Afghanistan's nomadic Kuchis-CULTURE CLASH

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Masto Khan and his family live in a tent made of canvas, mud and bits of foraged wood on a patch of land they don't own on the outskirts of Kandahar City. The emaciated goats grazing nearby are their only possessions.

"Right now, our lifestyle has completely failed," Khan says, glancing at the cluster of similar tents dotting the dirt field. "There are hundreds of families here. It used to be that they all owned livestock and could feed their families. Now, if you ask them, they don't have a single herd of sheep."

It wasn't always this way. Khan, 60, is a member of Afghanistan's Kuchi minority, a nomadic people who have roamed the central Asian plains for centuries. But a pair of droughts and 30 years of war have reduced a proud people to this hardscrabble and largely sedentary life.

In a country rife with poverty and political instability, the Kuchis may the poorest and least stable.

For years, they formed the spine of the Afghan economy. Their trading caravans bridged South Asia and the Middle East. According to the UN High Commission on Refugees, at one time they owned 30 per cent of the country's goats and sheep and most of the camels. They traded things such as dairy products, tea, sugar and wool with the sedentary people for food staples such as wheat and vegetables.

Many of them spent their summers in mountain pastures and their winters on the lowland plains.

"That life was so beautiful. We are starving for that life," says Kabul, a man who lives in a nearby camp.

But droughts — one in the early 1970s and another from 1998 to 2002 — killed as much as three quarters of the Kuchi's livestock. Landmines and bombings killed many others.

With few economic prospects, many Kuchis made their way to the cities.

Drought and war forced Khan Mohammed, 32, to Kandahar from nearby Helmand Province. What money he and his family have, comes from day labour in the city. A month ago, the owner of the land they live on told them they must leave.

"For God's sake, where will we go?" he asked the owner, who plans to sell the land.

The owner hasn't relented, but Kuchis have long dealt with such problems, Mohammed says.

"We'll find another place, another way."

Kuchis currently make up about 70 per cent of Afghanistan's 200,000 internally displaced people. Many live in camps like the ones outside Kandahar, others in UN camps in the city.

Because they are largely nomadic, Kuchis historically abstained from the country's politics, but under Afghanistan's constitution, they were given 10 seats in parliament. But despite supporting President Hamid Karzai in the 2004 presidential elections, Haji Wakil Abdullah, one of the Kuchi MPs, says they have seen little benefit.

Their best-known leader, Haji Niam Kuchi, even spent more than a year in U.S. custody, including a stint in Guantanamo Bay.

Recently, Abdullah and the other Kuchi leaders met with Karzai, who is currently trying to shore up support for the upcoming presidential election. He promised them parcels of land, but although Abdullah plans to support Karzai, he has little faith the president will follow through.

"So far, nothing has been done for the Kuchi people," says Abdullah, who sports a neatly trimmed died black beard and a striking mustard yellow turban.

There is no reliable information on how many Kuchi's are in the country. Their greatest concentration is in the Registan Desert in the southernmost part of the country, where their camel trains still snake across the burnt red sand. Abdullah wants a census of the Kuchis done so they can get more representation and resources.

Their list of needs is long: basic health services, land and livestock, but Abdullah believes their number one priority is education. It's this lack of education he blames for the Kuchi's ties to the Taliban in some parts of the county.

In Wardak Province, southwest of Kabul, Kuchis have engaged in armed clashes with ethnic Hazara's over grazing land. The Hazara's are another historically oppressed group, Shia Muslims who are thought to have descended from Mongols who ruled the area in the 13th century.

The Hazaras say the Kuchis are targeting them with the help of the Taliban — fellow Pashtuns and Sunni Muslims — who want to stoke ethnic and sectarian tensions.

For their part, the Kuchis allege the Hazaras are propped up by Iran and are driving them from grazing land they have always used for centuries.

Abdullah believes the Kuchis have a role to play in the future of the country, if the government would only help them.

"The Kuchis are able to deal with every other tribe," he says. "The Kuchis can even play a role in bringing the Taliban onside."

The families living in camps outside Kandahar don't know who their political leaders are. In the short term, they want one of two things: livestock or land. If they get livestock, they will resume a partially nomadic lifestyle, if they get land, they will farm it.

Until then, it's hard for Khan Mohammed not to look backward.

"We used to have everything. Our hearts were full, our stomachs were full and our children were healthy."

North Korea threatens full scale war if rocket is intercepted

The North has put its army on full alert in the face of the annual spring military joint exercises.It has also cut off its border and telephone links with the South in protest at military exercises by American and South Korean troops which began on Monday.Plans for a launch were first picked up by satellite imagery, with foreign intelligence agencies saying it was a test of a long-range Taepodong-2 missile with the capacity to hit parts of the United States.
The United States said it would shoot down the missile if it headed towards its territory. Japan has suggested it might try to intercept any launch, even if the payload is a communications satellite as claimed by Pyongyang.
"If the enemies recklessly opt for intercepting our satellite, our revolutionary armed forces will launch without hesitation a just retaliatory strike operation," the general staff of the North Korean army said in a statement on state media. It singled out the United States, Japan and South Korea as targets.
"Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war," it said.
The North has put its army on full alert in the face of the annual spring military joint exercises begun today by the South Koreans and Americans.
It shut the border point which allows South Koreans to visit a special industrial zone in the city of Kaesong which is funded and run by South Korean companies. The South said 726 people had been turned back.
"It is nonsensical to maintain a normal communications channel at a time when the South Korean puppets are getting frantic with the above-said war exercises, levelling guns at fellow countrymen in league with foreign forces," the North said.
Last week it also said it could not guarantee the safety of civilian aircraft which approached North Korean airspace during the exercises, causing airlines to adjust their routes.
This threat in particular is beyond the standard fare of North Korean rhetoric. It comes after six months of political uncertainty in relations between North Korea and the West, which had been improving slightly in the wake of a deal supposed to bring an end to its nuclear weapons programme.
Most western analysts linked the uncertainty to the stroke believed to have been suffered by the North's leader, Kim Jong-il, last August.
This weekend he emerged to cast his ballot in elections for the country's official parliament, in which he was a candidate.
Turn-out was 99.98 per cent, with every candidate achieving 100 per cent of the vote, according to state media. Only one candidate's name appeared on each constituency ballot, and while it was theoretically possible to cross that candidate's name off, electors had to do so in a special booth, making clear they were dissenters.
The main focus of interest during these elections was rumours that Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong-woon, would stand.
There is as yet no clear sign of a succession to the leadership. If the rumours had been confirmed, Jong-woon would be the only one of the three sons to have been appointed to any official position, a clear sign that he was being marked out.
But the full list of names published last night contained no mention of him, consigning at least for the time being yet another of many stories about the secretive Kim and his family to the dust.

President Hu stresses stability in Tibet

Chinese President Hu Jintao stressed the necessity to promote development and stability in Tibet when joining a panel discussion with deputies of the National People's Congress (NPC) from the Tibet Autonomous Region on Monday.

"We must reinforce the solid Great Wall for combating separatism and safeguarding national unity, so as to promote a long-term stability in the region," said Hu.

The Chinese president said Tibet authorities must implement the central government's policies on Tibet, focus on development and stability, attain an economic great-leap-forward, safeguard "national security" and "social stability" and keep improving people's living standard.

"Tibet should stick to the development road with Chinese and Tibetan features so as to strengthen the material foundation of the building of socialistic new Tibet, improve people's life and let people of all ethnics share the fruit of development," he said.

Iran says U.S. failing in Afghanistan

TEHRAN - Iran said on Monday the United States was failing in Afghanistan and should recognize a new approach is needed, four days after Washington said it would invite Tehran to a conference to discuss its neighbor.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki did not say whether Iran would accept the U.S. invitation to this month's planned meeting on Afghanistan, a swift overture toward Tehran by the new administration of U.S. President Barack Obama.

