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Saturday, January 30, 2010

5 dead after drone attack on North Waziristan


3 missiles have been fired in Data Khel. Five people dead, the number of causality may rise. Panic and fear amongst the local of more attacks. The attack has been conducted after a silence of two weeks and the number of attacks have raised to 154.

Hamas blames Israel for Dubai death


Hamas has claimed that one of its commanders was assassinated by Israeli agents in Dubai. A statement by the Palestinian group, which controls the Gaza Strip, alleged on Friday that Israel had killed Mahmoud Abdul Raouf al-Mabhouh. "We hold the enemy [Israel] responsible for the assassination of the Martyr al-Mabhouh, and the enemy will not escape punishment," a statement from the Hamas military wing, said. The Dubai government said police were hunting a group of mostly European passport holders they believe to be behind the killing, but said they had left the country. "Preliminary investigations indicate that the crime was committed by a professional criminal gang that was following the victim before he came to the United Arab Emirates, it said in a statement. "The culprits left a trace behind that points to them and will help in chasing and arresting them." Izzat al-Rishq, a Hamas official, said: "I cannot reveal the circumstances. We are working with the authorities in the United Arab Emirates." Israeli officials have so far offered no comment on the incident.

Blair: 'No regrets' at Iraq inquiry



Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, has told an inquiry into the Iraq war that he has "no regrets" about removing Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi president, from power.After facing six hours of questions on Friday, Blair said he felt "responsibility not regret", prompting angry shouts from the public gallery at the conference centre in London where the inquiry is taking place. "I think he was a monster, I believe he threatened not just the region but the world ... and I do genuinely believe that the world is safer," Blair said. Blair had earlier said that the pre-war intelligence convinced him it was necessary to stop Saddam Hussein, the then-Iraqi president, from developing weapons of mass destruction. He told the inquiry that the perception of risk from rogue or failed states changed after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. "When I talked earlier about the calculus of risk changing after September 11 it's really important I think to understand in so far as to understanding the decision I took, and frankly would take again," he said.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Murray beats Nadal to reach semis



Rafael Nadal limped out of the Australian Open, his title defence shattered by a recurring knee problem and a devastating display by Andy Murray. Nadal quit when trailing Murray 6-3 7-6 3-0 but the match was as good as over with the Scotsman deservedly on his way to the semi-finals for the first time. "When the big moments came in the match, I thought I dictated what happened on the court," Murray said. "Obviously, I didn't know when he hurt his knee...but from my side, I played really well and deserved to be up when the match was stopped." It has been 74 years since a British man won a Grand Slam title but the wait could soon be over if Murray can maintain his brilliant form for two more matches. The 22-year-old has not dropped a set in Melbourne and will next face Croatia's Marin Cilic, who wore down seventh seed Andy Roddick 7-6 6-3 3-6 2-6 6-3 but is nearing exhaustion after spending more than 18 hours on court to get this far.

Voting ends in Sri Lanka polls




Sri Lankans have voted in the country's first presidential election since the civil war with Tamil separatists in the north was ended. Polls closed at 4pm (10:30GMT) on Tuesday amid claims of voter intimidation and sporadic acts of violence following a bitter campaign. Officials results were expected on Wednesday, with both Mahinda Rajapakse, the incumbent, and Sarath Fonseka, his former army chief, saying that expected to emerge victorous. "We will have a great victory," Rajapakse told reporters after casting his ballot in his southern home constituency of Mulkirigala. "We must be ready to face the challenges of reaching new heights after this vote," the 64-year-old, who called the election only four years into his six-year term to seize on the government's victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) last year, said.

French report calls for veil ban



A French parliamentary panel has called for a ban on Muslim women wearing the full Islamic veil in public institutions, describing the dress as an "unacceptable" challenge to French values. In its report, released on Tuesday, the panel also recommended that authorities refuse residence cards and citizenship to anyone with visible signs of a "radical religious practice". "The wearing of the full veil is a challenge to our republic. This is unacceptable. We must condemn this excess," it said. The commission stopped short of a full ban on the veils, which it deemed unconstitutional, but said they should be banned from schools, hospitals and public transport.

Kabul attack 'linked to Pakistan'



Afghanistan intelligence has said fighters smuggled over the border from Pakistan were responsible for a recent assault on government targets in the Afghan capital. Officials in Kabul released video footage on Tuesday of a man arrested in connection with the attacks who said that the Haqqani network, a group of Afghan fighters based in Pakistan, were behind the offensive. The man, an Afghan identified as Kamal Uddin, said in his alleged confession that there had been seven suicide bombers in the attack, which took place on January 18. "I was in charge of two suicide bombers and took them to a shopping centre near the presidential palace," he said, noting that he had housed the suicide bombers and their co-ordinators ahead of the attacks. Afghan security forces arrested Kamal Uddin just 24 hours after the attack. Intelligence officials said that a Pakistani mobile phone chip, also known as SIM card, had been found at his house.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Gates Sees Fallout From Troubled Ties With Pakistan


