Afghans chant slogans as they protest the killing of civilians in a NATO night raid in Taloqan, Takhar province.

ON Thursday, hundreds of people in the Chawki district of Kunar province protested against a US-led NATO night attack that killed six civilians on Wednesday and also chanted slogans condemning foreign forces occupying the country in the center of the district, a provincial official said.

They were asking NATO to free Afghanistan.

Afghan parliamentarians also expressed outrage over the civilian deaths and demanded an immediate end to night raids that often kill more civilians than Taliban fighters.

A woman and a child were among the dead in the air and ground attack on Dewa Gul Vally, in the Chawki district, provincial governor Fazlullah Wahidi stated.

"The raid was not coordinated with us. Those killed were civilians, among them a woman and a child," Wahidi said, adding, "Now the people are demanding justice.”

The raid is said to have been part of the US kill-and-capture operations in Afghanistan. NATO has confirmed the attack, saying it is investigating the incident.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has set up a commission to probe into the civilian deaths in Kunar.

Thousands of civilians have been killed in US-led airstrikes and ground operations in various parts of Afghanistan  with Afghans growing increasingly outraged over the seemingly endless number of deadly assaults.

Moreover, the rising death toll for Afghan civilians as a result of NATO and US military operations in the country has also increased tension between the puppet President Karzai and his Western allies.

The United Nations has reported that the number of civilians killed in Afghanistan rose by 15 percent in the first half of 2011 to 1,462.

Agencies

By ASIF HAROON RAJA

IT IS now an established fact that PPP as a party claiming to be champions of democracy, rule of law and rights of the poor is in actuality anti-democratic, lawbreaker and anti-people. PPP and democracy repel each other since the two are synonymous. PPP leaders have remained too engrossed in filling their coffers with ill-gotten money and in striving to complete their five-year tenure by hook or crook. The only change the PPP leaders have brought in them from their deleterious conduct from 1988 till 1999 is to adopt a policy of selective reconciliation. Under this policy, those cooperating with them or suiting their psyche are to be shielded and protected from the hand of law and rewarded. They have been merrily working on the concept of making hay as long as the sun shines. Their closeness with Army leadership was a marriage of convenience to ensure their survival. The moment they suspected that they could be evicted from power by the Army, they became officious and belligerent.

Having remained out of power for 12 years and gone through trials and tribulations, PPP leaders have turned into hungry predators with ravenous appetite for power and wealth. They consider it their right to plunder because of their prolonged suffering. 12-year inaction has made them languid and inefficient. They swing into action only when their self interests are involved. During their period of exile the runaways had developed contacts with foreign agencies and in their greed to return to corridors of power and to further their selfish interests they sold their souls and agreed to accept any number of demands howsoever injurious to national interests.

Among many blunders committed by Gen Musharraf during his nine-year rule, secret deal with Benazir Bhutto (BB) hatched by USA and UK in July 2007 which paved the way for issuance of black law known as National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) on 5 October 2007 was his gravest sin. It resulted in takeover of power by the NRO washed vultures as a consequent to massively rigged elections in February 2008. Notwithstanding her flaws, BB was charismatic, visionary and had earned a place among world comity. Her sudden death generated a huge sympathy wave which enabled the PPP to capture power. Those in good books of BB were sidelined and the hypocrites adept only in misusing power, disregarding rule of law and multiplying wealth through corrupt practices took up top slots. They befool the jayalas by raising emotional slogans in BB’s memory but have taken no steps to locate her murderers or to fulfill her mission of providing food, shelter and clothes to the poor.

It was owing to over three million bogus voters and programmed pre-poll rigging that the dream team of the US comprising three liberal parties assumed power. Although the manifestos and ideology of PPP, MQM and ANP were different, corruption became the unifying factor. Above all, the master coordinator made the three bedfellows. JUI-F was also shoved in the same bed since greedy Fazlur Rahman was Maulana in name only. Since PML-N’s victory in Punjab was not in the script, Salman Taseer was appointed as governor to keep Shahbaz ministry under pressure. No sooner the government was formed under PM Gilani; the legislators and bureaucrats pounced upon the body of Pakistan and started eating its flesh voraciously. While PPP politicians feasted upon state corporations and foreign aid, MQM milked Karachi and ANP devoured railways. While ANP has remained a steadfast ally of PPP, MQM has been coming in and out of coalition quite frequently. Divided PML-Q is the recent ally.

In accordance with the given agenda by Washington, the ruling clique had consented to denuclearize and secularize Pakistan; minimize the role of military establishment in Pakistan’s decision making processes and to convert Pak Army into a counter terror force only; to place ISI under interior ministry; to push Kashmir issue on backburner or accept Indian plan to make Line of Control as permanent border; to accept India’s hegemony and to virtually convert Pakistan into a compliant state. They agreed to appoint Washington nominated persons on key posts. These included Maj Gen ® Mehmud Durrani as Defence & Foreign Affairs adviser to PM, Husain Haqqani as Ambassador in Washington, Wajid Shams as Ambassador in London, Rahman Malik as interior minister. They agreed to make Pakistan’s economy subservient to IMF; to fight war on terror unquestioningly with full force; to allow drone strikes in FATA from Shamsi airbase; to abide by written and unwritten secret agreements between the US and Mush regime.

Making Zardari as the most powerful civilian president in August 2008, making the legislature under Gilani as a dummy and keeping judiciary under PCO judges were part of the plan to maintain one-window operation between Presidency in Islamabad and power centres in Washington. Slogan of supremacy of parliament was designed to bring heads of three services and ISI completely under the effective control of executive head and supreme commander. Grant of 3-year extension to Gen Kayani and one-year to Lt Gen Pasha on persuasion of Gilani were aimed at making them do as told to do and also to ensure safety of PPP’s fulltime tenure.

When Kayani thwarted government attempts to place ISI under Malik and not to restore sacked judges, and after Raymond’s arrest when he and Pasha started taking preventive measures to safeguard Pakistan’s security interests and that of the two premier institutions, ‘Operation Get Geronimo’ was conceived by CIA. British PM, Zardari, Haqqani, Wajid Shams, Rahman Malik and Salman Faruqui were taken into confidence. False-flag operation was undertaken to belittle Army, ISI and PAF and to undermine the credibility of heads of these institutions so that they could be made pliant. Rulers gladly accepted the US plan since they lacked moral authority to keep the military under their thumb because of their involvement in mal administration and mal practices and loss of confidence of the people.

Since the top leaders were part of the conspiracy, instead of feeling shocked and finding out who were responsible for the security lapse, Zardari and Gilani declared the US intrusion on 2 May as ‘historic’ and ‘great victory’. Haqqani and Wajid’s statements to the media were meaningful. However, when they found that the Army and ISI had taken the incident too seriously and were groping for clues to get to the bottom of the stealth incursion by an ally, and the public was on a rampage, Zardari panicked fearing his involvement might not get exposed. The reason why he got nervous was the intelligence fed to him on 4 May by US Ambassador Munter on the advice of CIA that Army was contemplating a coup. He suggested to him to approach Pentagon since in his view Admiral Mullen could be the only one to restrain Kayani.

When jangled nerved Zardari approached sneaky Haqqani, the latter suggested that unless the yearning desires of Washington were fulfilled it would be difficult for him to convince the US CJSC to twist Kayani’s arm and tell him to keep his hands off civilian government. Getting a nod from him, Haqqani hastened to draft the memo containing six offers and took his old friend Mansoor Ijaz into confidence. He selected him to deliver the explosive memo to Mullen since he like him was anti-Army/ISI and both had been exchanging notes since 2005. Mansoor had also written several articles in newspapers against Pak Army and ISI. Another reason of confiding in him was his close associations with high officials of US military establishment.

Whether Haqqani himself chose him, or someone else advised him, or whether Zardari told Haqqani to draft and deliver the memo, or Salman Faruqui conveyed the message of Zardari to him, or Haqqani suggested to him; or Haqqani did it at his own accord, or Mansoor approached him and fed this idea to him at the behest of CIA are some of the puzzles yet to be solved. My hunch is that memo was engineered by CIA to pitch Army against the government and compel Kayani to takeover power.

