W O R L D

Swap deal: 1 Israeli soldier freed for 1,027 Palestinians
Jerusalem, October 18
Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and hundreds of Palestinians crossed Israel’s borders in opposite directions today as a thousand-for-one prisoner exchange brought joy to families but did little to ease decades of conflict.
HISTORIC MOMENT: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets Gilad Shalit, who was freed after five years in Hamas captivity, at the Tel Nof air base in central Israel; and (right) jubilant Palestinian prisoners gesture as they enter Gaza from Egypt via the Rafah crossing on Tuesday. — Reuters

Fresh push against Haqqanis launched
Kabul, October 18
Afghan security forces and their NATO allies have launched a new push against the Al-Qaida- linked Haqqani network along the troubled Pakistani border, senior defence officials said today.

Talks with Taliban only if they disarm: Malik
Pakistan will hold peace talks with Taliban insurgents only if they lay down their arms first, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said.

UK cuts more jobs for Indians
London, October 18 
Britain on Tuesday cut more categories in the ‘shortage occupation list’ under which professionals from India and other non-EU countries could come here for work, leading to an expected drop of 40,000 non-EU workers entering the country every year.

Swap deal: 1 Israeli soldier freed for 1,027 Palestinians
Shalit is the first Jewish prisoner to return home alive in 26 years * Palestinians welcome freed detainees in West Bank and Gaza 

Jerusalem, October 18
Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and hundreds of Palestinians crossed Israel’s borders in opposite directions today as a thousand-for-one prisoner exchange brought joy to families but did little to ease decades of conflict. Shalit walked a free man into his country after 1,941 days in Hamas captivity.

Shalit, the first Jewish prisoner to return home alive in 26 years, triggered massive wave of joy in the Jewish state with the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally greeting him saying “Welcome to Israel, it’s good that you’re home.”

Before the 25-year-old Shalit met with his parents, Netanyahu told them: “I brought you back your child.” The celebratory mood was not confined to Israel as huge crowds of Palestinians waved and cheered to welcome home hundreds of freed detainees in the West Bank and Gaza.

The historic first ever prisoner swap between Israelis and the radical Palestinian group took place at the Rafah crossing and got underway when a SUV filled with armed men sped into Sinai from Gaza to hand Shalit over to Egyptians before zipping back across the border.

His transfer to Egypt set in motion the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in a long-awaited deal signed last week. Timed with Shalit’s handover, buses carrying the first batch of 477 prisoners headed for Gaza and the West Bank.

“Shalit has returned home,” chief army spokesman Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai said in a press conference at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, which was broadcast live on Israeli TV and radio stations.

Dressed in Khaki military fatigue, Shalit entered the Israeli territory after spending five years in captivity in the Gaza Strip following his abduction in a cross border raid in June 2005.

Speaking to a television channel immediately after being handed over to Egyptian authorities by Hamas, a visibly relieved Shalit said he hoped there won’t be any more wars with Palestine.

“I hope this deal will promote peace. I hope there would be no wars between Israel and the Palestinians”, 25-year-old Shalit, who was seen having trouble speaking and gave short responses to the questions, told Egyptian Television in an interview.

Shalit was passed into Egyptian custody around 8 am local time under the historic prisoner exchange deal. His release was the fruit of a hard-won prisoner exchange deal with the Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza.

A first batch of prisoners were released today, while a second group of 550, whose names have yet to be decided, will be freed within two months.

All the Palestinian prisoners to go free in this round of swap were transferred to locations on the Gaza border, in the West Bank and, in the case of the Israeli Arab prisoners included in the deal, East Jerusalem. — PTI 

Fresh push against Haqqanis launched

Kabul, October 18
Afghan security forces and their NATO allies have launched a new push against the Al-Qaida- linked Haqqani network along the troubled Pakistani border, senior defence officials said today.

US commanders say the network is their most potent enemy in eastern Afghanistan and increasingly capable of launching high-profile attacks in Kabul. It is an Afghan Taliban faction, loyal to Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

Afghan Defence minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said operation "Knife Edge" was launched two days ago, while a senior defence ministry official said it was "largely against the Haqqani network".

Washington last month dramatically escalated pressure on Pakistan to crack down on the Haqqani network, with the then military chief Admiral Mike Mullen accusing Pakistani intelligence of involvement in the embassy siege.

The allegations caused damaging diplomatic rifts as the West seeks to end the 10-year war in Afghanistan.

