50 things you didn't know about Michelle Obama

1. Her nickname is "Miche" (pronounced "Meesh").
2. Her husband calls her "My Rock".
3. Her father worked the swing shift in the boiler room at Chicago's water purification plant.
4. She grew up with her older brother, Craig, and parents in a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment. She shared the living room with her brother, which was separated by a room divider.
5. She and her brother both skipped a year at school - second grade.
6. As a girl, she loved her "Easy-Bake Oven", a toy cooker.
7. Michelle was student council treasurer in high school.
8. Growing up, she practised playing the piano so much that she had to be told to stop.
9. Although a great athlete, she shied away from competitive sports because, her big brother says, "she hated losing".
10. Her father died of complications from multiple sclerosis when she was in her 20s.
11. Michelle attended only public schools while growing up in Chicago.
12. She was assigned Barack's mentor when he came to her Chicago firm for a summer job.
13. Her first impression of Barack wasn't great; after seeing a photo of him in the law firm directory she decided he had a big nose.
14. She declined Barack's first invitations to go out on a date, saying it would be inappropriate.
15. Her father and brother had always said you could tell a lot about someone's character on the court, so before agreeing to date Barack, she asked her brother to take him on on the basketball court.
16. Her university dissertation was entitled, "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community."
17. Barack proposed at a Chicago restaurant and the ring arrived on a tray with the dessert.
18. Their first dance at their wedding was to "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole.
19. Santita Jackson, Jesse Jackson's daughter and Michelle's high school classmate, sang at the wedding.
20. She works out "like a gladiator," according to friends.
21. She hates tights - too "painful."
22. At the Democratic National Convention in 2004, moments before her husband went on stage to give his speech, she said: "Just don't screw it up, buddy!"
23. She watches reruns of The Dick Van Dyke Show.
24. For breakfast she likes fruit, eggs and bacon.
25. When she got to Princeton she said the tutors weren't teaching French correctly.
26. She refused to accompany her husband for walks in the cold Chicago winters.
27. She is the former associate dean at the University of Chicago.
28. On their first date Barack took her to see Do The Right Thing, a Spike Lee movie set in Harlem.
29. Her brother, Craig Robinson, is the basketball coach at Oregon State University.
30. At Princeton, Michelle majored in sociology. She got her law degree from Harvard.
31. She worked for Chicago's Mayor Daley in the city's office of planning and development.
32. She uses a webcam to stay in touch with Barack while separated.
33. She cooks shrimp linguini - her husband's fabvourite meal.
34. Michelle wrote her own stump speech during the campaign and delivered it without notes.
35. Michelle made Barack promise to quit smoking if he stood for president.
36. She plans not to have any more children.
37. She graduated from high school second in her year.
38. She cut back from her six-figure salary with the University of Chicago hospital system to help her husband with his campaign.
39. Michelle makes Barack do the dishes.
40. As vice president of community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Centre, Michelle supervised a five hundred per cent increase of volunteerism in the hospital.
41. She was on the board of six major organisations, including the prestigious Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and Tree House Foods; and Vice President, Community and External Affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals.
42. She routinely drew audiences of 1,000-plus supporters, even when she was campaigning on her own, on the trail
43. Her inauguration dress was designed by Cuban-American designer, Isabel Toledo. Her green gloves were J Crew and her shoes by Jimmy Choo.
44. After her husband's election to the US Senate, Michelle decided to stay in Chicago with their daughters instead of relocating to Washington, DC.
45. Her great-great-grandfather, Jim Robinson, was a slave in South Carolina before the Civil War.
46. Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama are the only First Ladies to receive master's degrees.
47. Less than 24 hours after the inaugural balls, replicas of Mrs Obama's dress were being drawn up – they will be available for sale within weeks, ranging in price from $99 to $400.
48. At 5 ft 11ins, she is tied with Eleanor Roosevelt for tallest First Lady.
49. Her secret service codename is "Renaissance".
50. She has committed each episode of The Brady Bunch to memory.

Obama orders Guantanamo closure

US President Barack Obama has ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp as well as all overseas CIA detention centres for terror suspects.

Signing the orders, Mr Obama said the US would continue to fight terror, but maintain "our values and our ideals".

Two days after his inauguration, he also ordered a review of military trials of terror suspects and a ban on harsh interrogation methods.

About 250 suspects have been held at Guantanamo Bay for years without trial.

At Mr Obama's request, military judges have suspended several of the trials of suspects at Guantanamo so that the legal process can be reviewed.

'Ongoing struggle'

Mr Obama signed the three executive orders on Thursday, further distancing his new administration from the policies of his predecessor, George W Bush.

He said the Guantanamo prison "will be closed no later than one year from now."

The US would continue to fight terror, he said, but maintain American values while doing so.

"The United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism," he said.

"We are going to do so vigilantly, we are going to do so effectively, and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals."

Mr Obama believed Americans will be safer with the prison closed, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in his first media briefing.

Mr Obama has repeatedly promised to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, where some 250 inmates accused of having links to terrorism remain and 21 cases are pending.

The legal process for these prisoners has been widely criticised because the US military acts as jailer, judge and jury, the BBC's Jonathan Beale reports from Guantanamo.

However, closing the prison will not be easy, he says.

Questions remain over where those charged will be tried and where those freed can be safely sent.

Secret CIA "black site" prisons around the world are also to be closed, although the time frame for this is unclear.

The rendition - or transfer - of terror suspects to these prisons was widely criticised after they came to light in the wake of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Mr Obama has also limited the methods investigators can use to question terrorism suspects.

Threats, coercion, physical abuse and waterboarding are now all banned.

Clinton cheered

Also on Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee approved the nomination of Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary, despite questions over his late payment of taxes earlier this decade.

The full Senate next votes on Mr Obama's choice to be the point man in steering America through its sharpest economic downturn in decades.

Mr Obama was also due to visit the state department with Vice-President Joe Biden, where new Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived on Thursday morning to applause and cheers from staff members. The Senate confirmed her in the role on Wednesday.

She said defence, diplomacy and development were the three pillars of US national security and that the state department was in charge of two of them.

Outlining her priorities, Mrs Clinton said it was a new era for America.

"President Obama set the tone with his inaugural address, and the work of the Obama-Biden administration is committed to advancing America's national security, furthering America's interests, and respecting and exemplifying America's values around the world."

Death sentences given in Chinese milk scandal

BEIJING: Chinese courts sentenced two men to death and three other defendants, including a top dairy company executive, to life in prison on Thursday for endangering public safety in a tainted milk scandal that killed at least six children, according to state-run news media.

Another defendant received a suspended death sentence and 15 others, mostly dairy producers and middlemen, were given terms ranging from two years to life in prison. In all, 21 people were sentenced for their roles in one of the worst food-safety scandals in China in decades.

The Intermediate People's Court in Shijiazhuang, in the northern province of Hebei, said the defendants had intentionally produced or sold dairy products laced with a toxic chemical called melamine, which was used to give falsely high protein readings but caused kidney stones and other ailments in about 300,000 children last year.

Among those sentenced to death was Zhang Yujun, a dairy middleman whom the government called one of the "principal criminals." He had been convicted of selling 600 tons of melamine-tainted "protein powder" to dairy companies.

Another dairy producer, Geng Jinpin, was also sentenced to death. A third man, Gao Junjie, received a death sentence with a two-year reprieve, which means he could be spared execution.

Tian Wenhua, the 66-year-old former chairwoman of the Sanlu Group, one of China's biggest dairy companies, was sentenced to life in prison for her failure to stop producing and selling the tainted goods even after her company learned that the products were flawed. She was the highest-ranking corporate executive brought to trial last year. She pleaded guilty to the charge of failing to act properly in the case. She was also fined 20 million yuan, or about $3 million.

