Water In The Streets Of Oxford; Blood In The Streets Of Baghdad

Bad news from England, and Reuters has the story:

The River Thames burst its banks on Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of homes in the university city of Oxford in Britain's worst floods for 60 years.

About 350,000 people faced two weeks without running water and insurance companies said the bill could soar to 3 billion pounds ($6.2 billion).

Farmers say harvests have been badly hit and that farm animals in flood-hit areas could die unless water supplies are restored soon.

Visiting the worst-hit area in Gloucestershire, western England, Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged more cash for stricken areas and more tankers and bottled water to ensure supplies.

and

Oxford became the new frontline when rivers feeding into the Thames spilled over into its streets, forcing police to evacuate 250 homes. Aerial pictures showed flood waters not far from some of the city's historic college buildings.

Heavy rain is expected overnight and Environment Agency officials warned that the river had not yet peaked.

As the flooding spread along the river, officials said Queen Elizabeth's residence at Windsor Castle was not threatened and no property flooding was expected in London -- although heavy storms could always cause flash flooding.

"There are six severe flood warnings in place. It looks as if we are going to get up to 20 millimeters (0.8 inch) of rain across the board tomorrow," an Environment Agency spokesman said.

and

Milk shortages hit some areas with flooded roads making collections from dairy farms impossible. The rain brought harvesting of barley and rapeseed to a halt in many regions.

One power substation in Oxford was closed as a precaution, after it was partially flooded at the weekend, but customers have not been cut off because supplies were re-routed. Sandbags were piled up to protect other substations in the area.

Economists say the floods will trim back economic growth and are likely to trigger a short-term spike in food prices, but the overall economy is likely to weather the storm in the long run.

One beneficiary of the bad weather was the airline industry. British Airways said seat bookings for long flights were up as holidaymakers escaped the British summer.

"We need to invest more in preventing floods," Brown told parliament. Less than a month into the job as Britain's new premier, he said everything had to be looked at from infrastructure and drainage to where utilities were located.

In a stark reference to how 21st century weather had changed, finance minister Alistair Darling said: "Climate change is not a passing trend.

"It is a reality we must factor into everything we do. If we do not, threats to our everyday life -- like the floods this week -- risk becoming common."

I usually try not to get too personal here, and maybe that makes it a bit impersonal sometimes ... but ...

We have a friend in Oxford and I certainly hope he and his family and their neighbors are all right ... but I suspect they're not.

Our friend writes often about the wanton and deliberate destruction of the infrastructure of Iraq; events such as this put it into a stark perspective which many Americans prefer to avoid. In my view, damage wrought by nature is horrifying enough, especially if the natural forces are exacerbated by human abuse. Whether humanity actually contributes to climate changes and natural disasters is still in dispute -- amazingly, in my view. (Even more amazingly, to me: among those who write about false flag terror even more than I do, many of the most influential -- Alex Jones, Mike Rivero, and Kurt Nimmo, to name just three -- disagree with me about this.)

But there can be no dispute about whether humans have caused the destruction of Iraq, which is so much worse than these heartbreaking photos from Oxford (thanks to Reuters) ...

Earlier today the multi-ethnic Iraqi national soccer team beat South Korea in a dramatic shootout and qualified for the final of the Asia Cup -- after which suicide bombers attacked the dancing crowds in the streets of Baghdad, killing at least 50.

But we didn't see the dead and wounded in the streets. We never do.

All we see are the crazies, celebrating with their flags and their AK-47s.



So here's my question:

If photo essays on the devastation of Iraq covered the front pages of every major daily, every day, how much longer do you think the war would go on?

~~~

The flooding in Pakistan is far far worse, and as usual this has been ignored or at least under-reported in the West.

From the Pakistan Times:

More Sindh Villages Submerge in Flood Water

KARACHI: Six more villages have submerged due to increase in water level in tehsil Juhi of district Dadu while the land communication of Jhal Magsi and Ganda Wah could not be restored even after one month.

An engineer of the Irrigation Department, Habib Alal Kabro said that the 30-feet breach in tehsil Khairpur Nathan Shah has been repaired by the staff of the department within two days. However, five villages -- Goth Qanb, Goth Allan Laghari, Goth Haji Khan Babbar, Goth Gharo and Shahi Laghari -- are still underwater due to this breach.
...

Relief operation continues in the flood-affected areas of Turbat and Kharan while according to the health department of Turbat, three of the gastro patients brought from the flood-affected areas to Civil Hospital Karachi have died.
...

Sindh Relief Commissioner Anwar Ahmed said that the Sindh Relief Commission with the collaboration of the Pak Army distributed 60,000 bags of food and 30,000 tents in the flood-affected areas.
...

Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Mohammad Yousuf has declared the province a calamity-hit area and announced to waive the provincial taxes due to heavy damages caused by rains and flood in Balochistan.
...

Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf said that he demanded from President Pervez Musharraf to direct the federal government also to waive its taxes for all over Balochistan.

The chief minister Balochistan appealed to all friend countries for providing aid to the flood-affected people of the province.

Two Attacks Per Day -- Terrorism in Pakistan, 2006

And now, a stark look at the problem of terrorism in Pakistan, supposedly one of our greatest allies in the War on Terror. Amir Wasim seems to have some trouble with a bit of the math in Terrorism dogs Pakistan in ’06: Over 900 killed in 657 attacks but otherwise he does all right:

Terror attacks killed almost two people a day in 2006
...
907 people dead

Almost two people a day? Unless Pakistan has more days in a year than we do, 907 dead in a year would be significantly more than two people a day -- nearly two and a half. However...

Other interesting numbers emerge from the statistics mentioned in the report:

6% Sectarian, 3% al-Q'aeda

According to the research study, 657 terrorist attacks, including 41 of a sectarian nature, took place in the outgoing year, leaving 907 people dead and 1,543 others injured.
...
The research study puts the number of people arrested by law-enforcement agencies at 1,552, including 1,094 Taliban and Afghans, 47 Al Qaeda operatives, 198 other militants and 213 nationalist insurgents.

So it would seem strange to mention al-Q and sectarian terror as leading factors, but still:

The government blamed the terror attacks on insurgents in Balochistan, operatives of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and sectarian militants.

Right. Do you see a pattern here?

We know who to blame ... for everything! ... already!! Don't bother us with facts!!

Bugti Killing Brings More Horror To Balochistan

According to the research study, the killing of veteran tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti in a clash between security forces and his men-at-arms was the main violent event of the year 2006 which caused “a ripple effect on the political horizon in the country”.

"The Federally Administered Tribal Areas proved a big trouble for the government and security agencies as tribal Taliban started re-organising their ranks in those areas…Tribal Taliban and militants kept on hitting security agencies and other anti-Taliban elements and killed 39 locals on suspicion of spying for the US forces."

The research study says that the airstrike -- blamed by locals on US aircraft -- that left over 80 inmates of a religious seminary in Bajaur was “the biggest event of the year in the tribal areas that invited further trouble for security agencies and marred efforts for peace agreement".

You always have to question the old "air-strike on a political-leader" trick as a method of building lasting stability and security. Or at least I do.

But then what do I know? I always thought Pakistan had 365 days in a year ... just like we do.

Protesters Block Roads In Balochistan, Where Slain Leader's Son Stands Accused Of Treason

There's a tense little story by Malik Siraj Akbar in Monday's Daily Times of Pakistan: Roads blocked in Balochistan in protest at Mengal’s arrest

QUETTA: Protestors blocked roads and highways across Balochistan as police continued their crackdown on nationalist leaders on Sunday.

Nationalist parties called the wheel-jam strike to protest at the arrest of Sardar Akhtar Mengal, the Mengal tribal chief and president of the Balochistan National Party, and hundreds of other Baloch activists over the last 10 days.

