India publishes 'proof' dossier on Mumbai attacks

India dramatically ramped up its diplomatic offensive against Pakistan today, releasing evidence linking "elements" in the neighbouring nuclear-armed state to the Mumbai terror attacks for the first time.

A dossier handed to Pakistan's high commission in Delhi included interceptions of telephone calls made between the ten Mumbai gunmen and their alleged handlers in Pakistan during the attacks. "The commanders in Pakistan are following events on television and are issuing real-time instructions; telling the gunmen to target certain nationalities and religions; to maximise casualties; not to touch Muslims. This is hands-on direction," a senior Indian government official told The Times.

The commands included the order to execute six foreign Jews held at Nariman House, an orthodox Jewish outreach centre, during the Mumbai atrocities, which claimed more than 170 lives in all.

Those giving the orders are alleged to be senior members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Pakistan-based terrorist faction that Indian officials believe still has the support of Pakistan's powerful spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). They include Zarar Shah, the LeT's communications chief, who has been arrested in Pakistan and is believed to have admitted his role to Pakistani investigators. "He played a major part," Rakesh Maria, the officer in charge of the police investigation in Mumbai, said

The dossier, which has also been passed to diplomats from countries including the UK and US, also includes an alleged confession from Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the sole Mumbai gunman to be captured alive. He says he is a Pakistani national who was trained for more than a year by the LeT in Pakistan. Details of the terrorists' weapons, GPS navigation systems and satellite and mobile phones are also included.

India expects the dossier to increase international pressure on Pakistan to dismantle the support network used by Islamist militants within its borders, much of which dates back to the CIA's backing of Pakistan-based jihadists against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan during the Cold War.

India is also demanding that Pakistan hand over several terror suspects linked to the Mumbai attacks. However, Islamabad has already said it would not comply to such a request and may settle for access being given to them by the FBI, which helped compile key parts of the Indian dossier.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said: "It is my duty to examine the dossier carefully and be truthful to myself, to my country and the neighbourhood."

However, the file is unlikely to contain much that Pakistan's security services are not already aware of, analysts said. Ajit Doval, a former director of India's Intelligence Bureau, said: "It will not carry anything spectacular; more likely it will contain refinements of information already widely known. In any case, Pakistan already has more than enough evidence to act upon if they are willing."

Publically, Pakistan government officials have said that India has failed to provide proof of the involvement of Pakistani nationals in the Mumbai strikes. However, Pakistan's own investigators have already arrested Mr Shah, of the LeT, who has told them that he was in contact with the gunmen who carried out the attack.

Mr Shah was arrested in December in a raid on a militant camp in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. His detention came as tensions sharply escalated between India and Pakistan over the Mumbai issue. In recent days, both countries have insisted they have no appetite for war but each has pointedly refused to rule out the possibility of conflict.

The Indian dossier falls short of explicitly implicating the Pakistani state in the Mumbai attacks but hints strongly at the involvement of the country's powerful spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which helped create the LeT. Shivshankar Menon, India's foreign secretary, said: "It's hard to believe that something of this scale that took so long in preparation ... could occur without anybody anywhere in the [Pakistani] establishment knowing that this was happening."

Over the weekend, P Chidambaram, the Home Minister, said that the dossier was "unanswerable. No one in his right mind can give answer to this evidence." He also pointed a finger at the ISI. He said:

"Somebody who is familiar with intelligence and somebody who is familiar with commando operations has directed this operation. And that can not be entirely a non-state actor."

Pakistans Failures

In 2005 Pakistan ranked 34 in the list of “Top Failed States of the world”, when the list was first published.

Today, in 2007, Pakistan is now ranking at position 12 in the same list! Look at the massive jump in just a span of 2 years of the Musharaff led military rule, towards becoming the top most failed state! Even at position 12, Pakistan is not there because it is better than 11 other top failed states, but is there because there are 11 other states like Sudan, Congo, Somalia etc that are even worse than Pakistan! Even countries like North Korea, Bangladesh and Uganda are ranking better than Pakistan in the list!

Failure of Democracy

The very fact that no elected government in Pakistan has completed its full term in these 60 years proves the gross failure of Democracy as an idea in Pakistan.

