Radio Spreads Taliban’s Terror in Pakistani Region

(ITS REALLY AMAZING THAT ONE IGNORANT MULLAH IS SPREADING HATE AND TRYING TO SCARE PEACEFUL PEOPLE OF SWAT BUT PAKISTANI ARMY AND GOVT IS IGNORING THIS,WHY ITS SO HARD TO KILL THIS KING OF TERROR OR JAM HIS RADIO FREQUENCY???IS SOME ONE IN PAKISTANI MILITARY OR CIVILIAN ESTABLISHMENT HAVE COOL HEARTH FOR THESE SO CALLED IGNORANT BARBARIAN TALIBAN????



PESHAWAR, Pakistan(NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE) — Every night around 8 o’clock, the terrified residents of Swat, a lush and picturesque valley a hundred miles from three of Pakistan’s most important cities, crowd around their radios. They know that failure to listen and learn might lead to a lashing — or a beheading.

Using a portable radio transmitter, a local Taliban leader, Shah Doran, on most nights outlines newly proscribed “un-Islamic” activities in Swat, like selling DVDs, watching cable television, singing and dancing, criticizing the Taliban, shaving beards and allowing girls to attend school. He also reveals names of people the Taliban have recently killed for violating their decrees — and those they plan to kill.

“They control everything through the radio,” said one Swat resident, who declined to give his name for fear the Taliban might kill him. “Everyone waits for the broadcast.”

International attention remains fixed on the Taliban’s hold on Pakistan’s semiautonomous tribal areas, from where they launch attacks on American forces in Afghanistan. But for Pakistan, the loss of the Swat Valley could prove just as devastating.

Unlike the fringe tribal areas, Swat, a Delaware-size chunk of territory with 1.3 million residents and a rich cultural history, is part of Pakistan proper, within reach of Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the capital.

After more than a year of fighting, virtually all of it is now under Taliban control, marking the militants’ farthest advance eastward into Pakistan’s so-called settled areas, residents and government officials from the region say.

With the increasing consolidation of their power, the Taliban have taken a sizable bite out of the nation. And they are enforcing a strict interpretation of Islam with cruelty, bringing public beheadings, assassinations, social and cultural repression and persecution of women to what was once an independent, relatively secular region, dotted with ski resorts and fruit orchards and known for its dancing girls.

Last year, 70 police officers were beheaded, shot or otherwise slain in Swat, and 150 wounded, said Malik Naveed Khan, the police inspector general for the North-West Frontier Province.

The police have become so afraid that many officers have put advertisements in newspapers renouncing their jobs so the Taliban will not kill them.

One who stayed on the job was Farooq Khan, a midlevel officer in Mingora, the valley’s largest city, where decapitated bodies of policemen and other victims routinely surface. Last month, he was shopping there when two men on a motorcycle sprayed him with gunfire, killing him in broad daylight.

“He always said, ‘I have to stay here and defend our home,’ ” recalled his brother, Wajid Ali Khan, a Swat native and the province’s minister for environment, as he passed around a cellphone with Farooq’s picture.

In the view of analysts, the growing nightmare in Swat is a capsule of the country’s problems: an ineffectual and unresponsive civilian government, coupled with military and security forces that, in the view of furious residents, have willingly allowed the militants to spread terror deep into Pakistan.

The crisis has become a critical test for the government of the civilian president, Asif Ali Zardari, and for a security apparatus whose loyalties, many Pakistanis say, remain in question.

Seeking to deflect blame, Mr. Zardari’s government recently criticized “earlier halfhearted attempts at rooting out extremists from the area” and vowed to fight militants “who are ruthlessly murdering and maiming our citizens.”

But as pressure grows, he has also said in recent days that the government would be willing to talk with militants who accept its authority. Such negotiations would carry serious risks: security officials say a brief peace deal in Swat last spring was a spectacular failure that allowed militants to tighten their hold and take revenge on people who had supported the military.

Without more forceful and concerted action by the government, some warn, the Taliban threat in Pakistan is bound to spread.

“The crux of the problem is the government appears divided about what to do,” said Mahmood Shah, a retired Pakistani Army brigadier who until 2006 was in charge of security in the western tribal areas. “This disconnect among the political leadership has emboldened the militants.”

From 2,000 to 4,000 Taliban fighters now roam the Swat Valley, according to interviews with a half-dozen senior Pakistani government, military and political officials involved in the fight. By contrast, the Pakistani military has four brigades with 12,000 to 15,000 men in Swat, officials say.

But the soldiers largely stay inside their camps, unwilling to patrol or exert any large presence that might provoke — or discourage — the militants, Swat residents and political leaders say. The military also has not raided a small village that locals say is widely known as the Taliban’s headquarters in Swat.

