PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: April 20, 2009

UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 000819

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP OPRC PGOV PREL PK
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: April 20, 2009

Summary: Tehrik-Nifaz Shariat Mohammadi's (TNSM) chief Sufi
Mohammad's statement declaring the "Supreme Court and High Courts
'unIslamic'" dominated headlines in all major newspapers on Monday.
Reports of a drone attack in South Waziristan leaving "eight people
dead and two others injured" also received extensive coverage.
Newspapers reported that "at least 10 militants were killed as
security forces attacked their hideouts in the Orakzai Agency." The
remarks by Ambassador Holbrooke that he made during an interview
with CNN that "no other place in the world today faced a more
dangerous situation than Pakistan" received prominent display.

Most major dailies ran editorials on different aspects of the
ongoing war on terror such as the drone strikes, suicide attacks and
foreign aid for Pakistan. Commenting on the growing demands of Sufi
Mohammad, the center-right national English daily, "The Nation,"
observed that "these developments clearly point to the erosion of
state authority and are moment of reflection for the political
leadership of the country." The liberal Urdu daily "Express" noted
that the "worsening situation in the country demands an intensive
operation against terrorists to break their backs. Any weakness in
this regard would be akin to surrendering the country to them." The
centrist national daily "The News" while discussing the "too many
conditions to foreign aid" opined that the "best we can hope for is
to modify them to better suit our national and international
interests. But aid without conditionality - or close monitoring?
Forget it." End Summary.

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News Stories
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"Govt Asked To Set Up Darul Qaza By 23rd; Superior Courts
'Un-Islamic,' Says Swat Sufi" "Dawn" (04/20)

"Chief of the defunct Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Mohammadi Maulana
Sufi Mohammad said on Sunday the Supreme Court and High Courts were
'Ghair Sharaee' (unIslamic) institutions and, therefore, it would be
'Haram' to approach them to file appeals. He asked the government
to abolish regular courts and sack judges and set up Darul Qaza for
appeal by April 23 and appoint Qazis at all Sharia courts within one
month throughout the Malakand division and Kohistan district as
promised in the February 16 accord."

"Eight Killed In Swat Drone Attack" "The News" (04/20)

"Eight persons were killed and two others sustained injuries when a
suspected US spy plane fired missiles at two houses in Ziyari Noor
area near Rustam Adda in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) on Sunday."

"10 Die In Raid On Militant Hideouts" "Dawn" (04/20)

"At least 10 militants were killed and three tribesmen, two of them
teachers and third a levy sepoy, were injured as security forces
attacked hideouts of militants in the Orakzai Agency on Sunday."

"Situation Dangerous In Pakistan: Holbrooke" "Dawn" (04/20)

"US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke
warned on Sunday that no other place in the world today faced a more
dangerous situation than Pakistan. In an interview to CNN, Mr
Holbrooke said that Pakistan also faced a "very difficult economic
situation" and needed immediate help."

"Pakistan Must Do More To Fight Taliban: US" "Daily Times" (04/20)

"Pakistan must do more to 'erase' Taliban bases inside its
territory, which are destabilizing the entire region, US commander
of Western troops in Afghanistan General David McKiernan said on
Sunday."

"Pakistan Had Alerted U.S. Of 1998 Nuclear Tests" "Daily Times"
(04/20)

"Pakistan had informed the US of the nuclear tests it conducted in
response to India's tests in May 1998 with a 'heavy heart,' former
minister Gohar Ayub Khan has said in his new book."

"American Aid Should Be Unconditional: Musharraf" "Daily Times"
(04/20)

"The United States should not attach any conditions to the aid it is
giving Pakistan to help it root out terrorism, former president
General (r) Pervez Musharraf said on Sunday."

"Govt Initiates Efforts To Hunt Down 'Bad Taliban'" "The Nation"
(04/20)

"The PPP-led coalition government has launched efforts to track down
and combat what is described as 'Bad Taliban' engaged in targeting
the law-enforcement agencies in parts of the NWFP and FATA."

"Four Killed In Taliban-TNSM Clash" "Dawn" (04/20)

"Three activists of Tehrik Nifaz-i-Sahriat-i- Muhammadi and one
Taliban militant were killed in an exchange of fire between the two
groups in Mamond tehsil of Bajaur agency on Sunday. Taliban
spokesman Maulvi Omar said that two anti-Taliban men had been killed
and 10 houses torched."

