 |
|
|
Bush secretly okayed raids inside Pakistan
100 Al Qaeda militants killed in
Pak
20 feared killed in Pak grenade attack
Zardari to meet British
PM |
|
|
Khaleda Zia freed on bail
Asian policewoman in UK complains of racism India, US to firm up defence ties Defence minister A.K. Antony (left) with US national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley during a meeting in Washington, on Wednesday. — PTI
Lies, lipstick and phoney outrage: Obama
Human remains discovered in shipwreck
Maoist fighters to be integrated into Nepal Army
|
|
Bush secretly okayed raids inside Pakistan
U. S. President George W. Bush “secretly approved” orders in July that for the first time allow U.S. Special Forces to conduct ground assaults inside Pakistan without permission from the Pakistani government, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
Citing senior American officials, the paper said the “classified orders signal a watershed for the Bush administration after nearly seven years of trying to work with Pakistan to combat the Taliban and the Al-Qaida, and after months of high-level stalemate about how to challenge the militants’ increasingly secure base in Pakistan’s tribal areas.” The developments added the latest wrinkle in a relationship between the allies that has been increasingly fraught with tension and came in a week when Americans are observing the seventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks. In a speech to the National Defence University on Tuesday, Bush clubbed “parts of Pakistan” with Iraq and Afghanistan as being regions that “pose unique challenges for our country.” “Yet they’re all theaters in the same overall struggle,” Bush said. He accused the “enemies of a free Afghanistan” of benefiting from “their sanctuary in Pakistan.” “These extremists are increasingly using Pakistan as a base from which to destabilize Afghanistan’s young democracy,” Bush said. On Wednesday, a top U.S. general called for a “new strategy” in Afghanistan that also targets militants’ safe havens in Pakistan. Testifying before lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: “We can hunt down and kill extremists as they cross over the border from Pakistan... But until we work more closely with the Pakistani government to eliminate the safe havens from which they operate, the enemy will only keep coming.” The Times said American officials would notify Pakistan when they conduct “limited ground attacks” like the Special Operations raid which Kayani criticised, but that they will not ask for Islamabad’s permission.
|
|
100 Al Qaeda militants killed in Pak Islamabad, September 11 An intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan has piled pressure on Pakistan to go after militants operating from sanctuaries in remote enclaves on its side of the border. It has also led to a sharp increase in US strikes on militants in Pakistan. In the latest fighting in the northwestern Bajaur region, where some analysts believe top Al Qaeda leaders have been hiding, the security forces fought pitched battles with the militants loyal to a local commander Qari Zia-ur-Rehman. “Eighty to 100 militants were killed in Bajaur today. Most of them are foreigners,” the official said on condition of anonymity. He said the nationality of the foreigners was being ascertained. — Reuters
|
|
|
20 feared killed in Pak grenade attack
Islamabad, September 11 “Militants surrounded the mosque, threw grenades and then started indiscriminate firing, killing 20 persons and wounding 30,” Dawn newspaper reported. Local media reports, meanwhile, quoted officials as saying that the death toll could rise. The injured had been admitted to hospitals. The village in the Miskene area, where the carnage took place, is near the Afghan border in lower Dir town and has recorded the presence of militants. “There was a possibility of the presence of militants in the area, being close to the border, but nothing could be said with certainty about the elements involved in the attack,” an official said.
— UNI
|
|
|
Zardari to meet British
PM President Asif Zardari will meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London on September 16 during what is ostensibly a private visit for two days, it is learnt. The meeting has assumed considerable significance amid talk of "new security strategy" devised by the US that envisages raids inside Pakistan territory to hit the alleged Taliban sanctuaries. These attacks have escalated since the advent of new democratic government in Pakistan. Last week, the US commandos landed inside Pakistan border for the first time since the American attack on Afghanistan about seven years ago. The President is visiting London for admission of her two daughters — Bakhtawar and Assefa. Officials here strongly repudiated as “preposterous” media reports that Zardari has been “summoned” by the British government for discussion on the strategy to halt the cross-border movement of Taliban fighters.
|
|
|
Khaleda Zia freed on bail
Former Bangladeshi premier Khaleda Zia was freed on bail on Thursday after spending a year in jail under alleged corruption charges and announced that her party - the BNP -will run in the December parliamentary elections.
