Pakistan is not Taliban Empire': Taseer

Governor Punjab Salman Taseer has urged women to play their dynamic role in containing terrorism and extremism.

Addressing the first convocation of the Government College University (GCU) Faisalabad here Wednesday, he said that Pakistan is grappling with big challenges of extremism and terrorism.

Government is exploiting its resources to tackle these issues, however, women should also come forward and play their role in weeding out the sentiments leading to terrorism and extremism.

He said that girls' schools in northern areas are being closed and bombed while anti state activities are also rife in these parts of the country.

Education is imperative to foil their conspiracies against the solidarity and integrity of Pakistan; he said and added that government was making sincere efforts for the promotion of education.

Governor also quoted his meeting with US Representative Holbrook and said that he had made it clear that Pakistan was not Somalia or Sudan and could not be isolated from the rest of world. A sizable number of Pakistanis are playing their positive role in different countries.

Pakistani doctors in sufficient number are present in US while 5 % NASA engineers also belong to Pakistan. He termed Pakistan as a liberal, progressive Muslim democratic country and said that we are facing threats of terrorism and extremism. "God forbid, he said and added that any loss to Pakistan in this fight would have negative repercussion on international community", he added.

He said that Pakistan is a diverse, ethnic and linguistic identity and success of democracy in this part of world was imperative for the future of democracy and Pakistan.

Governor said that President Asif Ali Zardari was elected with a majority vote while Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Speaker National Assembly Fahmida Mirza were also elected unopposed. In spite of these facts, we decided to set up coalition governments to involve all political forces.

He said that future of Pakistan is directly linked with democracy. A new democratic culture cropped up immediately after martyrdom of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto on February 18, he added.

Governor said it was the miracle of democracy that participants of Tokyo conference decided to give record aid to Pakistan. Out of this pledged amount, maximum funds would be spent on education, development of infrastructure and social sectors.

He said that 70% population is comprised youth with less than 25 years. This youth is actually our present and future and they have to lead Pakistan during next 50 years.

"Pakistan is not Taliban Empire", he said and added that Islam is a religion of peace, love and tolerance. Suicide attackers should know that it is a liberal Islamic democracy and we would not allow handful extremists to spoil its Islamic and democratic fabric.

He said that it was an era of science and technology and we must concentrate on modern scientific subjects to compete with rest of the world and to facilitate our masses.

Taseer said that hundreds of youth is deprived of education in Pakistan. Hence, educated class being a privileged one should focus on others crumbling under the scourge of illiteracy.

Governor said that country was facing ticklish issues of extremism and terrorism and President Asif Ali Zardari has decided to remain part of the provincial coalition in order to face prevailing challenges.

He also assured that funds withheld by HEC would be released very soon.

Earlier, in his address of welcome Dr. Shahid Mehboob Rana Vice Chancellor GCU enumerated the achievements of the university and said that it was catering to the needs of 10,000 students belonging to various disciplines.

He said that in 2002, the University started with only 7 Master Level Programs but now it has been able to offer a wide range of basic and applied subjects and it is offering research-based M. Phil and PhD programs in thirteen and eight subjects respectively.

He also highlighted some of the significant achievement of the University which include establishment of 27 Departments in the areas of Science, Arts, Social Sciences, Law, Pharmacy and Engineering, strong linkages with renowned Industrial & Business Organizations, Research Institutions and Universities, financial incentives for University Teachers who publish their research works, procurement of instruments to facilitate research students and faculty member to carryout advance research in pure and applied sciences. He said that in field of Sports, the GCU athletes have secured top positions at national and international level.

Vice Chancellor stressed the need for special grant of Rs 100 million from Punjab Government for the construction of an Auditorium, Central Library and a Mini Sports Complex.

Later Governor awarded degrees to 2,980 graduates of 2003-2005 and 2004-2006 sessions.

Rana Muhammad Farooq Saeed Khan Federal Minister for Textile Industry, MPAs Dr. Asad Moazzam, Maj (Retd) Abdur Rehman Rana and Haji Liaqat Ali Nazar were also present on the occasion.

$55B to go to poor nations

The World Bank said Saturday it would provide poor countries with more than $55 billion for public work projects left in limbo when the recession dried up capital investment.
The goal is to create jobs and lay the foundation for future economic growth and poverty reduction. Africa is expected to see a largeportion of the investments, given the continent's needs.

''As developing countries are facing the trials of the global economic crisis, it is vitally important that economic stimulus packages in the developed world are accompanied by support for those who cannot afford multibillion bailouts,'' the bank's president, Robert Zoellick, said.

The announcement came as the bank and the International Monetary Fund held their spring meetings this weekend.

An organization set up by the bank's private sector arm will make $10 billion available for lending; the bank will provide the other $45 billion.

''These public-private partnerships in the infrastructure sector are a key component not only of the immediate response to the crisis but also of a long-term economic growth,'' France's finance minister, Christine Lagarde, said.

Germany's development minister, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, said that when funding sources became scarce, it left projects ``high and dry. And yet they are needed as key elements of development. Services such as water sanitation, energy, transport and telecommunications are vital in the fight against poverty.''

The bank said the financial crisis has depressed investment in such projects, particularly in developing countries. The total yearly financial gap for infrastructure investments, including maintenance, in developing countries could range from $140 billion to $270 billion.

The initiative follows a tripling in lending, to $12 billion, to support health, education and other safety net programs in poor countries.

Civilians Flee as Pakistani Forces Hit Resistance

By CARLOTTA GALL and SALMAN MASOOD
NYT.COM
SHEIKH JANA, Pakistan — The Pakistani forces air-dropped commandos into the main town in Buner on Wednesday and quickly retook control of it from Taliban militants who flooded into the area last week, the military said. But the district was far from recaptured and the military may be in for a hard fight.

Villagers who fled the fighting and made it to this village on the plains said the military was bombing in Buner with fighter jets and firing rockets from helicopter gunships as Pakistani troops battled the Taliban on the ground for a second day.

Despite a curfew imposed by both the Taliban and the army, one villager, Walayat Khan, a cowherd in his 20s who did not know his exact age, said everyone was trying to get out of the district.

Some people were leaving on foot, as few vehicles were available. Those who left were forced to use back roads since the Taliban and military forces had blocked the main arteries leading into and out of Buner.

Mr. Walayat left his village, Kowgah, at dawn with 18 members of his family, mostly women and children, after jets bombed two nearby villages held by the Taliban on Tuesday afternoon. He left his brother and elderly father behind in the house, he said.

“Jets dropped bombs three times,” he said. “There was smoke and dust; I could not tell if they hit houses. We packed our things and then started moving because we thought they might hit us as well.”

Coming after intense criticism, both here and in Washington, of the military’s inaction, the air and ground campaign against the Taliban was the most intense waged by the army in six months.

Commandos of the Special Services Group were air-dropped into Daggar, the administrative center of Buner, a district of about one million people just 60 miles from the capital, Islamabad, the military said.

The use of the American-trained special counterterrorism forces, jets and mobile units was a sign of the military’s seriousness of purpose in this fight, said a former government official, who did not want to be identified while discussing national security matters.

No civilians were displaced in Daggar, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the military spokesman, said at a news briefing in Rawalpindi. That part of the operation appeared to have gone fairly smoothly.

But elsewhere heavier fighting was reported. Military units backed by paramilitary forces were deployed in a three-pronged attack against the Taliban in Buner from neighboring districts, General Abbas said.

Those forces met fierce resistance in areas in the north, south and west of Buner — in Nawagin, Pir Baba and Sultanwas, where the Taliban have established positions, he said.

“We are facing stiff resistance in the area of Ambala,” General Abbas said, referring to the area near Mr. Walayat’s village, where local people said the Taliban were firmly entrenched and blew up a bridge on Tuesday to block the army’s advance.

Taliban were also reported to be patrolling a key road in the north near the Pir Baba shrine and the boundary with the Swat Valley, which is a stronghold for the militants. They were also firing on helicopters from the mountains, local reporters said.

