Pakistan Security Brief - July 20, 2012

U.S. House of Representatives passes amendment to cut aid to Pakistan by $650 million; MQM chief warns of security threats to Pakistan if U.S. State Department classifies Haqqani Network as FTO; Pakistani Supreme Court constitutes bench to hear challenges to new contempt bill; President Asif Ali Zardrari says parliament has every right to pass contempt bill; PPP candidate Abdul Qadir Gilani wins National Assembly seat vacated by his father; Pakistani, Afghan, and British leaders agree to resume commission for facilitating peace talks with Taliban; Pakistan abstains on vote over UN Security Council resolution that would sanction Assad regime in Syria; TTP militants kill 6 anti-Taliban militia members in  Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; Security increased in Karachi ahead of Ramadan.

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment to the $608 billion defense appropriations bill that cuts aid to Pakistan by $650 million. Representative Ted Poe, the sponsor of the amendment, said he proposed the measure in response to Pakistan’s lack of cooperation in the fight against terrorism. The amendment initially proposed cutting aid to Pakistan by $1.3 billion, but Rep. Poe later agreed to cut the proposed amount in half. If the amendment is passed by both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, the measure would affect Pakistan’s aid package for fiscal year 2013, which begins on October 1, 2012. On Thursday, Patrick Ventrall, a State Department spokesperson, said that the U.S. remains committed to cooperating with Pakistan on counterterrorism operations, though he had no comment on the House amendment.[1]

• Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain, on Thursday, warned that the U.S Congress’s recent decision to urge the U.S. State Department to classify the Pakistan-based Haqqani Network as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) could have negative effects upon the security, sovereignty, and integrity of Pakistan. Speaking at the international secretariat of the MQM in London, the MQM chief cautioned that if any leader of the Haqqani Network was implicated in terrorist activity outside of Pakistan, the U.S. would declare Pakistan a “terrorist country.” Hussain demanded that the MQM urge the Pakistani government to take action against the militant group to avoid such deterioration in security.[2] 

Domestic Politics

• On Friday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan constituted a five-member bench for a July 23 hearing of the new “Contempt of Court Bill 2012” that provides public officials immunity from contempt of court charges. Led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry, the bench will hear constitutional petitions that the prime minister, speaker National Assembly, chairman of the Senate, the attorney general, the federal law minister and the cabinet secretary are parties to. The Supreme Court also submitted a notice to National Assembly Speaker Dr. Fehmid Mirza regarding the challenge to the contempt bill. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mirza said that the new law was being reviewed and that “further steps would be taken” at the conclusion of the review.[3]

• On Thursday, President Asif Ali Zardari challenged Chief Justice Chaudhry’s case against the new contempt law by saying that the parliament was supreme and had every right to pass such laws. President Zardari also criticized the Lahore High Court’s demand that he cease political activity while holding the Presidency, saying that his meetings with other parliamentarians is permissible because “parliament was his constituency.” Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Attorney General of Pakistan Ifran Qadir echoed Preisdent Zardari’s sentiments about the new contempt law, saying that “there would be a crisis in the country if the court struck down the Contempt of Court Act 2012.” Qadir urged the Supreme Court to refer the contempt of court law and the recent amendments to it to parliament.[4]

• Speaking at a meeting with Awami National Party (ANP) leaders in Islamabad on Thursday, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that the next general elections would take place on schedule and encouraged coalition partners to cooperate in addressing the country’s challenges. The ANP delegations also brought up the loss of power sector profits in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, an issue which Prime Minister Ashraf promised to examine with the finance minister and ANP leader Haji Adeel.[5]

• The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has initiated the legal process for repossessing the Abottabad compound where U.S. Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011. Pakistani civil authorities razed the house where Osama bin Laden lived to the ground in February. According to The Express Tribune, the 38,000 square meters of land will become government property if left unclaimed for the next 15 days. No one has yet claimed ownership of the plot, which was initially owned by one of bin Laden’s couriers who was killed during the May 2011 raid.[6]

• On Thursday, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Abdul Qadir Gilani defeated Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Shaukat Hayat Bosan by a margin of 4,096 votes, to take the National Assembly seat vacated by his father, former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Speaking to The Express Tribune about the fairness of the election, Bosan said he would “file a complaint after consulting with [his] legal colleagues.”[7]

International Relations

• Following day-long talks in Kabul on Thursday, Pakistani, Afghan, and British leaders agreed to resume meetings of the “two-tier” joint commission to facilitate peace talks with the Taliban. The commission was suspended last year following the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani. As part of the trilateral meeting, Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf pledged to help arrange meetings between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Rabbani’s son, head of the Afghan High Peace Council, is scheduled to visit Islamabad soon to craft a joint strategy for advancing peace talks with the Taliban.[8]

• Iranian and Pakistani officials successfully negotiated a barter trade agreement in which Iran will import wheat and rice from Pakistan in exchange for iron ore exports to Pakistan. Negotiations between the two countries had stalled until a recent visit by a Pakistani delegation to Tehran and a letter by President Asif Ali Zardari broke the deadlock.[9]       

• On Thursday, Pakistan abstained on a vote of a UN.Security Council resolution that would have subjected Syria’s ruling regime to sanctions if the Syrian government did not withdraw its troops and heavy weapons from populated areas in the country within ten days. The resolution – drafted by the United Kingdom and co-sponsored by the U.S., France and Germany – did not pass due to vetoes from Russia and China.[10]

Militancy

• On Thursday, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants clashed with an anti-Taliban militia led by Commander Momin in the Bosti Khel area of Darra Adam Khel in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. The TTP claimed to have killed six members of the rival militia group. Both groups have sought control of the area, which is a key gun-manufacturing site.[11]

• An improvised explosive device (IED) planted near the Ring Road in Peshawar’s Pahari Pur area injured at least six people on Thursday. Local police said that a police van was the target of the attack. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.[12]

• A Pakistani anti-terror squad, assisted by Nowshera and Peshawar police, killed two militants following a search operation to rescue two kidnapped policemen on Thursday. The operation took place in the Spin Khak area of Nowshera district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.[13]    

• Eleven people were gunned down in Karachi on Thursday. Separate incidents of violence left eleven people, including a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader and two policemen, dead in the SITE, Soldier Bazaar, Metroville, Khokhrapar, Garden, Sohrab Goth, Korangi, Landhi, Mobina Town, and Nazimabad areas. Two Crime Investigation Department (CID) police officials were also injured on Thursday while attempting to arrest a suspect alleged to be planning an attack against prominent Shias. Additionally, on Friday, Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) personnel defused a remote-controlled IED planted near Safoora Chowrangi on University Road. Meanwhile, for the month of Ramadan, the security presence in Karachi has been increased, with additional police mobile units, motorcycles, and check posts deployed around the city to minimize violent incidents.[14]