Chief of Army Staff | General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

[fatman17]

Gen Khalid replaces Gen Tariq Majeed as new CJCSC

ISLAMABAD: The government has appointed Lieutenant General Khalid Shamim Wayne as the new Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff committee (CJCSC), presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said on Tuesday. President Asif Ali Zardari promoted the new CJCSC on the advice of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. According to Babar, Wayne would take charge of his office with effect from October 8. He has replaced General Tariq Majeed and was previously working as the chief of general staff. staff report

 

[sparklingway]

and you underestimate the not so very secretive services ?

???

not sure i understand your question, or in what context you are asking

I'm guessing he meant bugging these offices. Well for one, the major meeting areas are sweeped almost on a daily basis. But the sweeps are carried out by the very agencies you are referring to. Phone tapping of official lines of any among the so-called troika in the last 30 years is known to have been done only once - successfully - Asif Nawaz's lines tapped by IB and later when Karamat when is in office tapping was caught (Musharraf's tapped conversation with Aziz was caught from the other end - apparently the unsecure microwave transmission but we're talking about our own here I guess).

Phone lines being tapped wouldn't be a surprise but meeting rooms being bugged would be a difficult - although not unrealizable (remember the recent report of Cabinet Division being bugged).

 

[sparklingway]

No PR414/2010-ISPR Dated: September 29, 2010
Abbottabad - September 29, 2010:

Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited Pakistan Military Academy Kakul today.

He witnessed various training activities at the Academy and appreciated the standard displayed by the gentlemen and lady cadets.

Earlier on arrival, the COAS was received by Lieutenant General Waheed Arshad, Inspector General Training and Evaluation and Major General Raheel Sharif, Commandant Pakistan Military Academy.

Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani meeting with cadets during his visit to Pakistan Military Academy Kakul on Wednesday. (29-9-2010) – Photo ISPR

Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani witnessing the training activities of cadets during his visit to Pakistan Military Academy Kakul on Wednesday. (29-9-2010) – Photo ISPR

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Mota-Man --- i think you are 98.72% on point

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Sparkling -- believe me, after seeing a movie like Enemy of the State you will know anything is possible

 

[sparklingway]

Sparkling -- believe me, after seeing a movie like Enemy of the State you will know anything is possible

I'm sorry to say but you, sir, have lost a bit of respect in my eyes with that statement.

 

[fatman17]

well it could go like this...

AZ; gen sahib pls support us-we will provide the money for your 'toys'
GEN;sir we will support you but your govt. must implement the decisions of the SC
PM; yes i agree
AZ;which decisions?
GEN;NRO for one!
PM;yes i agree
AZ;that means my 'buddies' have to resign from govt
GEN;yes sir!
PM;yes i agree
AZ;my name is on the NRO
GEN;(smiling) yes sir we know
PM;yes i agree
AZ;over my dead body
GEN;as u wish
PM;yes i agree

the NYT is quoting 'sources' and saying that the army chief 'took a hard line' at the performance of the govt.!!!

 

[muse]

From Yesterday, but an interesting insight I think - PPP types and their friends in the Pakistani media (Cyril you listening?) suggest that Mr. Zardari did not get a fair shake - but wait, Mr. Zardari could have changed that at any time in these nearly 3 years of his presidency by actually being the President of Pakistan, not some third rate interlocutor or implementer of American diktat - how much sense did it take to not skip town to your Villa (Palace) in France as 20 million of your country men became homeless?

For Mr. Zardari, his legacy and more importantly for the PPP, must be to defend Pakistani interests and not as his ambassador in Washington counsels, the furtherance of US interests which are constituted as dagger against Pakistan



International forces whipping up storm’
By Amir Wasim
Wednesday, 29 Sep, 2010 President Zardari disclosed to his party men that international forces are whipping up a storm against the government.—File photo Editorial

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has disclosed to his party men that not just the domestic opposition but international forces also were whipping up a storm against the government, but vowed not to submit to any dictation.

According to insiders who listened to his blunt talk at the Presidency during a dinner hosted by him for PPP’s parliamentarians on Monday night, the president surprised party members by stating that the Americans might have felt disappointed with the government for not meeting all their demands. That, however, he said, could be renegotiated “with us or whoever succeeds us”.

