Top military leaders in meeting

TrendPK.com
RAWALPINDI: The Corps Commanders Conference is in progress at military’s headquarters to discuss the overall security situation and professional affairs, TrendPK reports Monday.

Being held under Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at General Headquarters here, the top military leadership will bring especially Pak-Afghan border situation into discussion.

The military leadership will also give thought to strategy for the ongoing anti-terrorism campaign.

Various national and regional issues will also be brought into focus in the meeting. Different aspects of cooperation with NATO, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) put forward by Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) are also on table of discussion.

The security situation at eastern borders is also being mulled over. TrendPK

Pakistan tells US to cut CIA, special forces numbers: report

NEW YORK: Pakistan has told the United States to sharply cut the number of CIA agents and special forces operating there, and to rein in drone strikes against militants, a US newspaper said Monday.

The New York Times said the order highlighted the near collapse of US-Pakistani cooperation, the result of a row that erupted when CIA officer Raymond Davis shot and killed two men who tried to rob him in January.

The authorities in Islamabad were asking a total of about 335 CIA officers, contractors and special operations forces to leave the country, according to a Pakistani official involved in the decision who was quoted by the daily.

Pakistan’s army chief General Ashfaq Kayani personally ordered the reductions, it added, citing unnamed US and Pakistani officials.

The news came as Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, the chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s powerful military spy agency, met in Washington with Leon Panetta, director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

George Little, a CIA spokesman, told AFP the talks were productive and that relations between the agency and the ISI remained on a “solid footing.”

The Pakistani official involved in the decision to cut back the US presence told the newspaper that Pakistan suspects that what Washington really wants to do is to neutralize the Muslim country’s nuclear arsenal.

The daily said Kayani has asked for a 25-40 percent reduction in the number of US Special Operations troops, most of whom train the paramilitary Frontier Corps in the northwest tribal region which is home to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

It also said Pakistan had set a quota of 120 Special Forces soldiers operating in Pakistan, a figure it says has been reached.

Pakistan is also demanding Washington remove all US contractors used by the CIA as well as CIA agents who were involved in all missions that the ISI had been unaware of, the Pakistani official was cited as saying.

Davis was reportedly involved in a covert CIA assignment to penetrate the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group.

A Pakistani official who met with the army chief said “Kayani would like the drones stopped,” after complaining that the Obama administration’s expanded drone attacks had run out of control.

If they cannot be stopped, Kayani demanded, then the campaign should return to the more limited score they were used for originally and target areas within North Waziristan, the paper said.

Gordon Brown ordered Zardari to take Osama out: WikiLeaks

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had ordered Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to have al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden killed, a diplomatic cable unveiled by the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks has revealed.

Apparently convinced that bin Laden was alive and hiding in Pakistan, the then British Prime Minister told Zardari to take Osama bin Laden out during a private telephonic conversation in December 2009, The Telegraph reported, adding that Pakistani officials were reportedly unhappy with Brown’s aggressive language. The incident is among a number of references to the alleged sightings of the world’s most wanted man detailed in the leaked cables obtained by WikiLeaks, showing that the manhunt for bin Laden is still focused on Pakistan, despite one apparent tip-off that the al-Qaeda leader was in Europe. However, Pakistan has repeatedly denied any knowledge of bin Laden’s whereabouts during private meetings with Americans. In January 2008, Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani told visiting US senators that it was unjust to criticize Pakistan for not locating bin Laden, adding that he would place Pakistan’s track record in pursuing and capturing al-Qaeda operatives against any other country. In September 2009, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik told US diplomats that they had no clue about the terrorist’s whereabouts. Bin Laden sent his family to Iran, so it makes sense that he might have gone there himself, a record of the meeting quoted Malik, as arguing. Alternatively, he might be hiding in Saudi Arabia or Yemen, or perhaps he is already dead, he added.However, the Tajikistan Government claimed that many people in Pakistan knew where Bin Laden was hiding.During a meeting with the US Ambassador in December 2009, senior Tajik counterterrorism official General Abdullo Sadulloevich Nazarov said: In Pakistan Osama Bin Laden wasn’t an invisible man. Many knew his whereabouts in North Waziristan. But sympathisers in the security forces tipped off the terrorists whenever a raid on the al-Qaeda leader was about to begin, he added.

COAS, Air Chief visit South Waziristan, Taliban attack Ladha

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kiani and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshall Rao Qamar Sulaiman have visited South Waziristan, trendpk.Com reported on Tuesday.

Soon after their visit Taliban fired rockets in the area of Ladha. COAS declared 2011 as the year of hope for the people of South Waziristan.
On the other hand the rocket attack took place after the COAS and the Air Chief left South Waziristan after inaugurating a basic health unit in Ladha. 4 rockets were fired by taliban but the rockets fell away from the population and therefore no human loss occurred whereas the media team had to hide inside a bunker. Security forces responded to the attack with heavy artillery fires.

Earlier the COAS and the Air Chief met with IDP’s and tribal leaders.

