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Musharraf’s Manic Monday

August 17th, 2008 · 4 Comments

The media has been awash with reports of President Pervez Musharraf’s impending resignation in the face of the current coalition government’s move to impeach him. Late last week, both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times had issued reports that Musharraf was going to resign within days, with the Wall Street Journal going […]

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Tags: Asif Zardari · Benazir Bhutto · Benazir Bhutto's Return · Musharraf Impeachment · Musharraf Resignation · National Reconciliation Ordinance · Nawaz Sharif · Nawaz Sharif's Return · Pervez Musharraf

Happy Independence Day

August 14th, 2008 · 2 Comments

From the Insider Brief to Pakistanis everywhere: happy independence day!
As the nation celebrates its 61st year of existence, we hope for a brighter future for Pakistan and its people. May each passing year bring us all closer to realizing a more prosperous and progressive Pakistan.
Pakistan Paindabad.

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Tags: Admin

Storm on the Horizon for Pakistan

August 6th, 2008 · 9 Comments

Summary
Today, Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, chairmen of Pakistan’s two largest parties agreed in principle to impeach President Pervez Musharraf. The agreement, however, is contingent on all coalition partners supporting the move. Just as there has been little-to-no “progress” on the reinstatement of the justices Musharraf sacked, it is just as unlikely that […]

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Tags: Ashfaq Kayani · Ashfaq Kiyani · Asif Zardari · CIA · Central Intelligence Agency · Chief of Army Staff · FATA · ISI · Inter-services Intelligence · Nawaz Sharif · Pakistan Army · Pakistan People's Party · Pervez Musharraf · Relations with India · Relations with United States · Taliban · War on Terror · Waziristan

Zardari Loses this Round

July 28th, 2008 · 7 Comments

On July 26th, it was announced that Prime Minister Gilani’s cabinet had taken the decision to place the ISI under the complete control of the Interior Ministry. As our sources reported, uproar ensued in the military establishment and less than 24 hours later, the decision was reversed.
Zardari’s Miscalculation
It’s an open secret that Benazir Bhutto’s […]

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Tags: Ashfaq Kayani · Ashfaq Kiyani · Asif Zardari · Chief of Army Staff · ISI · Inter-services Intelligence · Pakistan Army · Pakistan People's Party · Rehman Malik · Relations with United States · Yousaf Raza Gilani

Gilani’s Gamble: The Coming Coup?

July 26th, 2008 · 17 Comments

On the eve of his first visit to the United States, Prime Minister Yousaf Gilani and his cabinet made the decision to place Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency, the ISI, under the jurisdiction of the the Interior Ministry alongside the Intelligence Bureau. As a result, the Interior Ministry, headed by Rehman Malik, will have administrative, […]

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Tags: Ashfaq Kayani · Ashfaq Kiyani · Central Intelligence Agency · Chief of Army Staff · ISI · Inter-services Intelligence · Nawaz Sharif · Pakistan Army · Pervez Musharraf · Rehman Malik · Yousaf Raza Gilani

Table Talk: Ousting Zardari

July 16th, 2008 · 14 Comments

The Intel
Insider Brief sources report that Pakistani intelligence officials have recently been engaged in a spate of closed-door meetings. The topic of discussion? The ouster of Asif Ali Zardari and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) from power and the engineered return of Nawaz Sharif.
The Why
The news in and of itself should not be […]

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Tags: Ashfaq Kayani · Ashfaq Kiyani · Asif Zardari · Benazir Bhutto · FATA · ISI · Inter-services Intelligence · Nawaz Sharif · Pakistan Army · Pakistan People's Party · War on Terror · Zia-ul-Huq

The Insider Brief on the Radio

May 5th, 2008 · 4 Comments

We at the Insider Brief would like to thank all of our readers for your patience during our brief hiatus. To make up for our absence, we’ll be introducing some new features and guest contributors in the coming weeks. In the meanwhile, expect some new posts as we attempt to make sense […]

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Tags: Admin · Barack Obama · FATA · Relations with United States

A Shakeup in Military Intelligence

April 30th, 2008 · 9 Comments

Ejecting Ejaz’s Men
This past week saw a shakeup in Pakistan’s regional Military Intelligence (MI) organization with the naming of new MI chiefs for Punjab and Sindh. Brigadier Zaheer, Punjab’s commander, was replaced by Brig. Mumtaz Iqbal while Brig. Masood, Sindh’s commander, was replaced by Brig. Azam Tiwana.
The replaced brigadiers were removed from their posts […]

