Chris Woods on Report: "Drone War Exposed: The Complete Picture of CIA S...

The Threat of Civil Unrest in Pakistan and the Davis Case

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) issued a statement demanding that the government of Pakistan execute U.S. government contractor Raymond Davis or turn him over to the TTP for judgment. Davis, a contract security officer for the CIA, has been in Pakistani custody since a Jan. 27 incident in which he shot two men who reportedly pointed a pistol at him in an apparent robbery attempt.

Pakistani officials have corroborated Davis’ version of events and, according to their preliminary report, Davis appears to have acted in self-defense. From a tactical perspective, the incident appears to have been (in tactical security parlance) a “good shoot,” but the matter has been taken out of the tactical realm and has become mired in transnational politics and Pakistani public sentiment. Whether the shooting was justified or not, Davis has now become a pawn in a larger game being played out between the United States and Pakistan.

When one considers the way similar periods of tension between the Pakistanis and Americans have unfolded in the past, it is not unreasonable to conclude that as this current period plays out, it could have larger consequences for Davis and for American diplomatic facilities and commercial interests in Pakistan. Unless the Pakistani government is willing and able to defuse the situation, the case could indeed provoke violent protests against the United States, and U.S. citizens and businesses in Pakistan should be prepared for this backlash.

Details of the Case

One of the reasons that the Pakistanis have been able to retain Davis in custody is that while he may have been traveling on a “black” diplomatic U.S. passport, not everyone who holds a diplomatic passport is afforded full diplomatic immunity. The only people afforded full diplomatic immunity are those who are on a list of diplomats officially accredited as diplomatic agents by the receiving country. The rest of the foreign employees at an embassy or a consulate in the receiving country who are not on the diplomatic list and who are not accredited as diplomatic agents under the Vienna Convention are only protected by functional immunity. This means they are only protected from prosecution related to their official duties.

As a contract employee assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, Davis was likely not on the diplomatic list and probably did not enjoy full diplomatic immunity. He was probably considered a member of the administrative or technical staff. Protecting himself during a robbery attempt would not be considered part of his official function in the country, and therefore his actions that day would not be covered under functional immunity. So determining exactly what level of immunity Davis was provided will be critical in this case, and the information provided by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry will have a big impact on the Pakistani judge hearing the arguments.

In all likelihood, Davis was briefed regarding his legal status by his company and by the CIA prior to being assigned to post. He also would have been told that, while he had limited immunity, the U.S. government would do its best to take care of him if some incident occurred. However, it would have been made clear to him that in working as a protective contractor he was running a risk and that if there was an incident on or off duty, he could wind up in trouble. All security contractors working overseas know this and accept the risk as part of the job.

At the time of the shooting, of course, Davis would not have had time to leisurely ponder this potential legal quagmire. He saw a threat and reacted to it. Undoubtedly, the U.S. government will do all it can to help Davis out — especially since the case appears to be a good-shoot scenario and not a case of negligence or bad judgment. Indeed, on Feb. 15, U.S. Sen. John Kerry flew to Islamabad in a bid to seek Davis’ release. However, in spite of American efforts and international convention, Davis’ case is complicated greatly by the fact that he was working in Pakistan and by the current state of U.S.-Pakistani relations.

Tensions

Over the past few years, relations between the United States and Pakistan have been very strained. This tension has been evidenced not only by public opinion but also by concrete examples. For example, in mid-December, the CIA station chief in Islamabad was forced to leave the country after his name was disclosed in a class-action lawsuit brought by relatives of civilians killed by unmanned aerial vehicle strikes in the Pakistani tribal badlands.

It was no coincidence that the Pakistani lawsuit against the CIA station chief occurred shortly after the head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, was accused in a civil lawsuit of being involved in the 2008 attacks in Mumbai. The suit was brought in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn by family members of the American rabbi killed alongside his wife in Mumbai by Pakistan-based Islamist militants.

