Archive for category NAWAZ SHARIF US & SAUDI AGENT

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THIS SITE IS THE FOR CHILDREN OF CORRUPT PAKISTANI POLITICIANS,BUSINESSMEN,COMMUNITY LEADERS. IT MOCKS AT THE 200 MILLION WHO CAN BARELY SURVIVE IN THAR,BALOCHISTAN, SOUTHERN PUNJAB, FATA, PARTS OF KARACHI,HYDERABAD,KHUZDAR,NOSHKI, LAHORE,MULTAN,RAWALPINDI,YES EVEN ISLAMABAD,THE PLAYGROUND OF THE RICH POLITICIANS;

http://zuhaybshah.blogspot.com/2011_01_23_archive.html

A child sits along a road median as he eats his breakfast of a single piece of “roti” (South Asian bread) while waiting for work in Karachi early morning May 6, 2012.

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS COURTESY

PKonWeb.com

415 super-rich Pakistanis worth $30m each; number surged by 34pc in one year

IRSHAD SALIM,

SEP 16: There are as many as 415 ultra-high net worth Pakistanis — – super-rich people with a wealth of at least $30m each.

The recently released Wealth-X and UBS World Ultra Wealth Report 2013 says the number of these ultra-wealthy Pakistanis increased by 34 percent in just year, from 310 in 2012 to 415 in 2013.

Interestingly last year loadshedding, dire strait of the economy, violence, sectarian killings,cases of corruption, and terrorism at large played havoc with the national sentiment and psyche. It found its natural abode in thechange of guard at the polls.

For the motley super-rich individuals the party went on it seems.

The report says the collective wealth of these supernova Pakistanis is currently $50bn, which is up 25 percent from 2012 when their total wealth stood at $40bn.

The World Bank estimates Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) at $231 billion, which means that the wealth of 415 wealthiest Pakistanis is worth more than one-fifth, or almost 22 percent, of the country’s GDP.

A global prospecting, intelligence and wealth due diligence firm, Wealth-X worked with private banks, educational institutions and luxury brands to compile this report with sponsorship from UBS, an international financial services firm.

Out of the 20 countries listed in the Asian category, Pakistan’s rank is 12th in terms of super-rich individuals’ population. Interestingly, Pakistan posted the biggest percentage increase in terms of both the super-richindividuals population as well as total wealth such individuals possess.

The report also highlights that the average wealth of a Pakistani super-rich in 2013 was $121 million. In contrast, the global average wealth of a super-rich in 2013 was $139 million, which is 16 percent higher than the average Pakistani super-rich.

While the United States and Europe grew faster than Asia in the last 12 months, the report forecasts that Asia will have more ultra-wealthy individuals and wealth than both regions in the next five years.

“At the current growth rates, Asia’s ultra-wealthy population and wealth will eclipse that of Europe in 2021 and 2017, respectively,” the report said as cited by Internews.

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Pakistan Needs a Thailand Style to Kick Out Absolutely Incompetent and Corrupt Nawaz Sharif Government

The earlier we get rid of the corrupt and incompetent political leadership, the better for Pakistan …a soft coup is the need of the hour

Pakistani government feels weight of army’s heavy hand

BY MEHREEN ZAHRA-MALIK

ISLAMABAD Fri May 23, 2014 12:30pm BST

Please Tell Us How Many Pakistanis Live in Such Luxury

RAIWIND PALACE

(Reuters) – At Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s palatial offices in Islamabad this week, the army chief sat down to deliver the head of government a message he did not want to hear: The time for talks with the troublesome Pakistani Taliban was over.

Sharif came to power a year ago promising to find a peaceful settlement with the Islamist militant group, but as round after round of talks failed, the powerful armed forces favoured a military solution.

Their patience finally ran out and, late on Tuesday afternoon, during a tense meeting, the army effectively declared it would override a crucial plank of the government’s strategy and take matters into its own hands.

