PESHAWAR: Three rockets were fired in yet another attack on the most vulnerable Arbab Tapu post of Matani Police Station on Kohat Road here Sunday. There was, however, no casualty or damage.
The attack on the post, located on the boundary between Peshawar and Darra Adamkhel tribal region, occurred late Sunday evening. The projectiles landed close to the police post but did not cause any casualty or damage.
Two days earlier, two rockets landed near the Badaber PAF Base while another hit a house in Gulberg No 2, causing no damage or casualty. The Matani Police Station was also attacked with two rockets a couple of days back. The volatile police station is facing frequent attacks from Darra Adamkhel and Khyber Agency.
Last month, three policemen were killed in mortar shelling at the Arbab Tapu police post. One of the deceased, Nooran Shah, was the expert of heavy weapons. Eleven people were killed in a suicide attack on the FC camp near the Arbab Tapu post while two cops were killed in another suicide hit on Sra Khawra post of the Matani Police Station during the past two months.
Numerous rocket attacks on police and FC establishments in the jurisdiction of the police station have been reported as terrorists fire rockets and mortars, targeting Matani police establishments almost thrice a week.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Fear of militants, helicopters still haunts Swat girl students
MINGORA: Around 50 girls, aged between six and 12 years, started running helter-skelter as they spotted a low-flying military helicopter over their makeshift school in an orchard in Maniyar area of Swat.
Majority of the students, whose nearby school building was destroyed by militants with explosives, recently returned to their villages after living in tents and rented houses in Mardan and Swabi districts for nearly three months.
“We are not only scared of Taliban but also afraid of helicopters. The choppers spread so much fear among the recently arrived children that some of them cling to their teachers,” Zeba Begum, headmistress at the school, told The News.
The strength at the school was 290 before May 1. Only 50 of the students have, however, reported so far since the opening of schools on August 1.“Fear of Taliban still haunts children and parents, which is why attendance is thin at the school,” said the headmistress, who complained about lack of security for the female staff and children feeling threatened by militants over the previous six months.
According to official figures, more than 200 schools, mostly those of girls, have been destroyed or damaged by militants in Swat in the past two years. They had also warned parents to stop sending their female children to schools as “girls’ education is against Islam.”
Zeba Begum and her five staff members feel unsafe despite disappearance of militants from the area. She says a miscreant may attack the staffers or the children to spread terror. The government should provide security to all the reopened schools, she stressed.
Majority of the displaced persons, who have returned, is scared despite the fact that some kind of normalcy with the opening of music shops, shaving of beards again by barbers and shopping by women in markets. But the presence of barricades set up by security forces in Mingora, night-time curfew and checkpoints on the road leading to upper Swat Valley is shattering the confidence of the common people who are impatient to see their city bustling and tourists returning to Swat.
“We are happy but scared... some people say Taliban may stage comeback after Ramazan as their leadership is still alive,” said Arshad Hussain Khan, president of the Shop Owners Association at the Cheena Bazaar, known for women garments in Mingora.
Sitting with his two children in the market, he said he did not send them to school fearing attack by miscreants. He said the government opened the schools without providing security. “As the situation is still uncertain, I can’t risk the lives of my children by sending them to school,” he said.
Similar concern was expressed by students and teachers at Maniyar, a village close to Qambar, once a stronghold of militants. “Many of my classmates have returned but they don’t come to school fearing attacks from Taliban,” said 10-year-old Shabnam, who said she wept after being told about the destruction of her school while living in a rented house in Mardan.
Demanding early construction of the razed building, majority of the students asked for provision of security, clean drinking water and proper arrangements to save them from the scorching heat.
Swat-based educationist Ziauddin said that around 80,000 girls were at schools till mid-2008. He said their parents removed majority of them after militants threatened the parents and school administration in the valley. He said the attendance was, however, once again on the rise marking landmark improvement in the situation.
Majority of the students, whose nearby school building was destroyed by militants with explosives, recently returned to their villages after living in tents and rented houses in Mardan and Swabi districts for nearly three months.
“We are not only scared of Taliban but also afraid of helicopters. The choppers spread so much fear among the recently arrived children that some of them cling to their teachers,” Zeba Begum, headmistress at the school, told The News.
The strength at the school was 290 before May 1. Only 50 of the students have, however, reported so far since the opening of schools on August 1.“Fear of Taliban still haunts children and parents, which is why attendance is thin at the school,” said the headmistress, who complained about lack of security for the female staff and children feeling threatened by militants over the previous six months.
According to official figures, more than 200 schools, mostly those of girls, have been destroyed or damaged by militants in Swat in the past two years. They had also warned parents to stop sending their female children to schools as “girls’ education is against Islam.”
Zeba Begum and her five staff members feel unsafe despite disappearance of militants from the area. She says a miscreant may attack the staffers or the children to spread terror. The government should provide security to all the reopened schools, she stressed.
Majority of the displaced persons, who have returned, is scared despite the fact that some kind of normalcy with the opening of music shops, shaving of beards again by barbers and shopping by women in markets. But the presence of barricades set up by security forces in Mingora, night-time curfew and checkpoints on the road leading to upper Swat Valley is shattering the confidence of the common people who are impatient to see their city bustling and tourists returning to Swat.
“We are happy but scared... some people say Taliban may stage comeback after Ramazan as their leadership is still alive,” said Arshad Hussain Khan, president of the Shop Owners Association at the Cheena Bazaar, known for women garments in Mingora.
Sitting with his two children in the market, he said he did not send them to school fearing attack by miscreants. He said the government opened the schools without providing security. “As the situation is still uncertain, I can’t risk the lives of my children by sending them to school,” he said.
Similar concern was expressed by students and teachers at Maniyar, a village close to Qambar, once a stronghold of militants. “Many of my classmates have returned but they don’t come to school fearing attacks from Taliban,” said 10-year-old Shabnam, who said she wept after being told about the destruction of her school while living in a rented house in Mardan.
Demanding early construction of the razed building, majority of the students asked for provision of security, clean drinking water and proper arrangements to save them from the scorching heat.
Swat-based educationist Ziauddin said that around 80,000 girls were at schools till mid-2008. He said their parents removed majority of them after militants threatened the parents and school administration in the valley. He said the attendance was, however, once again on the rise marking landmark improvement in the situation.
Taleban in turmoil as rivals draw guns at each other in fight for leadership
www.timesonline.co.uk
The Pakistani Taleban appeared to be in turmoil last night after reports of a fatal gun battle between rivals to replace its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed by a CIA missile strike on Wednesday.
Government and intelligence sources said that Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur Rehman became increasingly angry with each other at a shura, or tribal council, called to choose a new head of Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan (Taleban Movement of Pakistan).
Guns were reportedly drawn and sources suggested that Hakimullah Mehsud was killed and Wali-ur Rehman was seriously injured.
However, Taleban commanders denied any infighting and tried to present a united front, while Pakistani officials struggled to confirm local intelligence reports.
One local cleric told The Times that Mr Hakimullah grew angry at the shura when the majority of those there declared their support for Mr Rehman.
Mr Rehman, who is in his early thirties, is a former spokesman for Mehsud and was one of his closest confidants, but he has a reputation for being intelligent and far-sighted rather than aggressive. He also has the advantage of being highly qualified in Islamic teaching.
Intelligence officials said that Afghan Taleban and al-Qaeda figures had been trying to mediate between the two camps at a series of shuras in South Waziristan — apparently to no avail.
A spokesman for a Taleban group opposed to Mehsud also reported that supporters of the former Pakistani Taleban leader were turning on each other.
“Differences have arisen between the followers of Mr Mehsud: that is why they are claiming that he is not dead,” the spokesman, Maulvi Saifullah Mehsud, said.
“They were at loggerheads with one another. This is going to grow in the coming days. God willing, the infighting will get worse.”
However, Mr Rehman telephoned several reporters yesterday to deny personally that the shura, or the shooting, had taken place.
He added that Mr Hakimullah was alive and would soon speak to them.
Mr Hakimullah has not done that, even though he contributed to the confusion on Saturday by telephoning a reporter to deny that Mehsud was dead.
Qari Hussain, another of Mehsud’s key lieutenants, has also denied the militant leader’s death.
Taleban commanders now say that the Government is fabricating reports of dissent within its ranks to try to undermine the movement.
The Government, meanwhile, accuses the Taleban of deliberately sowing confusion and has challenged the commanders to provide evidence supporting their claims.
It is impossible to verify either the Taleban’s or the Government’s version of events as most of the tribal regions are off-limits to journalists and government officials.
“We need to see the dead bodies, we need to do some DNA, and we need to have something solid,” Rehman Malik, the Pakistani Interior Minister, told local television over the weekend.
Nonetheless, the United States is giving greater credence to the reports both of Mehsud’s death and the subsequent Taleban infighting.
Jim Jones, President Obama’s National Security Adviser, told a television news programme yesterday that the White House believed that Mehsud had been killed.
“We think so,” Mr Jones told Fox News Sunday. “The Pakistani Government believes he is, and all the evidence we have suggests that.”
However, Mr Jones said that he could not confirm that there had been a gunfight between Mehsud’s potential successors. “We’ve heard stories about that. I can’t confirm it,” he said. “It certainly appears there is dissension in the ranks. That’s not a bad thing for us.”
Many analysts also say that the Taleban’s denials are probably part of a strategy to maintain unity. In the past, the Taleban has denied the killing of other leaders.
“There is, I think, a struggle going on for the leadership, and Hakimullah Mehsud is one of the contenders,” said Mahmood Shah, a former security chief for the tribal regions.
Mr Hakimullah, also a former spokesman for Mehsud, was put in charge of fighters in the Orakzai, Kurram and Khyber tribal regions despite being only in his twenties.
The leader of a faction called Fidayeenal Islam, he burnished his reputation as a ruthless fighter by leading a series of attacks last year on convoys carrying supplies to American and Nato troops in Afghanistan.
He is a cousin of Qari Hussain, who is in charge of training Mehsud’s suicide bombers.
Mr Hakimullah acknowledged on Wednesday that Mehsud, who had been ill with diabetes, had not been in hands-on control of the movement’s affairs for the past three months.
The Pakistani Taleban appeared to be in turmoil last night after reports of a fatal gun battle between rivals to replace its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed by a CIA missile strike on Wednesday.
Government and intelligence sources said that Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur Rehman became increasingly angry with each other at a shura, or tribal council, called to choose a new head of Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan (Taleban Movement of Pakistan).
Guns were reportedly drawn and sources suggested that Hakimullah Mehsud was killed and Wali-ur Rehman was seriously injured.
However, Taleban commanders denied any infighting and tried to present a united front, while Pakistani officials struggled to confirm local intelligence reports.
One local cleric told The Times that Mr Hakimullah grew angry at the shura when the majority of those there declared their support for Mr Rehman.
Mr Rehman, who is in his early thirties, is a former spokesman for Mehsud and was one of his closest confidants, but he has a reputation for being intelligent and far-sighted rather than aggressive. He also has the advantage of being highly qualified in Islamic teaching.
Intelligence officials said that Afghan Taleban and al-Qaeda figures had been trying to mediate between the two camps at a series of shuras in South Waziristan — apparently to no avail.
A spokesman for a Taleban group opposed to Mehsud also reported that supporters of the former Pakistani Taleban leader were turning on each other.
“Differences have arisen between the followers of Mr Mehsud: that is why they are claiming that he is not dead,” the spokesman, Maulvi Saifullah Mehsud, said.
“They were at loggerheads with one another. This is going to grow in the coming days. God willing, the infighting will get worse.”
However, Mr Rehman telephoned several reporters yesterday to deny personally that the shura, or the shooting, had taken place.
He added that Mr Hakimullah was alive and would soon speak to them.
Mr Hakimullah has not done that, even though he contributed to the confusion on Saturday by telephoning a reporter to deny that Mehsud was dead.
Qari Hussain, another of Mehsud’s key lieutenants, has also denied the militant leader’s death.
Taleban commanders now say that the Government is fabricating reports of dissent within its ranks to try to undermine the movement.
The Government, meanwhile, accuses the Taleban of deliberately sowing confusion and has challenged the commanders to provide evidence supporting their claims.
It is impossible to verify either the Taleban’s or the Government’s version of events as most of the tribal regions are off-limits to journalists and government officials.
“We need to see the dead bodies, we need to do some DNA, and we need to have something solid,” Rehman Malik, the Pakistani Interior Minister, told local television over the weekend.
Nonetheless, the United States is giving greater credence to the reports both of Mehsud’s death and the subsequent Taleban infighting.
Jim Jones, President Obama’s National Security Adviser, told a television news programme yesterday that the White House believed that Mehsud had been killed.
“We think so,” Mr Jones told Fox News Sunday. “The Pakistani Government believes he is, and all the evidence we have suggests that.”
However, Mr Jones said that he could not confirm that there had been a gunfight between Mehsud’s potential successors. “We’ve heard stories about that. I can’t confirm it,” he said. “It certainly appears there is dissension in the ranks. That’s not a bad thing for us.”
Many analysts also say that the Taleban’s denials are probably part of a strategy to maintain unity. In the past, the Taleban has denied the killing of other leaders.
“There is, I think, a struggle going on for the leadership, and Hakimullah Mehsud is one of the contenders,” said Mahmood Shah, a former security chief for the tribal regions.
Mr Hakimullah, also a former spokesman for Mehsud, was put in charge of fighters in the Orakzai, Kurram and Khyber tribal regions despite being only in his twenties.
The leader of a faction called Fidayeenal Islam, he burnished his reputation as a ruthless fighter by leading a series of attacks last year on convoys carrying supplies to American and Nato troops in Afghanistan.
He is a cousin of Qari Hussain, who is in charge of training Mehsud’s suicide bombers.
Mr Hakimullah acknowledged on Wednesday that Mehsud, who had been ill with diabetes, had not been in hands-on control of the movement’s affairs for the past three months.
45,000 US troops needed in Afghanistan, military adviser says
www.timesonline.co.uk
The United States should send up to 45,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, a senior adviser to the American commander in Kabul has told The Times.
Anthony Cordesman, an influential American academic who is a member of a team that has been advising General Stanley McChrystal, now in charge of Nato forces in Afghanistan, also said that to deal with the threat from the Taleban the size of the Afghan National Army might have to increase to 240,000.If Mr Cordesman’s recommendation reflects the view of General McChrystal, who recently presented the findings of a 60-day review of Afghanistan strategy to Washington, it would mean sending another nine combat brigades, comprising 45,000 American troops, in addition to the 21,000 already approved by President Obama. This would bring the total American military presence in Afghanistan to about 100,000, considerably closer to the force that was deployed for the counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq.If General McChrystal believes that America should send nine more brigades — Mr Cordesman suggested it should be between three and nine brigades — there is bound to be pressure on Britain to send reinforcements as well. The British strength now is 9,000.Writing in The Times, Mr Cordesman, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said: “The insurgents may have lost virtually every tactical clash [against Nato troops], but they have expanded their areas of influence from a presence in some 30 of Afghanistan’s 364 districts in 2003 to one in some 160 districts by the end of 2008, while insurgent attacks increased by 60 per cent during October 2008 to April 2009 alone.“Nato must change its strategy and tactics after years in which member countries, particularly the United States, failed to react to the seriousness of the emerging insurgency,” he added.The US reinforcements already approved by Mr Obama include 8,000 Marines of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade who have arrived in Helmand province, replacing the British troops in the south of the province, and 4,000 US Army soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade, who are also arriving in the region.Mr Cordesman appeared to confirm the strategy expected to be outlined by General McChrystal relating to the Afghan National Army. He says that the existing plan to increase numbers to 134,000 soldiers is inadequate. He says that it should be doubled to 240,000 by 2014, and the Afghan National Police should rise from 82,000 to 160,000.To reach such levels, however, Nato would need to contribute thousands more troops to train the Afghans.On Saturday in The Times, General Sir David Richards, who becomes Chief of the General Staff — the head of the British Army — on August 28, said he thought that Britain’s commitment to Afghanistan could last between 30 and 40 years, although he envisaged that troops would have to stay only for the medium term. He is expected to repeat the call made by General Sir Richard Dannatt, whom he is succeeding, for more British troops for Helmand.Tonight a former head of the British Army said it would not be possible for Britain to meet its commitment to support Afghanistan for decades if ministers approved a proposal to cut three infantry battalions.As part of a current internal Ministry of Defence review, a reduction in the size of the infantry, from 36 to 33 battalions, has not yet been ruled out, because of the short-term savings that would ensue from cutting back on manpower — a total of £60 million a year for the loss of the three battalions.However, General Sir Roger Wheeler, Chief of the General Staff from 1997 to 2000, said that it was illogical to reduce the size of the infantry at a time when there were so many casualties in Afghanistan and when it was now accepted that the mission in Helmand province was going to continue for decades. “And the MoD would be saving peanuts,” he said.
