Obama: Health care reform means changes in treatment for the better

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama said Wednesday he was unable to guarantee that health care reform won't change how Americans get medical treatment, but he said any changes would be necessary and positive.

In a nationally televised news conference dominated by the health care issue, Obama delivered lengthy statements in response to Republican attacks on proposals he favors.

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He also attempted to ease the concerns of people left confused by the fierce debate in Washington.

He repeatedly emphasized that the spiraling costs of the current system would bankrupt the nation while denying coverage to millions more Americans.

Asked directly if he could guarantee that an overhauled health care system won't change how people receive treatment, Obama said no.

"The whole point of this is to try to encourage what works," Obama said, addressing concerns that reform would take away the ability of people to choose their doctors and treatment.

"The government is already making some of these decisions," Obama said. "Insurance companies are making some of these decisions."

The reform proposals he backs would have experts make decisions based on the best medical treatment, not accountants attempting to save money or doctors prescribing treatments that bring the highest fees, Obama said.

"This will require patients ... to be more discriminating consumers," he said. "I think that's a good thing. Ultimately ... we just can't afford what's happening right now."

Republican opponents of Democratic bills in the House and Senate said earlier that most Americans like the current system, which they said must be made less expensive and more accessible.

Obama and Democratic leaders say the problems are deeper and systemic, and the president spent all of his seven-minute opening statement at the 52-minute news conference outlining the challenges and his proposed solutions.

"Even as we rescue this economy from a full-blown crisis, we must rebuild it stronger than before -- and health insurance reform is central to that effort," Obama said.

"If we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit. If we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket," he said.

As he laid out the list of benefits that health care reform offers, he dropped a direct reference to a government-funded public health insurance option.

Until now, Obama has consistently touted the government-funded public option as competition for private insurers in expanding access to health coverage.

It was unclear if Obama changed the wording to avoid a label opposed by Republican supporters, or if he was signaling a policy shift toward a compromise being negotiated by the Senate Finance Committee to have health insurance cooperatives rather than a government-funded public option.

Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa told CNN on Wednesday that the Finance Committee was not considering a public option.

Later in the news conference, Obama responded to a question about the public option by saying it was intended to "keep the insurance companies honest.

He noted that some insurance companies recently reported record profits, and said offering a competing government-funded health plan would require private insurers to offer less-expensive coverage.

Speaking about the benefits of his plan, he said it would offer "security" and "stability" to sick and healthy Americans.

"It will prevent insurance companies from dropping your coverage if you get too sick. It will give you the security of knowing that if you lose your job, move, or change your job, you will still be able to have coverage. It will limit the amount your insurance company can force you to pay for your medical costs out of your own pocket. And it will cover preventive care like check-ups and mammograms that save lives and money," he said.

He also said his program would not add to the deficit over the next decade, addressing concerns from Republican opponents and fiscally conservative Democrats over the costs of the program. Watch Obama describe how he plans to pay for health reform »

"Already, we have estimated that two-thirds of the cost of reform can be paid for by reallocating money that is simply being wasted in federal health care programs. This includes over $100 billion in unwarranted subsidies that go to insurance companies as part of Medicare -- subsidies that do nothing to improve care for our seniors," he said.

Obama also chided opponents of his health care reform push for making the issue purely political.

"I've heard that one Republican strategist told his party that even though they may want to compromise, it's better politics to 'go for the kill.' Another Republican senator said that defeating health reform is about 'breaking' me," he said.

"Let me be clear: This isn't about me," Obama said, noting that he and every member of Congress -- including those trying to scuttle health care reform legislation -- "have great health insurance."

Instead, he said, the debate is about people lacking health insurance because they can't afford rising costs, get denied due to a pre-existing condition, or lose their jobs.

"This debate is not a game for these Americans, and they cannot afford to wait for reform any longer," Obama said.

He also confirmed an agreement with fiscally conservative Democrats to create an independent group of doctors and medical experts empowered to eliminate waste and inefficiency in Medicare.

Obama said he backed adding such a panel to health care reform legislation.

Such a panel could both save money and "ensure the long-term financial health of Medicare," Obama said.

So-called "Blue Dog" Democrats questioning the costs of initial health care bills said Obama gave a "verbal agreement" Tuesday to including the independent panel in health care reform legislation.

Earlier Wednesday, Obama worked the phones, urging lawmakers to embrace health care reform, White House Communications Director Anita Dunn said Wednesday.

It follows the president's Tuesday meeting with Democrats at the White House, dubbed a "serious working session" where "major progress" was made, Dunn said.

Officials said Obama will be taking a more hands-on approach with members of Congress in the days and weeks to come regarding the health care debate.

White House aides say the administration is concerned about three centers of serious opposition from House Democrats: the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats who are worried about the cost of a public health care plan; the freshmen and other Democrats from high-income districts who are concerned about taxes for high-income Democrats, and the anti-abortion Democrats who are concerned about federal funding going for abortion services, and whether health care providers can opt out of certain procedures.

One official said the administration is aware that "if any of these three groups abandon the effort the bill would be impossible to get out of committee, much less pass."

Aides say the president and lawmakers also discussed the public option versus a co-op option.

Obama Wades Into a Volatile Racial Issue

newyorktimes.com
Americans got a rare glimpse Wednesday night of what it means to have a black president in the Oval Office.

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In response to a question at his prime-time news conference about the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr., the black Harvard professor, in his own home over the weekend, Mr. Obama declared that the Cambridge, Mass., police had “acted stupidly.”

Mr. Obama’s response was his most animated performance of the hourlong news conference, and represented an extraordinary plunge by a president into a local law-enforcement dispute. And it opened a window into a world from which Mr. Obama is now largely shielded, suggesting the incident had struck a raw nerve with the president.

In the public spotlight, Mr. Obama has sought to transcend, if not avoid, the issue of race. As a candidate, he tried to confine his racial references to the difficulty of catching a cab in New York, although he was forced to confront it directly during the Pennsylvania primary when his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, became an issue. And last week, at the 100th convention of the NAACP in New York, he spoke in uncharacteristically personal terms about his rise to power as a black man, while warning black Americans not to make excuses for their failure to achieve.

Wednesday night’s press conference seemed to be a different deal as the president leaped into a highly charged controversy that has ignited passions across talk radio, the blogosphere and the old-fashioned water cooler.

But in fact, racial profiling was a major issue for Mr. Obama when he was in the Illinois legislature. He was the chief sponsor of a bill, which became law, that requires police to record the race, age and gender of all drivers they stop for traffic violations and for those records to be analyzed for evidence of racial profiling.

And so the substance of his response was not as surprising as the fact that a president so quickly joined the fray.

The police were called to Mr. Gates’s house after a report of a robbery in progress. Mr. Gates, saying he was jimmying open a damaged front door, said he told the police he lived in the house. Still, the police report said he was arrested for “loud and tumultuous behavior in a public space.” He was held in police custody for four hours, after which disorderly conduct charges against him were dropped. Mr. Gates said he was the victim of racial profiling and has demanded an apology but the police officer involved has said he has nothing to apologize for.

Mr. Obama, asked Wednesday what the incident said about race relations in America, noted up front that Mr. Gates is a friend and that his comments might be biased. He said “words” had been exchanged and added:

“Now, I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that, but I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, number three, what I think we know, separate and apart from this incident, is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. And that’s just a fact.” He added later that the incident was “a sign of how race remains a factor in this society.”

He also used biting humor, grinning broadly as he imagined being in Mr. Gates’s seemingly preposterous circumstance of being arrested after trying to get into his own home.

“Here, I’d get shot,” Mr. Obama said, referring to his new address of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The statement was a bit of political jujitsu that acknowledged the intense security that surrounds any president while letting sink in the image of what would happen to a black man who might seem to be breaking into the White House.

Mr. Obama’s response lit up the blogosphere immediately after the press conference. The debate developing overnight was whether Mr. Obama had gone too far in his response.

On nytimes.com, one commenter had this to say:

“I agree that there was probably some stupidity involved here, but I just don’t think him weighing in on it benefits anyone. ... by the end of the week this will be spun so ridiculously that you’d swear he called the Cambridge police pigs while eating brie and sipping pinot noir.”

Another commenter posted this: “Why should the president remain neutral about anything? He’s the PRESIDENT, for god’s sake. The last thing anyone wants is a president who refuses to take a stand.”

