W O R L D

Will never back dictator: Clinton
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton wrapped up her three-day hectic trip to Pakistan Friday night terming it largely successful in the mission to remove much of the mutual mistrust and reassuring people of Pakistan that her country would never support any military dictator in future.

Gilani welcomes PM’s offer for talks
Islamabad, October 31
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today said Pakistan saw India’s offer for talks “positively”.

Lanka to resettle IDPs by Jan 2010
Colombo, October 31
The Sri Lankan government hopes to resettle majority of war displaced Tamils by January next year, a senior minister has assured amidst rising pressure from the US and other western nations to send the Tamils home.

LeT ‘plotter’ to be quizzed tomorrow
Washington, October 31
Indian investigators would join their FBI counterparts on Monday to question David Coleman Headley, nabbed by FBI for plotting a major terror attack in India at LeT’s behest, as fresh inputs indicated that he was planning to visit Pakistan this month.

Oz varsity starts special service for Indians
Melbourne, October 31
In a bid to provide first-hand information on education facilities available Down Under, a Melbourne-based university has launched a special service to help Indian students find out more about “life at the university”.

Dalai to China: Don’t politicise Arunachal trip
Tokyo, October 31
Ahead of his proposed visit to Arunachal Pradesh, the Dalai Lama today hit out at China for opposing his trip to the state saying it was “politicising too much” the issue as he was going there solely for teaching.

Bombing suspect kills cop during questioning
Baghdad, October 31
A suspect being questioned over Baghdad bombings last week grabbed a police weapon and killed an officer, the Interior Ministry said today, as it announced an inquiry into the “negligence.” 

Albanian artist Saimir Strati creats a mosaic of late pop legend Michael Jackson in Durres on Saturday. Strati has used 2,50,000 paint brushes and taken 28 days to complete the mosaic. — Reuters

 

Will never back dictator: Clinton
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton wrapped up her three-day hectic trip to Pakistan Friday night terming it largely successful in the mission to remove much of the mutual mistrust and reassuring people of Pakistan that her country would never support any military dictator in future.

"If you are asking a conventional question that how much my Pakistan visit is successful, then I may not have proper answer to it,” Clinton told a questioner at a inner hosted by US envoy Anne Patterson before she left Islamabad.

However, she added, “I have heard people, felt their sentiments, I believe that Pakistani friends would have listened to me and understand my emotions. I have sentiments of thanks for the Pakistani friends.” She said friendship could not be established by force, but “I think the people heard me with patience, therefore, I believe that they would think over it.”

During interaction with parliamentarians in Islamabad the US secretary of state acknowledged that her country had made a mistake in the past to lend its support to successive dictators. “But we have turned that chapter and made a paradigm shift in the policy and decided to establish relationship with the people instead of individuals,” she was quoted by speaker Fehmida Mirza as telling the parliamentarians.

Clinton underpinned the threat posed by terrorism and extremism emphasising that both Pakistan and the United States faced common enemy and needed to work closely to defeat the Al-Qaida and the Taliban. "Defeat is no option," she said and recounted billions provided by the United States to bolster security and equipment Pakistan armed forces to face the scourge.

She was rather circumspect in responding to repeated questions in most of the meetings regarding drone attacks saying this has to be tackled at different forum. She said she could not comment on any particular tactic or technology used in the war against extremist groups in the area.

Asked in a CNN interview whether she had underestimated the level of anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, Clinton said: “No, because I’ve been following the research and the polling that’s gone on for a couple of years. I knew that we were inheriting a pretty negative situation that we were going to have to address.”

That’s why she wanted three days in the country, “a long trip for a secretary of state,” she said. 

Gilani welcomes PM’s offer for talks

Islamabad, October 31
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today said Pakistan saw India’s offer for talks “positively”.

Welcoming his counterpart Manmohan Singh’s offer of talks with Pakistan, Gilani said: “Wars are not the solution, dialogue is the only solution”.

Singh’s remarks were an outcome of the meeting between the two premiers at Sharm el-Sheikh in July, when they had agreed that dialogue was the only way to resolve outstanding issues, he said.

“He (Singh) had agreed that there is no other way but dialogue... We see this positively,” Gilani told newsmen in the northwestern city of Peshawar, responding to a question on Singh’s recent comments.

However, Gilani made it clear that any discussions between the two countries would be positive only if they included “core issues” like Kashmir.

“Till the core issues are resolved, the dream of achieving peace in the region will not be fulfilled,” he said.

Gilani visited Peshawar to take stock of the security situation in the wake of a devastating car bomb attack in a commercial hub that killed nearly 120 persons earlier this week.

The premier chaired a high-level meeting on the security situation that was attended by North West Frontier Province Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti and federal and provincial ministers.

“We are in a state of war... The militants are working on a foreign agenda,” he said.