Nobody else in the Obama administration has been mired in Pakistan for as long as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. So on a trip here this past week to try to soothe the country’s growing rancor toward the United States, he served as a punching bag tested over a quarter-century. “Are you with us or against us?” a senior military officer demanded of Mr. Gates at Pakistan’s National Defense University, according to a Pentagon official who recounted the remark made during a closed-door session after Mr. Gates gave a speech at the school on Friday. Mr. Gates, who could hardly miss that the officer was mimicking former President George W. Bush’s warning to nations harboring militants, simply replied, “Of course we’re with you.” That was the essence of Mr. Gates’s message over two days to the Pakistanis, who are angry about the Central Intelligence Agency’s surge in missile strikes from drone aircraft on militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas, among other grievances, and showed no signs of feeling any love. The trip, Mr. Gates’s first to Pakistan in three years, proved that dysfunctional relationships span multiple administrations and that the history of American foreign policy is full of unintended consequences. As the No. 2 official at the C.I.A. in the 1980s, Mr. Gates helped channel Reagan-era covert aid and weapons through Pakistan’s spy agency to the American allies at the time: Islamic fundamentalists fighting the Russians in Afghanistan. Many of those fundamentalists regrouped as the Taliban, who gave sanctuary to Al Qaeda before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and now threaten Pakistan. In meetings on Thursday, Pakistani leaders repeatedly asked Mr. Gates to give them their own armed drones to go after the militants, not just a dozen smaller, unarmed ones that Mr. Gates announced as gifts meant to placate Pakistan and induce its cooperation. Pakistani journalists asked Mr. Gates if the United States had plans to take over Pakistan’s nuclear weapons (Mr. Gates said no) and whether the United States would expand the drone strikes farther south into Baluchistan, as is under discussion. Mr. Gates did not answer. At the same time, the Pakistani Army’s chief spokesman told American reporters at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi on Thursday that the military had no immediate plans to launch an offensive against extremists in the tribal region of North Waziristan, as American officials have repeatedly urged. And the spokesman, Maj. Gen Athar Abbas, rejected Mr. Gates’s assertion that Al Qaeda had links to militant groups on Pakistan’s border. Asked why the United States would have such a view, the spokesman, General Abbas, curtly replied, “Ask the United States.” General Abbas’s comments, made only hours after Mr. Gates arrived in Islamabad, were an affront to an American ally that gave Pakistan $3 billion in military aid last year. But American officials, trying to put a positive face on the general’s remarks and laying out what they described as military reality, said that the Pakistani Army was stretched thin from offensives against militants in the Swat Valley and South Waziristan and probably did not have the troops. “They don’t have the ability to go into North Waziristan at the moment,” an American military official in Pakistan told reporters. “Now, they may be able to generate the ability. They could certainly accept risk in certain places and relocate some of their forces, but obviously that then creates a potential hole elsewhere that could suffer from Taliban re-encroachment.” Mr. Gates’s advisers cast him as a good cop on a mission to encourage the Pakistanis rather than berate them. And he was characteristically low-key during most his visit here, including during a session with Pakistani journalists on Friday morning at the home of the American ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson. But Mr. Gates perked up when he was brought some coffee, and he soon began to push back against General Abbas. American officials say that the real reason Pakistanis distinguish between the groups is that they are reluctant to go after those that they see as a future proxy against Indian interests in Afghanistan when the Americans leave. India is Pakistan’s archrival in the region. “Dividing these individual extremist groups into individual pockets if you will is in my view a mistaken way to look at the challenge we all face,” Mr. Gates said, then ticked off the collection on the border. “Al Qaeda, the Taliban in Afghanistan, Tariki Taliban in Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Haqqani network — this is a syndicate of terrorists that work together,” he said. “And when one succeeds they all benefit, and they share ideas, they share planning. They don’t operationally coordinate their activities, as best I can tell. But they are in very close contact. They take inspiration from one another, they take ideas from one another.”
Mr. Gates, who repeatedly told the Pakistanis that he regretted their country’s “trust deficit” with the United States and that Americans had made a grave mistake in abandoning Pakistan after the Russians left Afghanistan, promised the military officers that the United States would do better. His final message delivered, he relaxed on the 14-hour trip home by watching “Seven Days in May,” the cold war-era film about an attempted military coup in the United States.

Bin Laden claims plane bombing bid



Osama Bin Laden has claimed responsibility for the failed attack on a US airliner on December 25 in a new audio tape. In the tape obtained by Al Jazeera, the world's most wanted man warns Barack Obama, the US president, that there will be more attacks unless he finds a solution to the Palestinian crisis. The audio tape is believed to have been recorded last month. "The message I want to convey to you through the plane of the hero Omar Farouk [Abdulmutallab], reaffirms a previous message that the heroes of 9/11 conveyed to you." "America will never dream of living in peace unless we live it in Palestine. It is unfair that you enjoy a safe life while our brothers in Gaza suffer greatly. "Therefore, with God's will, our attacks on you will continue as long as you continue to support Israel," bin Laden said. Abdulmutallab, who is now in US police custody, allegedly attempted to ignite explosives sewn into his underpants as Northwest Airlines Flight 253 made its final descent to Detroit on Christmas Day. Obama has criticised his own intelligence agencies for failing to piece together information about the suspect which should have stopped him boarding the flight.

Haiti survivor pulled out of rubble



Rescue teams have pulled a 22-year-old man out of the rubble of a flattened building in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, eleven days after a 7.0 earthquake devastated the Caribbean republic. Wismond Jean-Pierre was rescued late on Saturday night after spending a week and a half under a collapsed hotel, just hours after the Haitian government declared search and rescue operations over. Jean-Pierre's survival was dubbed as "more than a miracle" by the French and Greek search and rescue teams who found him. Carmen Michalska, a rescuer with the Greek team, said: "He just said 'thank you' when we pulled him out." Speaking from his hospital bed, Jean-Pierre agreed he felt he had received "revelation I would survive".

Parliamentary elections postponed to September



Afghanistan's election authorities said Sunday they had to postpone parliamentary elections from May to September because of a funding shortage and lack of security in the troubled country. "The Independent Election Commission, due to lack of budget, security and uncertainty and logistical challenges... has decided to conduct the Wolosi Jirga election on September 18, 2010," Fazil Ahmad Manawi, a senior commissioner told reporters in Kabul. Wolosi Jirga is the official name for Afghanistan's lower house of the parliament. The ballot was originally planned for May 22.