Iran's government spokesman said on Saturday the Islamic Republic would consider such a request and that it was ready to help Afghanistan as it battles a growing Taliban insurgency.

An Iranian analyst said he believed Iran would attend as it "wants to be recognized as a key player in Afghanistan."

Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic ties for three decades and are now embroiled in a dispute over Tehran's nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at making bombs. Iran says it is for peaceful power purposes.

But the two foes share an interest in ensuring a stable Afghanistan, analysts say.

Mottaki said the United States came to Afghanistan aiming to root out extremism, restore security and fight the drugs trade.

"All indicators in regard to these three areas show that the conditions have deteriorated sharply," he told state television.

Mottaki said this indicated U.S. policies in Afghanistan were "incorrect." U.S. officials should "suggest that they want to apply a new orientation," he added.

The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, told the British Broadcasting Corporation on Monday that despite successes in some areas of Afghanistan NATO was not winning in parts of the south.

"There are other areas -- large areas in the southern part of Afghanistan especially, but in parts of the east -- where we are not winning," he said in an interview.

Iran has often called for U.S. forces to leave the region, saying they are making the situation worse.

Obama, in a major shift in U.S. policy, has said the United States wants to engage Iran. The Afghanistan invitation would be the start of a diplomatic approach to the Islamic state.

IRAN ROLE

While Iran and the United States sat at the same table to discuss Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, the Bush administration made sure the new pro-Western Afghan government kept Tehran at arm's length.

Analysts have predicted the Obama team was likely to begin a dialogue with Iran on issues such as Afghanistan, where the United States is trying to turn around a war it risks losing and where it plans to send an additional 17,000 troops.

"Iran does have substantial influence in Afghanistan," said the Iranian analyst, who declined to be named.

Afghanistan's foreign minister made clear he wanted Iran to attend the conference, possibly on March 31, which would also bring in neighbors including Pakistan as well as other players.

"We warmly welcome any precious role that Iran wants to play to strengthen peace in Afghanistan," Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta told reporters during a visit to Tehran.

Mohammad Hassan Khani, an assistant professor of international relations at Tehran's Imam Sadiq University, said it was in the interests of both Islamic nations and the West that Tehran and Washington tried to resolve their disputes.

"Efforts that include goodwill, engagement and negotiation certainly should be more successful than continued hostility," he wrote in the Washington Post. "The United States has made a start by including Iran in discussions regarding Afghanistan."

Obama will use spring summit to bring Cuba in from the cold

US companies are queuing up as the president moves to ease restrictions on travel and trade, raising hopes of warmer relations and an end to the embargo
Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent

President Barack Obama is poised to offer an olive branch to Cuba in an effort to repair the US's tattered reputation in Latin America.

The White House has moved to ease some travel and trade restrictions as a cautious first step towards better ties with Havana, raising hopes of an eventual lifting of the four-decade-old economic embargo. Several Bush-era controls are expected to be relaxed in the run-up to next month's Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago to gild the president's regional debut and signal a new era of "Yankee" cooperation.

The administration has moved to ease draconian travel controls and lift limits on cash remittances that Cuban-Americans can send to the island, a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of families.

"The effect on ordinary Cubans will be fairly significant. It will improve things and be very welcome," said a western diplomat in Havana. The changes would reverse hardline Bush policies but not fundamentally alter relations between the superpower and the island, he added. "It just takes us back to the 1990s."

The provisions are contained in a $410bn (£290bn) spending bill due to be voted on this week. The legislation would allow Americans with immediate family in Cuba to visit annually, instead of once every three years, and broaden the definition of immediate family. It would also drop a requirement that Havana pay cash in advance for US food imports.

"There is a strong likelihood that Obama will announce policy changes prior to the summit," said Daniel Erikson, director of Caribbean programmes at the Inter-American Dialogue and author of The Cuba Wars. "Loosening travel restrictions would be the easy thing to do and defuse tensions at the summit."

Latin America, once considered Washington's "backyard", has become newly assertive and ended the Castro government's pariah status. The presidents of Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Guatemala have recently visited Havana to deepen economic and political ties. Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is expected to tell Obama on a White House visit this week that the region views the US embargo as anachronistic and vindictive. Easing it would help mend Washington's strained relations with the "pink tide" of leftist governments.

Obama's proposed Cuba measures would only partly thaw a policy frozen since John F Kennedy tried to isolate the communist state across the Florida Straits. "It would signal new pragmatism, but you would still have the embargo, which is the centrepiece of US policy," said Erikson.

Wayne Smith at the Centre for International Policy, Washington DC, said: "I think that the Obama administration will go ahead and lift restrictions on travel of Cuban Americans and remittance to their families. He may also lift restrictions on academic travel.

"There are some things that could be done very easily - for example it's about time we took Cuba off the terrorist list. It's the beginning of the end of the policies we have had towards Cuba for 50 years. It's achieved nothing, it's an embarrassment."

Wayne Smith, a former head of the US Interest Section in Havana, famously said Cuba had the same effect on American administrations as the full moon had on werewolves.

Cuban exiles in Florida, a crucial voting bloc in a swing state, sustained a hardline US policy towards Havana even as the cold war ended and the US traded with other undemocratic nations with much worse human rights records.

To Washington's chagrin, the economic stranglehold did not topple Fidel Castro. When Soviet Union subsidies evaporated, the "maximum leader" implemented savage austerity, opened the island to tourism and found a new sponsor in Venezuela's petrol-rich president, Hugo Chávez.

When Fidel fell ill in 2006, power transferred seamlessly to his brother Raúl. He cemented his authority last week with a cabinet reshuffle that replaced "Fidelistas" with "Raúlistas" from the military.

Recognising Castro continuity, and aghast at European and Asian competitors getting a free hand, US corporate interests are impatient to do business with Cuba. Oil companies want to drill offshore, farmers to export more rice, vegetables and meat, construction firms to build infrastructure projects.

Young Cuban exiles in Florida, less radical than their parents, have advocated ending the policy of isolation. As a senator, Obama opposed the embargo, but as a presidential candidate he supported it - and simultaneously promised engagement with Havana.

A handful of hardline anti-Castro Republican and Democrat members of Congress have threatened to derail the $410bn spending bill unless the Cuba provisions are removed, but most analysts think the legislation will survive.

Compared to intractable challenges in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East, the opportunity for quick progress on Cuba has been called the "low-hanging fruit" of US foreign policy.

That Obama has moved so cautiously has frustrated many reformers. But after decades of freeze, even a slight thaw is welcome, and there is speculation that more will follow.

Old enemies

President Kennedy imposed an economic and trade embargo on Cuba on 7 February 1962 after Fidel Castro's government expropriated US property on the island. Known by Cubans as el bloqueo, the blockade, elements have been toughened and relaxed under succeeding US presidents. Exceptions have been made for food and medicine exports. George Bush added restrictions on travel and remittances.

The sanctions regime

• No Cuban products or raw materials may enter the US

• US companies and foreign subsidiaries banned from trade with Cuba

• Cuba must pay cash up front when importing US food

• Ships which dock in Cuba may not dock in the US for six months

• US citizens banned from spending money or receiving gifts in Cuba without special permission, in effect a travel ban

• Americans with family on the island limited to one visit every three years.

