NY Times Square bomb attempt

[ajtr]

Philip J. Crowley
Assistant Secretary
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
May 5, 2010​

DEPARTMENT
Ongoing Investigation of Bomb Plot in Times Square/ focus primarily overseas/ Ambassador Patterson met with President Zardari and Foreign Minister Qureshi/ spoke with Interior Minister Malik.
Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Holbrooke spoke with Foreign Minister Qureshi/ Pakistan cooperating fully with investigation
Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration in Juba continuing discussion on Comprehensive Peace Agreement/ travel to Darfur tomorrow
A/S Campbell departs for Canberra to participate in commemorative service marking the anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea/ Travel to Manila on May 7 for the U.S.- ASEAN Dialogue
U.S. welcomes the launch of the Truth Commission in Honduras/ A/S Kelly and D/A/S Reynoso attended the launch ceremony of the Truth Commission.
A/S Valenzuela is in Panama leading the U.S. delegation to the U.S.-SICA Dialogue/Will meet with President Martinelli and other representatives from civil society
U/S Otero and A/S Gordon will host first global issues dialogue between the U.S. and Norway at the Department of State
USAID Administrator Shah will deliver a speech at George Washington University today
Special Envoy Mitchell completed meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu/ Will meet with President Abbas on Friday/ Mitchell leaves region on Sunday

PAKISTAN
Times Square Bomb Plot investigation is ongoing/ FBI and DOJ in lead/ U.S. - Pakistan exchanging information / Coordinating with Intelligence Agencies/ U.S. recognizes this is a shared threat and responsibility/ Encouraged by Pakistan's response/ Not in a position to verify number of arrests in Pakistan/ International implication to Time Square plot/ Confident in pledge of cooperation from Pakistan/ Special Representative Holbrook spoke with Ambassador Haqqani

GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL
U.S. evaluating assistance offers/ Thanked the countries for their offers/ State Department has not received any offer from any Iranian entity/ Coast Guard has taken the lead in evaluation of assistance

NORTH KOREA
Cannot verify Kim Jong-il comments in China/ U.S. shared views with China/ Hope North Korea will meet its commitments and cease provocative behavior
U.S. supports South Korean investigation into sinking of naval vessel/ Will draw conclusions once the investigation is complete

MIDDLE EAST PEACE
Special Envoy Mitchell in the Region/No particular readout on Mitchell meetings with Netanyahu/ Mitchell will have multiple meetings on both sides/ Will have a better characterization situation at the end of the meetings/ Mitchell said the meetings were good and productive
U.S. supports the 1995 resolution on Middle East/ Will continue talks throughout the course of RevCon

SUDAN
General Gration remains Special Envoy/ continues to shape policy/ Face challenges in January referendum/ Gration has full confidence of Administration/ Vote will take place in January/ U.S. has to be prepared for a vote that leads to a new country in January 2011


TRANSCRIPT:
1:35 p.m. EDT

MR. CROWLEY: Good afternoon and welcome to the Department of State. A number of things to talk about before taking your questions.

Obviously, we at the Department of State continue to do everything that we can in support of the ongoing investigation of the attempted bombing in Times Square last weekend. Our focus is primarily overseas. Today, Ambassador Anne Patterson had meetings with President Zardari, Foreign Minister Qureshi, she spoke with Pakistani Interior Minister Malik. She will continue to have other meetings with senior Pakistani officials in the coming days to work collectively on this investigation.

Richard Holbrooke this morning also had a conversation with Foreign Minister Qureshi. The Pakistanis are fully cooperating in the investigation. They recognize, as we do, that this is a shared responsibility and a shared threat to both of us. During the course of the conversation between Ambassador Holbrooke and Foreign Minister Qureshi, he mentioned Pakistan's gratitude for the strong statement by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York regarding – cautioning everyone to avoid any backlash against Muslims who are Pakistani Americans. Obviously, there are hundreds of thousands of Pakistani Americans here in the United States. They enrich our society and our culture and we value them as part of the American community. I'm sure you'll have more questions for me on that subject.

Turning to the oil spill, we have 13 countries and entities, the United Nations and a number of countries who have offered specific assistance. Again, as a policy matter, we're not going to identify those offers of assistance until we are able to see what we need, assess the ongoing situation. And as we accept those offers of assistance, we will inform you. But the nature of the assistance that has been offered by many, many friends and neighbors in this hemisphere and elsewhere include oil dispersant, booms, skimmers, oil pumps, and engineers and other experts. And as we – as I said yesterday, the Coast Guard is taking the lead in terms of evaluating what we need, but we do expect to make decisions on some of these offers of assistance in the next day or two.

U.S. Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration is currently in Juba continuing his discussions with leaders of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the Government of Southern Sudan to discuss the remaining issues around the full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and preparations for the January 2011 referendum on self-determination for Southern Sudan. He travels to Darfur tomorrow, where he will meet with United Nations and African Union – the African Union mission in Darfur.

Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell departed Washington last night. He should arrive in Canberra some time later today. He will participate in the commemorative service marking the anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea. He will also be holding meetings not only with government officials and opposition leaders while he's in Australia. He will then move to Manila on May 7, where he will represent the United States at the 23rd U.S.-ASEAN Dialogue. And then during his time in Manila, he will also participate in the U.S.-lower Mekong senior officials meeting. He will make other stops in the region while he is there, but the remainder of his itinerary is still under – yet to be determined.

In Honduras, we welcome the launch yesterday of the Truth Commission, which fulfills a key element of the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord. The Truth Commission, which we fully support, is expected to undertake important fact-finding responsibilities, including implementing the report of human rights abuses that occurred in relation to the coup and during the period of the de facto regime.

Our Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Craig Kelly and Deputy Assistant Secretary Julissa Reynoso also attended the ceremony yesterday in Honduras to launch the Truth Commission and demonstrate our support for this important step towards Honduran national reconciliation. Also in the region, Assistant Secretary Arturo Valenzuela is now in Panama, leading the U.S. delegation to the U.S.-Central American Integration System, or SICA, dialogue. While in Panama, he will also meet with President Ricardo Martinelli, Vice President and Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Varela and other representatives from civil society, academia, and the private sector.

Tomorrow, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero and Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Phil Gordon will host the first global issues dialogue between the United States and Norway here at the Department of State. The Norwegian delegation will be led by State Secretary Gry Larsen. Issues to be discuss include climate change, the Arctic, global health, water, human rights, European security, nonproliferation and disarmament.

Later today – late this afternoon, USAID Administrator Raj Shah will deliver a speech on USAID's approach to high-impact development nearby here at George Washington University, hosted by the Global Leadership Coalition. I think that speech starts at 4 p.m.

Senator George Mitchell has completed a good and productive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu this evening and will continue his discussions with the prime minister tomorrow night. He will see President Abbas on Friday evening and also Saturday. And we hope and expect formally to move forward with the proximity talks before Senator Mitchell leaves the region on Sunday.

And finally before taking you questions, over the past few hours, we've done an intensive search here at the Department of State – every nook and cranny, every rock – and we can safely report that Usama bin Ladin is not here. (Laughter.)

No, it was an interview with the president --

QUESTION: Right – greater Washington or you've looked at the State Department?

MR. CROWLEY: Just the confines of our State Department, but it was reported by the president of Iran that he is here in Washington. That's news to us.

QUESTION: Let's --

MR. CROWLEY: And thank you for laughing, by the way.

QUESTION: Let's hope we don't find him here after you've said that.

MR. CROWLEY: I'm pretty confident of that.

QUESTION: I don't know. There were some strange looking people down at the cafeteria. (Laughter.) On Pakistan – on Pakistan?

MR. CROWLEY: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Can you be a little bit more specific about these conversations that Ambassador Patterson had and Ambassador Holbrooke had with their interlocutors?

MR. CROWLEY: In what respect? Well, I mean, the investigation is obviously ongoing. The FBI and Justice Department are in the lead. Pakistan is taking its own steps and we expect we'll do more as more information is yielded through this investigation. So I think we have a full and complete pledge of cooperation from Pakistan. We're heartened by that. And we will move forward step by step as we go through this and try to determine who else might be implicated.

QUESTION: Yeah, but what did they talk about?

MR. CROWLEY: I mean, the --

QUESTION: Did Patterson walk into Zardari's office and he said "We're going to cooperate fully," and she said "Great, thanks," and then left? What did they – can you – I mean, is there any substance there?

MR. CROWLEY: Of course there's substance there, but – I mean, we will be exchanging information as the investigation is ongoing. Whatever leads are generated --

QUESTION: Okay. Well, was there an exchange?

MR. CROWLEY: -- here in the United States, we would fully expect Pakistan to follow up on. Pakistan, as you're seeing, has already taken its own steps. I'll defer to the Pakistani Government to describe what it is doing. So we are touching all the right bases. You have law enforcement, intelligence officials that have established contact with their counterparts in Pakistan. And I mean, remember, we are still in the early stages of this investigation.

QUESTION: Right. I guess – but I just – what was the purpose of these meetings?

MR. CROWLEY: The purpose of the meetings was to operationalize that as we have an investigation here, it is to inform Pakistan that we – there are clear links to Pakistan and that we would fully expect them to do what they should do and what they have been doing. I mean, as you know, Pakistan has itself faced this significant threat. Probably in the last year, there have been more Pakistanis killed by terrorists than in any other country. We've long recognized that this is – it's a shared threat, it's a shared responsibility, and there's a commitment on both sides to fully cooperate as this investigation unfolds.

