US Army Major Nidal Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 people earlier this month at a military base in Fort Hood, Texas, intensified his communications with a radical Yemeni American cleric just months before the shootings and began discussing with him surreptitious financial transfers, The
Posts Tagged ‘Hasan’
Shooter Hasan discussed money transfer with radical cleric: report
November 21st, 2009 |
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US Army psychiatrist who killed 12 soldiers still alive
November 6th, 2009 |
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A US Army psychiatrist, who allegedly killed 12 soldiers and injured 30 others at a military base in Texas, is still alive and has been taken into custody.
Earlier, it was reported that the suspect, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, was among the dead. But the gunman is now said to be in stable condition.
“I would say [...]
Pakistan to reform tribal areas
August 14th, 2009 |
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Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has announced a series of reforms to integrate the country’s war-torn tribal areas into mainstream Pakistan.
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) have been administered by the central government in a system inherited from British rule.
The new laws will allow political parties to operate there.
Since 2001 the region has been a haven for militants behind surging violence in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The BBC’s Syed Shoaib Hasan, in Islamabad, says that the new laws are a landmark moment for Pakistani politics and will allow people living in the Fata to join and vote for mainstream political parties.
‘Extremists weakened’
A spokesman for Pakistan’s president said the move "empowers the locals and weakens the extremists".
"This breaks the monopoly of clerics to play politics from the pulpit of the mosque to the exclusion of major secular political parties," Farhatullah Babar said.
He was speaking at an overnight ceremony held at President House in Islamabad to celebrate Pakistan’s 63rd Independence Day.
Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous agencies have never been politically and administratively integrated into the rest of the country during the years since the British pulled out in 1947.
Critics say that has created a vacuum which has allowed lawlessness and and militancy to thrive.
The four million people who live in Fata have been ruled by government-appointed agents in concert with tribal leaders.
They are subject to tribal laws that allow for detention without trial and communal punishment, among other unpopular measures.
Mr Babar said the new laws would not reduce the powers of the political agent or alter the laws, but they would mean that political parties could campaign there and represent the region in the national parliament after elections in 2013.
Our correspondent says that the hope is that they will also end draconian laws such as the powers of administrators to hold tribesmen in custody for three years without trial and the power of officials to confiscate or destroy property.
President Zardari said that he expected the reforms to be passed into law later this month.
Since partition a lack of political participation has contributed to a strong sense of alienation among the tribes, correspondents say.
Pakistan’s current problems with militancy along the tribal belt are largely seen as a direct product of such feelings.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Silent guns
July 24th, 2009 |
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By Syed Shoaib Hasan, Islamabad
BBC News
What is Pakistan’s government up to in South Waziristan
Since the middle of May, the army has been conducting a military offensive against Pakistan’s Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud – whose hideout lies in the mountainous terrain there.
But unlike the recent operation in the Swat valley, it says it has refrained from going all out against the militants so far.
The reasons for this are not exactly clear.
The army says it wants to surround the militants and use air power and artillery to ”soften them up".
"We are just punishing them at the moment," says Maj General Athar Abbas, head of the army’s public relations wing.
"This is so that when the operation starts they can’t stand up to us. We have surrounded the entire area where the Taliban are based," he says.
See a map of the regionIf this is true, the army appears in a prime position to fulfil its mission to "eliminate" Baitullah Mehsud and his organisation.
But it appears in no mood to begin the much-heralded military assault which already has a name – Rah-e-Nijat or Path to Deliverance.
"We are waiting for the right time to launch the operation," says Gen Abbas.
Taliban truce
But the fact that people have had to wait so long for a serious assault on militants has led to fears, not without precedent, about a possible deal between the army and the Taliban.
One of the allegations concerns correspondence between Baitullah Mehsud and the head of Pakistan’s army.
Maj Gen Athar Abbas flatly denied the report.
"The army will not even consider such a possibility. This is utter speculation," he said.
Gen Abbas said the army was fully committed to its goal of defeating the Taliban.
But there are those who feel the army and the Taliban are engaging in battle only because of certain "misunderstandings".
Foremost among these is Shah Abdul Aziz, a former Pakistani parliamentarian.
Red Mosque cleric’s militant message
He has been trying to negotiate a truce between Pakistan’s security forces and the Taliban. For some time Mr Aziz has acted as a mediator between the government and the Taliban and other extremists.