Jirga opposes peace deal at cost of women rights

PESHAWAR: A women peace jirga on Sunday demanded of the government not to compromise with extremists and militants at the cost of fundamental rights of women in the NWFP.
‘When negotiating and implementing peace agreements, adopt gender perspective, ensure protection of rights of women and girls. There should be no negotiations with militants and terrorists unless they commit to putting down arms, and under no condition threaten and violate women’s rights ensured in constitution and international covenant,’ said a declaration after the jirga.
The event ‘role of women in peace and security’ was jointly organised by civil society organisations, women activists and parliamentarians of the ruling Awami National Party in connection with the International Women’s Day.
Speakers on the occasion asked the government to ensure women’s perspective in negotiations and implementation of peace deals. They pointed out that insurgency and counter-insurgency strategies were threatening women’s rights and participation, mobility and access to socio-economic and political development.Musarrat Hilali, vice-chairperson Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, NWFP chapter, urged the provincial government that it should guarantee women’s rights to education, work, freedom of movement and other fundamental rights when it signed peace deals with militants.‘Islam gives women their due rights. When it comes to women’s rights then you should follow Islam not the Pakhtun mindset,’ she said while criticising the male-dominated society where, according to her, men suppressed women in the name of religion and culture.Afrasiab Khattak, ANP provincial president, said the government would not reconcile with those who oppose girls’ education. He assured that schools would open for girls in Swat. Khattak said that they held talks with militants and wanted to implement Nizam-i-Adal in Swat.‘The fire that has spread in our home could engulf the entire country. So we appeal to the rest of the country to help us bring peace here,’ Khattak said. He assured to amend those laws which violated women’s rights. ‘We will fight evil, destructive and violent forces which curb women’s rights.’Women had come from different civil society groups and political parties to attend the event. They spoke in Urdu, Pashto, Hindko, Siraiki and other languages. In a unified voice, they demanded peace so that women could play their role in social and economic development in the region.MPA Noor Sahar said that girls should not be deprived of education as they had a rebuilding role in society. Shabina Ayaz, resident director Aurat Foundation, highlighted the situation of women in the Frontier. Referring to the peace accord with the militants in Swat, she hoped that women of the province should not be forced to pay a price for the peace deals. ‘The government should always keep women’s rights in mind when signing such deals with the extremists,’ she said.The women jirga called upon the government to facilitate women’s participation in decision-making process. It demanded end to crimes against humanity including sexual violence against women. It sought an independent humanitarian commission to analyse the extent of devastation as a result of insurgency and military operations and recommend adequate compensation. Health and education facilities for women were also demanded.Slogans like ‘we flower-like children want peace’ and ‘war is not solution, don’t fight’ were also heard on the occasion. Women narrated their ordeal after the waves of extremism, militancy and military operations in the NWFP. The jirga ended with a peace rally. Women raised slogans for peace and were holding placards while marching from the Nishtar Hall to the Provincial Assembly building.Meanwhile, Women reiterated their demand for ending violence against women during a gathering.

Fear and loathing in Pakistan

Gains by Islamic extremists and anti-American sentiment among its people make it a tough test for Obama.
Doyle McManus L.A. TIMES
Late last month, the chief of Pakistan's army, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, made an unpublicized visit to the White House to meet President Obama's new national security advisor, retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones Jr.The meeting did not go well.
Speaking as one general to another, Jones pressed Kayani for a more aggressive war against Islamic militants in western Pakistan, beginning with the Swat Valley, where jihadists seized power this year. To Jones' frustration, Kayani responded only with vague assurances that he was working on the problem.The Obama administration is only halfway through its 60-day review of U.S. policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, but top officials already have come to an important conclusion: Pakistan, not Afghanistan, is now the central front of the war against Islamic extremism. And nuclear-armed Pakistan is in trouble. Islamist extremism is on the rise, and the government and army appear incapable of reversing the tide.Both Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar, leader of Afghanistan's Taliban, run their operations out of Pakistan. And the country's homegrown Islamic militants, allied with Al Qaeda, are extending their rule across more and more territory as the pro-American civilian government seems paralyzed. Meanwhile, the army is trying to placate both the Americans and the Islamists. So what will the Obama administration do? Send more aid, for starters. The administration plans to ask Congress for an additional $1.5 billion each year for at least five years -- to bolster a government it mistrusts. And if aid alone can't do the trick, there are always those Hellfire missiles. The Obama administration has continued, and even escalated, a Bush administration campaign of covert airstrikes by unmanned aircraft against suspected Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan. The architects of the CIA-run airstrike campaign are ebullient about its success. "Al Qaeda is on the ropes," the Bush administration's last terrorism czar, Juan Carlos Zarate, declared last week, coming perilously close to a "Mission Accomplished" moment.But others disagree. "Al Qaeda is winning," countered Bruce Hoffman, dean of U.S. terrorism scholars. "They're successfully subverting [Pakistan] and consolidating a sanctuary for themselves."The airstrikes have unquestionably disrupted the terrorist organization and made it less capable of carrying out plots like the 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon. But on the ground, where the missiles have killed civilians as well as terrorists, the strikes have created anger against the United States. And there's evidence that the border strikes are driving militants deeper into Pakistan.That's why Pakistan's future is so important to the United States: It's becoming the haven for terrorists that American troops invaded Afghanistan to destroy.In 2001, when Bin Laden and Omar slipped across the border into Pakistan, they found shelter among sympathetic Pashtun tribesmen in the mountains. Back then, Pakistan's pro-Taliban Islamists were fragmented, feuding and relatively weak. But in the years that followed, the "Pakistani Taliban" has grown, formed new alliances, battled the Pakistani government's security forces -- and cemented its sway over the western tribal areas that have never truly been under government control.Now branches of the Taliban are asserting power in regions outside the tribal areas, most recently in the Swat Valley, only 100 miles northwest of the capital, Islamabad. There, a Taliban faction seized power, forced the army to negotiate a cease-fire and imposed a stricter form of Islamic law.The U.S. probably can't expect much help from Pakistan's civilian president, Asif Ali Zardari. The widower of Benazir Bhutto, who was once known as "Mr. 10%" for his reputed commissions on government contracts, is scrambling to rescue his slumping popularity among the Pakistani electorate. Last week, he insisted that the new leaders in Swat were merely "traditional local clerics." And the Obama administration wasn't impressed with Kayani's assurance last month that he's working on a strategy to reassert government authority in Swat. "Frankenstein's monster has taken over the lab and is threatening to move into the kitchen and dining room," a U.S. official told me last week. But the Pakistanis "have not yet decided to kill the monster."U.S. officials hope that spreading violence will sway Pakistani public opinion. Much of the country's elite -- including Zardari, a thoroughly secular figure who knows he's on the Taliban's hit list just as his wife was -- is horrified by the rise of the jihadists. But ordinary Pakistanis are divided, and a U.S.-administered poll last year found 63% opposed to cooperating with the United States. (The good news: That was down from 71%.)The Bush administration sent more than $10 billion in military aid to Pakistan in the wake of 9/11, but most of it went to strengthen the Pakistani army's conventional forces aimed at its traditional enemy, India, rather than to counterinsurgency forces on the western frontier. Kayani and his colleagues have renewed their requests for more, including helicopters and drone aircraft. Hard bargaining lies ahead.But the administration's main thrust will be a major increase in economic aid to build roads, bridges and schools in a desperately poor country, in hopes that such things will help the civilian government win the people's support against the Taliban.In a year when Obama is already asking for a tax increase, another bank bailout and healthcare reform, it will be tough to sell Congress on sending billions more in aid to a country with shaky civilian leaders, balky military leaders and a population largely opposed to cooperating with the United States. But the alternatives look worse.