Three other former executives at Sanlu, once China's leading producer of baby formula, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 5 to 15 years for their roles in the scandal.

One of those executives appeared in court late last year in a wheelchair after what the state-controlled media said was a failed suicide attempt.

The other five defendants received jail sentences ranging from five years to life. The tough sentences were the government's latest effort to deal with a scandal that erupted last September, triggering a global recall of Chinese-made dairy products, shaking consumer confidence and devastating the nation's fast-growing dairy industry.

But parents of some victims protested Thursday afternoon outside the courthouse in Shijiazhuang, where Sanlu is headquartered, saying they were dissatisfied with the verdict. "I feel sorry for them, but they are just scapegoats," said Liu Donglin, 28, whose 21-month-old son suffered from kidney stones after drinking tainted milk powder. "The ones who should take the responsibility are the government, like the quality supervision bureau and the Health Ministry. I spent nearly 20,000 yuan taking care of my son, and the government only compensated me with 2,000."

Some lawyers and victims have accused Beijing of failing to properly regulate the dairy industry, and some believe the government covered up the scandal before the Olympics in August, only disclosing the news in September.

Former Sanlu officials acknowledged in testimony last month that they knew there were complaints and serious problems with their dairy products as early as May of last year.

But the government has placed the blame on a group of unscrupulous dairy company executives, farmers and middlemen who prosecutors say intentionally sold goods spiked with melamine to save money and increase profits. Melamine, which is used to produce plastics and fertilizer, was often added as a cheap filler or replacement for protein powder.

The case has angered many consumers and is so sensitive that the government has tried to calm angry protesters and parents. On Thursday, the police in Beijing even attempted to detain or block parents from traveling to Shijiazhuang to listen to the verdicts. Foreign journalists have also been barred from attending some of the court sessions.

A group of China's biggest dairy companies agreed late last year to compensate victims of the scandal, but some parents have rejected the settlement offer, saying that it was too little and that their children faced long-term health problems.

Many children suffered from kidney stones or kidney failure after consuming formula contaminated with extremely high levels of melamine.

The Sanlu Group, which was jointly owned by the Fonterra Group of New Zealand, filed for bankruptcy protection late last year. But Thursday, the court in Shijiazhuang fined the company 50 million yuan for its role in the scandal.

Mitchell and Holbrooke to be Named Envoys

Now that Hillary Clinton has been confirmed as Secretary of State, the Obama administration will announce Thursday two high-profile appointments -- former senate majority leader George Mitchell (D-Me.) as Middle East envoy and former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke as envoy for Afghanistan, Pakistan "and related matters," sources close to the administration said.

Mitchell will be charged with rebuilding the Middle East peace process in the wake of the three weeks of violence between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Holbrooke will take on the difficult job of soothing relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, whose border is a haven for the Taliban and is believed to harbor Osama Bin Laden. Left unsaid is that Holbrooke's brief could extend to India, which has been a victim of Islamic terrorism from Pakistan but is suspicious of third-party intervention in the dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir.

Both men are highly regarded for their diplomatic skills but have vastly different styles. Mitchell, a former federal judge, calmly and patiently approaches difficult issues while the hard-charging Holbrooke is known as a demanding task-master.

During the Clinton administration, Mitchell was instrumental in the settlement of the Northern Ireland conflict and in 2000 headed a commission that looked into the escalating violence between Israelis and Palestinians. The Mitchell report, issued in 2001, won praise for being impartial, so much so that both sides accepted it. The recommendations in the report helped form the basis for the international "road map" plan that has been a hallmark of all later peace efforts.

Holbrooke was the chief architect of the Dayton peace accords that ended the Bosnian conflict in the mid-1990s, a peace that has held to this day in the ethnically divided country.

Swat waiting for justice and peace that has been denied

THESE IGNORANT MULLAHS AND TALIBAN HAVE NO RIGHT TO IMPOSE THEIR VIEWS ON PEACEFUL PUKHTOONS,THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO STOP GIRLS FROM GOING TO SCHOOLS,ANYONE WHO IS READING THIS PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS ON THIS STORY.


The power of FM radio was never recognized to this extent before in any part of world. Maulana Fazlullah first used it to create a militant mindset and later creating one. FM radio initially gave Maulana Fazlullah popularity all around Pakistan when he was being recognized as “Maulana radio” but no one ever had the slightest idea what actually was going on. First FM radio, then the militia turning into a force with most sophisticated technology making it impossible for government to block their station, then burning of schools, then the Shariah courts. Isn’t this giving a concept of state within state?

Imagine the rising vigour of these militants that now the same FM radio broadcasts the name and identities of those who would be next victims of militants the next dawn. Many innocent people have been killed in most inhuman ways for being termed as spy’s working for United States. But reality of matter is that whoever tries to resist in any manner in this area against the norms imposed by these militants is termed as an agent /spy. Figures for killing of such people are though calculated as 13 but many independent sources suggest that they are far more then this as there are many reports that identify people beheaded and hanged on trees and poles at the unfortunate ‘Grain chowk’ now identified as ‘khooni chowk’ (The bloody crossing).

Where is the writ of government? Why isn’t anything being done is the questions generally raised by people after reading the bloody incidents taking place in Swat on daily basis. Pakistan has always been a victim of inappropriate functioning’s of its departments. And in the case of swat, it has been reported that security forces are not satisfied with the policies of government. It has been mentioned by security forces officialdoms that government policies have been undoing whatever results have been attained by the army. For instance; it was mentioned by security forces officials that militants that they arrested were again released by government for some peace deal that is time and again fragmented by militants and it seems that the government has been appeasing them.

While scrutinizing the theory of Taliban aiming at enforcement of Shariah one can see that the brutal acts done by them on daily basis do not justify any context of Islamic preaching. One can find many references and quotations made by the Holy Prophet and Kalifas of Islam that instead condemn these acts. For instance; in a hadith narrated by the Caliph Omar (Bukhari, 4:258): Abu Bakr, the first caliph and friend of the Prophet Mohammad, summarizing the Prophet's message, telling the leaders of his armies, "Do not kill a woman, a child, or an old man. Do not cut down a blossoming tree, do not destroy a building, and do not kill a sheep or camel, except for the purpose of eating it. Do not submerge or cut down a palm tree. Do not be excessive, and do not be cowardly."



What Islam do they want to preach? Today Swat is also waiting for justice that has been denied to many in the pages of history.

Taliban Fill NATO’s Big Gaps in Afghan South

Afghanistan — The Taliban are everywhere the soldiers are not, the saying goes in the southern part of the country.

And that is a lot of places.

For starters, there is the 550 miles of border with Pakistan, where the Taliban’s busiest infiltration routes lie.

“We’re not there,” said Brig. Gen. John W. Nicholson, the deputy commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan. “The borders are wide open.”

Then there is the 100-mile stretch of Helmand River running south from the town of Garmser, where the Taliban and their money crop, poppy, bloom in isolation.

“No one,” General Nicholson said, pointing to the area on the map.

Then there is Nimroz Province, all of it, which borders Iran. No troops there. And the Ghorak district northwest of Kandahar, which officers refer to as the “jet stream” for the Taliban fighters who flow through.

Ditto the districts of Shah Wali Kot, Kharkrez and Nesh, where the presence of NATO troops is minimal or nil.

“We don’t have enough forces to secure the population,” General Nicholson said.

The general is going to get a lot more troops very soon. American commanders in southern Afghanistan have been told to make plans to accept nearly all of the 20,000 to 30,000 additional troops that the Obama administration has agreed to deploy.

