The articles I have chosen relate to Sufi Mohammad and his detention in Pakistan. Sufi Mohammad is the cleric who in February of this year negotiated a deal in the Swat area of Pakistan that in effect gave governing control to the Taliban. The deal collapsed in April when the Taliban broke their promise to not advance. This in turn brought a military offensive followed by retaliatory attacks by militants in the northwest and beyond. Sufi Muhammad is also the father in law of the Taliban leader in the area, Maulana Fazlullah, and the founder o f TNSM (Tehrik Nizam Shariat Mohammadi), a group banned and branded militant by the government.
I didn’t find much slant though I did feel the focus was different for each. The BBC was more of a general article, with some light background to it. USA Today was focused more on the carnage aspect- referring to suicide bombers and eyewitness accounts of "Human body parts were lying there, there was blood and people were crying in pain…”. The NY Times focused more on the Pakistani army versus Taliban militants angle, portraying it as a battle being more strongly waged and incrementally won by the Pakistani government. The Pakistani News focus was very clear: demands for Muhammad and a government leader believed to have been collaborating with the Taliban, to be taken to trial. The article is basically a press release statement from the Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party.
With respect to sources, the BBC used only one (named) source, the Pakistani provincial information minister, Iftikhar Hussein. USA Today used 4 sources, quoting from local villagers as well as a University professor and military sources. The NY Times quoted 7 sources: Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Minister Iftikhar Hussein, Mahmood Shah, a former security chief in the tribal region, Investigator Malik Tariq Awan, police spokesman Naim Khan, a Mingora villager (Shaukat Ali), and a Pakistani army Brigadier (Brig. Tahir Khan). The Pakistani newspaper only used a press release as their source. It was the most pointed of the articles, with no background. But as it is a local paper, it makes sense that those there are keenly aware of all the circumstances and do not need multiple sources or explanations of the conditions there.
USA Today does not have a more recent article that discusses the cleric than one from June 2009. The events leading to the murder of Muhammad Maulana Alam and Ameer Izzat Khan, top aides to Sufi Muhammad, open this article. They had been detained by the Pakistani government for participating in Taliban activities that were classified as terrorist, and contrary to government authority. It is debated whether their murder was accidental as the military claims, or if it was calculated, as a political scientist at Lahore University believes. The Taliban may have murdered them themselves to avoid their giving out any information that would endanger future Taliban operations. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-06-06-pakistan_N.htm
The BBC opens with much more recent news: announcing the Provincial Information Minister Iftikhar Hussein’s news conference announcing that Sufi Mohammad had been detained for encouraging terrorism and violence. The cleric was detained after holding meetings in Peshawar after being warned not to. The article describes some of the background of the players, and the peace deal that was brokered allowing the Taliban to take control of the area. There is also mention of Maulana Fazlullah, who the Pakistani government insists was harmed in an air strike. Per usual, each side claims they are strong and healthy and will neither admit any casualties nor frailties.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8169385.stm
The Times gives quotes from the information minister for the North West Frontier Province, Mian Iftikhar Hussein, who stated that ''At this critical juncture, we cannot allow, we cannot let a person walk free, a person who has supported terrorists''. This article talks about the failed peace deal negotiated in February that ended in April but also gives the opinion from people in the region (like a tribal security leader) that the Taliban are demoralized and the arrest of Muhammad will not make much impact. The article notes however that the Pakistani authorities seem to be stepping up their efforts at stamping out the Taliban, and that in the Swat town of Mingora, they had ‘rescued’ several teenagers forcibly recruited by the Taliban. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/07/26/world/AP-AS-Pakistan.html?scp=1&sq=sufi+muhammad&st=nyt
The News is a local Pakistani paper, and ironically, had the shortest article about the detention of Sufi Muhammad of the four papers. It mainly discusses the demands of a nationalist party called the Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party. With Muhammad in detention, the party has demanded that he as well as former commissioner of Malakand, Syed Muhammad Javed, be taken to trial for their involvement with the Taliban as well as the bloodshed of the region, (mainly caused by TNSM).http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=190071
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