Pakistanis flee into Afghanistan

By Alastair Leithead
BBC News, Kabul

Thousands of Pakistanis have fled into Afghanistan with the security situation deteriorating in Pakistan's tribal regions over the past week.

Hundreds of families, comprising some 6,000 mainly women and children, have been crossing the border.

The UN refugee agency says clashes between Pakistan's Shia and Sunni groups have forced people to flee.

It is the first time so many people have crossed this way as for years it was Afghans fleeing fighting.

It's the first time that we see this in very large numbers Salvatore Lombardo, UNHCR

The refugees have been crossing the border between Pakistan's tribal areas and south-eastern Afghan provinces.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says historic clashes between Shias and Sunnis in the villages in Kurram, North West Frontier Province, have escalated in the past couple of weeks.

This and the unstable situation in that part of Pakistan have led to the movement of so many people, the UNHCR says.

"It's the first time that we see this in very large numbers which shows that security in those areas has seriously deteriorated and it's probably become out of control," said Salvatore Lombardo, a UNHCR representative in Kabul.

He said many of the people had been given shelter in Afghanistan by villagers who live by the Pashtun Valley tribal code of hospitality, and tents were being handed out to help provide shelter as winter was intensifying along the border.

Discussions

Over the past three decades millions of Afghans fled the violence in their country during the Soviet occupation, the civil war and then in the fighting that saw the Taleban take control of Afghanistan.

With the rise of the Pakistani Taleban and militant Islamic groups along the Pakistan side of the border, the UN says it now appears that parts of Afghanistan are safer for families.

It is hoped discussions within the tribal groups can resolve the situation and allow the people to return home.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7174294.stm

Wow, how bad does the security situation in Western Pakistan have to be that people are fleeing into Afghanistan for safety? The question now would seem to be not if Pakistan will collapse into civil war but when. Not promising; not at all.

Benazir Bhutto 'killed in blast'

Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a presumed suicide attack, a military spokesman has announced on TV.

Earlier reports said Ms Bhutto had only been injured and taken to hospital.

Ms Bhutto had just addressed a pre-election rally in the town of Rawalpindi when the bomb went off.

At least 15 other people are reported killed in the attack and several more were injured. Ms Bhutto had twice been the country's prime minister.

She had been campaigning ahead of elections due in January.

The BBC's Barbara Plett says the killing is likely to provoke an agonised response from her followers, especially from her loyal following in Sindh Province.

The PPP has the largest support of any party in the country.

Scene of grief

The explosion occurred close to an entrance gate of the park in Rawalpindi where Ms Bhutto had been speaking.

Wasif Ali Khan, a member of the PPP who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital, said she died at 1816 (1316 GMT).

Supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog, Musharraf, dog", referring to President Pervez Musharraf, the Associated Press (AP) reports.

Some broke the glass door at the main entrance to the emergency unit as others wept.

A man with a PPP flag tied around his head could be seen beating his chest, the agency adds.

An interior ministry spokesman, Javed Cheema, was quoted as saying by AFP that she may have been killed by pellets packed into the suicide bomber's vest.

However, AP quoted a PPP security adviser as saying she was shot in the neck and chest as she got into her vehicle, before the gunman blew himself up.

Excerpted From: BBC online

One of Pakistan's best chances for sustained democratic reform has just been lost. Pakistan is a country to which few of us have given the serious attention it deserves. Often it is lumped into the broader Middle East along with the assumption that is "just another Muslim autocracy" enmeshed in radicalism and culturally and political antithetical to liberalism and pluralism. Yet Pakistan has on several occasions held successful democratic democratic election--even electing women more than once--and has a tradition of an independent minded judiciary that often challenges the executive. The country is complex, politically unstable, and in the process of a virtual and literal war between reform and radicalism. The future of the country is far from certain, but the outcome of the struggle will reverberate throughout the region and the world. Whatever the eventual outcome, the struggle seems more violent and the situation more volatile by the day. Bhutto's death will only worsen this situation and further hinder any move toward reform.

People You Should Know: Pervez Musharraf

Pervez Musharraf

- President of Pakistan and Chief of Army of the Pakistan Army.
- came to power in the wake of a coup d'etat and suspended the constitution twice; since coming to power he has been supported by western countries including the US. He took power on October12, 1999, ousting Nawaz Sharif, the elected Prime Minister, thereby assuming the title of Chief Executive. Later on, he assumed the office of President.
- November 3, 2007, he as Chief of Army Staff, suspended the constitution, jailed the Supreme Court of Pakistan Judges and closed all private television channels. He declared an emergency, however, he had in effect imposed martial law in Pakistan.
- January 12, 2002, Musharraf gave a landmark speech against "Islamic extremism". He unequivocally condemned all acts of terrorism and pledged to combat Islamic extremism and lawlessness within Pakistan itself.
- For an overview of the economy, corruption allegations, poverty alleviation, and relations with foreign nations check out the Wiki entry for Musharraf.

Obama warns over Pakistan strike

US presidential candidate Barack Obama has said he would order military action against al-Qaeda in Pakistan without the consent of Pakistan's government.

Mr Obama made the comments in a speech outlining his foreign policy positions.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said any threat to act against al-Qaeda from within its territory should not be used for political point scoring.

Earlier this month, Mr Obama's chief rival, Hillary Clinton, described him as "naive" on foreign policy.

The attack from Mrs Clinton came after a televised debate between Democrat presidential hopefuls.

During the debate Mr Obama said he would be willing to meet leaders of states such as Cuba, North Korea and Iran without conditions.

'Terrible mistake'

In his speech at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in Washington, Mr Obama said General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, must do more to end terrorist operations in his country.

If not, Pakistan would risk a troop invasion and the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars of US aid during an Obama presidency, the candidate said.

"It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al-Qaeda leadership meeting in 2005," he said, referring to reports that the US had decided not to launch a strike for fear of harming ties with Pakistan.

"If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will," Mr Obama said.

A spokeswoman for Pakistan's foreign ministry, Tasnim Aslam, told the AFP news agency that talk of military action was a serious matter and political candidates and commentators should "show responsibility".

White House spokesman Tony Snow defended Pakistan's leadership, saying it was working hard to fight al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters within its borders.

Gen Musharraf has been a key US ally in its so-called "war on terror" since the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.

But US officials have publicly said recently that they believe Pakistan has let al-Qaeda and Taleban militants reorganise themselves in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

Mr Obama also used his foreign policy speech to criticise the Bush administration's focus on al-Qaeda in Iraq, saying US President George W Bush was "confusing" the mission.

He said Americans were more vulnerable to terrorist attacks than before the 9/11 attacks because of a war in Iraq "that should never have been authorised and should never have been waged".

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6926663.stm