PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: December 15, 2008

UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 003837 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP OPRC PGOV PREL PK SUBJECT: PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: December 15, 2008 SUMMARY: Reports on British Prime Minister Brown's joint press conference with President Zardari in which the latter blamed "Lashkar-e-Taiba for the Mumbai attacks" and "sought access to the activists of banned militant outfits" dominated headlines in all newspapers on Monday. Indian premier Singh's statement that "he wanted normalized relations with Pakistan" was front-paged by several newspapers. Also front-paged were reports and photographs of "journalist throws shoes at Bush" in Iraq. All newspapers highlighted President Zardari's statement that "Indian planes incursion into Pakistan's airspace on Saturday was a technical mistake." Most major dailies ran editorials on the reported Indian planes' violation of Pakistani air space. The leading mass circulation Urdu daily, "Jang," stressed that the "international community must not allow India to cross its limits" while the second largest Urdu daily, "Nawa-i-Waqt" termed it as "hostile patrolling." End Summary. -------------- News Stories -------------- ¶01. "Brown Blames Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for Mumbai Attacks" "Dawn" (12/15) "British Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered help to Pakistan and India on Sunday in investigating the Mumbai attacks. He also offered a new "pact against terror". Stressing the need for dialogue between Islamabad and New Delhi, Mr Brown said tension and conflict would achieve nothing." ¶02. "Brown Wants Pak Militants Quizzed by UK Police" "The News" (12/15) "British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Sunday sought access to the activists of banned militant outfits in Pakistan arrested in recent crackdown following the Mumbai attacks. 'We have asked Pakistan to provide access to our police to interview those detained in Pakistan in recent crackdown against Mumbai attack suspects,' he said." ¶03. "Singh Wants Ties With Pakistan Normalized" "Dawn" (12/15) "India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday he wanted normalized relations with Pakistan amid rising tensions between the South Asian rivals following Mumbai attacks that left more than 160 people dead. Addressing an election rally in occupied Kashmir, he said he hoped relations between the neighbors could be "normalized," but this could not happen until 'our neighbor stops allowing its territory to be used for acts of terrorism against India.'" ¶04. "Unpleasant Iraq farewell for Bush" "Dawn" (12/15) ;"President George Bush got a stunning 'parting shot' during his farewell visit to Iraq on Sunday when a local journalist, obviously annoyed over the US invasion of his country, hurled both his shoes at him." ¶05. "Incursion Was A 'Technical Mistake': Zardari" "Dawn" (12/15) "President Asif Ali Zardari said on Sunday there was no danger of a war breaking out between India and Pakistan, adding that Indian planes had intruded into Pakistan airspace on Saturday because of a 'technical mistake.'" ¶06. "U.S. Papers Question Pakistan's Version" "Dawn" (12/15) "The U.S. media on Sunday questioned Pakistan's version of the Indian air violations, pointing out that two violations happening at least 100 miles from each other could not have been inadvertent. Also, one U.S. news magazine reported that the Indian military is trying to convince decision-makers in New Delhi to authorize an aerial attack on Muridke, a Jamaatud Dawa base." ¶07. "Gilani Warns Against Adventurism" "The News" (12/15) "Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday said any adventurism against Pakistan would be retaliated as the defense of the country was in powerful hands." ¶08. "U.S. drones continue airspace violation" "The News" (12/15) "Four U.S. spy planes on Sunday intruded into the Pakistan airspace and flew over South Waziristan, creating panic among the tribesmen. All the four spy planes were seen flying at extremely low altitude throughout the day over various tribal villages of South Waziristan, including Wana, Karikot, Shakai, Raghzai, Sholam, Azam Warsak, Zari Noor and Birmal areas." ¶09. "FC deployed to protect NATO supplies" "Dawn" (12/15) "Paramilitary troops and police were deployed at terminals and parking areas along Ring Road in Peshawar on Sunday to protect Nato and American forces' supplies from militants, officials said. Contractors said that supply from Karachi to Peshawar had been suspended owing to growing attacks on the terminals." ¶10. "Nato Looks To Afghanistan's North For Supplies" "Dawn" (12/15) "NATO is in talks with Afghanistan's northern neighbors to allow the shipment of more supplies to troops, the force's commander said on Sunday, after Taliban attacks destroyed hundreds of trucks coming from Pakistan." ¶11. "TTP claims attacks on Nato supplies terminal" "The News" (12/15) "Maulvi Omer, spokesman of for the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),claimed responsibility for the attacks on Nato supplies and termed it a reaction to the U.S. drone attacks inside Pakistan territory." ¶12. "French FM hails Pak response to Mumbai attacks" "Daily Times" (12/15) "French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Sunday acknowledged Pakistan's 'constructive response' to the Mumbai attacks, and praised the country for