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Pakistan's leading English language newspaper, the Daily Times, reported in its Web edition Nov. 4 that Pakistani intelligence agencies reported to the Ministry of Interior that two jihadist groups are planning yet another assassination attempt against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
Although Islamist militants have targeted Musharraf on at least three prior occasions, the details of this report do not add up and raise doubts about the reality of the threat. That the main story refers back to reports involving the country's intelligence network and its civilian security apparatus indicates that the regime had an interest in divulging information about the alleged plot. The report's appearance in an internationally respected English-language news outlet indicates that Islamabad's intended audience quite possibly was Washington.
The Musharraf regime understands that in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks the United States places a huge premium on the stability of Pakistan's military-led government. Like many other states watching the Bush administration's growing domestic woes, Pakistan likely is trying its hand at taking advantage of the desperation in Washington over President George W. Bush's declining public approval ratings. Though countries such as Iran and North Korea will make high-risk maneuvers, Pakistan will settle for scare tactics to get what it wants from Washington.
It also is not impossible that the intelligence reports have some merit. This could be a case of al Qaeda pinging the system -- deliberately feeding information to intelligence channels to see the regime's response -- as part of its plans to move against Musharraf in the future. That said, there are enough anomalies in the report to render it highly suspicious.
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