Pakistan at War; Talibans slowly marching towards Peshawar. June 28, 2008

1. Last week, 16 local Christians were briefly kidnapped from the heart of Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

2. Pro-Baitullah Mehsud militants killed 22 rival tribesmen in Jandola, the day after kidnapping them, an official said on Wednesday.

   They belonged to the Niamatkhel clan of the Bhittani tribe and were captured in clashes with militants on Monday.

   Officials estimated that militants had kidnapped 30 people and eight were still missing.

   Barkatullah Marwat, District Coordination Officer of Tank, told Dawn that bodies of the victims had been retrieved from Kari Wam and Sor Ghar areas. All of them were buried later.

   A spokesman for Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Maulvi Umar, claimed responsibility for the killings, saying the fate of the eight people still in their custody would be decided by members of the Shura.

   He warned government and security forces not to ‘meddle’ in the dispute. Otherwise the peace deal would suffer a “lasting damage”.

3. Operation against miscreants begins in Khyber Agency , Security forces have launched an operation against miscreants in Khyber Agency on Saturday.

   Sources said that mortar shells have been fired from Qila Shahkas of FC in tehsil Jamrood.

   Meanwhile, additional contingents of security forces have been dispatched to tehsil Bara from tehsil Jamrood.

   The security forces convoy comprised of six armored vehiclesand tanks.

   Situation in Khyber Agency has been tense since several days and political administration has imposed indefinite curfew in the area. Sixty people have been killed and more than 80 injured so far in the clashes.

3.Pakistani Taliban leader suspends peace talks

Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud told Reuters on Saturday he was suspending peace talks with the government, as security forces had begun launching an operation against the militant movement. “The talks will remain suspended until the government stops talking about operations and attacks against us,” he said by satellite phone from an undisclosed location.

4.A contingent of troops has blocked the road towards Afghanistan, imposed a curfew and ordered shops to shut.

5.officials said they thought most of the militants may have left the region ahead of the attack.

6.  Waris Khan Afridi, a tribal leader from the Khyber agency and a former member of the National Assembly, said: “There is no strategy to counter them. Very soon, the Taliban will go to Peshawar and say: ‘Hands up.’ “

7.Arbab Hidayatullah, a former senior police officer said  “The government is helpless. It has lost its wits. The police have lost so many men at the hands of the Taliban they are scared,”

Iraq assembly holds emergency session amid curfew March 28, 2008

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi lawmakers will hold an emergency session on Friday in an attempt to end violence in the oil city of Basra after an army crackdown on Shi’ite militia sparked fighting across the south and mass protests in Baghdad.

Authorities have imposed a three-day curfew in the capital to contain the violence, in which more than 130 people have been killed since the government launched the offensive on Tuesday against fighters loyal to Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

The assault on Iraq’s second biggest city has exposed deep divisions between rival factions within Iraq’s majority Shi’ite community. It is also a major test for U.S.-backed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s ability to prove Iraqi forces can stand on their own and allow U.S. forces to withdraw.

With violence spreading across the Shi’ite south and affecting the country’s vital oil exports, lawmakers called an emergency session on Friday.

“Today (Thursday) we reviewed the situation in Basra. We agreed to hold an emergency session tomorrow to discuss the Basra situation and how to resolve it,” parliament speaker Mahmoud Mashhadani told Reuters.

Mashhadani said representatives of Shi’ite and Sunni parties in parliament, including lawmakers loyal to Sadr, had agreed to attend the special session starting at 3 p.m. (8 a.m. EDT).

Sadr, who helped install Maliki in power after an election in 2005 but later broke with him, has called for talks with the government. But Maliki has vowed to battle what he calls criminal gangs in Basra “to the end”.

PIPELINE ATTACKED 

In a sign of rising instability in the oil-rich south, saboteurs on Thursday blew up one of Iraq’s two main oil export pipelines from Basra, cutting at least a third of the exports from the southern oilfields.