Osama is alive, claims al-Qaeda leader



Al-Qaeda leader Sheikh Rashad Mohammed Saeed Ismael alias Abu al-Fida has ruled out the news about death of Osama Bin Laden, saying that he is alive and kicking. He said that Osama married for fifth time few months before 9/11 and his Yemeni wife went to meet him in Afghanistan via Pakistan. During an interview, Osama’s close aide Abu al-Fida said that when Osama decided to marry for the fifth time, he turned to him to find him a Yemeni bride. After initial preparations, Fida escorted a girl namely Amal al-Sadah from Sana’a to Kandahar via Karachi where Osama would was waiting for his future bride. The expenditures of the marriage were borne by al-Qaeda’s financial chief Sheikh Saeed al-Masri. He added that Osama left Afghanistan before 9/11, however his wife stayed behind. After 9/11, he was arrested in Yemen and detained for two years. His brother Sadeq, 25, was seized in Pakistan and sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention centre. A brother-in-law and a cousin remain there to this day. Fida blames a recent resurgence of the group called Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on the Yemeni government’s failure to help former fighters returning from Afghanistan. “Some of these men got frustrated and disillusioned and decided to head back to the mountains and regroup,” he said. He confirmed that the group had organised the failed attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian who had studied in London, to blow up an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day with explosives sewn into his underpants after training in Yemen. Fida now acts as an adviser to the Yemeni government, pressing it to provide money and jobs for rehabilitated radicals, and has offered to mediate between officials and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Probe sought into Nigeria killings



A US-based rights group has urged Nigeria's vice-president to order an immediate criminal investigation into "a massacre of at least 150 Muslim residents" of a town in central Nigeria. In a statement, Corinne Dufka, Human Rights Watch's (HRW) senior West Africa researcher, said the killings in Kuru Karama, 30km south of the city of Jos, required "the authorities to act now". "Something extremely serious has happened in the town ... act now both to bring those behind these heinous crimes to justice and to protect both the survivors and those at risk of renewed violence," Dufka said. "Vice-president [Goodluck] Jonathan's statement that the perpetrators will be prosecuted is a start. But now he needs to make sure the police conduct an immediate and impartial investigation." The three main mosques of the town were burned and destroyed as well, according to HRW. And one witness told HRW that at least one police officer participated in the attack, while another said the police abandoned their post shortly before the violence began, adding that the killings took place throughout the day, without police intervention to stop the violence, despite repeated calls to the police.

Indian hijack plot caused new UK terror alert



FEARS that Islamist terrorists plan to hijack an Indian passenger jet and crash it into a British city helped to prompt this weekend’s heightened terror alert. MI5 was told by the Indian authorities early last week about a suspected plot by militants linked to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan to hijack an Air India or Indian Airlines flight from Mumbai or Delhi. The warning, which came after the capture of a suspected Islamic leader, was contained in a detailed “threat assessment” sent to MI5 by the Indian Intelligence Bureau. It did not state that Britain was a specific target. But police security sources said it had raised fears in London that a British city might be attacked. The warning revived long-running concerns following an Al-Qaeda plot in 2003 in which a hijacked aircraft was to be flown into Heathrow airport. That incident led Tony Blair, then prime minister, to make the largely symbolic move of dispatching armoured vehicles to guard the airport perimeter. The Indian government has increased passenger screening and frisking at all main airports. It is deploying additional armed sky marshals to deal with the threat. Alan Johnson, the home secretary, revealed on Friday that the threat level to Britain was being raised from “substantial” to “severe”. That is the second-highest level and means that an attack is “highly likely”. The official terror threat was at the severe level for four years after the July 7 bombings in London in 2005. It was downgraded last July. The latest move comes exactly four weeks after the Christmas Day attempted suicide attack on an airliner over Detroit. The FBI has charged a former British student, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called underpants bomber, with the failed attack. The authorities yesterday maintained their stance of being deliberately vague about the precise reasons why the threat level had been raised. A senior Whitehall official said only that the Detroit attack proved that Al-Qaeda had both the “capability and the intent” to attack western aircraft.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Haiti to relocate 400,000 homeless



Haiti's government has said it will move about 400,000 homeless people to new villages to be built outside Port-au-Prince, the capital, after between one million and 1.5 million Haitians were left homeless by last week's earthquake. Paul Antoine Bien-Aime, Haiti's interior minister, said that in the first wave the government would move 100,000 refugees to tent villages of 10,000 each near the town of Croix Des Bouquets, north of Port-au-Prince. The capital's seaport has now been repaired enough to reopen for limited aid shipments, with a Dutch naval vessel unloading pallets of water, juice and shelf-stable milk onto trucks at the pier. Aid is becoming more plentiful but is still inadequate to feed and shelter the masses left without homes and those injured by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that killed as many as 200,000 people on January 12. Brazilian UN peacekeepers have begun levelling land in Croix des Bouquets to set up a transitional tent camp at a site where the Inter-American Development Bank planned to help build permanent houses for 30,000 people. The initiative would let displaced Haitians help build their own new homes under a food-for-work scheme, allowing them to stay close to the area where they had made a living. Many are currently jammed into haphazard, open-air camps with no latrines, sleeping outdoors because their homes were destroyed or out of fear that aftershocks would bring down more buildings. "It's miserable here. It's dirty and it's boring," said Judeline Pierre-Rose, 12, camped in a park across from the collapsed national palace.  "People go to the toilet everywhere here and I'm scared of getting sick."

Has Obama become Bush II? ONE YEAR ON



Barack Obama's election seemed an anomaly, but clearly it was disgust with his predecessor that drove him from obscurity to the presidency. Obama's "outside-inside" strategy inspired millions of new voters. He organised, rallied new voters, used social networks and invoked change orientated slogans with more symbolism than substance. But once in office, the office took over, co-opting his populist inclinations and burying his grass roots movement in a miasma of paralysing pragmatic centrism rationalised as the 'politics of the possible'. Supporters became recipients of emails, not potential activists to lobby for his agenda. He allowed his "army" to dissipate while he moved into using the Oval Office as a bully pulpit. His followers were demobilised as he gave speech after speech. Obama realised that the Bush era had not ended in the bureaucracies or in the media and halls of congress. To undercut its lingering impact, he moved right possibly to later move left. He embraced some of Bush's tough-guy national security boilerplate. He got along with Pentagon power by going along. Compromise began to become his mantra.  Miniscule reforms were presented as great victories. Withdrawal from Iraq was delayed as was the closing of Guantanamo. He seemed to be on a short leash as the real power brokers checked and check mated initiatives. Had he become a Bush II? Many think so. Was he selling out or buying in? Ross Douthat argues in the New York Times that Obama is a knee-jerk liberal who believes in working within institutions for change. According to Douthat, "that makes him ... an odd bird who seems a Machiavellian willing to cut any deal juxtaposed with the soaring rhetoric of fairly ideological big government liberalism". The problem with institutions is that they rarely change without media scandals or outside pressure.

