The hour of reckoning

By B Raman

"Don't push us ... it is not the 1970s, and this time you won't even know what has hit you," President General Pervez Musharraf is reported to have warned Baloch nationalist elements during an interview to Geo television, Pakistan's private TV channel, last Monday.

He issued this warning while replying to a question on the deteriorating law-and-order situation in Balochistan due to the protest movement launched by Baloch nationalist elements, spearheaded by an organization which calls itself the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Not much is known about this organization. It is possibly an offshoot of the Baloch People's Liberation Organization (BPLO), patterned after the Palestine Liberation Organization, which was active in the 1970s in the wake of the birth of Bangladesh. It tried to emulate the Bangladesh freedom struggle, but the government of Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto, then in power, managed to crush it with the help of the army and the air force, forcing its leaders and remnants to take shelter in Afghanistan, the United Kingdom, France and the then USSR.

Musharraf is not wrong when he warns the Baloch nationalists "it is not the 1970s". In the 1970s, the Pakistani political leadership, as well as the military, were yet to recover from the traumatic loss of East Pakistan, as Bangladesh was known before 1971. The army was still in a state of demoralization, with senior officers blaming each other for the humiliating debacle in East Pakistan. The US was yet to replenish all the equipment lost by the Pakistani armed forces in East Pakistan. Pakistan was not a military nuclear power. There was no terrorist or insurgent movement in Indian Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to keep the Indian security forces preoccupied.

Indira Gandhi, whom the Pakistani military-intelligence establishment respected, feared and hated, was still at the height of her power in India. The then Afghan government in Kabul was a close ally of India. Consequently, worries over the possibility of the Indian and Afghan armies helping the Baloch nationalists, either overtly or covertly, was a factor influencing Pakistan's policy.

Despite all these inhibiting factors, the Pakistani army and air force, on the orders of Bhutto, intervened and ruthlessly put down the nationalist movement, though they took many months before they could root it out. The Shah of Iran was at the height of his power and influence in Tehran and he was determined to see that the BPLO did not succeed lest it have an adverse impact on Iran's control over its Balochs. He had reportedly assured Bhutto that if India intervened to help the Balochs, his army would enter Balochistan to help the Pakistan army crush the Balochs. This imparted some confidence to the Pakistani leadership.

Today, Pakistan is a nuclear power. Jihadi terrorist organizations from Pakistan continue to keep the Indian security forces bleeding in J&K. India has had a succession of prime ministers who have no stomach for using the stick against Pakistan. Afghanistan is ruled by a government that is strongly under the control of the United States and hence unlikely to meddle in Pakistan's internal affairs. Pakistan's economy is improving steadily. Musharraf is the blue-eyed boy of the US and other Western governments. US economic and military assistance has been resumed to Pakistan on a generous scale.

The army has been in receipt of considerable US military supplies, such as helicopter gunships, surveillance equipment, arms and ammunition, etc meant for use against al-Qaeda and the International Islamic Front (IIF) of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan's border areas. Musharraf could easily divert them for use against the Baloch nationalists, and the US is unlikely to raise any objection.

more at:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GA15Df06.html

Setback to pipeline plans

By Gal Luft

For both energy hungry India and its swiftly growing neighbor, Pakistan, the need for natural gas is more pressing than ever. Pakistan has one of the world's fastest-growing populations and its demand for gas will expand significantly over the next two decades. India's gas demand will almost double by 2015, and due to the decline of its reserves it will be forced to import increasing amounts of gas. As the world's second-largest gas reserve, Iran is the most geographically convenient supplier of gas to both countries.

India considered three transport routes for gas from Iran: shipping it through the Arabian Sea on board tankers in the form of liquefied natural gas, sending it through a deep sea pipeline, or alternatively transporting it on land via a 1,700-mile pipeline from Iran's South Pars field to India. The latter option means 475 miles of the pipeline will pass through Balochistan in southern Pakistan.

A land-based pipeline would be four times cheaper than any other option, even after taking into account transit fee payments to Pakistan. But for a long time political tensions between India and Pakistan made it difficult for Delhi to accept an energy project that would create dependence on a neighbor with whom its relations were far from stable. The recent improvement in relations between the two neighbors has led India to finally consider joining forces with Pakistan for the mutually beneficial pipeline project, estimated to cost about US$4 billion. A third of the gas would be delivered to Pakistan and the rest to India.

For Iran, India's participation in the project is of paramount importance. In addition to a broader market for its gas, Iran hopes to gain political support from India as it is facing strong international pressure to terminate its nuclear program. In return for India's agreement to buy large quantities of gas, Iran has awarded Indian gas companies major service contracts and also granted them participation in refining and other energy related projects to the tune of $40 billion.

Iran's relations with Pakistan are also strategically important. With American troops stationed in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran is trying to check US influence in the region by strengthening its ties with Pakistan, one of America's most needed allies in the "war on terror". The Pakistanis, for their part, would like to see their territory used as a transit route to export natural gas to India. This would not only guarantee a source of income for them but also increase stability in the region. Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline is "a win-win proposition for Iran, India and Pakistan" that could serve as a durable confidence-building measure, creating strong economic links and business partnerships among the three countries.

But this win-win proposition seems to be threatened by terrorists. A few days after Iran's oil minister, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, arrived in New Delhi to discuss the future of the pipeline, terrorists in Pakistan blew up two gas pipelines, sending a message to all parties involved that the "pipeline of peace" might be anything but peaceful.

The area of the Balochistan-Punjab border where the pipeline is supposed to run is one of Pakistan's poorest areas and its most restive province. In recent years it has been a battleground of private militias belonging to Baloch tribes. Sporadic armed clashes resulted in attacks against water pipelines, power transmission lines and gas installations. Yet the region is strategically important due to its large reserves of oil and gas. But these riches do little for the Baloch tribesmen. Over the years Islamabad has failed to provide a fair share of the oil and gas wealth. Lack of economic progress and a deep sense of disaffection has contributed to the distrust between the federal government and the Baloch people.

more at:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GA15Df04.html

Musharraf blusters as Balochistan boils

By Syed Saleem Shahzad

~~~~

Behind the insurgency

Insurgency in the region in the past has been attributed to the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Its name cropped up in the 1980s as a pro-Moscow underground militant organization committed to the establishment of an independent greater Balochistan state comprising all Baloch lands in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.

However, in the past few years the BLA's activities have been restricted to firing rockets into Quetta army cantonment. The reason for this extremely low profile is the group's unpopularity among the masses. In the mid-1980s, a few dozen students of the Baloch Student Organization carried out terror actions under the BLA tag. However, later on a very small faction with strong pro-Moscow leanings used this platform to raise the call for a separate Baloch state.

Balochistan is geographically the largest of Pakistan's provinces, but population-wise it is the smallest. However, the province is endowed with some of the world's richest reserves of natural energy (gas, oil, coal); minerals (gold, copper), and it has strategic mountainous borders and passes adjoining Iran and Afghanistan on the west and miles of precious maritime coast stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea in the south.

In the last week of December, the federal government granted four petroleum-exploration licenses, two jointly to Oil & Gas Development Co (OGDC) and Mari Gas Co, and two exclusively to OGDC. The two companies plan to invest US$29.32 million initially, with a further investment of $16.5 million if needed, in the four blocks.

The Baloch regions of the province can be divided into three sub-regions, each with its own dynamics, culture and social conditions:

The belt comprising Hub, Lasbella and Khizdar is heavily influenced by the cosmopolitan city of Karachi, which is just a 45-minute drive away. Hub is heavily industrialized, but while most industries are owned by Karachiites, the labor force is local, and industrialization has brought major changes in their lifestyle. This influence goes up to Khizdar, where except for a few pockets, people by and large have moved away from the influence of tribal leaders. Rather than nationalist parties, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League and the Pakistan People's Party led by Benazir Bhutto are the two main popular forces.

The coastal belt comprising Makran and Gwadar, where foreign influences (non-Baloch) have always been strong. For instance, in some areas the rulers in the past were of Iranian descent. Many powerful tribes migrated here from Sindh. The region is characterized by powerful underworld mafias that rule the sea and dominate trafficking activities, ranging from gold to narcotics.

The political trends are mixed: the religious Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman; the nationalist Jamhori Watan Party; the Balochistan National Front; the Pakistan People's Party and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League all have their separate pockets of influence. However, the real power lies with the big-wigs of the coastal mafia, although in recent times their influence has been curbed to some extent, notably after the killing of two Chinese workers last year. Gwadar is being turned into a modern port city, with the help of China, and already real-estate prices have skyrocketed. Sites have been earmarked and purchased for business centers, warehouses, factories and international hotel franchises. In private conversations, Baloch tribal leaders express their doubts over urbanization as they fear another Karachi or Hub will emerge, which, among other things, will reduce the influence of the tribal leaders.

Eastern Balochistan is completely tribal, and chiefs such as Nawab Khair Bux Mari and Nawab Akbar Bugti are the main movers and shakers. This region is the nucleus of the insurgency. Eastern Balochistan is notorious for its lawlessness, and the writ of the state is weak in the face of the tribal networks that have been established. The Sui gas fields are situated in the areas dominated by Nawab Akbar Bugti, while Kohlu is Nawab Khair Bux Mari's domain.

