All I can do is chuckle and think of all of the lies told to us by Bush & Co.
Taliban opens office at Pakistani bus stop
Bruce Loudon
South Asia correspondent
30 September 06
In a new embarrassment for peripatetic Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Taliban officials have opened an office in the capital of Pakistan's North Waziristan region, where Osama bin Laden is believed to have his headquarters.
The office, in Miramshah's main bus station, is said to be operating with the complicity of Pakistani authorities.
And Taliban office workers have organised a pamphlet drop calling on locals to contact them on all matters relating to law and order.
Yesterday's disclosure of the office's opening came as General Musharraf had talks in London with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and angrily rejected new charges of complicity between the principal Pakistani intelligence organisation, the Inter-Services Intelligence, and the Taliban and al-Qa'ida.
It also followed a frosty encounter between him and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, brokered by US President George W. Bush at the White House.
After their meeting, the three presidents appeared at a press conference and, while Mr Bush shook hands with each of his guests, General Musharraf and Mr Karzai did not even exchange glances, let alone shake hands.
On Thursday night, South Asia was alive with accounts of what was described as "an extremely frosty" encounter in Washington, during which Mr Karzai hammered home his conviction that Islamabad was not doing enough to deal with Taliban and al-Qa'ida activity within its territory, while General Musharraf declared it was doing everything that could reasonably be expected of it.
The Pakistani President insists that beyond whingeing about his country, all that neighbouring Afghanistan is doing is providing out-of-date information to Islamabad about the alleged location of Taliban and al-Qa'ida leaders in Pakistan. Mr Karzai has countered by accusing Pakistan of "training a snake that can also bite the trainer".
He insists that Pakistan's tolerance of pro-Taliban militants is contributing massively to Afghanistan's instability and the increasingly difficult challenge being confronted by NATO-led forces in his country -- including those from Australia -- battling the Taliban forces.
He has said that co-operating with terrorists is like "trying to train a snake against somebody else. You cannot train a snake. It will come and bite you".
Leading Pakistani newspaper Dawn said the Taliban office in Miramshah, headquarters of the North Waziristan Agency, was there for "curbing crimes and antisocial activities" in the area.
The newspaper said announcements were made and pamphlets distributed in the town asking residents to co-operate with the Taliban in keeping peace in the agency, where bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri are believed to have their operational base.
Apart from the public emergence of an organisation that is doing battle with -- and killing -- NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan, Dawn also reported that Pakistani military authorities have returned AK-47 assault rifles, books and other materials belonging to a seminary owned by Afghan jihadi commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani.
Officials said security forces had raided the seminary a few months ago and seized arms and equipment as part of a crackdown on militants.
But under Pakistan's controversial September 5 peace accord between the Government and the Taliban, it was agreed that the Government and militants would return weapons and other equipment taken during army action.
So the jihadi commander has got his guns and his books back, thanks to the Pakistani army.
© 2006 - The Australian
30 September 06
In a new embarrassment for peripatetic Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Taliban officials have opened an office in the capital of Pakistan's North Waziristan region, where Osama bin Laden is believed to have his headquarters.
The office, in Miramshah's main bus station, is said to be operating with the complicity of Pakistani authorities.
And Taliban office workers have organised a pamphlet drop calling on locals to contact them on all matters relating to law and order.
Yesterday's disclosure of the office's opening came as General Musharraf had talks in London with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and angrily rejected new charges of complicity between the principal Pakistani intelligence organisation, the Inter-Services Intelligence, and the Taliban and al-Qa'ida.
It also followed a frosty encounter between him and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, brokered by US President George W. Bush at the White House.
After their meeting, the three presidents appeared at a press conference and, while Mr Bush shook hands with each of his guests, General Musharraf and Mr Karzai did not even exchange glances, let alone shake hands.
On Thursday night, South Asia was alive with accounts of what was described as "an extremely frosty" encounter in Washington, during which Mr Karzai hammered home his conviction that Islamabad was not doing enough to deal with Taliban and al-Qa'ida activity within its territory, while General Musharraf declared it was doing everything that could reasonably be expected of it.
The Pakistani President insists that beyond whingeing about his country, all that neighbouring Afghanistan is doing is providing out-of-date information to Islamabad about the alleged location of Taliban and al-Qa'ida leaders in Pakistan. Mr Karzai has countered by accusing Pakistan of "training a snake that can also bite the trainer".
He insists that Pakistan's tolerance of pro-Taliban militants is contributing massively to Afghanistan's instability and the increasingly difficult challenge being confronted by NATO-led forces in his country -- including those from Australia -- battling the Taliban forces.
He has said that co-operating with terrorists is like "trying to train a snake against somebody else. You cannot train a snake. It will come and bite you".
Leading Pakistani newspaper Dawn said the Taliban office in Miramshah, headquarters of the North Waziristan Agency, was there for "curbing crimes and antisocial activities" in the area.
The newspaper said announcements were made and pamphlets distributed in the town asking residents to co-operate with the Taliban in keeping peace in the agency, where bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri are believed to have their operational base.
Apart from the public emergence of an organisation that is doing battle with -- and killing -- NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan, Dawn also reported that Pakistani military authorities have returned AK-47 assault rifles, books and other materials belonging to a seminary owned by Afghan jihadi commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani.
Officials said security forces had raided the seminary a few months ago and seized arms and equipment as part of a crackdown on militants.
But under Pakistan's controversial September 5 peace accord between the Government and the Taliban, it was agreed that the Government and militants would return weapons and other equipment taken during army action.
So the jihadi commander has got his guns and his books back, thanks to the Pakistani army.
© 2006 - The Australian
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