It could not be determined how well Mr. Obama knows Mr. Gates. But the professor, a widely respected expert in the field of race relations, had very kind words for Mr. Obama’s pivotal speech on race relations after the Wright affair threatened to sink his candidacy.

“I think it was brilliant,” Mr. Gates said of the speech in an interview with Tavis Smiley at the time. “It is a great speech about race, and race relations, particularly between black people and white people at the beginning of the 21st Century.”

U.S. sees Pakistan securing Swat before attacking Mehsud

washingtonpost.com

ISLAMABAD - U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke hailed on Thursday the return home of many of the 2.5 million people displaced by fighting in Pakistan's Swat valley despite pockets of Taliban resistance.

Holbrooke described securing valleys, where the Pakistan army opened up an offensive against the militants more than three months ago, as the first priority.

"I think they've got their hands full in Swat and Buner, Holbrooke told journalists before leaving for Afghanistan at the end of two days of talks with the Pakistani political and military leadership in Islamabad.

Holbrooke said this was the likely reason why the army was delaying an all-out assault further west against the stronghold of Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in the remote South Waziristan tribal region.

"They've got to make sure when the refugees come back that they have security, so maybe they're delaying the offensive," he said, adding that he did not know the timing or nature of the looming action against Mehsud.

The United Nations said on Thursday nearly 400,000 people had returned home from the camps and makeshift shelters.

"They're returning in large numbers, thousands a day, and I think that is good news," he said.

Holbrooke spoke of the heavy U.S. financial assistance for Pakistan's government, military and its displaced people, and said that he hoped to announce help for Pakistan to overcome crippling power generation shortages when he returned next month.

PAKISTANI PRIORITIES

The Pakistani government gave orders to the army a month ago to go after Mehsud, who leads a loose grouping of some 13 Taliban factions dotted across the northwest.

Mehsud has come under frequent air and artillery bombardment since then but there are few signs of an imminent ground assault on his redoubt in the mountains.

The army is probably waiting to free up some of the 20,000 troops currently deployed in Swat, according to diplomats who follow military affairs.

Although Mehsud has helped provide fighters for the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, and trained suicide bombers to attack Afghan and Western forces, most of his focus has been on attacking the Pakistani state.

Several diplomats in Islamabad doubted whether eliminating Mehsud would provide any great strategic value for Western forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, but Holbrooke disagreed.

"I think Baitullah Mehsud is one of the most dangerous and odious people in the region and the United States had paid insufficient attention to him until recently," he said.

He said it made sense for the Pakistani government to first go after the militants, like Mehsud and Fazlullah, the Taliban commander in Swat, that posed a threat to their nation.

WHERE DID THE TALIBAN GO?

Pakistan has also moved forces to Baluchistan, to patrol the southwest province's border with Helmand, the southern Afghan province where U.S. forces began an operation against the Taliban earlier this month.

Holbrooke stressed that there was increasingly tight cooperation between the Pakistani and U.S. and NATO forces.

He also said there was little evidence that Taliban fighters had fled from Helmand to Pakistan, but he had still to discover how the guerrillas had melted away.

"So far they haven't really showed up, but we want to avoid the mistake of 2002 when U.S. offensives ignored the consequences in Pakistan," Holbrooke said.

Thousands of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters fled to Pakistan's tribal lands to escape the onslaught of U.S. backed forces in late 2001, when Holbrooke said there had been a lack of coordination with Pakistan.

US asks Pakistan: Stop begging, rely on own resources.

The Frontierpost
ISLAMABAD: US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has asked Pakistan to rely on its own resources to overcome its financial difficulties faced by the southasian nation. Addressing a joint press conference with Minister for State on Finance Hina Rabbani Khar here Wednesday, visiting US envoy regretted that the international community did not offered “satisfactory cooperation” to Pakistan for overcoming its financial hardships. However, Holbrooke assured that the US would continue its support for the country. US envoy said that the reality that India is a big power in the region should not be overlooked and must be accepted, suggesting Pakistan to extend cooperation with its neighbour “for its own interest.” Holbrooke also announced an aid of 165 million dollars for Swat IDPs in addition to already announced $350 million. Giving the breakdown of the $ 165 million assistance to Pakistan, Richard C Halbrooke said that the $165 million will be channeled both to meet the ongoing needs of displaced persons, located in camps and in host communities, and also to address the needs of families as they return to rebuild their homes and communities in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. He said $45 million will be provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support locally driven rehabilitation of basic infrastructure, including: water systems; health facilities; schools; roads; and bridges - maximizing the use of local labor and resources. Richard C Halbrooke said that $ 30 million will be contributed by USAID for small-scale infrastructure and community development grants for displaced families in NWFP. He added that$ 25 million will be provided by USAID to give families resources needed to rebuild their homes and livelihood. This, he said will be facilitated through community-driven, quick-impact cash-for-work programs in areas of reconstruction and return. He said that this could include removal of rubble and rehabilitation of irrigation systems in conflict-affected areas. As part of this assistance, USAID will support Pakistani government efforts to rebuild public buildings and facilitate the return of civil servants. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard C. Holbrooke said that US $ 23 million will be contributed to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from the State Department's Bureau for Refugees, Population and Migration (PRM) for humanitarian relief and managing the voluntary return of displaced families to their homes. This, he said, included providing emergency shelter and non-food items to camps managed by UNHCR, as well as to displaced families in host communities. It also includes protecting children from violence and reuniting unaccompanied children with their parents, and funding facilitated transportation to assist the Pakistani authorities to support the return of displaced people to their homes, he remarked. Richard Halbrooke said that $20 million will be provided by USAID to rebuild education infrastructure across Dir, Swat, and Buner. More than 315 schools in NWFP have been damaged or destroyed due to the Taliban insurgency, and nearly 4,000 more are serving as informal camps, for approximately 200,000 internally displaced persons, he added. He said that $12 million will be contributed to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), from the State Department's bureau for refugees, to be used for humanitarian operations and assistance for returning families as they rebuild their lives. This includes support for operations that assist displaced families in host communities and in camps run by the Pakistan Red Crescent Society/ICRC, help for those who need to trace their family members, and provision of aid to people living in conflict-affected areas, he remarked. Halbrooke said that $10 million will be provided by USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) for immediate livelihood and agriculture programs, mobile health clinics in Buner and Swat, and cash-for-work activities. As part of this assistance, OFDA will provide tool kits valued at approximately $2 million, which will be distributed through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and will include supplies such as shovels, pickaxes, and hammers, he added. Much of this money was included in the Obama Administration's supplemental appropriation for Pakistan last month, and the new disbursements will enable UNHCR, ICRC, IOM and other courageous relief organizations to more effectively and expeditiously serve the Pakistani people, he said. In addition to new programs from existing financial commitments, he disclosed that the State Department will provide a new grant of nearly $1 million that will allow the Pakistani government to work with U.S. and Pakistani telecom companies to deploy an SMS-text messaging system designed to help displaced families obtain critical information from the government, international relief agencies, and local community members. Today's announcement, he said is a further indication of the American people's commitment to support the Pakistani people in their time of need. Since May 2009, the Obama Administration has committed more than $320 million to the Pakistani people to help them respond to this crisis.

Afghanistan moves troops to south, clashes in north

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan is repositioning forces to the south after complaints too few are involved in major U.S. and British offensives against the Taliban, officials said on Wednesday, even as clashes erupted in the north.

Afghan troops battled a group of Taliban fighters dug into a valley in northern Kunduz on Wednesday, Defense Ministry spokesman Zaher Azimi said. He said fighters loyal to a wanted al Qaeda-linked Uzbek leader had entered the north recently.

With violence this year hitting its highest levels since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, thousands of U.S. Marines and British troops launched assaults in the southern Taliban stronghold of Helmand this month.

The new offensives are the first major operations under U.S. President Barack Obama's new regional strategy to defeat the Taliban and its militant Islamist allies and stabilize Afghanistan, which holds a presidential election on August 20.

A convoy belonging to a minor presidential candidate, former Taliban commander Mullah Salam Rocketi, was ambushed as he returned to Kabul after campaigning in northern Baghlan and one of his campaign officials was killed, Rocketi told Reuters.

Rocketi, an army commander during Taliban rule who renounced the militants after their overthrow to become a minister of parliament, was unhurt. He took his name because he often fired rocket-propelled grenades at occupying Soviet troops.

