bajaur between the Pakistani Army and the insurgents. The ground has been neatly divided into specific areas of responsibility for different Taleban units.

Weapons caches, assembly areas and rendezvous points have been carefully marked and coded. This is not the work of a renegade gunman resistant to central authority; it is the assessment of a skilled and experienced fighter, and begins to explain how more than 400 Pakistani soldiers have been killed or wounded since August in Bajaur, the tribal district agency that is said to be the haunt of Osama Bin Laden [Usama Bin Ladin] and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Discovered along with the map in a series of recently captured tunnel complexes are other documents - radio frequency lists, guerrilla warfare manuals, students' notes, jihadist propaganda and bombmaking instructions - that provide further evidence of the Taleban's organisation and training. They prove that the Taleban in Bajaur, one of Pakistan's seven Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), were planning not only to fight, but also to disseminate their fighting knowledge.

"They were training people here," Colonel Javed Baluch, whose troops seized the village of Tang Khata in an early stage of the autumn fighting, said, as he thumbed through the captured literature. "This was one of their centres. There were students here taking notes on bombmaking and guerrilla warfare. They were well trained and well organised."

But training whom and to do what? Despite the documentary evidence in Bajaur, the Taleban's ultimate aims - and the nature of their relationship with al-Qaeda [Al-Qa'ida] - remain contentious issues.

America and Britain claim that the terrorist network and affiliated organisations are being hosted by the Taleban in the tribal areas, which they use as a base for training camps, refuge and recruitment. This, they say, extends the threat from the tribal agencies to the rest of the world.

"If I were going to pick the next attack to hit the United States, it would come out of Fata," Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said recently. A Western diplomat in Islamabad claimed last month that among those killed by a Predator drone strike in the tribal area - there have been at least 18 drone attacks there in the past 12 weeks - were members of a terrorist cell planning an attack on Britain.

One eminent Pakistani political figure, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that al-Qaeda and the Taleban had set up a joint headquarters in 2004 as an "Islamic emirate" in North Waziristan, headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, an Afghan Taleban commander. (His father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran of the fight against the Soviet Union, was funded by the CIA 30 years ago and was once feted at the White House by Ronald Reagan.)

"Sirajuddin ... connects the Taleban with al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taleban with the Afghan Taleban," the source said. "It basically runs the war and has made Fata today the same as Afghanistan was before September 11 - controlled by foreign and local militants who fight a war on both sides of the border."

Such claims, which have been circulated widely in Pakistan, are denied strongly by the military. Many officers describe the Taleban in Fata as a disparate group of home-grown militants with little vision beyond the affairs of their own district, and claim that al-Qaeda's involvement is negligible.

"There was an al-Qaeda presence here but it didn't include their training bases or headquarters," Colonel Nauman Saeed, commander of the Frontier Corps garrison in Khar, Bajaur's capital, said. "They (al-Qaeda) were as a pinch of salt in the flour."

General Tariq Khan, the officer commanding the Bajaur operation, said: "I do not see a coherent stategy in any of these militants. I don't see any Islamic movement of Waziristan or an Islamic emirate ... I think that everyone is in it for himself."

The Pakistani military claims to have killed more than 1,500 insurgents in Bajaur, and General Khan admits that many foreign fighters - "Uzbeks, Chechens, Turkmen, some Afghans" - have been among them. Of al-Qaeda's top leadership, however, not a trace has been found. "We've hit some Arab leadership there but not of a very high level," he said.

It could be that the leaders have withdrawn to the two valley strongholds still held by the Taleban in Bajaur, or that they have escaped to Afghanistan or to a neighbouring tribal area.

Or were they ever in Bajaur at all? Shafirullah Khan is the savvy political agent in the area, himself a Pashtun and a long-term veteran of tribal affairs. "At first I would never have believed that al-Zawahiri was here," he said of the rumours that Bin Laden's deputy had been a visitor.

"But now that I have seen those tunnels and hidden shelters, I am not so sure."

[Description of Source: London Times Online in English -- Website of influential center-right daily The Times; URL: ]

Pakistan: Militant Outfits Said Raising Funds Through Criminal Activities

SAP20081114027004 Karachi Herald in English 01 Oct 08 - 31 Oct 08 pp 70-75

[Article by Maqbool Ahmed: "In the Name of God"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Asghar Daihri of the Special Investigation Unit, had no idea what lay in store when he signaled the white Corolla to a halt. It was the afternoon of Tuesday, January 29, 2008 and Daihri had gone to Cattle Colony, Landi, with six constables responsible for a spate of robberies, carjackings and kidnappings were hiding in a house in the area.

On the way, the seven men got stuck in a traffic jam and the white car happened to stop next to them. The young man at the steering wheel seemed uncannily similar to a suspect Daihri had seen on the security camera footage of a bank heist. The officer was right: he was the bank robber.

He soon admitted to the crime as Daihri questioned him on the roadside. The young man seemed nervous to the police officer but he offered to lead the law-enforcement personnel to a house in Shah Latif Town in the south-east of Karachi, where he claimed his three accomplices were hiding. Daihri agreed and the policemen were in front of the house within minutes. The seven unsuspecting men got out of their vehicles and approached the small house. Just as they got near the main door, they were greeted by a hail of bullets and rocket-propelled grenades.

What Daihri did not know was that the young man he had stopped was Qasim Toori, the leader of Jundallah, a militant group that had first appeared on the scene when it carried out an attack on Ahsan Saleem Hayat, then Karachi corps commander, on June 10, 2004. And that he had led Daihri and his men to a hideout of the group where a dozen members, armed to the teeth, were ensconced.

Only after calling for reinforcements and a four-hour shoot-out did the police force manage to enter the house. By then, three men inside - Junaid Farooqui, Abdullah and Tayabdad - had been killed while the police had lost Daihri and head constable Raja Tariq. Abrar Kemariwala, another Jundullah member, was injured and Mehmood, Badshah Khan and Javaid fled in the confusion. Toori and Danish alias Tallah, who had led the police to the hideout, were also injured.

Interrogation of the men over the next few days revealed startling information. They were no ordinary outlaws. In their case, militant and criminal activities went hand in hand. Toori, for instance, had committed his first robbery before the attack on the corps commander: he had looted a bank in Malir Cantonment, Karachi. After the attack, however, the group members went their separate ways. Toori was injured and eventually ended up in Wana where he trained for about two-and-a-half years. In 2007, he returned to Karachi with 19 other young men with the sole aim of raising money. The first steps were to rent a number of houses in the city and purchase weapons. Toori has revealed to the police that in his first such consignment he bought four SMG rifles and eight hand grenades. Then began the spree of robberies and kidnappings: on October 30, 2007, for instance, Toori and absconding co-accused Azad Khan, Obaid, Farooqui, Iqbal, Ishaque, Abdullah, Mehmood, Tayabdad, Badshah Khan, Abu Bakr, Yaqoob Abdullah and Shakir stormed Bank al-Habib and looted 5.03 million rupees.

It appears that this sum was sent to the tribal areas where it was passed on to Hamza Jofi alias Haji Mumtaz, an Egyptian national based in Wana, South Waziristan. In return, the Egyptian sent arms, explosive substances and ammunition to the group in Karachi. In most cases, however, money was routed to the tribal agencies to fund militant activities in the region. And this 'fundraising' was not limited to Jundullah men: according to an intelligence agency officer who has been investigating such robberies, various militant and jihadi' groups have "raised over one billion rupees through robberies and kidnappings in about two years".

This trend of committing crimes to finance jihad, the Herald has learnt, has gained strength since 2004. "When the military became involved in an armed confrontation with the militants in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), the militants started sending groups of men to big cities, not only to recruit people but also to raise money through robberies and other crimes," a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) official tells the Herald. However, the extent of these activities came to light only after the arrest of the Jundullah activists in January this year.

Nevertheless, it is important to understand that the roots of this phenomenon lie further in the past than 2004 - in fact, they lie in the aftermath of 9/11. With the initiation of the 'war on terror', the military regime of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf came under pressure to dismantle the 'jihad' factory running in Pakistan. The state took a number of steps - some half-baked or faulty - to dismantle the infrastructure. Several militant groups were banned, their members arrested or forced to go underground to avoid imprisonment and their training camps disbanded. More importantly, the authorities also clamped down on the financial infrastructure of the organisations.

Accounts were frozen, transactions to suspected organisations, especially global and cross-border ones, were monitored strictly and the impunity with which militant outfits had been collecting donations domestically was checked. All this created considerable financial problems for militant organisations and they began to explore new sources of funding. "After the effective ban on collection of funds from the public, militant outfits turned to raising funds through criminal activities," says an intelligence agency official.

Partly this change came about because of the steps that militant organisations initially took to protect themselves from the state crackdown. "When the ban was first implemented, the organisations started investing in agricultural land and commercial property," a counterterrorism expert of the FIA tells the Herald. While cash flow remained restricted, they did manage to save assets through these investments. Worse was, however, yet to come. The ban meant that property had to be bought in the name of individuals, many of whom were members of the organisations themselves. And when these individuals were later asked for money for the militancy, many of them "simply refused to do so and severed their ties with the organisations, an FIA officer tells the Herald (see "Saving for a Rainy Day"). Cash flow dried up even further.

Adding to these setbacks were the deaths of scholars such as Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, Mufti Jamil and others who had managed to unite the disparate groups and their members. Splintering accelerated in their absence. "With the death of top scholars, the command structure fell apart and splinter groups proliferated," the FIA officer adds. The smaller groups that emerged were even more strapped for cash and hence more willing to turn to crime.

"It was this complex mix of events which meant that when armed confrontation with the Pakistani security forces increased in 2004, very little help was available to those who were engaged in fighting the military in Fata," says the officer. As a result, outfits fighting in the north started sending small groups to urban centres for inducting fresh recruits and to raise funds by resorting to bank robberies and other crimes.

In fact, such groups do not stop at burglaries: kidnappings are also a lucrative way to raise money for their activities. Take Mohammad Farhan Qasim, who was arrested in March this year in Karachi for three kidnappings that the police has evidence for. Qasim, along with his men, kidnapped people from high-end residential localities in Karachi. Hostages were kept in the group's hideouts on the Super Highway, and in Shershah and Gulbai areas. The kidnapped victims' families were told to pay ransoms in Peshawar to various individuals before hostages were released in Karachi. Qasim has since confessed that this ransom money was passed on to Baitullah Mehsud.

Law-enforcement personnel also believe that in a number of incidents such groups have used private security firms to get access to secure targets. Investigations have revealed that private security firms' guards were responsible for both the 10-million-rupee robbery at al-Baraka Islamic Bank in Gulshan-e-Igbal and the 150-million robbery at the Continental Exchange on 1.I. Chundrigar Road on January 6, 2008. In the first case, the deployed guard Hussain was from Kurram Agency and in the second case Noor Khan and Hameedullah were from North Waziristan. All three fled at the time of the robberies, and a policeman claims the authorities have evidence that significant funds are transferred to Mehsud after each theft in which security men originating from tribal areas are involved. "Faizullah, a henchman of Mehsud who is based in Sohrab Goth, transferred money," he adds.

Interestingly enough, it is not just money that is being collected: a dozen members of Tehreek-e-Islami, Jalaluddin Haqqani's organisation which is now being led by his son Siraj Haqqani, have been arrested for stealing 150 walkie-talkies and laptops in small robberies from different shops in Karachi in December 2006. The stolen items were handed over to Tahir, an accomplice in Sohrab Goth, who delivered the goods to Mullah Daadulla, a Taliban commander who, till his death last year, was involved in the insurgency in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

All three groups that have been operating in Karachi - Jundullah, Tehreek-e-Islami and the Sohrab Goth-based organisation run by Faizullah Mehsud - have links with militants operating in the tribal areas. "Tehreek-eIslami has links with Jalaluddin Haqqani and Jundullah with groups in South Waziristan," says a Crime Investigation Department official. In fact, law-enforcement agencies have also realised that such militant groups and their members have joined hands with ordinary criminal gangs in the city to carry out robberies and thefts: the 'earnings' are then split between the criminals and the militants.

This came to light when Mohammad Waseem was recently arrested for allegedly kidnapping a resident of Karachi, Leschester Lobo, from the city's Cantonment Station area on February 2, 2008. During the interrogation, Waseem told the police that he was a member of the gang of Afzal Khan alias Afzal Ustad and said he had only recently realised that the group had forged links with militants when two gang members went to Dara Adamkhel to collect ransom from Lobo's family. His suspicions were confirmed when an appointment with Afzal Ustad turned into a meeting with the Taliban in a locality on the Super Highway near Sohrab Goth.

Fata-based militants have clearly begun to exploit the 'fund-raising' potential of Pakistan's urban centres, with their large and relatively affluent populations and the presence of existing criminal networks. In Karachi this is only adding to an already dismal track record of crime as terrorism of a more insidious nature is seeping into the day-to-day fabric of innocent civilian lives.

[Description of Source: Karachi Herald in English -- Monthly, owned by the Dawn publishing group, with a circulation of 15,000. Considered to be a serious socio-political journal, with in-depth articles.]

Asia Times: 'US Strikes Deeper in Pakistan'

CPP20081121715005 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 1122 GMT 20 Nov 08

[By Syed Saleem Shahzad: "The US Strikes Deeper in Pakistan"; headline as provided by source]

"The al-Qaeda leadership (shura) has apparently now installed itself in Jani Khel village in the Bannu district of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP)."

Taliban a step ahead of US assault Asia Times Online, August 11, 2007.

KARACHI - Wednesday's missile attack by an unmanned United States Predator drone on the Pakistani village of Jani Khel marks a significant development in the battle against militants.

On the one hand, it is the first such attack to take place outside of the semi-autonomous tribal areas, that is, in territory directly ruled by Islamabad. Previous US strikes have focused on North Waziristan and South Waziristan, where at least 20 missile attacks and a cross-border commando raid have killed scores of people since September.

But on the other hand, the strike also signifies that there is now a genuine alliance between the Pakistani military and US forces against the common foe of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Previously, under former president General Pervez Musharraf, this relationship was blurred by pockets of latent sympathy on the side of the Pakistanis for the militants.

The drone is reported to have fired at least two missiles early on Wednesday morning at a house near North Waziristan. An unnamed Pakistani security official said that six foreign militants "with links to al-Qaeda" had been killed. Unconfirmed reports said one of them was Dr Abdullah Azzam al-Saudi, who is said to be a coordinator between the Taliban and al-Qaeda leadership.

Whether al-Saudi is indeed dead is not so much the point. What matters is that the Pakistanis had passed on to the Americans information of al-Qaeda's shura (council) in Jani Khel.

Pakistan had known of the shura since it was set up over a year ago, but as it was not in a tribal area and therefore directly under the writ of the Pakistani government, this intelligence was never shared.

Indeed, on one occasion Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda deputy leader, was cornered during a shoot-out between the Pakistani security forces and militants in the district of Bannu, which lies just outside the semi-autonomous tribal areas, but on learning of his presence the law-enforcement agencies allowed him a safe passage.

Clearly, under Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kiani - currently in Brussels for talks with North Atlantic Treaty Organization officials - highly sensitive information is now being relayed to the US. This has dangerous implications.

Al-Qaeda is likely to spread out south into the cities, instead of going north to the tribal areas. The result could be the bloodiest of all battles in urban centers.

The village of Jani Khel was initially chosen as the tribal areas, although remote, were not suitable for regular high-profile meetings and they were coming under increasingly more drone attacks. There was also no precedence of US attacks outside the tribal areas - and neither were any anticipated. To date, heavily armed militants and their local supporters had kept the al-Qaeda leaders safe.

Top Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani is also believed to be active in Pakistan's cities, rather than in his usual compounds in North Waziristan and in Khost province in Afghanistan.

As a possible portend of things to come in this new phase of urban warfare, on Wednesday a trusted member of Musharraf's former team, retired Major General Amir Faisal Alvi, former commander of the elite commando unit Special Services Group (SSG), was assassinated by a group of armed men in the capital Islamabad.

As chief of the army and president, Musharraf, who had also been a member of the SSG, maintained a close relationship with Alvi. Alvi retired two years ago but was credited with masterminding the Angor Ada operation in 2004, when many Arabs and Chechans based in the tribal areas were killed or arrested and turned over to the Americans.

Other key figures who have participated in anti-al-Qaeda and -Taliban operations could be next on the hit list. These include army boss Kiani, who previously served as the director general of military operations, Corps Commander Rawalpindi and as director general of the Intelligence Services. The present chairman of the Joint Staff Committee, General Tariq Majeed, was the architect of the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) operation in 2007 in which the radical mosque was stormed by troops. He was then Corps Commander Rawalpindi.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. URL: ]

Differing accounts given of clash in Afghan south

IAP20081211950024 Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News in English 1220 GMT 11 Dec 08

Differing accounts given of clash in Afghan south

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Ghazni: Over eight Taleban fighters with motorbikes were detained after an hour long firefight on the main Kabul-Kandahar Highway in the southern province of Ghazni late Wednesday [10 December] evening, according to officials.

Ismail Jahangir, spokesperson for the Ghazni governor, told Pajhwok Afghan News on Thursday that a number of militants attacked the police patrol in Cherali area of the remote Gilan district late Wednesday evening.

After an hour long clash between the police and the militants, coalition troops were called in. Neither Afghan nor US-led coalition troops received any casualties, he explained.

However, the self-proclaimed Taleban spokesman Zabihollah Mojahed said one police vehicle was destroyed and all the onboard police were killed. The police have detained ordinary people, he continued.

The US-led coalition troops have meanwhile detained five suspected militants when targeting the Jalaloddin Haqqani network. In a statement emailed to this news agency the coalition troops added the militants were detained in a joint operation of Afghan and coalition soldiers.

Giving no more details about where the operation was carried out, the statement added that Afghan and coalition troops will continue to target leaders of terrorist networks to improve security in the area.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News in English Independent Afghan news agency]

Afghan Tribal Leaders Protest Against Anti-Taliban Raids by US Special Forces

EUP20081204015017 London Independent Online in English 04 Dec 08

[Report by Jerome Starkey in Gardez: "Tribal Leaders To Sabotage West's Assault on Taliban"; for assistance with multimedia elements, contact OSC at 1-800-205-8615 or oscinfo@rccb..]

They came in the night and shot Saeed Alam in his bed. His three-year-old son was crying at his feet and his mother had leapt on top of him to try to block the bullets. Both of them were hurled out of the way and an American soldier opened fire.

America's plans to enlist Afghan militias in the war against the Taliban are running into difficulties while still in their infancy. In eastern Paktia province, the white-bearded Afghan village elders who are crucial to the "Afghan awakening", are threatening to unite against the Americans unless such night raids by US special forces are halted.

Saeed Alam was shot four times in the chest in the raid last Saturday. His son landed in a fire pit, used for cooking. His mother died of shock the next day. The American soldiers left, taking 10 other Afghans with them. "We are not Taliban. We do not support Al-Qa'ida but if these searches continue we will definitely join the anti-government elements," said Mr Janan, a senior member of the Gardeserai shura, or council.

A delegation of elders travelled to the provincial capital, Gardez, on Tuesday to protest about the raids. "We have 9,000 people in our tribe and we will take up arms against them," Mr Janan warned.

An American press release claimed the raid helped "decimate" a terrorist network. It described Saeed Alam as a militant and said he was holding a grenade while using his mother and son as a human shield. "The force engaged the militant with small-arms fire, killing him while protecting the women and children," the statement said. "Coalition forces estimate they safeguarded 16 women and 31 children."

The elders swore Alam was innocent. At least five of those arrested during the raid have since been released, without charge. Contrary to the American statement, the elders said there were no Afghan troops involved, and they said they knew the soldiers were special forces because they had beards.

"Raiding people's houses and snatching people away creates a very negative impression in the communities," said a senior Western policy analyst, working in the region.

"The special forces have got an important role to play but, at the moment, with the way they are structured and the way they are being used, it's hard to say they bring any net benefit."

Haji Ghazi, the head of the shura, said troops kicked down doors and smashed windows in simultaneous raids against five houses in a village called Suri Khel. "Saeed Alam's mother was trying to save her child, and she was beaten," said Raheem Gul, describing the way the soldiers hauled her out of the firing line.

The soldiers arrived in trucks at 11.30pm and left at about 3.30am. The night after, six more men were whisked away by troops in helicopters.

"What laws allow them to kill him without an investigation?" Mr Janan said. "There are no courts, there is no justice. We are Muslims. Maybe they are from another religion but there are international laws and customs. Who will tell me that killing this person was legal?"

Gardeserai's most famous export is one of America's most wanted terrorists, Jalaluddin Haqqani - a former mujahedin commander, turned Taliban grandee. Once a darling of the US-funded jihad against Soviet troops in Afghanistan, he was left out of the 2001 Bonn conference to rebuild Afghanistan and now controls fighters across the south-east.

There is little doubt that some of the elders have ties to his fighters. One of the shura members is his cousin. They are all part of the Zadran tribe, which covers nine districts split evenly across Paktia, Paktika and Khost. "We are under pressure from two sides," Mr Janan said. "On one side there is the Taliban with swords. On the other side it's the Americans with night raids, searches, inhumane treatment, killing, shooting and arresting. They want our support but they have done nothing for us."

Very little development has reached the Zadran territories in the aftermath of the US-led invasion in 2001. By contrast, Mr Haqqani is remembered as a hero of the jihad, who used Cold War cash, channelled through Pakistan, to build schools and madrasas.

Gardeserai, where Saeed Alam was killed, was supposed to benefit from the Zadran Arc Stabilisation Initiative, which saw modest amounts of development money given to tribal shuras, or village councils. "The whole deal was on the one hand there's development and on the other hand there's security, but the security bit hasn't really stuck," said a Western diplomat involved.

Fighting raged in Zadran districts last summer but development workers were spared any violence which elders say is evidence of their influence.

[Description of Source: London The Independent in English -- leftist daily; has been consistently opposed to the Iraq war, often adopting a strong anti-US stance; known for its distinctive front page; URL: independent.co.uk]

Asia Times: 'Deep in the Land of the Taliban'

CPP20081208715002 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0113 GMT 08 Dec 08

[By Anand Gopal: "Deep in the Land of the Taliban"; headline as provided by source]

(This piece is a joint project of and the Nation Magazine, where a shorter version appears in print.)

If there is an exact location marking the West's failures in Afghanistan, it is the modest police checkpoint that sits on the main highway 20 minutes south of Kabul. The post signals the edge of the capital, a city of spectacular tension, blast walls, and standstill traffic. Beyond this point, Kabul's gritty, low-slung buildings and narrow streets give way to a vast plain of serene farmland hemmed in by sandy mountains. In this valley in Logar province, the American-backed government of Afghanistan no longer exists.

Instead of government officials, men in muddied black turbans with assault rifles slung over their shoulders patrol the highway, checking for thieves and "spies". The charred carcass of a tanker, meant to deliver fuel to international forces further south, sits belly up on the roadside.

The police say they don't dare enter these districts, especially at night when the guerrillas rule the roads. In some parts of the country's south and east, these insurgents have even set up their own government, which they call the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the name of the former Taliban government). They mete out justice in makeshift sharia courts. They settle land disputes between villagers. They dictate the curricula in schools.

Just three years ago, the central government still controlled the provinces near Kabul. But years of mismanagement, rampant criminality, and mounting civilian casualties have led to a spectacular resurgence of the Taliban and other related groups. Today, the Islamic Emirate enjoys de facto control in large parts of the country's south and east. According to ACBAR, an umbrella organization representing more than 100 aid agencies, insurgent attacks have increased by 50% over the past year. Foreign soldiers are now dying at a higher rate here than in Iraq.

The burgeoning disaster is prompting the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai and international players to speak openly of negotiations with sections of the insurgency.

The new nationalist Taliban

Who exactly are the Afghan insurgents? Every suicide attack and kidnapping is usually attributed to "the Taliban". In reality, however, the insurgency is far from monolithic. There are the shadowy, kohl-eyed mullahs and head-bobbing religious students, of course, but there are also erudite university students, poor, illiterate farmers, and veteran anti-Soviet commanders. The movement is a melange of nationalists, Islamists, and bandits that fall uneasily into three or four main factions. The factions themselves are made up of competing commanders with differing ideologies and strategies, who nonetheless agree on one essential goal: kicking out the foreigners.

It wasn't always this way. When US-led forces toppled the Taliban government in November 2001, Afghans celebrated the downfall of a reviled and discredited regime. "We felt like dancing in the streets," one Kabuli told me. As US-backed forces marched into Kabul, the Afghan capital, remnants of the old Taliban regime split into three groups. The first, including many Kabul-based bureaucrats and functionaries, simply surrendered to the Americans; some even joined the Karzai government. The second, comprised of the movement's senior leadership, including its leader Mullah Omar, fled across the border into Pakistan, where they remain to this day. The third and largest group - foot soldiers, local commanders, and provincial officials - quietly melted into the landscape, returning to their farms and villages to wait and see which way the wind blew.

Meanwhile, the country was being carved up by warlords and criminals. On the brand-new highway connecting Kabul to Kandahar and Herat, built with millions of Washington's dollars, well-organized groups of bandits would regularly terrorize travelers. "(Once), 30, maybe 50 criminals, some in police uniforms, stopped our bus and shot (out) our windows," M uhammadullah, the owner of a bus company that regularly uses the route, told me. "They searched our vehicle and stole everything from everyone." Criminal syndicates, often with government connections, organized kidnapping sprees in urban centers like the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar city. Often, those few who were caught would simply be released after the right palms were greased.

Onto this landscape of violence and criminality rode the Taliban again, promising law and order. The exiled leadership, based in Quetta, Pakistan, began reactivating its networks of fighters who had blended into the country's villages. They resurrected relationships with Pashtun tribes. (The insurgents) With funds from wealthy Arab donors and training from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Pakistani intelligence apparatus, they were able to bring weapons and expertise into Pashtun villages.

In one village after another, they drove out the remaining minority of government sympathizers through intimidation and assassination. Then they won over the majority with promises of security and efficiency. The guerrillas implemented a harsh version of sharia law, cutting off the hands of thieves and shooting adulterers. They were brutal, but they were also incorruptible. Justice no longer went to the highest bidder. "There's no crime any more, unlike before," said Abdul Halim, who lives in a district under Taliban control.

The insurgents conscripted fighters from the villages they operated in, often paying them US$200 a month - more than double the typical police salary. They adjudicated disputes between tribes and between landowners. They protected poppy fields from the eradication attempts of the central government and foreign armies - a move that won them the support of poor farmers whose only stable income came from poppy cultivation. Areas under insurgent control were consigned to having neither reconstruction nor social services, but for rural villagers who had seen much foreign intervention and little economic progress under the Karzai government, this was hardly new.

At the same time, the Taliban's ideology began to undergo a transformation. "We are fighting to free our country from foreign domination," Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told me over the phone. "The Indians fought for their independence against the British. Even the Americans once waged an insurgency to free their own country." This emerging nationalistic streak appealed to Pashtun villagers growing weary of the American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) presence.

The insurgents are also fighting to install a version of sharia law in the country. Nonetheless, the famously puritanical guerrillas have moderated some of their most extreme doctrines, at least in principle. Last year, for instance, Mullah Omar issued an edict declaring music and parties - banned in the Taliban's previous incarnation - permissible. Some Taliban commanders have even started accepting the idea of girls' education. Certain hard-line leaders like the one-legged Mullah Daddullah, a man of legendary brutality (whose beheading binges at times reportedly proved too much even for Mullah Omar) were killed by international forces.

Meanwhile, a more pragmatic leadership started taking the reins. US intelligence officers believe that day-to-day leadership of the movement is now actually in the hands of the politically savvy Mullah Brehadar, while Mullah Omar retains a largely figurehead position. Brehadar may be behind the push to moderate the movement's message in order to win greater support.

Even at the local level, some provincial Taliban officials are tempering older-style Taliban policies in order to win local hearts and minds. Three months ago in a district in Ghazni province, for instance, the insurgents ordered all schools closed. When tribal elders appealed to the Taliban's ruling religious council in the area, the religious judges reversed the decision and reopened the schools.

However, not all field commanders follow the injunctions against banning music and parties. In many Taliban-controlled districts such amusements are still outlawed, which points to the movement's decentralized nature. Local commanders often set their own policies and initiate attacks without direct orders from the Taliban leadership.

The result is a slippery movement that morphs from district to district. In some Taliban-controlled districts of Ghazni province, an Afghan caught working for a non-governmental organization (NGO) would meet certain death. In parts of neighboring Wardak province, however, where the insurgents are said to be more educated and understand the need for development, local NGOs can function with the guerrillas' permission.

The 'other Taliban

Never short of guns and guerrillas, Afghanistan has proven fertile ground for a whole host of insurgent groups in addition to the Taliban.

Naqibullah, a university student with a sparse beard who spoke in soft, measured tones, was not quite 30 when we met. We were in the back seat of a parked dusty Corolla on a pockmarked road near Kabul University, where he studied medicine. Naqibullah (his nom de guerre) and his friends at the university are members of Hizb-i-Islami, an insurgent group led by warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and allied to the Taliban. His circle of friends meet regularly in the university's dorm rooms, discussing politics and watching DVD videos of recent attacks.

Over the past year, his circle has shrunk: Sadiq was arrested while attempting a suicide bombing. Wasim was killed when he tried to assemble a bomb at home. Fouad killed himself in a successful suicide attack on a US base. "The Americans have their B-52s," Naqibullah explained. "Suicide attacks are our versions of B-52s." Like his friends, Naqibullah, too, had considered the possibility of becoming a "B-52". "But it would kill too many civilians," he told me. Besides, he had plans to use his education. He said, "I want to teach the uneducated Taliban."

For years, Hizb-i-Islami fighters have had a reputation for being more educated and worldly than their Taliban counterparts, who are often illiterate farmers. Their leader, Hekmatyar, studied engineering at Kabul University in the 1970s, where he made a name of a sort for himself by hurling acid in the faces of unveiled women.

He established Hizb-i-Islami to counter growing Soviet influence in the country and, in the 1980s, his organization became one of the most extreme fundamentalist parties as well as the leading group fighting the Soviet occupation. Ruthless, powerful, and anti-communist, Hekmatyar proved a capable ally for Washington, which funneled millions of dollars and tons of weapons through the Pakistani ISI to his forces.

After the Soviet withdrawal, Hekmatyar and the other mujahideen commanders turned their guns on each other, unleashing a devastating civil war from which Kabul, in particular, has yet to recover. One-legged Afghans, crippled by Hekmatyar's rockets, still roam the city's streets. However, he was unable to capture the capital and his Pakistani backers eventually abandoned him for a new, even more extreme Islamist force rising in the south: the Taliban.

Most Hizb-i-Islami commanders defected to the Taliban and Hekmatyar fled in disgrace to Iran, losing much of his support in the process. He remained in such low standing that he was among the few warlords not offered a place in the US-backed government that formed after 2001.

This, after a fashion, was his good luck. When that government faltered, he found himself thrust back into the role of insurgent leader, where, playing on local frustrations in Pashtun communities just as the Taliban has, he slowly resurrected Hizb-i-Islami.

Today, the group is one of the fastest-growing insurgent outfits in the country, according to Antonio Giustozzi, Afghan insurgency expert at the London School of Economics. Hizb-i-Islami maintains a strong presence in the provinces near Kabul and Pashtun pockets in the country's north and northeast. It assisted in a complex assassination attempt on President Karzai last spring and was behind a high-profile ambush that killed 10 NATO soldiers this summer. Its guerrillas fight under the Taliban banner, although independently and with a separate command structure. Like the Taliban, its leaders see their task as restoring Afghan sovereignty as well as establishing an Islamic state in Afghanistan. Naqibullah explained, "The US installed a puppet regime here. It was an affront to Islam, an injustice that all Afghans should rise up against."

The independent Islamic state that Hizb-i-Islami is fighting for would undoubtedly have Hekmatyar, not Mullah Omar, in command. But as during the anti-Soviet jihad, the settling of scores is largely being left to the future.

The Pakistani nexus

Blowback abounds in Afghanistan. Erstwhile US Central Intelligence Agency hand Jalaluddin Haqqani heads yet a third insurgent network, this one based in Afghanistan's eastern border regions. During the anti-Soviet war, the US gave Haqqani, now considered by many to be Washington's most redoubtable foe, millions of dollars, anti-aircraft missiles, and even tanks. Officials in Washington were so enamored with him that former congressman Charlie Wilson once called him "goodness personified".

Haqqani was an early advocate of the "Afghan Arabs", who, in the 1980s, flocked to Pakistan to join the jihad against the Soviet Union. He ran training camps for them and later developed close ties to al-Qaeda, which developed out of Afghan-Arab networks towards the end of the anti-Soviet war. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the US tried desperately to bring him over to its side. However, Haqqani claimed that he couldn't countenance a foreign presence on Afghan soil and once again took up arms, aided by his longtime benefactors in Pakistan's ISI. He is said to have introduced suicide bombing to Afghanistan, a tactic unheard of there before 2001. Western intelligence officials pin the blame for most of the spectacular attacks in recent memory - a massive car bomb that ripped apart the Indian embassy in July, for example - on the Haqqani network, not the Taliban.

The Haqqanis command the lion's share of foreign fighters operating in the country and tend to be even more extreme than their Taliban counterparts. Unlike most of the Taliban and Hizb-i-Islami, elements of the Haqqani network work closely with al-Qaeda. The network's leadership is most likely based in Waziristan, in the Pakistani tribal areas, where it enjoys ISI protection.

Pakistan extends support to the Haqqanis on the understanding that the network will keep its holy war within Afghanistan's borders. Such agreements are necessary because, in recent years, Pakistan's longstanding policy of aiding Islamic militant groups has plunged the country into a devastating war within its own borders.

As Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants trickled into Pakistan after the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, Islamabad signed on to the Bush administration's "war on terror". It was a profitable venture: Washington delivered billions of dollars in aid and advanced weaponry to Pakistan's military government, all the while looking the other way as dictator Pervez Musharraf increased his vise-like grip on the country. In return, Islamabad targeted al-Qaeda militants, every few months parading a captured "high-ranking" leader before the news cameras, while leaving the Taliban leadership on its territory untouched.

While the Pakistani military establishment never completely eradicated al-Qaeda - doing so might have stanched the flow of aid - it kept up just enough pressure so that the Arab militants declared war on the government. By 2004, the Pakistani army had entered the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, a semi-autonomous region populated by Pashtun tribes (where al-Qaeda fighters had taken refuge), in force for the first time in an attempt to root out the foreign militants.

Over the next few years, repeated Pakistani army incursions, along with a growing number of US missile strikes (which sometimes killed civilians), enraged the local tribal populations. Small, tribal-based groups calling themselves "the Taliban" began to emerge; by 2007, there were at least 27 such groups active in the Pakistani borderlands. The guerrillas soon won control of areas in such tribal districts as North and South Waziristan, and began to act like a version of the 1990s Taliban redux: they banned music, beat liquor store owners, and prevented girls from attending school. While remaining independent of the Afghan Taliban, they also wholeheartedly supported them.

By the end of 2007, the various Pakistani Taliban groups had merged into a single outfit, the Tehrik-i-Taliban, under the command of an enigmatic 30-something guerrilla - Baitullah Mehsud . Pakistani authorities blame Mehsud's group, usually referred to simply as the "Pakistani Taliban", for a string of major attacks, including the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Mehsud and his allies have strong links to al-Qaeda and continue to wage an on-again, off-again war against the Pakistani military. At the same time, some members of the Pakistani Taliban have filtered across the border to join their Afghan counterparts in the fight against the Americans.

Tehrik-i-Taliban proved surprisingly powerful, regularly routing Pakistani army units whose foot soldiers were loathe to fight their fellow countrymen. But almost as soon as Tehrik had emerged, fissures appeared. Not all Pakistani Taliban commanders were convinced of the efficacy of fighting a two-front war. Part of the movement, calling itself the "Local Taliban", adopted a different strategy, avoiding battles with the Pakistani military. In addition, a significant number of other Pakistani militant groups - including many trained by the ISI to fight in Indian Kashmir - now operate in the Pakistani borderlands, where they abstain from fighting the Pakistani government and focus their fire on the Americans in, or American supply lines into, Afghanistan.

The result of all this is a twisted skein of alliances and ceasefires in which Pakistan is fighting a war against al-Qaeda and one section of the Pakistani Taliban, while leaving another section, as well as other independent militant groups, free to go about their business. That business includes crossing the border into Afghanistan, where the Pakistani Taliban, al-Qaeda, and independent fighters from the tribal regions and elsewhere add to the mix that has produced what one Western intelligence official terms a "rainbow coalition" arrayed against US troops.

Living in a world of war

Despite such foreign connections, the Afghan rebellion remains mostly a homegrown affair. Foreign fighters - especially al-Qaeda - have little ideological influence on most of the insurgency, and most Afghans keep their distance from such outsiders. "Sometimes groups of foreigners speaking different languages walk past," Ghazni resident Fazel Wali recalls. "We never talk to them and they don't talk to us."

Al-Qaeda's vision of global jihad doesn't resonate in the rugged highlands and windswept deserts of southern Afghanistan. Instead, the major concern throughout much of the country is intensely local: personal safety.

In a world of endless war, with a predatory government, roving bandits, and Hellfire missiles, support goes to those who can bring security. In recent months, one of the most dangerous activities in Afghanistan has also been one of its most celebratory: the large, festive wedding parties that Afghans love so much. US forces bombed such a party in July, killing 47. Then, in November, warplanes hit another wedding party, killing around 40. A couple of weeks later they hit an engagement party, killing three.

"We are starting to think that we shouldn't go out in large numbers or have public weddings," Abdullah Wali told me. Wali lives in a district of Ghazni Province where the insurgents have outlawed music and dance at such wedding parties. It's an austere life, but that doesn't stop Wali from wanting them back in power. Bland weddings, it seems, are better than no weddings at all.

Anand Gopal writes frequently about Afghanistan, Pakistan and the "war on terror". He is a correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor based in Afghanistan. For more of his information and dispatches from the region, visit his website. This piece appears in print in the latest issue of the Nation Magazine.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. URL: ]

Pakistan: Former ISI Chief Refutes US Charges Against Him, Terms Them as Lies

SAP20081208102004 Islamabad The News Online in English 08 Dec 08

[Report by Ansar Abbasi: "Hameed Gul tears up US charge-sheet"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

ISLAMABAD: Lt-Gen (retd) Hameed Gul finds the US chargesheet against him as a mere pack of lies and has argued that it is both fallacious and inaccurate, deviously designed to squelch his voice and to malign the ISI which he headed some 20 years ago. In a rejoinder to the chargesheet that The News reported on Sunday while quoting a secret US document recently handed over to the Government of Pakistan, the former ISI chief said the charge-sheet was devoid of substance and was based entirely on conjunctures and generalities. "It is so blatantly erroneous that even my address and passport numbers are incorrect," commented Gul, who is a known Islamist and never shied from his anti-American stance.

Willing to defend himself before any independent commission or body, he strongly refuted the allegations that accuse him of sponsoring and supporting al- Qaeda, Taliban, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and that he had been recruiting and training young men from Madrassas from Pakistan to fight against the foreign forces in Afghanistan. He said he was an ardent friend of Afghanistan. "I adore the nation for their phenomenal courage, ferocious independence and a glorious history of resistance to aggression," he said. "Many leaders of the ruling alliance in Kabul are my close friends. I have always strived to forge unity among them.

The Afghan leadership across the internecine divide knows my position and respects me for it." True to his reputation of being outspoken critic of the US, Gul said he considered American and Nato forces as aggressors, who were in pursuit of a vicious agenda for the region, especially Pakistan, and believes that the Afghan national resistance was fully justified.

It is strictly a moral and academic position which, he said, will continue to hold till the aggression is ended. Hameed Gul said he had never provided any material or financial support to the resistance nor did have the wherewithal to do so.

Referring to another charge, he said, he had never met or communicated with Baitullah Mehsud or any other leaders of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). "This piece of disinformation is mischief to tarnish my image with the ISI and the armed forces, who are engaged in fighting the TTP in Fata." He, however, explained that on this issue he and his colleagues of the Ex-Servicemen Society were unanimous that this was not our war and we should settle our internal disputes by dialogue.

Referring to the US charge that talks of his connection with Sirajuddin Haqqani, he said: "I have never seen or met Sirajuddin Haqqani. But I knew his father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, who was one of the eminent Mujahideen leaders during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and still regard him as a great freedom fighter." Responding to another charge, he said there was absolutely no truth of his involvement in "spotting, assessing and recruiting young men from various Pakistani Madrassas" to fight the occupation forces in Afghanistan. The former ISI chief said he had no knowledge of the training camps nor did he have the time and means to indulge in such activities. He said scores of people, including national and international media, visited him every day who would vouch for his aboveboard conduct.

"I am like an open book and intend to remain so," he said, adding any agency, public or private, could look into his activities in any manner of their choosing. "I will be more than willing to cooperate," said the retired general, who has the knack of dealing with the Western and US anti- Pakistan and anti-Muslim propagandists in a befitting manner. Gul admitted that he was a patron of Ummah Tamir-e-Nau (UTN), an NGO created by some Pakistani businessmen to help revive the war-ravaged industry in Afghanistan. He said it was a noble cause and, therefore, he lent his name to it merely to promote goodwill among the Afghan people. After 9/11, the organisation was abolished and he had nothing to do with it thereafter. Immediately after 9/11, he said he was quizzed about his connection with the UTN by a general of the ISI.

He disclosed that he answered all the queries and, what he thought, to the Americans' satisfaction. He categorically said he had no direct knowledge about the relocation of al-Qaeda members from Iraq to Afghanistan but he did give his assessment of its possibility to the national and the international media. "I have no contact with al-Qaeda. However, I did meet Osama bin Laden in Dec 1993 and again in Nov 1994 when I went to Khartoum to attend the International People's Conferences called by Dr Hassan Turabi. Both these meetings were at the banquets and in full public view. I have already told the whole world about it several times."

He said the report in question was a pack of lies which had become the hallmark of the Bush administration and was not worthy of serious attention. Yet, he said, he would be prepared to present himself for examination before any international commission set up inside Pakistan provided it was not under the US tutelage.

"Finally, I leave it to the people of Pakistan to judge me in the light of my previous record and character. I wish my government would do its duty to protect innocent citizens and institutions against malicious assaults from the dark impulse in the US policy towards Pakistan. If ever there was a need to show resolve for the national honour, dignity and security, it is now," he concluded.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of the widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Hardcopy circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Asia Times: On the Militant Trail, Part 1: 'A Battle Before a Battle'

CPP20090129715018 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0108 GMT 29 Jan 09

[By Syed Saleem Shahzad: "On the Militant Trail, Part 1: 'A Battle Before a Battle' "; headline as provided by source]

Peshawar - the High Fort - is the capital of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the administrative center for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. It was one of the main trading centers on the ancient Silk Road and was a major crossroads for various cultures between South and Central Asia and the Middle East.

Located on the edge of the Khyber Pass near the Afghan border, Peshawar, with a population of several million, is the commercial, economic, political and cultural capital of the Pashtuns in Pakistan.

Peshawar and its surrounds are also now the epicenter for the Taliban and other militants in their struggle not only in Afghanistan and Pakistan but also in their bid to establish a base from which to wage an "end-of-time battle" that would stretch all the way to the Arab heartlands of Damascus and Palestine.

In a series of articles exploring the region that will examine the differing natures and strategies of various Taliban groups, Syed Saleem Shahzad begins his journey in Peshawar.

Restive North-West Frontier Province is not the destination of choice these days. Those who travel there go for business or family reasons, and the flight I took from the southern port city of Karachi to Peshawar was half empty; clearly, the region is no longer on the tourist map.

After touring the city for an afternoon and speaking to a variety of people, I was struck by its eerie similarity to Baghdad when I visited that capital soon after the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 - it has the distinct atmosphere of impending chaos.

That evening I chatted with a senior al-Qaeda member who told me that the group considered NWFP and southwestern Balochistan province as already wiped off the map of Pakistani as they were now militant country. Although not entirely accurate, it portends a chilling turn in the "war on terror" in which Washington will be more concerned over the stability and security of Pakistan rather than that of Afghanistan.

The indications are that a major battle will be fought in Pakistan before the annual spring offensive even begins in Afghanistan this year.

Last December, the US Defense Department pushed for Pakistan to be given US$2.64 billion to buy better weapons and to provide more training for its police and Frontier Corps, which are at the vanguard of the battle against militants in the tribal regions.

The new administration of US President Barack Obama has appointed veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke as a special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, a newly created position, so that he and Hillary Clinton - in her role as secretary of state - can work closely to try to get Kabul and Islamabad to join forces in the fight against the resurgent Taliban and al-Qaeda militant groups, especially those located in Pakistan.

A deceptive calm

On the surface, life appears normal in Peshawar. Shops, public offices, banks and schools are all open, but they disguise disturbing events that are happening with increased regularity.

Heavily armed militants have begun attacking container terminals for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) supply trucks on their way to Afghanistan, destroying dozens of them, and there have been a series of high-profile abductions, including those of Afghan and Iranian diplomats.

Pushto stage and drama artist Alamzeb Mujahid was seized from Peshawar's Hayatabad area this month, while the beheaded body of a faith healer was found last week with a warning note attached saying that those involved in the business of faith-healing would meet the same fate.

According to militant sources, five dozen people have been abducted in the past 30 days, including Shi'ites and ex-army men and their relatives. Some were released after a ransom was paid, a few were killed and the remainder are still being held hostage by the militants.

Most of these incidents have involved militants claiming to be Taliban. However, criminal gangs have also jumped onto the ban dwagon to abduct traders for ransom. Different traders' organizations have grouped together to display black banners in the city urging the government to stem the abduction of traders.

In the face of this, security arrangements in Peshawar are extraordinarily tight. In the upscale neighborhood of University Road, which houses several international non-government organizations, United Nations offices, residences and the American Club, every nook and cranny is manned by either the police or by intelligence sleuths in civilian dress.

This has created an atmosphere of fear among people, who believe that a major showdown between militants and the security forces is imminent.

The situation was a blessing in disguise for me as I easily found a very comfortable, well-equipped room at a 20-room guest house with high-speed wireless Internet at a much cheaper price than I paid on my previous visit last year. When I checked in, I was the only guest.

Later, I spoke to Mehmood Afridi, the editor and owner of the English daily the Frontier Post. "I chose to set up my office in a bungalow because at least I can watch over the threat compared to any office in a building downtown, but still I have to spend a huge amount on armed guards."

It took almost one-and-a-half years for the US and NATO to realize the real dangers of the lawlessness in Pakistan. In 2007, Western decision-makers watched the instability in Pakistan with a smile.

Militant ideologues based in the tribal areas, such as Tahir Yuldashev, chief of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and Shiekh Essa, were emphasizing their aim to topple the then-government of president General Pervez Musharraf before taking on NATO in Afghanistan.

A tide of insurgency swept from Afghanistan into Pakistan, but Western leaders were not too concerned as they thought this would make it easier for them in Afghanistan and that the militants would be defeated in Pakistan.

This did not prove to be the case in regard to both countries. The insurgency in Afghanistan had its most successful year in 2008, and militants have grown in strength in Pakistan. In February 2008, suicide attacks in Pakistan outnumbered Iraqi suicide attacks and strong enclaves of militants have been established in Pakistan where they never before existed.

For instance, in the strategic Khyber Agency, through which 80% of NATO's supplies pass on the way to landlocked Afghanistan, militants have gained a foothold. In Mohmand and in Bajaur tribal agencies, which cover the whole of a strategic corridor into Afghanistan which goes all the way to the capital Kabul through Kunar, Nooristan and Kapisa provinces, militants have established a presence.

An insurgency in the hitherto peaceful Swat Valley prompted Pakistan to carry out military operations, but this only turned the whole valley into hostile territory for the Pakistan army and a new nursery for the Afghan resistance.

Never before had so many well-trained and battle-hardened militants swarmed from the Swat Valley, Bajaur and Mohmand into Afghanistan, and they are preparing to do so again this year. NATO has had to seek an alternative and much more expensive supply routes through Central Asia.

As a result, the US, where strategic journals and think-thanks had been selling the idea of Pakistan's disintegration up to 2007, and promoted the concept of a united Pashtun land, is now completely geared to take all measures to protect the unity of Pakistan.

It is now believed that if Pakistan goes down, it will take its neighbors with it, with ramifications all the way to Europe and America.

Apart from a few divisive incidents, such as the Pakistan-linked terror attack on Mumbai in India last November, this realization is keeping all players, including Pakistan, the US, Britain and even India at closer levels of coordination. However, this has happened late in the game, perhaps too late.

The rise and rise of militancy

Following the ousting of the Taliban from Afghanistan by US-led forces in late 2001, militancy in the region only began to grow at a phenomenal pace over the past few years.

In 2005, a major regrouping of the Taliban began, leading the next year to meetings in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area and an agreement to fight against NATO under the command of Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani.

In April 2006, the militants verbally agreed on a ceasefire with Pakistan and then signed a formal document in September the same year. In early 2007, they broke the ceasefire, but at the same time faced a serious leadership crisis.

However, the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) operation in July 2007 in which the radical mosque in Islamabad was stormed by security forces helped the Pakistani Taliban to regroup under the umbrella of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Taliban. The organization initially went through many difficulties due to differences over leadership, but ultimately they agreed on Baitullah Mehsud as head.

In December 2007, former premier Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by al-Qaeda, and Osama bin Laden installed an amir-e-khuruj (leader for revolt) in Pakistan, and since then the militancy has gone from strength to strength.

Against this backdrop, three significant and interlinked developments occurred:

Pakistan lost a significant amount of territory in NWFP to militants.

Al-Qaeda and Pakistani militants devised a scheme in late 2008 to cut off NATO's supply lines passing through Pakistan. The move has been highly successful.

The Taliban are gaining ground in Afghanistan. According to an influential British think-tank, the Senlis Council - now renamed the International Council on Security and Development - in 2007, 54% of Afghanistan was under the control of the Taliban. In 2008, the same think-tank said that 72% was controlled by the Taliban.

In the past few months, the US has stepped up Predator drone attacks on specific targets inside Pakistan. While these have aided the militant cause in that at times civilians have been killed, several key militant leaders have also died.

A meeting with al-Qaeda

I received a call on my cell phone from a number I did not recognize, but the voice was familiar.

"It is not possible to visit you at your guest house. You have to move away from the area," the man said, and then mentioned a famous landmark in the city where I had met the same person last year. I will call him Mohammad.

I was delayed leaving the guest house and had to walk about 20 minutes to the meeting place. As I approached, Mohammad crossed the road and joined me. I followed him until we reached a waiting motorbike and rider at a crowded bus stop.

Mohammad sat behind the driver and I squeezed on behind him. We must have been a sight. The front two had very long beards and robes, looking like prayer leaders, while I was wearing modern trousers and a coat. We drove for 10 minutes before reaching a big park.

"You almost put us in serious difficulties," Mohammad chided me as soon as we got off the motorbike.

"How?" I asked, surprised.

"There is an extraordinary high alert in and around the University Road area. In the past month, dozens of our fellows have been arrested in the area. Of course, we keep an eye on our targets, which are in abundance in this part of Peshawar, and intelligence and police keep an eye on us. I was waiting for you for about 40 minutes, it is just not advisable for us to stay around for so long," Mohammad explained.

"After losing ground all over, the security forces are preparing for decisive action against us. Everybody is at risk, we, our families ... I change my cell numbers on an almost daily basis, so next time you will not be able to trace me. I have changed my residence twice in the past two months and my residence is not known to anybody. At this moment, the security forces are calling the shots [in the city], but soon we will retaliate."

I questioned Mohammad on a reported split among militants which has caused Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah to remain quiet. Abdul Wali, alias Omar Khalid, Moulvi Faqir and others who were previously with Baitullah, who is ill, have now parted with him. The drone attacks have wiped out sizeable numbers of al-Qaeda members, although the word is the Bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri are alive.

"The news of a split is true, but it will never benefit the government," said Mohammad. "All it has done is weaken Baitullah's command. Believe you me, it will further sharpen the armed opposition against the government. The militant groups will carry out attacks with multiple strategies. Abdul Wali is still fighting against the government." (Abdul Wali had earlier been reported killed in Mohmand Agency in a military strike.)

"Al-Qaeda members have melted into various like-minded groups. Recently, Qari Ziaur Rahman led a group comprising 600, mostly Afghans and al-Qaeda members, to ransack a Pakistani security post in Mohmand Agency," Mohammad said.

"Tomorrow, when you travel to the Swat Valley, you will find that except for a few towns like Mardan, Sawabi and Charsada, all the towns are now under the Taliban. In places like Mengora and Swat, the security forces are not the ones who enforce the curfew, but the Taliban. The Taliban move freely on the streets and the security forces hide inside their sanctuaries," Mohammad said.

The Taliban's and al-Qaeda's influence is indeed multi-faceted, like their groupings. There are places like Swat and the tribal areas where the Taliban's control is a fact of life and they operate in broad daylight. In other places like Peshawar they are present, but this can only be felt, not seen.

Malakand Agency was on my itinerary, and I had been told that here there is not a single Taliban on the ground, but through fear they impose their writ.

NEXT: Faceless rule

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. URL: ]

Security beefed up in Afghan capital after violent attacks

SAP20090212950036 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in English 1145 GMT 12 Feb 09

Security beefed up in Afghan capital after violent attacks

Text of report in English by private Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency

Kabul, 12 February: Stringent security arrangements have been adopted in capital Kabul after yesterday's (11 February) bloody suicide and gun attacks on government buildings by Taleban.

Security forces have been strictly monitoring all the roads leading to Kabul City and police and security personnel searching vehicles and people.

"Security forces have taken strict arrangements today (12 February) and closed several roads and square after yesterday's attacks. Security personnel have started detailed search," a worker of an international organization in Kabul told Afghan Islamic Press.

He said, "Due closure of roads and search passed three km of distance in one hour which mostly require a few minutes."

Yesterday's suicide attacks and armed clashes left at least 25 people dead and dozens wounded.

Afghan Interior Minister Muhammad Hanif Atmar told a press conference in Kabul after the incidents that security would be tightened in Kabul so opponents' attacks can be stopped.

Sources told Afghan Islamic Press that personnel of National Security detained 21 suspected people and there were in search of more people of the network which has been unearthed along weapons and some document.

The Kabul raids and today's security arrangements come at a time when US President's special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan will arrive in Kabul from Islamabad today to hold talks on the current situation in Afghanistan.

About Taleban attacks in Kabul, a political analyst Ahmad Saidi said Taleban proved with yesterday's attacks that have the ability to carry out heavy attacks near Presidential Place.

He said Taleban wanted to create Mumbai attacks like situation and make heads of justice ministry and prison department but security very quickly overpowered them.

Taleban had claimed responsibility for the attacks and threatened to repeat such attacks.

Though nothing has been said about the organizers of the attackers but the network of Mawlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani had been held responsible for such attacks on Serena Hotel and Mojahedin victory day ceremony last year.

It was the third time that Taleban conduct such attack despite strict security in Kabul.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in English -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans. The agency used to have good contacts with Taliban leadership; however, since the fall of the Taliban regime, it now describes itself as independent and self-financing]

Recent Taleban attacks will influence decisions by USA, says Afghan paper

IAP20090215950111 Kabul Weesa in Dari 15 Feb 09

Recent Taleban attacks will influence decisions by USA, says Afghan paper

Excerpt from article, "Richard Holbrooke's visit after deadly attacks in Kabul" by pro-government Afghan newspaper Weesa on 15 February

The US embassy in Kabul has announced that Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has arrived in Kabul following a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in Kabul. The attacks have demonstrated that the security situation is getting worse in the capital and other parts of Afghanistan.

The New York Times writes that Holbrooke's visit came at a time when the security forces were on full alert in Kabul city. This alert was not because of Holbrooke's visit, but because of a claim by a Taleban spokesman that eight other suicide bombers have entered Kabul and were waiting for an opportunity to carry out an operation.

[Passage omitted: known details]

No doubt the Taleban attacks are affecting negotiations by officials of the new US government focusing on the fighters' ability. The fighters control vast areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border and can attack the capital.

Wednesday's attacks [11 February] show the degree of the Taleban's relations with insurgents operating in tribal areas of Pakistan.

Holbrooke visited these areas escorted by Pakistani military personnel.

A senior official in Washington said that an initial investigation had shown that Wednesday's attacks [in Kabul city] were possibly masterminded and supported by the Jalaloddin Haqqani network based in Pakistan.

According to the US official, the Haqqani group had a hand in the terrorist attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul last summer and the group could have links with Pakistan's ISI and be cooperating with it.

Wednesday's attacks were the most severe since the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul last summer. They also remind people of the fears stemming from the attacks in Mumbai last November, the economic heart of India. Indian and US security officials discovered that a Pakistani insurgent group was behind the attacks in Mumbai.

The series of coordinated attacks brought disorder for a long time in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, where four million people are living. The highways leading to Kabul have been blocked and police officers have tried to reinforce security checkpoints. Even for hours after the attacks there was a fear of other similar attacks in Kabul. Most streets in Kabul city were empty and citizens were frightened to walk the streets.

The latest suicide operation has seriously frustrated Afghan officials. Talking about the attacks, Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar said: "The enemy is still able to transfer such huge quantities of arms and explosives to Kabul city and it can infiltrate government offices."

Atmar promised that he would soon adopt new and serious security measures. He said the public may not like them, but they are necessary.

[Description of Source: Kabul Weesa in Dari Pro-government daily launched in early 2006; supports reconciliation with the Taliban and Hekmatyar's groups.]

Asia Times: 'Militants Give Bloody Show of Strength in Pakistan'

CPP20090331715025 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 1030 GMT 30 Mar 09

[By Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Militants Give Bloody Show of Strength"; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - Up to 20 suspected al-Qaeda-led militants, wearing police uniforms, stormed a police training camp in the eastern city of Lahore on Monday morning, killing at least 70 men and injuring scores more. The heavily armed gunmen then took hundreds of cadets hostage, who were still being held after more than six hours.

Militants sources confirmed to Asia Times Online that the raid was the first major operation of the new nexus comprising al-Qaeda, Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and Punjabi militants. They are angered by the agreement between Pakistan and the United States to hunt for top al-Qaeda and Taliban figures, as well as Pakistani militants, inside Pakistan.

The attack perfectly underscores the words of United States President Barack Obama, who on Friday, in outlining a new strategy for Afghanistan, stressed that containing militancy in Pakistan would be a focal point in the implementation of the initiative.

Reacting to Monday's attack, unlike with previous incidents in which foreign agencies were blamed, Pakistani defense analysts admitted that home-grown militants trained in the Afghan jihad were responsible.

Much of Obama's new strategy for "increasingly perilous" Afghanistan focuses on Pakistan, which will have US economic aid tripled to US$1.5 billion annually. But while Pakistan is seen as the key to eliminating the leadership of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, Islamabad has been warned that the offer of aid is not unconditional. After years of mixed results, the US is no longer prepared to offer a "blank check".

In his speech outlining the new strategy - which will see an extra 4,000 US troops deployed to train the Afghan army - Obama declared the opening of a new front (Pakistan) in the post-September 11, 2001, US-led war in Afghanistan.

Top-level Pakistani intelligence quarters confirmed to Asia Times Online that this was agreed on during the recent visit to Washington by Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani and also when the US Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA's) director Leon Panetta's visited Islamabad. At these meetings, all possible targets were discussed, with specifications and a modus operandi finalized.

It is in reaction to this agreement that Monday's attack in Lahore took place, illustrating in blood how difficult it will be to contain the problem of militancy. This has a direct bearing on Afghanistan as militants use Pakistan as a base for operations across the border.

In Washington, the most important aspect of the new strategy is to contain the Taliban's central command, which operates on both sides of the border. All other steps, including the deployment of 17,000 additional troops to bring the US force to 65,000, are peripheral.

The rationale of the strategy is based on the fact that following the US invasion of Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, the Taliban's command structure was destroyed. Despite having several hundred thousand fighters, the Taliban rank and file were rendered ineffective, apart from sporadic attacks in Gardez province in April 2002 and at a few other places.

The insurgency, which lacked resources and leadership, was thus not a serious threat for the coalition troops in Afghanistan until towards the end of 2003. US intelligence also managed to woo several top leaders of the former Taliban regime. These included commander Mullah Abdul Salam Rocketi, former foreign minister Abdul Wakeel Mutawakil and former deputy interior minister and a commander, Abdul Razzaq, who later returned to the Taliban.

It was estimated that after the parliamentary elections of 2005, Taliban leader Mullah Omar and his close colleagues and al-Qaeda would be alienated and Washington would be able to strike deals with the "moderate" Taliban who had gained representation in parliament against Mullah Omar's orders. With a pro-Western government in place, a time frame could then be set for the US's exit.

However, several events took place which the US blamed on Pakistan - and even pre sented Islamabad evidence to this effect. These derailed the American plans.

On the fateful evening of April 19, 2003, the Hezb-e-Islami (HIA) leadership congregated in Shamshatoo camp in Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan. The HIA is an Islamic organization with its roots in the anti-Soviet jihad of the 1980s.

The chief of the then-military wing of the HIA, Khalid Farooqui, now a member of parliament in Afghanistan, announced that a jihad would be waged against foreign troops in Afghanistan. The CIA presented photographs of the meeting to Pakistani authorities and complained that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence had facilitated the whole show. One picture showed HIA leader Qutubuddin Hilal at the meeting. According to Pakistan, he was under house arrest at his Peshawar residence.

Proof was also presented of the opening of HIA offices in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi and in Quetta, the capital of Balochinstan province. These were to recruit Afghan youths from the refugee camps to fight in Afghanistan.

However, the biggest American complaint was about the base of legendary Afghan mujahideen leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, in Dande Darpa Khail in the North Waziristan tribal area on the border with Afghanistan. The Americans rightly felt that one day his camp would play a decisive role in the Taliban-led insurgency. They were dead right. In 2006, Mullah Omar appointed Haqqani his deputy and central military commander and the wily fighter was pivotal in helping the Taliban regroup, culminating in their successful spring offensive in 2006.

The Obama administration now wants to revisit the days when the Taliban were effectively without a clear leadership. The additional troops aim to clear the Taliban's sanctuaries in Logar and Wardak provinces around Kabul. But the real goal is to shoot down the Taliban's command and control structures, which would, as before, force the Taliban fighters to melt into the population.

Washington apparently believes this campaign will take a few years, but that signs of success could emerge from this year if the plan is strictly implemented. This is where Pakistan comes in, and Obama's concern that the country get fully behind the US. During his meetings with US officials, Kiani was briefed that intelligence-sharing needed to be of the highest level, including on all suspects, whether Afghans or Pakistanis. At the top of the list are anti-Pakistan tribal warlord Baitullah Mehsud, Sirajuddin Haqqani - Jalaluddin's son, Mullah Omar and other senior Taliban figures, such as Mullah Bradar, Mullah Abdul Razzaq and Mullah Hasan Rahmani.

Last week, a CIA Predator drone attacked Makeen, the native town and headquarters of Mehsud in North Waziristan. Subsequently, the US placed a US$5 million ransom on his head - the first time it has done this for a Pakistani national. This happened even though Mehsud renounced violence against the Pakistani security forces after the Swat peace agreement this month. He instead will focus on foreign forces in Afghanistan. The attack on Mehsud's headquarters broke the ceasefire and a new wave of suicide attacks on the security forces has played havoc in North-West Frontier Province in the past few days.

Monday's assault on the police training camp extends the battlefield into urban areas.

On the trail of Mullah Omar

Apart from top al-Qaeda leaders, the big fish remain Mullah Omar, the biggest Taliban commander in southwestern Afghanistan, Mullah Bradar, and other Taliban leaders of the Kandahar clan. This clan hails from the region stretching from the Pakistani province of Balochistan to the Afghan provinces of Helmand, Orzgan, Kandahar and Zabul.

Their termination would likely mean the end of the Taliban movement and the beginning of an era in which Washington believes that a Western-friendly Afghan government with deep roots in the southern Afghan Pashtun tribes would emerge.

Intelligence-sharing between Pakistan and the US has res ulted in the areas of Noshki, Loralai, Zhob and Pashin in Afghanistan being identified as places where the Taliban's command council meets. The precise nature of the Intelligence-sharing is not known, but it could be similar to what Pakistan has applied in the tribal areas.

Militant sources have told Asia Times Online of the case of Asmatullah Wazir, who was an assistant political agent in North Waziristan, that is, Islamabad's man. He was abducted by the Taliban from the town of Mir Ali last December and grilled on the state's spying network in the tribal area.

Asmatullah gave 50 names of people who were receiving money on the instructions of military quarters from Islamabad. According to the militants, Asmatullah maintained that this proxy network in North Waziristan informed Pakistan about any specific al-Qaeda person, and that information was shared with the CIA. Drones would then be launched into action. In this case, the Taliban killed all of the informers, mostly Afghans, and Asmatullah was released in January.

In a similar manner, Pakistan is likely to try to infiltrate the tribal areas in Balochistan province, where a new hunt for militants is to be launched.

But nagging doubts remain over Pakistan's commitment to this plan, despite Obama's specific caution that any aid the country receives will be based on performance. Should the Taliban be successfully "decapitated", beyond the US, it would mean a victory for countries such as India, Iran and Russia, with Pakistan being sidelined in its own strategic back yard.

A recent incident underscores the US's concerns. With Pakistan's assistance, a drone attack helped eliminate several top Arab al-Qaeda militants, but when it came to cooperation on some Taliban leaders, the Pakistanis were found wanting.

On the CIA's insistence, Pakistan shared intelligence on Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin and drones were deployed in Dande Darpa Khail, with repeated attacks in a single day. Several women and children of the Haqqani family were killed. But the CIA later complained that on the day the intelligence was shared, both Jalaluddin and Sirajuddin were in Peshawar, and another son, Nasiruddin, was in Karachi.

A complicating factor is the phenomenon of the neo-Taliban - a new generation of Afghans and Pakistanis, Pashtun and non-Pashtun Taliban imbibed with al-Qaeda's ideology. Three years ago they were so few in number they did not warrant discussion. Now they number about 100,000, if not more.

In principle, there is now agreement between Pakistan and the US to eliminate all terror, irrespective of nationality. This is why Mehsud was targeted. A new operation by the Pakistani military is also planned in Mohmand Agency.

However, the neo-Taliban's leadership is well beyond Mehsud, meaning that even if the Taliban leadership in southwestern Afghanistan were contained, the neo-Taliban would remain a big factor.

Further, after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, dozens of Arabs moved to Iraq and fueled the al-Qaeda-led insurgency. The US succeeded in alienating al-Qaeda, after which many Arabs moved to Pakistan's tribal areas. This trend was first observed in the last months of 2008, and is expected to continue.

In sum, the Obama administration analyzed the situation in the perspective of the US success in the few years following 2001, as well as the success against al-Qaeda in Iraq from 2007-2008.

The neo-Taliban, with their ability to stage suicide attacks at will, are the most underestimated factor in this whole game, which means that the fight is far from over: witness Monday's carnage in Lahore.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. URL: ]

Asia Times: 'Pakistan Ponders the Price for Peace'

CPP20090409715030 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 1043 GMT 08 Apr 09

[By Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Pakistan Ponders the Price for Peace"; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - The growth of insurgency in Pakistan over the past year of the United States-backed civilian coalition government in Islamabad has been far quicker than that of Afghanistan's insurgency.

This is so much so that Australian David Kilcullen, a former adviser to top US military commander General David Petraeus and best known as an expert on counter-insurgency, said in the US media this week that Pakistan could collapse within six months in the face of the snowballing unrest. Pakistan is 173 million people, 100 nuclear weapons, an army bigger than the US Army, and al-Qaeda headquarters sitting right there in the two-thirds of the country that the government doesn't control. The Pakistani military and police and intelligence service don't follow the civilian government; they are essentially a rogue state within a state. We're now reaching the point where within one to six months we could see the collapse of the Pakistani state. In similar vein, a recent report by a task force of the Atlantic Council in the United led by former senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts stated, "We are running out of time to help Pakistan change its present course toward increasing economic and political instability, and even ultimate failure." The report, released in February, gave the Pakistani government six to 12 months before things went from bad to dangerous.

Petraeus, the Central Command chief responsible for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, echoed these sentiments when he told US Congress last week that the insurgency could take down Pakistan.

These warnings are highlighted by recent events in the country, with militants challenging the writ of the state in broad daylight. Attacks include those on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore last month, on a police academy in the same city this month and on a security forces camp in Islamabad this week. Scores of people have been killed.

Analysts believe that under immense American pressure, tough military operations - including Predator drone attacks - against militants, helped by US intelligence, have caused a disconnect between Pakistani jihadi circles and the military establishment. This, it is claimed, is a major reason for the snowballing insurgency.

On Tuesday, the inspector general of Sindh province, Salahuddin Babar Khattack, warned in a statement that there was credible intelligence to suggest that militants had entered the southern port city of Karachi and planned major sabotage activities. These could include an oil refinery complex and power stations.

Pakistani Senator Mashahid Hussain Sayed commented to a television station on Tuesday, "All intelligence agencies of the world keep connections with various elements, including the CIA (US Central Intelligence Agency). This is essential for information-gathering and I don't think anybody should have any objections when the ISI (Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence) keeps such contacts with militants. After all, Israel's Mossad talks to (Lebanon's) Hezbollah and (Palestine's) Hamas despite them being bitter enemies."

In 2001, the US compelled Islamabad to make a u-turn on its Afghan policy and withdraw support for the Taliban. Pakistan, however, convinced jihadi circles that all the steps it was taking in line with US policy were superficial and temporary.

Despite much hostility between al-Qaeda and then-president General Pervez Musharraf, the situation remained mostly under control until 2006, only because there was still some trust between the militants and the army.

This trust was completely shattered in July 2007 when Musharraf sent troops into the radical Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad, which had strong links to militants. The Pakistan army tried to mend fences after Musharraf stepped down as army chief in late 2007, but under immense US pressure the army was forced in 2008 to undertake Operation Lion Heart against militants in Bajaur Agency.

The peace deal signed this February in the Swat area of Pakistan be tween militants and the army after two years of fighting saved some face for the military. But the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had reservations as all the peace would do, in its eyes, would be to allow militants to regroup for bigger and more extensive offensives in Afghanistan.

For Pakistan, though, it has to play games for its survival. The recent establishment of the Ittahad-e-Shura-e-Mujahideen (United Front of the Mujahideen) was one game brokered through legendary Afghan mujahideen leader Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin. The new forum, which includes hardline Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, said it would fight only in Afghanistan and would abide by a ceasefire in Pakistan.

But at the same time, Pakistan spied on Baitullah and provided information to US intelligence. As a result, Predator drones attacked his area in South Waziristan. He survived, but then unleashed attacks on the Pakistani security forces.

This indicates that the only way for Pakistan to maintain any semblance of calm is through peace deals. One example is southwestern Balochistan province, which is home to more Taliban than there are in North-West Frontier Province, yet there is no Taliban-led insurgency because of peace deals.

Pakistan realizes this, but apart from any political pressure from the US, it also receives extensive monetary aid from Washington. The time has come, though, that mere money might not be enough.

As Senator Mashahid commented, "What monetary aid? (Pakistan) gets US$1.5 billion per year for a five-year period. Just compare this with the $200 billion in aid the US has spent on Afghanistan and the $700 billion it has spent on Iraq. We should consider at what price we are prepared to sacrifice our national interests."

For Pakistan, the path to peace means directing the militancy westwards towards Afghanistan. Yet if NATO troops in Afghanistan are to get peace, they have to send the militants eastwards towards Pakistan.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. URL: ]

Karachi: Serious Measures Needed To Curb Militancy, Talibanization in Pakistan

SAP20090417105015 Karachi Dawn News in English 1600 GMT 15 Apr 09

[Karachi Dawn News television in English at 1600 GMT on 15 April relays live regularly scheduled "Newseye" program. Dawn News anchorperson Saima Mohsin reviews, discusses, and analyzes major developments of the day with government ministers, officials, opposition leaders, and prominent analysts in this program.]

Program: "Newseye"

Reception: Good/Fair

Duration: 60 minutes

Segment I

Mohsin opens the program by saying Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat-Muhammadi [TNSM] chief Sufi Muhammad is adamant that the implementation of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation protects militants from prosecution for their past crimes. Shari'ah, as laid down in the regulation, is the law of the land in Malakand Division; the implementation of Shari'ah is a concession in exchange for militants' peace. Sufi Muhammad's interpretation and announcement of immunity for militants is raising concerns in and outside Pakistan.

Women rights is also a contentious issue. Sufi Muhammad said: "Women will have full protection and rights under Shari'ah. They will live a better life but behind the veil." This has prompted Pakistan's close allies including the US to say that the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation goes against human rights and democracy. White House Spokesperson Robert Gibbs said: "We are disappointed that the parliament did not take into account legitimate concerns around civil and human rights." Afghanistan has said that dealing with terrorists and handing over parts of one's country to terrorists could have dire consequences for the region, and for the relations between the two countries.

Mohsin replays an interview in which she asks Senator Haji Adil of the Awami National Party [ANP] whether amnesty to the militants was a part of the deal. Adil replies saying that Sufi Muhammad only demands the exchange of prisoners from the government and the Taliban, but amnesty was not declared. After the implementation of the Qazi courts, anyone affected either by the government, or by the Taliban could go to these courts.

Mohsin speaks with an expert on Pakistan-Afghanistan-US relations, and the author of Unholy Nexus, Imtiaz Gul, and discusses with him the recent bombing in Charsadda, expressing concerns over the recent rise in militant attacks in Charsadda. Gul says that this raises a question of the Nizam-e-Adl's potency in handling issues of peace and justice in the region, where innocent people are getting killed along with honest security forces. He further says that there was little doubt about the validity of Haji Muslim Khan's statement that the Pakistani Taliban would not lay down their arms and would take their struggle to new areas. Gul adds that one of Muslim Khan's associates, Mir Izzat, announced this afternoon that they planned to enforce Nizam-e-Adl far up in the north reaching Buner, Shangla, upper Dir, and lower Dir and that they would spread out and enforce "Taliban-wanted Nizam-e-Adl" as much as possible.

Gul says, "This means that we will be dealing with small Taliban kingdoms led either by Maulana Sufi Muhammad or by the people beneath him, dispensing justice, and relegating the provincial government into a nonentity. Swat and its surrounding areas will have two parallel legal justice systems; one led by Sufi Muhammad, and the other, the Pakistan Penal Code, which the chief minister said this afternoon, would stay in place. But Haji Muslim Khan has said that for them, the Islamic Shari'ah was paramount, and not the constitution of Pakistan."

Segment II

Mohsin says, "There are three overarching dimensions of the militant groups present in Pakistan, split into geographical distinctions." Newseye's Ahmed Naqvi analyzes in his report the various militant groups actively plotting against the Pakistani state, stating that remnants of the senior Afghani Taliban are based in Quetta and its outskirts, an allegation recently reiterated by US Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke. In the aftermath of the Red Mosque incident of 2007, the chief of Al-Qa'ida also issued directives for launching an Islamic revolution in Pakistan. It is believed that the senior leadership of Al-Qa'ida, which is directing this revolution, is also based in Baluchistan.

In Swat the most active group has been the Swat Taliban led by Maulana Fazlullah, also known as Mullah FM for his radio broadcast. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] in Swat has been instrumental in having the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation implemented in Malakand Division.

The Azad [Pakistan-administered] Jammu and Kashmir groups agitating for Kashmiri independence include the Lashkar-e-Taiyiba and the Harkatul Mujahidin. These groups have active links and support in the Pakistani heartland, particularly in Punjab, and it is now claimed that they have increased their cooperation and support with militant groups active in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas [FATA] and North West Frontier Province [NWFP], which are hotbeds of militancy. "In 2007, a variety of groups teamed up under the TTP. These include Maulana Fazlullah, Faqir Muhammad who led the Bajaur insurgency, and Sadiq Noor, a leader in the North Waziristan Agency. Led by Baitullah Mehsud from South Waziristan, The TTP has also incorporated the Lashkar-e-Islam of Mangal Bagh Afridi."

Moreover, after the banning of the sectarian groups in the 1990s, several of their top leaders settled in the tribal regions and joined the ranks of the TTP, especially commanders from the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the Lashkar-e-Tayiiba, the Harkat-ul-Mujahidin, and the Jaish-e-Muhammad. The TTP allegedly provides protection to two major groups active in the Afghan insurgency: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's network and Jalaluddin Haqqani's group. Sources claim that both groups have operational links with the TTP but neither is actively involved in militant activities in Pakistan.

Commenting on Newseye's report Gul says, "The United States has been saying this for a very long time now that the Taliban Shura led by Mullah Omar is basically located in Quetta. Richard Holbrooke also specifically mentioned in Brussels last month that Baitullah Mehsud and other important Taliban leaders were hiding somewhere inside Baluchistan. Maulana Sufi Muhammad has been resurrected from insignificance; he was in jail for the past six or seven years for fear of reprisal by the people who lost their families when he led about 10,000 people in Afghanistan to support the Taliban in 2001. The government and the military used him for being an elderly figure to talk to Maulana Fazlullah, who is the deputy chief of the TTP for this region. Similarly Maulana Faqir Muhammad and Mullah Nazir are deputies to Baitullah Mehsud in the areas neighboring Swat. They publicly say that their agenda is to fight US occupation in Afghanistan, however, we later saw them claiming responsibility for the attack on the Lahore police training school."

Further commenting on the shift in TTP's agenda from fighting NATO forces to fighting in Pakistan to support their cause, and now fighting for Shari'ah in the NWFP and the rest of Pakistan, Gul says, "People who want Shari'ah and Nizam-e-Adl are not identical to Baitullah Mehsud and his associates; these people have a different political agenda and want to inflict damage on the Pakistani state. They are not going to contain themselves and have used Shari'ah in Swat as a ruse to project their power, which they will now project outside Swat in the near future. He further says, "It is a political agenda which could have external fingers in it, and Sufi Muhammad could again become irrelevant because the Taliban would increasingly mount challenges on the Pakistani state, and Pakistan would not tolerate any major challenge on the very integrity of its constitution."

On 12 January 2002, General Pervez Musharraf, as president of Pakistan, banned six militant organizations that were focused only on India-occupied Kashmir. These groups, following the ban, shifted their activities and their camps into the FATA area and allied with Abdullah Mehsud and TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud. This alliance gave additional manpower to Usama Bin Ladin and Mullah Omar while Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Sirajuddin Haqqani also benefited from it. Banned outfits like the Harkat-ul-Mujahidin and the Jaish-e-Muhammad have been very active inside Afghanistan, along with the Taliban, the Hizb-e-Islami and Jalaluddin Haqqani's people. Gul says, "Jalaluddin Haqqani has been a mentor for the Pakistani Taliban and they abide by what Haqqani and Hekmatyar say. Their ideology converged, which is in disapproval of foreign troops being sent to Afghanistan, and obviously outside powers are also using these groups to further their own agendas and create instability inside Pakistan."

Segment III

Mohsin re-continues, "The Supreme Court has granted bail to former Red Mosque cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz." and he is expected to be released from prison very soon. Aziz was taken into custody following the Red Mosque operation in 2007. There were 27 cases lodged against him, one of which was dropped and bail was granted to him in 25 others. This today was the last remaining case against him.

Mohsin terms the Red Mosque as a major threat of militancy in the capital city. Gul adds by saying that the Red Mosque incident highlighted Pakistan worldwide, the siege and the actual operation symbolize the circumstances in which we find ourselves today. It served as a precursor; we had around 57 suicide attacks in 2007 and around 33 happened in the latter part of the year, displaying ferocious retaliation from these groups. There was an uproar in the Waziristan region and Baitullah Mehsud and others vowed revenge on the security forces. This incident inflicted a severe blow on the security forces and discredited it, and also showed that terror had reached the heart of Pakistan.

Gul says, "For the past one year there have been so many sieges with the issue of judges that there was hardly any focus of the civilians. This boils down to people's frustrations, unemployment, poverty, and the complications of the legal justice system. The Taliban exploits these conditions and the bureaucracy in both the federal and the provincial governments, which is insensitive and incapacitated. These are the ways how things are moving at the moment, and eventually force will have to be applied on the forces, which are threatening the very existence of this country."

Introducing Nizam-e-Adl in one district is not going to stop the ascendancy of a movement that draws its inspiration from Al-Qa'ida and similar organizations. The Pakistan military and the government require an unusual countrywide national consensus and unity to command the curb of militancy.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn News in English -- Pakistan's first 24-hour English language TV channel owned by the Dawn Group of Newspapers.]

Pakistan: Article Asks Govt To Plan Political Strategy for NWFP, End Army Action

SAP20090526001001 Rawalpindi Jang in Urdu 25 May 09 - 26 May 09 pp 10, 10

[Article by Hamid Mir in two installments on 25, 26 May: "Is it Waziristan After Swat?"]

Sher Khan was constantly inviting me to spend a few minutes in his tent so that I could know that it was a hell within hell. He was not wrong. The tent village set up at Government Poly Technical College, Mazdoor Abad, in Takht Bhai [a town in the North-West Frontier Province -- NWFP -- between Mardan and Malakand Division], had virtually become an oven in hot May afternoon. Sun was blazingly hot, while earth was emitting heat. When I entered his tent, his small children were trying to cool themselves with hand fans made of date tree. Sher Khan said his wife was looking after his mother in the adjacent tent. There was so much suffocation in the tent that it became difficult for me to breathe. I quickly came out of the tent and said to Sher Khan with a fake smile that he should not worry, as he would soon return to his paradise, Swat.

Sher Khan made a loud mournful sound and said with tears in his eyes, "I wish I could return to my home in Kabal [a town in Swat District]. My house there has been destroyed, and I cannot live on its rubble along with my family. I will leave my family here in the tent and go to Karachi, Lahore, or Rawalpindi to work to make some money and rebuild my destroyed house." I could say nothing after hearing Sher Khan's story. The Pakistan Army is gaining victory against the local Taliban in Swat, but Sher Khan will not be able to overcome his difficulties in the near future.

It is not the story of one person, but hundreds of thousands of residents of Swat are facing similar problems. President Asif Ali Zardari says a military operation will be conducted in Waziristan as well after Swat. At a time when the return of victims of the Malakand [Swat is a district in Malakand Division] operation to their homes seems difficult, there is anxiety over the arrival of these affected people in Karachi and interior parts of Sind Province, and houses are not being rented to them in Punjab Province; one should think several times before even talking about an operation in North Waziristan and South Waziristan after Swat. The most important point is that militancy in the tribal areas has not been created by the local people, but it was started jointly by Islamabad [federal government] and Rawalpindi [Army headquarters is situated in Rawalpindi] in the name of safeguarding national interests. Most of the people describe the recent militancy in the tribal areas as a result of the circumstances created by the former Soviet Union's military invasion of Afghanistan. But historical realities are entirely different.

It was Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's era [ 1972-77] when India, in league with Afghanistan, started interfering in the NWFP and Baluchistan Province. PPP [Pakistan People's Party] leader Hayat Sherpao was martyred in a bomb blast in Peshawar. And then India conducted a nuclear test. Therefore, in a bid to stop Indian interference in Pakistan through Afghanistan, Prime Minister Bhutto invited Afghan Government's opponents -- Golboddin Hekmatyar, Borhanoddin Rabbani, and Ahmad Shah Masud -- to Pakistan in 1975. Bhutto invited them through Gen Naseerullah Babar, the then Frontier Constabulary inspector general. The Pakistani Government also set up training camps in the tribal areas. At the same time, Sikh separatists were encouraged in Indian Punjab.

Gen Babar himself told me that the activities of Afghan rebels taught a lesson to the Afghan rulers, and Sardar Dawood, the then Afghan president, agreed to resolve the Durand Line [Pakistani-Afghan border line drawn by the British] issue in 1976. Had the Bhutto government not been toppled [by Gen Zia] in 1977, he would have settled the Durand Line issue with Afghanistan.

Gen Zia ignored Afghan rebels for quite sometime after assuming power. In the meantime, Babar established contacts with Iranian monarch Raza Shah Pehlavi as well as the US Administration to look after the Afghan rebels. When the Soviet forces entered Afghanistan in 1979, the United States started helping Afghan rebels through Gen Zia. At that time, mujahidin centers were set up in North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Mohmand, Bajaur, and Khyber Agencies, and Arabs were welcomed there.

When the Soviet forces left Afghanistan after suffering a defeat in 1989, Kalashnikov rifle was very common in Pakistan. After the withdrawal of the Soviet forces, Hekmatyar, Rabbani, and Masud started fighting against each other. The fighting continued for several years, and finally, the Afghan civil war gave birth to the Taliban. When the Taliban movement started from Spin Boldak [an Afghan town bordering Baluchistan], Gen Babar was the Pakistani foreign minister [as published]. He needed a group in Afghanistan to safeguard Pakistan's interests in that country. Therefore, he started patronizing Taliban with the help of a US oil company representative, Robert Oakley. And very soon, the Pakistan Army also started considering Taliban its precious asset.

And the Taliban surprised even its enemies by establishing peace in Afghanistan. At that time, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan [JUI] chief Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani took me to Khyber Agency. While addressing a big public meeting there, he announced to support Mullah Mohammed Omar. Maulana Noorul Haq Qadiri, who is a federal minister in the current PPP-led government, was also present at that rally. During the second term of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif [ 1996-99], Afghanistan became a shelter for the elements involved in sectarian terrorism in Pakistan. But the Pakistani military leadership was not prepared to abandon Taliban.

However, after 11 September 2001, Gen Musharraf, the then president, changed his policy and expelled the Taliban from Kabul in league with the United States. But, instead of improvement, removal of the Taliban government further deteriorated the situation in Afghanistan, and Pakistani tribal areas' youths also crossed the border and started attacking the US forces. In 2003, the then Peshawar corps commander, Ali Mohammad Jan Orakzai, for the first time, told me that India had started interfering in the tribal areas through Afghanistan. In 2004, the Pakistan Army launched an operation in South Waziristan under a flawed strategy. The tribal youths started attacking the Pakistan Army in retaliation. The same operation gave birth to the Pakistani Taliban.

The Pakistani Taliban is not an organized and coordinated group, but a conglomerate of a number of groups. Baitullah Mehsud calls himself Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] chief. But in his area, the Qari Zainuddin group is a strong rival of Baitullah. The total strength of Baitullah's fighters is around 20,000. Maulvi Nazir commands about 10,000 fighters in the same area. Maulvi Nazir's militants belong to the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe and are active in Afghanistan. And the US drones have attacked the same group in South Waziristan several times.

Part II

The strength of Maulana Sadiq Noor's and Hafiz Gul Bahadar's fighters in North Waziristan is also 10,000. In North Waziristan's Mirali area, elders of the Dawar tribe, along with Faqir Ipi, resisted the British forces for several years. They had willingly accepted when Pakistan came into being in 1947. But Mirali has been a big center of resistance against the Pakistan Army since 2004. Air strikes were carried out on Ipi Village several times

The Jalaluddin Haqqani group is also present in North Waziristan. His sons, Nasiruddin Haqqani and Badruddin Haqqani, are fighting foreign forces in eastern Afghanistan with the help of local groups. The strength of Maulvi Faqir Muhammad and Ziaur Rehman in Bajaur is also about 5,000. Maulana Tariq and Maulana Hakimullah are active in Darra Adamkhel and Khyber Agency. Both of them belong to the Baitullah Mehsud group. In Khyber Agency, Mangal Bagh's Lashkar-e-Islam has enjoyed open government backing. Haji Namdar [Amr Bil Ma'roof Wa Nahi Anil Munkir, or bid for virtue and refrain from vice, chief] was killed by Baitullah. In Mohmand Agency, the Omar Khalid group is considered responsible for bids on Aftab Ahmed Sherpao [Pakistan People's Party-Sherpao chief and interior minister in the Musharraf government] and Asfandyar Wali [Awami National Party president]. Instead of fighting in Afghanistan, this group considers waging the Pakistani jihad.

In Orakzai Agency, Qari Shakil's group supports Baitullah. But a Shiite group, Haidery Taliban, also exists in Orakzai. This group is opposed to Qari Shakil. In Khurram Agency, there exist Mahdi militia [Shiites], consisting of thousands of people, who are opposed to the Taliban. But Mahdi militia's influence is confined to areas around Parachinar.

Six important militant groups exist in North Waziristan and South Waziristan, and they have decided to unite in the event of the military operation. The agenda and background of these groups is totally different from that of the Swat Taliban.

The Swat Taliban is hardly three years old. Very few of these militants have the experience of fighting in Afghanistan. Maulana Fazlullah took up arms when his younger brother Samiullah died in a US missile attack on a madrasah in Bajaur Agency in 2006. He got an opportunity to strengthen militancy in Swat following the military operation in the Red Mosque in Islamabad in [July] 2007, and he tried to establish his influence from Dir to Shangla.

Dir has always been a center of the people waging jihad in occupied Kashmir. Fazlullah closed the centers of the militants waging jihad in occupied Kashmir. He also tried to control Karakoram Highway by capturing Shangla. He managed to maintain his awe in the region for sometime, but he did not have the fighting experience. The TTP helped him for sometime, but this support is not visible in the ongoing military operation in Swat.

The total strength of Fazlullah's militants is not more than 5,000. But the operation launched to defeat these 5,000 people has rendered 2.5 million people homeless. If an operation is started against over 50,000 trained fighters in North Waziristan and South Waziristan, hundreds of thousands of people will be forced to leave that area. But those migrating from Waziristan will not go to Peshawar or Mardan [town in the NWFP], but to southern Punjab, interior Sind, and Baluchistan via Dera Ismail Khan [a town in the NWFP]. The Waziristan militants have rich experience of guerilla war, and there is every possibility that they will expand the sphere of their reaction to Punjab and Sind Provinces. Only a few actions of the Waziristan fighters will be enough to unleash more crises for the Pakistani economy.

We must also understand that Malakand Division is under the administrative control of the NWFP Government. It is not a traditional tribal region. The provincial government, through its strategy, created a situation in Malakand Division that the local population refused to support the Taliban. North Waziristan and South Waziristan are directly under the administrative control of the federal government. Has the federal government devised any strategy under which the local population prefers becoming refugees to fight the Pakistan Army like the Swat people? And if they also leave their homes, has the state enough resources to handle another 2.5 million internally displaced people?

The government should draw up a political strategy for the tribal areas, including Waziristan. There is need to introduce political reforms in the tribal areas in accordance with the promises made in the Charter of Democracy [guidelines signed by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to strengthen democracy and good governance in Pakistan]. The local population should know that the Islamabad people want to give them roads, schools, and hospitals. They should know what is the real hurdle in the way of their development? The government's writ cannot be established in Waziristan without winning the hearts and minds of the local population. Along with the Taliban, the US drone attacks are also a threat to the government's writ. A solid strategy should be drawn up to deal with both these threats so that Sher Khan can get rid of hell and more such hells do not emerge in other parts of the country.

[Description of Source: Rawalpindi Jang in Urdu -- Influential, largest circulation newspaper in Pakistan, circulation of 300,000. The countrys only moderate Urdu newspaper, pro-free enterprise, politically neutral, supports improvement in Pakistan-India relations.]

AFP: Up To 35 Insurgents Killed in Afghanistan: Officials

JPP20090528969118 Hong Kong AFP in English 1443 GMT 28 May 09

KHOST, Afghanistan, May 28, 2009 (AFP) -

by Khan Mohammad Watanyar

Up to 35 Taliban insurgents were killed in an assault on a militant camp near the border with Pakistan overnight, the Afghan and US militaries said Thursday.

Security forces were tipped off about a gathering of militants linked to the Taliban's Haqqani network in the eastern province of Paktika and raided the encampment in the early morning, they said.

The operation was aimed at capturing a wanted Haqqani commander named Sangeen, a US military statement said, describing the militants as "suspected foreign fighters."

It did not say if Sangeen, whom the military said carried a 50,000-dollar reward for his capture, was caught or killed.

The Haqqani network is linked to Al-Qaeda and said to be responsible for deadly attacks on both sides of the border, including in the Afghan capital.

"Today was very significant operation that killed about 30 -- we are not certain of the number at the moment," US military spokesman Colonel Greg Julian told AFP in Kabul.

At least six of those who died wore suicide vests, which they detonated killing only themselves, although one blast wounded a coalition soldier, a US statement said.

The Afghan defence ministry said fierce clashes continued for hours.

"As a result a 35-member enemy group affiliated to a terrorist commander known as Sangeen... was eliminated," it said.

The ministry also said six militants blew themselves up before they could be arrested.

Paktika province government spokesman Hameedullah Zhohak told AFP that the militants left behind 27 motorbikes, four vehicles and more than 30 rocket-propelled grenades, machine-guns and automatic rifles.

The fighting took place in Wor Mamay district, which borders Pakistan's violence-torn Baluchistan province and is near the neighbouring country's semi-autonomous tribal areas, where Al-Qaeda and Taliban have bases.

The clash follows days of heavy fighting and stepped-up attacks in Afghanistan, where 34 people were reported killed on Wednesday.

Among them, the US military said troops had killed four militants in a raid to capture a Haqqani commander in the province of Logar, near the capital.

The Haqqani network was founded by Afghan Soviet resistance commander Jalaluddin Haqqani but is now believed to be led by his sons, notably Siraj Haqqani.

The US government has offered a five-million-dollar reward for the location, arrest or conviction of Siraj Haqqani, said to be one of the most powerful commanders in the Taliban network.

He has reportedly admitted to an attack targeting a five-star hotel in Kabul in January 2008 and the attempted assassination of President Hamid Karzai at a military parade in the capital in April 2008.

The US military said the man targeted in the Paktika raid, Sangeen, was responsible for numerous attacks against forces in eastern Afghanistan.

"He has also planned and coordinated the movement of Al-Qaeda senior leaders and hundreds of foreign fighters from Pakistan to Afghanistan," it said.

The militants are said to cross into Afghanistan to carry out attacks and then withdraw across the border.

The British defence ministry announced meanwhile that two of its soldiers had died after attacks in the southern province of Helmand. One was killed in a bombing on Thursday and the other died after being wounded in a blast on May 22.

Before the latest deaths were announced on Thursday, 113 foreign soldiers had lost their lives in Afghanistan this year, according to a toll maintained by the website.

bur-br/hg

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Asia Times: 'Al-Qaeda Spreads Its Tentacles'

CPP20090601715022 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 1008 GMT 29 May 09

[By Philip Smucker: "Al-Qaeda Spreads Its Tentacles"; headline as provided by source]

KHOST, Afghanistan - Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network is seizing a greater role behind the scenes in Afghanistan and Pakistan in an effort that could block the Barack Obama administration's stated goal of denying the terror network sanctuary in South Asia.

A three-month investigation of al-Qaeda's activities, from Nuristan in the north to Paktika in the southeast, suggests that bin Laden's terror network - working through Afghan and Pakistani partners - is present in almost every Afghan and Pakistani province along the fluid border areas between the two countries.

Interviews with US military commanders and American radio intercepts of Arab and Chechen fighters as well as confirmed captures or kills of foreign fighters inside Afghanistan bolster the findings.

More alarming to Western terrorism analysts and US commanders, however, is the recognition that al-Qaeda has succeeded in goading its regional partners into accepting the idea of a "two-front-war" against US-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces in Afghanistan and the government in Pakistan. That war in turn guarantees bin Laden's network permanent safe havens along the porous border between the two nations, from which it can plan larger international terrorist attacks.

Unlike in Iraq, where al-Qaeda chose to participate directly in battles with its own frontline fighters and under its own brand name, bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in South Asia is increasingly content to play a role behind the scenes, influencing key players in the struggle and furthering its political interests, said Western terrorism analysts and Afghans.

American terrorism experts say that al-Qaeda's leadership has chosen the senior leader of Pakistan's Taliban, Baitullah Mahsud, as their point man. Uzbek and Chechen "trigger men", most of whom have been living opposite across the border in the North and South Waziristan tribal areas in Pakistan, have helped Mahsud, 34, consolidate his own authority up and down the border in the past year. In March, the US government offered a US$5 million reward for Mahsud, whom it says is a "key al-Qaeda facilitator", or ally, responsible for multiple suicide attacks.

Pakistani officials in Afghanistan and Pakistan said this week that Mahsud was using al-Qaeda's highly trained gunmen in the Pakistani Taliban's ongoing guerrilla struggle in the Swat Valley. Mahsud bullied his way into a position of leadership across most of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas earlier this year when a new coalition of insurgent groups confirmed him as their "supreme commander" in February.

American counter-insurgency efforts in Afghanistan are focused on building a bulwark against al-Qaeda, which the Barack Obama administration deems an essential part of the puzzle for peace in South Asia. But Mahsud and several of his deputies, who operate on both sides of the border, have created a strong bridge linking the Pakistani Taliban with the Afghan Taliban in a two-front war with a border that has proven impossible for US and Pakistani forces to control.

"Al-Qaeda is operating parasitically on the successes of the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban by providing them with critical services, including global media networks, resource mobilization and precious human capital," said Vahid Brown, an al-Qaeda analyst with West Point's prestigious Combating Terrorism Center (CTC).

An Afghan, working with Western forces in Afghanistan and who asked to remain anonymous, said he had monitored al-Qaeda radio traffic in a Paktika province district that is a stronghold of the Haqqani network, run by Sirajuddin Haqqani. "I set up a radio scanner two months ago and I picked up Chechens and Arabs talking regularly," he said. "At one point, we heard an Arab talking to a Chechen say, 'Hey, the money has come in, you can attack soon'." The Afghan said that an Afghan al-Qaeda figure, Maulvi Twaha, who he said he had personally seen shoot dead five Afghan students in 2001, was operating openly in the province, assistin g foreign agents and fighters to enter and leave the region.

An American, embedded as a trainer with the Afghan National Army, confirmed similar radio traffic. "It sounds from radio chatter like they have more recruits coming in, including Arabs, Uzbeks, Turkmen and Chechen fighters," said US Army Major Cory Schultz, 37, from the San Francisco Bay Area.

A leading al-Qaeda propagandist and ideologue, Abu Yahya al-Libbi, an escapee from the US prison at Bagram in July 2005, claimed in a propaganda booklet released in mid-March that Pakistan's army should be treated as an occupying infidel army waging an offensive war on an invaded Muslim population. He told Pakistanis that it was incumbent on them, as "good Muslims", to fight their own government.

Al-Libbi has helped the Pakistani Taliban set up successful propaganda operations of their own with FM broadcast stations that operate through portable Chinese transmission boxes. "Abu Yahya al-Libbi translates the network's ideas to a popular audience" on both sides of the border, said Brian Fishman, also at West Point's CTC.

Al-Libbi maintains close ties to the "Tora Bora Front" in eastern Afghanistan, north of the White Mountains, and has been interviewed on the website of the front, which is the domain of Mujahid Khalis, the son of deceased mujahideen leader Younus Khalis, who welcomed bin Laden to Afghanistan from Sudan in 1996.

Al-Qaeda's proxy Mahsud has aligned his fighters closely with those of Mullah "Radio" Fazlullah, whose insurgents are fighting a protracted war with Pakistani forces well to the north of Waziristan and centered in the region of Swat in Pakistan.

In a 2007 interview with this correspondent, Fazlullah did not mince words in support of al-Qaeda's goals in neighboring Afghanistan and around the globe: "When Muslims are under attack in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have a duty to fight back against the American crusaders and their allies," he said.

Other leading insurgent groups led by Jalaluddin Haqqani's son, Sirajuddin, as well as Mullah Nazir, who operate along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border out of Waziristan, have been forced to agree to the new al-Qaeda-backed strategy for the two-front war, said Western terrorism analysts.

Though bin Laden remains the head of al-Qaeda, operational control and support for wars in South Asia is largely believed to be the work of his right-hand man, Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, who lives in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

Other leading American terrorism experts said al-Qaeda had made significant adaptations meant to enhance its own power base, albeit usually well hidden behind the scenes. "Al-Qaeda is acting as a force multiplier by providing funding, assistance in propaganda efforts using its print and video outlets, strategic planning ability and aid on tactics," said Seth Jones, an advisor to the US military and the author of the forthcoming book, Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires .

Terrorism analysts believe that bin Laden has likely taken refuge in North or South Waziristan, or a large city well inside Pakistan's settled areas. They say his larger-than-life presence remains a thorn in the side of US efforts. "He is the head of the snake and he does matter," said Fishman, adding that bin Laden still likely takes part in the network's major decision-making.

West Point's terrorism analysts believe that al-Qaeda stands to gain from continued fighting and chaos on both sides of the border. "There has already been a significant movement of Pakistani Taliban leaders in the al-Qaeda camp into the settled areas of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province and their front for operations planning is spreading," said Brown. "Hundreds of thousands of additional internally displaced persons in Pakistan means lots of fresh blood for al-Qaeda's ranks."

BOTh US military and Afghan security officials confirmed a steady movement - by air from Dubai and other aerial hubs, by land across Iran and water from the Gulf - of international jihadis from the M iddle East to South Asia. Many Arabs, Chechens and other foreign fighters recently completed tours of fighting in Iraq, where al-Qaeda suffered significant setbacks.

American military commanders say they are doing what they can to flush out known Taliban and al-Qaeda safe havens inside Afghanistan, but terrorism experts believe insurgents are planning fresh attacks in conjunction with an influx of 20,000 US and NATO forces this summer.

Colonel John Spiszer, 46, of Harker Heights, Texas, who commands US forces north of the White Mountains in eastern Afghanistan, acknowledged that one, Abu Ikhlas al Masri, an Egyptian al-Qaeda member, was contributing to the intense fight against his forces in the province of Kunar, not far from the Pakistani regions of Swat and Bajaur.

"The guys (al-Qaeda and other financiers) giving the insurgents money right now are doing it to survive and get fighters," he said. He added that his goal in pressing the fight along the border with Pakistan was to keep "facilitators and financiers" locked down in a battle near the border and keep them from further impacting the fight inside Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, the ties between al-Qaeda and leading insurgent groups go back to the days of bin Laden's own involvement in the fight against the Soviet Union. In the 1980s, he fought in eastern Afghanistan himself near Khost in the remote town of Jaji in Paktia province. Many of al-Qaeda's Arab operatives later took up residence inside Afghanistan as the Taliban rose to power in the late 1990s. Most of this crowd fled to Pakistan in the wake of the US invasion in 2001.

Leading Arabs and Uzbeks, in addition to plotting international terrorist actions, became successful in the cross-border trade of opium and heroin. Efforts of Pakistani and Afghan warlords to wrest more control of Pakistan's share of the regional drug trade from these same groups have failed, said Western analysts and Afghans.

Across from Khost in Pakistan, over mountains traversable by bicycle, al-Qaeda's own military trainers still work closely with strategic Taliban commanders at Haqqani command centers like the Manba Ulum Haqqania madrassa (seminary) in Northern Waziristan.

American unmanned Predator drones have repeatedly dropped bombs on or near the religious school, which is believed to maintain a number of secret bases across Waziristan. As a precaution against the US's aerial raids, al-Qaeda members in Waziristan rarely have tea in groups of more than three, said Afghans who travel to the region.

In addition, Taliban fighters, often working with al-Qaeda military trainers, have started to train indoors as well as in small mud-walled compounds, where they attract only limited attention from US aerial overflights and drone bombing runs.

Most Afghanistan-Pakistan insurgent groups, led by Mahsud and Mullah Omar's Afghan Taliban, have not officially adopted the "al-Qaeda" brand name, but they have essentially sworn their allegiance to bin Laden, say leading experts on the terror network.

They claim that al-Qaeda has learned from the mistake of going into business under its own name in Iraq and it prefers, instead, to remain behind the scenes, protected by local gunmen on the one hand, but capable of influencing the fight against US and foreign "infidels" in South Asia on the other hand.

Philip Smucker is a commentator and journalist based in South Asia and the Middle East. He is the author of Al-Qaeda's Great Escape: The Military and the Media on Terror's Trail (2004). He is currently writing My Brother, My Enemy, a book about America and the battle of ideas in the Islamic world.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. URL: ]

Pakistan: Article Urges Pro-National Militants To Back Army Action in Waziristan

SAP20090603105002 Karachi Ummat in Urdu 30 May 09 p 4

[Article by Saifullah Khalid: "Expected Operation in Waziristan -- Pro-Pakistani Groups Can Prove Helpful Against Extremists"]

After the bomb explosions in Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan, it has no more remained difficult to determine the outcome of an operation in Waziristan. A majority of the militant groups is based in Waziristan, and they also include the ones that are loyal to Pakistan and are ready to lay down their lives for the defense of Pakistan. However, there are others among them whose agenda is to cause harm to Pakistan: These anti-Pakistani groups have been overlooked by the Americans, and the Pakistani Government has, in its operations, targeted only those groups that are anti-United States. No operation has ever been carried out against the anti-Pakistani groups, like the Asmatullah Moavia and Maulvi Qari Sahkeel groups.

The attitude of the Americans toward them is understandable, but it is beyond perception why the Pakistani agencies have not taken any action against them, but rather, provided an opportunity to them to flourish -- although something could have been done against these groups if only the pro-Pakistani groups were given the permission to function. The operation of the Maulvi Nazir group against the Uzbekistani militants is a good example in this connection. In that operation, Maulvi Nazir had successfully rooted out these antistate elements, restricting them to the frontier of Mohmand Agency, otherwise they were the same Uzbekistanis who had become a sign of terror in Waziristan. It was after the Americans began to criticize the anti-US role of Maulvi Nazir and Gul Bahadur that the enemies of Pakistan were made safe in the entire region while its friends became unsafe. We mentioned about those FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Areas]-based groups that have the capacity to carry out attacks in Pakistan, particularly in Punjab, in our yesterday's edition.

After the bomb explosions in Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan, it has become necessary to review the groups functioning in the entire region, so as to see what situation is emerging. Such a review will also show which group, in the future, can become a sign of danger for the region. It will not be true to call all these groups Taliban. Although the Western media use the same term for them, it is not true. Rather, in FATA, only Jalaloddin Haqqani group's fighters are called Taliban, who are also described as Khalifa group. This group enjoys reverence throughout FATA.

The group is, at no cost, in favor of taking up arms in Pakistan. Rather, when the Qari Hussein group ignited the fire of suicide attacks in Pakistan last year and Maulvi Omar raised objections, the same [Khalifa] group sent a strong message to Baitullah Mehsud, warning him that the Taliban had no agenda outside Afghanistan. It particularly warned him that terrorism in Pakistan was intolerable. As a result of this warning, Qari Hussein was removed as the chief of the suicide squad, and action was taken to restrict the activities of Commander Tariq. The Khalifa group is totally concentrating on Afghanistan. There are so far no proofs of the activities of this group inside Pakistan, despite the fact that the group was mostly targeted and Haqqani's closes relatives were killed. The group has representatives everywhere [in FATA], but it does not have any specific headquarters.

Besides this, there are four alliances in Waziristan, which include small groups. One of these alliances is the local Taliban, which is completely loyal to Pakistan. The alliance includes two major groups of Baluchistan [name of province as published], that is, Wazir group and Maulvi Nazir group. The second alliance is that of Tehreeke-Taliban Pakistan [TTP], which includes every type of people and groups -- even the likes of Fazlullah and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. In the ranks of this very alliance, there is a federation of six groups having the Punjabi and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi background.

This federation is called Fedayeen-e-Islam. The federation does not have any particular leadership, but Qari Hussein is believed to be its chief. Also, the federation includes the Qari Zafar, Asmatullah Moaviya, Commander Tariq, Rana Afzal groups.

Recently, a new group was formed in the name of Shura-e-Mujahidin, which included pro-Baitullah members of TTP and local Taliban. However, while this group exists in name, it has no existence in principles, because Baitullah Mehsud has once again started activities against Pakistan, which is against the [stated] objectives of the group.

The pattern of the presence of all these groups is as follows: The biggest group in North Waziristan is that of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, which is totally pro-Pakistan and is not ready to carry out action against Pakistan or Pakistan Army.

There are reports that at a time when preparations are being made for the operation in Waziristan and when schools are being vacated in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan [for the potentially displaced people of Waziristan], the government circles have contacted Gul Bahadur, asking him to separate the pro-Pakistani groups from the Baitullah Mehsud group, so that the operation is made against antistate groups.

Gul Bahadur, grandson of Faqir of Eppi [Pashtun saint who had fought against the British imperial forces in FATA in the beginning of the last century], is the most powerful in this area. Even if all other groups join their forces, they are not capable to confront the Gul Bahadur group. The Baitullah Mehsud group is present in the Mehsud-dominated areas of North Waziristan only.

Other groups in the agency include the Maulvi Nazir group, which is an ally of the Gul Bahadur group and is not ready to fight against Pakistan at any cost. Maulvi Nazir had earned fame when he ousted the Uzbekistanis form Wana and surrounding areas in 2005 and 2006. He wields power and influence in the Wazir tribe of South Waziristan. Despite having been injured in a drone attack, due to which he sometimes gets infuriated, he has never joined any activity against Pakistan. The Nazir group is followed by the Abdullah Mehsud group. Abdullah Mehsud is believed to be the founder of the militant groups in the area, and he was the first leader of Mehsud militants.

His group's youths, numbering 500, formerly belonged to the Baitullah Mehsud group, but later got separated from them on the question of activities against Pakistan. This group is in alliance with the Maulvi Nazir group. It is not only averse to any activities against Pakistan but also ready to carry out action against any anti-Pakistani group. The separation of this group had broken the might of Baitullah Mehsud, and the latter did not feel secure in the hands of his deputy, Qari Hussein.

Fifty percent of the 34 militant groups are present in South Waziristan, and under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud, they counterbalance the Gul Bahadur and Maulvi Nazir groups.

Baitullah group

This is the largest and the most prominent among the militant groups. Kalimullah and Qari Hussein are members of the same group. After doubting the Punjabi youths and ordering them to leave Waziristan in November last year, differences had cropped up between Baitullah Mehsud and Qari Hussein, as a result of which Baitullah had to seek refuge in the Gul Bahadur group while Qari Hussein later showed its strength by establishing the Fedayeen-e-Islam group.

However, talks were again held between Baitullah and Qari Hussein, and the latter began to support the Baitullah group on the condition that Baitullah would recognize the Fedayeen-e-Islam. Following this, Baitullah Mehsud once again started to patronize anti-Pakistani activities of the Fedayeen-e-Islam group.

