Fits and starts
The
Post reports that talks between the United States and the Taliban will
resume as soon as they receive approval from Afghan President Hamid
Karzai, who will be meeting with the U.S. Special Representative for
Afghanistan and Pakistan Amb. Marc Grossman next week (Post).
The Times details the quiet role Grossman has played in secret talks
with the group, even as the Taliban said in an emailed statement
Thursday that peace talks will not mean the end of fighting (NYT, WSJ, AP).
And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seemed to acknowledge the
possibility Wednesday that Taliban leaders could be transferred from the
prison at Guantánamo Bay as part of a confidence building measure with
the group (AP).
Both
Karzai and the Taliban have condemned a video that surfaced this week
and appears to show U.S. Marines in Afghanistan urinating on dead
Taliban fighters, though the Taliban said the video would not break up
talks with the United States (BBC, Tel, Reuters). The Pentagon is investigating the video, the content of which could constitute a violation of the Geneva Conventions (Tel, Guardian, CNN, LAT, Post, BBC, Reuters).
A
top-secret National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan given to
President Obama last month reportedly concluded that the Taliban have
not given up on their goals of taking control of Afghanistan by force,
and that corruption, poor governance, and Taliban safe havens in
Pakistan continue to undercut any gains made by international forces on
the ground (McClatchy, LAT).
And the Journal's Maria Abi-Habib reports on the double-game believed
to be played by some Afghan police, taking money and support from
international forces while in some cases providing aid to the Taliban (WSJ).
Crisis of confidence
Tension
continues to rise in Pakistan following the firing of Defense Secretary
Naeem Khalid Lodhi on Wednesday, even as Prime Minister Yousaf Raza
Gilani has tried to downplay his recent spat with Pakistan's army (NYT, Post, BBC, Tel, ET, Dawn, ET).
Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani met behind closed doors with his
top military commanders Thursday, as the country's increasingly
embattled president Asif Ali Zardari flew to Dubai for a brief trip,
reportedly to attend a wedding and undergo a medical checkup (AP, Reuters, AP, Tel, BBC, Dawn, Reuters).
The United States has tried to stay out of the widening conflict, as
the State Department said Wednesday that the United States has not tried
to intervene between the military and civilian government, and Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey called Kayani
Wednesday, but said he did not seek any assurance that Pakistan's army
would not stage a coup (Dawn, Dawn).
Suspected
Baloch rebels ambushed a convoy of paramilitary Pakistani soldiers on
Wednesday, killing 14 in one of the deadliest attacks on security forces
ever to take place in the province (ET, BBC, Tel, Dawn, Reuters).
In Peshawar, meanwhile, authorities are reportedly planning to build an
"enclave" for diplomatic personnel, in order to ensure their security (ET).
And in Karachi, a lawyer who argued cases related to missing persons in
front of the Sindh High Court in cases was shot dead along with his
driver by two unidentified gunmen Wednesday (Dawn).
Finally,
Pakistan's Supreme Court will hear former ambassador to the United
States Husain Haqqani's petition challenging the formation of a special
commission to investigate the "Memogate" affair on January 17 (Dawn, ET).
And a report prepared by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn and the Economist
Intelligence Unit says that Pakistan has the second least-secured
nuclear material in the world, after only North Korea (ET).
Risky business
The
star of one of Afghanistan's most popular television programs, a local
take on the American counterterrorism drama "24" called "Eagle Four"
said in an interview this week that he had received hundreds of death
threats due to his role in the show (Guardian).
However, the actor, Najebullah Sadiq, said that he would continue with
the show, funded partially by NATO, in the hopes that "Eagle Four" will
help improve the image of Afghanistan's police.
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