The United States should send up to 45,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, a senior adviser to the American commander in Kabul has told The Times.
Anthony Cordesman, an influential American academic who is a member of a team that has been advising General Stanley McChrystal, now in charge of Nato forces in Afghanistan, also said that to deal with the threat from the Taleban the size of the Afghan National Army might have to increase to 240,000.If Mr Cordesman’s recommendation reflects the view of General McChrystal, who recently presented the findings of a 60-day review of Afghanistan strategy to Washington, it would mean sending another nine combat brigades, comprising 45,000 American troops, in addition to the 21,000 already approved by President Obama. This would bring the total American military presence in Afghanistan to about 100,000, considerably closer to the force that was deployed for the counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq.If General McChrystal believes that America should send nine more brigades — Mr Cordesman suggested it should be between three and nine brigades — there is bound to be pressure on Britain to send reinforcements as well. The British strength now is 9,000.Writing in The Times, Mr Cordesman, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said: “The insurgents may have lost virtually every tactical clash [against Nato troops], but they have expanded their areas of influence from a presence in some 30 of Afghanistan’s 364 districts in 2003 to one in some 160 districts by the end of 2008, while insurgent attacks increased by 60 per cent during October 2008 to April 2009 alone.“Nato must change its strategy and tactics after years in which member countries, particularly the United States, failed to react to the seriousness of the emerging insurgency,” he added.The US reinforcements already approved by Mr Obama include 8,000 Marines of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade who have arrived in Helmand province, replacing the British troops in the south of the province, and 4,000 US Army soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade, who are also arriving in the region.Mr Cordesman appeared to confirm the strategy expected to be outlined by General McChrystal relating to the Afghan National Army. He says that the existing plan to increase numbers to 134,000 soldiers is inadequate. He says that it should be doubled to 240,000 by 2014, and the Afghan National Police should rise from 82,000 to 160,000.To reach such levels, however, Nato would need to contribute thousands more troops to train the Afghans.On Saturday in The Times, General Sir David Richards, who becomes Chief of the General Staff — the head of the British Army — on August 28, said he thought that Britain’s commitment to Afghanistan could last between 30 and 40 years, although he envisaged that troops would have to stay only for the medium term. He is expected to repeat the call made by General Sir Richard Dannatt, whom he is succeeding, for more British troops for Helmand.Tonight a former head of the British Army said it would not be possible for Britain to meet its commitment to support Afghanistan for decades if ministers approved a proposal to cut three infantry battalions.As part of a current internal Ministry of Defence review, a reduction in the size of the infantry, from 36 to 33 battalions, has not yet been ruled out, because of the short-term savings that would ensue from cutting back on manpower — a total of £60 million a year for the loss of the three battalions.However, General Sir Roger Wheeler, Chief of the General Staff from 1997 to 2000, said that it was illogical to reduce the size of the infantry at a time when there were so many casualties in Afghanistan and when it was now accepted that the mission in Helmand province was going to continue for decades. “And the MoD would be saving peanuts,” he said.
One million evacuated as Typhoon Morakot hits east China
At least one person has been killed and three others injured as Typhoon Morakot slammed into southeast China’s Fujian and Zhejiang provinces yesterday, one day after it pounded Taiwan with torrential rains that caused the worst flooding on the island in 50 years and left dozens missing and feared dead.
The eighth Typhoon of this year made landfall in Xiapu county at about 4:20 pm, packing winds of close to 119 kilometers per hour and slicing its way north at a speed of 12 kph at its eye, the National Meteorological Center said, adding that Morokot is expected to weaken to a tropical storm.
Four adults and a 4-year-old boy were buried in debris as five houses collapsed in Wenzhou city in Zhejiang Province after 8 am yesterday, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The child died during the afternoon after emergency treatment failed, the city’s flood-control headquarters said.
Some 1 million people were evacuated in coastal areas of eastern provinces by early Sunday – more than 490,000 people in Zhejiang and 480,000 others in neighboring Fujian.
In Zhejiang, approximately 35,440 ships have been called back to port, the provincial flood-control headquarters said Sunday morning, while authorities in Fujian urged 48,000 boats to return to harbor.
Flood-control and drought-relief headquarters in the province had raised the emergency alert from Level-II to Level-I with Wenzhou likely to become the worst-hit area.
As of 8 am yesterday, as many as 220,000 residents in Wenzhou were relocated to safety, 8,997 boats had returned to port and 331 houses had collapsed, incurring direct economic losses of 229 million yuan. Wenzhou City airport had canceled 39 domestic flights.
Chen Lianjin, a 20-year-old resident of Pingyang, Wenzhou, said the deepest water level was up to three meters in some low-lying areas, and his family has had to live on pickles after runing out of vegetables.
“It has rained continuously and heavily since Thursday, and wind strength has reached Level 14 at most,” an official at the Wenzhou Meteorological Bureau told the Global Times.
Water flows yesterday past a damaged bridge previously linking Pingtung and Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan. The government mobilized troops to rescue tens of thousands of residents trapped in the island’s worst flooding in 50 years, officials said, as Typhoon Morakot pounded Taiwan over the weekend with powerful winds and rain. Photo: AFP
Officials in some Zhejiang villages were riding bicycles to distribute drinking water and instant noodles to households stranded amid deep water, Xinhua reported.
Chinese airlines have canceled flights to Fujian and Jiangsu. Fujian government stated on its website that 128 flights have been canceled and a dozen highways have been closed due to safety concerns.
Torrential rainfall also swept through Rongtuo, Xiapu, Fuding and Fu’an in Ningde City, state media reported.
In Ningde, 23 roads have partially collapsed, while the water level of the city’s reservoirs has reached alert level, and water was discharged as a precaution.
“The danger increases shortly after the typhoon’s landfall. Some dilapidated houses have collapsed in some mountainous areas, and crops have been drowned,” said Zhou Qiuqi, director of the Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters in Ningde City.
“The sea route from Xiamen to Jinmen has been totally suspended with no time set for its reopening,” an official surnamed Chen at the Dongdu ferry station of Xiamen told the Global Times.
Fujian Province registered its highest precipitation of 800 mm in Taishun County, while the Cangnan Flood Control Office said Morakot has caused power cuts in 11 areas including Lingyan and Shiping.
A cargo ship, Daqing 254, was also stranded amid strong winds, and rescuers were trying to safeguard its eight sailors, after it was reported adrift at 2:30 am Sunday.
China Central Television reported that Fujian will be under Morakot’s onslaught for the next 20 hours. Other areas in East China, such as Jiangsu and Shanghai, are all on high alert. In Shanghai, the World Expo venues still under construction have been reinforced.
Marokot slammed into Taiwan with torrential rains yesterday, causing the worst flooding on the island in 50 years.
Taiwan’s Disaster Relief Center said a woman was killed when her vehicle plunged into a ditch in Kaohsiung county in heavy rain Friday, and two men drowned in Pingtung and Tainan, respectively. It said that 31 people were missing and feared dead.
Television footage showed a six-story hotel in Taipung, south Taiwan, collapse into floodwater. People inside the hotel were evacuated beforehand, reports said.
Obama in Mexico for North American summit
MEXICO CITY-- President Obama arrived Sunday evening in Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city, for a day and a half of talks with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
A broad range of issues is expected to be discussed -- including the economy, drug violence and the environment -- but no major announcements are expected, officials said in the days leading up the North American Leaders' Summit.
Obama will meet with Calderon before the three leaders gather at a working dinner Sunday evening, according to the White House.
"The themes of this summit are: one, economic recovery and competitiveness; two, citizen safety and security; and three, clean energy and climate change. All are core priorities of this administration," National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones said in a briefing last week.
More than 4,000 policemen and soldiers were maintaining a security perimeter around the building where the meetings would take place. As with previous summits, demonstrators were expected.
A key issue expected to lead the talks is the economy, as the U.S. economic downturn has affected its neighbors.
In May, the Mexican government announced that its GDP had shrunk by 5.9 percent in the first quarter. Exports to the United States and the rest of the world, a key component of Mexico's GDP, was down considerably because of decreased global demand, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
Canada has complained about "Buy American" provisions in parts of the U.S. economic stimulus package, which it says can harm trade between the two partners. Harper is likely to raise the topic during talks.
The summit follows one of Mexico's deadliest months in its fight against drug cartels.
More than 10,000 people, including more than 1,000 police officers, have been killed since Calderon began an offensive against the cartels in 2006. But reports of human rights abuses by soldiers fighting the drug traffickers have recently attracted attention in the United States, and about $1 million of counternarcotics aid could be withheld as a result.
Calderon is also expected to press the issue of the long-stalled permission for Mexican trucks to roll on U.S. highways, officials said. Despite a stipulation in the North American Free Trade Agreement, U.S. officials have not allowed Mexican trucks into the United States. A pilot program was canceled by Congress last year, and Mexico retaliated with $2.4 billion in tariffs on select American products.
"The bottom line is that what affects our bordering neighbors has the potential to affect us all, so we want to be certain that we have the tightest and best possible cooperation," Jones told reporters.
A broad range of issues is expected to be discussed -- including the economy, drug violence and the environment -- but no major announcements are expected, officials said in the days leading up the North American Leaders' Summit.
Obama will meet with Calderon before the three leaders gather at a working dinner Sunday evening, according to the White House.
"The themes of this summit are: one, economic recovery and competitiveness; two, citizen safety and security; and three, clean energy and climate change. All are core priorities of this administration," National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones said in a briefing last week.
More than 4,000 policemen and soldiers were maintaining a security perimeter around the building where the meetings would take place. As with previous summits, demonstrators were expected.
A key issue expected to lead the talks is the economy, as the U.S. economic downturn has affected its neighbors.
In May, the Mexican government announced that its GDP had shrunk by 5.9 percent in the first quarter. Exports to the United States and the rest of the world, a key component of Mexico's GDP, was down considerably because of decreased global demand, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
Canada has complained about "Buy American" provisions in parts of the U.S. economic stimulus package, which it says can harm trade between the two partners. Harper is likely to raise the topic during talks.
The summit follows one of Mexico's deadliest months in its fight against drug cartels.
More than 10,000 people, including more than 1,000 police officers, have been killed since Calderon began an offensive against the cartels in 2006. But reports of human rights abuses by soldiers fighting the drug traffickers have recently attracted attention in the United States, and about $1 million of counternarcotics aid could be withheld as a result.
Calderon is also expected to press the issue of the long-stalled permission for Mexican trucks to roll on U.S. highways, officials said. Despite a stipulation in the North American Free Trade Agreement, U.S. officials have not allowed Mexican trucks into the United States. A pilot program was canceled by Congress last year, and Mexico retaliated with $2.4 billion in tariffs on select American products.
"The bottom line is that what affects our bordering neighbors has the potential to affect us all, so we want to be certain that we have the tightest and best possible cooperation," Jones told reporters.
Keep pressure on militants: US
NEW YORK - US President Barack Obama’s National Security Adviser Gen James Jones said Sunday the United States believes that Baitullah Mehsud, Pakistan’s top Taliban leader, is no longer in this world despite conflicting reports to the contrary.
Gen James Jones told “Fox News Sunday” that Baitullah Mehsud, whom he called a “real thug”, was killed and Pakistan’s Taliban leadership is now fighting within its top ranks to name its successor.
Claims and counter-claims about Baitullah Mehsud’s fate have swirled since a CIA missile strike last Wednesday on his father-in-law’s house in South Waziristan.
“Mehsud was a very bad individual, a real thug,” said Jones, who appeared on three Sunday talk shows. He said the US was 90 per cent confident that Mehsud was dead.
Jones congratulated the Pakistan Army for pressing the fight against the branch of the Taliban that lives inside Pakistan. The US insists some of the worst violence in Afghanistan is directed from across the border in Pakistan.
“If there is dissension in the ranks and if in fact he is, as we think, dead, this is a positive indication that in Pakistan things are turning for the better,” Jones said.
He did not give details about the strike, which is part of a US policy of cross-border attacks that is deeply unpopular with the Pakistani public. The Obama administration has continued the strikes even while trying to improve both the US relationship with Pakistan’s leaders and the image of the US and its fight against terrorism.
US officials regularly point out that terrorism is a large and growing danger inside Pakistan that the country’s own military is best placed to combat.
Jones called Mehsud “public enemy No. 1” in his own country.
Monitoring Desk adds: Jones said the US is nearly certain that Mehsud is dead, and there now is a leadership struggle within the “terrorist” group. He said the militant ranks are roiled by dissension.
He noted that Mehsud’s ouster and dissension within the Taliban represents an important moment in the struggle against extremism in Pakistan.
Pakistan should abolish blasphemy law: HRCP
KARACHI: Pakistan should immediately move to abolish controversial blasphemy laws after the killing of seven Christians to prevent copycat riots from opening a new front of religious unrest, activists say.
Blasphemy carries the death penalty in Pakistan and although no one has been sent to the gallows for the crime, the legislation is too arbitrary analysts say, and is often exploited for personal enmity and encourages Islamist extremism.
When an angry mob of Muslims torched 40 houses and a church in the remote village of Gojra in Pakistan's heartland province of Punjab recently, two children, their parents and 75-year-old grandfather were burnt to death.
Three days later, two people were killed in another Punjab town in what was a private employee dispute against a Muslim factory boss, but coloured by unfounded allegations that the businessman desecrated the Qoran.
'It's an arbitrary law, which has been badly misused by extremists and influentials and should be abolished,' said Iqbal Haider, co-chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
'There is no option but to abolish this law. More than that, the government should revive the secular nature of the state as our founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah envisaged, otherwise it will aggravate religious unrest,' he said.
The country is battling Taliban militants in the northwest. Bomb attacks across the country have killed around 2,000 people in two years, having a detrimental effect on the economy and national image.
HRCP said the Gojra attacks were 'planned in advance' and that mosque announcements urged local Muslims to 'make mincemeat of the Christians'.
'A police contingent present in the neighbourhood did not try to stop the mob... The attackers seemed to be trained for carrying out such activities.'
The rights group quoted witnesses as saying that a number of attackers were from the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and other militant organisations.
Pakistan's blasphemy law was introduced by former military ruler Zia ul-Haq, who passed tough Islamic legislation, whose 1977-1988 rule was seen as a critical point in the development of extremist Islam in parts of Pakistan.
The civilian administration in Pakistan moved quickly to try to limit the fallout of the anti-Christian killings, offering compensation but cabinet ministers have stopped short of pledging to scrap the blasphemy laws.
'A committee will see the laws which are detrimental to religious harmony to sort out how they could be made better,' Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Christians during a solidarity visit to Gojra.
Just one witness is enough to incriminate a 'heretic'. Anyone accused of blasphemy is immediately arrested and charged, before an investigation begins.
In many cases, people take the law in their own hands and go for killing the alleged blasphemer and rights groups say this trend is increasing.
But religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi said the government could not risk a 'full-fledged review' inciting an Islamic backlash.
'Any move for a major amendment in the law will generate another controversy that will benefit militants and harm the cause of our Christian brothers.'
Hindus, Christians and other minorities make up less than five per cent of Pakistan's 167 million population, generally impoverished and marginalised.
Evarist Pinto, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Karachi, said the law means religious minorities live in constant danger.
'Militant groups constantly threaten religious minorities with false allegations of blasphemy and often use these laws against them,' said Pinto.
But a top cleric who heads the board running about 12,000 Islamic seminaries in the country defended the laws as vital in Pakistan, a Muslim republic.
'The laws have been misused, mostly by the Muslims against the Muslims, but it does not mean that the laws should be abolished. Instead the authorities should take steps to stop its misuse,' said Qari Hanif Jalandhari.
Blasphemy carries the death penalty in Pakistan and although no one has been sent to the gallows for the crime, the legislation is too arbitrary analysts say, and is often exploited for personal enmity and encourages Islamist extremism.