Heavy fighting was also under way in Karakar, in the north of the district, where the Taliban were holding hostage about 70 police officers and members of the Frontier Constabulary. Eighteen of the men were later released, General Abbas said, without providing more details.

He said the army was concerned about hurting civilians. “Our constraint is that we are launching an operation in an area where militants have held the local population hostage,” he said. “We are trying to ensure there is minimum collateral damage and minimum displacement of local people.”

Civilians driving on the roads, including students, were wounded when their vehicles came under fire, local reporters said. Several civilians, including a child hit by a bullet, were taken to the hospital in Swari, reporters for the newspaper Dawn said.

People were unhappy with the military operation, Mr. Walayat said. But his relatives in the neighboring district of Swabi who gave shelter to the extended family said they supported it.

They live less than six miles from the boundary with Buner and said Taliban militants had come into their area just two days ago.

“People are happy with the operation because the government gave them a deadline to leave and the people are saying that the Taliban really want to take over Tarbela Dam and Islamabad,” said Yaqoub Khan, 42, a farmer who has made space in his house for 18 relatives who fled the fighting.

“If they had not come, the Taliban would have established positions here in this village by now,” he said.

Killings by the Taliban have shocked the local people, another relative said. Five days ago militants cut the throats of eight local policemen operating a post in the village of Chingalay in the south of Buner, just a few miles from Sheikh Jana.

“They cut their tongues out as well,” said Afsar Khan, 47, who saw the bodies of two of the policemen when he attended their funerals nearby.

Yet he said he doubted the military would be able to stop the Taliban advance. “This thing will expand,” he said. “It started from Afghanistan, then we saw Bajaur, Swat. Buner was the only place they could not gain a foothold,” he said.

But the local resistance in Buner to the Taliban also failed. “We expect this thing will come here as well,” he said.

World Health Organization Raises Swine Flu Alert Level

By DENISE GRADY
NYT.COM
The global spread of swine flu, a pandemic, is highly likely, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday and raised its alert level to Phase 5, the next-to-highest level in the worldwide warning system.

Phase 5 has never been declared before. Phase 6 means a pandemic is under way. The health organization’s said its decision was based on the continuing spread of swine flu in the United States and Mexico, particularly the increasing numbers of unexplained cases among people not exposed to travelers or to institutions like schools or hospitals where many people have close contact with one another and high rates of transmission might be expected.

“All countries should immediately activate their pandemic preparedness plans,” Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the organization, said at a news conference in Geneva. “Countries should remain on high alert for unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia.”

The first death from swine flu in this country — of a 22-month-old child from Mexico who was being treated in Houston — was reported on Wednesday, along with more infections and hospitalizations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 91 confirmed cases from 10 states, up from 64 cases in 5 states on Tuesday.

Dr. Chan emphasized the need for calm, but at times spoke as if a pandemic had already begun, saying, for instance, “W.H.O. will be tracking the pandemic.” She also emphasized that flu epidemics tended to take much higher death tolls in poor countries than in rich ones, and said her organization and others would need to make special efforts to help poorer nations.

She called for global solidarity, saying, “After all, it really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic.”

President Obama planned to use his opening remarks at a prime time news conference on Wednesday to discuss the worsening outbreak. “This is obviously a very serious situation,” Mr. Obama said, according to excerpts of his prepared text released by the White House, “and every American should know that their entire government is taking the utmost precautions and preparations.”

Preparedness plans referred to by Dr. Chan include things like making sure that laboratories can test for the disease and that health systems can identify and treat cases, track an outbreak and prevent the virus from spreading in hospitals and clinics. Governments should also decide whether to take measures like closing schools and discouraging or banning public gatherings to prevent disease transmission. Mexico, for instance, has prohibited people from eating in restaurants and is allowing restaurants to provide only take-out food.

“The more recent illnesses and the reported death suggest that a pattern of more severe illness associated with this virus may be emerging in the U.S.,” the C.D.C. said on its Web site. More hospitalizations and deaths are expected, the site said, because the virus is new and most people have no immunity to it.

The outbreak has caused such concern because officials have never seen this particular strain of the flu passing among humans before, said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“There is no background immunity in the population, and it is spreading from human to human – all of which has the potential for a pandemic,” Dr. Fauci said.

Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that officials had no way of predicting whether the outbreak would become more serious.

“You don’t know if this is a virus that will fizzle in a couple of weeks or one that will become more or less virulent or severe in the diseases it causes,” Dr. Besser said.

He said officials must follow government plans for a pandemic because of that unpredictability, just in case.

“If we could see into the future, it would be wonderful so that we could tailor all our responses specifically to what is occurring,” Dr. Besser said.

The disease centers’ count of 91 confirmed cases in the United States did not include later reports by Maine and Nevada of confirmed cases there, which were announced after the C.D.C. tally had been posted. In addition, Louisiana and Delaware had suspected cases. Kits being provided to the states and other countries will allow them to test for the virus on their own and obtain results within a few hours.

New York City added five new confirmed cases, bringing its total to 49. All have links to Mexico or St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens, where the virus first surfaced in New York, health officials said. The city identified five more probable cases.

The total in Canada rose to 19, from 16. In Mexico, more than 150 people are suspected to have died from the illness, and almost 2,500 are thought to have been infected.

The outbreak was the focus of Kathleen Sebelius’ first news conference as health secretary on Wednesday, and she promised a vigorous fight against the disease.

“We’re determined to fight this outbreak and do everything we can to protect the health of every American,” Ms. Sebelius said.

She noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recommended that schools close only if a student is found to be infected with the swine flu virus. More aggressive steps are under discussion, Ms. Sebelius said, but officials realize that school closings can cause problems from families.

“What happens to parents? Where do children go?” she asked.

Dr. Besser, who joined the news conference via a video feed, said the most recent cases included patients from a broad range of ages, with two-thirds of all cases occurring in people under the age of 18.

“There have been five hospitalizations so far, including the child who died. But we have a number of suspect cases that have been hospitalized and we expect that number to go up,” Dr. Besser said.

He added: “It’s a serious outbreak, and we’re taking aggressive measures.”

Dr. Besser said that a quarter of the nation’s stockpile of 50 million treatments of antiviral medicines would be distributed to states by Sunday.

The United States has no plans to close international borders because, Dr. Besser said, such closures are not effective in slowing pandemics. When Hong Kong was hit with severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, “increased border screening on entry and exit was not an effective way of identifying cases or preventing transmission,” Dr. Besser said.

Nonetheless, Customs and Border Protection agents have stepped up efforts to spot sick travelers and are passing out travel health advisories telling people whether to see a doctor if they become sick.

“Individuals who are identified as sick are referred to public health professionals for evaluation,” Dr. Besser said.

Elected officials have begun to question the decision to leave the borders open. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was grilled by senators on Wednesday who asked whether her agency was acting aggressively enough to stop the virus from spreading from Mexico into the United States. The senators, including John McCain of Arizona, and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut asked several times why the Obama Administration had decided against closing the border, and banning travel to Mexico.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine took issue with Ms. Napolitano’s decision to use only “passive inspection techniques,” to monitor people entering the United States. She urged that the customs officials conduct more aggressive inspections and that the agency consider using heat-sensors that would allow agents to detect people who are entering the country with fevers.

NWFP, Fata, Balochistan most ‘food insecure’

ISLAMABAD: The NWFP, Fata and Balochistan are the most ‘food insecure region’ in the country while northern Punjab is the least.

Food accounts for about 60 per cent of total expenditure for an average farming household in Pakistan.

According to the findings of a baseline survey conducted by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and released here on Tuesday, there are a number of constraints to crop production, such as inadequate access to affordable credit, high cost of agriculture inputs like seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, unreliability of water supply and low returns on investments.

The survey was conducted between January and June last year in 1,012 villages in the four provinces as well as in AJK, Fata and the Northern Areas in collaboration with the Ministry of Food, Pakistan Agriculture Research Council and the Agriculture Policy Institute.

The focus of the survey was on household food security conditions, scope for enhancing crop productivity and opportunities to increase income for poor farmers of small and medium resource.

