PESHAWAR: Three rockets were fired in yet another attack on the most vulnerable Arbab Tapu post of Matani Police Station on Kohat Road here Sunday. There was, however, no casualty or damage.
The attack on the post, located on the boundary between Peshawar and Darra Adamkhel tribal region, occurred late Sunday evening. The projectiles landed close to the police post but did not cause any casualty or damage.
Two days earlier, two rockets landed near the Badaber PAF Base while another hit a house in Gulberg No 2, causing no damage or casualty. The Matani Police Station was also attacked with two rockets a couple of days back. The volatile police station is facing frequent attacks from Darra Adamkhel and Khyber Agency.
Last month, three policemen were killed in mortar shelling at the Arbab Tapu police post. One of the deceased, Nooran Shah, was the expert of heavy weapons. Eleven people were killed in a suicide attack on the FC camp near the Arbab Tapu post while two cops were killed in another suicide hit on Sra Khawra post of the Matani Police Station during the past two months.
Numerous rocket attacks on police and FC establishments in the jurisdiction of the police station have been reported as terrorists fire rockets and mortars, targeting Matani police establishments almost thrice a week.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Fear of militants, helicopters still haunts Swat girl students
MINGORA: Around 50 girls, aged between six and 12 years, started running helter-skelter as they spotted a low-flying military helicopter over their makeshift school in an orchard in Maniyar area of Swat.
Majority of the students, whose nearby school building was destroyed by militants with explosives, recently returned to their villages after living in tents and rented houses in Mardan and Swabi districts for nearly three months.
“We are not only scared of Taliban but also afraid of helicopters. The choppers spread so much fear among the recently arrived children that some of them cling to their teachers,” Zeba Begum, headmistress at the school, told The News.
The strength at the school was 290 before May 1. Only 50 of the students have, however, reported so far since the opening of schools on August 1.“Fear of Taliban still haunts children and parents, which is why attendance is thin at the school,” said the headmistress, who complained about lack of security for the female staff and children feeling threatened by militants over the previous six months.
According to official figures, more than 200 schools, mostly those of girls, have been destroyed or damaged by militants in Swat in the past two years. They had also warned parents to stop sending their female children to schools as “girls’ education is against Islam.”
Zeba Begum and her five staff members feel unsafe despite disappearance of militants from the area. She says a miscreant may attack the staffers or the children to spread terror. The government should provide security to all the reopened schools, she stressed.
Majority of the displaced persons, who have returned, is scared despite the fact that some kind of normalcy with the opening of music shops, shaving of beards again by barbers and shopping by women in markets. But the presence of barricades set up by security forces in Mingora, night-time curfew and checkpoints on the road leading to upper Swat Valley is shattering the confidence of the common people who are impatient to see their city bustling and tourists returning to Swat.
“We are happy but scared... some people say Taliban may stage comeback after Ramazan as their leadership is still alive,” said Arshad Hussain Khan, president of the Shop Owners Association at the Cheena Bazaar, known for women garments in Mingora.
Sitting with his two children in the market, he said he did not send them to school fearing attack by miscreants. He said the government opened the schools without providing security. “As the situation is still uncertain, I can’t risk the lives of my children by sending them to school,” he said.
Similar concern was expressed by students and teachers at Maniyar, a village close to Qambar, once a stronghold of militants. “Many of my classmates have returned but they don’t come to school fearing attacks from Taliban,” said 10-year-old Shabnam, who said she wept after being told about the destruction of her school while living in a rented house in Mardan.
Demanding early construction of the razed building, majority of the students asked for provision of security, clean drinking water and proper arrangements to save them from the scorching heat.
Swat-based educationist Ziauddin said that around 80,000 girls were at schools till mid-2008. He said their parents removed majority of them after militants threatened the parents and school administration in the valley. He said the attendance was, however, once again on the rise marking landmark improvement in the situation.
Majority of the students, whose nearby school building was destroyed by militants with explosives, recently returned to their villages after living in tents and rented houses in Mardan and Swabi districts for nearly three months.
“We are not only scared of Taliban but also afraid of helicopters. The choppers spread so much fear among the recently arrived children that some of them cling to their teachers,” Zeba Begum, headmistress at the school, told The News.
The strength at the school was 290 before May 1. Only 50 of the students have, however, reported so far since the opening of schools on August 1.“Fear of Taliban still haunts children and parents, which is why attendance is thin at the school,” said the headmistress, who complained about lack of security for the female staff and children feeling threatened by militants over the previous six months.
According to official figures, more than 200 schools, mostly those of girls, have been destroyed or damaged by militants in Swat in the past two years. They had also warned parents to stop sending their female children to schools as “girls’ education is against Islam.”
Zeba Begum and her five staff members feel unsafe despite disappearance of militants from the area. She says a miscreant may attack the staffers or the children to spread terror. The government should provide security to all the reopened schools, she stressed.
Majority of the displaced persons, who have returned, is scared despite the fact that some kind of normalcy with the opening of music shops, shaving of beards again by barbers and shopping by women in markets. But the presence of barricades set up by security forces in Mingora, night-time curfew and checkpoints on the road leading to upper Swat Valley is shattering the confidence of the common people who are impatient to see their city bustling and tourists returning to Swat.
“We are happy but scared... some people say Taliban may stage comeback after Ramazan as their leadership is still alive,” said Arshad Hussain Khan, president of the Shop Owners Association at the Cheena Bazaar, known for women garments in Mingora.
Sitting with his two children in the market, he said he did not send them to school fearing attack by miscreants. He said the government opened the schools without providing security. “As the situation is still uncertain, I can’t risk the lives of my children by sending them to school,” he said.
Similar concern was expressed by students and teachers at Maniyar, a village close to Qambar, once a stronghold of militants. “Many of my classmates have returned but they don’t come to school fearing attacks from Taliban,” said 10-year-old Shabnam, who said she wept after being told about the destruction of her school while living in a rented house in Mardan.
Demanding early construction of the razed building, majority of the students asked for provision of security, clean drinking water and proper arrangements to save them from the scorching heat.
