Pakistani city becomes terror haven

MercuryNews ^ | 6.27.02 | Mark McDonald

[swarthyguy]

KARACHI, Pakistan - They're here and everyone knows it: Al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives are hiding in the overheated slums, finding anonymity in the crowded bazaars and darkened alleyways, regrouping in mosques, resting easily in safe houses and immigrant neighborhoods.

Countless Taliban and Al-Qaida fighters have escaped the U.S. dragnet in Afghanistan, and a former mayor of Karachi said his multiethnic city of 15 million was in danger of being ``Talibanized'' by the escapees. Karachi's huge size and porous harbor, plus its history of political violence and religious extremism, have made it the new center for Islamist militants and political terrorists in the region.

[swarthyguy]

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani National hiding their faces from the photographers as they arrived from USA at Islamabad International airport.

[sheik yerbouty]

Karachi: Give the jihadists up, or be a city no more!

[swarthyguy]

Fat chance of Mush giving up the jihadis. If this story is halfway accurate, this will get very, very ugly. Where can these guys go now?

[mikeIII]

This is in the South East of the country. And we're told that it is the North West that is lawless. Which part of the country is lawful then? To top it all, they have nukes.

I wonder what plans they have for Kashmir, if they get it.

[mikeIII]

The mayor of Karachi, Niamatullah Khan,[says] "The crime rate in Washington is higher than the crime rate in Karachi,''

He's probably heard of his erstwhile counterpart in DC!

[swarthyguy]

The NWFP is lawless but under tribal law and control where the national govt has never been welcome or held authority. Goes back to British times when even they left these tribal areas alone.

Karachi has been descending into a lawless hell for well over a decade. Private militas, private security guards are essential for those who can afford them. Protectin is granted by a combo of the religious mafiois, some being Sunni, others Shiite, some secular oriented. The safest place is probably Islamabad, under defacto military rule, but still jihadis infiltrate into a church in the diplomatic area!

[swarthyguy]

Dunno if i buy that - NO Way, in fact. Usual hyperbole and stats taken from years ago, maybe. Glib comparisons with the loved/hated America.

[mikeIII]

I was trying to sugges that the Mayor of Karachi might be comparing himself to Marion Barry!

[swarthyguy]

I got that. Just seems typical BS to compare Karachi to DC. What gets reported and officially logged as a stat is probably 10% of the actual stuff that happens.

[mikeIII]

Yup. Must be a mighty fine city - 65% slums, 75% unemployment, thriving "Kalashnikov culture'' and, now, the home of Al Qaida!

[sheik yerbouty]

To perdition!