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"Faris pleading may cast shadow on Musharraf US visit"

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[Karl Comment:  It is immoral to hide important parts of the truth -- it appears that the US media has done this -- at least in the coverage I have seen on this subject.

Most Americans have heard that some guy named Faris has recently pled guilty to planning terrorists acts. Many of them might remember that he was "from Kashmir," naturalized citizen, living in Ohio, with no idea of where Kashmir is.  Responsible media would have put a couple quick defining items into that context.  They would say, for instance, "Mr. Faris was born in a part of India called Kashmir.  This area of India has been occupied by Pakistan for many years."

If they wanted to be more fully responsible for the truth, they would say that, "Kashmir is an area of India which has been in dispute, as to "ownership" with Pakistan, and Mr. Faris actually was born in the area of Kashmir that is occupied by Pakistan.  If the media wanted to be more accurate they would say that the Indians describe the Pakistani occupation of Kashmir as terrorism, and that Mr. Faris is, therefore, a product of Pakistan terrorism, recruited in the Kashmir part of the land controlled by Pakistan, and thus would a responsible media reveal at least the possibility that Mr. Faris is a "Pakistan agent."  Whether he was actually recruited by bin Laden, or whether bin Laden has had protection and encouragement from various official parts of the government of Pakistan is not proven, but worthy of media mention in a more full report than has been seen in the US coverage of this item.]

Islamabad, June 21. (PTI): The US announcement that it had uncovered a plot to blow up New York's Brooklyn bridge and other targets by a Kashmir-born American citizen may cast a shadow on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's high-profile visit to the country beginning today and would increase pressure on Islamabad to crackdown on Kashmiri groups.

Lyman Faris, 34, whose real name is Mohammed Rauf and who hails from Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK), confessed to casing targets in the US with the intention to destroy them.

Faris pleaded guilty to two felony charges, Attorney General, John Ashcroft, told reporters on Thursday.

Faris based in Columbus, Ohio acknowledged in court documents that he met bin Laden in 2000 at an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan and provided operatives there with sleeping bags, cell phones and other assistance.

According to the prosecution, he was linked to al-Qaeda and involved in plots to derail trains and sabotage the Brooklyn Bridge.

Ashcroft said Faris "led a secret double life" - as a truck driver and as one who "travelled to Pakistan and Afghanistan and covertly met with Osama bin Laden and joined al-Qaeda's Jihad against America, scouring sites for acts of terrorism in the United States."

Pakistani diplomats fear that the President may have to face several embarrassing questions on the links between al-Qaeda and Kashmiri groups during his press engagements in the United States, Pakistan daily Dawn said in a report from Washington today.