Pakistan Calls on Taliban Militants in Swat to Lay Down Arms

Pakistan called on Taliban fighters in the northwest to lay down arms as “intense” fighting erupted between the army and militants in the Swat Valley, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been forced to flee.

Security forces entered the towns of Matta and Kanju near Swat’s main city and killed 25 militants in 24 hours, the military said in a statement yesterday.

The operation “is moving in the right direction and is in accordance with a set plan,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters yesterday, according to the official Associated Press of Pakistan. The Taliban “are on the run,” he added.

Pakistani troops are battling an estimated 4,000 insurgents who reneged on a February peace accord and advanced toward the capital, Islamabad, even after the government agreed to impose Islamic law in the region. The United Nations said May 15 that 907,000 people have fled fighting in the northwest since May 2.

Most of the refugees are from the Swat, Lower Dir and Buner districts, Ariane Rummery, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in a telephone interview from Islamabad at the time. Thousands more are reported to have fled Swat’s main city, Mingora, when authorities relaxed a curfew in the area, she said.

The exodus of refugees is Pakistan’s biggest since independence in 1947, according to the government.

Taliban Shave Beards

Some Taliban members have shaved off their beards and cut their hair in an attempt to escape the area undetected, the military said May 15. The same day, the government rejected an offer of peace talks to end fighting with militants.

U.S. officials criticized Pakistan for signing the February agreement with the Taliban and urged the government to crack down on Islamic extremists. President Barack Obama has said a five-year aid package to Pakistan worth $1.5 billion a year would be conditional on the government tackling terrorism.

One soldier was killed and seven injured in the weekend operations in Swat, the army said. The military urged residents to help identify insurgents, saying security forces could only accurately target them “when people rise against them,” according to the statement.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is trying to build cross-party support for the offensive and plans to convene a meeting today to develop a policy for combating insurgents. Nawaz Sharif, the country’s main opposition leader, plans to attend.

Pakistan’s military first deployed in Swat, once a popular tourist destination 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of Islamabad, in 2007 in an effort to crush militants who set up Islamic courts. The fighters responded by beheading local officials, burning schools and banning education for girls.

Authorities agreed to appoint Islamic judges to Swat and neighboring districts under the February accord. The Taliban last month advanced to within 100 kilometers of Islamabad.

Obama calls for 'common ground' on abortion at Notre Dame

CNN.COM:President Obama delved into the abortion debate in a controversial Notre Dame commencement address Sunday, calling for a search for common ground on one of the most divisive issues in American politics.






Addressing a sharply divided audience at the storied Catholic university, Obama conceded that no matter how much Americans "may want to fudge it ... at some level the views of the two camps are irreconcilable."

"Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction," he said. "But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature."


The commencement ceremony was boycotted by a number of graduates dismayed by the university's decision both to tap Obama as its commencement speaker and to give him an honorary degree.

The president is a supporter of abortion rights and federally-funded embryonic stem-cell research -- positions that are anathema to traditional Catholic teachings.

Some graduates attended the ceremony, but expressed their disapproval by donning mortarboards marked with a cross and the outline of an infant's footprints. Others countered by wearing mortarboards adorned with an Obama campaign symbol.

Protests by abortion rights opponents before Obama's speech led to 39 arrests, St. Joseph County sheriff's deputy Rachel Zawistowski told CNN. One of those arrested was Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff identified as "Roe" in the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that struck down state laws banning abortion. Watch police arrest anti-Obama demonstrators »

All those arrested were charged with trespassing, and two people taken into custody were also charged with resisting arrest, Redmond said. The charges are misdemeanors, and defendants had to post bail of $250 each before being released, he said.

Inside, several hecklers who interrupted the start of Obama's speech were loudly booed by the audience.

Obama asked the crowd if it's possible "for us to join hands in common effort."

"As citizens of a vibrant and varied democracy, how do we engage in vigorous debate?" he asked. "How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without demonizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side?"

The president told the audience a story about an e-mail he received during his 2004 Illinois Senate race from a doctor who opposed abortion. The doctor, according to the president, said he voted for Obama during the Democratic primary but felt he might not be able to support him in the general election.

A self-described Christian who "was strongly pro-life," the doctor had been offended by an entry on Obama's Senate campaign Web site that said Obama would oppose "right-wing ideologues who want to take away a woman's right to choose." Watch Obama discuss abortion »

"The doctor said that he had assumed I was a reasonable person, but that if I truly believed that every pro-life individual was simply an ideologue who wanted to inflict suffering on women, then I was not very reasonable," Obama said.

He said the doctor urged him not to change his views, but rather to speak about the issue of abortion in "fair-minded words."

After instructing his campaign staff to change the wording on his Web site, Obama said he prayed "that I might extend the same presumption of good faith to others that the doctor had extended to me."

"When we do that -- when we open our hearts and our minds to those who may not think like we do or believe what we do -- that's when we discover at least the possibility of common ground."

The president said that while "maybe we won't agree on abortion ... we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make."

He urged supporters and opponents of abortion rights to "work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term."

He also endorsed the drafting of a "sensible conscience clause" to "honor the conscience" of doctors and other medical workers opposed to abortion.

Let's "make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded in clear ethics and sound science, as well as respect for the equality of women," he said.

Obama is the ninth sitting U.S. president to deliver the commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame, but none of his predecessors touched off a similar firestorm. Watch how some graduating seniors are taking Obama visit in stride »

"I have no problem with Obama speaking on the campus [but] I do have a problem giving him [this] honor," said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League.

Catholic Bishop John D'Arcy of South Bend, Indiana, was among those who skipped the ceremony.

"President Obama has recently reaffirmed, and has now placed in public policy, his long-stated unwillingness to hold human life as sacred," D'Arcy said in a written statement.

Notre Dame President John I. Jenkins noted in a statement in March that the university has hosted Democratic and Republican presidents, and said the invitation does not mean the university agrees with all of Obama's positions.

Obama carried the Catholic vote in last year's presidential election by a margin of nine percentage points, 54 to 45 percent. A Quinnipiac University poll released last Thursday suggests most U.S. Catholics wanted Notre Dame to allow Obama to speak, with 60 percent of Catholic voters in the survey saying Notre Dame should stand by its invitation to the president.

Observant Catholic voters who attend religious services about once a week said by a 49 to 43 percent margin that Notre Dame should keep Obama on the program. Catholics who attend services less frequently said by a 70 percent to 26 percent margin that Obama should speak, according to the poll.

"Neither Americans overall, nor Roman Catholic voters in particular, think Notre Dame should rescind its invitation to President Obama," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"The strongest opposition to the president's appearance comes from observant Catholics, but more of them than not say he should be allowed to speak."

The poll, taken April 21-27, surveyed 2,041 registered voters nationwide. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

"Catholics are not a monolithic group. If you divide between practicing Catholics and nonpracticing Catholics, you'll find that the practicing Catholics for some reason are opposed to Obama getting an honor. They're not opposed to him speaking at Notre Dame. They're opposed to him being honored," Donohue said.

Refugees at risk

Editorial:THE NEWS

The displaced persons turned into refugees in their own homeland face many risks. At camps, outbreaks of sickness are being reported and the 900,000 people now displaced struggle to survive. A new exodus as curfew was lifted in Swat is likely to make things even harder for all those fleeing homes, as more pressure is exerted on existing facilities and more pour into camps. But among these people, the most miserable must be those who have lost children. According to reports, the Taliban have been kidnapping both boys and girls, either to use as human shields or to enrol as fighters. Other stories are even more alarming. Volunteers and activists working with the IDPs say people from Punjab and other parts of the country are visiting camps and ‘buying’ children from desperate, poverty-stricken families, presumably to use in the sex industry. Both girls and boys are said to be in demand.

