President Medvedev arrives in Egypt for tour to revive relations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Israel and the US have been lukewarm on the idea.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Army in final stage of Swat offensive

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eight IEDs left on the bridge were defused.

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

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

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

Relief goods’ sale in market

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

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

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

Iran sets date for Ahmadinejad to take oath of office

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Intensified crackdown mutes protests in Iran

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

Tribesmen join cricket celebrations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pakistan Zardari:UK must do more to combat militants

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stop dancing with dictators, Zardari tells US

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The writer is president of Pakistan.

Iranian protesters defy warning

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Lies and fraud"

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

Joy of victory briefly unites a nation scarred by ethnic conflict

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peshawar, End Destination For Displaced, Has Rocky Cultural History

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Taking It By Fear

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

'Have To Be United'

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

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




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

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

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

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

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

U.S. Toughens Airstrike Policy in Afghanistan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Iran council 'admits poll flaws'

Iran's Guardian Council, the country's highest legislative body, has admitted some irregularities occurred in the disputed June 12 presidential election.
Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, a spokesman for the council, told state-funded broadcaster IRIB on Monday that up to three million votes were under scrutiny, after it was found that the number of votes exceeded the number of eligible voters in 50 cities.
However, he said "it has yet to be determined whether the amount is decisive in the election results".
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the conservative incumbent president, won the election by a wide margin, with 63 per cent of the vote, according to figures from Iran's interior ministry.
Mir Hossein Mousavi, the defeated reformist candidate, received only 34 per cent of the vote, but he and his supporters allege voter fraud and have called for an annulment of the result.

'Western' influence
Tehran, the Iranian capital, has seen unrest and massive street protests since the results were announced on July 13.
Send us your videos and pictures from Iran The government is blaming the crisis on what it calls "terrorists" influenced by the West, and has said it will clamp down on any violent action.
"The first issue is security - no country will deal with other issues and then talk about security," Hassan Ghashghavi, a spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday.

"First, security must be there, and then you can talk about elections, freedom, human rights and democracy."

Over the weekend, clashes between police and anti-government protesters left at least 12 people dead and more than 100 wounded - raising the death toll to 19 since the unrest began.

Hundreds arrested

Iranian state radio reported on Monday that more than 450 people were arrested during Saturday's rallies, mostly around Tehran's Azadi square.

Iran unrest online

Social media is playing a crucial role in Iran's crisis.
Browse photos on Faramarz's Flickr stream Forty police officers were also wounded, and 34 government buildings damaged, the Fars news agency reported.
Despite the deaths, arrests, and a warning from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, the demonstrators have been undeterred.

Mousavi himself renewed calls on Sunday for his supporters to continue to protest.

In a statement published on the website of his Kalameh newspaper, he said that people had the right to protest against "lies and fraud", but also urged them to show restraint as they take to the streets.

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

The Iranian government, meanwhile, has cracked down on independent media reporting on the protests, imposing severe restrictions on foreign journalists.

IRAN,At least 24 reporters arrested in Iran since election

PARIS — Iranian authorities have arrested at least 24 journalists and bloggers since postelection protests began a week ago, and a media watchdog says reporters are a "priority target" for Iran's leadership.
Among those detained were the head of the Association of Iranian Journalists and a Canadian reporter for Newsweek. The British Broadcasting Corporation's correspondent has been ordered to leave the country.

"It's becoming more and more problematic for journalists," said Benoit Hervieu of Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, also known by its French acronym RSF.

The group released the names of 23 Iranian journalists, editors and bloggers arrested since June 14, and says it has lost contact with several others believed detained or in hiding. Hervieu said RSF verified each arrest via its network of reporters and activists in Iran.

Newsweek said in a statement later that its correspondent Maziar Bahari, a Canadian citizen, was detained without charge Sunday morning and has not been heard from since. Newsweek defended his coverage of Iran as "fair and nuanced" and called for his release.

In most cases, the reasons behind the detentions remain unclear.

Iran's authorities have long kept a close eye on local and international media operating in the country, and clamped down as protests engulfed Tehran last week over the June 12 presidential election, the biggest challenge to the cleric-led government in 30 years. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the landslide winner, but supporters of reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi say fraud was widespread.

Authorities have banned foreign media from reporting from the street and allow only phone interviews and information from officials sources such as state TV. Many websites have been blocked. Iran is particularly sensitive about news reports, blogs and Internet reports in Farsi.

"The regime has been visibly shaken by its own population and does not want to let this perception endure," RSF said in a statement.

The BBC's Jon Leyne has been ordered to leave the country, a BBC spokesman said on condition of anonymity in line with company policy.

