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US to help build India-Pak confidence
India, Nepal Home Secys to meet in November
Mush backtracks |
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Pak soil won’t be used against India: Zardari Karzai gets 54.6% votes in first count
Denial of safe exit to Mush comes 48 hours later
Gunmen kill 10 at Mexico rehab clinic
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US to help build India-Pak confidence
The Obama administration is seeking opportunities to build India-Pakistan confidence in an effort to jump-start the peace process, which has been under considerable strain since the Mumbai attacks last November. US policy toward India and Pakistan is founded on the fact “what happens in one country affects the other,” Mike Mullen, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, told US senators. “Our strategy seeks opportunities to build India-Pakistan confidence,” he said. In a written response to questions from the lawmakers, Mullen said India and Pakistan share a “common regional threat of violent extremism.” He was asked to what extent actions by India, particularly with respect to troop levels along the India-Pakistan border, help or hinder US efforts in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The US, eager to get Pakistan army’s complete attention on fighting terrorists along its border with Afghanistan, has been advocating a reduction in tensions with India. “Al-Qaida and associated extremist organisations are targeting India, as well as Pakistan, Afghanistan, our allies in the Middle East, Europe, Australia, and the US homeland,” Mullen said. He said the Obama administration continues to encourage “increased contact across the Line of Control, senior-level bilateral engagement and trade” between India and Pakistan. Mullen noted that while there are no “immediate options or quick-fixes,” continued demonstration of US long-term commitment to regional security will reduce tensions between Pakistan and India and “enhance the will and capacity of Pakistanis to move decisively against extremists.” Mullen testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. He said the US would need to send additional troops to Afghanistan in order to win the battle against Al-Qaida and a resurgent Taliban. He warned that if the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, the country would once again become a safe haven for Al-Qaida. “It is the epicentre of terrorism right now. It is very clear that in fact Al-Qaida is diminished while it is living in Pakistan, and this is a Pakistan-Afghanistan issue. They are by no means dead. It is a very serious threat,” he said. The United States has about 62,000 troops in Afghanistan, nearly double the number from last year. Some senators, including the committee’s top Democrat, Carl Levin, have opposed committing more US troops to the war. Levin says the US must focus on expanding Afghanistan’s armed forces. “Providing the resources needed for the Afghan Army and Afghan police to become self-sufficient would demonstrate our commitment to the success of a mission that is in our national security interest, while avoiding the risks associated with a larger US footprint,” the senator said. Support for the war is also falling among Americans. In his response to the senators’ written questions, Mullen acknowledged that Pakistan’s ability to conduct sustained operations against terrorists and other extremist groups who seek safe haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is “vitally important to our regional strategy.” Mullen said Afghanistan and Pakistan’s stability are “inextricably linked as extremist threats transcend regional boundaries.” In an interview with the Financial Times last week, Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari had complained about President Barack Obama’s AfPak policy that links Pakistan with Afghanistan. Mullen said the strategy is “regionally focused in recognition of the fact that what happens in one country affects the other”. “Clearly, addressing extremist safe havens and cross-border activities is essential to success in Afghanistan,” the admiral said. He explained that the US strategy develops Pakistan’s counterinsurgency capabilities and simultaneously pursues long-term approaches to promote a stable, democratic governance. Asked what the strategic risks were of tying Afghanistan’s future too closely to developments in Pakistan, Mullen replied: “The ability of extremists in Pakistan to undermine our efforts in Afghanistan is known, which is why our new approach to the strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan is regionally focused.”
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India, Nepal Home Secys to meet in November
At a time when Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has been expressing his serious concerns over the possible infiltration of militant groups in India from Nepal the officials from the two countries have scheduled to hold Home Secretary-level talks in November to discuss the security concerns. Addressing a press meet organised by the Indian Embassy on Tuesday before wrapping up her two-day official visit to the capital city Kathmandu, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said "The Home Secretary level talks will take place on November 6-7 in Kathmandu during which the entire gamut of bilateral security issues will be addressed." She also informed that while talking with Nepalese government officials she raised India's security concerns and the use of Nepalese territory for anti-Indian activities. "The Nepalese side unequivocally reiterated its commitment that such activities will not be allowed," she added. According to media report from New Delhi, while addressing the state Directors General and Inspectors General of Police in New Delhi on Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said that "infiltration" across the Line of Control (between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir) and also via other routers such as Nepal, Bangladesh and the sea is going up. He, however, did not elaborate which of the militant groups are infiltrating India through Nepali soil. Rao, who arrived Kathmandu after visiting Thimpu, also said that she discussed with the Nepal government possible supply of counterfeit Indian currency from Nepal. "I discussed about the fake currency issue as well and the government of Nepal has taken it seriously and assured us that they will investigate the cases and take stern action against criminals," she said. Rao also discussed with the political leaders and the government officials the recent attacks on the Indian priests at the revered Pashupatinath Temple. "The Government of Nepal has reassured me that they have taken all necessary measures to ensure the security and well being of the Indian priests and continuation of regular prayers at the temple," she added.