‘The data of the study confirms that education is a major determining factor in reducing household vulnerability and improving food security as educated family members are more likely to have higher incomes,’ said Wolfgang Herbinger, WFP’s country representative in Pakistan.

According to the survey, a majority of farmers use local non-improved seeds and the use of fertiliser is much less than the recommended levels.

The overall productivity levels are low in the country, except for northern Punjab.

Commenting on the survey report, Food Secretary Mohammad Ziaur Rehman said there was an urgent need to increase the supply of improved seeds. ‘Empowering small farmers and building their knowledge base through farmers field schools along with easy access to credit are basic requirements for increasing agricultural output,’ he added.

The survey said that 64 per cent of farm households in Sindh relied on off-farm employment, compared to the national average of 28 per cent.

Taliban raze houses of Sikhs in Orakzai

KOHAT: The Taliban on Wednesday night demolished 11 houses of the Sikh community in the Orakzai Agency for refusing to pay ‘Jazia’.

The action was ordered by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief for Orakzai Agency, Hakeemullah Mehsud, after the deadline given to the Sikh community for payment of Jazia passed on Wednesday.

Earlier, the Sikh community had postponed its decision about vacating the area following the demand of the Tehrik-i-Taliban for payment of ‘Jazia’ being non-Muslims for their protection.

They gathered in the Merozai area to finalise their decision for leaving the area, but a dispute erupted over the issue among them and the meeting was postponed till Thursday.

The Taliban had asked the Sikh community living in the tribal area for centuries earlier this month to pay annual Jazia because ‘Sharia had been enforced in the area and every non-Muslim had to pay protection money’.

The Sikh community comprising 30 to 35 families shifted from the Feroze Khel area to the nearby Merozai in Lower Orakzai Agency because they could not arrange Rs150 million demanded by the Taliban.

The Taliban had forcibly occupied shops of two Sikh businessmen, Sewa Singh and Kalak Singh, and houses of several Sikhs to force them to pay Jazia. Later, the Sikh community refused to pay Jazia and decided to leave Orakzai and settle in some other area.

Most of tribal families belonging to a particular sect have also migrated to different parts of Hangu and Kohat due to the fear of Taliban.

100 days - and shock defection - boosts Obama’s grip on power

President Obama can celebrate his 100th day in office today knowing that he is one step closer to securing unfettered power in Washington – and domination across ever bigger swaths of America.

The dramatic defection of veteran Senator Arlen Specter from Republican ranks has put Democrats on course to gain a congressional “super-majority” for the first time in a generation.

This makes it easier, if not certain, that Mr Obama will be able to make rapid progress with key items on his bulging legislative agenda such as healthcare reform as well as speeding through nominations that have stalled in the Senate.

Mr Specter, who has served Pennsylvania in the Senate for 29 years, described his switch of affiliation as “painful”, but declared that Republicans had “moved far to the right” in recent years and “I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats”.
Mr Obama, who was handed a note informing him of Mr Specter’s decision during a morning meeting, spoke to the Senator just before the announcement yesterday and told him that Democrats would be “thrilled to have you”.
The defection means that the party is likely to get the 60 votes needed to overcome Senate delaying tactics known as filibusters when Minneso-ta’s supreme court rules later this summer on whether Democrat Al Franken’s razor-thin election victory there should stand.
Although Mr Specter, 79, said he had reached the decision gradually, secret negotiations on Capitol Hill and repeated overtures from Vice-President Joe Biden in recent weeks are believed to have tipped the balance. It is understood that the Democratic leadership has promised to give Mr Specter strong backing – and to discourage others from standing against him – in next year’s Pennsylvania primary.
He had faced a tough contest for the Republican nomination in his home state where he was being challenged by former Congressman Pat Toomey, a staunch conservative. Polls showed that his approval ratings are 35 per cent higher among Democrats than Republicans in Pennsylvania.
As one of just three Republicans in Congress to have backed Mr Obama’s $787 billion (£537 billion) stimulus Bill earlier this year, Mr Specter said he was aware his vote had caused “a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable”. He added: “I am unwilling to have my 29-year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate. I have not represented the Republican Party. I have represented the people of Pennsylvania.”
Although the addition of Mr Specter and Mr Franken would give the Democrats a filibuster-proof majority for the first time since 1979 when Jimmy Carter was President, it does not guarantee that Mr Obama will be able to get all his legislation through Congress.
Pointing out that he remained opposed to the Employee Free Choice Bill – which would abolish the requirement to hold secret ballots for union organising – Mr Specter said: “My change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans.”
Healthcare and energy reform are looming. Democrats have promised to employ a technique called “reconciliation” to push through health legislation with as few as 51 votes, but recognise a 60-seat majority will be needed to approve bitterly contested measures to limit carbon emissions. Mr Specter, as a Senator from a coal-mining state, may now join others – both Democratic and Republican – in seeking to secure concessions on this Bill from the Administration.
His presence in the Democratic caucus may also help to speed through some of the nominations that have languished in the Senate. The greater significance of the defection, however, is likely to be its consequences for a Republican Party that now looks marginalised in many regions as it retreats into a Southern redoubt.
Among 435 members of the House of Representatives, there is not a single Republican from New England. In the Senate, they have just two, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. “Ultimately, we’re heading to having the smallest political tent in history the way things are unfolding,” said Ms Snowe yesterday. A Washington Post poll on Sunday showed that only 21 per cent of voters now regard themselves as Republicans.
Rush Limbaugh, the right-wing talk radio host, who, with Dick Cheney, has increasingly become the voice of the party since the election, welcomed Mr Specter’s departure. “It’s ultimately good,” he said. “You’re weeding out people who aren’t really Republicans.”
How filibusters are used
— The filibuster rule in the US Senate allows the minority party to block legislation with 40 of the 100 votes. The filibuster is the act of holding the floor, preventing a vote
— Senators have been required to stand and speak nonstop for hours, reading from recipe books, the Bible or popular literature in an act of defiance
— Filibustering has been used to block everything from judicial nominations to civil rights legislation. Strom Thurmond, a Southern Democrat, holds the record for a filibuster, when he spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957

— The practice was nearly eliminated in 2005 when Republicans threatened to use a “nuclear option” – overriding a Democrat filibuster of President Bush’s judicial nomination

Taliban Advance in Pakistan Prompts Shift by U.S.

The Pakistani government's inability to stem Taliban advances has forced the Obama administration to recalibrate its Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy a month after unveiling it.

What was planned as a step-by-step process of greater military and economic engagement with Pakistan -- as immediate attention focused on Afghanistan -- has been rapidly overtaken by the worsening situation on the ground. Nearly nonstop discussions over the past two days included a White House meeting Monday between Obama and senior national security officials and a full National Security Council session on Pakistan yesterday.

A tripartite summit Obama will host here next week with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will center heavily on the Pakistan problem rather than the balance originally intended, officials said.

New consideration is being given to a long-dormant proposal to allow U.S. counterinsurgency training for Pakistani troops somewhere outside the country, circumventing Pakistan's refusal to allow American "boots on the ground" there. "The issue now is how do you do that, where do you do it, and what money do we have to do it with?" said a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity yesterday.

On Capitol Hill, anxious lawmakers proposed breaking $400 million out of the administration's pending $83 billion supplemental spending request in order to fund immediate counterinsurgency and economic assistance to Pakistan. "We could pass it really quickly, in just a matter of days," said Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who just returned from Pakistan. Waiting for debate and approval of the entire supplemental, Kyl said, "could be too little, too late."

"Certainly, we are discussing with the administration what is needed, and I think that all of us are very concerned about what's happening in Pakistan," House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters.

The administration shares that concern, even as it is struggling to retain control of its own policy and its full spending request, including money for the Iraq and Afghan wars and other issues. "Our position is that if, in fact, some money would be able to be fast-tracked so that we could get started earlier [in Pakistan], given the urgency of the situation, that's a good idea," the senior administration official said. "But we wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardize" the rest of the supplemental. "We do not support anything that derails that."