Kalimullah Group

This is the second biggest ally of Baitullah Mehsud. The differences between Qari Hussein and Kalimullah are not hidden from anyone. The group is involved in terrorist activities in Pakistan and acts of abduction for ransom. It enjoys support in Khyber and Orakzai agencies. Nowadays, the might of the Baitullah group depends on this very group. The group has accepted the responsibility for the Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan bomb attacks. In the future, the group can prove as much bigger a danger as the Qari Hussein group.

However, the group can be taken on by using the Abdullah Mehsud group. The condition of the Baitullah group is that though Qari Hussein's Fedayeen-e-Islam is its part, there is a cold war going on between the Kalimullah and Qari Hussain groups. This simmering cold war can erupt into lava any time. However, if any operation is launched without preparations, both the groups will end their mutual rivalries and strengthen their unity. Qari Hussein and Kalimullah have a record of carrying out terrorist activities throughout the country. They pose the biggest danger.

Gul Hasan Khan Group

This is an anti-Pakistani group. It has nothing to do in Afghanistan. The group also has Punjabi youths. So far, the group has no major activity to its credit, but it is certainly proving helpful in the execution of these acts.

Sheikh Meraj Group

Sheikh Meraj belongs to Tunisia. The group has over 400 suicide attackers. It is ready for war both in Pakistan and Afghanistan at the same time. It has provided suicide attackers for many terrorist acts.

Abu Qanada Group

This is also an Arab group, acting on both sides of the border, but its activities are restricted only to South Waziristan.

Sheikh Fateh Usman Group

It is an Arab group and can fight on both sides of the border. It has not carried out any major terrorist act in Pakistan but will support Baitullah Mehsud in the event of an operation.

Al-Badr Group

This is a small group. It has links with Golboddin Hekmatyar in Afghanistan. Its name had surfaced with regard to the Marriot Hotel blast. However, it has not participated in any other terrorist activity in Pakistan, nor is it in its favor. Its activities are wholly concentrated in Afghanistan. Similarly, the Abdul Jabber group is also functioning in Afghanistan. Both these groups will not resist in the event of an operation.

Qari Shakil Group

This is a major group of Mohmand Agency. Ideologically it is not pro-Pakistan. Qari Shakil is the deputy of Abdul Wali, alias Omar Khalid. However, he also possesses his separate splinter group. Both Omar Khalid and Qari Shakil had crossed over to Afghanistan when an operation was launched against them in Mohmand Agency several months back. In their support, the Afghans had also attacked the Pakistan Army. They do not allow the anti-US Taliban to function in Mohmand Agency. They have proved very dangerous.

Hilal Group

The group calls itself the Ghazi Force. Its chief, Niaz Rahim, alias Hilal, has remained a student of Islamabad's Jamia Fareedia [women Islamic seminary]. The group raises the slogan of taking the revenge of the Red Mosque operation, which is the only objective of the group. The group enjoys the support of sufficient number of students of Islamabad-based seminaries. An important youth of the group in Islamabad, Khurram Shehzad, has been arrested. This group, based in Orakzai Agency, is being held responsible for the suicide attacks on FC Camp on Margalla Road and at the Special Branch Police office in Islamabad.

Commander Tariq

This is the most powerful group in Darra Adam Khel. The group possesses Afridi Pashtuns and Punjabi youths. Basically, it is related to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. It has nothing to do in Afghanistan. Presently, the group has no activity to its credit other than violent acts carried out in Hangu and Orakzai Agency. The group is, however, powerful.

Maulvi Rafiq Group

The group is based in Sadda, Khurram Agency, and its only target is the rival [Shiite] sect.

Maulvi Faqir Mohammad Group

This is the most powerful group in Bajaur Agency. Despite being the ally of Baitullah Mehsud, it is not anti-Pakistan. Two sons of Maulvi Faqir Muhammad were killed in the Bajaur operation. But despite that, it only fought a defensive war against the Pakistani forces. While it fully concentrates on Afghanistan, it is against actions inside the country [Pakistan]. Faqir Muhammad has been pressuring Maulvi Fazlullah to accept the Swat peace deal. He had also intervened to withdraw the Taliban militants from Buner. He is annoyed with Fazlullah for not accepting his call [for peace]. The group has not carried out any action inside Pakistan. Ziaur Rehman Afghani is Faqir Muhammad's ally in Bajaur Agency. It is in favor of retaliating against the Pakistani forces only in the limits of Bajaur Agency. The group will not help in the event of any operation in Waziristan. If the government uses any viable strategy, it can forge a strong alliance with the inclusion of the Maulvi Faqir Muhammad group, Gul Bahadur group, Maulvi Nazir group, and Abdullah Mehsud group. This alliance will also enjoy the support of the Khalifa group. However, the question remains whether the United States will accept such a situation.

Two foreign groups functioning in Waziristan and Mohmand Agency can be described very dangerous. They include the Takfiri Arab group and the Uzbekistani group, against which Maulvi Faqir Muhammad had carried out action. Both groups are considered dangerous. The Uzbekistanis are particularly known as hired assassins. In the event of any operation, both groups will support Baitullah Mehsud. It can be said that, in the future, the Qari Hussein and Kalimullah groups can prove very dangerous all over the country.

[Description of Source: Karachi Ummat in Urdu -- Sensationalist, pro-Usama Bin Ladin Urdu daily. Harshly critical of the US, Israel, and India. Propagates Muslim unity to counter US/Western influence. Circulation 20,000. Editor-publisher Rafiq Afghan is an Afghan war veteran.]

Pakistan Editorial Says Taliban 'Shocked' by Strength of Military Onset in Swat

SAP20090602110007 Lahore Daily Times Online in English 02 Jun 09

[Editorial: "What were up against in Waziristan"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

The Taliban of Baitullah Mehsud suffered 25 dead after their attacks on army checkposts in South Waziristan and the Jandola frontier region were repulsed on Sunday. The attacks happened in the wake of the demand made by Baitullah that the army should leave "his area". A similar demand had emanated from North Waziristan from his branch outfit there and other warlords with whom he is acting in cooperation. Sensing the coming storm, the local population is fleeing South Waziristan to swell the tide of refugees caused by Taliban atrocities in the semi-tribal areas under the NWFP government. The Army Public College Hangu was attacked on Sunday and its administrator cruelly done to death.

Baitullah Mehsud has suffered a defeat in Swat and his telephone call saying the Taliban should leave the area was intercepted by the army. The government has already announced that the army will go for Baitullah in his fastness of South Waziristan and this time everyone knows it means business, untied to any parliamentary resolution to evacuate the affected areas and allow "talks" with the killers. It is clear that skirmishes with the men of Baitullah Mehsud have already started and that the Taliban are forewarned about what they might face in the days to come. The truth is that they also knew what was coming in Swat but were shocked by the impact of the military attack.

As Swat is pacified in the days to come and the refugees start returning to their homes amid reinforced local administration, it will be time to think about the phenomenon of Baitullah Mehsud, the biggest warlord on both sides of the Durand Line, who has the backing of Al Qaeda and its international brigade of terrorists. It will be in order here to outline the organisational strength and firepower of this warlord with the help of the just-published book written by a Pashtun scholar Aqeel Yusufzai, titled Talibanisation (Urdu).

Baitullah Mehsud, born in Bannu, is from the Badwi Khel tribe, and his Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), while headquartered in Makin in South Waziristan, has branchline groups complete with their own commanders in North Waziristan, Kurram, Orakzai, Mohmand, Bajaur and Khyber. Thanks to the jihadi groups once supported by the Pakistani state and because of their affiliations with Al Qaeda, TTP has its supporting manpower in all the four provinces, particularly in South Punjab where first contacts were made between Sipah Sahaba and its Arab patrons. The Pakistani press has already taken note of. Commanders Qari Hussain, Rais Khan, Salim Sakin, Azmatullah are his front-leaders in South Waziristan while Qari Hussain specialises in training suicide-bombers.

After tasting the toughness of his subordinate Taliban group in the Malakand division, one can estimate the kind of power he will use when challenged. In North Waziristan, considered a territory of the Jalaluddin Haqqani group, he has Nur Syed Amir, Faqir Dawar and Haji Aftab Khan; the last-named also charged with looking after Baitullah's foreign guests from the Arab world, Central Asia, Chechnya in Russia and Xinjiang in China. Commanders who lead bands of Taliban marauders in other agencies are: Hakimullah (Orakzai and Kurram with 8,000 men), Rehmanullah and Hazrat Ali (Khyber, 1,200), Umar Khalid (Mohmand, 5,000), and Faqir Muhammad (Bajaur, 5,000). Baitullah himself is estimated to dispose of 30,000 warriors, supplemented with Tahir Yuldashev's 4,000 Uzbeks and other "foreigners". The TTP could have nearly 50,000 men at its disposal. If you also count the non-Baitullah Taliban, the total estimate comes to over 100,000.

According to some estimates, Baitullah could have in his kitty around Rs 4 billion to spend annually. This money comes from drugs facilitated by Al Qaeda contacts, Arab money from the Gulf, money made from kidnapping for ransom, looting of banks, smuggling and "protection money" in general. He has weapons produced in Russia, the US and India, and has been looting explosives produced at the Wah munitions factory. His strength has been built up during a period of benign neglect in Islamabad, which has been focusing on India as the country's premier threat. But Swat has proved that the Taliban can be taken on and defeated. The national consensus is there and crucial international support in these lean times is forthcoming too.

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times Online in English -- Website of the independent, moderate daily, run by veteran journalist Najam Sethi and published by the Friday Times group. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated hardcopy circulation of 20,000; URL: ]

Pakistan Editorial Says Taliban Strongholds in Waziristan Must be Destroyed

SAP20090701102007 Lahore Daily Times Online in English 01 Jul 09

[Corrected version: correcting Source line, Source Descriptor; Editorial: "Untying the North Waziristan knot"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

The Pakistani army's incursion into North Waziristan last Sunday attracted the local Taliban assault, as a result of which the convoy suffered 27 dead, about 35 kilometres west of Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan. Helicopter gunships thereafter went into action and there were local casualties. A Taliban representative of the area has stated that his shura had decided to continue guerrilla activities "till the drone attacks are stopped" and the government withdraws troops from North Waziristan.

The local Taliban shura has announced that it is scrapping the "ceasefire agreement" reached with Pakistan in February this year, under which North Waziristan militants were exempted from punishment by the Pakistan Army. The Taliban, by announcing that they are going to "resume guerrilla war", seem to be implying that they were abiding by the agreement and it was the Pakistan Army which was in breach of it.

The truth is that, under the agreement, militants were to stop target-killings and attacks on security forces, and that no one was be allowed to set up a parallel administration in the area, and all issues and disputes had to be resolved in accordance with the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and in consultation with the political agent. Additionally, the local elders, with whom the agreement was reached, had pledged that there would be no cross-border movement of militants and that "foreigners" would be expelled from the area. But no pledge was honoured by the Taliban.

North Waziristan borders Afghanistan and it is from North Waziristan that the NATO troops are attacked and forays undertaken deeper into Afghanistan by the warlords linked to the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) of Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan. This is the area over which Pakistan and the US have quarrelled in the past. Cross-border infiltrations by the Taliban have been blamed on Pakistani border guards' laxity; Pakistan has complained over the CIA drone attacks.

North Waziristan is the place where some important "foreigners" linked to Al Qaeda have been target-killed. In 2005, a top Al Qaeda operative in Pakistan, Egyptian Hamza Rabia, was killed in a missile strike in Mir Ali. Another Egyptian-born explosive expert, Abdul Rehman Al Muhajir, indicted for the 1998 US embassy bombings, was also killed here. The latest information is that the leader of the banned terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Muhammad, Maulana Masood Azhar, is in hiding here after things became too hot for him and Pakistan in Bahawalpur.

It is commonly believed that North Waziristan is under the control of the Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani, blamed in connection with the suicide bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul in July 2008. Another warlord working independently, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, is strong here, with thousands of warriors while Baitullah Mehsud operates his militia here in close cooperation with Haqqani. Any frictions among the warlords are regularly removed by the Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Umar.

Pakistan too has been blamed for nudging Haqqani to attack the Indian embassy in Kabul. Unfortunately, in an interview given to a London-based Arab journal Asharq Al-Awsat in April this year, an ex-ISI chief confessed that he had "sent his two sons for jihad" against the Soviet forces "along with the Afghan jihadi leader Jalaluddin Haqqani". He further stated: "I am a retired official but the Al Qaeda Afghan elements -- Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, Karzai (sic!), and others -- are against Pakistan, but they are my friends". He carefully left out Haqqani because he too had been blamed for involvement.

The strategy of "separating" the two agencies named Waziristan must end. This separation has been made on the basis of who targets which agency. The Americans are bothered by the Taliban located in North Waziristan and target-kill them through drones; the Pakistan army is bothered by the outreach of the warlord Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan and is suspicious of Americans not targeting him (till recently). In fact the "belief" in Pakistan that the US actually funds Baitullah is predicated on this perception.

The truth is that the Taliban are seamless. They are now being squeezed between NATO action from Afghanistan and the military action gaining ground from the side of Pakistan. The national consensus in Pakistan is behind the army and the world is backing it as well. This war has to be won. And North Waziristan was a difficult knot waiting to be untied.

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times Online in English -- Website of the independent, moderate daily, run by veteran journalist Najam Sethi and published by the Friday Times group. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated hardcopy circulation of 20,000; URL: ]

Pakistani army admits ties with Afghan rebel commanders - TV

IAP20090714950028 Kabul Ariana TV in Dari 1530 GMT 11 Jul 09

Pakistani army admits ties with Afghan rebel commanders - TV

Text of report by privately-owned Afghan Ariana TV on 11 July

[Presenter] The Pakistani army has finally acknowledged that it has been in contact with the Taleban, Golboddin Hekmatyar and several other commanders. Gen Athar Abbas, the Pakistani army spokesman, has said that the Taleban may even enter into negotiations with the United States. The spokesman's remarks come amid the fact that the Afghan government has claimed on occasions that the militants enter Afghanistan from the other side of the Durand Line, but Islamabad has repeatedly denied this.

My colleague Abdol Fattah Ahmadzai reports:

[Correspondent] Pakistani army spokesman Gen Athar Abbas has told a US TV network that they are still in touch with Mullah Omar, Mullah Nazir, Jalaloddin Haqqani and the leader of the Hezb-e Eslami, Golboddin Hekmatyar. Mr Abbas has stated that the Taleban may get ready to hold talks with America.

The spokesman confirmed that the ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] had close ties with both [Afghan and Former Soviet] governments during the Afghan-Soviet war, but Islamabad has now changed its policy. He has said that Pakistan's current close relations with Golboddin Hekmatyar and the Taleban do not necessarily mean that the government provides financial aid to them or trains them against the Afghan government.

Nurolhaq Olumi, a political analyst and parliamentarian, has said that the Afghan government has for a long time had the view that the insurgents enter the country from the other side of the Durand Line.

[MP for Kandahar Nurolhaq Olumi] The people of Afghanistan have always been certain that the terrorist centres and leaders were inside Pakistan and led by the Pakistani intelligence service. The recent remarks by the Pakistani government only state this fact and the fact that they have been directly involved in the situation. Now the same violence is taking place in Pakistan and they are behind it, because they order [the rebel] leaders they have nourished and tell them to go and hold talks with [the international community] and find the so-called solution. These leaders have never had the potential [to act independently and strongly] and as far as we know, they are being led by the Pakistani intelligence service and do whatever the service commands.

[Correspondent] Elaborating on the Pakistani official's remarks, Abdol Zaher Faqiri, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, says:

[Abdol Zaher Faqiri] We have very good ties with the Pakistani civil government and we hope that the military departments of Pakistan will join hands with their civil government and take a firm stance [against terrorists] and avoid being selective [when it comes to deals with the extremist groups]. Using terrorism as a tool for promoting foreign policy is not beneficial for any country. We once again emphasize that the Pakistani military departments should work in unison with the civil departments in the war on terror so that we can put into effect the US government's new strategy in the region, which is to establish a single management against terrorism.

[Correspondent] The spokesman went on to say that Afghanistan has always had good relations with the Pakistani civilian government.

[Description of Source: Kabul Ariana TV in Dari -- private TV network launched in August 2005. Owned by Ehsan Bayat, an Afghan-American entrepreneur who founded Telephone Sytems International (TSI), one of the operators of the cell phone enterprise Afghan Wireless Commnication company (AWCC). Ariana TV is a heavyweight and ambitious operation which rolled out a number of provincial relays shortly after its launch.]

Asia Times: 'Pakistan-US Plan Falls into Place'

CPP20090723715012 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 1035 GMT 22 Jul 09

[By Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Pakistan-US Plan Falls into Place"; headline as provided by source]

KARACHI - The seamless friendship between the chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, and Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani, has cemented the relationship between the military establishments of the two countries to levels not seen since the 1950s, when Pakistan was a frontline state against communism.

The result is that Islamabad and Washington are in a position to implement coordinated, long-term policies in the region, which include action against militants, moves to improve ties between Pakistan and India, especially their dispute over divided Kashmir, and the evolution of a broad-based, stable civilian government in Pakistan.

However, just as the US and Pakistan have forged a united front, so too have the previously splintered militants and groups that oppose them in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, setting the stage for a struggle of unprecedented proportions.

The new relationship between the US and Pakistan, supported by a host of American advisors based in the capital Islamabad, is expected to play out on two main fronts.

First, Pakistan will launch a comprehensive battle against all Taliban groups in the country, irrespective of whether they are perceived as good or bad. Over the years, there have been numerous attempts to split the Taliban by making deals with the good ones, that is, those seen as more moderate, to bring them into a peace process.

Second, an initiative will be made by the Pakistani government, supported by the country's Western allies, for better relations with India, strongly mediated by the Pakistan army. The aim will be to reopen the dialogue process on Kashmir which was stalled following the Pakistani-linked terror attack on the Indian city of Mumbai last November in which 166 people were killed. This could also help in building a joint mechanism for cooperation between India and Pakistan with the US in fighting terror.

Militants reorganize

In recent months, different militant groups located in the North Waziristan and South Waziristan tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan have united. At the same time, an al-Qaeda group led by Abdullah Saeed is participating in the belated spring offensive in Afghanistan - it marked this by shooting down a US aircraft in Paktia province last week.

The powerful Haqqani network is also flexing its muscles - it is behind the capture of a US soldier who appears on a recently released video that has caused outrage in the US over the abuse of prisoners of war. The prisoner is believed to be at a Haqqani base in North Waziristan. The group is beefing up its military presence in and around the two Waziristans in an area said to be the headquarters of three powerful networks that have allied.

The networks are that of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan, al-Qaeda's at the crossroads of the two Waziristans and Sirajuddin Haqqani's group in North Waziristan.

Asia Times Online has learnt that Pakistan has gradually moved its forces into Bannu, the principal city of Bannu district in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), and Dera Ismail Khan, another city in NWFP. It has also stationed troops in the Waziristans. Tension is rising there, with the Taliban having disrupted the supply lines of troops based in North Waziristan.

The deadline for the beginning of an all-out operation is not known. It will be the first time that all Taliban groups are targeted - the Sirajuddin network has traditionally been pro-establishment.

The good and now the bad

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), US intelligence and Arab states have for many years maintained excellent relations with Jalaluddin Haqqani, the legendary Afghan commander against the Soviets in the 1980s. Haqqani, now seriously ill, supported the Taliban movement in the mid-1990s on the instructions of the ISI. But the Taliban never considered him a part of the movement, more as a warlord who had allied with them.

As a result, Haqqani was never given any significant position in the Taliban regime. When the Taliban abandoned Kabul in the face of the US-led invasion in late 2001, Islamabad tried hard to get him to abandon Taliban leader Mullah Omar and become the next head of the Afghan government. He flatly refused the proposal and went to a base in North Waziristan.

In 2006, he was elevated by the Taliban to the number one commander in Afghanistan. Pakistan was not too concerned as Haqqani had never meddled in the internal affairs of Pakistan, never allied with a Pakistani political party or group and he had never supported any mutiny in Pakistan.

But now that Haqqani is ill and bed-ridden, his power has been handed to his son Sirajuddin. Siraj's strength, like his father's, is his Punjabi comrades, but his friendship with al-Qaeda's Arab ideologues has influenced him.

Unlike his father, Siraj is close to Pakistan militants hostile to the establishment. The intelligence apparatus was prepared to overlook this, but not any more.

Some while ago, Siraj's brother, Dr Naseer Haqqani, was arrested while attending a meeting that included several wanted people. To the surprise of the security forces, Baitullah Mehsud negotiated for his release, agreeing to swap a few Pakistani soldiers for the detained man. Subsequently, Baitullah and Sirajuddin became close.

This explains the failure of the recent operation to get Baitullah. It depended on the cooperation of local anti-Baitullah tribes who happened to be Taliban, such as those of Mullah Nazir and Gul Bahadur and the now slain Qari Zainuddin Mehsud. Sirajuddin quickly sent messages for all commanders to unite in support of Baitullah, and their compliance ended any hope of him being isolated.

It also explains why the Haqqani network is now in the sights of the military as it prepares for a renewed battle against militants.

On the domestic front, the friendship of Kiani and Mullen has led to the acknowledgement that if military goals are to be achieved, the country needs a stable democratic government.

This explains President Asif Zardari's recent visit to opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, the chief of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), at his residence near Lahore. Zardari proposed to bring the PML-N into the ruling coalition government, possibly with Sharif as prime minister.

Sharif's reservations over extensive presidential powers are the main stumbling block. But whether or not Sharif accepts cabinet portfolios for his party or the premiership for himself, his party is completely onboard with the government's national and international policies.

"In principle, Pakistan has agreed on a stable government, cordial ties with India and support of the war on terror. But for the first time, Admiral Mike Mullen and Ashfaq Parvez Kiani have made a joint initiative to implement this principle under a set mechanism so that there can be no deviations," a senior Pakistani diplomat told Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity.

The militants, too, have their mechanisms in place, and they too don't plan to deviate. A mighty collision is inevitable.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English - - Hong Kong-based online newspaper with a Bangkok branch office focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe. Successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors as of Feb 2006, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region. URL: ]

Afghan TV Debate Says Pakistan To Fill Vacuum in Afghanistan if US Withdraws

IAP20090726950043 Kabul Tolo Television in Dari 1730 GMT 22 Jul 09

[Updated Version: adding images, amending headline and adding search term "Afghan TV discussion program"]

Pakistan preparing to fill vacuum in Afghanistan if USA pulls out - view

Afghan political experts have said that Pakistan is still pursuing its old policies in relation to Afghanistan, using the Taleban to undermine the West's efforts to bring peace to the country, but also that Pakistan is now preparing to fill a possible vacuum if the USA pulls out. The programme asks why the Pakistani interior minister made a remark seen as provocative during a recent visit to Kabul - that 90 per cent of Taleban arrested in Pakistan are Afghans. The following are excerpts from Tolo TV's weekly "Goftoman", or "Discourse" discussion programme. Subheadings have been inserted editorially:

[Presenter] Hello dear viewers and welcome to our current "Goftoman" programme. As you also know, Colonel Imam, a founder of the Taleban group, has once again appeared on the scene and made some remarks about the Taleban. Likewise, the Pakistan interior minister paid a visit to Afghanistan, and said 90 per cent of Taleban arrested in recent fighting in Pakistan were Afghans. Our programme discusses the latest developments in relations between the two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the impact of these relations on security in the region. The guests are Mohammad Ikram Andishmand, a writer and political affairs expert, Dr Najibollah Yosufi, a political affairs analyst, Nasrollah Stanakzai, a university lecturer, Siamak Herawi, deputy presidential spokesman and Abdol Hamid Mobarez, the head of the National Union of Afghan Journalists. The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also invited, but was unable to attend the debate. Before beginning the questions, we will first watch the remarks by Afrasiab Khattak and Colonel Imam with our viewers.

[Passage omitted: The presenter plays video footage of a live debate on a Pakistani TV channel in which Afrasiab Khattak, a member of Pakistan's National Army Party, says Pakistan has been trying for the past 20 years to annex Afghanistan and make it its fifth province, while Colonel Imam, a retired ISI officer, says Jalaloddin Haqqani, an Afghan Taleban leader, is a good friend of Pakistan. The presenter plays other footage showing Pakistani interior minister claiming that 90 per cent of Taleban arrested in Pakistan are Afghans]

[Presenter] Mr Herawi, what do you think - what were the positive approaches of the Pakistanis, especially the Pakistani military, in favour of the region, especially Afghanistan and Pakistan, in the past year? How do you see the latest developments, and what was the positive outcome of the recent trip to Afghanistan by Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik?

[Siamak Herawi, deputy presidential spokesman, in Dari] The government of Afghanistan, especially the president, has seriously tried to put relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan on his agenda. The president has many times negotiated with the international community and made clear what the causes of insecurity and violence are in Afghanistan and where the roots of terrorism and the safe havens of terrorists actually exist. It has been a very difficult task. The international community eventually realized and agreed in 2008 and 2009 that Afghanistan's problems have external roots. After the establishment of a new government in Pakistan and the election of Zardari, the climate changed to some extent in Pakistan, but since his election and the laying of new foundations in Pakistan, some circles like the ISI and the Pakistan military establishment still think in the old way, which means the latest developments in Pakistan prove that the current condition of Pakistan, stemming from previous administrations, has made vulnerable Pakistani territorial integrity and its survival to a large extent. Given this, Zardari laid the foundation for a new policy and path to improve relations with Afghanistan and to have the security problems of the region solved with joint cooperation of the international community and the government of Afghanistan, but, unfortunately, the clima te making Afghanistan optimistic about Islamabad's approach has not been created in Pakistan yet. The remark the Pakistan interior minister made in Kabul was, for us, cause for great concern.

[Presenter] Why did the interior minister of Afghanistan not react to the remark at the news conference?

[Herawi] Look. The minister should answer this question, but Afghanistan promptly reacted through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and if both countries are supposed to accuse each other, I should say Afghanistan has a lot of evidence [to prove Pakistan's support for terrorism in Afghanistan]. There are many suicide bombers being held in Afghanistan's prisons who are all Pakistani nationals. Those who are killed and detained in the fight against the government of Afghanistan are Pakistanis. But this policy of Pakistan is not appropriate for good cooperation and talks [between Afghanistan and Pakistan].

Afghan hopes undermined

[Presenter] The government of Afghanistan has pinned a lot of hopes on the civilian government of Pakistan over the past year. Has the recent remark by the interior minister of Pakistan not undermined these hopes?

[Herawi,] Look. The remark by Afrasiab Khattak which we also heard illustrates the very bitter realities of the past - the realities whose consequences the people of Afghanistan are still suffering. The current insecurity and violence in Afghanistan mostly stem from Pakistan's past wrong policies towards Afghanistan. Pakistan tried to make Afghanistan disintegrate and become dependent. It tried to destroy Afghanistan's culture and eventually set up a puppet government in Afghanistan. But all these conspiracies failed after 9/11 and the world changed its course and Pakistan should have put an end to such policies.

[Presenter] Mr Herawi, the government of Afghanistan was optimistic about the replacement of the Pakistan military government with a civilian administration there. But the interior minister of Pakistan, who is a member of Mr Zardari's cabinet, clearly says that 90 per cent of the Taleban, arrested in Pakistan, are Afghans. You describe the remark as baseless. Is this baseless remark not a continuation of the previous policy of Pakistan?

[Herawi, in Dari] No. We cannot deny that the whole process bega n with Pakistan minister's inappropriate remark and accusations against us. Our efforts are going on, and Pakistan has been cooperating with us these days. We have clear and good examples of cooperation between the two countries, and we are hopeful that conditions will improve with the strong diplomacy we are pursuing and that the tension, which has decreased, will end between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

[Presenter] Mr Stanakzai, you heard the remark by Afrasiab Khattak, an ally of Mr Zardari, who said the Pakistanis have destroyed some of Afghanistan's heritage and pride in order to make Afghanistan the fifth province, such as the destruction of the Buddha giants in Bamian, cancelling the Nowoz [New Year] festival, and so forth. The Pakistani interior minister also claimed in the presence of his Afghan counterpart in a visit to Afghanistan that most or 90 per cent of arrested Taleban are Afghans. The Pakistan army spokesman earlier said they were in contact with Mullah Omar and some Taleban leaders. Why have such remarks been made in recent days? Are the Pakistanis pursuing their previous strategy?

Pakistan pursuing old strategy

[Nasrollah Stanakzai, a university lecturer, in Dari] I think Pakistan is still pursuing the strategy on Afghanistan and the region which was worked out long before, or in other word, the strategy which was devised during the establishment of Pakistan. Pakistan's strategy towards the region, especially Afghanistan, normally includes three points. First of all, Pakistan has always made efforts to have a weak government established in Kabul, and it has always followed this process either peacefully or through war or intelligence warfare. The second point in Pakistan's strategy was to have Afghanista n disintegrate or annexed with Pakistan as its fifth province, especially after Afghanistan was caught in a crisis during jihad and after the withdrawal of Russians from Afghanistan. As Afrasiab Khattak also said, Pakistanis are still working to make Afghanistan fall apart. The third point on which the Pakistanis have focused a lot is to make the West accept Pakistan as its gendarme, and interpret the policies of the region through the eyes of Pakistan, because Islamabad carried out this work in a proper manner for the Americans during the Afghan jihad.

[Passage omitted: Stanakzai alleges that Colonel Imam, a retired Pakistani intelligence official, is pursuing a secret US strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying he has appeared in the media and politics after a decade. He also criticized Pakistani interior minister's remark, saying it is a warning to the government of Afghanistan that the USA would now like to once again look at Afghanistan through the eyes of Pakistan. Dr Najibollah Yosufi, a political affairs analyst, says the US army's unilateral air strikes on Pakistan's tribal regions and Washington's latest major military cooperation with India have worried Pakistan and it is now making emotional remarks. He blasts the West and Kabul for not having a uniform approach in dealing with the Taleban].

[Presenter] Mr Andishmand, what do the contradictory remarks and moves made by the Pakistanis over the past couple of weeks stem from? What do the Pakistanis want to prove, and what do they want to achieve with such remarks?

Pakistan wants to fill US vacuum

[Andishmand, a political affairs analyst, in Dari] I think the contradiction in the remarks by the Pakistanis stems from the policy Islamabad has been pursuing on Afghanistan in the past three decades. The main issue the Pakistanis would like to present with their contradictory remarks is that they want to tell the Americans and the countries supporting the government of Afghanistan and fighting the war here that the West cannot make any achievements in Afghanistan without taking into account the goals and interests of Pakistan. The Pakistanis even want to convince the Americans to once again hand over Afghanistan to Pakistan and manage Afghanistan through Pakistan. If you remember, Obama said two or three days ago that if security improved in Afghanistan after the elections and positive changes were brought to the Afghan army and police structure, he would consider an exit strategy from Afghanistan. This is, indeed, a green light for the Pakistanis to enable them to make arrangements to again control Afghanistan in case of an American pullout.

[Presenter] You mean the Pakistanis made the recent remarks in order to ascertain their position or take privilege and money?

[Andishmand] The Pakistanis are thinking about both points and want to make certain their position and take privilege from the Western world and Americans.

[Presenter] But reports suggest that Pakistan is suffering a huge crisis and it will be a big achievement if Islamabad manages to take itself out of the crisis? Is Pakistan really suffering an internal crisis and is the crisis out of control?

[Andishmand] I believe the crisis is not too out of the control of the government of Pakistan and its army and intelligence, and it is perceived to a great extent that the Pakistanis have launched a very calculated game to get more money and privileges from major countries.

[Presenter] You mean the crisis in Pakistan is part of a tactic and can be contained?

[Andishmand] That is mostly the case.

[Presenter] Mr Mobarez, what was the reason for the latest developments, or why did the Pakistanis, including the Taleban supporters, the spokesman for the Pakistani army and Pakistani interior minister, make the unexpected remarks. The Pakistani army spokesman first said the army was in contact with Taleban leaders and later retracted his words. What do the Pakistanis want to achieve through this?

[Abdol Hamid Mobarez, head of National Union of Afghan Journalists, in Dari] I think America's decision to choose India and become closer with that country has caused a kind of confusion within Pakistan. We are seeing that there is no consensus among Pakistani politicians, because the internal developments in Pakistan show clear rivalries within Pakistan. The remark by Afrasiab Khattak shows that the objectives of the national army party are different from those of the Pakistan's People's Party and the Muslim League. These two parties are trying to take advantage of the game for their own interests. I think the fact that Colonel Imam has once again emerged after many years is mostly linked to the new stance of America, because the Americans, either NATO or US commanders, are making remarks that strengthen the morale of Taleban and weaken the morale of Afghans and the countries involved in Afghanistan.

[Passage omitted: Mobarez says Afghanistan will not find peace and Pakistan will not stop supporting terrorism in this country until the dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir and between Afghanistan and Pakistan over the Durand Line are resolved. Afghan president's deputy spokesman says Pakistan is not meeting its commitment on Afghanistan, stressing that the West should work in parallel with Afghanistan in dealing with Pakistan's alleged vast support for terrorism and Taleban in Afghanistan. He dispels the notion that the West would once again abandon Afghanistan as it did after the Red Army's pullout from Afghanistan].

[Presenter] Mr Mobarez, what is your suggestion for Afghan government leaders to help defend Afghanistan against foreign interference, especially Pakistan's meddling?

[Mobarez, in Dari] You know the fact that a government speaks from a position of weakness and not strength is one of its weak points. The government of Afghanistan still lacks a strong army, because an army with no air power will never prove its effectiveness in modern times. It was the decision of the Bonn Conference to make Afghanistan remain weak, and I do not blame Afghans for this, as they made the decision due to pressure.

[Presenter] Who is to blame for the weakness of the Afghans? Some countries led by the US have troops in Afghanistan to at least fight terrorism. On the other hand, you said efforts are being made to keep the Afghan army weak. What is the reason for this?

[Mobarez] I think there is still no political determination to help Afghanistan have a strong security force capable of defending Afghanistan.

[Presenter] Who is there no determination?

[Mobarez, in Dari] You know, Afghanistan's Ministry of National Defence managed to make the world accept the proposal for an increase in the size of the Afghan army with a lot of difficulties.

[Presenter] What do you mean, do the Americans not have this determination?

[Mobarez] The Americans are the friends of Afghanistan, but they are affected by the Pakistanis. I mean the relations of America are more comprehensive with Pakistan than with Afghanistan. The Americans have taken more account of the concerns of Pakistan, because, as you see, the US is giving its aid directly to the government of Pakistan, but it itself spends the aid it has allocated for Afghanistan.

[Passage omitted: Mobarez says Afghans should strengthen themselves and improve unity to make America look at Afghans through the eyes of Afghans and not Pakistanis. Andishmand criticizes Afghan government's "inconsistent" policy towards Pakistan, saying Kabul should call for a national debate to make clear why Pakistan is not stopping its interference in Afghanistan. He also urges the government to think nationally in its programmes. Yosufi says the Kabul government should first improve economic conditions and its security forces and then call for negotiations with Taleban. He says Taleban are recruiting from among poor Afghans. Stanakzai criticizes Afghan Interior Minist ry's plan to set up joint security posts with Pakistan on the border, saying it is actually recognition of the d isputed border between Afghanistan and Pakistan]

[Description of Source: Kabul Tolo Television in Dari -- Independent television]

Qureshi Says Pakistan Will Take on Mullah Omar To Stop Taliban Using 'Our Soil'

EUP20090726031001 London Sunday Times Online in English 26 Jul 09

[Report by Christina Lamb: "Afghan Suicide Attack Increases Pressure on Pakistan"]

TALIBAN militants struck at government buildings in the city of Khost in southeastern Afghanistan yesterday with suicide bombs, AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, wounding 14 people, including two police officers, and provoking fears of a bloody election campaign.

At least three suicide bombers blew themselves up during the onslaught, which began in the early afternoon near a US military base. General Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a defence ministry spokesman, said later that Afghan forces had surrounded the attackers.

The raid came as the United States asked Pakistan for help in ensuring a peaceful election campaign. Islamabad has been asked to send troops to key points along its border with Helmand to stop Taliban militia crossing back and forth.

For the past two weeks, 4,500 US marines have been engaged in Operation Khanjar (Strike of the Sword), their largest offensive yet. They have grabbed a swathe of territory in southern Helmand.

Although July has been the deadliest month for foreign troops in the eight-year war, with 66 killed, including 20 British men, military officials say the operation has so far faced less resistance than expected.

But this is because the Taliban faded away and officials are well aware that the militants can be eliminated only if Pakistan stops allowing them sanctuary. Border controls led to surprisingly peaceful polls in 2004 and 2005.

The request to Pakistan was made during a visit to Islamabad last week by General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and General Karl Eikenberry, the US ambassador to Kabul. It was reinforced by President Barack Obama's special envoy Richard Holbrooke, who is visiting the region.

NATO commanders and the Afghan government have long complained about the sanctuary the Taliban enjoy in Pakistan where they send their wounded, train and recruit fighters and raise funds. Mullah Mohammed Omar, the one-eyed Taliban leader, and his senior associates operate from Quetta, and journalists often receive calls from Taliban spokesmen in Peshawar.

But Pakistan's military has recently taken a tough new stance after Taliban forces launched a spate of suicide attacks and took over the Swat valley, a former tourist area 70 miles from the capital. "We suddenly realised we could be left an army without a country," said one general.

However, with Swat almost cleared after three months of fighting and Pakistani troops moving into the border areas of Waziristan to pursue Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban, there is concern that Islamabad seems to have no interest in taking on militant groups that are using its territory to attack western forces over the border.

A senior US official said: "We still don't see any evidence that Islamabad has politically or militarily made a decision to go after the Afghan Taliban.

"As far as we're concerned, they will only turn the corner when they tell the Quettashura (tribal council), 'You have a choice - go back home and either negotiate or fight, but you're not welcome here'."

McChrystal said last week: "What I would love is for the government of Pakistan to have the ability to eliminate the safe havens that the Afghan Taliban enjoy."

Briefings by senior Pakistani military indicate that they still divide Taliban into good and bad. "They cause no trouble to us," replied one general when asked about Mullah Omar and Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Waziristan warlord closest to Al-Qaeda [Al-Qa'ida].

"What we have to consider is what happens when the foreign troops leave Afghanistan," said another. "If the Taliban then take over, we don't want to be on the wrong side."

Pakistan has objected that American operations in southern Afghanistan are forcing more militants over its side of the border.

"There is a need for better coordination at the military level," said Shah Mehmud Qureshi, Pakistan's foreign minister. "Pushing the buck over won't solve the problem as with such a porous border the buck will just go back again."

In an interview with The Sunday Times in Islamabad, Qureshi insisted that his country would no longer give sanctuary to Mullah Omar and the Afghan Taliban.

"We are clear we have to deal with all elements that are challenging the writ of the government and making Pakistan or other places insecure," he said. "We don't want our soil, our national territory, to be used against anyone."

"We're no more differentiating between good terrorists and bad terrorists. They've created havoc, made our environment insecure, and wherever they are, we'll take them on."

Asked specifically if this would include Mullah Omar and his Quetta shura, which runs the Afghan Taliban, the minister replied: "Absolutely, we'll be taking them on."

[Description of Source: London Sunday Times Online in English -- Website of best-selling center-right Sunday newspaper; in-depth coverage of national and international news and politics; owned by Rupert Murdoch's New International; website only available on Sunday; URL: ]

Asia Times: 'US Shrugs Off Pakistan-Taliban Links'

CPP20090806715031 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 1017 GMT 05 Aug 09

[Asia Times report by Gareth Porter: "US Shrugs off Pakistan-Taliban Links"; headline as provided by source]

WASHINGTON - Despite evidence implicating current Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani in a major military assistance program for Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan over the past few years, senior officials of the Barack Obama administration persuaded the US Congress to extend military assistance to Pakistan for five years without any assurance that the Pakistani assistance to the Taliban had ended.

Those officials, led by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, have been arguing that Kiani is committed to ending support the Taliban and other radical Islamic movements receive from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate, but that he is not yet able to control ISI operatives.

Late last year, US officials were reportedly pressing Kiani for far-reaching changes in the ISI that would end its role in support of insurgents in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Democratic Senator John Kerry demanded that the ISI be put under civilian control and threatened to introduce legislation making military assistance to Pakistan conditional on evidence that the Pakistani military had ended such support to the Taliban.

But Kerry dropped his proposal for conditioning US military assistance to Pakistan on ending the ISI-Taliban program. In February, Kerry said conversations with Mullen and "other players" had persuaded him that Kiani and his choice for new ISI chief, Ahmad Shuja Pasha, had "a willingness to engage in transformation" of the ISI.

The Kerry-Lugar legislation passed by Congress in June provides US$2 billion in military aid as well as $4 billion in economic assistance to Pakistan over five years and makes no mention of evidence of military aid to the Taliban. It merely requires the secretary of state to certify that the "security forces of Pakistan are making concerted efforts to prevent the Taliban and associated militant groups from using the territory of Pakistan as a sanctuary from which to launch attacks within Afghanistan".

Obama's national security team established a critical basis for its argument to Congress by leaking a story to the New York Times asserting that Kiani would not be able to control the activities of ISI in the short run.

The story, published March 26, acknowledged "direct support from operatives" of the ISI for the Afghan Taliban insurgency, but quoted anonymous US officials saying it is "unlikely that top officials in Islamabad are directly coordinating the clandestine efforts" - a carefully chosen formula that does not deny that they are presiding over a policy of aiding the Taliban.

The story said unnamed US officials "have also said that mid-level ISI operatives occasionally cultivate relationships that are not approved by their bosses". That statement diverted attention away from whether the Pakistani military leadership has approved military assistance to the Taliban.

Mullen has been suggesting that Kiani has demonstrated good faith by purging the ISI. He told Trudy Rubin of the Philadelphia Inquirer in early April that the new head was "handpicked" to change the ISI.

Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 21, Mullen emphasized that Kiani had changed "almost the entire leadership of ISI" over the previous six months.

After a conversation with Mullen, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius quoted him in a June 29 article as saying that Kiani and his choice for ISI chief "have committed very specifically to change the culture of ISI", but that "that's not going to happen overnight".

Mullen has, however, carefully avoided saying that Kiani has given assurances he intends to halt the military assistance to the Taliban.

The historical evidence on Kiani's past relationship to the issue suggests that he has no intention of changing Pakistani policy toward the Taliban.

Kiani himself served as head of ISI from late 2004 to late 2007 and presided over the development of a major logistical and training program for the Taliban forces operating out o f Pakistan's Balochistan province.

The ISI military assistance program was first revealed in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) report of a two-week battle by NATO forces against a determined Taliban offensive in Kandahar province in September 2006.

During the battle, NATO forces captured a number of Pakistani fighters who detailed the ISI role in supporting the Taliban offensive. The NATO account, reported in The Telegraph by Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid on October 6, 2006, described two ISI training camps for the Taliban near Quetta in Pakistan's Balochistan province. It also documented the provision by the ISI of 2,000 rocket-propelled grenades and 400,000 rounds of ammunition - just for that one Taliban campaign.

The size and scope of the program of support described in the report were hardly consistent with the idea that assistance to the Taliban is a rogue operation by ISI operatives.

Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates presumably know about Kiani's past support for the Taliban assistance program. Evidence of continuing ISI assistance to, and safe have for, Taliban forces after Kiani replaced Pervez Musharraf as the top army general was compiled in an intelligence assessment circulated to the top national security officials of the George W Bush administration in mid-2008, according by David Sanger's book The Inheritance .

Kiani was also overheard in a conversation intercepted by US intelligence referring to a high-ranking Taliban leader, Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, as a "strategic asset", according to Sanger's account. Haqqani was a Taliban minister during that organization's brief period in power during the late 1990s, and his network has been a key target for the US campaign of Predator drone strikes in Pakistan during 2008 and 2009.

Kiani is not the first Pakistani military leader to assure the US that he is purging the ISI of pro-Taliban elements. President Musharraf did the same thing to ease pressure from Washington to toe the line on Afghanistan in early October 2001.

Musharraf claimed he had made far-reaching changes in the ISI by removing its director, Mahmood Ahmad - who he said had been affiliated with Islamic extremists. But Musharraf never changed his pro-Taliban policy; despite his pledge to do so immediately after the 9/11 terror attacks.

The March 26 New York Times story reported Pakistani officials as portraying their Taliban policy as "part of a strategy to maintain influence in Afghanistan for the day when American forces would withdraw" leaving "a power vacuum to be filled by India".

After the Times story, Gates began arguing that the US must convince Pakistani leaders that it will not abandon the war in Afghanistan.

In a March 29 interview with Fox News, Gates said the Pakistanis had ties with the Taliban "partly as a hedge against what might happen in Afghanistan if we were to walk away or whatever". The US has to convince the Pakistanis that "they can count on us and that they don't need that hedge", Gates said.

Mullen and other US military leaders have an interest other than Afghanistan - which appears to driving their willingness to overlook Kiani's past and present support for the Taliban. They once had close ties with the Pakistani military, which they touted for decades as a basis for US influence in the country, despite persistent and sharp divergences in US and Pakistani strategic interests.

Those ties were cut off in the 1990s because of legislation requiring an end to military cooperation over Pakistan's nuclear weapons program. Mullen and other military leaders now argue that close relations must be a top US priority.

As Mullen told the Inquirer's Rubin, "One of my strategic objectives is to close this gap in the relationship with the Pakistani military."

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specializing in US national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Ro a d to War in Vietnam, was published in 2006.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

Pakistan: Analyst Sees No Immediate Change in Taliban Strategy After Baitullah

SAP20090807008004 Karachi Geo News TV in Urdu 1500 GMT 07 Aug 09

[Anchor Masood Raza] According to some reports, Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud has been killed in a US drone attack. Let us talk to senior analyst and journalist Saleem Safi. Mr Safi, if Baitullah Mehsud is indeed dead, what will be the Taliban's reaction?

[Begin live relay] [Safi over video link] The Taliban's reaction will be severe because Baitullah Mehsud was important in many ways. First, he had been the chief of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan for many years. Second, he was important because of having close links with Al-Qa'ida and the Afghan Taliban. He had also developed strong links with the banned organizations of Pakistan and hundreds of members of those banned organizations supported him. In this way, Baitullah's personality had become important for all of them, and he enjoyed extraordinary importance. His death is a major setback for Al-Qa'ida, the Afghan Taliban, and the Pakistani Taliban.

[Anchor Ayesha Bakhsh] Mr Safi, you are calling it a setback. Can you tell us whether your sources have confirmed Baitullah's death in the drone strike? If yes, what kind of reaction is expected from the Taliban?

[Safi] In fact, there is no government or media presence in the area where this drone attack was carried out. That entire region has been totally under Taliban control for several years. Therefore, in this regard, only Taliban's word will be authentic, and so far, the Taliban have not formally confirmed his death. Taliban leader Kifayatullah, who spoke with AP, is also not present in that area; he hails from North Waziristan. I have talked to the Afghan reporter of AP who spoke to Kifayatullah. As a Taliban spokesman, Kifayatullah has not confirmed Mehsud's death. There is no doubt that the sources of the Army as well as the Interior Ministry are saying that Mehsud has been killed. The Governor Secretariat, which directly deals with the tribal areas, has also confirmed his death unofficially. Since in the past, government had made similar claims about Baitullah Mehsud, Fazlullah, and a Taliban leader of Mohmand Agency, which proved to be incorrect later, this time, the government agencies are extremely careful. Majority of our sources say that he is dead. Local journalists also say that he has been killed and that his funeral has been carried out. However, at the same time, two of my sources have denied his death. But one thing is different from the past. Whenever similar reports came in the past, the Taliban used to deny them within a few hours. This has not happened this time. Moreover, the Taliban quarters on the Pakistani as well as the Afghan side have been extremely worried for the last [?one] day. Keeping in view these things, we can say that this time, there is stronger evidence that Baitullah Mehsud is probably dead, but since so far no government official or media representative has directly confirmed his death in that area, his body has been seen, and the Taliban have not formally announced it, we cannot say with certainty in spite of the evidence that he is dead.

[Raza] If Mehsud's death is confirmed, what can you say about new leadership of the Taliban?

[Safi] At present, the list includes Mufti Waliur Rehman, who was present with Baitullah Mehsud. The Taliban consider him even more important than Baitullah Mehsud. From the military point of view, the second most important person is Hakeemullah Mehsud. It is also being said that since Qari Hussain, who leads the suicide squad, and Hakeemullah Mehsud are related, they will form a group, but Mufti Waliur Rehman is more popular among the common Taliban. Our reports say that this time the Wazir tribe will have an important voice in the selection of the new Taliban leadership. Maulvi Nazir and Hafiz Gulbahadar, who is in North Waziristan, also enjoy great importance. But I believe that the key role in this [determining the new leadership] will be played by Al-Qa'ida. Abu Yahya al-Libbi looks after the affairs of the Pakistani Taliban, and the second most important role will be played by Jalaluddin Haqqani and Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Afghan Taliban leaders highly respected by all Taliban groups on the Pakistani side. Let us see whom Al-Qa'ida, the Afghan Taliban, and Jalaluddin Haqqani will support and nominate.

[Bakhsh] Mr Safi, there are also reports of Qari Hussain's death. Tell us how big loss it is for the Taliban? Will the change in the Taliban leadership be followed by a change in the Pakistani Government's policy?

[Safi] No change in the Pakistani Government's policy is in sight in the near future. Similarly, I do not foresee any change in the US and Afghan Governments' policies. There is also no possibility of any immediate change in the Taliban's strategy. We must keep in mind that Baitullah Mehsud was a very important person, and the factors contributing to his importance have already been explained by me. Leaders are of two types: those who initiate a movement, such as Mullah Omar and Usama Bin Ladin and those who are a product of circumstances. Baitullah Mehsud does not enjoy the status like that of Usama Bin Ladin or Mullah Omar. He did not initiate this movement. A few years ago, Naik Muhammad enjoyed this kind of importance, and after him, Abdullah Mehsud did. I believe that soon whoever is supported by the Afghan Taliban will attain the same status as Baitullah Mehsud had enjoyed. However, Qari Hussain has his own extraordinary importance because he leads the suicide squad. There are unconfirmed reports that he has probably been killed in an operation by the Pakistani military forces conducted two days ago.

[Raza] Thank you very much, Mr Safi, for talking to Geo News. [End of live relay]

[Description of Source: Karachi Geo News TV in Urdu -- 24-hour satellite news TV channel owned by Pakistan's Jang publishing group, broadcast from Dubayy. Known for providing quick and detailed reports of events. Programs include some Indian shows and dramas which the group claims are aimed at promoting people-to-people contact and friendly relations with India.]

Pakistan: Security Official Confirms Taliban Chief Killed in US Drone Attack

SAP20090808101003 Karachi Dawn Online in English 08 Aug 09

[Report by Ismail Khan: Good riddance, killer Baitullah]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR, Aug 7: Pakistan's most dreaded Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US Predator strike, a senior security official confirmed.

"This is one hundred per cent. We have no doubt about his death," the official said, requesting he not be named. "He is dead and buried."

The US is believed to have shared with the Pakistani authorities a video feed of the drone strike which, according to credible sources, has left no room for doubt that the most feared man in Pakistan was indeed dead.

One of the missiles, according to the sources, hit the roof of the upper-storey of the house, killing Baitullah and his younger wife for less than a year.

"He was clearly visible with his wife," a senior security official, who saw the video footage, said. "And the missile hit the target as it was. His torso remained, while half of the body was blown up."

The strike also hit the vehicle that had brought Baitullah to the house of his father-in-law Malik Ikramuddin who had been shuttling between his son-in-law and the government to negotiate a new peace deal.

The Taliban immediately shut down the three telephone lines in Zanghara and threw a five-kilometre security cordon around the area to block the leakage of news about the death of their leader.

The news of Baitullah's possible death was in the air since Wednesday's drone attack that according to initial reports had killed his wife and father-in-law. On Thursday night information that he too had been killed had started coming out of the Mehsud territory in bits and pieces, and throughout the day it remained the only topic of discussion within the country.

Initially, the government was quite reluctant to openly confirm the news. In his uncharacteristically cautious remarks Interior Minister Rehman Malik said he had information but no evidence to suggest that the TTP leader had in fact been killed. A few hours later, the first confirmation of sorts came from the foreign minister.

"Yes my intelligence sources have confirmed that he has been killed," Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters in Islamabad. But he too qualified it by saying that it needed to be authenticated through other means.

A report suggested that Baitullah might have been buried in Nargosha area of Shabikhel -- a place his father had abandoned after developing a blood feud before moving to Bannu to serve THIS hitherto unpublished photo of Baitullah Mehsud shows him just before the signing of a deal as a prayer leader in a mosque in Landi Dhok.

It is understood that the strike to take out Baitullah was the outcome of a joint Pakistan-US intelligence operation that may, according to some officials, indicate a new level of trust between the often mutually suspicious intelligence agencies of the two countries.

The Taliban have withheld an announcement about the death of their leader, pending nomination of his successor, amid intelligence reports that a Mehsud militant shura met for the third day running at a secret location in Ludda in the volatile South Waziristan to nominate a new leader.

The meeting short-listed three candidates but stopped short of naming one, suggesting a power struggle among main contenders, a senior government official said.

Waliur Rehman, a deputy to Baitullah, is said to be leading the list with majority of shura members siding with him.

The forty-something Wali is Baitullah's cousin and an Alizai Mehsud by tribe and hails from the village of Tangi in Serwekai.

The next on the list is the young, brash and aggressive Hakeemullah Mehsud, until very recently Baitullah's commander for Kurram, Orakzai and Khyber tribal regions before he was recalled to South Waziristan to face off a possible military operation.

Hakeemullah, who once worked as Baitullah's driver, was considered to be very close to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan leader and was widely considered to be his likely successor.

"Baitullah had groomed him well for the task," a senior military official said. "He could be a natural choice, but his shooting-from-the-hip attitude may actually down his chances."

The third in the line of serious contenders is little known 50-year-old Azmatullah Mehsud, a Taliban commander in Barwand.

"The failure by the shura to quickly come up with a Baitullah successor indicates a power struggle within the key players," a senior government official said.

"It's not just the key players within the Mehsud clans wanting the mantle of leadership, the Ahmadzai Wazir militants in Wana and the Utmankhels' leader in Miramshah would like to take on the mantle. They are lobbying and jockeying for power," the official said.

"And I think the Haqqani-Al Qaeda network will play a pivotal role in the whole process," the official said, referring to Siraj Haqqani, son of veteran Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani.

The young Haqqani, often referred to as Khalifa Siraj, is Mullah Omar's pointman for North and South Waziristan. Baitullah had taken oath of allegiance to Khalifa Siraj, who had helped the 37-year-old gain leadership of the Taliban in South Waziristan at the expense of the one-legged former Guantanamo detainee, Abdullah Mehsud.

But government and security officials watching the scene unfolding in South Waziristan say Baitullah's death is a major setback for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.

"This is a big setback for them. Baitullah was a phenomenon. It will take them a considerable time to regain their composure," the security official said.

"The man has taken a lot of secrets with himself and for any successor will need a lot of time to rebuild and re-establish various linkages and connect the dots," the official said.

"He was the Osama bin Laden of Pakistan," remarked a senior analyst. "Consider the damage his death would cause to his movement."

The TTP has suffered major setbacks in Bajaur, Mohmand and Swat and the death of Baitullah will further dent its strength, the official said. "It may now longer be the TTP that we knew," he remarked.

Still some security officials warned it was too early to write off the TTP. "You will have to wait to see who succeeds Baitullah before making any presumptions. A lot will depend on the character of the man who steps into Baitullah's shoes. There will be call for blood and revenge from the rank and file of the Taliban and then he will also have to establish his credentials and leadership. So there may be some fireworks in the offing," one official remarked.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

Pakistan: Officials Claim Taliban Leader Dead in Succession Fight in Waziristan

SAP20090809110021 Karachi Dawn Online in English 09 Aug 09

[Report by Pazir Gul: TTP leader dead in succession fight?]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

MIRAMSHAH, Aug 8: A key Taliban commander was killed in a struggle over succession to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud at a shura meeting in South Waziristan, government and security officials said on Saturday.

Baitullah was killed, along with his wife, in a US Predator strike on Wednesday.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik confirmed reports of a shootout at the shura meeting and said that one of the commanders had been killed.

According to sources, commanders Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman, the two leading contenders for the chief slot, exchanged hot words at the shura meeting in Sara Rogha over the choosing of a successor to Baitullah. A shootout followed, leading to the death of Hakeemullah while causing life-threatening injuries to Waliur Rehman.

However, a government official in Peshawar said that both Hakeemullah and Waliur Rehman had been killed in the clash.

The names of Hakeemullah, Waliur Rehman and 50-year-old Azmatullah Mehsud were shortlisted at a meeting of senior Taliban leaders from the Mehsud tribe, but a decision was put off following differences over who would succeed the slain leader.

There was no independent confirmation of the reported shooting. A Taliban commander denied that any clash had taken place.

"There is a serious power struggle going on," the government official said.

Hakeemullah had replaced Waliur Rehman as commander in Kurram. He belonged to a rival group led by Qari Hussain, widely known as the Ustad-i-Fidayeen (teacher of suicide bombers).

"I think the Haqqanis will now intervene to resolve the leadership dispute," the official said, referring to Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of veteran Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani and Mullah Omar's point man for North and South Waziristan.

Former interior minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao agreed with the assessment. He told a private TV channel that the Haqqanis had been mediating in the past to resolve leadership issues in tribal areas and it was likely that they would intervene again to help throw up a consensus candidate.

Mehsud's death: A Taliban spokesman and a deputy to Baitullah Mehsud claimed on Saturday that the chief of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan was not dead, contradicting another aide who had confirmed Mehsud's death a day earlier.

Mehsud's deputy, Hakimullah, and Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar each called two separate Associated Press reporters on Saturday to say that Mehsud was alive. They pledged evidence of his continued existence would be brought forth in the coming days.

The reports of his death "are just to discourage and destroy the morale of the Taliban", Umar said.

He said Mehsud was with his fighters "sound and fit" and not even injured. He said Mehsud would not be provoked into coming out into the open so soon because that would make him a target.

Hakimullah described reports of Mehsud's death as "ridiculous" and said it was "the handiwork of the intelligence agencies". Asked if Mehsud could call AP, he said it was not possible at the moment.

And asked why he did not refute the reports of Mehsud's death earlier, the militant did not answer.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

Taliban Denies Shootout in 'Power Struggle' To Replace Leader at Shura

FEA20090809883302 - OSC Feature - Dawn Online 09 Aug 09

[Report by Pazir Gul: TTP leader dead in succession fight?]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

MIRAMSHAH, Aug 8: A key Taliban commander was killed in a struggle over succession to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud at a shura meeting in South Waziristan, government and security officials said on Saturday.

Baitullah was killed, along with his wife, in a US Predator strike on Wednesday.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik confirmed reports of a shootout at the shura meeting and said that one of the commanders had been killed.

According to sources, commanders Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman, the two leading contenders for the chief slot, exchanged hot words at the shura meeting in Sara Rogha over the choosing of a successor to Baitullah. A shootout followed, leading to the death of Hakeemullah while causing life-threatening injuries to Waliur Rehman.

However, a government official in Peshawar said that both Hakeemullah and Waliur Rehman had been killed in the clash.

The names of Hakeemullah, Waliur Rehman and 50-year-old Azmatullah Mehsud were shortlisted at a meeting of senior Taliban leaders from the Mehsud tribe, but a decision was put off following differences over who would succeed the slain leader.

There was no independent confirmation of the reported shooting. A Taliban commander denied that any clash had taken place.

"There is a serious power struggle going on," the government official said.

Hakeemullah had replaced Waliur Rehman as commander in Kurram. He belonged to a rival group led by Qari Hussain, widely known as the Ustad-i-Fidayeen (teacher of suicide bombers).

"I think the Haqqanis will now intervene to resolve the leadership dispute," the official said, referring to Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of veteran Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani and Mullah Omar's point man for North and South Waziristan.

Former interior minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao agreed with the assessment. He told a private TV channel that the Haqqanis had been mediating in the past to resolve leadership issues in tribal areas and it was likely that they would intervene again to help throw up a consensus candidate.

Mehsud's death: A Taliban spokesman and a deputy to Baitullah Mehsud claimed on Saturday that the chief of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan was not dead, contradicting another aide who had confirmed Mehsud's death a day earlier.

Mehsud's deputy, Hakimullah, and Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar each called two separate Associated Press reporters on Saturday to say that Mehsud was alive. They pledged evidence of his continued existence would be brought forth in the coming days.

The reports of his death "are just to discourage and destroy the morale of the Taliban", Umar said.

He said Mehsud was with his fighters "sound and fit" and not even injured. He said Mehsud would not be provoked into coming out into the open so soon because that would make him a target.

Hakimullah described reports of Mehsud's death as "ridiculous" and said it was "the handiwork of the intelligence agencies". Asked if Mehsud could call AP, he said it was not possible at the moment.

And asked why he did not refute the reports of Mehsud's death earlier, the militant did not answer.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

Delhi Article: TTP To Survive 'Momentary Decapitation' in Wake of Leader's Death

SAP20090811494008 New Delhi Outlook in English 10 Aug 09

[Article by Kanchan Lakshman, research fellow, Institute for Conflict Management; assistant editor, Faultlines: Writings on Conflict & Resolution. Courtesy the South Asia Intelligence Review of the South Asia Terrorism Portal: "Momentary Decapitation"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

Within weeks of Nek Muhammad's death, Baitullah Mehsud had emerged as the principal 'commander' for Taliban. The TTP remains intact - It will survive Baitullah Mehsud's death.

Quoting intelligence reports on August 7, 2009, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi confirmed that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack which targeted his father-in-law Maulana Ikramuddin's house in the Laddha sub-division of South Waziristan on August 5. "Based on information gleaned from intelligence reports, the news of Baitullah's death is correct. But we are going for ground verification, and when the information has been confirmed, then we will be 100 percent sure," he told reporters in Islamabad.

He also told BBC Radio that it was "pretty certain" that the Taliban chief was dead. A Taliban commander and aide to Baitullah Mehsud, Kafayatullah, meanwhile, told Associated Press: "I confirm that Baitullah Mehsud and his wife died in the American missile attack in South Waziristan."

Reports since August 5 have indicated that Taliban commanders were meeting in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to choose a successor. It was, however, unclear when they might make an announcement. There is strong speculation that the strongest contenders for the leadership are Hakimullah Mehsud, Maulana Azmatullah and Wali-ur-Rehman. Hakimullah Mehsud, for long an important leader in the Taliban hierarchy and a deputy to Baitullah, commands the TTP militants in the Orakzai, Khyber and Kurram Agencies of FATA.

Azmatullah, like his slain chief Baitullah, hails from the Shahbikhel sub-tribe of the Mehsud tribe. He is an important 'commander' and also a member of the Taliban shura (executive council). Wali-ur-Rehman, another prominent member of the shura, was a former spokesman and deputy of Baitullah Mehsud. There has been a power struggle within the TTP for quite some time now and that explains the delay in announcing Baitullah's death and the successor.

There are also some unconfirmed reports that an ailing Baitullah had already announced Wali-ur-Rehman as his successor before he died.

Whoever assumes the TTP leadership, there will be some strain on the unity and ranks. One of the crucial qualities that distinguished Baitullah from the other Taliban commanders was his ability to forge unity and consistently maintain a coalition of tribal loyalties, not an easy task, given the diversity and mutual tribal antagonisms that dominate the social and political matrix in the FATA.

As confirmation of Baitullah's death comes, it will constitute a critical setback for the TTP, inflicting a measure of demoralisation among the rank and file. The TTP, however, which has exhibited the characteristics of a wider movement, is not over-dependent on personalities. Under some continuous pressure from both US Predator strikes and the Pakistan Army's campaign of bombings and missile and artillery strikes, moreover, the TTP will have anticipated the possible neutralization of some of its leaders, and can be expected to have prepared for such an eventuality. If the past trajectory is any indication, there will be another leader in the saddle soon enough, to carry on the jihad.

Crucially, the TTP's strategic goals are not expected to undergo any radical change under any of the possible successors. A strong anti-US agenda will, indeed, be further intensified as news of Baitullah's death in a US Predator strike sinks in, and the TTP's extreme hostility to the establishment at Islamabad can only worsen. There will certainly be some changes in tactics, but these are likely to have minimal strategic impact, and cannot be expected to diminish the group's capacity for orchestrating violence and subversion in the region.

Under Baitullah Mehsud, the TTP had been able to create a wider corps of warriors, whose exact strength is not known, though Pakistani reports mentions up to 20,000 to 30,000 armed men, including 2,000 to 3,000 foreign militants. In case the power struggle within the TTP intensifies in the immediate future, however, the Al Qaeda may assume a larger role in shaping the TTP's strategic direction. Any further fissures within the TTP may, for instance, allow Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani aka Khalifa Siraj, who are more closely linked to Al Qaeda and with their safe havens in Waziristan, to come to dominate the TTP. The Afghan Taliban would also like to have a TTP chief who is more open to operational co-operation, especially for attacks on the US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

In the weeks and months to come, Islamabad and Washington will naturally use their intelligence assets within the TTP to exploit and deepen whatever fissures there are at the moment within the group. It remains to be seen how these assets will be able to take advantage of the momentary disarray. There has been much talk of a dialogue with the 'good Taliban'. The US Administration continues its quest for a 'negotiated settlement' with the 'good Taliban' in Afghanistan. The success of the US Administration's much touted 'AfPak strategy' depends largely on weakening the Taliban militarily and subsequently negotiating with them from a position of strength.

This necessarily involves the futile search for what has been described as the 'moderate Taliban' or worse still, the 'good Taliban'. Despite the repeated failures of such a quest, successive regimes in both Washington and Islamabad continue to pin their hopes on this irrational 'strategy'. The diverse streams of the Taliban share the same ideological vision and strategy of terrorist violence. Most Islamist terrorist groups in Pakistan - be it the TTP, Taliban, Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), or others - have the same ideological worldview, and are integrally interlinked. These linkages and common ideological foundations underpin the essential logic and dynamic of their operations.

There is some euphoria in Islamabad's strategic establishment over Baitullah Mehsud's death, though any possible Pakistani role cannot have gone beyond the provision of ground intelligence, and the eventual strike was carried out by a US drone. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has described Baitullah Mehsud as a murderous thug and, while there may be considerable anger against Islamabad among TTP partisans, it is America which will be reinforced as the evil kafir (unbeliever) on the ground in FATA and elsewhere in Pakistan. Anti-US sentiments, already at a high in Pakistan, are consequently bound to amplify in the immediate future, and can be expected to be transformed into targeted violence, both within Pakistan and Afghanistan and against American interests elsewhere in the world.

The leadership issue within the TTP will, inevitably, be settled one way or another. Once that happens, the commanders and foot-soldiers from various regions will regroup, and, in the days ahead, calls for revenge will grow loud. There are bound to be retaliatory attacks, including suicide bombings and fidayeen (suicide squad) attacks. In Afghanistan, this can only complicate an already difficult situation, with elections for a new President scheduled for August 20, 2009. Almost half of Afghanistan, incidentally, is already at a high risk of attack by the Taliban and other militants or is under "enemy control," an Afghan government map shows, an indication of the grim state of play before presidential elections.

The threat assessment map, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, shows 133 of Afghanistan's 356 Districts as "high-risk areas" with at least 13 under "enemy control." The map shows virtually "the entire south of the country under extreme risk of attack, a vast swathe stretching from Farah in the west through Helmand province in the south and east toward provinces such as Paktia and Nangarhar near the Pakistan border." An independent assessment by the International Council on Security and Development described the Taliban as having achieved a "permanent presence" in as much as 72 per cent of Afghan territory by the end of 2008.

At another level, Baitullah's killing further underlines the reality that Pakistan will act against terrorist groups on its soil only when its hand is forced. Baitullah, it needs to underscored, was long propped up by Pakistani state agencies as a 'strategic asset', until he and the TTP turned renegade after the ham-handed Lal Masjid operation in Islamabad in July 2007. Despite their operations against Islamabad and its authority across the country, Pakistan's response against the TTP remained muted, till intense US pressure, the rising bloodbath in Swat and the collapse of the state in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) forced an escalating military response - albeit one that was indiscriminate and ineffective, overwhelmingly targeting and displacing civilians. Significantly, jihadi groups that target India and Afghanistan, which continue to be regarded as Pakistan's strategic assets, have escaped state action, despite increasing global and particularly US pressure.

While there is bound to be some momentary disarray within the TTP and a possible, though brief, respite from the violence, Baitullah's death will not result in any far-reaching reversal of Islamabad's fortunes, as far as the multiple insurgencies afflicting Pakistan are concerned. It may be recalled that the neutralization of the then Taliban 'commander' for Pakistan, Nek Muhammad, in a missile attack in South Waziristan on June 18, 2004, also provoked wildly optimistic assessments, but failed to establish any measure of peace or stability in the region. In fact, within weeks of Nek Muhammad's death, Baitullah Mehsud emerged as the principal 'commander' in the region. After forging unity among 13 militant factions and a degree of military consolidation, Baitullah declared himself leader of the Pakistan Taliban sometime in late 2007.

The TTP remains intact, despite the temporary reversals in Swat and Malakand Division of the Frontier, and in spite of all earlier military operations. It will survive Baitullah Mehsud's death and its momentary decapitation.

[Description of Source: New Delhi in English -- Website of weekly news magazine Outlook, specializing in foreign affairs and investigative reports; URL: ]

Indian Commentary: Mahsud's Killing in Pakistan Signals No End of Taliban Problem

SAP20090813384004 New Delhi The Times of India Online in English 13 Aug 09

[Commentary by G Parthasarathy, former high commissioner to Pakistan: "Mission Not Accomplished"]

At around 1 a.m. on August 5, a pilot-less US drone hovering across the Durand Line moved in and fired two 'Hellfire' missiles at a house in a remote village in the tribal area of South Waziristan. The house was owned by the father-in-law of Pakistan's most wanted terrorist, Baitullah Mehsud. Despite his supporters' denials, it seems more than plausible that Baitullah perished in the deadly missile strike. Alluding to the attack, Pakistani strategic analyst Ayesha Siddiqa observed: "He (Baitullah) was originally supported by the military and ISI. But he had begun to bite the hand that fed him. His death was a powerful signal to them all."

Baitullah had, after all, been an ISI "asset". Pakistan's military signed a landmark ceasefire agreement with him in 2005, which gave him control over South Waziristan. Baitullah, however, turned a bitter foe of the military after it stormed the Lal Masjid in Islamabad and killed hundreds of young Pashtun women from the tribal areas, in July 2007. The action ordered by General Pervez Musharraf came after radical clerics took over the masjid and virtually held the capital hostage. Following this, Baitullah united Taliban groups operating across the seven tribal areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, under the Tehrik-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan's (TTP) banner. Apart from launching attacks on army and ISI personnel in cities like Rawalpindi and Lahore, the TTP humiliated the army by forcing the surrender of a convoy of 243 army personnel on November 4, 2007.

The popular belief in Pakistan is that Baitullah masterminded Benazir Bhutto's assassination. Predictably, the ISI built the myth that he was actually an agent of the CIA, KHAD (Afghan Intelligence) and India's R&AW! Now that he has been eliminated by a CIA missile, the Americans would possibly be exonerated of this cardinal sin.

But Baitullah is merely one of dozens of Taliban leaders in Pakistan, where the classification appears to be that if you kill American and Afghan soldiers after crossing the Durand Line into Afghanistan, you are officially 'good Taliban', to be armed, trained and backed by the ISI. But if you combine such activity with attempts to create unrest in Pakistan, you are categorised as 'bad Taliban', and eliminated.

While the army, ISI and a large section of the public in Pakistan are overjoyed at Baitullah's killing by the otherwise much-reviled Americans, it would not be prudent to believe that his removal will signal any change in the ISI's approach of supporting the Taliban leaders it favours. Notable amongst the commanders of the 'good Taliban' are veteran Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin, who executed the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul in July 2008.

Sections in the Pentagon have, despite strong evidence to the contrary, been giving good conduct certificates to General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and suggesting that only rogue elements in the ISI have been assisting the Taliban. The Americans will soon find that the army establishment has no intention of reining in the Taliban, operating from the tribal areas to attack American, coalition and Afghan troops across the Durand Line in Afghanistan. Would the Americans then be ready to launch drone attacks unilaterally targeting the Taliban political leadership in Baluchistan, or Taliban commanders like Haqqani in the tribal areas? Unlike India, the US acts firmly on issues pertaining to the security of its citizens and soldiers.

While the Americans plan to reduce their military presence in Afghanistan only after significantly degrading Taliban capabilities, the ISI appears determined to bolster the Taliban, with the objective of making Afghanistan a Taliban-dominated client state. A hurried American withdrawal, with the Taliban still posing a threat to Afghanistan, will have serious implications for India. An emboldened ISI commenced support for its jihad in Kashmir after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1988. It would be similarly emboldened to step up terrorist attacks across India once it is persuaded that its borders along the Durand Line with Afghanistan are secure, with the Taliban providing 'strategic depth' in Afghanistan.

India should work with the US and its NATO allies, and also with Russia, Iran and Afghanistan's Central Asian neighbours like Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, to ensure that Afghanistan's elected government is backed diplomatically, financially and militarily to deal with challenges from across the Durand Line, even after presidential elections later this month.

Buoyed by its diplomatic 'triumph' in Sharm el-Sheikh, Pakistan now threatens that there can be no durable peace in the subcontinent till the Kashmir 'dispute' is settled to its satisfaction. Surely, one way to deal with the emerging scenario is for India to make common cause with its Afghan friends and assert that the Durand Line is a disputed frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan, while expressing the hope that this 'dispute' would be resolved in a manner that fulfils the aspirations of Pashtuns on both sides of the border. No genuine Pashtun leader, including Mullah Omar, accepts the legitimacy of the Durand Line as an international border.

[Description of Source: New Delhi The Times of India Online in English -- Website of the largest English daily, flagship of the The Times of India Group, which includes leading economic daily Economic Times and Hindi-language Navbharat Times. Usually follows an anti-US editorial policy, good coverage of domestic issues, particularly influential in India's financial center, Mumbai. Circulation of 1.6 million; URL: ]

AFP: Suspected US Missile Strike Kills Three in Pakistan

SAP20090821088001 Hong Kong AFP in English 0017 GMT 21 Aug 09

[AFP Report: "Suspected US missile strike kills three in Pakistan: officials"]

MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan, Aug 21, 2009 (AFP) -

A suspected US missile strike early Friday killed at least three people in a border tribal area of northwest Pakistan known as a Taliban hideout, officials said.

"A missile hit a house at 3:50 am (2150 GMT Thursday). It was a drone attack. The missile targeted a house in Dandey Darda Khel," a Pakistani security official told AFP.

Initial reports said three people were killed in the suspected drone attack near Miran Shan, capital of North Waziristan tribal district, the official said.

Another security official confirmed the attack near the Afghan border but could not give a casualty figure.

Residents of Miran Shah said they heard a huge noise which shattered windows and blew out doors in the town.

Dandey Darda Khel is known to have hideouts belonging to an Afghan Taliban leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani, and was hit in a missile attack last October which killed 11 people.

It also has bases of Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who was reported killed in an August 5 drone missile attack in neighbouring South Waziristan.

Shortly after the missile strike, militants opened fire on a military checkpost near Miran Shah, residents and local officals said.

No further details were immediately available.

The US military does not, as a rule, confirm drone attacks, but its armed forces and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy drones in the region.

Pakistan in late April launched a punishing military offensive against the Taliban in the northwest, targeting the rebels in the districts of Swat, Buner and Lower Dir after militants advanced perilously close to the capital Islamabad.

Last month the military claimed to have cleared the area of the Taliban threat, and vowed to turn their attention to the mountainous tribal belt along the border where Mehsud and his Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan have thrived since 2007.

Pakistani and US officials accuse Mehsud of masterminding the 2007 assassination of ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto and a string of other attacks that have killed hundreds of people here over the last two years.

str-sz/mtp/pch

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Asia Times: 'Karzai's Rival Cries Foul Play'

CPP20090825715026 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0045 GMT 25 Aug 09

[Asia Times report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Karzai's Rival Cries Foul Play"; headline as provided by source]

KABUL - Accusations of fraud and intimidation in last week's presidential and provincial elections in Afghanistan threaten to undermine the efforts of the United States and its allies to have a credible broad-based consensus government that would include the Taliban quickly installed. This is seen as the only viable way to cut deeply at the roots of the insurgency.

Afghanistan's Election Complaints Commission (ECC), which is an independent organization controlled mainly by international officials, says it has received 225 formal complaints. These include charges of intimidation of voters, ballot-box stuffing and bias by officials of Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission. The ECC said its investigations could potentially affect the outcome of the election. Preliminary results of the polls are expected to be released on Tuesday.

Supporters of President Hamid Karzai claim he has received much more than the 51% of total votes cast needed to avoid a runoff with the second-placed candidate.

One of Karzai's main rivals, former foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah, is particularly vocal in claiming widespread fraud. "There were a wide range of discrepancies in the process of the election," Abdullah told Asia Times Online.

"However, I will not give a final judgment concerning the legitimacy of this election until the Election Complaints Commission responds. It depends on how the ECC deals with the complaints, such as common complaints that people could not vote in southern Afghanistan (due to the Taliban's' threats), but still votes were shown in the ballot boxes," Abdullah said at his Kabul residence.

Abdullah's is a modest-looking house, compared to those of other leaders in Kabul. The walls of the drawing room are decorated with paintings and pencil sketches of slain Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. Abdullah is completely unimpressed with the idea of a broad-based consensus government in which he would also share power, along with members of the armed opposition, such as the Taliban and loyalists of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of the Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan, which operates mainly in the northeast of the country.

Sources in the presidential palace in Kabul confirmed to Asia Times Online that soon after the voting was over last Thursday, Karzai called Abdullah and offered him a share of power in a new government.

"I don't think that power-sharing will work. Striking political deals is Hamid Karzai's fixation, as well as his political problem. This is not my problem. Through such heaps of deals, Hamid Karzai's political fiefdom is floating around. Let's suppose tomorrow if I lose the election, what will happen? Nothing. I would still be in the spotlight and would be working and planning for the next round.

"However, if Hamid Karzai loses, this whole setup would be in disarray and then where would Mr Hamid Karzai stand? Nowhere! This whole setup built through deals would be scattered and all his supporters would run away. He simply does not have a power base. Therefore, I have never supported such power-sharing deals. Instead, I have always favored to reach out to the people," Abdullah said.

Abdullah was part of the Northern Alliance which fought against the Taliban when they were in power from 1996 to 2001. The alliance helped drive out the Taliban when the US invaded in late 2001. Now the situation expects Abdullah, as a main political leader, to build bridges with the Taliban. (Abdullah was foreign minister immediately after the Taliban's defeat.)

The soft-spoken Abdullah is dismissive of the whole approach.

"These things cannot possibly happen overnight. Many steps are involved for such a reconciliation process. One of the main reasons why the insurgency is picking up pace is bad governance. The present administration is losing ground and the insurgents are simply filling the void," said Abdullah.

"Tell me, what do you mean by the Taliban?" he asked. "Who are these Taliban? They are from Afghan society. They are the sons of the soil. However, I am not talking about the Talibanization (ideology) and I don't refer to (Taliban leader) Mullah Omar. Do you think he is ready to talk? I don't think so. Therefore, I believe in a separate strategy.

"Things are now changed and improved compared to the past. There was a time when Pakistan and the Pakistanis were supportive of the Taliban, now there is a new realization about them. Pakistan is now against them. Therefore, there is a need to tackle this issue in a new light. Some Taliban are ready to talk, we need to reach out to them under a different arrangement, on a province-by-province basis. The environment is now conducive in the region and the extremist factor can easily be isolated," Abdullah said.

Abdullah believes that such an agreement is possible in broader terms, but he does not have a road map as to how extremist factors can be isolated and who the influential commanders are that could be separated from Mullah Omar. This is a problem shared by the many Western diplomats who spoke to Asia Times Online.

An important character in this debate is the influential Jalaluddin Haqqani, the head of the largest insurgency network in Afghanistan. Abdullah interacted with Haqqani during the jihad in Afghanistan against the Soviets in the 1980s.

"That group (Haqqani's) is already isolated from the Quetta shura (the Taliban's ruling council). They have separate policies and plans other than Mullah Omar," Abdullah said.

However, Asia Times Online's interaction with the Haqqani network tells a different story. Despite all efforts by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence after September 11, 2001, Haqqani never left Mullah Omar. He and his son Sirajuddin are still part of Mullah Omar's commanders' council and coordinate all their activities in concert with the Taliban's policies.

Abdullah believes that the idea of talks with Hekmatyar is also a figment of the imagination of a few minds.

"I really don't trust that a person like a former aide of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Daoud Abedi, sitting in the US, could approach Hekmatyar. Several people have been saying that they have also exchanged messages with Hekmatyar, but I don't think that these negotiations are going anywhere. I was never personally involved in such negotiations, though Hekmatyar's son-in-law, Himayoun Jarir, an intellectual and a soft-spoken Pansheri, is a good friend of mine," Abdullah said.

"Honestly, Afghanistan cannot afford political wheeling and dealing. It needs a straight-forward approach to correct things. The first and foremost thing Afghans require is a quick and swift justice system; this is the root of every problem and all turmoil.

"The communists (in the early 1990s) pledged a justice system, but they failed to deliver and the people rose against them. They (then) expected the mujahideen would provide such a system, but mujahideen infighting tarnished their image and people turned to the Taliban in the hope that the Taliban would provide them a quick justice system. But the Taliban forgot their cause and became involved in other things, therefore they were unpopular.

"The present democracy in Afghanistan was a new system, but in the last several years it has also failed to provide justice to the people, and therefore we find that the insurgency is taking root," Abdullah said.

Commenting on an observation that Karzai was likely to win in the first phase of elections and that dialogue with the Taliban had to begin at all costs and as quickly as possible, Abdullah said with a long sigh, "If this is true... then this country will suffer the same fate as it has now."

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

French Commentary Considers Challenge of Ousting Al-Qa'ida From Waziristan

EUP20090909029002 Paris LeMonde.fr in French 09 Sep 09

[Commentary by Frederic Bobin: "The Sanctuary of Waziristan"]

Tora Bora under fire from US B-52s was both an end and a beginning. In December 2001, when the international forces backed up by the tribal militia "cleaned up" the caves in these mountains in eastern Afghanistan, where the routed Al-Qa'ida command was believed to have sought refuge, it was indeed the end of an era. That when Usama Bin Ladin's transnational jihad had made the Afghanistan of the Taliban a sanctuary state, the launch pad for 11 September and many other previous attacks.

But it was also a beginning, the start of a reconstitution in different forms and in other places. Tora Bora was empty or nearly empty as thousands of Al-Qa'ida fighters had found the time to cross the nearby border with Pakistan. They regrouped in the Shawal Valley, in Pakistan's North Waziristan, the stronghold of rebel tribes. They passed through the region before melting into the populous cities of the "Land of the Pure."

It was something of a return to roots, a return to a country to which the Afghan Mujahadin had already fled when fighting the Soviet occupation. Pakistan, and its Pashtun border area in particular, was at the time the melting pot for radical Islam where Usama Bin Ladin has begun his career as fighter for the jihad. But times had changed. Pakistan, which on the instructions of the CIA had armed and financed these fighters in the name of the anti-communist cause, was charged now with hunting down those who had escaped from Tora Bora.

The US sponsor placed great pressure on General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president at he time. The dilemma was painful for Islamabad. Washington cash on the nail, cancelled the debts, diplomatically rehabilitated a country isolated by its nuclear ambitions. But ceding to the commands of George Bush was politically dangerous. Pakistani public opinion was fiercely hostile. What is more, the ISI [Interservices Intelligence], the army secret service, was reluctant to sacrifice jihadists who had long been "cosseted" to serve Pakistan's geopolitical interests, especially against the Indian rival.

It was time for some difficult changes of policy. Mr. Musharraf resolved to cooperate with Washington, the price for continuing to count, albeit feebly, in the new Afghanistan. He therefore offered guarantees to the United States. During this first period (2002-2004), the "war on terror" was played out in the large cities, far from the tribal zones. Al-Qa'ida figures were arrested: Abu-Zubaydah (in Faisalabad), Ramzi Bin-al-Shibah (in Karachi), Khaled Sheikh Mohammed (in Quetta), Mustaffa Ahmed Hawsawi (in Rawalpindi), Naim Nour Mohammed Khan (in Lahore), Ahmad Khalfan al-Ghailani (in Gujrat) and Abu Faraj al-Libbi (in Mardan). These senior figures -- operational commanders, accountants, computer experts -- had played a leading role in many Al-Qaida attacks, including preparations for 11 September 2001 (Khalid Sheikh Mohammed).

The captures were significant, but Bin Ladin and his righthand man Ayman al-Zawahiri were still at large. Mr. Musharraf denied that they were in Pakistan, a denial that left the US Secret Service skeptical. Whatever the case, it seems that in around 2004 Waziristan (North and South), a tribal enclave in the rugged terrain bordering the border with Afghanistan, once again became the sanctuary it was during the war against the Soviets. This semi-autonomous zone is inhabited by rebellious Pashtun tribes that no power, including the British in the 19th century, has ever been able to subdue.

Following the major collapse of late 2001, the Taliban and their Al-Qa'ida allies reconstituted their forces, liaising with the Taliban command that had fallen back to Quetta, principal town in the Pakistani region of Baloutchistan. The ISI knew very well that Mullah Omar, figurehead of the ousted Taliban regime, ruled as head of this shura (council) in Quetta. But the order given was not to disturb him. Islamabad wanted to regain a part of its historical influence over the movement in order to continue to play a role in the Afghan theater.

The Americans did not make an issue of this as they were now more concerned with Al-Qa'ida than with the Taliban. They were less concerned with Quetta than with Waziristan that they saw as posing the real threat. What they wanted was for the Pakistani Army to intervene to oust the "foreign combatants," the term applied to the Arabs, Uzbeks, and Chechens enlisted in the international jihad. Once again, President Musharraf ceded, at least in part. Following the urban raids a new stage opened in 2004, that of tribal warfare. It began with South Waziristan where the army clashed with the Wazir tribe and then the Mehsud. The fighting then spread to North Waziristan.The army suffered heavy losses and was forced to negotiate local agreements, testimony to its impotence. But it did achieve one thing: The expulsion of some of the foreign combatants, members of the Uzbekistan Islamic Movement, whose leader is the very controversial Tahir Yuldashev. His supporters behaved so badly, offending local sensitivities, that a Taliban leader from South Waziristan, Mullah Nazir, and one from North Waziristan, Hafiz Gul Dahadur, demanded their departure.

But this does not mean that Al-Qa'ida has been evicted from the area, quite the opposite. In North Waziristan, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who rules the area, is on the very best of terms with the Haqqani network (named after Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran of the anti-Soviet jihad) whose links with Bin Ladin are well known. From his base in North Waziristan, Jalaluddin Haqqani, today supported by his son Sirajuddin, lunches attacks on NATO troops in the neighboring Afghan provinces of Paktia, Paktika, Khost and even beyond. The most lethal suicide attacks in Kabul or other Afghan cities are generally attributed to the Haqqani network. As this network concentrates on Afghanistan and avoids attacking Pakistan, Islamabad turns a blind eye.

The Americans have therefore taken the matter in hand, alone. Since 2008 drone attacks on Haqqani network targets have increased around Miranshani, capital of North Waziristan. A new Tora Bora?

[Description of Source: Paris LeMonde.fr in French -- Website of Le Monde, leading center-left daily; URL: ]

Pakistan: US Drone Attack in North Waziristan Kills 13 Taliban

SAP20090911100008 Islamabad Khabrain in Urdu 10 Sep 09 pp 3, 6

["Four More Persons Injured in Waziristan Drone Attack Succumb; Number of Those Killed Rises to 13" -- NNI headline]

Wana -- Authorities in North Waziristan say that four persons injured in a drone attack on 8 September night have succumbed and the number of the people killed has reached 13.

Political authorities say that nearly 20 suspected militants were present in a Taliban compound in Dargah Mandi, North Waziristan, at the time the US drones attacked. According to them, nine suspected Taliban were killed on spot and 11 others were injured, out of whom four succumbed to injuries later.

The authorities say that most of those killed belonged to southern district of Lakki Marwat. According to unconfirmed reports, a commander -- Maulana Ismail -- was also killed. He is stated to be from the network of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a commander wanted by the United States.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Khabrain in Urdu -- Sensationalist daily, generally opposes Pakistan People's Party. Circulation of 30,000.]

Afghanistan: Taliban Commander Announces More Suicide Attacks 'Over Coming Days'

EUP20090918025001 Turin La Stampa.it in Italian 18 Sep 09

["Behind-the-scenes" report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "One of the Masterminds Behind the Attacks -- a Taliban Leader -- Speaks: "20 More Martyrs Ready in Capital"]

Islamabad -- The Haqqani clan, which has its base in Khost, in northern Waziristan, lies behind the attacks yesterday on the NATO convoy. Ever since the Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani has been seriously ill, all power has been in the hands of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the son of the man who was a legendary Afghan commander in the days of the Soviet invasion. The spokesman of the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, has admitted responsibility in the form of a message written to the media, but he has not answered phone calls.

Yesterday's attack reflects improvements in the ability of the Taliban to strike their targets. The time was also carefully chosen: it coincides with the difficult post-election phase in Afghanistan, with Karzai's government having to address the charges of electoral fraud, and possible, future political instability.

"It was a joint operation, which multiple factors contributed to," stated a commander of the Haqqani clan, who uses the nom de guerre Abu Abdullah, because only the spokesman of the Taliban is authorized to speak. "The operation was planned by Sirajuddin Haqqani. Two dozen men were sent from Khos [spelling of place name as received; reference appears to be to Khost] to Kabul, at several different times, and placed here and there in safe houses belonging to aiders and abetters of the Taliban. One of them was chosen for this suicide mission. The others are awaiting their turn: there will be further operations over the coming days."

According to Abu Abdullah, the attack was completely coordinated by the pro-Taliban figures living in Kabul, who have deeply-rooted offshoots within the local administration, and who are able to find out the movements of the NATO convoys. Along the road an observation point was set up, from where the Taliban saw the three NATO vehicles advance. At that point, the suicide attacker's car was sent forward with the order to strike the one in the middle. Abu Abdullah claims that the people on duty at the observation point, which relied on information from local people, confirmed the success of the mission, in which, according to them, and unlike what was said by Italian Defense Minister La Russa, all three vehicles were destroyed, and 25 NATO soldiers killed. "This is one of the many successful attacks on NATO troops, which have had the active support of the masses, who act in the same way as those who used to help the resistance against the Soviets. If God is willing, we will also carry out similar actions in the future," promised Abu Abdullah.

This is the fourth serious attack in five weeks, and it reminds us that the Taliban are increasing their presence inside and around the Afghan capital. This year they have made a substantial change to their strategy. Instead of carrying out guerrilla operations -- such as in spring 2006, with more deaths on their side than on the side of their enemies -- now they are using explosive devices to strike the NATO convoys, as well as targeted suicide attacks. Most of their activities now take place in urban centers, instead of in areas in southern Afghanistan. Eighty percent of their objectives have been hit. In all this attack plan, it is the network of Sirajuddin Haqqani that emerges as the most powerful command, the one which has inflicted most losses on the NATO troops in Kabul.

[Description of Source: Turin La Stampa.it in Italian -- Website of centrist daily owned by Fiat's Agnelli family; URL: ]

US drone strike said kill 10 militants in Pakistan tribal area

SAP20090925950001 Karachi Geo TV website in English 2014 GMT 24 Sep 09

C:

Text of report by leading private Pakistani satellite TV channel Geo News website on 24 September

Miranshah: A US drone attack on Thursday [24 September] killed 10 militants from a network fighting Western troops in Afghanistan at their compound in the tribal belt, officials said.

The strike from a suspected US spy plane was the fourth this month in North Waziristan, where militants linked to Taleban and Al-Qa'idah who are fighting against 100,000 US and NATO troops in Afghanistan are said to be hiding.

"Ten dead bodies were recovered from the debris of the house and two militants were wounded in the attack," a Pakistani security official told media on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Another official and residents confirmed the same toll, but one official in the semi-autonomous North Waziristan district said seven people were killed.

"The target was a compound of Haqqani's men. According to our reports all of the dead belong to the Haqqani network," the official said.

The Haqqani network is a powerful group based in northwest Pakistan closely linked to Al-Qa'idah and known for its ruthless and sophisticated attacks, including an assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamed Karzai in 2008. "One missile fired by a US drone hit the house of Afghan national Ahmad Afghani," said a security official.

There were unconfirmed reports that one of the sons of former Soviet resistance commander in Afghanistan, Jalaluddin Haqqani, is called Ahmad.

"We are investigating whether it was the son or not," a security official told media after the attack in Dandy Darpa Khel area, five kilometres (three miles) northwest of Miranshah in the North Waziristan tribal district.

The targeted building acted as an office where militants would come to receive orders and rest between bouts of fighting across the border in Afghanistan, local residents and intelligence officials said.

It was not clear whether Ahmad Afghani was present at the time of the attack. Five other people were injured but the identities of the casualties were not clear given the remote location and late hour of the attack.

[Description of Source: Karachi Geo TV website in English ]

Pakistan: Drone Strike Kills Eight in North Waziristan

SAP20090925348001 Karachi Dawn Online in English 25 Sep 09

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

MIRAMSHAH: Eight people were killed and two others injured when two missiles fired by a drone hit the Markaz of Afghan commander Ahmad Haqqani, son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, in Dandi Derpakhel area of North Waziristan on Thursday night [ 24 September].

The area is a stronghold of the Taliban and Jalaluddin Haqqani is believed to be living here.Jalaluddin Haqqani, it may be mentioned, was a minister in the Taliban government of Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

Pakistan: Two Drone Attacks Leave 12 Militants Dead in North, South Waziristan

SAP20090930103001 Karachi Dawn Online in English 30 Sep 09

[Report by Pazir Gul, Sailab Mehsud: Two drone attacks kill 12 militants]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

MIRAMSHAH/WANA, Sept 29: Twelve militants, some foreigners among them, were killed and another six injured in two US drone attacks in North and South Waziristan on Tuesday.

A drone fired two missiles at the house of Irfan Shamankhel, son of Sher Alam Mehsud, a local commander of the banned Tehrik Taliban Pakistan in South Waziristan. The foreigners killed in the attack remained unidentified.

Since the death of Baitullah Mehsud in a drone attack in August, 65 Taliban, including local and foreigners, have been killed in 10 attacks by US drones in South Waziristan.

An intelligence official told Dawn that the US drones had been hovering above the Sara Rogha area since morning and a thick column of smoke started billowing from the house after the attack. The house that came under attack was reduced to ashes.

Since 2004, militancy has spread across the South Waziristan Agency, reducing powers of political authorities.

Officials at the office of the political agent expressed ignorance about the incident, but the intelligence official confirmed that the attack had taken place.

Fears of a military operation in South Waziristan have touched off a wave of migration to adjacent Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts.

In another attack in the evening, two missiles were fired from a drone on the house of Mustafa in Dandy Darpakhel. North Waziristan. Seven militants were killed and five others injured. Local people said that militants had cordoned off the entire area and were retrieving bodies. Sources said that Mustafa was an Afghan national and had close relations with Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani. Thick smoke was seen rising from the compound.

Agencies add: Unmanned drones have carried out more than 70 missile attacks in the border region over the last year, but Washington rarely acknowledges the strikes. The United States says the mountainous region is a base for militant attacks on American and other Nato troops in Afghanistan and a stronghold of Al Qaeda's senior leadership.

South Waziristan has seen a spike in violence in recent days, including suicide attacks and rocket and mortar exchanges between the Taliban and the Pakistani army. The army has moved into other areas in the northwest over the last year, but has so far avoided major operations in Waziristan.

Residents of Dandey Darpakhel village, the scene of the second strike, said they saw drones flying over the area for hours before the strike.

"We heard big explosions," said villager Ahmad Hasan. "I went to the scene and saw three bodies. I also saw three or four people with serious wounds."

The village is home to a religious seminary of Al Qaeda-linked Taliban leader Siraj Haqqani. The US has accused the Haqqani network of masterminding beheadings and suicide bombings in Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

Pakistan: Al-Jazirah Reports on Taliban Attacks in Lahore, Movement's 'Control'

GMP20091015648001 Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic 15 Oct 09

[For a copy of the video, contact GSG_GVP_VideoOps@rccb. or the OSC Customer Center at (800) 205-8615. Selected video also available at .]

Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic at 0503 GMT on 15 October carries the following announcer-read report:

"Al-Jazirah correspondent in Islamabad has said that unidentified gunmen attacked three Pakistani security offices in Lahore, eastern Pakistan, this morning. The offices were the Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency [FIA], a police training center, and a training center for the Elite Forces of the Pakistani Police. The FIA attack resulted in killing five people; two officers, a policeman, and two assailants. In a telephone call made to a local Pakistani satellite channel, the Taliban Movement claimed responsibility for the attacks.

"The Lahore attacks came a few hours after a suicide bomber driving a booby-trapped car attacked a police station in Kohat in northwestern Pakistan, resulting in killing 10 people and wounding 12 others, including civilians."

Immediately afterward, Al-Jazirah carries a seven-minute live satellite interview with Ahmad Zaydan, Al-Jazirah's bureau chief in Islamabad. Speaking of the Lahore attacks and casualties, Zaydan says that the Taliban Pakistan "has shifted its military operations" to Lahore, the Punjab region, which is considered to be "the hub of the Pakistani Army," adding: "This shift worries the Pakistani Army as its hub is in danger. The first attack targeted the FIA, which the Taliban gunmen believe to be one of the dangerous offices where interrogation of Al-Qa'ida figures and key Taliban leaders takes place in coordination with the United States. Some say that two gunmen, and others say four, stormed and entered the FIA, and probably took some hostages. The confrontations that took place at the FIA resulted in killing two FIA officers and one security member. Some say that seven people have been killed thus far."

He continues by saying: "The second attack targeted the Pakistani police training center in Lahore in Manaman area," adding that "the available information says that one security member was killed in the attack on the academy."

Detailing, Zaydan adds: "The third attack targeted the headquarters of the Elite Forces of the Pakistani Police. Clashes are still raging on inside the headquarters, and it seems that the gunmen managed to storm the headquarters of the Elite Forces of the Pakistani Police. The Pakistani Army and commandos were dispatched to the building to contain the situation."

He goes on to say: "A suicide bomber driving a bobby-trapped car targeted a police station in Kohat, resulting in killing 10 people and wounding 12 others, including some civilians. Drone planes believed to be US carried out a missile attack against a house believed to be harboring a group linked with the Jalaluddin Haqqani who is fighting the US forces in eastern Afghanistan. Four people were killed in the attack."

Asked if there is "political debate on the increase in these qualitative operations and the large-scale security breaches" in Pakistan, Zaydan says: "There is wide political debate in Pakistan over the situation." He goes on to say that "the Pakistani people do not trust their political leadership and military command on many issues," including poverty, unemployment, lack of services, and so on. He adds: "This made the Pakistani people lose confidence in their political leadership. In addition, major political parties that have influence in the Pakistani arena did not participate in the latest elections. There is a wide gap between the ruler and the ruled, especially after the Kerry-Luger bill, which the Pakistani people and the opposition political parties view as dangerous and seriously harming the Pakistani national security and interferes in the details of the Pakistani political and military affairs."

Asked if there is any connection between these incidents and the visit by the Pakistani foreign minister to Washington to discuss the US financial aid, Zaydan says: "Some link these incidents to the visit, saying that the Pakistani Government has been making subsequent concessions to the United States on the so-called war on terror. Hence, the Taliban fighters or the armed elements that are said to have joined the Tal iban, such as the Muhammad Army, (?Al-Askar Tayba), or the well-trained Punjab armed groups, perhaps have found that this is a grand opportunity because the popularity of the Pakistani Government and the Pakistani military institution is declining, especially because the military operations led by the Pakistani Army in the Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan, which lasted for two or three months, did not result in a clear defeat of the Taliban Pakistan." He concludes: "The Taliban Pakistan Movement and the Taliban militants want to capitalize on this tension and the decline of the Pakistani Government's popularity to be able to implement their political and military agenda."

At 0543 GMT, the channel carries an update on the casualties of Lahore attacks as a screen caption: "Al-Jazirah correspondent: The death toll of the attacks on security headquarters in the Pakistani city of Lahore rose to 11."

At 0601 GMT, the channel carries a four-minute satellite interview with political analyst Manhal al-Hariri, from Islamabad.

Commenting on the attacks, Al-Hariri says: "The qualitative attack on the Pakistani Army headquarters in Rawalpindi and today's attacks on the FIA and the police academy are considered big operations compared to the gunmen's tactics. The Taliban Movement's claim of responsibility for the attack affirms its strong presence on the Pakistani arena following reports saying that its new leader Hakimullah Mehsud was killed."

Asked about the means the Pakistani Government might use to retaliate against these operations, Al-Hariri says: "The Pakistani Army is ready and is waiting for the zero hour to launch its battle in Waziristan, just like it did in the Swat areas." Citing Pakistani officials, Al-Hariri says that these attacks are meant to divert the government's attention from attacking tribal areas.

Anchorman Al-Habib al-Ghuraybi asks: "To what extent does this official campaign come in response to US demands, given the fact that the US financial aid to Pakistan has become contingent upon the latter's efforts to fight the so-called terrorism?" Al-Hariri responds by saying: "Undoubtedly, the Pakistani Government is under great pressure." He adds that "the Pakistani foreign minister is trying to alert US officials to the gravity of the internal situation in Pakistan, and that Pakistan needs the aid the United States promised to extend to Pakistan to be able to fight the militant groups and the Taliban Movement."

At 0709 GMT, the channel carries another live satellite interview with Ahmad Zaydan in Islamabad to give an update on Lahore attacks.

Zaydan says: "Pakistani police sources told Al-Jazirah that the attacks on the FIA headquarters and the police training academy in Lahore were over. The sources added that more than 19 people were killed -- including gunmen, policemen, two FIA officers, and civilians -- and more than 30 people were wounded. Clashes are still raging on in the headquarters of the Elite Forces of the Pakistani Police. It is believed that more than seven gunmen attacked the headquarters from the backside. Some reports say that female gunmen participated in the attack, but this has not yet been confirmed. Some believe that hostages were taken in the headquarters of the training center of the Elite Forces of the Pakistani Police." He goes on to say: "These incidents, according to many experts and observers, show the weakness of the Pakistani police in Lahore in countering these armed operations."

Zaydan goes on to say that "some experts think that the gunmen have two main goals; namely, targeting the Pakistani police and army because they are the first defense line" and "targeting the main cities, specifically the Punjab region."

Asked about the official Pakistani political stand on such "these major security breaches," Zaydan responds by saying: "The only reaction made by Pakistani officials was that of the Punjab law minister, who said that the operation failed and the gunmen were unable to achieve their goals. This is definitely a general and loose statement."

Al-Jazirah at 0900 GMT carries the following announcer-read report: "Al-Jazirah correspondent in Islamabad has cited Pakistani security sources as saying that the attacks the Taliban Pakistan gunmen carried out against the three security headquarters in Lahore were over after the Pakistani Army took control of the situation. These attacks resulted in killing 25 people -- 9 gunmen, 12 policemen, and four civilians."

Immediately afterward, Al-Jazirah runs a two-minute video report by Ahmad Zaydan, who begins by saying: "Three well-planned attacks were carried out in the same way and in one city, Lahore, the capital city of the Punjab region, which became the target of Taliban gunmen these days."

He adds: "It is noticeable that the gunmen's strategies in cities has changed from using suicide bombers and booby-trapped cars to attacks launched by suicide fighters, in addition to targeting the Punjab region, the hub of the Pakistani army and bureaucracy."

Then Imtiyaz Gul, Pakistani expert in armed Islamic groups in Pakistan, speaking in English with Arabic voiceover translation, translated from Arabic, is shown speaking of the Taliban gunmen. He says: "Perhaps they want to prevent launching a military operation in southern Waziristan. They use this tactic to divert the attention of the Pakistani security forces to main cities and towns. This tactic will force the Pakistani security forces to divert their attention from Waziristan."

Zaydan goes on to say: "Such a tactic will disperse the efforts of the army and security forces fighting several battles against gunmen. Military experts have concerns that the control has moved from the hands of the Pakistani Army to gunmen's, given the well-planned attacks against main cities such as Rawalpindi and Lahore, in addition to Taliban Punjab's new role in the conflict."

[Description of Source: Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic -- Independent Television station financed by the Qatari Government]

Newseye: TTP Operatives Apprehended in Karachi; Run-Off Elections in Afghanistan

SAP20091027105001 Karachi Dawn News in English 1600 GMT 21 Oct 09

[Karachi Dawn News television in English at 1500 GMT on 21 October relays live regularly scheduled "Newseye" program. Dawn News anchorperson Nadia Zafar reviews, discusses, and analyzes major developments of the day with government ministers, officials, opposition leaders, and prominent analysts in this program.]

Program: "Newseye"

Reception: Good/Fair

Duration: 60 minutes

Segment I

Zafar opens the program by saying that former Attorney General Latif Khan Khosa appeared before a panel of Supreme Court judges accusing Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry of bias and misconduct after he removed Khosa from the office of the Attorney General. Khosa was suddenly removed from his office when a convict accused Khosa of taking three million rupees in bribe to help him in the Supreme Court, during the tenure of Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar. Corruption charges on Khosa triggered court proceedings against him and the convict says there are two witnesses in this regard who can testify that Khosa indeed took a bribe.

Zafar speaks with Shaiq Usmani, former judge of Sindh high court, and seeks his comments on the matter. Usmani says it is a common practice in courts that whenever a lawyer is charged with anything, he tends to accuse the judge of bias. The appointment of the attorney general is a political matter and if there is any removal it can only be attributed to either the president or the prime minister. The chief justice has absolutely no role in the appointment or the dismissal of the attorney general. There were mere allegations made against Mr. Khosa and nobody said that he was guilty, so he should have calmly defended himself instead of making an emotional outburst. Usmani says the legal procedure requires Khosa to file a written reply to the allegations against him. Khosa can also make an application saying that he fears that the chief justice sitting on the bench is biased and that he does not want him to hear the case. However, whether the judge accepts the application or not is up to him.

Usmani further says that there is corruption at the lower levels in the judiciary and in court offices where money changes hands either in a gratuitous form or as speed money, and in many cases a bribe is taken on the pretext of payment to the judges, while in some cases lawyers use this pretext as an excuse to extract more money from the clients. It is very rare that such a practice is seen at the highest level, and the chief justice is therefore very right in taking up the matter, as it is a question of the honor of the judiciary. It is a serious allegation and the matter must be investigated threough court proceedings; the court will decide on the record presented before the court and, if need be, witnesses can be called to testify and prove what they have said. It is a good decision to hear the case in an open court and not in-camera, because the public are very inquisitive about a case like this. Khosa is on record as saying that he "cannot even imagine" paying a bribe to a judge, so this aspect is clear; it is only a matter of proving that the money did exchange hands, as the convict has stated in his affidavit, and if it is proved, then the people responsible for such an action will be severely punished.

Segment II

Zafar says notorious Al-Qa'ida operative Abu Musa Misri has been killed during the operation in Waziristan. Dawn News' correspondent Zahir Sherazi supplies the details and says Misri was an expert in making suicide jackets and has reportedly been killed along with two other people in a suspected drone strike in North Waziristan -- an area controlled by the Jalaluddin Haqqani network of the Taliban, who are operating inside Afghanistan and targeting NATO and US forces with the help of the local Taliban in this area. North Waziristan has been the prime target of US drone strikes, which have left a number of top Al-Qa'ida operatives and top Taliban commanders dead. Sherazi further says that security forces have captured Kotkai village, which is the hometown of banned TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) Chief Hakimullah Mehsud and was a Taliban stronghold. People fleeing the area say that the militants are being targeted by both ground troops and jet fighters.

Talking about the largest city in Pakistan, Zafar says that Sindh police have apprehended three men belonging to the banned TTP, from different parts of Karachi city and seized ammunition in their possession. This arrest came a day after Asad Zaman, chief of the Karachi branch of TTP, was arrested with a large cache of arms, ammunition, and explosives, which included 75 kg of RDX that could have caused a massive amount of destruction in the metropolis. According to the police, the ongoing military operation in the tribal areas has caused many terrorists to move toward the urban areas of the country and to try to create a law an order situation. The security forces are on high alert all over the country and, with the educational institutions closed, it seems that the terrorists have completed half their job by creating panic among the local population.

Zafar speaks with Ahmed Chinoy, assistant chief of the CPLC (Citizen Police Liaison Committee), and discusses how Karachi has been safe from terrorists' attacks so far. Chinoy says the city police and their supporting agencies have been very active and successful in foiling major terrorist plots so far, and the credit for safeguarding the security of the citizens of Karachi largely goes to the police. Exclusive investigation units are specifically assigned to trace terrorists, while the investigation method used in Karachi is also more comprehensive and more effective than in other cities of Pakistan. Chinoy says the police and the intelligence agencies are aware of illegal immigrants settled in the suburbs of the city and a process of registering these people is underway, but until then, the police are making efforts not to allow these illegal immigrants to penetrate into the city.

Segment III

Zafar says Afghanistan is inching towards an appropriate solution to its election scandal after presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah has agreed to participate in the 07 November run-off elections. Abdullah's decision came after incumbent President Hamid Karzai recognized the international pressure and agreed to a run-off as well. The UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) had found evidence of fraud and invalid ballets from thousands of polling stations; On the basis of these findings, the Afghanistan Independent Election Commission has determined that Karzai did not earn enough valid votes for a majority. The UN Special representative to Afghanistan has warned that the country's scheduled second-run presidential vote will not be perfect.

Zafar speaks with Noah Coburn, from the Afghan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), and discusses if fraud could be controlled for the run-off elections. Coburn expresses his doubts over a fair run-off election and says that in the south of Afghanistan, people are angry over taking votes away form President Karzai, but in the north the supporters of Abdullah are very happy about the second round of election. Mostly people are not sure if the run-off is going to improve anything and are concerned over the time and money spent on this process, while a grave threat hovers on the lives of those who will provide security to the candidates and people in the polling stations. In the earlier elections we also had the Provincial Council elections, in which the respective candidates were very active in bringing people out to the polling stations to vote, but this time around we expect less public participation. Abdullah's supporters are favoring the idea of a coalition government, but the majority feel that a coalition government will be weak and ineffective and would therefore like to see a strong president.