Swat-based educationist Ziauddin said that around 80,000 girls were at schools till mid-2008. He said their parents removed majority of them after militants threatened the parents and school administration in the valley. He said the attendance was, however, once again on the rise marking landmark improvement in the situation.
Taleban in turmoil as rivals draw guns at each other in fight for leadership
www.timesonline.co.uk
The Pakistani Taleban appeared to be in turmoil last night after reports of a fatal gun battle between rivals to replace its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed by a CIA missile strike on Wednesday.
Government and intelligence sources said that Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur Rehman became increasingly angry with each other at a shura, or tribal council, called to choose a new head of Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan (Taleban Movement of Pakistan).
Guns were reportedly drawn and sources suggested that Hakimullah Mehsud was killed and Wali-ur Rehman was seriously injured.
However, Taleban commanders denied any infighting and tried to present a united front, while Pakistani officials struggled to confirm local intelligence reports.
One local cleric told The Times that Mr Hakimullah grew angry at the shura when the majority of those there declared their support for Mr Rehman.
Mr Rehman, who is in his early thirties, is a former spokesman for Mehsud and was one of his closest confidants, but he has a reputation for being intelligent and far-sighted rather than aggressive. He also has the advantage of being highly qualified in Islamic teaching.
Intelligence officials said that Afghan Taleban and al-Qaeda figures had been trying to mediate between the two camps at a series of shuras in South Waziristan — apparently to no avail.
A spokesman for a Taleban group opposed to Mehsud also reported that supporters of the former Pakistani Taleban leader were turning on each other.
“Differences have arisen between the followers of Mr Mehsud: that is why they are claiming that he is not dead,” the spokesman, Maulvi Saifullah Mehsud, said.
“They were at loggerheads with one another. This is going to grow in the coming days. God willing, the infighting will get worse.”
However, Mr Rehman telephoned several reporters yesterday to deny personally that the shura, or the shooting, had taken place.
He added that Mr Hakimullah was alive and would soon speak to them.
Mr Hakimullah has not done that, even though he contributed to the confusion on Saturday by telephoning a reporter to deny that Mehsud was dead.
Qari Hussain, another of Mehsud’s key lieutenants, has also denied the militant leader’s death.
Taleban commanders now say that the Government is fabricating reports of dissent within its ranks to try to undermine the movement.
The Government, meanwhile, accuses the Taleban of deliberately sowing confusion and has challenged the commanders to provide evidence supporting their claims.
It is impossible to verify either the Taleban’s or the Government’s version of events as most of the tribal regions are off-limits to journalists and government officials.
“We need to see the dead bodies, we need to do some DNA, and we need to have something solid,” Rehman Malik, the Pakistani Interior Minister, told local television over the weekend.
Nonetheless, the United States is giving greater credence to the reports both of Mehsud’s death and the subsequent Taleban infighting.
Jim Jones, President Obama’s National Security Adviser, told a television news programme yesterday that the White House believed that Mehsud had been killed.
“We think so,” Mr Jones told Fox News Sunday. “The Pakistani Government believes he is, and all the evidence we have suggests that.”
However, Mr Jones said that he could not confirm that there had been a gunfight between Mehsud’s potential successors. “We’ve heard stories about that. I can’t confirm it,” he said. “It certainly appears there is dissension in the ranks. That’s not a bad thing for us.”
Many analysts also say that the Taleban’s denials are probably part of a strategy to maintain unity. In the past, the Taleban has denied the killing of other leaders.
“There is, I think, a struggle going on for the leadership, and Hakimullah Mehsud is one of the contenders,” said Mahmood Shah, a former security chief for the tribal regions.
Mr Hakimullah, also a former spokesman for Mehsud, was put in charge of fighters in the Orakzai, Kurram and Khyber tribal regions despite being only in his twenties.
The leader of a faction called Fidayeenal Islam, he burnished his reputation as a ruthless fighter by leading a series of attacks last year on convoys carrying supplies to American and Nato troops in Afghanistan.
He is a cousin of Qari Hussain, who is in charge of training Mehsud’s suicide bombers.
Mr Hakimullah acknowledged on Wednesday that Mehsud, who had been ill with diabetes, had not been in hands-on control of the movement’s affairs for the past three months.
The Pakistani Taleban appeared to be in turmoil last night after reports of a fatal gun battle between rivals to replace its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed by a CIA missile strike on Wednesday.
Government and intelligence sources said that Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur Rehman became increasingly angry with each other at a shura, or tribal council, called to choose a new head of Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan (Taleban Movement of Pakistan).
Guns were reportedly drawn and sources suggested that Hakimullah Mehsud was killed and Wali-ur Rehman was seriously injured.
However, Taleban commanders denied any infighting and tried to present a united front, while Pakistani officials struggled to confirm local intelligence reports.
One local cleric told The Times that Mr Hakimullah grew angry at the shura when the majority of those there declared their support for Mr Rehman.
Mr Rehman, who is in his early thirties, is a former spokesman for Mehsud and was one of his closest confidants, but he has a reputation for being intelligent and far-sighted rather than aggressive. He also has the advantage of being highly qualified in Islamic teaching.
Intelligence officials said that Afghan Taleban and al-Qaeda figures had been trying to mediate between the two camps at a series of shuras in South Waziristan — apparently to no avail.
A spokesman for a Taleban group opposed to Mehsud also reported that supporters of the former Pakistani Taleban leader were turning on each other.
“Differences have arisen between the followers of Mr Mehsud: that is why they are claiming that he is not dead,” the spokesman, Maulvi Saifullah Mehsud, said.
“They were at loggerheads with one another. This is going to grow in the coming days. God willing, the infighting will get worse.”
However, Mr Rehman telephoned several reporters yesterday to deny personally that the shura, or the shooting, had taken place.
He added that Mr Hakimullah was alive and would soon speak to them.
Mr Hakimullah has not done that, even though he contributed to the confusion on Saturday by telephoning a reporter to deny that Mehsud was dead.
Qari Hussain, another of Mehsud’s key lieutenants, has also denied the militant leader’s death.
Taleban commanders now say that the Government is fabricating reports of dissent within its ranks to try to undermine the movement.