Nor have troops destroyed mobile radio transmitters mounted on motorcycles or pickup trucks that Shah Doran and the leader of the Taliban in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, have expertly used to terrify residents.

Being named in one of the nightly broadcasts often leaves just two options: fleeing Swat, or turning up headless and dumped in a village square.

When the army does act, its near-total lack of preparedness to fight a counterinsurgency reveals itself. Its usual tactic is to lob artillery shells into a general area, and the results have seemed to hurt civilians more than the militants, residents say.

In some parts of Pakistan, civilian militias have risen to fight the Taliban. But in Swat, the Taliban’s gains amid a large army presence has convinced many that the military must be conspiring with the Taliban.

“It’s very mysterious how they get so much weapons and support,” while nearby districts are comparatively calm, said Muzaffar ul-Mulk Khan, a member of Parliament from Swat, who said his home near Mingora was recently destroyed by the Taliban.

“We are bewildered by the military. They patrol only in Mingora. In the rest of Swat they sit in their bases. And the militants can kill at will anywhere in Mingora,” he said.

“Nothing is being done by the government," Mr. Khan added.

Accusations that the military lacks the will to fight in Swat are “very unfair and unjustified,” said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the chief military spokesman, who said 180 army soldiers and officers had been killed in Swat in the past 14 months.

“They do reach out, and they do patrol,” he said.

Military officials also say they are trying to step up activity in Swat.

General Abbas said the military did not have the means to block Taliban radio transmissions across such a wide area, but he disputed the view that Mingora had fallen to the militants.

“Just because they come out at night and throw down four or five bodies in the square does not mean that militants control anything,” he said.

Few officials would dispute that one of the Pakistani military’s biggest mistakes in Swat was its failure to protect Pir Samiullah, a local leader whose 500 followers fought the Taliban in the village of Mandal Dag. After the Taliban killed him in a firefight last month, the militants demanded that his followers reveal his gravesite — and then started beheading people until they got the information, one Mandal Dag villager said.

“They dug him up and hung his body in the square,” the villager said, and then they took the body to a secret location. The desecration was intended to show what would happen to anyone who defied the Taliban’s rule, but it also made painfully clear to Swat residents that the Pakistani government could not be trusted to defend those who rose up against the militants.

“He should have been given more protection,” said one Pakistani security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the subject. “He should have been made a symbol of resistance.”

Gruesome displays like the defilement of Pir Samiullah’s remains are an effective tactic for the Taliban, who have shown cruel efficiency in following through on their threats.

Recently, Shah Doran broadcast word that the Taliban intended to kill a police officer who he said had killed three people.

“We have sent people, and tomorrow you will have good news,” he said on his nightly broadcast, according to a resident of Matta, a Taliban stronghold. The next day the decapitated body of the policeman was found in a nearby village.

Even in Mingora, a town grown hardened to violence, residents were shocked early this month to find the bullet-ridden body of one of the city’s most famous dancing girls splayed on the main square.

Known as Shabana, the woman was visited at night by a group of men who claimed to want to hire her for a party. They shot her to death and dragged her body more than a quarter-mile to the central square, leaving it as a warning for anyone who would flout Taliban decrees.

The leader of the militants in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, gained prominence from making radio broadcasts and running an Islamic school, becoming popular among otherwise isolated homemakers and inspiring them to sell their jewelry to finance his operation. He also drew support from his marriage to the daughter of Sufi Mohammed, a powerful religious leader in Swat until 2001 who later disowned his son-in-law.

Even though Swat does not border Afghanistan or any of Pakistan’s seven lawless federal tribal areas, Maulana Fazlullah eventually allied with Taliban militants who dominate regions along the Afghan frontier.

His fighters now roam the valley with sniper rifles, Kalashnikovs, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, mortar tubes and, according to some officials, night-vision goggles and flak vests.

His latest tactic is a ban on girls’ attending school in Swat, which will be tested in February when private schools are scheduled to reopen after winter recess. The Taliban have already destroyed 169 girls’ schools in Swat, government officials say, and they expect most private schools to stay closed rather than risk retaliation.

“The local population is totally fed up, and if they had the chance they would lynch each and every Talib,” said Mr. Naveed Khan, the police official. “But the Taliban are so cruel and violent, no one will oppose them. If this is not stopped, it will spill into other areas of Pakistan.”

China tells United States to handle ties with care

BEIJING- China's Foreign Minister has urged U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be careful with sensitive issues that could strain ties, calling the relationship between their two nations one of the world's most important.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi made the remarks to Clinton, settling into her new job as Washington's top diplomat, in a phone call on Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry website (www.fmprc.gov.cn) reported on Saturday.

But Yang's published remarks did not mention the yuan currency issue, which has become the first test for ties between his government and the new Obama administration.

"The China-U.S. relationship is one of the world's most important bilateral relations," Yang told Clinton, according to the report.

