PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: JANUARY 05, 2010

UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 000011

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP OPRC PGOV PREL PK
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: JANUARY 05, 2010

Summary: Coverage of a variety of public statements by President
Zardari dominated front pages today, including his declaration that
"Pakistan's desire for peace is not a weakness." General Stanley
McChrystal's remarks made during his visit yesterday received wide
coverage in nearly all English language dailies. Papers reported
the General's statements on ISAF and Pakistan military coordination,
development of a joint Pakistan-U.S. counter-insurgency campaign,
and the shrinking trust deficit between U.S. and Pakistan forces.
All major English dailies highlighted reports that travelers from
Pakistan and thirteen other nations will be subject to full body
searches before boarding U.S. bound flights. The News published a
report that the head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazi has asked the GoP
to end its alliance with the U.S., blaming the government's pro-U.S.
policies for the rise in terrorist attacks in Pakistan. All major
dailies continued coverage of the alleged American Jihadis,
reporting that the suspects denied plotting terrorism in Pakistan.
End Summary.

TOP STORIES

News Story: Armed Forces Capable Of Safeguarding Pakistan: Zardari;
Pak Desire For Peace Not a Weakness - "The News" (01/05)

"President Asif Ali Zardari said on Monday that the armed forces of
Pakistan were capable of safeguarding the national sovereignty and
territorial integrity of the country. He was addressing the 92nd
officers commissioning parade of the Pakistan Navy at the Pakistan
Naval Academy. 'Pakistan is a peace-loving nation and we are willing
to go an extra mile to resolve all issues through dialogue. We
sincerely hope that the solutions we achieve are just, principled
and long-lasting. However, our desire for peace must not be taken as
a sign of weakness,' the president said."

News Story: Joint Pakistan-U.S. Action Against Taliban In The Offing
- "Dawn," "The News," "Daily Times" (01/05)

"Pakistan and the United States are working on a plan to take joint
military action against Taliban and launch coordinated attacks on
both sides of the Pak-Afghan border, according to Gen. Stanley
McChrystal, Commander of the NATO-led International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. He was talking to reporters
at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador on Monday evening after
holding talks with military commanders in Islamabad and visiting
Swat.... Gen. McChrystal, who was all praise for the military's
counter-insurgency campaign and the leadership of Army chief Gen.
Kayani, said he had no reasons to doubt Pakistan Army's sincerity."


News Story: Date Not Fixed For Joint Strategic Dialogue: U.S.
Embassy" - "Jang" (01/05)

"The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad has refuted any deferral in the Joint
Strategic Dialogue between Pakistan and the United States saying
that no date had been set for the next meeting. Talking to the media
on Monday, U.S. Embassy spokesman, Richard Snelsire, said that both
countries are working to finalize the schedule for the next session
of Pak-U.S. Joint Strategic Dialogue."

News Story: Pakistanis, Citizens Of 13 Other States Face More
Stringent Airport Checks - "Dawn" (01/05)

"At the U.S. behest, airports across the world introduced enhanced
security checks from Monday for citizens of 14 countries, including
Pakistan. The measures, implemented in response to the attempted
Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner, include extensive full
body searches, swabbing of luggage to detect explosives and body
scans. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) divided
those 14 countries into two categories - 'state sponsors of
terrorism and countries of interest.'"

News Story: JUI-F Chief Asks Govt. To Quit - "The News" (01/05)

"Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has
asked the government to quit the United States-led alliance against
terror and implement the resolution unanimously passed by parliament
for formulating anti-terror policies to safeguard Pakistan's
integrity. 'It is due to the government's pro-U.S. polices that the
war on terror has reached our homeland and now lives and properties
of the people are not safe," he said while talking to reporters on
Monday in Lakki Marwat."
TERRORISM/MILITARY ISSUES

News Story: Americans Deny They Planned To Carry Out Attacks -
"Dawn" (01/05)

"Five Americans suspected of using the Internet to contact militant
groups to carry out terrorist attacks told an anti-terrorism court
in Sargodha on Monday they had only wanted to give fellow Muslims
financial and medical aid in Afghanistan. The students, in their 20s
and from the U.S. state of Virginia, were detained last month."

