Shadow over Pakistan security grows
RAWALPINDI: The police guard who confessed to gunning down a Pakistani governor had been assigned to the president and prime minister 18 times over the last three years and to two foreign delegations, according to police reports that also cast suspicion on four other elite bodyguards who could take terrorist action anytime.
The documents, obtained by The Associated Press, highlight the danger of extremist infiltration into the security forces of the unstable, nuclear-armed country. The police force, which helps form the front line in the war against Taliban and al-Qaida militants, is seen as being especially at risk.
There is no psychological or personality test, or any other method to check on the background of personnel, a former police chief of Punjab province, Khwaja Khalid Farooq, told the AP. It is dangerous to give someone a gun and power without putting them through a good system of recruitment and training.
Concern about infiltration spiked last week with the assassination of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer by bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri. The 26-year-old said he killed the governor, an outspoken liberal, because of his criticism of laws that mandate the death penalty for insulting Islam.
I think its a problem that cannot now be ignored because there has been a manifestation of it in a very dangerous way, said Talat Masood, an analyst and former Pakistani general.
Moderates were also shocked to see tens of thousands of Qadri sympathisers marching through the streets.
Qadri was declared not suitable for any sensitive security duty in 2004, along with 10 other policemen who were found to be connected to different sectarian organisations, according to a police document seen by the AP.
That one-time review was prompted by a series of assassination attempts against then-President Pervez Musharraf, which officials suspected may have been abetted by security offici! als, sai d Farooq, the former police chief.
Despite the red flag, Qadri transferred to Pakistans elite police force in 2008 and was assigned to protect the president and prime minister multiple times, as well as the interior minister, main opposition leader, supreme court chief justice and two foreign delegations, according to another police report.
Qadri was assigned to protect Taseer 10 times before riddling him with gunfire outside a market in Islamabad on January 4. A police document dated six days later recommended the firing of four other commandos who were suspected of having extremist sympathies. It said the men, named by Qadri, have some extreme/religious trends and can possibly take terrorist action anytime in future.
Authorities also demanded that the head of the police unit protecting high-ranking officials thoroughly screen all his officers for potential radicals. But the units head, Khalid Masood, said he lacks the means to comply.
We do not know who is who and who has what background, Masood told the AP.
The challenges of implementing an effective vetting system throughout the police force are extremely high, said Akbar Nasir Khan, who recently served as the police chief in the central Pakistani city of Mianwali.
Critics say Pakistans police force is notoriously corrupt and lacking in resources, and hiring and firing often is determined by political influence. It is also hard to distinguish the extremists from other officers who are simply conservative Muslims. There is no test that can tell you how you can separate the two, said Khan. If you fire people unjustly, you will send them straight into the hands of the radicals, and they know the ins and outs of the security services.
The army does a better job of screening because it is much more professional and conducts regular psychological examinations of its officers, said Shuja Nawaz, a Pakistan expert at the US-based Atlantic Council.
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