Each side should "respect and show consideration for the other's core interests and appropriately handle differences and sensitive issues," he said.

The report did not specify those issues, but Beijing considers Taiwan its most sensitive topic in dealings with Washington.

Beijing says self-ruled Taiwan must accept eventual reunification with the mainland and objects to Washington's military aid to and political support for the island. China has also been angered by U.S. pressure over human rights and Tibet.

Yang, a former ambassador to Washington, said the two powers should "handle bilateral relations by adhering to a strategic high-point and a long-term perspective."

TRADE DISPUTES

Ties between the United States, the world's biggest economy, and China, with its bulging exports and foreign exchange reserves, have also been strained by trade disputes that could worsen during the global economic slowdown.

But in the published comments, Yang did not mention the yuan currency exchange policies, which have already become a sparring point between China and the new Obama administration.

U.S. Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner said on Thursday that China was manipulating its currency to shore up unfair trade advantages.

China's Commerce Ministry, in a statement to Agence France Presse on Friday, said the Beijing government "has never used so-called currency manipulation.

China's Foreign Ministry generally avoids wading into trade issues. But the country's official media were not so reticent.

The China Daily, an English-language paper that often reflects official policy, said Geithner's position was "a clear move away from the stance of the Bush administration," which avoided calling Beijing a currency manipulator.

The official Xinhua news agency echoed that view.

"This may signal that with the Obama administration in office, China faces growing pressure from U.S. trade protectionism," it said, citing Beijing economists.

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, was preparing a response to Geithner's remarks, Xinhua said.

The yuan closed lower against the dollar on Friday and traded mostly below the Chinese central bank's mid-point, with speculation that Geithner's comments could spark a brief period of modest yuan depreciation.

UNRWA calls for independent probe into alleged Gaza crimes

Jan. 24, 2009
THE JERUSALEM POST
John Ging, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, called on Friday for the establishment of an independent international investigation into the alleged war crimes committed during Operation Cast Lead.

At a press conference held in Geneva, Ging said that a credible investigation of the death and destruction in Gaza was necessary especially in light of the growing anger of Gazans, the increasing number of extremists in the Strip and their lack of faith in the rule of law, Reuters reported.

It is urgent to establish accountability for death and the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure through a credible mechanism which would "channel this emotion to confidence in the rule of law," Ging reportedly said.

Ging told reporters that the number of extremists in the Strip had grown as a result of the three-week operation against Hamas, and stressed that it was important to prove that justice could be delivered in a lawful way.

The extremists "are very confident in their rhetoric that there should be no expectation that justice will be delivered through the rule of law. Now we must prove that wrong," he reportedly said.

According to the report, the UNRWA head noted that Israeli civilians had also suffered, and therefore, the investigation had to examine "legitimate allegations" on both sides.

Ging expressed his hopes that new US Middle East envoy George Mitchell will talk to ordinary people in Gaza as part of a "new track" in diplomacy.

"My first request to the US administration is talk to the ordinary people in Gaza. Come to Gaza and talk to the ordinary people -- the mothers, fathers, leaders of civil society, the people who are not involved in politics," said Ging.

Over 170 schools bombed, burned down in Pakistan: UN

GENEVA: More than 170 schools in Pakistan have been blown up or burned down in the past two years, the UN Children's agency said Friday, in attacks blamed on Taliban extremists.

"UNICEF condemns these attacks which rob children of their basic right to education and have a devastating impact on their lives," said Daniel Toole, UNICEF's regional director for South Asia.

"Attacks that target schools, educational institutions, children and teachers are unacceptable and must cease immediately," Toole added.

In one incident last week in the northwestern Swat valley, five schools were blown up.

The attacks particularly targeted girls' schools in the country's Federally Administered Tribal Area and the North West Frontier Province, UNICEF said.

Many other schools had been forced to close after being occupied by armed groups or security forces or because female teachers had been threatened, it added.

"Schools must be safe spaces for children. UNICEF calls on all groups, and particularly the government of Pakistan, to intensify efforts to protect schools, students and teachers," Toole said.

Last week officials said tens of thousands of students in the Swat valley were facing a year without classes after a local Taliban commander in December threatened to kill any girls attending classes after January 15, and to blow up any schools where girls were enrolled.

