Army to Ensure Protection of Civilions: Gen.Kayani

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army Chief has directed the troops engaged in the counter-insurgency operation in Swat, to ensure protection of the local population.
Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaque Pervez Kayani has also directed the military to take care of the people migrating from the region.
Gen. Kayani said the Army was aware of the sensitive nature of the operation in Swat and other areas.
“The military has first time in its history offered its daily ration to the affected people,” Gen. Kayani said.
The ration will be sufficient for 80,000 people. link....

Read More »»

PAK Nuke Arsenal in Safe Hands, Asserts Musharraf

NEW YORK: Former President Pervez Musharraf has said that the nuclear weapons of Pakistan are in safe hands; the Pakistani army is a highly organized institution and knows how to thwart all genres of threats.
Talking to media here, Musharraf said the way ultimately Pakistan army opted to counter insurgency was the only possible idea to tackle Talibanisation and ruled out the failure of Pakistan army in this connection.
“The situation was much more under control when I stepped down”, Musharraf asserted maintaining, “Now, the government and army will have to jointly devise a strategy to overcome militancy in Pakistan”.
The only way to end terrorism is to cease it to exist, he said.
When asked about the safety of Pakistan’s nukes, former president said, “Pakistani armed forces together with its people will never let nuclear weapons fall into the hands of extremist elements”. link...

Read More »»

10 dead, 20 injured in Peshawar car bomb blast

PESHAWAR: At least ten persons including women and children died and twenty were injured in a car bomb blast on Circular Road in a thickly populated Berisco area at Kashkal here, when a bomb installed in a vehicle outside a net café near Bargain Centre detonated.
The school bus carrying 15 children passing by the place of incident was totally damaged. The scene of incident being a centrally located place was bustling with life and there was huge rush. The blast followed by heavy firing let loose a reign of terror all around.

Edhi sources said that 20 persons mostly children were injured in the incident. Among the injured shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital here, 8 persons were in critical condition, where emergency has been declared.

Several vehicles and the nearby buildings were also damaged. Bomb disposal squad and the police have arrived at the scene, while the security persons have besieged the area, but the people from nearby were seen crowding the place of incident. Eyewitnesses said that the blast target a net café, which was receiving threats for sometime. The net café was blown up by the incident.

Sources said that police have taken into custody three suspects from the scene of incident, ho have been shifted to an unknown place for interrogation. link...

Read More »»

President Obama, Pakistan nuclear assets are safe

WASHINGTON: Barack Obama US President said that he is confident that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is safe.

In an interview to a US journal Obama said that the Pakistan Army has been capable to protect the nuclear weapons from Taliban. “We have to respect sovereignty of Pakistan.”
Obama said it is encouraging for Washington the military has begun to realise that the extremists and not India, pose the biggest threat to Pakistan’s stability.
“United States as a partner trying for stabilization in Pakistan,” he added. link...

Read More »»

Pakistan unlikely to get drone: Report

Pakistan is unlikely to get drones inspite of the strong plea made to the US by its President, Asif Ali Zardari, media reports said on Sunday.

"I want drones. I want transfer of technology so that I can manufacture them at home and use them myself," Zardari told 'The Sunday Times.'

However, the newspaper stated that Zardari "may get the cash but US President Barack Obama is less likely to accede to his wish of being given US drones, the unmanned spy planes used to target Al-Qaeda's leadership in Pakistan's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

So far the US has carried out 18 missile attacks within Pakistan this year.

According to reports, for the first time, US shared surveillance data collected by drones with Pakistan but the co-operation is unlikely to go further.

Zardari has asked for them to fly under Pakistani auspices. "If the British police carry out an action here (in Britain) that's one thing, but imagine if the Australian police came in, the British people would not stand for it. That's the situation I am trying to make them understand." link...