The attack, which pushed U.S. oil prices up by more than $1 a barrel, marked the first time since 2004 that the important southern supply route has been disrupted.

The clashes have all but wrecked a truce that Sadr imposed on his Mehdi army last August, which Washington had said helped curb violence.

The government says it is fighting “outlaws”, but Sadr’s followers say political parties in Maliki’s Shi’ite-led government are using military force to marginalize their rivals ahead of local elections due by October.

U.S. President George W. Bush has praised Maliki’s “boldness” in launching the operation, the largest military campaign carried out yet by Maliki’s forces without U.S. or British combat units. Bush said it showed the Iraqi leader’s commitment to “enforce the law in an even-handed manner”.

Sadr’s aides say his ceasefire is still formally in place. But his followers have staged a “civil disobedience” campaign, forcing schools and shops to shut, and Sadr has threatened to declare a “civil revolt” if the crackdown is not halted.

Clashes have spread in the past two days to the southern cities of Kut, Hilla, Nassiriya, Diwaniya, Amara and Kerbala, as well as 13 predominantly Shi’ite neighborhoods of Baghdad that have a Mehdi Army presence.

On Thursday, tens of thousands of Sadr supporters marched in Baghdad in a massive show of force for the cleric, demanding Maliki’s removal. Demonstrations were also held in the Kadhimiya and Shula districts, among the largest anti-government protests Maliki’s government has faced.

Faisal Saleh may be nominated NA parliamentary leader March 23, 2008

ISLAMABAD: Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat is likely to be made the parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) at the National Assembly.

According to sources, the leadership of the PML (Q) wants to keep the positions of the opposition leader and the parliamentary leader separately.

Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat is being considered a strong candidate for the position of the parliamentary leader.

However, the nomination of the parliamentary leader of the party will be announced after the announcement of the nomination of Chaudhry Pervez Elahi as the opposition leader.

On the other hand, Faisal Saleh Hayat told Geo News that he has no information of his nomination as the party’s parliamentary leader.

Yousuf Raza Gillani likely named as new premier March 22, 2008

Pakistan Peoples Party would likely to nominate Yousuf Raza Gillani as the new prime minister of the country, sources said.

According to Geo News, PPP has completed consultations with coalition partners about the prime minister and the allies have endorsed the nomination.

The formal announcement of the name of prime minister is expected tonight. Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari would announce the name.

Protesters ’surrender in Tibet’ March 19, 2008

More than 100 people have turned themselves in to police following anti-China riots in Tibet’s main city, Lhasa, Chinese state media has said. People surrendered to secure leniency in response to a deadline set by the authorities, Xinhua news agency said.

China says it will harshly punish protesters who do not surrender. Police in Lhasa have been searching houses and making arrests, activists say.

China has blamed the Dalai Lama for the protests – a claim he roundly rejects.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader has called for an end to violence, saying Tibetans have to live with the Chinese whether they like it or not.

‘Life and death struggle’

Tibet’s Communist Party secretary Zhang Qingli has warned of a “long-term” struggle against the Tibetan exile movement.

“We are in the midst of a fierce struggle involving blood and fire, a life and death struggle with the Dalai Clique,” he told a teleconference of regional leaders on Wednesday.

We must not develop anti-Chinese feelings. Whether we like it or not we have to live side-by-side The Dalai Lama Crackdown on the news Lama’s birthplace blocked

“Leaders of the whole country must deeply understand the arduousness, complexity and long-term nature of the struggle,” he said in remarks carried online by the China Tibet News.

The protests began on 10 March, on the anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, and gradually escalated.

China says 13 people were killed by rioters in Lhasa. Tibetan exiles say at least 99 protesters have died in clashes – in Lhasa and beyond – with authorities.

‘Widespread arrests’

According to the Tibet regional government, 105 people involved in the protests had handed themselves over to police by 2300 (1500GMT) on Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

All had been involved in “beating, smashing, looting and arson”, the agency quoted Baema Chilain, vice-chairman of the regional government, as saying.