Zardari Re-emerges, but Effect on Pakistan Is Unclear


For the first time in months, President Asif Ali Zardari is doing what presidents normally do — giving rousing speeches, traveling around the country and asserting himself publicly as the country’s chief official. This is unusual behavior for a leader who rarely left the presidential palace, except to travel abroad, and hunkered down in silence under a barrage of media criticism for months last year, leading many to conclude that he was losing his grip on power. “The doomsday scenario has not come to pass,” said Cyril Almeida, a columnist for Dawn, an English-language daily newspaper. It now seems more likely that Mr. Zardari will survive in power. But he remains a weak, unpopular leader, leaving the larger question for Pakistan unchanged: When will its elected leaders be capable of solving the vast assortment of crushing economic, security and social problems facing the country? It is an urgent question, too, for the Obama administration, which is depending on cooperation from Pakistan, its prickly ally, to help carry out its new war strategy for neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan’s western mountains are a sanctuary for militants, and the administration has been pressing Pakistan to do more to flush them out. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will visit Pakistan on Thursday for that reason. While Mr. Zardari has been receptive to American overtures, championing the war against militants far earlier than any of his political opponents, his weakness has hobbled his ability to effectively defend the American policies he supports, like last year’s large American aid package. As a result, American officials continue to rely heavily on their relationship with the country’s powerful military, a tradition that goes back decades, but that also serves to undermine the Obama administration’s goal of strengthening democracy here. Mr. Zardari started his campaign on Dec. 27 in the province of Sindh. He then traveled to Baluchistan, a western province, and this week he has been in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province. He will travel next to Peshawar, the beleaguered capital of Pakistan’s war-torn North-West Frontier Province, his spokesman said. Newspapers took notice. Daily Times, an English-language daily newspaper, went so far as to say in an editorial on Saturday: “All the hopes of the Zardari bashers have crashed to the ground.” But while Mr. Zardari may have reclaimed some political space, rallying the grass roots of his party, and seizing headlines that even one month ago had belonged to voices hostile to him, many analysts see his belated outreach as a last-ditch attempt to fend off his enemies and salvage his presidency. “He’s come to the conclusion that if judiciary or the military want to knock him out, they can,” said Hasan Askari Rizvi, an analyst in Lahore. “But he wants to fight back. That has given him a new lease on life, but his basic problem remains the same.” The most serious of those vulnerabilities has always been his strained relationship with Pakistan’s military, a powerful institution whose leaders have ruled the country for about half of Pakistan’s 62-year history. When he took office in September 2008, Mr. Zardari struck a conciliatory tone with India, the military’s nemesis. He angered the military again when he indicated that intelligence should be under civilian control. He has since backed off those positions. This month he offered remarks praising the army. He removed another irritant in December, giving civilian control of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal to his prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, a pliable leader more palatable to the military. But another potential for confrontation looms this year, when the army chief’s term expires, as the power to appoint a new one is Mr. Zardari’s. Perhaps the most immediate threat to Mr. Zardari, analysts said, comes from Pakistan’s top judge, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who gained national popularity by taking up the causes of human rights and fighting corruption.
In December, his court threw out an amnesty that shielded hundreds of powerful Pakistanis from corruption prosecutions, including Mr. Zardari and a number of his allies, opening the door for corruption cases against them. Mr. Zardari’s supporters argue that as president he retains immunity under the Constitution. Chief Justice Chaudhry’s critics, including a prominent human rights activist, say he has overstepped his mandate and is using his popularity to meddle in politics, a charge he denies. Another clash is likely to come soon over the appointment of Supreme Court judges, analysts said. “You have the judiciary emerging as a real force with populist ambitions,” said Najam Sethi, editor in chief of The Friday Times. “That is creating a huge gridlock.” He added, “A clash between Zardari and the judiciary is very likely now.” One possible effect is that Mr. Zardari will simply shrink to insignificance by giving up the expanded powers he inherited from former President Pervez Musharraf, something he promised to do during his political campaign. Those powers have proved to be more a liability than an asset, becoming a lightning rod for Mr. Zardari’s opponents, including former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who have demanded that the president relinquish them and restore Pakistan’s parliamentary system. So far, Mr. Sharif has refused to join the chorus of voices calling for Mr. Zardari’s resignation. But his brother, Shahbaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab Province, has taken a harder line. The Sharifs were conspicuously absent during Mr. Zardari’s visit to Punjab. In recent weeks, all the provincial assemblies, except Punjab’s, issued resolutions supporting Mr. Zardari. Unlike in other times in Pakistan’s politics, it seems unlikely, at least for now, that Mr. Zardari’s political opponents will be his undoing. In a nation with a long history of military coups, even his most ardent critics want to see civilian governance survive. Strangely, Mr. Zardari’s weakness may serve him in the end. The army seems to have less appetite to re-enter politics directly, having seen its reputation badly tarnished during Mr. Musharraf’s years of military rule. A weak civilian leader, on the other hand, presents no threat to its power.

Israeli, Iranian ministers share a rare handshake



Israeli and Iranian ministers exchanged a rare handshake while attending a fair to promote tourist destinations in their respective nations. The Israeli and Iranian tourism ministers were introduced at a reception hosted by the Spanish king in honor of a Madrid tourism fair. They then proceeded to shake hands. "We are both from the same region and tourism can serve as a bridge for dialogue and to wider understanding," Mezeshnikov told his Iranian counterpart, his spokesman, Amnon Lieberman said.

