NAZI'S CALLED THIS MAN A terrorist
Zakintosh a blogger from Karachi is not convinceD by Ms Bhutto either. He writes: "Even if we accept that the cases against her and AZ [her husband] were politically motivated (and, no doubt many were), and she did not line her Swiss Bank Lockers with 'our' money, what about the millions of dollars - certainly 'our' dollars, earned at great risk by being a front-line state - spent overseas by this government in uncovering all the false accounts and real mansions and stuff? Or was that a politically motivated lie, too?"
Conflict has been brewing for more than a year in Baluchistan, a vast, unruly and mineral-rich province that covers 44% of Pakistan, yet has just 5% of its 150 million people. Insurgents have blown up railway lines and phone exchanges, toppled power pylons and fired rockets into army bases and police stations, as part of a low-level guerrilla campaign against the Musharraf government.
So far the death toll has been relatively light. But the standoff in Dera Bugti, apparently sparked by an attack on a government convoy, risks plunging the province into a far deadlier conflict.
The insurgency is led by the Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA), a previously unknown group seen as a flag of convenience for the disgruntled tribesmen. First among them are the pugnacious Bugti and their white-bearded nawab, or chieftain, Akbar Khan Bugti.
Bugti, who was educated by British colonists at Aitchison College in Lahore - known as the "Eton of Pakistan" - in the 1940s, has a polished English accent and is a self-taught scholar in the classics. But he has also been jailed for murder, runs a private prison and has been involved in countless blood feuds.
The province's fractious tribes appear to have rallied behind him. Some, for instance, have forgiven old feuds to reopen sealed roads leading to Bugti territory.
After threatening to crush the upheaval by armed force, President Musharraf has sent envoys to seek a negotiated solution. Now, though, the stakes are higher - a wrong move against the Bugti could spark a chain of violence across Baluchistan.
But the army-led government has never been further from winning local hearts and minds. "The pupils have been brainwashed," said Javeria Qadeer, the deputy principal of Dera Bugti school, which has been closed by decree of the nawab since January. "They say they don't like the name of Pakistan. They say their country is Baluchistan."
Princely states (which were free after the parition to join either country) that were geographically inalienable to Pakistan joined the federation. These included the Princely States of Bhawalpur, Khairpur, Swat, Dir, Hunza, Chitral, Makran and the Khanate of Kalat. All Provinces had their own Governor, who was appointed by the Governor-General of Pakistan. Sindh (Sindhī: سنڌ, Urdū: سندھ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhis.
Different cultural and ethnic groups also reside in Sindh including Urdu speaking people who migrated from India at the time of independence and partition as well as the people migrated from other provinces after independence. Neighbouring regions are Balochistan to the west and north, Punjab in the north, Rajasthan and Gujarat (India) to the east, and the Arabian Sea to the south. The main languages are Sindhi and Urdu. In Sanskrit, the province was dubbed Sindhu meaning "ocean".
The Assyrians (as early as the seventh century BCE) knew the region as Sinda, the Persians Abisind, the Greeks Sinthus, the Romans Sindus, the Chinese Sintow, while the Arabs dubbed it Sind. It is mentioned to be a part of Abhirrdesh (Abhira Kingdom) in Srimad Bhagavatam [2]. Sindh was the first place where Islam spread in South Asia. As a result, it is often referred to as "Bab-al-Islam" (Gate of Islam). The Punjab or Panjab (Urdu: پنجاب (help·info)) province of Pakistan is the country's most populous region and is home to the Punjabis and various other groups. Neighbouring areas are Sindh to the south, Balochistan and the North West Frontier Province to the west, Pakistani administered Azad Kashmir, Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad to the north, and Indian Punjab and Rajasthan to the east. The main languages are Punjabi, Seraiki, and Urdu and the provincial capital is Lahore. The name Punjab literally translates from the Persian words Pañj (پنج), meaning "five", and Āb (آب) meaning "water".
Thus "Punjab" can be translated as "(the) five waters" - and hence the land of the five rivers, referring to the Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Chenab and Jhelum rivers. These five rivers are tributary to the Indus, part of which lies in Punjab, but is not considered one of the "five" rivers.
Benazir Bhutto cries as she lands in Karachi. Photograph: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images
Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto today vowed to save Pakistan from extremism as she returned after eight years of self-imposed exile to launch her political comeback.
Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto today vowed to save Pakistan from extremism as she returned after eight years of self-imposed exile to launch her political comeback.
IF YOU CANNOT KILL THE ONE YOU WANT KILL THE ONE YOU CAN
170 SECURITY PEOPLE DIED FOR A 12 HOUR HOMECOMING PROM QUEEN DEFENDING THE ILLUSION THEY COULD ACTUALLY CHANGE THE GOVERNMENT TO WORK FOR ANYBODY BUT THE GOVERNMENT LEADERS.
170 SECURITY PEOPLE DIED FOR A 12 HOUR HOMECOMING PROM QUEEN DEFENDING THE ILLUSION THEY COULD ACTUALLY CHANGE THE GOVERNMENT TO WORK FOR ANYBODY BUT THE GOVERNMENT LEADERS.
There is little support for Ms Bhutto on the BBC's news forum. Yousuf from London says: "All she has to show for herself is her arrogance and her father's legacy of failed promises." Aftab says "Allowing Benazir back into Pakistan is OK. Allowing her back with a chance of becoming PM again is both dangerous and a backward step." And Jawwad Ahmed Minhas from Islamabad says, "a corrupt is always a corrupt, whether morally or financially."
Zakintosh a blogger from Karachi is not convinceD by Ms Bhutto either. He writes: "Even if we accept that the cases against her and AZ [her husband] were politically motivated (and, no doubt many were), and she did not line her Swiss Bank Lockers with 'our' money, what about the millions of dollars - certainly 'our' dollars, earned at great risk by being a front-line state - spent overseas by this government in uncovering all the false accounts and real mansions and stuff? Or was that a politically motivated lie, too?"
ONE GROUP NOT REAL HAPPY
More than 3,000 people fled a desert town in western Pakistan yesterday as a simmering conflict between tribesmen and President Pervez Musharraf's government risked exploding into all-out civil war.
A day-long battle in the town of Dera Bugti, 400 miles south-west of Islamabad, last week killed at least 45 people, including eight soldiers from the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force charged with maintaining order in the tribal areas.
Yesterday a fragile ceasefire was holding as hundreds of heavily armed tribesmen gathered on the line of jagged hilltops overlooking a besieged garrison of 300 soldiers.
At the other end of the dust-blown town, the 78-year-old Bugti leader, Akbar Khan Bugti, directed his forces from inside a mud-walled fort.
"The situation is very tense. You can expect anything to happen," said the local administrator, Abdul Samad Lasi.
A day-long battle in the town of Dera Bugti, 400 miles south-west of Islamabad, last week killed at least 45 people, including eight soldiers from the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force charged with maintaining order in the tribal areas.
Yesterday a fragile ceasefire was holding as hundreds of heavily armed tribesmen gathered on the line of jagged hilltops overlooking a besieged garrison of 300 soldiers.
At the other end of the dust-blown town, the 78-year-old Bugti leader, Akbar Khan Bugti, directed his forces from inside a mud-walled fort.
"The situation is very tense. You can expect anything to happen," said the local administrator, Abdul Samad Lasi.
Conflict has been brewing for more than a year in Baluchistan, a vast, unruly and mineral-rich province that covers 44% of Pakistan, yet has just 5% of its 150 million people. Insurgents have blown up railway lines and phone exchanges, toppled power pylons and fired rockets into army bases and police stations, as part of a low-level guerrilla campaign against the Musharraf government.
So far the death toll has been relatively light. But the standoff in Dera Bugti, apparently sparked by an attack on a government convoy, risks plunging the province into a far deadlier conflict.
The insurgency is led by the Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA), a previously unknown group seen as a flag of convenience for the disgruntled tribesmen. First among them are the pugnacious Bugti and their white-bearded nawab, or chieftain, Akbar Khan Bugti.
Baluchistan is also a frontline in the hunt for al-Qaida militants, possibly including Osama bin Laden.
Bugti, who was educated by British colonists at Aitchison College in Lahore - known as the "Eton of Pakistan" - in the 1940s, has a polished English accent and is a self-taught scholar in the classics. But he has also been jailed for murder, runs a private prison and has been involved in countless blood feuds.
