indian affairs: March 2013

Sunday 31 March 2013

Indian atrocities can’t deter Kashmiris struggle: Majeed

KARACHI – Indian atrocities cannot deter the Kashmiris from their struggle for independence, Azad Jammu & Kashmir Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed said on Sunday, talking to the media after his visit to Idara-e-Noor Haq, where he met Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi chief Muhammad Hussain Mahenti.

Majeed asserted that the entire Kashmiri leadership was untied on a one-point agenda of freedom. He urged the media to highlight the Kashmir issue internationally, saying leaderships of all the political and religious parties should keep the issue on top of their election manifestos.

The AJK premier also praised the efforts of the Jamaat-e-Islami for the Kashmir cause, saying the Jamaat leadership had always played a vital role in this respect.

Earlier, Majeed who was accompanied by a delegation of Kashmiri political, religious and Hurriyat leaders, offered prayer for the departed souls of former JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Naib Ameer Prof Ghafoor Ahmed. He also praised their efforts and struggle for the Kashmir issue.

Baloch leader Akhtar Mengal to return to Pakistan today

QUETTA: Balochistan National Party (BNP) chief Nawab Akhtar Mengal will fly to Karachi from Dubai on Monday (today), Geo News reported.

BNP leader Dr Jehanzaib Jalamdini said that Mr Mengal would arrive at the Karachi airport from where he would be brought to his residence in procession.

Balochistan caretaker Chief Minister Nawab Ghaus Bux Khan Barozai telephoned the Baloch leader. He told Mengal that he wanted all the political parties to contest general election so that people could elect their representatives.

The chief minister said that establishing peace and restoration of trust of political circles were his priorities.

According to reports, during the talk it was decided that Akhtar Mangal would meet the chief minister to discuss political affairs upon his arrival.

Pakistan sees Afghanistan’s Karzai as obstacle to peace with Taliban

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, seen as critical to efforts to stabilise Afghanistan, is finding it difficult to work with President Hamid Karzai due to mistrust and is reaching out to others to advance the peace process, senior Pakistani Foreign Ministry officials say.

Follow up:

Pakistan is uniquely positioned to promote reconciliation in neighboring Afghanistan because of its long history of ties to militant groups fighting to topple Karzai.

But Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of backing the Taliban to further its aims, fearful it will try to install a pro-Islamabad government in Kabul, a charge Pakistan denies.

“Right now, Karzai is the biggest impediment to the peace process,” a top Pakistani Foreign Ministry official told Reuters. “In trying to look like a savior, he is taking Afghanistan straight to hell.”

Karzai has said he wants peace on his own terms and could also be worried that the United States might cut a quick and risky deal with the Taliban, eager to get the bulk of its forces out of the country by the end of next year.

Baloch militants posing a challenge to democracy

Islamabad: Akhtar Mengal, the leader of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) landed on Monday in Karachi amid pressure from Baloch militants and exiled nationalists, calling on him to boycott the 2013 elections.

Follow up:

The warning came as election campaigning kicked-off in Balochistan. Dr Allah Nazar Baloch, commander of Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) warned all the politicians to boycott the elections arguing that “elections are to suppress the voice and demands of Baloch people and nothing else.”

Though BLF has a soft corner for Mengal, they say that if Mengal takes part in the elections he would “become a part of the establishment responsible for the killing Baloch”. “Our strategy is that people should not vote. We have our own agenda. These are not our elections; they are the elections of Pakistan. Those who take part in elections are equally responsible for the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of Baloch,” said Dr. Allah Nazar Baloch.

Seven suicide bombers attack Afghan police base: police

JALALABAD: A group of seven suicide bombers attacked a police base in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Tuesday, killing five officers, police said.

Follow up:

One bomber set off a large explosion at the entrance of the quick reaction police headquarters before two bombers blew themselves up inside the facility and four others died in a gun fight with police.

“The first one detonated a car bomb; two others entered the base and detonated themselves and the remaining four were shot dead in police fire,”Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal, the Nangarhar province police spokesman, told AFP.

The Taliban militants immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming that it had targeted “foreigners and Israeli teachers” training Afghan police at the base in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar.

Muslim League chief sent to judicial custody till April 15

A local court in north Kashmir has remanded hardline Hurriyat leader and Muslim league chairman Masarat Alam Bhat in judicial custody till April 15 and he has been sent to Baramulla district jail.

Follow up:

Masarat was produced by the police before the court of Munsif Magistrate at Tangmarg today.

“Masarat was supposed to be produced before the sub-judge Pattan, where he is facing trial in an FIR registered against him in 2010. Since the said judge was on leave, in his absence, Masarat as an undertrial was produced before the court of Munsif (1st Class Magistrate) at Tangmarg in north Kashmir”, said Masarat’s lawyer Shabbir Ahmad.

Masarat Alam is facing trial in case FIR 215/2010 registered against him under Sections 148, 149, 332, 336, 307 and 427 of RPC at Pattan police station in Baramulla district. The police has already produced chargesheet in this case before the court of sub judge Pattan in north Kashmir.

Ex-militants, kin demand right to lead ‘normal life’

Several former militants along with their families staged a demonstration here this afternoon demanding a proper rehabilitation scheme, which would include issuance of travel documents and easy loans.

The wife of a former militant with her children participates in a protest in Srinagar on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Amin War

The families of former militants, including those which returned from Pakistan under the state government’s rehabilitation programme, said they were demanding the right to lead a “normal life”.

One of the conveners of the protest demonstration, which was held at the Press Colony in the city, said around 70 families of former militants had participated in the protest.

“We want the government to give us the right to live properly,” said Saifullah Farooq, chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Human Welfare Association. The association constitutes of a group of former militants.

Journalist becomes Punjab interim CM

LAHORE: Veteran journalist Najam Sethi was on Tuesday selected to head up the interim administration to guide the politically important Punjab province through historic elections.

Follow up:

The provincial parliamentary committee to select the caretaker chief minister finally reached a consensus, approving Sethi for the post after four hectic meetings on Tuesday. Though both the government and the opposition parties had initially announced their disagreement on caretaker chief minister after holding their third consultative meeting at the Punjab Assembly Secretariat in noon, but Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif advised the government team to continue negotiations and approve a name for the slot.

The government team members of the committee, Rana Sanaullah, Mujtaba Shuja and Iqbal Channarr, took the opposition team members of PPP and PML-Q, Major (r) Zulfiqar Gondal, Shaukat Basra and Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, into confidence to restart the negotiations and they finally reached consensus at midnight. The PML-N was hesitating to refer the issue to the election commission.

Is it a plan to destabilise Balochistan?

AT a moment when election commission is all geared up to hold elections, former president Pervez Musharraf and Sardar Akhtar Mengal have arrived in Pakistan arguably under an insidious London plan to destabilize Balochistan. Already, a protest was staged in London demanding the arrest and trial of Pervez Musharraf.

Follow up:

To a question, Sardar Akhtar Mengal said that if Kashmiris could talk about right of self-determination then why people of Balochistan could not. Mengal conveniently forgot that Kashmir was an unfinished agenda of the partition, and United Nations Security Council in its resolution of 1949 gave the people of Kashmir the right to join India or Pakistan through a plebiscite to be held under the aegis of the UN.

