Condemning last week's terror strikes in Pakistan's north western Kohat region in which over 40 people were killed and Monday's suicide attack in Peshawar which claimed 24 people, Amnesty International has said that the increasing attacks on Pakistani civilians are akin to war crimes."The Pakistani Taliban and other insurgent groups seem to be escalating their attacks on civilians, in clear violation of the laws of war. Such attacks could constitute war crimes," said Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific Director of the global human rights group.
Zarifi said the Taliban must stop killing innocent civilians, and added that the Pakistan government should tighten the noose on terror organisations to prevent terror attacks on people.
"The Taliban and other insurgent groups are subject to the international laws of war, and they must cease targeting of civilians. Meanwhile the Pakistani government has to do a better job of providing security and provisions for the hundreds of thousands of people displaced during the conflict," he said.
It may be noted that banned militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had claimed the responsibility for the terror strike on a refugee camp in Kohat last week.
The blast took place when the refugees queued up for rations at the camp. The majority of those killed in the attack belonged to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas' (FATA) restive Orakzai Agency, where the Pakistan Army is engaged in an intense battle with the Taliban and other extremist outfits.
Recent fighting in Orakzai and Kurram tribal agencies has displaced an additional 200,000 people.
According to an estimate, 3.1 million people were displaced last year in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and FATA after the military launched an all out operation against the Taliban.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Peshawar residents scream for peace
The nature also joined the mourning in Peshawar with rains that certainly have reduced the sizzling summer heat but could not extinguish the fire of frustration among residents, as the northwest Pakistani city on Wednesday saw angry people screaming for peace."We want peace. Peshawar is a city of peace and we want it badly," yelled Jalal, a businessman from Board bazaar that experienced a blaze on Tuesday. In a nearby police public school, a 7-year-old school boy was killed and 11 were injured in a bomb blast on Monday.While residents are sobbing deaths of 25 in a rally and injury to four dozens others later on Monday, the police chief of the newly-renamed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa northwest province demands more hi-tech gadgets to counter terrorist designs who have opted to target the soft belly, school children and crowding helpless people."Some 23 of the over 40 injured of Monday's twin blasts are still being treated," hospital sources told Xinhua on Wednesday."Police force can't acquire big scanners due to financial constraints," Malik Naveed, Inspector General of Police for the province told reporters."Terrorists want to de-motivate the police force," he observed in the mourning of the death of a high ranking colleague in Monday suicide bomb blast in the Qissa Khawani bazaar, which also killed the deputy chief of Jamaat-e-Islami party, who was addressing the rally.
Analysts observed that rallies at congested localities should be banned, as political parties choose narrow ally and crowded bazaars to look massive but become more vulnerable to the disguising terrorists.The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, with 20 million inhabitants, is plagued by insurgency and infiltrating terrorists from across the region fighting continuing war against terrorism."Planners, masterminds of terror are residing in the tribal areas," the provincial police chief said.Pakistani security forces are operating in full force to sweep Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) bordering Afghanistan under operation Rah-e-Raast or the Righteous Path for almost a year and achieved tremendous success. At a heavy cost of lives and resources, though.
FATA is said to be a heaven for infiltrating terrorists.
Analysts observed that rallies at congested localities should be banned, as political parties choose narrow ally and crowded bazaars to look massive but become more vulnerable to the disguising terrorists.The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, with 20 million inhabitants, is plagued by insurgency and infiltrating terrorists from across the region fighting continuing war against terrorism."Planners, masterminds of terror are residing in the tribal areas," the provincial police chief said.Pakistani security forces are operating in full force to sweep Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) bordering Afghanistan under operation Rah-e-Raast or the Righteous Path for almost a year and achieved tremendous success. At a heavy cost of lives and resources, though.
FATA is said to be a heaven for infiltrating terrorists.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
European Air Traffic Seen 'Nearly Normal'
Europe's air traffic control agency says commercial aviation is expected to return to nearly normal levels throughout the region by Thursday.
Eurocontrol released a statement Wednesday saying airlines's flight schedules should be operating at nearly 100 percent levels on Thursday, one week after volcanic ash from Iceland blanketed most of the continent, grounding flights and stranding millions of passengers.
The agency said nearly 80 percent of European flights were in the air Wednesday, and that trans-Atlantic air service had returned to normal.
However, the task of clearing a backlog of flights postponed or cancelled during the past week is expected to last at least several days.
An industry official says the shutdown cost airlines at least $1.7 billion. The head of the International Air Transport Association, Giovanni Bisignani, called the economic fallout "devastating" Wednesday. He urged European governments to help airlines recover lost revenues.
Some airline executives contend authorities acted too hastily in grounding flights.
The head of the International Civil Aviation Authority - the United Nations agency that deals with air safety - says there are no global standards currently to determine when it is safe to fly through an ash cloud. Particles of ash and volcanic glass can fuse inside jet engines, causing them to shut down abruptly.
Iceland's Meteorological Office says the volcano entered a new phase Tuesday, and that the plume of ash rising from the eruption is diminishing.
Businesses as far away as Africa, China and Japan have been affected by the pqast week's events, since companies have been unable to ship products to Europe.Some airline executives say authorities may have been too hasty to ground flights.
Meanwhile, the head of the International Civil Aviation Authority, a United Nations agency dealing with air safety, says there are currently no global standards to determine when it is safe to fly through an ash cloud. Volcanic ash can cause jet engines to shut down in mid flight.
Iceland's Meteorological Office says the volcano entered a new phase Tuesday, and that the ash cloud is diminishing.
The volcano has affected businesses as far away as Africa, China, and Japan, where companies have been unable to ship products to Europe.
'Malik, Awan involved in Benazir's assassination'
ISLAMABAD: Terming Benazir Bhutto's death as murder, the Legal advisor to Benazir's chief protocol officer has alleged that the present Interior Minister Rehman Malik and current Law Minister Babar Awan were involved in Benazir's assassination.
However, he said that as the case is sub judice before the Lahore High court Rawalpindi bench for lodging second FIR in the case, "so we are not going to elaborate on every aspect of this case."
Speaking to the media in Islamabad, Asad Rajput alleged that the UN has established the fact that former president Musharraf was head of the entire assasination plot.
He maintained that the ex-chief minister of Punjab Pervaiz Elahi, Rehman Malik, Babar Awan, the head of the Intelligence Bureau, the FIA and the Rawalpindi police were all clearly involved in Benazir Bhutto's murder.
Aslam Chaudhry who is the chief protocol officer of Benazir alleged that both Rehman Malik and Babar Awan broke protocol and also sabotaged security during Benazir's rally at Liaquat Park in which she was assassinated.
Chaudhry stressed that it is obligatory for the government to initiate a crminial investigation into Benazir's assassination following the UN report. -DawnNews
However, he said that as the case is sub judice before the Lahore High court Rawalpindi bench for lodging second FIR in the case, "so we are not going to elaborate on every aspect of this case."
Speaking to the media in Islamabad, Asad Rajput alleged that the UN has established the fact that former president Musharraf was head of the entire assasination plot.
He maintained that the ex-chief minister of Punjab Pervaiz Elahi, Rehman Malik, Babar Awan, the head of the Intelligence Bureau, the FIA and the Rawalpindi police were all clearly involved in Benazir Bhutto's murder.
Aslam Chaudhry who is the chief protocol officer of Benazir alleged that both Rehman Malik and Babar Awan broke protocol and also sabotaged security during Benazir's rally at Liaquat Park in which she was assassinated.
Chaudhry stressed that it is obligatory for the government to initiate a crminial investigation into Benazir's assassination following the UN report. -DawnNews
FIR lodged against Musharraf
RAWALPINDI: Police registered a regular FIR against former president Pervez Musharraf and two of his associates for their major role in assassination of PPPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto.
The SHO Thana City inspector Israr Satti informed that the FIR has been registered on an application submitted by PSF (People's Students Federation), against former president Pervez Musharraf and his associates also for killing of 16 PPP activists and sent over to FIA team investigating the case from the beginning, as sealed on Tuesday.
It is pertinent to note that on the evening of 27th Dec 2007, Benazir Bhutto was fired at and subsequently attacked with a suicide explosion while she was on her way back from her Liaqat Bagh rally.
An FIR was lodged with in charge City Thana police, Kashif Riaz Khan, while five alleged assassins were also arrested, with media informed that recently killed Taliban head Baitullah Mehsud had ordered the attack.
Well before the investigations of UN team, Britain's Scotland Yard had also carried out their investigations, while FIA was also investigating the fiasco in a fresh start.
The SHO Thana City inspector Israr Satti informed that the FIR has been registered on an application submitted by PSF (People's Students Federation), against former president Pervez Musharraf and his associates also for killing of 16 PPP activists and sent over to FIA team investigating the case from the beginning, as sealed on Tuesday.
It is pertinent to note that on the evening of 27th Dec 2007, Benazir Bhutto was fired at and subsequently attacked with a suicide explosion while she was on her way back from her Liaqat Bagh rally.
An FIR was lodged with in charge City Thana police, Kashif Riaz Khan, while five alleged assassins were also arrested, with media informed that recently killed Taliban head Baitullah Mehsud had ordered the attack.
Well before the investigations of UN team, Britain's Scotland Yard had also carried out their investigations, while FIA was also investigating the fiasco in a fresh start.
UN hopes to restart aid after Kacha Pakha attack
Aid distributions that were suspended after a twin suicide bombing killed 43 displaced people at the weekend in Kohat should resume by the end of the week, the head of the UN's emergency office said on Tuesday.
Around 300 people, displaced by fighting between the Pakistani Army and militants, were queuing for food and shelter assistance at a UN registration point in Kohat district on Saturday when two male suicide bombers, disguised in burqas, attacked.
The United Nations suspended some of its humanitarian operations in the immediate aftermath due to security concerns in Kohat, as well as in the neighbouring region of Hangu, where it is assisting over 250,000 people who have fled fighting in volatile areas bordering Afghanistan.
Manuel Bessler, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Pakistan, said the two UN-run displacement camps in Hangu were still "fully operational", but that registration activities and aid distributions to those living outside camps had been suspended.
"The tragedy is not in suspending our activities, but the fact that 43 people were killed. Obviously, we cannot go back to business-as-usual after such a big tragedy. We have to review security arrangements," Bessler told AlertNet by phone from Islamabad, adding there would be a meeting to discuss this on Wednesday.
"I think we will be able to restart our activities before the end of the week," he said.
Bessler said the United Nations and other international aid agencies working in the area would look at more rigorous screening at registration and aid distribution points outside camps, and may stagger handouts to avoid large gatherings.
Bessler said beefing up security at camps was not necessary, adding he believed Saturday's attack was not aimed at the United Nations - which has been targeted in the past - but rather related to sectarian tensions.
Around 300 people, displaced by fighting between the Pakistani Army and militants, were queuing for food and shelter assistance at a UN registration point in Kohat district on Saturday when two male suicide bombers, disguised in burqas, attacked.
The United Nations suspended some of its humanitarian operations in the immediate aftermath due to security concerns in Kohat, as well as in the neighbouring region of Hangu, where it is assisting over 250,000 people who have fled fighting in volatile areas bordering Afghanistan.
Manuel Bessler, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Pakistan, said the two UN-run displacement camps in Hangu were still "fully operational", but that registration activities and aid distributions to those living outside camps had been suspended.
"The tragedy is not in suspending our activities, but the fact that 43 people were killed. Obviously, we cannot go back to business-as-usual after such a big tragedy. We have to review security arrangements," Bessler told AlertNet by phone from Islamabad, adding there would be a meeting to discuss this on Wednesday.
"I think we will be able to restart our activities before the end of the week," he said.
Bessler said the United Nations and other international aid agencies working in the area would look at more rigorous screening at registration and aid distribution points outside camps, and may stagger handouts to avoid large gatherings.
Bessler said beefing up security at camps was not necessary, adding he believed Saturday's attack was not aimed at the United Nations - which has been targeted in the past - but rather related to sectarian tensions.
China Donates $1.5 Million to Boost Mauritania's Defense
China is giving Mauritania a $1.5 million donation to boost its defense capability.
News reports from the region say Mauritania's Defense Minister Hamadi Ould Hamadi and the Chinese ambassador to Nouakchott, Zhang Xun, signed a memorandum for the donation Monday. They say the grant will be used to purchase equipment for military engineering, such as bulldozers and other machines.
Hamadi said the funding comes at a time when Mauritania is making efforts to strengthen its defense, as it faces growing challenges.
The northwest African country is wrought by ethnic tensions and also faces a growing terrorism threat by a group called al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
China and Mauritania have signed a series of agreements in recent years. In March, a Chinese fishing firm announced plans to invest $100 million in Mauritania's key fishing industry.
