PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: NOVEMBER 17, 2009

UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 002760 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP OPRC PGOV PREL PK SUBJECT: PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: NOVEMBER 17, 2009 Summary: Several major newspapers highlighted reports that top editors and executives of 21 leading international media organizations urged the government of Pakistan to take necessary steps to ensure the safety of all foreign media personnel working in the country. Newspapers published the U.S. Embassy's statement contradicting press reports as "false and malicious" that U.S. has shifted Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud and others to Afghanistan. All dailies highlighted a NYT report that NSA Jones delivered President Obama's letter to President Zardari urging Islamabad to expand military offensive against Taliban and Al Qaeda. Commenting on the LA Times report about the CIA's funding for ISI, "Daily Times" opined that "this stream of payment is a clandestine counterpart to the rewards publicly offered by the U.S. State Department." TV networks reported a bomb explosion in Quetta that killed one person, and wounded a senior policeman on Tuesday morning. End Summary. TOP STORIES News Story: Editors Criticize Article Against WSJ Reporter "Dawn" (11/17) "Top executives and editors of 21 leading international media organizations have collectively voiced concern over publication of an article in a Pakistani national newspaper, accusing Mathew Rosenberg, a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, of working for foreign intelligence services and even the U.S. military contractor Blackwater. In a joint letter addressed to Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, they said the development had caused alarm among international media organizations working in the country and urged the government to take all possible steps to ensure the safety of all media personnel in future." (Story also covered in 'The News,' 'Jang') News Story: U.S. Embassy Denies Report On TTP "The News" (11/17) "The U.S. Embassy has contradicted a news item appearing in section of the press which alleged that the U.S. had shifted Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Chief Hakimullah Mehsud and other Taliban leadership to Afghanistan. Terming the allegations false and malicious, the statement said the United States extended support to the decisive military action being taken by the Pakistan military forces against militants in South Waziristan and elsewhere." (Story also covered in 'Jang,' Express,' 'Pakistan,' 'Islam,' 'Mashriq,' 'Al-Akhbar') News Story: U.S. Steps Up Pressure On Pakistan "Dawn" (11/17) "The United States has stepped up pressure on Pakistan to expand its fight against Taliban and Al Qaeda militants, warning that the success of its new Afghanistan strategy depends on it, The New York Times reported on Monday. President Obama sent a letter to President Asif Ali Zardari saying he expected the Pakistani leader to rally political and national security institutions in a united campaign against extremists, the Times reported, citing a U.S. official who was briefed on the letter's contents." (Story also front paged in all newspapers) News Story: Nothing To Be Done At The Prodding Of Others: Qureshi "Dawn" (11/17) "Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Monday that U.S. President Barrack Obama in his letter to President Asif Ali Zardari had not asked Pakistan to 'do more.' Talking to newsmen in Multan, the Minister said it was Pakistan which had to decide the course of the military operation against militants." (Story also front paged in all newspapers) TERRORISM/MILITARY ISSUES News Story: Gilani Rules Out Talks With 'Beasts' "Dawn" (11/17) "Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told the National Assembly on Monday it was no time to talk to militants he called beasts and said the ongoing military operation in South Waziristan would be conclusive." News Story: Islamabad Taking Militant Challenge Very Seriously: State Department "Daily times" (11/17) "Recognizing Pakistan's recent anti-Taliban actions, the U.S. on Monday said it had confidence in Islamabad's ability to take on the challenge. U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, when asked in a daily briefing to comment on the backdrop of a news story in The New Yorker about Washington pressuring Pakistan on further anti-Taliban actions, stressed that Islamabad itself was taking the challenge very seriously." News Story: 4 Killed In Yet Another Suicide Attack On Peshawar Police "Daily Times" (11/17) "At least four people were killed and 43 injured when a suicide bomber targeted Badabher police station on Monday. In the fifth suicide attack in eight days to hit the city, the attacker set off his bomb after being challenged at a check-post near the police station on Peshawar's outskirts." (Story also front paged in all newspapers) News Story: Osama Is Alive, Rahimullah Tells Geo "Daily Times" (11/17) "Osama bin Laden is alive, revealed The News' Resident Editor in Peshawar Rahimullah Yusufzai in Geo News program Aaj Kamran Key Saath on Monday. He said the US would continue an operation in the name of al-Qaeda until Osama is captured or killed. He said al-Qaeda members from Pakistan and Afghanistan could not operate in Britain or the U.S." News Story: Four Insurgents Killed In Swat "The News" (11/17) "Security forces claimed to have killed four insurgents near Gulibagh in the volatile Swat district while the body of a militant commander was found dumped in the Sambat area of Matta Tehsil, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said." News Story: New U.S. Policy May Include