Reading brief straight reports, Zafar says World Food Program (WFP) has closed its distribution points in northwest Pakistan over security affairs; the affected areas include Swabi, Swat and Buner among others. However, reports suggest that the closure is temporary and that the decision would be reviewed later in the week.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn News in English -- Pakistan's first 24-hour English language TV channel owned by the Dawn Group of Newspapers.]

Pakistan: Afghan Taliban Say Obama's New Policy Will Not Help Resolve Confict

SAP20091203102012 Islamabad The News Online in English 03 Dec 09

[Report by staff correspondent: "Taliban reject Obama's new Afghan policy"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR: While reacting to US President Barack Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan, the Afghan Taliban said on Wednesday that it did not contain anything that could help resolve the Afghan conflict.

A statement issued by the Islamic Emirates in Pashto language to media organisations said: "The strategy shows that the wishes and demands of the American people, who are confronting serious financial problems, have not been kept in mind. Rather the strategy was formulated to protect the interests of the generals at the Pentagon and the capitalists.

"No sign towards solution to the Afghan issue could be seen in Obama's strategy. It is aimed at killing two birds with one stone -- to reduce Afghans' apathy to foreign forces and to counter criticism in the US and concern of their allies. However, it is of no use, as military casualties will also increase with the rise in the number of foreign troops in Afghanistan.

"In the history of Afghanistan, none was able to capture it with deceptions, resources and high number of troops, the statement added. Neither have we any base in Pakistan nor we needed such a base outside Afghanistan as we control a vast area in our own country.

Claims about the Taliban presence in Pakistan are aimed at diverting attention from the strong resistance that our fighters are offering in Afghanistan. We have no intention to harm anyone in the world, so the presence of foreign invaders in Afghanistan has no link to security of the world.

"Like the past, the Islamic Emirates is fully committed to fighting foreign allies' (the US and its allies) unjust, anti-Islamic and anti-Afghanistan conspiracies with long resistance, strong strategy and high morale. We firmly believe that Obama's strategy would fail like the past. We remind the US that it would itself disintegrate instead of capturing Afghanistan if it continued with its policy of aggression."

Mushtaq Yusufzai adds: Reacting to the announcement by the US that it would send additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, Taliban commander Sirajuddin Haqqani said on Wednesday that numerical strength would not save Americans from a "historic" defeat in Afghanistan.

"We knew Obama would not be different from his predecessor Bush when he was elected to the office. We also knew he would send more troops to Afghanistan but we have a strong belief that they would leave soon as America would not be able to sustain the losses at our hands," the Taliban commander claimed.

The US State Department has announced $5 million reward for information leading to the capture of Sirajuddin Haqqani alias Khaleefa, who is head of the so-called Taliban group Haqqani Network, established by his father Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani.

The Taliban Shura had held an important meeting that was chaired by their supreme leader Mullah Omar, which decided not to halt fighting during the winter.

"Gone are the days when we were living in the mountains and could not fight in winter. Now with the support of the Afghan people, we live in major cities and towns and operate very easily," Sirajuddin claimed.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of a widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Usually offers leading news and analysis on issues related to war against terrorism. Circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Taliban Kabul Front Commander Jalili Interviewed by Al-Jazirah, Promises Attacks

GMP20091204648001 Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic 1426 GMT 04 Dec 09

["Today's Encounter" feature: Interview with Saifullah Jalali, commander of the Kabul Front for the Afghan Taliban movement, conducted by Al-Jazirah correspondent Ahmad Zaydan, Jalali's face is rendered opaque by a filter so that it will be unidentifiable; place not given, indoors -- live or recorded /// Zaydan asks his questions in Arabic and Jalili answers in Pashto, with a voice-over ranslation into Arabic.]

[Ahmad Zaydan, speaking in Arabic] Honorable viewers, welcome to "Today's Encounter" in which we host the commander Saifullah Jalali, commander of the Kabul Front for the Afghan Taliban movement.

Welcome to "Today's Encounter" on Al-Jazirah Channel. My first question is about the military situation in Kabul: What is it like? What is the plan of the Afghan Taliban movement for the province of Kabul in the future?

[Saifullah Jalali, the picture of his face made opaque by a filter to prevent identification (but his beard and profile can be distinguished in close-up); speaking in Pashto with a voice-over translation into Arabic] In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Kabul is very important. It is the capital of Afghanistan, and all international establishments are centered in it. There are about 42 infidel states that have establishments in Kabul, and all of those who are in them are interested in the maintenance of security in the capital. Therefore, it appears that it is very difficult to attempt to carry out operations or launch attacks in Kabul. However, thanks to Almighty God and with the cooperation of the villages surrounding the capital and the wronged villages, you have heard reports about us carrying out successful operations in Kabul that shook the unbelievers severely and unsettled their states and establishments.

There are various operations. There are bombings, commando operations, joint operations, and even confrontations in the field. There are many examples of our targeting the capital where the situation is very delicate and where no one can move in its streets with ease.

However, the mujahidin's success in carrying out operations and attacks under those circumstances - especially the attack on the headquarters of the NATO forces and the targeting of the foreign ministry's administration [in Kabul], all of which were successful operations - is evidence of our strength. We have also attacked the interior ministry and the Serena Hotel. We downed a helicopter in the Ghamam area near Kabul. We were involved in engagements on very many fronts, the most important of which was the fierce engagement in the Masi area that lasted for more than 10 hours, and another engagement in the Uzbin area. All those confrontations demonstrate the strength of our mujahidin.

[Zaydan] Some weeks ago the Americans withdrew from Camp Dish, in the province of Nuristan. How is the situation in Nuristan, and do you expect that the Americans will withdraw - as some sources say -- from the Afghan villages and townships to the barracks and military centers in the cities?

[Jalali] Everyone has heard and learned about what happened in Nuristan where the mujahidin carried a series of successful attacks against the Americans who were known to have fled and left their positions just because the number of dead or wounded in their ranks had increased. What happened in Nuristan is an example and a repetition of what the mujahidin are doing in several areas where they carry out very fierce attacks in which many soldiers are killed, their tanks are set ablaze, and their barracks are destroyed. One can say that what happened in Nuristan is that the Americans' military headquarters were completely destroyed. Now [video briefly shows Jalili from the side without the opaque filter] the US forces are pursuing a policy of trying to use civilians as protection by getting closer to the popular markets that are crowded with people. However, they must learn the lesson of the Kabul market where they were not safe - they were attacked there and killed, and their post was destroyed. The same goes for the soldiers patrolling the markets of other cities, in for instance Nangarhar and Kunar. They are not safe even there. Foreigners will not be safe as long as they are in Afghanistan, and unless they leave Afghanistan the mujahidin will pursue them everywhere.

[Zaydan] W hat about the withdrawal of the US forces to military centers in the cities?

[Jalali] As I said to you, the foreign forces withdraw from places in which our mujahidin's attacks intensify and the soldiers flee to other places. Similar things have occurred in the province of Paktiya. According to information we have received, the foreign forces have not yet completely departed from Paktiya, and they are still present in an isolated part of Nuristan. However, our mujahidin are constantly attacking them in order to compel them to leave.

[Zaydan] A short while ago you attacked a UN guest house in Kabul. What was your message? Why did you attack this UN guest house?

[Jalali] The purpose of the mujahidin's attack on the UN headquarters was to impede - indeed to prevent - the organization of elections in Afghanistan. That is because the elections will not achieve the Afghan people's aspirations and will not achieve Taliban's aims. The elections are merely a game invented by America. Consequently, Taliban has declared that it will not allow the organization of the elections and it will not let the US game succeed. From such a premise, the mujahidin carried out their attack on the UN headquarters in order to abort the elections.

[Zaydan] Some reports say the Americans, the British, the Germans, the French, and all the forces that are present in Afghanistan pay money to Taliban's leaders so as to ensure the safety of their soldiers or the safety of the convoys that pass through the areas. Were you for instance paid sums of money or were you offered money so as not to attack those forces?

[Jalali, as camera shows the golden bracelet of a watch he is wearing, and a pistol by his side] These are all rumors disseminated by the enemy unbelievers. They say they pay money to the mujahidin in return for not launching attacks against the Americans. The purpose of such rumors is to attempt to win over any mujahid who loves money. However, the issue is not one of money. It is an ideological war. Throughout its history, Afghanistan has always struggled against and confronted the unbelievers who invaded and occupied the country and toppled the Islamic state, and thousands of Muslims were martyred during such struggles.

The premise of the Afghan resistance is ideological. The Afghan resistance is a jihadist resistance and does not achieve its objective by money. The French in the Sarobi area tried to send gifts to the mujahidin and offered them a great deal of money in return for not launching attacks on the French forces. However, the response of Taliban's mujahidin was to reject everything and to strongly demand the departure of the French and other forces from our country which they entered by force and aggression.

[Zaydan] There have been US reports about the formation of Lashkar and tribal councils led by some well-known leaders in northern and in southern Afghanistan to fight Taliban and so that the Americans will benefit from Lashkar and the tribal councils in their fight against you. Is that true? How will you face this US strategy?

[Jalali] The unbelievers have always tried to drive a wedge between Muslims. They sought to recruit followers and to plant spies so as to use them against the mujahidin. That took place in Logar, Qandahar, and Maydan. They created groups called Arbakai [tribal security system] on which they showered with vast sums of money and used them against the mujahidin. However, the mujahidin gave advice to the members of those groups and forbade them from serving the occupiers, explained to them that we have to defend our country, and those who were not convinced were killed. God willing, none of the enemies' schemes will succeed.

Here I must clarify an aspect of what is actually happening. There are many groups that take permission from Taliban and promise to take delivery of weapons from t h e foreign forces through the government, and after that they bring the weapons to us. Those groups have fulfilled their promise and brought the weapons and gave them to Taliban. God willing, the enemies will never succeed whatever they do.

[Zaydan] How is your relationship with other groups of fighters such as [Gulbuddin] Hekmatyar, [Jalaluddin] Haqqani, and the salafi group in Konar or Nuristan?

[Jalali] Sheikh Haqqani is one of the important people in the Islamic amirate. We cannot say that Haqqani is not a pillar of the Islamic amirate, for he is one of the amirate's leader. There is no one in Taliban who is described as salafi or (brenwi): they are all Muslim, and there must be no disagreement among Muslims, because the Americans are Christians and the Israelis are Jews. Their religion is different [from each other], their Book is different, and even their prophet is different, and yet they are united against the Muslims. We, or the salafis, have the same Book, and the same religion. Therefore, we must be united in the face of the unbelievers. We must struggle side-by-side against the unbelievers, and we must defend or homeland. We must liberate our persecuted country from the tyranny and aggression of those criminals. [A 37-seond break follows]

[Zaydan] Honorable viewers, welcome once again to "Today's Encounter" which is with commander Saifulalah Jalali, commander of the Kabul Front. You are commander of the Kabul Front. How do you receive orders from [Taliban leader] Mullah Omar, how do you receive orders from Mullah Omar? How do orders reach you?

[Jalali] The Commander of the Faithful, Mullah Mohammad Omar, may God protect him, has appointed Haj Mullah (Brother) as his deputy. There are rules and regulations that pertain to each province separately. Each province has a deputy who is responsible for its affairs, while others coordinate with him. For instance, I am responsible for the province of Kabul. I coordinate through my deputy with other deputies in the various provinces, until the coordination is with Mullah Omar. All that takes place in an organized and well-planned manner, and Mullah Omar personally follows up the coordination and fully supervises all matters. Here I must say that all this coordination takes place on the orders of Almighty God. It is a kind of achievement for us, that our affairs are arranged in this manner and that they are so exact. We can, for instance, communicate any report or convey any piece of information to officials anywhere. The same thing happens if we for instance wanted to enquire about what should be done with a spy whom we arrest, and what are the instructions that should be observed. As soon as we receive a reply, we free the person or kill him on the spot -- in accordance with instructions, of course.

[Zaydan] Now let us talk about...[changes drift of sentence]. Some Western reports constantly say that Mullah Omar is in Kuwait or in Karachi. What do you say? Where is Mullah Omar?

[Jalali] Our leader, the Commander of the Faithful, Mullah Mohammad Omar, is in Afghanistan. Praise be to God, many areas in Afghanistan are controlled by the mujahidin, especially the centers of some provinces where the government was present and which used to be under its control. Government employees do not have the real ability to run matters, let alone to work in the province's centers and capital. There are very many areas in Afghanistan where the Commander of the Faithfull walks in safety and lives in peace. Consequently, there is no need for him to go to Pakistan in the first place. There is no need for that, because Mullah Omar moves freely in many areas inside Afghanistan, where he issues his orders and guidance to the mujahidin. Moreover, the Pakistani intelligence service, ISI, is on alert, as you know.

Here the Americans seize the o pp ortunity. They say Mullah Omar has links with Pakistani intelligence. Thus they try to blemish his reputation and to apply pressure on the Pakistanis. This is a war of words, a media war. The Afghans know the Americans and the British well, and they know their schemes and ploys. The Afghans cannot be deceived by such lies.

[Zaydan] Some reports say there is mediation taking place between the Americans and Taliban. Is there really mediation?

[Jalali] The Americans are extremely tense and disturbed. That is because they are sustaining heavy losses, and many of their soldiers are being killed daily wherever they are. They are tense. They are trying to find mediation, but there has been no response whatsoever from Taliban.

[Zaydan] What are your conditions? What are your conditions for US withdrawal or for ending the war in Afghanistan?

[Jalali] The unbelievers have invaded our country, they overthrew our regime, many of our brothers were martyred, and our people were wronged. It is because of all that that we want the unbelievers to leave Afghanistan. We did not go to them. It is they who came to us and occupied our land. What we want is that they should leave our country unconditionally.

[Zaydan] The Americans stipulate or say that you should leave Al-Qa'ida. Are you prepared to abandon Al-Qa'ida if the Americans withdraw from Afghanistan?

[Jalali] Answering this question is the prerogative of the Islamic Amirate [of Afghanistan], and specifically the amirate's political leaders. I cannot say anything on this matter.

[Zaydan] Is Usama Bin Ladin, leader of Al-Qa'ida, alive? Is he in Afghanistan? Where is he according to your information?

[Jalali] I have no knowledge of that. I am responsible for the province of Kabul and the districts surrounding Kabul, the capital. We have many responsibilities, to the extent that we have no time for such matters.

[Zaydan] Are the losses which the Americans say they have sustained - in soldiers, tanks, and military vehicles correct? What is your estimate of foreign losses in this war?

[Jalali] The information I have about Kabul is that we emphasize to our followers that when they destroy two tanks, for instance, and they are not sure of having destroyed a third tank, it is their duty to report only the confirmed news of which they are ssure. This is in order that we do not lose the people's confidence in us. Lying is prohibited. Almighty God says: "...and invoke the curse of God upon those who lie," [Koran, House of Imran: 3: 61]. The curse of God befalls those who lie. The reports disseminated by Taliban on the destruction of tanks and the killing of soldiers are reliable and accurate. Taliban refrains from publishing reports that are doubtful and not definite. We always seek to ascertain accuracy so that people will not accuse the Islamic amirate of lying.

[Zaydan] What is your estimate of the number of Americans or foreigners who have been killed in Afghanistan or Kabul?

[Jalali] As far as I remember, in the Afghan capital of Kabul alone in 2009, we inflicted heavy losses on the Americans, the French, and also on the Italian forces. We destroyed 10 tanks when we set them ablaze in the (Osse). We destroyed about 20 more tanks in Sarobi area. We also set five tanks ablaze in Baghlan, in addition to destroying about 40 military vehicles and jeep cars, along the main roads connecting Kabul with Sar-e Pul, (Sarbiya), and Qandahar. The foreign forces know full well the extent of their losses in the areas I am talking about. In 2009, I can say that the number of foreign forces who were killed during the mujahidin's operations and attacks, including suicide attacks, totaled 200 soldiers.

[Zaydan] To get back to Kabul, what is the most important story or operation in Kabul which you always remem ber ?

[Jalali] We have faced many events. For instance, one of the most important of those events is that once I was driving a truck loaded with approximately 2,000 kg of gunpowder. I was stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint, and they searched one side of the truck but - thanks to Almighty and His help - the soldiers did not notice anything. At that moment, I felt as though I was besieged and that I will be arrested. However, with God's help I got away on that day.

[Zaydan] How are the expenses of the resistance, the fighting, and your military movements and struggle financed? Where does the money come from?

[Jalali] Yes, a lot of money is spent on the mujahidin. This year, approximately $1 million. As for the money I spend in Kabul, I need about $300 a month, sometimes more than that. There is another source of money, and that is the booty taken by the mujahidin from their enemies. The weapons are the most important booty taken by the mujahidin from the Americans, for instance. The value of those weapons amounted to approximately $200,000. When sums such as these reach the mujahidin they benefit them a great deal. For instance, the salvo we fire at a tank costs us $50. Consequently, at a cost of $100,000 we can destroy scores of tanks and other armor. On the other hand, the enemy forces cannot operate with $100,000. Our expenses are not as much as the expenses of the Americans or the puppet government. Our expenditure is very little, but it is enough for us to achieve what we want.

[Zaydan] How is your relationship with Taliban-Pakistan?

[Jalili] I personally am in charge of Kabul. My entire time is devoted to arranging the capital's affairs. Personally, I do not have any connection with Taliban-Pakistan. The matter is within the powers of our leaders. It is the prerogative of our leaders to say whether they have any connection with Taliban-Pakistan or not. It is not within my area of specialization.

[Zaydi] Can you talk to us about your future plan for Kabul? What is your future plan in Kabul?

[Jalali] There are many maps of Kabul. Every time we carry out operations we gain in experience and our knowledge of the city improves. In 2009, we carried out 80% of he operations for which we had planned in Kabul. God willing, in the coming years, we will carry out 100% of the operations. With time, the mujahidin's experience of the region improves, and their knowledge of the weapons and how to use then is enhanced. It is very natural that the next operations in the future will be bigger and more frequent. We have important and detailed maps of the city of Kabul, and God willing, when we carry out our future operations, you will know about them, and the entire world will know about them, and it will see that they resulted in big losses among the ranks of the unbelievers. Premature disclosure of those plans is not appropriate. When you see with your own eyes what will happen in Kabul you will realize why I did not divulge my plans, and why I did not give the enemy the opportunity to improve their defenses.

[Zaydan] Honorable listeners. At the end of this interview we thank the commander of the Kabul Front of the Afghan Taliban Movement, Mr Saifullah Jalali. Thank you.

[Description of Source: Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic -- Independent Television station financed by the Qatari Government]

Asia Times: 'Osama Can Run, How Long Can He Hide?'

CPP20091214715029 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 1103 GMT 11 Dec 09

[By Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Osama Can Run, How Long Can He Hide?"; headline as provided by source]

"I believe that al-Qaeda can be defeated overall but I believe it is an ideology and he [Osama bin Laden] is an iconic leader, so I think to complete the destruction of that organization, it does mean that he needs to be either captured or killed, or brought to justice." -- General Stanley McChrystal, United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization commander in Afghanistan

"We don't know for a fact where Osama bin Laden is, if we did, we'd go get him." -- Robert Gates, a former US Central Intelligence Agency director and the current defense secretary.

ISLAMABAD - General Stanley McChrystal, as in the testimony quoted above to United States congressional committees this week, is unequivocal on the need to first roll back Taliban gains in Afghanistan as a prerequisite for the capture or elimination of Osama bin Laden and then the "ultimate defeat of al-Qaeda".

Apart from the difficulty of rolling back the Taliban, despite an additional 30,000 US troops surging into the country, US intelligence, as per admissions this month, are further away from catching bin Laden than they were eight years ago, when US forces notoriously let him slip through their grasp in the Tora Bora mountains.

There is little dispute that bin Laden and his close associates, including his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, move around in the vast and inhospitable mountainous territory that straddles the Afghanistan-Pakistan border; the porous border exists only as a line on a map.

"Intelligence reports suggest that the al-Qaeda chief is somewhere inside North Waziristan, sometimes on the Pakistani side of the border, sometimes on the Afghan side of the border," US National Security Adviser James Jones said this week.

The US has a US$50 million bounty for the "capture, killing or information leading to the capture or killing" of bin Laden. This had been doubled from $25 million in 2007. He remains on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's most wanted list.

Apart from one legal border crossing, 15 mountain passes are frequently used to travel between Pakistan and Afghanistan, by militants, traders, smugglers and innocent travelers. These paths originate in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and feed into the Afghan provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar, Nuristan, Khost, Pakita and Paktika.

It is this area that will become the stage for the next chapter in the hunt for bin Laden, with US forces on the Afghan side and Pakistan troops on the other. The theory is that al-Qaeda and its allies will be caught in the middle.

Interaction with generally well-connected militant sources leads Asia Times Online to believe that bin Laden, 52, is alive and healthy, despite a history of kidney trouble. Since the construction of a US base in 2007 at the intersection of the Afghan province of Kunar and Bajaur Agency in Pakistan, bin Laden is confirmed to have flitted from place to place on either side of the border.

He is definitely known to have spent time in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area, but all sources say that nowadays he is more often than not in Afghanistan.

Bin Laden has numerous safe houses and is protected by a strong network of diehards in the Pakistani tribal areas, in addition to an intelligence network on both sides of the border that has to date managed to stay a step ahead of both Western and Pakistani intelligence.

Top Taliban and other commanders adopt a similar pattern in avoiding the attention of unwelcome visitors. Even though a former Afghan premier, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, is known to move around Kunar and Nuristan provinces in Afghanistan, he remains at large. Hekmatyar also makes brief trips into the adjacent Pakistani regions of Chitral and Dir.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of legendary Afghan commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, runs the largest and most effective Taliban network in Afghanistan. He moves in the provinces of Khost and Paktia, and also in North Waziristan, always one step ahead of his pursuers - including drones.

Similarly, Ilyas Kashmiri, now one of al-Qaeda's most wanted men as he is intimately involved in defining and directing al-Qaeda's and the Taliban's struggle, moves between bases of operation in Pakistan and Afghanistan, never staying in one place for more than a night or two.

Not so fortunate was Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taliban leader killed in a drone attack earlier this year. He stayed only in the districts of Ladha and Makeen in South Waziristan and did not have other sanctuaries, making it easier to track him down.

The difficulty in trying to trace bin Laden is tha t he moves across such a broad area, and that, unlike even the Taliban, there is no defined target. Coalition forces have a broad idea of where the Taliban's command centers are and in which areas to expect resistance.

By comparison, bin Laden and his few dozen al-Qaeda deputies are shadows shifting across an endless landscape on which Taliban fighters, Pakistani tribal people and jihadi youths are more visible.

There is no recent credible first-hand information on when bin Laden was last seen. A few Taliban fighters who were arrested a few weeks ago could only share with their American interrogators what they had heard from their contacts - that bin Laden had moved between North Waziristan and South Waziristan.

It is safe to assume that he has not been in South Waziristan since the Pakistani military began major operations there about two months ago to take on the Pakistani Taliban. His most likely immediate destination would have been Khost, directly across the border.

Such speculation, though, has been around for years and bin Laden is nowhere nearer to being caught, let alone his chasers seeing his dust trail. Indeed, from the Pakistani perspective, their last verifiable sighting was in September 2003 near Bush Mountain in the Shawal Valley of North Waziristan. By the time the army arrived, he had long gone; all that was left were first-hand accounts of his having resided in the area.

All the same, the net might be getting tighter. Late on Thursday night, CBS News reported that a Hellfire missile fired from a Predator drone had killed a top al-Qaeda official in the Pakistani border area. Unnamed officials said the person killed was not bin Laden or Zawahiri, but that he was "one of the top five terrorists on the US wanted list", according to the report.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

Reported Drone Strike Kills 13 in Pakistan

EUP20091227674001 Paris AFP (North American Service) in English 0830 GMT 27 Dec 09

["US drone strike kills 13 in Pakistan: security officials" -- AFP headline]

A US missile attack that demolished a compound in Pakistan's tribal belt used by militants crossing into Afghanistan killed 13 fighters, Pakistani security officials said Sunday.

A US drone slammed two missiles into the building on Saturday in Saidgi village, seven kilometres (four miles) north of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan, officials said.

"Taliban have recovered more dead bodies from the debris. We have reports that a total of 13 militants were killed and three injured," an intelligence official in Miranshah told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"One of the local commanders, Abdur Rehman, was also killed," he added.

The compound was used by local militants attached to the Haqqani network, which has attacked US troops in Afghanistan, said a senior security official.

Other security officials confirmed 13 were killed in the strike, including a local commander, but it was unclear if any foreigners were among the dead.

Mosques in Miranshah announced that Rehman was "martyred" in the strike and that his funeral prayers would be held in Saidgi, an AFP reporter said.

The US military does not as a rule confirm drone attacks, which US officials say have killed a number of top-level militants.

At least three suspected US strikes in 10 days have struck North Waziristan, where Islamabad is under growing US pressure to take action against the Haqqani network and other extremists who infiltrate Afghanistan to attack.

Some US officials and regional analysts suspect Pakistan's top spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, maintains ties to the group's leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, considering him a useful asset in Afghanistan.

In October, Pakistan sent about 30,000 troops into battle in South Waziristan, following a significant campaign to uproot homegrown Taliban from in and around the northwestern valley of Swat.

Although Pakistani troops fight militants across much of its semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border, North Waziristan has seen so far only limited air strikes and no major ground offensive.

But the district, along with other tribal areas of Pakistan, has seen a rise in suspected US drone strikes since US President Barack Obama took office and put Pakistan on the frontline of the war on Al-Qaeda.

Since August 2008, at least 69 such strikes have killed about 663 people, although it is difficult to confirm the identity of those killed.

[Description of Source: Paris AFP (North American Service) in English -- North American service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

BBC: Khost Bomber Video, if Authentic, Indicates Taliban's Reach

EUP20100110088001 London BBC News Online in English 09 Jan 10

["'CIA Bomber' Video Indicates Taliban's Reach" -- BBC News headline]

The Jordanian "double agent" who killed himself and seven American Central Intelligence Agency officials in Afghanistan's Khost province last month must have been very sure of the success of his mission.

"This... attack will be the first of revenge operations against the Americans and their drone teams outside the Pakistani border, after they killed the Amir [chief] of Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Baitullah Mehsud, may God's beneficence be upon him," he apparently said in a video broadcast released on Saturday.

The video shows the purported Jordanian suicide bomber sitting next to Baitullah Mehsud's successor and the new Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, and reading from written text.

Click here to view video

"We [the Jordanian himself and the Taliban, whom he describes as Mujahideen or the holy warriors] arranged together this attack to let the Americans understand that our belief in Allah... cannot be exchanged for all the wealth in the world," he says.

It would appear that he had already set the trap for the CIA agents at the time he made the video.

But is this really the man who carried out the 30 December bombing of Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost, which is believed to be the nerve-centre of suspected US drone strikes into Pakistani territory?

The authenticity of the video is not yet established, neither is the identity of the man in the video - although the father of the accused Jordanian has said that the man who appears on the video is definitely his son.

The Americans say the Jordanian who killed the CIA officials in Khost was named Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi.

But the man in the video introduces himself as Dr Abu Dujana al-Khorasani.

He also does not specify as to where "outside the Pakistani borders" he is going to carry out his revenge attack.

Some observers even suspect the video may have been doctored by the Pakistani Taliban - who are believed to have released it - to show their leader at the side of the bomber who greatly embarrassed both the American and Jordanian intelligence services.

Training camps

The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the Khost attack, alongside similar claims by the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda.

All of them said that the attack was planned to avenge the 6 August 2009 killing of Baitullah Mehsud in a drone strike.

A Pakistani Taliban leader, Qari Hussain, who is known to run training camps for suicide bombers in Pakistan's Waziristan tribal region, near the border with Afghanistan, had in an audio message last week promised that they would soon release a video of the Khost bomber.

If the video is found to be authentic, then it apparently shows the level and the extent of collaboration between the al-Qaeda core, the Afghan Taliban and their Pakistani counterparts.

This is not to say that there has ever been any real divergence of views over ideology, tactics or strategy among these three entities.

Analysts say that the Taliban movement in Pakistan is essentially an offshoot of the so-called Haqqani network, which is an Afghanistan-focused organisation with close links to the al-Qaeda core and sanctuaries in Pakistan.

The network has deep reach inside Afghanistan and is believed to be behind several high-profile attacks in eastern and south-central Afghanistan, including Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.

'Holy warriors'

An Afghan war veteran from the days of Soviet invasion, Jalaluddin Haqqani, is said to have carved out the Taliban sanctuaries in Waziristan through his close links with the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI.

Haqqani is now believed to be an ailing man, and the leadership of the network has passed into the hands of his son, Sirajuddin Haqqani.

The Haqqanis hail from Khost region, and have been based in the nearby Pakistani tribal region of North Waziristan since the Soviet invasion in 1979.

In the post-9/11 period, the Haqqanis have organised Afghan resistance from three distinct bases in Pakistan's North and South Waziristan region.

The fighters in North Waziristan are led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, those in the western region of South Waziristan are led by Maulvi Nazir, while those in eastern parts of South Waziristan are led by Hakimullah Mehsud.

Over the years, the groups in North Waziristan and in the west of South Waziristan have struck peace deals with the Pakistani forces and have focused on Afghanistan.

The group led by Hakimullah Mehsud has, meanwhile, trained its guns on Pakistan.

T he strategy is in keeping with al-Qaeda's view that both Pakistani and Afghan governments are siding with the "infidels" and deserve the wrath of the holy warriors.

If found authentic, the video released on Saturday would show that any distinction between the militants of Afghanistan and Pakistan has no value beyond academic interest.

[Description of Source: London BBC News Online in English -- Website of the publicly-funded BBC carrying up-to-the-minute UK and international news and breaking news, politics, and analysis; URL: ]

'Shadow networks' in Afghan capital behind recent attacks - analyst

SAP20100122950060 Kabul Tolo Television in Dari 1730 GMT 19 Jan 10

"Shadow networks" in Afghan capital behind recent attacks - analyst

Political observer Razaq Mamun told a talk show on Tolo TV on 19 January that certain senior government officials and private-sector figures act as a shadow government in Kabul causing instability and enabling militants to enter the city. Political and military experts believe some privately-owned security companies cooperated with the militants who attacked Kabul on Monday 18 January.

Analyst Razaq Mamun believes a shadow government exists inside Kabul which includes high-ranking government officials, bank owners and other leading members of the private sector and privately-owned security companies, saying all these groups have caused social disorder, which paves the way for terrorists to easily enter the capital and conduct such operations. He accuses some so-called international thieves, who have founded private companies in Afghanistan and carry illegal weapons, have bodyguards and vehicles, of most urban crimes, saying the recent terrorist attacks in Kabul took place with the cooperation of so-called shadow networks.

General Hadi Khaled, former deputy minister of internal affairs, believes the recent terrorist attack in Kabul was probably an act carried out by the Taleban Council in Miramshah, Pakistan, and the Jalaloddin Haqqani's group, because these two groups are closer to Al-Qa'idah. He also thinks some regional intelligence bodies were involved in the terrorist operation

Political analyst Razaq Mamun believes a shadow government exists inside Kabul which includes high-ranking government officials, bank owners and other leading members of the private sector and privately-owned security companies, saying all these groups have caused social disorder, which paves the way for terrorists to easily enter the capital and conduct such operations. He accuses some so-called international thieves, who have founded private companies in Afghanistan and carry illegal weapons, have bodyguards and vehicles, of most urban crimes, saying the recent terrorist attacks in Kabul took place with the cooperation of so-called shadow networks.

Harun Mir, an expert in political issues believes the Taleban have become weaker than three months ago. He said "The Taleban were not able to enter any government offices during their attack yesterday [18 January] although there were several ministries and government offices in the area where they were operating."

Haqqani group operating with Taleban

He further says that one of the main problems of the Afghan government is that it does not have a clear definition of the Taleban. In his opinion, there are other different groups inside the Taleban, such as Haqqani's network, which organizes operations similar to the one in Kabul in which they attacked civilians, while Mullah Omar told the Taleban in a published message a while ago to avoid civilian casualties.

Although, the Afghan security forces' performance was good during the attack, it was crystal clear at the scene that they are not well equipped, says Khaled. He said "Some policemen did not have vests and helmets while none of the security forces had binoculars during the operation." According to Khaled, the Afghan security forces are still better than they were eight years ago, because they mainly included uniformed militias that received orders from individuals back then, while they are all governmental forces now.

Government officials support armed groups in capital

There are hundreds of small illegal armed groups in Kabul supported by some government officials, says Mamun. He says it is not clear what these armed groups, that work as security companies, bodyguards of some government officials and guards in privately-owned banks, really do, because their weapons and military equipment are similar to those of the national army and police. On the other hand, Khaled says the government is unable to reform security companies, because some of them are linked to major networks of power and the economic mafia inside the Republic of Afghanistan.

Regarding the President of Afghanistan Hamed Karzai's call for reconciliation, Mamun says the Taleban is an operative group which is controlled by different countries, including the US, the UK, Russia and particularly Iran and Pakistan. He says the Afghan government's efforts in terms of reconciliation with the Taleban will bring no results. Mamun also interprets Hamed Karzai's remarks during the terrorist attack in Kabul as meaning bigger internal and external risks threaten Afghanistan. According to Mamun, the meaning of internal threats is Mr Karzai's allies, ministers, security companies and economic mafia. He criticizes the government for not enacting any laws for the security companies.

Mir says Hamed Karzai considers his strategy of reconciliation as the legacy of his ten-year government, but the plan for negotiation with the Taleban is not practical. He also says if the Taleban continue their inhuman activities, they will have a similar destiny to that of the Hezb-e Eslami party of Golboddin Hekmatyar, which is not supported by the people anymore.

Talks with the Taleban will be futile unless the government enacts a strategy in which Afghans, regional countries, including the Arab countries, and the international community are included in it, says Khaled. He believes the slogans of reconciliation will not have any practical results for a long time even if there is a strategy developed for it. Khaled raises the necessity to conduct a security survey in Afghanistan which will clarify the need for a certain number of army, police and other security forces in each district and province of the country.

Mamun says "The security situation can deteriorate further, because the government is incompetent. The government should prosecute and punish terrorists. It is a shame that the Afghan government complains and makes noises when NATO operations cause civilian casualties, but it is silent when the Taleban kill civilians or spread acid on women's faces."

Mir says in conclusion that the problem in Afghanistan is the lack of political commitment. Military challenges will increase unless political problems inside Afghanistan are addressed and dealt with, says Mir.

[Description of Source: Kabul Tolo Television in Dari -- independent television; part of the Moby Media Group]

Afghanistan: Al-Jazirah Airs 'Exclusive' Footage of Taliban-Allied Haqqani Group

GMP20100119615001 Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic 1315 GMT 19 Jan 10

[For a copy of the video, contact GSG_GVP_VideoOps@rccb. or the OSC Customer Center at (800) 205-8615. Selected video also available at .]

Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic at 1315 GMT on 19 January carries the following announcer-read report:

"US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has ruled out the possibility of the Taliban accepting Afghan President Hamid Karzai's plan for reconciliation in the country -- a plan Karzai intends to propose in the forthcoming conference in London by the end of this month.

"The spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry has said that the security forces in the capital of Kabul were put on high alert following the attack in Kabul that targeted the presidential palace and other ministries and the battles that lasted for several hours.

"Sirajuddin Haqqani, a key Taliban commander, has lauded the Pakistani and Afghan tribes' cooperation with and support for the Taliban on both sides of the border. Speaking to Al-Jazirah, he accused the Pakistani Government of following in the footsteps of the West and antagonizing the Taliban. The Haqqani group is considered one of three groups in the Taliban that the Afghan Government and the foreign troops classify as extremist."

Immediately afterward, the channel carries an "exclusive" video report by its correspondent in Kabul, Samir Allawi, who begins by saying: "In one of the Taliban headquarters on the Afghan border with Pakistan, the command of the so-called Haqqani group is communicating with field commanders in southeastern Afghan provinces to follow the operations."

The report then carries an excerpt of a message over the radio, in a local dialect with Arabic voiceover translation, translated from the Arabic: "I congratulate you on the success that the mujahidin has scored. Two US vehicles were destroyed and all those in them were killed."

Responding to the above message over the radio, a Taliban leader is shown saying: "Well done. We congratulate you on the victory you have scored. These are good tidings for the new year. They [the Americans] announced that this year will be bloody, and we hope it will be so."

Allawi continues by saying: "Haqqani's group is well-known for the organized attacks it launches on the main cities in southeast Afghanistan." He adds: "The group is attributed to commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, known for his fierce fighting during the Soviet invasion of the 1980s. He later took a leading position in the Taliban. His son, Sirajuddin, who is wanted by the United States, has become his successor."

Sirajuddin Haqqani, commander of the Haqqani network in the Taliban Movement, is shown speaking to Al-Jazirah: "We have tolerated the pressure and the harm the Pakistani Government inflicted on the Islamic Emirate. We are tolerating all the harm because we maintain a relationship with the Pakistani people."

Related attachment

Click on the links to view the attached 2-minute-23-second video or a streamed version in .wmv format.

[Description of Source: Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic -- Independent Television station financed by the Qatari Government]

Afghan experts dismiss idea of negotiation with Taleban

SAP20100124950058 Kabul Tolo Television in Dari 1730 GMT 20 Jan 10

[Updated Version: adding search term "Afghan TV discussion program"]

Afghan experts dismiss idea of negotiation with Taleban

Several political experts taking part in a TV discussion have said it is impractical for the government to negotiate with the Taleban. One, Jafar Rasul, said such negotiation were just an exchange of demands by two or more sides which could not make any concessions without the permission of the international community and Pakistan respectively. Another, Nasrollah Stanekzai, accused the international community and the Afghan government of using the issue merely for propaganda purposes. The following is an excerpt from the "Goftoman" ("Discourse") talk show broadcast by Afghan independent Tolo TV on 20 January:

[Presenter] Hello. Welcome to the "Goftoman" programme on Tolo TV. An international conference is going to be held on Afghanistan in London next week. One of the discussion topics at the conference will be negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taleban. However, the Taleban conducted a series of attacks in Kabul 10 days before the conference. How effective can negotiations be with the Taleban considering recent actions? Our guests in the programme are Mr Fazel Sancharaki spokesman of the National Front, Mr Jafar Rasuli expert in international relations, Mr Nasrollah Stanekzai university lecturer, Rafi Ferdaus member of the government media centre and Wahid Mozhda political expert. Welcome dear guests.

Mr Ferdaus, how is the new strategy of the Afghan government for negotiations different, since the government has always tried to negotiate with the Taleban in the past five years?

[Passage omitted: Ferdaus says the government plans to provide the Taleban who join the government with financial assistance, employment and other needs.]

[Presenter] Mr Sancharaki, with whom specifically does the Afghan government negotiate? The opposition to the government oppositions seems to have several branches.

[Passage omitted: Sancharaki says the National Front has been in touch with Taleban figures Mullah Mohammad Omar, Mullah Mansur and Jalaloddin Haqqani at various times. He criticizes President Karzai for not sharing issue of negotiations with political parties and parliament, accuses Karzai of using issue for personal propaganda advantage.]

[Presenter] Mr Mozhda, do the Taleban have any specific people with the authority to make decisions?

[Mozhda] The dangerous and fighting Taleban have a single leadership and their leader is Mullah Omar. Some figures in the government think Mullah Omar does not have the authority to make a decision without Pakistan, but that is not true taking into consideration arrest of most high-ranking Taleban members in Pakistan during the past eight years - [presenter interrupts.]

[Presenter] Who will represent Mullah Omar at the London Conference as he will not participate in it? Or will the host country or the British represent him?

[Mozhda] There is no negotiation. Obama's strategy emphasizes war for 18 months and the Afghan government may only want to discuss the issue of negotiation in the conference. The government mostly talks about removing Mullah Omar's name from the [terrorist] blacklist while the international community does not agree with it. I think discussions about negotiations with the Taleban at the coming London Conference will have no results.

[Presenter] What do you think the Afghan government and the host country for the conference want to prove by promoting this issue in the media?

[Mozhda] I do not think the British government will support this strategy, because the British people are smart and can play with the issue very well. They will not support the removal of Mullah Omar's name from the blacklist either. However, the Afghan government wants to show to the international community with this strategy that there is a national government in Afghanistan which should be supported, otherwise the international community's mission is over.

[Presenter] Mr Rasuli; how practical are negotiations with the Taleban?

[Passage omitted: Rasuli says such negotiations are is not practical because Mullah Omar does not have the authority to decide without Pakistan's permission. He says the government's negotiation strategy is just empty words.]

[Jafar] Even if Jalaloddin Haqqani, Mullah Omar and Golboddin Hekmatyar decide to join the political process, they will demand a leading role in the country, which does not seem practical taking into consideration the Afghan government's current structure and ministers such as Rahim Wardag and Omar Zakhelwal. Meanwhile, the Afghan government cannot give the Taleban what they demand because it does not have the authority to negotiate without the USA's and the international community's permission. War is more practical than negotiations in the current situation. Besides, the US, UK and other countries have always played with words, but have never shown readiness to tackle issues such as negotiations.

[Presenter] Mr Stanekzai, do you think presence of Gen Dostum in the government is a reason for the Taleban not to negotiate?

[Passage omitted: Stanekzai says not only Gen Dostum but also some other groups and individuals in the government try to keep the Taleban away so they will not lose their current positions.]

[Stanekzai continues] The government's plan or draft of negotiation is just a word while there is nothing on the paper. It will have no achievements.

[Presenter] Mr Mozhda; do you think there are any solution to ensure peace in the country at least in the short-term?

[Passage omitted: Mozhda says there are no solutions, because the Taleban are united. He says even if a Taleban commander joins the government, he is immediately excluded from body of the Taleban, but the men under his command will remain with the Taleban.]

[Mozhda continues] When Mullah Salam surrendered in Musa Qala District in Helmand, his men did not come with him. Similarly, when Mullah Mansur Dadollah negotiated with Michael Sample, Mullah Omar declared him excluded from the Taleban although Dadollah had achieved many victories for the Taleban in the area.

[Presenter] Mr Sancharaki; what kind of practical negotiation is conceivable?

[Sancharaki] Mr Karzai has created massive distrust in the country over the past eight years by removing the main pillars of stability in the country which include political parties and influential individuals. Mr Karzai even deceived his electoral allies by rejecting their ministers-designate in the parliament. The Taleban do not trust President Karzai for this reason. They fear from being deceived like Dostum, Khalili, Sayaf and Mohaqeq. The only solution for ensuring stability in the country is rehabilitation of the broken national trust and real political partnership in the country.

[Passage omitted: Rasuli says the Taleban are waiting for the foreign forces to leave Afghanistan and for the same thing which happened in Vietnam. He says the government, on the other hand, waits for a day when the Taleban will be suppressed by the foreign forces so most Taleban commanders will surrender; Stanekzai says negotiations are meaningless and futile without having a specific address of the one or ones you negotiate with. He says that perhaps the Afghan government and the international community want to take propagandistic advantage out of their uproars about negotiation in the public opinion.]

[Description of Source: Kabul Tolo Television in Dari -- independent television; part of the Moby Media Group]

Afghan experts dismiss idea of negotiation with Taleban

SAP20100124950058 Kabul Tolo Television in Dari 1730 GMT 20 Jan 10

[Updated Version: adding search term "Afghan TV discussion program"]

Afghan experts dismiss idea of negotiation with Taleban

Several political experts taking part in a TV discussion have said it is impractical for the government to negotiate with the Taleban. One, Jafar Rasul, said such negotiation were just an exchange of demands by two or more sides which could not make any concessions without the permission of the international community and Pakistan respectively. Another, Nasrollah Stanekzai, accused the international community and the Afghan government of using the issue merely for propaganda purposes. The following is an excerpt from the "Goftoman" ("Discourse") talk show broadcast by Afghan independent Tolo TV on 20 January:

[Presenter] Hello. Welcome to the "Goftoman" programme on Tolo TV. An international conference is going to be held on Afghanistan in London next week. One of the discussion topics at the conference will be negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taleban. However, the Taleban conducted a series of attacks in Kabul 10 days before the conference. How effective can negotiations be with the Taleban considering recent actions? Our guests in the programme are Mr Fazel Sancharaki spokesman of the National Front, Mr Jafar Rasuli expert in international relations, Mr Nasrollah Stanekzai university lecturer, Rafi Ferdaus member of the government media centre and Wahid Mozhda political expert. Welcome dear guests.

Mr Ferdaus, how is the new strategy of the Afghan government for negotiations different, since the government has always tried to negotiate with the Taleban in the past five years?

[Passage omitted: Ferdaus says the government plans to provide the Taleban who join the government with financial assistance, employment and other needs.]

[Presenter] Mr Sancharaki, with whom specifically does the Afghan government negotiate? The opposition to the government oppositions seems to have several branches.

[Passage omitted: Sancharaki says the National Front has been in touch with Taleban figures Mullah Mohammad Omar, Mullah Mansur and Jalaloddin Haqqani at various times. He criticizes President Karzai for not sharing issue of negotiations with political parties and parliament, accuses Karzai of using issue for personal propaganda advantage.]

[Presenter] Mr Mozhda, do the Taleban have any specific people with the authority to make decisions?

[Mozhda] The dangerous and fighting Taleban have a single leadership and their leader is Mullah Omar. Some figures in the government think Mullah Omar does not have the authority to make a decision without Pakistan, but that is not true taking into consideration arrest of most high-ranking Taleban members in Pakistan during the past eight years - [presenter interrupts.]

[Presenter] Who will represent Mullah Omar at the London Conference as he will not participate in it? Or will the host country or the British represent him?

[Mozhda] There is no negotiation. Obama's strategy emphasizes war for 18 months and the Afghan government may only want to discuss the issue of negotiation in the conference. The government mostly talks about removing Mullah Omar's name from the [terrorist] blacklist while the international community does not agree with it. I think discussions about negotiations with the Taleban at the coming London Conference will have no results.

[Presenter] What do you think the Afghan government and the host country for the conference want to prove by promoting this issue in the media?

[Mozhda] I do not think the British government will support this strategy, because the British people are smart and can play with the issue very well. They will not support the removal of Mullah Omar's name from the blacklist either. However, the Afghan government wants to show to the international community with this strategy that there is a national government in Afghanistan which should be supported, otherwise the international community's mission is over.

[Presenter] Mr Rasuli; how practical are negotiations with the Taleban?

[Passage omitted: Rasuli says such negotiations are is not practical because Mullah Omar does not have the authority to decide without Pakistan's permission. He says the government's negotiation strategy is just empty words.]

[Jafar] Even if Jalaloddin Haqqani, Mullah Omar and Golboddin Hekmatyar decide to join the political process, they will demand a leading role in the country, which does not seem practical taking into consideration the Afghan government's current structure and ministers such as Rahim Wardag and Omar Zakhelwal. Meanwhile, the Afghan government cannot give the Taleban what they demand because it does not have the authority to negotiate without the USA's and the international community's permission. War is more practical than negotiations in the current situation. Besides, the US, UK and other countries have always played with words, but have never shown readiness to tackle issues such as negotiations.

[Presenter] Mr Stanekzai, do you think presence of Gen Dostum in the government is a reason for the Taleban not to negotiate?

[Passage omitted: Stanekzai says not only Gen Dostum but also some other groups and individuals in the government try to keep the Taleban away so they will not lose their current positions.]

[Stanekzai continues] The government's plan or draft of negotiation is just a word while there is nothing on the paper. It will have no achievements.

[Presenter] Mr Mozhda; do you think there are any solution to ensure peace in the country at least in the short-term?

[Passage omitted: Mozhda says there are no solutions, because the Taleban are united. He says even if a Taleban commander joins the government, he is immediately excluded from body of the Taleban, but the men under his command will remain with the Taleban.]

[Mozhda continues] When Mullah Salam surrendered in Musa Qala District in Helmand, his men did not come with him. Similarly, when Mullah Mansur Dadollah negotiated with Michael Sample, Mullah Omar declared him excluded from the Taleban although Dadollah had achieved many victories for the Taleban in the area.

[Presenter] Mr Sancharaki; what kind of practical negotiation is conceivable?

[Sancharaki] Mr Karzai has created massive distrust in the country over the past eight years by removing the main pillars of stability in the country which include political parties and influential individuals. Mr Karzai even deceived his electoral allies by rejecting their ministers-designate in the parliament. The Taleban do not trust President Karzai for this reason. They fear from being deceived like Dostum, Khalili, Sayaf and Mohaqeq. The only solution for ensuring stability in the country is rehabilitation of the broken national trust and real political partnership in the country.

[Passage omitted: Rasuli says the Taleban are waiting for the foreign forces to leave Afghanistan and for the same thing which happened in Vietnam. He says the government, on the other hand, waits for a day when the Taleban will be suppressed by the foreign forces so most Taleban commanders will surrender; Stanekzai says negotiations are meaningless and futile without having a specific address of the one or ones you negotiate with. He says that perhaps the Afghan government and the international community want to take propagandistic advantage out of their uproars about negotiation in the public opinion.]

[Description of Source: Kabul Tolo Television in Dari -- independent television; part of the Moby Media Group]

Afghan peace process to fail without Taleban leaders' involvement - ex-member

SAP20100215950045 Kabul Hasht-e-Sobh in Dari 11 Feb 10

Afghan peace process to fail without Taleban leaders' involvement - ex-member

Excerpt from an article in Dari entitled: "Peace Reconciliation Commission says the Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami should be given share [in power]", published by Afghan independent secular daily newspaper Hasht-e Sobh on 11 February

Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami members say that a document they will receive in return for joining the peace process from the Peace Reconciliation Commission will give them immunity to persecution by the security forces. Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami members will join the Afghan government side if they get a letter in writing from the Peace Reconciliation Commission not to be persecuted by Afghan and foreign security forces.

One of the members of the Taleban, who was working against Afghan and international security forces in Wardag Province, but recently joined the peace process, says that the document, which will be given by the Peace Reconciliation Commission, will let them feel safe. Zahidollah, one of the Taleban insurgents who joined the Peace Reconciliation Commission, along with nearly 100 others, says: "There are some corrupt persons working in security departments who will follow and bother us considering us as the Taleban and this document will be very helpful for us and we can feel safe at home."

While government officials and the Peace Reconciliation Commission hope to decrease the size of these two anti-government groups [Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami] by encouraging them, Zahidollah says that there will not be an end to the war and problems of Afghanistan with some ordinary armed Taleban or Hezb-e Eslami members joining the Afghan government side. He said the Afghan government should invite the top leaders of the Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami and consider their aspirations and demands fully. He added that for example, Mullah Omar, Hekmatyar and Maulana Jalaloddin Haqqani must be invited to discuss Afghanistan's problems at leadership levels. The few Taleban who join the peace process will only save their lives and relax at home. If the problems were solved by a few Taleban members joining the peace process, it would have been done in the last four or five years.

[Passage omitted: repeat]

The deputy head of the Peace Reconciliation Commission has said in a programme about joining the peace process that this commission needs the international community's donations without any conditions. He added: "We are trying to provide a chance for anti-government insurgents to live peacefully and share both political and civilian issues of Afghanistan. They can even join the new Afghan government through elections, since they are Afghans."

Meanwhile those in charge of this commission say that hundreds of Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami members have joined this commission with their weapons. They add that 9,000 members of the Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami have joined the government side through this commission and more that 1,000 others have been released from Bagram and Guantanamo prisons. But reports state that some of these people have rejoined the anti-government group and are fighting the Afghan and international forces.

[Description of Source: Kabul Hasht-e-Sobh in Dari -- Eight-page secular daily launched in May 2007; editor-in-chief, Qasim Akhgar, is a political analyst and Head of the Association for the Freedom of Speech. ]

Afghan peace process to fail without Taleban leaders' involvement - ex-member

SAP20100215950045 Kabul Hasht-e-Sobh in Dari 11 Feb 10

Afghan peace process to fail without Taleban leaders' involvement - ex-member

Excerpt from an article in Dari entitled: "Peace Reconciliation Commission says the Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami should be given share [in power]", published by Afghan independent secular daily newspaper Hasht-e Sobh on 11 February

Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami members say that a document they will receive in return for joining the peace process from the Peace Reconciliation Commission will give them immunity to persecution by the security forces. Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami members will join the Afghan government side if they get a letter in writing from the Peace Reconciliation Commission not to be persecuted by Afghan and foreign security forces.

One of the members of the Taleban, who was working against Afghan and international security forces in Wardag Province, but recently joined the peace process, says that the document, which will be given by the Peace Reconciliation Commission, will let them feel safe. Zahidollah, one of the Taleban insurgents who joined the Peace Reconciliation Commission, along with nearly 100 others, says: "There are some corrupt persons working in security departments who will follow and bother us considering us as the Taleban and this document will be very helpful for us and we can feel safe at home."

While government officials and the Peace Reconciliation Commission hope to decrease the size of these two anti-government groups [Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami] by encouraging them, Zahidollah says that there will not be an end to the war and problems of Afghanistan with some ordinary armed Taleban or Hezb-e Eslami members joining the Afghan government side. He said the Afghan government should invite the top leaders of the Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami and consider their aspirations and demands fully. He added that for example, Mullah Omar, Hekmatyar and Maulana Jalaloddin Haqqani must be invited to discuss Afghanistan's problems at leadership levels. The few Taleban who join the peace process will only save their lives and relax at home. If the problems were solved by a few Taleban members joining the peace process, it would have been done in the last four or five years.

[Passage omitted: repeat]

The deputy head of the Peace Reconciliation Commission has said in a programme about joining the peace process that this commission needs the international community's donations without any conditions. He added: "We are trying to provide a chance for anti-government insurgents to live peacefully and share both political and civilian issues of Afghanistan. They can even join the new Afghan government through elections, since they are Afghans."

Meanwhile those in charge of this commission say that hundreds of Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami members have joined this commission with their weapons. They add that 9,000 members of the Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami have joined the government side through this commission and more that 1,000 others have been released from Bagram and Guantanamo prisons. But reports state that some of these people have rejoined the anti-government group and are fighting the Afghan and international forces.

[Description of Source: Kabul Hasht-e-Sobh in Dari -- Eight-page secular daily launched in May 2007; editor-in-chief, Qasim Akhgar, is a political analyst and Head of the Association for the Freedom of Speech. ]

Taleban deny commander in talks with Afghan president

SAP20100627950068 Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto 1350 GMT 27 Jun 10

Taleban deny commander in talks with Afghan president

Text of report by private Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency

Kandahar, 27 June: The Taleban have strongly denied reports that Mawlawi Sarajoddin Haqqani and President Hamed Karzai have met.

The Taleban have strongly denied reports that an important and influential Taleban commander, Jalaloddin Haqqani, has met President Hamed Karzai and said the reports were attempts to creating divisions among the Taleban.

Taleban spokesman Zabihollah Mojahed described the reports as wrong and baseless and told Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) over the telephone: "The reports saying the active commander of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Sarajoddin Haqqani, has met Hamed Karzai, are all untrue."

He added: "I spoke to Sarajoddin Haqqani on the telephone personally today at 1500 local time. He asked me to dismiss such claims and now, as spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, I strongly dismiss these reports."

The Taleban spokesman said the Taleban were united and one and said the Taleban were engaged in jihad against the invading forces under one leadership and that such reports were just attempts of creating divisions among the Taleban.

Mojahed said: "As I have said before and I will repeat one more time, while foreign forces are in Afghanistan, we will not engage in talks with anyone. We will continue our armed jihad."

AIP asked a local commander loyal to Haqqani network about the reports. He said "These remarks are all untrue and baseless. The remarks by the spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan are all correct."

Arabic Al-Jazeera TV recently aired reports saying Pakistani army chief Ashfaq Kayani and army military intelligence chief have assisted Sarajoddin Haqqani to meet President Karzai in Kabul.

Mawlawi Sarajoddin Haqqani is the son of Jalaloddin Haqqani, a renowned mojahedin commander who fought against the Soviet Union. Sarajoddin Haqqani has become famous for launching organized, strong and very deadly attacks against US, NATO and Afghan forces in Kabul, Logar and other southeastern provinces of Afghanistan. Besides inflicting casualties on Afghan and foreign forces, the group has put to question the capability of these forces.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans, that describes itself as an independent "news agency" but whose history and reporting pattern reveal a perceptible pro-Taliban bias; the AIP's founder-director, Mohammad Yaqub Sharafat, has long been associated with a mujahidin faction that merged with the Taliban's "Islamic Emirate" led by Mullah Omar; subscription required to access content; ]

German Pro-Jihad Forum Posts Interview With 'German Taliban Mujahidin' Leader

EUP20100127101002 Jihadist Websites -- OSC Summary in German 25 Jan 10

[For additional open source reporting and analysis relevant to Islam and diaspora communities in Europe: OSC_ERIU@rccb., OSC's Islam in Europe Portal, or "ERIU" on Intellipedia]

On 25 January, a moderator of a German-language jihadist forum posted the text of an interview with Abu Ishaq Al-Muhajir (al-Muhadschir in German), amir of the German Taliban Mujahidin, entitled "Resistance Is the Only Way and the Connection to the Jihad."

The title of the text followed that of a similar statement released in October 2009 by the German Taliban Mujahidin, entitled "Resistance Is the Only Alternative and the Connection to the Jihad," in which Abu Ishaq called for resistance specifically against "German crusaders." However, no banner of the German Taliban Mujahidin appears this time, but rather only that of the producers of the text, the Elif Medya Information Group, which is considered the media arm of the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU). For more information on the October statement, please see: OSC Summary: 'German Taliban Mujahidin' Urges Resistance to 'German Crusaders' (EUP20091009101003).

The German Taliban Mujahidin recently called for support for "Yemeni brothers and sisters" in the form of "money, weapons, and soldiers" in a statement released on 16 January, which appeared on a large German-language conservative Islamic forum. For more information on the statement, please see: OSC Summary: Germany: German Jihadists Urge Support for Jihad in Yemen (EUP20100119091002).

The interview with Abu Ishaq read:

"Question: Who is Abu Ishaq Al-Muhajir and what information can you give us regarding the 'German Taliban Mujahidin'? What kind of group are they and what goals do they pursue?

"Answer: Before I begin, I express all praise and thanks to the only Rabb [Lord], Allah, blessed and exalted is He. He is the Rabb, who holds all souls in His hand, the all wise, the eternally steady. Peace and blessing be on Allah's messenger. He is the leader of all leaders and the best creature of all times.

"Abu Ishaq Al-Muhajir is a human among other humans. Among the eternally valid teachings of Allah's messenger, peace and blessing be upon him, the following groundbreaking statement by him is one of the most important: 'Be a human among humans.' If one considers it from this point of view, then I am only a human being without special abilities.

"I, Abu Ishaq Al-Muhajir, was born in Germany and, up to the age of university, lived in Germany. I spent my childhood and my youth in Germany. Thus I can say that I know the German people well. Eventually we are regarded as insurgents everywhere. But honestly, even if we are confronted everywhere with such things, for us this is of no particularly importance... the message, for which we stand, surpasses personal identities. What gives us dignity and honor is exclusively our Islamic identity! This identity is more valuable for us than all other identities. The meaning of the gift of life [in Islam] is directed towards ambitious significant goals. In contrast to this, life in a capitalistic society, in which they are deceived by a man-made failed system, is insignificant and without any meaning. And anyway, the real truth is that the Taliban crushed the cardboard towers of this world with their religious messages and will continue to crush them. Those who follow the way of the Koran and Sunnah are about to return this world to its original condition. The 'German Taliban Mujahidin' are a movement who belong to the aqida [creed], the Ahl Al-Sunnah wa Al-Jama'ah [the people of the traditional way and of the congregation; Sunni Muslims], which is very common in Afghanistan. Our movement works under the banner of the 'Islamic Emirates Afghanistan' and consists exclusively of German Mujahidin. So that Allah's religion, blessed and exalted is He, will be the only one on this earth according to which judgement is delivered, we open our hearts and doors to all our Mujahidin brothers and sisters, from Europe and particularly from Germany, and hope that we will fight shoulder to shoulder in the whole world against the occupying forces who are on Islamic ground.

"Question: What is the current condition of the Islamic resistance in Afghanistan?

"Answer: As one can see, neither the Americans nor any other power was able to destroy the greatest problem of the 20th century, communism. It was the Mujahidin who destroyed the USSR and communism and who, led by outstanding leaders such as Mullah Umar and Mullah Jalaluddin Haqqani, resisted the occupying forces as often before in history, and dealt them hard blows. We should look back in history at how, on the ground of Khorasan, the British and Russian occupying forces took very hard blows and therefore had to flee. And in exactly the same way, the Christian occupying forces and their Zionist alliance will have to accept a crushing defeat. Praise be to Allah, the Mujahidin who belong to the 'Islamic Emirates Afghanistan' carry out more than 80 operations a week against the occupying forces and their dogs who have turned away from religion. One of the most beautiful examples for the resistance prevailing in Afghanistan is the martyr operation that was accomplished at the CIA secret base in Khost.

"Question: What do you say to the fact that the 'German Taliban Mujahidin' are associated with 'terror' and 'death' and regarded as identical [to them]?

"Answer: This is a completely absurd statement. You have to know that the same accusations were made against Allah's messenger, peace and blessing be upon him, that is, that, if Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him, would come into our time he would be called a terrorist as well. When Amr bin As, may Allah be pleased with him, the deputy of Mecca, who at that time was still not a Muslim, spoke with Nejashi, he told him: 'The Muslims are insurgents. They brought discord between father and son.' At that time, not to belong to the Kuffar [unbelievers] meant being a troublemaker and someone who brings discord. When King Frederick expelled the Muslims from the island of Sicily, he said: 'These are all insurgents.' When the king of Byzantium started a war against the Muslims, he used the term: 'These are insurgents of the desert.' What I want to say by that is that this has been going on for all time... either you are with us or with the insurgents... or nowadays [you are] a terrorist. Let us take the Berbers as example... the word Berber is derived from barbarian, that is, someone who did not subject himself to the Roman Empire and thus belonged to the barbarians. There are even 'barbarian tribes' and only because they did not accept the rule of the Roman Empire... otherwise the Romans, in terms of cruelty, were much more cruel. It was the Romans who let humans be torn apart by lions. And nowadays you can of course trust again the modern Romans and call the 'German Taliban Mujahidin' terrorists. Nevertheless we will never be 'terrorists.' Only if Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him, was a terrorist then are we terrorists as well. Since we do not stand on the side of the occupying power America and her fascist servant Germany we are terrorists. You can call us whatever you like, but since the year 2000, in Afghanistan, Palestine, Chechnya, and Iraq, more than 100,000 children were killed. And who is responsible for this? When 60 Jews died, a minute's silence was held the whole world over. When, however, 100,000 children died in the Islamic world nobody batted an eyelash. I leave things here to the conscience of each individual....

"Question: Is there a special group of Mujahidin, who are under the command of the amir of the 'German Taliban Mujahidin,' Abu Ishaq Al-Muhajir? And what kind of the training do they get?

"Answer: To be honest, I do not have a guard of my own, because I am not a sultan or something like that. Of course we have Mujahidin who have very good knowledge of weapons and equipment. These are not bound to me, but act according to instructions from the Taliban. This training is provided within a very extensive framework, that is, lessons about chemical and explosive materials, Hadith and Shariah lessons, up to the science of all weapons of our time. In addition to that, we have knowledge, among other things, about the field of espionage and intelligence service or the handling of computers. The 'German Taliban Mujahidin' are presently a very modern combat troop. A military unit, which is light, effective, and vigorous.

"Question: Your final word... to the resistance fighters... to the Afghan people... to the American and German people?

"Answer: "We say to our leaders in jihad and to our brothers and sisters: 'Be proud of yourselves and fight, with all force against the occupying forces.' To the Afghan people: 'For the fact that you supported us and did not refuse assistance to us and always waited patiently, we will not leave you and this country alone.' To the American and German people: 'For how long do you want to believe this insanity? And say to your leaders that they have to come to their senses and should not spill the blood of our and your soldiers. We will withdraw the soldiers of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, from our obligation to fight no sooner and will continue to fight so long until your last man dies on the battlefield."

Pakistan: Death Toll of Multiple US Drone Attacks in N Waziristan Reaches 31

SAP20100204118003 Islamabad The News Online in English 04 Feb 10

[Report by Mushtaq Yusufzai: "Drone attack death toll climbs to 31"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR: The death toll of Tuesday's attack by nine US drones in North Waziristan rose to 31 on Wednesday as 14 more bodies were retrieved from the houses destroyed in the missile strikes.

Official sources in Miramshah, the main town of North Waziristan, said seven among the victims were foreigners, but they did not provide details about their nationality. The victims did not include any senior local or foreign militant commander, the officials said.

Government officials as well as the Taliban militants were astonished by unattributed media reports that veteran Afghan Mujahideen leader Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani was among those killed in the drone strikes.

"I don't know who is feeding these television channels. They should at least double check when there is any sensitive issue," said a government official based in Miramshah. The Taliban said they were surprised over the media reports that had declared Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani dead in the strikes.

"Why a senior Taliban figure like Maulvi Sahib would stay in the Dattakhel area where drones are flying round-the-clock. He is in good health but far away from here," claimed a militant commander. Officials said nine US drones had taken part in the biggest missile strikes so far in the Pakistani tribal areas.

There were reports that the drones struck seven militant camps located in the mountains. The Taliban confirmed that they had suffered human losses in the attacks but did not agree with media reports about the figures. "They targeted only those places where we have installed anti-aircraft guns to fire at the spy planes," claimed a militant commander, who wished not to be named. He said it seemed the US forces had lost patience after suffering huge losses in Afghanistan.

Tribal sources said raining a barrage of missiles in the Dattakhel area had scared local villagers, particularly women and children. They complained the villagers spent a sleepless night after the strikes, which they said had shaken the entire mountainous town.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of a widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Usually offers leading news and analysis on issues related to war against terrorism. Circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Former Afghan Taliban Tell UK Source Karzai Reconciliation Scheme Gave 'Nothing'

EUP20100131031005 London Sunday Times Online in English 31 Jan 10

[Report by Marie Colvin in Pul-i-Alam, Logar province, additional reporting by Miles Amoore: "Hamid Karzai Fails Taliban who Gave Up Arms"]

THE room the Taliban commander Mullah Mohammad now calls home, after bringing his 21 fighters to join the Afghan government's reintegration programme earlier this month, is barely more comfortable than the mountain redoubt he left.

He sits on a thin mat and leans against the wall, his skin dark and weathered, facing the battered Kalashnikovs and a vintage Russian mortar launcher he surrendered in return for promises of money, jobs and land for him and his men.

Instead, the peace and reconciliation commission (known as PTS, its acronym in Dari), set up by the president, Hamid Karzai, in 2005, handed them letters guaranteeing free passage. And nothing else. Mohammad, 48, is stunned and speaks slowly.

"We were fighting all day, and we had nothing to show for it," he said. "I began thinking, 'Why are we killing our Afghan brothers?'"

Like many mid-level Taliban commanders, he is a conservative tribal Pashtun, not an extremist ideologue. He is the perfect candidate for the government's reintegration programme, which will be absorbed into the bigger and better-funded reintegration council announced by Karzai at last week's London conference. Donors there pledged $140m (£90m) towards a $500m fund to pay the Taliban to lay down their arms.

"They (the PTS) told us they'll protect us, and that we would have the chance to have jobs. Now we have nothing," Mohammad says.

The drive to Pul-i-Alam, the capital of Logar province, most of which is controlled by the Taliban, was fraught.

The former Taliban commanders I went to meet there had fought in the Haqqani organisation, led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a 60-year-old warlord who battled the Soviets.

He is said to be ailing and has ceded control of his military wing to his son Sirajuddin Haqqani, a militant in his early forties responsible for a deadly escalation in the Afghan war.

Haqqani is based in north Waziristan, just across the Pakistani border, but most of his attacks are inside Afghanistan. He has boasted that he sent down this same highway the suicide bombers and gunmen who attacked Kabul ministries, shops and a hotel earlier this month, on the day Karzai swore in his new cabinet.

His other great coup was to prime a Jordanian double agent to kill seven CIA agents inside an American base last month.

Last year, Haqqani set up flying checkpoints on this highway to Logar, which is hated by American troops because the Taliban constantly seed the route with improvised explosive devices.

Huddled in the back seat of a car, I was swathed in a brown wool blanket, and instructed to pretend I was asleep if we were stopped at a checkpoint. I was happy it was snowing and the windows were steamed up. Nobody could see inside.

An hour outside town, I called the PTS and it sent an armed escort. Several of its officials have been killed on this road. In Pul-i-Alam, I was bundled into its compound by armed men, keen that nobody should see a foreigner.

The Taliban commanders in Logar gave an insight into the gulf between the promises at last week's conference and the harsh reality on the ground.

Few in London appeared to recall that Karzai set up the PTS five years ago, although it has been poorly funded so far.

Two former Taliban commanders joined Mullah Mohammad. Moulana Saheb Said Ajan, a senior Taliban figure, was angry. "I brought 40 fighters to the PTS," he said. "I told my men: 'Other countries are making planes and computers. Why are we freezing in the mountains? We should be building our country.'"

Ajan changed sides after falling out with Haqqani's "Pakistan Taliban", so called because they allegedly receive money from Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI. He said many more would join if the money was there and they felt safe.

As a commander, Ajan was not paid a salary, although foot soldiers are paid about $200 a month, considerably more than the Afghan police.

"I told the leaders what I needed, and they sent it," Ajan said. "They always paid immediately." He said he received 200,000-500,000 Pakistani rupees (£1,500-£3,700) every month, either smuggled from Dubai, or in bags of cash that would fill the back of pick-up trucks from Pakistan. Ajan decided to take the PTS offer after he was ordered to carry out a raid he disagreed with. "We were on top of the mountain and Haqqani's people ordered us to the district office here in Pul-i-Alam, to destroy a United Nations vehicle to make them leave," he said. "I'm 28 years old. I just didn't want to do this any more."

He sent tribal elders to check out the PTS and they came back with assurances of money, jobs and security for his family and fighters. "I'm now living on the floor of this office," Ajan said dejectedly. "The Taliban are now dropping letters through our doors, saying if we don't return they'll kill us."

The success of the reintegration programme is crucial to any transition to Afghan rule. It would take hardened fighters off the battlefield and into the army and police force, which NATO wants to increase to 400,000 men by 2015. But for the system to work, the money must reach the fighters and not be siphoned off.

Ajan's story also illustrates the differences between commanders on the ground and the Taliban leadership, which will have to be part of a political solution if there is to be any lasting peace. "I strongly believe we need to reach the Taliban leaders," said Najibullah Mojadidi, the elder son of the PTS chairman and a member of Karzai's national security committee.

"As long as they're not convinced, they'll always have people in Afghanistan prepared to continue the fighting."

* Two American soldiers were shot dead by a disgruntled Afghan interpreter, who was then killed himself, at a base in Wardak province yesterday. Hours later, four Afghan soldiers were killed when a US airstrike hit their base nearby.

[Description of Source: London Sunday Times Online in English -- Website of best-selling center-right Sunday newspaper; in-depth coverage of national and international news and politics; owned by Rupert Murdoch's New International; website only available on Sunday; URL: ]

Pakistan: Haqqani's Son Among 4 Said Killed in Drone Strike in North Waziristan

SAP20100218093009 Karachi ARY News Television in Urdu 18 Feb 10

Four people have been killed and five injured in a US drone strike in Miram Shah area of North Waziristan Agency. There are reports that son of Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani has also been killed in the attack.

According to a foreign news agency, the US drone fired two missiles on a house in Dandey Darpa Khel area near Miram Shah. Four people were killed and five injured in the attack.

[Description of Source: Karachi ARY News Television in Urdu -- Dubai-based 24-hour news channel launched in early 2004. It is a subsidiary of the larger ARY Digital Network.]

Pakistan: TTP Confirms Death of Haqqani's Son in North Waziristan Drone Strike

SAP20100219081001 Karachi Dawn News in English 19 Feb 10

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] has now confirmed that Muhammad Haqqani son of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the infamous leader of the Haqqani network was killed in yesterday's drone strike that took place in North Waziristan. Four other suspected militants were also killed in this strike, two of whom are said to be Arab nationals. And joining us from Peshawar is our bureau chief Zahir Shah Sherazi for more details on this story.

[Begin live relay] [Anchorperson Zarar Khoro] Now Zahir exactly when did the Taliban confirm that these people were killed?

Alright, we are trying to get through to our Peshawar Bureau Chief Zahir Shah Sherazi but just to recap for you, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has now confirmed that Muhammad Haqqani, who is the seventh son of veteran Afghan leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, was killed in yesterday's [ 18 February] drone strike in North Waziristan. The Haqqani network is said to be centered in North Waziristan and is considered to be the most lethal of the Afghan Taliban groups currently fighting against ISAF in Afghanistan. Now if this news coming in is significant as it comes just a few days after the reports of the arrest of Mullah Berader from Pakistan.

Mullah Berader is of course affiliated with the so-called Quetta Shura led by former ruler of Afghanistan Mullah Omar. Mullah Berader was considered to be the second-in-command of the Afghan Taliban's faction of Mullah Omar, the faction of the Afghan Taliban rather and was also said to be the top military commander. The drone strikes in North Waziristan have of course been stepped up in recent days. The frequency of drone strikes has increased largely because of the Khost suicide bombing in which a number of CIA officials were killed. That bombing was of course linked to Hakimullah Mehsud who in turn was also killed in a drone strike in recent days.

Now joining us is our Peshawar Bureau Chief Zahir Shah Sherazi. Now Zahir exactly when did the Taliban, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, confirmed the death of Muhammad Haqqani?

[Sherazi] Well Zarar, we have just spoken to the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban commander in North Waziristan Agency and he has confirmed that Muhammad Haqqani who is the believed to be the seventh son of veteran Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, he has been killed in a suspected US drone strike in Dandey Darpa Khel area of Miram Shah in North Waziristan Agency and also the official sources are confirming that two other main commanders, who they believe are of Arab origin, they have also been killed in that strike along with a local tribesman. And the information is also coming that apparently Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is the main Taliban commander, led by Sirajuddin Haqqani in that area, the Haqqani network's in charge, [as heard] apparently we can say the operational commander, he was perhaps the target of this suspected US drone strike but apparently he missed that strike and he escaped that area when the strike took place.

Also earlier, there were rumors that perhaps some key Arab commanders have also been killed but there is no confirmation about that. I must mention again that this is the major blow to the Haqqani network, who is operating under Jalaluddin Haqqani and apparently Sirajuddin Haqqani who is the elder son of veteran Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani.

And about Jalaluddin Haqqani we know that he rose to prominence during the Soviet era and led the Taliban against Soviet invasion also he is considered to be the second largest and dangerous group after Mullah Omar-led Taliban, who are fighting the NATO-led US forces inside Afghanistan. And it is also believed that Jalaluddin Haqqani has also visited White House during the reign of President Ronald Regan. So it means that he is most important for the NATO and US-led ISAF forces in Afghanistan because he is considered to be a major threat.

Also the US authorities have been accusing the Pakistani intelligence agencies of having links to Haqqani network so it means that perhaps the intelligence network of the US-led NATO forces inside the tribal areas of Pakistan is strengthening and this strike shows that they are now after the Haqqani network and perhaps the Pakistani authorities are also likely to be cooperating with them as the arrest of Abdul Salam and Mullah Berader also shows that these two intelligence agencies as well as the security agencies are cooperating with each other in targeting the Taliban leadership and obviously the reason, which is put forth by the experts is that perhaps before departure from Afghanistan the US wanted to minimize the threat of Taliban and wanted to force them to come to the negotiation table before any peaceful settlement of Afghan crisis is, you can say, finalized.

[Khoro] Alright Zahir we thank you very much for that update. [end of live relay]

Well reports of Muhammad Haqqani being killed, clearly a significant blow for the Afghan Taliban. The latest in fact in a series of blows that the Afghan Taliban have suffered beginning with the arrest of Mullah Berader right here in Pakistan. That is all for now.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn News in English -- Pakistan's first 24-hour English language TV channel owned by the Dawn Group of Newspapers.]

Al-Jazirah: Haqqani's Son Dead; Pakistani Strategy Toward Afghan Taliban Changed

GMP20100219643002 Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic 1003 GMT 19 Feb 10

[Satellite interview with Ahmad Zaydan, chief of Al-Jazirah Bureau in Islamabad, by anchor Wasilah Awlami, from Doha studio -- live. For assistance with multimedia elements, contact OSC at 1-800-205-8615 or oscinfo@rccb..]

[Awlami] Al-Jazirah correspondent in Pakistan has cited Pakistani security sources saying that Mohammad Haqqani, son of well-known Afghan leader Jalaluddin Haqqani who is wanted by the Americans, was killed yesterday in a missile attack launched by a US drone against an area in northern Waziristan. The missile targeted a car in which he was riding along with two Arab companions.

We are joined from Islamabad by chief of Al-Jazirah Bureau, Ahmad Zaydan for more details. Ahmad, do you have any more details about the attack and the death of Haqqani's son?

[Zaydan] A US drone fired a missile yesterday against an area in northern Waziristan, near Miran Shah, adjacent to the Afghan borders. The missile directly hit a car that was about to enter the home of or the family home of Jalaluddin Haqqani in northern Waziristan. Inside the car was 22-year-old Mohammad Haqqani, son of well known Afghan leader and one of the heroes of the Afghan war against the Soviet occupation, Jalaluddin Haqqani, who is wanted by the Americans and suffers currently from illness. Two Arabs, whose identities are still unknown, were in the car with Mohammad. Informed sources in the area said that the two Arabs are in their twenties, but did not identify their nationalities, locations, or positions in the Al-Qa'ida Organization, which stays in that region under the protection of Jalaluddin or Sirajuddin Haqqani.

This is on the one hand, on the other, some security sources are saying that Pakistan seems to have asked the network of Jalaluddin Haqqani, known to have close ties to the Pakistani security agencies, to transfer their activities from the Pakistani tribal areas to inside Afghanistan. Actually, all this represents a grave and serious strategic transformation in the Pakistani strategy toward Afghanistan and the Taliban-Afghanistan Movement. Few days ago, we saw the arrest of Taliban military official Mullah Abdul Ghani Berader in Baluchistan and the governors of the provinces of Kunduz and Baghlan, who were appointed by the Afghan Taliban Movement. Now we see a serious move by the Pakistani Government against Haqqani's network. This might be understood within the context of what has been said about US promises with billions of dollars to Pakistan in return for this cooperation, which the Americans see as a big change in the Pakistani strategy toward Taliban.

[Description of Source: Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic -- Independent Television station financed by the Qatari Government]

Pakistan: Key Al-Qa'ida Leader Sheikh Mansur Said Killed in 17 Feb Drone Strike

SAP20100220093002 Karachi Dawn News in English 1400 GMT 20 Feb 10

In a drone strike in North Waziristan, the report suggests that the strike has killed a very important Al-Qa'ida leader named Sheikh (?Manzor) [sentence as heard]. And for that we are joined by our correspondent and our Peshawar bureau chief, Zahir Shah Sherazi, for more details:

[Begin live relay] [Anchorperson Aftab Borka] Zahir, what more details can you give us on this latest drone strike?

[Shah] Well Aftab, the intelligence officials as well as administration officials have confirmed that a top Al-Qa'ida leader of Egyptian origin, Sheikh Mansur, has been killed in a suspected US drone strike on 17th of this month [February] in Toll Khel area of Miram Shah, 2 km from Miram Shah, the agency headquarters of North Waziristan Agency [sentence as heard].

Also there are reports that the son of veteran Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, Muhammad Haqqani, who was killed also in a drone strike on a 18th of this month. He was also visiting Sheikh Mansur's residence to offer fateha [prayers] when he was targeted by another drone and he was also killed.

Here, I must mention that Sheikh Mansur's father Sheikh Abdur Rehman Kanady [as heard] was a Canadian national and he was also killed in 2003 in a military operation and in a gun battle with the security forces in [word indistinct] area in Baghar in South Waziristan Agency along with the Chinese Taliban leader Hasan Masum.

And that is very important development, we can say that Sheikh Mansur was considered a key Al-Qa'ida operative who was to some extent also the commander of the forces who were operating against the NATO-led ISAF forces inside Afghanistan.

And also there are reports that two more key important figures have also been killed in that strike but there is no confirmation about the names of those people. Sheikh Mansur, an Egyptian, has been killed in a suspected US drone strike on 17 February in North Waziristan Agency.

[Borka] Alright Zahir Shah Sherazi thank you very much for these details about the drone strike in North Waziristan. [end live relay]

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn News in English -- Pakistan's first 24-hour English language TV channel owned by the Dawn Group of Newspapers.]

Pakistan: US Drone Strike Kills 3 Taliban in Miranshah

SAP20100224617008 Kandahar in Pashto 24 Feb 10

[Report by Faryadullah: US Drone Strike Kill 3 People]

US drones once again carried out an air strike on a house, killing three militants, in Miranshah, Pakistan. The killed people were reportedly Taliban cadres.

The local police said that the attack was carried out on the morning of 24 February in the Darpa Khel Area, Miranshah.

Earlier, Jalaluddin Haqqani's brother Muhammad Haqqani was also killed in this area.

[Description of Source: An independent Afghan website publishing reports and articles about different aspects of the Afghan society. Besides news reports, it also publishes articles about religious and other matters. ]

Pakistan: Alleged Taliban Member Arrested in Joint Raid by Agencies, Police

SAP20100225098031 Lahore Daily Times Online in English 25 Feb 10

[Report by Faraz Khan: Alleged TTP man arrested in Lasbela]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

KARACHI: Alleged Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militant Omer Abdul Rehman alias Sailaab was arrested in a joint raid by intelligence agencies and the police from the Lasbela area in the wee hours of Wednesday.

According to official sources, Jihadi literature, CDs and two incomplete suicide jackets were also recovered from his possession.

The sources also claimed the accused was the TTP commander of Khyber Agency.

However, according to information received from Khyber Agency, there was no record of a TTP commander by that name in that region.

In a previous raid, Amanullah Mehsud, allegedly associated with the Jalaluddin Haqqani network, was apprehended from the Clifton area in the wee hours of Tuesday.

According to intelligence sources, the accused's name was listed as third in the top 10 commanders of the Haqqani network.

The arrested suspects have been shifted to an undisclosed location for further investigation.

The sudden crackdown in Karachi against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the last few days and the arrests of some top militant leaders has justified the apprehensions regarding the presence of such elements in the city.

The hypothesis of the United States and its allies about the presence of chains of command of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the city turned out to be correct after the arrest of Taliban's second-in-command Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and three of his associates, who were later identified as top Al Qaeda commanders.

It is pertinent to mention here that the foreign media had been publishing hypothetical stories leaked by the foreign agencies about the presence of top militant leaderships in Karachi.

Following the information, operations in collaboration with the foreign agencies were initiated in the city and at least a dozen operatives of the highest level were arrested in the last week alone from different areas.

The operation continues as intelligence agencies alongside the city's police increase the span of raids.

It should be noted here that the Pakistani intelligence agencies in cooperation with the American security and intelligence agencies had arrested Afghan Taliban's deputy Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and after his arrest, about nine others militants - eight of whom are foreigners - were arrested from different parts of the city during the night in separate raids.

According to reports, some other militants were also arrested during various raids in different parts of the city, but their arrests have not been disclosed.

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times Online in English -- Website of the independent, moderate daily, run by Media Times (Private) Ltd., owned by Salman Taseer, the incumbent governor of Punjab province. Veteran journalist Najam Sethi is the editor-in-chief. The same group owns and publishes weekly newspaper The Friday Times and Urdu daily Aaj Kal. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated circulation of 20,000.; URL: ]

Pakistan: Members of Haqqani Network Snatch 2 Government Vehicles in Karachi

SAP20100225100008 Islamabad Aaj Kal in Urdu 24 Feb 10 p 12

["Member of Haqqani Network, Two Agents of RAW Nabbed" -- NNI headline]

Karachi -- Sensitive agency, acting on secret information, raided a flat in Clifton area and arrested Amanullah Mehsud, an important member of Jalaluddin Haqqani network. After the operation launched against the Taliban in Afghanistan, Amanullah Mehsud had escaped and had arrived in Karachi and had set up his network in Karachi. He had also established contacts with other Taliban members; however, police have not confirmed his arrest.

Unidentified suspects stole an official jeep bearing registration number GS-4149 of the Health Department from an area near Mumtaz Squire. Armed men snatched a Water and Power Development Authority double cabin official vehicle bearing registration number GP-8342 near Ghausia Mosque in north Nazimabad. The armed men escaped after snatching the vehicle.

Police have registered the first information report. Fearing that the vehicle could be used for terrorism, the police have sealed all entry and exit points of the city.

Sensitive agency has arrested two people, including a woman, from the border area of Narang Mandi. It is assumed that these two are the agents of India's secret agency Research and Analysis Wing [RAW] and are involved in subversive activities in Pakistan. The woman was arrested in Mandiali area and the bearded man was nabbed in Mohalla Muzaffarabad.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Aaj Kal in Urdu -- Newspaper published by Media Times (Private) Ltd., which also publishes the independent moderate newspaper Daily Times in English. The paper provides exhaustive coverage of terrorism issues. Editorials strongly oppose religious extremism and Talibanization. In 2008 the paper received threats from the Red Mosque activists for its criticism of Islamic extremism and militancy. The Taliban in Khyber Agency had imposed a ban on sale of Aaj Kal for some time. Salman Taseer, the incumbent governor of Punjab province, is publisher/owner of Aaj Kal and Daily Times. Aaj Kal is published simultaneously from Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad.]

Pakistan: Intel Reportedly Arrests Terrorist Wanted by US in Karachi

SAP20100225105012 Islamabad Khabrain in Urdu 24 Feb 10 pp 4, 8

["Haqqani Network Commander Ammanullah Mehsud Arrested from Karachi" -- GNI headline]

Karachi -- Haqqani network's commander Amanullah Mehsud was arrested from Clifton area of Karachi. According to sources, intelligence agencies of Sind and the federal government took action for Maulvi Ammanullah Mehsud's arrest from an apartment. Amanullah Mehsud is on the US list of 10 most wanted fugitives. The United States has been claiming Mehsud's death for the past two years.

According to the US claim, Amanullah Mehsud was killed two years ago in a drone attack at Jalaluddin Haqqani's seminary in North Waziristan.

The accused was hiding with the apartment's watchman at the time of the arrest. Amanullah Mehsud is a top commander in Jalaluddin Haqqani's network. He is third in rank among the top 10 commanders of this network.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Khabrain in Urdu News, a sensationalist daily, published by Liberty Papers Ltd., generally critical of Pakistan People's Party; known for its access to government and military sources of information. The same group owns The Post in English, Naya Akhbar in Urdu and Channel 5 TV. Circulation of 30,000]

Indian News Website Report Provides 'Insight' Into Haqqani Network

SAP20100311378014 Mumbai in English 22 Feb 10 - 11 Mar 10

[Report by Tahir Ali: "Haqqani Network: Chasing the Shadows"]

The Haqqani Network -- the 'good Taliban' for Pakistan and the 'bad Taliban' for the Americans and its allies -- is considered to be one of the most dangerous terror organisations in the world. Tahir Ali gives an insight:

The Haqqani network, having more than 12,000 well-trained fighters, including a good number of suicide bombers, is well equipped with sophisticated weapons of guerilla warfare.

Previously the headquarters of the Haqqani network was located at Dande Darpakhel village in North Waziristan agency, but after a series of US drone attacks, it has been moved to some other part of the agency.

The Haqqani network is very strong in Khost, Paktika, Paktia, Logar and Ghazni provinces of Afghanistan, while in Pakistan, North Waziristan is considered to be its stronghold.

Apart from North Waziristan, the network also has many militants in South Waziristan, Bajuar, Mehmand, Kurram and some of the settled areas like Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Tank of Pakistan.

The head of the Haqqani Network is Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani. The veteran jihadist, in his early 60s, belongs to Zadran tribe that lives on both sides of the Durand line and is included in Taliban main shura.

He has married twice; one of his wives belonged to Zadran tribe in Khost, who was killed in September 2008 in a US drone attack, while his second wife is an Arab woman.

During the same attack where his wife was killed, Haqqani also lost his sister, sister-in-law and eight of his grandchildren. Haqqani has 13 sons, out of which one Mohammed was killed during a US drone attack in North Waziristan on February 19.

In July 2008, Muhammad Omer Haqqani, his other son, was also killed during fighting at Satto Kandao area in Paktika province. Amongst his 11 remaining sons, Sirajuddin Haqqani, known as Khalifa, is more popular amongst the militants while Badruddin, Naseeruddin and Baseeruddin are commanders at a lower level.

Maulvi Jalaluddin rose to prominence during Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He remained affiliated with Maulvi Yunas Khales Hezb-e Islami and fought the Soviets in Paktia and Paktika provinces.

The defeat of communist's forces in Khost in early nineties is considered to be a 'big success' in his career as jihadi. During this period he became close to the Arab Mujahedeen and developed good relations with Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden [Usama Bin Ladin] as well.

Jalaluddin Haqqani is popular in North Waziristan, as he has spent a good period of his life in Dandi Darpakhel village, where he also established a seminary in 1980. Almost all students of this Madrassa are staunch followers of Haqqani.

In 1995, when the Taliban captured Kabul, Haqqani was initially not affiliated with them. But soon he joined them and became minister for tribal affairs in the Mullah Omar [ Images ] regime.

After the 9/11 attacks when the US toppled the Taliban regime, Haqqani went into hiding in the border areas of Pakistan-Afghanistan and started preparations for fighting against the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Orgnaistaion forces; very soon he emerged as the most dangerous enemy for the coalition forces.

Omar appointed him as commander-in-chief of the Taliban armed forces, as it was time that Al Qaeda was on the run. Haqqani not only provided shelter to the Arabs and foreigners on both sides of the border, but also presented Al Qaeda with an opportunity to regroup in areas in his control .

Though Dadullah Lung, a dreaded Taliban commander, introduced the training and indoctrination of suicide bombers in Afghanistan, but it was Haqqani network which further promoted the trend in the country.

Jalaluddin Haqqani appeared in propaganda movies of the Taliban and talked about jihad and suicide bombing. The Haqqani group specialises in suicide car bombings.

Though the network is behind a large number of attacks in Afghanistan, but two major attacks that go to the group's account is attack on the Indian embassy and a five-star hotel in Kabul.

Jalaluddin Haqqani is old now, so the operational command of the network is in the hands of his elder son Sirajuddin Haqqani.

Sirajuddin, 33, studied at his father's seminary in Dandi Darpakhel Waziristan. Sirajuddin is considered to be a skilled militant commander -- he is included in the list of most wanted people by the US.

After Sirajuddin Haqqani, another important commander of the Haqqani network is Maulvi Sangeen Zadran. Currently he is the operational head of Taliban fighters in Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan; but also has good relations with the Pakistani Taliban -- both with the Tehrike Taliban Pakistan and Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the head of all Taliban in North Waziristan.

He frequently visits Waziristan; TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud started his career under Sangeen's commandership in Paktika.

Haqqani network has influence over all Pakistani militants, whether they are 'good' or 'bad,' all enjoy good relations with it.

The Haqqani network is financially very strong and the main financers are Arabs and Al Qaeda. The network also financially supported former TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud and, according to Taliban sources, TTP received some Rs 20 million per month. The current leadership of the TTP are also completely under the control of the Haqqani network.

Jalaluddin Haqqani remained loyal to Pakistan; during Afghan-Russia war he was very close to the Inter-Services Intelligence. Pakistan always avoided taking on the Haqqani network; not only is the group is very strong and dangerous, but also it could serve Pakistani interests in future -- in case the Taliban returns to power in Afghanistan.

The US and the rest of the world are pressurising Pakistan to take on the Haqqani network, but Pakistan is resisting taking action..

[Description of Source: Mumbai in English -- Web portal for news, information, email, entertainment, and shopping. Founded in 1996 with headquarters in Mumbai and offices in New Delhi and New York; URL: ]

Al-Jazirah TV Airs 'Exclusive Footage' of Suicide Attacks in Afghanistan

GMP20100315676001 Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic 1413 GMT 15 Mar 10

[For a copy of the video, contact GSG_GVP_VideoOps@rccb. or the OSC Customer Center at (800) 205-8615.]

Al-Jazirah correspondent in Islamabad has obtained exclusive footage of an operation carried out by a network affiliated with Jalaluddin Haqqani, an Afghan leader wanted by the United States for links to the Taliban Movement.

The footage shows a suicide bomber reading his will before driving a booby-trapped car and crashing into a Multinational Force military vehicle in the Khost Province, eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. Several people had been either killed or wounded in the blast.

The footage also shows a blast targeting an Afghan Police vehicle in the same area. The footage, however, does not say when the operation took place.

Al-Jazirah could not verify the authenticity of the footage from an independent source. [Video of the attack]

Related Attachment

Click on the links to view the attached 25-second video or a streamed version in .wmv format.

[Description of Source: Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic -- Independent Television station financed by the Qatari Government]

Taliban's Sirajuddin Haqqani Interviewed on Jihad in Afghanistan, Jihadist Media

GMP20100413569002 Jihadist Websites -- OSC Summary in Arabic 13 Apr 10

Terrorism: Taliban's Sirajuddin Haqqani Interviewed on Jihad in Afghanistan, Jihadist Media

On 13 April, "Markaz al-Balagh lil I'lam," user number 14110, posted to the Al-Fallujah Islamic Forums website an interview with Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Afghan field commander of the southeastern provinces and the son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, by Al-Balagh correspondent Abu-Dujanah al-San'ani. The interview, dated 13 April 2010, answers 19 questions discussing jihad in Afghanistan, the situation of the mujahidin, progress and losses, and a message from the commander to the jihadist media.

The primarily Arabic-language Al-Fallujah Islamic Forums at vb/ is a Salafi-jihadist, pro-Iraqi insurgency web forum with a focus on global jihad. Since late 2008, it, has served as one of two official online dissemination points for Al-Qa'ida and affiliate messaging. In addition to its Arabic-language material, Al-Fallujah also hosts material in English, Russian, and Kurdish.

A translation of the interview follows:

"May God's peace, prayers, and blessings be upon you.

"Your brothers at the Al-Balagh Media Center are proud to present to you the interview with the leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, may God preserve him, and his message to the jihadist media and forums.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: May God's peace, prayers, and blessings be upon you. Praise be to God, the Supporter of the mujahidin. Prayers and peace be upon the leader of the mujahidin, his household, companions, and all those who followed his guidance.

"Almighty God says: 'Yea, - if ye remain firm, and act aright, even if the enemy should rush here on you in hot haste, your Lord would help you with five thousand angels Making a terrific onslaught' [Koranic verse, Al-Imran, 3:125].

"Our shaykh and leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, may God grant you victory, I thank you so much on behalf of the Al-Balagh Media Center for granting us this chance to meet you and discuss with you some issues. This interview will give a clear image of the issues that are taking place on that holy land, which quenched its thirst with the blood of the martyrs, and will expose the lies and the deception, which have been circulating in the media.

"We would also seize the opportunity to dedicate your message to the jihadist media, especially to the media men and mujahidin. The message also will tell your opinion about the developments in the jihadist media and the challenges that stood in its way, especially during this last period.

"Thus, please allow us to ask you some questions which we hope you will answer. We start by saying: In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

" First question: Can you please introduce yourself, your post, and the areas that fall under your authority?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: Your brother is Sirajuddin Haqqani, the son of the Shaykh Jalaluddin Haqqani. I am 30 years old, my hometown is Paktia Province, and I am a member of the Shura Council of the Islamic Emirate. As for the areas that fall under my authority, the Islamic Emirate has assigned me the southeastern provinces in Afghanistan like Paktia, Khost, and Paktika. I also have some jihadists who are fighting in the Northern and Southern Provinces, each one under the leadership of the amir of the province he is in.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Second question: we would like to ask you about the progress you are achieving on the ground?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: Praise be to God many times, our mujahidin are in control of 90 percent of the provinces I mentioned earlier. The foreign forces and the apostates are locked up inside their stations and bases and the rest of the areas are under the control of the mujahidin. Most of the people support and love the mujahidin, and our mujahidin used the peoples' houses sometimes to strike the enemy, and this act confounded it.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Third question: to what extent can we believe the allegations of the enemy and his claims of achieving progress on the ground in all areas?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: These claims are wrong deceptions and lies that are used by the western media in order to shift their defeat to victory. They always portray themselves victorious in their media means. If their allegations are right, the mujahidin would not be there now. Praise be to God, we are strong and we have a large number of fighters that we can barely supply with arms, praise be to God.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Fourth question: what is the size of the losses that are afflicting the enemy in reality, which they never announce?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: You heard the Western media when the US secretary of defense compared the first three months of 2009 and 2010 and announced that the death rate doubled and the injury rate tripled, not to mention the enormous financial losses.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Fifth question: why do the US intelligence agencies seek the support of the Arab intelligence agencies in your opinion? Is it proof of their weakness, limitation, and disability to control events in Afghanistan?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: Yes, this is right. Everyone knows that America is very weak now and seeking the aid of all the countries of the world in its war against the mujahidin.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Sixth question: is there any exposed presence to any Arab intelligence agencies in the lands of Khorasan, or was the operation of Abu-Dujanah unprecedented?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: None of the fronts has an exposed presence in Khorasan.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Seventh question: do the mujahidin, who travel to fight on the lands of Khorasan, cause any obstacle against the Afghani jihad?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: Praise be to God, on the contrary, the mujahidin, who travel to the lands of Khorasan, enlighten our path and fight the crusaders with us. We are both in the same trench.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Eighth question: can you tell us about the techniques, by which the Arab and the Afghan mujahidin support and help each other in the lands of Khorasan?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: They help each other just like the companions of the prophet used to do. They support each other to the fullest.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Ninth question: our shaykh and leader, what do you advise those who abandoned jihad?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: If they abandon jihad on purpose, they should know that they are throwing the nation and themselves in the humiliation ditch. Those who abandoned jihad should carry out their duty because it is obligatory. I advise all those who think that they have excuses to read the book of Ahmad Bin-Ibrahim al-Nuhasi, entitled 'Mashari al-Ashwaq ila Masari al-Ushaq.' They can see the ruling on those who abandon jihad in the book.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Tenth question: to what extent may the operation, carried out by martyr Abu-Dujanah al-Khorasani, may God accept him [as martyr], have effect on the ground?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: In this blessed martyrdom operation, great hero Abu-Dujanah al-Khorasani, may God accept him [as martyr], who have been fighting for God's sake, killed a host of CIA senior officials. Those officials, specifically, were the ones in the region responsible for targeting the mujahidin, especially the amirs. They have been working on this for years until they garnered high influence in some neighboring countries, even Iraq.

"Killing this group has been a deadly blow to the enemy. As of then, the operations that used to target the mujahidin have retreated by 90 percent. This blessed operation resulted in killing a select group of preeminent officers of the US intelligence. It created a debacle in espionage and a lack of trust in spies, as their efficiency decreased due to insecurity in the region.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Eleventh question; To what extent the Afghan public opinion is affected by the news of any development the enemy achieves on the ground?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: Thank God, the Afghan public has become fully aware of the realty of the enemy and its lies. They [the Afghan public] know that the enemy tells lies, and the reality is the best evidence. The enemy does not control even one inch of the Afghan territories. So never be worried, as all news is fake.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Twelfth question; What is Sirajuddin Haqqani's outlook for jihad in the countries of Khorasan?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: The overthrow is near, God willing, and the Islamic emirate will return, God willing, stronger than before. [end Haqqani]

"Let's touch, our revered shaykh, on a pressing issue that has been intensively tackled recently; the jihadist media. We hope you offer a piece of advice to our jihadist media, its pros and cons!

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Thirteenth question; [What is] the outlook of leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, for jihadist media?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: It will continue with more strong publications. It will make every effort to strengthen it [as received]. Those who work in jihadist media will increase awareness and enlighten the youth and the Muslim public. Moreover, they will expose the reality of the enemy.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Fourteenth question; We would like you, our shaykh, to address those who work in the jihadist media and explain to what extent it is effective?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: The jihadist Internet networks should improve their professional level and better arrange themselves. They should also collect and intensify their efforts and post their materials with due regard to the topic and timeliness. Moreover, they should spread the news of Islamic jihadist world as fast as possible and carry the messages of Islamic jihadist leaders to the world. Finally, they should work harder on making perfect and disciplined production and should make other media in need of them.

"For their part, the mujahidin should help them [the jihadist Internet networks] to develop. The jihadist movements should provide jihadist materials, news, messages, interviews, and authenticated videos. Moreover, the Muslim public should help them financially, technically, and in all other fields. The jihadist Internet networks are a source of pride and respect [for us], and, actually, they provide a great service.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Fifteenth question; Does jihadist media meet targets or still need to work on this?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: Yes, it is adequate, but still some effort is needed to improve and develop it technically and expand its scale to the widest.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Sixteenth question; To what extent is the jihadist media's role effective with regard to supporting and rendering what is going on in the land of Khorasan of fierce fighting?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: It plays a significant role in this regard, and some jihadist media cover what is going on there. However, more effort and care are needed.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Seventeenth question; What is the role played by jihadist forums, especially the Al-Fallujah Islamic Forums, in rendering the real situation in the land of Khorasan?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: Jihadist forums, especially the Al-Fallujah Islamic Forums, have a key and obvious role that deserves acknowledgement, specifically Al-Fallujah Islamic Forums and other ones like Al-Hisbah and Al-Ikhlas, and other jihadist platforms. We should take this opportunity to thank all who are working in jihadist media, and we ask God to accept their work for His sake.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Eighteenth question; Would you offer advice to the jihadist media in general?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: I advise our brothers working in the informative jihadist media in general along with the mujahidin to seek truth in their information and work and not to exaggerate the news. They should be models, hit the enemy's spirit, and warn the people against serious news about the enemy. I ask God to guide them and grant them the highest rank in paradise. I ask Him also to preserve them and render them victorious, as they, for sure, do the people a great favor by solving the riddles of crusaders and exposing their deception.

"Al-Balagh correspondent: Nineteenth question; Addressing the world communities in brief through Al-Balagh Media Center, what would you say?

"Shaykh [Haqqani], may God preserve him: Muslims all over the world should help their fellow mujahidin by every means and at all levels: the well-off with funds and the experts with their expertise, especially in fields of explosives, electronics, telecommunications, surveillance network penetration, and disruption of the enemy's capabilities.

"The writers, poets, and intellectuals should have a role by dismissing rumors and fake stories of the crusader enemy. They should perfectly take their responsibility in their field of experience the same way as the West has come together in one front against the Muslims by excelling in every field of knowledge.

"The scholars should tell the truth and make it public. They should ensure their fatwa is within the boundaries of the truth. They should brush aside all secondary differences and work on achieving unity and awakening the Muslims.

"Finally, we thank the leader and the Shaykh Siraj-al-Din Haqqani, may God preserve him, for granting us the chance to interview him. We apologize to you shaykh if we asked a lot of questions.

"We ask the God to preserve you, our shaykh, to make his efforts beneficial to Islam and to grant His religion victory through him.

"Our last prayer is praise be to God, Lord of all creation. May God's best prayers, peace, and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad.

"Note: The Al-Balagh correspondent who conducted this interview is the noble brother Abu-Dujanah al-San'ani, may God preserve him.

"Supplicate to God for your brothers at the Al-Balagh Media Center.

"Tuesday, 28 Rabi al-Thani 1431, corresponding to 13 April 2010"

Asia Times: 'How Iran and Al-Qaeda Made a Deal'

CPP20100430715024 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 1021 GMT 29 Apr 10

[Asia Times report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "How Iran And Al-Qaeda Made a Deal"; headline as provided by source]

ISLAMABAD - On March 30, Heshmatollah Attarzadeh, the commercial attache at the Iranian consulate in Peshawar, capital of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, was "recovered from outside Iran and returned to Iran" after being abducted by militants on November 13, 2008.

In a terse statement, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced that Attarzadeh had been freed after a "complicated intelligence operation" by Iranian intelligence forces, without giving further details, apart from a dig at Pakistan: "Following the failure of the Pakistani government to secure the release of Attarzadeh, my ministry took the initiative and managed to rescue the diplomat," Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said.

Attarzadeh, 59, was more outspoken. In an interview with the Iranian state-owned Press TV, he said Israel's Mossad and the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States, under orders from the US, were behind his abduction.

Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, after a meeting with Attarzadeh, did not comment on these claims, instead taking time for a little back-patting. "The freedom of the diplomat shows the all-out might of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its all-around dominance in the realm of intelligence," Rahimi was quoted by the semi-official Fars News Agency as saying.

Investigations by Asia Times Online show that while the Iranians did indeed secure Attarzadeh's release, it came at a price: a deal with al-Qaeda that resulted in the release of high-profile prisoners from Iranian custody. And in the negotiating process, Iran supplied weapons to a top Taliban commander allied with al-Qaeda.

The mean streets of Peshawar

At about 7.30 on the morning of November 13, 2008, Attarzadeh was in the Hayatabad neighborhood on his way to the Iranian consulate in Peshawar, where he had worked for the previous three years. Peshawar is the freewheeling capital of North-West Frontier Province, which was recently renamed Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa to reflect its dominant ethnic Pashtun population.

Attarzadeh's car was intercepted by two other cars and in a hail of gunfire forced to stop. Attarzadeh was seized by at least two armed men, bundled into one of the vehicles and taken to the South Waziristan tribal area on the border with Afghanistan, home of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP- Pakistani Taliban). Attarzadeh's bodyguard, a Pakistani police officer, was shot dead in the initial exchange of gunfire.

The incident made international headlines and Iran's Foreign Ministry called it an "act of terrorism". A day before Attarzadeh's abduction an American aid worker had been shot and killed outside the Iranian consulate in Peshawar.

Typically in such abductions, a ransom demand quickly follows. In this case there was only silence.

An Iranian diplomat in the Pakistani southern port city of Karachi told Asia Times Online in early 2009 that the Iranian government was prepared to pay any amount of ransom or listen to any demands, but there had not been a word from the captors.

Alarm bells began to ring. Attarzadeh had been clearly targeted in a well-planned abduction; something bigger than ransom was at stake.

Tehran set about trying to get back its man, starting with official Pakistani channels, including appeals to the Foreign Office and the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence. Nothing happened. The Iranians then turned to Afghan contacts in Zabul province, who in turn used their tribal connections to make contact with top Taliban commander Sirajuddin Haqqani, the son of veteran mujahid Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Sirajuddin is headquartered in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area and his network spreads through the Afghan provinces of Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Ghazni and Wardak, in addition to the capital, Kabul. The Haqqani network has strong ties with al-Qaeda commanders as well as with Punjabi fighters. It is considered the strongest and the most effective resistance network against foreign forces in Afghanistan.

Taliban and al-Qaeda become involved

Iran requested Sirajuddin to use his influence to secure the release of Attarzadeh. According to people familiar with the Haqqani network who spoke to Asia Times Online, this happened in mid-2009. Sirajuddin said he would look into the case, and in return some of his men visited Iran.

Sirajuddin wasted no time and made contact with members of the al-Qaeda-linked TTP who were holding Attarzadeh. The captors arranged for the diplomat to talk by telephone with his family in Iran. Ostensibly, the call was to inform Attarzadeh that an in-law of his had died, possibly his mother-in-law.

This was the beginning of a better relationship between Tehran and the militants, who, in Iran's eyes, were tarred with the same brush as al-Qaeda. Shi'ite-majority Iran had been deeply upset by al-Qaeda's Jordanian militant, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, who until his death in 2006 had conducted a vicious campaign against Shi'ites and the shrines of revered descendants of the Prophet Mohammad in Iraq.

Al-Qaeda now stepped directly into the picture. It requested that in return for Attarzadeh being allowed to speak with his family, al-Qaeda should be allowed to speak to some of its members who had been apprehended in Iran in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US.

A senior al-Qaeda-linked militant told Asia Times Online on the telephone, "Iran had not put them in jail. Instead, the al-Qaeda members and their families were placed in different houses. Later, they were brought together in a compound with comfortable private housing. Sirajuddin Haqqani's men visited them and reported back to al-Qaeda that they were in good condition."

Some of these "captives" in Iran were then given access to telephones to speak with al-Qaeda's shura (council) members in North Waziristan, the militant said. "This relationship developed very patiently. Video footage of the Iranian diplomat was sent to his family to show that he was in good condition."

The atmosphere continued to improve, and by the end of 2009 it was time to get down to the real business.

Al-Qaeda opened with a demand for the release of all of its members being held in Iran in return for Attarzadeh. Tehran would not agree with this. Negotiations along this line went back and forth.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, meanwhile, had seen an opportunity.

Deals emerge

Sirajuddin assured the Iranians that the Taliban bore no grudge against Iran or Shi'ites - their only aim was to defeat the Western coalition in Afghanistan. He wrote a detailed letter to Tehran in which he spelled out that neither his father (Jalaluddin) nor himself had ever been involved in anti-Iran activities. He said that they only worked for the resistance against anti-Islam forces, whether it be those of the Soviet Union or the US.

Iran has historic reasons to be wary of the Taliban. The Hazara, a predominately Shi'ite, Persian-speaking ethnic minority in Afghanistan, suffered extensive persecution under Taliban rule in the late 1990s. Taliban forces also killed at least eight Iranian diplomats in Afghanistan in the same period.

Sirajuddin's overtures worked. "The result of this communication was the delivery of several dozen sophisticated anti-aircraft guns, which shocked the Americans," the al-Qaeda-linked militant told Asia Times Online.

This was the prize Sirajuddin was after, the weapons to fight the curse of the militants in the tribal areas - drones, the US's unmanned aerial vehicles that rain missiles onto suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban targets. Scores of top leaders have been killed in such raids over the past year.

On January 24, near Hamzoni village in North Waziristan, a drone went down. Pakistani and US intelligence confirmed the incident but would not say whether the drone had crashed or been shot down.

The militants had no doubt, claiming that their new Iranian-supplied weapons were responsible. There were other reports of drones going down in North Waziristan. The U S temporarily suspended drone attacks, without saying why.