Whatever be the hypothesis, it is a proven fact that memo is a reality which was conceived and formulated in early May. It is also a fact that Haqqani and Mansoor traveled to London on 9 May where their meetings with two British senior officials were arranged by Wajid Shams and they flew back to Washington the same day. Mansoor delivered the memo to James Jones and the same was forwarded by him to Mullen on 10 May. Both Jones and Mullen have confirmed receiving the memo on prescribed dates. It is also known that Mullen didn’t take any action on the memo since he had not been fed with intelligence by CIA about the possibility of a coup as feared by Zardari. Mullen was otherwise in no position to caution Kayani who in that timeframe was in black mood and Pak-US military relations had dipped low. Another known fact is that between 9 and 11 May, Haqqani and Mansoor had extensive chats on Blackberry cell phones and also exchanged messages on laptop.

Once the 2 May crisis cooled down and things began to normalize, Zardari and Haqqani forgot about the memo. In their bid to gain confidence of the two generals under fire of media and politicians, Gilani went out of the way to bail them out when they attended All Parties Conference and explained their point of view on 14 May. It was another attempt to make them submissive. Rather than getting defensive and acquiescent, Kayani and Pasha went about dismantling CIA’s network which had tentacles in all important urban centres and also got hold of CIA’s informers. ISI had a mammoth task to locate thousands of CIA agents that had sneaked in on the quiet with the help of Haqqani and Malik and with the blessing of Gilani. Besides CIA, Blackwater and five other intelligence agencies operating from Afghanistan to destabilize Pakistan were also to be taken care of.

The US and UK trainers involved in espionage were booted out. Diplomats and NGOs engaged in subversive activities were kept under scrutiny. Security forces continued to maintain offensive posture to keep foreign paid terrorists in FATA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan on the run. Cross border terrorism from Kunar and Nuristan was plugged. These tough measures were not to the liking of Pakistan’s adversaries who had spent colossal amounts to get closer to nuclear sites and destroy them. Not only they were not succeeding in taming Pak Army and ISI, Afghan Taliban were getting more and more stronger. Series of offensive attacks by Taliban in and around Kabul in August-September unnerved the US military and intelligence leadership.

CIA then decided to play up memo that was lying in pending tray of the new CJSC. This time the purpose was to provoke the Army and ISI to topple the government or as a minimum spoil civil-military relations and then keep provoking both sides and create favorable situation for a headlong clash. Fame hungry Mansoor was nudged to leak the story in Financial Times on 10 October and to gradually heat it up. His story came as a rude shock for Haqqani but he, Zardari and Gilani played it down thinking that Mansoor being a chronic Army basher would not pursue it and also that none will believe him. However, memo case took a dramatic turn after Gen Pasha held a secret meeting with Mansoor in London on 22 October. The meeting convinced the spy chief that memo was not a fantasy but a reality and someone had made a dangerous plan to cause immeasurable harm to Pakistan with the help of US military.

Promises made by the architects of memo had grave implications upon security interests of Pakistan and gave an insight to vile intentions of the authors of memo. The very sovereignty and integrity had been bartered away just to restrain Gen Kayani from launching a perceived coup to let the gang of corrupt remain in power. Playing the film fast forward, Haqqani has been sacked, put on exit control list and a three-member judicial commission is presently investigating the case in response to the petitions filed by seven petitioners including Nawaz Sharif who himself appeared before the SC to submit his petition. While Mansoor has surrendered his rights of his phones, Haqqani has not done so for obvious reasons and has hidden his Blackberry sets saying he has misplaced them.

Haqqani wants the case to be closed forthwith and allowed to proceed abroad since he imagines that he may be killed, but Mansoor wants the probe to reach its conclusion and is ready to come to Pakistan despite threats to his life. The government is also striving hard to dissuade the Supreme Court (SC) to terminate the probe and is also creating hurdles for Mansoor to block his entry in Pakistan thereby heightening suspicions as to why it doesn’t want to ascertain the truth. Mansoor is expected to present himself on 26 January, but being a CIA man, he cannot be fully trusted.

When the memo case took an ominous turn for the schemers and not only put the government in the dock but also Haqqani - the blue-eyed boy of USA, and the Army kept up its defiance against the US dictates, the US military in collaboration with Afghan military attacked Salala Army border posts on 26 November killing 24 soldiers. This blatant intrusion meant to intimidate the Army also backfired. Vital NATO supply lines to Afghanistan remain closed; military and intelligence cooperation has almost ceased. Pakistan Army has rejected US military report on Salala terming it as biased and a mixture of half-truths. Closure of Shamsi base has drastically reduced drone strikes. In two months, only two strikes have taken place. Parliamentary Committee has formulated new terms of engagement with USA. A strategic shift of the government is on the cards. This can be discerned from five-day visit of Gen Kayani to China and Foreign Minister Rabbani’s intended visit to Moscow.

Finding itself in a fix, the US once again fed false news to the government that Army had got aligned with the judiciary and was contemplating a coup. It baffled the already jittery duo owing to closing jaws of memo and NRO and on two occasions with short intervals Gilani spoke offensively against the COAS and DG ISI. Sacking of Secretary Defence was also a knee-jerk reaction which reflected poorly upon Gilani’s conduct particularly when he blew hot and cold and chewed his own words repeatedly. While maintaining an aggressive posture against the Army, Gilani and his legal team also adopted a non-cooperative attitude towards the SC hearing implementation of NRO case.

Gilani and Babar Awan stubbornly maintained that no letter would be written to Swiss courts to reopen money laundering case pending against Zardari since he enjoyed immunity. The President emphatically stated that he will not allow trial of grave of Benazir Bhutto and that he will accept Parliamentary Committee’s decision on memo and not that of SC. When the judicial commission gave itself six options to proceed against the delinquent on 10 January and fixed 16 January as the cutout date to deliver the hammer, Gilani tried to counter the dual threat of judiciary and Army by seeking fresh vote of confidence in National Assembly and to pass a resolution authorizing him to confront the two institutions frontally.

The allied parties however opted reconciliation over confrontation and rendered support for continuation of democracy only. On the 16^th, the SC finally struck and issued a show cause notice to Gilani on the charge of contempt of court and asked him to present himself on 19^th to explain his point of view before the final verdict was announced. Gilani may either be disqualified or imprisoned unless he renders apology to SC and agrees to write a letter to Swiss court, or resigns. Notwithstanding his last minute theatrics, for all practical purposes he has cooked his goose. Chairman NAB who had been behaving arrogantly has come down to earth and submitted his unconditional apology to SC which has been accepted. Babar Awan’s legal license has been temporarily suspended. Decisions of the SC have been hailed by all and sundry except for beneficiaries of NRO who number 8041.

Whatever the decision of the SC on the next hearing, it will not help in stabilizing the political situation which is in a flux, nor in steadying the continuously plummeting economy, or in alleviating the problems of the people, or in ending the war on terror. Although SC will reestablish that it has teeth and can bite, but clash of institutions will benefit the adversaries of Pakistan only. It will be in fitness of things if the government honors the decisions and directives of SC gracefully rather than continuing with its confrontational attitude and making a mockery of itself. Instead of wasting its energies in belittling premier institutions, the government should divert its defiance towards the adversaries of Pakistan. It should sincerely concentrate on solving multitude of problems of the state, or else throw in its towel and let a better team to steer the country out of multiple crises.

The writer is a retired Brig, author of several books and a freelance columnist. Email:asifharoon7751@yahoo.com

By RAMZY BAROUD

REGARDLESS of who may rule Israel, little change ever occurs in the country’s foreign policy. Winning parties remain obsessed with demographics and retaining absolute military dominance. They also remain unfailingly focused on their quest to initiate racist laws against non-Jewish residents of the state, and continue to hone the art of speaking of peace, while actually maintaining a permanent state of war.