The Fars news agency said Sunday that Leyne will have to leave Iran within 24 hours, and that Iranian officials have accused him of "dispatching fabricated news and reports, ignoring neutrality in news, supporting rioters and trampling the Iranian nation's rights."

Ali Mazroui, the head of the Association of Iranian Journalists, was arrested Sunday morning, RSF said. Overnight, husband-and-wife Bahaman Ahamadi Amoee and Jila Baniyaghoob were arrested by plainclothes officers who searched their home, RSF said.

Baniyaghoob edits a news website that focuses on women's rights, and her husband writes for various pro-reform publications.

Others detained include a blogger known as the "Blogging Mullah," a cartoonist, a TV producer, the publisher of several newspapers, a disabled former newspaper editor and a business reporter.

Nakhle Elhage, news director at Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television network, said authorities told them their activities have been suspended until further notice but did not ask their resident correspondent Diaa al-Nasseri — an Iraqi — to leave.

Last Sunday, Al Arabiya in Tehran was told by the authorities to suspend their activities for one week.

RSF says that, even before the election, Iran held more journalists and cyber-dissidents in jails than any other country in the Middle East.

Hervieu said blogs, Twitter, YouTube and other Internet methods are the only way most people can convey information from the street. But the use of anonymity by blog posters trying to avoid repercussions makes information difficult to verify.

Many of those posting "are both spectators and activists," blurring lines of impartiality, he said.

He said small digital cameras passed from activist to activist and then to a foreign colleague or news organization are helping spread images, though their provenance is not always clear.

He noted the example of the much-viewed amateur video on YouTube, showing dozens of Iranians running down a street and shouting "Allahu Akbar" after police fired tear gas.

AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll said last week that, when controls are imposed, "we work with those restrictions, keeping in mind our ultimate goal is to be able to do our jobs as journalists," she said.

Reporters were also restricted during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which saw the installation of the Islamic regime in power today.

Pakistani aircraft hit militants near Afghan border

WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani forces used aircraft and artillery on Sunday as they stepped up an assault aimed at eliminating Pakistani Taliban commander Baituallah Mehsud.

Security forces have secured much of the scenic Swat Valley, northwest of Islamabad, in the past six weeks and the military plans to extend its offensive to al Qaeda ally Mehsud, holed up in the South Waziristan region near the Afghan border.

The military action came after Taliban gains raised fears for the future of nuclear-armed Pakistan, a vital ally for the United States as it strives to defeat al Qaeda and stabilize Afghanistan.

A full-scale offensive has not yet begun in South Waziristan but fighter jets have been attacking Mehsud's positions in recent days, and did so again on Sunday.

"It's very scary. Jets have carried out heavy bombing. I saw billows of smoke and dust coming from houses that were hit," Jahangir Barki, a residents of Wana, South Waziristan's main town, told Reuters.

Security forces also fired artillery at an office of a top militant commander allied with Mehsud, Maulvi Nazir, residents said. The commander was not there at the time, they said.

The military has said it is trying to clear militants from a stretch of the main road linking Wana with North West Frontier Province.

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding out in a militant enclave somewhere in the ungoverned ethnic Pashtun tribal lands along the Afghan border.

GOING HOME

The top government official in Swat, which is not on the Afghan border but in North West Frontier Province, said electricity and gas had been restored in many areas and residents who had fled from the fighting could soon come home.

"Hopefully, we'll be receiving our people from June 25 as things are in place in some areas. Other areas will get power and gas as soon as they're cleared by security forces," Khushal Khan, the top government official in the valley, told Reuters.

The military reported sporadic clashes in some parts of Swat on Sunday and said seven militants had been killed in the latest violence.

More than 1,300 militants have been killed in the fighting in Swat and neighboring districts since early May, according to the military. Independent casualty estimates are not available.

Nearly 2 million people have fled fighting in the northwest which intensified in late April when the army moved to push the Taliban out of Buner district, 100 km (60 miles) from Islamabad, before launching an offensive in Swat.

Thousands of people have been returning to Buner since the government announced last Friday it was now safe for people to go home.

Most of Pakistan's political parties and members of the public support the offensive against the Taliban but the government risks seeing that backing disappear if the people displaced by the fighting are seen to suffer.

A government official in the Bajaur region, another militant enclave on the Afghan border, to the north of the city of Peshawar, said three militant hideouts had been destroyed in bombing by aircraft there on Sunday.

The official, Saad Ghulam, said authorities did not have information about casualties.

