Head of CENTCOM to meet with Pakistan Army Chief; Pakistani taxi driver in Chicago pleads guilty to terrorism charge; U.S. congressman proposes bill to grant U.S. citizenship to Dr. Shakeel Afridi; Pakistan’s defense minister says country should reopen NATO supply routes; Pakistan and Iran vow to intensify work on gas pipeline; Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate faces two Supreme Court cases; Pakistan and Qatar sign energy and trade agreements; Pakistani jets destroy four militant hideouts in upper Orakzai; IMF warns Pakistan of widening fiscal deficit; Pakistani officials investigating Mumbai attacks delay visit to India; Militants blow up girls’ primary school in Charsadda district.
U.S.-Pakistan Relations
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The head of the U.S. military’s Central Command Gen. James N. Mattis will meet with Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani later this month. The meeting will be the first time a high-ranking U.S. official has visited Pakistan since the November 26 NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Officials in the Obama Administration said that this meeting “is the first step toward thawing a strategic relationship that has been in effect frozen for more than two months.”[1]
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Raja Lahrasib Khan, a Chicago taxi driver born in Pakistan, pled guilty to one count of “attempting to provide material support terrorism” on Monday. Khan was arrested in 2010 for sending $950 to Pakistan-based terrorist leader Ilyas Kashmiri whom he believed was working for Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda network. Khan was also accused of “discussing the possibility of planting bags of bombs around an unspecified stadium.” Khan’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 30, and prosecutors say that he will likely be sentenced to a period of five to eight years in prison.[2]
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On Sunday, the U.S. congressional record office posted the details of a proposed legislation to grant American citizenship to Dr. Shakeel Afridi. Afridi is the Pakistani doctor who was detained by the Pakistani government after assisting the U.S. military in identifying Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher introduced the bill earlier this week, saying that “the bill would grant [Afridi] US citizenship and send a direct and powerful message to those in the Pakistani government and military who protected the mastermind of 9/11 and are now seeking retribution on those who helped execute Bin Laden.”[3]
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On Tuesday, Pakistan’s defense minister said that his country “should reopen its Afghan border crossings to NATO troop supplies after negotiating a better deal with the coalition.” While no details were given, Pakistani officials have suggested that the government charge higher fees for NATO to use the roads, as the supply trucks wear down the roads and cause damage to the routes.[4]
Domestic Politics
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Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) is currently facing two separate Supreme Court cases. The first will be heard on Wednesday and the court is asking the ISI to produce “seven suspected militants it has been holding since 2010.” It has also been asked “to explain how four other detainees from the same group died in mysterious circumstances over the past six months.” The second case will be heard on February 29 and “revives a long-dormant vote-rigging scandal.” This case calls into question “illegal donations of $6.5 million as part of a covert, and ultimately successful, operation to influence the 1990 election.”[5]
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On Tuesday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court announced it will hear a petition filed to block the firing of Army Chief Gen. Kayani and ISI Director General Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha. The petition requested that the court “issue a restraining order and stop the government from taking any step to remove or retire the two officers” until a decision is reached by the court.[6]
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Pakistani-American businessman and key witness in the “memogate” case Mansoor Ijaz has once again refused the judicial commission’s summons to appear on February 9, citing security concerns and a possible loss of his evidence.[7]
International Relations
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Pakistan and Iran “vowed to ‘intensify’ work on the multi-billion dollar gas pipeline” at bilateral talks on Monday. The talks were led by visiting Iranian International Affairs Vice President Ali Saeedlou and Pakistani Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. According to Pakistani Petroleum Secretary Ijaz Chaudhry, the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline is scheduled for completion in 2014. The U.S. has long opposed the IP pipeline, and last week a senior U.S. diplomat stated that “Pakistan will be in for serious trouble if it does not abandon the project.”[8]
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In an interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency on Monday, Pakistani Finance Minister Shaikh stated that Pakistan is committed to developing its relationship with Iran. Shaikh said that “Iran and Pakistan are united by the bond of history, faith and culture” and that there “is enormous potential to enhance trade ties between Iran and Pakistan.”[9]
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Pakistan and Qatar signed agreements on Monday to collaborate on issues involving energy, trade, agriculture, and infrastructure development. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani met with Qatari leader Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani to witness the signing of two Agreements and four Memoranda of Understanding and discussed Pakistan’s interest in importing 500 million cubic feet per day of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Qatar.[10]
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On Tuesday, Pakistani investigators and lawyers delayed their visit to India until later this month. The Pakistani group plans to visit India to “gather more evidence for the prosecution of seven suspects linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks,” in which 166 people were killed. Indian officials blame the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group for carrying out the attack with help from “elements” in the Pakistani military and insist that their government has already given the Pakistani officials enough evidence to convict the accused men.[11]
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On Monday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Pakistan of “its widening fiscal deficit and slow growth, saying the economy remains deeply at risk to both internal and external shocks.” The IMF predicted that the economy’s growth rate will increase from its 2010-2011 level of 2.4 percent, to 3.4 percent in 2011-2012. However, according to the IMF, this increased growth rate is only half of what it should be to accommodate an additional two million workers every year. The IMF also criticized the State Bank of Pakistan, accusing it of “loose money policies” and increased inflation.[12]
Militancy
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Pakistani jets destroyed four militant hideouts in Khadezai, Mamozai and Torsamant in upper Orakzai agency, killing at least 15 militants and injuring eight others.[13]
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Unknown assailants fired a rocket at a Frontier Corps (FC) roadside checkpoint in Miram Shah, North Waziristan on Saturday night. FC troops fired rockets in retaliation, and one of the rockets fell on senior tribal journalist Haji Pazeer Gul’s home, injuring his two grandsons.[14]
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The Khudai Khidmatgar Qaumi Jirga announced their opposition on Monday after hearing reports that the provincial government would be launching a military operation in Mathra village near Peshawar. Jirga elders said that the government will be responsible for any negative consequences after the operation is launched, and they stressed that there is no anti-state or terrorist activity taking place in the area.[15]
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FC soldiers, Khassadars and Levies personnel raided an electronics repair shop in Landi Kotal bazaar on Monday, arresting three suspects, including an Afghan national. Security officials have not yet disclosed the reason behind the arrest.[16]
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Militants blew up a girls’ primary school on Saturday night in Shabqadar tehsil, Charsadda district. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Mukarram Khurasani told reporters that TTP was responsible for the explosion.[17]
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Unknown gunmen riding a motorcycle killed two people at a roadside barbershop in Naushki, Balochistan on Monday.[18]
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According to a Levies Force official, a security official was critically injured in an explosion after stepping on a landmine in the Dera Bugti area of Balochistan on Monday.[19]