Nelson Mandela is to be buried in his ancestral home in Qunu in the Eastern Cape, ending a week of commemorations for South Africa's first black leader.
Some 4,500 people - including foreign dignitaries - will be attending the funeral, which will blend state ceremonial with traditional rituals.
Members of his family are attending an overnight vigil, with a traditional praise singer believed to be chanting details of his long journey and life.
He died on 5 December aged 95.
China landed an unmanned spacecraft on the moon on Saturday, according to state media. The event marks the first soft-landing on the moon in three decades, joining the USA and former USSR in achieving the feat.
http://www.eturbonews.com/Recent news reported about the relaxation about women not allowed to drive in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This seems to have changed.
Elissa Jobson
More than 100,000 Ethiopian men, women and children have been expelled from the kingdom as labour rules tightenAbdulla Shahmola trudges up the road leading from Addis Ababa airport to the outskirts of the city, his battered black suitcase balanced precariously on his head. Weariness and relief are etched into his delicate features as he heaves his heavy bag to the floor. "I have so many possessions that I had to leave behind in Saudi Arabia – a television, a bed, a fridge," he laments, adding that he is thankful to be back in Ethiopia. Abdulla is one of hundreds of men, women and children steadily streaming from the airport cargo terminal, where up to 20 flights have been arriving daily from Jeddah and Riyadh since 13 November. A kilometre's walk from the hastily erected transit centre, which has been processing some 7,000 returning migrants each day, a small crowd, held back by federal police officers in blue military fatigues, waits anxiously for a glimpse of a loved one. As of 8 December, 115,465 Ethiopians – 72,780 men, 37,092 women and 5,593 children, 202 of whom were unaccompanied – had returned from Saudi Arabia, according to government figures. The migrants, most of whom were in Saudi Arabia without work permits, were expelled after a tightening of labour regulations in March and the expiration of an amnesty for illegal workers on 4 November. More than a million migrant workers from across Asia have been expelled from the kingdom as part of the crackdown, which is designed to get more Saudis into jobs and reduce the high unemployment rate. The crackdown has triggered clashes in the capital, Riyadh, in which three Ethiopians were reportedly killed, sparking outrage in Ethiopia. "They beat us," alleges Abdulla. He reaches into his pocket, pulls out his mobile phone and opens images of badly beaten Ethiopians, singling out one man whose throat appears to have been slit. His friends do the same, thrusting forward their mobiles. "I saw people killed. They are murderers," he hisses. He says he has spent the past month in an overcrowded Saudi prison. "There were 900 people in one place. After 24 hours they gave us small things – water, a little food. They called the embassy." He claims the detainees had to buy their own food and water at great expense. Hawa Gizawi, 20, who worked as a domestic servant in Oman and Saudi Arabia for the past four years, also maintains that she was mistreated while in custody awaiting repatriation. "I spent 15 days in prison in Jeddah – no food, no toilet, no hospital. They don't respect our human rights," she says, adding that her employers withheld her wages for a year. "I don't want to go back to Saudi Arabia and I want to warn others not to go." The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which is supporting the Ethiopian government in dealing with the unexpected influx of returnees, has expressed concern about the physical and mental condition of the returnees, describing them as being "traumatised, anxious and seriously sick". Merenasch Selfu, a nurse at one of the seven transit centres in Addis Ababa receiving repatriates, says many of her patients have upper respiratory tract infections. "The women say there were held in places with no latrines, poor sanitation and no air conditioning, and that is why they developed a cough," she explains. She has also treated women with newborn babies as well as those in the late stages of pregnancy. "The day before yesterday one women arrived at the centre showing the early signs of labour," Merenasch says. She estimates that some 2%-3% of those treated at the centre show symptoms of depression or psychosis and confirms she has examined women who claim to have suffered sexual abuse. The Ethiopian government is providing additional medical