The province's fractious tribes appear to have rallied behind him. Some, for instance, have forgiven old feuds to reopen sealed roads leading to Bugti territory.
After threatening to crush the upheaval by armed force, President Musharraf has sent envoys to seek a negotiated solution. Now, though, the stakes are higher - a wrong move against the Bugti could spark a chain of violence across Baluchistan.
But the army-led government has never been further from winning local hearts and minds. "The pupils have been brainwashed," said Javeria Qadeer, the deputy principal of Dera Bugti school, which has been closed by decree of the nawab since January. "They say they don't like the name of Pakistan. They say their country is Baluchistan."
History of Pakistan makes it unlikely to remain one nation.
The Dominion of Pakistan was a federation of five regions or Provinces: East Bengal (later to become Bangladesh), West Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, and the North-West Frontier Province/NWFP.
Princely states (which were free after the parition to join either country) that were geographically inalienable to Pakistan joined the federation. These included the Princely States of Bhawalpur, Khairpur, Swat, Dir, Hunza, Chitral, Makran and the Khanate of Kalat. All Provinces had their own Governor, who was appointed by the Governor-General of Pakistan. Sindh (Sindhī: سنڌ, Urdū: سندھ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhis.
Different cultural and ethnic groups also reside in Sindh including Urdu speaking people who migrated from India at the time of independence and partition as well as the people migrated from other provinces after independence. Neighbouring regions are Balochistan to the west and north, Punjab in the north, Rajasthan and Gujarat (India) to the east, and the Arabian Sea to the south. The main languages are Sindhi and Urdu. In Sanskrit, the province was dubbed Sindhu meaning "ocean".
The Assyrians (as early as the seventh century BCE) knew the region as Sinda, the Persians Abisind, the Greeks Sinthus, the Romans Sindus, the Chinese Sintow, while the Arabs dubbed it Sind. It is mentioned to be a part of Abhirrdesh (Abhira Kingdom) in Srimad Bhagavatam [2]. Sindh was the first place where Islam spread in South Asia. As a result, it is often referred to as "Bab-al-Islam" (Gate of Islam). The Punjab or Panjab (Urdu: پنجاب (help·info)) province of Pakistan is the country's most populous region and is home to the Punjabis and various other groups. Neighbouring areas are Sindh to the south, Balochistan and the North West Frontier Province to the west, Pakistani administered Azad Kashmir, Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad to the north, and Indian Punjab and Rajasthan to the east. The main languages are Punjabi, Seraiki, and Urdu and the provincial capital is Lahore. The name Punjab literally translates from the Persian words Pañj (پنج), meaning "five", and Āb (آب) meaning "water".
Thus "Punjab" can be translated as "(the) five waters" - and hence the land of the five rivers, referring to the Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Chenab and Jhelum rivers. These five rivers are tributary to the Indus, part of which lies in Punjab, but is not considered one of the "five" rivers.
ANOTHER YUPPIE OUT TO MAKE MORE MONEY IS NOT WHAT THEY NEED.
HOW ABOUT GIVING THE PEOPLE A VOTE WITHOUT BUSH STRONG ARMING THEM LIKE THEY DID TO HAMAS .
OTHERWISE THE GREEN ZONE IN IRAQ MAY START GLOWING.
One of Hamas’ most basic and significant goals over the years has been to open lines of communication with the Arab world and convince its neighbors it is a liberation rather than a terrorist movement.
This has become especially pressing since Hamas became a major force in the Palestinian street, not just competing neck-and-neck with Fateh, but sometimes surpassing in popularity the traditional Palestinian party of power, as was seen in the most recent municipal elections.Ever since Hamas’ inception in 1987 with the outbreak of the first intifada, it has been seeking to expand its platform in its Arab and international surroundings.
As the movement grew increasingly prominent with the escalation of its military operations against Israeli occupation forces, Arab and international interest in the movement also increased.
Soon it became the focus of attention for many observers and analysts, who viewed its emergence as a turning point in the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and an indication of a widespread Islamic renaissance, which was becoming increasingly involved in political life. In addition, its victory in the municipal elections, its willingness to participate in Palestinian Legislative Council elections and its ever growing political participation in general, granted Hamas a wider platform to open the door to the West, which had put it on its list of terrorist organizations.