Every few years the media becomes captivated by Israeli democracy. Commentators speak of right, left, center, and anything in between. Despite Israeli elections still being a year and a half away, media pundits are already discussing possible outcomes of the vote against the peace process, economic reforms, social equality, and so on.

In a recent article, Israeli columnist Uri Avnery decried the fact that the main opposition to the rightwing parties – “the Likud, the Lieberman party and various ultra-nationalist, pro-settlement and religious factions” – is no other than the center-left Kadima. The party, led by the “incompetent” Tzipi Livni, is allegedly in “shambles”. Moreover, left parties, such as Labor and Meretz, are not expected to pose a real threat to the right party conglomerate, despite their temporary rise in the polls.

As genuine as he is, Avnery is once again presenting the false hope of a savior emerging to save Israel from itself. Avnery envisions Israel being rescued from its ‘neo fascists’ and  returned to the over-romanticized scenario of old, when early Zionists supposedly dreamed of an Israel governed by universal ethics, true democracy, peace and social equality . “I fervently hope that a different kind of new political force will emerge – a center-left party with a clear and inclusive message: social reform, narrowing the gap between rich and poor, the two-state solution, peace with the Palestinians and the end of the occupation.”

But this is as far as the imagined narrative of a kinder, gentler Israel can possibly go. Many outside Israel struggle to reconcile familiar discourses of democracy and equality with the reality on the ground. True, the ailment is not exclusive to Israel itself, but few other self-proclaimed democratic countries have such a massive gap between mainstream political discourses and actual policies.

Recall, for example, what the media touted as Israel’s own ‘Arab Spring.’ Even those who knew Israeli history hoped for a fleeting moment that the mass protests throughout Israeli cities could actually challenge the political and social status quo in Israel. But not Seraj Assi, a columnist and PhD student at Georgetown University. Assi wrote: “The dirty secret of the Tel Aviv protests is that the bulk of those middle-class Ashkenazi protestors are moved by a racist hysteria. They are simply afraid of being moved to the city peripheries and the far less fashionable parts of the country. For when they complain that they only feel at home in Tel Aviv, they explicitly express a racist desire to stay away from the development towns and neighborhoods populated by Arabs, poor Mizrahi and Ethiopian Jews.”

Indeed, the protests labored to stay clear of contentious discussions of military occupation, war, and even racial inequality within Israeli itself.

Not even the one-sided war on Gaza, which resulted in the killing of over 1400 Palestinians, was enough to raise the level of mass consciousness to challenge political and military apparatuses in Israel in any meaningful way. Under the title, ‘The Moral and Military Meltdown in Israel’, Hamid Dabashi, Professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia University, wrote: “It is not just the worst of the Israelis who (according to a recent poll by Haaretz) condone and actively support the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, but so have their very best, their intellectuals, professors, journalists, filmmakers, novelists and poets, from Amos Oz to David Grossman to A. B. Yehoshua to Meir Shalev and scores of others” (Jan 12, 2009).

While rightwing Israeli parties are often dismissed as anti-peace and hawkish, the ‘liberal’ Zionists in the Israeli Left have been viewed by some as an alternative, capable of writing wrongs and achieving the long-awaited peace. These are mere ‘delusions’, argued Roger Sheety in a recent article. “Scratch just a little below the surface and you discover that .. when it approaches the Palestinian person in particular, (Liberal Zionism) suddenly stops and fully reverses itself,” he wrote (Jan 9).

Sheety suggests a “clear and concise word for this phenomenon…hypocrisy.” But ‘hypocrisy’ might be too easy a term to explain this very involved trend in Israeli politics, which defined the Zionist movement long before the state of Israel was established in 1948. A most compelling book by Israeli author Tikva Honig-Parnass traces the roots of liberal Zionism from an insider perspective. False Prophets of Peace: Liberal Zionism and the Struggle for Palestine is a profound addition to a growing library that challenges ‘liberal’ Zionists’ claim to liberalism or progressiveness.

After reading Honig-Parnass’ book, one is left with a clear impression that liberal Zionists are neither ‘Israel’s best’ and nor is their double-speak a simple reflection of hypocrisy. Liberal Zionists were, and remain at the heart of the problem. After all, the Israeli Right didn’t emerge as a powerful player in politics until the late 1970s. All that proceeded – the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing, the Law of Return, the 1967 war and further colonial expansion, and even the war on Gaza in 2008-09 - were orchestrated by Israel’s Zionist Left leaderships. More, the “systematic institutional discrimination against Palestinian citizens was (also) applied through the strengthened power of the Zionist Left,” Honig-Parnass argues. Even the most ‘radical’ forces in Israel are tainted, as the Zionist Labor movement rallied around racial discrimination against non-Jews before the establishment of Israel; later laws made racial discrimination against non-Jewish laborers the status quo, as is the case today.

To hold hope in the new election cycle in Israel is like waiting for false prophets. No salvation will be heralded by some imagined center-left party that will bring “an end to the ultra-rightist frenzy,” as hoped by Avnery.

The task will not be easy, but a true shift in Israeli politics can only occur at the foundational level by confronting the country’s Apartheid-like political institutions. More, by challenging the “Zionist Left political and ideological perspectives,” a way could open for “progressive forces among Jews and Palestinians to fight together against the Zionist/Jewish state,” as suggested by Honig-Parnass.

- Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story (Pluto Press, London).

PAKISTAN may be the only country in the world where persons involved in heinous crimes including treason not only get away unpunished but also hold top appointments. Whatever little sting the law courts and accountability courts had has been smudged by this government. There is no accountability of the corrupt and criminals since the rulers themselves are NRO cleansed. Those wanting accountability of the wrongdoers are scoffed at, threatened and suppressed. Crossing all limits, the PPP leadership is averse to an open and fair probe on a highly sensitive matter of memo having grave implications for national security and integrity. Likewise, it has flouted Supreme Court’s (SC) ruling given on 16 December 2009 making NRO null and void. It continues to maintain a stubborn stance of defiance even after the SC rejected the review petition on NRO and directed the government to implement its order by 10 January 2012. Countdown will terminate on 16 January and the nation is keeping its fingers crossed.

The government is employing all conceivable tricks and techniques under the sun to wriggle out of memo scandal and to prevent reopening of cases pending against President Zardari in foreign courts. It is creating umpteen hurdles in the way of three-member commission investigating memo case and the bench pursuing implementation of NRO. The PPP is past master in delaying tactics and in playing the theme of victimization. The top guns of the PPP involved in massive corruption managed to prevent law courts from delivering judgments for eleven years. Their tactics couldn’t have succeeded without the connivance of weak-willed and purchasable judges and prosecutors. The culture of higher courts under chief justice Iftikhar has undergone a radical change. The apex courts have ultimately realized that the judiciary in Pakistan has earned a very bad name and people have lost faith in judicial system. For too long the judiciary had played into the hands of military and civilian dictators. The higher judiciary had a big role in validating wrongful acts of the rulers and in validating military rules under the miscued doctrine of necessity.

The judges having gone through a prolonged ordeal of two years under a military dictator Gen Musharraf have decided to restore the image and reputation of the judiciary. They appreciate that without the public pressure the sacked judges could not have been restored in March 2009. They know that the people deprived of justice were overjoyed over their reinstatement and hold high hopes in the liberated judiciary. They want to live up to the high expectations of the people by delivering justice based on fairness and without caring for the high status of the accused. The culture of uprightness, honesty and evenhandedness is however alien to the PPP leaders who believe only in cheating, chicanery, looting, delinquency, nepotism and cronyism. They prefer self over national interests; they neither believe in rule of law nor in system of accountability. PCO judges suited them the most and they had tried very hard to retain Dogar as chief justice but failed.