The Government, meanwhile, accuses the Taleban of deliberately sowing confusion and has challenged the commanders to provide evidence supporting their claims.
It is impossible to verify either the Taleban’s or the Government’s version of events as most of the tribal regions are off-limits to journalists and government officials.
“We need to see the dead bodies, we need to do some DNA, and we need to have something solid,” Rehman Malik, the Pakistani Interior Minister, told local television over the weekend.
Nonetheless, the United States is giving greater credence to the reports both of Mehsud’s death and the subsequent Taleban infighting.
Jim Jones, President Obama’s National Security Adviser, told a television news programme yesterday that the White House believed that Mehsud had been killed.
“We think so,” Mr Jones told Fox News Sunday. “The Pakistani Government believes he is, and all the evidence we have suggests that.”
However, Mr Jones said that he could not confirm that there had been a gunfight between Mehsud’s potential successors. “We’ve heard stories about that. I can’t confirm it,” he said. “It certainly appears there is dissension in the ranks. That’s not a bad thing for us.”
Many analysts also say that the Taleban’s denials are probably part of a strategy to maintain unity. In the past, the Taleban has denied the killing of other leaders.
“There is, I think, a struggle going on for the leadership, and Hakimullah Mehsud is one of the contenders,” said Mahmood Shah, a former security chief for the tribal regions.
Mr Hakimullah, also a former spokesman for Mehsud, was put in charge of fighters in the Orakzai, Kurram and Khyber tribal regions despite being only in his twenties.
The leader of a faction called Fidayeenal Islam, he burnished his reputation as a ruthless fighter by leading a series of attacks last year on convoys carrying supplies to American and Nato troops in Afghanistan.
He is a cousin of Qari Hussain, who is in charge of training Mehsud’s suicide bombers.
Mr Hakimullah acknowledged on Wednesday that Mehsud, who had been ill with diabetes, had not been in hands-on control of the movement’s affairs for the past three months.
45,000 US troops needed in Afghanistan, military adviser says
www.timesonline.co.uk
The United States should send up to 45,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, a senior adviser to the American commander in Kabul has told The Times.
Anthony Cordesman, an influential American academic who is a member of a team that has been advising General Stanley McChrystal, now in charge of Nato forces in Afghanistan, also said that to deal with the threat from the Taleban the size of the Afghan National Army might have to increase to 240,000.If Mr Cordesman’s recommendation reflects the view of General McChrystal, who recently presented the findings of a 60-day review of Afghanistan strategy to Washington, it would mean sending another nine combat brigades, comprising 45,000 American troops, in addition to the 21,000 already approved by President Obama. This would bring the total American military presence in Afghanistan to about 100,000, considerably closer to the force that was deployed for the counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq.If General McChrystal believes that America should send nine more brigades — Mr Cordesman suggested it should be between three and nine brigades — there is bound to be pressure on Britain to send reinforcements as well. The British strength now is 9,000.Writing in The Times, Mr Cordesman, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said: “The insurgents may have lost virtually every tactical clash [against Nato troops], but they have expanded their areas of influence from a presence in some 30 of Afghanistan’s 364 districts in 2003 to one in some 160 districts by the end of 2008, while insurgent attacks increased by 60 per cent during October 2008 to April 2009 alone.“Nato must change its strategy and tactics after years in which member countries, particularly the United States, failed to react to the seriousness of the emerging insurgency,” he added.The US reinforcements already approved by Mr Obama include 8,000 Marines of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade who have arrived in Helmand province, replacing the British troops in the south of the province, and 4,000 US Army soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade, who are also arriving in the region.Mr Cordesman appeared to confirm the strategy expected to be outlined by General McChrystal relating to the Afghan National Army. He says that the existing plan to increase numbers to 134,000 soldiers is inadequate. He says that it should be doubled to 240,000 by 2014, and the Afghan National Police should rise from 82,000 to 160,000.To reach such levels, however, Nato would need to contribute thousands more troops to train the Afghans.On Saturday in The Times, General Sir David Richards, who becomes Chief of the General Staff — the head of the British Army — on August 28, said he thought that Britain’s commitment to Afghanistan could last between 30 and 40 years, although he envisaged that troops would have to stay only for the medium term. He is expected to repeat the call made by General Sir Richard Dannatt, whom he is succeeding, for more British troops for Helmand.Tonight a former head of the British Army said it would not be possible for Britain to meet its commitment to support Afghanistan for decades if ministers approved a proposal to cut three infantry battalions.As part of a current internal Ministry of Defence review, a reduction in the size of the infantry, from 36 to 33 battalions, has not yet been ruled out, because of the short-term savings that would ensue from cutting back on manpower — a total of £60 million a year for the loss of the three battalions.However, General Sir Roger Wheeler, Chief of the General Staff from 1997 to 2000, said that it was illogical to reduce the size of the infantry at a time when there were so many casualties in Afghanistan and when it was now accepted that the mission in Helmand province was going to continue for decades. “And the MoD would be saving peanuts,” he said.
The United States should send up to 45,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, a senior adviser to the American commander in Kabul has told The Times.
