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UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 000684 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP OPRC PGOV PREL PK
SUBJECT:  PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: APRIL 01, 2009 
 
Summary:  Reports on the Supreme Court ruling "restoring the 
government of the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif" dominated 
front pages in all newspapers on Wednesday.  Some major newspapers 
highlighted the statement from the State Department terming the 
verdict as the "country's internal matter."  U.S. CENTCOM General 
Petraeus remarks emphasizing that the "U.S. military is putting 
'additional focus' on rooting out ties between Pakistan's 
intelligence service and the Taliban" received extensive coverage in 
all major dailies.  Newspapers also underlined Prime Minister 
Gilani's statement repudiating the U.S. officials' allegations of 
ISI's connections with Taliban.  All dailies reported that the "TTP 
(Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) chief Baitullah Mahsud claimed 
responsibility" of terrorist attack on a police training center in 
Lahore and warned of "attacks on the U.S. soil."  Several major 
dailies quoted Secretary Clinton as saying that "we must give 
Pakistan the tools it needs to fight the extremists." 
 
Most major dailies ran editorials on the restoration of the PML-N 
government in Punjab as a result of the Supreme Court's interim 
decree.  However newspapers also continued to editorialize the 
aftermath of terrorist attack in Lahore.  The Lahore-based liberal 
daily, "Daily Times," noted that "Pakistan's enemy number one is the 
TTP, which commands the chaos-making activities of the Taliban in 
the tribal areas and Swat and is now expanding its activity to 
Punjab and the southern region, including Karachi."  The 
center-right national daily, "The Nation," advised that "we must 
continue the effort to bring home to the Americans that the drone 
strikes are not only hurting the sensitivities of the proud people 
of this country, but also damaging the very cause for which they 
were being made."  A prominent op-ed writer noted in the centrist 
national daily, "The News," that "our rulers take U.S. largesse and 
allow the Pakistan army to go in and kill Pakistani citizens, more 
space is created for violent extremists using terror as a strategy." 
 End Summary. 
 
----------------- 
News Stories 
----------------- 
 
"SC Hands Punjab Back To Shahbaz" "Dawn" (04/01) 
 
"The Supreme Court restored Shahbaz Sharif as Chief Minister of 
Punjab on Tuesday, a day before the Provincial Assembly was called 
to choose his successor to the office which he had lost in 
consequence of a ruling by the apex court on February 25, 2009." 
 
"Shahbaz Bounces Back, Thanks to SC" "The News" (04/01) 
 
"The Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended operation of its earlier 
judgment of February 25, disqualifying PML-N President Mian Muhammad 
Shahbaz Sharif from contesting elections and restored him as the 
Punjab Chief Minister." 
 
"Shahbaz's Restoration Pak Internal Matter: U.S." "The Nation" 
(04/01) 
 
"The United States on Tuesday offered no comments on Pakistan 
Supreme Court's decision to restore PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif as 
Chief Minister of Punjab, saying it was the country's internal 
matter, State Department Deputy spokesman Gordon Duguid said in 
response to a question at the regular news briefing." 
 
"U.S. Needs To Build Trust With Pakistan: Patraeus" "The Nation" 
(04/01) 
 
"The United States military will reserve the 'right of last resort' 
to deal with the threats inside Pakistan, but it would prefer to 
enable Pakistani military to do the job itself, Gen. David Patraeus 
said in an interview with 'Fox News.'  He said that U.S. military is 
putting 'additional focus' on rooting out ties between Pakistan's 
intelligence service and the Taliban...." 
 
"PM Rejects Allegations Against Army, ISI" "Dawn" (04/01) 
 
"Rejecting allegations leveled by U.S. general about ISI's relations 
with Taliban militants, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on 
Tuesday that the Pakistan army and Inter-Services Intelligence were 
professional institutions which supported democracy and were 
answerable to the Prime Minister." 
"Baitullah Claims Responsibility For Terror Attacks" "Dawn" (04/01) 
 
"Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for Monday's 
terrorist attack on a police training school in Lahore and said such 
attacks might be stepped up.  He also warned of attacks on the U.S. 
soil.  He said that President Asif Zardari had permitted the U.S. to 
carry out drone attacks and, therefore, Taliban would step up their 
activities unless drone attacks in tribal areas are stooped." 
 
