PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: DECEMBER 30, 2009

UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 003104

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP OPRC PGOV PREL PK
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: DECEMBER 30, 2009

Summary: The aftermath of the terrorist attack in Karachi continues
to dominate front-page news this morning. All major English dailies
carried President Obama's statement on the failed U.S. airliner
attack. "Dawn" carried the headline: "Terror havens in four states:
US", focusing on his commitment to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat
the violent extremists...whether they are from Afghanistan or
Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere they are plotting attacks
against the U.S. homeland." Media widely reported the Pakistani
military spokesman's response to a Washington Post article alleging
political and military leadership involvement in transfer of
nuclear-related material to North Korea by Dr. A.Q. Khan in the
1990s. Newspapers highlighted President Zardari's comments in
defense of Pakistan's democratic system and Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif's remarks that there is no
threat to Pakistan's democratic system and that his party will
defend the present government if threats emerge. "The News"
reported Sharif's statement warning the government against "growing
U.S. influence" in Pakistan. Several papers carried the U.S.
Embassy's condemnation of the Muharram procession attacks and two
corrections rejecting fictitious reports published in The Nation.
The reports alleged that a U.S. B-52 aircraft was seen hovering over
FATA and that the U.S. is brokering a deal on the Kashmir dispute
between India and Pakistan.

TOP STORIES

Obama Concedes 'Systemic Failure' In Anti-Terror Protection "The
Nation" (12/30)

"U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday said that a 'systemic
failure' occurred in the intelligence network ahead of the thwarted
attack on a U.S.-bound flight from Amsterdam on Christmas Day. 'This
is unacceptable,' he said and asked the authorities to submit to him
a preliminary report on the failed attempt by a Nigerian national to
blow up a North West Airlines plane on December 25."

News Story: Terror Havens In Four States: U.S. "Dawn" (12/30)

"U.S. President Barack Obama has identified Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Yemen and Somalia as the four places where terrorists were hatching
plans to attack the United States. In a statement issued on Monday
evening, Mr. Obama also vowed to track down the plotters behind the
attempted Christmas Day aeroplane bombing attack. He said the attack
was a serious reminder of the danger his nation faced."

News Story: Karachi In Grip Of Grief And Anger As Blast Toll Rises
To 43 "Dawn" (12/30)

"A deep sense of grief and anger prevailed in Karachi on Tuesday as
victims of Monday's suicide attack on the main Ashura procession in
the city were laid to rest and religious scholars made an
impassioned plea for sectarian harmony and peace. The city was at a
standstill with shops and markets, government offices and
educational institutions closed and public and private transport off
the road. At least 43 people were killed and 60 others injured when
the bomber struck the procession on the M.A. Jinnah Road at about
4.15pm near the Light House area."

TERRORISM/MILITARY ISSUES

News Story: Zardari Confident Of Victory Over Militants "Dawn"
(12/30)

"President Asif Ali Zardari has assured his U.S. supporters that his
government is determined to carry on with the fight against
militants until victory is achieved. 'We will not let militants
violently impose their political agenda on the people,' Mr. Zardari
wrote in an op-ed article in The Wall Street Journal."

News Story: Terrorists Working On Foreign Agenda: PM "The News"
(12/30)

"Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said terrorists
were working on a foreign agenda but the government had taken
effective steps to crush them. He was talking to media persons after
inaugurating a 100-unit Labor Housing Colony and distributing
allotment letters of these houses among 100 laborers in Gwadar."

News Story: COAS Warns Against Airstrikes; Tripartite Commission
Meeting "The Nation" (12/30)
"The Tripartite Commission comprising senior military
representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan and coalition forces in
Afghanistan held its 29th meeting in Kabul on Tuesday.... The
participants showed satisfaction over the existing level of
cooperation.... The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) raised the recent
incidents of firing inside the Pakistani border and said that
Pakistan's sovereignty should be respected and if the allied troops
have any information of viable target inside Pakistan then they
should share that information with the Pakistani authorities who
would then take action themselves."

