PAKISTANI SECRET SERVICE INTER SERVICE INTELLIGENCE HARM FOR WHOLE WORLD

PAKISTAN'S Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) has
done what its Army can never do. It has captured the vitals of the
nation, its tentacles are spread across every nook and cranny-from
Gujarat to Assam, from Kashmir to Kerala. It can trigger blasts in remote
places, fuel communal riots in peaceful cities and blow up railway
stations anywhere it wishes to. It can spread terror wherever, whenever.
Its control is full and final. There is not a city in the country which
doesn't have either an active or a sleeper agent of the ISI. This agent
can be your friendly next door neighbour or the local tailor or a
businessman. They have been brainwashed or inculcated into the fold by
the ISI either by financial allurement or in the name of religion.
Whatever might be the provocation, the ISI agents are motivated enough to
carry out the orders of their masters in Islamabad.
The ISI has taken more than 28 years to implement its plan of action.
After the 1971 bifurcation of erstwhile Pakistan into two nations, the
ISI, which works under the overall control of the Pak Army, has been
working with the sole objective of avenging the defeat and balkanise
India. The plan was conceived by President Ziaul-Haq and was called
Operation Topac.
The objectives of Operation Topac were; a) to disintegrate India; b) to
utilise the spy network to act as an instrument of sabotage; c) to
exploit porous borders with Nepal and Bangladesh to set up bases and
conduct operations.
A close look at the ISI structure as it exists in Pakistan will reveal
the extent of Islamabad's nefarious designs. The ISI is headquartered in
Islamabad and works under a Director General, a serving Lieutenant
General of the Pakistan Army. There are three Deputy Director
Generals-designated DDG (Political), DDG (External) and DDG (General).
The ISI is staffed mainly by personnel deputed from the police,
para-military forces and some specialised units of the Army. There are
over 25,000 active men on its staff.
The largest wing of the ISI is the Joint Intelligence Bureau; it covers
areas like political parties, anti-terrorism, VIP security, labour and
students. The bureau has specialised sections-one dealing exclusively
with India, another on Communist countries and the third on Africa and
West Asia. This wing is primarily responsible for appointment and posting
of personnel at missions abroad.
The second most important wing is the Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau
which looks after the communication network of the ISI and collects
Intelligence through monitoring of communications channels of
neighbouring countries. A sizeable number of the staff is from the Army
Signal Corps. It has its units in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar. It
monitors, clicks photos and intercepts wireless communication. Its main
activity, however, is to keep track of troop movements along the Indian
border. During the 1971 operations, it had over 200 clandestine radio
stations on the war front.
The third significant wing of the ISI is the Joint Counter-Intelligence
Bureau which, as the name suggests, keeps a surveillance on foreign
missions and the ISI personnel. The branch which deals exclusively with
India is the Joint Intelligence North (JIN). Its primary responsibility
is to carry out operations in J&K and Afghanistan. It has been the
main fund-raiser for J&K militants. The wing has also been providing
arms and ammunition and operational guidance besides training Kashmiri
youth in PoK camps.
The ISI's main target has been Jammu and Kashmir where the first seed of
terrorism was planted in the early '80s. It began with indoctrination and
an India-hate propaganda. There were innocuous signs of militancy on the
street walls where the most timid graffiti read: "Indian Dogs Go Back".
These graffiti were soon replaced by street bandhs [strikes] and protest
rallies and by the beginning of '90s, active terrorism had begun to creep
up the pristine valleys of Kashmir. The ISI proactively trained
frustrated youth, bribed and funded the so-called political and society
leaders and subverted the law and order system in the State so much that
the Indian Government had to send in the Army.
The ISI had achieved first of its objectives early in the '90s. Kashmir
had become an international issue with terrorism taking a deep root in
its streets and bylanes. Orchestrated propaganda within and outside the
country kept the Kashmir issue alive in international for an objective
which gave Pakistan a fake legitimacy of being the underdog.
The plan to take over J&K was drafted in the mid-80s. The blueprint
was prepared by the ISI chief in 1984 to aid and abet militancy in
Kashmir. Amanullah Khan, chairman of the J&K Liberation Front, was
consulted, Mohammad Rauf Khan, senior vice-president of the JKLF a
terrorist outfit since banned, was sent to the valley in 1978-88 to
mobilise youth to join ISI camps across the Line of Control of arms
training. Over 20,000 persons infiltrated into Pakistan.
After pushing in militants, initially under the banner of JKLF, ISI
floated several organisations-Hizb-ul-Maujahideen, Hizb-ul-Islam, Allah
Tigers, Al-Umar Mujahideen, Muslim Mujahideen, Harkat Ul Ansar and Jamaat
Hurriyat Conference. Besides funding, the ISI supplied both assault
rifles and other sophisticated arms to the militants which included
Draganov sniper rifles, anti-aircraft missiles and remote explosives. It
also flooded the Valley with Improvised Explosive Devices which, till
this date, continue to take a heavy till on security forces deployed for
counter-insurgency operations.
The ISI has been concentrating on Punjab, especially after Bhindaranwale
inspired terrorism was quashed by KPS Gill and his band of supercops.
Since then, the ISI has been promoting various terrorist groups like the
International Sikh Youth Federation led by Lakhbir Singh Rode, Khalistan
Commando Force, Babbar Khalsa International and Khalistan Liberation
Force of Pritam Singh Sekhon. The ISI has been working in the North-East
and Southern parts of India. Its links with North-East insurgents are
well documented. It has not only been funding some out of the militant
outfits but also been providing them with arms and ammunition and
training facilities in neighbouring Nepal.
The ISI's hand in the Mumbai and Coimbatore blasts has proved that it
has been working quietly in spreading a terror network all over India.
So while our soldier are fighting the enemy. Its agents are moving
around freely, setting up bombs and creating communal rifts with
impunity. Has ISI's Operation Topac succeeded? This is a question which
every citizen of this free democracy should be asking today.

