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UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 003076 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP OPRC PGOV PREL PK
SUBJECT:  PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: DECEMBER 23, 2009 
 
Summary:  Coverage of the suicide bombing at the Peshawar Press Club 
dominated front pages Wednesday morning, and all major newspapers 
termed it as a "blow to media freedom."  Newspapers ran the U.S. 
Embassy's statement condemning the incident.  A British newspaper, 
The Guardian report claiming that U.S. Special Forces conducted 
multiple clandestine raids into the tribal areas, received extensive 
coverage.  Alongside the story, several major dailies highlighted 
the Pakistan Army Spokesman's comments rejecting the report as 
"baseless."  "Dawn" front-paged a report quoting Ambassador 
Holbrooke as saying that the U.S. has members of its intelligence 
services in Pakistan but it has no troops.  The U.S-Pakistan 
differences on the new Afghan strategy continued to play out in the 
headlines.  Most papers reported Foreign Minister Qureshi's remarks, 
made at the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs 
that the military surge in Afghanistan could lead to further influx 
of militants into Pakistan.  "The News" and its mass-circulation 
sister Urdu daily, reported on front-page that "U.S. government-run 
radio fears coup in Pakistan referring of an editorial run on 
RFE/RL."  The same paper also reported that the U.S. (is) unlikely 
to bail out the Pakistani government on electricity subsidies.  End 
Summary. 
 
TOP STORIES 
 
News Story: CJ Vows To Act Against Default, Loan Write-Off "Dawn" 
(12/23) 
 
"Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry promised on Tuesday 
'across-the-board' action against people who got huge amounts of 
loans written off and asked State Bank Governor Syed Saleem Raza to 
collect details of all loans written off since 1971 with the 
assistance of heads of lending banks and financial institutions." 
 
News Story: U.S. Forces Multiple Raids In Pakistan "Pakistan 
Observer" (12/23) 
 
"A former NATO officer has revealed that American Special Forces 
conducted multiple clandestine raids into Pakistan's tribal areas as 
part of a secret war in the border region where Washington is 
pressing to expand its drone assassination program. The NATO officer 
said the incursions, only one of which has been previously reported, 
occurred between 2003 and 2008, involved helicopter-borne elite 
soldiers stealing across the border at night, and were never 
declared to the Pakistani government, The Guardian reported." 
 
News Story: U.S. Has Intelligence Personnel, But No Troops In 
Pakistan "Dawn" (12/23) 
 
"The United States has members of its intelligence services in 
Pakistan but it has no troops, U.S. Special Envoy to Pakistan and 
Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke said on Tuesday. 'We have members of 
our intelligence services in every country in the world,' Mr. 
Holbrooke told PBS Television when asked if the United States had 
troops in Pakistan." 
 
News Story: Pak Army Rejects Guardian Report "Express," "Khabrain," 
"Aaj Kal" (12/23) 
 
"Pakistan Army spokesman, Maj. General Athar Abbas, has rejected an 
article published in a British newspaper, The Guardian, in which it 
was claimed that U.S. Special Forces conducted multiple clandestine 
raids into the Tribal Areas between 2003 and 2008 as part of a 
secret war in the border region where Washington is pressing to 
expand drone strikes. The newspaper had quoted a former NATO officer 
as saying that the incursions involved helicopter-borne elite 
soldiers stealing across the border at night and were never declared 
to the Pakistani government. Athar termed the report as entirely 
baseless adding that no foreign country has the authority to conduct 
such raids inside the country. He made it clear that only Pakistan's 
armed forces have the right to take military action against the 
terrorists in any part of the country." 
 
News Story: Woman Moves LHC Over Harassment By FBI "Dawn" (12/23) 
 
"The Lahore High Court has sought written comments from Federal 
Secretaries of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior on a 
petition filed by a woman doctor alleging that the U.S. Federal 
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had tried to kidnap her. Justice Asad 
Munir ordered the secretaries on Tuesday to file their replies 
within three weeks in response to the petition of Dr. Mehwish Saleem 
Baig." 
 
