B4U India

Fighter aircraft used to kill over 20 insurgents in NWFP

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:04:00 -0400

Three fighter aircraft were used to kill more than 20 insurgents, including two commanders.

“Three fighter aircraft took part in the operation and heavily bombed the positions of combatants in their stronghold Peuchar, where Maulana Fazlullah is believed to be hiding and destroyed their hideouts and munitions dumps,” The News quoted Mingora-based ISPR spokesman, Maj Nasir Ali, as saying.

Two leading commanders, who were killed, were identified as Qari Shehinshah and Mufti Saeedur Rehman.

Meanwhile, the Taliban sources conceded only the killing of Mufti Saeedur Rehman.

A woman was killed and four children were wounded when a mortar shell landed on the house of one Manan in Lej Banr area of Matta.

Another shell fell on the house of chairman peace committee and former Nazim, Sher Khan, wounding his elder brother, Majidullah, besides damaging the house.

Similarly, two persons were injured in shelling and a mosque was damaged in Aghal Barthana area of Matta.

Gunship helicopters, while continuing attacks on the suspected Taliban positions, pounded the hideouts of the militants in Peuchar, Namal, Barthana and other areas. However, there were no reports of casualties and damage.

In Shakardara area, militants blew up the already burnt down houses of Awami National Party local leader, Muzaffar Ali Khan and his brothers. (ANI)

Zardari’s `kitchen cabinet'' preventing him from restoring deposed judges

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:03:00 -0400

Pakistan People’s Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari is reportedly under the influence of a small group of close advisers, and they are preventing him from restoring Justice Iftikhar''s judiciary, party sources told The News.

According to the paper, the group has now adopted a novel strategy to get rid of unwanted judges.

A top PPP leader said Prime Minister Gilani and all sincere senior leaders are acting as obstacles to Law Minister Farooq Naek’s bid to reappoint the deposed judges.

Naek is of the view that the PCO judges in the Supreme Court would have to go back to their respective high courts in order to get back to the November 3, 2007 situation in accordance with the Murree Declaration.

A senior PPP leader told The News it was a wrong perception that Zardari still had fears the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) would be abolished once the deposed judges got restored.

"It will take a maximum of two months for Zardari and others to get acquitted from all the cases and that too through a legal process," senior PPP leaders said.

"I believe some close aides of Zardari have made the restoration of Justice Iftikhar an issue out of personal ego and consistently urge him (Asif Zardari) not to restore him," one of them said.

The senior leader maintained this group wanted to get rid of all the honourable and upright deposed judges in their bid to avoid any future accountability.

Another senior PPP leader, however, denied that the intensifying rift in the PPP could have an effect on the presidential election. He said despite many differences, all party legislators would vote for the party''s nominated candidate. (ANI)

India, Pak `agencies’ obstacles to people-friendly CBM’s: Pak editorial

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:03:00 -0400

An editorial in a prominent Pakistani daily has said that intelligence agencies in both Pakistan and India are acting as obstacles to people-friendly confidence-building measures initiated since 2004 by the two governments.

According to the editorial in the Daily Times, these so called “agencies” are not yet ready to allow easy travel for the purpose of holding dialogues.

It insists that political leaders in both countries need to overrule these agencies, and urges New Delhi to “present their open-policy draft as soon as possible”

The Pakistani Foreign Office too must take its cue from the countries political leadership, instead of from the agencies, it adds.

It says that there is a need to pry open the Indo-Pak lock, as “unless some relaxation of tension is managed, the two countries can easily aggravate the war that their intelligence agencies are already waging.”

“People-to-people contacts are a safety valve and a globally acknowledged CBM for peace, provided the warring states want it,” it adds.

The Secretaries-General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and the Pak-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy, I A Rehman and Anis Haroon, have jointly urged the Governments of Pakistan and India to ease their reciprocal visa restrictions to enable people from both sides to meet in the cause of peace.

