The following are recent posts from MEMRI's Urdu-Pashtu Media blog http://www.thememriblog.org/urdupashtu . Visit daily for up-to-date news from the Pakistan and Afghanistan media.
India's Deputy Interior Minister: All Mumbai Attackers Came From Pakistan
Shakeel Ahmad, India's Deputy Interior Minister, has stated that the terrorists who carried out the November 26, 2008 Mumbai attacks were from Pakistan. He added that Azam Amir Kasav, the only one of the perpetrators of the three-day-long shootouts to be arrested, is also from Pakistan.
Ahmad noted: "The terrorists who have been killed in these encounters in Mumbai in the last few days were of Pakistani origin."
Pakistan has denied any involvement in the Mumbai attacks.
Azam Amir Kasav, also spelled Ajmal Kasab, told Indian investigators that he is from a village near Faridkot in Pakistan. There are two small towns by the name of Faridkot in Pakistan, one about 50 km from the city of Multan, and the other about 200 km from it.
However, Ahmad stopped short of blaming the government of Pakistan for the terror attacks, adding: "We are not saying that it [the 11/26 attack] is sponsored by the Pakistani government." [1]
To view this post on the MEMRI Urdu-Pashtu Blog:
http://www.thememriblog.org/urdupashtu/blog_personal/en/11743.htm
Pakistani Leader: "If India Attacks, Several Pakistans Will Be Created Within India"
Expressing a growing concern in Pakistan about a likely Indian response to the Mumbai terror attacks, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, who until early this year served as Pakistan's federal minister for information and broadcasting, warned that if India attacks Pakistan, several Pakistans will be created within India.
Urging the Pakistani government to give a suitable reply to Indian accusations that the 11/26 Mumbai attacks were planned by Pakistani nationals, Ahmed added that the U.S., Israel and India are working to dismantle Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and the country's nuclear program.
Ahmed, who early this year formed his own political party called the Awami Muslim League, also asked the government of Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to stop the supply lines through Pakistan to the U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. He added: "If Pakistan stops the supply lines, NATO cannot fight the Afghan war even for two days." [2]
To view this post on the MEMRI Urdu-Pashtu Blog:
http://www.thememriblog.org/urdupashtu/blog_personal/en/11744.htm
Roznama Jang: Militant Organizations Support Pakistan Against India
The Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Jang reports that all key militant groups in Pakistan's tribal districts have offered a ceasefire in support of the Pakistani government should it decide to deploy its troops on the Indian border in view of the increasing tension after the Mumbai attacks.
There are indications that Pakistan may accept the ceasefire offer and stop military operations against the Taliban.
The report added: "As a positive sign that this ceasefire offer may be accepted, the Pakistan Army has, as a first step, declared before the media some notorious militant commanders, including Baitullah Mehsud and Maulvi Fazlullah, as 'patriotic' Pakistanis."
Baitullah Mehsud and Maulvi Fazlullah are the key leaders of the Taliban movement in Pakistan. Baitullah Mehsud has also been accused of plotting the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
The report added: "These two militant commanders... have invariably been accused of terrorism against Pakistan but the aftermath of the Mumbai carnage has suddenly turned terrorists into patriots."
Roznama Jang quoted a senior Pakistani security official as saying: "We have no big issues with the militants in Fata [tribal districts]. We have only some misunderstandings with Baitullah Mehsud and Fazlullah. These misunderstandings could be removed through dialogue." [3]
To view this post on the MEMRI Urdu-Pashtu Blog:
http://www.thememriblog.org/urdupashtu/blog_personal/en/11745.htm
Endnotes:
[1] www.apakistannews.com, December 1, 2008; The Economic Times (India), November 30, 2008.
[2] Roznama Khabrain (Pakistan), December 1, 2008.
[3] Roznama Jang (Pakistan), December 1, 2008.