~~~

The central government reacts

On Tuesday night, speaking on a local private channel, Musharraf warned insurgents of a military operation and said that this was not the 1970s when they could hide in the mountains. "They will be struck with weapons and they will not know what has happened to them."

Later, on another channel, Nawabzada Balaach warned the government, "I have just heard Musharraf threatening us. I tell him, it is not the 1970s either, that through military force they can suppress us. They should learn a lesson from Iraq where the world-best US army has failed to overwhelm the local resistance."

Behind Musharraf's threats, though, and even though the tribals have seriously challenged state writ, the government is extremely hesitant to use the force it used in the South Waziristan tribal area last year to flush out foreign fighters, for several reasons:

Musharraf is already being pushed to the wall by his military commanders on several issues, especially in dealing with India and his pro-US stance.

On the issue of Musharraf reneging on an earlier pledge to shed his uniform at the end of last year, political forces are already ganging up against him.

With regard to the South Waziristan operations, liberal forces such as the Pakistan People's Party adopted a silent stance, but on Balochistan all political parties can be expected to vent their disapproval.

In such an overall negative environment, the chances of a counter-military coup against Musharraf increase. Musharraf came to power in a 1999 coup.

Despite all of this, Musharraf appears to have little option other than military force, the consequences be damned.

full article at:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GA13Df01.html

Bugti expects onslaught

QUETTA: Tribesmen expect a massive army attack in Sui, said Nawab Akbar Bugti, head of the Bugti tribe which is reportedly behind the strikes on the Sui gas plant, on Thursday. Bugti said thousands of forces were moving into position. "It is very possible that a fully-fledged military operation may be launched within 24 hours," Bugti said. He claimed that 3,000 regular troops with "heavy cannons" would reach the area within 24 hours while a further 6,000 Frontier Corps troops were already there as well as 750 guards. "In this situation the future of the negotiations between Islamabad and the Baloch nationalists is bleak." afp

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_14-1-2005_pg1_5

Balochistan govt rejects military action: Troops begin searching houses in Sui area

 * Provincial cabinet tells Centre to take `direct control' of Sui

• 12 WAPDA employees released
  
• Gas load-shedding likely to start today

SUI: Paramilitary troops on Friday launched a house-to-house search for weapons in Sui, as the Balochistan cabinet meeting in Quetta asked the federal government not to send in the military against the tribesmen, a majority of whom are Bugtis, AFP reported.

Hundreds of troops were involved in the operation focussed on villages in the vicinity of the Sui gas fields to flush out weapons and secure the facility, official Abdul Samad said. "So far there has been no arrest, but the search is progressing well," Mr Samad said.

Meanwhile, Balochistan Home Minister Shoaib Nausherwani said on Friday that the provincial cabinet was of the view that there was no need for a military operation and the dispute with the Bugti tribe should be solved through political dialogue.

The cabinet had asked the federal government to take "direct control" of the entire Sui town and assume responsibility for its security, Mr Nausherwani added.

The Interior Ministry has marked five cities in Balochistan including Quetta as dangerous zones with reference to law and order, Online reported. This was stated in a report presented by the Interior Ministry to the Standing Committee on Interior on Friday. The marked cities include Dera Bugti, Sui, Khuzdar, Sibi, Gwadar and Quetta, with the Interior Ministry calling them "difficult areas".

The report also stated that Sui was close to the Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan borders and several installations of national importance including two major gas compression plants and wells of the Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC) were in the area and a 367-kilometre-long Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) pipeline originated from Sui. The OGDC and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) installations were under threat due to the volatile security situation in the area, it added.

Gwadar was peaceful at the moment, but when the Gwadar Port project began, three Chinese engineers working on the project were killed in three terrorist attacks, the report said. Such incidents had to be averted, as they threatened major projects in the country, the report added. Quetta had seen its fair share of sectarian violence involving several sectarian groups being `helped' by foreigners, the report said, adding that Quetta could also come under rocket attack.

more at:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_15-1-2005_pg1_1

-----------------------------------------

Some Balochistan cities declared 'dangerous zones':

[World News]: Karachi, Jan 15 : Pakistan's interior ministry has declared some cities of Balochistan, including Quetta, "dangerous zones" following major terrorist attacks on gas installations and sectarian violence in the region, reports Online news agency.

The ministry has in a report described Dera Bugti, Sui, Khizdar, Cibi, Gwadar and Quetta as "dangerous zones" and "difficult areas".

Several cities of Sindh and Balochistan provinces are expected to witness a major gas crisis from Saturday following prolonged closure of the Sui purification plant. Attacks by separatists on gas pipelines in Sui over the past few days have led to disruption in supplies.

The Sui Southern Company Ltd (SSGC) announced that the supply of gas would either be reduced or remain suspended daily for certain periods in different cities of Sindh and Balochistan.

more at:

http://news.newkerala.com/india-news/?action=fullnews&id=60375

---------------------------------------------

MQM may quit govt over Balochistan issue: Altaf

Pakistan Times, Pakistan - 7 hours ago

HYDERABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has hinted that his party may quit the government on the issue of launching Army operation in ...  

------------------------------------------------

Balochistan requests Centre to deploy security force to Sui

Pakistan Times National News Desk

QUETTA: Balochistan Cabinet has requested the Centre for deployment of security force in Sui to ensure peace and provide security to the gas plant and township people.

Provincial Home Minister Mir Shoaib Nausherwani informed this while briefing the newsmen about the decisions taken at the Provincial Cabinet meeting which was held here Friday under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yousaf.

The request has been made as the levies and police forces are unable to encounter the terrorists equipped with rockets, mortars and other sophisticated weapons, he argued.

He said the force would be deployed in Sui town to ensure security to the gas plant and the adjacent settlements and to maintain writ of law so that gas could be supplied to domestic, industrial and agricultural consumers without interruption.

"The force will remain confined to Sui township only and will be responsible for checking rocket attacks and arresting the elements involved in killing innocent people and firing on gas pipelines and plants", he informed.

The personnel for the force would be provided by the Federal Government and it depends on its own discretion to provide it from Army and any other agency, he informed.

more at:

http://pakistantimes.net/2005/01/15/national4.htm

Police confirms rape of lady doctor in Sui

ISLAMABAD: Police according to their preliminary investigations have confirmed that Lady Doctor Shazia was raped and have demanded an explanation from Pakistan Petroleum Limited for concealing facts.

District police officer Naseerabad DM Jamal has notified PPL manager Prof Pervez Jamula through notification No 11824 to come clear on the facts with the police as the information so far being provided is in negation to the ground realities.

Terming the explanation of PPL in gang rape case of Lady Doctor as unsatisfactory the notification says that the PPL administration failed to notify the police of the incident for three days after the incident and also did not allow the lady doctor to record her statement before the police.

The notification further said that if Dr Shazia condition was so critical than why was she taken away from Sui. If she was well enough to travel than she could have recorded a statement before the police, the notification question.

Why Dr Shazia was moved without notification to the police and eye witnesses Sakina Firdous, Dr Suriya, Dr Saima Siddiqui and CMO Usman were not presented before the police, the notification asks.

According to preliminary police investigations Dr Shazia was raped and kept at PPL hospital for two days before the police was notified of the incident.

DPO in its notification to PPL manager said that the PPL has failed to satisfy the police therefore they should apprise the police of real facts behind the incident.

http://www.paktribune.com/news/print.php?id=90647

Pakistan risks new battlefront

  By Aamer Ahmed Khan

BBC News, Karachi  

The Pakistani military is already embroiled in what many analysts call a "war without an end" against foreign militants and local supporters in Waziristan near the Afghan border.

Now the Pakistan government risks a new battlefront against an adversary of an entirely different nature.

The venue is Balochistan, Pakistan's troubled western province where nationalists have been fighting pitched battles against security forces for well over a year.

Their demands include more autonomy for the province and an end to military cantonments and huge development projects that they feel may marginalise the local Baloch population.

Guerrilla-style attacks

In 2004 this conflict assumed serious proportions as rebels stepped up their attacks, killing more than 30 soldiers and paramilitary personnel.

 The government should be asking why so many people in Balochistan support the BLA

Former chief minister Nawab Akbar Bugti  

Government troops and installations across the province came under rocket attacks and bombings throughout the year, including the Sui gas complex.

More important was the emergence of a new militant group calling itself the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).

It is this group, say government officials, which is fuelling the current unrest. The BLA says it carried out several attacks over the last year.

"The question is not whether what the BLA is doing is right or not. The government should be asking why so many people in Balochistan support the BLA," says Nawab Akbar Bugti, former Balochistan chief minister and the last of the major tribal chiefs still resident in the province.

Mr Bugti argues that the BLA's agenda clearly strikes a chord with the Baloch population.

The BLA, for its part, says it is fighting "Punjabi domination" - the sense that Balochistan's natural resources are being exploited by a state apparatus dominated by people from the province of Punjab.

This, they say, results in the "marginalisation of the Baloch population through mega-development projects".

Doorway to Central Asia

One of the BLA's immediate targets is the city of Gwadar, once a tiny town on the Makran coastline that constitutes the southern boundary of Balochistan.