“The army chief and other military officers in the room were clear on the military’s policy: the last man, the last bullet,” a government insider with first-hand knowledge of the meeting told Reuters.

Asked to sum up the message General Raheel Sharif wanted to convey at the gathering, he added: “The time for talk is over.”

The next day, Pakistani forces launched rare air strikes against militants holed up in the remote, lawless tribal belt near the Afghan border. It is not clear whether Sharif authorised the operation.

On Thursday, they backed that up with the first major ground offensive against the Taliban there, undermining Sharif’s year-long attempt to end a bloody insurgency across his country through peaceful means.

Disagreement over the militant threat is the latest row to flare up between the government and military, and relations between the two branches of power are at their lowest ebb for years, according to government officials.

The government did say talks with the Taliban would go on.

“We will talk with those who are ready for it and the (military) operation is being launched against those who are not ready to come to the negotiating table,” spokesman Pervez Rashid told local media on Thursday.

But the operations put the military, which has a long record of intervening in civilian rule through plots and coups, firmly back at the centre of Pakistan’s security policy.

The balance of power is shifting at a time when foreign troops are preparing to withdraw from Afghanistan, and arch-rival India has just elected a Hindu nationalist leader promising to be more assertive on the international stage.

“This is the clearest signal yet that the army will dictate its terms now,” a member of Sharif’s cabinet said.

TALIBAN ON THE OFFENSIVE

The Pakistani Taliban, as distinct from the Afghan Taliban which is actively targeting NATO forces in Afghanistan, is believed to be behind attacks on Pakistani soldiers and civilians that have killed thousands in recent years.

The Pakistan army has distinguished between “good” Taliban like the feared Haqqani network – who do not attack Pakistani security forces but fight in Afghanistan – and “bad” Taliban, indigenous Pakistani militants who are seeking to create an Islamic state.

While Pakistan’s military wants to go after the “bad” Taliban, it has, despite pressure from Washington, largely avoided taking on groups who launch attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan from Pakistan’s North Waziristan region.

Prompting the latest intervention, the Pakistani Taliban have become increasingly bold, striking the army in tribal areas including a recent battle in which an army major died. Earlier this month, nine soldiers were killed in an explosion near the Afghan border.

“We will avenge the blood of every last soldier. Talks or no talks, the army will retaliate,” said one military official, who, like most others interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.

The army has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history. Sharif himself was toppled by the army in 1999 during his previous tenure as prime minister.

But, humiliated after a secret 2011 U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil, the army stood back from politics and supported last year’s first democratic transition of power which brought Sharif back to office.

Sharif manoeuvred carefully, hand picking a new army chief and trying to forge a partnership with the military in the early days of his tenure, but the overtures had little lasting impact.

TRADE, DIPLOMACY

There are other signs of civil-military discord.

Sharif came to power promising to rebuild relations with India, but has been under pressure to toughen his stance from hardliners at home, particularly within the army.

The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over the still-disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.

Sharif’s policies towards India have been heavily scrutinised; some in the army justify its hefty budget by pointing to – and, critics say, playing up – the potential threat from India.

And despite signs the military has become more amenable to overtures from its old foe than in the past, a trade deal pushed by the prime minister and aimed at improving ties with India was cancelled at the last minute after pressure from the army, top government officials said.

Sharif now faces a dilemma over whether to accept an invitation by Indian Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi to attend his inauguration next week.

The army is also bitter about the trial of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who ousted Sharif from power in 1999 and was arrested after he returned to Pakistan to take part in last year’s election.

Ties with Afghanistan have never been easy, but some officials believe the army wants to torpedo the government’s relationship with a future Kabul administration, risking a deterioration in regional security as NATO troops prepare to leave this year.

Generals have jealously guarded the right to dictate policy on Afghanistan, seeing friendly guerrilla groups as “assets” to blunt the influence of India there.