Two U.S. troops were killed by a roadside bomb in the south on Wednesday, the U.S. military said, taking to at least 30 the number killed in combat in July, the deadliest month of the war for U.S. forces.

Another member of the NATO-led force was killed in a separate blast but the nationality was not confirmed in Afghanistan. Britain's Ministry of Defense said a British soldier had been killed.

WEAKNESSES

The aim of the operations in Helmand is to clear the vast province of insurgents and hold the ground it wins, something overstretched NATO forces have so far been unable to do.

But the offensives underscored weaknesses in the Afghan security forces, with only about 650 fighting alongside some 4,000 U.S. Marines and a similar number of British troops in the major opium producing center.

Brigadier General Lawrence Nicholson, commander of U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, complained about a week after Operation Strike of the Sword began in Helmand that there were not enough Afghan troops involved. "You can do the math," he said.

He said many more were needed to build relations with local leaders, a major part of a new counter-insurgency strategy under General Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and identify Taliban members hiding among residents.

Azimi blamed the media for complaints about the paucity of Afghan troops fighting in Helmand and said security forces were stretched to their limit combating insurgents across the country.

He said an extra battalion of about 700 troops was being sent to join the fight in Helmand. Afghanistan already has more than 5,000 troops in the province, he said.

"We are sending an extra battalion to Helmand, it is en route and, with its arrival, the number of Afghan forces will exceed 6,000 in Helmand," Azimi told a media conference.

Afghanistan's army totals about 95,000 troops. The United States has about 58,000 troops in the country, with another 39,000 from NATO and other non.-U.S. coalition members.

Washington plans to increase its troop levels to 68,000 by year's end, more than double the 32,000 at the end of 2008.

Nicholson has said there were also problems with the quality of Afghan police units. Under Obama's new strategy, 4,000 more troops are also being sent to train Afghan security forces.

Violence has spiked across the country since the operations in Helmand began.

U.S. and British troops in Helmand and elsewhere have so far borne the brunt of the Taliban backlash. Record death tolls have prompted questions in London and Washington about strategies in Afghanistan and how long troops should remain.

In Berlin, German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said about 300 German soldiers had joined a week-long offensive against the Taliban around Kunduz.

Russia should have quarter of nuclear power market: Medvedev

MOSCOW :Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday that Russia should hold a quarter of the international nuclear energy market, as he announced an ambitious development programme.

"With ultra-modern technologies and the ability to guarantee the complete cycle, from the production of uranium, to the maintenance and decommissioning of nuclear power plants, Russia can count on a minimum of a quarter of the international market," Medvedev said at a meeting in Sarov in the Volga region.

"It is a very strong position," he added, according to Russian news agencies.

Russia should take advantage of the fact that more and more countries "want a proportion of atomic power in their energy balance", he said.

"Russia should occupy a position that corresponds with the country's potential," he said.

Medvedev said more than 120 billion rubles (2.7 billion euros, 3.8 billion dollars) was going to be made available between 2010 and 2012 for the development of a new generation of nuclear power technologies.

Terrorist training centre bombed in S. Waziristan

TANK: Ten militants were killed when military planes bombed suspected positions of militants in South Waziristan on Wednesday.

(AFP quoted an official as saying that the planes bombed two places in the Sarwakai area of South Waziristan.

‘Our jets hit a militant base in Gurguri and a Taliban compound in Ous Pass in Sarwakai. Both were destroyed and a total of four militants were killed,’ the military official said. The militants killed in the strikes belonged to Mehsud’s group, he said.)

Official sources said that a training centre run by Baitullah Mehsud’s group was destroyed in Gurguri while some houses were bombed in Ous Pass area.

Local people were reported to have vacated their houses because of the possibility of military operation in the area and these were occupied by the Taliban.

FOUR BODIES FOUND
Four bodies, two of sons of a slain militant commander, were found on the Tank-Jandola road on Wednesday, police said.

The bullet-riddled bodies, said to be of Idrees and Sher Qanoon, the sons of late militant commander Gul Pir, Jamshed and Younus, were found near the Fauji bridge.

Gul Pir, a supporter of Baitullah Mehsud, was killed during an operation in Sheikh Utar area two days ago. Security forces also arrested 12 militants during the operation.

According to sources, incidents of target killing are taking place in the town of Tank and adjoining areas and Baitullah’s men are at the receiving end.

It may be mentioned that earlier Baitullah group virtually ruled the area but now it is under the control of its adversary Turkistan Bhittani.

IDP crisis puts strains on UN’s global aid efforts

GENEVA: The United Nations on Tuesday revealed a record $4.8 billion funding gap for its 2009 aid projects as a result of strained foreign assistance, widespread economic trouble and a 10-fold increase in needs in Pakistan, Reuters reported.

This recession is driving up humanitarian needs, UN Emergency Relief CoordiNator John Holmes told a news briefing in Geneva, where he held meetings with donor nations who will soon set their 2010 aid budgets.

A financing report prepared for those sessions stressed that the United Nations has received less than half the $9.5 billion it sought for humanitarian work this year. Yet some 43 million people need assistance this year, up from 28 million in 2008.

While there have been no large natural disasters so far in 2009, the collapse of the globally-dominated Capitalist system has amplified needs in impoverished countries, and especially in those in protracted crisis such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.

Pakistan’s military incursion against Taliban fighters that has sent over two million people from their homes has also stretched UN aid operations, which are meanwhile expanding in Iraq and Zimbabwe as a result of better aid worker-access there.

Humanitarian need is increasing because of economic crisis and other global challenges, the report said, saying the loss of jobs and decline in remittances from relatives overseas had pushed more people into poverty and made food, health and education harder to access.

There is likely to be a rise in distress migration, malnutrition and social unrest, it said. Extreme economic hardship is likely to generate new, or exacerbate existing, social tensions and conflict.

For the most part, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, traditional donors such as the United States, European Union, Japan, Canada and the Nordics have not slashed their aid budgets, many of which were set before the financial crisis exploded in the last quarter of 2008.

However, budgets will be under greater pressure for 2010, because of the expected declines in government revenue if national income continues to fall and simultaneous increases in government borrowing for economic stimulus spending, the report circulated on Tuesday said.

The $4.8 billion shortfall for 2009 affects all major UN humanitarian projects, which involve supplying water, food, medical care and shelter, clearing landmines, and helping vulnerable people improve their agricultural output.

Countries with the biggest funding gaps include Sudan ($916 million), the Democratic Republic of Congo ($505 million), Zimbabwe ($458 million) and Somalia ($428 million).

Pakistan, which has seen the most dramatic change following the army offensive against militants that caused more than two million people to flee their homes, has a $312 million gap.

The UN report also stressed that Kenya has sunk into a more perilous situation, with food becoming more expensive and scarce, and refugee camps filling up with thousands of people fleeing violence in neighbouring Somalia, where insecurity has made it increasingly difficult and costly to deliver aid.

Zimbabwe’s funding needs have increased because of ongoing humanitarian pressures and also because the new power-sharing government has opened the door to more humanitarian activity.

Pakistan needs ‘Marshal Plan’ to overcome economic problems

DailyTimes.com

ISLAMABAD: In their separate meetings with US Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke on Wednesday, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani discussed a number of issues, including the country’s economic and security situation.

President Zardari said Pakistan needed a ‘Marshal Plan’ to overcome its economic problems. He urged the international community, particularly the US, to come forward and help the country fight the Taliban. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gilani informed Holbrooke that Washington should share credible and actionable intelligence with Pakistan and provide it drone aircraft and other much-needed equipment to enable Pakistan’s armed forces to take on the terrorists.

Drone attacks: Gilani said the continued drone attacks in FATA had proved counterproductive and impeded Pakistan’s efforts to fight militancy.

The prime minister urged the US to come forward in the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase in Swat and Malakand, as the displaced population had begun returning home. Gilani also urged the US to ensure the early passage of the Kerry-Luger bill and reconstruction opportunity zones (ROZs) bills from the US Congress.

Holbrooke assured the PM and the president of the US government’s continued support to Pakistan.

Pakistan Objects to U.S. Expansion in Afghan War

NEW YORK TIMES

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan is objecting to expanded American combat operations in neighboring Afghanistan, creating new fissures in the alliance with Washington at a critical juncture when thousands of new American forces are arriving in the region.

Pakistani officials have told the Obama administration that the Marines fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan will force militants across the border into Pakistan, with the potential to further inflame the troubled province of Baluchistan, according to Pakistani intelligence officials.

