Pakistan Truce Appears Defunct

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Washington Post

A controversial peace deal between the Pakistani government and local tribal leaders in an area where al-Qaeda is known to be regrouping appeared to collapse Sunday, as tensions escalated and a fresh wave of bombings killed at least 44 people.

The 10-month-old deal in the restive region of North Waziristan was designed to curb cross-border attacks against U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. But it has been widely criticized by security analysts and, lately, U.S. officials, who said it provided terrorist groups including the Taliban and al-Qaeda with a safe haven in which to train recruits and plot attacks.

On Sunday, local Taliban fighters proclaimed the deal dead and announced the start of an all-out guerrilla war against the Pakistani army. Pakistani officials stopped short of conceding the agreement's demise, but the military has been moving tens of thousands of troops toward troubled spots along the border in recent days, after the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, last week announced a new crackdown on extremism.

Military officials said the troops were being deployed in a bid to keep the peace following last week's raid on the Red Mosque in Islamabad. That effort appeared to be breaking down Sunday, as security forces continued to take heavy losses in a series of attacks that claimed more than 70 lives over the weekend. Most of those killed were soldiers or police.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/15/AR2007071500396.html?hpid=topnews

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I would not be surprised to wake up some morning to the news Musharraf has been assasinated or overthrown.

[Tempest]

1. There's been 4 assassinations attempts on him since 2001

It's just a matter of time before one succeeds.

I wouldn't be surprised if you go to Vegas and could get odds and one of the casinos to take the bet.