The federal government intends to turn it into a major international route for sea traffic in the region, projecting it as the world's doorway to Central Asia.

"Fifty years ago, Karachi had half a million people, all of them locals," says Sardar Ataullah Mengal, one of the three major tribal chiefs in Balochistan who recently ended his 18-year exile in London and is now living outside Balochistan in Karachi.

"Today, Karachi has 14 million people, 90% of them outsiders."

Mr Mengal says that the government is trying to turn Gwadar into another Karachi.

"Balochistan has a population of about five million. If they turn it into another Karachi, the Baloch will become a minority in their own province."

Such fears are compounded by the Pakistan army's plans for establishing new garrisons in the province. Senior military officials in Islamabad say that the garrisons, or cantonments, are necessary because of the increased security needs of the area.

 Quetta was the last major Pakistani city to be connected to the national Sui gas grid

Ghizain Baloch

Baloch Students' Organisation  

With the fall of Pakistan's former ally, the Taleban, in Afghanistan, army officials argue that Pakistan has lost the "strategic depth" in Balochistan which shares a 600-mile border with Afghanistan.

And with India continuing to increase its presence in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, they say, Pakistan has no choice but to secure Balochistan against external threats by building additional cantonments in the area.

The military also argues that the cantonments bring windfall gains in terms of development and that anyone resisting the creation of new cantonments "cannot be sincere to Pakistan".

more at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4182151.stm

Dawn

Committee finalizes Balochistan report

ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: The parliamentary committee on Balochistan has finalized its recommendations and its report will be submitted to the government by Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in a few days ...

http://www.dawn.com/2005/01/19/top1.htm

20 cities declared sensitive

ISLAMABAD: Interior Ministry on Wednesday declared 20 cities sensitive with respect to law and order and issued special security guidelines for the occasion of Eidul Azha.

Declaring Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Sibi, Gwadar, Mianwali, Hyderabad, Larkana, Multan, Faisalabad, Jhang, Mardan, Gilgit, DI Khan, Kohat, Sheikhupura and Gujrat sensitive, the Interior Ministry issued a circular to the home secretaries of the four provinces. The circular contained special security arrangements in the respective areas for the occasion of Eid and warned that extremists and terrorists of banned groups and organisations could disrupt law and order. The Crisis Management Cell set up within the Interior Ministry would also continue working during Eid holidays and the leaves of staff members had been cancelled. online

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_20-1-2005_pg1_6

--------------------------------------------

Bugti's son and grandson booked

LAHORE: Nawab Akbar Bugti's son Jamil Akbar Bugti, grandson Barhamdad Bugti and 33 tribesmen from Sui and Dera Bugti have been named in the First Information Report (FIR) accusing them of firing at security personnel at the PPL installations in Sui, Geo TV reported on Wednesday. The TV channel said that the suspects were still at large. daily times monitor

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_20-1-2005_pg1_10

---------------------------------------------

Troops-militants standoff continues in Sui

• Gas installations remain under paramilitary forces' control
  
• Nearly 10,000 paramilitary troops and 5,000 soldiers deployed in Sui

By Razzak Abro

DERA BUGTI: Though the security situation in Sui is normalising the security forces in and around the gas field and Baloch militants in Dera Bugti continue to take positions, reports say.

A large number of Rangers and Frontier Constabulary personnel had been deployed in the Sui gas field. There were several check posts of the paramilitary forces enroute to Sui and Dera Bugti from Kashmore. The paramilitary forces had been deployed at the main pipeline going to Punjab. Unofficial reports said about 10,000 paramilitary personnel were stationed in and around Sui area besides the Defence Security Guards (DSG). The paramilitary forces were backed by around 5,000 regular troops present at Kashmore and Sui. The regular troops were on standby and would act in emergency situation, reports added. Two gunship helicopters, tanks and other heavy calibre guns could be seen in Kashmore-Sui border area.

Reports said although the tension in the area had decreased, people going to Dera Bugti and Sui were being stopped and questioned at more than a dozen check posts by the paramilitary forces on the Kashmore-Sui Road. The forces check people's identity and determine their ethnic affiliations, reports said. Reports added that only people from Baloch tribes were made to come out of the bus for checking.

more at:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_20-1-2005_pg1_8

----------------------------------------------

Gas pipeline attacks a protest by tribesmen, say experts

ISLAMABAD: The attack on a state-run gas plant in Balochistan last week was a wake-up call from the forgotten sectors of Pakistani society, observers told IRIN on Tuesday.

"There is a direct correlation between economic and social deprivation in the province and recent violence. It's the culmination of years of neglect," Ghulam Mustafa Talpur, a developmental economist working at ActionAid Pakistan, told IRIN. Natural gas supplies for industry, transport, power plants and domestic use have been badly disrupted across the country following the closure at Sui. The gas plant was damaged when it came under attack from armed tribesmen last Tuesday. Sui is the largest of the 24 gas fields in the country, producing one billion cubic feet of gas per day - around 45 per cent of Pakistan's total production. Local media said the tribesmen were protesting the alleged rape of a women doctor working at a hospital that was owned by the gas plant. They asked the government to arrest the culprits and attacked the gas plants, belonging to Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), using rockets and mortars.

"The Balochistan provincial government has been investigating the matter and collecting evidence and material to bring the culprits to justice. Exploiting the situation for political gain and creating a security situation shows extremism," said Shoaib Nausherwani, provincial home minister

more at;

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_20-1-2005_pg7_8

------------------------------------------------

We will resist military action, says Bugti]

 Staff Report

MULTAN: Tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti warned on Wednesday that he and his people would thwart any military operation in Balochistan.

"We will foil all attempts to impose war on the patriotic people of Balochistan and will forcefully protect our constitutional and moral rights," Nawab Bugti said in a telephonic address from Dera Bugti on Wednesday afternoon to an all parties conference on the Balochistan situation. Nawab Bugti condemned the deployment of military forces in Balochistan, saying they had "besieged" Dera Bugti and Sui city and were "humiliating" locals in house and vehicle searches.

He said instead of listening to genuine Baloch demands for employment, electricity, homes, natural gas, roads, drinking water and communication facilities, the government was branding them traitors and terrorists. "Our rulers are paving the way for the deployment of forces in this area," he said.

more at:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_20-1-2005_pg7_41

----------------------------------------------

Mily operation in Sui launched

QUETTA, January 21 (Online): Law enforcement agencies have launched operation against saboteurs of gas installations in the Sui gas field labour colony and telephonic contacts between Sui and Dera Bugti have been disconnected, according to reports received.

Official sources have denied any big operation against anti-development elements of the area. According to reports that reached here on Thursday helicopters were seen hovering over the area. BBC quoted ISPR spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan as denying the military operation.

Shaukat Sultan said that troops had been sent from Kashmore to join Frontier Corps, saying that FC helicopters would provide air cover to the military convoy. However, the ISPR spokesman vowed that gas plant and other key installations in Balochistan would be protected at any cost.

Jamhoori Watan party General Secretary Agha Shahid Bugti confirming the operation talking to Online said that army troops and 18 tanks have reached Sui and the entire town has been sealed off and a search operation has started. No reports of clash has been received, he however said.

Baloch want denied rights, no charity: PONM

The Pakistan Oppressed Nation Movement (PONM) has warned the government of countrywide protest by all the political groups after Eid-ul-Azha if the military troops are not pulled out of Balochistan immediately.

"We ask for our denied rights, no charity. And there will be no compromise on the due rights at any cost", Senator Sanaullah Baloch, the PONM central leader, told Online in a special talk.

more at;

http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=91203

GUJRAT, January 24 (Online): PML President and former Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain Sunday denying of any military operation underway in Balochistan said that government would continue its efforts to bring about conciliation with opposition on all issues of national importance.

He was talking to journalists at Zahoor Elahi's house here.

He said that people talking of military operation in Balochistan should desist from making such irresponsible statements 'when there is no operation underway in Balochistan', said Shujaat Hussain.

He said that movement of security agencies' officials to Balochistan for protection of key installations in the province should not be misinterpreted as military invasion of the province.

more at:

http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=91317

Security Forces arrested 200 from Sui

ISLAMABAD, January 24 (Online): Security forces in Sui area of Balochistan arrested some 200 people on Sunday. The arrested are undergoing interrogation. Official sources claimed that heavy weapons, including rocket launchers and Klashanikovs were confiscated from the possession of the arrested tribesmen.

The search operation is reportedly underway in areas including Bora Lines and LC lines Shami. Terming the news of razing of houses in Sui in military operation as baseless, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad Sunday said that some 200 houses in the area were already locked as inmates had moved from there.

===============

Balochs not surrendering weapons voluntarily: Akbar Bugti

Chief of Jamhoori Watan Party Nawab Akbar Bugti has termed baseless and fallacious the news suggesting that people of Sui were surrendering weapons voluntarily.

There is no truth in reports. He said that Balochs had never handed over their weapons in the past martial law periods and they would not do now.

He said that statements to this effect were fabricated to influence people's mind psychologically.

http://www.paktribune.com/news/print.php?id=91248

Pakistan joins US in attacking Iran over support for terror

By Massoud Ansari in Karachi

(Filed: 23/01/2005)

Pakistan, one of America's most important allies in the war on terror, has blamed Iran for fuelling a growing insurgency in Baluchistan, the strategically sensitive province where militant tribesmen have recently launched a series of terrorist attacks.

