Musharraf Defends Pakistani Intel Agency

[Gold9472]

Musharraf Defends Pakistani Intel Agency

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/...8KDVCUG4.shtml

(Gold9472: Originally posted here.)

By DAVID STRINGER
The Associated Press
Thursday, September 28, 2006; 12:21 PM

LONDON -- A leaked document accuses Pakistan's intelligence agency of indirectly supporting terrorist groups including al-Qaida and calls on Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to disband the agency.

Musharraf, who is scheduled to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair later Thursday, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that he rejected the assessment and would raise the matter with his counterpart.

"ISI is a disciplined force, breaking the back of al-Qaida," Musharraf told the BBC, claiming his intelligence service had secured the arrests of 680 suspected terrorists.

The broadcaster said the documents were written by an unidentified senior researcher at the Defense Academy, which is a ministry think-tank. It said the document was part of a private British review of efforts across the world to combat terrorism.

The BBC quoted the document as saying that Pakistan was coming under "closer and closer" international scrutiny because of the intelligence agency's support for the country's hard-line opposition Islamic coalition Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, also called MMA.

"Indirectly, Pakistan (through the ISI) has been supporting terrorism and extremism _ whether in London on (July 7, 2005) or in Afghanistan or Iraq," the BBC quotes the document as saying. "Pakistan is not currently stable but on the edge of chaos."

The 2005 date refers to the suicide bombings on London's transit system that killed 52 commuters.

Britain's Ministry of Defense said the document was part of academic research and did not represent the views of either the ministry or Blair's government.

"To represent it as such is deeply irresponsible and the author is furious that his notes have been willfully misrepresented in this manner," the ministry said in a statement read by a spokeswoman. "Indeed, he suspects that they have been released to the BBC precisely in the hope that they would cause damage to our relations with Pakistan."

A spokesman for Blair said the prime minister's meeting with Musharraf would cover topics including terrorism and Afghanistan.

Musharraf traveled to London after talks Wednesday in Washington with President Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Musharraf said he and Karzai decided to increase cooperation in fighting terrorism, including developing better intelligence coordination and interaction.

"The meeting that I held with President Bush and Hamid Karzai last night was very good," Musharraf said in comments aired live on Pakistani TV. "It was decided that we should have a common strategy. We have to fight terrorism. We have to defeat it, defeat it jointly."

It was a stark departure from the recent criticisms he and Karzai have lobbed at one another in recent days. Karzai has accused Pakistan of not doing enough to curb Islamic schools that produce militants, while Musharraf said the Afghan leader was ignoring large sectors of his war-ravaged country's population.

Right up to Wednesday night's White House dinner, they also have pointed fingers at one another over Osama bin Laden and other terrorist leaders. Each says bin Laden isn't hiding in his country and suggests the other might do more to help find him.

Tensions were still apparent in Washington. Following the dinner, Karzai and Musharraf attended a news conference where they both shook Bush's hand but didn't shake each other's.

The BBC also reported Wednesday that British military commanders were overruled by politicians in a request to withdraw troops from Iraq to strengthen force numbers in Afghanistan.

It said the document suggested military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan were heading toward an "as yet unspecified and uncertain result."

It painted a bleak picture of military and counterterrorism work, similar to a U.S. intelligence assessment _ parts of which were declassified Tuesday _ that warned of a growing terrorist threat and concluded Iraq has become a "cause celebre" for jihadists.

British troops are being "held hostage in Iraq following the failure of the deal being attempted by the COS (Chief of Staff) to extricate UK Armed Forces from Iraq on the basis of doing Afghanistan," the BBC quoted the document as saying.

It said senior commanders had hoped to focus resources on the NATO-led mission to secure governance in southern Afghanistan, where British, Canadian and U.S. troops have met fierce resistance, the BBC said.

The BBC said the document reinforced claims that military intervention in Iraq had served to encourage extremism, a notion repeatedly rejected by Blair.

"Iraq has served to radicalize an already disillusioned youth and al-Qaida has given them the will, intent, purpose and ideology to act," the BBC quoted the document as saying.

