Pakistan Conflict Monitor

Negotiating with the Taliban: Issues and Prospects

Negotiating with the Taliban: Issues and Prospects [pdf], The Century Foundation, 28 June 2010

EXCERPT: "This initiative is examining ways in which the international community may take greater collective responsibility for effectively assisting Afghanistan’s transition from a war-ridden failed state to a fragile but reasonably peaceful one. The program adds an internationalist and multilateral lens to the policy debate on Afghanistan both in the United States and globally, engaging the representatives of governments, international nongovernmental organizations, and the United Nations in the exploration of policy options toward Afghanistan and the other states in the region. [...] This report tries to lay out how the Taliban are structured and organized, with an eye to assessing the impact of their organization and modus operandi on their willingness to negotiate and to reach a political settlement."

Read the full report [pdf].
Read the press release.

Related articles:
Overture to Taliban jolts Afghan minorities, The New York Times, 26 June 2010
Karzai pressed to move on Taliban reintegration, The New York Times, 25 June 2010

Related posts:
Pakistan efforts to broker Afghan-Haqqani peace "undermine US interests", 25 June 2010
Pakistan, Afghanistan begin talks about dealing with insurgents, 21 June 2010
Pakistan seeks to broker Afghan deal, 16 June 2010
Haqqani network key to Afghan peace talks, Pakistan's interests: Analysts, 31 May 2010
US pushes for regional approach to AfPak security, 13 May 2010

ISI Trains, Funds, and Supplies Taliban: Report

The Sun In the Sky: The Relationship Between Pakistan's ISI and Afghan Insurgents [pdf], London School of Economics, June 2010

EXCERPT: "Many accounts of the Afghan conflict misapprehend the nature of the relationship between Pakistan’s security services and the insurgency. The relationship, in fact, goes far beyond contact and coexistence, with some assistance provided by elements within, or linked to, Pakistan’s intelligence service (ISI) or military. Although the Taliban has a strong endogenous impetus, according to Taliban commanders the ISI orchestrates, sustains and strongly influences the movement. They say it gives sanctuary to both Taliban and Haqqani groups, and provides huge support in terms of training, funding, munitions, and supplies. In their words, this is ‘as clear as the sun in the sky’. Directly or indirectly the ISI appears to exert significant influence on the strategic decision making and field operations of the Taliban; and has even greater sway over Haqqani insurgents. According to both Taliban and Haqqani commanders, it controls the most violent insurgent units, some of which appear to be based in Pakistan."

Read full report [pdf].

Related articles:
Pakistan denies allegations of Afghanistan meddling, Reuters Africa, 14 June 2010
Pak to be taken into confidence on any new operation in Afghanistan: McChrystal, The Nation, 14 June 2010
Pakistan angry over Taliban support claims, Radio Australia, 14 June 2010
Pakistani agents "funding and training Afghan Taliban", BBC News, 13 June 2010
The cloud in the sky [blog], The AfPak Channel, 13 June 2010

Related posts:
Former ISI major a recurring link in terrorism investigations, 08 June 2010
Confessions of a Pakistani spy, 23 April 2010
ISI freed senior Taliban figures: US officials, 12 April 2010
Former ISI officials accused of training Taliban, 5 March 2010
Civil service need urgent repair, 16 February 2010

Corruption on the Rise: Transparency Report

TI Declares Current Govt More Corrupt than Last One, The Express Tribune, 2 June 2010

EXCERPT: "Addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday, Chairman TI Syed Adil Gilani said that the National Corruption Perception Survey 2010 indicates that the overall Corruption in 2010 has increased from Rs195 billion in 2009 to Rs223 billion, while 70 per cent of Pakistanis say that the present government is more corrupt than previous government. [...] The chairman said that the police and power sectors maintained their ranking as the top two most corrupt sectors, while land and administration sector ranked as the third most corrupt sector. 'Corruption in the judiciary, education and local government has also increased as compared to 2009, whereas Federal Board of revenue departments –Customs and Taxation– are ranked as the least corrupt sectors' he added. [...] Furthermore, the chairman said that corruption is the root cause of poverty, illiteracy, terrorism, shortage of electricity and food, and lack of governance in Pakistan. He added that the country’s credibility is at the lowest level, which is evident from the lack of funds in the last two years from the Friends of Pakistan Trust Fund, managed by the World Bank."

