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Thursday, November 12, 2009

What is Blackwater?


Founded in 1998 by former Navy Seals, Blackwater Worldwide says it has prepared tens of thousands of security personnel to work in hot spots around the world. But it was an incident in Baghdad in September 2007, in which Blackwater guards killed 17 Iraqis, that brought the company to public notice, and made it a focal point for tensions over the role of the many private security firms supplementing the American war effort. In 2002, Blackwater won a classified contract to provide security for the CIA station in Kabul, Afghanistan, and the company maintains other classified contracts with the C.I.A. Over the years, Blackwater has hired several former top agency officials, including Cofer Black, who ran the C.I.A. counterterrorism center immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks. C.I.A. operatives regularly use Blackwater's training complex in North Carolina. In 2004, the C.I.A. hired contractors from Blackwater as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al Qaeda, according to current and former government officials.  Blackwater executives helped the spy agency with planning, training and surveillance, and the C.I.A. spent several million dollars on the program, which did not successfully capture or kill any terrorist suspects. In June 2009, alarmed by the agency's use of an outside company for the program, Leon E. Panetta, the C.I.A.'s director, called an emergency meeting to tell Congress that the agency had withheld details of the program for seven years, officials said. The C.I.A. did not give the Blackwater executives a "license to kill," though, officials said. Instead, it directed the contractors to collect information on the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's leaders, carry out surveillance and train for possible missions. But government officials said that bringing outsiders into a program with lethal authority raised deep concerns about accountability in covert operations. Blackwater's work on the program ended years before Mr. Panetta took over the agency, after senior C.I.A. officials themselves questioned the wisdom of using outsiders in such a program. The C.I.A. did not have a formal contract with Blackwater for the program; it had individual agreements with top company officials, including the founder, Erik D. Prince, a politically connected former member of the Navy Seals and the heir to a family fortune. The extent of Blackwater's dealings with the C.I.A. has largely been hidden, but its public contract with the State Department to provide private security to American diplomats in Iraq has generated intense scrutiny and controversy. Iraqi officials had long complained about what they called indiscriminate gunfire by private security forces hired by Americans. American officials said they had no alternative for protecting diplomats, but in negotiations in 2008 over a status of forces agreement with the American military, Iraqi officials were adamant that private contractors no longer have immunity for their actions. On Dec. 8, 2008, federal prosecutors charged five Blackwater guards involved in the September 2007 Baghdad shootings with manslaughter. A sixth guard admitted in a plea deal to killing at least one Iraqi. In January 2009, the Iraqi government indicated it would not renew Blackwater's operating license amid concerns of inappropriate use of force. In November 2009, former company officials said that in December 2007 top executives at Blackwater had authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support after the Baghdad shootings. The company dismissed the allegations as "baseless" and said it would not comment about former employees. In February 2009, Blackwater announced that it was abandoning the brand name that has been tarnished by its work in Iraq, choosing Xe (pronounced zee) as the new name for its family of two dozen businesses. Most people in and outside of the company still use Blackwater. The company has continued to grow through government work, even as it has attracted criticism and allegations of brutality. From a secret division at its North Carolina headquarters, it has assumed a role in Washington's most important counterterrorism program: the use of drones to kill Al Qaeda's leaders, according to government officials and current and former employees. The division's operations are carried out at hidden bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where Blackwater contractors assemble and load Hellfire missiles and 500-pound laser-guided bombs on remotely piloted Predator aircraft, work previously performed by C.I.A. employees. They also provide security at the covert bases, the officials said. Blackwater is not involved in selecting targets or actual strikes. The targets are selected by the C.I.A., and employees at its headquarters in Langley, Va., pull the trigger remotely. Only a handful of the agency's employees actually work at the Predator bases in Afghanistan and Pakistan, current and former employees said.

Polling in Gilgit-Baltistan Pakistan continues



Polling for 23 out of 24 seats of the Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly is in progress as 243 candidates contest first elections. Polling begun at 8am and will continue without a break till 4pm today. Election in GB-19 will not be held as MQM candidate expired. Some 1022 polling stations have been established in 6 districts, 153 have been declared sensitive while 119 extremely sensitive. Governor Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira said that fool proof security had been ensured during the election.

Gunmen kill Pakistani working at Iranian Consulate



Some unknown gunmen shot dead Director Public Relations of Iranian consulate as he was en route to his office in Peshawar. Three unidentified attackers opened fire on Abul Hasan Jaffery, Director Public Relations, near his residence in Gulberg injuring him seriously. He was shifted to CMH but succumbed to injuries later. Abul Hasan Jaffery had been Director Public Relations of Iranian consulate for last 20 years.

US Afghan mission 'not open-ended'



The US commitment to Afghanistan is "not open-ended", the White House has said, warning that the administration in Kabul must take steps to improve the way the country is run. The comments on Wednesday came after Barack Obama, the US president, held his eighth meeting with his war cabinet as he deliberates changes to the US strategy in Afghanistan. "The president believes that we need to make clear to the Afghan government that our commitment is not open-ended," a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters outlining Wednesday's meeting. "After years of substantial investments by the American people, governance in Afghanistan must improve in a reasonable period of time to ensure a successful transition to our Afghan partner," the official said, adding that Obama had yet to decide on proposals for increased troop deployments. Wednesday's meeting reportedly focused on four possible options for a revised US strategy, and how long each would take to implement. The meeting comes some three months since the top US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, requested thousands of additional troops.

Germany, France Mark End of WWI in Joint Ceremony



For the first time since World War I, the leaders of Germany and France held a joint ceremony on Wednesday to commemorate the end of the conflict, saying it is now time to celebrate their countries' reconciliation and friendship"French-German friendship is sealed with blood," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said under the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe, site of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at his side. Together they laid a wreath of flowers at the tomb and symbolically relit the perpetual flame above it to mark the 91st anniversary of the end of World War I. "This small flame is also ... the flame of hope," Sarkozy said. Sarkozy honored Lazare Ponticelli, who died last year at age 110, the last known French veteran of the First World War, which had torn Europe apart. "Madame chancellor, you have made a historic gesture," Sarkozy said of Merkel's decision to join him, despite Germany's defeat in the war. The bold departure from traditional Armistice Day commemorations came two days after Sarkozy traveled to Germany to help fete the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

Oil marketing companies’ profit reaches Rs 3.33b in first quarter


Oil marketing companies’ (OMCs) profit reached Rs 3.33 billion during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. According to Atlas Capital, the OMCs suffered losses of Rs 8.5 billion during the same period of last fiscal year. During July to September, overall sale of the sector increased by 12 percent. Furnace oil and gasoline increased by 26 and 39 percent respectively. Due to slow financial activities, high speed diesel’s sale has been decreased by 10 percent.

President Zardari allegedly received $4.3m in submarines sale



A French newspaper allegedly blamed that President Asif Ali Zardari is suspected of having received millions of dollars in kickbacks from the 1994 sale of three French submarines to the Pakistani Navy. The French daily claims that President Zardari allegedly received 4.3 million dollars in commission in the purchase of three Augusta 90 submarines. The report says the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was informed in 2001 bout the alleged fraud. On the other hand, government spokesman declared the report as baseless and said that this is a planned conspiracy against the president. He said that this report is part of character assassination scheme started against the President by some elements. He said that there is a systematic way to purchase the submarines and Defence Ministry oversees the complete process. French President Sarkozy also declared these blames as baseless in July 2009.