Pakistani Army: No New Offensive for 6-12 Months



The Pakistani army said Thursday during a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that it can't launch any new offensives against militants for six months to a year to give it time to stabilize existing gains. The announcement likely comes as a disappointment to the U.S., which has pushed Pakistan to expand its military operations to target militants staging cross-border attacks against coalition troops in Afghanistan. Washington believes such action is critical to success in Afghanistan as it prepares to send an additional 30,000 troops to the country this year. But the comments by army spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas clearly indicate Pakistan will not be pressured in the near-term to expand its fight beyond militants waging war against the Pakistani state. Whether it can be convinced in the long-term is still an open question. "We are not talking years," Abbas told reporters traveling with Gates. "Six months to a year" would be needed before Pakistan could stabilize existing gains and expand any operations, he said. The Pakistani army launched a major ground offensive against the Pakistani Taliban's main stronghold near the Afghan border in mid-October, triggering a wave of retaliatory violence across the country that has killed more than 600 people. Gates said Thursday that he wouldn't directly press Pakistan to expand its military campaign but would instead ask his hosts what their plans are. He also said his talks with Pakistan's military and civilian leaders were intended to explain the U.S. war strategy in Afghanistan. The defense secretary told reporters traveling with him to Islamabad from India that he would reassure Pakistan that the United States is "in this for the long haul." But President Barack Obama's comments in December that the U.S. would begin to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan in mid-2011 have raised questions among many Pakistani officials about Washington's commitment. Analysts say such concerns only reinforce the Pakistani government's reluctance to target the Afghan Taliban as requested by the U.S. Pakistan has deep historical ties with the group, and many analysts believe some officials within the government and the military see the militants as an important proxy once coalition troops leave Afghanistan. Gates cautioned Pakistan against trying to distinguish between the different militant groups in an essay published Thursday in The News, an English-language Pakistani newspaper. "It is important to remember that the Pakistani Taliban operates in collusion with both the Taliban in Afghanistan and Al Qaeda, so it is impossible to separate these groups," Gates wrote. "Only by pressuring all of these groups on both sides of the border will Afghanistan and Pakistan be able to rid themselves of this scourge for good -- to destroy those who promote the use of terror here and abroad," Gates said. On of the goals of his trip, he said, is "a broader strategic dialogue -- on the link between Afghanistan's stability and Pakistan's; stability in the broader region; the threat of extremism in Asia; efforts to reduce illicit drugs and their damaging global impact; and the importance of maritime security and cooperation." Gates' first meeting Thursday is with Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar. He also has separate meetings scheduled with Prime Minister Yousaf Reza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari.

Bible codes in Afghan army guns



American guns inscribed with Bible codes are being used by US forces and Afghans to fight the Taliban. Al Jazeera has discovered that some Afghan soldiers are using guns engraved with coded biblical references. The weapons come from Trijicon, a manufacturer based in Wixon, Michigan, that supplies the US military. The company's now deceased founder, Glyn Bandon, started the practice which continues today. David Chater, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Afghan capital Kabul, said: "It is a rallying cry for the Taliban. It gives them a propaganda tool. "They've always tried to paint the US efforts in Afghanistan as a Christian campaign." A Nato spokesman in Afghanistan has acknowledged that the practice is inappropriate but said that the guns will remain in use for now.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Google Delays Mobile Phone Launch in China Amid Censorship Dispute



Google on Tuesday postponed the planned launch of its mobile phone in China amid a dispute with the government over Internet censorship and e-mail hacking that the search giant says may force it to leave the country. "It is postponed," Google Inc. spokeswoman Marsha Wang said. She said a launch ceremony planned for Wednesday was canceled but declined to give a reason for the decision or to say when the launch might be rescheduled. Also Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said the search giant must obey China's laws and traditions, suggesting the government was giving no ground in talks over Internet censorship and Google's threat to pull out of the country. It was the government's first direct comment on Google since the U.S. company said Jan. 12 it would no longer censor search results in China and might shut down its China-based site Google.cn. The announcement prompted an outpouring of support from Chinese Web surfers, who left flowers at Google offices and pleaded with the company to stay.

Britain and US consider asking India to train Afghan National Police



The United States and Britain are exploring ways to boost India’s role in Afghanistan, including a controversial proposal for it to train the Afghan National Police (ANP).  Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, was expected to discuss that and other ideas when he began a visit to India yesterday, his first in almost a year. Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, also arrives in Delhi today to discuss issues including expanding co-operation in Afghanistan and boosting US arms sales to India. The two visits follow a low-profile trip to Delhi last week by Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, the British “Afpak” envoy, who discussed the ANP training proposal with officials. The diplomatic activity reflects a growing desire on all three sides to boost co-operation on regional security, despite differences over Pakistan, a close US ally that is India’s arch enemy. India fiercely resisted being included in Mr Holbrooke’s formal brief last year, and rejected his attempts to raise the issue of Kashmir, which is claimed by India and Pakistan and seen by some as a root cause of regional instability. Now, however, India appears to want to play a more active role in Afghanistan largely because it fears that Pakistan will engineer a Taleban takeover when foreign troops leave.

Kabul on alert after attacks



Afghanistan's capital has been put on high alert following one of the most co-ordinated offensives on Kabul since the Taliban were removed from power by a US-led invasion in 2001. Security was tight in Kabul on Tuesday, a day after Taliban fighters successfully penetrated the highly-fortified heart of the city, targeting key government buildings. Mohammad Khalil Dastyar, the deputy police chief, said troops were searching vehicles entering the capital and had increased the number of checkpoints in the city, as well as foot and vehicle patrols. Farouq Bashar, from Kabul university, "normal business" had resumed on the streets of Kabul. "People are still a little bit panicked. They are trying to stay away from fortified areas, afraid of another attack," he said. "The Taliban spokesman said they dispatched 20 suicide bombers to Kabul and only seven of them were killed. We don't know if the other 13 are alive, or where they are." US and Nato officials hailed local security forces for their defence of the capital. Anne Macdonald, a US brigadier general who works closely with the Afghan interior ministry, the Afghan national security forces "responded very well" to the attacks."They [security forces] were able to contain the situation within five hours," she said. "The damage could have been much worse - to individuals and to property. They have a long way to go but they are interested and motivated. They want to serve the people of Afghanistan."