News reports from the region say Mauritania's Defense Minister Hamadi Ould Hamadi and the Chinese ambassador to Nouakchott, Zhang Xun, signed a memorandum for the donation Monday. They say the grant will be used to purchase equipment for military engineering, such as bulldozers and other machines.
Hamadi said the funding comes at a time when Mauritania is making efforts to strengthen its defense, as it faces growing challenges.
The northwest African country is wrought by ethnic tensions and also faces a growing terrorism threat by a group called al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
China and Mauritania have signed a series of agreements in recent years. In March, a Chinese fishing firm announced plans to invest $100 million in Mauritania's key fishing industry.
Fight for Pakistan’s Future
New York Times
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
LAHORE, Pakistan — The professor was working in his office here on the campus of Pakistan’s largest university this month when members of an Islamic student group battered open the door, beat him with metal rods and bashed him over the head with a giant flower pot.Iftikhar Baloch, an environmental science professor, had expelled members of the group for violent behavior. The retribution left him bloodied and nearly unconscious, and it united his fellow professors, who protested with a nearly three-week strike that ended Monday.The attack and the anger it provoked have drawn attention to the student group, Islami Jamiat Talaba, whose morals police have for years terrorized this graceful, century-old institution by brandishing a chauvinistic form of Islam, teachers here say.But the group has help from a surprising source — national political leaders who have given it free rein, because they sometimes make political alliances with its parent organization, Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan’s oldest and most powerful religious party, they say.The university’s plight encapsulates Pakistan’s predicament: an intolerant, aggressive minority terrorizes a more open-minded, peaceful majority, while an opportunistic political class dithers, benefiting from alliances with the aggressors.
The dynamic helps explain how the Taliban and other militant groups here, though small and often unpopular minorities, retain their hold over large portions of Pakistani society.But this is the University of the Punjab, Pakistan’s premier institution of higher learning, with about 30,000 students, and a principal avenue of advancement for the swelling ranks of Pakistan’s lower and middle classes.The battle here concerns the future direction of the country, and whether those pushing an intolerant vision of Islam will prevail against this nation’s beleaguered, outward-looking, educated class.That is why the problem of Islami Jamiat Talaba is so urgent, teachers say.“They are hooligans with a Taliban mentality and they should be banned, full stop,” Maliha A. Aga, a teacher in the art department, said of the student group as she stood in a throng of protesters in professorial robes this month. “That’s the only way this university will survive.The rhetoric of the group, like that of its parent political party, is strongly anti-West, chauvinistic and intolerant of Pakistan’s religious minorities. It was a vocal supporter of the Taliban, until doing so became unpopular last year.Its members block music classes, ban Western soft drinks and beat male students for sitting near girls on the university lawn.“It’s fascist,” said Shaista Sirajuddin, an English literature professor, of the Islamic student movement. “Every single government has averted its eyes.”The group is something of a puzzle. It may be aggressive, but it is relatively small, and has waned in popularity among students in recent years. One young teacher said association with it now brought stigma.But it still manages to dominate by deftly wielding Islam as a weapon to bludgeon its enemies, denouncing anyone who disagrees with it as un-Islamic.The tactic is effective in Pakistan, a young country whose early confusion about the role of Islam in society has hardened into a rigid certainty, making it highly taboo to question.“It’s unthinkable to talk even about human rights without reference to the Holy Book,” said Ms. Sirajuddin, referring to the Koran. “Such is the dread to be talked about as un-Islamic.”The reason goes back to history. In the 1980s, an American-supported autocrat, Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, seeded the education system with Islamists in an effort to forge a unified Pakistani identity. At the University of the Punjab, that created a pool of supporters for Islami Jamiat Talaba among teachers, making the group all but impossible to eject.
It has left liberal teachers like Ms. Sirajuddin despairing for their institution, which once upon a time produced three Nobel laureates. Now, they say, it is a shadow of its former self and no longer a safe environment for young people to exchange ideas.One of the leaders of the group’s national chapter, Nadim Ahmed, condemned the beating as “shameful,” and said the main attackers had been suspended. But he emphasized that the group itself was peaceful. Its only ambitions, he said, are to welcome new students and organize book fairs.But students and teachers say the group’s aim is power, and that it uses violence to get it. A teacher, who would give her name only as Ms. Tayyib, fearing retribution, said group members twice attacked sports events she had organized, once wielding chairs. The recently formed music department has never been able to hold a class on campus.“Every second issue is a sin,” Ms. Tayyib said.The intimidation has poisoned the academic atmosphere, said another young teacher, Nazia, who was also too fearful to allow her full name to be printed. “Jamiat is a threat for teachers,” Nazia said. “That weakens the quality of education.”Mr. Baloch, the teacher who was beaten on April 1, had taken a stand against them. He identified the ringleader as Usman Ashraf, a 26-year-old geology graduate student, whose mug shot is posted in departments around campus.“I received many applications” complaining of abuses, he said while convalescing in his home. “And more or less every second one had his name on it.”Just as in Pakistan as a whole, the stakes in this power game are property and money, and the student group has both. It is deeply embedded in the life of the campus, controlling the dormitories, the cafeterias and the campus snack shops.The group created a parallel administration, according to a former member, Nadim Jamil, and has divided the university into five zones, with a nazim, or mayor, assigned to each. The dormitories are their fiefdoms, he said, where mayors monitor movements, hold Koran reading classes and recruit members.The university is as ineffectual as the group is organized: There are dormitory ID cards, but no one bothers to check them, said Ms. Tayyib, who used to live in the girls’ dormitory, which is also controlled by the group.“It’s our fault,” Ms. Tayyib said. “We are weak. The administration is lethargic.”As unpopular as it may be on campus, the group never has trouble getting recruits. Many first-year students are shy, underprivileged youths from the countryside. The group appeals to this weakness, helping with expenses and opening up a system of benefits: More milk in their tea. Better food. Cleaner dishes.“It’s an addiction,” Ms. Tayyib said, describing the thinking of the young recruits. “I’m from a remote area, and no one ever listened to me. But now I’m important.”Mr. Baloch, who received more than 30 stitches in his head, said he believed that the attack had galvanized public opinion against the group and that it would serve to turn people against it. “The wheels of justice grind slowly but surely,” he said.
Others are less certain. Last week, several of the attackers were arrested, but Mr. Ashraf, the ringleader, was not among them. Besides, the group’s top leader on campus is the son of an important politician.“This opportunity will be lost,” said Nazia, the young teacher. “I know it’s pessimistic, but it’s what I’m thinking.”
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
LAHORE, Pakistan — The professor was working in his office here on the campus of Pakistan’s largest university this month when members of an Islamic student group battered open the door, beat him with metal rods and bashed him over the head with a giant flower pot.Iftikhar Baloch, an environmental science professor, had expelled members of the group for violent behavior. The retribution left him bloodied and nearly unconscious, and it united his fellow professors, who protested with a nearly three-week strike that ended Monday.The attack and the anger it provoked have drawn attention to the student group, Islami Jamiat Talaba, whose morals police have for years terrorized this graceful, century-old institution by brandishing a chauvinistic form of Islam, teachers here say.But the group has help from a surprising source — national political leaders who have given it free rein, because they sometimes make political alliances with its parent organization, Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan’s oldest and most powerful religious party, they say.The university’s plight encapsulates Pakistan’s predicament: an intolerant, aggressive minority terrorizes a more open-minded, peaceful majority, while an opportunistic political class dithers, benefiting from alliances with the aggressors.
The dynamic helps explain how the Taliban and other militant groups here, though small and often unpopular minorities, retain their hold over large portions of Pakistani society.But this is the University of the Punjab, Pakistan’s premier institution of higher learning, with about 30,000 students, and a principal avenue of advancement for the swelling ranks of Pakistan’s lower and middle classes.The battle here concerns the future direction of the country, and whether those pushing an intolerant vision of Islam will prevail against this nation’s beleaguered, outward-looking, educated class.That is why the problem of Islami Jamiat Talaba is so urgent, teachers say.“They are hooligans with a Taliban mentality and they should be banned, full stop,” Maliha A. Aga, a teacher in the art department, said of the student group as she stood in a throng of protesters in professorial robes this month. “That’s the only way this university will survive.The rhetoric of the group, like that of its parent political party, is strongly anti-West, chauvinistic and intolerant of Pakistan’s religious minorities. It was a vocal supporter of the Taliban, until doing so became unpopular last year.Its members block music classes, ban Western soft drinks and beat male students for sitting near girls on the university lawn.“It’s fascist,” said Shaista Sirajuddin, an English literature professor, of the Islamic student movement. “Every single government has averted its eyes.”The group is something of a puzzle. It may be aggressive, but it is relatively small, and has waned in popularity among students in recent years. One young teacher said association with it now brought stigma.But it still manages to dominate by deftly wielding Islam as a weapon to bludgeon its enemies, denouncing anyone who disagrees with it as un-Islamic.The tactic is effective in Pakistan, a young country whose early confusion about the role of Islam in society has hardened into a rigid certainty, making it highly taboo to question.“It’s unthinkable to talk even about human rights without reference to the Holy Book,” said Ms. Sirajuddin, referring to the Koran. “Such is the dread to be talked about as un-Islamic.”The reason goes back to history. In the 1980s, an American-supported autocrat, Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, seeded the education system with Islamists in an effort to forge a unified Pakistani identity. At the University of the Punjab, that created a pool of supporters for Islami Jamiat Talaba among teachers, making the group all but impossible to eject.
It has left liberal teachers like Ms. Sirajuddin despairing for their institution, which once upon a time produced three Nobel laureates. Now, they say, it is a shadow of its former self and no longer a safe environment for young people to exchange ideas.One of the leaders of the group’s national chapter, Nadim Ahmed, condemned the beating as “shameful,” and said the main attackers had been suspended. But he emphasized that the group itself was peaceful. Its only ambitions, he said, are to welcome new students and organize book fairs.But students and teachers say the group’s aim is power, and that it uses violence to get it. A teacher, who would give her name only as Ms. Tayyib, fearing retribution, said group members twice attacked sports events she had organized, once wielding chairs. The recently formed music department has never been able to hold a class on campus.“Every second issue is a sin,” Ms. Tayyib said.The intimidation has poisoned the academic atmosphere, said another young teacher, Nazia, who was also too fearful to allow her full name to be printed. “Jamiat is a threat for teachers,” Nazia said. “That weakens the quality of education.”Mr. Baloch, the teacher who was beaten on April 1, had taken a stand against them. He identified the ringleader as Usman Ashraf, a 26-year-old geology graduate student, whose mug shot is posted in departments around campus.“I received many applications” complaining of abuses, he said while convalescing in his home. “And more or less every second one had his name on it.”Just as in Pakistan as a whole, the stakes in this power game are property and money, and the student group has both. It is deeply embedded in the life of the campus, controlling the dormitories, the cafeterias and the campus snack shops.The group created a parallel administration, according to a former member, Nadim Jamil, and has divided the university into five zones, with a nazim, or mayor, assigned to each. The dormitories are their fiefdoms, he said, where mayors monitor movements, hold Koran reading classes and recruit members.The university is as ineffectual as the group is organized: There are dormitory ID cards, but no one bothers to check them, said Ms. Tayyib, who used to live in the girls’ dormitory, which is also controlled by the group.“It’s our fault,” Ms. Tayyib said. “We are weak. The administration is lethargic.”As unpopular as it may be on campus, the group never has trouble getting recruits. Many first-year students are shy, underprivileged youths from the countryside. The group appeals to this weakness, helping with expenses and opening up a system of benefits: More milk in their tea. Better food. Cleaner dishes.“It’s an addiction,” Ms. Tayyib said, describing the thinking of the young recruits. “I’m from a remote area, and no one ever listened to me. But now I’m important.”Mr. Baloch, who received more than 30 stitches in his head, said he believed that the attack had galvanized public opinion against the group and that it would serve to turn people against it. “The wheels of justice grind slowly but surely,” he said.
Others are less certain. Last week, several of the attackers were arrested, but Mr. Ashraf, the ringleader, was not among them. Besides, the group’s top leader on campus is the son of an important politician.“This opportunity will be lost,” said Nazia, the young teacher. “I know it’s pessimistic, but it’s what I’m thinking.”
Airlines lost over $1.7BN in ash chaos
Airlines have lost at least $1.7 billion due to travel disruptions caused by the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland, an industry group said Wednesday as hundreds of planes finally landed or took off from airports around Europe.