This trade must stop. The government needs to do more to protect people who are already vulnerable and prone to fall victim to such exploitation. The desperation brought by misery means parents may feel they have no choice but to sacrifice one child in order to save others. Checks need to be put in place. We saw similar efforts to take away children after the 2005 quake, sometimes even from hospital wards. That should have taught us some lessons. Access to camps needs to be restricted; only legitimate representatives of groups which have been registered should be allowed in. Camp authorities too need to be warned about the sex trade now said to be on, so they can be on the alert. And parents who are being told their children will be offered jobs in big cities too need to be warned against falling for this line.

Every crisis, in one way or the other, exposes both the best and the worst of humankind. This is being seen too at the camps. Many well-meaning volunteers are doing all they can to help; ordinary citizens have taken up goods and cash and toys for children. But there are also others whose motives are evil. An effort to protect the refugees from them is urgently needed, before more such cases take place and add to anger against a state that has struggled to come to grips with an immense crisis.

Musharraf on Pakistan

Waziristan next, says Zardari

LONDON: Pakistan is to extend its war on the Taliban beyond Swat into the fiercely independent tribal areas bordering Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda leadership are believed to be hiding.

‘We’re going to go into Waziristan, all these regions, with army operations,’ President Asif Ali Zardari told The Sunday Times in an interview. ‘Swat is just the start. It’s a larger war to fight.’

He said Pakistan would need billions of pounds in military assistance and aid for up to 1.7 million refugees, the biggest movement of people since the country’s split from India in 1947.

To help take on the militants, the Pakistan army is for the first time to accept counter-insurgency training from British and American troops on its own soil.

‘We need to develop our capability and we need much more support,’ said Mr Zardari. ‘We need much, much more than the $1 billion (military aid) we’ve been getting, which is nothing. We’ve got 150,000 troops in (the tribal areas) — just the movement of that number would cost $1 billion.’

The army is planning to open new fronts in Waziristan and Darra Adamkhel. Waziristan is the headquarters of the militant Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, led by Baitullah Mehsud, who has been named as the mastermind behind the assassination of the former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.

Mr Zardari appealed for $1 billion in aid for refugees. ‘If we are to win the hearts and minds of these people we need to be able to relocate them back into civil society, rebuild their houses and give them interest-free loans to restart their businesses,’ he said.

‘If we don’t they will turn against the government and we will lose the impetus we’ve managed to create in the country against the Taliban.’

The Taliban were said to be holding out in Sultanwas, a mountainous valley in Buner. All access to Swat, where the army said a house-to-house search was under way for Taliban leaders in Mingora, was banned.

Mr Zardari insisted that the army was committed to defeating the Taliban. ‘I think the casualties speak for that, the displacement speaks for that,’ he said.

He claimed that officers sympathetic to the militants had been purged. ‘I’m confident the army perceives the Taliban as much of a national threat as we do.’

He added: ‘You cannot fight this war only on the battle (field). You also have to fight it on the economic front — you have to offer something to the youth.’

Taliban got free hand under ANP govt: Musharraf

NEW YORK: Former president Pervez Musharraf has expressed the confidence that Pakistan army will prevail over the Taliban who have challenged the writ of the government, but said that ‘winning hearts and minds’ of people may be difficult.

Talking to some Pakistani reporters at a hotel here on Friday, Gen (retd) Musharraf rejected a suggestion that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan had come to the fore during his watch.

‘This was the consequence of the Feb 18 election and the Taliban got strong then as they got a free hand under the new ANP government,’ he said. ‘In my time they were hiding,’ he claimed. However, he added, ‘I am convinced that our army will drive the enemies of the state away but we have to win the hearts and minds also.’

As to how long could such an operation last, he said it was difficult to predict. Asked about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear assets, Musharraf said they were ‘absolutely secure’, adding that people of Pakistan would never allow anyone to capture them.

When a reporter suggested that when he was president he did everything according to American wishes, Musharraf said: ‘I never bowed before anybody and did everything in Pakistan’s best interest.’

In reply to a charge that he was involved in the murder of Baloch leader Akbar Bugti and arrest of JSQM (Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz) leader Dr Safdar Saraki, he said: ‘I will not dignify your question with an answer.’

In an interview with CNN, the former president said he would run for office once the two-year restriction expired. According to him, President Zardari with an approval rating of 19 per cent did not have the support to fight Taliban.

‘If Pakistan is in trouble and if any Pakistani, myself included — if you can see that we can do something for it — well ... my life is for Pakistan,’ he told Fareed Zakaria on GPS.

Musharraf said he wished the government well. ‘But one is concerned about Pakistan, certainly,’ he said. ‘One does get concerned about where we are headed and what are we doing.’

Pakistan's northwest reels as army hunts Taliban

stan — Pakistan's northwest was on Sunday reeling from a wave of violence as the toll from a car bomb rose and the army hit Taliban hideouts in an offensive that has sent a million civilians fleeing.


The number killed in a devastating car bomb that hit the northwestern city of Peshawar on Saturday reached 12 after a teenage boy died overnight, a police official said, while 36 people have been reported wounded in the attack.
The blast ripped through a packed street, leaving severed body parts on the road near an ice cream shop and an Internet cafe.
Many of the tide of refugees fleeing a punishing three-week military offensive in swathes of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) had taken refuge from the bombardment in Peshawar, the provincial capital.
"One of the seriously injured of yesterday's blast died in the hospital at night," Peshawar police official Khan Abbas told AFP, adding that four children, two women and six men were killed in the car bombing.
Peshawar is the gateway to Pakistan's troubled tribal belt on the Afghan border, where the United States says Taliban and Al-Qaeda extremists have carved out safe havens to plot new attacks on the West.
Under pressure from Washington as Taliban fighters advanced to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of Islamabad, Pakistan security forces began heavy offensives late last month in the Lower Dir, Buner and Swat districts.
Military officials claim that nearly 1,000 militants have been killed in the bombardment, although such tolls are impossible to independently verify and there is no data yet on civilians casualties in the battle-torn areas.
On Sunday, security officials who did not want to be named said forces were carrying out targeted strikes on Taliban bolt-holes in Swat and Lower Dir.
"Security forces are targeting militant hideouts and helicopter gunships are hovering in the air," said one security official.
"Helicopter gunships shelled militants' hideouts at Matta town (in Swat), the stronghold of the Taliban," another military official added.
A curfew remains in place in most of the areas beset by heavy fighting, leaving hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the conflict area, UN officials have said, without medical care, electricity, food or water.
The UN refugee agency said more than 1.1 million people have fled the fighting and registered with authorities since May 2, in a displacement that officials fear is the worst here since partition with India in 1947.
They join another 500,000 people who fled bouts of fighting in the northwest last year, where extremist Taliban militants have been battling to widen their area of control and impose a harsh brand of Islamic law.
"It is really the worst situation in Swat, the worst I have seen in my life. I have no words to explain it," said Salman Khan -- not his real name -- who arrived in Peshawar from Swat's main town Mingora on Saturday.
"My children are still crying and screaming. I lost my home, my business, my village," the 42-year-old said.
Also Sunday, the death toll from a suspected US missile strike in the northwest's semi-autonomous tribal region of North Waziristan near the Afghan border rose to 28, security officials said.
The United States has put Pakistan at the heart of the fight against Al-Qaeda, but Pakistan publicly opposes drone attacks, saying they violate its territorial sovereignty and deepen resentment among the populace.

ADP to be suspended if NWFP lacks fund for IDPs

PESHAWAR: The NWFP cabinet Saturday authorized the chief minister to suspend the Annual Development Programme (ADP) if funds given for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) fell short of their requirements.

The cabinet meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti, took stock of the ongoing military operation in Malakand division and the facilitation process of the displaced people from the affected areas.

The two-point agenda discussed during the meeting included the military action in the affected areas and the facilitation of the IDPs living in camps and off-camps.

Briefing journalists after the meeting, Hoti said that no stone would be left unturned in providing all facilities of life to the people displaced from areas in Lower Dir, Buner and Swat districts.

