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Protests rock Pak over airstrike
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‘Prevent terrorists from getting access to nukes’
B’desh President fires bureaucrats
Divali celebrated in Pakistan
NATO warplanes kill 12 insurgents
3-day Id celebrations challenged in Pak SC
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Protests rock Pak over airstrike
Khar (Pakistan), October 31 Chants of “Down with America” and “Down with Musharraf” rang out as the tribesmen gathered in Khar, main town in the Bajaur tribal region close to the Afghan border, in anger at the air strike. “Our jihad (holy war) will continue and Inshallah (God willing), people will go to Afghanistan to oust American and British forces,” Maulana Faqir Mohammad, a pro-Taliban cleric, told the crowd of turbaned tribals, many carrying Kalashnikovs and wearing bandoliers, and a few shouldering rocket launchers. While the government claimed the madrasa at Chenagai was being used to train militants, protesters said the dead, mostly young men aged between 15 and 25, were merely students. President Pervez Musharraf, speaking at a seminar in Islamabad, said the army had killed militants. “We were working on them for six or seven days, we know who they were. They were doing military training,” President Musharraf said. Nowhere is President Musharraf’s alliance with the United States in a war on terrorism more unpopular than in the Pashtun tribal belt straddling the Pakistan-Afghan border. A mountainous region that is difficult to access, Bajaur lies across from the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, where US troops are hunting Al Qaeda and Taliban militants. Along with North and South Waziristan, Bajaur is regarded as a hotbed of support for Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. Thousands of fighters took refuge in the semi-autonomous tribal lands after US-backed forces drove them from Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on US cities. The tribesmen in Khar showed their loyalty with shouts of “Long Live Osama” and “Long Live Mullah Omar”. Similar protests took place in other parts of North West Frontier Province. A planned visit by Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla to the NWFP capital of Peshawar on Tuesday was cancelled due to security concerns, as Islamists planned demonstrations. The government had been trying to reach a pact in Bajaur similar to accords already brokered in Waziristan to end the militancy. The airstrike appeared to end hopes of a quick deal. The US, British and Afghan governments have given cautious support to peace initiatives, but US forces in Afghanistan have noted a sharp rise in insurgent activity since a truce was reached in North Waziristan a few months ago.
— Reuters
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‘Prevent terrorists from getting access to nukes’
United Nations, October 31 In his maiden address to the United Nations General Assembly, India’s delegate former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed asked the international community to give high priority to the development of global security culture and offered it full support to achieve the goal. He said global efforts are needed to prevent terrorists from accessing radiological material. In accordance with its commitment and record as a responsible nation with advanced nuclear technology, he said India is prepared to supplement international efforts for promotion of peaceful uses of nuclear energy. India believes that closed fuel nuclear cycle is essential if nuclear power is to make sustained contribution at a large enough scale necessary to meet global energy needs, Mr Sayeed said yesterday while intervening in the debate on the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear watchdog body of the United Nations. India believes that reprocessing and recycling of nuclear fuel is essential not only for this purpose but also for the reduction of long-term radio toxicity and security implication of disposal of spent fuel as such, he said. The IAEA report noted that of the 26 nuclear power plants under construction, 15 are located in Asia. In India, with the TAPS-4 achieving criticality in 2005 and Taps-3 in May 2006, there are 16 operating power plants, with seven under construction. Emphasising that the demand for nuclear power is growing in step with growing global energy needs, Mr Sayeed said the exigencies of economic development, the finite nature of fossil fuels and concerns linked both to their prices as well as their impact on global climate change add to the attractiveness of nuclear power. “The immense energy potential of nuclear fuels, readily available and deployable technologies and the safety and productivity record of nuclear power over the past 20 years are likely to help maintain an upward trend in the demand for nuclear energy,” the PDP patron told the 192-member Assembly. Referring to the expertise developed by India, he said it considers a closed nuclear fuel cycle of crucial importance for its well- established three stage nuclear power programme with its long-term objective of tapping India’s vast thorium resources. In the front end of the cycle, our programme is providing inputs to the indigenous Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) phase. In the back end of the fuel cycle, reprocessing of PHWR spent fuel has enabled India to successfully operate a Fast Breeder Test Reactor for two decades and launch a commercial Fast Breeder Programme, he told the delegates. — PTI
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B’desh President fires bureaucrats
Dhaka, October 31 The Director-General of the elite Rapid Action Battalion force and a police intelligence chief were also sacked. “The President has begun to act towards fulfilling the demands,” a senior government official said today. President Iajuddin was sworn in on Sunday as Chief Adviser of the caretaker authority to supervise January elections in the impoverished South Asian country of 140 million. But the main opposition party, the Awami League, and its allies have asked him to demonstrate by November 3 that he is neutral and can be trusted for the job. President Iajuddin will be assisted in his new role by a panel of 10 advisers, chosen from nominees given by major political parties. A spokesman of the presidential palace said the parties had already handed their lists to the President. “The names of the advisers are being finalised and they may be called up anytime to take oath of office,” the spokesman said. — Reuters
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Divali celebrated in Pakistan
Islamabad, October 31 Several ministers and leaders of the PML-Q distributed sweets to members of the Hindu community and lit firecrackers during Divali celebrations held here yesterday. PML-Q general secretary Mushahid Hussain, Religious Affairs Minister Ijajul Haq and Minister for Information Tariq Azim were also present on the occasion. The party said it would also celebrate Holi, Christmas and the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. “Such functions are not meant to appease anyone but to make minorities feel... that they were part of Pakistan,” PML secretary-general Mushahid Hussain Sayed said. The leaders also called for ending narrow-mindedness and promoting the spirit of tolerance, the Dawn daily reported.
— PTI
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NATO warplanes kill 12 insurgents
Kabul, October 31 The latest strike, in the southern province of Kandahar yesterday, takes to nearly 140 the number of rebels the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says it has killed in a series of major clashes since the weekend. ISAF troops identified a number of insurgents who “attempted to occupy firing positions on the roof of a compound”, a statement said. “The insurgents were engaged by close air support, which killed 12 of them,” it added. ISAF announced late yesterday its soldiers had killed 55 insurgents in an intense battle in the neighbouring province of Zabul.
— AFP
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3-day Id celebrations challenged in Pak SC
Islamabad, October 31 The petitioner contended that various interpretations regarding the sighting of moon had hurt the religious sentiments of the people and ''harmed national prestige'', Pak Tribune reported. It urged the apex court to intervene in the matter and find ways to resolve the issue once and for all. Filed by Chairman Insaf Welfare Trust Islamabad Aslam Khaki, the petition has made the Ministry of Religious Affairs, 'Ruet-e-Hilal' committee (a panel of clerics which scrutinises evidence regarding moon sighting), chief secretary NWFP Maulana Fazlur Rahman and Director General Meteorological Department respondents in the case.
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