Anthony Cordesman, an influential American academic who is a member of a team that has been advising General Stanley McChrystal, now in charge of Nato forces in Afghanistan, also said that to deal with the threat from the Taleban the size of the Afghan National Army might have to increase to 240,000.If Mr Cordesman’s recommendation reflects the view of General McChrystal, who recently presented the findings of a 60-day review of Afghanistan strategy to Washington, it would mean sending another nine combat brigades, comprising 45,000 American troops, in addition to the 21,000 already approved by President Obama. This would bring the total American military presence in Afghanistan to about 100,000, considerably closer to the force that was deployed for the counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq.If General McChrystal believes that America should send nine more brigades — Mr Cordesman suggested it should be between three and nine brigades — there is bound to be pressure on Britain to send reinforcements as well. The British strength now is 9,000.Writing in The Times, Mr Cordesman, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said: “The insurgents may have lost virtually every tactical clash [against Nato troops], but they have expanded their areas of influence from a presence in some 30 of Afghanistan’s 364 districts in 2003 to one in some 160 districts by the end of 2008, while insurgent attacks increased by 60 per cent during October 2008 to April 2009 alone.“Nato must change its strategy and tactics after years in which member countries, particularly the United States, failed to react to the seriousness of the emerging insurgency,” he added.The US reinforcements already approved by Mr Obama include 8,000 Marines of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade who have arrived in Helmand province, replacing the British troops in the south of the province, and 4,000 US Army soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade, who are also arriving in the region.Mr Cordesman appeared to confirm the strategy expected to be outlined by General McChrystal relating to the Afghan National Army. He says that the existing plan to increase numbers to 134,000 soldiers is inadequate. He says that it should be doubled to 240,000 by 2014, and the Afghan National Police should rise from 82,000 to 160,000.To reach such levels, however, Nato would need to contribute thousands more troops to train the Afghans.On Saturday in The Times, General Sir David Richards, who becomes Chief of the General Staff — the head of the British Army — on August 28, said he thought that Britain’s commitment to Afghanistan could last between 30 and 40 years, although he envisaged that troops would have to stay only for the medium term. He is expected to repeat the call made by General Sir Richard Dannatt, whom he is succeeding, for more British troops for Helmand.Tonight a former head of the British Army said it would not be possible for Britain to meet its commitment to support Afghanistan for decades if ministers approved a proposal to cut three infantry battalions.As part of a current internal Ministry of Defence review, a reduction in the size of the infantry, from 36 to 33 battalions, has not yet been ruled out, because of the short-term savings that would ensue from cutting back on manpower — a total of £60 million a year for the loss of the three battalions.However, General Sir Roger Wheeler, Chief of the General Staff from 1997 to 2000, said that it was illogical to reduce the size of the infantry at a time when there were so many casualties in Afghanistan and when it was now accepted that the mission in Helmand province was going to continue for decades. “And the MoD would be saving peanuts,” he said.
One million evacuated as Typhoon Morakot hits east China
At least one person has been killed and three others injured as Typhoon Morakot slammed into southeast China’s Fujian and Zhejiang provinces yesterday, one day after it pounded Taiwan with torrential rains that caused the worst flooding on the island in 50 years and left dozens missing and feared dead.
The eighth Typhoon of this year made landfall in Xiapu county at about 4:20 pm, packing winds of close to 119 kilometers per hour and slicing its way north at a speed of 12 kph at its eye, the National Meteorological Center said, adding that Morokot is expected to weaken to a tropical storm.
Four adults and a 4-year-old boy were buried in debris as five houses collapsed in Wenzhou city in Zhejiang Province after 8 am yesterday, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The child died during the afternoon after emergency treatment failed, the city’s flood-control headquarters said.
Some 1 million people were evacuated in coastal areas of eastern provinces by early Sunday – more than 490,000 people in Zhejiang and 480,000 others in neighboring Fujian.
In Zhejiang, approximately 35,440 ships have been called back to port, the provincial flood-control headquarters said Sunday morning, while authorities in Fujian urged 48,000 boats to return to harbor.
Flood-control and drought-relief headquarters in the province had raised the emergency alert from Level-II to Level-I with Wenzhou likely to become the worst-hit area.
As of 8 am yesterday, as many as 220,000 residents in Wenzhou were relocated to safety, 8,997 boats had returned to port and 331 houses had collapsed, incurring direct economic losses of 229 million yuan. Wenzhou City airport had canceled 39 domestic flights.
Chen Lianjin, a 20-year-old resident of Pingyang, Wenzhou, said the deepest water level was up to three meters in some low-lying areas, and his family has had to live on pickles after runing out of vegetables.
“It has rained continuously and heavily since Thursday, and wind strength has reached Level 14 at most,” an official at the Wenzhou Meteorological Bureau told the Global Times.
Water flows yesterday past a damaged bridge previously linking Pingtung and Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan. The government mobilized troops to rescue tens of thousands of residents trapped in the island’s worst flooding in 50 years, officials said, as Typhoon Morakot pounded Taiwan over the weekend with powerful winds and rain. Photo: AFP
Officials in some Zhejiang villages were riding bicycles to distribute drinking water and instant noodles to households stranded amid deep water, Xinhua reported.
Chinese airlines have canceled flights to Fujian and Jiangsu. Fujian government stated on its website that 128 flights have been canceled and a dozen highways have been closed due to safety concerns.
Torrential rainfall also swept through Rongtuo, Xiapu, Fuding and Fu’an in Ningde City, state media reported.
In Ningde, 23 roads have partially collapsed, while the water level of the city’s reservoirs has reached alert level, and water was discharged as a precaution.
“The danger increases shortly after the typhoon’s landfall. Some dilapidated houses have collapsed in some mountainous areas, and crops have been drowned,” said Zhou Qiuqi, director of the Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters in Ningde City.
“The sea route from Xiamen to Jinmen has been totally suspended with no time set for its reopening,” an official surnamed Chen at the Dongdu ferry station of Xiamen told the Global Times.
Fujian Province registered its highest precipitation of 800 mm in Taishun County, while the Cangnan Flood Control Office said Morakot has caused power cuts in 11 areas including Lingyan and Shiping.
A cargo ship, Daqing 254, was also stranded amid strong winds, and rescuers were trying to safeguard its eight sailors, after it was reported adrift at 2:30 am Sunday.
China Central Television reported that Fujian will be under Morakot’s onslaught for the next 20 hours. Other areas in East China, such as Jiangsu and Shanghai, are all on high alert. In Shanghai, the World Expo venues still under construction have been reinforced.
Marokot slammed into Taiwan with torrential rains yesterday, causing the worst flooding on the island in 50 years.
Taiwan’s Disaster Relief Center said a woman was killed when her vehicle plunged into a ditch in Kaohsiung county in heavy rain Friday, and two men drowned in Pingtung and Tainan, respectively. It said that 31 people were missing and feared dead.
Television footage showed a six-story hotel in Taipung, south Taiwan, collapse into floodwater. People inside the hotel were evacuated beforehand, reports said.
Obama in Mexico for North American summit
MEXICO CITY-- President Obama arrived Sunday evening in Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city, for a day and a half of talks with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
A broad range of issues is expected to be discussed -- including the economy, drug violence and the environment -- but no major announcements are expected, officials said in the days leading up the North American Leaders' Summit.