News Story: Pakistan Denies Transfer Of N-Material To N. Korea
"Dawn" (12/30)

"Pakistan rejected on Tuesday allegations about involvement of the
political and military leadership in transfer of nuclear-related
material to North Korea by Dr A.Q. Khan in the 1990s. Jeffery Smith
and Joe Warrick leveled the allegations in an article in Washington
Post headlined "Pakistani scientists depicts more advanced nuclear
program in North Korea", and claimed that these were based on 'a
previously unpublicized account' by Dr Khan, implicating former
President General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf, the current Chief of
Strategic Plans Division General (Retd) Khalid Kidwai and other
officials.... Military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas said there was
no state-level connivance as had been alleged in the article."

News Story: U.S. Denies Its Bomber Violated Pakistani Airspace
"Daily times," "Jang," Nawa-i-Waqt," "Express," "Aaj-Kal," "Islam"
(12/30)

"The U.S. Embassy on Tuesday denied a report published in a national
daily on Monday, which claimed that a U.S. B-52 bomber aircraft was
seen flying over Waziristan and the Kurram Agency over the past
several weeks. 'These accusations are entirely baseless. No B-52
aircraft flew over North and South Waziristan or the Kurram Agency
as alleged in the article,' the Embassy said in a statement."

News Story: Thirty Seven Militants, Four Levy Men Killed In Orakzai
"Dawn" (12/30)

"Helicopter gunships shelled suspected Taliban positions in Anjani
area of lower Orakzai Agency on Tuesday and killed 16 militants. The
helicopters went into action after five volunteers of a tribal
Lashkar and four levy personnel had been killed in clashes with
militants in Chamjana area. Twenty-nine militants were killed in the
clash, according to sources."

News Story: Mohmand Clashes Leave 7 Dead "Dawn" (12/30)

"Four children, a woman and two security personnel were killed in an
exchange of fire and shelling in Mohmand tribal region on Monday and
Tuesday."

News Story: Four NATO Oil Tankers Destroyed Near Sibi "Dawn" (12/30)


"Four oil tankers carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan were
gutted by bomb blasts near Sibi on Tuesday. A driver was seriously
injured in the explosions. An explosive device planted under a truck
was defused by police, averting further damage, according to
sources."

POLITICAL ISSUES

News Story: No Threat To Democratic System: Nawaz; Says He Wouldn't
Accept U.S. Dictates "The News" (12/30)

"PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif said on Tuesday that there was no threat
to the democratic system in the country and that his party would
defend the government if such a situation emerged. 'We are ready to
defend the government if any threat emerges. I believe the
undemocratic attitude of the government and the 17th Amendment are
the real challenges that the democratic system is facing,' he said
while talking to reporters in Oghi town. Nawaz said the government
should follow and implement the Charter of Democracy in letter and
spirit to overcome all challenges.... He warned the government
against the growing U.S. influence in the country."

News Story: U.S. Says It's Not Brokering Any Kashmir Deal "Daily
Times," "Express" (12/30)
"The U.S. is not brokering any settlement between Pakistan and India
to resolve the Kashmir dispute, the U.S. Embassy said on Tuesday.
The embassy was responding to an article published in a local
national daily on Monday, which stated that the U.S. Special
Representative Ambassador Richard Holbrooke told an interviewer that
the U.S. was brokering a deal on the Kashmir dispute between India
and Pakistan."

ECONOMY/ENVIRONMENT

News Story: Pakistan Receives $1.2bn Payment From IMF "Daily Times"
(12/30)

"Pakistan has received $1.2 billion from the International Monetary
Fund (IMF),the fourth tranche of an emergency loan facility agreed
upon last year, State Bank of Pakistan Chief spokesman Syed
Wasimuddin said on Tuesday."

