W O R L D

Hitches in Mush-Benazir deal
President Musharraf's top aides on Tuesday exchanged a set of proposals in London with PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto to remove snags that have cropped up in the Musharraf-Benazir deal with the latter demanding that the government respond publicly by Thursday.

General in contact with parties
President Pervez Musharraf has said he is in contact with all political parties, including the Pakistan People's Party, to achieve stability and he will not let his eight years’ hard work to turn Pakistan into a prosperous country go waste.

Taliban to let go South Korean hostages

Seoul, August 28 Taliban insurgents will release all 19 South Korean Christian volunteers they have held hostage in Afghanistan since mid-July, South Korea’s presidential Blue House said today.

A SIGH OF RELIEF: Relatives of South Korean hostages in Afghanistan celebrate in Seongnam on Tuesday after the Taliban agreed to release 19 Christian aid workers held hostage for nearly six weeks. — AFP photo

US, Iraq troops kill 33 Iraqi insurgents
Baghdad, August 28
US and Iraqi troops killed 33 insurgents in an airborne assault and airstrikes north of Baghdad aimed at reopening a major irrigation canal that had been seized by gunmen, the U.S. military said today. ''The pre-dawn assault, involving several hundred Iraqi and Coalition forces, defeated numerous small-arms attacks throughout the day, resulting in 13 insurgents’ death,'' the US military said in a statement.

Pak for N-parity in South Asia
Karachi, August 28
Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri has said his country will maintain “nuclear parity” in South Asia at all costs, and no external pressure will be entertained in this regard.

PML deputy expelled
Ruling Pakistan Muslim League’s most outspoken dissident and vice-president Syed Kabil Ali Wasti has been expelled from the party for consistently violating party discipline and public statements critical of the president and party leadership, a PML spokesman announced here on Tuesday.

Over 100 Taliban killed in Afghan battle
Kabul, August 28
Afghan and US-led troops battled suspected Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan today, calling in airstrikes, leaving over 100 insurgents dead and three coalition soldiers wounded, a coalition statement said.

Militants free 19 hostages in Pak
Islamabad, August 28
Pro-Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan released 19 hostages,including 15 paramilitary troops, today after nearly three weeks in captivity, a tribal elder said.''They have handed over the 15 soldiers,'' the elder, Ameer Mohammad Mehsud, told Reuters.

Foreign firefighters join battle in Greece
Athens, August 28
Foreign firefighters and aircraft joined the battle today against blazes in southern Greece and officials expressed optimism that wildfires burning some of the country’s lushest landscape could be brought under partial control.Greece also braced for the economic impact of the worst wildfires in memory, with the government budgeting nearly a third of a billion euros for immediate relief.

 

Hitches in Mush-Benazir deal
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

President Musharraf's top aides on Tuesday exchanged a set of proposals in London with PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto to remove snags that have cropped up in the Musharraf-Benazir deal with the latter demanding that the government respond publicly by Thursday.

Musharraf has sent to London his leading political trouble-shooters led by Tariq Aziz and including chief of staff Lt Gen Hamid Javed, business tycoon Iqbal Z. Ahmed and Brig Niaz to dispel Bhutto's apprehensions. ISI chief Lt Gen Ashfaq Kiani who was present in Abu Dhabi meeting on Musharraf's side has also reached London.

The two sides held meetings on Monday and Tuesday and the government made certain offers while Bhutto spelled out counter proposals, seeking a positive response by Thursday, failing which she threatened to join the combined opposition in the anti-Musharraf campaign, sources in both camps said.

Both sides are apparently engaged in an exhaustive exercise in brinkmanship with Musharraf wooing Bhutto's support for his election while she is trying to salvage her badly bruised image, a steep slide in public standing and deep fissures within the party ever since she cut a deal with Musharraf.

She is reported to have made it clear that the PPP would not enter into any deal in which there is a place for a uniformed  President.

She threatened her MPs would resign along with other opposition members if he insisted to be a candidate in uniform.