The influx promises to significantly reshape the environment of southern Afghanistan, the birthplace of the Taliban. The region now produces an estimated 90 percent of the world’s opium, which bankrolls the Taliban.

While the American-led coalition holds the cities and highways, it appears to have ceded much of the countryside to the Taliban, because it lacks sufficient forces to confront them.

A force of about 20,000 American, British, Canadian and Dutch soldiers have been trying for years to secure the 78,000 square miles of villages, cities, mountains and deserts that make up southern Afghanistan. The region is one of the two centers of the Taliban insurgency, which has made a remarkable resurgence since being booted from power in November 2001.

The other center is in the eastern mountains, where 22,500 American troops are battling a multiheaded enemy, which includes Al Qaeda. Its operational center is based in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

Here in southern Afghanistan, the insurgency is homegrown and self-sustaining. The home village of the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, is 30 miles from here. Poppy fields, now fallow in winter, dot the countryside here and in neighboring Helmand Province. The United Nations estimates that the opium trade provides the Taliban with about $300 million a year.

American commanders say the open borders allow the opium to move unimpeded into Pakistan and other places, and for weapons and other supplies to flow in. Five of the six busiest Taliban infiltration routes are in the south, American officers said.

“Drugs out,” one American officer said, “guns in.”

The commanders here call the current situation “stalemate,” meaning they can hold what they have but cannot do much else. Of the 20,000 British, American and other troops here, only roughly 300 — a group of British Royal Marines — can be moved around the region to strike the Taliban. All the other units must stay where they are, lest the area they hold slip from their grasp.

It is perhaps in Kandahar, one of the provincial capitals, where the lack of troops is most evident. About 3,000 Canadian soldiers are assigned to secure the city, home to about 500,000 people. In a recent visit, this reporter traveled the city for five days and did not see a single Canadian soldier on the streets.

The lack of troops has allowed the Taliban to mount significant attacks inside the city. Two clerics who joined a pro-government advisory council, for instance, have been gunned down in the past two months, bringing the total assassinated council members to 24. Over the summer, a Taliban force invaded Kandahar and stormed its main prison, freeing more than 1,200 inmates.

But whether extra troops will have the desired impact is unclear. Adding 20,000 new troops to the 20,000 Western soldiers already here — in addition to an equal number of Afghan policemen and army personnel — would bring the total to 60,000. The six provinces that make up southern Afghanistan have a population of 3.2 million. In that case, the ratio of troops to population would just match that recommended by the United States Army’s counterinsurgency manual: 50 people per soldier or police officer.

American commanders say the extra troops will better enable them to pursue a more sophisticated campaign against the insurgents; the overriding objective, rather than killing Taliban fighters, is to provide security for the civilian population and thereby isolate the insurgents.

Even so, many of the Western troops already here are not deployed among the population. And Afghanistan, with its predominantly rural population living in mostly small villages, presents unique challenges.

Across much of the countryside, the Taliban appear to hold the upper hand, not necessarily because they are popular, but because they are unopposed. Hediatullah Hediat, for instance, is a businessman from Musa Qala, a city in Helmand Province that was occupied by the Taliban for much of 2007 until the insurgents were expelled by British troops at the end of that year. (The British have about 8,000 troops in Helmand Province.) The British, Mr. Hediat said, control the center of Musa Qala and nothing more.

“The Taliban are everywhere,” Mr. Hediat said in an interview in Kandahar, where he had come for business. “The Taliban are so near to the city that you can see them from the city itself. The British can see them. They can see each other.”

Mr. Hediat said he had no great gripes with the British soldiers who were occupying the town — for one thing, he said, they do not raid houses and peer at the women. But the biggest complaint, he said, was the Afghan the British installed as the district governor, Mullah Salam. The governor is unpopular and corrupt, demanding bribes and tributes from anyone who needs something.

“This is why people hate the British, because they put Mullah Salam in power, and they keep him there,” he said.

In the mud-brick villages that line the Arghandab River, winning over the people is no easy job. The Taliban are here, in the villages; earlier this month, a suicide bomber killed two American soldiers and nine Afghans in the Maiwand bazaar. But the Taliban are mostly invisible.

On a recent foot patrol through the village of Tsapowzai, about thirty miles west of Kandahar, a platoon of American soldiers ventured inside and found empty streets. It was a sunny day. A pair of Afghans stared at them from a wheat field, and neither of them waved. No one stepped from his house to say hello.

“Where’s everybody at, Jimmy?” Lt. Brian James asked a comrade.

“Don’t know,” Lt. James Holloway replied.

Finally, the soldiers came across three Afghan men. They were sitting on a blanket and listening to music on a radio. What followed seemed, more than anything, a game.

“So, seen any Taliban lately?” Lieutenant Holloway asked the men.

“We haven’t seen the Taliban in eight months,” a man named Niamatullah said, looking up.

“Do you ever see anyone moving through here at night?” Lieutenant Holloway asked.

“We don’t go outside at night,” said Mr. Niamatullah, who, like many Afghans, uses one name. “When we do, you guys search us and hold us for hours. And you never find anything.”

Lieutenant Holloway shook his head.

“The last person we stopped in this village, we held for 20 minutes,” the lieutenant said. “We never detain anyone.”

“We are afraid of you,” Mr. Niamatullah said.

“Is there a Taliban curfew?” Lieutenant Holloway asked.

“Only a man with a white shawl is allowed outside at night,” Mr. Niamatullah said.

“A white shawl?” Lieutenant Holloway squinted.

Mr. Niamatullah did not offer to explain.

“But he has no gun, so you cannot detain him.”

After several minutes, Lieutenant Holloway gave up.

“Everybody knows something,” Lieutenant Holloway said, walking away, “But no one tells us anything.”

The President has given a green signal to the renaming of NWFP as Pukhtunkhwa

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari Thursday said use of force is the last option in the war against terrorism.Addressing a high level meeting here, the President said the social and economic structures of Pukhtunkhwa and tribal societies are being strenghtehned.He said the needs and requirements of the law enforcement agencies will be fulfilled in NWFP.
According to sources, the President has given a green signal to the renaming of NWFP as Pukhtunkhwa, saying the Constitutional requirements in this regard will be met.
President Zardari said struggle is being made to strengthen the federation.
He said the government will engage in dialogue only with those who do not challenge the writ of the government.

President Obama gets to work

WASHINGTON — President Obama opened his White House term with a flurry of activity Wednesday, from new ethics rules to steps designed to close the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.
During his first morning in the Oval Office, Obama called four Middle East leaders to promise early engagement in the peace process.

Obama started his day with 10 minutes alone in the Oval Office, reading a note left to him by former president George W. Bush in an envelope marked "To: #44, From: #43."

After a briefing with White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel at 8:45 a.m., first lady Michelle Obama joined the president in the Oval Office.

US 'agrees Afghan supply route'

The US says a new supply path to Afghanistan has been agreed with Central Asian states and Russia as an option to the troubled Pakistan route.

US Central Command chief Gen David Petraeus made the announcement on a visit to Islamabad.

The route through the Khyber Pass has been closed several times in recent months after militants attacks.

Gen David Petraeus met President Asif Ali Zardari and other leading figures on his one-day trip.

Meanwhile, Pakistani security forces say they have killed 60 militants in the past 24 hours in an operation in the tribal agency of Mohmand near the Afghan border.

There is no independent confirmation of the casualty figures.

Public anger

Gen Petraeus's visit came after a week-long tour of Central Asian states.

He said the Pakistan route had been flowing "generally freely" in recent weeks but that the US and Nato had sought "additional logistical routes from the north".