News Story: U.S. Citizen Acquitted After Police Drop Charges - "The
News" (01/05)

"Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Muhammad Anwar Nazir on Monday acquitted
a U.S. citizen after police dropped charges against him and sent
five others to jail for 14 days. Earlier, the police produced Khalid
Farooq, Umar, Aman Ahmed, Waqar and Rami before the court. The court
also directed the police to submit the Challan on January 18."

News Story: U.S. Military Is Exhausted: Report - "Pakistan Observer"
(01/05)

"The call for over 30,000 more troops to be sent to Afghanistan is a
travesty for the people of that country who have already suffered
eight brutal years of occupation. It is also a harsh blow to the
U.S. soldiers facing imminent deployment. As Barack Obama, the U.S.
President, gears up for a further escalation that will bring the
total number of troops in Afghanistan to over 100,000, he faces a
military force that has been exhausted and overextended by fighting
two wars, reports Al Jazeera."

News Story: Karachi Target Killings Have Claimed 256 Lives - "The
News" (01/05)

"As many as 256 people, including workers of the Muttahida Qaumi
Movement (MQM),the MQM (Haqiqi),the PPP and the ANP, have so far
fallen prey to target killings in Karachi. Interior Minister Rehman
Malik, while expressing concern over the target killings, has
directed the departments concerned to take immediate measures to
punish the culprits. A high-level meeting, chaired by Rehman Malik
in Islamabad on Monday, took stock of the ever-increasing incidents
of target killings in Karachi. Senior officials in the Ministry of
Interior, the government of Sindh, intelligence agencies and rangers
attended the meeting."

News Story: Rangers In Karachi To Get More Powers - "Dawn" (01/05)


"The government has decided to give more powers to Rangers deployed
in Karachi under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA),allowing the
paramilitary force to arrest anyone involved in violence for 90
days, a source in the Interior Ministry told 'Dawn' on Monday."

News Story: Militants Burn Village In Lower Orakzai - "Dawn" (01/05)


"According to officials, armed men of the proscribed
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan raided the village of Tori Mela and set on
fire 63 houses which had been lying vacant for about a month because
most tribesmen had moved to other areas, leaving behind one or two
members of their families to take care of their belongings. Local
people said the Tehrik-i-Taliban had 'punished' tribesmen because of
their refusal to stay on in the village and support them in their
fight against security forces."

News Story: Time to Directly Hit Militants, Says Mian Iftikhar -
"The News" (01/05)

"NWFP Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Monday said
that peace in the country could be restored only if all the
terrorists' organizations and their training centers and dens were
eliminated, while talking to reporters in Peshawar."

News Story: Seven Terrorists Killed, 2 Arrested In Bajaur Agency -
"Daily Times" (01/05)

"Security forces destroyed two militant hideouts on Monday killing 7
and arresting two others in Operation Sherdil in the Bajaur Agency,
it was reported."
News Story: Driver Killed As NATO Trailer Ambushed - "The News"
(01/05)

"Another trailer transporting goods for NATO forces stationed in
Afghanistan was attacked on Ring Road, Peshawar, resulting into the
killing of the driver and injuries to the cleaner."

POLITICAL ISSUES

News Story: Top Indian, Pakistani Media Groups Join Hands For Peace
- "The News" (01/01)

"The turn of the decade brings with it a momentous shot in the arm
to the moribund Indo-Pak peace process with the unveiling of a grand
cross-border collaborative peace project. The initiative, titled
Aman Ki Asha, promises to be a path-breaking collaboration between
Pakistan's Jang Group and Geo and India's Times of India Group, the
largest media groups on their respective sides of the border. It
will look to inject impetus into the Indo-Pak dialogue in a manner
that is unparalleled, on a scale that is unprecedented. The project
aims to provide the ultimate mutual platform to debate the major
sticking points in the hitherto fickle peace dialogue on both sides
of the border - whether it is Kashmir, the water dispute or
security. The mission statement is unequivocal, declaring that the
two groups commit themselves to a movement that will bring the
people and civil institutions of the two countries closer together
in fostering an honorable, genuine and durable peace."

