Operation created goodwill for Pakistan in US: Jones

ISLAMABAD: US National Security Adviser Gen (retd) James L. Jones exchanged views with the Pakistani civilian and military leadership on Thursday on operational details and timing of the intensified counter-insurgency operation in Afghanistan and its synchronisation with the military offensive against extremists in Pakistan.

‘Gen Jones’ visit was for discussing current challenges confronting Pakistan and coordinating efforts with the Pakistan government in implementing the new shared comprehensive strategy,’ said a statement issued by the US embassy on the conclusion of his two-day visit during which he met President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and other government officials.

Apart from Washington’s keenness to engage with Islamabad, sources said, Gen Jones’ visit bore all marks of a ‘micro-management model’ which hitherto was missing from the relationship between the two allies.

The top US security official praised Pakistan’s military operation against militants as ‘tremendous confidence-builder for the future’. He indicated that Pakistan’s renewed resolve against militancy infused great optimism in Washington about the success of the fight against militancy.

He said the action had generated goodwill for Pakistan in the US, adding that terrorism was a shared threat.

‘Terrorism is not simply the enemy of America — it is a direct and urgent threat to the Pakistani people,’ he said.

President Obama’s Af-Pak strategy attaches immense importance to Islamabad’s role in the fight against extremism as it deploys additional 21,000 troops in Afghanistan in a bid to quell the Taliban insurgency.

The troop build-up is feared to have a fallout on Pakistan, particularly in the restive region of Balochistan.

The sources privy to Gen Jones’ discussions in Islamabad say the intensified US offensive is likely to get into full swing by August-September and the Americans are of the opinion that the next 12-18 months will determine the fate of the new strategy.

From Gen Jones’ talks in Islamabad, it appears that Washington has agreed to the Pakistani demand to deploy its troops along the Afghan border to prevent cross-border movement of terrorists and spill-over of refugees.

The issue of displaced persons also came up for discussion and Gen Jones assured that the US administration would provide all possible assistance to Pakistan in handling the crisis.

Gen Jones, who later left for New Delhi, said in a TV interview the US wanted to be of help in the process of normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan. He said he would be carrying a message of equality, fairness and reason for the Indian leadership.

In his meeting with Gen Jones, Prime Minister Gilani urged the US to play its role in resolving the Kashmir and water disputes with India.

He emphasised that normalisation of relations between Pakistan and India was necessary for the stability of the region and would be of great help by allowing Pakistan to focus its efforts against militants and extremists.

Mr Gilani appealed to the US to write off its debt to help Pakistan overcome the economic crisis and make up for the losses it suffered because of the war on terror.

During his meeting with Gen Jones, President Zardari sought drone technology from the US to boost Pakistan’s capacity to hit high-value targets in specific areas of the tribal belt which were difficult to access by ground forces, spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.

The president thanked the US administration for its efforts in the adoption of the Kerry-Lugar Bill to provide $1.5 billion of annual assistance to Pakistan over a period of five years.

Mr Zardari said: ‘Pakistan needs much more assistance to rehabilitate the internally displaced persons and embark upon a massive socio economic development programme of the area to banish poverty and thereby the forces of militancy.’

He said: ‘I am looking forward to the materialisation soon of the building of reconstruction opportunity zones to help build the underdeveloped areas economically and provide jobs to the people.’

Michael Jackson, Pop Icon, Is Dead at 50

I am deeply saddened by the death of the most unique talent the world has seen in pop music. Michael Jackson was one of the greatest music icons of the 20th Century. A true star who will never be forgotten.God Bless him....M WAQAR




(CNN) -- Michael Jackson, the show-stopping singer whose best-selling albums -- including "Off the Wall," "Thriller" and "Bad" -- and electrifying stage presence made him one of the most popular artists of all time, died Thursday, CNN has confirmed.

He was 50.










He collapsed at his residence in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles, California, about noon Pacific time, suffering cardiac arrest, according to brother Randy Jackson. He died at UCLA Medical Center.

Jackson's blazing rise to stardom -- and later fall from grace -- is among the most startling of show business tales. The son of a steelworker, he rose to fame as the lead singer of the Jackson 5, a band he formed with his brothers in the late 1960s. By the late '70s, as a solo artist, he was topping the charts with cuts from "Off the Wall," including "Rock With You" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough."

In 1982, he released "Thriller," an album that eventually produced seven hit singles. An appearance the next year on a Motown Records 25th-anniversary special cemented his status as the biggest star in the country. Timeline: The life of Michael Jackson »

For the rest of the 1980s, they came no bigger. "Thriller's" follow-up, 1987's "Bad," sold almost as many copies. A new Jackson album -- a new Jackson appearance -- was a pop culture event. iReport: Share your memories of Michael Jackson

The pop music landscape was changing, however, opening up for rap, hip-hop and what came to be called "alternative" -- and Jackson was seen as out of step.

His next release, 1991's "Dangerous," debuted at No. 1 but "only" produced one top-ranking single -- "Black or White" -- and that song earned criticism for its inexplicably violent ending, in which Jackson was seen smashing car windows and clutching his crotch.

And then "Dangerous" was knocked out of its No. 1 spot on the album charts by Nirvana's "Nevermind," an occurrence noted for its symbolism by rock critics.

After that, more attention was paid to Jackson's private life than his music career, which faltered. A 1995 two-CD greatest hits, "HIStory," sold relatively poorly, given the huge expense of Jackson's recording contract: about 7 million copies, according to Recording Industry of America certifications.

A 2001 album of new material, "Invincible," did even worse.

In 2005, he went to trial on child-molestation charges. He was acquitted.

In July 2008, after three years away from the spotlight, Jackson announced a series of concerts at London's O2 Arena as his "curtain call." Some of the shows, initially scheduled to begin in July, were eventually postponed until 2010.

Rise to stardom

Michael Jackson was born August 29, 1958, to Joe Jackson, a Gary, Indiana, steelworker, and his wife, Katherine. By the time he was 6, he had joined his brothers in a musical group organized by his father, and by the time he was 10, the group -- the Jackson 5 -- had been signed to Motown.

He made his first television appearance at age 11.

Jackson, a natural performer, soon became the group's front man. Music critic Langdon Winner, reviewing the group's first album, "Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5," for Rolling Stone, praised Michael's versatile singing and added, "Who is this 'Diana Ross,' anyway?"

The group's first four singles -- "I Want You Back," "ABC," "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There" -- went to No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart, the first time any group had pulled off that feat. There was even a Jackson 5 cartoon series on ABC.

In 1972, he hit No. 1 as a solo artist with the song "Ben."

The group's popularity waned as the '70s continued, and Michael eventually went solo full time. He played the Scarecrow in the 1978 movie version of "The Wiz," and released the album "Off the Wall" in 1979. Its success paved the way for "Thriller," which eventually became the best-selling album in history, with 50 million copies sold worldwide.

At that point, Michael Jackson became ubiquitous.

Seven of "Thriller's" nine cuts were released as singles; all made the Top Ten. The then-new cable channel MTV, criticized for its almost exclusively white playlist, finally started playing Jackson's videos. They aired incessantly, including a 14-minute minimovie of the title cut. ("Weird Al" Yankovic cemented his own stardom by lampooning Jackson's song "Beat It" with a letter-perfect parody video.)

On the Motown Records' 25th-anniversary special -- a May 1983 TV extravaganza with notable turns by the Temptations, the Four Tops and Smokey Robinson -- it was Michael Jackson who stopped the show.

Already he was the most popular musician in America, riding high with "Thriller." But something about his electrifying performance of "Billie Jean," complete with the patented backward dance moves, boosted his stardom to a new level.

People copied his Jheri-curled hair and single-gloved, zippered-jacket look. Showbiz veterans such as Fred Astaire praised his chops. He posed for photos with Ronald and Nancy Reagan at the White House. Paul McCartney teamed with him on three duets, two of which -- "The Girl Is Mine" and "Say Say Say" -- became top five hits. Jackson became a Pepsi spokesman, and when his hair caught fire while making a commercial, it was worldwide news.

It all happened very fast -- within a couple years of the Motown special. But even at the time of the "Motown 25" moonwalk, fame was old hat to Michael Jackson. He hadn't even turned 25 himself, but he'd been a star for more than half his life. He was given the nickname the "King of Pop" -- a spin on Elvis Presley's status as "the King of Rock 'n' Roll" -- and few questioned the moniker.

Relentless attention

But, as the showbiz saying has it, when you're on top of the world, there's nowhere to go but down. The relentless attention given Jackson started focusing as much on his eccentricities -- some real, some rumored -- as his music.