When an angry mob of Muslims torched 40 houses and a church in the remote village of Gojra in Pakistan's heartland province of Punjab recently, two children, their parents and 75-year-old grandfather were burnt to death.
Three days later, two people were killed in another Punjab town in what was a private employee dispute against a Muslim factory boss, but coloured by unfounded allegations that the businessman desecrated the Qoran.
'It's an arbitrary law, which has been badly misused by extremists and influentials and should be abolished,' said Iqbal Haider, co-chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
'There is no option but to abolish this law. More than that, the government should revive the secular nature of the state as our founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah envisaged, otherwise it will aggravate religious unrest,' he said.
The country is battling Taliban militants in the northwest. Bomb attacks across the country have killed around 2,000 people in two years, having a detrimental effect on the economy and national image.
HRCP said the Gojra attacks were 'planned in advance' and that mosque announcements urged local Muslims to 'make mincemeat of the Christians'.
'A police contingent present in the neighbourhood did not try to stop the mob... The attackers seemed to be trained for carrying out such activities.'
The rights group quoted witnesses as saying that a number of attackers were from the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and other militant organisations.
Pakistan's blasphemy law was introduced by former military ruler Zia ul-Haq, who passed tough Islamic legislation, whose 1977-1988 rule was seen as a critical point in the development of extremist Islam in parts of Pakistan.
The civilian administration in Pakistan moved quickly to try to limit the fallout of the anti-Christian killings, offering compensation but cabinet ministers have stopped short of pledging to scrap the blasphemy laws.
'A committee will see the laws which are detrimental to religious harmony to sort out how they could be made better,' Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Christians during a solidarity visit to Gojra.
Just one witness is enough to incriminate a 'heretic'. Anyone accused of blasphemy is immediately arrested and charged, before an investigation begins.
In many cases, people take the law in their own hands and go for killing the alleged blasphemer and rights groups say this trend is increasing.
But religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi said the government could not risk a 'full-fledged review' inciting an Islamic backlash.
'Any move for a major amendment in the law will generate another controversy that will benefit militants and harm the cause of our Christian brothers.'
Hindus, Christians and other minorities make up less than five per cent of Pakistan's 167 million population, generally impoverished and marginalised.
Evarist Pinto, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Karachi, said the law means religious minorities live in constant danger.
'Militant groups constantly threaten religious minorities with false allegations of blasphemy and often use these laws against them,' said Pinto.
But a top cleric who heads the board running about 12,000 Islamic seminaries in the country defended the laws as vital in Pakistan, a Muslim republic.
'The laws have been misused, mostly by the Muslims against the Muslims, but it does not mean that the laws should be abolished. Instead the authorities should take steps to stop its misuse,' said Qari Hanif Jalandhari.
War not won despite 'death' of Taliban chief: Islamabad
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's media and civil society on Saturday welcomed the suspected death of Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, saying it will dent extremists' efforts despite warnings it does not equal victory.
Pakistan said Friday it believed Mehsud, the charismatic commander of the Pakistani Taliban, had been killed in a US drone attack in a major blow for the Islamist militants.
Senior officials in Pakistan's powerful security establishment who supervise operations in Mehsud's Waziristan stronghold said the warlord was dead, but the government said it was seeking verification.
"Mehsud's elimination will leave a positive impact on terror-stricken people," leading Pakistani rights activist Farzana Bari told AFP.
Bari, head of the Gender Studies department at Islamabad's Quaid-e-Azam university, said the government and the military needed to completely eliminate the country's terrorist infrastructure.
"Mehsud's death will quadruple people's confidence in the government and the armed forces, which are already engaged in an offensive against Taliban militants in the northwest," Bari said.
The US Central Intelligence Agency, with the tacit cooperation of Islamabad, has carried out dozens of attacks in Pakistan using unmanned Predator and Reaper drones over the past year, but declines to discuss the strikes publicly.
Islamabad and Washington had said liquidating Mehsud was a strategic aim in the fight against Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked extremists whom the United States has accused of posing an existential threat to nuclear-armed Pakistan.
"I believe that Mehsud's death will greatly help improve (the) law and order situation but the overall impact will not be lasting," said Rakhshanda Naz, another rights activist, who runs non-governmental organization the Aurat Foundation.
"Mehsud's death will pose a setback for the TTP but it will be temporary and the group is to step back with a new leader."
She said that the problem could not simply be solved by eliminating one individual, saying: "We have to strike at their roots to rid our society of terrorism and extremism."
Mehsud, who had a five-million-dollar US bounty on his head after Washington branded him "a key Al-Qaeda facilitator," had reportedly narrowly escaped previous attacks.
"His death is a success but does not represent a war won, which is yet far off and perhaps years away," Pakistani newspaper The News said in its editorial.
"The greatest battle will to be to win back the predominantly youthful hearts and minds that his perverted view of the world and of Islam had turned to dark thoughts and dark ways."
"Win that battle and we will truly have won the war," the paper added.
Another local English-language newspaper, Dawn, said: "If he is indeed dead -- and many credible sources have independently suggested that he is in fact dead -- then a devastating blow has been struck right at the heart of the TTP." "The state must assess whether an immediate full-fledged operation in the Waziristan will degrade a demoralised TTP to the point that revival will be all but impossible," it added.
Taliban commanders have neither confirmed nor denied Mehsud's demise. But top militants in his umbrella group Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) gathered in his South Waziristan stronghold on Friday ahead of an expected announcement.
"According to our information, Taliban commanders held two rounds of meetings on Friday to elect their new chief," one local official said on condition of anonymity.
Confirming the meetings, another official said there still didn't seem to be an agreement amongst commanders on who should succeed Mehsud.
Pakistan said Friday it believed Mehsud, the charismatic commander of the Pakistani Taliban, had been killed in a US drone attack in a major blow for the Islamist militants.
Senior officials in Pakistan's powerful security establishment who supervise operations in Mehsud's Waziristan stronghold said the warlord was dead, but the government said it was seeking verification.
"Mehsud's elimination will leave a positive impact on terror-stricken people," leading Pakistani rights activist Farzana Bari told AFP.
Bari, head of the Gender Studies department at Islamabad's Quaid-e-Azam university, said the government and the military needed to completely eliminate the country's terrorist infrastructure.
"Mehsud's death will quadruple people's confidence in the government and the armed forces, which are already engaged in an offensive against Taliban militants in the northwest," Bari said.
The US Central Intelligence Agency, with the tacit cooperation of Islamabad, has carried out dozens of attacks in Pakistan using unmanned Predator and Reaper drones over the past year, but declines to discuss the strikes publicly.
Islamabad and Washington had said liquidating Mehsud was a strategic aim in the fight against Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked extremists whom the United States has accused of posing an existential threat to nuclear-armed Pakistan.
"I believe that Mehsud's death will greatly help improve (the) law and order situation but the overall impact will not be lasting," said Rakhshanda Naz, another rights activist, who runs non-governmental organization the Aurat Foundation.
"Mehsud's death will pose a setback for the TTP but it will be temporary and the group is to step back with a new leader."
She said that the problem could not simply be solved by eliminating one individual, saying: "We have to strike at their roots to rid our society of terrorism and extremism."
Mehsud, who had a five-million-dollar US bounty on his head after Washington branded him "a key Al-Qaeda facilitator," had reportedly narrowly escaped previous attacks.
"His death is a success but does not represent a war won, which is yet far off and perhaps years away," Pakistani newspaper The News said in its editorial.
"The greatest battle will to be to win back the predominantly youthful hearts and minds that his perverted view of the world and of Islam had turned to dark thoughts and dark ways."
"Win that battle and we will truly have won the war," the paper added.
Another local English-language newspaper, Dawn, said: "If he is indeed dead -- and many credible sources have independently suggested that he is in fact dead -- then a devastating blow has been struck right at the heart of the TTP." "The state must assess whether an immediate full-fledged operation in the Waziristan will degrade a demoralised TTP to the point that revival will be all but impossible," it added.
Taliban commanders have neither confirmed nor denied Mehsud's demise. But top militants in his umbrella group Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) gathered in his South Waziristan stronghold on Friday ahead of an expected announcement.
"According to our information, Taliban commanders held two rounds of meetings on Friday to elect their new chief," one local official said on condition of anonymity.
Confirming the meetings, another official said there still didn't seem to be an agreement amongst commanders on who should succeed Mehsud.
Peshawar people hopes Baitullah’s death to end terrorism
PESHAWAR: People of Peshawar have termed the killing of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud great news for the whole nation and were confident that his death would end terrorism in the province and tribal areas. A crowd was seen on newspaper stalls in the city who wanted to know whether Baitullah was dead or alive. Newspaper buyers told Daily Times it was great news for the whole country, especially for the people of NWFP and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. They said the TTP chief was not only wanted to the government but also through anti-state activities, he had turned the whole tribal belt and NWFP into insecure places. NWFP NFC Support Unit PRO Sarir Ahmed said due to Taliban’s anti-state activities, the province had not only suffered losses of more than Rs 35 billion in the form of destroyed infrastructure and homes but also the provincial industries and markets had suffered a great loss. He said the military operations against the Taliban in Malakand division, Bajaur, Mohmand and Waziristan agencies, peace was being gradually restored in the NWFP and tribal areas.
Pakistan cannot afford Christian controversy
KARACHI — Pakistan should immediately move to abolish controversial blasphemy laws after the killing of seven Christians to prevent copycat riots from opening a new front of religious unrest, activists say.
Blasphemy carries the death penalty in Pakistan and although no one has been sent to the gallows for the crime, the legislation is too arbitrary analysts say, and is often exploited for personal enmity and encourages Islamist extremism.
When an angry mob of Muslims torched 40 houses and a church in the remote village of Gojra in Pakistan's heartland province of Punjab recently, two children, their parents and 75-year-old grandfather were burnt to death.
Three days later, two people were killed in another Punjab town in what was a private employee dispute against a Muslim factory boss, but coloured by unfounded allegations that the businessman desecrated the Koran.
"It's an arbitrary law, which has been badly misused by extremists and influentials and should be abolished," said Iqbal Haider, co-chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
"There is no option but to abolish this law. More than that, the government should revive the secular nature of the state as our founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah envisaged, otherwise it will aggravate religious unrest," he said.
Almost from inception, Pakistani spies and soldiers have actively armed, sponsored, encouraged or turned a blind eye as Islamist-inspired militant outfits turned their guns on India to the east and Afghanistan to the west.
The country is battling Taliban radicals in the northwest. Islamist bomb attacks across the country have killed around 2,000 people in two years, having a detrimental effect on the economy and national image.
HRCP said the Gojra attacks were "planned in advance" and that mosque announcements urged local Muslims to "make mincemeat of the Christians".
"A police contingent present in the neighbourhood did not try to stop the mob... The attackers seemed to be trained for carrying out such activities."
The rights group quoted witnesses as saying that a number of attackers were from the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and other militant organisations.
Pakistan's blasphemy law was introduced by former military ruler Zia ul-Haq, who passed tough Islamic legislation, whose 1977-1988 rule was seen as a critical point in the development of extremist Islam in parts of Pakistan.
The civilian administration in Pakistan moved quickly to try to limit the fallout of the anti-Christian killings, offering compensation but cabinet ministers have stopped short of pledging to scrap the blasphemy laws.
"A committee will see the laws which are detrimental to religious harmony to sort out how they could be made better," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Christians during a solidarity visit to Gojra.
Just one witness is enough to incriminate a "heretic". Anyone accused of blasphemy is immediately arrested and charged, before an investigation begins.
In many cases, people take the law in their own hands and go for killing the alleged blasphemer and rights groups say this trend is increasing.
But religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi said the government could not risk a "full-fledged review" inciting an Islamist backlash.
"Any move for a major amendment in the law will generate another controversy that will benefit militants and harm the cause of our Christian brothers."
Hindus, Christians and other minorities make up less than five percent of Pakistan's 167 million population, generally impoverished and marginalised.
Evarist Pinto, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Karachi, said the law means religious minorities live in constant danger.
"Militant groups constantly threaten religious minorities with false allegations of blasphemy and often use these laws against them, said Pinto.
But a top cleric who heads the board running about 12,000 Islamic seminaries in the country defended the laws as vital in Pakistan, a Muslim republic.
"The laws have been misused, mostly by the Muslims against the Muslims, but it does not mean that the laws should be abolished. Instead the authorities should take steps to stop its misuse," said Qari Hanif Jalandhari.
Blasphemy carries the death penalty in Pakistan and although no one has been sent to the gallows for the crime, the legislation is too arbitrary analysts say, and is often exploited for personal enmity and encourages Islamist extremism.
When an angry mob of Muslims torched 40 houses and a church in the remote village of Gojra in Pakistan's heartland province of Punjab recently, two children, their parents and 75-year-old grandfather were burnt to death.
Three days later, two people were killed in another Punjab town in what was a private employee dispute against a Muslim factory boss, but coloured by unfounded allegations that the businessman desecrated the Koran.
"It's an arbitrary law, which has been badly misused by extremists and influentials and should be abolished," said Iqbal Haider, co-chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
"There is no option but to abolish this law. More than that, the government should revive the secular nature of the state as our founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah envisaged, otherwise it will aggravate religious unrest," he said.
Almost from inception, Pakistani spies and soldiers have actively armed, sponsored, encouraged or turned a blind eye as Islamist-inspired militant outfits turned their guns on India to the east and Afghanistan to the west.
The country is battling Taliban radicals in the northwest. Islamist bomb attacks across the country have killed around 2,000 people in two years, having a detrimental effect on the economy and national image.
HRCP said the Gojra attacks were "planned in advance" and that mosque announcements urged local Muslims to "make mincemeat of the Christians".
"A police contingent present in the neighbourhood did not try to stop the mob... The attackers seemed to be trained for carrying out such activities."
The rights group quoted witnesses as saying that a number of attackers were from the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and other militant organisations.
Pakistan's blasphemy law was introduced by former military ruler Zia ul-Haq, who passed tough Islamic legislation, whose 1977-1988 rule was seen as a critical point in the development of extremist Islam in parts of Pakistan.
The civilian administration in Pakistan moved quickly to try to limit the fallout of the anti-Christian killings, offering compensation but cabinet ministers have stopped short of pledging to scrap the blasphemy laws.
"A committee will see the laws which are detrimental to religious harmony to sort out how they could be made better," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Christians during a solidarity visit to Gojra.
Just one witness is enough to incriminate a "heretic". Anyone accused of blasphemy is immediately arrested and charged, before an investigation begins.
In many cases, people take the law in their own hands and go for killing the alleged blasphemer and rights groups say this trend is increasing.
But religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi said the government could not risk a "full-fledged review" inciting an Islamist backlash.
"Any move for a major amendment in the law will generate another controversy that will benefit militants and harm the cause of our Christian brothers."
Hindus, Christians and other minorities make up less than five percent of Pakistan's 167 million population, generally impoverished and marginalised.
Evarist Pinto, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Karachi, said the law means religious minorities live in constant danger.
"Militant groups constantly threaten religious minorities with false allegations of blasphemy and often use these laws against them, said Pinto.
But a top cleric who heads the board running about 12,000 Islamic seminaries in the country defended the laws as vital in Pakistan, a Muslim republic.
"The laws have been misused, mostly by the Muslims against the Muslims, but it does not mean that the laws should be abolished. Instead the authorities should take steps to stop its misuse," said Qari Hanif Jalandhari.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Secret deal to keep Karzai in power
www.independent.co.uk
With less than two weeks to go until national elections, the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, is trying to cut a secret deal with one of his rivals to knock out his leading contender and ensure a decisive victory to avoid the chaos that a tight result might unleash.
Afghanistan's second democratic polls threaten to split the country along sectarian lines. That would risk undermining US and British-led peace efforts which are already under pressure from a resurgent Taliban.
Mr Karzai and his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, hail from different ethnic groups and different regions. If neither wins outright in round one on 20 August, officials fear Afghanistan could be engulfed by violence reminiscent of the civil war of the 1990s.
"The whole country is armed. Everybody has weapons. You have to keep everyone happy," an Afghan analyst said. Mr Abdullah's campaign staff have threatened to hold demonstrations should Mr Karzai win, insisting that he could only do so fraudulently.