News Story: Zardari Breaks 'Siege,' Takes On Opponents - "Dawn"
(01/05)

"President Asif Ali Zardari, in a serious move to dispel the
impression of being a beleaguered head of state, has stepped up his
public engagements, and on Monday alone he made appearance at three
places in the city to attend to both official and political matters.
But even otherwise his participation as the chief guest at the
Mohatta Palace function, giving a go-ahead to the
Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas dual carriageway project and meeting PPP's
parliamentarians, as a diehard PPP activist said, aimed at sending a
clear message to his opponents that he was determined to fight
back."

News Story: Nawaz Seeks Trial Of Bugti's Killers - "The News"
(01/05)

"PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif said on Monday that there was no logic in
apologizing to the people of Balochistan for the past mistakes
unless the real issues, including action against the killers of
Nawab Akbar Bugti and recovery of missing persons, are addressed.
'If the wounds of the people of Balochistan are to be assuaged then
social and economic justice must be done,' Nawaz said while talking
to newsmen soon after his arrival in Quetta after 11 years."

News Story: Nawaz Says Baloch Jirga To Settle PPP-PML-N Row -
"Dawn" (01/05)

"Pakistan Muslim League-N Chief Nawaz Sharif has empowered a Baloch
Jirga, headed by Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani and
the chief of Jhalawan Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, for removing
differences between his party and the Pakistan People's Party. 'The
PML-N will accept whatever verdict the Jirga gives according to
Baloch traditions and on the basis of justice,' he told Mr. Raisani
in Quetta on Monday."

News Story: SC Asked Courts, Not NAB, To Reopen NRO Cases - "The
News" (01/05)

"An accountability court judge in Rawalpindi on Monday observed that
the Supreme Court (SC),in its December 16 judgment, had directed
the trial courts to reopen the cases and not to the National
Accountability Bureau (NAB). 'We are accordingly examining the cases
and summoning the accused, and it is the courts to decide whether or
not the cases to proceed,' the Accountability Court judge observed."


News Story: NAB Acts On Its Own Despite SC Verdict - "The News"
(01/05)

"The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has admitted that the
pre-NRO situation vis-a-vis President Asif Ali Zardari has not been
restored and his cases remained closed while there are no freezing
orders issued regarding his bank accounts and the moveable and
immovable assets. This is apparently a glaring violation of the
Supreme Court order but NAB insists that in its legal view the
president under Article 248 of the Constitution enjoys immunity that
bars NAB to restore the pre-NRO position in case of Asif Ali
Zardari."

ECONOMY/ENVIRONMENT

News Story: ADB Wants No CDWP Role in Foreign Funded Projects - "The
News" (01/05)

"Terming portfolio performance of foreign funded projects in
Pakistan 'worst' in the region, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has
asked the government to reduce procedures even by abolishing
Planning Commission's forum - Central Development Working Party
(CDWP) - that is authorized to approve projects up to one billion
rupees. On the other hand, the World Bank (WB) has raised certain
objections in a presentation given to Prime Minister Syed Yousaf
Raza Gilani in which it was pointed out that certain flaws existed
in the processes and procedures involved in approving development
projects in Pakistan. The WB has recommended the government to
abandon the existing method and adopt its strategy which was based
on seven steps for approving projects."

MISCELLANEOUS

News Story: UN Envoy For 'Demilitarized' Approach In Afghanistan -
"The News" (01/05)

"The international community must demilitarize its overall approach
in Afghanistan to ensure sustainable gains in the political and
humanitarian realms, the outgoing UN envoy to the war-torn country
said on Monday. 'We have to get into a mode where our strategy is
politically driven and not militarily driven, where the political
and civilian components become an appendix to a military strategy,'
Kai Eide, the Secretary-General's Special Rep, said in Kabul,
according to a news release issued at the UN headquarters in New
York."