As the Web site Allmusic.com notes, he was rumored to sleep in a hyperbaric chamber and to have purchased the bones of John Merrick, the "Elephant Man." (Neither was true.) He did have a pet chimpanzee, Bubbles; underwent a series of increasingly drastic plastic surgeries; established an estate, Neverland, filled with zoo animals and amusement park rides; and managed to purchase the Beatles catalog from under Paul McCartney's nose, which displeased the ex-Beatle immensely.

In 1990s and 2000s, Jackson found himself pasted across the media for his short-lived marriages, the first to Elvis Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie; his 2002 claim that then Sony Records head Tommy Mottola was racist; his behavior and statements during a 2003 interview with British journalist Martin Bashir done for a documentary called "Living With Michael Jackson;" his changing physical appearance; and, above all, the accusations that he sexually molested young boys at Neverland.

The first such accusation, in 1993, resulted in a settlement to the 13-year-old accuser (rumored to be as high as $20 million), though no criminal charges were filed, Allmusic.com notes.

He also fell deeply in debt and was forced to sell some of his assets. Neverland was one of many holdings that went on the block. However, an auction of material from Neverland, scheduled for April, was called off and all items returned to Jackson.

Interest in Jackson never faded, however, even if some of it was prurient. In 2008, when he announced 10 comeback shows in London, beginning in July 2009, the story made worldwide news. The number of concerts was later increased to 50.

Seventy-five thousand tickets sold in four hours when they went on sale in March.

However, when the shows were postponed until 2010, rumors swept the Internet that Jackson was not physically prepared and possibly suffering from skin cancer.

At the time, the president and CEO of AEG Live, Randy Phillips, said, "He's as healthy as can be -- no health problems whatsover."

Jackson held open auditions for dancers in April in Los Angeles.

He is survived by his three children, Prince Michael I, Paris and Prince Michael II.

Barack Obama admits he still smokes

Despite signing the toughest anti-tobacco bill in over 25 years, he confirmed that he still lights up – but never in front of daughters Malia and Sasha.
"There are times where I mess up," Mr Obama said at a White House news conference. "As a former smoker I constantly struggle with it. Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes. Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No. I don't do it in front of my kids. I don't do it in front of my family," he said."I would say that I am 95 per cent cured."
Mr Obama had been urged to quit smoking by his wife Michelle during his 2008 election campaign.
But the pressure of battling Republican presidential candidate John McCain meant that under pressure he succumbed.
He did switch to nicotine patches in an attempt to wean himself of the habit he started when he was a teenager.
Mr Obama refused to say how many cigarettes he smokes or how often he lights up in the White House.
He said: "Once you've gone down this path, then, you know, it's something you continually struggle with, which is precisely why the legislation we signed was so important, because what we don't want is kids going down that path in the first place.
"The new law that was put in place is not about me. It's about the next generation of kids coming up."

Drug cultivation plummets in Afghanistan as demand falls

www.timesonline.co.uk
The cultivation of crops for making illegal drugs has declined steeply in both Afghanistan and Colombia, the world’s largest producers of heroin and cocaine, a UN survey shows.

The organisation’s 2009 World Drug Report , released yesterday, said that opium poppy cultivation fell 19 per cent in Afghanistan last year and coca leaf farming dropped 18 per cent in Colombia. The reductions reflect falls in the prices offered to farmers for their illicit crops, and stable or declining demand in the West. But the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said that it had identified a probable rise in the use and production of synthetic drugs, such as amphetamines, methamphetamines and Ecstasy, in the developing world.

The agency estimated that in 2007 up to 250 million people had used illicit drugs at least once in the previous year, but that drug consumption was concentrated among 18 million to 38 million “problem” users, or addicts.

Antonio Costa, the agency’s director, strongly rejected calls for the legalisation of illicit drugs. “Proponents of legalisation can’t have it both ways,” he said. “A free market for drugs would unleash a drug epidemic, while a regulated one would create a parallel criminal market. Legalisation is not a magic wand that would suppress both mafias and drug abuse. Societies should not have to choose between protecting public health or public security. They can, and should, do both.”

The UN figures showed substantial declines in drug production in Afghanistan, which produces 93 per cent of the world’s opium, and Colombia, which produces more than half the world’s cocaine. In Afghanistan, opium poppy cultivation was heavily concentrated in Helmand province in the south, where British troops are fighting the Taleban.

With more than 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of opium poppy cultivation, Helmand accounted for more than two thirds of the opium poppy grown in Afghanistan. The province also supplied more than half the 189,000-hectare total for the three main cultivating countries, Afghanistan, Burma and Laos. About 2,000 hectares on the Pakistani side of the Afghan border were planted with opium poppy. “Opium poppy cultivation continued to be associated with insecurity,” the report said. “Almost the entire opium poppy-cultivating area was located in regions characterised by high levels of insecurity.”

Prices for a kilogram of opium have fallen roughly half in Afghanistan, to about $75 (£46), in the past five years, though they have doubled in Burma.

In Colombia, coca leaf cultivation fell by 18 per cent, or 18,000 hectares, to 81,000 hectares, but production fell even more, by 28 per cent.

The United States, the world’s largest cocaine consumer, reported a significant drop in use, while in Western Europe, where consumption has surged in recent years, it has shown signs of stabilising.

“The $50 billion global cocaine market is undergoing seismic shifts,” Mr Costa said. “Purity levels and seizures in the main consumer countries are down, prices are up, and consumption patterns are in flux. This may help explain the gruesome upsurge of violence in countries like Mexico. In Central America, cartels are fighting for a shrinking market.”

Ahmadinejad Tells Obama Not to Interfere in Iran

TEHRAN, June 25 -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned President Obama on Thursday to "avoid interfering" in Iranian affairs, and his security forces arrested 70 academics overnight after using clubs and tear gas Wednesday to break up demonstrations over the disputed June 12 elections.

"Do you want to speak with this tone? If that is your stance then what is left to talk about?" Ahmadinejad said of Obama, who during a news conference Tuesday criticized Iran's crackdown on protesters who have alleged fraud and demanded that the elections be annulled.

Accusing Obama of acting like his predecessor, George W. Bush, Ahmadinejad said: "I hope you avoid interfering in Iran's affairs and express your regret in a way that the Iranian nation is informed of it." His remarks were translated by Reuters news service.

Iran's government has declared that Ahmadinejad outpolled his nearest rival, former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, by a margin of nearly 2 to 1. On Wednesday, as an expression of disapproval, the U.S. State Department withdrew its invitation to Iranian diplomats to attend July 4 festivities at embassies around the world.

Afghan Leader Outmaneuvers Election Rivals

NEW YORK TIMES
KABUL, Afghanistan — With a nationwide election only weeks away, the paradox of President Hamid Karzai has never seemed more apparent: he is at once deeply unpopular and likely to win.

Mr. Karzai, who has led Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, is blamed by many for the failures that have plagued the American-led mission here in the past eight years, from the resurgence of the Taliban to the explosion of the poppy trade.

Yet at the same time, Mr. Karzai enjoys a commanding lead in the race for the presidency, to be decided in a nationwide election on Aug. 20. Since the beginning of the year, Mr. Karzai has deftly outmaneuvered a once formidable array of opponents, either securing their backing or relegating them to the status of long shots.

Those two facts — Mr. Karzai’s unpopularity and the likelihood of his victory — have cast a pall of resignation over the presidential campaign here, with many Afghans preparing themselves for another five years of a leader they feel they already know too well.

The danger, Mr. Karzai’s opponents and other leading Afghans say, is a kind of national demoralization, which will discourage Afghans from voting and dash hopes for substantial progress once the election is over.

For the Americans, the prospect of Mr. Karzai’s re-election risks an even closer association with an unpopular president with a record of mismanagement. With the Taliban now stronger than ever — early this month, attacks reached their highest level since 2001 — a Karzai victory could threaten the American-led push to turn the war around.

“Karzai will not change, he has demonstrated that,” said Ashraf Ghani, once a close friend of Mr. Karzai, who is now running against him. “If he wins, there will be a downward spiral.”

American officials, who have provided indispensable support for Mr. Karzai since he first took office in 2001, have recently tried to put him at some distance. The new American ambassador, Karl W. Eikenberry, took the unusual step last week of attending news conferences of the leading challengers to Mr. Karzai, including Mr. Ghani and Dr. Abdullah, a former foreign minister, who like many Afghans uses only one name.

The Obama administration has reversed the previous American policy of nearly unconditional support for Mr. Karzai. President Obama has publicly chastised Mr. Karzai for his government’s weakness and corruption.

Yet there is a widespread perception among Afghans that Mr. Karzai is the American favorite. Some American officials express resignation that they may be stuck with him for five more years.