The head of the International Air Transport Association called the situation "devastating" and urged European governments to examine ways to compensate airlines for lost revenues, as the U.S. government did following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Airlines lost revenues of $400 million each day during the first three days of grounding, IATA chief executive Giovanni Bisignani told a news conference in Berlin. At one stage, 29 percent of global aviation and 1.2 million passengers a day were affected by the airspace closure ordered by European governments, who feared the risk that volcanic ash could pose to airplanes.
"For an industry that lost $9.4 billion last year and was forecast to lose a further $2.8 billion in 2010, this crisis is devastating," Bisignani said. "Governments should help carriers recover the cost of this disruption."
He noted that "the scale of the crisis eclipsed 9/11, when U.S. airspace was closed for three days."
Flights resumed in many areas, but the situation was anything but normal as airlines worked through an enormous backlog after canceling over 95,000 flights in the last week.
Air traffic control agency Eurocontrol said it expected at least 15,000 of the continent's 28,000 flights to go ahead Wednesday across Europe, and possibly much more.
But severe delays were still expected across Europe, as airlines pressed to patch together normal flights with airplanes and crews scattered all over the globe.
Germany's air traffic controllers gradually reopened the country's airspace — the busiest in Europe — after days of closures and limited activity. All restrictions were lifted for Germany's two main airports, Frankfurt and Munich, as well as several others.
"It looks like the whole German airspace will be opened in the next two hours and we are counting on it to remain so for the rest of the day," Axel Raab, spokesman for the government agency Deutsche Flugsicherung, told AP Television News.
"We cannot say what it will look like in the next few days. If the volcano becomes active again, new closures might happen. This is a decision that was made based on meteorological data," he said.
Some restrictions remained Wednesday morning over parts of Britain, Ireland and France, as well as over parts of central Europe.
But French transport minister Dominique Bussereau predicted air traffic will be back to normal before the weekend, as aviation authorities expanded the corridors where planes are allowed to fly.
Bussereau estimated that all of Air France's long-distance flights to and from France would fly Wednesday, and 60 to 70 percent of its mid-range flights. He told LCI television that another 48 hours were needed "for a total return to normal, for everything to be reopened" — if weather patterns allowed.
A French weather service plane took samples of the air Tuesday and found no volcanic ash problems, he said.
Still, several flights in and out of Paris' Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports were canceled or delayed.
The airspace over the Baltic states — Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia — and all the region's major airports opened up Wednesday. Other areas further east in Europe — Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and much of the Balkans — had opened up earlier.
Air traffic in Spain continued to be unaffected, but some of Sweden's airports were closed again late Tuesday.
In Iceland, there was no sign that the eruption at the Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) volcano was ending soon, according to Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the Institute of Earth Sciences in Reykjavik.
"We cannot predict when it will end," he said Wednesday. "(But) ash production is going down and is really insignificant at the moment."
Deutsche Lufthansa AG's chief executive on Wednesday welcomed the government agency's decision to reopen the skies.
The quantity of ash from Iceland's volcano in German airspace is so low that there's "absolutely no danger," Wolfgang Mayrhuber told broadcaster ARD. "We will restart our system as quickly as possible."
Lufthansa, Germany's biggest airline, planned to operate some 500 flights on Wednesday, comparing with 1,800 on a normal day.
"Our prime concern is security," he added.
On Tuesday, the company operated some 200 flights under visual flight rules.
Mayrhuber reiterated his criticism on how the flight disruption was handled, shutting down wide swaths of Europe's air space based on what he said were forecasts of questionable reliability.
"From the beginning, we had the suspicion that the forecasting model could not be all right," Mayrhuber said.
Lufthansa is Europe's largest airline group by sales. It owns or holds stakes in carriers including Swiss International Airlines, Austrian Airlines and British Midland.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Bajaur declared conflict-free zone
The government has declared Bajaur tribal region as ‘conflict free zone’ and asked the 27,000 internally displaced families from the areas to return to their homes.
Secretary Fata (Security) Tariq Hayat Khan said during a press briefing that Bajaur, which was notified as ‘conflict zone’ had been de-notified and all IDPs could now go back to their homes. The army remained engaged with militants for more than 20 months to flush them out.
“People of Bajaur are now free and can go to their area,” Mr Khan said, adding that formal return process of displaced families would start from April 30.
He said that return programme of the IDPs from Mohmand tribal region had already been started and they were going back voluntarily.
The government, however, has declared Loi Sam area as security corridor and its bona fide residents could not resettle there. An official said that government had placed ban on building residences within 100 yards on both sides of the road.
The decision, he said, would affect about 600 families of Tang Khata, Rashakai, Khazana Kosar and Dalay villages.
Security forces had launched operation in Bajaur in August 2008 to eliminate militants and restore eroded writ of the government in the area bordering Afghanistan.
The army had announced in March last that operation had been completed after taking over control of Dama Dola, the last bastion of proscribed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in the area.
Officials said that over 1,800 militants and about 200 soldiers had been killed in the conflict. However, top leaders of Bajaur Taliban including its head Maulana Faqir Mohammad are still at large.
Mr Khan said that security forces had arrested militants in the operation and they were being grilled while a large number of militants had surrendered to the government through tribal jirga.
He said that militants were receiving assistance from abroad and foreign hands were involved in the conflict.
He said that the army-run Special Support Group would look after food distribution while United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees would provide transport to IDPs from camps to their villages.
Four humanitarian hubs have been set up in Bajaur and Mohmand from where returning IDPs would get relief goods. These centres have been set up in Khar, Inayat Kallay, Yaka Ghund and Ghalanai.
Mr Khan said that there would be no forced return. He said that post conflict need assessment survey was underway in Mohmand and Bajaur. He said that government would provide assistance till complete rehabilitation of the affected people.
He said that 5,500 displaced families were registered from Mohmand region of which 1,900 had gone back to their homes. The IDPs had been settled in Jalozai, Palosai and Benazir camps.
UN hopes to restart aid after attack in Pakistan
Aid distribution, suspended after twin suicide attacks killed 43 displaced people in northwest Pakistan at the weekend, should resume by the end of the week, the head of the UN's emergency office said on Tuesday.
But other UN and NGO programmes are in danger of being cut or closed because of lack of funding from the international community.
About 300 people, displaced by fighting between the Pakistani army and militants, were queuing for food and shelter assistance at a UN registration point in Kohat district on Saturday when two suicide bombers, dressed in burqas, attacked.
The United Nations subsequently suspended humanitarian operations in Kohat as well as the neighbouring region of Hangu, where it is assisting more than 250,000 people who have fled fighting in Afghan border areas.
Manuel Bessler, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the two displacement camps in Hangu were still “fully operational” but that registration activities and distribution of aid to those outside camps had been suspended.
“The tragedy is not in suspending our activities, but the fact that 43 people were killed. Obviously, we cannot go back to business-as-usual after such a big tragedy. We have to review security arrangements,” Bessler told Reuters by telephone from Islamabad.
“We have a meeting on Wednesday, so I think we will be able to restart our activities before the end of the week.”
He said the United Nations and other international aid agencies working in the area would screen more rigorously at registration and distribution points, and stagger aid handouts to avoid large gatherings.
DWINDLING AID MONEY
But while the camps in Hangu and Kohat are operating, overall funding levels for humanitarian assistance is dwindling.
Only about $170 million has been received by the UN and NGOs to meet the needs of the 1.3 million people displaced and two million more just returned home, according to the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, an association of 35 of the largest international NGOs operating in Pakistan.
Programmes involving health and nutrition, hygiene and sanitation and economic assistance are either closing or in danger of closing, possibly affecting more than 1 million people.
Millions of Pakistanis are displaced - living in camps or with host families - as a result of military offensives against al Qaeda-linked Taliban militants that began in 2008.
But other UN and NGO programmes are in danger of being cut or closed because of lack of funding from the international community.
About 300 people, displaced by fighting between the Pakistani army and militants, were queuing for food and shelter assistance at a UN registration point in Kohat district on Saturday when two suicide bombers, dressed in burqas, attacked.
The United Nations subsequently suspended humanitarian operations in Kohat as well as the neighbouring region of Hangu, where it is assisting more than 250,000 people who have fled fighting in Afghan border areas.
Manuel Bessler, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the two displacement camps in Hangu were still “fully operational” but that registration activities and distribution of aid to those outside camps had been suspended.
“The tragedy is not in suspending our activities, but the fact that 43 people were killed. Obviously, we cannot go back to business-as-usual after such a big tragedy. We have to review security arrangements,” Bessler told Reuters by telephone from Islamabad.
“We have a meeting on Wednesday, so I think we will be able to restart our activities before the end of the week.”
He said the United Nations and other international aid agencies working in the area would screen more rigorously at registration and distribution points, and stagger aid handouts to avoid large gatherings.
DWINDLING AID MONEY
But while the camps in Hangu and Kohat are operating, overall funding levels for humanitarian assistance is dwindling.
Only about $170 million has been received by the UN and NGOs to meet the needs of the 1.3 million people displaced and two million more just returned home, according to the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, an association of 35 of the largest international NGOs operating in Pakistan.
Programmes involving health and nutrition, hygiene and sanitation and economic assistance are either closing or in danger of closing, possibly affecting more than 1 million people.
Millions of Pakistanis are displaced - living in camps or with host families - as a result of military offensives against al Qaeda-linked Taliban militants that began in 2008.
Monday, April 19, 2010
2 bombs hit northwestern Pakistani city; 22 dead
PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Two bombs, hours apart, exploded in the Pakistani city of Peshawar on Monday, killing 22 people and underscoring the reach of militants despite successive military offensives close to the Afghan border, police said.
The first blast exploded outside a school run by a police welfare foundation in the northwestern city, killing a young boy and wounding 10 people. Just before dusk, a second bomb went off close to a police station in a busy market area, killing 21 and wounding around 30, said police officer Zahid Khan.
Some of the victims were supporters of a hardline Islamist party holding a rally close to the station, said Khan.
Taliban and al-Qaida militants based in the Afghan border region — who are fighting Pakistani security forces — have carried hundreds of attacks over the last three years. Two blasts over the weekend in the nearby Kohat tribal region killed around 50 people, most of them refugees lining up to register for food and other aid.
The Police Public School was in session when the bomb went off, said police official Shafiullah Khan. The school is run by a foundation that raises money to help families of police officers.
The dead boy was aged between 5 and 7, Khan said. Five of the wounded were children.
Also Monday, suspected Taliban militants in the northwest detonated two bombs that destroyed a pair of oil tankers along a vital route used to supply NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
No one was wounded, but the fire also engulfed a flatbed truck and nearby shops in the Takhta Beg area of the Khyber tribal region, local official Iqbal Khan said.
Taliban militants and ordinary criminals frequently attack vehicles along the supply route that runs through the famed Khyber Pass into Afghanistan. The U.S. and NATO say their Afghan operations have felt limited impact, but they are establishing alternate routes.
The first blast exploded outside a school run by a police welfare foundation in the northwestern city, killing a young boy and wounding 10 people. Just before dusk, a second bomb went off close to a police station in a busy market area, killing 21 and wounding around 30, said police officer Zahid Khan.
Some of the victims were supporters of a hardline Islamist party holding a rally close to the station, said Khan.
Taliban and al-Qaida militants based in the Afghan border region — who are fighting Pakistani security forces — have carried hundreds of attacks over the last three years. Two blasts over the weekend in the nearby Kohat tribal region killed around 50 people, most of them refugees lining up to register for food and other aid.
The Police Public School was in session when the bomb went off, said police official Shafiullah Khan. The school is run by a foundation that raises money to help families of police officers.
The dead boy was aged between 5 and 7, Khan said. Five of the wounded were children.
Also Monday, suspected Taliban militants in the northwest detonated two bombs that destroyed a pair of oil tankers along a vital route used to supply NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
No one was wounded, but the fire also engulfed a flatbed truck and nearby shops in the Takhta Beg area of the Khyber tribal region, local official Iqbal Khan said.
Taliban militants and ordinary criminals frequently attack vehicles along the supply route that runs through the famed Khyber Pass into Afghanistan. The U.S. and NATO say their Afghan operations have felt limited impact, but they are establishing alternate routes.
Second blast in Peshawar, 21 killed
A bomb exploded at a crowded market in Peshawar on Monday, killing 21 people in the second attack on the city in a day, police said.A Jamaat-e-Islami rally was being taken out to protest against load shedding in Qissa Khawani Bazaar when the explosion occurred.Earlier today, a blast killed one child and wounded ten others outside a public school in the city.
Zardari signs 18th Amendment Bill into law
President Asif Ali Zardari signed the Bill of Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment today, after which it became part of the Constitution, Geo News reported.
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, cabinet members, PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif, Chairman Constitutional Reforms Committee of the Parliament Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, Chief Ministers and governors of the provinces attended the ceremony held at the Presidential House.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani congratulation to all the members of parliament and the entire nation on the occasion of signing of the 18th amendment bill.