Unfortunately, the appeal has been met with a deafening silence in Islamabad as India and Pakistan are once again fighting their covert war of bomb-explosions, proxy insurgencies and serious verbal psy-violence. Therefore the official dialogue is on hold.

Dialogue between the two countries, the editorial claims is at a standstill because the “agencies” on both sides have prevailed and proxy hostilities have prevented a bilateral discussion of it. (ANI)

Pak Army chief aware of political challenges: Admiral Mullen

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:02:00 -0400

Chairman, US Joint Chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen has said that there is recognition in Washington and in Pakistan that the current political process is ‘pretty challenging’.

Briefing the media about a secret meeting between American and Pakistani generals aboard an American aircraft carrier, Admiral “ when I first met General Kayani, it was a couple of weeks before the first election, and now there’s another election, having had a president resign. So obviously there is a significant amount of political churn in Pakistan that he’s very much aware of.”

When Admiral Mullen was asked whether General Kayani’s goal for Pakistan matched with the US goal, he said: “He (General Kayani) knows his country better than we. And again, I just think that’s where he is, that’s where he’ll stay.”

The Dawn quoted him as saying that Pakistan was an important ally in a very critical and increasingly unstable part of the world and having that relationship is really what it’s all about it.”

“The military-to-military engagement with Pakistan is like any other country. And since that’s the relationship that we are continuing to work on, evolve,” he added.

He also acknowledged that the right way to engage Pakistan is through their newly elected leadership and there were other people in the US government who would be the right ones to deal with Pakistan on the political side.

Asked if the removal of President Musharraf would hurt US interests in Pakistan, Admiral Mullen said: “I think we need to move ahead. President Musharraf’s made a decision. He’s moved on. I think we all need to move on and look to a future that we both understand.” (ANI)

Pakistan tops in violence among South Asian countries

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:02:00 -0400

Pakistan tops the list of South Asian countries having the worst law and order situation, according to statistics collected by a website.

At least 355 people were killed in 183 blasts during the first three months of 2008, while another 108 were killed in 112 blasts in the second quarter. Around 129 bombs went off during the months of July and August, claiming around 156 lives, The News reports.

A would-be suicide bomber was the only casualty in the August 28 blast in Bajaur Agency where local tribesmen shot dead a suspect, while another such act was thwarted on August 29 in Darra Adamkhel.

In India, a total of 249 blasts killed 139 people and injured 272.

On May 13, 80 people were killed and 150 others injured when eight bombs went off simultaneously in different parts of Jaipur. Another serial bombing occurred in Gujarat where 17 explosions in different parts of the city killed over 55 Indians and injured over 100.

In Bangladesh, only five bomb blasts of low intensity occurred till August 15. Not a single person was killed in these blasts and only 14 persons sustained injuries.

In Nepal, 64 bombs blasts ripped through various cities, killing six people. The same was the situation in Bhutan, where one person was killed and two others wounded in total eight bomb blasts. The last blast in Bhutan occurred in Punakha city on March 17.

In Sri Lanka, a total of 249 blasts killed 273 people, including two Federal Ministers and a Parliamentarian, till August 15. Of these explosions, eight were suicide hits. Sri Lanka is considered to be the first Asian country where the trend of suicide bombings erupted. (ANI)

PPP has enough support to win presidential poll: Sherry Rehman

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:01:00 -0400

Pakistan''s Information and Broadcasting Minister Sherry Rehman has said that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has the required amount of support to win the September presidential election.

The Daily Times quoted Rahman, as saying that our party has the most representation in all provinces. We have the support of a comfortable majority and our opponents are only spreading misinformation.

Asked about the party’s relationship with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Rahman said contact had to be maintained in politics and the doors of negotiation should always remain open.

Rehman also said that PPP co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari would not withdraw from the Presidential election. Any news of his giving up Presidential election were rumours.