Read More »»

Pakistan: Offensive kills 1,000+ alleged militants

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani military offensive against Taliban fighters near the Afghan border has killed more than 1,000 suspected insurgents and "will continue till the last Taliban are flushed out," a top official said Sunday.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik, speaking after visiting Pakistanis displaced by the battle, also wouldn't rule out extending the operation in the Swat Valley and surrounding areas to other parts of the northwest where al-Qaida and the Taliban have long thrived.
It was not possible to independently verify the figures provided by Malik because the territories bombarded over the past three weeks are too dangerous for journalists to freely roam. An army statement Sunday afternoon said 25 militants and a soldier had died in the previous 24 hours of the operation, and that security forces had surrounded and entered two key towns in Swat.
Malik's comments appeared designed to show resolve amid intense U.S. pressure on Islamabad to clear al-Qaida and Taliban havens along the border region, strongholds that threaten Afghan-based U.S. and NATO troops and nuclear-armed Pakistan itself.
"The operation is going in the right direction as we had planned," Malik said in a televised news conference from Mardan, a district hosting several relief camps for some of the nearly 1 million people turned refugees. "People wish to go back. That is what the government also wants. I cannot give a time but we will try (to complete the operation) at the earliest."
The Taliban's ability to overrun Swat, once of Pakistan's premier tourist destinations, had proved particularly embarrassing to the Pakistani military and the weak civilian government.
Many of the main militant safe havens, however, are in Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal areas, with South Waziristan serving as the primary base for Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.
Britain's Sunday Times reported that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said military action would follow in the tribal belt.
"We're going to go into Waziristan, all these regions, with army operations," the newspaper quoted Zardari as saying in an interview. "Swat is just the start. It's a larger war to fight."
Zardari's spokesmen could not immediately be reached Sunday. Malik did not respond directly when asked about a potential extension.
"Wherever the government requires an operation, we will, God willing, do that," he said.
The operation has involved fighting in the Lower Dir and Buner districts that dates back to last month, but the offensive began in full force in Swat in early May.
Of the nearly 1 million civilians who have fled the affected areas, about 100,000 are now staying in sweltering relief camps. The military has warned that some militants are trying to flee as well, some after shaving off their beards to blend in with refugees.
The army statement Sunday said security forces were battling militants on the outskirts of Swat's main town, Mingora, where many of the estimated 4,000 Taliban fighters in the valley are believed to be holed up.
It said security forces had surrounded and entered the towns of Matta and Kanju to take on the militants, and it requested civilians still in those areas to stay away from the Taliban hide-outs. It also said troops were making gains in the remote Piochar area, the rear base of Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah.
The military does not explain how it differentiates civilian from militant killings, and it has not released a civilian death toll, but witnesses have reported many innocent people have been wounded or killed.
In Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, meanwhile, police said a tip-off led them to arrest four alleged militants from Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a banned group linked to both the Taliban and al-Qaida. The men are suspected of planning attacks on high-value targets in Karachi, senior police officer Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam said. link.....

Read More »»

Drone strike kills nine in Waziristan

PESHAWAR - At least nine militants were killed and 11 others injured when the US forces camping across the border in Afghanistan fired missiles at a compound from two drones in Shamanki-Kharerai area near Laddha South Waziristan Agency on Saturday.
Those killed and injured included foreign militants. As per details, militants' compound established in a school at Shamankai-Kharerai in Sararogha Tehsil, was targeted with missiles through drones. The local tribesmen informed that from four to six missiles were fired against the compound, used for training and shelter of the militants in the area.
Soon after the missile strike, the site came under siege of the militants and they did not permit the local people to enter or contribute to the rescue activities.
The locals said that nine people were killed and 11 others injured. Conditions of several injured were stated to be serious. The identity of those killed and injured has not been ascertained so far.
However, local tribesmen believe that a number of non-local and foreigners were killed and injured in the missile attack. The site was in occupation of the militants from last several months. link...