He enjoys very close relations with the Taliban leadership and with radical clerics such as the head of Islamabad’s Red Mosque, Maulana Abdul Aziz.
Mr Aziz played a key role when in 2007 Pakistani security forces laid siege to the Red Mosque after dozens of radical Islamists barricaded themselves inside.
He was a key figure in mediating between the mosque administration and the government. Although that episode ended with troops storming the mosque killing scores of militants, Mr Aziz has continued in his role as a negotiator.
He was the man behind the Taliban’s statement that it would cease operations against the army in December 2008, soon after the Mumbai attacks.
Missing letter
Mr Aziz’s most recent project has been to try and "resolve" the stand-off between Baitullah Mehsud and the government.
In this regard, he is said to have delivered a letter from Baitullah Mehsud to General Ashfaq Kayani, the head of Pakistan’s army.
Subsequently, Mr Aziz has gone missing amid reports he was arrested outside the house of radical cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz.
"He was picked up on the morning of 27 May along with a man called Fidaullah," says Khalid Khawaja, an ex-ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence agency] official turned human rights activist.
Fidaullah was later produced by the Islamabad police in a highly publicised press conference as the "mastermind" of a spate of recent suicide bombings.
Mr Aziz, however, has not been heard from.
Senior security officials have told the BBC that he is in detention and being interrogated for his links with Baitullah Mehsud.
They say a letter was discovered on his person from the Taliban commander, but it was for a former head of Pakistan’s ISI agency.
The letter is said to discuss the various alternatives available to Baitullah Mehsud and his militants.
But officials deny any letter addressed to the army chief was found or even existed.
Mr Khawaja, a close confidant of Mr Aziz, denies that his friend was in any way directly involved in planning or abetting militant acts.
"He was a peaceful and well intentioned man," he says.
"Shah Abdul Aziz did not want a conflict to take place between the Taliban and the army as it would cost the nation dear.
"I have been trying to register a police complaint for his recovery, but the police have refused to act so far," Mr Khawaja says.
Profile: Baitullah Mehsud
As far as the mysterious letter letter to the head of Pakistan’s army is concerned, Mr Khawaja confirms its authenticity.
"I have seen the letter, and it is has now been delivered to its destination," he says.
These developments come days after a pro-government tribal leader accused the government of making a deal with Baitullah Mehsud.
Turkistan Bhittani, leader of the anti-Baitullah Mehsud group in Waziristan, had until recently been accorded the complete support of Pakistan’s security forces.
But, on 14 July, he accused the authorities of closing down his offices in the Dera Ismail Khan district bordering Waziristan.
"The government is openly supporting the Baitullah group and allowing it to re-establish itself," he told reporters.
Although, the government strongly rejects any such suggestion, every previous operation against the Taliban has ended in a peace deal.
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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Pride and struggle
July 15th, 2009 |
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As people displaced by the army’s anti-Taliban offensive in Pakistan’s Swat valley return home, the BBC’s Syed Shoaib Hasan meets residents fleeing the tribal district of Waziristan where the military is currently targeting Taliban strongholds.
In South Waziristan, Pakistan’s security forces have a directive to "eliminate" the Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud and his organisation.
And as the operation has got under way, the area has seen fierce aerial bombardment and artillery barrages on militant strongholds.
Many of these are located close to civilians areas and thousands of people have fled.
"I had to walk for seven hours with my family until I got transport out of the war zone," says Mohammad Usman.
Casualties ‘civilans’
Mr Usman is a resident of the South Waziristan town of Makeen. He and his family ran a prosperous fruit shop in the town’s main market. They also owned some land which they cultivated.
"The Taliban have gone up into the hills and most of the casualties have been civilians"
Mohammad Usman
But once the fighting started they had no option but to flee. There were eight of them altogether and they fled even as the bombs began to pound the area.
"We had to leave most of our belongings behind.
"After seven hours we reached Razmak from where we got transport to Miranshah and then onto Bannu.
"We then walked for three days from Miranshah to get to Dera Ismail Khan where we arrived on 16 May."
Mr Usman said that everybody in his area fled once the bombing began.
"The Taliban have gone up into the hills and most of the casualties have been civilians," he said.
Help needed
Leaving the area was the only choice for people like him.
"At least 70,000 people have left the war zone for [the town of] Dera Ismail Khan," says Zafar Mehsud, head of a local relief organisation.
