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Zardari asks US to clear doubts over aid bill
13,000 more US troops for Afghanistan
Sikh youth denied entry to UK school over ‘kirpan’
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Seoul, October 13 North Korea was preparing to fire a fresh barrage of short-range missiles, a report said today, in a move seen as an attempt to boost its bargaining position ahead of expected talks on ending its nuclear weapons programme. Pak Rangers get first Sikh officer
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Zardari asks US to clear doubts over aid bill
President Asif Ali Zardari has asked the US Congress to address Pakistani concerns on some controversial clauses in the Kerry-Lugar Bill that stipulates $7.5 billion economic aid to Pakistan for the next five years with some strings attached.
Zardari was talking to US Senator Inouye, while Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was due to reach Washington on Tuesday evening on an errand worked out in a meeting of the 'troika'- President, Prime Minister and army chief- on Saturday, for talks with the congressional leaders and the Obama administration. Qureshi said while leaving for Washington he would press for diluting clauses which most Pakistanis, including the armed forces, believed to be impinging on national sovereignty and dignity because of offensive language and being too intrusive. The US and Pakistan need to work together to alleviate these concerns, the President said during a meeting here with US Senator Daniel Inouye, Chief of the US Senate Appropriation Committee. President Zardari who earlier touted the passage of the bill as personal triumph, has since softened his stance in the wake of countrywide uproar and an unusual move by the military commanders in publicly voicing “serious concern” on certain clauses. The decision to dispatch Qureshi to Washington was taken at an urgent meeting attended by the President, the Prime Minister and army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani held on Saturday to resolve tensions brewing between the Presidency and the army. The aid package of $1.5 billion a year for the next five years passed by the Congress last week asks Pakistan to cease supporting terrorist groups on its soil, dismantle terrorist camps in Quetta, Muridke and other areas that threaten its neighbours (India and Afghanistan), provide information or direct access to the proliferation network operating in Pakistan, and to ensure that the military does not interfere with civilian politics and accepts civilian supremacy and oversight on budget, strategic planning and promotions in the chain of command. The army and political parties who include most of members of present coalition regard these conditions as very insulting in terms of its contents, assertive language and tone. President Zardari whose association with the United States has added to his unpopularity, agreed to the stipulations in the aid package and stoutly defended them as containing nothing that violates declared policies of the present government and the national interest. A section of the US media, Vice-President Joe Biden and ambassador Anne Patterson have acknowledged that the conditionality was added to the bill at the last stage of its passage due by some overeager lawmakers who failed to realise the sensitivities of Pakistani people. The administration, however, insists that the bill is aimed to bolster long-term relations with Pakistan and its people and ensure civilian supremacy over the army. These do not cover the economic aid but apply only to the military assistance that is governed by a separate legislation to which former military ruler General Musharraf had agreed. The critics maintained that their injection into the economic aid bill was unnecessary. The bill is being debated in Pakistan's National Assembly amid lot of rhetoric to reject it outright as symbolising American designs to diktat and humiliate the recipients of aid. Foreign Minister Qureshi was supposed to wind up the debate but had to leave it half way, while dashing to Washington. The political analysts say the Parliament may ultimately adopt a more sedate approach and approve a softer resolution summing up reservations instead of rejecting the bill outright. President Obama has not yet signed the bill but has only one day left in the mandatory 10 day period during which he has either to veto it or send it back to the Congress for improvement, though the latter option may delay the passage for months. The officials say the President may opt for another device of making a brief declaration in writing or orally to allay Pakistani concerns.
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13,000 more US troops for Afghanistan
Washington, October 13 However, General Steanley McChrystal, the US and NATO Commander in Afghanistan, has sought an additional 40,000 troops to fight the Al-Qaida and the Taliban terrorists in the war-ravaged country. The Washington Post said in an unannounced move, the White House has authorised and the Pentagon is deploying at least 13,000 troops beyond that number. “The additional troops are primarily support forces, including engineers, medical personnel, intelligence experts and military police. Their deployment has received little mention by officials at the Pentagon and the White House, who have spoken more publicly about the combat troops who have been sent to Afghanistan,” the leading US daily said. Pentagon and White House officials have not publicised significant deployments of support troops, the Post said. “For example, when Bush announced the Iraq surge, he spoke only of 20,000 combat troops and did not mention the approximately 8,000 support troops that would accompany them.
— PTI
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Sikh youth denied entry to UK school over ‘kirpan’
London, October 13 The boy was told not to wear the five-inch (12.5 cm) kirpan at the Compton School in Barnet after governors ruled that it was a “health and safety risk”. The school governors have said that they have tried to find a compromise and a place remains open for the boy. They suggested that he wear a two-inch version of the dagger wielded into a sheath. But the offer was rejected by the boy’s parents who said the miniature dagger was a replica and not a genuine kirpan. The family has taken him out of the school. The boy first started carrying the religious dagger two years ago when he was baptised as a Sikh. However, at the start of term last month, he was told it was no longer allowed.
— PTI
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N Korea may fire more missiles ahead of talks
Seoul, October 13 Analysts say the missiles serve as a reminder of the North's ability to rattle regional security, but were not enough to halt growing momentum for dialogue after the reclusive state announced it was willing to head back to the negotiating table. Yonhap news agency quoted a government source as saying the North had fired five short-range missile off its east coast on Monday and that there were indications of more to come. "There have been indications that the North is getting ready to fire short-range missiles from the west coast," the source was quoted as saying. North Korea has issued a warning for vessels to stay out of its coastal waters during daylight hours from Oct. 12-16, Japan's coastguard said. But less than a day after the North rattled the region with its first missile launch in about three months, it also agreed to hold talks with the South on inter-Korean issues, indicating it had not shut the door to dialogue. The missile reports helped send shares down in early trading in Seoul with investors saying concerns about security weighed on sentiment. China, the closest the North can claim as a major ally, sees the launch as having little impact on efforts to resume now dormant six-country nuclear talks hosted by Beijing. "I believe this won't affect the trend towards easing (tension) on the Korean peninsula," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama expressed greater concern, saying of the launch: "If it is true, then it is very regrettable." US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking on Monday, said Washington would continue its efforts to end nuclear weapons on the peninsula. South Korean officials played down the launches, saying these were often part of routine military drills. "The missiles are identical to the ones that had been fired numerous times in the past, so we don't believe there will be problems on holding talks, which will go ahead," Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said. Analysts said the launches were less a security threat than an attempt to gain the upper hand in negotiations. "Bilateral, and possibly multilateral, talks with North Korea are coming up soon, and North Korea is playing all its cards before they happen," said Koh Yu-hwan, an expert on the North's negotiating tactics at Dongguk University in Seoul. — Reuters
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