The very fact that for over 40 years the country has been under military rule and continues to be under military rule even today proves the failure of democracy there.

Musharraff was just about to impose emergency in the state a few days back! I don’t think he has dropped the plan, he has just postponed it.

Failure of the idea of a state

The first great failure of the idea of the state of Pakistan occurred in 1971. The till then East Pakistan revolted against the very idea of Pakistan and emerged as an independent nation called Bangladesh. This very break up proved that fact that the idea of a Islamic Nation in the form of Pakistan was wrong. Even today more muslims live in India than in Pakistan itself! The partition of India broke the country into two pieces in 1947, the first logical end of this was reached when Pakistan itself got broken into two pieces after that in 1971.

Failure of Science and Technology

Just like any other fundamentalist Islamic state, Pakistan has been a big flop in the field of science and technology. There have been no worth while scientific contributions that have come out of this country in the past 60 years. How can one expect any scientific research from a country where the youth are trained how to tie bombs around themselves and explode! Where the youth are recruited to cause destruction and havoc all over the world, including inside Pakistan!

Its nuclear tests in 1998 were as a response to the Indian tests and not a real test to test its weapons capability. The world scientific community laughed at Pakistan for this immature act.

Its missile tests always take place in response to Indian missile tests. I don’t think this is a scientific process of conducting any tests. The whole world knows that Pakistani missiles are of Chinese and North Korean origin.

Its top scientist, the so called Father of Pakistani nuclear bomb (or the Islamic Bomb as they would prefer to call it), A Q Khan, ran a nuclear black market selling the nuclear technology to other nations and groups. He had stolen blue prints of nuclear centrifuges in Netherlands and even today has a non bailable arrest warrant against him in Netherlands for this crime. Such is the story of its top scientist, who under pressure from Musharraff had to come on the national television and issue a public apology for letting down the nation! Pakistan is a black listed nuclear state in the world today!

During the Kargil War Which some Pakistani fools claim to be their Victory

International concerns increased when Pakistani foreign secretary Shamshad Ahmad made a statement on May 31 warning that an escalation of the limited conflict could lead Pakistan to use "any weapon" in its arsenal. This was immediately interpreted as a threat of nuclear retaliation by Pakistan to India in the event of an extended war.

Following that
The leader of Pakistan's senate noted, "The purpose of developing nuclear weapons becomes meaningless if they are not used when they are needed.

USA was Vey Tensed and called Sharif and threatened him of its dire consequence..Following that Sharif called back his army men from kargil.


Sharif later claimed in his official biography that General Pervez Musharraf had moved nuclear warheads without informing him.

Following that
Recently however, Pervez Musharraf revealed in his memoirs that Pakistan’s nuclear delivery system was not operational during the Kargil war; something that would have put Pakistan under serious disadvantage if the conflict went nuclear war.

Failure of Religion

Religion as an idea has failed in keeping Pakistan together as a nation. The separation of Bangladesh was the first failure.

But a bigger threat lies on Pakistan today, in the form of the possible separation of Baluchistan. The Baluchis are not happy with the state of Pakistan and want a separate nation for Baluchistan.

Look at the documentary videos here which shows in detail the fight for an Independent Baluchistan and the reason behind the struggle.

Similarly there is also a movement going on for an independent Sindhudesh

Some even feel that the division of Pakistan is the only way to root out terrorism.

Success of Religious Extremism

Hasan Askari, former head of the Political Science Department of the Punjab University, Pakistan, says “that Pakistan can no longer be described as a moderate and tolerant society”.

Which is of course true, given the fact that even the orphans of earth quake victims were not spared and were recruited by the terrorist organizations in Pakistan!

The recent Lal Masjid incident proves this once again. Given the threat from this terrorist state, US has talked of military actions on Pakistan.

There is a resurgent Taliban and AlQaida in Pakistan today, and Musharraff is simply not able to control it or perhaps does not want to control it. As many say, he is probably playing hunting with the hounds and running with the hare by being with the US and allies on the war against terrorism on one side, and supporting the same terrorists against India and Afghanistan on the other side!

Even the action at Lal Masjid was taken by Musharraff because of the Chinese pressure as the Chinese nationals were kidnapped by the terrorists.

