Ariel 'Foreign Bureau'

By Haroon Rashid, Correspondent, North-West Frontier Province and Tribal areas, Pakistan, 5 April 2005

Ring...ring..tring... It’s early in the morning and my telephones are restless again.

I went to bed quite late last night after trying to find out whether the Pakistan army actually did encircle a ‘high-value’ al-Qaeda target in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

The claims, in an interview by president Pervez Musharraf, eventually turned out to be wrong.

The telephones are ringing for the latest on a fresh, early morning military offensive that has been launched to nab al-Qaeda militants in the south Waziristan tribal region.

This is what I have been living with for the last two years in Peshawar, a city an hour’s drive from the Afghan border. Mind you, this is nothing new for this dusty little town. The place has been hot for the last 25 years – due to its proximity to Afghanistan.

For some, Peshawar is an ideal place for a journalist. Something is always happening somewhere in this region.

If it’s not an incident across the border in Afghanistan, then a major military push for flushing out suspected al-Qaeda militants in Pakistan’s rugged tribal region will keep local journalists glued to their computers and phones.

Enchanting character

Continuing military operations against al-Qaeda in the adjacent tribal areas bring the ‘war against terrorism’ closer to home for local journalists. But restrictions and discouragement to report from the field unwillingly confine them to their offices.

Apart from that, Peshawar provides numerous stories – from the plight of Afghan refugees to President Musharraf’s wish to reform Islamic seminaries.

The enchanting character of the city attracts plenty of foreign reporters. Major western news organisations continue to send their teams and correspondents on different assignments.

During the US attack on Afghanistan, the city’s few ‘decent’ hotels ran out of space to accommodate all of them.

After the fall of the Taleban regime in Kabul and Afghanistan’s gradual return to relative normalcy, many thought Peshawar would lose its decades’ old importance.

Pride of place

But the capital of North-West Frontier Province proved many wrong. It still is a major centre for international news.

Looking at the future, the Taleban are out but not completely wiped out, while the seemingly endless search for Osama, his elusive men and al-Qaeda militants means the city might continue to enjoy the place in international news schedules that it has for so long.

News aside, life in Peshawar is dull.

Under the gaze of provincial government, comprising religious parties, the city has not seen any music concert for the last two years, cinemas are not a place for a decent outing and parks are almost non-existent.

The only excursion for people is to eat out with families or friends and watch television or films at home. The two businesses that are netting profits here are the city’s mushrooming restaurants and its private hospitals. So, the city has charms professionally but not socially.

Ring…ring…tring. Sorry, I will have to cut short writing this piece because the phones are going again, this time to confirm rumours that Abdullah Mehsud, a suspected al-Qaeda militant wanted for kidnapping two Chinese engineers, has died.

As usual no official confirmation is available, making our job more difficult. But I guess this is what we are paid for. Frankly, I have no complaints.

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