Pakistan does not have enough troops to deploy to Baluchistan to take on the Taliban without denuding its border with its archenemy, India, the officials said. Dialogue with the Taliban, not more fighting, is in Pakistan’s national interest, they said.

The Pakistani account made clear that even as the United States recommits troops and other resources to take on a growing Taliban threat, Pakistani officials still consider India their top priority and the Taliban militants a problem that can be negotiated. In the long term, the Taliban in Afghanistan may even remain potential allies for Pakistan, as they were in the past, once the United States leaves.

The Pakistani officials gave views starkly different from those of American officials regarding the threat presented by top Taliban commanders, some of whom the Americans say have long taken refuge on the Pakistani side of the border.

Recent Pakistani military operations against Taliban in the Swat Valley and parts of the tribal areas have done little to close the gap in perceptions.

Even as Obama administration officials praise the operations, they express frustration that Pakistan is failing to act against the full array of Islamic militants using the country as a base.

Instead, they say, Pakistani authorities have chosen to fight Pakistani Taliban who threaten their government, while ignoring Taliban and other militants fighting Americans in Afghanistan or terrorizing India.

Such tensions have mounted despite a steady rotation of American officials through the region. They were on display last weekend when, during a visit to India, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said those who had planned the Sept. 11 attacks were now sheltering in Pakistan. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry issued an immediate rebuttal.

Pakistan’s critical assessment was provided as the Obama administration’s special envoy for the region, Richard C. Holbrooke, arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday night.

The country’s perspective was given in a nearly two-hour briefing on Friday for The New York Times by senior analysts and officials of Pakistan’s main spy service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence. They spoke on the condition of anonymity in keeping with the agency’s policy. The main themes of the briefing were echoed in conversations with several military officers over the past few days.

One of the first briefing slides read, in part: “The surge in Afghanistan will further reinforce the perception of a foreign occupation of Afghanistan. It will result in more civilian casualties; further alienate local population. Thus more local resistance to foreign troops.”

A major concern is that the American offensive may push Taliban militants over the border into Baluchistan, a province that borders Waziristan in the tribal areas. The Pakistani Army is already fighting a longstanding insurgency of Baluch separatists in the province.

A Taliban spillover would require Pakistan to put more troops there, a Pakistani intelligence official said, troops the country does not have now. Diverting troops from the border with India is out of the question, the official said.

A spokesman for the American and NATO commands in Afghanistan, Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith, said in an e-mail message on Monday that there was no significant movement of insurgents out of Afghanistan, and no indication of foreign fighters moving into Afghanistan through Baluchistan or Iran, another concern of the Pakistanis.

Pakistani and American officials also cited some positive signs for the alliance. Increased sharing of information has sharpened the accuracy of strikes against militant hide-outs by Pakistani F-16 warplanes and drones operated by the Central Intelligence Agency. And Pakistani and American intelligence operatives are fighting together in dangerous missions to hunt down fighters from the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the tribal areas and in the North-West Frontier Province.

But the intelligence briefing clearly illuminated the differences between the two countries over how, in the American view, Pakistan was still picking proxies and choosing enemies among various Islamic militant groups in Pakistan.

The United States maintains that the Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, leads an inner circle of commanders who guide the war in southern Afghanistan from their base in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan.

American officials say this Taliban council, known as the Quetta shura, is sheltered by Pakistani authorities, who may yet want to employ the Taliban as future allies in Afghanistan.

In an interview last week, the new leader of American and NATO combat operations in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, paused when asked whether he was getting the cooperation he wanted from Pakistani forces in combating the Quetta shura. “What I would love is for the government of Pakistan to have the ability to completely eliminate the safe havens that the Afghan Taliban enjoy,” he said.

The Pakistani intelligence officials denied that Mullah Omar was even in Pakistan, insisting that he was in Afghanistan.

The United States asked Pakistan in recent years to round up 10 Taliban leaders in Quetta, the Pakistani officials said. Of those 10, 6 were killed by the Pakistanis, 2 were probably in Afghanistan, and the remaining 2 presented no threat to the Marines in Afghanistan, the officials said.

They also said no threat was posed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, an Afghan Taliban leader who American military commanders say operates with Pakistani protection out of North Waziristan and equips and trains Taliban fighters for Afghanistan.

Last year, Washington presented evidence to Pakistani leaders that Mr. Haqqani, working with Inter-Services Intelligence, was responsible for the bombing last summer of the Indian Embassy in Kabul that killed 54 people.

Pakistani officials insisted that Mr. Haqqani spent most of his time in Afghanistan, suggesting that the American complaints about him being provided sanctuary were invalid.

Another militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, is also a source of deep disagreement.

India and the United States have criticized Pakistan for allowing Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, to be freed from jail last month.

The Pakistani officials said Mr. Saeed deserved to be freed because the government had failed to convince the courts that he should be kept in custody. There would be no effort to imprison Mr. Saeed again, in part because he was just an ideologue who did not have an anti-Pakistan agenda, the officials said.

Asians witness 21st century’s longest eclipse

The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century created near darkness in daytime, along a swath that stretched from India to China and the South Pacific.Millions gathered in the open to watch the spectacle, but millions more shuttered themselves inside their houses, gripped by fearful myths.The Pakistan Meteorological Department said Wednesday total solar eclipse is visible from India, China, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Japanese Islands and South Pacific Ocean.

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The solar eclipse started at 5:58 am and ended at 11:12 am. It has been warned not to look at the sun without wearing proper eye shielding material as solar filter otherwise it can damage the eyesight.

The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century cast a shadow over much of Asia on Wednesday, plunging hundreds of millions into darkness across the giant land masses of India and China.

Ancient superstition and modern commerce came together in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which could end up being the most watched eclipse in history, due to its path over Earth’s most densely inhabited areas.

While the well-heeled took to the skies to watch the phenomenon from specially chartered planes, others took to holy waters to purify themselves as the sun’s rays were snuffed out from Mumbai to Shanghai.

The cone-shaped shadow, or umbra, created by the total eclipse first made landfall on the western Indian state of Gujarat shortly before 6:30 am (0100 GMT).

It then raced across India, blacking out the holy city of Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges, squeezing between the northern and southern tips of Bangladesh and Nepal before engulfing most of Bhutan, traversing the Chinese mainland and slipping back out to sea off Shanghai.

Monsoon clouds in India and bad weather over eastern China spoiled the party for millions who had got up early to watch the solar blackout.

The last total solar eclipse observed in Pakistan was on Aug. 11, 1999 in Karachi. Students and faculty of the astronomy department took an interest in the phenomenon.

The eclipse is met with trepidation and fear by some Pakistanis who believe that it is dangerous to undertake certain acts when an eclipse takes place.

Pregnant women are told to stay indoors and not cut anything, otherwise their child will be born with a cleft lip.

solar eclipse today,July 22nd.

The longest full solar eclipse of this century will blot out the sun today (Wednesday) as it passes over Pakistan and other countries.

According to a private TV channel, the eclipse would begin when the moon blocks out the sun at about 5:58am and would end approximately five hours later at 11:12am.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon’s orbit moves between the Earth and the Sun so that the Sun is fully or partially obstructed.

According to the Met department, the solar eclipse will be witnessed in some parts of Pakistan, northern India, eastern Nepal, northern Bangladesh, Bhutan, northern parts of Myanmar and central China. Tomorrow’s eclipse is benefiting the tourism industries in

China and India that have had fewer visitors because of the global recession and the swine flu threat.

The Park Hyatt Hotel on the 91st floor of the Shanghai World Financial Centre, China’s tallest building, has fully booked its 2,830 yuan ($414) package for watching the eclipse that includes a night’s stay and champagne breakfast for two.

The eclipse will first be visible at about 5:28am Indian local time on the western coast of India, before the shadow crosses the eastern states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, according to the Indian Meteorological Department.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the shadow of the eclipse would pass over the cities of Surat, Indore, Bhopal, Varanasi and Patna.

Thousands of people from across China and overseas are expected to travel long distances to gaze at the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse of the sun tomorrow which is best visible along the Yangtze River.

Protests against power outages intensify in NWFP

PESHAWAR: Protests against electricity loadshedding continued as angry consumers blocked Grand Trunk Road near Nishtarabad, Shabistan Cinema and Kohat Road on Ring Road Chowk here Tuesday.