News Story: Over 10,000 Jobs, Rs30bn Lost To Arson In Karachi "Dawn"
(12/30)

"Over 10,000 people have lost their jobs because of a blaze that
gutted between 2,000 and 3,000 shops located between Light House and
Boulton Market in the old city area on Monday, causing an estimated
loss of Rs30 billion."

EDITORIALS/OPINIONS

Editorial: Karachi Attacks, an editorial in the Karachi-based
center-left independent national English daily "Dawn" (cir. 55,000)
(12/30)

"Karachi's city centre was still burning the day after a suicide
attack on a Muharram procession claimed nearly 40 lives.... No one
can say with certainty whether Monday's attack was motivated solely
by sectarian hatred or if it is part of the wider menace of
Taliban-inspired terrorism. Many seem inclined towards the latter
view, arguing that the blast was aimed at provoking sectarian strife
and opening up a new front to further destabilize a country that is
already at war.... Still, the need for a united stand against
terrorism cannot be emphasized enough. The physical fight must be
complemented by moral resolve."

Editorial: Karachi Attack, an editorial in the Lahore-based liberal
English language daily "Daily Times" (cir. 10,000) (12/30)

"Public outrage and subsequent damage to businesses and property has
served as an added problem for the security apparatus. It has yet to
be established whether the public reaction was purely spontaneous or
certain elements systematically carried out the rampage in order to
inflict maximum damage, but the enormity of the loss of life and
property is a grim reminder to the security agencies of their
failings. There is literally no way a determined suicide bomber
could be stopped from carrying out his mission. This kind of
guerrilla warfare can only be fought through better intelligence and
by infiltrating the enemy's networks and busting them from within.
The government would be well advised to work on these lines if it is
sincere in its efforts to defeat the hydra of militancy."

Editorial: Multiple Targets, an editorial in the populist, often
sensational national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) (12/30)

"The bombing of the Ashura procession was, from the point of view of
those who planned and resourced it, highly successful.... We may
never know what the real intention of the attack was - whether it
was to spark sectarian conflict or more broadly destabilize the
city. Time will tell on both counts, but what is clear is that
despite Karachi having thus far escaped the worst it is in reality
as vulnerable as anywhere else. 'Foolproof' security exists only as
a fantasy. The bombers know this and, they having left their calling
card, we may be certain that they will be paying a return visit -
'foolproof' security or not."

Editorial: Tragic Madness, an editorial in the center-right national
English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (12/30)

"It is understandable that the incidents, which hurt the religious
sensitivities of a large section of the people, cannot fail to rouse
fury and anger of the public and one should expect street protests,
violent perhaps, to take place. But the aftermath of the suicide
bombing at Karachi appeared to go beyond that limit; it looked to be
well organized and pre-planned, as if the suicide and the rioters
had some link."

Editorial: Bloody Mayhem In Karachi And Muzaffarabad; Understand
Enemy's Design And Think Of Saving The Country, an editorial in the
second-largest, nationalist Urdu daily "Nawa-i-Waqt" (cir. 150,000)
(12/30)

"Rulers' imprudence has pitted us against grave terrorism with our
enemy taking advantage of our internal weaknesses. In view of the
reports on nefarious activities of Indian intelligence agency RAW
and American Blackwater the government needed to be vigilant.... It
would have been appropriate for the government to stop the military
operation in South Waziristan in reverence to Muharram thus giving
the militants a message of peace and brotherhood."

Editorial: NATO's Failure In Afghanistan, an editorial in the
popular rightist Urdu-language daily "Ausaf" (cir. 10,000) (12/30)

"The NATO's admission that the Taliban have regained control over
most of the provinces of Afghanistan is an evidence of the failure
of Washington and its allies in this war. Now they are wasting
dollars and the lives of their soldiers in Afghanistan only for
face-saving. We think that the time has come for the general public
in the U.S. and Europe to hold their rulers accountable over the
wastage of their tax-money. In fact, only the ordinary citizens of
these countries can prevent their governments from undertaking such
futile adventures in the future."