"Suicide Attacks In Country Forbidden: Ulema" "Dawn" (04/20)

"A convention of ulema and mashaikh organised by the Muttahida Qaumi
Movement (MQM) declared here on Sunday that 'suicide attacks in the
country' were strictly forbidden in Islam and murder of any person
belonging to any sect was not allowed."

"Embassies Prepare For Terror Attacks" "The News" (04/20)

"Western diplomatic missions have been forced to resort to safety
bunkers on their premises in Islamabad in case of attacks and their
staffers are being trained to reach these bunkers amid shootouts and
bomb blasts. Sources revealed to 'The News' on Sunday that the
government is also considering the diplomatic missions' request for
removing the Frontier Constabulary (FC) troops from the vicinity of
the Diplomatic Enclave and their onward deployment in the Fata where
terrorists threaten to gain ground."
"Jamaat Threatens To Halt NATO Supplies If Drone Hits Continue"
"Daily Times" (04/20)
"Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Sunday warned to halt supplies to
Afghanistan-based NATO (Northern Atlantic Alliance Treaty) in
Pakistan if the US continues with drone attacks in the FATA."

--------------
Editorials/Op-eds
--------------

"Worrisome Sequence," an editorial in the center-right national
English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (04/20)

". . These developments clearly point to the erosion of state
authority and are a moment of reflection for the political
leadership of the country. Islamabad must also intensify efforts to
convince Washington to put a halt to the drone attacks..."

"Increasing Incidents Of Terrorism Can Be Dangerous For The
Country's Existence," an editorial in liberal Urdu daily "Express"
(cir. 100,000) (04/20)

"The worsening situation in the country demands an intensive
operation against terrorists to break their backs. Any weakness in
this regard would be akin to surrendering the country to them. It
seems that the extremist forces in FATA, NWFP and Punjab have joined
hands and their strategy is to shatter Pakistan's solidarity and
stability. The peace deal signed by the NWFP government and the TNFM
and Taliban has not produced positive results."

"Always Strings," an editorial in the centrist national English
daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) (04/20)

". . . We should not be surprised that the Indian lobby in the US
sought to influence the conditionality surrounding the latest
financial lifeboat to be launched in our direction. . . We are
important not because of our size and wealth but because of the
perceived threat we present to a range of nations not contiguous
with us. America and other donors will seek to minimize the threat
that they see, providing aid is one way of doing that, and if they
decide to attach strings that make clear that funding activity by
non-state actors who may seek to destabilize another player - India
- is unacceptable to them then again we can hardly be surprised. The
provision of aid is almost never transparent as far as explicit
motive goes, and there is always a hidden agenda. We need the money.
The money is going to come strings-attached. The best we can hope
for is to modify them to better suit our national and international
interests. But aid without conditionality - or close monitoring?
Forget it..."

"Shutting Parliament Out," an editorial in the Karachi-based
center-left independent national English daily "Dawn" (cir. 55,000)
(04/20)

". . . What can parliament do? At the counter-terrorism and
counter-insurgency level, it can assess what has gone wrong in the
state's response and what to do about it. The nearly 2,000 incidents
of terrorism have occurred across the length and breadth of the
country. What happens in southern Punjab is connected to what occurs
in Swat which is connected to what happens in Fata which may,
perhaps sooner than some realize, be connected to a surge of
terrorism in Karachi. . . Put the facts and figures and reports
before parliament. Let the people's representatives see for
themselves how often the evidence points towards the Baitullah
Mehsuds and the Lashkar-i-Jhangvis and how often towards the Indians
or Americans. Empower parliament with information before expecting
it to reach the right conclusions."

"Bulldozer Diplomacy," an Op-ed By Imtiaz Gul in the Karachi-based
center-left independent national English daily "Dawn" (cir. 55,000)
(04/20)

". . . Holbrooke, on the other hand, appears given only to the
American-India concerns on the consequences arising out of the wave
of terror in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This obviously kicks up a
fundamental question: can the US expect effective cooperation by
totally disregarding Pakistan's legitimate concerns, glossing over
its geo-strategic interests and playing up themes that originate in
India? The answer came from former US national security Adviser
Zbigniew Brzezinski in an interview with a Pakistani private TV
channel. He said the US was unable to find an answer to the question
on obtaining Pakistan's help while Pakistan was sure it faced a
threat from India. He most probably suggested that the US cannot win
Pakistan over as long as it talks of it as an ally and at the same
time targets its institutions. No doubt, the Pakistan US
relationship is once again on a bumpy and troublesome path."