The Way Ahead

The common man of Pakistan is the answer to all its problems. The common man has to come out on the streets, take over the government, form a true democracy, reject all forms of religious intolerance and extremism, and develop the country.

The common man till to date has been a silent voice in Pakistan. It is the opportunistic politicians, military, ISI that have been playing the cards to decide the Pakistani future. It is high time that the common man in the streets of Pakistan takes charge of the country. Unless this happens, there is little hope for Pakistan.

http://hitxp.wordpress.com/2007/08/14/pakistan-a-great-failure-of-60-years/

Pakistans U Turns: On Bhutttos Death

In a dramatic U-turn, Pakistan government has "apologised" for claiming that former premier Benazir Bhutto died of a skull fracture after hitting the sunroof of her car during a suicide attack.

Caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan has asked the media and people to "forgive and ignore" comments made by his ministry's spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema which were slammed by her Pakistan People's Party as "lies" and led to an uproar at home and abroad.

The Interior Minister made the apology during a briefing for Pakistani newspaper editors on Monday. Punjab province on Tuesday issued a front-page advertisement in newspapers that offered a reward of Rs 1 crore for information about a gunman and a suspected suicide bomber seen in the photos and video footage of the assassination.

The government's apparent damage control exercise on Cheema's comments made at a news conference a day after Bhutto was assassinated at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27, came after TV channels aired privately shot photos and video footage which showed a gunman shooting at Bhutto.

The Pakistan People's Party leader is seen in the footage falling through the sun-roof before the suicide bomber detonated his explosives. The briefing by caretaker Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro was also attended by the foreign, interior and information ministers and senior officials.

"Editor after editor lambasted the government for its non-serious attitude towards the tragedy, specially the statement that Bhutto had died by hitting the lever and not (due to) a bullet or shrapnel," The News reported.

During the briefing, an editor asked why spokesman Cheema had said that a lever on the sun-roof had caused a fatal injury when the manufacturers of the car and Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari had stated that there was no metallic lever that could have caused the wound.

Khan said the spokesman's comments may have been a mistake as "we are faujis (soldiers) and we are not so articulate to present our views as you journalists can". Both the interior minister and spokesman Cheema are retired army officers.

"I am sorry if that happened and please forgive us and ignore the comment," he told the editors. Earlier, Prime Minister Soomro tried to defend the interior ministry's spokesman, saying he was just relaying facts that had been told to him, especially about the cause of death.

"We are conducting an investigation and all TV footage, all evidence, that would be available will help in reaching a definite conclusion," Soomro told the editors.

But the editors asked more questions, especially with reference to the medical report of doctors of Rawalpindi General Hospital who treated Bhutto.

They "emphatically pointed out that the report quoted by the spokesman never mentioned the cause of the head injury" to Bhutto. The report only said there was a skull fracture which caused cardio-pulmonary arrest, the editors pointed out. Soomro then referred the issue to Interior Minister Khan. He explained in detail the security measures taken and asserted that Bhutto had a bulletproof vehicle which could not be damaged by a bomb or bullets.

Once she was inside it, she was secure and police vans were trying to keep her car clear of other vehicles. But when she emerged from the sun-roof she exposed herself to an attack, Khan said.

"Nothing would have happened to her even if every one in the world had wanted to hurt her," the Minister added. Soomro was repeatedly asked whether he would allow a foreign investigation into the murder but he asserted that Pakistani experts were competent to do the job.

His denial raised questions from the editors about the offer made by President Pervez Musharraf to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to consider foreign help in probing the assassination.

Meanwhile, the advertisement issued by Punjab's Home Ministry included two photos of the suspected assailant and the severed head of the suspected bomber.

"The public is hereby informed that the two individuals in the above photographs are the accused terrorists in the Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi terror attack, which resulted in the death of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and others," it said.

"The government of Punjab has announced a cash award of Rs 1 crore for lead information and any solid evidence." The advertisement said the names of persons providing any information would be kept "strictly confidential". It also sought the cooperation of the people for "dismantling of terrorist network".

Pakistans U Turns: On Masood Azar

Masood Azhar not under house arrest: Pakistan

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi, Dec 18: In a complete U-turn, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi denied that Maulana Masood Azhar, one of India’s most wanted terrorist, was under house arrest.