TENSIONS COME TO SURFACE

Though simmering under the surface, tensions between the government and the army spilled into the open last month when a popular journalist was shot by unknown gunmen, and his channel, Geo News, blamed the army’s powerful spy agency, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Public criticism of the shadowy ISI is almost unheard of in Pakistan. In a rare public response, the army demanded that Geo News, the country’s most-watched news channel, be shut down.

The government’s media regulator has since resisted the army’s demands to cancel the channel’s license, which the military sees as a direct sign of defiance.

“Everyone was looking out to see how the government would treat the army in this crisis — as a friend or foe?” said a senior military official. “But the government allowed this to become a free-for-all, army-hunting season.”

For Sharif, buckling under military pressure is a major risk. “This is not about one TV channel but about freedom of expression and about living in a democracy,” Rashid said. “We should live and let live.”

But despite putting on a brave front, officials say the government is feeling under siege.

“Never in the last year has the government felt weaker or more vulnerable,” one of Sharif’s key economic advisers said. “Now every time we have to take a major decision, on India, on Afghanistan, we will have to think ‘How will the army react?'”

A serving general said the army chief would always pick the “institution over the constitution if push comes to shove,” adding: “As a society and a state, we have to avoid a context in which the army is pushed to do something it doesn’t want to.”

Reference

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NO DEFENCE OF ISLAM & PAK ARMY,BUT PERVAIZ RASHEED HINTS AT GOING TO ANY EXTENT TO SAVE JANG/Geo

Pervaiz Rasheed hints at going to any extend to save Jang/Geo

MAY 19, 2014

By

Raza Ruman

Islamabad, May 19 (Pak Destiny) Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed has hinted that he will go to any extend in supporting and saving the Jang/Geo group come what may.

Pervaiz Rashid has warned the Cable Operators of blocking any TV channel (Geo) or disturbing its number.
He did not condemn the Karachi Press Club incident in which Geo group reporters stopped the Cable Operators from holding a press conference.
On the issue of ISI chief bashing, Pervaiz Rasheed has not yet given comments being a law minister too sought from the PEMRA.
Earlier,he had made it clear “we are with the people of dalil (Geo group) not with the people of galail (ISI, army)”.
Let’s see if Mr Rasheed manages to save Geo from shutting down after the latest blasphemy episode involving its host Shiasta Lodhi. But one thing is clear Pervaiz Rasheed is making all out efforts to save the media group whom Imran Khan has labelled “PML-N media cell”. – Pak Destiny

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For Nawaz Sharif, solutions are blowing in the wind

By

Dr.Moeed Pirzada

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appears to be caught in a political nutcracker, mostly of his own making. On May 11, it was Imran Khan who stood, amidst thunderous applause, at Islamabad’s D-chowk demanding: electoral reforms, thumbprint verifications in four constituencies, as well as investigations into election rigging.

And then there was an ingenious Dr Tahirul Qadri, who offered an impressive fusion of Islam, constitutionalism and technology. The fiery cleric held large crowds spellbound with his rejection of the current parliamentary system. For his part, PM Nawaz needs to find a political solution — and he needs to find it fast.

The heads of both the PTI and PAT are capitalising on the political space created by his unending brinksmanship with the military that skyrocketed following allegations that PM Nawaz Sharif had aligned himself with a private media group against GHQ – a situation that has also left PML-N friendless in an increasingly hostile media market.

There is also little doubt that both PTI and PAT agendas have gained a sharp edge from the recent turn of events. But these agendas present an interesting challenge, not only to PM Nawaz but also to the whole political set-up, of which PTI is also part. Clearly, PML-N decision makers fear that acceptance of thumbprint verifications risks undermining the legitimacy of the party’s impressive victory in the 2013 elections.

Though mainstream media tends to focus on Imran Khan and his demands (viewing Qadri’s agenda as unrealistic and unachievable), more and more young men and women have started to find Dr Qadri more logical, clearheaded and nuanced than Imran.