A BNP spokesman termed Sunday’s strike a “grand success”. He claimed that police had detained 300 Baloch workers, including the 70-year-old father of a party leader, in Quetta alone and injured 60 protestors during the last three days.

Traffic remained suspended in most parts of the province, including large parts the provincial capital Quetta. Protestors blocked the national highway, disrupting Balochistan’s road links with the rest of the country.

This has been simmering for quite some time; I've been following it from a huge cold distance, trying to keep tabs on the major points and looking for an opportunity to blog about it. Now that there's nothing else happening in the world ... ahem ... The protests were well-organized, judging from reports from various cities:

In Baloch-dominated parts of Quetta, BNP supporters blocked roads, including Sariab Road, and pelted stones at passing vehicles. The Quetta-Chaman road was also blocked in Kuchlak, on the outskirts of Quetta. BNP supporters threw stones at the police when the latter tried to open the road. The police later arrested Malik Abdul Majeed Kakar, Quetta district president of the BNP, along with ten party workers at around 1:00pm.

In Karachi, police booked Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, central president of the Balochistan National Movement (BNM), and Sher Mohammad Baloch, provincial president of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) Sindh chapter, as they protested against the latest crackdown on Baloch leaders.

There was a complete strike in Khuzdar, home district of Sardar Mengal. Protestors blocked the Quetta-Karachi highway and chanted slogans against the detention of Baloch leaders and demanded their immediate release. Policed detained Latif Baloch, BNP secretary general for Khuzdar tehsil, and a worker named Siraj Ahmed. “They were later shifted to Khuzdar Central jail,” a source told Daily Times.

The Quetta-Taftan highway was completely blocked in Dalbandin district, leaving hundreds of trucks and vehicles stranded. A shutter down and wheel jam strike paralysed daily life in Kalat. Three BNP leaders - Mohammad Imran, Abdul Haleem and Naimatullah - were detained by the police under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance. The protestors also broke the windscreens of several vehicles which defied the wheel jam strike call.

It was also fairly widespread.

The strike was also observed, at least partially, in the Pashtoon-dominated areass of Loralai, Panjgur, Turbat, Noshaki, Mustung, Gwadar and Hub.

Police started the crackdown on Baloch leaders days before they planned a long march across the province starting from Gwadar. The aim of the march was to protest against the killing of tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti, the military operations in the province, and the construction of cantonments and major development projects in Balochistan.

The last time I blogged about Balochistan, pipelines were exploding. That was in October.

The last time I was tempted to blog about Balochistan, Bugti’s son had been booked for treason, and Saleem Shahid had written about it in Pakistan's Dawn:

QUETTA, Nov 22: The Sariab police have registered a treason case against Nawabzada Jamil Bugti, son of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti, for speaking against the army and the government in his press conference last month.

Jamhoori Watan Party information secretary Amanullah Kanrani has expressed concern over registration of the treason case against Nawabzada Bugti.

"The registration of the case is another act of victimisation of the Bugti family," Mr Kanrani said in a statement, adding that the move and operations would not force the Bloch people to give up struggle to protect the coast and resources of Balochistan.

He demanded withdrawal of all fake cases against political leaders and workers and said that instead of using force against the people of Balochistan and hurling threats at them, the government should recognise their legitimate rights over the coast and resources of Balochistan.

But it was November 22nd and I had already planned something for the day, so I said nothing about it at the time.

The following day The Hindu had me confused, saying: "Case registered against Bugti grandson", but all my other sources (including Wikipedia) say Nawabzada Jamil Bugti is Nawab Akbar Bugti's son.

There was more detail that same day in a report from Mujahid Ali, correspondent for Gulf News: Treason case slapped on slain leader's son

Karachi: Police have lodged a case of treason against a son of slain tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti for allegedly speaking against the country and its armed forces, an official said yesterday.

Jamil Bugti had bitterly criticised the army and the country at a press conference in Quetta recently.

The government says that such kind of language, which attacks solidarity and unity and fans extremism, cannot be tolerated.

Savor with me the enlightened attitude toward freedom of speech emanating from the country that is supposed to be our main Asian ally in the so-called war against so-called terrorism.

"We have registered a case against Jamil Bugti for his November 6 press conference held at the residence of a former Balochistan chief minister Mir Humayun Marri," the Balochistan government spokesman said by telephone from Quetta.
