PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: DECEMBER 22, 2009

UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 003073 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP OPRC PGOV PREL PK SUBJECT: PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: DECEMBER 22, 2009 Summary: Coverage of the meeting between Prime Minister Gilani and PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif and their vow to continue reconciliation policy and strengthen the democratic system dominated front pages Tuesday morning. Most media also reported President Zardari and PM Gilani's statement that there should be no "institutional confrontation," referencing the Supreme Court. Several major Urdu language newspapers published three corrections issued by the U.S. Embassy-- Jinnah: "No American jet violated Pakistani airspace in Mohmand Agency"; Nawa-i-Waqt: "U.S. Embassy rejected news item regarding land acquisition in Prime Minister's Staff Colony"; and Mashriq: "Diplomatic parcels of the U.S. Embassy cannot be checked." Analysis of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship rounded out coverage. Dawn quoted Admiral Mullen's claim that "Pakistan does not get enough credit for its role in the war against extremists." Several publications covered statements by prominent Pakistani analysts in Washington who advise President Obama to address Pakistan's concerns, particularly vis-`-vis India, both in the short-term and following U.S. troop withdrawal. Some dailies highlighted The Boston Globe's editorial urging President Obama to "stay neutral in Pakistan," and to "make sure that America is not identified with any one Pakistani politician or party." All TV networks reported a suicide bombing at the Press Club in Peshawar that killed several people. End Summary. TOP STORIES News Story: Attempt To Oust Govt. Will Be Resisted With Full Might: PM "Dawn" (12/22) "Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is reported to have conveyed to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif a tough message from his party that it will resist with its full might any attempt to destabilize or dislodge its government, sources quoted him as telling the Chief Minister during a meeting in Islamabad on Monday." News Story: Zardari, Gilani Don't Want Institutional Confrontation "Daily Times" (12/22) "Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday called on President Asif Ali Zardari to brief him on his meeting with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif in Lahore, and the two leaders agreed that there should not be a confrontation between institutions. Sources said Zardari and Gilani discussed the consultations that were underway with government allies and other political parties, to tackle the situation in the wake of the Supreme Court's (SC) verdict on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO)." News Story: U.S. Dismisses Reports On Pak Air Violation "Daily Times," "Jang," "Express," "Jinnah,'" "Pakistan," "Islam," "Mashriq," "Ausaf" (12/22) "The U.S. Embassy has dismissed allegations in the local press that U.S. aircraft violated Pakistan's airspace in the Mohmand Agency. The Embassy quoted a news report of a national daily on Saturday that claimed that U.S. jets were seen flying over Mohmand and flew almost 50 kilometers into the Pakistani airspace. 'These accusations are entirely false. No U.S. fighter aircraft flew over Mohmand as alleged in the article,' said a press release from the U.S. Embassy." News Story: U.S. Embassy Refutes Acquisition of Land in PM's Staff Colony "Nawa-i-Waqt," "Express" (12/22) "The U.S. Embassy rejected an article published in a national daily newspaper on Monday claiming that the Embassy has acquired land in the Prime Minister's Staff Colony, which has resulted in the issuance of eviction notices to eight Prime Minister's Secretariat staffers and their families. In a press release issued on Monday, the U.S. Embassy has rejected this story as entirely fictional saying it has not obtained any land in the Prime Minister's Staff Colony, nor has sought the eviction of residents from their homes. News Story: Parcels Sent To Embassies Can't Be Checked: U.S. "The Nation," "Jang," "Express," "Pakistan," "Mashriq" (12/22) "U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire has said parcels of any Embassy including U.S. cannot be checked nor can any custom duty be clamped thereon. He said this in an exclusive talk with Online in Islamabad Monday. 'Newspapers published articles on Monday alleging there was a disagreement between U.S. Consulate General Lahore staff and Pakistani customs officials at the Lahore airport regarding the receipt of routine diplomatic pouches. These reports were in error -- the U.S. diplomatic pouches that arrived Saturday in Lahore were received without incident.'" News Story: Obama Must Address Pakistan's Concerns: Experts "Daily Times" (12/22) "President Barack Obama must complement his Afghan security strategy with a political plan and address Pakistan's concerns, particularly vis-`-vis India, both in the immediate and the post-U.S. troop pullout perspectives, top experts said while discussing imperatives of an effective way forward. Sharing their evaluation of the new U.S. plan with the Council on Foreign Relations, analysts also cautioned against any unilateral moves that may spell further difficulties for Islamabad as it struggles with consequences of the eight-year old Afghan war.... Maleeha Lodhi says Pak-U.S. relationship will run into problems if Washington fails to dispel Islamabad's concerns about new Afghan strategy.... Ahmed Rashid says U.S. needs to articulate a political strategy that includes India and Pakistan." News Story: Pakistan Not Given Enough Credit, Says Mullen "Dawn" (12/22) "Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen has said that Pakistan does not get enough credit for its role in the war against extremists although some of its achievements were 'pretty extraordinary.' 