Once you get that kind of political commitment, then it moves down through the relevant agencies. And we are encouraged by Pakistan's response since the bombing happened, or the attempted bombing happened on Saturday.

QUESTION: That means that you're pleased with what they've done so far?

MR. CROWLEY: I'll defer to Pakistan to --

QUESTION: I'm not asking what they've done.

MR. CROWLEY: Yeah. I mean --

QUESTION: Are you happy with what they've done so far?

MR. CROWLEY: I think it's more a matter of what we do from this point forward.

QUESTION: P.J., let me try it a little different way. Did they talk about arrests that the Pakistanis had made?

MR. CROWLEY: I will defer to – we are certainly aware of various reports of arrests. We don't have a number that we can verify. That really is for Pakistan to announce. Obviously, the individual in custody had links to Pakistan, has family members in Pakistan, and I think we understand that there are – that law enforcement have made contacts with family members and are questioning them and are (inaudible) taking their own steps to do their part of this investigation.

QUESTION: Look. Ambassador Patterson was in a meeting with senior Pakistani officials.

MR. CROWLEY: We are not --

QUESTION: I'm not asking you to --

MR. CROWLEY: Okay.

QUESTION: -- announce arrests. You say you've seen reports of arrests. Did the subject of arrests come up in a meeting that your ambassador was in -- or in the meetings?

MR. CROWLEY: I happened to talk to Ambassador Patterson this morning myself. I asked her about that issue. And she indicated, at this point, we are not in a position to verify any number of arrests by Pakistan.

Yes.

QUESTION: There have been some reports about ties between Pakistan's ISI and militants in Waziristan. Did this come up at all with Ambassador – did Ambassador Patterson bring this up at all?

MR. CROWLEY: I mean, without prejudicing the current investigation, let me take it slightly higher. This has been a topic of conversation between the United States and Pakistan for several years. And obviously, Pakistan in the last couple of years has recognized that elements in the past that Pakistan has supported and links – potential links between terrorist networks or terrorist organizations now threatens not only regional security, but Pakistan itself.

So – but let's not jump ahead of the current investigation. Clearly, there are international implications to what occurred in Times Square. We are investigating those. We would expect Pakistan – and would fully expect Pakistan will help us with that. But as to where that investigation takes us, this is still way too early to make that judgment.

Jill.

QUESTION: P.J., a change of subject?

MR. CROWLEY: Go ahead.

QUESTION: No, wait. Can we stay – can we please stay on this?

MR. CROWLEY: Sure.

QUESTION: Are you seeking access to anyone who might be detained by the Pakistanis? Have you requested --

MR. CROWLEY: Since – we are not aware of any specific arrests at this point, but I think you safely – safe to say that our law enforcement-intelligence relationship is very strong. Should there be arrests and should we see clear links to what happened here – we have, in the past, asked for that kind of access, but that's more an issue for Justice.

QUESTION: Well, but wouldn't the request come from you? And in the past, you asked – you have asked for access, and you've been turned down.

MR. CROWLEY: Yeah. Well, all right. This is part of the investigation, and for that, I would defer to Justice. But I think we are confident in our – the relationship we have, and let's let the investigation take its course.

QUESTION: Well, but the record isn't – the record of cooperation in this area is not – I mean, you haven't yet ever been able to talk to A.Q. Khan.

MR. CROWLEY: I think – put it – rest assured that Pakistan understands that this investigation is important to the United States, it is important to Pakistan. We will expect full cooperation. There has been a pledge of full cooperation. And now as we go forward, I think based on those strong political commitments, I think we are confident that we can work through those issues together.

QUESTION: Did the ambassador – when she met with Zardari and Qureshi, did she give a – sort of a list of things that the U.S. would consider full cooperation? You say we expect to have it in (inaudible) future. Is there a game plan for how this goes forward – that she was bringing to them?

MR. CROWLEY: I think that – I mean, as our investigation here proceeds, and to the extent it points to possible events in Pakistan, I expect we will make specific requests of Pakistan in terms of cooperation. But we're still very early in the investigation.

QUESTION: Just following up, did the ambassador give a list of names of associates of the suspect Shahzad here, to check out?

MR. CROWLEY: I mean that – those are the kinds of things that are – that can be done at that level, but it also can be done at a working level.

QUESTION: So you --

MR. CROWLEY: Again, I'm just trying to say, look, I'm not going to get into the tos and fros of the investigation of itself. We are confident that we have a pledge of cooperation from Pakistan. I think there's a mutual recognition of why this is important to both countries. And now, we've got to let the investigation take its course.

QUESTION: So is that essentially what the meeting – the two meetings were, is just getting a pledge of cooperation?

MR. CROWLEY: I'm not going to – I wasn't in the meetings with the ambassador and the president and the foreign minister.

QUESTION: Well, you spoke to Ambassador Patterson.

MR. CROWLEY: I understand that. I'm just – I'm telling – but –

QUESTION: When you came out and you announced that these meetings had happened, it was the first thing you said.

MR. CROWLEY: We came away from these contacts today with full confidence that we are on the same page in terms of how this investigation will proceed.

QUESTION: Just to pin something else down, did Ambassador Patterson have any meetings with Pakistani officials yesterday as well, or just today? And the same for Ambassador Holbrooke, in addition to the (inaudible).

MR. CROWLEY: I think yesterday, Ambassador Holbrooke talked with Ambassador Haqqani, the Pakistani ambassador to the United States. I'm sure that Anne Patterson had contacts with Pakistani officials yesterday. I mean, she meets with them all the time, so it could well be that she had regularly scheduled meetings and then this issue was part of that discussion.

Jill.

QUESTION: P.J., on the oil slick, you mentioned that it's a policy matter that you're not revealing the names. And yet during Katrina, the U.S. Government actually did reveal the names. Why not --

MR. CROWLEY: I mean, I'm not saying we won't.

QUESTION: -- do it – why not do it at this point, because --

MR. CROWLEY: I'm not saying we won't. I'm saying that once we evaluate the offers of assistance as we accept them, we will let you know.

QUESTION: Yes, but if – at this point, when there are countries that are out there that are offering assistance --

MR. CROWLEY: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION: -- and the U.S. basically just kind of puts that aside and says wait until we find out what we need, why not – it just seems almost insulting to those countries. Why not thank them now and then get to the point of --

MR. CROWLEY: I mean, to those countries that have offered assistance, we do thank them now. And if they choose to make available in public what they have offered us, that's up to them.

QUESTION: Have you thanked them --

MR. CROWLEY: Huh?

QUESTION: -- publicly? We don't even know who they are.

MR. CROWLEY: Well, we – obviously, between embassies here and posts where these countries have offered assistance, we have already thanked them for their offer and we are evaluating those offers. As we accept those offers, at that point we'll make that information public.

QUESTION: Do you consider the Iranian offer of assistance --

MR. CROWLEY: There was no Iranian offer of assistance.

QUESTION: There was no Iranian offer?

MR. CROWLEY: I mean, in his various media interviews yesterday, it's possible that President Ahmadinejad mentioned an offer of support, but there is no offer of support from the Iranian Government at this point.

QUESTION: There is an offer from the NDIC, you know, the National Iranian Drilling Company, I believe it is, which has been reported in the Iranian media.

MR. CROWLEY: We have received no offer from any Iranian entity.

QUESTION: It seems like it's been quite a while since this began. Can you help us understand why it's taking so long to figure out what you need?

MR. CROWLEY: For that, I would defer to the Coast Guard. I mean, as we go through – I mean, I'll defer to the Coast Guard in terms of – I mean, of how we're deploying things and how this kind of equipment and personnel may fit into that. But the Coast Guard has taken the lead in terms of the evaluation of assistance.

QUESTION: P.J. --

MR. CROWLEY: We're coordinating that, but as to whether we feel we need this particular technology, that's a Coast Guard decision.

QUESTION: Could I just make sure that I understand? When you say no – received no offer from any Iranian entity, does that mean government entity?

MR. CROWLEY: There's no Iranian entity that has come to the State Department and offered any assistance, okay, whether they've released a press release or something else. But we have no information that any Iranian entity at this point has offered us any assistance.

QUESTION: Well, if you won't tell us which countries have offered, maybe you can go down the list of countries that haven't.

MR. CROWLEY: Something between 13 and 192.

QUESTION: Yeah. I don't understand, if you're willing to say that there was no offer from Iran, why you're not willing to say where there were --

MR. CROWLEY: Okay. I understand the question.

QUESTION: But you're not going to answer it?

MR. CROWLEY: (Laughter.)

QUESTION: P.J., do you have any comment on the report that Kim Jong-il said in Beijing North Korea is ready to return to Six-Party Talks?

MR. CROWLEY: I cannot verify what Kim Jong-il has said anywhere in China. We obviously are aware he's there. It's been reported there will be meetings between senior Chinese officials and North Korean officials tomorrow. We have shared our views with China in anticipation of this meeting. We hope that North Korea will live up to its obligations and meet its commitments. We hope that North Korea will cease its provocative behavior, but then we'll see what comes out of the meeting tomorrow.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) your understanding was that he was there. Do you know if he has his son with him?

MR. CROWLEY: I – we do not.