"Baitullah Threatens Swoop On White House" "The News" (04/01) 
 
"...  Also, the top militant commander and leader of the banned 
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), threatened to show his power to the 
world when his people would attack the U.S. capital as a reaction to 
frequent drone attacks in the tribal areas and the reward on his 
head." 
 
"Three Top Al Qaeda Men Nabbed In Lahore" "The News" (04/01) 
 
"In a major breakthrough secret agencies are understood to have 
captured three high profile Al Qaeda members in Lahore on Tuesday in 
the light of fresh information obtained from the captured Afghan 
national during the Manawan attack.  Officials were highly 
optimistic that after the arrest of these Al Qaeda figures, whose 
identities were being kept secret, the network of these terrorists 
based in Lahore might be broken." 
 
"Hillary's Overture To Taliban" "The News" (04/01) 
 
"The International conference on Afghanistan in The Hague got off to 
an auspicious start with U.S. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton 
echoing Pakistan's long standing strategy that 'peace talks' are the 
one of the several ways out to bring sustainable peace in the 
region, as military means along had not delivered.  The United 
States offered Taliban fighters, who renounce violence in 
Afghanistan, an 'honorable form of reconciliation' at a time when 
more Pakistani soldiers have been killed than the combined 
casualties of foreign troops in Afghanistan." 
 
"Proposal For $2.8 Billion Military Aid" "Dawn" (04/01) 
 
"The Obama administration plans to propose roughly $2.8 billion in 
aid for the Pakistani military as a U.S. senate panel holds a full 
committee hearing on a bill which seeks to triple U.S. economic 
assistance to Pakistan.  The military aid would be in addition to a 
$7.5 billion aid package which will be reintroduced in the U.S. 
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Wednesday." 
 
"Senator Says No U.S. Aid Until Pakistan Hits Militants" "Dawn" 
(04/01) 
 
"Pakistan must prove it is willing to take on extremists within its 
own borders before the U.S. delivers financial aid or weapons to the 
government there, a key senator said on Tuesday.  Senator Carl 
Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he did not 
believe the United States could buy stability in Pakistan." 
 
"Pak-Afghan Issue Needs Balanced Approach: FM" "The Nation" (04/01) 
 
"Pakistan on Tuesday urged the international community to adopt a 
balanced approach towards Islamabad and Kabul based on the 
principles of respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and 
non-interference.  Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said this 
while addressing the 'International Conference on Afghanistan' held 
at The Hague." 
 
"Zardari In Turkey For Talks With Karzai" "Dawn" (04/01) 
 
"President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Ankara on Tuesday for 
Turkish-sponsored talks with Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai on 
boosting cooperation against extremists, a Pakistani diplomat said." 
 
 
"Pakistan Eager To Resume Talks With India" "Dawn" (04/01) 
 
"Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Tuesday that Pakistan 
was eager to resume 'as soon as possible' peace talks with India 
that were stalled by the Mumbai terror attacks.  Speaking on the 
sidelines of a conference on Afghanistan in The Hague, he said his 
government believed repairing relations between the nuclear-armed 
neighbors was 'in Pakistan's interests.'" 
 
"Singh Stalls Zardari's Bid to Revive Talks" "Dawn" (04/01) 
 
"Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has all but rejected President 
Asif Ali Zardari's suggestion to revive the composite dialogue 
between their countries, saying Islamabad first needs to show 
results in pursuit of the Mumbai attack plotters." 
 
"UN Worried About Health Of Solecki" "Dawn" (04/01) 
 
"The UNHGCR has expressed serious concern about the health of 
kidnapped UNHCR official John Solecki and appealed to his kidnappers 
to release him immediately, a statement issued by UN Quetta office 
on Tuesday." 
 
"No Bar On Militants In Swat - Destruction Continues Even After 
Peace Accord" "The News" (04/01) 
 
"Some people from the troubled Swat valley have alleged that the 
militants had not put an end to their activities in Matta and Kabal 
areas even after the peace deal as they were still dismantling the 
half-destroyed houses to sell the material.  They have also 
complained that the militants were cutting and selling orchards in 
the area." 
 
