Opinion Fraying US ties

A register of reports and views from the Pakistan press.

September 24, 2011 03:40 AM IST First published on: Sep 24, 2011 at 03:40 AM IST

Fraying US ties

On September 13,the American embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul were attacked; US intelligence identified the north Waziristan-based Haqqani network as responsible. The Express Tribune reported on September 21: On Sunday,Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in New York,where the first and last thing discussed was the Haqqani network. On September 22,a news report in the paper was headlined,Volley heats up: ISI targeted in bitter Mullen tirade. The report said: The accusations have grown more blunt,the attacks more personal,and the reactions more punitive. In Senate testimony,the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff,Admiral Mike Mullen,called the network a veritable arm of Pakistan armys intelligence agency,the ISI.The newly-appointed Khars sharp response was quoted in Dawn on September 23: You will lose an ally… You cannot afford to alienate Pakistan,you cannot afford to alienate the Pakistani people… If they are choosing to do so,it will be at their (the United States) own cost.

Meanwhile,The Express Tribune reported on September 21: Amidst growing pressure on Pakistan to act against the Haqqani network,Pakistan ISI chief General Ahmed Shuja Pasha visited Washington DC quietly on Tuesday for a one day visit to meet with his CIA counterpart General David Petraeus… On Friday,US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen met COAS General Kayani in Seville,Spain for four hours,where he reiterated his desire for Pakistan to take action against the group.

Sectarian violence

A busload of Shia pilgrims,most of them from the Hazara community,were gunned down near Quetta in Balochistan,while on their way to a shrine in Iran. The Express Tribune reported on September 20: The attackers asked passengers to step out of the bus and shot them after identifying them as Shias. This is the second major attack in about a month on the Shia community in Balochistan: earlier,over 10 people died in a suicide bomb attack at an Eid function. The Balochistan high court has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and issued notices to the Balochistan government through the provincial home secretary,who The Express Tribune quoted on September 22: It has been observed that the Hazara community is being subjected to targeted killings and bomb blasts,thus the government has decided to provide them adequate security.

Mosquito bite

The News reported on September 23 that,with three new deaths reported,this months toll from the dengue outbreak has risen to 75 in Punjab province alone. Thirteen people in Sindh also died. The Punjab government is taking effective measures,albeit a bit late,according to newspapers,to curb the diseases spread: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has instructed all schools to allow students to attend out of uniform. He advised,instead,that they wear trousers and full-sleeved shirts,reported The Express Tribune on September 23. Swimming pools in Sindh have been shut for 60 days.

Floods in sindh

On September 23,Daily Times reported: Two million Pakistanis have fallen ill from diseases since monsoon rains left the southern region under several feet of water. The chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority,Zafar Qadir,said over 550,000 people were now homeless in the flood-hit province of Sindh. He added the flood water may take two months to be drained out from districts of Thatha and Badin.