Pakistanis expect ties with U.S. to remain tense after Obama win

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Like the rest of the world, Pakistan watched keenly the electrifying finish to the U.S. presidential election that culminated in President Obama’s victory. But for most Pakistanis, the enthusiasm stops there.

Any change in Pakistan’s caustic relationship with the U.S. in the next four years is likely to be viewed through the prism of Afghanistan and Pakistan’s tribal region -- two war-ravaged places where Washington and Islamabad desperately want lasting stability but disagree sharply about how to achieve it.

Both Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney touted similar Afghanistan-Pakistan game plans that involve commitments to a U.S. troop pullout from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and a continued reliance on drone missile strikes to cripple Al Qaeda and other Islamic militant groups ensconced in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Pakistanis remain deeply skeptical of Washington’s withdrawal strategy in Afghanistan. They worry the U.S. will maintain a strong presence in Afghanistan long after 2014, principally as a perch from which to ensure extremist groups do not gain access to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons arsenal. And a continuation, at least for now, of the drone campaign — seen by most Pakistanis as a blatant encroachment of their country’s sovereignty — will perpetuate the intense animosity many Pakistanis have for Washington’s policies.

“The perception here is that U.S. policy is not going to undergo a major change, in terms of the Af-Pak region,” said Raza Rumi, an analyst with the Jinnah Institute, an Islamabad think tank. “U.S. troops will withdraw in 2014. ... But the security establishment—the military, intelligence agencies, defense analysts—feels the U.S. won’t disappear from the region. It will be watching Pakistan closely. More importantly, it will keep Pakistan’s nuclear assets under scrutiny.

“So the Pakistani state is slightly edgy as to what the U.S. wants once Afghanistan is over,” Rumi added. “How will the U.S. observe Pakistan, and what steps will it take?”

Alleged Pakistani militant leader offers to help storm-stricken U.S.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, a Pakistani hard-line cleric with a $10-million bounty placed on him by the U.S. because of his alleged links to militancy, says he wants to help Americans on the East Coast broadsided by Hurricane Sandy.

Saeed, who founded the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba in the 1980s and now heads up its social welfare wing, Jamaat ud-Dawa, issued a statement Tuesday saying his charity was prepared to provide doctors, rescue experts, food and medicine to victims of the storm, which has ravaged the East Coast and left millions without power.

“Regardless of what the U.S. government propagates about us, including their announcement of bounties, we look forward to acting on the traits of our prophet Muhammad ... and serving adversity-struck American people,” Saeed said in a statement posted on Jamaat ud-Dawa’s Facebook page.

Earlier this year, the U.S. announced a reward of $10 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed, widely viewed in the West and in India as the alleged mastermind behind the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people.

The U.S. and India have long regarded Jamaat ud-Dawa as a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba’s militant activities. In 2008, the U.S. and the United Nations declared Jamaat ud-Dawa as a terrorist organization, a label the Americans gave to Lashkar-e-Taiba, which it links to Al Qaeda, in 2001.

Saeed formed Lashkar-e-Taiba with the help of the Pakistan’s main spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, to fight Indian rule in a portion of the Himalayan region of Kashmir. The U.S. and other Western governments are concerned that the militant group has broadened its agenda to include Western targets.

Despite Washington’s announcement of a bounty on Saeed, Pakistani authorities have refused to take him into custody, contending they have no evidence to build a case against him.

Saeed has strongly denied maintaining links with any Pakistani militant group, saying Jamaat ud-Dawa focuses solely on humanitarian work and has no relationship with Lashkar-e-Taiba or any other extremist organization. His offer is likely to be viewed in Washington as a public relations stunt.

“We consider this a humanitarian issue,” Saeed said in the statement. “Wherever and whenever humanity is at stake and needs urgent help, Islam orders us to help them without discriminating between religion, caste or creed.”