The law makers and upholders of rule of law and constitution are themselves the biggest violators of law. They keep raising the slogan that parliament is supreme but their personal conduct displayed in the last four years of their rule has been deplorable. Not only they have been bending and breaking laws of the land at will, they have been contemptuously defying the apex court with impunity. Never before any government in Pakistan has defied and insulted the Supreme Court so brazenly. Zardari-Gilani duo has been promoting cronyism and favoritism and destroying public corporate enterprises. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been made impotent to enable them to shield, protect and promote corrupt and inept officials holding key appointments and to disregard merit. Even those involved in mega scams and convicted by the courts are pardoned by Zardari and reinstated or given better jobs. Adnan Khwaja and Riaz Shiekh are two recent examples. The duo and their loyalists give preference to loyalty to the political party over the state and the constitution. Appointments of Husain Haqqani and Wajid Shams as ambassadors and Rahman Malik as interior minister simply to please Washington give an insight of the outlook of rulers.

Babar Awan with a fake doctor’s degree held the important post of law minister for a long period merely because he maintained a bellicose posture against Sharif brothers. He openly bribed members of Bar Council and lawyers to buy their loyalties and spent millions from exchequer. He has been in the lead to deride and defy the SC. While he mistakenly thinks that his clownish acrobats are cheered by the people, in reality they consider him no more than a court jester pleasing his boss in Presidency. He is principally responsible for putting the ruling party in a blind alley. In his greed to become Punjab Governor or Senate Chairman, he has gone too far and made himself highly vulnerable. The SC sword can fall upon him anytime.

PM Gilani as executive head instead of feeling most concerned about memo affair is least concerned and wants it to be hushed up. He still is of the view that removal of Haqqani from his post should have ended the matter. He got so perturbed over Gen Kayani and Lt Gen Pasha submitting their affidavits to the Supreme Court different to the one submitted by the government that he is not reconciling with it. He had lost his cool on 26 December since he was fed with false intelligence that Gen Kayani was set to overthrow his government. But he cooled down after Gen Kayani issued a statement that he had no intention of launching a coup and toppling a democratic government. He however hastened to add a meaningful sentence in his rejoinder that there will be no compromise on national security.

Seeing that the memo case was taking a dangerous turn and that the two generals were not prepared to take back their affidavits in which it was categorically stated that memo was a reality and must be probed, the PM once again got off balanced on 9 January while giving an interview to Chinese Daily. Fearing that the Army had developed an understanding with the SC, he outlandishly dubbed the depositions of Kayani and Pasha as illegal and unconstitutional on the basis that they had not taken his consent or permission of the Defence Ministry. He thus reignited the fire which had almost died down. His stance was negated by the Attorney General who cleared the mist by saying that replies submitted were very much in accordance with legal procedure.

The five-member SC bench in its sitting on 10 January pronounced President Zardari, PM Gilani, Law Minister Maula Bux Chandio, Babar Awan, Law Secretary Masood Chishti and NAB chief retired Admiral Fasih Bokhari as chief delinquents. It stated that they have consistently been showing naked defiance and apathy towards SC and could be proceeded against on charges of contempt of court. Axes had been honed and raised above shoulders, and heads of the five put on the chopping block, but before bringing down the axes, the accused were given last chance to save their necks from getting chopped. Showing unprecedented restraint in the face of extreme provocation, the SC has dished out six loaded options. The leading option is to disqualify both Zardari and Gilani. However knowing that Jayalas have an old habit of making too much fuss and complaining that they have been indicted unheard, milder options include letting Zardari to appear before the court to plead for immunity; or the PM to resign and hold early elections. The government has to choose one of the options till the next hearing scheduled on 16 January.

As if his harmful interview was not enough, Gilani further upped the ante by sacking Secretary Defence retired Lt Gen Lodhi on charges of misconduct and creating misunderstanding between institutions and gave additional charge of Secretary Defence to his blue eyed Secretary Nargis Sethi. His only fault was that the Personal Secretary of PM had called him in his office and asked him on behalf of PM to sign the affidavit concerning memo case prepared by the government, but he regretted to do so. Lodhi has decided to approach the court and plead his case that he has been unjustly removed from service without giving him show cause notice or carrying out any inquiry.

It was speculated that Gilani’s offensive move had been made to pave the way to sack Army chief and DG ISI. The Army launched a quick riposte in the form of a terse rejoinder which not only clarified that routing of affidavits were strictly in line with laid down legal procedure but also gave a veiled warning that indigestible insinuations would have serious repercussions. Gen Kayani called a conference of his PSOs and corps commanders next morning. Adding to it was the newspapers story about newly posted brigade commander of notorious 111 Brigade. It gave a loud message that the Army would not take the insults lying down.

Despite assurances given by Army Chief that he respects democracy and the Chief Justice who said that the door to martial law has been shut forever, Zardari, Gilani and his confidantes continue to suffer from hallucinations of a military coup. Puppet Gilani whose strings are in the hands of Zardari has become so confused that he is taking somersaults repeatedly and eating his words. There must be something to hide that Haqqani and his guardians are feeling so disturbed and are feeling so edgy. Wittingly or unwittingly, the corrupt and inept government is opening the door for the Army to step in so that it could become a political martyr, but Kayani has no such intentions and would like a change taking place through democratic process.

Finding itself stuck in a blind alley, Gilani in consultation with Zardari called an emergent session on 12^th January in his bid to seek vote of confidence and then declare war against the judiciary and Army’s top leadership. But his effort backfired because of lukewarm response of allied parties who didn’t favor policy of confrontation. Seeing that Gilani was heading towards a head on suicidal clash with the judiciary as well as the Army, the three allied parties of PPP got nervy and firmly advised its leadership to avoid collision at all costs and opt for reconciliation.

Nawaz and Imran have warned of launching country wide protest movement if the government tries to defy SC ruling on 16^th and doesn’t hold early elections. PML-N is actively contemplating en-block resignations from Assemblies. These fast forward events have taken the wind out of the sails of jingoistic PPP leadership and it is quite likely that from now onwards there will be a visible change in its attitude and things would get back to normal. Holding of Defence Committee meeting on 14 January chaired by PM and attended by CJSC and three services chiefs has been viewed as a positive sign and it seems that ice has begun to melt.

Irrespective of the apparent thaw, one thing is clear that government-Army relations will not be as cordial as they were prior to 2 May. The Army will not support the government in its confrontation with the judiciary. The government will avoid fighting political war on two fronts. In the face of twin threat, Zardari will make concerted efforts to regain confidence of the Army chief. One way is that he uses his discretionary powers to reinstate sacked Secretary Defence. He will also advise Gilani that rather than he getting disqualified, he should voluntarily resign so as to pacify SC and thus ease pressure of judiciary on him and the government. This move will enable the government to buy time, hold Senate elections and be in a stronger position to make preparations for elections by October and also to take some corrective measures to improve its image.

Saner elements however disfavor early elections arguing that no single party will be able to gain simple majority to form a government. A hung parliament with the same lot of politicians in their view will be unable to steer the country out of the mess created by current government. They opine that chief justice backed by Army should be mandated to form a care taker regime for about two years, which should select honest and efficient technocrats capable of clearing the mess. In my view, Imran Khan should head this regime. Once the economy comes out of the woods, institutions become healthy, fresh electoral rolls are prepared by independent Election Commission, fair and free elections could then be held. Or else, people may be asked at the termination of caretaker regime’s tenure whether they would prefer the government of technocrats or parliamentary system. There is lot of weight in this suggestion and may be pondered over.

The writer is a retired Brig and a freelance columnist. Email:asifharoon7751@yahoo.com

Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a chemistry expert and a director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, who was killed in a brazen daylight assassination when two assailants on a motorcycle attached a magnetic bomb to his car Wednesday, is seen prior to be buried in Tehran, Iran, on Friday, Jan. 13, 2012, in Tehran.

AMID rising tensions over bogus Western claims that Iran plans to build nuclear weapons, upcoming American war games with Israel have the potential of escalating into a deadly confrontation.

A miscalculation, or deliberate provocation by the West designed to maneuver the Iranians into “firing the first shot,” could have disastrous consequences far beyond the confines of the Persian Gulf.

That provocation wasn’t long in coming.

Despite an agreement reached by Iran with the P 5+1 group of nations (Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany), to restart talks in Turkey over the nuclear issue, the CIA-Mossad-MEK terror campaign took a dark turn this week; a sign that the imperialist powers, spearheaded by the United States, aim to scupper negotiations even before they start.