TERRORISM/MILITARY ISSUES 
 
News Story: Qureshi Hits Out At New U.S. Strategy "Dawn" (12/23) 
 
"As the diplomatic row between Pakistan and the U.S. over the new 
Afghanistan strategy intensifies, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood 
Qureshi told the Americans in categorical terms that Islamabad would 
neither allow expansion of drone attacks to Balochistan nor permit 
'hot pursuit' by foreign troops. Addressing a meeting of the 
National Assembly's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, convened 
at the Foreign Office to deliberate on various aspects of the new 
U.S. policy for Afghanistan, Mr. Qureshi warned that there were red 
lines which must not be crossed and said that drone strikes were 
"counter-productive and unhelpful" in the war against extremism." 
 
News Story: Taliban Target Media "Daily Times" (12/23) 
 
"Three people, including a woman, were killed and another 24 injured 
when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the main gate of the 
Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday.... NWFP Information Minister 
Iftikhar Hussain told reporters at the scene that targeting 
journalists was 'militants' compulsion,' as the journalists were 
exposing the terrorists to the public.... The Peshawar Press Club 
has announced three-day mourning." 
 
News Story: Attack On Press Club Blow To Media Freedom "Dawn" 
(12/23) 
 
"The International Press Institute lamented a deadly attack on a 
press club in Pakistan's troubled northwest on Tuesday as a tragic 
blow for media freedom. 'Pakistan is already one of the most 
dangerous countries in the world for journalists out in the field,' 
IPI Director David Dadge said in a statement." 
 
News Story: U.S. Flays Attack on PPC "The News," "Express," "Ausaf,' 
"Pakistan." "Islam" (12/23) 
 
"The U.S. Embassy has condemned the vicious terrorist attack on the 
Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday that killed and wounded many innocent 
people. 'Freedom of the press is the hallmark of a free and 
democratic society. Today's attack demonstrates the terrorists 
contempt for Pakistan's democracy,' said a press release issued in 
Islamabad." 
 
News Story: Smugglers Using NATO Supply Trucks To Afghanistan "Dawn" 
(12/23) 
 
"Frontier Corps troops foiled on Tuesday an attempt to smuggle 
fertilizer using trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in 
Afghanistan. The truck driver and cleaner were arrested and the 
vehicle was impounded. Sources said that the fertilizer was hidden 
in a sealed container along with other NATO supplies." 
 
News Story: 18 Militants Killed In Orakzai Agency "Dawn" (12/23) 
 
"Eighteen militants, including a local leader of Tehrik-i-Taliban 
Pakistan, were killed in security forces' shelling and a clash with 
a tribal lashkar in lower and upper Orakzai agency on Tuesday, 
officials said." 
 
News Story: U.S. Donates Life-Saving Ambulances; Nwfp To Receive 
Emergency Vehicles Worth Over $77,000 "Express," 'Jang," "Pakistan 
Observer," "Jinnah" (12/23) 
 
"Robert Wilson, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) 
Mission Director, donated ten ambulances to the Dera Ismail Khan 
Health Department in a ceremony held on Tuesday in Islamabad.  The 
ambulances, designed and equipped to assist pregnant women and 
newborns, will provide more rapid access to emergency medical 
services in one of Pakistan's most remote and conflict-ridden 
areas." 
 
POLITICAL ISSUES 
 
News Story: U.S. Govt.-Run Radio Fears Coup In Pakistan "The News" 
(12/23) 
 
"Conditions in Pakistan have been ripening, like the mango fruit 
eaten there, for another military coup d'etat. The economy has 
slumped, corruption is rampant, and terrorism is endemic. People are 
losing faith in the officials they brought to power, U.S. Congress 
funded Radio Free Liberty (RFE) said in a political commentary on 
Pakistan on Monday. RFE is supervised by the Broadcasting Board of 
Governors, a bipartisan federal agency overseeing all U.S. 
international broadcasting services. It is funded by the U.S. 
Congress and broadcasts in 28 languages to 20 countries." 
 
News Story: U.S. Does Not Want Military Government In Pakistan; We 
Will Continue To Support Democracy: Bryan D. Hunt" "Din," "The News" 
 
(12/23) 
 
"U.S. Consulate Principal Officer Bryan Hunt has said that the U.S. 
does not want a military government in Pakistan; we will continue to 
fully support democracy in Pakistan. He was addressing a seminar on 
'U.S-Pakistan Relations' at the University of South Asia. Addressing 
the seminar, he further said that Pakistani and American governments 
have the same objective: both want to see South Asia cleansed of 
terrorists and are working together to this end." 
 