Indeed, the Obama administration appears to have begun preparing for that prospect. American officials, for instance, have done nothing to oppose the discussions between Mr. Karzai and Zalmay Khalilzad, the former American ambassador here, about Mr. Khalilzad’s becoming a senior official in a new Karzai administration.

“The Americans need to do more to distance themselves,” Dr. Abdullah said. “Otherwise, they will be blamed for the failures of his government by their own public as well as by ours.”

No one expressed more surprise about the perception of American favoritism than Mr. Karzai himself. Asked about it at a recent news conference, he curtly replied, “I’m glad to see this change of heart.”

It is hardly surprising that Mr. Karzai’s popularity is slumping. He has been in power for eight years, and in that period hopes for a stable and prosperous Afghanistan have been frustrated.

Mr. Karzai’s unpopularity was spelled out in a recent poll conducted by the International Republican Institute, a nonpartisan group supported by the American government.

Only 31 percent of Afghans said they would vote for Mr. Karzai again, down sharply from the 54 percent of votes he received in the 2004 election. If no candidate surpasses 50 percent of the vote, the two top vote-getters would face each other in a runoff election.

Yet the same I.R.I. survey found Mr. Karzai easily outpolling his rivals. Only 7 percent favored Dr. Abdullah and just 2 percent Mr. Ghani, and they are considered to be Mr. Karzai’s most serious rivals.

It was not always so. Only months ago, Mr. Karzai was considered vulnerable, and his rivals were lining up to take his place.

But showing a deftness that has often eluded him in governing, Mr. Karzai systematically co-opted most of the Afghans who were considering running against him.

In neutralizing his opposition, Mr. Karzai has aggressively wielded the power of his office. With all the resources of government at his disposal, Mr. Karzai can dispatch his employees to work on his re-election, and he can use government resources, like helicopters and airplanes, to crisscross the country. No other candidate can match that.

Nor has Mr. Karzai been shy about making deals with unsavory characters, including militia commanders with reputations for brutality and corruption.

The horse-trading has infuriated his opponents, who accuse him of putting the Afghan government up for sale to the worst sort of people. “He is auctioning off the government,” Mr. Ghani said.

This month, for instance, Mr. Karzai reinstated as chief of staff of the army Abdul Rashid Dostum, who was suspended last year after he was accused of storming the house of a political rival and threatening him at gunpoint.

Mr. Dostum, a former militia commander, has perhaps the most brutal reputation of any warlord, having fought for virtually every side over the past 30 years.

In a similar way, Mr. Karzai last month named Muhammad Qasim Fahim as one of his two vice presidential running mates. Mr. Fahim is a former commander of the Northern Alliance, the rebel group that toppled the Taliban in 2001. He has a spotted past; among other things, he is suspected of printing millions of dollars worth of Afghan currency for himself in the early days of the first post-Taliban government.

Finally, Mr. Karzai appears to have made a brazenly explicit promise to Muhammad Mohaqeq, the leader of a large ethnic party and a former militia commander. In an interview, Mr. Mohaqeq said that Mr. Karzai had promised his group, the Islamic National Unity Party, five seats in his cabinet in exchange for his support.

“People are tired, yes, but they have not lost their nerve,” Mr. Mohaqeq said. “There is no alternative to Karzai.”

At a recent public appearance, Mr. Karzai was looking his typically regal self, sporting his trademark karakul hat and cape. Asked about his deals with the warlords, he was unapologetic.

Choosing Mr. Fahim as a running mate, Mr. Karzai said, “was a decision that I made for the good of the country, for the unity of the country, for the strength of Afghanistan, in which it has a government that is Afghan and not influenced from outside.”

He did not elaborate on whose outside influence he was concerned about.

Zardari asks US to provide drone aircrafts

ISLAMABAD :President Asif Ali Zardari asked the US to give drones technology to Pakistan for boosting its indigenous capacity to eliminate the militants from its soil.

The President said this while talking to General (R) James Jones US National Security Advisor who called on him in the Presidency today.

The US Ambassador in Islamabad Ms Anne W.Patterson and senior officers of the National Security Agency of the US were also present on the occasion.

The President also thanked the US administration for its efforts in the adoption of the Kerry Lugar Bill to provide 1.5 billion dollars of annual assistance to Pakistan over a period of 5 years.

The President said that Pakistan needed much more assistance to rehabilitate the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and embark upon a massive socio economic development program of the area to banish poverty and thereby to the forces of militancy.

He said he was looking forward to the materialization soon of the building of Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) to help build the underdeveloped areas economically and provide jobs to the people.

He also asked for international assistance to Pakistan in meeting its energy challenges.

The US National Security Advisor complimented the President for launching an effective operation against militants. He said that it was particularly helpful that the war against the militancy had broad based public and political support.

Earlier, the key US aide called on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to discuss various issues of mutual interest including the situation of internally displaced people of Malakand Division and the US help in this connection.

General Kayani visits South Waziristan

Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Thursday had a daylong visit to South Waziristan Agency to spend time with field commanders and troops deployed in the area, report said. During the informal discussion with troops, COAS appreciated their performance and high morale. He also offered fateha for the martyrs of the operations. Gen Kayani was also briefed in detail by the respective General Officer Commanding. COAS stated that Pakistan Army is executing a deliberate 'Campaign Plan' to achieve the desired end state of re-establishing the writ of the state while ensuring minimum loss to life and damage to property. He thanked the people of Pakistan for their whole hearted Support.

Iran Will Not Yield , Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

TEHRAN — Hundreds of protesters clashed with waves of riot police and paramilitary militia in Tehran on Wednesday, witnesses said, as Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, insisted that the authorities would not yield to pressure from opponents demanding a new election following allegations of electoral fraud.

It was impossible to confirm the extent of the new violence in the capital because of draconian new press restrictions on coverage of the post-election mayhem. But the witnesses reached by telephone said the confrontation, in the streets near the national Parliament building, was bloody, with police using live ammunition.

Defying government warnings, hundreds, if not thousands of protesters, had attempted to gather in front of the parliament on Baharestan Square, witnesses said. They were met with riot police and paramilitary militia, who struck at them with truncheons, tear gas and guns. One witness said he saw a 19-year-old woman shot in the neck. Others said the police had shot in the air, not directly at demonstrators.

Some opposition supporters said that presidential candidate and opposition leader Mir Hussein Moussavi had been scheduled to address the crowd, but initial reports indicated that he had not appeared.

The violence came as additional details emerged about the sweeping scale of arrests that have accompanied the nation’s worst political crisis since the 1979 revolution. A New York-based human rights group, International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, listed the names Wednesday of 240 detained in the crackdown. Iranian state media have reported 645 arrests, but the total number of detained may be as high as 2,000, the organization said, citing human rights activists in Iran.

Among them are people arrested in a Monday night raid of a campaign office for Mr. Moussavi in Tehran, Press TV, state television’s English-language satellite broadcaster, reported Wednesday. The government said the office was being used as “a headquarters for psychological war against the country’s security,” and claimed that evidence had been found of “the role of foreign elements in planning post-election unrest.”

Also detained are 102 political figures, 23 journalists, 79 university students and 7 university faculty, the human rights organization said. By official reckonings, at least 17 demonstrators have been killed.

Earlier Wednesday, Ayatollah Khamenei told legislators that he “insisted and will insist on implementing the law on the election issue,” according to accounts in the state-run media. “Neither the establishment nor the nation will yield to pressure at any cost.”

Coupled with the clampdown on the new demonstration, arrests and other developments, the Ayatollah’s comments reinforced the impression that the authorities have resolved to use all levers of power to choke off protest.

The coalition opposed to the election results suffered a setback Wednesday when one candidate formally withdrew his complaints of vote-rigging, opening a rift among those who had challenged the outcome of the June 12 election.

Some opponents maintained their defiance, calling for continued protests and the release of detainees. Despite efforts to silence dissent and despite an appearance of disarray in opposition ranks, Zahra Rahnavard, Mr. Moussavi’s wife who has played an influential role in the opposition, issued a call Wednesday for the immediate release of Iranians detained in election protests, his Web site reported.

“I regret the arrest of many politicians and people and want their immediate release,” Ms. Rahnavard declared. “It is my duty to continue legal protests to preserve Iranian rights.”

The candidate who withdrew his complaint of election fraud, Mohsen Rezai, had initially complained that while the official count gave him 680,000 votes, he had evidence that 900,000 people voted for him. But on Wednesday, Press TV reported, he decided to abandon the complaint, saying the current “political, social and security situation has entered a sensitive and decisive phase which is more important than the election.”

Trailing Mr. Moussavi and the former Parliament speaker, Mehdi Karroubi, Mr. Rezai was the most conservative of the losing candidates and had been under strong pressure from Iran’s rulers to pull back from the confrontation.