Bhutto also called for the formation of a government of national consensus at the centre and in all four provinces to supervise the elections and demanded one-third share for her party in each of these governments.

Other proposals include amnesty between 1988 and 1999 for her and Nawaz Sharif governments, meaning withdrawal of corruption cases; restoration of the 1973 constitution; removal of the law which bars people held guilty in absentia from contesting elections; withdrawal of presidential power to dismiss assemblies; restoration of powers to the PM to appoint governors and suspension of local governments during the run-up to the elections.

Meanwhile, the information secretary of the PPP has issued a press note in which the PPP appears to be attempting to reassure its estranged ARD partner, saying that the party was clear that it would not negotiate with anyone to oust another elected government, as committed in the charter of democracy.

The PPP leadership was not seeking any arrangement (through the ongoing negotiations with the government) whereby it would vote for a military dictator.

“The military regime is no longer at a place where it can guarantee peace, stability and governance to the people of Pakistan alone, and for the first time, the whole world can see that this is true. This is the time to push for a peaceful transfer of power, not to dismember the country further through more blood on the streets,” the press note added.

Pak minister resigns

Federal minister of state for information technology Ishaq Khan Khakwani yesterday submitted resignation from the cabinet.

Khakwani has been a consistent opponent of Musharraf contesting election in uniform. He has been one of the few ministers who dared to speak his mind in meetings presided over by the President and on TV channels. He is the first cabinet minister to tender his resignation on an issue.

Reliable sources told The Tribune that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz called Khakwani and warned him of the consequences of his public statements against uniform. The minister said he had already decided to resign.

General in contact with parties

President Pervez Musharraf has said he is in contact with all political parties, including the Pakistan People's Party, to achieve stability and he will not let his eight years’ hard work to turn Pakistan into a prosperous country go waste.

The President was discussing the prevailing political situation with railways minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed at Awan-e-Sadr.

During the meeting that lasted at least an hour, the two leaders discussed the possible return of the Sharif brothers to Pakistan, the general election, the ongoing negotiations with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and opinions of various Pakistan Muslim League(PML) members about the presidential elections.

Musharraf told Ahmed that he wanted political stability in the country and that was why the talks were under way with all political parties. All was happening in the national interest so that the country might remain on track of the development, Rashid quoted the President as saying.

The President said he would take a decision on his military uniform in accordance with the law and the constitution. "The opposition will also get an answer in this respect soon," he added.

The constitution allowed him to remain in uniform by the end of this year. He said he was going to be re-elected by the present assemblies "according to the constitution and law."

Musharraf also stressed the need for unity between the PML and its coalition parties, saying that they should solve their differences with mutual understanding instead of promoting them in the media.

Taliban to let go South Korean hostages

Seoul, August 28
Taliban insurgents will release all 19 South Korean Christian volunteers they have held hostage in Afghanistan since mid-July, South Korea’s presidential Blue House said today.

The Taliban agreed to the release after South Korea agreed to meet certain conditions such as halting its citizens from conducting Christian missionary activity in Afghanistan.

A presidential spokesman said it may take some time before the actual release.

The Taliban had seized 23 Korean Christian volunteers on July 19 from a bus in Ghazni province. It killed two male hostages after a series of deadlines but freed two female captives. — Reuters

US, Iraq troops kill 33 Iraqi insurgents 

Baghdad, August 28
US and Iraqi troops killed 33 insurgents in an airborne assault and airstrikes north of Baghdad aimed at reopening a major irrigation canal that had been seized by gunmen, the U.S. military said today.

''The pre-dawn assault, involving several hundred Iraqi and Coalition forces, defeated numerous small-arms attacks throughout the day, resulting in 13 insurgents’ death,'' the US military said in a statement.

''Attack helicopters and close air support killed 20 more,'' it said.

Residents in Khalis, a religiously mixed town 80 km north of Baghdad, told Reuters that insurgents had shovelled earth into the irrigation canal some days ago, cutting off water to the farmland.

The canal is in the Kobat area, which has a strong presence of Al- Qaida fighters, they said.

