President Zardari addresses UN as Pakistani security deteriorates, Andrew Legon

Andrew Legon — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:02:44 +0000

Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari is set to address the UN General Assembly later today. He will inform the assembly of the challenges facing Pakistan, most notably the growing threat of violent extremists. Zadari's speech is set against the backdrop of the deteriorating security situation in the country. Islamabad's international airport was on high alert this morning following threats of an imminent suicide bomb attack just days after a massive bomb devastated the Marriott hotel in the capital city, killing 53 people and injuring more than 260.

The toD verdict: The return to democratic rule in Pakistan was widely expected to stem the rising tide of violence in Pakistan. Recent events have undermined this belief both domestically and internationally. Any attempt to effectively tackle the rise of militant extremism in Pakistan requires the support of the population. But there is broad anger amongst Pakistanis at the country's close ties to Washington and its role in the war on terror. Indeed, the group claiming responsibility for the Marriott attack called on Pakistan to stop cooperating with the US.

Zardari's relatively pro-western stance, coupled with continued cross-border attacks by US forces on al-Qaida and Taliban strongholds in Pakistan's tribal regions could spell political turmoil for the government in the future. Pakistan's military - never far from Pakistani politics - insists that it will defend the country's territorial integrity, placing it on a potential collision course with US forces. Pervez Musharraf, Zardari's much-maligned predecessor, was undone by this poisonous cocktail of international and domestic pressures. Can Zardari fare better?

Myanmar blast

At least six people were injured when a small bomb exploded in Myanmar's main city Yangon on Thursday morning. The incident took place at a bus stop near the Sule Pagoda on the first anniversary of the brutal government crackdown against anti-junta protests. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the blast. Similar blasts are often blamed on ethnic rebels and armed insurgents. Recently, however, government officials have blamed democracy activists and members of the opposition NLD.

The attack is the latest in a series of explosions this month. On 11 September, two bombs exploded at a video café in Kyauk-kyi township, killing two and wounding ten. Those blasts followed an explosion days earlier on a bus in the capital Yangon which injured three people.

Mass arrest of Nigerian militants

A raid by Nigerian police has led to the arrest of nearly two hundred suspected militants in the Niger Delta. The move is seen as a tough counter-offensive by the government after an escalation of violence in this resource-rich region.

Following a similar military raid earlier this month, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta declared "war" on the Delta's oil industry. Sources say fighting has killed more than one hundred people and cut Nigeria's oil production by roughly twenty percent.

Despite MEND's declaration of a temporary ceasefire on Sunday, the military commander in Rivers State was reported as saying the military knew the location of all militant camps there, and that a campaign to destroy them would be mounted. On Thursday morning MEND accused the army of launching air attacks on its allies' camps.

More Christian homes burn in Orissa

Communal violence continued in the eastern Indian state of Orissa on Thursday. Hindu crowds, angered after police shot dead an anti-Christian protester in the town of Raikia on Tuesday, rioted in the Tikabali and Daringbadi areas of Kandhamal district, vandalising a church and attacking dozens of houses.

Anti-Christian violence has rocked Orissa for several weeks now, killing at least twenty people and forcing thousands of Christians into government camps. The violence was sparked by the shooting of a Hindu religious leader. Although a senior Maoist leader took responsibility, Hindu groups have accused Christians for the death, highlighting tensions between the two communities over the conversion of lower caste Hindus to Christianity.

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President Zardari addresses UN as Pakistani security deteriorates, Andrew Legon