Militants force artists out of tribal regions

KARACHI: Mohammad Shahid scrapes together a living in a city slum by painting birds, flowers, animals and celebrity portraits onto minibuses – and vows never to return to the horrors of Swat valley.After pro-Taliban vigilantes beat and threatened him at gunpoint, he swapped the green pastures and sweeping mountains of his birthplace for the concrete jungle of Pakistan’s smoggy metropolis.It was heart-breaking to leave the idyll of his youth, he said, but there was no choice.‘I had to come here because there was no other chance for me or my family to survive,’ said 45-year-old Shahid.
The memories of the terrifying campaign waged by hardliners to enforce sharia law are still fresh for Shahid, and no fledgling truce between the government and those who chased him out will persuade him to return.‘I’m a painter, an artist. I can’t do anything else to earn a living. The Taliban won’t allow people like us to do our work, which saw my family suffer.’‘What would I do if I return in these conditions? They will remain in control of the region and no one will have freedom to work at will.’The one-time ski resort became a battlefield. Rotar blades from helicopter gunships sliced through the once-clear skies. Warplanes roared overhead.Anything deemed ‘un-Islamic’ was banned. Opponents were beheaded, more than 120 girls’ schools were bombed, entertainment was outlawed.Shahid said he used to make a good living painting landscapes, birds, Pakistani and Indian film stars, pavement caricatures and portraits, which were popular with tourists who flocked to the once-friendly and tolerant valley.But then the fanatics came, the tourists left and life changed for those who made a living from the arts.Suspected Taliban militants kidnapped and murdered a dancer, Shabana, who ignored warnings to quit her profession. Her bullet-riddled body was dumped on the main roundabout of Green Chowk in the main town of Mingora last December.One after another, artists, dancers and singers renounced their profession or fled to more liberal cities such as Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad.Those who flee are haunted by beheadings and bombingsOne day, Shahid said, gun-toting vigilantes walked into his studio.‘They beat and insulted me for doing something that they said was forbidden by religion,’ Shahid said.‘From now on, don’t paint creatures’,’ Shahid quoted one of them as saying, ‘otherwise you’ll suffer an unprecedented punishment’.’Shahid rang his brother, a construction worker in Karachi.‘He asked me to leave immediately. I took my wife and four children, caught a bus from Mingora and came here.’He rented a place in Karachi’s western Baldia Colony slum, found a job painting trucks and buses, and put his children in school.
Shahid said the humidity and pollution of Karachi frequently make his children ill, but he insists he will never again put himself at the mercy of the ‘unpredictable’ militants in Swat.‘One’s life will still be in danger no matter what guarantee they give,’Shahid said. ‘I don’t want to disturb my daughter’s studies. She’s in school
here. The militants could reverse their pledge any moment.’Even in Peshawar, artists have come under threat from the extremists.Nishtar Hall, the only theatre in Peshawar, has been closed for six years.Militants kidnapped Alam Zeb Mujahid, a famous Pashto comedian, from the upscale Hayatabad neighbourhood in January, held him for five days and let him go only after he renounced all drama and film work.Haroon Bacha, a renowned Pashto singer Swabi for the United States when militants demanded he stop singing.‘I started getting threats from the Taliban about a year ago. I was told to stop singing. There were letters, there were phone calls and there were text messages,’ he wrote to AFP in an email message from Washington.‘They used to come to my home very frequently, telling me to stop music or I would be killed.’CD and music shops, Internet cafes and barbers who shave beards – all have been targeted and many shut down. Some of those brave enough to stay open have hired private security.
And for many of those who have left, the bombings and beheadings stay with them.
‘My little children still scream when they see planes flying. Children run for shelter in Swat when they see planes or helicopters,’ says Hashim Khan, a 37-year-old labourer who lives near Karachi airport.‘They saw planes bombing in Swat. It still haunts their dreams. I saw bodies lying near Green Chowk, the roundabout where Shabana was dumped.‘The area once symbolised our city’s beauty but now it has become ‘khooni’ (bloody) Chowk,’ he said.

OBAMA SET TO VISIT TURKEY

ANKARA, Turkey - For one of his first foreign visits, President Barack Obama will call on NATO ally Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim country viewed as critical to aiding the U.S. pullout from Iraq, turning around the Afghanistan war and blocking Iran's nuclear ambitions.The invasion of Iraq has strained the long friendship between the U.S. and Turkey, a Western-style democracy that straddles Europe and the Middle East and has an Islamic-oriented government. Obama's visit, expected at the end of a European trip in early April, would mark an improvement in ties."We share a commitment to democracy, a secular constitution, respect for religious freedom and belief and in free market and a sense of global responsibility," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday in announcing Obama's plans after meeting with Turkish leaders in the capital.The visit is "a reflection of the value we place on our friendship with Turkey," the chief American diplomat said on the last stop of her weeklong trip to five countries. The president asked her to make the announcement, she added.Turkey had advised against the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and refused to permit U.S. ground forces to launch elements of the attack from Turkish soil.In a more cordial atmosphere now, Washington and Ankara are consulting on ways Turkey can help facilitate the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Turkey has said it is ready to serve as an exit route for the Americans. The U.S. air base at Incirlik, Turkey, has been used for transfer of U.S. troops and equipment to Iraq and Afghanistan."We have to discuss what will pass, what kind of equipment," Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said at a news conference with Clinton. "We are ready to cooperate."Neither Clinton nor the White House would confirm a date for Obama's visit. But it probably will follow his trip to Europe from March 31 to April 5 that includes a NATO summit and meetings with European Union leaders; Turkey is seeking EU membership. Obama's only trip since taking office Jan. 20 has been a day visit to Canada.The announcement drew an immediate question about whether Obama, who has pledged to work to repair America's reputation worldwide, had settled on Turkey as the site for a promised major speech in a Muslim capital. The answer was no — that will come during a later trip. Speculation has run high that Obama might give it in Indonesia, the world's most populous Islamic nation and his home for four years as a child."We've got a unique opportunity to reboot America's image around the world and also in the Muslim world in particular. So we need to take advantage of that," Obama said in a December newspaper interview, though he declined to say whether the speech would happen in his first year.Obama's ascension to the White House won cheers around the globe as a sign that America would be more embracing and open to change. In his Inauguration Day address, the new president said, "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect." Obama also gave his first formal television interview as president to the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya network.Before Obama sees NATO leaders, his national security council plans to finish an Afghanistan policy review. The manner in which that policy is announced is expected to be packaged with direct outreach to the Muslim world.The U.S. has about 38,000 troops in Afghanistan and is the largest contributor to a joint NATO force. NATO also has about 30,000 non-U.S. troops there.The war effort in Afghanistan has deteriorated the past two years as the Taliban and extremist insurgency has gained strength and U.S. and allied casualties have increased. Obama has approved sending an additional 17,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan this spring and summer, but he also has emphasized the need to have a broader, unified international approach to the war.The Turks think the U.S. should put more focus on expanding and improving the Afghan security forces and on pressing Afghan authorities to reconcile with elements of the Islamic insurgency, rather than on putting tens of thousands more U.S. troops.Incirlik could take on a greater role following Kyrgyzstan's recent order that the U.S. vacate on air base on its territory that is a transit point for 15,000 troops and 500 tons of cargo each month to and from Afghanistan.Obama answered "no" when asked in a New York Times interview Friday whether the war was being won and raised the possibility of reconciliation with elements of the Taliban.On Iran, which shares a border with Turkey, the Obama administration has raised the prospect of diplomatic engagement as part of a new direction in U.S. foreign policy. But a chief source of friction is Iran's nuclear policy. The U.S. and other countries believe the program is intended to produce weapons; the Iranians say it is designed for civilian energy production. Yet during her trip, Clinton accused Iran of seeking to "intimidate as far as they think their voice can reach."Turkey supports Iran's right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful use but wants Tehran to be transparent about its nuclear program and favors dialogue.In addition to her talks with Turkish leaders, Clinton appeared on a popular TV talk show that focuses on women's issues. Several women asked Clinton about Michelle Obama, whom the secretary of state praised as a good role model. None brought up Clinton's personal life, but one asked her about a comment she made during her swearing-in ceremony at the State Department on Feb. 2 in which she thanked her husband for "a lifetime of — all kinds of experiences." The woman asked how she coped with those experiences.Clinton replied that she relied on forgiveness, friends, family and faith."I don't know anybody whose life is smooth sailing. If you meet such a person I'd like to know him because I've lived a long time and I've yet to meet such a person," she said.