and psychological support for the migrants who need it. However, officials admit to being ill-prepared for the massive influx of returnees. "Frankly speaking, we organised ourselves for very few people – up to 25,000," says Tadesse Bekele, deputy director of the ministry of agriculture's disaster risk management and food security directorate. "Reception and transit centres may not have facilities equal to the number of people being accommodated so for that we are organising alternatives. For example, we are deploying mobile latrines in places where we may have only two or three [toilets] to serve a thousand people." That said, the government – with assistance from UN agencies and NGOs, as well as contributions from the private sector – seems to be managing the emergency efficiently. Negussie Kefeni, co-ordinator of a transit centre in the heart of Addis Ababa, says the previous night the facility housed 1,399 women and 80 children – more than double the number it was intended to serve. All traces of that inundation have vanished, however. Clean mattresses and blankets have been neatly laid out, the floors swept and washed, the bathrooms disinfected and the water tanks replenished. "This kind of operation is not the first exercise of its kind in Ethiopia. We have been working with refugees from Asmara [capital of Eritrea] in three cities in Afar," says Negussie. Rows of chairs are set up under the trees, injera and wot are ready to be served, and hundreds of dignity kits – containing basic hygiene necessities – have been assembled, and a 900birr ($47) travel allowance awaits the new arrivals. As the first bus pulls up outside the transit centre, and the burka-clad women disembark, volunteers and staff from the Red Cross, International Rescue, IOM and various government departments welcome the disoriented returnees to the penultimate stop on their traumatic journey home.
No one is expecting a tank invasion of Saudi Arabia anytime soon, but the kingdom just put in a huge order for U.S.-made anti-tank missiles that has Saudi-watchers scratching their heads and wondering whether the deal is related to Riyadh's support for the Syrian rebels.
The proposed weapons deal, which the Pentagon notified Congress of in early December, would provide Riyadh with more than 15,000 Raytheon anti-tank missiles at a cost of over $1 billion. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance report, Saudi Arabia's total stockpile this year amounted to slightly more than 4,000 anti-tank missiles. In the past decade, the Pentagon has notified Congress of only one other sale of anti-tank missiles to Saudi Arabia -- a 2009 deal that shipped roughly 5,000 missiles to the kingdom.
It's a very large number of missiles, including the most advanced version of the TOWs [tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missiles]," said Jeffrey White, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former intelligence analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency. "The problem is: What's the threat?"
That's a tough question to answer. A military engagement with Iran, the most immediate potential threat faced by Riyadh, would be largely a naval and air engagement over the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia has fought a series of deadly skirmishes with insurgents in northern Yemen over the years, but those groups have no more than a handful of military vehicles. And Iraq, which posed a real threat during Saddam Hussein's day, is far too consumed by its internal demons and the fallout from the war in Syria to ponder such foreign adventurism.
But one Saudi ally could desperately use anti-tank weapons -- the Syrian rebels. In the past, Riyadh has been happy to oblige: It previously purchased anti-tank weapons from Croatia and funneled them to anti-Assad fighters, and it is now training and arming Syrian rebels in Jordan. Charles Lister, a London-based terrorism and insurgency analyst, said that rebels have also received as many as 100 Chinese HJ-8 anti-tank missiles from across the border with Jordan -- and indeed, many videos show Syrian rebels using this weapon against Bashar al-Assad's tanks.
While most of the rebels' anti-tank weapons were seized from Assad's armories, Lister also believes that several dozen 9M113 Konkurs missiles, an old Soviet weapon, were provided to Islamist rebels in northern Syria this summer. And when these missiles have found their way to the battlefield, they've helped the rebels break through the belts of armor Assad uses to protect strategic areas: "Neutralizing these external defenses has proven key to opening the gates for ground assaults," Lister said.