The protesters burnt old tyres to block the roads and vehicular traffic for more than an hour at the three places. The residents of Gulbahar Colony and Bilal Colony also staged a protest against power breakdown. They chanted slogans against Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) and government for their failure to ensure electricity supply. The protesters said they remained without power supply for more than 18 hours against the declared schedule of six to eight hours. The power breakdowns, they said, besides creating water shortage, was causing numerous problems for them in this biting heat.

They said not only load-shedding but constant breakdowns and fluctuation had been damaging their electric appliances. Electricity hide and seek continues for the whole day and its voltage remains too low to operate even a fan when supply is restored, they complained.

Our correspondent adds from Swabi: The residents blocked the Swabi-Jehangira Road in Tordher area for six hours against the unscheduled loadshedding. The protesters led by Muqarab Khan took out a protest procession against the 14-hour long loadshedding in the district. They were chanting slogans against the local Pesco authorities.

When the protesters dispersed, the police raided the house of Muqarab Khan and arrested him. After the incident, the villagers gathered again and blocked the Jehangira-Swabi Road, protesting the arrest of Muqarab Khan.

They also proceeded to the local Pesco office and damaged the furniture. The deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and Pesco officials reached the site and on their assurance the protesters opened the road and dispersed peacefully.

Our correspondent adds from Karak: The residents of Banda Daud Shah tehsil Tuesday extended a five-day ultimatum to the government and threatened to block the Indus Highway if smooth supply of power was not ensured to the area.

Hundreds of area’s residents took to the street to condemn the hours-long power breakdowns and gave five-day ultimatum to the government to end the loadshedding or else they would block the Indus Highway for traffic.

Reports of protests against power outages were also received from other parts of the province, where load-shedding duration was greater than that of the urban areas. Our correspondent adds from Kohat: The doctors and patients in the District Headquarters Hospital staged a protest demonstration against the unscheduled loadshedding on Tuesday.

Sources said a team of doctors was carrying out an eye surgery in the operation theatre when all of a sudden the power supply was disrupted. Taking an exception to the loadshedding, the doctors, patients and attendants staged a protest demonstration in the hospital. They chanted slogans against the local Pesco authorities and provincial government for their alleged failure to overcome the electricity crisis.

When contacted, Medical Superintendent of DHQ Hospital Dr Abdur Rasheed said, “There is a separate connection line of 11KV to the hospital but the authorities have resorted to unscheduled loadshedding to the hospital for the last three days,” adding, a generator provided to the hospital was ‘short of fuel’.

When contacted, the Pesco authorities said loadshedding was being carried out on the directives of Islamabad. Meanwhile, members of Kohat Doctors Association, including Dr Farid Afridi, Dr Younas Nadeem, Dr Irfanullah and Dr Mehr Ali, threatened to launch a protest demonstration if the government did not stop unnecessary and unscheduled loadshedding in the hospital.

Barbers back in business in Swat

PESHAWAR: As the security forces cleared Mingora city of militants and chasing the escaping miscreants and their leaders in Swat Valley, the barbers felt a sense of security and resumed shaving off beards on Tuesday.

The resumption of shaving off beards by barbers is an encouraging development at a time when the internally displaced families are returning to Swat Valley.

The militants had forcefully implemented the ban on shaving off beards by barbers and nobody could dare to oppose them. Defiance of the militants’ decree could risk the life of a poor barber, who had previously displayed pamphlets of having banned shaves to avoid the same.

“I am doing so as other barbers restarted shaving off beards in Mingora. I shaved beards of five or six persons during the last several hours,” a pleased barber in Banr Mohallah of Mingora told The News by phone.

The barber, who wished not to be named, said he saw three persons removing their long beards, not in his own shop, but at his counterpart’s saloon. He said after the military operation, security situation had improved and militants had run away. “Now we have no fear of militants who had forced us for the last eight months to ban shaving off beards,” he said.

Barbers in all the Taliban infested areas, particularly in Swat valley, were the worst hit of Taliban barbarity as they had been driven to near starvation. Such bans were enforced in Bajaur, South Waziristan, North Waziristan, Mohmand Agency and other volatile areas.

The new development after the military operation suggests that the offensive against Taliban in Swat had ended the environment of terror, at least, in Mingora city. Being the district headquarters and largest city in the valley, Mingora is a hub of economic activities and the administrative seat of Swat.

The removal of Taliban fear from the hearts of the terrified people of Mingora is a great success of military, but locals said it should not rest on its laurels and completely eliminate the militants.

The military pushed back Taliban from Mingora city into mountains where they are being chased in a bid to defeat them once and for all.

Locals said the barbers in Banr, Usmanabad, Tahirabad, Marghazar, Shahdara, Malukabad and other areas resumed shaving off beards. “I saw myself barbers shaving off beards of customers in parts of Mingora,” a resident of Mingora, requesting anonymity for his protection, said. “Taliban fear is no longer in people’s hearts,” he said.

The barber, who talked to The News, said his shop remained shut for three months during the military operation and he along with his family was in Rang Mohallah camp for internally displaced persons in Malakand Agency. “Previously, I was earning 1,000 to 1,500 a day, but after the ban, I could hardly earn 300-500,” he added.

Pakistan Military: 56 Militants Killed in Northwest

VOA.COM
Security forces in Pakistan are said to have killed more than 56 Taliban militants in clashes this week in one of the several northwestern districts where a major anti-insurgency operation is underway.

Local military commanders say that the militants were killed during, what they describe as, a major search and cordon operation in several villages of the Lower Dir district. They say the clashes also left three soldiers dead.

The northwestern region borders the Swat valley and several other districts where Pakistani troops are said to be wrapping up an anti-Taliban offensive they launched more than two months ago.

The military claims the offensive has killed more than 1,700 militants, but it has not reported killing of any top Taliban commanders and it is difficult to independently verify the casualty figures.

Yahya Akhunzada is a top government administrator in the war-hit district, Bunner, just 100 kilometers from the Pakistani capital.

"We have some pockets where some splinter groups of miscreants [official reference to Taliban militants] are in some mountains here and there," he said. "But they are now unable to carry out any attacks, but definitely they come to some villages for sometime and whenever we get that information our police and military authorities cordon those areas and search those areas."

The arrival of Taliban militants in Buner in late April had led to criticism within and outside Pakistan of the government's effort to rein in extremist forces. The pressure prompted the government to launch the Swat military operation, a move widely praised by the United States and Pakistan's other allies in the war against terrorism.

Early this month, the Pakistani military declared certain districts safe and clear of militants. A government-sponsored repatriation process is underway to send hundreds of thousands of displaced families back to their homes. Thousands of families have returned to their home towns, but the latest clashes between security forces and Taliban militants in some of the insurgency-hit districts have raised questions about the security conditions.

The United Nations says that the Swat military operation has dislocated nearly two million people, who have taken refugee either with their relatives or in temporary camps in major cities of the North West Frontier Province.

The provincial government says that the repatriation process is progressing smoothly and that several camps near Mardan are being closed because most of the families residing there have returned to their homes.

US diplomat to hold talks in Pakistan, Afghanistan

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan is traveling to those countries this week for talks.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters that Richard Holbrooke will be in Islamabad from Tuesday through Thursday. Holbrooke will then travel to Afghanistan; his schedule there is not yet settled.
Wood says Holbrooke is scheduled to meet with Pakistan's leaders and top generals and with citizens from Swat, Buner, Malakand, Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan and South Waziristan, where Pakistani forces are mounting an offensive against insurgents.

US to add 22,000 troops to army

The US Army will "temporarily" increase its size by 22,000 soldiers for the next three years, Defence Secretary Robert Gates has announced.
The additional troops are intended to ease the strain of the US's deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mr Gates said.The extra manpower will raise the total number of active US soldiers from 547,000 to 569,000.Mr Gates's defence budget, unveiled in April, set aside $11bn (£6.7bn) to fund increases in military personnel.
Challenge
"The army faces a period where its ability to deploy combat brigades at acceptable fill rates is at risk," Mr Gates said.
"This is a temporary challenge which will peak in the coming year and abate over the course of the next three years."
Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, has proposed an increase of 30,000.
Mr Gates's budget plans have faced fierce opposition from US lawmakers, who oppose his proposal to cease production of the F-22 fighter jet.
The defence secretary argued that the F-22, which was designed in the 1980s, was no longer strategically useful.