“I will suspend the coming ADP, minus health and education, if I felt that the provincial government is unable to cope with the requirements of the IDPs in the available funds,” said Hoti while asking the federal government and the international donors to inject more funds for the facilitation of the uprooted people.

According to the fresh figures collected by the provincial government, the number of total registered IDPs in various camps and off camps was 1,367,000 on Saturday.

The chief minister said the provincial cabinet expressed satisfaction over results of the operation in Malakand division so far. “Although no timeframe can be set in such actions, the provincial government requests its conclusion at the earliest possible time,” he added.

Hoti pointed out that peace in settled areas was dependent on peace and security in the tribal region. “There will be no peace in NWFP unless there is peace in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).”

He said there was no contact between the government and the Tanzim Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) since the launching of the military operation in Swat.

To a question, the chief minister said that inquiry had been launched against the former commissioner of Malakand division Syed Muhammad Javed and any one found guilty of negligence of duty would be subjected to serious disciplinary action.

To help overcome the financial constraints of the displaced people, the chief minister announced payment of Rs25,000 to each family. In this way, a total amount of five billion rupees would be disbursed among the IDPs. In this connection, he appealed the federal government and the donors to contribute for the cash package for the IDPs.

He said a similar package would be announced for the uprooted families after their return following restoration of peace in their respective areas.

He requested the federal government to waive off at least the interest on loans taken from Agriculture Development Bank (ADP) or House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC) by people of the affected three districts.

To ensure exemplary administration after the restoration of peace in the affected districts, the chief minister said his government would depute the best of its officers in those areas. He said separate community halls for men and women at each IDP camp would be constructed so as the people could gather there in day time. He said additional covers would also be provided to have shade over the tents to reduce the heat.

Taliban getting money, arms from across the border: ISPR

ISLAMABAD Taliban militants are being provided money and armament from across the border by foreign agencies to destabilise Pakistan, while they are getting terrorists reinforcement from the countries bordering Afghanistan, said Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Major General Athar Abbas, here on Saturday.

In his regular briefing about re-dubbed operation "Rah-e-Raast" (previously known as Rah-e-Haq), General Abbas declined to blame India for Swat insurgency saying, "It is the subject of Foreign Office, which is having feedback from different ministries and I don't want to pass any comment on this issue."

Abbas told media that 27 militants of foreign origin have so far been killed in the fighting. Security forces during the operation carried out air and ground assaults against Taliban and killed 47 militants, while three security personnel were injured, Abbas told media.

He said that the operation is successfully under way in Swat, Shangla and Buner districts of Malakand Division while four militants have been arrested from Hayasirai and Shamozai. Security forces conducted search and destroy operation against terrorist hideouts in village Adai, Ramotai Gato Sar Banda and base of Banai Baba Ziarat.

"Main terrorist leader of Shangla sector, Zaman has been killed in Banai Baba Ziarat. While Sher Alam, another important terrorist leader from Malam Jabba was arrested in Shangla," he said, adding that in Mingora, another important terrorist commander Mukhtar alias Rashid Lala has been killed. Abbas said a militant den was destroyed in Shamozai area by targeting a house where militants were hiding.

"Security Forces are consolidating their positions in Udigram. Biadra Markaz, the stronghold of terrorists on Matta - Durushkhel road has been destroyed," DG ISPR said. Abbas said that intense exchange of fire took place between Security Forces at Makan Bagh, Grid Station, Airport, Ayub Bridge and Baniam Bridge.

To a question regarding the foreign help to Pakistan Army in execution of operation Rah-e-Raast, he said Pakistan Army is fully capable of executing the operation against militants and no foreign help was sought for carrying out the operation. Abbas showed journalists' video footage of militant hideouts and ammunition dumps destroyed by security forces during raids in Swat. "We have destroyed a full-fledged training camp in Peochar valley, where firing ranges, residences and ammunition dumps were destroyed," he added.

He said forces were getting closer to Mingora, the main town in the district of Swat, to check on militants trying to flee the area, where residents widely expect the military to launch an assault to retake control. Military spokesman said the Army has cleared the area from Khwazakhela to Shangla from militants and it is safe for residents of the area. "People of these areas, forced to live as Internally Displaced Persons in camps, might return to their homes," he added.

To a question about FM Radios being run by militants, Abbas said that militants were using 36 FM radio transmitters in Swat, however, they are able to continue their transmission only for 2-3 minutes as the military is capable to locate and jam their transmission.

To another question, ISPR chief said that it was impossible to confirm such death tolls independently, which would add up to more than 980 militants dead and there has been no official word on civilian casualties since the military launched its offensive last month.

Monitoring Desk adds: Gunship helicopters pounded militants' hideouts in Orakzai Agency, killing twelve people including a miscreant, Aaj TV reported. According to the channel, gunship helicopters fired shells on militants in Orakzai Agency, killing 12 people including a miscreant and injuring 15 others. Injured people were shifted to Hangu and nearby hospitals, the channel added.

Car bomb blast kills 11 in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: A car bomb ripped through a packed street in Peshawar and killed 11 people, including women and children, near an ice cream shop and Internet cafe Saturday, officials said.

The blast exploded in the densely populated Kashkal area of Peshawar.

‘We were sitting in our showroom when there was a huge blast took place,’ Mohammad Anis, the owner of a nearby car showroom, told AFP.

‘When I came out, I saw fire and smoke everywhere around me. The first thing that I saw was this,’ he added holding out a bloodied severed hand that had been ripped from an arm by the force of the explosion.

Gunshots were fired shortly after the bomb exploded and Anis said private security guards who had been sitting in his showroom, accompanying their bosses, ran outside and opened fire into the air in the wake of the blast.

Raw pieces of flesh, such as fingers, a foot and limbs were flung across the site shrouded in acrid black smoke, said an AFP reporter.

About 17 cars were damaged in the blast and five of them caught fire. The car in which the apparently timed device was planted blew to pieces and only a portion of its engine remained intact, the reporter said.

People clutching wounds as blood seeped through to their white traditional shalwar kamiz outfits walked around in a daze at the hospital as others lay wounded in bed, according to television footage.

‘We received nine dead bodies. Two more people expired later,’ Doctor Hameed Afridi at the main government hospital in Peshawar told AFP.

‘The condition of two people among the 31 injured is serious,’ he added.

The list of casualties signed by Afridi showed that two women, five men and four minors aged eight to 17 years old were among the dead.

Police had earlier confirmed that nine people died.

‘Nine people were killed and 20 others wounded in the explosion,’ local police official Abdul Gahfoor told AFP.

He said it was a car bomb, which damaged more than a dozen vehicles and a nearby Internet cafe.

Troops kill 55 militants, capture Taliban commander

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani troops have killed 55 militants in various parts of the Swat valley during the last 24 hours, the military said on Friday.

‘Fifty-five miscreants have been killed in various areas of Swat during the last 24 hours while three security forces personnel embraced shahdat (martyrdom) and 11 others were injured,’ it said in a statement.

‘We have confirmed reports that these Taliban terrorists after shaving off their beards and cutting their hair are fleeing from the area,’ it said.

'We request the people of Swat to identify them,' it said, while providing a telephone number for informants to call or send text messages.

Security forces also arrested an important Taliban commander, Dawa Noor, it added.

It said that Noor was involved in ‘terrorist activities’ in the Sultanwas and Daggar areas of Buner district and had been inciting residents against security forces.

Noor also played a ‘crucial role’ in facilitating the takeover of Buner district by Taliban last month.
The on-going operation against Taliban militants was launched on May 7.

France offers Pakistan nuclear energy help

PARIS :France and Pakistan have agreed to cooperate in the nuclear field, officials said Friday, with Islamabad claiming an important breakthrough in its bid to be seen as a responsible nuclear power.