The Saudis can't send U.S. anti-tank missiles directly to the rebels -- Washington has strict laws against that. Recipients of U.S. arms are not allowed to transfer weapons to a third party without the explicit approval of the U.S. government, which in the case of Saudi Arabia has not been granted. Given Washington's heightened concern over radical Islamist forces seizing control over the conflict -- which resulted in the suspension of nonlethal aid to Syrian rebels on Dec. 12 -- that approval will almost certainly never be given. If Riyadh went ahead and transferred the weapons anyway, it "would be a serious breach of U.S. law," said Aram Nerguizian, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, that would "all but certainly lead to a suspension of existing arms sales agreements." So far, only one American anti-tank missile has been identified in Syria -- an older model that Lister speculates may have been sold to Shah-era Iran, transferred to the Assad regime, and then captured by the rebels.
But while the latest American anti-tank weapons might not be showing up in Aleppo anytime soon, that doesn't mean the deal is totally disconnected from Saudi efforts to arm the Syrian rebels. What may be happening, analysts say, is that the Saudis are sending their stockpiles of anti-tank weapons bought from elsewhere to Syria and are purchasing U.S. missiles to replenish their own stockpiles. "I would speculate that with an order of this size, the Saudis were flushing their current stocks in the direction of the opposition and replacing them with new munitions," said Charles Freeman, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Regardless of how this purchase of anti-tank missiles relates to Syria, it's undoubtedly part of a larger Saudi arms buildup that has been going on for nearly a decade. From 2004 to 2011, according to a 2012 report by the Congressional Research Service, Riyadh signed $75.7 billion worth of arms transfer agreements -- by far the most of any developing nation. The United States was the major benefactor of this Saudi largesse, as the deals bumped up U.S. arms sales to a record $66 billion in 2011 alone.
How the Saudis plan to use many of these weapons is a mystery. And it's not just the anti-tank missiles whose purpose remains unclear. Riyadh recently bought advanced fighter jets from the United States for a whopping $30 billion -- but the Saudis' lack of pilots and ability to maintain them means that it's an open question how long they can keep them airborne, said William Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy.
But purchasing the weapons, rather than any intent to use them, may be the point for the Saudis. At a time when they are at odds with Washington over the Obama administration's diplomacy with Iran and nonintervention in Syria, the kingdom's deep pockets can at least make sure their ties to the Pentagon remain as strong as ever.
"There was a [Washington] lobbyist who used to say, 'When you buy U.S. weapons, you're not just buying the weapon -- you're buying a relationship with the United States,'" said Hartung. "I think that's kind of the concept."
- See more at: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/12/why_is_saudi_arabia_buying_15000_us_anti_tank_missiles_for_a_land_war_it_will_ne#sthash.w2G1wWv3.dpuf
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/IRAN has cancelled a planned $US500 million ($A562.49 million) loan to Pakistan to build part of a pipeline to bring natural gas from the Islamic Republic.
President Obama and the First Lady lit 26 candles in a moment of silence to honor the 26 victims of the Newtown shootings.
http://www.pajhwok.com/The Wolesi Jirga on Saturday rejected a presidential decree, reserving a seat for the Hindu and Sikh minority in the lower house of parliament. On September 4, President Hamid Karzai signed the legislative decree in accordance with Article 79 of the constitution and the electoral law. The article says: “During the recess of the House of Representatives, the government shall, in case of an immediate need, issue legislative decrees, except in matters related to budget and financial affairs…” Legislative decrees, after their endorsement by the president, have to be presented to the National Assembly within 30 days of its first session. If rejected by the National Assembly, they become void. On Saturday, the Wolesi Jirga Legislative Commission placed the decree before the house for endorsement after it was thoroughly debated by different parliamentary panels. Nazir Ahmad Hanafi, the commission head, said 13 of the 18 permanent house panels had opposed the decree. He claimed the orders were in conflict with Articles 22 and 83 of the constitution. Article 22 prohibits any kind of discrimination and privilege between the citizens of Afghanistan. All citizens -- whether man or woman -- have equal rights and duties before the law. Similarly, Article 83 says members of the Wolesi Jirga are elected by the people through free, general, secret and direct elections. The election shall be held within 