Gilani said the world community should not doubt Pakistan’s ability and determination to fight terrorism and extremism. — PTI

Lanka to resettle IDPs by Jan 2010

Colombo, October 31
The Sri Lankan government hopes to resettle majority of war displaced Tamils by January next year, a senior minister has assured amidst rising pressure from the US and other western nations to send the Tamils home.

“The government has consistently maintained that Internally Displaced Persons will be screened and released in a structured and well managed manner,” Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe said.

“We are hopeful of achieving our target of resettling a majority of IDPs by 31 January next year,” he said.

Currently, tens of thousands of war displaced Tamils are languishing in special refugee camps and Washington, the EU and human rights groups have called for their speedy repatriation back to their home.

“Having overcome the threat of terrorism and achieving military mastery over a ruthless organisation which has blighted our national life for nearly three decades, we have a unique opportunity to forge a new Sri Lanka in which all citizens' human dignity is fully safeguarded,” he said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Resettlement and Disaster Relief Minister Rishad Bathiudeen said of the total number of IDPs in the north numbering 2.85 lakh, nearly one lakh people have been sent back home.

Bathiudeen said one of main constraints in resettling the IDPs in their hometowns or villages was the time taken to clear the land mines in those areas.

Though the armed forces were engaged in the process it was a time consuming process that had to be carried out to precision as all land mines had to be cleared, the state run Daily news quoted Bathiudeen as saying.

“Recently, we have acquired 14 mine clearing machines to quicken the process and it was expected that de-mining would be completed in the Mannar District by October end,” he said.

“We cannot allow our people become victims of land mines and that was why the IDPs could not be resettled at once,” he said.

The resettlement process of Internally Displaced Persons to the former LTTE controlled areas in Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Mannar and Kilinochchi began last week. — PTI

LeT ‘plotter’ to be quizzed tomorrow

Washington, October 31
Indian investigators would join their FBI counterparts on Monday to question David Coleman Headley, nabbed by FBI for plotting a major terror attack in India at LeT’s behest, as fresh inputs indicated that he was planning to visit Pakistan this month.

The investigators from IB and RAW are also expected to probe the terror-drug nexus as it has come to light that Headley was charged by a federal court in New York in 1997 with smuggling heroin to the US, according to court documents accessed by the PTI.

Court papers said Headley, alias ‘Daood Gilani’, was planning to go to Pakistan this month, before which he was nabbed by the FBI.

49-year-old Headley was arrested on October 18 along with Tahawwur Hussein Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, by FBI at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport before boarding a flight to Philadelphia, intending to travel to Pakistan.

An affidavit filed by FBI in a Chicago court stated that Headley in an e-mail on July eight to a senior LeT leader whose, name has not been revealed but who has been identified as ‘LeT individual A’, said, “I think when we get a chance we should revisit our last location again and say Hi to Rahul”.

Following his arrest, Headley has stated that the reference was to ‘Rahul’, a prominent Indian actor with that first name, the FBI said in its complaint. Home Minister P Chidambaram appeared to suggest in New Delhi that ‘Rahul’ figuring as a target of Headley is not Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

“It is not the Rahul that you think it is. It could be a pseudonym, it could be a code name but please be assured that it is not the Rahul that you think is,” he said. Headley and Rana are also accused of conspiring with another man to plot an attack on a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in 2005. — PTI 

Oz varsity starts special service for Indians

Melbourne, October 31
In a bid to provide first-hand information on education facilities available Down Under, a Melbourne-based university has launched a special service to help Indian students find out more about “life at the university”.

Through a variety of communication avenues -- including phone, SMS and online -- the “Ask-a-SwinMate” service run by the Swinburne University of Technology near here allowed the prospective Indian students and their parents to learn more about campus life, a statement said.

Indian-origin student Nischint Vora will answer questions on Swinburne's student services, clubs, lectures and teachers, scholarships and university life in general. — PTI

Dalai to China: Don’t politicise Arunachal trip

Tokyo, October 31
Ahead of his proposed visit to Arunachal Pradesh, the Dalai Lama today hit out at China for opposing his trip to the state saying it was “politicising too much” the issue as he was going there solely for teaching.

The Tibetan spiritual leader said he was surprised and saddened by China’s criticism of his visit to Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh.

“I was surprised at China’s criticism. If my visit creates problem, I am very sad, that’s all,” the Tibetan leader, on a visit here told journalists, implying that he intends to go ahead with his visit on November 8.

“The Chinese government politicises too much wherever I go. Where I go is not political,” the 74-year old Nobel Peace Prize winner said. — PTI

Bombing suspect kills cop during questioning

Baghdad, October 31
A suspect being questioned over Baghdad bombings last week grabbed a police weapon and killed an officer, the Interior Ministry said today, as it announced an inquiry into the “negligence.” The suspect, who also shot and wounded the policeman whose gun he took, later died in hospital.

The announcement came shortly after the United Nations confirmed a special envoy would be visiting Baghdad tomorrow to make preliminary findings on security after last weekend's bombings and a similar attack against government offices in August.
“One of our police officers was killed by a suspect involved in Sunday's bombings,” a ministry statement said. — AFP