‘You will run again,’ Obama tells Boston at interfaith service

President Barack Obama said today that America stands with the city of Boston after the deadly terror bombing attacks at the Boston Marathon finish line on Monday. In a powerful, uplifting speech at an interfaith service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Obama said he had come to join people to “pray and mourn and measure our loss. We also come today to reaffirm that the spirit of this city is undaunted and the spirit of this country shall remain undimmed.” “I’m here today on behalf of the American people with a simple message: Every one of us has been touched by this attack on your beloved city. Every one of us stands with you,” he said. Three people died and more than 170 were injured when two blasts were detonated near the finish line at about 2:50 p.m. Monday. A massive investigation is underway, but no arrests have been made yet.Obama, who traveled to the city on Air Force One this morning with his wife, Michelle, and members of the state’s congressional delegation, promised that whoever planted the bombs would be brought to justice. “Yes, we will find you,” he said. “And, yes, you will face justice. We will find you. We will hold you accountable, but, more than that, our fidelity to our way of life, to a free and open society, will only grow stronger — for God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but one of power and love and self discipline.” He praised those who had rushed to aid the victims after the blasts, saying it sent a message to the attackers, whom he described as “these small stunted individuals who would destroy instead of build.” “This doesn’t stop us. And that’s what you’ve’ taught us, Boston. That’s what you’ve reminded us — to push, to not grow weary, to not get faint, even when it hurts. We finish the race. And we do that because of who we are and we do that because we know that somewhere around the bend, a stranger has a cup of water. Around the bend, somebody’s there to boost our spirits. On that toughest mile, just when we think we’ve hit a wall, someone will be there to cheer us on and pick up.” And he promised toward the end of the speech that the Boston Marathon would go on, as would the celebrations that have been held on the same streets for the city’s championship teams. “When the Sox, the Celtics, the Patriots, the Bruins are champions again – to the chagrin of New York and Chicago fans – the crowds will gather and watch a parade go down Boylston Street. And this time next year, on the third Monday in April, the world will return to this great American city to run harder than ever and to cheer even louder for the one hundred and eighteenth Boston marathon. Bet on it!’’ he thundered, receiving a standing ovation. Obama has spoken in the past to try to comfort communities in shock and mourning. He spoke after the mass murders at Fort Hood in 2009, Tucson in 2011, and Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., in 2012. Obama also planned to meet with victims of the blast and their families and first responders, a White House spokesman said on Air Force One this morning. Obama, who spoke for about 20 minutes to a packed crowd of about 2,000, was one of a series of speakers at the service, which lasted for an hour and a half. The other speakers included Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, clergy, and Governor Deval Patrick and Mayor Thomas M. Menino. Menino pushed himself out of a wheelchair, grimacing at his broken leg, to talk about the strength of his beloved city. “I have never loved its people more than I do today,” Menino said this morning. “We are one Boston. Nothing can tear down the resilience of this city.” Patrick said the “cowardice unleashed on us” should not cause people to lose their faith in America’s civic ideals. “We have defined those ideals, through time and through struggle, as equality, opportunity, freedom and fair play. … And just as we cannot permit darkness and hate to triumph over our spiritual faith, so we must not permit darkness and hate to triumph over our civic faith. That cannot happen. And it will not.”

Up to 15 killed in Texas fertilizer plant explosion

Rescue workers searched the wreckage of a fertilizer plant on Thursday for survivors of a fiery explosion that killed as many as 15 people, injured more than 160 and leveled houses in a small Texas city. Three to four volunteer firefighters were among the missing following the explosion on Wednesday night, said Sgt. William Patrick Swanton of the Waco, Texas, police department. Firefighters had responded to a fire at the West Fertilizer Co before the 8 p.m. blast that rocked West, a town of 2,700 people about 20 miles north of Waco. The death toll remained estimated at five to 15 people, Swanton said at a news conference in Waco on Thursday. "That's a rough number," he said. "There are still firefighters missing," Swanton said. "They were actively fighting the fire at the time the explosion occurred." Rescuers are still in a "search and rescue" mode," he said. "That's good news to me, meaning that they're probably still getting injured people," Swanton said. "They have not gotten to the point of no return where they don't think that there's anybody still alive." A law enforcement official was found alive but in critical condition in a local hospital, Swanton said. President Barack Obama, who flew to Boston for a memorial service for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, offered support and prayers to the victims in Texas. Witness Kevin Smith told CBS News he had just climbed the stairs to the second floor of his home when he felt the blast. "The house exploded. It was just a bright flash and a roar, I thought it was lightning striking the house," Smith said. "I felt myself flying through the air about 10 feet, and it took a second or two to realize that the roof had caved in on me so I knew it wasn't lightning." Light rain was falling and winds had picked up to 22 miles per hour Thursday morning, conditions that could complicate the recovery effort or prompt additional evacuations. "I've never seen anything like this," McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said. "It looks like a war zone with all the debris." Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco admitted 28 of more than 100 people it treated, with five in the intensive care unit, said David Argueta, vice president of operations. The explosion came two days before the 20th anniversary of a fire in nearby Waco that engulfed a compound inhabited by David Koresh and his followers in the Branch Davidian sect, ending a siege by federal agents. About 82 members of the sect and four federal agents died at Waco. SEISMIC BLAST Ground motion from the blast, triggered by a fire of unknown origin at the plant, registered as a magnitude 2.1 seismic tremor and created a jolt felt 80 miles away in Dallas, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The firefighters had been battling the fire and evacuating nearby houses and a nursing home for about 20 minutes before the explosion occurred. Texas Public Safety Department spokesman D.L. Wilson said about half the town, eight to 10 blocks, had been evacuated and that "we might even have to evacuate on the other side of town" if winds shift. Wilson said 50 to 75 houses were damaged by the explosion and fire, and a nearby 50-unit apartment complex had been reduced to "a skeleton standing up." Muska put the number of destroyed homes at between 60 and 80. Wilson said 133 people were evacuated from the nursing home, which was heavily damaged, but it was not known how many residents had been hurt. A middle school also was badly damaged. 'KIDS SCREAMING' Three hospitals in Waco and Dallas reported treating more than 160 injuries from the blast. "We are seeing a lot of lacerations and orthopedic-type injuries ... things you would expect in an explosion," said Argueta at Hillcrest Baptist. Jason Shelton, 33, a father of two who lives less than a mile from the plant, said he heard fire trucks heading toward the facility five minutes before the explosion and felt the blast as he stood on his front porch. "My windows started rattling and my kids screaming," Shelton said. "The screen door hit me in the forehead ... and all the screens blew off my windows." Governor Rick Perry said 21 National Guard members had been sent to help with emergency response efforts. Obama said federal emergency officials were monitoring the local and state response. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said it is sending a "large investigation team" to the scene.

Obama: Gun lobby 'willfully lied'

The Senate Fails Americans

For 45 senators, the carnage at Sandy Hook Elementary School is a forgotten tragedy. The toll of 270 Americans who are shot every day is not a problem requiring action. The easy access to guns on the Internet, and the inevitability of the next massacre, is not worth preventing. Those senators, 41 Republicans and four Democrats, killed a bill on Wednesday to expand background checks for gun buyers. It was the last, best hope for meaningful legislation to reduce gun violence after a deranged man used semiautomatic weapons to kill 20 children and six adults at the school in Newtown, Conn., 18 weeks ago. A ban on assault weapons was voted down by 60 senators; 54 voted against a limit on bullet magazines. Patricia Maisch, who survived a mass shooting in Tucson in 2011, spoke for many in the country when she shouted from the Senate gallery: “Shame on you.” Newtown, in the end, changed nothing; the overwhelming national consensus to tighten a ridiculously lax set of gun laws was stopped cold. That’s because the only thing that mattered to these lawmakers was a blind and unthinking fealty to the whims of the gun lobby. The National Rifle Association once supported the expansion of background checks, but it decided this time that President Obama and gun-control advocates could not be allowed even a scintilla of a victory, no matter how sensible. That group, and others even more militant, wanted to make sure not one bill emerged from the Newtown shooting, and they got their way. A vast majority of Republicans meekly followed along, joined by a few nervous red-state Democrats, giving far more weight to a small, shrill and largely rural faction than to the country’s overwhelming need for safety and sanity. Guns had not been on the president’s campaign agenda, but, to his credit, he and Vice President Joseph Biden Jr. came up with a solid package of proposals after Newtown that would have reduced the number of dangerous weapons on the street and in the hands of criminals. Mr. Obama traveled the country to promote it in 13 speeches, and he has spent the last weeks unsuccessfully trying to pry senators out of the pocket of the gun lobby. The most important aspect of his proposal, in the eyes of many gun-control advocates, was the expansion of background checks, both because it closed an important loophole and because it seemed the easiest to pass. From 20 percent to 40 percent of all gun sales now take place without a background check, and the bill rejected on Wednesday would have required the check for buyers at gun shows, on the Internet and at other commercially advertised sales. It was sponsored by two pro-gun senators with the courage to buck the lobby, Joe Manchin III, a Democrat of West Virginia, and Patrick Toomey, a Republican of Pennsylvania. The critical need for this measure was illustrated by a report in The Times on Wednesday that showed how easy it is for criminals to buy weapons on the Internet without a look at their backgrounds. One widely popular Web site contains tens of thousands of private postings of gun sales, and The Times’s investigation found that many buyers and sellers were criminals. Some of the guns have been used to kill. A vote to continue this practice would be hard to explain to constituents, so lawmakers simply invented reasons to oppose background checks. Some insisted it would lead to a national gun registry, though the plain language of the bill prohibited that. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said it would raise taxes. Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona said it would require checks even when a gun sale is posted on an office bulletin board. (There’s nothing wrong with that, but it wouldn’t.) Mr. Obama, after the vote, said those who made these arguments had “willfully lied.” It’s now up to voters to exact a political price from those who defied the public’s demand, and Mr. Obama was forceful in promising to lead that effort. Wednesday was just Round 1, he said; the next step is to replace those whose loyalty is given to a lobby rather than the people. “Sooner or later, we are going to get this right,” he said. “The memories of these children demand it, and so do the American people.”