30 to 60 days before the expiry of the term of the Wolesi Jirga. Hanafi said the Commission for Supervision of the Implementation of Constitution had also found the decree in violation of the basic law. Several members suggested that Sikhs and Hindus, just like other citizens, should try to find their way to the parliament by contesting elections. They voiced aversion to constitutional exceptions in this regard. But Health Commission chief, Naqibullah Faiq, favoured a reserved seat for the Hindu and Sikh minority. “If we don’t give them this constitutional privilege, the minorities will never reach the parliament.” Faiq’s view was supported by lawmaker from Kabul Ramazan Bashardost, who believed that there was nothing wrong in setting aside a parliamentary seat for the minorities. Of the 130 legislators present, 73 raised their red cards in rejection of the presidential decree. On July 31, the Council of Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan had warned of leaving the country if they were not given proper representation in the lower house of the parliament. Flanked by civil society representatives, Rail Singh, the council’s deputy head, asked the government to take effective measures to address the problems being faced by the minorities. In the original draft election law, a seat had been reserved for the Hindus and Sikh, he told a news conference. But the parliament deleted the clause, he regretted. “We are very much concerned about the abolition of the reserved seat,” remarked Singh, whose community has no representation in parliament. No parliamentarian bothered to discuss the problems being faced by the minority, he deplored.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday shrugged off U.S. talk of a total military withdrawal from Afghanistan if he didn't sign a security agreement as brinkmanship and said he wouldn't back down on his conditions for the deal.
Karzai was in New Delhi in a burst of regional diplomacy as his ties with Washington have come under renewed strain over his refusal to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that will shape U.S. military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014 when most international troops will leave.
He told reporters that the United States would have to stop the practice of raiding Afghan homes and help restart a peace process with the Taliban as necessary conditions for the security pact.
"We do believe that the BSA is in the interest of Afghanistan and the Afghan people have given their approval. But we also believe that protection of Afghan homes and the launch of a peace process are absolute pre-requisites," he said.
www.shiitenews.comBiased Rawalpindi police have raided several houses of Shiites violating the sanctity of chadar and char divari and rounded up several innocent Shia Muslims to implicate them in false case. Shiite News Correspondent reported that Pindi police raided several houses in Chor Harpal area and misbehaved with the women during search and raid operation. Finally, they took with them several innocent Shiites. Some of those taken into custody by the police were: Syed Saghir Hussain Shah, Azad Hussain Shah, Imran son of Qurban Hussain Shah, his brother Aun Hussain Shah. Syed Ammaar Ali Shah and Syed Nisar Ali Shah son of Safdar Shah who were held and released earlier, were retaken into custody. Tahir Hussain son of Muhammad Hussain, Syed Qamar Ali Shah son of Syed Shah Kazmi offered themselves for arrest. Shia parties and leaders and relatives of the rounded up innocent Shiites complained that the Punjab government sided with the outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba (renamed as Ahl-e-Sunnat wal Jamaat) and is trying to implicate innocent Shiites who fell victims of terrorist attacks on the day of Ashura in Pindi. They demanded Supreme Court to take suo motu notice against the biased Punjab government and Rawalpindi police.
A suspected US drone targeted a boat in the waters of the Kabul river on Saturday, DawnNews reported.
Sources said five people may have died in the attack.
Pakistan condemns drone attacks and says the attacks violate Pakistan’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
Pakistan moreover maintains that drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives and have human rights and humanitarian implications apart from setting dangerous precedents in inter-state relations.
The attack comes days after the US warned Pakistan that coalition support reimbursements and security assistance could be held up if land routes remained closed for movement of US and Nato cargo to and from Afghanistan.
The workers have refused to discharge their duties as polio vaccinators in Khyber Agency following the fresh killing of a polio worker in Jamrud on Friday, Geo News reported Saturday.
According to the health department sources, the polio workers have denied to continue the vaccination process throughout the Agency until adequate security is provided to them.
The announcement came after a polio worker was shot dead in Jamrud on Friday.