On Tuesday, an Iranian university professor, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, 32, a chemistry expert and director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, was murdered after two assailants on a motorcycle attached magnetic bombs to his car.

Analyst Richard Silverstein wrote on the Tikun Olam web site Wednesday that “my own confidential Israeli source confirms today’s murder was the work of the Mossad and MEK, as have been a number of previous operations I’ve reported here.”

Silverstein averred that “the method recalls another series of assassinations that occurred of Fereidoun Abbassi Davani (who was seriously wounded) and his colleague Majid Shahriari (who was killed). Today’s killing occurred two years to the day after the assassination of another scientist, Masoud Ali Mohammadi.”

According to Fars News Agency, the blasts which killed Roshan “also wounded two other Iranian nationals in Seyed Khandan neighborhood in Northern Tehran.”

The scientist”s driver, Reza Qashqavi, who was severely injured in the blast, “died of his wounds in Resalat Hospital a few hours later,” Fars reported.

What makes Roshan’s murder especially troubling is that according to political analyst Seyyed Mohamed Marandi, the “IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] officials had met him [Ahmadi Roshan] earlier.”

Marandi charged that all of the Iranian scientists who had been targeted and then subsequently murdered in terrorist attacks “have had their names given by the IAEA to third parties,” Press TV reported.

“It is obvious that Western intelligence agencies are carrying out these attacks, or if the Israelis are carrying them out, it is with the knowledge of the Europeans and Americans. Because these agencies are very closely aligned to one another, they cooperate extensively, they exchange information,” Marandi said.

While no one has claimed authorship of the terrorist outrage, the Associated Press reported that IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz testified in closed session to the Israeli Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that America’s proxy, Israel, was engaged in sabotaging Iran’s nuclear program through a series of “unnatural acts.”

“2012 is expected to be a critical year for Iran,” Gantz told the committee, citing “the confluence of efforts to advance the nuclear program, internal leadership changes, continued international pressure and things that happen to it unnaturally.”

Roshan was the fourth scientist killed in a series of assassinations since January 2010 and follows a series of attacks on defense and nuclear facilities.

In early November, a massive bomb blast at the sprawling Bid Ganeh missile base 25 miles west of Tehran killed upwards of 30 members of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including Major General Hassan Moqqadam, a senior leader of Iran’s missile program.

Later that month, a huge explosion was reported at Iran’s uranium conversion facility in Isfahan. Though Iranian officials denied an attack took place, The Times reported that “satellite imagery … clearly showed billowing smoke and destruction.”

U.S. officials, as is their wont, responded in typical fashion–they blamed the victims.

State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said she had “no information one way or the other” about the scientist’s murder, while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denounced Iran for their “provocative rhetoric” and issued a categorical denial that the U.S. was organizing terrorism inside the Islamic Republic.

However, in an interview with the Hebrew-language Ma’ariv daily, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said that “Washington is preparing to undertake any measure to thwart Iran’s nuclear program,” Xinhua reported.

“We’ve said and I say again that all options are open … President (Barack) Obama clearly and consistently says that he will do everything and resort to all necessary means to prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons, and he means every word,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro’s statement, if not quite an open admission, is a sign of Washington’s boundless hypocrisy as it supposedly wages a so-called “War on Terror” while organizing terrorist attacks on governments it has targeted for regime change.

Iran, and China, Strike a Defiant Note

With a new round of economic sanctions targeting Iran’s ability to sell its oil on international markets signed into law by President Obama last week, and with the European Union threatening to do the same, it was unlikely that the Iranian government, or their principle trading partner, would sit idly by and allow the West to damage their respective economies.

Although The Washington Post reported Tuesday that “a senior U.S. intelligence official” said that “the goal of U.S. and other sanctions against Iran is regime collapse,” the quote was quickly yanked from their web site.

The Post claimed the earlier account was “incorrectly reported” and that “an updated version clarifies the official’s remarks,” a fallacious climb-down that revealed far more than Washington intended to say the least!

The European Union announced that a meeting of foreign ministers would be held January 23, a week earlier than originally planned, to finalize an agreement on a comprehensive oil embargo.

While the EU and some Asian oil-buying nations are caving-in to Washington’s demands, America’s geopolitical rival and largest creditor, China, has rejected calls to put the squeeze on Tehran.

With U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in Beijing this week, the Washington Post reported that the former Kissinger Associates henchman in Obama’s cabinet “is expected to press China’s leaders to reduce the country’s oil imports from Iran.”

He is unlikely to find a receptive ear, however.

China’s vice foreign minister responsible for U.S. relations, Cui Tiankai, said on Monday that “the normal trade relations and energy cooperation between China and Iran have nothing to do with the nuclear issue. We should not mix issues of different natures, and China’s legitimate concerns and demands should be respected.”

Having blasted the new sanctions regime imposed last week, China, the third largest buyer of Iranian crude, said new restrictions would not affect business in the least.

The Associated Press reported that “about 11 percent of China’s oil imports in 2011 came from Iran, or about 560,000 barrels per day, a flow that increased in the latter half of the year, according to oil industry analysts Argus Media.”

“The daily average for November was 617,000 barrels,” AP reported, “close to a third of Iran’s total oil exports of 2.2 million barrels a day, Argus said,” a sign that China is hardly intimidated by U.S. threats.

Rejecting U.S. and European claims that normal business relations with the Islamic Republic provided financial support for its nuclear program, Cui declared that “argument does not hold water.”

“According to this logic,” the vice minister said, “if the Iranians have enough money to feed their population, then they have the ability to develop nuclear programs,” Cui told reporters. “If that is the case, should we also deny Iran the opportunity to feed its population?”

Cui’s pointed remark was an obvious jab at the U.S. sanctions regime which targeted Iraq for more than a decade prior to the 2003 invasion. Sanctions, which former UN official Dennis Halliday called “genocide” back in 1999, were estimated to have caused the death of upwards of 1.7. million people, including some 500,000 children, a “price” which former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said was “worth it.”

Undeterred by American threats, Press TV disclosed Sunday that “a senior Iranian lawmaker says the aim of the upcoming naval drills by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) is to prepare for the potential closure of the strategic Hormuz Strait.”

Iranian naval officials announced January 5 that they “would be holding a major military maneuver in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz in February.”

“IRGC’s Naval Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said the drills, the seventh in a series of military exercises dubbed the Great Prophet, will be different compared to previous naval maneuvers held by the IRGC,” Press TV reported.

Pointedly, the deputy head of the parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Esmail Kowsari, said that “the military maneuver has been designed to prepare the armed forces for receiving the order to shut down the strait within the shortest time possible.”

The semiofficial Iranian news outlet also reported Sunday that the “Commander of Iran’s Ground Forces Brigadier General Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan announces plans to hold a massive military maneuver in the near future.”

“In line with the global developments and their own interests,” Pourdastan told Press TV, “Western countries are, today, using soft war [tactics] as the core of their strategy and it is [only] natural for us to have a defense [tactic] when the enemy starts a war.”

On Monday, Fars News Agency reported that IRGC Commander, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, reiterated his earlier warning that “any enemy move, even the slightest aggressions, against the Islamic Republic would be reciprocated with a destructive response and will endanger the interests of the aggressor all around the world.”

Mounting U.S.-NATO Threats

Iran’s announcement that they will hold new naval exercises, followed a report by The Daily Telegraph that the UK will deploy “the HMS Daring, a Type 45 destroyer,” and this “will send a significant message to the Iranians because of the firepower and world-beating technology carried by the warship.”

In November, The Guardian disclosed that “Britain’s armed forces are stepping up their contingency planning for potential military action against Iran.”

In a controlled leak, Ministry of Defence officials told The Guardian that “military planners are examining where best to deploy Royal Navy ships and submarines equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles over the coming months as part of what would be an air and sea campaign.”

During the 2003 U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, Diego Garcia was used by the the U.S. Air Force as a launch pad for B-2 stealth bombers during the initial phase of Washington’s “shock and awe” campaign over Baghdad.

