Pervez Musharraf
Posted at 11:00am on Dec. 28, 2007 Al Qaeda Opens a New Front
Does Bhutto’s Death Mean the End of Iraq?
By Mark I
Al Qaeda’s military commander in Afghanistan claims that the terror group coordinated the effort that led to the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi, Pakistan yesterday. In a telephone interview with Asia Times Online (NSA boys, did you get this one on tape?), Mustafa Abu al-Yazid said that the killing was part of an al Qaeda plan to destabilize Pakistan by hitting at “precious American assets” there.
”We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat mujahideen. This is our first major victory against those who have been siding with infidels in a fight against al-Qaeda and declared a war against mujahideen.”
Al-Yazid goes on to describe a fairly elaborate effort at tracking and targeting Bhutto and President Pervez Musharraf involving indigenous extremist groups acting on orders from al Qaeda. California Yankee reports that US Intelligence agencies have not yet confirmed that al Qaeda was responsible. But couple the claim with reports from earlier this month that defeated al Qaeda forces were moving out of Iraq and heading back to Afghanistan, and it begs the question: Does Bhutto’s death mean that the Iraq war is essentially over?
Read on…
Posted in Afghanistan | al-Qaeda | Benazir Bhutto | Iraq | Pakistan | Pervez Musharraf | War | War on Terror — Comments (9)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 4:14pm on Dec. 27, 2007 And Pakistan Goes Insane
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
Anyone who thinks that foreign policy is not going to be a big issue in the upcoming Presidential campaign has likely had his/her world rocked by the assassination of Benazir Bhutto today:
Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, aides said.
Bhutto's supporters erupted in anger and grief after her death, attacking police and burning tires and election campaign posters in several cities. At the hospital where she died, some smashed glass and wailed, chanting slogans against President Pervez Musharraf.
The death of the 54-year-old charismatic former prime minister threw the campaign for the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections into chaos and created fears of mass protests and violence across the nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.
Musharraf convened an emergency meeting with his senior staff where they were expected to discuss whether to postpone the election, an official at the Interior Ministry said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
Read on . . .
Posted in Benazir Bhutto | Foreign Affairs | Pakistan | Pervez Musharraf | terrorism — Comments (29)/ Email this page » / Read More »
