Latest WikiBites

[Bilal_Mushi]

WikiBites

DAWN.COM

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[NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan] Hoti praised the drone attacks, calling the strikes fantastic, but also said that he could never publicly endorse them.
- Peshawar Principal Officer Lynne Tracy, cable dated April 30, 2009
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Taseer criticized the rule of Shahbaz Sharif. His team is pathetic, he complained. Shahbaz Sharif is very hardworking, but so is my mali (gardener).
- Lahore PO Bryan Hunt, cable dated December 31, 2008
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The Governor [of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer] was unconcerned by the lawyers long march and sit-in scheduled for March 16, quipping perhaps Ill schedule Basant for the same day and well see whether the people prefer to march to Islamabad or party in Lahore.
- Hunt, cable dated February 27, 2009
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The Pakistan Air Force is obsessed with F-16s.
- Former Islamabad Charge dAffaires Peter Bodde, cable dated May 2, 2006
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The definition of moral turpitude in Pakistan remains cloudy.
- Former US Ambassador Anne Patterson, cable dated February 7, 2008
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Zardari opened his remarks by saying that the U.S. is our safety blanket and recounted how Benazir had returned despite the threats against her because of support and clearance from the U.S.
Zardari admitted that he was scared that the closer he gets to General Kayani, the weaker Kayani will become.
- Patterson, cable dated January 28, 2008

http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/12/wikibites-2.html

Zardari asked for financial and development assistance from NATO countries, adding with a rhetorical flourish that you dont have to love me as much as AIG, but love me closer to that.
- Representative to US mission to NATO John Heffern, cable dated June 24, 2009


Without commenting on the efficacy of alleged U.S. drone attacks, Gilani argued that such incidences were public relations windfalls for the militants. The militants always arrived at a site before official forces, buried the actual targets, but left women and children victims out for media coverage.
- US Ambassador Anne Patterson, cable dated April 16, 2009


Representative Giffords asked [Interior Minister Rehman] Malik whether he had information about the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden. Malik responded that he had no clue, but added that he did not believe that Bin Laden is in the area. Bin Laden sent his family to Iran, so it makes sense that he might have gone there himself, Malik argued. Alternatively, he might be hiding in Saudi Arabia or Yemen, or perhaps he is already dead, he added.
- Patterson, cable dated September 10, 2009


JUI-F is dangerous because it is good at deceit. At least Jamaat-i-Islami, [ANP Senator Afrasiab Khattak] observed, is consistent in its support for militants.
- Peshawar Principal Officer Lynne Tracy, cable dated May 25, 2009

http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/13/wikibites-3.html

 

[mrcritic]

is hamaam mein sab nangey hain!!!

 

[Truth-seeker]

Simply pathetic,what else can i say about these corrupt and selfish polititions.

 

[Bilal_Mushi]

Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, for reasons 1.4 (b)(d)

1. (C) Summary. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Asif Zardari is in the driver’s seat as he begins a complex series of negotiations on forming a new government in Pakistan. But in Nawaz Sharif he has an influential passenger who is calculating when he can take the wheel. Zardari is trying to balance electoral math and provincial power projection goals while keeping the PPP together under his leadership. His initial insticts are based on a practical power calculus that an alliance with Nawaz is his strongest and most stable option. However, this is just the first round in what may be protracted negotiations to form a coalition government. End Summary.

 

[Bilal_Mushi]

2. (C) Zardari told Ambassador February 20 (Ref A) that he was considering a coalition with Nawaz Sharif’s party and proposed offering the Prime Minister position to either Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Javed Hashimi or to Awami National Party (ANP) leader Asfandyar Wali Khan. This is only the first round of what likely will be protracted negotiations to form a coalition. While it may be surprising that Zardari would consider this alliance and offer the PM post to another party, his rationale is based on sound electoral math, national/provincial power calculations and complicated party politics.

3. (U) A rough party breakdown of the election shows that the PPP has 32%, Nawaz’s party has 25% and Musharraf’s party has 15%. The rest is split among smaller parties with the largest 7% share gong to the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) that controls Karachi. The Awami National Party has about 4%.

4. (C) Zardari argued that a coalition based on the PPP joining with Musharraf’s party plus other smaller parties would barely give him a majority share in the National Assembly. Zardari told Ambassador, this would be a weak coalition. Zardari fears that opposition within the PPP to working with Musharraf’s party after trouncing it in the election would increase the likelihood that the PPP would split into factions. There is a history of Musharraf successfully splitting the PPP to deny them power.

5. (C) One rule of Pakistani politics is that voters and politicians follow a winner, and Nawaz won big in this election. Musharraf’s party was formed with many of the members of Nawaz’s party who left when Musharraf overthrew Nawaz in 1999. Many voters who deserted Nawaz to join Musharraf in 1999 went back to Nawaz in this election. We are seeing increasing reports that members of Musharraf’s party are following suit by switching back to Nawaz. Thus the limited strength of a PPP coalition with Musharraf’s party is weakening daily

 

[Bilal_Mushi]

10. (C) By offering the Prime Minister slot to PML-N, Zardari is trying to avoid a leadership struggle within the PPP. While Zardari publicly has taken himself out of the running for PM, we suspect he will keep his options open by going forward with plans to run in a by-election for his sister’s seat in Sindh. Zardari told Ambassador he continues discussions with Musharraf because Musharraf will be key to solidifying Army support for a PPP government. Zardari would also like Musharraf to extend the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) that granted Zardari and others immunity from prosecution on corruption charges. Although Zardari ultimately will have to votes to extend the NRO in the next Assembly, the optics of such a move could stir up ugly Pakistani memories of “Mr. Ten Percent.”