As a result, about 400 private schools are unlikely to open their doors next month after winter holidays

Diplomat for restoring Afghan channels on cable network

PESHAWAR: The peoples of Pakistan and Afghanistan are tied in the bonds of culture, religion, language, traditions and values therefore special efforts would be made to strengthen these ties by exchanging cultural and media delegations side by side holding joint cultural exhibitions.
This was stated by Minister for Information, Transport and Inter-Provincial Coordination, Mian Iftikhar Hussain while talking to Cultural Attaché of Afghan General Consulate Muhammad Zahir Babri here on Friday.
He on this occasion besides discussing matters of mutual interest also brought into the notice of the minister that transmissions of Afghanistan were suspended on cable network for the last few days due to which hundreds of Afghans were deprived of this facility.
Babri on this occasion presented a gift of book on the life of Bacha Khan and an album of historical places of Afghanistan to the minister.
Referring to the suspension of Afghanistan's transmission on cable network, the information minister maintained, due to world becoming global village, appraisal from each other has become a necessity of the day.
He added as the cable network was running under the federal government, therefore, he would take up the issue with the authorities concerned of the federal government to know about the actual position and ensure access to the people of Afghan brethren to this basic necessity.
Mian Iftikhar continued that Pakistan and Afghanistan both were democratic states and freedom of expression was the beauty of democracy.
As transmissions were a part of freedom of expression, therefore ban on it was against the norms of democracy, he concluded

Musharraf: Pakistan 'treated unequally' in war on terror

Pakistan's former president said his country is being treated "unequally" to other countries, despite being a staunch ally of the United States in its war on terror.

"Pakistan is being treated so unequally while we are the ones who are in the lead role fighting the global war on terror," said Pervez Musharraf, interviewed by CNN's Wolf Blitzer for "The Situation Room."

"This is what hurts Pakistan. It hurts the leadership. Indeed, it hurts the government. It hurts the people of Pakistan," said Musharraf, speaking from Dallas, Texas, during a book tour in the United States.

The interview took place amid reports Friday of U.S. drones striking militant targets in Pakistan just days after the start of the Obama administration -- which has made combating al Qaeda and Taliban militants in the Pakistan tribal region near Afghanistan its most immediate national security priority.

Musharraf was asked whether he is comfortable with the continuation of the attacks, even with a new U.S. president in place.

Signature reveals Obama's intelligence, pride

WASHINGTON: The first official signature of Barack Obama reveals a man grounded in action, compassion, generosity and diplomacy, a handwriting expert said yesterday.

From his penmanship, writing analyst Caro Duncan sees a highly intelligent man who thinks fast and adapts to any situation.

"It is a bit of a relief for the whole world," Duncan, from the Australian Institute of Graphology, said. "He's very diplomatic and tactful, capable of seeing the big picture and is at his best when he's handling complex matters."

The pronounced and embellished initials B and O reveal his pride and ambition, according to Duncan. He is self-confident and relishes the recognition of his own accomplishments.

Their size and position shows a love of the limelight, a pattern usually seen among actors and performers.

There is also a love of culture in there, an open mind to other people's opinions and ideas.

"His inauguration day signature is a little more stretched than usual, which is very literal, it means that he's got a lot on his shoulders," Duncan said.

"There's always been an awareness of others in his handwriting but he reaches out that little bit more in today's signature - he is genuinely listening."

There is disappointment there, too, Duncan said.

His Christian name is slightly more coherent than his surname, hinting at disappointment with his father or family.

They are pangs the left-hander is able to face on his own. While left-handers usually slope to the right President Obama does not, showing his self-sufficient nature.

Bart Baggett from the Handwriting University says his handwriting is comparable to former US Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan with but one omission - a high and long t-bar indicating extremely high self-esteem and visionary thinking.

"Obama crosses his Ts at an average height, reflecting a good self esteem and humility," he said.

Before George W. Bush became president in 2000, graphologist Katie Darden analysed his writing and found a strong persistence and resistance to being told what to do - a desire to make his own way and stand firm on issues that mattered to him.

"These characteristics, if taken to an extreme, could result in some interesting stand offs," Darden wrote 9 years ago.

Americans everywhere looked to the inauguration day signature and hoped President Obama's pen would eventually prove mightier than President Bush's sword.

Explosion occurs in NW Pakistan, one killed

ISLAMABAD-- An explosion took place in northwestern Pakistan's Swat valley on Friday and one security man was killed, private TV channel Geo reported.A suicide bomber rammed his car into a check post of security forces in the restive Swat valley, said the report.As a result, one security man was killed and 15 others were injured.The check post was established in a private school building in Fizzaghat area, a few kilometers from Mingora, the main town in Swat.The security forces are engaged in a military operation again stmilitants in Swat valley. 　

Troops, ships, radar _ Europeans cast net wide for solutions to securing Gaza border

PARIS- French troops, Turkish monitors, British ships, German tunnel detectors, European radar equipment — officials say all these options are being weighed as they try to cement the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

The key to a solution is finding a way to choke off smuggling through tunnels under the slender border between Gaza and Egypt while opening the aboveground crossings to travel and trade. The eight-mile frontier is at the heart of secretive diplomacy across Europe and the Middle East this week.

Dozens of European monitors and experts are ready to deploy immediately, but not until Egypt — and preferably someone on Hamas' side of the border — agree.