Mr Abdullah's supporters, who are largely Tajik, have warned of Iranian-style protests, but "with Kalashnikovs", should the President win a second term. Although Mr Karzai, a Pashtun, is still the favourite, his supporters fear that a third candidate, Ashraf Ghani, could split the Pashtun vote, depriving the President of the 51 per cent share he needs to win, and opening the door to Mr Abdullah.
Yesterday, details emerged of how the President was trying to join forces with Mr Ghani to unite the Pashtun vote and knock Mr Abdullah out of the race. Officials said the President had offered Mr Ghani a job as chief executive – a new post described as similar to prime minister. "If Ghani agrees to the terms, Karzai will dump his team and move forward, with Karzai as President and Ghani as chief executive," a campaign official told The Independent last night.
Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Karl Eikenberry, the US ambassador, are understood to have discussed the proposal with Mr Ghani late last month. "It makes sense," a policy analyst with close links to the US administration said. "Holbrooke likes Ghani, and he has come round to the fact that Karzai will probably win."
The idea of a chief executive was hatched in Washington as a way of handing the responsibility of running the government to a skilled technocrat. Mr Ghani has an impressive pedigree as a former university professor and finance minister. Two years ago, he was a contender to head the World Bank. What he lacks – and what might make the deal attractive to him – is the grassroots support that Mr Karzai and Mr Abdullah enjoy.
Sources close to the President's inner circle confirmed that they had made an offer to Mr Ghani two weeks ago and the President's brother, Qayum Karzai, had made the first approach.
"For Karzai it's logical," said a businessman with friends in the President's team. "He doesn't want to divide the Pashtun vote, and if it goes to a second round he's going to lose."
US embassy officials have denied any involvement in back-room deals. Foreign diplomats are desperate to avoid being seen to be influencing the election but the international community is equally keen to avoid bloodshed when the results are announced.
Last night, Mr Ghani's staff said he was campaigning as usual and had no plans to pull out of the race. They said the Mr Karzai's offer was proof of their own candidate's strength.
The President, who has been in power since US-led troops overthrew the Taliban regime in 2001, has been criticised for his lack of control outside of the capital, the slow pace of development and endemic government corruption, but many people admire him for weaving friends and enemies together. "He has always played a game with the Northern Alliance, the Hazaras and the warlords," said the Afghan analyst. "Giving people positions and promises, he was very clever keeping everyone together."
During this election campaign, Mr Karzai has made deals with tribal leaders and local strongmen, promising them positions and patronage in exchange for the votes they control. International officials believe as many as 20 cabinet positions have already been pledged. It is unclear what would happen to these deals if Mr Ghani came on board. However, some observers believe the deal could signal the emergence of a unity government. "Everyone realises that winner takes all won't work," said one.
Violence, already at its worst since the Taliban were ousted after the September 11 attacks, has increased in the run-up to the poll. Yesterday brought news of a bomb attack on a family heading to a wedding in Garmsir, in Helmand province. Five people were reported killed. In a separate attack, in Naad Ali, five policemen died when a bomb exploded near their vehicle.
In western Afghanistan, a roadside bomb killed four US Marines, bringing the death toll of Western troops for the first week of August to at least 15.
Bomb blast outside school wounds six
PESHAWAR: Police say a bomb outside a school in Pakistan's northwest has wounded six people.Local police officer Marjan Khan says the blast hit a parking area outside the school for boys and girls shortly before classes ended Saturday in Charsadda district northeast of Peshawar city.Five of those injured were motorcycle-rickshaw drivers who were waiting to take children home.Khan says no one claimed responsibility, and that the attack was aimed at terrorizing local people.The school is close to Pakistan's northwestern tribal region, where Taliban militants have sought to impose their harsh brand of Islam on the population, often targeting schools, particularly those for girls.
Pakistan’s No. 1 Enemy: Ex-Ally Bent by Al Qaeda
NEW YORK TIMES
KABUL, Afghanistan — Baitullah Mehsud is perhaps the most prominent example of a tribal Taliban fighter who at first fought in Afghanistan and cooperated with the Pakistani Army, but then turned against his own country, unleashing a vicious campaign of violence in the name of spreading the rule of Islam.
The most wanted terrorist in Pakistan by the time of his apparent death on Wednesday in his mid-30s, he rocketed to notoriety in just three years as the leader of the Pakistani Taliban and became a key figure in Al Qaeda’s regional operations.
His turn against the Pakistan state, intelligence analysts say, was seen as a direct result of his close alliance with Al Qaeda, in particular with Ayman al-Zawahri, the second in command, as well as the powerful Afghan Taliban leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, who also has a close working connection to Al Qaeda.
Mr. Mehsud, whose death in a missile strike was yet to be officially confirmed, was accused of being behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister, in a suicide bombing in December 2007, among scores of other attacks. These include last year’s bombing of the Marriott Hotel in the capital, Islamabad.
But it was the attack on Ms. Bhutto that served as a wake-up call for Pakistan’s security services and political circles, which had for years supported those fighting in Afghanistan as Muslim heroes.
After Ms. Bhutto’s death, when Pakistan’s Interior Ministry released a telephone intercept implicating Mr. Mehsud in her assassination, the liberal newspaper Daily Times wrote, “Al Qaeda is now as much a Pakistani phenomenon as it is an Arab or foreign element.”
Mr. Mehsud was once a minor figure in the small Shabi Khel branch of the Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan, an inhospitable mountainous territory that fiercely resisted efforts by the armies of the British empire to conquer it. The son of a prayer leader, he had a basic religious education where he grew up in Miram Shah, the capital of North Waziristan. It was probably there that he was first recruited to fight in Afghanistan alongside the Taliban during their period in government in the late 1990s.
He served with the Taliban at the Kabul airport, according to a senior Afghan security official. After the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, he returned to his native Waziristan, accompanied by thousands of Afghan Taliban and hundreds of foreign Qaeda fighters who settled in North and South Waziristan.
As the Pakistani Army began operations in Waziristan in 2004, Mr. Mehsud was promoted by the Taliban leadership to command the fighters from the Mehsud tribe.
But Pakistani officials still considered him someone they could deal with, and in February 2005 they signed a much-criticized peace deal under which the army pulled back its forces, giving Mr. Mehsud freedom to operate in South Waziristan.
He quickly expanded his forces and power, and by December 2007 he had been named the leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban, the umbrella movement that commands most of the Taliban groups throughout Pakistan’s tribal areas and the adjoining Swat Valley.
His growth had brought Mr. Mehsud back into confrontation with the Pakistani military. In 2007, he took about 250 Pakistani Army soldiers hostage when they tried to pass through his tribal territory.
The hostage-taking came just days after the government laid siege to militants in the Red Mosque in Islamabad in July 2007, and was apparently in retaliation for the government’s crackdown.
Mr. Mehsud began attacking Pakistani military and intelligence targets in the tribal areas and beyond, and was behind almost all of the scores of suicide bombings that have occurred in Pakistan’s cities since then, according to Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the commander of the Pakistani Army.
Afghan security officials said that Mr. Mehsud had also sent suicide bombers to Afghanistan and to Iraq since 2006, as the number of suicide bombings soared in those countries.
He hosted many foreign fighters in his territory, including Uzbeks and others from Central Asia, and he ran training camps to indoctrinate suicide bombers, weapons he once called his own atom bombs. Working closely with him in training suicide bombers were two Pakistani militants, named Qari Zafar and Qari Hussain.
Mr. Mehsud also ran private jails and held dozens of kidnapped hostages, trading them for money or for his own fighters caught by the Pakistani authorities. Among those who fell into his hands was the Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan, Tariq Azizuddin, who was held for three months and met Mr. Mehsud twice, according to Pakistani officials.
Mr. Mehsud already then complained that he had to be constantly on the move, to avoid the surveillance of C.I.A.-operated drones, which were striking targets in Pakistan’s tribal areas, the officials said. By this year he was moving every 30 minutes to avoid detection, according to a Taliban fighter.
Yet he survived two large-scale operations against his fighters by the Pakistani military, one in January 2008 and another in June 2009.
Both times the Pakistani military seemed to pull back before finishing off Mr. Mehsud and his forces, prompting suspicions that he was still regarded as an asset by the military establishment, which has long supported militant groups to fight proxy wars in Kashmir and Afghanistan.
But his attacks inside Pakistan escalated with complex attacks on government buildings and five-star hotels, which were seen as a threat to the nation.
Last March, the United States put a $5 million reward on his head. In June, Pakistan declared him its “enemy No. 1.”
KABUL, Afghanistan — Baitullah Mehsud is perhaps the most prominent example of a tribal Taliban fighter who at first fought in Afghanistan and cooperated with the Pakistani Army, but then turned against his own country, unleashing a vicious campaign of violence in the name of spreading the rule of Islam.
The most wanted terrorist in Pakistan by the time of his apparent death on Wednesday in his mid-30s, he rocketed to notoriety in just three years as the leader of the Pakistani Taliban and became a key figure in Al Qaeda’s regional operations.
His turn against the Pakistan state, intelligence analysts say, was seen as a direct result of his close alliance with Al Qaeda, in particular with Ayman al-Zawahri, the second in command, as well as the powerful Afghan Taliban leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, who also has a close working connection to Al Qaeda.
Mr. Mehsud, whose death in a missile strike was yet to be officially confirmed, was accused of being behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister, in a suicide bombing in December 2007, among scores of other attacks. These include last year’s bombing of the Marriott Hotel in the capital, Islamabad.
But it was the attack on Ms. Bhutto that served as a wake-up call for Pakistan’s security services and political circles, which had for years supported those fighting in Afghanistan as Muslim heroes.
After Ms. Bhutto’s death, when Pakistan’s Interior Ministry released a telephone intercept implicating Mr. Mehsud in her assassination, the liberal newspaper Daily Times wrote, “Al Qaeda is now as much a Pakistani phenomenon as it is an Arab or foreign element.”
Mr. Mehsud was once a minor figure in the small Shabi Khel branch of the Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan, an inhospitable mountainous territory that fiercely resisted efforts by the armies of the British empire to conquer it. The son of a prayer leader, he had a basic religious education where he grew up in Miram Shah, the capital of North Waziristan. It was probably there that he was first recruited to fight in Afghanistan alongside the Taliban during their period in government in the late 1990s.
He served with the Taliban at the Kabul airport, according to a senior Afghan security official. After the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, he returned to his native Waziristan, accompanied by thousands of Afghan Taliban and hundreds of foreign Qaeda fighters who settled in North and South Waziristan.
As the Pakistani Army began operations in Waziristan in 2004, Mr. Mehsud was promoted by the Taliban leadership to command the fighters from the Mehsud tribe.
But Pakistani officials still considered him someone they could deal with, and in February 2005 they signed a much-criticized peace deal under which the army pulled back its forces, giving Mr. Mehsud freedom to operate in South Waziristan.
He quickly expanded his forces and power, and by December 2007 he had been named the leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban, the umbrella movement that commands most of the Taliban groups throughout Pakistan’s tribal areas and the adjoining Swat Valley.
His growth had brought Mr. Mehsud back into confrontation with the Pakistani military. In 2007, he took about 250 Pakistani Army soldiers hostage when they tried to pass through his tribal territory.
The hostage-taking came just days after the government laid siege to militants in the Red Mosque in Islamabad in July 2007, and was apparently in retaliation for the government’s crackdown.
Mr. Mehsud began attacking Pakistani military and intelligence targets in the tribal areas and beyond, and was behind almost all of the scores of suicide bombings that have occurred in Pakistan’s cities since then, according to Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the commander of the Pakistani Army.
Afghan security officials said that Mr. Mehsud had also sent suicide bombers to Afghanistan and to Iraq since 2006, as the number of suicide bombings soared in those countries.
He hosted many foreign fighters in his territory, including Uzbeks and others from Central Asia, and he ran training camps to indoctrinate suicide bombers, weapons he once called his own atom bombs. Working closely with him in training suicide bombers were two Pakistani militants, named Qari Zafar and Qari Hussain.
Mr. Mehsud also ran private jails and held dozens of kidnapped hostages, trading them for money or for his own fighters caught by the Pakistani authorities. Among those who fell into his hands was the Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan, Tariq Azizuddin, who was held for three months and met Mr. Mehsud twice, according to Pakistani officials.
Mr. Mehsud already then complained that he had to be constantly on the move, to avoid the surveillance of C.I.A.-operated drones, which were striking targets in Pakistan’s tribal areas, the officials said. By this year he was moving every 30 minutes to avoid detection, according to a Taliban fighter.
Yet he survived two large-scale operations against his fighters by the Pakistani military, one in January 2008 and another in June 2009.
Both times the Pakistani military seemed to pull back before finishing off Mr. Mehsud and his forces, prompting suspicions that he was still regarded as an asset by the military establishment, which has long supported militant groups to fight proxy wars in Kashmir and Afghanistan.
But his attacks inside Pakistan escalated with complex attacks on government buildings and five-star hotels, which were seen as a threat to the nation.
Last March, the United States put a $5 million reward on his head. In June, Pakistan declared him its “enemy No. 1.”
Rocket hits Peshawar locality, no casualties
PESHAWAR: A rocket fired by suspected militants from an unknown location damaged two houses in the city’s Gulberg-II locality on Friday but caused no casualties.
One of the houses reportedly belongs to a Frontier Corps officer. But his brother Malik Ashraf told the media that the officer was residing somewhere else.
The family living in the house said it had shifted from Hangu and taken up residence only two days ago. It had no idea who could be the attackers.
Residents of the area, who had gathered at the site, said the rocket landed with a bang and created panic among the people. ‘We heard the blast and people inside the house started crying,’ said one resident. It was the first incident of its kind in the locality.
Police have recovered shell of the rocket and asked the people to stay away from the damaged walls. SSP (operations) Abdul Ghafoor Afridi said it was not clear from where the rocket was fired.
Meanwhile, a police spokesman stated that at least 20 suspected people had been arrested in Peshawar in raids on hideouts on Friday. He did not disclose their names, saying that they were under interrogation.
Curfew eases in parts of Swat, Dir
Operation against militants is going on in Lower Dir as curfew relaxed in different areas of Swat and Dir. Security forces overnight pounded suspected militants positions tehsil Maidan of Lower Dir. However, no loss of life was reported. Search operation against militants in different areas of tehsil continued. According to Dir media center, curfew will be relaxed till 8:00 pm in tehsil Maidan. Swat media center announced curfew relaxation till 6: 00 pm in Khawazakhela, Matta, Bedara, Madeen, Shangla, Darashkhela whereas shops will be open from 3:00 pm till 8:00 pm in Dargai, Sakhakot, and Buttkhela.
Clashes in Tank leave ten dead
TANK: Fierce clashes between supporters of Baitullah Mehsud and his rival Turkistan Bhittani in Tank late on Thursday night left 10 people dead and four others injured.
According to local people, more than 100 militants attacked the recruitment camps of the Turkistan group in Molazai and Omar Adda areas of Tank district.
Turkistan, who had won the backing of the government after challenging Baitullah in Tank and South Waziristan, had set up the camps in government school buildings.
According to sources, both sides had used rockets, mortars and heavy machine-guns in the fighting which continued for more than two hours.
Four people were killed when the armed men attacked a government primary school housing Turkistan’s men in Molazai.
Another camp was attacked in Omar Adda in which five people were killed and four others injured. The injured were taken to the Tank district hospital where a man, identified as Mian Gul, died.
Other people killed were identified as Usman, Hazrat, Baitullah Khan, Syed Hassan, Azizullah, Jehanzai, Zarai Khan and Baitullah’s supporter Gul Zaman.
Police said that two unexploded rockets were found in the school building.
Intelligence officials claimed that 11 militants of the Baitullah group had been killed in the gunbattle, but the assailants had taken away the bodies taking advantage of darkness.
However, the claim could not be confirmed from independent sources or local police.
When contacted by this correspondent, Tank DPO Abdur Rahsid said he had no information about the clash.The fresh upsurge in violence created panic in the area.
Turkistan Bhittani joined the anti-Taliban campaign after 40 of his men had been killed by supporters of Baitullah last year. A large number of families had been forced to leave the FR region of Jandola after the fighting.
According to local people, more than 100 militants attacked the recruitment camps of the Turkistan group in Molazai and Omar Adda areas of Tank district.
Turkistan, who had won the backing of the government after challenging Baitullah in Tank and South Waziristan, had set up the camps in government school buildings.