It may be mentioned that gunmen riding a motorcycle shot dead the anti-polio worker, identified as Yousuf, outside his home in Jamrud. The armed men called out his name and opened fire on him, killing him on the spot. The killers fled after committing the murder, the sources told.
Assistant Political Agent of Jamrud Jahangir Azam Wazir claimed the killing of the anti-polio worker was not an act of terrorism, rather it was the result of personal rivalry.
Meanwhile, the political administration arrested 27 suspected persons, including 12 motorcyclists, during a search operation after the killing. The detainees were taken to the Jamrud lock-up for questioning.
It may be mentioned that the anti-polio campaign in the Khyber Agency was launched 10 days behind schedule.
Also in another incident, the armed men killed two cops near the district headquarters in Swabi when they were on their way to escort the anti-polio vaccinators. The policemen were deputed to escort the anti-polio team in Topi Tehsil, but they came under attack in the Ghaziabad area on the Swabi-Topi Road.
It was planned that the campaign would not be carried out in the entire district on the same day, rather it would be launched in the four tehsils, including Swabi, Chota Lahor, Razaar and Topi, on alternate days in order to provide adequate security to polio vaccinators.
The State Bank of Pakistan is on the brink of bankruptcy, as the country’s foreign debt has increased to Rs 403 billion ($3.63 billion) due to depreciation of the rupee in the last few months. “Yesterday the foreign reserves figure published by SBP stood at $2.963 billion. SBP’s net forward book number is $2.925 billion, which is basically dollars that are sold to banks to help intervene/stabilise cashflows. So essentially SBP reserves are at $38 million,” informed sources told Pakistan Today. By end of the last fiscal year, the federal government’s total debt was Rs 14 trillion, which increased to Rs 15 trillion by September — an increase of Rs 1 trillion, according to the State Bank of Pakistan figures. A Finance Ministry official informed the National Assembly on Friday that the public and publicly-guaranteed foreign debt, including the money owed to the International Monetary Fund has increased to $3.63 billion as a result of depreciation of rupee during the present government.” Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) lawmaker Nafisa Shah had raised the issue in parliament. To her question, Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Rana Afzal Khan raised points on the devaluation of rupee, saying that initiatives like building up of reserves and enhancing exports were required to strengthen the rupee. “We have planned substantial foreign exchange inflows, loans from multi-lateral and bilateral sources,” he said. Foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP have declined to a 12-year low of $2.9 billion, hitting its lowest level since November 2001, according to fresh data. DAR COMES UP WITH OWN FIGURES: Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the foreign exchange reserves have risen to $3.4 billion dollars, witnessing an increase of $500 million this week. He said Pakistan was also hoping for a $550 million tranche from IMF after the December 19 meeting. “The country is also expected to get $350 million of Coalition Support Funds (CSF) and about $600 million from Etisalat, for which a meeting will be held next week. We want to take our reserves to $20 billion in future as Pakistani economy is moving in the right direction," said Dar, the prime minister’s finance guru. Dar said Pakistan is also planning to make its 3G auction in February and it was expecting to receive $1.2 billion and even more from it. The minister hoped that the government would be able to bring the dollar rupee rate close to Rs 100. - See more at: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/12/14/news/profit/central-bank-reserves-hit-record-low/#sthash.IfxuNYfr.dpuf
Uncertainty prevails on the results of action taken by the PTI-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
People read and hear of laws drafted, postings and transfers made and actions taken against corrupt officials and criminals but the positive results of these actions are nowhere to be seen. People are not sure whether the KP government is just going through motions or will they see the changes promised by PTI.
The head of the biggest hospital in the province was changed just on Saturday after he had served only for two months. In other government hospital the changes seems to be getting new chiefs. Nobody has objected to any particular posting and transfer in the provincial government; however, the frequency of changes on top posts is worrisome.
The quick recurrence of removal of secretaries' from one ministry to another has become a common feature of the provincial government; no department, in spite of that, is showing any improvement.
