TEHRAN, March 7 (UPI) -- After years of
delays and setbacks, not least bitter U.S. opposition, Pakistan is set
to start work on its section of a $7.5 billion pipeline that will pump
badly needed natural gas from Iran's Persian Gulf field.
But trouble's brewing in Pakistan's turbulent Balochistan province
through which the 485-mile Pakistani part of the 1,200-mile pipeline
will pass on its way to Pakistan's energy-short industrial north.
Balochistan, in southwestern Pakistan, long neglected by Islamabad
governments, has seen sustained clashes between security forces and
tribal separatists over the last decade.
It's also reportedly a base for Iranian Balochis who, with U.S.
backing, have been waging an insurgency seeking autonomy from Tehran.
The United States and Saudi Arabia, reprising their double act in funding and arming Muslim guerrillas in Afghanistan
to fight the invading Soviets in 1979-89, are aiding the Sunni
nationalist rebels of the Jundullah movement in Iran's
Sistan-Baluchistan province fight the Shiite-dominated regime in Tehran.
Balochistan, which has huge natural gas reserves, is the kind of
place where the Americans could stir up a lot of trouble for the
Pakistanis, and the pipeline, if they so chose.
It may already have started. The Islamabad government of President Asif Ali Zardari
dismissed Balochistan's chief minister in January after several days of
protests by minority Shiites incensed by an attack by militant Sunni
rivals in which 96 people were killed in the regional capital, Quetta.
That put Balochistan under the direct control of Islamabad, which
might prove useful if the pipeline triggers unrest in the province.
"The prime minister has allowed the deployment of all organs of the
state, including the army, for the safety of Quetta," said Jan Ali
Changezi, a member of the Balochistan provincial legislature.
The sectarian bloodshed, which extends across all of Pakistan, has nonetheless undermined Zardari's government.
Washington, which with Riyadh has pressured Islamabad for years to
abandon the pipeline project because it will greatly benefit Iran, has
threatened the Pakistanis with economic sanctions, like those imposed
against Iran in 2010, if they go ahead with the pipeline.
But this time around, the Pakistani government, whose relations with
the United States are severely strained over unilateral U.S. drone
attacks on suspected al-Qaida hideouts, seems determined to defy
Washington because the pipeline's vital for tackling mounting energy
shortages.
Under the deal between the National Iranian Oil Co. and Pakistan's
Interstate Gas System, Tehran will provide 750 million cubic feet of gas
per day for 25 years from its giant offshore South Pars field in the Persian Gulf.
Iran, for whom the pipeline is a symbol of its defiance of the United
States and its ever-tightening sanctions, has offered Islamabad a $500
million loan to help finance the project.
Pakistan's segment of the pipeline will cost about $1.5 billion. A
senior Pakistani official said, "The Iranians have said they'll provide
more funding if there's a need."
Zardari's chief adviser on energy affairs, Asim Hussein, says the
pipeline from Iran is "a feasible project for Pakistan. It's the
quickest route, the cheapest route where we can fulfill our energy
needs."
He said Pakistan needs 8 billion cubic feet of gas per day but
produces only 4.2 billion bcf and has no facilities to import liquefied
natural gas.
Iran has almost completed its 570-mile leg of the pipeline to the Pakistani border.
Free speech, human rights,Freedom, equality and accountability. We all human are same.Balochistan act for justice on a wide range of issues.Event and News related to Balochistan and world. Baloch In Balochistan have been disappeared and hanged and or murdered by Pakistan's military and securities agencies and Iran regime. Pakistan rarely allows journalists or human rights organizations to travel freely in Balochistan and coverage in the world press is inadequate.
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