Read More »»

EU presidency plans first summit with Pakistan

The European Union plans to hold the bloc's first ever summit with Pakistan in June to "help strengthen the civilian government" there, an EU presidency source said Saturday.
The decision to hold the summit is also "a testament to the political importance the EU attaches to its relationship with the country," the Czech EU presidency source said.
"This is the first EU Pakistan summit ever to be held, the EU wants to help strengthen the civilian government in Pakistan by showing strong support on the highest level," added the source for the Czech presidency, which will hand the European Union's reins over to Sweden in July.
Among the subjects mooted for the summit, provisionally planned for June 17, are the fight against terrorism -- including in neighbouring Afghanistan -- as well as enhanced cooperation in the field of the rule of law and trade issues.
The European Union and the United States have in recent months showed a growing urgency to boost ties with Pakistan amid fears of increasing Islamic militancy and due to its strategic importance to the US-led action in Afghanistan.
Pakistan's mountainous border region with Afghanistan is an Al-Qaeda haven.
US President Barack Obama has pledged a new focus on fighting Taliban and Al-Qaeda extremists in the region.
A key US senator on Thursday pledged quick action on a giant aid package to stabilize Pakistan as a committee cleared an early one billion dollars to support the insurgency-hit US ally.
Last December European nations signalled their wish to reinforce links with Pakistan.
"The European Union stands ready to strengthen bilateral relations with Pakistan and to look for possible ways of increasing its financial assistance to the country," EU foreign ministers said in a statement then.
The 27 EU nations agree that cooperation should be boosted in the areas of trade and development, intercultural exchange, non-proliferation, human rights, migration, counterterrorism and education.
The EU has sent some 500 million euros in aid to Pakistan since 1976, according to the European Commission, and has quadrupled its funding for the 2007-2010 period, with 50 million euros (65 million dollars) earmarked so far.
Brussels wants to target Pakistan's lawless border areas with Afghanistan with its aid, focusing on rural development, natural resources management, education and the development of human resources.
Britain is championing a free-trade deal with Islamabad. link...

Read More »»

Taliban's Gains in Pakistan Have Washington Worried About Nuclear Security

The Taliban's advance was alarming enough to prompt an unusual declaration by Pakistan's president that the country's atomic arsenal is beyond the grasp of Islamist militants. "I want to assure the world that the nuclear capability of Pakistan is under safe hands," President Asif Ali Zardari insisted last week. His comments followed a chilling warning from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "If the worst, the unthinkable, were to happen and this advancing Taliban—encouraged and supported by al Qaeda and other extremists—were to essentially topple the government for failure to beat them back, then they would have the keys to the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan," she said. "We can't even contemplate that." At his press conference last week, Obama addressed the issue: "We have huge strategic interests, huge national security interests in making sure that Pakistan is stable and that you don't end up having a nuclear-armed militant state." Obama met with Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai this week and pledged cooperation in fighting the Taliban. At the same time the Pakistani army launched an offensive on the Taliban in the Swat Valley.

The rare public discussion of a subject that for years has been almost taboo shows how concerned Washington is about Pakistan's future stability. Pakistani officials dislike the attention on their nuclear apparatus, and some are said to suspect a U.S. desire to seize or neutralize their weapons in the event of a full breakdown in security. U.S. officials have tended to steer clear of the topic to avoid jeopardizing Pakistani cooperation on safety and security issues. "The more we talk about it, the harder it becomes to do the work," says Michael Krepon, a cofounder of the Henry L. Stimson Center, a Washington think tank.

Pakistan's nuclear force is the crown jewel of its strategic assets—enough fissile material for roughly 60 nuclear weapons. The actual number of bombs has not been disclosed, but they form what Pakistani officials call a deterrent to arch rival India. In recent years, U.S. officials have worked closely with Pakistan's military—though without full information on or access to the country's nuclear apparatus—to improve physical security. "We have provided some assistance over several years," says one knowledgeable U.S. official. "Pakistan takes the security of its arsenal very seriously."