Police officials are fired, suspended but the illegalities of the law enforcement personnel continue and with as much intensity. Nobody is objecting to the removal of these corrupt cops but the people want improvement not just punishments for the sake of punishments. Serving for a couple of months of appointees on their top positions has become the norm. It raises the question whether any serious consideration is given to the past record, qualifications and personal traits of those posted or transferred before the changes are made.
The frequency of these instances would suggest that with the PTI government it is a hit or miss situation. The KPK government probably thinks it will ultimately find the right man for the right job after a few inappropriate placements.
In more than one ways, the uncertainty shrouding the frequent orders for reshuffling in the top bureaucracy and choosing of professionals to high positions is understandable; It takes time to form a reliable team to one's liking. It, however, should not take more than a month.
The PTI government is now over six months old. By now it should have been able to make things visibly better just through administrative measures.
While most of the members of the KP cabinet are new to the job, Chief Minister Parvez Khattak and Senior Minister Siraj ul Haq are experienced and should have been able to guide the team of ministers.
Two aspects, it seems, are missing in the PTI government. First, the PTI cabinet, it seems, doesn't investigate the candidates' past thoroughly before putting anyone of them on any particular post. Second, the ministers rarely go to the field to check the progress made by the individuals appointed on high positions.
The people of KP, nevertheless, want positive changes and these are what they are not getting. The ruling party and its allies should rethink their strategy to cater to the wishes of the people; instead of sticking to the corporate method of running government.
In Landi Kotal Bazaar, a 27-year-old vendor pushes his cart through the streets of his Khyber Agency community in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas near the Afghanistan border, selling nail polish, pocket mirrors, lipstick, toothpaste and toothbrushes, face cream and other cosmetics. He used to earn $5 to $8 a day selling cellphones and ringtones in his shop, but now he said he attracts two to five customers a day and takes home just $1.50 to $2. The father of four, ages 1 to 7, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he closed his shop five years ago after threats from unknown militants. "I was compelled to abandon the education of two of my children, as we have no money to pay school fees," he said. FATA militancy has forced hundreds of tribal people to change jobs or even flee the country, fearing for their lives. From singers to tribal police officers, about 500 people have been injured or killed, or have lost property to militancy in the last 10 years, local government records and media reports show. Doctors, journalists, barbers, artists, electronics dealers and members of minorities, including Christians and Sikhs, are among those who say they have sacrificed money and property to appease militants from groups like the Taliban. Dozens of others have suffered injuries in explosions and target killings. Many professionals have escaped to safer zones in Pakistan and abroad. In some cases, militants forced them to change their professions or go underground. Under the Frontier Crimes Regulation, Pakistan's Constitution does not apply to FATA residents. So, by law, Muslims and non-Muslims alike do not enjoy full citizenship and other privileges, including basic rights. Mutahir Zeb, the Khyber Agency political agent, a senior local official, told UPI Next more than 200 government employees, including health workers, teachers and tribal police in FATA, were not performing their jobs because of threats and have hired proxies. Data collected in Khyber Agency by the Community Appraisal and Motivation Program, an Islamabad-based organization, suggests that dozens of barbers have changed jobs or moved from the Bara, Landikotal and Jamrud administrative areas of the agency, where militancy has reached its peak, to Peshawar and other Pakistani cities. A 34-year-old barber, speaking on condition of anonymity, told UPI Next he used to have a shop in a Bara bazaar but moved to China in 2009 with the help of a rich man from Peshawar after threats from militants, whom he refused to identify out of fear. "I came to Pakistan to see my parents and other family members and will leave soon to avoid any mishaps," he said during a visit back to Peshawar, during which he also renewed his visa. Seven blind brothers in Landikotal, who used to perform as a band, stopped performing 10 years ago when militancy increased in FATA and they lost their sole source of income. The brothers remember playing in men's guesthouses in nearby villages. One of the brothers, now 40, told UPI Next on condition of anonymity that growing