Securing that border means it could open up again to aid and trade that have been cut off since it was closed by Egypt when Hamas took over Gaza in 2007. Opening the frontier would mean removing a key grievance that Hamas militants used to justify the frequent rocket attacks on Israel. Recent rocket attacks provoked the 23-day Israeli offensive that ended in a cease-fire last weekend.

The road to a safe border may be a long one. Potential obstacles include divisions within Europe over how robust an international border control presence should be, Western discord over how to deal with Hamas, and Egypt's resistance to a foreign military presence on its soil.

In his first presidential speech on the Mideast, President Barack Obama offered no clear policy shift, reaffirming U.S. backing of Israel's right to self-defense, while also urging continuing diplomatic efforts. He did signal more active efforts, though, by assigning former Sen. George Mitchell as a special envoy for the Mideast.

In Europe, diplomats are trying for some agreement, even temporary, that would assure Israel that Hamas will not use the cease-fire to rearm.

The diplomats will have to move fast. In the border town of Rafah, Gaza smugglers have been repairing their tunnels and bringing in food, fuel and other goods barely four days after Israel stopped its bombardment.

Smugglers estimate there were about 1,000 tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border before Israel's offensive, some used to bring in weapons and others for basic goods.

Israel wants an armed force — one that will shut down tunnels after spotting them — while the Palestinians and many in Europe do not.

Germany has offered to send experts in tunnel detection to train Egyptian authorities to shut down this activity. A four-man German team is ready to go to Egypt to determine what kind of equipment is needed, Deputy Interior Minister August Hanning said.

German officials stress that such help is not meant to undermine Egypt's control of its borders. "Germany will not take on any enforcement role," Manning said.

France, which has taken the European lead on diplomacy in Gaza, says that may not be enough and has suggested a European peacekeeping force for the region.

France is pressing other European allies and Egypt to consider an armed border force, possibly under European Union or United Nations auspices, said a French official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

Neither the U.N. nor NATO is making any commitment to monitoring or peacekeeping for now.

A key hurdle is the possible embarrassment of Egypt appearing unable to patrol its borders.

Egypt may be holding out on the nature of a foreign presence on its soil as a way to negotiate for increasing its own troops in Sinai; their numbers are limited by the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty. For now, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and senior officials say a foreign presence on Egyptian soil is a "red line" they are not willing to cross.

Europe is eager for a more active U.S. role, with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner noting Wednesday that the Americans were absent from most major diplomatic action during the Gaza campaign. He called on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to urge the immediate opening of border passages.

The U.S. promised last week to supply detection and surveillance equipment, along with logistical help and training, to monitor Gaza's land and sea borders, but it has made no commitment about border monitors or guards.

One idea is to revive and expand an EU border mission at Rafah that was suspended in 2007. About 30 unarmed EU monitors from the mission are ready to return, and the EU is mobilizing dozens more, just in case.

If all sides agree, the mission could be expanded to three other points on the Israel-Gaza border, at Erez, Kerem Shalom and Qarni, another French diplomat said, also speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

The EU monitors had no enforcement power. One thing under discussion is giving the force a stronger mandate, including possibly allowing monitors to intervene to prevent potential conflicts, the diplomat said.

France, Britain and Germany last week offered to provide technical devices to control arms smuggling through the tunnels, which could mean drones or ground-penetrating radar.

Beyond the EU, a special Turkish peacekeeping unit outside Ankara is ready to deploy to the border if needed, Turkish officials have said. But Turkey is officially insisting it is only talking for now about sending monitors, not armed peacekeepers.

Turkey enjoys, to some extent, the trust of both Israel and Hamas. It has also offered to mediate between Hamas and the moderate Palestinian movement Fatah led by Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas.

A Turkish official said there is an "implicit agreement" that the corridors must be reopened for trade and travel for the cease-fire to hold. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of Turkey's discussions.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also offered Britain's Royal Navy to help interdict arms shipments bound for Hamas.

Diplomats are hoping for progress Sunday when EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels with their counterparts from Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority.

But the crucial question is whether Hamas would go along.

The Islamic fundamentalist group is under pressure to improve the quality of life in Gaza. It insists that because it won Palestinian elections in 2006, it should have a role monitoring the crossings.

However, the EU and the U.S. consider Hamas a terrorist organization, and it is certainly distrusted by both Israel and Egypt.

Reviving the EU mission could put EU monitors in direct contact with Hamas officials, an option no diplomat is eager to discuss. That would also mean indirect recognition of the Hamas-run authority in Gaza, until now unthinkable for the international community.

