Mumbai claims muddy supply-line
talks By Malik Ayub Sumbal
ISLAMABAD - Allegations made public by the
Indian intelligence agencies as they question Syed
Zaibuddin Ansari, the suspected mastermind of the
2008 Mumbai attacks, are producing a bitter chill
between Pakistan and India, just as Islamabad is
working on an uncertain thaw in relations with the
United States.
Ansari, alias Abu Jundal,
who was arrested last week, has stunned a
Pakistani government embroiled in challenges
including pressure inside from the judiciary and
opposition vis-a-vis how to revive ties with
Washington, with allegations of state involvement
in the November 26, 2008, carnage. Pakistan has
rejected the claims as propaganda intended to
defame the country's Inter Services Intelligence
(ISI) agency.
Sources in the Pakistani
civil and military establishment claim
that India has triggered
the Abu Jundul issue on the directions of United
States to cast Pakistan in unfavorable light so
Washington can gain maximum advantage as it seeks
to persuade Pakistan to open North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) supply lines into Afghanistan.
Pakistan and United States are likely soon
to announce new terms of diplomatic engagement,
with an unexpected move from the United States to
apologize over an air strike that killed 24
Pakistani soldiers and led Islamabad to block
supply routes in November 2011.
Revelations from Abu Jundal, suspected of
being one of the key handlers of the 10
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists who carried out
the Mumbai attacks, come at a sensitive time in
the push to reopen the blocked routes.
According to the sources, United States
Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides and Senior
Pakistani government and defense officials are
expected to meet in Islamabad for discussions that
could lead to Pakistan formally announcing the
reopening of the NATO supply line. General John
Allen, commander of the International Security
Assistance Force arrived on Sunday for his second
visit to Islamabad to hold talks with military and
civilian leadership over the routes, while on
Monday NATO Secretary General Andres Fogh
Rasmussen reportedly urged Pakistan to cooperate.
Outlook newsmagazine has said the "most
significant revelation" made by Ansari so far "is
of the presence and involvement of two majors in
the conspiracy meetings in Karachi". He has
apparently mentioned "Major Iqbal", a shadowy
figure who is believed to be of the ISI, and a
Major Sameer Ali of the Pakistan Army.
The
Pakistan army has serious reservations on the
restoration of NATO routes and strongly opposes
their reopening without an apology for the US air
strike that Washington has so far been unprepared
to offer, while the authorities in Islamabad
accuse the Indian media of mounting a propaganda
campaign against Pakistan.
Former ISI head
Hamid Gul, in an exclusive discussion with Asia
Times Online, said: "India has always sought to
dominate Pakistan by using such kinds of baseless
propaganda." He claimed that whenever developments
in the peace process begin to reach a level of
maturity, India spreads misinformation against
Pakistan in national and international media,
which halt this process.
Gul ruled out the
chance of NATO supplies being opened in the
absence of a US apology for the deaths at
Pakistan's border with Afghanistan and an end to
US drone attacks in Pakistan. The restoration of
NATO supply lines by the government would be a
major setback to Pakistan if it was unaccompanied
by US acceptance of its demands, he said.
Zahid Hamid, the head of the Pakistan
BrassTacks Defense and Security think tank, writes
in his latest weekly column, "India is wrongly
sensing a collision between Pakistan and US and
hence is trying to ride the wave. What it does not
realize [is] that [the] US's back is already
broken and there is no way [the] US can threaten
Pakistan militarily when NATO's lifeline remains
in Pakistan's hand."
Malik Ayub
Sumbal is a senior investigative journalist
based in Islamabad with a professional experience
of more than 9 years while working with national
and international newspapers, magazines and wire
services. Malik can be reached on his
email: ayubsumbal@gmail.com
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