Pakistan Tries To Avoid New Battlefront

(CBS)  This story was written by CBS News' Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad.

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Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has called a meeting of leaders from all of the country's main political parties to discuss a unified Pakistani response to the terror attacks in Mumbai.

The conference will take place in Islamabad as Pakistan's leaders try to avoid embroiling their relatively new government in a reinvigorated confrontation with India along the two nuclear-armed countries' shared border.

Indian security officials have said the one gunman arrested in the 60-hour siege has admitted to membership in a Pakistan-based terrorist group and is of Pakistani nationality.

For Pakistan, the confrontation threatens to open another battle front as the country's security forces continue to wage an ongoing fight against al Qaeda and Taliban militants in the mountains along their border to the west, with Afghanistan.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, in a passionate appeal to India on Monday, called for a reduction of tensions so that his government is able to continue focusing on the battle with the militants.

"The architects of this calamity in Mumbai have managed to raise a threat on our other border. As we have these people (militants) on the run along our western border, our attention is being diverted at this critical time," Zardari said in an interview published in the Financial Times.

A top Indian police official said over the weekend that the only suspect to have been captured in the attack admitted to being a member of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant group once supported by Pakistan's military intelligence service.

Zardari disputed that charge in the interview, but hinted that even if L-e-T is behind the attack, that is one of the groups his forces are fighting.

"Even if the militants are linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, who do you think we are fighting?"

Western diplomats based in Islamabad tell CBS News Zardari's offer of complete support to India as it investigates the Mumbai carnage was a significant step forward by Pakistan to change the underlying tenor of its relationship with its much larger adversary.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars and numerous skirmishes during their 61 year history as independent states - largely driven by tension over the division of the mountainous border state of Kashmir.

On Monday, a senior Western diplomat based in Islamabad told CBS News fears of an Indo-Pakistan encounter were so great that the U.S. had become drawn in to try and manage the conflict and prevent it from getting out of control.

"After Iraq and the situation in Afghanistan, the India-Pakistan situation poses the greatest challenge," said the diplomat, who spoke to CBS on condition of anonymity.

President Bush is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to India later this week to work with New Delhi in the wake of the attacks.

[toolmangler-2009]

the US wanted to sell things to the Iraqis some farm equipment.
Posted by andrew_693 at 06:01 PM : Dec 01, 2008




And they sold them farm equipment, Fertilizer, (Ammonium Nitrate) and Diesel fuel (for their tractors). Not to mention remote controls for all the Manual TV''s and Stereos in the mid east.

[andrew_693]

I don''t know guys, I just read on the cnn website about how the reagan administration went against sanctions from UN against Saddam Hussein''s Iraq for gasing the kurds and how Ronald Reagan and his party of biggots vetoed the UN because the US wanted to sell things to the Iraqis some farm equipment. It seems that the color of good and bad is rather grey, becasue the US also sponsored terrorists.

[sk_w]

ok...so if pakistan is to blame, are they also to blame for blowing up the marriott in pakistan? what did they stand to gain by doing so?

[tomflint69]

" The chances that crazed Muslims bent on killing every non-Muslim doing this is 99.9%."
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Posted by yongamerica at 04:55 PM : Dec 01, 2008

I make a little correction:

The chances that crazed Muslims bent on killing every non-Muslim and Muslim doing this is 99.9%.

Because, the people who died in Mumbai attacks also included Muslims but that has not been told on media.
Besides finding Brits and Americans, the gunmen killed Hindus, Muslims, Chritians and Jews.

[yongamerica]

The chances of Israel being involved in these attacks are nil. The chances that crazed Muslims bent on killing every non-Muslim doing this is 99.9%.

Anyone who suggests Israel is involved is an agent of Iran''s terrorist network. The world knows Iran is linked.

[humanity_101]

IMO, Pakistan''s problem is that its military is under control of the religious leaders... Even though the current democratic government wants to make peace with India, not all the elements in Pakistan are in favor of it as with it their importance fades away... probably the latest attack in Mumbai has something to do with this... I can even go one step ahead and guess that this attack was a deliberate attempt of the terrorists who are being sanitized by US and its allies to divert the attention from them so that can get some breathing time...

so if we really want to win the war on terror we need to understand one thing... we first need to stabilize the region and make sure that all the governments are on the same page...

[humanity_101]

And you are a certified Pakistani nuke dealer! lol.
That''''s why only you know. We are sleeping in the U.S.
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TomFlint69
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Looks like at least you have been sleeping for some time...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8219801/
http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/02/top2.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3343621.stm

sure you can search for more...

[tomflint69]

Here we go. Lets manufacture another war. The good lord know we cant manufacture anything else.
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Posted by sockpuppet4 at 03:42 PM : Dec 01, 2008


I am sure, that Pakistan and India can''t afford to have any war and they''ll not. If India, as it says that the Pakistanis carried out attacks is the truth, then how can India ever imagine to jump into war with such a dangerous militant country? It simply can''t afford. Further the two nations have nuclear weapons and are not responsible at all.

I had been working with the Indians as well as Pakistanis. Generally speaking both Indians and Pakistanis are stupid and foolish nations with little or no maturity.

Have you ever heard some good news from either of the two? They always give bad news full of despair and hatred.

[yongamerica]

Its hard to ignore a fire in your kitchen when you are standing at the stove. Pakistan has allowed its fires to spread throughout its whole house. And it still won''t admit to itself there is a fire.

[nincomp]

Pakistan is even collecting money from Islamic countries for the bomb they named as ''''Islamic Bomb''''. They are telling this nuclear bomb is against all ''''Qaafir''''. ''''Qaafir'''' is believed to be son of devil among Islam. Now a days they use the term ''''Qaafir'''' represent all non-Islams.

Posted by haijosek at 03:09 PM : Dec 01, 2008
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1) There is no word "Qaafir". The closest work is kafir and it means someone who denies the truth.

2) Pakistan shares the technology the same way as US exchanges with Israel/India/European countries. What makes you think all these countries reinvented the wheel.