“This crowning achievement will be remembered for all times to come,” he said. Let’s uphold the democratic values, he added.
The government is making every possible effort to overcome the challenges such as power shortage, poverty, rural and urban backwardness and unemployment.
He said presence of the President, Prime Minister, Parliamentarians, chief ministers and the entire opposition at one place is unprecedented in the history of Pakistan.
Senator and Chairman Parliamentary Committee for Constitutional Reforms (PCCR) Raza Rabbani paid tributes to all the members of the committee for what he said their “political maturity, political sagacity and rising above interest” for making possible the finalization of the 18th amendment.
He also paid tributes to the political leaders, saying without their guidance the Parliamentary Committee could not move ahead with the kind of open mindedness that was required for the uphill task.
Raza Rabbani said the 18th amendment bill is unique in three ways. First, it is for the first time that a duly elected president is giving his powers willingly to the prime minister and the parliament.
The constitution was mutilated by the dictators who aimed to perpetuate their power. The power does away with the name of Zia-ul-Haq; it does away with the wastages of Musharraf by repealing the 17th amendment bill.
The question of provincial autonomy ‘to some extent’ has been solved, Raza Rabbani said.
The PCCR knew that it cannot amend the basic fundamentals of the Constitution. We have maintained its Islamic character and that it continues remain a democratic constitution in a true sense, he said.
The 18th amendment bill has been passed without a dissenting note, which, he said, shows that institutions are strong.
“The Constitution returns as nearly as possible to the principles of the 1973 constitution,” Raza Rabbani announced with satisfaction.
Afghan police arrest 9 in plot for Kabul attacks
Afghan security forces arrested nine members of a terrorist cell and seized nearly a quarter-ton of explosives, foiling a plot to stage suicide bombings and other attacks in Kabul, the country's intelligence service said Monday.
The arrests mark the second time in recent weeks that the security services claim to have prevented major attacks on the capital, a result they say of better training and use of informants.
Intelligence service spokesman Saeed Ansari said four of the suspects were arrested while traveling in a vehicle in the city's eastern district, while five others were picked up at an Islamic school in Kabul.He said security forces also confiscated six rifles, two machine guns, two rocket-propelled grenades, 440 pounds (200 kilograms) of explosives, six suicide bomb vests and a vehicle. The dates of the arrests were not disclosed.
The suspects, one of whom was a Pakistani citizen, ranged in age from 16 to 55 and had been given specific responsibilities within the group such as for arranging accommodation or transporting arms, Ansari said. Three of the group were identified as would-be suicide bombers, although Ansari said the cell possessed enough explosives and vests to equip up to six suicide attackers.
He said the group was acting under orders from a Pakistan-based Taliban faction, which had rented a house in eastern Kabul, shipped weapons across the border and provided funds for the purchase of a vehicle to be used in suicide attacks.
The arrests follow the interception of a vehicle on April 8 on the outskirts of Kabul carrying what police said were five would-be suicide bombers on their way to carry out a major attack in the city — the largest such team ever detained in the capital.
Police said at the time that the bombers were sent by an al-Qaida-linked insurgent group based in Pakistan, and their capture follows widespread rumors that militants were planning attacks in the diplomatic quarter of Kabul.
The last major attack within Kabul took place Feb. 26 when suicide bombers struck two small hotels in the center of the city, killing at least 16 people, including six Indians. Afghan authorities blamed the attack on Lashkar-e-Taiba, the same Pakistan-based Islamist militia that India blames for the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed 166 people.
Also Monday, Afghanistan's defense ministry said an explosion, possibly involving land mines or mortars, killed one Afghan army soldier and wounded three during a military training exercise in Kabul.
The Taliban said the blast was a suicide attack, though the insurgents have been known to make false or exaggerated claims.
In the north of the country, Afghan and international forces were continuing an offensive to drive the Taliban away from population centers and a key supply route. As of Sunday, at least 29 militants, including two commanders, had been killed over four days of intense fighting, the Interior Ministry said.
Meanwhile, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck in mountains north of Afghanistan's capital early Monday, killing at least seven people and injuring 30, officials said.
The temblor hit in Samangan province, about halfway between Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to the province's deputy governor, Kulam Sakhi Baghlani.
Roads and communications are sparse in the area, and casualty reports take time to reach authorities. The quake was felt in Kabul as well as the neighboring countries of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Baghlani said three districts of scattered mud-walled villages were affected, with more than 300 homes damaged and dozens of head of livestock killed. Landslides sparked by the quake had blocked roads, making even more arduous what was already an eight-hour drive along winding mountain trails from the provincial capital of Aybak.
The arrests mark the second time in recent weeks that the security services claim to have prevented major attacks on the capital, a result they say of better training and use of informants.
Intelligence service spokesman Saeed Ansari said four of the suspects were arrested while traveling in a vehicle in the city's eastern district, while five others were picked up at an Islamic school in Kabul.He said security forces also confiscated six rifles, two machine guns, two rocket-propelled grenades, 440 pounds (200 kilograms) of explosives, six suicide bomb vests and a vehicle. The dates of the arrests were not disclosed.
The suspects, one of whom was a Pakistani citizen, ranged in age from 16 to 55 and had been given specific responsibilities within the group such as for arranging accommodation or transporting arms, Ansari said. Three of the group were identified as would-be suicide bombers, although Ansari said the cell possessed enough explosives and vests to equip up to six suicide attackers.
He said the group was acting under orders from a Pakistan-based Taliban faction, which had rented a house in eastern Kabul, shipped weapons across the border and provided funds for the purchase of a vehicle to be used in suicide attacks.
The arrests follow the interception of a vehicle on April 8 on the outskirts of Kabul carrying what police said were five would-be suicide bombers on their way to carry out a major attack in the city — the largest such team ever detained in the capital.
Police said at the time that the bombers were sent by an al-Qaida-linked insurgent group based in Pakistan, and their capture follows widespread rumors that militants were planning attacks in the diplomatic quarter of Kabul.
The last major attack within Kabul took place Feb. 26 when suicide bombers struck two small hotels in the center of the city, killing at least 16 people, including six Indians. Afghan authorities blamed the attack on Lashkar-e-Taiba, the same Pakistan-based Islamist militia that India blames for the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed 166 people.
Also Monday, Afghanistan's defense ministry said an explosion, possibly involving land mines or mortars, killed one Afghan army soldier and wounded three during a military training exercise in Kabul.
The Taliban said the blast was a suicide attack, though the insurgents have been known to make false or exaggerated claims.
In the north of the country, Afghan and international forces were continuing an offensive to drive the Taliban away from population centers and a key supply route. As of Sunday, at least 29 militants, including two commanders, had been killed over four days of intense fighting, the Interior Ministry said.
Meanwhile, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck in mountains north of Afghanistan's capital early Monday, killing at least seven people and injuring 30, officials said.
The temblor hit in Samangan province, about halfway between Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to the province's deputy governor, Kulam Sakhi Baghlani.
Roads and communications are sparse in the area, and casualty reports take time to reach authorities. The quake was felt in Kabul as well as the neighboring countries of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Baghlani said three districts of scattered mud-walled villages were affected, with more than 300 homes damaged and dozens of head of livestock killed. Landslides sparked by the quake had blocked roads, making even more arduous what was already an eight-hour drive along winding mountain trails from the provincial capital of Aybak.
Israeli defense minister says occupation must end
Israel must recognize that the world will not put up with decades more of Israeli rule over the Palestinian people, the country's defense minister said in unusually frank remarks Monday.
Ehud Barak's comments came against the backdrop of severe friction between the U.S. and Israel's hawkish government over an impasse in peacemaking.
Last week, President Barack Obama issued a surprisingly pessimistic assessment of peacemaking prospects, saying the U.S. couldn't force its will on Israelis and Palestinians if they weren't interested in making the compromises necessary to end their decades-old conflict.
Barak spoke to Israel Radio on the occasion of Israel's Memorial Day, dedicated to the nearly 23,000 fallen soldiers and civilian victims of terror attacks. The day is observed with a two-minute nationwide siren when people stand at attention, traffic is halted and everyday activities come briefly to a standstill.
At midnight Monday, the somber Memorial Day runs into Israel's 62nd Independence Day celebrations.
Both dates are traditionally a time for introspection. This year, Israelis are dwelling on issues such as the country's growing isolation over its policies toward the Palestinians, the growing rift with the U.S. and the failure to relaunch peace talks.
Barak told Israel Radio that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has "done things that didn't come naturally to it," such as adopting the vision of two states for two peoples and curtailing settlement construction.
"But we also shouldn't delude ourselves," he added. "The growing alienation between us and the United States is not good for the state of Israel."
The way to narrow that gap is to embark on an Israeli diplomatic initiative "that doesn't shy from dealing with all the core issues" dividing Israelis and Palestinians, he said. Chief among these are the status of contested Jerusalem, final borders and a solution for Palestinian refugees from the war around Israel's 1948 independence.
Barak dismissed talk of an imposed U.S. solution — an idea fielded recently in Washington. But he warned that while Israel is militarily strong, it needs international legitimacy as well.
"The world isn't willing to accept — and we won't change that in 2010 — the expectation that Israel will rule another people for decades more," he said. "It's something that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world."
Palestinians aspire to a state of their own, he said, and "there is no other way, whether you like it or not, than to let them rule themselves."
Barak heads the Labor Party, the most moderate member of Netanyahu's government.
But as defense minister in the country's past two governments, Barak has not even taken down the two dozen settlement satellites that Israel promised the U.S. to dismantle in 2003. Dovish critics have accused him of making Labor a fig leaf for the Netanyahu government's hawkish policies.
It wasn't clear whether Barak's statements reflected government policy, his own personal opinion or a desire to reach out to Labor voters. Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment.
Later Monday, Netanyahu told the audience at the national cemetery that Israel is eager for peace, but is ready to confront its enemies.
"We extend one hand in peace to all our neighbors who wish for peace," Netanyahu said. "Our other hand grasps the sword of David in order to defend our people against those who seek to kill us."
The Obama administration has been pushing to renew Israeli-Palestinian peace talks but despite shuttle diplomacy and unusual pressure on ally Israel, it hasn't even been able to launch the indirect talks it had hoped would start last month.
Netanyahu's government derailed the talks and precipitated the worst crisis in Israeli-U.S. relations in years by announcing plans for new Jewish housing in east Jerusalem.
Palestinians claim that sector of the city as the capital of a future state, and have refused to sit down for talks until Israel agrees to freeze all construction there — something it has refused to do.
Netanyahu has yet to provide promised proposals to the U.S. for getting the talks back on track. In the meantime, he has defended his government's plans for new housing in the disputed holy city, calling them part of a long-standing Israeli policy.
Ehud Barak's comments came against the backdrop of severe friction between the U.S. and Israel's hawkish government over an impasse in peacemaking.
Last week, President Barack Obama issued a surprisingly pessimistic assessment of peacemaking prospects, saying the U.S. couldn't force its will on Israelis and Palestinians if they weren't interested in making the compromises necessary to end their decades-old conflict.
Barak spoke to Israel Radio on the occasion of Israel's Memorial Day, dedicated to the nearly 23,000 fallen soldiers and civilian victims of terror attacks. The day is observed with a two-minute nationwide siren when people stand at attention, traffic is halted and everyday activities come briefly to a standstill.
At midnight Monday, the somber Memorial Day runs into Israel's 62nd Independence Day celebrations.
Both dates are traditionally a time for introspection. This year, Israelis are dwelling on issues such as the country's growing isolation over its policies toward the Palestinians, the growing rift with the U.S. and the failure to relaunch peace talks.
Barak told Israel Radio that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has "done things that didn't come naturally to it," such as adopting the vision of two states for two peoples and curtailing settlement construction.
"But we also shouldn't delude ourselves," he added. "The growing alienation between us and the United States is not good for the state of Israel."
The way to narrow that gap is to embark on an Israeli diplomatic initiative "that doesn't shy from dealing with all the core issues" dividing Israelis and Palestinians, he said. Chief among these are the status of contested Jerusalem, final borders and a solution for Palestinian refugees from the war around Israel's 1948 independence.
Barak dismissed talk of an imposed U.S. solution — an idea fielded recently in Washington. But he warned that while Israel is militarily strong, it needs international legitimacy as well.
"The world isn't willing to accept — and we won't change that in 2010 — the expectation that Israel will rule another people for decades more," he said. "It's something that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world."
Palestinians aspire to a state of their own, he said, and "there is no other way, whether you like it or not, than to let them rule themselves."