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Mush backtracks
Washington, September 16 In a statement issued in Philadelphia, Musharraf, currently on a lecture tour of the US, said Pakistan “never violated any agreement or mis-utilised US funds.” “As far as the equipment issued to a military unit is concerned, the equipment moves wherever the unit is deployed,” he said. “The US at the time was aware of what we were doing,” he was quoted as saying by ‘Dawn News’. His U-turn came three days after he admitted in a TV interview that the military aid provided by the US to Pakistan for the war against terror during his tenure had been used to strengthen defences against India. He had also said he “did not care” whether the US would be angered by his disclosure. “No question was asked regarding US funds for fighting the militants in this interview or at any other time,” Musharraf said in the statement. “I have never said Pakistan violated any agreement.” The US State Department had said it took “very seriously” Musharraf’s admission, but refrained from stating whether it would investigate the matter. — PTI
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Pak soil won’t be used against India: Zardari London, September 16 “Pakistan is ready to cooperate with India to punish the perpetrators of terror attacks in Mumbai. Pakistan has assured that it would not allow its territory to be used against India for any acts of terror,” Zardari told the Financial Times in an interview published today. Zardari’s comments came ahead of the meetings of Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries of the two countries on the sidelines of UN General Assembly session in New York. — PTI
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Karzai gets 54.6% votes in first count Kabul, September 16 The Independent Election Commission (IEC) released figures, which put Karzai on track to win a second term with more than the necessary 50 per cent plus one vote, a clear lead on nearest rival Abdullah Abdullah, who has 27.8 per cent. But the announcement comes with Karzai on a collision course with his international backers, as his office accuses European observers of meddling in the elections by saying that 1.5 million votes could be fraudulent. The UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) has also ordered a recount at 2,500 polling stations, a process which will likely take weeks. “Based on the preliminary results that we have announced today, Hamid Karzai is at the front of the queue,” IEC official Daud Ali Najafi told reporters. “These are just the preliminary results. We will have final results when we investigate the (fraud) claims,” he said. It was "impossible" to announce Afghanistan's new president tomorrow as originally scheduled, he added. Turnout was 38.7 per cent, Najafi said, with threats of violence by Taliban militants waging an insurgency apparently keeping people away from the polls. — AFP
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Denial of safe exit to Mush comes 48 hours later
The presidency on Wednesday refuted the widely circulated report citing President Asif Zardari as saying that former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf was being provided a “safe exit” guaranteed by foreign powers. In a belated explanation that hardly satisfied critics, the presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar described the media coverage of Zardari’s remarks at an iftar-dinner reception he hosted for journalists on Monday as “blown out of proportion”.
Many senior anchors and columnists present on the table insisted that the media correctly reported the President’s remarks and wondered that the presidency took about 48 hours to deny the reports. Leading newspapers in editorial comments said the President’s disclosure came as no surprise because it was already known. In the National Assembly, the opposition Pakistan Muslim Nawaz (PML-N) on Wednesday filed a privilege and an adjournment motion signed by 90 members of the party. Leader of the Opposition belonging to the PML-N, C Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said Zardari had struck a deal with Musharraf and his foreign backers without taking the nation or the parliament into confidence. “The unholy deal was worked out while Zardari had not even been elected as President,” Khan said adding that the President owed it to the nation to divulge all the details of the deal. He said Musharraf quit because of the impeachment threat in the Parliament which was certain to succeed. Zardari had initiated the proceedings with the help of the PML-N but made the deal without confiding to the then ally. Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the President during an informal discussion at the iftar dinner was talking only about negotiations among political parties on the fate of Gen. Musharraf. “In the talk with journalists there was no mention of negotiations with the so-called national or international guarantors to give immunity to Musharraf subsequent to his exit,” the presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said in a statement adding that the President's remarks have “unfortunately been distorted and misrepresented”. Aesha Tammy Haq who was present on the table said: “The President definitely made these remarks and I am surprised over the denial.”
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Gunmen kill 10 at Mexico rehab clinic
Mexico, September 16 Drug gangs have targeted rehab clinics in the manufacturing city across El Paso, Texas, accusing them of protecting dealers from rival gangs. A state attorney spokesman said the victims, nine men and a woman, were killed late on Tuesday as they finished praying before going to bed. A similar attack took place in Ciudad Juarez, in the northern state of Chihuahua, earlier in September, when hooded gunmen killed 17 patients at another clinic, one of the deadliest assaults during President Felipe Calderon's three-year war against drug cartels. Ciudad Juarez is the battleground for the feuding Juarez cartel and drug smugglers loyal to Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, the head of the Sinaloa cartel and Mexico's most-wanted man. The government's inability to defeat the cartels is Calderon's biggest challenge and is worrying foreign investors and the United States. More than 13,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since late 2006. — Reuters
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