Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Need to Work on Common Plan to Thwart US Allegations

FBIS-translated text

According to a recent report published in the US journal Time, the higher US authorities and the Bush administration have expressed their dissatisfaction at the extremist activities in Saudi Arabia and in particular the recent actions of Saudi Government against the al-Qa'ida network. The US intelligence agencies think that Saudi Arabia is hiding information from them. The truth behind the dismissal of hundreds of Saudi religious leaders and the Saudi Government's crackdown against al-Qa'ida is also being suspected.

A few weeks ago, the same US journal carried excerpts from a book by Gerald Posner (Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11) that showed the contacts of some high-level Pakistani and Saudi officials with al-Qa'ida. According to another report published in the New York Times on last Wednesday (10 September), Usama Bin Ladin is hiding in the tribal area of Pakistan. This report also says that Islamic militants are openly carrying out their activities in Pakistan. This report raises questions about the sincerity and seriousness of the Pakistani Government's efforts to stop the recent emergence of Taliban resistance. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are considered to be the US ally countries. Saudi Arabia, in particular, is a close US ally that provided its soil during the first Gulf War to the allied forces to carry out their barbaric designs against Iraq. All the air sorties on Iraq were initiated from Saudi soil during this war.

Pakistan provided all [its] facilities to the United States against its [the United States'] war against Afghanistan after the 11 September incident. The US President, George [W.] Bush, counted General Pervez Musharraf, the President of Pakistan, as his personal friend and declared Pakistan as the frontline state in the war against terrorism. Later General Musharraf had the honor of meeting the United States President at Camp David, and now he is gong to address the UN General Assembly in a few days. Yesterday he received by telephone the US President's praise for services rendered so far in the war against terror. On the other hand, reports in the US media confirm that the United States is gradually increasing its pressure on Pakistan and Saudi Arabia after its undesired involvement in the maze of Afghanistan and Iraq and receiving two to four dead bodies of US soldiers [daily] as a matter of routine.

The ground reality is that investigations regarding the terrorist incidents of New York and Washington are not yet finalized and that the real culprits are still at large. There are published reports that the people responsible for planning the 11 September incident now hold important positions in the US administration. At the same time, the United States has not been able to recover any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, even after five months of occupation. Likewise, now Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are facing various kinds of allegations from the United States. The objective of these allegations seems to be to provide the United States an excuse to give up its friendship with these countries, whenever it wants to, and to make them a target of its wrath.

President Bush, during his address to the FBI Academy in the state of Virginia, said that the United States would act against the terrorists wherever they are and not wait for them to attack the United States. This crusader President also marked the alleged places where terrorist activity generates. He said, "The Middle East contains the terrorists' hideouts, and terrorism in the United States is being exported from there." This allegation by President Bush is not limited to the Middle East. In fact the entire Islamic World is the target of this allegation. Iran and Syria are facing US threats right after its occupation of Baghdad. Now the intensity of these threats against Iran has increased, especially with reference to its nuclear program. The United States is very much concerned with the presence of Islamist groups in Lebanon. Libya is yet to get a pardon from the United States, despite its acceptance of the Lockerbie air crash. Indonesia is also under tremendous pressure because of the Bali blasts. Turkey has tried its best to please the West, but none of the European countries is interested in making a member of the European Union (EU). This is despite Turkey's secular constitution and because of its being a Muslim country. Now Turkey's [lack of] EU membership looks even more like it is due to the Islamists in power.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, has announced the sale of three Falcon radar systems worth $1 billion to India during his recently concluded visit to India. This announcement came with US approval. The Indian Government approved the transfer of two of its present missile battalions under the new command authority and decided to prepare further rocket launchers and 30 Prithvi missiles. The evil triangular united front consisting of the United States, Israel, and India is a part of the policy crusade of President Bush. This crusade was expressed, however unwittingly, in President Bush's speech on the occasion of the 11 September incidents. Later the use of the word "crusade" in that speech was taken back [by the Bush administration], but it proved to be only theoretical. The limits of this viewpoint are spreading fast, and now Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, the sole atomic power among the Muslim nations, looks like it is becoming the target of the same policy.

At the same time the reality becoming clear that there is always a falsehood hidden behind the statements of the US authorities and press reports. This falsehood is provided in the apparent dress of truth, and the way is paved to act upon any policy projected as necessary for the security of the United States. In this perspective, it is difficult to ascertain the reality behind the footage of Usama Bin Ladin shown on the television networks today. It is also difficult to know the extent of the reality in the statement attached with Usama in that footage. The inability to apprehend Saddam Husayn and Usama Bin Ladin, dead or alive, is a great humiliation for the US, and it compels one to think that it may also be a US tactic to justify its attitude toward the Islamic world. This US attitude also shows that every important Muslim country of the world is its target.

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are acting with great care and trying their best to maintain their friendship with President Bush and the United States. An element of obedience is noticeable in this policy that is not being appreciated by the United States. Therefore the realistic approach for Pakistan would be to come out of the US noose around its neck without any further delay. Saudi Arabia, the custodian of "Harmain Sharifain" [Holy Kaaba], should follow suit. Pakistan needs to fight such international conspiracies that can recreate conditions like those of 1971 [when East Pakistan became Bangladesh], internally and externally. Both President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali are visiting the United States this current month. Both Pakistani leaders will meet with President Bush. After the Camp David talks, President Musharraf will meet President Bush during his address in the UN General Assembly. Thus it can be termed as a yearly tradition. But it is difficult to predict the outcome of President Bush's meeting with Prime Minister Jamali. The result of a policy of backing the Prime Minister of a country is difficult to predict. Previously the Pakistani Prime Ministers backed by the US Presidents in White House did not have smooth sailing on their return.

However, the result of the Jamali-Bush meeting is yet to be seen. Will this meeting serve the purpose of saving the wounded democracy in Pakistan, or will the meeting between Musharraf and Bush result in making Musharraf more powerful and backing up whatever democracy Pakistan has? Presently it is anybody's guess. At the moment, all Islamic countries, in general, and Pakistan, in particular, should fully comprehend the implications of the US strategy. The US is sharpening its teeth on Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Therefore it is necessary for both countries to prepare a common plan of action and try to include all the Muslim countries in this strategy. These two countries are leaders of the Islamic world. Their leaders should carry out big tasks worthy of their leadership. Ordinary tasks can be carried out by all and sundry.

Description of Source: Rawalpindi Nawa-i-Waqt in Urdu — Privately-owned, widely-read, conservative Islamic daily, with circulation around 125,000. Harshly critical of the US and India.