Al-Qaeda Leaders Try to Unite Pakistani Taliban
09 December 2010
Shura Al-Mujahideen Tries to Unite TTP, Central Asia Online, 2 December 2010
EXCERPT: "A council of five Arab al-Qaeda leaders, the Shura Al-Mujahideen, has been working to try to unite the factions of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and resolve disputes between them, TTP sources told Central Asia Online. The differences between the TTP factions include personality conflicts between leaders and disagreements over tactics and ideology. The...
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Imam Offers Reward to Kill Woman if Courts Won't Execute
09 December 2010
Cleric Puts Price on Head of Pakistani Woman, The Guardian, 6 December 2010
EXCERPT: "Fears are growing for the safety of Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman condemned to death under Pakistani blasphemy laws, after a religious preacher and a major newspaper issued a call for ordinary Muslims to behead her if the courts do not carry out the hanging. A Punjabi court found the mother of five guilty of insulting the prophet Muhammad last month,...
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IDPs from South Waziristan Begin Hesitant Return
09 December 2010
Pakistan: IDPs from South Waziristan begin hesitant return, IRIN, 9 December 2010
EXCERPT: "Brigadier Shahzad Raza, the army official in charge of the repatriation operation, told the media in Dera Ismail Khan that families from six villages had been selected to return, as their areas had been secured by the military. He said it was disappointing that so few had decided to return. The military had declared victory over militants in South...
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Talibanization in Swat Result of Political Neglect
09 December 2010
Time To Rethink Swat, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 9 December 2010
EXCERPT: "The cradle of the Gandhara civilization, Pakistan's Swat Valley, is a place of idyllic vistas with a rich history of scholarship and multiculturalism. It is also, unfortunately, a place recently ravaged by forces both natural and human. Pakistani military operations against the Taliban in May 2009 displaced an estimated 1.8 million people in Swat. Adding to...
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