The breakout proposal, the subject of a meeting of national security deputies at the White House yesterday, appeared to have lost steam by the end of the day. But administration officials said they were hopeful that some provision could be agreed on to make funds more quickly available for Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, returned last weekend from his 11th trip to Pakistan "more concerned than I've seen him after any prior visit," a Pentagon official said, adding that at a meeting with senior aides Monday, "the word [Mullen] used was 'alarmed.' "

"We're not saying the sky is falling," the official said, "but it's raining pretty hard in Pakistan."

The level of concern -- always high where nuclear-armed and politically tumultuous Pakistan is concerned -- began to rise two weeks ago, when the Pakistani Parliament passed an agreement to authorize sharia, or Islamic law, in the Swat Valley, about 100 miles northwest of Islamabad. Taliban forces had expanded in the area, and the agreement was part of a deal in which the government said the extremists would lay down their arms.

Instead, the Taliban advanced farther east, to within 60 miles of the capital, with no apparent government resistance. On Sunday, after increasingly stern public statements from the administration and some Taliban withdrawal, the government launched a military offensive in the area, backed yesterday by helicopter gunships.

But on the eve of Obama's first meeting with Zardari, tensions were running high between the two governments. "We see more duplicity than ambivalence" about the fight against extremists, one participant in the administration's strategic review of the region said of Pakistani authorities.

Other officials expressed skepticism that the Pakistani offensive would continue. "The test of all these Pakistani military operations -- because we've seen them from time to time in the past -- is always their sustainability," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

Beyond this week's combat, officials said they were still looking for Pakistan to begin moving large quantities of its half-million-strong military away from the eastern border with India, its historic adversary, and toward Taliban and al-Qaeda sanctuaries in the west.

Pakistanis in US stage protest demo against Talibanization

WASHINGTON: Pakistani community, residing in United States, staged a protest demonstration against the rising Talibanization in Pakistan in front of Pakistan Embassy here on Tuesday.

Protesters submitted memo draft for the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Demonstrators asked Pakistani government through reminding memo that the government violated the fundamental human rights of people in terms of Swat peace accord with Taliban while pressing Gilani administration for taking people into confidence for alleviation of the growing unrest in country.

It is demanded in memo that government becomes serious about providing basic human amenities for the people in Swat akin to people in Islamabad.

They also declared government failed to retaliate Nizam-e-Adl propaganda lodged by Taliban.

Dir fast moving to normalcy

DIR: Curfew still remained enforced after actions against the miscreants in Tehsil Maidan of district lower Dir, while the life here fast returning to normalcy after successful operation.

On the other hand, a Jirga of the local elders at Timargarh is underway, in which, Jirga elected representatives will discuss prevalent situation in the area with the officials.

Security forces have advised Tehsil Maidan people not to leave their hearth and homes and go out of the area, as the actions against the miscreants have been completed. Pamphlets have also been airdropped asking for support of the people by pointing out the miscreants. The pamphlet further warned that action would also be taken against those helping the miscreants.

Sources said that heavy guns from district headquarters Timargarh kept shelling Maidan area last night, but no loss of life was reported. Sources said that life in Maidan area remained suspended due to closure of link-roads under curfew, causing inconvenience to the people. However, life in all other areas of Dir lower including Timargarh has returned to normal and the people have heaved a sigh of relief.

A Jirga of local elders is underway at Lal Kalay area of Tehsil Maidan, which would elect their representatives, who would be meeting Dir peace Jirga members and in-charge forces action, brigadier Amalzada at Timargarh FC Headquarter to discuss the situation in the area.

Sources close to security forces told that curfew was likely to be lifted from Tehsil Maidan by this evening.

Troops secure 'key town' in Buner

BUNER :Troops took the main town in Buner on Wednesday after being dropped by helicopters behind Taliban lines on the second day of an offensive, a military spokesman said.

The Taliban's advance into a region just 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Islamabad earlier this month had sent shivers through Pakistan and heightened fears in the United States that the state was becoming more unstable.

Pakistan's demonstration of military resolve in Buner valley will likely reassure US President Barack Obama and Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai when they meet Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Washington May 6-7 to discuss regional strategy.

Taliban fighters held the entrances to the valley, but they risk being caught between security forces at their front and rear after the successful airdrop.

"The airborne forces have linked up to police and Frontier Constabulary in Daggar," the military spokesman said. "A link up with ground forces is in progress."

Residents saw troops rappel down ropes from helicopters outside Daggar, the main town in Buner, while firing and explosions were also heard intermittently.

"We saw a helicopter dropping troops on the hills early this morning. It came about seven or eight times," said Arshad Imran standing in the town's central bazaar. "We hear sound of explosions off and on and we can see helicopters flying over the mountains."

The military estimated some 500 militants were in the Buner valley and that it might take a week to clear them out.

Jet fighters and helicopters gunships provided air support for army and paramilitary troops leading the offensive on Tuesday.

The military has said a few hundred militants holed up in the mountains never represented a real threat to the capital.

But, Ikram Seghal, a retired army officer turned analyst, said the Taliban could have used Buner to advance on Tarbela, a dam regarded as critical for water and electricity supplies, before reaching Islamabad.

"It is very important psychologically, tactically and strategically to make sure that Buner is cleared of these Taliban," said Seghal.

US Encouragement

The Pentagon urged Pakistan to remain on the offensive.

"The key is to sustain these operations at this tempo and to keep the militants on their heels and to, ultimately, defeat them," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.

Washington is considering rushing hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency aid to Pakistan, the US Senate's second-ranking Republican, Jon Kyl of Arizona, told reporters.

Pakistan is desperate for military and economic aid to fight an insurgency that has washed back across the border from Afghanistan.

The first military operation began in Lower Dir on Sunday, and a military spokesman said 10 soldiers and around 70 militants were killed in three days of fighting there. Independent casualty estimates were unavailable.

Operation launched in Buner: ISPR

ISLAMABAD :Pakistan Army and para-military forces, backed by Pakistan Air Force, have launched an offensive against militants in Buner, the second district of Malakand agency after Lower Dir, said Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Athar Abbas, here on Tuesday.

70 MISCREANTS KILLED, 10 FC MEN MARTYRED IN LOWER DIR "The operation against Taliban was launched in the afternoon and the Inspector-General of Frontier Constabulary is heading the operation in which Pak Army and other paramilitary forces are taking part," said Athar Abbas while addressing an official briefing to media.Abbas said that over 70 militants were killed in Lower Dir operation, while 10 security forces personnel were martyred. He said that fighter jets of Pakistan Air Force were also taking part in the operation.

"The terrorist have compelled the government to take the action against them after they entered Buner from Swat and were building bunkers and fortifying their installations in the district," he said, adding: "About 300 militants entered Buner from Swat and captured army checkposts, initiated armed patrolling and were forcefully recruiting local youths in their militia."

Abbas told media that the government would not allow anyone to violate writ of the state, adding that a major offensive had been launched to flush out militants from Buner. He said that the miscreants had threatened the residents and restricted the women to their houses.

"The government issued warnings to them for vacation, but they ignored the warnings. The local residents were living under fear and stress in these circumstances," he added. Abbas also announced the completion of operation in Lower Dir, launched on Sunday, saying that till that time, the militants had been wiped out from the Dir district.

"Military offensive has been concluded in Lower Dir and all the militants have been flushed out from the area. In the operation 70 to 75 insurgents were killed while 10 FC men martyred," he added.

AFP ADD: the United States on Tuesday welcomed Pakistan's military operations against Taliban militants in the north-west and voiced hope the offensive would be sustained.

"We think that the military operations that are under way in Buner and Dir districts are exactly the appropriate response to the offensive operations by the Taliban and other militants over the past few weeks," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told a news conference. "We are very much encouraging of those efforts and stand ready to help them in any which way that we could."

He added that it was crucial the Pakistani military keep up the offensive and said it was unclear if Taliban forces would be pursued beyond Buner and into the Swat Valley.

