pkpatriotic
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Will briefing the parliament yield any real results
Thursday, 09 Oct, 2008
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's incoming spy chief showed lawmakers images of militants slaughtering people Wednesday in a rare, private briefing on the country's battle against Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in its tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, attendees said.
The government called the special session of parliament as it sought political unity to stabilize this key US ally in the war on terror.
The gathering lasted about three hours Wednesday evening, and was to resume Thursday morning, said two people who attended. They requested anonymity because they had been sworn to secrecy. One said statistics were also shared, but declined to divulge them other than to say some appeared to have already been made public.
The fledgling pro-US civilian government of Pakistan has urged its citizens to recognize the danger that Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked extremists pose to their country.
According to military data released last month, suicide attacks have killed nearly 1,200 people in Pakistan since July 2007, most of them civilians. The statistics also said 1,368 security force personnel had been killed since late 2001, when Pakistan's former military ruler, President Pervez Musharraf, allied the country with Washington in the war on terror.
Many in Pakistan blame that alliance with the US for the rise in violence here. American missile strikes on militant hideouts on Pakistani territory along the Afghan border, where Osama bin Laden is rumored to be hiding, have further angered the population.
Officials said Wednesday that the briefing which could last several days was an effort to include opposition parties in a discussion aimed at forging a democratically driven policy.
It was essential that those who are responsible for lawmaking and who are representing the people should get insight about what is actually going on in the country, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said.
Pakistan's role in the war on terror came up in the US presidential debate Tuesday night.
Democratic candidate Barack Obama said if the US had a chance to attack bin Laden on Pakistani soil, it should do so if Pakistan was unable or unwilling.
Republican John McCain chided Obama as being too bellicose, characterizing his statement as a plan to attack Pakistan' _ something Obama denied.
Security was tight around the parliament building in Islamabad, with concrete barriers and barbed wire ringing a large perimeter outside the facility. Members of the media were not allowed in.
Army spokesman Maj. Murad Khan confirmed that the army general, newly appointed as head of the country's main spy agency, Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, spoke to lawmakers. Pasha currently serves as director general of military operations.
The joint session of the upper and lower houses of parliament was believed to include an overview of ongoing military operations in militant strongholds in the northwest.
The US says the militants use those regions along Pakistan's border as a staging ground for attacks in Afghanistan. But American officials have praised a two-month-old Pakistani offensive in the Bajur tribal region that the
Pakistani military claims has killed more than 1,000 insurgents.
Afterward, some lawmakers told television channels that while they could not mention specifics of what was discussed, they had hoped for more depth.
The briefing that was given to us today was rather superficial. It was more like the description of the symptoms than diagnosis of the disease, said Khurram Dastagir, a member of the opposition party of ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. I am seeking to find out what is causing this extremism and how did it come about.
Is that an operation that began in 2001 ostensibly to either catch or kill a few dozen foreign militants has mutated into a very large-scale military operation with hundreds of deaths, of troops and alleged militants? he asked in an interview on Dawn News Television.
Sharif painted the session as a sign that Pakistan had truly transitioned to civilian rule after years of being under the military rule of Musharraf, who quit the presidency in August.
Parliament is a sovereign body and it should be given right to discuss the matter and come up with a national policy, Sharif said.
At least 20 suspected militants were killed in fresh strikes Wednesday in the region, authorities said. Eight were believed to be foreigners.
Thursday, 09 Oct, 2008
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's incoming spy chief showed lawmakers images of militants slaughtering people Wednesday in a rare, private briefing on the country's battle against Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in its tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, attendees said.
The government called the special session of parliament as it sought political unity to stabilize this key US ally in the war on terror.
The gathering lasted about three hours Wednesday evening, and was to resume Thursday morning, said two people who attended. They requested anonymity because they had been sworn to secrecy. One said statistics were also shared, but declined to divulge them other than to say some appeared to have already been made public.
The fledgling pro-US civilian government of Pakistan has urged its citizens to recognize the danger that Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked extremists pose to their country.
According to military data released last month, suicide attacks have killed nearly 1,200 people in Pakistan since July 2007, most of them civilians. The statistics also said 1,368 security force personnel had been killed since late 2001, when Pakistan's former military ruler, President Pervez Musharraf, allied the country with Washington in the war on terror.
Many in Pakistan blame that alliance with the US for the rise in violence here. American missile strikes on militant hideouts on Pakistani territory along the Afghan border, where Osama bin Laden is rumored to be hiding, have further angered the population.
Officials said Wednesday that the briefing which could last several days was an effort to include opposition parties in a discussion aimed at forging a democratically driven policy.
It was essential that those who are responsible for lawmaking and who are representing the people should get insight about what is actually going on in the country, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said.
Pakistan's role in the war on terror came up in the US presidential debate Tuesday night.
Democratic candidate Barack Obama said if the US had a chance to attack bin Laden on Pakistani soil, it should do so if Pakistan was unable or unwilling.
Republican John McCain chided Obama as being too bellicose, characterizing his statement as a plan to attack Pakistan' _ something Obama denied.
Security was tight around the parliament building in Islamabad, with concrete barriers and barbed wire ringing a large perimeter outside the facility. Members of the media were not allowed in.
Army spokesman Maj. Murad Khan confirmed that the army general, newly appointed as head of the country's main spy agency, Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, spoke to lawmakers. Pasha currently serves as director general of military operations.
The joint session of the upper and lower houses of parliament was believed to include an overview of ongoing military operations in militant strongholds in the northwest.
The US says the militants use those regions along Pakistan's border as a staging ground for attacks in Afghanistan. But American officials have praised a two-month-old Pakistani offensive in the Bajur tribal region that the
Pakistani military claims has killed more than 1,000 insurgents.
Afterward, some lawmakers told television channels that while they could not mention specifics of what was discussed, they had hoped for more depth.
The briefing that was given to us today was rather superficial. It was more like the description of the symptoms than diagnosis of the disease, said Khurram Dastagir, a member of the opposition party of ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. I am seeking to find out what is causing this extremism and how did it come about.
Is that an operation that began in 2001 ostensibly to either catch or kill a few dozen foreign militants has mutated into a very large-scale military operation with hundreds of deaths, of troops and alleged militants? he asked in an interview on Dawn News Television.
Sharif painted the session as a sign that Pakistan had truly transitioned to civilian rule after years of being under the military rule of Musharraf, who quit the presidency in August.
Parliament is a sovereign body and it should be given right to discuss the matter and come up with a national policy, Sharif said.
At least 20 suspected militants were killed in fresh strikes Wednesday in the region, authorities said. Eight were believed to be foreigners.