Human trafficking through marriages among IDPs feared

PESHAWAR : Representatives of civil societies, while expressing grave apprehension of human trafficking from different camps set up for displaced families of Malakand division, have stressed upon the departments concerned to hold probe into marriages held during stay of IDPs at the relief camps. "A complete scrutiny of nuptial ceremonies held at the camps of IDPs should be held for ensuring that distressed and suffering displaced families are not exploited by any one," remarked Said Afzal Shinwari, Programme Officer CAMP, an NGO working against human trafficking. A number of unconfirmed reports have been received about trafficking of girls through arranging fake marriages at the camps, he added. Afzal said some of the displaced families were passing through such a difficult situation that they openly expressed willingness for marrying of their daughters to any one. He said reports about missing of children and girls during displacement of people from Malakand to safer places is not hidden from any one. He said apart from mass marriages which were arranged through the permission of camp incharges and other concerned officials, people involved in this heinous crime have used touts for arranging weddings of poor girls with fake grooms. Afzal Shinwari said government should take notice of the issue and order probe into marriages held at camps and for saving people from being sold out. Similarly, immediate measures should be taken for recovery of missing people from Malakand division. He also appreciated government decision of putting ban on child adoption from camps as a result of which displaced children were saved from human traffickers. He also informed that CAMP has set up a Counter Trafficking Technical Working Group, comprising of NGOs, lawyers, law enforcers, media persons and government officials, with the objective of developing a stronger and institutionalized role towards the elimination of human trafficking. Similarly, he added, FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) has also been approached for taking action against human trafficking. He said though the IDPs from Malakand have returned to their homes, but the camps in Tank and D.I.Khan are filled with migrants from South Waziristan Agency.

Govt employees involved in terrorism to be sacked

PESHAWAR: The NWFP government has decided to terminate the services of the government employees found involved in terrorist activities while the properties of militants would be confiscated.

Briefing journalists after NWFP cabinet meeting Monday, Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the cabinet members had approved termination of the services of the government employees involved in subversive activities and list of such employees had been prepared. “However, secretary Law Department and secretary Establishment Department will submit reports within two weeks in this regard,” he added.

Similarly, he said, the cabinet asked the provincial chief secretary to present a report regarding the procedure of confiscation of the properties of militants. The cabinet meeting, which was briefed by Secretary Home, IGP NWFP and chiefs of ERU and PRRSA, was presided over by NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, who was flanked by provincial minister Muhammad Ayub Asharhi, said the cabinet expressed its satisfaction over the operation against militants in Swat, Buner and Lower Dir and approved head money of Rs0.5 million each against five top militants belonging to Maidan, Lower Dir district.

The militant leaders include Hafizullah, Qari Shahid, Dr Wazir Miftahuddin and Abdul Salam. The cabinet was told the situation was improving in Lower Dir where relief goods for some 15,274 in-camp IDPs and over 100,000 off-camp IDPs were being supplied.

The NWFP government requested the Pak Army to provide troops for protection of foreign engineers and other staff at under-construction Lowari Tunnel in Upper Dir district, he added.

The provincial cabinet was told that 119 police officials were killed while fighting against militants during last seven months while 53,000 kg explosives and over 400 rocket launcher shell were seized.

The NWFP IGP informed that 5,000 rifles, LMGs and 2,000 Kalashnikov (AK-47) rifles had been recovered from the militants and some 51,000 kg detonators and 4,000 dynamites were also seized. Likewise, 256 militants were killed and two were arrested, the cabinet was told.

The provincial minister said that the NWFP cabinet appreciated the role of law-enforcement agencies in the crisis-hit areas and agreed that the terrorist network had almost dismantled while the terrorists were on the run. “The militants were regrouping in some parts of the Malakand, but with the passage of time they would eliminated,” he added.

He said that 85 per cent of the IDPs from Buner had reached their hometowns while the rest of the displaced persons from Buner would reach their house after obtaining smart cards and registration. He said that the security forces were conducting search operation in some union councils of Buner whereas officials of police and Frontier Corps were patrolling in the area.

The minister informed that some 40,000 internally displaced persons had returned to affected districts of Malakand till Sunday last while some 12,000 more were expected on Monday.

He said that Sheikh Shehzad and Sheikh Yaseen camps in Mardan district had had been officially ceased to exist from where all the IDPs had gone back to their respective towns.

The IDPs camps in Jalala and Mazdoorabad would be closed within the next few days while repatriation from schools and other government buildings would start from July 22, he added.

Judiciary responsible for army takeovers: Chief Justice

ISLAMABAD :Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Monday held judiciary responsible for military takeovers, saying that validating their decisions through 'law of necessity' was erroneous as well as regretful.

If judiciary had stood up against the imposition of repeated martial laws from Mulvi Tameezud Din (1954) case to Iqbal Tikka Khan (2007) petition, the incident of November 3, 2007 (PCO and emergency promulgated by former President General Pervez Musharraf) would not have taken place, observed the Chief Justice while hearing the case filed by Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) against non-confirmation of two additional judges Justice Zafar Ahmed Khan Sherwani and Justice Abdul Rasheed Kalwar of the Sindh High Court (SHC).

A 14-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising judges who did not take oath under the PCO on November 3, 2007 has been constituted for hearing the matters regarding appointment of judges.

Other members of the bench included Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Tassadaq Hussain Jilani, Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed, Justice Ghulam Rabbani, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmani, Justice Muhammad Sair Ali, Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui and Justice Jawwad S Khawaja.

One elected Prime Minister was executed then one more dictator came and threw out the elected prime minister and the incident of October 12, 1999 took place. "We all are responsible for all this", he added. "It is very sorry state of affairs, and we have to set our house in order," he observed.

He further said that it is responsibility of the judiciary to show firmness to the constitution for sustainability of democratic order in the country. Meanwhile, the court accepted a petition seeking removal of judges appointed without consultation of the Chief Justice for hearing.

Advocate Akram Sheikh had filed the petition on behalf of Advocate Nadeem Ahmed with the prayer "to declare all those persons, both in Supreme Court and high courts, regardless of whether they have taken oath under PCO or the Constitution, who have been appointed without 'consultation' of Chief Justice of Pakistan as not judges and therefore, not entitled to function as such."

The Chief Justice issued notice to the Federation and observed: "the case would decide the future of democratic order of the country." Rashid A Rizvi, president of the SHBC arguing the case before the bench said recommendation for appointment of these two judges were made by the de jure CJ of SHC to de facto Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar. The preference should have to be given to the de jure CJ, he added.

Did the President considers, Justice Dogar as de facto judge? Observed Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan. Responding to the question, Rizvi referred to the notification issued on March 21, 2009 regarding reinstatement of deposed judges including the CJ and said by not asking for a fresh oath the President had admitted Justice Dogar as de facto.

Rizvi said the decision in Iqbal Tikka Khan's case was illegal but a 13-member larger bench (to hear review) was constituted to purge it from illegality. Review order was manipulation of the bench to overcome the lacuna. Describing it further, he said that in Zafar Ali Shah's case the 12-judge bench had laid down a principle that in future a judge would not be removed from his office except following Article 209 of the Constitution.

However, a seven-member bench in Iqbal Tikka's case violated the order, therefore, a 13-member bench was constituted and review was settled merely in a single day proceedings, he added. Rizvi said that Article 270-AAA was never discussed in Tikka's case and said though it is a settled principle that an executive cannot amend the Constitution, General Musharraf (Retd) was permitted to do so.

Do you want us to declare 270-AAA unconstitutional? Asked Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmani. Rizvi replied in affirmative saying a general cannot amend the Constitution in the presence of parliament. Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmani observed: "if you want to bring all those responsible for proclamation of emergency (2007) to book, those behind it should also be held accountable for that."

The Chief Justice asked Rizvi to give background of events, which led to November 3, 2007 emergency. Rizvi read out the speech delivered by the then President Pervez Musharraf regarding imposition of emergency. He said that he delivered speech as President but emergency was proclaimed as Chief of Army Staff (COAS). Justice Nasirul Mulk observed that nine out of 12 allegations for proclamation of emergency are against the judiciary.

One of the allegations against the judiciary was that it was delaying some cases (holding dual office: President and COAS) and a judge was blamed for adjournment as he had to attend marriage ceremony of his daughter. Justice Javed Iqbal observed that Attorney General (Malik Muhammad Qayyum) and Sharifuddin Pirzada were responsible for the postponement of the case.