EDITORIALS/OPINIONS

Editorial: Al Qaeda in Yemen, an editorial in the Karachi-based
center-left independent national English daily "Dawn" (cir. 55,000)
(01/05)

"Yemen, it appears, is the new Fata, an Al Qaeda base where wicked
plans to destroy western civilization and overthrow governments are
being hatched. Or at least that is the gist of some of the more
hyperbolic commentary since the Christmas Day attempted plane
bombing in the U.S. was linked to an Al Qaeda offshoot in Yemen....
Clearly, Yemen has the type of conditions Al Qaeda would like to
exploit: high unemployment, serious levels of poverty, water
shortages, declining oil revenues, a population suspicious of the
West, a strongman president inclined to support the West on
occasion, and a secessionist movement in one part of the country and
a bitter insurgency being fought in another part."

Editorial: Deciphering The Silence Of Friends Of Pakistan, an
editorial in the country's premier business newspaper, "Business
Recorder" (cir. 25,000) (01/05)

"Talking to media-men at the signing ceremony of an MoU between PIA
and PRI to boost the inflow of home remittances on 29th December,
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin nearly lost patience over Friends of
Democratic Pakistan's abject failure in extending the promised
assistance to the country. Looking desperate, he asked the FoDP to
clarify whether or not they were providing the pledged assistance to
Pakistan.... Criticizing the role of the FoDP, he remarked, of
course with a tinge of sadness, that 'we are not untouchables for
whom they are using the delaying tactics.'... We would like to
remind the Finance Minister that in international diplomacy, there
are certain things which are self-evident but not spoken openly to
avoid embarrassment. It is not necessary for the donor countries to
say loudly that they will not be able to meet the commitments made
earlier because of a change in the domestic or international
environment. Their silence on the matter should be enough to convey
the intended message."

Editorial: What's In Store In 2010?, an editorial in the country's
premier business newspaper, "Business Recorder" (cir. 25,000)
(01/05)

"As we enter 2010, the Pak-U.S. relationship has arrived at a
tipping point, where one wrong move can push it over the edge.
Whatever the findings of the Western think-tanks and analysts, the
fact remains that the U.S.-led coalition forces cannot win the war
in Afghanistan without the active and willing co-operation of
Pakistan. The geopolitics of the region surrounding Pakistan is
going to remain in ferment, not alone because of the war in
Afghanistan - there are many other equally important factors that
impinge upon regional security and balance of power."

Editorial: Respond To India In The Same Tone, an editorial in the
second-largest, nationalist Urdu daily "Nawa-i-Waqt" (cir. 150,000)
(01/05)

"Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that the purpose
behind the Indian Army Chief's statement regarding China and
Pakistan is to introduce India's military prowess to the region....
It was Indian threats and aggressive stance that led Pakistani
Defense Minister Ahmad Mukhtar to say that Pakistan would be
compelled to change its conciliatory stance if India does not change
its attitude. This is an encouraging statement for the nation. [The
government must] take a step further and give up this policy of
reconciliation altogether."

Editorial: Mr. Prime Minister, What Have You Done To Rectify This
Mistake?, an editorial in the second-largest, nationalist Urdu daily
"Nawa-i-Waqt" (cir. 150,000) (01/05)

"Talking with journalists, Prime Minister Gillani has said that that
not implementing the Charter of Democracy is the government's
biggest mistake and that it should have been implemented the first
day [in power].... The fact is that repealing the 17th Amendment
under the Charter of Democracy does not suit either the President or
the PM. However, whenever there is some pressure from the
opposition, the PM makes such a statement to appease [the nation].
In the present grave situation where the nation is screaming due to
major issues and good governance is lacking, what hope can there be
of strengthening democracy with such a non-serious attitude."