Is there a political significance? Yes, it means if Imran is seen becoming soft on Nawaz, or fails to achieve any concessions then the dissatisfied ranks of the opposition will find Dr Qadri the more attractive candidate of the two. Given that his relations with the military establishment are not all that good, it is imperative for Nawaz to strike a compromise somewhere. What remains to be seen is: will he accept Imran’s political demands to reform the electoral system or will he quietly settle his differences with the restive military establishment?

In an appearance on Express TV after the May 11 jalsas, Punjab’s Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, renewed Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique’s earlier offer in the National Assembly that PML-N will be willing to accept thumb print verifications if PTI also agrees to allow the same exercise in four constituencies of PML-N’s choice (NA-55, 56 in Rawalpindi from where Sheikh Rashid and Imran Khan won and NA-149 and NA-150 in Multan from where Javaid Hashmi and Shah Mehmood Qureshi won).

Rana argued that ever since this counter-offer PTI has been quiet. However, towards the end of the same broadcast, senior PTI leader Asad Umar said that his party had accepted in lower house PML-N’s demand for counter verifications in four PTI constituencies. Asad said that in response to this Khawaja Saad Rafique then proposed, rather strangely, to make a parliamentary committee to examine the issues which looks to PTI like “backing off” from the initial proposal since both parties need to go straight to the Election Commission for fact-finding instead of wasting time with a fact-finding parliamentary committee that won’t have the capacity to determine facts.

Now it seems PML-N had calculated that their counter-proposal of doing thumbprint verifications in four PTI won constituencies will unnerve the PTI but apparently PTI has called their bluff and now PML-N is trying to wriggle out of the deal.

But political arguments are like peeling onions, so it remains to be seen how the PML-N will now respond to this latest clarification by PTI. But now ongoing negotiations assume a new meaning given Imran Khan’s carefully worded but firm demand from the current Chief Justice that the Supreme Court needs to order thumbprint verifications in the four constituencies. This time around the court will find it difficult to ignore the case.

Irrespective of what the court may or may not do, the emerging scenario demands that PM Nawaz Sharif show flexibility and compromise with the parliamentary opposition or the military establishment. He may also need to reflect on the PML-N’s media management; perhaps initiating a move to diversify his media support instead of relying exclusively on one media group.

admin · Tuesday 26 July 2011 13.29 EDT

Finally, the last thing the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan need is another spy agency operating within their borders.

Pakistan: US OSAC Spy agency works under cover of

1.USAID,

2.Church of JESUS Christ of The Latter Day Saints (Call Themselves Mormons)

3.ConocoPhilips Petroleum,

4.Human Right.ORG, NGOs. Report,CARE

Illegal OSAC Spy Group Operates in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