the 'positive steps' it has taken to deal with the situation, according to a Foreign Office statement." -------------- Editorials/Op-eds -------------- ¶13. "International community must not allow India to cross its limits," an editorial in the leading mass circulation centrist Urdu daily "Jang" (cir. 300,000) (12/15) "The growing apprehensions in Pakistan about any possible Indian aggression, and a full-scale war following the Indian unfounded and preposterous allegations against Pakistan of involvement in the Mumbai carnage, threats of dire consequences, rise in war preparations, advancement of Indian troops towards Pakistani borders, and well thought-out diplomatic, political and media campaign against Pakistan have taken a new turn with the incident of intrusion of Indian fighter jets into Pakistani airspace. The international community must persuade India to show restraint, resort to peaceful means to resolve any issue, as any armed conflict between the two nuclear-power states can take the whole world into its fold." ¶14. "Airspace violation by Indian Air Force," an editorial in the second-largest, center-right nationalist Urdu daily "Nawa-i-Waqt" (cir. 125,000) (12/15) "The Indian Government has been encouraged by the steps the government of Pakistan has taken so far under American and Indian pressure, hence airspace violation.... This was a hostile patrolling that was answered by the Pakistan Air Force." ¶15. "Creating War Scare," an editorial in the center-right national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (12/15) "President Asif Zardari could not get it more right when he told his parliamentary party that Pakistan's commitment to international and regional peace should not be misconstrued as a sign of weakness. But he should have avoided downplaying the violation of our airspace by the Indian Air Force fighter jets on Saturday, describing it as a mere technical incursion. The observation came hours after the IAF jets intruded into our airspace twice, drifting some four kilometers inside the Kashmir and Lahore sectors before being chased away by the PAF fighters. A private television channel meanwhile quoted the PAF spokesman as saying it would be premature to call the violations an attack." ¶16. "Indian fighters violation of Pakistan Airspace," an editorial in the center-right Urdu daily "Pakistan" (cir. 10,000) (12/15) "The action against banned Jamaatud Daawa continues.... There was unpleasantness in the air when the airspace violation took place, which was like pouring fuel on the fire.... Now there is more uncertainty about the peace.... Although Pakistan has taken action against JD, India hasn't given the evidence against JD to Pakistan." ¶17. "India's Highly Provocative Airspace Violation," an editorial in the Islamabad-based rightist English daily "Pakistan Observer" (cir. 5,000) (12/15) "As was widely believed India is using Mumbai attacks as an excuse to pressurize and browbeat Pakistan through political, diplomatic and military means. This was once again confirmed on Saturday when Indian fighter jets, carrying warheads, brazenly violated Pakistan Airspace over Lahore and Kashmir sector twice. We would also urge people of Pakistan and political leadership to agitate the issue of air space violation to send right kind of signal to the enemy." ¶18. "Airspace violation: Indian double standards," an editorial note in the popular rightist Urdu-language daily "Ausaf" (cir. 10,000) (12/15) "Indian rulers are well aware of the military strength of Pakistan. Which force then is compelling India to dare a military exploit against Pakistan? In fact both Jews and Hindus are same in nature; they both have no rival in enmity against Islam and Pakistan. All the Jews of the world pretend to be the close friends of India to fulfill their nefarious designs against Pakistan." ¶19. "Action in the Air" an editorial in the centrist national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) (12/15) "The situation is a perilous one. The two South Asian neighbors stand poised closer to war then at any time in decades. This is an outcome that must, at all costs, be avoided. The U.S. has tried to bring down the pitch by counseling restraint to a belligerent New Delhi and cooperation to a rather harassed Islamabad. The UK too has assisted. A war in the region works for no one and as far as the West is concerned would only detract attention from the war on terror, which remains its primary concern." ¶20. "Handling The Post-Mumbai Situation," an editorial in the Lahore-based liberal English language daily "Daily Times" (cir. 10,000) (12/15) "The Pakistani allegedly involved in the Mumbai attack is supposed to be making 'disclosures.' The Indian air force has violated Pakistani airspace 'inadvertently.' NATO, after having several of its supply-convoys destroyed just outside Peshawar, is looking for an alternative Central Asian route. Afghanistan's neighbors are gathering in Paris to discuss the future of the country. There is a confluence of events that has brought the world to Pakistan's door. Demands are being made of Islamabad and the response requires a careful assessment of the situation by the leadership before a workable national security strategy can be formulated and implemented. While there is some outward show of unity, fissures are clear below the surface between the government taking a cautious approach and large sections of society demanding a 'nationalist' response." ¶21. "Serious Violation of Pakistan's