Hillary Clinton pens tribute to Obama

http://www.usatoday.com/

President Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are turning into quite the mutual admiration society. Just a few months after Obama sat with Clinton for a joint interview on CBS' 60 Minutes, Clinton has penned a tribute to Obama in the pages of Time magazine. Obama is "a leader who delivers," writes the former secretary of State in Time's annual issue on the world's 100 most influential people. Some analysts will no doubt see Clinton's praise for the man who defeated her in the 2008 Democratic primaries as another sign that she will seek the presidency in 2016. Here is Clinton's brief essay on Obama: "Crowds jammed the streets of Rangoon. Children waved American flags. Parents craned to see something long thought impossible: the President of the United States had come to Burma with a message of hope, freedom and opportunity. This was American leadership at its best. "When Barack Obama was first elected, the world saw the realization of the American Dream. Today, they see a leader who delivers -- whether it's ending the war in Iraq, imposing crippling sanctions on Iran or reasserting our role as a Pacific power and building a world with more partners and fewer enemies. At home, the economy is growing, unemployment is falling, and home prices are rising. "Now, President Obama is working to create broader prosperity at home and become more competitive abroad by investing in our people, modernizing our infrastructure, building a new energy future and managing our long-term fiscal challenges. That's the course for a better future."

Red Cross: Security deteriorating in Afghanistan

Associated Press

The International Committee of the Red Cross warned on Thursday that security was deteriorating across Afghanistan as militants flood the battlefield and conduct attacks in what could be the most defining spring fighting season of the nearly 12-year-old war. This year is crucial for Afghanistan as the U.S.-led coalition is expected to hand over the lead for security in Afghanistan to the country's security forces sometime in the late spring. Foreign military forces are then expected to begin a massive withdrawal of forces that will culminate at the end of next year. Gherardo Pontrandolfi, head of the ICRC delegation in Kabul, also urged the warring parties to prevent the deaths of civilians, who have become increasingly caught in the crossfire. "Spring is a good season of the year usually. But unfortunately it has a negative connotation with the resumption of the fighting," he said. "Spring and summer will be very difficult for civilians especially in the months ahead. The civilian population is bearing the brunt of this conflict." So far, April has been the deadliest month of this year. According to an Associated Press tally, 186 people — including civilians, security forces and foreign troops — have been killed in violence around the nation. More than 150 insurgents have also died, according to the tally. The latest deaths came in southern Helmand province when insurgents shot and killed four laborers building a checkpoint for the Afghan army, said provincial spokesman Umar Zawaq. The Taliban have pledged to target anyone working for the government or the U.S.-led coalition. Pontrandolfi said the Afghan Red Crescent had temporarily stopped humanitarian operations in northern Jawzjan province after unknown gunmen ambushed a medical van on Wednesday and killed two staff members of the local organization. Two other Red Crescent staff members were wounded in the attack. "This is a tragedy, not only for the families of the deceased, but for all those needing medical attention, because now units like these might find it even more difficult to work in certain parts of the country," he said. He added that the security situation has been made worse by a multitude of insurgent and criminal groups now operating around the country, a sign that the mainstream insurgent groups, such as the Taliban, might be fracturing. The Taliban usually allow the ICRC and affiliated groups, such the Red Crescent, to operate in areas they control. "What we see is a proliferation and fragmentation of armed actors," Pontrandolfi said. "Fighting, roadblocks, roadside bombs and a general lack of security prevent medics and humanitarian aid from reaching the sick and wounded — just when they need it most." The Taliban are stepping up their attacks this spring, analysts say, as they try to position themselves for power ahead of national elections next year and the planned withdrawal of most U.S. and other foreign combat troops by the end of 2014. The persistent violence has undermined confidence in the ability of President Hamid Karzai's forces to take over the country's security.

Earthquake in Balochistan

An earthquake occurred on Tuesday afternoon with an epicentre some 82 km below the surface in Iranian Balochistan. While there has been no loss of life in Iran, at least 27 injuries were reported. However, in Pakistan’s Balochistan, dozens of villages on the Mashkhail area of Washuk district were damaged, while 24 people were killed by building collapses, which was measured at 7.8 on the Richter scale. It is noteworthy that the epicenter was in Iran, but the deaths occurred in Pakistan. It was the worst earthquake in Pakistan since the one that struck Azad Kashmir in 2005, and is another indication that the complex of mountains, consisting of the Himalayan Range and the mountain ranges of what amount to its foothills, are now seismically active. Recent trends have shown destructively violent earthquakes to be occurring at increasingly frequently. If human habitation is to continue in the region, it will have to be in accordance with this new reality, and people will have to both accept and implement the new restrictions.And restrictions there will have to be, mainly in terms of building regulations. As the Azad Kashmir earthquake showed, unrestricted and unrestrained building cannot be permitted, for residential or any other purpose. Not only have certain areas to be excluded, but building plans must be approved, seeing among other things whether the proposed building can withstand the rigours of an earthquake. It is also an inadvertent test of the utility of the caretaker government, with the Balochistan caretaker Chief Minister and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority coming into action. The authority was one of the provincial bodies set up after the Azad Kashmir earthquake, and which so far had been devoting itself to flood relief. Though this particular disaster was not at all a needed reminder, this was the kind of disaster that needed management. It should not be forgotten that Quetta, not all that far from the earthquake-hit area, has been the site, in 1930, of one of the worst earthquakes in history. If the government does not ensure proper building rules being implemented countrywide, that would only be waiting for a future tragedy to occur.

Pakistan: Politicians under attack

Daily Times

In one lethal incident after the other, the corpses of women, children, the elderly and young men keep piling up, scarring the mental, emotional and social psyche of the population across the country. The very nature and irregularity of methods employed to unleash violence make it impossible for any effective system to be put in place that may act as an impediment to any further attacks. In the absence of a solid and effective counterterrorism policy, implementation of whatever excuse of a policy there is in existence; inadequate resources available to the security agencies, scarcity of manpower, and the fear of the next attack that could be an IED, a suicide bomber, a remote-detonated device away, fear looms large, and there is no respite in sight. As 16 people died and several were injured in a suicide bombing in Peshawar on Tuesday, the sense of grief was manifold. The attacked venue was an Awami National Party (ANP) rally. The politician in the forefront who sustained injuries was the brother of the slain ANP leader Bashir Ahmed Bilour and former federal minister for railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, and the dead included a child. The senior leaders of the ANP, despite being under open threat from the TTP, were deprived of security by the caretaker set-up, protesting which the ANP leader Asfandyar Wali Khan wrote to the Election Commission of Pakistan, but to no avail. The three parties that are secular in their stances — the PPP, MQM and ANP — are considered an obstacle in the implementation of the radical, fanatical manifesto of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and are in a constant line of fire. No safeguard seems to work when it comes to the ANP. The audacity with which the Taliban assumed responsibility of the attack through their spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan’s telephonic message reveals the outrageousness of the militant group, which seems to declare: we are not scared to attack repeatedly until we remove all obstacles from our way. The inability of Pakistan’s security agencies to deter such attacks sadly seems to reiterate that. Meanwhile a remote-controlled bomb ripped through the motorcade of the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Nawab Sanaullah Zehri in Balochistan, killing four people, including his son, brother and nephew, and wounding 30. This tragedy came about when the convoy was en route to Zehri from Anjeera during the election campaign that is underway in most parts of Pakistan these days. This deadly incident appears to have the imprimatur of the Baloch insurgents, who seem to be on a vengeance spree amidst the constant ‘kill and dump’ policy of the Frontier Corps and its mercenary death squads, and to sabotage the elections in the province. The two very unfortunate events marking more deaths and mayhem in the troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are clear indications of the attempts from two different sets of actors to sabotage the process of electioneering and eventually the election on May 11. Albeit there is a sense of tremendous fear among people in these areas to assemble in open spaces now, the need of the moment is not to cave in in the face of these attacks. These elections are not only a historic first in terms of a democratic transition, any obstacle to their timely holding would engender a bigger political crisis. Succumbing to the threats of the TTP would be tantamount to saying the will of the terrorist is stronger than that of the state. Unfortunately, the previous government failed, as has the caretaker one, to find ways and means to talk to the Baloch insurgents, which may have led to a better outcome. Now, it does not seem the violence will subside long enough to peacefully hold the elections.