Mr Mehsud works for the Al-Khidmat Islamic charity and he says that refugees are continuing to flood into the district as fighting continues.
"We have set up camps in various areas of the city, where we are registering the displaced and distributing relief goods."
But he adds more help is needed from official quarters.
"So far the government has not started to deal with this problem seriously."
These sentiments were echoed by Abdur Rauf Khan, mayor of Dera Ismail Khan, who says that the responsibility for matters relating to the displaced has shifted to central government.
But, Mr Khan adds, while he has no authority in the matter, he would like to appeal to the district residents "to welcome and help the displaced".
Mehsud pride
But there is one outstanding issue of concern and that is identifying who the real refugees are.
"As far as I know, there is no real settlement of refugees in Dera Ismail Khan," the mayor says.
"This is because most of the people who have migrated are living with their relatives," he explains.
This is the crux of the problem – and it makes it difficult to reach out to the refugees.
"These people are not like those from Swat," explains a relief worker.
"They will only go to camps if they are faced with total death and destitution – the Mehsud tribal pride allows them no other choice."
Mohammad Rafiq is a 16-year-old from the sub-division of Tiarza in South Waziristan.
He left with his 15-member family after the Taliban and the military started fighting around mid-May.
In pictures: Pakistan’s tribal frontier
"We are now living in a house here we have rented at exorbitant rates," he says.
Zafar Mehsud confirms that local rents have skyrocketed as landlords take advantage of the displaced people
"My father is very unwell and my elder brother and me work as fruit vendors here," Mr Rafiq continues.
"I also attend school, but it’s difficult. The police harass us here all the time.
"They say you [Mehsuds] are terrorists and you should leave this place," he says.
Mr Usman has had similar experiences. Working as a labourer, he is barely able make ends meet but he resolutely refuses to live in a camp.
No resolution
But it is not just local charities that are dealing with the situation, the government has also started responding, albeit slowly.
In the late afternoon, after the blistering heat has receded, dozens of Mehsud tribesmen gather outside a goverment registration point on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan.
Most of the tribesmen are angry at the government who, they believe, is targeting the entire Mehsud tribe.
They say the younger tribesmen are harassed for being "terrorists".
"We have received no aid so far from anyone," says Haji Murad Khan, a school teacher from Kotkai.
"We fend for ourselves through labour and whatever else we can….only Allah cares for us.
"I don’t think this situation [in the tribal areas] is ever going to be resolved in our lifetime," he said.
"This is the third time I have had to move, and now I have no intention of going back." </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Kalsoom Lakhani: Pakistan Refugees Reluctant To Return For Lack Of Trust In Government Security
July 13th, 2009 |
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This past Thursday, Prime Minister Gilani announced that a “phased return home” for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Malakand Province will begin today, July…
Pakistan’s displaced begin to return
July 13th, 2009 |
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The Pakistani military is preparing to reopen roads into the conflict-hit Swat valley and neighbouring regions.
The move is intended to encourage people displaced by earlier fighting against the Taliban to return home.
About two million have already returned to the area, but damage to the region’s infrastructure means returnees will rely on aid for months to come.
The UN has stressed that the return, which will begin with people living in temporary camps, must be voluntary.
See a map of the regionOnce people have been moved from the camps, the army will begin returning people who have been living in schools and other places since they fled the fighting between Taliban militants and government forces.
The return is being overseen by the substantial military presence established in the Swat, Malakand and Buner regions after Taliban militants were dislodged.
Damaged infrastructure
General Nadeem Ahmad, who is coordinating the operation, said every family leaving the camps would receive cash support from the government.
Fears abound in Swat’s main town
Gen Ahmad had a similar role following the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir.
A computerised identity card system, which was developed then through the banks, is being used again to help registered users access state aid.
However, much of the infrastructure in the Swat region was severely damaged in the months of fighting.
Power and water supplies have been shattered and the reconstruction is expected to take many months.
A resident of the town of Sultanwas, in Buner province, told the Associated Press that if the government failed to provide for people’s needs, "no one will stand against militant extremism in the future".
"In this war we lost and gave everything, saw our village destroyed," said Muhamed Shereen.
"So now the people of Sultanwas look to the government and the whole country and world to come forward and help us."