Riot police out in force in Tehran

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- As thousands of riot police and militia lined Tehran's streets Sunday, the public rift among Iranian leaders appeared to be widening.The country's foreign minister disputed allegations of ballot irregularities in Iran's disputed presidential election, and the parliamentary speaker implied the nation's election authorities had sided with one candidate.Amateur video showed large crowds marching down a major Tehran thoroughfare shouting, "Don't be afraid, we're together!" and "Death to dictator!" The person who shot the video said it was taken Sunday, but CNN could not immediately verify that the protest had taken place.Eyewitnesses reported a protest also took place at Southern Tehran's Azad University, where final exams were postponed after about 200 students refused to take them.Thousands of riot police and members of the Basij militia lined the streets of the city, according to eyewitnesses. Security personnel surrounded the headquarters of the country's state television and radio. Many shops were closed, and shopkeepers whose stores were open said they planned to close early Sunday. However, no tanks were seen on the city's streets. Traffic was light. A statement purportedly from opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi on Sunday called on Iranians to "exercise self control" during protests in Tehran, while still supporting their right to demonstrate against the government and the results of the disputed June 12 presidential election.
"The country belongs to you. The revolution and the system is your heritage," the statement attributed to Moussavi said in a statement posted on his Web site. "Protesting against lies and cheating is your right. Be hopeful about regaining your rights. Do not allow anyone who tries to make you lose hope and frighten you make you lose your temper."The authenticity of the message could not be verified; it was posted in Farsi and translated by CNN.The message came a day after hospital sources said 19 people were killed in clashes between anti-government protesters and police. Unconfirmed reports put the death toll as high as 150. "The sad news of the martyrdom of another group who protested the results of the elections has caused our society astonishment and our people mourn them," said the statement attributed to Moussavi. "Firing on people, militarization of the city's atmosphere, threats, agitations and show of force are all the illegitimate children of law breaking and we are facing all of that. It is a wonder that the perpetrators accuse others of breaking the law for expressing their opinions.Police have not been given permission to use firearms in confronting protesters, Tehran Police Chief Azizollah Rajabpour told Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency. Police have not used firearms on the public, he said. Allegations to the contrary are false and "spread by those who want to muddy the waters," the agency reported.News coverage in Iran has been limited by government restrictions on international journalists. On Sunday, the BBC said Iran had expelled Jon Leyne, the British network's permanent correspondent in Tehran. And Al-Arabiya, a Dubai-based Arab satellite network, said its Tehran bureau was ordered closed.Government-funded Press TV confirmed 13 fatalities Saturday, saying the deaths resulted from police clashes with "terrorist groups" in Tehran. But the station did not say whether all the deaths took place Saturday or spanned the length of the weeklong protests.Videos posted on social networking Web sites depicted tense scenes and chaos Saturday, and one graphic video that captured the death of a young woman became the iconic symbol of a brutal day. But like most of the information coming out of Tehran, it is impossible to verify her name -- Neda -- or the circumstances of her apparent death.Press TV also reported Sunday that five relatives of former President Ali Akhar Hashemi Rafsanjani were arrested for "alleged involvement in post-election incidents ... taking part in unauthorized protests in central Tehran ... they are accused of provoking riots."All but Faezeh Rafsanjani, the former president's daughter, were later released, Press TV said. The woman's brother said she was arrested while taking part in a protest.The older Rafsanjani is chairman of the Assembly of Experts, which is responsible for appointing or removing the supreme leader. He is a supporter of Moussavi, while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remained staunch in his defense of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.A spokesman for the Guardian Council, Iran's election authority, told state television that Wednesday is the last day it can recount the votes disputed by candidates. The council earlier had said it received more than 600 complaints of irregularities from the three candidates.Only Mohsen Rezaie has identified those boxes he wants recounted, said council spokesman Ali Kadkhodaie. Mehdi Karrubi and Moussavi have not, but there is still time for them to do so, he said. No recounting is allowed after Wednesday by law, he said.Followers of Moussavi have alleged that the council -- which approves all candidates running for office and verifies election results -- declared hard-line incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of the elections despite indications of ballot fraud. Both Karrubi and Moussavi rejected the June 12 election as fraudulent and demanded a new one.Meanwhile, prominent figures, many of whom were part of Iran's Islamic rvolution 30 years ago, issued conflicting statements, a sign that Iran's leadership was far from unified.The foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, said Sunday an investigation into claims of fraud in the election will be announced by week's end.But speaking to foreign diplomats in Tehran, he called the possibility of irregularities almost nonexistent."The possibility of organized and comprehensive disruption and irregularities in this election is almost close to zero given the composition of the people who are holding the election," Mottaki said.On the other hand, Iran's influential parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani implicated the same people -- the Guardian Council -- of siding with one candidate.
"Although the Guardian Council is made up of religious individuals, I wish certain members would not side with a certain presidential candidate," Larijani told the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) on Saturday, without naming whom he meant.The comments were reported on Press TV and on another news Web site, Khabaronline, Sunday.Larijani's statement was in direct contrast to that of Khamenei.
Khamenei, in a sermon Friday, declared the elections a "definitive victory" for Ahmadinejad and rejected charges of vote rigging.
"A majority of people are of an opinion separate" from that of a minority, Larijani said.While Larijani and Ahmadinejad have had a tense relationship in the past, Larijani is seen as being aligned with Khamenei. For him to directly contradict the leader's statement amounts to another example of the growing disagreement among ruling conservatives.
Meanwhile, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, in an open letter posted on his Web site, said, "the presence of the people is one of the achievements of the revolution and must be respected."
"Sensational and insulting propaganda against the people, who have always acted independently, and insinuating that their healthy movement is directed by foreigners is itself a sign of the implementation of faulty policies which will widen the gap between the people and the government," Khatami wrote.
The election and the subsequent clashes in Iran were the subject of protests in some U.S. cities Sunday.
In Washington, roughly 400 Iranian-Americans gathered in front of the Iranian Interests Section on Sunday to protest the disputed election.