Read the full story.
Read the Transparency International-Pakistan press release [pdf].

Related articles:
Corruption report termed conspiracy against KP govt, DAWN, 3 June 2010

Related posts:
Public discontent over economic failures, poverty, 13 April 2010
Civil service need urgent repair, 16 February 2010
Pakistan slips five places in Transparency International Corruption Index, 18 November 2009
Challenges of Pakistan's governance system, 26 October 2009

Zardari Pardons Minister after Court Dismisses Appeal

Pakistan President Pardons Minister Rehman Malik, BBC News, 18 May 2010

EXCERPT: "Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has issued a pardon for the country's interior minister, Rehman Malik, who was convicted of corruption in 2004. The pardon came after the Lahore High Court dismissed Mr Malik's attempt to challenge the conviction. The president used 'discretionary powers' which allow him to pardon anyone convicted by a Pakistani court. Correspondents say the issue highlights the continuing dispute between Pakistan's judiciary and the president. The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad says the dispute stems from what the government sees as the judiciary's interference in matters concerning executive authority. The judiciary says that it is only acting in the public interest."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Nisar criticises rulers' remarks on NRO verdict, Daily Times, 18 May 2010
President made up his mind to confront the judiciary: Nisar, The News International, 18 May 2010
"Rehman to continue as minister", SAMAA TV, 18 May 2010
Senior lawyers say Malik can be arrested any time, Daily Times, 18 May 2010
Conviction in absentia final order: LHC, DAWN, 18 May 2010

Related posts:
Pakistan's attorney general resigns, 6 April 2010
Top crime official arrested, anti-corruption head next, 31 March 2010
Judiciary tackles constitutional reform, reopening of graft cases, 29 March 2010
Civil service needs urgent repair: Report, 16 February 2010
Court strikes down amnesty, 16 December 2009

Pakistani Smugglers Supply Afghan Bombmakers

Pakistani Smugglers Supplying Afghan Bombmakers, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2010

EXCERPT: "Twice a week, a caravan of trucks lumbers out of this volatile northwest Pakistan city in the dead of night and makes its way toward Afghanistan, loaded with one of the most coveted substances in a Taliban bombmaker's arsenal: ammonium nitrate fertilizer. Every time the illicit caravan makes its trip, it moves unhindered past a gantlet of Pakistani police checkposts along the Pak-Afghan Highway. A string of bribes paid out to police, politicians and bureaucrats ensures that the smuggled explosive agent reaches its destination, middlemen on the Afghan side of the border who sell it to insurgents, says the co-owner of a Pakistani trucking firm that dispatches the caravans. Banned in Afghanistan, ammonium nitrate is the basic ingredient of the Taliban's roadside bombs."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Afghanistan bans fertilizer chemical commonly used to make bombs, The Washington Examiner, 23 January 2010
Smugglers using NATO supply trucks in Afghanistan, DAWN, 23 December 2009

Related posts:
NATO must stop the cross border movement of Taliban: ISI, 15 March 2010
"Anti-terrorist" fertilizer ban hinders farmers, 5 February 2010
Taliban exploit porous Afghanistan-Pakistan border, 5 February 2010