Obama will meet with Calderon before the three leaders gather at a working dinner Sunday evening, according to the White House.
"The themes of this summit are: one, economic recovery and competitiveness; two, citizen safety and security; and three, clean energy and climate change. All are core priorities of this administration," National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones said in a briefing last week.
More than 4,000 policemen and soldiers were maintaining a security perimeter around the building where the meetings would take place. As with previous summits, demonstrators were expected.
A key issue expected to lead the talks is the economy, as the U.S. economic downturn has affected its neighbors.
In May, the Mexican government announced that its GDP had shrunk by 5.9 percent in the first quarter. Exports to the United States and the rest of the world, a key component of Mexico's GDP, was down considerably because of decreased global demand, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
Canada has complained about "Buy American" provisions in parts of the U.S. economic stimulus package, which it says can harm trade between the two partners. Harper is likely to raise the topic during talks.
The summit follows one of Mexico's deadliest months in its fight against drug cartels.
More than 10,000 people, including more than 1,000 police officers, have been killed since Calderon began an offensive against the cartels in 2006. But reports of human rights abuses by soldiers fighting the drug traffickers have recently attracted attention in the United States, and about $1 million of counternarcotics aid could be withheld as a result.
Calderon is also expected to press the issue of the long-stalled permission for Mexican trucks to roll on U.S. highways, officials said. Despite a stipulation in the North American Free Trade Agreement, U.S. officials have not allowed Mexican trucks into the United States. A pilot program was canceled by Congress last year, and Mexico retaliated with $2.4 billion in tariffs on select American products.
"The bottom line is that what affects our bordering neighbors has the potential to affect us all, so we want to be certain that we have the tightest and best possible cooperation," Jones told reporters.
A broad range of issues is expected to be discussed -- including the economy, drug violence and the environment -- but no major announcements are expected, officials said in the days leading up the North American Leaders' Summit.
Obama will meet with Calderon before the three leaders gather at a working dinner Sunday evening, according to the White House.
"The themes of this summit are: one, economic recovery and competitiveness; two, citizen safety and security; and three, clean energy and climate change. All are core priorities of this administration," National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones said in a briefing last week.
More than 4,000 policemen and soldiers were maintaining a security perimeter around the building where the meetings would take place. As with previous summits, demonstrators were expected.
A key issue expected to lead the talks is the economy, as the U.S. economic downturn has affected its neighbors.
In May, the Mexican government announced that its GDP had shrunk by 5.9 percent in the first quarter. Exports to the United States and the rest of the world, a key component of Mexico's GDP, was down considerably because of decreased global demand, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
Canada has complained about "Buy American" provisions in parts of the U.S. economic stimulus package, which it says can harm trade between the two partners. Harper is likely to raise the topic during talks.
The summit follows one of Mexico's deadliest months in its fight against drug cartels.
More than 10,000 people, including more than 1,000 police officers, have been killed since Calderon began an offensive against the cartels in 2006. But reports of human rights abuses by soldiers fighting the drug traffickers have recently attracted attention in the United States, and about $1 million of counternarcotics aid could be withheld as a result.
Calderon is also expected to press the issue of the long-stalled permission for Mexican trucks to roll on U.S. highways, officials said. Despite a stipulation in the North American Free Trade Agreement, U.S. officials have not allowed Mexican trucks into the United States. A pilot program was canceled by Congress last year, and Mexico retaliated with $2.4 billion in tariffs on select American products.
"The bottom line is that what affects our bordering neighbors has the potential to affect us all, so we want to be certain that we have the tightest and best possible cooperation," Jones told reporters.
Keep pressure on militants: US
NEW YORK - US President Barack Obama’s National Security Adviser Gen James Jones said Sunday the United States believes that Baitullah Mehsud, Pakistan’s top Taliban leader, is no longer in this world despite conflicting reports to the contrary.
Gen James Jones told “Fox News Sunday” that Baitullah Mehsud, whom he called a “real thug”, was killed and Pakistan’s Taliban leadership is now fighting within its top ranks to name its successor.
Claims and counter-claims about Baitullah Mehsud’s fate have swirled since a CIA missile strike last Wednesday on his father-in-law’s house in South Waziristan.
“Mehsud was a very bad individual, a real thug,” said Jones, who appeared on three Sunday talk shows. He said the US was 90 per cent confident that Mehsud was dead.
Jones congratulated the Pakistan Army for pressing the fight against the branch of the Taliban that lives inside Pakistan. The US insists some of the worst violence in Afghanistan is directed from across the border in Pakistan.
“If there is dissension in the ranks and if in fact he is, as we think, dead, this is a positive indication that in Pakistan things are turning for the better,” Jones said.
He did not give details about the strike, which is part of a US policy of cross-border attacks that is deeply unpopular with the Pakistani public. The Obama administration has continued the strikes even while trying to improve both the US relationship with Pakistan’s leaders and the image of the US and its fight against terrorism.
US officials regularly point out that terrorism is a large and growing danger inside Pakistan that the country’s own military is best placed to combat.
Jones called Mehsud “public enemy No. 1” in his own country.
Monitoring Desk adds: Jones said the US is nearly certain that Mehsud is dead, and there now is a leadership struggle within the “terrorist” group. He said the militant ranks are roiled by dissension.
He noted that Mehsud’s ouster and dissension within the Taliban represents an important moment in the struggle against extremism in Pakistan.
Pakistan should abolish blasphemy law: HRCP
KARACHI: Pakistan should immediately move to abolish controversial blasphemy laws after the killing of seven Christians to prevent copycat riots from opening a new front of religious unrest, activists say.
Blasphemy carries the death penalty in Pakistan and although no one has been sent to the gallows for the crime, the legislation is too arbitrary analysts say, and is often exploited for personal enmity and encourages Islamist extremism.
When an angry mob of Muslims torched 40 houses and a church in the remote village of Gojra in Pakistan's heartland province of Punjab recently, two children, their parents and 75-year-old grandfather were burnt to death.