Russia says ready to work with U.S. on Afghanistan

TASHKENT– Russia welcomes President Barack Obama's decision to review policy in Afghanistan and is ready to cooperate, including on supply routes for NATO forces, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.
"Let us hope the new U.S. administration will be more successful in the Afghan settlement than its predecessor," Medvedev told a news conference after talks with Uzbek President Islam Karimov.
"We are ready for fully fledged and equal cooperation on security in Afghanistan, including with the United States," he added. "We are ready to work on the most complicated issues ... including the transit of non-military goods."
Cooperation on Afghanistan has been the most successful project uniting NATO and Russia, whose relations froze after Moscow's brief war in Georgia last August.
Before the war, Russia agreed to allow non-military NATO supplies to be delivered to Afghanistan across its territory bypassing Pakistan, where supply convoys face security risks.
NATO and Russia are expected to hold on Monday the first session of their council since the South Ossetia war. Russian officials have made clear the fate of the Afghan transit depends on how relations between Moscow and the alliance develop.
Medvedev's overtures to Obama are part of an effort by the Kremlin to use change in the White House to mend bilateral relations.
Russia, alarmed by a threat from Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to its Central Asian allies, had backed a U.S. drive to topple them in 2001.
But it later became more critical of the U.S.-led operation in Afghanistan saying it had stopped short of stabilizing the country and failed to lessen the threat of Islamic radicalism and drug trafficking.
"The number of radicals is not declining in Afghanistan," Medvedev said. "Poverty continues to produce terrorism."
Security risks are high for many regional leaders, including Karimov who violently stamped out a rebellion by opponents in the town of Andizhan in 2005.
Karimov told a news conference that apart from violence in Afghanistan he was concerned about rising tensions in Pakistan. "Radicals (in Uzbekistan) may be reinvigorated by the recent events in Pakistan," he said.
He said countries in the region should have a stronger say in efforts to restore peace in Afghanistan. "We offer to solve the problem through the involvement of regional states."
Earlier on Friday Karimov and Medvedev suggested the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation -- grouping Russia, China and four ex-Soviet Central Asian states -- could initiate an international conference on Afghanistan.

Suspected U.S. Missile Strikes Kill at Least 20 in Pakistan

Attacks in Northwest Border Province Are First Since Obama's Inauguration.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan. 23 -- At least 20 people were killed in northwest Pakistan near the border of Afghanistan on Friday in two suspected U.S. missile strikes, marking the first such attack in Pakistan's tribal areas since President Obama's inauguration.A U.S. Predator drone fired three missiles at a compound about two miles from the town of Mirali in the tribal area of North Waziristan about 5:15 p.m., according to a Pakistani security official and local residents. The precision strike leveled a compound, which was owned by local tribal elder Khalil Malik, killing at least 10 suspected militants, including five foreign nationals, according to the Pakistani security official. The site of the attack is about 30 miles east of the Afghan border.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Malik was killed along with his brother and nephew. Authorities in North Waziristan, however, said they have been so far unable to identify any of those killed because militants immediately cordoned off the area. "I suspect a high-value target may be among the dead," the Pakistani security official said.Jan Mohammad, a local tribesman, said Malik and his relatives probably died in the strike, which sparked panic among Malik's neighbors. Mohammad said that Malik was an influential tribal elder but that he was not known to have links with the Pakistani Taliban or other insurgent groups in the area.There were conflicting accounts about the number of casualties in the first attack. Local residents said there were at least 11 bodies, but Pakistani television channels said 10 were killed.
The second strike occurred about three hours later near the tribal capital of Wana in South Waziristan, according to a Pakistani political official in the area. A U.S. drone fired two missiles at a compound in the small village of Gangikhel, a little less than 20 miles from the border with Afghanistan. Few details of that attack were available, but local residents said at least 10 were killed and two injured.Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, a spokesman for the Pakistani army, declined to comment on the strike, referring calls to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry. A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry also declined to comment.The United States generally does not comment on or confirm whether it is behind missile attacks. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs refused to take questions about the incident at his regular briefing for reporters in Washington on Friday.The two targeted areas are separated by about 60 miles and long stretches of rugged, ungoverned mountainous terrain. Yet they are bound together by a common allegiance among many ethnic Pashtun tribesmen to two separate insurgent networks in North and South Waziristan. In North Waziristan, hundreds of tribesman have joined a group led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a rebel Afghan fighter, and his son, Sirajuddin Haqqani. The Haqqani Network has been linked to dozens of suicide and roadside bomb attacks on U.S., coalition and Afghan government forces in Afghanistan, including an assassination attempt last April on Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Although Jalaluddin Haqqani, who received backing from the CIA during the Soviet incursion in Afghanistan in the 1980s, is considered the spiritual head of the group, Sirajuddin is frequently credited with being head of operations.The Haqqani Network has been battered by missile strikes in Pakistan and aggressive U.S.-led ground raids into territory controlled by the group in the eastern Afghan provinces of Khost and Paktika. Reports of arrests of suspected operatives and strikes on bomb-making compounds have increased within in the past three months with dozens killed and scores detained by coalition forces operating near the border.In South Waziristan, a number of missile attacks have targeted compounds linked to Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Nazir. Nazir was appointed the top Taliban commander of the Ahmedzai Wazir tribe in 2006, two years after a U.S. missile strike killed another top Taliban leader known to foster foreign fighters, Nek Mohammed.At least 132 people have been killed in 38 suspected U.S. missile strikes inside Pakistan since August as the administration of President George W. Bush stepped up pressure on Pakistan to pursue more aggressively Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents in the country's tribal areas.
Regional and intelligence experts say the strikes have improved in precision and have hit several top insurgent commanders in recent months. The notable change in tempo and reported accuracy could be partly attributed to a growing sense of urgency inside the Bush White House as the progress in the seven-year long war in Afghanistan stalled during the waning days of the administration.Samina Ahmed, director of the International Crisis Group in Pakistan, attributes some of the change to increased cooperation between the United States and Pakistan."Given the fact that the past few strikes have actually gotten their targets with minimal or no civilian casualties, there is obviously better cooperation between the U.S. military and Pakistan," Ahmed said. "Now is that coming because of better cooperation from the U.S. military and Pakistani military? That's what the U.S. military seems to be saying. But you have to also consider whether it's not just the military but better cooperation with the civilian government and better human intelligence."Ahmed and other experts have also noted a shift among U.S. intelligence officials from the use of technology to the use of human surveillance on the ground to pinpoint militant safe havens for such strikes. Suspicions among Taliban militants that coalition forces have deployed local spies in otherwise inaccessible tribal areas has sparked a wave of public executions that have killed dozens in recent months."As much as there has been an increase in strikes, there has been an increase in people executed as American spies. The militants don't need to give a reason to kill someone. So that it seems they're taking the threat of possible spies in their midst seriously," Ahmed said. "That type of human intelligence was missing before and perhaps is better now."Although the Obama administration has signaled its intention to make a sharp break with some Bush policies, including using the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a detention facility for suspected terrorists, the White House indicated that it will proceed cautiously in Pakistan and Afghanistan where the CIA has dominated U.S. strategy since 2001. Pakistani officials have said they are hopeful that the change in the White House will foster greater cooperation on security issues, particularly in the tribal areas where more than 2,000 people died last year in militant-related violence.Zardari and other Pakistani officials were critical of the United States in the wake of several missile strikes last year. But there was notable silence in Islamabad about Friday's missile strikes with few public officials commenting on the attacks.

