Dawn – Kayani renews army’s resolve to eradicate militancy

Baqir Sajjad Syed

Islamabad, 14 August 2012. Against the backdrop of swirling rumours of an impending counter-militancy operation, Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani used his Independence Day message to renew military’s pledge to eradicate militancy and extremism from the country.

“We realise that the most difficult task for any army is to fight against its own people. But this happens as a last resort. Our real objective is to restore peace in these areas so that people can lead normal lives,” General Kayani said while addressing the Azadi Parade at the military academy in Kakul.

“No state can afford a parallel system or a militant force,” Gen Kayani said.

Renewal of military’s commitment to war on terror was coincidentally made at the Kakul academy which is barely a couple of miles away from the place where Osama bin Laden lived for years.

Speculations about a major military operation to clear North Waziristan of terrorist sanctuaries have intensified following improvement in ties with the United States, particularly after ISI chief Lt-General Zaheerul Islam’s visit to Washington earlier this month.

Although it was quite obvious from General Kayani’s speech that he was building the national mood for probably the toughest part of the counter-militancy operations in the country, it was unclear if sanctuaries in Teerah Valley or North Waziristan would be the next target.

According to military’s own assessment, it controls 86 per cent of the area in tribal region while nine per cent is contested and five per cent is held by militants mostly loyal to the Taliban. The figures, however, are contested by local sources.

Reports suggest that last week’s corps commanders’ conference also took some important decisions about the future of counter-militancy operations in the tribal belt.

General Kayani underscored that the fight against terrorists and extremists was one of the entire nation and not only of the army. “The fight against extremism and terrorism is our own war and we are right in fighting it. Let there be no doubt about it, otherwise we’ll be divided and taken towards civil war. Our minds should be clear on this.”

The top commander who had been critical of the performance of civilian law-enforcement agencies in the past said sacrifices in the war on terror could bear fruit only when the civil administration functioned independently without military assistance.

He regretted the absence of effective counter-terrorism legislation in the country, a situation which has quite often worked to the advantage of terrorists and thrown up issues like ‘missing persons’.

Taking a swipe at the government’s poor performance, General Kayani said “critical economic situation, corruption and aggravating situation of the civic amenities” had prevented the countrymen from looking ahead. He listed protection of national integrity and unity as the biggest challenges.

The military which has ruled the country for decades since independence in 1947 is quite often blamed by politicians and civil society for many of the ills currently confronting the nation.

The army chief candidly accepted that “all are to share the blame – some more, some less”. But instead of indulging in the blame game, he said, it was time that “we stand up as a nation”.

Unfulfilled Agenda: General Kayani said the purpose behind creation of Pakistan was not only to carve out a piece of land but also to establish a welfare Islamic state, where foundation for a tolerant and modern society could be laid. He, however, noted that the latter part of the 1947 agenda could not materialise.

Although there was no reference to the controversy about Hindus migrating to India, the army chief in broad terms said Pakistan was to be a country where not only Muslims but where life and property of minorities were safe and they could freely practise their faith.

http://dawn.com/2012/08/14/kayani-renews-armys-resolve-to-eradicate-militancy/

Dawn – Desperate rescue efforts at Siachen

Rawalpindi, 9 April 2012. Rescue workers used bulldozers on Sunday to dig through snow, boulders and slush in an increasingly desperate search for 135 people buried a day earlier by a massive avalanche that engulfed a military complex at the entrance to the Siachen glacier.

Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited the place to supervise the rescue operation as hopes of finding any survivors faded.

General  Kayani said during his visit that the army had mobilised all available resources with the help of the air force to carry out a full-scale rescue operation. He praised the morale and efforts of troops who were braving the harsh weather and inhospitable terrain.

The chief of the army staff instructed the commanders to optimally utilise all resources at their disposal and leave no stone unturned to reach the entrapped personnel.

He said efforts were under way to acquire latest technical equipment for the rescue.

The army chief said an avalanche of such a magnitude was unprecedented in the 20 years of the battalion headquarters’ existence at Gayari.

He said the calamity should not affect the morale of the troops defending the motherland at the highest battlefield. The army had always risen to the occasion and would come through this challenge as well, he said.

FCNA Commander Major-General Ikramul Haq apprised the COAS about the details of the rescue operation.

More than 36 hours after a wall of snow crashed into the remote army camp high up in the mountains, rescuers were yet to recover any survivors or bodies.

The camp was engulfed between 5am and 6am on Saturday — perhaps when some were sleeping — by a mass of snow, stones, mud and slush more than 1,000-metre wide and 25-metre high, the military said in a statement.

About 180 military personnel and 60 civilian rescuers were braving freezing temperatures at the inhospitable site close to the de facto border with India, in an area known as the world’s highest battlefield, it said.

Those missing from the camp include 124 soldiers from the 6th Northern Light Infantry battalion and 11 civilian contractors.

