Washington, November 25
On the eve of second anniversary of the 26/11 attacks, the USA today declared three top operatives of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba as “global terrorists” and slapped sanctions against a charity group, closely linked to the terror outfit and the Jamaat-ud-Dawa.

Sanctions were slapped against the Pakistan-based Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), which is closely connected to the LeT and the JuD. The foundation has provided humanitarian assistance to Pakistanis displaced by recent floods.

“Today’s amendment of the LeT designation to include the FIF shows that the United States will not tolerate any support to this organisation. The LeT has attempted to use the FIF as a way to evade scrutiny. This designation will help put to an end that attempted evasion,” said State Department’s Coordinator for Counter-terrorism Ambassador Daniel Benjamin.

Besides slapping sanctions on the FIF, the USA designated three senior LeT members as global terrorists. Two of them are Mian Abdullah, head of LeT’s traders department, and Mohmmad Naushad Alam Khan, a key financial facilitator for the outfit. LeT senior leader and current head of FIF Hafiz Abdur Rauf is the third person on the list.

The LeT has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist acts against Indian and US interests and is responsible for the horrific November 2008 Mumbai attacks that claimed 166 lives. The group has been closely associated with Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaida network.

“Few individuals are more integral to LeT’s fundraising than Hafiz Abdur Rauf and Mian Abdullah,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey.

“In their respective capacities, today’s designees play key roles in advancing LeT’s operations and soliciting financial support on its behalf. These actions will help stem the flow of finances to the LeT through the FIF and provide the Department of Justice with a critical tool to prosecute those who knowingly provide material support to the LeT and its senior leaders,” the State Department said.

The various actions taken today against FIF support the US effort to degrade the capabilities of the LeT. “We are determined to eliminate LeT’s ability to carry out terror attacks and to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat its networks,” it said. — PTI 

Beijing, November 25
North Korea's key ally China said today it opposed US-South Korea war games to be staged after Pyongyang's deadly artillery barrage, as Premier Wen Jiabao warned against "provocative" acts.

"We have taken note of relevant reports and express concern," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters when asked about the exercises, which are set to kick off in the Yellow Sea as a show of force on Sunday.

"We oppose any act that undermines peace and stability on the (Korean) peninsula." Tensions are high in the region after North Korean artillery shelled a South Korean island, killing four persons and prompting retaliatory fire from the South.

Premier Wen Jiabao said China was against "any provocative military acts" on the Korean peninsula and urged all sides to "show restraint", according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement released Thursday.

It was not clear whether he was referring to the North-South exchange of fire or the planned US-South Korean military exercises.

The USA and South Korea, which have both appealed to Beijing to use its influence to rein in its wayward ally, are planning a four-day naval show of force against North Korea that will include a US aircraft carrier.

China has previously come out strongly against such exercises in its backyard, saying they risk exacerbating tensions.

Beijing, which is North Korea's closest ally and source of economic support, has so far refused to take sides, merely calling for "restraint" from all parties.

The South is weighing what support it will get from the two nations before deciding whether to refer Tuesday's attack to the UN Security Council, where China and Russia hold veto power as permanent council members. — AFP

Seoul: South Korea’s Defence Minister Kim Tae-young resigned on Thursday, two days after an artillery attack by North Korea killed four persons on a small island near their disputed frontier. The move came as President Lee Myung-bak vowed to send more troops to the island. Pyongyang warned of additional attacks, if provoked. — AP

Washington, November 25
Indian-American Kamla Harris will be California's next Attorney-General, after her Republican opponent Steve Cooley conceded defeat.

With this, Harris, daughter of an Indian mother and African-American father, has made history by becoming the first woman and first non-white candidate to win election as California's top law enforcement officer, after over three weeks of elections.

“We congratulate her on her historic accomplishment and applaud her for having a vision for making California and our country safer by being smarter,” said National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) president and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous.

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organisation.

“In her new post, she will decide where the state stands on some of the most important and controversial political issues, including same-sex marriage and President Obama's healthcare reforms. Harris supports both," said 'The Los Angeles Times'. Harris replaces Democratic Jerry Brown who won election for Governor of California.

In December 2003, Kamla Harris was elected as the first woman District Attorney in San Francisco's history, and as the first African-American woman and South Asian American woman in California to hold the office. She was overwhelmingly re-elected to a second term in November 2007.

Born and raised in the East Bay, Kamala is the daughter of Dr Shyamala Gopalan, a Tamilian breast cancer specialist who travelled to the US from Chennai, to pursue her graduation at UC Berkeley.

Harris has spent the majority of her professional career in the trenches as a courtroom prosecutor.

As District Attorney, Harris focused intensively on fighting violent crime. She has increased conviction rates for serious and violent offences, expanded services to victims of crime and their families, created new prosecution divisions focused on child assault, public integrity and environmental crimes, and launched innovative re-entry initiatives to prevent re-offending. — PTI