"The basis of emergency was judiciary's refusal to deliver as desired by the government. There is a big difference between personal gain and Pakistan first (slogan of Pervez Musharraf referred during proclamation of emergency)," observed Justice Javed Iqbal, adding We - judges are also Pakistanis and have patriotism and we decide cases according to the Constitution.

Seventeen militants killed in Swat

MINGORA: At least 17 militants were killed in fierce clashes with security forces in Swat on Monday. A soldier lost his life and two others suffered injuries.

According to military sources, eight militants were killed during an operation in Imam Dherai, the headquarters of Taliban’s Swat chieftain Maulana Fazlullah, and nine in Shah Dherai area of Kabal. The soldier was killed when security personnel came under attack in the area.

The bodies of four tribesmen whose throats had been slit were found in a deserted place in Koza Bandai.

Sources blamed local militants for slaughtering the four men. They were apparently killed for supporting the military operation. Their names could not be ascertained.

In another incident, a local cleric and his nephew were gunned down on Sunday night. Their bodies were found on Monday morning. The cleric was identified as Maulana Fazl Haq.

Meanwhile, about 300 displaced families returning to Matta and Kabal tehsils have been stranded on the Ayub Bridge for three days. They took shelter in a school in Naway Kallay after security forces stopped them from going to their areas because of the search operation.

In Mingora, about 50 per cent of shops and markets have reopened and with a relaxation in curfew, life is limping back to normalcy. A large number of people visited bazaars during the relaxation in curfew.

Iftikhar A. Khan in Islamabad adds: Security forces claimed to have captured two wanted terrorists, Fazal-i-Haq and Khair-ul-Ghafoor, during a search operation in Talgai, near Madyan, in Swat.

Two militant commanders, Taj alias Zarqavi and Zulqarnain, were killed in the village of Gul Shah. Army Major Zahid lost his life during and exchange of fire.

Two camps for IDPs in Mardan closed

PESHAWAR: The NWFP government announced on Monday that two major relief camps were closed after over 60,000 displaced families had voluntarily returned to Swat and Buner.

Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said at a press conference after a meeting of the provincial cabinet that the Sheikh Shehzad and Sheikh Yaseen camps in Mardan, the district which hosted the highest number of displaced people, had been closed because most of the inmates had left for their homes.

He said the camps in Jalala and Mazdoorabad were also likely to be vacated in a few days.

In Islamabad, the Special Support Group put the number of IDPs who have returned to Swat and Buner at 300,000.

Mian Iftikhar said the cabinet had discussed the repatriation of displaced people and the law and order situation in the province.

The minister said the next phase of return of the displaced people would begin on July 22 in which families living in schools would be sent to their homes.

The cabinet approved rewards for information leading to the capture of another five militants of Maidan area of Lower Dir, in addition to 21 militant commanders whose named had been announced earlier.

The head money of Rs500,000 each has been announced for Hafeezullah, Qari Shahid, Dr Wazir, Miftahuddin and Abdul Salam.

The minister said the cabinet had decided to confiscate movable and immovable property of militants in Malakand region and to terminate the services of government employees involved in militancy or facilitating militants.

The secretaries of law and establishment were ordered to prepare a report in this regard within two weeks.

He said the provincial government had expressed satisfaction over the military operation in Malakand and praised security forces.

He admitted that there were still pockets where small groups of militants were operating, but said these would be eliminated.

He said the entire Buner district, except three union councils, had been cleared and about 85 per cent of the displace people had returned to their homes.

He said police and paramilitary forces had started patrolling and life had returned to normalcy in the district.

The minister said the World Food Programme was setting up three ration distribution centres in Buner. He said the situation had improved in Swat and children had started going to schools, adding that about 2,300 students, including 200 girls, were attending schools in Khwazakhela.

The cabinet was informed that Rs3 billion had been distributed among affected families and the National Database and Registration Authority had issued about 200,000 cash cards.

The information minister evaded a question about former commissioner of Malakand, Syed Mohammad Javed, who is under investigation for suspected links with Taliban.

He said the chief secretary had been asked to work out procedure for confiscation of property of militants.

The cabinet was briefed on the situation in Hangu, Dera Ismail Khan and other areas.

The minister said a jirga comprising Shia and Sunni elders had been set up and both groups would sign a peace deal in a few days.

He said police were preparing a plan to seize illegal weapons in Hangu.

He said police had rendered unprecedented sacrifices in the fight against terrorism and 119 officials had laid down their lives over the past seven months.

He said police had killed 256 militants in encounters and seized a large number of weapons, detonators and dynamite. They captured two militants.

Our reporter in Islamabad adds: The third phase of repatriation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) of Malakand division was completed on Monday.

A spokesman of the army’s Special Support Group, Col Wasim Shahid, told Dawn that 40,741 families comprising 285,187 people had returned to Swat and 5,256 families comprising 36,792 people to Buner.

He said 5,850 families returned to Swat and 450 to Buner on Monday, the last day of the third phase which was completed in four days.

He said the repatriation would be completed by the third week of August in seven phases. He said the number of registered IDP families had increased to 323,775.

The displaced people living in camps were being repatriated on a priority basis and their return would be completed in the next 12 days.

Col Wasim said the fourth phase of repatriation would begin on Tuesday and end in three days.

He said displaced people from Charbagh, Tiligram, Manglore, Koklia, Kamalouf and Baminkhel would return during the phase.

He said cards had been issued to 97,285 families and Rs3.57 billion had so far been withdrawn by them.

Militancy caused Rs22 billion loss, says NWFP minister

ISLAMABAD: NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain says the government has suffered a loss of Rs22 billion because of militancy and the military operation against Taliban.

According to a private television channel, the minister said relief camps had been set up from Lundaki to Mingora for people returning to Swat and Buner.

He said that more than 170,000 cards had been distributed by Nadra through banks to enable displaced families to receive rations and cash promised by the government.

He said the NWFP government had set up an authority for effective implementation of the rehabilitation policy.

The minister said the IDPs were returning to Swat and Buner in large numbers and the government was now focusing on their rehabilitation.

He said there was need for a separate department to look after the mammoth task of rehabilitation.

He said the government would set up steering committees at the provincial and divisional levels to approve and supervise development programmes.

The minister said that a strategic oversight council headed by the prime minister and including NWFP governor and chief minister would be formed to ensure complete transparency in the rehabilitation.

He said that a divisional security and coordination council would also be formed with the commissioner, DIG, DCO and DPO as members to maintain the government’s writ in areas cleared of militants.

IDP'S forced home to the Taliban

The Australian.com
THOUSANDS of refugees from Pakistan's troubled northwest are being sent back to Taliban-infested regions as the government rushes to close camps before the monsoon season.

Rations and services within refugee camps across the North West Frontier Province are being slowly turned off to force as many as two million refugees back to the homes they fled in May.

But The Australian has learned that mountain areas in district of Buner are again under the control of Taliban militants who, in one instance, have set up checkpoints just 500m from an army barricade.

"More than 100 Taliban are here right now," one terrified resident of the Buneri town of Malikpur said by phone through an interpreter at the weekend.

"They're checking ID cards and names," searching for members of the NWFP's ruling Awami National Party and anyone associated with a village army formed in late April to try to repel the militants, he said.

Last week three ANP workers were stopped at a Taliban checkpoint in the area, forced out of their cars and executed.

Buner was the first district cleared during the military operation launched in May to repel the Islamic extremists who had begun expanding their control across the NWFP and towards the capital Islamabad.

But as the army continues to repel Taliban from the Swat Valley, militants are being squeezed across mountain passes and back into Buner. Credible reports suggest they are now in control of a cluster of Buner hamlets.

The Malikpur resident said many people from neighbouring villages had fled in the past week. "There's so much fear. You can't speak to your neighbours. Even a husband cannot speak to his wife," he said.

Pakistan military spokesman Athar Abbas yesterday conceded militants had infiltrated some mountain regions in Buner but denied they had seized control of any towns.

"There are a few places where some actions have been reported from militants fleeing security forces, but that doesn't mean they're under Taliban control," he said. "There's no organised resistance, just hit-and-run operations into certain areas."

The Pakistan government earlier this month began repatriating residents to Buner and parts of Swat, assuring them it was safe to return.

It has promised all returning refugees ration cards and 25,000 rupees ($380), but no one The Australian spoke to had yet received theirs.