QUESTION: I'm sorry, you do not know or you don't --

MR. CROWLEY: Well, I don't. I don't --

QUESTION: You don't know; not that you don't believe that he --

MR. CROWLEY: I don't know.

QUESTION: Thank you. That was --

QUESTION: Does the provocative behavior include anything that happened to a South Korean naval vessel a few weeks ago?

MR. CROWLEY: On that, we continue to support South Korea as it investigates that incident.

QUESTION: If I understand, then you think the response to sinking of Cheonan and the resumption of Six-Party Talks separate as two track; is that right?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, certainly, North Korea's behavior has affected the pace of talks in the past. We are fully supportive of South Korea's investigation, and obviously, when that investigation is completed, we will all draw conclusions and implicate – and then we'll have potential implications. Let's get to the end of the investigation first.

QUESTION: On Mitchell?

MR. CROWLEY: Hold. A follow-up?

QUESTION: Follow-up. You said on this podium yesterday you hope that North Korea will come back to Six-Party Talks. It means if Kim Jong-il in Beijing right now make decision and express come back to Six-Party Talks, you take part in Six-Party Talks?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, there are a couple of ifs there. Let's see, but – I mean, we are – there are things that North Korea has to do if this process is going to move forward. And its behavior, living up to its obligations, meeting its commitments that it's made over a number of years – those are things that North Korea has to do. And let's see what they're prepared to do. Meanwhile, we'll take note of the meeting tomorrow and we'll continue to work with South Korea on this investigation.

QUESTION: On Mitchell?

MR. CROWLEY: Yeah.

QUESTION: He met with Netanyahu today. What did they talk about? Are they any closer to – are you any closer to getting what you want out of the Israelis?

MR. CROWLEY: I think let's go through – we have a sequence of meetings with a variety of officials. It might be more fruitful to get through the weekend, come back, and he'll report to the Secretary as to what was discussed. But clearly, the benefit of these talks – issues can be discussed, they can be evaluated, and follow-up meetings can further refine what was discussed. So I don't have a particular readout from George Mitchell today, but we're going to have multiple meetings on the Israeli side and multiple meetings on the Palestinian side. It's hard to characterize after one of a series of meetings where we are.

QUESTION: Is it your view that the proximity talks have, in fact, now begun?

MR. CROWLEY: It is our view that George Mitchell is in the region. He is meeting with Israeli and Palestinian officials. I think on the Palestinian side, they have, in consultations in light of the Arab League meeting and decision of last weekend – they want to consult with their own leadership. So at the end of these string of meetings, we'll be in a position to characterize where we are.

QUESTION: Well – so, in other words, you don't think that they'd be – this doesn't – this isn't any --

MR. CROWLEY: I'm not going to characterize. There are meetings going on. I'm not going to characterize what they mean until we finish the --

QUESTION: Well --

MR. CROWLEY: -- four days.

QUESTION: Just to go back, I mean, you're saying you can't characterize the meetings that Mitchell had with Netanyahu, but you did say that they were good and productive. I'm wondering what – on what basis you label them thus.

MR. CROWLEY: George Mitchell left the meeting and said they were good and productive.

QUESTION: But he didn't give you any details?

MR. CROWLEY: And you know George Mitchell as well as I do. He's --

QUESTION: Probably not.

MR. CROWLEY: He keeps particulars to himself.

QUESTION: I have another one.

MR. CROWLEY: Sure.

QUESTION: On – this also has to do with Israel. It's about, actually, the P-5 statement in the UN today on the Middle East nuclear-weapons-free zone and the P-5 all saying that they back committing to full implementation of the 1995 resolution to that. And I'm wondering why does the U.S. feel – why did you join in this statement today? And what do you think needs to be done in order to bring that 1995 resolution to fruition?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, the – and I think we're going to release as a Media Note the formal text of that agreement here shortly. As the Secretary affirmed in New York on Monday, we continue to support the 1995 resolution on the Middle East. And with this P-5+1 reaffirmation, if you will, I think that puts us in a position to continue to promote this and the further discussions that we'll have within the NPT, including with nonaligned countries. So this is obviously an issue of importance for them and we will continue to talk about this through the course of the RevCon.

QUESTION: The Secretary said, if I remember right, that the conditions were not right yet for this to happen. What conditions need to be in place in order for this to actually come into force? What isn't there that needs to be there?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, a comprehensive peace agreement would be helpful.

QUESTION: So you need Middle East peace before we can even think about --

MR. CROWLEY: I mean, significant progress in that direction, I think might give people confidence that the conditions could emerge that allow this to advance.

QUESTION: Well, even if Iran is still acting the way it's acting now?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, a comprehensive peace --

QUESTION: It wouldn't include Iran, I don't believe, would it?

MR. CROWLEY: But a comprehensive peace would indicate that groups that Iran has supported that, have up until now, undercut progress in – towards Middle East peace might themselves be willing to accept Israel and recognize existing agreements and themselves be willing to become a constructive part of the process.

QUESTION: But Iran itself, which Israel regards as an existential threat, that wouldn't be a part of that. So are you of the opinion that if there is a comprehensive peace, that Israel will be able --

MR. CROWLEY: I'm not making any bold --

QUESTION: Israel will give up its nukes?

MR. CROWLEY: -- predictions of the future. I'm just saying that, as an example, progress towards Middle East peace is the kind of thing that would give people confidence to consider things like the – to pursue things like the vision of a region without weapons of mass destruction.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: No, wait, wait. I've got one more. The chorus of people calling for Scott Gration to be removed from his position is getting larger and larger by the day. The latest was Congressman Wolf, who has been very active in this issue. I'm wondering if General Gration – is he a general?

MR. CROWLEY: He is a retired major general --

QUESTION: He's a retired general.

MR. CROWLEY: -- in the Air Force.

QUESTION: Gration – if he still has the confidence of the Secretary and the Administration and if – or if you're planning on doing what Congressman Wolf says, which is for the Secretary and for Ambassador Rice to take over his portfolio.

MR. CROWLEY: Well, General Gration remains our special envoy. He is on the ground in Sudan as we speak. He helped, along with others, including the Secretary and Ambassador Rice, shape our Sudan policy. It is our firm belief that we have no time to waste. You are going to see later this week with the inauguration of President Kiir and later in the month with the installation of the northern government that you have the institutions that are necessary for – to proceed with full implementation of the CPA. That's Scott's message in the region this week, that we face a very steep hill towards the referendum in January. And should the South vote to secede, it's only six months from that point to where you have the emergence of a new country.

So there's no time to waste. There's a lot of very complex and important issues that have to be resolved – border demarcation, how to resolve and share energy resources within Sudan. So that has been our focus. Scott Gration has helped us shape this policy and he has the full confidence of the Administration and the Secretary of State.

QUESTION: So all of your contingency planning now is based on the assumption that they are going to – that the South is going to secede?

MR. CROWLEY: They will get to vote in January. But we have to be prepared for a vote that will lead to a new country in January 2011.

QUESTION: Are you prepared for a vote the other way, or do you – you just don't think that's going to happen?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, that ultimately is a decision for the people of --

QUESTION: No, I know. But it's --

MR. CROWLEY: -- of South Sudan, of Abyei, Blue Nile, others. But we have to be prepared for that possibility. And for those who know Sudan – you're one of them – that is a very distinct possibility --

QUESTION: Yes.

MR. CROWLEY: -- if not probability.

QUESTION: Thank you.

 

[Oracle]

Are we slow today ?




He is from a liberal privileged background. His form of escapism was terrorism. He was not a hardened jihadi but he was disturbed enough by the circumstances to kill lives of hundreds of innocents and then escape back to Pakistan leaving behind his wife and children/

Now, in which world would a person besieged by problems commit terrorism ? There has been a fundamental change in teh thinking of an average Pakistani. They can justify killings of others and sympathy and kinship with terrorists whom they also called the Soldiers' of God. THis is a malaise which is eating up into the Pakistani society and is clearly as a result of Pakistani ideology being essentially Islamic ideology.

Pakistani ideology OK. But Islamic ideology? Why then Muslims in India are progressing and Muslims in Pakistan are becoming terrorists. The religion itself is not responsible, it is those people who distort the teachings of Islam for their own hateful propaganda.

 

[Oracle]

dont close mosque but sure keep tab on mullahs who gives inflammatory speeches during juma prayers.That one reason of brain washing masses.

But then again, it depends upon ordinary Pakistani citizens, to either accept hateful speeches and become a Jihadi or report this matter to authorities. How Pakistani authorities will deal with this is another matter altogether.

 

[nitesh]

guys it is not that educated and liberal Pakistanis are becoming terrorists now they were having terrorist mentality from the beginning till now they were hiding it in front and using the illiterates to do there job. Terrorism is in there core ,till now there deep hatred towards India and lust for money is used by others like US to use them like a client state and once any of them is out of money there inner one comes out. I have posted the link which shows clearly that this guy wanted to go to Afghanistan and his father refused like a true blue blood elite Pakistani because they are used to use the illiterates to do there job, but even as for his father which is/was part of the establishment the fight in Afghanistan is against US (infidels) hence no need to report to any one, or if some one pays money then some thing can be thought about. This guy should have been arrested at that time and his links should have been exposed long time back but this not how Pakistani establishment work they will support the jihad till it does not turns against them. Now see this guys father in law got arrested but not his father interesting na.

