Bhutto-Musharraf deal, a litmus test for the Pakistan Army

Should a deal between President General Pervez Musharraf and former premier Benazir Bhutto materialise, it will serve as a litmus test for the Pakistan Army as an institution, an Asia Times report says.

Karachi, Sept.6 : Should a deal between President General Pervez Musharraf and former premier Benazir Bhutto materialise, it will serve as a litmus test for the Pakistan Army as an institution, an Asia Times report says.

According to the report, analysts and observers would like to see whether the army backs the deal in favour of Washington, or uses it as a bargaining tool with militants lodged on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, who have made life quite miserable for the Western coalition in Afghanistan.

The paper further goes on to reflect on Washington's overriding desire to maintain Pakistan as an important base in the "war on terror", as well as to secure large infrastructure projects in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Al-Qaeda members based in South Waziristan and North Waziristan on the border with Afghanistan see the ongoing negotiations between Bhutto and Musharraf emissaries as a serious challenge to their survival.

They have drawn together the Afghan Taliban, the Pakistani Taliban, jihadist groups and, last but not least, a significant number in the Pakistani security forces to "nip the evil in bud".

The blast in the garrison city of Rawalpindi and the recent abduction of 410 officers and soldiers serves as a reminder of prevailing extremist threat and the vulnerability of the military-backed ruling establishment.

"You don't see any law enforcer in FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Areas], especially after sunset. The militants hold the real authority," the Inter Press Service quoted Zulfiqar Ali, who reports from the area, as saying.

Security officials point out that Tuesday's twin bombings once again show the level of the militants' penetration of the security forces. The bombers were easily able to transport themselves and explosives into a high-security area; clearly they had active help from insiders.

Musharraf and his allies have been the target of militants for many years, and survived. This time, however, it could be different, the Asia Times says.

Asia Times Online contacts in the tribal areas say that al-Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, Uzbek militants and the Afghan Taliban have shelved their differences and agreed on a single agenda -- to remove all Western allies from Pakistan and to continue attacks on the establishment until the military leadership alienates itself from the "war on terror".

ANI