He added: "There have been agreements reached and there are transit lines now and transit agreements for commercial goods and services in particular that include several countries in the Central Asian states and also Russia."

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says most of Nato's supplies are transported overland through Pakistan, but support for the Nato war effort in Afghanistan is unpopular in Pakistan and supply trucks have increasingly been attacked by local militants.

She says reports from the meetings also suggest that Pakistan expressed concern about US missile strikes against suspected Taleban and al-Qaeda militants in its border region.

The attacks have been blamed for many civilian casualties.

Islamabad says this triggers public anger, which undermines its own counter-terrorism efforts.

Our correspondent says there has been no formal indication that this policy might change under the new US administration, although a senior official of Barack Obama's Democratic party has questioned whether the missile strikes are counterproductive.

At his press conference, Gen Petraeus said the US would continue to help Pakistan tackle terrorism and militancy in the tribal areas.

"It is clearly in the interest of all countries involved that Pakistan succeed in dealing with its internal problems," he said.

Pakistan's actions and arrests following the Mumbai (Bombay) attacks were also discussed.

The general said the US and the international community would continue to support Pakistan, but Pakistan must also put its house in order on the issue of militants.

'Risky'

Gen Petraeus is a key advocate of a major US troop surge in Afghanistan.

The US has said it is sending up to 30,000 new troops to Afghanistan this year to take on a resurgent Taleban. They will join 33,000 US and 32,000 other Nato troops already in the country.

This is Gen Petraeus's second visit to Pakistan since taking up his new position.

He was until recently commander of the US military in Iraq.

He was widely credited with improving security there through the "surge" plan, which saw nearly 30,000 US troops deployed to trouble spots.

However, Afghanistan's ambassador to the US, Said Jawad, recently said that a plan similar to the one in Iraq that formed local tribal groups to help combat the insurgency was "very risky".

Rankers replace PSPs to improve Peshawar law, order

PESHAWAR: The officers of the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) and Provincial Civil Service (PCS) serving in the capital city police were replaced with seasoned cops promoted from the lower ranks in yet another experiment to improve the law and order situation in this troubled provincial capital.

The capital city police used to have majority of the superintendents of police (SPs) from the PSP or on some occasions from the PCS cadre till the recent past. On occasions, the entire administration, comprising the capital city police officer (CCPO), SSP operations, SSP investigation, SPs in Rural, Cantt and City Circles, SP headquarter and SP traffic, were from the PSP group. In some set-ups, the PCS officers assisted the PSPs to run affairs of the city police.

The same city police force was giving a completely different look Wednesday as a number of cops promoted from lower ranks were posted against senior positions. Many of these officers were given shoulder promotion to qualify requirement for the positions they were posted on. All these policemen replaced officers from the elite PSP cadre who till recent past were ruling the provincial metropolis and the rest of the Frontier.

The share of PCS officers and rankers has already been increased in other districts of the province for the past few years against PSPs after the latter preferred to be transferred out of the NWFP.

According to the Wednesday’s notification, Nasirul Mulk Bangash was made SSP traffic while Chaudhry Ashraf was posted vice SSP, a brand new position in the city police administration. Furthermore, Nisar Marwat was appointed SP Cantt, Ijaz Abid was posted SP City, Bashirullah SP Rural and Rasheed Marwat was posted as SP traffic.

A source said that the newly created post of vice SSP would also cover the Nowshera and Charsadda districts. Another position of SSP coordination was also created recently. Nisar, Rasheed Marwat and Bashirullah are DSPs serving in Grade 17, but were given shoulder promotion to take charge of their new offices on acting basis. There was no mention as to where previous SP Traffic Waqas and SP Cantt Abdul Qadir Qamar were posted. Both the officers were from the PSP cadre.

Except the senior command positions, CCPO, SSP operations and SP headquarters, the rankers have occupied the rest of the key offices of the city police in the new set up. PCS hardly occupy a few positions in Peshawar in the new set-up.

Search is on for a seasoned officer to replace SSP operations, who has been serving in the city for almost six months. The new CCPO, according to sources, feels more comfortable with experienced officers from the lower ranks and that was why they were preferred to the young PSPs to improve the law and order in the provincial metropolis.

The reason could be that all the newly posted officers have served in many of the local police stations for years in different capacities. A number of rankers were recently posted as SDPOs and on other key positions after the new city police chief took over in November last. However, the force is still struggling against innumerable rings of kidnappers, robbers and other criminals that are playing havoc with the peace of the town.

UN deplores attacks on girl schools

UNITED NATIONS: A top UN official has strongly condemned the increasing number of attacks claimed by Taliban militants and other armed groups, using and targeting the children. In a statement released in New York, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Secretary General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, said she was particularly appalled by recent incidents, including the blowing up of five schools in northwestern Pakistan. she also expressed concern over the increase in the number of child victims of the attacks on schools by Taliban, who deny children the right to education. The throwing of acid to prevent girl children and female teachers from going to school was deplorable, she stressed.

Déjà vu: Foreign hand involved in NWFP, Fata situation

PESHAWAR: People from various walks of life suspect foreign involvement in the poor law and order situation in the Frontier province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), with many pointing finger to an international conspiracy to isolate and separate the region from the rest of the country and the world.

Each and every dweller of the NWFP and Fata is concerned over what has been happening in this part of the world for the past many years. The disturbing situation has badly affected the local industry, trade, education — especially that of girls — media and politics. The entire political scenario has changed and the prime focus of the rulers is no more development of the area under their jurisdiction, but to struggle against the elements bent upon disturbing law and order.

“I think the situation worsened after the army was involved at a time when there was no need for it. The issue of militancy in some parts of Fata should have been settled politically and not by force,” remarked Senator Haji Mohammad Adeel, the senior vice president of the Awami National Party (ANP) that shares coalition governments in the Centre and NWFP.

The senator also said the area inhabited by Pakhtuns had attraction for the international powers, including the United States, China, Russia, Arab countries, India and Iran. “It is up to the government in Centre to decide whether to fight or settle the issue through dialogue. We, the politicians, believe in negotiations but the situation is complex,” he opined.

Situation in the Frontier and Fata is alarming as people are migrating to safer places. The insecurity, uncertainty and the government failure to deliver have resulted in utmost disappointment among around 23 million people of Frontier and Fata.

“It is not clear whether the government is deliberately silent over whatever is happening around or it has failed to address the issue of militancy properly. The fact is that each and every citizen of the Frontier and Fata believes the situation has isolated them from the rest of the country,” Ali Kamran, a student of the University of Peshawar, expressed himself.

Bomb blasts, suicide attacks, explosions at educational institutions and threats to others and kidnapping for ransom have made life a hell for commoners in the tribal belt and Peshawar, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Hangu, Kohat, Nowshera, Mardan, Charsadda, Swat, Buner and Dir districts.

Asif Luqman Qazi, a senior leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), blamed the previous federal government for the turmoil in Fata and Frontier. He, however, added that the situation deteriorated after the rulers declared Pakistan as front-line state against “war on terror”.

“The people of Pakistan consider it a war against Islam and Muslims, but the government acted against the sentiments of the public. The incumbent regime replaced President Musharraf but the policy has not been changed because they have come into power under a deal with the Americans and Pakistani establishment,” stated the young Qazi.

“There are foreign conspiracies, and clearly Indian and American hand behind it, but the responsibility for the country’s security rests upon our own government,” the Jamaat-e-Islami Nowshera district chief added.

Asif Luqman Qazi said, however, it was the Pakistan government that provided opportunity to the enemies to take advantage of the situation. “We condemn the sabotage acts and killing of innocent people and consider it against the teachings of Islam and Quran. Even in the military operations, innocent people, and not militants, are killed and their houses demolished,” he said.