Militant sources say that the US Central Intelligence Agency then sprung into action and after a week-long probe traced the anti-aircraft guns to Dand-e-Darpa Khel in North Waziristan. Their positions were pinpointed, and in February a string of drone attacks destroyed them all. Mohammad Haqqani, a brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, was killed in one of the attacks.

The militant source claims that Sirajuddin recently received a fresh batch of weapons from Iran. The weapons, though, were something of a sideshow that developed out of Attarzadeh's abduction.

By this time Iran and al-Qaeda had finally come to an agreement: Attarzadeh would be exchanged for some al-Qaeda members, as well as one of Osama bin Laden's daughters.

"Al-Qaeda and Iran agreed to swap Osama bin Laden's daughter Iman, and some other prisoners were also released," the militant said. He refused to give details of the "other" prisoners.

On March 22, Iman bin Laden, 18, was allowed to travel to Syria after spending 112 days living in the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran after escaping house arrest in a family compound. She joined her mother, Najwa bin Laden, in Syria.

Dozens of bin Laden's family members have been held in Iran since fleeing from Afghanistan after the US-led invasion in 2001. They were held for entering the country illegally and for not having proper travel documents.

While the militant would not give details of which al-Qaeda members were exchanged, a former director of a European intelligence agency who now works for an American strategic think-tank told Asia Times Online that one of them was most likely the high profile al-Qaeda leader, Saiful Adil, who has been involved in a number of al-Qaeda terror plots.

"Iranians posing as a security agency initially conducted an operation in the Pakistani tribal areas and in Afghanistan to secure the release of their diplomat, but it was a long haul," the former intelligence official said.

"During the process (of negotiation), the sides developed a rapport and Iman bin Laden was released as a gesture of goodwill and then prisoners were swapped. It still needs to be verified (officially) that the Iran diplomat was released by al-Qaeda and that Saiful Adil was released by the Iranian government," the official said.

New forces

While Iran, al-Qaeda and the Haqqani network have all benefited from the Attarzadeh saga, their cooperation has alarmed others.

"Saudi Arabia was the first country to show its concern over the growth of this new relationship," a senior Pakistani counter-terrorism official told Asia Times Online. "The second one was Egypt. Both countries separately approached Pakistan and there have been several interactions between Saudi intelligence agencies and Pakistani intelligence agencies to trace the roots and dimension of these relations."

"The Saudis and Egyptians have their eyes on the nexus in the Pakistani tribal areas as well as on the situation in Yemen, from where there could be a direct spillover into Saudi Arabia and then onto Egypt," the official said.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) regrouped in January 2009 through a merger between two regional offshoots of al-Qaeda in neighboring countries Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Led by a former aide to bin Laden, AQAP has vowed to attack oil facilities, foreigners and security forces in an effort to topple the Saudi monarchy and Yemeni government, and establish an Islamic caliphate.

Iran has proxies in Yemen among the minority Shi'ite population and if the two factors - the Shi'ites and AQAP - develop ties, it would be a big blow for Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, the Pakistani official said.

"If Saiful Adil has been exchanged, Pakistan is not aware of this, it would be bad news for the Western world as it would mean a revival in al-Qaeda's international operations," the official said. He explained that Saiful Adil could possibly coordinate activit i es with Iran, as captured al-Qaeda leader Abu Zubaida did in the past with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The deals made to have Attarzadeh released after his abduction in Peshawar may prove to be more far-reaching than ever imagined.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He is writing an exclusive account of al-Qaeda's strategy and ideology in an upcoming book 9/11 and beyond: The One Thousand and One Night Tales of al-Qaeda. He can be reached atsaleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

Sirajuddin Haqqani Interviewed on Jihad in Afghanistan, Palestinian Cause

GMP20100501083002 Jihadist Websites -- OSC Summary in Arabic 27 Apr 10

[For assistance with multimedia elements, contact OSC at (800) 205-8615 or OSCinfo@rccb..]

On 27 April, a forum participant posted to a jihadist website several links to an open interview with Sirajuddin Haqqani, a member of the Shura Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and a commander in the southeastern provinces of Afghanistan. The questions were raised by the Ansar al-Mujahidin Network website members. The 41-page book deals with various issues including the jihadist situation in Afghanistan, the impact of the operation of Abu-Dujanah al-Khurasani on the US operations, the Palestinian cause, the stance toward the Islamic groups in Palestine such as Islamic Jihad and HAMAS, the emirate's source of supply, and the role of jihadist media. The interview also discusses the emirate's stance toward the Islamic State of Iraq, the Mujahidin Youth Movement, the Al-Qa'ida Organization in the Arabian Peninsula, and Taliban's creed. The undated statement is attributed to the Ansar al-Mujahidin Network website.

A translation of the statement follows:

"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,

"The Ansar al-Mujahidin Network website,

"Presents:

"The Answers of the Open Interview With the Jihadist Leader:

"Sirajuddin Haqqani, May God Protect Him

[Links to the interview are provided here.]

"Do not forget us in your sincere supplications.

"Your brothers at the Ansar al-Mujahidin Network website.

[A link to the website is provided here.]

"O God, make us the best supporters for the best mujahidin."

A translation of the interview follows:

"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,

"Paris be to God. Prayers and peace be upon God's Messenger, his household, his companions, and all those who follow him.

"Almighty God honored us by communicating with the brave leader and bold Shaykh Sirajuddin Haqqani, may God protect and support him. This lion is the son of Jalaluddin Haqqani.

"Shaykh Sirajuddin Haqqani is a member of the Shura Council of the beloved Islamic Emirate [of Afghanistan] and a unique commander in the southeastern provinces of Afghanistan.

"The forum members were given the chance to ask whatever comes to their minds. Thankfully, Shaykh Haqqani, may God reward him with the best reward, answered the questions.

"We supplicate to God to make the Muslims, in general, benefit from this interesting interview, to protect the shaykh and his family from any harm, and to render our beloved, precious Emirate victorious soon.

"The administration of the Ansar al-Mujahidin Network website

"Introduction by Shaykh Sirajuddin Haqqani, May God Protect Him

"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,

"Praise be to God, who ordained jihad in His book [the Koran] and through His Messenger. I bear witness that there is no god but God, the One. God has no partner in His divinity, deity, names, and characteristics. I bear witness that Muhammad is God's servant and His messenger. He truly fought in the cause of God. May God's prayers and peace be upon him, his household, and his companions, who believed him, supported him, glorified him, and followed the light revealed with him. Almighty God says: 'O Messenger. Rouse the Believers to the fight,' [Partial Koranic verse, Al-Anfal, 8:65].

"My respectable Muslim brothers every where, may God's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you,

"First: I thank the Ansar al-Mujahidin Network website for giving me the chance to communicate with the suffering Muslims. I supplicate to God to grant success and resolution to the Ansar al-Mujahidin Network website and to all the jihadist Internet network websites that exerted efforts to break the media siege imposed by the enemies of the religion. These websites delivered the news of jihad and mujahidin, who are fighting the Crusaders, to the Muslims all over the world.

"Second: I extend my deepest condolences to all the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, youth, old men, and women, who made sacrifices by losing their children, brothers, sisters, fathers, spouses, relatives, and beloved ones over the past eight years and even before to defend Islam in many different places in the world. They died in the center of the caliphate in Iraq, the center of knowledge and civilization; in Somalia, the land of sacrifice and bravery; in Afghanistan, the graveyard of the arrogant tyrants; in Kavkaz, the land of lions and honorable history; and in Algeria, the land of manhood and pride. I extend my sympathy to those who are suffering from oppression and torture in prisons night and day, and those who were harmed by the Crusaders for performing any kind of resistance, particularly the parents, who sacrificed the apple of their eyes in the martyrdom-seeking operations all over the world.

"Third: I send my salutation and greetings to all the leaders of the righteous Islamic and jihadist movements, which are honestly and sincerely fighting the Crusaders' policy, regime, economy, and media. I supplicate to God to help them in all conditions, grant them persistence, and keep them steadfast.

"Fourth: I supplicate to God to grant success and firmness to all the jihadist networks and websites on the World Wide Web, because they are resisting the international infidelity, apostasy, hypocrisy, and corruption.

"Fifth: I say to myself and to the mujahidin, who are fighting the Crusaders:

"Refine your creed,

"Adjust your jihad according to the standards of the clear Islamic Shari'ah,

"Unite and unify yourselves and avoid disagreement,

"Purge your ranks from the corruptors and malicious ones,

"Raise your mujahidin on the fundamentals accepted by Islam, creed, intellect, body, and administration,

"Piety and competence shall be your standards in choosing your officials and you should avoid individual interpretations,

"Be patient in dealing with disasters, do not hasten victory and seek help with patience,

"Keep your secrets and try to fulfill your needs in silence,

"Be righteous and firm,

"Renew and innovate in your tactics,

"Pay attention to the security measures,

"Protect the security of your members and groups and let your slogan be: 'If a mule tripped in Iraq, Umar [a righteous Muslim Caliph] will be questioned' [REFERENCE to feeling responsible about all Muslims]

"You shall be characterized with piety, honesty, sincerity, patience, reliance on God, integrity, and good manners,

"Your end will be either victory or martyrdom,

"And you should know that the acceptance of the martyrdom is related to intention and that the levels of martyrdom are not obtained except with good deed.

"Sixth: Know that jihad prevents corruption and turmoil. Almighty God says: 'And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere;' [Partial Koranic verse, Al-Anfal, 8:39]. If there are some people among the mujahidin performing illegal deeds, while jihad prevents illegal deeds, these people shall be advised and corrected or extracted from the mujahidin's ranks, because they are opposing the meaning of jihad.

"Seventh: It is said that some of the mujahidin do not deal with the calamities of jihad with patience. They do not perform jihad, resort to nationalism or geography, they are affected by the temptations offered by the enemy, or they lean toward prestige or position. They should understand very well that jihad aims at raising the word of God by words and actions. If this aim was abandoned, their fight is useless and God will afflict them with humiliation and shame.

"Eighth: The current jihad will bear its fruit. It was not proven in any time or place that jihad did not have results or did not any fruit as long as its people are firm, with the grace of Almighty God. The British, French, and Italian empires have collapsed with the blessing of jihad and Muslims were liberated from their evil. The collapse of the Soviet Union is one of the blessings of jihad and people were relieved after its collapse. Praise be to God, we believe that with the blessings of the current jihad, the believers will be safe from the evil of the Crusaders in the future. Many of those who do not perform jihad are safe from the harm of the Crusaders with the blessings of jihad.

"Ninth: The public should not listen to the foreign media. They should look at the work of the Islamic Emirate. In case we do not make statements on some issues, this does not mean that we do not care about them. The Islamic Emirate went through a practical test in the arena before the entire world.

"Tenth: We assure all the Muslims that the Islamic Emirate is united and coherent. I am a soldier in the Emirate and our Amir is the Amir of the Believers Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid, may God protect him, and all that is being published in the Western media is baseless.

"Eleventh: We assure the Muslims all over the world that we will never betray the blood of the martyrs. With the help of Almighty God, we will never accept concessions in any of the Shari'ah rulings even if it is trivial. All that Karzai is saying about negotiations are baseless media lies. By doing so, Karzai wants to lessen the people's dependence on the Islamic Emirate and to create hypocrisy, disunity, and division among the mujahidin. As long as we are responsible for the jihad in the cause of God, this will never happen. The arrest of the jihadist leaders that is being published in the media outlets is not true, and they should know that even if it were true, it would not affect the current jihad.

"Twelfth: The Muslims all over the world should help their mujahidin brothers by all the means available and in all the fields. The wealthy people help with money. The experienced people help with their experience and experiments in the fields of explosives, electronics, communications, fighting against the spying cells, and destroying the enemy's capabilities.

"The people of poetry and literature should confront the rumors and lies of the Crusader enemy and should shoulder their responsibility in this field as is the case of the West, which united against the Muslims in all fields. The youth should prepare themselves for sacrifice and should organize themselves in the jihadist movements.

"The scholars should tell the truth out loud and issue Shari'ah-based fatwas on the support of the mujahidin. They should leave partial differences behind them and work on closing the Muslims' ranks, unifying their word, and awakening them.

"The Islamic news networks should quickly deliver the news of the Islamic Emirate and the jihadist movements to the Muslims. They should abandon hateful competition or race to perform good things, and to compete in righteousness and piety. If they heard misleading or doubtful news about the Islamic Emirate or the jihadist movements, these networks should refer to the officials of the Islamic Emirate and the commanders of the jihadist movements through messages or the Internet to check the authenticity of the news before publishing or disseminating such news.

"Finally, I would like to answer your questions, some of which were repeated or identical. Therefore, I provided one answer to the identical questions. Some of the questions are not related to me.

"Question Posed by Mersal:

"May God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you,

"First, I would like to tell you that you, the lions of Afghanistan, have honored the ummah by their operations against the United States and its allies.

"Second, we would like you to confirm whether the pieces of news being reported by the media on the arrest of the leaders of Taliban-Pakistan are true or not. In addition, we would like you to assure us about the situation of jihad in Afghanistan. May God reward you immensely on behalf of all Muslims and us.

"The Answer:

"May God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you,

"A 1: Although these pieces of news were reported in the Western Media, they are not true. It is probable that some of the Emirate [Taliban] mujahidin were arrested, but the Emirate-affiliated media did not mention anything about the arrest of the leaders. It is probable that such pieces of news aim to cover the defeat of the US-led coalition forces in the operation carried out by fifteen thousand troops in Marjah, Helmand Province. This trick is only what a beaten man can do.

"A 2: By God's grace, the period between 1430 and 1431 [ 2009-2010] was replete with victories and trophies. In this period, the mujahidin were in the best status for attacks. Day after day, the mujahidin hold their grip on new areas, and inflict heavy losses on the enemy. By God's grace, the situations of jihad are under the control of the mujahidin.

"As you heard from the western media, the Department of Defense announced that the number of troops killed has doubled in the first three months of 2010 compared to the same period last year, and that the number of the wounded troops have tripled in the same period. In addition, the Unites States suffered heavy financial losses.

"Question by ARCO:

"May God's peace, prayers, and blessings be upon you.

"May God greet you, our jihadist shaykh, Sirajuddin Haqqani. I supplicate to God to preserve you and grant you victory over the enemies of the religion.

"Our jihadist shaykh, how are the mujahidin and the immigrants in Northern Waziristan?

"What is the impact of the operation of the jihadist hero, Abu-Dujanah al-Khurasani, on the US operations, particularly the strikes carried out by the unmanned aerial vehicles?

"What is your opinion of the global jihad? What is your opinion of the Arab rulers? Are you going to establish political relations with the Arab rulers and cooperate with them following the liberation of Afghanistan? Are you planning to continue your jihad and liberate Jerusalem?

"The Answer:

"And May God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you.

"A 1: By God's grace, all the mujahidin are in good condition. While you sometimes hear some news on the martyrdom of some mujahidin by an unmanned aerial vehicle, you should also know that the mujahidin do weaken their enemies and make them suffer heavy casualties and financial losses. In addition, you should know that the way of war is not paved with flowers. Hardships and sacrifices are what brings victory. By God's grace, the mujahidin have achieved victory. The selection of some mujahidin for the honor of martyrdom is one of God's practices among His creatures.

"A 2: The great hero Abu-Dujanah al-Khurasani, who performed jihad in the cause of God, has carried out a blessed martyrdom-seeking operation that killed senior CIA officials. The deceased officials were the elite of the CIA officers. The CIA group that was killed in the operation has been charged, for many years, with following the mujahidin, especially the mujahidin leaders. In some cases, the group has carried out some activities in neighboring countries like Iraq. The killing of this group broke the enemy's back and helped to minimize the accurate operations against the mujahidin by 60%.

"The results of this blessed operation are as follows:

"Elite personnel of the smartest CIA officers were killed.

"The recruitment of spies has been impaired.

"The spies became mistrusted. This led to hindering the process of recruiting new spies and communicating with the current spies in the region.

"A 3: According to the Shari'ah, wherever the jihad is, it is an individual duty. We believe it to be as such and it helps the Muslims therein to establish the Shari'ah, to exalt God's word, and to bring down the tyranny and oppression. This is our current concern. As for the individuals and governments, we do not recognize the righteousness through men and their titles. Instead, we recognize men through their righteousness. We further judge any person in accordance with the Islamic Shari'ah, which we deem to be the governing law of the Islamic Emirate. We vow to liberate Jerusalem, the first direction of prayer for the Muslims. The Crusaders assaults against Afghanistan aim primarily to establish the Greater Israel. The current Crusade plan, which is designed by the Greater Israel, aims to remove the obstacles that hinder the establishment of the Greater Israel. We believe that defeating the United States in Afghanistan will help to hinder this Crusade against the Muslim world. In addition, we believe that their defeat will pave our way for liberating Jerusalem, God willing.

"Question by Muntazir Al-Shahadah:

"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,

"I supplicate to God to support you in aid and protect you.

"Why do you not elaborate on the Palestinian cause, the current situation of Palestine, and the hegemony of HAMAS's apostate government on the jihadist Salafists therein? The youth in Palestine want you to support them and disclose the apostasy of HAMAS, for the people are confused therein. May God bless you.

"The Answer:

"It is not true we do not elaborate on the Palestinian cause. The truth is that the international media does not allow us to express our opinion and thus, does not publish what we say. Occasionally, the Emirate issues statements supporting the Palestinian cause. For us, the Palestinian people have the main right of defense on our part. Internal differences among the Palestinians serve no one but the enemy. Therefore, we call upon the jihadist brothers and all the Palestinian jihadist groups to unite their ranks and to deviate not from the Shari'ah and the guiding methodology. We further ask them not to bargain at the expense of this religion, and to endure the hardship and ordeals of jihad.

"Question by Ghazali:

"May God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you.

"Why do the mujahidin not move from Northern Waziristan to Afghanistan, especially since many mujahidin leaders were martyred in air raids on account of the spies? In addition, Afghanistan is safer than Northern Waziristan.

"The Answer:

"And May God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you.

"A 1: The mujahidin are currently in Afghanistan. As well, the mujahidin of this area are aware of its circumstances as well as the safe and appropriate places for carrying out the jihadist operations.

"Question by Al-Mudammir:

"May God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you.

"First, I would like to thank you for your initiative to conduct this interview.

"Q 1: What measures will be taken with regard to the foreign prisoners held by you, if their countries do not respond to the demands of the mujahidin?

"Q 2: Do the mujahidin have a strategy to respond to Operation Moshtarak in Marjah?

"The Answer:

"And May God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you.

"A 1: The Emirate of Afghanistan has formed a commission that is charged with the issue of the prisoners.

"A 2: Operation Moshtarak in Marjah is not more than a media stunt. Enemies could not achieve their objectives in spite of the huge media clamor. The mujahidin work according to a successful strategy, and are well aware of the plans, conspiracies, and lies of their enemy. In addition, they work according to a comprehensive strategy.

"Question by Al-Gharib 1:

"May God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you.

"I supplicate to God, glory be to Him, to support you against your enemies and to instill resolve in you until you achieve victory. My brother, what is your advice and guidance to those who do not engage in jihad like me?

"The Answer:

"And may God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you.

"A 1: A person, who has been excused by God, shall not feel guilty to stay behind from the obligatory jihad. God says: 'No blame is there on the blind, nor is there blame on the lame, nor on one ill (if he joins not the war): But he that obeys Allah and his Messenger,- ((Allah)) will admit him to Gardens beneath which rivers flow; and he who turns back, ((Allah)) will punish him with a grievous Penalty,' [Koranic verse, Al-Fath, 48:17]. However, it is better for him and for his ummah to imitate the noble companion Amr Ibn-al-Jamuh, who said: 'It is my wish to meet my martyrdom and enter Paradise with my lame leg.' If a person stays behind from jihad on account of one of the following reasons mentioned in God's Book as follows: 'Say: If it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred; the wealth that ye have gained; the commerce in which ye fear a decline: or the dwellings in which ye delight - are dearer to you than Allah, or His Messenger, or the striving in His cause;- then wait until Allah brings about His decision: and Allah guides not the rebellious,' [Koranic verse, Al-Tawbah, 9:24], he shall be guilty. This person causes himself and his ummah to be afflicted by humiliation. The glory of this life and the Hereafter is attached to jihad. Anyone who is confused by abundant suspicions and interpretations should read the book of the great jihadist Shaykh Ahmad Ibn-Ibrahim Ibn-al-Nahhas. The book, entitled 'Mashari al-Ashwaq ila Masari al-Ushaq,' discussed the ruling on those who abandon jihad.

"Question by Qatadah:

"May God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you.

"May God guide the strikes of our brothers all over the world, and support them in Kashmir, Afghanistan, Waziristan, Palestine, and Iraq.

"My esteemed shaykh: May God guide you and us to success. What is your stand towards the Islamic groups in the occupied territories; Palestine, mainly the Islamic Jihad Movement and HAMAS? May God guide your steps and enlighten your path.

"The Answer:

"And may God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you.

"A 1: We regard as brothers all the jihadist Islamic groups that abide by the Koran, the tradition of the prophet, and the Islamic Shari'ah. We recommend that our brothers and we endure the hardships and ordeals of jihad without being in a hurry for victory. We further recommend that they not deviate from the path of righteousness. They should know that the siege imposed on them and the assistance and facilities, offered to them, in return for forsaking some Islamic principles, are critical tribulations, about which they should be cautious.

"Question by Al-Layth3

"O God, grant us them the victory You promised.

"O people on the frontlines, may God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you

"First of all, we would like to thank the members, who are in charge of the Al-Ansar Network website, for the tremendous efforts they exert to champion this religion. We also thank them for arranging this open interview with Shaykh Sirajuddin, may God protect him. On our part, we call upon the scholars and knowledge seekers to show up in such podiums and share the knowledge bestowed on them by God, whether they are knowledge seekers or jihadist clerics. What matters is that benefit is spread and the Muslim ummah gets to know what is going on in the jihadist arenas, about which many false stories are circulated.

"I would like to ask our shaykh, may God keep him firm, how true are the reports that some areas, which used to be under the control of the mujahidin, have fallen in the hands of the tyrant enemy? In addition, about the news reports that the mujahidin have lost control over some areas. Moreover, we would like our shaykh to tell us how true the news of the arrest of the jihadist shaykh Mullah Berader is? In addition, will you tell us about the impact of the news of the arrest of the mujahidin leaders on the jihadist arena in the steadfast Afghanistan?

"The Answer:

"And May God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you.

"A 1: Be assured. The enemies have not controlled any span. These are the allegations of the enemy. As I mentioned above, the Emirate's affiliated media mentioned no news on the arrest of any leader.

"Question by Ashiq Al-Hur:

"May God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you.

"May God bless you for your successful initiative, and may He grant you victory and fortitude. We want the jihadist leader Sirajuddin to explain to us how the situation of the jihadist arena in Afghanistan is. Are there any fighters other than the Taliban and Al-Qa'ida fighters? What is the stand of the mujahidin regarding the groups that oppose them?

"The Answer:

"And may God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you.

"A1. The Islamic Emirate has an affiliated commission that is dealing with the political issues. This commission can deal with your question.

"Question by Abu-Sayyaf

"May God raise your rank and enhance your reputation. May God gather you and me in the company of our beloved Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace.

"My question is: Is there an age limit for those who can join the camps? Do they join the camps as soon as they apply, or one should go to the Ma'sadah and pick the best youth to be trained on the required skills? What are the most urgent needs for the mujahidin currently? Do they need fighters, scholars, or funds?

"The Answer:

"And may God's peace, prayers and blessings be upon you.

"A1. My dear brother, the door of jihad is open for anyone who is competent [to be responsible for religious duties] and able to carry the weapon and weaken the enemies of God by all possible means. As for the need of the mujahidin, I swear that we are badly in need for the support of the Islamic ummah. In addition, we need the Muslims to supplicate to God for us, we need the support of the faithful ulema, and we need to receive guidance, instructions, and support to stay righteous. We need the support of the ulema because they are the heirs of the prophets. We will take their guidance in good faith, and extend our hands to them. Moreover, the mujahidin are in need for funds and fighters. This is what God, glory be to Him, has mentioned in His glorious Book. God says: 'Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere, Who say, when afflicted with calamity: "To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return," [Koranic verse, Al-Baqarah, 2:155-156]. The loss mentioned in the verse is always associated with jihad, for jihad is based on sacrificing lives and funds in the cause of God.

"Question by ZARQWI_LEBANON_3:

"Peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessing.

"I pray to the Almighty God to support you against your enemies and to grant you fortitude until victory.

"What is your stand in regard to the global jihad? Why do you not target the enemy outside Afghanistan?

"Many people sarcastically say that your financial resources come from the opium, what is your response to that?

"The Answer:

"Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you also.

"A 1: The Islamic Emirate, during its reign, banned planting opium and the people welcomed this decision. Here is the United States and its agents encouraging the people to plant it. We have no connection with opium and it is not our financial support. All these are nothing but lies and fabrications by the enemy in order to distort the reputation of the mujahidin. This claim is an awful evidence for their defeat.

"Question by Al-Miqdam al-Kinani:

"Peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessing. Our virtuous shaykh: may God protect and bless you. Our virtuous Shaykh, we want to know: What would be the stand of the Islamic Emirate about the occupier in post-occupation Afghanistan? Would it demand compensations for the damage caused by the occupation? Sir, we are pinning our hopes on you to liberate the Muslim lands, mainly Palestine. Thus, convey this to our Amir Mullah Muhammad Omar, may God protect and bless him. And peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessing.

"The Answer:

"Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you also.

"A 1: There is no doubt that this oppressive war has destroyed the country and caused losses and damage. We demand compensations for these losses and this is our right to do so.

"Question by Abu-Imarah:

"Peace be upon you and the mercy of God and His blessing. Our virtuous shaykh Sirajuddin, may God protect you and all the brothers. May God keep us firm on righteousness. My question is: What is your stand about what is taking place in Nigeria, and what is the adopted strategy in this regard? I request you, O our virtuous brother to convey our regards to all the brothers, May God reward you, on our behalf and on behalf of the entire ummah, the best of rewards.

"The Answer:

"Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you also.

"A 1: We feel great pain for the killing of the Muslims all over the world, especially our brothers in the Islamic Nigeria. There is special committee concerned about the foreign political issues and it will adopt the necessary procedures regarding this case.

"Question by Abu-Shanab:

"Peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessing.

"A 1: My virtuous Shaykh, may the Almighty God protect you. It is known that you have not pledged allegiance to Mullah Omar, the Amir of the Believers. Does this mean that the Afghan people will engage, God forbids, in a civil war after the withdrawal of the Crusader occupation similar to what happened after the liberation of the land of Khurasan from the Russians?

"The Answer:

"Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you also.

"A 1: I am a soldier for the Amir of the Believers Mullah Muhammad Omar, may God protect him from all evil. This is what is being said about not pledging allegiance to him. In fact, there are no Amirs but there is only one Amir, being the Amir of the Believers Mullah Muhammad Omar, may God protect him. There will be no civil war after the liberation, God willing. All the interpretations in the media in this regard are nothing but apostasy interpretation in order to divide the ranks of the mujahidin, and they will not succeed in that, God willing.

"Question by Al-Thuraya1:

"What is your stance about the Islamic groups in the Arab countries, especially in the Gulf? Do you receive a strong support for your honest jihad from the people of the Islamic countries, particularity from the Gulf region?

"The Answer:

"Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you also.

"A 1: We respect all the Islamic groups that correctly serve the religion of God and according to the methodology of the Sunnah and the Sunnis. We call upon the Muslims to support each other and to provide each other with aid and faith.

"Question by Abu-al-Khattab Al-Maghrabi:

"I want to join jihad, but there is no way out. My faith began to shrivel, what should I do?

"The Answer:

"A 1: Seek the advice of the honest religious scholars and work according to their guidance.

"Question by Abu-Hittin:

"Peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessing. O our virtuous Shaykh, may God protect you, and all the lions of jihad in the Islamic Emirate. First, could you please reassure us about the situation of jihad in Afghanistan and about the achievements that the mujahidin scored in the last months? What is your stand about negotiating with the Crusader occupation forces and the agent Karzai's regime? How do you view the role of the global jihadist media, and how far it was successful in presenting the true news of the mujahidin to the Muslim people?

"The Answer:

"Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you also.

"A 1: The answer to the first question is as follows: As long as Afghanistan is occupied and the occupation's agents are in power, there will be no talks. We will continue our jihad, God willing, and the stance of the Emirate is obvious.

"The answer to the second question: I ask God to grant them success and to grant them the highest paradise. I ask God to protect them and to uphold them. In reality, they have offered a great service and uncovered the mystery, the magic, and the fake deception of the Crusaders.

"Question by Khalid Bin-al-Walid:

"May God support and protect you. My question is: What is required from the jihadist youth who are unable and cannot find a way to join you? How can we help you? What are the conditions that make a youth eligible to join you? Supplicate to God for me that He grant me martyrdom in His cause after inflicting heavy losses on the enemy.

"The Answer:

"A 1: You have to seek for the advice of the honest scholars; do not sit at home; take advantage of the possible means; work against the Crusader occupation as possible.

"Question by Bin-Ahmad Al-Maqdisi:

"Peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessing. What is your stand in regard to scholars such as Abu-Ishaq al-Huwaini, and the Salafis in Alexandria, knowing hat they did not proclaim pledge of allegiance to the Amir of the Believers? I can come to Pakistan, do you advice me to do so or is it better if I stay in my country, knowing that I have no jihadist activity in the country, in which I live?

"The Answer:

"Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you also.

"A 1: We respect all the honest scholars. Try to invest your abilities in serving Islam and Muslims. Negotiate with those whom you trust. You have to know that the Ummah needs you and young honest men like you, who are zealous for their religion.

"Question by Abu-Bakr Al-Maqdisi:

"Peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessing. In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,

"First, I would like to welcome our guest, brothers, and master jihadist Sirajuddin Haqqani, may God protect him. What do think of the jihadist media, and of what all these blessed websites are doing? Do you think we can make more efforts in this regard or is the effort exerted at present is enough? Finally, I would like to send a message to my brothers; the mujahidin; a message of devotion and loyalty. May God gather us either in a righteously guided Caliphate or in the Heaven that is as wide as the earth and the skies. May God guide your steps to the right path.

"The Answer:

"Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you also.

"1 A: We are proud and we respect the jihadist Internet websites. In reality, they offer great service and we would like to ask the brothers in charge of the jihadist Internet websites to improve their level, to organize more, to gather their efforts, to increase their endeavors, and to spread their material in accordance with the cause and the time. They should provide a fast diffusion of the world jihadist news in the Islamic world and should convey the messages of the leaders of the Islamic jihad. In the end they should make sure that everything is settled and organized. They also have to use the other media means in need for them. The mujahidin have to help them in order for them to progress and to serve them.

"The jihadist movements have to provide them with jihadist material, with their news, their messages and their interviews and especially with the authenticated documentaries. The Muslims have to help them financially and technically at all levels. We supplicate to God to grant them and us success and victory.

"Question by Musa Ibn-Nusayr:

"My brother, may God bless you for your good efforts. May God grant fortitude to the lions of monotheism in the glorious Taliban. May God grant fortitude to every jihadist, who calls for the establishment of the Islamic Shari'ah.

"My questions are:

"What is your stance regarding the Islamic Sate in Iraq [ISI,] the Mujahidin Youth Movement [MYM] in Somalia, the Al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula [AQAP,] and any group which fights and holds as apostates the ruling regimes in the Arab and Muslim countries?

"May God bless you and protect you against every evil.

"There are brothers for you, who do not forget you in their supplications.

"The answer:

"A 1: Both the ISI and the MYM in Somalia are among the best jihadist movements in the current time. In fact, they offered various sacrifices for the sake of removing tyranny and humiliation off the Islamic ummah. In addition, they are our brothers. We ask God to support them in His aid.

"Question by Ashraq:

"O virtuous commander Shaykh Sirajuddin Haqqani

"Peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessings

"First, we send you our greetings, for you are the noble son of the noble father, and the son of the lion. We also send our greeting to the heroic leaders and soldiers, who symbolize the glory of Islam and Muslims, having humiliated the Crusades; the tyrants of this age. By God, we keep you in our supplications that God be on your side. 'Allah will certainly aid those who aid his (cause),' [Partial Koranic verse, Al-Hajj, 22:40].

"A special greeting for the Amir of the Believers, the sun of our times, the leader of the Muslim ummah, honorable brother Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid, may God support and empower him.

"We notice bad quality in the special video releases of the Islamic Emirate, may God protect it, in comparison to the magnitude of its operations. In addition, we notice a dearth in these releases given the importance of the jihadist media. Is this attributed to lack in media professionals?

"The Answer:

"Peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessing.

"A 1: Media-wise, we work on two levels, internally and externally. On the internal level, we present our media materials in accordance with the traditions and culture of our Afghan people. Our enemies admitted that the Islamic Emirate has surpassed them in this field. As for the external level, the main reason for the media's weakness is the siege imposed on us by the international media, which is loyal to the United States and the West. Moreover, we have limited accesses to the necessary tools.

"Question by Abu-Muhammad Al-Khalil:

"Greeting to our jihadist shaykh, may God grant you fortitude, support, and reward you.

"Q 1. How important is the theological and dogmatic upbringing for Taliban?

"Q 2. What is your advice to the HAMAS Movement in Palestine? What is the way to liberate Jerusalem and Palestine?

"Q 3. Does Taliban seek the collaboration of anyone even if he belongs to the Shiite sect, or the grave worshippers [Sunnis who visit tombs of the pious], or others? Does the Movement only cooperate with the people of good faith?

"The Answer:

"A 1: We are certain that in order for the mujahidin to be able to confront the enemies and to endure misfortune, they must have a strong jihadist and theological upbringing.

"A 2: Our advice to HAMAS is not to break off from the Islamic methodology, which is the methodology of the mainstream Sunnis. Moreover, they must endure the misfortune. As for the liberation of Jerusalem, you have to follow in the footsteps of Salah-al-Din al-Ayyubi, may God bless His soul.

"A 3: We accept help from anyone whom the Shari'ah permits us to take help from. Or else, we will not.

"Question by Al-Salafi Al-Mujahid:

"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,

"My question is: What is your creed? What is the creed of Taliban? Is it true that you have some innovative practices similar to those practiced by the grave worshippers? We want to stand in your defense, so explain to us, may God bless you.

"The Answer:

"A 1: Do you still have doubts in regard to our creed or the creed of Taliban? Do you still think that we are kind of innovators or grave worshippers? These were kind of rumors, which were propagated and spread among people during the Afghan jihad against the Russians by certain people. They aimed to discourage the people from carrying out jihad in the cause of God and for other purposes that God only knows. However, I would like to assure you and assure the Muslims that the creed of Taliban is based on the Book [Koran] and the Sunnah [Prophetic traditions.] The Majority of the Afghan people are monotheist Muslims and are followers of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, with the existence of a Shiite minority and some Sufis. There is no place, where you can find people of the same creed like in Afghanistan. Take for example the Arabian Peninsula, the cradle of Islam and from which the light of Islam spread all over the world. There, you find many religious sects such the Twelvers [mainstream Shiites,] the Isma'ilites, and the Al-Batiniyah, in addition to the secularism. Despite the fact that the majority are Sunnis and they live in security and stability. Thus, imagine what it will be like going through wars, destruction, backwardness and displacement as is the case with the Afghan people. We have been engaging in war after war for the last thirty years against the world's most powerful forces, nevertheless, we still stick to our religion, principles, and creed, upholding them, and fighting for them. My advice to my brothers is to read the book 'Al-Mizan Li Harakat Taliban' by martyr jihadist Shaykh Yusuf al-Ayiri, may God bless his soul.

"Question by Muhib Al-Sahabah Al-Maghribi:

"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,

"I seek help from God. Prayers and peace be upon the most honest among messengers, our master Muhammad, upon his family, his companions, and those who follow him in goodness until the Judgment Day. Praise be to God, the supporter of His worshippers; the mujahidin, and no aggression but on the oppressors.

"We send our greetings to the jihadist leader, one of the lions of monotheism in the Islamic Emirate, Haqqani, may God protect him

"Could you please explain to us what is going on in Helmand Province, particularly in the village of Marjah? What is the truth behind the US-led campaign, which was accompanied by exaggerated media coverage? What are your preparations?

"How is the Amir of the Believers Mullah Muhammad Omar, may God protect him? In addition, how is Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin, may God protect him?

"Be sure that the honest and free Muslims are supplicating to God to grant you victory and empowerment. They wish that they could carry out jihad with you.

"Peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessing

"Your brother in God, Muhib al-Sahabah al-Maghribi form Morocco, the land of Yusif Bin-Tashfin, may God rest his soul.

"Do not forget us in your sincere supplications.

"The Answer:

"And peace be upon you, and God's mercy and His blessing,

"A 1: The enemies were defeated in Marjah. They achieved nothing. For more information, visit the Emirate's website on the Internet.

"A 2: By the grace of God, the leaders of jihad are fine and in good health.

"Question by Abu-Hanifah Shat Al-Arab:

"Q 1: During the jihad against the Crusaders, two of your brothers, Umar and Muhammad, were martyred, could you tell us how they were martyred?

"Q 2: The group, which you head is known through the media as the Haqqani Network. Is this its real name or does it have another name?

"Q 3: Is the list of taliban reulations issued by the Amir of the Believers Mullah Muhammad Omar to the mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan obligatory on the Afghan fighters only? Is it obligatory on all the groups, which carry out jihad in Afghanistan such as the Al-Qa'ida Organization, the Uzbekistan Islamic Movement, the Turkistan Islamic Party, and other groups that pledged allegiance to the Islamic Emirate and to Mullah Omar?

"Q 4: The Western media accuse the Taliban fighters of burning girls' schools in Afghanistan. What is your comment on this?

"Q 5: In case of a deal with the United States to exchange prisoners, does the leadership of the Islamic Emirate intend to limit this deal to the Afghan prisoners? Will other Muslim prisoners be included?

"The Answer:

"A 1: Yes, my brother Muhammad was martyred near the borders, and my brother Umar was martyred inside Afghanistan, we consider them as martyrs but only God knows for certain.

"A 2: The name Haqqani Group or Haqqani Group Network is not an official name. We did not choose it either. It is a name used by the enemies in order to cause disunity among the mujahidin. We are under the leadership of the Amir of the Believers Mullah Muhammad Omar, may God protect him. We carry out jihad in the cause of God. The Islamic Emirate is our official name. It is the official name of all the mujahidin.

"A 3: Yes, all the mujahidin are bounded by this list, which was issued by the Islamic Emirate.

"A 4: We have never burnt girls' schools. This is a blatant lie. It is a weird game played by the Crusaders. They build schools for girls to win over the public and then burn them to harm the reputation of the mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. It is just one of the accusations leveled by the intelligence community of the Crusaders.

"A 5: From the perspective of Islamic law, it is obligatory to exert efforts to free all the Muslim prisoners. We are working toward achieving this goal in adherence to the Islamic laws. The Prophet, prayers and peace be upon him, said: 'Free the prisoner.'

"Finally, I would like to appeal to our Muslim brothers, in particular to the scholars, intellectuals, writers, businessmen, experts, youth, and media professionals to help us in our cause and jihad. This help could be by issuing fatwas, preparing fighters, delivering the money of Zakat [Alms tax] that God imposed for those who fight in His cause, or by providing military, medical, technical, media expertise through TV satellite channels, Islamic news network websites on the Internet, newspapers and magazines, or by any possible means. The infidel countries have joined ranks against us with all their potentials. They came with their aircraft, tanks, missiles, advanced weaponry, intellectuals, and geniuses, spending billions of dollars. They did all this under the eyes of the Muslims and the whole world in order to spread corruption, vice, moral degradation, and secularism. They did all this to make us change our creed and to make us stay away from our religion. Therefore, we seek your aid to preserve our religion. The Almighty God says: 'but if they seek your aid in religion, it is your duty to help them,' [Partial Koranic verse, Al-Anfal, 8:72].

"Let us not forget to express our thanks and gratitude to the brothers, who are in charge of the Ansar al-Mujahidin Network website and to all the respected brothers, who were kind enough to post questions about the Islamic Emirate in general, and about your brother (Sirajuddin) in particular.

"Once again, I thank the brothers who posted the questions, and I apologize for leaving some questions unanswered because some questions were not related to me, and some others were repeated.

"Your brother: Sirajuddin

"The son of Shaykh Jalaluddin Haqqani.

"On our part, we extend our thanks to the imminent shaykh Sirajuddin Haqqani, may God protect him and keep him firm [on His religion,] for giving us this kind and blessed opportunity. We ask God, glory be to Him, to make the shaykh and his people a thorn in the eyes of the ummah's enemies. We further ask Him to grant the martyrdom to us and to the shaykh as we fight and confront the enemies fiercely, without turning our backs to them.

"Administration of Ansar al-Mujahidin Network website

[Links to the Ansar al-Mujahidin Network website are posted here.]

"O God, make us the best supporters for the best mujahidin."

Asia Times: 'Militants in No Mood To Talk'

CPP20100511715026 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 1001 GMT 10 May 10

[Asia Times report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Militants in No Mood To Talk"; headline as provided by source]

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan stands at a crossroad in its battle against militancy.

On the one hand, its Washington ally wants to turn their strategic partnership into a closer military alliance in which the United States would help the Pakistani military significantly ramp up the war against militancy - meaning opening a new battlefield, as the Americans did in Laos during the Vietnam war.

Alternatively, Pakistan is tempted to set aside American interests and apply its own mechanism to defeat militancy - which means striking deals with the "good" Taliban and defeating the "bad" Taliban without care for the consequences on the war in Afghanistan or the future of al-Qaeda and its allied Punjabi groups operating in the Pakistani tribal areas.

Pakistan took a step towards the second option at the weekend when it air-dropped leaflets in the North Waziristan tribal area warning pro-Taliban tribes "to back out of their support of the militants (al-Qaeda and its associate Punjabi militants) or face the consequences, like the people of Swat and Bajaur -tribal agencies) faced and lost their properties and assets".

For hawkish decision-makers in Washington and "bad" militants in North Waziristan, there is another option: remove Pakistani links in the war and deal directly with one another on Pakistani soil.

Last week, the Barack Obama administration authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to step up drone attacks on militants in the tribal areas to include missile strikes against unknown targets. Previously, a suspect had to be identified. The CIA wasted no time. In a series of attacks over the weekend, at least 10 militants were reported killed in North Waziristan.

The hardcore militants also flexed their muscles by blocking efforts led by the Afghan Taliban, who are not hostile towards Pakistan, for a truce and for the release of a former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) hostage.

Colonel Ameer Sultan Tarrar, nicknamed "Colonel Imam" by the mujahideen as he was instrumental in helping to raise the Taliban militia, was abducted by a Punjabi group, the Asian Tigers, on March 25, along with journalist Asad Qureshi. The bullet-riddled body of Khalid Khawaja, another former ISI official who was abducted at the same time, was recently found in North Waziristan.

The Tigers ignored instructions from Taliban leader Mullah Omar that the men should be freed, instead issuing a list of high-profile men in Pakistani jails to be released in 15 days. Otherwise, they said, Tarrar would meet the same fate as Khawaja. For the release of Qureshi, there is a separate demand of US$10 million in ransom. See Qureshi's video below sent to ATol at the weekend.

The New York Times reported on Friday that evidence of ties between the man accused of trying to car bomb Times Square in New York - Faisal Shahzad - and Pakistani militants had intensified debate inside the Barack Obama administration about expanding America's military presence in Pakistan. Some officials are said to want to increase the number of special operations forces working with Pakistani troops in the western mountains.

In a dispatch from Washington, the newspaper said the American military presence in Pakistan had already grown substantially over the past year, and now totaled more than 200 troops, part of a largely secret program to share intelligence with the Pakistani army and paramilitary troops and train them to battle militant groups.

This would play into the hands of the militants, who aim to lure the Americans into what they see as a trap in the rugged mountainous terrain on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

Militants make demands

Among the 150 prisoners the militants want released are those involved in an attack on military headquarters in Rawalpindi, the killing of a retired general, abductions for ransom, and those allegedly connected to the attack on Mumbai in India in November 2008. Interior Minister Rahman Malik, who is traveling in Britain, was unable to respond to questions from Asia Times Online.

The militants had initially said they would release both captives.

A militant spokesman, Usman Punjabi, told ATol on April 29 on the telephone that Khawaja would be executed (which happened the next day) but that Colonel Imam would be released as he was not a part of Khawaja's plan to negotiate peace between the militants and the military,

Other sources told ATol that Colonel Imam was to be released because of pressure from the Afghan Taliban and that he would be handed into the custody of Afghan Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani's group led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, the chief of the Taliban in North Waziristan. This was also widely reported in the Pakistani media.

However, everything changed with the arrest of Faisal Shahzad in New York and the ramping up of the drone program. Al-Qaeda forcibly put its foot down and managed to undermine the authority of Mullah Omar.

"It was completely wrong news that we agree to the release of Colonel Imam and Asad Qureshi," Usman Punjabi told ATol on the telephone on Sunday. "We did not receive any direct instruction from Mullah Omar. We did not see any direct emissary of Mullah Omar's. What we heard regarding the instructions (from Mullah Omar) was just talk by some ISI-backed Taliban groups in North Waziristan that they had been asked by Mullah Omar to release Colonel Imam.

"So we have asked them to provide evidence - any audio or video recording of Mullah Omar in which he ordered the release of Colonel Imam. We cannot believe the words of just any person in that regard," said Usman Punjabi.

"For us Colonel Imam was not a mujahid. If he was assumed in the past as the father of the Taliban, he did that as a government employee - being an army officer. He still receives a pension from the Pakistan army. To us he is their man," said Usman Punjabi. This is in direct contradiction to what he earlier told ATol, that Colonel Imam would be released.

It is becoming apparent that al-Qaeda is calling the shots in North Waziristan and creating a situation under which the good and bad Taliban will not have any choice but to operate under al-Qaeda's flagship while trying to entice the US into a fight.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

Pakistan: Analysts Says Misunderstanding Between Govt, Tribal People Rising

SAP20100525100010 Islamabad Daily Express in Urdu 23 May 10 pp 5,8

[Unattributed report: "No Major Success Noted in Waziristan Operation: Ahmad Wazir"]

Lahore -- Ahmad Wazir, former ambassador and senior analyst, has said that the operation in South Waziristan is still continuing, but it is restricted to the area of Mehsud Tribes; however, no major success on the part of government is visible in the form of winning the people's hearts. He said that the government and tribal people were having more misunderstanding nowadays as compared to the past. He added that distrust on the government had increased. He further added that the distance between the government and tribal people was increasing.

Expressing his views in the Express News program "Front Line with Kamran Shahid," he said that if the backbone of terrorists in South Waziristan had been broken, why was the operation still continuing? Why was the Army present there?" He said: "When I visited South Waziristan during April end, I noticed a lot of difficulties being faced by the people in their movement."

"Irresponsible attitude is being adopted by the government. The Army is conducting body search of each and every person coming or leaving the area. I have strong reservations about the opinion of Zahid Ali Khan. Their [Zahid Ali Khan's] government has no relation with Federally Administered Tribal Area [FATA]. If you have been to FATA, your feelings and information would be different. I have my home in South Waziristan, I am burning there [as published]. Earlier, South Waziristan was dubbed as a stronghold of terrorism and it was being stated that every thing would be fine if an operation was launched there. Faisal Shehzad is not our citizen. The United States should itself take action against its citizens. We do not allow any foreigner to stay in South Waziristan. The issues cannot be resolved by ignoring the aspirations of the people of South Waziristan and by making decisions in Islamabad and Peshawar. The tribal people also complain of the media."

Awami National Party [ANP] Senator Zahid Ali Khan said: "I agree with both. The Army is still being attacked in South Waziristan. The government writ has not been established in all tribal areas. It [writ] is in the hands of other people. It will happen only when the policy becomes clear [as published]. Operations in tribal areas are conducted by the federal government. The issue of terrorism cannot be resolved by the thought that the United States will flee Afghanistan and after that Jalaluddin Haqqani Group will support the government. The tribal people have been held hostage by the terrorists. In the recent past, 600 tribal elders have been killed there, and the remaining tribal elders have no authority left. The terrorists have established their writ in these areas. I also know a lot about the tribal areas. It is not right to say that no one has visited there. However, common people in South Waziristan have been facing a lot of problems." During the program, Zahid Khan could not give a satisfactory answer about his visit to South Waziristan. He said: "How can one witness the killing of troops in Orakzai Agency? Who are they fighting with? Where are Hakimullah Mehsud and Qari Hussain? All these are question marks. We have to fight the war on terror for our own survival."

Analyst Ahmad Rasheed said that the terrorists, along with their infrastructure, have fled from South Waziristan to North Waziristan. He said that now, they were not fighting in the areas where the military operation was going on, they are only attacking military checkpoints. He said that the proof of terrorists fleeing was that now, most of the action was taking place in Orakzai Agency. He said that the biggest fault in the operations in Swat and South Waziristan was that there was no uniformity between the Army and civil government. He said that reconstruction was the duty of the civil government, but all tasks were being carried out by the Army itself. He said that both, the Army and civil government could be blamed for this. He said that the civil government was not making any initiatives to take control over the issues. He said that no news by independent sources was coming from the area where the operation was being conducted. He further said that the media, civil society, and independent sources were not allowed to visit the area. However, he added that the reluctance of the displaced people to return to their areas shows their distrust in the Army for protection. He added that because of terrorism, North Waziristan had become a root cause of all problems. He added that after 2001, dual policy of the Army was in place. He further added that during Musharraf's regime, some of the Taliban groups were given exemption and were provided support, and now the policy might have changed.

Anchorperson of the program Kamran Shahid said that according to sources, before the visit of two US officials to Pakistan, the Pakistan Army and government were not in favor of launching an operation in North Waziristan.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Daily Express in Urdu -- Daily owned by Century Publications of the Lakson Business Group. The second largest daily after Jang newspaper with a circulation of over 120,000. Provides good coverage of national and international issues and follows moderate and neutral editorial policy.]

UK Report Alleges Taliban Receiving Official Support by Pakistan Intelligence

EUP20100613031007 London Sunday Times Online in English 13 Jun 10

[Corrected version, adding LSE study as .pdf attachment; Updated version: adding .pdf attachment of report by Matt Waldman: "The Sun in the Sky: The Relationship Between Pakistan's ISI and Afghan Insurgents"; "Report by Miles Amoore, Kabul: "Pakistan Puppet Masters Guide the Taliban Killers"]

THE Taliban commander waited at the ramshackle border crossing while Pakistani police wielding assault rifles stopped and searched the line of cars and trucks travelling into Afghanistan.

Some of the trucks carried smuggled goods -- DVD players, car stereos, television sets, generators, children's toys. But the load smuggled by Taliban fighter Qari Rasoul, a thickset Pashtun from Afghanistan's Wardak province, was altogether more sinister.

Rasoul's boot was full of remote-control triggers used to detonate the home-made bombs responsible for the vast majority of Nato [NATO] casualties in Afghanistan. The three passengers sitting in his white Toyota estate were suicide bombers.

The policemen flagged down Rasoul's car and began to search it. They soon found the triggers, hidden beneath a bundle of clothes in the back of the estate. They asked him who he was and who the triggers belonged to. "I'm a Taliban commander. They belong to me," he told them.

Two policemen took Rasoul into their office in Chaman, a small town that borders Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, and sat him down on a wooden chair.

Instead of arresting him, the elder policeman rubbed his thumb and index finger together and, smiling, said: "Try to understand."

Rasoul phoned a Pakistani friend. Two hours later he was released, having paid the policemen 5,000 Pakistani rupees, the equivalent of about £40, each.

"That was the only time I ever faced problems crossing the border with Pakistan," said Rasoul, who is responsible for delivering suicide bombers trained in Pakistani camps to targets in Afghanistan.

Pakistani support for the Taliban in Afghanistan runs far deeper than a few corrupt police officers, however. The Sunday Times can reveal that it is officially sanctioned at the highest levels of Pakistan's government.

Pakistan's own intelligence agency, the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), is said to be represented on the Taliban's war council -- the Quetta shura. Up to seven of the 15-man shura are believed to be ISI agents.

The former head of Afghanistan's intelligence agency, Amrullah Saleh, who resigned last week, said: "The ISI is part of the landscape of destruction in this country, no doubt, so it will be a waste of time to provide evidence of ISI involvement. They are a part of it."

Testimony by western and Afghan security officials, Taliban commanders, former Taliban ministers and a senior Taliban emissary show the extent to which the ISI manipulates the Taliban's strategy in Afghanistan.

Pakistani support for the Taliban is prolonging a conflict that has cost the West billions of dollars and hundreds of lives. Last week 32 Nato soldiers were killed.

According to a report published today by the London School of Economics, which backs up months of research by this newspaper, "Pakistan appears to be playing a double game of astonishing magnitude" in Afghanistan.

The report's author, Matt Waldman, a Harvard analyst, argues that previous studies significantly underestimated the influence that Pakistan's ISI exerts over the Taliban. Far from being the work of rogue elements, interviews suggest this "support is official ISI policy", he says.

The LSE report, based on dozens of interviews and corroborated by two senior western security officials, states: "As the provider of sanctuary and substantial financial, military and logistical support to the insurgency, the ISI appears to have strong strategic and operational influence -- reinforced by coercion. There is thus a strong case that the ISI orchestrates, sustains and shapes the overall insurgent campaign."

The report also alleges that Asif Ali Zardari, the president of Pakistan, recently met captured Taliban leaders to assure them that the Taliban had his government's full support. This was vigorously denied by Zardari's spokesman. Pakistani troops have launched offensives against militants in North and South Waziristan.

However, a senior Taliban s ource in regular contact with members of the Quetta shura told The Sunday Times that in early April, Zardari and a senior ISI official met 50 high-ranking Taliban members at a prison in Pakistan.

According to a Taliban leader in the jail at the time, five days before the meeting prison officials were told to prepare for the impending presidential call. Prison guards wearing dark glasses served the Taliban captives traditional Afghan meals three times a day.

"They wanted to make the prisoners feel like they were important and respected," the source said.

Hours before Zardari's visit, the head warder told the Taliban inmates to impress upon the president how well they had been looked after during their time in captivity.

Zardari spoke to them for half an hour. He allegedly explained that he had arrested them because his government was under increasing American pressure to end the sanctuary enjoyed by the Taliban in Pakistan and to round up their ringleaders.

"You are our people, we are friends, and after your release we will of course support you to do your operations," he said, according to the source.

He vowed to release the less well-known commanders in the near future and said that the "famous" Taliban leaders would be freed at a later date.

Five days after Zardari's visit, a handful of Taliban prisoners, including The Sunday Times's source, were driven into Quetta and set free, in line with the president's pledge.

"This report is consistent with Pakistan's political history in which civilian leaders actively backed jihadi groups that operate in Afghanistan and Kashmir," Waldman said.

According to the source, during his visit to the prison Zardari also met Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's former second in command, who was arrested by the ISI earlier this year with seven other Taliban leaders.

Baradar, who is from the same tribe as Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, had allegedly approached the Afghan government to discuss the prospect of a peace settlement between the two sides.

Baradar's arrest is seen in both diplomatic and Taliban circles as an ISI plot to manipulate the Taliban's political hierarchy and also to block negotiations between the Kabul government and the Taliban leadership.

Shortly after Baradar's arrest the ISI arrested two other Taliban members -- Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir and his close associate and friend Mullah Abdul Rauf. Both men were released after just two nights in custody.

Following his release, Zakir, who spent years in custody in Guantanamo Bay, assumed command of the Taliban's military wing, replacing Baradar. Rauf, also a former Guantanamo inmate, was immediately appointed chairman of the Quetta shura.

"To say the least, this is compelling evidence of significant ISI influence over the movement and it is highly likely that the release was on ISI terms or at least on the basis of a mutual understanding," the LSE report states.

The promotions of Zakir and Rauf will give Pakistan greater leverage over future peace talks, Taliban and western officials said.

To ensure that the Pakistani government retains its influence over the Taliban's leadership, the ISI has placed its own representatives on the Quetta shura, according to these officials.

Up to seven of the Afghan Taliban leaders who sit on the 15-man shura are believed to be ISI agents. However, some sources maintain that every member of the shura has ISI links.

"It is impossible to be a member of the Quetta shura without membership of the ISI," said a senior Taliban intermediary who liaises with the Afghan government and Taliban leaders.

The LSE report states: "Interviews strongly suggest that the ISI has representatives on the shura, either as participants or observers, and the agency is thus involved at the highest levels of the movement."

The two shura members who receive the strongest support from the ISI are Taib Agha, former spokesman for Mullah Omar, the Taliban sup r eme leader, and Mullah Hasan Rahmani, the former Taliban governor of Kandahar, according to the Taliban intermediary and western officials.

Strategies that the ISI encourages, according to Taliban commanders, include: cutting Nato's supply lines by bombing bridges and roads; attacking key infrastructure projects; assassinating progovernment tribal elders; murdering doctors and teachers; closing schools and attacking schoolgirls.

ISI agents hand chits to Taliban commanders who use them to buy weapons at arms dumps in North Waziristan.

The Taliban's "plastic bombs" -- the low metal content improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that kill the majority of British soldiers who die in Afghanistan -- were introduced to the Taliban by Pakistani officials, according to Taliban commanders, the Taliban intermediary and western officials. The materials allow Taliban sappers to plant bombs that can evade Nato mine detectors.

Rasoul, the Taliban commander from Wardak province, also alleged that the ISI pays 200,000 Pakistani rupees (£1,600) in compensation to the families of suicide bombers who launch attacks on targets in Afghanistan.

"They need vehicles, fuel and food. They need ammunition. They need money and guns. They need clinics and medicine. So who is providing these things to the Taliban if it's not Pakistan?" a former Kabul police chief said.

In the eastern province of Khost, one commander described how Pakistani military trucks picked his men up from training camps in Pakistan and ferried them to the Afghan border at night.

Once at the border, Pakistanis dressed in military uniform gave the commander a list of targets inside Afghanistan. Taliban fighters then ferried the weapons and ammunition into Afghanistan using cars, donkeys, horses and camels.

"We post our men along our supply routes to protect the convoys once they are on Afghan turf," said the Khost commander. "The (US) drones sometimes bomb our convoys and many times they have bombed our ammo stores."

Camps within Pakistan train Taliban fighters in three different sets of skills: suicide bombing, bomb-making and infantry tactics. Each camp focuses on a different skill.

Pakistan's support for the Taliban has sparked friction between the home-grown Taliban groups and those who are bankrolled to a greater extent by the ISI.

Many lower-level commanders in Afghanistan are angered by the degree to which the ISI dictates their operations.

"The ISI-backed Taliban are destroying the country. Their suicide bombings are the ones that kill innocent civilians. They are undoing the infrastructure with their attacks," said a Taliban commander from Kandahar province.

Most commanders said they resented their comrades who received the largest slice of ISI support. They also said they knew about the ISI's influence over their senior leadership. "There is already mistrust among the low-level fighters and commanders," the Taliban intermediary said. "But they don't really know the extent of it. They don't believe that our leaders are ISI spies."

Major-General Athar Abbas, Pakistan's senior military spokesman, called the claim that the ISI has representatives on the Quetta shura "ridiculous". He said: "The allegations are absolutely baseless."

Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for the Pakistani president, said: "There's no such thing as President Zardari meeting Taliban leaders. This never happened."

To see the full London School of Economics report, go to thesundaytimes.co.uk/world

The key player

Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) became enmeshed in Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979. The CIA used it to channel covert funds and weapons to Afghan mujaheddin [mujahedin] groups fighting the Soviet army during the 10-year conflict.

A decisive factor in the Soviet defeat was the CIA's decision to provide surface- to-air Stinger missiles.

Saudi Arabia, which, from the mid-1980s matched American funding for the insurgency do llar for dollar, also used the ISI to channel funds to the mujaheddin.

The American effort was promoted and supported by the late Texas congressman Charles Wilson, who fought to raise awareness and cash for the Afghan cause in the United States. His role was portrayed by Tom Hanks in the movie Charlie Wilson's War.

The ISI continued to support groups of Afghan fighters long after the Russian withdrawal in 1989, often providing backing for brutal warlords in an attempt to install a pro-Pakistani government in Kabul.

The ISI backed the Taliban during their rise to power between 1994 and 1996. Pakistan's prime minister at the time, Benazir Bhutto, believed the Taliban could stabilise Afghanistan.

View the full report entitled: "The Sun in the Sky: The Relationship Between Pakistan's ISI and Afghan Insurgents". (.pdf)

To read the LSE report in .pdf format please click here LSE

[Description of Source: London Sunday Times Online in English -- Website of best-selling center-right Sunday newspaper; in-depth coverage of national and international news and politics; owned by Rupert Murdoch's New International; website only available on Sunday; URL: ]

Pakistan Gathering Intelligence, Building Alliances For N Waziristan Offensive

SAP20100614098030 Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English 14 Jun 10

[Unattributed report: Pakistan drags feet on N Waziristan offensive]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is buying time in North Waziristan - gathering intelligence, building alliances and insisting any assault into the militant fortress should take place at its own time and choosing, say analysts.

Commanders are walking a tightrope, balancing US pressure for action against fears that a major push into the hornet's nest would make enemies they cannot beat and drag Pakistan into a new wave of violence. "The army is already over-stretched after carrying out offensives in other tribal regions," one security official said.

"Security forces got in touch with local tribesmen in a policy of dialogue and asked them not to harbour any insurgents, and this policy has worked," he added.

They are also men whom the security establishment believes pose no direct risk to the homeland because their activities are targeted across the border, while home-grown Taliban pose a more immediate threat.

"Security forces don't want to lose the gains made in South Waziristan and north western regions, including Swat," another security official said, warning that any hasty relocation of troops could lead to a deteriorated situation in those areas.

North Waziristan's mountains are a refuge for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who escaped an offensive in neighbouring South Waziristan last year.

Meanwhile, some officials also believe that opening a new front against the likes of Haqqani and Gul Bahadur would make enemies out of well-trained, well-financed groups that are potentially valuable allies when US troops leave Afghanistan.

Given the risks involved and strain on troops, with forces actively engaged in six of the seven tribal districts, analysts say fears of a backlash, including attacks on civilians, are holding the army back.

"Fears of a fierce reaction by Punjab-based militants, because of their links with TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud, the Haqqani and Bahadur networks might be one reason holding the army back," analyst Imtiaz Gul said.

Instead of a major assault, Gul said a North Waziristan operation would be "selective"- at a time and on a scale of the military's choosing.

For example, troops may try and "shrink the space" for local facilitators of al Qaeda, such as Tehreek-i-Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

"The army and paramilitary are busy in at least four tribal regions and have not been able to withdraw fully from Swat and Malakand," said defence analyst Hasan Askari. "It seems that the army would ultimately take specifically targeted action in North Waziristan, but at a time of its choosing," he said.

Among those using bases in North Waziristan are the Haqqani network, created by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and run by his son Sirajuddin; Afghan Taliban; Pakistani warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur and his ally Maulvi Sadiq Noor.

They are blamed by the US for fuelling the nearly nine-year insurgency in Afghanistan, for attacking the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation troops there and for working to destabilise the western-backed government in Kabul.

[Description of Source: Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English -- Website of a newspaper partnered with the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times. It is part of the Lakson Group, which includes Daily Express and Express News Television in Urdu and Express 24/7 Television in English. The group's media wing has no known political affiliations and operates as a moderate, independent commercial media organization. The newspaper claims its mission is to defend "liberal values and egalitarian traditions"; URL: ]

Pakistan Trying To Broker Deal Between Haqqani Network, Afghanistan Govt

SAP20100616098004 Karachi Dawn Online in English 16 Jun 10

[Report by Baqir Sajjad Syed: Pakistan trying to broker Afghan deal]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

ISLAMABAD, June 15: Pakistan has dived headlong into the Afghanistan reconciliation process by taking on the task of acting as a bridge between the Haqqani network and the government in Kabul, Dawn has learnt.

"Preliminary contacts have been established with Siraj Haqqani and other leaders of his group through intermediaries in a bid to engineer a rapprochement with the Karzai administration," a senior security official told Dawn.

The intermediaries, the source claims, have presented a roadmap for a political settlement between Kabul and the Haqqanis.

If the plan is accepted by the two sides, it could bring peace to the war-torn country, claim government officials. The Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani group is considered the most potent warring faction in Afghanistan and is viewed as a serious threat by the Karzai regime and also by the American troops there. "Although the future of the initiative is unclear at the moment, the initial signs are encouraging because the leadership of the militant group appears to be willing (to talk)," the security official told Dawn. However, Pakistani officials are reluctant to discuss the matter in detail and hence few details are available about the talks.

The initiative on the part of the Pakistan government has followed overtures from the Afghanistan government. Analysts agree that there has been a change in the attitude of Afghan President Hamid Karzai towards Pakistan in recent weeks.

Karzai's hostile statements against Islamabad seem to have stopped; in fact he acknowledged Pakistan's role in the reconciliation process in his visit to Islamabad in March.

In addition, resignations by Afghanistan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh and interior minister Hanif Atmar are also likely to help improve relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Even though Saleh ostensibly quit because of a security failure, a rocket attack during a jirga held in Kabul in the first week of June, observers point out that his departure from the government fulfils a longstanding demand of Pakistan.

In fact, Saleh has been quite vocal in his criticism of Karzai since his resignation; he has alleged that the president is now looking towards Pakistan, instead of the United States, to bring peace to Afghanistan.

Dawn has learnt that Islamabad's efforts to mediate between the Haqqani group and Kabul were the result of intense pressure from the United States to launch an offensive in North Waziristan.

However, the military is not interested in opening another front in Fata as it is already dealing with active operations in places such as Orakzai and wants to hold off going into North Waziristan.

At the same time, it is no secret that the military's reluctance stems from a number of other reasons. For instance, army officials have on more than one occasion explained that the Haqqani group has not been involved in attacks inside Pakistan and hence it is not a direct threat to the state as are other militant groups.

But, more importantly, some analysts feel that elements within the military establishment, which still maintain contacts with the Haqqani duo, feel that the father-son team can yield results for Islamabad in future; if the group becomes a part of the future regime in Afghanistan, it can and will provide Pakistan a say in the country's affairs.

It is against this backdrop that Pakistani civilian and military officials are pushing for a deal between Karzai and the Haqqani network. The biggest challenge in working out a settlement, however, defence analysts believe, is the US reception of such an arrangement.

But officials tell Dawn that the US attitude towards the Haqqani network will become less intransigent with time. Pakistan is aware that the Americans are keen to begin withdrawal by July 2011 -- the deadline set by President Barack Obama -- and in order for this to happen, Kabul will have to start a dialogue with some Taliban groups.

American officials have, on more than one occasion, conceded that at some stage the Taliban can be engaged provided certain conditions are met, such as cutting off ties with Al Qaeda and other foreign terrorist groups.

That this possibility does not exclude the Haqqani group is clear from the statements of officials within the US administration and military. For instance, US Central Command Director of Intelligence Major General Michael Flynn had been quoted by The Atlantic magazine as saying that Jalaluddin Haqqani was "absolutely salvageable".

Karzai has in the past tried at least twice -- in 2007 and 2009 -- to woo the Haqqani group but to no avail. It even refused to attend the recent Kabul peace jirga. But since then Pakistani officials claim that the Haqqanis have been persuaded to talk to Karzai. The Haqqani network, which is operationally headed by Jalaluddin Haqqani's son Sirajuddin, is believed to have sanctuaries in Pakistan's North Waziristan region close to the Pak-Afghan border and is viewed as one of the most potent warring groups active in Afghanistan.

Though this group operates largely in the south-eastern provinces of Khost, Paktia and Paktika, allied forces have accused it of carrying out attacks in Kabul and Kandahar as well, including the one on the Indian mission in Kabul.

However, while military and foreign office officials are willing to talk about this initiative in off-the-record conversations, the official line from the Foreign Office remains ambiguous: "Pakistan will continue supporting Afghanistan-led efforts towards reintegration and reconciliation."

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

Pakistan Author: Afghan Jirga Secured Support for Karzai Peace Efforts

SAP20100617114007 Peshawar The Frontier Post Online in English 17 Jun 10

[Article by Bassam Javed: Afghan Jirga and US Military Offensive in Kandhar]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

The hullabaloo over holding of Afghan Jirga came to an end with successful completion of the event on 6th June. Around 1600 delegates from across the country agreed with one voice during the Jirga proceedings that reaching out to the Taliban is the best way forward to end decades of Afghan war. Present at the Jirga were Afghan heavyweights like Younus Qanooni, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Sibghatullah Mujaddidi, Farooq Wardak, Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil and Mullah Abdul Salam. Their presence legitimized whatever reservations people had held over Mr. Karzai's re-election as president. There were, however, some conspicuous figures that boycotted the Jirga that included former presidential rival of Mr. Karzai Abdullah Abdullah and his confidante in Parliament Eshaq Gailani. Their absence, however, did not affect the Jirga's proceedings as boycott is also a form of political engagement in a way. From amongst the Taliban factions Gulbaddin Hekmatyar of Hizbe Islami was well represented through favourable delegates whereas Jalaluddin Haqqani, the most influential faction of Taliban, without whose help peace in Afghanistan will not be possible, did not find much voice as the United States views Haqqani as a bad guy and accordingly prefers his elimination rather then betting on his prowess as a peace broker. The Jirga secured domestic and international support for Karzai's efforts. During the three days of discussions 28 committees were formed that unanimously recommended talks with the Taliban, frame work and mechanism of talks and steps to forge national unity. As per the recommendations insurgents who join peace process and cut ties with foreign terrorists are to be removed from the UN black list and released from the prisons. There were other recommendations too that will collectively form the basis of developing the action plan and peace strategy. Whereas the successful holding of Jirga vis-à-vis ticking of clock on US withdrawal time frame has impacted its immediate neighbours, it also brought anxiety to distant ones. For Pakistan, it has arguably the highest stake in war-torn Afghanistan being a Muslim country and an immediate neighbour. As the insurgency in Afghanistan is primarily driven by the Taliban with major representation of Pakhtun from other side of the Durand Line, it can devastatingly influence the Pakhtuns on this side of the Durand line. Pakistan due to its natural security interests cannot afford but to ensure that it preserves them at all costs and as such diligently watches developments in Afghanistan that can affect Pakistan. For Iran, it wants to be recognised as a stake holder in Afghanistan too as it keeps the United States bogged down in US-Iran relationship gambit. For China, it also shares a small border with Afghanistan. It also has a stake therein due to concerns of Islamic extremism creeping into its province of Xinjiang and also sees Afghanistan as a conduit for its much needed mineral resources. India, a distant neighbour but a keen player to squeeze Pakistan from Afghanistan, has built close ties with the American supported Afghan regime. It also eyes the mineral and oil resources from the Central Asian countries. It also harps on the theme that the return of Taliban in the Afghan set-up would lead to attacks on its soil. It did not support the global effort of peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan till the time all escape routes were shut. It has reactivated its links with Iran and Russia that too had backed the Northern Alliance against the Taliban in 1990s to sabotage western withdrawal plan. The recently concluded Jirga will not bring immediate peace though however, it certainly has provided a platform to Karzai to take on in what he has firmly and rightly believed that all roads to peace lead through reconciliation with all f actions of Taliban. Bringing together such a large number of delegates from across the country was a phenomenal task. Karzai did it amicably. He also managed to extract the decision from the Jirga on formation of a Shura that would coordinate its decisions with the representatives of international community based in Afghanistan. It reflects the political acumen of Mr. Karzai as by this single move he has brought the international community on board and if he fails now in his efforts equal blame will be shared by the international community. The United States had supported holding of Jirga reluctantly only when Mr. Karzai visited Washington last month. Prior to the event many discouraging statements and prospects were fed to the American media by the State machinery to lessen the importance of Jirga process. The Taliban are of the view that peace cannot be brought till the time foreign forces quit Afghanistan and only then they would take part in reconciliation. United States that always believes in using its lethal military might to subjugate people and soften the enemy, are bent upon taking on the Taliban militarily for the same to force them to join the negotiating table. For United States, the success or failure of the Jirga was always irrelevant since its very concept. The US and the coalition forces continued to prepare for launching of a massive military strike against the Taliban in Kandahar. The offensive can come any time as the Afghan president with General McChrystal on his side requested people of Kandahar to support impending US military offensive in Kandahar. This means that we are about to witness Kandahar turning into killing fields for both the sides. Being heavily populated, civilians will be the major casualties as usual in the name of collateral damage. Through the decades of war Afghans have only seen death and destruction. The two pronged US strategy of using muscles with diplomacy will be fully tested here in Kandahar. Jirga will be touted later as an effort to give Taliban a chance to talk peace and soften them up prior to launching attack on Kandahar. The massive offensive may be able to significantly eliminate Taliban and kill many Afghan civilians but it may not be able to eliminate the ideology. The international community need not enter barbarism using lethal weaponry yet again in Kandahar when they can win through strengthening of Afghan hearts and minds through human development, support of social sector, creation of job opportunities and investment in education sector.

[Description of Source: Peshawar The Frontier Post Online in English -- Website of a daily providing good coverage of the Northwest Frontier Province, Afghanistan, and narcotics issues; URL: ]

Pakistan Daily Says Haqqanis Joining Afghan Reconciliation To Improve Situation

SAP20100617114008 Karachi Business Recorder Online in English 17 Jun 10

[Editorial: Deal With Haqqani Network?]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

EDITORIAL (June 17 2010): Is Pakistan pushing the United States to give the Haqqani network a chance? It is too early to get the right answer to this question, but, certainly, with the ouster of Amrullah Saleh from his office as head of Afghanistan's all-powerful National Directorate of Security (NDS), the possibility of the Haqqanis joining the Afghan reconciliation and reintegration efforts cannot be ruled out.

Perhaps, the Haqqanis are as much antagonised with the former intelligence chief, as with the Americans, for the latter's missile attacks last year which killed several members of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani's family. A Tajik by race, Amrullah Saleh is a remnant of the Northern Alliance which still nurses visceral hatred for the Haqqani network.

Their mutual animosity had climaxed during the post-Soviet civil war, when following an abject surrender, several hundreds of the Northern Alliance-backed Glim Jam fighters were taken prisoners and shifted to the Haqqani headquarters in Khost near the Pak-Afghan border.

Now that President Karzai is looking beyond the July-2011 deadline for the foreign troops to begin leaving Afghanistan, the option to bring this network on board for the reconciliation process to succeed is very much real and pragmatic. And, surely, if that option is brought into play, Pakistan would be more than willing to offer its cooperation.

Since the Haqqani group virtually controls five bordering provinces - Khost, Paktia, Paktika, Logar and Ghazi - its decision to join the peace and reconciliation process would improve the security situation in that area with a concomitant positive fallout in Pakistan's adjacent areas, especially North Waziristan.

An ousted Amrullah had greatly influenced the American perspective, by propagating that Haqqanis have their 'safe havens in North Waziristan, much to the chagrin of the Pakistani authorities who reject the allegation. With Haqqanis on line with the Americans, Pakistan would find its position of rejecting calls for military operation in this agency as fully vindicated. So, if Pakistan is seen to be pushing the United States to get in touch with the Haqqani leadership, one wouldn't be surprised.

Given the history of Afghans' resistance to foreign occupation and the hollowness of the US-led coalition's excuse to invade and occupy Afghanistan, ultimate victory was never guaranteed. But the task to install a popular government in place of the ousted Taliban outfit has been made difficult all the more for the Karzai government's conflicting goals and factional infighting. On the face of it, while all these years the Afghan government was seen to be fighting the Taliban, a powerful lobby within it was employing all its resources to keep the Pushtun majority out of the corridors of power.

Obviously, the disgruntled Afghan Pushtun turned against the government and over time became a rich source for the recruitment of foot soldiers of the Taliban. Haqqanis are Pushtun; their oppositional stance is largely based in their struggle for the political survival of the Pushtun segment of Afghan society. If they come on board and join the government in finding a way out of the present mess that would be a way forward in the difficult but achievable objective of securing a fully reconciled Afghan polity.

[Description of Source: Karachi Business Recorder Online in English -- Website of a leading business daily. The group also owns Aaj News TV; URL: ]

Pakistan: Envoy Holbrooke Says Talks With Haqqani Network Hard to Imagine

SAP20100621103010 Karachi Dawn Online in English 21 Jun 10

[AFP report: Reconciling with Haqqani network hard to imagine]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

ISLAMABAD: Envoy Richard Holbrooke on Sunday said that Washington was not against reconciliation with militants, but with the Haqqani network this was "hard to imagine".

"Hard to imagine," said Mr Holbrooke when asked if there could be reconciliation with the Jalaluddin Haqqani-led militant group.

"But I do want to underscore that we have some very clear publicly stated criteria and one is renounce Al Qaeda and other is participate voluntarily in the peaceful evolution of Afghanistan within its constitution," he said. "And this is hard to see that happening, but who knows."

Mr Holbrooke acknowledged that Pakistan was trying to fight the Haqqani network in North Waziristan. "The Pakistanis are trying to deal with this problem, they are well aware of it and even in the area in North Waziristan there is some activity going on, but there is a lot more that could be done if the resources were available."

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

Pakistan: Afghan Taliban Deny Meeting of Militant Leader With Karzai

SAP20100628098005 Islamabad The News Online in English 28 Jun 10

[Report by Mushtaq Yusufzai: Taliban deny Haqqanis meeting with Karzai]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR: The Afghan Taliban have termed a report about the meeting of veteran Mujahideen leader and former Taliban minister, Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani with President Karzai in Kabul an attempt by the enemy to create rift among the Taliban.

"This is rubbish. There is not even one per cent truth in these reports, which said Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani went to Kabul and held a meeting with President Karzai. Why he would go to Kabul to meet the US puppet at a time when we have an upper hand in the battlefield," explained a senior Taliban commander belonging to the strong Taliban faction led by Sirajuddin Haqqani, the elder son of Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Talking to The News from an undisclosed location, the Taliban commander, who is considered close to the elderly Haqqani, said on condition of anonymity they were astonished to hear media reports about the meeting between Jalaluddin Haqqani and Karzai. He claimed it was not the first time they had received an offer from Karzai for peace talks but they always turned down his offers.

He said the Taliban had a clear stance about the peace talks with Karzai. "We have made it clear several times that we would not sit for any dialogue until and unless foreign occupying forces are withdrawn from Afghanistan," he stressed.

The Taliban commander said the Afghan government and their Western masters in the past had extended several offers to them to quit fighting and join the Karzai-led government.

"If we had any desire for power, we would have surrendered years ago and become a part of the ruling set-up in Afghanistan. The blood of our martyrs would not go waste and would one day bear fruit. The Taliban of today are different than those of yesteryears. Today, the Afghan people are standing behind us as we are fighting for the liberation of Afghanistan," he said.

He said their "enemies" launched malicious propaganda whenever they suffered losses at Taliban's hands in the battlefield. Also, he felt that through such reports, their enemies wanted to create a rift among the Taliban leadership.

"We are a part of the Taliban and would never take any decision without taking the Taliban leadership into confidence," the Taliban commander said.

The Haqqani network is largely active in Afghanistan's Khost, Paktia, Paktika and Logar provinces and in the capital.

Its leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, claimed to have organised several devastating attacks against the US-led forces in Afghanistan. The US government has announced $5 million as head money on him.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of a widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Usually offers leading news and analysis on issues related to war against terrorism. Circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Report Says Pakistan Eager to Establish Ties With Haqqani Network

SAP20100629103012 Lahore Daily Times Online in English 29 Jun 10

[Reuters report: Pakistan seeks to exploit US command vacuum]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is looking to exploit a shake-up in the US command in Afghanistan to bolster its allies within the Taliban and increase its influence over a future Kabul government, analysts say.

The strategy, however, relies on bringing the brutal and independent-minded Haqqani network to heel, something many believe is impossible.

The incoming US commander, General David Petraeus, "does not have a good relationship" with Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said Ahmed Rashid, a political analyst, journalist and expert on the Taliban.

"The army does not trust him and they don't like him," Rashid said. "This hiatus is going to be used by both the Afghan government and the Pakistani government to see if they can get something going," he added.

In essence, Pakistan is hoping the American command vacuum proves a window of opportunity for Islamabad to deal more directly with Kabul in forcing an accommodation with its militant allies, such as the Haqqani network.

This is currently opposed by the United States, but it would grant Pakistan a large measure of influence in Afghanistan.

After McChrystal's replacement, Pakistan is hoping to establish a "reality on the ground" before Petraeus fully takes over, said Rashid.

"I think there will be a review of US policy very quickly as soon as Petraeus arrives and I think these efforts are being made to try and influence that review and put Pakistan in the driving seat," he said.

And the Haqqani network and the Taliban is one of the main levers for Pakistan to exert influence.

"Pakistan is not just prepared but very eager to play a role in bringing peace in Afghanistan," said Rahimullah Yousafzai, an expert on Taliban militancy.

Run by Jalaluddin Haqqani, an elderly veteran resistance leader against Soviet troops in the 1980s, the Haqqani network operates near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan.

Leadership of the group has largely passed from the ailing Haqqani to his son, Sirajuddin, seen by US officials as more radical than his father. Yousafzai and Rashid both think it would be very difficult to convince the Haqqanis to lay down their arms.

"He (Sirajuddin) is very committed to international jihad. Part of his network includes al Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, other central Asian groups, Chechen groups. He's been very protective of all these groups and they form his strength right now," Rashid said.

"Secondly, they have never, never issued any kind of statement even remotely discussing the issue of reconciliation and peace in Afghanistan," he said.

This weekend, a private TV channel Al Jazeera reported that Sirajuddin recently met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Gen Kayani and the head of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Ahmad Pasha to discuss a peace deal.

But official sources in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as Taliban spokespeople speaking for Haqqani, strenuously denied any such meeting.

"The Haqqani group isn't a separate entity," said Yousafzai. "Jalaluddin is a member of the supreme Taliban shura. I think it's impossible that Jalaluddin Haqqani or his son will strike a separate deal with Kabul," he said.

The US doubts that any deal can be made until the Haqqanis and other Taliban militants feel they are on the defensive in Afghanistan.

A senior intelligence official in Islamabad said that while Pakistan would like a "friendly" Afghanistan -- which many analysts believe a Taliban-dominated government might provide -- Pakistan would settle for peace. "We can deal with a hostile Afghanistan as long as it is peaceful," he said.d.

Rashid scoffed at the idea of Pakistan wanting only a peaceful Afghanistan as "propaganda".

"Our interest is not just having a peaceful Afghanistan. It's more than that, certainly. Otherwise we wouldn't be trying so hard," he added.

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times Online in English -- Website of the independent, moderate daily, run by Media Times (Private) Ltd., owned by Salman Taseer, the incumbent governor of Punjab province. Veteran journalist Najam Sethi is the editor-in-chief. The same group owns and publishes weekly newspaper The Friday Times and Urdu daily Aaj Kal. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated circulation of 20,000.; URL: ]

Pakistan: Kayani Denies Organizing Secret Meetings Between Karzai, Haqqani

SAP20100702103026 Karachi Dawn Online in English 02 Jul 10

[AFP report: Kayani says he did not broker Karzais talks with Haqqani]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

ISLAMABAD: Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani on Wednesday denied organising secret meetings in Kabul between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a senior al Qaeda-linked militant.

Gen Kayani's brief statement came days after a media report claimed that he and the head of Pakistans intelligence services facilitated a meeting between Mr Karzai and Sirajuddin Haqqani, who heads the Haqqani network.

"General Ashfaq Kayani has said that during his last two visits to Kabul, he met President Karzai to discuss issues of mutual interest," the military said in a statement.

It quoted Gen Kayani as saying that on both these occasions, recently-sacked NATO commander General Stanley McChrystal was also present. The statement, however, did not specify when the meetings took place.

"This transparent trilateral engagement augurs well for the comfort level of the leadership of all prime stake holders and strengthens the existing relationship," Gen Kayani said.

Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have been marked by distrust, but there have been growing signs of rapprochement and Mr Karzai in March welcomed an offer from Pakistan to help with peace efforts.

Karzai's spokesman Waheed Omar had also dismissed the report that the Afghan president had a face-to-face with Haqqani in Kabul.

Haqqani network leaders are believed to be based in North Waziristan. Created by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and run by his son Sirajuddin the group is one of the toughest foes for foreign forces in Afghanistan, particularly in the east of the country.--

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

Pakistan: Report Says Karzai Using Old Friends For Peace Deal With Taliban

SAP20100704098026 Lahore Daily Times Online in English 04 Jul 10

[AP report: Talibans al Qaeda ties obstacle to Afghan peace]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

ISLAMABAD: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is using old friends and new allies to try to bring some of the fiercest Taliban to the negotiating table, although their links to al Qaeda might scuttle any deal.

Pakistan is trying to broker a deal between the Afghan government and the Haqqani group, one of the most violent Taliban factions led by veteran rebel leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, according to Afghan parliamentarians and Pakistani analysts.

Haqqani was a legendary commander in the war against the Soviets who had close ties to the Reagan administration. Now, he and his son Sirajuddin command hundreds - perhaps thousands - of fighters blamed for some of the most audacious attacks in Kabul and eastern Afghanistan.

Pressurising: "The president is trying to use old friendships with Jalaluddin Haqqani and his sons to make them participate in the reconciliation process," said Khaled Pashtun, an Afghan lawmaker from the Taliban heartland of southern Kandahar. "Pakistan is also pressurising the government to bring this person (Haqqani) in the government," he said.

Yet Haqqani's ties to al Qaeda run deep. His friendship with Osama bin Laden dates back to the war against the Soviets in the 1980s. Haqqani allowed bin Laden to set up a base on his territory in Khost province of eastern Afghanistan.

Since US President Barack Obama announced the start of a US troops withdrawal in July 2011, Karzai has sought to improve relations with Pakistan and reach out to the insurgents.

As a sign of good faith, he pledged to seek the release of detainees and lobby the United Nations to remove some of the insurgent leaders from a blacklist that froze their bank accounts and prevents them from travelling abroad.

He also signed a reintegration decree this week offering amnesty and economic incentives to Taliban fighters who want to leave the battlefield, if they accept the Afghan constitution and break ties with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

The Pakistani military and the Inter-Services Intelligence believe the Haqqani group is an important force to protect Pakistani interests in Afghanistan.

General (r) Talat Masood said Pakistan's military believes that bringing insurgents - including the Haqqani group - into the Afghan government is the only way of stabilising the country once America and its allies leave.

But the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think-tank, describes Haqqani as "irreconcilable", saying negotiations with his network would strengthen al Qaeda, undermine regional stability and threaten US security.

In a study released this week, the institute cited a statement released in April by Sirajuddin, describing cooperation with al Qaeda as "at its highest level".

"Any negotiated settlement with the Haqqanis threatens to undermine the raison d'etre for US involvement in Afghanistan over the past decade," the study said.

Brian Cloughley, South Asia defence analyst for Jane's Sentinel Country Risk Assessments, said it is clear that Pakistan has leverage with Haqqani and other extremist groups.

But he added Haqqani's tight links to al Qaeda "may be just a shade too deep for the Americans to accept".

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times Online in English -- Website of the independent, moderate daily, run by Media Times (Private) Ltd., owned by Salman Taseer, the incumbent governor of Punjab province. Veteran journalist Najam Sethi is the editor-in-chief. The same group owns and publishes weekly newspaper The Friday Times and Urdu daily Aaj Kal. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated circulation of 20,000.; URL: ]

Asia Times: 'Terror' Threat To Karzai's Taliban Plan

CPP20100716715034 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0517 GMT 16 Jul 10

[Asia Times Report by Abubakar Siddique: "'terror' Threat To Karzai's Taliban Plan"; headline as provided by source]

The administration of United States President Barack Obama is reportedly considering blacklisting major Taliban factions, a move aimed at undermining groups linked closely to al-Qaeda, but which could also jeopardize Afghan President Hamid Karzai's efforts to reconcile with Afghan insurgent leaders based in neighboring Pakistan.

General David Petraeus, commander of US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces in Afghanistan, discussed the idea of blacklisting the Jalaluddin and Sirajuddin Haqqani network with senior administration officials last week, according to The New York Times. Senator Carl Levin (Democrat, Michigan), meanwhile, called on the State Department on July 13 to also place the Quetta shura, the Taliban's leadership council led by Mullah Mohammad Omar, on its list of terrorist organizations.

Sirajuddin Haqqani currently leads the network founded by his father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, a former Taliban minister and anti-Soviet commander in the 1980s. The network has a reputation for being ruthless, and is accused of being behind many of the most high-profile attacks in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The Haqqani network is also seen as having ties to the Quetta shura, which is based in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta and made up of remnants of the former Taliban regime loyal to Mullah Omar.

BOTh Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Omar have long been on the US blacklist of fugitive terrorists, with a State Department program offering US$5 million and $10 million, respectively, for information leading to their capture.

But while expanding the US blacklist is intended to strike deeper into the core of organizations affiliated with the two men, with the aim of undermining the insurgency being waged in Afghanistan, doubts have been raised about the effectiveness of the move.

Kabul-based Afghan analyst Wahid Muzda argues that designating Taliban groups, in particular the Haqqani network, as terrorists would do little to persuade its followers to give up fighting.

"I don't think that the Haqqani network can ever break away from the Taliban ranks and come here (to join the government)," Muzda says. "On the other hand, blacklisting is nothing new for them, and the Americans will gain little from this. If they want to pressure or threaten Sirajuddin Haqqani it won't work and the fighting will continue."

End to rapprochement

Some suggest a move to expand the blacklist could also undermine the Afghan president's reconciliation efforts.

International media recently reported that the Pakistani military brokered direct negotiations between Karzai and Sirajuddin Haqqani, reports both Islamabad and Kabul denied.

If the reports are true, however, a terrorist designation could make it even harder for Karzai to explore rapprochement with the Taliban. It could also push Washington to consistently pressure Islamabad to move against the group in North Waziristan. For years Pakistan has resisted going after the network because its sees the Haqqanis as potential future allies after an eventual US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The network is widely believed to be based in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal district along the Afghan border, which is also believed to shelter Arab jihadis from al-Qaeda and militants affiliated with Central Asian extremist groups.

Who to talk to

The move comes as Karzai has apparently persuaded Washington to push for de-listing certain Taliban leaders from a United Nations sanctions list first established in 1999.

Kabul-based Afghan analyst Ahmad Sayedi tells RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that the move indicates that Washington wants to make a clear distinction between reconcilable and irreconcilable elements among the Afghan insurgents, "to understand who is being talked to and where (and on what terms)."

Sayedi adds that Washington has "information that Jalaluddin Haqqani and some of Mullah Omar's followers have close ties with al-Qaeda or they are part of al-Qaeda . The Americans do not want to negotiate with elements closely tied to al-Qaeda."

Karzai has pursued reconciliation with the Quetta shura for years through informal contacts. But this February's arrest of its military leader, Abdul Ghani Baradar, disrupted the process. Analysts suggest that move pushed Karzai to pursue reconciliation with the Taliban though Pakistan's powerful military, which Kabul has accused of harboring Taliban leaders in the past. Karzai apparently sought new regional alliances after developing critical differences with Washington.

The Obama administration has pushed for reintegrating Taliban foot soldiers and field commanders into Afghan society, but has resisted rapprochement with its fugitive leaders.

US 'red lines'

The Quetta shura and the insurgent networks controlled by its leaders are mostly active in the southern Afghan provinces of Kandahar and Helmand. United States and NATO troops are expected to launch a major stabilization operation in Kandahar in an effort to weaken the Taliban considerably.

Richard Holbrooke, Obama's special regional envoy, told journalists on July 13 that Washington is keen on helping Kabul to succeed with reintegration programs worth $280 million.

Holbrooke said that Washington was even pushing for a revision of the UN blacklist in the Security Council, but that crossing certain red lines won't be acceptable. "Both the president and the secretary of state have laid out the red lines on this issue many, many times, he said.

He said that Washington supports "Afghan-led reconciliation. We are not in direct contact with the Taliban. There may be other indirect contacts going on, track-2 diplomacy, individuals who contact each other, other things, but they don't involve the United States. And that's our position. "People who are willing to lay down their arms, renounce al-Qaeda, participate in the political process, are always ready to be - we're always ready to reconcile them - groups or in - as individuals."

Reconciliation with the insurgents is expected to figure high on the agenda at the international donors conference scheduled for July 20 in Kabul. The Afghan government is touting the gathering as the largest gathering of international leaders in the country since the 1970s.

RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Asmatullah Sarwan contributed reporting to this article.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

Pakistan: US Doubtful About Haqqani Group Laying Down Weapons, Entering Politics

SAP20100721103002 Karachi Business Recorder Online in English 21 Jul 10

[Reuters report: Pakistan to play key role in talks with Taliban]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

ISLAMABAD: Afghan President Hamid Karzai needs Pakistan's help to convince some Taliban factions to end their insurgency, a central plank of his peace strategy, but doubts remain about Islamabad's motives and ability to deliver. Pakistan and Afghanistan are both seeking to encourage some elements of the Taliban to reconcile with the Afghan government by renouncing al Qaeda, laying down their arms and taking part in the Afghan political process.

"Pakistan wants to help Afghanistan," Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said at a dinner at the Pakistani Ambassador's house in Kabul on Monday night. "It is for them to decide what they want to do. We want to help them as good neighbours because we feel that a stable, peaceful, prosperous Afghanistan is in Pakistan's interest."

Crucial to Islamabad's efforts will be the attitude of the Haqqani network, which operates on the Afghan-Pakistan border and has longstanding links to Pakistani military intelligence. But the United States is doubtful one of the most brutal and effective factions of the Taliban insurgency can be persuaded to lay down its weapons and take part in Afghan politics.

"We would strongly advise our friends in Afghanistan to deal with those who are committed to a peaceful future," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday while on a trip to Islamabad. Headed by Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Haqqani network is allied with the Taliban and is believed to have close links to al Qaeda. The US State Department is likely soon to declare the Haqqani network an international terrorist organisation.

Analysts believe Pakistan is holding groups such as the Haqqani network in reserve to maintain influence in Afghanistan after the Americans begin to leave next year and to check the rising presence of its arch-rival, India, and to a lesser degree Iran.

"Iran and India share the same allies," said Kamran Bokhari, a security analyst for the private intelligence firm Stratfor, referring to the two countries ties to Afghanistan's varied tribes and ethnic groups. "Traditionally the Iranians allied with the Tajiks, the Hazaras, the Uzbeks, the same people the Indians have been supporting as well. And they both have an interest in making sure Pakistan doesn't dominate Afghanistan."

LESSON LEARNED: But Pakistan is also looking to broaden its influence in Pakistan so that it is not seen as simply backing the Taliban or the Pashtun groups that dominate much of the south, as it did in the 1990s. "They learned their lesson last time," Bokhari said. "This time around the Pakistanis don't want to just back the Taliban. They're going to support Karzai, they're going to support the Taliban. They want to undermine Indian influence among Afghan society."

To do that, the Pakistanis will have to offer something. "It seems some interaction has taken place between Haqqani and perhaps Pakistan and Afghanistan," said Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Pakistani political analyst. "But again, what would the Afghan government be willing to offer them?" He does not think the Haqqani fighters or other groups would be so ready to "lay down their weapons and live happily ever after", he said. "There has to be some kind of offer to them."

Retired Pakistani Lieutenant General Talat Massod, now a prominent defence analyst, thinks Pakistan will try to broker a power-sharing agreement between Taliban militants and the Afghan government. "If it can make them come into the political system, that is one of the major areas where Pakistan can play a role, especially Pakistan's military and ISI," he said, referring to Islamabad's main intelligence service. What any Pakistan inducement might be is unclear. And that uncertainty leads to suspicions about what Pakistan might offer and why.

Pakistan has long ties to Afghan militant groups. It managed and propped them up - funded by American and Saudi cash - during the war against the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and was one of only three countries to recognise the Taliban government, with which Haqqani was allied, when it came to power in the 1990s. Despite official statements that Pakistan broke off contact with the Afghan Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks, senior Pakistani intelligence officials have said they've maintained some level of contact, if only to monitor the leadership council, which is widely believed by analysts to be hiding in Pakistan.

"I think there is some sort of unease in Washington," Bokhari said. "There are some who say we need the Pakistanis to help in the overall stabilisation in Afghanistan. But then there are those who say, we don't like the Haqqani network, and the Haqqani network is tied to all sorts of Pakistani intelligence and al Qaeda." "There is a gulf between how the Pakistanis define the 'good' and 'bad' Taliban and what Washington calls the reconcilable and irreconcilable Taliban."

Copyright Reuters, 2010

[Description of Source: Karachi Business Recorder Online in English -- Website of a leading business daily. The group also owns Aaj News TV; URL: ]

UAE Paper Says Taliban Elements 'Openly Active' in Jalalabad; Citizens Cited

GMP20100731054011 Abu Dhabi The National Online in English 31 Jul 10

[Report by Fazelminallah Qazizai: "Boisterous city falls silent as Taliban returns."]

JALALABAD // The music of some of Afghanistan's most famous singers used to be an inescapable feature of life in Jalalabad.

Their voices drifted out from shops in the city, where they would mix with the cries of market traders and the buzz of passing rickshaws.

Then, just a few weeks ago, the soundtrack to the streets began to fall silent for the first time in almost nine years. Under the cover of darkness, the law of the Taliban had returned.

"I didn't get any warning like some of the others. They blew up a music centre on our right at night time. One day later they blew up another music centre in another market and then each night they were blowing them up," said Zalmai, a shopkeeper, who, like many Afghans, only uses one name.

According to a number of traders, insurgents are now openly active in Jalalabad, a city in eastern Afghanistan that has been regarded as one of the country's few success stories.

The rebels announced their presence in late June with the first in a series of attacks on recording studios and stores selling CDs and cassettes.

Shopkeepers were left so terrified some closed their businesses, and there is now widespread fear that the regional cultural hub is becoming a new frontline in the Taliban's apparently unstoppable return to power.

Zalmai had invested about US$4,700 (Dh17,263) in his music store, but five days after the bombings started he switched to selling electrical household items such as light bulbs and plug sockets. He keeps his old merchandise at home and has no idea when, or if, he will be able to bring it out in the open again.

"I had only Afghan music in my shop. I swear I wasn't selling any bad or rude CDs or DVDs," he said.

That defence appears to carry little weight with the Taliban, who regarded all music as un-Islamic when they were in government. Back then, cassettes could be found unspooled and strung from trees as the regime sought to rid society of anything it regarded as morally corrupt.

Even to their supporters and sympathisers, it is often remembered as being a step too far. Now, though, a similar situation is developing right under the noses of US troops and their Afghan allies.

With its reputation as a centre of learning and culture, for years this city, which is the capital of Nangarhar province, bordering Pakistan, and most of its surrounding districts managed to stay relatively peaceful as both sides of the frontier were gripped by violence.

Local tribes were seen as hostile to the Taliban and there was none of the bloodshed that has spread like wildfire through the two countries, from Peshawar to Kandahar.

Today that is beginning to change. People claim that the insurgents have control throughout many rural areas in Nangarhar. Using a suicide car bomb and rocket-propelled grenades, last month a team of rebels staged a co-ordinated attack on a US base here - one of the biggest in Afghanistan. The assault injured two security personnel.

At about the same time, owners of music stores were targeted and warning letters ordering them to close started to arrive. They are in the heart of the city, circled by police and military checkpoints, but still within the insurgents' reach.

A 26-year-old shopkeeper named Ismail invoked the name of one of Afghanistan's most dangerous places when he warned that "Nangarhar will be a second Helmand" unless something is done to stop the rebels.

"We need to change our business. If we don't the Taliban will burn and destroy all the money we have invested," he said.

Although who exactly is behind the recent attacks is unclear, one particular insurgent group is known to be highly active in the area. It is run by Anwar ul-Haq, the son of a famous mujahideen leader, Mawlawi Younus Khalis, who died in 2006 having spent his life committed to jihad.

Mr Khalis was born in Nangarhar and went on to fight against the Soviet and US occupations under the banner of his own faction of the militant organisation Hizb-e-Islami. He is still talked about with great reverence here, having also been a mentor and colleague of the Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, who now heads arguably the most feared rebel group in all Afghanistan.

"People love Mawlawi Khalis because he was not involved in the civil war and he also didn't change his ideas," said Najibullah Nail, a local resident. "He was a strong Muslim."

Mr ul-Haq's group is thought to be called the Tora Bora Movement and it operates as part of the Taliban.

"I like them a lot and I want them back in power because they are mujahideen and they are Muslims," said Sahfiqullah Manmawal, who fought alongside Mr Khalis against the Soviets.

"If they come to my house obviously I will help them, and I am sure other people in the villages are helping them."

[Description of Source: Abu Dhabi The National Online in English -- Website of leading government-owned daily; URL: ]

Asia Times: Pakistan has a Man for a Crisis, General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani

CPP20100817715023 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0213 GMT 17 Aug 10

[Asia Times Report by Abubakar Siddique: "Pakistan Has a Man for a Crisis"; headline as provided by source]

As the people of Pakistan struggle to overcome a calamity of massive proportions, one man has emerged to inspire confidence in the country's flood-recovery efforts: top military commander General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani.

Kiani has taken the lead since unrelenting monsoon rains brought on a natural disaster that has so far left 1,600 dead, many millions homeless, and disrupted the lives of up to 18 million more. Images of Kiani helicoptering around Pakistan taking stock of the tragedy provided a stark contrast to those of President Asif Ali Zardari helicoptering to his chateau in France as floodwaters swelled, adding to the perception that the civilian government was failing its people.

Despite his role as chief of the world's largest Muslim army, however, little is known about the 58-year-old, chain-smoking general.

Quick starter

Admirers describe Kiani as a man of few words who has largely remained in the shadows even as he has risen quickly through the ranks - from second lieutenant (or junior commissioned officer), to head of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), to General Pervez Musharraf's successor as the country's top military man.

Septuagenarian General Talat Masood, who served in the army for nearly four decades and is now an influential analyst, says Kiani is perhaps the best military chief in the nation's checkered 63-year history.

Over that time, four military dictators trampled elected governments and ruled the country for more than three decades. Masood, who has been consulted by Kiani at times, sees key differences in the approach used by this military commander.

"He does a lot of reflection and intellectually he is very profound," Masood says. "I think he goes at the best of the problem and has a much better understanding of the world and the region as a whole. And I would say that his understanding of national affairs, in comparison to his predecessors, and of the regional affairs is far more pragmatic and (he) has a greater depth in his understanding."

The son of a military man, Kiani enjoys a reputation as a "soldier's soldier" who garners the respect of his troops and Western contemporaries alike. A father of two, he was born in Gujjar Khan, a region close to the military headquarters near Islamabad that is known for providing generals and " jawans " (soldiers) to the military. During various stages of his nearly four-decade career, Kiani attended training in some of the finest US military institutions, and is considered a good listener with a keen understanding of his surroundings whether in the political arena or on the battlefield.

On taking over from military dictator Musharraf in November 2007, he set about modernizing and overhauling a military force deeply entangled in national politics and regional rivalries.

His performance was impressive enough to lead Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to hand him an unprecedented three-year extension earlier this year, keeping him in his post until 2013.

His continued presence is generally seen as a good omen for stability and democracy in Pakistan. His recent success in delivering aid and rescuing people in remote regions has led some to speculate about whether his leadership might be an improvement over the current government. At a minimum, analysts say, his success will further cement the military's traditional hold on politics.

Kiani, who saw treacherous Pakistani politics up close as late prime minister Benazir Bhutto's deputy military secretary in her first government in 1988, has since taken pains to distance himself from politics. In 2008, for example, he oversaw what were widely regarded as fair national elections after which he ordered subordinates to break off all contacts with politicians. Since then, the military has refrained from micromanaging domestic politics or policymaking, choosing to step in only when its own interests are at stake.

Complex juggling act

Kiani's main strategic focus since taking command has been the com plex al-Qaeda-inspired Islamist insurgency, a daunting task that led him to take the popular step of ordering all military officers back from their civilian administrative jobs to ready for the battlefield.

He has taken the fight to the insurgents, launching large-scale military operations in the Pashtun northwest. But those maneuvers have also led to retaliation, with militants increasingly targeting the central Punjabi heartland, where some militant networks are deeply entrenched. Meanwhile, a separate secessionist Balochi insurgency lurks as a less violent but nonetheless major domestic threat.

Even as he has enjoyed success overseeing flood-recovery efforts, the escalating crisis threatens to derail Kiani's plans to build up Pakistani security forces in areas where the military only recently gained toeholds. The northwestern Swat district and parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), where 150,000 soldiers conducted successful military operations in 2009, have been severely battered by floods. Anger against the civilian government's inept response is high, leading to concerns that insurgents could capitalize and emerge even stronger.

Across Pakistan's eastern border lies a much bigger nuclear-armed military threat, making India a major focus for Kiani. To the west, his relationship with allies is complicated. Western leaders periodically express concerns about Islamabad's perceived support for the Afghan Taliban and question Pakistan's reluctance to go after India-centric Islamist militant groups instrumental in a two-decade old insurgency in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

Haider Mullick, a fellow at the US Joint Special Operations University, cites the immense challenges that lie before Kiani.

"(Kiani must) come up with a new relationship with India (while) at the same time balancing the relationship with China and the United States and being able to achieve (Pakistani) national security objectives inside Afghanistan - that is, an Afghanistan that is not perceived to be pro-India and at the same time is not harboring al-Qaeda," Mullick says. "But everything between that is very gray and it remains to be seen. He has some things that are working for him and other things that are not, and there are serious grave challenges and also great opportunities for him to change the security calculus of that region and his own army."

Mullick, who recently made several trips to Pakistan to study counter-insurgency under Kiani's leadership, describes him as an "innovative revolutionary" who inspires confidence in his ranks.

Kiani's way

Such confidence appears to derive from his steely commitment to doing things on his own terms while keeping the focus on duty by maintaining separation between the government and military.

He has pulled off tricky juggling acts of interests that could prove to be the downfall of others in his position. For example, Mullick says, Kiani has managed to push out those in his intelligence services who were not on board in the war against the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (Movement of the Pakistani Taliban) and al-Qaeda.

Kiani has also proven to be an adept navigator in his dealings with the United States, which, as former US diplomat in Islamabad Larry Robinson explains, is no easy task.

"There is the suspicion of anything Pakistan does and certainly anything the Pakistan army does on the part of most Afghans and many Americans," Robinson says. "And then the claims within Pakistan that all this fighting is unnecessary and is only done at the behest of those same Afghans and the Americans who are completely ungrateful for Pakistan's sacrifices. I don't think you get much more challenging than that."

But at the risk of being seen as being too cozy with Washington, Kiani's relationships with US military leaders Admiral Mike Mullen and General David Petraeus have provided him with a steady supply of much-needed training and equipment.

While accepting the challenge thrown down by the United States to root militants out of their long-standing safe havens in Pakistan's northwest, Kiani has stubbornly resisted moving into the country's most dangerous militant hotbeds, such as the western North Waziristan tribal district on the Afghan border, considered the regional headquarters of Pakistani, Afghan, Central Asian and al-Qaeda militants.

And although he has been open to discussion with outsiders, he has by no means been overeager.

Even as his relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai has flowered, for instance, they differ on reconciliation with Pakistan-based Afghan insurgent networks. And while many in Kabul and Washington oppose power-sharing with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Jalaluddin Haqqani - two hardline Afghan Islamist leaders - Kiani has made clear that Islamabad would not mind seeing the two in a post-reconciliation Afghan government.

Domestically, he has resisted calls by some Pakistanis who want him to move against al-Qaeda-allied sectarian militias targeting his Punjabi home base, from where most of his officers and soldiers are recruited.

Mullick suggests that Kiani has promised "piecemeal" operations against all militants, but that his priority is to concentrate his efforts on those who jeopardize Pakistani security.

Political minefield

In times of high uncertainty, Kiani potentially faces another minefield - Pakistani politics. Hamid Hussain, a New York-based analyst of Pakistani security affairs, says Kiani might be dragged in.

A confrontation between the increasingly assertive Pakistani Supreme Court and coalition civilian administration looms after the court scrapped Musharraf's political amnesty in 2007, causing major embarrassment to the government and led to the reopening of many corruption cases against ministers. Zardari to this point has been spared intense scrutiny into alleged corruption due to presidential immunity.

Hussain says an open confrontation between the two state institutions would almost certainly push Kiani, as leader of the most powerful institution in the country, to intervene.

"If the Supreme Court decided to go after the president and if a crisis occurs then he may have to come in," Hussain says. "And depending on his own inclination, whether he sides with the judiciary to let the president get out of that place, that's the only crisis I potentially see. (One) in which, he has to come in and arbitrate with different players."

Already, Kiani's behind-the-scenes maneuvers have been credited with the reinstatement in 2009 of current Pakistan chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was twice sacked by Musharraf.

Given the military's tremendous clout, its disagreements with the civilian leaders are not inevitable. An example is a less pronounced disagreement over the way forward in the FATA, which currently is the biggest theater for the Pakistani military. In August 2009, Zardari announced reforms of its century-old, British colonial-era legal and administrative regime. But the military vetoed the announcement, according to senior politicians who see Kiani as loyal to the army's political interests.

The current desperate humanitarian crisis at home might prompt calls for a more direct political role for the military. In that light, Kiani's biggest challenge yet could prove to be continuing to buck tradition by supporting the civilian government and ensuring that the political system remains on course.

With a clean break from the legacies of his predecessors, Kiani's military brilliance could serve Pakistan well as it continues down a path of democracy.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

Pakistan: 12 Killed, 15 Injured in Two Drone Strikes in North Waziristan

SAP20100824034004 Karachi Dawn Online in English 24 Aug 10

[Report by unidentified Dawn correspondent: "Two drone attacks in N. Waziristan; 12 dead"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

MIRAMSHAH: At least 12 people, four women among them, were killed and 15 others injured in two drone strikes in parts of the North Waziristan tribal region on Monday.

A US drone fired three missiles on a suspected compound in Dandy Derpakhel area. The missiles also hit a house adjacent to the compound, killing three men and four women and injuring 15 others.

The injured, including children, were taken to hospitals in Miramshah.

Dandy Derpakhel is located near the Afghan border and considered to be a stronghold of the Haqqani network.

The locality has come under drone attacks several times in the past in which relatives of 'Commander' Jalaluddin Haqqani were killed.