PESHAWAR FEMALE TEACHERS SEEK PROTECTION

PESHAWAR: The female teachers of Bara tehsil, Khyber Agency, Thursday staged protest demonstration against torture and snatching of their vehicle by some unknown criminals.

The protesters, who gathered outside Peshawar Press Club, were holding placards inscribed with slogans demanding of the government to provide them protection and arrest the culprits.

Talking to media, they said on January 19, four people stopped their vehicle and tortured the driver and female teachers. The snatchers, they said, dragged the driver out of the car and took their vehicle.

The lady teachers demanded of NWFP Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani to make proper arrangements for protection of female staff working in various schools of the area, adding that their vehicle should also be recovered and exemplary punishment should be awarded to culprits.

‘Unclaimed zone’ between settled, tribal areas irks people

‘Unclaimed zone’ between settled, tribal areas irks people
Female teachers shocked at coach hijacking

PESHAWAR: The deteriorating law and order situation while creating a scare among the public has also caused dereliction of duty among employees of various departments in the law-enforcing agencies, thereby leading the emergence of an ‘unclaimed zone’ between the settled and the tribal areas.Snatching of flying coach (Hiace), aboard female schoolteachers, on main Peshawar-Bara Road on January 19 is testimony to the creation of the ‘unclaimed zone’ because neither the political administration of Bara teshil of Khyber Agency nor police is ready to even register a complaint. Both the authorities——-SHO of Sarband Police Station and tehsildar Bara ——are reluctant to accept the fact that the incident took place in the area of their jurisdiction.
Interestingly, the coach was snatched in broad daylight at Bajri stop on main Peshawar-Bara Road. The area is situated between Peshawar district and Bara tehsil of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas——Khyber Agency. The former governed by the NWFP and the latter controlled by the federal government.The law-enforcing agencies have refused to entertain the complaint, let alone recovering the vehicle, which shows how effective is the government’s writ. Instead of trying to recover the vehicle and provide protection to female teachers serving in the area, the authorities concerned are resorting to dereliction of duty as well as creation of an ‘unclaimed or unmanned zone’ between the settled and tribal areas.The brazen accused disembarked 20 schoolteachers, dragged the driver out and drove away the vehicle towards an unknown location. Not only the female teachers serving in the agency have been shocked and are crying for protection, but also they are reluctant to attend duty in such uncertain situation.Muhammad Rafiq, the driver and owner of the flying coach, is running from pillar to post for getting his vehicle traced and recovered.Rafiq told The News the women schoolteachers had hired his coach for travelling to their place of duty in Khyber Agency and vice versa. He said at 1:00 p.m. on January 19, he was bringing back about 20 teachers when four armed masked men stopped him at Bajri stop on Peshawar-Bara Road, dragged him out ruthlessly, disembarked all the teachers on board and drove away the vehicle. They did not say any thing as to what message they wanted to convey, he added. Rafique said it was not known who were they - militants, car-snatchers or robbers. Just after the incident, he brought the case to the notice of political tehsildar of Bara and SHO of Sarband Police Station, but both of them refused to register a complaint, saying the area did not lie in their jurisdiction.“Now I don’t know where to go to lodge an FIR,” the helpless man complained.Rafique said the teachers were also afraid of travelling to the agency for duty without proper assurance of protection by the administration. The area where the vehicle was snatched and the inmates were forced to alight was not a far-flung or deserted one, but nobody was ready to accept the responsibility of its jurisdiction, the grim-faced Rafiq said.