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Tags: Ashfaq Kayani · Ashfaq Kiyani · Chief of Army Staff · DGMI · Lahore · Military Intelligence · Nadeem Ejaz · Pakistan Army · Pakistan People's Party · Pervez Musharraf

DGMI Candidates, Musharraf’s Op-Ed and Aitzaz Ahsan

February 24th, 2008 · 22 Comments

As we had reported last week, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, the Chief of Army Staff, is looking to replace the present Director General of Military Intelligence (DGMI), Maj. Gen. Nadeem Ejaz. Our sources now expect to see a new DGMI in place towards the end of this month. Potential candidates for the job post include (but […]

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Tags: Aitzaz Ahsan · Ashfaq Kayani · Ashfaq Kiyani · Chief of Army Staff · Elections - February 2008 · Military Intelligence · Nadeem Ejaz · Pakistan Army · War on Terror

The Insider Brief in Print

February 22nd, 2008 · 2 Comments

Today, my post “Democracy is Not the Answer,” was published in the Opinion section of The News International, Pakistan’s second largest English language newspaper.  You can find the published article here.

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Tags: Admin

Sources: Kayani to Replace Military Intelligence Chief

February 18th, 2008 · 5 Comments

The Daily Telegraph reported that the head of one of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, appointed by President Pervez Musharraf, would be replaced by Gen. Ashfaq Kayani as part of his drive to withdraw the Pakistan Army from national politics.
Our sources have confirmed that Gen. Kayani will be replacing Major General Nadeem Ejaz, the Director General of […]

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Tags: Ashfaq Kayani · Ashfaq Kiyani · Attack on Benazir Bhutto · Benazir Bhutto · Chaudhry Parvez Elahi · Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain · Chief of Army Staff · Ejaz Shah · Elections - February 2008 · Military Intelligence · Nadeem Ejaz · Pakistan Army · Pervez Musharraf

Democracy is Not the Answer

February 13th, 2008 · 5 Comments

Pundits and Pakistan-watchers alike continue to swear that democracy is the long awaited panacea that will cure all of Pakistan’s ills — be it rampant jihadism, lagging social indicators, or the crisis in governance. Their memories have proven to be short, having forgotten the 1990’s, a period that was marked by corruption, extreme abuses […]

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Tags: Benazir Bhutto · Elections - February 2008 · Elections - January 2008 · Nawaz Sharif · Pakistan Army · Pakistan People's Party · Pervez Musharraf

Waziristan: The Downing of an Army Helicopter?

February 6th, 2008 · 7 Comments

A military helicopter went down in South Waziristan today. All eight on board were killed including Major General Javed Sultan, the recently promoted commanding officer of Kohat garrison as well as two brigadiers. The official explanation from Islamabad is that the crash was due to “technical reasons.”
However, sources report that the helicopter was […]

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Tags: Afghanistan · Baitullah Mehsud · FATA · Frontier Corps · Homeland Insecurity · Javed Sultan · Pakistan Army · Relations with Afghanistan · Relations with India · Relations with United States · Swat · Taliban · War on Terror · Waziristan

Islamabad Intrigues: The Army Edition

January 25th, 2008 · 5 Comments

THE ARMY ADVANCES …
Hot off its relative success in sweeping Swat of militants led by Maulana Fazlullah, sources report that the Pakistan Army has set its sights on Baitullah Mehsud, the purported mastermind behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
In addition to military action, sources also report that a major facet of the newfound campaign involves […]

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Tags: Afghanistan · Ashfaq Kayani · Ashfaq Kiyani · Asif Zardari · Attack on Benazir Bhutto · Baitullah Mehsud · Benazir Bhutto · Benazir Bhutto Assassination · Chief of Army Staff · Elections - February 2008 · FATA · Maulana Fazlullah · Mehsud · Military Intelligence · Nawaz Sharif · Pakistan Army · Pakistan People's Party · Pervez Musharraf · Shahbaz Sharif · Swat · Taliban · War on Terror

Homeland Insecurity: The Lahore Bombing and Impending Violence

January 10th, 2008 · 10 Comments

Around Christmas, sources had reported that Pakistani intelligence had indications that the violence afflicting the rest of the country — Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi — was making its way to Lahore.
Today, it did. A suicide bomber detonated himself amidst a 70-member police contingent, minutes before a weekly lawyer’s protest in front of the Lahore […]

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Tags: Attack on Benazir Bhutto · Baitullah Mehsud · Benazir Bhutto · Benazir Bhutto Assassination · Elections - January 2008 · Homeland Insecurity · ISI · Inter-services Intelligence · Lahore · Taliban · War on Terror