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US vows to stand by Pak
President receives Gandhi’s memorabilia
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FBI foils LeT plan to attack India
Washington, October 28 Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), blamed for the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack, was planning to use an American national to carry out another major terrorist attack in India, the FBI said on Tuesday. Taliban storm UN house in Kabul; 10 dead
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Fight Against Terror
Islamabad, October 28 "This is not Pakistan's fight alone," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced hours after a car bomb in Peshawar killed 95 persons and injured over 200.
"Pakistan is in the midst of struggle against tenacious and brutal terror groups who kill innocent people and terrorise communities," she told reporters and pledged US support at what she called a critical point in Pakistan's history. "These terrorists are committed to destroying what is dear to us as much as they are committed to destroying what is dear to you and to all people. So this is our struggle as well," Clinton told a joint press conference after her meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Saying anti-terrorism remains a "very high priority", the top US diplomat said Washington wanted to broaden its engagement with Islamabad. On her maiden visit to Pakistan after assuming office, Clinton is meeting President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. Clinton said all militants are part of a "syndicate" with Al-Qaida playing a key role in promoting the Taliban to carry out audacious attack like the one on the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters. "In recent weeks Pakistan has endured a barrage of attacks and I would like to convey my sympathy and that of the American people to people of Pakistan," Clinton said. Foreign Minister Qureshi said the terrorist attacks being faced by Pakistan on a "daily basis" would not shake the government's resolve and determination to eliminate extremism. "We will not buckle and we will fight you because we want stability and peace in Pakistan," he said, adding the militants are on the run after being defeated in the Swat. Clinton, however, indicated that the US would be willing to work with all elements who renounce violence and are not part of Al-Qaida. "Let's sort out the hard core (Taliban) and make sure we defeat them. But if there are people who wish to renounce violence and begin to get reintegrated back into society, we should at least be open to that and deal with it on a case-by-case, individual-by-individual basis," said Clinton. She refused to be drawn into the debate on whether there are "good Taliban" and made no reference to contentious issues like differences between the US and Pakistan on conditions attached to economic aid. Asked if she agreed with the definition of "good Taliban", she replied: "I don't know about good but I know that there are people who are caught up in the Taliban movement who may well be less than committed to any cause." — PTI
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President receives Gandhi’s memorabilia
Mahatma Gandhi won’t receive letters not bearing stamps as a matter of principle. But he chose to write back and inform sender Hamdiullah Afsar, a contemporary poet of those times, of his decision. These and many such aspects of Gandhi’s personality come out in a set of letters presented by Curry King Ghulam Noon and NRI from London Nat Purie, who bought some of the memorabilia associated with Mahatma Gandhi in an auction here and presented to President Pratibha Patil at the India House here today. The memorabilia consisting of a piece of khadi cloth ostensibly spun by Gandhi bearing his signatures along with those of Sarojini Naidu, Gandhi’s disciple Meerabai, secretary Pyare Lal and some other blurred signs are part of the package bought by the NRI duo that was handed over to the President. This is third such exercise by Noon and second by Purie. They buy off the articles associated with Gandhi and then present it to the Government of India. But Gandhi’s letters written in Urdu to his disciple Maulana Abdul Bari and a lesser known Urdu poet of those times, Hamidullah Afsar, are a study in contrast. These letters bring out the difference between those who were close Gandhi’s freedom movement and those who tried to intrude upon his privacy. Thus, the difference in tone in his correspondence to the Maulana and Afsar comes out so clearly in these letters. To the intruder (Afsar) his said as a matter of principle he did not reply to those who send him letters without a stamp. It seems Hamidullah was some pest and an exasperated Gandhiji wrote back in the second curt correspondence: “Bhaisaheb, aap ka khat mila. Aap dekhenge ke aapke sab swalon ka jawab maine diya hai.” It was in a total contrast with his endearments in the correspondence to his Khilafat movement associate Maulana Abdul Bari of Lucknow. There Mahatma says: “Maulana sahib, main aapka ehsan manta hun. Aapka Khadim, Gandhi,” morrekha (dated) September 10, 1924. The Maulana is equally endearing. He informs him about the attending arrests (during the khilafat movement) and promises to stick to non-violence and hold no demonstrations or public meetings." He also informs Gandhi of his tour plans and then in a poignant gesture the Maulana asks Gandhi to compliment his "begumsaheba" (implying Kasturba Gandhi). Gandhi also tutored his pupil well and in another letter asks him to observe and study Jawaharlal Nehru carefully. Queen pays tribute to India’s anti-terror efforts
Queen Elizabeth of UK paid tribute to Indians for fighting terrorism with courage and conviction. The Queen was speaking at the banquet thrown in honour of visiting Indian President Pratibha Patil and her husband Devisingh Shekhawat at the Windsor Castle last night. She said, “We are also mindful that in a month’s time, India will mark the anniversary of the appalling terrorist attacks on Mumbai, in which so many Indians were killed. I would like to pay tribute to the courage and steadfastness shown by the Indian security forces and people in the face of this great tragedy”.
