Posts Tagged ‘NWFP’
Blackwater operatives training Pakistanis – Oops!
Bashir Ahmed Bilour
PESHAWAR: A senior minister from the NWFP Bashir Ahmed Bilour on has confirmed the presence of Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater, in the NWFP.
Bilour further disclosed that not only do Blackwater officials exist in the NWFP, they have also been imparting training to Pakistanis…
Meanwhile, the Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira also acknowledged the presence of US security agencies in Pakistan after several months of denial.
Earlier on Thursday, US Defense Secretary also admitted during an interview with a private television channel that Blackwater and DynCorp have been operating inside Pakistan.
Government officials in Pakistan end up walking a skinnier tightrope than their peers in Afghanistan or Iraq. Their predecessors relied on populist anti-US and anti-NATO agitprop for so many years that when the other shoe dropped – and sectarian fundamentalists came after them, as well – a little truth-telling of necessary alliances with the West only exacerbates grassroots hatred.
Money-saving “one-dish law”. Uh.. how do I break this to them?
An American-style solution, using what we call a “loophole in the law”.
PESHAWAR: The NWFP government has decided to serve one dish in all the official and unofficial functions, including wedding ceremonies. This was disclosed by a senior NWFP minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour on the floor of the NWFP assembly on Saturday.
Bilour said that the decision was taken in view of the financial constraints that the NWFP government has been facing.
He said that the government functionaries would also be bound to adhere to the new executive orders.
There’s a moral involving hell, good intentions, and executive orders in here somewhere.
“Shall we stand up to the Taleban?”
Anti-Taleban rally in Raghagan, Pakistan
AP Photo by Aamir Qureshi
With the sighting of the new moon, the Muslim holy month of fasting comes to an end and with it the customary night prayers that have kept the general mood solemn for a month.
To mark the occasion, the men in this village in the North West Frontier Province head for the hujra – a place for a Pashtun male only community gathering. But there is more on their minds than the usual feasting frenzy of Eid – the Muslim festival which the moon has heralded.
Less than two weeks ago, a couple of pro-Taleban activists from a nearby village made an appearance at night prayers in one of the village mosques. They appealed for donations and manpower for what they described as the “holy war” in Afghanistan.
The people in the mosque contributed some coins towards their cause. But no one volunteered for the war. Since then, there has been a general unrest among the villagers about the Taleban’s intentions. They want government help if they decide to resist a possible Taleban takeover.
“We have to show our willingness to fight them and to raise our own force to patrol the village,” says a village councillor, addressing the men at the hujra.