Mr. Rezai was quoted as calling the ballot a “clear sample of religious democracy,” sharing language with a powerful defense of the ballot in a sermon last Friday by Ayatollah Khamenei.

Mr. Rezai’s decision to withdraw, regional analysts said, represented an incremental but significant step back for the opposition, since his status as being part of and loyal to the system adding credibility to the overall electoral challenge.

The electoral controversy continued to boil, spilling over Iran’s own borders, as President Obama issued on Tuesday his harshest condemnation of events there yet, saying he was “appalled and outraged” by the attacks on civilian protesters.

“I strongly condemn these unjust actions,” Mr. Obama said during a news conference at the White House.

Iran’s leadership pressed its own charges that foreign powers had meddled in its internal affairs and instigated the widespread protests. State television showed people identified as protesters saying they had been influenced by foreign news media, Reuters reported.

“I think we were provoked by networks like the BBC and the Voice of America to take such immoral actions,” one young man said.

The government has also worked to underscore that it is under attack by terrorists seeking to take advantage of the post-election turmoil. Press TV, quoting the national intelligence minister, said Wednesday that dozens of alleged terrorists have been arrested in the past week, including suspects in the alleged bombing last Saturday of the shine of Ayatollah Imam Khomeini in Tehran that wounded three.

The arrested were linked with “the Zionist and non-Zionist regimes outside the county,” the intelligence minister, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, was quoted as saying. Britain announced it had expelled two Iranian diplomats in a tit-for-tat response to Iran’s decision a day earlier to expel two British diplomats. Iran also lashed out at the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, for his call to end “arrests, threats and use of force.”

Iran’s foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, said on Wednesday Tehran was reviewing whether to downgrade ties with Britain, which Iran has accused of interference in its disputed presidential election, the ISNA semi-official news agency said.

“We are reviewing this issue,” Manouchehr Mottaki said, according to ISNA. He was also quoted as saying Iran would not participate in a meeting of the G-8 countries this week in Italy to discuss Afghanistan with regional powers. The G-8 brings together industrialized nations including the United States and Britain along with other western countries, Japan and Russia.

US security adviser meets army chief

ISLAMABAD: The United States National Security Adviser, Gen James Jones, arrived here on Wednesday to discuss troop surge in Afghanistan and to encourage Pakistan to intensify the military operations against extremists, according to sources.

Gen Jones began his trip to the country with a meeting with Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani after arriving from Kabul.

He will meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday.

Although neither side exchanged any formal agenda, diplomats said the adviser was likely to discuss surge in US troops in Afghanistan, the Swat operation and the possible military offensive in Waziristan.

The adviser and his interlocutors were likely to take forward their discussions on the acquisition of counter-insurgency equipment from the US.

Gen Jones is also expected to discuss the US assistance for displaced people in the NWFP. He is likely to call for resumption of Pakistan-India peace talks when he visits New Delhi on June 25.

US moves to isolate Iran with full Syria embassy

The United States is to appoint a new ambassador to Syria after a gap of four years, the strongest sign yet of President Obama’s desire to re-engage the pariah state and draw it away from the influence of Iran.

The move to a fully staffed embassy will be an important boost to Syria, which has suffered years of diplomatic isolation because of its strong trade and strategic ties with Iran.

The US Administration hopes that engaging with Damascus will encourage it to further pursue peace talks with Israel, most recently held under the previous Israeli Government of Ehud Olmert.

George Mitchell, the US Middle East envoy, has described Syria as playing and “integral role” in the peace process. Syria has called for America to act as mediator in any future direct talks between it and Israel, in which it is demanding a return of the Golan Heights, a strategic border plateau captured by Israel in 1967.

Syria is still under US sanctions over its support of Islamist insurgents crossing into Iraq to fight the US-backed Government there. Washington withdrew its last ambassador in 2005 after the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, in which Syria was believed to have played a role.

The new Administration believes that wooing Syria back into the diplomatic fold may encourage it to withdraw its support to insurgents in Iraq, loosen its ties with Iran and prevent the flow of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah, the Shia militia that operates as a state-within-a-state inside Lebanon. The US also hopes that forging ties with the Syrian Government may put pressure on the Hamas leadership in exile in Damascus.

A senior US official told The New York Times that "there is a lot of work to do in the region for which Syria can play a role. For that, it helps to have a fully staffed embassy."

Ath-Thawra, a Syrian government newspaper,has lauded Washington's extended hand in a way that Iran has not. "Today, there is real optimism because the two parties realise the importance of improving bilateral relations in order to achieve global peace," it said recently.

Many analysts believe, however, that while Syria, with its struggling economy, would welcome the chance to open up to the world again, its leadership is unlikely to cut its profitable ties to Iran quickly . It is believed that Bashar al-Assad, the President, will try to play both sides off against the other for maximum benefit, while keeping his authoritarian regime in power.

US drones prowl over South Waziristan

WANA :US drones prowled the sky over South Waziristan on Wednesday, a day after one of the aircraft attacked a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, killing about 70 militants.

The US attack came as the Pakistani army is preparing an all-out assault on al Qaeda ally Mehsud, who has been accused of orchestrating a campaign of bombings in Pakistan, including the 2007 assassination of former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.

The push into South Waziristan on the Afghan border looms as the army is finishing off an offensive in the Swat valley.

The pilotless US drone strike late on Tuesday, on a funeral for one of six militants killed in a similar strike earlier in the day, suggests closer coordination between the United States and Pakistan.

But Pakistan, which officially objects to such strikes, is unlikely to confirm that in a country where many people are suspicious of the alliance with the United States in its global campaign against militancy.

Intelligence officials said late on Tuesday 45 people had been killed in the drone attack as mourners were leaving the funeral. On Wednesday they said about 70 people had been killed. A Taliban spokesman said 65 had been killed.

A Taliban official said Mehsud had been in the area but was not hurt. Security officials and villagers said the Taliban had sealed off the site.

"Bodies are still lying there and the Taliban are not allowing anybody close while their men are coming and going in vehicles," resident Ghulam Rasool told Reuters by telephone.

The militants also fired at US drones flying over the remote, mountainous region.

"Militants fired with machineguns at two drones in Makeen and Laddah, forcing them to fly back," said another resident, referring to two areas under Mehsud's control.

TALIBAN CLAIM KILLING RIVAL

The military has been launching air strikes on Mehsud's bases over the past week or more while soldiers have been securing main roads into the region, sealing off his stronghold.

A military convoy, including tanks and armoured personnel carriers, headed towards the area on Wednesday, a Reuters reporter in the region said.

On Wednesday, Taliban spokesman Wali-ur-Rehman said that the group had claimed responsibility for killing the rival militant commander, Qari Zainuddin.

The killing of Zainuddin, in Dera Ismail Khan, showed Mehsud's reach and would be a setback for government efforts to win over ethnic Pashtun tribal factions for the campaign against Mehsud, analysts said.

The offensive against the Taliban has widespread support among politicians and the public but a fragile civilian government could see that backing evaporate if the displaced are seen to be suffering unduly.

President Medvedev arrives in Egypt for tour to revive relations

Once it would have been Cold War rhetoric and “fraternal greetings” to Marxist guerrillas. Yesterday Russia returned to Africa in a scramble to restore its Soviet-era influence — only this time with profits and natural resources in mind.

President Medvedev arrived in Egypt at the start of a four-nation tour to a continent where communist ideology and Cold War alliances shaped its post-colonial landscape.

Now Russia is keen to revive relations in a region where it still has several old friends, and some, albeit faded, influence.

Vladimir Putin visited South Africa and Morocco as President in 2006 but Russia currently lags far behind China in winning access to the region’s resources. In the past few years China has invested huge sums to buy influence in Africa and gain access to the raw materials it needs.

During the 1970s the Soviets spent billions of dollars backing Marxist guerrilla movements in places such as Ethiopia, Mozambique and Angola, where military aid included airlifting 20,000 Cuban troops to support rebel forces.

By the middle of that decade almost 35,000 Soviet political and economic “advisers” worked in Africa, many of them KGB officers.

Communist ideals helped to inform policy throughout the region, from Tanzania under Julius Nyerere in the east to the socialist ideals of the outlawed African National Congress in South Africa.

In a first step signalling Russia’s intent to compete in the scramble for African resources, President Medvedev signed a ten-year “strategic co-operation” pact with his Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, in Cairo yesterday.

Like much of its once-extensive influence in Africa, Moscow’s traditionally close relationship with Egypt went into decline after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The two leaders also pledged to co-ordinate “foreign policy positions” and to press for “a new multipolar world order”, a favourite Kremlin phrase for challenging the US dominance.