The protesters, dressed in the colors of the Iranian flag, waved signs and chanted slogans such as, "Down with the dictator," "Democracy for Iran," and "Where's my vote?" Some carried signs with images of injured and bleeding Iranian protesters.

Protests also were held in Los Angeles and New York.

President announces cash award

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari congratulated the national cricket team on Sunday for winning the T20 World Cup in London and announced an award of Rs1 million each for Captain Younus Khan and Man of the Match Shahid Afridi and Rs500,000 each for other players.

Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the award would be given from the president’s discretionary fund.In messages sent from Naudero to the captain and manager of the team, the president termed the victory one of the most magnificent moments in the history of national cricket.

‘That our team is wearing this crown on the 56th birth anniversary of Shaheed Mohtarma Bhutto has made it even more magnificent,’ he said.

The President said the superb teamwork had made the victory possible and the nation would savour it for a long time. He asked the captain to convey his felicitations to all members of the team.

Pakistan wins Twenty20 World Cup

ISLAMABAD -- Thousands of fans have taken to the streets across Pakistan to celebrate their country's eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the Twenty20 World Cup final.

The rejoicing started as batsman Shahid Afridi steered Pakistan to the title with an unbeaten 54 off 40 balls, with his team chasing down the target of 139 runs in 18.4 overs.

Captain Kumar Sangakkara scored an unbeaten 64 off 52 balls and helped Sri Lanka recover from 70-6 to finish with 138-6 off its 20 overs.

Giant screens were put in place in the main markets of Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and Multan where thousands of men, women and children gathered to watch the final live from Lord's in London.People of Pakistan including Karachi started fire crackers, danced on streets and distributed sweets as Pakistan cricket team made the country proud by winning the Twenty20 World Cup after outclassing Sri Lanka in the final.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday felicitated the nation on Pakistan glorious victory in the ICC World Twenty 20 Cup final against Sri Lanka at Lords.

The President in a message to the captain of Pakistani team, Yunus Khan congratulated him as well as the whole team and management for bringing laurels and pride to the country.

The victory provided many back home with a welcome lift, given the Pakistan army's fight against militant Taliban fighters.

Tehran Tense in the Wake of Violent Clashes

By THE NEW YORK TIMES
TEHRAN — Hours after police and militia forces used guns, truncheons, tear gas and water cannons to beat back thousands of demonstrators, a tense quiet set over this city Sunday as amateur video continued to emerge of the violent clashes that filled the streets the day before.

It was unclear how the confrontation would play out now that the government has abandoned its restraint and large numbers of protestors have demonstrated their willingness to risk injury and even death as they continue to dispute the results of Iran’s presidential election nine days ago.

There was uncertainty as well about how many deaths resulted from Saturday’s violence. Witnesses and human rights groups reported at least several deaths. Iranian state radio reported that there were 19 deaths, and Iran state television reported 13.

There was no sign on the streets Sunday morning of the heavy security forces from the night before, but there were reports that protestors planned to demonstrate again later in the day, beginning at about 5 p.m., giving both sides time to regroup, or reconsider.

In Washington on Saturday, President Obama called the government’s reaction “violent and unjust,” and, quoting Martin Luther King Jr., warned again that the world was watching what happened in Tehran.