[Description of source: The Pioneer--Independent daily with a reputation for
strong coverage of domestic issues and thoughtful editorial positions;
owned by the Thapar Group]

AMERICA'S TARGET AFTER OSAMA IS PAKISTAN

It has finally smoked out that rogue hiding in some tiny hole in Pakistan and had him sent to the houris waiting anxiously for him up there in the jihadi hell.

I am for Obama's continuance. May his second term, which is as guaranteed as the dead Osama, prove better for humanity ensuring pluralism, flowering of many faiths and beliefs like fragrances of a million flowers for the good of all, and increase in the happiness index of everyone pursuing noble causes on this planet. These are some of those American values we share. They are intrinsically Indian values too. These are the values that we hoped our leaders, the rulers, will also show, but alas they have ended up protecting the bad and dining with the stone pelters, sending peace missions to the shielder of traitors and terrorists rather than smoking them out.

India being the worst victim of Osama's terror groups, it should have been up to Indian intelligence agencies and operatives to find out Osama's hideout and have him killed. But given the present political dispensation, I am sure even if our men had found him out, the sultans of Delhi would have had him presented as a special guest to get some more votes in the comimg elections.

Osama never represented courage or valour. He was a coward who worked underground, collected a horde of lunatics, instilled in them intense hatred for their adpoted lands and the people who in fact had trusted them, and given them shelter and opportunities to grow and be happy. He could never organize Islamic countries to come together and attack his sworn enemy, the USA, or convince the faithful army commanders and mullahs in Islamabad not to live on the dollar doles of a kafir Washington. Neither could he instill a sense of Islamic brotherhood and solidarity among the various Islamic countries always fighting with one another and still wanting to have good ties (read more dollars) with the USA. You can keep them counting — from the house of Sauds to the generals in Islamabad, the real rulers of Pakistan. Not a single islamic country has been able to show the guts to stand up against the US in a befitting and collective nmanner for what they term the US assault on Islam or on a brother Islamic country. Osama could also never inspire any Islamic society to boycott American goods, or not to travel to America for joy, business or studies. All he could do was to sell hatred and make young Muslims die for a cause none has ever been clear about.

PAKISTAN FIRED ARMY CHIEF KAYANI AND ISI CHIEF PASHA

ARMY CHIEF KAYANI AND ISI CHIEF                          PASHA LOST THEIR JOB
Islamabad: The Pakistan government is seriously contemplating the removal of army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and ISI head Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, against the backdrop of a standoff on a memo alleging an army plot to seize power, according to a media report on Monday.

The government's "extreme unhappiness" with Kayani, currently on a three-year extension, and Pasha, who received a one-year extension in service last year, is an "open secret", The News daily newsdpaper quoted its sources as saying.

The two generals have been held responsible for forcing Pakistan to adopt an "extremely harsh stance" towards the US after last month's NATO air strike, the report said.