...
Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed along with several of his associates in the mountains of Kohlu in an operation by the security forces.

I seem to remember a long detailed post on that occasion as well.

Since his death armed attacks on government targets have dropped.

However, tribal militants continue to carry out sporadic bombings at various places in the province.

I find all this quite fascinating. But I wonder about my readers.

Should I write about Balochistan more? Or are you tired of it already?

If not, you may wish to read some other recent news stories about the strike in Balochistan (and I'll throw in a few quotes along the way if you don't mind):

Dec 2, Daily Times: BNP senior vice president expelled to Sindh

The Balochistan government on Friday expelled Mir Hussain Ashraf, a former provincial minister and senior vice president of the Jamhoori Watan Party, to Sindh.

Ashraf was arrested in Gwadar along with Habib Jalib, secretary general of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), when police dispersed a crowd on Thursday that had gathered for the BNP’s ‘Lashkar-e-Balochistan’ march.
...
The government has expelled all key Baloch leaders from Quetta, but it has not yet given a reason for the crackdown on Baloch leaders.

Dec 2, Zee News (India): Over 150 BNP workers arrested in Balochistan

Dec 2, Dawn: BNP’s acting chief among 150 held: Cut in power supply to coastal areas

Dec 2, Gulf News (UAE): 100 Baloch nationalist supporters detained

Dec 3, Dawn: Mixed response to BNP-M strike call

QUETTA, Dec 2: The shutterdown strike call given by the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) against the arrest of its leaders and workers received a mixed response in Quetta and other parts of the province on Saturday.

Police arrested 10 people in Kalat including BNP-M district president Mir Mohammad Umrani, Shahzada Zaki Ahmedzai and Mohammad Sadiq Dehwar.

In Quetta, most of the shops, markets and business centres in Liaquat market, Prince road, Abdul Sattar road, Qandahari market, Mission road, Zarghoon road and Satellite Town remained opened throughout the day.

However, a majority of the shops at Jinnah road remained closed, while a complete shutterdown was observed till afternoon at Sariab road, Brewery road, Jail road and on the outskirts of the provincial capital.
...
WHEEL JAM CALL: The leadership of BNP-M has called for a wheel jam strike on Sunday.

“We are protesting against the massive arrests of party leaders and workers,” said Rauf Mengal, a central BNP-M leader in a statement issued here on Saturday.

Despite the arrests, long march would be staged as per the announced programme, he said.

He demanded of the government to “immediately release Sardar Akhtar Mengal and hundreds of party workers and local leaders arrested by police from different areas of Balochistan.”

Dec 3, The Hindu (India): Unrest continues in Balochistan

Over the last week, police arrested hundreds of workers of the Balochistan National Party including all of its top leadership as they planned to set out on a protest march across the province.

The march was to begin on Thursday at Gwadar, where an upcoming port is a symbol of pride for the Federal Government but which the Baloch people see as a symbol of their oppression. The march was to culminate in Quetta on December 11.

But the BNP had to abandon the march after its leadership, including president Akhtar Mengal, vice-president Jehanzaib Jamaldini and secretary-general Habib Jalib Baloch were all put under house arrest and between 400 to 600 other activists jailed.

In response to the arrests, the BNP and its allies including the Baloch Students' Organisation called a "shutter-down" strike throughout the province on Saturday, which evoked mixed response, and a vehicle strike on Sunday.

And there's more from the same source, with portents of storms to come:

Baloch nationalist parties had planned the 700-km march, called Laskhar-e-Baloch, through the province to protest against the Federal Government's policies, including the killing of Nawab Bugti in a military operation in August, the setting up of military cantonments in the Balochistan and against "mega-projects" like Gwadar port which they see as holding little benefits for the local people.

"We are a democratic party, but those who want to show their strength through peaceful methods are discouraged. Democracy in Pakistan is only for those who support the military," Mr. Mengal told local journalists over telephone from his home, where he is under detention.

Alongside the political unrest, militants have been at it with unfailing regularity.

The protests and the government action come ahead of a planned visit by President Musharraf to the province early next week. Mr. Mengal said his party and its supporters would ensure an "unwelcome" for the President.

When Gen. Musharraf visited Balochistan on November 16 and 17, there was a province-wide shutdown.

Pakistan Pipeline Blast Leaves Thousands Without Gas

India's Hindustan Times has published a piece from Agence France-Presse, under the banner "Battleground Balochistan", and datelined "Quetta, October 24, 2006", which says:

Suspected tribal rebels blew up a key pipeline in southwestern Pakistan's volatile Balochistan province on Tuesday, leaving tens of thousands of people without gas, officials said.

The pre-dawn blast suspended natural gas supplies to the provincial capital Quetta, as well as the Kalat, Mastung, Ziarat and Pishin districts, a gas company official said on condition of anonymity.

Repair work had started on the ruptured section of pipeline at Dasht, near Quetta, and supplies will hopefully be restored later on Tuesday, the official added.

The attack was the third of its kind since Monday when two other pipelines were blown up elsewhere in Balochistan.

Rebels also attacked a passenger train with rockets on Thursday but caused no casualties.

Tensions have soared in gas-rich Balochistan since the army killed rebel tribal chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti in his cave hideout in a major operation on August 26.

Insurgents linked to Bugti have waged a two-year campaign to win more political rights and a greater share of profits from the region's natural resources.

India's Zee News dot com is running the same report, but without the banner, and without crediting the French press agency.

Pakistan's Online News phrased it this way [seriously!]:

Gas pipeline blown up in Sui

QUETTA: A 14-inch diameter pipeline was blown up by unidentified saboteurs with the use of explosive device in Sui suspending gas supply to the plant from well no 8.

According to the sources, 7 feet part of gas pipeline was completely destroyed due to the blast.

The local administration has jammed the system of plant aiming to stop the leakage of gas and started the repair work on emergency basis.

Sources revealed that the industrial zones of Sindh and Punjab are affecting badly as there is continuing declination in the pressure of gas due to the low supply of gas after the blast.

The "continuing declination in the pressure of gas" must be particularly annoying.

Pakistan Dawn had this report:

QUETTA, Oct 23: Gas supply to the provincial capital was suspended after militants blew up a pipeline in the Dasht area, police officials said. Supply to the Sui purification plant was also disrupted after the main pipeline from the gas field was blown up on Monday.

Pakistan Petroleum Limited officials said that production at the purification plant remained unaffected despite a shortage of around two million cubic feet of gas.

The officials said that the blast occurred at around 3.30am near the Sui gas field.

“It was a 24-inch-diameter pipeline, connecting the purification plant with seven gas wells,” a senior security official said from Sui, adding that the pipeline was blown up using a high-explosive device, which caused considerable damage to the pipeline.

Meanwhile, gas supply to Kalat and adjoining areas was completely suspended on Monday night following a powerful explosion which caused a fire in a pipeline.

It's not surprising to see the Pakistani spin going one way and the Indian spin going the other, at least in terms of suspects. They do agree, apparently, that quite a bit of damage has been done.

For some background on this situation, you might look at my article from early September, "Report: NATO Troops Requested For Pakistan!", where I said I would try to keep you posted on this topic. I apologize for not being able to devote more space to it. But then, how much of this are you getting from mainstream media?

Hint: NONE!

Report: NATO Troops Requested For Pakistan!

Unrest following killing of 'rebel leader' Nawab Akbar Bugti doesn't want to go away ...

Online News [Pakistan] September 6, 2006: NATO forces be deployed in Balochistan: BNP [emphasis added, here and below]

ISLAMABAD: Abdul Rauf Mengal MNA of Balochistan National Party (BNP) has said he will resign from his assembly seat as per party decision today to register protest against killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti (photo).

He said this while addressing a press conference in cafeteria of parliament here Tuesday. He told BNP had decided to resign from senate , national assembly, provincial assembly and district government.
...
He alleged the incumbent government and the generals are murderers of Nawab Akbar Bugti. Forces be withdrawn from Balochistan and NATO troops be deployed there.

What? Did we miss something?

Apparently! Somewhere in between the hunt for the real reason why Rashid Rauf was arrested and the stunning interruption in the Pakistani cricket tour to Britain, we did miss something of importance. I've been meaning to blog about it, but in the midst of everything else it hasn't quite risen to the top of my To-Do List -- until now!

Quotes and links from relevant stories you may have missed, below the fold:

BBC News, August 27: Pakistan says key rebel is dead

Tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti has been killed in a battle between tribal militants and government forces in Balochistan province, Pakistan says.

The battle near his mountain hideout in south-west Pakistan caused heavy casualties, reports say.

At least five soldiers and at least 30 rebels are thought to have died.