In the second strike on Monday, five people were killed when two missiles fired by a US drone hit a place in Derga Mandi area.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

Pakistan: Captors of British Film Producer Silent on Fate of Third Hostage

SAP20100911103001 Karachi Dawn Online in English 11 Sep 10

[Bureau report: Kidnappers free Qureshi but keep quiet on fate of third hostage]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR, Sept 10: The mysterious captors of British documentary film producer Asad Quereshi, after setting him free, presumably on getting a huge ransom, have gone completely silent on the fate of another hostage, former ISI official and known Taliban supporter, Col (retd) Ameer Sultan Tarar.

More commonly known among the Afghan and Pakistani militants as Colonel Imam from the days when he worked as an under-cover agent to assist Afghan Mujahideen and later the Taliban, the former ISI official had accompanied the British-Pakistani journalist in the Waziristan area more than four months ago.

The third member of the group, another former ISI official-turned Islamist campaigner, Squadron Leader (retd) Khalid Khwaja was murdered by the captors after he was accused of being a "double agent".

Asad Quereshi has now been set free after months of secret negotiations and, according to one security official, on payment of a huge ransom.

The official said that a ransom of Rs14 million had been paid to Sabir Mehsud.

The claim could not be independently verified but the official, who asked not be identified, said the deal was struck after protracted negotiations through intermediaries.

However, no one seems to know where Col (retd) Imam was being kept, whether he was still in the captivity of the same group or has been handed over or "sold" to another militant faction in the militant-infested tribal region.

Although a few weeks ago a video of Col Imam was released by the captors, who identified themselves as 'Asian Tigers', but officials and local correspondents say that since the release of journalist Asad Quereshi there has been no word from the captors.

The little known 'Asian Tigers' group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and accused three of being spies, threatening to kill them if their demands were not met that included release of their comrades and ransom.

Khalid Khawaja was shot dead in April and his body was found in Mirali. Khawaja's son immediately blamed Usman Punjabi for masterminding his father's death and accused a senior TV anchor in Islamabad of orchestrating the murder.

But in a new turn of events Usman Punjabi and his five associates were killed in a shootout with the Sabir Mehsud group in Dandi Darpakhel on August 28.

It is not clear as to what prompted the clash between the two militant groups but a security official said a dispute over ransom money triggered the shootout.

Sabir Mehsud is an associate of the TTP chief Hakeemullah Mehsud and wields wide influence in North Waziristan and is believed to enjoy cordial ties with almost all militant groups, including Hafiz Gul Bahadar.

There were some speculations that Siraj Haqqani - son of Afghan Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani - may have played some role in extricating the four men from the Usman Punjabi group, which had set a deadline for the execution of Mr Qureshi.

But , the fate of Col. Imam remains unknown. It's also not clear if he was being held because the ransom demand was not being met, or because he knew too much about the captors or the circumstances in which Khalid Khwaja had been killed.

But, there are some speculations, though no corroboration, that Col. Imam may be enjoying the 'hospitality' of the Haqqanis and that he is in safe hands - now that he is no longer in the captivity of Usman Punjabi and his comrades which some officials believe were more ferocious than most of the radical groups operating in the tribal region.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

AFP: US Drone Strike in Pakistan Reportedly Kills 11 Militants

SAP20100915018002 Hong Kong AFP in English 0227 GMT 15 Sep 10

[AFP Report: "US drone strike kills 11 militants in Pakistan: officials"]

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Sept 15, 2010 (AFP) -- US drones fired off a volley of missiles targeting Al-Qaeda linked fighters in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan Wednesday, killing at least 11 militants, security officials said.

The pre-dawn attack -- the third in less than 24 hours -- was directed at the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based group which is one of the toughest foes for foreign forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

"Several US drones fired seven missiles at two militant compounds early this morning, killing at least 11 militants," a senior security official told AFP. "The missile strike targeted militants of the Haqqani network."

The attack took place in the village of Dargah Mandi village on the outskirts of Miranshah, the main town in the troubled North Waziristan tribal district where US missiles killed 15 militants in two separate attacks Tuesday.

Another security official in Peshawar and a local intelligence official confirmed Wednesday's strike and the death toll.

"They were Pakistani Taliban attached to the Haqqani group," the intelligence official in Miranshah said.

Residents said there was panic in the village as the noise of drones was heard just before dawn.

"As the US drones came over the village people started shouting and running here and there shouting 'run, drones have come,' a local tribesman told AFP, requesting anonymity for fear militants might harm him.

Residents said the targeted houses were owned by a local tribesman Bacha Khan, who had rented them out to militants, and were destroyed in the attacks.

Created by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and run by his son Sirajuddin, the network is linked to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban and has become a particularly prickly thorn in the side of US-led forces trying to bring security to eastern Afghanistan.

A fresh surge in US missile strikes has killed 75 militants since September 3 in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt, which Washington has branded a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and the most dangerous spot on Earth.

On Tuesday, 11 militants were killed in a drone attack on the village of Bushnarai in Shawal district, a known stronghold of Taliban warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur which is populated by Arab fighters.

Another four militants were killed that day in Qutabkhel village south of Miranshah when US drones fired missiles on militant vehicles, officials said.

With Pakistan struggling to cope with devastating floods that have hit 21 million people in the country's worst humanitarian disaster, Islamist militant violence has picked up in recent weeks with a wave of major bombings.

The Taliban last week threatened Pakistani security forces with more suicide attacks to avenge US missile strikes, which have become a key tactic in the US-led fight to reverse the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

An Islamist militant bombing campaign has killed more than 3,700 people and fanned instability across nuclear-armed Pakistan since July 2007.

Under US pressure to crack down on Islamist havens along the Afghan border, Pakistan has in the past year stepped up military operations against largely homegrown militants in the area.

Officials in Washington say the drone strikes have killed a number of high-value targets including Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud and help protect foreign troops in Afghanistan from attacks plotted across the border.

The US military does not as a rule confirm drone attacks, but its armed forces and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy pilotless drones in the region.

Over 1,070 people have been killed in more than 125 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008, including a number of senior militants. However, the attacks fuel anti-American sentiment in the conservative Muslim country.

Al-Qaeda announced in June that its number three leader and Osama bin Laden's one-time treasurer Mustafa Abu al-Yazid had been killed in what security officials said appeared to be a drone strike in North Waziristan.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

US drone attack kills 12 militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan 15 Sep

SAP20100915950008 Karachi Geo TV website in English 0013 GMT 15 Sep 10

C:

Text of report by leading private Pakistani satellite TV channel Geo News website on 15 September

Miranshah: US drones fired off a volley of missiles targeting Al-Qa'idah linked fighters in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan Wednesday [15 September], killing at least 12 militants, security officials said.

The pre-dawn attack - the third in less than 24 hours - was directed at the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based group which is one of the toughest foes for foreign forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

"Several US drones fired seven missiles at two militant compounds early this morning, killing at least twelve militants," a senior security official told media. "The missile strike targeted militants of the Haqqani network."

The attack took place in the village of Dargah Mandi village on the outskirts of Miranshah, the main town in the troubled North Waziristan tribal district where US missiles killed 15 militants in two separate attacks Tuesday.

Another security official in Peshawar and a local intelligence official confirmed Wednesday's strike and the death toll.

Residents said there was panic in the village as the noise of drones was heard just before dawn.

"As the US drones came over the village people started shouting and running here and there shouting 'run, drones have come,' a local tribesman told media, requesting anonymity for fear militants might harm him.

Created by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and run by his son Sirajuddin, the network is linked to Al-Qa'idah and the Taleban and has become a particularly prickly thorn in the side of US-led forces trying to bring security to eastern Afghanistan.

A fresh surge in US missile strikes has killed 69 militants since September 3 in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt, which Washington has branded a global headquarters of Al-Qa'idah and the most dangerous spot on earth.

On Tuesday, 11 militants were killed in a drone attack on the village of Bushnarai in Shawal district, a known stronghold of Taleban warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur which is populated by Arab fighters.

Another four militants were killed that day in Qutabkhel village south of Miranshah when US drones fired missiles on militant vehicles, officials said.

With Pakistan struggling to cope with devastating floods that have hit 21 million people in the country's worst humanitarian disaster, Islamist militant violence has picked up in recent weeks with a wave of major bombings.

The Taleban last week threatened Pakistani security forces with more suicide attacks to avenge US missile strikes, which have become a key tactic in the US-led fight to reverse the Taleban insurgency in Afghanistan.

An Islamist militant bombing campaign has killed more than 3,700 people and fanned instability across nuclear-armed Pakistan since July 2007.

[Description of Source: Karachi Geo TV website in English ]

Pakistan: Officials say 3 US Drone Strikes Kill 26 in 24 Hours in N Waziristan

SAP20100915052005 Islamabad The Nation Online in English 15 Sep 10

[Unattributed report: "3 US Drone Attacks Kill 26 in 24 Hours in Pakistan"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

US drones fired off missiles targeting militants thrice in 24 hours in North Waziristan tribal area, killing at least 26 persons, security officials said. US drones fired off a volley of missiles in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan Wednesday, killing at least 11 militants, security officials said.

The pre-dawn attack -- the third in less than 24 hours. "Several US drones fired seven missiles at two militant compounds early this morning, killing at least 11 militants," a senior security official told AFP. "The missile strike targeted militants of the Haqqani network."The attack took place in the village of Dargah Mandi village on the outskirts of Miranshah, the main town in the troubled North Waziristan tribal district where US missiles killed 15 militants in two separate attacks Tuesday.

Another security official in Peshawar and a local intelligence official confirmed Wednesday's strike and the death toll.

"They were Pakistani Taliban attached to the Haqqani group," the intelligence official in Miranshah said.

Residents said there was panic in the village as the noise of drones was heard just before dawn.

"As the US drones came over the village people started shouting and running here and there shouting 'run, drones have come,' a local tribesman told AFP, requesting anonymity for fear militants might harm him.

Residents said the targeted houses were owned by a local tribesman Bacha Khan, who had rented them out to militants, and were destroyed in the attacks.

Created by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and run by his son Sirajuddin, the network is linked to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban and has become a particularly prickly thorn in the side of US-led forces trying to bring security to eastern Afghanistan.

A fresh surge in US missile strikes has killed 75 militants since September 3 in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt, which Washington has branded a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and the most dangerous spot on Earth.

On Tuesday, 11 militants were killed in a drone attack on the village of Bushnarai in Shawal district, a known stronghold of Taliban warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur which is populated by Arab fighters.

Another four militants were killed that day in Qutabkhel village south of Miranshah when US drones fired missiles on militant vehicles, officials said.

Over 1,070 people have been killed in more than 125 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008, including a number of senior militants. However, the attacks fuel anti-American sentiment in the conservative Muslim country.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The Nation Online in English -- Website of a conservative daily, part of the Nawa-i-Waqt publishing group. Circulation around 20,000; URL: ]

Pakistan: Thirty Killed in 3 Drone Strikes in North Waziristan

FEA20100915009320 - OSC Feature - The Express Tribune Online 15 Sep 10

[For a copy of the video or assistance with multimedia elements, contact GSG_GVP_VideoOps@rccb. or the OSC Customer Center at (800) 205-8615.]

[The Express Tribune Online, 15 Sep] Miram Shah: At least 30 people have been killed in three drone strikes in various areas of North Waziristan Agency in the last 24 hours.

In the third incident since Tuesday [14 September] morning, the US drones fired 10 missiles in the Dargah Mandi area of Miram Shah that killed 14 people.

Earlier on Tuesday, the drones launched two strikes in the Shawal and Qutub Khel areas of the Agency that resulted in the death of 16 people.

The pre-dawn strike -- the third in less than 24 hours -- was directed at the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based group that is one of the toughest foes for foreign forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

"Several US drones fired seven missiles at two militant compounds early this morning, killing at least five militants," a senior security official told AFP. "The missile strike targeted militants of the Haqqani network."

The strike took place in the village of Dargah Mandi on the outskirts of Miram Shah, the main town in the troubled North Waziristan tribal district, where US missiles killed 15 militants in two separate strikes on Tuesday.

Another security official in Peshawar and a local intelligence official confirmed Wednesday's strike and the death toll.

Residents said that there was panic in the village as the noise of drones was heard just before dawn. "As the US drones came over the village people started shouting and running here and there shouting 'run, drones have come,' a local tribesman told AFP, requesting anonymity for fear that militants might harm him.

Created by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and run by his son Sirajuddin, the network is linked to Al-Qa'ida and the Taliban and has become a particularly prickly thorn in the side of US-led forces trying to bring security to eastern Afghanistan.

A fresh surge in US missile strikes has killed 69 militants since 3 September in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt, which Washington has branded the global headquarters of Al-Qa'ida and the most dangerous spot on earth.

The US sees drone strikes as an effective measure against high-profile targets while Pakistan has continuously said that the strikes are against the sovereignty of the country.

[Description of Source: Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English -- Website of a newspaper partnered with the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times. It is part of the Lakson Group, which includes Daily Express and Express News Television in Urdu and Express 24/7 Television in English. The group's media wing has no known political affiliations and operates as a moderate, independent commercial media organization. The newspaper claims its mission is to defend "liberal values and egalitarian traditions"; URL: ]

Pakistan: Afghan Taliban Negotiating Peace Between 2 Warring Tribes in Kurram

SAP20100916118001 Karachi Dawn Online in English 16 Sep 10

[Report by Zulfiqar Ali: "Taliban trying to end tribal clashes in Kurram":for assistance with multimedia elements, contact OSC at 1-800-205-8615 or oscinfo@rccb.]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR: A Taliban faction fighting US forces in Afghanistan is trying to end a tribal dispute which has resulted in severe clashes in Kurram Agency.

According to sources, Taliban of the Jalaluddin Haqqani group are in contact with elders of rival tribes and talks between the Haqqani group and elders from Upper and Lower Kurram were held before Eidul Fitr.

"Two trustworthy people of Jalaluddin Haqqani took part in the talks," they said, adding that the next round of talks was expected soon.

They said elders of Turi and Bangash tribes had said that they would attend further talks only if nine people kidnapped after an attack on two vehicles in Lower Kurram in July were freed and safety of passengers travelling between Parachinar and Peshawar was guaranteed.

"These measures are necessary to build confidence among the tribes and prepare the ground for future talks," an elder said.

He said the Taliban had told them that they wanted reconciliation among the tribes and had approached all groups to start negotiations.

The sources said the Taliban had been in contact with local tribes for some time but the talks had not produced any result so far.

The first round of talks was held in Balishkhel village in March last year and was attended also by Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud.

Another team of Taliban visited the area in September last year.

According to the sources, a relative of a former governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and his local business partner facilitated the talks which ended without achieving anything.

It may be mentioned, Nato officials and the Afghan government made similar efforts and invited elders of various tribes to Paktia province of Afghanistan in May last year to urge them to resolve their disputes.

Violent clashes have been taking place in the Kurram valley since November 2007 and thousands of people have been killed or injured and hundreds of families have been displaced.

The area is cut off from the rest of the country and local people travel on the Thall-Parachinar road in convoys protected by security personnel.

The government brokered a peace deal and an agreement to end violence was signed in Murree in October 2008, but there has been no let-up in violence in the valley.

Insiders said the aim behind Taliban's reconciliation efforts was to secure the strategic region and turn it into a safe route to Afghanistan.

Kurram valley borders Afghanistan from three sides, Paktia on its west, Nangarhar on the north and Khost on the south.

When militant groups signed peace deals with the government in South and North Waziristan, some armed groups tried to use Kurram for their activities in Afghanistan. Under the agreements, the militant groups operating in Waziristan were required not to infiltrate into Afghanistan.

Tension flared in the area when Baitullah Mehsud, the slain chief of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, deputed Hakimullah as 'commander' for Kurram, Khyber and Orakzai agencies in 2008 and tribal people in Kurram opposed TTP's activities.

Local tribes blamed Taliban for violence and insecurity in their area.

According to the sources, Taliban have told the elders that tension in Kurram has had an adverse effect on the 'Jihad' in Afghanistan and that they are interested in ending disput es among local groups.

But several tribes are sceptical about the initiative and suspect that the Taliban are interested only in securing a safe passage for their cross-border movement.

"Taliban are yet to show their cards, but we have already conveyed to the negotiators that people in Kurram are against the presence of outsiders in their area," a source said.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

Pakistan: US Drones Attack Taliban Positions Killing 21 in North Waziristan

SAP20100916118004 Karachi Dawn Online in English 16 Sep 10

[Report by staff correspondent: "Twenty-one militants killed in two attacks"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

MIRAMSHAH: US drones carried out two attacks on Taliban positions in North Waziristan on Wednesday. According to sources, 21 suspected militants were killed in the attacks.

In the first attack, which began at about 4.30am and continued for half an hour, 10 missiles hit a residential compound owned by Badshah Khan in Dandi Derpakhel area, north of Miramshah. Badshah Khan, the sources said, had links with the Haqqani group. The main compound was destroyed and 14 foreigners and so-called Punjabi Taliban were killed.

In the evening, drones carried out the second attack and fired missiles at a house in Datakhel area, killing seven militants.

Meanwhile, reports said a commander of the Haqqani group had been killed in a drone attack on Tuesday. Commander Saifullah was said to be a cousin of Sirajuddin, a son of Jalaluddin Haqqani.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

Pakistan Article Says Al-Qaida, TTP Trying to Destabilize Afghan Peace Process

SAP20100927103002 Lahore Daily Times Online in English 27 Sep 10

[Article by Ali K Chishti: Of al Qaeda, reconciliation, Haqqanis and Af-Pak]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

Pakistani security agencies over the past few months have seized over 67,000 kilogrammes of explosives in Karachi and Lahore only. The agencies also revealed that they had found smart third generation bombs, anti-aircraft guns, grenades, suicide vests and lethal chemicals that could kill thousands of innocent civilians. A top intelligence and security chief reveals that major and timely crackdowns in Lahore and Karachi prevented massive attacks planned by al Qaeda and its affiliated groups to carry out what is termed "mass genocide and slaughter" of civilians. However, the official warned that al Qaeda-linked terrorist attacks were still expected "from Karachi to the Tribal Areas". Pakistan is a regular victim of terrorist attacks, but the focus of al Qaeda and its allies until now has primarily been on the supply lines of NATO troops that pass through Pakistan to the Taliban-led insurgency across the border in Afghanistan. Daily Times can confirm that Pakistan is trying to solicit a deal between the US and Afghan Talibans with the help of certain friendly Arab nations while successfully partitioning Afghan Talibans, the TTP, Pakistan's version of Taliban, and al Qaeda. Plans are in place for an operation in North Waziristan, but Kayani has indicated that he will decide when to go ahead, if at all. "Our biggest concern is where Sirajuddin and Jalaluddin Haqqani will be post-US withdrawal as they are close to al Qaeda," a Western diplomat told Daily Times. While the Pakistani security establishment considers the father and son duo a "strategic asset" with influences in Ghani, Khost, Paktia and Kajtika provinces in Afghanistan. The Haqqani network, which has a base in North Waziristan, is one of the most powerful insurgent groups in Afghanistan. A Western military commander stationed in Afghanistan told Daily Times, "The Haqqanis fully supported, coordinated and facilitated attacks by al Qaeda, such as the ones in Kabul and on the Bagram air base this year." Top Pakistani security officials are hopeful that the deal will go through and that the Haqqanis will "behave if there was reconciliation". However, while Sirajuddin is al Qaeda's asset, his ailing father Jalaluddin is somewhat different as he has long-standing friendships with several high-ranking Pashto-speaking officers. Daily Times can confirm that post-9/11, when Pakistan had joined the US 'war on terror', Jalaluddin was invited to Islamabad to convince him to detach himself from the Taliban, as he was originally not part of the Taliban and only partially supported them, but he refused. Pakistani officials also suggested, possibly via the Americans, that Jalaluddin could become prime minister or even president in the new Afghan set-up in late 2001, but he reportedly refused. A top Pakistani intelligence chief told Daily Times, "With Saudi and UAE envoys coming in, Hamid Karzai dealing with the Pakistani establishment to strike deals with the Taliban, the Haqqanis might also join the coalition and there could eventually be a happy ending." While on the other hand, concerned with the negotiations and dealings, al Qaeda too is gradually shifting its base from its global nerve centre - North Waziristan - to urban areas of Pakistan. The group has also cemented alliances with the TTP and has given refuge to most of the Mehsuds in North Waziristan, its original base, while successfully linking with and even funding various sectarian groups in Punjab and Sindh. While Western diplomats and Pakistani security officials reveal that although negotiations are "on" with regards to Afghanistan, their real and immediate concern now is al Qaeda and the TTP, which might just organise a Mumbai-style attack or a "massive one" to try and destabilise talks and the reconciliation process. A Western diplomat commented, "Expect some fireworks."

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times Online in English -- Website of the independent, moderate daily, run by Media Times (Private) Ltd., owned by Salman Taseer, the incumbent governor of Punjab province. Veteran journalist Najam Sethi is the editor-in-chief. The same group owns and publishes weekly newspaper The Friday Times and Urdu daily Aaj Kal. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated circulation of 20,000.; URL: ]

AFP: Islamist Extremists Based in Pakistan Said Plotting Attacks in Europe

SAP20101004018005 Hong Kong AFP in English 0928 GMT 04 Oct 10

[AFP report: "Pakistan's Terror-hit Waziristan at Centre of New Plot Claim"]

ISLAMABAD, Oct 4, 2010 (AFP) -- Islamist extremists are believed to be plotting attacks on Europe from Pakistan's tribal Waziristan region -- a militant-riddled remote border zone that is frequently pummelled by US drones.

The hostile region known for its battle-hardened fighters, bomb-making factories and suicide attackers has been dubbed by Washington the most dangerous place on Earth and a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda.

Western intelligence agencies have uncovered an Al-Qaeda plot by extremists based there to launch attacks in Britain, France and Germany, security sources and media reports have said.

The plot is thought to have been inspired by Al-Qaeda's fugitive leadership in the deeply conservative and fiercely independent region, although Pakistan has rejected the notion of a plot on its soil.

The terrain, split into North and South Waziristan, is part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which comprise seven administrative units located along the Afghan border.

Waziristan is bigger than Lebanon and its mountains are dissected by goat tracks, caves and thick forest which provide perfect sanctuary to militants. North Waziristan has also been named as a likely hiding place of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

A potent vortex of Afghan, Pakistani, Uzbek and Arab militants, Waziristan is described by Pakistani intelligence officials as a black hole.

It was thrown back into the limelight last May when New York bomb suspect Faisal Shahzad told US interrogators he received bomb making training there.

It is the headquarters of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), whose leader Hakimullah Mehsud appeared in two videos made earlier this year threatening to attack US cities.

The group also made a widely disputed claim for the New York bomb plot.

Pakistan launched a sweeping offensive into South Waziristan last October in a bid to wipe out the nerve centre of the country's main Taliban faction, blamed for a campaign of suicide attacks and bombings killing thousands.

Much of the TTP leadership is believed to have fled, but the military has so far stopped short of ordering a similar offensive into North Waziristan, which has been seen as the ultimate fortress of foreign and Pakistani militants.

The region's pull for diaspora Pakistani youth living in the West who have fallen into the clutches of radical Islam is well documented.

Five Americans were sentenced to 10 years in jail by a Pakistani anti-terror court in June for plotting militant attacks. Pakistani investigators said they had planned to travel to South Waziristan but were instead arrested last December.

The mastermind of the July 7, 2005 bombings in London, Muktar Said Ibrahim, also travelled to a militant training camp in Pakistan, but it was unclear where.

The local population, largely Mehsud and Wazir tribesmen known for their warrior culture who famously resisted the British in the 19th century, is around one million -- 600,000 in South Waziristan and 355,000 in the North.

Before the army offensive, the TTP was believed to have 10,000 to 12,000 followers in South Waziristan including Uzbek and Arab fighters.

The number of militants in North Waziristan is not clear, but the region is a headquarters for the Haqqani network, locked in fighting with the Americans in Afghanistan.

The network is led by former mujahedin commander Jalaluddin Haqqani's son Sirajuddin Haqqani who claims to command 2,000 fighters.

Taliban-linked Afghan warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur is also reputed to control up to 2,000 fighters in the region.

North Waziristan in particular has been at the forefront of the US drone war, in which TTP founder Baitullah Mehsud was killed last year.

Pakistani officials have reported that more than 20 US drone strikes since early September have killed 133 people.

More than 1,150 people have been killed in 139 drone strikes in the tribal areas since August 2008.

The bombing raids fuel anti-American s entiment in Muslim Pakistan and draw public condemnation from the government.

But officials in Washington say drone strikes have killed several high-value targets and help protect troops in Afghanistan from attacks plotted across the border.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Al-Jazirah Program Discusses Reports on US Talks With Haqqani Network, Taliban

GMP20101007615004 Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic 1830 GMT 07 Oct 10

Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic, an independent television station financed by the Qatari Government, at 1830 GMT on 7 October broadcasts live a 25-minute episode of its "Behind the News" program. Moderator Layla al-Shayib, in Al-Jazirah studio in Doha, hosts Abdul Salam Zaeef, former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, via satellite from Kabul, and Marvin Weinbaum, former US diplomat in Afghanistan and a researcher in Afghani and Pakistani affairs in the Middle East Institute in Washington, via satellite from Washington, to discuss reports that the United States and the Afghan government are holding talks with Haqqani insurgents in Afghanistan. Weinbaum speak in English with superimposed Arabic translation.

The episode begins by a three-minute report over video in which reporter Amir Sadiq suggests that nine years after the "easy" US invasion of Afghanistan, the Americans have failed to accomplish their mission in that country. "The Americans turned a deaf ear to every call for dialogue with Taliban and let weapons alone deliver the messages in what was seen as a mission that would not end without eliminating Taliban and Al-Qa'ida, once and for all." The reporter says that "to achieve this objective, hundreds of millions of dollars were spent and thousands of American soldiers and hundreds of other allied troops were killed in the war, but the objective was never achieved." He notes efforts to "persuade Taliban" to engage in talks. He adds: "The facts in Afghanistan say that Taliban controls or maintains effective presence in 33 out of the 34 Afghani provinces. The dreams of settling the battle against the movement militarily are no longer entertained even by the most hard-line US military leaders." He notes reports that a dialogue with Taliban has already started, and that this will ultimately lead to "an agreement that will bring all parties, primarily the United States, out of the current crisis."

Moderator Al-Shayib then gives some information about Haqqani Network, which "works independently from the Taliban Movement although there is an alliance and strong coordination between them in the fight against the Western forces." She says the network is led by Jalaluddin Haqqani and its daily operations are managed by his son Sirajuddin. She says the network has its headquarters and training camps in northern Waziristan in Pakistan. She says the network has between 3,000 and 4,000 fighters. She says the movement controls a large part of the tribal region on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and that the US intelligence believes the network has close relations with Al-Qa'ida and the Pakistani intelligence agency. She says the recent US attacks in northern Waziristan targeted this network, "which boasts high organizational abilities."

Al-Shayib then asks Zaeef in Kabul about the significance of the US dialogue with Haqqani Network. He begins by denying that Haqqani Network is separate from Taliban. "They are Taliban. They are under the leadership of mujahid Mullah Mohammed Omar," obeying his orders, he says. He says Haqqani fighters "work independently in independent regions where they have influence" but "they are not a separate team isolated from Taliban, as the Americans think."

He casts doubts on reports that Haqqani group or Taliban have contacts with the Americans or with the Afghan government. "These are exaggerations. They want to create confusion among the Taliban by suggesting that some of the Taliban leaders contact the government or talk to it or want a settlement with it while other Taliban leaders do not know about this. This is an attempt to create confusion among the Taliban."

He adds: "I do not think that the dialogue has started. The Afghan government wanted to contact Haqqani Network and talk to it. But what was the answer? Haqqani's reply was: 'We take orders and we have war leaders. We cannot dis cuss these things. If you want to talk about the issues of peace and settlement, you must go to the leadership, and you know this leadership.' This was their reply. I do not think a dialogue between them has started."

Al-Shayib asks Weinbaum if there is a new US strategy in Afghanistan prior to the July 2011 withdrawal. He says reconciliation with Taliban serves Afghan President Hamid Karzai's "personal purposes". He says the Afghan president is concerned over what will happen after the start of the US withdrawal next year. He explains that July 2011 is the date set for the start of the US withdrawal, not the date of the final withdrawal. The number of the troops that will be withdrawn has still not been specified, and this will be determined by the facts on the ground, he says.

Asked how Haqqani Network sees the principle of negotiations, Zaeef reiterates that "so far the movement and all the mujahidin have not drawn up any plans for dialogue with the Americans. They believe that the Americans do not want peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and that they are still sending reinforcements to Afghanistan and working to intensify wars in Afghanistan and the operations in their regions." He adds: "Taliban is sure that the Americans do not want to solve these problems through understanding and negotiations. This is why Taliban always says there is only one option: the withdrawal of the foreign forces from Afghanistan and then we can sit together and talk."

He says if the Americans really want peace and settlement, they must prepare for it by stopping the war and the bombings. "They cannot solve this problem through war and pressure."

Asked what made the CIA chief, who a few months ago expressed his belief that Haqqani group was not willing for or serious about dialogue and peace, change his position, Weinbaum says: I do not know if he really changed his position or not. There is much skepticism around Haqqani Network and its real desire to achieve reconciliation. The feeling here is that Haqqani Network wants the United States to surrender. He says any negotiation to achieve peace in Afghanistan does not mean a NATO defeat. He says the Americans and NATO are "looking for alternatives because they realized that in the long run there must be a kind of political settlements."

Weinbaum notes there has been controversy over the decision to announce a date for the withdrawal from Afghanistan and whether the announcement decision was wise or not, even if this is only the date of the start of the pullout. He says the American public is fed up with this long war, "but I do not think the public is ready to accept any deal because much was invested in this war." He says the US strategy advocates reintegration but the question is: to what extent are the insurgents ready to make concessions or accept power-sharing? So far, he says, there are no indications that Taliban or Haqqani are ready to share power.

Asked how Taliban benefits from American announcements such as setting a date for the start of withdrawal, Zaeef says the Americans were wrong from the very beginning, when they decided to invade and occupy Afghanistan. He says Taliban believes the announcement of a withdrawal date is a "conspiracy." He says Taliban "is not sure that the Americans sincerely want to withdraw from Afghanistan. It believes the Americans want to pull out of some regions and stay in some other important regions." He says Taliban wants to "intensify the resistance against the Americans until they leave Afghanistan." He expresses his belief that "some countries," not Taliban, politically benefit from such American announcements. He says he does not want to name these countries.

[Description of Source: Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic -- Independent Television station financed by the Qatari Government]

Pakistan said engages militant network for tribal area peace - PTI

SAP20101012950014 New Delhi PTI News Agency in English 1530 GMT 11 Oct 10

Pakistan said engages militant network for tribal area peace - PTI

Text of report by Press Trust of India news agency

Peshawar, 11 October: The Pakistani government has engaged top leaders of the Haqqani militant network to initiate negotiations between rival rebel factions in the Kurram tribal region in order to usher in peace and normalcy in the region affected by sectarian strife, sources said Monday [11 October].

An important personality from North Waziristan Agency played a key role in getting Ibrahim Haqqani and Khalil Haqqani, brothers of militant warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, to agree to play the role of peace mediators between rival factions in Kurram Agency, the sources said.

The Haqqanis have conditionally agreed to broker the talks between the rival groups.

The sources said parliamentarian Sajid Turi, who represented the Shi'i group Ahle Tashih, and lawmaker Munir Orakzai, who represented the Sunni group Ahl-e-Sunnat, participated in three-day peace talks held in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

The jirga, after detailed deliberations, has now reached Islamabad and the draft of a possible peace agreement is expected to be finalized in the next few days.

The sources said that both Shi'is and Sunnis have agreed to deposit a surety bond of 6 crore [one crore equals 10m] rupees to prevent further violence and bloodshed.

The Haqqani brothers agreed to get the local Taleban to stop their subversive activities in Kurram agency to pave the way for lasting peace in the area.

Hundreds of people have died in fighting between heavily armed Shia and Sunni tribesmen in Kurram Agency over the past three years.

The situation was exacerbated after Taleban fighters infiltrated the area and began backing the Sunnis.

Roads connecting most parts of Kurram to the rest of Pakistan have been closed for over a year and local residents have to been forced to travel to Pakistani cities like Peshawar via Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: New Delhi PTI News Agency in English ]

Asia Times: 'The Foreplay of an Afghan Settlement'

CPP20101012715076 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0114 GMT 11 Oct 10

[Asia Times Report by M. K. Bhadrakumar: "The Foreplay of An Afghan Settlement"; headline as provided by source]

When "well-placed Pakistani and Arab sources" sing like magpie robins, you never get tired of hearing them. There is a lot of variety to their songs. The magpie robin gives voice to a range of motifs: loud songs to establish territory and pair formation; soft, aggressive songs to defend territory; or, haunting resting melodies.

Remember how such well-placed sources sang without a break from the mid-1980s in the run-up to the Geneva talks all the way to February 15, 1989, when the last Soviet soldiers, led by General Boris Gromov finally managed after 10 years to leave Afghanistan on foot over the Hairatonbridge across the Amy Darya River? Well, they are singing again.

But they are very combative - less bird-like and more like kung fu masters ready to do battle. Are they establishing territory or merely defending it? Most certainly, these are not haunting resting songs.

Highly tendentious themes have appeared in rapid succession over the past week: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in talks with the Taliban's Quette shura (council) about a "comprehensive" Afghan settlement, with the latter participating in government; Karzai is also talking with the Haqqani network thanks to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). This follows the ISI setting up a meeting "on the Afghan-Pakistan border in the spring" between Karzai and Sirajuddin Haqqani, and the ISI escorting Sirajuddin's brother and uncle to Kabul. The Haqqanis realize that the time has come to "make the transition from the IRA to Sinn Fein" and that "This is the end of the road for al-Qaeda in Waziristan", as diplomatic sources have been reported as saying.

A calibrated media offensive has appeared, the principal objective of which is to underscore that the Taliban are gaining the upper hand politically. The intention seems to be threefold. First, to scare the daylight out of the non-Pashtun groups which believed from day one that the idea of accommodating the Taliban in the Afghan power structure would be extremely dangerous.

If the non-Pashtun groups could be sufficiently incited to agitate, they would exert big pressure on Karzai regarding the "sell-out" to the Taliban. The discord would tear apart the tenuous coalition that Karzai heads, and a sure casualty could be the High Council that the Afghan president is erecting as his bridge leading toward the Pashtun camp in Pakistan bypassing the Punjabi-led establishment.

Second, the media offensive projects the veteran mujahid Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son, Sirajuddin, onto the center stage. A "senior Pakistani official" even claimed that talks are going on between Haqqani, Karzai and the US government - "The ice has broken".

An impression is being created that while the Quetta shura may remain important, its stature as the principal interlocutor in the insurgency has eroded while the Haqqanis surged as the main military threat to the US forces on the battlefield. That is to say, there can be no enduring peace unless the Haqqanis are engaged in talks by the Americans as their key interlocutor.

Third, this sort of media expose creates confusion regarding the nascent reconciliation process. It puts Karzai on the defensive vis-a-vis his non-Pashtun allies, embarrasses moderate elements within the Taliban leadership and forces them to resort to grandstanding and intransigence that ultimately could derail the reconciliation process.

In short, this entire media blitzkrieg aims at aborting the sort of "Afghan-led" reconciliation process that Karzai is conceiving.

The reconciliation process is at an extremely vulnerable "embryonic" stage, to use the words of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) representative in Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill. Last week, while talking to reporters in Washington, Sedwill said, "There are significant (Taliban) leaders who seem to be weary of the fight and seem to be willing to contemplate a future within the mainstream." But, "Essentially, we're at the embryonic stage. The channels of communication are o pen. I wouldn't, at this stage, say that we've reached the point of real negotiation."

The context becomes very important from yet another angle. A new level of equilibrium or maturity has lately appeared in Washington's equations with Karzai. Washington has manifestly edged closed toward Karzai in recent days, putting behind the period of alienation and drift. The controversy over the issue of "corruption" has tapered off. Again, Washington accepts the conduct of the Afghan parliamentary elections and is preparing to deal with the emergent power alignment involving the new parliament and Karzai.

The Barack Obama administration seems to have decided to work with Karzai when the search for a political settlement is shifting gear.

Detractors and debunkers of Obama's war see things differently. The former US Central Intelligence Agency operative-turned-critic, Michael Scheuer, says, "The game is over and we are looking for a way out. Obama won't be able to hold his base for 2012 if he is not out (of Afghanistan and Iraq)".

However, we cannot be so very prejudiced as to overlook that there is a consistent streak in Obama's political personality. Laurence Tribe, the renowned professor who became Obama's intellectual mentor at Harvard, once summed up nicely, "Overall, Obama has... a problem-solving orientation. He seems not to be powerfully driven by an a-priori framework, so what emerges is quite pragmatic and even tentative. It's hard to describe what his presuppositions are..."

All indications are that Obama is acutely aware that the war isn't going too well. If anything, author Bob Woodward further provoked Obama into a "problem-solving orientation" with revelations in his latest book Obama's Wars of rifts in the administration over Afghan war policy.

No doubt, Obama's video teleconference with Karzai on Monday had a "hands-on" purposive approach. He firmed up a most crucial leg of any Afghan settlement, namely, formalizing the US commitment of long-term support to the Kabul government embracing the post-settlement era.

Obama and Karzai agreed that a new US-Afghan Strategic Partnership Declaration would be ready by the time a NATO summit takes place in Lisbon in November.

They linked this to the other key topic at the NATO summit, namely, "transition to Afghan lead security responsibility by 2014", as the White House readout put it. The White House said on Wednesday that Obama supported Karzai's efforts at opening peace talks with Taliban leaders, but "this is about Afghanistan. It has to be done by the Afghans."

On the other hand, US-Pakistan ties, which have always been difficult, have come under new pressures. The US has sharply escalated drone attacks on Pakistan's tribal areas. Two "hot pursuit" incidents provoked Pakistani attacks on NATO convoys and the closure of the Torkham border post from Pakistan into Afghanistan, but no one is losing sleep in Washington or Brussels.

A Voice of America commentary rhetorically asked, "Have the (Pakistani) attacks brought supply shortages to NATO troops in Afghanistan?" It went on to answer with a derisive "No", quoting General Joseph Blotz who commands the International Security Assistance Force: We do have plenty of supplies and stocks within Afghanistan. We do have access to transport and logistics through other border crossing points... and, yes, we need to look for other options and the other options are, you know, getting in the necessary supplies and logistics through border crossing points with neighboring countries in the north... where we get in actually almost as much supplies as through the border crossing points with Pakistan, so there are alternatives. In sum, the US message is getting to be somewhat blunt: the Pakistani military has little choice but to cooperate. Again, regional players may have differences with the US strategy in Afghanistan, but the Obama administration keeps the back-channel to Iran, is actively consulting Russia, and has restrained New Delhi from making precipitate moves. Equally, it is preposterous that Beijing would contemplate goading the reluctant Pakistani military into the high-risk enterprise of "strategic defiance" of the US in the Hindu Kush.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration has so far ignored the Pakistani attempt to draw the US into the unrest in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal flashed details of a White House report that is being forwarded by Obama to the US Congress which in unusually plain speaking says that the Pakistani military is playing a double game in the Afghan war.

"The Pakistan military continued to avoid military engagements that would put it in direct conflict with Afghan Taliban or al-Qaeda forces in North Waziristan (tribal area in Pakistan). This is as much a political choice as it is a reflection of an under-resourced military prioritizing its targets."

We are witnessing the foreplay of an Afghan peace settlement. No doubt about it. As a perceptive Guardian commentator put it, the issue is no longer about peace talks but as to when the fighting will stop. And Pakistan is reiterating its claim to be the key arbiter of any peace talks and has asserted its seamless capacity to be a "spoiler" if it is spurned.

A charming thing about magpie robins is that they can incorporate fragments of other bird calls into their songs. Remember how their songs kept frustrating the Geneva talks and prolonged the Soviet agony in Afghanistan?

Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar was a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service. His assignments included the Soviet Union, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Turkey.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

Pakistan: Haqqanis Sons Hold Talks With Tribal Elders To Pacify Kurram Agency

SAP20101021098003 Karachi Dawn Online in English 21 Oct 10

[Report by staff correspondent: Haqqanis two sons mediating in Kurram]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

ISLAMABAD: The three-year fragile and ineffective efforts for peace between warring sectarian tribes in Kurram Agency have received an unexpected boost in the shape of the controversial Haqqani network which is now trying to play peace broker.

This has been confirmed by more than one source from among the key players involved in the peace process.

The entry of the Haqqanis in the Kurram peace talks, which date back to 2007, has surprised many. After all, the network is usually mentioned in terms of its war theatre in Afghanistan and its base in North Waziristan. The US has been pressurising the government for months to dislodge the Haqqanis from North Waziristan.

Khalil and Ibrahim, sons of the network's founder Jalaluddin Haqqani, have reportedly been meeting tribal elders from the Kurram in Peshawar and Islamabad to end the hostilities between the local tribes and bring peace to the area which has witnessed some of the worst clashes in its history over the past three years.

The last round of talks was held in Islamabad on Oct 10. "They first turned up at a meeting held in Peshawar in the first week of September," a tribal elder told Dawn.

This account is corroborated by another elder who adds that the two brothers were also present at the second meeting in the provincial capital on Sept 16 and then at a subsequent one in Islamabad.

It is expected that elders and mediators will put their heads together in the next few days yet again to ensure sustainable peace in the area.

Although the ongoing spate of violence dates back to 2007 and the peace efforts to 2008, the Haqqanis have been in contact with the rival tribes since early last year.

In the early phase, Haqqani's senior 'commanders' negotiated with all the groups in Kurram on his behalf. But the talks remained inconclusive.

Now he has nominated his two younger sons which shows how important the region has become for the group.

However, the people of the violence-wracked Kurram are apprehensive of the aims of the mediators.

Not only are they wary of those involved in fighting in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but also because they think that the involvement of the Haqqanis may not be possible without the tacit approval of the military which is reported to enjoy links with this group of Afghan militants.

Such suspicions gain credence against the backdrop of reports that members of the Haqqani clan visited Peshawar and Islamabad for the talks.

Some reports suggest that the Haqqanis have sought full authority and 'machlaka' (bond) from rival factions before unveiling a new peace agreement. The proposed deal will be binding on all parties.

However some groups are reluctant to give full authority and machlaka to the 'mediators'.

Instead, they are stressing that the Murree/Islamabad agreement signed by all tribes be implemented.The government had brokered the agreement in Murree that was signed on Oct 16, 2008.

Under the agreement, the rival tribes deposited Rs20 million to the local authorities as guarantee that they would refrain from fighting in the future.

But the five-point agreement which covers all major issues could not be implemented.

Tribesmen blame a lack of interest on the part of the state organs for this.

According to some reports, the tribesmen have sought the release of the people kidnapped during an attack on a convoy on the Thall-Parachinar road in July.

The Haqqanis' interest is not linked to the welfare of the residents of Kurram but to the tribal agency's strategic position. The most important among all the agencies in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Kurram borders Afghanistan's Khost province in the south, Paktia in the southwest and Nangarhar in the north, while Kabul is 90 kilometres west of Parachinar.

In fact, during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, all the major groups of 'M ujahideen' had bases in the area.

The Haqqani group is active in Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Ghazni and Wardak, which is close to Kabul. And especially as Waziristan has become vulnerable for the network in the wake of frequent US drone attacks, the Haqqanis are desperate to find safe locations outside the agency. Kurram would prove ideal for them and this is why they are trying to reconcile with the tribes in its lower and upper parts.

They are not the first to find Kurram's proximity to Afghanistan attractive. In fact, Taliban first came there in 2006 when they moved to Orakzai Agency and some parts of Kurram from Waziristan after signing peace deals with the government.

Baitullah Mehsud, the late chief of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan had deputed Hakimullah Mehsud to oversee Kurram, Khyber and Orakzai.

Another reason the Taliban shifted activities to Orakzai and Kurram was that North and South Waziristan were being closely watched by the International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan and they were facing difficulties crossing the border from there.

However, the militant groups' move to Kurram was opposed locally. The residents of the upper parts of Kurram opposed the movement of armed men through the agency. Eventually the agency plunged into bloody clashes in April 2007, leaving over 3,000 people dead, according to unofficial estimates, while hundreds of families were displaced.

Property worth millions of rupees was destroyed in clashes and the people suffered immensely because of prolonged closure of the Thall-Parachinar road.

Unfortunately, scrappy media coverage of the clashes gave them a sectarian colour and the involvement of the Taliban was ignored, although the government did acknowledge on some occasions the involvement of a third party.

For a number of reasons, the Taliban since then have not been able to enforce their writ in Kurram. And this is why they have been forced to negotiate peace, a process which the Haqqanis have joined. Meanwhile, the residents of Kurram remain sceptical about the new initiative.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

Pakistan: US Reportedly Forms New Group of Taliban To Fight 'Real Taliban'

SAP20101022100013 Islamabad Daily Express in Urdu 22 Oct 10 pp 5, 8

[Report by Fida Mohammad Adeel: "Pentagon Forms New Group To Stage Drama of Negotiations With Taliban"]

Peshawar -- The formation of a new group of the Afghan Taliban has come to light. However, instead of formally bringing members of this group to surface, work on a new US plan to use them covertly against the real Taliban has been expedited.

According to sources, the Taliban leaders fed up of fighting are being inducted in this group, and under the new strategy of the Pentagon, reports of negotiations with the Taliban are being played up in the US and Western media. A prominent figure considered close to Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani has also been included in the group. He is being used to cause hatred against the leadership of the most dangerous Haqqani network among over 20 Taliban groups that consider Mullah Omar their supreme commander [as published].

Meanwhile, the Hizb-e-Islami has claimed that so far, the representatives of the Afghan peace council have not contacted any resistance group, nor is there any truth in the reports of direct or indirect contacts with United States.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Daily Express in Urdu -- Daily owned by Century Publications of the Lakson Business Group. The second largest daily after Jang newspaper with a circulation of over 120,000. Provides good coverage of national and international issues and follows moderate and neutral editorial policy.]

Asia Times: 'Taliban Peace Talks Come to a Halt'

CPP20101101715041 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0004 GMT 30 Oct 10

[Asia Times Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Taliban Peace Talks Come To a Halt"; headline as provided by source]

Efforts to begin a process of reconciliation with the Taliban have completely failed as Washington has refused to give any of the guarantees demanded by the Taliban as a prerequisite to sitting at the negotiation table, a Taliban representative has told Asia Times Online.

Should the breakdown prove permanent, the coming year promises to be a very tough one in Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan's tribal areas, home to militants and al-Qaeda.

The recent strategic dialogue between the United States and Pakistan that renewed a US$2 billion five-year security assistance package for the Pakistani army is aimed specifically at effectively fighting against al-Qaeda bases situated in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The al-Qaeda response, Asia Times Online has learned, will be to activate sleeper cells around the world, orchestrated by a fresh team in place in border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Talks fall flat

The moves towards reconciliation with the Taliban began in late 2008. Saudi Arabia was named in the Western media as the main component of the process; it invited some former Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan members for dinner during the annual hajj (pilgrimage).

This became the first regular process of indirect American and Taliban interaction, with messages conveyed through various third parties. Interestingly, this period saw the beginning of the US's stepped-up drone war against al-Qaeda's sanctuaries in the tribal areas, with almost daily missile strikes, especially in North Waziristan.

By this October, at least two dozen important al-Qaeda members had been killed, as well as a sizeable number of newly recruited and trained European nationals. Regional franchises of al-Qaeda, including the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (Pakistani Taliban), also suffered losses, as did the Uzbek militia.

Extensive spy networks in the tribal areas ensured that the Americans fully understood the dynamics of al-Qaeda and the ground situation in North Waziristan. A case in point is Nasrullah Khan, a former member of the Laskhar-e-Taiba jihadi group who joined forces with Ilyas Kashmiri's al-Qaeda-linked 313 Brigade.

Before the beginning of the Commonwealth Games that ended on October 14 in Delhi, Khan had been selected to head a unit of the brigade to carry out an operation against the Games.

However, on September 20, he and five other men were killed in a drone attack in the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan. Khan had an extensive network of operatives in India and Indian-administered Kashmir and his death disrupted the ground operations in India to such an extent that no operation could be undertaken.

Similar drone missile attacks in September and October brought al-Qaeda's European operational branches in North Waziristan to a halt.

Even as death was raining from the skies in the tribal areas, the peace process with the Taliban was gathering pace, with fresh overtures in August. For the first time, all parties noted some flexibility in the Taliban's approach, and it appeared they would at least sit down for negotiations with the Americans or with the Afghan government. (See Taliban and US get down to talks Asia Times Online, September 11, 2010.)

The process drew on all international players to solicit the student militia to resolve the nearly 10-year conflict. (See Taliban soften as talks gain speed Asia Times Online, September 15, 2010.) To establish rapport with the Taliban and further the process of dialogue, the Taliban's commander in Afghanistan, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was released. (See Pakistan frees Taliban commander Asia Times Online, October 16, 2010.)

The US's top man in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, while saying that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would remain tough in Afghanistan against the Taliban, said the peace process was welcomed. He also disclosed that NATO had even gave safe passage to a senior Taliban commander to go to Kabul for talks - a hint over the release in Pakistan of Baradar.

Publicly, though, the Taliban did not acknowledge that talks were taking place. A recent handout read: No Taliban official has spoken to the Americans or their puppet Afghan government... those who were arrested (Baradar), those who changed their loyalties (former Taliban foreign minister Abdul Wakeel Muttawakil and Senator Arsala Rahmani) or those who are living under Afghan government surveillance (former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan Mullah Zaeef) are not Taliban representatives. Their interaction does not have any meaning for the Taliban. Due to the extraordinary surveillance against the Taliban, no senior leader would agreed to come forward to give the real Taliban side of the story; however, eventually a middle-cadre member was sent to meet with Asia Times Online, and he confirmed the public statement.

"The much-hyped reconciliation strategy was a trap and we never actually considered it as an option," the Taliban envoy - who had traveled from Kandahar in Afghanistan - said.

"The Americans never wanted reconciliation with the Taliban. They never approached us directly. If we were approached by third parties, like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or the UAE (United Arab Emirates), we did not consider it anything serious," the envoy said.

This did not fit with a general understanding that Naseeruddin Haqqani, the son of commander Jalaluddin Haqqani and brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani of the most powerful Taliban network, had been at the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad in September. Further, the embassy had arranged for him and his family to go on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. (Naseeruddin Haqqani had been arrested in 2009 by the Pakistani security forces and then released in exchange for Pakistani soldiers. The swap was brokered by now slain Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.)

I gave my understanding, "That was the real clandestine interaction of the Haqqani network with the American or the Afghan government through Saudi Arabia, not the contacts mentioned in the Western media."

I continued, challenging the envoy's version of events, "The fact of the matter is that the Taliban did show flexibility for talks, so I wonder why they abruptly failed?"

The Talib responded, "On the one hand they were offering an olive branch and from the another hand they were tightening the noose around us. We could see that the whole game of reconciliation was not aimed at offering us power, but on inflicting serious damage on us."

He explained, "On the one side they were looking to establish a channel of communication with the Haqqanis, yet now (in October) they are gathering troops in Khost (province in Afghanistan across the border from North Waziristan). There has been extraordinary troop mobilization in Khost. For what?" he asked, then answered the question.

"Pressure is mounting on Pakistan to carry out a military operation in North Waziristan against the Haqqani network. It is clearly evident that they want to place the Haqqani network between a hammer and a hard rock (NATO forces in Khost and the Pakistan army in North Waziristan)."

The Talib concluded, "There is more. For the first time, we see extraordinary movement in Chaman (a border town in Pakistan's Balochistan province across from the Spin Boldak-Kandahar area in Afghanistan). This makes us wonder what the reconciliation process is really all about. In this whole situation, Pakistan's role is central. If it takes NATO's side, the Taliban will have a tough time as we see a serious battle ahead behind this smokescreen of the reconciliation process."

Ali al-Shamsi, a special envoy of the UAE for Pakistan and Afghanistan and the main person who arranged high-profile Taliban meetings in Dubai at the US's behest to initiate the dialogue process, submitted his resignation this month. (Shamsi was the UAE's ambassador to Pakistan during Taliban rule in Afghanistan - 1996-2001.)

However, the UAE government requested him to continue his assignment until a peace c onference in Dubai on Afghanistan scheduled for late next month. The conference is an initiative by the Afghan government.

Shamsi's move followed the Americans stating that Washington could not give any guarantees for meeting any conditions set by the Taliban in the leadup to dialogue and that it backed out of earlier promises. (See Taliban and US get down to talks Asia Times Online, September 11, 2010.)

Al-Qaeda, meanwhile, realizing all along that it is the US's main target, is regrouping after all the losses it has sustained.

Early this year, al-Qaeda finally had 16 of its members released by Iran. (See How Iran and al-Qaeda made a deal Asia Times Online, April 30, 2010. Prominent among them were Saad bin Laden (one of Osama bin Laden's sons), Saiful Adil, Suleman al-Gaith and Abu Hafs al-Mauritani.

They settled in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, since they had spent almost eight years in detention in Iran, al-Qaeda kept them away from operations, they were not even allowed to attend shura (council) meetings.

In the face of al-Qaeda's losses, though, al-Qaeda decided to embrace them for operations. Saiful Adil is likely to be the new face of al-Qaeda in 2011, with operations emanating in Pakistan and spreading to Somalia, Yemen and Turkey to pitch operations in Europe and India.

As matters stand now, going into 2011, the Taliban will continue the struggle in Afghanistan with the help of al-Qaeda's new team, which in turn will also plan attacks in Europe and India.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

Pakistan: Article Highlights Consequences of Moving Haqqani's Network to Kurram

SAP20101113118001 Lahore Daily Times Online in English 13 Nov 10

[Article by Farhat Taj: "Between the military and militants"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

Recently, there has been news in the national and international media that Jalaluddin Haqqani's network, based in North Waziristan, is being shifted by the military establishment of Pakistan to Kurram to flee the relentless US drone attacks that have considerably damaged the group. Most media discussions about this development focus on external factors, like how difficult it may become for NATO and US forces to gather intelligence and strike the Haqqani group in Kurram, and the possibility of an extension of the US drone attacks to Kurram. The last possibility is also claimed as leading to more anti-Americanism in the wider society of Pakistan, which, unlike tribal society, seems to oppose the drone strikes as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty.

No due attention is being paid to the impact of the arrival of the Haqqani fighters on the people in Kurram and the areas close to it. With the Haqqani network in North Waziristan, all the nearby districts were destabilised. D I Khan, with its mixed Sunni and Shia population, was rocked by sectarian attacks, the people in Tank and Bannu were attacked and the civilians in all frontier regions came under repeated terrorist actions.

The point is that Jalaluddin Haqqani is widely respected among the Taliban groups and he uses his position to influence them and to make peace among warring Taliban groups. When two Taliban groups anywhere in Pakistan or Afghanistan have a go at each other's throats, Jalaluddin asks his sons to invite the two to one of his guesthouses in North Waziristan. He ultimately convinces them to stop fighting against each other by giving money to some and weapons to others. People in Waziristan constantly complain that our intelligence agencies always try to push all militants, Pakhtun, Punjabi and foreigners, into the 'Haqqani loop'. Staunchly anti-Shia sectarian groups are also linked to the Haqqani network. So many militant groups now coming to Kurram, including the sectarian groups, will inevitably intensify sectarian violence against the civilians from Kurram to Kohat, the region with a mixed Sunni-Shia population.

This means that the Sunni IDPs from Parachinar (Kurram), displaced since 2007, and Shia IDPs from Sadda (Kurram), displaced since the 1980s, should forget about going back to their native areas in the near future. The Shias in upper Orakzai suffered at the hands of the Taliban and this was followed by the Taliban atrocities against the Sunnis in upper Orakzai. The Ali Khel, the biggest tribe in Orakzai, lost its entire mixed Sunni and Shia leadership (over 100 tribal leaders) in a suicide attack by the Taliban. The Shia area in lower Orakzai that has remained largely stable could face acute, violent attacks from the anti-Shia groups. Some of the Orakzai Sikh families displaced by the Taliban have been given refuge by the Shias in lower Orakzai. Instability in lower Orakzai could displace the Sikh families once more. Both Kohat and Hangu with their mixed Sunni-Shia population have already been victims of several sectarian attacks.

There have also been suicide attacks on the general public in both cities regardless of sectarian distinction, including the attacks on markets and families of policemen. Residents of the two cities may now be exposed to intensified violence of the kind never seen by them before.

Moreover, the US is putting pressure on Pakistan to start a military operation in North Waziristan and, seemingly, Pakistan will give in. With the Haqqanis moved to the safety of Kurram, a military operation will begin in North Waziristan that will kill innocent civilians and also lead to large-scale human displacement from the area. In all the areas of FATA where military operations have been conducted, people complain that the army deliberately targeted civilians and let the Taliban flee or avoided firing at the terrorists. This is the key reason why so many people became displaced in the tribal areas where the military operations have been conducted. This is also precisely the reason why the people in FATA favour drone strikes on the militants instead of military operations; the former never miss their target, the latter always kills civilians in large numbers and have been unable to kill any leading Taliban commander in so many military operations. Despite the relentless drone attacks in North Waziristan, there is no mass scale displacement from the area. There would be large-scale human displacement from North Waziristan if a military operation begins in the area.

How long will the 'strategic assets' -- the Haqqanis -- of the military establishment be moved from one area of FATA to another to destabilise it along with nearby districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa? It has been years since the people of FATA and the adjoining districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been trapped between the military and the militants. The two have killed civilians when they are fighting each other as well as when they are not fighting each other. The recent media debate about the Haqqani's new destination in Kurram is from the point of view of NATO and US forces, the strategic considerations of the military establishment of Pakistan, and state level relations between Islamabad and Washington. There seems to be no one to voice the local people's perspective in the whole debate, the people who will most likely become innocent victims of the strategic transport of the Haqqanis from North Waziristan to Kurram.

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times Online in English -- Website of the independent, moderate daily, run by Media Times (Private) Ltd., owned by Salman Taseer, the incumbent governor of Punjab province. Veteran journalist Najam Sethi is the editor-in-chief. The same group owns and publishes weekly newspaper The Friday Times and Urdu daily Aaj Kal. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated circulation of 20,000.; URL: ]

Pakistan: Al-Qa'ida-Linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Splits To 'Outsmart' Law Enforcers

SAP20101117093001 Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English 17 Nov 10

[Report by Zia Khan: "The Fission of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

ISLAMABAD: Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), the homegrown sectarian-jihadi outfit with strong links to al-Qaeda, is in the process of splitting its strength into at least eight small cells to better coordinate its activities from Karachi to Waziristan, according to sources in Kohat, Hangu, Peshawar and Lahore.

"Each sub-group is responsible for carrying out activities in a specific geographic location," disclosed one of the sources on condition of anonymity. Individuals having connections within the group and intelligence officials tackling them said the move appeared to be an attempt to outsmart Pakistani law enforcement agencies.

"It looks like they [LeJ strategists] don't want to put all their eggs in one basket," explained a local intelligence official. "It's a typical guerilla warfare and urban militancy technique. With scattered cells, they have better chances of survival by diverting the focus of law enforcement agencies," added the official.

The LeJ--an anti-Shia terror icon dominated by militants from Punjab --has established safe hideouts inside North Waziristan, the area controlled by the network of veteran Afghan jihadist, Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani.

While there are hardly any significant signs suggesting that the Haqqani network is directly supporting anti-Pakistan LeJ activists, security officials contend the two groups have one strong commonality that keeps them connected--both take pride of being staunch allies of Arab al-Qaeda.

Jundullah

The LeJ's cell for Karachi and Balochistan has been named 'Jundullah' but it operates separately from an existing organisation of the same name, led by separatist Iranian Sunnis, that is also active in the region.

"That's where intelligence agencies' personnel are often mistaken. They sometimes confuse activists from one group with the other," an official in Sindh's Crime Investigation Department (CID) said.

The LeJ is the biggest group operating in Karachi and of 246 terrorists arrested from the city since 2001, 94 belonged to LeJ, according to a secret report by the CID.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi

This group, headed by Maulana Abdul Khalil, a fugitive militant leader from central Punjab, operates mostly in central parts of Punjab and the tribal areas. The group works in close connection with al Qaeda and its activists are used as foot soldiers for Arab-dominated terror group's plots inside Pakistan.

Asian Tigers

This group emerged after the recent disappearance of a British journalist of Pakistani origin and two former pro-Taliban personnel of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) in North Waziristan. Officials believe it is one of the offshoots of the LeJ and is using a different name to spread confusion.

Like the LeJ itself, the Asian Tigers are dominated by Punjabi militants but some Mehsud militants are affiliated with it as well.

Junoodul Hafsa

This group comprises militants that aim to exact revenge for the storming of Islamabad's Lal Masjid and its affiliated female seminary, Jamia Hafsa, in a military operation in 2007.

The group operates in close coordination with Ghazi Force, a network named after one of the two clerics of Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, who was killed in the operation.

The outfit, led by a former student of Lal Masjid, Maulana Niaz Rahim, operates out of Ghaljo area of the Orakzai Agency and the adjacent Hangu district and targets military installations and personnel in parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and upper Punjab, especially Islamabad.

Punjabi Taliban

Several small cells operate under this umbrella outfit including those belonging to Usman Punjabi, Qari Imran, Amjad Farooqi and Qari Zafar. These cells generally target Punjab.

[Description of Source: Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English -- Website of a newspaper partnered with the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times. It is part of the Lakson Group, which includes Daily Express and Express News Television in Urdu and Express 24/7 Television in English. The group's media wing has no known political affiliations and operates as a moderate, independent commercial media organization. The newspaper claims its mission is to defend "liberal values and egalitarian traditions"; URL: ]

Asia Times: 'Broadside Fired at Al-Qaeda Leaders'

CPP20101210715022 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0115 GMT 10 Dec 10

[Asia Times Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Broadside Fired at Al-Qaeda Leaders"; headline as provided by source]

ISLAMABAD - A number of senior al-Qaeda members who had earlier opposed the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and some of whom were recently released from detention in Iran, have produced an electronic book critical of al-Qaeda's leadership vision and strategy.

The book, the first of its kind to publicly show collective dissent within al-Qaeda, was released last month. It urges the self-acclaimed global Muslim resistance against Western hegemony to open itself to the Muslim intelligentsia for advice and to harmonize its strategy with mainstream Islamic movements.

Analysts who spoke to Asia Times Online said that on face value the book did not indicate a spilt, rather an academic and "polite" review of al-Qaeda's policies. However, at a later stage, such discussion could lead to a division within al-Qaeda's ranks in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region where the top leadership is stationed.

Twenty questions

Three of the top al-Qaeda decision-makers who opposed the 9/11 attacks plotted by Khalid Sheikh Mohammad were Egyptian Saiful Adil (Saif al-Adel), an important military planner; Abu Hafs al-Mauritani, once the chief of al-Qaeda's religious committee that reviews all decisions; Suleman Abu al-Gaith, who was al-Qaeda's chief spokesperson.

All three moved to Iran where they lived under limited restrictions until being released along with more than a dozen others earlier this year. (See How Iran and al-Qaeda made a deal Asia Times Online, April 30, 2010.) They then settled in the rugged Pakistani tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan that is home to the Pakistani Taliban, al-Qaeda and related militant groups.

On November 15, some members of this group released Twenty Guidelines for Jihad on the Internet site mafa.asia. The author is cited as Suleman, saying he was "al-Qaeda's official spokesperson in 2001," indicating a distancing from al-Qaeda's organizational structure.

The preface of the Arabic-language book was written by Mehfuz bin Waleed (as Abu Hafs al-Mauritani is also known). He was the chief of al-Qaeda's religious committee before 9/11, after which he was sent to Iran as al-Qaeda's envoy in that country. He struck a deal with the government to allow the free movement of Arab families from Afghanistan to the Arab world via the province of Zahedan.

He was later joined by other al-Qaeda members, in addition to some family members of Osama bin Laden. They were all kept in guest houses in a designated colony, but were not allowed to leave Iran.

The website on which the book was released is owned and operated by Abu Waleed al-Misri, also known as Mustafa Hamid. He was a close aide of Bin Laden but fled to Iran before 9/11. He has written 11 books on Arab-Afghans. His latest book, Cross in the Skies of Kandahar , criticizes the al-Qaeda leader in particular and al-Qaeda in general, holding them responsible for the collapse of the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan (Taliban regime), which fell in late 2001 following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in retaliation for 9/11.

Hamid's main criticism of Bin Laden is that he is authoritarian and refuses to take advice. He alleges that Bin Laden has placed himself as a superior to Taliban leader Mullah Omar, whom all Arab-Afghans recognize as their ameer or chief. Hamid narrates that while Bin Laden has pledged his allegiance to Mullah Omar, he does not follow his instructions and therefore deserves punishment.

Al-Qaeda at a crossroad

Gaith's electronic book is ostensibly for tarbait (guidance) and is not written to directly malign al-Qaeda's leaders - indeed, it does not name any of them. It is critical though, for example Gaith takes to task leaders who do not take advice. "They took decisions in haste that resulted in a big defeat."

"They think that they are right all the time and they are encircled by a bunch of advisers who do not qualify to give advice. Ironically, this situation stands in the way of jihad, which belongs to the ummah (Muslim world ) and their decisions affect the whole Muslim world. This is such a delicate matter as strategy is supposed to be consulted with all Muslim groups, scholars and the Muslim intelligentsia in general."

This could be taken as an explicit criticism of al-Qaeda deputy Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, who has condemned Islamic movements like the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas in Palestine and severed all ties with them.

"It means isolation of yourself and the mujahideen from the mainstream Islamic movements and from the Muslim world. It makes the task easier for the enemy to isolate you and target you," Gaith writes.

He stresses that the feelings of the ummah should be taken into account before any grand operation is carried out. "Your arsenal is supposed to be used against combatants only, not against innocent people. You mishandled operations and oppressed common men, while our role is supposed to be that of liberators against zulm (oppression)."

This is the first book by a member of al-Qaeda that cites early modern Islamic movement ideologues like Hasan al-Banna (founder of the Muslim Brotherhood), Muhammad al-Ghazali (Muslim Brotherhood Egypt), Syed Abul Ala Maududi (founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami in South Asia), and Gaith urges al-Qaeda leaders to follow the advice of these ideologues.

Gaith does not endorse the adherence to democratic systems adopted by some contemporary Islamic movements, and also condemns their relations with Muslim ruling regimes, but he stresses in the book that they still have a lot of merits and those merits should be appreciated.

"Definitely, we will fail if our leadership does not follow and practice the characters of good leaders and ideologues and if our leaders continue to believe that they are right all the time."

Without naming Mullah Omar, Gaith underlined a necessity to obey his directives as a single central command. "All jihadi groups should be under one leadership, which must consult with experts and scholars from the whole ummah . They (leaders) are silent against some declared enemies of Islam while they openly mock and criticize Islamic groups."

Potential split?

During the 1990s, at least 17 Arab groups operated in Afghanistan and while they were influenced by al-Qaeda, they operated separately. By the time of 9/11, the majority had merged into al-Qaeda, with exceptions such as al-Gama Islamiya al-Muqatilal (GIM), Jamaatul Toheed Wal Jihad (led by Abu Musaab al-Zarqawi who joined al-Qaeda very late after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003), beside hundreds of Arabs who independently joined the cause of jihad with the powerful Jalaluddin Haqqani.

After 9/11, even these independent operators had little choice but to operate with al-Qaeda as in the "war on terror", all Arab-Afghans were seen as al-Qaeda. Many were arrested in Pakistan and abroad simply because they lived in Afghanistan. In a quest for a safe haven, they went to the Pakistani tribal areas and stayed in al-Qaeda's camps because it was the only potent Arab organization left in the region that could provide them shelter. Many Arab-Afghans were opposed to al-Qaeda's strategies, but they had no room to question them.

Now, with top al-Qaeda operators openly expressing criticism, such views could gain momentum. This could lead to reform of the most violent self-acclaimed global Muslim resistance movement against Western hegemony, or it might allow dissenters to side with mainstream Afghan-Taliban leaders and break with al-Qaeda.

Renowned Arab journalist Jamal Ismail, author of Bin Laden, al-Jazeera and Me who has met Bin Laden and interviewed Zawahiri, commented to Asia Times Online, "It is not a spilt (at this point), but a review. However, at a later stage, it might lead to a spilt if the advice (in the book) is not listened to, as well as other opinions from inside and outside of al-Qaeda."

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief and author of upcoming book Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban 9/11 and Beyond publi shed by Pluto Press, UK. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

Al Qaida Plans to Foil Pakistan Armys Military Operation in North Waziristan

SAP20101213128007 Islamabad The News Online in English 13 Dec 10

[Report by Amir Mir: Al-Qaeda to pre-empt Army operation in Waziristan]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

LAHORE: In a bid to dissuade the Pakistan Army from launching a full-scale military offensive in North Waziristan tribal agency on the Pak-Afghan border, the al-Qaeda high command has dispatched Saif Al Adal, the military chief of the Osama-led terror outfit, to North Waziristan, which has already become a safe haven for the fugitive al-Qaeda leadership as well as the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban.

According to well informed sources in the Pakistani security establishment, Saif Al Adal, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, has been dispatched to North Waziristan by bin Laden's No 2, Dr Ayman Al Zawahiri, with the prime objective of boosting al-Qaeda's military might against the Pakistani security forces in Waziristan and stepping up cross-border ambushes against the US-led allied forces in Afghanistan. Saif was set free by Iran in October 2010 after spending nine years under house arrest, and that too in exchange for the release of Heshmatollah Attarzadeh, a senior Iranian diplomat who was kidnapped by the Taliban in Pakistan in 2008. Saif has been dispatched to North Waziristan amidst reports that the Pakistani authorities have already given a commitment to the Obama administration to launch a full-scale military action in the area to uproot the Haqqani militant network led by veteran Afghan leader commander Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani.

The Haqqani militant network is working in tandem with al-Qaeda as well as the Pakistani and the Afghan Taliban to resist the Pakistani security forces and carry out cross border ambushes against the US-led allied forces stationed in Afghanistan. North Waziristan has become a hub of the anti-US elements given the fact that it has a common border with Khost, the native Afghan province of Jalaluddin Haqqani. The Americans have targeted the Haqqani network in Waziristan extensively since the dawn of 2010, especially since a suicide bomber killed seven senior CIA officers in Khost, Afghanistan, on December 31, 2009.

As the US recently announced a hefty amount of two billion dollars in military aid to Islamabad to push it for early operation in North Waziristan, the Pakistani Taliban threatened (through an open letter) to wage an endless war against the Pakistan government.

On the other hand, the al-Qaeda leadership subsequently assigned Saif Al Adal with the task of launching a counter offensive on both sides of the trouble stricken Pak-Afghan tribal belt and foil the military designs of the Pakistan and American allies in the war against terror. An Egyptian by birth, Saif is considered by US intelligence agencies as a seasoned operational planner and an experienced field commander. Often mentioned together with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, he is accused of involvement in the bombing of two US embassies in Africa in August 1998. Saif, who was al-Qaeda's military chief before 9/11, simply disappeared after these attacks. It later transpired that he was being kept in Iran under a protective house arrest together with many other key al-Qaeda leaders and their families who had fled the American invasion of Afghanistan in December 2001 and were being prevented from travelling further by Iran.

However, upon his release, Saif was straightaway restored to his previous position -- chief of the military operations in the region -- and asked by his fellow Egyptian boss Ayman Zawahiri to proceed to North Waziristan. According to sources in the Pakistani security establishment, the return of Saif to the field has set alarm bells ringing in the American intelligence circles given the fact that his role in the terror outfit had been that of a trainer, military commander and key member of bin Laden's security ring. They believe his return would greatly bolster the terror group's operational ability, which was largely affected by the non-stop US drone attacks in Waziristan and the subsequent killings of many key commanders. Saif has already started reviving his old connections with those Afghan and Pakistani militant groups, whose relations with al-Qaeda had turned sour in his absence. Under instructions from his leadership, he is now trying to unite all those groups on a single platform to put up a joint front against the Pakistan Army whenever the North Waziristan operation is launched.

The sources say the Pakistani authorities were earlier reluctant to launch the military offensive in North Waziristan due to their old links with the Haqqani militant network, which date back to the days of the Afghan war of the 1980s. Yet the Pakistani Taliban's joining hands with the Haqqani network and the increase in targeting the Pakistani security and intelligence agencies, has made the North Waziristan-based Afghan and Taliban militants a common enemy of both Islamabad and Washington. This has subsequently paved the way for the much-awaited military action in North Waziristan.

At the same time, however, there are those in the Pakistani establishment circles who believe that the military operation would be launched only after the top brass of the Haqqani militant network is allowed to relocate itself from North Waziristan to some other parts of Fata as the Haqqanis are still considered an asset by the Pakistani establishment in its strategic depth policy in a post-US Afghanistan. They even claim that the ailing Afghan commander Jalaluddin Haqqani and his elder son Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is also the operational commander of the Haqqani network, had already been moved to a safe location on the Pakistani side of the Pak-Afghan tribal belt, thus giving a clear indication that the military offensive in North Waziristan was now inevitable.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of a widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Usually offers leading news and analysis on issues related to war against terrorism. Circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Pakistan: CIA Shares List of 30 Al-Qaida Members Operating From Waziristan

SAP20101215103005 Islamabad The News Online in English 15 Dec 10

[Report by Amir Mir: 30 high value drone targets in Pakistan]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

LAHORE: Seeking credible intelligence cooperation from Islamabad, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) sleuths stationed in Pakistan have shared with their Pakistani counterparts a list of 30 high-value al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked terrorists, who currently operate from their Waziristan hideouts and have evaded successfully the radar of the American drones.

According to well-informed sources in the Pakistani security establishment, who are working in tandem with their American counterparts in the US-led war against terror, the CIA sleuths have got prior permission of their bosses to kill all those on the hit list while using deadly drones since it was almost impossible for anyone to capture them alive in the Waziristan region even if they are somehow tracked down.

Started under former President Bush, the drone programme is being run by the CIA, which had been provided written legal authority to hunt down and kill any terrorist without seeking further approval each time the agency wants to hit a high value target. The previously undisclosed CIA hit list of targets included top al-Qaeda leaders, such as Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri and other principal figures from al-Qaeda, Taliban, Haqqani network and their affiliated terrorist groups. The hit list was known as "the high-value target list", also called HVT.

Following the ouster of President Bush in 2008, his successor, President Obama, was quick to grant the CIA the presidential authority to kill the most wanted al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked leaders. The newer hit list of the potential drone targets represents an expanded CIA effort against a larger number of al-Qaeda fugitives who are operating from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen.

The hit list is updated from time to time as the CIA, in consultation with other counter terrorism agencies, adds names or deletes those al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders who are captured or killed, or when new intelligence indicates the emergence of a new terror leader. The hit list contains the names of many of the same people who are on the FBI's list of most-wanted terror suspects, although the lists are prepared independently.

US intelligence sleuths stationed in Pakistan believe that there are over 2,000 al-Qaeda militants who have taken shelter in the Waziristan region alone on the Pak-Afghan tribal belt. According to them, there are three primary targets of the ongoing American drone strikes -- key al-Qaeda and its allied commanders; al-Qaeda's external operations network; and al-Qaeda, Taliban and their allied Afghan and Pakistani militant groups which are conducting cross border ambushes against the US-led allied forces across the border in Afghanistan.

The following is the list of 24 non-Pakistani high-value al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked terrorists who are the potential targets of the CIA-run American drone programme:

Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, his deputy Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's No3 Sheikh Yunis al-Mauretani, the ameer of the Afghan Taliban, Mulla Mohammad Omar, al-Qaeda's chief operational commander for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Saif Al Adal, al-Qaeda's chief military strategists for terror operations in the West, Commander Ilyas Kashmiri, the chief of the Haqqani militant network, Jalaluddin Haqqani, the operational commander of the Haqqani network, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the official spokesman for al-Qaeda, Sulaiman Abu Ghath, the spiritual leader of al-Qaeda, Abu Hafs al-Mauritani, al-Qaeda's field commander for operations in Afghanistan, Abu Yahya al-Libi, al-Qaeda's operational chief for North America, Adnan Al-Shukri Juma, Osama bin Laden's son, Saad bin Laden, the commander of Turkish jehadis in North Waziristan, Abu Hanifah, the commander of the Chinese jehadis in North Waziristan, Abu Nasir, the commander of Uzbek and Tajik militants in North Waziristan, Abu Akash, two German brothers, Mouneer Chouka alias Abu Adam and Yaseen Chouka alias Abu Ibrahim, who comma nd German militants, three American jehadis, Abu Ibrahim al Amriki, Sayfullah al Amriki and Anwar al-Awlaki, two Yemeni militants, Nasir al-Wahishi and Qassim al-Raimi, a Saudi militant Said al-Shiri, and an Algerian jehadi Abdelmalek Droukdel.

The CIA hit list also carries the names of six key al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked jehadi leaders from Pakistan who are involved in targeting the Pakistani and Nato forces and are considered common enemies by Washington and Islamabad. They include the ameer of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Hakimullah Mahsud, his fellow commanders, Maulvi Faqeer Mohammad and Waliur Rehman Mahsud, Taliban renegades in Waziristan, Hafiz Gul Buhadar and Maulvi Nazir, and the fugitive ameer of the Swat chapter of TTP, Maulana Fazlullah.

According to sources in the security establishment, despite public protests against violations of their national sovereignty by the drones, the Pakistani authorities are sharing vital intelligence information with their American counterparts to nip the evil of al-Qaeda and Taliban in the bud which equally threatens Pakistan. To substantiate their claim, they referred to the September 16, 2010 statement of US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, wherein the late senior official had stated that the drone attacks against terrorists in Pakistan's northern tribal region were being conducted in close collaboration with Pakistan's civil as well as military leadership. "Everything we do is in close collaboration with Pakistan government and the GHQ," The News had quoted Holbrooke, as saying.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of a widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Usually offers leading news and analysis on issues related to war against terrorism. Circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Jihadist Video on US Soldier in Captivity, Taliban Attacks in Afghanistan

SAP20101220093001 Shumukh al-Islam Network in Arabic 28 Nov 10

[Following is the full text of the Pashto-language video, titled "New Video of Killing Americans in Afghanistan." A participant posted this Pashto-language video on Shumukh al-Islam Network with download links on 28 November 2010. The video is a Manba al-Jihad production. Words, passages within double slantlines are in English.]

[Video slide] In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

[Video slide] Warning: It is prohibited to disseminate video and anthem of this jihadi film with music.

[Video shows verse from Koran in Arabic followed by Pashto translation] And fight the infidels until persecution is no more, and religion is all for God. But if they cease, then lo! God is Seer of what they do.

[Video slide] Manba al-Jihad Cultural Affairs' Commission of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

[Video slide] Caravan of Ghazis 9 [Islamic holy warriors; part 9].

[Video shows Taliban fighters riding vehicles with jihadi anthems and songs and chants of "God is Great" made with rattle of guns in the background; coalition forces positions, vehicles, and tanks being blown with bombs; two NATO planes taking off and bombing militant positions; US flag at a military parade]

[ 00:03:03 Voiceover] Following the attack by the United States and its allies on Afghanistan on 7 October 2001, they deployed their savage forces across Afghanistan at major military bases particularly in southern, southwestern, and southeastern provinces of the country. In keeping with their character, these cruel forces trampled down the religion, culture, and human rights of Afghans [footage shows coalition forces searching and handling two veiled women]. They proclaimed their policy of either capturing or eliminating the Taliban [footage shows former President Bush and US military commander], bringing about democracy and political stability, and eliminating all those opposing them.

[ 00:03:45 Former US President George W. Bush] //One by one the terrorists are learning the meaning of American justice//.

[ 00:03:55 Video of Iraqi journalist throwing shoes on former President Bush]

[ 00:04:02 Afghan President Hamid Karzai] //While the Afghans are too sad, as sad as the Americans, they are grateful to the American people for making us win our war against terrorism. And we will continue to do that till we finish them all and put them on trial. I want the people in New York to see the faces of those people on trial on TV and to see that they received justice. That we will do, that is a promise and we will deliver on that//.

[ 00:04:34 Karzai] Neither can we check terrorism emanating from Pakistan nor can we prevent the coalition forces from carrying out bombing against terrorism [preceding word as heard] in which our children are being killed [Karzai bursts into tears]. Cruelty has crossed its limits.

[Voiceover with video showing a photo of former US Vice President Dick Cheney and clips of the Afghan lower house of parliament in session] Dick CheThese beasts in human guise initiated savage acts against real Muslims throughout Afghanistan and gave a constitution to their mean slaves for their political activities, so that they could frame laws and structure the administration and its functions according to their [US] wishes. The clique of Karzai and the lords of the groups of mischief-mongers were made players in this bloody process. Americans did not want real Muslims to again become the owners of power, nor did they want Afghanistan to remain a real Islamic state. Americans will not want it even in the future. [footage shows Taliban militants attacking coalition forces and their vehicles]

The faithful and mujahid people of Afghanistan, who do not accept the supremacy of any one save God, and who love freedom and independence, and who consider the proud Shari'ah of Prophet Muhammad as the source of their decisions in all fields, raised the banner of jihad in accordance with the commandment of almighty God. They considered sacrifice of their lives for the sake of upholding Kalimatullah [proclamation of faith: "There is no god but God; Muhammad in the Messenger of God"] and complete freedom of the country as a great pride in front of their God and the nation. Adopting adequate planning, they jumped into the battleground, starting deadly gueril la attacks against the aggressive infidels and their faithless slaves that are constantly intensifying with each passing day. Using the tactics of fidayee [suicide] attacks, live landmines, and guerilla attacks, the mujahidin razed the 200-year pride of Americans to the ground and removed the concept of the United States being the super power. The commanders of the invading forces and their politicians made boasting claims in 2006 and 2007 and refused to accept their defeat.

However, much water had flown under the bridges by then. The American and NATO forces fled away, suffering a defeat in front of the forces of righteousness.

The governments and nations of the aggressors realized that their forces were not capable of facing the attacks of the holy warriors of Islam and their worldwide pride and prestige had lost its glitter.

To restore their past pride and prestige, they, instead of the Red Satan [video slide shows President Bush] provided a chance to the Black Satan [video slide shows President Obama] to evolve some strategy of deceit and cheating.

In his news strategy, the Black Satan, [President] Obama, evolved the policy of reconciliation by using dollars. For peace, he increased the number of forces; and for reconciliation, he placed his demands written on paper to his puppets. The result was the big war activities, holding of Kabul peace jirga, and the establishment of the peace commission. They thought that in this way they would break the holy warriors of Islam and achieve their nefarious objectives. [footage shows Kabul peace jirga in session, Taliban militants in action]

And as the holy warriors of Islam prefer their sacred jihad to every thing else, they presented thousands of their children as offering in this path. With a high morale and at the cost of their heads, they are crossing the rivers of fire and blood, making more and more progress with each passing day, making gains, and killing the invading soldiers. They are not to recede from their commitment to freedom and the supremacy of Islam.

Karzai and his conscienceless supporters should open their eyes, see the reality, and must not dance to the tunes of Jews and polytheists.

Rabbani, Sayyaf, and Hazrat Sibghatullah Mujaddedi [Afghan leaders] even know the meanings of the Koran. They should pay heed as to what are the injunctions of the Koran about making friends with infidels

[Video slide shows the Koranic verse] O you who have believed, do not take Jews and Christians as allies. They are allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you then indeed he is one of them. Indeed, God guides not the wrongdoing people.

And what is the responsibility of a faithful Muslim against an infidel? Although we do not believe in your faith but we know that you have been born to an Afghan family. So, for the sake of the pride and prestige of infidels, does Afghaniyat [Afghan values] allow you to destroy the pride of mujahid Afghans, their achievements, and their sacrifices? Should you create hurdles in the way of Islamic Shari'ah [to pave way] for the infidel system of democracy, for the sake of pleasing infidels; and should you help infidels achieve all those objectives, which they could not win through war and now want to achieve through the peace commission?

[Video shows coalition commanders, Afghan government leaders, and Taliban fighters alternatively with jihadi song in the background]

We have reached the conclusion that this politics of the slavish Karzai regime is nothing but human waste thrown into the commode, which only needs to be washed away.

We once again announce publicly that we will fight until our last breath, until complete freedom of the country and establishment of the supremacy of Islam. We are sure that, God willing, the final victory will be that of the holy warriors of Islam fighting in the battlefield for Truth.

[ 00:10:35 Video shows jihadi leader Jalaluddin Haqqani addressing the Taliban Shura, while the scre en caption says the video is from "1991," also reading: "Address of Al-Haj Maulawi Jalaluddin Haqqani"] I swear and I believe that 100 percent of those in this gathering will agree with me that the political solution that Americans are envisaging is not aimed at empowering Islam ∧ strengthen jihad in Afghanistan. [Americans do not wish that] mujahidin remain firm on Islam and remain safe from civil war, insincerity, and obscenity are not deprived of beating back Jews and crusaders, Russians. [Americans also do not wish that mujahdin] should possess the might that, as they defeated Russians, they should also suppress Americans, the British, crusaders, and Jews in the future. By God, they do not want political solution for this purpose.

By God, out of hundred it is not even one of their objectives that Islam should remain alive for mujahidin and Afghans, that Islam is not wasted, civil war does not break out among them, ∧ their blood is not shed, so that they [Afghans] do not go to hell and do not fall into obscenities. The political solution should be for these things.

So, it is obvious that they want a political solution for us for the sake of destroying Islam. We Afghans know the political solution they want to introduce. If we hit a tank, Americans do not teach it to us. If we read the Koran, Americans do not teach it to us. If we offer the obligatory prayers, Americans do not teach them to us. If we hit a heavy gun, they do not teach it to us. If we build a trench, they do not teach it to us. The British did not teach it to us. Russians did not teach it to us.

If we are independent in all these things, what is the loss for us in building Afghanistan? What is the fault? If we determine a destiny for Afghanistan, should the United Nations, Perez de Cuellar, Benon Sevan, determine it for us? Should the United States, Pakistan, and others determine it for us?

We should know among ourselves as to what is the reason. Do we have we full belief in the fact that not even a single infidel from the above states and the renegade Muslims, who are their colonies, none of them, do these things for Islam? Then what is the purpose of our giving power in their hands? Then who are our and your enemies in the present time?

Those who consider God as one and unrivaled, sincerely follow the religion of Prophet Muhammad and the injunctions of that Book [Koran] are under obligation to wage jihad against infidels and renegades until mischief and infidels are eliminated, until mujahidin have freed every inch of the land and every mosque from the occupation of infidels. Those who consider this problem, they consider jihad against hypocrites and renegades to be fard-e-ain [absolutely obligatory]. They consider setting up a joint government with them as much forbidden today as they considered it in the beginning. Those people are brothers and friends of ours and yours.

The rest of the other, who say that now it is blood-shedding, not jihad, and jihad has now lost its meaning that there are no infidels left in Afghanistan as Russians have withdrawn. If we look from the point of view of the Koran and Hadith [Sayings of Prophet Muhammad] and respected religious scholars, all these people are enemies, whether they are in the garb of the United States, whether they are boasting in the garb of Saudi Arabia and in the garb of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and in the garb of a mujahid. They are not our and your friends, because we and you have fought against these infidels under the teachings of the Koran of God, the commandments of God, and the injunctions of the Prophet. And we have known these infidels with those teachings and that book. Their rule over us is forbidden. Being subservient to them is forbidden for us.

[Video slide reads: "Attack of the heroic mujahidin on the invading forces in Sato Gorge area in Shwak District of Paktiya Province." Other footage shows Taliban armed with guns, rocket-launchers, and communication devices moving in vehicles, offering prayers, mounting an attack with light and heavy arms targeting several vehicles from a higher mountainous position. Jihadi songs eulogizing the Taliban and their battles against coalition forces are played in the background, with guns and mortars rattling and the chanting of "God is Great."]

[Video slide reads: "The attack of the courageous mujahidin on the joint forces of the slave regime near Wazi District of Paktiya Province." Other footage shows armed Taliban fighters proceeding in a column, taking positions on a mountain, targeting a convoy of coalition forces comprising several vehicles; a helicopter hovering in the air as the Taliban move back after the attack; a fighter jet taking off; Taliban marching]

[Voiceover] Against the onslaught of the United States and the infidel world, the holy warriors of Islam came out in every nook and corner of the country under the banner of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to resist the infidel forces. They started successful guerilla strikes against the invaders.

The United States and its allied nations and governments [video shows flags of many Western countries fluttering in the air] had never thought that their forces equipped with advanced technology would fail in front of the mujahidin of Islam, that their soldiers will be killed and their armored vehicles blown into pieces. They could not even think of their soldiers being held in detention and siege. However, time has proved that Afghanistan has turned into a hell for the infidels [video shows coalition forces vehicles being blown up].

Paktika is one of the provinces where the heroic mujahidin have turned the earth into a burning hell for the infidel forces, and the Satanic forces have lost their senses. The mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate retained their strong presence in the cities, villages, and mountains of this province.

In short, for the first time, the mujahidin of Paktika even arrested a US soldier [video shows the detained US soldier in custody of Taliban and talking to camera] and presented him to the responsible officials of the Emirate like hunted game. He is still under the detention of the Islamic Emirate, enjoying all rights granted by Islam [video shows the detained US soldier taking sumptuous meal]. The Paktika-based mujahidin have repeatedly carried out rocket, suicide, and armed attacks against the bases and convoys of US and NATO forces [footage shows Taliban attacking a base from mountainous positions] and these attacks are still continuing.

Out of this fear, they are continuously conducting air surveillance of their main bases [footage shows a Chinook helicopter on the wing]. We can quote as an example the joint base of the invading forces in Giyani District of Paktika Province to which logistic supply have not been possible through land for the last two years [footage shows base with mortar-gun-wielding Taliban overlooking it from mountains]. The cordon of this base is some time tightened to such an extent that the forces cannot move even inside the base [video shows troops running for cover inside the base].

On the first of Ramadan of the present Islamic Year of 1431, dozens of mujahidin attacked the bases with heavy and light arms under the direct command of Maulawi Muhammad Sangin Fateh, the person in charge of jihad in Paktika. Cameramen of the Manba al-Jihad studio have filmed the entire attack and now we are authentically presenting some parts of this film to you. Let us show you with what a high morale and in what an organized manner the mujahidin are carrying out their attacks and how the infidels are facing siege and defeat [video slide reads: "The heroic attack of the mujahidin against the military base of the invading forces in Giyani District of Paktika Province". Other footage shows mujahidin gathering with jihadi songs in the background threatening the coalition forces to leave Afghanistan, saying that Afghanistan might turn into another Vietnam for them. A massiv e atta ck with guns and mortars rattling follows amid chants of "God is Great." Video also shows explosions taking place and clouds of smoke over the base, jet fighters and helicopters appearing and disappearing after targeting militant positions]

[Video slides read: "Caravan of Ghazis 9"; "From Jihadi Atomic Reactor." Other video slides show photos of Taliban fighters later described as suicide attackers with jihadi songs in the background]

[Video shows a verse of the Koran in Arabic with Pashto translation, with the voiceover citing that among the faithful are those who fulfilled their promise, which they made with God and they did not change their policy]

[Video slides show photos of different Taliban fidayee attackers with the target and outcome of their attacks. A video slide says Jaffar, a suicide attacker, attacked the joint base of coalition forces and Afghan police in Margha area, Barmal District, Paktika Province, and completely destroyed the base and killed a number of Afghan and foreign forces personnel.]

[Suicide attacker Jaffar] Today jihad is obligatory on all Muslim men and women. I call on every mujahid to become a fidayee and teach a lesson to infidels and crusaders so that they leave Muslim countries and never dare to attack and commit aggression against them. [video shows Jaffar using a telescope, long shot of a vehicle moving into a compound and exploding with a bang with chants of "God is Great" and a jihadi song in the background. The footage is repeated several times.]

[Video slide says Hanifullah attacked a convoy of coalition forces in Tanbu District of Khost Province and completely destroyed a tank and killed the US crew on board.]

[Suicide attacker Hanifullah] I became ready for this sacrifice only for the sake of God. We would have never reached our targets if some [intoxicating] injection had been administered to us. Dear Muslims, not only I but thousands of other youths have also become ready [to sacrifice themselves] against the repression that the United States has unleashed, killing innocent Muslims. I am sure that the mujahidin will grow in numbers and will also receive God's succor. One should not say that the drone strikes will eliminate the mujahidin. God willing, these attacks will increase the mujahidin, because the blood of innocent people and martyrs is being shed and mujahidin grow in numbers where the blood of martyrs is shed. [video shows Hanifullah boarding a vehicle, and seen off by aides. Video also shows control of explosive material near his driving seat. Further, video shows Hanifullah waving to his aides and driving away, a tank on the move, and a big explosion.]

[Hanifullah] I request my parents that they should thank God for it, offer thanksgiving prayers that their son sacrificed his life in His path. I pray for the victory of the mujahidin and the unity of Muslims.

[Video slide says Akbar Khan targeted a joint convoy of Afghan and coalition forces in Manduzai-Ismail Khel District of Khost Province and destroyed three vehicles and killed soldiers. In the background, a jihadi song is played, describing suicide attackers as atom bombs of Muslims.]

[Suicide attacker Akbar Khan] I call upon [Afghan] people to become ready for suicide attacks. If they cannot do that, they should help the mujahidin.

[Video shows Akbar Khan being seen off by aides, driving a truck, his vehicle going close to a convoy, and exploding.]

[Voiceover] The day when the infidel world committed aggression against our country, jihad became fard-e-ain [absolutely obligatory] for every Afghan Muslim. The infidel invaders want to continue their military and ideological aggression against our country for ever. In achieving this nefarious design, everyone in the military and civil departments of the government is acceptable to, and respectable for, them, who is loyal to them. The police and mercenary National Army, the National Security [Department], information, academic, a nd training centers, which are based on the infidel Western principles [video shows personnel of Afghan Army receiving training] are those organs, which are working advertently and inadvertently for implementing and defending the targets of infidels in military and ideological fields. They consider mujahidin criminals, who are the real sons of the land ∧ are the suicide attackers of the battlefront of Islam. They intend to capture and eliminate them.

Islamic and national principles, values, and customs and traditions demand that all should help the suicide attackers and other holy warriors in any way they can, so that they reach the enemies of God in a better way and blow off their skulls. They should personally take part in the ongoing sacred jihad and if some one opposes this sacred jihad [video shows Karzai with US officials and military commanders] he will be left with neither faith nor freedom.

We call upon the personnel of the police, the mercenary Army that if they really consider themselves Muslims, they should establish and consolidate contacts with the mujahidin and carry out crushing attacks against the infidel invaders and savage forces and their slaves, or provide chances to the mujahidin to mount such attacks. [video shows an Afghan solider being garlanded by Taliban]

The Islamic Emirate recognizes such youths as heroes and considers them worthy of appreciation. However, if they are standing obedient in front of the infidel aggressors, facilitate them in their mission, serve as hurdles in the path of the mujahidin of God, check suicide attackers and their explosive-laden vehicles and hand them over to the infidels, work as spies for the infidels, do not allow the real scions of their nation -- the mujahidin and the suicide attackers -- to reach their targets, they will certainly become the target of attacks by the mujahidin and the suicide attackers. The personnel at the Segai police post in south of the provincial headquarters of Khost were among those betraying the nation and Islam, who, due to their nefarious acts, confronted themselves with our attacks and the result was like that:

[Video slide shows photo of suicide attacker Hafiz Ihsanullah with the description of his targeted attack on the police post in Segai area of Khost, in which he killed and injured a number of policemen. Ihsanullah is shown armed with a Kalashnikov]

[Ihsanullah] It is a matter of pleasure to sacrifice oneself for Islam. The infidels have committed aggression against Islam, desecrated the Koran and shot at it, made caricatures of Prophet Muhammad, and occupied Muslim countries.

[Jihadi song in the background] O Infidels! You will certainly be defeated with the succor of God. O Mujahidin! Maintain your unity. God willing, you will succeed.

[Video shows Ihsanullah being seen off by aides, boarding his vehicle, driving toward a compound and exploding his vehicle.]

[Concluding video slide reads: "Send your ideas and good advice for further improving the quantity and quality of the film, "Caravan of Ghazis," and healthy criticism of it to the management of Manba al-Jihad [at] manba_ul_jihad@. With the hope of complete freedom of the country and restoration of supremacy of Islam, Manba al-Jihad, 8 Zilhaj, 1431, middle of November, 2010.]

[Description of Source: Shumukh al-Islam Network in Arabic -- Salafi-jihadist, pro-Iraqi insurgency web forum with a focus on global jihad; established in April 2007; served as official online dissemination point for Al-Qa'ida and affiliate messaging since late 2008; URL: vb]

Pakistan: Afghan Taliban Say Nasiruddin Haqqani Living Abroad, Deny His Arrest

SAP20101225118001 Islamabad The News Online in English 25 Dec 10

[Report by staff correspondent: "Haqqani's son arrested by Pak agencies?"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR: Taliban sources and family members of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani on Thursday denied reports that Pakistani security agencies have arrested Nasiruddin Haqqani, the elder son of veteran Afghan leader Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani and an alleged fundraiser for the Haqqani network.

A section of national and international media, while quoting Pakistani intelligence agencies' sources, reported that he was captured a few days back. It said sleuths of the intelligence agencies took him into custody while he was travelling from Peshawar to North Waziristan Agency. Nasiruddin Haqqani is one of Jalaluddin Haqqani's several sons fighting the US-led forces across the border in Afghanistan. The US announced $5 million head money for Sirajuddin Haqqani in 2009 and also announced a reward for Nasiruddin Haqqani's capture. Some media reports termed his arrest as a great victory in the 'war against terror'. The UN in its report said Nasiruddin Haqqani was raising funds for the militant network to continue the fight against the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan.

Taliban and family sources of Haqqani denied the reports and said he was at a secure place outside Pakistan. "He wasn't in Pakistan. He had no links with Pakistan's security agencies or the Pakistani Taliban. Like other members of his family, Nasiruddin is actively involved in the Jihad against the US-led occupying forces in Afghanistan," said a source close to his family requesting anonymity.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of a widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Usually offers leading news and analysis on issues related to war against terrorism. Circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Pakistan Daily: Reported Arrest of Haqqani Network's Leader 'Locked in Shadows'

SAP20101227114004 Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English 27 Dec 10

[Editorial: "Fathers and Sons"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

Media reports of the arrest of the son of the aging leader of the Haqqani network, Jalaluddin Haqqani, come at a time when there has been increased pressure from Washington on Islamabad to go after the North Waziristan-based group thought to be responsible for many of the attacks on US-led security forces in Afghanistan. Details coming in are sketchy, but it is thought the man detained is Nasiruddin Haqqani. Accounts as to where Nasiruddin is being held vary.

The Haqqani network marks the line of rift between Washington and Islamabad on policy against militancy. The Pakistani establishment had evolved a close working relationship with the network during the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The Haqqanis are said also to retain a friendship with Pakistan military elements and, unlike other Taliban or al Qaeda affiliated groups, choose not to launch attacks in Pakistan. Their assault on forces inside Afghanistan, however, has led to fervent demands that a military operation be conducted in North Waziristan. The Pakistan military has so far remained reluctant to venture into this territory.

It is possible that, recognising this, a direct bid to nab Haqqani was made from Afghanistan. The episode so far, like much of the war on terror, is locked in shadows. There have been suggestions that Nasiruddin had recently completed a visit to the Gulf to collect funds for the militant cause. This pipeline of money needs to be blocked off. It is now obvious the Haqqani network is in the centre of US and Afghan actions against terrorism. How this eventually latches in with Pakistan's own efforts is something that will be closely watched over the coming days as more information begins to emerge about the arrest of a key Haqqani network leader.

[Description of Source: Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English -- Website of a newspaper partnered with the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times. It is part of the Lakson Group, which includes Daily Express and Express News Television in Urdu and Express 24/7 Television in English. The group's media wing has no known political affiliations and operates as a moderate, independent commercial media organization. The newspaper claims its mission is to defend "liberal values and egalitarian traditions"; URL: ]

Asia Times: 'US Bends to Pakistan's Wish'

CPP20110111715035 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0012 GMT 11 Jan 11

[Asia Times Report by M K Bhadrakumar: "US Bends To Pakistan's Wish"; headline as provided by source]

The unscheduled visit by United States Vice President Joe Biden to Islamabad this week underscores Washington's embarrassment and anxiety that it stands excluded from a regional initiative on Afghan peace process that could be about to take off. The rapid sequence of events over the past fortnight has taken Washington by surprise.

There have been so many difficult moments in the US-Pakistani relationship through the past nine years since the US invasion of Afghanistan. But Biden's mission can only be compared with the visit to Islamabad by the then-US secretary of state Colin Powellin mid-October 2001. If the Powell mission was seminal to the US invasion of Afghanistan, Biden's mission may well turn out to be formative in sowing the germane seeds of peace.

The trail leading Biden to Islamabad began in Istanbul on Christmas Eve when, as part of Ankara's three-year old initiative, Turkish President Abdullah Gul hosted a fifth summit meeting of the trilateral forum comprising his Pakistani and Afghan counterparts Asif Zardari and Hamid Karzai. The Turks take their mediatory role very seriously and have indeed met with some measure of success in bringing Kabul and Islamabad closer together as neighbors - an endeavor in which the US has repeatedly failed. But then, Turkey's credentials cannot be easily matched.

A home for the Taliban

Turkey is an "ally" of the US, Russia and Pakistan and a long-lost friend of China; it has "normalized" with Iran and Saudi Arabia and is an active Organization of the Islamic Conference member; Turkey has a claim over the "Turkic" heritage of Central Asia; Ankara maintains good equations with various Afghan groups and kept a line open to Taliban leadership in the late 1990s; Turkey is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization country with an International Security Assistance Force contingent that acquitted itself well; and Turkey is a generous donor for Afghan reconstruction.

Turkish foreign policy has become extremely innovative and ambitious. Ankara worked hard to bring Kabul and Islamabad together and it now aspires to scale audacious heights in the Hindu Kush.

Turkey is willing to allow the opening of a "representative office" of the Taliban on its soil. Karzai says the idea came from "dignitaries close to the Taliban". At any rate, it figured in the tripartite summit at Istanbul and Turkey and Pakistan voiced support. Interestingly, Taliban have not so far disowned it, either.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutglu later said, "We are ready to meet these expectations at every level. Turkey is closely following each step to be taken. We are ready to perform in Turkey in any process sought by the Afghan government and we are also ready to contribute to processes that may be under way outside Turkey."

Just before Karzai left Kabul for Istanbul, he deputed the head of the Afghan High Council for Peace (HCP), Burhanuddin Rabbani, (a former president) to visit Tehran. Within days, Tehran also had another important Afghan visitor, Mohammed Fahim, key figure in the erstwhile Northern Alliance and currently first vice president. (Curiously, a veteran "Afghan hand" from Moscow, Viktor Ivanov, former KGB general who heads the anti-narcotic agency in Russia, also arrived in Tehran at the same time as Fahim.)

Karzai obviously sounded out the Iranians on his project kick-starting the intra-Afghan dialogue. But Tehran's stance appears to be ambivalent, though its stated position is consistently that the continued presence of US troops is aggravating regional tensions. The visit by Fahim suggests that Tehran is keeping its options open. The recent fracas over Iran's petroleum supplies to Afghanistan also suggests some friction between Tehran and Kabul. The powerful speaker of the Iranian Majlis (parliament) Ali Larijani is due to visit Kabul shortly.

Ahead of his trip to Tehran, Rabbani also addressed a major regional peace jirga (council) at Nangarhar convened by the government, comprising over 800 delegates drawn from various Pashtun-dominated eastern provinces where Taliban are active. Rabbani exhorted the Taliban, "This is your country. Afghanistan is your country. Of course, everyone makes mistakes. We need to work together to fix those mistakes."

The jirga decided that the Taliban's reintegration must be in line with Islamic values. "Whatever we do here will be based on Islam," Rabbani said. The jirga took a significant decision that in the reconciliation process Taliban must be given the latitude to "deal with their fellow Afghans rather than with [US-led] coalition forces".

Pakistani turnaround

Following Karzai's return from Istanbul, things have speeded up. Last Tuesday, Rabbani led a 25-member delegation to Islamabad at the invitation of Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani. This signified a turnaround by Pakistan, which (and Taliban and Hezb-i-Islami) had been previously derisive about the HCP. Quite obviously, there has been some rethink in Islamabad.

In fact, Pakistani army chief General Parvez Kiani received Rabbani in Rawalpindi on Wednesday. The official press release said they discussed "matters of mutual interest". The fact that Kiani personally staked his prestige becomes very important.

The meeting in Rawalpindi signaled Pakistani military's endorsement of Rabbani's leadership role in any intra-Afghan dialogue. Far more important, however, it contained an unmistakable hint to Washington that with or without US involvement, a dialogue might well commence in a near future, Pakistan is going ahead with a regional initiative involving Karzai, as there is little time to lose, and it is in Washington's interest to be on the same page.

Pakistan has been critical of David Petraeus' surge strategy in Afghanistan and has refused to undertake operations in the North Waziristan tribal area despite repeated US urgings.

Karzai couldn't have made a better choice than Rabbani to spearhead the peace process as the latter has old links with the Taliban dating back to the jihad of 1980s. Pakistan's dealings with Rabbani go even further back to the mid-1970s predating the communist revolution. Rabbani is an Islamic scholar who has an appeal among the Islamic circles in Pakistan, especially the leadership of the Islam Pasand parties such as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. Rabbani belonged to the original "Peshawar Seven" during the jihad and had extensive dealings with Pakistani military and intelligence.

Rabbani is also a key Tajik leader heading the Jamiat-i-Islami and it is important to bring Tajiks on board any Afghan settlement. He is a veteran mujahideen leader enjoying wide networking with commanders like Jalaluddin Haqqani who are with the Taliban. Rabbani can be instrumental to putting up a bridge through which controversial figures like Jalaluddin could cross over to mainstream Afghan politics some day.

All-in-all, therefore, Kiani's decision to stake his prestige on Rabbani can be seen as a meaningful shift in the Pakistani strategy.

US fears 'exclusion'

The speed with which Kabul and Islamabad are pushing the proposal for intra-Afghan dialogue has taken the US by surprise. The US maintains that it is still premature to talk to the Taliban. Rabbani's mission to Islamabad, in particular, would have made Washington sit up. The US never took a real liking toward Rabbani due to his staunchly nationalist-Islamist streak, his off-and-on links with Iran and his virulent "anti-American" outlook, which he never cared to hide.

Washington senses "exclusion", while so much is happening. Ironically, it finds itself in the same boat as Tehran. The US acting special representative for Afghanistan Frank Ruggeiro's quick dash to Islamabad Thursday aimed at taking stock of the flow of events. Ruggeiro was shown full courtesies, including a meeting with Kiani, but Pakistan seems to have held the ground that talks must begin with the Taliban.

Swiftly following up on Ruggeiro's reccy trip, President Barack Obama has deputed Biden to forthwith proceed to Islamabad. Obama's choice of Biden makes careful study. Put simply, Biden has been arguing that Taliban do not pose any real threat to the US national security interests as such and a deal with them makes it possible to bring the war to an end.

Petraeus, on the other hand, hopes to intensify the military operations to degrade the Taliban to a point that they will crawl on their knees and sue for peace on US' terms. Petraeus is in it for the long haul whereas Biden is in great hurry.

There is widespread skepticism within the US security establishment over Petraeus' claim that his strategy is beginning to work. By nominating Biden to lead the mission to Islamabad, Obama seems to indicate he keeps an open mind.

Zardari is visiting Washington this week while Biden is rushing to Islamabad. The strange two-way traffic highlights the depth of US anxiety over the slide in US-Pakistan ties as also its admission that Kiani is the key interlocutor. The murder of the governor of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Salman Taseer, and its after-shocks on the Pakistani society and politics has only muddied the waters of the anxiety in the White House over the slide in US-Pakistan relations in the recent months.

Based on briefings by senior US officials, Washington Post has reported on the main elements of Biden's mission. They are:

Biden will seek a "frank exchange of views and priorities" with Kiani in terms of the Afghan endgame and the "long-term strategy for the region".

The US may not press for urgent commencement of Pakistani military operations in North Waziristan.

Biden will categorically assure that the US has no intentions of mounting cross-border military operations into Pakistani territory.

Biden will ascertain what Pakistan's needs, expectations and demands are in return for extending more cooperation in the war.

The US will offer a new assistance package with military, intelligence and economic components.

The US will strengthen troop presence on the Afghan side of the border with Pakistan and intensify intelligence-sharing arrangements with Pakistan on India's activities in Afghanistan.

The report estimated a "significant shift in [US] administration thinking" and Obama's inclination to join the peace process and recognize that Pakistan has an important role, "if not a dominant role", in reconciliation talks with the Taliban.

Washington is, in essence, making a virtue out of necessity, which is of course good politics almost always. Ideally, the US would have liked Pakistan to robustly supplement the US war effort. But the heart of the matter is that if and when intra-Afghan peace talks begin stemming from a regional initiative by Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey (and, perhaps, grudging Iranian acquiescence), the entire US position will cave in and the Obama administration will find itself in an absurd and untenable position of adamantly insisting on pursuing a war which neither the Afghan people nor the regional powers want.

Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar was a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service. His assignments included the Soviet Union, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Turkey.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

Pakistan: Former Intelligence Officer Col Imam Reported 'Dead' by his Kidnappers

SAP20110124103020 Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English 24 Jan 11

[Report by Qaiser Butt: "Col Imam executed?"]

ISLAMABAD: A former officer of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Sultan Amir Tarar, better known as Colonel Imam, has reportedly been killed by the Taliban on Sunday.

Though there is no official confirmation of his death, sources close to his family say they were informed about Col Imam's killing by intelligence sources.

Col Imam, along with another former ISI official Squadron Leader (retd) Khawaja Khalid and British journalist Asad Qureshi, was seized by a lesser known Taliban group, Asian Tigers, while travelling to the North Waziristan tribal region on March 26, 2010.