TIBET DIVIDE China says Tibet was always part of its territory Tibet enjoyed long periods of autonomy before 20th century 1950: China launched a military assault Opposition to Chinese rule led to a bloody uprising in 1959 Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled to India Accounts from Tibet Send us your comments Tibet adds to Olympic woes

Foreign media have not been allowed into Lhasa and the flow of information out is tightly controlled, but rights groups say they have heard reports of widespread arrests.

“In Lhasa we (have been told about) hundreds of arrests,” Kate Saunders of the International Campaign for Tibet told the French news agency AFP.

In a statement, US-based group Human Rights Watch urged China to allow independent monitors access to detainees.

Chinese authorities have insisted no lethal force was used to quell the protests, which have since spread to regions that border Tibet.

But rights groups have accused Chinese security forces of a violent crackdown.

Call for inquiry

On Tuesday Tibetan activists released images they say support their claim of heavy casualties and Chinese brutality.

They say the pictures depict protesters killed by Chinese security forces at Kirti Monastery in Sichuan province on Sunday – but the BBC is unable to verify these claims.

A representative of the Chinese embassy in London, Yu Jing, said it was “hard to judge from the pictures” but that if they were accurate, there would be an explanation.

She said some reports suggested the local police station and police officers had been attacked, and that Chinese officials were looking into the claims.

Tibetan activists say Chinese troops shot indiscriminately(Warning: Graphic content) In pictures: Shooting claims

The Tibetan exile government said it had also heard reports of 19 deaths in neighbouring Gansu province.

On Tuesday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao accused the Dalai Lama of masterminding the violence.

The Dalai Lama – who in 1989 won a Nobel Peace Prize for his commitment to non-violent protest – has rejected Chinese claims of involvement and called for calm.

“Violence is against human nature,” the Dalai Lama said. “We must not develop anti-Chinese feelings. Whether we like it or not we have to live side-by-side.”

He has called for an international inquiry into why the riots took place.

China says Tibet has always been part of its territory but Tibet enjoyed long periods of autonomy before the 20th Century and many Tibetans remain loyal to the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India in 1959.

1,000 Tibetans arrested in Chinese crackdown March 18, 2008

Video from AL-JAZEERA 

Close to 1,000 Tibetans have been detained in two days of sweeps across the capital, Lhasa, by paramilitary police hunting down those who took part in last week’s deadly anti-Chinese riots.

Sources in the city said around 600 people had been detained on Saturday and another 300 had been picked up on Sunday. They said it was not clear where those rounded up were being detained because the main Drapchi prison in Lhasa is already believed to be virtually full.

Those detained could be taken to the old Number One prison in the Sangyip district in the northeast of Lhasa that is currently not believed to be in use.

They may be held in the nearby Number Four detention centre and the New Lhasa prison in the same district that has recently been used as a re-education-through-labour centre. They could even be taken to the new Chushur prison some distance outside Lhasa where most political prisoners are believed to be jailed after sentencing.

Chinese officials were not available to confirm the total number of arrests.

With the expiry on midnight yesterday of a deadline for the Tibetan protesters who on Friday stabbed and hacked ethnic Han Chinese, hurled rocks and set fire to offices, shops and schools, the search for those involved has gathered momentum.

In the Karma Lunsang district, a warren of old Tibetan homes in the east of the city that the authorities suspect has served as an important hideout for the protesters, police and paramilitary were going house to house to check identity papers. One witness said: “Many people have been taken away, but we don’t know how many.”

The sources said it was not known how many people might have surrendered in return for promises of leniency before the midnight deadline or how many had been arrested since Monday.

Police and troops were manning checkpoints across the city, checking all identity papers and it was still quite difficult for people to move easily through the streets.

Foreign journalists travelling in areas near Tibet have reported seeing movements of troops in the direction of the Himalayan region. Sources said garrisons of the People’s Liberation Army around Lhasa have been placed on a grade one alert in case of more trouble.

