Musharraf met with terrorist leaders

Former Pakistani president, Musharraf, allegedly met with a terrorist leader of Ulfa in Bangladesh. According to the government of India, Ulfa, United Liberation Front of Asom, maintains links with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan and the DGFI of Bangladesh, and waging a proxy war on their behalf against India.
Times of India

KOLKATA: Bangladesh local government minister, Syed Ashraful Islam, has said that Islamabad used his country for terrorism in India and that former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf had met Ulfa founder, Anup Chetia, at a Dhaka hotel during the previous BNP-Jamaat regime.

He said Chetia was brought out of prison for the clandestine meeting. Islam’s statement in Dhaka on Friday came three days before Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s three-day visit to India.

“The BNP-led alliance was responsible for deterioration of relations between India and Bangladesh. Not only did Musharraf meet Chetia, the Bangladesh government at that time allowed many Mujahideen leaders - involved in the Afghan war - to facilitate the activities of terror groups in India,’’ he said. He said 10 truckloads of weapons and 15 million rounds of ammunition seized in Chittagong and Bogra were meant for terror, separatist groups operating in India.

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Musharraf admits truce with taliban backfired

No shit. Times of India

LAHORE: Ex-Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has admitted that his government’s secret agreement with the Taliban had
backfired.

The Taliban had misled Musharraf’s administration, the Daily Times quoted him as saying.[...]

Earlier, Musharraf had fiercely denied playing a double game of supporting the Taliban while receiving US funding to fight them when he was in power.

“Get your facts correct, I have never double-dealt. There is a big conspiracy being hatched against Pakistan, to weaken the Pakistan army and the ISI, to weaken Pakistan,” Musharraf told New York Times journalist David Sanger, who had alleged Pakistan of duplicity.

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Musharraf: India must change attitude towards Pakistan

"There is a need for attitudal change, more in India less in Pakistan,"

If only India looked positively towards Pakistan then Mumbai, the Sri Lankan criket team and Kashmir wouldn't have had been attacked by terrorists. It's all just a big misunderstanding you see and Pakistan is not to be blamed. Reuters

Musharraf asked India to stop what he described as "Pakistan bashing" and instead urged New Delhi to help the ISI and Pakistan's army fight militancy in the region.

"Help the Pakistan army and the ISI to tackle them (militants) and please don't malign them," the former army chief said, adding that Pakistan's army and the ISI wanted peace with India.

The former president, who stepped down in August last year, said the army and the ISI were the best bets to fight the growing influence of the Taliban and militancy in Pakistan.

"Please don't create misunderstanding in the world against the ISI and the army," he said.

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Musharraf refuses to see reality

In a speech at Stanford Musharraf claimed poverty and illiteracy cause terrorism but then went on to admit most terrorists are well off and educated. Mercury News

Terrorism is often caused by poverty and illiteracy, he said. But many of the terrorists responsible for major events such as 9/11 were neither poor nor illiterate. Their anger came from hopelessness and powerlessness in the face of unresolved political disputes, he said.

"The anger and frustration among Muslim youths is exploited by groups following misrepresented views of Islam, and they indoctrinate them," he said.

Then Musharraf goes on to blame the US for terrorism. It's always someone else's fault, never their own.

To defend his country, he described Pakistan's long struggle with terrorism, beginning with its U.S.-aided fight against the Soviet Union with Afghanistan in the '80s. After the Soviets were defeated, the region was left "all alone" by the West, he said. The armed, trained fighters from the war coalesced and formed al-Qaida, he said. Then, when the Taliban emerged in the mid-'90s, they pushed 4 million refugees into Pakistan, he said.

"Pakistan's social fabric got torn," he said. "And all this had to be handled by the army, the government and the intelligence organizations of Pakistan. No help from anyone."

And finally, when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, the Taliban and al-Qaida hid in the hills of Pakistan.

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Political Vacuum in Pakistan

Now with Musharraf out of the political picture in Pakistan, a power struggle between Zardari and Sharif is brewing over who should replace Musharraf as president. Zardari, Benazir Bhutto's widower, is leader of the largest party in the Pakistani parliament and Sharif is leader of the largest opposition party. After the parliamentary elections, they formed a coalition government. One of the main factors for keeping the coalition together was their opposition to Musharraf.

Negotiations between the two parties to determine the next president is threatening to split the coalition. On Tuesday, members of Sharif's party met with members from Zardari's party but stormed out of the meeting without talking to the media. The second largest opposition party, MQM, is supporting Zardari for president. The longer it takes to nominate a president, the more likely the cracks in the coalition will threaten to dissolve it.