"The test of all of these Pakistani military operations - because we've seen them from time to time in the past - is always their sustainability," said Morrell. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said separately that the offensive was more than a gesture of goodwill by President Asif Ali Zardari, who has faced growing criticism in Washington over his response to the militants.

"I don't think it's a question of goodwill. This is something that's in the interest of the government of Pakistan," Wood said. "These Taliban and other extremists have posed an existential threat to Pakistan.

Pakistani Military Moves to Flush Out Taliban

New York Times

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — After a week of strong criticism here and abroad over its inaction, the Pakistani military deployed fighter jets and helicopter gunships to flush out hundreds of Taliban militants who overran the strategic district of Buner last week, the military said Tuesday.

The campaign began Tuesday after government forces completed a two-day operation against Taliban militants in a neighboring district, Dir, the military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Abbas, said.

The Taliban advance into Buner, just 60 miles from the capital, not only brought heavy pressure on the military from the United States and other Western countries. But it has also fortified a growing consensus among Pakistani politicians and the general public that the Taliban have gone too far and that the military should act to contain the spread of the insurgency.

Under threat of military action, the Taliban staged a show withdrawal from Buner at the end of last week, Major General Abbas said. But he said the militants were in fact trying to expand the space they control beyond the valley of Swat, which borders Dir and Buner.

At a news conference, he played three tapes of telephone intercepts of the main Taliban leader, Mullah Fazlullah, talking to one of his commanders about making a show withdrawal for the media while telling their men to put away their weapons and lie low.

“In Buner people are living under coercion and in fear,” General Abbas said. “There was no reason to intimidate people in Buner, and the militants started intimidating people and forcibly recruiting young people to take them back to Swat for military training.”

“The government acted with patience but eventually there was no other way except to launch an operation,” General Abbas added.

Earlier in the day the chief official at the Interior Ministry, Rehman Malik, gave an indication of the tougher government stance toward the Taliban, saying that the Taliban had ignored repeated government requests to leave Buner.

“I warn them to vacate the area,” he told reporters. “We are not going to spare them. Action will be taken if anyone tries to block our efforts to re-establish the writ of the government in Buner and other areas.”

Several events contributed to the shift among politicians and the public. The televised flogging of a girl in Swat by the Taliban several weeks ago shocked many in the country. A radical cleric, Sufi Mohammed, who helped negotiate the peace deal in Swat, said recently that Pakistani institutions such as parliament and the high courts were un-Islamic, angering politicians from all parties.

Finally, the militants’ move into several new districts last week girded the Pakistani army to move against the Taliban.

The military may have a difficult fight ahead. The Taliban have already been digging trenches and fortified positions, Major General Abbas said.

There are also indications that the fighting in Dir has been heavier than Pakistani officials have acknowledged and that the civilian cost has been high. The military said some 70 militants had been killed over three days of fighting.

But over 30,000 civilians have fled their homes in the region and reported seeing bodies lying in the streets and the fields as they fled, Amnesty International said Tuesday.

Officials in a local hospital in the town of Timergara, in Dir, confirmed that five civilians had died, including two women and one girl, said Amnesty, which has been in contact with local Pakistani human rights organizations.

“Neither the Taliban nor the government forces seem to care about the well-being of the residents of Lower Dir,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director in a statement.

“The Taliban show no compunction about using civilian areas as combat zones,” he added, “even knowing that the military will respond with indiscriminate long-distance shelling and aerial bombardment.”

In the main town of Mingora, in Swat, the Taliban distributed fliers warning journalists of dire consequences if they continued reporting that criticized the Taliban or accused them of sabotaging the peace deal to introduce Islamic law, or sharia, in the area.

The fliers, which were issued by the Commander of the Suicide Bombers of the Taliban Movement of Swat, said journalists who did not cease such would be taken before sharia courts and would face “horrible consequences.”

At least two Pakistani news agencies ordered their reporters out of Swat on learning of the fliers. Four local journalists have been killed in Swat in recent months and editors said they were taking the threats very seriously.

Dir is a critical mountainous region that joins Swat to the restive tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan, and Buner lies to the south and east opening the way towards the Indus River and the capital Islamabad.

By establishing government control in Dir, the military will have blocked off an escape and resource supply route to the militants in Swat. But Buner is a much bigger task. The military estimates several hundred militants have infiltrated the district from Swat since last week.

Thousands displaced in Lower Dir, says AI

PESHAWAR: The Amnesty International (AI) reported on Monday that thousands of civilians had abandoned their homes to escape clashes between security forces and Taliban in Lower Dir district.

The report says that eyewitnesses from Maidan in Lower Dir told AI that bodies were lying on the streets and fields because people were too afraid to move them. At least five civilians were confirmed dead at the district hospital in Timergara, including two women and a girl.

Several villages in Maidan, including Islamdara, Kankot, Maidan Khas and Lal Qila, seem to have been targeted by government artillery and helicopter gunship helicopters after Taliban forces fired on security forces from residential areas.

Eyewitnesses could see at least 10 houses completely destroyed while another 40 to 50 with partial damage.“Neither the Taliban nor the government forces seem to care about the well being of the residents of Lower Dir,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director.

“The Taliban show no compunction about using civilian areas as combat zones, even knowing that the military will respond with indiscriminate long-distance shelling and aerial bombardment.”

The report further mentions that observers in Timergara told the AI that thousands of civilians had abandoned their homes in Maidan and moved towards neighbouring areas in Chakdara, Mardan and Charsadda.

An eyewitness in Maidan said civilians were moving through the fields to escape the firing on the main roads.A local non-governmental organisation working in Lower Dir, al-Khidmat (affiliated with the Jamaat-e-Islami) told AI that it had registered at least 33,000 displaced persons in the last two days.

The civilians fleeing Lower Dir would join more than half a million people already displaced by the fighting, according to the most recent figures from the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR.

“Pakistan is now facing a serious displacement crisis, as hundreds of thousands have been forced out of their homes, including tens of thousands now living in camps formerly used to house Afghan refugees,” Zarifi said.

“While the politicians in Islamabad and Washington talk about geopolitics, people in these quiet villages have their lives shattered. It’s about time for the world to turn its attention to the people of NWFP, who are facing severe problems right now.”

The fighting in Lower Dir began when the Taliban fired at a convoy of security forces moving towards the town of Lal Qala.The report further states the local government sources told AI that eight government troops and 47 Taliban fighters had been killed, including Qari Shahid, the Taliban’s commander in the region.

However, the AI admits that it could not independently confirm the numbers of the fatalities due to the intensity of the fighting. According to local military officials, the Taliban in Lower Dir are now led by two new commanders, Hafizullah and Mullah Mansoor.

Altaf terms Talibanisation a conspiracy to split Pakistan

LONDON: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain has termed the Talibanisation a conspiracy to break the country, urging the patriotic Pakistanis and national security agencies to stop the soaring Talibanisation.

Speaking to party’s Zonal Committee in Mirpurkhas on phone from London, he warned that Pakistan would be wiped out from world map if security agencies and people of Pakistan failed to stop the growing threat of Talibanisation.

He said that his concerns about Taliban militants are proving right as militants have fully taken over NWFP.

“I beg to all Pakistanis, particularly people of Punjab to play their role to save Pakistan from split,” he said.

GENEVA: Up to one million people are displaced in northwestern Pakistan where militants are feeding on local discontent and strife, humanitarian and local officials from Pakistan warned on Tuesday.

Officials from Pakistan's North West Frontier Province appealed for international relief aid at an unprecedented meeting with relief agencies and donor countries in Geneva.

'We are hearing a lot of pledges and promises made from the international community to Pakistan, and many of them are for security, for the police and the army, but the civilians are not getting what they are supposed to,' said Sitara Ayaz, minister for social welfare and development in the province.

'In our province we need more support and help from the international community,' she said after the two-day meeting in Geneva.

The UN's World Food Programme is working on an estimate of about 600,000 people for food aid in the area, spokewoman Emilia Casella told AFP.

