Explosion at Pakistan Marriott hotel kills 40

NF Reporter · 09-20-2008, 01:14 PM

AP - A massive suicide truck bomb devastated the heavily guarded Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital Saturday, killing at least 40 people and wounding at least 100. Officials feared there were dozens more dead inside the burning building.

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waltky · 09-30-2008, 12:48 AM

ISI re-organized...

Major reshuffle in ISI, new chief appointed
30 Sep 2008, In a major reshuffle in the hierarchy of the Pakistan Army, Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha was on Monday appointed the new chief of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

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Fourteen new appointments were made and several corps commanders were changed as part of the reshuffle by the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, Dawn News channel reported. Pasha, who was serving as Director General of Military Operations in the General Headquarters, will replace Lt Gen Nadeem Taj a distant relative of former President Pervez Musharraf as Director General of the ISI. Taj was transferred to head the Gujranwala-based 30 Corps. He was appointed as head of the ISI in September last year, shortly before Musharraf stepped down as army chief.

Taj was with Musharraf when the government of former premier Nawaz Sharif allegedly tried to prevent the aircraft carrying them back to Pakistan from Sri Lanka from landing in Karachi in October 1999. Shortly thereafter, Musharraf deposed Sharif and took power in a military coup. The reshuffle in the army followed the promotion of seven major generals to the rank of lieutenant general earlier in the day. The officers who were promoted are Ahmad Shuja Pasha, Tahir Mahmood, Shahid Iqbal (all from the infantry), Tanvir Tahir (EME), Zahid Hussain (artillery), Mohammad Mustafa Khan and Ayaz Saleem Rana (armoured corps). Lt Gen Mohammad Mustafa Khan was appointed Chief of General Staff and Lt Gen Shahid Iqbal the commander of the Karachi-based 5 Corps.

The reshuffle was widely anticipated in the wake of Musharraf's resignation as President last month as army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was expected to make changes in the force's hierarchy to bring in a new set of commanders. Since taking over as chief, Kayani has distanced the army from politics to focus on combating militancy in Pakistan's restive tribal areas. The US has stepped up pressure for reforms within the ISI after the agency was linked to the July 7 suicide bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul that killed 58 people.

World-The Times of India

waltky · 10-01-2008, 02:42 AM

Fearless W stepped in an' straightened `em out...

US behind change of guard in ISI?
1 Oct 2008, Pakistan’s powerful army chief reshuffled top commanders, naming a new director for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) two weeks after the Bush administration called for the agency’s overhaul.

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The appointments were the first major command changes by Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani since he succeeded former president Pervez Musharraf 10 months ago at the head of the army. Kayani named Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha to head the ISI in place of Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj.

The US had been pressing Pakistan hard to replace Taj as late as Sunday night. Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari reportedly met CIA director Michael Hayden this weekend in New York. What they discussed specifically is unclear but Hayden had reportedly provided PM Yousaf Raza Gilani with a proposal for “ISI reform” in July.

On September 16, US assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher urged “reform” of the ISI. While he declined to specify the US-desired reforms, retired US officials have reported a spreading conviction in the US government that elements of ISI are undermining the “war on terror” by supporting the Taliban and allied militants. The Central Intelligence Agency has found proof that ISI has in recent years helped the Taliban by leaking plans for US-led operations against them, former CIA counter-terrorism chief Vince Cannistraro said.

Source

waltky · 10-16-2008, 02:20 AM

Now that Musharraf is gone, terrorists tryin' to take over Pakistan...

'Taliban, Qaida trying to take over Pakistan'
15 Oct 2008, Could Pakistan fall to a Taliban-al-Qaida coup? Is India looking at the possibility of a Talibanized neighbour to its west, one with ac
cess to nuclear weapons?

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If Pakistan's senior minister for information Sherry Rahman is to be believed, Pakistan is in the midst of a serious internal security threat from a collection of Taliban, al-Qaida and J&K terrorist elements who want to take over the country. Indian security sources said they have been receiving reports of a steady infiltration of Taliban and al-Qaida elements in Pakistan's biggest cities of Lahore and Karachi recently. In fact, in a recent incident which rang alarm bells, there were a number of Taliban posters in Karachi and Taliban spokespersons were quoted promising a better government in Sindh.

Rahman's statements were made during an in-camera briefing on national security and the war on terror in Pakistan's national assembly on Tuesday. Rahman went on to state that the Taliban, who are trying to oust the Pakistan government, also had links with their Afghan counterparts and groups operating in J&K. While the fear of Taliban influence in Pakistan has increased in recent years, the latest assertions by a senior Pakistan minister linking the Taliban with J&K terror groups are a cause for concern in India. India has been concerned about Taliban making inroads into urban areas and cities of Pakistan which are located close to the border. Only two days ago, MQM leader Altaf Hussain made a statement that more than 400,000 Taliban men had infiltrated Karachi.

The Pakistani media recently carried reports about Taliban warning traders in Lahore not to sell "immoral" stuff. Meanwhile, Pakistan's NSA Mahmud Ali Durrani on Tuesday called on the PM, foreign minister and the foreign secretary. He also interacted with the National Security Council Secretariat and members of the National Security Advisory Board. Durrani, who met NSA M K Narayanan on Monday, denied any ISI role in the blast at the Indian embassy in Kabul. He described the reports as "incorrect". India had taken up the issue of Kabul bombing and ceasefire violations along the LoC in a big way with Durrani. The two sides have also agreed for a joint anti-terror mechanism meeting later this month.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/3596429.cms

waltky · 10-22-2008, 03:38 AM

Pakistan's economic instability contributes to violence...

Pakistan Heading for Economic Meltdown?
Oct. 21, 2008 - Pakistan's Economy Woes Compound Its Security Problems

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Staring an economic crisis in the face, Pakistan is meeting with the International Monetary Fund today in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with hat in hand, asking the organization for badly needed funds that would save the country from default. And in Islamabad, staring at his own empty pockets, 33-year-old Mohammad Asfir had to tell his son he wouldn't get any toys for his birthday. "I am coming from toy shop. The birthday of my kid. He was insisting me to get some toys, but I was unable," Asfir said, while walking through an Islamabad market. "Not only economy is in depression. … All of us are in depression."

Such is the state of Pakistan's economy today. Asfir worried about how he could support his family on an accountant's wage. Pakistan's current deficit soared to $14 billion this year, threatening to prevent the country from being able to pay its foreign debts. Twenty-four percent inflation in the cities -- and even higher in rural areas -- has made everyday items, especially food, unaffordable for many Pakistanis. In the last year, 10 million people have become undernourished and now nearly half the country can be considered food insecure, according to the United Nations. The deepening economic crisis, in addition to a huge deficiency of electricity, comes during a time when Pakistan's security has never been worse.

Suicide bombers have struck 88 times, killing more than 1,100 people since July. That pushes badly needed foreign investment away. It also creates a combustible environment in which al Qaeda and Taliban thrive, threatening to destabilize a nuclear country on the front lines of the war on terror. From Pakistan, militants launch daily attacks on American troops in Afghanistan. "The loss of lives and economic cost imposed by this war are now rising to an unbearable level," said Shaukat Tarin, the governor of the Bank for Pakistan, at the World Bank and the IMF in Washington this month.

More ABC News: Pakistan Heading for Economic Meltdown?