Australia to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by year-end

CANBERRA: Australia will withdraw most troops from Afghanistan’s south at the end of this year and shut down a major base for NATO-led forces, handing security to Afghan soldiers and police, Defence Minister Stephen Smith said on Tuesday.

Follow up:

Western and Afghan commanders, Smith said, had agreed that the major multinational coalition base at Tarin Kowt and its NATO airbase in Uruzgan province would close at the end of 2013.

Most foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014 under a planned security transition from foreign forces to Afghans. “It is a necessary and logical and natural consequence of transition being effective,” Smith said. “The effect of that closure will be that Australia will no longer have a permanent presence in Uruzgan province, and the majority of Australian defence force personnel will return.”

Shia official killed in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: A senior federal government official was gunned down on Wednesday, in what police said an incident of sectarian killing in Peshawar.

Follow up:

“Unidentified gunmen opened fire on a WAPDA vehicle carrying Town 2 SDO Khawaja Imran in the Gulbahar area,” a police official told Daily Times. Gulbahar police said the WAPDA official was targeted because he belonged to Shia sect. “Khawaja Imran died on the spot,” the police official said. The killed government official’s son was also injured who was under treatment in the city’s oldest hospital, according to police.

SC refuses to take direct action against Musharraf

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has refused to take direct action against former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf over Dr Mubashir Hassan’s plea seeking his disqualification from the upcoming elections in view of articles 62 and 63 of the constitution.

The petitioner has argued that Musharraf violated the constitution on November 3, 2007, by imposing emergency in the country. A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has urged him to approach proper forum to raise such objections. During the hearing on Wednesday, AK Dogar, counsel for Dr Hassan, cited the July 31, 2009, judgement of the court and said, “The constitution can’t be held in abeyance at the will and whim of the army chief.”

“It is firmly laid down that holding in abeyance of constitution or any of its provision or having affect of its continuation in any manner is the subversion of the constitution and thus constitute the offence of high treason.” The chief justice said that he was unaware of his status. Upon that Dogar said that there is a judgement in PLD 1997 SC 84 that the judgement of the court becomes part of the constitution.

Russia seeks to underpin Afghan security after NATO pullout

MOSCOW: Russia wants to play a role in keeping Afghanistan stable after the withdrawal of most NATO combat troops by maintaining government military hardware on Afghan soil, a senior military official said on Wednesday.

Follow up:

In a meeting with foreign military attaches in Moscow, Sergei Koshelev underscored that Russia is worried about threats to its security after the pullout of most foreign forces from Afghanistan, which borders ex-Soviet states in Central Asia.

“We cannot fail to be concerned by the danger of the restoration of a regime on Afghan territory that would foster the spread of terrorism, drug trafficking and instability,” said Koshelev, the Russian military’s point man for foreign ties.

Ready to work for peace without Pakistan: Kabul

KABUL: Afghanistan is shocked by Pakistan’s ‘complacency’ in the nascent Afghan peace process and is ready to work without Islamabad’s help on reconciliation, Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludin told Reuters on Wednesday.

Follow up:

It was the first time Afghanistan has suggested the possibility of going it alone without its neighbour. Regional power Pakistan is seen as critical to stabilising Afghanistan because of its long ties to insurgent groups. Ludin also said the government would look to senior Taliban figures recently handed over by the United States in Bagram prison to urge militants to pursue peace. He did not elaborate.

Afghan army scraps Pakistan trip

KABUL: Afghanistan on Wednesday cancelled a planned army visit to Pakistan to protest against alleged cross border shelling, in a sign of worsening relations between the troubled neighbours.

Follow up:

The Pakistani army invited 11 Afghan officers to take part in a military exercise and drill in Quetta, the Afghan ministry of foreign affairs said. “This visit will no longer take place due to the resumption of unacceptable Pakistani artillery shelling against different parts of Kunar province,” it said in a statement. Kunar provincial governor Fazlulah Wahidi told AFP that up to 50 rockets were fired from the Pakistani side of the border.

UN calls on Taliban to join peace process

KABUL: The UN envoy to Afghanistan called on the Taliban on Wednesday to join peace efforts as the bulk of NATO combat troops prepare to leave the country by the end of next year.

Follow up:

“My message to the insurgency is basically a sort of long-term message: you are Afghans, you care, I assume, about your country, you care about peaceful stable future of the country,” Jan Kubis told a news conference.

The withdrawal and next year’s presidential election, when President Hamid Karzai will step down after 13 years in power, have lent urgency to the search for a negotiated settlement to end Afghanistan’s decades of conflict.

The Taliban, ousted from power by a 2001 US-led invasion for refusing to give up al Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks, are leading a deadly insurgency against Western troops and the Afghan government.

Pak intruder shot dead in Rajouri district

A Pakistani intruder was shot dead by Indian troops deployed on Mahadeve Pokhra post in forward border area of Nowshera in district Rajouri late last night.

Unconfirmed sources within the Army said suspicious movement was observed by troops deployed on Line of Control in Mahadev Pokhra post at Nowshera last evening at about 11.30 pm. He tried to flee and the troops shot him dead.

He said that during late night operations launched by troops in search of his body, they failed, but early this morning, troops recovered the body of an intruder and recovered a few phone numbers, Rupees 2035 Pakistan currency and an Identification card from his procession and no weapon had been recovered from him till reports last came in.

This afternoon, 7 Assam rifles handed over body of an intruder identified as Mohammed Maqsood (32) of village Nalli, tehsil Barnai, district Bimber in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) to Nowshera police for legal formalities.

US to cede full control of Bagram to Afghan forces

KABUL: Afghanistan is set on Monday to take full control of Bagram military jail from the United States, drawing a line under one running sore in their relationship as US-led forces wind down more than a decade of war.

President Hamid Karzai has made the fate of the sprawling detention centre north of Kabul a litmus test of his ill-tempered push to regain sovereignty over key matters from the Americans ahead of next year’s pullout of combat troops.

The United States was long concerned that a total handover to Afghanistan’s weak and corruption-prone security forces would allow suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants housed at Bagram to return to the battlefield.

But US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel clinched an agreement with Karzai in a telephone call on Saturday, and the handover will take place on Monday, the Pentagon said. No further details were given.

Karzai to visit Qatar for talks on Taliban office

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is to visit Qatar to discuss the proposed opening of a Taliban office there as a prelude to possible peace talks, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.

Until earlier this year, Karzai rejected the idea of a Taliban office in Qatar because of fears that his government would be frozen out of any deal between the United States and the militants.

The Taliban have refused to negotiate directly with Karzai, and the foreign ministry stressed that it would only start negotiations if the militants “break all relations with Al-Qaeda and give up terrorism”.

“President Hamid Karzai will visit Qatar within weeks,” Janan Mosazai, foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters.

“Talks with the emir of Qatar will include the peace process in Afghanistan and the opening of a Taliban office.” The Islamist militants broke off tentative contacts with the US in Qatar in March last year after the failure of attempts to negotiate a prisoner exchange as a confidence-building measure.