Chinese authorities have blamed Tibetan mobs manipulated by the exiled Dalai Lama for the deaths of 13 people in the riots on Friday. Tibetan exile groups have said as many as 100 people may have been killed as troops backed by armoured personnel carriers moved in to the city to quash the biggest protests against Chinese rule in 19 years.

Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Premier, in his first remarks on the unrest, accused the rioters of trying to disrupt the Olympic Games that start in Beijing on August 8. “They wanted to incite the sabotage of the Olympic Games in order to achieve their unspeakable goal.”

Although L0hasa was quiet, the unrest had spread to nearby provinces with large Tibetan populations. In northwestern Gansu, which borders Tibet, large numbers of ethnic Tibetans took to the streets late on Sunday, burning shops and business belonging to ethnic Han Chinese and Hui Muslims and burning 16 cars, said one witness.

From Monday night, all government offices had been ordered to remain on duty around the clock. A local government order said: “Without a notice, no one may leave their posts.”

In neighbouring Sichuan province, an ethnic Tibetan told Reuters he knew of no fresh outbreaks of unrest since Monday. “Now they are bringing back stability. There are so many police and People’s Armed Police it will be difficult for anything to spread. I’m sure the People’s Liberation Army is waiting too. In the background waiting, if the situation really gets out of hand.”

Kuwaiti cabinet resigns en masse March 18, 2008

Kuwait City: Kuwait’s entire cabinet resigned on Monday amid strained relationship between the legislative and executive powers in the country.

First Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and the cabinet members tendered their resignations to Prime Minister Shaikh Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah, state news agency KUNA reported.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Faisal Al-Hajji told KUNA the decision was taken following the weekly cabinet meeting Monday.

“The meeting mulled the tense relationship between the legislative and the executive authorities, taking into account the national interests,” he was quoted as saying.

“The government gives top priority to the interests of the citizens”.

The tension arose between cabinet members and legislators earlier this month after the latter demanded higher pay hikes for the nationals that what the government had announced.

In February, the Kuwaiti government had announced a salary hike of 120 Kuwaiti dinars ($440) for all Kuwaitis, including those working in the private sector.

Many legislators, however, said this was not enough given that Kuwait was selling its oil at record prices of over $90 a barrel, and demanded that the salary hike be increased by 50 more Kuwaiti dinars ($188) a month.

The government, however, stated that generous salaries for Kuwaitis were eating up half the state budget.

On Monday, Al-Hajji said, “The cabinet members took this step (of resigning en masse) with a view to serve the national interests in the first place.”

The CIA’s Secret War in Tibet March 17, 2008

Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison

320 pages, 24 photographs, 9 maps, 6-1/8 x 9-1/4
Modern War Studies
Cloth ISBN 978-0-7006-1159-1, $34.95

Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison reveal how America’s
Central Intelligence Agency encouraged Tibet’s revolt
against China–and eventually came to control its
fledgling resistance movement. They provide the first
comprehensive, as well as most compelling account of
this little known agency enterprise.

The CIA’s Secret War in Tibet takes readers from
training camps in the Colorado Rockies to the scene of
clandestine operations in the Himalayas, chronicling
the agency’s help in securing the Dalai Lama’s safe
passage to India and subsequent initiation of one of
the most remote covert campaigns of the Cold War.
Conboy and Morrison provide previously unreported
details about secret missions undertaken in
extraordinarily harsh conditions. Their book greatly
expands on previous memoirs by CIA officials by
putting virtually every major agency participant on
record with details of clandestine operations. It also
calls as witnesses the people who managed and fought
in the program–including Tibetan and Nepalese agents,
Indian intelligence officers, and even mission
aircrews.

Conboy and Morrison take pains to tell the story from
all perspectives, particularly that of the former
Tibetan guerrillas, many of whom have gone on record
here for the first time. The authors also tell how
Tibet led America and India to become secret partners
over the course
of several presidential administrations and cite
dozens of Indian and Tibetan intelligence documents
directly related to these covert operations.

