news details |
|
|
| The London arrests spark noises of sorts | | Pakistan's role is questioned more than appreciated | | NEWS ANALYSIS
B L KAK
NEW DELHI | AUGUST 16:
Pakistan, the United States and Britain continue to be in the news, simply because of their joint fight against the growing menace of Islamist radicals and rebels. This time, significantly, Pakistan shot into prominece as a result of its help culminating in the unearthing of the alleged terrorist plot that led to several arests in London and Pakistan. No wonder, Pakistani officials hastened to take the credit for the role of Pakistani intelligence services. Were these officials seeking prase for Pakistan's cooperation in the US-led global war against terrorism and attempting to silence critics who claim that Pakistan is not doing enough to combat terrorism?
Obviously at the instance of Gen. Parvez Musharraf, Pakistani officials sought to link the attackers to Al Qaida, to point out that the ring leaders were British citizens albeit of Pakistani descent and to suggest that Al Qaida's activities are still centred in Afghanistan. But judging by international media coverage, the objectives of Pakistani officials were not fulfilled. In fact, the Pakistani rush to take credit seemed to have backfired. And in the court of public opinion, Pakistan's role was questioned more than appreciated.
Within days of the London arrests, major international papers ran headlines critical of Pakistan. Pakistan's arrests leave US uneasy, declared the Los Angeles Times, adding: "Detentions in the alleged British plot provide a reminder that a key Asian ally is home to many of America's foes in the war on terrorism." A Wall Street Journal report appeared with the title, Pakistan Stays a Terrorism Source: Extremist Islamic Groups Rooted in Kashmir Dispute Join Attacks against West.
A headline in the New York Times read, Accounts After 2005 London Bombings Point to Al Qaida Role from Pakistan. London's Sunday Times minced few words, wondering aloud, Just whose side is Pakistan really on? Pakistan's predicament was explained in another New York Times headline, which read, Pakistan's Help in Averting a Terror Attack Is a Double-Edged Sword.
In their effort to claim credit for their efforts in cracking this particular case, Pakistani officials had ended up drawing attention to the critical question: Why, after five years since 9/11 and Gen. Pervez Musharraf's alliance with the US, do terrorists still converge in or operate out of Pakistan? No one is denying that Pakistan's intelligence agencies helped catch the alleged plotters in the recent London conspiracy. But Al Qaida operatives are still being found in Pakistan. New recruits from the Pakistani diaspora, including those with British citizenship, keep coming to or emerging from Pakistan to undertake or plot terrorist acts, Al Qaida and its ilk still seem to think of Pakistan as a possible safe haven, notwithstanding the arrest of many individual terrorists there.
According to the New York Times, "It is not the first time that Pakistan has proved to be fertile soil for the cultivation of terrorist activity. This week's London case is the sixth major terrorist attack, either consummated or attempted over the last three years, to be linked to Pakistan in some fashion. It has again raised the question of whether Pakistan is doing enough to rein in terrorist groups operating on its soil."
The Los Angeles Times ominously wondered aloud, "The trail of evidence in the British terrorism investigation is leading to an uncomfortable question for the Bush administration: Is Pakistan and not Iraq, Afghanistan or some other country the central front in the war on terrorism?" Those raised within Pakistan's simple minded cantonment culture will immediately attribute these queries and comments as the work of an "Indo-Zionist lobby" in the western media. But the Musharraf regime's problem stems from its policy of distinguishing between Pakistani jihadi groups working against India or Afghanistan and international terrorists such as Al Qaida.
Many Pakistani jihadi groups have started serving as intermediaries and facilitators for potential recruits to new "baby Al Qaidas" groups linked ideologically but not structurally to the movement led by Osama Bin Laden. Gen. Musharraf has done little to change the overall environment of hatred towards Jews, Christians and Hindus and the view that Muslims are victims of a global conspiracy, which can best be fought with unconventional war or terrorism. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
