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Al-Qaeda's gloves are off in
Pakistan
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - A more than six-month truce
between the military government of Pakistan and
al-Qaeda - negotiated by militant groups - has
been shattered with the arrest of Abu Faraj
al-Libbi of al-Qaeda and country-wide crackdowns
on militant groups.
Following Abu Faraj's
apprehension last week in connection with two
assassination attempts against Musharraf in 2003,
the government placed the country on high security
alert. Generally, such alerts remain in place for
three to four days, but it is still in place, and
is likely to remain so in the foreseeable future
as military and security installations, important
personalities and airports are considered at risk.
Asia Times Online has learned that
Musharraf's administration secretly secured a deal
with al-Qaeda after a series of attacks from the
tribal belt of North West Frontier Province to the
southern port city of Karachi rattled the country
last year. Al-Qaeda has also openly called for the
overthrow of Musharraf.
The government had
launched an unpopular intensive military operation
in South Waziristan to root out al-Qaeda and
foreign operators, resulting in the death of
several hundred soldiers - the operation was
bitterly opposed by local tribespeople. The
initiative also resulted in a strong backlash
within the army.
Last year's unrest
included an attack on the Corps Commander
Peshawar's residence, assaults on military convoys
in cities such as Dera Ismail Khan and at Bannu
airport, an attack on the Military Intelligence
office in Kohat, one on the Corps Commander
Karachi's motorcade, in addition to a suicide
attempt against Shaukat Aziz when he was announced
as a candidate for prime minister.
Realizing the strength of the jihadis,
moves were initiated for a truce with them, most
of whom were considered sympathizers of al-Qaeda,
if not linked.
Former military dictator
General Zia ul-Haq's son, Ejazul Haq, who is the
federal minister for Religious Affairs and was
inducted into the government purely for public
relations reasons with the religious segment of
the country, was assigned to secure a deal.
At the time, the influential prayer
leaders of Islamabad's famous Lal Masjid (mosque),
Maulana Abdul Aziz and Maulana Abdul Rasheed
Ghazi, were in hiding as the government had
charged them with al-Qaeda connections and even
implicated them in the conspiracies to kill
Musharraf. Ejazul Haq got in touch with them.
Maulana Abdul Aziz's father, the slain Maulana
Abdullah, had been very close to Zia and his
family. Therefore, on the guarantees given by
Ejazul Haq, a deal was formulated under which all
cases against the two clerics were withdrawn, and
they were allowed to take over their mosques and
madrassas (seminaries) in Islamabad.
In return, the clerics used their clout
among Pakistani militants to get them to stop
their attacks on government functionaries and
national interests. Earlier, Pakistan intelligence
had learned that intelligence offices and
Governor's Houses in all four provinces, beside
military convoys, were among potential targets.
The deal worked: the militants halted
their actions and focused their attention on
Afghanistan, where the Taliban had revived their
activities in all zeal. Now the deal is in
tatters.
In the past 10 years, an
estimated 600,000 people are believed to have been
involved with jihadi groups in the country, but
most of them disassociated themselves from these
organizations after September 11, 2001, due to
government pressures or other reasons. Now, only
50,000 are believed to be active members of
militant organizations.
Although jihadi
organizations were the brainchild of the
Inter-Services Intelligence, in the post-September
11 environment, in which Musharraf abandoned the
Taliban and signed onto the US's "war on terror",
there is widespread disgruntlement against the
government of Pakistan.
Various
differences, which mostly revolve around squabbles
over jihadi leadership, and funds, kept the
militant organizations split and reduced their
level of operations. However, what is emerging now
is that al-Qaeda is providing leadership
direction, and further, Taliban leader Mullah Omar
is working to heal differences.
A
possible strategy
Intelligence quarters
have come up with some Pakistani militant cells
believed to be plotting unrest. Names associated
with these cells include Asif Zardari, the husband
of the chairperson of the opposition Pakistan
People's Party (PPP), Benazir Bhutto, and
Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed. The
Jamaat-i-Islami is Pakistan's most prominent
Islamic party and part of a conservative six-party
opposition coalition, the Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal
(MMA), that gained an unprecedented number of
seats in the last elections.
The strategy
would be to create chaos in the country by the
Jamaat-i-Islami and the PPP turning violent
against the government, thus paving the way to
oust Musharraf.
Intelligence sources also
fear that Musharraf could be the target of another
assassination attempt.
The government has
done its best to placate the MMA, but it is still
obsessed with removing Musharraf through a mass
mobilization campaign. A government deal with
Bhutto's PPP went sour, so the PPP is still in
line to launch a campaign against Musharraf.
There is also vast disgruntlement within
the ruling coalition - local elections have been
delayed due to a rift within the ruling parties.
In such political unrest, any terror activity
would add fuel to the fire.
Syed
Saleem Shahzad, Bureau Chief, Pakistan, Asia
Times Online. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
(Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
rights reserved. Please contact us for information
on sales, syndication and republishing.) |
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