As the movement for Tibetan liberation continues to
attract international support, Tibet’s status remains
a contentious issue in both Washington and Beijing.
This book takes readers inside a covert war fought
with Tibetan blood and U.S. sponsorship and allows us
to better understand the true nature of that
controversy.

“The inside story of one of the CIA’s most tragic
covert operations. Agency officers in the Wild East;
nationalist, religious, and ethnic conflict–this is
the stuff of a great yarn, which the authors tell in
engaging detail.”–John Prados, author of Presidents’
Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations from
World War II Through the Persian Gulf

“A masterful account of how the CIA sought to play the
‘new great game’ on the roof of the world.”–David F.
Rudgers, author of Creating the Secret State: Origins
of the Central Intelligence Agency, 1943–1947

“An excellent and impressive study of a major CIA
covert operation during the Cold War.”–William M.
Leary, author of Perilous Missions: Civil Air
Transport and CIA Covert Operations in Asia

KENNETH CONBOY is a former policy analyst and deputy
director at the Heritage Foundation whose other books
include Spies and Commandos: How America Lost the
Secret War in North Vietnam and Spies in the
Himalayas: Secret Missions and Perilous Climbs.

The late JAMES MORRISON was a thirty-year Army veteran
and the last training officer for the CIA-sponsored
Unity project. He coauthored numerous books with
Conboy, including Shadow War: The CIA’s Secret War in Laos

China sets deadline for rioters to surrender March 15, 2008

BEIJING (Reuters) – China set a “surrender deadline,” announced deaths and showed the first extensive television footage of rioting in Lhasa on Saturday, launching a crackdown after the worst unrest in Tibet for two decades.  

The response came following torrid protests on Friday which flew in the face of official claims the region was immune from unrest as Beijing readies to hold the Olympic Games in August.

Xinhua news agency said 10 “innocent civilians” burnt to death in fires that accompanied bitter street clashes in the remote, mountain capital on Friday. It said no foreigners died but gave few other details, and the report could not be verified.

Tibetan law-and-order departments offered leniency for participants who turn themselves in by Monday midnight.

“Criminals who do not surrender themselves by the deadline will be sternly punished according to the law,” stated the notice on the Tibetan government Web site (www.tibet.gov.cn). It added that those who “harbor or hide” them also face harsh treatment.

The government offered rewards and protection for informers.

But a source close to the self-proclaimed Tibetan government-in-exile suggested China’s death toll of 10 was not the full story. He said at least five Tibetan protesters were shot dead by troops. Other groups supporting Tibetan independence have claimed many more may have died.

The Olympic torch arrives in Lhasa in a matter of weeks.

China has accused followers of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, of masterminding the rioting, which has scarred its image of national harmony in the build-up to the Beijing Olympics.

“This was closely planned by the Dalai clique to separate Tibet from the motherland,” said the regional government notice, adding the claim that the burning of schools, hospitals, shops and houses was “premeditated.”

A rash of angry blog posts appeared after China confirmed deaths in Lhasa and Hollywood actor Richard Gere, a Buddhist and an activist for Tibetan causes, suggested an Olympic boycott.

“Westerners think they know all about China, telling us that this, that and the other is bad,” wrote one blogger, who listed historical reasons justifying Tibet’s inclusion in China.

Tibetan crowds in the remote mountain city attacked government offices, burnt vehicles and shops and threw stones at police on Friday in bloody confrontations that left many injured.

A Reuters picture showed a protester setting afire a Chinese national flag. Another depicted security personnel shielding themselves against rocks hurled by protesters. Television footage showed plumes of smoke rising over Lhasa and buildings ablaze.

Qiangba Puncog, the top government official in Tibet, told reporters in Beijing that Tibetan authorities had not fired any shots to quell the violence.

