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The following is research published today, from the MEMRI Special Dispatch Series and TV Project. On Friday, December 2, 2011, at 10:30 EST, MEMRI will host a live e-chat on the future of U.S.-Pakistan relations, with MEMRI President Yigal Carmon and MEMRI South Asia Studies Project director Tufail Ahmad. Questions can be submitted via Facebook, Twitter or email. To view the E-Chat, visit chat.memri.org. *SUBMIT QUESTIONS VIA: Email with E-chat in the subject line Facebook Twitter MEMRI Research Paper on the Accuracy of Western Media Reports Regarding Taliban-Pakistan Negotiations; Mullah Omar's Spokesman Rejects Media Reports on Peace Talks In Interviews With Urdu Daily, Retired Pakistan Army Officers Say Taliban Will Not Agree to Negotiations With the U.S. Hizbut Tahrir Joins Anti-U.S. Protests in Pakistan, Issues Letter Calling for Rebellion by Pakistani Soldiers Against Pro-U.S. Policies, Cites Prophet Muhammad's Saying that Islamic Forces 'Will Conquer India' Taliban Official for Nuristan Sheikh Dost Muhammad: 'Our Jihad is On the Brink of Victory, Allah Willing, and It is Time to Reap Its Fruits' Taliban Website Details How The Taliban Executed The Kandahar Prison Escape, Digging A Tunnel And Equipping It With Lamps, Air Pumping Machines, Telephone Lines Special Dispatch No. 4332—South Asia Studies Project/Taliban/Pakistan MEMRI Research Paper on the Accuracy of Western Media Reports Regarding Taliban-Pakistan Negotiations; Mullah Omar's Spokesman Rejects Media Reports on Peace Talks In a research paper dated November 23, 2011, MEMRI argued that recent reports released by major Western news agencies about ceasefire and peace negotiations between Pakistan and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) "contradict ground realities" in the Pakistani-Afghan jihadist region. Western news agencies like Reuters in the U.K., AFP in France, and AP in the U.S. had reported, citing anonymous Taliban sources, that the Pakistani Taliban are adhering to an unannounced ceasefire and are engaged in peace negotiations with the Pakistani government and military. To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5875.htm. Special Dispatch No. 4331—South Asia Studies Project/Taliban/Pakistan In Interviews With Urdu Daily, Retired Pakistan Army Officers Say Taliban Will Not Agree to Negotiations With the U.S. In recent interviews, retired Pakistan Army officers Lt.-Gen. Hamid Gul and Brig. Shaukat Qadir argued that the Taliban in Afghanistan would not agree to peace negotiations with the U.S. Urging the Pakistani leadership to take an independent course in foreign policy, the former officers said that Pakistan should defend its interests when the same are not in consonance with the U.S's. objectives. The two interviews were published by the Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Ummat. Lt.-General Hamid Gul, who headed the Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) during the 1980s Afghan jihad, argued: "Today, the Taliban are demanding that the U.S. has done wrong things and that is why it is better for the U.S. to leave Afghanistan unconditionally. I know Afghans and I am aware of their mindset. They would not hold any conditional talks with the U.S." The interviews were conducted amid mounting U.S. pressure on Pakistan during September-October 2011 to order military operations against the Taliban's Haqqani Network in North Waziristan and to get Taliban groups to engage in peace negotiations. Following such U.S. demands and some compromises between the U.S. and Pakistan, on October 13, 2011 Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani "welcomed America’s initiatives for peace in Afghanistan" and added that "the world should recognize Pakistan’s efforts in the war against terror." In the interviews, both officers also rejected any prospect of positive outcomes from the November 2-3 conference in Istanbul, which was attended by top government leaders from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, India, the U.S. and the U.K. The interviews were part of a report titled "The Taliban Will Not Agree To Negotiations With the United States," and were published as the Istanbul conference was underway. To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5874.htm. Special Dispatch No. 4330—Pakistan/U.S. and the Arab & Muslim World/Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project/Conspiracy Theories/South Asia Studies Project Hizbut Tahrir Joins Anti-U.S. Protests in Pakistan, Issues Letter Calling for Rebellion by Pakistani Soldiers Against Pro-U.S. Policies, Cites Prophet Muhammad's Saying that Islamic Forces 'Will Conquer India' On November 27, 2011, Hizbut Tahrir, a global Islamist organization campaigning for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, joined anti-U.S. protests in Pakistan over the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a NATO strike. Hizbut Tahrir has been outlawed in Pakistan for its role in recruiting Pakistani soldiers