OPINION Vol.1, No.1 June 2013 - National Defence University

assistance to improve the technical capabilities of border control force, counterterrorism police,
military and intelligence services.
Chocking Domestic Fault Lines. All states with Al Qaeda and domestic affiliate organizations
must address their fault lines in short to medium term with the cooperation of international
community to reduce the space of co-opting for Al Qaeda.
Addressing Financial Support. The concerned institutions and banking system must be synergized
with international support to monitor and choke flow of money to Al Qaeda and its affiliates
generated from transnational organized crimes besides addressing narco trade, human trafficking /
smuggling, money laundering (hawala/ hundi), terrorist financing and cybercrimes.
Real Time Intelligence Sharing. Intelligence sharing mechanism between the allies should be
improved to execute proactive counter actions.
Pakistan Specific
Political Will and National Consensus. Political will with consensual national support should be
mustered for Whole of the Nation approach against Al Qaeda and its affiliates, to ensure their defeat
and deny re-emergence.
Deny Space to Al Qaeda. A proactive media campaign should be launched to inculcate sense of
responsibility and educate the populace on the necessity and importance of their cooperation in the
drive against common enemy-Al Qaeda and its affiliates. FATA and PATA should be brought into
main stream, besides providing job opportunities to the locals through ROZs in order to deny space
to Al Qaeda and its affiliates.
Sealing of International Border. Pakistan should seal its porous border with Afghanistan to check
the cross border movement of Al Qaeda and its affiliates, weapons, drugs and inflow of illegal
money.
Strict Adherence of Disassociation Policy with Religious Militant Organizations. Existing
policy of disassociation with no patronage to the religious organizations with militant agendas
should be strictly adhered and monitored.
Overhaul of Intelligence Agencies. The intelligence agencies need to modernize their system of
intelligence collection, analysis, investigations and interrogations. Besides improving intra-agency
efficiency, the efficacy of all domestic intelligence agencies should be improved by inter-agency
integration and incorporation of International Agencies.
De-weaponization. A de-weaponization policy should be carefully crafted and implemented
keeping in view the local security and cultural environment while remaining above political
allegiance.
De-radicalization.
Proactive de-radicalization campaign must be moved with following strands:-
Harnessing the madrassas through registration, standardization of syllabus and teaching
staff as per madrassa reforms.
Excessive debates on religious issues commonly exploited by Al Qaeda and its affiliates.
Energize Islamic education industry by incorporating higher education facilities and later
offering employment opportunities utilizing existing infrastructure in the long term.
Rehabilitation and Reintegration. The slow process of rehabilitation and reintegration should be
pursued rigorously to reduce burden on military and evade re-emergence of Al Qaeda and its
affiliates.
Media Policy. Although a tall order, however, a Media Policy which safeguards the national
interests should be formulated and implemented to avoid further damage to national opinion
building.
Improvement of Law Enforcement Agencies. Capacity of LEAs specially police and paramilitary
forces should be increased substantially in order to de-induct Armed Forces and reduce
psychological effect on the nation in the war against Al Qaeda and its affiliates.
OPINION Vol.1 No.1 20 June 2013