Saving face
Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf began a face-saving tour of Europe today, arriving in Brussels for meetings with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, NATO and Belgian officials. He pledged to hold free and fair elections, though he asked that Pakistan be afforded more time to develop functioning democratic institutions. "We have a feudal tribal environment in some of our provinces," he said. "Therefore in accordance with our environment we have to adapt democracy, human rights, civil liberties." Keep up to date with the latest developments and sharpest perspectives in a world of strife and struggle.
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Since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on 27 December, Musharraf has come under stern international scrutiny for failing to limit Islamist militant activity in the country while at the same time curbing civil liberties and cracking down on his opponents. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party has dismissed the confession of a teenager allegedly involved in the plot to kill Bhutto as a "cock and bull story" meant to relieve the pressure on the president. The confession once more linked the murder to Baitullah Mehsud, the Waziristan-based Islamist militant leader. Both he and Bhutto's party dismiss the allegation as concocted and as a "PR exercise".
The toD verdict: One thing's for certain: Musharraf's trip to Europe is no doubt a blatant and somewhat overly-optimistic "PR exercise" by a man who at the moment can do nothing right in the eyes of the world. At the same time, Europe's leaders know that their calls for democracy and civic freedoms in Pakistan have less pull in Islamabad than the missives of the US defence department, or the status quo funding support of China and Saudi Arabia. So for Europe as well, Musharraf's visit is something of a PR opportunity, a chance to trot out the symbols of "European foreign policy", lovely in principle, illusive in practice.
Scratch my back and I'll launch your satellite
The Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully launched a sophisticated Israeli satellite into orbit. It is thought that the satellite is meant to significantly improve Israel's spying capabilities over Iran.
Speaking to the media during his visit to India, UK prime minister Gordon Brown asked for greater cooperation between Indian and British security agencies in the area of counter-terrorism. Both Britain and India have increasingly fallen under the cross-hairs of Islamist militants in recent years.
The toD verdict: India's growing friendship with Israel could have dangerous consequences. Through the 1980s, India refused to recognise Israel and sided with its Arab allies in the Non-Aligned Movement in trumpeting the Palestinian cause. Yet India's entrance into a growing strategic alliance with the United States has brought Tel Aviv and New Delhi together, enlisting India in a broader frame against Iran (also demonstrated by India's voting with the US and Europe in the IAEA Board of Governors). The Israeli-Indian friendship will only further convince Islamist militants within and without that India - alongside Israel, the US and the UK - belongs in that black constellation of Islam's enemies. New Delhi may benefit from British intelligence - with its detailed knowledge of Pakistani and British radical networks - in containing a more zealous terrorist threat.
Iraqi politics vs. the politics of Iraq
A teenager carrying a box of candy strode into a meeting of Sunni Arab tribal leaders in Fallujah before detonating a suicide belt, killing four and wounding nine. The attack is the second in recent days in Anbar province, the heart of the insurgency and the central operations area for al-Qaida in Mesopotamia. US officials claim to have killed over two thousand members of the group and detained nearly nine thousand more. Anbar province is the site of the "Anbar Awakening" counter-insurgency initiative which strove to turn Sunni tribal militants against their al-Qaida counterparts.
As presidential elections near in the US, the war is increasingly seen in opposite ways by politicians at home and the generals in Iraq. On the ground in Iraq, American officials are conscious of the long, hard slog ahead, while back on the campaign trail, candidates are preoccupied with withdrawal and retreat.
Iraq's parliament has passed a new law that allows former Baathists to enter into politics. The "de-Baathification" of Iraq under the rule of Paul Bremmer has been widely blamed for contributing to the instability and violence plaguing the country since the 2003 American invasion.
The toD verdict: The revocation of the policy of de-Baathification is important in building reconciliation, but it will not assist greatly in stabilising the current political situation in Iraq, where federal, confederate, and separatist passions do battle. The counter-insurgency policy in Anbar of pitting tribal groups against insurgents has enjoyed limited success, but has driven further divisions between Iraqis that may have lasting, bloody consequences. Iraq needs serious American engagement and a considered re-think of all options - including withdrawal - but that isn't likely to happen while candidates plot for the short-term.
Spanish police detain 14 alleged plotters
Police in Barcelona raided the neighbourhood of Raval yesterday, detaining 14 Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian men in connection with an alleged terrorist plot. Security forces claim to have uncovered bomb-making equipment during the raids. Spanish authorities are thought to have been tipped off by Pakistani intelligence sources. The detainees are said to belong to the revivalist Islamist group Tabligh Jamaat.