They also "adopted a diabolically opposing stance to that of the government" on the alleged memo that sought US help to stave off a possible military coup in Pakistan in May.

The Memogate scandal could cause "extremely serious problems" for the ruling Pakistan People's Party and some top leaders in their individual capacity if it is properly investigated, the report said.

"Saner voices in the inner most circles of the President and the Prime Minister" have advocated "restraint and caution" as recent events, including the serious divergence of opinion on matters of national security, have created the impression that the entire security establishment is "under attack from its own political leadership", the report added.

Commenting on the possible response of the security establishment if the two generals were fired, a source told the daily: "Nobody knows and hopefully nobody will have to find the answer to this troubling question. In fact, were such an action to take place and even if the concerned officers accepted the decision and went home, nobody knows how the institution will react."

The source contended that serious national security issues were at stake and this "consideration can easily outweigh other priorities and restraints, regardless of future judicial or constitutional repercussions of any such forced retaliatory action" by the military.

Speculation about the possible removal of the generals began doing the rounds after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani criticized the army last week, saying it was unacceptable for the force to act as a "state within a state".

Gilani also questioned the military's failure to detect Osama bin Laden's presence in Pakistan for six years.

The report claimed key players involved in framing US foreign and military policy were playing an "active role in encouraging Islamabad into taking" the decision to sack the two military men.

Former CIA official Bruce Riedel and former National Security Advisor James Jones are among those influencing both the US intelligence and military to support Pakistan in such a move, it said.

The Pakistani political leadership had been assured by US leaders of full financial and diplomatic support by Washington were it to order the removal of General Kayani and Lt. Gen. Pasha, the report claimed.

Meanwhile, The Express Tribune quoted a military source as saying that if Kayani or Pasha were sacked, the army might approach the Supreme Court.

It reported that the army chief had held a series of consultations with top commanders in recent days to discuss tensions with the government and "possible options to deal with the situation if things go from bad to worse."

There was consensus in the army that there would be no direct military intervention if the government decides to sack the army and intelligence chiefs, the source said.

Instead, the military has decided to challenge such a move in the apex court, the source said.

Though Kayani and Pasha are both on extension, the Prime Minister has the power under the Constitution to remove them at any time.

The ISI chief's extension ends in March while General Kayani remains the army chief till November 2013.

The daily quoted legal experts as saying that a move by the government to sack the generals is likely to be set aside by the apex court, which is currently examining petitions seeking a probe into the memo scandal.

General Kayani and Pasha have urged the apex court to order a probe into the Memogate scandal.

However, the government has challenged the court's jurisdiction to hear the petitions, saying a parliamentary panel is already investigating the matter.

PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT PLANNING TO SACK ARMY CHIEF KAYANI AND ISI CHIEF PASHA

ARMY CHIEF KAYANI AND ISI CHIEF PASHA                          IS GONNA DISMISSED

  ISLAMABAD: Pakistan government is seriously contemplating the removal of powerful army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI head Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha against the backdrop of a standoff on a memo alleging an army plot to seize power, according to a media report on Monday.

The government's "extreme unhappiness" with Kayani, currently on a three-year extension, and Pasha, who received a one-year extension in service last year, is an "open secret", The News daily quoted its sources as saying.

The two generals have been held responsible for forcing Pakistan to adopt an "extremely harsh stance" towards the US after last month's NATO air strike, the report said.

They also "adopted a diabolically opposing stance to that of the government" on the alleged memo that sought US help to stave off a possible military coup in Pakistan in May.

The Memogate scandal could cause "extremely serious problems" for the ruling Pakistan People's Party and some top leaders in their individual capacity if it is properly investigated, the report said.

"Saner voices in the inner most circles of the President and the Prime Minister" have advocated "restraint and caution" as recent events, including the serious divergence of opinion on matters of national security, have created the impression that the entire security establishment is "under attack from its own political leadership", the report added.

Commenting on the possible response of the security establishment if the two generals were fired, a source told the daily: "Nobody knows and hopefully nobody will have to find the answer to this troubling question. In fact, were such an action to take place and even if the concerned officers accepted the decision and went home, nobody knows how the institution will react."

The source contended that serious national security issues were at stake and this "consideration can easily outweigh other priorities and restraints, regardless of future judicial or constitutional repercussions of any such forced retaliatory action" by the military.