A beaming Zia was received by thousands outside her temporary jail and was taken to the bedside of her elder son Tarique Rahman, who was freed on bail last week and who left for London soon after. She promised that Tarique Rahman, acknowledged to be the centre of the corruption ring during her last tenure between 2001-2006, would stay out of politics. Her release is widely viewed as the last-ditch effort by the army-backed government to lure the BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) into running in the December polls, after securing the participation of the Awami League by releasing its chief and former premier Sheikh Hasina on parole in June. Zia's announcement would ensure participation in the elections by both parties seen as crucial for the local polity and the international community to consider the polls credible. The elections in December would restore democracy to the country, which has been under a state of emergency since polls were stalled on January 11 last year after the army-backed change in power. A visibly emotional Zia, 63, told reporters after her release that "If there is a free and fair election, the BNP will come to power with the mandate of the common people." She demanded the immediate withdrawal of the 20-month-old state emergency to create conducive conditions for the elections, but said "For the sake of democracy, we will join in the dialogue to plan for elections." Khaleda's release is seen as the last of freeing high-profile politicians alleged of corruption, who were detained under the government's anti-corruption drive, one of the central tenets of their tenure. The three-time Prime Minister Zia was arrested along with her youngest son Arafat Rahman Koko on September 3 last year on alleged corruption charges. She faces charges in four cases of corruption and misuse of power dating back to her two stints as the premier from 1991-1996 and 2001-2006, including in the awarding of the state contracts. No trial dates have been set.
|
|
Asian policewoman in UK complains of racism
London, September 11 The case of Yasmin Rehman comes close on the heels of two recent cases of race discrimination filed by senior Asian officers Shabir Husain and Tarique
Ghaffur. The employment tribunal dismissed Husain's case while police chief Ian Blair suspended Ghaffur even as his case is yet to come for hearing. Rehman, who holds the title of Director of Partnerships and Diversity, will be advised by the Metropolitan Black Police Association, which is also backing Ghaffur, reports The Telegraph. The newspaper, however, did not quote Rehman or give specific details of her complaint. She previously worked on the Met's strategy for dealing with cases of forced marriage and issues surrounding honour killings. She is also an expert on community relations and domestic
violence. Rehman is a member of the Met's civilian staff based in Westminster and has been off work for months reportedly suffering from stress. An unnamed colleague told The Telegraph: "She feels she has been targeted because she is Asian and she is determined to bring a case against the Met. When your head of diversity accuses you of discrimination that says it all really." However, the Met said it had received no notification concerning an employment tribunal involving Yasmin Rehman. A Met release said: "She is not Head of Diversity for the MPS as previously reported, but ,in fact, holds the post within Territorial Policing as Director of Partnerships and
Diversity. She has no direct connection with the Commissioner." — IANS
|
|
|
India, US to firm up defence ties
Washington, September 11 Winding up his four-day key visit to the US, defence minister AK Antony said the two countries held deep discussions on Afghanistan, military to military cooperation and problems connected with military technology transfer from the US. The minister, talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a function held in his honour by the Indian community here, did not elaborate on problems being faced on technology transfer. However, the two countries are yet to ratify the crucial end-users agreement under which the US has the right of physical verification of weapon systems transferred. The failure to conclude such an agreement had recently led to delay in delivery of three customised VVIP Boeing executive jets to India. — PTI
|
|
|
Lies, lipstick and phoney outrage: Obama
New York, September 11 In a new Internet ad, John McCain's campaign accused Obama of a sexist "smear" against the Republican's running mate Sarah Palin. But Obama aides flagged a YouTube video showing McCain using the same phrase himself. "They seize on an innocent remark, try to take it out of context, throw up an outrageous ad, because they know that it's catnip to the news media," said Obama on the eve of the seventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks. "I don't care what they say about me. But I love this country too much to let them take over another election with lies and phony outrage," the Illinois senator said. Pouring comic fuel on the fire, the Democratic nominee said Palin was the "lipstick" gloss to John McCain's "pig" policies. However, Obama said a mature election debate was being drowned out by "cynical" ploys such as the McCain camp's outrage over his lipstick comment.
— AFP
|
|
Human remains discovered in shipwreck
Moscow, September 11 The expedition to the world's deepest and oldest lake was organised to search for historic artifacts linked with the Krugobaikal Railway, which saw numerous train crashes in the 19th century. The mysteries hidden in the Baikal's waters are currently attracting a great deal of attention. The Mir-1 and Mir-2 deep-sea vehicles performed a series of 52 dives, including last week when they searched the lakebed for sacks of gold taken from the Imperial Russian reserves by the White Army's Admiral Alexander Kolchak when fleeing from the Bolsheviks in the winter of 1919-1920. However, no gold, except boxes containing ammunition dating back to 1920s, was discovered.
— UNI
|
|
|
Maoist fighters to be integrated into Nepal Army
Kathmandu, September 11 The former fighters, who have been living in camps under the supervision of the UN monitors for the past two years after the Maoists joined mainstream politics, would be "rehabilitated", according to the document. Presenting the document to Parliament, Yadav said the former Maoist cadres would be integrated into the Nepal Army within six months. The Maoists, who signed a peace deal with the previous multi-party government in 2006, had been seeking
inclusion of their fighters in the Nepal Army but their demand was not seriously considered till they themselves
came to power after emerging victorious in the April 10 Constituent assembly poll. The policy document of the Maoists-led government also said the new administration was committed to taking the peace process to its logical
conclusion and drafting a federal democratic Constitution within the stipulated time-frame of two years as mentioned in the interim
Constitution. — PTI
|
Australian minister quits Case against Malaysian officer
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Washington,
September 11
