Page 2 of 2 Pakistan in new Taliban peace
process By Syed Saleem Shahzad
Afghanistan.
Sirajuddin is
al-Qaeda's answer to Rehman's peace process. Since
the killing of Mullah Dadullah this year, there is
no one in southwestern Afghanistan to guarantee
any deals.
Rehman is also attempting
reconciliation in Pakistan's tribal areas of
Waziristan, where the Taliban and al-Qaeda have a
strong grip. He is courting figures such as Sadar
Abdul Rahman and Maulana
Mahmood, but it is not an
easy task.
"Our people supported Maulana
Fazlur Rehman for the cause of Islam, but he has
sold our interests for the sake of politics. The
Taliban are ready for any sort of negotiations,
but if the negotiations are held to support US
designs in the region or to ask us to surrender,
our fight against NATO [North Atlantic Treaty
Organization] in Afghanistan, that will be a
non-starter," Dr Essa Khan, the chief spokesperson
of the Pakistani Taliban and chief of the
Pakistani Taliban in the Bannu region, told Asia
Times Online. Essa was evasive when asked
whether the Taliban had targeted Rehman's
residence in Dera Ismail Khan in North-West
Frontier Province a few months ago, saying that
spilling the blood of the people was done by
politicians, not by the mujahideen.
"We
want to fight American forces. We want them to
come to Waziristan and attack us so that we can
fight against them. We don't want to fight against
our own brothers [Pakistani soldiers] who are
pitched against us as Washington's ally. We think
this hypocrisy will be finished once American
forces attack us in Pakistani territory and we
will have a single enemy against us to fight with
and we will be fighting against them with all our
conviction," said Essa in response to a question
about allowing US forces hot pursuit operations
into Pakistan from Afghanistan.
Rehman has
something to give, though. By June 2008, the US
will have made US$180 million available for
development work in the Federally Administered
Tribal Areas. US ambassador Patterson has been
meeting members of Parliament from these areas
(the majority of them hail from Rehman's
Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam - JUI) and has assured them
that the US will distribute the money with their
collaboration.
Last week, US President
George W Bush urged Congress to give an additional
$60 million for the development of the tribal
areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The
Bush administration has also assured Pakistan that
it is committed to setting up reconstruction zones
in the tribal regions. Goods produced in the zones
will be allowed duty-free access to the US market.
Bhutto awaits her turn Speaking
to Asia Times Online in Karachi, twice-elected
premier Bhutto dismissed any chance of
reconciliation with militants until they
surrendered.
"There are two theories to
deal with the militants. There is the theory of a
ceasefire with militants and peace treaties with
them. In 2002, under the same theory, the JUI [led
by Rehman] was given [the provincial government]
of North-West Frontier Province. I think there is
a need to assess this policy. I don't believe in
any negotiations with the militants until they
surrender their weapons. I completely oppose
speaking to irregular militias."
Bhutto
also believes that a powerful segment of the
establishment is still on the side of the
militants, what she calls a legacy of late
dictator General Zia ul-Haq.
"Those who
don't want the moderate middle to mobilize on the
streets were behind the October 18 blast. These
are the same anti-democratic forces that
destabilized the PPP's [Bhutto's Pakistan People's
Party] past governments," Bhutto said.
Bhutto wrote a letter to Musharraf in
which she accused retired Lieutenant General Hamid
Gul, retired Brigadier Ijaz Shah, the Intelligence
Bureau chief, and the chief minister of Punjab,
Chaudhary Pervaiz Illahi, as the main supporters
of those who carried out the bomb attack against
her. "I named the people whom I understood as
suspects and I think an inquiry should be
conducted against them," Bhutto said.
She
also accused al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden of
conspiring against her first government in the
late 1980s by financing former premier Nawaz
Sharif against her.
When asked whether bin
Laden was directly behind the October 18 bombing,
Bhutto simply replied, "There is a lot of money in
this battle through arms smuggling and drugs and
all the faces of the perpetuators of this battle
should be exposed."
Bhutto's tough line,
Rehman's policy of reconciliation and Musharraf's
pumping of money into the tribal areas have the
single theme of isolating the militants.
Al-Qaeda's big plans These
constant pressures are once again forcing al-Qaeda
to spin the game so that it can also influence the
"war on terror".
Western intelligence has
named Abu Obaida al-Masri as the new chief of
al-Qaeda's external operations with the aim of
targeting Europe.
Western intelligence has
also revealed a powerful camp in the town of Mir
Ali in North Waziristan. According to their
information, the camp is run by Abu Haris
al-Jazeri. Other prominent associates include
Najib al-Fala, Omar Jalali, Bilal Abu Daghlol,
Hussain al-Babi and Ahmed Taufiq. Fala and Jazeri
are French citizens and the others are Tunisian.
According to the intelligence reports,
this al-Qaeda camp is planning attacks in Europe,
notably the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia
Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be
reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
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