Three days later, two people were killed in another Punjab town in what was a private employee dispute against a Muslim factory boss, but coloured by unfounded allegations that the businessman desecrated the Qoran.
'It's an arbitrary law, which has been badly misused by extremists and influentials and should be abolished,' said Iqbal Haider, co-chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
'There is no option but to abolish this law. More than that, the government should revive the secular nature of the state as our founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah envisaged, otherwise it will aggravate religious unrest,' he said.
The country is battling Taliban militants in the northwest. Bomb attacks across the country have killed around 2,000 people in two years, having a detrimental effect on the economy and national image.
HRCP said the Gojra attacks were 'planned in advance' and that mosque announcements urged local Muslims to 'make mincemeat of the Christians'.
'A police contingent present in the neighbourhood did not try to stop the mob... The attackers seemed to be trained for carrying out such activities.'
The rights group quoted witnesses as saying that a number of attackers were from the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and other militant organisations.
Pakistan's blasphemy law was introduced by former military ruler Zia ul-Haq, who passed tough Islamic legislation, whose 1977-1988 rule was seen as a critical point in the development of extremist Islam in parts of Pakistan.
The civilian administration in Pakistan moved quickly to try to limit the fallout of the anti-Christian killings, offering compensation but cabinet ministers have stopped short of pledging to scrap the blasphemy laws.
'A committee will see the laws which are detrimental to religious harmony to sort out how they could be made better,' Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Christians during a solidarity visit to Gojra.
Just one witness is enough to incriminate a 'heretic'. Anyone accused of blasphemy is immediately arrested and charged, before an investigation begins.
In many cases, people take the law in their own hands and go for killing the alleged blasphemer and rights groups say this trend is increasing.
But religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi said the government could not risk a 'full-fledged review' inciting an Islamic backlash.
'Any move for a major amendment in the law will generate another controversy that will benefit militants and harm the cause of our Christian brothers.'
Hindus, Christians and other minorities make up less than five per cent of Pakistan's 167 million population, generally impoverished and marginalised.
Evarist Pinto, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Karachi, said the law means religious minorities live in constant danger.
'Militant groups constantly threaten religious minorities with false allegations of blasphemy and often use these laws against them,' said Pinto.
But a top cleric who heads the board running about 12,000 Islamic seminaries in the country defended the laws as vital in Pakistan, a Muslim republic.
'The laws have been misused, mostly by the Muslims against the Muslims, but it does not mean that the laws should be abolished. Instead the authorities should take steps to stop its misuse,' said Qari Hanif Jalandhari.
Blasphemy carries the death penalty in Pakistan and although no one has been sent to the gallows for the crime, the legislation is too arbitrary analysts say, and is often exploited for personal enmity and encourages Islamist extremism.
When an angry mob of Muslims torched 40 houses and a church in the remote village of Gojra in Pakistan's heartland province of Punjab recently, two children, their parents and 75-year-old grandfather were burnt to death.
Three days later, two people were killed in another Punjab town in what was a private employee dispute against a Muslim factory boss, but coloured by unfounded allegations that the businessman desecrated the Qoran.
'It's an arbitrary law, which has been badly misused by extremists and influentials and should be abolished,' said Iqbal Haider, co-chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
'There is no option but to abolish this law. More than that, the government should revive the secular nature of the state as our founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah envisaged, otherwise it will aggravate religious unrest,' he said.
The country is battling Taliban militants in the northwest. Bomb attacks across the country have killed around 2,000 people in two years, having a detrimental effect on the economy and national image.
HRCP said the Gojra attacks were 'planned in advance' and that mosque announcements urged local Muslims to 'make mincemeat of the Christians'.
'A police contingent present in the neighbourhood did not try to stop the mob... The attackers seemed to be trained for carrying out such activities.'
The rights group quoted witnesses as saying that a number of attackers were from the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and other militant organisations.
Pakistan's blasphemy law was introduced by former military ruler Zia ul-Haq, who passed tough Islamic legislation, whose 1977-1988 rule was seen as a critical point in the development of extremist Islam in parts of Pakistan.
The civilian administration in Pakistan moved quickly to try to limit the fallout of the anti-Christian killings, offering compensation but cabinet ministers have stopped short of pledging to scrap the blasphemy laws.
'A committee will see the laws which are detrimental to religious harmony to sort out how they could be made better,' Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Christians during a solidarity visit to Gojra.
Just one witness is enough to incriminate a 'heretic'. Anyone accused of blasphemy is immediately arrested and charged, before an investigation begins.
In many cases, people take the law in their own hands and go for killing the alleged blasphemer and rights groups say this trend is increasing.
But religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi said the government could not risk a 'full-fledged review' inciting an Islamic backlash.
'Any move for a major amendment in the law will generate another controversy that will benefit militants and harm the cause of our Christian brothers.'
Hindus, Christians and other minorities make up less than five per cent of Pakistan's 167 million population, generally impoverished and marginalised.
Evarist Pinto, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Karachi, said the law means religious minorities live in constant danger.
'Militant groups constantly threaten religious minorities with false allegations of blasphemy and often use these laws against them,' said Pinto.
But a top cleric who heads the board running about 12,000 Islamic seminaries in the country defended the laws as vital in Pakistan, a Muslim republic.
'The laws have been misused, mostly by the Muslims against the Muslims, but it does not mean that the laws should be abolished. Instead the authorities should take steps to stop its misuse,' said Qari Hanif Jalandhari.
War not won despite 'death' of Taliban chief: Islamabad
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's media and civil society on Saturday welcomed the suspected death of Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, saying it will dent extremists' efforts despite warnings it does not equal victory.
Pakistan said Friday it believed Mehsud, the charismatic commander of the Pakistani Taliban, had been killed in a US drone attack in a major blow for the Islamist militants.
Senior officials in Pakistan's powerful security establishment who supervise operations in Mehsud's Waziristan stronghold said the warlord was dead, but the government said it was seeking verification.
"Mehsud's elimination will leave a positive impact on terror-stricken people," leading Pakistani rights activist Farzana Bari told AFP.
Bari, head of the Gender Studies department at Islamabad's Quaid-e-Azam university, said the government and the military needed to completely eliminate the country's terrorist infrastructure.