[Gold9472]

Blair, Musharraf Pledge to Fight Terror

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...800305_pf.html

By JENNIFER QUINN
The Associated Press
Thursday, September 28, 2006; 5:15 PM

LONDON -- The leaders of Britain and Pakistan pledged their commitment Thursday to defeating insurgents in Afghanistan, brushing aside a leaked British military document that claimed Islamabad's security forces are indirectly supporting terrorist groups.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Gen. Pervez Musharraf met for two hours, with both reinforcing their support of a NATO-led mission to support the Kabul government, a Blair spokesman said.

The meeting, at Chequers, Blair's official country residence west of London, followed Musharraf's visit to Washington, where he held talks with President Bush and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai.

Thursday's meeting had threatened to be overshadowed by a military document obtained by the British Broadcasting Corp. in which a senior officer maintained Pakistan's Directorate of Inter Services Intelligence _ the country's top spy agency _ should be dismantled.

The broadcaster reported the document was written by an unidentified senior researcher at the Defense Academy, a defense ministry think-tank and college.

It said the author was also linked to the intelligence services and the document was part of a private British review of efforts across the world to combat terrorism.

Musharraf rejected that allegations that its security forces had indirectly supported terrorist groups and raised the issue with Blair during their meeting.

"The president accepted that document is not government policy, so there was no further need to discuss it," said a spokesman for Blair's office, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with policy.

He said Blair also assured Musharraf that British troops would remain in Afghanistan for the "long term," as part of the NATO mission.

Musharraf told Blair he recognized the need to continue working to reduce the amount of cross-border activity between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Britain's defense ministry said the material obtained by the BBC was in no way a report or a policy statement.

Instead, the papers were merely research notes taken by an academic to reflect material seen or collected from a variety of sources _ not a collection of facts meant to influence the government's position or policies, a ministry spokeswoman said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity in line with department policy.

The BBC quoted the document as saying that "indirectly, Pakistan (through the ISI) has been supporting terrorism and extremism _ whether in London on (July 7, 2005) or in Afghanistan or Iraq."

It reported that the document said "Pakistan is not currently stable but on the edge of chaos."

The defense ministry spokeswoman, reading a strongly worded ministry statement, said the "academic research notes quoted in no way represent the views of either the MoD (defense ministry) or the government."

"To represent it as such is deeply irresponsible and the author is furious that his notes have been willfully misrepresented in this manner," the statement said.

"He suspects that they have been released to the BBC precisely in the hope that they would cause damage to our relations with Pakistan."

The ministry reiterated Britain's long-standing position that Pakistan is a key ally in the fight against terrorism.

Musharraf called the intelligence agency a critical player in the war on terror and said its work had led to the arrests of 680 suspected terrorists.

Following his Washington meetings, he said it was decided Afghanistan and Pakistan should have better intelligence coordination and interaction to meet the challenges of fighting militants. But a news conference following a dinner revealed a frosty relationship between the leaders, with Karzai and Musharraf not shaking hands with each other, after shaking hands with Bush.

[Gold9472]

Key quotes from the document

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programme...ht/5388426.stm

9/28/2006

Key quotes from a leaked Ministry of Defence think-tank paper which alleges that Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI, has indirectly helped the Taleban and al-Qaeda and should be dismantled. The research paper was written by a senior officer at the MoD-run Defence Academy. The Ministry of Defence have responded that the views contained in it do not reflect the views of the MOD or the government.

On THE WAR ON TERROR
The wars in Afghanistan and particularly Iraq have not gone well and are progressing slowly towards an as yet unspecified and uncertain result.

The War in Iraq...has acted as a recruiting sergeant for extremists from across the Muslim world.

The Al Qaeda ideology has taken root within the Muslim world and Muslim populations within western countries. Iraq has served to radicalise an already disillusioned youth and Al Qaeda has given them the will, intent, purpose and ideology to act.

British Armed Forces are effectively held hostage in Iraq - following the failure of the deal being attempted by COS (Chief of Staff) to extricate UK Armed Forces from Iraq on the basis of 'doing Afghanistan' - and we are now fighting (and arguably losing or potentially losing) on two fronts.

The West will not be able to find peaceful exit strategies from Iraq and Afghanistan - creating greater animosity...and a return to violence and radicalisation on their leaving. The enemy it has identified (terrorism) is the wrong target. As an idea it cannot be defeated.