The U.S. program began after 9/11 and has included tens of millions of dollars in security training for Pakistani nuclear officials in the United States and high-tech security equipment to protect Islamabad's nuclear assets. In March, Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, then head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said that Pakistan had moved to enhance nuclear security but added that "vulnerabilities exist."

Among the risk-reducing steps, say nuclear specialists, Pakistan is believed to store separately the fissile core of its bombs, the non-nuclear triggering explosives, and the delivery vehicles themselves (missiles and aircraft). Key scientific and technical personnel are said to be carefully screened and monitored for any connections to the Taliban or Al-Qaeda. Mobilization of nuclear forces is said to be possible only under strict requirements overseen by a National Command Authority, a group of veteran generals and top civilian officials. Separately, the Pakistanis, says the U.S. official, have improved export controls and participated ably in a program to do radiation scanning of U.S.-bound cargo from the Pakistani port of Qasim.

The concern about Pakistani nuclear security relates not only to the Taliban's recent advances and the weakness of a young, civilian government in response but also to the country's history of proliferation. Until he was placed in custody, A. Q. Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, orchestrated a breathtaking nuclear black market that sold technology to Iran, Libya, and North Korea. link...

Read More »»

Poll protesters hurt in Kashmir teargas firing

SRINAGAR: At least 30 people were injured when Indian police in Indian-held Kashmir’s (IHK) main city fired teargas shells on Friday to disperse thousands of people protesting the general election, police said. More than 6,000 protesters led by separatist leader and chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq marched through downtown Srinagar and pelted police with stones, said police officer Muhammed Shafi. Turnout in the valley, flashpoint of a two-decade-long insurgency, was as low as 19 percent on Thursday after anti-India separatists called for a poll boycott. “Boycott is a democratic verdict. People have rejected the 62-year-old repression by India,” said Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a senior separatist leader, at Friday prayers at a Srinagar mosque.link...

Read More »»

Pakistan Again Squares Off Against Taliban in Swat

With soldiers again squaring off against Taliban militants in the Swat Valley, Pakistan faces a dual test it has often failed before: fighting a counter-insurgency campaign while caring for those displaced by the conflict.

For the past several days, Pakistan's army and the Taliban have been fighting sporadically along the mountain ridges of Swat after a peace deal collapsed. Pakistani officials say they are determined that the offensive will continue until the military asserts control over the 400-square-mile area.

But even with a fresh infusion of U.S. military technology and training, it is far from clear that the army will do any better this time than last, when it was ground to a halt by the militants and entered a peace that gave control of the valley to the Taliban.

"Everyone here believes [the Taliban] are coming back," said Akmal Ali, a 21-year-old in Takht Bhai, an area near Swat that has so far remained peaceful and nominally under government control.

He recounted how Taliban fighters came through Takht Bhai earlier this week, just as the violence in Swat was intensifying. They told barbers not to shave customers and music and movie shops to shut down. "If this game continues, the militants will end up in Islamabad," Mr. Ali said.

People fleeing the now-daily bombardment of the valley say Taliban fighters are blocking roads with rocks and trees to keep residents from escaping. Some of those who are making it out say militants are sneaking out with them, warning men to keep their beards and a close eye on their women and to get ready for the consolidation of Taliban rule in the area.

Pakistan's success in preventing that will go a long way toward determining whether the nuclear-armed South Asian nation is able to reverse what top American officials and many Pakistani observers have in recent weeks warned was a slow collapse that threatens the American mission in Afghanistan and the stability of one of the world's most populous – and volatile – regions.

The Pakistani army said Friday it had lost 13 of its own men in the past 24 hours and killed 143 militants. There's been no word on civilian casualities. But front-line officers report only slight gains so far against the thousands of militants in Swat and two neighboring districts, Buner and Lower Dir.

"This is going to be hard fighting, no quarter here. These miscreants know the terrain. They are formidable," said an army major in a phone interview.

Pakistan's military, built for tank battles and artillery duels against Indian forces on the plains of the subcontinent, has in the past four years struggled through a series of campaigns against the Taliban across the mountains of northwestern Pakistan. Most, like the 18-month battle in Swat, ended in standstill.

