November 20, 2003Security

The lowdown on the crackdown

The powerful similarity between events preceding this week’s ban on three Islamic groups and last month’s capture of 18 ‘al-Qaeda’ suspects from the tribal areas, is a striking example of Pakistan’s policy choices increasingly succumbing to the Bush administration’s preferences. The government’s apologists may well argue that the two recent examples - the banning of the three Islamic groups and the action against alleged ‘al-Qaeda’ members, could not be characterised as taken under US pressure, simply because the planning for each of these campaigns began long before the public messages from Washington. Yet, it’s equally true that even the most well thought explanation could not work to pacify the scepticism making the rounds of the public. Farhan Bokhari, The News/Jang.

This is an archived blog post from The Acorn.

With folks like Nancy Powell and Zalmay Khalilzad keeping up the pressure, Musharraf seems to have been forced to make some moves. As I pointed out in my recent posts, it was a case of words speaking more loudly than actions. Key jehadi leaders like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar are still on the loose, the bank accounts were seized after giving enough time for moving funds out and many names on the list’ were of emigres or dead persons.

The results of the crackdown seem to be less impactful than they should have been, nevertheless they are more acceptable than the alternative. The pressure must be maintained, though.

Updates:



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