Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistani officials condemn NATO attack; Congress passes Defense Authorization Bill freezing $700 million in aid to Pakistan; Supreme Court inquiry into “memogate” scandal set to resume December 19; ANP MNA calls for Pasha’s resignation; Sindh High Court calls for release of MQM-Haqiqi chief; Zardari recovering in Dubai, presidential staff flown to Dubai; Militants target Pakistan Army convoy in Upper Orakzai agency, killing one soldier and injuring 25; Two security officers wounded and one militant killed in Kohat search operation.

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• During a Pakistani Embassy news conference on Thursday, officials condemned the November 26 NATO airstrike on Pakistani border posts that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, calling the incident “unprovoked and inexplicable.” While the Pakistani officials did not specifically say that the U.S. attack intentionally targeted Pakistani soldiers, they emphasized that NATO forces did not utilize available channels to communicate with the Pakistani border posts.  One official questioned the duration of the attack, adding that nearly an hour into the incident “the entire (U.S.) chain of command knew something had gone wrong. If there was any doubt before, there was none after.” U.S. military officials are expected to release the details of their investigation into the attack next week.  One new detail exposed in the news conference was an alleged apology offered by a NATO officer to his Pakistani border liaison counterpart.  According to Pakistani officials, the NATO officer apologized for providing incorrect coordinates for the planned NATO attack which rendered the Pakistanis unable to alert NATO forces and their own troops of the impeding friendly fire.[1]

• Congress passed the Defense Authorization Bill on Thursday, which will place a hold on $700 million in the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Fund pending greater Pakistani cooperation in countering the proliferation of improvised explosion devices (IED) and IED components.  Once signed into law by President Obama, the legislation will require that the “Secretary of Defense submit a report that would include a strategy for enhancing Pakistan’s efforts to counter [IEDs] and information on whether Pakistan is making significant efforts to implement a strategy to counter IEDs” before the aid freeze can be lifted. At a press conference on Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland emphasized that the bill would not cut funding to Pakistan, but instead would add certification requirements that must be met before the aid can be distributed.[2]

Pakistani Politics

• On Friday, Pakistan’s Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq announced that President Asif Ali Zardari would not be submitting a reply to the Supreme Court’s (SC) inquiry into the “memogate” scandal, while the government replied that the  inquiry was unnecessary.  Haq confirmed that the SC had received replies from Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy chief Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, as well as former Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S. Hussain Haqqani.  The SC is scheduled to resume the “memogate” hearing on December 19.  The secret memo, which was allegedly sent by Haqqani to former U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen via Ijaz, reportedly requested U.S. support for Pakistan’s civilian government in the event of a Pakistani military coup.  On Friday, Kayani and Pasha confirmed the existence of the memo for the first time, and Kayani indicated that the memo had “hurt [Pakistan’s] national security” by suggesting that the Pakistani military was “plotting a coup” against Pakistan’s civilian government.[3]

• On Thursday, Awami National Party (ANP) Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Bushra Gohar called for the resignation of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy chief Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha following reports by Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz that Pasha had secretly visited several Arab countries soon after the May 2 U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in an effort to garner Arab support for a possible military coup against President Zardari.[4]

• On Friday, the Sindh High Court (SHC) called for the immediate release of Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) chief Afaq Ahmed, denouncing his previous 30-day detention as “illegal.”[5]

Zardari’s Health

• On Friday, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan announced that President Zardari was “recovering” in Dubai following his release from the hospital on Wednesday.  Hasan indicated that Zardari was “fit” and would “resume his duties” next week.  Meanwhile, a “second batch” of presidential staff traveled to Dubai on Thursday, including Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik who met with Zardari in Dubai on Friday to brief the President on Pakistan’s “current security situation.”[6]

FATA

• On Friday, militants set off a bomb targeting a Pakistan Army convoy in Upper Orakzai agency killing one soldier and injuring 25 others. Pakistani soldiers killed at least 20 militants in retaliatory fire.[7]

Khyber-Pakthunkhwa

• On Friday, two security officers were wounded in a grenade attack during a search operation at the residence of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Yousuf Mullah in Kohat district. Security forces returned fire and killed one militant.  Fifty-three suspected militants were apprehended as a result of the search operation.[8]