Exit Strategy "Dawn" (11/17) "The United States is seeking a framework to bring troops home from Afghanistan and an exit strategy may factor in the new U.S. policy for the Pak-Afghan region as well, says a senior White House aide. The major policy statement by White House senior adviser David Axelrod was backed also by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who said the Obama administration held 'no illusions' about transforming Afghanistan into a functional modern democracy." Editorial: The CIA-ISI Connection, an editorial in the Lahore-based liberal English language daily "Daily Times" (cir. 10,000) (11/17) "A report in The Los Angeles Times says the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan since 9/11, accounting for as much as one-third of the latter's annual budget. In addition, the ISI collected tens of millions of dollars through a classified CIA program that pays for the capture or killing of wanted militants. This stream of payments is a clandestine counterpart to the rewards publicly offered by the US State Department.... The report seems to have enough truth in it to make the entire edifice of the story credible. The ISI is routinely blamed for supporting the Taliban, even after 9/11, but things appear somewhat different now.... The new conjuncture therefore suggests that at least as far as the Pakistani militants are concerned, the ISI is in the forefront of the struggle against terrorism. Whether, for strategic reasons stretching back to the abandonment of Afghanistan in 1989 by the U.S. and the West, the ISI nevertheless continues to support the Afghan Taliban remains a moot point." Editorial: 'Do more' Mantra, "The Nation" an editorial in the center-right national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (11/17) "There seems to be a new onslaught of pressure by the U.S. on Pakistan, despite the fact that the U.S. has never had so much official compliance from the Pakistani state as it does at present. Yet the U.S. is not satisfied and the reason is fairly apparent by now. It would appear that the military has not got itself into a quagmire in SWA, unlike NATO and the U.S. military in Afghanistan. This means that the U.S. Will find it much harder to convince the world that Pakistan's nuclear assets must be handed over to international, that is American, control. Yet the U.S. had everything else in place for this purpose including a special team to grab these assets.... Now the U.S. wants to formally create a war zone in the whole of Pakistan. That is effectively the message General Jones carried for President Zardari according to The New York Times...." Editorial: Nuclear Assets Must Be Strongly Safeguarded, an editorial an editorial in the Lahore-based populist center-right Urdu daily "Khabrain" (cir. 50,000) (11/17) "Moreover, reports are also appearing about the infamous U.S. organization Blackwater. Although according to the civilian and military leadership Pakistan's nuclear assets are completely safe, but there should be strong security arrangements around sensitive areas so that an unpleasant incident is avoided. This is necessary because the U.S. or another country might take some extraordinary steps using such an incident as pretext." Editorial: U.S. Should Take Pakistan On-Board, an editorial in the Islamabad-based rightist English daily "Pakistan Observer" (cir. 5,000) (11/17) "For the new strategy, Obama would not only have to consider the opposing views within his administration about the level of additional troops to be deployed in Afghanistan but should also lay down targets and a time frame for an exit strategy. What the U.S. needs is a grand idea that could help stabilize the situation, pacify the Taliban, build the capacity of Afghan security forces and above all provision of more resources for reconstruction of the war torn country." Editorial: Millions of People in the Region Looking Towards Pakistani Leadership, an editorial in the Karachi-based, pro-Taliban Jihadi Urdu daily "Islam" (cir. 15,000) (11/17) "The sensational statement by U.S. General David H. Petraeus, in which he said that his country is launching drone attacks in Pakistan in connivance with our own government, has exposed the hypocrisy of our rulers. It means that our government has given the U.S. a license to kill innocent Pakistanis. We think that until our rulers refute Gen Petraeus' statement, their sincerity with the country and the Pakistani nation will remain questionable." Editorial: Petraeus' Statement on Drone Attacks Again Puts Rulers in The Dock, an editorial in the popular rightist Urdu-language daily "Ausaf" (cir. 10,000) (11/17) "Prime Minister Gilani has expressed his optimism that the Obama administration will take Pakistan on board regarding any change in the United States' Afghan policy. But we think that our leadership must avoid assigning any powers to Washington to bring about any changes in this region. In fact, as a responsible state Pakistan deserves the right to play most important role in South Asia and we should leave no stone unturned to maintain this privileged position of our country." Editorial: TTP In Orakzai, an editorial in the Karachi-based center-left independent national English daily "Dawn" (cir. 55,000) (11/17) "With the TTP's strongholds in South Waziristan, the erstwhile 'centre of gravity' of militancy, going down like ninepins, another tribal agency is beginning to take centre stage in the counter-insurgency under way in Fata and northwest Pakistan - Orakzai Agency.... Aerial pounding alone, however, will not do much to disrupt the TTP that may be regrouping in Orakzai. Past experience has shown that without boots on the ground, the militants are by and large able to run their affairs unimpeded." Editorial: Curbing Militancy, an editorial in the populist, often sensational national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) (11/17) "Militants are under fire across the north. Apart from the 23 killed in Orakzai and South Waziristan, 22 bodies are reported also to have been recovered from Swat and Buner. It is somewhat reassuring to learn that the effort against the Taliban continues in Malakand and that an effort now seems to be on to clamp down on militants everywhere.... But to ensure there is no possibility of the Taliban re-asserting themselves some months or even years down the line more needs to be done." Opinion: Arrival of U.S. Squad?, an op-ed by Muhammad Akbar Alam an editorial in the Lahore-based independent Urdu daily "Waqt" (circ. 5000) (11/17) "As usual, the U.S. Embassy spokesman and our Foreign Ministry have denied a report on the arrival of a special U.S. squad in Pakistan. The U.S. spokesman has termed the report as baseless.... The U.S. Embassy is responsible for safeguarding its country's interests and therefore issuing a denial and terming a report baseless is its duty. As far as our Foreign Ministry is concerned, from the minister down to the junior level, there is no dearth of pro-U.S. officials there, for whom it is a routine to remain vigilant about reports that go against U.S. interests and then issue denials.... One point that the Seymour Hersh story does not elaborate upon is: who will announce the atomic emergency [prompting the special squad into action]? Islamabad or Washington? I fear that the U.S. might make such an announcement itself with the false claim that Pakistan asked it for help. Once the special squad completes its mission, it will be said that Pakistan neither asked for help nor declared a nuclear emergency, hence there should be an investigation into the matter." Opinion: Af-Pak Policy A Mistake, an op-ed by Shahid Javed Burki in the Karachi-based center-left independent national English daily "Dawn" (cir. 55,000) (11/17) "Pakistan is not Afghanistan. By coupling the two countries together and calling it 'Af-Pak,' the United States' intention was to make policymaking simpler. It may have had the opposite effect.... Treating Pakistan in the context of an Af-Pak strategy would be a colossal mistake. The West under the leadership of President Barack Obama needs two different strategies, one for Pakistan and the other for Afghanistan." Opinion: Talking The Walk, an op-ed by Akbar Nasir Khan in the populist, often sensational national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) (11/17) "So what makes Ms. Clinton different? It is her attempt to "turn the page" and write a new chapter on people-to-people diplomacy. Even if you believe the more it changes, the more it stays the same, she did make it look like a good idea. Good or bad, time will tell.... Ms. Clinton also emphasized the communication gap between the two nations and vowed to work on it from the American end. I think it might be better for us to work on it from our side as well. How would it help us if we keep on going with the 'baby talk' and they have to come to our level to make us 'understand'? Would it change anything? We have to mature to be taken seriously. She can say that she spent eight years as a senator opposing the Bush administration and its policies but she cannot expect us to 'understand' that overnight. We do need to be heard because we have been on the receiving end in real sense, facing consequences of the policies that have put us through these testing times." Opinion: Talking To 'Good' Taliban, an op-ed by Iftekhar A. Khan in the center-right national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (11/17) "The U.S. is surreptitiously seeking Saudi help to negotiate with the 'good' Taliban in Afghanistan.... While bullish military generals demand for more troops, their civilian counterparts advise against it. Even the hawkish Defence Secretary, Roberts Gates, is weighing the strategy of compromise with the Taliban. Conceivably, the U.S. is on the verge of losing the war in Afghanistan, hence the furtive moves to negotiate with the 'good' Taliban. However, the problem is how to distinguish between the 'good' and the 'bad' Taliban, as both share the common goal of ridding their country of the occupation forces. Anyway, when the U.S. considers negotiating with the Taliban, it will exert immense pressure on us (Pakistan) against making peace agreements with the tribesmen in FATA. But what is good for the imperialist power may not be good for us." MISCELLANEOUS News Story: USEFP Celebrates Education Week "Daily Times" (11/17) "To observe International Education Week 2009, the United States Education Foundation Pakistan (USEFP) on Monday started a series of informative events for local students and counselors. Dr Grace Clarke, the USEFP executive director, was the chief guest in the ceremony opening the series of events." News Story: 'Blackwater' Tries To Teach 'Lesson' To The Nation's Staffer "The Nation" (11/17) "A photojournalist of Nawa-i-Waqt remained into the custody of police for more than 45 minutes on the directives of high-ups of capital police only for taking snaps of a suspected rented house of Backwater Sunday night. According to details, the police intercepted photographer Sajjad Haider at a picket near Super Market when he was driving his car PV55." News Story: Iran, India Discuss Pipeline, Terror "Dawn" (11/17) "India and Iran on Monday discussed the fallout of terrorism in Pakistan on their own security and set up a group of experts to meet within two weeks to nudge the $7.4 billion Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline among other projects, Iranian diplomats said." (All circulation figures are based on estimation) Patterson