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Twin attacks prod Pakistani leader to battle militants

Two attempts on the life of Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf, allegedly by Islamic militant groups, may have galvanized the military leader's resolve to fight extremism.

Analysts say the bomb attacks last month have forced Musharraf to rethink the long-standing -- but long-denied -- ties between Pakistan's military and religious militants.

"The attempts on Musharraf's life have brought a total rupture in the relationship" between Pakistan's military and the militants, said Talat Masood, a retired general and political and military analyst.

"As far as policy is concerned, there's a realization that militancy is harmful to the country's interests."

Musharraf's support for the US-led war on terror and his peace efforts with rival India have put him in the militants' sights.

Pakistani authorities suspect that a leading militant group fighting in Indian-held Kashmir, Jaish-e-Mohammed, was behind the second and most destructive of the two attacks against Musharraf on Dec. 25, killing 16 people. The first on Dec. 14 was also blamed on homegrown militants -- possibly acting with help from al-Qaeda.

The bombings heightening fears of a nexus between Pakistan-based extremists and the al-Qaeda network. A recorded message in September purportedly from Osama bin Laden's chief lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahri urged Pakistani Muslims to "uproot" Musharraf.

Some question Musharraf's willingness to take on religious radicals, who represent a powerful political and social force in Pakistan.

But Abdullah Muntazar, a Pakistani expert on militancy and former spokesman for the hardline Lashkar-e-Tayaba, said the attacks on Musharraf could be a sign that his policy to end Pakistan's support of the Taliban and peace moves with India have angered militants and "backfired" against him.

"We are fighting the al-Qaeda and Taliban on the western borders [with Afghanistan], and we want to negotiate a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute with the Indians on the eastern one," Musharraf said Thursday. "At the same time we are fighting sectarian and religious extremism within our country.

"So I'm treading on a lot of toes, and that has led to these extremist attacks on me," he told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Last week, in his first-ever address to Parliament since he took power in a bloodless coup four years ago, Musharraf called for a "jihad" or holy war on extremism -- a sign of the remarkable transformation in his career.

In 1999, months before he seized power, army chief Musharraf led the first Pakistani offensive into Indian-held Kashmir in nearly three decades -- reportedly supported by hundreds of militants. The clash almost sparked all-out war between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

The ties between Pakistan's military and various Islamic militant forces -- established when Islamic warriors fought against Soviet occupation in Afghanistan in the 1980s -- have gradually changed since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in America, analysts said.

Musharraf was quick to ditch the Taliban regime that Pakistan had helped into power in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s. In recent months, he has stepped up efforts to track terrorist fugitives along the rugged frontier with Afghanistan -- amid criticism that Taliban rebels are launching cross-border attacks from Pakistan's tribal regions.

In Kashmir, Musharraf was slower to act but has bowed to international pressure to prevent militants infiltrating from Pakistan into Indian-held territory across the mountainous Line of Control that divides the bloodied Himalayan region.

Pakistan has always denied giving military aid to the rebels, but has said it supports their struggle against Indian rule with diplomatic and political support.

India charges a much deeper involvement, but even its politicians acknowledge infiltration is down, helping improve ties. The two nations agreed earlier this month to start comprehensive peace talks, including discussions on the future of Kashmir.
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