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Sunday, March 8, 2009

Power! to do something or get something! Musharraf ready for ‘useful’ role if asked

NEW DELHI Former president General Pervez Musharraf has said he would consider returning to politics again provided he was invited to play a useful role for the country, Press Trust of India said on Saturday, quoting from an interview he gave to an Indian TV channel. ‘If someone offers, I will see whether I can play a role and then I will take the offer. I won't like to be a useless President,’ Gen Musharraf told Aaj Tak TV channel, a sister unit of the India Today group that has invited him on a private visit to India. The former army chief was responding to a question if he wants a second chance to rule the country. Gen Musharraf said he was not missing anything even after being out of power. ‘I am relaxing with family, playing golf, meeting friends and reading and writing,’ he said. The former president claimed that hundreds of thousands of Hindus in Pakistan are his ‘great supporters’. He blamed India for ignoring the ‘real issue’ of resolution of Kashmir issue while talking about terror attacks and terrorist camps in his country. Accepting that Pakistan is facing many problems in the post-Musharraf period, he said, ‘At that time, circumstances were such that I had to go. Now, economic issues, political turmoil and terrorism are the problems faced by Pakistan.’ India, Pakistan need peace Pervez Musharraf called Saturday for peaceful relations between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to allow them to fight terrorism more effectively, AFP adds.  ‘We must realise we are the victims of terrorism and extremism and we must go for solutions together,’ Musharraf, who stepped down from political office last year, told a conference in New Delhi. ‘Terrorism has to be defeated... in the world, in Pakistan and in India,’ he said. He said he believed ‘the dream of peace’ is possible between the neighbours which have fought three wars against each other, two over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. But Musharraf said the two sides needed to build trust and that the issue of Kashmir needed to be resolved swiftly. ‘Kashmir remains the key dispute and the sore point,’ he said. Musharraf said both sides needed to be bold to confront the main challenges — ‘the curse of terrorism and extremism,’ poverty, underdevelopment and hostility between the two countries. Both must avoid ‘whipping up war hysteria and creating hatred in the public because of any terrorist attack that may have taken place,’ he said.

Iran Test Fires New Long-Range Missile

Iran has launched a new long-range missile, Reuters reported Sunday, days after the Islamic Republic's military chief warned Israel that Tehran's missiles are within range of its nuclear facilities. "Iran test fires new long range missile," Press TV, Iran's English-language television station, said in a scrolling headline, Reuters reported. The report comes days after Iran's military chief warned Israel that its nuclear facilities are within the range of Iranian missiles. The warning from Revolutionary Guards commander Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari is the latest message from Tehran that it will strike back if attacked. Israel and the United States suspect Iran's nuclear program is a cover for weapons production and say they would not accept a nuclear-armed Iran. Tehran denies the accusation and says its nuclear activity is for generating power. Iran's Shahab-3 missiles have a range of up to 1,250 miles, putting Israel within striking distance.

Game Over! for New Game! Don't fear the future all Pakistani

"Rules out further efforts for reconciliation" said PPP Raja Parvez Ashraf, Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal has alleged that Raja Parvez Ashraf is member of a five-member committee constituted to start horse-trading in Punjab. Speaking to newsmen at Raiwand on Sunday, he said that Parvez Ashraf should focus to reduce load-shedding duration instead of conquering Punjab. On one hand, PPP was talking about reconciliation while on the other hand it was engaged in horse-trading, he commented. Politics In Pakistan is Musical Chair .....

12,000 U.S. Troops to Leave Iraq by September

Maj. Gen. David Perkins said the troop withdrawals will reduce U.S. combat power from 14 brigades to 12 along with some supporting units. The U.S. also plans to turn over 74 facilities and areas under its control to the Iraqis by the end of March as part of the drawdown. President Barack Obama has decided to remove all combat troops by the end of August 2010 with the remaining forces leaving by the end of 2011. The 4,000 British troops due to leave are the last British soldiers in Iraq. The U.S. withdrawal will be gradual at first, leaving most troops in place for parliamentary elections at the end of this year. There are currently about 135,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Iraq Homicide Bomber Targets Police, Killing 26