“There is no hope,” mountaineering expert Colonel Sher Khan told AFP. “You can survive only in the first 5-10 minutes.”

“It’s a huge, huge avalanche,” a military officer said, adding rescue work would take several days.

Specially trained search-and-rescue teams of army engineers equipped with the latest locating gadgets and heavy machinery had arrived, joining rescue units aided by sniffer dogs and helicopters, the military statement said. Some of the equipment was flown in on military aircraft.

“Adequate medical staff has been made available for the treatment of injured persons in forward field hospitals,” it added.

A tailor and two hairdressers were among the civilians missing.

Army spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas said it was unclear whether any of the people who were buried were still alive.

“Miracles have been seen and trapped people were rescued after days… so the nation shall pray for the trapped soldiers,” he said while talking to a TV channel.

The spokesman said the headquarters that was buried was located in an area previously believed to be safe. At an altitude of around 4,500 meters, it is the main gateway through which troops and supplies pass on their way to more remote outposts.

It is situated in a valley between two high mountains, close to a military hospital, according to an officer who was stationed there in 2003.

More soldiers have died from the weather than in combat on the glacier, which was uninhabited before troops moved there.  (Agencies)

http://dawn.com/2012/04/09/desperate-rescue-efforts-at-siachen/

The Tribune – Gilani softens, but Kayani wants further climb-down

PM says armed forces are a ‘pillar of nation’s resilience and strength’
Army chief insists on withdrawal of statements critical of military

Islamabad, January 14. Embattled Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani tonight appeared to reach out to the army but the powerful Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is reported to have adopted a tough stance and wants withdrawal of his statements critical of the military.

With Kayani by his side, Gilani said today that all state institutions will be allowed to play their role, remarks seen as an attempt to resolve the tense stand-off between the civilian government and the military.

He described the armed forces as a “pillar of nation’s resilience and strength” and lauded their services in the defence of the country.

“It has been my government’s policy to allow and enable all state institutions to play their role in their respective domains for the common good of the people.

“It is this desire to set good and healthy democratic traditions that has enabled us to seek strength from Parliament, which is the hallmark of a democratic government,” Gilani said at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee of Defence attended by his ministers and top army officials, including Kayani.

The Prime Minister’s seemingly conciliatory remarks came on a day when Kayani met President Asif Ali Zardari at the Presidency, in the midst of a tense stand-off between the military and the government over a move purportedly on behalf of Zardari seeking US help to avert an army coup.

There was no official word on the hour-long meeting but media reports said that Kayani told Zardari that he had reservations over Gilani’s criticism of him and the ISI chief over replies submitted to the Supreme Court regarding the memo scandal.

Kayanai reportedly requested the President to direct Gilani to “retract” his statements criticising the chiefs of army and the ISI chief. The situation was further aggravated by the summary sacking of Lt General (retired) Khalid Naeem Lodhi, Defence Secretary, considered close to Kayani over an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court without consulting the government.

The apex court will on Monday hear the case relating to National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) that was promulgated during former President Pervez Musharraf’s tenure that gave amnesty to Zardari and many others in graft cases.

The National Assembly, lower house of Parliament, will also meet on Monday to vote on a resolution moved by a ruling coalition member seeking strengthening of democratic institutions.

Media reports said that during his meeting with Zardari, Kayani requested the President to tell Gilani to “retract” his statements criticising the chiefs of army and the ISI.

There was no official word on what transpired in the hour-long meeting.

In his speech today, Gilani said, “National unity is the need of the hour. Democracy provides avenues to forge national consensus.

“Each organ and state institution has to play its due role, within its respective domain, to bring forth the best in promoting Pakistan’s national interest.” At the same time, he pointed out that civil institutions “have their due role to play for socio-economic development and for ensuring progress and prosperity”.

He said: “Together in complete harmony with each other and other vital institutions, we can change the country’s destiny and accord its rightful place in the comity of nations.” (PTI)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120115/main1.htm

Dawn – Defence secretary Naeem Lodhi sacked

Islamabad, 12 January 2012. Wednesday evening saw high drama as the army warned the prime minister of “grievous consequences” for his allegations against the Chief of Army Staff and the ISI spymaster and the government struck back by sacking the defence secretary. However as night fell, sanity prevailed with the news of telephone conversation between Yousuf Raza Gilani and General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

Talking to reporters, the prime minister said General Kayani had spoken to him before ISPR, the military’s public affairs wing, issued a rejoinder to the former’s interview with China’s People’s Daily Online.

He didn’t share details of his conversation with the army chief, but it was interesting to note that both the ISPR statement and the subsequent notification about the sacking of defence secretary Lieutenant-General Naeem Khalid Lodhi had one element in common — both held General Lodhi responsible for the snafu.

