Islamabad, September 24
Pakistan will take up the “core issue” of Kashmir and differences over sharing of river waters during upcoming meetings with the Foreign Secretary and Foreign Minister of India, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said today.

“As far as the core issue is concerned, it is Kashmir. There cannot be lasting peace in the region without resolving the Kashmir issue,” Gilani told reporters in his hometown of Multan.

Gilani was responding to a question about criticism from opposition parties that his government was afraid to raise the Kashmir issue with India.

He said the “core issues for Pakistan are Kashmir and the (sharing of river) waters” and these would be taken up when Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary and Foreign Minister meet their Indian counterparts on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 26 and 27 respectively.

Gilani said he and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh had agreed on these meetings during their talks at Sharm el-Sheikh in July.

Pakistan is “hoping for progress in these meetings”, he added.

Washington, September 24
In a major diplomatic embarrassment to India, the maverick Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi has supported the idea of an “independent state” for Kashmir and said it should be a “Baathist state” between India and Pakistan.

“Kashmir should be an independent state, not Indian, not Pakistani. We should end this conflict. It should be a Baathist state between India and Pakistan,” the Libyan leader said in his address to the UN General Assembly yesterday.

Gaddafi slammed both the United States and the United Nations, and termed the United Nations Security Council as the terrorist council. Gaddafi opposed the induction of big powers into the UNSC, saying such a move would further tilt the balance of power.

In his first speech to the General Assembly, he said opening the doors of the UNSC for big powers would “add more poverty, more injustice and more tension at the world level.”

“There would be a high competition among Italy, Germany, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Japan, Argentina and Brazil...,” Gaddafi said. Stressing that there must be equality among the member states, he noted that since India and Pakistan were both nuclear powers, if India had a seat then Pakistan would want one as well.

“We reject having more seats,” said the Libyan leader since it would give “rise to more superpowers and crush the small people.” Gaddafi was described as “King of Kings” as he took the podium. Donned in long brown robes and a black hat, he read from hand-written notes and regularly referred to an assortment of papers.

Gaddafi noted that the security council reform did not mean increasing the member states. “It will just make things worse... Many big countries will be added further to the former big countries that we already have and like this it will be outweighed,” he said. — PTI

In a deadly blow after long hibernation, Taliban militants on Thursday shot dead eight people, including six pro-government tribal elders, near Bannu in the northwest Pakistan close to the troubled tribal belt.

The elders had been helping Pakistan army by raising private armies (Lashkar) to fight the pro-Taliban militants. The police said they were going on foot to a village near Janikhel to settle a local dispute. Janikhel is close to the rugged tribal region of North Waziristan where Washington says Al-Qaida and Taliban established bases after the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime in neighbouring Afghanistan.

In a related development security forces killed eight pro-Taliban militants in Malakand/ Swat region frustrating their attempt to ambush a military convoy early on Thursday morning in Dargai town at the entry point into the scenic Swat valley. Army spokesman said the shootout took place when militants hiding near a canal tried to trap a convoy, which fought back killing eight attackers. The convoy was proceeding to their venue of fresh deployment to flush out remnants of the militants who have spread out in the wake army’s operation.

“We helped troops to bury the dead as nobody came to pick the bodies”, a local police officer said. The attackers had ambushed near Bannu the pro-Taliban militants conducted a stunning ambush and opened indiscriminate fire killing six elders and two passersby. The victims included tribal chief Malik Sultan, who was active in raising a government-sponsored militia against militants in the area.

BRIEFLY

US for reforms in Myanmar
United Nations: The Obama administration, sketching out a new policy towards Myanmar, pledged to engage diplomatically with the country's military rulers in a bid to promote democratic reforms there. — AFP