 

  Speculation about the possible removal of the generals began doing the rounds after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani criticised the army last week, saying it was unacceptable for the force to act as a "state within a state".

Gilani also questioned the military's failure to detect Osama bin Laden's presence in Pakistan for six years.

The report claimed key players involved in framing US foreign and military policy were playing an "active role in encouraging Islamabad into taking" the decision to sack the two generals.

Former CIA official Bruce Riedel and former National Security Advisor James Jones are among those influencing both the US intelligence and military to support Pakistan in such a move, it said.

The Pakistani political leadership had been assured by US leaders of full financial and diplomatic support by Washington were it to order the removal of the two generals, the report claimed.

 
Meanwhile, The Express Tribune quoted a military source as saying that if Kayani or Pasha were sacked, the army might approach the Supreme Court.

It reported that the army chief had held a series of consultations with top commanders in recent days to discuss tensions with the government and "possible options to deal with the situation if things go from bad to worse".

There was consensus in the army that there would be no direct military intervention if the government decides to sack the army and intelligence chiefs, the source said.

Instead, the military has decided to challenge such a move in the apex court, the source said.

US DIVORCING THE CHEATING SPOUCE PAKISTAN

AMERICA STOPS IT'S HONEYMOON WITH PAKISTAN

 
John Rees, a political analyst from the British-based Stop the War Coalition, says that the US and its allies are creating an explosive situation in the already volatile region.
“Whether or not it’s a big issue for Washington, it should be a big issue for the rest of us,” he told RT. “After all, Pakistan is a nuclear state, the region is unstable, the border with Afghanistan is used as a constant pretext for drone attacks within Pakistani territory.”
Rees notes that the US military refers to the whole area as ‘AfPak’, as if it was one single state, and this is a dangerous approach, he says.
“If a puppet regime, and it is a puppet regime in Afghanistan, is so horrified by the attack on Pakistan that it is saying that it will back Pakistan against the countries that are occupying Afghanistan, I think you can see quite how far this has now run,” Rees said.

“I think what the United States and its allies, NATO allies, have done is an extremely dangerous incursion. I’m not surprised at the anger of the Pakistani people,” he added. “I think that the message should go very, very clearly for the United States and its allies: ‘You are playing with fire, you are risking greater instability in an already unstable region, and this kind of behavior simply has to stop, it’s gangsterism.”

AMERICAN DRONES ARE PUSHED BACK DUE TO PAKISTANI ARMY'S PRESSURE

AMERICA STOPS IT'S HONEYMOON WITH                                    PAKISTAN
The Pakistani military are under orders to take down any UAV they locate in the country’s air space. So far, the only drones making incursions into Pakistani skies have been US Predators used to attack Taliban insurgents.

Pakistan has closed a key Afghan border crossing to NATO supplies after the US-led coalition's helicopters allegedly fired on a checkpoint in northwest Pakistan, killing 24 soldiers and wounding around fourteen.
Pakistan’s state TV quoted the military as saying the helicopter attack occurred on Friday night in the Mohmand tribal area near the Afghan border.

 
A customs official has confirmed that he received a verbal order to stop all NATO supplies from moving across the border through the Torkham crossing, reports the Associated Press.
The Alliance’s officials in Kabul said they were aware and are investigating the incident.
Top NATO and US commander in Afghanistan Gen. John Allen issued a statement Saturday offering condolences to any members of the Pakistan security forces who might have been killed or injured.  According to Reuters, later in the day a NATO spokesman confirmed Pakistani soldiers had died in the cross-border incident, but provided no details on the number of casualties.
However NATO has not officially claimed any responsibility so far.
Reuters reported that Pakistan's foreign office had called the NATO/ISAF raid “a flagrant violation of sovereignty.”
"The Pakistani government cannot tolerate such actions against its army. God willing, we will take up this issue at the relevant forum. We will not only protest, but we will prove through certain actions that the Pakistani government cannot tolerate such kind of actions," AP quotes Pakistani Information Minister Firdous Aashiq Awan as saying.
Last year, US helicopters accidentally killed two Pakistani soldiers near the border, prompting Pakistan to temporarily close its frontier to supplies being shipped through the country to NATO troops in Afghanistan.
 ­Ahmed Quraishi from the lobbying group the PakNationalists forum told RT that public outrage will force Pakistan's government to react decisively.

