Pakistan Interior Minister Rehmaan Malik stated in Islamabad on September 19 that the country’s Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) would prosecute the 7 suspects involved in the Mumbai terrorist attack. Malik urged India to provide “concrete evidence” against Hafiz Saeed, the chief of the JuD and send a quick reply to the fifth dossier which was handed over to India’s High Commissioner1.

President Asif Ali Zardari, addressing a group of media persons in Islamabad on September 14 stated that the decision to ensure a safe exit for former President Gen. Musharraf was taken on the intervention of certain international powers that had “interests in South Asia2.” However, PM Gilani on September 17 denied that such a deal was brokered. He added that any arrangement to provide Musharraf a safe exit could be called a deal “the day either his actions are indemnified by parliament or if he were to be convicted some day and then pardoned by President Zardari. Otherwise, how can anyone claim a deal?”3

President Zardari, in an interview with a Chinese daily, stated that Pakistan and China had identified over 50 projects for cooperation and have already concluded agreements regarding over three dozen projects in the recent past. Zardari praised Chinese economic development and added that there was “a lot to learn from the Chinese model of economic development, particularly the one adopted in provinces of Zhejiang and Guangdong4.”

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani during an event at the US Senate on September 16 stated that US expenditure and investment in Afghanistan, both military and non-military, exceeded that being given to Pakistan by over 30 times. He added that the US should not bracket Pakistan along with Afghanistan and that the term ‘Af-Pak’ was “unwarranted and counter to the geo-political realities5.”

In other developments, at least 149 militants surrendered in Kanju and Matta in Swat on September 14. At least 33 people were killed and several injured in suicide bomb attack perpetrated by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi on September 18 in Kohat6.

• 1. Tahir Niaz, “Mmbai suspects to be charged on 26th: Malik,” Daily Times, September 20, 2009, at http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\09\20\story_20-9-2009_pg1_1
• 2. Syed Irfan Raza, “Musharraf’s ‘safe exit’ deal confirmed by Zardari,” Dawn, September 15, 2009, at http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspa...
• 3. Asim Yasin, “Musharraf alone cannot be tried under Article 6: PM,” The News, September 17, 2009, at http://www.thenews.com.pk/arc_default.asp
• 4. “36 Sino-Pak MoUs inked in one year: Zardari,” Daily Times, September 16, 2009, at http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\09\16\story_16-9-2009_pg1_1
• 5. “US spending more in Afghanistan than in Pakistan,” Daily Times, September 18, 2009, at http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\09\18\story_18-9-2009_pg1_3
• 6. Syed Yasir Shah, “33 killed, 60 hurt in Kohat suicide attack,” The News,
  September 19, 2009, at http://www.thenews.com.pk/arc_default.asp