But the International Campaign for Tibet cited unconfirmed reports of scores of Tibetans killed. John Ackerly of the group said in an e-mailed statement he feared “hundreds of Tibetans have been arrested and are being interrogated and tortured.”

Danish tourist Bente Walle, 58, said Lhasa was like a ghost town on Saturday.

“Today Lhasa is completely closed and there is Chinese military all over,” she said, adding that many people were tying white prayer scarves on doors. “The Tibetans put them on their doors to tell everybody: here is a Tibetan.”

NO CHANGE OF POLICY

The riots emerged from a volatile mix of pre-Olympics protests, diplomatic friction over Tibet and local discontent with the harsh ways of the region’s Party leadership.

China has chided the leaders of the United States and especially Germany in past months for hosting the Dalai Lama, saying such acts boost what they call his “separatist” goals. It has also urged India to stop protests there by exiled Tibetans.

“We are fully capable of maintaining the social stability of Tibet,” Xinhua quoted an official as saying in a statement repeated across Chinese state media on Saturday.

But already the protests have become an international issue in relation to Beijing’s Games, which China hopes will showcase its economic progress and social harmony.

Asked whether he thought the unrest in Tibet would affect the torch relay, Sun Weide, spokesman for the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, said no.

“The preparations for the Torch relay in Tibet and taking the flame up Mount Qomolangma have been progressing smoothly,” he said. Mount Qomolangma is better known as Mount Everest.

(Additional reporting by Guo Shipeng, Nick Mulvenney and Ben Blanchard in Beijing, John Ruwitch in Chengdu and Sophie Taylor in Shanghai; Editing by Nick Macfie and Jerry Norton)

Politicians Versus Establishment March 2, 2008

By Husain Haqqani

The aftermath of Pakistan’s February 18 parliamentary election has created hope of ending Pakistan’s political dysfunction. The voters overwhelmingly rejected supporters of General (retired) Pervez Musharraf at the polls and the leaders of the country’s major political parties have agreed to work together to build a democratic political order. Pakistan’s politicians have clearly scored a major victory against what is euphemistically called “the establishment” in Pakistan. But the battle between “the establishment” and the politicians is far from over.

Musharraf has yet to understand that his rejection by the people requires him either to step down or, at least, accept a diminution of his role. Soon after Election Day, he extended the tenure of the head of the Intelligence Bureau, a man accused by the late Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto of possibly plotting to kill her. It is as if Musharraf sees the election results as comparable to the victory of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the 1988 polls held immediately after the death of General Ziaul Haq. Then, Ziaul Haq’s successor Ghulam Ishaq Khan retained considerable influence as President even after Ms Bhutto became prime minister and eventually used Zia’s constitutional amendments to overthrow the elected government. But in 1988, Pakistan’s establishment had not been as thoroughly discredited as it is now.

President Ghulam Ishaq Khan benefited from being different from Ziaul Haq, the hated dictator. The army remained politically engaged, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had little experience of the establishment’s maneuvers and the pro-Zia politicians retained considerable political strength. This time, the country’s major political parties have agreed on a common minimum platform that aims at restoring the Pakistani constitution, rehabilitating its judiciary and moving towards national reconciliation. The army appears to have decided to pull out of politics. The nation and the international community have little stomach for covert political manipulation at a time when Pakistan faces a serious threat from terrorists. If Musharraf is hoping to undermine the new political order with the help of the IB just as the establishment had chipped away at the politicians’ popularity in the 1990s, he should definitely think twice before dashing the nation’s hopes.

That said, “the establishment,” made up of politicized generals, intelligence officials, and Pakistan’s managerial class –bankers, civil servants, some overseas businessmen, World Bank beneficiaries and former or current IMF employees –will not give up easily.