for a possible coup, but its members stage public events in various Pakistani towns. According to a Pakistani media report, 15 activists of Hizbut Tahrir staged a demonstration in front of the National Press Club in Islamabad against the NATO attack on Pakistani soldiers and "raised slogans against the PPP [i.e. the ruling Pakistan People's Party] and military establishment over what they termed their failure to protect the country's sovereignty." In October 2011, Hizbut Tahrir published an open letter to the Pakistani military generals and urging Pakistani soldiers to rise against their military leaders and oppose the pro-U.S. policies in the region. Calling upon the Pakistani soldiers to support Hizbut Tahrir in establishing an Islamic caliphate in Pakistan and leading the war against India, the letter cited two hadiths (sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad) – one directly attributed to the prophet and another to his companions – in which a war against India is forecasted. The letter said, "These two hadith [sayings of Prophet Muhammad] are for you to consider and aspire for, you who grant the Nussrah [aid] to Hizbut Tahrir for the establishment of the Khilafah; for who else will lead these noble armed forces to the conquest of India?" This was the second letter within a year in which Hizbut Tahrir sought to impress upon the Pakistani soldiers that their military leadership is working against the Islamic cause by supporting the U.S.-led war against terrorism. In December 2010, the group had issued a letter addressed to the Pakistani armed forces, calling upon "sincere" Islamic soldiers to establish Khilafah (Islamic caliphate) in Pakistan. The December 2010 letter, titled "O Muslims! Deliver This Letter to All the Sincere Ones Whom You Know in Pakistan's Armed Forces," accused Pakistani rulers of bowing before the U.S. and India. The letter was published simultaneously in English and Urdu on the website of Hizb-ut Tahrir Pakistan, which is banned in Pakistan. The letter also argued that the U.S. extended the deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan to 2014 because the Pakistan Army delayed an anti-Taliban operation in North Waziristan. To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5873.htm. To view this report, you must be a paying member of the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Project (JTTM). For membership information, send an email to jttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line. Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Taliban Official for Nuristan Sheikh Dost Muhammad: 'Our Jihad is On the Brink of Victory, Allah Willing, and It is Time to Reap Its Fruits' In a recent interview, Sheikh Dost Muhammad, the Taliban's official for Afghanistan's Nuristan province, indicated that the Taliban are preparing a major assault on the provincial capital of Parun. Dost Muhammad is the General Official of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan for Nuristan. According to a Taliban website, Sheikh Dost Muhammad completed his elementary studies locally and then travelled to Pakistan to complete his Sharia studies. "After graduating, he became occupied with teaching in a number of schools and has long experience in the fields of Tafseer [interpretation of the Koran], Hadith [sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad] and Islamic jurisprudence. He has authored a number of books on jihad and other Sharia matters…," according to the Taliban website. To read the full report, visit http://www.memrijttm.org/content/en/blog_personal.htm?id=5600&param=UPP. To view this report, you must be a paying member of the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Project (JTTM). For membership information, send an email to jttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line. Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Taliban Website Details How The Taliban Executed The Kandahar Prison Escape, Digging A Tunnel And Equipping It With Lamps, Air Pumping Machines, Telephone Lines A detailed report published by the website of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban's shadow government) details how the Taliban fighters planned and executed an escape from the Kandahar central prison this year. The Taliban have executed three escapes of hundreds of prisoners from Kandahar's main prison in recent years: in 2003 when 45 prisoners escaped; in 2008 when nearly 1,200 prisoners escaped and in April 2011, when 541 prisoners escaped through a secretly dug tunnel. The report was translated into English from an earlier report published originally in the Taliban's Arabic-language Al-Somood magazine (Issue #60, May-June 2011). To read the full report, visit http://www.memrijttm.org/content/en/blog_personal.htm?id=5587&param=UPP. To view this report, you must be a paying member of the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Project (JTTM). For membership information, send an email to jttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line.