'Too many people eagerly and easily criticize Pakistan for what they haven't done, and when I go to Swat and look at what they did there on the military side I think it's pretty extraordinary,' said the U.S. military Chief while talking to journalists in Washington on Sunday." TERRORISM/MILITARY ISSUES News Story: 3 Die, 18 Hurt In Peshawar Suicide Blast "The News" (12/22) "At least three persons lost their lives and 18 others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of the main gate of Press Club Building located on Sher Shah Sori Road in Saddar locality of Peshawar on Tuesday morning (Today),police sources confirmed." News Story: Arrested Americans Have 'No Regrets' "Dawn" (12/22) "The five Americans facing life imprisonment have no remorse for plotting terror attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan, rather they regret 'they could not lay their lives in fight against infidels.' 'We have no remorse for what we were planning. Rather we have regrets that we could not embrace Shahadat (martyrdom) for our cause to (wage) jihad against the U.S.,' they were quoted as saying by Sargodha District Police Officer Dr. Usman who was part of the Joint Investigating Team grilling the accused in Lahore." News Story: A Pak Firm Aiding Blackwater "The Nation" (12/22) "The heated debate regarding the misadventures of notorious Blackwater in Pakistan have rightly questioned the credibility and integrity of the covert organisation. Blackwater or Xe Worldwide, being an expansionist organisation, works on the agenda and directives of CIA, whether it is involved in the recent wave of bloodbath in Pakistan is yet to be determined, but the writing on the wall is too visible to be comprehended what lies underneath, and all this is happening with the active involvement of 'local Americans.' Jeremy Scahill, an investigative journalist whose recent article about Blackwater titled "Blackwater's Secret War in Pakistan" had given light to some of the darkest aspects of Blackwater, disclosed in an interview that a Pakistani company Kestral owned by Liaquat Ali Baig, was working with Blackwater to assist it in Pakistan with the collusion of Interior Ministry and Frontier Constabulary (FC)." News Story: Israel Wins $350m Tender To Produce Apcs For Afghan Troops "The Nation" (12/22) "The United States is trying to bring Israel overtly into the region, through Afghanistan. The latest attempt has been through the supply of arms to the military in Afghanistan. The Israeli Palsan company won a tender to supply $350 million worth of armored personnel carriers to soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, Israel Radio reported. Another Israeli company, Panas, is a subcontractor of Palsan and produces ballistic protection sheets manufactured using a specialized technology. Interestingly, Afghanistan does not recognize Israel and there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries." News Story: CM Says Defeated Taliban Targeting Civilians "Dawn" (12/22) "NWFP Chief Minister (CM) Ameer Haider Khan Hoti has hoped that the restive areas will be cleared of militants soon, saying the Taliban can no more fight the army. Talking to journalists in Timergara on Monday, he said that they would continue to fight the militants, who were killing innocent sons of the soil." News Story: Taliban Claim Control Of Over 80pc Of Afghanistan "The News" (12/22) "Rejecting as baseless the U.S. allegations about the presence of Afghan Taliban in the tribal areas, a militant commander said they did not need to flee to the neighboring country when the Taliban controlled major parts of Afghanistan. Mullah Sangeen, a key commander of the Afghan Taliban, claimed there was no truth in the U.S. charges, as the Taliban were holding 80 per cent of the territory in Afghanistan. In his video message, which the Taliban commander claimed was recorded in one of his camps in the Paktika province, he said the Haqqani network was active and based in Afghanistan. Sangeen is also affiliated with the network." News Story: Six Killed In Bajaur "Dawn" (12/22) "Six militants were killed and five others injured when military planes pounded militants' hideouts in Bajaur tribal region on Monday. Sources said that militants' positions were targeted in Speray, Gatki, Yasha and Warha Kharki areas of Warh Mamond tehsil." News Story: School, BHU Blown Up In Kurram "Dawn" (12/22) "Militants blew up a Primary School and a Basic Health Unit (BHU) in central Kurram Agency on Monday, officials said." News Story: Hoti: Nizam-e-Adl To Be Implemented In Malakand At All Costs "Pakistan Observer" (12/22) "NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti has reaffirmed that Nizam-e-Adl will be implemented in Malakand division at all cost and said that provision of prompt and inexpensive justice is essential for good governance and elimination of disparities of the people. Expressing these views while talking to media representatives while inquiring the health of Police Line blast's injured at Timirgarah Lower Dir on Monday." News Story: JI Accuses Punjab Govt. Of Following Pro-U.S. Policies "Pakistan Observer" (12/22) "Punjab government has proved that it is also following pro American policy like federal government by imposing section 144 