The race for Tripoli

It’s beach towels on sunbeds at Ras Jedir, where the world’s media are waiting to see if the Tunisian border with Libya opens up in the same way that Egypt did last week. Once you have your spot, you hold on to it. Once an hour they fill up with TV reporters feeding the beast. And then they empty out again.

And all the while, more than 10,000 people are walking through the crossing every day – mostly young, Egyptian men who made the most of Gaddafi’s policy of welcoming Africans to work in his oil fields and building sites. Now though they are trying to get home. The numbers are immense and must mean the whole of Libya is shutting down. And what about the knock-on effects through Africa, where economies have benefited from remittances sent back by sons, husbands and fathers? Not to mention the countries that have benefited from Gaddafi’s oil money over the years.

Anyway, none of that is on our minds here. This is the starting point of the race for Tripoli. From here it’s about 170km to the Libyan capital. All we need is the border guards to go home…

Crisp Diplomacy

Me, I like a packet of crisps. Cheese and onion is my favourite, if you are asking, but generally I need no invitation to sample a new flavour. So I was easily led by Lay’s cricket world cup tie-in, featuring new flavours representing the teams taking part. On offer were

• English sour cream and onion – the thinking man’s cheese and onion, nice
• Pakistani chicken achari – I have a packet to try later
• South African salsa – really? salsa?
• Australian roasted onion and balsamic vinegar – rubbish, don’t bother unless you think that this might be better than pickled onion flavour, which as we all know is simply too sharp and needs the balance of some cheesy flavourings

I initially assumed that there would be flavours for all the teams taking part: West Indian curried goat, Indian madras, Irish er potato, Canadian poutine, Kenyan nyama choma… that sort of thing. But no, it seems that in Pakistan we just get those four. Shame.

In India – and the rest of the world, I guess – it seems, crisp fans get a choice of six flavours. South Africa there is represented by a much more reasonable peri peri chilli flavour. The only major test nations absent are New Zealand, and surprise, surprise Pakistan.

It seems that not only have the two countries been to war three times, not only do they remain locked in a nuclear arms race, but they simply will not tolerate each other’s crisps.

Valentine’s Day: Saints and Sinners

Found yesterday’s showering of affection on Mumtaz Qadri rather confusing to say the least…

The confessed killer of a liberal Pakistani governor pleaded guilty Monday to a murder he said was justified under Islam, while outside the court supporters bearing flowers and cards wished him a happy Valentine’s Day.

This sort of adulation for a self-confessed killer is not the confusing bit. There are plenty of people in Pakistan who seem to think that bumping off a politician is perfectly acceptable if it can be justified in terms of religion. No, the confusing this is that they would shower him with Valentine’s wishes…

Outside the court, dozens of Islamic activists carried banners saluting Qadri and demanded his immediate release. A small group of college students gave police flowers and a Valentine’s Day card they wanted delivered to the defendant. “Happy Valentine!” read one of the banners.

Now I’m no theological scholar, but my understanding is that Valentine’s Day is the feast day of St Valentine, a Christian saint, or possibly a number of Christian saints. So what would religious nutter Mumtaz Qadri want with Valentine’s wishes? The day is banned in several Muslim countries as “haraam”, or forbidden. Or is it some sort of clever plot to get Qadri accused of blasphemy and hence bumped off himself?

Or could it be that his supporters are retards?

TV, Tunneling and Tosh

I generally take a dim view of expats that try to recreate home life in their chosen country of work, teaching the staff to cook shepherd’s pie, asking the driver to wear a cap and blazer, QBP (the Queen’s birthday party) that sort of thing. But this weekend I gave in. I downloaded some sort of IT trickery that means I can “tunnel in” to a server in the UK, allowing me to watch British telly online.

Ostensibly, I signed up so that I could watch my various sporting teams lose in their chosen fields of expertise. But, as we all know, British TV is the finest in the world. So it was with some delight that I settled down to engage my brain in the sort of stimulating entertainment that conquered the world and made the BBC the envy of colonial broadcasters.

