Memogate case: Asma Jehangir drags ISI chief into the ring

ISLAMABAD: The role of the country’s premier intelligence agency came under the spotlight at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, as Asma Jehangir, counsel for former ambassador to US Husain Haqqani, defended her client in the Memogate case.

In an assertion that blurred the boundaries between the alleged perpetrators and the victims in the case, Jehangir termed Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha’s visit to London as a venture against the government.

“Many of us inside this courtroom are guilty of treason if the ISI’s statement is to be believed,” Jehangir said to a nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

“The likes of Benazir Bhutto and Wali Khan are also traitors by its standards,” she said. …

Read more » The Express Tribune

More details » BBC urdu

Fazlur Rehman angry at Imran Khan and establishment

Fazl lashes out against establishment, PTI

By Owais Jafri

DERA GHAZI KHAN: Warning the army against ‘intervening’ in political affairs, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief said on Monday that all ‘power hands’ showing the way to the ballot, will, in turn, be shown their way back to the barracks.

Addressing a rally in Dera Ghazi Khan, Fazlur Rehman said that threats, in the name of the Haqqani network, to the government and the attack on the Salala check posts are outcomes of a ‘one man show’ and secret pacts of the past.

These pacts, he added, have cost the country’s economy $80 billion and killed 35,000 people, and urged that the perpetrators should be held accountable.

Dismissing PTI’s popularity

Regarding the rising popularity of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the JUI-F chief said that the party is “just a paper, which will disappear soon”.

“All those with the illusion of power are joining PTI. They have no conscience and no fixed place as they are nomads,” he said, adding, “Today they are in PTI but tomorrow they will be with any other power giant.”

Talking about the strength of the rally in Karachi on December 25, Fazl said that his party will gather more people in a single procession of a district than PTI gathered from all over the country. ….

Read more » The Express Tribune

http://tribune.com.pk/story/312557/fazl-lashes-out-against-establishment-pti/

ANALYSIS: Imran Khan: tsunami or hot air balloon?

By Mohammad Ali Mahar

That the tsunami is coming looks for sure. What will be left of the country after the water tides recede is not known]

After wandering in the political desert of Pakistan for 15 years, Imran Khan finally seems to be led to the ‘promised’ land of power.

One wonders why all those who used to ridicule and laugh at Mr Khan’s TV talk show sponsored demagoguery for 15 long years have, all of a sudden, during the past six months or so, discovered a messiah in him. Why are the established puppets of the establishment making a beeline to join the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)? Let’s examine. …

Read more » Daily Times

The story of Benazir Bhutto: A Tale of Tears

Courtesy: Front Line with Kamaran Shahid

Via » ZemTv » YouTube

— o — o — o — o —

If you watch the video of Imran Khan’s Karachi Jalsa, you will see Imran Khan coming to the venue by an Army helicopter and then escorted and surrounded by armed Army commandos. The Army and ISI provided full security to him, before and during the jalsa. A million dollar question is , where was the Army and ISI when twice prime minister of Pakistan, Chairperson of PPP, Benazir was speaking at Liaquat Park, Rawalpindi, a stone’s throw distance from GHQ? Why was absolutely no security was provided to her, even as is now disclosed by ISI that there was a specific plan to murder her? Was it because the generals perceived BB as a threat to expose them before the public?

Is their support of Imran Khan because Army generals think that he will get them out of the deep hole they have dug for themselves and get Talibans/ Jihadis and Americans off their backs, sustain their narrow destructive policies and that they can go back to their messes and golf courses and DHAs? [Above text is taken from Pakistani e-lists, e-groups, credit goes to TK for above piece]

Are general’s conspiring against elected democratic government through its partners to tether it and to do the job?

– Is Pakistan’s army conspiring to take over the government?

A scandal pitting Pakistan’s army against its civilian government has everyone talking.

By Suzanna Koster

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Massive political rallies coupled with persistent mudslinging by the political opposition broadcast live on local television gives the appearance here that an election season is in full swing. But, at least for now, Pakistan’s parliamentary elections are more than a year away.

One scandal after another, some reaching the the country’s Supreme Court, have plagued President Asif Ali Zardari and his the ruling party, the Pakistan’s People’s Party (PPP) in recent weeks, and have given rise to calls for the resignation of the country’s leadership and hopes for an early election.

And all this is taking place amid a widespread conspiracy theory that the army is lending a hidden hand to make it happen. Despite the opposition’s slander, however, the government and many of the opposing political parties agree on one thing: They are not interested in a military take-over. …

Read more » Global Post

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/pakistan/111226/pakistan-army-coup-asif-ali-zardari