urgently in the mid of day on the occasion of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) 'go America go' rally. This was said by Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami district Rawalpindi Raja Abdul Waheed during a press conference in Rawalpindi on Monday." POLITICAL ISSUES News Story: Obama Should Stay Neutral In Pakistan: Boston Globe "The News," "The Nation" (12/22) "President Obama should end U.S. meddling in the Pakistani politics and his guiding principle must be to make sure that America is not identified with any one Pakistani politician or party, the influential Boston Globe said on Monday in an editorial on Pakistan after the NRO verdict." News Story: Accord On 17th Amendment, Zardari's Office: PPP And PML-N Agree To Cease Fire "Dawn" (12/22) "The PPP and the PML-N have reached an accord under which the former has assured the latter of doing away with the 17th Amendment and in return the PML-N has promised to support President Asif Ali Zardari in the current political crisis, according to sources in the presidency." ECONOMY/ENVIRONMENT News Story: Establishing JSG: Afghanistan Concedes Pakistan's Demand "Business Recorder" (12/22) "Afghanistan has conceded Pakistan's longstanding demand to establish a Joint Study Group (JSG) with the objective of suggesting measures to curb smuggling which is not only hurting Pakistan's domestic industry but is also compromising duty collection on imports like tea and tyres, sources told 'Business Recorder.' Pakistan achieved this success after three days of deliberations with Afghanistan under new Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) supported by U.S. State Department." News Story: Subsidy For Lifeline Consumers, Farm Sector Withdrawn: Power Tariff To Go Up By 13.5pc Next Month "Dawn" (12/22) "The government has decided to withdraw electricity subsidies being given to lifeline consumers and the agriculture sector. A notification to this effect would be issued on Tuesday, sources told 'Dawn.' The withdrawal of subsidy is part of the second phase of tariff increase under a commitment made to the International Monetary Fund. The tariff will be increased by 13.5 per cent for the January-March period next year." MISCELLANEOUS News Story: Another Tool To Safeguard American 'Interests' "The Nation" (12/22) "The higher authorities of Cuba have detained an employee of Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI),the major U.S. government contractor providing services to the Pentagon and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),due of his involvement in covert activities, reports The New York Times." EDITORIALS/OPINIONS Editorial: Guarding Pak Interest, an editorial in the center-right national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (12/22) "Once again Pakistan is under U.S. pressure, this time on the issue of the Transit Trade Agreement with Afghanistan which is now being sponsored by the U.S. Earlier, it was feared that Pakistan would give in to U.S. demands and grant access to India across the land border, into Afghanistan and on to Central Asia.... Instead of allowing a backdoor entry to India, Pakistan needs to stress on the revival of the composite dialogue in order to discuss all bilateral issues - from Kashmir to security to trade.... Pakistan has tended to ignore security issues in the context of the Afghan transit trade, but in the prevailing situation with the U.S. attempting to assert its agenda on all fronts, and Pakistan being devastated by terrorism from internal and external forces, it has to put security issues at the forefront of the transit trade question." Editorial: Increase In Americans' Intolerable Undiplomatic Activities, an editorial in the second-largest, nationalist Urdu daily "Nawa-i-Waqt" (cir. 150,000) (12/22) "Lahore has had 5 such incidents recently [involving Americans.] In the latest incident, while the Americans acted like hooligans, the Customs officials also did not fulfill their duties.... Why were American parcels allowed to leave [the airport] without checking and paying of the Custom duty? Instead of being plagued by an inferiority complex, [the customs'] officials should have used their authority more responsibly.... Pakistan is an independent and sovereign country; and the citizens are concerned over the activities of Americans and other foreigners. It is now open that they are acting on an anti-Pakistan agenda. The government must remain vigilant and stop their undiplomatic activities. If someone violates [the law] he or she should be dealt with according to the law; no favors or concessions must be accorded to them." Editorial: Americans' High-handedness And Anger Of Pakistani Masses, an editorial in the popular rightist Urdu-language daily "Ausaf" (cir. 10,000) (12/22) "The silence of the mainstream political parties, the PPP and PML-N, over the suspicious activities of the U.S. nationals in Pakistan, and Washington's overt and covert conspiracies against our nukes, has become an enigma for the ordinary people. Despite fully knowing the fact that all roads to the corridors of power in Islamabad pass through Washington, we hope that both of the main political parties would realize their responsibilities, particularly in the face of American designs against our national interests." Editorial: Country Needs Stability, Not Confrontation, an editorial in the leading mass circulation populist, often sensational Urdu daily "Jang" (cir. 300,000) (12/22) "At a time when Pakistan is virtually at war, both at home and on its borders, the threats from various religious political parties to hold protest demonstrations