Unhappy with the local media, Mr Zardari showed displeasure with even the international press for running reports against the present set-up.

President Zardari, who is also the People’s Party’s co-chairman, had the same advice for party hotheads angry with the coalition allies.

The president said he knew how the MQM had treated PPP workers in the past. However, he declared that he would not take revenge and continue working for reconciliation with all political forces.

Although he avoided passing any harsh, explicit remarks against the judiciary, at one point he recalled that judges had kept putting off his bail applications.

Perhaps for the first time, President Zardari admitted that the party had mishandled the issue of the defunct National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). Without naming anyone, he accused some advisers of misleading the party and the government on the issue.

Abdul Qayyum Jatoi MNA from Muzaffargarh repeated his controversial remarks that had cost him his ministry last week and, sources claimed, got an appreciative nod from the chair.

Senator Safdar Abbasi, who had not been invited to the Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting on Sept 23, blasted the government’s economic policy as well as the strategy to deal with the NRO and the judiciary.

He was of the opinion that those who had wrongly advised the party and the government on these issues should be taken to task.

Senator Abbasi went on to say that now it was up to the president and the prime minister to save the government.

He was particularly critical of the government’s policy of depending upon the Friends of Democratic Pakistan group for financial help.

 

[fatman17]

the NYT is quoting 'sources' and saying that the army chief 'took a hard line' at the performance of the govt.!!!

Army pushes for shake-up of govt: report

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: The Pakistani military is pushing for a shake-up of the elected government, and in the longer term, even the removal of President Asif Ali Zardari and his top lieutenants, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The military has made clear it is not eager to take over the government, military officials and politicians said.

But the government’s performance since the floods has laid bare the deep underlying tensions between military and civilian leaders. In a meeting on Monday, army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani, confronted the president and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani over incompetence and corruption in the government.

According to the press and Pakistani officials familiar with the conversation, Kayani demanded that they dismiss at least some ministers in the oversized 60-member cabinet, many of whom face corruption charges.

The civilian government has so far resisted the general’s demand. But the meeting was widely interpreted by the news media as a rebuke to the civilian politicians and as having pushed the government to the brink. After the meeting, the president’s office issued a statement, approved by all the men, saying they had agreed “to protect the democratic process and to resolve all issues in accordance with the constitution”.

An official close to the president who was familiar with the conversation said, “The president made it clear that he would not leave, come what may.” “Sanity had prevailed,” the official added. Still, it is clear that Kayani has ratcheted up the pressure on the government.

 

[air marshal]

 

[air marshal]

Petraeus calls Kayani, regrets strikes
02, Oct, 2010

By Baqir Sajjad Syed

ISLAMABAD: As fury mounted over this week’s aerial incursions into the tribal areas, the commander of US-led forces in Afghanistan regretted on Friday the Nato strike that killed three Pakistani troops the previous day.

“International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) Commander Gen Petraeus called (army chief) Gen Kayani and expressed his sincere regrets over the death of Pakistani soldiers,” US military spokesman in Pakistan Lt-Col Patrick Ryder told Dawn.

The three troops were killed in an early morning raid on Thursday when Nato choppers fired at a Pakistani military post 200 metres inside the border in Kurram Agency.

This was the fourth aerial violation in less than a week, but the first in which soldiers were killed. Reacting to the incident, Pakistan partially shut down a Nato supply route and lodged a protest with the Nato command in Brussels, demanding an apology.

Col Ryder further said the US remained committed to sharing all information related to the incident with Pakistan military as part of efforts to investigate the incident.

The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, had also spoken to Gen Kayani after the earlier strikes over the weekend.

Pakistani military commanders confirmed that high-level contacts were taking place to defuse the rising tensions. “Both sides are communicating and conveying their positions,” an official said.

The contacts clearly helped lower the flaring tempers in Pakistan. Sources said Nato supplies would be restored after things cleared up.

Long-term suspension of supplies was not expected either because neither Islamabad nor Washington could afford deterioration in their relations at this particular stage when the western forces’ campaign in Afghanistan was passing through a crucial phase.

