bin Laden

By Kamal Hyder in Asia on November 30th, 2011
Pakistanis have staged anti-NATO protests across the country in recent days. [Photo: EPA]

The attack toook place in the dead of the night, and for more than two hours, American helicopters pounded a well-known and marked Pakistani post.

The Pakistani army frantically tried to convey to NATO, ISAF and the US high command in Afghanistan to stop the attack, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. By the time it was over, more than 24 soldiers lay dead, including officers, and over a dozen wounded.

The Pakistani post, known as Volcano, was where the two sides held their flag meetings.

By Asad Hashim in Americas on September 8th, 2011
Photo by Asad Hashim/Al Jazeera

Is it time to end the 'War on Terror'?

That was the motion under debate on Wednesday night in New York City, as the Intelligence Squared Debate series brought experts from inside and outside the government to try and convince the audience that it is either time to declare the open-ended war against "terrorism" over, or that doing so would cripple the US government’s ability to protect its citizens.

By Imran Khan in Asia on May 19th, 2011
Photo by AFP

It was a telling statement. On Wednesday, the US defence secretary Robert M Gates said there was no evidence that anyone In Pakistan's senior leadership knew that Osama bin Laden was hiding in the garrison city of Abbottabad.

He quickly followed it up, however, with his own theory: "Somebody did know".

That is now the question that is doing the rounds - from Washington to Islamabad via almost every foreign office in the world. In Pakistan, senior military commanders are said to be embarrassed by the whole situation. Speaking on deep background, one army official said simply that the Pakistani military leadership was in crisis mode.

That theory was seemingly confirmed by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Admiral Mike Mullen who on Wednesday said the Pakistani army was in soul-searching mode.

By Kamal Hyder in Asia on May 12th, 2011

Within years after Russian forces invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the US and Saudi Arabia sent in billions of dollars to help the mujahideen, or holy warriors, in their uphill struggle against Russian forces. As the battles for control of Afghanistan got under way, thousands of Arab and other foreign volunteers made a beeline for Pakistan to join the Afghan mujahideen and cross into Afghanistan to wage jihad against the brutal occupation of Afghanistan.

By Alan Fisher in Americas on May 9th, 2011
Photo by GALLO/GETTY

Before World War II, on the nice spring and summer days, the people of Washington would take their picnics and lunch on the lawn at the White House.

The fences that now surround the most powerful symbol in the world’s most powerful country appeared much later.

Today, throughout the city, the stars and stripes hang from buildings, and balconies and flagpoles. They are more than normal because this is a country still soaking in the news that Osama bin Laden is dead. Celebrating would be too strong a word. They did in the immediate aftermath but most people recognise that the operation in Abbottabad is not the end of things.

It dominates the newspapers and the Sunday talk shows. What it means for the so-called ‘War on Terror’, the campaign in Afghanistan, for the President and the country.

I first came to Washington DC, 20 years ago this very weekend.

By Camille Elhassani in Americas on May 8th, 2011
AFP picture

“This is the greatest intelligence success perhaps of a generation.” That’s how a Senior US Intelligence Official described the documents, handwritten notes, and videos found at the compound raided by Navy Seals last week and resulted in the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. 

The Central Intelligence Agency is taking the lead on going through the information.

By Imran Khan in Asia on May 7th, 2011
Photo by Reuters
For the last five days the world's media have laid siege to the house where Osama bin Laden was shot dead.

Today, Saturday, it is a very different story. All roads leading to the compound have been cordoned off, the Pakistani army has taken over security, and rumours are rife about the compound's future.

The first, and most prevalent one, is that the house is about to be torn down. The reasons are perhaps obvious: Osamaland is turning into a tourist attraction, with families visiting and news crews taking up every available space possible.

But, perhaps, there is another reason.
By Camille Elhassani in Americas on May 6th, 2011
AFP picture

Obviously the first week of May will go down in President Barack Obama’s memoirs as a huge success.  He hit his critics who say he’s not decisive enough with a major decision – to raid the compound where Osama bin Laden was living and kill the Al Qaeda leader. 

The t-shirts saying “Obama killed Osama” can now be bought on every other street corner in Washington DC.  The president’s approval ratings are up by double digits, although that certainly won’t last, as the economy trumps every other success in the minds of Americans.  And the unemployment rate inched up last month, even while the economy added jobs.

Obama has taken a five day long victory lap:  he addressed the nation and received his highest TV viewership, he laid a wreath at Ground Zero where the Twin Towers stood until September 11, 2001.  And he spoke to soldiers at Fort Campbell where the special operations team that conducted the raid in Abbottabad came from.  He told

By Teymoor Nabili in Americas on May 6th, 2011

Like mushrooms after rain, a number of alternative explanations have sprung up in the wake of the events in Pakistan this week. But almost as numerous as these conspiracy theories are the articles debunking them.

Serious commentators like Alexander Chancellor in The Guardian are heaving sighs and rolling their eyes and patiently explaining how very silly it is to be sceptical.

If there are people who believe that Bin Laden is still alive, no photograph will make them accept that he is not. They will assume it is a fake, just as the Americans who believe Obama was born outside the United States and is therefore ineligible to be president assume that his birth certificate is a fake. Nothing will persuade a conspiracy theorist to change his mind.

Tags: bin Laden
By Imran Khan in Asia on May 5th, 2011
Photo by AFP

Abbotabad is a very schizophrenic town. The centre houses the seat of military learning. Its military academy teaches officers everything from warfare to dining etiquette.

As a garrison town, everything is very neat and prim. The grass is cut just so, the military regalia polished and signs dot the landscape proclaiming "Pakistan is beautiful".

Then around the corner Pakistan explodes in a riot of colour and mayhem.

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