Haiti aid starts getting through


International relief efforts are gaining momentum in Haiti, a week after an earthquake killed tens of thousands of people and left three million in need of help, but relief workers are facing fresh problems from severe shortages of fuel. After criticism that military and rescue flights had been given priority over humanitarian aid at the tiny Port-au-Prince airport, the US and UN have now agreed to prioritise aid, paving the way for critical supplies to get out to survivors. But fuel shortages, as well as security concerns, bureaucratic confusion and the sheer scale of the need, continue to pose severe challenges to the distribution of aid. "Fuel has become a critical issue," said Emilia Casella, a spokesperson for the UN's World Food Programme. The UN food agency said it was planning to move close to 38,000 litres of diesel fuel a day from the neighbouring Dominican Republic. Sebastian Walker, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Port-au-Prince, said the diminishing fuel supplies threatened to stall relief efforts. "The danger here is that those fuel supplies that the UN says it is simply running out of are also fuel supplies for all of the UN agencies who are meant to be spearheading this relief effort," he said. "The problem is distribution - it's getting the aid that is already at the airport out to the places that need it most, and if the fuel is running dry that means that won't be able to happen." The UN said more than 73,000 people had received a week's rations, but relief groups estimate that as many as one third of the nine million population is in need of assistance, and some 300,000 survivors in the capital alone are still living in sprawling tent cities.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Islamic sect’s plan to build mega-mosque next to Olympics site collapses



Controversial plans to build Europe’s biggest mosque close to the London Olympics site have been halted, The Times has learnt. Tablighi Jamaat, the Islamic sect behind the proposal, is to be evicted this week from the East London site, where it has been operating illegally a temporary mosque and had planned a complex that would accommodate 12,000 worshippers. The Muslim Council of Britain said that the group had fallen victim to “unfounded hostility and hysteria”. However, another Muslim organisation last night welcomed the move. Minhaj-ul-Quran, which advises the Government on how to combat youth radicalisation, said that a mosque should be a “community effort” and not the initiative of one group with extremist links. Newham Council is now considering compulsory purchase of the land after Tablighi Jamaat, whose strict interpretation of Islam has caused concern, failed to lodge a masterplan of its vision. There was strong opposition when the sect unveiled its plans for the site, south of the London 2012 Olympic Park, in 2007. More than 48,000 people petitioned the Government to prevent the development, dubbed the “mega-mosque”. Although Tablighi Jamaat had publicly vowed to press on with its vision, there has been no activity on the project since last summer. The Times understands that its architects are not actively working on the plans and a company hired to win over the public is no longer formally engaged. Newham Council’s planning officers have not spoken to the mosque trust for several months. Newham Council confirmed that it issued enforcement notices against the trust on Thursday. The makeshift mosque on the West Ham site has been operating illegally since temporary planning permission lapsed more than three years ago. A spokesman said that action was taken because the trust missed its final deadline, earlier this month, to lodge a masterplan.The council was investigating all options, including compulsory purchase. Observers portray Tablighi Jamaat as a strict movement intent on spreading its version of Islam. British terrorists have had associations with the organisation and intelligence agencies have expressed fears that al-Qaeda was using membership as cover to network with extremists in the US. Founded in India in 1927, it has 80 million followers. It “utterly refutes any links to terrorism or terrorists”. Campaigners welcomed the outcome, saying that the proposed mosque — which would have held four times as many worshippers as Britain’s largest Anglican cathedral — was inappropriate. Alan Craig, a councillor representing the Christian Peoples’ Alliance, said: “It would have given a huge national platform, right by the Olympics, for them to promote their ideology.” However, Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “We would hope that they will be able to work in co-operation with the local council if they wish to set up a mosque in the area. Tablighi Jamaat has no ties to terrorism. They have been subjected to some unfair coverage.” The mosque trust has refused to comment. The news comes as the Islamic group Minhaj-ul-Quran releases in Britain a 600-page document condemning terrorism. The fatwa, written by Dr Muhammed Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former minister of Pakistan and friend of Benazir Bhutto, declares suicide bombings and terrorism as unIslamic. It is one of the most comprehensive documents of its kind to be published in Britain. Released in Pakistan last month, the fatwa uses texts in the Koran and other Islamic writings to argue that such attacks are “absolutely against the teachings of Islam and that Islam does not permit such acts on any excuse, reason or pretext”.

Hakimullah Mehsud - dead or alive?



On Thursday, the rumours circulated widely that the Americans had got their man - the leader of Pakistan Taliban had been killed in a drone attack. From Peshawar to Islamabad, officials speculated Hakimullah Mehsud was dead. There's no doubt he was the main target of Thursday's attack by the unmanned drone strike on a compound on the North/South Waziristan border. Ten militants were killed but the Taliban insisted that Hakimullah Mehsud had left the area more than forty minutes before and was safe and well. However sources in the area that night reported that the Taliban was blocking access in the area, which led to suggestions that their leader was, if not dead, then seriously wounded. On Friday, Taliban spokesmen were being quoted as saying that Hakimullah had been injured in the attack, had suffered head injuries but had been moved out of the area to receive medical treatment. That set alarm bells ringing. The former leader of the Pakistani Taliban Baitullah Mehsud died last August but it took the Taliban a number of weeks to admit that he had been hit in the missile strike which killed him. Hakilmullah issued an audio tape saying he was well. The problem was he gave no indication when the message was recorded. The Taliban responded on Saturday by releasing another tape. This time Mehsud said: "Today is the 16th of January. I want to confirm to all my mujahideen brothers that I am Hakimullah and I am alive and in good health thanks be to God and that I was not injured in the rocket attack." The use of drone strikes in Pakistan is controversial. They have killed more innocent people than militants, yet the Americans believe it is an effective way of targeting people hiding out in the remote areas of the Pakistan/Afghanistan border.On Sunday, at least 15 people were killed when four missiles were fired into a house in Shaktoi, South Waziristan. It's thought most were Uzbek fighters working with the Taliban. There will be more drone attacks, that's for sure. And Hakimullah Mehsud remains the number one target.

