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War on Terrorism Hits Pakistani Web Cafes

The Pakistani government is forcing Internet cafes to register with government officials and to track patrons' identities and what Web sites they visit.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- In the basement of a crumbling shopping mall on the capital's southern edge, past the hand-painted signs and through a dark hallway, Umar sat in a cramped cubicle surfing Web sites featuring naked women.

The 20-year-old college student was not the only one of the half-dozen young men in the small, one-room Internet cafe who said they went online seeking pleasures often frowned upon in this conservative Islamic society. Another said he tried to arrange an un-chaperoned meeting with a woman.

These young Pakistanis differ little from young people elsewhere in the world: They are drawn to the anonymity of the Internet to make friends, play video games, read news and explore their interest in the opposite sex.

But now some worry that a new government measure keeping tabs on Internet cafe users, all in the name of fighting terrorism, could threaten that privacy.

Starting this month, Internet cafes will be required to ask patrons for proof of identity and to keep records of users. The previously unregulated Internet cafes also must start registering with the government.

Authorities say the new regulations will promote security in a country threatened by terrorist attacks. But patrons like Umar say reporting their names will make them more cautious about visiting certain Web sites, robbing the Internet of some of its allure.

"If they can know my name, I will be careful," said Umar, who asked that his full name not be used. "It's not interesting."

The government says monitoring Internet use is necessary to close a loophole in Pakistan's anti-terrorist efforts. In March, U.S. authorities -- after noting an increase in e-mail traffic out of Pakistan -- warned that al-Qaida was trying to reorganize. Pakistan has blocked at least one al-Qaida Web site, according to local media.

Keeping records at Internet cafes will help track down terrorists by making e-mails easier to trace, officials say.

The Internet's potential as a terrorist tool was highlighted earlier this year by the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, whose abductors used e-mail to issue demands and send photos. Those messages, however, were traced to a personal computer, not an Internet cafe.

"If somebody cannot produce some form of identification, he can't use the Internet; it's in the interest of law and order, and stopping terrorism," said Shahzada Alam, chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, which regulates the Internet in Pakistan.

But Alam admitted enforcement may be difficult.

He said no one even knows how many Internet cafes are in Pakistan because the government has never tried to keep track of them. But he said the number was in the tens of thousands -- including some in mountain villages in areas where al-Qaida fugitives are believed hiding.

In this poor country of 145 million people, who have an average annual income of barely $400, even middle-class youth find computers difficult to afford. Internet cafes have soared in popularity by offering terminals for as little as 15 cents an hour.

Regulators may find tracking down Internet cafes as difficult as hunting terrorists. Many are hastily set-up, one-room operations tucked in corners of Pakistan's crowded, busy cities and in tiny storefronts of small provincial towns.

Alam said the new regulations were aimed solely at terrorists and would not be used to keep young people from viewing pornography, which Pakistan strictly prohibits in television and movies.

"That is a problem for parents," Alam said.

But many users fear tighter government controls inevitably will tarnish the Internet's appeal. One look around the Internet cafe favored by Umar shows the importance of privacy to Pakistani Web surfers.

The 10 terminals in the dimly lit room are invisible behind handmade, wooden cubicles. The only way to tell a cubicle is even occupied is to knock or to crouch down and scan for feet at floor level, like checking stalls at a public toilet.

"I never say hello to other people," said Umar, who wore a lose-fitting white shirt and pants like many Pakistani men.

Mohammad, another patron who asked that only his first name be used, said he once used the Internet to try to set up a date with a woman he met online, but she refused.

The 24-year-old employee of a textile export company never told his parents because they frowned on women appearing alone in public with men other than their husbands or relatives.

"Pakistan is a good country, but it is very conservative," he said.

He and Umar said separately they spent one or two hours a day at Internet cafes. Both said the vast majority of their time online was spent on socially acceptable activities, like chatting with male friends or reading Web sites of Pakistan's free-spirited press.

Still, Umar said he wanted the option to view whatever Web site he liked without fear of public exposure.

Otherwise, the Internet "won't be as fun," he said.

Copyright 2002. Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.