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Photo: Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, leader of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, addresses demonstrators at a protest in Lahore on Sept. 30 against an anti-Islam movie made in California. Credit: Arif Ali / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images

Pakistani girl shot by Taliban 'will rise again,' father says

LONDON -- The father of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot in the head for standing up to the Taliban in defense of education for girls, called his daughter’s survival a miracle Friday and vowed that she would “rise again.”

Ziauddin Yousafzai, visiting his daughter for the first time since she was flown from Pakistan for treatment in a British hospital, also said that the global and domestic outrage over the attack on Malala represented a “turning point” for his troubled country.

“They wanted to kill her, but I would say that she fell temporarily. She will rise again, she will stand again,” Yousafzai told reporters. “When she fell, Pakistan stood.”

PHOTOS: Malala Yousafzai

Yousafzai and other members of Malala’s family arrived in Britain on Thursday for an emotional reunion with the wounded 15-year-old, who was shot by Taliban militants at point-blank range Oct. 9. Two other girls on the school bus with Malala were also injured, one critically.

Six days later, Malala arrived at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, in central England. Doctors say the teenager is making a slow but steady recovery.

“Last night when we met her there were tears in our eyes … out of happiness,” said Yousafzai, who lives in Pakistan’s scenic but embattled Swat Valley, where Taliban militants have sought to impose their harshly fundamentalist interpretation of Islam.

“She got the right treatment at the right place at the right time,” he said. “An attacker who could be called the agent of Satan, he attacked, but … I found angels on my side -- everywhere all around me -- in this time, in this place.”

Malala rose to prominence by speaking out against the Taliban’s opposition to education for girls and by keeping a blog of her experiences for the BBC’s Urdu Service. Her shooting sparked revulsion in Pakistan and around the world, and triggered large rallies in her support.

Her father said that he initially feared she might not survive the brazen attack.

“The next day when she was operated [on], her whole body was swollen, and she was in very bad condition …. I told my brother-in-law that you should make preparations for her funeral,” Yousafzai recalled, fighting back tears.

The bullet entered Malala’s head near the temple and burrowed down the side of her head and neck before lodging above her shoulder blade. The impact drove bone fragments from her skull into her brain, but doctors say they have not detected “any deficit in terms of function” so far.

PHOTOS: Malala Yousafzai

Malala has been able to stand up with help from hospital staffers, and she has communicated through writing. Doctors say that she will eventually undergo reconstructive surgery to her skull and possibly her jaw, but that she first needs some weeks of rest.

“I’m thankful to all the people all over the world, indifferent to caste, creed, religion, faith, country, age, sex -- everyone, everyone across the world,” her father said. “They condemned the attack in strong words, and they prayed for my daughter, who is not only my daughter; she is the daughter
of everybody, the sister of everybody.”

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Photo: Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban, lies in her hospital bed in central England with her father and brothers at her side. Credit: Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Wounded Pakistani girl Malala now able to stand but battling infection

LONDON -- Malala Yousafzai, the teenage education-rights campaigner who was shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan, has been able to stand for the first time since the attack and is communicating by writing, a British hospital official said Friday.

But the 14-year-old whose plight has aroused international concern is still fighting an infection caused by the bullet that entered her skull, burrowed through her jaw and lodged in her shoulder blade, said David Rosser, medical director at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, in central England. Malala was flown to the hospital this week to receive treatment.

Rosser said she continued to show signs of improvement since waking from a long anesthesia.

"One of the first things she asked the nurses was what country she was in," he told reporters, adding: "She's closer to the edge of the woods, but she's not out of the woods."

The teenager was shot in a school bus in Pakistan's Swat Valley, where she had risen to prominence by courageously advocating the right to education for girls despite the fanatical Taliban's sway over the region. The Taliban has vowed to finish her off, prompting tight security at the Birmingham hospital.

PHOTOS: Pakistani teen shot by Taliban

But far from quashing Malala's cause, the attack sparked huge rallies across Pakistan and the rest of the world on her behalf. Rosser said she was "keen to thank people" for their outpouring of support and wanted the world to be kept apprised of her condition.