The BBC’s Syed Shoaib Hasan, who recently visited Swat’s main town, Mingora, said the town was largely intact, with markets and residential areas still standing.
But the security situation remains uncertain and supplies are critically low, he says.
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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Town of fear
July 11th, 2009 |
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Pakistan says the army has almost ended operations against the Taliban in the former tourist resort of Swat and nearby districts. Some two million people are being urged to return to their homes in the north-west. The BBC’s Syed Shoaib Hasan reports from Swat’s main town, Mingora.
As we move deeper into the Swat valley, the ravages of war are all around us.
Destroyed buildings and broken roads mark the passage of fighting which was heaviest close to Mingora.
There is also a steady stream of people moving to and from the region.
"We came back to check out whether our house and belongings had survived the fighting," Abdullah, a Mingora resident, told us.
"Thanks to Allah, it has survived intact. Now I am going back to my family, who are in a camp in Mardan."
See a map of the regionAbdullah tells us the situation has improved greatly and the army is largely in control.
"Hopefully, we can come back soon."
He had just one complaint: "The army is still making it very hard for us to get around. We have to stop at every checkpoint and identify ourselves.
"This makes it impossible for most public transport to move about."
Because of such restrictions, most travellers we met, including Abdullah, were on foot.
Curfews can leave people stranded for hours – after nearly three hours of arguments and phone calls with local military and civil authorities, we were able to get a curfew pass.
But even so, it took us nearly four and a half hours to cover a distance which usually takes two. The main reason were security checkpoints lining the road to Mingora.
In addition, bands of soldiers on patrol would also stop anyone they deemed suspicious.
‘Like doomsday’
We pass the village of Qamber, strategically located on a hill outside Mingora guarding the road into town.
"This is where the Taliban made their stand against the army," says Mingora resident Yousuf Khan.
There are no buildings left in Qamber, just ruins, pieces of brick and scorched roads, a testament to the intensity of the fighting that went on here.
But the militants finally had to retreat and Mingora is now in complete control of the army.
Contrary to many reports, most of the town is largely intact.
Fighting has taken place in some quarters of the city, and a number of buildings and premises have been damaged.
But, by and large, the markets and residential areas are still standing.
"Most of the fighting in Mingora took place in the first three days," Yousaf Khan tell us.
"It began after the army moved to seize control of the emerald mines."
Mr Khan stayed behind during the entire conflict and says he still feels shaken when he thinks about those events.
"After all that has happened, this is our greatest fear – the Taliban can still return"
Mingora resident Yousuf Khan
"It was like doomsday. My children were very scared but there was nothing we could do."
Another Mingora resident, Wasif Ali, agrees.
"The gunships were right over the neighbourhood when they shelled the mountainside."
He adds that the exchange of fire went on for three days, after which the Taliban were pushed out of the mines.
"A lot of them were using the tunnels in the mines as cover to fire back at the army."
Mr Ali explains that the army then used aircraft and artillery to target the mountainside, which collapsed.
"Many of the militants were buried alive when that happened.
"But others managed to escape using passages they had dug connecting the mines to wells inside the nearby houses.
The passages were built to take take away the emeralds safely, but ended up providing an unlikely escape route for the Taliban.
"They escaped through the narrow lanes and into the fields," Wasif Ali explains.
Subsequently, the army was able to quickly oust the militants, who did not put up much of a fight.
‘We can hear firing’
Thanks to the curfew, Mingora resembles a ghost town.
Only army patrols moved through the streets.
The only real sign of life was the presence of dozens of locals outside a military-run relief goods distribution centre.
They were waiting to get a bag of wheat, as food supplies remain drastically low.
While some were highly critical of the government, others were hopeful that peace would now be restored.
But almost all were critical of the army, which they say has done little to help residents.
"Their attitude is like we are all supporting the Taliban."
We witness this ourselves when a man is arrested and driven away in a security convoy.
And when we are leaving town, we also encounter another detainee being dragged half naked to a building next to the relief goods office.
As we leave Mingora, we cannot help but wonder at the prime minister’s announcement that refugees can return from 13 July.
"The army may have seized the region, but it still does not control all of it," Yousuf Khan says.
"The Taliban, despite Maulana Fazlullah being seriously injured, are still very strong. At night, we can hear the exchange of fire between them and the army.
"After all that has happened, this is our greatest fear – the Taliban can still return."
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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.