STATE DEPARTMENT PROGRAM VIOLATES U.S. LAW

https://www.osac.gov/Pages/Home.aspx

May 11 2014, by Matthew J. Nasuti

A rogue U.S. intelligence agency operates in more than 140 countries including Afghanistan.[HI] It is deceptively called “OSAC,” which stands for the “Overseas Security Advisory Council.” The Director of OSAC is Scott P. Bultrowicz, who is also the director of the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service. OSAC was established in 1985. It is a partnership between U.S. intelligence and security agencies, and U.S. corporations, NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and faith-based organizations. Its Board of Directors (called the “Alumni Committee”) includes representatives from such diverse groups as ConocoPhilips Petroleum, USAID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Save the Children, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Its “advisors” include representatives from the FBI, U.S. Customs and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
[/HI]The structure of OSAC is somewhat murky.[HI] It operates as part of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security,[/HI] with an unknown number of operatives in Washington, D.C. Within each of the 140 countries overseas, OSAC has a “Steering Committee” based within the U.S. embassy, which is overseen by the RSO (Regional Security Officer). Executive management of OSAC within each country is managed by the OSAC “Coordinator” and [HI]OSAC has more than 4,000 organizations, companies and groups as members[/HI]. The official total and the list of members appear to be classified. The budget for OSAC is buried within the multi-billion budget for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security.
OSAC was illegally formed and operates illegally because its very existence is contrary to American law. Officially, OSAC is simply one of numerous advisory councils established pursuant to the Federal Advisory Council Act of 1972 (FACA). In fact, with more than 4,000 members, it might be the largest council ever formed. Congress enacted FACA so that private citizens would be able to provide direct input into Federal decision-making. The goal was to establish committees on key legislative and executive issues in order to bring together private and public expertise to solve problems. Section 2 of FACA (Public Law 92-463) sets out the intent of Congress that these committees would provide “useful and beneficial” advice to Executive Branch officials. Congress, when it enacted FACA, did not authorize the creation of a 140-country government/business/NGO security network.
Section 10 of FACA mandates that all of the records of each committee shall be open to public inspection and subject to the Sunshine Act. Instead, most OSAC daily reports, country reports and records are only available to OSAC members who are approved by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Not only are the records classified, but even the membership of OSAC is apparently classified. This is yet another instance where the U.S. Government is blatantly violating the law, and it is doing so with the tacit approval of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. None of these parties seem to understand that once they affirm the propriety of breaking the law, then the door is pushed open to breaking the law in other situations. They also do not seem to understand that each of their officials took an oath to protect the Constitution and obey the law.
[HI]The U.S. Government spends billions of dollars each year on international governance,
democracy [/HI]. Much of that is wasted because of [HI]Obama Administration hipocracy[/HI]. Every year it awards billions of dollars in foreign aid contracts to politically-connected consultants and NGOs. [HI]Up to one third of U.S. Ambassador posts are for sale and can be purchased by making large campaign contributions to the President[/HI]. The U.S. operates illegal and secret prisons with names like “the Kabul Pit”. It conducts illegal bombing raids daily into Pakistan. It rejects the authority of the International Criminal Court over U.S. citizens, but endorses the ICC’s authority over everyone else. It operates illegal intelligence councils. The list goes on and on. Within U.S. foreign policy, there is inconsistent adherence to the rule of law and to basic concepts of accountability.
The moral drift within the Obama Administration is reflected in the June 2012 Pew Global Attitudes Project poll. It revealed a dramatic decline in world opinion about the United States. Pew reports that the drop is due to a loss in confidence in President Obama due to missteps, unpopular policies and indefensible practices around the world. This moral drift ultimately harms the war on terror and increases international support for anti-American groups.
There certainly is a legitimate need for the U.S. Government to provide threat information to American groups and companies that may be targeted by terrorists or criminals, but it cannot use OSAC as a cover for that task, nor should there be a formal Government/NGO intelligence organization.
Another crucial problem with OSAC is that American NGOs need to function separately from the U.S. Government, otherwise they will be seen as simply an extension of that government and a legitimate target of anti-American group. OSAC is therefore counterproductive. One of the issues unanswered with OSAC is whether the briefings are a two-way street. Are American NGOs and faith-based organizations providing intelligence to the U.S. Government in each of these 140 countries, or are they simply receiving threat information from the U.S. Government? The placement of non-government security officers on OSAC’s Board and on its in-country steering committees suggests the former. This would be a dangerous development. It also raises the question, “Are NGOs an increasing target of terrorists because they are American in origin or because they are increasingly seen as being partnered with the U.S. Government?” If the latter, then OSAC is doing more harm than good.
Finally, there are many unanswered questions about OSAC. There apparently is an OSAC committee on Iran, even thought there is no U.S. diplomatic presence in the country. What is the mission of that committee? If the U.S. Department of State, through its Bureau of Diplomatic Security, wants to compete with the CIA by establishing its own intelligence service around the world, partnered with over 4,000 U.S. businesses and NGOs, it should return to Congress and seek authorization for such a massive and duplicative effort.
In conclusion, OSAC is unlawful, it is counter-productive in its current form, and the contempt that the State Department shows for the laws of Congress should disturb members of Congress who routinely rubber-stamp the [HI]State Department’s annual $50 billion budget. Finally, the last thing the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan need is another spy agency operating within their borders.

