Much has been made about US pressure on General Musharraf to doff his uniform, restore constitutional order, and crackdown on Taliban militants in the tribal regions of Pakistan. How has the Pakistani government responded?

From Long War Journal via Time

Sufi Mohammed is one of the most dangerous Taliban leaders in the Northwest Frontier Province. As the leader of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM - the Movement for the Implementation of Mohammad’s Sharia Law). He is said to have “close links with the administration of the Lal Masjid,” according to Sharif Virk, the chief of police for the Northwest Frontier Province as well as senior al Qaeda leaders.

Time Magazine reported Sufi was released “in hopes that he can help calm the situation” in Swat and Shangla, the neighboring district which the Taliban overran last week. Sufi’s release was endorsed by General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the Director General of military operations in the region. “Shuja calls it part of the ‘political effort’ needed to accompany the military campaign,” Time reported. “Brute use of force alone would only take us backwards,” said Shuja.

It seems like odd timing to release a senior Taliban leader now. The article continues…

The release of Sufi is a clear sign the Pakistani government and the military are prepared to cut a deal with the Taliban in Swat and Shangla. The formation of a “peace jirga” is another. On November 18, Dawn reported local tribal leaders and members of the political parties have formed a peace jirga to end the fighting in Swat.

How has this so far escaped the attention of Washington? It could be that they haven’t noticed one single prisoner out of over 3,000. The LA Times has this:

More than 3,000 people jailed in Pakistan under emergency rule have been released in recent days, the Interior Ministry said today, the latest sign that embattled President Gen. Pervez Musharraf was rolling back some of the harsher measures he has taken against his opponents.

Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema put the exact figure of those freed in recent days at 3,416 — including lawyers and political activists — and said more than 2,000 people remained jailed.

“The process has started. More are being released today,” Cheema said of the releases. He said those still in detention “would be freed soon,” though he said the cases of some facing criminal charges could take longer.

One could presume that out of those 3,000 released, more than just Sufi Mohammed are aligned with the Taliban. After all, the LA Times goes on to report that the prisoner release doesn’t include higher-ranking members of the opposition. In addition, the crackdown itself continues.

The release of political opponents in Pakistan came hours after judges hand-picked by Musharraf quashed legal challenges to his disputed re-election as president. Still, many high-ranking party activists and leaders, such as former cricket star Imran Khan, remained in prison. Khan began a hunger strike Monday to protest emergency rule.

And while some people were being showed out of detention facilities, others were being led in.

In the southern city of Karachi, police detained about 150 journalists today after clashing with them during a protest against the state of emergency, witnesses said. Two reporters were seen bleeding from head injuries.

Police also detained 23 journalists after they tried to hold a rally in the southern city of Hyderabad to protest press restrictions, said Ali Hassan, a local journalist who was present at the rally.

It appears that, though the stated goal of emergency rule is to curb the Taliban and facilitate democracy, General Musharraf is actually, and apparently quite purposefully, doing exactly the opposite; Strengthening the Taliban and demolishing democratic opposition.

One wonders how long US patience with Musharraf will last beyond the current administration. The US cannot withdraw aid earmarked for the war on terror, and Russia and China will support Pakistan’s strategic interests if the US will not. If Musharraf continues to fracture Pakistan internally, the US may be left with no other choice than to allow India to once again swallow up its breakaway western province.

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