Talking to the media the COAS said that although South Waziristan has been cleared from the extremist groups but still there army would remained deployed in the area.

Military Backs Political Process: ISPR

News Trends: Pakistan armed forces would continue to support political process in the country within ambit of the constitution, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) spokesman said on Saturday.

In a statement released by ISPR, the spokesman said the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani respected the political leadership.

The COAS also valued political leaders, including PMLN chief Nawaz Sharif, added Major General Athar Abbas.

The statement went on to state the armed forces would continue to follow the policy of supporting political process within the boundaries of constitution.

Kayani Said he Disliked Zardari: WikiLeaks

News Trends: Pakistan-s army chief COAS Kayani mused about forcing out civilian President Asif Ali Zardari who has made preparations for a coup or assassination, leaked US diplomatic cables said Tuesday.

The latest tranche of memos, obtained by whistleblower site WikiLeaks and reported by American and British newspapers, also showed that the United States was more concerned than it let on publicly about Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.

General Ashfaq Kayani, chief of Pakistan’s powerful military, told the US ambassador during a March 2009 meeting that he “might, however reluctantly,” pressure Zardari to resign, according to cable cited by the papers.

Kayani was quoted as saying that he might support Asfandyar Wali Khan, leader of the Awami National League Party, as the new president — not Zardari’s arch-nemesis Nawaz Sharif.

According to Anne W. Patterson, the then US Ambassador to Pakistan, Kayani made it clear that regardless of how much he disliked Zardari, he distrusted Nawaz even more.

In another cable quoted by both newspapers, US Vice President Joe Biden recounted to Britain’s then prime minister Gordon Brown a conversation with Zardari last year.

Zardari told him that Kayani and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency “will take me out,” according to the cable. The paper said the cables also showed that Zardari has made extensive preparations in case he is killed.

Tensions between Zardari and the army are no secret, and Pakistan often witnesses coup rumors.

After Kayani met in September with Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the now-exiled Musharraf quipped: “I can assure you they were not discussing the weather.”

Gen. Kayani visits commando training activities at Mangla

Staff Report

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited Mangla today to witness various training activities. He visited a Light Commando Battalion undergoing training. While informally interacting with the troops, he appreciated their morale and professionalism.

According to an Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release, the COAS also witnessed Low Intensity Conflict training being carried out by Young Officers of various units/formations.

He emphasized, on the occasion, the need to comprehend dynamics of Low Intensity Conflict and develop skills at individual/unit level accordingly.

The COAS also met Lance Naik MianYousaf Jamil, World Record holder for planting most number of trees in a single day. He lauded the spirit behind the effort of Lance Naik Yousaf to promote tree plantation.

Earlier, the COAS

Gen. Kayani visits commando training activities at Mangla

Staff Report

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited Mangla today to witness various training activities. He visited a Light Commando Battalion undergoing training. While informally interacting with the troops, he appreciated their morale and professionalism.

According to an Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release, the COAS also witnessed Low Intensity Conflict training being carried out by Young Officers of various units/formations.

He emphasized, on the occasion, the need to comprehend dynamics of Low Intensity Conflict and develop skills at individual/unit level accordingly.

The COAS also met Lance Naik MianYousaf Jamil, World Record holder for planting most number of trees in a single day. He lauded the spirit behind the effort of Lance Naik Yousaf to promote tree plantation.

Earlier, the COAS

Gen. Kayani visits commando training activities at Mangla

Staff Report

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited Mangla today to witness various training activities. He visited a Light Commando Battalion undergoing training. While informally interacting with the troops, he appreciated their morale and professionalism.

According to an Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release, the COAS also witnessed Low Intensity Conflict training being carried out by Young Officers of various units/formations.

He emphasized, on the occasion, the need to comprehend dynamics of Low Intensity Conflict and develop skills at individual/unit level accordingly.

The COAS also met Lance Naik MianYousaf Jamil, World Record holder for planting most number of trees in a single day. He lauded the spirit behind the effort of Lance Naik Yousaf to promote tree plantation.

Earlier, the COAS

Musharrafs mistakes made Kayani careful: Wikileaks

The whistle-blower website Wikileaks said that General Ashfaq Kayani is doing back door politics after learning lessons from Musharrafs mistakes.

The whistle-blower website Wikileaks released sensitive documents alleging that the Pakistans army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayanis opposition led to the conflict on the Kerry-Lugar Bill as it was going to result in greater civilian control on the military.A correspondence from the head of the French Interagencys Pak-Afghan cell, Jasmine Zerinini, is also included in the new secret documents released by Wikileaks. The correspondence sheds light on the Pakistan Armys policies in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). According to the released documents, General Kayani has learnt from the mistakes made by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf. He is using the parliament and the government while staying in the background, the documents allege. In this way, he is becoming an obstacle to any major change in the countrys policy pertaining to Fata. Zerininis correspondence also stated that the West has lost the opportunity to crush the Afghan Taliban with Pakistans help. The correspondence stated that with aid coming in from the Gulf States, the Haqqani network has grown too strong, that defeating it will not be easy for the Pakistani military.

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