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Shed Afghan-India paranoia for peace: Obama to Pakistan
Taseer’s killer files appeal against death sentence
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Street fighting erupts in Gaddafi’s ‘den’
 Sirte, October 7Sirte was rocked by deadly street fighting today in what troops from the new regime said was the final assault on Muammar Gaddafi’s besieged hometown. NTC fighters fire at loyalist troops during a street battle in Sirte on Friday. — AFP
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Shed Afghan-India paranoia for peace: Obama to Pakistan
President Barack Obama said on Thursday that he wants to help Pakistan realise that a peaceful relationship with India is in the best interest of the region, but he admitted that changing the Pakistani approach would be a challenge.
Pakistan sees its "security interests threatened by an independent Afghanistan in part because they think it will ally itself to India, and Pakistan still considers India as its mortal enemy," Obama said. India and Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership this week that elicited a strong reaction from Pakistan. "Part of what we want to do is actually get Pakistan to realise that a peaceful approach towards India would be in everybody's interests, and would help Pakistan actually develop, because among the biggest problems we have in Pakistan right now are poverty, illiteracy, a lack of development and civil institutions that aren't strong enough to deliver for the Pakistani people," Obama said. He said extremism and militancy had flourished in this environment and that was threatening US efforts in Afghanistan, the Pakistani government and the Pakistani people. "Trying to get that reorientation is something that we're continuing to work on; it's not easy," he said. Obama said Pakistan had also been ambivalent about some of the US goals in Afghanistan. "I think that they have hedged their bets, in terms of what Afghanistan would look like. And part of hedging their bets is having interactions with some of the unsavoury characters who they think might end up regaining power in Afghanistan after coalition forces have left," he said. At a Senate hearing last month, Admiral Mike Mullen, then the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the terrorist Haqqani network was a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He claimed that the ISI had helped the Haqqanis plan attacks on US interests in Afghanistan, including an attack on the US Embassy in Kabul and a NATO base in Wardak province. Pakistani officials say the US has not provided any evidence proving these allegations. Obama said there was no doubt that linkages exist between the Pakistani military, ISI and the terrorists. He had previously made similar comments publicly as well as in private conversations with Pakistani officials. The Haqqani network, led by the father-son duo Jalaluddin and Sirajuddin Haqqani, operates from safe havens in North Waziristan, which abuts Afghanistan. The Haqqanis allow Al-Qaida and the Taliban to use its safe havens in Pakistan. However, Obama said he would be hesitant to cut off US aid to Pakistan over these linkages. "I'd be hesitant to punish aid for flood victims in Pakistan because of poor decisions by their intelligence services," he said, adding, "But there is no doubt that we're not going to feel comfortable with a long-term strategic relationship with Pakistan if we don't think that they're mindful of our interest as well." Obama said Pakistan must not feel threatened by a stable Afghanistan. The Obama administration has encouraged discussions between Pakistani and Afghan officials, but the president admitted, "We have still got more to do."
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Taseer’s killer files appeal against death sentence
Former Punjab governor Salman Taseer’s self-confessed killer Mumtaz Qadri has filed an appeal in the Lahore High Court against the decision of an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) that awarded him the death sentence on two counts including willful murder and terrorism. Mumtaz Qadri, in his appeal, raised technical points, contending that the ATC had no jurisdiction to hear his case as the Anti-Terrorism Act was not applicable to this particular case. It said the murder of Salman Taseer did not create a sense of terror among the people and they were instead happy to hear about the murder because Taseer pronounced the blasphemy law as a black law. This statement provoked the sentiments of the public and of Qadri, that was the reason behind his murder, the appeal said. The appellant argued that Taseer had himself violated the law by criticising blasphemy laws. Meanwhile, religious groups, including several banned extremist outfits, on Friday took out protest rallies in several major cities to condemn the death sentence and demanded his release. They described Qadri as a hero who had avenged the blasphemy committed by Taseer.
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Street fighting erupts in Gaddafi’s ‘den’
Sirte, October 7 Taking the coastal town would be an important symbolic trophy for Libya’s new rulers, and would bring them closer to finally gaining control of the whole country almost two months since their fighters seized the capital Tripoli. Forces loyal to the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) are under pressure to intensify their advance but heavy resistance and gunfire by Gaddafi loyalists have prevented them from taking the city for weeks. Columns of black smoke rose above Sirte’s skyline as NTC forces fired tank shells and rounds of artillery toward the city centre from their positions to the east of Sirte. Thousands of civilians have fled Sirte as fighting intensified, describing an increasingly desperate humanitarian situation. Many were caught off guard by Friday’s assault and fled in panic as explosions boomed around the city. “There are strong strikes in all directions. Today we will finish it. God willing today we will capture Sirte,” said Col Ahmed El-Obeidi, an NTC commander. NTC lorries with ammunition and artillery batteries were brought forward to the eastern front line, about 1.2 km away from the city centre. Along with the desert town of Bani Walid, Sirte is one of the last strongholds still controlled by Gaddafi loyalists. Doctors at a field hospital east of Sirte said they heard a huge explosion inside the city after midnight. Colonel Obeidi said the explosion occurred after his forces hit a weapons storage facility belonging to Gaddafi supporters. Gaddafi loyalists who pulled back to Sirte when they lost control of other cities are putting up fierce resistance. They have been mainly using sniper fire and rocket-propelled grenades to prevent NTC forces from entering the city centre. — Reuters
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Former Punjab governor Salman Taseer’s self-confessed killer Mumtaz Qadri has filed an appeal in the Lahore High Court against the decision of an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) that awarded him the death sentence on two counts including willful murder and terrorism.