Pakistan sees Afghanistan’s Karzai as obstacle to peace with Taliban

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, seen as critical to efforts to stabilise Afghanistan, is finding it difficult to work with President Hamid Karzai due to mistrust and is reaching out to others to advance the peace process, senior Pakistani Foreign Ministry officials say.

Pakistan is uniquely positioned to promote reconciliation in neighboring Afghanistan because of its long history of ties to militant groups fighting to topple Karzai.

But Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of backing the Taliban to further its aims, fearful it will try to install a pro-Islamabad government in Kabul, a charge Pakistan denies.

“Right now, Karzai is the biggest impediment to the peace process,” a top Pakistani Foreign Ministry official told Reuters. “In trying to look like a savior, he is taking Afghanistan straight to hell.”

Karzai has said he wants peace on his own terms and could also be worried that the United States might cut a quick and risky deal with the Taliban, eager to get the bulk of its forces out of the country by the end of next year.

Baloch leader Akhtar Mengal to return to Pakistan today

Army seeks high security for Pervez Musharraf

Army authorities have demanded in black and white the government to provide robust security to former President Gen (R)Pervez Musharraf , An official in Ministry of Defence on the condition of anonymity has disclosed.

The source said GHQ had written a letter to Ministry of Defence that due to prevailing law and order situation of the country in which they asked the government ex President and former army chief Pervez Musharraf must be provided heavy contingent of security due to life threats against him from different defunct Jihadi outfits including banned Tehrik-i-Talban Pakistan(TTP).

Official told Online that after receiving the letter from army authorities Ministry of Defence had further written a letter to Ministry of Interior for provision of fool proof security to Pervez Musharraf due to current environment of Pakistan.

Former President Pervez Musharraf arrived Karachi on Sunday afternoon. After the general elections of 2008, he remained on the slot of President till September 2008 , when sitting President Asif Ali Zardari took oath of his office.

Indian atrocities can’t deter Kashmiris struggle: Majeed

Suicide attack kills 17 soldiers

MIRANSHAH: The death toll from a suicide bombing on a military checkpost in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region has reached 17, the military said on Sunday.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on Saturday, which prompted the regional government to impose a curfew in the tribal region near the Afghan border. The military responded with mortar and artillery fire directed at positions held by the Taliban.

In a statement, the military said 17 security forces personnel “embraced martyrdom”. Security officials explained the sudden increase in the death toll after it jumped from six by saying that many of the dead had been trapped under the rubble following the blast. Another 10 soldiers were also wounded in the attack on a check post operated jointly by the regular army and the Frontier Corps paramilitary.

13 Musharraf returns with pledge ‘save’ Pakistan

KARACHI: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf returned home on Sunday after more than four years in exile, defying a Taliban death threat and vowing to risk his life to “save” the country.

“I have come back home today. Where are those who used to say I would never come back?” the former dictator, who plans to stand in a historic May 11 general election, told supporters at Karachi airport. Shortly before Musharraf’s arrival, Pakistan selected a caretaker prime minister, retired judge Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, to guide the country through the elections. Musharraf’s power base has all but evaporated and he is not thought likely to win more than a couple of seats for his All Pakistan Muslim League, which he founded in self-imposed exile with the help of Pakistani expatriates.

“I am very nostalgic but very happy to be back after four years,” he told AFP on his Emirates flight from Dubai. Musharraf faces several court cases related to his time in office and he remains a highly controversial figure in a country struggling to shake off the legacy of extended periods of military rule.

Retired judge from Balochistan wins the race

* Khoso says tenure of interim govt won’t be extended
* Balochistan’s situation volatile but elections will be held there under any circumstances
* New PM to take oath today
By Farooq Awan

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan on Sunday finally nominated an 84-year-old retired judge from Balochistan as country’s caretaker prime minister, a week after the parliament was dissolved and political leaders failed to agree on a name for the slot.

“We discussed openly all four names forwarded for the caretaker prime minister and have picked Justice (r) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso as the head of interim set-up,” Chief Election Commissioner Fakhruddin G Ibrahim said after the commission’s second meeting on Sunday.

Civilian killed, cop hurt in Sopore attack

Suspected militants today struck in north Kashmir’s Sopore town killing a 65-year-old civilian and critically wounding a policeman. This comes barely three days after a BSF jawan was killed in Srinagar.

The attack took place around 12.35 pm when a police team was clearing traffic in a busy market in Sopore town, 53 km from Srinagar. The militants took away the service rifle of the injured constable, Kishore Kumar. This is the fourth attack on security forces this month. Eight police and paramilitary personnel have been killed and nine others injured in these attacks.

Kashmir IGP Abdul Gani Mir said the policemen exercised restraint and did not retaliate to the militant fire.

“The Iqbal market (where the attack took place) was teeming with people prompting the police not to retaliate,” Mir told The Tribune.

The IGP said the militants opened fire on policemen when they were clearing a traffic jam.

Pentagon says US, Afghanistan reach agreement on Parwan Detention Facility transfer

WASHINGTON — The U.S. has reached an agreement with the Afghanistan government to transfer the Parwan Detention Facility to Afghan control, the Pentagon said Saturday, two weeks after negotiations broke down over whether the U.S. would have the power to block the release of some detainees.

According to a senior U.S. official, a key element to the agreement is that the Afghans can invoke a procedure that insures prisoners considered dangerous would not be released from the detention center. The agreement also includes a provision that allows the two sides to work together to resolve any differences. The official lacked authorization to discuss the details of the agreement publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Transfer of the Parwan detention center on Monday is critical to the ongoing effort to gradually shift control of the country’s security to the Afghans as the U.S. and allies move toward the full withdrawal of combat troops by the end of 2014.

Suicide attack kills six soldiers

PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber rammed a water tanker bomb at a military check post late Saturday, killing six soldiers in the notorious tribal district of North Waziristan, officials said.

More than 20 other people, mostly soldiers, were wounded in the bombing near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, they said.

“Half of the check post building has been destroyed in the blast,” said a security official in the northwestern city of Peshawar, warning that the casualty figure could rise. “It was a suicide attack. The bomber used a water tanker, he rammed it into the outer wall of the building,” the official said. A security official in Miranshah said the dead included an army officer.

Suicide attack on check post leaves six dead in North Waziristan

MIRAMSHAH: At least six security officials were killed and 18 others injured Saturday in a suicide attack on a check post near Miramshah, the agency headquarters of North Waziristan Agency, official sources said.

The officials said the suspected suicide bomber, driving a car, hit the Esha check post, damaging it completely.

The suicide car bombing resulted in the death of at least six soldiers while 18 others have been injured but the number of casualties may be high as the officials are saying that the situation is being assessed.

The security forces have cordoned off the area soon after the attack and launched a search operation. The locals say the explosion was followed by indiscriminate firing. However, it was not possible to ascertain who was behind firing the shots, they added.

Mehbooba expresses concern over situation in Kashmir

Expressing serious concern over the situation in Kashmir, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti today said nothing was expected of the government in view of the assertions of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the wake of the recent killings.