Mr Mubarak threw his support behind a Russian proposal for a Middle East peace conference in Moscow, which Mr Medvedev said would be held by the end of the year. Russia is in the Middle East quartet — with the European Union, the US and the United Nations — that is negotiating with Israel and the Palestinians.

Israel and the US have been lukewarm on the idea.

Mr Medvedev was due to speak at an Arab League session and to meet its Secretary-General, Amr Moussa, during his two-day stay.

Trade is also at the top of the agenda. Egypt is now one of the most popular tourist destinations for Russians, with two million visitors last year, and even though annual trade between them is worth a relatively modest $4.1 billion (£2.5 billion) it is now Russia’s largest trade partner in Africa.

Nuclear power forms a key element of Mr Medvedev’s four-day visit to Egypt, Nigeria, Namibia and Angola. He is accompanied by his Energy Minister and the head of Rosatom, the state nuclear power corporation, as well as a host of other business leaders.

Rosatom is pushing hard to win a $1.8 billion tender to build Egypt’s first nuclear power plant. It was also expected to sign an agreement to search for uranium deposits.

Today Mr Medvedev will go on to Nigeria, where Rosatom hopes to sign a nuclear co-operation agreement. The Russian energy group Gazprom already has contracts in Nigeria to develop gasfields and search for oil reserves.

Then he will finish the tour with visits to Namibia and Angola, two countries entwined historically with Russia through its sponsorship of one of the longest-running conflicts during the Cold War period: the South African Bush War.

It will be the first visit by a Russian leader to Namibia. Several Russian companies are already part of joint ventures to exploit Namibia’s uranium reserves. Moscow has also offered to sell its controversial technology for building floating ship-based nuclear reactors to help Namibia to overcome chronic electricity shortages.

Mr Medvedev completes his African tour later tomorrow in Angola, which currently holds the presidency of Opec. Angola has vast oil reserves while the Russian state diamond miner, Alrosa, is involved in two joint ventures in the country.

Army in final stage of Swat offensive

ISLAMABAD: The army said on Monday it had completed the exercise of pre-positioning forces and equipment in South Waziristan to launch a decisive action against Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsood and his network.

Military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas told a press briefing that the preparatory manoeuvring phase had already started to clear a key road in Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan.

The objective of the operation would be to dismantle ‘suicide attack schools’ being run by the Mehsud network, he said.

According to him, a large number of foreign terrorists were holed up there.

In reply to a question, Gen Abbas said there was no authentic information about the encirclement of Baitullah Mehsud. However, he added, the main leadership of militants was being continuously targeted and many of them were reported to have been killed and secretly buried at unknown places. ‘We, however, do not have evidence in hand.’

Maj-Gen Abbas said the Swat operation had entered a final phase. The last stronghold of terrorists in Biha valley had been secured and Shamozai area was being cleared, the ISPR chief said.

He said that search operations were continuing in the secured areas to ensure safe return of the displaced people. He said that all areas, except Kabal and Shamozai, were safe for government employees and hence they had been asked to return to their duty.

‘A security cover will be available for government employees and there is no cause of concern that could hinder their return.’

He said that 1,592 terrorists had been killed and over 60, including foreigners, captured since the operation began last month.

The spokesman said that success had been achieved on the basis of information provided by the arrested militants and intelligence reports.

Photographs of over 50 dead militants, secret tunnels and hideouts and arms and ammunition recovered during the operation were screened during the briefing.

Maj-Gen Abbas said the level of preparation by insurgents was astounding as tunnels, hideouts and the quantity of arms recovered spoke volumes for their preparation for a ‘full-scale war’.

He said that troops had neutralised a number of improvised explosive devices and destroyed several tunnels.

Meanwhile, the ISPR said 22 militants had been killed and five captured during an operation in Malakand division on Sunday and Monday. Fourteen militants were killed on Shamozai bridge alone.

Eight IEDs left on the bridge were defused.

Security forces have cleared Biha valley and Bartana, south of Chuprial. Three small tunnels were destroyed in Loi Namal.

A jirga handed over a militant to security forces in Bahrain. Four militants were caught in Wanai, Shalkosar, Bashkhela and Drushkhela.

Eight militants were killed and one was injured during clashes with a tribal lashkar in Lower Dir.

Relief goods’ sale in market

HASANABDAL: Relief goods including flour, ghee, rice, pulses and other edibles even electric fans are being sold in the open market in Hasanabdal.

The News has learnt that internally displaced persons (IDPs) Hindus and Sikhs who were migrated here from troubled Swat valley packed up with relief goods and now they are selling the commodities in open market to get some money.

When contacted, Dr Suran Singh, leader and the spokesman of the IDPs, disclosed that the IDPs here had the right to retain the relief goods or sell it in the open market to get some cash.

Iran sets date for Ahmadinejad to take oath of office

TEHRAN: After winning a landslide victory in Iran's closely-contested and disputed 10th presidential election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be sworn in before parliament between July 26 and August 19.

On Tuesday, parliament's board of directors set July 26 to August 19 as the period for the president's swearing-in and the introduction of the new cabinet, Iranian media reported.

Parliamentary deputies will also review the credentials of the proposed ministers during the same period.

Iran's Interior Ministry declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the winner of the June 12th election with almost two-thirds of the vote.

The defeated candidates, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi and Mohsen Rezaei, have cried foul once the results were announced and reported over 600 irregularities in the electoral process to the Guardian Council.

However, the council which is tasked with supervising the elections ruled out the possibility of nullifying the presidential election, saying there has been no record of any major irregularity.

Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, the spokesman of the council, said late on Monday that most of the complaints reported irregularities before the election, and not during or after the vote.

Intensified crackdown mutes protests in Iran

CAIRO – Overwhelmed by police and left with limited alternatives, Iranian demonstrators resorted Tuesday to more subtle ways of challenging the outcome of the presidential election: holding up posters, shouting from rooftops and turning on car headlights.
But the restrained expressions of discontent appeared to be scattered as Iran's ruling clerics dealt the opposition new setbacks, making clear they have no intention of holding a new vote and setting up a special court to deal with hundreds of protesters arrested in more than a week of unrest.
Iran also expelled two diplomats from Britain — a nation it bitterly accuses of meddling and spying — and Britain in turn sent two Iranian envoys home.
The latest moves, and a fresh deployment of riot police and militia to break up any street gatherings, signaled the regime's determination to squelch dissent and mute the voices of those whose protests have been the largest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
"People are calmly protesting, more symbolically than with their voices," a Tehran resident said in a telephone interview, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of government retribution.
No rallies were reported Tuesday. Many in Tehran seemed hesitant to confront the feared Revolutionary Guard and members of the Basij militia, suggesting the harsh response wrought by hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to large and boisterous demonstrations may have weakened the opposition's resolve.
In Tehran's sprawling Grand Bazaar market, shopkeepers said customers frightened away by the violent crackdown were venturing back outdoors.
"These past few days the situation was not good," said a vendor who gave his name only as Ali because he feared retaliation. "People were scared because there was not any security and people didn't come out. But thank God, in the past two or three days the situation has gotten much better and business is good."
Severe restrictions on reporters have made it almost impossible to independently verify reports on demonstrations, clashes and casualties. Iran has ordered journalists for international news agencies to stay in their offices, barring them from reporting on the streets.
President Barack Obama said the world was "appalled and outraged" at Tehran's use of violence, and other nations expressed grave concerns as the standoff fueled an increasingly acrimonious international dispute on how to engage Iran — a country the U.S. and its allies have accused of covertly trying to build a nuclear weapon.
"I have made it clear that the United States respects the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and is not interfering in Iran's affairs," Obama said. "But we must also bear witness to the courage and dignity of the Iranian people, and to a remarkable opening within Iranian society. And we deplore violence against innocent civilians anywhere that it takes place."
Iran's Foreign Ministry said it expelled the two Britons for "unconventional behavior," state television reported without elaborating. Tensions between Iran and Britain, which has urged the Islamic regime to respect human rights, have soared in recent days.
During Friday prayers at Tehran University, Khamenei lashed out against Western countries he said were displaying their "enmity" against the Islamic state, "and the most evil of them is the British government." Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has accused Britain of sending spies to manipulate the June 12 election.
Iran's expulsions came a day after Britain sent home a dozen dependents of diplomatic staff because of the unrest.
"I am disappointed that Iran has placed us in this position but we will continue to seek good relations with Iran and to call for the regime to respect the human rights and democratic freedoms of the Iranian people," said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
About 100 hard-line students protested outside the British Embassy in Tehran, where they burned U.S., British and Israeli flags, pelted the building with tomatoes, and chanted: "Down with Britain!" and "Down with USA!" state TV reported.
Iran also accused U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of interfering in its domestic affairs after he demanded an immediate end to "arrests, threats and use of force."
Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi says he was the true winner of the election. Iran's electoral commission declared Ahmadinejad the winner by a landslide, ignoring Mousavi's claims of widespread and systematic vote fraud. Mousavi has been out of sight in recent days, but a short message posted on his Web site asserted that "all the reports of violations in the elections will be published soon."
State TV reported that Ahmadinejad would be sworn in sometime between July 26 and Aug. 19.
Another opposition figure, reformist presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi, called for a day of mourning for at least 17 people killed in protests since the election. Some social networking sites suggested that the mourning would take place Thursday.
Amid the crackdown, there was one small concession Tuesday from Khamenei, whose word is law in the Islamic Republic. State TV said he agreed to extend by five days a deadline for registering complaints about the election.
Yet the regime made it clear that it stood by the results and there would be no rerun of the disputed vote.
State-run Press TV quoted Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, the spokesman for Iran's top electoral body, the Guardian Council, as saying it found "no major fraud or breach in the election."
"Therefore, there is no possibility of an annulment taking place," he was quoted as saying.
On Monday, the council had acknowledged in a rare step that it found voting irregularities in 50 of 170 districts, including ballot counts that exceeded the number of eligible voters. Still, it said the discrepancies, involving some 3 million votes, were not widespread enough to affect the outcome.
Iran has 46.2 million eligible voters, one-third of them under 30. The final tally gave 62.6 percent of the vote to Ahmadinejad and 33.75 percent to Mousavi, a landslide victory in a race that was perceived to be much closer. The huge margin went against the expectation that the record 85 percent turnout would help Mousavi.
In a boost for the regime, Russia said Tuesday it respects the outcome. Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, has longtime political and economic ties with Iran, where it is helping build a nuclear power plan at Bushehr. In his only trip abroad since the vote, Ahmadinejad went to Russia last week for a conference, where he met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Meanwhile, Ebrahim Raisi, a top judicial official, said a special court has been set up to deal with detained protesters.
"Elements of riots must be dealt with to set an example. The judiciary will do that," he was quoted as saying by state-run radio. The judiciary is controlled by Iran's ruling clerics.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting Rome, praised the courage of Iranian protesters "in facing bullets in the streets."
Two prominent Iranian opposition figures took their case to Europe on Tuesday.
Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi asked European Union officials in Brussels not to negotiate or hold meetings with Iranian leaders until the crackdown stops.
In Rome, Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf said he had been asked by Mousavi aides to spread the word on what is happening in Iran. Makhmalbaf said that even if Ahmadinejad manages to govern for the next four years, "he will not have one day of quietness," with protesters resorting to general strikes and civil resistance.
A number of journalists have been detained since the protests began, although there have been conflicting accounts. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders put the figure of reporters detained at 34.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said 13 were in custody, including Newsweek correspondent Maziar Bahari. State-run TV confirmed the arrest of Iason Athanasiadis, a Greek national reporting for the Washington Times.

