Al-Qaeda in Pakistan (RWC)

General Pervez Musharraf, the strongman of Pakistan, is complaining that US air strikes against al Qaeda, or more specifically publicity about those strikes, is hurting him politically in Pakistan.

He made that complaint to a visiting US senator, a generally annoying publicity hound so I’m not going to mention his name.  President Musharraf said all the talk is “unhelpful”.

A week ago Mr.  Musharraf was talking about imposing martial law, claiming comments, like those recently of Barrack Obama, were causing widespread public unrest.  But the Pakistani president's remarks about martial law upset his countrymen a whole lot more and he backed quickly away.

Staging posts for al Qaeda attacks were crushed recently by artillery fire and helicopter gun-ships.  Ten militants or more were killed.