He said that scans had shown some damage to her brain, which was grazed by the bullet. But encouragingly, "at this stage we're not seeing any deficit in terms of function. She seems to be able to understand; she has some memory. ... She's able to stand. She's got motor control, so she's able to write."

Malala appears to have some recall of the attack, but those around her are refraining from bringing up the topic, Rosser said.

"From a lot of the work we've done with our military casualties, we know that reminding people of traumatic events at this stage increases the potential for psychological problems later," he said.

A tube in her trachea makes it impossible for her to speak, but the hospital is trying to arrange for her to listen to her father on the phone. Her family remains in Pakistan; efforts are underway to bring them to Britain to be at her bedside.

Rosser said the girl would require a couple of weeks of recuperation before surgeons try to reconstruct the damaged part of her skull and possibly her jaw.

"It would be over-optimistic to say that there are not going to be further problems," Rosser said. "But it is possible she’ll make a full recovery."

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Photo: Women in the British city of Birmingham hold a vigil Thursday for wounded Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, who is receiving treatment at a hospital in the city. Credit: Gavin Fogg / AFP/Getty Images

Pakistani girl shot by Taliban arrives in Britain for treatment

LONDON -- A Pakistani teenager who was wounded by Taliban gunmen opposed to her support of education for girls arrived in Britain on Monday for medical care and rehabilitation.

Malala Yousafzai, 14, was transported by air ambulance provided by the United Arab Emirates from the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi to Birmingham in central England and taken to the Queen Elizabeth hospital. She will receive post-trauma treatment, skull reconstruction and neurological rehabilitation for damage caused by a bullet that penetrated her skull.

The newly built hospital where she will be treated is Britain’s main receiving unit for military casualties, specializing in the treatment of firearms and burns victims. A brief hospital statement announcing her arrival said she was “currently stable and being assessed by a team of multi-specialist doctors,” including “clinicians from neurosurgery, imaging, trauma and therapies.”

PHOTOS: Malala Yousafzai

Medical director David Rosser said Malala will be treated by a team whose long experience in battlefield wounds predates the opening of the hospital. “We’ve taken every British battle casualty for over 10 years now,” he told reporters.

Pakistani girl shot by Taliban being moved to Britain for treatment

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The 14-year-old Swat girl shot by Taliban gunmen because of her advocacy for girls' education is being flown to Britain for treatment likely to include surgery to repair damage to her skull and neurological rehabilitation, the Pakistani military said Monday.

Malala Yousafzai is being transported in an aircraft equipped with specialized medical equipment and supplied by the United Arab Emirates. Pakistani doctors in consultation with international medical experts concluded that “Malala will require prolonged care to fully recover from the physical and psychological effects of trauma that she has received,” according to a statement issued by the Pakistani military.

Malala’s family was consulted before the decision was made to transport her to Britain, the statement said.

PHOTOS: Malala Yousafzai

The bullet pierced her left temple, causing damage to her skull, and lodged near her spine, Pakistani military officials have said. Doctors told Pakistani media last week that she did not suffer any significant brain damage. They have described her condition as serious but improving. Last week, surgeons removed the bullet from her neck.

“It was the view that if Malala was going to be transferred overseas to a center which could provide the required integrated care, then it should be during this time window, while her condition was optimal and before any unforeseen complications had set in,” the statement said.

Must Reads: A missing body, Taliban rehab and a Syrian bride

From the disappeared body of a Mexican gang leader to a Pakistani attempt at Taliban rehab, here are five stories you shouldn't miss from this past week in global news:

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Photo: A Syrian rebel during fighting against Syrian government forces in Aleppo on Thursday. Credit: Zac Baillie / AFP/Getty Images

Arrests made in attack on Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — As pressure mounted on Pakistani police to track down militants behind last week’s assassination attempt of Malala Yousafzai, authorities confirmed Sunday the arrests of three brothers suspected of involvement in the attack on the 14-year-old Swat Valley girl.