 

[Logan]

Can't understand that on what ideologies and principles these people from Pakistan are brought up on ,,,,that persuades them to take up extremism with little or no provocation at all,,,they do not seem to have faith on the principle of any country.India has always been a target of Pakistani extremist groups since years,,and now they have turned the heat on their long term ally the U.S.
I think it's high time for the US to act decisively against Pakistan and not just pass a handful of comments and be done with it.....

 

[sunnyv]

An attack will force India to wage a full scale war. It is rather unfortunate that we have increased our threshold of pain.

Its a possibility , several times our Defence minister and Home minister has said openly , If any more attacks like Mumbai occur we will not hesitate to strike Pakistan.

The aim of these outfits is to usurp power.

Rt now these agencies are on run and desperate , to divert attention of US and Pak army they may resort to attack india .

DO you still think there are core issues between India and Pakistan which are responsible for Pakistan becoming the epicentre of Terrorism ?

Although issue was started by Americans by arming leaders and Laden , Pakistanis stepped one step further -and used this as a tool to gain leverage over us and Kashmir.
Now that we have moved on path of growth and prosperity after toiling hard for 50 Years , i think we have more to loose than Pakistan in case of war and believe me our Forces are so strong within a week of war Pakistan will be forced to use Nuclear heads . They dont have anything to loose but we have too much to ..........
Core issue still remains unsolved - Terrorism , its for the diplomacy of Manmohan Singh gov to use all its resources and pressurize Pakistan to end terrorism for good of whole region.

Pakistan, irrespective, has been the worst thing for the region. And stop blaming others, Pakistan itself is responsible for its mess.

Fully agree ,
Pakistan is the worst thing that could have happened to this world but imagine a destabilized Pakistan - People like Zaid Hamid full of hatred in control of nukes ready to fire it at us.
Secondly its the Americans who started this idea and they armed and keep arming Pakistan for what ????????
US was the one who was ready to attack india in 71 if we were to trounce Pakistan , we did but it was Russia our friend that kept US out of this.
I think for this menace if Pakistan is to be blamed then US should also be - They are not saint , if req they will use this policy of islamic proxy war against us when we become Superpower.

 

[DaRk WaVe]

Beyond Times Square: The Growing Threat from Pakistan - TIME​

Not long ago, a bomb attack on New York City's Times Square would have had intelligence officials and terrorism experts checking off the usual suspects among the sources of terrorist plots against the U.S. — Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq. But these days, says a top counterterrorism official, "when I hear of a terrorist plot, I can count back from 10, and before I get to zero, someone will bring up the P word."

That's P for Pakistan.

Over the past couple of years, more plots against U.S. targets have emanated from or had a strong connection to Pakistan than any other country. Says the counterterrorism official, who was briefed on the hunt for the Times Square bomber but is not authorized to speak with the media: "It was totally predictable that the smoking Pathfinder would lead to someone with Pakistan in his past."
(See the making of a Mumbai terrorist.)

Nor would it come as a surprise if it were revealed that Faisal Shahzad, who has claimed to investigators that he was working alone, was in fact linked to an ever lengthening list of extremist groups operating in Pakistan's northern wilds. These groups, whose attacks had long been confined to the Indian subcontinent, are now emerging as a deadly threat to the U.S. and its allies. As the core of al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, wilts under the constant pounding from the CIA's Predator drone campaign, Pakistani groups are mounting operations deep into the West.

Such groups as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) have not yet notched major successes against U.S. targets to match Hizballah's bombings in 1980s Lebanon or al-Qaeda's destruction of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998. But they have lately mounted operations of great audacity and sophistication. LeT has been operating in Europe for at least a decade, initially raising funds from the large Pakistani diaspora in countries like Britain and France and later recruiting volunteers for the jihad against Western forces. At least one of the plotters of the 2005 London subway bombings was an LeT trainee, and British investigators believe the group has been connected to other plots in the U.K.
(See Mohammad Amir Ajmal Qasab's jihadist journey into India.)

The TTP, which claimed credit for Shahzad's failed bombing, was behind the suicide bombing that killed seven CIA agents in Afghanistan late last year. And in 2008, in the most spectacular attack by a Pakistani-based group on Western targets, LeT bombed and shot up a railway station, a hospital, two five-star hotels and a Jewish center in Mumbai, killing more than 160 people, including six Americans. Afterward, Indian authorities scanning a computer belonging to one of the Mumbai plotters found a list of 320 targets worldwide; only 20 were Indian.
(See who made the TIME 100.)

Now, security officials fear, Pakistani jihadis are spreading their operations across the Atlantic, recruiting U.S. citizens to their cause just as Britons were recruited a decade ago. If that assessment proves accurate, the Times Square bomb plot could be the first of more to come.
(Comment on this story.)

An Evolving Threat What are the wellsprings of Pakistani radicalism? In the 1980s, many fervently Islamic groups were set up in Pakistan to fight the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. After the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, however, these groups and their spin-offs did not lay down their arms but instead turned their attention to Pakistan's old enemy, India. Encouraged by Pakistani civilian, military and intelligence authorities, LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammed and others refashioned themselves as freedom fighters in the cause of Kashmir, the Himalayan territory claimed by both India and Pakistan. Pakistani officials regarded the jihadis as a proxy in their conflict with India, and Islamabad provided groups like LeT with land, funding and even military training, though it was understood that they could not attack targets in Pakistan or get involved in any operations against the U.S., Pakistan's ally. Though there was some low-key cooperation between the Pakistani groups and al-Qaeda, it didn't merit much attention from Washington.

After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, however, the Bush Administration began to look more closely into bin Laden's alliances. Washington pressured the Pakistani government of General Pervez Musharraf to crack down on LeT, Jaish and others, which by then were on the State Department's list of proscribed terrorist organizations. But the government in Islamabad allowed the groups to continue operations — in December 2001, LeT attacked the Indian Parliament in an audacious move that nearly brought the two countries to war — with only cosmetic changes to their names. LeT, for instance, merged with its charitable foundation, the Jamaat-ud-Dawah.

Gradually, the Pakistani groups began to broaden their targets beyond the Indian enemy. LeT propaganda, for instance, began to focus on links, real and imagined, between India, Israel and the U.S. By the mid-2000s, the group's leader, a former Islamic-studies professor named Hafiz Muhammed Saeed, began to call for a jihad against the West using language similar to those of the fatwas issued by bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders. LeT fighters began to venture out of their comfort zone, joining the fighting in Iraq.

At the same time, a new group of radicals, the TTP, had begun to emerge along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. While LeT, Jaish and other older groups were dominated by Pakistan's majority Punjabi ethnic group, the TTP was overwhelmingly Pashtun, the dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan. And the TTP never had any qualms about challenging the Pakistani state as well as NATO troops in Afghanistan. In 2007 its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, ordered the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and attacks on military targets; he also unleashed a wave of suicide bombings in Pakistani cities. While Pakistani authorities have continued to take a somewhat tolerant view of the Punjabi groups, their attitude toward the TTP is another matter. The army began to crack down on the group in 2008, and in the summer of 2009, a CIA drone took out Baitullah Mehsud. His successor, Hakimullah Mehsud, was thought to have been killed in another drone strike in January, but he re-emerged last week to claim responsibility for the Times Square attack.

Militants in Our Midst How plausible is that? U.S. officials were initially dismissive of the TTP's claims but began to reconsider once it emerged that Shahzad had been trained in bombmaking at a camp in Waziristan, which is Mehsud's stronghold. There is no doubt that the TTP and other Pakistani groups are now recruiting among Americans. Last October, the FBI arrested a Pakistani American, David Coleman Headley, and a Pakistani Canadian associate, for plotting to attack the Copenhagen offices of a Danish newspaper that had published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. More shockingly, the FBI said that Headley had been involved in the Mumbai attacks too (he had scoped out the hotels and the Jewish center for LeT) and was planning to bomb the U.S., British and Indian embassies in Dhaka, Bangladesh, before local authorities discovered the plot. In March, Headley pleaded guilty to all charges; he is now waiting to be sentenced.

The Headley revelations alarmed the Obama Administration's security team. In January, Daniel Benjamin, the State Department's top counterterrorism official, said in a speech to the Cato Institute in Washington that "very few things worry me as much as the strength and ambition of LeT." The next month, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that LeT was "becoming more of a direct threat ... placing Western targets in Europe in its sights."

The TTP is certainly doing so. In 2008, it plotted to bomb the public-transport network in Barcelona, though the operation was busted before it got much beyond the planning phase. If Shahzad was indeed acting on Mehsud's instructions, then the TTP has come closer to successfully executing a large-scale operation on American soil than any group has since Sept. 11, 2001.

Exporting Jihad It's fair to say that many analysts remain skeptical of the ability of a group like the TTP to operate outside Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mehsud lacks the kinds of networks cultivated by the Punjabi groups among Pakistanis living in the West. The TTP's fighters also tend to be poor, unsophisticated peasants from the mountains, ill equipped for foreign assignments. Besides, Mehsud and his fighters now find themselves under attack from the air (the CIA drones) as well as on the ground (the Pakistani military) and may not have the freedom to think big. They're much more likely to seek U.S. targets close at hand: in April, the TTP attacked the U.S. consulate in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

But the TTP is working on ways to export terrorism. The group's training camps in Waziristan are a magnet for Western jihadis, including U.S. citizens. Once trained, some return home and become executors of the TTP's global ambitions. It's likely that the camps attended by both Najibullah Zazi, who confessed to planning attacks on the New York subway system last year, and Shahzad, the alleged Times Square bomber, were run by the TTP. Others will no doubt follow in their footsteps. Ashley Tellis, a South Asia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says there's no reason to doubt Mehsud's determination to mount attacks in the U.S. "His group has taken very big hits from the drone campaign," he says. "He's looking for payback. We have to watch the TTP very carefully."