Bombings kill 11 in Badaber, Darra Adam Khel

PESHAWAR: A bomb-laden car exploded Saturday in northwest Pakistan as police tried to pull a body from it, authorities said, killing seven police and a bystander as international fears grow over security and political stability in the nuclear-armed country.Al Qaeda, Taliban and linked militants have staged numerous attacks against security forces along Pakistan's northwest border with Afghanistan, but Saturday's appeared to be the first to use a body as a lure.It occurred in the Badaber area, where residents recently evicted militants with help from police, prompting threats of retaliation.Separately, a roadside bomb struck a military convoy in the northwest town of Darra Adam Khel, killing three passers-by and wounding four troops, government official Asif Khan said.On Saturday, officers were dispatched to Badaber, which lies on the outskirts of Peshawar, after an unknown caller told them a body was in a parked car, according to Police Chief Rahim Shah.'Police went there. They found the white car. They also saw a body inside, but when they were pulling it out, the car bomb went off,' he said, calling the set-up a 'new technique.'Footage from the scene showed a police van whose front was decimated.The attack occurred just outside the Khyber tribal region, a part of Pakistan's tribal belt where military forces have staged offensives to stem militant activity.

SWAT VALLEY WOMEN FEAR DEATH

PESHAWAR: Terrified, locked up at home and courting death if they go out alone, women oppressed by extremists in Swat have nothing to celebrate on International Women’s Day.Nearly 100 years after the annual day was created to mark the struggle for equal rights for half the world’s population, most women in Swat look blank and go silent when asked about gender rights and discrimination.They’re too frightened to speak in public. They can only leave the confines of their homes accompanied by a male relative, their bodies hidden in veils.‘How can I tell you my name, are you crazy? I was told not to give my name to anyone because the Taliban could hurt me,’ one girl in the ninth grade told AFP by telephone from the former ski resort.The girl’s dreams of becoming a doctor are over. She worries the Taliban will stop her finishing school, regardless of her parents’ support.‘My mother told me I can do anything, but my inner soul is shattered.’‘Tell me if you stop women getting an education where will a sick woman go? Do you want her to go to a male doctor? I was told that education is compulsory for every man and woman in Islam but the Taliban destroyed our schools.’Militants have destroyed 191 schools in the valley, 122 of them for girls, leaving 62,000 pupils with nowhere to study, local officials say.Huma Batool – not her real name – is a 42-year-old mother of two who dices with death to teach girls at a private school in the region’s main town Mingora.‘We have to veil ourselves and wear shuttlecock burqas. We are not safe even at home. We fear the Taliban all the time. Life is becoming worse and worse for women in Swat,’ she told AFP by telephone.Educated and financially self-sufficient, she cannot even pop to the shops without a male relative, leaving her frequently couped up at home for hours, waiting for a suitable escort to become available.‘You cannot imagine how I manage to get to school, practically every day I think about leaving the job and sitting at home.’‘Life bores us to tears. There is no entertainment. We can’t even think about cable TV, cinema, film and music. Imagine I can’t even go shopping or to the bazaar as women are banned by Taliban.’Salma Javed, 35, is a nurse at a local hospital, where women – however sick – can only be admitted if accompanied by a male relative.
‘Every woman fears she will be killed if she comes out, so even sick and pregnant women have to visit hospital with their husbands.’Salma would love to leave, but she cannot scrape together the money to set herself up in Peshawar.‘Now we are waiting to see what will happen after the peace deal, but let me tell you things will not change for women,’ she said.The only light in Shahnaz Kousar’s life is that the Taliban – at least for now – are allowing her to go to school in Mingora. But outside her 10th grade classroom, the daily pleasures of shopping and make-up are gone.‘We are now totally depending on Taliban. There’s not a single shop left where I can go and buy cosmetics, all shops selling women’s things are either closed or empty.’‘I remember when I used to go to this market with my mother and sisters, but now it seems like a dream.’

Rockets fired in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Unidentified militants fired at least 28 rockets at Adezai village in the small hours of Thursday. A house was damaged in the attack.Adezai union council nazim Haji Abdul Malik told Dawn that rockets began to land around his residence after midnight and continued for about one hour.‘They were not rockets but mortar shells, which bear marks of Wah Factory,’ Malik said and added that house of Sher Mast Khan was hit by two shells. The owner of the house, he said, had been killed in a similar attack sometime ago.He said that local people tried to locate the attackers, but couldn’t do so as they had fired the mortars from Jani Khwar, about six kilometres away from Adezai village.The nazim said that firing of mortar shells with short intervals showed that the number of attackers was in dozens.He said volunteers were active to defend their village but they couldn’t patrol in the areas every night.
He said that militants had also attacked the village on last Wednesday night and fired about 12 rockets.An official of the Matani police station said that militants had been active in the surrounding areas but police had also beefed up security to frustrate their attacks.

World award for tolerance renamed after Benazir Bhutto

VIENNA: Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari presented the Benazir Bhutto Tolerance Award to actor Claudia Cardinal on Thursday. The award has been renamed after Benazir Bhutto, who received it in 2005.In his speech, Bilawal thanked the organisers for the recognition given to his mother. “By honouring my mother, you are also honouring Pakistan,” he said.“The problems that Pakistan faces at the moment are unprecedented,” he said while referring to Pakistan in the post-Benazir period. Bilawal said the PPP government had inherited a backlog of years of political instability in the region. “The acts of terrorism in Pakistan are a blight on our society and I am deeply shocked at the recent attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore,” he said.But he urged the international community not to lose faith in people of Pakistan. “We are a young nation striving to find our place in the world and God willing we will fulfil my mother’s dream.” Bilawal was accompanied by his aunt Sanam Bhutto and Pakistan’s High Commissioner to UK Wajid Shamsul Hassan.

US Sees a Place for Iran at Meeting on Afghanistan

The United States is proposing a big conference on Afghanistan and wants to invite Iran, one of its neighbors. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says dealing with extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan requires a regional effort.She announced the proposal to hold a high-level meeting on March thirty-first. It would also include donors and members of NATO, and might take place in the Netherlands. The United Nations special representative for Afghanistan, Kai Eide, could be the chairman.
Secretary Clinton presented the idea to NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. Then, on Friday, she met in Geneva with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss arms control and other issues.The NATO ministers agreed to restart high-level contacts with Russia. Those were suspended last year after its military action in Georgia.
President Obama wants Russia to help keep nuclear weapons away from Iran. He says that would reduce the need for an American missile-defense system proposed for the Czech Republic and Poland. But he also says his comments do not suggest a weakening of support for the security of those countries or other NATO members.Russia opposes the defense plan. President Obama says it is directed at Iran, not Russia. But his administration is also re-examining current American policy which aims to isolate Iran from the world. At the same time, he has decided to send two high-level officials to Damascus for talks with Syria.Secretary Clinton announced the trip in Jerusalem earlier this week during her first visit to the Middle East as America's top diplomat. The United States has not had an ambassador in Syria since former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri was killed in two thousand five.The United States has criticized Syria and Iran for supporting militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. But, in a development announced Wednesday, Britain says it is open to talks with the political wing of Hezbollah in Lebanon.Britain halted contacts in two thousand five. And last July it added Hezbollah's military force to its list of banned organizations. But Hezbollah is part of a national unity government that was formed last year in Lebanon. The United States says it has no plans for now to follow Britain's lead.Finally, in other news, this Sunday is International Women's Day. A new study says women's rights have gained some ground in Arab Gulf states since a similar study completed five years ago. The group Freedom House notes that in Kuwait, women have won the right to vote. In Oman, women have made gains in areas of higher education, the work force and politics.Just last month, Saudi Arabia got its first woman cabinet member, Noura al-Fayez, the deputy minister for women's education. But the Freedom House researchers say much more progress is still needed, especially in Saudi Arabia.