According to sources, both sides had used rockets, mortars and heavy machine-guns in the fighting which continued for more than two hours.
Four people were killed when the armed men attacked a government primary school housing Turkistan’s men in Molazai.
Another camp was attacked in Omar Adda in which five people were killed and four others injured. The injured were taken to the Tank district hospital where a man, identified as Mian Gul, died.
Other people killed were identified as Usman, Hazrat, Baitullah Khan, Syed Hassan, Azizullah, Jehanzai, Zarai Khan and Baitullah’s supporter Gul Zaman.
Police said that two unexploded rockets were found in the school building.
Intelligence officials claimed that 11 militants of the Baitullah group had been killed in the gunbattle, but the assailants had taken away the bodies taking advantage of darkness.
However, the claim could not be confirmed from independent sources or local police.
When contacted by this correspondent, Tank DPO Abdur Rahsid said he had no information about the clash.The fresh upsurge in violence created panic in the area.
Turkistan Bhittani joined the anti-Taliban campaign after 40 of his men had been killed by supporters of Baitullah last year. A large number of families had been forced to leave the FR region of Jandola after the fighting.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Anti-loadshedding protests rising in NWFP
PESHAWAR: The activists of Pasban Friday staged a protest demonstration against unscheduled loadshedding and police firing at protesters in which one person was killed.
Led by provincial secretary general of the organisation Abdur Rahmand, vice-president Syed Ashfaq Bacha and others, the protesters gathered outside the Peshawar Press Club.
They were chanting slogans and holding placards inscribed with slogans against the government, Wapda authorities and police.
The speakers on the occasion criticised the government for its failure in providing basic amenities to the people. They said unannounced loadshedding had made life miserable for the people.
And when the people took to street to express their anguish over the non-availability of electricity, the police showered bullets on them, they added.
The speakers said that the killing of a protester on Kohat road by police was not the first incident of its nature. Two protesters were killed in the hometown of Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti a few days ago, they added.
The protestors asked the government to immediately lodge cases against the policemen responsible for the ugly incident and award them an exemplary punishment.
Meanwhile, the students of Bara, Khyber Agency, also staged a protest demonstration here against the excessive power outages and low voltage.
They gathered outside Peshawar Press Club under the aegis of Bara Welfare Student Union, the students bitterly criticised the government and Wapda authorities for power supply cuts.
The students urged the governor and the political administration of Khyber Agency to take prompt steps for ridding them of the menace of loadshedding.
Led by provincial secretary general of the organisation Abdur Rahmand, vice-president Syed Ashfaq Bacha and others, the protesters gathered outside the Peshawar Press Club.
They were chanting slogans and holding placards inscribed with slogans against the government, Wapda authorities and police.
The speakers on the occasion criticised the government for its failure in providing basic amenities to the people. They said unannounced loadshedding had made life miserable for the people.
And when the people took to street to express their anguish over the non-availability of electricity, the police showered bullets on them, they added.
The speakers said that the killing of a protester on Kohat road by police was not the first incident of its nature. Two protesters were killed in the hometown of Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti a few days ago, they added.
The protestors asked the government to immediately lodge cases against the policemen responsible for the ugly incident and award them an exemplary punishment.
Meanwhile, the students of Bara, Khyber Agency, also staged a protest demonstration here against the excessive power outages and low voltage.
They gathered outside Peshawar Press Club under the aegis of Bara Welfare Student Union, the students bitterly criticised the government and Wapda authorities for power supply cuts.
The students urged the governor and the political administration of Khyber Agency to take prompt steps for ridding them of the menace of loadshedding.
Pakistani army kill 2 militants, arrest 24 in NW operations
Pakistan's security forces killed two militants and apprehended at least 24 others in the continued search and clearance operations with the support of local lashkars in northwest Pakistan's Swat and Malakand districts during the last 24 hours, the army said Friday.
The army said in a daily update that two soldiers of the security forces were injured during exchange of fire with militants in the operations conducted in Swat. They also recovered some weapons of the militants, the statement said.
In nearby Buner, a police officer said Friday that at least 50 extremists have surrendered themselves to police. A suicide bomber is also among those surrendered.
Over 1,600 militants have been killed since Pakistani security forces launched the military operation against Taliban militants late April after militants in early April entered the Buner district from the neighboring Swat district and refused to vacate the area despite their pledge to do so.
The army said in a daily update that two soldiers of the security forces were injured during exchange of fire with militants in the operations conducted in Swat. They also recovered some weapons of the militants, the statement said.
In nearby Buner, a police officer said Friday that at least 50 extremists have surrendered themselves to police. A suicide bomber is also among those surrendered.
Over 1,600 militants have been killed since Pakistani security forces launched the military operation against Taliban militants late April after militants in early April entered the Buner district from the neighboring Swat district and refused to vacate the area despite their pledge to do so.
Another chapter of terrorism closed
Editorial: Daily Times
Baitullah Mehsud, the fearsome top leader of the self-styled Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan, is reportedly dead, killed in last Tuesday’s Predator strike. Earlier reports had suggested that the attack had claimed his wife. There is need for further confirmation but if the report is correct then the hit is a big positive for the ongoing counterinsurgency and terrorism operations. Consider.
Mehsud had emerged as the biggest menace for Pakistan attacking soft and hard targets in the tribal areas as well as across Pakistan. He had become the main plank between Al Qaeda and the several sectarian and terrorist groups within Pakistan drawing cadres from all of them and forging them into a well-knit terrorist force. He considered himself safe in the craggy mountain redoubts of South Waziristan and so far all attempts to get to him through ground extraction operations had failed. In the final analysis, he had become the centre of gravity which needed to be hit because he managed from that central position to expand the zone of irregular war, a combination of insurgency and terrorism, and forced the security forces to fight several small wars on the periphery.
His death therefore sends a clear signal to the Taliban, and whoever his successor might be, that the heat and din of war can reach their headquarters. Also, that no matter how rough and difficult the terrain, superior technology will be used to blunt the terrorists’ advantage. Wherever it is difficult to execute ground operations, air power can be used to take out even mobile targets.
The other setback would be the need for the Taliban to find someone to replace Mehsud. That they will be able to do but it will take time and it will be some time before that person will be able to get a handle on things. Going by reports of how Mehsud dealt with his second-string leaders, we know that he never allowed any of his lieutenants to grow too big. Qari Hussain, who trained and prepared suicide bombers for the TTP, had to mend fences with Mehsud when the Qari overstepped his brief and attacked the house of Khyber Agency’s political agent in Tank. Mehsud knew that in the game that he was playing, he could not afford to let anyone grow beyond a certain point. But now that he is reported dead, this could prove a problem for his successor. In fact, this could even lead to a battle for succession and a splintering of TTP. If the TTP falls apart into various factions, its ability to mount coordinated attacks could suffer. That would make it easier for the security forces to pre-empt future insurgent and terrorist attacks.
Having said this, however, we should not consider this as the beginning of the end of this menace. There is every possibility that the Taliban and their sleeper cells will mount a string of attacks across Pakistan to avenge Mehsud’s killing. So, before it begins to get better, it could get worse. The government should be alive to this fact. Secondly, Mehsud became big in the way that he did because Al Qaeda needed to prop up someone to act as go-between itself and the several extremist groups. With Mehsud gone, Al Qaeda will be looking for the right person to replace him and is very likely to throw its weight and resources behind that person. Similarly, given that Mehsud did get taken out by a drone despite much precaution, the Taliban are likely to become more cautious in avoiding a similar fate for their next leader.
Nonetheless, the operation has notched a big success and it must be looked at as such. It also disproves the thesis in Pakistan that Mehsud was operating at the behest of a US-India combine because those countries want to dismember Pakistan. If anything, it now points to greater intelligence and military cooperation between Pakistan and the US which is the only way the two sides can fight this war. Also, Pakistan had long insisted that it cannot take care of groups that are sustaining the insurgency in Afghanistan because it has to deal with the menace of Mehsud. Islamabad will now have to revisit that argument. With elections coming up in Afghanistan, the US would want Pakistan to help it maintain security in Afghanistan by ensuring, as far as Pakistan can, that groups operating from the Pakistani soil are neutralised.
Baitullah Mehsud, the fearsome top leader of the self-styled Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan, is reportedly dead, killed in last Tuesday’s Predator strike. Earlier reports had suggested that the attack had claimed his wife. There is need for further confirmation but if the report is correct then the hit is a big positive for the ongoing counterinsurgency and terrorism operations. Consider.
Mehsud had emerged as the biggest menace for Pakistan attacking soft and hard targets in the tribal areas as well as across Pakistan. He had become the main plank between Al Qaeda and the several sectarian and terrorist groups within Pakistan drawing cadres from all of them and forging them into a well-knit terrorist force. He considered himself safe in the craggy mountain redoubts of South Waziristan and so far all attempts to get to him through ground extraction operations had failed. In the final analysis, he had become the centre of gravity which needed to be hit because he managed from that central position to expand the zone of irregular war, a combination of insurgency and terrorism, and forced the security forces to fight several small wars on the periphery.
His death therefore sends a clear signal to the Taliban, and whoever his successor might be, that the heat and din of war can reach their headquarters. Also, that no matter how rough and difficult the terrain, superior technology will be used to blunt the terrorists’ advantage. Wherever it is difficult to execute ground operations, air power can be used to take out even mobile targets.
The other setback would be the need for the Taliban to find someone to replace Mehsud. That they will be able to do but it will take time and it will be some time before that person will be able to get a handle on things. Going by reports of how Mehsud dealt with his second-string leaders, we know that he never allowed any of his lieutenants to grow too big. Qari Hussain, who trained and prepared suicide bombers for the TTP, had to mend fences with Mehsud when the Qari overstepped his brief and attacked the house of Khyber Agency’s political agent in Tank. Mehsud knew that in the game that he was playing, he could not afford to let anyone grow beyond a certain point. But now that he is reported dead, this could prove a problem for his successor. In fact, this could even lead to a battle for succession and a splintering of TTP. If the TTP falls apart into various factions, its ability to mount coordinated attacks could suffer. That would make it easier for the security forces to pre-empt future insurgent and terrorist attacks.
Having said this, however, we should not consider this as the beginning of the end of this menace. There is every possibility that the Taliban and their sleeper cells will mount a string of attacks across Pakistan to avenge Mehsud’s killing. So, before it begins to get better, it could get worse. The government should be alive to this fact. Secondly, Mehsud became big in the way that he did because Al Qaeda needed to prop up someone to act as go-between itself and the several extremist groups. With Mehsud gone, Al Qaeda will be looking for the right person to replace him and is very likely to throw its weight and resources behind that person. Similarly, given that Mehsud did get taken out by a drone despite much precaution, the Taliban are likely to become more cautious in avoiding a similar fate for their next leader.
Nonetheless, the operation has notched a big success and it must be looked at as such. It also disproves the thesis in Pakistan that Mehsud was operating at the behest of a US-India combine because those countries want to dismember Pakistan. If anything, it now points to greater intelligence and military cooperation between Pakistan and the US which is the only way the two sides can fight this war. Also, Pakistan had long insisted that it cannot take care of groups that are sustaining the insurgency in Afghanistan because it has to deal with the menace of Mehsud. Islamabad will now have to revisit that argument. With elections coming up in Afghanistan, the US would want Pakistan to help it maintain security in Afghanistan by ensuring, as far as Pakistan can, that groups operating from the Pakistani soil are neutralised.
Baitullah Mehsud’s Crimes
Following is a timeline of major attacks carried out in different cities of Pakistan and claimed by Baitullah Mehsud’s Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Feb 5 - At least 24 people are killed in a suspected suicide bombing near Shia mosque in Dera Ghazi Khan.
Feb 20 - Suicide bomber kills 27 people and wounds 65 in an attack on a funeral procession for a Shia Muslim killed a day earlier in Dera Ismail Khan.
Mar 3 - Gunmen attack a bus carrying Sri Lanka’s cricket team outside a Lahore stadium, killing seven people, including six policemen and a driver, and wounding six of the cricketers and a British coach.
Mar 27 - A suicide bomber kills 37 people when he blows himself up in a crowded mosque near the Afghan border. Among the dead are 14 policemen and paramilitary soldiers.
Mar 30 - Militants armed with guns and grenades storm a police training centre in Lahore killing eight recruits, wounding scores and holding off police and troops for eight hours. The attack is claimed by Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. Four militants are killed and three arrested.
Apr 5 - A suicide bomber blows himself up in a religious centre for minority Shia Muslims in Chakwal. At least 17 people are killed and about 11 seriously wounded. The attack comes a day after a suicide attack in Islamabad killed eight paramilitary soldiers.
Apr 15 - A suicide car-bomber blows himself up at a security post in the northwest, killing nine policemen and three civilians.
Apr 18 - A suicide car-bomber rams a military convoy, killing 25 soldiers and police and two passers-by near Kohat.
Apr 25 - Twelve children who mistake a bomb for a toy are killed when it explodes as they play with it in the Low Dir. Authorities say it is unclear whether the incident is an “act of terrorism” or an accident.
May 11 - Ten people are killed and more than a dozen wounded in a suicide car bomb attack on a security check post near Peshawar.
May 16 - Car packed with mortar bombs blows up in Peshawar, killing 11 people, including four children passing in a school bus.
May 27 - Gunmen attack ISI regional office in Lahore, setting off a car-bomb that killed at least 24 people.
May 28 - Two bombs explode in a market in Peshawar, killing six people.
June 5 - A suicide bomber killed around 40 people at a mosque as US special envoy Richard Holbrooke consulted the country’s leaders on what needs to be done once the army eliminates the Taliban in Swat valley.
June 9 - Militants attack the Pearl Continental Hotel, which is popular with foreigners, in Peshawar with guns and a truck bomb killing five people including a UN worker.
2008
Sep 20 - Around 52 people are killed and more than 100 are wounded in suicide attack at Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.
Aug 21 - More than 70 people lose their lives while around 80 are injured in double suicide strike outside the main entrance of PAF Wah.
Mar 11 - At least 26 persons are killed with injuries to 175 others as suicide attackers target the provincial headquarters of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) building.
2007
Dec 27 - PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in an attack outside Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi. Around 20 others have also been killed with injuries to many others.
Oct 18 - The rally, with around a million people to welcome PPP leader Benazir Bhutto after her triumphant return back home, is attacked by two suicide bombers near Karsaz in Karachi. The deadly attack results in death of more than 150 people while around 200 are injured.
Feb 5 - At least 24 people are killed in a suspected suicide bombing near Shia mosque in Dera Ghazi Khan.
Feb 20 - Suicide bomber kills 27 people and wounds 65 in an attack on a funeral procession for a Shia Muslim killed a day earlier in Dera Ismail Khan.
Mar 3 - Gunmen attack a bus carrying Sri Lanka’s cricket team outside a Lahore stadium, killing seven people, including six policemen and a driver, and wounding six of the cricketers and a British coach.
Mar 27 - A suicide bomber kills 37 people when he blows himself up in a crowded mosque near the Afghan border. Among the dead are 14 policemen and paramilitary soldiers.
Mar 30 - Militants armed with guns and grenades storm a police training centre in Lahore killing eight recruits, wounding scores and holding off police and troops for eight hours. The attack is claimed by Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. Four militants are killed and three arrested.
Apr 5 - A suicide bomber blows himself up in a religious centre for minority Shia Muslims in Chakwal. At least 17 people are killed and about 11 seriously wounded. The attack comes a day after a suicide attack in Islamabad killed eight paramilitary soldiers.
Apr 15 - A suicide car-bomber blows himself up at a security post in the northwest, killing nine policemen and three civilians.
Apr 18 - A suicide car-bomber rams a military convoy, killing 25 soldiers and police and two passers-by near Kohat.
Apr 25 - Twelve children who mistake a bomb for a toy are killed when it explodes as they play with it in the Low Dir. Authorities say it is unclear whether the incident is an “act of terrorism” or an accident.
May 11 - Ten people are killed and more than a dozen wounded in a suicide car bomb attack on a security check post near Peshawar.
May 16 - Car packed with mortar bombs blows up in Peshawar, killing 11 people, including four children passing in a school bus.
May 27 - Gunmen attack ISI regional office in Lahore, setting off a car-bomb that killed at least 24 people.
May 28 - Two bombs explode in a market in Peshawar, killing six people.