BAGHDAD A homicide bomber struck police lined up at the entrance of the main police academy in Baghdad on Sunday, killing more than two dozen people and wounding dozens of others, officials said. The blast was a bloody reminder of the ability of insurgents to stage dramatic attacks as the U.S. begins to draw down its forces. The U.S. military was expected to announce the withdrawal of two more brigades on Sunday. The bomber detonated his explosives near a side entrance of the academy, which is in a mainly Shiite area of eastern Baghdad. One police officer said the bomber was riding a motorcycle when he drove into the line, but the Interior Ministry said the method of attack had not yet been determined. Extremists have increasingly targeted Iraqi forces as they try to prove they can take over the country's security so the American troops can go home. Baghdad's main police academy has been hit by several bombings. Another homicide bombing there killed at least 33 people and wounded dozens on Dec. 1. Iraqi officials provided conflicting casualty tolls, as is common in the chaotic aftermath of bombings. Three medical officials and one police officer in the area where the bombing occurred said 26 people were killed and nearly 60 wounded. Another police officer at the Interior Ministry said 28 were killed and 57 wounded.

England pile on the runs

PORT OF SPAIN Monty Panesar gave England a much-needed breakthrough in their bid for a series-levelling win over West Indies, after Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior hit hundreds to bat them into a formidable position in the fifth and final Test on Saturday. Spinner Panesar removed Devon Smith for 28, as West Indies finished on 92 for one, replying to England's first innings total of 546 for six declared when stumps were drawn on the second day at Queen's Park Oval. West Indies, 1-0 up in the series, will begin the third day 454 runs behind. Collingwood hit his second hundred of the series with 161, while Prior's career-best, undefeated 131 allowed the pair to establish a new England record of 218 for the fifth wicket in Tests against West Indies. Collingwood reached his ninth Test hundred from 206 balls in the over before lunch, when he paddled Brendan Nash to deep fine leg for a single, then Prior got to his second Test hundred from 156 balls in the last hour before tea, when he cut Ryan Hinds through backward point for two.

International Women’s Day

PESHAWAR Terrified, locked up at home and courting death if they go out alone, women oppressed by extremists in Swat have nothing to celebrate on International Women’s Day. Nearly 100 years after the annual day was created to mark the struggle for equal rights for half the world’s population, most women in Swat look blank and go silent when asked about gender rights and discrimination. They’re too frightened to speak in public. They can only leave the confines of their homes accompanied by a male relative, their bodies hidden in veils. ‘How can I tell you my name, are you crazy? I was told not to give my name to anyone because the Taliban could hurt me,’ one girl in the ninth grade told AFP by telephone from the former ski resort. The girl’s dreams of becoming a doctor are over. She worries the Taliban will stop her finishing school, regardless of her parents’ support. ‘My mother told me I can do anything, but my inner soul is shattered.’ ‘Tell me if you stop women getting an education where will a sick woman go? Do you want her to go to a male doctor? I was told that education is compulsory for every man and woman in Islam but the Taliban destroyed our schools.’ Militants have destroyed 191 schools in the valley, 122 of them for girls, leaving 62,000 pupils with nowhere to study, local officials say. Huma Batool – not her real name – is a 42-year-old mother of two who dices with death to teach girls at a private school in the region’s main town Mingora. ‘We have to veil ourselves and wear shuttlecock burqas. We are not safe even at home.  We fear the Taliban all the time. Life is becoming worse and worse for women in Swat,’ she told AFP by telephone. Educated and financially self-sufficient, she cannot even pop to the shops without a male relative, leaving her frequently couped up at home for hours, waiting for a suitable escort to become available. ‘You cannot imagine how I manage to get to school, practically every day I think about leaving the job and sitting at home.’ ‘Life bores us to tears. There is no entertainment. We can’t even think about cable TV, cinema, film and music. Imagine I can’t even go shopping or to the bazaar as women are banned by Taliban.’ Salma Javed, 35, is a nurse at a local hospital, where women – however sick – can only be admitted if accompanied by a male relative. ‘Every woman fears she will be killed if she comes out, so even sick and pregnant women have to visit hospital with their husbands.’ Salma would love to leave, but she cannot scrape together the money to set herself up in Peshawar. ‘Now we are waiting to see what will happen after the peace deal, but let me tell you things will not change for women,’ she said. The only light in Shahnaz Kousar’s life is that the Taliban – at least for now – are allowing her to go to school in Mingora. But outside her 10th grade classroom, the daily pleasures of shopping and make-up are gone. ‘We are now totally depending on Taliban. There’s not a single shop left where I can go and buy cosmetics, all shops selling women’s things are either closed or empty.’ ‘I remember when I used to go to this market with my mother and sisters, but now it seems like a dream.’