People protest bombing of Rahman Baba shrine

PESHAWAR: A large number of angry villagers of Bahader Killay, Garhi Qamardin, Hazarkhwani and other towns Friday held protest demo against blowing up of the shrine of the most revered Pashto sufi poet, Rahman Baba.The demonstrators marched on Ring Road where they also staged a rally. The speakers demanded immediate arrest of the culprits behind the worst act of terrorism at the mausoleum of the most popular and loved Pashto poet.An elder, Noor Ali Shah Bacha, lashed at the government, saying it had failed to provide security to the public and public places. He said a group of people had been left to play havoc with the ‘cultural treasures’ of Pakhtuns. The elder argued that not a single person has any disagreement with the sayings of Rahman Baba who always spoke for peace and love.Hidayatullah, Nazim Union Council Hazarkhwani-I, urged the government to arrest the attackers forthwith. He said they would convene a Momand-Khalil jirga to take up the issue and evolve a future strategy. He termed the coward act a conspiracy against Pakhtun culture and traditions.Habib Gul, a villager while talking to The News, said the miscreants not only damaged the mausoleum but also attempted to suppress the universal message of love and peace of Rahman Baba.Naeem Jan said the government was never serious about arresting the gangsters who had been destroying the shrines in the name of Islam. He was quick to comment that they had received threats from unknown people that they would destroy the shrine. He added that suspected elements were against the visits of women to the shrine.Nawaz Ali, a banker present at the complex, said Rehman Baba had been equally respected in four provinces of the country and the rest of the world where Pakhtuns had settled because of his poetry and the message that he left for the people. He said nobody had the right to bar women from visiting the mausoleum.

NAWAZ SHARIF .......... HYPOCRITE

M WAQAR
I am surfing the net for latest global news and I read Govt of China opened their congress session in which their President is reading progress report and talking about China’s future and what Govt can do for citizens progress and their future, development etc, In America President Obama and his team working hard to fix current economic problems and making moves for better lives of Americans, Same going on in Russia, Latin America , Europe etc, where elected officials are discussing problems, solving problems etc. Then I read about Pakistan, where innocent people getting killed, Taliban kidnapping and beheading foreign workers. Govt seems helpless and clueless, seems like there is no law and order, there is elected Govt but I don’t read in news that they are discussing how to take care of their voters problems, how to get rid of load shedding etc, citizens are on their own, they are selling kids and kidneys, none of elected officials talking about creating jobs, building educational institutions ,controlling poverty, health benefits for citizens etc. Where is the discussion about the higher education in Pakistan? How are the top notch scientists, engineers and doctors going to be trained? When will govt start pouring funds into these fields? There is also EDUCATIONAL FAILURE in Pakistan, a country with over 40 million illiterate people can’t progress and develop . The lack of modern schools and scientific education shows no potential for Pakistan to develop economically or politically in the future. Pakistani elite betraying the better educated parts of its population and turn itself into a backward nation, and they are doing it so they can rule and no one can question them .Pakistan as a nation is failing miserably and corrupt and opportunist politicians and power hungry Generals are responsible for that. If Pakistan is bankrupt ,even all the loans from IMF, World Bank, Paris Club, London Club, overt and covert aid from US, and repeated refinancing of the debt have not worked because all that aid was stolen by Pakistani elite, politicians and Army Generals. Today we see POLITICAL FAILURE in Pakistan because of The military coups, suspension of constitutional law, murders of Bhuttos , reveal no evidence of a modern political culture or democracy and none of the politicians of this country were sincere to help growing that political culture in Pakistan, Pakistani politicians have no agenda for growth or development; no plans for health and education meaningful. Most of the Politicians lack qualifications, experience and even commitment to tackle the problems of the Country. Politics and power dominates their agenda and real issues of poverty, illiteracy and disease do not fare in their book. Anyone who expects them to lead the country to peace and prosperity must be dreaming. The representatives of the people need to pass certain tests of eligibility. Character, ability, a sense of responsibility and experience are necessary ingredients of that eligibility, but in Pakistani Politics we don’t see that, there was marriage of convenience between Zardari and Nawaz but that marriage did not work from day one, Nawaz Shariff loves to destabilize democracy and there is a long list of other politicians who share his fantasy of playing ugly role in failing Democracy. Nawaz Shariff is keep talking about Justice Iftikhar but he forgets that he was involved in attacking supreme court of Pakistan, on the other hand I think it will it be better for Justice Ifthikah to join PML(N) OR make his own political party because I am pretty sure that if Nawaz gets power, he will not reinstate him because Nawaz hands are not clean either. Nawaz Sharif is a big hypocrite. He had the Supreme Court physically attacked on 28th Nov 1997 but is now standing up for the independence of the judiciary just because he hates Musharraf. And another thing is that whatever these politicians want becomes the solution to everything. They wanted democracy, it was the "solution to everything". Now they want judiciary, it is the "solution to everything". Nawaz Sharif , talks of independence of judiciary but before doing that ,at least he should eliminate the culprits of Supreme court attack case from his party. A few months ago he categorically said the reinstatement of the judges is the most crucial issue facing the people of Pakistan. (Actually, I'm pretty sure the food and electricity crises are the most crucial issues facing the people of Pakistan. Then comes the threat of militancy and terrorism. You've got to put inflation in there too. Pakistani politicians have double standards, lets put it this way, Nawaz was after the daughter of chief justice Abdul Hameed Dogar but Nawaz forgets that  Rules were bent in 1991 to admit Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Mariam Nawaz to King Edward Medical College in Lahore . According to reports Mariam was a grade-B student in matric and FSc and scored 580 out of 850, and 767 out of 1,100 in the two exams in 1989 and 1991 respectively , Clearly, she did not qualify for admission to the KEMC on open merit. She was admitted to the Army Medical College in Rawalpindi and was migrated after only a month to the KEMC, which she left without completing her degree it was ‘almost comical’ that having done something similar, the Sharifs were pointing fingers at the chief justice. PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif wants CJ Abdul Hameed Dogar to resign over allegation that his daughter received undue favor for admission in a private medical college, but he is yet to offer an apology for his own daughter Mariam actually receiving such favor for enrolment in a public sector medical college in 1991 ,I am not defending what DOGER done but all this corrupt Pakistani elite is in same boat. Its also interesting that Nawaz called Zardari worst then Musharaff but Nawaz forgets that his mentor (Dictaor Zia) was the worst dictator in Pakistan and he is no less than him. How will you promote the merit, Mr.Nawaz, you have yourself reached here on Zia's lap .We are fool to expect you anything. Mr Nawaz Sharif, people of Pakistan beg you to please not to destabilize country. People know in any hour of trial, you have your Palace and business in Saudi Arabia and you will flee in minutes but Pakistanis do not have any other place to live. Please stop playing your heinous designs and let us save PAKISTAN . So called politicians likeNawaz Sharif ,survive in politics based on their wealth and fudel background, lets not forget that majority of these politicians forefathers betrayed their nation and helped ENGLISH masters to rule Indian subcontinent . When Nawaz was leaving for Saudia Arabia, where was his pain for people of Pakistan or even of people of his own party. He left them all in crisis to have holidays in Saudi Palaces. He has been financing so called Jihadis and took funds from OSAMA to run his election campaign. In fact his political father Zia has laid all seeds of religious fanaticism. ,Benazir has lost her life ,even Gen Musharaff narrowly escaped two life attempts, ANP leadership suffered, but Do you know any leader of PML(N) to whom militants have posed life threats? If now after his political summersault he begins to believe that the problem lies in our home, Why didn’t he join hands with Zardari to crush out the militants? An indeed example of hypocrisy Nawaz Sharif . It was disappointing to watch the PMLN leadership discard the democratic framework and call upon its workers to take to the streets to voice their anger against the Supreme Court judgement that disqualified the Sharif brothers from holding public office. Perhaps the PMLN leaders think that democracy is relevant only to the extent that it facilitates the achievement of their partisan political agenda. What are the implications of street agitation for the capacity of the government to cope with religious extremism and militancy? PML-N of Nawaz loves to create problems, His party is also involved in making wrong statements on PUKHTUNKHWA name issue and are trying to divide people in Pukhtunkhwa. Nawaz Sharif is playing innocent now but does he remembers what he did to media when he was PM ?Rehamt Shah Afridi of the Frontier Post was sent to prison because FP was telling the truth about Nawaz regime .Mr. Afridi, who was imprisoned by Nawaz because his work was harming the interests of the powerful Punjabi mafia and corrupt.  Mr. Afridi was imprisoned because of his peaceful expression of his beliefs during Nawaz Sharif era of corruption. The press faced intense repression during Shariff's second term .In June 1997, Humayun Fur, Peshawar bureau chief of the daily Mashriq, was detained under charges of "anti-state" activities and sentenced to five years in jail by a military court on 9 September 1997.On 8 May 1999, Najam Sethi, editor of the Friday Times, was arrested in Lahore and held without charge for nearly a month by Inter-Services Intelligence. The government finally charged Mr Sethi on 1 June 1999 with sedition, promoting communal enmity, condemning the creation of Pakistan and advocating the abolition of its sovereignty, and violating the Prevention of Anti-National Activities Act. Two other journalists M.A.K Lodhi of The News International and Hussain Haqqani, an opposition leader and columnist for The Friday Times and daily Jang were also arrested. Rehmat Shah Afridi, editor of The Frontier Post, was arrested in April 1999.Nawaz Shariff who as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for two terms i.e. from 6 November 1990 to 18 July 1993 and 17 February 1997 to 12 October 1999 was responsible for gross human rights violations. During the first term of Shariff, even human rights defenders were oppressed. On 1 April 1993, three staff members of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, including its director, I.A. Rehman, were detained by police and documents were confiscated from the HRCP's office. Nawaz Sharif had a history of terrorizing professional journalists.   Before becoming PM he was a major share holder along with his brother and cousins of Ittefaq Group, having assets well in excess of £50m in the 90's. However he got richer when he took commissions from foreign companies for construction in Pakistan. He build the first motorway and many new roads and took heavy kickbacks. He then also stole $100m from the Iqra funds, he started a new scheme "Ghar Apna" in which he again looted around $40m, the "Mulk swaaro" scheme involving public & govt. money collections to help pay Pakistan's debts; also was pocketed .Nawaz Sharif is an autocrat with no relation to democratic norms and traditions. His each tenure in the helm of affairs was more dishonest than the previous one. His malpractices not only swayed away the economic structure of the state but also made the lives of poor disastrous . Unfortunately none of Pakistani politicians are interested in progress of their country and people. Pakistan belongs to its people and not to the bunch of rotten corrupt politicians that have come and gone. Pakistan has been resilient enough to withstand the onslaught of corruption year after year for 62 years running, watching one tyrant after another make his own heaven on earth. Nawaz sharif and other politicians have no sense of responsibility, his call for civl dissidence was not only irresponsible but also selfish just like one religious party leader FAZAL REHAMAN told his supporters to pick up arms if Islamic system not enforced in the country, do these politicians know what they are talking about? Are they aware of the situation Pakistan is in? Or they are just selfish and for their political gain they can do and say anything ? Pakistan needs new generation of politicians who are not family members of past hypocrites, dictators and traitors , Pakistani political parties never developed into viable institutions capable of generating leadership. There are talented emerging politicians in some political parties of Pakistan but they stand no chance of occupying their party top slots.  Only the educated people can help break the choking grip of wealthy, autocratic feudal politicians. In Pakistan the military has been part of the problem because it has been encouraging the monopoly of a handful of politicians in the country, perpetuating a troubled system and never encouraging its replacement with a better one.  The prevalent feudal system of Pakistan is the main obstacle in the progress of the country and the prosperity of the people. Since the creation of Pakistan the Pakistani people are left at distant from the corridor of power so that the ruling elite can do what they wanted to do in favour of their interest, leaving the Pakistani people at the mercy of circumstances. As this policy is denial of right of Pakistani people to rule their country according to their aspiration and desire to build this country, which can provide equal opportunity to all without any discrimination for the establishment of welfare society.  It would be wrong to blame Pakistan army alone for having usurped power for more than half of its life. It was in fact feudal corrupt politicians that facilitated first martial law in Pakistan and again in 1999. How long shall we suffer? How long the future of our coming generation will be at stake. With a population of over 160 million, Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world and the second most populous country with a Muslim majority. However, the country faces significant development challenges, with one in 10 children dying before their fifth birthday, and 50% of adults classed as illiterate, no clean drinking water, load shedding and so many other countless problems Pakistanis face everyday.  Pakistani politicians failed to develop stability in Pakistan, because they lack an all-Pakistan vision.
By the age of 62, a COUNTRY - like a man - should have achieved a certain maturity. After decades of existence we know, for good and for bad, who we are, what we have done and how we appear to others, warts and all. But unfortunately, Pakistan remains curiously immature, a Country with less then 50% rate of literacy can’t bring political wisdom that usually accompanies age. Therefore ,Pakistanis needs to wake up , stand up for their rights and reject these corrupt and failed politicians.

