Camels on the beach is just one of the delightful surprises of Karachi that I and five other Filipino journalists (Gemma Cruz -Araneta of Manila Bulletin, Tals Diaz of Inquirer, Fatima Parel of People Asia, Lyn Resurrection of Business Mirror, and Dante Francis Ang of Manila Times) are discovering about Pakistan this week on the invitation of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute.

IPRI does analyses of political and security developments, not only in the national level but also in Asia region and in the world. It’s an autonomous body supported by the government.

Karachi as entrance to Pakistan is interesting. Formerly the seat of government, this city of 16 million people is now considered the business capital.

We arrived on a Sunday. The first thing that we learned was Pakistanis, who are predominantly Muslim, take to heart Sunday as rest day. It was a slow day at the airport. We were told that shopping malls were closed, something that would take a major catastrophe to happen in the Philippines.

As we were waited in the immigration lane, we noticed with admiration that Pakistanis wear their national dress, the shal kameez, as everyday attire. Worn by both men and women the shalwar kameez consists of a large, loose fitting tunic with baggy trousers. The men have them in solid colors while the women go for the more colorful and fancy versions. Most of the women wear a scarf although there are many who do not have their heads covered.

We think that wearing a national dress as an everyday attire speaks of the Pakistanis strong sense of nationalism, which is sadly lacking among Filipinos.

As we stepped out of the airport, the first prominent sign that met us was the McDonald golden arch sign. That was the first indication of the complexities as well as dynamism of Pakistan.

We witnessed this in our visit at the Karachi National Press Club where an all-male group received us in their elegant beige brick building on Shaheed Road. Anil Datta, senior sub-editor and reporter of The News said Pakistani media is generally free despite the military rule of President Perez Musharaff.

(Musharaff seized power through a coup d’etat in 1999 and suspended the Constitution twice. In 2001, he appointed himself president. His controversial election to the president in October 2007 led to the suspension of Supreme Court justices.

(Newly elected Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, who belongs to the opposition Pakistan People’s Party, ordered the re-instatement of the judges on May 12.)

This is reflected in the newspapers (some 300 of them, we are told) that carry reports and opinion pieces critical of the government. Their freedom, the journalists stressed, is something that they have fought for and continuous to zealously guard.

Abdul Hammed Chapra, former KPC president, calls Musharaff "an usurper". He recalls the time when he was the incumbent president and the information minister of another "usurper" Gen. Zia Ul-Haq, came to him to say that the strongman wanted to come to the club. He told the official, "An usurper is not allowed here."

A more recent case was the abduction of Saeed Sarbazi , editor-in-charge of Daily Business Recorder and vice-president of KPC. He was abducted last September by unidentified men, beaten and kept in a safehouse blindfolded for four days. He believed it had something to do with his allowing militants from Baluchistan to use the facilities of the club to air their issues against the government. Outrage of club members as well as of international media organizations pressured his abductors to release him.

We sense a strong anti-US sentiment among the Karachi journalists. "Pakistani people don’t really believe US propaganda against Al Qaeda," one senior journalist said.

They don’t consider the Talibans terrorists but merely a fig leaf that Americans nurture to justify their presence in the region.

They believe that Osama bin Laden was killed when American bombs pulverized Bora-Bora, the Al Qaeda stronghold in Afghanistan, after the Sept.11, 2001 World Trade Center tragedy.

They are also skeptical about the revelation of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in a BBC interview shortly before she was assassinated that bin Ladin was killed by Omar Sheik in 2002 . Omar Sheik was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 for the killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

The Karachi journalists’ refreshing attitude towards the US prompted Gemma Cruz to say that there’s only one place in the world where the Americans are loved. A Karachi journalist asked, "Where?"

Gemma replied, "The Philippines."