| |
Musharraf tightens his
grip
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - The deteriorating situation in Afghanistan combined with
a possible United States-led attack on Iraq
and growing anti-US sentiments in Pakistan are creating
a groundswell of dissent from hawkish elements within
the Pakistan army - dissent that President General Pervez
Musharraf is attempting to quell through new plans to
reshuffle the army leadership.
Well-placed
sources told this correspondent that the reshuffle,
which could take place within weeks, is expected to
involve all crucial positions - including the important
army corps based in Rawalpindi, Mangla, Karachi,
Peshawar and Quetta.
Changes
are also expected in the
first and second tiers of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),
including the replacement of the present ISI
director-general, Lieutenant-General Ehsan ul Haq, with
the present Corps Commander of Mangla,
Lieutenant-General Javed Alam Khan. At the same time,
the heads of the ISI's internal and external wings are
also likely to be changed.
The
impending changes come against a background of Pakistan's
failure over the past year to maintain influence
over important factions currently vying for power
in Afghanistan. After the Taliban retreated from
Afghanistan in early 2002, Pakistan's strategic interests suffered due to its
relations with its neighbor to the west, where the new
president, Hamid Karzai, although a Pashtun, is perceived
as a US puppet.
After former Afghan prime
minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was expelled from Iran last
year, he took over command of the shattered network of
Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan militants and emerged as a
leading resistance leader in Afghanistan against US
forces. Asia Times Online pointed out last year (The
new Afghan jihad is born) that Pakistan, desperate
to maintain influence in Afghanistan, had revived its
former contacts with Afghan commanders affiliated with
the Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan.
As part of these
efforts, the ISI offered support to several commanders
allied with the Hezb-e-Islami in areas near the
Pakistani borders, including Gazni, Jalalabad, Kunhar
and Kandahar. The purpose was not to support the US
opposition in Afghanistan, but to safeguard Pakistani
interests along the Pak-Afghan border.
However,
these areas have since become hotbeds of resistance to
US forces. According to sources in the South Waziristan
Agency, rebels based in Gazni, about 110 miles from Wana
(the district headquarters of the agency), fire mortar
shells and missiles on US positions almost every night
and then flee. When US forces chase them, they silently
cross the border back into Pakistan.
The situation is very obvious to US authorities,
who have silently conveyed complaints to the
Pakistani foreign office. As a result, Foreign Secretary Riaz
Khokhar forwarded the protest to Musharraf, adding his
own insistence that Pakistan could not afford to play
a double game. If it continued, it would simply mean
that the country would lose whatever US goodwill it had
gained after September 11, 2001.
Sources said that
after these reactions, Musharraf personally took on the
concerned officials and asked them not to play around
with the national interest and not to take decisions on
their own. After these developments, another division of
government was formed, headed by serving
Lieutenant-General Khalid Qidwai, to coordinate matters
between the foreign office and the ISI.
Meanwhile, on the question of continued
political resistance to the Legal Framework Order (LFO),
all opposition parties have taken a joint stand. The LFO
is a package of constitutional amendments introduced by
Musharraf last year to legitimize his military rule,
which began with a bloodless coup in 1999. With a
democratic parliament now seated, only this package
continues to ensure Musharraf's role in government. On
this crucial question, the various opposition parties
have taken a tough stand. Three sessions of parliament
were immediately adjourned recently due to the protest
of opposition parties to the LFO.
And right-wing
opposition parties have used this issue, as well as
opposition to the US-led "war on terror", to consolidate
their hold over large sections of the country. This week
a very successful million-man-march was held in Karachi
to oppose war in Iraq. This comes in the wake of what
was billed as the largest ever political march in the
history of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad
on March 9, a march at which the former ruling party,
Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz Sharif group), was a large
and visible presence, with banners proclaiming "No to
LFO" and "Go Musharraf Go". Another factor increasing
anti-US sentiment in Pakistan has been the recent arrest
of Khalid Shaikh Mohammad from Rawalpindi.
Past
Pakistani history suggests that these sorts of abrupt
developments - especially coming, as they have, nearly at
the same time - generally point toward behind-the-scenes
maneuvering. According to sources, the Musharraf
administration is silently observing developments both
within and outside parliament - and its reaction may
come sooner rather than later.
(©2003 Asia Times
Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com
for information on our sales and syndication
policies.)
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