“The situation in the state, especially in the Valley, is a cause of concern. Though collective conscience is satisfied in a matter of seconds, collective punishment is continuing unabated,” she said during a press conference at the Muftis’ Gupkar residence.

Accompanied by MLAs Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Rafi Ahmad Mir and Abdul Haq Khan, Mehbooba said restrictions and harassment of the youth were rampant in the Valley. She added that the party was not expecting anything from the coalition government as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had himself said he was helpless.

Pakistani Taliban threaten to assassinate Musharraf

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani Taliban have threatened, in a video released on Saturday, to use suicide bombers and snipers to kill former president Pervez Musharraf when he returns home from exile.

Follow up:

In a video obtained by Reuters, Adnan Rasheed, who took part in a previous attempt to assassinate Musharraf, said: “The mujahideen of Islam have prepared a special squad to send Musharraf to hell. There are suicide bombers, snipers, a special assault unit and a close combat team.”

Musharraf angered the Taliban and other groups by joining the US war on terror following the September 11 attacks and later launching a major crackdown on militancy in Pakistan.

He is due to return home on Sunday from Dubai, after nearly four years of self-imposed exile, in time to take part in parliamentary elections on May 11.

US drones kill four

MIRANSHAH: US drones fired two missiles at a vehicle in northwestern tribal belt on Thursday, killing four terrorists, security officials said.

Follow up:

The attack took place in Datta Khel town, 35 kilometres west of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan region. The area is a stronghold of Taliban and Qaeda-linked terrorists. “Four drones came to the area around midnight and fired two missiles targeting a vehicle,” a local security official said.

Rickshaw bomb kills 9 in Dera Allah Yar

QUETTA: At least nine people were killed and 24 others sustained injuries in a remote-control blast in Dera Allah Yar, Jaffarabad district, on Friday. According to the police, the bomb was planted near a hotel in the main bazaar of Dera Allah Yar, which is on the main highway to Jaffarabad. Around seven people were killed on the spot and 26 others sustained injuries.

The police and rescue teams cordoned off the area after the blast. The deceased and injured were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital, and some eight critically injured were referred to Jacobabad and Larkana. While talking to media, Jaffarabad Deputy Commissioner Zafar Bhukari said that the death toll had risen to nine. Two injured who were referred to Jacobabad succumbed to their injures in the hospital, and six others were still in a critical condition. “The Bomb was planted in a rickshaw which was parked near a local hotel,” Bhukari said.

Hurriyat chief Geelani to 'address the nation' on Pakistan Day, puts govt in a spot

Putting the government in a spot, Hurriyat chief Syed Ali Shah Geelani has announced he would "address the nation" through internet Saturday evening.

Follow up:

"On the current situation, Geelani Sahib will make a special address to people and the nation," a Hurriyat spokesperson said. "Since the leader of revolution is under house arrest for several months and doesn't have access to people, he will reach out to them through internet." Geelani, who has been under house arrest since he returned from Delhi after the hanging of Afzal Guru, has chosen for his 8.30 pm address March 23, celebrated as Pakistan Day.

"Supporters of freedom especially the youth can listen to this speech on the Facebook page All Parties Hurriyat Conference."

State shelling out hefty sum to protect separatist leaders

Against the backdrop of the persistent demand of the Hurriyat and separatist leaders for revocation of the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) and reducing the presence of troops in the state, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the cash-strapped J-K Government had incurred over Rs 9 crore on their security and escort vehicles during the last 12 years.

“The state government has spent Rs 9.47 crore on account of providing security cover to the Hurriyat and other separatist leaders from 2001 to 2012,” Omar said in a written reply to a question by an Independent MLA from Langate, Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rasheed, in the Assembly here today.

Giving the break-up of the expenditure, the Chief Minster said Rs 4.56 crore was spent on account of salaries of Personal Security Officers (PSOs) and drivers of Hurriyat leaders for the period.

An amount of Rs 71.10 lakh was spent on the fuel used in vehicles escorting Hurriyat leaders while Rs 3.79 crore was incurred on salaries of residential guards protecting their houses.

Terrorism suspect has been secretly held in New York since October

A battle-hardened al-Qaeda veteran who fought U.S. troops in Afghanistan and planned to bomb U.S. diplomatic facilities in Nigeria has been held in secret federal custody in New York since October, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday.

Follow up:

Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun, also known as “Spin Ghul,” was extradited from Italy last year and indicted on six charges, including conspiracy to murder American military personnel, conspiracy to bomb diplomatic buildings and providing material support to al-Qaeda.

Harun has been cooperating with federal authorities since they first questioned him in Italy. And with the consent of his two defense lawyers, the government asked a federal judge to keep Harun’s indictment under seal so it could “take full advantage” of the information he was providing.
Disclosure of Harun’s detention comes two weeks after U.S. authorities said they had captured a former spokesman for al-Qaeda and secretly transferred him to New York to face a criminal trial.

Afghanistan to start exporting crude oil this year

KABUL (Agencies): China’s largest oil company is due to start commercial production of crude oil in Afghanistan shortly, heralding a resource boom that could transform the country’s economy over the next decade, the country’s mining minister said.

Extraction of metals and oil could account for 45% of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product by 2024, Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani told The Wall Street Journal Wednesday on the margins of an investment and mining conference where he is meeting potential investors.

Recent surveys have shown Afghanistan to be endowed with rich unexploited assets, but its security situation could be a sticking point for some investors.

Nearly all of Afghanistan’s recoverable mineral resources, estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to be worth $1 trillion, are still under the ground, said the minister, who has held the mining portfolio for the past three years.

Kabul, Islamabad holding talks on extradition treaty

PESHAWAR: Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan, Mohammad Umer Daudzai, has said the Afghan and Pakistan governments were holding talks on an extradition treaty that would resolve the problem of handing over wanted persons to each other.
Talking to a small group of reporters during his visit to Peshawar on Wednesday, he pointed out that Afghanistan has signed judicial agreements with Iran and Tajikistan and would like to conclude a similar one with Pakistan. “The judicial agreement covers extradition and also the issue of attorneys and witnesses in legal cases,” he added.

Daudzai recalled that Pakistan had declined to hand over jailed Afghan Taliban figures to Afghanistan citing the absence of an extradition treaty between the two countries. In reply to a question regarding Pakistan’s request to the Afghan government to hand over Pakistani Taliban commander Mauivi Faqir Mohammad to it, he said Kabul was still trying to determine if the man captured in Afghanistan is Faqir Mohammad. “We have assured the Pakistan government that he won’t be released once it was determined that he was indeed Maulvi Faqir Mohammad. However, we won’t be able to hand him over to Pakistan as we don’t have an extradition treaty,” he argued.

Karzai claims victory over US ‘abuse’ claims

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday claimed victory in his latest dispute with the US after accusing its special forces of abusing civilians in the key strategic province of Wardak.

Karzai had demanded that the elite US units leave the province, just outside Kabul. On Wednesday, a deal was stuck in which Afghan forces will take responsibility for security in Nerkh, one of Wardak’s eight districts.

