Pakistan: Rein In Terrorists

The civilian government that took office in Pakistan last weekend is supposed to replace the military rule that began with President Pervez Musharraf’s coup three years ago. But looking over the shoulder of the new prime minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, will be Musharraf, who rewrote the constitution this year so he can dismiss the national assembly, should it displease him. Musharraf also made it difficult for secular opposition parties to field candidates in October elections, at least temporarily diluting opposition to him but also clearing the way for the religious parties to increase their political power.

True democracy is far in the distance. But more worrisome right now is a revolving door for jailed terrorists. The nation that made it possible for the Taliban to take power in next-door Afghanistan and is still home to Muslim terrorists, including some from Al Qaeda, should not be giving away get-out-of-jail-free cards.

Times staff writer Paul Watson has reported that security forces detained more than 3,000 Pakistanis in sweeps of local extremist groups but that at least 1,300 have been released, often after merely signing promises of good behavior. Among those freed were leaders of groups that Musharraf has banned -- one accused of killing minority Shiite Muslims and another believed responsible for launching terrorist attacks against neighboring India.

Musharraf deserves credit for quickly cutting Pakistan’s ties to the Taliban after Sept. 11. But he has not done enough to stop guerrillas from crossing into Indian-controlled Kashmir, India’s only majority-Muslim state and a bitterly contested region between the two nuclear powers.

Pakistani supporters of the Taliban and Al Qaeda are angry at Musharraf for casting his lot with the United States. Terrorists have staged several assaults on foreigners in Pakistan this year, including a grenade attack on a Christian church in March that killed a U.S. embassy employee and her daughter, a May suicide bombing in Karachi that killed 11 French engineers and the kidnapping-murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, also in Karachi.

Musharraf and the new prime minister have to act forcefully against those inciting and carrying out violence. Trying to maintain good relations with Washington while letting guerrillas kill Indians and terrorists attack foreigners in Pakistan is not going to work.