LeT has the same intent but much greater capabilities. It has larger international networks and access to more sophisticated urban and educated recruits — people like Headley, who can move freely in American society. Its foreign operations tend to be better planned, often in collaboration with other groups, like al-Qaeda and Jaish.

Perhaps LeT's greatest strength is the patronage it continues to receive from the Pakistani military and intelligence services. And it enjoys genuine popularity in large parts of the country, where it offers social services that the government cannot provide. After the devastating 2005 earthquake in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, LeT volunteers were often the first to arrive on the scene and provide valuable assistance. Like Hizballah in Lebanon, LeT and other Punjabi jihadist groups wield a combination of military and political power that makes them practically untouchable.

How can the Pakistani groups be combatted? Bruce Riedel, a counterterrorism expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, says the Administration's best bet is to launch a "global takedown" of Pakistani jihadi cells outside Pakistan, especially in Britain, the U.S. and the Middle East. "These external bases are the most threatening to us, much more than their operations in Pakistan," he says. As British authorities — who have had more experience with this challenge than those in the U.S. — know very well, such a takedown involves long, hard work by a host of law-enforcement agencies. And while the good guys are increasing their capabilities and understanding of the threats facing them, so are the bad guys. The Times Square bomb plot didn't go as planned. But as Riedel says, "We can't rely on them to be bad bombmakers forever."

 

[DaRk WaVe]

The Case Against a Taliban Link to Times Square​

The New York Times and others are reporting that evidence could link failed Times Square attacker, Faisal Shahzad, to the Pakistani Taliban group, Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP). The news reports, and U.S. authorities they quote, question how Shahzad, who had struggled with financial problems, got the money to buy the used Nissan SUV and the airline ticket to Pakistan, both paid for in cash. They also suggest that TTP officials could have "helped inspire and train" Shahzad during a recent trip to Pakistan, when he said he visited the war-torn region of Waziristan, where TTP has a strong presence. These are compelling signs of a TTP connection, but there are similarly compelling reasons to doubt a connection.

As the son of a high-ranking Pakistani Air Force officer, Shahzad grew up in a comfortable, upper-middle-class family. Military officials in Pakistan typically enjoy higher financial and social standing than their American counterparts. His wife also comes from a prominent and wealthy family. Speaking of a possible TTP connection, one U.S. official told the Times, "Somebody's financially sponsoring [Shahzad], and that's the link we're pursuing. ... And that would take you on the logic train back to Pak-Taliban authorizations." But it seems plausible that Shahzad could have simply gotten the money from his family. After all, many Americans borrow money from their parents to buy a car. One of the first people arrested by Pakistani authorities in connection with Shahzad was his father-in-law, Mohammad Asif Mian, an author of four books on economics and holder of two master's degrees from the Colorado School of Mines, a respected research university. If he had recently wired Shahzad money for the car and flight, perhaps believing them to be innocent purchases, that money trail would certainly lead authorities to Mian.

Reports of Shahzad's supposed Taliban associations all link him to the TTP. We in the West might be apt to mistake all South Asian terror groups as holding the same agenda, and it's true that TTP has no love for the U.S. But the TTP arose in direct response to the Pakistan military's 2004 advances into the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas, which includes Waziristan. As the military sought ot return government control to the region, Taliban elements that had focused on the war in Afghanistan organized to fight a war against the Pakistani military. For the TTP, there are few enemies more hated than the Pakistan military and few goals more high-ranking than targeting high-ranking military officials. But Shahzad's own father is a retired high-ranking military official. If he were to connect with a Pakistan-based terror group, why would he choose the one that would love to send a suicide bomber into his parents' home? And why would the group trust him?

The U.S. gains diplomatically from even the possibility of a connection. While the TTP has targeted U.S. forces in Afghanistan, they have not made the U.S. their primary target. Their tensions with the more anti-U.S. Taliban groups, which kept the TTP from engaging fully in the Afghan war, were not resolved until last March. But the U.S. has been trying for months to convince Pakistan to launch a large-scale military campaign in Waziristan. Pakistan has hesitated, as many groups there do not currently target Pakistani cities, and the military doesn't wish to provoke more internal terror. Now U.S. officials have seized on the possibility of a connection between Pakistan-based Taliban groups and anti-U.S. terrorism to pressure Pakistan into attacking Waziristan.

Even if Shahzad did meet with members of the TTP or any other organized terror group, it's important to remember that meeting with a group is not the same thing as joining it, and that receiving some training is not the same thing as being integrated into the command-and-control structure. Pakistan-based terror groups, paranoid about CIA infiltration, are extremely skeptical of American-accented, middle-class, well-educated Pakistanis who suddenly wander into their compounds after years spent in the U.S. As the New Yorker's Steve Coll explains, "At best, the jihadi groups might conclude that a particular U.S.-originated individual's case is uncertain. They might then encourage the person to go home and carry out an attack--without giving him any training or access to higher-up specialists that might compromise their local operations. They would see such a U.S.-based volunteer as a 'freebie,' the former officer said--if he returns home to attack, great, but if he merely goes off to report back to his C.I.A. case officer, no harm done."

 

[Armand2REP]

Taliban link... it is caused by the radicalisation of Pakistani primary education. This guy wasn't born into the Taliban, he sought it out. End the Wahhabi Madrasas and institute a real education that will put Pakistani children on the road to peace and prosperity.

 

[ahmedsid]

Shahzad has done a noble job, says Pakistan Taliban

http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/may/07/shahzad-has-done-a-noble-job-says-pakistan-taliban.htm


The Pakistani Taliban [ Images ] on Thursday lauded the action of Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American arrested for a botched car bombing in New York, but said he had no links to the banned militant group.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Azam Tariq denied his group had any links to the suspect while praising his bravery.

"This is a noble job and we pray that all the Muslim youths should follow Faisal Shahzad. But he is not part of our network," Tariq was quoted as saying in a report posted on the website of CBS News.

Tariq also claimed the plot to carry out the bombing in New York City was "hatched by the US and its allies to trap Muslim and Pushtun youth in terrorist activities".

He vowed that the Pakistani Taliban would "launch attacks against the US and its allies with a new zeal and style".

Saying that the "US and its European allies are our target", Tariq claimed that activists had been sent to the US and other European countries and the Taliban would launch further attacks soon. He gave no details about specific targets.

In a video posted recently on the Internet, Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud had vowed to carry out attacks on major cities in the US to avenge the killing of militant commanders like his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US drone strike last year.

 

[ahmedsid]

Good Taliban.............. Baaaaaaaaaad Talibaaaaan!

 

[ajtr]

Cagey about 26/11, Pakistan too eager to help US crack NY plot​

NEW YORK: In a far cry from the lethargic and tardy cooperation India gets from Pakistan in dealing with all things terrorism related, Islamabad went out on a limb on Wednesday to help US investigators get additional leads into the Time Square bomb plot. Pakistan-born Faisal Shahzad, who became a US citizen last year, has admitted he tried to blow up an explosives-laden Nissan Pathfinder in bustling Times Square on Saturday evening and has told the FBI he received bomb-making training in Pakistan's tribal Waziristan.

Authorities in Pakistan have been uncharacteristically swift in rounding up a number of people for questioning, as US investigators try to piece together the actions and motivations of Shahzad who comes from a wealthy Pakistani family.

CNN quoted a Pakistani official as saying that Shahzad's associate Muhammed Rehan, who was allegedly instrumental in making possible a meeting between Shahzad and at least one senior Taliban leader, was detained by Pakistan in relation to the probe.

The official said Rehan drove Shahzad on July 7 in a pickup truck to Peshawar and they headed to Waziristan, where they met senior Taliban leaders. Rehan is believed to have links to Jaish-e-Mohammed, which is close to al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban.

Iftikhar Mian, Shahzad's father-in-law, and friend Tauseef Ahmed were also reportedly picked up in Karachi along with other family members but they have not been formally arrested.

"Pakistan and the US are working very closely"¦ Shahzad is being interrogated and depending on whatever emerges, we will pick up the pieces"¦ We are cooperating 100% with the US and will get to the bottom of this," Pakistan's ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani said. Richard Holbrooke, US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, also spoke with Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and extracted a promise of full cooperation.

US officials said Shahzad, 30, is cooperating with investigators.

Shahzad is from a Pakistani family of wealth and privilege. His father, Bahar Ul Haq, was a vice-marshal in the air force. His brother is a mechanical engineer in Canada, a sister is a doctor at a hospital in Peshawar, and another sister worked as a school teacher. The Associated Press said Shahzad's wife was an American of Pakistani descent who, according to her Orkut page, liked shopping, American TV comedies and "partying every night".