The U.S. is stepping up its efforts to try to reshape Pakistan's military into a force that can fight insurgents in the rugged terrain along the Afghan border, where the Taliban and al Qaeda have flourished since being pushed from Afghanistan by U.S.-led forces in 2001.

U.S. and Pakistani officials say the Americans are going to provide night-vision goggles and more helicopters. There are also plans to train Pakistani soldiers in counterinsurgency doctrine and wean them from their reliance on artillery and air power, which often flattens villages and kills more civilians than insurgents.

Still, U.S. officials privately question whether Pakistan's top brass, many of whom still see India as the real threat, are committed to reorienting their forces. "Look at what they're doing right now," said a U.S. official in Washington, referring to the air strikes and artillery bombardment against Taliban positions in Swat over the past few days. "This is why they keep losing."

Fleeing residents said innocents were being killed in the military's bombardment. "We saw many bodies rotting," said Arsala Khan, a farmer who had fled to Dargai, south of Swat, from the valley's main town, Mingora.

The U.N. refugee agency said Friday in Geneva that 500,000 people had fled the fighting in the past few days. That brings the total number of displaced since August to one million. Many are crowded into camps that are fast becoming squalid, their confidence waning that the government will provide for and protect them.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said Thursday the government was setting aside $12 million for the refugees and appealed for help from abroad.

"We left everything behind, our wheat crops and small businesses," says Ghani Akbar, 37 years old, who fled Swat this week. He is now living with more than 1,000 others in neatly laid-out tents at a refugee camp in the town of Chota Lahore. "Our children ask for fruit and meat," he says, "but I have only 100 rupees," about $1.30.

Mr. Akbar, like many of the other refugees, expressed disdain for the Taliban, whom he called "rascals."

Still, the fear in Pakistan and the West is that refugees like Mr. Akbar, left with few prospects and little hope, are easy prey for the Taliban militants who inevitably infiltrate such camps, recruiting sympathizers and intimidating the rest. link...

Read More »»

Pakistani court acquits two in killing of 11 French

KARACHI, May 5 (Reuters) - A Pakistani court set free on Tuesday two men sentenced to death for planning the killing of 11 French navy engineers in a 2002 bomb attack in the city of Karachi, a defence lawyer said.

The acquittal of the two could raise questions about Pakistan's commitment to tackling surging militancy and comes as President Asif Ali Zardari prepares for security talks in Washington with President Barack Obama.

The two men, Asif Zaheer and Mohammad Rizwan, were accused of belonging to the Harkatul Mujahideen al-Aalmi, an al Qaeda-linked militant group accused of carrying out the attack outside the Sheraton Hotel, which also killed two Pakistanis.

"The court has ruled that the prosecution has failed to prove the case against my clients," defence lawyer Mohammad Farooq told Reuters.

The two men were arrested in December 2002 and sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court in 2003.

They later challenged that decision.

Farooq said the court had ordered that the two be released if they were not wanted in connection with any other case.

A security analyst said the court ruling could undermine the credibility of the courts as well as the confidence of foreigners, including investors. link...

Read More »»