A 24-hour curfew has been imposed in the city of Quetta where hundreds of students from Balochistan university rioted at news of the death.

The octogenarian was at the head of a tribal campaign to win political autonomy and a greater share of revenue from Balochistan's gas reserves.

Press Trust Of India, August 28, 2006: Balochistan in flames after Pak Army kills top leader -- Bugti killed in missile attack: Red alert across Pak, curfew in Quetta after riots; Pak Opposition warns of 1971-like situation

Prominent tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed in a Pakistani Army missile attack in the restive Balochistan province that also left 38 armed rebels and 21 security personnel dead, triggering massive rioting during which a protester was shot dead.

Pakistan was put on high alert and curfew imposed in the provincial capital Quetta, a day after 80-year-old Bugti was killed after the Army launched air strikes in the mountains of the province where the rebel chieftain was hiding.

“It is confirmed Nawab Bugti has been killed in an operation,” Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said here. The Baloch leader’s son-in-law, Senator Agha Bugti, also said Bugti was killed in the military operation. Reports said the hideout of Bugti was discovered through a satellite phone tracking system.

Besides the British-educated tribal leader, 38 armed rebels, including Bugti’s two grandsons, were killed in the fighting. Twenty one security personnel also lost their lives, media reports quoted Defence officials as saying.

As news of Bugti’s death spread, parts of Balochistan, including Quetta, experienced heavy violence and rioting. Angry mobs ransacked and torched banks, petrol pumps and government offices and vehicles. People also fired on police, said Quetta’s top police official Syed Muhammad.

Abdul Sattar on the AP wire via the Houston Chronicle, August 27: Riots grow over tribal chief's death -- Some fear his killing by troops will widen conflict, radicalize youths

QUETTA, PAKISTAN - Mobs burned shops, banks and buses in a second day of rioting over the killing of a top tribal chief by Pakistani troops, raising fears that a decades-old conflict in the country's volatile southwest could widen.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told Pakistani television that Nawab Akbar Bugti's death Saturday was "the darkest chapter in Pakistan's history."

Police arrested 450 people for rioting, but the violence spread from Baluchistan province into neighboring Sindh province, where ethnic Baluchis burned tires in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi.

Political leaders and analysts feared the killing of 79-year-old Bugti, a champion of greater rights for ethnic Baluch tribespeople, could influence more young Pakistanis to take up militancy.

AP's Abdul Sattar again, this time via The State [South Carolina], August 28: More rioting hits southwestern Pakistan

Opposition ethnic-Baluch lawmakers denounced the government in a rowdy provincial assembly session in Quetta and vowed to avenge Bugti's death.

"This is a major event in Baluch history. We didn't join this country in 1947 to have our tribal elders, political leaders and children killed," said opposition leader Kachkul Ali Baluch.

Three opposition lawmakers were briefly taken into custody in Quetta but were freed after questioning about the street violence, said Mayor Mir Maqbool Ahmed Lehri.

Bugti died when Pakistani troops, backed by helicopters, attacked his cave hide-out in the Kohlu area, about 140 miles east of Quetta, officials said. Authorities say the cave's roof collapsed, killing Bugti and 24 of his fighters.

and there's a lot more...

Pakistan Dawn, September 1: It’s target killing: Marri

KARACHI, Aug 31: Veteran Baloch leader Sardar Khair Baksh Marri has described the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti as a target killing. In an interview, he said he feared for the life of his own son, Balach Marri, because the government had the ‘mistaken notion’ that Marri was the epicentre of all anti-state and terrorist activities, and Balach Marri was an ‘icon of resistance’.

He also said that it was an untimely ‘mode of resistance’ and the late Bugti should have adopted it in the early days.

Sardar Marri said he was not against Punjabis as a whole but detested the fact that Punjab did not practically endorse the rights and autonomy of smaller provinces.

He accused them of colluding with the ‘establishment’ in usurping the rights of other provinces. About the life and safety of Nawab Bugti’s grandsons, he said that he prayed for their safety and was determined to assist them.

About the committee which had been formed to held talks with Nawab Bugti, he said it was a camouflage to hide the real intentions of the government.

He said that a team had approached President Gen Pervez Musharraf with assurances of holding dialogue with Mr Bugti, but the president backed out because the dialogue would have involved only the JWP chief while others would have stayed out of it without making any commitment. —Online

In between everything else, I'll try to keep you up-to-date on this very interesting -- and potentially volatile -- situation.