Following talks between France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and his counterpart Asif Ali Zardari, the French leader's office said he had offered to help Pakistan improve its "nuclear safety" capability.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi went further, saying France had agreed to a transfer of civilian nuclear energy technology, despite international concerns over the stability of Pakistan's government.

Sarkozy's office would not comment on Qureshi's statements, and any such deal -- while a diplomatic coup for Zardari -- would need the agreement of other nuclear powers and the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.

France is a major exporter of nuclear technology, and in February agreed to supply India with between two and six modern reactors.

"France has agreed to transfer civilian nuclear technology to Pakistan," Qureshi told reporters, explaining that Pakistan was suffering an "energy crisis" and needed nuclear power to guarantee its electricity supply.

In addition to maintaining a small arsenal of nuclear armed missiles, Pakistan has a civilian nuclear energy programme developed with Chinese aid, with one working power station and another under construction.

A spokesman for the French presidency said Sarkozy had "confirmed France was ready, within the framework of its international agreements, to cooperate with Pakistan in the field of nuclear safety."

"This is so the Pakistani programme can develop in the best conditions of safety and security," he added.

And with Taliban rebels fighting increasingly fierce battles with security forces barely 100 kilometres (62 miles) outside the Pakistani capital, fears have been raised that nuclear arms could fall into militant hands.

Qureshi hailed the French offer as an important sign of his government's credibility.

"That is a significant development, and we have agreed that Pakistan should be treated like India. President Sarkozy said, and I quote him, 'What can be done for India, can be done for Pakistan as well.'," he said.

Neither India nor Pakistan, which both maintain nuclear missile arsenals, have signed the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and foreign powers were therefore forbidden from sharing technology with them.

India, however, negotiated bilateral nuclear agreements with the United States, Russia and France, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has now allowed Delhi in from the nuclear cold.

Now Pakistan wants to follow suit.

"Pakistan has no issues with the IAEA ... Pakistan will give all necessary international guarantees," Qureshi insisted.

"The world recognises the steps Pakistan has taken to assure and protect its nuclear assets. Everyone who matters is confident about our arrangements, the three-layer security system that we have put in place."

Asked when French shipments might begin, he said: "Today, in principle, the two countries agreed that there is a necessity that has to be fulfilled. In principle they've agreed, and now the modalities will be worked out."

Earlier, Zardari came away from the talks with a promise of 12 million euros (16.2 million dollars) in French aid for civilian refugees fleeing fighting between the army and Taliban rebels.

"There may be concern always everywhere, but there is support and there is confidence in the world that democracy has always delivered," said Zardari, who was elected last year after the military ceded power.

Thousands evacuate as curfew eased in Swat

SHAGUNA NAKA, Pakistan: Pakistan's military suspended a curfew Friday in Swat’s main city of Mingora where it is fighting Taliban militants, officials said, allowing tens of thousands of civilians to flee the area.

Hundreds of thousands of desperate civilians have been trying to get to safety from the Swat valley, where the army launched a new offensive late last month to crush the militants.

The government suspended a curfew for people going out of Swat's main city of Mingora from dawn until mid-afternoon, and local administration chief Arshad Khan said residents had been advised to leave — and were doing so.

‘People are leaving in large numbers,’ Khan said. ‘They are vacating their homes.’

Hundreds of vehicles including buses, cars, rickshaws, pickups and motorbikes were seen crossing the Shaguna Naka checkpoint at the exit of the conflict zone.

People sat on the roofs of buses and backs of trucks with their bedding and clothes as they headed for Mardan 30 kilometres away where authorities have set up camps for the displaced people.

‘The situation is very, very bad. We have no hope for life,’ said a young man who identified himself only as Ibrahim.

He said he came with 30 people who fled Odigram village near Mingora to escape the fighting.

‘We are going to Mardan. We are just going to sit under a tree somewhere. We just want some safety for our children,’ he said.

‘It was painful, every second we thought we were dying. There was a lot of bombing and shelling,’ he said, adding that the entire market in his village was destroyed.

The military says its forces have encircled Mingora, which is held by Taliban militants who have waged a brutal insurgency to extend their control and enforce an uncompromising version of sharia law.

There are also concerns that the army campaign — including artillery bombardment, attacks by helicopter gunships and commandos dropped behind Taliban lines — will grow more and more unpopular among Pakistani civilians.

Naeem Akhtar from Mingora who works in a bank was travelling with his wife and two children in his car riddled with bullets.

He said he was furious over the military action, and accused the army of destroying his house.

‘Four members of my family were killed in shelling. The army did it. We have spent last two weeks just like in hell…We just want out of Swat and we would find some safe place.’

An official from the International Committee of the Red Cross, which this week was able to enter one of the hardest hit districts, said there was no longer any electricity or fresh drinking water.

The military says up to 15,000 troops are taking on about 4,000 well-armed fighters in Swat, where Islamabad has ordered a battle to ‘eliminate’ the militants.

The fighting has sent more than 800,000 people fleeing Swat as well as the areas of Lower Dir and Buner, while hundreds of thousands are believed still trapped in the conflict zone.

Pakistan's military insists it is taking all possible measures to lessen civilian casualties and avoid populated areas, but analysts have warned that general public support for the offensive could sour as the human cost soars.

Before Friday, the military estimated that around 200,000 people remained in Mingora.

In a First, U.S. Provides Pakistan With Drone Data

NYT.COM
WASHINGTON — The United States military for the first time has provided Pakistan with a broad array of surveillance information collected by American drones flying along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, American military officials said Wednesday.

But it is not clear whether the cooperation will continue. While American military drones flew a handful of noncombat surveillance missions along the border earlier this spring at the request of the Pakistani government, requests for additional flights abruptly stopped without explanation, the officials said.

The offer to give Pakistan a much larger amount of imagery, including real-time video feeds and communications intercepts gleaned by remotely piloted aircraft, was intended to help defuse a growing dispute over how to use the drones and which country should control the secret missions flown in Pakistani airspace, American officials said.

In meetings last week with President Obama and other American officials in Washington, Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan’s president, repeated his insistence that Pakistan be given its own armed Predator drones to attack operatives of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the country’s tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. But the American intelligence operatives who fly the armed drones inside Pakistan remain opposed to joint operations with Pakistani intelligence services, pointing out that past attempts were a failure. Several years ago, American officials gave Pakistan advance word of planned Predator attacks, but stopped the practice after the information leaked to militants.

“We’re going after terrorists plotting directly against the United States and its interests,” said one American counterterrorism official. “Nobody wants to gamble with those kinds of targets. We tried a joint approach before, and it didn’t work. Those are facts that can’t be ignored.”

American military officials said Wednesday that there was no plan to allow the military to join the C.I.A. in operating armed drones inside Pakistan. They disputed a report in The Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that said Pakistan had been given joint control of armed American military drones inside Pakistan. Obama administration officials are vigorously resisting sharing the drone technology with Pakistani security forces, but officials from both countries said compromises were possible.

American and some Pakistani officials spoke anonymously because the C.I.A. drone operations are classified.

Pakistani officials said that Mr. Zardari wanted the drone technology partly to tamp down anger inside Pakistan over the campaign of C.I.A. airstrikes inside the country, which have killed civilians in addition to more than a dozen Qaeda leaders. If Pakistan had its own Predators, they said, the government in Islamabad could make a more plausible case to the public that Pakistani missiles, not American missiles, were being used to kill militants.

“Pakistan’s concerns about the drones do not relate to their ability to take out bad guys, they relate to the collateral damage and concerns about national sovereignty,” said Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States.

As a compromise, the American military in Afghanistan a few months ago offered to increase the amount of sensitive surveillance information it shared with the Pakistani military. American officials said the information could help Pakistani forces combat an increasingly lethal militancy that was spreading not only in the tribal areas, but also in the settled areas of Swat and Buner, closer to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. American and Pakistani officials said that such information-sharing initiatives could build trust between the security services of both nations.

