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Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
Pakistan on Brink of Backlash, Chaos, War
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PAKISTAN MOVES CLOSER TO THE BRINK OF BACKLASH, CHAOS, WAR
MID-EAST REALITIES - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 1/28/2002:
India is likely to strike sooner or later, doing so on behalf of and
in coordination with both Israel and the U.S. regardless of what those
parties say in public. Whether India will wait for General Musharraf to
loose control -- at that could come at any time -- is uncertain to
everyone, probably including those in charge in New Delhi. But for sure
they, like the Israelis whom they rhetorically sound more and more like
everyday, are clearly continuing to prepare to strike, both militarily
and politically, at a moment of greatest Pakistani vulnerability.
The very public test last week of a new medium-range missile, on top
of all the escalating rhetoric posturing, was clearly designed to send a
serious message to Islamabad: Submit to our demands, but if you do not,
and should war come, do not even think of using your nuclear weapons or
we will totally destroy you. India is 1 billion+ people, Pakistan 140
million. The conventional Indian armed forces are more than twice the
size of Pakistan. India is preparing to use its considerable military
power to enforce its will in Kashmir, thinking it can one way or another
cower the Pakistanis into not widening the war beyond that region. It is
an exceedingly dangerous gamble, especially as the emotions of both
countries are already inflamed.
Meanwhile, the ongoing U.S.-China confrontation -- which has not
quite reached that level in daily public discourse -- continues. The
American attempt to bug the Chinese leader's plane with the most secret
satellite activated devices failed; American sanctions of various kinds
against various Chinese companies have not been applied overall, and
President Bush is about to visit the Chinese capital at this most
sensitive time. The U.S.-Chinese relationship, and the still-escalating
arms/technology race between them, is heating up even as leaders on both
sides try to contain it and push it under the journalistic radar.
As for the kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter and the charges
he is in some way connected with the CIA. Unfortunately, due to the
actions of the American government for some time, and of the CIA
especially since 11 September, such charges are now widely believed and
not without reason. American businessmen, academics, journalists, and
tourists...all are being treated more suspectly now and this is likely to
get considerable worse for the foreseeable future.
PAKISTAN RADICALS SLAM CRACKDOWN,
WARN MUSHARRAF
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jan 27 (Reuters) - About 2,000 Muslim supporters of
Afghanistan's ousted Taliban rallied in Pakistan on Sunday to denounce a
crackdown on radical Islamic groups in the country and U.S. treatment of
prisoners from the Afghan war.
The rally was the first show of strength by the groups since military
ruler General Pervez Musharraf announced on January 12 a string of
measures to combat rising militancy and sectarianism.
Leaders of the rally said they had the right to wage jihad, or holy war,
and warned Musharraf they could force him from power at any time.
The protesters, who gathered at a football ground in Peshawar, near the
Afghan border, also denounced what they called the inhuman and insulting
treatment of al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners by U.S. forces and demanded
the "act of barbarism" stop.
The United States, which has moved 158 of its Taliban and al Qaeda
prisoners to a jail in Cuba, has been accused by human rights groups and
some politicians at home and abroad of treating the prisoners inhumanely
-- charges denied by Washington.
A statement issued at the end of the rally said restrictions Musharraf
imposed this month on mosques and Islamic schools, known as madrassas,
would be resisted and called on activists to gather for another protest
in Lahore on February 3.
"We can remove Musharraf whenever we want to," Syed Munawar Hassana,
secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party, told the rally.
Musharraf, who outlawed five Islamic militant groups blamed for violence
in Pakistan and India, said his country would not be used as a base for
launching attacks elsewhere and announced measures to regulate mosques
and madrassas.
Nearly 2,000 people, most of them members of the banned groups, have been
detained in the clampdown and some 650 group offices were shut and
sealed.
Shortly after the September 11 attacks on the United States, Musharraf
cut support for Afghanistan's hardline Taliban rulers, who had given
refuge to Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the
attacks on New York and Washington, and his al Qaeda network.