Like Iraq, Pakistan is a country that has seen considerable controversy over American security contractors over the past several years. The government of Pakistan has gone after security contractor companies like DynCorp and its Pakistani affiliate InterRisk and Xe (formerly known as Blackwater), which has become the Pakistani version of the bogeyman. In addition to the clandestine security and intelligence work the company was conducting in Pakistan, in 2009 the Taliban even began to blame Xe for suicide bombing attacks that killed civilians. The end result is that American security contractors have become extremely unpopular in Pakistan. They are viewed not only as an affront to Pakistani sovereignty but also as trigger-happy killers.

ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images

Activists from the Pakistani Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami during a protest rally in Karachi on Feb. 11

And this is the environment in which the Davis shooting occurred. Even though some Pakistani civilians apparently came forward and reported that they had been robbed at gunpoint by the men Davis shot, other Pakistani groups like the Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) — the successor to the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was presumably banned by the Pakistani government — have demanded that Davis be hanged. The Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), an Islamist political party, has also demanded that Davis be hanged and has called for large protests if he is released without a court order. As noted above, TTP spokesman Azam Tarik made a statement demanding that the Pakistani government either hang Davis or hand him over to them. Interest in this issue is not just confined to Islamist groups. There are some right-wing conservative nationalists and even some secular liberals who are asking: “If the United States can give CIA shooter Mir Amal Kansi the death penalty, why can’t Pakistan do the same thing to Davis?”

The result is that the Davis case has aroused much controversy and passion in Pakistan. This not only complicates the position of the Pakistani government but also raises the distinct possibility that there will be civil unrest if Davis is released.

Civil Unrest in Pakistan

Like many parts of the developing world, civil unrest in Pakistan can quickly turn to extreme violence. One example that must certainly be on the minds of the security personnel at the U.S. Embassy and the U.S. consulates in Pakistan is the November 1979 incident in which an enraged mob seized and destroyed the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. While there were only two Americans killed in that incident — a Marine security guard shot as he stood on the roof of the embassy and an Army warrant officer who died when an apartment building on the embassy compound was torched — the fire that the mob set inside the building very nearly killed all the employees who had sought shelter in the embassy’s inner safe-haven area. Two local Pakistani staff members were also killed in the fire.

The 1979 attack was said to have been sparked by reports that the U.S. government was behind an assault on the Grand Mosque in Mecca by Saudi militants the day before. In reality, the mob that stormed and torched the U.S. Embassy was at least tolerated, if not orchestrated, by the Pakistani government, which was angry that the United States cut off financial aid to the country in April 1979. Not only did the Pakistani government facilitate the busing of large numbers of protesters to the U.S. Embassy, its security forces also stood aside and refused to protect the embassy from the onslaught of the angry mob. The embassy assault was Pakistan’s not-so-subtle way of sending a message to the U.S. government.

But U.S. diplomatic facilities have not been the only targets of civil unrest in Pakistan. Following the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, angry mobs attacked not only security forces but also foreign businesses, banks, shops and gasoline stations in the cities of Karachi, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Quetta and throughout the province of Sindh, Bhutto’s home province.

Similarly, in February 2006 during the unrest generated by the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) cartoon fiasco, mobs in Islamabad, Peshawar, Karachi and Lahore attacked a wide range of Western business targets. The worst of this violence occurred in Lahore, where a rampaging mob burned down four buildings housing the four-star Ambassador Hotel, two banks, a KFC restaurant franchise and the regional office of Telenor, a Norwegian cell phone company. The protesters also damaged about 200 cars and several storefronts and threw stones through the windows of a McDonald’s restaurant, a Pizza Hut and a Holiday Inn. Lahore, incidentally, is where the Davis shooting occurred.

Forecast

Based on this history, the current tension between the United States and Pakistan, public sentiment in Pakistan regarding U.S. security contractors and the possibility of groups like JuD and JeI attempting to take advantage of the situation, there is a very real possibility that Davis’ release could spark mob violence in Pakistan (and specifically Lahore). Even if the Pakistani government does try to defuse the situation, there are other parties who will attempt to stir up violence.