In mid-March, the American military in Afghanistan flew a demonstration mission of a Predator drone along a stretch of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to show the kind of imagery and communications information the Predator could provide. The Americans transmitted the information to a border coordination center near the Khyber Pass operated by American, Pakistani and Afghan personnel, and the information was sent through Pakistani security databases.

The test run went well enough that Pakistan subsequently requested a small number of additional Predator reconnaissance flights to support their operations in the border tribal areas.

But American officials said the requests for additional surveillance missions ended suddenly in early April. “There was no reason given, it just stopped,” said one senior American defense official. American officials suggested that the change could be the result of internal divisions in the Pakistani military over how closely to cooperate with the Americans on intelligence.

For its part, the Obama administration has provided the Pakistanis with the surveillance information but has resisted sharing detailed information about how the drones operate. “This is technology we haven’t given to our closest allies — the Brits or the Australians or NATO,” said one senior American official who is working on Pakistan issues.

Infusing this debate is a continuing suspicion by American intelligence officials of the premier Pakistani spy agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI. Because the Predators, and now an even more sophisticated drone called the Reaper, have been among the most successful weapons against Qaeda and other militant leaders, there is deep concern that any information about the drones’ operating patterns, blind spots, and takeoff and landing locations could be leaked to the insurgents and used to take down the drones.

As the fighting in Swat unfolded this week, missiles fired by a remotely piloted American drone killed 15 people, suspected of being militants, in a village in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas on Tuesday. The missiles, apparently three in all, hit a suspected safe house operated by local militants in Sra Khawra, a village that sits on the border between the tribal agencies of North and South Waziristan.

It was the 18th American drone attack in Pakistan so far this year, compared with 36 in all of last year.

Gilani, Karzai resolve to root out extremists

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have expressed their resolve to root out militants and terrorists from their respective sides of Pak-Afghan border. During the meeting that took place at the Prime Minister House here Wednesday, President Karzai stated that his government would also launch an operation in Afghanistan similar to that of Pakistan against these elements in the immediate future and will fully back Pakistan’s efforts in combating terrorism.

Both leaders also discussed ways and means to enhance the mechanism for intelligence sharing, cooperation in the defence field and strengthening of people to people contacts through increased parliamentary exchanges.

Prime Minister said that successful meeting of Third Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA), in Islamabad, was reflective of Pakistan’s commitment to support the development of Afghanistan by every possible means.

He termed RECCA meeting as a major landmark not only for greatly strengthening relations with Afghanistan under the democratic government in Pakistan but also for overall peace, stability and economic prosperity of the region.

The Prime Minister shared with the Afghan President his government’s steadfast commitment to do every thing necessary to sustain the new spirit of relationship between their two countries through development of regional infrastructure and integrated border management system as well as further improving bilateral trade and economic ties.

President Karzai agreed with the Prime Minister that continuous drone attacks had only served to the detriment of government of Pakistan’s 3-D strategy meant to isolate the militants from the tribes.

President Karzai appreciated government of Pakistan’s assistance and its constructive role in the development of Afghanistan and termed the continued strong Pakistan-Afghanistan friendship as vitally important for the peace, stability and prosperity of his country.

In the remarks during the luncheon hosted by the Prime Minister in his honour, the Afghan President thanked the government and people of Pakistan for extending hospitality and hosting the Afghan refugees for all these years.

Later a separate meeting was held between the Prime Minister and President Karzai which was also attended by Foreign Ministers of the two countries and the Chief of Army Staff. The overall security situation of the region came under discussion during that meeting.

COAS orders troops to minimise civilian casualties

RAWALPINDI:Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervaz Kayani has instructed the Army to ensure minimum collateral damage even at the expense of taking risks, by resorting to precision strikes.

Pakistan Army is acutely aware of the nature of ongoing operations in Swat and elsewhere, and their likely fallouts.

Consequent to any military operation in populated areas, collateral damage and IDP issues are always a natural outcome. Infact the overall success of operations in such areas is a sum total of the three efforts i-e conduct of military operations, minimizing collateral damage and correctly managing IDPs.

COAS said that management of IDPs is as important as military operation in Swat. It has been decided to provide all out support to Government and International Agencies in the management and rehabilitation of IDPs. For this purpose a Corps Headquarters headed by Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed (Ex Deputy Chairman ERRA) has been tasked to form a Special Support Group for IDPs, for coordinating and directing all efforts of Government, Army and other Agencies for optimal utilization of resources in providing relief.

For the first time in its history, Pakistan Army has taken a decision to give part of its daily ration (items of daily food; Atta, Sugar, Ghee and Dhall) to these IDPs. This exemplifies the Army’s spirit of sacrifice. The food items so provided will be able to daily feed about 80,000 adults. Furthermore, Army is deploying its medical resources in all the IDPs camps. These medical camps will have adequate medicines for 90 days. Local Military Hospitals will also go on surge to treat patients.

Inshallah, together the Pakistani Nation and Army, will provide relief to the IDPs in a manner, which will rekindle the memories of 2005 Earthquake relief effort.

ANP determined to crush Taliban: Bilour

PESHAWAR: The NWFP government has decided to crush all Taliban whose agenda deviates from the true teachings of Islam and the Nizam-e-Adl, Awami National Party (ANP) Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour said on Tuesday.

“Our party has decided to do or die in the war against the terrorists who are following a different agenda and have nothing to do with Islam or sharia,” Bilour said while addressing a ceremony in honour of Pashtuns killed in the May 12, 2007 violence in Karachi.

He paid tributes to the Pashtuns killed in the tragedy and demanded the Supreme Court take suo motu action against those involved in the murders.

Bilour said the ANP government had taken parties into confidence before it went to war against the Taliban. “We will exterminate them and restore the writ of the government at all costs,” he said.

The senior minister said the implementation of the Nizam-e-Adl was a popular demand and the ANP government had enforced it for the masses, not for a single person. “The peace agreement is intact and will remain so,” he said, while calling on the Taliban to lay down weapons. “The war will continue until they (Taliban) surrender,” Bilour said.

IDPs: He said the government had so far registered around 1.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Swat, Buner, Lower Dir and Shangla, but a large number still remained unregistered.

“The government is expecting about 2 million IDPs,” he said.

Bilour asked the people not to give donations for IDPs to unauthorised individuals and organisations in order to prevent misuse of funds.

He said the ANP-led government had set up 22 relief camps in the province and 80 entry points had been established to register the IDPs.

Pakistan soldiers swoop on Taliban stronghold

KOTA, Pakista - Helicopter-borne Pakistani soldiers swooped into a Taliban stronghold in a remote corner of Swat on Tuesday, after the United Nations called for help for hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the fighting.

The military's offensive in Swat, 130 km (80 miles) northwest of Islamabad, is seen as a test of the government's commitment to face up to a growing Taliban insurgency and comes after the United States accused it of "abdicating" to the militants.

The fighting has caused a civilian exodus from the valley, once a tourist destination, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis.

A senior military official overseeing help for the displaced said an estimated 800,000 civilians had fled from the latest fighting. They were joining about 500,000 displaced by earlier fighting in the northwest, said Brigadier Aamir Raza Qureshi.

On Tuesday, helicopters flew soldiers into the Peochar valley, a side valley running northwest off the main Swat valley, where the Taliban have a headquarters, the military said.

"Their mission is to conduct search and destroy operations," military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas told a briefing.

"The militants are on the run," he said.

Residents said troops had also been seen moving on the ground toward Peochar.

The offensive was launched last week when President Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was in Washington assuring a nervous United States his government was not about to collapse and was committed to fighting militancy.

A February pact aimed at ending violence in Swat, which effectively handed the militants control, had raised fears of a gradual Taliban takeover of more areas in the nuclear-armed country, which is vital to U.S. efforts to defeat al Qaeda and stabilize Afghanistan.

Military spokesman Abbas said 751 militants had been killed in the offensive while 29 soldiers had been killed and 77 wounded. Most reporters have left Swat and there was no independent confirmation of that estimate of militant casualties.

