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India-Pakistan
Pak Army reinforcements may affect war on terror
2009-03-15
Pakistan Army's reinforcements to Islamabad from the restive northwestern part in the face of mass protests against the PPP-led government has fuelled concerns that it may weaken the war against the al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists near the Afghan border.
As if we'll notice ...
Pakistan on Saturday plunged deeper into political chaos with a defiant Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the PML(N), leading thousands of supporters towards Islamabad for a mass sit-in front of Parliament on Monday.

Pakistan has put its Army on standby as the confrontation between the country's two main parties the PPP and the PML(N) showed no signs of abating despite frantic efforts by national and international mediators. The Army said it has brought reinforcements to Islamabad from northwestern Pakistan, fuelling concerns that it is being distracted from the terror war against the militants near the restive Afghan border, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.
Notice they didn't pull reinforcements away from the Indian border ...
"It may affect our fight against terrorists, but we don't have any choice," Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik was quoted as saying by the British daily.

U.S. and British officials fear the unrest is undermining counter-terrorism operations and could precipitate another military coup in a country that has been ruled by the Army for more than half of its 61-year history, the report said.

In an apparent effort to mediate in the political crisis, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoned Mr. Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday.
"Mahmoud! Talk to this chattering woman!"
"Of course Your Enormity. What will you be doing?"
"Looking for my ten percent!"
Mr. Malik said that extraordinary security measures were being taken as intelligence agencies have warned that terrorists could take advantage of the protest to carry out "target killings" and a "series of bombings", including suicide attacks. "The government cannot allow mass demonstrations in the capital because of the threat of violence," Mr. Malik said in Islamabad. "I urge all Pakistanis not to join the long march as we have credible information that enemies of Pakistan could take advantage of the situation," he stressed.

The lawyers and opposition parties launched the long march on Thursday to pressure the ruling PPP to reinstate judges sacked by former President Pervez Musharraf during the 2007 emergency.

The PML(N)-backed the protest after accusing Mr. Zardari of influencing a Supreme Court verdict that barred Mr. Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif from contesting polls and holding elected office.
Posted by:john frum

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