Don't coddle Pakistan, think tank warns

[Guest guest]

In-<a6t4qu+jiuj

HinduThought

"Claude" claude

Mailing-List: list HinduThought; contact HinduThought-owner

Sat, 16 Mar 2002 09:53:52 +0530

Re: [HinduThought] Don't coddle Pakistan, think tank warns

On 15-03-02 at 8:51 AM isn-daily-news

<isn-daily-news wrote:

 

ISN Security Watch - Your daily security check on the

Euro-Atlantic region. For our full news service

visit our website, http://www.isn.ethz.ch

 

 

Don't coddle Pakistan, think tank warns

 

The international community should be wary of an apparent

shift by Pakistan's military rulers to a pro-Western stance

as it masks moves to stay in power, the International Crisis

Group (ICG) said in a report. General Pervez Musharraf, who

seized power in a 1999 coup, has been feted as a key ally in

the US-led war on terror for ending support for

Afghanistan's Taliban movement and clamping down on Islamic

militants at home. "The international community should

approach Pakistan and its problems with open eyes," the ICG

said in a report this week. "Offering tacit support for

quasi-military rule into the indefinite future may make it

more difficult, not less, to tackle the foundations of

Pakistan's insecurity." The country continues to be infested

by corruption across the political, judicial and

bureaucratic spectrum, making any notion of a "cleaner"

military open to doubt, the private Brussels-based

organization added. The ICG was also skeptical about the

argument Musharraf's regime had to be given unquestioning

support because otherwise it might succumb to angry street

protests or swelling Islamic extremism. "This view glosses

over the symbiotic relationship that has developed in recent

years between Pakistan's military and security services and

extremist groups," it said. "Far from being besieged by

Islamic extremists, Pakistan's military government has

carefully used them as an essential tool to justify its hold

on power, improve its standing with the West and resist

restoring secular democracy." The ties with militants also

served Islamabad's strategic goals in Afghanistan and

against India in disputed Kashmir while leveraging wider

benefits from the West, the ICG added. Pakistan has had a

patchy record of democracy since independence in 1947, with

the largely secular army having been in control at various

intervals for nearly three decades. Musharraf has been

rewarded for his post-11 September pragmatism with aid and

loans, as well as newfound international standing. The

general has promised to hold elections in October but the

ICG said the military was making moves to stay entrenched.

The organization noted extremist parties traditionally fared

poorly at the polls and that reports of a clampdown on rogue

elements in the intelligence services (ISI) had to be

treated with skepticism because of ISI's close ties to the

well-disciplined military. "While obviously much about

Pakistani intelligence remains murky, there is little to

suggest that the military and the ISI are in anything other

than lockstep even today," it said. "The military and

intelligence services still continue to command the lion's

share of the national budget with almost zero accountability

or public oversight." (Reuters)

 

 

______

 

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND SECURITY NETWORK - ISN

Your one-stop information network for global security

http://www.isn.ethz.ch

 

To , send a message to

isn-daily-news with "Un" (no quotes)

in the subject line. Your record will be permanently removed

from our database.

 

We welcome your feedback at isn-daily-news

 

 

 

 

 

 

HinduThought

 

 

 

Your use of is subject to