"Holbrooke's Observation On Foreign Aid," an editorial in the
center-right Urdu daily "Pakistan" (cir. 10,000) (04/20)

"U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke
has termed assistance announced by the Friends of Pakistan as
insufficient and said that more aid is necessary to fight militants
and strengthen the economy... Our economic experts have never spared
a thought to whether the poor in this country will ever see good
times... We need to pay attention to Mr. Holbrooke's observation
that 50 percent of the people in this important Islamic country live
below the poverty line. Changing this situation should be the real
objective of our fiscal planning."

"Sharia Regulation In Swat," an Op-ed By Tahir Wasti in the
Karachi-based center-left independent national English daily "Dawn"
(cir. 55,000) (04/20)

". . . In Swat, the duty to make law has been bestowed upon qazis
who would declare what is and what is not in accordance with the
Quran, Sunnah, ijma and qiyas . . . Qiyas and ijma are defined
differently not only by various scholars and sects but even the
imams of five established schools of thought describe qiyas and ijma
in dissimilar forms. Therefore, if an injunction is based on the
Quran and Sunnah it may be acceptable to most Muslims but if it is
based on qiyas and ijma it will not be acceptable to those who do
not accept these two sources of Islamic law."

"Power Versus Law," an Op-ed by Huma Yusuf in the Karachi-based
center-left independent national English daily "Dawn" (cir. 55,000)
(04/20)

". . . These are just a few reminders that militants will never
forgive and forget. The fact that they have convinced the Pakistani
government and citizenry to do so shows their rhetorical prowess and
over-confidence. Dealing with mullahs and militants in positions of
power was going to be bad enough, but managing mullahs and militants
with a penchant for realpolitik is a challenge Pakistan may not
endure."

"The Taliban Are Here," an Op-ed by Samad Khurram in the centrist
national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) (04/20)

". . . The sad story, friends, is that the Taliban are here, and
unless we stand up against them in every possible way, Pakistan will
be lost for good. And it will not be lost because of Zardari's real
or perceived corruption or anything else like that, but because of
the silence of the lambs - we ALL will be responsible if Pakistan
fails."

"Implications Of The Deal" an Op-ed by Talat Masood in the centrist
national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) (04/20)

"People for their own reasons took a sigh of relief that the peace
deal may at least provide them security and a modicum of justice
even if that is medieval.... The government has yielded under
compulsion at a time when Talibanization is sweeping the country and
overwhelming the state.... The spread of Taliban phenomena, albeit
yet in pockets, is transforming the politico-social dynamic of
Pakistan. Democracy and human rights will be the first casualties
of Talibanization... How will Washington and New Delhi perceive our
approach of pacifying the Taliban? Already the US has expressed its
reservations and they are closely monitoring the situation. US view
has always been that peace deals are counter-productive and end up
strengthening the militants by allowing them to consolidate and
expand their influence. They could be talked into it that unless
there is massive military intervention with huge adverse
consequences it was not possible to have handled the situation in
any other way..."

"Dumb Charade," an Op-ed by Shahzad Chaudhry in the Lahore-based
liberal English language daily "Daily Times" (cir. 10,000) (03/26)

"Our representatives decided our future, the soul of our existence,
after just five speeches, within a couple of hours.... We are all
heading into the new ways - the ways of the Taliban.... I have no
issue with the Nizam-e Adl; just that it could have been debated by
parliament for the sake of the people that it purported to
represent. Rubber-stamping, you might wonder; no way, not in this
real parliament of the people's real representatives"

"Is Chaos To Follow Terror," an Op-ed By Rifaat Hamid Ghani
in the Karachi-based center-left independent national English daily
"Dawn" (cir. 55,000) (04/20)

". . . Cross-border terrorism is a regional threat; but in that
context neither India nor Afghanistan can address Pakistan from a
moral high ground. Nor for that matter can America in its Af-Pak
context, not just because of things like extraordinary rendition,
but because of its obtuseness in being dismissive of collateral
damage and deaf to its resonances. Some of the many affected by it
seek to strike back in their impotence. Pakistan's reluctance to
meet internal problems arising from collateral damage should not be
misconstrued as sympathy for terrorist kin. For Pakistan to be
treating Pakistanis as callously as America feels free to treat them
alienates the citizenry from the government and indeed has made
terrorism more a Pakistan-specific problem."