The Iranian government continued its efforts to block all coverage of events here, but information began to trickle out from eyewitnesses and on social networking sites. The most vivid image to emerge was contained in a video posted on several Web sites that showed a young woman with her face covered in blood. Text posted with the video said she had been shot. It was impossible to verify the authenticity of the video.

A group called The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported on its Web site that injured protestors were being arrested as they sought medical treatment at hospitals. The group said that doctors had been ordered to report protest-related injuries to the authorities.

Since the crisis broke open with massive streets protests the last several days, the government has been arresting reformers, intellectuals and nearly anyone who promoted reform ideas or challenged the leadership’s version of events.

On Sunday, two Web sites reported that the government had arrested several members of the family of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former president who heads two influential councils in Iran. Mr. Rafsanjani, one of the fathers of the revolution, has been locked in a power struggle with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and worked closely with the reform movement during the presidential election. The posting on the Web sites, one associated with the reform movement and another with Mr. Rafsanjani’s family, could not be independently verified, but if true the arrests would represent an escalation of the government’s crackdown against the protest movement.

One of the Web sites said those arrested included Mr. Rafsanjani’s daughter, Faezeh Hashemi, and her daughter, and that they were accused of provoking people.

The relative calm Sunday morning followed a day of violent clashes unfolded on a day of extraordinary tension across Iran. The opposition leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi, appeared at a demonstration in southern Tehran and called for a general strike if he were to be arrested. “I am ready for martyrdom,” he told supporters.

Mr. Moussavi again called for nullifying the election’s results, and opposition protesters swore to continue pressing their claims of a stolen election against Iran’s embattled and increasingly impatient clerical leadership in Iran’s worst crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. On Friday, Ayatollah Khamenei, reaffirmed the election results as valid and said there would be “bloodshed” if street protests continued.

In an interview broadcast Sunday on Iranian television, Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki said that officials were examining the charge of voting fraud and expected to issue their findings by the end of the week. But like Ayatollah Khamenei, Mr. Mottaki appeared to have already judged the vote as clean and fair. He said the "possibility of organized and comprehensive disruption and irregularities in the election , is almost close to zero," in remarks translated by Iran’s English-language Press TV.

Iran’s divisions played out on the streets. Regular security forces stood back and urged protesters to go home to avoid bloodshed, while the feared pro-government militia, the Basij, beat protesters with clubs and, witnesses said, electric prods.

In some places, the protesters pushed back, rushing the militia in teams of hundreds: At least three Basijis were pitched from their motorcycles, which were then set on fire. The protesters included many women, some of whom berated as “cowards” men who fled the Basijis. There appeared to be tens of thousands of protesters in Tehran, far fewer than the mass demonstrations early last week, most likely because of intimidation.

The street violence appeared to grow more intense as night fell, and there were unconfirmed reports of multiple deaths. A BBC journalist at Enghelab (Revolution) Square reported seeing one person shot by the security forces. “If they open fire on people and if there is bloodshed, people will get angrier,” said a protester, Ali, 40. “They are out of their minds if they think with bloodshed they can crush the movement.”

Separately, state-run media reported that three people were wounded Saturday when a suicide bomber attacked at the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the southern part of the city, several miles from the scheduled protests. The report of the blast could not be independently confirmed.

Mr. Obama’s statement was his strongest to date on the post-election turmoil in Iran. Saying that “each and every innocent life” lost would be mourned, he added: “Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

“Martin Luther King once said, ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian people’s belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.”

Journalists were banned from leaving their offices to report on the protests. A reporter from an American news organization said she had been called by a member of the Basij militia warning her not to go to the venue for the Saturday rally because the situation would be dangerous and there could be fatalities.

Witnesses said that Mohammad Ghoochani, a prominent journalist and editor in chief of several reformist publications that had been shut down, was arrested Saturday by the authorities. There were no further details of his condition or location.

The authorities were also reported on Saturday to have renewed an offer of a partial recount of the ballots in the disputed election — an offer that the opposition has previously rejected. A letter from Mr. Moussavi published on one of his Web sites late Saturday repeated his demand for the election to be annulled.

“The Iranian nation will not believe this unjust and illegal” act, he said in the letter, which was addressed to the powerful Guardian Council, a panel of clerics which oversees and certifies election results. Making his case for electoral fraud, he charged that thousands of his representatives had been expelled from polling stations and some mobile polling stations had ballot boxes filled with fake ballots.

Regional analysts said that, by calling for an end to the rallies and promising the use of force, Ayatollah Khamenei had inserted himself directly into the confrontation, invoking his own prestige and that of Iran’s clerical leaders. But his speech also laid the groundwork to suppress the opposition movement with a harder hand, characterizing any further protests as being against the Islamic republic itself.

