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UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 000625 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP OPRC PGOV PREL PK
SUBJECT:  PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: MARCH 24, 2009 
 
SUMMARY:  Reports on national political developments dominated 
headlines in all newspapers on Tuesday. All newspapers front-paged 
reports and photographs of a suicide attack in capital Islamabad 
where a "police guard foiled bid to blow up police headquarter." 
President Zardari's remarks made during an interview with Sky News 
urging the "United States and UK to do more to help his government 
fight terrorism" received prominent coverage.  All dailies ran 
reports that "President Obama is seeking clear exit strategy from 
Afghanistan."  All dailies gave extensive coverage to the interview 
of U.S. CENTCOM adviser David Kilecullen to Washington Post 
declaring that "Pakistani state could collapse in six months if 
immediate steps are not taken."  Pakistan Foreign Minister Qureshi's 
remarks urging the "U.S. to engage Taliban in talks" also figured 
prominently. 
 
Most major dailies ran editorials on the current political situation 
in the country.  Some editorialists also commented on the 
forthcoming U.S. Af-Pak policy and the continued drone attacks in 
Pakistan. The English daily,"The Nation," noted that "when it comes 
to blaming Pakistan for not doing enough to contain the growing 
militancy, Britain and the U.S. seem to be on the same page." The 
Urdu daily, "Khabrain," wrote: "Thirty-six drone attacks in the last 
six months signify that the U.S. does not respect our borders. This 
situation demands a review of our policy in the war on terror." 
End Summary. 
 
----------------- 
News Stories 
----------------- 
"Guard Foils Bid To Blow Up Police HQ" "Dawn" (03/24) 
 
"A police constable was killed and four other people were injured in 
a suicide blast at the gate of police's Special Branch headquarters 
near G-7 Markez on Monday. The boom resounded through a vast area, 
sparking panic in the city. It was the fist such attack in the 
federal capital in four months." 
 
"Zardari Urges U.S., UK To Do More" "Dawn" (03/24) 
 
"President Asif Ali Zardari urged Britain and the United States on 
Monday to do more to help his government fight terrorism and 
insisted he would not allow militancy to take over in Pakistan. He 
said his Pakistan People's Party had brought democracy to the 
country after eight years under the military rule of General Pervez 
Musharraf, and the international community should now play its 
part." 
 
"Obama Seeking Clear Exit Strategy From Afghanistan" "Dawn" (03/24) 
"U.S. President Barrack Obama has said that he wants a clear "exit 
strategy" from Afghanistan and a diplomatic engagement with Pakistan 
as his administration prepares to announce its new strategy for the 
two countries. Mr. Obama's stress on the need for an exit strategy 
for U.S. troops from Afghanistan comes as he prepares to pour an 
extra 17,000 soldiers into the country." 
"Pakistan Could Collapse In Six Months: Kilcullen" "The News" 
(03/24) 
 
"The Pakistani state could collapse within six months if immediate 
steps are not taken to remedy the situation, warned a top adviser to 
the U.S. Central Command. David Kilcullen, who advises CENTCOM 
commander Gen. David H. Petraeus on the war on terror, urged U.S. 
policymakers to focus their attention on Pakistan as a failure there 
could have devastating consequences for the entire international 
community." 
 
"U.S. Calls For Culture Of Tolerance In Pakistan" "Dawn" (03/24) 
 
"The Obama administration's new strategy for Pakistan not only seeks 
a greater U.S. engagement with the country but also tries to 
redefine its relations with neighboring countries, a senior State 
Department official said on Monday while outlining salient features 
of the policy at a Washington think-tank. Recent statements by other 
U.S. officials also show that the new strategy envisages Pakistan as 
a Muslim democratic state but recognizes the army as a key player in 
the country's domestic affairs." 
 
"Qureshi Asks U.S. To Engage Taliban In Talks" "The News" (03/24) 
 
"Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has called upon the U.S. to 
engage Taliban's in talks and denied that Inter Services 
Intelligence (ISI) supports militants now." 
 
"Quetta Is Taliban's Head Quarters, Says Holbrooke" "The Nation" 
(03/24) 
 
"U.S. special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard 
Holbrook has said that Pakistan's city Quetta appears to be 
Taliban's headquarter. In an interview to BBC on Monday, Holbrooke 
made it clear that "the number one problem" in stabilizing 
Afghanistan were the Taliban sanctuaries in western Pakistan, 
including the tribal areas along the Afghan border and cities like 
Quetta." 
 