Officials in Islamabad believe Iran is encouraging "intruders" from its own Bal-och community to cross the 550-mile border with the Pakistani province, and give support to the rebels.

"All this violence is a part of a greater conspiracy," a senior government official told The Telegraph. "These militants would not be challenging the government so openly without the back-up of a foreign hand."

Pakistan's support would be important for any United States-led action against Iran, whose fundamentalist regime was last week put firmly in the sights of the second Bush administration by the vice-president, Dick Cheney, who said: "You look around the world at potential trouble spots - Iran is right at the top of the list."

Pakistan's ISI intelligence service set up a unit in the provincial capital, Quetta, last year to monitor suspected Iranian activity in Baluchistan. Officials say that in addition to directly supporting the insurgency, Teheran's state-controlled radio has launched a propaganda campaign against Islamabad.

more at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/23/wpak23.xml

No talks with Shujaat, says Bugti's kin

Staff Report

HYDERABAD: Baloch leaders will not hold negotiations with Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain or any other figure appointed by the centre, in the in a situation where thousands of security personnel, with heavy tanks and artillery, were positioned at Nawab Akbar Bugti's hometown of Dera Bugti, Mr Bugti's son-in-law Agha Shahid Bugti said on Monday.

Mr Shahid Bugti, who is secretary general of Akbar Bugti's Jamhoori Watan Party, alleged at a press conference at the Press Club here that the rape of the woman doctor of the Sui hospital recently had been a planned act intended to sabotage the negotiations between Baloch leaders and the government's parliamentary committee.

The said the Baloch people would not abandon their rights, as he put it. But he denied they were fighting to secure the royalty for Sui gas, of which, he said, the federal government started paying 12.5% to Balochistan as a result of protests by the people of the province. He added that royalty was a constitutional matter and was not paid to individuals.

Mr Bugti complained that the government had not installed any telemetry system at the Sui gas plant to gauge the quantity of the gas being drawn from there. Nor did it maintain any record of it. He said the government discriminated Balochistan in fixing the rates of gas. He said the rate in Punjab is Rs 230 to 250 per kilo cubic feet (KCF), Rs 126 KCF in Sindh and Rs 25 KCF in Balochistan. He said the federal government earned Rs 70-80 billion annually from Sui while Balochistan received a share of only Rs 7 billion.

He alleged the mega-project at Gwardar would destroy Balochistan.

Baloch leaders not oppose Gwadar Port, as such, Mr Bugti said, but simply do not want any development involving control by what he called outsiders. Mr Bugti said the federal government wanted to create a 700km-long coastal belt from Karachi up to Jewni in Balochistan and take control of it by declaring it a Defence Coastal Zone.

more at:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_25-1-2005_pg7_43

Cantonment being set up near Sui

 * Bugti accuses army of appropriating land

SUI: The Pakistan Army has set up a new military base near the Sui gas field, where thousands of forces were deployed after a deadly rocket attack this month that disrupted fuel supplies, officials said on Wednesday.

The move, announced to journalists on a trip organised by the military to Balochistan, will anger tribesmen who have strongly opposed government plans to establish new military garrisons in the region. Colonel Mazhar Masood said that a military cantonment is being established in Sui, a town near where rocket and mortar attacks on January 7-11 killed at least eight soldiers and civilians and forced a temporary shutdown at a gas plant and pipeline, disrupting supplies across the country.

"A new cantonment has been set up in Sui over 400 acres of land. Primarily, a battalion of army soldiers with tanks and other military equipment has been taken there," Masood, who is in charge of the garrison, told reporters.