The decision to dump the Taliban angered many radical Muslims in Pakistan
but violent anti-government protests petered out after a few weeks.
Prominent radical cleric, Maulana Samiul Haq, head of the 35-party
pro-Taliban Pakistan-Afghanistan Defence Council, told the crowd Muslims
would continue to wage jihad against non-Muslims in places such as
Chechnya, Palestine and Afghanistan.
"Afghanistan is our backbone. Why can't we fight jihad in Afghanistan?"
Haq asked the crowd. "The Taliban have lost in Afghanistan but we are
not disappointed nor discouraged," Haq said as the crowd chanted slogans
in support of fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and bin Laden.
Several senior Taliban leaders graduated from Haq's madrassa near
Peshawar.
A spokesman for one of the groups outlawed by Musharraf denounced the ban
and said the group would continue to operate. "We do not accept this ban
on religious parties," said Abid Paracha of the militant Sunni Muslim
Sipah-e-Sahaba group.
Late last week courts in Peshawar released 28 people detained in the
recent crackdown after they submitted statements saying they had severed
links with the banned groups. Nineteen of those released were from the
Sipah-e-Sahaba and nine were from its Shia Muslim rival, the
Tehrik-e-Jafria, court officials said.
U.S. REPORTER FOR WSJ MISSING MANY DAYS IN PAKISTAN
By Andy Soloman
ISLAMABAD, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Pakistani police searching for missing U.S.
reporter Daniel Pearl said on Sunday they had interrogated five men in
connection with the case, but had no idea where the journalist was.
They also dismissed as a hoax an e-mail saying Pearl had been kidnapped
which a U.S. official said had been sent to some U.S. and Pakistani media
by a group calling itself "The National Movement for the Restoration of
Pakistani Sovereignty."
A police official in Lahore, capital of populous Punjab province, said
the five men who were briefly detained were involved with a Sunni Muslim
group thought to have links to banned pro-Kashmiri separatists and the
shadowy al Qaeda network of fugitive Saudi militant Osama bin Laden.
"They were interrogated in connection with Daniel Pearl's disappearance,"
said the Lahore police official, who asked not to be identified.
"Pearl was actually trying to interview the head of that group who is
reported to have good connections and contacts in groups close to al
Qaeda," he said. The five were released after four hours of questioning.
A nationwide hunt was launched after Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl,
38, went missing on Wednesday in the volatile southern city of Karachi.
KIDNAPPED?
The U.S. official said the e-mail stated Pearl had been kidnapped because
he was an agent for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and was
being kept in "inhumane" conditions to protest against U.S. treatment of
Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The United States has been accused by human rights groups and some
politicians at home and abroad of treating the prisoners in Cuba
inhumanely -- charges denied by Washington.
"We have checked the e-mail," said a Karachi police official. "I can only
say it's a hoax, we're not taking it seriously."
CIA spokesman Bill Harlow told Reuters: "Although we do not normally
discuss such matters, in this case I can assure you that Mr Pearl does
not now, nor has he ever, worked for the CIA."
Pearl, who is based in the Indian city of Bombay, had been in Karachi
working on a story about Richard Reid, the alleged shoe-bomber charged
with trying to blow up an airliner last month, press group Reporters sans
Frontiers said on Saturday.
Reid, a British national who allegedly visited Pakistan shortly before
the incident, is said by U.S. officials to have trained with al Qaeda,
the group blamed by Washington for the September 11 suicide plane attacks
on the United States.
Senior government officials say they are concerned about Pearl's fate.
"We don't have any clue where he is," Brigadier Mukhtar Ahmed, interior
secretary for Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, told
Reuters. "We are making our efforts to trace him and have extended the
investigation to all four provinces. Right now I can only say the process
of investigation and search is going on," he added.
INDIA SENDS STRONG SIGNAL WITH MISSILE TEST
By Sanjeev Miglani
NEW DELHI (Reuters - 25 Jan) - India Friday tested its nuclear-capable
Agni ballistic missile amid a tense military stand-off with Pakistan,
sending a powerful message to the world community and its domestic
audience.
