Oh dear, what a shame, never mind.
To think BB has been trying so hard in recent months to please the US who now she think is more of a liability after the Karachi attack. Never mind they are looking for other partners for President Musharraf, so everything will be ok and unprecedented economic growth, free media and judiciary with added focus to hunt down terrorists will continue. :jhanda:
http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/oct-2007/28/index7.php
US reviews power-sharing arrangement
SHAIQ HUSSAIN
ISLAMABAD - With surge in acts of terror in Pakistan, the United States is reviewing its plan aimed at Musharraf-Benazir power sharing deal and under the new strategy ‘moderate’ religious forces will also be invited to become part of next ruling set-up.
As if the ongoing militancy in Waziristan was not enough to perturb the ruling circles in Washington, the fierce gun battles between Pakistan’s security forces and militants in Swat also reportedly including foreign fighters has alarmed the US policy makers. According to diplomatic sources here, the American policy-makers were already giving second thoughts to its plan of extending all-out support to Benazir Bhutto after a deadly suicide attack on her rally in Karachi on October 18, the day she returned to Pakistan after eight-year exile.
“The new battle ground of extremism in Swat has accelerated that process and now Washington seems all set to go for efforts aimed at winning the support of moderate religious figures like Maulana Fazlur Rahman to fight the growing threat of extremism,” said a diplomat requesting anonymity. The US decision-makers have realised that Benazir alone could not tackle the serious threat of terrorism by joining hands with President Musharraf especially when she too was highly despised by the extremist forces like the Pakistani President, he said.
He said that the Bush administration was not only likely to go after Maulana Fazlur Rahman but it could also go to the extent of contacting former Prime Minister and PML-N leader Mian Nawaz Sharif who was earlier re-exiled by the Musharraf government with the help of Washington that used its leverage to impress upon the Saudi rulers for the purpose. According to another diplomat, the US administration would try to persuade the religious moderates and rightist parties either to enjoy the fruits of power sharing or to play the role of friendly opposition at least on the front of anti-terrorism policies of the future Pakistani government.
“Once the moderate religious forces are on board, the increasing extremism in Pakistan, in the opinion of influential US ruling circles, could be confronted with in a much more effective manner, a goal that at present seems to be daunting task,” the diplomat said.