Authorities have rounded up more than 100 people and detained them for questioning, though almost all were later released. Police took the three brothers into custody early Saturday after a raid on their house in Akbarpura, a small village outside of the northwest city of Peshawar.

The three men, Qari Inamullah, Obaid Ullah and Abdul Hadi, are originally from the Swat Valley, a picturesque tourist haven that was under control of Taliban insurgents until summer 2009, when the Pakistani army launched a large offensive to retake the territory. Authorities do not believe any of the three men were the gunmen who tried to kill Malala, but they would not discuss what role the men may have played.

“Investigations are in the very early stage,” said Iftikhar Hussain, information minister for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the province where Swat Valley is located.

Iran wages its own war against drugs

HIRMAND, Iran -- The featured speaker -- an 11-year-old girl -- waited hours for the helicopter to land near the watch tower and high concrete walls in this remote region not far from the Afghanistan border. Close by, a military band  played marching music on large drums and trumpets, sounding  a discordant note in an arid desert where drug smugglers make their fortunes ferrying drugs into Iran.

The spectacle was orchestrated by the Iran government on Wednesday to showcase the success of its anti-narcotics forces in thwarting drug-smuggling into the country. 

Flanked by her mother and other relatives under a burning sun, young Zahra stood before reporters to  praise "the role of my martyred dad and his comrades in fighting narcotic traffickers."

Her father, a border agent killed three years ago, was one of more than 3,700 agents who have died in ambushes or in clashes with outlaws over the last three decades along Iran’s border with Afghanistan and Pakistan. Just two nights before the event staged for the media, three more border agents were killed.

“Iran is fighting with the illicit drug traffickers on behalf of all humanity, ” said Gen. Ali Moaiyedi, chief commander of the anti-narcotic police.

Car bomb kills 16 at crowded market in northwest Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A powerful car bomb tore through a crowded market in northwest Pakistan Saturday, killing at least 16 people in an attack that local authorities said was meant for the offices of an anti-Taliban militia.

The blast occurred in Darra Adam Khel, a town on the edge of Pakistan’s volatile tribal region and known as a major hub for illegal arms trafficking. No one was inside the anti-Taliban militia office at the time of the attack. Instead, the dead and wounded were shoppers and merchants at a nearby bazaar, local officials said.

At least 33 people were injured in the attack. There were conflicting reports on whether the blast was detonated by a suicide bomber or by remote control. Authorities said they suspected that the Pakistani Taliban, the insurgent group behind the assassination attempt on 14-year-old education rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai last week, was behind Saturday’s attack in Darra Adam Khel. A local Taliban spokesman denied any responsibility for the car bomb blast.

In 2010, the Pakistani Taliban dispatched a suicide bomber to a mosque in Darra Adam Khel, killing 65 worshippers. At least 300 worshippers were inside the mosque at the time of the attack. The Taliban have maintained a presence in the small town since 2008.

Yousafzai remained in critical condition at a military hospital in Rawalpindi, though doctors say her condition has improved. After the attack, she underwent successful surgery to remove a bullet that had struck her temple and lodged in her neck. Officials say she is still on a ventilator, but there is no indication that the teenager suffered any brain damage.

On Tuesday, two Taliban gunmen on a motorcycle boarded the school van Yousafzai was traveling in and shot her and two of her schoolmates. One of the girls is in critical condition. The other was not seriously hurt.

In recent days, there have been conflicting accounts of whether key arrests have been made in connection with the attack, with some officials telling local media that three or four people have been formally arrested, and others saying dozens of people have been detained for questioning only. Authorities have said they have yet to track down the two gunmen who carried out the attack or the Taliban commanders who masterminded the attempt on Yousafzai’s life.

-- Zulfiqar Ali and Alex Rodriguez. Special correspondent Zulfiqar Ali reported from Peshawar, and staff writer Alex Rodriguez reported from Islamabad.