Barak heads the Labor Party, the most moderate member of Netanyahu's government.
But as defense minister in the country's past two governments, Barak has not even taken down the two dozen settlement satellites that Israel promised the U.S. to dismantle in 2003. Dovish critics have accused him of making Labor a fig leaf for the Netanyahu government's hawkish policies.
It wasn't clear whether Barak's statements reflected government policy, his own personal opinion or a desire to reach out to Labor voters. Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment.
Later Monday, Netanyahu told the audience at the national cemetery that Israel is eager for peace, but is ready to confront its enemies.
"We extend one hand in peace to all our neighbors who wish for peace," Netanyahu said. "Our other hand grasps the sword of David in order to defend our people against those who seek to kill us."
The Obama administration has been pushing to renew Israeli-Palestinian peace talks but despite shuttle diplomacy and unusual pressure on ally Israel, it hasn't even been able to launch the indirect talks it had hoped would start last month.
Netanyahu's government derailed the talks and precipitated the worst crisis in Israeli-U.S. relations in years by announcing plans for new Jewish housing in east Jerusalem.
Palestinians claim that sector of the city as the capital of a future state, and have refused to sit down for talks until Israel agrees to freeze all construction there — something it has refused to do.
Netanyahu has yet to provide promised proposals to the U.S. for getting the talks back on track. In the meantime, he has defended his government's plans for new housing in the disputed holy city, calling them part of a long-standing Israeli policy.
Ash cloud flights ban extended further
Hopes that flights in and out of the UK could recommence soon have been dashed when it was decided that the flights ban would stay in place until at least 1am on Tuesday.
Making the ruling, air traffic control company Nats said conditions around the movement of the layers of the volcanic ash cloud over the UK "remained dynamic".
Nats said it was maintaining close dialogue with the Met Office and with the Civil Aviation Authority and that its next flight update would be made around 3pm.
Travel association Abta estimate around 150,000 Britons have been stranded abroad because of flight restrictions.Britain sent Royal Navy warships on Monday to rescue those stranded across the Channel by the volcanic ash cloud, and the aviation industry blasted European transport officials, claiming there was "no coordination and no leadership" in the crisis that shut down most European airports for a fifth day.
Airline industry group IATA criticized Europe's response to a volcanic ash cloud and called on Monday for urgent steps to reopen airspace after five days of closures that have cost airlines $250 million a day.
ATA head Giovanni Bisignani said authorities in Europe had "missed opportunities to fly safely".
"This volcano has crippled the aviation sector, firstly in Europe and is now having worldwide implications. The scale of the economic impact (on aviation) is now greater than 9/11 when U.S. airspace was closed for three days," Bisignani said, referring to the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
"We must move away from this blanket closure and find ways to flexibly open air space, step by step," he told a news briefing in Paris.
European transport ministers are due to discuss the airspace crisis at 9 a.m. ET after a meeting of the European aviation control agency Eurocontrol, which said on Monday it expected between 8,000 and 9,000 flights to operate in Europe.
That would represent just 30 percent of normal flight traffic, and marks only a modest increase from Saturday and Sunday, when less than 25 percent of flights operated. Since Thursday at least 63,000 flights have been canceled.
Austria opened its airports on Monday but other countries kept no-fly decrees in place. Italy closed its northern airspace after briefly opening it on Monday.
The closure of most of Europe's airspace because of a huge cloud of ash from an Icelandic volcano stranded millions of passengers, and importers and exporters have been hit.
The crisis has had a knock-on effect across the world and its impact on everyday life in Europe has deepened. In Britain, companies reported staff had been unable to get back from Easter holidays abroad and hospitals said they were cancelling some operations because surgeons were stuck in far off places.
Britain's official weather forecaster the Met Office released a graphic predicting little movement of the ash plume over Europe on Monday, but saw it spreading toward the eastern seaboard of North America.
"The wind flow is staying very much the same through the day. Probably for the next three of four days the wind regime is not going to change terribly much," a Met Office spokesman said.
Bisignani called for urgent action to safely re-open airspace and called for a meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations aviation body.
"We have to make decisions based on the real situation and not on theoretical models. They (the authorities) have missed opportunities to fly safely," he said.
A senior European Union official said on Sunday the current situation was not sustainable, as airlines called for a review of no-fly decrees after conducting test flights at the weekend without any apparent problems from the ash cloud.
"We cannot wait until the ash flows just disappear," said EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas, adding he hoped 50 percent of European airspace would be risk-free on Monday.
Dutch airline KLM, which has flown several test flights, said most European airspace was safe despite the plume of ash, and dispatched two commercial freight flights to Asia on Sunday.
Volcanic ash is abrasive and can strip off aerodynamic surfaces and paralyze an aircraft engine. Aircraft electronics and windshields can also be damaged.
RULE BOOK
Senior Eurocontrol official Brian Flynn said the International Civil Aviation Organization published rules that needed to be adhered to worldwide, and guidelines to interpret at continental level.
"One could say that the guidelines are interpreted slightly more rigorously in Europe than in the United States, when it comes to responsibilities of air traffic control agencies and pilots," he told Reuters.
Iceland's Meteorological Office said the erupting volcano sent further strong tremors throughout the surrounding area on Monday but the ash plume which has caused air traffic chaos has descended to an altitude of about 2 km (1.2 miles). It was as high as 11 km when it began erupting on Wednesday from below the Eyjafjallajokull glacier.
Businesses dependent on fast air freight, have felt the impact of the disruption. Kenya's flower exporters said they were already losing up to $2 million a day. Kenya accounts for about a third of flower imports into the European Union.
In export-reliant Taiwan, the island's two major international carriers China Airlines and Eva Air said they had canceled a total of 14 cargo flights to four European airports since Thursday.
Britain said it was considering using the navy and requisitioning merchant ships to ferry home citizens stranded abroad. The response to the crisis is threatening to become an issue in the campaign for Britain's May 6 election.
The British travel agents' association ABTA said it had a rough estimate that about 150,000 Britons were stranded abroad.
"At no time in living memory has British airspace been shut down and affected this many people," said a spokeswoman.
The crisis is having an impact on international diplomacy, with Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani becoming the latest leader to abandon a visit to Europe. A joint IMF and European Union mission to Greece was also delayed.
For travelers, businesses and financial markets, the biggest problem is the unpredictability of the situation.
Economists say they stand by their predictions for European growth, hoping normal air travel can resume this week.
But if European airspace were closed for months, one economist estimated lost travel and tourism revenue alone could knock 1-2 percentage points off regional growth. European growth had been predicted at 1-1.5 percent for 2010.
"That would mean a lot of European countries wouldn't get any growth this year," said Chatham House senior economic fellow Vanessa Rossi. "But the problem is it is incredibly hard to predict what will happen. Even the geologists can't tell us."
Disruption spread to Asia, where dozens of Europe-bound flights were canceled and hotels from Beijing to Singapore strained to accommodate stranded passengers. In Tokyo, Japan Airlines said it had canceled 44 European flights so far and All Nippon Airways put its cancellations at 27.
Many U.S. airline flights to and from Europe were canceled.
Russian airports remained open, routing planes to North America over the North Pole to avoid the ash cloud.
Swat, Roots of Taliban conflict fester .
Dawn.com
MINGORA: A year after Pakistan launched a major operation to evict the Taliban from Swat Valley, markets are bustling and girls are back at school, but the root causes of the conflict still fester.
For two years the Taliban paralysed much of the valley by promoting a repressive brand of Islamic law, opposing secular girls' education and beheading opponents until the government ordered in thousands of troops.At only 125 kilometres (80 miles) northwest of Islamabad, its mountains were once a weekend getaway and ski resort.As the offensive began, around two million people fled the district but a year later many are back, trying to rebuild their lives.“Normalcy has returned... All segments of society are open and functioning,” said Qazi Jamil, the new chief of 15,000 police serving three million people in the wider Malakand region, which includes Swat.Girls in white headscarves walk to school, laden with books. Markets are cluttered with chickens, oranges and vegetables. Shutters are painted with the green and white Pakistani flag to signal opposition to the Taliban.
But threats and tensions remain. On February 22, the same day Jamil arrived to take up his new job, a suicide bomber killed nine people.
“The element of threat is still there unfortunately,” said Jamil.
“There are so many different small groups, alleys and streets it's extremely difficult to plug each and every loop. They are trying to sneak in.”
Keen to address the causes of the insurgency, the civil administration wants international donors to accelerate reconstruction and rehabilitation, and for police to take over from the army as quickly as possible.“There is a need for a new social contract between the haves and the have-nots. There is a new friction on the rise,” said Naseem Akhtar, a senior official in the civil administration.Without adequate services and reconstruction, the roots of what he calls the Taliban's “class war” - a product of Pakistan's feudal system, the huge disparity in wealth between the landowners and peasants - will continue to grow.“We have a Herculean task of reconstruction and rehabilitation,” said Akhtar.
Police need to be recruited and trained. Jobs need to be created.Conditions need to be made conducive to business. Out of 1,576 schools in Swat, the United Nations says 175 were destroyed and 226 damaged.“Right now the donors' response is poor. The international community should concentrate on providing funds,” Akhtar told AFP.Under army supervision, schools are being repaired but none of those razed has been rebuilt, officials said.Akhtar's former school, Government High School 1, is a lunar scape of rubble bulldozed by the army with 10 tent classrooms offering boys an education that would enable them to work as clerks and businessmen.Caretaker Saif-ur-Rehman says he no longer sleeps on the premises at night, despite his faith in the army, because he is too frightened after the night the militants came, blowing up the building and pointing a gun at his head.“There are still some rumours that the Taliban might come and again capture the entire area,” he said.Robert Wilson, USAID director in Pakistan, said the agency had set aside 36 million dollars for Swat, including 25 million to rebuild around 50 schools but conceded that not a single school had yet been fully rebuilt.The perception that the displaced had already returned, plus earthquakes in Chile and Haiti, means less donor money is available, said Caitlin Brady, chairwoman of the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, a group of 35 leading international aid organisations.“There are still 1.3 million people displaced (in the northwest) and people who have gone home still need assistance. We're concerned that Pakistan is becoming a forgotten crisis,” said Brady.The Central Hospital Saidu Sharif lacks equipment, specialised surgical staff, beds, updated X-ray and CT scanners, ventilators and a defibrillator.“I was expecting so much, but so far it (the response) has not been very encouraging and there has not been much contribution as far as this hospital is concerned,” said Dr Lal Noor Afridi.A few victims of the February attack are still on the surgical ward, like rickshaw driver Obeidullah who unwittingly drove himself and three passengers into the path of the suicide bomber, and is now looking for a new life.“It was a warning to leave the rickshaw thing. I want no more risk,” said the 35-year-old, bandages layered over his chest
MINGORA: A year after Pakistan launched a major operation to evict the Taliban from Swat Valley, markets are bustling and girls are back at school, but the root causes of the conflict still fester.
For two years the Taliban paralysed much of the valley by promoting a repressive brand of Islamic law, opposing secular girls' education and beheading opponents until the government ordered in thousands of troops.At only 125 kilometres (80 miles) northwest of Islamabad, its mountains were once a weekend getaway and ski resort.As the offensive began, around two million people fled the district but a year later many are back, trying to rebuild their lives.“Normalcy has returned... All segments of society are open and functioning,” said Qazi Jamil, the new chief of 15,000 police serving three million people in the wider Malakand region, which includes Swat.Girls in white headscarves walk to school, laden with books. Markets are cluttered with chickens, oranges and vegetables. Shutters are painted with the green and white Pakistani flag to signal opposition to the Taliban.
But threats and tensions remain. On February 22, the same day Jamil arrived to take up his new job, a suicide bomber killed nine people.
“The element of threat is still there unfortunately,” said Jamil.
“There are so many different small groups, alleys and streets it's extremely difficult to plug each and every loop. They are trying to sneak in.”
Keen to address the causes of the insurgency, the civil administration wants international donors to accelerate reconstruction and rehabilitation, and for police to take over from the army as quickly as possible.“There is a need for a new social contract between the haves and the have-nots. There is a new friction on the rise,” said Naseem Akhtar, a senior official in the civil administration.Without adequate services and reconstruction, the roots of what he calls the Taliban's “class war” - a product of Pakistan's feudal system, the huge disparity in wealth between the landowners and peasants - will continue to grow.“We have a Herculean task of reconstruction and rehabilitation,” said Akhtar.