On PAKISTAN
The Army's dual role in combating terrorism and at the same time promoting the MMA and so indirectly supporting the Taliban (through the ISI) is coming under closer and closer international scrutiny.

Pakistan is not currently stable but on the edge of chaos.

[The West has] turned a blind eye towards existing instability and the indirect protection of Al Qaeda and promotion of terrorism.

Indirectly Pakistan (through the ISI) has been supporting terrorism and extremism - whether in London on 7/7 or in Afghanistan or Iraq.

The US/UK cannot begin to turn the tide until they identify the real enemies from attacking ideas tactically - and seek to put in place a more just vision. This will require Pakistan to move away from Army rule and for the ISI to be dismantled and more significantly something to be put in its place.

Musharraf knows that time is running out for him...at some point the US is likely to withdraw funding (and possibly even protection) of him - estimated at $70-80M a month.

Without US funding his position will become increasingly tenuous.

[Gold9472]

Musharraf defends his spy service

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5387344.stm

9/28/2006

President Pervez Musharraf has angrily rejected allegations that Pakistan's intelligence service has indirectly helped the Taleban and al-Qaeda.

In a BBC TV interview, Gen Musharraf said Pakistan was doing an "excellent job" in tracking down militants.

The claims are in a document written by a researcher working for the UK's defence ministry.

It says Pakistan is on the edge of chaos and that the Iraq war had helped extremists recruit people.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) paper says Pakistan's intelligence service, ISI, indirectly backs terrorism by supporting religious parties in the country.

But an MoD spokesman said "the academic research notes quoted in no way represent the views of either the MoD or the government".

Gen Musharraf spoke to the BBC's Newsnight programme ahead of a meeting in Washington with US President George W Bush and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai.

He said that he was "fully satisfied" with Pakistan's co-operation in the fight against terrorism.

"There is perfect co-ordination going on - intelligence and operational co-ordination at the strategic level, at the tactical level," he said.

And he rejected the suggestion in the report that the ISI should be dismantled.

"I totally, 200% reject it. I reject it from anybody - MoD or anyone who tells me to dismantle ISI.

"ISI is a disciplined force, breaking the back of al-Qaeda. Getting 680 people would not have been possible if our ISI was not doing an excellent job."

'Recruiting sergeant'
The Pakistani president rejected allegations by the Afghan leader that Pakistan was not doing enough to fight extremism in its border region, calling Mr Karzai someone who "can't even get out of his office".

He also refused to withdraw his statement that then US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the stone age" unless it co-operated with America in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks.

"I don't withdraw the claim at all," he said. "Why should I withdraw it now that Mr Armitage is denying it?"

The research paper is understood to have been written by a man with a military background who is linked to the UK's Secret Intelligence Service.

On Afghanistan, the paper said the UK went in "with its eyes closed", and revealed that a secret deal to extricate UK troops from Iraq so they could focus on Afghanistan failed when British military leaders were overruled.

The paper also said that the Iraq war had "acted as a recruiting sergeant for extremists across the Muslim world".

[Gold9472]

President dubs alleged Pearl killer MI6 spy

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topic...1&parent_id=23

Published: Friday, 29 September, 2006, 01:06 PM Doha Time

LONDON: Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has disclosed that Omar Sheikh, who kidnapped and murdered American journalist Daniel Pearl and is now facing death penalty, was actually the British secret Agency MI6’s agent and had executed certain missions on their behest before coming to Pakistan and visiting Afghanistan to meet Osama and Mullah Omar.

General Musharraf’s book has also given a new twist to the whole drama of kidnapping and murder of American journalist as many believe here British national Omar Sheikh might use Musharraf’s memoir to plea his innocence after, quite surprisingly, Musharraf tried to give a clean chit to Omar despite his role in kidnapping which is punishable with death in Pakistan.

It has been reported that General Musharraf has written in his book that while Omar Sheikh was at the London School of Economics (LSE), he was recruited by the British intelligence agency MI6, which persuaded him to take an active part in demonstrations against Serbian aggression in Bosnia and even sent him to Kosovo to join the jihad.

At some point, he probably became a rogue or double agent.

The local media is discussing the possibility that Omar would use evidence from President Musharraf’s memoirs to save himself from the hangman.

General Musharraf appeared to exonerate Omar Sheikh in his book In the Line of Fire.