Pakistan expects up to 500,000 refugees from Swat

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani minister says the government expects up to 500,000 people to flee fighting between the army and the Taliban in a northwestern valley.
Information minister for the northwest, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, says authorities are preparing six camps to accommodate those expected to flee the Swat Valley in the coming days.
Witness and officials say fighting between troops and militants broke out in Swat on Tuesday and that hundreds were fleeing.
The region had been covered by a much criticized cease-fire that has slowly broken down in recent weeks.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Taliban militants patrolled the streets of a northwestern town Tuesday and residents were urged to flee as a peace deal widely criticized as a surrender to the extremists appeared on the verge of collapse, witnesses and officials said.
The deteriorating situation in the Swat Valley came as Pakistan's leader prepared for talks in Washington with President Barack Obama on how to sharpen his country's fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban, which are blamed for attacks in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
U.S. officials said Obama would seek assurances from President Asif Ali Zardari that his country's nuclear arsenal was safe and that the military intended to face down extremists in coordination with Afghanistan and the United States.
Although the administration thinks Pakistan's nuclear weapons are secure for now, concern that militants might try to seize one or several of them is acute. The anxieties have heightened amid the Taliban's recent advances and American worry about the commitment from Pakistan's government and military in battling the extremists, the officials said.
Pakistan agreed to a truce in the Swat Valley and surrounding districts in February after two years of bloody fighting with militants in the former tourist resort. It formally introduced Islamic law last month in the hope that insurgents would lay down their arms, something they have not done.
Last week, the insurgents moved from the valley into Buner, a district just 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the capital, triggering alarm at home and abroad. The army responded with an offensive that it says has killed more than 100 militants, but has yet to evict them.
On Tuesday, Khushal Khan, the top administrator in Swat said Taliban militants were roaming the area and laying mines, but would not say whether an army offensive — which would spell the end of the peace pact — was imminent. The military has said it will wait for a decision by the central government before launching any actions.
A witness in the main town of Mingora said black-turbaned militants were deployed on most streets and on high buildings, and security forces were barricaded in their bases. He asked for anonymity out of fear for his life.
Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said the militants were in control of "90 percent" of the valley and said their actions were in response to army violations of the peace deal such as attacking insurgents and boosting troop numbers in the region. He accused the government of acting under pressure from the U.S.
"Everything will be OK once our rulers stop bowing before America," he told The Associated Press by cell phone.
Khushal Khan said authorities were lifting a curfew so that people could leave Mingora, and a camp had been set up for the displaced in the nearby town of Dargai.
"We are leaving the area to save our lives," said Sayed Iqbal, a 35-year-old cloth merchant who was putting household goods in a pickup truck already loaded with his elderly parents, wife and two children. "The government has announced people should leave the area. What is there left to say?"
Washington, which says eliminating militant havens in Pakistan is vital to winning the war in neighboring Afghanistan, has criticized the deal and called for tougher action.
While an army offensive would be welcomed abroad, it was far from certain the government would be able to dislodge the militants, who have had three months to rest and reinforce their positions.
Pakistan has waged several offensives in the border region in recent years that have often ended inconclusively amid public anger at civilian casualties. The country's army, trained to fight conventional battles against rival India, is not used to guerrilla warfare.
Pakistan is struggling to thwart an increasingly overlapping spectrum of extremist groups, some of whom have enjoyed official support. Few extremist leaders are ever brought to justice.
Also Tuesday, the High Court in the southern city of Karachi upheld an appeal by two men sentenced to death for the 2002 slayings of 11 French nationals and four other people in a bombing outside the city's Sheraton Hotel.
The judges said they suspected that the confession of one of the men, Asif Zaheer, was "not voluntary" and that prosecution witnesses had been "set up" by authorities, said state prosecutor Saifullah, who goes by only one name.
Authorities were considering appealing the acquittal, Saifullah said.
Earlier Tuesday, a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying troops near Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, killing one paramilitary soldier and four civilians, police official Ghafoor Khan Afridi said. Another 21 people, including 10 troops and police and two children, were injured, Afridi said.
Pakistani militants have threatened a campaign of suicide blasts in retaliation for U.S. missile strikes on al-Qaida and Taliban strongholds into Pakistan's northwest and for a string of military operations by government forces. link...

Read More »»

PML-N decides to stay out of federal cabinet

ISLAMABAD: PML-N’s leadership has formally conveyed its decision of not joining the federal cabinet to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, DawnNews reports.

A meeting between Premier Gilani and the top PML-N leadership was held today in Islamabad to determine how the two mainstream political parties could share power in Punjab.

According to PML-N sources, the Nawaz League told PPP that it will be given new portfolios under new conditions in Punjab.