Editorial: NATO in Afghanistan, an editorial in the center-right
national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (12/30)

"A NATO report has conceded that the Taliban have control of 33 of
the country's 34 provinces, and practically are in government
there.... This should be a more than sufficient indication to the
Pakistan government that it has supported the United States too much
and for too long. It needs a strong and stable Afghanistan more than
NATO, and so it must ensure that the shape of a post-occupation
Afghanistan is in place in advance of the inevitable departure of
foreign forces from Afghanistan. The failure to do so when the USSR
left Afghanistan led to the rise of the Taliban and the present
imbroglio. As the United States and allied NATO forces are likely to
repeat the hastiness of their departure, Pakistan must be ready to
see that the Afghan situation does not become harmful for it or the
world."

Opinion: Decade Of Terror, an op-ed by Rafia Zakaria in the
Karachi-based center-left independent national English daily "Dawn"
(cir. 55,000) (12/30)

"Despite all these efforts countries large and small, weak and
strong have failed to corner the non-state warrior who has remained
impenetrable and largely unassailable. As warfare has moved away
from the army barracks into the cave, the rented room and the
abandoned warehouse the world is set to end the first decade of the
millennium horrified by the terror unleashed but helpless against
it."

Opinion: NATO Needs Afghan War, an op-ed by Farooq Sulehria in the
populist, often sensational national English daily "The News" (cir.
55,000) (12/30)

"For a while, the Iraq war overshadowed the Afghan war. But not for
long. And it is not merely the deterioration in the Afghan situation
that Hindukush drew Washington's attention yet again. The Afghan
theatre also provides the White House with an opportunity to
discipline NATO allies as well as testing new East European
mercenaries keen to enter NATO. It is of course Obama's political
future at stake in Afghanistan that has prompted the recent surge of
30,000 U.S. troops. The U.S. hawks will make it impossible for Obama
to run for the next term if he is seen as a dove."

Opinion: Psy War Against Pak Nukes, an op-ed by Dr. Raja M. Khan in
the Islamabad-based rightist English daily "Pakistan Observer" (cir.
5,000) (12/30)

"Seeing the sensitive nature of the matter; it is expected that our
allies must desist from passing irresponsible comments on the
Pakistani nukes. The current phase of the psychological warfare
against the Pakistani nukes must cease. Such reports indeed promote
Indian view point, which considers a nuclear Pakistan as the biggest
barrier in its super power ambitions."

Editorial: President Zardari's Speech Was Mere Perturbation, an
editorial in the second-largest, nationalist Urdu daily
"Nawa-i-Waqt" (cir. 150,000) (12/30)

"Analysts and political leaders of the country think that President
Zardari's speech on Benazir Bhutto's death anniversary did not
behoove of a dominant President and the head of a popular political
party. According to them, the speech demonstrated agitation of mind
and he appeared hurling threats on every institution including the
army and judiciary.... This was a declaration of war kind of speech
that could also be described as madness.... People think that due
to governance failure and his weaknesses the PPP chief is bent upon
giving reign of the country into the hands of undemocratic forces.
On the other hand, the undemocratic hands are not willing to accept
this offer; they want to give full opportunity to the democratic
force."

Editorial: Protests in Iran, an editorial in the Karachi-based
center-left independent national English daily "Dawn" (cir. 55,000)
(12/30)

"The recent death of Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Montazeri, a reformist
opposition religious leader, provided Iranian dissidents the
opportunity to revive their protest. The government's poor handling
of the crisis and the resultant anger has no doubt boosted the
protest movement in Iran.... The support extended by the U.S. and
some European powers has boosted the opposition's morale in Iran.
But it has also given Mr. Ahmadinejad the pretext to dub the protest
movement as foreign-inspired and crush dissension."

(All circulation figures are based on estimation)
Patterson