Iran’s National Security Council reinforced Ayatollah Khamenei’s warning on Saturday, state media reported, telling Mr. Moussavi to “refrain from provoking illegal rallies.”

The demand came in a letter from the head of the council after a formal complaint by Mr. Moussavi that law enforcement agencies had failed to protect protesters.

“It is your duty not to incite and invite the public to illegal gatherings; otherwise, you will be responsible for its consequences,” the letter said, according to state media.

Amateur video posted to the Web since Saturday afternoon showed scenes of chaos and gunfire, some of it as vividly violent as in the clashes on Monday that left at least seven people dead. One video posted on the BBC Farsi service showed streets on fire and a large crowd fleeing amid several rounds of semiautomatic gunfire. A photo showed the riot police repelling demonstrators with a hand-held water cannon.

The Basij militia completely blocked off Enghelab Square, one major gathering ground for the protesters. They are less accountable than regular security forces and, many witnesses said, were far more violent on Saturday.

“Please go home,” one regular officer told protesters. “We are scared of the Basijis, too.”

One woman who lives off Vali Asr Square, near where the protests took place, said Basijis beat and kicked anyone outside, shouting at them to return to their houses.

“The streets near our house were full of Basijis wearing helmets and holding batons,” she said.

The government warned that it would step up the pressure on the opposition from its regular security forces if it continued to stage demonstrations.

“We acted with leniency, but I think from today on, we should resume law and confront more seriously,” Gen. Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghadam said on state television. “The events have become exhausting, bothersome and intolerable. I want them to take the police cautions seriously because we will definitely show a serious confrontation against those who violate rules.”

In a measure of the scale of the opposition’s complaints, one losing candidate in the June 12 election, Mohsen Rezai, a conservative former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, claimed to have won between 3.5 million and 7 million votes compared with the 680,000 accorded to him in the first announcement of results a week ago, state-run Press TV reported Saturday.

The authorities had also invited the three opposition candidates to attend a meeting on Saturday with the 12-member Guardian Council, the panel of clerics which oversees and certifies election results. But only one candidate — Mr. Rezai — attended, Press TV said.

Beat extremists you can, says Obama

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama, in an exclusive interview to Dawn, has said that he believes the Pakistani state is strong enough to win the military offensive against the extremists.

In this first-ever one-on-one interview by any US president to the Pakistani media, Mr Obama assured the Pakistani nation that he has no desire to seize Pakistan’s nuclear weapons or send US troops inside the country.

The US president also emphasised the need for resuming the dialogue process between India and Pakistan, which was stalled after the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November last year.

The interview covered a wide-range of subjects — from the controversy involving the Iranian presidential election to Mr Obama’s speech in Cairo earlier this month in which he called for a new beginning between the Muslim and the Western worlds.

The venue, the White House diplomatic room with murals of early settlers, brought out the importance of Mr Obama’s historic victory in last year’s general election.

Close to the murals — under the watchful eyes of George Washington — sat a man who overcame gigantic hurdles to become America’s first non-White president.

Here was a man tasked with finding a graceful end to two unpopular wars — in Iraq and Afghanistan — and to steer America, and the rest of the world, out of an unprecedented economic crisis.

Yet, when he strolled into this oval-shaped room, Mr Obama seemed completely at ease with himself. Tall and slim, the 47-year-old US president had the youngish looks of a man who works out daily.

He walked straight towards the camera, greeting everyone, shook hands, occupied the chair reserved for him, and started talking about how he had a special affection for Pakistan and its people.

Asked to comment on Ayatollah Khamenei’s statement that the US was interfering in Iran’s internal affairs, Mr Obama said what’s happening in Iran was remarkable. ‘To see hundreds of thousands of people in peaceful protest against an election that obviously raised a lot of doubts tells us that this is an issue that the Iranian people care deeply about.’

The US and the West, he said, had been very clear that this was not an issue between the West and Iran; this was an issue about the Iranian people seeking justice and wanting to make sure that their voices were heard.

‘And it’s unfortunate that there are some inside Iran and inside that government that want to use the West and the United States as an excuse,’ he said.

‘We respect Iran’s sovereignty, but we also are witnessing peaceful demonstrations, people expressing themselves, and I stand for that universal principle that people should have a voice in their own lives and their own destiny. And I hope that the international community recognises that we need to stand behind peaceful protests and be opposed to violence or repression.’

Mr Obama said that since there were no international observers in Iran, he could not say if the elections were fair or unfair. ‘But beyond the election, what’s clear is that the Iranian people are wanting to express themselves. And it is critical, as they seek justice and they seek an opportunity to express themselves, that that’s respected and not met with violence.’

