While Pakistan Burns
If you think Musharraf's wrong to free jailed Taliban members while he busts dissidents, wait until you hear who's back on the loose.
Pakistani lawyers, human-rights activists and opposition-party members can scarcely ignore the irony of their situation: while thousands of them are being beaten and locked up under President Pervez Musharraf's newly declared state of emergency, his government has just let more than two dozen militant Islamists out of jail. Protesters might be even angrier if Musharraf disclosed the names of some of those freed militants. Taliban sources tell NEWSWEEK that the top man on the list was Mullah Obaidullah Akhund—the highest-ranking Taliban official ever captured by the Pakistanis. As one of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar's closest confidants and his defense minister until the post 9-11 invasion of Afghanistan, Obaidullah was No. 3 in the group's hierarchy and a member of its ruling 10-man shura (council).
His arrest on Feb. 26 seems to have been anything but a coincidence. That was the very day that Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Islamabad on an unannounced visit to demand a crackdown on Taliban operations in Pakistan. Washington was out of patience with Taliban commanders not only roaming free in Pakistan's tribal lands but even being allowed to hide in plain sight in cities like Quetta--the provincial capital near the Afghan border where Obaidullah was captured, along with the Taliban's senior Zabul province commander, Amir Khan Haqqani.
Obaidullah, Haqqani and the others might still be in jail if not for a Pakistani military convoy that encountered a rockslide on a highway in South Waziristan in late August. The vehicles were quickly surrounded by fighters loyal to the notorious Pakistani tribal warlord Baitullah Mehsud, a veteran Taliban supporter who operates training camps for suicide bombers in his territory. More than 250 government troops were in the convoy, and they all surrendered without a shot being fired. Mehsud later beheaded several of his captives before Musharraf agreed to a prisoner swap.
Mehsud finally released the last 211 surviving hostages on Nov. 4, the day after Musharraf declared a state of emergency and began rounding up dissidents in the name of confronting "extremism and terrorism." In exchange for the freed troops, the tribal warlord got the men he wanted out of jail. Besides Obaidullah and Haqqani, they included two brothers of another senior Taliban leader, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani. He and his two brothers had shared a house in Quetta until his death last December. U.S. forces, reportedly tipped off by Pakistani intelligence, killed him as he was crossing into Afghanistan. His brothers were arrested at his house in Quetta at the same time. Also released was Mehsud's cousin, who was the first suicide bomber captured with his suicide vest intact.
Intelligence reports of Obaidullah's release have raised concern among American officials. At the moment they're still checking whether it was in fact the senior Taliban official who was freed and not someone else by the same name. A Pakistani military source denied to NEWSWEEK that Obaidullah had been released—but in the next breath claimed to be unaware that Obaidullah had ever been captured. At least two important Taliban commanders have confirmed to NEWSWEEK that Mullah Omar's third in command is back on the loose. Another Taliban operative says Obaidullah spoke to one of his fellow fighters on the phone several days ago.
In any case the prisoner swap is a severe setback for U.S. efforts in the region. The Taliban and their Pakistani tribal allies have learned that hostage taking can yield big rewards. And these days they have all the potential trading chips they could ask for in the borderlands, where Pakistan's out-maneuvered and increasingly demoralized troops are almost routinely surrendering to the militants. For now, the people of Pakistan will have to take any comfort they can from knowing that Musharraf is protecting them from lawyers and human rights activists.
With Mark Hosenball in Washington
© 2007
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Member Comments
Posted By: eddiewhere @ 11/21/2007 1:55:37 AM
Comment: I would feel safe sitting beside a Muslim or Sikh. You make interesting comments. Unfortunately, there are stereotypes that exist that are not true, but thanks to responses like yours you were able to easily prove that the stereotype is a fallacy, and is indeed not true. Not all Muslims, Arabs and Sikhs are terrorists. It is amazing how a local conflict if not treated can spread around the world. Thank you, I learned something today.
Posted By: Shankardada2 @ 11/20/2007 5:53:06 PM
Comment: Eddiewhere, what you say is true. There were once Sikh terrorists. But no more. Sikhs once fought India for an independent homeland of their own in the 1980's. Indira Ghandi's Sikh bodyguard assassinated her for a brutal government crackdown on Sikhs in Punjab, India. That movement has been over for 2 decades. Much like the civil war in Ireland is over. You don't see Irish anymore and get suspiscious. When Americans see people with turbans in the USA they should know that they represent no threat whatsoever. At least, not as part of a global terrorist movement. I'm sure there are some Sikh criminals out there, but Sikhs are far from Muslims and indeed have battled them for centuries on the Indian subcontinent. A Sikh kingdom was a chief obstacle to the expansion of Islam in the Indian subcontinent before the arrival of the British. I would feel very comfortable sitting next to a man in a turban on an airplane, because I know that he is Sikh, and not a Muslim. Muslims in America do not wear turbans. And a terrorist Muslim NEVER would. That would just be stupid.
Posted By: eddiewhere @ 11/19/2007 6:52:15 PM
Comment: The Sihk's who do wear turbans on their heads killed Ghandi in 1984 and bombed a Canadian Jumbo airliner in 1985 killing over 220 people headed to New Dheli. My point is that terrorists like the mafia have penetrated parts of government and the white collar community especially in the technology and sciences field. These terrorist organizations have evolved over time and now have become a threat to the entire globe. What i know is that we got caught with our guard down on 9/11 and it is time to recognize the threat as "real" and not deny it/, and change the subject to religious babble. Americans must realize that we have to be on top of our government so they protect us against technological,chemical, biological and nuclear attacks. Terroists exists everywhere and are not all Muslims. However, there are organizations that are Muslim and Arab that have made it clear they want to eliminate states around the world by any means necessary. They have demonstrated that they have evolved and can penetrate the CIA. Our responsibility as Americans is to get educated and get involved with organizations that provide solutions. Your opinion means nothing unless you have some influence on the topic. We are at war and I think people in this country do not appreciate the fact that there are young men and women dying around the world so you can have the freedom to share your religious and historical input. THis is not about agreeing or disagreeing about stereotypes, this is about reality. And the reality is that many people think that individuals with turbans or brown skin who are terrorists. Whether it is true or not it is reality. THat is the least of my concerns. My concern is that we know there are former soviet republics that are Muslim states who could have entities within there governments who support Al Queda ideology or anti-american ideology not Macveigh(a sick young man) ideology Timithoy Mcveigh did not have the support of Muslim and Arab countries, he did not have spies in the CIA. THe real threat is a terrorist organization penetrating Russian and Chinese governments or to having influences in those governments, or to have merely sympathizers in those governments, who would provide an avenue for terrorists to attack the United States. Or vice versus. Chinese could technologically attack the United States and blame it on terrorists. Foreign policy is a very delicate and ongoing issue. We are in a hundred year war, these terrorists organizations are passing their ideology down for generations. 20 years from know China and Russian could be our enemies and we would be 20 years behind in the fight. You dig.