Musharraf faces up to threats from within Pakistan's own military President Musharraf of Pakistan has many opponents, inside and outside the country. The combination of domestic moderation and foreign policy U-turns initiated by him has antagonised many, particularly on the extremist fringe. reports Iffat Idris. This week he revealed that some of his most determined enemies come from within the ranks of his own armed forces. Last December two attempts were made on the life of the president within days of each other. The second attempt, involving two vehicles manned by suicide bombers, came very close to succeeding. Musharraf survived but more than a dozen other people were killed. There has been much speculation about who was behind the attacks. While some pointed a finger at foreign terrorists, others noted that the suicide bombers were in place waiting for the president's convoy. As Musharraf's movements are a closely guarded secret, this suggested insider involvement. In an interview with Geo TV, a private television channel, Musharraf finally confirmed that there had indeed been inside involvement. Not people from his immediate security personnel, however, but officials from the armed forces. "Yes, there are some people in uniform. Junior-level people in uniform in the air force and army." The president added, however, that these were the "foot soldiers"; that the real mastermind behind the attacks "are the foreigners around here". "We call them Al-Qaeda ... I am 90 per cent certain that it is a foreigner," Musharraf said. While army and air force officials have been arrested and will soon be facing trial in a military court, the foreign mastermind remains at large. Musharraf said that security forces had come close to apprehending him in the past, but until now he escaped. The president refused to confirm his identity, but hinted that the individual was receiving instructions directly from Ayman Al-Zawahri or even Osama Bin Laden. The allegation that an Al-Qaeda figure was behind the attacks on President Musharraf shocked few. Al-Qaeda leaders, including Al-Zawahri, have made public calls for Musharraf to be killed, describing him as an "enemy of Islam". The real shock in Musharraf's interview was the involvement of Pakistan's armed forces. This said, there have long been suspicions about the presence of radical Islamist elements within the Pakistan army. Though a professional and traditionally non-ideological institution, the Pakistan army underwent a sea of change after General Zia-ul-Haq seized power in 1977. Zia's agenda of Islamisation, introducing what he called "Nizam-el- Mustafa" (system of the Prophet Mohamed), included the armed forces. For the first time, religious texts and classes were included in martial training. The concept of jihad was given especial emphasis. Officers and soldiers were encouraged to practice Islam diligently with regular prayers and fasting. Combined with much greater recruitment of officers from the traditionally conservative middle classes, this led to a major shift in overall thinking within the armed forces towards Islam and jihad. But even with this historical context, the knowledge that members of Musharraf's own armed forces tried to kill him is startling. It sends a strong signal about the degree of alienation and opposition to Musharraf's policies within the army. The source of their anger can be traced back to two major policy U- turns by the Pakistan government after 9/11. The first concerned the government's policy towards the Taliban. Pakistan went from being the Taliban's firm and sole ally in the international community to providing support to the US in its war on Afghanistan. This was followed by the U-turn on Kashmir: from being a (covert) supporter of the Kashmiri freedom-fighters, giving them shelter, training and arms, Pakistan closed the Line of Control (dividing the Pakistani and Indian held regions of Kashmir) and banned some Kashmiri armed groups. It is clear that elements in the armed forces saw these policy U-turns as a betrayal of the Islamic cause. The question is how many and how high up? One of the points President Musharraf stressed in his interview on Geo TV was that no connection existed between the actions of junior personnel and senior army officers. "No. Not at all. I am 100 per cent sure, or 200 per cent sure, because we have unearthed everything. We know exactly who is involved ... all the operatives have been caught. The only people not there are the masterminds." The president might be confident, but there is still widespread concern about possible future attacks by members of the armed forces. The real dilemma for those charged with guarding Musharraf is that they have no way to clamp down on this threat. While those in the army openly associated with religious groups could be watched, others who simply harbour resentment within are impossible to identify, until they strike. One day after the president's interview, a senior security official revealed that the mastermind behind the attacks on the president was in fact a Pakistani, Amjad Farooqi. Farooqi is also believed to have been behind the kidnap and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002, and to have been a close associate of Khalid Sheikh Mohamed. Mohamed, Al- Qaeda number three, was arrested in Karachi in March 2003. A nationwide manhunt is now underway to capture Farooqi. As if to underline the ongoing extremist threat within Pakistan, two car bombs exploded on Wednesday in Karachi -- the country's crucial port city. The attacks belied considerable planning and preparation. The first, smaller, bomb exploded near the Pakistan- American Cultural Centre and the home of the US consul-general in Karachi. Police later revealed that the car had not been stolen but that a magnetic device had been attached to it after its owner parked it. As the first explosion drew onlookers, policemen and media people to the scene, a second much larger blast from another car parked nearby went off. One guard was killed and 33 people, many of them from the press, were injured. The outcome could easily have been much worse. On Sunday a leading Sunni cleric, Mufti Shamzai, was gunned down as he left his home, also in Karachi. Shamzai was a moderate preacher, though a supporter of the Taliban. His assassination provoked rioting on the streets by his students and other Sunnis. Extra security was put in place in Shia areas of the city for fear of reprisal attacks. Both incidents in Karachi show how much Pakistan still needs to do before it can declare itself free of the menace of religious extremism. The identification of those involved in the attempts on President Musharraf's life is only one battle won in a very long war. By Iffat Idris