ANP: Taliban’s main target

The Awami National Party is certainly the main target of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan which has mounted deadly attacks on the party's rallies since the election campaign got underway. The party's election rallies have come under attack almost daily taking a heavy toll of life of the party workers and the common people. The latest of the rallies in Sardehri area of Charsadda where ANP leader Farooq Khan was targeted in a bomb blast in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Charsadda region on Wednesday. The blast occurred near the vehicle carrying Farooq Khan who escaped unhurt. Khan is the Vice-President of ANP in constituency of PK-17 and is also the coordinator of ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan's election campaign. On Tuesday a suicide bomber targeted a rally of senior ANP leader and former Pakistan Railways minister Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour at an election rally of the same party at Gilani Chowk in Peshawar. He sustained minor injuries. Seventeen people, including three children and six police personnel, were killed while 64 were injured in the attack. Nineteen of the injured were still under treatment at the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar; condition of two wounded was reported to be critical. Previously, ANP leaders Syed Mukarram Shah and Syed Masoom Shah were targeted in two separate attacks. While Mukarram was killed, Masoom Shah sustained grievous injuries. The TTP, which has claimed the responsibility of all these attacks, had sometimes ago declared the Pakistan People's Party, the Pakhtun nationalist party ANP and urban Sindh-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement as its targets during the electioneering. All the three parties have a secular agenda and are opposed to Taliban's extremist views and militancy. The PPP, the country's largest political organization, had to cancel its main rally at Naudero, in Larkana, on April 4 this year for the first time in nearly three decades owing to security concerns. If this is the situation in the beginning of electioneering, the future could hold an appalling scenario, particularly on May 11, the day appointed for polling across the country. Voters turn-out on the day is all wrapped in an environment of fear and there may not be keenly contested elections this time. Candidates and their supporters will not escape the impact of these fearsome surroundings. The possibility of the upcoming parliamentary elections turning out to be the bloodiest cannot be ruled out with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the worst victim. What appears a major snag in the overall state of affairs is that despite the menace of extremism and terrorism taking a heavy toll of l life for years in and years out, police and other law enforcing agencies have not equipped themselves with the professional knack that is required to combat the twin menace. The country also failed in working out a intensive security strategy to serve as the basis of fighting terrorism and civil and military intelligence agencies also faltered in increasing their much needed coordination to counter terrorism. The same is the story of the recently established Counter Terrorism Authority which is facing similar lacunas. Such a strategy was formulated initially under a resolution by an all-party conference in Islamabad on Swat and Malakand on May 18, 2009. Moving ahead, a joint session of parliament passed on October 22 the same year a national security strategy was founded after a two-week in-camera session in which top men in security fray, military and civil, gave briefing in the presence of all the provincial and Gilgit-Baltistan chief ministers, senators and MNAs. What is needed is to pick up the thread of the two sessions and polish finer points of their resolutions to work out an effective anti-terrorism strategy. Similar will be the requirement of the Counter Terrorism Authority in working out a policy in this regard. The question arises as to what the caretaker administrations at the center and in provinces are doing to remedy the wrong. They have been assigned to hold free, fair and transparent election for the transition of democracy, but will they be able to achieve the cherished goal under the circumstances? True that the outgoing government, the Musharraf regime and earlier governments have not been able to raise an effective anti-terrorism edifice, the caretakers are, too, indulging in photo sessions and nothing concrete. They have a constitutional responsibility of passing on the baton of democracy to another in an environment where the electorate does not feel hesitant in going to polling stations for security reasons. This is their fundamental task which needs to be focused upon in all earnest.

Pakistan's Musharraf on the run after arrest order

http://www.chron.com/

Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf and his security team pushed past policemen and sped away from a court in the country's capital on Thursday after his bail was revoked in a case in which he is accused of treason. Local TV broadcast footage of the dramatic scene in which Musharraf jumped into a black SUV and escaped as a member of his security team hung to the side of the vehicle. He sped away to his large compound on the outskirts of Islamabad that is protected by high walls, razor and guard towers. This week has gone from bad to worse for Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999 when he was serving as army chief and spent nearly a decade in power before being forced to step down in 2008. He returned last month after four years in self-imposed exile to make a political comeback despite legal challenges and Taliban death threats, but has since faced paltry public support. A court in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Tuesday disqualified Musharraf from running in the parliamentary election scheduled for May 11, likely squashing his hopes for political comeback. The case before the Islamabad High Court on Thursday involved Musharraf's decision to suspend the constitution and declare a state of emergency in 2007. He also placed senior judges, including the chief justice of the Supreme Court, under house arrest. Musharraf obtained pre-arrest bail before he returned to the country, meaning he could not be arrested when he landed — a feature of Pakistan's legal system. The Islamabad High Court refused to extend that bail on Thursday and ordered his arrest, said police officer Ali Asghar. Policemen were deployed at the court to detain the former military ruler, but he managed to escape, said Asghar. Musharraf's lawyer, Ahmad Raza Kasuri, complained that the court didn't listen to their arguments. "It is a one-sided decision," said Kasuri. A spokeswoman for Musharraf, Saima Ali Dada, said his legal team was trying to decide the next move. Musharraf's decision to flee the court could put the Pakistani army in an awkward situation. The former general is protected by paramilitary soldiers who officially report to the Interior Ministry, but are headed by senior army officers. Ali Dayan Hasan, the director of Human Rights Watch in Pakistan, called on the military authorities protecting Musharraf to comply with the court's order and ensure that he presents himself for arrest. "General Musharraf's act today underscores his disregard for due legal process and indicates his assumption that as a former army chief and military dictator he can evade accountability for abuses," said Hasan in a statement sent to reporters. "Continued military protection for General Musharraf will make a mockery of claims that Pakistan's armed forces support the rule of law and bring the military further disrepute that it can ill afford," Hasan said. Pakistan has a long history of the army seizing power in military coups, and the service is considered the most powerful institution in the country. If convicted of treason, Musharraf could face the death penalty or life in prison. But the federal government would have to file charges against the former military ruler, which it has not yet done. The petitions in Islamabad High Court accusing Musharraf of treason were all filed by individuals. Musharraf faces similar accusations from petitions filed before the Supreme Court. He also faces legal charges in several other cases, including the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the murder of a nationalist leader in Baluchistan in 2006. Given the legal challenges and Taliban threats against Musharraf, many experts have been left scratching their heads as to why he returned. Some have speculated he misjudged the level of public backing he would get, while others guessed he was simply homesick. Musharraf flew to the southern city of Karachi from Dubai on March 24. He was only met by a couple thousand people at the airport, a sign of how little support analysts say he enjoys in the country. A few days later, an angry lawyer threw a shoe at Musharraf as he was walking through a court building in Karachi. The former military ruler applied to run for parliament from four different districts in Pakistan, which is allowed by the country's political system. Judges initially rejected three of his applications, but an official in the remote, northern district of Chitral gave him approval to run. That changed Tuesday when the High Court in the northwestern city of Peshawar disqualified Musharraf in Chitral. He can appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, but legal experts speculated that chances the decision would be overturned were remote. Dozens of police and elite commandos blocked the main road leading to the compound where Musharraf was holed up on the outskirts of Islamabad and residents were asked to use another route to go to their homes. About 20 Musharraf supporters who gathered near the compound held banners and shouted slogans in favor of the former military ruler.

Boston Marathon investigation: FBI has identified suspect, authorities say no arrest has been made

Yahoo! News

Authorities have identified a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings and denied news reports that an arrest had been made in the attack. The Associated Press and the Boston Globe reported the suspect had been arrested and was en route to the Moakley Federal Courthouse in South Boston. But the Boston Police Department and the US Attorney's office in Boston denied those reports on Wednesday afternoon, saying no arrest had been made. CNN also reported no suspect was in custody, backtracking from its earlier report that a suspect had been nabbed.

Pakistan: Imran Khan and engaging delusion | PTI leaders behind boycott of Ahmadi-made products?

There was a moment last December when the mirage shimmered and briefly dissipated for many Imran Khan supporters. Amidst a tsunami of Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP) and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba/Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) flags, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Vice President Ijaz Chaudhry thundered on stage at the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) rally in Lahore. The special message that he delivered from his quaid, Imran Khan, touched the usual conspiracies and clichés about India, America and the Pakistani government. Yet, many PTI supporters were taken aback by their party rubbing shoulders with sectarian murderers and terrorists. Khan himself was questioned on sharing a platform with the likes of JuD and SSP. Unfazed, Khan simply said it was his duty to “engage” with everyone no matter how extreme. The mirage reconstructed itself. PTI acolytes parroted the party line. The PTI was not associating with terrorists. It was “engaging” fringe elements to wean them into the mainstream. This rhetoric is attractive without being accurate. Consider. In May 2011, PTI leaders attended a rally with JuD that condemned the killing of Osama bin Laden, and pronounced him –– a man who had declared war on Pakistan –– a “Martyr of Islam.” PTI leaders also attended rallies with JuD and other extremist organisations on January 30, 2011 and October 29, in favour of Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws, and to express admiration for Salman Taseer’s assassin. Khan’s message, delivered by Ijaz Chaudhry, was one of endorsement. He called Pakistan’s blasphemy laws “divine,” foreclosing any reform. Further, in April, 2011 Khan personally visited the Darul-Uloom Haqqania to seek support for his anti-drone dharnas – the campaign many see as a watershed in his rise. Popularly known as “the University of Jihad,” the Dar-ul-Uloom is accused by the Federal Investigation Agency of being the launching pad for former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. It has schooled the Taliban’s top leadership, including the Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, who derives his name from his proud affiliation with his alma mater. And Khan’s “engagement” there? Extolling the virtues jihad as a mandatory obligation – the very ideology the would-be jihadis are indoctrinated with. The DPC’s anti-Ahmadi activities are well-documented. Less so are the PTI’s, which has attended events arranged by the Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nubuwwat to discuss “increasing anti-social activities by Qadianis [Ahmadis] destroying the country’s peace”. Little surprise, then, that PTI leaders were behind the bigoted boycott of Ahmadi-made products by the Lahore Bar Association. At DPC rallies PTI leaders are seen erupting in wild applause, encouraging the militancy, xenophobia and misogyny spouted by the likes of Ahmed Ludhianvi of the SSP and Hafiz Saeed of the JuD. In fact, PTI president Javed Hashmi recently named the UN-declared terrorist Hafiz Saeed to be a “preacher of peace” on the same day that Saeed was publicly calling for “holy war”. In this light, who is engaging whom? And where does engagement drift into naked endorsement? It appears that the PTI, instead of peeling away extremists, is pandering to the hateful agendas of Pakistan’s Islamist and hyper-nationalist lunatic fringe. Moreover, as these organisations gain a mainstream podium to disseminate their extreme views, they are gaining a veneer of legitimacy with mainstream voters and PTI supporters. Indeed, the terrorist SSP has undergone a resurgence since its outings with the DPC and PTI. Can one reasonably expect the nature of PTI’s “engagement” with the far-right to be substantially different when Imran Khan does not believe jihadist radicalisation to be a concern? Having opposed military operations against the Taliban and terrorist organisations, Khan has stated that in power he would cease any action against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Recently he went so far as to state that “there is not a threat to Pakistan from Taliban ideology.” This is stunning given the backdrop of the spiralling persecution and slaughter of Pakistan’s beleaguered minorities, including Shias, Ahmadis, Hindus and Christians, by the Taliban and groups sharing their sectarian ideology –– among them PTI’s DPC partners. Khan’s position becomes positively morbid considering that a staggering 40,000 Pakistanis have been killed in militant and terrorist attacks since 2001. Whatever routine of blame-the-imperialist one engages in to explain the existence of these terrorists, the fact is their ideology –– unthreatening to Khan –– accommodates mass murder. Here, then, is the rub. Politics is about nurturing electoral constituencies and ensuring survival. If far-right politics and appeasing extremists successfully paves the way to power, then after years in the political wilderness Khan will have found his electoral niche. Those making excuses for this political opportunism are engaging only delusion.