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FBI foils LeT plan to attack India
Washington, October 28 The man, identified as David Coleman Headley, was arrested early this month by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task Force at O’Hare International Airport before boarding a flight to Philadelphia, intending to travel on to Pakistan. Headley, 49, along with a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, have been arrested on charges of plotting a terror attack against the facilities and employees of a Danish newspaper which had published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005, federal law enforcement officials announced on Tuesday. The Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, also known as Tahawar Rana, was also a resident of Chicago and was arrested by the FBI October 18. Rana is the owner of several businesses, including First World Immigration Services, which has offices on Devon Avenue in Chicago, as well as in New York and Toronto. According to the FBI affidavit filed in a Chicago court, Headley was in close contact with Ilyas Kashmiri and several unidentified leaders of LeT. Kashmiri is the operational chief of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir section of Harakat-ul Jihad Islami (HUJI), a Pakistani-based terrorist organisation with links to Al-Qaida. Kashmiri, who is presently believed to be in Pakistan’s restive Waziristan tribal region, issued a statement this month that he was alive and working with Al-Qaida. The identities of other LeT leaders, who are associated with Kashmiri, have not been revealed and are mentioned as “LeT member A” and “LeT member B” in the affidavit. “In July and August 2009, Headley exchanged a series of e-mails with LeT Member A, including an exchange in which Headley asked if the Denmark project was on hold, and whether a visit to India that LeT Member A had asked him to undertake was for the purpose of surveillance of targets for a new terrorist attack,” the FBI said. “These e-mails reflect that LeT Member A was placing a higher priority on using Headley to assist in planning a new attack in India than on completing the planned attack in Denmark,” it said. — IANS
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Taliban storm UN house in Kabul; 10 dead Kabul, October 28 Militants also fired rockets at the luxury Serena Hotel favoured by foreigners located on the outer limit of the presidential palace but caused no casualties, presidential spokesman Humayun Hamidzada said. The rocket failed to explode but filled the lobby with smoke, forcing guests and employees to flee to the basement, according to an Afghan witness who asked that his name was not be used for security reasons. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility, saying it was meant as an assault on the upcoming presidential election. UN spokesman Adrian Edwards said six UN staff were killed and nine other UN employees were injured in the assault, which began about dawn in the Shar-e-Naw area of the city. Terrified guests scurried from the building during the assault - some screaming for help and others jumping from upper floors as flames engulfed part of the three-storey building. Afghan police official Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada said 10 persons in all were killed, including three attackers, and that the police had taken control of the building. Edwards said officials were trying to account for several other UN workers who were staying at the guest house. He did not know their nationality but said they were non-Afghans. “This has clearly been a very serious incident for us,” Edwards said. A security guard, Noor Allah, said he saw a woman screaming for help in English from a second storey window and watched as terrified guests leaped from windows. The Afghan police using ladders and rescued at least one wounded foreigner. — AP
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Stating that Pakistan was at a "critical point" of history, the US today offered to stand soldier-to-soldier with the country in its fight against "tenacious and brutal terror groups".
as a matter of principle. But he chose to write back and inform sender Hamdiullah Afsar, a contemporary poet of those times, of his decision.
These and many such aspects of Gandhi’s personality come out in a set of letters presented by Curry King Ghulam Noon and NRI from London Nat
Purie, who bought some of the memorabilia associated with Mahatma Gandhi in an auction here and presented to President Pratibha Patil