Local officials put the figure at closer to one million, with about 80 per cent of them housed with friends or relatives, sometimes five or six families to a home.

'It is a serious humanitarian situation of major magnitude,' warned Dennis McNamara, an adviser at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, which organised the meeting.

'The registered UN figure for displaced civilians is over half a million. The NWFP relief commissioner says if we get registration completed it may be closer to a million in total.'

'It is a certainly a major displacement, one of the world's biggest if these figures are right,' added McNamara, a former senior UN refugee official.

A provincial minister said in Pakistan on Tuesday that around 30,000 people in the northwest have been displaced since the weekend by a military offensive to flush out Taliban militants.

Participants at the Geneva meeting said impoverished civilians were paying the price for the unrest and the humanitarian strife, and were easily wooed by militants such as the Taliban.

'They can easily be recruited, because they are bitter and they have suffered,' said one of the participants from North West Frontier Province.

Operation triggered by Taliban plan to take over Buner

ISLAMABAD: Security forces launched a major operation in Buner on Tuesday after intelligence agencies intercepted a telephone conversation of Swat Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah with his ‘commanders’ which revealed their plan to take over the area after faking a withdrawal.

The operation led by the inspector general of Frontier Corps (FC) was being backed by army troops and air force jets, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj-Gen Athar Abbas said at a press briefing.

He said the operation in Lower Dir had been completed, around 70 militants had been killed and others flushed out of the area. He said there were some pockets of resistance which would be cleared soon.

He said the militants who had entered Buner early this month were involved in kidnapping and killing policemen and forcibly recruiting youths for training in Swat. They started building bunkers in the mountains and terrorising and intimidating local people without any justification.

He said the government had exercised restraint and demonstrated patience and warned the militants to leave the area and launched a full-scale operation as the last option.

Maj-Gen Abbas expressed the hope that the operation, launched at about 4pm on Tuesday, would be completed in one week.

The announcement came an hour after Interior Minister Rehman Malik said around 450 militants had been spotted in Buner and warned them to leave the area.

‘I warn Baitullah Mehsud that enough is enough,’ he said while talking to reporters. The minister ruled out any possibility of Taliban reaching the Margalla hills.

The ISPR chief said the objective of the operation was to eliminate and expel militants from Buner and ensure that the people of the area lived in peace without being subjected to oppression.

The recording of the conversation of Maulana Fazlullah, which was played at the briefing, indicated that the militants had no plan to move out of Buner and that they were gearing up for a showdown with security forces using mines, rockets and other weapons.

Answering a question, Maj-Gen Abbas said the terrorists posed no threat to the federal capital. ‘Distance is not the only component to measure the level of threat. Counter-capacity has to be kept in mind.’

He termed the statements expressing concern over a threat of Taliban marching on Islamabad as alarmist and said the security forces were fully capable of eliminating the terrorists.

He said there was no evidence about any foreign link of Sufi Mohammad, but heavy weapons, communication equipment and finances were reaching him.

He said security personnel were moving from various positions, adding that combat helicopters were facilitating their movement.

He declined to divulge the number of personnel taking part in the operation, saying that operational details might benefit the other side.

Maj-Gen Abbas confirmed reports about the spread of Talibanisation in southern Punjab and said the situation was being closely monitored.

He said the nuclear weapons of the country were in safe hands and there was no possibility of extremists laying their hands on them.

Meanwhile, Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani called on President Asif Ali Zardari. It is believed that they discussed the operation in Buner, situation in Swat and adjoining areas and other issues concerning national security. According to sources, the forthcoming US visit of President Zardari also came under discussion.

US move for emergency Pakistan aid package

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers — both in the Senate and the House of Representatives — said on Tuesday that they would support the Obama administration’s move to seek $200-400 million in emergency aid for Pakistan.

The package may be ready by the time President Asif Ali Zardari visits Washington on May 6 and 7. ‘Certainly, we are discussing with the administration what is needed, and I think that all of us are very concerned about what’s happening in Pakistan,’ Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters.

‘It may be appropriate, and I believe the administration is looking right now at … somewhere between two and four hundred million dollars for Pakistan,’ Senator Jon Kyl told the news conference.

He said the fund would be used for both counter-insurgency measures and for shoring up Pakistan’s volatile economy.

‘We could pass really quickly, in just a matter of days,’ said the senator when asked how soon this bill could be passed. Senator Kyl said he had been talking to the Obama administration about the idea, and favoured it. ‘They are working up a proposal ... I am hoping it will be in that range.’

Earlier, Congressman Hoyer also confirmed that congressional leaders were discussing with the administration the possibility of emergency aid to Pakistan.

Other US lawmakers, while talking to reporters, said they shared the Obama administration’s ‘deep worries’ about Pakistan’s stability and did not want to delay any legislative measure aimed at helping the country.

Congressman Hoyer said the measure could be voted on as early as next week but declined to give an exact date.

The money could either be viewed as a ‘down payment’ on $1.4 billion included for Pakistan in President Barack Obama’s proposed $83.4 billion war spending bill, which is on track or consideration this summer, or it may be moved separately ‘using executive branch mechanisms’.

The move for an emergency aid package for Islamabad gathered momentum in Congress after Richard Holbrooke, the US special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, met top House Democrats last week to brief them on gains by Taliban militants in the NWFP and Fata.

Billboards featuring women reappear in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Despite Taliban threats for women to not appear on billboards, multinational companies have begun replacing men’s photos on advertising billboards in the provincial metropolis with those of women.

In the beginning of the Awami National Party (ANP)-led government multinational companies have started replacing men’s photos with women on billboards but due to growing Taliban activities the companies after two to three months replaced women photos with men. The Taliban and some Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) activists, whose influence is still growing in the province, considered the depiction of unveiled women to be un-Islamic and had been issuing threats that those who failed to stop this practice would face sever consequences.

Companies have now installed new billboards carrying the photos of female models on University Road, Peshawar Press Club Road and Surai Pul near the NWFP Assembly building.

Cinemas around the city have also begun displaying billboards and posters carrying photos of actresses. They had been barred from displaying movie posters by the former MMA government. He said the MMA-led regime had caused an irreparable loss to the Pashtun culture, adding that it had closed the doors of a state-run theatre during its five-year tenure.

The city’s only state-run theatre Nishar Hall closed its doors long ago to singers, dancers, and musicians, who were also barred from holding public concerts because the former ruling religious alliance in the NWFP considered this to be un-Islamic.

Shabab-e-Milli, a Jamaat-e-Islami affiliated hardliner group, headed by Sabir Hussain Awan, a former member of the National Assembly, are thought to have destroyed several billboards, causing millions of rupees of loss to companies in the province.

Malik warns Taliban to quit Buner or face action

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan warned the Taliban on Tuesday it would expand a military offensive to Buner if the guerrillas did not withdraw from the area, according to Reuters.

Prime Minister’s Advisor on the Interior Rehman Malik said around 450 Taliban were reported to have sneaked into Buner on Monday.

‘I warn them to vacate the area. We are not going to spare them,’ he told reporters.

‘Action will be taken if anyone tries to block our efforts to re-establish writ of the government in Buner and other areas,’ he said.

The interior chief also said that religious scholars must condemn menace of extremism, DawnNews adds.

Pakistani security forces launched an offensive against militants in the Lower Dir district of North West Frontier Province’s Malakand Division on Sunday to stop the militants spreading out of the Swat valley.

Military officials say around 70 militants have been killed in fighting since Sunday. Independent casualty estimates are unavailable.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Ulema (religious scholars) demanded the immediate withdrawal of the military from Malakand Division.

Buner and Swat are both in Malakand, where President Asif Ali Zardari this month reluctantly agreed to impose the Nizam-i-Adl Regulation (Sharia law) in a bid to persuade the Taliban in Swat to lay down their arms.

But emboldened by government’s concession, Taliban fighters began moving into Buner and nearby Shangla district.

Military offensive displaces 30,000 in Lower Dir

PESHAWAR: Around 30,000 people in Lower Dir have been displaced by a military offensive to flush out Taliban militants, a provincial minister said Tuesday.