It now appears those contingency plans have moved off the drawing board with the deployment of the HMS Daring towards the Persian Gulf.

The Telegraph disclosed that the ship “has been fitted with new technology that will give it the ability to shoot down any missile in Iran’s armoury. The £1 billion destroyer, which will leave Portsmouth next Wednesday, also carries the world’s most sophisticated naval radar, capable of tracking multiple incoming threats from missiles to fighter jets.”

Defense Secretary Philip Hammond warned Iran that “any blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would be ‘illegal and unsuccessful’.”

According to the Telegraph, naval sources have said that “more British ships could be sent to the Gulf if required. The second Type 45, HMS Dauntless, will also be available to sail at short notice.”

As Global Research reported in December, the United States has significantly increased military aid to Israel in preparation for an all-out war with Iran and that “the Pentagon dispatched some 100 military personnel to Israel from US European Command (EUCOM) to assist Israel in setting up a new sophisticated X-band early warning radar system as part of a new and integrated air defense system.”

Although “casually heralded as ‘military aid,’” Michel Chossudovsky wrote, “the project consisted in strengthening the integration of Israel’s air defense system into that of the US, with the Pentagon rather than Israel calling the shots.”

In a new development, Russia Today reported last week that “thousands of American troops are being deployed to Israel, and Iranian officials believe that this is the latest and most blatant warning that the US will soon be attacking Tehran.”

“Under the Austere Challenge 12 drill scheduled for an undisclosed time during the next few weeks,” RT disclosed, “the Israeli military will together with America host the largest-ever joint missile drill by the two countries.”

An anonymous Israeli official told the Associated Press “the drill would test multiple Israeli and U.S. air defense systems against incoming missiles and rockets. Israel has deployed the ‘Arrow’ system, jointly developed and funded with the U.S., designed to intercept Iranian missiles in the stratosphere, far from Israel.”

While U.S. and Israeli officials have called the drills “routine,” RT reported that “following the installation of American troops near Iran’s neighboring Strait of Hormuz and the reinforcing of nearby nations with US weapons, Tehran authorities are considering this not a test but the start of something much bigger.”

Iranian fears are fully justified.

With the United States and NATO ringing Iran with military bases and with the U.S. beefing-up arm sales to its regional allies, including recently announced plans to sell some $30 billion of advanced F-15SA war planes to Saudi Arabia and “bunker buster” bombs to the UAE, the stage is set for a confrontation.

In this context, the murder of an Iranian scientist just as a new round of talks were announced, is a clear sign that Washington is hell-bent on imposing its control over the Persian Gulf–through aggressive war–as part of long-standing plans to ensure imperial hegemony over the energy-rich regions of of Central Asia and the Middle East.

Tom Burghardt is a researcher and activist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His articles are published in many venues. He is the editor of Police State America: U.S. Military "Civil Disturbance" Planning, distributed by AK Press. 

Tom's website

IN the final days of the Libyan conflict, as NATO conducted a nonstop bombing campaign, an Aljazeera Arabic television correspondent’s actions raised more than eyebrows. They also raised serious questions regarding the journalistic responsibility of Arab media – or in fact any media - during times of conflict.

Using a handheld transceiver, the journalist aired live communication between a Libyan commander and his troops in a Tripoli neighborhood targeted by a massive air assault. Millions of people listened, as surely did NATO military intelligence, to sensitive information disclosed by an overpowered, largely defeated army. The Doha-based news anchor sought further elaboration, and the reporter readily provided all the details he knew.

Did Abdel-Azim Mohammed, a journalist reputed for his gutsy reports from Iraq’s Fallujah, violate the rules of journalism by transmitting information that could aid one party against another, and worse, cost human lives?

While there are few doubts about the impressive legacy of Aljazeera – and the valuable individual contributions of many of its reporters – urgent questions need to be asked regarding its current coverage of the so-called Arab Spring that began in December 2010.

Some of us have warned against the temptation of a one-narrative-fits-all style of reporting. A non-violent popular uprising is fundamentally different from an armed rebellion, and a home-grown peaceful Tahrir Square revolution is different from NATO-Arab military and political campaigns aimed at settling old scores and fomenting sectarian conflict (as in Libya and now Syria).

Aljazeera coverage of the Egyptian revolution was, for the most part, impeccable. It was the type of coverage that reflected the revolutionary fervor felt throughout the country. Even when the former regime of Hosni Mubarak pulled the plug on Aljazeera coverage, it somehow found a way to transmit the country’s mood with impressive clarity.

Yet, despite the fact that some Arab uprisings are inherently more complex than others (because some societies embody a more involved sectarian makeup, for example), Aljazeera news anchors continue to jump from one country to the other, as if addressing different points of the exact same topic. In the channel’s coverage of Libya, NATO’s unwarranted bombing campaign received little reporting. The targeting of black Africans (covered by some Western and African media) earned little airtime at Aljazeera Arabic. Ever-available guests were often immediately dispatched to dismiss any reports of maltreatment of captured soldiers accused of being ‘loyal to Muammar al-Qaddafi’. Aljazeera had indeed striven to present a perfect scenario of a perfect revolution. Now that the sentimentalization of the revolution is fading out, a harsh new reality is setting in, one that encompasses numerous arms groups, infighting and Western countries ready to share the spoils.

Aljazeera’s priority has now shifted from Libya to Syria, a country that has been on Washington’s radar for many years and long irked Israel for its support of Lebanese and Palestinian resistance factions.

From a political and humanitarian viewpoint, there is no denial that Syria is in need of fundamental political reforms. More, the blatant violence employed against the uprising was simply indefensible. However, unlike what Aljazeera Arabic and other media may claim on an hourly basis, there is more to Syria than a brutal ‘Alawite regime’ and a rebelling nation that never ceases to demand ‘international intervention’. There is also the reality of ill-intentioned parties seeking their own objectives, such as further isolating Iran, strengthening allies in Lebanon, weakening Damascus-based Palestinian factions, and aiding US allies in rearranging the entire power-paradigm in the region.

One would argue that whatever ambitions some small Arab country may have, these should not be pursued at the expense of the Syrian people, who are seeking real democracy in a sovereign country free from meddling, armed militias and unexplained car bombs. The fact is, insecurity and political uncertainty will be the future of Syria if a political settlement is not achieved between the government – which must end its violent crackdowns on pro-democracy protests – and a truly patriotic opposition that doesn’t call for foreign intervention or ‘no-fly-zones’. The Iraq no-fly-zone in 1991 and the Libya no-fly-zone in 2011 were mere prologues to military actions that devastated both countries.  There is little justification in repeating this scenario; the Syrian people did not rise merely to see their country being destroyed.

In January 5, a massive blast killed 26 people in Damascus, exactly two weeks after twin bombings killed 44. Between the two bombings, hundreds of Syrians were reportedly killed and wounded in the armed conflict involving the Free Syrian Army. Considering the large and porous border areas between Syria and Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, and the contentious border area with the occupied Golan Heights (illegally annexed by Israel), one cannot dismiss the possibility that Syria has been infiltrated on many fronts. But this also goes unreported.

While one lacks sympathy for any regime that brutally murders innocent people, journalists are also accountable to both balance and humanitarian standards. They cannot completely dismiss one party and embrace another. Aljazeera Arabic channel has done just that. It has failed to maintain its independence, and is growingly covering the upheaval in the Arab world from the narrow political prism of its host country.

In Aljazeera’s early days in the mid and late 1990s, the channel took on taboo subjects and proudly challenged the status quo. This continued with Aljazeera’s coverage of Afghanistan and the Iraq war, when mainstream western media were disowning their own proclaimed standards of objectivity and treating Iraqis like dispensable beings underserving of even a body count.

In recent months, however, Aljazeera has begun to change course. It has deviated from its journalistic responsibilities in Libya, and is now completely losing the plot with Syria.