Taliban spokesmen were not available for comment.

There were also clashes in Imam Dehri, the home town of Fazullah, the Taliban chief in Swat. Four militants were killed there, Abbas said.

In all, about 15,000 members of the security forces are facing about 5,000 militants in the region, the military says.

The United Nations has warned of a protracted humanitarian crisis for a country already being propped up by a $7.6 billion International Monetary Fund loan.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres called on international support for the humanitarian effort.

"This is a huge and rapidly unfolding emergency, which is going to require considerable resources beyond those that currently exist in the region," Guterres said in a statement.

The refugee agency has opened stockpiles of supplies to help the displaced and is airlifting in tonnes more supplies.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani told the National Assembly on Monday that the government would soon organize a conference of aid donors to marshal funds.

Most political parties and many members of the public support the offensive, but that could change if civilians displaced in what the government say is the country's largest-ever internal migration are seen to be suffering or if many are killed.

Stock market investors have been unnerved by the fighting and political tension in the commercial hub of Karachi but the main index rose 2.44 percent on some aggressive buying by government institutions, dealers said.

Separately, suspected U.S. drone aircraft fired missiles in a Pakistani region on the Afghan border, killing at least eight people, military and intelligence officials said.

The attack took place in a mountainous region of South Waziristan, a known al Qaeda and Taliban hotbed, the officials said.

Pakistani Helicopters Drop Troops Into Taliban Stronghold

Pakistani officials say army helicopters dropped troops behind enemy lines in the Swat Valley Tuesday as part of an ongoing offensive against Taliban militants.

Military officials said the troops landed in the remote Piochar area in the upper reaches of the valley that had been under Taliban control.

Pakistan's Interior Ministry has said that some 700 militants have been killed in the offensive since it began last week. The death toll cannot be independently verified.



Several temporary camps in the region are full, and rental property in nearby cities is scarce, leaving many residents with nowhere to go as they flee the violence. The United Nations estimates that more than 360,000 people have been displaced since last week. They join some 500,000 other people who have been displaced by violence in other northwestern areas in the past year.

On Monday, the U.N. refugee agency said it would airlift 120 tons of emergency aid to the internally displaced in the area. The United States also pledged $4.9 million in emergency aid to displaced families.

Meanwhile, Pakistani officials say a suspected U.S. drone (unmanned) aircraft fired missiles Tuesday, killing at least eight people near the Afghan border.

Officials said the attack took place in South Waziristan, an area considered to be an al-Qaida and Pakistani Taliban stronghold. The victims' identities were not immediately known.

The U.S. military has not immediately commented on the Pakistani allegations.

Suspected U.S. drones have carried out at least 30 missile strikes on militant targets in northwest Pakistan over the past year.

The United States rarely discusses the strikes, which Pakistan has criticized as counterproductive and a violation of its sovereignty.

With peace, dreams of Buner students also shattered

SWABI: Like hundreds of other students uprooted from Swat, Buner and Lower Dir districts, the anti-Taliban military operation has also shattered the dreams of Omer Rahman, who wants to become an engineer to serve his beloved country.

Instead of holding books in his hands while studying at the lush green fields of Buner or attending classes at the Daggar Degree College, Omer was standing in a queue with hundreds of his village and town people at a governmental office in Colonel Sher Khan Killay of Swabi to register his name and those of his family members in the list of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Wearing black shabby shalwar-qamees, with his black shoes covered with dust, Omer said his family arrived in Swabi a day earlier after covering miles of distance on foot to avoid being killed by the helicopter gunships or a stray artillery bullet, which have become a symbol of dread for Buneris.

“I missed to appear in a test for admission in NUST (National University of Science and Technology) because of the operation,” the teenager sobbed. He is a student of third year, but he was re-appearing in the FSc (pre-engg) examination to further improve his marks from the existing 775 and manage to get admission at a University of Engineering and Technology (UET).

“I narrowly missed the chance to reach an engineering university...only four points away in the entry test,” Omer said in a chocked voice while looking away to hide his grief. He said his FSc exam for improvement of marks was underway when the security forces personnel entered their college, ordered the students of ‘C’ Hall to hands up for body search and then the examiners announced that the examination had been cancelled.

The announcement dealt a severe blow to the dreams of the young man who, along with nine other classmates, have set the target of 800 marks and were determined to reach the UET this time. “We were midway when the examination was cancelled. Three papers were given and while attempting the fourth, the announcement of exam cancellation came upon us like a thunder from the sky,” he recalled.

Omer again burst into tears as he recalled his last night telephonic conversation with his nine colleagues, who were also appearing in the FSc examination to improve their position and made their way to an engineering university. “All of us ended up in a refugee camp instead,” said the aggrieved young man.

Omer said he and his colleagues continued attempting the examination despite twice fired upon from the nearby mountains while coming for papers. He said they used to come via other routes instead of using the main road to Daggar College to carry on with their papers.

“I was sure of cent percent results this time as my prep was excellent,” said Omer who was more concerned about his educational future than his family, farms, crops, cattle and a house in Daggar village, the main town of Buner district.

Like other IDPs, Omer’s family is living in a house offered by their benefactors from Colonel Sher Khan village. Many IDP families from Buner are presently living in houses with people from different villages, including Karnal Sher Khan Killay, Sherjana, Speen Kanee, Dagai, Yar Hussain, Tolandai, Shera Ghund, Shewa, Parmolo, Had Khan, Hamaza Dher and Kalo Dher of Swabi district.

Fifteen-year-old Ayub was another student standing in the same queue to register himself as a refugee for a few loaves of bread, a few kilograms of rice and some sugar from a government centre in the same area.

Like his senior partner, Ayub, a student of 8th class at a private school in Daggar, was also concerned about his education. He said his father was in Dubai and he (Ayub) was the only male member who led the family through Tor Sak, Jawar and Kalpanai areas to reach Swabi. Ayub’s family is also living in the house of a villager in Dagai village.

Shahenshah, another student from Kalpanai village, is living with his family at a camp set up by a local politician and philanthropist Liaqat Tarakai. Student of the Modern Public School in Kalpanai village, Shahenshah has just promoted to class 9. He said he had left his new books and could not bring them while in a hurry to save their lives.

The NWFP government, which seems to be more concerned about financial assistance nowadays, has not devised any strategy so far to address the problems of students like Omer Rahman.

Education Minister Sardar Hussain Babak hurriedly said they were doing something for the displaced students when he was told about the touching story of Omer Rahman during his visit to the Yar Hussain IDP camp the same day.

However, the minister delivered an untiring lecture to this scribe about highlighting the problems of IDPs and the financial problems of the provincial government to draw more aid and financial assistance from the international donors and the federal government.