About 80 per cent of Nato’s supplies transit through Pakistan, which is the most convenient route for its troops.It is believed that the temporary stoppage was meant to remind Washington how much it depended on Pakistan for sustaining the military operations in Afghanistan.

“There was no closing of Khyber Pass route as such. The movement of the convoys was stopped temporarily in view of growing resentment over the aerial attacks and the resulting threat to their security,” an official said in a clearly rehashed position on holding up of supplies.

An attack on oil tankers carrying Nato fuel in Shikarpur, analysts said, was just an indication of what could happen if Pakistan were to stop providing security to the convoys.

Nato fuel convoys are normally given security cover, but these vehicles appeared to be travelling undefended, probably because of withdrawn security.

In a previous such incident in 2008, US F-15 jet fighters and a B-1 bomber dropped bombs on a Frontier Corps border checkpoint. Eleven soldiers were killed in the incident, which led to an exchange of fire between US and Pakistani forces.

 

[air marshal]

No PR420/2010-ISPR
Rawalpindi - October 1, 2010:

His Excellency Mr Vincenzo Prati, Ambassador of Italy called on Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at General Headquarters today.

The visiting dignitary remained with him for some time and discussed the matters of mutual interest.

Mr Vincenzo Prati, Ambassador of Italy called on Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at General Headquarters on Friday. (01-10-2010) – Photo ISPR

 

[fatman17]

Kayani demands removal of Zardari loyalists

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani has handed a list of corrupt or allegedly incompetent ministers to President Asif Ali Zardari, demanding their removal, according to Western and Pakistani officials.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the tension between Pakistan’s civilian and military leaders is the latest political fallout from historic floods that have triggered stringent criticism of the government’s handling of the crisis. A senior Western official confirmed reports that Kayani had asked the president to remove named loyalists from his 60-member cabinet as part of an internal reform process. The official did not give the requested names.

Analysts said the army stance reflected a broader public impatience with the government’s performance. An opinion poll taken last July gave Zardari a 20 percent popularity rating.

“The way things are configured now, everyone – the army, the institutions, the man on the street – would like to see some kind of shakeup in the current government,” said analyst Cyril Almeida.

He added, “I don’t think it will work. The more pressure you pile on Zardari, the more likely he is to dig in his heels.”

A close Zardari aide denied that the army was pressuring the government. “It’s absolute rubbish. This is a rumour-driven crisis, driven by those with a pathological hatred of President Zardari and the PPP. They have been predicting his downfall from the day he was elected. And they have been wrong,” he said.

Some of the tension was punctured on Monday after Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani met Kayani after which they released an anodyne statement about flood relief.

Zardari’s aide said reports of army interference were exaggerated. “They have a legitimate input into national security. But to their credit the leadership have been very careful in nurturing democracy this time.”

 

[air marshal]

COAS wants removal of Zardari loyalists: report

The Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani has reportedly handed a list of allegedly incompetent ministers to President Asif Ali Zardari, and demanded their removal, according to a report published in a British daily.

A senior western official requesting anonymity confirmed that the president has been asked to remove named loyalists from his 60-member cabinet.

The move comes in the backdrop of rising public impatience with the government’s dealing with corruption and the devastating floods that have ravaged the country. Rumours of a military coup have been making the rounds, with the latest warning coming from former president Pervez Musharraf who said on Wednesday that Kayani could be forced to intervene against the government of President Zardari which he said had failed to tackle rampant militancy and a crumbling economy.

A close Zardari aide however denied that the army was pressuring the government.

Earlier, a significant meeting between President Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and General Kayani had been reported to have diffused tensions with the troika pledging to support democracy.

Two senior diplomats said the preferred course of action is for the present government to see out its five-year term. One of the officials said it was the only way to bring long-term stability.

COAS wants removal of Zardari loyalists: report – The Express Tribune

 

[air marshal]

No PR429/2010-ISPR
Rawalpindi - October 6, 2010:

A delegation of United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Society headed by His Excellency Mr Ahmed Hameed Al Mazroui called on Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at General Headquarters today.

The visiting dignitaries remained with him for some time and discussed the matters of mutual interest.