Sheikh, 32, who was brought up in Wanstead, east London, has been on death row since 2003 after being convicted of orchestrating the kidnap and murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter.

The Times, which is carrying extracts of Musharraf autobiography has reported that General Musharraf appears to have changed his mind about the Briton’s guilt, saying he now believes that the man who beheaded the American hostage was Khalid Sheikh Mohamed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

The Times has reported that Rai Bashir, Sheikh’s lawyer, said that he intended to use the memoir to force a new appeal hearing.

The Times report said General Musharraf appears to contradict the original claim that the British militant callously planned Pearl’s murder, saying: "Only later did I realise that Omar Sheikh had panicked because the situation had spiralled out of his control."

Bashir said: "After reading the book, if I feel necessary, I will quote the book in my arguments in favour of my client. It can be used as evidence." Three other men jailed for life for their part in the crime have lodged appeals. - Internews

[Gold9472]

Pakistan 'role in Mumbai attacks'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5394686.stm

9/30/2006

Pakistan's intelligence agency was behind the train blasts in Mumbai in July that killed 186 people, Indian police say.

The attacks were planned by the ISI and carried out by the Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba, based in Pakistan, Mumbai's police chief said.

AN Roy said the Students' Islamic Movement of India had also assisted.

Pakistan rejected the allegations and said India had given no evidence of Pakistani involvement in the attacks.

"We have solved the 11 July bombings case. The whole attack was planned by Pakistan's ISI and carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba and their operatives in India," Mumbai (Bombay) police commissioner AN Roy told a news conference.

'Baseless'
Tariq Azim Khan, Pakistan's minister of state for information, rejected the allegations.

"We are still studying the Indian statement. Needless to say, this is once again baseless allegations - yet another attempt by India to malign Pakistan," he told the BBC.

"Both the president and the prime minister condemned this terrorist attack on the train when it happened. But India also must look at home for reasons for this growing insurgency at home," he said.

On 11 July 2006, seven co-ordinated blasts within 15 minutes ripped through trains on Mumbai's busy commuter network.

Mr Roy said 15 people had been arrested, and that some of the bombers had received training in Pakistan.

He said the bombs were made using a total of 15-20kg of an explosive called RDX, which was smuggled into the country and packed into seven pressure cookers.

Timers were attached to the bombs, which were put into bags and concealed using newspapers and umbrellas, he said.

He said 11 Pakistanis were involved in the operation, and had crossed into India in small groups from Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Seven teams, each made up of one Indian and one Pakistani militant, transported the bombs by taxi before placing them on the trains, Mr Roy said.

Peace talks
Indian security officials suggested early on in their investigations that the bombings bore the hallmarks of Lashkar-e-Toiba, a leading militant group fighting in Kashmir and based in Pakistan.

But Pakistan denied any involvement in the blasts and Lashkar-e-Toiba condemned the attacks.

India postponed talks with Pakistan after the bombings, but Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf met recently in Cuba and said they had agreed to resume talks.

The two nations, both nuclear armed, have fought three wars since independence, two over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

[Gold9472]

ISI, Lashkar behind 7/11 blasts: Mumbai police

http://www.ndtv.com/template/templat...egory=National

Sunday, October 1, 2006 (Mumbai):

The Maharashtra police have revealed the conspiracy behind the 7/11 blasts in the city's suburban train network.

According to the police, the blasts were carried out by a group of Pakistanis and Indians who used RDX packed in pressure cookers.

In a press conference on Saturday, Mumbai police commissioner AN Roy nailed the ISI for masterminding the blasts.

"The entire case, of seven serial blasts in Mumbai local trains has been cracked. The entire operation was planned by Pakistan's ISI and executed in India by local LeT operatives and some members of SIMI. Several of these operatives were trained in Pakistan, in Bhawalpur," he said.

Fifteen people have been arrested in the case so far of which twelve are said to be directly involved in the conspiracy. The case against the other three is still being worked out.

According to Roy, the plot was hatched in Bahawalpur four months ago in March 2006 in by Azam Cheema, an LeT commander.

Cheema ran the operation using three modules in India, headed by Faisal Sheikh, a businessmen from Bandra, Kamaluddin Ansari from Bihar and Ehteshan Siddiqi, a SIMI leader.

