[at-l] OT: Military / Political / Social Developments

[dfaddleton@mindspring.com (dfaddleton@mindspring.com)]

Sadly, the first cracks in a potentially catastrophic collapse of Pakistan have begun to appear:Tuesday September 18, 9:07 PM

Pakistan unrest fears mount as protests gather momentum
 
KARACHI, Sept 18 (AFP) - 
Fears of massive unrest in Pakistan grew Tuesday as radical Islamist students mounted the largest demonstration yet against possible US military action against Afghanistan.

In Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, more than 5,000 radical Islamist students staged a highly charged rally and had to be prevented from marching on the US consulate by hundreds of police and paramilitary troops.

Armed with sticks, the students came out from Binroi Town mosque, Pakistan's largest Islamic seminary, carrying placards declaring "Down with US," "America's graveyard, Afghanistan, Pakistan" and "We are Osama, we are Taliban."

A group of the protestors set alight an effigy of US President George W. Bush.

Bush is believed to be preparing military action against Taliban-run Afghanistan for harbouring Osama bin Laden, the alleged terrorist mastermind of last week's terror attacks on New York and Washington.

"Today, we have been able to control our students, but in case of any attack on Afghanistan, they could get out of control," said Karim Abid, a leader of the radical Islamic party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.

Police officer Mohammad Amin said: "We have increased the police at the (US) consulate as a preventive measure." 

The protestors could only get to four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the US mission, and no violent incidents were reported.

But Tuesday's demonstration was by far the largest show of anti-US sentiment so far, and the largest protest since General Pervez Musharraf seized power in October 1999 and barred large public gatherings.

A coalition of more than 30 radical Islamist parties on Monday called for a wave of nationwide protests and strikes starting after prayers on Friday, the Muslim holy day.

Many analysts believe that the army will have to be used if the street protests get much bigger.

A military spokesman told AFP that troops were on a state of alert but stressed there had been no order to move them out of their barracks.

In separate developments: 

Islamabad Airport was closed briefly; American special forces arrived, apparently, during the closure.

BBC reports observes have counted 20 planes flying between Oman and Gwadar . . . you'll need to check your maps but basically, Oman is small American ally on the Arabian Penninsula facing the Persian Gulf; Gwadar is a port village in Balochistan provence in Pakistan, facing the Arabian Sea . . . this will be the main american access to Afganistan: through the desert to Khandahar, since it will keep the visibility of Americans very low in Pakistan and require substantial efforts for any locals to cross the dessert an attack American military personnel: We can keep, as shown in the Gulf, large numbers of military prersonnel safe in a desert environment, since we have the air equipment to maintain supply lines which the Taliban does not posses.