Men, women, and children flee violence in Pakistan

MARDAN DISTRICT, Pakistan, (UNHCR) – The UN Refugee Agency said Friday there was a situation of "massive displacement" in north-west Pakistan, as the confrontation between government forces and militants becomes more widespread and people take advantage of the partial lifting of curfews to move into safer areas.The provincial government estimates between 150,000 to 200,000 people have arrived in safer areas of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) over the last few days, with another 300,000 on the move or about to move.Those fleeing the latest escalation of hostilities in Lower Dir, Buner and Swat districts join another 555,000 previously displaced Pakistanis who had fled their homes in the tribal areas and NWFP since August 2008 and who had already been registered by NWFP authorities and UNHCR. The vast majority of the earlier arrivals – more than 462,000 people – are staying in rental accommodation or with host families. Another 93,000 are staying in 11 camps supported by UNHCR."The new arrivals are going to place huge additional pressure on resources," UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said in Geneva. To date, more than 83,000 people from Buner, Dir, and Swat have been registered from the new influx: some 5,000 staying in three new camps and more than 78,000 people who are renting houses or staying with host families.However, registration in the new camps is continuing and the figures will rise quickly. There are also reports of people from Buner arriving at the existing camps in Lower Dir. In Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and other urban centres of the Punjab, UNHCR has registered a further 40,000 displaced people, mainly from Bajaur, Mohmand and Swat, over the past two weeks.UNHCR field teams report the roads out of Swat and Buner, as they converge in the districts of Mardan and Swabi, are full of traffic. A journey to Mardan, which normally takes two hours, now can take twice that long because the road is jammed.The Jalala camp in Mardan district is one of the three camps established six days ago in response to the influx of people fleeing fighting in Buner and Lower Dir. In the last two days, an increasing number of families from Swat have gone to the camp, travelling in rickshaws, cars, small trucks and buses. Most carry little more than the clothes on their backs.New arrivals told UNHCR staff in the camp yesterday that they had trouble finding transport and had to pay steep prices to hire vehicles. One family of 20 from Buner reported paying 30,000 rupees ($350) to travel to the camp from their home. Another man from Mingora, capital of Swat, drove with his family in a rickshaw for seven hours to reach the safety of Jalala camp.
Mohammad, aged 16, was at school in his Swat Valley village when the government warned people to leave. He arrived in Jalala on Thursday carrying his school books because he did not want to fall behind in his studies. "We came to this place because it is a safe place. We had nowhere else to go. My father is a cabbage farmer. We do not have a lot of resources or savings and we had no choice but to come here," he told UNHCR.The teenager said he had seen lots of people on the road and scrambling to get lifts on vehicles. "For the first time in my life, I saw women hanging off the sides of vehicles," he said, adding: "People are desperate to flee and find transport." He managed to hitch a series of lifts.Amandullah, from Buner district, took four days to reach Jalala by vehicle because he and family members could not travel during curfew hours. "My family was separated on the journey and I hope my father will arrive soon." said the worried 22-year-old.Meanwhile, a doctor working for the provincial government in Jalala said people were arriving with respiratory problems, scabies, insomnia and trauma. "People have left behind animals and poultry and, in some cases, even family members. They have had to flee their homes suddenly. Many of the children don't even have shoes."Aside from Jalala, UNHCR has also helped set up Sheikh Shehzad camp in Mardan and Yar Hussain camp in Swabi district. "We are helping the Pakistan Red Crescent set up a fourth camp in Swabi. UNHCR site planners are currently assessing the suitability of land for additional camps in the region already identified by the government," Redmond said in Geneva.Meanwhile, further south in NWFP, plans are under way to further expand the existing Jalozai camp, currently hosting some 48,000 people who have fled the tribal areas since August last year.Over the past week, UNHCR has worked with the government to set up 12 registration centres in Mardan, Swabi and Charsadda districts. However, this is not enough and the agency has plans to open 75 registration centres in the region and to expand the number of humanitarian hubs aimed at helping people staying outside of camps.On Thursday, a new reception centre opened on the main Malakand Road at Jalala to give people food, water and information about the camps and registration centres. It is the first of four such centres planned on the major routes of influx to assist people in the safer areas. Plans are also under way to provide medical care and transport assistance at the reception centers.UNHCR is currently responding to the emergency with relief supplies (tents, plastic sheets, buckets, jerry cans, and kitchen sets) for 100,000 people, while procuring additional supplies for an additional 200,000.

UN to Air Lift Supplies to Conflict-Hit Pakistan

The United Nations refugee agency says it will airlift 120 tons of humanitarian supplies to help Pakistanis fleeing a military offensive against the Taliban.

The agency's chief, Antonio Guterres, said Monday that the "speed and scale" of the displacement of people in northwestern Pakistan requires an immediate international humanitarian response.

The airlift will include $584,000 worth of plastic sheets, portable warehouses and mosquito nets. The United States also announced Monday that it is providing $4.9 million in emergency aid to displaced families.

The U.N. refugee agency says more than 360,000 people have registered with authorities after escaping the latest fighting.

Pakistan's army launched its air and ground offensive against Taliban positions in the northwest Malakand region last week after a peace pact broke down. Heavy fighting also continues across the Swat Valley.

The newest refugees are joining about 500,000 other people who have been displaced by violence in other northwestern areas in the past year.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik announced Monday that at least 700 militants were killed in operations around the northwestern Swat Valley in recent days. The death toll could not be independently verified.

As the military pushed forward Monday, a suicide bomber killed 10 people at a security checkpoint in North West Frontier Province. No one claimed responsibility for the blast.

In related news, the U.S.-based New York Times newspaper published a report Monday saying that al-Qaida is taking advantage of Pakistan's turmoil to strengthen its presence there. The article quotes unnamed U.S. and Pakistani intelligence officials who say al-Qaida is recruiting young fighters from across the region and the Middle East, and bolstering other Islamist militant groups.

Iran Releases Journalist Convicted of Spying for U.S.

TEHRAN — An Iranian-American journalist who was sentenced to eight years in jail on charges of spying for Washington was released Monday after an appeals court reduced the sentence, her lawyer said. The journalist, Roxana Saberi, will be able to leave the country, he said.

The lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, who defended Ms. Saberi in a hearing on Sunday, said the court rejected the original jail term and issued a two-year suspended prison term in its place.

“The verdict was given to me in person today,” Mr. Nikbakht said. “The appeals court has accepted our defense.”

Ms. Saberi had been held in Evin prison in Tehran since January. Her father, Reza Saberi, told journalists that Ms. Saberi was “exhausted but in good condition.” He added: “Her release was a big surprise.”

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a news briefing at the State Department that Ms. Saberi had been reunited with her family and that she would leave Tehran for the United States in the coming days.

“Obviously, we continue to take issue with the charges against her, and the verdict rendered,” Ms. Clinton said. “But we are very heartened that she has been released, and wish her and her family all the very best.”

The case threatened to complicate political maneuvering between Iranian and American leaders over Iran’s nuclear program, a source of longstanding tension between the two nations. President Obama recently made overtures to Tehran about starting a dialogue over the nuclear program, and Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, responded positively.

The State Department spokesman, Ian Kelly, said the release of Ms. Saberi would help reduce the chill in Iranian-American relations. “We see it as a humanitarian gesture, and we welcome it as such,” he said.

A senior administration official said Ms. Saberi’s case illustrated a deepening divide with the Iranian leadership about how to respond to President Obama’s offer of direct negotiations.

“The fact that she was taken and not released right away was clearly something done by the hard liners,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. “But those who were open to the United States said ‘wait a minute.”

“Those who are trying to engage the U.S. won out,” the official said, noting that the release removes a substantial short-term impediment to direct talks between Iran and the United States.

“There wasn’t going to be any major new administration initiative toward Iran without this case resolved,” he said. “If we were going to go in any way toward a direct dialogue, it had to be resolved.”

The appeals court ruling appeared to reflect the moderating tone of relations between the two nations. In the closed hearing on Sunday, Mr. Nikbakht argued that Ms. Saberi should be released because both Iran’s foreign ministry and its judiciary had recently affirmed that “there was no hostility between Iran and the United States,” he said. The judges accepted the argument.

Saeed Leylaz, a political analyst in Tehran, said that he believed Ms. Saberi’s release confirmed speculation that her arrest was political. “Maybe Iran wants to send a message to Washington with her release that we are powerful,” he said. “Secondly, that we are flexible, and thirdly, that if we receive the right incentives, we will hold talks as well.”

Ms. Saberi, 32, has lived in Iran since 2003 and worked as a freelance journalist for National Public Radio and the BBC. She was arrested in late January for buying a bottle of wine, which is illegal in Iran. But the charges against her escalated to working without a press card and then spying for Washington. Her press card had been revoked in 2006.

Ms. Saberi was found guilty in April in a trial her father said lasted less than an hour. Soon after her sentencing, Mr. Ahmadinejad urged the chief prosecutor to re-examine the case in a move analysts saw as a way to portray himself as a defender of human rights ahead of the presidential election on June 12.