Due to the widespread discontent over the issue of U.S. security contractors in Pakistan, if protests do follow the release of Davis, they can be expected to be similar to the protests that followed the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) cartoon case, i.e., they will cut across ethnic and sectarian lines and present a widespread threat.

Physical security measures such as concrete barriers, standoff distances and security cameras can add to a facility’s defenses against a terrorist attack, but they really do not pose much of an obstacle to an angry mob intent on overrunning a property — especially if local and indigenous security forces are unwilling or unable to intervene in a timely fashion and the mob has the time and latitude to assault the facility for a prolonged period. The protesters can scale barriers and their overwhelming numbers can render most security measures useless. Barriers such as hard-line doors can provide some delay, but they can be breached by assailants who possess tools and time.

Additionally, if protesters are able to set fire to the building, as happened at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad in 1979, a safe-haven can become a death trap, especially if the mob can take control of the secondary escape hatch as it did in that incident, trapping the Americans inside the safe-haven.

Commercial facilities are, by their very nature, far more accessible — and far more vulnerable — to mob violence than diplomatic facilities. A commercial facility can present a tempting soft target to those who wish to attack a symbol of America without tackling a hard target like a U.S. diplomatic facility, which is designed and built to comply with stringent security standards. If a mob storms a hotel, the local staff will be unable to protect the guests, and conceivably could leave the guests to fend for themselves in the confusion and chaos of a riot. Even worse, they could even facilitate attacks against Americans by pointing them out or providing their room numbers.

Any person identified as an American by such an angry mob could quickly find himself or herself in dire danger. While Americans working for the U.S. government can expect to have some security assistance in getting back to the embassy or to another secure location, non-officials may be left to fend for themselves, especially if they are not registered with the embassy. Non-officials are also not required to abide by the same security rules as officials. While many non-officials consider the U.S. State Department’s security rules to be onerous at times, during troubled periods these conservative security rules often serve to keep diplomats out of harm’s way.

Once a mob attacks, there often is little that can be done — especially if the host government either cannot or will not take action to protect the facility being attacked. At that point, the focus should be on preventing injuries and saving lives — without regard to the physical property. In most cases, when a mob attacks a multinational corporation, it is attacking a symbolic target. KFC restaurants, for example, have been frequent targets of attacks in Pakistan because of the company’s association with the United States. In many cases, multinational franchises such as KFC and even some hotels are owned by locals and not Americans, but that does not matter to the mobs, which see nothing but a U.S. symbol.

When an issue such as the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) cartoons, the Bhutto assassination or the release of Raymond Davis spirals into violent protests, the only real precaution that many companies can take is to escape the area and avoid loss of life. The best defense is to use good intelligence in order to learn about the protests in advance, to track them when they occur and then to evacuate personnel before they can be affected by the violence.

U.S. diplomatic facilities and business interests in Pakistan are almost certainly reviewing their contingency plans right now and planning for the worst-case scenario. During such times, vigilance and preparation are vital, as is a constant flow of updated intelligence pertaining to potential demonstrations. Such intelligence can provide time for an evacuation or allow other proactive security measures to be taken. With the current tension between Pakistan and the United States, there might not be much help coming when the next wave of unrest erupts, so keeping ahead of potential protests is critically important.

The Threat of Civil Unrest in Pakistan and the Davis Case is republished with permission of STRATFOR.

Pakistan Security Update - 26 July, 2010

• Large scale leak of US military and diplomatic documents reveals ISI links to Taliban
• Admiral Mullen speaks with Pakistani military leaders in Rawalpindi
• First group of IDPs to begin resettling South Waziristan
• Drone strikes in North and South Waziristan kill at least 35 militants
• Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Hussain’s son gunned down by Taliban, home targeted by suicide bombing
• Violence continues to grip Karachi.