The channel is in urgent need to revisit its own code of ethics, and to fulfill its promise of treating its audience “with due respect and address every issue or story with due attention to present a clear, factual and accurate picture.” Yes, perhaps the Syrian regime should be changed, and perhaps an armed rebellion in Syria will eventually overtake the non-violent uprising. But the outcome is not for me, Aljazeera, The New York Times or any other journalist or publication to decide. The revolution belongs to the Syrian people alone, and only they can determine where it leads.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei

“This cowardly [act of] terror, whose perpetrators and plotters will never dare to confess to their dirty and hideous crime or accept responsibility for it, has been carried out by the planning or support of CIA and Mossad [spy] services, like all other crimes of the network of international state terrorism,” said Ayatollah Khamenei late on Thursday in a message of condolence on the death of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan.

The assassination attempt shows that “the global arrogance spearheaded by the US and Zionism has reached a deadlock in confrontation with the determined, devout, and progressive nation of Islamic Iran,” the leader added.

Ayatollah Khamenei went on to say that iran's rapid scientific progress is not dependent on individuals but is a “historic movement” and arises from the “invulnerable national resolve” of Iranians.

Insisting that the Iranian nation will continue on its path with determination, the leader pointed out that Iranians will not overlook the crime and never stop efforts to bring the perpetrators and those behind the assassination to justice.

On January 11, an unknown motorcyclist attached a magnetic bomb to the scientist's car near a college building of Allameh Tabatabaei University in Tehran. Ahmadi Roshan was immediately killed and his driver, who had sustained injuries, died a few hours later in hospital.

Ahmadi Roshan, a Sharif University of Technology chemical engineering graduate and the deputy director of marketing at iran's Natanz nuclear facility, was killed immediately and his driver, who had sustained injures, passed away a few hours later in hospital.

The latest terrorist attack comes as Iran has reached an agreement with the P5+1 -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany -- to hold negotiations in Turkey.

The US, Israel and their allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and have used this allegation as a pretext to sway the UNSC to impose four rounds of sanctions on Iran.

Based on these accusations, they have also repeatedly threatened Tehran with the "option" of a military strike.

This is while in November 2011, some of the US presidential hopefuls called for conducting covert operations ranging from assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists to launching a military strike on Iran as well as sabotaging Tehran's nuclear program.

The calls for assassinations are not idle threats as a number of Iranian scientists have been assassinated over the past few years. Professor Majid Shahriari and Professor Masoud Ali-Mohammadi are among the victims of these acts of terror.

On November 29, 2010, Shahriari and Fereydoun Abbasi were targeted by terrorist attacks; Shahriari was killed immediately and Dr. Abbasi, the current director of iran's Atomic Energy Organization, only sustained injuries.

Iran says as the UN Resolution 1747, adopted against Tehran in March 2007, cited Abbasi's name as a "nuclear scientist," the perpetrators were in a position to trace their victim.

According to reports, Ahmadi Roshan had recently met International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, a fact which indicates that the IAEA has leaked information about iran's nuclear facilities and scientists.

PRESS TV

Former foreign minister Khursheed Mahmood Kasuri reacts to crowds as Imran Khan and others look on.

THE career of Imran Khan, a cricketer turned politician, is full of colours, contradictions, and controversies. Since his debut in cricket in 1971 initially, and later in 1976 onward, he became known as a socialite due to his non-stop partying at London nightclubs such as Annabel's and Tramp and further gained notoriety in London gossip columns for romancing young debutantes such as Susannah Constantine, Lady Liza Campbell and the artist Emma Sergeant. Then came Sita White; her paternity claim in NY court of law for Tyrian Khan, to be the daughter of Imran Khan, that fully exposed the former World Cup winner in the eyes of common Pakistanis beside being his philanthropic work of Shaukat Khannum Hospital.

With this flamboyant past, he entered the politics in 1996 with emphasis on anti-corruption policies, formed Pakistan Tahreek e Insaaf (PTI) and tried to broker a deal with the then dictator, Pervaiz Musharraf to take the powerful portfolio. It didn’t work well even with all foreign blessings; hence he walked out from National Assembly (2002-7) where he had only one seat. Partially his involvement in Lawyers Movement, to restore Ifthikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, had given PTI and himself a life line to take some ground in active politics and gain some popularity. His initial stance over missing persons, Dr. Afia Siddiqui’s disappearance, her unlawful detention & then single-sided trial in US, drone attacks in tribal areas of Pakistan, and louder voice over Baluchistan issues, have transformed him from power-hungry aristocratic drawing-room politics to people’s politics!

After the success of his Lahore political-cum musical show, number of his supporters often called him as Prime Minister-in-waiting, had gained some extra confidence by calling himself as the third political force in Pakistan who would sweep coming general elections. He termed his success as Tsunami – a pseudo name given after 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that was the deadliest natural disaster in human history that killed around 230,000 people in 14 countries, likely calling his upcoming political gains as Tsunami against traditional politicians.

Unfortunately, even before this Tsunami begins, Imran Khan started taking U –turns against his own pre-defined political policies and opened PTI doors wide for all feudal politicians of past, especially close aides of former dictator. Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Khurshid Kusuri, Jehangir Tareen, Sardar Asif Ahmed Ali are few old friends of Musharraf, to name with the exception of Javed Hashmi, joined hands with Imran Khan to become the part of upcoming political Tsunami. Someone rightly pointed out that “with the induction of so many Musharraf’s ministers in today’s’ Imran PTI looks like that Imran has joined Q league.” In coming years, this might turn out to be a real threat when Imran Khan’s voice -in his own PTI- would be considered feeble due to the presence of large number of Musharraf friends.

Those who watched Khurshid Kasuri’s PTI joining ceremony, has noticed an amazing act of chairs snatching by the participants. Rather than guiding the voters, this shameful-act was shamelessly endorsed by PTI secretary information Shafqat Mahmood and chairman Imran Khan, as an act of “innocent people” because they are fed up of Zardari regime; so “they might take away chairs of govt. office bearers.” This is a clear indication that how Imran Khan will be swept by Musharraf’s friends when the need of time would come!

His second u-turn came when he had brokered a ‘silent deal’ with Altaf Hussain, leader of MQM who controls Karachi from London, to arrange his public meeting in Karachi on 25 December 2011 leaving behind all the hot conversation he has had against MQM founding leader and an ambition to file a case against him in London court. It was learnt that he had an out of court settlement with MQM and agreed that “Sita White case” will not be brought to justice in US by MQM and in reply he will not file petition against Altaf Hussain in London. This “settlement” was visible in Karachi while addressing his supporters; Imran Khan did not utter single word about MQM leader, forgetting his own previous statements about later and MQM atrocities on 12 May 2007, when numbers of PTI workers were killed by Mutahidda terrorists! His stance against MQM self-exiled leader has created doubts that “hidden” hands are brining MQM and PTI closure for upcoming electoral alliance against PML (N) and ruling PPP.

In past, Imran Khan had always raised his voice against the drone attacks in tribal areas of Pakistan. Under the shadows of “Salalah check post attack by US & NATO forces,” recent statement of US ambassador, Cameron Munter that “Imran Khan is not against US” has astonished large section of society in Pakistan who foresees Imran as hardliner against US policies in the region. However it was observed that US ambassador statement came up only when Imran Khan has quietly visited US state department and expressed “his case” to Washington; an act known to very few in Pakistan and even in the folds of PTI. Probably, this was the reason due to that Imran Khan didn’t attend Difa e Pakistan rally, the public meeting arranged by 40 religious parties in Lahore on 18 December 2011, to pass a soft message to US at this crucial juncture of time when Zardari-led PPP government is shacking due to a small piece of paper penned by an American!

Imran Khan has always been at the forefront of highlighting missing persons issue including Dr Aafia's case. In one of his speech he had demanded that “the Government of Pakistan should tell us how Dr Aafia ended up in Afghanistan with her three children; how can a frail woman attack US marines; why has the Government of Pakistan not taken any active measures to bring her back home to face any trial. The Government needs to expose those who have aided and abetted the kidnapping of Dr Aafia,” while he was referring Pervaiz Musharraf govt. After that he has asked PTI members to actively participate in demonstrations, vigils across the globe. Upon his directive Mohammad Kassam, member of PTI, UK was one of the several people who had kept the seven days vigil outside the US Embassy, spending up to twenty hours in the wet weather of London. In recent days, the world has witnessed that the foreign minister of Pervaiz Musharraf regime who has joined PTI recently, while addressing one of the public meeting was sitting next to Imran Khan at the stage where as down among the crowd, there were one or two flags showing few slogans about the release of Afia Siddiqui but Imran Khan didn’t say few words about Dr Afia’s case or her release from US custody! Time has changed; a leader is born and gained popularity by using these burning issues and now no need to look upon these forgotten souls!