REHMAN BABA :Taliban blow up 17th century sufi shrine in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Suspected Taliban blew an ancient shrine of a 17th century sufi poet – Rehman Baba – in Akhund Baba graveyard early on Thursday, said locals and police, with the AP news agency reporting that a letter delivered three days before the attack to the management of the mausoleum had warned against its promotion of ‘shrine culture’.

The white-marble shrine was badly damaged when explosives planted along its pillars went off at around 5:10am. There were no casualties.

Women: Locals said the administration had also been warned before the attack to stop women from visiting the shrine.

Police told Daily Times that the Taliban planted the explosives and then jumped over a wall of the shrine to escape. Hazarkhawni Nazim Hidayatullah told reporters that the building had been severely damaged in the attack, and called on the provincial government to reconstruct it. He said the Taliban were able to carry out the attack because no guards had been deployed outside the building, and called on the authorities to arrange for the security of the shrine.

He said a Khalil-Mohmand tribe jirga would be held in a few days o look into the attack, and announced a demonstration on Ring Road on Friday to protest against the attack. Prime mMinister Yousuf Raza Gilani has condemned the attack.

City SP Ijaz Abid told Daily Times, “Bara-based militants could be behind the attack, sas they are opposed to shrines and have previously attacked other shrines as well.” He, however, said that police had not been told of any threats before the attack. He said an investigation underway would be competed in two days.

Meanwhile, militants also fired 18 mortar shells at a union council officials house on Thursday, said police, but the house was not damaged and there were no casualties.

Nato woos Russia on Afghanistan

Nato has agreed to resume high-level contacts with Russia, working with what US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called a "greater unity of purpose".
Russia welcomed the move, six months after Nato froze contacts over the conflict between Russia and Georgia.
Mrs Clinton stressed Afghanistan, which she called "Nato's biggest military challenge", was a mutual concern.She has raised the idea of a conference on the issue, with the participation of "all stakeholders", including Iran."If we move forward with such a meeting, it is expected that Iran would be invited as a neighbour of Afghanistan," she said.French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that he hoped Iran would attend such a meeting, but noted that Tehran had failed to attend recent French talks on Afghanistan."I hope Iran will be here this time," said Mr Kouchner.
"We can and must find ways to work constructively with Russia where we share areas of common interest, including helping the people of Afghanistan," said Mrs Clinton.
Nato remains the central pillar of the trans-Atlantic relationship but it is facing a critical military and political challenge in Afghanistan, where failure could call into question its whole credibility, BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus reports from Brussels.US foreign policy is now very much a team game and US Vice-President Joe Biden will be in Brussels next Tuesday for a more detailed exchange of views on Afghanistan, our correspondent adds.
'Fresh start'
"We are resuming the talks within the Nato-Russia Council as soon as possible after the summit," in early April to mark the 60th anniversary of Nato, said Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak.A statement from the Russian foreign ministry said: "This decision is a step in the right direction.""It's time to explore a fresh start," Mrs Clinton said.On Friday, she will hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.But UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the BBC that it was not "business as usual" with Moscow.Mr Miliband said the resumption of ties would provide an opportunity to engage with Moscow "in a hardheaded way".He said "the invasion of Georgia and continuing infringement of its sovereignty" could not be "swept under the carpet".Mrs Clinton added that Nato "should continue to open Nato's door to European countries such as Georgia and Ukraine and help them meet Nato standards".Earlier, Russia's envoy to Nato defended the war against Georgia and said any new relationship with Nato would be on Moscow's own terms.Earlier, Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that areas of common interest included Afghanistan, counter-terrorism and non-proliferation.Some, like Germany and France, had long been pressing for the resumption of ties with Russia, arguing that their suspension has been counter-productive.
'Our terms'
Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's permanent envoy to Nato, predicted an outcome of the Brussels talks "that should, on the whole, satisfy Russia" but made clear he saw Moscow negotiating from a position of strength.
"We came out of the crisis that we had after the August 2008 events [the war with Georgia], the crisis in the South Caucasus, stronger," he told Russian channel Vesti TV."Our Western colleagues saw in Russia a partner that one cannot wipe one's feet on. We are strong... and we are restoring cooperation, including on our terms."
Nato will, nonetheless, be trying to show that more normal business with Russia does not mean that the alliance is abandoning countries like Georgia and Ukraine, our correspondent says. Their foreign ministers came to Brussels too.