 

US-Pakistan Relations

On Sunday, it was revealed that more than 90,000 military and diplomatic documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan between 2004 and 2009 had been leaked to three major new organizations by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.org, making it the single largest leak of its kind in US history. Foremost among the various issues detailed in the documents is the allegation that Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) has been playing a “double game” in Afghanistan by secretly continuing to aid the Taliban insurgency. 

The reports indicate that ISI representatives directly met with the Taliban to hold secret “strategy sessions” to organize various militant groups which have actively attacked US and NATO forces. In addition, some of the documents even go so far as to suggest that ISI has collaborated with al-Qaeda in planning attacks. Pakistan has denied the accusations while both US and Pakistani officials have condemned the unauthorized release of information as “irresponsible.”[1]

• Admiral Mike Mullen spoke with several of Pakistan’s top military leaders in Rawalpindi on Saturday, asking them to consider American security interests while pursuing a peace deal between 
  
  Kabul and the Haqqani network. Although Mullen expressed his view that “it is far too early to think that reconciliation is around the corner” he did acknowledge that reconciliation with the Haqqanis could be a future possibility. Mullen also warned the international community of Lashkar-e-Taiba’s potential to emerge as a “terror organization with global aspirations.” Mullen’s statements came from reports that Lashkar-e-Taiba had grown since the 2008 Mumbai attacks and was now collaborating with other terror groups, but did not make any statements regarding Pakistan’s involvement with the organization.[2]
• 
  A newly released Pentagon report claims that Pakistan does not receive enough credit for the sacrifices made by the military and civilian government in the war against terror. The report states that since the beginning of last year’s operation in Swat the military has been engaged in 16 months of continuous combat in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and FATA and has more than 140,000 troops currently deployed to the region, making it the “longest military campaign in Pakistani history.” However, the report also took note of Pakistan’s challenges in providing basic services to civilians living in the affected areas and its efforts to improve the training for security forces, which has improved but is still hampered by a lack of resources.[3]
• 
  Pakistan has officially acknowledged that Faisal Shahzad met with TTP commander Hakimullah Mehsud prior to carrying out the failed attack in New York’s Times Square. The statement comes several days after video footage emerged showing Mehsud shaking hands and hugging Shahzad after making a declaration to wage an attack against the US.[4]

 

FATA

• Pakistani authorities have indicated that they plan to begin repatriating the first group of 30,000 to 40,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their villages in South Waziristan by the second week of August. Syed Shahab Ali Shah, South Waziristan’s political agent, stated that 44,000 IDPs have been registered so far and have been issued cards which will ensure that they receive monetary compensation, food rations, and other essential goods. The government is also drawing upon Mehsud tribesmen to a raise a Levies force which will supplement local village defense committees in providing security throughout the region.[5]

• 
  Several missiles fired from a US drone struck a Taliban compound in the village of Dwasarak in South Waziristan on Saturday, killing at least 16 militants. On Sunday, a total of at least nineteen more militants were reported killed between three separate drone strikes in the Shaktoi and Sararogha areas of South Waziristan and the Tabbi Tolkhel area of North Waziristan.[6]
• 
  At least 24 militants were killed during bombings which targeted Taliban hideouts in various locations throughout Upper Orakzai on Sunday as ground forces were reported to have moved in to secure militant strongholds in Daburai. Separately, airstrikes in the Neka Ziarat and Gawaza areas of Kurram Agency left at least 10 militants dead and destroyed three suspected hideouts.[7]
• 
  On Sunday, suspected militants in Bajaur Agency blew up a Bajaur Levies outpost in the Meena area of Mamund sub-district. Separately, a local commander of the Tehrike-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) surrendered to security forces along with seven of his associates during a Badaan tribal jirga in Mamund sub-district.[8]
• The beheaded body of a tribesman accused of spying on militants was discovered in a graveyard in Darra Adam Khel on Sunday. Local sources say that the victim had been kidnapped from the Zarghunkhel area on July 5.[9]

 Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

• 
  Mian Rashid Husssain, the only son of Khyber-Pakhtukhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain, was shot to death while walking home with a friend in the town of Pabbi in Nowshera district on Saturday, an attack for which the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) later claimed responsibility. On Monday, at least seven people were killed and more than 20 others wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside Mian Iftikhar Hussain’s home in Pabbi while senior officials were visiting the house to mourn his son’s death. A Taliban spokesman, Ahsanullah Ahsan, contacted reporters by phone to claim responsibility for the bombing, saying that attacks against the Awami National Party were “just beginning.”[10]

 Af-Pak Relations

• On Sunday, US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke called the recent dialogue between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani a “good thing, not a bad thing.” Holbrooke also acknowledged that although holding direct talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan is a “tough, difficult policy” it is “only one that meets our regional and international/national security interests.”[11]

 

Punjab

• 
  Pakistan is scheduled to test-fire an experimental missile at the test range in northern Punjab tomorrow. The new Ghauri ballistic missile is a liquid fueled rocket capable of deploying nuclear and conventional warheads at distances of up to 1050 kilometers away. The test will be attended by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, who is also chairman of the National Command and Control Authority, as well as by several top military officials.[12]
• Six policemen were injured when bombs placed under two security vehicles outside the Lytton road police station detonated on Friday evening. Separately, a constable was killed when unknown gunmen riding motorcycles later opened fire on the Gulshan Ravi police station.[13]

Chief of Army Staff

• 
  On Saturday, the chief spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Ahsan Iqbal, told reporters that his party was not consulted on the decision to grant a three-year extension to Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. Iqbal refused to comment on the value of the decision, saying that party chief Nawaz Sharif would discuss the matter upon his return to the country. On Sunday, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani criticized the PML-N for trying to politicize the issue, saying that the decision to extend Kayani’s term was an administrative decision and therefore did not require the government to consult political parties.[14]

Karachi

• 
  Violence continues to sweep across Karachi with at least 10 people killed in various shooting incidents across the city in addition to reports of a minibus and medical store being set ablaze. Three people were killed and dozens others wounded on Saturday in violence which followed the killing of a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist at the party’s office in Gulistan-i-Jauhar on Friday evening.[15]

 

India-Pakistan Relations

• 
  Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony stated that US military assistance to Pakistan is “disproportionate to the war on terror” and expressed the concern that “there is every possibility of diverting this sophisticated equipment against India.” Antony discussed these matters during US National Security Advisor James Jones and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen’s visit to New Dehli Last Week.[16]

Sources:

---

[1] Greg Jaffe and Karen DeYoung, “Files leaked to Wikileaks suggest Pakistan is aiding Afghan rebels,” Washington Post, July 26, 2010. Available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/26/AR2010072601570.html?wprss=rss_world/asia&sid=ST2010072502561. Mark Mazzetti, Jane Perlez, Eric Schmitt, and Andrew W. Lehren, “Pakistan Aids Insurgency in Afghanistan, Reports Assert,” New York Times, July 25, 2010. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/asia/26isi.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss. “Pakistan denies Wikileaks reports it ‘aided Taliban’,” BBC, July 26, 2010. Available athttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10758188.

[2] “Call to rein in LeT,” Dawn, July 25, 2010. Available at http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/call-to-rein-in-let-570.

[3] Anwar Iqbal, “Sacrifices made by Pakistan not fully realised: Pentagon,” Dawn, July 26, 2010. Available athttp://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/16-sacrifices-made-by-pakistan-not-fully-realised-pentagon-670-hs-06.

[4] “Pakistan acknowledges Faisal Shahzad met Taliban chief,” Dawn, July 26, 2010. Available athttp://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/03-pakistan-acknowledges-faisal-shahzad-met-taliban-chief-ss-07.

[5] Rahimullah Yusufzai, “Displaced Mahsuds set to return to homes in S Waziristan,” The News, July 26, 2010. Available at http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=30307.