Qureshi was released in September after paying a ransom of Rs20 million, while Khawaja was executed by his captors.

Gen (retd) Hameed Gul, a former ISI chief and a colleague of Col Imam, told the media that the kidnappers wanted to swap the two former spies with the terrorists who were arrested in connection with two high-profile terrorist hits in Rawalpindi.

Gul said the US and its private security firm Blackwater Xe could be involved in Col Imam's abduction. However, he voiced doubt over the news of his killing. "I think it is a drama. The situation will become clear in the next couple of days," he added.

Col Imam was reportedly killed by his captors and the body was dumped in the Dandi Darpakhel area, close to Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan Agency.

Nonetheless, local residents said they have not seen the body.

A senior security official in Peshawar also refused to confirm the slaying. "We also have reports of his death, but we cannot confirm it," the official told The Express Tribune.

Another Peshawar-based intelligence official also refused to confirm the report. "The Dandi Darpakhel area is adjacent to government quarters in the region dotted with security checkpoints. If there was any such thing, it would have been in our knowledge," he added.

However, a relative of Col Imam told the media that intelligence sources had informed them about the incident.

Col Imam and Khawaja said in a video message released by the Taliban a month after their abduction that they were sent to Afghanistan by former army chief Gen (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg and former ISI chief Gen (retd) Hameed Gul.

The abductors had initially demanded the release of two arrested Taliban leaders - Mullah Kabir and Mullah Mansoor Dadullah - in exchange for the freedom of the two former ISI officials. The demand was made in an email sent to several Pakistani media outlets.

But later they added more demands and called for the release of those terrorists who were in custody of Pakistan's security agencies in connection with attacks on the GHQ and Parade Line Mosque of Rawalpindi.

According to reports, Mullah Omar, the reclusive Taliban mentor, himself had campaigned for the release of Col Imam. It was due to Mullah Omar's intervention that the Taliban did not kill Col Imam for several months, a source close to the Taliban told The Express Tribune.

The source also claimed that Col Imam had brokered a peace deal between the military and the Haqqani network chief Jalaluddin Haqqani, much before his arrest.

Col Imam had played a key role in training the Afghan Mujahideen during the Afghan jihad. He was in charge of the Mujahideen activities in different parts of Afghanistan. He maintained close ties with Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders in Afghanistan and Waziristan.

"Mullah Omar and the Taliban are highly respected Muslim leaders," Imam had said in an interview to a television channel, last year.

During his captivity, Col Imam had written several letters to Gen (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg and Lt-Gen Hameed Gul and some politicians to plead for his release.

Col Imam was a bitter critic of the United States which, he said, had left the Afghan mujahideen in the lurch after the defeat of the Soviet forces in the late 1980s.

A special warfare operation specialist, Col Imam had also once served as Pakistan's consul general at Herat, in Afghanistan.

With additional reporting by Manzoor Ali in Peshawar

[Description of Source: Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English -- Website of a newspaper partnered with the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times. It is part of the Lakson Group, which includes Daily Express and Express News Television in Urdu and Express 24/7 Television in English. The group's media wing has no known political affiliations and operates as a moderate, independent commercial media organization. The newspaper claims its mission is to defend "liberal values and egalitarian traditions"; URL: ]

Pakistan: TTP Chief To Face Resistance in Area If Col Imam Really Dead

SAP20110124115003 Karachi Ummat in Urdu 24 Jan 11

[Report by Saifullah Khalid: "Demnand of Millions of Rupees and Release of Detained Comrades Made for Handing Over Col Imam's Body"]

Report about the martyrdom of Amir Sultan Tarar alias Colonel Imam, former ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] officer, who was under the detention of Hakimullah Mehsud, chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP], could not be confirmed. Mehsud's negotiators have said over wireless that Col Imam is no more in this world. However, they are neither ready to hand over the dead body nor to show it some impartial party. Rather, they have surprisingly demand 20 million rupees [PRe] and other facilities for handing over the body.

The sources keeping a vigil on FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Areas] situation had received report about the killing of Col Imam on 22 January afternoon but it could not be confirmed. However, a detainee, released from the detention of Mehsud on 22 January, categorically said that no such incident had taken place, because of which the report was treated as a rumor. However, the report again came on 23 January morning and when those remaining in contact with the abductors of Col Imam tried to ascertain the situation by establishing a contact with them, their contact was disconnected with only one sentence: There are rumors afloat in Miran Shah and its surrounding areas that Col Imam has died of heart attack three days ago and he has been buried as a trust Islamic practice of temporary burial. However, the report could not be confirmed.

However, the negotiators of Mehsud have told the group making contacts for Imam's release that the body can be handed over to it if it pays PRe 20 million and release 15 persons from the list, which they have forwarded in this connection. The negotiators were told that talks are not possible on their demand as long as they do not show the body to any impartial person. However, the abductors did not agree to that. This debate was continuing when a body was recovered on a roadside in Darpakhel area [North Waziristan], about which some people spread the rumors that it was that of Col Imam. However, it was the dead body of a person locally abducted and killed on the charge of espionage.

Col Imam was abducted on 26 March 2010 when he had proceeded to North Waziristan with Khalid Khawaja, another former officer of the ISI, and Assad Qureshi, a British TV journalist. They had been abducted by such a militant group in Danday, Darpakhel, which named itself as Asian Tiger and its spokesman, Usman Punjabi, had formerly severed ties with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi [LeJ] and later with the Ilyas Kashmiri group.

Later, Khalid Khawaja was killed and his dead body thrown on a roadside on 30 April 2010, which was brought to Islamabad for burial. After the killing of Khalid Khawaja, Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, while realizing the sensitivity of the situation, intervened in the matter and Hafiz Gul Bahadur, the powerful commander of North Waziristan-based Wazir tribe, besieged the abductors and demanded the release of Colonel Imam and Assad Qureshi but it was not possible due to some reasons. However, the protection of these persons was ensured through a local jirga [assembly of tribal elders].

However, the negotiations continued when a report came that in fact the abductors' group worked under Sabir, a criminal person from Mehsud tribe while Usman was his accomplice. A dispute cropped up among them on the issue that by killing Khalid Khawaja, Usman had spoiled the ransom of PRe 20 million. When the dispute grew further, Sabir called Usman and his accomplices to his hujra [guest house in Pashtun society] and killed them, giving the incident the color of a clash.

After that, the Waziristan-based commanders, including Badr Mansur, Ilyas Kashmiri, Saifullah Akhtar, Qari Zafar, and Asmatullah Muawiya, pressured the TTP that Sabir should be punished for killing his guests after giving them shelter, to which the TTP Shura [council] proposed death penalty for him and the activists of Caravan-e Hakimullah, the personal group of Hakimullah, killed Sabir and another of his accomplices. P rior to his killing, Sabir had released Assad Qureshi and his driver in lieu for PRe 20 million rupees ransom in September and, according to a source, 5 millions of this amount had also been paid to Hakimullah. Later, when the other groups collectively raised the issue in the Shura-e mujahidin [TTP council], Hakimullah decided to kill Sabir, so to avoid the allegation leveled against him and also he got his condition accepted that he would keep Col Imam in his own detention.

The sources claim that the Gul Bahadur group has told Hakimullah in categorical terms that it will not tolerate any harm caused to the life of Col Imam.

Several months ago, the process of negotiations was again started and Hakimullah group demanded PRe 50 million and release of 50 prisoners for the release of Col Imam, on which negotiations were in progress. The ransom money was reduced to 30 million rupees and the number of prisoners to be released to 15 in the negotiations a week ago. The talks were still continuing and their demands being considered when the report of his Col Imam's] killing came on 22 January.

The present situation is that at local level too, Hakimullah group is trying to keep the issue secret and is demanding ransom for the dead body. In this connection, sources negotiating the issue with Hakimullah group say that the situation is complicated. The circumstances do not endorse the killing of Col Imam, because, number one, their demand was under consideration. Number two, in the case of Col Imam's killing, Hakimullah group would have to face pressure, because in that case, all regional forces, including Hafiz Gul Bahadur and the Afghan Taliban, would take action against it, where as TTP Chief Mufti Waliur Rehman in Mehsud group, would also not tolerate the killing. Therefore, if Hakimullah group's wireless message is taken as correct that Col Imam is no more alive, it will mean that he has fallen prey to some drone strike, or his death has occurred due to heart attack, as the other members of Hakimullah group are saying repeatedly. The second possibility is more likely, because the team, which had proceeded for negotiations last week, had come to know that Col Imam had suffered from cardiac pain and he had finished his medicines while the abductor group was not providing him with more medicines.

The sources brokering a deal with Hakimullah group say that the issue of confirmation of Col Imam's death is becoming doubtful with the passage of time, because his burial has not been confirmed. They are not showing the body to any one. It is very much possible that they are staging the drama to extort money while Col Imam is still alive. It is also possible that he has died and the group is thinking to extort money in ransom for his dead body.

Local journalistic circles in North Waziristan say that important people of Hakimullah group are not visible on the scene since Saturday. Their wireless sets are silent and other contacts have also vanished while nobody knows as to where these people, including Hakimullah, are. This situation adds to the possibility that Col Imam is no more alive. In addition to Gul Bahadur and Waliur Rehman, the other groups in FATA also view this situation with concern. The worst opposed is the demand for payment of ransom for the dead body. There is a wait unless the situation becomes totally clear and if Col Imam is really not present in this world, then Hakimullah group can face resistance in his area.

In the mean time, people continue to visit the residence of Col Imam to express sorrow over the situation. Gen Hamid Gul and other former senior military officers also visited his house. Major Noman, his son, refuses to accept condolences and is awaiting a final report.

[Description of Source: Karachi Ummat in Urdu -- Sensationalist, pro-Usama Bin Ladin Urdu daily. Harshly critical of the US, Israel, and India. Propagates Muslim unity to counter US/Western influence. Circulation 20,000. Editor-publisher Rafiq Afghan is an Afghan war veteran.]

Pakistan: Mystery Prevails Over Col Imam's Mysterious Death

SAP20110124122029 Rawalpindi Nawa-e Waqt in Urdu 24 Jan 11 1, 5

[Report by Javed Siddiq: "Col Imam Was an Architect of Afghan Jihad Against Soviet Union"]

Islamabad -- Colonel Sultan Amir Tarar, code named Colonel Imam, was an architect of jihad against the erstwhile Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Col Tarar belonged to the Special Services Group [SSG] of Pakistan. He was among the first few ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] officers who were assigned the responsibility of training Afghan mujahidin for guerilla warfare against the Soviet troops when they entered Afghanistan in 1979. It was Col Imam who had trained Mullah Omar and several other renowned Afghan mujahidin who commanded the US and NATO forces [as published].

Col Imam belonged to Chakwal. He got commission in the Pakistan Army in 1974. He joined 15-FF [ 15 Frontier Force] Regiment of the Pakistan Army and later on joined the SSG commandoes. He also served as additional director of the Military Intelligence. Col Imam had also got training as commander of guerilla war. He had got guerilla training from Fort Bragg, a military training institute in North Carolina, the United States. He had got training shoulder to shoulder with the US commandoes in the United States in 1974. Col Imam also got "Green Beret," following commando training in the United States.

Col Imam had played a pivotal role in defeating the Soviet troops at the hands of Islamic mujahidin. Following the Soviet troops'' defeat in Afghanistan, he was invited to the White House and President George Bush Sr gave him a piece of the Berlin Wall with an inscription " To the one who dealt the first blow." This piece of the Berlin Wall is still placed at Col Imam's drawing room.

Majority of the Taliban leaders regard Colonel Imam as their teacher. He turned against the United States following the US attack on Afghanistan in September 2011. He started openly supporting the Taliban. He gave several interviews to media in which he supported the Taliban. When a Taliban faction kidnapped him in 2010, there was a perception that the Taliban would release him. However, Col Imam's murder after that of Khalid Khwaja is quite surprising. Mullah Omar, Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son also made hectic efforts for Col Imam's release. However, the faction that kidnapped him did not listen to any of them.

Col Imam received Sitara-e-Jurat, Tamgha-e-Basalat, and Sitara-e-Imtiaz Military for his military services. Following his retirement from the Pakistan Army, he also served as Pakistani consular general in Herat.

[Description of Source: Rawalpindi Nawa-e Waqt in Urdu -- Privately owned, widely read, conservative Islamic daily, with circulation around 125,000. Harshly critical of the US and India.]

Afghanistan: Militant Commander Haqqani Says Signs of US Defeat Evident

SAP20110131618004 Taliban Voice of Jihad Online in Pashto 11 Dec 06

[Interview with Alhaj Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, Jihadist Commander of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, by an Unidentified Correspondent]

Respected Readers:

In connection with the completion of the fifth year of the Crusaders invasion of Afghanistan, we are interviewing Alhaj Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani (May he remain in peace), a well known Jihadist personality, famous Jihadist leader, and an able commander on the southern front of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, about the recent military and political developments in the country. Mr Haqqani has thoroughly analyzed the current situation, along with describing his own Jihadist activities and severe security issues. It is presented here for your attention.

[Correspondent]: Mr Haqqani! It has been five years since the US attack on Afghanistan. What, in your view, are the achievements of the US during these five years in Afghanistan?

[Haqqani]: In the name of God; praise be to God, and peace be upon His prophet and his followers, after that:

Respected Readers!

First of all, I want to congratulate my Muslim Mujahid nation and the whole Islamic Ummah upon the complete defeat of the United States and its Crusader allies in Afghanistan.

Praise is to God. They have not only faced complete failure on the military and political fronts during the last five years; they have also suffered heavy strikes on a daily basis in every corner of the country at the hands of the Mujahidin of this Muslim nation. Many of their military resources have been destroyed and dozens of soldiers have been sent back in their coffins to their countries at the end of every single day.

In short, it can be said that the United States, fully equipped with advanced resources, has seen its defeat very early as compared to the Russians, who saw it after ten years. This defeat is not only the defeat of the Americans; rather it is the defeat of all of their Crusader colleagues, who have not been able to achieve anything politically or militarily, during their invasion. Their only achievement is the useless spending of a countless number of millions of dollars, and the sending of thousands of soldiers, in their coffins, towards their countries on daily basis. That's all.

[Correspondent]: Mr Haqqani! As you said that dozens of soldiers are being sent back to their countries in their coffins on a daily basis, similarly, they have not achieved anything on the political front in Afghanistan as well. But, the US President Bush and the newly elected authorities of the democratic parties have talked about sending more troops to Afghanistan. How do you analyze this view?

[Haqqani]: Bush and the US political authorities are like that gambler whose blood becomes more passionate for gambling with increasing defeats against their opponent, and who keeps on making more efforts by gambling more and more in pursuit of a degraded victory, but at the end faces defeat and loses his whole self. "The Unbelievers spend their wealth to hinder (man) from the path of Allah, and so will they continue to spend; but in the end they will have (only) regrets and sighs; at length they will be overcome: and the Unbelievers will be gathered together to Hell." [Koranic Verse, Al-Anfal, 8:36]

The defeat of the United States and its allies is an undeniable fact which they themselves acknowledge. It is not a defeat in our words only. In my view, a great secret of God is hidden in this huge stupidity of the United States, because He [God] wants to get yet another proud imperialist, of the present age, defeated at the hands of the oppressed and empty-handed Afghans. In this way, He [God] wants to honor the Afghan Muslims, backward people in the eyes of the whole world, for defeating three infidel civilizations in two adjoining ages. "And We wished to be Gracious to those who were being depressed in the land, to make them leaders (in Faith) and make them heirs." [Koranic Verse, Al-Qasas 28:5]

[Correspondent]: Mr Haqqani! Karzai, head of the puppet government in Kabul, has recently invited you for reconciliation, what is your reaction to that?

[Haqqani]: As I have told you earlier that all these things are the signs of the defeat of the United States. And this defeat has forced them to recall so many things. These people, who are invited for peace talks by the US employee Karzai, were wanted in the black list of the Americans. Millions of dollars were announced for the head of every single person. Efforts were made to arrest them. What happened today, that the Americans have acquitted them from all the accusations, the prize money for their heads has been lifted, and like the real leaders of the nation, invitations of peace and dialogue are offered to them? This is on the one hand, while on the other hand, Karzai does not have the ability to invite anyone for peace; he has been delegated as a mean American employee for the Afghan people. Interference in problems of such grand nature is beyond the capability and authority of Karzai.

[Correspondent]: Mr Haqqani! Nowadays, a variety of solutions are presented on a national and international level for establishing peace in Afghanistan by solving the Afghan conflict. There are discussions about this issue in meetings inside the country, as well as outside in neighboring countries. How much effect do you consider these steps will have on this part of the world?

[Haqqani]: In my view, I do not agree with the use of the word conflict for the present issue in Afghanistan. Or, in other words, I do not consider it appropriate to use the word conflict for the present situation in Afghanistan because according to the actual meaning of this word, conflict stands for a dispute among several countries, where everyone claims ownership, considers its claim as real, and gives arguments... But, there is no such issue in Afghanistan as everything is as clear as the day. Afghanistan belongs to the Afghans. It is the country of Muslims, which has been invaded by the foreign American Crusaders and their allies. They have spread insecurity in the country. They martyr dozens of innocent Afghans on a daily basis. They destroy their houses... The only way towards a solution is that these invaders should pull out from Afghanistan with honor, and they should leave this Islamic country to its real owners. If they do not follow this, then many such scoundrels in history have been forced to flee Afghanistan by the Afghans, with the power of their swords. The British and Russians are the living examples of such occurrences.

[Correspondent]: Mr Haqqani! Many people think that after the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan, there would be bloodshed in the country for political authority, as was the case at the time of the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the country. What is your view about that?

[Haqqani]: There were 15 different political organizations at the time of the Russian withdrawal from Afghanistan. And all of them had the desire for political authority in the country due to a variety of political reasons. They had forgotten the sacred purpose of Jihad. But that is not the case today, as the present scenario is different from that situation in two ways:

Firstly: In the present situation, there exists only one Islamic Emirate as compared to the 15 different organizations at that time. According to followers of Jihad and the government, it [Islamic Emirate] has been successful in the country as compared to the past.

Secondly: The present Afghans have learnt a lot from their bitter experiences in the past. I can say with surety that the unpleasant incidents of the past will not be repeated this time (God willing).

[Correspondent]: Mr Haqqani! How do you rate the success of the resistance against the invaders?

[Haqqani]: Praise be to God. The resistance of the Mujahidin, against the invaders, has been going on with great pace. As a result, they have been forced to leave many parts of the country. All parts in the southwest, except the capital of Helmand province, have been freed from the occupation of the NATO and its allied forces. Americans have been forced to think about v acating most of the areas in Nuristan province, located in the east. Most parts of the southern province of Khost have been evacuated from the Americans, during the last 10 or 11 months. Besides, the media in the west and the rest of the world have been acknowledging the defeats of the American forces on daily basis, which is itself a proof of the complete defeat of the Americans, and the victory of the Mujahidin fighting against them.

[Correspondent]: How do you see the situation in Afghanistan if the foreign invaders pull out from the country?

[Haqqani]: Sovereignty and steadfastness are the great gifts of God. Sovereignty is of great value for everyone, but it is of greater worth for the Afghans, who have sacrificed their lives for achieving it, and are giving sacrifices, even now. At the moment, when the sacred entity of our country is under the foreign invasion, it is a great trouble on us. The believers always pray: "Our Lord! Make us not a trial for those who practice oppression." [Koranic verse, Yunus, 10:85] "And deliver us by Thy Mercy from those who reject (Thee)." [Koranic verse, Yunus, 10:86]

The only way to get out of this trouble is Jihad. This trouble can be eliminated with Jihad only. Not only the Afghans, but the Muslims around the whole world can get rid of this trouble by means of Jihad. May God remove this trouble from our country. May the whole Muslim nation of this country get freedom as a result of their sacrifices, so that they may make a system, in accordance with the orders of the sacred book of God almighty, which would guarantee peace, prosperity, and honor. Then Afghanistan would become a long-lasting, independent and sovereign state of the world, while the Afghans would work for the reconstruction of their country under the shadow of independence (According to the orders of God).

[Correspondent]: Mr Haqqani! In this last question, what message would you give to the Muslims around the world?

[Haqqani]: According to the saying of God, "And what happened to you that you do not fight in the way of God." I remind all the Muslims that it is a very big achievement that the proudest of the world is almost on its knees due to the resistance of the Mujahidin of Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir, and Somalia. Collective effort on the part of the Muslims around the world is required to complete this grand deed. This is required for the Jihad. This is required for sacrifices and martyrdom. And this is the only way for the Muslims of the whole world to get rid of the hold of the Crusaders of the world. That is all. "And say: Work (righteousness): Soon will Allah observe your work, and His Messenger, and the Believers: Soon will ye be brought back to the knower of what is hidden and what is open: then will He show you the truth of all that ye did." [Koranic verse, At-Tauba, 9:105]

And may God's peace and mercy be upon you

[TALINTER]

[Description of Source: Taliban Voice of Jihad Online in Pashto -- presents the anti-Western, anti-Afghan government views of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban umbrella organization under Mullah Omar. Principally directed toward the Afghan diaspora, foreign readers, and the small Afghan elite with access to the Internet]

Pakistan: Report Discusses Impact of Haqqanis Brokering Kurram Agency Peace Deal

SAP20110219118020 Karachi Dawn Online in English 19 Feb 11

[Report by staff correspondent: "Kurram deal Haqqanis' Afghan insurance policy"]

ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: No doubt, the Kurram peace deal, which has eased tension in the valley and ended the four-year blockade of the main Thall-Parachinar road and caused jubilation among tribesmen, but it is yet to be seen how long the pact holds ground and helps to maintain normalcy in the region.

It is an open secret that the Haqqani group, one of the outfits on the most wanted list of the US government, brokered the deal between sectarian factions. Commander Jalaluddin Haqqani's younger brothers - Ibrahim and Khalil - played a key role in brokering the agreement.

While Haqqani's efforts for restoration of peace in this strategically important part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) have amazed local population, it has worried the Afghan government.

When Haqqani group's contacts with the dominant Turi tribe in Kurram Agency were reported in the national and international media, senior officials of the Afghan government contacted elders and expressed concerns over the possibility of 'some concessions' being given to the group for strategic purposes in return for lifting the blockade of the area.

Before the deal was announced, the Afghan authorities invited local elders for talks which were held in Afghanistan's Paktia province. A senior Afghan official conveyed the concerns about the Haqqani group being provided some space in Kurram. "We dismissed Afghan government's apprehensions," said a source privy to the meeting. The Afghan official was told that the Haqqani group neither demanded any facilities nor the Turis were willing to give their territory to be used for launching activities across the border.

Background interviews and information gathered from various sources reveal that the Haqqani network is the main guarantor of the deal. The security establishment was on board and facilitated the process. In fact the six-point peace agreement was signed in Murree in October 2008, but its implementation was withheld for some unknown reasons.

Two parliamentarians from Kurram deposited Rs40 million with the Haqqanis as surety, according to the sources. Under the deal, the government also pledged a compensation package to win over the local people.

The banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), one of the major actors in the three-year bloodshed, has accepted the deal, reportedly half-heartedly.

The sources said the TTP was not in favour of the agreement, but Commander Fazal Saeed, in-charge of the banned group, finally bowed to pressure and announced support for the deal at a press conference.

According to one source, Commander Fazal, who carries a head money of Rs5 million, was given a stern warning - "Either you are with us or with the other side (TTP)."

Kurram has been returning to normality since the announcement of the agreement. People have started travelling on the Thall-Parachinar Road without security convoys. Members of the tribal jirga headed by former federal minister Waris Khan Afridi are shuttling between Parachinar and Sadda discussing modalities for the complete implementation of the deal. But long-term prospects of the deal are still unclear. The return of the internally displaced families, their rehabilitation and compensation to be paid to them are major issues which require lots of patience and resources.

Haqqanis' expectations

What can be the motives of the Haqqani group in reaching the peace deal? Sources said that during negotiations the Haqqani brothers never demanded any concession in return for opening the main road.

"Sure, Haqqanis have admitted that situation in Kurram had affected their cause in Afghanistan, but never sought route or passage through Upper Kurram," said one source involved in the talks.

The Haqqani group started mediation between the elders of Turi and Bangash tribes in early 2009 when militants lost Bagzai, their main stronghold in Lower Kurram. Negotiations, however, remained inconclusive.

Residents of Upper and Lower Kurram were given some con cessions, including a partial opening of the main highway and resumption of chartered flights between Peshawar and Parachinar.

But at the same time, the border with Afghanistan in Upper and Lower Kurram was sealed and supply of food items, fuel and other essential goods was stopped. Convoys were attacked on the Thall-Parachinar Road.

The sources said that clashes in Shalozan Tungi area near the Afghan border in September 2010 was the turning point.

"Shalozan was their (militants) last hope, which they thought could put them into a bargaining position," they said, "but they failed again," adding that when all options of subduing the local population failed the strategy was changed.

An elder who is familiar with recent arrangements said that the Haqqani network undertook initiatives for restoration of peace in Kurram Agency against the backdrop of growing understanding between President Hamid Karzai and those who had influence over Pakistan's Afghan policy.

Now, an option for securing stakes for the Haqqani network in Afghanistan's future political settlement is being reviewed at the highest level. The option is to give the group some share in power in Afghanistan's southern provinces, which will end violence in the volatile Kurram Agency.

About the Haqqani network's offers, the elder said that even its affiliates would help the government in maintaining peace in Hangu and Dera Ismail Khan districts, which are facing the worst type of sectarian violence.

To that end, the Haqqani network will use its influence over rouge sectarian elements, which are part of their operations, to end attacking innocent civilians. "If the formula works in Kurram then it can be replicated in other troubled areas," he remarked.

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

Pakistan: Article Lauds Army Officer Col Imam for Role in Afghan Jihad

SAP20110222109004 Islamabad Jinnah in Urdu 22 Feb 11 p 3

[Article by Hafiz Tahir Mahmud Ashrafi: "Why Silence on Col Imam's Killing"]

I am sorry to say that whatever has happened regarding the issue of Colonel Imam, it should not have happened. Although I am not certain about it, the evidences are clarifying that Col Imam has passed away. I have nothing to say about who was Col Imam, what he did, and what his mission was, if he had one. I am only interested in the fact that he was associated with the Afghan jihad since his youth to old age.

Several Taliban leaders, including Mullah Omar, paid homage to him more than their mentors. Khalid Khawaja who took Col Imam to the tribal regions has also died and now Col Imam has also died. This hardihood [author] had been silent on the issue of Col Imam for the past one month. My heart did not accept that Col Imam would have been killed, and despite all of these reports, I did not have the courage to write about Col Imam's killing. I had no relation with Col Imam except that he opposed the United States and supported the Afghan Taliban. I am also of the same opinion. However, whatever that has happened is unacceptable.

Darul Uloom Haqqani, which is called the school of the Taliban, where there is Maulana Samiul Haq, who is called the Taliban godfather by the Westerners, to whom I talked on the night of 21 February about this incident. He is also sorrowful about this tragedy. The journal Majallatul Haq [Right Journal], a monthly published from Darul Haqqania, has published a full page on this tragedy. I present some lines to the readers.

Although several chapters and fronts of the jihad fought against the Russian imperialism are memorable and several of them are just planted, some people are there who remained associated with the Afghan jihad and the Taliban movement for several years because of their strong determination, jihadist spirit, and sacrificing character. It is hard to find their examples in the history.

Col Imam was the same figure who practically did a lot for the Afghan jihad. He was at the forefront of all movements, whether there were political, military, or other issues. At every front, every turn, and every critical juncture, he performed services for the public of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, he could not get the fame and status that he deserved. He was a simple and humble man. He was a great man, saint, mujahidin, and saintly figure. He was abducted by an unidentified group in Waziristan for ransom. The Pakistani Government and particularly Inter-Services Intelligence [ISI] did not make serious and sincere efforts for his release. Therefore, he remained in their custody for two years. His family was also unable to pay the ransom, as he left nothing for them.

He could not get his share from corruption, illegitimate earning, and particularly billions of dollars from the Afghan jihad. Therefore, he was killed. Moreover, he was also the "most hated" person for the United States. Therefore, his agency did not make efforts or paid ransom, nor appropriate efforts are being seen for the recovery of his body.

Col Imam's martyrdom and the helplessness of his agency are regrettable and condemnable. Had somebody else served some other country in such a way, what would his government and agency have not done? Most of the outfits associated with Afghanistan have announced their disassociation from his abduction and martyrdom. It is not unknown as to what type of treatment was meted out to him and at whose behest. However, all Muslims of Pakistan and Afghanistan associated with the Afghan jihad are sad about this tragedy and pray for his lofty status in the life hereafter. It was his strong desire to embrace martyrdom and remain at the front and that was fulfilled.

The Afghan Taliban would also have to break their silence on the issue of Col Imam. Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani and Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, who live in the hearts of the jihadists, should also adopt a clear stance on this issue. I want to convey this to Mullah Omar and Usama Bin Ladin for the first time with my broken heart as what is this a ll. People who love the jihadists are being put to test. Are people fulfilling this wish to further weaken Pakistan by paving the way for operation in North Waziristan? Are people engaged in this are hell-bent on isolating the mujahidin in Afghanistan?

I do not make tall claims, nor do I think my articles are important. However, when a blast occurred in Meena Bazar, Peshawar, from Mustafa Abu Yazi to Azam Tariq, spokesman of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP], announced their disassociation in response to my article. Is it possible that that the Afghan Taliban and Al-Qa'ida should take a clear position and cheer up people harboring love with the jihad and jihadists? If it is not possible, I will have to say that this incident has grieved the Muslims.

Muslims' hearts are in grief because of this accident with Col Imam. They did not get encouragement from this incident; however, they have got discouraged. They are now thinking whether the position they adopted after 9/11 is wrong. To conclude, to clear the position of Col Imam, I want to say that had he been benefiting from the ISI, it would have seriously deliberated on his release. He used to speak against the policies of the government and Army after 9/11 day in and day out. He used to call himself a sinner and the pious and angels to the Taliban. Has Col Imam been punished for this?

The issue of Col Imam is serious and sorrowful. May God bless his family with patience and raise his status. I request to the Taliban leaders, who love jihad and jihadists, to immediately hand over the body of Col Imam to his family. They should at least reduce their pain of the martyrdom of Col Imam by acting on it without any further delay. May God bless Col Imam with high status in paradise and bless us with true understanding of Islam. It is possible that had he died a natural death, there would not have been anyone to remember him. However, now his own people and others all are grieved over his death. His killers are happy. People who used to tell him not to support them are saying that he was to meet this end. I request to all readers at this stage that they should pray to God to bless us with patience to write true and say the truth.

The state of helplessness and fear is that just Darul Uloom Haqqania has thought it appropriate to write on the issue of Col Imam. May God have mercy on us.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Jinnah in Urdu -- Daily owned by a prominent businessman who is mainly involved in real estate business and said to be close to military high-ups. Carries good investigative reports and conducts surveys on relevant issues. Editorials are harshly critical of US policies. Recently Jinnah has adopted sensationalist reporting and tends to splash corruption stories out of proportion. Editor Khushnood Ali Khan strongly criticizes Musharraf in his daily columns.]

Al : Background: Who Are the Taliban?

GMP20110309966105 Doha Al in English 1631 GMT 09 Mar 11

["Background: Who Are the Taliban?" -- Al Jazeera net Headline]

[ Computer selected and disseminated without OSC editorial intervention ]

(AL JAZEERA NET) -

With Afghan president Hamid Karzai pushing a reconciliation program that would bring elements of the Afghan insurgency into the government, there is a lot of talk about "the Taliban" - its motivations and goals.

But there are actually several main groups that comprise the Afghan insurgency, only one of which calls itself "the Taliban". All three share a hostility to the US and Nato presence in Afghanistan, but they have differing leadership and goals, and exercise varying degrees of co-operation. A brief primer: Quetta Shura TalibanNamed after the Pakistani city where it is believed to be headquartered, the Quetta Shura consists of much of the senior leadership from the Taliban movement, which ruled Afghanistan until 2001.

Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders are believed to be in Pakistan [Al Jazeera]

Mullah Mohammed Omar - the Taliban's "commander of the faithful" - heads the organisation, which routinely stages attacks against Nato forces in Afghanistan.

The Quetta Shura also runs a "shadow government" in Afghanistan. High-level members of the group serve as "governors" in 33 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, according to US intelligence officials; Taliban fighters collect taxes, operate a parallel judicial system, and man checkpoints along the roads.

The Taliban has shown slight interest in dialogue with Kabul, and several high-ranking members were reportedly holding quiet talks with the Karzai government last year. But the February arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Omar's deputy, has sparked a leadership crisis within the organisation and stalled that dialogue. Kai Eide, the former head of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan, has said that Baradar's arrest hurt the prospect of talks with the Taliban. Hezb-i-Islami

Hezb-i-Islami ("Islamic Party") is often called a "Taliban" group, but it actually predates the latter by more than a decade. The party was founded in 1975 by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who would later serve a brief stint as prime minister of Afghanistan; it played a key role in helping to expel the Soviets from Afghanistan.

The movement eventually split in two. One branch, a non-violent political party, now controls more than a dozen seats in the Afghan parliament and claims to be independent from Hekmatyar. The other remained loyal to Hekmatyar; it's often referred to as the Hezb-i-Islami Gulbuddin (or HiG, for short), and claims to command several thousand fighters in eastern Afghanistan.

Of the three insurgent groups, HiG is the one most willing to publicly talk about negotiations with Kabul. Representatives of Hekmatyar's movement met with Afghan officials in March and presented a 15-point "peace plan", which calls for the withdrawal of foreign forces, a cease-fire and a prisoner release. General Michael Flynn, the head of US intelligence in Afghanistan, has called Hekmatyar "absolutely salvageable".

But HiG leaders have been talking for years about reconciliation with Kabul, with little to show for it. Hekmatyar publicly spurned last week's peace jirga, and members of his organisation tell Al Jazeera they won't negotiate until foreign forces leave. And any talk of rehabiliating Hekmatyar is deeply unwelcome to many Afghan citizens who suffered through decades of human rights abuses committed by Hekmatyar's militia, most notably his incessant rocketing of Kabul in 1994.

Haqqani network

Finally there is the so-called Haqqani network, the eponymous organisation named after its leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son run the network from Pakistan [GALLO/GETTY]

Jalaluddin and his son, Sirajuddin Haqqani, are believed to live in Pakistan's North Waziristan province. They operate mostly in eastern Afghanistan, particularly in the provinces of Paktia, Paktika, Khost and Ghazni.

The group is responsible for some of Afghanistan's highest-profile attacks, including a January 2008 attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul - a favorite expat haunt - and an April 2008 assassination attempt against Afghan president Hamid Karzai. US and Nato commanders have called Haqqani their greatest strategic threat in Afghanistan.

Haqqani also maintains extensive connections to Pakistan's security services, which views the Haqqani network as a strategic asset against neighbouring India.

Afghanistan's insurgents are motivated by a complicated mix of grievances, but fighters in the Haqqani network reportedly have a more ideological bent than other groups. Anand Gopal, a Kabul-based journalist, has reported that "a significant proportion of Haqqani fighters double as madrassa students".

Pakistani Taliban

Across the border, meanwhile, the Pakistani Taliban's umbrella organisation - the Tehrik-i-Taliban - encompasses militias led by several commanders, including Hakimullah Mehsud, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Maulvi Nazir and others. They are supported by a number of sympathetic groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

The extent of the Pakistani Taliban's ties to its Afghan counterpart is hotly debated. Journalists and analysts have identified growing co-operation between the two groups over the last few years.

Regardless of the operational linkages, though, it's clear the groups are motivated by different grievances: The Afghan insurgency opposes the foreign presence in Afghanistan, while the Pakistani Taliban primarily fights the government in Islamabad.

[Description of Source: Doha Al in English -- Website of the Al Jazeera English TV, international English-language news service of Al-Jazirah, independent television station financed by the Qatari Government; URL: ]

Pakistan: Col Imam's Death Said 'Caused Wedge' Between TTP, Afghan Taliban

SAP20110331106049 Karachi PKKH in English 25 Mar 11

[Report by Rahimullah Yusufzai: "Spy or Intermediary?"; For assistance with multimedia elements, contact OSC at (800) 205-8615 or OSCinfo@rccb..]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

After almost a month of his execution, the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) issued a gruesome videotape in the third week of February to confirm the death of retired Pakistan Army Colonel Sultan Amir Tarar, commonly known as Colonel Imam, which was his code name as a long time operative of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Not many people knew his real name. For 11 years as an agent of the ISI, his fictional name defined the Chakwal-born soldier who wielded enormous influence during the various stages of the Afghan conflict due to his close ties to the mujahideen and the Taliban. He had trained a large number of Afghan fighters battling the Soviet occupation forces; he befriended scores of mujahideen and commanders, including Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Ahmad Shah Masood and Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani; he had known Afghan Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar; he escorted several US and other western leaders, including the then CIA deputy director and now Defense Secretary Robert Gates, as well as Congressman Charlie Wilson on visits to the mujahideen and functioned as Pakistan's consul general in Herat, western Afghanistan.

Ironically, he met a violent end at the hands of the Pakistani Taliban, who have increasingly charted their own course after initially expressing loyalty to Mullah Omar. Appeals for mercy by certain Afghan Taliban commanders including Sirajuddin Haqqani and former Afghan mujahideen and Pakistani religious scholars also failed to move the TTP head, Hakimullah Mehsud, who was seen in the video personally supervising Colonel Imam's execution. The videotape also provided evidence after months of speculation that Hakimullah Mehsud was alive and kicking - and still in command of the TTP.

Colonel Imam's body still hasn't been returned to his grieving family though he was executed in late January somewhere in South or North Waziristan. All media reports that his body had been found near Miramshah, headquarters of North Waziristan, turned out to be untrue. In fact, the delay in releasing his body to the family has fuelled speculation that the video of his execution could be a fake. Most accounts, though, corroborate the news of his death.

His kidnapping in March last year was an indication of the generation gap and the splintering of militants of different persuasions presently operating on both sides of the Af-Pak border. In the past, Colonel Imam would have been welcomed and feted as an honoured guest by the Afghan mujahideen and Taliban, and also by some Pakistani militants. But times have changed. The new generation of militants operating under the TTP banner or linked to its like-minded groups considered Colonel Imam as an enemy and wanted to use him as a bargaining chip for the release of fellow militants and ransom money.

Earlier on April 30, 2010, the TTP had executed another former ISI official, Squadron Leader (retd) Khalid Khwaja, who had accompanied Colonel Imam on that fateful journey to North Waziristan in March 2010, because the Pakistan government refused to accept their demands. The militants-turned-kidnappers had secured a hefty ransom for releasing Asad Qureshi, the British documentary filmmaker of Pakistani origin, and his local driver Rustam Khan. Qureshi was lucky to have survived even if the experience may haunt him for the rest of his life.

Colonel Imam and Khalid Khwaja, both simple soldiers, had actually accompanied Qureshi to North Waziristan to enable him to film his documentary on the impact of US drone strikes and the civilian casualties caused by them. They were hoping to use some of their contacts and goodwill to do the job, and also get a feel of the place. It was naïve of them to go to North Waziristan, the stronghold of local and foreign militants of every persuasion, especially after having publicly criticised the Pakistani Taliban. As pointed out by Usman Punjabi, or Mohammad Omar as he used to introduce himself in his phone calls and emails to members of the media, Colonel Imam and Khalid Khwaja used to label the Pakistani Taliban as terrorists and instead shower praise on the Afghan Taliban. As head of a faction of militants that variously described itself as Punjabi Taliban and Asian Tigers, he argued, "It was wrong of them to describe us as terrorists. We, too, are fighting jihad," while speaking to this writer from Miramshah shortly before he was killed due to the infighting that erupted between different factions of the militants over the issue of kidnapping of Colonel Imam and Khalid Khwaja, and sharing of the ransom money. This stance of theirs regarding the Pakistani Taliban was used as grounds for justifying their murder.

The situation remained confusing and complex from the moment Colonel Imam and his colleagues were kidnapped right until the end when reports emerged in late January 2010 that the retired colonel had been executed or had died of heart attack.

The Asian Tigers, a name unheard of until then and obviously coined to hide the identity of the kidnappers, claimed responsibility for the kidnappings and said demands had been forwarded to the concerned people without elaborating. It soon emerged that the Punjabi Taliban - or jihadists who had quit their mainstream militant organisations due to the latter's close links with Pakistan's security establishment - had linked up with the TTP and were involved in the kidnappings. Usman Punjabi became the link between the militants holding the four men and the outside world. He was the one who had invited the former ISI operatives to North Waziristan and trapped them. In fact, the militant group holding them was led by one Abdullah Mansoor, who had split from the anti-Shiite Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and aligned with the splinter faction Lashkar-i-Jhangvi al-Alami.

It was after Khalid Khwaja had been executed and a ransom deal for the release of Asad Qureshi was being worked out that militants holding Colonel Imam developed differences among themselves. This resulted in the killing of Usman Punjabi and five of his men at the hands of his former colleague Sabir Mehsud, who belonged to South Waziristan and who had more fighters under his command than the militants from the Punjab. The incident enraged Hakimullah Mehsud, who sent his men to execute Sabir Mehsud and members of his band and take custody of Colonel Imam. Those seeking Colonel Imam's release were then required to approach Hakimullah Mehsud, who presented tough conditions including the release of his men in the custody of the government and also the payment of ransom. Subsequently, hopes for a deal were raised when reports emerged that Colonel Imam could be freed on payment of ransom. His execution was sudden and shocking for all those trying to negotiate a deal as the talks with the TTP had not broken down yet.

The brutal manner of Colonel Imam's execution in the presence of Hakimullah Mehsud explained the latter's anger. In his statement before the execution, the TTP leader accused Colonel Imam of so many things that it seemed he was convinced that the former ISI operative had s pecifically come to Waziristan to spy on him and provide intelligence for the Pakistan Army's strikes and US drone attacks on his hideouts. Militants often argue that the punishment for spies is death and this was the reason that both Khalid Khwaja and Colonel Imam were executed. In their view, both were spies although it is far-fetched that the two retired military officers, who were critical of Pakistan's alliance with the US and unhappy over Islamabad's decision after 9/11 to break with Afghan Taliban, would still be working for the ISI. In fact, the military authorities would have made a real effort to save them had they still been working for the ISI and were in any way useful to the military or the government. Rather, their families were disappointed that the military didn't do more to secure their release.

One fallout of Colonel Imam's execution is that it has created mistrust and caused a wedge between the TTP and other militants, particularly the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network. Those aware of Colonel Imam's services to the cause of the Afghan jihad and the Afghan Taliban were clearly unhappy with the TTP and Hakimullah Mehsud and were privately criticising him for executing the former ISI official. In fact, serious doubts have arisen about Hakimullah Mehsud's agenda after this incident. Though the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network have refrained from publicly condemning Hakimullah Mehsud and the TTP for killing Colonel Imam and Khalid Khwaja, they are unlikely to trust him anymore.

[Description of Source: Description of Source: Karachi PKKH in English -- Website of Pakistan Ka Khuda Hafiz, or "May God Protect Pakistan," a "leading alternative policy institute and news service" which has staunch anti-US commentators--Hamid Gul and Shireen Mazari--on its board. PKKH has been observed working closely with banned terrorist group Jamaat-ud-Dawa, during the recent floods. However, the organization claims that it is not "funded by or affiliated to any political or religious parties or individuals, corporations, media organizations, or intelligence agencies," and "condemns terrorism and oppression of the masses in all its forms"; URL: ]

Asia Times: 'Imran Khan in Taliban Peace Spotlight'

CPP20110419715059 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0748 GMT 19 Apr 11

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Imran Khan in Taliban Peace Spotlight"; headline as provided by source]

Imran Khan, the former Pakistan cricket captain turned politician, is in the spotlight as Pakistan develops a roadmap for reconciliation with the Taliban that aims to close down the war theater inside its borders.

Khan, who leads the opposition Tehrik-e-Insaaf party, has emerged as a potential prime minister after the country's military oligarchs built a consensus that peace is unlikely in the absence of out-of-the-box thinking and that an internationally credible person is needed to lead the process. Serving and retired military officers and academics, businessmen and politicians sense that neither the current Pakistan military and political leadership, nor Afghan President Hamid Karzai, has the ability to deliver a result. They believe the best hope lies in a person who can be trusted in all quarters - by the Taliban, political Islamists, liberal secularists, Western capitals, India and other regional players.

Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani led an unprecedented entourage, including Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani and Lieutenant-General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, the director general of the Inter-Service Intelligence, to Kabul last week to officially inaugurate the peace reconciliation process with the Taliban under the auspices of Washington and London. The decision had already been made that the Afghanistan and Pakistan governments will occupy a central role in a reconciliation process that could bring the Taliban into the mainstream Afghan political process.

Khan, 58, is leading a two-day sit-in outside Peshawar, capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, planned for Saturday and Sunday to block supply convoys ferrying goods to North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in Afghanistan. People displaced by the war have vowed to join the protest, which is against United States drone attacks. Khan has been a fervent critic of the Pakistan government, claiming it is subservient to the United States in the region.

Several months before the leaders of the two countries met in Kabul, the Pakistan military establishment began preparations for reconciliation and it was agreed that Khan would be suitable for leading the peace process.

A prominent Urdu media commentator of right-wing leanings, who is close to both Khan and army chief Kiani, arranged a series of meetings between the two which eventually led to a consensus around Khan becoming the next leader of the country.

While no formula was finalized, according to sources, general elections scheduled for February 2013 could be brought forward and a political alliance engineered that would result in a simple majority under which Khan would be installed as prime minister. Another scenario would be for Khan to take the lead in an interim government.

Khan's leadership role has found favor across Pakistan's political spectrum, including the Muttehada Quami Movement (MQM), the second-largest party in the ruling coalition and largest urban party in Sindh province. The Awami National Party (ANP), the largest Pashtun nationalist party, which governs Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, and Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam, the two main Islamic parties, also back the role.

ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan, a strong critic of the US drone attacks, has backed the process started in Kabul and said his party had always supported dialogue with "saner elements" among the Taliban.

Imran Khan's position has been lauded by the militants and his popularity in Pakistani tribal areas is unparalleled. In 2007 in Afghanistan, Naseeruddin Haqqani, the son of legendary Afghan commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, whose Haqqani network is regarded the most lethal network against the Western coalition in Afghanistan, met with Imran Khan and in that way Khan indirectly entered into a dialogue process with the Taliban.

In the second week of March, Khan held a long meeting with the US ambassador in Islamabad, Cameron Munter. A few days later a major shift in his politics surprised many. Khan produced a stateme nt supportive of MQM policies despite formerly filing a money laundering case against MQM leader Altaf Hussain in a British court.

Troublesome turf

There is a long-held understanding within Pakistan's military that any reconciliation process with the Taliban would require a whole package dealing with the Taliban, al-Qaeda and the affiliated group on one side and another with the the Western coalition, India and other regional players. The job requires credible leadership.

Pakistan supported the Taliban movement when it emerged in the mid 1990s. When the student militia formed its government in Kabul, Pakistan stood behind it in the face of global opposition. After al-Qaeda attacked the United States on 9/11, Pakistan tried to explain to the world the difference between al-Qaeda and the Taliban and emphasized the need to engage with the Taliban.

However, the Pervez Musharraf administration's arguments were dismissed by George W Bush and Pakistan's logistical support helped American-led international forces toppled Taliban's ragtag militia government by the end of 2001.

In 2006, the Taliban re-emerged as a powerful armed opposition group and stunned the world with organized attacks throughout southern Afghanistan. Within a few years, according to influential Western think-tanks, they had expanded their influence to over 80% of the country and in several parts even established local rule.

Western experts are still at a loss to explain what exactly happened between 2002 to 2006 to bring the defeated Taliban back as a major player in Afghanistan, with some claiming Pakistan's ISI backing amid a resurgence in Pashtun nationalism which supported the Taliban. However, it is likely a due to a dialectic of al-Qaeda-affiliated groups. Al-Qaeda migrated into Pakistani tribal areas in 2002 and worked with different tribes, gradually succeeding in replacing Pakistan's tribal system with the al-Qaeda affiliated structures in Pakistani tribal areas as well as in southeast Afghanistan.

Al-Qaeda's strategy from 2002 was to regroup pro-Taliban factions and pitch them in Afghanistan's southwest in 2006 to support the Afghan Taliban. In early 2007, under a meticulous strategy, al-Qaeda retreated into the tribal areas and in mid-year moved into Pakistani cities to pressurize Pakistan to stop supporting the American war in Afghanistan. It countered American moves in Pakistan for establishing a broadbased anti-Taliban alliance and assassinated Pakistan's former premier Benazir Bhutto, thwarted a peace reconciliation process which was inaugurated in Kabul in 2007 through opening a war theatre in Malakand-Swat and carried out so many attacks in Pakistani cities and tribal areas by the beginning of 2008 that they outnumbered insurgent attacks against occupation forces in Iraq and Afghanistan

By the middle of of 2008, al-Qaeda's leadership receded into Pakistani tribal areas and then expanded operations across the world including Yemen, India, Somalia and Europe.

On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, it is clear to the world community that dealing with the Taliban is not an open and shut case that ends in simply signing an agreement.

Why Imran Khan?

Imran Khan captained the winning Pakistani cricket team in the 1992 World Cup in Australia and returned to Pakistan a national hero. He then pursued the cause of establishing a free cancer hospitals in memory of his deceased mother Shaukat Khanum, who died of cancer.

At the same time, Lieutenant-General Hamid Gul retired from the Pakistan Army and began working on a new plan for the future leadership of the country. He chose three prominent Pakistanis; namely, former governor, renowned social worker and reformer Hakim Mohammad Saeed, the social worker and philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, and Imran Khan. Saeed refused to take part in politics, and was gunned down in front of his clinic in 1998. Edhi left Pakistan in the mid 1990s, alleging that Pakistani intelligence was trying to force him into politics. Imran Khan agreed to take a political role.

The transformation of an Oxford University political sciences graduate seen as a sex symbol in the West into a politician who penned articles in leading Urdu newspapers against the Western lifestyle and Westernized thinking in Pakistan stunned many.

After the October 12, 1999 military coup, Khan jumped on Musharraf's bandwagon but by 2003 he had distanced himself from the president. The military establishment continued to engage him. However, Khan has remained a major campaigner against the Pakistan military's oppression of Islamic forces. Even in 2009, as all Pakistani politicians including Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz Group supported military operations in Swat, he insisted that they could only breed militancy.

This weekend's protests in Peshawar are likely to be seen as the curtain-raiser for Khan's entry into the AfPak arena.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

Pakistan: Commentary Discusses Abduction, Assassination of Former ISI Official

SAP20110501109007 Rawalpindi Nawa-e Waqt in Urdu 01 May 11

[Commentary by Amir Hamza: "Colonel Imam: Martyrdom and Motives"]

Murder of abducted person during talks was surprising;

Effective voice in support of the Taliban fighting NATO forces in Afghanistan fell silent;

Whether Colonel Imam, a trustee of important national secrets, was compelled to work against the country or was punished for not accepting false and baseless charge sheet;

67-year-old courageous Colonel Imam, who spent difficult times in caves and basements for 11 months, bravely embraced death.

Talking about the killed of Colonel Imam, a great mujahidin of Jihad-e-Afghanistan, and its motives, it is utmost necessary that the horrible scenes of the video, in which all scenes of his murder were meticulously documented with a clear aim and were released to media across the world, are kept in view. Internationally renowned Colonel Imam was considered to be undisputed representative of the Islamic jihadist forces because of his unblemished past and was an effective voice in support of the Taliban fighting the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Allama Tahir Mahmood Ashraf rightly said: "Col Imam remained attached to Jihad-e-Afghanistan from black to white hair."

At the time of the 9/11, he was Pakistan's consul general in Herat province of Afghanistan and when returned to Pakistan after the US invasion of Afghanistan, he devoted all his capabilities for withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and establishment of peace in the region. In this regard, he used to explicitly give his viewpoint on the national and international media. Before his departure to North Waziristan in March 2010, he prepared a brief entitled "Taliban" and handed it over to General Mirza Aslam Beg. In the brief, he presented the historical background of the Taliban, their impact on the Afghan culture and his opinion about their future role. The brief was entitled "Future Scenario". "There is no chance of the defeat of the Taliban because of the extraordinary leadership, high standard objectivity and unconditional support of people. The 30-year war has removed many leaders from the scene and today it is only Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid, who enjoys the most public support. Mullah Omar, who has much enthusiasm for peace and prosperity in Afghanistan, devoted and brave, can demonstrate flexibility at a suitable stage. He is ready to listen to his trusted former colleagues. In a message received on 25 January 2010, he has asked his friends to play their role in talks, which reflects his commitment to peace. [Col Imam was asked that after forming an 8 to 10-member group of learned, statesman and wise experts, he should start work on their 10-point agenda, which is logical as well as practical.] In this regard, the first step will be formation of Loya Jirga and interim government."

Before embarking on the journey that culminated on his tragic martyrdom on 24 March 2010, Col Imam and Khalid Khawaja met with General Mirza Aslam Beg at his residence and spent ample time with him. After his abduction while heading to North Waziristan from Bannu on 26 March, Col Imam was in the custody of an organization namely Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which is also known as Asian Tigers, Islamic Tigers and Punjabi Taliban until 30 September. Three video footages of Col Imam were released on different occasions when he was in custody of this group. The group has been contacting his family via telephone and email with intervals and has been threatening of the Khalid Khawaja-type consequences in case their demands were not met at the earliest. This group demanded release of 160 people from different jails of Pakistan in exchange for freedom of Col Imam and also threat that "Col Imam will be handed over to the country, which wanted him." And also, "our neighboring country has offered to purchase Col Imam in dollars." Now it is not difficult to judge as to why Hakeemullah Mahsud attended the jirgas, held after martyrdom of Khalid Khawaja, to seek guarantee of not harming Col Imam?

When differences cropped up within Lashkar-e-Jhangvi over d istribution of huge ransom amount received for release of British journalist Asad Qureshi, Sabir Mahsud killed Usman Punjabi and his colleagues while Hakeemullah Mahsud took Col Imam into custody after killing Sabir Mahsud and his colleagues on 30 September after which he remained in their custody until his martyrdom. During this period, neither this group released any video nor did set any deadline and also did not make any contact or demand to his family. This group remained silent about Col Imam for almost initial two months and did not consider it appropriate to respond to any contact whereas four videos of University of Peshawar Vice Chancellor Professor Ajmal, who is also being held by the same group, have so far been released.

According to reports, Col Imam made his first and last telephone call to his family in the last week of October. In fact, he wanted telephone number of General Beg. He talked to his son and said: "General Beg should talk to Haji Ibrahim, brother of Jalaluddin Haqqani, and he should advise them [Col Imam's captors] that I had not come here as a foe and I should not be released against any ransom or on any other condition." Col Imam also talked to General Beg and a report about Col Imam's call to his family appeared in a Karachi daily, 'Ummat', quoting General Beg.

The family members of Col Imam remained in constant contact with all the people, including the national security agencies, they thought could help them. They also talked to the people for whose independence and sovereignty Col Imam had put his life on stake for the last 30 years and they also approached those with whose efforts deal was struck for release of Asad Qureshi. The kidnappers had no contact with the family of Col Imam. According to some other reports, however, talks on payment of huge ransom and other demands for his release were going on when first report about Col Imam's murder besides his death because of cardiac arrest appeared on media on 23 January 2010. The independent sources were not confirming this report and reports about doubts and suspicions were appearing on media when the video of Col Imam's murder was released to media on 19 February.

It one has a look at the martyrdom of Col Imam and its motives, very surprising things come to fore. It never happened that the kidnappers would have killed a hostage during talks. A deadline is always set through any message, new report or video. The monthly journal of Darul Uloom Haqqani, 'Al-Haq' has rightly written: "The heirs of Col Imam were unable to pay huge ransom because their father was a man of modest means and could not accumulate wealth through corruption and illegal means as well as billions of dollars of Aghan jihad." The kidnappers may have definitely got something as ransom against his release because the extended family members of Col Imam were, according to some reports, ready to sell their each and every belonging. Then, why this happened?

The way Hakeemullah Mahsud considered it necessary to be present in person on the occasion of Col Imam's martyrdom, himself read the charge sheet containing self-crafted allegations, chanted slogans after getting 67-year-old unarmed and hapless captive brutally killed with his own weapon and after filming the whole incident released its video to the global media and not only this but did not hand over the dead body and demanded Rs20 million and release of his men in exchange for it, all this is extraordinary as well as surprising. Apparently, it seemed revengeful act of extreme proportion committed against Col Imam, who looked like an Afghan mujahid, spoke and understood Pashto, had expertise in using all types of arms, having leadership qualities of high standard and a hero of Afghan jihad. Why and how the matter took such a turn and reached such an extreme? Whether Col Imam, who held many important national secrets, was compelled to do something against Pakistan but he refused or Col Imam refused to accept the false and baseless charge sh eet against him despite extreme pressure and torture just like confessional statement of Khalid Khawaja was recorded.

Because of his rightful thinking and strongly good character, Col Imam had, in fact, become intolerable for some forces that chalked out an elaborate plane to eliminate him. The KGB had old wounds while now KHAD too had jumped into arena because US stooge Hamid Karzai was seriously opposed to Col Imam for knowing him very well. But the Indian "RAW"[Research and Analysis Wing] and US "CIA" were the most perturbed by the thoughts and acts of Col Imam. Col Imam was seriously opposed to the growing Indian activities and US interference in the tribal areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The role of Col Imam with regard to Afghanistan was extremely important in the days to come. He was a big hurdle in the achievement of objectives of "RAW" and "CIA". The same forces struck a big deal to remove Col Imam from the way and put a huge price while the detail video is part of this package deal as well as a strong message for lovers of Islam's philosophy of jihad and those fighting for the independence and sovereignty of Afghanistan for whom Col Imam was a symbol and torchbearer.

The video of Col Imam's martyrdom, despite having terrible and frightening scenes, has conveyed a faithful message to the Muslim mujahidin across the world that when the time comes, how death is faced. When chained Col Imam is brought to the place of his killing at an extremely frightening location and environment in the mountainous terrain of North Waziristan, he first makes ablution with extreme confidence and peace. Now an extremely false and self-framed charge sheet against him is being read, sitting in his specific style on snowy and thorny stones, Col Imam is busy in remembrance [of God] with his eyes closed. His lips were lightly moving with the remembrance of God. In this open mountainous area, Col Imam, who was a man of deserts and mountains, was alone while around 10-15 people are there to kill him and encourage the killers. Now the stage of his martyrdom is closer. Col Imam stands up with courage and commitment. Three people, Hakeemullah Mahsud, one with blurred face and the third with covered face, were standing beside him. When Hakeemullah Mahsud addresses the masked man, Col looks towards him. Hakeemullah Mahsud hands over his weapon to the masked man, who is standing at around 4-5 feet from Col Imam. While standing on bumpy ground barefooted, Col Imam goes in upright position after leaning to his left for a moment. Straightening the sleeves of his shirt in an extremely graceful manner, Col Imam looks in the eyes of the killer and the masked killer opens fire on him. According to an Internet report, "brave Col Imam receives two bullets with his chest stretched and standing like a mountain and falls with the third bullet that hit him in the forehead. At the moment when death was staring him in the face, this true Muslim did not beg the savages for his life rather embraced martyrdom while reciting Kalima [the declaration of Islamic faith in single God] and chanting God is Great. His martyrdom has warmed up many hearts ∧ has created a desire for living like mujahidin and embracing the death like braves."

Without difference of nationality and religion, whoever saw this video could not desist from pay tribute to Col Imam's style of facing death. When a violent opponent of the philosophy of jihad watched this video in a gathering at Rawalpindi, he said: "I have been reading, writing and reciting a verse of Faiz Ahmed Faiz but could understand its practical interpretation on watching this video. Despite having serious difference with the thoughts and acts of Col Imam, I am saying with certainty that Faiz had stated about Col Imam that the dignity with which one went to the gallows lives forever while the life comes and goes, it has no worth."

An intellectual present in the gathering swore that in spite of Faiz being a big poet, he never wro te any of his verse in any of his writings, recited or read in any lecture but after watching this video, he is saying that "Col Imam! More caravans of lovers would emerge after collecting your standards from the battlefield." With this, he lost his balance and fell on the ground and repeatedly recited the same verse of Faiz.

The holy Koran says: "God never burdens anyone more than his capacity." Col Imam was a great human being and God passed him through a big examination. The bravery with which 67-year young hearted Col Imam all alone embraced death in a terrifying environment after passing through very difficult and tough examination during his detention in caves and basements, this beautiful fictional style of extraordinary steadfastness and young heartedness has now become a topic of folklore and fairytales. Col Imam had desired at any moment of acceptance that "may God grant me martyrdom and that too with courage." God accepted his plea and granted him martyrdom in such a manner that it was seen by the entire world through media. He often used to say that people would not know even about my grave and God also accepted his this saying.

[Description of Source: Rawalpindi Nawa-e Waqt in Urdu -- Privately owned, widely read, conservative Islamic daily, with circulation around 125,000. Harshly critical of the US and India.]

Pakistan: Haqqani Network Reportedly Decides To Suspend Talks With Afghan Govt

SAP20110505115009 Karachi Ummat in Urdu 05 May 11

[Unattributed report: "Taliban Leaders Become Cautious; Sever Contacts With Couriers"]

Peshawar -- After the killing of Al-Qaida leader, Usama bin Ladin [UBL], in a US attack, the Taliban leaders have become cautious and they have ordered all of their couriers not to contact them. The comrades of Jalaluddin Haqqani and Mullah Omar have also directed the tribesmen, working as interlocutors for talks with the Afghan Government, not to contact them.

After the Al-Qaida chief's killing in a US military operation in Abbottabad, it was said that the United States succeeded to reach Usama through a courier. Following that report, the Taliban have not only ordered all the couriers to suspend links, but all the leaders have also been advised to change their residences and not to contact the old couriers until further instructions.

Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the media that the killing of UBL will not have any impact on them. However, the Afghan nation would remember him for waging jihad against the Soviet Union and then the United States, devoting his life for this purpose.

According to the Taliban spokesman, the Taliban have set rules for the war, and under the rules, they have to change their strategy. However, all the important Taliban leaders have ordered all the couriers to suspend their activities, and the leaders have been directed not to contact the couriers so that any big loss could be averted.

Meanwhile, reliable sources told daily Ummat that the Jalaluddin Haqqani Network has prevented some tribal elders of Khost, who would facilitate talks between him and Karzai, from making any further contacts, and said that the interlocutors should not try to make any contacts with the Taliban until further orders for talks between the Taliban and the government because for the time being, the Taliban cannot continue talks with the Afghan Government and a strategy will be devised after some weeks.

[Description of Source: Karachi Ummat in Urdu -- Sensationalist, pro-Usama Bin Ladin Urdu daily. Harshly critical of the US, Israel, and India. Propagates Muslim unity to counter US/Western influence. Circulation 20,000. Editor-publisher Rafiq Afghan is an Afghan war veteran.]

French Intelligence Report Cites Pakistani ISI Cooperation with Afghan Taliban

EUP20110510029004 Paris LeMonde.fr in French 10 May 11

[Report by Jacques Follorou: "Pakistan: Secret Services' Murky Dealings with Taliban"]

Enjoined, following Usama Bin Ladin's death, to account for its links with jihadist groups but also with the Afghan Taliban, the Pakistani authorities could feel and that their sovereignty is being threatened more than ever.

This, because relations between these groups and Pakistan, and particularly its military authorities and its intelligence services -- the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) -- are not confined to isolated lapses. The Afghan Taliban and the clan led by warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani are regarded by Islamabad as channels for Pakistan's foreign policy.

Le Monde has had access to confidential French intelligence documents but also UN documents and US and Taliban military sources in Afghanistan, which make it possible to illustrate the nature of the ISI's ties with the Afghan insurgents.

At a meeting with Le Monde in Kandahar at the beginning of December 2010, a former local Taliban chief of this province described the profound interaction between the ISI and his movement. According to "Mokhless," a pseudonym, ISI agents "finance and control" the Taliban movement's activities in Quetta "via the major commanders who live off the Pakistanis' money."

Quetta, a Pakistani city south of the country, along the border with Afghanistan, not far from Kandahar, is the headquarters of Mullah Omar, the Afghan Taliban leader. "Mokhless" also said -- as do the new generation of young Taliban living in Afghanistan -- that he was "shocked" by the "the omnipresence of ISI agents, even within the Taliban shuras (councils.")

An official of the UN High Commission for Refugees in Afghanistan confirmed in April that his organization was being denied access to the Afghan refugee camps in Quetta. "These camps are controlled by the ISI and Taliban stay there using refugee cards, which enable them to cross both borders as they please."

Following the Afghan Taliban's recovery in Afghanistan in 2005-2006, the ISI's murky role began to be noted. In December 2006 an ISI officer, Syed Akbar, was arrested by Afghan intelligence (NDS.) According to NDS, "in 2005, Akbar escorted Usama Bin Ladin from the Afghan province of Nuristan to the Pakistani district of Chitral." Agents of the United States' FBI visited this part of Pakistan at the beginning of 2006 to verify its claims, in vain.

In 2008 the ISI's presence clearly emerged from reports published by UN security in Afghanistan. According to a 13 August note, "every province in the southeast of the country has contact with the ISI. Ghazni is under the responsibility of Colonel Salim, who visits every two months to assess the status of the insurgency and to set new targets."

Based at Miram Shah, the administrative headquarters of the Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan, and travelling to Dubai, he was in touch with Syed Yasir, a Talib released from prison in exchange for the release of hostages. "Yasir," the United Nations added, "is involved in drug trafficking in league with Afghan parliamentarians."

This policy is steered from the very highest political and military level in Pakistan. Matt Waldman, research fellow at the London School of Economics, says in a report published in 2010, with regard to relations between the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan, that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and one of the ISI's leaders met in April 2010 with some 50 Taliban chiefs in a secret prison in the country. Blaming their detention pressure from the United States, Mr Zardari apparently added: "You are part of our people, and we are friends; when you are released, we will support you in your operations."

When asked, the Pakistani military authorities attribute these ties to the fact that the Afghan Taliban do not pose a threat to Pakistan and that they are legitimate interlocutors, not jihadis, who are part of the regional political landsc ape. "They are part of our country's future in the region," Gen Athar Abbas told Le Monde, for instance.

However, it is more difficult for Islamabad to justify its ongoing relations with the clan led by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani. This symbolic mojahedin figure during the war against the Soviet occupation, then minister of tribal affairs under the Taliban regime, from 1996 to 2001, is now, together with his sons, an autonomous chief ruling over an area covering eastern Afghanistan and the tribal area of North Waziristan.

Combating the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan, they are behind most of the attacks perpetrated in Kabul and are portrayed by NATO as "an enemy as dangerous as Mollah Omar."

This clan, very closely associated with the ISI and loyal to Mollah Omar, is, unlike the Afghan Taliban, linked to jihadist groups, and particularly to Al-Qa'ida, hosting its members and supporting its activities. Since then the father has handed over to his sons, and particularly to Sirajuddin and Badruddin Haqqani. "The ISI has led us to believe on several occasions that the father was dead so that we would leave him in peace," a US officer posted to Kabul said. There brother, Nasiruddin, born of an Arab mother, acts as interpreter in talks with Al-Qa'ida members.

The Haqqani network has several command centers, often close to the clan's villages, such as Zambar, in Sarabi District, Khost Province, in Afghanistan, and the village of Dande Darba Khel, near Miran Shah, the only tribal area that the Pakistani Army has refused to attack, to Washington's great displeasure.

According to a 2009 French intelligence report, "the ISI intervened in 2003 to help to reorganize the Haqqani group's fighting capabilities." According to this source, ISI posts along the border area between the tribal zones and Afghanistan and in the cities of Mir Ali and Miram Shah "make it possible to protect the Haqqani network."

French intelligence believes that Sirajuddin has maintained the "special relations" that his father forged with Col Sultan Amir, aka Colonel Imamr, during the anti-Soviet jihad. In 2009, his half-brother and deputy, Sangin Zadran, was put in charge of ties with the ISI post at Miram Shah. The ISI's Col Mobin-ur-Rehman maintained contact with the network from his post at Bannu, east of North Waziristan.

"Thanks to this collusion with the ISI," the report says, leaders of the Haqqani network have escaped Pakistani Army operations outside North Waziristan and the US drone strikes, 60 percent of which now target members of this clan.

[Description of Source: Paris LeMonde.fr in French -- Website of Le Monde, leading center-left daily; URL: ]

Pakistan: Taliban Factions Reportedly Adopt New Strategy After Bin Ladin's Death

SAP20110510115002 Rawalpindi Jang in Urdu 10 May 11 p 8

[Report by Jamshed Bukhari: "All Three Taliban Factions Evolve New Strategy Against NATO Forces"]

Karachi -- According to highly reliable sources, in the wake of death of Al-Qa'ida Chief Usama Bin Ladin, three Taliban factions have devised new strategy for the ongoing Badr war against the NATO forces and Afghan National Army in Afghanistan.

According to sources, the Taliban have advised Mullah Omar that he should not maintain more contacts. Accordingly, Mullah Omar has advised that all contacts regarding the war, codenamed Badr, should be established with former Kandahar Governor Maulvi Hassan Rahmani and Abdul Qayyum Zakir.

According to the new strategy, the Taliban have requested the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] leaders, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Maulvi Nazir, and Mullah Nur Tufan, to send more contingents of fighters. However, the TTP has not made any progress on the request.

According to sources, under the new strategy, the Taliban will target military sites of NATO and Afghanistan in Khost, Kandahar, and Nangarhar. In this connection, three Taliban groups, including those of Mullah Omar, Jalaluddin Haqqani network, and Hekmatyar network, have agreed to carry out joint operations. The aim of recent battle Badr is to inflict more human loss on foreign forces.

[Description of Source: Rawalpindi Jang in Urdu The War, an influential, largest circulation newspaper in Pakistan, circulation of 300,000. One of the moderate Urdu newspapers, pro-free enterprise, politically neutral, supports improvement in Pakistan-India relations]

Pakistan: Hezb-e-Eslami Ready To Join Hands With Taliban

SAP20110515109008 Karachi Ummat Online in Urdu 15 May 11 p net

[Report by Muhammad Qasim: "Jalaluddin Haqqani Trying for Patch Up Between Taliban and Hezb-e-Eslami"]

Peshawar -- The Hezb-e-Eslami has dropped hint for an agreement with the Taliban. The message of Golboddin Hekmatyar has been conveyed to the Taliban. Sources are of the view that the Taliban and the Hezb-e-Eslami has started discussion to draw out a future line of action after the killing of Usama Bin Ladin in a US operation. According to sources, a very important meeting between Hezb commanders and the Taliban took place in the Afghan province of Paktia through Mawlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani's representatives.

Later, Hezb's representatives informed their chief Golboddin Hekmatyar about the details of the meeting. He said to his representatives that he was ready to sign a deal for the present as well as for the future. According to sources, the Taliban and the Hezb-e-Eslami will join hands for actions against the United States according to this two-point agreement. They will also adopt a common strategy in this connection in the future.

Sources said that the Taliban had sought time in this connection. However, it has been agreed upon in the preliminary talks that the Taliban and the Hezb-e-Eslami will not allow permanent bases to the United States in Afghanistan whether the deal moves forward or not.

[Description of Source: Karachi Ummat Online in Urdu -- Website of the sensationalist, pro-Usama Bin Ladin Urdu daily. Harshly critical of the US, Israel, and India. Propagates Muslim unity to counter US/Western influence. Circulation 20,000. Editor-publisher Rafiq Afghan is an Afghan war veteran; URL: ]

Asia Times: 'Trouble Ahead in Pakistan's New US Phase'

CPP20110518715045 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0202 GMT 18 May 11

[Report by Syed Saleem Shahzad: "Trouble Ahead in Pakistan's New US Phase"; headline as provided by source]

ISLAMABAD - Relations between the United States and Pakistan are at a "make or break" stage, John Kerry, chairman of the US Senate foreign relations committee, said during his fence-mending trip to Pakistan on Monday.

For now, a break appears to have been averted with the opening of a "new phase" of American operations in the region under a fresh agreement between Washington and Islamabad for the routing of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. In a joint statement issued in Islamabad, the countries agreed on Monday to work together in any future actions against "high-value targets" in Pakistan.

Details of the accord, like all past accords, are unwritten. What will happen though is that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the US envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Mark Grossman, will soon visit Pakistan to make the political environment conducive for the next phase.

Relations between the two nations were severely strained at the beginning of the month when US Special Forces assassinated al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the military town of Abbottabad, 60 kilometers north of Islamabad. Pakistan was embarrassed and angered when the US claimed sole responsibility for the operation in defiance of an agreement between the countries.

Contrary to all previous rhetoric by the Pakistani military establishment and briefings they delivered to a joint session of the Pakistani parliament last week, Monday's joint statement proved that Pakistan had always been onboard to work with the US and that statements issued by the military establishment were posturing.

Last Friday, General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani and the Inter-Services Intelligence head Ahmed Shuja Pasha appeared in a historic joint session of parliament, the first time in 63 years that an army chief and the top man of the ISI had presented themselves before the legislature.

The joint statement pointed out that "all tracks of US-Pakistani engagement need to be revisited to assure that the countries can continue to cooperate on counter-terrorism", yet deeper problems remain, most notably among middle cadre of the military.

This was emphasized by Kiani, who told Kerry that there were "intense feelings" in the military over the raid to get Bin Laden, according to a statement issued by the army.

Many in the army still want alliances with Sunni Islamist elements in the region as leverage against India and Iran. As a result, a backlash within the military establishment against the forthcoming new phase in the war against the Afghan Taliban is inevitable. Once again, Pakistan will be caught in the middle between the US and militants, with interests on both sides.

Kerry is one of the initiators of the Kerry-Lugar bill that envisages US$1.5 billion yearly in aid to Pakistan for five years. Pakistan has already received $14.6 billion in economic and military assistance from the US since 2005. Kerry arrived in the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday with a clear message that a conclusive war against Islamic militancy is wanted, and all his statements reflected this decisive theme and uncompromising stance.

"Yes, there are insurgents coming across the border," he said at the US Embassy. "Yes, they are operating out of North Waziristan (tribal area in Pakistan) and other sanctuaries, and yes, there is some evidence of Pakistan government knowledge of some of these activities in ways that is very disturbing," Kerry said.

The senator also pointed a finger at the presence of the powerful Haqqani network in North Waziristan as one of the key drivers of the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan. The US tried to tighten the noose around the network when it slapped sanctions on leader Jalaluddin Haqqani's younger son, Badruddin Haqqani, last week. His name was added to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists that allows the US to freeze his assets, prevent him from using financial institutions and prosecute him for terrorist activities.

Kerry said there were "deep reservations" among some American lawmakers abou t whether Pakistan shared Washington's goals in the region, but said, "Pakistan has supported our efforts to diminish the capacity of al-Qaeda over the last several years. Pakistan has allowed us to have intelligence personnel operating in Pakistan in ways that helped us to capture Osama bin Laden."

Opening of the next phase

Now that Bin Laden is dead - the pinnacle of the American-led war against militancy - the next logical targets inside Pakistan include his deputy Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, Taliban leader Mullah Omar and Jalaluddin and Sirajuddin Haqqani as well as other top militants.

However, after the Abbottabad incident, the role of the nuclear-armed nation's military establishment is a real question mark, both domestically and internationally. The fact that statements by the armed forces during the briefing to parliament last week were rigged with contradictions does not help their image.

On Saturday, parliament condemned the Bin Laden raid and termed it an attack on Pakistan's sovereignty and urged for an end to unilateral action within its borders, including attacks on suspected militants by US drones. It said logistical support for North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in Afghanistan could be withdrawn if the strikes continued.

Even as the armed forces were briefing the joint session, US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) predator drones struck North Waziristan again and parliamentarians questioned the top brass over not doing enough to prevent drone attacks inside Pakistan.

It was reported that the closed-door session was told that drones flew from Pakistan's Shamsi air base in Balochistan province, but that this facility was owned by the United Arab Emirates. This armed forces statement contradicted an ISI official spokesperson's statement published last month that Pakistan had closed Shamsi to drone flights. Later, when the strikes continued, an ISI spokesperson said the drones were coming from Afghanistan.

Some parliamentarians then objected that even if Pakistan did not own Shamsi, the drones were still using Pakistan's air space and should therefore be shot down.

"Pakistan has the capacity to strike down CIA predator drones, but then the government and the parliament should order us (to do so) and also make a commitment to stand behind the armed forces when the fierce American reaction came," air chief Rao Qamar Suleman reportedly told the joint session that continued for 10 hours.

During the session, ISI head Pasha, the person blamed for most intelligence failures, insisted that it was a collective failure of all the civilian and military law-enforcing agencies and the ISI should not be singled out. However, he offered that if parliament and the government demanded, he would resign.

What has become clear in the past few weeks is that the US wants results in a short space of time, and Pakistan has no option but to collaborate in the hunt for Taliban bigwigs hidden in Pakistan.

This would be the beginning of real fireworks within the military establishment should mid-level cadre - rogue elements - aligned with Sunni militants instigate attacks along the lines of the militant assault on the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008 that resulted in the deaths of more than 150 people. (See Al-Qaeda 'hijack' led to Mumbai attack Asia Times Online, December 2, 2008.)

After the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US, Pakistan's top brass took a policy turn and joined in the US's "war on terror", but a large chunk of officers took retirement and with serving colleagues they helped the Taliban. This changed the dynamics of the Afghan war theater (see Military brains plot Pakistan's downfall Asia Times Online, September 26, 2007).

This collection of former and serving officers was responsible for a number of attacks on the military, including on military headquarters in 2009 and against ex-president General Pervez Musharraf.

Kerry's visit to Pakistan was made to open a new phase of the war in South Asia and the whole exercise of the Pakistani armed forces appearing in front of parliament was not intended to show accountability but to pave the way for this stage.

This is also the time when a nexus of serving and retired soldiers could become active again to revive regional operations, in addition to a possible mutiny against the top military brass.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief and author of upcoming book Inside al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11 published by Pluto Press, UK. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

French Expert: Al-Qa'ida Growing Stronger in Afghanistan

EUP20110518029001 Paris Le Monde in French 17 May 11

[Commentary by Georges Lefeuvre, former European Commission political attache in Pakistan, former French cultural attache in Islamabad, European Commission political analyst: "Al-Qa'ida Stronger in Afghanistan"]

Despite Bin Ladin's death, the risk of regional chaos cannot be ruled out along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where the Taliban are regaining ground. Hence the pressing need to resolve the thorny Pashtun question.

If we spend too much time at our computers our political thinking could be confined to their binary mode of functioning. This is one of the lessons of the Arab Spring, which apparently nobody saw coming. Between radical Islam and the dictators that would supposedly curb it -- are binary idea if ever there was won -- there was a civil society to whom few experts paid any attention but who suddenly spoke out. Decisionmakers rarely make any reference to political anthropology.

Though we do not know how a single mode of thought is built, at least we know how it works: until a body of simple ideas collapses, it constitutes a truth on which basis political strategies are founded. Following Bin Ladin's death the same simplistic errors could well lead to terrible disappointments. However, there he is a risk of regional chaos in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with their 200 million, managed by two fragile states, one of which possesses nuclear weapons.

There is no doubt that at the world level Al-Qa'ida is not as powerful as it claims to be; despite fearsome pockets of activity in the Sahel, it actually risks being submerged by the Arab civil revolts. Its founder's death deals a further blow to it, though this is likely to prove merely symbolic. However, it is no longer a symbolic matter when the discovery of Bin Ladin's hiding place, some 100 km from Islamabad and close to a military academy, raises serious questions about the Pakistani State, the responsibility of the military, and the complicity or neglect of the civil government.

On the basis of these two observations, commentators formulate two simple ideas: Afghanistan is no longer in the grip of the Al-Qa'ida, and Pakistan, being guilty, must be punished, unless it abandons its double game of supporting the Taliban and Al-Qa'ida while being a partner in the war on terror. It is rather more complicated than that.

It has taken the international community almost 10 years to acknowledge that in their principle of action the traditional Afghan Taliban, those waging a national jihad of reconquest, were distinct from the Al-Qa'ida networks waging an international jihad to destabilize the West. Now that this idea has been accepted, Al-Qa'ida is being relegated to Pakistan, with people concluding that Afghanistan is free of it, and that processes of reconciliation with the insurgents have become possible, justifying the gradual withdrawal of the coalition forces.

According to the United States' symbolism, most of the job has indeed been done through Usama Bin Ladin's elimination. "Justice has been done" for the September 11 attacks. That is hardly sufficient, and it must be acknowledged that Al-Qa'ida is dangerously strengthening its presence in northeastern Afghanistan.

There are three cross-border axes of insurgency between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The one in the south -- Kandahar-Quetta -- indeed corresponds to the Taliban seeking national reconquest. However, the center axis -- Khost-Miranshah -- has since 1984 been the traditional cradle of Al-Qa'ida, whose latest local manifestation is Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP,) within which Pakistani Taliban have rallied together with Bin Ladin's networks, under the benevolent hospitality of Jalaluddin Haqqani's Afghan Taliban network.

The TTP, officially established in 2007 but active since 2005, is organized in such a way as to survive Bin Ladin's elimination (irrespective of his actual operational authority, which remains to be determined.) This is proven by the terrible attack of 12 Mai, in which at least 70 people died in northwestern Pakistan, as a reprisal against Usama Bin Ladin's elimination.

The TTP has indeed extended its grip along the northern axis of insurgency, whose leaders are Fazlullah, former insurgent chief if in the Swat Valley, and Qari Ziaur Rahman, an Afghan from Kunar, former lieutenant to the late sheikh Jamil, who converted Al-Qa'ida Wahhabism in the mid-1980s. For the past two years, proceeding from the Pakistani tribal area of Bajaur, Fazlullah and Zia have carried out offensives on the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan and now fill the vacuum created by the withdrawal of the US bases in 2010-2011. There has even been an operational training camp in the Korengal Valley since September 2010. The final stronghold abandoned by the United States in February, in the Pesh Valley, which grants access to Laghman province, is already occupied by insurgents.

Within the space of a few months, and with complete impunity, these TTP/Al-Qa'ida-type jihadis have kidnapped 21 tribal leaders (January,) killed nine of them (April,) and kidnapped 40 young Afghan police recruits (March.) One local contact informed me that the forces loyal to the traditional local leader, Hikmatyar (obedient neither to the Taliban nor to Al-Qa'ida) have vanished from there. So the TTP/Al-Qa'ida is not confined to Pakistan, controls Kunar-Nuristan, is proceeding westwards toward Laghman, an already threatens Kapisa, where the French troops are based. Kapisa is a strategic barrier, which TTP militants want to break down in order to facilitate their access to the major US base at Bagram and to the pockets of insurgency in the north. It would be folly to I believe that Afghanistan is exempt from any TTP/Al-Qa'ida threat. Indeed, the central and northern axes are very active.

Second, it is not enough to condemn Pakistan's double dealing in this matter. We need to decipher it in order to know how to act. Is Pakistan's support for the Taliban linked to its confrontation with India? Of course, but indirectly so. Pakistan is obsessed with the prospect that an Afghanistan not controlled by itself could someday lay claim to a "Greater Pashtunistan" that would deprive its territory of the entire Pashtun province of the northeast.

However, during the Cold War, India and the USSR encouraged this option, Pashtun nationalism being secular at that time, and the culminating period being that of Afghan President Dawood (1973-1978.) This is indeed what Pakistani Prime Minister Youssuf Raza Gilani said indirectly during his visit to Paris: "We will support (...) the reconciliation established by the Afghan authorities and the United States, as long as Pakistan's sovereignty is not called into question." (Le Monde 6 May [interview filed as EUP20110509029001])

This remark is reminiscent of the more explicit one made by Pakistani Chief of Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on 2 February: "It's not a matter of controlling Afghanistan, just securing the border (Pakistan's) in the west." From this viewpoint, Pakistan is not about to relinquish its support for the traditional Taliban waging a national jihad. However, it suffers too many terrorist acts perpetrated by the TTP throughout its territory to continue much longer supporting Al-Qa'ida, which indeed its army has been combating at least since 2009, suffering many losses.

So how are we to deal with Pakistan specifically? Certainly not by threatening the state with coercion, or armed reprisals: this is exactly what Al-Qa'ida wants, just as the international jihad would have been delighted if India and Pakistan had engaged in a military confrontation following the bloodthirsty attack in Mumbai in 2008, one of the aims of terrorist ideology being precisely to destabilize borders and nation-states in order to create scope for a great caliphate.

It would also be madness to increase the tension between the two neighboring states, Afghanistan and Pakistan. There is a pressing need to find political ways to enable Pakistan to resolve its own ambiguities.

However, it is indeed the Pashtun question, on both sides of the Durand Line, that is poisoning relations between these two neighboring states and that at th e same time constitutes a fertile growth medium for the destabilizing terrorist networks. This seismic zone has been active for the past two and a half centuries (see "Af-Pak" in Le Mondial des nations ["The World Cup of Nations"], published by Choiseul, 574pp, 29 euros,) since the creation of Afghanistan, and the only way to undermine both the regular Taliban and the TTP/Al-Qa'ida networks would be to help these two states concerned to find a modus operandi for the border and a sufficiently flexible modus Vivendi for the tribes on both sides.

At loggerheads over this old dispute, Pakistan and Afghanistan will find it very difficult to achieve this on their own; would it be too much to ask the international community's diplomatic services at last to examine the problem -- the source of all this chaos and the only key to regional peace?

[Description of Source: Paris Le Monde in French -- leading center-left daily]

Pakistan: Taliban, HIA Join Hands Against Setting Up US Bases in Afghanistan

SAP20110518001001 Karachi Ummat in Urdu 15 May 11 pp 1, 7

[Unattributed report: "Jalaluddin Haqqani Working for Alliance Between Taliban, Hizb-e-Islami"]

Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan [HIA] has hinted at an agreement with the Taliban. A message in this regard from HIA chief Golboddin Hekmatyar has been conveyed to the Taliban. Sources say that after the killing of Usama Bin Ladin in an American operation, the Taliban and HIA have initiated talks to chalk out a future line of action. According to sources, an important meeting mediated by the representatives of Mawlawi Jalaloddin Haqqani took place between HIA commanders and the Taliban in Paktia Province a few days back. Later, the HIA representatives apprised Hekmatyar of details of the talks. The HIA chief said that he was ready to sign an agreement with the Taliban.

According to sources, the HIA and Taliban will join hands against the United States and allies under Hekmatyar's two-point agreement. The two sides will also adopt a joint line of action for forming a government in the future. The sources said that the Taliban had sought some time on this count. However, it has been agreed in preliminary talks that irrespective of any progress toward an agreement between them, the Taliban and HIA will not at all allow the United States to set up its permanent bases in Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: Karachi Ummat in Urdu -- Sensationalist, pro-Usama Bin Ladin Urdu daily. Harshly critical of the US, Israel, and India. Propagates Muslim unity to counter US/Western influence. Circulation 20,000. Editor-publisher Rafiq Afghan is an Afghan war veteran.]

Pakistan Article Questions Al-Qa'ida Interim Chief's 'Iranian Connection'

SAP20110531033001 Lahore The Friday Times Online in English 27 May 11 - 02 Jun 11

[Article by Ali Chishti: "Another failure; The New Al Qaeda Chief"]

Iranian commercial attaché Heshmatollah Attarzadeh was abducted from Peshawar early one morning in November 2008. He was an undercover intelligence agent. After "the failure of the Pakistani government to secure the release of Attarzadeh", Iran's intelligence minister said he had "taken the initiative and managed to rescue the diplomat".

The release of the Iranian official was actually a prisoner swap. Afghan militant leader Jalaluddin Haqqani contacted Iran and brokered a prisoner exchange deal on behalf of Al Qaeda. Among those released by Iran were Osama bin Laden's daughter, and former Egyptian Special Forces colonel Saif al Adel. Adel was the operations chief of Al Qaeda since 2001 and had immense influence on Arab fighters since he was in Afghanistan.

He now lives and operates from somewhere in the Tribal Areas, as the interim chief of the terrorist network Osama bin Laden's death.

Al Qaeda faces a number of challenges after the death of its leader, a significant one from likely infighting after Dr Ayman al Zwahiri was not made the new chief. Zwahiri's Egyptian force Jihad al Islami merged with Al Qaeda in 2000. Most of the veteran Arab Afghan jihadis are not very fond of him.

Abdullah Muhammad Fazal, a top Al Qaeda ideologue and who had been trained at the key Al-Furqan Camp in Afghanistan by Saif al Adel calls Zwahiri "Johnny come-late".

Questions loom over Adel's Iranian connection and why Pakistan allowed him to sneak into FATA after his release.

"Saif has a strong operational network in Pakistan and knows how to use it," a counter terror expert said. "We are expecting more terrorist attacks in urban Pakistan and the raid on PNS Mehran might have been his first project after taking over."

[Description of Source: Lahore The Friday Times Online in English -- Website of the Independent, moderate weekly run by veteran journalist Najam Sethi. Reputed for in-depth analytic articles. Editorials analyses, and articles criticize government policies and expose its corruption and misconduct. Hardcopy circulation of 5,000; URL: ]

Karachi Daily Report: US Secretly Holding Talks With Afghan Taliban in Germany

SAP20110529115007 Karachi Ummat in Urdu 28 May 11 p 3

[Unattributed report: "Taliban Not Serious in Talks With US"]

Finally, the United States has begun negotiations with the Taliban. Germany is facilitating the talks between the United States and the Afghan Taliban, with meetings taking place on German soil. Interestingly, Germany, despite being a NATO ally of the United States, has provided asylum and protection to a key Taliban leader. Now as time has come, negotiations are being held with them. On the other hand, after violating Pakistan's sovereignty, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Admiral Michael Mullen have arrived in Pakistan. Only time will tell as to what actually was the agenda they pursue. Sources stress that Tayyib Agha, who addressed a press conference on behalf of Taliban in Spin Boldak recently, said that talks are to serve no purpose without friendly relations with the Haqqani Network. Pakistan is in good terms with the Haqqani group of Taliban. On the other hand, despite mounted US pressure, Pakistan has not lost Haqqani card. Pakistan has made it clear to Clinton to stop drone attacks first, saying as to how it can convince them to talk to the United States, who are being targeted through drone strikes. The intensive talks on Clinton's agenda were cut short after this development and she returned home after a press briefing.

The sources said that talks with Agha are being held in Germany to keep Pakistani intelligence in the dark. How effective is Agha, is a question. US Senator John Kerry has also said that it impossible for Pakistan to eliminate Haqqani group but bringing Taliban to talks is easier.

Brig [Retd] Shaukat Qadir, renowned analyst, is of the view that the United States is willing to talk to the Taliban and it has been trying to hold talks with different Taliban groups, especially with Mullah Omar for long. Every Taliban group is willing to talk to the United States but according to latter, it is not willing to talk to the Haqqani faction. However, it is the latest modification in US strategy, if it has come with an intention to talk to the Haqqani group. Qadir said the Americans have been using demand for action against the Haqqani group to date to ratchet up pressure against Pakistan. He said Mullah Omar had never been willing to talk to the Americans. He said one cannot say as if the fourth and fifth tier Taliban leadership is willing to talk to the Americans but there seemed to be no serious effort on the part of the Taliban in this regard.

Earlier, secret US talks were already in progress with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. The independent status of these groups complicates issues as they are never on one page. In fact, the United States engaged Baradar because he has more supporters than Mullah Omar in Popalzai tribe. Brader and Omar belong to the same tribe. Agha is not a prominent personality among the Taliban factions. If the United States is really willing to talk to the Haqqani faction, it means it wants an exit from Afghanistan. Is the United States leaving Afghanistan, said Qadir commenting on Clinton's statement that good days are coming for Pakistan. He said good days can arrive in Pakistan only if the United States leaves Afghanistan. He said: "Our difficulties are due to the United States. Our difficulties will begin turning into advantages if the United States leaves Afghanistan."

Clinton, who arrived pursuing an agenda to hold talks with the Taliban, has once again handed over a list of demands to the Pakistani leadership against the will of our Parliament. The presence of Clinton and Mullen in Pakistan at the same time is not being considered a good omen. According to sources, the military leadership has refused to do more for the United States. Rather, it has made clear that it will not launch military operation in North Waziristan. Qadir said he did not know in what context Clinton has said that good days are being expected in Pakistan. He said it is premature to analyze this statement without details but the United States seems anxious to talk to Mullah Omar. Agha has been used as just a symbol to assure Taliban that they [US] are willing to talk to them.

At present, four groups are surviving in Afghanistan: Jalaluddin Haqqani, Mullah Omar and two of its sub groups, one is in Nangarhar and other is in Logar province. Talks with these groups would yield some results as they have been a nuisance for the United States. Remaining groups have been rendered ineffective. Hamid Karzai held a grand jirga [tribal council] to demonstrate his prowess but mostly unpopular personalities or those, who had lost their support, attended it. Sources said Americans have been disappointed now or perhaps the military leadership has never faced such public criticism. The attack on the Mehran naval base following 2 May incident has compelled the military leadership to adopt a tough stance.

[Description of Source: Karachi Ummat in Urdu -- Sensationalist, pro-Usama Bin Ladin Urdu daily. Harshly critical of the US, Israel, and India. Propagates Muslim unity to counter US/Western influence. Circulation 20,000. Editor-publisher Rafiq Afghan is an Afghan war veteran.]

UK Source Says Bin Ladin Planned 'Grand Coalition' of Pakistan, Afghan Militants

EUP20110531031005 London Guardian.co.uk in English 1529 GMT 30 May 11

[Report by Jason Burke in Kabul: "Usama Bin Ladin Tried To Establish 'Grand Coalition' of Militant Groups"]

Osama bin Laden [Usama bin Ladin] spent much of his last weeks alive planning a new attempt to bring the disparate factions among insurgents and militants fighting in Pakistan and Afghanistan together under the umbrella of al-Qaida [Al-Qa'ida].

The terrorist leader, who had made repeated efforts to unify militant groups, was even considering risking leaving his safe house in Abbottabad, the northern Pakistani garrison town, to try to build a fresh alliance through face-to-face meetings, sources in Pakistan, Afghanistan and America have told the Guardian.

Western intelligence services and Richard Barrett, head of the United Nations al-Qaida and Taliban sanctions committee, told the Guardian the reports that Bin Laden was planning a "grand coalition" were credible.

"Bin Laden found it pretty difficult to be marginalised and was making a huge effort to stay relevant. There was some indication that he was looking at re-energising links with (other local militant groups) to give himself a central role," Barrett said.

Mediating alliances and focusing the efforts of disparate groups has been a favoured strategy of Bin Laden since the late 1980s. Many experts say that, with the growing sophistication of local groups such as the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, the role of international militants in the region has diminished.

"In recent years, al-Qaida has become increasingly marginal in the region, particularly in Afghanistan," said Thomas Ruttig, a Kabul-based analyst. "The Taliban have people who have been fighting for 30 years and who have little to learn from outsiders."

Western intelligence officials in Kabul told the Guardian they believe there are probably no more than 100 extremists affiliated with al-Qaida fighting in Afghanistan and that relations with the other insurgent groups there and in Pakistan are "variable and dynamic". "Most of the guys fighting in this region have a very local focus. That leads to friction with the internationals," one said last week.

Bin Laden had known key insurgent figures such as the cleric Jalaluddin Haqqani or the Islamist former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, for decades.

American investigators hope the trove of data seized in the raid on the Abbottabad compound this month, in which Bin Laden and his 22-year-old son, Khaled, were killed, will cast light on the relations of al-Qaida and other militant groups in the region and beyond.

Special forces seized dozens of computers, 10 hard drives and more than 100 storage devices, such as disks, DVDs and flash drives, from the safe house.

The data includes emails sent as recently as last month by a courier on behalf of the al-Qaida leader. The sheer size of the haul - described by one official recently as a mother lode of intelligence - has slowed the flow of information, however.

"My understanding is that we are talking about something the size of a small college arts faculty library," said Bruce Riedel, a former senior CIA analyst and expert in south Asian Islamist militancy. "There is a huge amount that needs processing."

Almost all the data is in Arabic, and needs to be translated into English. A further problem, US officials have said, is that it is unclear whether many of the messages, instructions and notes written by Bin Laden were ever sent or ever reached their intended destination.

"They could have been just jottings. He probably got bored, like anyone else," Riedel said.

Intelligence gathering

American former intelligence officials told the Guardian the immediate priority of the dedicated teams set up to work through the data would be to search for any operational information that could avert terrorist plot s, rather than to focus on more strategic issues.

So far, the investigators have found evidence confirming only that certain broad types of target - such as trains and planes - were still of interest to Bin Laden.

According to officials and an American law enforcement bulletin two weeks ago, Bin Laden was also interested in hijacking and blowing up oil and gas tankers.

Among the material seized in the compound, where Bin Laden may have been based for at least five years, are his notes on how many Americans he believed an attack needed to kill to force a change in Washington's Middle East policies and on who were the best senior political officials to target in the US.

There are also indications that Bin Laden was contemplating trying to negotiate some kind of pact with the Pakistani government.

Investigators are also looking for details of the financing of al-Qaida. Much of the money for the terror group came from personal contacts of Bin Laden's and what is believed to be a relatively small number of donors in the Middle East. One official with knowledge of the operation said last week it was hoped that the cache would identify these.

Of particular interest would be any communications with al-Qaida's Sheikh Sa'id al-Masri, believed to be the group's chief financial officer until he was killed last year, the official said. The key thing the investigators will be seeking to assess is the nature of Bin Laden's role in recent years within the al-Qaida organisation.

Since his death, US officials have described the 54-year-old Saudi-born militant leader as "central" to the group and "a micro-manager" linked to "every plot" in America and Europe.

However, some doubt Bin Laden could have been closely involved in day-to-day management, given that the compound where he lived was without internet access or telephones. Communicating may have involved a laborious process of writing messages offline, saving them to a USB key and then having a courier take them to a distant internet cafe or other terminal to be sent.

The two men who lived with Bin Laden, his three wives and up to 15 children and grandchildren put batteries in their mobile phones only when they were at least 60 miles from Abbottabad, for security reasons, according to one report. This will have limited Bin Laden's ability to run the group, officials told the Guardian.

The data retrieved has already shown that Bin Laden was in touch with a small number of senior al-Qaida figures, including Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian veteran militant who is now expected to succeed as the head of the group.

In a statement released in February this year, Zawahiri told followers to avoid "civilian casualties" in their attacks, saying he had been asked to issue the directive by Bin Laden himself.

According to news reports, Bin Laden's notebooks show his displeasure at a suggestion in the Islamist extremist internet magazine Inspire, published from the Yemen by an al-Qaida affiliate, that a farm tractor be converted into a "killing machine" by attaching blades to its wheels. This was not "representative of al-Qaida", he complained.

There is also evidence that Bin Laden had the final say in leadership appointments, pointing out the defects of potential candidates to close senior associates such as Zawahiri.

But some officials seeking to divine the future direction of Islamist militancy point to the conclusions of Moroccan investigations into the bombing of a Marrakech cafe days before the al-Qaida leader died.

A government statement said: "The individuals were absorbed by jihadist ideology, and had allegiance to al-Qaida and had already made several attempts to join some of the hotbeds of tension, especially Chechny a and Iraq, before deciding to carry out terror in the homeland." There was no evidence of a direct connection with the al-Qaida leadership, the investigators said.

"The suspects learned on the internet how to make the two remote-detonated explosive devices," the statement said.

Shortly after the death of Bin Laden, al-Qaida's online al-Fajr Media Centre issued a statement telling every "mujahid [mujahedin] Muslim, if there is an opportunity, do not waste it".

"Do not consult anyone about killing Americans or destroying their economy," the statement continued. "We also incite you to carry out acts of individual terrorism with significant results, which only require basic preparation."

[Description of Source: London Guardian.co.uk in English -- Website of center-left daily with close links to New Labour; comment section covers whole political spectrum; read by well-educated, left-leaning urban professionals; URL: ]

Author Cautions Pakistan Against NWA Operation, Calls Haqqani Islamabad 'Friend'

SAP20110603114005 Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English 03 Jun 11

[Article by Shaukat Qadir: "No Need for NWA Operations"]

Some readers might recall my explanation for US Vice-President Joe Biden's visit to Pakistan in which, quoting The Washington Post, I listed some of the messages he was carrying to us. The relevant one here related to the discontinuation of the US demand that the Pakistan Army undertake operations against the Haqqani Taliban, who are provided safe haven in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) by the Wazir tribe.

Well, even diplomacy is dynamic! Circumstances have changed; and now, media reports indicate that the demand is on the table again. I will attempt to explain here why it must not be obeyed, no matter how much the US protests.

To the uninitiated, there are many factions of the Taliban, Afghan and Pakistani. While all are/were loosely associated with al Qaeda, they did not always obey it. In 2007, when al Qaeda declared that its enemy number one was no longer the US but Pakistan, only two factions of the Taliban responded to that call, both Pakistani: Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) and Maulana Fazlullah in Swat. All factions of the Afghan Taliban, including the Haqqani group, condemned it.

In September 2008, when the Pakistan Army commenced its South Waziristan operation, its largest logistics base was in Razmak, a small town in NWA. In other words, we exposed our rear to the Wazir tribe and the Haqqani group with assurances of impunity; and we found those assurances to be gilt-edged. On the other hand, our so-called ally in this war, the US, vacated six (perhaps eight) posts on the Durand Line, across SWA. Whatever the reason, all it succeeded in doing was permitting Hakeemullah Mehsud and his followers to escape.

They are now back in the Orakzai Agency in Pakistan; the agency captured by the Taliban in early 2008, after killing almost all tribal elders in a suicide attack, during a jirga meeting. The Pakistan Army is now trying to get at them in Orakzai.

In an article titled "Understanding the problems of Kurram Agency", carried by this newspaper on March 29, I explained the significance of Kurram for military operations to succeed in Orakzai/Khyber. I also explained the strategic compulsions due to which Hakeemullah was compelled to ensure that the peace deal was scuttled by sending a raiding party which killed some Shia residents and kidnapped a few others in Kurram on March 25, thus ensuring this flank was not available for military operations.

Give you one guess, who came to our rescue?

That's right; Jalaluddin Haqqani! A week after the murder/kidnapping in Kurram, Haqqani warned Hakeemullah that if he tried to scuttle the peace deal again, Haqqani would take him on.

The US is, at best, a dubious and devious ally, only when our interests meet. Surely, the US could say the same about Pakistan, equally accurately! Haqqani, on the other hand, is not merely a reliable ally, but a friend of Pakistan.

We are already suffering at the hands of our misguided citizens who are avenging themselves against the US by killing us. Here is a group that has proven it means us no harm; why then should we multiply our own enemies to appease the US?

I do not believe that if we delink our war against our homegrown terrorists, it will suddenly cease, as many of my critics imply. I do, however, believe that if we do so, our war might not remain as open-ended as it presently is; and that an end to it might begin to be visible; it still might not, but that is the only hope that it might!

And I also believe that the US, our ally, is our ally only as long as it serves US interests and I believe the same should apply to us! If our interests are divergent, let us serve ours, not those of the US. Those who contend that by not undertaking an operation in NWA, we are merely postponing it may well be right. Even if they are, let it be at the time of our choosing a nd not at a time when it suits the US and puts us in an even worse situation than compared to the present.

Leadership demands the ability to absorb pressure, however great or weighty it might be; not succumb to it.

[Description of Source: Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English -- Website of a newspaper partnered with the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times. It is part of the Lakson Group, which includes Daily Express and Express News Television in Urdu and Express 24/7 Television in English. The group's media wing has no known political affiliations and operates as a moderate, independent commercial media organization. The newspaper claims its mission is to defend "liberal values and egalitarian traditions"; URL: ]

Article: Pakistan Oblivious of Taliban-US Secret Talks; Success to Benefit Obama

SAP20110603381001 Karachi Ummat Online in Urdu 03 Jun 11

[Article by Asif Jilani: The United States Another Effective Blow to Pakistan]

Mark Sedwill, the United Kingdom's special emissary for Pakistan and Afghanistan, has disclosed that the process of indirect secret talks between the United States and the Taliban leadership has begun and that three rounds of talks have been held so far in Qatar and Germany. Pakistan has been kept totally oblivious of these secret talks that have commenced soon after the alleged killing of Usama Bin Ladin in Abbottabad - exactly in the same manner as Pakistan was kept in the dark about the operation of the special contingent of the US SEALS in Abbottabad. The disclosure about the secret talks between the United States and the Taliban has been made at a time when Pakistan has been badly reprimanded for hiding Usama Bin Ladin in Abbottabad and establishing secret contacts with the Taliban and has also been under tremendous pressure to begin a comprehensive military operation in North Waziristan. There was too much hubbub after the US attack in Abbottabad and there were excessive noises against the United States for violating Pakistan's independence, sovereignty, supremacy, and its frontiers. At a joint session of the Parliament, the military leadership was taken to task and in a resolution, an announcement was made in a challenging manner that the United States' unilateral action and drone attacks would not be tolerated in the future. The entire country, in one voice, had demanded that we should review our ties with the United States. However, after this, when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen came to Islamabad, they, instead of dressing the wounds of Pakistani leadership, submitted a long list of insulting demands, which the Pakistani leaders acquiesced to forthwith in a very submissive way. It appeared as though all the noises against the violations of the nation's sovereignty and supremacy were nothing more than mere storm in a tea cup. On his return home after a day's visit to Islamabad, Admiral Mike Mullen without mincing words stated that Pakistan had agreed to launch a military operation in North Waziristan. Though the Pakistani Army has denied it, we are at a loss to understand as to had not this issue been decided, why would Admiral Mike Mullen make an announcement so openly like this? It has been confirmed through various sources that during the visit of Hillary Clinton and Mike Mullen to Islamabad, it was agreed that the military operation against the Haqqani Group in North Waziristan would commence with the bombing by Pakistani Air Force. After that the Pakistani Army would commence the ground offensive. The blueprint prepared for this operation airs an apprehension that more than 350,000 people will become homeless during the operation. In this connection, relief agencies have been alerted and asked to be prepared to deal with this problem.

Jalaluddin Haqqani, whose stronghold is in North Waziristan now-a-days, really belongs to the Jadran tribe in Paktika Province of Afghanistan. He became quite popular on account of his courageous and daring jihadi activities against the Soviet Union in the 80's. In those days, the Americans were so fond of him that President Ronald Regan specially invited him to Washington and hosted him a banquet in the White House. The irony is that in 2001, the very same Jalaluddin Haqqani's name was put on top of the CIA'S hit list. Currently, the septuagenarian Jalaluddin Haqqani is seriously ill and the command of his troops is in the hands of his son Sirajuddin Haqqani. The United States has carried out more than 90 drone attacks in the past few years to wipe out the Haqqani Group in North Waziristan, in which more than 1,000 people have been killed. It seems that the drone attacks by the United States failed in defeating the Haqqani Group. That is why the Pakistani Army is under pressure to launch a ground offensive.

Meanwhile, on the secret parleys between the United States and the Taliban, German journal Der Spiegel has confirmed that as a result of the conciliatory e fforts of the German Government, these secret talks began in Qatar toward the end of May and thereafter two rounds of talks have been held in Germany. On one side, Taiyyab Agha -- a close confidant of Taliban leader Mullah Umar - and on the other, officials of the CIA and the State Department are taking part in these parleys. Taiyyab Agha was the administrator of the Secretariat of Taliban chief Mullah Umar during the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. It is reported that Taiyyab Agha was in contact with the US Government way back before the assassination of Usama Bin Ladin. It has also been disclosed that Michael Stanes [name as transliterated] -- Germany's special emissary for Afghanistan and Pakistan -- is assisting in these talks. As three rounds of talks have already been held, it is reported that there is some progress in the talks. The basic question of the talks is: after the withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan, what guarantees can be given in regard to security and stability. In this connection, emphasis is laid made on Washington's proposal to set up permanent US military bases in Afghanistan. However, the Taliban, who are basically demanding the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan, are not prepared to talk on this proposal in any case. Nonetheless, the German Government is continuing its efforts to persuade the Taliban to abandon their military struggle, to recognize the Constitution of Afghanistan, and to end their contacts with the Al-Qa'ida. For the sake of building a trust between the United States and the Taliban, it has been proposed that the United States would delete the Taliban's name from its blacklist of terrorists. The recent withdrawal of US troops from Peach valley in Eastern Afghanistan has greatly helped in confidence building.

No doubt, these secret talks with the Taliban leadership are considered very significant for President Barack Obama's election campaign. If these negotiations prove effective and some deal is struck with the Taliban before next November, certainly it will be considered to be the greatest success of President Obama in bringing the war in Afghanistan to an end.

[Description of Source: Karachi Ummat Online in Urdu -- Website of the sensationalist, pro-Usama Bin Ladin Urdu daily. Harshly critical of the US, Israel, and India. Propagates Muslim unity to counter US/Western influence. Circulation 20,000. Editor-publisher Rafiq Afghan is an Afghan war veteran; URL: ]

Pakistan: Conditions Not Conducive for Military Operation in North Waziristan

SAP20110601115005 Rawalpindi Nawa-e Waqt in Urdu 31 May 11 p 1

[Report by Sohail Abdul Nasir: "No Major Operation Is Likely in North Waziristan"]

Islamabad -- A major military operation in North Waziristan is neither possible nor are the ground realities conducive for any such decision. Any military operation will deprive a government of the support of the most effective local commander, Hafiz Gul Bahadur. However, Maulvi Nazir, leader of the sWazir tribe in South Waziristan can review the peace agreement with the Pakistani Government.

Commenting on reports published in the Pakistani newspapers quoting US media, a responsible official said that security strictness is being eased in North Waziristan contrary to operation [like situation] as the situation is gradually improving there. According to the source [official], most of the check posts in the FR [Frontier Region] between Bannu and North Waziristan have been abolished, which was an old demand of the local population. A big check post near Bannu airport has also been abolished. Khajuri check post, which was causing problems to the people, also no more exists. However, a check post still exists at Saidgai. According to the source [official], a problem still exists in North Waziristan, which has created because of presence of cronies of Hakimullah Mehsud, an accomplice of Baitullah Mehsud. The colleagues of Hakimullah continue to create problems at local level, which is the cause of continued tension between militant groups.