Instability and Poverty Place Children at Risk of Sex Work

Sold into Sex Work, IRIN News, 25 April 2010

EXCERPT: "[...] There are reports that rising poverty is forcing a growing number of families to sell children, with girls in particular ending up in sex work. 'We have more and more reports of people selling their children due to poverty,' I.A. Rehman, secretary-general of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), told IRIN. Boys were sometimes trafficked outside the country, and girls were generally sold into the sex trade, he said. According to HRCP, growing unemployment is a big factor contributing to poverty. According to independent estimates, the unemployment rate is 15.2 percent. Poverty levels have remained persistently high in Pakistan. According to a study completed in February 2010 by economists at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, every second household in the districts of the southern Punjab, comprising 17.49 million people, lives in absolute poverty. The fact that many wage earners have lower skill levels, due to a lack of education, is cited as a key factor in this. 'For households in the north [of Punjab Province], 14.26 percent of their income comes from remittances, which explains their comparative affluence; it is 4.4 percent in the centre [of the province], 2.14 percent in the south and 3.03 percent in the west,' the study says. Punjab is by far the most populous of Pakistan's four provinces. 'Pakistan's economy has been in recession for some years. Because of political instability and terrorism there is no investment and no growth. This means fewer jobs and other related issues,' economic analyst Sikander Lodhi told IRIN. He also said prices of many items, including food, had risen in response to rising fuel costs."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Sex work a dangerous game, IRIN News via Reuters, 6 January 2009
Children at risk [op-ed], Daily Times, 12 December 2006
Lahore's street children find alternatives at UNICEF-supported centre, UNICEF, 9 November 2006

Related reports:
Global report on the status of action against commercial sexual exploitation of children [pdf], ECPAT International, 2006

Related posts:
Child, maternal health goals unlikely to be met: UN, 4 January 2010
Pakistan lagging behind in achieving child health goals, 23 November 2009

Constitution Change Strips President's Powers

18th Amendment Approved by Majority Vote, DAWN, 8 April 2010

EXCERPT: "Pakistan's national assembly on Thursday unanimously approved reforms stripping President Asif Ali Zardari of key powers in a move to bolster parliamentary democracy weakened by military rule. The historic 18th amendment, which rolls back four decades of infringements by military rulers on Pakistan's 1973 constitution, is expected to sail through the upper house of parliament as early as next week and then pass into law. The package reverses sweeping powers amassed by former military dictators Pervez Musharraf and Zia ul Haq and could ease political instability in the country. All 292 lawmakers present at Thursday's session in the 342-member national assembly voted to approve the 102-clause bill, by filing into a separate lobby attached to the debating chamber. No one voted against. A jubilant Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani declared that parliamentary democracy was now being restored as MPs slammed fists on desks in celebration after shouting 'hang Musharraf, hang' when his 1999 coup was declared illegal."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Pakistan's divides grow ever-deeper, Asia Times Online, 9 April 2010
Constitutional settlement - or a prelude to more trouble, The Economist, 8 April 2010
Factbox: Constitutional shake-up in Pakistan, Reuters India, 8 April 2010
ANP asks judiciary to keep out of parliament's affairs, The Daily Times, 8 April 2010

Related posts:
Suicide bomber strikes rally celebrating renaming of NWFP, 6 April 2010
Draft amendment to rename NWFP approved, 1 April 2010
Parties agree on proposal to weaken president, 1 April 2010
Judiciary tackles constitutional reform, reopening of graft cases, 29 March 2010
Zardari under pressure to resign following court ruling, 17 December 2009

Pakistan's Attorney General Resigns

Pakistan's Attorney General Resigns, BBC News, 3 April 2010

EXCERPT: "Pakistan's Attorney General Anwar Mansoor has resigned in a row with the country's law ministry. He said the government was not co-operating in the process of reopening corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari and other officials. The Supreme Court recently ruled that an amnesty afforded to hundreds of politicians and officials was illegal. It said proceedings that were stopped when the amnesty came into force more than two years ago must be re-started. Anwar Mansoor had been voicing his frustrations with the government for days. He said the law ministry had refused to provide documents and information he needed to get a money-laundering case against President Zardari reopened."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Fallout continues from resignation of Pakistan's Attorney General, Radio Australia, 6 April 2010
Constitutional shake-up in Pakistan, Reuters India, 6 April 2010
PM Gilani furious with Babar over AG's resignation, Pak Tribune, 4 April 2010
Attorney General quits, hits out at law minister, DAWN, 3 April 2010
Pakistani chief justice's battle with Zardari threatens stability, McClatchy via Yahoo! News, 2 April 2010

Related posts:
Parties agree on proposal to weaken president, 1 April 2010
Top crime official arrested, anti-corruption head next, 31 March 2010
Judiciary tackles constitutional reform, reopening of graft cases, 29 March 2010
Government averts judicial confrontation, 17 February 2010
Zardari under pressure to resign following court ruling, 17 December 2009

