Free Republic

Pakistan recently demanded, again, that the United States halt the use of CIA UAVs to attack Islamic terrorists in the Pakistani tribal territories along the Afghan border. Pakistan, however, offered a compromise this time. If the Americans would tell Pakistan where U.S. intelligence had located terrorists, Pakistan would send one of its F-16s and use a smart bomb to do the deed. The U.S. turned this down for several reasons, the main one being that the Pakistanis would "miss" (or simply not be able to find) terrorists who were working for the Pakistani Army. The Pakistanis could also sell protection...

Pakistan's arms supply relationship with North Korea dates back to 1971 when the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, then foreign minister under the late General Yahya Khan, visited Pyongyang and sought North Korean arms supplies to strengthen the Pakistani armed forces in the face of a looming war with India. Pakistan then did not have diplomatic relations with North Korea. The visit led to the signing of an agreement on September 18, 1971, 10 weeks before the outbreak of the war with India, for the supply of North Korea-made conventional weapons to Pakistan. Under another agreement signed the same day, the...

A Pakistani army major was arrested Tuesday in connection with the failed Times Square car bombing on May 1, The LA Times reported Wednesday. The major’s link to suspect Faisal Shahzad, was unclear but Pakistani law enforcement sources confirmed to the newspaper that the pair had met in the capital Islamabad and that they were in cellphone contact.

A core group of US and Pakistani officials met and reviewed the status of American military equipment deliveries to Pakistan, including the new F-16 fighter aircrafts, aimed at strengthening the country's security capabilities, an official statement has said. The meeting that was held on May 5 in Rawalpindi, was co-chaired by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Thomas M Countryman, Deputy Director of the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency Jeanne Lynn Farmer, and Major General Nasir Mahmood, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Defense Production. Among recent developments, the Working Group discussed the April 30 delivery of US P-3C...

India's defence minister cautioned the United States on Friday against military supplies to rival Pakistan, saying the hardware could be diverted to target India. The warning came after the US in March said it would deliver unarmed drones to Pakistan and less than a month after it unveiled plans to transfer 600 million dollars to Islamabad to pay for anti-militant operations. A. K. Antony told reporters in New Delhi that India's concerns had been conveyed to Washington. "Even though the US is giving equipment to Pakistan to fight against the Taliban, we feel there is every possibility of (Pakistan) diverting...

The scheduled arrival of 50 additional U.S. military personnel to Pakistan in June, accompanying four new F-16 fighter jets, will increase the official number of American boots on the ground there by 25 percent. It is enough to make the Pakistani government shudder with trepidation. Exaggerated tales of U.S. soldiers and spies flooding the country are regular front-page fare in Pakistan, and cause for strident political criticism of Western intervention that sometimes erupts into violence. Pakistan's military and intelligence services remain highly suspicious about the motives and methods of their U.S. counterparts, a wariness mirrored in American attitudes toward Pakistan....

US will supply sophisticated laser-guided-bomb kits, 12 American-made surveillance drones and 18 late-model F-16 fighters to boost Pakistani forces capability to strike in remote tribal areas, a development which could spark unease in New Delhi. The new arms supply, Wall Street Journal said was part of efforts by Pentagon to boost Pakistani forces capability to take on Taliban and Al Qaeda militants. Islamabad is also to receive equipment capable of converting 1,000 traditional munitions into "smart bombs" that can strike targets with precisions, the paper reported. With this new arms aid, US counterinsurgency assistance fund for Pakistan is slated to...

The US is ready to provide the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) ScanEagle to Pakistan to improve its reconnaissance capacity, US Under Secretary of Defence Michele Flournoy said on Tuesday. Flournoy was talking to reporters at the end of her two-day visit to Pakistan. The under secretary’s comments came ahead of an offer by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who earlier announced to provide the UAV Shadow, drawing criticism from local media who said the technology was obsolete. Flournoy said the US wanted to build a strategic partnership with Pakistan and discussed ways to develop new relations. She said the US...

Pakistan's military knows there were would "catastrophic consequences, primarily for Pakistan," if any of its nuclear bombs fell into the wrong hands, the top US intelligence official said Wednesday. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair's comments came one day after he told the Senate Intelligence Committee that "vulnerabilities exist" in Pakistan's nuclear safeguards. "The Pakistan army takes very seriously the security of its weapons, and they know the catastrophic consequences -- primarily for Pakistan -- if they were to get loose," Blair told the House Intelligence Committee. "From what we see of the measures that they take, they are keeping...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Parts of the Pakistani military and intelligence services are mounting what American officials here describe as a campaign to harass American diplomats, fraying relations at a critical moment when the Obama administration is demanding more help to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The campaign includes the refusal to extend or approve visas for more than 100 American officials and the frequent searches of American diplomatic vehicles in major cities, said an American official briefed on the cases.

Billions of rupees of loans written off from Pakistan's state-owned banks...Army led institutions plundered the Army Welfare Trust, Rs14.49 million. General Kuli Khan, two Allied Bank loans written off: Rs1.8 million and Rs1.6 million against Janana De Malucho Textile Mills, owned by his father General Habibullah Khan. His brother Gohar Ayub Khan, Rs7.2 million written off against Rehana Woolen Mills.Lt General Azhar, Rex Breen Batteries, Rs16 million, Major General Mumtaz, Lt Colonel Shaukat, Major Tajuddin Rs1.2 million, Major General Ghaziuddn, Major General Umar, Rs8.5 million written off, Agriculture Development Bank.Air Marshal Azeem, Rs15 million written off, Pakistani Kuwait Investment Co....

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – The United States has long suspected that much of the billions of dollars it has sent Pakistan to battle militants has been diverted to the domestic economy and other causes, such as fighting India. Now the scope and longevity of the misuse is becoming clear: Between 2002 and 2008, while al-Qaida regrouped, only $500 million of the $6.6 billion in American aid actually made it to the Pakistani military...