The conventional wisdom, embraced by most people and even the World Bank, is that desperately poor quarters are a fertile breeding ground for terrorism. The truth is that poverty makes far less of a difference and as a group, terrorists are better educated and come from wealthier families, says Princeton economics professor Alan Krueger.

"I have found in my work that people who participate in terrorism by and large are from middle-class or upper income families. They tend to be college educated and even better educated that those in the population they come from," Krueger, author of What Makes a Terrorist, told DNA.

At least seven of the eight people arrested in the failed car bombings in Britain in 2007 were middle class doctors.

 

[ajtr]

Local Pakistan politicians shelter militants​

By KATHY GANNON (AP) – 17 hours ago
JHANG, Pakistan — It's a troubling trend in Pakistan's biggest and richest province of Punjab: Leaders there are tolerating and in some cases promoting some of the country's most violent Islamist militant groups.
Provincial officials have ignored repeated calls to crack down on militant groups with a strong presence here, with one senior minister campaigning publicly with members of an extremist group that calls for Shiite Muslims to be killed.
Some of the militant groups are allied with the northwest-based Pakistani Taliban, which claimed responsibility for a failed car bombing in New York City last week. A group based in Punjab, Jaish-e-Mohammed, also has been implicated as having possible links to one of the people detained in Pakistan in connection with the bombing attempt.
The head of the Punjab government, Shahbaz Sharif, even asked militants not to attack his province — because he was not following the dictates of the United States to fight them — much to the dismay of the central Pakistani government.
"It makes the Punjab a de facto sanctuary for the militants and extremists that the Pakistan army is fighting in the frontier and in the tribal areas," said Aida Hussain, a former ambassador to the United States and prominent Shiite leader. "In fact this is an undermining of the armed forces of Pakistan and it is an undermining of constitutional governance."
Critics believe the policy of tolerance is a shortsighted bid by Sharif and his brother, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, for political support in the predominantly Sunni province, which accounts for nearly 60 percent of Pakistan's 175 million people and much of the country's wealth.
Punjabi militants have won over fellow followers of the Deobandi sect of Islam with their radical religious interpretations and outspoken assaults on minority Shiites. This translates into votes that leaders of radical groups can bring to local politicians on both the right and the left.
"It's all about political expediency rather than outright support for these groups," said Moeed Yusuf of the United States Institute of Peace. He said the policy was risky because it sends the wrong signal to Pakistanis who have rallied behind the military in its assault on extremists in the Afghan border areas.
Signs of a militant Islamist presence are everywhere in this region.
In the blisteringly hot central Punjab town of Jhang, the outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, or Guardians of the Friends of the Prophet, has been emboldened by conciliatory signals from local authorities. After being courted for votes last March, the group ripped off yellow government seals and reopened its offices.
Their distinctive green, black and white striped flags fly defiantly atop homes and mosques. The maze of narrow streets in Jhang is littered with graffiti in support of the SSP, even though then-President Pervez Musharraf banned the organization in 2002.
The group's supporters rant against Shiites, whom they revile as heretics, demand the release of some of the country's most wanted terrorists and give sermons urging the faithful to attack their enemies.
Just a few miles (kilometers) from the Punjab provincial capital of Lahore is the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is banned in Pakistan, India, the United States and other countries but is now under provincial government protection. India blames Lashkar-e-Taiba for the deadly 2008 attacks in Mumbai and routinely harangues Pakistan for allowing its leader, Hafiz Saeed, to remain free. Pakistani authorities point to its courts, which have repeatedly said there is not enough evidence to hold him.
And in the southern Punjab city of Bawahalpur is the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed, the group possibly linked to a suspect in the Times Square bombing case. The group's leader, Masood Azhar, was among three militants freed by India in 1999 in exchange for the release of passengers aboard a hijacked Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar, Afghanistan.
"Until the (Pakistani) leadership understands the real nature of these groups, and embraces the fact that none of them can possibly remain biddable tools over the long term, Pakistan leaves itself open to being repeatedly stung," said Arthur Keller, an ex-CIA case officer in Pakistan.
Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, who is in charge of enforcing the law in Punjab province, defended his decision to campaign alongside members of the Sipah-e-Sahaba group in March. The minister said the organization represents thousands of votes and cannot be ignored.
"I think all these fears and speculation are confused in the mind of the people...mostly outsiders," he said.
He said groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba were not taking part in the war against the Taliban in the northwest, but only resisting Indian control of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. And he said the Punjab government was hoping to moderate such groups.
"If they change their direction, become more progressive, that is good," he said.
Critics believe the Punjabi government is pursuing a dangerous course because militant Islamist groups are increasingly entwined.
"You promote one organization and indirectly you promote all of them," Sheikh Waqqas Akram, a parliamentarian from Jhang, told The Associated Press.
"The dynamics have changed in Pakistan. These organizations are interlinked, organized. They have the vehicles and the weapons to carry out terrorist activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan," Akram said. "If they are not the suicide bombers, they are the ones providing the (explosives) jackets. If they are not providing the jackets, then they are providing the houses. And if they are not providing the houses, then they are providing the food."
In an interview with the AP, the director-general of Sipah-e-Sahaba, Hamid Hussain Dehlo, denied working with other militant organizations, insisting his group's only agenda "is to fight against Shiite Muslims who are the worst kafirs in the whole universe," referring to Shiites by the Arab word for "nonbeliever."
Despite Dehlo's claim, there is evidence of links to other militant groups. A spinoff group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, was believed to be involved in the 2002 kidnap-murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, and in the March 17, 2002 attack on the International Protestant Church in Islamabad during which five people, including an American mother and her daughter, were killed.
U.S. and Pakistani intelligence officials believe Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has ties to the Pakistan Taliban, as well as al-Qaida.

 

[ajtr]

Radicalization of Times Square suspect was gradual, investigators say ​

The lender foreclosed on the property, prompting speculation that financial hardship contributed to Shahzad's alleged violent turn. Bringing stacks of bills into the country could suggest that his family in Pakistan was trying to provide financial helpShahzad's open declaration of the funds points to another emerging narrative -- that even though his ties to foreign radical groups may be real, he doesn't exhibit the instincts, training or traits of a hardened terrorist. Officials note that Shahzad did much out in the open, including booking his attempted getaway ticket on the Emirates airline under his own name even while he was probably aware that investigators were tracking him.

New information also surfaced Thursday on the whereabouts of his wife, Huma Mian, and their two children. U.S. and Pakistani officials said Shahzad has told interrogators that his family members are in Saudi Arabia and that he stopped there with them to drop them off during his February return from Pakistan to the United States.

Neighbors of Shahzad in Connecticut described him as a furtive figure, who generally avoided social interactions and was sometimes seen around his house late at night. One neighbor, Brenda Thurman, described seeing a figure dressed all in black with a tight hood over his head jump over the fence into Shahzad's back yard around midnight in January 2009. She went to investigate, and it was Shahzad returning from a late-night run.

"That was the only strange thing I knew about him," Thurman said. She added that Shahzad's wife seemed to spend a good deal of money on clothes. "They really loved Kohl's and Macy's," she said. Those close to Shahzad saw indications of an emerging militancy in his personality.

Saud Anwar, past president of the Pakistani American Association of Connecticut, said he spoke with someone who attended the University of Bridgeport with Shahzad and continued to meet him on a social basis until a year ago. He said the individual, a Pakistani, did not wish to be identified.

"He said that a year ago [Shahzad] became more introverted, more religious, and more stringent in his views," Anwar said. He said that Shahzad was not saying anything "hateful" or expressing extremist views but that it was just a noticeable shift in his approach to life that contrasted with the "regular, social, interactive individual" he used to be.

U.S. intelligence officials and investigators said they are still seeking to determine the extent to which Shahzad was allowed into inner circles of the Pakistani Taliban.

Shahzad has claimed to have met higher-ups within the group, possibly including top leaders. But the assertions are greeted with some skepticism, in part because militant groups in Pakistan are likely to be suspicious that a new arrival from the United States might be a spy.

 

[ajtr]

Times Sq. Bomb Suspect Is Linked to Militant Cleric ​

WASHINGTON — The Pakistani-American man accused of trying to detonate a car bomb in Times Square has told investigators that he drew inspiration from Anwar al-Awlaki, a Yemeni-American cleric whose militant online lectures have been a catalyst for several recent attacks and plots, an American official said Thursday.

The would-be bomber, Faisal Shahzad, was inspired by the violent rhetoric of Mr. Awlaki, said the official, who would speak of the investigation only on condition of anonymity.

"He listened to him, and he did it," the official said, referring to Saturday's attempted bombing on a busy street in Times Square.

Friends of Mr. Shahzad have said he became more religious and somber in the last year or so, and asked his father's permission in 2009 to join the fight in Afghanistan against American and NATO forces. Investigators believe he was trained by the Pakistani Taliban, a militant group that previously focused mainly on Pakistani government targets.

A senior military official said Thursday that Mr. Shahzad has told interrogators that he met with Pakistani Taliban operatives in North Waziristan in December and January. Later he received explosives training from the same operatives, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

Counterterrorism officials want to know how Mr. Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen who had earned an M.B.A., married and had children and worked in several corporate jobs, came to embrace violence.

It is no surprise to counterterrorism officials to find that an accused terrorist had been influenced by Mr. Awlaki, 39, now hiding in Yemen, who has emerged as perhaps the most prominent English-speaking advocate of violent jihad against the United States.

