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Obama for more military aid to Pakistan
Seeks $75.5 bln for Iraq, Afghan wars
US to withdraw troops from Iraq by Aug 2010
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Dhaka Mutiny
Armed forces to be kept out of politics: Kayani
26/11 lawyer fired Protests in Pak continue
Nepal declares 8,000 martyrs
Tamil Civilians Tigers keen to safeguard 40 top cadres
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Obama for more military aid to Pakistan
Washington, February 27 US military aid to Pakistan has remained a matter of intense discussion. However, the Congressmen this time are pitching to increase non-military aid by linking it with Islamabad’s success in fight against terrorism. The budget also seeks to increase the non-military aid. When asked about the move at the Pentagon briefing, Joint Chief of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said: “I think it’s very important that we help resource them and develop this comprehensive strategy with Pakistan over a number of years. I’m delighted to see that kind of support in the ‘10 budget’.” The budget also proposes increasing non military aid to Afghanistan. “External challenges include undertaking a responsible drawdown of troops from Iraq and focusing the appropriate resources on achieving US objectives in Afghanistan,” said the section of the budget related to the Defence Department. US President Barack Obama is seeking an additional 75.5 billion dollars for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the rest of the current fiscal year in a budget released today that reflects plans to pull troops out of Iraq.
— PTI
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Seeks $75.5 bln for Iraq, Afghan wars
Washington: US President Barack Obama is seeking an additional 75.5 billion dollars for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the rest of the current fiscal year in a budget released today that reflects plans to pull troops out of Iraq. Obama, in his first budget, is also requesting 130 billion dollars for military operations in the two wars for fiscal year 2010 that starts October 1, which would be a decline from the roughly 140 billion dollars he expects would be needed this year.
The proposed 2010 budget would increase US defense spending by four per cent, or 20.4 billion dollars, to 533.7 billion dollars, excluding the cost of the wars or work on nuclear weapons. Total spending in the Pentagon base budget and for the wars would reach nearly $664 billion in fiscal 2010, if the plan is approved by Congress.
— Reuters
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US to withdraw troops from Iraq by Aug 2010
Washington, February 27
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Dhaka Mutiny
Dhaka, February 27 Aided by sniffer dogs, security forces came across the mass grave at the BDR headquarters and unearthed 38 bodies of army officers hurriedly piled up with mud, taking the confirmed death toll to 66. But, many more officers are still untraced and officials fear that the toll might be higher than 130. “At least 15 bodies can be seen but we need special equipment to get them out. There may be many more. They are highly decomposed," Brig Naim Shahidullah, who is leading a combined team of Army and police searching the BDR headquarters, said. Earlier, Army troops, backed by six tanks and 20 armoured vehicles, entered the sprawling BDR compound through the main entrance. The troops used loudhailers to ask people to move away as they drove up the Satmasjid Road from their overnight base in the residential neighbourhood Dhanmondi, bdnews24.com reported. Meanwhile, reacting to the evidence of mass killing by mutineers, Hasina said a probe will be ordered into the entire episode, notwithstanding a general amnesty announced earlier. “The people directly involved in the killings will not be pardoned and would not be covered under the general amnesty,” she said. Hasina, who was speaking to reporters after visiting injured officers at a hospital, said possibly “one particular group” among the renegade soldiers had carried out the massacre with a “heinous motive.” "An investigation into the incident will be launched. All institutions have some rules of their own that will be followed in this case also,” she added. The PM later also visited the Mirpur Cantonment in the city outskirts. — Agencies
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Armed forces to be kept out of politics: Kayani
Washington, February 27 According to the New York Times, Gen Kayani gave this assurance during his meetings with Congress leaders this week as he faced questions whether the military would step in if the political situation in Pakistan deteriorated. The daily, quoting a Pakistani official, reports that ''Gen Kayani, who unlike his predecessor Pervez Musharraf, has pledged to keep the military out of politics, said the Army would not intervene.” The Congressional leaders with whom he had discussions included House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Horward L Berman, Senate Armed Forces Committee Chief Carl M Levin and Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry. Gen Kayani had a busy schedule in Washington, during which he met Defence Secretary Robert Gates to exchange views on matters of mutual interests and regional situation and called on Lieutenant General Mapples, Director Defence Intelligence Agency. Gen Kayani visited Pentagon and held a detailed meeting with chairman joint chief of Staff Committee Admiral Michael Mullen on regional strategic matters. Among those whom Gen Kayani met included national security advisor General James L Jones and special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke, commander of US Central Command General David Petraeus. — UNI
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26/11 lawyer fired
Islamabad, February 27 Apart from his sacking as the Special Public Prosecutor, Sardar Mohammad Ghazi was removed from the post of deputy attorney general by Zardari, according to an official notification quoted by Dawn News channel. Ghazi went to London on a private visit shortly after his controversial remarks on February 18 that Pakistan had formally requested India to hand over Kasab. He had said that Kasab was the “prime suspect” and it would be difficult to prosecute the other accused arrested in Pakistan if he was not handed over by India. His comments were denied hours later by the foreign office, which said no formal request had been made to India for Kasab's custody.
— PTI
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Protests in Pak continue
Islamabad, February 27 Pakistan was in turmoil for the third straight day today as supporters of PML-N leaders Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif attacked a federal minister’s car and damaged government property at several places. Angry protesters attacked Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar’s car at Faizabad on the outskirts of Islamabad as he was travelling to the garrison city of Rawalpindi. The protestors pelted the minister’s car with stones before police rescued him. Police used tear gas to disperse about 100 protestors who blocked a six-lane highway between Islamabad and Rawalpindi with rocks and bricks. Protestors also set on fire a police station at Shahzad Town in Islamabad, though no one was injured in the incident.
— PTI
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Nepal declares 8,000 martyrs
The Unified CPN (Maoist)-led coalition on Friday decided to declare around 8,000 people, who were killed during the decade-long Maoists insurgency, as martyrs of the country.
Emerging from the cabinet meeting that resumed after 16-days recess, Minister for Information and Communications Krishna Bahadur Mahara said, “Today’s cabinet decided to recognise 7,000 plus people, who were killed during the People’s War.” Government spokesperson Mahara said some of the names had been omitted and some new names were inducted in the list. “However, the government is yet to make a decision regarding the provision for providing relief and compensation to the victims’ family members,” he added. Declaring such a large number of people the martyrs sounded like a joke, Nepali Congress leader Dr Ram Sharan Mahat said. “It attempts to undermine the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the nation,” he added. Newly elected secretary of CPN-UML Shankar Pokharel said the government should have set up standard norms before declaring them as martyrs.
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Tamil Civilians
Colombo, February 27 “It is the Sri Lankan government’s consistent stand to prevent collateral damage being caused to civilians in the final phase of the current military operations to defeat terrorism in the country,” Rajapaksa told the Nepalese Foreign Affairs Minister Upendra Yadav yesterday during a meeting. Replying to a query, the President also explained that the Lankan security forces were adopting a cautious approach in pursuing their operations against terrorists in order to avoid civilian casualties, a Sri Lankan government release said.
— PTI
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Tigers keen to safeguard 40 top cadres The Sri Lanka military said the LTTE was putting up stiff resistance as it wanted to safeguard around 40 of its top leaders from being killed in the fighting as troops closed in on the last remaining stronghold of the Tigers in the northern Mullaithivu district, a government minister said on Friday. Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said senior defence sources had told him that troops would adopt a new strategy to take out the LTTE leaders in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the Editor of a Colombo-based Tamil daily N. Vithyatharan is being held in police custody since Thursday for his alleged involvement with the Tamil Tigers, Police sources said.
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