Taking Stock- Moving Forward on the WoT

[Smooth Operator]

Pak media calls Pak govt ‘bluff’ on terror
Saturday, January 3, 2009 at 8:01 pm

Pakistan’s assertion that there is no terrorist infrastructure on its soil will be taken with “a very big pinch of salt” and foot-dragging on the probe into involvement of Pakistani elements in the Mumbai attacks will result in the country being “deemed guilty until proven innocent”, the media said today.

Referring to the Foreign Office spokesman’s remarks on Thursday that Pakistan has no terrorist infrastructure on its soil, The News daily said that one would have to question whether the tribal areas, specifically the North and South Waziristan Agencies and the Northern Areas “are part of
Pakistan or not”.

In an editorial titled “Denying the obvious”, the daily said several senior officials, including former President Pervez Musharraf, had publicly said since the 9/11 attacks there were facilities in the country “where those fighting the state of Pakistan and committing terrorist acts receive training and other assistance”.

Members of the government and extremists themselves have said “there exist even some places where suicide bombers are produced, through a regimen of indoctrination and training in the use of weapons, suicide vests and so on”, the influential paper said.

“The remarks by a Foreign Office spokesman on January 1 that Pakistan has no terrorist infrastructure on its soil are going to be taken with a very big pinch of salt by even many Pakistanis,” the editorial stated.

In its editorial titled ‘Taking stock’, the Dawn daily said the government should issue a “progress report” on its own probe into the Mumbai attacks following reports in the media that Lashker-e-Toiba operative Zarar Shah had confessed to his involvement in the carnage. “Otherwise Islamabad will not be in a position to counter criticism that facts are being withheld and we will continue to be deemed guilty until proven innocent,” the Dawn cautioned.

Independent media reports have “strongly suggested” that terrorist camps also exist in parts of Azad Kashmir, “where proxies sent to India to fight the ‘jihad’ were trained”.

“Perhaps, these camps may have closed down or more likely assumed a lower profile. However, following the Mumbai attacks and India’s accusation against the Lashker-e-Taiba and the Jamaat-ud-Dawah a facility outside Muzaffarabad was closed down,” it said.

The News also questioned where the “suicide bombings and other instances of terrorism” that hit Pakistan in the past two years had originated from. It also pointed out that the Taliban had a “stranglehold” over large parts of the tribal areas and the Swat valley.

“Are the extremists, who seem to be clearly in control in such areas and to whom most if not all acts of terrorism inside Pakistan are traced to, foreign aliens who train in other countries and are teleported to Pakistani soil to carry out their nefarious activities?” it asked.

Dawn newspaper pointed out that this media report had “not been denied at the highest levels in Islamabad”. It added: “Foot-dragging will get us nowhere, and we need to explain what headway, if any, has been made in our own investigations…A progress report, though, is the need of the hour.

Pakistan’s intelligence resources could verify the “authenticity or otherwise” of intercepts of phone
conversations between LeT commanders and militants holed up in a hotel in Mumbai.

“The sooner this is done, and the facts placed before the nation and the world, the better,” it said.
If any LeT commander had “admitted to his role in the carnage, that confession too should be acknowledged”.

Agencies

 

[rubyjackass]

Please give links to sources

 

[niaz]

For the benefit of the members, I quote below actual editorial published in the Dawn. Hon Members can decide for themselves, the journalistic 'Spin' given to this in the post by Hon Smooth Operator.

Taking stock



GIVEN our history, and in the absence of an extradition treaty, there can be no question of Pakistan handing over suspects who India believes were connected to the assault on Mumbai. That is simply not an option for a democratic government that is answerable to the people. The futility of pursuing such a course now seems to have become apparent to the US as well, with the Bush administration signalling that any and all accused should be prosecuted within Pakistan. This change of tack has naturally disappointed India. Every passing day also reinforces the impression that New Delhi is not sharing information directly with Islamabad but is instead acting through intermediaries such as the American FBI. Why this is so has not been explained to anyone’s satisfaction. Despite the mutual distrust, however, it is heartening to note that the clouds of war have lifted to a degree and both sides are refraining from upping the ante.

That said, there is an urgent need for Pakistan to decide on the path the country must choose from this point onwards. Reports in the US press that at least one alleged Lashkar-i-Taiba operative currently in Pakistani custody has confessed to his involvement in the Mumbai carnage have not been denied at the highest levels in Islamabad. Foot-dragging will get us nowhere, and we need to explain what headway, if any, has been made in our own investigations. Full disclosure, of course, cannot be expected in a matter as sensitive as the case in hand until every avenue of inquiry has been explored. A progress report, though, is the need of the hour. Otherwise Islamabad will not be in a position to counter criticism that facts are being withheld and we will continue to be deemed guilty until proven innocent. It is said that the US has passed on intercepts of telephone conversations between Lashkar-i-Taiba commanders and militants holed up in a hotel in Mumbai. Given Pakistan’s intelligence resources, it is within the realm of possibility to verify the authenticity or otherwise of these alleged communications. The sooner this is done, and the facts placed before the nation and the world, the better. And if any Lashkar-i-Taiba commander has admitted to his role in the carnage, that confession too should be acknowledged. New Delhi, for its part, needs to provide Islamabad with the ‘evidence’ it claims to have found linking the Lashkar-i-Taiba to the deadly assault.

There will be no loss of face if it turns out that Pakistanis were among the militants who attacked Mumbai. Egged on by India, much of the world believes that anyway. We need to act decisively against militants and terrorists operating from Pakistani soil, not on account of pressure exerted by India or America but because therein lies our own salvation. The enemy within is a far greater threat than any external foe.
DAWN - Editorial; January 03, 2009