But this did not mean an end to the crisis in troubled civil-military ties that started with the ‘memogate’ and all eyes are now on the National Assembly’s Thursday session.

The ISPR statement, whose subsequent television reporting was garnished with gimmicky comments, denied that the army chief and the ISI director general acted “unconstitutionally and illegally” while filing their replies in memo issue and noted that Mr Gilani’s allegations could have “very serious ramifications with potentially grievous consequences for the country”.

Beyond that, ISPR said: “The responses by the respondents were sent to the Ministry of Defence for onward submission to the Honourable Supreme Court, through Attorney General (Law Ministry)”. And that: “Responsibility for moving summaries and obtaining approvals of competent authority thereafter lay with the relevant ministries and not with the respondents.”

This was much similar to the position taken by the government while notifying termination of General Lodhi’s services.

The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement: “General Lodhi was dismissed for gross misconduct and illegal action … and for creating misunderstanding between institutions.”

The government gave additional charge of the defence ministry to Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi. The new defence secretary happens to be the first woman bureaucrat to lead the ministry — a position that in the past was mostly occupied by retired generals.

Mr Gilani further explained: “Under the rules of business, the defence secretary did not get the summary in writing or sought confirmation from the minister and bypassed the Ministry of Law and Justice and sent a copy of replies to the attorney general and also sent the reply directly to the Supreme Court registrar.” He said General Lodhi had been removed after “thoroughly investigating the matter”, adding that the former defence secretary had himself conceded that he did not get the replies approved by the defence minister or the attorney general.

“And he has written himself that neither the minister nor the attorney general was available. We have nothing against anybody.”

General Lodhi, who took over as the defence secretary on November 28 last year, was considered to be a close confidant of General Kayani.

Along came the news of appointment of a new 111 Brigade Commander, which sent adrenaline pumping through the veins of all those who had been anxiously watching the situation because this brigade had in the past remained associated with coups d’etat.

Some took it as a clear signal that the military was thinking of overthrowing the government, but ISPR once again stepped in with a clarification that the change was a routine posting matter because the former commander had been posted out as General Officer Commanding Lahore following his promotion to the rank of major general.

Moreover, it was widely rumoured that General Kayani, following the troubling developments, had convened a meeting of his senior aides at the GHQ known by their designation as principal staff officers.

That too, an ISPR official later said, was not happening.

All happened a day after the Supreme Court set into motion a slow coup by warning that it could act against the president and the prime minister for failing to revive high-profile corruption cases.

Even as the army insists that it is being unnecessarily dragged into the controversy between the Supreme Court and the government, there are few takers and it is believed the apex court’s activism was backed by the military, which always felt uncomfortable working with the PPP leadership.(BSS)

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/12/defence-secretary-naeem-lodhi-sacked.html

The Tribune – After Kayani’s warning, US says will pursue terrorists in Pakistan

Afzal Khan in Islamabad

Days after Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s warning that the US should think “ ten times” before launching any operation on Pakistani soil, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today delivered an unusually tough message to Pakistan, reiterating that the US would pursue terrorists in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Addressing a joint press conference with President Hamid Karzai at Kabul on Thursday, she declared, “ …we are going to seek you in your safe havens whether you are on the Afghan side or on the Pakistan side.” She will be meeting Pakistani leaders on Friday after arriving in Pakistan late on Thursday evening.

The visit of the US Secretary of State takes place amid increasing militancy and Taliban-assisted attacks on the US embassy and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan. She added that terrorists posed a threat to Pakistan as well and that the Obama administration expected the Pakistani government, military and Intelligence services to “take the lead” in not only fighting insurgents based in Pakistan but also in encouraging Afghan militants to reconcile with Afghan society.

Using unusually strong language, which is sure to upset Pakistan, she said at Kabul, “ We intend to push Pakistan very hard…our message to Pakistan is very clear…we are going to be fighting, talking and building…and they can either be helping or hindering but we are not going to stop…the government and the people of Pakistan must be part of the solution…”.

Pakistan’s army, while briefing defence committees of the two houses of Parliament, meanwhile claimed that it had lost 3,097 personnel in the war against against terror and that 721 more army personnel had been permanently disabled. The total number of Pakistanis killed in the conflict exceeded 40 thousand, the committees were told.

A Member of Parliament, who attended the briefing, recalled General Kayani claiming that Pakistan spends on three soldiers what India spends on one. He was responding to criticism that a disproportionate percentage of the country’s budget was being spent by the armed forces. The General reportedly told the MPs that only 18 per cent of the budget went to the armed forces and as much as 75 per cent of which was spent on salary and rations.

Asked to explain why his ‘old friend’ Admiral Mike Mullen had stabbed Pakistan in the back, the General reportedly shot back, “ Mike did what he thought was in the interest of the United States and I am doing what I think is in Pakistan’s interest”.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111021/main2.htm