The successful test occurred at 8:45 a.m. off India's east coast, a
defense ministry official involved in the missile development program
told Reuters. ``All parameters were met,'' he said.
The test was apparently conducted at short notice and could trigger a
retaliatory test by Pakistan even though defense analysts see the Agni
more as a deterrent against India's other nuclear-armed neighbor, China.
The surprise test on the eve of Republic Day, India's most important
national celebration, is meant to send a message to the world and Indians
that New Delhi is standing firm, analysts said.
``Making this test today sends out a very powerful signal,'' defense
analyst and retired Lieutenant-General V.R. Raghvan told Star New
Television.
Bharat Karnad, a strategic analyst at New Delhi's Center for Policy
Research, said the government was trying to counter a perception its
Pakistan strategy was influenced by the United States and other foreign
powers.
``This is a means of self-assertion,'' he told Reuters. ``It's meant to
send signals to both foreign and domestic audiences.''
The Agni, meaning ``fire'' in Hindi, has a range of more than 1,250
miles, but senior officials said a longer version was tested last
January. The missile is a key element of India's plan to build a
credible minimum nuclear deterrent against China and Pakistan.
The United States and other foreign governments have been pressing India
for restraint in its latest row with Pakistan, and for both sides to
scale down their military deployment.
The hostile neighbors have massed about a million men along their border
after India blamed a December 13 suicide raid on its parliament on
Pakistan-based militants, demanding Islamabad crush the groups and
surrender 20 people on its most-wanted list. The dispute has stoked fears
of war between the two countries who have fought three wars since
independence in 1947 and conducted tit-for-tat nuclear tests in 1998.
Thousands of police and paramilitary forces, backed by anti-aircraft
guns, have deployed around New Delhi ahead of Saturday's January 26
Republic Day parade. Although scaled down this year because of the
border build-up, the parade is traditionally a grand display of India's
military might and will include an Agni prototype.
After the parliament raid and this week's killing of four police guards
outside a U.S. cultural center in Calcutta, authorities fear militants
will use the symbolically important day to strike the capital again.
PAKISTAN SAYS INDIA TESTS THREATENS
STABILITY
ISLAMABAD (Reuters - 25 Jan) - Pakistan said Friday a ballistic missile
test by arch-rival India threatened stability in the region but Pakistan
had the means to defend itself.
A foreign ministry statement said New Delhi had informed Islamabad of the
test in advance but it was ill-timed given a tense military standoff
between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
``We hope the international community will take note of this Indian
behavior, which is prejudicial to the pursuit of stability in our region,
especially during the current situation,'' the Pakistan foreign ministry
said in the statement. ``On its part, Pakistan favors a policy of
restraint in the region,'' it added.
India Friday successfully tested an Agni missile off its east coast, a
defense ministry official involved in the program told Reuters.
The foreign ministry said Pakistan had the means to defend itself and did
not conduct missile tests unnecessarily.
``We test when it is technically required in the process of development
and validation of our missile capabilities,'' it said.
India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars since independence from
Britain in 1947, conducted tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests in May 1998.
The two countries' armed forces have been locked in a standoff along
their border since shortly after a December 13 attack on the Indian
parliament which India blamed on Pakistan-based Muslim militants fighting
its rule in disputed Kashmir.
U.S. HITS CHINA WITH SANCTIONS OVER ARMS SALES
By Bill Gertz
[THE WASHINGTON TIMES - 25 Jan]:
The Bush administration imposed economic sanctions
on
China yesterday after Beijing was caught selling
chemical-
and biological-weapons equipment to Iran.
It was the second time in four
months that sanctions were
imposed on China for its sales of
weapons of mass destruction,
products and missile goods.
In September, the State
Department imposed sanctions on
the China Metallurgical Equipment
Corp. and Pakistan's National
Development Complex. Those
sanctions were for Chinese
missile-related sales.
"We imposed penalties on
three Chinese entities, pursuant to the Iran
Nonproliferation
Act of 2000," State Department spokesman Richard
Boucher told reporters yesterday.