The agreement made no mention of special forces, and the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said that it was “business as usual” for its troops in the rest of Wardak.

President Hamid Karzai said he welcomed the announcement that coalition forces were preparing to pull out of the province, which is seen as critical for protecting Kabul from insurgent assaults.

“The decision for withdrawal follows repeated local complaints of harassment and annoyance by the American Special Forces, and a decision by the National Security Council as well as a presidential order,” he said in a statement.

Afghan spy chief secretly visited Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: In an apparent indication of Pakistan and Afghanistan narrowing their strategic differences, the acting head of the Afghan intelligence service, Hassamuddin Hassam, secretly visited Pakistan in December.

His visit took place after a suicide attack on the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) chief Assadullah Khalid.

The Afghan government had claimed that the attack had been planned in Quetta while President Hamid Karzai accused an unnamed foreign intelligence agency of having masterminded it.

Although Mr Hassam’s visit primarily focused on investigations into the attack on Mr Khalid, it also led to improved bilateral
ties at the military and intelligence levels.

Two Afghan nationals have been arrested by Pakistani authorities in connection with the attack. According to sources, the Afghan spy agency was satisfied by the investigation and cooperation of Pakistan.

US drone strike leaves four dead in North Waziristan

PESHAWAR: Four people were killed early on Friday by a suspected US drone strike in North Waziristan tribal region, intelligence sources claimed.

The sources said that the US drone fired two missiles on a house in Dattakhel Tehsil of North Waziristan Agency, killing four suspected militants.

The political administration and the military authorities in the tribal areas do not comment on the drone strikes. However, the intelligence reports said that those killed are suspected militants and their harbourers.

North Waziristan region is considered a bastion of Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants.

The area, which is close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, is one of the seven regions in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), governed by tribal laws.

Pakistan has positive engagement policy with Afghanistan: FO

* Says country will help all efforts for success of reconciliation process in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has a positive engagement policy with Afghanistan and would help all efforts for success of reconciliation process in the neighbouring country, Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani said on Thursday.

Briefing the media after attending a meeting of Senate Defence Committee, Jalil said that all activities, including the Doha peace talks, for restoring peace in the war-torn country are welcomed by Pakistan and it would help all such initiatives. He disclosed that some progress has been made on reconciliation initiatives, as Pakistan being a member of Core Group, which includes US and Afghanistan, is well aware of the developments in this regard.

Replying to a query whether civilians have any say in the policies related to Afghanistan, the foreign secretary said that political leadership is on board and all the decisions are being taken in consultation with all the institutions. On drone attacks by the US on Pakistan’s territory, Jilani said that the country has a clear policy from day one that these drone strikes are illegal and are counter-productive.

Pakistan denies involvement in 1993 Mumbai attacks

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday categorically rejected the involvement of any of its agencies in the 1993 Mumbai attacks.

Follow up:

Foreign Office Spokesman Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry, while responding to reports carried in some sections of the Indian media regarding the judgment of the Indian Supreme Court implicating Pakistani government agencies in the 1993 Mumbai terror incident, rejected such allegations.

The Spokesperson said that a detailed response could only be given once the judgment had been studied in its totality.

He however said Pakistan is itself a victim of terrorism and had rendered immense sacrifices in the international fight against this menace.

The spokesman said Pakistan has on numerous occasions offered cooperation to India in fighting terrorism through laid down bilateral mechanisms.

Zardari offers CARs Gwadar port for trade

* President calls for greater regional cooperation in security and counter-terrorism and energy projects

Follow up:

ASHGABAT: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday urged greater regional cooperation in security and counter-terrorism, collaboration in energy and offered the Central Asian Republics use of Gwadar port for trade with rest of the world.

Addressing the opening session of the International Conference on Nauroz festival here at the Rukhyat Palace, the president said that the region was of great geo-strategic importance and there was a need for a robust road and rail linkage to enable the countries fully exploit their natural resources. In this regard, Pakistan is ready to play its role, he added. “We are willing to facilitate transportation of LNG from Central Asia to South East Asia and other world markets. The latest and modern seaport of Pakistan at Gwadar is the shortest route for Central Asian States to the Arabian Sea,” he said.

Car bomb kills 15 at Jalozai camp

* More than 40 wounded as bomb explodes near administration office where refugees had lined up to get rations

Follow up:

JALOZAI: A car bomb tore through a refugee camp on Thursday, killing 15 people including women and children and heightening security fears before a May general election.

More than 40 other people were wounded when the bomb exploded at Jalozai, the country’s largest refugee camp, as scores of people queued for rations.

Jalozai is home to tens of thousands of people displaced from the tribal belt, a stronghold of Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants, on the Afghan border.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

But officials linked the attack to fighting in Khyber district, where the military has stepped up an offensive against Taliban and local militia, and from where most camp residents have fled.

Arrest of Anti-Islamist Figures Is Ordered in Egypt

CAIRO : The public prosecutor on Monday ordered the arrest of five anti-Islamist political activists on charges of using social media to incite violence against the Muslim Brotherhood. The order stirred accusations of a vendetta by the group’s close ally, President Mohamed Morsi.

Egyptians are already on guard against the possibility that their first freely elected president may seek to become a new autocrat, and some said they feared that the arrest warrants might be the first clear example that Mr. Morsi’s government was using law enforcement as a political tool to punish his critics.

LAHORE: The responsibility of picking a name for the position of caretaker chief minister of Punjab was referred to the Election Commission of Pakistan on Tuesday, reported Express News.

The third and final meeting of the six-member parliamentary committee ended without a decision on a name for the position.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has left for Dubai after a tiff with his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, over the affairs of the PPP, leaving the party without its star campaigner for Pakistan's general election. Bilawal, recently named patron-in-chief of the Pakistan People's Party, developed differences with Zardari and his sister, Faryal Talpur, over the party's handling of key issues, including militant violence, sectarian attacks against Shias and the award of party tickets for the polls scheduled for May 11.

Syrian opposition representatives have taken Syria’s seat at an Arab League summit held in Qatar in a significant diplomatic boost for the forces fighting President Bashar Assad’s regime.

A four-man delegation led by Mouaz al-Khatib, former president of the Syrian National Coalition, took the seats assigned for Syria on Tuesday at the invitation of the Emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

Mumbai: It is all about showing support to a friend who has landed in deep trouble. Salman Khan met Sanjay Dutt at his Pali Hills residence in Mumbai after returning from the United States to give moral support to the former whose conviction has been upheld by the Supreme Court, in relation to the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

AMRITSAR: Four persons allegedly raped a 21-year-old girl in a moving car on Monday night.

According to superintendent of police, Harjit Singh Brar, the victim in a complaint had alleged that she was going towards Amritsar bus stand at around 7.30pm on Monday when a steel-grey coloured car approached close to her and a person forcibly pulled her inside the car.

KIRKUK: A roadside bomb on Tuesday ripped through an armoured car killing two local politicians and badly wounding a third in a disputed town north of Baghdad, officials said.

The explosion struck just north of the town of Tuz Khurmatu, 175 kilometres from the capital, and also killed one of the group’s bodyguards and wounded another, according to a police colonel and a medic at the local hospital.

ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani met with caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso on Tuesday, DawnNews reported.

The internal security situation of the country was discussed in the meeting.

NEW DELHI: India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told of his “deep distress” at the killing of two Indians by French troops guarding the Central African Republic’s main airport following a coup.

In a statement, Singh said he had received a letter from French President Francois Hollande expressing his regret about the deaths and assurances that the circumstances of Monday’s shooting would be thoroughly investigated.

Grandson of Nizam to join YSR Congress

HYDERABAD: TRS state general secretary Nawab Mohammed Mohiuddin Khan, who is a grandson of the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad state, Mir Osman Ali Khan, has quit the party and decided to join YSRC on Monday in the presence of party honorary president YS Vijayalaxmi.

He told that he joined TRS in 2007, but the party did not function as a true political party. So, he has decided quit the TRS and join Jagan Mohan Reddy's party. He said he was a big fan of former chief minister the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy. By respecting the invitation of YSRC, he is joining the party, he said.

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NEW DELHI: The Army is going to take strong disciplinary action in the form of court martial against a colonel, two majors, a captain, 17 JCOs (junior commissioned officers) and 147 jawans for the violent clash which took place between officers and jawans of an artillery regiment in Nyoma sector of eastern Ladakh in May 2012.

Candidates exempted to appear before ECP for filing papers

ISLAMABAD: Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday exempted candidates to appear at the time of filing nomination papers, Geo News reported.

According to details, law ministry had forwarded the amendment bill, passed by parliament to ECP. As per the approved bill, the presence of candidate is not necessary at the time of submitting nomination papers.

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KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday issued notices for March 27 to the Federation, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Attorney General (AG) over Karachi’s new delimitation of constituencies, Geo News reported.

The court was hearing the petition filed by Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) against the new delimitation of constituencies.

KABUL :Afghanistan on Monday took full control of Bagram military prison from the United States, healing one running sore in their testy relationship as US-led forces wind down more than a decade of war.

President Hamid Karzai had made the fate of the detention centre north of Kabul part of his ill-tempered push to regain sovereignty over key matters from the Americans, ahead of next year's pullout of foreign combat troops.

OMAN: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani who is on a scheduled visit to Jordan, met with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Oman on Sunday night.

Secretary Kerry, who is on a visit to Middle East, was in Jordan on 24 March said a statement of the Inter Services Public Relations.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari administered oath to Justice (retd) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso as caretaker prime minister on Monday, DawnNews reported.

The oath taking ceremony was attended by former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, former speaker of National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza, other former ministers and high ranking officials of the Armed Forces of Pakistan.

KARACHI: Sardar Akhtar Mengal, the chief of the Balochistan National Party- Mengal (BNP-M) arrived in Karachi on Monday, dawnNews reported.

A large number of supporters were gathered outside Karachi airport to receive the nationalist leader after his return from Dubai.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony Monday confirmed that corruption had taken place in the controversial helicopter deal with Italian company AgustaWestland. He added that a new defence procurement policy would soon be ready.

"Yes, corruption has taken place in the helicopter deal and bribes have been taken. The CBI is pursuing the case very vigorously," Antony told reporters here.

As Pervez Musharraf prepared to end his exile of over four years, he criticised India for "orchestrating anti-Pakistan activities" and in the same breath added that he wanted peace between the two countries with his "head and heart".

In an interview to Headlines Today, Musharraf claimed that while India talks about Pakistan grooming terrorists on its soil, it overlooks its own mistakes.

KARACHI: A man was shot dead after a brief altercation over parking of a vehicle in Mahmoodabad area and two bodies were found in Lines Area and Haji Camp areas on Sunday, police said.

Police said that Muhammad Luqman, 38, had had a heated argument with one Abdul Qadir when the latter parked the car outside his hardware shop near Gujjar Chowk close to Mahmoodabad furniture market.

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Monday filed a petition in the Sindh High Court (SHC) challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s recent decision for delimitation of a number of constituencies in Karachi.

The petition filed by MQM leaders Farooq Sattar and Farogh Naseem stated that the ECP’s decision for a Karachi-centric delimitation was unconstitutional.

ISLAMABAD: A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday requesting it to order the adding of former president Pervez Musharaf’s name to the Exit Control List (ECL), DawnNews reported.

The petition was filed by Maulana Abdul Aziz, the chief cleric of Lal Masjid. The petitioner in his application stated that the Lal Masjid operation was conducted on the orders of the former president, adding that the court should order the inclusion of his name to the ECL.

Sectarian clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar spread to at least two other towns in the country’s heartland over the weekend, undermining government efforts to quash an eruption of violence that has killed dozens of people and displaced 10,000 more.

President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in the region on Friday and deployed army troops to the worst hit city, Meikhtila. But even as soldiers were able to impose order there after several days of anarchy that saw armed Buddhists torch the city’s Muslim quarters, unrest was reported in two other towns to the south.

AB de Villiers racked up his third half-century of the series, in which he also scored a hundred, to guide South Africa to victory in their chase in Benoni with six overs to spare, sealing a 3-2 win for the hosts. De Villiers put in his best all-round performance in the decider, as he manned his chargers well and anchored the chase, albeit a modest one.

South Africa closed out the series largely due to Pakistan's inability to do the same, rather than being dominant. Apart from de Villiers' knock, the game changed in the space of four balls in the Pakistan innings when Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi both succumbed softly in the 35th over bowled by Ryan McLaren and abandoned the captain and lower order to nothing more than hope.

China’s Xi arrives in Russia for first foreign visit

MOSCOW: China’s new leader Xi Jinping arrived Friday in Moscow on his first foreign trip as president, to cement ties between the two countries by inking a raft of energy and investment accords.

A key deal expected to be signed between Xi and his counterpart Vladimir Putin will see Russia ramp up oil supplies to China, which is the world’s biggest energy consumer.

WASHINGTON: A US Marine shot and killed two colleagues before apparently turning the gun on himself at a military base in Virginia, US media reported early on Friday.

The shooting happened Thursday night at the Quantico Marine base in the state bordering Washington DC, according to media reports.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday granted General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s request for protective bail in various cases pending against him, DawnNews reported.

The court moreover directed the former president to submit bail money amounting to rupees 100,000.

Six dead, 40 injured in Tando Allayar blast in Balochistan

NASIRABAD: A bomb blast went off on Quetta road near Tando Allayar district on Friday that left at least six people dead and 40 others injured, Dispatch News Desk (DND) reported.

The explosion took place at a bus station on Quetta road near district of Tando Allayar, leaving at least six people dead and 40 others injured, sources said.

Police and rescue teams have reached the spot and injured are being shifted to nearby hospitals.

The nature of the blast is not known as yet.

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Islamabad: Pakistan today rejected involvement of the government or any of its official agencies in incidents like the 1993 Mumbai bomb attacks, saying it was committed to engaging India in a "sustained and result-oriented dialogue".