Document: US increases spying operation on Pakistan

Tue Sep 3, 2013 4:2AM GMT

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The United States has increased its spying operation on Pakistan, a US regional ally, according to top-secret budget documents.

In a series of revelations that have put the US intelligence community under a spotlight, The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the CIA has expanded its effort to gather intelligence on Pakistan in a bid to address US concerns about “biological and chemical sites” in the Asian country.

The operation was also seeking “to assess the loyalties of counterterrorism sources recruited by the CIA,” the newspaper said citing the 178-page summary of the US intelligence community’s “black budget.”

“Pakistan appears at the top of charts listing critical US intelligence gaps. It is named as a target of newly formed analytic cells. And fears about the security of its nuclear program are so pervasive that a budget section on containing the spread of illicit weapons divides the world into two categories: Pakistan and everybody else,” the Post said.

The disclosures are based on documents provided to the American paper by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who first leaked US surveillance programs in June and subsequently fled to Hong Kong and then Russia, where he remains after being granted temporary asylum.

Washington has given Islamabad $26 billion in aid over the past 12 years, seeking the Pakistani support in its war against the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.

The CIA spying operation exposes broad new levels of distrust between the two allies.

“If the Americans are expanding their surveillance capabilities, it can only mean one thing,” the Post quoted Husain Haqqani, who until 2011 served as Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, as saying. “The mistrust now exceeds the trust.”

US spy services also carried out 231 “offensive cyber-operations” in 2011 alone, targeting Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, according to the documents.

The United States has built an “intelligence-gathering colossus” with a whopping “black budget” of $52.6 billion for the current fiscal year.

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US-Pakistan spy wars hit flood relief as aid workers get caught in dragnet

Nearly one million Pakistanis are still homeless, but charities hampered by fallout from Osama bin Laden killing

Declan Walsh in Islamabad
The Guardian, Tuesday 26 July 2011 13.29 EDT

One million Pakistanis are still homeless and in need of aid after last summer’s floods. Photograph: David Berehulak/Reuters

Last summer aid workers in Pakistan battled with epic floods that affected 20 million people, destroyed crops and inundated one-fifth of the country. A year later they find themselves in a very different imbroglio: the escalating spy war between the US and Pakistan.

With millions of flood victims still in urgent need of aid, western charities say their efforts are being hit by the fallout from Osama bin Laden‘s death as the government hunts for CIA spies. Stringent visa regulations and restrictions on movement by the military are causing long delays, increasing costs and affecting the delivery of aid to areas hit by floods and the conflict with the Taliban.

Last month a young American aid worker with Catholic Relief Services was brought to court for visa irregularities, imprisoned for nine days, then deported. British agencies say their staff have fallen under the microscope of Pakistan’s spy service, the ISI, with officials visiting field offices and introducing restrictions on travel.

“We’ve seen gradual restrictions on movement and longer processing time for visas,” said a spokesman for the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, which represents 40 aid groups.

The crackdown started after CIA agent Raymond Davis shot and killed two Pakistanis in Lahore last January, and intensified after the killing of Bin Laden in Abbottabad on 2 May.

Aid workers in Sukkur, a southern city at the heart of flood relief efforts, started to complain of regular visits from intelligence officers and police. In Jacobabad, location of a sensitive airbase, agencies were told that visiting certain areas now required a “no objection certificate” – an official letter of permission.

“The authorities have started paying more attention to who is in the country and what they are doing,” said Michael O’Brien of the Red Cross.

Pakistani embassies abroad have also started to restrict access. “It’s making things extremely difficult,” said Paul Healy of Trocaire, an Irish aid agency. “Before, we could get a visa for a technical expert in one week; now it takes 10.”