Earlier this year, the Obama administration took the extraordinary step of authorizing the killing of Mr. Awlaki, making him the first American citizen on the Central Intelligence Agency's hit list.

Mr. Awlaki's English-language online lectures and writings have turned up in more than a dozen terrorism investigations in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, counterterrorism experts have said. And in two recent United States cases, Mr. Awlaki communicated directly with the accused perpetrator.

Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex., in November, exchanged about 18 e-mail messages with Mr. Awlaki in the year before the shootings, asking among other things whether it would be permissible under Islam to kill American soldiers preparing to fight in Afghanistan. After the shootings, Mr. Awlaki praised Major Hasan as "a hero" on his Web site, which was taken offline by the Internet host company shortly after the posting.

In addition, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic airliner on Christmas Day, is believed to have met Mr. Awlaki during his training by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

It is unclear whether Mr. Shahzad ever directly communicated with Mr. Awlaki.

A video broadcast on April 26 on Al Jazeera showed Mr. Awlaki speaking in Arabic and accusing the United States of participating with Yemeni forces in two air strikes in December, one of which was directed at a house where Mr. Awlaki was believed to be meeting with leaders of the Al Qaeda branch. The video carried the logo of the media arm of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Mr. Awlakiwas questioned by the F.B.I. late in 2001 about contacts with three of the Sept. 11 hijackers who had attended his mosques in San Diego and Virginia. He denied any radical ties and denounced the 9/11 attacks in public statements.

He was imprisoned in Yemen in 2006 and 2007, and after his release he was more overtly approving of violence. Last year, he published a tract entitled "44 Ways of Supporting Jihad" that was widely circulated on the Internet.

Mr. Awlaki's Web site became a favorite for English-speaking Muslims who were curious about jihad, and hundreds of people sent e-mail messages to his site. It is not known whether Mr. Shahzad was among them, and there is no evidence that Mr. Shahzad visited the cleric in Yemen where he was believed to be hiding in a harsh region of desert and mountains.

 

[ajtr]

Iwas wondering if faisal shazad is some non-state actor???=heheh

Struggles within and beyond​

Reality check

Friday, May 07, 2010
Shafqat Mahmood

The arrest of a Pakistani American in the failed Times Square bombing puts the country in the wrong spotlight again. This follows the conviction of Ajmal Kasab, another Pakistani, by an Indian court for the Mumbai attacks. Both events in succession will add to the perception that this country is a sanctuary for dangerous terrorists.

The conspiracy theorists may go blue in the face arguing that Pakistan is deliberately being targeted. A part of this may be true. Elements in the Indian establishment and some groups in the US would indeed like Pakistan to be labelled a terrorist state. They may also want to defang its military capability by creating an enabling environment for an onslaught on its nuclear programme.

But it will be foolhardy, or deliberately ingenious, not to acknowledge that there are groups in Pakistan that are capable, and have been involved, in terrorist incidents abroad.

The essential question is not that there are dangerous militant groups in this country. We, who have been the victims of terrorism more than even Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years, know this. What should concern us is the allegation by our adversaries that the Pakistani state is complicit in these attacks outside the country.

The evidence is at best flimsy in this regard. There is little doubt that Pakistani security agencies, egged on by the US, created a band of militants to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. It is also true that some groups fighting in Indian-held Kashmir during the nineties received support from the Pakistani state. But this ended in 2003.

Since then there is no evidence of the Pakistan state's involvement in the troubles that the Indian state has in Kashmir. There is certainly no proof of any Pakistani connection to the attack on the Indian parliament or to the Mumbai tragedy. If there were, it would have been advertised to the world by now.

Having said that, it needs to be acknowledged that the intelligence agencies of the two countries have been in the past carrying out a separate war of sorts against each other. It is thus entirely possible that some stray incidents that happened in Pakistan or in India in the last sixty years may have been engineered by RAW or the ISI. But there has been no smoking gun, no direct evidence of each other's involvement.

If Pakistan-India hostility has generated mutual problems in the past, the involvement of the Pakistani state in terrorism in other parts of the world is nonexistent. Indeed, it is pointless even to defend this because no allegation of this kind was ever made after 9/11 or the train bombings in Britain and Spain.

This fact, however, does not absolve the Pakistani state from the other charge; that it has failed to eliminate militant groups based on its territory. The only answer is that never before has the state and its armed forces been more committed to fight against militant groups as it is today.

The military operations in Swat, Bajaur, Buner, South Waziristan and now Orakzai are testament to this commitment. As, indeed, is the heroism, dedication and spirit of sacrifice of its soldiers. More officers and men have embraced martyrdom in this battle against militancy than in the many wars against India.

This is a sad but poignant sign of Pakistan's appreciation that this is a battle for its survival. Army chief Gen Kayani has paid an appropriate tribute to the sacrifices made by declaring April 30 as Martyrs Day. The glorious ceremonies that day in all military installations were a testament that the nation recognises this to be a just war.

The way ahead is long and tortuous. It includes two different elements: taking control of the so-called ungoverned areas and identifying and eliminating militant groups in urban centres of the country. This has to be done with a proper analysis of the state's strengths and weaknesses and the abilities of its adversaries.

The international community needs to understand the difficult nature of this struggle and instead of blaming Pakistan or putting undue pressure on it, give it practical support. This mainly includes economic comfort and, to a degree, the wherewithal to wage a counterinsurgency war. Just continuing the mantra of "do more" is unhelpful.

This is particularly true with regard to the pressure being exerted for an outright assault on North Waziristan. The situation there is quite complicated. A number of militant groups have gathered in it, including the so-called Punjabi Taliban and foreign militants.

Among them, not all are hostile to the Pakistani state. In fact, the role of people like Hafiz Gul Bahadur is quite positive, although it seems that his ability to control the activities of outside elements has diminished. This has led to some ambushes on the security forces and the fact that the murder of Khalid Khawaja could not be prevented.

If the military were to launch a full-scale assault on North Waziristan, it would unite all the groups present there and make the task very difficult. Therefore, if it has to be done, the army leadership will, like in the past, have to work hard to create the right environment.

This means a number of things. First, the military will be assessing its own capabilities, given the fact that Swat and other "liberated" areas are being still being consolidated. It would not want to deploy itself too thin. Colin Powell said about the US military that it should only go to war with overwhelming force so that victory is assured.

The same applies to any operation by the Pakistani military. It went into Swat and South Waziristan with the appropriate strength and fully prepared. Not being able to take them was not an option. The same holds true for North Waziristan. Any operation there has to be assured of success.

Among other ungoverned areas, parts of Khyber agency, particularly Tirah Valley, are also becoming a refuge for different terror groups which have been pushed out of other agencies. The military leadership will also have to calculate how much force is required there to challenge them.

To sum up, the battle to reclaim ungoverned areas and give a final blow to militant groups settled there requires careful preparation and right timing. It is something that cannot be hurried because of US political compulsions. Any peremptory move will result in failure, and that will be catastrophic.

To add to other problems, the situation in Balochistan is becoming grimmer by the day. Targeted killings of non-Baloch have gone up and now law enforcement agencies are being openly attacked. The civil administration is helpless, and more a hollow front than a real government. The political leaders seem to be clueless.

These are tough times for Pakistan, but the state and the people are united to face the challenge of militancy. The victory may be late in coming, but it will not be denied.

 

[ajtr]

Contrasting Images.

Faisal Shazad The time square pakistani bomber

Dr. Shah Faesal, Indian kashmiri UPSC topper.

Shah Faesal is first Kashmiri to top civil services exam​

The story of two Faisals.One the Shahzad Faisal born in aristocratic family of west side of wagha border studies in america and goes on to become terrorist while trying to blow up times square.And other is Dr.Shah Faesal born in middle class family in Indian kashmir whose Dad a teacher got killed by ideology inspired terrorists sent from Pakistan goes on to become doctor and then tops indian Administrative service exams(UPSC).The main difference between two Faisals is that Faisal shazad of pakistan lived and studied in ideologiy driven environment to get brainwashed to become terrorist other Dr.Shah Faesal of india is not bought up in democratic indian society ethos hence goes on to become IAS.Let the people of POK also see the difference between them and the indian kashmiris.

 

[Oracle]

Soul searching in Pak: Why do we breed militants?

ISLAMABAD: The attempted car-bombing in New York last weekend by a Pakistani-American man has prompted soul-searching in Pakistan and again raised the uncomfortable question of why the country is a breeding ground for militancy.

Despite an anti-terror alliance with US, anti-American feeling runs high among Pakistanis, dismayed by what they see as US attacks on fellow Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. And although the militants have slaughtered hundreds of people in bomb attacks, many Pakistanis see India as the main threat to their country and some Islamist fighters as potential tools in the event of another war with India.

"Why is it that all terrorist routes seem to lead to Pakistan?" the Dawn asked in an editorial on Thursday.
"It's been nearly 10 years since 9/11 and still the infrastructure of jihad in urban Pakistan, which is likely the first port of call for those traveling from foreign lands in search of jihad, has not been uprooted," it said.

After the arrest of Faisal Shahzad, 30, US investigators are turning their attention to Pakistan and possible links between Shahzad and al-Qaida-linked Pakistani Taliban based in lawless lands along the Afghan border.

