Pakistan Security Brief

PPP announces Makhdoom Shahabuddin as new PM candidate; Lahore High Court files petition requesting reconsideration of 2012-2013 federal budget; Opposition parties celebrate Gilani ruling; Pakistani security forces capture ‘important’ al Qaeda leader; ACLU requests White House provide legal documents guiding CIA covert ‘targeted killing’ program; U.S. State Department spokesman comments on political conflict between Pakistan’s judiciary and government; Talks between India and Pakistan end with no agreement; Roadside bomb kills tribal elder in Bajaur agency; Violence continues in Karachi; Gunmen kill teacher linked to Marri tribe.

Prime Minister Gilani Disqualification

• On Wednesday, Pakistani television stations reported that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) nominated Makhdoom Shahabuddin, departing minister for textiles, as the candidate to replace disqualified Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. The Supreme Court on Tuesday disqualified Gilani from participating in or being elected to Parliament for a period of five years, as required by the Pakistani Constitution, and dissolved his 63-member cabinet. According to PPP leaders, Shahabuddin’s selection as the replacement candidate will not become final until approved by the party’s coalition partners in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar. As part of the Constitutional requirement to hold elections to fill the vacant position within 60 days, President Asif Ali Zardari summoned Pakistan’s National Assembly to convene on Friday to elect a new Prime Minister.[1]

• In light of the Supreme Court decision to disqualify Gilani on Tuesday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) filed a petition requesting reconsideration of the 2012-2013 federal budget, passed on June 1. Because the Supreme Court decision was backdated to April 26, the date of the original contempt of court conviction, there is a question of whether all acts taken by Gilani since that date should be declared null and void. The petition also stated that Gilani himself should be required to reimburse any personal expenses covered by the government since April 26. On Thursday, the LHC will also hear arguments on a contempt of court petition against President Zardari for using the Presidency for political activity. Muneer Ahmad, a lawyer who filed the petition, claimed that the president is guilty of contempt of court for “not disassociating himself” from using “public property” for partisan purposes, and therefore should be charged, convicted, and sentenced.[2]

• Members of the opposition parties, particularly the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to disqualify Prime Minister Gilani on Tuesday. Speaking to Geo television, Nawaz Sharif, leader of PML-N, lauded the decision, saying “This is real accountability,” and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazul (JUI-F) Fazlur Rehman, on Tuesday, even rejected an offer by President Zardari to join a new government, adding that Gilani should have resigned even earlier. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) also released a press release on Tuesday, stating its acceptance of the Supreme Court ruling.[3]

Capture of al Qaeda Leader

• On Wednesday, Pakistani intelligence officials announced the capture of Naamen Meziche, an “important” al Qaeda leader with suspected links to militant groups in Europe. Meziche, a French national of Algerian origin, was captured during a raid by Pakistani security forces in Balochistan near the Pakistan-Iran border. According to BBC News, Meziche belonged to an al Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany, where he recruited jihadists through a radical mosque later discovered to be a meeting place for three of the 9/11 hijackers. Pakistani officials also said Meziche was a close associate of senior al Qaeda leader Younis al Mauritani, who was arrested last September by Pakistani agents for allegedly planning terrorist attacks in Australia, Europe, and the U.S.[4]      

Drone Strikes

• The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is appealing a March 2012 decision by the D.C. District Court that rejected their initial request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The ACLU is urging the court to pressure the White House to submit the legal documents guiding the CIA’s covert “targeted killing” program, or else explain the rationale for withholding those documents. The federal lawsuit is part of a three-year battle in which ACLU lawyers have sought a formal acknowledgement of the existence of the CIA’s drone program. In response to previous FOIA requests, the CIA has used a 35-year-old judicial precedent to neither confirm nor deny the existence of requested documents.[5]       

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland expressed hope that Pakistan would resolve the political conflict between its judiciary and government “in accordance with Pakistan’s own laws and constitution.” Nuland added that despite the political instability in Islamabad, the U.S. would continue to engage in dialogue with Pakistan to settle key issues, specifically Pakistan’s refusal to reopen the NATO supply routes into Afghanistan.[6]

India-Pakistan Relations

• Talks between India and Pakistan over Sir Creek, the disputed strip of water separating Pakistan’s Sindh province from India’s Gujarat state, ended Tuesday with no agreement. According to an Indian official, Pakistani concessions on the Sir Creek dispute depended upon Indian concessions on the Siachen Glacier dispute. India’s decision to tie the Siachen issue to Pakistan’s handling of terrorism and its investigation of the Mumbai terror attacks, however, yielded no agreement from Tuesday’s talks. Although both sides agreed to hold another round of talks, Prime Minister Gilani’s disqualification Tuesday placed future negotiations in a precarious position.[7]     

• On Wednesday, local level protests occurred after Indian troops engaged in “unprovoked” firing into Pakistan-administered Kashmir’s Buttal Sector along the Line of Control (LoC), injuring two Pakistani civilians. According to Pakistani military sources, the gunfire ceased after the protests.[8]

Militancy

• A roadside bomb in Charmang in the Nawagai sub-district of Bajaur agency killed a tribal elder on Tuesday. No group has yet to claim responsibility for the blast.[9]

• On Tuesday, three bodies were found and three civilians shot dead following separate acts of violence in Karachi’s Federal B Area, Korangi, Quaidabad, North Karachi, Landhi, and Bhains Colony areas.[10]   

• Unidentified gunmen riding on a motorcycle in Quetta killed a senior school teacher near Arbab Karam Khan Road on Tuesday, sparking hundreds of students to protest throughout the city. Mehran Baloch, Balochistan’s unofficial representative at the UN Human Rights Council who is also on Pakistan’s most wanted list, told The News that the victim had been targeted due to his close association with Balochistan’s main Marri tribe.[11]