The Jamaat-e-Islami leader offered that his party could play its role and mediate if the government showed sincerity and willingness to resolve the issue. It was because of the area situation that for the first time in history a Federal Minister, Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo, assured the NWFP business community to take up the issue of declaring Frontier a war-hit province. It is a fact what has been happening in Peshawar and other parts of the Frontier and Fata is worse than many war-hit countries. Peshawar has been rated one of the most dangerous towns of the world, given its two-year history.

“Many know about a map issued by an American think-tank that had a different look of the region, with a divided Pakistan. If there is really an international conspiracy to separate and isolate the region, then the question is what our rulers and our institutions are doing to counter it,” opined Sharafat Ali Mubarak, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz provincial vice president and the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industries (SCCI) president.

The SCCI president also accused the previous rulers of unwise policies on two important occasions: When Russia invaded Afghanistan and again after the 9/11 incident. “All the stakeholders and representatives from various walks of life need to be consulted over the issue. The people of the province should be taken into confidence and talks held with militants for restoring peace in the region and country,” concluded Sharafat.

The government formed in the Centre and province after last year’s general elections was the last hope for the NWFP residents, who have been bearing the brunt of the poor law and order. Though the performance of the federal and NWFP governments during the last 10 months has not been up to the public expectations, hopes are still alive that peace would be restored in the region provided the rulers made sincere efforts.

With Palestine in limelight, Swat Valley burns silently

PESHAWAR: One could not differentiate between two pictures in Tuesday’s papers showing the widely scattered rubble of the destroyed buildings in Gaza and blown up schools in Swat valley until reading their captions.

The valley is replete with such scenes, as more than 170 schools have been bombed or torched besides other government-owned buildings. Also, more people have been killed in violence and military operations in the valley than the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, but the people have been unfortunate not to get due attention of the government, politico-religious parties and civil society, who have been crowding streets to protest the killing of Palestinians.

The blowing up of five schools on Monday in the heart of Mingora city belied the tall claims of the provincial and federal governments vis-‡-vis ensuring security to schools in Mingora in particular and rest of the valley in general. It added to the worries of the people and girls students and pointed towards the vulnerability of schools.

The federal and provincial governments insisted that they were capable of providing security to schools against the militants’ threat. “Education is the basic right of every citizen and the government will ensure it. We will provide security to schools. The militants are not capable to materialise their threat, but have been spreading propaganda to blackmail the government,” NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the other day.

Federal Minister for Information Sherry Rahman has also expressed the same resolve. However, their words proved to be hollow meant to give a false solace to the worried countrymen, particularly Swatis. “No special security was provided to schools. Protection to schools is impossible until improvement in the overall security situation. It’s writ of the government that ensures security to schools and all other installations, which is non-existent at the moment,” an officer of the administration said. However, he said that patrolling had been started to secure the city and more steps were afoot to block entry and exit points of the city during nights.

Interestingly, incapable to stop militants from destroying schools, Iftikhar still claimed that the schools would be reopened on March 1 despite militants’ threat. “We have requested donors to provide finances to re-build and reopen the ruined schools,” he added, declaring as he usually does, to take militants head-on.

It has also been learnt that after the refusal of 600-800 officials of the Elite Police force to perform duty in the militant-teemed valley, the military is also in trouble to provide security to schools. So the girls of the valley seem to be destined to face a bleak future.

Maulana Fazlullah-led militants had asked the administration of all schools to stop imparting female education by January 15, or else the buildings would be blown up. It led private schools management to announce closure of female classes in 400 schools. The government came under heavy flak for failing to check the militants in the valley, where more than 120 girls schools have been destroyed, and ensuring female education there. The private schools refused to trust the government and security forces against the militants, saying they could not risk the lives of students and would open institutes only after restoration of peace in toto or go-ahead after assurance from the powerful militants.

Commenting on their failure in the valley, a member of the NWFP cabinet said while requesting anonymity that they were serious in not only protecting schools but also restoring peace to the entire valley.

About accelerating the operation, he said the government was satisfied with the operation in the valley and had passed a resolution to ask the army make the operation effective. “Democratic governments convey acts in this manner but here resolutions by legislatures mean nothing, unfortunately.”

He said ANP had been rendering sacrifices for the sake of peace but it could quit government if conspiracies hatched to fail the ANP efforts for peace. “Power is not indispensable for us,” he made it clear.

Pakistan tells powers to stop demanding more

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's military issued a blunt call on Tuesday for outside powers to stop demanding it do more and prove its sincerity in the campaign against militancy as the U.S. regional military chief visited.

Pakistan has been a close ally in U.S.-led efforts against terrorism since the September 11 attacks on the United States although it has never been able to dispel suspicion in some quarters that it had maintained links to some militants.

Such suspicion has been renewed by Indian accusations that some Pakistani state agencies were linked to November's militant attacks on Mumbai.

Western powers have not supported those Indian accusations, although they often call on Pakistan to do more in fighting Taliban and al Qaeda militants, especially those on the Afghan border in northwest Pakistan.

The chief of the Pakistani armed forces, General Tariq Majid, bemoaned "repetitive rhetoric by some of the external players asking Pakistan to do more and prove sincerity."

"Such unhelpful statements must stop," Majid said.

He did not refer to any country or to U.S. Central Command chief General David Petraeus, who arrived in Pakistan earlier for talks with government and military leaders.

British Defence Secretary John Hutton was also in Pakistan this week. Britain has the second largest contingent of soldiers in Afghanistan, behind the United States, and is also worried about militant infiltration from Pakistan.

Both the United States and Britain are major donors of aid to Pakistan, including help to tackle terrorism.

"International players must come out from the coercive mindset and instead start delivering on the promised capacity assistance," Majid said in a statement.

The thinly veiled criticism of the United States follows Pakistani anger over about 30 U.S. air strikes on militants on the Pakistani side of the border last year.

Pakistan says the attacks violate its sovereignty and are counter-productive. Support for the U.S. campaign against militancy is deeply unpopular with many Pakistanis.

"CAN'T MATCH SACRIFICES"

Pakistan has in the past used Islamist militants to further foreign policy objectives and it was the main supporter of the Taliban until the September 11 attacks.

But Majid said Pakistan did not need to prove its sincerity considering the sacrifices it was making "which cannot be matched by any of those players making these demands."

About 1,000 Pakistani soldiers have been killed in fighting against militants in the northwest since 2001.

Petraeus met President Asif Ali Zardari and army chief General Ashfaq Kayani for talks that included Pakistan's response to the Mumbai attacks, which India and the United States said was carried out by a banned Pakistani-based militant group.

"It is clearly in the interests of all countries involved that Pakistan succeed in dealing with its internal problems," Petraeus told reporters.

He did not refer to Majid's statement.

Petraeus said he had also discussed cross-border movement of militants and U.S. reinforcements in Afghanistan. The United States has about 32,000 troops in Afghanistan but that number is expected to go up considerably this year.

Petraeus has been credited with helping pull Iraq back from the brink of civil war with a strategy that brought a "surge" of 30,000 extra U.S. troops. President-elect Barack Obama has said he would put more focus on defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan.