The sources also reveal that both PML-N and the PPP have agreed to form a four-member committee in the province to decide the allocation of portfolios and day-to-day management of affairs.

Both parties have also reached agreement to evolve a consensus on all national issues and convene an All Parties Conference soon.

The deliberations on the power-sharing formula came after the two parties agreed to share treasury benches in the province once again. link...

Read More »»

Hafiz Saeed's detention extended for two months

LAHORE: The review board of the Lahore High Court extended the detention of the outlawed Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and Colonel (Rtd.) Nazir for two months, DawnNews reported.

Meanwhile, other Jamaatud Dawa activists Ameer Hamza and Mufti Abdur Rehman were released by the review board.

Saeed was presented before a review board of the Lahore High Court amid strict security.

During the court proceeding, Hafiz Saeed said his detention for the last five months was without any justification.

He said if there was any incriminating evidence against him then it should be presented before the court. link...

Read More »»

Suicide attack on military convoy kills 5

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 5 (UPI) -- A suicide bomber rammed a vehicle in a Frontier Corps convoy in Peshawar, Pakistan, Tuesday, killing at least five people and injuring 25 others, police said.
Police said the attack took place near the Bara Qadim police checkpoint on the border between Peshawar and the Khyber Agency, the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported.

The checkpoint's building and two vehicles were destroyed in the blast, police said.

Nine of the injured were members of the security force --- four from the Frontier Corps, three from the Frontier Constabulary and two from local police, Dawn said. link...

Read More »»

Pakistanis to Obama: Stop drone attacks

WASHINGTON, May 5 (APP): Interviewed by a major American newspaper just before this week’s meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and President Barack Obama, common people on the streets of Pakistan had a single message for the U.S. leader: stop drone attacks.

Although many Pakistanis had welcomed the election of President Obama as an opportunity for some fresh thinking about their troubled region, The Los Angeles Times reported, the honeymoon hasn’t lasted long.

Pakistanis from different walks of life say they’d give the American leader an earful if they were at the White House table, correspondent Mark Magnier wrote from Islamabad.

One of the biggest complaints: the deadly drones, the hugely unpopular unmanned aircraft involved in spying and firing on suspected “high value” militants on Pakistani soil. Islamabad sees them as violation of its territory.

“These drones are very bad,” Ashraf Bhatti, an apparel merchant, was quoted as saying in the Anjuman bazaar in Lahore. “What would America think if someone started shooting rockets and killing people in their land?”

The anger and resentment remain so great, some here argue, that America loses far more in goodwill than it gains in assassinated militants.

“It just hits everyday people like us,” said Mohammed Yasin, a retired shopkeeper.

Some Pakistanis say they would be less distrustful of U.S. motives and objectives if Washington put a quick end to its “Af-Pak” terminology, strategy and mind-set, some told the The Times correspondent.

Besides Pakistanis, a number of lawmakers on the Hill have also questioned the use of the term Af-Pak, calling it an affront to the sense of sovereignty of the two nations.

The American approach is meant to combine policy toward the two countries into a single cohesive plan, the dispatch pointed out. But people here say that while the region may look like one big mess from afar, there’s a world of difference between themselves and their neighbour to the west.

Pakistan, they say, is a nation with a functioning government, respected universities, a longstanding legal tradition and a vibrant arts tradition. Afghanistan is a land without much in the way of law, government or other conventional definitions of a nation, some contend.

“The majority of Pakistanis really don’t want to be put in the same category,” said Abid Sulehri, head of Islamabad’s Sustainable Development Policy Institute. “It’s very bad if they continue to use that term.”

David Kilcullen, a key adviser to the US Central Commander Gen David Petraeus told a Congressional committee last week that the predator strikes are creating more extremists than they are taking out the bad guys. He pointed out the drone attacks have taken out some al-Qaeda terrorists but they have killed 700 Pakistanis.