"We are now completely ready to respond to terrorists and miscreants. We will cleanse the area of miscreants and protect strategic installations and the citizens of Sui."

~~~

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_27-1-2005_pg1_1

Balochi anger over garrison plan

By Paul Anderson

BBC News, Islamabad  

Tribal leaders in a restive Pakistani province have reacted angrily to plans to build an army garrison on what they say is their land.

The army has confirmed plans to build one of three new bases in Balochistan at the massive Sui gas fields.

Shortly after, there were two small bombings designed to hit the power and railway networks.

Sui was the scene of violent clashes two weeks ago between tribal militants and security forces.

At least eight people were killed in those clashes.

Future warning

The crisis in Balochistan is fuelling anxiety nationwide of a bigger conflagration in waiting.

Suspected Balochi nationalist militants greeted confirmation of the army's intention to build a new garrison on their territory with a series of small bombings.

The first was aimed at electricity power lines. Then, for the second time this week, there was an attack on a railway line.

No-one was injured in the bombings.

The BBC's Paul Anderson in Islamabad say the attackers' idea was to flex their muscle by disrupting infrastructures in the area and to warn of the potential for more serious violence.

Things reached a head earlier this month when tribal militants launched a ferocious mortar attack on security forces at an installation in the Sui gas fields.

Clashes lasted several days and led to massive disruption of supplies to industries and homes.

The army moved in to secure those supplies, announcing late on Wednesday it would build a permanent garrison at the scene.

MORE AT:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4213399.stm

Pakistan clears houses from gasfield in standoff with rebels

SUI, Pakistan : Pakistan is to take the most drastic step yet in its bid to crush a deadly tribal rebellion, forcibly evicting all residents within 15 kilometres (10 miles) of the country's biggest gasfield.

Renegade clans in the southwestern province of Baluchistan have recently stepped up their fight for increased political rights as well as more royalties and jobs from abundant local natural resources.

Three weeks ago they began raining rockets on the state-run natural gas plant at Sui, leaving eight dead. A nationalist group linked to the tribesmen has also bombed the region's main railway line three times in the last week.

Now the military says it is to clear 500 dwellings from the area around the gas plant, saying the measure will prevent further attacks and protect residents from the devastating consequences of a major explosion.

"I am sure the people of these households are gentle and peaceful citizens, but the terrorists who want to damage this installation are using them as shields against our forces," Colonel Mohammad Mujeeb, commander of paramilitary troops in Sui, told journalists allowed to make a rare visit.

Pakistan -- which is already exerting itself in a lengthy campaign against Al-Qaeda-linked militants in the tribal areas in the far northwest -- has so far taken a good-cop, bad-cop approach to the rebels.

The government has held some talks with tribal leaders and has sought to show that it is promoting development in the impoverished province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

But military ruler President Pervez Musharraf warned them shortly after the Sui attacks: "Don't push us". He also made a pointed reference to a Baluch nationalist uprising that was brutally put down in the 1970s.

Military officials said they would also set up a new garrison to protect Sui. Officials told AFP that up to 800 regular army soldiers and at least 2,000 members of the paramilitary forces have been guarding the area since the attacks.

The authorities are now embarking on new ways to safeguard the installation, which produces at least a fifth of Pakistan's natural gas needs.

"It is up to the government to decide the timeframe, but these people who are being taken hostage by the terrorists are to be removed and the area up to 15 kilometers around the installation must be cleared of any civilian population," Mujeeb said.

"The other reason for shifting these population is that if, God forbid, any incident happens to these installations, thousands of people will be burnt to ashes," he said.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/129610/1/.html

Bomb attacks plunge Balochistan into darkness

Daily Times Monitor Feb. 2

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_2-2-2005_pg1_1

LAHORE: Bomb explosions cut electricity to Balochistan, plunging the entire province into darkness late on Tuesday, BBC Urdu Service reported.

The report said that high-tension power supply line was blown up by sudden bomb attacks in Sibbi at about 9:15 pm. "The electricity tower was blown up in Sibi and power supply to two-thirds of the province has been cut off," a Balochistan government official said. "This was the last power supply line after two power transmission lines were blown up earlier this month and now we have no means to supply power. The repair will take some time," a Water and Power Development Authority official told AFP.

Railway line blast: A bomb exploded....

Militants hit phone and rail lines in Balochistan

 QUETTA: Pakistan was rocked by six bomb and landmine blasts targeting key transport, communications and power facilities on Thursday, causing widespread damage and blowing off a soldier's foot.

Five of the explosions were in Balochistan. Two railway lines were ripped up in the attacks, including the main line between Quetta and Zahidan in Iran.

The track was blown up at Mustung, some 56 kilometres southeast of Quetta, a railway official told AFP. Officials were inspecting the damage, he added. Hours earlier a powerful bomb ripped through the wall of a police station in the same town without causing any injuries, local police chief Salim Lehri said.

In the other rail blast a passenger train escaped a possible accident when a pilot engine found part of the track missing at Dera Ghazi Khan, 90 kilometres west of Multan in Punjab. A four-feet stretch had been blown up by a bomb leaving a two-feet deep crater and halting the Chiltan express travelling from Quetta to Rawalpindi, railway police said.

Authorities started running the pilot engines to check rail routes last month. All night services in the province were halted in January.

In Kohlu, some 340 km southeast of Quetta, militants blew up two microwave telephone masts, officials said.

more

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_4-2-2005_pg1_1

Attacks in Balochistan: Musharraf rules out military action

 * President says security of installations will not be compromised

* Decision on Bhasha or Kalabagh after committee's report

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday ruled out military operations in Balochistan and said the government wanted a political settlement, but warned that the security of state assets would not be compromised.

Meeting with a delegation of ruling party senators led by PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Gen Musharraf said the crisis in Balochistan would be resolved through "civil means" and dialogue. "We will help the provincial government to establish its writ," sources quoted the president as saying.

He told the senators that the federal government had sent the army to Balochistan on the request of the provincial government. "The army will not be used for any operation. The army will strengthen the Frontier Constabulary and other law-enforcement agencies to protect the gas installations."

The president said there were many development projects underway in Balochistan that would help the province and no one would be allowed to hinder them, APP reported.

more

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_10-2-2005_pg1_1

Honorable Death of Bugti May Mean Tons of Trouble for Musharraf

By Shehryar Mazari

KARACHI, February 9: Violence in Balochistan recently prompted tough-talking President Pervez Musharraf to warn Baloch tribesmen to stop fighting or "they will not know what hit them".

He was probably referring to his army's newly acquired hi-tech weaponry - such as night vision attack helicopters - given by the US to help eliminate Islamist militants on Pakistan's western border.

Gen Musharraf's threatening tirade, however, has had the opposite effect. Almost overnight, even the few pro-military urbanized Baloch have turned against the general's jingoistic philosophy. The reason for this transformation lies deep within Baloch culture.

The Baloch speak a Western Iranian language related to Kurdish. Nomadic and warlike, they migrated from southern Iran to escape the depredations of Genghis Khan's Mongols sometime in the 13th century.

Their preference for mountainous terrains and the resulting geographic isolation allowed them to maintain a distinct cultural identity and resist domination by a long succession of neighboring rulers.

Even the British Raj sought amity with local tribes by granting autonomy and subsidies to the tribal chiefs.

Balochistan was forcibly amalgamated into Pakistan in 1948 and its inhabitants have taken up arms against Islamabad thrice since.

The last insurgency broke out in the mid-1970s and it took several army divisions and aerial bombardment to overwhelm the defiant members of the Marri tribe.

Valor, martial prowess and honor are key elements of Baloch tribalism. Ballads from the 15th century about the great war between two Baloch tribal blocs, respectively ruled by Chakar Rind and Gowaram Lashari, are still regarded as the ultimate in chivalric tradition.

As recent as the mid-1990s, the warring Mazari and Bugti tribes spawned a new generation of ballads extolling their bravery and paying homage to those that had died in the conflict. Tribal pride can also play a destructive role.

In 1973 Islamabad engineered the dismissal of the first elected Balochistan government, then headed by the Marri and Mengal tribal chiefs. The chief of the Bugtis, who nursed a perceived insult from these rival sardars (tribal chiefs), agreed to become Islamabad's newly appointed provincial governor.

He then sent a discreet message to his rivals, the Marri and Mengal sardars, that he would reinstate their government provided they made peace by visiting him at his official governor's residence.

The ensuing negotiations eventually culminated in a major anti-Islamabad rebellion. It led to the death of hundreds of tribesmen at the hands of the army.

Since this last revolt Islamabad has ensured that Balochistan's provincial government remains faithful.

more

http://www.satribune.com/archives/200502/P1_maz.htm

India, Pak will be failed state by 2015, US intelligence agencies say

2 Hour,6 minutes Ago  

[India News]: New Delhi, India: Pakistan will be a "failed" state by 2015 as it would be affected by civil war, complete Talibanisation and struggle for control of its nuclear weapons, premier US intelligence agencies have said in an assessment report.

Forecasting a "Yugoslavia-like fate" for Pakistan, the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in a jointly prepared Global Futures Assessment Report have said "by year 2015 Pakistan would be a failed state, ripe with civil war, bloodshed, inter-provincial rivalries and a struggle for control of its nuclear weapons and complete Talibanisation".

"Pakistan will not recover easily from decades of political and economic mismanagement, divisive policies, lawlessness, corruption and ethnic friction," said the report quoted by former Pakistan High Commissioner to United Kingdom Wajid Shamsul Hasan in an article in the 'South Asia Tribune'.

more

http://www.keralanext.com/news/indexread.asp?id=114346

Threat of Civil War grows in Pakistan province

BY JAMES RUPERT

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

DERA BUGTI, Pakistan -- In the center of this dusty town's only real intersection, Pakistani paramilitary troops peer out from a thick, round tower of sandbags, training machine guns on the main streets. Other government soldiers watch the town from fortified nests on the adjacent hilltops.

The men they monitor so warily are hundreds of ethnic Baluch militiamen of the Bugti tribe, who brandish automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades as they patrol the town and its surrounding mountain valley in columns of pickup trucks. Neighboring Baluch tribes also have taken up arms, and guerrillas have blown up electrical power lines and trains in recent weeks.

In the vast jumble of rocky deserts and mountains that dominate southwestern Pakistan, "the Baluch people are ready for a war," said Mohammed Din, an unemployed Bugti tribesman who kept an eye on an outpost of Pakistani troops here last week.

Diplomats and scholars in this country agree: President Pervez Musharraf, who for many analysts remains America's most critical ally in its global war against Muslim extremist groups, faces a threat of civil war in Baluchistan, Pakistan's biggest and poorest province. The Baluch uprising threatens to distract and politically weaken Musharraf as he pushes his army into a difficult offensive against al-Qaida, the Taliban and their allies in the districts just north of here.

Baluchistan's tribal nomads, most of whom live by raising goats or sheep in these dry lands, have rebelled repeatedly for more autonomy under Pakistani rule, the last time in the 1970s. In the past three years, as the government has begun building military bases, ports and highways in the province, Baluch have resisted, saying the development is stealing their land, handing valuable Arabian Sea coastline to newcomers from other parts of Pakistan and marginalizing the Baluch in their own province.

Baluch guerrillas have stepped up attacks on government targets in the past year, and the violence escalated last month after government officials appeared to be covering up a rape committed in Bugti tribal lands, allegedly by a Pakistani army captain.

Musharraf's military government has lost popularity in Pakistan with its offensives in the Waziristan region against al-Qaida and the Taliban, just north of here. Pakistani analysts and foreign diplomats say civil war in Baluchistan would further darken the government's image and distract a military already overburdened by its missions and governing a country of 160 million people.

Militant, anti-Western Islam has found little foothold among Pakistan's estimated 8 million Baluch -- so far. But as many as half of the province's people live in abject poverty, twice the rate of Pakistan's dominant province, Punjab, according to an independent research group, the Social Policy Development Center.

more

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wopaki20,0,7700190.story?coll=ny-world-big-pix

PPL unfolds classified report on Dr Shazia today

ISLAMABAD: A highly confidential internal classified report of the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) to be unfolded in a closed-door meeting today (Wednesday) could give a new twist to the rape of Dr Shazia.

The seven-page presentation to members of the National Assembly standing committee on Petroleum Ministry today, will highlight threats to the life of Dr Shazia after the rape. Sources said the word of threat has been used at least three times on different pages. The report says that it was because of these threats that she was immediately sent to Karachi and police guards posted outside her residence.

However, the secret report does not say that from which quarter the personal security of Dr Shazia was under threat after her rape. The PPL report available with The News also quotes a responsible authority as saying that 3-4 defence security guards were seen coming out of the lady doctor's house.

The PPL has claimed that `law and order disturbance at Sui may not entirely be connected with Dr Shazia incident'. The PPL report contains details of the rape incident of January 2 that has triggered a violent reaction in Balochistan province. This view is shared by 17 MNAs of the National Assembly committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources, who are meeting here on Friday.

A comprehensive briefing will be given by the top management of PPL in a closed- door meeting. Petroleum Minister Amanullah Jadoon and secretary of the ministry have been asked to appear before the committee and answer questions put by the committee to be presided over by MNA Dr Noorjahan Panezai.

The PPL report defends the top management of PPL, earlier accused by police of concealing facts of the rape case and destroying the evidence from the spot.

Since eruption of the crisis in Balochistan, the PPL bosses for the first time have made an attempt to get their name clear and directly held the lady doctor responsible for delayed action against the culprits. The report has alleged that none other than Dr Shazia herself stopped the PPL administration from a prompt police action, as she continued to insist that she was robbed, not sexually assaulted.

The report has disclosed that the lady doctor herself stopped the PPL administration from getting a FIR registered against the alleged culprits as she wanted to wait for her husband who was out of the country at that time.

The Petroleum Ministry has also accused the national media of `blowing the issue out of proportion' as it thought that the incident did not deserve such kind of converge at the national and international level.  

more

http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en76005&F_catID=&f_type=source

Musharraf backs rape-case officer  

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has stepped into a controversial rape case, saying he believes an accused army captain is not guilty.

more

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4293753.stm

(additional links on the side)

BBC background:

The Baloch world

&

Explosive mix

Interesting read! Who would have thunk!

Caribdude

What's Going On In Balochistan?  (Asia: South-West, All Topics)

posted by worldwise on 02/28/2005 12:55:35 AM CDT

2 comments (2 new)

Rank: 1.00

http://agonist.org/story/2005/2/27/225535/593

2. Will rising Baloch nationalism undermine Pakistan's war on terror?  (Asia: South-West, All Topics)

posted by worldwise on 01/25/2005 06:47:14 PM CDT

0 comments (0 new)

Rank: 1.00

http://agonist.org/story/2005/1/25/164715/791

3. Explosive mix in Pakistan's gas province  (Asia: South-West, All Topics)

posted by worldwise on 01/24/2005 09:15:16 AM CDT

1 comment (1 new)

http://agonist.org/story/2005/1/24/71516/3636

China's pearl in Pakistan's waters

By Sudha Ramachandran

BANGALORE - When Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits Pakistan this month to inaugurate the Gwadar deepsea port, China will take a giant leap forward in gaining a strategic foothold in the Persian Gulf region. It will advance what a recent Pentagon report describes as Beijing's "string of pearls" strategy that aims  to project Chinese power overseas and protect China's energy security at home.

Gwadar is a fishing village on the Arabian Sea coast in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. Balochistan shares borders with Afghanistan and Iran to the west - Gwadar is just 72 kilometers from the Iranian border. More important is Gwadar's proximity to the Persian Gulf. It is situated near the mouth of this strategic body of water, and about 400km from the Strait of Hormuz, a major conduit for global oil supplies.

Pakistan identified Gwadar as a port site in 1964. However, it was only in 2001 that significant steps toward making the proposal a reality were taken, when China agreed to participate in the construction and development of the deepsea port. The arrival of the United States in late 2001 in Afghanistan - at China's doorstep - nudged Beijing to step up its involvement in the Gwadar project. In March 2002, Chinese vice premier Wu Bangguo laid the foundation for Gwadar port.

