Arrest ISI chief for terrorism, Baluch urge US leaders

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The U.S. senate made a goodwill gesture on the arrival of Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari, but activists from the renegade Baluchistan area, which the Baluch call an occupied territory, said unless the core issue of granting the right to self-determination to the Baluch people is addressed, nothing will change in the troubled Afpak region.

"Mr. Asif Ali Zardari can not even guarantee how long his administration will be tolerated by the omnipotent Pakistan army, what else can you expect of him," two leaders of the American Friends of Baluchistan said in a statement early Tuesday morning.

The A.F.B. presiding council members Rasheed Baloch and Nabi Baloch said the U.S. should not turn a blind eye to the genocide and state terrorism let loose in Baluchistan by Pakistan army, Frontier Corp, Inter Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence under both military dictatorships and civil administrations for the last six decades.

"The plight of the Baluch remain unchanged whether it is Mr. Zardari in civvies or Gen. Pervez Musharraf in uniform," the two leaders said. "As Mr. Zardari arrived in the U.S., the Baluch marked the 40-day mourning over the killing of three best sons of the soil, Baluchistan leaders Ghulam Mohammed Baloch, 45, Lala Munir Baloch, 50, and Sher Mohammed Baloch, 35."

The three were killed gestapo-style by Pakistan's infamous Inter Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence. "The actions of Pakistan army and its secret services not only in Baluchistan, but also in neighboring Afghanistan and India clearly shows the rogue and terrorist nature of the Pakistan state," the two leaders said.

The two leaders said billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayers monies were given to Pakistan in the name of the so-called war on terror and the result has been nil. "To the contrary, the Taliban and Al Qaeda are stronger than ever before. The Baluch are getting sticks, bodies and bombs, while the Taliban are getting carrots and whole territories being dished out to them to impose Draconian black laws like the Shariah, reminiscent of the dark ages."

The A.F.B. leaders called Mr. Zardari "a product of chance" and said had his spouse Benazir Bhutto been alive, he would have lived his life in the political wilderness. "When Bhutto was alive she had put a gag order on him," the two A.F.B. leaders recalled.

"The irony is that Bhutto had in her lifetime identified an ISI official Brigadier Ejaz Shah of being involved in plots to kill her, but Zardari did not have the courage to even order an inquiry against the retired brigadier. This shows the clout of Pakistan's I.S.I. and army," the two leaders said.

The two leaders called upon the U.S. administration to initiate direct talks with Baluch political parties and leaders from Baluchistan and urged them to help form a Baluch militia to ward off Taliban threats to Baluchistan and assist the process of Baluchistan gaining its right to self determination.

The two leaders said they believe both President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are not just professional politicians but also intellectuals with sterling qualities of statesmanship and that was the reason the Baluch have great regard, respect and admiration for them.

After years of trying to win the war against terrorism in Afghanistan, under the Obama administration the U.S. has realized they key lies in Pakistan and now calls the issue of bloodshed in Afghanistan, the "Afpak problem."

Mr. Zardari's entourage includes Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, chief of the infamous I.S.I.

The A.F.B. leaders called upon the U.S. authorities to detain General Pasha for questioning on a whole range of violent crime, including the 911 attacks, crimes against humanity in Baluchistan, Taliban terror in Afghanistan, the attacks on Mumbai in November last year and international nuclear proliferation.

"In the interim period, any aid package to Pakistan must be given on the geographic size of the so-called federating units -- though Baluchistan is primarily an occupied territory," the two leaders concluded.

The A.F.B.comprises Baluch and American  activists unified on a two-point agenda of right to self determination for the Baluch people in Pakistan and Iran and withdrawal  of Pakistani and Iranian troops and paramilitary forces from occupied Baluch territories.

Meanwhile, the Baloch International League, led by former Speaker Waheed Baloch, former government minister Tara Chand, Waja Razzaq Baloch and human rights activists Mir Maqbool Aliani will lead a demonstration of Baluch and Sindhi activists in front of the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington DC, on May 6 at 1 p.m.

Professor Jawaid Bhutto will represent the American Friends of Baluchistan.

The closest Metro is McPherson Square on the Blue and Orange lines.