Asia Times: All's not well in Musharraf's camp


	January 5, 2002	atimes.com

India/Pakistan

All's not well in Musharraf's camp
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - As the dust settles in Afghanistan, Pakistan's military leader President General Pervez Musharraf, far from reaping any political rewards for his support of the United States, is left with growing divisions within his country.

While Musharraf earned widespread appreciation from the international community for allowing his country to be used as a frontline state for the US attacks on the Taliban regime, at home he has emerged as a lonely and insecure ruler highly conscious of the fact that behind the current appearance of stability, a storm is waiting to break.

Ever since his appointment as Chief of Army Staff in October, 1998, the Urdu-speaking general has been something of a misfit in an army that has traditionally been dominated - and commanded - by soldiers from the Punjab and North West Frontier Province. Musharraf was born in Delhi before partition and his family settled in Karachi.

Musharraf is no stranger to playing politics, and in the late 1990s he threw his weight against then premier Nawaz Sharif, giving his support to the Grand Democratic Alliance, a union of different opposition parties formed to destabilize the government. The alliance was unable to unseat Sharif, but when the embittered leader attempted to replace Musharraf on October 12, 1999, with a family loyalist, the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lieutenant-General Ziauddin, although Musharraf was out of the country at the time, the army moved quickly to depose Sharif.

Leading the coup were the then Corps Commander of Rawalpindi, Lieutenant-General Mehmood Ahmed, the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant-General Aziz Khan and the Corps Commander of Karachi, Lieutenant-General M H Usmani.

After the bloodless takeover, Musharraf came up with an accountability program aimed at curbing rampant corruption, but the scheme soon became a joke as only selected people were picked out to account for themselves. And defense deals involving kickbacks were exposed in the press, leaving several generals with egg on their faces. The only person fingered was a former naval chief, who although imprisoned, was treated royally, and there are now reports that, in return for paying a large fee, he will soon be released.

Issues such as these did nothing to improve Musharraf's credibility. However, the summit talks in Agra in India with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee last year saved him some face, and for the first time he spoke outright on resolving the Kashmir dispute, which earned him widespread support.

And following September 11, many Western countries that had been insisting that Musharraf hasten the democratic process in his country - especially the Commonwealth - quietly shelved their demands. Indeed, Musharraf became one of the most popular figures in the world. When he traveled to the US, many European countries, including France and Britain, requested that he stop over in their country, which he did.

However, after the fall of Kabul to the Northern Alliance, a grouping opposed to Pakistan, Musharraf lost support at home, especially from those quarters which had helped put the Taliban into power, such as the ISI and the army. Opposition from these quarters is now hardening.

Following the rout of the Taliban, a number of illuminating developments have taken place in the corridors of power. These events have occurred so silently that many of the federal cabinet members are unaware of them.

Amid the growing tension between India and Pakistan over the terror attack on the Indian parliament, Indian Minister of Defense George Fernandes issued a statement that Pakistan's nuclear weapons were in safe hands and that India faced no threat from these weapons. The statement surprised many, except those who know the movements of certain high profile US nationals in General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

Well-placed sources have confirmed the presence of US intelligence personnel at important strategic points in Pakistan to coordinate and monitor the workings of Pakistani army officials in US-led war on terror.

After the US started airstrikes on Afghanistan on October 7, two senior officials retired from the services - the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, M H Usmani, and the Director-General of the ISI, Mehmood Ahmed. They had been two of the key players on the 1999 coup. It is common knowledge that Usmani's movements in Islamabad are restricted and he cannot go anywhere without prior permission. According to the sources, the US authorities were unhappy with Mehmood's close links with the Al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. It is believed that, like Usmani, he is under virtual house arrest.

This apparent intervention by the US into the internal affairs of the country, and especially the most powerful institution, the army, has caused serious disquiet among those officers and soldiers out of Musharraf's inner circle.

Musharraf is clearly aware of the unrest and he has taken steps to combat it, notably through hasty postings and transfers. Officers such as Major-General Tariq Wasim Ghazi and Major-General Syed Arif Hasan, who although lacking in seniority, were promoted to lieutenant-generals and posted as Commander of V Corps (Karachi) and Corps 10 (Rawalpindi) respectively. Both come from the same ethnic background as Musharraf and from his home town of Karachi.

And for the first time in the history of the army, a serving general, Syed Mohammed Amjad, was removed from Corps II (Multan) and posted as chairman of the Fauji Foundation, the premier military business organization. Amjad and Mehmood are said to be friends - they were classmates and shared accommodation throughout their school and college life in Lawarance College, Murree.

These developments apart, many political assignments, such as dealing with ethnocentric parties, have traditionally been dealt with by the ISI, but now they are being handled by the Intelligence Bureau, which is headed by a serving brigadier, Talath Muneer, who again comes from Musharraf's ethnic background and Karachi.

In another development, well-placed sources confirm that a joint intelligence team comprising officials of the ISI and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has been constituted to identify Islamic seminaries that propagate and harbor pro-Taliban doctrine and elements. These seminaries will be forced to introduce reforms or face being shut down. A new regulatory body is likely to be set up to review the syllabus of each school - and teachings on jihadis will be dropped.

After taking action against the Lashkar-i-Taiba and the Jaish-i-Mohammed - said by India to be behind the attacks on its parliament - organizations such as the Al-Badr, Hizbul Mujahideen and Harkatul Mujahideen have also been instructed to stop their activities in Pakistan. They had been asked to relocate to Kashmir, but under US pressures they have been asked to halt their operations altogether. They are all involved in the struggle for self-determination for Indian-held Kashmir.

Contrary to the expectations of many, Pakistan's foreign office gave India a generous offer in that if Delhi presents evidence against alleged terrorists, Pakistan will consider handing them over to Indian authorities. This is despite statements to the contrary by Musharraf.

In the perspective of these developments, the murder of Ehtesham Haider, elder brother of retired lieutenant-general Moinuddin Haider, Pakistan's Interior Minister, takes on sinister undertones. He was murdered the day after Moinuddin made some harsh statements against Muslim clerics. Moinuddin has blamed religious elements for the murder, but intelligence agencies say that other factions might be involved, even possibly India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the country's most powerful intelligence agency,

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