But quite what Lord Reith would have made of Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents is anyone’s guess. The only conclusion I could possibly draw is that most things in Britain look better from far away. Although I can now at least watch the rugby

Muddled PR on Raymond Davis

The strange case of Raymond Davis poses some desperately difficult questions for Pakistani and American officials who would all rather like the whole thing to disappear pretty fast. Who the hell is he? What was he doing in Lahore? Why did he have a gun? Did he have it legally? Who were the two men he shot dead? How many other Americans are “packing”, as I believe they call it? And, the sixty-four thousand dollar question (or whatever the families of the victim’s would settle for), does he have diplomatic immunity?

Any decent PR operation should stamp on these questions before the media has time to get hold of the wrong end of the stick. Even more so in Pakistan, where journalists cry conspiracy at the first sign of a difference of opinions and where the religious right has a large AK-47 to grind. So the shambolic American response has been something to behold.

First up, this one-line note from the US embassy…

Islamabad, January 28, 2011 – A staff member of the U.S. Consulate General in Lahore was involved in an incident yesterday that regrettably resulted in the loss of life. The U.S. Embassy is working with Pakistani authorities to determine the facts and work toward a resolution.

But wait a minute, what’s this…

Islamabad, January 29, 2011 – The United States Embassy in Pakistan calls for the immediate release of a U.S. diplomat unlawfully detained by authorities in Lahore.

The diplomat, assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, has a U.S. diplomatic passport and Pakistani visa valid until June 2012.

So he’s not a “staff member of the US Consulate General in Lahore” but a “diplomat, assigned to the US Embassy in Islamabad”. Presumably someone, somewhere realised that limited Consular Immunity would not be enough to get Davis off a double murder rap.

But that wasn’t all. Is Davis even his real name? PJ Crowley, State Department spokesman, categorically denied the name “Raymond Davis” was correct:

QUESTION: A new topic. What can you tell us about this Raymond Davis, the – who works at the U.S. Consulate in Lahore and who apparently shot and killed two would-be robbers? What’s his position there? Does he have diplomatic immunity?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, let me say three things. First, I can confirm that an employee at the U.S. Consulate in Lahore was involved in an incident today. It is under investigation. We have not released the identity of our employee at this point. And reports of a particular identity that are circulating through the media are incorrect.

QUESTION: What does that mean? You mean the name?

MR. CROWLEY: I mean the name’s wrong.

QUESTION: The name that – the name that Michele –

MR. CROWLEY: The name that’s out there is wrong.

QUESTION: The name that was just mentioned?

MR. CROWLEY: Including that one.

QUESTION: The one that I just used –

MR. CROWLEY: Yes.

QUESTION: — is wrong?

QUESTION: Is wrong?

MR. CROWLEY: Not correct.

Only, ask the Islamabad embassy whether the name is incorrect and they will say they cannot comment, and then say that PJ Crowley did not deny the name was correct, merely that he said the names in the media are incorrect.

Which makes the identity card apparently obtained from the police by various news organisations, stating that Raymond Allen Davis is a Department of Defense contractor, as well as the passport, visa and so on somewhat problematic. Maybe PJ Crowley just got it wrong. Or he got it right and Davis is not his real name.

Anyway, the point of this is not to suggest that Davis was some sort of spy. Rather, it is to point out that such a ballsed-up public response leads an active and energetic local media to draw that conclusion from a confusing and contradictory fog of information. And that is bloody dangerous in Pakistan.

Karachi Literary Festival Stuff

Sorry to have missed the Karachi Literary Festival at the weekend, particularly as there was gossip and backbiting of the highest order on display… along with the books.

British officials were aghast that while the Brit High Commissioner’s wife flew to Pakistan in economy, along with the rest of the Brit contingent, they had to watch as the wife of a junior Pakistani minister swanned into business class with three minders, security and suchlike. But then again, what’s the point of running a loss-making national airline, while mopping up billions in international aid, if you can’t sit up front?

Then there was Karen Armstrong, the nun who gets a rock star reception wherever she goes in Pakistan preaching her message of tolerance and compassion. Which is all well and good, unless you are one of the novelists attracting a rather less enthusiastic audience. I thought this was supposed to be a festival of Pakistani writing, was the general theme of comments, including one from a noted novelist who dismissed her bestsellers as the work of a “coffee table writer”. Ouch.

Anyone else?