Boston bombing suspect arrested

Authorities have arrested a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings based on security video that showed a man depositing a bag at the scene before the blasts, CNN reported on Wednesday, citing U.S. and Boston law enforcement sources. A U.S. law enforcement source told Reuters that a suspect had been identified and that a formal announcement would be made later in the day. The developments are the biggest publicly-disclosed breaks since Monday's blast at the marathon finish line killed three people and injured 176 others. Investigators were searching through thousands of pieces of evidence from cell phone pictures to shrapnel shards pulled from victims' legs. Based on shards of metal, fabric, wires and a battery recovered at the scene, the focus turned to whoever may have made bombs in pressure cooker pots and taken them in heavy black nylon bags to the finish line of the world-famous race watched by crowds of spectators. A stretch of Boston's Boylston Street almost a mile long and blocks around it remained closed as investigators searched for clues in the worst attack on U.S. soil since the hijacked plane strikes of September 11, 2001. Cities across the United States were on edge after Monday's blasts in Boston. Adding to the nervousness was the announcement that mail containing a suspicious substance addressed to a lawmaker and to President Barack Obama. The FBI said, however, that agents had found no link the attack in Boston. The blasts at the finish line of Monday's race injured 176 people and killed three: an 8-year old boy, Martin Richard, a 29-year-old woman, Krystle Campbell and a Boston University graduate student who was a Chinese citizen. Boston University identified the student as Lu Lingzi. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. "Whether it's homegrown, or foreign, we just don't know yet. And so I'm not going to contribute to any speculation on that," said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who until January was Massachusetts' senior senator. "It's just hard to believe that a Patriots' Day holiday, which is normally such time of festivities, turned into bloody mayhem." FBI ASKS WITNESSES FOR PHOTOS The FBI was leading the investigation and asking witnesses to submit any photos of the blast site -- which was crowded with tens of thousands of spectators, race staff and volunteers and runners. Many of them have turned in thousands of images, authorities said. "Probably one of the best ways to get a lead is to go through those images and track down people coming and going with backpacks," said Randy Law, an associate professor of history at Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama and author of "Terrorism: A History." "It's the needle in the haystack but when you have the resources that the local and federal authorities have, they can go through what I'm sure will be thousands and thousands of photos and hours of videos. You can find something occasionally," Law said. The head of trauma surgery at Boston Medical Center, which was still treating 19 victims on Wednesday, said his hospital was collecting the shards of metal, plastic, wood and concrete they had pulled from the injured to save for law enforcement inspectors. Other hospitals were doing the same. "We've taken on large quantities of pieces," Dr. Peter Burke of Boston Medical Center told reporters "We send them to the pathologists and they are available to the police." NYLON FRAGMENTS, BALL BEARINGS AND NAILS Bomb scene pictures produced by the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force and released on Tuesday show the remains of an explosive device including twisted pieces of a metal container, wires, a battery and what appears to be a small circuit board. One picture shows a few inches of charred wire attached to a small box, and another depicts a half-inch nail and a zipper head stained with blood. Another shows a Tenergy-brand battery attached to black and red wires through a broken plastic cap. Several photos show a twisted metal lid with bolts. The nickel metal hydride battery typically is used by remote-controlled car enthusiasts, said Benjamin Mull, a vice president at Tenergy Corp. The batteries, made in Shenzhen, China, are sold on the internet and in hundreds of outlets. People at the company "were shocked and appalled" when they learned their battery had been used in the blast, he said. Security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said instructions for building pressure-cooker bombs similar to the ones used in Boston can be found on the Internet and are relatively primitive. Pressure cookers had also been discovered in numerous foiled attack plots in both the U.S. and overseas in recent years, including the failed Times Square bombing attempt on May 1, 2010, the officials said.

Dept. Store Surveillance Cam ID's Suspect in Boston Bombing

BREAKING: CNN: Dept. Store Surveillance Cam ID's Suspect in Boston Bombing

Bahrain opposition calls for big protests ahead of F1 race

The main opposition society in Bahrain has called for a major demonstration ahead of Sunday's Formula One Grand Prix race in the Gulf kingdom. Khalil al Marzooq, a senior Al Wefaq leader, told the BBC that the protest would take place along a major motorway, Budaiya Highway on Friday. But he said the society will not call for protests on the day of the race. Activists have demanded the race be cancelled due to the country's poor human rights record. Mr Marzooq also urged all protests to be peaceful. "We do not support any violence either from security forces or protesters," he said. The F1 race is taking place against a backdrop of tension as unrest continues in the island kingdom. On Tuesday, police fired tear gas and clashed with students in a raid on a secondary school in the capital, Manama. Officers stormed the Jabreya school for boys after students staged a protest demanding the release of a colleague arrested on Monday, activists say. Wefaq says more than 100 people have been arrested this month, many from villages close to the site of the race. And Amnesty International has condemned what it called a "crackdown" on protests ahead of the race. In a statement on Wednesday, the organisation's Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said: "The authorities are trying to use the Grand Prix as a platform to show progress, with claims that the human rights situation has improved, whilst stepping up repression in order to ensure nothing disturbs their public image." However Citizens for Bahrain, an organisation that supports the race, rejected criticism from human rights groups. In a statement sent to journalists it argued that "the race unites people, despite political differences, after a period of unrest and sectarian tension". But Mr Marzook told the BBC that the tension is ongoing and that a dialogue aimed at finding solutions was "stalemated". "The government wants the world to believe the situation is normal. Bahrain is not normal. The only thing that is normal is the repression." The country has been rocked by anti-government protests since early 2011. On Sunday a car bomb blew up in the heart of the financial district in the capital Manama, though without causing injuries. An opposition group calling itself the February 14 movement has said it was behind the blast. While Wefaq and other opposition groups repeat their calls for peaceful protest, angry youths are ignoring them and routinely taking to the streets armed with Molotov cocktails. They have set up roadblocks with burning tyres and have fought running battles with the police. There have been almost daily clashes in Bahrain since security forces used birdshot and tear gas to quash a three-day-old peaceful protest at Manama's Pearl Roundabout on 17 February 2011. As violence escalated 35 people, including five police officers, were killed, and hundreds more were hurt and jailed in February and March 2011. Since then, opposition and human rights activists say more than 50 people have died, a figure which the government disputes.

Bilour urges interim govt, leaders to find solution to militancy

Less than 24 hours after he escaped a suicide blast on his convoy, senior Awami National Party (ANP) leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour said that despite severe threats to his life, he will not step back from contesting elections. At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the venue of an ANP meeting in the Yakatot area of Peshawar on Tuesday. Bilour, the former federal minister for railways and the ANP candidate for NA-I constituency, was the chief guest at the meeting. The blast had injured the senior ANP leader, but was meant for his nephew, son of his slain brother Bashir Bilour. Bilour, while addressing a press conference in Peshawar, said that an FIR will be lodged against the President of Pakistan, Supreme Court Chief Justice, Chief of Army Staff, Chief Election Commissioner and the leaders of all those political parties who did not condemn terrorists if any member of Bilour’s family or party was targeted henceforth. Bilour called yesterday’s attack a cowardly act of terrorism and added that if CJSC, COAS, Chairman ECP and President of Pakistan sit together and try, they will arrive at a solution to deal with the threat of terrorism. “We are fighting a war for the sovereignty and integrity of the country; we do not have personal enmity with anyone,” he said, posing the question, “why ANP activists and leaders are particularly being targeted by the terrorists?” The former minister further urged the public to come forward and openly denounce terrorist acts in which innocent people have lost their lives. He stated that those cannot be true Muslims killing other Muslims without any cause. “Ulema should come forward and need to collectively issue a Fatwa against terrorism. Whereas other political parties should also come forward and defend ANP because we are neither non-Muslims nor non-believers; we believe on humanity and have the same faith of Maulana Hussain Ahmed Madani and Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad,” he said. I do not care for my life, Bilour valiantly declared, while adding that that terrorists attempts to deter ANP political workers from their path are futile and that the party will continue denouncing terrorists and their activities. Bilour though finds himself in a peculiar quandry after the Taliban apologised to him for the injuries sustained in the attack, claiming they were unaware the senior leader would be at the gathering. “We apologise to Ghulam Bilour because we announced an amnesty for him,” Taliban spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan had told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location hours after the blast. “Our target was Haroon Bilour.”