~~~~

During the 1971 India-Pakistan war, India's blockade of Karachi had a serious impact on the Pakistani economy. Again in 1999, during the Kargil conflict, India threatened to blockade Karachi port. That Gwadar is situated 725km to the west of Karachi, which makes it 725km further away from India than Karachi, provides "Pakistan with crucial strategic depth [vis-a-vis India] along its coastline", writes Haider.

For China, Gwadar's strategic value stems from its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz. About 60% of China's energy supplies come from the Middle East, and China has been anxious that the US, which has a very high presence in the region, could choke off these supplies to China. "Having no blue-water navy to speak of, China feels defenseless in the Persian Gulf against any hostile action to choke off its energy supplies," points out Tarique Niazi, a specialist in resource-based conflict, in the Jamestown Foundation's China Brief.

A presence in Gwadar provides China with a "listening post" where it can "monitor US naval activity in the Persian Gulf, Indian activity in the Arabian Sea and future US-Indian maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean", writes Haider. A recent report titled "Energy Futures in Asia" produced by defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton for the Pentagon notes that China has already set up electronic eavesdropping posts at Gwadar, which are monitoring maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea.

Drawing attention to China's "string of pearls" strategy, the report points out that "China is building strategic relationships along the sea lanes from the Middle East to the South China Sea in ways that suggest defensive and offensive positioning to protect China's energy interests, but also to serve broad security objectives". The port and naval base in Gwadar is part of the "string of pearls".

The other "pearls" in the string include facilities in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and the South China Sea that Beijing has acquired access to by assiduously building ties with governments in these countries.

The Pentagon report sees China's efforts to defend its interests along oil shipping sea lanes as "creating a climate of uncertainty" and threatening "the safety of all ships on the high seas". This perception overlooks the fact that China's "string of pearls" strategy has been triggered by its sense of insecurity. The United States' overwhelming presence in the Gulf and the control of its exercises over the Malacca Strait, through which 80% of China's oil imports pass, has contributed enormously to Beijing's fears that Washington could choke off its oil supply, in the event of hostilities over Taiwan.

China's foothold in the Arabian Sea has set off alarm bells in India, Iran and the US. For India, China-Pakistan collaboration at Gwadar and China's presence in the Arabian Sea heightens its feeling of encirclement by China from all sides. Iran sees the development of Gwadar port in its neighborhood as likely to erode the significance of its ports - especially Chabahar port that India has helped construct - to Central Asia and Afghanistan. However, Iran's good relations with Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics would help it maintain its advantage vis-a-vis Pakistan's Gwadar port.

Ultimately, the extent to which Pakistan and China are able to reap economic and strategic gains from the Gwadar project would depend on the challenges to it from within their borders. The Gwadar project is bitterly opposed by Baloch nationalists who see it as yet another example of Pakistan's Punjabi-dominated ruling elite siphoning away Balochi wealth and resources without this backward region or its people gaining.

For instance, it is non-Balochis who are said to have gained from the sharp rise in real estate prices around Gwadar. This has, not surprisingly, triggered angry and violent attacks on pipelines carrying oil from Balochistan and on those working on the Gwadar project. Last May, three Chinese engineers were killed and 11 others, including nine Chinese and two Pakistanis, were injured in a bomb attack by the Balochistan Liberation Army.

Pakistan has often blamed "a foreign hand" (read India or Iran) for the violence in Balochistan. But the threat to the port project or the oil pipelines comes from disaffected Balochis. Similarly, Uighur separatists angry with Beijing's "Hanification" of their land, could target Chinese workers at Gwadar.

Unless Islamabad ensures that the Baloch people have a sizeable share of the prosperity that is expected to come from Gwadar port, and Beijing ensures that the Uighurs gain from the trade with Central Asia, both Pakistan and China could find the scale of their economic and strategic ambitions diminished.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GC04Df06.html

'Surprise package' for Balochistan: Shujaat

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League (PML) President and former prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said on Thursday that the report of the parliamentary committee on Balochistan would be presented in the National Assembly by March 12, adding that President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have in principle accepted 27 out of the 31 recommendations made by the committee.

These recommendations were finalised by the subcommittee headed by PML Secretary-General Mushahid Hussain while the report of the subcommittee headed by Wasim Sajjad on needed constitutional amendments is yet to finalise its recommendation.

Taking part in the debate on Balochistan in the National Assembly, Ch Shujaat Hussain categorically stated that the government wanted to solve the Balochistan issue through political dialogue and there was no military operation in the province. "There is no proposal for any military operation in the province," he added.

He said the subcommittee headed by Senator Mushahid Hussain in its recommendations has suggested that the major part of the profit from the production of natural resources, including oil and gas, will be spent on the area from which it is produced. "It also recommended that oil and gas companies are bound to provide substantial amount for provision of educational and health facilities for the masses of the areas of explorations," he added.

Ch Shujaat said the formula for the payment of royalty has been reviewed as proposed by Senator Dilawar Abbass, and the same would be presented before the committee, and hopefully it would lead to an increase in the royalty. "A comprehensive package for Gwadar is being prepared involving billions of rupees to be spent on health, education and communication in the area," he added.

The PML leader said the Frontier Constabulary and Coast Guards have been directed to remain confined to their area of jurisdictions of anti-smuggling and anti-narcotics and not to make difficulties for the common man.

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said the committee has recommended for the construction of a highway from Dera Ismail Khan to Loralai and a system would be evolved for the export of fruits from Balochistan. "A special package for the development of Sui has also been proposed, he said.

He expressed the resolve of the government to safeguard the vital national installations at all cost. He invited all the Baloch Nationalists to re-join the committee so it could finalize its report and present the same before the house.

Ch Shujaat said Dr Shazia rape case was mishandled by the Pakistan Petroleum Limited and for that all the responsibility lies on the corporation. "He said unnecessary efforts were made to cover up the issue to make things worse," .

He said this committee is committed to resolve the issue through political dialogue and all the basic decisions would be taken in the parliamentary committees. "All the political parties should be above the party line in solving issues through parliament," he added.

Giving the background of the committee, Ch Shujaat said, when he was elected Prime Minister he wanted to do some thing for Balochistan so he proposed for the establishment of a parliamentary committee. "In the parliamentary committee, there are 16 members from the government and 22 members from the opposition," he added.

more

http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en76502&F_catID=&f_type=source

Six `RAW agents' arrested in Karachi

KARACHI: The Sindh police on Thursday claimed to have arrested six terrorists from the Baloch Colony police jurisdiction, which yielded arms and ammunition, explosives, and literature regarding guerrilla warfare and anti-state elements.

The arrested terrorists had allegedly been operating in the province under the patronage of Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and were entrusted with targeting communication links and vital installations by blasting bridges on important roads, Wapda installations, and railway tracks to destabilise the country.

more

http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en76514&F_catID=sd&f_type=source

Dr Shazia's request rejected

DERA BUGTI: The Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) management rejected Dr Shazia's request for shifting her personal goods from Sui to Karachi, although it had been approved by Naseer Abad DPO Ghulam Ahmad Dogar.

According to details, Dr Shazia approached the DPO to shift her personal goods from Sui to Karachi who issued directions to the local police in this regard. However, the PPL management refused the shifting, saying they would contact her themselves. The PPL also warned police against future contact with Dr Shazia in this regard, saying it was a PPL case, not a police case, because Dr Shazia was a PPL employee. online

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_5-3-2005_pg7_8

By Azizullah Khan

QUETTA: The Frontier Corps (FC) and Bugti tribesmen battled each other near Sangsela in Dera Bugti on Thursday with Bugti chief Nawab Akbar Bugti claiming that 50 civilians including women and children were killed by FC shooting while an FC spokesman said five FC personnel were killed and at least 19 were injured.