Tribesmen join cricket celebrations

LANDIKOTAL: The euphoria of Pakistan’s victory in the final of the World Twenty20 against Sri Lanka spread to the far reaches of the country, with the tribesmen in Landikotal celebrating with massive aerial firing.

However, whereas the sound of gunshots has become commonplace in the North West Frontier Provinces loud bursts of folk music accompanied by frenzied dancing broke the tension and brought people some much needed relief.

‘The people here are very happy that Pakistan won the World cup and it proved that Pakistan was a sports crazy and peace loving country,’ Bilal Khan, a local villager said.

‘Shahid Afridi, a tribal man, already has a record to his name and earned a great honour worldwide for Pakistan with another amazing display,’ he said.

The victory of the Pakistani cricket team was celebrated everywhere in Pakistan including Balochistan and the whole of the tribal belt, another local, Arshad Ali, said.

‘We are happy that our players earned a good name for Pakistan,’ he said.

The tribesmen vowed to keep the Pakistani flag hoisted high and play their part for the development of the country.

‘Pakistan is our motherland and its love is a part of our faith,’ Ali said.

Thousands of people across the embattled North West Frontier Province and other part of Pakistan, congregated at markets, parks and streets throughout the country, dancing, waving cricket bats and shouting ‘Long Live Pakistan’ -- an unusual sight in a nation cowed by suicide attacks by Taliban militants.

Pakistan Zardari:UK must do more to combat militants

LONDON- Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said on Tuesday Britain has to tackle its own issues of deprivation to stop the radicalisation of British Muslims.

In an interview with ITV's "News at Ten", he rejected the suggestion it was Pakistan's role to win the hearts and minds of radicalised British Muslims, although he said his country would arrest any radical Briton visiting Pakistan and send them back to the UK.

"The appeal has to be on the other side," he was due to say in the programme to be aired on Tuesday evening.

"I think Britain has to take the responsibility and make sure that they do not feel the deprivation they have been. Because we all know this is a state of mind that comes up from some kind of this.

"And one has to fight it in Britain and not in Pakistan."

British security services say there have been Pakistani links to almost all of the dozen major terrorism plots foiled since 2001, including the London bombings in 2005.

Sky News, citing unnamed sources, earlier this year said Pakistan's intelligence service had identified more than 20 Britons who had been trained by militants in Pakistan and had returned to Britain, where they posed a security threat.

In the interview, Zardari denied any knowledge of militant training camps in Pakistan and said it was an "old thought" among British intelligence that thousands of radicals were arriving in Britain.

"I don't think there are any known camps that you know of or we know of or British intelligence know of that exist," he said.

"Of course they exist underground -- the mafia exists underground in Britain -- and wherever we find it we crush it ... but I don't think there is a particular place which we know of that still exists."

The president also rejected British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's description of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan as the "crucible for global terrorism".

"I think sometimes people say things they don't understand or mean but I think his concern is genuine and I appreciate the concern," Zardari said.

Stop dancing with dictators, Zardari tells US

The Frontier Against Terrorism
By Asif Ali Zardari
Monday, June 22, 2009

After the debacle of Vietnam, the United States could pack up and leave with minimal consequences for its genuine national interests; similarly, for the British in the subcontinent and the French in Algeria. But the West, indeed the entire civilized world, does not have that luxury in Afghanistan and Pakistan. If the Taliban and al-Qaeda are allowed to triumph in our region, their destabilizing alliance will spread across the continents.

In Pakistan today, democracy must succeed. The forces of extremism must be vanquished. Failure is not an option; not for us, not for the world.

How can we ensure that the forces of freedom defeat the forces of fanaticism? The problems that have fueled extremism are multifaceted and the solutions equally multidimensional. We need short- and long-term strategies, and we must realize that to truly eliminate the terrorist menace, we have to succeed not only militarily but politically, economically and socially.

The West, most notably the United States, has been all too willing to dance with dictators in pursuit of perceived short-term goals. The litany of these policies and their consequences clutter the earth, from the Marcos regime in the Philippines, to the Shah in Iran, to Mohammed Zia ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan. Invariably, each case has proved that myopic strategies that sacrifice principle lead to unanticipated long-term consequences.

Let me focus on Pakistan. The West stood by as a democratically elected government was toppled by a military dictatorship in the late '70s. Because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the West used my nation as a blunt instrument of the Cold War. It empowered a Gen. Zia dictatorship that brutalized its people, decimated our political parties, murdered the prime minister who had founded Pakistan's largest political party, and destroyed the press and civil society. And once the Soviets were defeated, the Americans took the next bus out of town, leaving behind a political vacuum that ultimately led to the Talibanization and radicalization of Afghanistan, the birth of al-Qaeda and the current jihadist insurrection in Pakistan. The heroin mafia, which arose as a consequence of the efforts to implode the Soviet Union, now takes in $5 billion a year, twice the budget of our army and police. This is the price Pakistan continues to pay.

Dancing with dictators never pays off. Frankly, the worst democracy is better than any dictatorship. Dictatorship leads to frustration, extremism and terrorism. But the past is the past, and we can't undo it. We can, however, address the consequences of past mistakes and make sure they are not repeated. My most immediate goal is for the civilized world to rally to the support of Pakistani democracy and the Pakistani people's struggle against extremism.

In the battle against international terrorism, we are in the trenches for ourselves but also for the world. We have lost more soldiers -- 1,200 of them -- fighting the Taliban in Pakistan than all of the countries of NATO have lost, combined, fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Thousands of civilians, victims of attacks such as the recent bombing of the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, have died.