Obama hints at talks with moderate Taliban

WASHINGTON US President Barack Obama said in an interview released Saturday that the United States is not winning the war in Afghanistan and hinted at possible talks with moderate elements of the Taliban. Highlighting the success of the US strategy of bringing some Sunni Iraqi insurgents to the negotiating table and away from Al-Qaeda, Obama told media, "there may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and the Pakistani region." The strategy in Iraq had been deployed by General David Petraeus, then commander of US forces in the country. "If you talk to General Petraeus, I think he would argue that part of the success in Iraq involved reaching out to people that we would consider to be Islamic fundamentalists, but who were willing to work with us because they had been completely alienated by the tactics of Al Qaeda in Iraq," Obama said in the interview published on the a website. Asked if the United States was winning the war in Afghanistan, which he has called the "central front in the war on terror," Obama simply replied, "No."  "You've seen conditions deteriorate over the last couple of years. The Taliban is bolder than it was. I think in the southern regions of the country, you're seeing them attack in ways that we have not seen previously," he said.  "The national government still has not gained the confidence of the Afghan people."

Army Barracks Shooting: Two Soldiers Dead

A massive security operation is under way after two soldiers were shot dead outside an army barracks in Northern Ireland. Four other people were seriously injured after gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons outside the Massereene Barracks in Antrim last night. No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the shooting, although it has been blamed on dissident republicans opposed to the peace process. The attack happened just 36 hours after Northern Ireland Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde said undercover soldiers had been called in to carry out surveillance operations on dissidents. This was amid warnings the threat against his officers and military personnel was at its highest for almost a decade. The gunmen's car or van pulled up outside the barracks' main gates shortly before 10pm and then the attackers opened fire. Sky's Vicki Hawthorne said: "Initial reports suggested that a pizza delivery van spotted at the scene had something to do with this - but the police have completely ruled this out. "Reports are that this was some kind of drive-by shooting carried out at the gates of Massereene barracks. "Two men, military personnel, were killed and another four people injured. Two of those are military personnel, another two are civilians. "Three are still in a serious condition, one is described as stable."

Cricketers’ safety not guaranteed: ICC chief

SYDNEY The International Cricket Council says it can't guarantee the safety and security of international cricketers in any part of the world following the Lahore terrorist attack. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said on Sunday that the well-orchestrated attacks on the Sri Lanka team's convoy in Pakistan last Tuesday had forever changed the sporting world's landscape. When asked if the ICC was unable to ensure player security at the 2011 World Cup scheduled for the subcontinent, he replied: ‘That would be the attitude to any event anywhere in the world.' Lorgat said the ICC will issue a more extensive response to the Lahore attack, in which six police officers and a bus driver were killed and seven players and a coach wounded, most of them not seriously.

UK government takes majority stake in bank

LONDON, England The British government confirmed Saturday that it will take majority control of another bank to help shore up the nation's hard-hit economy.It will take a majority share in Lloyds Banking Group, making it the third bank after Northern Rock and Royal Bank of Scotland that the government will effectively control. The deal with the Treasury will see Lloyds commit to lend at least £28 billion ($40 billion) over the next two years, Treasury chief secretary Stephen Timms said. In return the government will insure £260 billion pounds ($366 billion) of the group's most toxic assets. As a result, its holding in the bank could increase from 43 percent to 66 percent of voting shares. The government could end up owning as much as 77 percent of the bank -- though it would not have voting rights on all of its shares. Its fee for limiting Lloyds' losses from the bad assets is £15.6 billion ($22 billion). Under the scheme, the bank will take the first hit of up to £25 billion ($35 billion) on toxic assets before the taxpayer steps in. Timms said that the agreement was a "major step" in restoring lending capacity in the UK.

Pak football team leaves for Nepal

Pakistan, KARACHI Pakistan football team today left for Nepal to take part in the Prime Minister Cup football tournament. Pakistan will play their first match against Bangladesh club tomorrow. Before its departure, the team participated in practice session at the Hockey Club of Pakistan stadium yesterday. Besides two teams of host country Nepal, national teams of Pakistan and Sri Lanka and football club teams from Bangladesh and Thailand are taking part in the event.  Pakistan team will play its first match tomorrow against Bangladesh club. Captain Mohammad Essa said that Pakistan footballers would get an opportunity to prepare for the AFC Challenge Cup by playing in this tournament.