News Story: NAB Moves To Withdraw References Against Zardari "Dawn" 
(12/23) 
 
"The National Accountability Bureau asked accountability courts on 
Tuesday not to revive 'corruption references' against President Asif 
Ali Zardari because he 'enjoys immunity' under the Constitution." 
 
ECONOMY/ENVIRONMENT 
 
News Story: U.S. Unlikely To Bail Out Pak Govt. On Power Subsidy 
"The News" (12/23) 
 
"The Obama administration seems not inclined to providing financial 
solace to Pakistan to enable the government to continue with the 
subsidy on electricity tariff for lifeline consumers. 'The 
government is not receiving encouraging indications from the U.S. to 
this effect. So far, the U.S. also seems reluctant to bail out 
Pakistan in this regard,' a senior official of the Ministry of 
Finance told .The News.'" 
 
News Story: Afghanistan Not To Press Pakistan For Allowing India 
Transit Route "The News" (12/23) 
 
"Afghanistan has agreed not to further press Pakistan for allowing 
land transit route to India after Afghans were given access to Wahga 
border on the Pakistani side for transportation of goods to India, 
says a senior official of the Commerce Ministry, Islamabad." 
 
MISCELLANEOUS 
 
News Story: December Is 'Real Deadline' U.S. Tells Iran "Dawn" 
(12/23) 
 
"The United States warned Iran on Tuesday that December is "a very 
real deadline" after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed 
an international ultimatum over its nuclear program. The United 
States and France have repeatedly urged Tehran to accept a United 
Nations-drafted deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel by 
the end of the year or face the threat of further sanctions, White 
House spokesman Robert Gibbs said." 
 
EDITORIALS/OPINIONS 
 
Editorial: Pakistan And The USA, an editorial in the center-right 
national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (12/23) 
 
"The United States may have developed a new strategy for Afghanistan 
and Pakistan, but linking them has not worked, not least because the 
role it gave India in Afghanistan has been used to destabilize 
Pakistan." 
 
Editorial: Get Tough on Foreigners Too, an editorial in the 
Karachi-based, pro-Taliban Jihadi Urdu daily "Islam" (cir. 15,000) 
(12/23) 
 
"The scuffle between the U.S. Consulate staff, and the Lahore 
Airport security officials is yet another example the suspicious 
activities and growing high-handedness of the American diplomats in 
Pakistan. The incident also demonstrates the level and magnitude of 
liberty the U.S. nationals are enjoying in our country. Punjab Chief 
Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, must take immediate and strict notice of 
illegal activities of the U.S. Consulate in Lahore." 
 
Editorial: Suicide Attack On Peshawar Press Club, an editorial note 
in the Lahore-based populist center-right Urdu daily "Khabrain" 
(cir. 50,000) (12/23) 
 
"The suicide attack on Peshawar Press Club is condemnable; but this 
and other such attacks cannot discourage the journalists. 
Journalists vow that they will not let the sacrifice of their 
colleagues go in vain, and will always uphold the truth." 
 
Editorial: Attack On The Peshawar Press Club: A Heinous Attempt To 
Suppress The Truth, an editorial note in the liberal Urdu daily 
"Express" (circ. 25, 000) (12/23) 
 
"This is the first suicide attack on a Press Club in the country. 
Although in the past, journalists received threatening calls, and 
some became victims of targeted killing, this is the first attack on 
the journalists as a community.... This tragedy also reveals that 
although countless announcements have been made regarding security 
plans for Muharram, there still remains a lot to be done. Moreover, 
through patience and unity in their ranks, journalists must send out 
a signal to the militants that they cannot force the media from 
writing the truth [through such acts]. This attack has also revealed 
that after police, army, women and children, the media is now being 
targeted. Can anyone say even now that this is not our war?"Q 
Editorial: Credit Where It's Due, editorial in the Karachi-based 
center-left independent national English daily "Dawn" (cir. 55,000) 
(12/23) 
 
"Killing or forcing militants to flee doesn't necessarily restore 
normality to the lives of displaced persons. Yes, the immediate 
threat posed by the Taliban is overcome when they are neutralized. 
But that doesn't mean the people returning to their homes in Swat 
and elsewhere in Malakand can pick up where they left off now that 
the militants are on the run....  What the people in conflict-hit 
regions need right now is not just military action against the 
Taliban but the means to ensure their survival after the war." 
 