"U.S. Asks India To Support Pakistan Against Extremists" "The 
Nation" (03/24) 
 
"The United States called Monday on India to support rival Pakistan 
in rooting out extremism as Washington drafts a new 'war on terror' 
strategy in South Asia." 
 
"TTP Asks Polio Teams To Leave Lower Dir" "The News" (03/24) 
 
"Armed activists of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have asked 
polio vaccination teams to leave Lower Dir area forthwith. The 
activists of the TTP captured drugs and other items and sealed 
population welfare department of the Qambar Maidan area." 
 
"Taliban Kill U.S. Spy In North Waziristan" "Daily Times" (03/24) 
 
"The Taliban killed a tribesman in North Waziristan Agency on Monday 
accusing him of spying for the United States." 
 
"Baitullah's Squad Out To Hit Cities" "Dawn" (03/24) 
 
"Security was tightened across the country on Monday after 
intelligence agencies warned that Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud 
has dispatched 20 foreign militants, mostly Uzbeks, to carry out 
terror strikes in major cities. A senior police official said 
agencies had warned police that the terrorists had left for Bannu on 
their way to Islamabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi and other major cities." 
 
"Eighth Girls' School Bombed In Mardan District" "The News" (03/24) 
 
"The bombing of the Government Girls' Higher Secondary School in the 
Hathian village in Mardan on Sunday night was the latest in the 
growing attacks on girls' educational institutions in the district. 
The bombing partially damaged the boundary wall and two rooms of the 
girls' school." 
 
"Kasab Seeks Lawyer As Mumbai Trial Begins" "Dawn" (03/24) 
 
"Sometimes breaking into laughter, the man accused of being the lone 
surviving gunman in last year's Mumbai attacks told an Indian court 
on Monday that he was from Pakistan and wanted legal assistance, 
officials said." 
 
--------------------- 
Editorials/Op-eds 
--------------------- 
 
"Drone Attacks: Need To Review Foreign Policy," an editorial in the 
Lahore-based populist center-right Urdu daily "Khabrain" (cir. 
50,000) (03/24) 
 
"Thirty-six drone attacks in the last six months signify that the 
U.S. does not respect our borders. This situation demands a review 
of our policy in the war on terror. The parliament must be taken 
into confidence on the matter." 
 
"A Wild Region," an editorial in the center-right national English 
daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (03/24) 
 
". . . Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned in his article 
published in The Observer that Al-Qaeda, whose core has shifted from 
Afghanistan to Pakistan, remains the biggest security threat to his 
country. And when it comes to blaming Pakistan for not doing enough 
to contain the growing militancy, Britain and the US seem to be on 
the same page. President Obama's Special Representative for Pakistan 
and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, told the Brussels Forum on 
Sunday that the people who had planned 9/11, killed Ms Bhutto and 
committed terrorism in Mumbai, were in Pakistan. The observation 
comes at a time when America's new policy towards Pakistan and 
Afghanistan is about to be unveiled..." 
 
"New Allegations About the Presence of Terrorists," an editorial in 
the liberal Urdu daily "Express" (cir. 100,000) (03/24) 
"American authorities' stance that there are no terrorists in 
Afghanistan and that all terrorists are operating from Pakistani 
soil cannot be accepted. A large number of terrorists are present in 
Afghanistan as well; and NATO forces should launch operations 
against them. But what is happening is that instead of controlling 
terrorists [in Afghanistan], NATO officials heap all the blame on 
Pakistan." 
 
"President Obama's Criticism Of Bush Policy" an editorial in the 
Lahore-based independent Urdu daily "Din" (circ. 5000) (03/24) 
"In a TV interview, President Obama has strongly criticized former 
Vice President Cheney and termed Bush administration's policy on 
Guantanamo unacceptable...  President Obama has termed Guantanamo 
and other detention centers as unnecessary. The world feels a soft 
corner for Obama after hearing these views. However, America's image 
will not improve until President Obama's views become policy, and a 
source of satisfaction for weaker and underdeveloped countries." 
 
"America's new policy of aligning with extremist," an op-ed by a 
women activist Irfana Mallah in Hyderabad based liberal and 
independent Sindhi daily "Kawish" (Cir. 105,000) (03/24) 
 
"Ambassador Patterson's meetings with Nawaz Sharif in Raiwind were 
not aimed at restoration of the Chief Justice Chaudhary, or 
protecting the democratic system, but they were part of the Obama 
administration's new policy of bridging the gap with extremists, so 
that these could be used to control Taliban and other such 
elements." 
 
Patterson