Government officials did not confirm the FC death toll, but said at least five FC personnel were injured and that Bugti tribesmen had laid siege to about 40 FC personnel including Bhambhor Rifles Commandant Col Rafaqat and Dera Bugti District Coordination Officer Abdul Samad Lasi.

Sources said the FC called in gunship helicopters for support and used heavy weapons against the tribesmen. The FC spokesman also said regular army personnel had been called in to help rescue the besieged personnel. He said the gunships had returned after being shot at during the battle. He also expressed ignorance about the claims made by Akbar Bugti on the number of civilian casualties.

Sources also said the FC targeted localities including the Hindu Mohalla (neighbourhood) and it was feared that the number of casualties would increase. Nothing could be confirmed yet because communications in the area had been severed a couple of weeks ago. Sui's telephone exchange had also been razed to the ground two weeks ago and not repaired.

Akbar Bugti claimed that a rocket hit one of his rooms in the morning. He said the FC was targeting civilian areas in the city and he feared many had been killed and injured. He also said he had information of regular army personnel being moved from Quetta and Sui to the area. He said the FC had targeted Hindu Mohalla, where the Hindu community lived, and many people were reportedly killed. The government had started a full-fledged military operation in Balochistan, Akbar Bugti added. "They've started and we'll see who'll finish this game," he said by satellite phone from Dera Bugti.

Intelligence sources reported at least 16 Bugti tribesmen were killed in clashes, but officials said they could not immediately confirm the casualties as fighting was continuing. FC Col Rizwan Malik said the fighting began after Bugti tribesmen shot at pickup trucks carrying FC personnel in the mountains of Sangsela near Dera Bugti, injuring four troops.

Security officials said about 40 paramilitary forces were surrounded by the tribesmen at Sangsela and helicopter gunships and regular army personnel had been deployed to rescue them. Col Malik said five more soldiers were injured when a convoy of the reinforcements came under attack, and two rescue helicopters were unable to land. Four of the injured soldiers were in serious condition, he added.

Meanwhile, a base housing troops in Dera Bugti town came under heavy rocket and mortar fire, reportedly triggering fighting between tribesmen and soldiers inside the town, and causing fatalities.

more

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_18-3-2005_pg1_1

http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-wopaki274194859mar29,0,5158743.story

Women's activists here say the fragility of their campaign is underscored by turmoil this month in the country's biggest women's rights scandal - the gang rape of Mukhtar Mai at the order of elders in her village southwest of Multan. Mai fled her home after an appeals court freed four of the six men convicted of the rape. Since then, the Supreme Court has had the men re-arrested and is considering the case, which often dominates the news in Pakistan.

Courts and the government of President Pervez Musharraf have taken steps to buttress some women's rights: to vote, run for office and marry men of their choice, for example. But actually enforcing those rights would push Musharraf into politically costly confrontations with Islamic fundamentalist parties and other conservatives, something he has avoided.

"Despite the many commitments made at the official level to act against 'honor' killings, domestic violence and other crimes against women ... realities for most women in the country remained unaltered" in 2004, said the latest annual report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent group. "Indeed there were indications an increased number faced violence ... with authorities failing to provide protection," it said.

(full story at link)

Rail bombing could have been by Baloch insurgents: police

KARACHI: The rail tracks bombing on Sunday could be linked to the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan because the area is heavily inhabited by ethnic Balochs, said railway police officer Mohammad Sultan Abro on Monday.

Two powerful bombs planted by suspected tribal militants destroyed the railway tracks and injured a woman, police said, adding that no group had claimed responsibility for the attacks yet.

The homemade devices exploded overnight along the rail line between Haibat Shahaeed and Bijarani stations in Sindh, said Abro. He said, "It was such a powerful blast that the pieces of track flew half a kilometre and one piece hit the woman." The track was repaired early Monday morning and security was increased. afp

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_26-4-2005_pg7_43

Heavy firing near Dera Bugti

 * 150 families displaced

• Akbar Bugti claims FC shot at Bugti tribesmen
  
• Frontier Corps says firing was an inter-tribal clash

By Azizullah Khan

QUETTA: Heavy firing was reported in a suburban area of Dera Bugti early on Thursday, with 150 families evacuating their homes and spending the early hours in the open.

Bugti chief Nawab Akbar Bugti alleged that Frontier Corps (FC) personnel shot at his tribesmen in Bekar early on Thursday whereas the FC said Akbar Bugti's tribesmen attacked another tribe in the area. The FC also said its personnel were in the area to control the situation.

Akbar Bugti told Daily Times that about 400 FC personnel were sent to the Bekar area, about 65 kilometres north of Dera Bugti, where they attacked Bugti tribesmen. He said the FC asked tribesmen in the area to vacate the area, but the tribesmen refused to leave.

The FC started shooting at the tribesmen, he added. The FC had also set up more checkpoints and bunkers in the area, which was against the agreed points in a meeting between him (Akbar Bugti) and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Senator Mushahid Hussain, he said, adding that the FC personnel had used heavy weapons including mortars and rockets.

When told that the FC had denied attacking his tribesmen, Akbar Bugti said the FC was lying. "We are in the area and know what is happening. It is unfair how everything the FC says is believed while the rest of the people are wrong," he added.

FC's Bhambhor Rifles commandant Col Furqan said Akbar Bugti's tribesmen had attacked Masoori (a Bugti sub-tribe) tribesmen, displacing about 150 families. He said the FC had not shot at Bugti tribesmen and that the incident was an inter-tribe dispute. The Bekar area is considered to be the stronghold of Ghulam Qadir Masoori, Akbar Bugti's opponent.

Col Furqan said the number of FC personnel in the Bekar area had been increased to control the situation.

NNI put the number of people displaced at more than 900. It said Bugti tribesmen occupied hills surrounding Jalwala, Narial, Parpago, Sharial and Hotak Marri villages (south of Bekar Valley) and started firing at villagers.

A security official said on condition of anonymity that Bugti tribesmen carrying heavy weapons were seen moving into the Bekar area for the past two days. They (Bugti tribesmen) occupied hilltops and set up five checkpoints surrounding the five villages.

more

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-4-2005_pg1_1

Mushahid's Balochistan proposals approved

 * Shujaat makes announcement in National Assembly

• Opposition has reservations
  
• Nationalist lawmaker wants complete provincial autonomy

By Shahzad Raza

ISLAMABAD: The parliamentary committee on Balochistan on Monday unanimously approved a report by its subcommittee proposing various recommendations on clearance of gas royalty arrears, abolition of the Concurrent List, the National Finance Commission (NFC) award, provincial autonomy and the development of gas-rich areas.

The committee proposed that the federal government form a taskforce in consultation with it to ensure the implementation of those recommendations within 90 days. Chaired by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the committee approved the recommendations presented by a subcommittee headed by Senator Mushahid Hussain. The opposition has equal representation in the committee.

The main committee decided the constitutional recommendations, separately proposed by another subcommittee headed by Senator Wasim Sajjad, that would be finalised by a drafting committee to be formed today (Tuesday).

"It was a historical meeting of the Balochistan Committee. Every political party, represented in the committee, has endorsed the recommendations of the subcommittee," Shujaat told the National Assembly.

Proposing several administrative measures to build confidence (CBMs) in Balochistan, the committee recommended the Frontier Constabulary (FC) and Coastal Guard must be withdrawn from the roads and interior of the Balochistan province. These forces should only patrol the borders and check smuggling of narcotics and arms. The committee recommended that any FC check post, which is necessary in the interior of the province, must be set up under a specified procedure.

Gas royalty: The committee asked the federal and provincial governments to make estimates on the arrears of the gas royalty by June 30. It demanded all the arrears be cleared before December 2005. Balochistan CM Jam Yousaf told reporters that the gas royalty arrears of Balochistan were Rs 5 to 6 billion. The committee demanded gas exploration companies spend at least five percent of their total investment on the development of the respective areas of their operation. The committee also adopted Senator Dilawar Abbas's formula suggesting more gas royalty and gas development surcharge (GSD) to Balochistan.

Gwadar: It was recommended that the head office of the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) be shifted from Karachi to Gwadar and Balochistan have maximum representation in the GPA's board of directors. The committee said that all the appointments from BS 1 to 16 should be reserved for the people of Makran and Balochistan. It said that a major portion of revenue/taxes collected from the port be allocated to the province. The committee suggested a special development package of Rs 2 billion be announced by the federal government for the social development of Gwadar district. Several educational scholarships were also demanded.

NFC award: The committee said the level of development and degree of backwardness should be the foremost among the criteria to finalise the NFC award.

Provincial autonomy: The committee recommended the Federal Legislative List be revised to ensure maximum autonomy to the provinces. "The Concurrent List should be ultimately abolished and the Federal List should be limited to the core functions of the federation i.e. defence, foreign relations, federal finance and currency, communications and inter-provincial harmony, coordination and national solidarity," the committee suggested. It demanded provincial autonomy be guaranteed through constitutional amendments. It recommended the Council of Common Interests be activated to fulfil its constitutional role in implementing provincial autonomy.