Pakistan and the United States have been cooperating closely since 9/11 in fighting al-Qaeda militants who crossed into Pakistani tribal areas when the U.S. swept the Taliban out of Kabul. The U.S. is a major economic and trade partner of Pakistan but has angered Islamabad with a series of drone attacks in its tribal areas. The Pakistani side is expected to raise the issue at Wednesday’s talks. LINK...

Read More »»

Pakistan battles Taliban; pact hangs in balance

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani forces battled Taliban fighters on Monday as the militants denounced the army and government as U.S. stooges and said a peace pact would end unless the government halted its offensive.

The February pact and spreading Taliban influence have raised alarm in the United States about the ability of nuclear-armed Pakistan -- which has a vital role in efforts to stabilize Afghanistan -- to stand up to the militants.

Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Islamabad of abdicating to the Taliban while President Barack Obama expressed grave concern the government was "very fragile" and unable to deliver basic services.



Obama will present his strategy for defeating al Qaeda to Pakistan and Afghanistan leaders on Wednesday amid growing U.S. concern it is losing the Afghan war.

In the Buner valley, 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the Pakistani capital, security forces backed by helicopter gunships and artillery attacked militants in three hamlets, residents and a security official said.

"There's been heavy firing going on since morning. It's very scary. Troops are using heavy artillery and gunships," resident Nasir Khan told Reuters by telephone.

A military official, who declined to be identified, said 20 militants had been killed.

Buner is to the southeast of the Swat valley, where in February authorities gave in to a Taliban demand for Islamic sharia law as part of a deal to end nearly two years of violence in the former tourist destination.

But the Taliban refused to give up their guns and pushed into Buner and another district adjacent to Swat last month, intent on spreading their rule.

"WORSE THAN THE AMERICANS"

Amid mounting concern at home and abroad, security forces launched an offensive to expel militants from Buner and another district just over a week ago.

More than 170 militants have been killed, according to the military, although there has been no independent confirmation of that casualty estimate. link...

Read More »»

US says Swat deal a real wake-up call for Pakistan

Washington, May 4 (ANI): US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said the failure of the Swat deal is a real wake-up call for Pakistan, adding that the Pakistani military has started to regain the initiative in its northwestern areas that recently fell under the Taliban control.
It is my impression from the great distance that they have begun to regain the initiative, he said when asked about Pakistan armys operations against the Taliban militants in Buner and other areas around the Swat valley.
Gates told CNN that the militants posed an existential threat to Pakistan, noting that the countrys leadership is determined to confront the menace.
I think the leaders of Pakistan do understand this. President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the others. But I think there is a need for them to help the rest of Pakistan understand why it is an existential threat.
Asked to comments on Pakistans criticism that the US was reluctant to provide it with the necessary counterinsurgency equipment, including helicopters and night vision goggles, Gates said that was not the case.
In fact, he said, there was hesitation on Pakistans part to have a too much American involvement on its soil. The United States is prepared to help Pakistan with training and counterinsurgency equipment, Gates said.
We have been willing to provide that kind of training and that kind of equipment, as much as we can provide as much as they can take.
Pakistan, he said, does not want a significant American footprint on its soil. I understand that. But we are willing to do pretty much whatever we can to help the Pakistanis in this situation.
Asked if America will send more counterinsurgency trainers beyond a small number, Gates replied: I think that remains to be seen. I think it will depend on how the situation develops and the views of the Pakistani government.
Similarly, Gates said on the news programme that Pakistan is beginning to develop the counterinsurgency capability, citing Americas own experience of several years in changing its tactics after the Iraq war. (ANI) link...

Read More »»

Zardari-Altaf meeting in London

LONDON: Quaid of the Muttehadda Qaumi Movement (MQM) Altaf Hussain held meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari here on Sunday.

Views were exchanged in detail regarding the various matters of mutual interest including the country’s political situation, the Malakand operation and the situation in Karachi.

Altaf Hussain met with the president who told him about his visit of Libya and the success of the Friends of Pakistan conference in Tokyo. link...

Read More »»