Word: islamabad
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Over the past few years, Pakistan's government and generous foreign donors have spent tens of millions of dollars building roads and widening existing ones across Islamabad. The canyon-like underpasses and grand boulevards are meant to help traffic flow around the capital. But since a truck packed with 600 kg of high-grade explosives rammed into the Marriott hotel on Sept. 20, city officials have scrambled to reverse the plan, hoisting in concrete barriers to slow traffic, setting up police checkpoints, and seriously beefing up the "red-zone" security area around parliament, the prime minister's house, other government...
Call it the Baghdad effect. The colorful moniker may differ slightly from the "green-zone" U.S. forces carved out of central Baghdad, but Islamabad is beginning to feel a little like the Iraqi capital these days, especially since the devastating Marriott bombing that killed 54 people. True, Islamabad is not tattered by years of economic sanctions, nor pockmarked by days of aerial bombardment. And it is not occupied by a foreign army. But on my first trip here in six months, I'm struck by all the ways - small and big, physical and mental - Islamabad has become Baghdad circa...
...Kayani's thinking on terrorism and militancy in the tribal areas. There was a lot of skepticism about General Nadeem Taj's commitment to fighting militants." By appointing Pasha, who has been leading the military's campaign in the tribal areas and has been noted for speaking out against Islamabad's previous policy of supporting the Taliban, "General Kayani has an ISI chief who is behind in policy, and the American complaint has been answered," adds Askari-Rizvi...
...wake of the July 7 bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, the ISI was accused of being involved with and helping the Jalaluddin Haqqani network, which was blamed for the attack. Indeed, the dispute between Islamabad and Washington appears to center on the activities of the Haqqani network and other militants blamed for mounting cross-border attacks on NATO forces in Afghanistan, which have led to a spike in violence in its eastern provinces this year. According to Pakistan military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas, this may be because "the priorities are mismatching." While the U.S. is focused...
Nevertheless, the change at the top of the ISI is likely to be welcomed by Washington and may even relax tensions with Islamabad, analysts say. While the shake-up helps Kayani advance a more coherent response to the challenge of rising militancy, it also underscores the army's enduring clout. The ISI nominally falls under the purview of the Prime Minister, but on this occasion the civilian government merely gave formal approval to a decision by the military leadership. Two months ago, the civilian government attempted to bring the ISI formally under its control. The move was vetoed...