“The Pakistani government and military are in a very difficult position. [They] will have to do something that would pacify not just public opinion, but also the soldiers and the officers of the Pakistani army,” he told RT. “The feelings against what the United States [are] doing in Afghanistan, the way the Pakistani interests are being ignored… there is a whole list of grievances and this is just the latest.”

NORTH KOREA WEEP FOR DEAD LEADER KIM JONG 2

U.S. Senator John McCain has said the world is better off now that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is dead.
McCain, a Republican lawmaker who was his party's nominee for president in 2008, said that Kim subjected his people to 'dire poverty and cruel oppression under one of the most totalitarian regimes the world has ever known.'
'The world is a better place now that Kim Jong-Il is no longer in it,' McCain said.

Dead: Kim Jong Il (left) died on Saturday and will now be replaced by his third son Kim Jong Un (right)

McCain's political colleagues, including GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, have joined the prominent and outspoken senator in saying bluntly that Kim will not be missed after decades of oppression and threatening the world with his nuclear programme.
But McCain, the top-ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee who was tortured as a prisoner during the Vietnam war, didn't pull any punches.

He said, 'I can only express satisfaction that the Dear Leader is joining the likes of Gaddafi, Bin Laden, Hitler, and Stalin in a warm corner of hell.'

Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona has pulled no punches when expressing his 'satisfaction' with the death of Kim Jong Il

President Barack Obama's administration has been cautious in public statements about Kim's death, calling for a 'peaceful and stable' transition as the regime moved to appoint Kim's young son Kim Jong Un as his successor.
Kim Jong Il, who threatened the world with his nuclear weapons ambitions and suppressed his own people with imprisonment and isolation, died suddenly on Saturday aged 69 from a heart attack.

His youngest son Kim Jong Un has been proclaimed as the new leader of North Korea.
As the Communist state began 10 days of intense public mourning, the country's authorities called for North Korea's people to back Kim Jong Il's third son as their new leader.
However, there are already fears the 28-year-old is too inexperienced and has spent too little time in the country to take on the top role.
And in a development likely to worry western observers following news of Kim Jong Il's death, the pariah state today test-fired a short-range missile on its eastern coast.
The world's last Communist dictator, Kim Jong Il collapsed and died on Saturday prompting a highly orchestrated display of public mourning across the country.  
Kim Jong Il died of a heart attack while on a train. He had ruled the country since succeeding his father Kim Il Sung in 1994.
Observers also fear a behind-the-scenes power struggle, or nuclear instability, between the country's military and politicians - despite the announcement his third son is to be his successor.
There are also fears his uncle Jang Song Thaek, who is expected to rule behind the scenes as he trains on the job, could make a power grab.
Rod Lyon, a Korea expert at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra, said: 'The reason people are watching closely is not because we expect the North to strike out, it's because events within North Korea could have unsettling ramifications.
'If there's a contested succession, it means there's a struggle over things like who controls North Korea's plutonium, not just who controls North Korea's army.' The other key regional player is China, the closest North Korea has to a major ally and which has a sometimes testy relationship with the United States.   

Too much to take: Women collapse in tears in the streets of Pyongyang as the nation mourned the passing of Kim Jong Il

Mourning: Pyongyang residents weep as they are told that their leader Kim Jong Il has died

Grief: Men and women have been reduced to tears with the news, which was announced by a weeping broadcaster on state TV (centre)

Cai Jian, a Korea expert at Shanghai's Fudan University, said: 'China's biggest worry will be over North Korea's stability, and China's aim will be to ensure the country remains stable.
'I think security will be stepped up in North Korea, and China is also likely to tighten security along the border. If (Kim's) death leads to chaos, we could see a flow of refugees across the (Chinese) border.' Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who said his country was bracing itself for the unexpected, and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed over the phone to cooperate closely.

 

More...

• VIDEO: Extraordinary footage of mass (and highly orchestrated) mourning as millions wail in North Korea's streets
• MARK SEDDON: The death of Kim Jong Il leaves the nuclear state in the hands of his playboy son

And Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who has made several high-profile visits to North Korea, said: 'The situation could become extremely volatile. What the North Korean military does in the next 24-48 hours will be decisive.'
The U.S. Defence Department said however the alert readiness for its forces on the Korean peninsula is unchanged after the death of Kim Jong Il.
Pentagon spokesman George Little also said Monday that no unusual North Korean military movements have been detected since Kim Jong Il's death on Saturday after 17 years in power.