[6] “Pakistan drone attack ‘kills 16 militants’,” BBC, July 24, 2010. Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10748616. Reza Sayah, “Drone strike in Pakistan kills 16,” CNN, July 24, 2010. Available athttp://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/07/23/pakistan.drone.attack/index.html?eref=edition_asia&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fedition_asia+%28RSS%3A+Asia%29#fbid=dm8LfFElkvn. “Weekend of Pakistan drone attacks leaves 35 dead,” BBC, July 26, 2010. Available athttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10758876.

[7] “Thirty-four militants killed in Orakzai, Kurram,” Dawn, July 26, 2010. Available athttp://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/03-twenty-one-militants-killed-in-kurram-orakzai-ss-07. “24 militants killed in Orakzai,” The News, July 26, 2010. Available athttp://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=30298.

[8] “Levies outpost blown up,” The News, July 26, 2010. Available at http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=252947. “8 militants surrender F.P. Report,” Frontier Post, July 25, 2010. Available athttp://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ts&nid=5166&ad=25-07-2010.

[9] “Tribesman killed on spying charges,” The News, July 26, 2010. Available athttp://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=30309.

[10] Waseem Ahmad Shah, “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa minister’s son shot dead,” Dawn, July 25, 2010. Available athttp://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/06-unidentified-gunmen-kill-kp-info-ministers-son-rs-01. Waseem Ahmad Shah, “Taliban claim responsibility for killing minister’s son,” Dawn, July 26, 2010. Available at http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/taliban-claim-responsibility-for-killing-ministers-son-670. Ishtiaq Mehsud, “Suicide Bomber Kills 7 in Pakistan,” New York Times, July 26, 2010. Available athttp://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/07/26/world/asia/AP-AS-Pakistan.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss. “Suicide attack near KP Minister Mian Iftikhar's house,” Dawn, July 26, 2010. Available athttp://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/03-explosion-outside-kp-minister-mian-iftikhars-house-ss-08.

[11] “Holbrooke: Karzai-Pakistani dialogue ‘a good thing’,” AFP, July 25, 2010. Available athttp://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100725/pl_afp/afghanistanunrestpakistanusdiplomacy. “US supports Pak-Afghan direct talks: envoy,” The News, July 26, 2010. Available at http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=109154.

[12] Hanif Khalid, “Pakistan to test fire nuclear missile tomorrow,” The News, July 26, 2010. Available athttp://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=252944.

[13] “Constable killed in Lahore attacks,” Dawn, July 24, 2010. Available athttp://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/19-constable-killed-in-lahore-attacks-470-hh-04.

[14] Amir Wasim, “'PML-N not consulted on Kayani extension',” Dawn, July 24, 2010. Available athttp://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/06-pml-n-condemns-legislatures-with-fake-degrees-ahsan-rs-04. Zulqernain Tahir, “Gilani says he tried to contact Nawaz before extension,” Dawn, July 26, 2010. Available at http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/gilani-says-he-tried-to-contact-nawaz-before-extension-speech-670.

[15] Azfar-ul-Ashfaque, “Ten more killed as violence persists in Karachi,” Dawn, July 26, 2010. Available athttp://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/16-minibus%2C-medical-store-set-on-fire-10-more-killed-as-violence-persists-670-hs-02. “Karachi descends into new round of violence,” Dawn, July 25, 2010. Available at http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/metropolitan/04-karachi-tense-four-killed-qs-10. “Activist dies in attack on MQM office in Karachi,” Dawn, July 24, 2010. Available at http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/19-activist-dies-in-attack-on-mqm-office-470-hh-01.

[16] “India reiterates warning over US arms supply to Pakistan,” Dawn, July 26, 2010. Available athttp://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/03-india-reiterates-warning-over-us-arms-supply-to-pakistan-ss-04?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dawn%2Fnews%2Fworld+%28DAWN.COM+-+World+News%29.