Job quota: The committee recommended that the job quota (5.7 percent for Balochistan) defined under the constitution be strictly implemented in all federal ministries, divisions, corporations and departments.

Anti-drought policy: The committee said that an effective anti-drought strategy should be developed to alleviate water shortage in the province because the years-long drought had adversely affected nearly 60 percent of the population. It recommended the construction of new dams and water reservoirs, writing off agricultural loans and electricity bills to drought-hit farmers.

CBMs: Proposing various CBMs, the committee recommended retention of the Levies Force to maintain law and order in Balochistan. It asked the federal government to direct the Civil Aviation Authority to ensure night landing facility at the Quetta airport.

more

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_3-5-2005_pg1_1

`Jirga wants doctor killed'

PESHAWAR: A tribal jirga in Sindh has decided to kill a woman doctor who was allegedly gang raped in Sui to restore the "lost honour" of her tribe, a Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) official told a press conference on Wednesday. PMA President Dr Umer Ayub said the husband and in-laws of the doctor had told him of the jirga or local council's decision in Gumbat Khairpur. He demanded the members of the jirga be arrested, and the alleged rapists of the doctor be hanged at Minar-e-Pakistan to deter such crimes. He criticised the federal interior minister for not visiting the woman doctor and her family. He also slammed the NWFP Assembly for not condemning the alleged rape. Ayub said a tribunal formed by the Balochistan government to investigate the incident should be given a one-month deadline. "It has been 24 days since the incident and not one of the accused has appeared before the tribunal. The culprits should appear before the tribunal and not on television," he said. Ayub said the woman doctor had given her statement to the tribunal a couple of days ago, naming her alleged attackers and outlining the incident in detail.

~~~

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_27-1-2005_pg1_6

Pakistan doesn't blame Iran for Balochistan troubles: FO

• Report claims govt officials accuse Iran of fuelling insurgency
  
• FO denies Pakistan helping US find possible targets in Iran

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office has denied a British press report that Pakistan blames Iran for fuelling a growing insurgency in Balochistan.

The Sunday Telegraph cites senior government officials as saying that Iran is encouraging "intruders" from within its own Baloch community to cross the 550-mile border with the Pakistani province and give support to the rebels.

"All this violence is a part of a greater conspiracy," a senior Pakistani government official was quoted as saying. "These militants would not be challenging the government so openly without the backup of a foreign hand."

Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said the report had "no credibility". He said Pakistan was investigating the disturbances in Balochistan, but did not point a finger at another country.

"Pakistan and Iran can talk to each other directly," he said, adding they did not have to speak through the media. He said there was no misunderstanding or misperception between the two countries and they were able to develop effective coordination to police the border areas.

According to the Sunday Telegraph report, a Pakistani intelligence agency set up a unit in Quetta last year to monitor suspected Iranian activity in Balochistan. Officials told the paper that in addition to directly supporting the insurgency, Tehran's state-controlled radio had launched a "propaganda campaign" against Islamabad.

"Radio Tehran broadcasts between 90 and 100 minutes of programmes every day which carry propaganda against the Pakistan government," a former interior minister was quoted as saying. He added that Iran was suspected of providing financial, logistical and moral backing for the insurgency.

Earlier this month, rebel tribesmen disrupted gas production in a series of rocket and mortar attacks, which killed eight people. "However, Islamabad is delaying a formal complaint to Tehran in the hope that private diplomatic channels may prove more effective," the report says.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_25-1-2005_pg7_11

No talks till rapists detained, says Bugti

 SUI: Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, chief of the Jamhoori Watan Party, said on Thursday that negotiations with the government were out of the question till the rapists of Dr Shazia were put behind bars.

Talking to a private TV channel, he said evidence from the female doctor's room suggested that she was raped and therefore those who were involved in the crime should be brought to justice. He called Punjab's condemnation of military operations in Balochistan a good omen and dispelled the impression of a foreign hand behind the violence in the province. online

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_28-1-2005_pg1_6

Musharraf orders expeditious probe of Dr Shazia's Case

By Hayyan Faisal - Pakistan Times Special Correspondent

ISLAMABAD: President Musharraf has ordered the investigation team to speed up their probe into the Sui rape case so that the political dialogue process be resumed with Baloch leaders as soon as possible.

In view of the gravity of the issue, senior police officials of District Naseerabad and Dera Bugti will be moving to Lahore on Friday for the DNA testing.

Meeting with Shujaat

Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Balochistan, Chaudry Shujaat Hussain held a very important meeting with President General Pervez Musharraf Wednesday.

He briefed the President about the status of talks with Mengals and other Baloch nationalists. He told the President that Nawab Akbar Bugti has declined to hold any meeting with the committee till the rapists are identified and arrested.

He stressed the need to arrest the people involved in molesting of the lady doctor saying that delay in the inquiry is lending strength to the extremist elements. He said if DNA tests are conducted soon, the process of political dialogue can be started by next Monday.

During the intervening period the legal committee headed by Senator Waseem Sajjad will also finalise its recommendations about the constitutional amendments to deal with provincial autonomy issues. Once this is done, Shujaat told the President, the unprecedented development projects for Balochistan can be announced.

The President told Shujaat that he too wants to see the rapists to be brought to book.

The Bail

And a story from Quetta says that Dr Usman Wada, Chief Medical Officer, PPL Hospital, Dr Muhammad Ali and Dr Pervaiz Jamula, Branch Manager at Sui and employees of Pakistan Petroleum allegedly involved in Dr Shazia's rape case for destroying evidence were granted bail by the High Court of Balochistan Wednesday.

more

http://pakistantimes.net/2005/02/10/top1.htm

Balochistan plunges into darkness

QUETTA: Almost whole of Balochistan, including Quetta, plunged into darkness on Tuesday night when the third main 220 KV electric supply line was blown up in Sibi.

Unknown armed men planted heavy explosive material near the power supply circuit in Mithri Pirak area of Sibi, which exploded around 9:15pm.

Officials of Quetta Electric Supply Company told The News that two out of three main power supply circuit from Guddu transmission line had already been blown up by unidentified armed men on January 29. Soon after the incident, power supply to over 15 districts of the province disconnected.

However, the temporarily power supply has been restored for Quetta and its outskirts from Habibullah Power Plant around 11:40pm.

To restore complete supply, the Qesco officials said that they had to make alternative arrangements from DG Khan to Sakhi Sarwas via Rakhni, Mekhter, Lora Lai, Qilla Saifullah and Quetta.

"The electricity tower was blown up in Sibi and power supply to two-thirds of the province has been cut off," a senior provincial official said. "This was the last power supply line after two power transmission lines were blown up earlier this month and now we have no means to supply power," an official from the government's Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) said. "It will take some time before we can repair the damage," the official added.

Meanwhile, two successive powerful bomb blasts here on Tuesday killed an alleged bomber and injured four officials of the Pakistan Railways (PR).  

more on other bombings:

http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en75777&F_catID=&f_type=source

Pakistan's gas fields blaze as rape sparks threat of civil war

Fight for provincial autonomy escalates after attack

Declan Walsh in Karachi

Monday February 21, 2005

Guardian

Visitors are not welcome at the house in Karachi where Shazia Khalid is living; not even with an invitation. A police team is posted at the gate and army rangers prowl the grounds inside. "You need the permission from the bosses at the top," says a moustached officer firmly. "The very top."

Hours later Dr Shazia picks up the phone inside.

Her strained voice crumbles into sobs. "We are very scared," she says, her husband at her side. "In Pakistan there is no law, no protection, nothing. Who can we trust? Nobody."

She has good reason to worry. Until six weeks ago the 31-year-old was a company doctor at the Sui gas plant, at the farthest reaches of remote Baluchistan province. On January 3 she was raped in her bed.

Normally in Pakistan, where crimes against women are rife, such an act would barely raise an eyebrow. In her case, it nearly started a war.

Members of the local Bugti clan saw a rape in their heartland as being a breach of their code of honour - especially when the alleged rapist was a captain in the despised national army. They attacked the gas field with rockets, mortars and thousands of AK-47 rounds.

President Pervez Musharraf sent an uncompromising response: tanks, helicopters and an extra 4,500 soldiers to guard the installation. If the tribesmen failed to stop shooting, he warned on television, "they will not know what hit them".

But the guerrilla attacks have escalated, propelling a long-ignored province into the headlines and threatening civil war. Every day sees a new attack on military and government targets across the province. Insurgents have blown up railway tracks, toppled pylons and fired rockets into army camps. Sui supplies 45% of Pakistan's gas, so supplies to Karachi, Lahore and other cities have been cut.

The fighting is motivated by more than the rape. For decades the Baluch tribes have demanded a greater share of profits from their resource-rich but cash-poor province. The Islamabad government ignored them, and a year ago Baluch nationalists started bombing police stations, courthouses and checkpoints.

Since the violence sparked by the rape, their demands are being taken more seriously. President Musharraf's belligerence has given way to softer political promises. Envoys have been dispatched, and there is talk of increased profit-sharing and greater autonomy. But tension remains high.

Government officials accuse Iran and India of helping to arm the rebels. They say there are about 50 training camps, each with between 20 and 200 militants, in the province. The army has announced plans to establish a permanent garrison in Sui. The attacks continue.

more

http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,2763,1419040,00.html