US Offers Aid as Iran Quake Kills 40 in Balochistan

The Baloch Hal

Troops scrambled in Balochistan Wednesday to aid the remote victims of an earthquake centred in nearby Iran, as the United States offered assistance and a strong aftershock jolted the region. The epicentre of Tuesday’s 7.8 magnitude quake lay in southeast Iran but all 40 deaths reported so far have been in Balochistan, where hundreds of mud-built homes suffered damage. The powerful tremor shook the ground and caused panic as far afield as Kuwait and the Indian capital New Delhi. Thousands of people evacuated towering residential and office buildings in Dubai. A new aftershock early Wednesday frayed nerves on the Iran-Pakistan border. The US Geological Survey measured its magnitude at 5.7. In Pakistan, officials said that regular army and paramilitary forces had deployed to help the relief effort after Tuesday’s quake brought down homes in the Mashkail area of Balochistan. Military helicopters carrying medical teams have been sent to the area while paramilitary troops are supplementing the relief efforts, they said. “The death toll is estimated at more than 40, including women and children,” Major Attiq Minhas of the paramilitary Frontier Corps Baluchistan told AFP at Dalbandin airport, around 250 kilometres from Mashkail. He said 650 personnel were involved in the rescue operation in Mashkail town and that so far medical staff had received 23 wounded people. Abdul Bari, a 32-year-old tailor who broke his leg, told AFP that his wife and children were fine, but feared that dozens of people from his neighbourhood had been killed or wounded. “I was on my way home from my tailoring shop when the earth started shaking and soon found myself on the ground with the wall of a house on me,” he told AFP in Dalbandin, after travelling for five and a half hours by taxi for help. “When I felt the tremors, I saw within seconds houses razed to the ground. It was like doomsday,” he said, while waiting for an army helicopter ambulance. “I saw three small children taken out from the debris of a collapsed wall by local people. Two were slightly injured while one seemed serious,” he added. UN chief Ban Ki-moon also expressed condolences after Tuesday’s disaster and said the “United Nations stands ready to help as necessary if asked to do so”. The quake struck in the afternoon with its epicentre around 80 kilometres east of the city of Khash, in the Iranian province of Sistan Balochistan, the USGS said. A local health official in Iran told the Fars news agency that more than 20 villages were probably “severely damaged”, based on initial reports. At least 27 people were hurt in Iran, according to a local governor speaking to the IRNA news agency, but there was no immediate confirmation of any deaths. The quake came a week after another struck near Iran’s Gulf port city of Bushehr, killing at least 30 people. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that the latest quake had caused no damage to Iran’s nuclear power plant at Bushehr or any other nuclear facilities. David Rothery, who chairs the volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis course at Britain’s Open University, said the depth of Tuesday’s quake – 82 kilometres underground – would have lessened its impact. But he added that the area “is mountainous, and damage can be expected from landslides as well as because of poorly constructed buildings”.

Boston Marathon bombing suspect reportedly identified

http://rt.com/

Law enforcement officials in Boston tell reporters that they may have identified the suspect thought responsible for Monday’s deadly bombing that has so far claimed three lives. Just after 1 p.m. local time on Wednesday, CNN reported that a suspect has apparently been identified, but no other details have been released at this time. It is unknown as to whether or not the suspect has been detained, and his name and identify have not been made public as of this time. According to CNN’s sources, surveillance video from a department store and a local television station are believed to have helped authorities identify the person sought responsible for Monday’s incident, which US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday is being investigated as an act of terror. CNN’s John King reports from Boston that the video footage helped police narrow in on a person being considered a suspect in the attack “to such detail, I’m told, that they believe they have a clear identification, including a facial image of a suspect.”

Afghanistan: Education under attack

http://www.afghanistantimes.af/

Certain reports are doing rounds in media that Nangarhar University hostel has become a tryst for the Taliban and Hizb-e-Islami (HIA) political activits who are becoming a threat to the smooth learning environment of the university. Universities and education centers are supposed to be cradles of change—the change that’s real in essence and everlasting in nature. But unfortunately our universities are becoming political centers instead of imparting modern education. During the past three decades Afghanistan has found itself mired in number of challenges, and the more it tries to get out of these challenges the more it sinks into them. Its education is under attack as hundreds of schools have been blown up by militants, so far. While certain invisible hands have also vitiated the peaceful and conducive learning environments of universities. Moreover, the same reeking mindset of civil war era is gradually creeping into universities where you will hear too much about politics, ethnic prides and identities, but less about the changes taking place globally. Afghanistan’s population is extremely young, with a noted youth bulge, but unfortunately the youth is standing at the crossroad. If they fall prey to the mindset of warlords, the country will face yet another decade of hardships and challenges. Most of the youngsters have not seen the civil war era personally, which is good, but most of the time they hear about it from their elders, who knowingly or unknowingly are doing a bad job to their children, and eventually to the nation. Unfortunately children of the nation receive heavy doses of repugnance-capsules at home by their elders. Since their elders have seen the civil war times, which is why they speak ill about it and usually take sides and blame those who is not from their own ethnic group. Such talks leave indelible imprints on their children’s nascent minds. It also shows that how much we have become morally corrupt as no one has the courage to own it as a national problem as one ethnic group says that it is because of another group and vice versa. In a sense the repercussions of the bloody civil war are still dogging us. Moreover, universities and colleges are the places where students come across different lingual or ethnic groups and instead of transforming a new society—a society where there is no talk about ethnic identities and prides, they unfortunately have fallen victim to a disease of hate-speech, intolerance and ethnic rifts. 2012 was riddled with such tensions in education centers. In Kabul University there was bloodshed and the university remained shut for weeks. Now once again certain reports are afloat in media that Nangarhar University’s hostel has become a preferred place for night-time political gatherings. Its hostel has become a tryst for anti and pro-government students. This is too unfortunate. However, more unfortunate is the silence of the government over it as all it is going under the very nose of the government. Though a few students were arrested by security forces but the issue is still going on. Besides that their political and apolitical activities badly affect the conducive learning environment for those students who come purely for education purposes. It has become evident that most of the students have started campaigns for the Taliban and Hizb-e-Islami of Afghanistan (HIA).And if the issue goes unaddressed by the government the day is not so far that it will become a new serpentine challenge.

Pakistan: Taxes and politicians

The tax returns filed by those intending to contest the 2013 election have once again highlighted the fact that the ruling elite, engaged in conspicuous consumption, nonetheless pays income taxes that are simply not proportionate to their wealth. Much has been said in the media about the appallingly low taxes paid by several prominent senior politicians notably former prime ministers Gilani and Ashraf as well as the heads of various parties including PML (N), the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf, the MQM, the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (F) and Awami National Party. The general perception supported by recent research does indicate that the majority of Pakistani politicians in both the provincial and national assemblies, hailing mainly from the rich farm sector, exempt from the payment of income tax to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) as the constitution stipulates that farm income tax is a provincial subject, pay a very small percentage to the provincial kitty. The reason is the option allowed by provincial governments to the farm sector: either pay provincial farm income tax which has a tax code similar to the federal tax code or else pay taxes on farm income computed on the basis of acreage under cultivation. The rich farmers in all provinces, almost exclusively, opt to pay tax on the basis of acreage under cultivation which is a much smaller amount relative to the tax on income payable to the provincial kitty. This is supported by the fact that total tax collections under this head for all provinces have been very low. The provincial governments did achieve enhanced financial autonomy after the agreement on the 7th National Finance Commission award which envisaged 56 percent to be assigned to the provinces in 2010-11 and fifty-seven and a half percent from 2011-12 onwards. In addition, the 18th Constitutional Amendment devolved several ministries notably education and health to the provinces which, it was argued, could be funded from the provincial exchequer with the rise in their financial resources from the divisible pool. Be that as it may, the onus of increasing their own revenues to enable them to implement projects in the devolved social sectors with a view to ensuring access to all in the province now falls on provincial governments, which has led many to argue that provinces must also seek to further supplement their income. That unfortunately has not happened. One way to increase provincial revenue would be for the provincial governments to withdraw the two options available to rich farmers and compel them to pay income tax at the same rate as that levied by the FBR on incomes of the salaried class. Poor tax collections in Pakistan with an appallingly low tax to Gross Domestic Product ratio has received much attention not only from the local media but several major donor governments have expressed anger against the continued failure of the government to compel the 'elite' to pay taxes. Hillary Clinton as the then Secretary of State consistently and legitimately maintained that the government of Pakistan must not rely on the US taxpayers to provide support for the economy when Pakistani elite were not paying taxes. This view was also expressed by the German Foreign Minister - Germany is one of the top four countries providing assistance to Pakistan - with the most recent such argument presented by a British select committee of parliament. Given the global recession and the need for Western governments to implement politically challenging austerity measures on their own people not only has overall development assistance declined world-wide but the West has also begun to link aid to performance. Pakistan would therefore have to implement reforms in the tax and power sectors before we can hope to access external assistance. Levy of a farm income tax by provincial governments at the same rate as dictated by the FBR would be a positive step in this direction.