NATO general,David D. McKiernan, NATO commander of Afghanistan has told AP that the political chaos in Pakistan has emboldened the taliban. While the politicians are wrangling over who will be the next president, the taliban are consildating their power in the North Western Provinces. Not only are the taliban consildating their power but they're expanding.

Once again, Pakistan is becoming the hub for mujahideen wanting to fight NATO in Afghanistan. There has been a significant increase in attacks across the Pakistani-Afghanistan border in recent months. General Mckiernan also noted that NATO forces are encountering a number of foreign fighters, for example Chechens, Turks and Middle Eastern fighters as well as "sometimes Europeans.".

Victory in Afghanistan is totally dependant on what happens to the taliban's safe havens in Pakisatn. The political landscape in Pakistan does not paint a very conforting picture that the terrorist safe havens will be dealt with.

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Musharraf Resigns

I don't know if this will change much. Musharraf had lost a lot of power since the Pakistani parliamentary elections. And the members of parliament haven't really done anything to promote confidence in their willingness to fight the taliban/al qaida. Reuters

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Faced with the humiliation of impeachment, former army chief Pervez Musharraf quit as Pakistan president on Monday, having lost political, popular and increasingly even U.S. support.

....

His enemies said he betrayed Islam by caving in to U.S. pressure to abandon support for the Taliban government hosting al Qaeda in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

He believed he saved Pakistan.

The U.S. government sank more than $11 billion into Pakistan, mostly its military, and expected Musharraf to produce results.

Pakistan captured hundreds of al Qaeda, and lost over 1,000

soldiers fighting in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Yet suspicions lingered that Pakistani intelligence agencies played a double-game, allowing the Taliban safe refuge.

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Zawahiri Threatens Musharraf in English

In a video or audio tape of al Qaida's 2nd in command, Zawahiri, called for an uprising against Musharraf and Pakistan....in English. It's a little weird when addressing Pakistani's to uprise against Musharraf and Pakistan and tells them in English. Was this video intended for us to hear?

Also, why bother learning English? Adam the fat Bastard Gadahn normally translates al Qaida videos into english. But lately their videos have been conspicousily missing English subtitles. Maybe Zawahiri had to learn English because the fat Bastard is dead. Guardian

Pakistan's embattled president, Pervez Musharraf, faced a direct challenge from al-Qaida today, with the terror group lambasting his record in a new video.

A person said to be the al-Qaida deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, spoke in English on the tape, calling for an uprising not only against Musharraf but the Pakistani state, which he said was "virtually ruled from the American embassy".

....

"Pervez has insulted and compromised Pakistan's sovereignty by allowing the CIA and FBI to operate freely in Pakistan and arrest, interrogate, torture, deport and detain any person, whether Pakistani or not, for as long as they like, thus turning the Pakistani army and security agencies into hunting dogs in the contemporary crusade," said Zawahiri.

Zawahiri denounced Musharraf in particular for the crackdown he ordered on Islamabad's radical Red Mosque - the army raid last year resulted in around 100 deaths - and his treatment of the renegade Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr AQ Khan, who has been under house arrest for four years.

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Zardari Will Not Impeach Musharraf

Under pressure from the US and the Pakistani army Zardari, the leader of the PPP, has agreed not impeach Musharraf. But as soon as Zardari gets a chance to impeach he will. Hindu Times

Islamabad (PTI): The ruling PPP is not moving to impeach Pervez Musharraf to avoid political instability, party Chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said ahead of a planned meeting with the embattled leader amid pressure from the army and the US to develop a "working relationship" with the President.

The Pakistan People's Party wanted to resolve all issues through dialogue and did not want confrontation with anyone. "We are ready to hold talks with anyone, including (President Pervez) Musharraf, despite differences," Zardari, who is planning to meet Musharraf, said.

Though he was reluctant to explain the agenda of his proposed meeting with Musharraf, he told The News: "I am hopeful that the outcome of my meeting with Musharraf will not disappoint the people of Pakistan."

....

A close aide of Zardari, however, insisted that he "will suggest to Musharraf to step down in the larger interest of Pakistan." The PPP chairman had earlier said he was not for impeaching Musharraf and wanted him to "walk away".

The PPP could gather the support of the required number of parliamentarians for Musharraf's impeachment but it did not believe in confrontation, Zardari told Express News TV adding economic and political stability is our first priority."

In reply to a question, he said there was a "working relationship" between PPP and the Presidency.

Emissaries of the US and top American Senators have met Zardari and advised him to stop attacking Musharraf and to meet him to reach some understanding on a working relationship, The News reported.

Zardari's threats to impeach Musharraf have also not gone down well with the Pakistan Army's high command and discreet messages have been sent to him to "resolve all the issues through dialogue", it said.

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