Police need to be recruited and trained. Jobs need to be created.Conditions need to be made conducive to business. Out of 1,576 schools in Swat, the United Nations says 175 were destroyed and 226 damaged.“Right now the donors' response is poor. The international community should concentrate on providing funds,” Akhtar told AFP.Under army supervision, schools are being repaired but none of those razed has been rebuilt, officials said.Akhtar's former school, Government High School 1, is a lunar scape of rubble bulldozed by the army with 10 tent classrooms offering boys an education that would enable them to work as clerks and businessmen.Caretaker Saif-ur-Rehman says he no longer sleeps on the premises at night, despite his faith in the army, because he is too frightened after the night the militants came, blowing up the building and pointing a gun at his head.“There are still some rumours that the Taliban might come and again capture the entire area,” he said.Robert Wilson, USAID director in Pakistan, said the agency had set aside 36 million dollars for Swat, including 25 million to rebuild around 50 schools but conceded that not a single school had yet been fully rebuilt.The perception that the displaced had already returned, plus earthquakes in Chile and Haiti, means less donor money is available, said Caitlin Brady, chairwoman of the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, a group of 35 leading international aid organisations.“There are still 1.3 million people displaced (in the northwest) and people who have gone home still need assistance. We're concerned that Pakistan is becoming a forgotten crisis,” said Brady.The Central Hospital Saidu Sharif lacks equipment, specialised surgical staff, beds, updated X-ray and CT scanners, ventilators and a defibrillator.“I was expecting so much, but so far it (the response) has not been very encouraging and there has not been much contribution as far as this hospital is concerned,” said Dr Lal Noor Afridi.A few victims of the February attack are still on the surgical ward, like rickshaw driver Obeidullah who unwittingly drove himself and three passengers into the path of the suicide bomber, and is now looking for a new life.“It was a warning to leave the rickshaw thing. I want no more risk,” said the 35-year-old, bandages layered over his chest
Peshawar blast kills one, injures 11
A child was killed and 11 people were injured on Monday as an explosion hit a police public school in northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar, police and hospital sources said.The remote-controlled bomb blast took place outside the main gate of the state-run Police Public School at the Khyber road in Peshawar, where a large number of people were present to pick up their children, police said.
The dead was a student of 7 to 8 years old and the injured including six children have been rushed to the Khyber Teaching Hospital in the city.
Eyewitness said two vehicles were destroyed and one nearby shop was damaged partially. "Two vehicles were completely destroyed with its parts splintered around," an eyewitness Iyas Khan Shinwari told reporters.
Some analysts believe that the moderate intensity blast was designed to frighten people but the details of the blast could not be ascertained.
Most of the school's students are children of police personnel. The bathrooms of the school was damaged by a cracker blast in 2009.
The busy Khyber road, where Peshawar University and other educational institutions are situated, has been closed for traffic and the entire area was hit by panic.
The heavy police contingent arrived on the spot along with the Bomb Disposal Squad. No groups claimed responsibility for the attack so far but militants outfits including the Pakistani Taliban launched a string of bomb strikes in recent weeks in the country's restive northwest near the border with Afghanistan.
1 Goal: Education for All’ begins
The people all around the world will be participating in an international campaign ‘1 Goal: Education for All’ from April 19-26, 2010 with the purpose of giving every child and adult the opportunity to get education by 2015.
The campaign has been launched to coincide with the FIFA Football World Cup. The aim of Global Action Week (GAW) is to give priority to education financing even in the face of the economic downturn. This year, the theme is ‘Education Financing.’ The suggested slogan worldwide for the Action Week 2010 is ‘1 Goal: Education for All’.
To join the international community in this campaign, Pakistan Coalition of Education (PCE) as a member of Global Campaign for Education (GCE) is organising activities across the country. Civil society organisations, teacher associations, child rights campaigners, teachers, parents and students will join together in these activities to demand free and quality education as a basic human right and an essential factor for overcoming poverty. There are 774 million adults and 75 million children, who cannot read and write globally with majority of them in developing countries. Two thirds of the adults who cannot read and write are women and girls.
The PCE is organising GAW 2010 in 45 districts across the country. Different activities to be carried out during whole week include classroom activities, discussion sessions with students, public gatherings, sports activities, politicians go back to school campaign, displaying of banners at public places, walks, debate and drawing competitions, message collection from students and teachers on importance of public financing in education etc. In addition to that, signature campaign on joining 1 Goal for enhancing education financing, talk shows on electronic media and radio stations, message campaigns, awareness raising campaign through bill boards, interviews and collection of messages from across the country will also be part of the campaign.
All these activities would culminate in a dialogue on education financing, which would be organised in capital. The idea of this seminar is to share the importance of education public financing, sharing the budgetary trends in education financing, highlighting the role of parliamentarians, media, ministry of education and finance.
The event would also put forward the demands, messages and suggestions gathered during the global action week with the policy makers to influence them to generate a debate in the parliament and ensure that education sector gets its due share in the upcoming budget in June.
The campaign has been launched to coincide with the FIFA Football World Cup. The aim of Global Action Week (GAW) is to give priority to education financing even in the face of the economic downturn. This year, the theme is ‘Education Financing.’ The suggested slogan worldwide for the Action Week 2010 is ‘1 Goal: Education for All’.
To join the international community in this campaign, Pakistan Coalition of Education (PCE) as a member of Global Campaign for Education (GCE) is organising activities across the country. Civil society organisations, teacher associations, child rights campaigners, teachers, parents and students will join together in these activities to demand free and quality education as a basic human right and an essential factor for overcoming poverty. There are 774 million adults and 75 million children, who cannot read and write globally with majority of them in developing countries. Two thirds of the adults who cannot read and write are women and girls.
The PCE is organising GAW 2010 in 45 districts across the country. Different activities to be carried out during whole week include classroom activities, discussion sessions with students, public gatherings, sports activities, politicians go back to school campaign, displaying of banners at public places, walks, debate and drawing competitions, message collection from students and teachers on importance of public financing in education etc. In addition to that, signature campaign on joining 1 Goal for enhancing education financing, talk shows on electronic media and radio stations, message campaigns, awareness raising campaign through bill boards, interviews and collection of messages from across the country will also be part of the campaign.
All these activities would culminate in a dialogue on education financing, which would be organised in capital. The idea of this seminar is to share the importance of education public financing, sharing the budgetary trends in education financing, highlighting the role of parliamentarians, media, ministry of education and finance.
The event would also put forward the demands, messages and suggestions gathered during the global action week with the policy makers to influence them to generate a debate in the parliament and ensure that education sector gets its due share in the upcoming budget in June.
Pro-Pukhtunkhwa rally staged in Oghi
MANSEHRA: A rally was staged in Oghi Sunday to celebrate the renaming of the province as Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa.
Oghi is an important town in Mansehra district, where protests against Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa have been regularly held. The participants of the rally marched through various roads and gathered at main square of the town for the public meeting.
Addressing the rally, Roshan Khan, Rafique Khankhel, Imtiaz Ahmad and others said that the Pukhtuns struggled hard to get their identity. “If Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan could be named on ethnic lines, what is the harm if the NWFP is renamed after Pukhtuns,” argued one of the speakers. They said that they were not against the demand for separate province for Hazara people but constitutional and legal path should be followed for creation of a separate province. They also prayed for the protesters, who lost their lives in Abbottabad, saying that those who were inciting poor and innocent people for their vested interests should be brought to justice.
Oghi is an important town in Mansehra district, where protests against Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa have been regularly held. The participants of the rally marched through various roads and gathered at main square of the town for the public meeting.
Addressing the rally, Roshan Khan, Rafique Khankhel, Imtiaz Ahmad and others said that the Pukhtuns struggled hard to get their identity. “If Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan could be named on ethnic lines, what is the harm if the NWFP is renamed after Pukhtuns,” argued one of the speakers. They said that they were not against the demand for separate province for Hazara people but constitutional and legal path should be followed for creation of a separate province. They also prayed for the protesters, who lost their lives in Abbottabad, saying that those who were inciting poor and innocent people for their vested interests should be brought to justice.
Kohat blast's victims in miserable condition
PESHAWAR: Recollecting the twin suicide bombings at a registration centre for IDPs in Kohat that left 41 persons dead, desperate attendants of the injured persons at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) said life and death had lost its meaning in the tribal region.
A visit to the LRH on Sunday revealed that a number of the wounded including a boy were struggling for life in various wards. The 13-year-old boy, Minhad, having sustained critical injuries in one of the blasts, was in such a critical state that he was shifted to the general intensive care unit. Minhad went to the registration point established in the Kacha Pakha Union Council on the outskirts of Kohat for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) along with his mother.
He was near the spot when the first bomber detonated suicide vest near the queues of the IDPs waiting for registration, his cousin Ashfaq Ali said. He added that the mother of Minhad remained unhurt but he received fatal injuries.
He said most of the blast victims belonged to the Manikhel tribe displaced from lower part of Orakzai Agency and now settled in Hangu district. Expressing grief over the incident, he said: “The blood of innocent tribesmen has become the cheapest thing in the tribal areas as we do not know the reason and our fault for which we are killed.”
When asked about the condition of Minhad, Dr Mustafa in the ward said he was still in a critical state. In the Neurosurgery Trauma ward, there were two other victims identified as Ashfaq, a schoolteacher, and Kamran Ali, a wage earner.
Tending to Ashfaq lying unconscious on the hospital bed, his relative Shahadat Ali said: “When the first blast ripped through the crowd of IDPs, Ashfaq along with his 18-year-old son Mussadiq rushed to the spot. They started retrieving the bodies and the injured. But after seven minutes there was another suicide attack, killing Mussadiq on the spot and injuring his father.” He added that Mussadiq was a student of intermediate at a local college. He said Ashfaq had not yet been informed about his son’s death.
In the surgical ward, Taj Muhammad, Syed Shakeel Hussain and Niqab Ali were under-treatment. Niqab Ali, a schoolteacher, said he was passing through the area when he was caught in the blast.
Recalling the incident, he said the policemen deployed for security were inside the building of the Kacha Pakha Union Council and there were no security arrangements for queues of IDPs waiting outside. He said the tragedy that claimed the precious lives could have been averted with proper security arrangements.
The patients and their attendants claimed nobody from the government had yet visited them at the hospital to console them and enquire after their health. “Taliban are punishing because we are pro-government but the government functionaries are oblivious of our plight,” one of them said.
A visit to the LRH on Sunday revealed that a number of the wounded including a boy were struggling for life in various wards. The 13-year-old boy, Minhad, having sustained critical injuries in one of the blasts, was in such a critical state that he was shifted to the general intensive care unit. Minhad went to the registration point established in the Kacha Pakha Union Council on the outskirts of Kohat for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) along with his mother.
He was near the spot when the first bomber detonated suicide vest near the queues of the IDPs waiting for registration, his cousin Ashfaq Ali said. He added that the mother of Minhad remained unhurt but he received fatal injuries.
He said most of the blast victims belonged to the Manikhel tribe displaced from lower part of Orakzai Agency and now settled in Hangu district. Expressing grief over the incident, he said: “The blood of innocent tribesmen has become the cheapest thing in the tribal areas as we do not know the reason and our fault for which we are killed.”
When asked about the condition of Minhad, Dr Mustafa in the ward said he was still in a critical state. In the Neurosurgery Trauma ward, there were two other victims identified as Ashfaq, a schoolteacher, and Kamran Ali, a wage earner.
Tending to Ashfaq lying unconscious on the hospital bed, his relative Shahadat Ali said: “When the first blast ripped through the crowd of IDPs, Ashfaq along with his 18-year-old son Mussadiq rushed to the spot. They started retrieving the bodies and the injured. But after seven minutes there was another suicide attack, killing Mussadiq on the spot and injuring his father.” He added that Mussadiq was a student of intermediate at a local college. He said Ashfaq had not yet been informed about his son’s death.
In the surgical ward, Taj Muhammad, Syed Shakeel Hussain and Niqab Ali were under-treatment. Niqab Ali, a schoolteacher, said he was passing through the area when he was caught in the blast.
Recalling the incident, he said the policemen deployed for security were inside the building of the Kacha Pakha Union Council and there were no security arrangements for queues of IDPs waiting outside. He said the tragedy that claimed the precious lives could have been averted with proper security arrangements.
The patients and their attendants claimed nobody from the government had yet visited them at the hospital to console them and enquire after their health. “Taliban are punishing because we are pro-government but the government functionaries are oblivious of our plight,” one of them said.
Majority of Americans distrust the government: survey
WashingtonPost
Nearly 80 percent of Americans say they do not trust the U.S. government to do what is right, expressing the highest level of distrust in Washington in half a century, according to a public opinion survey.
Only 22 percent of Americans say they trust the government "just about always" or "most of the time," according to the Pew Research Center survey released on Sunday.
Americans' trust in the federal government has been on a steady decline from a high of 73 percent during the Eisenhower administration in 1958, when the "trust" question was first posed in a national survey, the research center said.
