W O R L D

Gilani ready for talks with Taliban
Islamabad, October 3
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that his government is ready to start parleys with Taliban, but evaded questions whether the reconciliation would include the Haqqani faction. For the first time, Gilani dropped his earlier pre-condition of militants giving up arms before any talks, but warned that if the parleys fail to work, the military will launch operations in the tribal areas.

NATO upset over missing Libya missiles
Brussels, October 3
NATO expressed concern today about a report that thousands of surface-to-air missiles had gone missing in Libya, and said it was the responsibility of the new authorities there to ensure weapons stocks were properly controlled.

Anti-Gaddafi fighters fire a rocket propelled grenade during fighting in an area around 1 km from the centre of Sirte on Monday. — Reuters

Celebrating 21 years of reunification

German President Christian Wulff (right) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel wave to people after their arrival at the Town Hall during celebrations marking the country’s 21st anniversary of reunification, in Bonn on Monday. — Reuters

Biden’s brother hospitalised after ‘anthrax’ mail scare
Washington, October 3
US Vice-President Joe Biden’s brother has received a suspicious package mailed from India, containing a powdery substance feared to be anthrax, following which he and his girlfriend were taken to a hospital. Biden’s younger brother Francis Biden, 57, said the package, a Manila envelope, was retrieved from his roadside mailbox by his girlfriend, Mindy. It was addressed to him. “She retrieved it, but I was the one who opened it,” Francis said, declining to give Mindy’s last name. “It was mailed from India,” he was quoted as saying by The Palm Beach Post. Neither the law enforcement authorities nor Francis would say where in India this package was mailed from.

Gilani ready for talks with Taliban
But Pak PM mum on whether reconciliation efforts will include Haqqanis

Islamabad, October 3
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that his government is ready to start parleys with Taliban, but evaded questions whether the reconciliation would include the Haqqani faction.

For the first time, Gilani dropped his earlier pre-condition of militants giving up arms before any talks, but warned that if the parleys fail to work, the military will launch operations in the tribal areas.

“If negotiations fail to work, the government will launch military operations in the tribal areas,” he told a small group of journalists at his residence in Lahore last night.

Gilani provided details about how the talks would be conducted for the first time, days after a meeting of Pakistan’s political parties called for peace talks to end unrest in the militancy-hit tribal belt. “We will not ask them (militants) to disarm before the negotiations since this is against the tribal culture.

However, the political agents (government administrators in the tribal regions) will ask them to decommission themselves,” he was quoted as saying in media reports today.

The proposed talks will be monitored by a parliamentary committee to ensure transparency and civilian oversight of the process, he said. “We want to give peace a chance now...The national interest is above everything, we will give people a chance to reconcile.”

Asked whether the Haqqani network, blamed by the US for high-profile terror attacks in Afghanistan, would be part of the reconciliation, Gilani evaded a direct answer and said a parliamentary committee would implement resolutions passed on such issues by parliament and the All Parties Conference (APC) that was held on September 29.

The APC adopted a resolution which said Pakistan “must initiate dialogue with a view to negotiate peace with our own people in the tribal areas and a proper mechanism for this (should) be put in place”. This has triggered speculation that the government is preparing for talks with all militant groups, including the Taliban.

During his interaction with the journalists, Gilani did not specifically refer to North Waziristan Agency, the tribal region where the Haqqani network is based, when talking about possible military operations.

He said the government’s current approach was similar to the one that was tried in the Swat valley, where it offered a peace deal to Taliban militants in 2009 and launched a military operation after they refused to honour the pact.

Gilani made several references to the APC and the unanimous resolution adopted by it. The premier had called the meeting of all political parties to forge consensus on a response to US accusations that the Inter-Services Intelligence agency was backing the Haqqani network in waging a proxy war in Afghanistan. — PTI

Haqqanis deny killing Rabbani

London: Branded as a “veritable arm” of ISI, the Haqqani network’s operational chief Sirajuddin Haqqani has claimed that his group did not kill Burhanuddin Rabbani and denied any links with the Pakistani spy agency. “We haven’t killed Burhanuddin Rabbani and this has been said many times by the spokespersons of the Islamic Emirate,” Sirajuddin Haqqani told BBC in an interview, his first public utterances in years. Sirajuddin also said his network, blamed by US military officials for a string of high-profile attacks on American interests in Afghanistan, was not linked to Pakistan’s ISI.

ISI told to sever ties with terror group

Washington: The ISI and the Pakistani military should sever the “direct and indirect” strategic ties with the dreaded Haqqani network to destablise Afghanistan, just retired top US commander Admiral Mike Mullen has said. “In Haqqani is the most virulent insurgent group, terrorist group in Pakistan and a great supporter of Al-Qaida. We’re losing Afghan civilians, Afghan soldiers, and we’re losing American soldiers because of the Haqqani network,” Mullen, the just retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN.

NATO upset over missing Libya missiles

Brussels, October 3
NATO expressed concern today about a report that thousands of surface-to-air missiles had gone missing in Libya, and said it was the responsibility of the new authorities there to ensure weapons stocks were properly controlled.

The online edition of Germany's Der Spiegel magazine reported on Sunday that the head of NATO's military committee, Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, told German lawmakers in a confidential briefing last week NATO had lost track of 10,000 surface-to-air missiles that had been in Libyan army hands.

The magazine said Di Paola had expressed worries that the weapons could fall into the hands of al Qaeda militants and be used to attack civilian airlines.

The admiral's spokesman declined to comment on the report, and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said it was not NATO policy to comment "on a specific intelligence matter". However he added: "Of course, in general it is a matter of concern if stockpiles of weapons are not properly controlled and monitored."

"It is the responsibility of the National Transitional Council to ensure that stocks of weapons in Libya are appropriately controlled," he said, referring to Libya's new administration after the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi.

Rasmussen said representatives of individual NATO states had been in contact with the NTC "to ensure they address this issue effectively".

A senior NATO official said the United States and other NATO states were working with the NTC to ensure that weapons, including from Libya's large stock of portable surface-to-air missiles, were secure. — Reuters

Biden’s brother hospitalised after ‘anthrax’ mail scare
Suspicious package was mailed from India

Washington, October 3
US Vice-President Joe Biden’s brother has received a suspicious package mailed from India, containing a powdery substance feared to be anthrax, following which he and his girlfriend were taken to a hospital.

Biden’s younger brother Francis Biden, 57, said the package, a Manila envelope, was retrieved from his roadside mailbox by his girlfriend, Mindy. It was addressed to him. “She retrieved it, but I was the one who opened it,” Francis said, declining to give Mindy’s last name.

“It was mailed from India,” he was quoted as saying by The Palm Beach Post.

Neither the law enforcement authorities nor Francis would say where in India this package was mailed from.

Francis said the moment he opened it, a white powder spilled from the envelope and onto his skin. He said he immediately called authorities, who evacuated neighbours from his block and closed off the street for more than eight hours.

Francis and his girlfriend were taken to Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Boynton Beach. Mindy was released on Saturday, but Biden stayed overnight. “I was the only one who came in contact with the powder, so they kept me,” he said.

He was released yesterday morning and said medical personnel had found no ill effects from the powder. “I’m fine,” Francis said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) later announced that the powder appeared to be harmless. — PTI