‘Up to 30,000 people have left Maidan in Lower Dir district over the past few days,’ Iftikhar Hussain, the NWFP information minister, told a news conference.

‘We are making arrangements for them in Peshawar, Nowshera and Timargarah districts.’ Residents said thousands of terrified people, mostly women and children, left the area with their belongings after Pakistan troops and helicopter gunships launched the operation over the weekend.

One local charity said it had registered 2,241 displaced families so far.

The NWFP information minister has justified the Dir operation saying it was a consequence of the Taliban challenging the writ of the government.

‘The government will defend its writ but won’t make the first move,’ Hussain said.

He says the NWFP government is committed to the peace deal. Even though there are certain militants who want to sabotage the Nizam-i-Adl agreement.

‘The government needed to deploy security forces in Buner because the militants were challenging its writ,’ he added.

Around 50 insurgents were killed in the operation in Lower Dir, near the Taliban-held Swat valley, officials said.

The military said eight paramilitary soldiers had also been killed since it launched Operation Black Thunder on Sunday.

Heavy artillery shelling by the paramilitary Frontier Corps troops continued in the Maidan area of Lower Dir overnight, a senior military officer said Tuesday.

‘We destroyed several militants hideouts in heavy artillery shelling of suspected bases in the area,’ the officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Full-scale military operation likely in Buner

PESHAWAR: The army is gearing up for launching a full-scale military operation in the strategically located Buner district to defeat the militants and secure control of the area to block their possible advances to other areas, particularly Hazara, official sources told The News on Monday.

“Preparations have been completed for the operation in which air attacks will also be carried out,” sources said. “Air squadron is ready, two brigade army troops are arriving while Frontier Constabulary is already in Buner,” the sources having knowledge of the changing security situation in Malakand region, said.

The government launched a first-ever terrorism-related operation in Maidan area of Lower Dir district to kill or capture militants who have been menacing the peace of the area. The security forces claimed to have killed 46 militants in the two-day action in Lal Qila and Islamdara areas. In Dir, they have also been using gunship helicopters to pound the suspected positions of the militants.

Swat militants, after having a pause in fighting in the valley in the wake of a peace deal, advanced into Buner and Shangla districts. They also provided support to the militants in Lower Dir and Upper Dir to make them able to entrench positions in their respective areas.

Commander Hafizullah, probably a code name and Maulana Amir Khitab, believed to be Afghan, have been leading militants in Lower Dir and Upper Dir, respectively. However, at the moment militant activities in Upper Dir have not been the matter of concern for the security people. The government and military are desperate to clear Buner and Shangla districts of the militants and secure the control of these districts to block further advances by militants, who could threaten key sites of the country.

Maulana Fazlullah-led militants entered Buner district in the first week of April and secured a firm control of the district after a clash in Gokand. After that incident, it was a walkover for them. The militants control caused concern domestically and internationally, forcing the government to take action to neutralise the growing threat. The militants pulled out of Buner district to stave off military operation, but government seems unwilling to trust the militants.

Frontier Constabulary was moved a few days back to Buner to protect government buildings and installations. However, now the government has decided to launch an all-out military operation in Buner to eliminate or flush militants out of the district. Official sources said that Frontier Corps and army troops would take part in the operation. For the purpose, they added, two brigade army troops were arriving in the troubled district. “The operation could be started in the next few days,” the sources said, avoiding giving an exact date for launching action.

A jirga in Buner, the other day, asked militants to stop their activities and demanded of the government not to send security forces to the district.

Air strikes on the positions of the militants, which had been identified, would be carried out. “The air squadron is ready,” sources claimed. These officials said that entry points to Buner from Swabi, Malakand and other districts would be pounded. “Forces will also attack their positions in Sultanwas, Pir Baba, Swarai and other areas.”

The Inspector General of FC was Monday reported to have said that militants were holding sway on 10 to 15 per cent areas of Buner. Some commanders from Swat, sources said, were leading the militants in Buner. The sources believed majority of the militants had come from Swat while they had also recruited locals in their militia. “Militants strength is between 700 and 800,” the sources said.

They also hinted at resumption of military operation in Swat valley. “Militants are not honouring the peace agreement. The armed patrol, display of arms and their other activities continue. We want the militants to stop all these activities to keep the word they have given in peace agreement,” the sources said. However, if they did not mend their way, sources said, action would be launched to defeat them.

“The forces have already started Tor Tandar operation in Lower Dir. We will engage them in Dir, Buner and Swat simultaneously to not allow them space to move. We will eliminate them,” sources claimed. Military spokesman, Maj General Athar Abbas, did not receive calls to confirm or deny the looming operation in Buner.

Brown urges firmer Pakistan links

Gordon Brown has called for a "stronger relationship" between the UK and Pakistan to fight the threat posed by extremism and terrorism.
Speaking in Islamabad, the prime minister said a "strategic dialogue on all the issues" was needed.Mr Brown, standing beside Pakistani PM Yusuf Raza Gilani, pledged £10m to fight extremism in the country.Earlier, Pakistan's president pulled out of a joint news conference, amid tensions over recent anti-terror raids.
Sources suggest Asif Zardari was unhappy with the fallout from operations in the UK earlier this month, in which 11 Pakistani nationals were arrested.Mr Brown still met the president but his press conference instead took place with Mr Gilani, with whom he also held talks.
'Not disrupted'

Operation Pathway - the anti-terrorist operation which took place recently in Liverpool, Manchester and Clitheroe - saw Pakistani nationals arrested and later released without charge.

Ten of the them are in Britain on student visas but are now facing possible deportation proceedings, something which has already been criticised by Pakistan's high commissioner in London, who said they should be allowed to complete their studies.

“ It is imperative that all NATO nations strongly consider how they can help us to fill the manning and capability shortfalls ”
US general David McKiernan
At the press conference, this was echoed by Mr Gilani, who said: "I think the law will take its own course and I would also request of the prime minister that their studies should not be disrupted."

Mr Brown said: "Today we have agreed a new and stronger relationship between our two countries - vital and urgent work we will undertake together which sets out our shared priorities of tackling violent extremism.

"We will support each other more strongly on counter terrorism activities. We will engage in a strategic dialogue on all the issues surrounding this and we will consider task forces and work streams that will deliver that strategic dialogue for us.

"And we will support this close co-operation immediately by the UK delivering a £10m package of counter terrorism capacity giving assistance to Pakistan's agencies."

'Chain of terror'

Mr Brown earlier went to Afghanistan's Helmand province, where he met British troops.

After talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, he announced a new strategy for dealing with terrorism across border areas with Pakistan.

Mr Brown warned of a "chain of terror" starting in the mountainous region and ending in capital cities worldwide.

He said the UK wanted provinces to be handed over to government control one by one - similar to the process in Iraq.

Mr Brown said he also wanted to see the Afghan army expanded from 75,000 to 135,000-strong by the end of 2011, as well as seeing thousands more police.

Meanwhile, US general David McKiernan, in charge of NATO's operation in Afghanistan, has warned of rising military and civilian casualties.

Writing in the Journal of the Royal United Services Institute, he said the arrival of thousands of additional US troops in the coming months would probably lead to "another sizeable increase in kinetic activity" in 2009 "as the new troops move into new areas to help protect the population and engage the enemy."

He called the likely increase in civilian and NATO casualties "regrettable", but said it would not indicate deteriorating security.

The general said the insurgency was not spreading, noting that 70% of the violence in 2008 took place in 10% of the districts.

He added: "It is imperative that all NATO nations strongly consider how they can help us to fill the manning and capability shortfalls".

He condemned the practice of countries applying so-called "national caveats" to their NATO contributions in Afghanistan.

And Pakistan's military had to "take the lead" in removing extremists from "insurgent sanctuaries" on its territory, he said.