June 5 - A suicide bomber killed around 40 people at a mosque as US special envoy Richard Holbrooke consulted the country’s leaders on what needs to be done once the army eliminates the Taliban in Swat valley.
June 9 - Militants attack the Pearl Continental Hotel, which is popular with foreigners, in Peshawar with guns and a truck bomb killing five people including a UN worker.
2008
Sep 20 - Around 52 people are killed and more than 100 are wounded in suicide attack at Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.
Aug 21 - More than 70 people lose their lives while around 80 are injured in double suicide strike outside the main entrance of PAF Wah.
Mar 11 - At least 26 persons are killed with injuries to 175 others as suicide attackers target the provincial headquarters of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) building.
2007
Dec 27 - PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in an attack outside Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi. Around 20 others have also been killed with injuries to many others.
Oct 18 - The rally, with around a million people to welcome PPP leader Benazir Bhutto after her triumphant return back home, is attacked by two suicide bombers near Karsaz in Karachi. The deadly attack results in death of more than 150 people while around 200 are injured.
Mehsud’s group should lay down arms: Bilour
LAHORE: The accomplices of Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud should lay down their weapons, senior NWFP Minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour told a private TV channel on Friday. Bilour said the TTP does not have a leader as capable as Mehsud, the channel reported, adding that the Taliban were already divided, and a division would emerge within the militia after the death of their leader. He said it was now the beginning of the downward journey for the TTP. The minister said certain activities being carried out in the name of Islam for the last 25 years were actually un-Islamic. daily times monitor
Pakistan to be safer if Mehsud killed: US
WASHINGTON: The White House on Friday said that Pakistan would be safer if Taliban commander was killed.
The White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, however, said, ‘there seems to be a growing consensus among credible observers that he is indeed dead.’
Mr Gibbs added that Mehsud killed scores of innocent men, women and children and was suspected of being behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan.
‘If he is dead, without a doubt, the people of Pakistan will be safer as a result.’
President Barack Obama was being regularly updated on the situation in Islamabad, officials said. Mehsud was probably dead but they were awaiting 100 per cent confirmation to verify reports of his death.
At the State Department, spokesman Robert Wood also said the United States and its allies were engaged in a ‘long-term struggle against violent extremism.’
Asked at the regular briefing, how important Mehsud was considered in the fight against Al Qaeda and Taliban in the region, Mr Wood said: ‘Mehsud has been responsible for a number of atrocious terrorist attacks against people from around the world, frankly.’
‘And we will continue to work with other countries around the world to fight the scourge of terrorism.’
Is Pakistan's Taliban Chief Dead?
By TIME.com
American and Pakistani officials say it looked more and more likely that the man was Baitullah Mehsud, who had a $5-million bounty on his head. Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, told reporters in Islamabad on Friday Aug. 7 that, "According to my intelligence information, the news is correct. We are trying to get on the ground verification to be 100% sure. But according to my information, he has been taken out." Local Pakistani media, citing "tribal sources" in South Waziristan,�are reporting that Mehsud's funeral prayers had been held and that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's shura, or council, was meeting today to choose Mehsud's successor. (See pictures of the battle against the Taliban.)
It may be days, or weeks, before confirmation is obtained. Hellfire strikes often obliterate targets, leaving little for investigators to work with. Pakistani officials are reportedly trying to collect material evidence, but U.S. intelligence officials will also be paying close attention to chatter on the Taliban's communication channels. "Taking Mehsud off the battlefield would be a major victory," says a U.S. counterterrorism official. "He has American blood on his hands with attacks on our forces in Afghanistan. This would also affirm the effectiveness of our government's counterterrorism policies." (Read "Pakistan Takes On Taliban Leader Mehsud.")
If confirmed, Mehsud's death would bring to a dramatic end a short but terrifying career. Over the past two years, Mehsud, who is believed to be about 35, emerged from near-obscurity to claim a place in a hall of infamy along with the Saudi Osama bin Laden, the Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri of al-Qaeda (who are still at large) and the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed while leading the radical insurgency in Iraq. Cagey, dogged and charismatic, Mehsud had a knack for uniting disparate factions around a common cause; he transformed the badlands of South Waziristan into the most important redoubt for the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda. He denied involvement in the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, but he was not unhappy about it: the Pakistani government produced an alleged message from him congratulating the perpetrators: "Fantastic job. Very brave boys, the ones who killed her."
With a reported 20,000 militants at his command, Mehsud was believed to have been the architect of the 2008 bombing of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel, the mastermind behind a terrorist cell uncovered in Barcelona that same year and the dispatcher of numerous suicide bombers in South Asia. Earlier this year, he threatened a massive terrorist attack on Washington that would "amaze everyone in the world." (Read "Islamabad After the Marriott Bombing: The Baghdad Effect.")
An uneducated Pashtun tribesman from a modest clan, Mehsud reportedly came from a family that made their living driving trucks. Though given to boasting about his grand plans for inflicting mass murder, Mehsud was also cautious. He shunned photographers — there are no definitive portraits — traveled in convoys protected by armed guards and hopped between safe houses. Despite his bellicose rhetoric, Mehsud was also described as baby-faced and jocular in person.
As a teen, Mehsud served as a Taliban fighter against the Soviets in the battle for Afghanistan, but first rose to prominence as a supporter of Abdullah Mehsud (no relation), a one-legged militant imprisoned at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, soon after the 9/11 terror attacks. Baitullah Mehsud quickly leapfrogged his boss, and his ascension up the jihadi ladder was made apparent in 2005, when — swathed in a black cloth to shield his face — he negotiated the public signing of a ceasefire agreement with the Pakistani government. (Read "Why Pakistan Balks at the U.S. Afghanistan Offensive.")
Indeed, under the cover afforded by the agreement, Mehsud was once touted by a Pakistani Army official as a "good Taliban." He used that goodwill to quickly tighten his grip on Waziristan, converting the rugged region into a haven where militant groups could freely operate camps and training facilities. The assassination of Bhutto and subsequent attacks attributed to Mehsud turned him into a prime target of the Pakistani government. In June 2009, the governor of the North-West Frontier Province denounced Mehsud as "the root cause of all evils" as the army launched a "full-fledged" military operation to eliminate the Taliban leader. CIA-operated drones also went to work, attacking sites associated with Mehsud. On Wednesday, one of their missiles may have found its mark.
American and Pakistani officials say it looked more and more likely that the man was Baitullah Mehsud, who had a $5-million bounty on his head. Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, told reporters in Islamabad on Friday Aug. 7 that, "According to my intelligence information, the news is correct. We are trying to get on the ground verification to be 100% sure. But according to my information, he has been taken out." Local Pakistani media, citing "tribal sources" in South Waziristan,�are reporting that Mehsud's funeral prayers had been held and that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's shura, or council, was meeting today to choose Mehsud's successor. (See pictures of the battle against the Taliban.)
It may be days, or weeks, before confirmation is obtained. Hellfire strikes often obliterate targets, leaving little for investigators to work with. Pakistani officials are reportedly trying to collect material evidence, but U.S. intelligence officials will also be paying close attention to chatter on the Taliban's communication channels. "Taking Mehsud off the battlefield would be a major victory," says a U.S. counterterrorism official. "He has American blood on his hands with attacks on our forces in Afghanistan. This would also affirm the effectiveness of our government's counterterrorism policies." (Read "Pakistan Takes On Taliban Leader Mehsud.")
If confirmed, Mehsud's death would bring to a dramatic end a short but terrifying career. Over the past two years, Mehsud, who is believed to be about 35, emerged from near-obscurity to claim a place in a hall of infamy along with the Saudi Osama bin Laden, the Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri of al-Qaeda (who are still at large) and the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed while leading the radical insurgency in Iraq. Cagey, dogged and charismatic, Mehsud had a knack for uniting disparate factions around a common cause; he transformed the badlands of South Waziristan into the most important redoubt for the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda. He denied involvement in the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, but he was not unhappy about it: the Pakistani government produced an alleged message from him congratulating the perpetrators: "Fantastic job. Very brave boys, the ones who killed her."
With a reported 20,000 militants at his command, Mehsud was believed to have been the architect of the 2008 bombing of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel, the mastermind behind a terrorist cell uncovered in Barcelona that same year and the dispatcher of numerous suicide bombers in South Asia. Earlier this year, he threatened a massive terrorist attack on Washington that would "amaze everyone in the world." (Read "Islamabad After the Marriott Bombing: The Baghdad Effect.")
An uneducated Pashtun tribesman from a modest clan, Mehsud reportedly came from a family that made their living driving trucks. Though given to boasting about his grand plans for inflicting mass murder, Mehsud was also cautious. He shunned photographers — there are no definitive portraits — traveled in convoys protected by armed guards and hopped between safe houses. Despite his bellicose rhetoric, Mehsud was also described as baby-faced and jocular in person.
As a teen, Mehsud served as a Taliban fighter against the Soviets in the battle for Afghanistan, but first rose to prominence as a supporter of Abdullah Mehsud (no relation), a one-legged militant imprisoned at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, soon after the 9/11 terror attacks. Baitullah Mehsud quickly leapfrogged his boss, and his ascension up the jihadi ladder was made apparent in 2005, when — swathed in a black cloth to shield his face — he negotiated the public signing of a ceasefire agreement with the Pakistani government. (Read "Why Pakistan Balks at the U.S. Afghanistan Offensive.")
Indeed, under the cover afforded by the agreement, Mehsud was once touted by a Pakistani Army official as a "good Taliban." He used that goodwill to quickly tighten his grip on Waziristan, converting the rugged region into a haven where militant groups could freely operate camps and training facilities. The assassination of Bhutto and subsequent attacks attributed to Mehsud turned him into a prime target of the Pakistani government. In June 2009, the governor of the North-West Frontier Province denounced Mehsud as "the root cause of all evils" as the army launched a "full-fledged" military operation to eliminate the Taliban leader. CIA-operated drones also went to work, attacking sites associated with Mehsud. On Wednesday, one of their missiles may have found its mark.
Plan chalked out for Malakand uplift
PESHAWAR: The (PUKHTUNKHWA)Frontier government has worked out a five-year plan to be placed before the upcoming ministerial meeting of Friends of Democratic Pakistan, for social uplift and economic revival of the Malakand region.
The proposed ‘Malakand Comprehensive Development Strategy’ includes long- and short-term initiatives in four key areas, governance and security, social sector, infrastructure and economic management, an official told Dawn.
A senior official of the Provincial Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement Authority (PaRRSA), which prepared the plan, said the project cost was yet to be calculated. ‘Nobody has done damage assessment; thus, the cost cannot be estimated at this stage,’ he said, explaining that the proposed plan only identified strategic areas and possible interventions.
Pakistan will place the proposed strategy before the Friends of Democratic Pakistan’s second ministerial meeting scheduled for Aug 25 in Istanbul. Referring to implementation of the plan, the official said its execution would be coordinated by a high-level committee supported by PaRRSA.
The committee would monitor expenditure on priority measures and ensure that the strategic priorities were reflected in development plans of the Malakand region, the official said.
Governance and Security are the topmost priority areas identified in the proposed strategy.
Introduction of digital revenue records system, revival of magistracy-based administrative system, construction of police infrastructure, procuring equipment, vehicles and ammunition, raising an elite force and capacity building of the police force are some of the proposed interventions in the two strategic areas.
Likewise, the official said, education, health, social protection and local development were the key areas covered under the social sectors component of the strategy.
Priority measures in the social sector included increasing expenditure on female teachers’ incentives, stipends for poor and girls’ students, provision of free textbooks, training of teachers, construction and rehabilitation of schools, vocational training, improvement of healthcare facilities, establishment of shelter homes and local development programmes, the official said.
On infrastructure component of the strategy, the official said, major emphasis had been given to rehabilitation of the existing roads and bridges, besides expanding the road network.
Similarly construction of an expressway from Rashakai to Mingora, maintenance and construction work on small dams and water channels, flood protection works and reconstruction and rehabilitation of government buildings in Malakand have been proposed. Most of the people in Malakand relied on agriculture and horticulture, said the official, adding the strategy envisaged a number of priority measures, including land development, promotion of water harvesting and soil conservation.
He said the plan included upgrading existing and establishment of new small and medium enterprises and promotion of local tourism, and cottage and mineral industries.
The proposed ‘Malakand Comprehensive Development Strategy’ includes long- and short-term initiatives in four key areas, governance and security, social sector, infrastructure and economic management, an official told Dawn.
A senior official of the Provincial Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement Authority (PaRRSA), which prepared the plan, said the project cost was yet to be calculated. ‘Nobody has done damage assessment; thus, the cost cannot be estimated at this stage,’ he said, explaining that the proposed plan only identified strategic areas and possible interventions.
Pakistan will place the proposed strategy before the Friends of Democratic Pakistan’s second ministerial meeting scheduled for Aug 25 in Istanbul. Referring to implementation of the plan, the official said its execution would be coordinated by a high-level committee supported by PaRRSA.
The committee would monitor expenditure on priority measures and ensure that the strategic priorities were reflected in development plans of the Malakand region, the official said.
Governance and Security are the topmost priority areas identified in the proposed strategy.
Introduction of digital revenue records system, revival of magistracy-based administrative system, construction of police infrastructure, procuring equipment, vehicles and ammunition, raising an elite force and capacity building of the police force are some of the proposed interventions in the two strategic areas.
Likewise, the official said, education, health, social protection and local development were the key areas covered under the social sectors component of the strategy.
Priority measures in the social sector included increasing expenditure on female teachers’ incentives, stipends for poor and girls’ students, provision of free textbooks, training of teachers, construction and rehabilitation of schools, vocational training, improvement of healthcare facilities, establishment of shelter homes and local development programmes, the official said.
On infrastructure component of the strategy, the official said, major emphasis had been given to rehabilitation of the existing roads and bridges, besides expanding the road network.
Similarly construction of an expressway from Rashakai to Mingora, maintenance and construction work on small dams and water channels, flood protection works and reconstruction and rehabilitation of government buildings in Malakand have been proposed. Most of the people in Malakand relied on agriculture and horticulture, said the official, adding the strategy envisaged a number of priority measures, including land development, promotion of water harvesting and soil conservation.
He said the plan included upgrading existing and establishment of new small and medium enterprises and promotion of local tourism, and cottage and mineral industries.
Clinton urges South Africa to push political and economic reform in Zimbabwe
PRETORIA, South Africa — While praising South Africa as a leading nation the United States hopes to work with in Africa, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday urged government officials in Pretoria to press for reform in neighboring Zimbabwe.
On the second leg of a seven-nation African tour, Clinton met with South Africa's Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane to make the case for greater pressure on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to comply with a power-sharing agreement reached with a political rival.
At a news conference following their meeting, Clinton said the chaos just across its northern border in Zimbabwe was a crisis for South Africa. Decades of Mugabe's authoritarian rule have seen a once-prosperous country become an economic shambles. Inflation once hit 500 billion percent, a world record, though the abandonment of the Zimbabwe dollar in favor of the U.S. and South African currencies has seen inflation ease in recent months.
"South Africa has 3 million refugees from Zimbabwe and every one of those refugees represents a failure of the Zimbabwean government to care for its own people and a burden that South Africa has to bear," Clinton said. "South Africa is working toward a complete fulfillment of the agreement that was reached to establish the coalition government."
Former opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai became prime minister in March under the pact. He has accused Mugabe of stalling on its implementation. The two had been bitter enemies but accepted the deal under heavy international pressure.
Nkoana-Mashabane said at the news conference that she was present when South African President Jacob Zuma met earlier this week in Johannesburg with Tsvangirai. She said Tsvangirai "confirmed that they are moving forward but that he would want us to encourage ... that they move a little bit faster." She said South Africa and the United States would work together to help Zimbabweans.
Nkoana-Mashabane cited the recent easing of restrictions on foreign media that has allowed CNN and the BBC to resume broadcasting from Zimbabwe as a sign of progress. Comparing Zimbabwe's coalition to an arranged marriage, she said, "Over time you get used to it and feel that it's better than no marriage."
Zuma had emerged from his meeting with Tsvangirai promising to talk with Mugabe about Tsvangirai's concerns, which include continued harassment of members of Tsvangirai's political party by hard-liners in Mugabe's party.
Zuma's predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, was the main broker of the deal that brought Tsvangirai into the government in March, and continues to oversee it on behalf of the southern African bloc. Zuma, like Mbeki, has said the coalition is the only way forward.