Dozens die in Nigeria clashes



Troops are patrolling the northern Nigerian city of Jos after clashes between Christians and Muslims left at least 26 people dead and injured around 100 more, officials said. Violence erupted on Sunday over the rebuilding of homes destroyed in 2008 clashes between the two religious groups, residents said, although reports as to why the latest round of fighting broke out varied. According to the Associated Press, Muslim youths set fire to a church filled with worshippers, starting a riot that saw mosques and homes burnt. But the AFP news agency said the unrest was sparked by youths protesting the building of a mosque in a predominantly Christian area.

Google cyber-attack from China 'an inside job'



Google employees may have assisted hackers who launched a cyber-attack from China, prompting the company’s threat to leave the country, it has emerged. The world’s most popular search engine is believed to be investigating whether one or more of its own workers bases in the Chinese offices helped those attempting to break into the e-mail accounts of human rights activists last month. Last week, Google said that it may pull out of the country after it was was targeted, along more than 30 other companies, in a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China”. It has now emerged that a number of Chinese journalists may have also seen their e-mail accounts hijacked. The company is continuing to investigate the incident which took place in mid-December. But unnamed sources told news agencies today that the attack could have been an inside job.

Frustration mounts over Haiti aid



Tensions are rising on the streets of Haiti as the bulk of earthquake survivors continue to go without food, medicine or proper shelter. Aid organisations continued to struggle to reach them with supplies on Sunday, six nights after the devastating earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands homeless. A bottleneck at the capital's small airport – the main entry point for the massive assistance pledged by world leaders following the disaster – means little help has reached the many people waiting for help in makeshift camps on streets strewn with debris and decomposing bodies. Some aid agencies have complained about a lack of co-ordination at the Port-au-Prince airport, where the US military has taken over operations.People could see helicopters flying overhead, US military vehicles in the city and aeroplanes arriving at the airport with supplies, so it was difficult to understand why little aid appeared to be reaching the people. Meanwhile the European Union pledged over $575m in emergency and long-term aid, the bloc said on Monday. The union is also moving towards sending 150 people to assist the police force and help beef up security, as tensions in the Caribbean nation rise.

Four Mumbai attackers were Indian: Qasab



The man alleged to be the sole surviving gunman in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Ajmal Qasab, has said four of the gunmen were Indians. Qasab told a court that three of the four gunmen who stormed the Taj Mahal hotel were from Indian-administered Kashmir, Gujarat and Mumbai. He did not reveal details about the identity of the fourth hotel attacker but claimed that he too was Indian. The attacks led India to suspend peace talks with Pakistan. India accused that all the gunmen involved in the Mumbai attacks were from Pakistan. Pakistan denied any responsibility in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. In December 2009, Qasab retracted a confession made earlier in the year that he took part in the attacks. Qasab said he had been forced by police to confess after being repeatedly beaten up.

Islam phobia on rise in UK



Islam phobia reached its ultimate high in Britain as a decision has been taken to bar construction of the tallest mosque in Europe. According to an English daily, a preaching group has acquired a land in East London, and erected a temporary mosque over there before finalization of master plan. According to the master plan, the mosque would have a capacity of 12,000 faithful, four times bigger than Britain’s biggest church. Around 40,000 locals have submitted an application against the construction of the mosque, and termed it a big risk, saying that the mosque would be located near 2012 Olympics Stadium. Newham Council has also issued notification to the mosque authorities and steps are also being considered to get back the said land.

Taliban Militants Launch Attack on Afghan Capital



Taliban militants struck in the heart of the Afghan capital Monday, launching suicide attacks at key government targets in a clear sign the insurgents plan to escalate their fight as the U.S. and its allies ramp up their own campaign to end the war. At least five people, including a child, were killed and nearly 40 wounded, officials said. After a series of blasts and more than three hours of ensuing gunfights outside several ministries and inside a shopping mall, President Hamid Karzai said security had been restored to the capital, though search operations continued amid reports that attackers were hiding in the city. It was the biggest attack in the capital since Oct. 28 when gunmen with automatic weapons and suicide vests stormed a guest house used by U.N. staff, killing at least 11 people including three U.N. staff. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press that 20 armed militants, including some with suicide vests, had entered Kabul to target the presidential palace and other government buildings in the center of the capital. Explosions and heavy machine-gun fire rattled the city for hours. Debris was strewn on the streets, which were quickly abandoned by crowds that normally fill the area. Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said a child and a policeman were killed. The Ministry of Public Health later said five people — a civilian and four security forces — were killed and 30 others wounded. Four militants also were killed, including two suicide bombers who detonated their explosives, and Afghan forces were searching several other areas in the city for more attackers, Azimi said. The attack unfolded on a day in which confirmed Cabinet members were sworn in by Karzai despite the rejection by parliament of the majority of his choices. Presidential spokesman, Waheed Omar, said the swearing-in had occurred as scheduled and everybody in the palace was safe.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Elite US troops ready to combat Pakistani nuclear hijacks