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`No evidence that Mumbai attackers were from Pak`

"Maulana Masood Azhar is wanted by the government of Pakistan, but he is not in our custody and he is at large," the Pak Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was quoted by a TV channel.

The Foreign Minister’s stand also seconded by Pakistani envoy to India Shahid Malik.

"We are looking for him. He is not under house arrest. As far as I know, it (news report of Azhar's house arrest) is wrong. He is not in Pakistan...We don't know where he is," the Pakistani envoy said.

The statements contradicted Pakistani Defence Minister Chaudhary Mukhtar Ahmad's remarks in an interview to a TV channel last week that Azhar was placed under house arrest but would not be handed over to India.

Malik was asked why Pakistan cannot hand over Azhar, who was released from an Indian prison and handed over by India to terrorists in exchange for passengers of a hijacked Indian Airlines plane in 1999.

The Pakistani envoy also said that Dawood Ibrahim, the mob boss wanted by India for the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings, was not in Pakistan as claimed by New Delhi.

"The fact of the matter is that he is not in Pakistan," the envoy said when asked whether Pakistan will extradite Dawood Ibrahim if India provides evidence of his presence in Pakistan.

Malik also asserted that Pakistan's spy agency ISI has no links with Laskhar-e-Taiba, the militant group suspected to behind the Nov 26 Mumbai carnage.

Pakistans U Turn: Alleges airspace violation

Breaking News! Pakistan made a U-turn from its earlier stand that there was just a technical incursion by the IAF planes and lodged an official protest against the alleged airspace violation by Indian Aircrafts on Dec 12 and 13.

It's an irony that Pakistani authorities decided to complain about airspace violation by India even after their President Asif Ali Zardari termed the reports as "media hype" and maintained that there were only some 'technical' and "inadvertent" incursion not of serious nature. Zardari had made that statement in a joint press conference with British PM Gordon Brown.

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry has lodged the complaint with the Indian Deputy High Commissioner, Manpreet Vohra. The decision was reportedly taken after the government was criticized by the media and other political parties for going "soft" on India.

Earlier, Pakistan Foreign Minister had made another U-turn by denying the alleged detention of JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar. Pakistan government had earlier claimed that Masood Azhar was put under house arrest. There is little doubt that Pakistan government and Pakistani people are living in denial and they don't know what stand to take vis-a-vis global fight against terrorism.

Pakistans U Turns:Shariff

ISLAMABAD: In a U-turn, former premier Nawaz Sharif, who last week indicated that the captured Mumbai attacker Mohammad Ajmal Amir was a Pakistani, has said India should provide evidence for Islamabad to take action or else stop creating tension through "fake allegations".

"Pakistan, as a state and as a government, is not at all involved in the incident," the leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), said. "If India provides evidence to Pakistan, the country will look into them and take action."

Sharif said he would request president Asif Ali Zardari to take stern action if India provides evidence of the involvement of Pakistani elements in the terror attacks.

"If we get the evidence, I will personally go to president Zardari and ask him to take stern action against such people," Sharif said at a ceremony held ahead of Christmas at the chief minister's secretariat in Lahore on Tuesday.

If the Indian government does not have any evidence, it should avoid creating tensions through "fake allegations", he said.

Sharif's latest remarks follow his statement on Friday last when he indicated that Ajmal was from Pakistan, embarrassing the government here. "It has been said this individual named Ajmal hails from Faridkot village (in Pakistan's Punjab province). I have seen and I personally got this checked -- the village and its surrounding areas were cordoned off. His parents are not being allowed to meet anyone," Sharif had told Geo News.

But the PML-N chief on Tuesday said Pakistan would act immediately if the Indian government gave evidence of the attacks. Sharif said Pakistan wants friendly and peaceful relations with India and is committed to helping New Delhi hunt down the perpetrators of the attacks.

Terrorism is "poisonous for society" and nobody wants to live in a tense situation, he said. The former premier also warned the leadership of India and Pakistan against making irresponsible statements, saying this would further aggravate the situation.

Sharif said it would be better for the future of both countries if they resolved their differences through dialogue. India has blamed Pakistan-based elements, including the
banned Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group, for the Mumbai attacks.

It has asked Pakistan to take action against these elements. Pakistan has said it cannot push forward its probe into the attacks till India formally shares evidence with it.