"Mehsud's death will quadruple people's confidence in the government and the armed forces, which are already engaged in an offensive against Taliban militants in the northwest," Bari said.
The US Central Intelligence Agency, with the tacit cooperation of Islamabad, has carried out dozens of attacks in Pakistan using unmanned Predator and Reaper drones over the past year, but declines to discuss the strikes publicly.
Islamabad and Washington had said liquidating Mehsud was a strategic aim in the fight against Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked extremists whom the United States has accused of posing an existential threat to nuclear-armed Pakistan.
"I believe that Mehsud's death will greatly help improve (the) law and order situation but the overall impact will not be lasting," said Rakhshanda Naz, another rights activist, who runs non-governmental organization the Aurat Foundation.
"Mehsud's death will pose a setback for the TTP but it will be temporary and the group is to step back with a new leader."
She said that the problem could not simply be solved by eliminating one individual, saying: "We have to strike at their roots to rid our society of terrorism and extremism."
Mehsud, who had a five-million-dollar US bounty on his head after Washington branded him "a key Al-Qaeda facilitator," had reportedly narrowly escaped previous attacks.
"His death is a success but does not represent a war won, which is yet far off and perhaps years away," Pakistani newspaper The News said in its editorial.
"The greatest battle will to be to win back the predominantly youthful hearts and minds that his perverted view of the world and of Islam had turned to dark thoughts and dark ways."
"Win that battle and we will truly have won the war," the paper added.
Another local English-language newspaper, Dawn, said: "If he is indeed dead -- and many credible sources have independently suggested that he is in fact dead -- then a devastating blow has been struck right at the heart of the TTP." "The state must assess whether an immediate full-fledged operation in the Waziristan will degrade a demoralised TTP to the point that revival will be all but impossible," it added.
Taliban commanders have neither confirmed nor denied Mehsud's demise. But top militants in his umbrella group Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) gathered in his South Waziristan stronghold on Friday ahead of an expected announcement.
"According to our information, Taliban commanders held two rounds of meetings on Friday to elect their new chief," one local official said on condition of anonymity.
Confirming the meetings, another official said there still didn't seem to be an agreement amongst commanders on who should succeed Mehsud.
Pakistan said Friday it believed Mehsud, the charismatic commander of the Pakistani Taliban, had been killed in a US drone attack in a major blow for the Islamist militants.
Senior officials in Pakistan's powerful security establishment who supervise operations in Mehsud's Waziristan stronghold said the warlord was dead, but the government said it was seeking verification.
"Mehsud's elimination will leave a positive impact on terror-stricken people," leading Pakistani rights activist Farzana Bari told AFP.
Bari, head of the Gender Studies department at Islamabad's Quaid-e-Azam university, said the government and the military needed to completely eliminate the country's terrorist infrastructure.
"Mehsud's death will quadruple people's confidence in the government and the armed forces, which are already engaged in an offensive against Taliban militants in the northwest," Bari said.
The US Central Intelligence Agency, with the tacit cooperation of Islamabad, has carried out dozens of attacks in Pakistan using unmanned Predator and Reaper drones over the past year, but declines to discuss the strikes publicly.
Islamabad and Washington had said liquidating Mehsud was a strategic aim in the fight against Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked extremists whom the United States has accused of posing an existential threat to nuclear-armed Pakistan.
"I believe that Mehsud's death will greatly help improve (the) law and order situation but the overall impact will not be lasting," said Rakhshanda Naz, another rights activist, who runs non-governmental organization the Aurat Foundation.
"Mehsud's death will pose a setback for the TTP but it will be temporary and the group is to step back with a new leader."
She said that the problem could not simply be solved by eliminating one individual, saying: "We have to strike at their roots to rid our society of terrorism and extremism."
Mehsud, who had a five-million-dollar US bounty on his head after Washington branded him "a key Al-Qaeda facilitator," had reportedly narrowly escaped previous attacks.
"His death is a success but does not represent a war won, which is yet far off and perhaps years away," Pakistani newspaper The News said in its editorial.
"The greatest battle will to be to win back the predominantly youthful hearts and minds that his perverted view of the world and of Islam had turned to dark thoughts and dark ways."
"Win that battle and we will truly have won the war," the paper added.
Another local English-language newspaper, Dawn, said: "If he is indeed dead -- and many credible sources have independently suggested that he is in fact dead -- then a devastating blow has been struck right at the heart of the TTP." "The state must assess whether an immediate full-fledged operation in the Waziristan will degrade a demoralised TTP to the point that revival will be all but impossible," it added.
Taliban commanders have neither confirmed nor denied Mehsud's demise. But top militants in his umbrella group Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) gathered in his South Waziristan stronghold on Friday ahead of an expected announcement.
"According to our information, Taliban commanders held two rounds of meetings on Friday to elect their new chief," one local official said on condition of anonymity.
Confirming the meetings, another official said there still didn't seem to be an agreement amongst commanders on who should succeed Mehsud.
Peshawar people hopes Baitullah’s death to end terrorism
PESHAWAR: People of Peshawar have termed the killing of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud great news for the whole nation and were confident that his death would end terrorism in the province and tribal areas. A crowd was seen on newspaper stalls in the city who wanted to know whether Baitullah was dead or alive. Newspaper buyers told Daily Times it was great news for the whole country, especially for the people of NWFP and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. They said the TTP chief was not only wanted to the government but also through anti-state activities, he had turned the whole tribal belt and NWFP into insecure places. NWFP NFC Support Unit PRO Sarir Ahmed said due to Taliban’s anti-state activities, the province had not only suffered losses of more than Rs 35 billion in the form of destroyed infrastructure and homes but also the provincial industries and markets had suffered a great loss. He said the military operations against the Taliban in Malakand division, Bajaur, Mohmand and Waziristan agencies, peace was being gradually restored in the NWFP and tribal areas.
Pakistan cannot afford Christian controversy
KARACHI — Pakistan should immediately move to abolish controversial blasphemy laws after the killing of seven Christians to prevent copycat riots from opening a new front of religious unrest, activists say.