Responding to media reports regarding the Indian Supreme Court's judgement implicating Pakistani government agencies in the 1993 Mumbai bombings, Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry "categorically rejected any insinuations pointing to the involvement of the government of Pakistan or any of its agencies in any such activity."

NEW DELHI: The special cell of Delhi Police foiled a terror attack in the national capital after apprehending a suspected Hizbul Mujahideen operative from Gorakhpur, near Nepal border, in Uttar Pradesh.

The suspect has been identified as Liaqat Ali who 'came' to Delhi by Kosi Express, a source in Delhi Police said.

Liaqat Ali is considered a hardcore terrorist, who initially underwent rigorous training in Pakistan, and has been associated with Hizbul Mujahideen for the last 15 years, the source added. He has been involved in several operations.

Following the upholding of the sentencing of film star Sanjay Dutt to five years imprisonment by the Supreme Court in 1993 Mumbai blasts case , Press Council of India Chairman Justice Markandey Katju has appealed to Maharashtra Governor K Sankarnarayanan to pardon the actor.

In a statement issued here, Katju sought pardon for Dutt under Article 161 of the Constitution saying that he had not been found guilty of having played a role in the 1993 blasts and had suffered a lot.

The Interpol has rejected Pakistan's request to issue a Red Corner Notice against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf i n connection with Benazir Bhutto's assassination case, days ahead of his homecoming from self-exile.

Musharraf has cleared the final hurdle to his plans to return to Pakistan as he no longer faces the possibility of arrest at the hands of Interpol, The Express Tribune quoted its sources as saying.

UN adopts resolution against Sri Lanka on human rights; India votes in favour

New Delhi/Geneva: UNHRC on Thursday adopted the US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka on human rights.

25 countries—including India—voted in favour of the US resolution, 13 against and 8 abstained from voting.

India at the UNHRC moved no amendments and said it would encourage Sri Lanka to expedite the process of broad-based, inclusive and meaningful reconciliation.

KARACHI: Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad Khad administered oath to Justice (retd) Zahid Qurban Alvi as Sindh’s caretaker Chief Minister on Monday, DawnNews reported.

The Sindh Assembly was dissolved late on Tuesday after Governor Ibad signed a summary sent by former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah.

Panun Kashmir, an organisation of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits, on Thursday asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to pass the Hindu Shrines Bill during the ongoing Budget session of the State Legislature.

“In the absence of any institutional mechanism for the preservation of the temples and shrines in Kashmir, the land mafia is free to indulge in the annexation of the said properties with impunity and without fear of law.

Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and other pro-Telangana organisations on Thursday began a 'Sadak Bandh' (road blockade) on the Hyderabad-Bangalore Highway in support of the separate statehood demand even as police denied permission for it.

Srinagar: A BSF jawan was killed and two others injured in a militant attack on their convoy in the outskirts of Srinagar today, police said.

The ultras opened fire on the convoy of 8th Battalion BSF near Chanapora bridge in the outskirts of Srinagar this morning, resulting in injuries to three constables, the police said.

BEKASI, Indonesia :An Indonesian city government demolished a church in front of its weeping congregation on March 21, as Muslim protesters egged on workers and branded the Christians "infidels".

Dozens in the 100-strong congregation wailed as a digger tore down the brick walls, with worshippers accusing the government of "criminalising our religion", in a sign of increasing intolerance in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.

YANGON :The United States is "deeply concerned" about reports of deadly communal unrest in central Myanmar, its embassy in Yangon said on Thursday.

"We extend our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and property in the violence," Ambassador Derek Mitchell said in a statement, adding that the US embassy was closely monitoring events.

'At least 10 dead' in Buddhist-Muslim clashes in Myanmar's Rakhine state

YANGON : At least 10 people have been killed in riots in central Myanmar, a local MP said on Thursday, in the worst communal violence since Buddhist-Muslim clashes in western Rakhine state last year.

Mr Win Htein, a member of the opposition National League for Democracy party, said he had seen bodies at the scene of fresh fighting in the town of Meiktila on Thursday. "More than 10 people were killed," he told AFP by telephone from the town, which is his constituency seat.

The unrest began on Wednesday after an argument in a Muslim-owned gold shop turned violent, according to a post on the Myanmar Police Force's Facebook page, which said around 200 people had clashed on the streets.

Police have so far confirmed that two people died, including a Buddhist monk, after sustaining severe burns in Wednesday's fighting, while several mosques were also torched by angry mobs.

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PESHAWAR: At least 12 people were killed and 25 others were injured in an explosion at the Jalozai camp in northwest Pakistan on Thursday.

The deceased included a women and a child.

At least 12 people died in the attack and 20 others were injured, according to DPO Mohammad Hussain who added that the bomb was planted in a car.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that his government is "very upset" about the CBI raids on DMK leader MK Stalin's house in Chennai today. Dr Singh said, "The timing of the raid is unfortunate. The government didn't do it. We will find out who is responsible."

The raids have further strained equations between the government and the DMK, which quit the UPA two days ago in protest against the Union government's stand on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.

President Pranab Mukherjee today accepted the resignation of five Ministers belonging to DMK, which withdrew support to the UPA government on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.

"The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has accepted the resignation of the following members of the Union Council of Ministers with immediate effect," a Rashtrapati Bhavan release said naming the DMK representatives in the Union ministry.

In its initial reaction, Bollywood luminaries are upset and unhappy with the Supreme Court's verdict. They said that all the prime accused are at large and Sanjay Dutt didn't have any direct or indirect role in it.

After the verdict, Mahesh Bhatt tweets: Heart Broken: Just heard that Sanjay Dutt has to go to jail for 5 years. I expected mercy! Alas it did not happen.

Actor Sanjay Dutt has been sentenced to a five-year jail term in the 1993 Mumbai Blasts case by the Supreme Court.

Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to six year jail term by a TADA court, is to be decided. He has already spent 18 months in jail.

The Supreme Court upheld death sentence of prime accused in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, Yakub Memon, brother Tiger Memon.

The apex court commuted the death sentences of ten others to life. SC commuted the death sentence on the ground that the convicts were behind bars for 20 years and their economic condition was weak.

KARACHI: A man, said to be an area leader of the PML-F, was killed and three others, said to be workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, sustained bullet wounds when two ‘political groups’ exchanged gunfire in Hussain Hazara Goth on Wednesday, police said.

They said that life came to a standstill in parts of Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Gulistan-i-Jauhar for more than six hours when the two political groups clashed with each other following the funeral prayers for a deputy general manager of the Karachi Electric Supply Company, who was killed in a magnetic bomb blast a day earlier.

A man, who placed a spy camera inside a shampoo rack of a toilet to video record a fellow tenant bathing, was jailed for three weeks on Thursday.

Accounts executive Chan Chee Yoong, 42, a Malaysian and a Singapore permanent resident, admitted to intruding into the privacy of the then 24-year-old woman at a flat in Balestier on May 28, 2011. A magistrate's court heard that Chan had rented a room at the flat while the victim was renting a room which she shared with her boyfriend.

Five Pakistanis killed in robbery outside Cape Town

JOHANNESBURG: South African police say two robbers stealing a safe shot and killed five Pakistani men and wounded a sixth in a ghetto outside the tourist resort of Cape Town.