--------------------- 
Editorials/Op-eds 
--------------------- 
 
"At Last, Pakistan Zeroes In On Baitullah Mehsud," an editorial in 
the Lahore-based liberal English language daily "Daily Times" (cir. 
10,000) (04/01) 
 
"Mehsud has claimed responsibility for the Manawan attack, and 
threatened to carry out similar operations in the future.  The fact 
is that Pakistan's enemy number one is the TTP, which commands the 
chaos-making activities of the Taliban in the tribal areas and Swat 
and is now expanding its activity to Punjab and the southern region, 
including Karachi....  The foremost threat is internal and it comes 
directly from the Taliban-Al Qaeda combine, as proved by the 
incident at Manawan.  The Pakistani mind should now be concentrated 
on the removal of this internal threat." 
 
"Underlining Home Truths," an editorial in the center-right national 
English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (04/01) 
 
"We must continue the effort to bring home to the Americans that the 
drone strikes are not only hurting the sensitivities of the proud 
people of this country, but also damaging the very cause for which 
they were being made.  There are almost daily reminders of the death 
of innocent civilians by pilotless planes, with vengeful terrorist 
attacks taking place across Pakistan.  The reconstruction 
opportunity zones promised by President Bush three years ago would 
not serve the purpose, if drones were allowed to play havoc at the 
same time." 
 
"The Aftermath," an editorial in the centrist national English daily 
"The News" (cir. 55,000) (04/01) 
 
"Yet we seem to be no closer than before to nailing the TTP leaders 
who apparently plan such missions or those who help execute them. 
There are still many questions that need answers.  From where did 
the terrorists acquire the armored personnel carrier they used to 
enter the police school?  Such vehicles can, after all, not be 
 
easily bought in car showrooms.  Why was the detailed intelligence 
apparently provided to authorities about just such an attack 
ignored....  And, perhaps most crucially of all, what are we doing 
to protect ourselves against more such attacks?" 
 
"A Pakistani-Centric Understanding Of Militancy," an op-ed by 
Shireen M. Mazari in the centrist national English daily "The News" 
(cir. 55,000) (04/01) 
 
"After all, when our rulers take U.S. largesse and allow the 
Pakistan army to go in and kill Pakistani citizens, more space is 
created for violent extremists using terror as a strategy.  When the 
Pakistani state allows its territory to be used for drones that kill 
Pakistanis - and it is irrelevant whether they are killed 
deliberately or as 'collateral damage' - more space is created for 
future recruits who want to fight the U.S. and its collaborators." 
 
"Manawan, Af-Pak And Our Deeper Problem," an op-ed by Nasim Zehra in 
the centrist national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) 
(04/01) 
 
"Perhaps the most problematic of all is Pakistan's unqualified 
welcome of the Obama policy on Afghanistan.  The refrain of the 
Obama policy is that Al Qaeda is strong inside Pakistan, that 
Pakistan is now the main theatre for the war against terrorism, that 
terrorism is the cancer that Pakistan needs to fight for its own 
sake.  This can be a recipe for greater destabilization of Pakistan. 
 For all that the U.S. war on terror may have achieved specifically 
in weakening Al Qaeda it has generated much greater resentment than 
accolades for itself...." 
 
"Obama's Af-Pak Strategy," an op-ed by Gen. (R) Mirza Aslam Beg in 
the center-right national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) 
(04/01) 
 
"After the realization that the resistance in Afghanistan, cannot be 
defeated, the task is now being transferred to Pakistan, to 
accomplish the mission.  It is a very naove thinking, because it is 
not in the competence of Pak Army to defeat Taliban.  Despite the 
best efforts made by the army, it could not achieve success in its 
operations within the Pakistani territory, in Waziristan, Bajaur and 
Swat.  They rightly felt that the best option was to engage into a 
dialogue and come to a truce. If Pakistan follows U.S. dictates, for 
the truce agreement to be quashed, then we would be repeating the 
mistakes, General (R) Pervez Musharraf made." 
Patterson