Michael Jackson announces 'curtain call' concerts

LONDON, England-- Reclusive pop icon Michael Jackson will perform 10 concerts in London in July in what he described Thursday as a "final curtain call."The summer shows, Jackson's first major live performances in 12 years, will take place at the 20,000-capacity O2 Arena from July 8.Jackson, 50, appeared in front of fans and media at the venue Thursday to announce the "This Is It" shows.
"These will be my final shows performing in London. "This Is It" really means this is it," said Jackson, wearing a trademark black military-style jacket with sparkling embroidery and black sunglasses. Jackson blew kisses and saluted his fans as they chanted "Michael! Michael!"
"I'll be performing the songs my fans want to hear. I'll see you in July and I love you so much.Tickets for the shows will cost £50-75 ($70-105) and will go on sale on March 13. Fans can pre-register to purchase tickets at www.MichaelJacksonLive.com.
The O2 Arena has acquired a reputation in recent years for staging "must-see" musical events. Last year it hosted Led Zeppelin's one-off comeback gig and in 2007 Prince staged a 21-night residency there.Britney Spears, the Pet Shop Boys and Lionel Richie are among performers due to play the venue this year.Event promoter Rob Hallett welcomed Jackson's return, saying: "We are delighted to facilitate the return of the king of pop, long may he reign! When Michael Jackson performs the eyes of the world will be watching."
Jackson's appearance Thursday was not as slick as some of his signature dance moves.
The star was held up in traffic as he traveled from his central London hotel to the venue on a peninsula of the River Thames in southeast London. An exclusive video that was to be shown before his arrival on stage then failed to play on cue.
Several hundred Jackson fans had waited up to five hours to show their support for their idol."Michael is the best performer in the world," said 28-year-old Joanne English. "I haven't seen him perform before and that's the reason why I definitely want to get tickets to go."English said she thought the media had given Jackson a hard time. "As his fans we want to say to him that we love him, he needs to be strong and give us a good show and we will always support him."
"We want to see if he's still got it," added 23-year-old Vanessa Walker.
Jackson, a child star with the Jackson Five who went onto enjoy stellar solo success with classic albums such as "Thriller" and "Bad," has rarely been seen in public since he was acquitted on child molestation charges in the U.S. in 2005.Rumors of financial difficulties and health problems -- in 2008 he was photographed being pushed in a wheelchair -- have swirled around the famously eccentric star in recent years.Last year he sold his iconic Neverland ranch and he has spent much of his time since his acquittal living in Bahrain.The auction house, Julien's, is selling Jackson's Neverland property including the gates, the singer's famed white-jeweled glove and a stretched Rolls Royce.Jackson hasn't recorded a studio album since "Invincible" -- his 10th solo record -- in 2001. His last major series of concerts was a world tour to promote the "HiStory" album in 1996 and 1997."Thriller," released in 1982 and containing classic Jackson hits such as "Beat It," "Billie Jean" and the title track, is the bestselling album of all time. Jackson is estimated to have sold more than 750 million albums in total.

Nawaz has lost political credibility, says Farzana

ISLAMABAD: Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has said the Pakistan People’s Party is in favour of the restoration of the judiciary but the PML-N should desist from pursuing a narrow agenda.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, Farzana Raja said the PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif was engaged in political confrontation. She said any collision with the state institutions, whether it is the judiciary or parliament, is not good for the future of democracy, adding the PPP was in favour of the restoration of the judiciary and was not backing the reinstatement of an individual.

The PML-N has chosen a narrow personal agenda instead of holding discussions on the issue of terrorism and other serious challenges confronting the country, she observed. She was of the view that Nawaz Sharif had lost his political credibility. “First, he was saying that he did not enter into any agreement with Pervez Musharraf but when he returned to the country he admitted that there was a deal.”

The PPP does not believe in the politics of agitation and is serving the people and striving to provide them with the basic amenities of life, she added. Farzana said more than one million families had been extended financial assistance at their doorstep under the BISP, while a website of the BISP had also been launched on March 3.

The government has undertaken another project to distribute Benazir Smart Cards (BSC) among the people by the end of this month.She said the families whose members died or got injured in incidents of terrorism would also be able to benefit from the BISP.

China :Economy tops China's congress meeting

BEIJING, China-- China's National People's Congress -- the marquee event of the nation's political calendar -- convened Thursday in Beijing, with Premier Wen Jiabao pledging economic growth amid a growing national deficit and the global financial crisis.

Wen, who delivered his Cabinet's work report to the parliament's 3,000 delegates, said China would be able to achieve an 8 percent growth in the economy.

"As long as we adopt the right policies and appropriate measures and implement them effectively, we will be able to achieve this target," the report says.

The government deficit currently sits at 750 billion yuan ($109 billion) -- 570 billion yuan ($83 billion) more than last year, according to the report. That deficit is expected to grow.

"The global financial crisis continues to spread and get worse," Wen said. Watch how the economy will dominate this year's NPC »

The government has already acknowledged that 2009 will be "austere and complicated."

It officially says 20 million migrants are unemployed, and analysts think more jobs will be lost. China's exports have tumbled as the economic downturn has taken hold. The communist government has already approved a $586 billion stimulus plan, and there's talk of more.

Three thousand delegates from across the country and overseas represent China's central leadership, the military, every province, including minority groups such as Tibetans, and overseas Chinese.

Also on the agenda is landmark social security legislation to be considered, including universal unemployment and retirement benefits as well as health care. If implemented, it would mark a major change in the nation's social welfare system.

"Even if they were to put in place the world's greatest social security system and the world's greatest health services tomorrow, it will still take many, many years of testing the system before it has enough credibility to change household consumption patterns," Michael Pettis, a professor of finance at Peking University, said of ongoing attempts to stimulate the Chinese economy.

The congress will also debate a law that would require officials to publicly declare their assets -- part of a long-term campaign by the Communist Party to fight corruption.

Ahead of the meeting, the congress announced a 15 percent increase in its budget for China's quickly modernizing military.

In the past, the congress has been criticized as a political show, essentially a rubber-stamp parliament. But in recent years discussion and debate have crept in.

"They have a lot of work" to do, Pettis said. "China needs to make the transition from an export-oriented economy to a domestic-market economy, and the historical evidence suggest that it is very, very difficult and it takes a long time."

China is on guard against possible social unrest during a year filled with sensitive anniversaries and rising unemployment. March marks the 50th anniversary of an uprising in Tibet. June marks the 20th anniversary of the Chinese military's crackdown in Tiananmen Square. October marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the nation.