Thursday, Clinton said more had to be done to "mitigate the negative effects of the continuing presidency of President Mugabe." Clinton also said she wanted South Africa's perspective on how to "strengthen the reform movement inside Zimbabwe and alleviate the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe."
South Africa had resisted similar U.S. appeals to take a tough line with Zimbabwe during the Bush administration. But U.S. officials said they hoped the new South African government, in place several months fewer than the Obama administration, would adopt a more cooperative stance.
Friday, Clinton and Nkoana-Mashabane spoke of a new era in U.S.-South African relations, with the launching of bilateral committees dedicated to improving economic and political cooperation.
Clinton said the Obama administration wants Africa to be a high foreign policy priority, and would rely on "the central leadership role that South Africa plays."
Nkoana-Mashabane, responding to a reporter's question, denied that there had been a "chill" in relations during the eight years of the Bush administration. But she said there was room for better coordination, and the "zeal and the passion" that Clinton brings would help in the effort to improve relations.
On the second leg of a seven-nation African tour, Clinton met with South Africa's Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane to make the case for greater pressure on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to comply with a power-sharing agreement reached with a political rival.
At a news conference following their meeting, Clinton said the chaos just across its northern border in Zimbabwe was a crisis for South Africa. Decades of Mugabe's authoritarian rule have seen a once-prosperous country become an economic shambles. Inflation once hit 500 billion percent, a world record, though the abandonment of the Zimbabwe dollar in favor of the U.S. and South African currencies has seen inflation ease in recent months.
"South Africa has 3 million refugees from Zimbabwe and every one of those refugees represents a failure of the Zimbabwean government to care for its own people and a burden that South Africa has to bear," Clinton said. "South Africa is working toward a complete fulfillment of the agreement that was reached to establish the coalition government."
Former opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai became prime minister in March under the pact. He has accused Mugabe of stalling on its implementation. The two had been bitter enemies but accepted the deal under heavy international pressure.
Nkoana-Mashabane said at the news conference that she was present when South African President Jacob Zuma met earlier this week in Johannesburg with Tsvangirai. She said Tsvangirai "confirmed that they are moving forward but that he would want us to encourage ... that they move a little bit faster." She said South Africa and the United States would work together to help Zimbabweans.
Nkoana-Mashabane cited the recent easing of restrictions on foreign media that has allowed CNN and the BBC to resume broadcasting from Zimbabwe as a sign of progress. Comparing Zimbabwe's coalition to an arranged marriage, she said, "Over time you get used to it and feel that it's better than no marriage."
Zuma had emerged from his meeting with Tsvangirai promising to talk with Mugabe about Tsvangirai's concerns, which include continued harassment of members of Tsvangirai's political party by hard-liners in Mugabe's party.
Zuma's predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, was the main broker of the deal that brought Tsvangirai into the government in March, and continues to oversee it on behalf of the southern African bloc. Zuma, like Mbeki, has said the coalition is the only way forward.
Thursday, Clinton said more had to be done to "mitigate the negative effects of the continuing presidency of President Mugabe." Clinton also said she wanted South Africa's perspective on how to "strengthen the reform movement inside Zimbabwe and alleviate the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe."
South Africa had resisted similar U.S. appeals to take a tough line with Zimbabwe during the Bush administration. But U.S. officials said they hoped the new South African government, in place several months fewer than the Obama administration, would adopt a more cooperative stance.
Friday, Clinton and Nkoana-Mashabane spoke of a new era in U.S.-South African relations, with the launching of bilateral committees dedicated to improving economic and political cooperation.
Clinton said the Obama administration wants Africa to be a high foreign policy priority, and would rely on "the central leadership role that South Africa plays."
Nkoana-Mashabane, responding to a reporter's question, denied that there had been a "chill" in relations during the eight years of the Bush administration. But she said there was room for better coordination, and the "zeal and the passion" that Clinton brings would help in the effort to improve relations.
Wang says Pak, China have strong friendship bonds
KARACHI: Pakistan and China have strong bonds of friendship and no force on the face of earth can weaken this relationship.
This was stated by Rear Admiral Wang Shi Chen, Commander Chinese Escorting Fleet, in an interview during his visit to Headquarters Commander Karachi, here Friday.
An ISPR (Navy) press release issued here pointed out that Admiral said that China strongly opposes all terrorists activities. Like Pakistan, China is also a victim of terrorism and we would put in all out efforts to eliminate this menace in its all forms and manifestations.
Commenting on F 22 P Frigates he said, `All the weaponry, equipment and sensors fitted onboard these ships are much advanced and reliable and even better than those fitted on our own ships'.
He said that Pakistan and Chinese Navies are all set to conduct a joint maritime exercise commencing from August 8.
Joint Staff meeting held in this connection was very successful in which procedures and operation plans were chalked out, it was further stated.
Earlier, Admiral Wang called on Commander Karachi, Vice Admiral Saleem Ahmed Meenai, Commander Coast, Vice Admiral Muhammad Shafi, and Commander Logistics, Vice Admiral Azher Shamim.
During the meetings matters of common interest came under discussion.
This was stated by Rear Admiral Wang Shi Chen, Commander Chinese Escorting Fleet, in an interview during his visit to Headquarters Commander Karachi, here Friday.
An ISPR (Navy) press release issued here pointed out that Admiral said that China strongly opposes all terrorists activities. Like Pakistan, China is also a victim of terrorism and we would put in all out efforts to eliminate this menace in its all forms and manifestations.
Commenting on F 22 P Frigates he said, `All the weaponry, equipment and sensors fitted onboard these ships are much advanced and reliable and even better than those fitted on our own ships'.
He said that Pakistan and Chinese Navies are all set to conduct a joint maritime exercise commencing from August 8.
Joint Staff meeting held in this connection was very successful in which procedures and operation plans were chalked out, it was further stated.
Earlier, Admiral Wang called on Commander Karachi, Vice Admiral Saleem Ahmed Meenai, Commander Coast, Vice Admiral Muhammad Shafi, and Commander Logistics, Vice Admiral Azher Shamim.
During the meetings matters of common interest came under discussion.
Obama's Battle Against Terrorism To Go Beyond Bombs and Bullets
The U.S. government must fundamentally redefine the struggle against terrorism, replacing the "war on terror" with a campaign combining all facets of national power to defeat the enemy, John O. Brennan, President Obama's senior counterterrorism adviser, said Wednesday.
Previewing what aides said will be the administration's most comprehensive statement to date on its long-term strategy to defeat al-Qaeda and other violent extremists worldwide, Brennan said in an interview that the United States will maintain "unrelenting" pressure on terrorist havens, including those near the Afghan-Pakistani border, in Yemen and in Somalia.
However, Washington must couple the military strikes that have depleted al-Qaeda's middle ranks with more sustained use of economic, diplomatic and cultural levers to diminish Islamist radicalization, he said, exercising "soft power" in ways that President George W. Bush came to embrace but had trouble carrying out.
"It needs to be much more than a kinetic effort, an intelligence, law enforcement effort. It has to be much more comprehensive," said Brennan, who will address the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Thursday. "This is not a 'war on terror.' . . . We cannot let the terror prism guide how we're going to interact and be involved in different parts of the world."
Calmer Discussion
The U.S. shift in tone comes as Obama national security officials, six months after taking office, are seeking to maintain a fragile bipartisan consensus over continuing Bush-era policies that damaged al-Qaeda while taking advantage of changed political circumstances at home and perceptions abroad.
While Obama campaigned on similar themes -- and a White House budget office memo in March notably retired the "global war on terror" moniker -- aides now seem to be trying to fill in the blanks, defining the threat and U.S. goals and challenges.
The time has come to "lower the temperature of the discourse . . . and soberly discuss what steps we want to take and not take," said Michael E. Leiter, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, the U.S. clearinghouse for analyzing terrorism threats. "What we've learned over the last several years is, nuance is important here."
A Holistic Approach
U.S. officials are advancing American ideals -- promoting political participation and economic development -- and attacking the factors that breed terrorism, Brennan said.
"We are not saying that poverty causes terrorism, or disenfranchisement causes terrorism, but we can't mistake there are certain phenomena that contribute to it," he said. "Terrorism needs to be fought against and certainly delegitimized or attacked, but some of the underlying grievances that might in fact lead individuals astray to terrorism cannot be ignored."
Brennan is in some respects an intriguing choice to deliver the new message. A former career CIA analyst, Saudi Arabia station chief, and chief of staff to former director George J. Tenet, he was heavily involved in CIA counterterrorism operations for most of his 25-year career, helping stand up the NCTC under Bush before retiring in 2004. After liberal critics questioned Brennan's role in post-9/11 detention and interrogation policies, he withdrew from consideration as CIA chief and Obama moved him to the White House.
Brennan's "Jesuit-like" demeanor has made him a key bridge between administrations, said David Cohen, a CIA veteran and now New York Police Department counterterrorism official.
Brennan has also brought perspective to internal debates over intelligence policy in the Obama White House, where few senior officials have exposure to the world of spycraft, intelligence officials said. Brennan is known to have opposed declassifying Bush administration legal opinions that authorized harsh CIA interrogations, though the Obama White House acted contrary to his advice.
"John understands how intelligence and policy support one another -- that's a major asset," said CIA Director Leon E. Panetta, whom Obama subsequently named. "He is a vital link between the CIA and the NSC."
"His portfolio is growing, not shrinking," said Mark Lippert, a longtime Obama foreign policy aide and now chief of staff for the National Security Council, which is run by Brennan's boss, national security adviser James L. Jones. Brennan's role spans terrorism, cybersecurity, swine flu and some intelligence matters. "He has the president's trust. . . . Folks from all parts of the policy and intelligence community respect him," Lippert said.
Even as the Obama administration softens U.S. rhetoric, it continues a controversial policy of attacking suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban safe houses inside Pakistan's autonomous tribal region. A missile apparently launched by CIA Predator drone struck a house in Pakistan on Wednesday, killing a woman identified as the wife of Baitullah Mehsud, a Taliban commander linked to the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Pressuring Al-Qaeda
Unmanned drones have struck targets in Pakistan at least 31 times this year, killing more than 360 people, according to a tally by the Web site the Long War Journal. Such attacks are opposed by some prominent Defense officials who say the strikes are counterproductive because they fuel anti-Western sentiment in Pakistan.
Brennan, who declined to comment on CIA operations in the region, acknowledged internal disagreements but said that al-Qaeda must continue to be pressured.
"It's important to maintain the offensive against what are clearly terrorist training facilities and camps, and we're working closely with the Afghanistan and Pakistan governments to root out these facilities," he said. At the same time, the use of lethal force must be "very focused, and ensure that we are not incurring any type of collateral damage."
Previewing what aides said will be the administration's most comprehensive statement to date on its long-term strategy to defeat al-Qaeda and other violent extremists worldwide, Brennan said in an interview that the United States will maintain "unrelenting" pressure on terrorist havens, including those near the Afghan-Pakistani border, in Yemen and in Somalia.
However, Washington must couple the military strikes that have depleted al-Qaeda's middle ranks with more sustained use of economic, diplomatic and cultural levers to diminish Islamist radicalization, he said, exercising "soft power" in ways that President George W. Bush came to embrace but had trouble carrying out.
"It needs to be much more than a kinetic effort, an intelligence, law enforcement effort. It has to be much more comprehensive," said Brennan, who will address the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Thursday. "This is not a 'war on terror.' . . . We cannot let the terror prism guide how we're going to interact and be involved in different parts of the world."
Calmer Discussion
The U.S. shift in tone comes as Obama national security officials, six months after taking office, are seeking to maintain a fragile bipartisan consensus over continuing Bush-era policies that damaged al-Qaeda while taking advantage of changed political circumstances at home and perceptions abroad.
While Obama campaigned on similar themes -- and a White House budget office memo in March notably retired the "global war on terror" moniker -- aides now seem to be trying to fill in the blanks, defining the threat and U.S. goals and challenges.
The time has come to "lower the temperature of the discourse . . . and soberly discuss what steps we want to take and not take," said Michael E. Leiter, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, the U.S. clearinghouse for analyzing terrorism threats. "What we've learned over the last several years is, nuance is important here."
A Holistic Approach
U.S. officials are advancing American ideals -- promoting political participation and economic development -- and attacking the factors that breed terrorism, Brennan said.
"We are not saying that poverty causes terrorism, or disenfranchisement causes terrorism, but we can't mistake there are certain phenomena that contribute to it," he said. "Terrorism needs to be fought against and certainly delegitimized or attacked, but some of the underlying grievances that might in fact lead individuals astray to terrorism cannot be ignored."
Brennan is in some respects an intriguing choice to deliver the new message. A former career CIA analyst, Saudi Arabia station chief, and chief of staff to former director George J. Tenet, he was heavily involved in CIA counterterrorism operations for most of his 25-year career, helping stand up the NCTC under Bush before retiring in 2004. After liberal critics questioned Brennan's role in post-9/11 detention and interrogation policies, he withdrew from consideration as CIA chief and Obama moved him to the White House.
Brennan's "Jesuit-like" demeanor has made him a key bridge between administrations, said David Cohen, a CIA veteran and now New York Police Department counterterrorism official.
Brennan has also brought perspective to internal debates over intelligence policy in the Obama White House, where few senior officials have exposure to the world of spycraft, intelligence officials said. Brennan is known to have opposed declassifying Bush administration legal opinions that authorized harsh CIA interrogations, though the Obama White House acted contrary to his advice.
"John understands how intelligence and policy support one another -- that's a major asset," said CIA Director Leon E. Panetta, whom Obama subsequently named. "He is a vital link between the CIA and the NSC."
"His portfolio is growing, not shrinking," said Mark Lippert, a longtime Obama foreign policy aide and now chief of staff for the National Security Council, which is run by Brennan's boss, national security adviser James L. Jones. Brennan's role spans terrorism, cybersecurity, swine flu and some intelligence matters. "He has the president's trust. . . . Folks from all parts of the policy and intelligence community respect him," Lippert said.
Even as the Obama administration softens U.S. rhetoric, it continues a controversial policy of attacking suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban safe houses inside Pakistan's autonomous tribal region. A missile apparently launched by CIA Predator drone struck a house in Pakistan on Wednesday, killing a woman identified as the wife of Baitullah Mehsud, a Taliban commander linked to the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Pressuring Al-Qaeda
Unmanned drones have struck targets in Pakistan at least 31 times this year, killing more than 360 people, according to a tally by the Web site the Long War Journal. Such attacks are opposed by some prominent Defense officials who say the strikes are counterproductive because they fuel anti-Western sentiment in Pakistan.
Brennan, who declined to comment on CIA operations in the region, acknowledged internal disagreements but said that al-Qaeda must continue to be pressured.
"It's important to maintain the offensive against what are clearly terrorist training facilities and camps, and we're working closely with the Afghanistan and Pakistan governments to root out these facilities," he said. At the same time, the use of lethal force must be "very focused, and ensure that we are not incurring any type of collateral damage."
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Pakistani Taliban leader possibly killed by U.S.
WASHINGTON -- Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud may have been killed in a U.S. drone attack, a U.S. official said Friday.
"There's reason to believe Mehsud may be dead, but there's no confirmation at this time," the official said.
Mehsud's second wife was killed early Wednesday in a suspected U.S. drone attack, according to intelligence sources and relatives.
The unmanned aerial vehicle targeted the home of Mehsud's father-in-law, Mulvi Ikram ud Din, and dropped two missiles on the residence in northwestern Pakistan, an intelligence official said.
Mehsud's second wife was one of two people killed in the strike, according to the sources. Four others were wounded, they said.
Muhammad Jamal, a Taliban member in the area, said the attack caused injuries to children and women.
The U.S. military routinely offers no comment on reported drone attacks.
However, the United States is the only country operating in the region known to have the ability to launch missiles from drones, which are controlled remotely.
Mehsud and other key leaders of the Pakistani Taliban have been targeted by the ongoing Pakistani military operation in northwest Pakistan. Hideouts linked to Mehsud are regularly shelled by both Pakistani aircraft and suspected U.S. drones.
Mehsud's close aide recently confirmed that the Pakistani Taliban chief was behind the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was gunned down at a political rally in December 2007. Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, is the president of Pakistan.
