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Posted by razahamad in Corruption, Defense, Looters and Scam Artists, PAKISTAN & FRANCE, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan's Hall of Shame on May 28th, 2013
By Zafar Masud, 26 May, 2013
When the shocking news came in from Karachi on May 8, 2002, of the bombing of a bus carrying employees of DCN, the French directorate of naval construction, killing 11 of them, it was naturally taken here as the work of religious extremists. After all, this was so close to the New York 9/11 attacks and the decapitation of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl on Feb 1 the same year in the same city.
However, not very long after the tragedy, the French public had to change this perspective as further details were brought home by the media, one after the other in quick succession, of what was quickly baptised here as l’Affaire Karachi. Today, 11 years later, the Karachi affair continues to be hot news in France and the revelations are as fascinating as they are mind-boggling in the sense that they bring in a seemingly endless list of names and events with each revelation.
So complicated in fact that the newsweekly l’Express published an article sometime ago on the subject with the headline, ‘Seven questions to ask to understand the Karachi Affair’. The daily le Monde on its part posted on its site a video entitled “Three minutes to know all about the Karachi affair”. But what on earth is the Karachi affair? Simply stated, it goes something like this:
In 1994 France sold three Agosta military submarines to Pakistan for, to put it roundly, one billion euros. Fifty million of these euros were set aside as ‘gift’ to be shared by some ofPakistan’s politically powerful figures of the time as well as military officers who had, one way or the other, thrown in their weight to make the deal see the light of day.
So far so good! But things started getting somewhat murky when it was discovered by the French media that an infinitesimal part of this sum, about two million euros, had trickled back to France, all in accordance with a preconceived deal, to finance the campaign of the then prime minister Edouard Balladur, who was a candidate and rival to Jacques Chirac in the presidential election of 1995.
Chirac, a rightist like Balladur himself, won the election and became the President of France. But only two years later he had to enter into an uneasy coexistence arrangement with the opposition leftist leader Lionel Jospin whom he was forced to appoint, according to the French constitution, as prime minister because of the Socialist majority in the National Assembly following the 1997 parliamentary elections.
It was only in 2002 when Chirac was re-elected and his party was enjoying a comfortable majority in the National Assembly that he had time, and powers enough, to have a closer look at the Karachi affair files. On learning that all the kickbacks had not yet been fully paid to the Pakistani collaborators, and not forgetting the fact that part of the money had financed the campaign of his rival, he took action and signed a law making the practice of paying sweeteners to foreigners on arms deals illegal.
The tirade of accusations, counter accusations and the list of the names of businessmen and politicians involved, or supposedly involved in the deal assumed unprecedented proportions when a French intelligence agency report suggested the terrorist attack in front of the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi was in fact in retaliation for the decision by Jacques Chirac to abruptly suspend further payments of commissions to Pakistanis who were involved in the sale of Agosta submarines.
Experts today describe the Karachi affair as a cobra with multiple heads. Going through all these intricate details will take up a lot of space in this column and could prove confusing to the reader, but two points remain at the focus of French newspaper, radio or television stories that recur regularly after an interval of every two or three days. One involves a possible connection with former presidentNicolas Sarkozy who had played an important role during the failed election campaign of Edouard Balladur. Sarkozy’s home and offices were recently raided by the investigation forces in an effort to recover some documentary evidence. Whether they succeeded in this was not made public.
The other element has to do with a lawsuit against Jacques Chirac on behalf of the families of the victims of Karachi bombing. They accuse the former president, who is 81 today by the way, of involuntarily being the principal cause of the deaths of DCN employees by his decision to cancel the Agosta submarines commissions to Pakistanis.
The writer is a journalist based in Paris. ([email protected])
Posted by AghaSaad in Altaf "Bhai Ka Qatil"Hussain, MQM Terrorism, Pakistan Fights Terrorism on May 28th, 2013
LETTER TO EDITOR
May 27th, 2013
MQM and Opposition
In a news item Altaf Hussain was quoted saying that it was yet not decided whether the MQM would sit on the opposition benches or join the PPP in forming the government in Sindh. Come on Tafu Bhai, people don’t have that short a memory and know it too well that in the Pakistan politics there are two shrewd politicians who can never afford to be out of the government – one the MQM and the other Maulana of the JUI(F)! Their such “To be or not to be” stance and offhand talks and press statements are only to gain time and bargain for the ministries and committees, which they are unfortunately always in a position to do. They always make the hey while the sun shines for them and the other party(ies) need desperately their co-operation.
Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
Rawalpindi
Pakistan
E.mail: [email protected]
Posted by Fawad Mir in Pakistan-US Relations on May 27th, 2013
Pakistan Army played an active role in the capture of Osama Bin Ladin, but, stayed out of the limelight, for national security reasons. Pakistan Army was aware of the operation from its inception. Pakistan Army kept their role secret due to the fear of retaliatory action from the home grown terrorist groups. The Americans are playing “John Wayne” to the hilt, because, the real brains behind the tracking of Bin Ladin American and the subsequent operational logistics to the Americans were provided by Pakistan Army. The mole Dr. Afridi’s cover was blown by the American, due to their own bungling. They did not trust Pakistan Army to deliver Bin Ladin and Dr. Afridi was their mole in Abbotabad and part of their back-up plan(or Plan B), in case Pakistan Army backed out. American journalist Richard Miniter has claimed in his latest book that an officer of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) helped the CIA track down Osama Bin Laden and that army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani may have been informed of the Abbottabad raid five months in advance. Pakistan Army has always supported US initiatives and objectives in the region.
OBL’s compound was raided by US Navy SEALs. PHOTO: FILE
The book titled ‘Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him’, alleges that the ISI officer had walked into the CIA’s Islamabad station in August 2010 and provided vital help in tracing Bin Laden.
“In a never-before-reported account, Pakistan was more involved in the Bin Laden operation than Obama’s team admitted. When the CIA revealed that an ISI colonel had contacted the CIA in Islamabad and offered information about Bin Laden, a debate followed,” said the book.
“Was this a secret sign that the head of the ISI himself was pointing out Bin Laden’s hiding place or was the colonel actually the patriot who hated extremism that he claimed to be? Whatever the motivation, the CIA found Bin Laden’s hiding place within a month of the colonel’s visit,” the book claims.
According to the book, as the CIA found the Abbottabad compound where Bin Laden lived along with his family and started researching on the property, they found out that the land was “carved out” from the Pakistan Military Academy compound.
“Pakistan Army’s chief of staff may have been briefed in December 2010, five months before the nighttime raid on Bin Laden’s concrete castle,” the Press Trust of India quoted the book as saying. “No concrete facts about the operation were passed on, but an informal approval was sought.”
“Far from taking a risk, there are indications that a cover story had been developed with the Pakistani military and that Obama had their tacit consent for the mission,” claims Miniter, a former reporter with The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
Officials from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) were not immediately available for comments.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 23rd, 2012.
Posted by Rana Tanveer in China-Pakistan Friendship & Brotherhood, Pakistan Defense Technology, Pakistan's Strategic & Security Focus, Pakistan-A Nation of Hope on May 23rd, 2013
05-23-2013 06:11 BJTSpecial Report:
Premier Li Keqiang said that China and Pakistan will always be good partners, and the two countries will work together to deepen their pragmatic cooperation. |
Premier Li Keqiang said that China and Pakistan will always be good partners, and the two countries will work together to deepen their pragmatic cooperation.
Premier Li made the remarks in talks with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari shortly after he landed in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Wednesday.
Li said he stopped in Pakistan in his first overseas trip because China aims to open a new chapter in bilateral ties with Pakistan. Zardari, for his part, said the itinerary of Li’s first foreign trip as premier testifies to the great importance China attaches to the bilateral ties.
In a separate meeting with Zardari and Pakistani interim Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, Premier Li said the China-Pakistan relationship is one of the priorities in China’s foreign policy. Li noted that China will maintain high level exchanges with Pakistan. The two sideas will develop new pragmatic cooperation areas such as Internet and oceanic sources development.
After the meeting, Zardari held a grand ceremony to confer on the Chinese premier the Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest award given by the Pakistani government.
Premier Li Keqiang said that China and Pakistan will always be good partners, and the two countries will work together to deepen their pragmatic cooperation. |
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari shake hands during a medal conferring ceremony in Islamabad, Pakistan, May 22, 2013.
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