Editorial: Electric Shock, an editorial in the Lahore-based liberal 
English language daily "Daily Times" (cir. 10,000) (12/23) 
 
"The decision to withdraw electricity subsidies being given to 
lifeline consumers and the agriculture sector does not come as a 
surprise as it was part of the conditionalities that the 
International Monetary Fund (IMF) had set for Pakistan. Under the 
IMF's pressure, Pakistan has had to take many unpopular decisions on 
economic matters, the new electricity tariff being one of them." 
 
Editorial: Slashing Subsidies, an editorial in the populist, often 
sensational national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) (12/23) 
 
"For people locked in a constant struggle against poverty and 
hardship, life just got a little tougher. Complying with tough 
demands from the IMF, the government will raise power tariff by 13.5 
per cent in January.... The impact of the deal of desperation struck 
with the IMF last year, as the country faced bankruptcy, is now 
hitting home hard.... The consequence of this is something the 
government needs to consider." 
 
Editorial: PPP And PML-N Again Vow To Strengthen Democracy; Improve 
Good Governance And Keep Your Spokesmen Under Control, an editorial 
in the second-largest, nationalist Urdu daily "Nawa-i-Waqt" (cir. 
150,000) (12/23) 
 
"In the present hostile environment, it is indeed encouraging that 
PM Gillani and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had a meeting, which 
will have long term effects on strengthening democracy. However, 
will the nation benefit from this mutual effort to save the PPP 
government? Both the parties will face public wrath if the PPP 
avoids focusing on good governance,  and instead keeps working to 
save the group of looters within its ranks and the PML-N -- despite 
all this - comes to the government's defense just to protect the 
system." 
 
Editorial: The World Without Nuclear Weapons, an editorial in the 
country's premier business newspaper, "Business Recorder" (cir. 
25,000) (12/23) 
 
"Media reports indicate a proximity of views between the U.S. and 
Russia on a 'new arms control treaty that would reduce their 
strategic nuclear arsenals by at least one quarter'. In case a 
treaty is brokered on the lines being suggested, this would 
constitute an important development.... Will Obama be able to pursue 
the dream of a world without nuclear weapons? What provides 
confidence is the single-mindedness with which he has pursued the 
ideal so far." 
 
Opinion: The State Circus, an op-ed by Shireen M. Mazari in the 
center-right national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) 
(12/23) 
 
"What Musharraf started in terms of giving unfettered access to the 
U.S. in Pakistan has been expanded by the present democratic rulers 
to the extent that U.S. citizens are arrogantly defying all laws of 
the country - a sort of 'in your face' attitude. If any Pakistani 
state employee dares to 'inflict' the law of the land on an 
American, our very own Interior Ministry makes his life hell for 
doing his duty! So while the Americans are seeking a quick exit out 
of this region, we are getting further entangled militarily in FATA 
and are seeing a two-front external threat with India, aided and 
abetted by the U.S., giving sustenance to terrorism and militancy in 
the tribal belt and beyond in Pakistan. At the same time, terrorism 
continues to expand across the country, with the comprehensive 
strategy by the state to deal with the issue. But then, there seem 
to be no strategies for anything - beyond the expansion of the 
'friends of the rulers' network putting their hand in every national 
till." 
 
Opinion: U.S. Looking For Attack On Pakistan, an op-ed by Asif 
Haroon Raja in the Islamabad-based rightist English daily "Pakistan 
Observer" (cir. 5,000) (12/23) 
 
"CIA, FBI and U.S. diplomats should not have encountered any 
bottlenecks since they move about in Pakistan unchecked and enjoy 
full cooperation of all law enforcement and intelligence 
agencies.... Having fully committed the army in fighting a futile 
U.S. war on terror, RAW sponsored terrorist duly aided by Blackwater 
elements are playing havoc into major cities of Pakistan through 
almost daily bomb blasts and suicide attacks. While CIA and FBI 
along with its shady private mercenary outfits are fully involved in 
the destabilization game, the U.S. leaders are hypocritically 
singing tunes that Pakistan is a key ally and the U.S. seeks its 
stability and prosperity." 
 
(All circulation figures are based on estimation) 
Patterson