Blasphemy carries the death penalty in Pakistan and although no one has been sent to the gallows for the crime, the legislation is too arbitrary analysts say, and is often exploited for personal enmity and encourages Islamist extremism.
When an angry mob of Muslims torched 40 houses and a church in the remote village of Gojra in Pakistan's heartland province of Punjab recently, two children, their parents and 75-year-old grandfather were burnt to death.
Three days later, two people were killed in another Punjab town in what was a private employee dispute against a Muslim factory boss, but coloured by unfounded allegations that the businessman desecrated the Koran.
"It's an arbitrary law, which has been badly misused by extremists and influentials and should be abolished," said Iqbal Haider, co-chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
"There is no option but to abolish this law. More than that, the government should revive the secular nature of the state as our founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah envisaged, otherwise it will aggravate religious unrest," he said.
Almost from inception, Pakistani spies and soldiers have actively armed, sponsored, encouraged or turned a blind eye as Islamist-inspired militant outfits turned their guns on India to the east and Afghanistan to the west.
The country is battling Taliban radicals in the northwest. Islamist bomb attacks across the country have killed around 2,000 people in two years, having a detrimental effect on the economy and national image.
HRCP said the Gojra attacks were "planned in advance" and that mosque announcements urged local Muslims to "make mincemeat of the Christians".
"A police contingent present in the neighbourhood did not try to stop the mob... The attackers seemed to be trained for carrying out such activities."
The rights group quoted witnesses as saying that a number of attackers were from the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and other militant organisations.
Pakistan's blasphemy law was introduced by former military ruler Zia ul-Haq, who passed tough Islamic legislation, whose 1977-1988 rule was seen as a critical point in the development of extremist Islam in parts of Pakistan.
The civilian administration in Pakistan moved quickly to try to limit the fallout of the anti-Christian killings, offering compensation but cabinet ministers have stopped short of pledging to scrap the blasphemy laws.
"A committee will see the laws which are detrimental to religious harmony to sort out how they could be made better," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Christians during a solidarity visit to Gojra.
Just one witness is enough to incriminate a "heretic". Anyone accused of blasphemy is immediately arrested and charged, before an investigation begins.
In many cases, people take the law in their own hands and go for killing the alleged blasphemer and rights groups say this trend is increasing.
But religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi said the government could not risk a "full-fledged review" inciting an Islamist backlash.
"Any move for a major amendment in the law will generate another controversy that will benefit militants and harm the cause of our Christian brothers."
Hindus, Christians and other minorities make up less than five percent of Pakistan's 167 million population, generally impoverished and marginalised.
Evarist Pinto, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Karachi, said the law means religious minorities live in constant danger.
"Militant groups constantly threaten religious minorities with false allegations of blasphemy and often use these laws against them, said Pinto.
But a top cleric who heads the board running about 12,000 Islamic seminaries in the country defended the laws as vital in Pakistan, a Muslim republic.
"The laws have been misused, mostly by the Muslims against the Muslims, but it does not mean that the laws should be abolished. Instead the authorities should take steps to stop its misuse," said Qari Hanif Jalandhari.
Blasphemy carries the death penalty in Pakistan and although no one has been sent to the gallows for the crime, the legislation is too arbitrary analysts say, and is often exploited for personal enmity and encourages Islamist extremism.
When an angry mob of Muslims torched 40 houses and a church in the remote village of Gojra in Pakistan's heartland province of Punjab recently, two children, their parents and 75-year-old grandfather were burnt to death.
Three days later, two people were killed in another Punjab town in what was a private employee dispute against a Muslim factory boss, but coloured by unfounded allegations that the businessman desecrated the Koran.
"It's an arbitrary law, which has been badly misused by extremists and influentials and should be abolished," said Iqbal Haider, co-chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
"There is no option but to abolish this law. More than that, the government should revive the secular nature of the state as our founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah envisaged, otherwise it will aggravate religious unrest," he said.
Almost from inception, Pakistani spies and soldiers have actively armed, sponsored, encouraged or turned a blind eye as Islamist-inspired militant outfits turned their guns on India to the east and Afghanistan to the west.
The country is battling Taliban radicals in the northwest. Islamist bomb attacks across the country have killed around 2,000 people in two years, having a detrimental effect on the economy and national image.
HRCP said the Gojra attacks were "planned in advance" and that mosque announcements urged local Muslims to "make mincemeat of the Christians".
"A police contingent present in the neighbourhood did not try to stop the mob... The attackers seemed to be trained for carrying out such activities."
The rights group quoted witnesses as saying that a number of attackers were from the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and other militant organisations.
Pakistan's blasphemy law was introduced by former military ruler Zia ul-Haq, who passed tough Islamic legislation, whose 1977-1988 rule was seen as a critical point in the development of extremist Islam in parts of Pakistan.
The civilian administration in Pakistan moved quickly to try to limit the fallout of the anti-Christian killings, offering compensation but cabinet ministers have stopped short of pledging to scrap the blasphemy laws.
"A committee will see the laws which are detrimental to religious harmony to sort out how they could be made better," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Christians during a solidarity visit to Gojra.
Just one witness is enough to incriminate a "heretic". Anyone accused of blasphemy is immediately arrested and charged, before an investigation begins.
In many cases, people take the law in their own hands and go for killing the alleged blasphemer and rights groups say this trend is increasing.
But religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi said the government could not risk a "full-fledged review" inciting an Islamist backlash.
"Any move for a major amendment in the law will generate another controversy that will benefit militants and harm the cause of our Christian brothers."
Hindus, Christians and other minorities make up less than five percent of Pakistan's 167 million population, generally impoverished and marginalised.
Evarist Pinto, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Karachi, said the law means religious minorities live in constant danger.
"Militant groups constantly threaten religious minorities with false allegations of blasphemy and often use these laws against them, said Pinto.
But a top cleric who heads the board running about 12,000 Islamic seminaries in the country defended the laws as vital in Pakistan, a Muslim republic.
"The laws have been misused, mostly by the Muslims against the Muslims, but it does not mean that the laws should be abolished. Instead the authorities should take steps to stop its misuse," said Qari Hanif Jalandhari.