'Fighters killed' in Pakistan raid

Mohmand, a mainly ethnic Pashtun region on the Afghan border, is a known al-Qaeda stronghold
Pakistani government and paramilitary officials say security forces backed by aircraft have killed 38 Taliban fighters in an offensive in the Mohmand region on the Afghan border.A paramilitary official was quoted by the AFP news agency on Tuesday as saying that "60 hardcore militants" were killed in the last 24 hours, including local field commanders.Mohmand is a known al-Qaeda stronghold.The reports of fighting came as General David Petraeus, the US Central Command chief, arrived in Pakistan for talks with government and military leaders.He met Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani president, and General Ashfaq Kayani, the army chief, for talks on regional security, a spokesman for Zardari said.
'Operation successful
Referring to the fighters, a senior government official in Mohmand, Shahidullah Khan, told the Reuters news agency by telephone: "The operation has been successful. Their power has been reduced, we're facing less resistance."Khan and the paramilitary Mohmand Rifles force said 38 fighters had been killed on Tuesday. The force said 22 fighters had been killed in fighting on Monday.
Khan said there had been no casualties on the government side.
A Pakistani security official said the fighters suffered losses in attacks by "war planes, helicopter gunships and use of artillery and shelling by tanks".
Those killed included two commanders of the Taliban fighters, he said.
"We have confirmation that commander Anwar Sayed and commander Shakirullah were killed in the operation today," a security official said.
Their bases were also destroyed, he said.
He also said that troops demolished or torched at least 27 houses belonging to tribesmen who offered shelter to the fighters.
Five civilians were wounded in the shelling, he said.
A Mohmand Rifles official told AFP on the condition of anonymity: "The operation is going on in Mohmand. The forces have secured a large area in the troubled district and militant strongholds have been destroyed."
The force said two fighters' strongholds had been destroyed and another two were being attacked. Several Taliban commanders had been killed, it said in a release.

Border villages
A spokesman for the Mohmad Rifles said earlier the assault was focused on five border villages controlled by fighters.
Villagers said the soldiers were also using tanks and artillery in the fighting and at least 12 civilians had been wounded in air strikes.

None of the statistics given out by the Pakistani security officials could be confirmed through independent sources.

Last week, more than 600 fighters, many from Afghanistan, attacked a military camp and two checkpoints in Mohmand and six soldiers and 40 fighters were killed, the military said.

Intensified Pakistani efforts against the fighters have led to what some officials call reverse infiltration, with some Taliban coming back into Pakistan to protect their rear bases.

Official released

Separately, Taliban fighters released a senior government official in the South Waziristan region, on the Afghan border to the southwest of Mohmand, after more than a week in captivity, a government official said.

Residents and intelligence officials said that Taliban fighters also shot dead six people and dumped their bodies by a road in the North Waziristan region after accusing them of being US spies.

A note left with the bodies said they were a "gift for Obama, Karzai and Zardari", referring to the new US president and the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

North Waziristan is a known sanctuary for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

5 more schools dynamited, govt claims turn out nine days’ wonder

Ignorant Taliban and ignorant Mullahs Violently Campaigns Against Girls' Education in Northwest Pakistan
MINGORA: Local Taliban destroyed five more schools whereas more than three lakh children below the age of five will miss immunisation this year in Swat because of the ongoing fighting.
'Militants blew up one girls' school and four boys schools including Government High School Bunr, Primary School Bunr, High School Angro Dheri, Primary School Angro Dheri and Girls High School Tahir Abad. Schools are closed for a winter break and no one was hurt in the attacks.
Up till now militants had destroyed 170 schools in the valley where about 55,000 girls and boys were enrolled in government-run institutions, sources said.
Information Minister Sherry Rehman told reporters on Sunday the government aimed to ensure that schools in Swat would reopen on March 1, when they are due to go back after the winter break. But that would seem like wishful thinking because teachers were also refusing to work.
"We are stiff scared. We doubt the government's ability to protect us," a teacher said.
Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain vowed action against the militants.
"They're out of control," Iftikhar told reporters.
"In the past, when we took action against them, we were criticised ... Now people realise that they're cruel and they want us to go after them and we'll do it."
The president of a Swat teachers' association said his members would only go back to work if the government brought complete peace and shut down the militants' radio, or if the militants issued an order over their radio for a return to work.
'If they're destroying schools during a curfew, they can do anything. Even if the authorities announce schools are open, nobody will go and parents won't send their kids.
About 365,000 children aged under five in Swat valley would miss immunisation against polio this year and there is likelihood of more polio cases in the area.
Informed sources in the health department said that the district administration of Swat was not willing to launch a vaccination campaign because of security concerns.
Meanwhile, management of Judicial Complex Mingora again received a call from an unknown person threatening that the complex would be targeted within an hour. The call proved to be a scare only, since the bomb disposal squad scanned the building and found no explosives; however, nearby offices and banks were closed and people faced a lot of difficulties.
Separately, unidentified miscreants torched a house of Hamid Gul in Madyn area. No casualties were reported in the incident.
Curfew remained clamped on Khwazakhela road for fifth consecutive day.
Electricity remained cut off to different parts of Mingora due to fire broke out in Pesco's main grid station in Swat.
Fire brigade men rushed to the site and extinguished the fire.

Russia, Ukraine sign new gas deal

Russia's energy giant Gazprom and its Ukrainian counterpart Naftogaz Ukrainy signed a new gas deal here on Monday, paving the way for resuming Russian gas supplies to Ukraine and Europe.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko were present at the signing ceremony at the White Palace, the Russian government's compound in downtown Moscow.

Diary of a Pakistani schoolgirl

SCENE OF DESTRUCTION OF SCHOOLS BY IGNORANT AND ENEMIES OF PAKHTOONS,TALIBAN ARE ENEMIES OF PAKHTUNKHWA.

Private schools in Pakistan's troubled north-western Swat district have been ordered to close in a Taleban edict banning girls' education. Militants seeking to impose their austere interpretation of Sharia law have destroyed about 150 schools in the past year. Five more were blown up despite a government pledge to safeguard education, it was reported on Monday. Here a seventh grade schoolgirl from Swat chronicles how the ban has affected her and her classmates. The diary first appeared on BBC Urdu online.

THURSDAY JANUARY 15: NIGHT FILLED WITH ARTILLERY FIRE The night was filled with the noise of artillery fire and I woke up three times. But since there was no school I got up later at 10 am. Afterwards, my friend came over and we discussed our homework.


Today is 15 January, the last day before the Taleban's edict comes into effect, and my friend was discussing homework as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Today, I also read the diary written for the BBC (in Urdu) and published in the newspaper. My mother liked my pen name 'Gul Makai' and said to my father 'why not change her name to Gul Makai?' I also like the name because my real name means 'grief stricken'.
My father said that some days ago someone brought the printout of this diary saying how wonderful it was. My father said that he smiled but could not even say that it was written by his daughter.

WEDNESDAY 14 JANUARY: I MAY NOT GO TO SCHOOL AGAIN

I was in a bad mood while going to school because winter vacations are starting from tomorrow. The principal announced the vacations but did not mention the date the school was to reopen. This was the first time this has happened.

In the past the reopening date was always announced clearly. The principal did not inform us about the reason behind not announcing the school reopening, but my guess was that the Taleban had announced a ban on girls' education from 15 January.

This time round, the girls were not too excited about vacations because they knew if the Taleban implemented their edict they would not be able to come to school again. Some girls were optimistic that the schools would reopen in February but others said that their parents had decided to shift from Swat and go to other cities for the sake of their education.

Since today was the last day of our school, we decided to play in the playground a bit longer. I am of the view that the school will one day reopen but while leaving I looked at the building as if I would not come here again.

FRIDAY 9 JANUARY: THE MAULANA GOES ON LEAVE?

Today at school I told my friends about my trip to Bunair. They said that they were sick and tired of hearing the Bunair story. We discussed the rumours about the death of Maulana Shah Dauran, who used to give speeches on FM radio. He was the one who announced the ban on girls attending school.