Deadly plan
They were given safe houses to stay across Mumbai: in Malad, Borivali, Mumbra and the Bandra home of Faisal Sheikh.

The RDX, about 15 kilos, was brought by one Ehsamullah from Pakistan.

Three groups of people had arrived from Pakistan for this operation. The bombs were assembled in Shivajinagar in the slums of Givandi in Chembur.

They were placed inside seven pressure cookers and then stored in Fasial's Bandra residence. Each bomb had RDX with ammonium nitrate and quartz timers.

On the day of the blasts, the men set off in groups of two, one Indian and one Pakistani to board trains. The deadly cargo was hidden in umbrellas to avoid detection.

But one Pakistani didn't manage to get off, his body lying unclaimed in a Mumbai hospital. Police say his name was Salim and he was from Lahore.

Another Pakistani stayed back and was shot dead in an encounter in Mumbai's Antop Hill. At that time, he was identified as Abu Osama.

Pak involvement confirmed
In several earlier terrorist strikes including the '93 bomb blasts, there's been talk of a Pak hand.

But now for the first time, investigators have spoken of Pakistani nationals arriving in India to be part of the bombing.

These are explosive claims, which could impact Indo-Pak relations, one reason why the police will now have to produce hard evidence to back their claims.

Pakistan was quick to react to the revelations made on the 7/11 investigations. Pakistan's interior minister said India had often blamed Pakistan after such incidents.

No link with 9/11
One of the claims made by a media network some time back was that the 7 /11 bomb blasts were linked to the 9 /11 bombings in New York.

It was claimed that Mohammed Atta had trained along with the 7/ 11 bombers, a claim so unlikely that NDTV had refrained from reacting to it at that time.

This was backed by every investigating agency in Mumbai and New Delhi which had had rubbished it off the record.

On Saturday, the Mumbai police went on to categorically state that there is no link between the two incidents.

More arrests
Meanwhile, the police have arrested Naved, a resident of Mira road in Thane, for his direct links with the blasts.

On Friday, four more men were arrested and sent to police custody till October 13. However, details of the charges against them are still unclear.

Sources have told NDTV that Mohammed Majid, the man arrested from Kolkata, is an active member of the LeT sleeper cell and may have links with the RDX haul in Aurangabad.

More arrests are likely in the future with the government claiming that the conspiracy has been solved.

A fast track court will be set up in the Mumbai train blasts case to ensure swift justice unlike in the case of the 1993 serial blasts, which has dragged on for 13 years.

[Gold9472]

US asks India to stop blaming Pakistan

http://www.dawn.com/2006/10/04/top2.htm

ISLAMABAD, Oct 3: The United States on Tuesday advised India not to blame Pakistan for the Mubmai blasts without certain proof and suggested that New Delhi should resolve the issue through a ‘direct contact’ with Islamabad.

“India should communicate with Pakistan by having direct contact instead of talking about the Mumbai train blasts in the public,” US Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker told a news conference.

He said the United States wanted Indian and Pakistani governments to discuss all the issues between them, including the Kashmir dispute, to normalise their relations.

“We hope that both the countries would keep all their channels open to rectify their misunderstandings,” he said, adding that accusing statements would serve no purpose.

The United States, he said, appreciated the spirit and sense of understanding reached between President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Havana for resolving the disputes peacefully.

Mr Crocker did not rule out the possibility of extending nuclear technology to Pakistan for civilian purposes. Both the countries, he said, had started discussion over the issue and currently Pakistan’s energy requirements were being assessed.

He said besides conventional resources, Pakistan would be provided all the support to explore alternative energy resources through short-, medium and long- term plans that would also involve the private sector.

Asked whether the Bush administration would allow American investors to set up nuclear power plants in the proposed ‘Designated Industrial Nuclear Parks’ in Pakistan, he said: “We have made a beginning and at some point in time the US could consider that idea.”

Referring to proliferation, he said one thing was clear that the issue of unauthorised proliferation was closed and the US had accepted Pakistan’s point of view on it.

“Pakistan government took a series of steps putting in place enough safeguards to completely stop this proliferation.

“But what was the extent of A.Q. Khan’s network is still to be known and determined and this issue is not closed and in this regard the international community has to be satisfied by Pakistan,” he pointed out, saying the issues concerning Iran and North Korea were not closed.