Economic uncertainty, a highly partisan environment and overwhelming discontent with Congress and elected officials were all factors contributing to the current wave of public distrust, the report said.
The long, bitter debate over the healthcare law that U.S. President Barack Obama signed last month made negative feeling about government, particularly Congress, even worse, according to the report based on a series of surveys of some 5,000 people.
About 25 percent had a favorable opinion of Congress, the lowest in 25 years of surveying, and less than half (40%) said the Obama administration was doing an excellent or good job, Pew said.
Americans were found to be more frustrated than angry, with 56 percent expressing frustration with the federal government, compared with 21 percent who said they were angry.
Forty-three percent of Republicans, 50 percent of independents who lean Republican and 57 percent of those who agree with the Tea Party movement said the government presents a major threat to their personal freedom.
That compares with 18 percent of Democrats, 21 percent of independents who lean Democratic and 9 percent of those who disagree with the Tea Party movement.
The main survey of 2,505 adults was conducted March 11-21. Three other surveys of about 1,000 adults each were conducted March 18-21, April 1-5 and April 8-11. The margin of sampling error for the surveys is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Nearly 80 percent of Americans say they do not trust the U.S. government to do what is right, expressing the highest level of distrust in Washington in half a century, according to a public opinion survey.
Only 22 percent of Americans say they trust the government "just about always" or "most of the time," according to the Pew Research Center survey released on Sunday.
Americans' trust in the federal government has been on a steady decline from a high of 73 percent during the Eisenhower administration in 1958, when the "trust" question was first posed in a national survey, the research center said.
Economic uncertainty, a highly partisan environment and overwhelming discontent with Congress and elected officials were all factors contributing to the current wave of public distrust, the report said.
The long, bitter debate over the healthcare law that U.S. President Barack Obama signed last month made negative feeling about government, particularly Congress, even worse, according to the report based on a series of surveys of some 5,000 people.
About 25 percent had a favorable opinion of Congress, the lowest in 25 years of surveying, and less than half (40%) said the Obama administration was doing an excellent or good job, Pew said.
Americans were found to be more frustrated than angry, with 56 percent expressing frustration with the federal government, compared with 21 percent who said they were angry.
Forty-three percent of Republicans, 50 percent of independents who lean Republican and 57 percent of those who agree with the Tea Party movement said the government presents a major threat to their personal freedom.
That compares with 18 percent of Democrats, 21 percent of independents who lean Democratic and 9 percent of those who disagree with the Tea Party movement.
The main survey of 2,505 adults was conducted March 11-21. Three other surveys of about 1,000 adults each were conducted March 18-21, April 1-5 and April 8-11. The margin of sampling error for the surveys is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Quake kills seven in Afghanistan's north
At least seven people are dead and 30 injured after a magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck in mountains north of Kabul, Afghan officials say.
Kulam Sakhi Baghlani, the deputy governor of Saragan province, said the quake hit just before 1am on Monday (0630 AEST) in the province, about halfway between Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif.
Roads and communications are sparse in the area and casualty reports take time to reach authorities.
The quake was felt in Kabul as well as the neighbouring countries of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
The region is capable of producing large earthquakes along fault lines where India slammed against the Asian continent millions of years ago.
Kulam Sakhi Baghlani, the deputy governor of Saragan province, said the quake hit just before 1am on Monday (0630 AEST) in the province, about halfway between Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif.
Roads and communications are sparse in the area and casualty reports take time to reach authorities.
The quake was felt in Kabul as well as the neighbouring countries of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
The region is capable of producing large earthquakes along fault lines where India slammed against the Asian continent millions of years ago.
Safe to fly now? 'No consensus' over ash
Major airlines that sent test flights into European air space found no damage Sunday from the volcanic ash that has paralyzed aviation over the continent, raising pressure on governments to ease restrictions that have thrown global travel and commerce into chaos.Is it safe to fly yet? Airline officials and some pilots say the passengerless test flights show that it is. Meteorologists warn that the skies over Europe remain unstable from an Icelandic volcano that continues to spew ash capable of knocking out jet engines.European Union officials said air traffic could return to half its normal level on Monday if the dense cloud begins to dissipate. Germany allowed some flights to resume.Eighty percent of European airspace remained closed for a devastating fourth day on Sunday, with only 4,000 of the normal 20,000-flight schedule in the air, said Brian Flynn, deputy head of operations for Eurocontrol, which supports the air traffic control network across the European Union's 27 states.
"Today it has been, I would say, the worst situation so far," Flynn said.
The test flights highlighted a lack of consensus on when to reopen the skies. The microscopic but potentially menacing volcanic grit began closing airports from Ireland to Bulgaria on Thursday, stranding countless passengers and leaving cargo rotting in warehouses."It is clear that this is not sustainable. We cannot just wait until this ash cloud dissipates," EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas told reporters at the European capital in Brussels.
KLM Royal Dutch airlines, the national German carrier Lufthansa, Air France and several regional airlines sent up test flights, probing altitudes where the cloud of ash has wafted over Europe since the volcano turned active on Wednesday. British Airways planned an evening flight over the Atlantic from Heathrow, one of Europe's busiest hubs.None of the pilots reported problems, and the aircraft underwent detailed inspections for damage to the engines and frame."Not the slightest scratch was found" on any of the 10 empty long-haul planes Lufthansa flew Saturday to Frankfurt from Munich, spokesman Wolfgang Weber said. The planes flew at low altitude, between 3,000 and 8,000 meters (9800 and 26000 feet), under so-called visual flight rules, in which pilots don't have to rely on their instruments.
Steven Verhagen, vice president of the Dutch Airline Pilots Association, said he would not hesitate to fly an aircraft today carrying his own family.
"With the weather we are encountering now — clear blue skies and obviously no dense ash cloud to be seen, in our opinion there is absolutely no reason to worry about resuming flights," said Verhagen, a pilot of Boeing 737s for KLM. "We are asking the authorities to really have a good look at the situation, because 100 percent safety does not exist."
Each country decides
Civil aviation authorities in each country must decide whether to resume commercial traffic, but the 27-nation EU said if weather forecasts are correct it expected half its flights to operate normally on Monday. While it was still unclear how the dust would affect jet engines, the EU said it was encouraged by promising weather predictions, at least for the next 24 hours.
"Probably tomorrow one half of EU territory will be influenced. This means that half of the flights may be operating," said Diego Lopez Garrido, state secretary for EU affairs for Spain, which holds the rotating EU presidency. He did not provide details about which flights might resume.France's transport minister, Dominique Bussereau, said there will be a meeting on Monday of European ministers affected by the crisis to coordinate efforts to reopen airspace.
Meteorologists warned that the situation above Europe was constantly changing because of varying winds and the continuing, irregular eruptions from the Icelandic volcano. That uncertainty is bumping up against Europe's need to resume flights.
"There is currently no consensus as to what consists an acceptable level of ash in the atmosphere," said Daniel Hoeltgen, a spokesman for the European Aviation Safety Agency. "This is what we are concerned about and this is what we want to bring about so that we can start operating aircraft again in Europe."
Kohat Tragedy!!!
Editorial: Daily Times
Kohat was struck with tragedy on Saturday as two suicide bombers attacked an IDP camp as a group of internally displaced persons (IDP) were waiting to get themselves registered and receive aid handouts. More than 40 people were killed, including a journalist, and dozens more injured. After the first suicide attack, a large crowd gathered at the site of the blast and within minutes the second blast took place. The bombers were clad in burqas. At least 210,000 people have been displaced from the tribal districts of Orakzai and Kurram. Most of them have registered in Kohat and Hangu. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s Al-Aalmi group, an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has reportedly claimed responsibility for the bombings. Being a sectarian organisation, Al-Aalmi has cited the presence of Shias at the IDP camp as the reason for the attack. After the sectarian attack in Quetta on Friday and a day after in Kohat, it seems as if the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and its offshoots are hell bent on spreading sectarian terror all over the country. Why the government has not taken any action against these sectarian outfits is beyond comprehension. Pakistan already has a lot on its hands what with the Taliban and other terrorist outfits. The resurgence of sectarian terrorism, which flourished under the Zia regime, is something to worry about. The failure to quell sectarianism is a failure of political will.
The government has to take strict measures against terror groups to save the country from going up in flames. The government’s inconsistency in cracking down on militant outfits, especially the banned organisations, shows that there is a lack of requisite political will in curbing extremism. The extremists’ hate literature and cassettes are easily available across the country and obviously violate the law of the land, but seldom invite sanctions. The government has to reconsider its policy and stop treating these militant outfits with kid gloves, and launch a heavy crackdown born of a well thought out strategy. The ease with which the terrorists have recently operated exposes the inefficiency of the security agencies. Now that such attacks have targeted not only the security forces and government officials but citizens as well in the length and breadth of the country, this has certainly thrown up a bigger challenge to the security agencies. No doubt ensuring complete security against suicide attacks is difficult because of the nature of these attacks and the level of determination of a suicide bomber, but pre-emptive measures have to be taken.
Recent terrorist attacks have shown that large gatherings are at risk and present an easy target. To attack an IDP camp is atrocious but to expect any kind of sensitivity from the terrorists is unthinkable. They are out to create panic and kill whosoever they can. Precautionary measures have to be taken by the public as well. When one blast occurs, instead of rushing to the site of the blast, the public must wait for some time before going there as there is a great danger of another blast to inflict more damage. The media has to exercise caution as well. Journalists reporting in conflict areas should be trained properly and should report from a distance when an attack takes place. Media organisations should provide life insurance for their employees who are working in sensitive areas. Having said that, the security agencies and the government must take stringent measures against all militant outfits. It is time to act.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
China's Hu reaches out to earthquake survivors
JIEGU, China (AFP) – Chinese President Hu Jintao called on rescuers Sunday to keep searching for survivors as he visited victims of a powerful quake in the country's northwest that left more than 1,700 dead.
The Chinese leader promised new homes and schools as he reached out to victims on a visit to the region hit four days ago by a 6.9-magnitude quake that killed 1,706 people and left 256 missing.
Just before his arrival, spirits were lifted by the rescue of a 68-year-old man trapped beneath rubble for more than 100 hours, the official Xinhua news agency reported, adding the man's condition was stable.
In a departure from his usually formal style, Hu stood amid the rubble in Jiegu, the largest city affected by the quake, and urged rescuers to keep going.
"We will do our best to rescue people still trapped. If there is even one chance (of finding someone), we will make an all-out effort," he said in scenes broadcast on television.
At another stop, Hu told a crowd through a megaphone the government would provide essentials such as food, drinking water, shelter, quilts and warm clothing.
"The earthquake is merciless but human beings have compassion," Hu told the crowd, adopting a warmth more usually associated with Premier Wen Jiabao.
In a makeshift hospital, Hu put an arm around a bed-ridden young woman wearing a sling. "Grandpa Hu will think of you," he said, patting her shoulder as she wept.
"There will be new schools! There will be new homes!" he wrote in chalk on a blackboard while visiting orphans in a tent turned into a classroom, Xinhua reported.
More than 100 students and 12 teachers died as schools and dormitories collapsed and dozens more people remain missing, state media reported.
The reports did not say whether Hu spoke about efforts to ensure schools can withstand earthquakes -- a sensitive issue since thousands of children died in May 2008 in the huge Sichuan quake, in which many school buildings collapsed while neighbouring structures stood firm.
More than 6,000 people have been pulled alive from the rubble of collapsed buildings, officials said. The number of personnel aiding rescue and recovery operations on the Tibetan Plateau has risen to 15,000.
On the streets of Jiegu, boxes of bottled water were dropped to help residents cope with water shortages as aid continued to pour in.
Infrastructure in Jiegu suffered major damage in the quake, with the water supply "basically paralysed", Xia Xueping, spokesman for relief efforts, said.
Officials have warned of a growing threat of disease due to sanitation risks including damage to water supplies that could leave them polluted, although no such outbreaks had yet been reported.
The Dalai Lama, whom Beijing considers a separatist and was born in Qinghai province, has appealed to Chinese authorities to allow him to visit the quake zone, where more than 12,000 people were injured and 100,000 left homeless.
In Jiegu, residents were talking excitedly about the possibility of the Tibetan spiritual leader visiting for the first time since he fled after a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.
"Everyone would like to see the Dalai Lama come here. He should come here," said 52-year-old Dorje, who like many Tibetans goes by one name, as he circled a local temple in a daily prayer ritual.
However, it appeared unlikely Beijing would allow the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader to visit the crippled area.
Tibetan Buddhist monks wearing maroon-and-saffron robes have been a prominent part of the rescue effort, digging by hand in search of survivors.