Pakistan: Militants force thousands to flee FR Peshawar

Thousands of people fled the semi-tribal Akakhel area and shifted to different localities of Peshawar after receiving threats from banned militant group Lashkar-i-Islam of Khyber Agency. A number of Akakhel people told Dawn on Tuesday that they had to leave their homes because Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) had warned them to support it or vacate the area. They said that about 5,000 people had left the area. However, police put the number of displaced Akakhel persons at 2,000. “We received many warnings in the past but did not pay any head to these, however, the latest warning was given directly by militants, who came on motorcycles and talked to our elders to leave the area or ready to die,” said Mohammadullah Khan, a resident of Akakhel in Frontier Region of Peshawar. He said that at least 5,000 people had reached Koh-i-Daman, a suburban area of Peshawar. He said that the displaced people were residing with their relatives and under the open sky. “Many of the displaced people have been accommodated by the residents of Matani, Badbher, Mashokhel, Maryamzai, Sherikera, Zangali, Sheikhan and other localities. We are in dire need of food, shelter and other daily use items but the government is yet to take notice of our miseries,” Mr Khan said. Mr Khan said that media didn’t highlight the miseries of those people, who walked on foot from Akakhel to reach safer places owing to non-availability of transport facility. “Usually the drivers of Datsun pick-up demand Rs500 to 1,000 from Peshawar to Akakhel but now they demand Rs4,000 for a single trip owing to the alarming law and order situation in the area,” he said.Mr Khan said that they left behind household items to save their lives. He said that most of the displaced Akakhel people belonged to Zawa, Margat and Hassankhel villages. He said that basic reason of their displacement was establishment of peace committees in the area. “The people of Akakhel supported the anti-Taliban lashkar and blocked entry of militants into Peshawar district. It infuriated militants and they started targeting our people. Many of our people were killed in targeted attacks, bomb blasts and even students of the area were killed in the recent past,” he said. The law enforcement agencies, he said, also asked people to save themselves as the situation was very alarming and they might face casualties if they remained in their homes. Mr Khan said that a government primary school in Ajab Talal village and houses of the leaders of some of the peace bodies were also blown up on Monday. He said that terrorists also attacked Zawa Levies checkpost on Tuesday night. Several persons were injured in the attack, he added. Haji Gul, another resident of the area, demanded of the government to register Akakhel people as internally displaced persons, provide essential commodities to them and arrange schooling for the students. He said that local people were offering cooked food to them but it was not a matter of a day or two. It was duty of the government to take steps for supporting them, he said. “We are also in dire need of drinking water,” Mr Gul said. Superintendent of Police (SP) Rural Circle Shafiullah Khan, when contacted, said that at least 1,500 Akakehl people were staying in Matani and over 200 families in Badbher and adjacent areas. “Security is our main concern and thus we have established checkpoints at different places and deployed police to conduct search of the luggage and bodies of the people entering Peshawar,” he added. The SP said that influx of Akakhel people started a few days ago when tribal people from Tirah valley were shifting to Peshawar owing to operation there. Despite repeated efforts officials of Provincial Disaster Management Authority could not be contacted by telephone.

US drone destroys 'Taliban base' in Pakistan

A US drone has fired two missiles into a Taliban training camp in Pakistan, destroying the compound and killing at least five people, local officials have said. Wednesday's strike took place in the Baber Ghar area of the South Waziristan tribal district on the Afghan border, a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud where the faction runs several camps. One local security official, however, said the five killed were suspected al-Qaeda fighters. "The target was a base of Pakistani Taliban. Five militants have been killed and two injured," the official told AFP news agency. Another official in Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, confirmed the attack and told AFP the drone targeted a base of Tehreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan's umbrella Taliban faction. Pakistan repeatedly denounces US drone strikes, criticising them as a violation of sovereignty that inflame anti-Americanism despite leaked US diplomatic cables that showed leaders allegedly agreed to them in private. UN special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights envoy Ben Emmerson, who visited Islamabad last month as part of an investigation into civilian casualties caused by drone strikes, said the US drone attacks violated Pakistan's sovereignty. According to Britain's Bureau of Investigative Journalism, CIA drone attacks in Pakistan have killed up to 3,587 people since 2004, up to 884 of them civilians.

Obama, 'We will hold them accountable'

Pakistan To Remove Border Installations After Afghan Objections

http://www.rferl.org/

A senior Afghan military official says Pakistan has promised to remove controversial installations along the disputed border line between the two countries. Afzal Aman, the Afghan National Army's chief of military operations, said Pakistan would remove the structures on April 16. Aman told RFE/RL that the agreement was reached during a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart in Islamabad on April 15. One day earlier, Afghan President Hamid Karzai had reportedly instructed his top security officials to take "immediate action" regarding the removal of a border gate and checkpoint recently installed by Pakistan along the British-drawn Durand Line.An Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman had suggested that "all options" were open in Kabul to ensure the installations were removed. Pakistan and the United States view the Durand Line, created in the 19th century, as an international border. Kabul, however, has consistently refused to recognize the Durand Line, a boundary that cuts through the ethnic Pashtun heartland.

Ghulam Bilour wounded, 9 others killed as ANP rally is targeted Peshawar

Awami National Party leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour was injured while 9 party supporters were killed in a blast targeting an election rally in the Yakatoot area of Peshawar. According to initial information, Bilour and his nephew Haroon Bilour, the son of the late Bashir Bilour, were leaving the rally venue when a bomb struck near Haroon's vehicle, injuring his uncle Ghulam Bilour. Haroon Bilour escaped the attack. At least 9 supporters of the party are reported dead while 40 others are being treated at the Lady Reading Hospital. - See more at: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/04/16/news/national/ghulam-bilour-wounded-others-killed-as-anp-rally-is-targeted-peshawar/#sthash.0BBlG23T.dpuf

Blast near ANP meeting in Peshawar kills 8, injures 45

At least eight people were killed and 45 were injured in a blast in Peshawar near a Awami National Party (ANP) meeting on Tuesday. The bomb blast took place in Yakatoot just after the arrival of senior Awami National Party leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour. Initial reports suggest that it was a suicide attack targeting ANP leader Ghulam Bilour’s car. The car caught fire after the blast in which the driver burnt to death, while Bilour reportedly sustained injuries. SHO Kotwali Abid Khan was also killed in the blast. The injured, including Express News correspondent Ehtisham Khan, were shifted to Lady Reading Hospital. Nearby shops were also damaged in the blast. A rescue operation is underway at the site.

Earthquake kills at least 21 in Pakistan

According to US Geological Survey, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Iran on Tuesday, killing at least 45 people while tremors of the quake were felt in several other countries including Pakistan killing at least 21 people in Mashkeel area of Balochistan. The epicenter of the quake was area near Pak-Iran-Afghan border at a depth of 73 miles. According to Director General Met Arif Mahmood, a 7.9-magnitude quake was recorded while its depth was 76 kilometre. People came out of houses and offices due to the tremors. The earthquake damaged a part of a six-storey building at Tariq Road in Karachi while windowpanes of several other buildings were also damaged. Tremors were also felt in other cities of the country, including Lahore, Multan, Quetta and parts of Sindh. Strong tremors of quake were also felt in North West areas of India and several other countries including UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

Pakistan: ''' Approaching IMF ''

The fear that Islamabad will eventually approach the International Monetary Fund for yet another bail-out package have finally come true because Pakistan has decided to again approach the world body as the only option to replenish its dwindling foreign exchange reserves and widening budget deficit. A six-member delegation, including the State Bank of Pakistan governor and chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue, will enter into technical talks with the International Monetary Fund for a $5-7.5 billion package. The delegation will, between April 17 and 22, also negotiate with the United States treasury department for the next tranche of Coalition Support Fund. Pakistan has estimated the CSF at $ 2.52 billion and Washington has accounted this to be $1.5 billion. With the US authorities showing willingness to disburse fresh CSF to Pakistan, an agreement between the two figures seems on the card during the Pakistan delegation visit to Washington. The talks will be held on the sidelines of annual spring meeting of the World Bank and IMF. The three-day meeting is scheduled to begin on April 19. A critical picture of Pakistan's economy was portrayed by the State Bank of Pakistan which reported last week that the country's foreign exchange reserves are rapidly falling and budget deficit gap is also widening. The central bank said that foreign exchange reserves had declined from $8.7bn, at the end of January, to $6.7bn on April 5, mainly due to debt repayments. The balance of payment position continues to be driven by low financial inflows and high debt repayments as net capital inflow of $34m in first eight months were not sufficient to finance external current account deficit of $700m. It said the current account deficit was expected to widen in the remaining two months and the net capital and financial flows were not likely to increase considerably. This pressure on the national economy was hard to be eased out unless fresh income flows were generated. The caretaker government, realizing the economic situation, reluctantly decided to go for another IMF bailout out package, the third since 2007-08, because no other option was apparently available. What is, however, feared at this stage is that the IMF would impose stricter conditions for the next package than before as the world body has been showing its displeasure on Pakistani authorities failing, owing to political reasons, in enforcing a general sales tax, withdrawal of subsidies in the power and agricultural sectors, structural reforms to put the macroeconomic framework in order over the next few years and many more. As beggars are no choosers, Islamabad might this time assure the IMF to meet its condition in the absence of another alternate. Nevertheless, if GST is placed in action, Pakistan may achieve the long standing objective of documentation of the national economy that would ultimately bring the affluent trading community and the country's elite into the tax net. Pakistan has since repaid a total $8.3 billion of the remaining IMF loan and is required to pay another $840 million during the current fiscal year. The remaining amount of $5.3bn would have to be repaid over the next two years. The IMF is least satisfied with Pakistan's ability to retire its debt and this may serve as instrumental for the country getting another bailout package. Another factor favouring Pakistan is the increase of remittances from Pakistanis abroad which have been growing since 2006 and have touched a figure of approximately $20 billion. Promising trend has also been witnessed in the country's exports mainly due to the major contribution by the textile sector that swelled by a robust 36 per cent in the first 10 months of the current fiscal. Except for these areas none other external inflows showed up in the federal budget for 2012-13. This poses a serious challenge to the economy. The main area of shortfalls remains the failure of the Federal Board of Revenue in meeting targets. The FBR is, however, unlikely to achieve the annual revenue collection target of Rs 2.3 trillion revenue collection as is manifest from a robust shortfall that stood at of more than Rs 60 billion in first four months of the year 2012-13. This area has been a permanent worry for the country's economic managers because the FBR is infested with rampant corruption and bureaucratic lethargy. Exactly this is the area of concern for the IMF which wants the country's elite to be taxed. The world body is all likely to enter into a new arrangement with Islamabad but effective measures to boost the tax recovery regime have to be taken but, for all practical purposes, tax collection is a victim of political expediency.