The Afghan ministry official said the operation was tied to the recent spats between Washington and Islamabad, but gave no details about its scale.

A NATO spokesman confirmed only that "enhanced official operations" were ongoing "to reduce the select insurgent network" in the eastern region that borders Pakistan. — AFP 

Flicker of hope for peace from Shalit deal

Jerusalem, October 18
Palestinians and Israelis celebrating at the same time is a rare occurrence. Their simultaneous elation today over a mass prisoner swap is raising a faint glimmer of hope for progress in ending the Middle East conflict.

Veteran analysts greet any such optimism with a roll of the eyes. Inured to years of peace-making failure, few if any think it can translate into immediate gains elsewhere.

Yet the deal may have the potential to loosen the state of siege that separates the two sides. In Gaza, where funerals are the usual result of exchanges with Israel, thousands poured into the streets to welcome home the first of 1,027 detainees being released as part of the swap which was agreed by Israel and Hamas, and mediated by Egypt.

Across the border, Israelis were elated as a gaunt Sergeant Gilad Shalit emerged from more than five years of captivity in Gaza, with the vast majority supporting the lopsided accord that secured his freedom.

The prisoner swap is a rare case of a seemingly intractable Middle East problem actually being resolved.

World leaders voiced hope that the exchange would lead to better times, happy to endorse the deal made by Islamist Hamas, which most Western nations have branded a terrorist movement because of its refusal to renounce violence or recognise Israel.

“This release ... will have a far-reaching positive impact on the stalled Middle East peace process,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Reuters on Tuesday. — Reuters

PM Gilani’s chair breaks, spectator calls it bad omen

Islamabad, October 18
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani faced some embarrassing moments when a chair buckled under his weight at an official function in the capital city, prompting a participant to say that this may be a “bad omen” for the top PPP leader.

Gilani’s aide-de-camp, who was standing behind him, came to his rescue and saved him from falling to the ground after the chair gave way during the event at the National University of Science and Technology yesterday, a media report said today.

The Prime Minister “sat on the edge of the broken chair for a while” and the organisers replaced his chair later while he was standing and distributing prizes to students, The News daily reported. — PTI 

Talks with Taliban only if they disarm: Malik
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

Pakistan will hold peace talks with Taliban insurgents only if they lay down their arms first, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said.

“The minimum agenda is that they give up arms and come forward and then there will be talks. But if they think they will keep Kalashnikovs in their hands and also hold talks, that will not happen,” he told reporters in Lahore.

The multi-party conference held here on September 30 resolved to give peace a chance and initiate dialogue with ‘our own people’ in tribal areas.

Analysts here agree that a precondition for laying down arms is contrary to tribal traditions and history. As such it makes the initiation of dialogue a non-starter. 

UK cuts more jobs for Indians

London, October 18 
Britain on Tuesday cut more categories in the ‘shortage occupation list’ under which professionals from India and other non-EU countries could come here for work, leading to an expected drop of 40,000 non-EU workers entering the country every year.

The David Cameron government accepted the recommendation of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to specialist jobs such as pharmacists, veterinary surgeons, and speech and language therapists. 

The ‘shortage occupation list’ is a list of jobs that Britain allows non-EU professionals to come here and take up employment. The new list will come into effect from November 14. The list is part of the Tier 2 immigration route via the Points Based System.

Highly skilled migrants from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) seeking to work in the UK must apply for visas via this route. Official sources said the Migration Advisory Committee recommended the changes where evidence from a range of industries and sectors showed resident workers are available to fill the vacancies.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said: “Alongside our limits on overseas workers we are also taking action to provide businesses with the skills they need from the British workforce and reduce their need for migrants.” 

He added: “We want the brightest and the best people from outside the EU with the skills we can benefit from in the UK.” 

Occupations that the MAC recommended be removed from the list include: secondary education biology teachers; speech and language therapists; pharmacists; orthoptists; veterinary surgeons; and, rank and file orchestral musicians.

Added to the list will be: actuaries; high integrity pipe welders; environmental scientists; and geochemists. — PTI

The hard hit

The David Cameron government has accepted the recommendation of the Migration Advisory Committee
The panel has pruned more categories in the ‘shortage occupation list’ under which professionals from India and other non-EU countries can come to UK for work
It will lead to an expected drop of 40,000 non-EU workers entering the country every year. The new list will come into effect from November 14