‘Your speech in Cairo indeed was a speech that created a lot of stir, both in the US and in the Muslim world. Was it the beginning of something bigger to come, or was it just a one-off thing? He was asked.

‘No, I think that this is going to be a sustained process. As I said in Cairo, one speech is not going to transform policies and relationships throughout the Middle East or throughout the world,’ Mr Obama responded.

‘But what I wanted to do was to describe very clearly that the United States not only respects Muslim communities around the world but that there’s an opportunity for I think a new day, where there’s mutual understanding, mutual tolerance; where the United States is seen as somebody who stands with people in their daily aspirations for an education for their children, for good jobs, for economic development,’ he said.

‘And just as the United States at times has, I think, not fully understood what’s happening in Muslim communities, sometimes there have been countries that haven’t understood the rich history of Muslims in America,’ he added.

‘As I mentioned in that speech, it was Morocco that was the first nation to recognise the United States. We have Muslim Americans who are doing extraordinary things. In fact, their educational attainment and income is generally above the average here in the United States. We have Muslim members of Congress. And, in fact, we have 5 million Muslims, which would make us larger than many other countries that consider themselves Muslim countries.’

Mr Obama then explained how he plans to further expand the peace process he introduced in Cairo.

‘So what we want to do is just begin to open up a dialogue around which we can constructively work together to deal with significant issues,’ he said, acknowledging that ‘part one of those issues is the issue of the Middle East.’

Mr Obama explained that he has been ‘very aggressive’ in saying that Israelis and Palestinians have to resolve their differences and create two states that can live side by side in peace and security.

He said he also has put forward a special envoy, George Mitchell, a former majority leader of the US Senate, to work with the parties involved.

‘But part of the key is also to isolate the extremists who have been wreaking havoc around the world. And we’re seeing that now in Pakistan, and I think the Pakistani government and the people of Pakistan recognise that the kind of mindless violence that we’ve been seeing, that that cannot be the answer to long-term prosperity.’

His comments led to a larger discussion on Pakistan and the issues confronting this nation of 170 million people.

‘Some people say that it is still too early to push Pakistan into a military offensive in South Waziristan; that the Pakistan army, and the Pakistani state, is not strong enough to win this war and that it may break up the country.

What do you say?’

‘Well, let me make two points. Number one, nobody can or should push the Pakistani government. The Pakistani government is accountable to the people of Pakistan,’ said Mr Obama.

‘I think the Pakistani government and the people of Pakistan recognise that when you have extremists who are assassinating moderate clerics like Dr Naeemi, when you have explosions that are killing innocent women and children, that that can’t be the path for development and prosperity for Pakistan,’ he said.

‘And so there’s been a decision that’s made that we support, that the Pakistani military and the Pakistani government will not stand by idly as extremists attempt to disrupt the country,’ Mr Obama said.

‘But ultimately these are decisions to be made by the Pakistani government and the Pakistani people. What the United States believes is, is that we are a partner in the process of peace-loving nations seeking to root out extremism, increase development, and that is the kind of role that we want to play with Pakistan.’

‘Do you believe the Pakistani state is strong enough to win this war?’

‘I have confidence in the Pakistani people and the Pakistani state in resolving differences through a democratic process and to isolate extremists. Dating back to Jinnah, Pakistan has always had a history of overcoming difficulties. There’s no reason why it can’t overcome those difficulties today,’ Mr Obama said.

‘Going back to what we discussed about the Muslim world, there are issues that are too difficult even to discuss – for instance, the Indians don’t even want the ‘K’ word (Kashmir) to be mentioned to them. In your inaugural speech you did mention Kashmir and after that it had been absent from your statements and those of other officials in your administration. Why?’ he was asked.

‘I don’t think that we’ve been silent on the fact that India is a great friend of the United States and Pakistan is a great friend of the United States, and it always grieves us to see friends fighting. And we can’t dictate to Pakistan or India how they should resolve their differences, but we know that both countries would prosper if those differences are resolved,’ said Mr Obama.

‘And I believe that there are opportunities, maybe not starting with Kashmir but starting with other issues, that Pakistan and India can be in a dialogue together and over time to try to reduce tensions and find areas of common interest,’ he said.

‘And we want to be helpful in that process, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to be the mediators in that process. I think that this is something that the Pakistanis and Indians can take leadership on.’

Asked if he was urging India to resume bilateral talks with Pakistan, Mr Obama said: ‘Well, what we have said is that we think that all of South Asia would benefit by reduced tensions between India and Pakistan. I think that dialogue is the best way to reduce tensions.’

