Word: pakistani
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...Laden. To ensure Pakistan's stability, he must rely on the ISI to crack down on sectarian extremists, who have killed more than 70 people this year. Yet elements in the agency are believed to have maintained shady connections with these groups. Then there's the matter of the Pakistani leader's own survival. Many Pakistanis are angry with America these days, over the civilian bombing casualties in Afghanistan and Washington's support of Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians, who like most Pakistanis are mainly Muslims. With Musharraf firmly allied to Washington, diplomats say the threat of assassination...
...practical level, Pakistani extremist groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad shared terrorist camps near the Afghan towns of Khost and Kandahar with al-Qaeda, according to Western diplomats and intelligence officials in Islamabad. In turn, bin Laden's agents relied on these comrades to provide a network of safe houses for al-Qaeda agents as they crossed Pakistan on their way to and from their Afghan headquarters. The ISI also vetted new recruits and laundered terrorist funds through the hawala global network of informal money changers. Says Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia...
...Even after Sept. 11, Pakistani loyalties were still divided. At least five key ISI operatives?some retired, some active?stayed on to help their Taliban comrades prepare defenses in Kandahar against the Americans. None has been punished for this disobedience. And in New Delhi, Indian intelligence agents insist that during the battle for the Taliban bastion of Kunduz, Musharraf persuaded the U.S. to allow Pakistani C-130 planes to airlift out between 300 to 1,000 of its pro-Taliban fighters before American jets poured fire onto the northern Afghan town. Both Washington and Islamabad deny this happened. What...
...official. This change has been noted gratefully in Washington. "We're quite pleased with the cooperation we've got from them," says a U.S. official. A Western diplomat in Islamabad concurs, "There's grudging compliance. The ISI is saluting Musharraf and obeying him." This required a 180 turn for Pakistani spooks. Former friends such as the Taliban and homegrown jihad outfits became the new enemies. "Overnight, our strategic assets," as one top Islamabad official puts it, "had become liabilities...
...under "country club" arrest at his home in Bahawalpur, a diplomat reports. Despite Musharraf's Jan. 12 ban on five extremist groups, most of their firebrand leaders were recently set free, a move that perplexed Islamabad diplomats. "We didn't have enough proof to charge them," explains a Pakistani official...