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Friday, June 03, 2005 9:37:13 PM
US, British forces conducted exercise in Karachi: report
Source : Moneyplans.net Archives
Special Forces from the US and Britain recently trained in the Pakistani port city of Karachi in areas that resemble Iranian cities, UPI reported quoting sources in the Pakistani intelligence.
A spokesman for the Pakistani military, Col. Tahir Idrees Malik, however, said these were anti-terrorist drills and had nothing to do with Iran.
President George W. Bush told NBC News Monday that he cannot rule out military action against Iran if Tehran was not forthcoming about its suspected nuclear weapons programme.
"I hope we can solve it diplomatically, but I will never take any option off the table, if Iran continues to stonewall the international community about the existence of its nuclear weapons programme," he said.
Intelligence sources in Karachi say the joint US, British and Pakistani exercises began in early December and ended Monday.
The American and British troops were based at Malir cantonment, a military area near the Karachi airport used by the British during World War II for stationing troops on their way to the Middle East.
On Jan 11, the troops conducted an anti-hijacking drill on a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft at an isolated place several miles from the main terminal, the sources said.
During the exercise, the US and British troops showed particular interest in areas inhabited by Baluch tribesmen and Iranian refugees, where several key Al Qaeda terrorists are also believed to have taken refuge after escaping from Afghanistan following the US military operation against the Taliban in October 2001.
Pakistani police say that it was the same area where kidnappers of a Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl, had temporarily hidden him before killing him.
Culturally, this area is considered the closest in Pakistan to parts of eastern Iran and is also used by Iranian tribal smugglers who have ethnic and lingual affinities with the Baluch tribesmen living here.
Pakistani intelligence sources said that during the exercises, the troops also familiarized themselves with other Karachi neighbourhoods, roads and exit points, railway and bus stations and the airport.
Witnesses said some streets in Karachi, lined with shops on both sides with people living in the flats above, were made to resemble similar congested areas of major Iranian cities.
Malik, a spokesman for the military's press office, said the exercises were held in a city because these were anti-terrorist drills. Asked why Karachi was chosen for this drill, he said exercises always take place where "action is expected".
He said Pakistan was "proud to have worked with friendly countries" in these anti-terror preparations but refused to say which countries participated in the exercise.
He confirmed that an anti-hijacking drill was performed on an A-300 Airbus aircraft near Karachi airport and the troops also held similar exercises at railway stations and bus terminals which could also be targeted by terrorists.
When asked to comment on these reports, Mohammed Sadiq, Pakistan's deputy chief of mission in Washington, said: "We will never participate in any activity that will lead to military action against Iran."
But a senior Pakistani official in Islamabad maintained that Pakistan had cooperated with the US in the nuclear investigation of Iran.
"Our cooperation, however, is confined to whatever the Iranians might have received from the Khan network," said the official. "We have no knowledge of what Iranians have been doing and where they have hidden their nuclear assets."
Iran has acknowledged receiving centrifuges for processing uranium from the Khan network, which was headed by the former chief of Pakistan's nuclear programme Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Khan -- now under house arrest in Pakistan -- also confessed to providing nuclear technology to Libya and North Korea.
The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has posed questions through Pakistani intelligence for Khan and how much assistance he provided to Iran. The IAEA is not allowed to directly interrogate Khan.
http://archives.moneyplans.net/frontend207-verify-7353.html
Source : Moneyplans.net Archives
Special Forces from the US and Britain recently trained in the Pakistani port city of Karachi in areas that resemble Iranian cities, UPI reported quoting sources in the Pakistani intelligence.
A spokesman for the Pakistani military, Col. Tahir Idrees Malik, however, said these were anti-terrorist drills and had nothing to do with Iran.
President George W. Bush told NBC News Monday that he cannot rule out military action against Iran if Tehran was not forthcoming about its suspected nuclear weapons programme.
"I hope we can solve it diplomatically, but I will never take any option off the table, if Iran continues to stonewall the international community about the existence of its nuclear weapons programme," he said.
Intelligence sources in Karachi say the joint US, British and Pakistani exercises began in early December and ended Monday.
The American and British troops were based at Malir cantonment, a military area near the Karachi airport used by the British during World War II for stationing troops on their way to the Middle East.
On Jan 11, the troops conducted an anti-hijacking drill on a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft at an isolated place several miles from the main terminal, the sources said.
During the exercise, the US and British troops showed particular interest in areas inhabited by Baluch tribesmen and Iranian refugees, where several key Al Qaeda terrorists are also believed to have taken refuge after escaping from Afghanistan following the US military operation against the Taliban in October 2001.
Pakistani police say that it was the same area where kidnappers of a Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl, had temporarily hidden him before killing him.
Culturally, this area is considered the closest in Pakistan to parts of eastern Iran and is also used by Iranian tribal smugglers who have ethnic and lingual affinities with the Baluch tribesmen living here.
Pakistani intelligence sources said that during the exercises, the troops also familiarized themselves with other Karachi neighbourhoods, roads and exit points, railway and bus stations and the airport.
Witnesses said some streets in Karachi, lined with shops on both sides with people living in the flats above, were made to resemble similar congested areas of major Iranian cities.
Malik, a spokesman for the military's press office, said the exercises were held in a city because these were anti-terrorist drills. Asked why Karachi was chosen for this drill, he said exercises always take place where "action is expected".
He said Pakistan was "proud to have worked with friendly countries" in these anti-terror preparations but refused to say which countries participated in the exercise.
He confirmed that an anti-hijacking drill was performed on an A-300 Airbus aircraft near Karachi airport and the troops also held similar exercises at railway stations and bus terminals which could also be targeted by terrorists.
When asked to comment on these reports, Mohammed Sadiq, Pakistan's deputy chief of mission in Washington, said: "We will never participate in any activity that will lead to military action against Iran."
But a senior Pakistani official in Islamabad maintained that Pakistan had cooperated with the US in the nuclear investigation of Iran.
"Our cooperation, however, is confined to whatever the Iranians might have received from the Khan network," said the official. "We have no knowledge of what Iranians have been doing and where they have hidden their nuclear assets."
Iran has acknowledged receiving centrifuges for processing uranium from the Khan network, which was headed by the former chief of Pakistan's nuclear programme Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Khan -- now under house arrest in Pakistan -- also confessed to providing nuclear technology to Libya and North Korea.
The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has posed questions through Pakistani intelligence for Khan and how much assistance he provided to Iran. The IAEA is not allowed to directly interrogate Khan.
http://archives.moneyplans.net/frontend207-verify-7353.html
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