Top Crime Official Arrested, Anti-Corruption Head Next

Pakistan Arrests a Top Crime Official, The New York Times, 30 March 2010

EXCERPT: "The Supreme Court ordered the arrest of a senior white-collar crime official on Tuesday, and threatened to send the nation’s top anticorruption official to jail if he did not swiftly seek the reopening of corruption cases in Switzerland against President Asif Ali Zardari. The dramatic arrest in the magisterial courtroom renewed the confrontation between the Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and the civilian government. [...] Mr. Zardari also serves as chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, and the press secretary for the party, Fouzia Wahab, said the party would file an appeal against the arrest of the white-collar crime official, Ahmad Riaz Sheikh. Earlier this month, Mr. Sheikh was appointed head of the white-collar crime department of the Federal Investigation Agency, three months after corruption cases against him were reopened by the Supreme Court last December. [...] The chief justice also took aim at the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau, Naveed Ahsan, saying he was giving Mr. Ahsan until Wednesday to carry out an order to write to the Swiss authorities about pursuing the Zardari corruption cases. The bureau is the state anticorruption agency dealing with politicians and government servants. Mr. Ahsan told the chief justice that the government had refrained from contacting Switzerland because the bureau believed Mr. Zardari enjoyed immunity."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Pakistan Supreme Court issues corruption case threat, BBC News, 31 March 2010
Pakistan asks Swiss to revive money laundering charges against President Asif Ali Zardari, Los Angeles Times, 31 March 2010
Swiss say have not had request to reopen Zardari case, Reuters, 31 March 2010
Police detains top FIA official on SC orders, Daily Times, 31 March 2010
Former AG Malik Qayum flees to Dubai, The News International, 31 March 2010

Related reports:
The nature of corruption and anti-corruption strategies in Pakistan, Article 2 // Asian Legal Rights Services via the Human Security Gateway, 29 March 2010

Related posts:
Judiciary tackles constitutional reform, reopening of graft cases, 29 March 2010
Zardari re-emerges, but likely to face legal battle, 21 January 2010
Zardari under pressure to resign following court ruling, 17 December 2009
At the precipice: Is Pakistan about to fail?, 10 December 2009
Pakistan slips five places in Transparency International Corruption Index, 18 November 2009

Judiciary Tackles Constitutional Reform, Reopening of Graft Cases

Deadline Given for Reopening of NAB Cases, DAWN 29 March 2010

EXCERPT: "The Supreme Court on Monday made an indirect reference to the constitutional immunity enjoyed by President Asif Ali Zardari by saying that no one, not even a king, can enjoy any benefit of the struck down NRO. The Supreme Court of Pakistan also gave a 24 hour ultimatum to the National Accountability Bureau to reopen cases both at home and abroad. The court also slapped a contempt of court notice on acting Chairman of NAB, Naveed Ahsan."

Read the full story.

Pakistan's Chief Justice Takes on Its Political Class, TIME, 27 March 2010

EXCERPT: "In a country where politics can get very personal, the Chief Justice's relationships with the pillars of civilian and military power, President Asif Ali Zardari and Army Chief of Staff General Ashfaq Kayani respectively, could be important in shaping Pakistan's transition from de facto military rule to civilian democracy. And those relationships are likely to be tested in the tussle over a package of wide-ranging constitutional reforms that was due to be introduced to parliament on Friday, whose purpose is to reverse changes made by previous military rulers, trim the power of the presidency, and alter the procedure for Supreme Court appointments."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Q&A: Pakistan's plan to reform constitution drags on, Reuters India, 29 March 2010
Pakistan court orders govt to reopen graft cases, The Associated Press, 29 March 2010
FIA's ADG Riaz Sheikh removed, DAWN, 29 March 2010
SC issues contempt of court notice to Interior Secretary, The News International, 29 March 2010
Pakistan judiciary to investigate military over 1,600 missing persons, The National, 25 March 2010

Related posts:
Court to rule on missing Pakistanis, 19 March 2010
Government averts judicial confrontation, 17 February 2010
President and top court spar over judges, 16 February 2010
High court investigates "disappearances" following 9/11, 22 January 2010
Amnesty upheaval leading to "slow-burning disarray"?, 22 December 2009