The greatest impact is in north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the source of last year’s floods, and where 850,000 civilians have been made homeless by fighting between the army and the Taliban. Aid workers now require permission to visit previously open areas, such as Kohistan and Shangla near the Swat valley. Applications are vetted by the army’s 11th Corps, which runs local military operations; the UN says 43 no-objection certificates are outstanding there.

One European aid manager said he had been unable to send staff to his rural project for more than a month because of the restrictions. “We’re being bundled in with diplomats and other foreign-service nationals. They need to be educated about who we are – and that is not CIA agents,” he said.

“Quite a lot of the population are affected by both floods and conflict,” said a British aid worker. “The irony is that they’re getting half the help, even though the needs may be twice as great.” The aid worker, like several others, spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing discrimination from the authorities.

The National Disaster Management Authority, which oversees disaster relief, said it was issuing travel permits on a priority basis. “We are committed to facilitate aid workers in their pursuit of assisting affected communities,” said spokesman Brigadier Sajid Naeem.

Tensions were exacerbated by news that the CIA ran a fake vaccination programme in Abbottabad to identify the occupants of Bin Laden’s house. “It’s adding fuel to the fire in terms of mistrust,” said a senior UN official. “Now the Pakistanis can say ‘We were right all along – these NGOs are only doing spy work.’ “

Médecins Sans Frontières said the CIA operation was “a dangerous abuse of medical care” that would compromise humanitarian work.

The bureaucracy and spy intrigues coincide with a serious crisis. Some 800,000 families still lack permanent shelter and more than 1 million people require food aid, according to Oxfam. In places the price of bricks has quadrupled, making it impossible for survivors to rebuild their homes. A UN appeal to help families get back on their feet has a $600m (£366m) shortfall.

Then there is the psychological toll. “People are still afraid of the sound of running water,” said Suzanna Akasha, a psycho-social expert from the Danish Red Cross. “They have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep.”

The monsoons started last week in northern Punjab and, although rainfall is normal so far, last year’s devastation left vast numbers vulnerable to hunger and illness. The US says 2 million people will be affected this year, though contingency plans are based on 7 million being affected should the weather deteriorate.

Tensions between US and Pakistani spies continue to bubble. Last week an American convoy entering Peshawar was sent back to Islamabad because, officials said, it lacked the correct paperwork. Peshawar has been largely open to foreigners but the ISI is keen to rein in the activities of a CIA station presumed to operate from the American consulate there.

In Washington, the FBI recently arrested the director of a lobby group focused on Kashmir that they allege is a ISI front; if convicted, he faces up to five years in prison. As the ISI scours Pakistan for undeclared CIA agents, aid workers worry about getting caught in the dragnet. Some accuse the United Nations of not doing enough to push their case with the government. “They’re asleep, as in Rip Van Winkle,” said one.

A UN official said that some aid workers were “over-reacting”. “Certainly the situation has resulted in mistrust,” she said. “But they come into the country for a short period, they don’t know the system, and they overreact.”

Under pressure

The gods have been cruel to Pakistan. The country had barely recovered from the 2005 earthquake which killed 73,000 people when the 2010 floods struck.

The Indus river swelled, wreaking havoc on a huge scale: causing 2,000 deaths and the destruction of 1.5m homes, enough farmland to cover the UK and the displacement of 11 million people.

The crisis continues today. Some districts suffer malnutrition rates on a par with sub-Saharan Africa. In others, child labour has risen by a third as parents struggle to earn a living.

Some children are turning to drugs to combat their traumas. “As always, it’s the weakest who suffer most,” said Marco Aviotti of the medical charity, Merlin.

Worryingly, the country is ill-prepared for another flood, with a rickety disaster management system. But money is scarce: the government owes $59bn to various agencies, tax collection remains disastrously low, and the economy is dependent on the IMF.

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