"Hangu Attack And Pakistani Mind," an editorial in the Lahore-based
liberal English language daily "Daily Times" (cir. 10,000) (04/20)

"... This gelling opinion is based on the threat coming first from
India and then from America. There is a lot of incomprehensible
mishmash of thinking here but this is how the scene is set.
Baitullah Mehsud is asking Pakistan to abandon the Americans or at
least get them to stop the drone attacks on him. In Pakistan, it is
increasingly being said that Baitullah Mehsud is being paid by both
America and India to mount terrorist attacks inside Pakistan. To
what end, one may ask? The conspiracy-theorists' answer is
apparently simple, "to destabilize Pakistan." And why is the US
doing it? Because, say the conspiracy theorists, the US is ganged up
with India to reduce Pakistan to the position of a lackey of
hegemonic India. And, of course, all that anticipates the conversion
of South Asia into a pro-American bastion against China, according
to these people."

"New Wave Of Terrorism In The Tribal Areas," an editorial in the
second-largest, center-right nationalist Urdu daily "Nawa-i-Waqt"
(cir. 125,000) (04/20)

"Twenty-nine persons were killed, including 27 policemen, in a
suicide attack on police post in Hangu... The best way to rid the
country of terrorism is the one adopted by the NWFP government in
the shape of the peace deal with the TNFM. But this deal is not
acceptable to the U.S. and just as in the past, it is engaged in
trying to sabotage it. Hence the likelihood of U.S., Indian and
Afghan involvement in the fresh wave of suicide attacks cannot be
ruled out.... Instead of adopting a policy on terrorism that is
dictated by the U.S., President Zardari needs to tell the U.S. that
American policies are becoming a source of terrorism in our country.
Hence the U.S. needs to review these policies, stop drone attacks
and withdraw troops from Afghanistan."

"Attack On Police And Army Personnel In Hangu," an editorial in the
center-right Urdu daily "Pakistan" (cir. 10,000) (04/20)

"Taliban's attempts to impose their solutions through force are
weakening the Pakistani nation against imperialism. It is the
religious scholars' responsibility to guide the Taliban and the
entire nation and enlighten the nation clearly about their stance on
suicide attacks. Moreover, their stance should be voiced
collectively, not individually."

"Alleged Suicide Attack In Hangu," an editorial note in the
Karachi-based, pro Taliban Jihadi Urdu daily "Islam" (cir. 15,000)
(04/20)

"At a time when the Shariat laws are enforced in Swat, and people of
Pakistan have taken a sigh of relief on restoration of peace in the
region, the 'suicide' attack in Hangu occurred. It is a very tragic
and devastating incident. Pakistani officials and media have termed
it as a suicide attack. If it is really an act of local militants,
it is condemnable, and the perpetrators must be brought to justice.
However, we must not rule out the possibility of some foreign hand
behind this incident as anti-Pakistan elements are also engaged to
sabotage the Swat Peace Deal."

"Terrorism And Friends' Neglect," an editorial in the Lahore-based
populist center-right Urdu daily "Khabrain" (cir. 50,000) (04/20)

"Pakistan's economy is deeply affected by terrorist attacks and we
have faced losses worth billions of dollars. Despite this fact, the
U.S. and its allies are not paying full attention to Pakistan.
America has promised to provide $1.5 billion annually, and the
Friends of Pakistan have promised $5.28 billion. But this amount is
not sufficient to fight militants and support the economy... In this
scenario, the U.S. should improve its stance towards Pakistan and
friends must also provide immediate assistance."

"Islamization: Cure Of All Evils," an Op-ed By Qazi Hussain Ahmad in
the centrist national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000)
(04/20)

". . . Regarding the argument that promoting Islam would enrage
Washington and the west, we would become isolated, and be dubbed as
fundamentalists, etc., it must be kept in mind that alienating Islam
will negate out existence and disintegrate the country. Islam is the
basis of Pakistan, since it was created for Islam and not on the
basis of some homeland."

"President Zardari's Demand To International Community," an
editorial note in the leading mass circulation centrist Urdu daily
"Jang" (cir. 300,000) (04/20)

"President Zardari has said that Pakistan has been confronting
terrorism for the last ten years, international community will have
to come forward to help Pakistan stop growing terrorism and
extremism... International community must understand that Pakistan
is being targeted just because of supporting the world in the global
war on terror."

Patterson