Islamabad sacks top security adviser (after he acknowledged Pakistan connection to Mumbai attacks)

[sabra]

Source: CNN

SLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) — Pakistan’s government has sacked its top
security adviser after he publicly acknowledged a connection between Pakistan and the Mumbai terror attacks in late November.

The office of Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani confirmed
on Wednesday that National Security Adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani had been fired, but gave no reason for his dismissal.

Earlier in the day, Durrani said the sole surviving suspect in the Mumbai
attacks — in which more than 160 people were killed — had ties to Pakistan.


Read more: http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/07/islamabad-sacks-top-security-adviser/

[tekisui]

1. Hmmm....

More instability. Things were looking better there about a week ago. But, not the rhetoric is heating up again.

[Adsos Letter]

2. Pakistan: National security adviser fired

Source: AP

By NAHAL TOOSI
Associated Press Writer
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan fired its national security adviser amid tensions with India over the Mumbai attacks, a sign of strain on the weak civilian administration as it responds to growing pressure to track down and punish the alleged masterminds.

Mahmood Ali Durrani, a former ambassador to the U.S. and seen by critics as too friendly to Washington, was fired late Wednesday because "he gave media interviews on national security issues without consulting the prime minister," said Imran Gardaizi, spokesman for Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

The decision came hours after Indian media quoted Durrani as saying the surviving Mumbai attacker was Pakistani. At around the same time, other Pakistani officials, including the information minister, confirmed Mohammed Ajmal Kasab's nationality to domestic and international media outlets.

Durrani, a former general, has been an active proponent of improving India-Pakistan ties, authoring papers on the subject and bringing retired and serving Indian military personnel to Pakistan to encourage better military relations.



Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_PAKISTAN?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME

[Bhaisahab]

3. When will these blind men and women realize

that denial is NOT a river in Egypt?


ON EDIT:

Indiscretion cost Durrani his job
Dawn, Karachi
http://www.dawn.com/2009/01/08/top2.htm

ISLAMABAD, Jan 7: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday summarily dismissed his National Security Adviser Major General (retd) Mehmud Ali Durrani for being a bit too candid on the tricky issue of Mumbai carnage suspect Ajmal Kasab, “without having taken me into confidence”.

The late-night decision by Prime Minister Gilani to sack the highly influential member of his cabinet immediately sparked speculations about growing fissures within the ruling party, and perhaps among the various pillars of the establishment on the handling of crucial and sensitive matters of national security.

Even before an official statement on Mr Durrani’s dismissal was made public, a furious prime minister reportedly told some journalists that his national security adviser had “embarrassed me and the country” by going public with the report of Ajmal Kasab’s nationality without his permission. “I have dismissed him with immediate effect,” he is reported to have said.

More at link above

[varun]

4. Pakistan is more concerned about its "image"

while Taliban has almost encircled the capital Islamabad.

Soon, it will have nothing to save....not even its territories....