Some girls said that he was dead but others disagreed. The rumours of his death are circulating because he did not deliver a speech the night before on FM radio. One girl said that he had gone on leave.

Since there was no tuition on Friday, I played the whole afternoon. I switched on the TV in the evening and heard about the blasts in Lahore. I said to myself 'why do these blasts keep happening in Pakistan?'

WEDNESDAY 7 JANUARY: NO FIRING OR FEAR

I have come to Bunair to spend Muharram (a Muslim holiday) on vacation. I adore Bunair because of its mountains and lush green fields. My Swat is also very beautiful but there is no peace. But in Bunair there is peace and tranquillity. Neither is there any firing nor any fear. We all are very happy.

Today we went to Pir Baba mausoleum and there were lots of people there. People are here to pray while we are here for an excursion. There are shops selling bangles, ear rings, lockets and other artificial jewellery. I thought of buying something but nothing impressed - my mother bought ear rings and bangles.

MONDAY 5 JANUARY: DO NOT WEAR COLOURFUL DRESSES

I was getting ready for school and about to wear my uniform when I remembered that our principal had told us not to wear uniforms - and come to school wearing normal clothes instead. So I decided to wear my favourite pink dress. Other girls in school were also wearing colourful dresses and the school presented a homely look.

My friend came to me and said, 'for God's sake, answer me honestly, is our school going to be attacked by the Taleban?' During the morning assembly we were told not to wear colourful clothes as the Taleban would object to it.

I came back from school and had tuition sessions after lunch. In the evening I switched on the TV and heard that curfew had been lifted from Shakardra after 15 days. I was happy to hear that because our English teacher lived in the area and she might be coming to school now.

SUNDAY 4 JANUARY: I HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL

Today is a holiday and I woke up late, around 10 am. I heard my father talking about another three bodies lying at Green Chowk (crossing). I felt bad on hearing this news. Before the launch of the military operation we all used to go to Marghazar, Fiza Ghat and Kanju for picnics on Sundays. But now the situation is such that we have not been out on picnic for over a year and a half.

We also used to go for a walk after dinner but now we are back home before sunset. Today I did some household chores, my homework and played with my brother. But my heart was beating fast - as I have to go to school tomorrow. SATURDAY 3 JANUARY: I AM AFRAID I had a terrible dream yesterday with military helicopters and the Taleban. I have had such dreams since the launch of the military operation in Swat. My mother made me breakfast and I went off to school. I was afraid going to school because the Taleban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending schools.

Only 11 students attended the class out of 27. The number decreased because of Taleban's edict. My three friends have shifted to Peshawar, Lahore and Rawalpindi with their families after this edict.

On my way from school to home I heard a man saying 'I will kill you'. I hastened my pace and after a while I looked back if the man was still coming behind me. But to my utter relief he was talking on his mobile and must have been threatening someone else over the phone.

IDF investigating phosphorus shell use

IDF investigating phosphorus shell use
THE JERUSALEM POST
The IDF's Judge Advocate General is investigating the alleged use of phosphorous shells during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip.

The probe was launched at the instruction of Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and its findings will be released to the public.

Several human rights groups have incorrectly claimed that shells the IDF fired into Gaza and which exploded in the air were phosphorus shells. The shells, fired by artillery batteries, were used to create smokescreens and contained phosphorus material, but were not actual phosphorus shells.

A phosphorus shell is an incendiary weapon that lands on the ground and explodes, burning everything within a close radius. Each 155 mm artillery shell bursts, deploying 116 wedges packed with white phosphorus which ignite on contact with oxygen and can scatter, depending on the height at which it is burst (and wind conditions), over an area at least the size of a football pitch. In addition to the indiscriminate effect of air-bursting such a weapon, firing such shells as artillery exacerbates the likelihood that civilians will be affected.

The use of such weaponry, the IDF said, is permitted under international law in open areas - to clear mines and roadside bombs - but is not permitted for use against civilians or in civilian areas. The IDF probe is checking whether the shells were used in civilian areas.

Meanwhile Monday, Amnesty International delegates visited the Gaza Strip and claimed to have found indisputable evidence of widespread use of white phosphorus in densely populated residential areas in Gaza City and in the north.

"Yesterday, we saw streets and alleyways littered with evidence of the use of white phosphorus, including still-burning wedges and the remnants of the shells and canisters fired by the Israeli army," said Christopher Cobb-Smith, a weapons expert who is in Gaza as part of a four-person Amnesty International fact-finding team.

The smokescreen shells Cobb-Smith was referring to are not under investigation by the IDF, since their use is permitted under international law to cover tank and troops movements.

Despite this, Cobb-Smith accused Israel of indiscriminate use of the shell which he called a "war crime."

"Such extensive use of this weapon in Gaza's densely populated residential neighborhoods is inherently indiscriminate. Its repeated use in this manner, despite evidence of its indiscriminate effects and its toll on civilians, is a war crime," agreed Amnesty's Researcher on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Donatella Rovera.

Authorities mount record security effort to ensure inaugural safety

WASHINGTON -- From land, water and air, tens of thousands of police officers, federal agents and National Guardsmen are being deployed in an unprecedented effort to make sure the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama is safe.

"Right now, we have no credible threat that there is any direction of interest on the inauguration," Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told CNN.

FBI agents and intelligence officials have been checking with sources around the United States and the world to make sure no leads are overlooked, and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said intelligence will be scrubbed and rescrubbed right through the inauguration.

"We are literally going to be watching this every minute between now and the conclusion of events on the 20th," Chertoff said.

Federal officials acknowledge the inauguration of the first African-American U.S. president could be an attractive target.

Since Obama's election, the number of threats against him has increased, according to a recent federal intelligence assessment. FBI officials say the number of tips coming in has increased, as is common before an inauguration. Investigations, however, have not uncovered a real threat.

The FBI has been especially aggressive in examining white supremacy groups, which have ramped up their anti-Obama comments.

"We have not seen any activity by the groups," said FBI Assistant Director Joseph Persichini. "We have seen a lot of chatter, we have seen a lot of discussions, we have seen some information via the Internet. Again, but those are discussions. We look at the vulnerabilities and whether or not the groups are capable of taking on action."

Persichini said he believes the bureau has "a good operational plan" for dealing with the groups, but says that right now, there is no evidence they are trying to launch anything. Watch more on inauguration security »

The Secret Service is coordinating security for the inauguration, which will involve 58 federal, state and local agencies. All of them are represented at the Secret Service command center, where they can communicate and work together to respond to any report of a possible problem.

Airspace restrictions around the Capitol are being tightened. The U.S. Coast Guard is closing portions of the Potomac River. Miles of roads will be closed, along with most of the bridges into the District of Columbia. Checkpoints are going up, and undercover teams are being deployed to look for suspicious people or vehicles.

Explosives-sniffing dogs will be on hand to nose out bombs, and horses trained in crowd control are on duty. Thousands of security cameras are being used to monitor activities, sharpshooters are being stationed, and sensors will be used to detect chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.

In addition to Secret Service agents, the security effort will involve 8,000 police officers from the District of Columbia and other jurisdictions, 10,000 National Guardsmen, about 1,000 FBI personnel, and hundreds of others from the Department of Homeland Security, the National Park Service and U.S. Capitol Police. Another 20,000 members of the National Guard are ready to respond if there is an emergency, according to Chertoff.

Security planners have drawn up procedures to deal with improvised explosive devices, suicide bombers and the use of a weapon of mass destruction. A recent intelligence assessment, however, said a lone wolf would pose the greatest potential threat. Chertoff said an individual or small group planning to do harm is difficult to detect.

"Whether the motivation is racism or some psychological disorder ... in an open society, it is impossible to keep a single individual from doing some damage," he said.

