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Musharraf not out of the woods just
yet
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - Pakistan has managed to sweep its
nuclear-proliferation problems under the carpet by
pinning all blame on the country's premier scientist, Dr
Abdul Qadeer Khan. But while this may have bought
Pakistan some time in the short term, the problem is
likely to reappear as the world grows increasingly
concerned over the country's past involvement in
transferring nuclear technology and information in some
form or another to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
And as important, the time that President
General Pervez Musharraf has won by pardoning an
apparently repentant Khan for his "sins" has come at a
very high cost.
Khan is a folk hero in Pakistan
for developing the Muslim world's first nuclear bomb,
which in turn placed Pakistan on an equal footing with
nuclear-armed India. News that the 66-year-old scientist
had been made the scapegoat - when it is one of the
country's worst-kept secrets that former military and
political figures must have been involved - has incensed
many.
Their first reaction was to call a general
strike in the wake of Khan's February 6 "confession",
which had qualified success beyond the port city of
Karachi. And sections of the media have been awash with
criticism of Musharraf. Notably, Hamid Mir (once the
official biographer of Osama bin Laden) termed the
strike call by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a
powerful alliance of six religious political parties, "a
ringing bell" for Musharraf. Though the writer did not
say so specifically, he implied that the strike call had
been given at the behest of a section within the army.
Herein lies one of Musharraf's biggest problems.
While the general apparently has the support of senior
officials such as corps commanders - after all, he
appointed them - others within the powerful military
have never accepted the country's ditching of the
Taliban and Musharraf siding with the United States in
the "war on terrorism".
Adding fuel to their
discontent is the ever-increasing influence that the US
appears to have in Pakistan, from its intelligence
operators being given a free run in the country to the
latest reports that Pakistan has handed over the key
codes for its nuclear facilities to the Americans. These
reports - not officially confirmed - have appeared in
Britain and the US as proof that Pakistan's assets will
not fall into the hands of extremists. In Pakistan, the
reports are interpreted by many as yet another sign that
Musharraf is no more than a US lackey. It is along these
lines that the military is increasingly being polarized
- either pro-US or anti-US.
After the two recent
abortive assassination attempts on Musharraf - the first
is still thought by many to have been instigated by
Musharraf himself - Pakistan's intelligence agencies
launched widespread crackdowns against breakaway
factions of the jihadi outfits that had revolted against
their own organizations for not waging jihad against
Musharraf's government.
At least 15 breakaway
factions were identified. Although they were not
necessarily linked to the assassination attempts, they
were believed to have similar tendencies. During one of
the raids, one Jamil was detained in Bahawalpur,
southern Punjab province. Under interrogation, according
to sources who have spoken to Asia Times Online, he
outlined how the groups survived and gave details of
their arms supplies. And importantly, he dropped the
name of a Saeed from Rawalakot, who was subsequently
detained.
This person turned out to be the son
of a sister of General Aziz Khan, the chairman of the
Chiefs of the Joint Staff Committee, a ceremonial but
high post in the armed services.
There is no
evidence at all at this point to link General Khan to
Saeed in any way, other than by blood, but army
intelligence is taking even the hint of a military
conspiracy very seriously.
(Copyright 2004 Asia
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