The liberal Daily Times said the attempted Times Square bombing had again dealt a sharp blow to Pakistan's image. "The abortive Times Square bombing has once again exposed the inherent contradictions in Pakistan's policy of dealing with militancy germinating from its soil," the paper said.

"Pakistan's equivocal support to the war against terror has yielded bitter fruits in the form of international isolation and terror engulfing almost the entire country," the Daily Times said. "It is time the security establishment rethought its policy of treating certain militant groups as assets and takes prompt action against them before US loses patience and considers acting against them without involving Pakistan."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...do-we-breed-militants/articleshow/5900324.cms

 

[DaRk WaVe]

Shahzad Case Shines Spotlight on Pakistan's Jihad Tourism​

The ease with which Times Square bomb-plot accused Faisal Shahzad was allegedly able to undergo bombmaking instruction during a visit to Pakistan has once again highlighted the country's enduring reputation as the destination of choice for jihadist tourism. The claim by Pakistani government sources that Shahzad trained at a camp in North Waziristan will ratchet up pressure on Islamabad to crack down on militant groups that operate in zones of lawlessness on its soil, and to dismantle the infrastructure that continues to attract aspiring terrorists seeking to attack the West.

Although details of Shahzad's ideological journey remain murky, Pakistanis who knew him say Shahzad came from a quietly religious family, and may only have become radicalized recently. "Last time when I met him," retired schoolteacher Nazirullah Khan told Reuters, "he didn't have a beard. I attended his wedding." Shahzad's possible links to Pakistani militant groups are under investigation, but some officials suspect that he may have had ties to Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), a banned terror group that began its life as a proxy of Pakistan's intelligence services deployed to fight India in Kashmir. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the group responsible for the 2008 Mumbai massacre, is also being investigated as a possibility, a senior Pakistani government source told TIME.

If suspicions of such links prove true, Shahzad's case would hardly be the first time a Western walk-in has turned up in the midst of Pakistani jihadist groups. Last October, David Headley, another U.S. citizen of Pakistani origin, was arrested and later charged with helping plan the November 2008 Mumbai massacre. According to a plea agreement issued by the Justice Department in March, Headley made contact with al-Qaeda operatives during two trips to North Waziristan — the tribal area under limited central government authority, where Shahzad is also said to have received his training. North Waziristan is the only tribal area untouched thus far by Pakistan's military offensives against its domestic Taliban insurgency, and the region is home to an assortment of jihadist groups that have working relationships with one another (including al-Qaeda). The Pakistani Army has deferred any offensive in the area, claiming limits on its capacity to take on such a mission right now, but the Times Square plot is likely to revive U.S. pressure for an offensive there.
See pictures of a jihadist's journey.

Shahzad and similar volunteers who arrive from the West are believed by Pakistani analysts to have begun their radicalization before making contact with local militant groups. "Somehow, in Canada, Britain and the U.S., people get self-radicalized, then they try and get in touch with radical organizations, depending on their background," says Amir Rana, director of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies. "If they are Pakistanis, they come here." And the Internet has proved to be a powerful tool for both radicalization and recruitment. "There's so much available in cyberspace, it would scare you to death," says Ayesha Siddiqa, an independent security analyst in Islamabad.

Any aspiring jihadist arriving in Pakistan is spoiled for choice when it comes to finding a militant group with which to sign up. Banned organizations such as LeT operate openly under different names, and it's not very difficult for the determined volunteer militant to find his way to such groups. "It's like a drug addict arriving in a new town," adds Siddiqa. "They always figure out where to get their fix."

Recruits bearing Western citizenship are prized by terror groups, because their passports, education, facility with language and relative comfort with life in Western cities are largely absent among the young, impressionable madrasah students often chosen to carry out vicious bombings in Pakistan, Afghanistan or even India. The potential of these more cosmopolitan recruits to strike in the heart of the West further fuels jihadist fantasies. As Michael Chertoff, the former head of Homeland Security, told MSNBC on Wednesday, "Unfortunately this is the kind of perfect mole for the terrorists. And this is why they're recruiting people who ... have clean records, are American citizens, have lived in America, because they want to take advantage of that cleanliness as a way of evading our defenses."

Britain has had to deal with this problem since the July 2005 bombings of the London commuter system. Given the vast number of Britons of Pakistani origin who move back and forth between the two countries, policing the traffic has severely tested authorities. The U.S. is not immune: Headley was able to move undetected between America, India and Pakistan for nearly seven years. Clearly, a problem also exists with respect to the extent of coordination between Western intelligence agencies and their Pakistani counterparts.

Shahzad, had he been seeking to join up with militants in Pakistan, would have had two distinct advantages over other Western-based volunteers. Having spent the first 18 years of his life in Pakistan, he was at ease in the country. His family's background in the northwest meant that he likely spoke Pashto, a rare asset. And the status of his father, retired senior air-force officer Bahar ul-Haq, is the sort of connection known to avert a suspicious gaze from law-enforcement agencies in Pakistan. Siddiqa goes further: "If you are traveling in Waziristan, and you are stopped, the fact that you are an air-force vice marshal's son can offer you protection," she says.

But whatever training Shahzad may have received in Waziristan must have been mercifully poor, judging by the multiple mistakes in the botched bombing attempt to which U.S. officials say he has confessed. Yet he's unlikely to have been the only Western wannabe to have passed through these camps and then returned to the West to put his militant education to work.

 

[ajtr]

Which Pakistani group inspired Times Square suspect?​

(Reuters) - Evidence of ties between the failed New York bomber and Pakistan's Taliban may only lead investigators to a murky militant network that is difficult to crack and offers no clues on possible future attacks.

U.S.

Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing on Saturday and a U.S. official said investigators see "plausible links" between Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad, the main accused, and the group but had not yet made a final determination.

Reconstructing his path to Times Square may be impossible given the complexity of Pakistan's mosaic of militant groups, many of which are united only by hatred for America and its allies.

For one, al Qaeda, which supports the Taliban, has changed since the September 11 attacks.

It's no longer a tightly knit group, but rather an organization that inspires global jihad, and is in some ways even more dangerous, analysts say. Its ties to Pakistan's Taliban and other groups around the world have become more fluid.

Gone are the days when CIA analysts could draw up clear charts connecting Osama bin Laden to his deputies, commanders, foot soldiers and affiliated groups, security experts say.

"We can no longer determine the precise makeup. The traditional al Qaeda or Taliban no longer exist. There are vague ties between groups," said Kamran Bokhari, South Asia director at the STRATFOR global intelligence firm.

Officials say Shahzad received bomb-making training in a militant camp in Pakistan, which once nurtured groups to fight Soviet occupation in Afghanistan, a strategy that critics say backfired and created a hydra-headed monster in Pakistan.

Who may have hosted the former 30-year-old financial analyst from the U.S. state of Connecticut may never be known.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Taliban Movement of Pakistan, is an umbrella group which may not have a central command after Pakistani army crackdowns and a punishing U.S. drone strike campaign.

Speculation grew that someone new may be in control after the Taliban's particularly ruthless leader Hakimullah Mehsud was reported killed in a U.S. drone missile strike in January.

WHO IS WHO?

He re-appeared alive in videos posted on the Internet on Sunday and threatened suicide bombing attacks in major U.S. cities, signaling the group had become highly ambitious.

"It is hard to know who Shahzad may have connected with. It could have been a smaller group within the TTP that decided to act independently," said political analyst Hasan Rizvi.

U.S. prosecutors said Shahzad, the son of a retired Pakistani vice air marshal, had admitted to receiving bomb-making training in a Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold in Pakistan.

In an example of the complexities, Qari Hussain, the Pakistani Taliban suicide bombing trainer, praised an attack in the United States, apparently referring to Times Square.

On Wednesday night, an official Taliban spokesman said the group had no connection to the failed attack.

The contradiction is not surprising given Pakistan's alphabet soup of militant groups, many believed to have al Qaeda links.

There are Taliban -- both Afghan and Pakistani -- and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is blamed for the 2008 attack in Mumbai which killed 166 people and has international networks.

The list goes on.

A senior security official said Shahzad may have links to the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group through a friend, Muhammad Rehan, who was reportedly detained on Tuesday in Karachi.

The group, also linked to the Taliban and al Qaeda, is dedicated to fighting Indian forces in Kashmir and has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.

Unlike LeT, one of the more cohesive of the Pakistani groups, Jaish-e-Mohammad is believed to have splintered and gone rogue. It has been blamed for attacks inside Pakistan and tied to plots either in Britain or by British citizens inside Pakistan, including the murder of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.

A new generation of militants with different priorities is appearing in Pakistan, analysts say, raising questions over whether old alliances between the military and its intelligence services and Islamists have frayed.

In one possible sign of that, a former Pakistani intelligence officer turned campaigner for Islamist causes was found dead in last week, shot in the head and chest, security officials said.

Khalid Khawaja was seized in March with another former colleague from the country's main ISI spy agency and a journalist. Militants later said they had kidnapped the three, whom they accused of spying.

Pakistan media had reported they were kidnapped by a previously unknown militant group called the Asian Tigers.

"Groups are emerging every day and you have not heard of them. I can only presume that intelligence agencies, American and Pakistanis, are equally...confused," said Taliban expert Ahmed Rashid.

"Look at the re-appearance of Hakimullah. I mean he was presumed dead. That means that intelligence all around is very poor, not just Pakistani, but also American."