"We returned to our home in Swat but because I received no money we have come back here," one man at the Chota Lahore camp in Swabi said.

Across that miserable tent city, families told the same story of diminishing water, food and firewood rations.

"Before the government was providing money and rations but for the last 30 days we've been getting no money," Nazir Mohamed Khan said.

The man wanted desperately to return to his Buner mountain village of Diwana Baba with his wife - in poor health after miscarrying in the camp four weeks ago - but had been warned by his brother not to return.

"He called and said don't come back because the Taliban were again in control. I know it's a very dangerous area, but if the government gives permission we would go back because there is nothing in this camp - no food, no water."

In another section Faidah Mansha packed a meagre bundle of possessions in preparation for an early start on a military convoy back to Kalpani.

The village lies within a few kilometres of the Taliban-controlled Pir Baba and Malikpur. But his family is returning just the same.

"They announced that our village was cleared so we're going back," Faidah says. "The whole family is happy and pray to God we will never come back to this camp."

On a trip into Buner at the weekend The Australian found a region slowly coming back to life as military convoys repatriate hundreds of people after months in exile.

Barber shops - banned under the Taliban - were again doing roaring trade and children in school uniforms walked along the roadsides.

A passing truck full of Frontier Constabulary troops signalled the return of the district administration and its law enforcement agencies, chased out by militants just two months ago.

In the pretty agricultural town of Nawagai, police arrested four Taliban sympathisers on Friday.

In early May the Taliban drove into Nawagai in stolen NGO vehicles armed with rocket launchers and AK47s.

"Some thieves and robbers were also with the Taliban," said Israr Ullah, a school teacher and one of five brothers who he Australian visited two days after their happy reunion. There was no criteria for recruitment to the Taliban."

The army sent its air force in to shell a madrassa and other suspected militant hideouts on the outskirts of the village, killing the principal of the local high school and sending terrified villagers fleeing for their lives.

Israr Ullah stayed behind during the shelling to protect his family's cattle and holdings.

Despite the presence of Taliban just 35km up the road, all five brothers said they were relieved to be home.

Four cops shot dead in police van shooting in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: As many as four policemen including a police sub-inspector were gunned down by unknown militants during firing at a police mobile van here in Sarband locality on Monday, Geo news reported.According to police the police mobile van was on routine patrolling near Sarbad area when unidentified militants opened fire at them, subsequently, killing four police cops including a sub-inspector.Two of them embraced martyrdom on the spot while two, critically injured, succumbed to injuries while on way to hospital, sources said adding that no group has claimed responsibility thus far.Those martyred included sub-inspector Riaz, two constables Laiq Shah, Khudadad and a driver Zahir Shah, sources concluded.

U.S. soldier captured by Taliban: 'I'm afraid'

(CNN) -- A United States soldier captured by the Taliban says in a video posted on the Internet he is "scared I won't be able to go home."The soldier was identified Sunday by the Pentagon as Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl, 23, of Ketchum, Idaho. He was captured June 30 from Paktika province in southeastern Afghanistan.The Taliban has threatened to kill Bergdahl if foreign troops continue targeting civilians in the name of search operations in Ghazni and Paktika province, Taliban commander Mulvi Sangeen said by telephone Friday after being contacted by CNN at an undisclosed location.

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NATO-led forces in Afghanistan and the U.S. military have repeatedly denied targeting civilians.In the 28-minute video, Bergdahl becomes emotional when he speaks of his family -- his parents, siblings, nieces and nephew -- and the girlfriend he hopes to marry."I have a very, very good family that I love back home in America, and I miss them every day that I'm gone," he says. "I miss them and I'm afraid I might never see them again and that I'll never be able to tell them I love them again. I'll never be able to hug them."He adds that he is "scared. I'm scared I won't be able to go home. It is very unnerving to be a prisoner." However, he says his captors are treating him "like a guest."It was not clear whether some or all of Bergdahl's remarks were scripted by his captors.The last few minutes of the video show him eating a meal.In a statement released Sunday through the Idaho National Guard, Bergdahl's family said, "We hope and pray for our son's safe return to his comrades and then to our family, and we appreciate all the support and expressions of sympathy shown to us by our family members, our friends and others across the nation. Thank you, and please continue to keep Bowe in your thoughts and prayers."Asked by his captors if he had any message for Americans, the soldier says, "To my fellow Americans who have loved ones over here, who know what it's like to miss them, you have the power to make our government bring them home. Please, please bring us home so we can be back where we belong and not over here."The Taliban earlier claimed responsibility for Bergdahl's kidnapping, the military said. Last week, the U.S. military distributed pamphlets in eastern Afghanistan in an effort to locate him."As you can see, the American soldier is in good shape and good health, and he is being treated well based on the guidelines of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan regarding war prisoners," said a statement on Islamist Web sites accompanying the video. "Any decision regarding the American soldier will be the specialty of the high order of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, may God protect him."The U.S. military said it believed Bergdahl may have been moved to various locations. In the video, Bergdahl's captor makes reference to his being moved from Paktika to Khandahar. He acknowledges it, saying the move was accomplished "very easily." The claim could not be independently verified. Asked the date by his captor, Bergdahl says it is July 14.
Two versions of the pamphlets were distributed in Afghanistan, written in the Pashto language. They were made available to CNN by U.S. Forces Afghanistan.One shows the image of an American soldier shaking hands in a group of kids with the message, "One of our American guests is missing. Return the guest to his home. Call us at" -- and lists a phone number.The other shows a U.S. soldier kicking down a door, and then an outstretched hand with the superimposed image of a soldier, his head and arms drooping, and the words, "If you do not release the U.S. soldier then ... you will be hunted," the pamphlet says.Days after Bergdahl went missing, a senior U.S. military official said Bergdahl and the Afghan soldiers were captured by low-level militants and then quickly "sold" to the clan and network led by warlord Siraj Haqqani -- believed to be deeply involved in the action.The Haqqani clan operates on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border and is well known to the U.S. military.Bergdahl apparently left his small outpost on his own on June 30 with no apparent means of defending himself, the official said. Taliban commander Mulvi Sangeen said he visited a military post in the Yousaf Khel district in the Paktika province, got drunk, and was ambushed while returning to his car.Sangeen said the soldier was taken to a safe place. CNN could not independently verify Sangeen's claims.A source with the U.S. military denied the claim that Bergdahl was drunk. "The Taliban are known for lying and what they are claiming (is) not true," the source said.In the video, Bergdahl says he was captured as he was lagging behind a patrol.Ketchum Mayor Randy Hall told CNN Sunday, "Right now, the news is still breaking through town, and as the mayor, I can say this is a community situation."But, he said, "I trust the leadership of this country, the wisdom of the people who are serving and the decisions that led up to the situation."Bergdahl is not a National Guardsman, according to the Idaho National Guard statement, but the organization said it was coordinating with the Department of Defense to provide public affairs duties and other assistance to the Bergdahl family. The family has requested privacy, the statement said.

Power cuts bring people out on Peshawar streets

PESHAWAR: The duration of load shedding in various parts of the city is increasing with each passing day, with the angry residents taking to the streets to protest the frequent power cuts by the Peshawar Electric Supply Company.

On Saturday, the residents of Mattani, Shah Qabool, Mathra, Adezai, Marium Zai, Sherkera and Urmur took to the roads to protest the prolonged power cuts.

They blocked the Indus Highway at Mattani after closing down Mattani Bazaar and attempted to attack the grid station but the police foiled it.

The charged protesters said that they were facing power outages for 14 to 16 hours during the day that was unbearable.

The protesters pulled back after senior police officers rushed to the scene and assured them of the solution of their problem. Power remained suspended from 11:00am to 2:00pm in most parts of the city on Sunday without any notice.

The residents said that the load shedding was not according to PESCO schedule and power supply to the areas was being cut in odd hours. The rural areas are facing over 12-hour load shedding.

Jamil Ahmed, a resident of Regi Village, told Daily Times that the area had no electricity from 4:00am to 12:00pm. He said water supply remained suspended due to power cuts thus multiplying their miseries.

A trader told Daily Times that power cuts had added to their woes, as the business activity had almost come to a full stop, bringing them losses. He said they had no additional money to purchase generators.

Last month, Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti had also expressed his displeasure at the unannounced load shedding in the provincial capital and other parts of province and directed the PESCO authorities to strictly adhere to its load shedding schedule.