Clinton vows robust diplomacy as State Dept chief

WASHINGTON – Hillary Rodham Clinton took charge of the State Department on Thursday, proclaiming the start of a new era of robust U.S. diplomacy to tackle the world's crises and improve America's standing abroad.
Before a raucous, cheering crowd of about 1,000 people, the nation's 67th secretary of state pledged to boost the morale and resources of the diplomatic corps and promised them a difficult but exciting road ahead.
"I believe with all of my heart that this is a new era for America," she said to loud applause in the main lobby of the department's headquarters, which President Barack Obama visited later in the day to underscore his administration's commitment to diplomacy.
With Obama at her side in the ornate Ben Franklin Room, Clinton introduced former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, D-Maine, as a special envoy for the Middle East. Former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke was announced as a special adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

SCENARIOS-Holbrooke faces big test in Afghanistan/Pakistan

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Thursday appointed foreign policy veteran Richard Holbrooke as a special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Holbrooke, a former ambassador to the United Nations who negotiated the 1995 peace agreement that ended the Bosnian war, faces an array of challenges in dealing with the war in Afghanistan and its tense and fragile border with Pakistan.

Here are some of the problems and possibilities for U.S. action in the region:

- President Barack Obama has ordered a review of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. He promised during the campaign to bolster troop levels there to battle growing violence and a resurgent Taliban and al Qaeda, but new Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at her confirmation hearing that a broader strategy was needed in Afghanistan that included diplomacy, defense and development.

In addition to more troops in Afghanistan, the United States has promised more nonmilitary aid to Pakistan devoted in part to developing tribal areas where al Qaeda militants have flourished. Osama bin Laden and other top al Qaeda militants are believed to be hiding in the mountainous border region of Pakistan near Afghanistan.

- Clinton has suggested a U.S. envoy would need to shuttle between Pakistan and Afghanistan to help guide the efforts in the border region between the two countries, and has suggested she will be looking for more regional support. The United States could look to India, central Asian states and even China or Russia for help. The United States also has stepped up pressure on Pakistan to battle jihadi groups since the Mumbai attacks in November that killed 179 people and raised tensions between the two south Asian nuclear rivals.

- In developing a comprehensive approach to the region, the Obama administration must also wrestle with the growing tension between India and Pakistan. The two have fought three wars since 1947, and relations between the countries have deteriorated since the Mumbai attacks. India blames the attacks on Pakistani militants, but Islamabad has denied any involvement by state agencies. India has paused a peace process that started in 2004, and the United States must decide how hard it will press for a resumption -- particularly before Indian elections in May.

- The United States must decide how involved to become in the dispute over Kashmir, a region claimed by both India and Pakistan that has been a flashpoint between the countries for decades. Pakistan sees a settlement as essential to normalizing relations. India rejects any outside effort to influence its approach to Kashmir and has been nervous about Obama's suggestion during the campaign that a special envoy was needed there. A solution to that dispute could free Islamabad to focus more on Afghanistan.

11 militants killed in Swat

PESHAWAR :The security forces backed by gunship helicopters on Thursday killed 11 more militants and injured nine at Qambar and Mata Tehsil in restive Swat district.

The Swat Media Centre press release issued here said that in Qambar Mingora, the gunship helicopters destroyed militants hideouts, killing four militants and injuring six. Those militants who were killed are Abu Hamza, Ismail, Abdul Rauf and Qari Ghaffar.

In Kuza Dureskhela of Tehsil Matta, the security forces during an action killed 7 militants and injured three.

Two dead bodies of militants took into possession by security forces

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.