Pakistan militants face crackdown

[allemand]

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has ordered a crackdown on militant Islamic activities in the country as part of an anti-terrorism drive.

Gen Musharraf called for tough action, including the removal from markets of publications inciting hatred. (...)

He was speaking after Pakistani sources confirmed that one of the London bombers had been in Pakistan.

The bomber, Shehzad Tanweer, is said to have attended an Islamic school there.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4685033.stm

Finally. I very much hope that this is true. It's also important for the peace process with India after the recent attack on a temple in Ayodhya:

All Ayodhya attackers were trained by Lashker-e-Taiba
http://www.eians.com/stories/2005/07/15/15all.shtml

In related news:

Musharraf acts on 'Taleban law'

Pakistan's federal government has begun moves to overturn a law introducing a Taleban-style moral code in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

President Pervez Musharraf has asked the Supreme Court to declare the new law unconstitutional and a breach of people's fundamental rights.

The law includes measures to ensure people respect calls to prayer and to discourage singing and dancing. (...)

The plan is reminiscent of the infamous Department of Vice and Virtue, set up by the Taleban regime in Afghanistan.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4686025.stm

[varun]

1. crackdown = temporary jailtime

Musharraf has been "cracking down" since Sep 2001. He catches a few "terrorists" everytime a US official visits Pakistan...only to release them a few months later.

Besides, how do you crack down on the thousands of madrassah graduates coming out of the fundamentalist schools every month?

[allemand]

2. How are they going to make peace with India without cracking down on

extremism? If attacks like the one in Ayodhya continue, the peace process will be derailed.

Having said that, Pakistan has managed to arrest quite a few terrorists that are now in US custody. Not "terrorists", but real terrorists.

In my view, the West should help Pakistan to reform public education in the country. Many poor children go to madrassahs because they simply have no other choice.

[allemand]

3. Perhaps Musharraf can use the London tragedy and the obvious links to

Pakistani militants as a catalyst for reform:

Also Friday, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf told law enforcement officials to move against extremists in the country. "We owe it to our future generations to rid the country of the malaise of extremism," he said at a ceremony in Rawalpindi.

Extremist groups should be barred from meeting or collecting money and material that preaches hate should be confiscated, said Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism. He stressed such moves were not anti-Muslim, but were aimed at making Pakistan "a modern, dynamic, progressive, forward-looking Islamic state."

Pakistan Finds Links to London Bomber
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=942733&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312