Monks cremated hundreds of victims on Saturday as hopes dimmed of finding further survivors.
Health authorities are particularly concerned that marmots who emerged from their burrows after the quake could spread pneumonic plague, Xinhua cited Jie Xuehui, a provincial health official, as saying.
Relief efforts have been complicated by sub-zero temperatures at night and scant oxygen due to the altitude -- around 4,000 metres (13,000 feet).
However the earthquake rescue headquarters warned against unauthorised people travelling to the stricken region to help, saying the area was now over-burdened by visitors.
"At present a flood of individuals and vehicles are entering the quake zone, adding extra difficulties to the rescue and relocation efforts," the headquarters said, quoted by Xinhua.
U.S. doubles anti-Taliban special forces
The Pentagon has increased its use of the military's most elite special operations teams in Afghanistan, more than doubling the number of the highly trained teams assigned to hunt down Taliban leaders, according to senior officials.The secretive buildup reflects the view of the Obama administration and senior military leaders that the U.S. has only a limited amount of time to degrade the capabilities of the Taliban. U.S. forces are in the midst of an overall increase that will add 30,000 troops this year and plan to begin reducing the force in mid-2011.Operations aimed at Taliban leaders have intensified as the military also gears up for an expected offensive this summer in Kandahar, the southern Afghan city that is the Taliban's spiritual heartland. Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants to negotiate with the Taliban, and U.S. and allied forces are trying to lure rank-and-file fighters away from extremist leaders. By hunting Taliban leaders, the specialized units hope to increase pressure on foot soldiers to switch sides.With such an abbreviated timeline, the elite manhunt teams are the most effective weapon for disrupting the insurgent leadership, senior officials said. The officials contend that stepped-up operations by teams inserted in recent months already have eroded the Taliban leadership. Defense officials specifically single out the work of special operations forces in eliminating mid-level Taliban leaders before the February offensive in the Helmand province town of Marja. They say the forces have begun similar operations in nearby Kandahar province."You can't kill your way out of these things, but you can remove a lot of the negative influences," said a senior Defense official. "A significant portion of the leadership has fled over the border, been captured or removed from the equation."But the buildup carries risks. Special operations forces have been involved in some botched strikes that ended up killing civilians, mistakes that Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, has said could undermine the overall mission. For years, Karzai and other officials have complained bitterly about civilian deaths in military actions by the U.S. and its allies.A raid Feb. 10 in the Gardez district in southeastern Afghanistan, led by a unit assigned to the Joint Special Operations Command, left two Afghan officials and three women dead.The Joint Special Operations Command, or JSOC, encompasses special mission units such as the Army's Delta Force and the Navy's SEAL Team Six, as well as troops temporarily assigned to the command, such as Army Ranger units.Neither Delta Force nor SEAL Team Six were involved in the Gardez raid, according to one government official, suggesting that Army Rangers or another unit temporarily assigned to the command was responsible.Some Afghan investigators have accused U.S. forces of covering up evidence of the attack, a charge the military disputes.The size of the military's Joint Special Operations Command is a highly classified secret. Officials would not discuss the number of covert teams or troops sent to Afghanistan.Villagers fear special operations forces, who often strike in the dead of night, and speak of them in whispers. But special operations forces pride themselves on knowing and respecting local customs. And some units have developed close ties with Afghans.The special SEAL and Delta Force units and others work in teams of as few as three. They operate in secret, often out of uniform and without regard to the military's strict regulations regarding hair length and beards.
Army Ranger units, working in larger numbers, often provide security for the special mission units, but also conduct their own capture-or-kill operations.
In the past, critics have charged that special operations forces were responsible for a preponderance of the civilian deaths caused by Western forces. Although officials concede that the number of civilian deaths caused by the teams has been damaging, the military command in Afghanistan does not believe that the elite forces are "running amok," said a Defense official.
Some of the incidents, according to officials, are a result of the high operational tempo. Special operations forces, including the JSOC teams, account for half or more of the missions being carried out by military forces in Afghanistan.The secretive Joint Special Operations Command task force is a classified subgroup of the military's overall United States Special Operations Command. The overall command has 5,800 troops in Afghanistan on a mission to train Afghan security forces and conduct joint missions with Afghan commandos.It is not clear whether that number includes the more highly specialized teams, which by some estimates number only in the dozens and were described last month by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, as a handful of troops compared with the overall U.S. and allied force, which is increasing to more than 140,000.McChrystal, a former head of JSOC, has supported the secret buildup, even while imposing restrictions on the use of air power as well as new rules on night raids. He was not given direct control of the teams, but as their former commander, he retains a large amount of influence over them.Pentagon officials recently have realigned the command structure to give McChrystal control of the U.S. Marines and special operations forces that are mainly involved in training.The Defense official said that with the new buildup, there will be more of the special operations forces in Afghanistan than there were in Iraq at the height of the U.S. troop buildup there in 2007.
Although we will have less general purpose forces than we had in Iraq, we will have more special forces," the official said.
Within the military, some consider the work of the Joint Special Operations Command units in Iraq to have been key to calming the violence at the time.
Some of the additional JSOC teams sent to Afghanistan have been shifted from Iraq, where they worked to root out extremist cells aligned with Al Qaeda. Despite the recent flare-up in violence, officials say the number of extremists being sought in the Mideast nation has declined precipitously. Describing the change in the idiom of the secret units, a senior official said: "Hunting season is over in Iraq."
In Afghanistan, the special units have been following a playbook similar to the one they used in Iraq, and Defense officials hope the elite teams will have a similar effect on the overall level of security.
Defense officials emphasize that even the teams not under McChrystal's direct control are bound by his tactical directives.
"Rules are rules for everybody," said the Defense official.
"McChrystal holds them to a higher standard than conventional forces. When things go wrong, he is extremely aware of what the costs are."
President Zardari to sign 18th Amendment tomorrow
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari is set to sign the eighteenth constitutional amendment bill on Monday.President Zardari has invited PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif at the presidency to attend the bill-signing ceremony..Sharif is expected to be present at the ceremony after having accepted the president’s invitation, sources said.
Meanwhile, chief ministers of all four provinces will also be present in the ceremony.
The eighteenth amendment will become the part of the constitution after Zardari signs it on Monday.Babar said arrangements are being finalised for “a ceremony befitting the historical occasion of reforming the constitution, and ridding it of all undemocratic clauses inserted in it by successive dictatorships.”
Meanwhile, chief ministers of all four provinces will also be present in the ceremony.
The eighteenth amendment will become the part of the constitution after Zardari signs it on Monday.Babar said arrangements are being finalised for “a ceremony befitting the historical occasion of reforming the constitution, and ridding it of all undemocratic clauses inserted in it by successive dictatorships.”
Iran Expels Dozens of Afghans Daily
More than four to eight hundred Afghans are expelled from Iran daily, and they say that Iran’s police treat them in an inhuman and humiliating way.Iranian police have hit the Afghan refugees and, in some cases, have opened fire against them. Some Afghans get killed and injured, and the police carry the dead up to the Afghan border.The Iranian government has imposed restriction on Afghan refugees for years in order to make them return to their country, but lack of security and occupational opportunities in Afghanistan has caused them to not return to their country.
“We track these cases in Iran, but we cannot secure the political relationship of the two countries because it is up to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said provincial governor Ghulam Dastagir.
Eviction and annoyance on the side of the Afghan refugees from Iran come as senior Iranian officials have called Afghans their brother and friend during trips to Kabul. During these trips, the Afghan government also emphasized the need to improve the relationship between Iran and Afghanistan.
“We track these cases in Iran, but we cannot secure the political relationship of the two countries because it is up to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said provincial governor Ghulam Dastagir.
Eviction and annoyance on the side of the Afghan refugees from Iran come as senior Iranian officials have called Afghans their brother and friend during trips to Kabul. During these trips, the Afghan government also emphasized the need to improve the relationship between Iran and Afghanistan.
Volcanic ash spreads more travel misery across Europe
BBC.COM
Millions of stranded travellers face further air chaos as the volcanic ash from Iceland that has closed most of Europe's airspace continues to spread.An estimated three-quarters of flights were cancelled on Saturday. About 20 countries closed their airspace - some have extended flight bans into Monday.Disruption is now said to be greater than that after 9/11 and the volcanic activity shows no sign of abating.Two airlines say they have successfully carried out test flights.The Netherlands' KLM said one of its planes, a Boeing 737, had reached its maximum operating altitude of about 13km in the skies over the Netherlands, and there had been no problems during the flight.The aircraft and its engines were being inspected for possible damage. After the results of that technical inspection the airline hopes to get permission from the aviation authorities to start up operations again.
Germany's Lufthansa said it had flown several planes to Frankfurt from Munich.
"All airplanes have been inspected on arrival in Frankfurt but there was no damage to the cockpit windows or fuselage and no impact on the engines," a spokesman said.
However, both Dutch and German air space remain closed until at least 1200 and 1800 GMT respectively.And weather experts say wind patterns mean the cloud is not likely to move far until later in the week.The impact is likely to exceed the airspace shutdown after the 11 September 2001 attacks, the International Civil Aviation Organisation said. Association (Iata) predicted little or no improvement on Sunday.
Eurocontrol, which co-ordinates air traffic control in 38 nations, said some 17,000 flights were cancelled across Europe on Saturday, from a total of 22,000 on a normal day.All but 55 of 337 scheduled flights by US carriers to and from Europe were also cancelled.Airlines are estimated to be losing some £130m ($200m) a day in an unprecedented shutdown of commercial air travel.BBC business editor Robert Peston said the disruption risked becoming a "major business and economic disaster" with several European airlines already facing financial difficulties."If [the disruption] goes on many days longer, a number of European airlines will run into financial difficulties and may need bailing out by governments - or so I am told by senior airline figures," our correspondent said.
Long way home
Since Thursday, countries across northern and central Europe have either closed airspace or shut key airports as the ash - a mixture of glass, sand and rock particles - can seriously damage aircraft engines.Britain has extended a ban on most flights in its airspace until at least 1800 GMT Sunday, air authorities have said.
In northern France and northern Italy, airports are to remain shut until at least Monday.Unable to catch flights, commuters across northern Europe have sought other means of transport, packing out trains, buses and ferries.The Eurostar cross-channel rail service said it had never seen so many passengers on one day and the trains were fully booked until Monday.The large no-fly zone also means that some world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, will not be attending the funeral of the Polish president on Sunday. British health officials said any effects of the ash on people with existing respiratory conditions were "likely to be short term".Southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull volcano began erupting for the second time in a month on Wednesday, sending a plume of ash 8.5km (5.3 miles) high into the air.Icelandic geologist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson told the Associated Press news agency: "It's the magma mixing with the water that creates the explosivity. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be an end in sight."Iceland lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the highly volatile boundary between the Eurasian and North American continental plates.
Schools Threatened With Closure In Camps In Northwestern Pakistan
VOA.COM
The United Nations Children's Fund warns it may be forced to shut down schools for more than 19,000 children in camps for internally displaced people in Northwestern Pakistan by the end of the month because it has run out of cash. UNICEF is appealing to donors to come up with the money to keep these children in school.
Fighting between the Pakistan government and Taliban militia in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the North West Frontier Province has displaced more than 1.3 million people. Most are living with impoverished host families. But, about 125,000 displaced people are living in camps.
The United Nations Children's Fund estimates 60 percent of the displaced are children. UNICEF spokeswoman, Christiane Berthiaume, tells VOA these children need urgent health and nutrition, protection services and a hygienic environment. She says they also need education.
"These children are coming from a region where there was already very little education. Only 17 percent of girls were going to school and 93 percent of women were illiterate. So, those schools are very, very important for these kids in displaced camps," she said.
UNICEF has appealed for $1.4 million to enable 24,000 children to continue their primary school education. But, Berthiaume notes, only six percent of that amount has been received. She says this is only enough to provide schooling for 5,000 children.
She warns children who do not go to school are subject to violence and delinquency. She says they will lose the structure that can give them a sense of security and stability. "Children that are in displaced camps are living in conditions that are not normal conditions. A child should not live in a camp. He should be in a house, in his village, in his town and go to school there. So, not only is it important that a child get an education, but it also is important to give him, as well, a certain sense of normality and give him more confidence," she said.
UNICEF says its request for assistance last year was met with a generous response from donors. That was when the conflict between the Pakistan Government and Taliban militia was at its height. That was when television screens were inundated by dramatic images of millions of people fleeing their homes.
But, the UN Children's Fund notes the situation now has calmed down and this apparently has resulted in a loss of interest in the plight of the displaced. It says the biggest losers are the children. It says they continue to suffer from insecurity and displacement, but are not receiving the support they need.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)