A major unknown is how large the crowd will be for Tuesday's activities. Estimates have ranged from 1 million to 2 million. The FBI's Persichini said only that "we know it is going to draw a lot of people here to the nation's capital."

Those attending the swearing-in ceremony or entering the parade route will undergo tight screening, including passing through magnetometers. Spectators who are unable to get into those events will be routed to the National Mall, which, for the first time, will be open from end to end for an inauguration. Security there will be less stringent.

There has been extensive planning to ensure the crowds can be moved in an orderly and safe way, and to prevent a stampede if there is any kind of security incident. Local and federal agencies have even consulted with a crowd expert.

Authorities say the massive security operation is not intended to deter people from coming to Washington.

"Our efforts are to make sure people are safe," Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley said. "We'd like for as many people to come as want to come. And again, during our planning, we have made sure we could accommodate however many people decide to come."

That inaugural events are spread over a four-day period has made security even more challenging.

Organizers say they started their security planning the day after the last inauguration and ramped up their efforts in July. Officials involved say this is the biggest event they have been involved in, but believe they are prepared.

"There are a lot of things we all think about, and I'll admit that at 3 in the morning, I might wake up thinking about something, but I have to tell you, I am so confident in this plan," the Secret Service's Sullivan said.

"I just don't see any benefit to worry, and I think we just have to go along the way we're going right now and do everything that we can do to make sure that this event is going to be a safe event, that this historical event will be an enjoyable event for everybody and that, quite frankly, that the day isn't about security, but the day is about our president and the day is about our country."

Gates to sit out Obama inauguration

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates will sit out Barack Obama's inauguration at an undisclosed location as the "designated successor" in the event of a catastrophe, the White House announced Monday.

While the eyes of the world are glued Tuesday to Obama's historic swearing-in, attended by outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush and both outgoing and incoming senior aides, Gates will stay away, said spokeswoman Dana Perino.

"In order to ensure continuity of government, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been designated by the outgoing administration, with the concurrence of the incoming administration, to serve as the designated successor during Inauguration Day, Tuesday, January 20th," Perino said.

It is common practice for one senior US official to sit out major events, like the annual State of the Union speech, to ensure that the US government has clear leadership in the event of a disaster or terrorist attack.

But Washington has been especially attuned to the potential problems of succession because Obama's swearing-in is the first U.S. presidential transition since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Gates is an unusually good choice as a bridge between the two administrations, Bush chose him to be his defense secretary in November 2006 and Obama has decided to keep him on in that post.

Gates "will be spending the day at a military installation outside the national capital region," said spokesman Geoff Morrell, who declined to offer further details, citing security concerns.

Entertainment industry of Frontier hangs in the balance

PESHAWAR: As growing trend of militancy has been badly affecting every sphere of life, particularly in the NWFP and Federally Administered Tribal Areas, those affiliated with music and showbiz are suffering most.

Cultural activities are next to nil in the province that is already lacking entertainment facilities. The only theatre in the provincial capital—Nishtar Hall—wearing almost a deserted look despite reopening by the incumbent government after remaining closed for almost five years during the MMA rule in the province.

Musicians and TV drama artistes are either leaving the province and country or being forced to quit the career. Senior TV artiste Arshad Hussain, singers Gulzar Alam, Haroon Bacha and Sardar Yusufzai, comedian Mirawas and Alamzeb are among the victims.

Noted Pashto singer Gulzar Alam has already bid farewell to singing while famous TV/ CD drama artiste and comedian, Alamzeb Mujahid, commonly known as Jaanan, announced quitting the field last Friday after winning release from the kidnappers.

Gulzar was in hot waters after the MMA-led government launched a crackdown on musicians and dislocated musicians from Dabgari Gardens area. He had even left the province and shifted to Quetta and Karachi but could not continue singing to earn his livelihood. After running from pillar to post, he ultimately said goodbye to singing.

However, Alamzeb’s case is different as he announced retirement from the showbiz on the very next day of his release from the captivity of unknown abductors. Like Gulzar, who has sported beard and spent time in Tableegh (preaching of Islam), Alamzeb is all set to embark upon his new mission of joining the Tableeghi Jamaat.

Either by force or on his own, the famous comedian parted ways with apparently happy and jolly artistes comrades. “I will go for “Tableegh” in a couple of days. Presently I am busy with guests and will embark upon 40-day Chilla very soon. I believe Almighty Allah have chosen honourable source of income for me that will be better than the one I am quitting,” Alamzeb told The News.

He was still reluctant to talk to media and was tight-lipped over his kidnapping saga. To a question where he would like to go for “Tableegh”, he said it depended on the will of Tableeghi Jamaat’s elders to decide his destination.

Belonging to Charsadda district, the noted artiste had left education department as PTC teacher eight years ago though he had been affiliated with the showbiz for about two decades. Arshad Hussain is another victim, who is yet to get out of the trauma he faced after kidnapping. He said to have knocked the doors of all concerned government authorities to get compensation for the loss he incurred due to kidnapping, but failed to win any relief.

He was kidnapped from the hometown of NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti, Mardan, but nobody, including the chief minister and minister for culture paid any heed to his suffering. The artiste has also lost the alternative source of income (job in HIV/Aids project of the Health Department), as the project has already ended.

Singer Haroon Bacha has left the country because of the threats from unknown militants and sought asylum in the USA while another singer, Sardar Yusufzai narrowly escaped a murder attack sometime back. A harmonium player in his orchestra, Anwar Gul, died in the attack.

This uncertain situation has disturbed the stakeholders in the music and showbiz and brought a halt to cultural activities while the government seems hapless to keep the industry alive and provide protection to artistes.

Child Protection Bureau for NWFP soon

PESHAWAR: The NWFP government will shortly pass a bill from the provincial assembly to pave the way for the establishment of Child Protection Bureau and discourage child vagrancy in the province.NWFP Minister for Social Welfare and Women Development Sitara Ayaz said that due to lack of some legal requirements the NWFP government was unable to set up and improve child protection bureaus, welfare homes and Darul Kafala in the province, saying that a bill pertaining to bring amendments to the Vagrancy Ordinance would be passed from the provincial assembly shortly.She was talking to journalists here at the Media Centre of the provincial information department Monday after introductory ceremony of proposed website about missing children, designed by a group of students from Edwardes College Peshawar. Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain was also present on the occasion.Ms Sitara Ayaz lamented that the provincial government had no data or proper information about the missing children, which she feared could be in thousands after displacement of people from Bajaur and Swat in the wake of clashes between security forces and militants.“The ANP-led government is keen to facilitate the displaced and run away children in the official shelter homes and provide them basic education and skill on the government expenses,” the provincial minister added.Sitara said that social welfare department could not confine a child to Darul Kafala or welfare homes for a long time under existing Vagrancy Ordinance. The law department had given green signal to the social welfare department to bring necessary amendments in the existing laws for this purpose, she added.In the under-construction website, the students claimed that about 80 per cent missing, displaced and run away children would be reunited with their families through their proposed website in collaboration with police department and media.Project supervisor of the website, Jawad Ahmad, a student of class 12th, said that through artificial intelligent-based report (AIBR) a probability report about the location and identification of missing children would be provided on the Internet. However, the students demanded financial, material and moral assistance from the government.
The NWFP minister vowed to provide full support to the students-designed website and said that quick services would be provided to the affected women and children. Mian Iftikhar Hussain, while speaking on the occasion, said the government would provide full protection to educational institutions in Swat and other parts of the province, adding that schools in Swat were closed because of winter vacations. He said all the educational institutions would be opened on March 1 after the vacations.