against the government will further aggravate the prevailing dangerous situation. On the one hand, India is not honoring its pledges made in the Sharm al Sheikh declaration, while, on the other, the U.S. officials are relentlessly expressing unjustifiable concerns regarding the safety of our nuclear assets. Moreover, the dubious activities of the American diplomats have become a constant source of concern and anxiety for the Pakistani masses. Under these circumstances, we think that our political leadership must forge unity, rather than stoking dissociation in the society." Editorial: Horrible Consequences Of Drone Attacks On Quetta, an editorial in the Islamabad-based rightist English daily "Pakistan Observer" (cir. 5,000) (12/22) "Knowledgeable circles in Islamabad have expressed their fears that the U.S. plan to launch drone attacks in Balochistan could be implemented any time as the deployment of additional 30,000 troops announced by President Obama begins.... Keeping these developments in view, we would like to warn all concerned that if this happens, it would have horrible consequences as Pakistan in no case would allow violation of its sovereignty and further destabilization of the largest province which is already witnessing incidents of lawlessness. Therefore it is the time, the Government must use every forum and firmly say 'NO' to drone attacks or ground incursions by foreign forces in Balochistan." Editorial: The Road To Peace, an editorial in the center-right national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (12/22) "Expressing the view that the road to peace in the subcontinent lies through the resolution of Kashmir, former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Ronald Spiers has called for bringing the issue off 'the backburner' to the forefront and settling it.... One would wish the Indian leadership to dispassionately assess the implications of the High Commissioner's remarks that the present diplomatic vacuum (the absence of contact to resolve disputes) was strengthening the forces, which do not want the two countries to make progress. At the very least, India should listen to a third party, Ambassador Spiers, who has made more or less a similar statement when he predicated Kashmir's solution to peace." Editorial: Copenhagen Agreement, an editorial in the country's premier business newspaper, "Business Recorder" (cir. 25,000) (12/22) "Among the positive points is that major economies have for the first time come together to accept their responsibility to take action to confront the issue of climate change. The accord provides a system for monitoring and reporting progress towards the national pollution-reduction goals.... Among the failures of the agreement is that it does not set a 2010 goal for reaching a binding international treaty on the issue, which many countries had demanded. The agreement also does not commit the industrialized or the developing nations to firm targets for mid-term or long-term greenhouse gas emission reductions.... The agreement may not be ideal, but this was the only practical thing possible in the prevailing circumstances." Editorial: A Raw Deal, an editorial in the Lahore-based liberal English daily "The Post" (cir. 5,000) (12/22) "Despite Ban Ki-moon trying to put a gloss over the limited accord the fact of the matter is that final results have been far from what the developing countries expected from Copenhagen.... The truth is that the industrialized countries have once again shirked their responsibility to do their bit to mitigate the effects of global warming.... What has been offered at Copenhagen is mere peanuts which will not make the slightest difference to the situation. Glaciers are melting fast and sea levels are rising everywhere putting many island nations at risk. Many countries are faced with creeping threat of desertification. Needless to say, the planet will become inhabitable sooner than later if the rich nations do not act fast." Opinion: A Case Of Unchecked Terrorists, an op-ed by Ishtiaq Ahmad in the Lahore-based liberal English language daily "Daily Times" (cir. 10,000) (12/22) "Interior Minister Rehman Malik has ruled out the presence of any U.S. terrorists in Pakistan. 'There is no presence of Blackwater in Pakistan. Unfortunately, all the terrorists in the country are Pakistani nationals.' Now, if there is no U.S. terrorist in Pakistan and all the terrorists in the country are Pakistani nationals, it does not mean that there is no Blackwater presence in Pakistan." Opinion: Karzai Passes The First Test, an op-ed by Rahimullah Yusufzai in the populist, often sensational national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) (12/22) "Under pressure from the western nations that have invested heavily in blood and money to keep him in power, President Hamid Karzai has retained ministers favored by the U.S. and its allies in his 23-member cabinet and appointed new ones reportedly untainted by corruption. It was a tough balancing act for the beleaguered Afghan leader as he had to please not only the western capitals but also powerful Afghan warlords who had backed him in the recent presidential election. As if this wasn't enough of a challenge, he needed to keep in mind the interest of the competing political, regional and ethnic groups brought together in a broad and unwieldy coalition to confront the growing challenge by the Taliban.... Afghan warlords are no longer favored by the U.S. and its western allies after having been armed and paid to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda." (All circulation figures are based on estimation) Patterson