Extremism on the streets in Lahore

An unpleasant series of banners and posters dots Lahore, celebrating Mumtaz Qadri, the killer of Salman Taseer, and calling for the death of Asia Bibi, the Christian woman convicted of blasphemy and now awaiting her appeal. Take the example above… “Ghazi Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, the whole nation is proud of you.”

Ghazi being the term used to describe someone who has fought for Islam.

I saw the banner yesterday, the same day that Jamaat ud Dawa had organised a rally to mark Kashmir day, attracting tens of thousands on to the streets. You can see their black and white flag in the background.

Anyway, this piece in The News on Sunday magazine goes some way to describing the authorities’ apparent reluctance to clean up graffiti or rip down posters

“It has become so easy to lynch someone in the name of religion,” says Zohra Yusuf, a social activist. “Imagine a person who decides to clean the walls and take off intimidating posters. Someone shouts he is a blasphemer and a senseless mob gathers up immediately to attack.”

At the same time though, it’s becoming slightly tiresome to hear how political leaders are implacably opposed to extremism, and would love to put an end to it, but can’t for fear of the consequences. David Miliband bought the same line during  a visit a couple of years ago, according to another recently released cable…

Miliband questioned after his meeting with Sharif if the Punjab authorities had allowed the police to give JuD leaders advance notifications of the police raids conducted in the wake of the Mumbai bombings. Hickey asserted, however, that Miliband had the sense that Sharif genuinely wanted to shut down the networks but was scared for his own safety and unsure of the political capital it would cost.

How long can this go on for? There has to be something seriously wrong. Lahore is such a fun, vibrant city… but with ugliness hanging on every street corner.

It is true that religious sentiments have stopped many people from even discussing the subject. But where is the government?

“It has become so easy to lynch someone in the name of religion,” says Zohra Yusuf, a social activist. “Imagine a person who decides to clean the walls and take off intimidating posters. Someone shouts he is a blasphemer and a senseless mob gathers up immediately to attack.”

On a Lighter Note…

Thinks have taken a turn for the worse in Cairo. Pretty miserable scenes last night. So let’s cheer ourselves up:

How to write about Egypt: …Whatever you choose, your first paragraph must mention at least one of four things: the Nile, the Pyramids, overcrowding or Egyptian fatalism…

Laugh in with Hosni: Egypt’s president cracks up world leaders with his timeless wit. (with thanks to @sbengali)

Three Decades of a Joke That Just Won’t Die: Egyptian humor goes where its politics cannot. “What is the perfect day for Mubarak? A day when nothing happens.”

Does Hosni Mubarak Age? Pictures of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak make it seem as if he never ages, as if he made some sort of deal with the devil

http://www.oliverwillis.com/livenews/2011/01/31/does-hosni-mubarak-age/

Books Stuff

The South Asia Reading Challenge continues apace, with a contribution this week from Agnija. My list is finalised (well ish) but came back from London at the weekend with a fresh handful of books on the region, as well as Alastair Campbell’s latest volume of diaries and Kristin Hirsh’s altogether rather different diary. Would particularly like to see reviews of Aatish Taseer’s book for anyone of thinking of signing up…

Pundits from Pakistan, On Tour with India 2003-4, by Rahul Bhattarcharya – as much about modern-day Pakistan as about cricket

Stranger to History: A Son’s Journey through Islamic Lands, by Aatish Taseer – rather suspect this has gone from self-indulgent ramblings of a privileged wannabe writer to something more interesting (There is probably a whole new genre in writing about assassinated fathers)

A Cricket Odyssey: England on Tour 1987-8 by Scyld Berry – Mike Gatting, Shakoor Rana and the angriest test series of all time

What Sort of Diplomat Carries a Loaded Gun?

It’s difficult to know which country is in more of a tizz, Pakistan or the US, following the arrest of an American “diplomat” for shooting dead two Pakistanis in Lahore last week. It is desperately embarrassing for both and could not come at a worse time – just as the US needs all the help in get from Islamabad if it wants to start bringing home its troops from Afghanistan this year. But now the diplomatic spat caused by Raymond Davis threatens to further undermine an already awkward alliance.

As usual in Pakistan, much of the detail is murky, shrouded in layers of intrigue and conspiracy theory. But here’s what we know… [read more]