The Capture of Al Qaeda Honcho Abu Farraj al-Libbi, and Musharraf's Dance of Death

While Pakistan has been a troublesome ally during this war, some of al Qaeda’s most senior leaders and operatives have been captured or killed in Pakistan, including the latest arrest of Al Qaeda’s military commander, Abu Farraj al-Libbi, in addition to earlier arrests of Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi Binalshibh, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani and Amjad Hussain Farooqi.

But Pakistan still has a long way to go in corralling domestic terror groups associated with al Qaeda, cleaning up the poisonous madrassa, bringing order to the lawless tribal regions bordering Afghanistan and allowing for open elections, but President Musharraf’s government has shown a willingness, at the risk of his life, to hunt al Qaeda members in his country. Al Qaeda has acknowledged the threat posed by Musharraf, as the recently arrested al-Libbi was the mastermind behind the attempts on Musharraf’s life.

The clear positive outcome of this is to keep the Muslims a divided house. For sure, we know that there are chaps in the Pakistani army and the ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) who are seething with rage at Musharraf's actions. A Jihadi coup attempt is on the cards in Pakistan, especially so, if Musharraf manages to arrest Zawahiri or Osama, as mush as President Bush would like him t do so. Then the fat would be in the fire with a vengeance.

It is a good strategy to set a thief to catch a thief, which President Bush seems to have done with the Pakistanis, and has come up with success, so far at least.

Story Credits: Waronjihad Team