Spokesman Col. Tembinkosi Kinana said the attack took place in a house believed used as a bakery late Tuesday.

The attackers took off with the safe. Kinana said police arrested a 28-year-old South African who had a gun and the safe. He would not say what was in the safe.

The robbery was particularly brutal even by the standards of violent crime that have become a norm in South Africa.

Kinana said the attackers shot six people, all Pakistani citizens. Four died at the scene, another at the hospital and the sixth victim is in critical condition.

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YANGON: Two people including a Buddhist monk were killed and at least three mosques were destroyed after riots broke out in a town in central Myanmar, police said on Thursday.

Around 200 people fought in the streets after an argument in a Muslim-owned gold shop turned violent in Meiktila on Wednesday, according to a post on Myanmar Police Force's Facebook page.

"One injured monk and Than Myint Naing, 26, who were being treated for their injuries died from their burns at hospital," it said.

Afghan government says NATO war ‘aimless, unwise’

KABUL: Afghanistan’s presidential spokesman on Tuesday described the NATO-led military operation in the country as “aimless and unwise”, in the latest government broadside against the coalition.

Follow up:

Aimal Faizi, spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, hit out after NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen rejected Karzai’s recent allegations that it was working in collusion with Taliban militants.

“The people of Afghanistan ask NATO to define the purpose and aim of the so-called war on terror... (They) consider this war as aimless and unwise to continue,” Faizi said in a statement.

The verbal onslaught is set to worsen relations between Afghanistan and the international coalition that has been fighting for 11 years against Islamist militants who are trying to overthrow Karzai’s government.

UN, major powers warn Afghanistan over election

UNITED NATIONS: The United States and United Nations on Tuesday warned Afghanistan that ensuring a credible presidential election next year would be “critical” to maintaining international support after 2014.

Follow up:

UN leader Ban Ki-Moon also said he was “deeply disturbed” at the lack of action taken by Afghan authorities over growing numbers of killings of women The warnings came amid growing tensions between President Hamid Karzai and the United States and the NATO-led international force which is due to leave Afghanistan next year.

“An inclusive and credible presidential election in 2014 is critical for the country’s future and to sustaining international assistance to the people of Afghanistan,” US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice said. “The results of this election must produce an outcome that is legitimately accepted by the Afghan people,” Rice told a council meeting on Afghanistan.

Afghan government says NATO war ‘aimless, unwise’

UN secretary-general says Taliban may be willing to talk to UN on civilian casualties

UNITED NATIONS — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday the Taliban may be willing to hold talks with the United Nations on minimizing civilian casualties in Afghanistan.

Follow up:

Ban cited two statements from the Taliban prompted by a recent U.N. report on civilian casualties as “perhaps indicating a willingness to engage.”

“I encourage a meaningful dialogue to reduce this intolerable, continuing death toll and to protect civilians,” Ban told the Security Council on Tuesday.

U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said Ban was referring to engagement with the U.N., not the Afghan government.

According to a recent U.N. report, 2,754 Afghan civilians were killed in 2012, down 12 percent from 3,131 in 2011, but the number killed in the second half of last year rose, suggesting that Afghanistan is likely to face continued violence as the Taliban and other militants fight for control following the withdrawal of U.S. and allied combat forces next year.

UN secretary-general says Taliban may be willing to talk to UN on civilian casualties

Decision at top brass meeting: War on terror will go on, says military

ISLAMABAD: The top military brass resolved on Tuesday to continue the fight against terrorism.

Follow up:

The meeting, chaired by Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Khalid Shameem Wynne, was attended by Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Asif Sandila, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retd) Asif Yasin Malik, Chief of General Staff, Director General Joint Staff, Director General of Inter Services Intelligence, Director General of Strategic Plans Division and other senior military officers from the three services.

“It was reiterated in unequivocal terms that comprehensive strategy will be followed by armed forces to combat terrorist threat being faced by the country,” a military spokesman said after a quarterly meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, which is the principal military advisory body.

The policy statement on continuing the fight against terrorism came a day after the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan withdrew its peace talks offer on the pretext of what it (TTP) called the “non-serious attitude of security forces and the government”.

Afghanistan opposition parties in talks with Taliban, claim leaders

Hamid Karzai's opponents – many from Northern Alliance of 2001 invasion – also claim to be in dialogue with militant chiefs

Follow up:

Afghan political parties united against the president, Hamid Karzai, are in talks with the Taliban and Islamist groups, hoping to broker peace before next year's exit of international combat troops and a presidential race that will determine Karzai's successor, leaders of the factions have said.

This is the first confirmation that the opposition has opened its own, new channel of discussions to try to find a political resolution to the war, now in its 12th year. And the Taliban too seem to want to move things forward, even contemplating replacing their top negotiator, two senior Taliban officials told the Associated Press.

Reaching an understanding with both the Taliban and the militant group, Hezb-e-Islami – headed by the US-declared terrorist Gulbuddin Hekmatyar – would give the opposition, which expects to field a consensus candidate in next year's election, a better chance at cobbling together a post-Karzai government.

Nato troops in Afghanistan 'in a similar situation to failed Soviet invasion'

Kabul: Nato troops in Afghanistan find themselves in a similar situation to the failed Soviet invasion and are also waging a campaign which is "unwinnable in military terms", according to a provocative Ministry of Defence analysis.

Follow up:

Both the Nato campaign and the 1979 invasion were initially attempts to impose "ideology foreign to the Afghan people", whose aims were quickly dropped when they ran into difficulty.

Nato, like the Soviets, has been unable to "establish control over the country's borders and the insurgents' safe havens", or "protect the rural population", according to the paper written by retired officers for an internal MOD think tank.

"The [Soviet] 40th Army was unable to decisively defeat the Mujahideen while facing no existential threat itself, a situation that precisely echoes [the Nato coalition's] predicament".

Afghanistan opposition parties in talks with Taliban, claim leaders

Nato troops in Afghanistan 'in a similar situation to failed Soviet invasion'

Taliban flush out rivals from last bastion in Tirah

LANDI KOTAL: Hundreds of members of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan overran on Monday the last bastion of their rival group, Ansaarul Islam, in Tirah valley of Khyber Agency.

Follow up:

Sources said that Ansaarul Islam chief Maulana Mehboobul Haq and his lieutenant Ezzatullah Hamkhayal also fled their headquarters in Bagh-Maidan and took refuge in Pir Mela locality of Arhanga near the border of Orakzai Agency.

They said that Taliban blew up the Muhammadi Markaz in Bagh-Maidan and torched a number of houses, vacated by the supporters of Ansaarul Islam (AI) in the area.

“Taliban are now in full control of entire Bar Qambarkhel area including Bhutan Sharif, Haidar Kandaw, Dray Stany and Dray Plara in Lar (eastern) Bagh along with Bar (western) Bagh that fell to them on Monday after fierce resistance by AI supporters,” they added.

Sources said that with the fall of Bar Bagh, Taliban also took control of Angori, Kala Vuch, Arhanga Kandao and Shalobar Warsak heights.

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