She said that PPP possesses the numbers required to win the Presidential election and it would see Zardari as President on September 6. (ANI)

Boy found with “terror suspect” Dr Aafia is her son, but he denies

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:01:00 -0400

Ahmed, the 11-year-old boy said to have been apprehended along with ‘terror suspect’ Pakistani-American doctor Aafia Siddiqui was identified as her son, although he denies that he is in any way related to her.

Ahmed told those who questioned him that he was an Afghan and not Aafia Siddiqui’s son.

When asked to give details of his Afghan family, Ahmed was unable to do so, The Daily Times says.

In order to establish his identity, the authorities ordered DNA testing, which proved conclusively that he was indeed Siddiqui’s son.

The boy was reportedly detained on July 18 when Afghan police arrested Dr Siddiqui near a government compound in Ghazni. Siddiqui and her three children disappeared in 2003 in Karachi. She had set out from her mother’s home on her way to the airport to take a flight to Islamabad, but she never arrived.

Inexplicably, her family did not lodge a missing person report with the police. She is now in a federal prison in New York, charged with attempted murder.

Siddiqui’s lawyers and family members have questioned the US government’s account that Siddiqui had resurfaced five years after disappearing with her three young children in Pakistan. Her family contends that she and her children were “imprisoned during at least some of that time at a secret site”, possibly by Afghan or Pakistani officials working with the CIA. (ANI)

PML-N Chairman says PPP should pull out of Punjab Govt.

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:01:00 -0400

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq has said that the Pakistan People''s Party (PPP) should pull out of he Punjab Government following the PML-N''s exit from the ruling coalition.

Haq said his party would continue to run the Punjab government.

"The PML-N will not again join the PPP-led ruling coalition," The Daily Times quoted Haq, as saying.

Speaking about the presidential candidate, he said the party would not withdraw its presidential candidate.

"The PML-N would continue consultations with other political parties to gain support for its presidential candidate Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui," he said.

The PML-N chairman further said that talks were in progress with the PML-Q. (ANI)

John Edwards hikes speaking fees following his extra-marital fling!

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:57:00 -0400

Former presidential candidate John Edwards has reportedly not shied away from public speaking engagements following his fall from grace over his alleged marital infidelities, and to top it all, he has actually hiked his fees, if his agent is to be believed.

Edwards is due to speak at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on October 14.

Tickets are free, but the student group is paying him 65,000 dollars.

Kaler said the student group gave Edwards the opportunity to back out of the speech in light of his admission to having an extra-marital affair.

Edwards'''' other appearances include a September speech with wife Elizabeth at Salem State College in Massachusetts, according to college spokesman Jim Glynn. (ANI)

Haneef’s lawyer says compensation claims will be pursued

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:57:00 -0400

A lawyer representing Mohamad Haneef, the Indian doctor charged with terror-related offences in Brisbane last year, has said that compensation claims against the Australian Federal Police (AFP) will be pursued and has also urged that the latter''s actions need to be thoroughly investigated.

He also called for the Clarke Inquiry to be upgraded to a royal commission.

"The AFP''s announcement (that Hannef was innocent) highlights yet again the inadequacy of the current Haneef Inquiry which is not a full blown properly constituted royal commission," The Age quoted Australian Council for Civil Liberties President Terry O''Gorman as telling AAP.

"There''s been a lingering suspicion which has firmed up... that the AFP, in maintaining the investigation against Dr Haneef for the last 12 months has really been engaged in a smoke-screen back protection exercise and there''s been no reason for Dr Haneef to be kept under investigation," he said.

A royal commission, if granted, should look at all aspects of the AFP''s behaviour in the Haneef matter, not just leading to his arrest, he said.

"What the inquiry should look at is how much money, what resources has the AFP used in the last 12 months and has there been a legitimate line of inquiry it has been following or has it simply been parroting that line as a back protection exercise?"

The council had been critical of the structure of the Clarke Inquiry since it was first set up, O''Gorman said.

"It''s been a joke from the start," he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Haneef''s Brisbane-based lawyer Peter Russo has confirmed the doctor will pursue compensation once the report into the inquiry is handed to the federal government by September 30. (ANI)