And on a very personal level, I have lost my wife, Benazir Bhutto, the mother of my children and Pakistan's greatest leader. She warned the world, in her speeches and her writings, in her last book and her very last words, that fanaticism is a threat to all people; that dictatorship had led to its spread within Pakistan; that my nation had to wake up; and that the world must take notice. She paid with her life for her prescience and her courage, and I have to answer to future generations and to my own children that she did not die in vain.

We need immediate assistance. The Obama administration recognizes that only an economically viable Pakistan can contain the terrorist menace. The United States has committed $1.5 billion a year for five years to help stabilize our economy, and the House of Representatives and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have acted decisively to reorient the Pakistani-American relationship toward not just a military alliance but a sustained economic partnership.

Now, the rest of the world must step up and match the U.S. effort. Pakistan needs a robust assistance package so that we can deliver for the people and defeat the militants. And the rest of the world should again follow the American lead in helping us deal with the millions of internally displaced people who are the most recent victims of terrorism in our nation.

But aid is not enough. In the long term, Pakistan needs trade to allow us to become economically independent. Only such an economically robust Pakistan will be able to contain the fanatics and demonstrate to the 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide that democracy and economic development go hand in hand. Notably, the United States is moving forward with regional opportunity zones in Afghanistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas region of Pakistan that will remove trade barriers and provide economic incentives to build factories, start industries, employ workers -- and give hope to the people. This opportunity zone concept should be a model to Europe, as well. Europe must realize that it is in its own self-interest, as the United States has realized, to do everything possible to grow the Pakistani economy and to provide incentives for Pakistani exports to the continent.

My wife traveled the world preaching democracy to what should have been its loudest choir. The doors of many Western governments were shut to her, but she was not deterred. She was relentless in her passion for democracy, and unwaveringly optimistic about its ultimate success. She said, famously, that "truth, justice and the forces of history are on our side."

Today, we shall see if America and Europe are on our side as well.

The writer is president of Pakistan.

Iranian protesters defy warning

Anti-government protesters have continued their demonstrations on the streets of Tehran, the Iranian capital, despite a warning from the country's security forces.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards, a military unit, threatened on Monday in a statement on its website to crush further protests over the country's disputed June 12 presidential election.
The Revolutionary Guards is an armed force parallel to Iran's army which claims to defend the gains of the 1979 revolution against a possible coup.
But the warning fell on deaf ears as shortly afterwards hundreds of protesters gathered in central Tehran amid reports of teargas and batons being used to disperse the crowd.
Riot police and members of Basij, a pro-government armed volunteer force, were deployed heavily in Tehran.
Witnesses said 1,000 protesters gathered at the Haft-e Tir Square despite the guards' warning.
One witness said he saw Basij members attack a group of protesters, dragging them out of a nearby house to which they had fled, the Reuters news agency reported.
'Sensitive situation'

The Revolutionary Guards' statement said the unit would not hesitate to confront "illegal" rallies organised by supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the moderate politician who is contesting the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "At the current sensitive situation ... the guards will firmly confront, in a revolutionary way, rioters and those who violate the law," the statement said.
The Iranian government has also cracked down on independent media reporting on the protests, and imposed severe restrictions on foreign journalists.
The Iranian capital has seen unrest and street protests since results of the vote were announced on July 13.
Over the weekend, clashes between police and anti-government protesters left at least 12 people dead and more than 100 wounded - raising the death toll to 19 since the unrest began.
Iranian state radio reported that more than 450 people had been arrested during Saturday's rallies, mostly around Tehran's Azadi Square.
Forty police officers were also wounded, and 34 government buildings damaged, the Fars news agency reported.
'Constant insecurity'
Despite the deaths, arrests and an earlier warning from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, the demonstrators appear to be undeterred.

Alireza Zaker-Esfahani, an adviser to Ahmadinejad, accused Mousavi of not trying to calm his supporters.

"The weakness is in Mir Hossein Mousavi's political behaviour. ... He is currently issuing statements inviting his supporters to take to the streets. That will not solve any problem," he told Al Jazeera on Monday.
"Rallies will ultimately contribute to abuse, setting buses on fire, bloodshed and constant insecurity for the people."
Earlier, Iran's Guardian Council, the country's highest legislative body, admitted some irregularities occurred during the election.

Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, the council's spokesman, told state-funded broadcaster IRIB on Monday that up to three million votes were under scrutiny, after it was found that the number of votes exceeded the number of eligible voters in 50 cities.

However, he said it was a normal discrepancy because people are allowed to travel to other areas to vote, and that it was "yet to be determined whether the amount is decisive in the election results".

Ahmadinejad won the election by a wide margin, with 63 per cent of the vote, according to figures from Iran's interior ministry.

The ministry said Mousavi received only 34 per cent of the vote.

He and his supporters allege voter fraud and have called for an annulment of the result.

"Lies and fraud"

Ghanbar Naderi, an Iranian journalist and Ahmadinejad supporter, told Al Jazeera that the Mousavi camp is underestimating the support Ahmadinejad received in areas outside the capital.

"They are ignoring the fact that there are so many poor people across the country who really favour Ahmadinejad," he said on Monday.


User-supplied images are the chief source of information from Iran for the world's media "Ahmadinejad has directed his development programmes across provinces in deprived areas, in remote areas, and people saw the results of his promises - he delivered on his promises. That is why they voted for him."
In a statement published on the website of his newspaper Kalameh, Mousavi said that Iranians had the right to protest against "lies and fraud", but also urged them to show restraint as they take to the streets.

"The revolution is your legacy. To protest against lies and fraud is your right. Be hopeful that you will get your right and do not allow others who want to provoke your anger ... to prevail," he said.

Atoosa, a Mousavi supporter, described Mousavi's call to show restraint as a "smart move".

"As we have seen, the crackdown is very hard on people and people are dying everyday," she told Al Jazeera by phone from Tehran on Monday.

"The only way to protest now is to use different methods."

Joy of victory briefly unites a nation scarred by ethnic conflict

Scarcely had the players stepped off the field at Lord's when celebratory gunfire began to crackle nearly 4,000 miles away. Sweets were thrust into smiling mouths. Children danced with unrestrained glee. And cars raced through the streets, packed with revellers as they whooped with delight and waved the Pakistani flag.

For a country that has long endured a stream of bad news, the Pakistan cricket team's victory in the World Twenty20 final on Sunday proved a rare moment of common joy. The thunder of suicide bombings and battles against Taliban insurgents seemed, for once, to have been drowned out by the roar of millions cheering their biggest sporting triumph since former captain Imran Khan lifted the World Cup in 1992.

"We needed this so badly," said Ali Azmat, the former frontman for Junoon, a rock band known as Pakistan's U2. "In this country, people don't get food to eat. There is a war going on. Millions are displaced. There are political problems in each and every province. In some cities, we don't have electricity for 12 hours each day. This was really a great moment for us."

The scenes of jubilation underscored cricket's ability to unite Pakistanis in a manner that has only been rivalled by war with its neighbour India. The sport evokes passions that can outstrip religious fervour. In moments of crushing defeat, a pall of gloom casts itself over the country. By contrast, the bitter and deepening ethnic, political and sectarian divisions that scar Pakistan came to a pause yesterday.

"The team did something that our politicians have failed to," said Ayesha Tammy Haq, a talk-show host and columnist. "They made 170 million people feel proud to be Pakistani. For once, instead of party flags and partisan politics, the Pakistan flag was everywhere."

In Karachi, the stock exchange rose as traders hailed a brightening mood. In the militancy-racked North West Frontier Province, Pashtuns took pride from the performances of the captain, Younis Khan, player of the match, Shahid Afridi, and the leading wicket-taker Umer Gul. Punjabis boasted that the rest of the team came from the majority province. Members of the ruling Pakistan People's Party said it was no coincidence that the victory came as they marked the birthday of their slain leader, Benazir Bhutto.

Many Pakistanis hope that the cricket team's success will help improve their reputation abroad. The country was cast into sporting isolation this year after militant gunmen attacked the visiting Sri Lankan team in Lahore on 3 March. The Pakistani government was criticised, at home and abroad, for failing to provide adequate security.

"We have once again shown the world that united, this marvellous nation has an immense capacity to fight back and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat," said Farahnaz Ispahani, an MP from the Pakistan People's Party.

Peshawar, End Destination For Displaced, Has Rocky Cultural History

"Zeek" Afridi, an up-and-coming singer from Pakistan's embattled city of Peshawar, just wants the Taliban to stop texting him.
A beep from his mobile used to be a friendly sound. Now, it's terrifying. The Taliban has been sending Zeek threatening SMSs. "It's impossible," the 29-year-old says about the oppression artists face in Peshawar, long a home to Pakistan's artists and intellectuals. Now, many like Zeek, as he is known, find themselves face-to-face with the Taliban threat.


