Word: askaris
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...however, a highly controversial and risky course. A previous peace deal failed within months - and gave the militants the space to regroup and sweep away earlier military gains. "It is an attempt on the part of the government to win over a section of religious extremists," says Hasan Askari-Rizvi, a military analyst. "The idea is that if they are pulled out of the struggle, they will cooperate with the government and help isolate the militants. It may have been a good idea if the Taliban were on the run, but they're well entrenched...
...military wants political back up, and the government is supporting them, but I do not expect all the parties to unite," says military analyst Hasan Askari-Rizvi. "The political leaders seem too interested in settling scores against each other...
...Kayani's priorities, analysts say, is restoring relations with Washington, the source of more than $6 billion in military aid since 2001. "There has been a strain in relations between the Pakistan army and the Pentagon," says Hasan Askari-Rizvi, a military analyst, referring to the recent U.S. unilateral actions that sparked sharp condemnation from Kayani as well as public outrage. "The army wants to deal with this through talks and negotiations. Now, with these promotions, you have a team at the top that is in line with General Kayani's thinking on terrorism and militancy in the tribal areas...
February 22, 2006 was when it all went to hell. At least, that's how many Iraqis- Sunnis and Shi'ites alike - remember it. That was the day a powerful bomb set by Sunni extremists ripped through the golden dome of the ancient al-Askari Shrine, one of the holiest sites of Shi'ism, located in the predominantly Sunni city of Samarra, 65 miles north of Baghdad. The blast triggered a round of sectarian bombings, massacres and kidnappings so horrifying that for the next year and a half, many Iraqis would wonder if life would ever return to normal...
...Towering blast walls now cordon off the field of rubble and debris outside the ruined al-Askari shrine. Before the bombing, it drew anywhere from 250 to 500 pilgrims a week; today there are none. But it is being slowly and carefully rebuilt under the direction of UNESCO, with the backing of the Iraqi government and the European Commission. Mourad Zmit, the Samarra project manager for UNESCO, says it may take four years, and up to $300 million to restore the ancient structure, depending on the results of the damage assessment over the next several months. But the fact that...