The sanctions come weeks before President Bush
will visit
China as part of a tour of Asia. He is set to leave
Feb. 16 for
China, Japan and South Korea.
The sanctions were imposed on two companies
and one
person, Q.C. Chen, Mr. Boucher said.
"The penalties were imposed for the transfer
to Iran of
equipment and technology that's used for the
manufacture of
chemical and biological weapons," Mr. Boucher said.
The
equipment is controlled under a forum known as the
Australia
Group.
A Chinese Embassy spokesman could not be
reached for
comment. Spokesmen for the companies and the person
sanctioned also could not be reached.
The sanctions were imposed because the
transfer
"violated the provisions of the law" that require
sanctions for
chemical and biological weapons sales, Mr. Boucher
said.
A U.S. intelligence official said at least one
of the
chemical-related shipments took place in April and
was
tracked by U.S. intelligence agencies. No other
details on the
transfer were made public.
"We've had a long-standing dialogue with China
on
nonproliferation issues and overall sought to get
China to
abide by or impose similar standards to those that
the rest of
the international community follows when it comes
to these
kinds of transfers," said Mr. Boucher.
Mr. Boucher said the sanctions are
"comparable" to those
imposed last year for China's missile-related sales
to
Pakistan.
The missile components were tracked to
Pakistan's
Shaheen missiles, which are nuclear-capable and
thus
violated a pledge made by the Chinese government
not to
export missiles or related goods that could be used
for
nuclear delivery systems.
Mr. Boucher would not comment on how the
Chinese
transfers had helped the Iranian chemical- or
biological-weapons program.
A notice in the Federal Register, the U.S.
government's
official notification outlet, stated that the three
companies had
sold equipment to Iran that violated the statute.
The three Chinese entities hit with the
sanctions were
identified as Liyang Chemical Equipment; the China
Machinery and Electric Equipment Import and Export
Co.,
and Q.C. Chen. One of the companies produces
glass-lined
equipment, which can be used to produce chemical
weapons.
The sanctions bar the companies from doing
business with
the U.S. government and prevent them from getting
any
assistance from the United States. The companies
are also
banned from buying arms, arms-related goods or
goods that
require export licenses from the United States. The
sanctions
will be in place for two years.
Gary Milhollin, director of the private
Wisconsin Project
on Nuclear Arms Control, said the person identified
by the
State Department, Mr. Chen, had been hit with
sanctions in
1997.
Mr. Milhollin said the sanctions are
ineffective since one of
the entities was sanctioned in the past and
continued its
proliferation.
"It's a good thing to sanction these
companies, but on the
other hand, these sanctions don't really have any
teeth," Mr.
Milhollin said. "We don't do business with these
companies
so there is no real penalty and thus no real impact
on their
activities."
"The big question for Bush's trip [to China]
is whether
China is really going to change its behavior after
September
11," said Mr. Milhollin. "The fact that we had to
sanction
them shows they probably won't."
A CIA report to Congress made public last year
said Iran
was one of the most active states seeking to
acquire nuclear,
chemical and biological weapons and missile
systems,
primarily from Russia, China and North Korea.
The CIA report said that before the last half
of 2001
"Chinese firms had supplied dual-use
[chemical-weapons]-related production equipment and
technology to Iran." Sanctions were imposed in May
1997 on
seven Chinese entities for boosting the Iranian
chemical-arms
program, the report said.
"Evidence during the current reporting period
shows Iran
continues to seek such assistance from Chinese
entities, but it
is unclear to what extent these efforts have
succeeded," the
report said.
Meanwhile, a senior State Department official
said
yesterday that the United States is stepping up
efforts to
pressure states that aid in the spread of nuclear,
chemical and
biological weapons.
John Bolton, undersecretary of state for
international
security, said in a speech to the Geneva-based
Conference
on Disarmament that the United States will use
"every method
at our disposal" to make sure terrorists do not get
weapons
of mass destruction.
Mr. Bolton said Iraq and North Korea had
violated the
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and are interfering
with
monitoring by the International Atomic Energy
Agency.
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