Zeek's massive hit song "Khyber Zalmi," or "The Youth of Khyber Pass," features 70-year-old lyrics that invoke "brave youth" who love their country despite those with "bad intentions." Pakistan's youth are "strong arms," the refrain goes, for whom "country" is "life."
By grafting edgier rock melodies onto older, traditional lyrics, Zeek has plugged into a style of music increasingly popular among a booming new generation of twenty- to thirtysomethings.
This is a problem for the Taliban. Nationalism-infused rock music like Zeek's is a potent release for the anger, poverty, and desperation the militia group uses to push young people toward extremism. It has banned musical instruments and public performance.
Destination For The Displaced

Many artists live, like Zeek's family does, in Peshawar. The city is the darling of the Pashtuns, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and Pakistan's largest ethnic minority.

As a result of weeks of fighting between government troops and Taliban in northwestern Pakistan, Peshawar has become a destination for displaced persons and international aid organizations.

Rumors of Taliban insurgents infiltrating the city under cover of displaced persons have heightened paranoia in the city. Schools have been attacked, its main bazaar bombed, and a hotel frequented by foreigners and aid workers recently suffered a deadly truck bombing.

Everyday life has been disrupted, and the city's once-vibrant cultural celebrations have lost their color.

Given the Taliban's disapproval of musical instruments and public performance, Peshawar musicians were not allowed to perform at their own awards ceremony recently because organizers feared the event would be bombed.

Even the city's fabled, music-filled Storyteller's Bazaar has deteriorated into a swamp of aid organizations. People are too scared to come out and drop a few rupees on some hot street food.

"I am making good food, but people aren't coming," Muhammed Fahim, one of the few vendors left along the once-populated bazaar streets, tells RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan.

Taking It By Fear

While few think Peshawar will be taken by force, residents say they are already taking it by fear. Mubeen, an elderly cobbler, witnessed the violence first-hand.

"I was there when the bomb went off [in the bazaar]. I saw bodies. I saw people hurt," he says. "But because I have a family to feed, I come back here to work. But these kinds of actions are against religion, against humanity. I saw two innocent women killed by that bomb."

The Taliban justifies their crackdown on artists by quoting an obscure line from the Koran, but British ethnomusicologist John Baily thinks the ban on musical instruments and public performance points to "a competition between different kinds of music."

"In the year 2000, eight years ago when I was in Peshawar, then a very large number of professional musicians from Kabul were all in exile in Peshawar," he tells RFE/RL. "Now, I know, from having talked to somebody quite recently in Peshawar, all those musicians have gone back to Afghanistan. And I hadn't realized, really, how severe the prohibition against music in Peshawar is today."

As the Taliban's influence began to rise in Peshawar, Zeek became concerned for his life and left the country. But after a friend told him some weeks ago that the Taliban were listening to his albums and may target his family, he took the first flight back to Pakistan.

Zeek grew up listening to a band called Junoon, which became a sensation in the South Asian music scene in the early '90s, earning the name "Pakistan's U2." Their blockbuster "Sayonee" sold millions of albums.



Zeek probably never expected to share the problems of Junoon's guitarist and vocalist, Salman Ahmed, who has been targeted by extremists for decades.

'Have To Be United'

Today, Ahmed is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations, spending his time between Karachi and Manhattan, and is optimistic about Pakistan's future.

If artists formed a coalition in Pakistan, Ahmed tells RFE/RL, they "will outnumber the extremists," but they "have to be united, just like the extremists are united in their goals of destruction."




"We musicians and poets must not be afraid of them because [the Taliban] neither act nor talk like Muslims," Ahmed says. "Our modern and traditional culture are both against Taliban and their world view."

But Zeek says that his "colleagues, including musicians, singers, and other art performers, are in panic. We are all at risk."

It's a risk worth taking, Ahmed said after a trip to Peshawar in late May, because arts and culture are "a far more lethal force against extremism."

"Nowadays, musicians are going through hardships. I was there for few months, and returned just 10 days ago. I could not see that people are really terrified, but I think that majority in Afghanistan and Pakistan are against the Taliban and they want they Taliban to be defeated."

"Guitars and amps," he says, "can drown out the bullets."

U.S. Toughens Airstrike Policy in Afghanistan

NEW YORK TIMES
KABUL, Afghanistan — The new American commander in Afghanistan said he would sharply restrict the use of airstrikes here, in an effort to reduce the civilian deaths that he said were undermining the American-led mission.

In interviews over the past few days, the commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, said the use of airstrikes during firefights would in most cases be allowed only to prevent American and other coalition troops from being overrun.

Even in the cases of active firefights with Taliban forces, he said, airstrikes will be limited if the combat is taking place in populated areas — the very circumstances in which most Afghan civilian deaths have occurred. The restrictions will be especially tight in attacking houses and compounds where insurgents are believed to have taken cover.

“Air power contains the seeds of our own destruction if we do not use it responsibly,” General McChrystal told a group of his senior officers during a video conference last week. “We can lose this fight.”

“When we shoot into a compound, that should only be for the protection of our forces,” he said. “I want everyone to understand that.”

The statements by General McChrystal signaled the latest tightening of the rules for using airstrikes, which, while considered indispensable for protecting troops, have killed hundreds of civilians.

They have also angered the Afghan government, which has repeatedly criticized American and NATO forces for not taking enough care with civilian lives.

In December, the American commander at the time, Gen. David D. McKiernan, issued guidelines ordering his soldiers to use force that was proportional to the provocation and that minimized the risk of civilian casualties.

General McChrystal’s new guidelines follow a deadly episode last month in the Afghan village of Granai, where American airstrikes killed dozens of civilians.

The episode highlighted the difficulties facing American officers under fire, as they are forced to balance using lethal force to protect their troops with rules restricting the use of firepower to prevent civilian deaths.

The episode, on May 4, began when a large group of Taliban fighters attacked a group of about 200 Afghan soldiers and police officers and American advisers. During the firefight, which began just after noon and carried on into the night, the Americans on the ground called for air support.

American fighter jets, and then bombers, came to the scene, dropping a number of 500- and 2,000-pound bombs. The bombs succeeded in ending the attack, but they did much more damage as well.

A Pentagon report estimated that at least 26 civilians had been killed in the airstrikes. It concluded that American personnel had made significant errors, including violating procedures, that led to those deaths. Among those errors, the report said, was a failure by the American personnel to discern whether Afghan civilians were in the compound before they attacked.

Other credible estimates of civilian deaths in Granai ranged much higher. An investigation by a Kabul-based group, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, said that at least 86 women and children had been killed, and as many as 97 civilians altogether. The Afghan government said 140 civilians had been killed.

The Pentagon report did not dispute the conclusions reached by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, and referred to its “balanced, thorough investigation.”

The deaths in Granai make up part of the huge rise in civilian casualties that are characterizing the war in Afghanistan.

A United Nations report found that the number of Afghan civilians killed in 2008 was 40 percent higher than in 2007. The Taliban and other insurgents caused the majority of the civilian deaths, primarily through suicide bombers and roadside bombs.

The changes highlighted by General McChrystal go to the heart of what went wrong in Granai. In that case, there were at least four airstrikes: the first by F-18 fighters and the other three by a B-1B bomber. The report found that it was the last two airstrikes that probably caused the civilian deaths.

In those cases, the report found, the bomber’s crew tracked suspected Taliban fighters as they entered a building, and then attacked without determining whether civilians were inside. The report said there were probably civilians inside those buildings when they were destroyed.

Under the rules that General McChrystal outlined, those strikes would almost certainly be prohibited. They would be prohibited, the general said, even if it meant letting some Taliban get away.

Referring to airstrikes, General McChrystal said, “If it is just to defeat the enemy, then we are not going to do it, even if it means we are going to step away from that firefight and fight another time.”

According to the Pentagon report, the B-1B dropped five 500-pound bombs and two 2,000-pound bombs. The initial airstrikes, carried out by four F-18 fighters-bombers, the report said, killed insurgents but no civilians.

Ahmad Nader Nadery, the director of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, said Sunday that the American response in Granai was “disproportionate.” And he said he was pleased by the changes outlined by General McChrystal.

“We are looking forward to seeing the new guidelines, and actually seeing how they would be translated into practice,” he said.

Last September, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ordered new rules specifically to defuse tensions over Afghan civilian deaths.

During a recent visit to Kabul, Mr. Gates said the American military would quickly apologize and offer compensation to survivors in cases of civilian deaths, even in advance of formal investigations to determine exactly what had happened.

“I think the key for us is, on those rare occasions when we do make a mistake, when there is an error, to apologize quickly, to compensate the victims quickly, and then carry out the investigation,” Mr. Gates said after a meeting with President Hamid Karzai.