>FWIW the US operation in Afghanistan was and is completely supported
>by everybody who lives around Afghanistan, with the exception of
>parts of Pakistan. Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, India
>were all for. Moscow proposed a joint strike on the Taliban to
>Washington in 1999. The Talibs were destabilizing the whole area and
>trying to colonize Chechnya.
The Russian and Indian governments might have thought that there could be an alliance with Washington on the premise of "fighting terrorists together," but "together" doesn't come easily to Washington. Since then, Washington has repaid Moscow with the "Rose and Orange Revolutions," and if it has not exploited the Chechen question as much as it might have back in the days of the Cold War, that's only because it doesn't have the means to do so any longer. As for Indians, it's even less clear why the fall of the Taliban and destablization of Pakistan should be in their interest. Pakistan, unlike Afghanistan, got nukes!
Pakistan gas supply worsens after attack <http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL263844.htm> 15 Jan 2005 08:05:23 GMT Source: Reuters By Zeeshan Haider
ISLAMABAD, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Gas supplies in Pakistan worsened on Saturday as authorities curtailed supplies to domestic consumers following a bloody attack by renegade tribesmen on the country's key gas field, officials said.
Many factories in the country have already been without gas for the past several days as security worries delayed the start of repair work at the Sui gas field in southwestern Baluchistan province about 700 km (440 miles) southwest of the capital Islamabad.
A spokesman for Sui Southern Gas Co Ltd <SUIS.KA>, which supplies natural gas to the southern province of Sindh and Baluchistan, said the closure of the purification plant of the Sui gas field had caused significant gas shortages across the country.
"This has necessitated the adoption of urgent measures to restrict the supply of gas to domestic as well as industrial consumers," he said in a statement reported by the official APP news agency.
The spokesman announced a schedule for cuts in gas supplies to domestic users in the commercial capital Karachi and several other cities.
He urged consumers to conserve gas to avoid further cut.
The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd. <SUIN.KA>, responsible for gas distribution in the central Punjab and North West Frontier provinces, said it had already halted supplies to power generation plants, fertiliser companies and other industries.
An Sui Northern spokesman told Reuters that the company could halt supplies to more industries if the situation worsened.
Sui produces one billion cubic feet (280 million cubic metres) of gas per day, about 45 percent of Pakistan's total production.
State-run Pakistan Petroleum Limited <PPL.KA>, which operates the field, has said damage to pipelines and the main purification plant had been more extensive than first thought and officials believed that repair work would take several days.
Supplies from the field have been suspended since Tuesday after rocket attacks by Baluch tribal militants damaged pipelines leading from the main processing plant.
They are demanding greater autonomy, development funds and royalties from the gas fields.
TROOPS DEPLOYED
As many as 15 people died in the clashes and hundreds of additional troops have been deployed in Sui to prevent further attacks.
Meanwhile, authorities in Baluchistan on Friday called on the central government to formally take over the security of Sui gas field, a move likely to be resented by Baluch nationalists who demand greater autonomy for their region.
"We have simply asked the federal government to take charge of the security," provincial home minister Mir Shoaib Nusherwani told reporters in Quetta, capital of Baluchistan, on Friday.
"The field is a federal installation and there should not be any bad feeling if it is looked after by the federal government."
Gas facilities have been hit frequently by Baluch tribesmen but recent attacks have been unusually intense.
They are seen as a blow to Pakistan's efforts to attract foreign investment in the oil and gas exploration sector and also call into question its guarantees of security for a proposed multi-billion dollar gas pipeline from Iran to India that would have to run through Baluchistan.
Pakistan tribal movement could become big insurgency <http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL282413.htm> 14 Jan 2005 13:18:51 GMT Source: Reuters By Zeeshan Haider
ISLAMABAD, Jan 14 (Reuters) - A tribal movement for greater political and economic rights in a strategic Pakistani province has the potential to explode into a major insurgency unless the government offers concessions, commentators say.
Ethnic nationalists in Pakistan's resource-rich but poverty-stricken Baluchistan have been waging a low-level battle against central rule for decades, involving mostly ineffective small-scale bombings and rocket attacks.
But this month has seen a surge in activity, culminating in a bloody attack on Tuesday that has cut off supplies from the country's main gas field for days, disrupting industry and raising doubts about the government's ability to maintain order.
The clashes killed as many as 18 people and forced the government to rush in additional troops to protect the vital gas fields.
"These attacks show that there is a lot of discontent among Baluchis," said Rahimullah Yusufzai, a newspaper editor and expert on tribal affairs. "It shows Baluch youth are again ready to take up arms and fight for their rights."
Sparsely populated Baluchistan is home to reserves of natural gas and oil that provide for most of Pakistan's needs. It is also the site a key infrastructure development project, the Gawadar sea port, which is being built with the help of China.
The exploitation of resources by the Pakistani government has long been opposed by Baluchis who argue they are not reaping the benefits. They fear projects like Gawadar will also benefit other ethnic groups more than Baluchis.
The resentment dates back to the creation of Pakistan in 1947 and the region has seen several armed conflicts with the federal government, including a bloody insurgency in the 1970s that was brutally crushed by the military.
Baluchi militants say the attack on the gas fields was retaliation for the rape of a doctor in Baluchistan last month which they blamed on security forces.
ARMY BASES
They have also been worried by plans to build at least three more military bases in the province, which they see as evidence of plans to tighten rather than relax central control.
Sanaullah Baluch, a spokesman of the Baluchistan National Party, a legal group that says it has no links to the militants but shares their aims, said natural resources, ports, shipping and security should be controlled by the provincial government.
"We oppose cantonments, we oppose the federal government sending troops. We oppose colonial policies," he said.
Analysts say the nationalists have been further alienated from the political mainstream under the military-led government of President Pervez Musharraf since 1999.
Nationalists had shared power with civilian governments in the 1990s but were effectively sidelined after pro-military groups forged a coalition with an Islamic alliance to control the provincial assembly.
Evidence of deteriorating security came in May when three Chinese technicians working on the Gawadar port project were killed by a bomb claimed by Baluch nationalists.
Baluchistan has also seen a series of attacks in recent months by Islamic extremists furious at Musharraf's support for the U.S.-led war on terror and moves toward peace with India.
But experts say chances are remote of cooperation between Islamic militants and left-leaning Baluch nationalists.
Musharraf has been incensed by the recent nationalist attacks and warned he was willing to resort to force if necessary.
"It isn't the 1970s when you can hit and run and hide in the mountains," he told the Baluchi militants. "This time you won't even know what hit you."
Yet analysts said Musharraf could not afford to resort to force, with the military stretched chasing Islamic militants in the northwest and needed for security against neighbouring India.
The Friday Times weekly said Musharraf needed instead to find ways to accommodate Baluchi representatives in national politics, a view echoed by commentator Ayaz Amir in the Dawn newspaper.
"If one fortieth of the ... flexibility shown towards India were shown towards the Baluch people, Baluchistan would be Pakistan's most peaceful province," he said. -- Yoshie
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