Strauss signals his intent

Fifth Test Match Trinidad England 258-2 (A J Strauss 139 no, P D Collingwood 54 no) v West Indies Andrew Strauss struck his third century in as many Test matches to help England up to 258-2 at stumps on day one of the fifth and final Test in Trinidad. Requiring a victory to claim a share of the Wisden Trophy, England won a crucial toss before making steady progress on another unresponsive Caribbean pitch. Strauss (139 not out) shared century partnerships with both Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood as England reached stumps on day one with the loss of only two batsman - Alastair Cook (12) and Kevin Pietersen (10). Shah was forced to retire hurt for the second time in his England career with a bout of cramp whilst on 29, however Strauss picked up where he left off in Barbados to become the first Englishman to make a century at the Queen's Park Oval since 1974.

Pakistan down Sri Lanka in pre-qualifiers

KARACHI Pakistan opened their junior Davis Cup pre-qualifiers campaign at Myanmar on winning note when they breezed past Sri Lanka 2-1 in the Group A tie on Friday. According to results made available here, Pakistan had a dismal start after Faizan Khurram went down to Vimuktha De Alwis 4-6, 2-6. However, Heera Ashiq neutralised by getting the better of Thruna Eshwarage 6-0, 6-3 in the next singles. Heera later teamed up with Mohammad Abid to carve out 6-3, 6-3 victory over Lankan pair of Vimuktha De Alwis and Ashan De Silva in the decisive doubles. Seven countries are competing in the first phase of the competition. They have been drawn in two groups and top two teams will advance into the next stage.

Obama to visit Turkey in April

ANKARA, Turkey President Obama will visit Turkey in April, two senior administration officials told CNN on Saturday.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Ankara on a diplomatic tour, had said earlier in the day that Obama would visit Turkey soon. Clinton was meeting with Turkish officials "to emphasize the work the United States and Turkey must do together on behalf of peace, prosperity and progress," she said. Obama had said he was going to deliver a speech in a Muslim capital within the first hundred days of his presidency. The visit to Turkey will be his first to a Muslim country since he was inauguratedA senior Obama administration official said the visit would be "an important opportunity to visit a NATO ally and discuss shared challenges."

co-operation on stopping Iran getting a nuclear bomb?

Dear Mr Putin, would you like to come back to our NATO meetings? How about we scrap the plans for missile defence? Tell you what, we'll throw in a few tasty trade deals at a cost to you my droog of...ooh shall we say full co-operation on stopping Iran getting a nuclear bomb? Deal or no deal? Well we'll have to wait to see because the Russians are good enough at chess not to make any serious moves until President Obama makes his. He's the man with his finger on the button, and he's pressed pause, but not for long. One way or another, the reckoning with Iran is approaching, and the Americans want to know how much help or hindrance the Russians will provide when the going gets tough. President Obama has moved his pieces around on the Iranian/US board. Queen Hillary has invited Tehran to an Afghanistan conference, Bishop Dennis Ross is the new envoy, but the King has yet to make his move. He's waiting for a ‘Review of Iran Policy’ to land on his desk by the end of the month, and then for a meeting with the Russians in early April. After that we will see which carrots and sticks Mr Obama will be wielding to prevent an Iranian bomb, something he has says would set off a ‘‘profoundly destabilizing arms race in the region’’, and something the Iranians deny they are attempting to make.

Militants shoot down US drone in South Waziristan

MIRAMSHAH Taliban militants on Saturday shot down a pilotless US drone in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal area, officials said. Residents and a local police official said two drones were flying low over a village in the district when one of them was hit by militant fire. ‘We heard the firing by Taliban and then a drone fell down,’ tribal police official Israr Khan told AFP. Another security official said the drone crashed in a forest near a Pakistani border post. ‘Apparently a drone has crashed in the nearby forest, we are searching for its wreckage,’ a security official told AFP.