Mr Obama noted that recently the Indian and Pakistani leaders met at a regional conference in Russia. Although they did not hold an extensive conversation, it was the start of what may end up being more productive talks in the future.

‘Well, I won’t engage in hypotheticals like that,’ said Mr Obama when asked if the US could seize Pakistan’s nuclear weapons to prevent the Taliban from capturing them. ‘I have confidence that the Pakistani government has safeguarded its nuclear arsenal. It’s Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.’

His main concern, said Mr Obama, was to make sure that the Taliban and other extremist organisations were not taking root in South Asia, Afghanistan and the Middle East.

‘And we want to partner with everybody to make sure that this cancer does not grow. One of the things that I said in my speech in Cairo is that Islam has an extraordinary tradition of tolerance and peaceful coexistence and that tradition is being distorted and being warped,’ he said.

‘We do not want to be in a position where we’re having to send troops to Afghanistan, for example. We would love the Afghans’ government to be secure and stable so that it can ensure that it does not become a safe haven for organisations like Al Qaeda,’ he said.

‘We would much prefer being a partner with countries like Afghanistan or Pakistan, and simply work together on issues of common interest like commerce and increasing trade and improving development in all countries,’ he said.

‘But it’s very difficult to do that if you have people who have distorted a great religion and are now trying to wreak havoc not only in the West but most often directed against fellow Muslims in places like Pakistan. And that is something that we will always stand against.’

Responding to a question about drone attacks inside Pakistan’s tribal zone, Mr Obama said he did not comment on specific operations.

‘But I will tell you that we have no intention of sending US troops into Pakistan. Pakistan and its military are dealing with their security issues.’

The US, he said, was focussing on helping those displaced during recent military operations.

‘Our primary goal is to be a partner and a friend to Pakistan and to allow Pakistan to thrive on its own terms, respecting its own traditions, respecting its own culture. We simply want to make sure that our common enemies, which are extremists who would kill innocent civilians, that that kind of activity is stopped, and we believe that it has to be stopped whether it’s in the United States or in Pakistan or anywhere in the world.’

‘Any plan to visit Pakistan in the near future?’

‘I would love to visit. As you know, I had Pakistani roommates in college who were very close friends of mine. I went to visit them when I was still in college; was in Karachi and went to Hyderabad. Their mothers taught me to cook,’ said Mr Obama.

‘What can you cook?’

‘Oh, keema … daal … You name it, I can cook it. And so I have a great affinity for Pakistani culture and the great Urdu poets.’

‘You read Urdu poetry?’

‘Absolutely. So my hope is that I’m going to have an opportunity at some point to visit Pakistan,’ said Mr Obama.

‘And obviously one of the things that I think ties our countries together is the extraordinary Pakistani-American community that is here in the United States who are thriving and doing great work as physicians and as lawyers and as business people. And one of the great opportunities I think for Pakistan is to be able to draw on all this talent and extraordinary entrepreneurship to help provide concrete benefits to the Pakistani people, and I think that’s one of the biggest challenges for Pakistan,’ he said.

‘We want to be a partner in opening up trade opportunities, but making sure that people on the ground, day to day, they’re getting an education, children are going to school, that farmers are able to get a decent compensation for their products, that electricity and infrastructure is built, because I know the Pakistani people and I know that if the tools are there available to them, then they will thrive and continue to be a great nation.’

‘Some people say that you’re against some of the restrictions introduced in the House version of the aid to Pakistan bill. Are you?’

‘Well, my view is, is that we have to help Pakistan – to provide them the resources that will allow for development. Now, we have in the past supported, I think, Pakistan militarily. I think it is important to make sure that military support is directed at extremists and our common enemies,’ said Mr Obama.

‘But I also think that the relationship between the United States and Pakistan can’t just be based on military-to-military cooperation. It’s got to be based on something richer that involves development and exchanges of students and business people. And so we want to encourage that kind of work, as well,’ he said.

‘And we helped to lead an effort that raised $5 billion of development assistance for Pakistan at a donors’ conference in Japan, hundreds of millions of dollars that we’re trying to provide to support internally displaced people. That’s the kind of strategy that I think will bring our countries closer together. And having known the people of Pakistan, I am convinced that the future between our two countries can be very, very bright.’

‘You cannot escape cricket while living with Pakistanis. Did they leave a cricket bat with you?’

‘You know, I have to say that I have tried to get up to bat a couple of times, but I’ve been terrible. So I’m an admirer of great cricket players, but make no claims in terms of my own skills,’ said Mr Obama, breaking into a broad smile.