ZARDARI URGES TRIBAL PEOPLE TO ACTIVELY TAKE PART IN POLLS

President Asif Ali Zardari has urged people of tribal areas to enthusiastically participate in the general elections and elect representatives who can bring about a positive change in their lives.Addressing a grand jirga of elders from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) at the President House here on Monday, he said the country was undergoing a democratic transition for the first time in its history.He said security concerns and the fragile law and order situation should not obstruct the electoral process. He said he himself had suffered and rendered sacrifices in the war against militancy and mentioned the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.President Zardari said a nation itself should change its circumstances and should not expect anyone else to do it for them.“You have skilled manpower, highly qualified engineers, doctors and other professionals who can play an active role in bringing about a socio-economic change in their respective areas.”The president said that after an initial resistance in some parts of Fata, the Benazir Income Support Programme had now started receiving attention. A number of features might be added to the programme which could cater to health, education and stipends for tribal people through its social safety net, he added.The president said the PPP-led government from day one had been doing a lot to develop the area and bring it on a par with other parts of the country.He said the appointment of the KP governor from Fata was a step in the right direction and it would go a long way in bringing the area to the national mainstream and acknowledge it as an important part of the country and to recognise sacrifices of its people.The president called the valiant and courageous people of Fata “defenders of the frontiers”. He acknowledged their sacrifices and struggle along with the armed forces to make Pakistan a safe place to live.He said the PPP-led government had taken a number of measures over the past five years for uplift of tribal people and had opened for the first time an opportunity for reforms in Fata which had been denied for over a century.Besides getting a new judicial system, he said people of tribal areas had been allowed for the first time to freely participate in political activities.Mr Zardari said the new judicial system in Fata ensured due process and right to appeal and bail. It was, he added, a leap forward for the people of Fata towards freedom, liberty, human rights and political participation.He said that those considering reforms in Fata as too little too late should realise that the door had finally opened and all should work together to open up further the window of opportunity.But he stressed that the drive for change in Fata must come from within because it could not be imposed from outside. He said changes and reforms must respect tribal customs and traditions without which any reforms would fail.The president stressed the need for devising a monitoring mechanism to oversee implementation of reforms on the ground. He said it was important that reforms were fully implemented, and it must be ensured that people actually benefited from them.He assured that along with the Gomal Zam project, Bara dam would also be constructed to meet water and energy needs of the area.He stressed the need for stepping up efforts for setting up the Fata Information Technology University and Fata Medical College.He mentioned a new model for development wherein tribal people would be partners in projects and industries that would be set up under the concept of Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) in tribal areas.Mr Zardari said the problems being faced by internally displaced persons in Fata would be seriously addressed.He assured construction of schools, colleges and academic institutions in the tribal areas. He said efforts were being made for enhanced access of Pakistani goods to international market which would promote industrial development and create jobs for the youth.Senate Chairman Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Governor Shaukatullah, federal ministers, elders from different agencies of Fata, ACS Fata Dr Tashfeen Khan and senior officials of the Fata secretariat attended the jirga.

Musharraf barred from Pakistan elections

Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who returned to his homeland from exile just weeks ago pledging to become its next prime minister, was barred from the race Tuesday by election judges. An appellate panel in Peshawar disqualified Musharraf from running for a parliamentary seat in a northwestern district where he had earlier been approved and stood a chance of winning. Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan for nine years but left in 2008 under threat of certain impeachment, also has been barred from running for three other parliamentary seats in other districts. Musharraf’s campaign blamed the disqualifications on biased electoral officials, noting that they are drawn from the judiciary, which in 2007 launched a movement to unseat Musharraf. “We were anticipating this from the very beginning,” said Aasia Ishaq, spokeswoman for Musharraf’s campaign. Ishaq said Musharraf’s party would appeal the election panel’s ruling to the Supreme Court and continue with its plans to field candidates. The party, she said, has already picked 125 candidates to run for seats in the historic May 11 election, which would bring the first transition of elected governments in Pakistan’s history. The chances of Musharraf resuming his campaign seem as slim as his prospects for victory. He has found little public support since his return last month from Dubai— his home in exile along with London— although some Pakistanis say they believe he managed the economy better and made the country more secure. But the retired general is widely criticized for his autocratic efforts to stay in office — including suspending the constitution and sacking the Supreme Court. Today the court is headed by the same chief justice that Musharraf fired and is hearing a case by lawyers who want Musharraf tried for treason. Musharraf can seek a stay of the election judges’ ruling, but the process would probably drag on beyond the election, said lawyer and constitutional expert S.M. Zafar. “Legally, he can go to higher courts, but practically, he seems to be out of the race and he holds no chance to contest the polls,” Zafar said. On Monday, Musharraf unveiled the platform of his party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, and reiterated why he had returned to the country at the risk of jail and death at the hands of militants who have say they have created a special squad to kill him. “The only thing in my heart was to save Pakistan,” he told reporters. “And now [that] I am here I have the same commitment, that I will save Pakistan.”

Obama Vows Justice for Those Responsible for Boston Attacks

VOA.COM

President Barack Obama has vowed to bring to justice to whoever was responsible for the explosions in Boston Monday that killed at least two people and wounded many others. President Obama says he has directed the full resources of the federal government to help state and local authorities protect Americans, as an investigation continues into the Boston explosions. "We still do not know who did this or why, and people should not jump to conclusions before we have all the facts," said Obama. "But make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this and we will find who did this and we will find out why they did this. Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice." Obama did not specifically describe the explosions in Boston as a terrorist attack. But a White House official said "any event with multiple explosive devices, as this appears to be, is clearly an act of terror, and will be approached as an act of terror. The official said a thorough investigation will have to determine whether the Boston attack was planned and carried out by a terrorist group, foreign or domestic. Obama said he has spoken with U.S. congressional leaders. On Capitol Hill, House Speaker John Boehner led the chamber in observing a moment of silence. The president was notified of the explosions minutes after they occurred and briefed by his new Homeland Security adviser Lisa Monaco and other members of the White House senior staff. Obama telephoned Boston Mayor Tom Menino and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to offer support. The president also received a briefing from Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. In addition to the two explosions near the Boston Marathon finish line, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis also reported an incendiary device and fire at the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library. Davis said it was not certain it was related to the earlier blasts near the Boston Marathon finishing line, but officials were working on the assumption that it was. President Obama paid tribute to the people of Boston, saying he is confident they will support each other in this difficult time. "Boston is a tough and resilient town," he said. "So are its people. I am supremely confident that Bostonians will pull together, take care of each other and move forward as one proud city, and as they do, the American people will be with them every single step of the way." In Washington, police cordoned off Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House for precautionary reasons. In New York, a Police Department spokesman said the city increased security in the city's subway system, and around major landmarks in Manhattan, including near prominent hotels.

Terror at Boston Marathon: 3 dead, 144 wounded

It was a gruesome end to what should have been a celebration of triumph. One man's legs were instantly blown off, yet he kept trying to stand up. Exhausted marathoners had to muscle the energy to flee the bloody scene. And more than 140 people remain hospitalized, some in critical condition. As authorities try to figure out who triggered the deadly bombings Monday at the Boston Marathon, which killed an 8-year-old boy and two others, many are at a loss to explain why anyone would target the annual event that celebrates thousands of runners from around the world.Both blasts happened in quick succession, near the row of international flags that led up to the finish line. The impact was so powerful, it whipped the limp flags straight out as if they were caught in a hurricane. It also knocked 78-year-old runner Bill Iffrig to the ground."I was just approaching the last straightaway to the finish line, and I had a good day and was feeling really good, and I got down to within about 15 feet of the finishing apron and just tremendous explosion, sounded like a bomb went off right next to me," Iffrig said. "The shock waves just hit my whole body and my legs just started jittering around. I knew I was going down," he said. Iffrig was not seriously injured. But trails of blood, severed arms and legs and other body parts littered the scene nearby. At least 144 people were hospitalized, with at least 17 in critical condition and 25 in serious condition, officials said. At least eight of the patients are children. A terrorism expert briefed on the investigation said doctors are "pulling ball bearings out of people in the emergency room," suggesting the bombs were designed to propel shrapnel. But Dr. Ron Walls of Brigham and Women's Hospital, which received 31 patients, said the debris found in some patients' wounds did not appear to be from ball bearings. "Everything we saw was sort of ordinary ambient material that could have been propelled by the blast but was not added to the device," Walls said. "It was not the kind of things that would be added to a device to make it more injurious than it otherwise would be."At Massachusetts General Hospital, several patients suffered from injuries to lower limbs that will require "serial operations" in the coming days, trauma surgeon Peter Fagenholz said Monday night. He said the most serious wounds "have been combined, complex lower injuries that involve blood vessels, bone and tissue." Numerous patients had to have limbs amputated, Fagenholz said. "Just like" going back to Iraq Nurses Stephen Segatore and Jim Asaiante were stationed near the finish line, expecting to treat the usual ailments from runners -- cramps and dehydration. Suddenly, they found themselves in a battlefield, with blood and debris everywhere. "For me, it was just like going back to being in Iraq in 2006-2007," said Asaiante, an Army captain who served an 18-month tour. "I heard the first IED, and I know there's never one. The bad guys always set up two or three" improvised explosive devices, he said.