militancy in the area after the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan forced them to dismantle the band. "I hope peace will soon be restored in FATA and people will again start arranging musical nights celebrating cultural and traditional events," he said. A tribal police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told UPI Next several tribal police officers had been killed in attacks that drove many others underground. Gunmen assassinated two officers Sept. 22 in separate incidents in Khyber Agency, the official said. There have been several other cases of threatening lives and kidnapping for ransom, he said. Similarly, a former tribal police employee, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told UPI Next he had received many phone calls threatening that he would be targeted if he did not resign. He quit after two years and now drives a taxi to support his family. Many members of the Khasadars and Levies forces, tribal police directly under the control of the political agent, the top administrative officer, have died and many were kidnapped in militancy-related incidents. In a single incident in 2009, when the Bara subdivision of Khyber Agency was under the control of Mangal Bagh, head of the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Islam, 600 Bara Khasadar personnel collectively refused to perform their duties after Lashkar-e-Islam warned Khasadar personnel to resign or face dire consequences. The government fired them for negligence, although some were reinstated. Thirteen journalists have been killed since 2001 while reporting on FATA militancy, the Tribal Union of Journalists says. Mehboob Shah Afridi, the organization's general secretary, told UPI Next 25 journalists from Khyber Agency and 50 others from elsewhere in FATA had migrated to Peshawar and other safer areas of Pakistan. He said militancy peaked between 2005 and 2012, making it a hard time for journalists. His colleague Nasrullah Afridi, a Bara-based reporter, was killed in a car bomb attack in Peshawar Saddar on May 11, 2011. "Nasrullah Afridi was a brave and experienced reporter who never bowed down," Mehboob Afridi said. After he was killed, "international media and journalists' safety organizations advised FATA journalists to shift to Peshawar and elsewhere to ensure security for some time," Mehboob Afridi said. Nasrullah Afridi left behind three children, two of whom are disabled. His family now lives in a small rented home in Peshawar. His only healthy son, Ihsanullah, 18, told UPI Next tearfully his mother "stopped me from adopting the profession that took my father from us and left us helpless." Pakistan's former army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Perviz Kayani, invited Ihsanullah Afridi to Islamabad on Yaom-e-Shahadat, the Day of Martyrdom, and praised his father's contributions to journalism. Mehboob Afridi said the loss of the 13 tribal journalists has been a loss not only for journalists, but also for the tribal people. Their deaths have been protested with processions, sit-ins, boycotts and seminars across the FATA and Pakistan, with participants demanding the government provide foolproof security for all tribal people, including journalists. Tribal journalists Shams-ur-Rehman and Muheb Ali left the country after threats to their lives. Shams was once kidnapped, and Muheb Ali escaped a shooting. Shams, a cameraman with a private television channel, said he had been forced to cover the stories militants wanted to show their dominance over security forces. Jahangir Azam Wazir, a senior administrative official in Khyber Agency, told UPI Next that since he was posted there as assistant political agent in Jamrud Khyber Agency he has developed a security plan and started raiding suspected militants' hideouts. He said 200 people had been arrested in the Jamrud area. Wazir said the administration had tightened security in Khyber and was checking all individuals and vehicles at entrances and exits to Jamrud to ensure safety and security. "An organized intelligence setup has been established to ensure long-lasting peace in Jamrud," Wazir said. He noted the recent arrest of Javid Iqbal, who is suspected in many murders and kidnappings for ransom. Wazir said he tells people that peace has been restored and they should not delay starting activities such as sports, debates and cultural celebrations in Khyber Agency. Meanwhile, tribal people say they appreciate government and security forces' efforts and hope for lasting peace that will allow them to return to their home towns in Bara and the Tirah Valley soon. "The dark days have gone as security forces have flushed out militancy," said Khalid Khan, an engineer with a mobile telecommunication company in Peshawar. "And now we will again be able to have a peaceful and prosperous life, reinstating the culture and traditions we had before." Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/12/13/Militancy-inspires-fear-in-Pakistans-FATA-region/11380315070268/#ixzz2nQKyRBe6By Ashrafuddin Pirzada