Pakistan's generals come down
hard By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - With Pakistani President Pervez
Musharraf's allies routed in last month's
parliamentary elections and civil society led by
lawyers aggressively calling for his dismissal and
trial for his actions in the "war on terror" over
the past eight years, Musharraf has received a
boost with the top military brass putting their
weight behind the presidency.
Faced with
rising militancy, the military did not have much
option but to close ranks and back the US push to
tackle Taliban and al-Qaeda militants head-on.
At a Corps Commanders conference in the
garrison city of Rawalpindi on Thursday, army
chief Lieutenant General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani
rejected suggestions of "distancing of the army
from the president", adding that "any kind of
schism, at any level" wouldn't be in the national
interest, according to a statement
released by Inter Services
Public Relations.
Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the
chief of the Jamaat-i-Islami party and a leader of
the All Parties Democratic Movement, called the
Corps Commanders' proclamation "disappointing". In
a statement released to the national press, he
said the move was an intervention by the military
in politics.
The Corps Commanders' meeting
took place soon after Admiral Michael Mullen, the
chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, US Armed Forces,
had met in Pakistan with top military leaders, as
well as with Musharraf.
There has been a
noticeable spike in suicide attacks on the
military in the past few weeks, including the
killing of the army surgeon general, Lieutenant
General Mushtaq Baig, and Tuesday's attack on the
Navy War College in Lahore, the first on a naval
installation.
Asia Times Online has
narrated (Pakistan's grand bargain falls
apart, March 6) how Pakistan's new
military leadership under Kiani had devised a
roadmap aimed at national reconciliation without
compromising the country's commitment in the "war
on terror".
The plan centered on developing an
understanding with the Pakistani Taliban in the
tribal areas that at the onset of a planned
military offensive there, both sides would
attempt to keep losses to the minimum; that is,
they would go through the motions while Pakistan
fulfilled its obligations in the eyes of the
world in cracking down on militancy ... but in
the latest suicide attack on the military, the
fourth in five days, bombers on Tuesday targeted
the Navy War College in Lahore, killing six
people and injuring 18. This string of attacks
leaves the new military chief, Lieutenant
General Ashfaq Pazvez Kiani, with the unpopular
choice of having to take off the velvet glove to
reveal an iron fist against militancy.
The chief beneficiary of this would be
Musharraf, who has rapidly been losing his grip
in the wake of Kiani's popular steps of
reconciliation. Politicians elected in last
month's polls for a new Parliament have already
indicated they want to oust Musharraf for his
heavy-handed role in prosecuting the "war on
terror" during his eight years as a military
ruler.
Now, the militants have shown
they want to fight and are not interested in
reconciliation, thereby opening a new chapter in
regional confrontation.
A new
confrontation brews Cell numbers two and
three in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail and a special
cell in Faisalabad Jail are earmarked for those
"war on terror" inmates who have been sentenced to
death. Cell number two holds prisoners from the
Pakistan Air Force convicted for their involvement
in an attack on Musharraf in 2004 in Rawalpindi.
Asia Times Online contacts say that soon
after Baig's killing, these inmates were subjected
to a new round of interrogation. The main persons
interrogated were a chief technician identified
only as Khalid, a senior technician named Karam
Din, and a corporal technician Nasrullah. Their
relatives were presented in front of them in jail
and the prisoners were threatened that if they did
not cooperate in helping to break terror networks,
their relatives, including women, would be
"roughed up" in front of them.
Subsequently, raids were carried out
across the country, including at leading Islamic
seminaries, and scores of suspects were rounded
up, particularly from Rawalpindi, where the
military conducted a massive crackdown.
The raids reinforce the conviction that
there is no longer any chance for reconciliation,
at least for this year, and that the Pakistan
armed forces and the militants will be battling it
out with full force, whether in the main cities or
in the tribal areas along with North Atlantic
Treaty Organization forces.
Thursday's
Corps Commanders' meeting confirms this open
battle against the militants as a continuum of the
Washington-led "war on terror".
Syed
Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan
Bureau Chief. He can be reached at
saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
(Copyright
2008 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