Majority of the local Taliban in North Waziristan are united under the leadership of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who is considered a prudent personality. It is feared that disputes between militant groups can lead to some big clash between militant groups. In fact members of the Hakimullah group are wanted by the Pakistani security forces. Therefore, the hideouts of this group can possibly be traced and targeted. However, it will not be a military operation but a rapid limited action conducted on the basis of intelligence information. And keeping in view the sensitivity of the situation, the government will take into confidence its local allies before any such action.

As far as the Haqqani group is concerned, all circles having knowledge of North Waziristan know well that ailing Jalaluddin Haqqani and all members of his family were shifted to Afghanistan a long time ago. The big madrasah and guest house of the Haqqani group in North Waziristan have become ghost houses and security forces have locked and sealed them for years. It is interesting that on the one hand the United States on the pretext of presence of the Haqqani group is exerting pressure on Pakistan for full-scale military operation while on the other there is credible evidence, which suggests that the United States itself is in contact with Haqqani network at some level and it wants to expand these contacts.

[Description of Source: Rawalpindi Nawa-e Waqt in Urdu -- Privately owned, widely read, conservative Islamic daily, with circulation around 125,000. Harshly critical of the US and India.]

Afghan High Peace Council Secretary Details Government Position on Taliban Talks

SAP20110612126001 Kabul Tolo News in Dari 1531 GMT 04 Jun 11

[Studio interview with High Peace Council Secretary Mohammad Masom Stanikzai by announcer Mujahid Kakar from the "Kankash (Exploration)" program -- live or recorded]

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, thank you for sparing your time.

[Stanikzai] Thank you, it is a pleasure.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, I want to know from your perspective and from that of the Government of Afghanistan, is negotiation with the Taliban a tactical move that is being deployed, or is it a strategy of the Government of Afghanistan?

[Stanikzai] In the name of God, the most merciful and magnificent, this is a very good question. As you might remember, during the election campaigns for the presidential election, each presidential candidate provided their proposal for the people of Afghanistan on how to ensure the development and stability of the country. For his five -year presidential term, the president of Afghanistan also had his own proposals, which entailed five main components: one, the issue of security; two, the issue of peace; three, the issue of reconstruction; four, the issue of good governance; and, five, the issue of wide regional cooperation and close relations with the world. Thus, there is no place for doubt that the issue of negotiation and peace is a strategic position of this government, and it is not a tactical approach that aims to gain time. This is because all have reached the conclusion, as a result of a comprehensive and deep discussion both inside the Afghan society and between the political circles in Afghanistan and in the international community. This has been on whether the way forward is through war or if there is another way of providing peace that involves bringing the people and the regime closer so that we can reach a national consensus that will ensure the people of Afghanistan are not used as an instrument against their own country. Thus, the issue of peace and negotiation process has been chosen as a strategic principle and a national program.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, the president went to the people of Afghanistan with this program to gain their vote and their confidence. Some argue that the program of Karzai managed to gain votes and the election is over now. However, now the issue is an official policy of the government, as you mentioned this yourself. Hence, if this is a strategy of the government why has this strategy of the government not been submitted to the parliament? The parliament of Afghanistan as an institution that has a duty to determine and ratify all the policies and strategy of the government. Why was this plan not submitted to the parliament?

[Stanikzai] You might remember this also that when the issue of the peace programs or strategic programs of the Government of Afghanistan came to the table, there were some consultations inside the country, as well as with the international community. Also, there was some discussion in the London Conference. Then, the National Peace Consultation Jirga was convened. In the National Peace Consultation Jirga all the members of the parliament, the members of both chambers, took part and discussions about this issue were its priority. Also in this Jirga members of the provincial councils and different strata of the society were present. One of the main pieces of advice that came out of the National Peace Consultation Jirga for the Government of Afghanistan was that, with the possibilities we have in our own society as well as those provided by the international community, a way should be used to find a way forward that can ensure long-term peace and stability in the country. Out of this Jirga there were three principles that came. The first was that regional cooperation should be stepped up and relations with neighbors should be improved. The second principle was to embrace our people, or elders, and our religious people based on the question of how we can emancipate those who are in the clutches of others so that they are not used against our own government and regime. This means that a way should be opened up for those who want to renounce violence and those who want to embrace a constructive and peaceful political process; they should be able to do so. Of course, there was some conditionality attached to these issues.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, the specific question that looms is that, according to the laws of the country that has provided powers to it, the parliament is an institution that should receive the main framework of policies of the government so that it can confirm them. Why has this not happened to date?

[Stanikzai] The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Security Council have formed a package. They have sent it to the parliament so that there should be some discussion about it.

[Kakar] Two years have lapsed since the start of the new term Karzai's government. How can the main framework of the policies of the government be acted on or put into practice without an authorization from the parliament of Afghanistan?

[Stanikzai] I mentioned a minute ago that the issue of negotiation has been discussed beyond the parliament in a comprehensive debate.

[Kakar] So far the main framework of the Government of Afghanistan has not been ratified by the parliament has it?

[Stanikzai] These issues can be asked of the relevant authorities. As a constructive process in which the views of the people have been taken, it reflects the views of the people, while the perspectives of both houses of parliament have been taken into account.

[Kakar] The parliament is the representative of the will of the people of Afghanistan. If this has not gone through the parliament, in your view the claim that you have resorted to the people's will is not founded, is it?

[Stanikzai] In my view, if you have a look a bit further into this issue, the Jirga is a gathering broader than the parliament, but it is right that they are the representatives of the people of the country. However, if we could bring in a little more people, more personalities, more representatives of the provincial councils, then it could make the legitimacy of this issue firmer and make it stronger and more credible, as well as it can muster more support from the people of the country behind this process.

[Kakar] However, the Constitution of Afghanistan foresees only one Jirga, which is the Grand Jirga of the Constitution [Loya Jirga], but the rest of the Jirgas are not at the level that they are above the legal institutions.

[Stanikzai] This is right that these Jirgas are not at the level of the Constitutional Jirga according to the law. This is because, according to the Constitution for the formation of the Grand Jirga [Loya Jirga], we should have the District Councils so that the Constitutional Jirga is formed. However, according to the Constitution, the president has the authority that he can resort to the will of the people by asking their representative to come to, as well as to consult with, the parliament. Also, the president can call upon a large number of people from all corners of the country, from different ethnic groups of the country, and different social personalities, including women and youths, in order to consult with them. What is illegal about this issue?

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, you said in part of your response that, based on the program that the president had during the presidential election and based on that strategy later, you decided to negotiate with those armed opposition forces who are prepared to lay down their arms and who want peace to be brought to Afghanistan. The problems that people have with this strategy is that they want to know whether you exactly know with whom you want to negotiate, if it is those who are laying down their arms and starting a peaceful life, who specifically these people are, and how you are going to negotiate with them.

[Stanikzai] Nothing can be done without a deep and comprehensive analysis; that is, if you do not define someone and do not know someone, how are you able to negotiate with them? Of course, we know this. Naturally, there has been some comprehensive discussion as well as some wide-ranging research. When you are in a situat ion of war with someone, before your negotiation can get to a concrete point, to a result, or before an environment of trust is formed between parties, how can you say that you are negotiating with this or that while the war is still ongoing? This issue has several stages; it is not only something that is going on in Afghanistan. In all wars of the world this process has been like this and this will continue the same way. The end of each war should be peace, but the main principle is how are we going to achieve peace? The people of Afghanistan demand a just peace in which the interest of all the people has been taken into account. We have to bring to an end the war and the bloodshed. We believe that we are facing a complex situation in this region. The war of Afghanistan does not only have an internal dimension, but it also has some regional dimensions to it too. There are some regional competitions in which the Afghans are the victims of these rivalries in the region.

[Kakar] Some people believe that the messages that the Government of Afghanistan and the international community are sending to the Taliban are generally not sufficiently clear. I will provide you with examples. There are some messages from the side of the president that state that there will be negotiations even with Mullah Omar and with all those groups that fight against the Government of Afghanistan. However, there is another message, mostly from the international community, which states that we are not going to negotiate with Mullah Omar and the Haqqani Network as they are on the list of terrorists. What do you think; how can the Taliban trust you?

[Stanikzai] These are very good and logical questions. If you remember, from the year 2003 to date, these issues have been discussed in the media. There were some voices that were saying that we are negotiating with all, but other voices from the international community that were saying we are not negotiating with anyone. These sporadic views were conveying confusing messages, both to the opposition as well as to the people of Afghanistan, and they were wondering whether or not we want peace. This is why when the National Consulting Council was convened, and later the High Peace Council was convened, one the aims of the High Peace Council was that we must have a specific strategy for negotiation and for the peace process. From where did the beginning of this come? It was thought that there might be some concerns inside the country and it came out that there were some concerns and still there are: whether this peace will not put in danger our past achievements; whether this will not mean that the rights of women will be brought into question; whether this will not mean that this bring the Taliban to power and create the same regime as there was before with the Emirate, and others will be pushed out from the political regime to the margins. These questions were looming domestically. The main debates that took place inside the country, and as a result the High Peace Council has defined its strategy based on them, is whether all Afghans in whatever part of this country want to take part in reconstruction of the country, want to renounce violence, and are prepared to take part in the process of peace so that the problems of all Afghan are solved and the bloodshed is avoided. Also, eventually, those brokers who have always traded in the blood of the martyrs and have made deals over it should be prevented from doing so.

[Kakar] Who are these brokers Mr Stanikzai?

[Stanikzai] Everyone in a way has misused these issues under different names, different reasons, and different motivations. However, one thing is very obvious. The continuation of the current situation in which killing and bloodshed is going on in Afghanistan is not in the interest of anyone, neither in the interest of people of Afghanistan, nor in the interest of the neighbors of Afghanistan, nor in the interest of the international community.

I want to come to answer the question you put to me initially. I want to say is that there is specific strategy occurring. Based on this, in different provinces some discussions have taken place with the elders of the tribes, with religious authorities, and with ordinary people. In the meantime, you are aware the Asian Foundation has conducted a survey and they have asked the people of Afghanistan in different corners of the country different questions. The result was that about 80 percent to 90 percent of the people Afghanistan have demanded a transparent process in which the bloodshed and killing can be prevented and Afghanistan can gain long-term stability. Also, these disagreements between Afghans should be solved between themselves. Also, another issue was that we should create a trust environment with the regional countries. The Government of Afghanistan should arrive at single position and they should have the same message that is clear.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, I want you to clarify one issue; you said that the achievement that the people of Afghanistan and the Government of Afghanistan have arrived at should not be sacrificed. The concerns that practically exist among the people amount to two issues. People do not know exactly whether the process with the Taliban is peace or if is it a deal, and most of the people think that there is not an issue of peace but a deal is going to be struck.

[Stanikzai] Those who cannot see their interest in peace they believe that there is an issue of a deal there. There has not been a deal so far, nor is anyone thinking about it. From the beginning when the High Peace Council was established, it has been specified in their internal duties and procedure that what we do is initially we have to provide an environment of trust so that different Afghan groups can come to the negotiation table. A situation should be created that makes possible the process of negotiation. The second issue is how we can gain the trust of all the people of Afghanistan in a legal framework. When someone has a concern before a step has been taken, there is no negation of how many seats are provided to whom and so on. However, there have been three decisions; that is, first whoever enters the peace process should have their immunity guaranteed; you don't want one side to invite someone for negotiation but others arrest them. Second, when they are coming, mostly there are some local animosities and some disagreements and there should be some measures so that these should not provide any problems. Third, all Afghan should have the right to take part in the political process, regardless of whether they are Taliban or non-Taliban, or members of civil society, or so on. As Afghans, they should have equal rights and they should be able to take part in the political process. Eventually, the Afghans should be able to live in a national unity environment. There is no plan to make deals and the issue of deals is not even on the table. Regarding those who raise these issues, some political circles that are raising such issues are doing so to capitalize on some political gains by creating concerns. This is not a deal, because there is the support of the United Nation as well as the international community's support behind this issue. There a comprehensive consultation on this issue. Whatever is going to take place here will be based on the national interest Afghanistan and just on the interest of all the people of Afghanistan should it be secured.

[Kakar] The main problems of the people of Afghanistan lie in what you said that some circles raise this issue with concern. The national security adviser of the country calls the Taliban terrorists, and Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, who is a high-ranking member of the High Peace Council, says that this procedure is process of a surrendering to the Taliban. Most of these voices are coming out of your own government. Why is that?

[Stanikzai] Everyone has his or her own view. This is the good nature of democracy that everyone can express their views. They have the choic e of not keeping their animosity in their heart, but they can express it.

[Kakar] Do you think this is an animosity?

[Stanikzai] I am not saying that this is animosity; I am saying that everyone has his or her own views and a personal understanding and they can express it. Yes we should say terrorist a terrorist, but when those who want to join a constructive peace, end the environment of war, and eventually bring all Afghans together, then we should have the tolerance to bring Afghans to a negotiation table so that they can speak to each other. In every society, without bringing a culture of tolerance, especially in Afghanistan, we cannot arrive at long-term stability without reducing the culture of violence. Do we still want the continuation of war to provide more youths into the hands of terrorist circles as tools, or do we want to provide a situation where Afghans are not suffering the plots of others.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, when you discuss among yourselves, and if the government cannot arrive at a common viewpoint, how can the government go to the opposition or the Taliban and ask them to negotiate? Would they trust you?

[Stanikzai] When we mentioned this issue, Mr Spanta, as a national security adviser, has always supported this process, a process that can get Afghans to a long-term peace and stability; he always will seriously support it. On the one hand we have actions, while the other hand we have debates with different personalities. Any action that causes the death of civilians, everyone will condemn it. However, when we talk about what has caused some to become the opposition to the regime, then perhaps there are some reasons for this too. There might be two reasons that can be misappropriated. The first issue is that, yes in Afghanistan there were there some terrorists and there were some through whom terrorism was supported. As a result, there was a crisis in governance, administration, and the concerns of the world so that the international community came to this country.

Thus there are some circles both inside and outside the country who try to use the presence of the foreign forces in the country as a pretext and the reason for the continuation of war. On the other hand, there are those who say that there are still some terrorists in Afghanistan and they want to grant legitimacy to the continuation of war in the country. What I want to say, what the peace process says, and what the Government of Afghanistan says, is that we should move toward national sovereignty through a process of transition. The Afghans should have their fate in their hands. The world should help us to be able to take responsibility for security and civil services, economics, and development. In the meantime, this pretext should be removed and Afghanistan should not be used against the interest of other states as a [terrorist] base.

Afghans should be able to live with each other, as well as with their neighbors in peace. Also, there should be some opportunities provided, and as was decided at the Lisbon Conference, responsibility should be transferred to the Government of Afghanistan. We should not think that all the responsibility is on the shoulders of the government; everyone has a responsibility, including the society of Afghanistan, and the people of Afghanistan regardless of whether they are the opposition or not. If we want to untie a knot, it should be done by hand, not with teeth. Coming together for national aims, regardless of whether they are the opposition, in the government, or outside the government, we should think that there are four or five fundamental issues that are part of the red line of the national interest. Peace is a red line without which you cannot provide social justice in Afghanistan; national sovereignty in Afghanistan is a red line for which we have to work jointly; social justice is a red line for which we have to work in a united manner; the preservation of territorial integrity is a red line for which we have to work together. That is why we have to be careful; it is right to have a critical attitude, but we should not reject things with a broad brush under the name of being in opposition. However, when we are part of the government, then we say that everything is going well, but when we lose our government position, then we say everything is going badly.

[Kakar] People believe that the ambiguity in this process has mostly been produced by the government itself. To date, the government does not have a clear and transparent idea about the procedure for peace and the principles that have been envisaged for peace. It has not been provided to the people. As a result, the people do not know what the manifesto of the High Peace Council is, with which Taliban it wants to negotiate, and under which conditions. Whenever the authorities of the peace process have spoken, they have said new things. Do you not think that you have created the confusion in the minds of the people?

[Stanikzai] I think it is the contrary; to some extent the media has created this ambiguity. If the analysts who do not have precise information about a process talk about it, then it is not correct. When you go to the localities and ask people who has said this or that, they say that they have heard it from the media.

[Kakar] The things that I have just said are based on the words of a member of the High Peace Council who says that this process is cowardice and nothing else. When the national security adviser of Afghanistan says that the Taliban are terrorists and we should call them terrorists, then what can the media do about it.

[Stanikzai] I mentioned a little while ago that these views are the personal views of some individuals.

[Kakar] But they are talking on behalf of the Government of Afghanistan.

[Stanikzai] That is right, it is on behalf of our government. I mentioned a little while ago that Mr Spanta had a major role to play in convening the situation and the principles of the High Peace Council under which the situation of peace should be established. These issues have been openly debated. I will repeat it again that the framework on which this government functions is not under any question. The Constitution of Afghanistan is an issue that has been decided by the people of Afghanistan; no one can deal on the constitution. If someone wants to bring about any change in the Constitution of Afghanistan, it has to be done properly in the way it has been envisaged by the Constitution itself, not by backdoor deals and then they say the next day they have changed the law. About the rights of the people, this is part of the process. About the achievements to date, these achievements should be further enforced and preserved, so that we should not regress. That is why these issues have been debated, in civil society, in parliament, and inside the government.

The program of peace itself is based on the discussions of the former parliament. It discussed this issue for days and recommended to the government that to bring peace the Government of Afghanistan should have an agenda for bringing peace and ending war. How can they accuse the government over this? When the government is provided with a duty by the parliament, and it debates it, and then the government creates an agenda, then why we should follow this vicious circle?

[Kakar] But Mr Stanikzai, governments are always subject to the law. The Constitution of Afghanistan says that the basic principles and internal and foreign policies of the government should be ratified by the parliament of Afghanistan. It has been two years since the new government gave the parliament its basic governance principles, but the parliament has not ratified them.

[Stanikzai] The parliament itself had some entanglements; there was a parliamentary election and so on.

[Kakar] It has been two years, two years should have been sufficient for the government to send its policies to the parliament.

[Stanikzai] As far as I am informed, it sen t them to it. At each step it has kept the parliament informed. You might remember that, before our program went to the Kabul Conference, our agenda went to parliament. I went to the parliament and answered the questions of the representatives.

[Kakar] Do you want to say that their complaints are baseless?

[Stanikzai] They have always been consulted and some members of the parliament are members of the High Peace Council, as well as some members of the upper house of the parliament. It is not the case that the High Peace Council has brought together some people so that they can be used instrumentally.

[Kakar] There are some claims that some members of the High Peace Council even do not attend the sessions of the council. For example, in most of your session Mr Ismail Khan is not there, Ustad Sayyaf is not present, Ustad Mohaqiq, and Peer Said Ahmad Gilani is not there. Also, those who are criticizing you say that those who are conducting the main negotiations are not members of the High Peace Council. They claim that the High Peace Council is a smokescreen. How far do you find these criticisms to be correct?

[Stanikzai] I want to tell you that the issue with the ministers who are members of the council is they are a little busy. However, the sessions of the council are being attended by a super majority. In the sessions of the Executive Council's members who have been elected by the members of the High Peace Council, they all attend regularly the session of the council regularly and debate and deliberate on issues. Then they provide information to the rest of the members of the High Peace Council.

I mentioned a little while ago that, when you are engaged in a complex process, then the main lines and the strategy is decided and debated and determined in a large council. Then there is a small team that has been appointed as the Executive Council who will work on different issues and subsequently report it to all members of the High Peace Council. If you expect that all 70 members should be present in every session, it is a very difficult task. Naturally, there are different committees assigned different tasks that go about their work and then come and report to the rest of the members of the High Peace Council that they have done their work and so on. The good thing is that, if in a place there is no disagreement and no one can raise their voice, then things can go astray. I believe this is the strength of an institution that believes in this.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, I want to ask you if you would want to negotiate with Mullah Omar Mujahid, or with the Haqqani Network, either with Jalaluddin Haqqani or Sarajuddin Haqqani, or not?

[Stanikzai] I would like to say that this decision lies with the council; no individual can decide about it.

[Kakar] What is the general viewpoint and trend in the High Peace Council?

[Stanikzai] The general viewpoint is that any initiative that can eventually bring permanent peace and stability in which the interests of the people of Afghanistan are ensured should be embraced to end the war in Afghanistan, but not those initiatives that ensure the interests of one at the expense of the other. There is no issue about individual interests.

[Kakar] How far do you have the support of the international community, and particularly the support of the United States?

[Stanikzai] A very comprehensive debate has taken place. All of these questions you are raising and that the people are raising have been thought through several times. Today, the United States at a very high level, including the president and the secretary of state, has officially declared that they will support the peace initiative led by the Afghans and the Government of Afghanistan. It has said that it will support the principle under which peace negotiations are conducted. That is why any step toward peace has been supported by both the United States and the international community.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, how far have t he negotiations with the opposition been successful to date?

[Stanikzai] The process of negotiation with the oppositions has several dimensions. One dimension involved the level of their leadership, another dimension entails a local engagement, and the other dimension has to do with the regional level, which attempts to create some capacity for the negotiation to start. The main issue that we face is not only that the armed opposition of Afghanistan should have a specific address from where they can conduct talks. The second issue is their immunity, which is very controversial. The third issue that also involves diplomatic problems, is the United Nations 1267 list, which includes the name of those who have problems of mobility and other issues. The High Peace Council tries to tackle all these issues in order to preempt pretexts such as: I had a proposal and I wanted to bring it to the negotiation table with my Afghan brother, but I was not allowed, the situation was not suitable for such a thing and I wanted to negotiate but it was not possible; that is why I was forced to continue war.

We are trying our best to provide possibilities and we have high-level contact that will make direct talks possible.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, has there been any direct contact with the Quetta Council and Peshawar Council or the North Waziristan Council to which the Haqqani Network belongs or not?

[Stanikzai] All Afghans have contacts with each other, and this is not something hidden. Hence, no one can say that they could not find or contact anyone. What I want to say is that most of our contacts are with the elders of tribes, with personalities who have the capacity to be effective in the process.

[Kakar] To date, specifically have you not been able to make contact directly or not?

[Stanikzai] At this moment I do not want to talk about the details of this, as it is too early, as it might be premature, and we have not arrived at a point where all sides are prepared to come to a negotiation table and talk about how to end the war. We have not reached such a point. These contacts have had their effects. In the meantime, there is a lot of support from the people of Afghanistan for this process, some pressure has been exerted by the people for this process to kick off, and this process had very specific and tangible results in localities. If you, for example, go to Badghis Province, or Uruzgan Province, or even to Konduz and Baghlan Provinces, this has had a positive effect. May God bless General Daud, we were working very closely with him on this issue. As result of joint endeavors, a large number of opposition joined the peace process. This process had a lot of positive effects on the security of some provinces. This is not only in the north of the country, but also in the south of Afghanistan: in Ghor Province, in Badghis Province, in Faryab Province, Sar-e Pul Province, in Konduz and Baghlan Provinces. This is a process and you cannot expect to see its success in one day, in one month, or in one year. The war that goes on in Afghanistan demands patience. Perhaps, war is not that difficult to wage, but peace is.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, one issue that has been always there in the minds of the people, is that, when there has been an invitation to peace by the Government of Afghanistan, it has been rejected by the Taliban opposition. Very specifically, the spokesmen of the Taliban and their leaders know the Government of Afghanistan to be a puppet government that has been brought about by the foreigners and governs through their force. They have declared out of the question any negotiation with the Government of Afghanistan. How can you posses a belief that you can negotiate with the leadership of the Taliban?

[Stanikzai] The situation that the Government of Afghanistan is in is totally different and the situation of the opposition is also different. Most of the time, several people talk with the name of one spokesperson and provide information. Sometimes it is very difficult to know from which side this information has been provided to them. Whatever incident takes place, they suddenly take responsibility for these incidents.

[Kakar] However, the policies of the Taliban are being declared in a specific place and by specific people.

[Stanikzai] Until you have arrived at an environment of trust and until you have reached a situation where an official negotiation can start, everyone will have their own reason and put their position in the way that they want, but when you get to the specific point, then things are different. One thing is clear: there are things that are provided in the media as different, but on the other hand there is an extreme interest from the other side among the individuals sent and contacts established. They have said that, yes we Afghans should be able to negotiate among ourselves and get to an understanding that brings an end to the war and we can arrive at national sovereignty.

[Kakar] Hence, you have had some contacts with the leadership of the Taliban and you have received messages from them that show their interest in this process.

[Stanikzai] There are some messages that show their interest, but my point is that the Government of Afghanistan has taken some measures on how to eliminate the pretexts that provide a reason for the war; these reasons should be eliminated. One of them is that the foreign forces should get out of Afghanistan. The Government of Afghanistan says, yes the foreign forces are leaving, but we have a timetable agreement with them, have to go through a transition, and this transition should be successful. When the international community wants this, and when the Government of Afghanistan wants this to happen, we have a previous experience similar to this. In the past, the Russians had to leave and eventually the Mujahidin were successful, but there was no peace in Afghanistan. Why? Because there was no planning and program on how to make the regime and we went through a civil war. Today, also if it a question is of the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan without strengthening our national security and civil institutions and without the opposition coming forward and cooperating so that this transition process should be successful, it is surely that Afghanistan will move toward another crisis. That is why the fundamental principle is that slowly the minds of the people of Afghanistan, both those who are supporting the opposition and those who are supporting the regime, have come to a conclusion that mutual cooperation can expedite the process of transition.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, what guarantee is there that, if the process of transition became a reality and if after the transition the withdrawal of the foreign forces even starts from Afghanistan, the opposition does not engage in peace and starts to send Afghanistan again toward a civil war? This is the experience that we have witnessed before.

[Stanikzai] I think that the Government of Afghanistan has enough experience, as well as the people of Afghanistan, experience and a fear of the bitter experience of the 1990s that it should not be repeated once more. Also, the international community knows about this and there is a commitment so that Afghanistan should not be abandoned once more as the price of this would be dear for both the people of Afghanistan and the world several fold more than before. I think today the regional countries also know that the continuation of the crisis in Afghanistan is not in the interest of anyone and it can go beyond the borders of Afghanistan. However, we have to be careful and we have to take our own measures, as well as we should take forward the transition process with care and being very calculated. Also, we have to take forward the process of peace similarly with care and in a very calculated manner so that the Afghans can eventually together become dominant over their own fate.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, on the one hand you have declared a one-sided process of peace, but on the other side President Karzai consistently demands the foreign forces stop their night raids. Even today, he made a warning to them in his speech. Some believe that, if there was not a certain pressure kept up on the Taliban, they would not be prepared to negotiate as in the current situation the Taliban think they are winning this war. They believe that the forces inside the regime do not have the capacity to crush them and that is why they might want to take over the government. On the one hand, you want your allies to decrease their pressure on the Taliban. On the other hand, every day there are some blows that the security forces are suffering from the attacks of the Taliban and there are some views that some of these actions are very suspicious and there might be some cooperation from the within the regime. Now, given all this, how can there be a guarantee that the Taliban are going to stick to this process as they are thinking that they are winning? Why should they come and join the process while this is the case? Why would they need negotiation?

[Stanikzai] The situation is the other way around. There is one view that we are sitting in Kabul and we are thinking that they are winning, but it is the contrary. They are facing a lot of pressure from the military, as well as every day the pressure from the people against them is increasing. Every day, those who are killed as a result of the bombings, suicide attacks, or mine explosions, the majority of the victims of these are the ordinary people of Afghanistan. The president of Afghanistan, as the president of all the people of the country, has to be attentive to the pain and suffering of all of its citizens. When a police officer or a soldier or officer of the National Army is killed, the president has to share their pain. This is the same way when in the Zeyray District the elders are saying that they do not want instability in their region and when they go to the district they should not be killed, and also on another day 14 civilians were killed in Helmand in one family and all of these people of are the children of this land. The president has a duty to provide security and immunity to the people of Afghanistan. If anything happens in which the immunity of the people of Afghanistan is not provided for, but on top of that they suffer, then the president has to make his voice heard. However, principally, all the attention is on how the National Police, the National Army, and the National Directorate of Security can be strengthened as they are doing valuable work. In the meantime, it should be ensured that there is no infiltration inside their ranks, as it is one of their responsibilities that they are responsible for this security of others, but they have to take care of the responsibility of their own.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, there are two questions here. It has been said that, on the one hand, you have prevented the police forces and the Army from attacking the Taliban, but on the other hand you are pressur izing the international forces to stop their attacks on the Taliban. However, meanwhile, the Taliban have stepped up their attacks on both civilians and the military, which has cost some casualties among the military as well as among civilians. The way you complain about the foreign forces, you should also complain and condemn the Taliban. On the one hand, attacks on them have been stopped, while on the other the Taliban have increased their attacks. In this environment the political opposition believes that there are certain circles inside the regime that have links with the killing and terrorist attacks on the authorities and personalities and they have said this in their statements. This has created a weird situation of distrust in the country. What is your reply to this?

[Stanikzai] My message is very clear; we should not become so childish as to be carried away by the propaganda from the outside and those who want to spoil the national unity of the people of Afghanistan. Naturally, the heart of any Afghan, and especially that of the president of Afghanistan, goes out to a soldier of this country, an officer of this country, a personality of this land. This means whoever it is and in whatever corner of Afghanistan they are. We have lost the cadres of Afghanistan, the sons of this soil, how painful it is that in just one province in the past five years we have lost over 600 tribal elders, officers, and officials; all of this is painful. Instead of talking about whom to blame, what we need is that those who are in the opposition and those who are inside the regime have a common cause. This is to support this regime, and in the framework of this regime there should be a capacity opened up for those who either have been forced to become opponents; there should be a door that leads them to us without ways of violence.

About the issue that has been put forward that there is some plot inside the regime against one another, I think it is outside propaganda and this is a political monopolization that will not benefit any Afghan.

Thus, my question comes back to you. Can we provide peace through war alone? It is impossible. The president of Afghanistan has always said that terrorism is not based in the villages of Afghanistan, but instead we have to go to the place where the war is being funded and organized. They are sent from there and eventually the victims of this are the people of Afghanistan. We have to concentrate on the source of this, on how to dry the roots this phenomenon. We should not talk about the villages of Afghanistan.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, you know that there is in practice a war going on in the villages of Afghanistan at the moment.

[Stanikzai] It has been brought there.

[Kakar] The Taliban are present there, they conduct attacks on the security institutions, and in most of the districts the government does not have any control. If they are not fought against in the villages, where they should be fought? When you say that the Taliban are there in some of the villages and they are orchestrating some attacks, then what should be done? When these people are killed, why can you not tell them why they are sacrificing these people? You mentioned earlier Gen Daud and the commander of police in Takhar; why are these people being killed?

[Stanikzai] They are killed because they are defending the security of the people of Afghanistan. All our aim is that, if we cannot provide security for the people of Afghanistan, then why we are fighting? The government of Afghanistan's aim is to strengthen the national security institutions of Afghanistan, the Army, police, National Directorate of Security, and local police. The aim is how to strengthen the security of the people of Afghanistan.

The peace process is part of the bigger strategy that aims to prevent those who are killing the sons of this soil and the children of this country, as well as to reduce violence and open the way for those who do not want to fight; we should not for ce them to fight.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, those families who have lost a member of their family, their brother, their husband, their son, they went to this war and get killed; what you can tell them as to why you want to send them to war and then you go and negotiate with those who kill them? This is with the same people who kill them.

[Stanikzai] It is very unfortunate that you are asking such a question.

[Kakar] This is a question that families are asking.

[Stanikzai] I have spoken to families too. Let me answer this question. My answer is: Would you like that every day more and more and Afghans are killed and every day more blood is shed and more families are destroyed? Then their blood is not honored. Which war you have witness in which eventually there is not a negotiation and the war is ended? Do you want the war to continue?

[Kakar] I want to raise this issue as it was mentioned in the burial ceremony of Gen Daud and the commander of police of Takhar: When they are killed, what is the reason for it? I wanted to ask you what your answer to these families is. If the Taliban do not want peace, in the end you cannot bring about peace forcefully.

[Stanikzai] Our message to them is clear; they are heroes of this country, they have been killed for the defense of this country, for its national sovereignty, and they are the crown jewel of this country.

Any other Afghan who takes this way forward, avoids the violence, and comes to the negotiation table to solve the problem so that we can prevent further bloodshed and the killing of the people of Afghanistan, we must open the way for them and negotiate with them. We have to open up this way of negotiation and finding a way to rescue Afghans from the clutches of those who are used against the national interest of the country or have been forced. If we continue the war, what happens? A lot of wars have taken place in this region and in the country; let's even forget about the Taliban, how many people were killed between local commanders? What message you have for the families of those people? Did people not rise and kill each other and fight each other? We are facing a crisis. We need to work on trust building; we should not further cultivate the seeds split among the people of Afghanistan and not bring face-to-face with each other and say this and that are to be blamed that for those who have been killed. Yes, regarding those who are carrying out the terrorist actions, everyone condemns them. Also, we should not forget that all the people of Afghanistan are not terrorists. All the Taliban are not terrorists.

[Kakar] Those who are carrying out these attacks, are you calling them terrorists?

[Stanikzai] Those who are carrying out these attacks, and they are caught red handed according to the law, they should be punished. However, the issue of negotiation is totally different.

[Kakar] However, would you yourself call them terrorists?

[Stanikzai] I am saying that if someone kills an Afghan then, of course, why not, he is a terrorist.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, my final question is the issue of negotiation with the opposition. One its strongest dimensions is foreign involvement, you mentioned it yourself in your discussions. How can you gain the trust of the Pakistanis in this negotiation, as it has been said that they can and they are playing a vital role in the process of peacemaking in Afghanistan?

[Stanikzai] This is one of the fundamental issues and there are already some discussions under way with the Pakistanis. There are very frank and clear discussions with the Pakistanis. You are aware that, as a result of this dialogue, a joint high commission at the level of the heads of both governments has been agreed and there should be comprehensive and deep discussion about different issues. I strongly believe that, if an honest cooperation starts between the two countries, the problems of Afghanistan can rapidly change, rather than if we try to sort everything through war and violence. Whatever we do, we have to take into consideration the national interest of our country as every country gives priority to its national interests.

[Kakar] Mr Stanikzai, in the past 10 years relations with Pakistan have been very bumpy. At times we have called them a brother country and at times they have been accused of supporting insurgency. You said in your own words that the terrorist centers should be targeted where they are trained and nurtured and you exactly must have meant Pakistan. Thus, if you are sending such messages to the Pakistanis, how do you think Pakistan will be ready to bring your enemies to you at a negotiation table and cooperate with you in a peace process?

[Stanikzai] I will tell you again, you cannot expect at one moment to be saying this is the work to be done, and then expect it to be done. This is a long-term process. When you want to solve a long-standing disagreement where there is a conflict of interest, where there is local and regional rivalry, and you want to solve it, then it is a long-term process and you need to build trust so that two sides can trust each other. In the past three years there have been mutual endeavors so that this trust environment is established. Naturally, it cannot be expected that with one or two trips this is achievable and everything can be sorted out. There are some fundamental issues that need a lot of discussion and need mutual trust building. In past years, there was a policy of denial or a policy of dodge and avoidance. However, they have noticed that this policy of denial and this policy of avoidance are not working. But, there is need for a constructive debate about this issue rather than this old tactics.

[Kakar] Then there is a change in the policies of Pakistan.

[Stanikzai] I think this realization is wider than that and all sides have come to this understanding. It has been realized by the international community, and it also has been understood by the Pakistanis as well, as there is wider acknowledgement and these realities have become very clear inside Afghanistan. Instead of engaging in propaganda warfare, we need to bring different issues to the negotiation table with different working groups. We need a constructive diplomatic activity. This has been started and they are working on it so that we can get to a positive result in creating more trust and cooperation between each of us.

[Kakar] Have you received any guarantees from the Pakistani side that they will work honestly on this issue?

[Stanikzai] This depends on how this process will move forward. Everything should be judged by its performance and the results of it. I do not want to prejudge or forecast anything, but I can say that both sides are working very seriously so that the relations should be improved and the cooperation level is to be brought to the extent that it can make some issues possible. Naturally, the Government of Afghanistan has its specific demands and they might also have some demands.

However, I arrived at a point and I have arrived at a conclusion that today the politicians and the people of Afghanistan know that the continuation of this situation is not in the interest of their security and economy. Also, this situation is not in the interest of the security and economy of Afghanistan. When we arrive at a point that is a dead end, then constructive cooperation is possible.

[Kakar] Mr Mohammad Masom Stanikzai, thank you very much.

[Stanikzai] Thank you.

[Description of Source: Kabul Tolo News in Dari -- independent 24/7 news channel; part of the Moby Media Group]

AFP: ISAF Says Haqqani Commander Killed

EUP20110630747002 Paris AFP (North American Service) in English 30 Jun 11

[AFP headline-"NATO says Haqqani commander killed in Afghanistan "]

NATO said Thursday that a senior commander in the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network wanted over this week's deadly attack on a leading hotel in the Afghan capital had been killed in an air strike.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) identified Ismail Jan as deputy to the senior Haqqani commander inside Afghanistan and said he was killed in the eastern province of Paktya on Wednesday.

It was not possible to confirm Jan's death or position independently and ISAF provided no immediate details on how they knew he had been killed.

It said security forces tracked his location based on intelligence reports from Afghan government officials, citizens and "disenfranchised insurgents" before calling in the air strike.

The US-led force accused Jan of providing material support for Tuesday's attack on the Intercontinental in Kabul, frequented by Westerners and Afghan government officials.

Heavily armed militants stormed the hilltop hotel late Tuesday, sparking a ferocious battle involving Afghan commandos and a NATO helicopter gunship that left at least 21 dead including the nine attackers.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, but NATO said it was carried out in conjunction with the Haqqani network, blamed for a string of high-profile attacks in Kabul and considered the most potent enemy in the east.

A judge, a Spaniard -- reportedly a pilot for a Turkish airline -- police and hotel staff were among those killed in the attack, which has renewed questions about security as US forces prepare to start withdrawing this year.

NATO said Jan was killed with "several" other Haqqani fighters the day after the attack in Paktya, which borders Pakistan's semi-autonomous district of North Waziristan, where the Haqqani leadership is based.

NATO said Jan had also led 25 to 35 fighters in attacks on troops in the Khost-Gardez area along the border after moving from Pakistan into Afghanistan in late 2010, one of the deadliest fighting grounds in the decade-long war.

The military said "initial reports" indicated that no civilians were hurt in Wednesday's air strike, although air attacks have brought the US-led military into sharp opposition with the Afghan government over civilian casualties.

US President Barack Obama announced last week that he would be withdrawing 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of summer 2012 and Washington has voiced hope about reaching a peace deal to end a decade of fighting.

The Haqqanis, estimated to have 3,000 to 4,000 fighters, has been blamed for some of the most spectacular attacks of the insurgency, including an Al-Qaeda double agent suicide attack that killed seven CIA operatives in 2009.

It was founded by the now-ageing Jalaluddin Haqqani, a warlord who made his name during the 1980s jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan, when he received funding from Pakistan and the CIA.

He allegedly helped Osama bin Laden elude American capture after the US invasion of Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks, but his ruthless son Sirajuddin now effectively runs the network.

The Haqqanis are seen as operationally independent from the Taliban but part of a broad coalition of groups operating under its aegis.

This could pose a problem in any substantive peace talks -- the United States says contacts with the Taliban are at a very early stage -- if the Haqqanis did not agree to end their part in the insurgency.

jm/jah

[Description of Source: Paris AFP (North American Service) in English -- North American service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Indian Commentary Raises Concern Over Radicalization in Pakistani Armed Forces

SAP20110629527008 New Delhi Hindustan Times Online in English 29 Jun 11

[Corrected version: correcting Subject; Commentary by G D Bakshi, retired Major General in Indian Army: "Waiting To Explode"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

Never since the 1971 war debacle has the image of the Pakistani army reached such a nadir. The killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad turned the spotlight on Pakistan's amazing duplicity (or astounding incompetence). Initially, the Pakistani army was in a painful cleft about which facet to plead guilty to. Both were equally damning. For 36 hours after the raid, there was a stunned official silence in Islamabad. A spate of suicide bombings and terrorist attacks followed in the country, which culminated in the Taliban raid on the naval base at Mehran.

The high-strung Taliban reaction against the Pakistani armed forces sprang from a sense of outrage and betrayal. They had put bin Laden, Mullah Omar, Jalaluddin Haqqani, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and other top Taliban leaders in the safekeeping of Pakistan's InterServices Intelligence (ISI). The killing of bin Laden was, for the Taliban, a monstrous sell out. The fact that the army itself was shellshocked by the American raid meant nothing to the Taliban. The Pakistani rank and file, in turn, is deeply offended that the Americans could pull off such a raid deep inside their country. It has opened them to a spate of ridicule from the civilians, which has wounded the army's amour propre for being the only functional institution in an otherwise dysfunctional Pakistan.

The level of discontent has now reached serious proportions. Apparently, enraged enlisted men have demanded that General Ashfaq Kayani and General Ahmad Shuja Pasha must step down. Today, Kayani faces intense discontent over his allegedly cosy relationship with the US. The anger intensified when he (with apparent US backing) got himself an extension for three years. This torpedoed the promotional prospects of 27 lieutenant generals of the army and added to their sense of outrage.

After Abbottabad, at a conference of the Collegium of the XI Corps Commanders, Kayani was informed about the outrage and apparently asked that he talk to the men himself before the situation went out of hand. Accordingly, a panic-stricken Kayani started a tour of the military cantonments to meet the officers in town hall-type meetings. By now, Kayani has addressed over a dozen such military gatherings where, in some cases, the `question rounds' slated for an hour extended up to three hours. The military press briefs described them as "very frank". This is an unprecedented situation in a disciplined army where the chief feels compelled to explain his conduct to his men. An alarmed Kayani has, in response to this unnerving feedback, hardened his stand on America too. Around 140 US trainers have been sent back and, apparently, food and water supplies to the US drone base in Pakistan have been cut. The five Pakistanis who gave information to the CIA about bin Laden have been arrested. So much for the war on terror. There is speculation that the gory details of the anger within the army have been put in the Pakistani media to put pressure on America to not insist on carrying out operations in North Waziristan or target top al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders hiding in Pakistan.

These are the long overdue consequences of the schizophrenic policy that Pakistan has been following since 9/11. It is noteworthy that General Zia-ul-Haq had not only thoroughly radicalised the Pakistani army and the ISI but he had also equally radicalised the school curriculum to extol jihad. Having systematically been fed on a diet of radical Islam and virulently anti-American worldviews, the population of Pakistan is now among the most radicalised in the world. Pakistan's 45,000 madrasas have become a jihad factory, turning out fanatical recruits and suicide bombers for the global jihad.

Bin Laden and his men have become icons for the Pakistani youth. The Zia Bharti (officers who joined the army in Zia's time) have reached the rank of major generals and some of them have even become lieutenant generals. They rose because of their Islamic credentials and radicalised outlook.

Will there be a colonels' coup in Pakistan?

It's unlikely. It is the Collegium of Corps Commanders that usually ushers in non-linear changes (usually in the form of institutional coups). But the creeping radicalisation of the Pakistani rank and file is now cause for acute concern. Post-Mehran, there are serious question marks on the safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Above all, this radicalisation via deep infiltration could presage the emergence of a jihadi State.

Bruce Reidel, in his book Deadly Embrace: Pakistan, America and the Future of Global Jihad, describes this as the worst nightmare for America. He writes, "A jihadist Pakistan would be the most serious threat the US has faced since the end of the Cold War."

Aligned with al-Qaeda and armed with nuclear weapons, it would be a global security nightmare. It would be prudent for India to `war game' possible collapse scenarios.

Peace talks with such a rapidly failing State, which is fast getting radicalised, unfortunately, make little sense at this stage.

[Description of Source: New Delhi Hindustan Times online in English -- Website of the second largest-circulation English-language daily, owned by the Birla Group. Tends to favor the Congress party and nationalist policies. No longer as influential as it used be over the federal government. Its editorial strength has waned and over years, lost its standing as an influential Delhi paper to its rival The Times Of India. Circulation remains confined to Delhi, some parts of North India and Mumbai; URL: ]

Asia Times: 'US Homes in on Al-Qaeda's New Head'

CPP20110711715122 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0207 GMT 09 Jul 11

[Asia Times Report by Amir Mir: "Us Homes in on Al-Qaeda's New Head"; headline as provided by source]

ISLAMABAD - Osama bin Laden's second-in-command Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri's succession as the new al-Qaeda chief has not only put renewed American pressure on Pakistan for "credible intelligence-sharing" about his possible whereabouts, but also raised concerns about fresh terror attacks in Pakistan, which is already struggling to balance domestic politics with a deteriorating relationship with the United States.

Well-informed diplomatic sources in Islamabad say senior American intelligence officials have sought help from their Pakistani counterparts to track down Zawahiri, thinking that he may be hiding somewhere in an urban locality of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, as had been the case with Bin Laden, who was hunted down by American raiders in Abbottabad on May 2.

Though the American raid has strained already prickly Pakistan-US ties, the Barack Obama administration is adamant to hunt down remaining al-Qaeda fugitives believed to be hiding in Pakistan, especially Zawahiri. While seeking intelligence-sharing, senior American intelligence officials have reportedly provided to their Pakistani counterparts a list of over two dozen high-value al-Qaeda and Taliban targets allegedly sheltering in Pakistan.

The list contains the names of many of those people who are on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) list of most-wanted terror suspects, although the US Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA's) and the FBI's lists are prepared independently.

Those named on the CIA list of non-Pakistani high-value al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked terrorists include Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's number three Sheikh Yunis al-Mauretani, the fugitive amir of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Omar, al-Qaeda's chief operational commander for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Saif al-Adal, the chief of the Haqqani militant network, Jalaluddin Haqqani, the operational commander of the Haqqani network, Sirajuddin Haqqani and his younger brothers Nasiruddin Haqqani and Badruddin Haqqani.

Others include the official spokesman of al-Qaeda, Sulaiman Abu Ghath, the spiritual leader of al-Qaeda, Abu Hafs al-Mauritani, al-Qaeda's field commander for operations in Afghanistan, Abu Yahya al-Libi, al-Qaeda's operational chief for North America, Adnan Al-Shukri Juma, Bin Laden's sons, Saad bin Laden and Hamza bin Laden, the leader of Turkish jihadis in the North Waziristan tribal area, Abu Hanifah, the commander of Chinese jihadis in North Waziristan, Abu Nasir, the chief of Uzbek and Tajik militants in North Waziristan, Abu Akash. Two German brothers, Mouneer Chouka alias Abu Adam and Yaseen Chouka alias Abu Ibrahim, who command German militants, are also included along with three white jihadis from the United States, Abu Ibrahim al Amriki, Sayfullah al-Amriki and Anwar al-Awlaki, two Yemeni militants, Nasir al-Wahishi and Qassim al-Raimi, a Saudi militant Said al-Shiri, and an Algerian jihadi Abdelmalek Droukdel.

The CIA hit list also carries the names of six key al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked jihadi leaders from Pakistan who are involved in targeting the Pakistani and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces and are considered common enemies by Washington and Islamabad.

They include the fugitive amir of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, commander Hakeemullah Mehsud, his fellow commanders Maulvi Faqeer Mohammad and Waliur Rehman Mehsud, Taliban renegades in Waziristan, Hafiz Gul Buhadar and Maulvi Nazir, and the fugitive amir of the Swat chapter of the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi, Maulvi Fazalullah.

However, the immediate target of the Americans is Zawahiri, who was formally appointed al-Qaeda's amir on June 16 through a statement posted on Ansar al-Mujahideen (Followers of Holy Warriors), an al-Qaeda-linked website.

Many in Pakistan's security circles say that while Zawahiri lacks Bin Laden's charisma, he should not be underestimated, mainly because of his organizational and operational skills.

They believe Zawahiri's elevation carries particular dangers for Pakistan because of its status as a nucle ar power that is confronting deadly Islamic militants. In fact, because he has married into a local tribe in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan, Zawahiri is closely involved with many key Pakistani jihadi groups and has been vigorously pursuing them for a jihadi takeover of Pakistan with a view to converting it into another Afghanistan.

Zawahiri, one of the founders of the international terror group, has played a significant role in the organization for over a decade as Bin Laden's number two.

Even before his elevation, he was widely regarded as the de facto leader and public face of al-Qaeda. Zawahiri actually became the public face of al-Qaeda after the US-led allied forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001. Since then, he has released fiery messages of jihad via video and audio tapes.

US intelligence sleuths stationed in Pakistan believe Zawahiri seized control of al-Qaeda's organizational set-up long ago and rebuilt the terror network into an organization capable of launching lethal terrorist attacks across the globe, even in the US and the United Kingdom.

Zawahiri, who recently described Pakistan as an American colony in a video message, was one of the brains behind the September 11 terror attacks in 2001. In his latest video appearance on June 8, Zawahiri vowed to avenge the death of Bin Laden "blood for blood".

The 28-minute video was the first statement from him to acknowledge the death of Bin Laden. Looking aged - he is 60 - and at times angry, Zawahiri used a chopping motion with his hands and urged his followers to remember the September 11 attacks against American and made a point to recall the deaths of US military personnel at the Pentagon.

He called on Pakistani youth to follow the example of the Egyptian, Tunisian, Libyan and Syrian youth and overthrow the government. The statement said that al-Qaeda would not shift its policy and pledged its support to, among others, Taliban chief Mullah Omar.

With the death of Bin Laden, who was also one of the original 22 people on the FBI's list of "Most Wanted Terrorists" released by the George W Bush administration in October 2001, Zawahiri is now the world's most-wanted living terrorist. He was wanted by the US even before the 9/11 attacks targeting New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

He was indicted in absentia in 1999 for the August 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed 224 people, and was also considered the mastermind of the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, which killed 17 sailors.

Zawahiri went into hiding after the US-led forces overthrew the Taliban regime in October 2001, in the remote region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, never to be seen again. However, American intelligence agencies believe that Zawahiri is hiding somewhere in Pakistan. General Michael Hayden, former CIA director, told John King on CNN on May 3, 2011, a day after Bin Laden was killed that Zawahiri was "somewhere along the Pak-Afghan border".

Afterward, the US House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers said on May 15 that Zawahiri was most likely hiding in Pakistan. In an interview to a US television channel, Rogers said the US had known for years that Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders were living inside Pakistan.

Rogers said he knew that the Pakistanis had disclosed US operations and held back information, but believed the killing of Bin Laden may lead to more cooperation. "I hope they see this as an opportunity to be more cooperative, to be more open, to help us with other targets that we have in Pakistan that we are very interested in having apprehended and brought to justice. Zawahiri is a great example and I believe he is in Pakistan," Rogers added.

Therefore, the CIA has already marked Zawahiri as its next target and is vigorously pursuing its Pakistani counterparts to help them hunt him down.

United States intelligence sleuths believe Zawahiri shifted from his hideout in the FATA to some urban loc ality after escaping a drone strike on January 13, 2006, targeting Damadola village of Bajaur Agency in FATA that killed 18 people.

The attack was carried out on the basis of human intelligence provided by some former Pakistani intelligence sleuths, believed to be part of the Spider Group, which is being run by the CIA in the FATA, primarily to gather intelligence information about fugitive al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders as well as their activities.

But Zawahiri was lucky enough to have survived the strike as he had already left the targeted building much before it was hit. In an audio message released later, Zawahiri confirmed his presence in Bajaur Agency at the time of the missile strike: "US planes launched the assault under the pretext of wanting to kill my frail self and four of my companions. However, all of us have survived the attack by the grace of Allah Almighty."

However, credible indications of his presence in Pakistan came in the aftermath of the bloody Operation Silence, carried out by the Special Services Group of the Pakistan army in July 2007 in Islamabad against the fanatic clerics of Lal Masjid (Red Mosque).

As Pakistani security forces took control of the mosque after a fierce gun battle, they were astonished to discover letters written by Zawahiri to Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi and Maulana Abdul Aziz, the cleric brothers who ran the mosque and adjacent madrassa (seminary), directing them to conduct an armed revolt.

Zawahiri's Lal Masjid connection was confirmed when he later issued a videotape asking Pakistanis to join jihad in revenge for the Lal Masjid "bloodshed".

Zawahiri's four minute address was titled "The Aggression against Lal Masjid". The video was released by al-Qaeda's media wing, as-Sahab, and subtitled in English.

On August 1, 2008, CBS News reported that it had obtained a copy of an intercepted letter dated July 29, 2008, which urgently requested a doctor to treat Zawahiri. The letter indicated that Zawahiri was injured in a US missile strike at Azam Warsak village in South Waziristan on July 28. And last but not the least, following the May 2, 2011, killing of Bin Laden in the garrison town of Abbottabad, the American intelligence community now strongly believes that he too may be hiding somewhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

During a joint session of the Pakistani parliament on May 13, which was held in the wake of the American raid that killed Bin Laden, Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha reportedly told elected parliamentarians that Mullah Omar and Zawahiri could be hiding in Pakistan.

It was the first time in 64 years since Pakistan came into being that the country's military and intelligence bosses had to appear before an unprecedented joint session of parliament to explain their collective failure on May 2, 2011.

When asked by a member of parliament whether Mullah Omar and Zawahiri could also be present in Pakistan without the knowledge of the ISI, Pasha replied, "Yes, this could be possible and we are enhancing our intelligence network and improving relations with tribal chiefs (in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border belt) to get any such information."

Amir Mir is a senior Pakistani journalist and the author of several books on the subject of militant Islam and terrorism, the latest being Talibanisation of Pakistan: From 9/11 to 26/11.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

Pakistan: US Drone Attacks Targeting Foreign Terrorists in North Waziristan

SAP20110719118001 Islamabad The News Online in English 19 Jul 11

[Report by Amir Mir: "White Jihadis key target of drones"]

DUBAI: The July 5 killing of yet another white Jihadi commander in an American drone strike in North Waziristan - an Australian national this time - has given credence to some earlier claims by the Western intelligence agencies that the al-Qaeda network in Pakistan is increasingly recruiting white Muslim converts to widen the pool of terrorists who are able to foil racial profiling and hit Western targets.

The white Jihadi killed by two missiles fired by a drone at around 11:00 pm on July 5, 2011 in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan has been identified as Saifullah who used to serve as a key aide to Osama bin Laden and had been working in tandem with al-Qaeda's chief military strategist, Commander Ilyas Kashmiri, who was killed in a drone attack on June 3, 2011. Saifullah, 50 years old, has been described as a middle-ranking al-Qaeda leader, though little more is known about him.

The deadly strike actually targeted a guesthouse and also killed five other militants. In fact, the Mir Ali area, where Saifullah was killed, is in the sphere of influence of Abu Kasha al Iraqi, an al-Qaeda leader who serves as a key link to the Taliban and supports the external operations network of al-Qaeda, now led by Dr Ayman Al-Zawahiri. Pakistani Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar and the Haqqani Network led by Jalaluddin Haqqani's elder son Sirajuddin Haqqani, also operate in Mir Ali, which is a known hub for al-Qaeda's military and external operational councils.

An increasing number of Westerners who wanted to join the so-called Jihadi al-Qaeda is waging against the US-led Allied Forces in Afghanistan have travelled to the Pakistani tribal areas in recent years, which include Americans, Britons, Germans, French, and Australians. The al-Qaeda-trained white Jihadi have formed their own contingents in North Waziristan, which are also fighting along al-Qaeda militants on the Pak-Afghan border. The white Jihadis living in North Waziristan wear local clothes and travel in small groups in vehicles or on motorcycles, flaunting weapons including assault rifles, rocket launchers and rocket-propelled grenades. In fact, recruits bearing Western citizenship are prized by al-Qaeda leadership, mainly because of their nationality and English speaking ability. Therefore, more and more Muslim converts from the West are being chosen by the international Jihadi mafia as recruits to strike in the heart of the West.

The current spike in drone attacks in Mir Ali area is ostensibly meant to target the leadership of the North Waziristan-based white Jihadis, which the Western intelligence agencies believe, has been training and dispatching white men to Europe for carrying out commando-style terrorist raids in the West - similar to the 26/11 attacks in the Indian commercial capital of Mumbai that killed 166 people, including many foreigners. Therefore, the US Central Intelligence Agency, which actually runs the drone programme, has been repeatedly targeting al-Qaeda hide outs in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, ostensibly to wipe out the white Jihadis' network from there. So far this year, the CIA has carried out a record number of 43 drone attacks in the tribal areas of Pakistan, killing over 360 people, and is well off the pace of the 124 drone strikes that took place in 2010.

Commander Saifullah is not the first Muslim convert from the West to have been killed in Mir Ali. In fact, 16 Germans and two Britons have been reportedly killed in drone strikes in Mir Ali since September 8, 2010. All the killed Europeans were members of the Islamic Jehad Group (IJG), an al-Qaeda affiliate based in Mir Ali, which had suffered the last setback on December 10, 2010, with the killing of two white commanders, both British nationals, in a US drone attack. The Britons were killed in Khadar Khel town of Miranshah in North Waziristan and identified as Stephen and Smith.

They were known in the militant circles with their pseudonyms of Abu Bakar (Stephen) and Abu Mansoor (Smith), and were travelling in a vehicle with two other local militants when the drone targeted them. Even though the car was completely destroyed and little remained of the bodies, local militants were quick to take out from the burnt vehicle the mutilated corpses for burial. Stephen alias Abu Bakar, 47, was subsequently identified as a senior al-Qaeda operative who was imparting terror training to a group of white Jihadis from Great Britain in North Waziristan to carry out terrorist operations in Europe and America. Smith alias Abu Mansoor, 28, was identified as the right hand man of Stephen in the Islamic Army of Great Britain.

Hardly two months before the killing of Stephen and Smith, another American drone had killed the operational chief of the Britons in the same area. Abdul Jabbar, a British national, was killed in a drone attack in North Waziristan on October 4, 2010. Identified as the chief operational commander of the Islamic Army of Great Britain, he was a British citizen, came from the Jhelum district of Punjab in Pakistan, and had a British wife. Abdul Jabbar had earlier survived a drone strike on September 8, 2010, targeting a training camp being run by Hafiz Gul Bahadar. Jabbar was tasked by the Waziristan-based al-Qaeda leadership to plan Mumbai-style fidayeen attacks against targets in the Great Britain, Germany and France.

Besides perishing Abdul Jabbar, the October 4, 2010 drone attack also killed German nationals who were known in the militant circles of North Waziristan with their Islamic names of Imran and Shahab. According to the intelligence information the British authorities had subsequently shared with their Pakistani counterparts, Jabbar, Imran and Shahab had been making frequent phone calls to England and Germany to their jihadi contacts in a bid to set off the terror plot by finding appropriate accomplices in Europe. In their conversations, the white jihadis reportedly used to talk about facilitators and logistics they needed in Europe to successfully execute their terrorist operations.

However, Jabbar's younger brother, who is a key leader in the lslamic Army of Great Britain, and two other most wanted German jihadis were lucky enough to have survived the October 4 drone hit. The white Germans - 27-year-old Mouneer Chouka alias Abu Adam and 25-year-old Yaseen Chouka alias Abu Ibrahim are real brothers. Coming from Bonn, both lead a group of 100-plus German militants who had travelled to the border areas of Pakistan in recent years, raising security alert in Europe. The information about the presence and activities of the Chouka brothers in North Waziristan as well as the hatching of a Mumbai-like terror plot for Europe actually came from an arrested German jihadi of the Afghan origin, Rami Mackenzie alias Ahmed Siddiqi.

The 36-year-old was part of an 11-member Jihadi cell which was to take part in the European terror plot, but was arrested in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in the beginning of July 2010. He is reported to have told his American interrogators that the European terror plot was approved by none other than Osama bin Laden who had also provided some funding to execute the scheme. Currently being held at the US military airbase at Bagram, Siddiqi further told his interrogators that small teams of militants were to model their missions in European countries on the pattern of Mumbai attacks by first seizing and then killing hostages.

While unveiling the terror plans of the Chouka brother, Siddiqi reportedly told his interrogators that they have already trained and sent back to Europe over a dozen well-trained, battle-hardened German militants who had been tasked to carry out Mumbai-like terror attacks in Europe. The unearthing of the European terror plot soon led to an unprecedented surge in the American drone strikes in North Waziristan, primarily to target the hideouts of the Islamic Army of Great Britain, thus killing many of its top leadership.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of a widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Usually offers leading news and analysis on issues related to war against terrorism. Circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Author: Pakistan Move To Tackle Haqqanis With Force to be Counter-productive

SAP20110720114002 Islamabad The News Online in English 20 Jul 11

[Article by Tanvir Ahmad Khan: "Hacking Into Haqqanis?"]

The single most significant cause of the fairly long drawn out tension between Pakistan and the United States continues to be Washington's demand for a Pakistani offensive against the forces present in North Waziristan. Geography alone adds to the American impatience with the Pakistan army. They want to shift the axis of military operations from the southern to the eastern provinces of Afghanistan to create strategic space for a smaller but permanent military presence to control "the Af-Pak theatre".

A cursory look at the map will identify the crucial area as North Waziristan in Pakistan and Khost, Paktia and Paktita in Afghanistan. It provides several routes to most parts of Afghanistan including Kabul. Home to a number of armed militias, Washington's concern has increasingly focused on the so-called Haqqani network that allegedly has strong links with Al-Qaeda and also continues to enjoy Pakistan's support as its 'strategic asset'. Pakistan's responses have included an offer to persuade the Haqqanis to negotiate with the Karzai regime. It is argued that no matter what Pakistan does, Siraj Haqqani would not abandon the Al-Qaeda connection and mission.

Apart from doubts about Pakistan delivering on the offer to American satisfaction, the US military cannot accept the present ideological, political and military potential of the "network". The insistence upon action against North Waziristan is, therefore, fundamentally a demand to help the US forces decimate the Haqqani network.

A new study by West Point's 'Combating Terrorism Centre' has projected the Haqqani network on a scale that regional analysts of the Afghan scene would find as exaggerated. It dwells at length on Jalaluddin Haqqani's anti-Soviet outreach as an ideological force and as the "nexus" organisation that played an important part in keeping diverse militant tribal and religious forces of the era together. Ignoring the hiatus imposed upon the Haqqanis by the 2001 invasion and the illness of Jalaluddin, it goes on to build a narrative of continuity and reinvigoration under his son Sirajuddin Haqqani. The study emphasises the role of the network as an 'enabler' for Al-Qaeda on the one hand and other armed groups on the other. It argues that its "critical role in sustaining cycles of violence far beyond its region of overt influence" is still under-estimated.

The Haqqani network is portrayed as a global rather than a local threat. The West Point study does not deny that even as the Haqqani network cooperates with organisations such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), it tries to restrain the hard-core anti-Pakistan "Taliban" from actions hostile to Pakistan.

When one contemplates numerous strands that define the Haqqani network, particularly its geographical zone of influence, two seemingly irreconcilable conclusions emerge. The American analysts may be right that it could provide the matrix of long term nationalistic resistance to their indefinite military presence in Afghanistan. Secondly, in Pakistan, we know that things have not been static in this organisation rebuilt on the debris of the Taliban's defeat in 2001. The son is probably more amenable to the Arab militants and the Al-Qaeda than the old anti-Soviet warrior.

The network's attitude towards TTP is ambivalent which is better than an outright anti-Pakistan alliance with it. It is one movement that straddles the border and it absorbed the bulk of Pakistani militants that fled General Musharraf's crackdown. If Pakistan's ultimate objective is to recover this particular "lost territory", the better policy option is to strengthen pro-Pakistan elements in the network. An attempt under duress to hack into the Haqqanis with a do or die expeditionary force at this stage of the game can only be counter-productive.

The writer is a former ambassador and foreign secretary of Pakistan.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of a widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Usually offers leading news and analysis on issues related to war against terrorism. Circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Pakistan: Tribal Elders Deny Existence of Haqqani Network in North Waziristan

SAP20110718100018 Rawalpindi Nawa-e Waqt in Urdu 18 Jul 11 pp 8, 6

[Unattributed report: No Militant of Haqqani Network Present in North Waziristan: Tribal Elders Assure Governor]

Peshawar -- The elders of North Waziristan have told the Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa governor that the Hakimullah Group of the Pakistan Taliban Movement and Afghan Taliban Commander Jalaluddin Haqqani's network do not exist in the province. This was stated by tribal leader, Maulana Gul Ramzan, to BBC after a jirga [assembly of tribal elders] with Governor Masud Kausar.

Ramzan has said that the jirga told the governor that the local people of North Waziristan would not assist local and foreign militants who are involved in acts of terrorism in Pakistan. The sixteen-member jirga of Wazir and Dawar tribes from North Waziristan held a meeting with the Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa governor on the law and order situation of the area at the Governor House in Peshawar.

Malik Qadir Khan and Malik Mamoor Khan, main leaders of the jirga of North Waziristan, also took part in the meeting. Ramzan has also said that the jirga told the governor that the local Taliban belonging to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group are peaceful. He has added that the group has assured that it is ready to provide security if the government wants to launch development work in North Waziristan.

[Description of Source: Rawalpindi Nawa-e Waqt in Urdu -- Privately owned, widely read, conservative Islamic daily, with circulation around 125,000. Harshly critical of the US and India.]

Asia Times: 'More Power to the Haqqani Network'

CPP20110809715035 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0854 GMT 08 Aug 11

[Asia Times Report by Arif Jamal: "More Power to the Haqqani Network"; headline as provided by source]

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (Pakistan Taliban - TTP) seems to be slowly disintegrating as various commanders try to pull it in different directions.

A clear indication of this process came when the TTP commander in Kurram Agency, Fazal Saeed Haqqani, announced that his group had seceded from the TTP.

Fazal Saeed Haqqani also announced the formation of a new group called Tehrik-e-Taliban Islami Pakistan (TTIP). Haqqani said his group was not happy with the TTP's policy of attacking civilian targets, a major reason for the split.

However, Haqqani and his group have been involved in the murders of innocent Shi'ites. In the very first statement to dissociate his new group from the TTP, Haqqani announced he would not carry out any attacks on the Pakistani security forces. He also announced that the United States was the TTIP's "main enemy".

The action of Fazal Saeed Haqqani has completely eliminated the TTP from Kurram Agency, as Haqqani vowed that he would not allow the TTP to operate there: "It is my area and I will ensure that no locals or outsiders oppose our policies and create problems for us in Kurram Valley."

Like Maulvi Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Fazal Saeed Haqqani is closely allied with the Haqqani network in Afghanistan, which desperately needed a foothold in Kurram Agency and which only Fazal Saeed Haqqani could provide. Jalaluddin Haqqani along with his son Sirajuddin lead the Haqqani network, which is based in the North Waziristan tribal area. It is considered one of the biggest threats to foreign forces in Afghanistan.

According to Mansur Khan Mehsud of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas' research center, Fazal Saeed Haqqani is occupying a portion of the main road, the Thall-Parachinar road, connecting Kurram Agency with the rest of the country. While still a TTP commander, Fazal Saeed Haqqani did not allow Shi'ites residents to use that road.

Consequently, they had to go to Afghanistan first to go to other parts of Pakistan. (1) With Fazal Saeed Haqqani in charge of that road, the Haqqani network and other Taliban militants can use Kurram Agency as their base to carry out attacks inside Afghanistan or to provide sanctuary. (2)

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces in Afghanistan identified the Haqqani network as the group responsible for a brazen attack using nine suicide bombers against Kabul's luxury Intercontinental Hotel on June 28 that killed 20 people, including the suicide bombers.

Shortly afterward, the Haqqani network suffered a major blow when NATO troops and Afghan Special Forces mounted a raid on one of its training camps in Afghanistan's Paktika province. The July 20-22 operation killed more than 50 insurgents in a base said to be used as a staging point for Haqqani network and foreign fighters. A large stockpile of arms was seized in the operation, which NATO sources said was based on intelligence provided by disenchanted insurgents.

Nevertheless, Fazal Saeed Haqqani's rebellion against the TTP has immensely strengthened the Haqqani network while weakening the TTP. According to one report, TTP commander Hakimullah Mehsud has become more and more isolated over the past year. On June 27, he suffered a setback when unknown persons killed Shakirullah Shakir, a spokesman for the Fidayeen-e-Islam (suicide-bombing) wing of the TTP.

Shakirullah was to replace Qari Hussain Mehsud, who was killed in an October 2010 drone strike and was known as Ustad-e-Fidayeen (master - or teacher- of the suicide bombers).

Commander Tariq Afridi's Taliban group in Darra Adamkhel and Khalid Omar's Mohmand group are already operating independently of the TTP. Lashkar-e-Islam in Khyber Agency, led by Mangal Bagh, is pro-army and does not accept TTP patronage.

The TTP breakup is a success for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, which has been working for some months to deliver Kurram Agency to the Haqqani network so that it could operate more freely in view of the emerging regional scenario. Dist rust among TTP militants seems to be growing. According to another report, Hakimullah Mehsud and his deputy Waliur Rehman rarely meet; when they do, they do not meet alone and only after making sure neither of them is carrying arms.

Fazal Saeed rebelled against the TTP on the eve of the military operation that started on July 3. Army troops moved into Kurram Agency from the town of Sadda and Tal area in Hangu district, backed by helicopters, tanks and artillery. The aim of the operation was to destroy the militants still loyal to Hakimullah Mehsud.

Although this military operation was ostensibly initiated against the militants, Shi'ite Muslim residents believe it is equally directed against them. A knowledgeable Pakistani columnist, Dr Mohammad Taqi, says that the operation is aimed at opening the Thall-Parachinar road for the Haqqani network and other pro-army jihadi groups.

More importantly, it is aimed at punishing those people in Kurram Agency who have resisted the Haqqani network and the Pakistan army's support for the Taliban.

The balance of power has shifted in favor of the Haqqani network for the first time with Fazal Saeed Haqqani openly on its side. Although several local Shi'ite leaders in upper Kurram vow to fight back, it is safe to say that they are losing the battle, at least for now. (3)

Notes 1. Mansur Khan Mehsud, TTP Divided in Kurram Agency , FATA Research Center, n.d.

2. For the strategic importance of this road for the Pakistan army and the Haqqani Network, see Dr Mohammad Taqi, "Comment: The Sham operation in Kurram," Daily Times, Lahore, July 7. Available here .

3. Telephone interviews with local leaders through research assistant, July 2011.

Arif Jamal is a visiting fellow at the New York University and author of "Shadow War - The Untold Story of Jihad in Kashmir."

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

AFP: Reported Drone Strike Kills 7 Militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan

SAP20110810012001 Hong Kong AFP in English 2336 GMT 09 Aug 11

[AFP Report: "US Drone Strike Kills Seven Militants in Pakistan"]

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Aug 10, 2011 (AFP) - A US drone strike in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt on Wednesday killed at least seven fighters from the militant Haqqani network, local security officials said.

A US drone fired two missiles, destroying a vehicle and a compound near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, along the Afghan border. Three other militants were wounded in the strike, the officials said.

"At least seven militants were killed in the drone strike. All of them were Haqqani's men," a Pakistani security official in Miranshah told AFP.

Another security official at Peshawar confirmed the attack and casualties and added that three militants were also wounded.

Washington has called Pakistan's semi-autonomous northwest tribal region the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda, where Taliban and other Al-Qaeda-linked networks need to be defeated if the 10-year war in Afghanistan is ever to end.

The Haqqani network is considered the most dangerous enemy of US troops in eastern Afghanistan. It was founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani and is run by his son, Sirajuddin, both designated "global terrorists" by Washington.

The network has been blamed for some of the deadliest anti-US attacks in Afghanistan, including a suicide attack at a US base in the eastern province of Khost in 2009 that killed seven CIA operatives.

The United States does not officially confirm Predator drone attacks, but its military and the CIA operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the armed, unmanned aircraft in the region.

More than 21 US drone strikes have been reported in Pakistan since May 2, when US elite forces killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was found living near Pakistan's main military academy.

The raid humiliated the Pakistani military and prompted allegations of incompetence and complicity in sheltering bin Laden.

Drone attacks are unpopular among the Pakistani public, which is opposed to the government's alliance with Washington and sensitive to perceived violations of sovereignty.

Pakistan is seen as a key ally for the United States in its fight against Islamist militancy, but relations have soured since the US launched the raid that killed bin Laden without warning Islamabad.

US officials have long questioned Pakistani ties with extremists, including the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network in Afghanistan, and want Islamabad to launch decisive action in North Waziristan.

hk-shk/sjd/pdw

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

AFP: Militant Death Toll From Drone Strike Rises To 21 in North Waziristan

SAP20110810012002 Hong Kong AFP in English 0528 GMT 10 Aug 11

[AFP Report: "US Drone Strike Kills Up To 21 in Pakistan -- Officials"]

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Aug 10, 2011 (AFP) - A US drone strike in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal district killed up to 21 Afghan fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network on Wednesday, local security officials said.

A US drone fired two missiles, destroying a vehicle and a compound near Miranshah, the main town in the district bordering Afghanistan. Pakistani security officials had said initially that seven fighters were killed.

"More dead bodies have been dug out of the debris. Twenty-one militants from the Haqqani group were killed and three were injured," a Pakistani security official told AFP in Peshawar, the largest city in the northwest.

"All those killed in the strike were Afghans and Haqqani's fighters. The drone strike took place at 02:15 am (local time)," the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.

Washington has called Pakistan's semi-autonomous northwest tribal region the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda, where Taliban and other Al-Qaeda-linked networks need to be defeated if the 10-year war in Afghanistan is ever to end.

The Haqqani network is considered the most dangerous enemy of US troops in eastern Afghanistan. It was founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani and is run by his son, Sirajuddin, both designated "global terrorists" by Washington.

A US drone strike in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal district killed up to 21 Afghan fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network on Wednesday, local security officials said.

A US drone fired two missiles, destroying a vehicle and a compound near Miranshah, the main town in the district bordering Afghanistan. Pakistani security officials had said initially that seven fighters were killed.

"More dead bodies have been dug out of the debris. Twenty-one militants from the Haqqani group were killed and three were injured," a Pakistani security official told AFP in Peshawar, the largest city in the northwest.

"All those killed in the strike were Afghans and Haqqani's fighters. The drone strike took place at 02:15 am (local time)," the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.

Washington has called Pakistan's semi-autonomous northwest tribal region the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda, where Taliban and other Al-Qaeda-linked networks need to be defeated if the 10-year war in Afghanistan is ever to end.

The Haqqani network is considered the most dangerous enemy of US troops in eastern Afghanistan. It was founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani and is run by his son, Sirajuddin, both designated "global terrorists" by Washington.

hk-shk/sjd/jm/pdw

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Al-Jazirah TV: Pakistani 'Sources' Say US Drone Attack Kills 21 in Waziristan

GMP20110810650001 Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic 0735 GMT 10 Aug 11

[Announcer-read report.]

Al-Jazirah correspondent in Islamabad has cited Pakistani security sources as saying that 21 people were killed and six others were wounded in a US drone bombardment of a house in Miran Shah in central North Waziristan Province. The sources also said that 14 of those killed belong to Afghan leader Jalaluddin Haqqani's militant network, as well as some foreigners. However, the identities of the dead were not confirmed by independent sources.

[Description of Source: Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic -- Independent Television station financed by the Qatari Government]

Pro-Pakistan Groups Reportedly Face Drone Attacks Monitored by CIA Station Chief

SAP20110813381001 Karachi Ummat Online in Urdu 12 Aug 11

[Report by Saifullah Khalid: Drone Attacks are Being Carried out on Pro-Pakistani Groups Sources]

Despite strong protests from Pakistan, the drone attacks carried out by the American CIA are still continuing. However, more than 25 innocent people have been martyred in the attacks carried out at sahari [beginning of fast] during the holy month of Ramadan. The drone attacks that resumed all of a sudden after a lull of a little more than a week are giving rise to a number of questions. Countless innocent civilians are getting killed in these attacks whereas several injured people have become crippled for the rest of their life.

In this connection, certain sources told the Ummat that the CIA's drone attacks have been directly monitored by the CIA station chief based in Pakistan and these attacks are taking place with his consent only. This process was in limbo for a while after the American station chief fled Pakistan swiftly a few days ago. It was not a policy-related issue; but, the lull was due to the absence of the station chief in Islamabad. Therefore, due to the arrival of the new CIA station chief, not only the process of drone attacks has resumed, but it is getting intensified as well. The sources say that if we take a closer look at Obama Administration, we can see the manifestation of its policy that his government wants to maintain an attack every fourth day and that whenever there is a long interval, all of a sudden attacks will be carried out one after another and the ratio will be evened out. Regarding the drone attacks on Pakistan, now, even the US ambassador has opposed it and he has written a letter to the CIA asking it to halt these drone attacks. Nevertheless, the CIA has rejected his petition.

One more interesting situation has developed in the tribal areas that the drone attacks are being directed against those groups that did not commit acts of terrorism in Pakistan, whereas the terrorists of the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, who carry out acts of terrorism on Pakistan, are roaming freely and no drone attack is directed at them. Another interesting fact is that a drone attack is carried out immediately against any militant who is opposed to Hakimullah Mehsud. In this connection, some people refer to an incident pertaining to Al-Qa'ida leader Sheikh Fateh wherein in a dispute between Hakimullah and Waliur Rahman, he supported the latter and gave his verdict against Hakimullah and immediately after that he was killed in a drone attack. Similarly, when another young man refused to participate in anti-Pakistan activities and dissociated himself from a close ally of Hakimullah, the very next day he was killed along with his 10 associates. According to the sources, now it is believed in Waziristan that the Hakimullah group has some significant role in passing on intelligence information for drone attacks, because of which his opponents only are getting targeted. Aside from this, the process of the massacre of innocent civilians in drone attacks is also continuing. In spite of the US Government's statement that no civilian has been killed in these attacks, the truth is that since 2004 totally 291 attacks have been carried out, of which 236 have taken place during Barack Obama's term of office. In these attacks, 2,863 people got killed so far, of which only 126 were termed as terrorists. The rest of those killed includes peaceful innocent civilians, their children, and women. According to the statistics released by a London-based organization, the number of infants killed in these attacks constitutes 168. Apart from this, the claim of John Brennan -- a senior official of the Government of the United States, which is suffering an economic crisis due to its war mania - made on 29 June that no civilian was killed in the drone attacks in Pakistan in the past one year is absolutely baseless. Even available records negate his claim. One hundred and sixteen drone attacks have been carried out during the 10 months from 23 August last year to 29 June 2011, in which nearly 80 percent innocent civilians, including a large number of children and women, have been killed. It may be noted that the drone attack that took place on Wednesday, 9th day of Ramadan was the third attack in the month of August and also the third in the month of Ramadan, in which totally 35 people have been killed. Although according to a foreign news agency, those 25 people killed in the latest attack were members of the group of Afghan commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, local people say that all those killed were laborers. The sources also say that these drone attacks are, in fact, part of the NRO [National Reconciliation Order] created by Gen Pervez Musharraf. These attacks will continue until the NRO is annulled. On the contrary, sources claim that the military leadership - not the political one - has been raising the contentious issue of drone attacks with the Americans at every meeting; but, thus far, there seems to be no possibility for the resolution of this problem.

[Description of Source: Karachi Ummat Online in Urdu -- Website of the sensationalist, pro-Usama Bin Ladin Urdu daily. Harshly critical of the US, Israel, and India. Propagates Muslim unity to counter US/Western influence. Circulation 20,000. Editor-publisher Rafiq Afghan is an Afghan war veteran; URL: ]

AFP: Officials Say US Drone Kills 4 Militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan

SAP20110816049001 Hong Kong AFP in English 0039 GMT 16 Aug 11

[AFP Report: "Drone Kills Four Militants in Pakistan: Officials"]

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Aug 16, 2011 (AFP) - A US drone strike in a Pakistani tribal area considered home to the most dangerous enemy of American troops in eastern Afghanistan killed at least four militants on Tuesday, officials said.

The unmanned aircraft fired two missiles, hitting a compound and a vehicle parked outside it in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal district, a senior security official told AFP.

"At least four militants were killed," the official said, adding that two others were also wounded. Another security official and an intelligence official confirmed the attack and casualties.

Washington has called Pakistan's semi-autonomous northwest tribal region the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda, where Taliban and other Al-Qaeda-linked networks have rear bases in the 10-year war in Afghanistan.

The identity of the militants was not immediately clear, officials said.

The missiles struck in the main town close to a girls school before dawn as people were starting their Ramadan fast, an AFP reporter, close to the destroyed compound, said.

Militants immediately cordoned off the compound and were busy removing debris, he said.

Although the United States does not publicly confirm drone attacks, its military and the CIA in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the unmanned Predator aircraft in the region.

North Waziristan is the headquarters of the Haqqani leadership and the main militant bastion in the semi-autonomous tribal belt.

The Haqqani network is considered the deadliest enemy of US troops in eastern Afghanistan. It was founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani and is run by his son, Sirajuddin, both designated "global terrorists" by Washington.

The group has been blamed for some of the worst anti-US attacks in Afghanistan, including a suicide attack at a US base in the eastern province of Khost in 2009 that killed seven CIA operatives.

Around two dozen drone strikes have been reported in Pakistan since elite US forces killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a suburban home near Pakistan's main military academy in Abbottabad, close to the capital, on May 2.

The raid humiliated Pakistan and prompted allegations of incompetence and complicity in sheltering bin Laden.

Pakistan is seen as a key ally for the United States in its fight against Islamist militancy, but relations have soured since the bin Laden raid, which both countries say was carried out without Islamabad being warned.

Drone attacks are unpopular among many Pakistanis, who oppose the alliance with Washington and who are sensitive to perceived violations of sovereignty.

US officials have accused Pakistani intelligence of playing a double game with extremists, including the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, in order to exert influence in Afghanistan and offset the might of arch-rival India.

Washington's pressure on Islamabad to launch a decisive military campaign in North Waziristan, as Pakistan has conducted elsewhere in the tribal belt, has so far fallen on deaf ears.

hk-shk/mmg/jah

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Video Released of Pakistani Teenagers Terror Training in North Waziristan

SAP20110817103010 Islamabad The News Online in English 17 Aug 11

[Report by Amir Mir: "Video of Jehadi training in NWA released"]

LAHORE: The notion that the North Waziristan Agency continues to be used by al-Qaeda and Taliban elements for terrorist training activities has again been confirmed with the release of a fresh video of the Pakistani teenagers being trained in NWA.

The seven-minute-long video, which is titled 'Cubs of Waziristan,' has been released on jihadi websites by the Al Ansar Mailing List. An edited version of the video and the translation has been provided by the SITE Intelligence Group. The location of the training camp seems to be the Mirali area of North Waziristan, which serves as a haven for the fugitive al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership. Coming back to the seven-minute-long video, titled 'Cubs of Waziristan,' it shows a group of 16 teenage jihadis, including six trainers armed with assault rifles and ten young recruits who are standing in a half circle. An older fighter, who seems to be their trainer or leader, is shown citing a verse from the Holy Quran that says Muslims must prepare for war against 'the enemy of Allah and your enemy'.

"In obedience of this divine command, we are preparing militarily and Shariah and faith-wise," the fighter is shown as saying. "In this way, we are erasing ages of humiliation that we tasted and in which we grew up. At times we were scared of match sticks, and now, thanks to Allah, here are the children of the Muslims getting trained in weapons that US Special Forces are trained to use. This is an embodiment of the extirpation of the defeatist moral that was planted in the Islamic Ummah [community].

"The young Pakistani children are then seen undergoing firearms training with pistols, assault rifles, and machine guns. The boys are conducting shooting drills in lanes, with paper targets tacked up on posts. A few of the smaller kids are seen having difficulty handling the recoil of the assault rifles. The video ends with the trainers and the young recruits, who are now armed with assault rifles, standing in line, raising their weapons, and shouting "Allah Almighty is Great".

Located between eastern Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan, the North Waziristan Agency also provides shelter to many anti-American terrorist organisations such as the Haqqani Network, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Islamic Jihad Union, the Islamic Army of Great Britain, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the Harkatul Jehadul Islami, the Jamaat-ul-Furqaan, the Fidayeen-e-Islami, as well as the splinter groups of the Harkatul Mujahideen (HuM), the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), among others.

Many of the terrorist attacks targeting the American and Western installations and individuals in Pakistan as well as the headquarters of the Pakistani security and intelligence interests, had been jointly planned by al-Qaeda and the TTP in North Waziristan. At the same time, much of al-Qaeda's most wanted core leadership remains in the Mirali, Miramshah and Datta Khel areas of North Waziristan and continues to mastermind bloody acts of terrorism on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border. The US considers the Haqqani Network and its role in the insurgency in Afghanistan among the most difficult challenges the ISAF faces, but has so far simply failed to convince the Pakistani military establishment to take action against the Haqqani Network's safe havens on the Pakistani soil.

The Americans maintain that the North Waziristan has become a hub of the anti-US elements given the fact that it has a common border with Khost, the native Afghan province of Jalaluddin Haqqani.

However, the Pakistani military authorities, despite intense US pressure, have so far shown reluctance to carry out a full-fledged military operation in North Waziristan. They have been insisting that military operations against the militants would be undertaken at the timing of its own choosing and at a scale in keeping with its strength of manpower and military hardware. On the other hand, the American drones have targeted the North Wa ziristan extensively since the dawn of 2010, especially after a suicide bomber killed seven CIA officers in the Khost area of Afghanistan on December 31, 2009 by exploding himself inside the CIA facility.

========================================

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of a widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Usually offers leading news and analysis on issues related to war against terrorism. Circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Pakistan: Article Says US Facing Strong Taliban Resistance in Afghanistan

SAP20110819100005 Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu 18 Aug 11 p - 10

[Article by Naveed Masood Hashmi: "Have Days of Little Antichrist Been Numbered? [Part II]"]

The US trap of talks with the Taliban stands fizzled out, and through this great achievement, the Taliban have fully succeeded to send a message to the world that no talks will be held till the last soldier of the United States or the NATO Army is present on the Afghan soil, and that their jihad [holy war] will continue.

Jihad against different infidel and aggressor countries has been continuing in Afghanistan for the last about 31 years. Irrespective of whether they were mujahidin who had been resisting the Soviet Army which had landed in Afghanistan with the intention to occupy the country, or the Taliban who are fighting the invading US-NATO Army, all of them have been intensifying their armed activities during the month of Ramadan [Islamic month of fasting] every year to commemorate the Battle of Badr [fought between the Muslims led by Prophet Muhammad and the infidels].

As the Afghan mujahidin have been claiming since the day one that they have waged a jihad as ordained by Islam and are resisting the Soviet Union or the United States with the help of God. Therefore, they observe fast during the month of Ramadan and fight the holy war for the sake of God.

I [writer] also have personally performed this sacred obligation. It was probably in 1991 when under the command of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, we observed fast during the holy month, and led by our Commander Maulana Shabbir Shaheed we stormed Dr Najibullah's [former Afghan President executed by the Taliban] forces to capture the mini Moscow that is Khost. When our group along with other mujahidin entered Khost as conquerors, the sun had already set. The Russian soldiers and their supporters, the soldiers of 'Najib militia', were killed at the hands of the mujahidin or had fled the battlefield. However, some of them were captured by the mujahidin. Our close friend and great mujahid of the day Hafiz Rabnawaz Jatoi embraced martyrdom after the hiding enemies opened fire on him during the search of Maton Fort in Khost.

When the mujahidin entered Khost, the time to undo fast was over, but General Commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani had announced that the mujahidin will not take even a drop of water from any home, well, canal, or river of Khost. The reason was that the fleeing enemy may have poisoned the water. However, willingly accepting the order of their general commander, the mujahidin neither drank water nor ate any other thing the whole night. I myself collected grass from an Afghan mujahid at 9 pm to undo fast. Then I picked the body of my martyred friend Hafiz Rabnawaz Jatoi and walked to Bari Markaz on foot to bury him.

The purpose of narrating this brief story is that during the month of Ramadan on one hand, a common Muslim develops the capacity to do good job to seek God's blessings while on the other hand, the capacity of jihad also enhances among the mujahidin. Ramadan is described as a month of patience. The battle of Badr was also fought during this month. Therefore, if the Taliban have shot dead more or less three dozen US commandos on board a helicopter during this month, this is an appreciable achievement and a great honor for the sinful people like us. However, this development serves as a bell of alarm for the little antichrist that is the United States and its cronies. Despite testing of every kind of sophisticated weapons by the United States and moving ahead of the Armies of dozens of countries of the world, the Taliban are so powerful that they do not hesitate to kill the US troops in midair. Therefore, the so-called superpower of the world should keep in mind that the days of its becoming 'zero power' in the world are drawing nearer. For how long the United States will continue to re-energize its sinking economy? For how long the breaking news of the United States gets bankrupted would continue to be suppressed? For how long the US rulers will continue to hide the number of their troops being killed in Afghanistan? For how long the United States will continue to enslave the rulers of the Muslim stat es by showing its cosmetic strength? God does not spare even those who shed the blood of an innocent animal on His Earth while the United States is a country which has killed 1.5 million innocent youth, aged people, women and children in just two countries that is Iraq and Afghanistan. How is it possible that the United States will escape God's wrath. We must exercise patience because the days of oppression have been numbered now.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu Daily supportive of jihadi groups and a hard-line Pakistan policy on Kashmir. Extensively covers extremist groups, catering to religious and anti-US groups, with a circulation of 40,000. Provides good coverage of activities of militants in Waziristan and other tribal areas. Ausaf is also published from Frankfurt and London besides Pakistani cities of Lahore, Multan, and Muzaffarabad.]

Pakistan: Taliban Not to Sit With US Until Exit of NATO Forces From Afghanistan

SAP20110821103013 Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English 21 Aug 11

[Report by Naveed Hussain: "Reconciliation talks: US duped by fake interlocutor in talks, says Taliban"]

KARACHI: The Taliban have raised doubts about the identity of a key interlocutor that US government officials say they have engaged with in countries as far afield as Qatar and Germany earlier this year.

A spokesman for the Taliban Zabiullah Mujahid said that the Americans may have been duped by an impostor - just as its Nato allies were earlier taken in by a fake Taliban leader. Mujahid said he was convinced that a man posing as Tayyab Agha, a confidante of reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, had duped the Americans and had possibly swindled them.

"Tayyab Agha is as close to us as ever. But he has never met with US officials," Mujahid told The Express Tribune in a telephone interview from an undisclosed location in Afghanistan. "Somebody might have swindled the US officials by impersonating Tayyab Agha," he added.

In recent months Washington has disclosed that senior State Department and Central Intelligence Agency officials have had secret 'exploratory conversations' with Tayyab Agha in Qatar and Germany. Though the talks broke down following the disclosure of Taliban negotiator's identity, it wasn't known whether or not Agha was still as close to the Taliban as before 2001.

Mujahid said that last year a shopkeeper from the Pakistani city of Quetta had milked thousands of dollars from Nato and Afghan officials after engaging them in talks as Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansur, the second-in-command in the Quetta Shura of Taliban and civil aviation minister in the Taliban regime.

He also rubbished a claim by Afghan lawmaker Homa Sultani that she had met Mullah Omar and that he had mandated her to negotiate with US and Afghan officials on their behalf. "We were simply surprised by her claim. I don't know at whose instigation she made that claim," Mujahid said.

The Taliban field commander in the northeastern province of Kunar, Maulvi Abdur Rahim also rejected the reports of talks with the Taliban as a "conspiracy to divide their movement".

Talks on exchange of prisoners

The Taliban spokesperson, however, did admit that his group had been in talks with 'foreign officials' for the past 18 months. "But these talks should not be misconstrued as an effort to find a negotiated settlement of the Afghan issue," Mujahid said. "The agenda of these interactions was mainly the exchange of prisoners," he added.

Mujahid said that the Taliban would not sit across the table with US or Afghan officials as long as US-led Nato troops were in Afghanistan. "Our jihad against 'occupation' forces will continue till foreign forces pull out of our land," he added.

The United States is seeking, though not officially, at least five 'permanent' military bases for counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan. These facilities will be in places, such as Herat, along the Iranian border; Mazar-e-Sharif, along the border with Central Asian States; and Kandahar and Jalalabad, along the border with Pakistan.

'Taliban are updating their weaponry'

Earlier this month Taliban shot down a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during action in the Afghan province of Wardak, killing 31 US soldiers - most of them elite Navy SEALs - and seven Afghan troops. Some US analysts believed that the chopper was brought down not with RPG (Rocket-propelled grenade) but with I-RAM (Improvised rocket-assisted mortar), commonly known as 'flying IEDs'.

The 'flying IEDs' were first used by the insurgents against US troops during the Iraq insurgency. And US military officials suspected that they were provided to the insurgents by Iran. The analysts believe that Iran has also provided the 'flying IEDs' to the Taliban to use against their arch foe - the United States.

But Zabiullah Mujahid rejected this allegation. "We continue to update our weaponry. We continue to experiment with our arms. The Chinook helicopter was shot down with the help of a modified version of RPG," he claimed. "Our modified version of RPG can trigger a fire on its target."

Asked about the contribution of the Haqqani network which the US believes is based in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region, the Taliban spokesperson said, "(Jalaluddin) Haqqani is a mujahid (holy warrior). And his role in the Afghan jihad is second to none."

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, speaking in the US National Defence University alleged earlier this week that Pakistan has links with extremist groups, including the Haqqani network. Ties with the Haqqani network are cited for Pakistan's reluctance to launch a military operation in North Waziristan Agency.

But the Taliban spokesperson rubbished the claims of outside help for their 'jihad'. "These are baseless rumours. Ours is a purely indigenous struggle. We are not getting any help from any country," he claimed.

===========

[Description of Source: Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English -- Website of a newspaper partnered with the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times. It is part of the Lakson Group, which includes Daily Express and Express News Television in Urdu and Express 24/7 Television in English. The group's media wing has no known political affiliations and operates as a moderate, independent commercial media organization. The newspaper claims its mission is to defend "liberal values and egalitarian traditions"; URL: ]

AFP: Al-Qa'ida 'Firmly Rooted' in Northwest Pakistan's Tribal Society

SAP20110826012001 Hong Kong AFP in English 0452 GMT 26 Aug 11

[AFP report: "Al-Qaeda Firmly Rooted in Pakistan Tribal Fiefdom"]

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 26, 2011 (AFP) - With his well-groomed hair, shaven face and delicate hint of aftershave, Al-Qaeda logistician Abu Salman has operated for years in Pakistan's badlands with little fear of detection.

A decade after fleeing the US invasion of Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda bosses have carved out a new haven in Pakistan's lawless northwest, recruiting a fresh generation of footsoldiers well versed in how to escape capture.

Despite the long years of conflict, the terror network's reign of fear is too rooted for the Pakistani army or US missiles to dislodge.

When Abu Salman nears a checkpoint on the way to the group's premier bastion of North Waziristan, he turns up the music on the car stereo and lights a cigarette.

And with this simple indulgence of vices denounced by extremist adherents of Islam, he evades suspicion.

Another trick is to leave an English-language newspaper -- the ultimate trapping of a secular-minded Pakistani gentleman -- lying on the passenger seat.

In his 30s, the Al-Qaeda operative speaks to AFP under a fake name in the suburbs of Pakistan's largest northwestern city, Peshawar. Officially he is a car dealer.

The cover story allows him to swap vehicles without suspicion and so escape detection by Pakistani security forces and the American drones trying to eliminate Al-Qaeda in the frontline state in the war on terror.

A university-trained engineer, Abu Salman signed up in 2008 while working in Afghanistan.

"I saw the pain inflicted by the Americans. I realised that I hadn't done anything with my life up till then," he said.

He was given basic military training in eastern Afghanistan in late 2008 but has been integrated into the network as a logistics man, fetching food and medicine.

He personifies the success that Al-Qaeda has found in Pakistan, exploiting a mosaic of overlapping Islamist networks of foreigners and locals dating back 30 years to the mujahedeen resistance to the Soviets in Afghanistan.

"Al-Qaeda has been pretty much driven out of Afghanistan, but it got stronger in Pakistan," surfing on a wave of anti-American sentiment, says Pakistani journalist and Al-Qaeda expert Zahid Hussain.

North Waziristan has an estimated several hundred foreign Al-Qaeda fighters, mostly from Arab countries and Uzbekistan, with a smattering of Africans, Chechens and Westerners, the latter mosly dual nationals.

Most arrive overland through central Asia and Afghanistan. A minority, often the most inexperienced, fly in, running greater risks of being arrested as with two French jihadists picked up this year in Lahore.

Abu Salman criss crosses between Peshawar, Lahore, Islamabad and the tribal belt. "We avoid the telephone and the Internet to avoid being detected and being killed by a drone," he said.

Responsible for providing food and medication, he shops for energy drinks such as Red Bull, which he claims are "very popular" among fighters.

But if most are foreign, Abu Salman claims that "more and more Pakistanis want to join up".

"Al-Qaeda rents homes for its fighters as well as local Taliban who are less well off, basically getting funds from kidnapping for ransom," says one regular visitor to the main market in the North Waziristan capital of Miranshah, who gives the name of Ahmad Jan.

Wearing traditional Pakistani clothes, long hair and beards, turbans and a Kalashnikov slung over their shoulder, the foreigners are almost indistinguishable from the tribesmen whose daughters they marry.

Only the locals can tell the difference.

"Their skin is often lighter, thinner and taller if they're Arabs and they walk differently" says Jan.

There may be no trace of Osama bin Laden's successor Ayman al-Zawahiri, but ordinary footsoldiers take few precautions, other than avoiding restaurants for fear of being a sitting duck for a drone strike.

According to statistics compiled by American website The Long War Journal, drone strikes have killed nearly 2, 000 Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters.

Abu Salman claims that most of those killed are Taliban. Visitors say that the turnover is rapid, that the dead are quickly replaced by new arrivals.

Al-Qaeda enjoys the protection of Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani whose relationship with Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI and own stronghold in North Waziristan has effectively ruled out any ground offensive.

"Everything has changed in 10 years: most of the tribal leaders have been killed and the tribal system destroyed by the Islamists. We can't dance any more, or play music at weddings," said Miranshah shopkeeper Qader Gul, 56.

"Anyone who protests risks having a member of his family kidnapped, beaten or killed," agreed Jan.

"The young generation is destroyed. It sees nothing except the drones and armed groups... In these conditions, I don't see how the young will become anything other than Taliban," said Fayaz Dawar, 30, a doctor in Mir Ali.

bur-emd/jm/gir/sls

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Pakistan: Afghan Govt Intentionally Leaks Details of US, Taliban Meetings

SAP20110830135005 Islamabad The Nation Online in English 30 Aug 11

[Unattributed report: Karzai scuttles US-Taliban dialogue]

KABUL - Infuriated that Washington met secretly at least three times with a personal emissary of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Afghan government intentionally leaked details of the clandestine meetings, scuttling the talks and sending the Taliban intermediary into hiding, Khaleej Times reported.

In a series of interviews with diplomats, current and former Taleban, Afghan government officials and a close childhood friend of the intermediary, Tayyab Aga is hiding in Europe and is afraid to return to Pakistan because of fears of reprisals. The US has had no direct contact with him for months. A senior US official acknowledged that the talks imploded because of the leak and that Aga, while alive, had disappeared. The US will continue to pursue talks, the official said. Current and former US officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks.

The United States acknowledged the talks after Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who apparently fears being sidelined by US-Taliban talks, confirmed published accounts about them in June, but has never publicly detailed the content, format or participants. The first was held in late 2010 followed by at least two other meetings in early spring of this year, the former US official said. The sessions were held in Germany and Qatar, he said.

A childhood friend of Aga, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Aga was in Germany. A diplomat in the region said Aga fled to a European country after his contacts with the US were revealed.

Collapse of the direct talks between Aga and US officials probably spoiled the best chance yet at reaching Omar, considered the linchpin to ending the Taliban fight against the US-backed government in Afghanistan. The contacts were preliminary but had begun to bear fruit, Afghan and US officials said. Perhaps most importantly they offered the tantalizing prospect of a brokered agreement between the United States and the Taliban -- one that would allow the larger reconciliation of the Taliban into Afghanistan political life to move forward. The US has not committed to any such deal, but the Taliban wants security assurances from the US.

The talks were deliberately revealed by someone within the presidential palace, where Karzai's office is located, said a Western and an Afghan official. The reason for the leak was Karzai's animosity toward the US and fear that any agreement Washington brokered would undermine his authority, they said.

Karzai's office refused to comment.

Pakistan had also been kept in the dark about the talks, people knowledgeable about them said. An Afghan official with contacts with the Taliban said the insurgents decided not to tell Pakistan about the meetings with the US. At the time of the leak, Washington had already offered small concessions that the US intended as "confidence-building measures," a former senior US official said. They were aimed at developing a rapport and moving talks forward, said a current US official on condition he not be identified because of the sensitivity of the topic. The concessions included treating the Taliban and al-Qaeda differently under international sanctions. The Taliban argued that while al-Qaeda is focused on worldwide jihad against the West, Taliban militants have focused on Afghanistan and have shown little interest in attacking targets abroad.

Other goodwill gestures that were not made public included Aga's safe passage to Germany, US officials said. The US also offered assurances that it would not block the Taliban from opening an office in a third country, the official said. A former US official familiar with the talks said the loss of the Aga contact dismayed and angered the US side, and further eroded thin trust in Karzai. There is a difference of opinion among US diplomats, military officials and others about how directly Karzai should be blamed, but several officials agreed that the leak was an attempt to torpedo a diplomatic channel that Karzai and his inner circle w orried would sideline and undercut the Afghan leader.

As the Afghan war slides into its 10th year and Washington plans to withdraw its combat forces by the end of 2014, a negotiated settlement between the Karzai government and the Taliban has become a stated goal for the US.

Karzai has launched a separate peace outreach, with the High Peace Council representing numerous political factions. A member of that High Peace Council said the leaking of the talks reveals the level of mistrust and the lack of coordination among the key players in any eventual peace deal.

He said all the key players -- the US, Afghan government, Afghan National Security Council and the High Peace Council -- are holding separate and secret talks with their own contacts within the insurgency.

The US, for example, has also held secret talks with Ibrahim Haqqani, the brother of Jalaluddin Haqqani, who heads the notorious Haqqani network considered by US and NATO troops in Afghanistan to be their biggest threat. That contact was confirmed by officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US

Karzai met with representatives of wanted rebel leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is seeking greater involvement at the peace table and direct talks with the United States, said diplomats in the region.

The flurry of meetings the United States is holding with the various factions in the Afghan conflict has also extended to Pakistan, where the most powerful insurgents have found safe havens.

A month ago, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry and Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani met for a marathon eight hours in a Gulf country. Peace negotiations with Afghanistan's insurgents featured prominently, said both Pakistani and US officials who would not be identified by name because of the secret nature of the meeting.

A US official familiar with the talks said Kayani made a pitch during his marathon meeting with Kerry that Pakistan take on a far larger role in Afghanistan peacemaking. The US considers Pakistan an essential part of an eventual deal, but neither the US nor Pakistan trusts the other's motives in Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The Nation Online in English -- Website of a conservative daily, part of the Nawa-i-Waqt publishing group. Circulation around 20,000; URL: ]

Pakistan Article Calls for Incorporating FATA With Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

SAP20110903103021 Lahore Daily Times Online in English 03 Sep 11

[Article by Shahid Ilyas: "FATA is inhabited by normal human beings!"]

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 provided the best opportunity to the Pakistani security state to work on its agenda of crushing Pashtun nationalism and helping in realising a subservient Afghanistan.

The centuries-long great game in the so-called Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) seems to be crumbling at last, slowly but surely. Had the Pakistani state ended this game immediately after its birth in 1947, the shape of things might well have been very different. The Islamic Republic might not have seen its descent into chaos. We might not have been introduced to the scourge of suicide bombings.

The British colonialists in India used FATA -- and the then North West Frontier Province (NWFP) (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) to some extent -- as a buffer zone between its own empire and the ambitious Czarist Russia. Their main concern was the landmass inhabited by the Pashtuns, without much consideration for the lot of its inhabitants. These people were stereotyped as deeply conservative, barbaric, "immensely independent" and "warlike". This kind of stereotyping suited British imperialism in India.

Upon the birth of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan -- ostensibly ruled by their co-religionists -- the Pashtuns expected better treatment and a measure of political, economic and cultural autonomy. They expected the policy of buffer zones to come to an end, and some level of development to take place. But that was not to be. Soon they realised that the change of guard at the top was not going to translate into change of policy. The new rulers suppressed their aspirations for political autonomy, cultural rights and economic development.

The state of Pakistan refused to grant them their due rights. It also refused to give up on the policy of using their areas as a buffer zone. The Pashtuns were shocked to see that the new state intended to use their areas as a buffer zone not just against the 'godless' communists or Czarists but also against their cousins in Afghanistan who shared their language, culture, history, geography and religion. Those who raised their voices in protest were incarcerated in prisons. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, whom the Pashtuns refer to as Badshah Khan (King Khan), passed most of his life in Pakistani jails. His only crime was that he spoke for the rights of his downtrodden people.

Pakistan did not take long to turn into a security state -- a state where the military got a final say in everything. Suspicion of Pashtun intentions vis-à-vis their willingness to stay part of the Pakistani state became one of the most important elements of the policy of the security state. This suspicion necessitated the use of every means in order to keep Pashtun nationalism down. It also necessitated measures towards placing friendly governments in Afghanistan -- a government that did not question the legitimacy of the Durand Line.

One element of the security state was to keep FATA educationally and economically backward so its people were never aware enough to understand the intricacies and importance of the modern state system, modernity, human rights and nationalism. Despite the Pashtun leadership's demands that these regions be merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the security state resisted. It appointed bureaucrats to look after the interests of the security state by bribing tribal elders and made sure that the tribes had feelings of hostility towards Afghanistan. Political parties, courts and civil society were disallowed from functioning in FATA. Religious seminaries were supported and used to keep the tribes in check through religious edicts.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 provided the best opportunity to the Pakistani security state to work on its agenda of crushing Pashtun nationalism and helping in realising a subservient Afghanistan. The charge of the jihad project was handed to the Pakistani military and it was given a free hand (by the west, led by the US) to determine the ways and means by which to stop the expansion of the USSR. The Paki stani security state gave a call of jihad to its Pashtun population. Schools of brainwashing and warfare were spread across the length and breadth of FATA. Arabs were encouraged to come in and fight against the communists to 'earn' a place in paradise. The state made sure that no money or weapons went to people with nationalist/modernist leanings. Only pan-Islamists (Jalaluddin Haqqani, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and the like) were seen as qualified for getting money and weapons in order to conduct jihad. Pashtun nationalists were demonised.

When the Soviets left in the late 1980s, the Pakistani state embarked on implementing the final phase of its policy -- installing a government in Kabul that did not believe in Pashtun nationalism. But the different jihadi groups soon went out of Pakistan's control and engaged in a protracted civil war that destroyed Afghan cities and physical infrastructure.

Then came the phase in which Pakistan propped up the deadly Taliban. But that project too went wrong with the attacks of 9/11. The rest is recent history. The Pakistani security state has still not given up on its policy of using religion to suppress Pashtun nationalism and using FATA as its strategic depth against India; its support of those groups of the Taliban who challenge the authority of the Afghan government is an open secret. The (Pashtun) nationalism of President Karzai and his associates and their Afghan patriotism are no secret to anyone either. And this worries Pakistan's security establishment. They feel insecure about the Durand Line. Moreover, the security establishment made all efforts to make sure that no political reforms are introduced in FATA but international pressure and the presence of Asif Ali Zardari in the Presidency, backed by the Awami National Party (ANP) -- the party of late Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan -- made it possible to defy the security state and allow political parties to operate in FATA (August 2011).

The security state needs to realise that it cannot stop the tide of history. With political parties operating in FATA, the tribesmen are going to be able to see the world that they never had before. They will be introduced to new ideas. They will be introduced to the concepts of human rights, nationalism, the policies of the security state, the dismal situation in which they live as compared to others beyond their tribal borders. They will start asking questions. The security state needs to tighten its belts.

The next step should be their incorporation into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The security state will resist it but FATA is destined to be part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We need to abide by the dictates of history, geography, language and culture. Please do not try to swim against the flow. We saw several times that you cannot.

The writer belongs to Waziristan.

[Description of Source: Lahore Daily Times Online in English -- Website of the independent, moderate daily, run by Media Times (Private) Ltd., owned by Shehryar Taseer, son of Salman Taseer, former slain governor of Punjab province. Rashed Rahman is the editor-in-chief. The same group owns and publishes weekly newspaper The Friday Times and Urdu daily Aaj Kal. Strong critic of radical and jihadi elements. Provides extensive coverage of activities of jihadi/militant groups. Caters to the educated middle class, with an estimated circulation of 20,000.; URL: .]

Pakistan Army: TTP Leaders Receiving Training From Afghan Militants, Officials

SAP20110911127019 Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English 11 Sep 11

[Report by Naveed Hussain / Zia Khan: "Border incursions: Suspicions grow about Afghan support for TTP"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Pakistan's military believes the fugitive leaders of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are receiving outright support from militants as well as officials in Afghanistan, where they have found a safe haven.

The suspicion comes in the wake of an upsurge in cross-border incursions in Pakistan's border regions led mainly by TTP militants and backed by their Afghan collaborators.

"The TTP senior cadres Maulana Fazlullah, Maulvi Faqir Muhammad and Abdul Wali, aka Omar Khalid, have been receiving support from local Afghan authorities and miscreants," the military's chief spokesperson Major-General Athar Abbas told The Express Tribune.

Maulana Fazlullah, also known as Mullah Radio, was the chief of TTP in Swat, while Maulvi Faqir and Omar Khalid headed the group in Bajaur and Mohmand, respectively.

Military officials have gone so far to accuse the authorities in northeastern Afghanistan of being complacent in these raids - a claim vehemently denied by Afghan officials.

The military itself does not directly blame them, but analysts believe some Afghan Taliban may be aiding their Pakistani namesakes, with or without approval from the group's top hierarchy.

Hundreds of TTP insurgents had fled the military operations in the tribal regions of Bajaur, Mohmand and Malakand Division of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to find a safe haven in the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan.

The exact number of TTP militants in Afghanistan is not known but Maj-Gen Abbas said that 200 to 300 militants have been mounting cross-border attacks in Dir and Chitral districts, suggesting they have a massive presence there.

"Militants from Bajaur and Mohmand are mostly based in Nuristan where they are hosted by an Afghan militant group, led by Qari Ziaur Rehman - a leader of the Salfi Taliban who are thought to be the closest ally of al Qaeda," a senior military official told The Express Tribune requesting anonymity.

