Pak. commanders back ceasefire in Kashmir

By Atul Aneja

NEW DELHI, DEC. 14. After two days of intensive discussions, top military commanders, who form the highest decision-making hub in Pakistan have agreed to continue their support for the Indian peace initiative in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to highly-placed sources in a section of the Government here, the weekend meeting presided by the Chief Executive, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, concluded that a positive endorsement and elaboration of India's initiative would yield diplomatic and economic benefits. A relatively relaxed military posture was also likely to relieve the stress on Pakistani troops manning the Line of Control.

Lt. Gen. Jamshed Gulzar, commander of the Rawalpindi- based 10 corps responsible for deployments in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the Northern Areas, Lt. Gen. Mehmood Ahmed of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lt. General Mohammad Yusuf Khan and the high-profile commander of the Lahore-based IV corps, Lt. Gen. Mohammad Aziz Khan, were present.

The decision to release the former Prime Minister, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, and its domestic and international fallout were discussed in detail.

According to information here, the military top brass expressed concern about the political ``vacuum'' in the wake of Mr. Sharif's departure to Saudi Arabia. Not surprisingly, they debated ways to revive the political process but in a manner which did not challenge the pre-eminence of the military. The commanders felt that activation of a new crop of politicians, so far ``unattached but influential'', was necessary.

The corps commanders also discussed ways to improve ``media management'' to project a better image of the regime both internally and internationally. The negative repercussions of alienating the intelligentsia and ways to overcome this was also discussed.

Sources said the ``political engineering'' revolving around Mr. Sharif's departure was unlikely to be followed by a crackdown on the Islamic extremists in Pakistan.

Not only would such a move have a negative domestic fallout, it was unlikely to go down well with a section of the powerful Saudi elite, which had considerable leverage over the Pakistani Government. The intelligence community in Riyadh, headed by Mr. Turki Al Faisal, was known to be well inclined towards some of the pan-Islamic organisations in Pakistan. According to an assessment here, Saudi Arabia was keen on ensuring that Pakistan did not undertake steps which would disrupt ``normal'' religious activity. Members of the clergy in both the countries interacted regularly.

Gen. Musharraf, during the meeting, expressed displeasure at the inability of the ISI and the corp commander based in Lahore to unite the militant groups. The fracturing of the militant groups strengthened India's hand, he felt.

The commanders admitted that their hold over the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which had acquired pre-eminence during the post- ceasefire phase in Kashmir, was slipping. Despite Pakistani efforts, the Lashkar, based in Muridke close to Lahore, had managed to acquire independent channels of funding, reducing Islamabad's leverage.

On foreign policy issues, it was noted that Pakistan enjoyed special relations with Saudi Arabia. The existing situation in West Asia and routine military affairs also came up for discussion.

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