Editor’s Note:  Lt. Gen. (retd.) Shahid Aziz has been making headlines after his revelations about anti-corruption efforts and the war on terror during President Pervez Musharraf’s tenure.  The general and I have corresponded over the last few days, discussing his motivations, and he agreed to publish one of his e-mails here:
Hello Shaan,
My appearance on the [...]

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Late Saturday night during a Democratic Party debate, presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton stated that if elected president, she would propose joint US-British oversight of Pakistani nuclear weapons. Within hours, media outlets from New Hampshire to New Delhi had all picked up on the story, with headlines screaming, “Clinton Proposes Oversight of Pak Nukes.”
MISSION [...]

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Pakistan is in the throes of chaos following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.  Scores of people have died and there has been a grave loss of property attributable to violence, fires and looting.  The situation, as it stands now, according to sources: 

The government does not intend on imposing martial law at this point in time. [...]

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Editor’s Note: Ali Madison is the pseudonym of a leading Pakistani thinker and insider with ties to both the establishment and opposition. With an illustrious career and a number of books to his credit, Ali presents us with his thoughts on President Musharraf, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto in the context of the [...]

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As Pakistani military operations in Swat wrap up and displaced residents begin to return home, we would like to proudly present our readers with another Insider Brief exclusive — video footage of army operations in Swat. (Also make sure to check out our newly updated Multimedia section for other audio/video clips.)
Part I: AH1 Cobra Attack [...]

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Informed individuals are reporting that the Bush administration will be quietly providing President Pervez Musharraf a list of minimum deliverables for him to accomplish in order to receive Washington’s stamp of approval for January’s general elections.
The list of requirements — as to what they are we can’t quite say — are being provided discreetly to [...]

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The News: Reuters
With Gen. Ashfaq Kayani’s ascendancy to the role of Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Reuters published an article on Nov. 28th [...]

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President Pervez Musharraf has been sworn in for another 5-year term as president of Pakistan — out of uniform. Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has taken command of Pakistan’s all-powerful army. Emergency rule is to end on December 16th. Elections will be held on January 8th. Anti-insurgency operations continue full swing in Swat.
In short: [...]

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