11. (C) With solid party credentials and significant rank and file support (Refs C and D), PPP Vice Chairman Amin Faheem is the most likely party choice for PM. But Zardari considers Faheem to be weak and lazy. Each of the other choices is also problematic. PPP Punjab President Shah Mehmood Qureshi is a divisive figure within the party and is probably too independent for Zardari. PPP Vice Chairman Yousef Gilani is a possibility, but he too has corruption baggage and is a Punjabi and his appointment could spark Sindh-Punjab rivalries within the party. Former Defense Minister (under Bhutto) Mirani lost in the election. PPP barrister Aitzaz Ahsan remains very controversial within the PPP; he also is ineligible because he withdrew from the election.

 

[Bilal_Mushi]

15. (C) Nawaz returned from exile because the Saudis refused to keep him any longer and reportedly wanted a counterweight to the liberal, Shia-connected Benazir Bhutto.
The Saudis provided Nawaz with an armored car and reportedly lots of campaign cash. There is at least one poster in Lahore that features King Abdullah between pictures of Nawaz and Shahbaz. Nawaz’s wife reportedly is quite conservative, but so is PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s wife. It is not clear that PML-N’s ties to the religious parties are any stronger or more significant than those of Musharraf’s party. Both PML leaders Chaudhry Shujaat and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi have connections to conservative Deobandi madrassas, and Musharraf was perfectly willing (as was Bhutto) to deal with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party.

 

[Bilal_Mushi]

2008: Education ministry spent $4m of $100m on madrassa reform in six years

10. (C) The government has been less successful, however, in implementing other elements of Musharraf’s now-scrapped reform plan, such as legislating the introduction of secular subjects, the creation of a standardized curriculum, and establishment of a government body with authority to grant madrassa diplomas. Secretary Khan said the government shelved the Madrassa Reform Plan (MRP) in late summer of 2007 after the Ministry of Education produced a white-paper concluding the plan had failed; The Secretary added the Ministry of Education had only spent $4 million of the $100 million the government of Pakistan allotted for reform efforts over the past six years. The Secretary noted the wafaqs would be more open to introducing secular subjects, which they already verbally agreed to do, than to conceding the authority to grant madrassa diplomas to the government.

 

[johny]

baat wo key dushmen be bolain...

WikiBites

DAWN.COM

-
Taseer criticized the rule of Shahbaz Sharif. His team is pathetic, he complained. Shahbaz Sharif is very hardworking, but so is my mali (gardener).
- Lahore PO Bryan Hunt, cable dated December 31, 2008

 

[Bilal_Mushi]

Marhoom nay mali say tashbee dee hay.

baat wo key dushmen be bolain...

WikiBites

DAWN.COM

————————————————————————————-
“Taseer criticized the rule of Shahbaz Sharif. ‘His team is pathetic,’ he complained. ‘Shahbaz Sharif is very hardworking, but so is my mali (gardener).’”
- Lahore PO Bryan Hunt, cable dated December 31, 2008

 

[johny]

wikileaks..

10. (C) By offering the Prime Minister slot to PML-N, Zardari is trying to avoid a leadership struggle within the PPP. While Zardari publicly has taken himself out of the running for PM, we suspect he will keep his options open by going forward with plans to run in a by-election for his sister’s seat in Sindh. Zardari told Ambassador he continues discussions with Musharraf because Musharraf will be key to solidifying Army support for a PPP government. Zardari would also like Musharraf to extend the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) that granted Zardari and others immunity from prosecution on corruption charges. Although Zardari ultimately will have to votes to extend the NRO in the next Assembly, the optics of such a move could stir up ugly Pakistani memories of “Mr. Ten Percent.”

11. (C) With solid party credentials and significant rank and file support (Refs C and D), PPP Vice Chairman Amin Faheem is the most likely party choice for PM. But Zardari considers Faheem to be weak and lazy. Each of the other choices is also problematic. PPP Punjab President Shah Mehmood Qureshi is a divisive figure within the party and is probably too independent for Zardari. PPP Vice Chairman Yousef Gilani is a possibility, but he too has corruption baggage and is a Punjabi and his appointment could spark Sindh-Punjab rivalries within the party. Former Defense Minister (under Bhutto) Mirani lost in the election. PPP barrister Aitzaz Ahsan remains very controversial within the PPP; he also is ineligible because he withdrew from the election.

 

[gazoomartian]

Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, for reasons 1.4 (b)(d)

1. (C) Summary. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Asif Zardari is in the drivers seat as he begins a complex series of negotiations on forming a new government in Pakistan. But in Nawaz Sharif he has an influential passenger who is calculating when he can take the wheel. Zardari is trying to balance electoral math and provincial power projection goals while keeping the PPP together under his leadership. His initial insticts are based on a practical power calculus that an alliance with Nawaz is his strongest and most stable option. However, this is just the first round in what may be protracted negotiations to form a coalition government. End Summary.

I seriously doubt the authenticity of this summary.

Come on, Patterson would write better English than this. Did any one notice:

............But in Nawaz Sharif he has................

What kind of weak English is that? But in Nawaz?? :lol:

It may make sense but terrible grammar.

 

[Bilal_Mushi]

Can be typo by Dawn..................I was hoping that atleast Ahsan Iqbal would point out if PMN(N) had any doubts about the authenticity.

Why don't you write ti Daily Dawn? At-least there is somebody who is doubting.

I seriously doubt the authenticity of this summary.

Come on, Patterson would write better English than this. Did any one notice:

............But in Nawaz Sharif he has................

What kind of weak English is that? But in Nawaz?? :lol:

It may make sense but terrible grammar.