The US army is training a crack unit to seal off and snatch back Pakistani nuclear weapons in the event that militants, possibly from inside the country’s security apparatus, get their hands on a nuclear device or materials that could make one. The specialised unit would be charged with recovering the nuclear materials and securing them. The move follows growing anti-Americanism in Pakistan’s military, a series of attacks on sensitive installations over the past two years, several of which housed nuclear facilities, and rising tension that has seen a series of official complaints by US authorities to Islamabad in the past fortnight. “What you have in Pakistan is nuclear weapons mixed with the highest density of extremists in the world, so we have a right to be concerned,” said Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, a former CIA officer who used to run the US energy department’s intelligence unit. “There have been attacks on army bases which stored nuclear weapons and there have been breaches and infiltrations by terrorists into military facilities.” Professor Shaun Gregory, director of the Pakistan security research unit at Bradford University, has tracked a number of attempted security breaches since 2007. “The terrorists are at the gates,” he warned. In a counterterrorism journal, published by America’s West Point military academy, he documented three incidents. The first was an attack in November 2007 at Sargodha in Punjab, where nuclearcapable F-16 jet aircraft are thought to be stationed. The following month a suicide bomber struck at Pakistan’s nuclear airbase at Kamra in Attock district. In August 2008 a group of suicide bombers blew up the gates to a weapons complex at the Wah cantonment in Punjab, believed to be one of Pakistan’s nuclear warhead assembly plants. The attack left 63 people dead. A further attack followed at Kamra last October. Pakistan denies that the base still has a nuclear role, but Gregory believes it does. A six-man suicide team was arrested in Sargodha last August. Fears that militants could penetrate a nuclear facility intensified after a brazen attack on army headquarters in Rawalpindi in October when 10 gunmen wearing army uniforms got inside and laid siege for 22 hours. Last month there was an attack on the naval command centre in Islamabad. Pakistani police said five Americans from Washington who were arrested in Pakistan last month after trying to join the Taliban were carrying a map of Chashma Barrage, a complex in Punjab that includes a nuclear power facility. The Al-Qaeda leadership has made no secret of its desire to get its hands on weapons for a “nuclear 9/11”. “I have no doubt they are hell-bent on acquiring this,” said Mowatt-Larssen. “These guys are thinking of nuclear at the highest level and are approaching it in increasingly professional ways.” Nuclear experts and US officials say the biggest fear is of an inside job amid growing anti-American feeling in Pakistan. Last year 3,021 Pakistanis were killed in terrorist attacks, more than in Afghanistan, yet polls suggest Pakistanis consider the United States to be a greater threat than the Taliban. “You have 8,000-12,000 [people] in Pakistan with some type of role in nuclear missiles — whether as part of an assembly team or security,” said Gregory. “It’s a very large number and there is a real possibility that among those people are sympathisers of terrorist or jihadist groups who may facilitate some kind of attack.” Pakistan is thought to possess about 80 nuclear warheads. Although the weapons are well guarded, the fear is that materials or processes to enrich uranium could fall into the wrong hands. “All it needs is someone in Pakistan within the nuclear establishment and in a position of key access to become radicalised,” said MowattLarssen. “This is not just theoretical. It did happen — Pakistan has had inside problems before.” Bashir Mahmood, the former head of Pakistan’s plutonium reactor, formed the Islamic charity Ummah Tameer-e-Nau in March 2000 after resigning from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. He was arrested in Islamabad on October 23, 2001, with his associate Abdul Majeed for alleged links to Osama Bin Laden. Pakistan’s military leadership, which controls the nuclear programme, has always bristled at the suggestion that its nuclear facilities are at risk. The generals insist that storing components in different sites keeps them secure.

Germans should stop using Microsoft Internet Explorer



Germany has advised its internet users to avoid using Microsoft Internet Explorer and opt for other browsing software due to security risks to Internet Explorer. The advice was issued by Federal Office of Information Security at a time when Microsoft has admitted that one of the reasons for the recent attacks on Google system was due to the flaws in security of Internet Explorer. Microsoft’s German representative has rejected the advice saying that the people who attacked Google’s system had a specific agenda. Microsoft has said that steps have been taken to enhance the browser’s security. German officials still believe that Internet Explorer is not completely safe.

Barak in Turkey to repair ties



Israel's defence minister has held talks with senior Turkish officials in Ankara as part of efforts to mend strained ties between the two nations. Ehud Barak met Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, for closed-door talks in the capital on Sunday, after a visit to the tomb of Turkey's secularist founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Israeli officials said the visit was aimed at "warming" bilateral relations. "The Israeli-Turkey alliance is of mutual strategic importance," the Reuters news agency quoted an aide to Barak as saying. Barak later met Vecdi Gonuk, his Turkish counterpart, for talks on a nearly $180m arms deal. Turkish officials are currently in Israel to test unmanned drone aircraft that Israeli companies have manufactured for Turkey's army. The project has been long delayed over technical problems and political tensions.

First Wave of U.S. Forces Leave Iraq



The base loudspeaker no longer wakes them up with calls for blood donors; armored trucks sit idle in neat rows. The U.S. Marines who stood at some of the bloodiest turning points of the Iraq war are packing up and leaving. Among the first troops to invade in March 2003, and the first to help turn enemy insurgents into allies, the Marines will be the first major wave of American forces to go as the U.S. military begins a withdrawal to be completed by the end of next year. For them, as for the rest of the U.S. military, this has been the longest war since Vietnam. At their peak in October 2008, an estimated 25,000 Marines were in Iraq, mostly in the country's western Anbar province. Now only about 4,000 remain. They, too, will be gone shortly after the Marines officially hand over responsibility to the Army on Saturday. "The security and stability that exists here is well within the means of the Iraqi security forces to maintain," Maj. Gen. Rick Tryon, the Marine commander in Iraq, said in a recent interview. "You don't need United States Marines to do this at this point. So it's time, and it's timely." Besides, he added: "Afghanistan is calling. "The Pentagon already has deployed a Marine battalion to Afghanistan in a 30,000-troop buildup set to peak this summer.More than 40 percent of all deaths of coalition forces in Iraq between 2004 and 2006 were inflicted in Anbar, a vast mostly desert province stretching from the western outskirts of Baghdad to the borders of Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Of the nearly 3,500 U.S. troops killed so far in hostile action in Iraq, at least 851 were Marines. At the sprawling Marine base outside Al-Asad, 100 miles west of Baghdad, Master Sgt. Matthew Sewell recalls being awakened by the appeals for blood. As a severely wounded Marine was flown in by helicopter, "We'd go down there and stand in line, waiting to give blood," said Sewell, 26, of N. Ft. Myers, Florida. "You'd see 200 people standing in line. We'd all stand there until the guy was stabilized or we gave blood."