All is not well in the state of...

Pakistan.

Two separate news items caught my attention today on Pakistan.  The first was simply sad -  an attack on the players from the Sri Lankan test team...  which, as the saying goes, is simply not cricket.  While (almost) unheard of here, cricket has a huge following in the Indian sub-continent which means this attack will get lots of press coverage and affect peoples attitudes much more perhaps than attacks on tourists at the beach.  However, given the popular support for the sport it doesn't seem like the sort of attack that will go far in winning hearts and minds.  We can hope so in any case....

The other report was much less high profile - but potentially more deadly.  Rival taliban groups in Pakistans Waziristan region are to settle their differences and unite against US forces.  What's most disturbing for me in this is hearing just how much control these extremist groups have within Pakistan - they seem to have fought the Pakistani government to a truce. And the government have now accepted the introduction of Sharia law in the area which sounds pretty much like abdicating control....