Opinion: Whose War Is Being Waged?, an op-ed by Iqbal Akhund in the
Karachi-based center-left independent national English daily "Dawn"
(cir. 55,000) (01/05)

"The U.S.-Pakistan relationship, rarely very smooth, is going
through a particularly bad patch at present. It carries a load of
past resentments, grievances and disappointments. Paradoxically, the
more America tries to make amends, talk of a long-term relationship,
the more it seems to feed suspicions of its intentions at the
popular level. One is asked, 'Why is America offering money and
making a fuss over Pakistan now? It must have a purpose of its own!'
- taking away our nukes; turning Pakistan into a 'secular' country;
breaking it up altogether. The fact, however, is that the U.S. does,
at this juncture, wish Pakistan well - not because it sees Pakistan
as a friend but, on the contrary, because it sees it as a
potentially dangerous enemy - a country with nuclear weapons and
technology (that it sold abroad),politically unstable, facing every
sort of economic and social problem, where a variety of armed and
radical Tehriks and Lashkars and Jamaats etc, with sympathizers in
the establishment, have had a free run for years and could get their
hands on the nuclear weapons."

Opinion: Waziristan War In Critical Stage, an op-ed by Rahimullah
Yusufzai in the populist, often sensational national English daily
"The News" (cir. 55,000) (01/05)

"Already suffering from the fall-out of the eight-year-old U.S.-led
war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Pakistan is now
confronted with arguably the most dangerous phase of the seemingly
endless battle. This is a critical stage also for the future of
Islamabad's uneasy relationship with Washington.... Pakistan's
dilemma in these difficult times is hard to explain.... However,
Pakistan has to pay a huge price for remaining a U.S. ally. At a
time when public opinion surveys show more than 80 per cent of
Pakistanis opposing U.S. policies and mentioning it as a bigger
threat to Pakistan than India, Al Qaeda and Taliban, it cannot be
easy for any government or military to justify an unpopular alliance
with America.... It won't be easy for Pakistan to extricate itself
from a suffocating embrace with the U.S. and even if it were to
happen, the consequences would be painful."

Opinion: A Zionist Dagger In Pakistan's Western Front, an op-ed by
Tanweer Qaiser Shahid in the liberal Urdu daily "Express"
(cir.25,000) (01/05)

"According to the latest reports, several members of the Israeli
secret service Mossad have spread their tentacles in Afghanistan
with Indian help. Both Pakistan and Iran could become simultaneous
targets of Israeli plans and conspiracies.... Israeli presence in
Afghanistan means that a Zionist dagger has pierced our western
front...Two major Israeli newspapers printed in Hebrew "Yediot
Aharonot" and "Maariv" bear witness to the fact that Mossad and
the Israeli Foreign Ministry made efforts for formal contact with
the Taliban rulers [in the late 1990s]. In 1999, "Yediot Aharonot"
revealed the Afghan-Israeli connection for the first time.... There
are also reports of the presence of dozens of Israeli citizens in
Afghanistan's north and north-western provinces. To keep a lid on
their real Israeli identity, they have been given dual-nationality
passports. Hence some of them are Israeli-born Britons, some
Israeli-origin Americans. Israeli activities in Afghanistan are not
two- or three-pronged, but multifaceted. Can any good be expected
of Israel? And that too, in Afghanistan? When will our eyes open?"

Opinion: Economics And Extremism, an op-ed by Shahid Javed Burki in
the Karachi-based center-left independent national English daily
"Dawn" (cir. 55,000) (01/05)

"There cannot be any doubt that there is a relationship between poor
economic performance and the rise of extremism and resort to
insurgency.... In Pakistan these economic disparities have resulted
in great violence against the state and the citizens of the country.
Some of the elements within society have been behind violence mostly
for ideological, reasons. Insurgency in Pakistan has been caused by
the merger of several different streams. If we look at the growth of
extremism in the country we see that it is concentrated in the more
backward parts of the country."

Opinion: Iran And The West, an op-ed by Javid Husain in the
center-right national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000)
(01/05)

"Iran's relations with the U.S. as the leader of the west are likely
to remain troubled in the foreseeable future, despite the fact that
President Barack Obama earlier this year extended the hand of
friendship towards Iran. The main reason is that the U.S. foreign
policy and security establishment continues to view the Islamic
Republic of Iran as a major obstacle in the realization of its
strategic objectives in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region.
Those objectives are control over the oil and gas resources of the
Persian Gulf region, ensuring the security of Israel as the U.S.
outpost in the heartland of the Middle East, and the preservation of
regimes which tow the U.S. line on major foreign policy issues."

(All circulation figures are based on estimation)
Patterson