airspace," an editorial note in the Karachi-based, pro Taliban Jihadi Urdu daily "Islam" (cir. 15,000) (12/15) "Some clandestine forces want to escalate tension between India and Pakistan. Who are these forces that would like to fish in troubled water if a war outbreak between Pakistan and India? The people of Pakistan know very well that the U.S. and Israel want to wrap up Pakistan's nuclear program at any rate. And India isn't far behind in this agenda. According to some international media reports, Indian leadership has already worked out a plan in connivance with Israel to hit some parts of Pakistan. However, it (Indian leadership) has put off this plan on U.S. and British interference until completion of probe of Mumbai attacks. The airspace violations by Indian fighter jets must be seen in this context." ¶22. "Reduction in Pak-India tension: need of hour" an editorial in liberal Urdu daily "Express" (cir. 25,000) (12/15) "Indian air force fighters violated Pak airspace on Saturday.... We may accept that Indian planes entered Pakistan airspace by mistake. Caution is advised for future." ¶23. "With Limited Military Options, What Can India Do?" an op-ed by Farrukh Saleem in the centrist national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) (12/15) "Post-Mumbai, the Great Game is in play in the Sub-continent. The U.S., India and Pakistan, the three state actors, and the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the only non-state actor, are all-out entangled to extricate their own brownie points. The U.S. has invested a colossal $170 billion in Afghanistan and thus would not let India distract Pakistan from the 'war on terror'." ¶24. "Beyond Conspiracy Theories" an op-ed by Kaiser Bengali in the Karachi-based center-left independent national English daily "Dawn" (cir. 55,000) (12/15) "In the 1980s, the 'non-state actors' paradigm was used within the ambit of the U.S. and western global strategy. Understandably, no aspersions were cast internationally with respect to the legitimacy of the means being employed. Of course, the paradigm was irresponsible and criminal then and is equally so now. The difference is that, in the current global scenario, U.S. patronage is no longer available and this paradigm is simply unacceptable. The cost that Pakistan will have to pay for continuing such a course of action will be exorbitant. It is likely that the stage can be set for U.S.-led international forces to carry out an operation aimed at eliminating the presumed capacity to mount terrorist operations abroad - and to prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the wrong hands. Given, however, that India will be a partner in any such operation, an attempt will be made to disable our intelligence capability altogether. The implications for national security will be grave. It would, therefore, be prudent for the country's security leadership to undertake to renounce the highly counterproductive use of non-state actors as a policy tool and launch a full-fledged clean-up operation on their own initiative." ¶25. "A Chain Of Terror?" an editorial in the center-right national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (12/15) "Mr. Brown has, of late, been talking of a 'chain of terror' linking British radical elements to 'mosques, madrasahs and jihadi camps' located here, maintaining that three-fourths of the serious plots in Britain investigated by the police have found their echo in Pakistan. His offer of six million pounds worth of aid, training in bomb disposal capability, firming up security of airports and making available to Islamabad scanning equipment has to be seen in that context. One would expect that the Pakistan government would make the best possible use of this offer to be better able to forestall terrorist attacks in the future." ¶26. "A case of neighborly comedy" an op-ed by Rakesh Mani in the Karachi-based center-left independent national English daily "Dawn" (cir. 55,000) (12/15) "If the ideology of terror is that it works, then the ideology of security has to be preparedness for the worst possible scenario. But recent events have made a mockery of not only the intelligence agencies of both countries, but their civil services too. Escalating tensions need to be defused swiftly and dark comedy, however amusing, is not the answer. Now more than ever, we need real statesmen to step up to the plate and act with maturity, restraint and vision. India and Pakistan are in this together, one cannot succeed while the other falters." ¶27. "A terror-free world?" An op-ed by Masood Sharif Khan Khattak in the centrist national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) (12/15) "In the modern age the only way towards a terror-free world is through statesmanship of the world's powerful leaders leading to a just dispensation of international justice between nations, races and religions. I stress on this because the bulky and highly visible military might of any superpower in the future will never be able to fight the agility and the indefatigable war stamina of the terrorists, militants and freedom fighters of the future." ¶28. "Another attack at NATO terminal," an editorial in the Peshawar-based Urdu-language daily "Mashriq" (cir. 55,000) (12/15) "It is a reality that that some foreign forces want to get suspended the logistic supply to the NATO forces through Pakistan. The growing attacks at the NATO forces' terminal in Peshawar must be taken as a whole with the terror attacks in Mumbai." "Patterson