Root out ‘politics of hypocrisy, fraud’

Pakistan, FAISALABAD Pakistan Muslim League-N Chief Nawaz Sharif Saturday said he would not sit in rest until he roots out what he called the politics of hypocrisy and fraud. Addressing a public meeting in Faisalabad, Nawaz Sharif said the real court of people is before me right here. He said the parliament should represent this parliament of people ‘that is here in front of me.’ We do not accept the Supreme Court of Islamabad, he said. The PML-N Chief said Shahbaz Sharif is the constitutional chief minister of Punjab. He said he cannot see Pakistan People’s Party getting weaker and invited PPP workers to come and participate in his rally. Nawaz Sharif pointed out that a whole year passed but no progress was made towards getting to the perpetrators of Ms. Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. He said Pervez Musharraf tried to meet him when he visited Mecca and other places outside Pakistan but “we never met him because he (Pervez Musharraf) violated the law and the Constitution of our country.” 

Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad Submits Resignation

RAMALLAH, West Bank Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad submitted his resignation on Saturday in a move that could help usher in a power-sharing deal between Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas and his rivals in the militant group Hamas. Fayyad's resignation was meant to be a goodwill gesture toward the militant group. However Hamas officials dismissed his resignation, arguing his appointment has been unconstitutional. Abbas appointed Fayyad as Prime Minister after the militant group seized power of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. The Hamas takeover effectively created two separate Palestinian administrations: an internationally backed government in the West Bank led by Abbas and technocrat Fayyad, and a blockaded government in the coastal patch of Gaza run by Hamas. Fayyad said in a statement on Saturday that he was hoping to pave the way for a unity government. "This step comes in the efforts to form a national conciliation government," Fayyad said. He said his resignation would take effect after the formation of a Palestinian unity government, but no later than the end of March. The announcement came before the resumption of power-sharing talks on Tuesday between Abbas' party, Fatah and officials from Hamas, expected to take place in Cairo.

Pakistani militants seen most likely behind attack

Pakistan, ISLAMABAD An investigation into the attack on Sri Lanka’s cricket team in Lahore has found signs that Pakistani militants with possible ties to al Qaeda were responsible, a senior government official said on Saturday. ‘The indications are that it was one of our own homegrown groups, with possible linkages abroad,’ said the government official with knowledge of the investigation. Police have rounded up scores of suspects but have yet to announce a breakthrough in their investigation of Tuesday’s attack. ‘It’s a tough job. We’re connecting the dots. We’re making every effort to get to the bottom and hopefully we’ll do it,’ said Salahuddin Niazi, the policeman heading the investigation. ‘Any word before finalising the investigation will benefit the criminals. Let’s finalise it, then we’ll be able to point the finger at someone or a group or groups,’ he said. A local newspaper, citing a former high-ranking intelligence official in Punjab, said al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) militants were responsible for the attack. Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, the government official said groups such as the LeJ were highest on the list of suspects. Some of the explosives carried by the assailants were not available in Pakistan, he said. The official was dismissive of media speculation that India may have been behind the attack as payback for the assault by militants on Mumbai in November.

Wounded Zimbabwe PM Flies To Botswana

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's spokesman said Friday the premier was hurt in a car accident in which his wife died, Reuters reported. "I can confirm that Susan Tsvangirai has died following the accident," a source in his party told Reuters. Tsvangirai's injuries are reportedly not life-threatening. Tsvangirai's spokesman, James Maridadi, told Reuters an aide was also injured in the accident on the outskirts of Harare. President Robert Mugabe arrived at the hospital late in the evening, followed by Joice Mujuru, a vice president and member of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. They did not speak to reporters or Tsvangirai supporters gathered outside. Tsvangirai's convoy had been traveling to a weekend rally in the prime minister's home region, south of Harare, when their car sideswiped a truck, Maridadi said. No other details on the crash were immediately available. The Tsvangirais, who married in 1978 and had six children, often went together to political events, but Susan did not have a prominent public role. Analysts say the crash raises suspicions of foul play. One former U.S. diplomat called for an outside investigation, saying it was not the first time one of Mugabe's political foes had been killed or injured in a car crash."The doctor recommended that Mr Tsvangirai needed to recuperate, and he could not do that at home given his circumstance," the source said. "I do not know when he will be back, he will undergo a check-up. But he is out of danger now." Mr Tsvangirai was flown out of Zimbabwe on a private jet sent by Botswanan President Ian Seretse Khama, an MDC official said. Mr Khama is one of the few African leaders to openly criticise President Robert Mugabe, with whom Mr Tsvangirai entered a power-sharing deal.