The US military said it had successfully reopened the spillway and seized weapons and explosives.

Protesting Khalis residents last week closed the main road between Baghdad and the northern city of Kirkuk to demand the local authorities take stronger steps to restore security to the area, which has witnessed bitter sectarian violence.

Residents said they had also been without drinking water for nearly a month. An official in the local electricity office said a power plant that serviced the town's water treatment plant needed to be repaired. Electricity workers, however, were afraid to go to the plant in Khan Bani Saad, 65 km north of Baghdad, because of the presence of Sunni Arab militants in the area. — Reuters

Pak for N-parity in South Asia

Karachi, August 28
Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri has said his country will maintain “nuclear parity” in South Asia at all costs, and no external pressure will be entertained in this regard.

“I want to make it clear that we will continue our nuclear programme, which is essential for meeting our energy requirements,” said Kasuri while reviewing the last five years of the country’s foreign policy at a press conference in Karachi.

Private news agency Online quoted Kasuri as saying that progress on the core issues of Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek was not up to Pakistan’s expectations.

“There is a dire need for progress on Kashmir. Back channel contact has been increased, but no final solution has been proposed so far.”

As soon as any final solution is proposed, it will be presented in Parliament for debate and approval, he said. — UNI

Militants free 19 hostages in Pak

Islamabad, August 28
Pro-Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan released 19 hostages,including 15 paramilitary troops, today after nearly three weeks in captivity, a tribal elder said.

''They have handed over the 15 soldiers,'' the elder, Ameer Mohammad Mehsud, told Reuters. Mehsud was involved in negotiations to free the men.

The militants abducted 16 paramilitary soldiers in the South Waziristan region near the Afghan border on August 9. They later killed one of the soldiers, videotaping a teenaged boy cutting off the man's head.

Tribal elders said the militants later also released another four persons, including a paramilitary officer and a government official, abducted in the same region last week. — Reuters

Foreign firefighters join battle in Greece

Athens, August 28
Foreign firefighters and aircraft joined the battle today against blazes in southern Greece and officials expressed optimism that wildfires burning some of the country’s lushest landscape could be brought under partial control.

Greece also braced for the economic impact of the worst wildfires in memory, with the government budgeting nearly a third of a billion euros for immediate relief. The bill was expected to be much higher, the finance ministry said.

The fires, which began about five days ago, have killed at least 64 persons and burned olive groves, forest and orchards in southern Greece.

The mayor of Zaharo, in the western Peloponnese, said the body of a missing shepherd had been found. Rescuers were still searching for another shepherd who went missing in the nearby village of Artemida, where 23 persons including a mother and her four died. — AP

PML deputy expelled
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

The PML leader has been a consistent opponent of General Musharraf contesting election in uniform from present assemblies for past over a year. He has also been calling for national reconciliation involving release of all political prisoners and return of exiled leaders. 

Over 100 Taliban killed in Afghan battle 

Kabul, August 28
Afghan and US-led troops battled suspected Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan today, calling in airstrikes, leaving over 100 insurgents dead and three coalition soldiers wounded, a coalition statement said.

Also, a suicide bomber attacked NATO troops, helping to build a bridge in eastern Afghanistan, killing three American soldiers, a US official said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because not all families had been notified.

The battle in southern Kandahar province’s Shah Wali Kot district started after the joint force was ambushed by a large group of insurgents who tried to overrun their position several times, before being strafed by airstrikes, the statement from the coalition said.

“Coalition aircraft destroyed the reinforced enemy emplacements and sniper positions as well as two trucks used to reinforce and re-supply the insurgent force,” according to the statement.

More than 100 suspected insurgents and one Afghan soldier were killed. The casualty figures could not be independently verified due to remoteness of the area where the clash took place.

The fighting also left three coalition and three Afghan soldiers wounded. The nationality of the coalition soldiers was not disclosed, but the vast majority are American.

Violence is soaring in Afghanistan. This year, more than 3,900 people — most of them militants — have died, according to an Associated Press tally of casualty figures provided by Western and Afghan officials. — AP