Salfi Islam is the bedrock of al Qaeda's ideology, which is also followed by the Taliban controlling Kunar and Nuristan. This ideological convergence brought the two closer to each other.

Qari Zia is believed to be once a close confidante of Osama bin Laden and hosted him once after his epic escape from the Tora Bora mountains in 2001.

Peshawar-based security analyst Brigadier (retd) Muhamaad Saad believes the Taliban are not a monolithic entity. "They can be divided into three broad categories: Kandahari Taliban, led by Mullah Omar; Pakti Taliban, led by Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani; and Salfi Taliban," he said. "It's the Salfi Taliban who pose a real threat to Pakistan. They may not be obeying the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar." But the Afghan Taliban deny any schisms in the movement. "All mujahideen are united under the leadership of Mullah Omar," Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid told The Express Tribune by phone from an undisclosed location in Afghanistan.

A respected cleric who runs an Islamic seminary in Shekandai, a village on the border between Chitral and Nuristan, endorses Mujahid's claim. "There is no evidence of Qari Zia's group defying the authority of Mullah Omar," said Maulana Jamal Abdul Nasir.

Two years ago, the Nuristan Taliban had kidnapped a Greek professor from Chitral. And they had offered to free him in return for the release of three Afghan commanders - Ustad Yasir, the second-in-command of the 1980s jihadi leader Abdul Rasool Sayyaf, Maulana Rehmatuddin Nuristani, a local commander from Nuristan and Maulvi Abdullah Akhund from Kandahar.

"This shows there are no differences between the Salfi Taliban and those led by Mullah Omar," said Maulana Nasir. The Afghan Taliban do not interfere in the affairs of Afghanistan's neighbouring countries. "No member of Taliban can go against the movement's policy," Mujahid said - blaming the TTP for all cross-border incursions. He also denied Qari Zia's group was sheltering the TTP militants.

The governor of Nuristan province also appears to be exonerating the Afghan Taliban. "The Afghan Taliban have never carried out cross-border attacks in Pakistan," Tameem Nuristani told The Express Tribune by phone from his home.

He also put the blame squarely on the TTP. "Look, they (Pakistani Taliban) have killed hundreds of people in bomb and suicide attacks across Pakistan, they're Pakistan's enemy," he added. Nuristani, however, conceded that the TTP militants have found 'safe havens' in Kunar and Nuristan. Asked why the Afghan authorities do not move against them, Nuristani said, "Like Waziristan, we, too, have areas where the government's writ does not exist."

Scores of Pakistani military and paramilitary troops and policemen have been killed in cross-border raids by militants in Dir and Chitral districts. Last month, dozens of people were killed in militant attacks on security check posts in Chitral. And earlier this month, dozens of young men from Bajaur Agency were seized by TTP while they strayed across the border in Nuristan during an outing.

What is Pakistan doing to stop such raids?

"In Dir (Upper and Lower) extra troops have been deployed to man the border region. And in Chitral, new check posts are being set up at a bridge connecting the region with Afghanistan. We are sending huge reinforcements there," said Maj-Gen Abbas.

The unnamed senior military official said the military was also encouraging formation of village defence committees in Chitral on the pattern of Amn committees (qaumi lashkars) in the tribal regions. But he conceded that local residents were unwilling to join, fearing reprisals from the militants.

[Description of Source: Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English -- Website of a newspaper partnered with the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times. It is part of the Lakson Group, which includes Daily Express and Express News Television in Urdu and Express 24/7 Television in English. The group's media wing has no known political affiliations and operates as a moderate, independent commercial media organization. The newspaper claims its mission is to defend "liberal values and egalitarian traditions"; URL: ]

Pakistan: Taliban Successful in Causing Maximum Damage Before US Departure

SAP20110919142002 Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu 18 Sep 11 p 10

[Article by Navid Masood Hashmi: "Horrible Attack of Taliban at US Embassy and NATO Headquarters"]

The aggressive designs that Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States and US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, have expressed against Pakistan lend us an estimate that how much the security of Pakistan is important in the eyes of the US rulers. By the way, these Americans are made of peculiar "stubborn clay," even after incurring double trouble and loss at the hands of Taliban of Mullah Muhammad Umar in Afghanistan, when the Americans feel vexed, they start censuring Pakistan.

They timidly lose heart at the sight of the mere shadow of the Afghanistan Taliban. But they show their anger to Pakistan as if Pakistan was their personal property. Now when the entire world is acknowledging the fact that the so-called superpower and its allies have met the humiliating defeat at the hands of Mujahid Taliban of Mullah Umar, the United States should also quickly admit this fact that it has become a ''zero-power'' against the Afghanistan Taliban and that the true superpower are the Taliban who have inflicted worst defeat on the entire NATO Forces, including the United States.

Ever since the United States has declared the drawdown of its troops from Afghanistan: ''Taliban'' of Mullah Umar are making all-out attempts to show such a comprehensive and complete hospitality to the US and NATO Forces, respectfully present in Afghanistan, which ensures that the troops should honorably return, packed in coffins, and on the shoulders of others, instead of walking on their own feet. Moreover, what is wonderful is that the Taliban are amazingly successful in this strategy as well.

The conscience-traders, intellect sellers of the US basket, pen-sellers and secular ''dollar-mongers,'' living in Pakistan, must be surprised and shocked at watching this wretched situation of their master, the United States. But I earnestly and heartily advised them that instead of spectating the lambasting of their master, the United States, at the hands of the Taliban, they should reach Kabul in order to pay due honor to their dollars. There they should start ''quarrel'' with the Taliban of Mullah Umar in support of the Americans. After all, there should be some limit to the treachery.

The Taliban of Mullah Umar, without the help of any government of the world, including Pakistan, without the support and assistance of intelligence agencies, just relying on the faith in one God, have inflicted a crushing defeat on the NATO countries and thus proved that they have the force of their faith and support of God with them. They have proved that when true believing Muslims battle against the unjust and aggressive infidels in the Jihadi battlefields, then legions of Heavenly Angels join their ranks to support them.

In fact, Haqqani Network is nothing in itself. It is an excuse and lame excuse for the US attack on Pakistan. Otherwise, everyone knows that Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, the iron man of Afghanistan, is a part of the Taliban holy warriors under the command of Mullah Umar. God willing, I will write on the subject of Maulvi Haqqani in next column. In today's column, just consider a few reports that the foreign media published about the horrible attacks of the Taliban on the US Embassy and NATO Headquarters, situated in the most sensitive zone of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan; and think whether now the United States still has the right to be called as superpower?

The reports received from Kabul corroborate that recently, during their action, at least 10 Taliban suicide attackers, equipped with automated weapons, RPG rockets, and hand grenades have targeted the diplomatic zone in the most sensitive area of Kabul in a highly organized manner. No one was willing to extend any correct information about the actual situation of this battle, even after the eight hours of the attack. However, the western diplomatic sources and newspapers and magazines have declared this incidence a continuation of the Wardag truck bomb attack, associated with the 9/11 anniversary. During that incident, the US official had con firmed that this attack had injured the 90 US Troops and several parts of the building of Forward Operating Base in Syedabad have turned into a heap of debris and dust.

According to Wall Street Journal: "The US investigators have confirmed that the explosion of the 9,000 kg explosive-laden truck wreaked mortal havoc in the radius of a half km and every building within the radius of 300 meter reduced to debris and ashes.

After the 48 hours of this incident, the diplomatic buildings and headquarter of Afghanistan intelligence were also targeted in the heart of Kabul. The locals said that initially they heard the sounds of six major blasts and subsequently the atmosphere was burdened with the smell of ammunition and then gunfire kicked off in every direction."

The German Magazine Darespy Jell said: "First of all a van was targeted by a rocket and later on two suicide attackers conducted their action which caused a tumult in this critically sensitive zone everywhere and under the shield of this chaos, the actual warrior squad of Taliban succeeded in reaching its target."

The global magazine Vanguard said in its report: "Although there were not many Taliban, but it seems that they had come to translate their highly well-thought planning into reality on the strong grounds. In an expert manner, the Taliban fighters took the cover of different buildings and successfully targeted embassies and the Afghanistan Intelligence through RPG rockets, light machine guns, and hand grenades. They used the suicide jackets wherever they felt a need for. It led to a tremendous chaos and turmoil in the diplomatic and the most sensitive zone. After battling for long against the US, NATO, and the Afghanistan Forces, Taliban took hold of such a high building from where the US Embassy was clearly visible. The Taliban targeted the US Embassy from the rooftop of this building."

In its report, Vanguard said that it seems that Taliban had more than one covering teams whose responsibility was to escort the five-member suicide attacking group closest to the specific target so that they could carry out their plan easily.

The information that Taliban spokesman has shared with the media states that under this plan, on Monday immediately after the midday prayers, Taliban launched an operation in Abdul Haq Square which lasted for several hours. During this operation, the Taliban targeted the jawans of the Foreign Security Forces as well as those people on the path who are doubtlessly believed to have come to the embassy with a certain objective and they were certainly not the ordinary common citizens. Keeping it aside that how the government responded to this sudden attack, it was immediately announced through the media that the common people should stay away from this place, go inside their houses and keep the doors shut lest they should incur some loss.

Some groups of the world media claimed that the real target of this operation was the US Embassy where several rockets have been fired inside that caused damage and destruction. But it cannot be said with certainty that how much loss the Americans have earned during this attack.

However, the Taliban spokesman said that the primary target of Taliban was the US Embassy, the NATO Headquarter and the Afghanistan Intelligence Headquarters. The AFP said that regarding this attack in the heart of Kabul, the experts and particularly the military analysts believe that now Kabul no more has some particular security because not once or twice, but dozens of times, the Taliban have conducted operations at the style of commandos and every time the security of Kabul and its most sensitive zone turned out to be a wall of sand.

The British Magazine Daily Mail said: "Taliban had invaded the British Council in Kabul just two weeks ago and this invasion was for the celebration of the independence of Afghanistan from the British colonialism on 19 August. But despite this attack, the security in Kabul was not aligned along the best and professional lines and once again, the Taliban targeted the embassies in the most sensitive locations."

[To be continued]

[Description of Source: Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu Daily supportive of jihadi groups and a hard-line Pakistan policy on Kashmir. Extensively covers extremist groups, catering to religious and anti-US groups, with a circulation of 40,000. Provides good coverage of activities of militants in Waziristan and other tribal areas. Ausaf is also published from Frankfurt and London besides Pakistani cities of Lahore, Multan, and Muzaffarabad.]

Asia Times: 'Haqqani Network Sours Pakistan-US Ties'

CPP20110920715053 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0859 GMT 19 Sep 11

[Asia Times Report by Amir Mir: "Haqqani Network Sours Pakistan-Us Ties "; headline as provided by source]

ISLAMABAD - The gradually warming Pakistan-United States ties have suddenly turned sour in the aftermath of the September 13 brazen terrorist attack on the US Embassy in Kabul, which senior American military and government officials have squarely blamed on the North Waziristan-based Haqqani militant network, led by Sirajuddin Haqqani.

As Washington and Islamabad struggle to redefine their relationship in the aftermath of a series of testing developments this year, beginning with the January 27 arrest of an undercover US Central Intelligence Agency agent from Lahore, followed by the May 2 killing of the fugitive al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a US military raid in Abbottabad, the Kabul attack has cast serious doubts on the American claims of progress in the "war against terror".

This has prompted US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to warn that the United States could do everything it could to defend American forces from the Pakistan-based Haqqani militants staging attacks in Afghanistan, including operations inside Pakistan.

Panetta's warning was followed by Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's decision to cancel his planned trip to the United States that was scheduled for September 16.

On the face of it, he called off the visit because "he personally wanted to supervise ongoing relief efforts in flood-hit areas of Sindh province". However, there are clear indications that strained relations between the two countries led to the move; he was to address a United Nations General Assembly session in New York.

The main reason for calling off the visit was US President Barack Obama's refusal to meet Gilani on the sidelines of the UN session. The Pakistan Embassy in Washington had tried hard to arrange a meeting. Panetta's fulminations too are said to have persuaded Gilani that this was not the best time to go.

A few hours after calling off his US visit, Gilani said on September 17: "Now it's time that the United States should do more." This was in response to the US's lack of satisfaction with efforts by Pakistan in their fight against the Taliban and their demand that his government should do more. Gilani said Pakistan had already contributed enormously to the fight against terrorism and stressed that the US should "do more" instead.

The US Embassy assault in Kabul that kept the heavily guarded city center under siege for almost 20 hours and literally turned it into a battle zone was the longest sustained incident in the capital since the launching of the war against the Taliban a decade ago in October 2001.

Fifteen people were killed and six foreign troops wounded in the assault. The Taliban attackers managed to get hold of a high-rise building site that towers over the US Embassy and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters in Kabul, firing rockets and spraying gunfire well inside the highly-secured diplomatic zone, which by and large houses foreign embassies and military headquarters.

The third major terrorist attack in Kabul by the Taliban since June 2011 raises questions about the ability of the Afghan security forces that are supposed to take over responsibility from foreign troops. The timing of the Kabul attack suggests that it was also aimed at improving the bargaining position of the Afghan Taliban led by their amir , Mullah Omar. The attack also raises questions about secret reconciliation efforts being made by the Americans to strike a deal with the Afghan Taliban, who have already claimed responsibility for the September 13 US Embassy assault.

While blaming the Haqqani network - which is loosely associated with the Afghan Taliban - for the assault, Afghan Interior Minister Bismillah Mohmmadi claimed that mobile telephones used by the six attackers who fought off Western and Afghan forces for almost a full day showed they were in touch with people outside the country.

"The evidence we have received shows they were communicating and were led from outside Afghanistan," said Mohmmadi in a video released to journalists by his ministry. He did not identify the country involved, but US ambassador Ryan Crocker and the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, General John R Allen, said they believed the attack was launched by the Pakistan-based Haqqani network.

Earlier, Afghanistan's National Intelligence Directorate (NDS) had claimed following the June 28 terrorist attack targeting the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul that it was also carried out by militants of the Haqqani network with the help of their handlers in Pakistan.

As per the NDS claim, in an intercepted phone call, Badruddin Haqqani, a top leader of the terror network, was heard directing one of the fighters and laughing during the hotel attack that killed 11 civilians and two policemen as well as nine members of the attacking team. Badruddin is an operational commander in the Haqqani network who also sits on the Taliban's Miram Shah shura (council).

Named after its founding leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Haqqani network is an Afghan militant group that is based out of North Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.

The network has been active mainly in the east of Afghanistan in Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Ghazni Wardak and even Kabul provinces.

Although it is a separate militant group, it pledges allegiance to Mullah Omar and has a history of links to the Pakistani intelligence establishment since the days of the Afghan jihad against the Soviets in the 1980s.

Jalaluddin Haqqani, now in his sixties, is a former anti-Soviet resistance commander known for his ruthless effectiveness as a fighter. His ties to Pakistan, and his base in the Miram Shah area of North Waziristan, go as far back as his exile during the government of Sardar Daud in the early 1970s.

He was initially among the many militant leaders who formed the Hizb-e-Islami. But when the Hizb fractured in the late 1970s, Haqqani followed Maulvi Yunis Khalis rather than Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and became one of the most important commanders in the Hizb-e Islami (Khalis), or HIK.

A battle-tested leader

When Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan in 1979, like many Afghan leaders, Jalaluddin took his family and fighters to Pakistan and settled in North Waziristan, which borders his native Khost province.

He subsequently received significant support from the American Central Intelligence Agency and from the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and built up a sizable and competent anti-Soviet militia force by the mid-1980s.

The current ties between the Haqqani network and the Afghan Taliban date back to the days of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan led by Mullah Omar. The Taliban seized power in 1996 and were ousted by the US-led invasion in late 2001.

As Jalaluddin has aged, his elder son Sirajuddin has taken over the responsibility of carrying out cross-border operations in Afghanistan. Sirajuddin has eclipsed his father in power and influence and he rivals more senior leaders for leadership of the Taliban. In many ways, he is smarter and more respected than far more senior Taliban leaders.

According to US military commanders, the Haqqani network is the most resilient in Afghanistan and one of the biggest threats to the US-led forces.

Following WikiLeaks' July 2010 publication of 75,000 classified documents, it was revealed that Sirajuddin Haqqani was in tier one of the International Security Assistance Force's Joint Prioritized Effects List - its "kill or capture" list.

Therefore, the Americans have targeted the Haqqani network in North Waziristan extensively in recent years, especially since a suicide bomber killed seven senior CIA officers in the Khost area of Afghanistan on December 31, 2009.

While the Americans treat the Haqqani network as an enemy, there are those in the Pakistani establishment who still consider it as a strategic asset and a possible ally in Afghanistan after the exit of US-led forces.

But the embassy attack in Kabul has deeply anno yed the Americans, prompting key US military officials to once again set off a volley of anti-Pakistan statements by publicly accusing Islamabad of "sleeping with the enemy".

After the sweet words that followed the recent arrest of senior al-Qaeda leader Younis al-Mauritania from Pakistan, senior American officials have turned their guns on Pakistan and warned that the US would "do everything it can" to defend American forces from Haqqani militants.

Clearly embarrassed by the Taliban attack, Panetta, a former CIA chief, accused Pakistan on September 15 of not curtailing the Haqqani network. He said his country's response would show Pakistan that the US meant business. "Time and again we have urged the Pakistanis to exercise their influence over these kinds of attacks from the Haqqanis. And we have made very little progress in that area. I think the message the Pakistanis need to know is: we are going to do everything we can to defend our forces."

Panetta said he was concerned about the Haqqanis' ability to attack American troops and then escape back into what is a safe haven in Pakistan, "which is unacceptable".

Panetta has long pressed Islamabad to go after the Haqqanis. "I'm not going to talk about how we're going to respond. I will just let you know that we are not going to allow these kinds of attacks to go on. These kinds of attacks - sporadic attacks and assassination attempts - are more a reflection of the fact that they are losing their ability to be able to attack our forces on a broader scale." Asked whether the Kabul attack raised concerns about the Afghans' ability to take over their own security, Panetta said that overall their response was good.

On September 16, it was the turn of the US ambassador to Islamabad, Cameron Munter, to accuse Pakistan of having ties with the Haqqani network, saying the Kabul attack was the work of the same network. Munter told Radio Pakistan, "There is evidence linking the Haqqani network to the Pakistan government. This is something that must stop."

Munter's remarks clearly endorsed Panetta's threat that the US could take direct military action against the Haqqani network with or without Pakistan's support, making a Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman state, "Any unilateral action on Pakistan's soil will have disastrous ramifications for ties between Islamabad and Washington."

The next one to warn Pakistan was John Brennan, Obama's chief counter-terrorism adviser: "The United States does not view our authority to use military force against al-Qaeda as being restricted solely to hot battlefields like Afghanistan. We reserve the right to take unilateral action," he said on September 17.

Three different statements, but the message to Islamabad is clear: take action against the Haqqani network or the US will do it unilaterally.

On the other hand, while responding to these warnings, the Foreign Office spokesman in Islamabad said:

Pakistan is prepared to continue cooperating with the United States in countering terrorism but, at the same time, continuous criticism, like the recent remarks of the US defense secretary are not in line with the cooperation the two countries have agreed to maintain in counter-terrorism.

Washington should be more concerned about the safe havens and sanctuaries inside Afghanistan from where Pakistanis had been attacked. Terrorism and militancy are complex issues and require close cooperation among all concerned. Pakistan and the United States have cooperated in countering terrorism.

But Pakistan's cooperation is premised on respect for Pakistan's sovereignty and entails joint actions. We have raised the issue of safe havens and sanctuaries on the other side of the border in Afghanistan from where militants have launched attacks against our border posts and villages, killing many innocent Pakistani civilians and destroying schools and homes.

During his subsequent meeting with the US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, in Spain on the sidelines of a NATO conference, Pakistani army Chief General Kiani reportedly refused to give any commitment to his American counterpart with regard to military action against the Haqqani network.

According to Pakistani media reports, the issue was raised by Mullen. But Kiani told him that the Pakistan army was not in a position to give any time frame for carrying out a military operation in the restive North Waziristan. While citing "capacity constraints", Kiani told Mullen that going after the Haqqani network at this stage would have serious repercussions for Pakistan.

In a speech to NATO chiefs, Kiani virtually ruled out any imminent full-scale action against the Haqqani network. "The army chief reiterated the resolve and commitment of Pakistan in the struggle against terrorism while underlining Pakistan's sovereign right to formulate policy in accordance with its national interests and the wishes of the Pakistani people," an official statement issued by the military said of Kiani's speech.

Meanwhile, Pakistani media have taken contradictory positions on the US demand on Islamabad to act against the Haqqani network. The English daily The Express Tribune said in its September 17 editorial titled Attack in Kabul and beyond:

What Leon Panetta doesn't seem to realize is that there is a rather glaring contradiction at the heart of the American policy in Afghanistan. They are constantly urging Pakistan to do more to tackle the Haqqani network and the Afghan Taliban, even going so far as to demand military action in North Waziristan; while, at the same time, they are negotiating with the Taliban themselves as they prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan.

In an ideal world, Pakistan would be able and willing to take on and destroy the Haqqani network but right now they have no incentive to do so. The US and Pakistan are involved in a crisis of mutual trust in which Pakistan is seen as showing defiance. Given that the US has already announced the date from when they begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, the Pakistan military is trying to take steps to ensure that they maintain their influence there. Propping up the Haqqani network to serve our interests in Afghanistan is one such measure. Pakistan fears India will be the dominant regional power in Afghanistan after the Americans leave, and thus sees no qualms in using the Haqqani network as its proxy.

On the other hand, another English daily, The News, said in a September 17 editorial titled Panetta's Warning:

Nobody on this side of the fence has been able to credibly deny that the Haqqani network has its rear echelons quartered in Pakistan. It may be a piece of Pakistan over which the government has little writ or control, but it is undeniably within Pakistan's internationally recognized borders.

The Haqqani network is not a de-facto arm of al-Qaeda, nor does it necessarily have common cause with al-Qaeda, but it has linkages with other terrorist groups and the Taliban operating across the borderlands with Afghanistan. Pakistan's own links with the network, as with so many other groups which are now a liability rather than an asset, hark back to the war against the Russians in Afghanistan ... For Pakistan, the Haqqani network is a headache that has become a migraine. Time, perhaps, for medication.

On his part, Sirajuddin Haqqani tried to rescue Pakistan in a rare phone interview from an undisclosed location with Reuters:

The Haqqani group no longer has sanctuaries in Pakistan, and instead felt secure inside Afghanistan. Gone are the days when we were hiding in the mountains along the Pak-Afghan border. Now we consider ourselves more secure in Afghanistan besides the Afghan people. Senior military and police officials are with us. There are sincere people in the Afghan government who are loyal to the Taliban as they know that our goal is the liberation of our homeland from the clutches of occupying forces.

Asked if the Haqqani network was behind the Kabul assault, Sirajuddin said:

For some reasons, I would not like to claim that fighters of our group had carried out the attack on the US Embassy and the NATO headquarters. Our central leadership, particularly senior members of the shura, suggested I should keep quiet in future if the US and its allies suffer in future.

Asked whether there were 10,000 Haqqani fighters as some media reports have suggested, Sirajuddin laughed and said: "That figure is actually less than the actual number."

To another question, Sirajuddin said his group would take part in peace talks with the Kabul government and the United States only if the Taliban did. He said the group had rejected several peace gestures from the United States and Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government in the past because they wanted to create divisions between militant groups.

"They offered us very, very important positions but we rejected [them] and told them they would not succeed in their nefarious designs. They wanted to divide us and any further efforts to do so will also fail," said Sirajuddin, who carries head money of US$5 million, announced by the US which has already tagged him as a specially designated global terrorist.

Amir Mir is a senior Pakistani journalist and the author of several books on the subject of militant Islam and terrorism, the latest being The Bhutto murder trail: From Waziristan to GHQ.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

Pakistan: Report Says Rabbani's Murder To Affect Relations With Afghanistan

SAP20110921142005 Karachi Ummat in Urdu 21 Sep 11

[Report by Saifullah Khalid: "Rabbani Always Strived for Improving Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations"]

Islamabad -- The murder of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani has deprived Pakistan of its greatest supporter in the Afghan coalition government. It is a major setback for Afghan President Hamid Karzai too, as it will affect his political position.

Rabbani was among the founders of jihad against the Soviet Union. He had a vast circle of friends in Pakistan, who included retired generals as well as political leaders.

Rabbani always spoke in favor of Pakistan despite the obviously pro-Indian attitude of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. He was the only one among this entire coalition who knew the art of understanding others. He always had contacts with Pakistan. In the presence of anti-Pakistan and pro-India leaders like Abdullah Abdullah and Asadullah Halim, Rabbani always spoke well about Pakistan and strived to improve Pakistan-Afghanistan relations. His murder will reinforce Pakistan's loneliness in Kabul's power corridors.

On the other hand, the Pashtun Karzais have lost their reliable and effective Tajik companion, who was regarded as being beyond the Tajik-Pashtun division.

Following the murders of [Hamid Karzai's] brother in 2011 and of a powerful Pashtun coalition partner Jan Muhammad Khan on 17 July, Rabbani's murder is a major political setback for Karzai. At his level, Jan Muhammad was regarded as great a leader as Jalaluddin Haqqani. Following the murders of Jan Muhammad and Burhanuddin Rabbani, Hamid Karzai has lost two of his powerful and effective supporters from among the former mujahidin, which is not only a major political setback for him but is also a golden opportunity for those who design to foment the Tajik-Pashtun conflict in Afghanistan.

The situation in the Afghan capital Kabul appears to be quite adverse these days, as Taliban are relentlessly targeting the high security zone. The US forces appear to be completely helpless against the Taliban. Since 12 June, the Taliban have carried out 10 major attacks in Kabul's high security zone. On the other hand, US coalition forces' intelligence, security, planning, and fighting spirit appear to be failing badly. Observers assert that the murders of Jan Muhammad and Rabbani have deprived the Karzai government of the facility of frank contacts with the Taliban and other anti-government groups.

[Description of Source: Karachi Ummat in Urdu -- Sensationalist, pro-Usama Bin Ladin Urdu daily. Harshly critical of the US, Israel, and India. Propagates Muslim unity to counter US/Western influence. Circulation 20,000. Editor-publisher Rafiq Afghan is an Afghan war veteran.]

AFP: US Pressures Pakistan Over Haqqani Network Ties

SAP20110922049001 Hong Kong AFP in English 0221 GMT 22 Sep 11

[AFP Report: "The Haqqanis: Pakistan Ties and US Fears"]

ISLAMABAD, Sept 22, 2011 (AFP) - The United States is increasing pressure on Pakistan to cut ties with the Haqqani network, probably the most dangerous faction in the Afghan Taliban, founded by a CIA asset turned Al-Qaeda ally.

The United States blames it over some of the most spectacular attacks in Afghanistan, such as last week's 19-hour siege in Kabul and the 2009 killing of seven CIA agents, and accuses Pakistani spies of having ties to the group.

So who are the Haqqanis? Why are the Americans so concerned? How much of a threat do they represent and what exactly is their connection to Pakistan?

The network's founder is Jalaluddin Haqqani, a disciplined Afghan guerrilla leader bankrolled by the United States to fight Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s and now based with his family in Pakistan.

In the 1980s, Jalaluddin was close to the CIA and Pakistani intelligence. He then allied himself to the Taliban after they took power in Kabul in 1996 and restored calm to Afghanistan after the anarchy of civil war.

In Mullah Omar's regime, he served as minister for tribal affairs and the frontier region, Afghanistan's eastern border areas with Pakistan.

As an anti-Soviet fighter, Pakistan considered him a refugee and allowed him to live in the tribal district of North Waziristan. As a member of the Taliban government, he travelled to Islamabad in 2001.

When American troops invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, Haqqani looked up old friends and sought refuge in North Waziristan, becoming one of the first anti-American commanders based in Pakistan's lawless border areas.

"He had bases in North Waziristan and the support of Pashtun tribes along the border during the anti-communist Afghan war. He returned after the fall of the Taliban," says Pakistani tribal affairs expert Rahimullah Yusufzai.

Haqqani has training bases in eastern Afghanistan, is close to Al-Qaeda and loyal to Mullah Omar, exploiting relations with militant groups to target US troops across the Afghan east, the southeast and within the capital Kabul.

Militarily the most capable and most dangerous of the Taliban factions, the network operates independently but remains politically subservient and would fall behind any peace deal negotiated by the Taliban leadership.

Now in his late 70s and frail, Jalaluddin's seat on the Afghan Taliban leadership council has passed to his son Sirajuddin, who effectively runs the Haqqani network's fighting force of at least 2,000 men.

Washington designates both father and son as "global terrorists".

Ties to Al-Qaeda date back to the 1990s, further to Arab fighters who went on to join Al-Qaeda. Yusufzai says Osama bin Laden held a news conference at a Haqqani training camp in the eastern Afghan province of Khost in 1998.

US ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter has accused the Pakistani government of links to the Haqqanis and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Tuesday renewed blunt demands that Pakistan crack down on Haqqani militants.

And a US Senate committee voted Wednesday to tie Pakistan aid to greater cooperation in fighting the Haqqanis, escalating action against the group with a move that requires approval from the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The CIA has already drastically stepped up drone strikes on North Waziristan against Haqqani fighters, and one of Jalaluddin's sons was among those killed.

The Afghan government concurs with US complaints against the Haqqanis and the Pakistanis. Defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi told AFP that the network is the "connecting bridge" between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

But Pakistani officials deny any relationship with the Haqqani network and often downplay the group's importance.

The big question is, could Pakistan take on the Haqqanis and win?

Pakistani commanders refuse US calls for an offensive in North Waziristan, arguing that their troops are too overstretched to stir up a new hornet's nest that risks sparking a nationwide backlash in suicide attacks.

Privately, officers warn that Haqqani's fighters -- who do not attack within Pakistan -- are better trained and better armed than the Afghan Taliban's local Pakistani offshoots whom the army has taken on at great cost.

Yusufzai says it would be extremely difficult but argues that under extreme pressure Pakistan could expel the group from North Waziristan.

The Haqqanis maintain that they have no training camps in Pakistan, where the leadership is based, and that all military activity is conducted across the border in Afghanistan.

One regular visitor to North Waziristan likened Sirajuddin to a mafia godfather whose power strikes fear into the hearts of ordinary people.

"Everybody's afraid of the Haqqani network and any militant group that wants to operate in North Waziristan has to have Haqqani's agreement," he told AFP.

Yusufzai says that two of Jalaluddin's brothers, non-fighters Ibrahim and Khalil, often visit Islamabad and that through an intermediary, the Americans made secret contacts with them last year.

Reva Bhalla of global intelligence think-tank STRATFOR says Pakistan, the wider Taliban and the Haqqani network are key to any US negotiation effort to end the 10 years of war in Afghanistan.

"There are multiple differing interests and a number of sub-factions within each of these groups, but they do largely work in concert," she said.

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[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Pakistani Paper Analyzes Structure, Leadership of Haqqani Network

SAP20110922052010 Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English 22 Sep 11

[Report by Zia Khan: Who on earth are the Haqqanis?]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

The Haqqani network is the talk of Washington and Islamabad, seen as pivotal to the endgame in Afghanistan and probably trending on Twitter. However, few seem certain about the exact location and structure of this elusive group.

Allegedly based in the North Waziristan tribal region and in some provinces across the border in Afghanistan, the most lethal of all Taliban insurgent groups has struck serious blows to diplomatic relations between the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The US blames the network for most attacks on international forces based in Afghanistan, including the 2008 assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul in the same year and the Kandahar jailbreak earlier this year.

The most serious attack was last week's 20-hour commando-style assault, carried out in Kabul's highly fortified green zone, on the American embassy and the country headquarters of Nato. The US also claims the network was behind this attack.

What is the Haqqani network and what makes it, as officials in Washington have put it, the most dangerous group on earth?

The answer to these questions, according to experts on the issue, lies in understanding the organisational structure, combat capabilities, fundraising abilities and cross-border sanctuaries it has on either side of the Durand Line.

The leadership

Jalaluddin Haqqani founded the group, deriving strength from his Zadran tribe, but he no longer has daily operational command over the group.

"His role in fact is limited to the spiritual guidance of the associates ... he is the binding force that keep them together," said Brigadier (Retd) Muhammad Saad, an expert on Taliban insurgency. "He is too old and too frail to lead the group."

In January it was reported that Jalaluddin, also known as Khalifa or Caliph among his group, died of natural causes in the Khost province of Afghan. The news was later proved to be untrue and his current whereabouts are unknown.

His son Sirajuddin Haqqani is now leading the group.

Siraj, however, does not have total control. His role, besides being the overall head, is limited to non-military strategic issues. His remit is largely political and includes negotiations with other groups and dealing with authorities in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"He hardly deals with the group's military issues," said a commander belonging to the network by telephone from Mirali, a town in North Waziristan where it supposedly has a strong presence.

A rallying figure in tribal badlands

Siraj is such a powerful figure due to the respect he commands from other groups, such as Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, in tribal areas. "It looks like he is the one magnet everybody wants to stick to," said Fida Khan, an Islamabad-based journalist who has been covering militancy in Pakistan for a Japanese publication for more than a decade.

"From the militants' perspective, Siraj is the most charismatic leader acceptable to all," wrote slain Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shehzad in an article last year.

But the network is not all about Siraj, though the Haqqani family tries to controls most of its activities. The group is divided into broader categories for specific objectives and members have well-defined roles.

Sangeen Zadran and Baduruddin Haqqani

Mullah Sangeen Zadran is the network's main military commander. "He is the man," said a fighter from the group about Sangeen, who reportedly has thousands of volunteers under his control.

According to some reports, Sangeen is the nephew of Jalaluddin and belongs to the Zadran tribe from which the Haqqani family hails. There is no confirmation of this, however.

Sangeen, though, must defer to Badaruddin Haqqani, one of Siraj's younger brothers. This seems another example of the Haqqanis' conscious attempts to keep control within their fam ily.

Last month the US State Department added Sangeen to their list of specially designated global terrorists. The designation allows the US to freeze Sangeen's assets, prevent him from using financial institutions and prosecute him for terrorist activities. The State Department describes Sangeen as 'a senior lieutenant to Haqqani network leader Sirajuddin'. Sangeen is also the shadow governor for Paktika province in Afghanistan.

Nasiruddin Haqqani, also known as Dr Khan

Another son of the family, Nasiruddin, is thought to be the chief fundraising official of the group, operating across the Arab world, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

According to a couple of individuals who were in touch with the family before 9/11, Nasir is the son of Jalaluddin's Arab wife, which makes him an ideal person to raise funds from rich families from the Gulf.

Last year it was reported that Pakistani intelligence agencies arrested Nasir, popularly known as Dr Khan or Dr Alamgir, before freeing him.

Improvisation

According to Brigadier Saad, what makes the Haqqani network unique is its capability to improvise according to the situation.

"They appear to have remarkable abilities to adapt," said journalist Fida Khan. "They can disperse and then re-gather overnight," he added, "This makes them less vulnerable for penetration from outside and crackdowns."

[Description of Source: Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English -- Website of a newspaper partnered with the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times. It is part of the Lakson Group, which includes Daily Express and Express News Television in Urdu and Express 24/7 Television in English. The group's media wing has no known political affiliations and operates as a moderate, independent commercial media organization. The newspaper claims its mission is to defend "liberal values and egalitarian traditions"; URL: ]

Pashtun Tribal Leader Says Insurgents Fighting Karzai Government, Not West

EUP20110922085002 Frankfurt/Main Frankfurter Allgemeine in German 22 Sep 11 p 5

[Interview with Naqibullah Shorish, Pashtun tribal leader and negotiator of an Afghan Peace Jirga, by Marco Seliger, place and date not given: "'Everyone in the West Speaks With His Own Talib'"]

[Seliger] Mr Shorish, on Tuesday [ 20 September] a suicide bomber killed Burhanuddin Rabbani, the chairman of the High Peace Council in Afghanistan. What consequences does this have for the peace process?

[Shorish] What peace process? Burhanuddin Rabbani led the Peace Council created by President Karzai. As a mortal enemy of the Taliban he could not be a neutral mediator between the insurgents and the government. Rabbani's death is a tragedy but if he negotiated at all with the Taliban it was only with unimportant commanders. He did not speak with the truly important people.

[Seliger] Who are the truly important people?

[Shorish] They are in a four-person shura, the Taliban Shura. It has existed for about a year. Mullah Omar and Sarjuddin Haqqani, the father of Jalaluddin Haqqani, one of the military heads of the Taliban, belong to it.

[Seliger] These people are classified throughout the world as terrorists.

[Shorish] Which they are not in the eyes of many Afghans. The Afghans are above all disappointed by NATO because of the many deaths by bomb attacks and infringements like night raids, including in women's chambers.

[Seliger] You belong to the Afghan Peace Jirga but not to the High Peace Council. Why?

[Shorish] The Afghan Peace Jirga consists of representatives of the Pashtun tribes of the South and East but also Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmens, and Hazaras. We are united by rejection of the Karzai government. We cannot belong to an organization whose initiator is our enemy. The insurgents accept only neutral mediators between the government and themselves.

[Seliger] Who could this neutral mediator be?

[Shorish] The Peace Jirga or individual tribal leaders.

[Seliger] Who would the insurgents accept as an interlocutor?

[Shorish] NATO. The most important foreign troop suppliers are represented there. Entering into talks with Germans, French, or Italians should not be a problem.

[Seliger] But NATO and the countries you named are fighting on Karzai's side.

[Shorish] NATO supports a criminal, corrupt government that is rejected by most Afghans. In doing so the West is making a big mistake. I have come to Germany to explore for the Taliban the extent to which NATO would be prepared to consider a role as neutral mediator.

[Seliger] But the German Afghanistan representative Michael Steiner has supposedly been speaking with the Taliban for a long time.

[Shorish] Everyone in the West has his Talib with whom he is supposedly speaking. Most of these people have no influence, no contacts. Mr Steiner is speaking with the wrong ones.

[Seliger] And you are the right one?

[Shorish] The four-person Taliban Shura is a combination of the Quetta and Peshawar shuras. Its leader is Qayum Zaker, who spent several years in Guantanamo. Until recently Mullah Omar headed the Quetta shura. I know Qayum Zaker well. I can mediate talks with him.

[Seliger] You are the leader of some 3 million Pashtuns of the Kharoti tribe. How do you get along with the Taliban?

[Shorish] Some of my tribe members are fighting on the side of the Taliban. Many Afghans sympathize with the Taliban. As tribal leader I must have an open ear for everyone, including the Taliban. Most Kharotis were not Taliban before 2001 but became so later. Many have lost family members due to the American military actions, others feel their honor is violated by the nighttime actions of the Americans.

[Seliger] Are your tribe members also fighting against German soldiers?

[Shorish] Also against the Germans. We want all Western soldiers to leave Afghanistan. Their mission no longer makes any sense.

[Seliger] Would resistance to the foreign troops end if there were a different government in your country?

[Shorish] No. The Afghans will no longer tolerate interference from outside. As long as Western soldiers are in the country they will be fought by the insurgents.

[Seliger] Do you support the insurgency?

[Shorish] I am a member of the Afghan Peace Jirga, which has made it its goal to finally create peace in Afghanistan. But I fear the fighting will continue for a long time.

[Seliger] Why? The West wants to largely withdraw its troops by 2014.

[Shorish] The insurgency is directed against the Karzai government and its supporters. There are also countries in our neighborhood that are interested in a continuation of the war in Afghanistan. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, India: Each has its interest group here that it exploits. We are very afraid of a new civil war.

[Seliger] How could it be prevented?

[Shorish] We need a national consensus that the Afghans want to peacefully resolve their problems, that they do not let themselves be used from outside.

[Seliger] The United States wanted to weaken the insurgents to the point they voluntarily come to the negotiating table. Now you are offering negotiations. It seems as if the Americans have achieved their goal.

[Shorish] Please, do not have any illusions. The Americans can send as many troops as they want, they will not force the insurgents to the negotiating table. The stronger the enemy the stronger the resistance. The Afghans do not want the Americans, they also do not want to negotiate with them.

[Seliger] Why do they not want to negotiate directly with the Americans?

[Shorish] The Americans say they do not want to talk with Haqqani, with Hekmatyar, with Mullah Omar. For them, these are terrorists who have killed Americans. But the Americans have also killed innocent Afghans. I believe the Americans are not in a position to pose conditions.

[Seliger] The Taliban need only wait until the end of 2014 when the West's troops are gone and they could take over the country. Why do they want to negotiate at all?

[Shorish] Because the people want peace now. They want the fighting to end.

[Seliger] And if a civil war cannot be prevented?

[Shorish] There are 8,000 Koranic schools in the Afghan-Pakistan border area. Young Taliban are being trained there. The supply of personnel is limitless. There are also many young men without future prospects in other neighboring countries like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. They would also be sent to the war. The Afghan tragedy will not end so long as the neighboring countries pursue their interests here.

[Seliger] In the future there will be more than 400,000 soldiers and police officers in your country. Can you prevent Afghanistan plunging into chaos again?

[Shorish] We cannot afford this security apparatus. We have no money to pay these people permanently. And I do not believe the West will supply the Afghan army and police for decades. The Soviets also trained security forces during their invasion of Afghanistan. After their withdrawal, these forces fell apart quickly. It will be that way again this time.

[box] Between Labor Office and Taliban Shura

Naqibullah Shorish is the tribal leader of the Kharoti, with 3 million members one of Afghanistan's largest Pashtun tribes. In April of this year, 120 delegates of a tribal shura elected him to this office in Kabul. Shorish, born 57 years ago in Kabul, lived in exile in Germany after 1980. After the invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet troops in 1979 he fled first to Stuttgart and Bonn and later settled with his family in Dusseldorf, where he worked as a case worker for the Agency for Employment. His employment suspended, for three years Shorish was on leave. He returned to Kabul in 2008 but regularly visits Germany.

The Kharotis' settlement area extends over large parts of Afghanistan but is concentrated in the southern provinces where the uprising against the Karzai government and the NATO troops is particularly strong. Kharotis also live in the Kunduz area, where in 2009 Naqibullah Shorish tried to mediate negotiations between NATO, the Bundeswehr, and the insurgents. After the air attack ordered by German Colonel Georg Klein on 4 September 2009 on two tank er trucks hijacked by the Taliban, Shorish halted his efforts. He is currently staying in Germany again. The Taliban Shura has asked him to establish contacts and sound out NATO's and the German Government's willingness to talk.

[Description of Source: Frankfurt/Main Frankfurter Allgemeine in German -- influential, independent, nationwide daily; leans right-of-center]

Article: Pakistans Reluctance to Take on Haqqani Group to Create Clash With US

SAP20110923128011 Islamabad The News Online in English 23 Sep 11

[Article by Shafqat Mahmood: Pakistan at a crossroads again]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

The Haqqani network is like a bone stuck in our throats: can't spit it out, can't swallow it. With the US pressure ramped up to a level where threats of military strikes plus boots on the ground are being trotted out, the Pakistani leadership is at a crossroads.

The choices with their pros and cons are anything but simple. Mount an attack on North Waziristan, where the Haqqani network allegedly has safe havens, and risk coalescing all Pashtun groups in Afghanistan against the Pakistani state.

This would mean actually turning all Afghan ethnicities against Pakistan because the Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras and others of the Northern Alliance already hate us. We have enough on our plate handling a tense relationship with India in the east. A hostile Afghanistan, with no one standing up for normal relations with Pakistan, would become a serious headache.

The impact of such a development in the war against militancy within the country could also be significant. The Pakistani Taliban are already creating enough trouble. If they get the support of the Afghan Taliban, who have so far kept a distance if not been actually discouraging, and of other armed groups in Fata, who have been neutralised so far, it would create a near insurmountable challenge.

The reluctance of the Pakistani leadership to take on the Haqqani network through a dangerous incursion into North Waziristan is thus understandable. But, this does create the risk of a possible conflict with the might of the US military.

I still think the risk of an outright invasion by the US of North Waziristan is a remote possibility. Even air attacks through warplanes are unlikely because they create more media noise than drone attacks. And just after bombing another Muslim country, Libya, the third in the last 10 years after Afghanistan and Iraq, the US is unlikely to risk more negative publicity globally.

Boots on the ground also seem unlikely because it is not enough to come in and do a hit and run. It would not damage anyone, other than Pakistan's sovereignty, which would have its own consequences. But if ground were to be held, it would mean heavy deployment in a difficult region for an indeterminate period. The US public is not ready for it and perhaps America's financial troubles make another long-term military involvement unfeasible.

Drone attacks can and will be ramped up causing far greater damage and civilian casualties but they will not solve the problem. So, the choices are not easy for the US either. It would much rather lean heavily on Pakistan and make it do something that it is unable to do.

It is understandable that all nations only look at their own interests. And the US interest in the Afghan game today is for Pakistan to become an active military partner and attack its enemies who are allegedly taking refuge on Pakistani soil. If this creates problems for it, than it is not the American's headache. They have to look after their own interests and not bother too much about those of others.

The intense US focus on the Haqqani group is surprising. Is this the only problem standing between it and victory in Afghanistan? The Haqqani network is important and has been for many years. It played a useful role in the war against the Soviets, with US support, and later controlled Paktika and Khost provinces of Afghanistan.

Yet, it was never in the forefront during the Taliban rule with Jalaluddin Haqqani holding a minor cabinet post dealing with tribal affairs. Even now, the overall control of the Afghan resistance against the US is with the Taliban leadership headed by Mullah Omar. The fighting in Helmand and other Afghan provinces that has been so troublesome for the Americans is led by the Taliban.

The Haqqani group plays an important role in particular areas, Paktika, Paktia and Khost and because of its proximity to Kabul has the capability to launch attacks in the Afghan capital. This is indeed v ery annoying for the Americans - and for the Afghans - but does it follow that this group is the only reason for US failures in Afghanistan?

Or indeed, is Pakistan's lack of action in North Waziristan the only thing standing between the US and victory? Any serious analysis of the issues the Americans face in Afghanistan would show that it is not so. Pakistan's involvement can be helpful but not decisive. In the process it would be seriously destabilised and would have to deal with grave problems long after the Americans have tired of the conflict and left.

In a rational world, it would be enough to make a solid argument for others to accept your point of view but this is a world of power camouflaged in plausible justifications to control the media narrative. Pakistan's argument will not be accepted because the more powerful interlocutor has the luxury to consider only its interests.

It is also useful in an election year in the US to have a scapegoat and blame whatever failures there are on it. Pakistan finds itself in this difficult position right now. It has little choice but to do something. There is of course the dangling carrot too because if one does the US bidding there are plenty of goodies in the shape of bilateral and multilateral aid. It is not easy to scoff at this in times of serious economic troubles.

The time may have come to lay down a principle. Make it very clear to the Afghan groups be it the Taliban or the Haqqani network that we can no longer afford to allow them to use Pakistan as a base to attack Americans or Nato and Afghan government troops. If they have to fight, they should do so from within Afghanistan. In other words, they should shift their bases, if they have any, out of Pakistan.

Sirajuddin Haqqani has already declared that his troops are based in Afghanistan and not Pakistan. To make this assertion visibly plausible Pakistan must occupy any of the ungoverned spaces as it did in South Waziristan. The time thus may have come to make a well publicised push into North Waziristan.

The impression that this area is not within Pakistani government control has to be reversed. The Americans will have to understand that militant groups in these areas who are cooperating with the Pakistani state will have to be tolerated, with the proviso that they will no longer go across the border to launch attacks.

This strategy is fraught with consequences but if carefully handled can navigate a middle path that can yield positive results. It is also time that the so-called terrorist sanctuary in North Waziristan is taken out as an excuse for the American failures in Afghanistan.

In return, we should also seek zero tolerance for Pakistani militants based in Afghanistan and of course complete normalisation, indeed positive returns for the continuing friendship with the US.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of a widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Usually offers leading news and analysis on issues related to war against terrorism. Circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

AFP: US Drone Kills Three Militants in Pakistan

EUP20110923712001 Paris AFP (North American Service) in English 23 Sep 11

[AFP headline-"US drone kills three militants in Pakistan: officials"]

A US drone strike in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt on Friday killed at least three militants, security officials said.

Two missiles fired by the unmanned aircraft hit a house in the village of Khushali Turikhel, 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town in the lawless North Waziristan tribal district, security officials told AFP.

"The US drone fired two missiles which hit a house. At least three militants have been killed," a Pakistani security official said.

The identities of those killed in the attack were not immediately clear but security officials said they were all local Taliban militants.

A security official and a local intelligence official confirmed the attack and the number of casualties.

Another intelligence official in Miranshah said there were reports that foreigners were among the dead, adding that the death toll could rise.

Although the United States does not publicly confirm drone attacks, its military and the CIA in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the unmanned Predator aircraft in the region.

North Waziristan is the headquarters of the Haqqani leadership and the main militant bastion in the semi-autonomous tribal belt.

The Haqqani network is considered the deadliest enemy of US troops in eastern Afghanistan. It was founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani and is run by his son, Sirajuddin, both designated "global terrorists" by Washington.

The group has been blamed for some of the worst anti-US attacks in Afghanistan, including a suicide attack at a US base in the eastern province of Khost in 2009 that killed seven CIA operatives.

Around two dozen drone strikes have been reported in Pakistan since elite US forces killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a suburban home near Pakistan's main military academy in Abbottabad, close to the capital, on May 2.

The raid humiliated Pakistan and prompted allegations of incompetence and complicity in sheltering bin Laden.

Pakistan is seen as a key ally for the United States in its fight against Islamist militancy, but relations soured after the bin Laden raid, which both countries say was carried out without Islamabad being warned.

Drone attacks are unpopular among many Pakistanis, who oppose the alliance with Washington and who are sensitive to perceived violations of sovereignty.

US officials have accused Pakistani intelligence of playing a double game with extremists, including the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, in order to exert influence in Afghanistan and offset the might of arch-rival India.

Washington's pressure on Islamabad to launch a decisive military campaign in North Waziristan, as Pakistan has conducted elsewhere in the tribal belt, has so far fallen on deaf ears.

hk-shk/sjd/jw

[Description of Source: Paris AFP (North American Service) in English -- North American service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Pakistan Article: South Waziristan Operation Must be Ended in Current Situation

SAP20110925127002 Islamabad Pakistan Observer Online in English 25 Sep 11

[Article by Saeed Qureshi: "Panettas warning to Pakistan"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

The newly appointed United States' Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has castigated Pakistan for not taking military action against the so called Haqqani group now braced against the NATO military combine in Afghanistan. In his hard-hitting statement, the American defense secretary displayed an overly aggressive posture that was loaded with dire consequences for Pakistan if she did not go by the dictates of the United States. Leon Panetta in his September 15 stunning dictation has sternly asked Pakistan to cut off her ties with the Haqqani network and help eliminate its leaders. He warned that if Pakistan did not comply, the United States will act unilaterally against the group.

Mr. Panetta's assertive statement can be termed as a veiled warning in that he implied that if Pakistan was reluctant to oblige the United States, then NATO would extend their fight to North Waziristan. They would not mind if it would be a grave infringement of the international law and violation of the territorial integrity of an ally. Unmindful of the sovereignty and national interests of Pakistan, America seems to be poised to bomb North Waziristan, a sector of FATA that has remained immune so far from the military operations of the Pakistan army. Pakistan army is already fighting in the South Waziristan to flush out the Taliban insurgents. Such a military onslaught by the United States and NATO might drag on for an indefinite period of time. It would, however, result in further undermining the already precarious security situation in Pakistan, because of incessant terrorism on her soil by the militants. Even the Haqqani group might join the militant Taliban in an unmitigated spree of vendetta attacks in the length and breadth of Pakistan. In the event of a full scale war that NATO and United States would launch, the terrorist attacks and suicide bombing on Pakistan's mainland would accentuate. Pakistan is already under unremitting terrorism from anti Pakistan Taliban, wreaking havoc all over and destroying its social peace and economy.

The United States considers North Waziristan-based Haqqani network run by Mualvi Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani to be a resilient adversary of United States and at the same time an ally of Taliban and pro-Pakistan. Presumably Pakistan has been reluctant to expand her anti-Taliban, military operations to North Waziristan because of the fond hope that in the event of American withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Haqqani group would protect Pakistan's interests in that war ravaged country. But of late, the group is reported to be operating from Afghanistan as it feels safer there than staying in the North Waziristan situated within the so called FATA (federally administered areas). Haqqani network is believed to be behind the series of brutal attacks that were launched against the NATO forces including the September 12, 2011 attack on the US Embassy and nearby NATO bases in Kabul that lasted for 19 hours.

The Unites States and NATO commanders perceive Haqqani insurgent group as the most dangerous, organized and trenchant as compared to others Taliban factions. This insurgent faction is alleged to have their links with the ISI and Pakistan army. It may be instructive to know that Haqqani group was in the lead of the American proxy war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. But when United States turned against Taliban, they joined the latter to liberate Afghanistan from the NATO branding it as the occupation force. Instead of resorting to a knee jerk reaction and punitive retaliation through military means, the United States could cultivate the Haqqani group for liaison, rapport and link with the anti-American Taliban. This has all the more become a pressing need for America after the assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani on 20 September 2011, by Taliban.

Burhanuddin was trying to bring about a kind of rapprochement between the Taliban and the United States to pave way for a face saving exit of NATO and United States from Afghanistan. United State should realize that there is a limit for Pakistan to oblige United States and endure pressure from the NATO commanders to keep fighting for the sake of occupation alliance. If Pakistan cannot expand her anti Taliban war to North Waziristan and the United States in concert with NATO embarks upon the solo fight, then the exit of United States from Afghanistan would be stalled indefinitely. It is not the Haqqani group that was responsible for 9/11 attacks on American soil but Al-Qaida that has been considerably mauled by the United States in the aftermath of that horrendous happening. Haqqani group can be won over and used for forging a link with Taliban and thus end their hostilities against the occupation forces.

It is high time for the United States to use carrot than stick and try to woo the rival factions of Taliban to get out of the quagmire of Afghanistan well in time. To use Pakistan as a scapegoat for the military failures of NATO and American troops is a fallacious approach and cannot be rewarding in the longer run. Pakistan as a mercenary or ally of the United States against terrorism has already rendered supreme sacrifices by way of its shattered economy, the high death toll of its soldiers and the massive disruption of peace within.

To put more burden on her and harping the tune to "do more" would be counterproductive. Such a pressure tactic would be tantamount to force Pakistan to continue fighting against her own people and making them eternal enemy that might result in the break up of Pakistan. Pakistan cannot and must not expand the war theatre beyond South Waziristan. Rather Pakistan should also withdraw from South Waziristan as a gesture of goodwill and reconciliation towards Taliban and to signal that it was time for cessation of hostilities. This policy of pacifism would also benefit the United States because a friendly, cohesive and untied Afghanistan under national government would also be friendly towards the United States. Why should Taliban be perpetually punished for a crime that was committed by Al-Qaida? United States in return can win the people of Afghanistan through aid and by joining reconstruction efforts of that massively ravaged country like it did in Germany in the post World War II era.

[Description of Source: Islamabad Pakistan Observer Online in English -- Website of the pro-military daily with readership of 5,000. Anti-India, supportive of Saudi policies, strong supporter of Pakistan's nuclear and missile program. Chief Editor Zahid Malik is the author of books on nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan; URL: ]

Pakistani Daily Urges US To Hold Peace Talks in Afghanistan for Troop Withdrawal

SAP20110925100003 Peshawar Wahdat in Pashto 20 Sep 11 p 3

[Editorial: Haqqani Network Is Not Al-Qa'ida Faction; But Mullah Omars Group Is]

US intelligence and the Western media, working in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq have repeatedly been saying that the Jalaluddin Haqqani network is an offshoot of the Al-Qa'ida and its ties and activities are also linked with the latter. The Western media has also claimed that the Al-Qa'ida is weakening in Afghanistan and Pakistan and only the Al-Qa'ida-linked Haqqani Network is carrying out deadly attacks in Afghanistan. A number of US generals have also blamed the Haqqani Network for carrying out all previous and recent attacks. Haqqani Network Chief Sirajuddin Haqqani, in his report sent to the Western media on 19 September, has clearly stated that they have no links with the Al-Qa'ida. He said: "We are a part of the Taliban, and Mullah Omar is our leader. Our group comprises of those Taliban men who are being led by Mullah Muhammad Omar. Whatever talks take place between Mullah Omar and the Afghan Government for peace and reconciliation, he will remain our leader."

Reacting to the statement issued by Sirajuddin Haqqani, several politicians have also said that the Haqqani Network is confident about US withdrawal from Afghanistan and thus it is carrying out severe attacks in Afghanistan on government buildings and bases where US troops are deployed.

Meanwhile, politicians from Central Asia, who are close to Afghanistan, have also said when the then Soviet Union suffered huge material and human losses in Afghanistan, its generals disclosed reports on great losses inflicted by the Jalaluddin Haqqani Network in Khost. At present, the US security forces are also facing huge losses inflicted by Jalaluddin Haqqani's network and therefore they want to globally declare that the Haqqani Network is similar to the Al-Qa'ida. By this way, the United States wants to divert the attention of its ally, the NATO countries, toward the Haqqani Network and make them step up operations against the group. Meanwhile, the Taliban leaders, who have been excluded from the UN list of Taliban fighters, do not include a single leader of the Haqqani group. The United States, which has been engaged in the Afghan war for 10 years, says that it has prolonged its war due to increase in strength of its opponents. The United States has declared the Taliban as more dangerous than the Al-Qa'ida for the world. It has also linked the Taliban with the Al-Qa'ida in the 9/11 incident. Now the Haqqani Network, which calls itself a part of the Mullah Omar-led Taliban, is being declared by the United States as a group linked to the Al-Qa'ida to justify its stay in Afghanistan. If the United States wants an end to the war in Afghanistan and wants its troops to leave the region by 2014, then it needs to work for reconciliation and end the war in Afghanistan. Even if the Haqqani Network has links with the Al-Qa'ida, the United States should have talked about Mullah Omar's Taliban movement and should have stated that it wants peace with all the Mullah Omar-led Taliban factions. Several analysts on Afghanistan's political affairs say that even if the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan agree to hold peace talks, the US Government will never allow peace and reconciliation to exist between the Afghan Government and the Taliban leaders, because if the fight between the two comes to an end, there would remain no justification for the United States to have strategic agreement or have permanent bases in Afghanistan.

Now after the declaration of Sirajuddin Haqqani that his group has no links with the Al-Qa'ida, but is associated only with the Mullah Omar-led Taliban movement, the US and Afghan Government should work for continuation of talks with all Taliban factions. They have to work toward establishing such a system in Afghanistan where all Afghans, belonging to any group, should be a part of the governmental process. Such a system and a government should be formed that have the support of all Afghans. Other than this, there is no other option for the Afghan Government and the United States.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Wahdat ("unity") in Pashto -- daily newspaper providing balanced coverage to anti-Taliban as well as pro-Taliban opinion. Provides extensive coverage of the political and security situation in Afghanistan and in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.]

Taliban Alleges US Holding Pakistan Responsible for Failure in Afghanistan

SAP20110927093001 Karachi Geo News TV in Urdu 0600 GMT 27 Sep 11

[Words in double slantlines in English]

The Afghan Taliban have said in a statement that the United States is holding Pakistan responsible for its failure. The United States is also trying to create rifts in Taliban ranks. The Taliban said that their leadership and centers are present inside Afghanistan and the Americans are well aware of all this. The Afghan Taliban claim there was no groups in the militia.

The latest statement of Taliban in Afghanistan says that the United States is covering its failure in Afghanistan by holding Pakistan responsible for the mess in the country. [The statement said] Efforts are being made to create rifts in Taliban. According to the Afghan Taliban, there are no groups in Taliban and their leadership and centers are present in Afghanistan and the United States is well aware of this fact.

To discuss this latest statement further, we have with us on the telephone line host of (Geo News TV) program Jirga and expert of Afghan affairs Salim Safi.

[Begin live rely] [Anchor Ayesha Bakhsh] Salim, how important this Taliban statement is and how much credible it can be stated?

[Safi] This statement is perfectly credible. On the one hand they [Taliban] sent it via e-mail. And on the other the statement has been pasted on a website used by Taliban for such statements. And Qari Yousuf, who is spokesman of the Afghan Taliban, has issued this statement. And this statement is available both in Pashto and English. And one of my credible sources of the Afghan Taliban, which confirm or rejects such statements for us, has confirmed this statement and his e-mail sent on my ID is available with me.

Another fact is that the statement has no great //surprise// for those who knew the Afghan Taliban closely as people like us have been saying this since this issue became hot that the Haqqani Network is not a separate group rather it is part and parcel of the Afghan Taliban. Now, the Afghan Taliban have clarified this fact in this statement that as they have intensified attacks and the Americans are facing defeat, so that are trying to use different terms like Haqqani Network for face saving.

[Bakhsh] Salim, sorry for the interruption, but as you stated that you have also received this statement and the e-mail is available with you, do you think the statement clarifies that the Taliban and the Haqqani Network are the same.

[Safi] Definitely, it also clarifies that and the statement is in accordance with the previous structure of Taliban. The basic facts in the statement show on the one hand that the United States wanted to downplay the power of the Islamic Emirate and attribute its attacks to others. The other fact is that particularly David Petraeus -- in order to cover his failure and give his good impression to the American people -- is giving this fake impression that what is going on [in Afghanistan] is interference from Pakistan. It has been claimed in this [statement] that all installations of the Afghan Taliban are inside Afghanistan and their leaders are also in Afghanistan.

Besides, the statement says that Jalaluddin Haqqani is a respectable leader of the Taliban and is member of the Supreme Council of the Afghan Taliban. He is not a separate entity from the Afghan Taliban as the Americans are giving the impression that Haqqani Network is perhaps, rather to put it in their [Taliban] own words -- the United States wants to give this impression to the common people through false propaganda that the great jihadist personality and member of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Emirate al-Haj Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani is a separate force having links with others. Thus the statement says that he [Haqqani] is part and parcel of the Afghan Taliban and is also a member of the Supreme Council of the Afghan Taliban. This negate the [words indistinct] of the Americans clarifying it that the Haqqani Network is not a separate entity, but is part of the Afghan Taliban. Secondly, it has rejected the allegation that Afghan Taliban are either carrying out their actions from P akistan or [words indistinct]. It is written in the statement that the Americans are well aware that Afghan Taliban are inside Afghanistan and they are carrying out their activities from Afghanistan.

[Bakhsh] Salim, as you stated in details that the situation is where the Afghan Taliban are present and how their infrastructure is working, Haqqani Network is part of Taliban, and the United States is well aware of their presence. Earlier, you saw their statements and reaction to it, now what will be the impact of this statement particularly in wake of the pressure in the Pakistan-US relation and concern in the environment. How important this statement is and what will be its impact?

[Safi] In fact this supports Pakistan's stance and secondly, it negates the US allegations by saying that they i.e. Afghan Taliban have control over more than half of Afghanistan. This has been claimed in this statement again and for people like us there is no //surprise// in this statement as I have with me a report drafted by the Afghan Interior Ministry indicating through a map where the Taliban have influence and where the Afghan Government have influence. The areas under the control of the Afghan Government or NATO are shown in green while the areas under the control of the Taliban are shown in red color. Thus if you look at the map and I have already shown that map in my program [Jirga] most of the southern and eastern Afghanistan is shown by the Afghan Interior Ministry in red color and on the other hand in the far north the Kunduz province has been shown in red color in the map.

[Bakhsh] Well, many thanks Salim Safi, senior analyst ant host of program Jirga, for giving details about this important statement. [end live relay]

[Description of Source: Karachi Geo News TV in Urdu -- 24-hour satellite news TV channel owned by Pakistan's Jang publishing group, broadcast from Dubayy. Known for providing quick and detailed reports of events. Programs include some Indian shows and dramas which the group claims are aimed at promoting people-to-people contact and friendly relations with India.]

AFP: Pakistani Tribesmen Threaten Jihad Over US Call for North Waziristan Action

SAP20110927012002 Hong Kong AFP in English 1127 GMT 27 Sep 11

[AFP Report: "Pakistani Tribesmen Threaten US With Holy War"]

JAMrud, Pakistan, Sept 27, 2011 (AFP) - Hundreds of Pakistani tribesmen on Tuesday threatened the United States with holy war should it take action against Haqqani extremists in North Waziristan on the Afghan border.

In a protest organised by Pakistan's largest Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, local tribesmen party activists, some armed with Kalashnikovs, gathered in the town of Jamrud in the Khyber tribal district along the Afghan border.

The protestors then set off in convoy to Landikotal, a town on the border, where party leaders were to deliver final addresses.

The crowd of hundreds chanted slogans such as "Death to America", Allah Akhbar (God is great) and al-Jihad (holy war), said an AFP reporter.

There is growing unease in Pakistan about US pressure to take action against the Haqqani militant network or the face the consequences.

The group was founded by former CIA asset turned Al-Qaeda ally Jalaluddin Haqqani and its leaders are based in North Waziristan.

In a series of escalating rows, Washington accused the Haqqanis, with involvement of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, over September attacks on its embassy in Kabul and a NATO base in central Afghanistan.

Pakistan has said it will not bow to mounting US demands for action and denies any support for the network's attacks.

Although nothing suggests the United States is considering a ground incursion, Pakistanis fear action from American ground troops.

"America has already failed in Afghanistan. Do they need another graveyard in the Pakistani tribal areas?" Qazi Hussain Ahmed, a prominent JI leader, told the gathering, calling on the government to end its US alliance.

"The Pakistani tribal areas would prove a bigger graveyard of Americans if they ever attack these areas," he added.

The alliance between Pakistan and the United States in the 10-year war in Afghanistan and against Al-Qaeda hit rock bottom this year in the wake of the unilateral American raid that killed Osama bin Laden near Islamabad on May 2.

Pakistan has around 140,000 troops based along its northwest that borders Afghanistan and says more than 3,000 soldiers have been killed since 2001 -- more than the 2,735 Western soldiers who have died in Afghanistan.

la-sjd/jm/mtp

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Afghan Taliban Say US Trying to Blame Pakistan, Haqqani Network For Its Failures

SAP20110928118009 Islamabad The News Online in English 28 Sep 11

[Report by staff correspondent: "Taliban say Haqqani is one of them"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

PESHAWAR: The Afghan Taliban on Tuesday declared that the US was facing defeat in Afghanistan and was trying to find a scapegoat by blaming Pakistan and the Haqqani network for its failures.

The statement sent by email on behalf of the Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan alleged that the US was stung by the daring Taliban attacks in Kabul recently and was now looking for ways and means to create divisions in their ranks.

According to the statement, the Taliban operations under their spring offensive, Badr, had convinced Nato military commanders that the war in Afghanistan cannot be won and that foreign forces must leave. It alleged that the US was wrongly reassuring its allies that the situation was under control and that it would be overcome by putting pressure on Pakistan to give up its support to the Haqqani network.

It maintained that Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani was part of the Taliban movement and was one of its dignified and honourable personalities. It insisted that Haqqani isn't leading a separate group. It added that Haqqani still took his orders from the Taliban Shura.

The press release also referred to the ongoing tension in Pakistan-US relations and gave the following piece of advice: "Our advice to the people of Pakistan and its government is that they should deliberate on America's two-faced and implacable politics. It should always give precedence to its Islamic and national interests and they should have a firm belief that America will never be happy with them until they loot all their material and moral assets."

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of a widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Usually offers leading news and analysis on issues related to war against terrorism. Circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

French Commentary Examines US Tension with Pakistan over Haqqani Network

EUP20110928029008 Paris Marianne 2 in French 20 Sep 11

[Commentary by Regis Soubrouillard: "Washinton Tells Pakistan To Keep its Taliban Networks to Itself|"]

Following the series of attacks on the US Embassy and NATO headquarters in the Afghan capital, Cameron Munter said on Radio Pakistan that he has proof of links between the Haqqani Taliban network, presumed to be behind the attacks, and the Pakistani Government. Those remarks by the US ambassador in Pakistan constituted a bombshell.

For months, the two of them have been looking for a fight. After US crack troops assassinated Bin Laden on Pakistani territory in May, they stopped talking to one another.

Pakistan accused the United States of having violated its sovereignty. For its part, Washington explained that it feared that Al-Qa'ida would be alerted to US plans if the Pakistani authorities had been notified of the raid in advance. This was a way of asserting Pakistan's duplicity, and particularly that of its intelligent services.

"Who was responsible for the birth of Al-Qa'ida" in the 1990s? This was the Pakistani prime minister's reply, in a barely veiled reference to the United States.

Islamabad therefore decided to rid itself of dozens of US military instructors and the United States announced a one-third reduction of its aid to Pakistan, amounting to $2.7 billion, to maintain security.

During the past week tension has increased further with the attacks perpetrated in Kabul 13 September on the US Embassy, the NATO forces' headquarters, and several other diplomatic missions. Speaking on a Pakistani radio station, US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter immediately abandoned cautious "diplomatic language," directly citing the Haqqani Taliban network and adding that he has proof of "the existence of links between the Haqqani network and the Pakistani Government. This must stop. We must ensure that we're working together to combat terrorism." Such remarks are unusual from a diplomat.

According to Alain Chouet, former director of the DGSE's [General Directorate of External Security] security services and author of "At the Heart of the Special Services," "since the beginning of the 1980s the Pakistani intelligence and government have claimed to control the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. In my opinion, it is, rather, the Taliban that control the government, but that's another matter. However, there are very strong links between the ISI (Pakistan's secret services) and the Taliban, for reasons relating to Pakistani domestic politics and control of the Afghan map. Because for Pakistan to control Afghanistan, to profit from its control of Afghanistan, is a strong argument to put to the West, and it is important from the viewpoint of their foreign policy. So since his embassy was attacked the US ambassador actually said out loud that which everyone was whispering."

Haqqani, the United States' new nightmare

The Haqqani network, based in North Waziristan and comprising 10,000-15,000 Taliban, according to the Combating Terrorism Center, is regarded by the US military as "one of the most resistant insurgent groups." It started it struggle against the pro-US government in Kabul and NATO following the collapse of the Taliban regime at the end of 2001. Haqqani is suspected of having organized some of the deadliest attacks on US forces in Afghanistan in recent years.

The Haqqani network takes its name from Jalaluddin Haqqani, the charismatic mojahedin leader of the struggle against the Soviet invasion in the 1980s, who subsequently rallied to the Taliban regime.

Based in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan, less famous than Al-Qa'ida and often wrongly portrayed as close to the latter, the Haqqani network creates serious difficulties for US troops: "they're Taliban, but they have little in common with Al-Qa'ida, assuming that there's anything left of the latter. Haqqani is not an internationalist network but is one of the major Pashtun extremist networks," Alain Chouet explained. "Their objectives are located in Afghanistan for reasons of power in Afghanistan, vis-a-vis the present government established by NATO and between different branches of the Taliban. Afghanistan remains very divided because of all the tribal and clan chiefs, and with the announced troop departure, everyone will want to define their own territory and prepare for the time when it will be necessary to reestablish Afghanistan's political forces. Everyone is trying to demonstrate their ability to control, to cause damage, to carry out actions, and so forth. The Taliban are well aware that Uncle Sam has run out of money, and they will all want to show who is chief of chiefs."

Though Pakistan and the United States have resumed their dialogue, they are still on far from friendly terms. Apart from the first warning from the US secretary of defense, who said: "we won't let this kind of attack happen again," on Sunday [ 18 September] Hillary Clinton went as far as to pay a little courtesy visit to her Pakistani counterpart. Their conversation was "very substantial very frank."

According to AFP, citing a diplomatic source, "the attacks of changed the nature of the conversation, decided on long ago, whose duration -- three and a half hours -- greatly exceeded what had been planned. Counterterrorism became the first and last point on the agenda." This is the backdrop.

United States and Pakistan: mutual hatred

Though the Pakistani foreign minister "recognizes" the threat, the government denies any links with terrorist groups. The United States, which accuses the Pakistani Government of passiveness will complicity, refuses to heed this argument, stating that the areas in question are the among the best protected in Kabul and that these attacks require organization, planning, and... internal complicity.

"Whenever major attacks are perpetrated in Kabul or elsewhere in Afghanistan, the exchange of recriminations resumes," one senior Pakistani official said, anonymously. [passage omitted citing New York Times ]

[Description of Source: Paris Marianne 2 in French -- Website of Marianne, weekly news magazine; URL: ]

Pakistani Commentary Recalls 1990s Infighting Between Rabbani, Hekmatyar, Masud

SAP20110925115002 Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu 23 Sep 11 p10

[Commentary by Navid Masud Hashmi: "Killing of Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani"]

Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani, the leader of Jamiat-e-Islami Afghanistan [JIA], has reached the court of his God with all his good and bad deeds. Rabbani and his JIA played a significant role in the jihad against the Soviet Union. Ahmad Shah Masud was central JIA commander. When the mujahidin were busy fighting the Soviet forces in Afghanistan in 1989-90, the commanders vitally engaged in jihad in Afghanistan established an advisory council of commanders for consultation on jihadist matters. The chief of the consultative council was Commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, the conqueror of Khost, while Masud was the central commander of the council.

Professor Rabbani was a well-known leader of Afghanistan, like the late Maulvi Younus Khalis, Professor Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, Gulbadin Hekmatyar, Maulvi Nabi Muhammadi, and Professor Abdul Rasul Sayyaf. When the jihad against the Soviet Union was in full swing, Rabbani, like other leaders, remained active for the Afghan cause, sometimes in Peshawar, sometimes in Quetta, and sometimes in Islamabad, while sometime he visited foreign countries like the other leaders.

Rabbani was born in the northern Badakhshan Province in 1940. He completed his early education in Badakhshan. When he returned to Afghanistan after getting his master's degree in Islamic philosophy from Cairo's Al-Azhar University, the high command of the JIA assigned him the task of organizing students in Kabul University. It is worth recalling that Ghulam Muhammad Niazi, the founder of the JIA of which Rabbani was later elected as chief, was executed by Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan on 29 May 1978, along with 180 colleagues.

On 9 September 2001, just two days before the 9/11 incident, two Al-Qa'ida activists probably killed Masud on the pretext of interviewing him in the guise of journalists by blowing up explosives hidden in the video cameras.

Several days were left in the transfer of Afghanistan's presidency from Mujaddedi to Rabbani when I, along with a delegation of renowned clerics of Pakistan, left for Kabul to enjoy the hospitality of commander Masud. All the commanders that we met on way to the Kabul were overwhelmed by the victory and were desirous and waiting for the establishment of a peaceful Islamic government in Afghanistan. However, when we reached Sarobi, the sounds of horrible explosions were enough to shake our hearts. We came to know that the explosions were the outcome of mutual clashes and infighting between Masud and Hekmatyar.

Hekmatyar was the host of our delegation in Sarobi. He fully entertained us in his special guesthouse in a traditional manner. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, led our delegation.

Hekmatyar started to make complaints against Masud. However, Rahman and other renowned clerics asked him to try to find solution, for the sake of God, to the problems through reconciliation as a mutual rift between the two groups after conquering Kabul was maligning jihad, as well as the mujahidin, across the entire world. Hekmatyar paid heed to the advice and proposals of our delegation with great love and subservience. However, he said: "You should convince Rabbani and Masud not to waste the sacrifices of the mujahidin with the help of aliens."

When we left Sarobi and reached Kabul, Masud, the conqueror of Kabul, received our delegation. Masud, wearing commando uniform with his specific cap on his head, was very submissive to the clerics. Mujaddedi, Rabbani, and the leaders of the Shiite organization Hizb-e-Wahdat were also present in the president's house in Kabul. Maulvi Nabi Muhammad, the leader of Harakat-e Inqilab e-Islami, was also present in the presidency along with his delegation. The delegation of the Pakistani clerics appraised these respectable personalities of the reservations of Hekmatyar and prayed for an end to the infighting. All the leaders present in the presidency, including Masud, said that Hekmatyar was the root cause of the conflict because he did not want pe ace in Kabul, but just to appease foreign powers. In short, infighting was being fanned through a blame game.

Then a time came when Masud, the JIA commander and the then defense minister, had the plane of Mujaddedi, his dervish-style president, attacked with a rocket and as part of conspiracy handed over the office of the presidency of Afghanistan to Professor Rabbani through intimidation. I have no hesitation in saying that infighting among Masud, Hekmatyar, and Professor Rabbani played a key role in destroying the Muslims of Afghanistan.

Now, let us set aside all these details and come to Rabbani. Rabbani, who was the so-called president of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996. However, his rule was virtually confined to Kabul. That was the period when the horrible war between Hekmatyar and Masud made Muslims all over the world weep. That was the time when the //warlords// [previous word published in English], by forming small groups, established their governments in different provinces, cities, towns, and villages of Afghanistan.

That was the time when not only Pakistan but also the entire world, Muslim scholars and the rulers of Islamic states, begged and appealed to Hekmatyar, Rabbani, and Masud not to indulge in infighting and show respect for the blood of the martyrs. However, it is regrettable that the clerics, saints, and the pious people of the entire world, as well as the Muslim rulers, failed in their efforts. (to be continued)

[Description of Source: Islamabad Ausaf in Urdu -- Daily supportive of jihadi groups and a hard-line Pakistan policy on Kashmir. Extensively covers extremist groups, catering to religious and anti-US groups, with a circulation of 40,000. Provides good coverage of activities of militants in Waziristan and other tribal areas. Ausaf is also published from Frankfurt and London besides Pakistani cities of Lahore, Multan, and Muzaffarabad.]

Article Terms Haqqani Network 'Greatest Threat' for Pakistan's Survival

SAP20110929127014 Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English 29 Sep 11

[Article by George Fulton: "Understanding the duplicity"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

The very public spat between Pakistan and the US which emerged last week after Admiral Mike Mullen, a man known for his straight talking, outed the ISI and called the Haqqani militants a 'veritable arm' of the spy agency, has left many analysts perplexed. Why do it? What benefit would America gain from such a public announcement? Perhaps it was frustration on behalf of the Americans. Admiral Mullen is due to retire at the end of the year. Maybe, with his forthcoming demobbing, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff felt able to candidly blow off steam at the perceived duplicity of the ISI? Unlikely. This evidence given to the Senate Armed Services Committee on September 22 was a designed ratcheting up of pressure on Pakistan. The defence secretary, Leon E Panetta, threatened 'operational steps' against Pakistan -- a euphemistic term for possible American raids against the Haqqanis in North Waziristan.

But don't the American's understand the psyche and character of Pakistan's military/intelligence nexus yet? Rather than spurring the ISI/Army into doing more, this public humiliation will have only further dented the frail ego of the military -- an ego that has only just recovered from the dishonour of the Osama bin Laden raid. Mullen's announcement will only have helped embolden those anti-American elements within the intelligence services and undermine the pro-Americans within the military.

America is undoubtedly frustrated with what they perceive as a double game being played by the ISI. But rather than merely lambasting the ISI for their treachery, it needs to understand the historical perspective from where it originates. Pakistan has, and is, a nation in perpetual existential crisis. They see foes on all sides. They know that friendships are fleeting in this part of the world. America -- an ally against the Soviets in the 80s -- has form in suddenly abandoning 'friends' in the subcontinent. Their withdrawal from the region after 1989 and the defeat of the Soviets in Afghanistan proved costly for Pakistan. The blowback from that sudden departure left Pakistan with three million refugees on its doorstep, an unstable neighbour, and the spread of the Kalashnikov culture.

The Pakistan military/intelligence nexus is merely planning for a post-US Afghanistan -- a scenario that could be all too imminent. This is where Pakistan's insecurity lies. Not without foundation. They don't want a repeat of 1989. Instead, they want to have control and influence over an independent Afghanistan -- hence the support for the Haqqani militants. This is not just for the old chestnut of 'strategic depth'. Instead, they are particularly terrified that any ensuing vacuum after the pullout of Nato and American forces will allow India to gain influence within Afghanistan. They want to control Kabul before the Indians do. It is this very thought, above all else -- the idea of having India effectively on both of Pakistan's flanks -- that has ensured the ISI carries out such duplicity, even at the detriment of Pakistan's relationship with America. If America wants Pakistan to truly give up its links with the Haqqani network they need to understand this legitimate, even if ever so slightly paranoid, fear. And having done so, they should provide Pakistan with the necessary assurances and alternative solutions to allow Pakistan to give up their 'veritable arm'.

But this latest row has really highlighted the dysfunctionality and disingenuousness at the heart of the 'strategic relationship'. America easily forgets their own relationship with the Haqqani militants in the 1980s. It was during this period that links were first forged between the network, and the ISI and the CIA. Their leader, Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, even shook hands with President Ronald Reagan at the White House. So America was happy to break bread with these people when it suited their strategic interests. The problem lies in that Pakistan and America's strategic interest have now diverged. America is still fighting in Afghanistan in the present. Pakistan has an eye on the future.

Meanwhile, Pakistan expects the world to believe that they have had no contact or involvement with the operational activities of the Haqqani militants? Even if this was true -- which is doubtful as support of the Haqqani network has been an open secret for a long time -- the problem here is that Pakistan has what you might call form. For too long Pakistan has relied upon non-state actors for strategic goals. Whether it is the Taliban in Aghanistan, Jaish-e-Mohammed in Kashmir or Lashkar-e-Taiba in India, Pakistan is addicted to this dangerous game. So when the information minister denies Pakistan's link to the Haqqani's -- the very same minster who denied that Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan -- forgive us for not believing a word he says.

More worryingly, it reminds us of the short-term-ism of Pakistan strategic thinking. Pakistan believes that their support of the Haqqani network will allow them to act as the puppeteer of Kabul once the Americans depart. But have the military/intelligence nexus learnt nothing from history? These non-state actors do not remain compliant forever. They eventually go rogue. The Taliban, Sipah-e-Sahaba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba all eventually rebelled against their intelligence handlers and have now become Frankenstein monsters against the Pakistani state itself; thousands of Pakistanis have been murdered by these very groups.

Rather than being a strategic asset, groups like the Haqqani network remain the greatest threat to Pakistan's existence. The cancer of militancy in Pakistan has metastasised because of our addiction to such loathsome groups. Even if America's reasons are very different, they are right in wanting Pakistan to disengage with the Haqqani network. We need to stop our addiction to dangerous non-state actors for furthering our short-term strategic goals. For in the long-term all it does is perpetuate and aid a militancy culture in South Asia. And I think we can all agree that is not good. A recent programme on ARY stated idhar America, udhar Haqqani.....kya karay Pakistani? Get the necessary assurances from America for Pakistan post-US troop withdrawal, and then ditch the Haqqani militants.

[Description of Source: Karachi The Express Tribune Online in English -- Website of a newspaper partnered with the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times. It is part of the Lakson Group, which includes Daily Express and Express News Television in Urdu and Express 24/7 Television in English. The group's media wing has no known political affiliations and operates as a moderate, independent commercial media organization. The newspaper claims its mission is to defend "liberal values and egalitarian traditions"; URL: ]

Pakistani Army Chief Discloses Information on 'US-Haqqani Network' Links

SAP20110926122005 Rawalpindi Nawa-e Waqt in Urdu 25 Sep 11 pp 1, 10

[Report by Sohail Abdul Nasir: "General Kayani Points Out the US Links With Haqqani Network"]

Islamabad -- In a written response, comprising eight lines and three paragraphs, to the US allegation of Pakistan's links with the Haqqani network, Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani has pointed out the US links with the Haqqani network. In the second paragraph of his statement, Gen Kayani has said: "the United States knows quite well which countries have links with the Haqqani network."

According to a reliable source, Gen Kayani had to point it out as the United States, its key allies -- the United Kingdom and France, and even the Afghanistan Government -- had always had close relations with the Haqqani network. The United States sent goodwill messages to the Haqqani network several times. Moreover, one and a half year ago, when Khalil Haqqani, brother of Jalaluddin Haqqani and his nephew were arrested after a bloody encounter, they were respectably detained two months and then released as a goodwill gesture, besides providing them cell phones and cash.

The Afghanistan Government has always remained in contact with the Haqqani network. Initially through Professor Abdur Rab Rasul Sayyaf, and later though Mullah Abdus Salam Zaif, former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan. As the saying goes, all feet fit in the elephant's foot, the United Kingdom and France also maintained political relations with the Haqqani network. Some of Pakistan's friend countries are also included among those who had relations with the Haqqani network.

As the Haqqani network is an influential militant group in Afghanistan; therefore, no country having interests in the Afghanistan affairs can stay dissociated from it. In view of this reality, Gen Kayani, without naming anyone, has tried to pin point those who had links with the Haqqani network. Pakistan has also tried to make the United States understand that does the Taliban, who are active in the length and breadth of Afghanistan, come from Pakistan or especially North Waziristan? The United States has no answer to this question.

Source claimed that the Taliban have gunned down the NATO helicopter in the Northern Afghanistan Province of Samangan on Friday. Will they accuse Pakistan for this incident too? The source said that in fact every US Army general, who has been associated with the Afghanistan war after the 9/11 incident, has retired as a defeated general. Admiral Mike Mullen is also suffering from the same dilemma.

[Description of Source: Rawalpindi Nawa-e Waqt in Urdu -- Privately owned, widely read, conservative Islamic daily, with circulation around 125,000. Harshly critical of the US and India.]

Senior Haqqani Leader Captured In Afghan East

SAP20111001950069 Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News in English 1256 GMT 01 Oct 11

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Kabul: A senior Haqqani network leader in Afghanistan was captured during a security operation in the Janikhel district of southeastern Paktia Province on Tuesday, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) announced.

Haji Mali Khan, uncle of Sirajoddin Haqqani, was one of the highest-ranking members of the group, the NATO-led force said, blaming the detainee for managing militant bases and supervising their operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"Khan moved forces from Pakistan to Afghanistan to conduct terrorist activity. Jalaluddin Haqqani consistently placed Khan in positions of high importance," a statement from the force said.

Having served as an emissary between Baitollah Mahsud and senior Haqqani leaders, Khan established a rebel camp in Mangal tribal lands, coordinated the transfer of money for insurgents and facilitated acquisition of supplies.

Before he was killed last year, Mahsud was the Tehrik-e Taleban Pakistan leader who provided foreign fighters, including Uzbeks, to the Taleban and Haqqanis. He led 20,000 rebels and organised attacks against Pakistani and Afghan targets.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News in English -- independent news agency]

Article: Afghan President Karzai Trying To Sabotage Pakistan Talks With Taliban

SAP20111002093001 Islamabad The News Online in English 02 Oct 11

[Corrected version: correcting Subject; report by Hamid Mir: "The Difference Between Uncle Haqqani And Nephew Siraj"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

ISLAMABAD: Tension between Pakistan and the US has been reduced but all is not well for sure. Another Taliban attack in Kabul could create new tensions and it is obvious that Afghan President Hamid Karzai tried to undermine the resolution passed by All Parties Conference in Islamabad by suspending his talks with Taliban on Saturday in Kabul.

The APC recommended a new mechanism for talks with people in the Pakistani tribal areas on Thursday and many Pakistani leaders also raised questions that if the US and Afghan governments can talk to Taliban then why Pakistan cannot talk to its own people? Informed sources in Kabul claimed that President Karzai actually made this announcement for sabotaging any expected talks between Pakistani Taliban and Islamabad because he thinks that Islamabad sabotaged his efforts of engagement with Afghan Taliban.

It is learnt that Karzai and US officials tried to meet not only Mulla Omar but also Sirajuddin Haqqani many times. Siraj is also known as Khalifa in eastern Afghanistan. Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, Operational Commander of Haqqani Network, refused to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai not once but three times in last one year. Khalifa Siraj even declined to meet US officials outside Afghanistan in June 2011.

President Karzai and late Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani approached Khalifa Siraj many times through his uncle Haji Ibrahim Haqqani and offered him to become part of the peace talks. At one stage Karzai offered Khalifa Siraj to become Governor of Paktia but he refused. Haji Ibrahim is the younger brother of Jalaluddin Haqqani. US officials broke Ibrahim from his elder brother in 2002 by offering governorship of Paktia province but this promise was never fulfilled.

Later on Haji Ibrahim Haqqani was appointed military chief of Paktia province in 2002 by President Hamid Karzai but after some time he developed differences with Khost Governor Badshah Khan Zadran, who used to interfere a lot in Paktia. Both Badshah and Ibrahim belong to Zadran tribe but they were opposing each other. Finally, Ibrahim Haqqani left the government job but he remained in contact with President Karzai in the hope of becoming a minister in Kabul one day. He approached his nephew Khalifa Siraj many times on behalf of President Karzai but Jalaluddin Haqqani always advised his son not to betray Taliban.

Khalifa Siraj made it clear to his uncle that he cannot talk to Karzai or Rabbani or US without the permission of Mulla Omar. The last meeting between Ibrahim and Khalifa Siraj took place in Peshawar where Ibrahim asked his nephew that Taliban were talking to the US through Tayyab Agha then why you are reluctant to go into talks with Kabul and Washington? Khalifa Siraj asked some time for response and crossed the border into eastern Afghanistan. He never came back. Sources close to Khalifa Siraj claimed that he actually informed Taliban leader Mulla Omar about the whole discussion with his uncle through a messenger.

Mulla Omar assured Khalifa Siraj that Taliban were not engaged in any talks with US or Kabul. Mulla Omar informed Khalifa that Taliban only exchanged some lists of prisoners with Americans just to test waters and Taliban were sure that US was trying to divide them through talks. Mulla Omar asked Tayyab Agha to stop meeting US officials three months back and that's how Khalifa Siraj was vindicated.

According to informed sources in eastern Afghanistan, Khalifa Siraj is freely moving between Gardez and Paktia while his father Jalaluddin Haqqani is hiding somewhere in Pakistan because he is sick. Sources said the assassination of Peace Council head Burhanuddin Rabbani was a clear indication that Taliban were not interested in talks with US.

Pakistan faced a lot of pressure from the US after the assassination of Rabbani and this pressure provided an opportunity to Khalifa Siraj to ask Pakistani Taliban to stop attacks against Pakistani forces. In a recent m essage to Waliur Rehman Mehsud, the Commander of Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan, Khalifa Siraj asked him, "Look on the allegations of US against ISI and Pakistan, US have no trust on Pakistan, Mike Mullen talking like an enemy of Pakistan because I refused to ditch Mulla Omar, White House endorsing the allegations of Mullen against Pakistan then why are you fighting with the enemy of your enemy?"

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of a widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Usually offers leading news and analysis on issues related to war against terrorism. Circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

AFP: Leader of Haqqani Network Denies Killing Afghan Govt's Peace Envoy Rabbani

SAP20111003018001 Hong Kong AFP in English 0638 GMT 03 Oct 11

[AFP Report: "Haqqanis deny killing Afghan peace envoy: BBC"]

KABUL, Oct 3, 2011 (AFP) -- The operational leader of Taliban faction the Haqqani network denied killing the Afghan government's peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani, in an interview with the BBC released Monday.

Sirajuddin Haqqani also denied US allegations that the Haqqanis, blamed for a string of high-profile attacks on Western targets in the Afghan capital, were currently linked to Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI.

"We haven't killed Burhanuddin Rabbani and this has been said many times by the spokespersons of the Islamic Emirate," he said, referring to the Taliban.

Afghan officials blamed the Taliban for the September 20 turban bombing that killed Rabbani in Kabul, saying the killer was Pakistani and that it was plotted by the Afghan Taliban's leadership body, the Quetta Shura, in Pakistan.

However, no Afghan officials have specifically accused the Haqqani network over the killing. The network is considered loyal to Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar and has a seat on the Taliban leadership council.

President Hamid Karzai is reviewing his strategy for talking peace with the Taliban in the wake of the killing of Rabbani, who was chairman of the High Peace Council, his spokesman has said.

Haqqani said during the 1980s anti-Soviet resistance, mujahedeen fighters "had contacts with the intelligence agencies of Pakistan and other countries, but after the invasion by the Americans, there have never been contacts by intelligence agencies of other countries which could be effective for us."

He went on to claim that the United States and other countries had contacted the Haqqanis to try to persuade them to join the Afghan government, but accused them of trying to create "tension" among insurgents.

The group has "been contacted and are being contacted by intelligence agencies of many Islamic and non-Islamic countries, including the US, asking us to leave the sacred jihad and take an important part in the current government," he said.

The Haqqani network was founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a warlord who made his name during the 1980s fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan, when he received funding from Pakistan and the CIA.

But his son Sirajuddin now effectively runs the network, which has been blamed for recent attacks including a 19-hour siege in Kabul last month that targeted the US embassy and international military headquarters.

The United States has recently stepped up pressure on Pakistan to tackle Haqqani rear bases on its soil.

The BBC, which posted the comments on its website, said it conducted the interview by submitting written questions to Haqqani, who then recorded an audio response.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English -- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence France-Presse]

Asia Times: 'Afghans Skeptical US Will Change Pakistan'

CPP20111011715076 Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English 0737 GMT 06 Oct 11

[Asia Times Report by Khan Mohammad Danishju: "Afghans Skeptical US Will Change Pakistan"; headline as provided by source]

MINA HABIB, Afghanistan - Following public allegations by a top United States commander that Pakistani intelligence is backing a feared insurgent group, some Afghan analysts say they doubt Washington has the will to sustain the pressure on Islamabad to curb extremism.

The diplomatic storm broke out on September 22, when Admiral Mike Mullen, the outgoing chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a senate hearing that the armed group founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani "acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency".

Mullen said there was evidence that the insurgent group, "with ISI support", mounted a September 13 attack on the US Embassy and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters in Kabul that lasted several hours and left some 24 dead, as well as a truck bomb attack two days earlier that killed four Afghans and injured 77 American soldiers in Wardak province.

He also said the Haqqani network was believed to be behind an assault on Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel in late June and a number of other operations.

Allegations that sections of the Pakistani administration, especially the ISI, have covertly backed the Afghan Taliban, or at least tolerated their presence in the country, have circulated for many years. But Mullen's statement was much more explosive since he accused the ISI of sponsoring devastating attacks specifically targeting US forces as well as their Afghan allies.

Pakistani officials expressed outrage at the suggestion. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani said the government was shocked at the US commander's allegations and totally rejected them. The charges "negate our sacrifices and successes in the ongoing war against terror", he said.

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told al-Jazeera television the allegations were "unsubstantiated - no evidence has been shared with us".

On the impact this would have on Pakistani-US relations, she said, "Looking for scapegoats - blame games - will not help."

Without spelling out the ISI's relationship with the Haqqani group, the foreign minister pointed out that in the past the organization had been "the blue-eyed boy of the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) itself for many years; I mean it was created by the CIA, it could be said".

Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani was commander of a mujahideen force regarded as particularly effective during the Western-backed war against the Soviets in the 1980s, and went on to ally himself with both the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

The force has played an important role in the insurgency since 2001, allied with but distinct from the Taliban. Haqqani seems to have taken a back seat and handed over command to his son Sirajuddin.

The group operates out of the North Waziristan tribal area in northwest Pakistan, just over the border from Paktia, Khosta and Paktika, the Afghan provinces where the elder Haqqani has strong tribal connections and operated in the 1980s.

The Haqqani network, as the group is now known, has gained notoriety for its ability to mount complicated, daring and devastating attacks in urban areas, such as the incidents in Kabul mentioned by Mullen.

It has also been blamed for the recent assassination of Burhannudin Rabbani, the former Afghan president tasked with negotiating with the insurgents, although Sirajuddin Haqqani has denied this in a BBC interview.

President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly suggested that Pakistan rather than Afghanistan is now the prime source of terrorism, and the international focus should switch there.

Afghan analysts interviewed by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) felt Mullen's comments vindicated their long-held suspicions of Pakistan's true intentions.

Abdol Wahed Taqat, a former general and now a political and defense analyst, believes there is now a deep schism between the US and Pakistan, and that the latter country may be on the brink of meltdown.

"Fundamentalism has got out of control in Pakistan. And that si tuation does not favor the Americans," he said.

But many question whether Washington will sustain the pressure on Islamabad to break off ties with insurgent groups, as they suspect the bigger strategic relationship is too important to be put at risk.

Another political commentator, Ajmal Sohail, says tensions of this kind are a recurrent feature of US-Pakistani relations, but they are always overcome as both countries need each other so much. As an example, he cited the recent row over the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, which the Americans did not warn Islamabad about in advance.

"The relationship between the US and Pakistan is like that between husband and wife - they frequently fight, but then they reconcile," he said. "These conflicts are sporadic and temporary."

Jamshid, a student at Kabul University, argued that Islamabad had the upper hand in the relationship.

"In fact, Pakistan has blackmailed America. The US friendship with Pakistan is based on what America needs from Pakistan. And Pakistan understands this very well, so the US cannot say anything to it."

Others pointed to ways in which Islamabad could exert indirect pressure on Washington. A recent flurry of diplomatic visits to or from Russia, China and Iran - none of them close friends of the US - was intended to show that ultimately, Pakistan had other foreign policy options.

Jamshid predicted that Washington would back down in the row over Mullen's remarks. "I am sure the US will once again apologize, the terror networks in Pakistan will remain untouched, America will pay Pakistan another billion dollars for the privilege, and the war pursued by Pakistan will continue in Afghanistan," he said.

There are some signs that Washington is indeed taking a gentler line with Islamabad. While White House spokesman Jay Carney said the Haqqani group's safe haven in Pakistan and links to the security forces there were "troubling", Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emphasized the security cooperation and common interests of the two countries

"While it's not always easy, the United States and Pakistan have vital strategic interests that converge in the fight against terrorism, and Pakistan faces a very real threat," she said. "They have suffered far more causalities, civilian and military alike."

Meanwhile, the Washington Post quoted an anonymous Pentagon official as saying Mullen had overstated the ISI-Haqqani connection.

Despite several efforts to contact US Embassy officials, IWPR's Afghan reporters were unable to get a comment on these issues.

In Afghanistan, one of the side-effects of US-Pakistani diplomacy is to strengthen the widely held perception that the Afghan conflict is not only engineered by Pakistan, but is deliberately tolerated by Washington for the sake of bigger interests in the region.

"Afghans will no longer be deceived by the cat-and-mouse games played by America and Pakistan. Both of them are enemies of the Afghans," Kabul shopkeeper Abdul Shokur said. "Israel and Pakistan are America's pampered children. No matter what those pampered children want, America will accept it.

"The Americans are prepared to lose Afghanistan but they will never lose Pakistan. If America exerted real pressure on Pakistan, I am sure the war in Afghanistan would end within two days."

Khan Mohammad Danishju and Mina Habib are IWPR-trained reporters in Kabul.

[Description of Source: Hong Kong Asia Times Online in English -- Online newspaper focusing on political and economic issues from an "Asian perspective," with over 50 contributors in 17 Asian countries, the United States, and Europe, and a branch office in Bangkok; successor of the Hong Kong/Bangkok-based print daily Asia Times that closed in 1997, it claims an average of 100,000 daily site visitors, with 65% of the audience based in North America, and 22% in the Asia-Pacific region; tends to be critical of the United States; URL: ]

Pakistan: Ten Militants Killed in US UAV Attacks in North, South Waziristan

SAP20111014127001 Karachi Dawn Online in English 14 Oct 11

[Dawn report: "10 militants killed in drone attacks"]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

MIRAMSHAH/LADDAH: Ten militants were killed in US drone attacks on targets in North and South Waziristan on Thursday.

The attacks took place as Special US Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Marc Grossman, arrived in Islamabad and held talks with civilian and military leaders.

In the first attack, two missiles struck a compound in Dandi Derpakhel area near Miramshah in North Waziristan, early in the morning.

Official sources said a commander of the Haqqani network identified as Jamil and three other militants were killed. They said the drone fired missiles when Jamil came out of the compound.

Members of Jalaluddin Haqqani's family and close relatives have been living in Dandi Derpakhel area since the start of the Afghan war. The group had set up a seminary in the area.

Another drone attacked an outpost of militants on a hill in Zeba mountains close to the Afghan border.

Sources said the militants were using the outpost to keep an eye on the movement of Nato and Afghan troops at their forward base in Machadad Kot area of Paktika province across the border. Two Afghan and four local militants were killed in the drone attack, sources said.

Agencies add: "Jamil Haqqani, an important Afghan commander of the Haqqani network was the target and was killed," a Pakistani security official said, adding that Jamil was working as a coordinator of the network in North Waziristan.

The official said the three other militants killed in the strike were Haqqani's fighters, guarding the commander in the compound.

Other officials said Jamil was not related to Jalaluddin, or his son Sirajuddin who now runs the network but that he was "very close to the top commanders, including Sirajuddin".

Meanwhile, a US official on Thursday confirmed that a top Haqqani commander had been killed in a strike in Pakistan.

"It's been confirmed that Janbaz Zadran, aka Jamil, was killed earlier today in North Waziristan, Pakistan," the official said, adding that his death "makes him the most senior Haqqani leader in Pakistan to be taken off the battlefield."

[Description of Source: Karachi Dawn Online in English -- Website of Pakistan's first and most widely read English-language daily promoting progressive views. Generally critical of military rule; URL: ]

Pakistan: Ten Including Haqqani Network Militant Killed in US UAV Attack

SAP20111014128005 Islamabad The News Online in English 14 Oct 11

[Report by staff correspondents: Haqqani militant among 10 killed in US drone strikes]

[Text disseminated as received without OSC editorial intervention]

MIRAMSHAH/WANA: Ten persons, including a member of the Haqqani network, were reportedly killed in two separate US drone strikes in North Waziristan Agency and South Waziristan Agency.

The first attack was reported in Danday Darpakhel village near Miramshah, North Waziristan Agency, on Thursday in which four persons were killed. The slain official, Jalil Haqqani, was described as a coordinator, logistics operator and communications officer of the Haqqani network, described by the US authorities as one of the most dangerous militant groups in Afghanistan.

Jalil Haqqani, said to be in his early 30s, was killed in acompound attacked by two missiles fired by a CIA-operated drone. The three other men killed in the strike were described as suspected militants.

An earlier report said a vehicle was hit in the missile strike and Afghan refugees were killed in the attack. However, subsequent reports said a house was struck and four men including Jalil Haqqani were killed.

Sources close to the Haqqani network, however, denied that the slain man, Jalil, was linked to the group while intelligence sources said Jalil had links to the Haqqani network, which is led by Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of veteran Afghan mujahideen commander and former Taliban minister Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Danday Darpakhel, a village sited seven kilometres away from Miramshah, has been repeatedly attacked by US drones. In an attack in February 2010, Muhammad Haqqani, a young son of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, was killed while driving a vehicle. Another of his sons, Umar Haqqani, was killed fighting the US-led foreign forces in Khost province. In another drone strike in the past in Danday Darpakhel village where the Haqqani family lives, a sister of Jalaluddin Haqqani and some children and men were also killed.

In the other attack on Thursday, six persons were killed and three others sustained injuries when a US drone fired missiles at a vehicle and a house in Birmal tehsil of South Waziristan, tribal sources said.

Sources said the drone fired three missiles at the vehicle and the house in Zoba village in Birmal around noon. The attack by the CIA-operated drone left six persons dead and three others injured.

The drones kept flying in the area for sometime after the attack, which stopped locals from reaching the spot for rescue work. However, the injured were shifted to a nearby private clinic where their condition was stated to be serious.

Some sources said that all the dead were militants; four had links with the Mullah Nazeer-led group while two were from Afghanistan. After the incident, the local tribal elders held a meeting to condemn the attack.

Speaking on the occasion, Malik Muhammad Ali said innocent people were being killed in the drone attacks. "Drone attacks have created hatred against the US in the tribal region," he added.

[Description of Source: Islamabad The News Online in English -- Website of a widely read, influential English daily, member of the Jang publishing group. Neutral editorial policy, good coverage of domestic and international issues. Usually offers leading news and analysis on issues related to war against terrorism. Circulation estimated at 55,000; URL: ]

Pakistani Commentary Details Afghan Haqqani Network History, Leadership Roles

SAP20111011143002 Islamabad Daily Express in Urdu 09 Oct 11 p 13

[Special report: "Present and Past of Haqqani Network"]

Two years ago, Mayor of Kabul Hamid Karzai offered to Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani to make peace with the Afghan Government and become prime minister of Afghanistan. Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani rejected this offer and sent message to the so-called Afghan President that: "I do not want to become a puppet of the United States like you and I am not running behind the shots for money. This historic message reflects the great personality of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani. The founder of Haqqani Network, Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani was born in the Afghan province of Khost in 1950. He belongs to the Zardan Pashtun tribe. He gained his religious education and became a degree holder. Hence, he is called Maulvi, which is a respectable position in Islamic tradition.

Communism was being spreading through the Russians in the country when he completed his education. Because of this situation, Maulvi Jalaluddin stood against the communists and joined Hezb-e-Islami. This Islamic party was established by Engineer Golbuddin Hekmatyar in 1975 on the ideologies of Akhwanul-e-Muslimeen and Maulana Maudoodi. Maulvi Yunos Khalis, an important leader of Hezb-e-Islami, left the party and established his own [Hezb-e-Islami-Khalis] because of some differences when the Russian forces invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Maulvi Jalaluddin had also become part of the new party. During Afghan Jihad, this party had established its military headquarter in the Pakistani area of North Waziristan and fought against Russian forces in the eastern parts of Afghanistan, including Khost, Ghazni, Logar, Wardak, Paktika, and Paktiya Provinces.

Maulvi Jalaluddin, accompanied by thousands of Mujahidin, carried out an attack on Khost and captured it in 1985. Later on, Russian forces carried out several attacks on Khost, but they could not occupy it. In the final stages, Russian Army Commander Boris Gromov attacked with a full force and then Maulvi Jalaluddin evacuated Khost City and retreated according to his strategy.

Maulvi Jalaluddin belongs to a respectable family and he could have spend a life of luxury in Peshawar during the Afghan Jihad if he wanted to do so, but he liked to live in mountains like a true Mujahid and was fighting against the aggressors. Unfortunately, various Afghan parties started fighting against each other after the return of the Russian forces to their own country from Afghanistan in 1989. However, Maulvi Jalaluddin stayed away from this civil war and he accepted the Taliban government.

During the Afghan Jihad, the braveness of Maulvi Jalaluddin and his fighters had greatly inspired the Americans who were supplying arms and money to the Afghan Mujahidin. Because of this reason, he went to the United States and met with former President Reagan. He also met with Usama Bin Ladin and they became good friends in 1989. Usama Bin Ladin arranged a peace agreement between Maulvi Jalaluddin and the Taliban and then the Taliban appointed him as minister of tribal affairs. The situation changed in 2001, when the former guardian the United States carried out attack on Afghans and ended the Taliban government by force. The Americans offered a high post to Maulvi Jalaluddin in its puppet government, but he refused to shake hands with imperialist power. He started attacks on the American forces. Then, the friends of the past became the enemies of each other. The tribesmen of the Zardan tribe are living in the Pashtun Afghan provinces and North Waziristan. Hence, this area has been the headquarters of Maulvi Jalaluddin since 1979. He waged Jihad against the American aggressor from there. The United States become angry when Maulvi Jalaluddin inflicted heavy casualties on it. In his article in 2004, late journalist Syed Salim Shahzad said that the former Pakistani Government arrested Maulvi Sahib's brother Ibrahim and his son Ishaq from North Waziristan under the pressure of the United States. Then, Maulvi Jalaluddin was pressurized to give up the resistance, but he refused and instead his spirit of Jihad was boosted further. He rendered the sacrifices of two wives, sons, daughter, daughter in law, and nine grandsons, but his spirit of Jihad did not lessen.

With the passage of time, the activities of Maulvi Jalaluddin and his guerrillas increased in the eastern provinces of Afghanistan. Now it has become the major resistance groups in these areas. The United States is calling it the "Haqqani Network" and declaring it as the biggest enemy. However, the Taliban and the leaders of the Haqqani Network say that they are fighting against the Western imperialism under the leadership of Taliban Amir Mullah Muhammad Omar. Maulvi Jalalaluddin has now grown old and he has the status of spiritual guardian in his group, while his sons and close relatives, who are all young, are running the matters of the Haqqani Network; the most important among them is his son Sirajuddin Haqqani.

Sirajuddin Haqqani was born in 1973 (or 1977) and at the moment, he is head of the network, but his most links are with non-military matters. He holds talks with other groups and the Pakistani and Afghan Governments and controls the administrative matters of the network. All Jihadi groups in the area respect him as a true and sincere Muslim, and even all groups accept his words. He is a strict enemy of the United States and the Americans announced $50 million as the money on his head.

Mullah Sangin Zardan is head of military affairs of the network and he is a relative of Maulvi Jalaluddin. He is also the Taliban shadow governor in Paktika Province.

Burhanuddin, the son of Maulvi Jalaluddin, is helping Mullah Sangin in daily military matters. The United States has also declared them to be terrorists like other leaders of the network.

The fourth important leader of the Haqqani Network is Nasiruddin Haqqani, who is the son of Maulvi Jalaluddin. He is the son of the Arab wife of Maulvi Jalaluddin. Hence, he also knows the Arabic language. He collects funds for Jihadi activities in Eastern Central Asia.

According to military experts, at the moment, there are about 10,000 to 15,000 Mujahidin in the Haqqani Network. The biggest quality of the group is that its members become used to any situation very quickly. Another quality of the group is that they unite and disperse when they want and so it is very difficult to arrest the Mujahidin of the group. The United States claims that only the Haqqani Network is carrying out attacks on coalition forces and the government's installations in Afghanistan. According to the United States, the headquarters of the Haqqani Network is in North Waziristan. Hence, Washington is pressurizing the Pakistan Army to destroy them. Before the allegations made by the United States, Sirajuddin Haqqani announced that now the headquarters of the network was transferred to Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Army will never attack the Haqqani Mujahidin, even if the headquarters had been in North Waziristan. This is the reason the network is a friend of Pakistan despite the differences for the last 30 years. Now it has become a very strong group inside the Taliban. The friends of the Haqqanis will stand on the Pakistan-Afghan border if India unfortunately carries out an attack. In these circumstances, who will jump into the well following the line of the defeated powers despite knowing the entire situation?

[Description of Source: Islamabad Daily Express in Urdu -- Daily owned by Century Publications of the Lakson Business Group. The second largest daily after Jang newspaper with a circulation of over 120,000. Provides good coverage of national and international issues and follows moderate and neutral editorial policy.]

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