Referring to the domestic political situation, Sharif said he did not believe in any minority or majority. He classified people who believed in the rule of law, supremacy of the Constitution, good governance, and independence of the judiciary as the majority in Pakistan. Those who wanted the status quo, concentration of national resources in a few hands, and violation of merit were in the minority, Sharif said.

Pakistan U-Turns On Sending Spy Chief to India

Mumbai Attack:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan on Saturday withdrew an offer to send its spy chief to India to help investigate the Mumbai terrorist attacks, damaging efforts to head off a crisis between the nuclear-armed rivals. Indian officials have linked the attacks to "elements" in Pakistan, raising the prospect of a breakdown in painstaking peace talks between South Asian rivals that has alarmed the U.S.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081129/pakistan-u-turns-on-sending-spy-chief-to-india.htm

Pakistans U Turns: on ISI

ISLAMABAD: Confusion reigned over the exact status of Pakistan’s controversial intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), a day after the government announced it had placed the ISI under the control of the Interior Ministry.

A notification on Saturday said the ISI and Intelligence Bureau had been placed “under the administrative, financial and operational control” of the Interior Ministry “with immediate effect.”

In a statement on Sunday, the government said its notification regarding the ISI was “misinterpreted.” It said the agency, which is Pakistan’s largest and most powerful spy organisation both for external and internal intelligence, would continue to report to the Prime Minister.

According to the statement, Saturday’s notification “only re-emphasises more coordination between Ministry of Interior and ISI in relation to war on terror and internal security.” It said the details would be made clear in a “comprehensive notification.”

The ISI is supposed to be under the Prime Minister’s control but with a mainly military set-up, is known to function as an arm of the Pakistan military. A serving Lieutenant-General heads the organisation, and a lot of its manpower is drawn from the military.

In periods of military rule, the chain of command for the ISI has been straightforward. There is no Prime Minister or else he is redundant and the ISI reports to the military ruler. This was the case until President Pervez Musharraf was the ruler, with all intelligence agencies directly under his command.

‘State within a state’

But civilian governments have struggled to rule over the ISI, which is described even within Pakistan as “a state within a state.” In the present case, the ISI chief, Lt. Gen Nadeem Taj, is a Musharraf-appointee and is related to him. Saturday’s decision was seen as a move by a popularly elected government to take charge of the intelligence agencies.

PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said placing the ISI under the control of the Interior Ministry was a “step towards civilian rule” and would help save the Army from controversies and a bad name.

Mr. Zardari told The News from Dubai, where he is presently camping, that “a strong Army with non-political command was the need of the time” and expressed the hope “that positive results will come out from this historic decision.”

He said that in future, the enemies of Pakistan would not be able to defame the ISI. “Nobody will say that this agency is not under the control of an elected government as the Interior Ministry will be responsible for responding to the allegations against the ISI,” he said.

The News also said unnamed top officials of the Interior Ministry said the decision to place the ISI and the IB under the Interior Division was taken with the consent of the Army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The government’s “clarification” followed criticism from several quarters. Many saw it as a as a move to empower Rehman Malik, a Zardari confidante who functions as the Interior Minister. Those opposing the decision said it was not a step in the direction of democratic rule, but the very opposite, as it took away powers from an elected Prime Minister and empowered an unelected official. Mr. Malik is not an MP. Saturday’s notification, if implemented, virtually makes Mr. Malik the most powerful man in the country, with two intelligence agencies reporting directly to him.

Others took exception to placing the ISI under the Interior Minister, saying this would jeopardise national security. They argued the ISI functions at the strategic level relating to external counter-intelligence, while the Interior Ministry deals with policy matters relating to internal law and order only. “It’s an absolutely wrong decision from every prospective,”Reuters quoted Mushahid Hussain Sayed, secretary-general of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League, as saying. “Instead of taking ISI out of politics, the government has injected partisan politics in ISI,” he said, adding: “It will be detrimental to national security.”

But Pakistani media quoted “experts” saying the ISI’s functioning style would not be affected even under the Interior Ministry. The Dawn quoted a senior official saying the ISI was used to working “autonomously” even when it was under the Prime Minister, and it would continue in the same way under the Interior Ministry.

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