Tears: Korean television has been playing images of people grieving ever since the announcement that Kim Jong Il had died

In mourning: A woman holding flowers walks through a fence to enter the North Korea embassy to mourn the death of Kim Jong-il in Beijing, China

Expressive: North Koreans have been breaking down in tears following the news that their leader has died

Bill Richardson's thoughts were echoed across the world, because the death comes at a sensitive time for North Korea as it prepares for next year's 100th anniversary of the birth of founder Kim Il Sung - Kim Jong Il's father. The preparations include massive construction projects throughout the city as part of Kim Jong Il's unfulfilled promise to bring prosperity to his people.

Seoul and Washington will worry that Kim Jong Un 'may feel it necessary in the future to precipitate a crisis to prove his mettle to other senior leaders', according to Bruce Klingner, an Asia analyst at The Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington.

U.S. President Barack Obama's administration said it had been expected to decide on food aid and the re-engagement of North Korea in nuclear issues this week. But officials, worried about changes in the military postures of both North and South Korea, said Kim's death would delay the process.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said America hoped for improved ties with North Korea's people after Kim Jong Il's death.
'We both share a common interest in a peaceful and stable transition in North Korea,' Clinton said in an appearance with visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said his death could be a 'turning point' for the country and urged his successors to recognise that engagement with the international community offered the best hope of improving the lives of their people.

He said: 'The people of North Korea are in official mourning after the death of Kim Jong Il. We understand this is a difficult time for them. This could be a turning point for North Korea.  

'We hope their new leadership will recognise that engagement with the international community offers the best prospect of improving the lives of ordinary North Korean people.
'We encourage North Korea to work for peace and security in the region and take the steps necessary to allow the resumption of the Six Party Talks on de-nuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.'
China said it was 'distressed' to learn of his death but remained confident North Korea would remain united and that the two neighbours would keep up their cooperation.   
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said: 'We were distressed to learn of the unfortunate passing of the senior-most North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, and we express our grief about this and extend our condolences to the people of North Korea.'

Wailing: The death of Kim Jong Il had prompted an outpouring of grief seldom seen before

Praise: North Koreans cry and scream in a display of mourning at the foot of a giant statue of Kim Jong Il's father Kim Il Sung, in the capital Pyongyang

Despair: Tears have flowed in North Korea following the death of the country's leader

Respect: Students of Pyongyang Secondary School No 1 gather as they mourn over the death of Kim Jong Il

Devastated: Employees of Pyongyang 326 Electric Wire Factory mourn Kim Jong Il's death

Despair: North Koreans have been pictured doubling over on the ground with grief following the announcement

Why? Men and women have fallen on their knees to show their grief at the loss of the their leader

Respect: Hundreds of North Koreans gathered to mourn the death of their leader Kim Jong Il, in front of a giant statue of his father Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang

Desperate: Two women hold their heads and wail as they pay their respects to a portrait of Kim Jong Il (left) as a mother and son look emotional (right)

Ma praised Kim as a 'great leader' who made 'important contributions' to relations with China and added: 'We are confident that the North Korean people will be able to turn their anguish into strength and unify as one.

'China and North Korea will strive together to continue making positive contributions to consolidating and developing the traditional friendship between our two parties, governments and peoples, and to preserving the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the region.'
And Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sent also sent his condolences to the North Korean people, expressing his 'sincere sorrow' and 'solidarity' with the country. He said he was confident North Korea would move toward a prosperous and peaceful future and that Venezuela was willing to 'continue fighting along with sovereign nations for the auto-determination of countries and world peace'.
The death came as a surprise for many North Koreans because Kim, who reportedly suffered a stroke in 2008, had appeared relatively vigorous in photos from recent visits to China and Russia. His funeral is planned for December 28 in Pyongyang, with a mourning period to last until December 29.
Hong Son Ok shouted in an interview with North Korea's official television network: 'How could the heavens be so cruel? Please come back, general. We cannot believe you're gone.'
An official statement said: 'He passed away too suddenly to our profound regret. The heart of Kim Jong Il stopped beating, but his noble and august name and benevolent image will always be remembered by our army and people.'
North Korea is calling Kim Jong Il's son a 'great successor' to the country's guiding principle of self reliance, as the country rallies around heir-apparent Kim Jong Un as the next leader.
The official Korean Central News Agency said the country 'must faithfully revere respectable comrade Kim Jong Un', and urged its 24 million citizens to rally behind him as it mourns.

