Pakistan at Crossroads

There doesn’t seem to be much urgency behind the hunt for Benazir Bhutto’s killers, the Los Angeles Times reports, though her party has come to power in Pakistan since the Dec. 27 assassination. The government still hasn’t commissioned an independent investigation, and police have all but abandoned the case. “It looks as if it’s a forgotten chapter,” one retired general said More »

Nearly seven years after 9/11, America has not only failed to capture Osama bin Laden; it has also allowed al-Qaeda to rebuild itself in lawless northwest Pakistan, near the Afghan border. The New York Times conducted more than four dozen interviews to discover how rivalries among American agencies, trouble with Pervez Musharraf, and the distraction of Iraq allowed al-Qaeda to foil Operation Cannonball, a highly classified CIA initiative. More »

Pakistan blasted suspected militant hideouts today, launching its biggest offensive against Taliban forces since electing a government last March. The military cleared three militant outposts and forced the insurgents west, CNN reports. For weeks, tensions have mounted between militants and Islamabad, which abandoned its diplomatic strategy as insurgent strikes increased. More »

Afghanistan publicly accused Pakistan of plotting the April assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai, saying it has evidence linking Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence to the deed. A spokesman said phone records, documents, and confessions from suspects proved the ISI harbored "the real schemers and organizers" behind the attack. More »

The Defense Department cannot show that nearly $6 billion the US has sent to Pakistan since 2001 has been used, as intended, to fight terrorism. In a report yesterday, the Government Accountability Office said the Pentagon hadn’t properly tracked the funds, CNN reports, blindly signing off on questionable charges—leading critics to charge that Pakistan bolstered its own defense capability at US expense. More »

Four months after historic elections in Pakistan, the nation has descended into leaderless chaos, Western diplomats and military leaders believe. The void has serious consequences for fighting militants in Pakistan's lawless northwest on the border with Afghanistan, reports the New York Times. More »

Citing the right to self defense, Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned that his country may send troops across the border with Pakistan to fight militants who have killed Afghans, BBC reports. "When they cross the territory from Pakistan to come and kill Afghans and to kill coalition troops it exactly gives us the right to go back and do the same." More »

A political rival blasted President Pervez Musharraf today, leading a massive crowd to chant “Hang him, hang him,” the New York Times reports. In a televised address that capped off days of protest in Islamabad, Nawaz Sharif grew heated: “We asked you to quit with honor after the election but you didn’t,” he said. “Now people have given a new judgment for you.” More »

US-led coalition forces have released a video shot from a surveillance drone showing a controversial clash on the Afghan-Pakistan border. Pakistan claims the engagement led to an airstrike that killed 11 of its troops, but the coalition says the footage proves that US and Afghan forces were simply returning fire after being attacked, the AP reports. More »

At least 11 Pakistani soldiers and 10 other people were killed today in an ugly border incident that could strain US/Pakistani ties. US fighters reportedly launched an air strike inside Pakistan’s mountainous tribal area, backing up Afghan troops fighting Taliban forces. The matter was complicated, however, because Pakistani troops were apparently fighting alongside the Taliban, the Washington Post reports. More »

Pakistan is suspending talks with militant tribes along its lawless border with Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reports, a move that could bolster relations with the US. Negotiations won’t resume until the warlords agree to new conditions, including an end to activities within Afghanistan, Pakistani officials told the Bush administration. In the meantime, the military will resume operations against the tribes. More »

At least eight people were killed and more than a dozen wounded when a car bomb exploded outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad today, reports the BBC. At least one embassy worker was among the dead, but no Danish nationals. The attack may be linked to a series of threats on Danish embassies since a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad, considered offensive to Islam, was reprinted in Danish newspapers in February. More »

Nawaz Sharif labeled Pervez Musharraf a "traitor" today, and claimed his allies in Pakistan's coalition government had agreed to oust the president, the AP reports. "A high treason case should be registered against him and he should be given the punishment of a traitor," Sharif told members of his Pakistan Muslim League. "There is no need to give him a safe exit."  More »

Pakistan struck a peace deal today with Islamic militants in northwestern Pakistan, the AP reports. Under the pact, the military will slowly pull out of Swat, a region along the Afghanistan border, and allow radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah to install limited Islamic law there. In exchange, the militants will recognize government authority, halt attacks, and turn over any foreign members. More »

Pakistan's 6-week-old government is in turmoil today after the prime minister refused to accept the resignation of nine members of the cabinet. Former PM Nawaz Sharif led the walkout in a dispute over the reinstatement of judges sacked during last year's state of emergency, reports the BBC. More »

The second-largest party in Pakistan's ruling coalition pulled out today after a disagreement over the reinstatement of judges removed by President Pervez Musharraf, Bloomberg reports. Nawaz Sharif said nine Pakistan Muslim League ministers would leave the cabinet led by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, but would not enter the opposition, supporting the Pakistan People's Party "on an issue to issue basis." More »

If the US was hoping the new government would give it leeway to strike at al-Qaeda within Pakistan, those hopes were dashed today, as the ruling coalition said such attacks would be “counter-productive.” Pakistan had been a US ally in the war on terror under President Pervez Musharraf, but his hold on power has weakened in recent months, Reuters notes. More »

Pakistan’s ruling political parties have reached a deal to reinstate the judges Pervez Musharraf fired during his state of emergency, the BBC reports today. The agreement leaves intact the anti-Musharraf coalition that almost splintered over the issue. Asif Ali Zardari, head of the Pakistan Peoples Party, wanted reinstatement tied to broader reform; partner Nawaz Sharif insisted it remain a separate issue. More »

Al-Qaeda remains the terrorist group that most threatens the US, Reuters reports. An annual State Department survey of worldwide terrorist activity, out today, said the group killed 5,400 civilians—50% Muslims—in 2007. Though weaker now than in 2001 due to multilateral anti-terrorism efforts, the group has used the lawless tribal areas of northwest Pakistan to rebuild its strength. More »

The new government of Pakistan is close to brokering a deal that will end hostilities with the most militant tribes in the country's dangerous northwest. A draft of the peace agreement calls for an end to violence, a prisoner exchange, and a gradual withdrawal of the Pakistani military from part of South Waziristan, reports the New York Times . It marks a break with the hardline approach favored by President Pervez Musharraf and the US. More »