Could Imran Khan be the real savior of people of Pakistan or Pakistanis are going to witness same old wine in a new bottle with fancy cricket label having singers like Abrar ul Haq and Shahzad Roy selling his political agenda over popular Pakistani national tunes! Time will confirm that anti-corruption policies were just few words and slogans to gain popularity or actual agenda of PTI to implement, the shadows of flamboyant past are still visible or re born under the banner of musical nights, a real saviour of Pakistan has arrived or Mr. 20% has arrived after Mr. 10%, would history has repeated itself when someone has accepted the help of hidden hands of establishment or used the shoulder of common men to gain power!!!!

How a party -new or old- with slogan of “change” they could bring positive change in society when they have migratory birds like PPP former foreign minister, Musharraf’s former foreign minister or bunch of kings’ party holders, would have to think as why these traditional politicians are strengthening the hands of a gentleman who only won one seat in any general elections? The answer is simple. In Pakistan, the traditional politicians (vultures) are very “sensible”. Since then they realized that now the “powerful hand” is on Imran Khan’s head, and they know by sure that the power would fall on him, they started gathering around him to share the piece of flesh and bone of Pakistan. That’s what the political history of Pakistan of last 60 years!

A police officer inspects the scene of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan's assassination in Tehran on Wednesday, January 11, 2012.

A SENIOR lawmaker says assassination of Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan proves that the confidential information provided to international bodies by Iran has been leaked to the country's enemies.

“The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must be trusted by nations because nations and governments give their documents to the agency," said speaker of the Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Kazem Jalali on Wednesday.

“How the enemies of [the Islamic] establishment have obtained the names and information of our country's elite is a question we would like to know the answer to,” he added.

Jalali stressed that the IAEA, international community and the UN nuclear agency's member states using their membership against the Islamic Republic must be held accountable for their actions.

The lawmaker said the resemblance of the Wednesday assassination and other Zionist-American killings indicate that the “principle of assassination has been institutionalized in the American system and Zionist regime.”

“Assassinations like what happened in Tehran this morning lack operational value as such assassinations are called blind [acts of terror] which prove the maximum frustration of the enemies because they have not been able to weaken the [Iranian] nation's resolve and therefore resort to any shameful measure,” Jalali said.

Ahmadi Roshan was a Sharif University of Technology chemical engineering graduate and served as the deputy director of marketing at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility.

On Wednesday morning, an unknown motorcyclist attached a sticky bomb to Ahmadi Roshan's car near Allameh Tabatabaei University in Tehran.

Ahmadi Roshan was immediately killed as the result of explosion, and his driver, who had sustained injures, passed away a few hours later in hospital.

The latest terrorist attack comes as Iran has reached an agreement with the P5+1 -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany - to hold negotiations in Turkey.

The US, Israel and their allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and have used this allegation as a pretext to sway the UNSC to impose four rounds of sanctions on Iran.

Based on these accusations, they have also repeatedly threatened Tehran with the "option" of a military strike.

This is while in November 2011, some of the US presidential hopefuls called for conducting covert operations ranging from assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists to launching a military strike on Iran as well as sabotaging Tehran's nuclear program.

The calls for assassinations are not idle threats as a number of Iranian scientists have been assassinated over the past few years. Professor Majid Shahriari and Professor Masoud Ali-Mohammadi are among the victims of these acts of terror.

On November 29, 2010, Shahriari and Fereydoun Abbasi were targeted by terrorist attacks; Shahriari was killed immediately and Dr. Abbasi, the current director of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, only sustained injuries.

Iran says as the UN Resolution 1747, adopted against Tehran in March 2007, cited Abbasi's name as a "nuclear scientist," the perpetrators were in a position to trace their victim.

According to reports, Ahmadi Roshan had recently met International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, a fact which indicates that the IAEA has leaked information about Iran's nuclear facilities and scientists.

PRESS TV

This May, as Muslims mark the twentieth anniversary of the induction of Al-Rashid Masjid in Fort Edmonton Park, the country’s largest living history museum, the spotlight will be on the leadership role of Muslim women in this historic event.

FIFTY years after they burst onto the front line to help complete the construction of Canada’s first mosque in 1938, Muslim women took over a floundering campaign to save it from demolition. They surprised many by not only preserving this irreplaceable piece of Canadian heritage but enshrining it in the history museum. Al-Rashid, once a bustling hub of community life, started drifting into disrepair after the congregation outgrew it and moved to a new Islamic centre in 1982. Numerous efforts to raise money and find a new location for the old structure failed. Al-Rashid was set for demolition in 1988. Out of options, the Muslim community could only hope for a miracle.

To many, including Canadians of other faiths, the loss of the country’s oldest mosque and a Canadian heritage building was unthinkable. Al-Rashid was more than a place of worship. It was also the story of the struggle, adjustment and integration of early Muslim settlers.

While the community braced itself for the inevitable, the Terrific Twelve, a group of twelve women who belonged to a relatively new and untested organisation, the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW), which was founded in 1982 to speak for Muslim women, defiantly dug in to save the mosque. Led by Lila Fahlman and Razia Jaffer, founder and president of CCMW respectively, these young, highly educated women of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds included second-generation Canadians and new immigrants, working moms, full-time homemakers and single professional women.

Their audacity to take on what had thwarted community leaders sparked a buzz. The media was taken by surprise by this “strange twist” because the Terrific Twelve did not fit the stereotype of Muslim women as subservient housewives. Within the Muslim community itself, there were sceptics. Doubts were raised about the ability of a women’s organisation to lead the project. Some called the move naïve, while others welcomed it.

Unfazed, the women pressed on. Their unyielding resolve won over many naysayers and inspired a dispirited Muslim community. They formed alliances with Canadian mainstream organisations interested in preserving old and unique buildings in order to draw upon their influence, and launched an educational campaign to calm the fears of those who viewed the admission of a mosque into a Canadian history museum as a “foreign intrusion”, emphasising the contribution of Albertans of all faiths in building the mosque and the deep Muslim roots in the country that predate the Canadian Confederation in 1867.

In the end, they prevailed. Funds were raised and conservation authorities agreed that the mosque, as an historic place with heritage value, deserved a place in the history museum. In 1992, a renovated Al-Rashid, repaired to the meticulous standards prescribed for the heritage buildings and restored to its 1938 look with the original furnishings, opened to the public in Fort Edmonton Park amid tributes to the leadership of these remarkable women.

Today, the mosque is a living legacy for all Canadians. Instead of hewing to the old thinking, the Terrific Twelve transformational leaders challenged ingrained attitudes, discarded outdated assumptions and shifted the way local authorities see the collective heritage of all Canadians.

Preserving Al-Rashid was not a Muslim issue, they argued – to the surprise of many Muslims. As a heritage building, it belonged to all Canadians and they shared the obligation to pass their collective heritage to the next generation, undiminished. Their call was heard. Prominent organisations like Fort Edmonton Foundation and the Alberta Historical Society committed funds, making it the only instance that a Muslim religious institution was wholly funded by Canadians with contributions from mainstream organisations.

Simple as this sounds, it was in fact a big leap in thinking and orientation. It made Muslims see themselves as an integral part of the broader society and made all Canadians aware that Canadian

Daood Hamdani (hamdani@sympatico.ca) is a pioneer in the study of Muslim Canadians, faculty member of the Canadian Muslim Leadership Institute and author of “The Al-Rashid: Canada’s First Mosque 1938” and “In the Footsteps of Canadian Muslim Women 1837-2007”.