Coverage: A man watches the reporting of the death of Kim Jong Il through the windows of an electronics store in Tokyo, Japan

Breaking news: A South Korean woman watches TV news reporting the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at Seoul rail station (left) as a Vietnamese man places a funeral wreath in front of Pyongyang Restaurant in Hanoi (right)

The U.S. dollar jumped, in response to his death, as uncertainty in North Korea increased the country's safe-haven appeal. Asian stock markets moved lower amid the news, which raises the possibility of increased instability on the divided Korean peninsula.
South Korea's Kospi index was down 3.9 per cent at 1,767.89 and Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.8 per cent to 8,331.00. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 2 per cent to 17,929.66 and the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 2 per cent to 2,178.75.
European markets also opened slightly down, with the FTSE down 0.2 per cent to 5,378.55;  the CAC 40 down 0.13 per cent down to 2,969; and the DAX slightly up 0.07 per cent at 5,706.
The news of Kim's death came as North Korea prepared for a hereditary succession. Kim Jong Il inherited power after his father, revered North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994.
In September 2010, Kim Jong Il introduced his third son Kim Song Un as his successor, placing him in high-ranking posts. Kim Jong Il had been groomed to lead the nation founded by his guerilla fighter-turned-politician father and built according to the principle of 'juche,' or self-reliance.

Reaction: Elderly South Koreans chant anti-North slogans in Seoul (left) as police officers stand guard at the General Association of Korean residents in Tokyo, Japan

Surprise: South Korean soldiers watch a news broadcast reporting the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at the Seoul train station

U.S. relations: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton made a surprise visit to meet Kim Jong Il in 2009 to secure the release of two American journalists (left). Kim also met Russia's then President Vladimir Putin in 2002 (right)

Few firm facts are available when it comes to North Korea, one of the most isolated countries in the world, and little is clear about the origins of the man known as the 'Dear Leader.'

WHO'S TAKING OVER THE REGIME?

Kim Jong Un (pictured) the third son of Kim Jong Il, has been named as the 'great successor' by the ruling Workers' Party.
The first formal mention of the 28-year-old's name in official state communications came in October 2010, when he was promoted to the rank of four-star general.
He is said to have a fondness for James Bond and basketball star Michael Jordan - and is believed to have been schooled in Switzerland. Sources say he speaks some English, German and French.
Kim Jong Il's eldest son, Kim Jung Nam, was supposed to be his heir. But he fell out of favour after he was caught trying to sneak a trip to Tokyo Disneyland using a forged passport.
He since said he opposes the 'hereditary succession for three generations' but said he would like his younger brother 'to do his best for the people of North Korea and their true wealth'.
Experts have said Kim Jong Un is not ready to rule as he has only been groomed for the job for three years. His father was groomed for 14 years before taking control in 1994.
It is likely that Kim Jong Un's uncle, Jang Song Thaek, will rule behind the scenes as he trains on the job, the global intelligence firm Stratfor said.

North Korean legend has it he was born on Mount Paekdu, one of Korea's most cherished sites, in 1942, a birth heralded in the heavens by a pair of rainbows and a brilliant new star. Soviet records, however, indicate he was born in Siberia, in 1941.
Kim Il Sung, who for years fought for independence from Korea's colonial ruler, Japan, from a base in Russia, emerged as a communist leader after returning to Korea in 1945 after Japan was defeated in World War II.
With the peninsula divided between the Soviet-administered north and the U.S.-administered south, Kim rose to power as North Korea's first leader in 1948 while Syngman Rhee became South Korea's first president.
The North invaded the South in 1950, sparking a war that would last three years, kill millions of civilians and leave the peninsula divided by a Demilitarized Zone that today remains one of the world's most heavily fortified.
In the North, Kim Il Sung meshed Stalinist ideology with a cult of personality that encompassed him and his son. Their portraits hang in every building in North Korea and on the lapels of every dutiful North Korean.
Kim Jong Il, a graduate of Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung University, was 33 when his father anointed him his eventual successor. Even before he took over as leader, there were signs the younger Kim would maintain - and perhaps exceed - his father's hard-line stance.
South Korea has accused Kim of masterminding a 1983 bombing that killed 17 South Korean officials visiting Burma, now known as Myanmar.
In 1987, the bombing of a Korean Air Flight killed all 115 people on board; a North Korean agent who confessed to planting the device said Kim ordered the downing of the plane himself.
Kim Jong Il took over after his father died in 1994, eventually taking the posts of chairman of the National Defence Commission, commander of the Korean People's Army and head of the ruling Worker's Party while his father remained as North Korea's 'eternal president.'
He faithfully carried out his father's policy of 'military first,' devoting much of the country's scarce resources to its troops - even as his people suffered from a prolonged famine - and built the world's fifth-largest military.
Kim also sought to build up the country's nuclear arms arsenal, which culminated in North Korea's first nuclear test explosion, an underground blast conducted in October 2006. Another test came in 2009.
Alarmed, regional leaders negotiated a disarmament-for-aid pact that the North signed in 2007 and began implementing later that year. However, the process continues to be stalled, even as diplomats work to restart negotiations.
North Korea, long hampered by sanctions and unable to feed its own people, is desperate for aid. Flooding in the 1990s that destroyed the largely mountainous country's arable land left millions hungry. Following the famine, the number of North Koreans fleeing the country through China rose dramatically, with many telling tales of hunger, political persecution and rights abuses that officials in Pyongyang emphatically denied. Kim often blamed the U.S. for his country's troubles and his regime routinely derides Washington-allied South Korea as a 'puppet' of the Western superpower.