“Pakistan says it wants to get to the bottom of the issue and this is very good,” he added.

The ambassador said his country supported Pakistan government’s agreement with tribal elders in North Waziristan, adding that President Musharraf was taking full interest to restrict the activities of Al Qaeda and Taliban both in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He said Gen Musharraf had given a “comprehensive and clear presentation” on the Waziristan accord and the US fully understood the circumstances in which this agreement was signed.

He explained that the US was not against showing ‘flexibility’ to deal with the Taliban as serious issues were not resolved overnight.

He said war on terror could not be won militarily alone as local factors had to be considered and flexibility had to be shown to achieve the desired results. He expressed the hope that there would be no cross-border terrorist activity by Taliban after the signing of the Waziristan accord.

“In an extended campaign against terror we can panic but we would ultimately succeed with the help of our allies,” Mr Crocker said, adding that he did not think there was any ‘Talibanisation’ in tribal areas.

He said that after the tripartite meeting at White House, his country would make it sure that there was “no blame game on each other” and both President Musharraf and President Karzai cooperated with each other.

[Gold9472]

India to give names of 7/11 suspects to Pak

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1056686

Wednesday, October 04, 2006 ^14:00 IST

NEW DELHI: India will shortly present to Pakistan the names of its nationals suspected to be involved in the deadly Mumbai blasts along with related evidence through the joint anti-terror mechanism recently agreed upon, highly placed sources said on Wednesday.

As many as 11 Pakistani nationals were directly involved in the serial blasts on July 11 in which nearly 200 people died, according to the Mumbai police which said that the attacks were planned by ISI in Pakistan and carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba with the help of the banned Islamic Students Movement of India (SIMI).

Two of the Pakistanis involved are dead but the remaining are believed to have escaped to their country or could be hiding in India. LeT's commander in Pakistan's Bahawalput district, Azam Cheema is suspected to be the brain behind the conspiracy.

Islamabad's rejection of the Mumbai police claims and its refusal to handover any suspects to India is unacceptable to New Delhi which wants this case to be the first test for the joint mechanism.

As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on his way back home from South Africa, the evidence of Pakistani involvement will be offered to Islamabad through the joint mechanism and it would be ascertained "how sincere they are in carrying forward the commitment I and President Musharraf have underlined" in the joint statement from Havana.

The Prime Minister left no one in doubt that the evidence India gives to Pakistan would be a test of its sincerely in controlling terrorism. "Pakistan will have to walk the talk", he asserted.

"Whatever has been discovered (by Mumbai police), we shall share that information with Pakistan", he told reporters, adding "we will test the water".

There was condemnation of the Mumbai blasts in the joint statement and also an explicit mention that the two countries will work to control the menace of terrorism, he recalled.

Pointing out that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and he had just set up the joint mechanism to deal with terrorism, the Prime Minister said it was through this mechanism that Pakistan's response would be sought.

Although the joint mechanism was yet to take off, Singh asked "how else can we ask Pakistan for information (about Mumbai blasts) except through a mechanism like this?"

On Indo-Pak peace process, Singh said it could not move forward unless and until both countries sincerely work to gain mastery over this menace (of terrorism).

[Gold9472]

Explosion near Musharraf residence, no casualties or damage

http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Explos..._10042006.html

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Wednesday October 4, 2006

Islamabad- An explosion in a park near Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf's residence Tuesday evening sparked rumours of an attempt on the president's life, but police said it caused no casualties or damage. Police chief Marwat Ali Shah of Rawalpindi, where the explosion occurred, dismissed the incident as "nothing big."

The explosive, planted in the open, vast, jungle-like Ayub Park, only threw up dirt and stones about 100 metres away. The park had closed about 90 minutes before the explosion took place at 1635 GMT, police sources said.

Presidential spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said the explosion made no impact on the army buildings in the vicinity, including the official residence of President Musharraf.

Musharraf, who is also army chief, prefers to live in the army residence in Rawalpindi rather than the presidential palace in the adjoining capital Islamabad.

Security forces cordoned off the area after the explosion, which snarled the traffic on the main highway into Rawalpindi and caused rumours to spread about a possible attempt on Musharraf, who has survived two bomb attacks during his tenure.