Soon there will be rumors of corruption and mismanagement to discredit the elected leadership and a concerted effort to create rifts among them. So far PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and the PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif have shown that the politicians have learnt from the experience of the 1990s. Mr. Zardari, in particular, has emerged as a statesman in contrast with the demonization to which he was subjected for being married to Mohtarma Bhutto, Pakistan’s most popular anti-establishment politician.

It would be poetic justice indeed if the man most vilified over the years by “the establishment” is the one who leads Pakistan’s political forces to success against manipulated governance. The military-led establishment has dominated Pakistan’s politics for most of its sixty-year existence as an independent country. In the past, coup-making generals, like Musharraf, have taken advantage of differences among politicians instead of allowing politicians with popular support to negotiate compromises and run the country according to its constitution. The priority of Pakistan’s establishment has been to create a centralized state, focused on the perceived threat from India with the help of the United States. American assistance is obtained by allying with Washington’s strategic concern of the day, which in turn has led to over-engagement by the military on several fronts.

Many of Pakistan’s problems, such as the influence of Jihadi extremists and difficult relations with Afghanistan and India can be traced to the ascendancy of strategic military doctrine at the expense of domestic stability and democratic decision-making. All that could now change if the army stays its new course of disengagement from politics and the politicians can work together rather than against each other.

A future government of national unity led by elected politicians should try and end the political role of intelligence services. For too long, an all powerful intelligence community has run -and most observers would agree, ruined -Pakistan by fixing elections, dividing parties and buying off politicians. If the politicians prevail, the war against terrorism would be fought to eliminate out of control Jihadi groups previously nurtured or tolerated by the Pakistani State, not to secure additional funding from the United States. An elected Pakistani government might be less amendable, say, to requests for rendition of Pakistani citizens. But it would almost certainly be interested in rooting out Al-Qaeda and stopping cross-border Taliban terrorism in Afghanistan. The civilians would also seek a clearer strategy against militant Talibanization within Pakistan, particularly because they have a clear popular mandate in the form of electoral rejection of Islamists.

The PPP leadership and the PML-N also seem to agree on normalization of relations with India and this time there is little likelihood that any side would paint the other as being “soft” on India. After initial confrontation, even Musharraf has come around to managing a relatively quiet relationship with Pakistan’s larger South Asian neighbor making it difficult for the establishment to play the India card to discredit popular politicians. During the run up to the recent elections, none of the major political parties highlighted Pakistan’s dispute with India over Kashmir. That raises expectations of a political consensus on developing normal relations with India without insisting on prior resolution of the Kashmir issue. In the past, any politician seeking friendly ties with India has faced criticism from rivals, prodded by the establishment, seeking to tap into anti-India sentiment within Pakistan.

The need of the hour in Pakistan is a “grand national compromise” that brings to an end the vilification and demonization of some politicians, restores the military’s prestige and ends its political role, limits the intelligence agencies to external security functions and results in a government that unites the Pakistani nation against terrorism and disintegration. Pakistan’s foreign policy also needs to be re-oriented towards friendlier relations with Pakistan’s immediate neighbors instead of being centered merely on scoring points in distant major world capitals. For this to happen, politicians and the permanent state apparatus must become partners, bringing to an end the subordinate relationship that Musharraf had created with handpicked politicians.

If the anti-Musharraf parties can work together, and the army’s neutrality keeps Musharraf from rocking the boat by undermining the system again, Pakistan could now be run according to its constitution. An independent judiciary and a free media would then become the guardians against abuse of power by elected officials. Corruption would probably continue as it has for years but it would be dealt with by the courts and the voters, not by coups d’etat or allegations spread by intelligence agencies. Musharraf has a few days to decide whether he wants to become part of this Grand National Compromise that limits, if not immediately ends, the establishment’s disastrous dominance over Pakistan’s political life.

Husain Haqqani, Director of Boston University’s Center for International Relations, is Co-Chair of the Hudson Institute’s Project on Islam and Democracy. He is the author of the Carnegie Endowment book ‘Pakistan Between Mosque and Military’ (2005) and served as an adviser to former prime ministers, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.