With Ms. Saberi’s case seemingly settled, attention shifted to others incarcerated, including two Iranian-American doctors, Kamiar and Arash Alaei, who were arrested in the Islamic Republic while working on AIDS relief and accused last December of interacting with an “enemy government.” Vigils demanding their release were planned in 16 countries and at the United Nations on Tuesday.

Joel Simon, the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based group, said that he was “thrilled” that Ms. Saberi had been released from prison.

“But this is also a moment to reflect on the difficult conditions that Iranian journalists endure every day,” Mr. Simon said. “Several Iranian journalists remain jailed today. We urge they be given the same opportunity for judicial review that was afforded to Roxana Saberi.”

Gates replacing top U.S. commander in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON -- The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan -- Gen. David McKiernan -- will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Monday afternoon.

Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez has been tapped to serve as McChrystal's deputy.

McKiernan, who was asked to resign, will remain in his current position -- which as top U.S. commander means he is the head of NATO forces in Afghanistan -- until McChrystal and Rodriguez are confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Gates said.

"Today we have a new policy set by our new president," Gates said at a Pentagon news conference.

"We have a new strategy, a new mission, and a new ambassador (in Afghanistan). I believe that new military leadership also is needed."

Gates stated that "nothing went wrong" under McKiernan, but that it was his "conviction ... that a fresh approach (and) a fresh look in the context of a new strategy was in our best interest.

"We have in (McChrystal and Rodriguez) a rich experience level," added Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"These two officers will bring ... a focus that we really need in 2009."

Mullen noted that McKiernan, who has been in Afghanistan for 11 months, would have been scheduled to rotate out of Afghanistan after 18 to 24 months.

Gates' announcement came less than a week after President Obama met with the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan and pledged a more coordinated effort to defeat al Qaeda and the Taliban.

In addition to sending 21,000 more troops and trainers to Afghanistan, Obama has committed a surge in U.S. civilian personnel and aid to boost domestic support for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is currently considered weak and unpopular.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said earlier Monday that Gates "asked for and got from the president his commitment" to support the switch from McKiernan to McChrystal.

"Let none of this detract from, nor cause us ever to forget Gen. McKiernan's long and distinguished career of military service. For decades, in peace and war, Dave McKiernan has led hundreds of thousands of men and women in uniform with conviction, integrity and courage," Gates said.

Two girls school blown up in Landi Kotal

LANDI KOTAL: Militants blew up two girls schools and an alcohol shop in Khyber tribal region on Monday, officials said.A science laboratory and an adjacent classroom were partially damaged when an explosive device went off at the Government Higher Secondary School for Girls, situated close to an army camp.Claiming responsibility for the blast, Umar Farooq, a spokesman of local militants demanded the girls’ school shut within a week.Speaking to local reporters on phone from an undisclosed location, he threatened to attack girls students if the school was not closed.The boundary wall of another girls primary school at Nadar Khan Zakhakhel Kalay was damaged when a low intensity explosive device went off at around midnight.Militants also blew up a shop at Charwazgai for allegedly selling local made alcohol. The shop was completely destroyed by the blast.In a related incident, militants fired a rocket at the Landi Kotal helipad which landed near the Hamza Baba mausoleum situated near the helipad.
Another low intensity explosive device went off near the boundary wall of the Government Degree College for Boys which smashed window pans of nearby houses.

Roxana Saberi, US-Iranian journalist, 'to be freed'

Roxana Saberi, an American journalist jailed for spying in Iran, could be released within hours after her sentence was overturned, her lawyer said today.

An Iranian appeals court has reduced the eight-year jail sentence to a suspended two-year term. She was initially given the lengthy prison term during a secret hearing that sparked a diplomatic incident between Washington and Tehran.

Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, her lawyer, said: “The appeals court ... has reduced her jail sentence from eight years to two years of suspended sentence ... and she will soon be free.”

Ms Saberi, 31, a dual American-Iranian national who had lived in Tehran for the past six years, was found guilty of espionage and told she would be imprisoned in the notorious Evin prison in the Iranian capital.

Her father, Reza Saberi, described the court proceedings last month as a mock trial and said that the entire hearing lasted only a few minutes.

Western diplomats in Tehran and Iranian reformers were sceptical about the case, suggesting that it was politically motivated.

There were suspicions that hardliners in the regime wanted to use the prosecution to end a peace initiative announced by President Obama. Another interpretation was that Iran wanted a bargaining chip to use with the Americans.

President Obama personally intervened on her behalf at the time damaging hopes for a reconciliation bid with the Islamic regime.

He said: “I have complete confidence that she was not engaging in any sort of espionage. She is an Iranian-American who was interested in the country which her family came from, and it is appropriate for her to be treated as such and to be released.”

Taliban challenge of 21st century

About 3,000 terrorists in Swat Valley would be killed, says President Zardari
WASHINGTON: President Asif Ali Zardari has reiterated his confidence that his country will not collapse in the increasing insurgency of the Taliban forces, adding this is the new challenge of the 21st century, and this is the new war."
Speaking in an interview with the NBC aired on Sunday, Zardari said, "Is the state of Pakistan going to collapse? No. We are 180 million people. There the population is much, much more than the insurgents are."
Zardari made the remarks in response to the saying by some US military analysts who had raised the possibility of a collapse of the Pakistani state because of the worsening situation resulted from the Taliban insurgency.
Admitting that Pakistan has "a problem" with Taliban activities inside its borders, Zardari called for joint international effort to deal with the threats of Taliban activities. "I think we need to find a strategy where the world gets together against this threat, because it's not Pakistan-specific. It's not Afghanistan-specific," he said.
"I think the world needs to understand that this is the new challenge of the 21st century, and this is the new war."
Observing that about 3,000 terrorists were in Swat valley, President Asif Ali Zardari said his government is determined to kill them all to bring life to normalcy in the picturesque valley.
He said that Pakistan Army has been carrying out operation against the terrorists and they had some successes earlier and "this success is going to be even more effective." When asked to clarify on the statement made by his Prime Minister that the objective was to "eliminate the militants and terrorists," Zardari said:
"That means clearing out the area of the miscreants and bringing life to normalcy. ... If they can, they kill our soldiers and we do the same." When interviewer, Margaret Warner asked him to clarify what "eliminate" means, Zardari said "eliminate means exactly what it means." When she asked: "Killing them all". Zardari replied: "That's what it means." It could be the toughest message coming from President against the terrorists so far.
Zardari said the Swat peace agreement with militants no longer exists. "The deal was based upon the fact that they would bring peace and lay down the arms. They refuse to lay down arms and they did not bring peace to the region. So yes, you can say that the deal is off," he said.
Acknowledging that there has been a presence of the Taliban in the Swat Valley, Zardari however asserted that they were never running the show. "There was a presence of the Taliban. We were there and we had - you know this is the third operation in Swat. We have encountered them before and we had an agreement which failed - it did not work.
So now they have to be eliminated." Zardari also said that the deal could not be revived in case the Taliban abide by the contours of the agreement and stop taking military action.
President said after the army operation was over non-governmental and humanitarian organisations would be asked to move in the area to provide aid.
"We can't have the aid donors going in there and getting casualties on them also. So it is a little precarious, a little difficult situation. But the moment it settles down, they will be allowed to go there. At the moment, the situation is the people have come out of the area. So we are looking after them in camps. Most of them have gone to their own extended families. That's the way it is playing out," he said.
President Asif Ali Zardari has said India is not a threat to Pakistan and it is facing danger from the terrorists inside the country.
"Well, I am already on record. I have never considered India a threat," Zardari said.
"I have always considered India a neighbour, which we want to improve our relationship with. We have had some cold times and we have had some hard times with them. We have gone to war thrice, but democracies are always trying to improve relationships," Zardari said while responding to a question about "which being the greatest threat to Pakistan? India, or the militants."