Family values: The 1981 family portrait (left) shows Kim Jong Il with son Kim Jong Nam, former wife's sister Sung Hye Rang and her children Lee Nam Ok and Lee Il Nam, with the picture on the right portraying the leader in more recent times

Celebration: Kim Jong Il has cult-like status in North Korea, with many myths cultivated about his personality and history

Dictator: Kim Jong Il rose began his reign of the Communist regime after the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994. There were rumours about his health, but he appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country

U.S. President George W Bush, taking office in 2002, denounced North Korea as a member of an 'axis of evil' that also included Iran and Iraq. He later described Kim as a 'tyrant' who starved his people so he could build nuclear weapons.
He said in 2005: 'Look, Kim Jong Il is a dangerous person. He's a man who starves his people. He's got huge concentration camps. And... there is concern about his capacity to deliver a nuclear weapon.'

TEAM AMERICA TRENDS ON TWITTER

Team America - the name of the 2004 animated film that lampooned Kim Jong Il - was trending on Twitter just minutes after the announcement of his death.
The movie, from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, poked fun at the North Korean leader.
The film's plot revolves around a crack team of paramilitary police trying to foil an evil plot conjured up by Kim Jong Il.
References to the cult film, in which Kim's character sings a ballad about the lonely life of a dictator, quickly spread through social networks.

Kim was an enigmatic leader. But defectors from North Korea describe him as an eloquent and tireless orator, primarily to the military units that form the base of his support.
The world's best glimpse of the man was in 2000, when the liberal South Korean government's conciliatory 'sunshine' policy toward the North culminated in the first-ever summit between the two Koreas and followed with unprecedented inter-Korean cooperation.
A second summit was held in 2007 with South Korea's Roh Moo-hyun.But the thaw in relations drew to a halt in early 2008 when conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in Seoul pledging to come down hard on communist North Korea.
Disputing accounts that Kim was 'peculiar,' former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright characterized Kim as intelligent and well-informed, saying the two had wide-ranging discussions during her visits to Pyongyang when Bill Clinton was U.S. president.
'I found him very much on top of his brief,' she said. Kim cut a distinctive, if oft ridiculed, figure. Short and pudgy at 5-foot-3, he wore platform shoes and sported a permed bouffant.
Kim was said to have cultivated wide interests, including professional basketball, cars and foreign films. He reportedly produced several North Korean films as well, mostly historical epics with an ideological tinge.
A South Korean film director claimed Kim even kidnapped him and his movie star wife in the late 1970s, spiriting them back to North Korea to make movies for him for a decade before they managed to escape from their North Korean agents during a trip to Austria.
Kim rarely travelled abroad and then only by train because of an alleged fear of flying, once heading all the way by luxury rail car to Moscow, indulging in his taste for fine food along the way. One account of Kim's lavish lifestyle came from Konstantin Pulikovsky, a former Russian presidential envoy who wrote the book 'The Orient Express' about Kim's train trip through Russia in July and August 2001.
Pulikovsky, who accompanied the North Korean leader, said Kim's 16-car private train was stocked with crates of French wine. Live lobsters were delivered in advance to stations.