It is difficult to fathom the how and why of President Musharraf's caving to the ever growing threat of radical Islam in Pakistan. While Pakistan is a Muslim nation - and a nuclear armed one at that - it has never had a radical government, nor has radical Wahhabi / Salafi style Islam ever predominated except in parts of the NWFP and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Yet President Musharraf as much as ceded safe havens to Taliban and al Qaeda elements some time ago with his peace agreements. And now, predictably, radicals are making inroads throughout the NWFP and even into Pakistan proper, including the capital, Islamabad. Yet President Musharraf does not seem to be rising to meet the challenge. This from Dinah Lord:
Sharia, anyone In what can only be described as appeasment and concession the Pakistan government has agreed to accept all demands of the 'management' of the Lal Masjid or Red Mosque. Details are to be released to the Parliament today. What does that mean to the average Mo on the Pakistani street? It means the enforcement of sharia law.
The Pakistani Muslim League leader denied the presence of illegal activists (read jihadis) and ammunition in the mosque. This despite the report of massive amounts of arms and ammunition spotted by two security guards taken hostage by the group. This also runs counter to the frequent assertions made by President Musharraf that the mosque provided aid and comfort to SUICIDE BOMBERS. The Mosque denies this, of course.
. . . This does not bode well for President Musharraf and it appears that nuclear Pakistan is moving ever closer to having a radical muslim finger on the red button of the nuclear bomb.
Read the whole post here. And Bill Rogio has more background on the problem here.
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