NWFP(PUKHTUNKHWA) govt tells Taliban to leave Buner or face action

NWFP govt tells Taliban to leave Buner or face action
MINGORA: NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar on Monday warned the Taliban of military action if they did not leave Buner district. “Leave Buner or face action,” the minister said while addressing a news conference in Timergara where new Malakand Commissioner Fazal Rahim Khattak was also present. The minister said the provincial government had received reports of presence of “foreign militants” in Buner, where some of the Taliban had been speaking languages the locals could not understand. The foreigners are likely Uzbeks, Chechens or Arabs. The minister said there was no military operation going on in Lower Dir, the state-run APP reported, adding that the clashes there were “retaliation to the attack by miscreants on the security forces”. The armed forces were present in Malakand division “only to maintain peace and harmony”, the news agency quoted him as telling the reporters.

Pakistan says don't 'panic'

ISLAMABAD— A Pakistani military offensive against insurgent hideouts prompted suspension of controversial peace talks with the Taliban Monday, and the country's president sought additional foreign aid to assure its nuclear arms remain in "safe hands."
The developments came as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited Afghanistan and Pakistan, calling their shared border region a "crucible of terrorism."
Following the military push into Dir, a district on the Afghanistan border, militants described their peace pact with the government as "worthless," threatening a cease-fire the Obama administration has criticized as a capitulation to allies of al-Qaida.
Pakistan agreed in February to impose Islamic law in the Taliban-held Swat Valley and surrounding districts of the Malakand Division if militants ended a rebellion that included beheading opponents and burning schools for girls.
However, the concession appeared to embolden the Taliban, which staged a foray last week into neighboring Buner district, just 60 miles from the capital, reportedly patrolling other areas in the region as well.
Pressure on the deal grew Sunday when authorities sent troops backed by artillery and helicopter gunships to attack militants in Lower Dir, another district covered by the pact. Thousands of terrified residents fled, some clutching only a few belongings.
The military said the offensive was an attempt to stop insurgents who had plunged the area into lawlessness by attacking security forces and abducting prominent people for ransom. Losing either Lower or Upper Dir would be a blow not only for Pakistan but for U.S. efforts to shore up the faltering war effort against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
At least 46 militants were killed in the operation, the army said in a statement Monday. Maulvi Umar, a spokesman for the umbrella group of Pakistan's Taliban, claimed insurgents were in the area and killed nine troops and lost two of their own.
"The agreements with the Pakistan government are worthless because Pakistani rulers are acting to please Americans," said Muslim Khan, a Taliban spokesman in the Swat Valley.
He denounced the military's operation as a violation of the peace pact and said fighters were on alert in case the agreement was pronounced dead by Sufi Muhammad, a hard-line cleric who mediated the deal.
A spokesman for the cleric said he was trapped in his home in the same area of Lower Dir attacked by troops and that his supporters have been unable to contact him.
"We will not hold any talks until the operation ends," spokesman Amir Izzat Khan said.
American officials worry the pact could turn Swat into another haven for militants and encourage extremists to call for Islamic law in other areas of the country.
Western allies have expressed frustration that Pakistan is focusing on archrival India, distracting the government from dealing with extremist sanctuaries on the Afghan border.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari insisted Monday his country was doing what it must to root out domestic militants.
In a wide-ranging interview with reporters from foreign media outlets, Zardari said Pakistan's nuclear capabilities were in "safe hands," but called for more foreign support for his cash-strapped country to prevent any danger of that changing.
"If Pakistan fails, if democracy fails, if the world doesn't help democracy, then any eventuality is a possibility," he said.
Zardari also said Pakistani intelligence thought al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden might be dead, but cautioned there was no proof.
"He may be dead. But that's been said before," Zardari said. "It's still between fiction and fact."
After visiting British troops in Afghanistan Monday, Brown said the safety of the Western world was tied to events in the beleaguered frontier region.
"Stability on the streets of London depends on stability in the border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan," Brown said. The border areas "are the breeding ground, the crucible of terrorism."
In Islamabad, Brown said Britain would focus its aid on providing services in the impoverished northwest — with a particular emphasis on girls' schooling — to lessen the allure of extremism.
American officials have also expressed rising concern.
Dianne Feinstein, head of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, said Sunday the Taliban advance in Buner — and the lack of a robust military response — suggested Pakistan was "in very deep trouble."
"This thing has to get sorted out and sorted out quickly or you could lose the government of Pakistan," Feinstein said on CNN television.
Pakistan's foreign minister asked U.S. officials Monday to "not panic."
"We mean business, and if we have to use force we will use force. We will not hesitate," Shah Mahmood Qureshi told the AP on the sidelines of meetings with his Afghan and Iranian counterparts. "We will not surrender, we will not capitulate, and we will not abdicate."
Zardari tossed aside suggestions that U.S. pressure was what prompted the latest military offensive, saying, "I don't think the Americans micromanage situations on the ground."
He also said other offensives in the region were possible.

‘Pakistan nuclear arsenal in safe hands’: Zardari

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari said on Monday that Pakistan's nuclear installations are in safe hands.

"All Pakistani nuclear installations are under extra security," he told foreign media in an interview. "I want to assure the world that nuclear capabilities in Pakistan are in safe hands," he said.

Zardari said that Pakistani intelligence believes Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is dead but acknowledged they had no evidence.

"The Americans tell me they don't know, and they are much more equipped than us to trace him. And our own intelligence services obviously think that he does not exist any more, that he is dead," Zardari said.

"But there is no evidence, you cannot take that as a fact," he said. "We are between facts and fiction."

Zardari was responding to reports that Pakistani Taliban in the troubled Swat valley have said they would welcome bin Laden if he wants to visit the former Pakistani hill resort which is now in the hands of Taliban.

Taliban shave men for listening to music in Buner

PESHAWAR: Taliban militants in Buner district shaved the heads and moustaches of four Pakistani men as punishment for listening to music, one of the men said Sunday.

Although Taliban and local officials said the fighters retreated from Buner by Saturday, local members of the movement remain. Residents said many fighters were still present in the hilly outskirts of the district.

In one incident late Saturday, Taliban hardliners shaved the heads and moustaches of four men for listening to music, a young man from Buner told AFP by telephone, requesting not to be identified.

‘I was with three other friends in my car, listening to music when armed Taliban stopped us and, after smashing cassettes and the cassette player, they shaved half our heads and moustaches,’ he said.

‘The Taliban also beat us and asked us not to listen to music ever again,’ said the terrified man.

Local police said they had no information about the incident.

The victim said neither he nor his friends lodged a complaint with police, as this would have been ‘useless.’

‘It might have annoyed the Taliban further and I fear for my life,’ the man said.

Residents in Mingora, the main town in Swat, said Taliban posters had been put up in streets and markets ordering women not to go shopping. The posters had appeared after the Taliban’s controversial agreement with the government to enforce Islamic law in the region.

‘We will take action against women who go out shopping in the markets and any shopkeeper seen dealing with women shoppers will be dealt with severely,’ read the poster from the Swat branch of Tehrik-i-Taliban.

‘The peace agreement does not mean that obscenity should be re-born,’ it added.

Extremist Taliban consider it ‘obscene’ for women to leave their homes, and ban females from venturing out in public without an immediate male relative — namely a father, brother, son or husband.

For years, Swat was a popular ski resort frequented by Westerners but the Pakistani government effectively lost control of the mountainous district after the violent Taliban campaign to enforce Sharia law.

Taliban still occupying parts of Buner: FC

PESHAWAR: Taliban militants have refused to leave Buner completely and are coercing the local population to support them.

The Frontier Corps (FC) Commandant says the Taliban occupy at least 10 to 15 per cent of Buner.

Citing intelligence reports, senior security officials have said the Taliban coerced local tribal elders in Buner to announce support for the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Security officials told DawnNews that even though not displaying weapons, militants were present during a meeting of the local council of elders on Sunday to announce conditional support for the TTP.

Earlier, the District Police Officer of Buner also said a number of foreign and local Taliban militants were still present in the area despite claims by the local militant leadership that they were withdrawing from Buner.

Officials say the Taliban had moved into Buner from Swat, and they continue to take violent action against the people in at least two villages who had initially formed an armed lashkar to resist their advances.