The Pakistani government and CIA officials have said in the past that Mehsud was responsible for Bhutto's death.
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"There's reason to believe Mehsud may be dead, but there's no confirmation at this time," the official said.
Mehsud's second wife was killed early Wednesday in a suspected U.S. drone attack, according to intelligence sources and relatives.
The unmanned aerial vehicle targeted the home of Mehsud's father-in-law, Mulvi Ikram ud Din, and dropped two missiles on the residence in northwestern Pakistan, an intelligence official said.
Mehsud's second wife was one of two people killed in the strike, according to the sources. Four others were wounded, they said.
Muhammad Jamal, a Taliban member in the area, said the attack caused injuries to children and women.
The U.S. military routinely offers no comment on reported drone attacks.
However, the United States is the only country operating in the region known to have the ability to launch missiles from drones, which are controlled remotely.
Mehsud and other key leaders of the Pakistani Taliban have been targeted by the ongoing Pakistani military operation in northwest Pakistan. Hideouts linked to Mehsud are regularly shelled by both Pakistani aircraft and suspected U.S. drones.
Mehsud's close aide recently confirmed that the Pakistani Taliban chief was behind the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was gunned down at a political rally in December 2007. Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, is the president of Pakistan.
The Pakistani government and CIA officials have said in the past that Mehsud was responsible for Bhutto's death.
US has 2 more tough years in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON – An incoming adviser to the top U.S. general in Afghanistan predicted Thursday that the United States will see about two more years of heavy fighting and then either hand off to a much improved Afghan fighting force or "lose and go home."
David Kilcullen, a counterinsurgency expert who will assume a role as a senior adviser to Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has been highly critical of the war's management to date. He outlined a "best-case scenario" for a decade of further U.S. and NATO involvement in Afghanistan during an appearance at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Under that timeline, the allied forces would turn the corner in those two years, followed by about three years of transition to a newly capable Afghan force and about five years of "overwatch."
"We'll fight for two years and then a successful transition, or we'll fight for two years and we'll lose and go home," Kilcullen said.
"I think we need to persist," he said, but with "some pretty significant limits on how much we're prepared to spend, how many troops we're prepared to send, how long we can do this for."
Kilcullen was speaking for himself, and it is not clear that McChrystal shares his dark assessment. McChrystal is assembling what aides describe as a blunt summing up of a war his predecessor called a stalemate. That review is due within weeks and may lead to a request for additional U.S. forces beyond those President Barack Obama has already sent to Afghanistan this year.
The report is expected recommend changes in the way the United States and NATO organize and manage the war. Ahead of those recommendations, the Pentagon set up a new command center, an ultra-secure war room where a people from a mix of services and disciplines sit together. The command post is supposed to quickly process information for McChrystal and bulldoze some of the pentagon's legendary bureaucracy.
Separately, the Obama administration is developing new measures of success in Afghanistan, something top military leaders promised Congress months ago. Some of the yardsticks would apply to the Afghan government, some to its armed forces and police and some to the United States.
Obama announced a retailored war strategy in March, with a streamlined focus on ensuring that Afghanistan cannot be used as a harbor for al-Qaida. He has committed 21,000 additional U.S. forces for Afghanistan this year, roughly doubling the U.S. footprint to 68,000 in a year.
The United States does have compelling reasons to continue the fight, Kilcullen said, but Obama's counterterrorism mandate isn't "at the top of my list."
His top reasons: The United States and NATO have promised protection to the Afghan people; the future of the NATO military alliance could hinge on perseverance in Afghanistan; and if Afghanistan crumbles, nuclear-armed Pakistan would probably follow.
Kilcullen, formerly an adviser to Gen. David Petraeus and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said the Taliban-led insurgency is pursuing a classic strategy in which a militarily weaker force avoids direct warfare and sits back to "wait us out 'til we get tired and go home."
David Kilcullen, a counterinsurgency expert who will assume a role as a senior adviser to Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has been highly critical of the war's management to date. He outlined a "best-case scenario" for a decade of further U.S. and NATO involvement in Afghanistan during an appearance at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Under that timeline, the allied forces would turn the corner in those two years, followed by about three years of transition to a newly capable Afghan force and about five years of "overwatch."
"We'll fight for two years and then a successful transition, or we'll fight for two years and we'll lose and go home," Kilcullen said.
"I think we need to persist," he said, but with "some pretty significant limits on how much we're prepared to spend, how many troops we're prepared to send, how long we can do this for."
Kilcullen was speaking for himself, and it is not clear that McChrystal shares his dark assessment. McChrystal is assembling what aides describe as a blunt summing up of a war his predecessor called a stalemate. That review is due within weeks and may lead to a request for additional U.S. forces beyond those President Barack Obama has already sent to Afghanistan this year.
The report is expected recommend changes in the way the United States and NATO organize and manage the war. Ahead of those recommendations, the Pentagon set up a new command center, an ultra-secure war room where a people from a mix of services and disciplines sit together. The command post is supposed to quickly process information for McChrystal and bulldoze some of the pentagon's legendary bureaucracy.
Separately, the Obama administration is developing new measures of success in Afghanistan, something top military leaders promised Congress months ago. Some of the yardsticks would apply to the Afghan government, some to its armed forces and police and some to the United States.
Obama announced a retailored war strategy in March, with a streamlined focus on ensuring that Afghanistan cannot be used as a harbor for al-Qaida. He has committed 21,000 additional U.S. forces for Afghanistan this year, roughly doubling the U.S. footprint to 68,000 in a year.
The United States does have compelling reasons to continue the fight, Kilcullen said, but Obama's counterterrorism mandate isn't "at the top of my list."
His top reasons: The United States and NATO have promised protection to the Afghan people; the future of the NATO military alliance could hinge on perseverance in Afghanistan; and if Afghanistan crumbles, nuclear-armed Pakistan would probably follow.
Kilcullen, formerly an adviser to Gen. David Petraeus and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said the Taliban-led insurgency is pursuing a classic strategy in which a militarily weaker force avoids direct warfare and sits back to "wait us out 'til we get tired and go home."
Clinton Deflects Questions on Mission to N. Korea
NEW YORK -- Former President Bill Clinton said Thursday that, while negotiating the release this week of two American journalists detained in North Korea, he went no further than previous Obama administration statements in expressing regret for the journalists having entered the country illegally.
North Korea pardoned and released the two journalists after Clinton met in Pyongyang on Tuesday with the country's ailing dictator, Kim Jong-Il. North Korea said later that Clinton had apologized; the White House denied that any apology was offered.
On Thursday, Clinton spoke publicly for the first time about the trip the White House has described as a "private humanitarian mission."
While not specifically addressing whether his remarks constituted an apology, Clinton said the secretary of state -- his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton -- had already expressed regret for the journalists' breach of the North Korean border. "I was not asked for any more, nor did I offer any more," he said.
Clinton, appearing at a news conference about his foundation's efforts to combat AIDS, deflected questions about his impressions of Kim and about whether he had made concessions to the North Koreans to free the journalists.
"My job was to do one thing, which I was honored to do, as an American and as a father," he said. "I wanted those young women to be able to come home."
"Anything I say beyond that could inadvertently affect the decisions and moves either here or in North Korea, and the attitudes of our allies," Clinton continued.
The two journalists, Euna Lee, 36, and Laura Ling, 32, were detained by North Korean soldiers on March 17, and then sentenced to 12 years in a North Korean prison camp for illegal entry.
The former president answered questions at his Harlem-based William J. Clinton Foundation, in a room packed with about 150 reporters, at a news conference intended to announce the foundation's new agreements for low-cost AIDS and tuberculosis drugs for the developing world.
Clinton did not directly respond to a question about whether the trip has helped to restore him to the role of elder statesman, an image that suffered because of controversial comments he made during his wife's presidential campaign.
"As soon as the election was over, I went back to work here," he said. "I just let my work speak for itself."
"There can only be one president at a time," said Clinton, adding that he does not want his statements to restrict the administration's ability to chart a way forward. "It's not helpful and it's not necessary."
Clinton described a "deeply emotional" first encounter with Lee and Ling. He said they were "delightful" on the trip home to Los Angeles by private plane, so happy and excited they couldn't sleep. Lee talked frequently about being reunited with her young daughter, he said.
The two journalists ate huevos rancheros for breakfast when the private plane stopped at an American base in Japan, Clinton said, and were careful to measure their food intake because they had been on a radically different diet for almost five months.
"It was basically a lovely thing," he said.
North Korea pardoned and released the two journalists after Clinton met in Pyongyang on Tuesday with the country's ailing dictator, Kim Jong-Il. North Korea said later that Clinton had apologized; the White House denied that any apology was offered.
On Thursday, Clinton spoke publicly for the first time about the trip the White House has described as a "private humanitarian mission."
While not specifically addressing whether his remarks constituted an apology, Clinton said the secretary of state -- his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton -- had already expressed regret for the journalists' breach of the North Korean border. "I was not asked for any more, nor did I offer any more," he said.
Clinton, appearing at a news conference about his foundation's efforts to combat AIDS, deflected questions about his impressions of Kim and about whether he had made concessions to the North Koreans to free the journalists.
"My job was to do one thing, which I was honored to do, as an American and as a father," he said. "I wanted those young women to be able to come home."
"Anything I say beyond that could inadvertently affect the decisions and moves either here or in North Korea, and the attitudes of our allies," Clinton continued.
The two journalists, Euna Lee, 36, and Laura Ling, 32, were detained by North Korean soldiers on March 17, and then sentenced to 12 years in a North Korean prison camp for illegal entry.
The former president answered questions at his Harlem-based William J. Clinton Foundation, in a room packed with about 150 reporters, at a news conference intended to announce the foundation's new agreements for low-cost AIDS and tuberculosis drugs for the developing world.
Clinton did not directly respond to a question about whether the trip has helped to restore him to the role of elder statesman, an image that suffered because of controversial comments he made during his wife's presidential campaign.
"As soon as the election was over, I went back to work here," he said. "I just let my work speak for itself."
"There can only be one president at a time," said Clinton, adding that he does not want his statements to restrict the administration's ability to chart a way forward. "It's not helpful and it's not necessary."
Clinton described a "deeply emotional" first encounter with Lee and Ling. He said they were "delightful" on the trip home to Los Angeles by private plane, so happy and excited they couldn't sleep. Lee talked frequently about being reunited with her young daughter, he said.
The two journalists ate huevos rancheros for breakfast when the private plane stopped at an American base in Japan, Clinton said, and were careful to measure their food intake because they had been on a radically different diet for almost five months.
"It was basically a lovely thing," he said.
7 terrorists killed, 17 apprehended in Swat: ISPR
SWAT: Seven terrorists were killed and 17 others apprehended as search and clearance operations continued in Swat and Malakand with the support of local Lashkars during the last 24 hours.
According to ISPR, security forces apprehended 6 suspects from Jan Patai near Alpurai while 2 terrorists were killed during search operation in Amankot.
Security forces apprehended 2 terrorists from Perona near Jambil and 1 terrorist was killed at Rashghatta-Kokarai near Jambil.
Four terrorists voluntarily surrendered themselves to security forces in Dakorak.
Security forces killed 4 terrorists and apprehended 6 suspects during an encounter at Samsel Banda near Kabbal. Security forces also recovered 20 pistols, 2 Small Machine Guns, 15 rifles, 3 Tearguns, 6 Light Machine Guns, 10 rounds of 82 mm Mortar,1 x IED and ammunition of different calibers during search operation at Sharafai Banda near Kabbal.
On an information provided by locals Security Forces carried out raid and arrested 3 terrorists in Guljabba.
Security forces recovered 21 x rifles, 1 RPG-7, 2 rounds of RPG-7, 3x84 mm rounds, 1 Small Machine Gun, 1 IED and ammunition of different calibers from Doghlai near Chuprial in Swat during search operation.
According to ISPR, security forces apprehended 6 suspects from Jan Patai near Alpurai while 2 terrorists were killed during search operation in Amankot.
Security forces apprehended 2 terrorists from Perona near Jambil and 1 terrorist was killed at Rashghatta-Kokarai near Jambil.
Four terrorists voluntarily surrendered themselves to security forces in Dakorak.
Security forces killed 4 terrorists and apprehended 6 suspects during an encounter at Samsel Banda near Kabbal. Security forces also recovered 20 pistols, 2 Small Machine Guns, 15 rifles, 3 Tearguns, 6 Light Machine Guns, 10 rounds of 82 mm Mortar,1 x IED and ammunition of different calibers during search operation at Sharafai Banda near Kabbal.
On an information provided by locals Security Forces carried out raid and arrested 3 terrorists in Guljabba.
Security forces recovered 21 x rifles, 1 RPG-7, 2 rounds of RPG-7, 3x84 mm rounds, 1 Small Machine Gun, 1 IED and ammunition of different calibers from Doghlai near Chuprial in Swat during search operation.
Kidnappings on the rise in NWFP(Pukhtunkhwa)
Most of the business community and investors belonging to NWFP are leaving the province or even the country, thus shutting down 80 per cent industry in the province due to massive incidents of kidnapping by the militants and other criminals.
Reliable sources told TheNation that the war in the province is not the only problem, there is an even more terrible issue faced by the masses badly affecting the economic condition of the province in particular and the country in general.
They said these criminals, many of them having close ties with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and some other groups, have started kidnapping businessmen, industrialists, NGO staffers, government employees and any wealthy person only to extort money under TTP umbrella.
Sources revealed that more than 1000 persons had been kidnapped during one year and released after payment of billions of rupees ransom. Sources further revealed that the government was ignoring this serious completely issue and was only busy in war on terror.
Mohammad Ishaq, Vice President of Sarhad Chamber of Commerce while talking to TheNation said that most of the industry had been shut down due to the rampant crime. One year earlier there were around 2,254 industrial units working in the province, which had now come down to 594, he lamented.
Both war on terror and kidnapping factors played vital role in destroying the economy of the province. Due to terror war, 178 out of total 500 units closed their operations in Swat but law and order situation forced 55 units to shut down in Peshawar, 9 out of 33 in Risalpur, 80 out of 200 in Hattar Industrial Zone. In addition to deterioration of law and order, withdrawal of incentives caused shut down of 136 units in Gadoon Amazai industrial zone, he said.
The closure of industrial units primarily hit the labour class to the extent that in Peshawar alone, out of 125,000 workers, 100,000 got unemployed, which he said was not an issue to be ignored. He said, “I am the only person still living here but most of my siblings have shifted to other cities of Pakistan and the rest of them were about to take the same decision”. He said that apart from closure of industrial units, 25 per cent of business community had been shifted from the province. “Some have gone to other parts of the country but many who could afford, preferred to leave the country because most of them are those who had been the victim of kidnappers”, he added.
Reliable sources told TheNation that the war in the province is not the only problem, there is an even more terrible issue faced by the masses badly affecting the economic condition of the province in particular and the country in general.
They said these criminals, many of them having close ties with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and some other groups, have started kidnapping businessmen, industrialists, NGO staffers, government employees and any wealthy person only to extort money under TTP umbrella.
Sources revealed that more than 1000 persons had been kidnapped during one year and released after payment of billions of rupees ransom. Sources further revealed that the government was ignoring this serious completely issue and was only busy in war on terror.
Mohammad Ishaq, Vice President of Sarhad Chamber of Commerce while talking to TheNation said that most of the industry had been shut down due to the rampant crime. One year earlier there were around 2,254 industrial units working in the province, which had now come down to 594, he lamented.
Both war on terror and kidnapping factors played vital role in destroying the economy of the province. Due to terror war, 178 out of total 500 units closed their operations in Swat but law and order situation forced 55 units to shut down in Peshawar, 9 out of 33 in Risalpur, 80 out of 200 in Hattar Industrial Zone. In addition to deterioration of law and order, withdrawal of incentives caused shut down of 136 units in Gadoon Amazai industrial zone, he said.
The closure of industrial units primarily hit the labour class to the extent that in Peshawar alone, out of 125,000 workers, 100,000 got unemployed, which he said was not an issue to be ignored. He said, “I am the only person still living here but most of my siblings have shifted to other cities of Pakistan and the rest of them were about to take the same decision”. He said that apart from closure of industrial units, 25 per cent of business community had been shifted from the province. “Some have gone to other parts of the country but many who could afford, preferred to leave the country because most of them are those who had been the victim of kidnappers”, he added.
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