From celebration to carnage

The plumes of smoke and images of bloodied victims running down streets also triggered haunting memories of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Tami Hughes had just crossed the finish line and was looking for her husband when she heard a deafening explosion. "I didn't know if it was a small aircraft going into the building," Hughes said. "I turned around and immediately saw the whitish-brownish smoke billowing up four or five stories and I couldn't believe that, you know, could it be a bomb? "And I stared at it and about five or seven seconds later, when the second one went off, I knew immediately that it was something coordinated or organized, because I had been ... down in the financial center, 9/11. So you immediately go back to those moments where OK, where is the third one going to be?" The hunt for clues Investigators don't know who was behind the attack, or whether it was spawned domestically or from afar. But federal authorities are classifying it as an act of terrorism. A federal law enforcement official said both bombs were small, and initial tests showed no C-4 or other high-grade explosive material, suggesting that the packages used in the attack were crude explosive devices. The explosions went off near the finish line at about 4 hours and 9 minutes into the race, within a 10-minute window of the average finish time for the marathon. But the fact that the blasts took place near the end of the race "seems to indicate this was not geared toward maximum damage," said a former federal law enforcement official who now works in the intelligence community. "It may speak volumes about the (level of) planning that went into this," the source said. "It raises questions ... why didn't the bombs go off when the crowd was packed in like sardines when the winners were crossing the finish line? It could mean the people behind it couldn't get access to the area when they originally intended." Officials have no suspect in custody, but many people are being questioned, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said. Investigators warned police to be on the lookout for a "darker-skinned or black male" with a possible foreign accent in connection with the attack, according to a law enforcement advisory obtained by CNN. The man was seen with a black backpack and sweatshirt and was trying to get into a restricted area about five minutes before the first explosion, the lookout notice states. Davis said authorities found at least one other explosive device that they were dismantling. But Rep. Bill Keating, D-Massachusetts, said two undetonated devices were found. One was discovered at a hotel on Boylston Street near the bomb site, and another was found at an undisclosed location, said Keating, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee. He called the bombing a "sophisticated, coordinated, planned attack." The unexploded devices could provide a treasure trove of information such as fingerprints and indications of the bomb maker's design, said the former federal law enforcement official. Late Monday night, authorities said they were still getting reports about suspicious packages, but some may be abandoned belongings left by fleeing spectators. Davis said while no new devices had been found so far, he is "not prepared to say we're at ease at this point in time."

In Afghan peace, the Pakistan factor

The Hindu

In Pakistan these days, a strange kind of schizophrenia is afoot, as the excitement over completing five, fulsome years of democratic rule competes with a growing tension with Afghanistan. Over the past couple of weeks, Pakistani officials and Afghan leaders have accused each other of fomenting terrorism, disturbingly raising the pitch and dropping all pretence of good neighbourly relations. According to the Afghans, the Pakistani military in late March indulged in unprovoked shelling and illegal construction along the Durand Line in the eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan — which Pakistan denies — which has so angered Kabul that it has cancelled its offer to train some of its military personnel in Pakistan.

War of words

An accompanying war of words has since claimed the air between the two neighbours. An unnamed Pakistani official told Reuters that the “biggest impediment to the (Afghan) peace process is Karzai. In trying to look like a saviour, he is taking Afghanistan straight to hell.” The Afghan Foreign Ministry made its anger known through a statement. “This demonstrates the interfering but delusional tendency of some in Pakistan who choose to ignore Afghanistan’s sovereignty...and continue to want to...re-exert control in Afghanistan through armed proxies,” it said. About the same time, Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), told its Supreme Court that the Afghan government was providing “strong support” to several anti-Pakistan terrorist groups, including the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. Clearly, as the clock moves inexorably towards the drawdown by the U.S. and international troops in April 2014, exactly a year from now, questions about the kind of role Pakistan can — and should play — in the region, lie at the heart of the escalating tension between the Afghan and Pakistan leadership. The Afghans argue that the Pakistanis have done little since the 9/11 incidents to eliminate terrorist havens and safe spaces inside their country, which the Taliban brazenly uses as sanctuary to mount attacks inside Afghanistan and then return home to Pakistan. But Pakistan continues to demand a position of primacy in the Pakistan-Afghan relationship, citing its front line state status as well as deep ethnic, civilisational and religious links between Pashtuns on both sides of the Durand Line. For years after September 11, as Afghanistan and the international community sought to rebuild that country, Afghanistan’s leaders held their tongue about what they really felt the Pakistani “deep state” was up to. Karzai, in fact, even moved out his former outspoken intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh because he realised that Saleh had gone too far in his public criticism about the Pakistani army and ISI using the Haqqani network of terrorists and other Taliban to foment trouble in Afghanistan. And that his comments were beginning to impact the relationship between Kabul’s chief sponsor, the U.S., and Pakistan. But Pakistan refused to back off. So when Karzai’s new intelligence chief Asadullah Khalid barely survived a suicide attempt in early December, a furious Karzai announced that “this man, who came in the name of a guest, came from Pakistan.” What really infuriates the Afghans is that Pakistan continues to treat their country as a weak-willed state with a ragtag security and police force that is totally corrupted from within. Even if serious trouble breaks out between the various Afghan ethnic groups after the Americans leave, a Karzai adviser said on the condition of anonymity, it will be a totally different situation from the time the Soviets left in 1989. “Afghanistan is a new country today, but the only one who doesn’t seem to have recognised it is Pakistan,” he said. “When the Taliban took over in the mid-1990s, the Pakistanis were only one in three countries in the world who supported them. They believe that when the Americans leave in 2014, they will return to being the most influential in Afghanistan through their control of the Taliban and the Haqqani network. The reality is totally different,” he added. Karzai’s supporters say he remains deeply upset by Pakistan’s refusal, in the decade since September 11, to act against hardline Afghan Taliban leaders living in Pakistan, in Quetta or Miramshah or elsewhere. Instead, the Pakistanis instigated the Americans to open direct talks with the Taliban, while the Americans, never very fond of Karzai, kept telling him to settle with Pakistan. Both initiatives sought to undermine him, Karzai felt. The last straw came in February during the London peace talks when the Pakistani side pushed Karzai to sign a Strategic Partnership Agreement, on the lines that Kabul had signed with Delhi in 2011. The document, in fact, had been given to the Afghan Foreign Minister, Zalmai Rassoul, during a visit to Islamabad in November 2012 by his charming counterpart, Hina Rabbani Khar, throwing the suave Afghan off-balance. It had not been on the agenda of their talks, but Rassoul took the paper back home with him.

For constructive role

It turned out that the Pakistanis wanted a special relationship to be institutionalised with Afghanistan, code language for prioritising Pakistan in its affairs. They demanded the sidelining of India (“not even a Muslim country,” the Pakistani Ambassador to Afghanistan, Mohammed Sadiq, had dismissively told former Taliban leader, Musa Hotak, during Ramzan celebrations last year) and discussed the offer to train some Afghan army personnel in Pakistan. Both sides promised to get their clerics to hold a conference in which suicide bombings would be condemned as un-Islamic. Within weeks, a top Pakistani cleric was justifying the actions of the suicide bomber and refusing to attend such a conference. “We want Pakistan to play a similar constructive role and secure the hearts and minds of the Afghan people, just as India has done. We don’t want a relationship that breeds violence and hatred. Afghanistan will protect its partnership with India at any cost,” Shaida Abdali, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India, told this reporter. “As for Pakistan’s remarks that President Karzai has become an obstacle to a peace settlement...Yes, he is an obstacle to a foreign-owned and foreign-led peace settlement, not to an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led one,” Abdali added. An Afghan-watcher in Islamabad pointed out that Zardari is fully aware that his own “establishment” continues to use terrorists to promote its interests in Afghanistan, but cannot do much about it. He agreed that Zardari’s influence, even at the end of five years in power, hardly extended to security and the foreign policy towards India, leave alone Afghanistan. Meanwhile, as U.S. troops begin to draw down from Afghanistan, all eyes are focused on what the region will do to keep a civil warlike situation at bay. Karzai is said to be extremely keen that India supply military equipment to Afghanistan as well as substantially increase the numbers of security forces being trained by New Delhi, in line with the SPA signed with Kabul in 2011. But the truth is that India remains extremely hesitant. Some talk has also begun of a realignment of forces between Russia, Iran and India to both train and fund the equipping of the nascent Afghan security forces. The Americans have begun secret parleys with Iran in the hope that it will support the new Afghanistan’s interests. Moscow remains deeply worried. Only the Chinese still want to deal on their own. “We will not allow anyone to undermine the Afghan state, not the Taliban, the Pakistanis, the Americans or anyone other foreigner. In fact, we have decided to talk to the Taliban, in Bagram prison or outside, those who are willing to join the political process...There are many, including those in the Quetta shura willing to reconcile. We are tired of war. And we are determined to create a new country,” Abdali said.