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US making powerful bomb to ‘hit’ Iran
Arab League suspends Syria mission
Dutch government approves burqa ban
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Memogate
Aneesh Chopra
Twitter’s censorship policy under US watch
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US making powerful bomb to ‘hit’ Iran The efforts have been speeded up as part of contingency planning for a possible strike against Iranian nuclear sites, the Wall Street Journal reported quoting US officials. The move comes after Pentagon war planners concluded that their largest bomb isn’t yet capable of reaching Tehran’s nuclear weapon-making facilities buried deep underground. The “bunker-buster” bomb, known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, was specifically designed to take out hardened fortifications built by Iran and North Korea to cloak their nuclear programme, the paper said quoting US officials. But, early tests indicated that the bomb as currently primed was not fully capable of destroying some of Iran’s facilities, because Tehran had added new fortifications to protect them. Doubts about the bomb’s effectiveness, US officials said had prompted Pentagon this month to secretly approach the Congress for funding to enhance the “bunker-buster’s” ability to penetrate deeper into rock, concrete and steel before exploding. The US Defence Department has spent $330 million so far to develop about 20 such bombs. The Pentagon is seeking $82 million more to make them effective, the paper said quoting government officials briefed on the plan. The US aviation giant Boeing received a contract in 2009 to fit the weapon on the American air force B-2 Stealth bomber. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta in an interview to the paper acknowledged the bomb’s shortcomings against some of Iran’s deepest bunkers and said development work was being done and he expected a more powerful “bunker-buster” to be ready soon. The Pentagon officials said the new money was meant to ensure that the weapon would be more effective against facilities such as Iran’s Fordo enrichment plant, which is buried in a mountain complex surrounded by anti-aircraft batteries near Qom city, making it a particularly difficult target even for the most powerful weapons in the US armoury. According to US air force officials, the 20 foot-long “bunker-buster” carries 5,300 pounds of explosive material and is designed to penetrate upto 200 ft underground before exploding. The mountain above Iran’s enrichment site at Fordo is estimated to be at least 212 feet tall. The WSJ said that Israel is the only country besides the US to possess such bombs. — PTI Targeting N-sites
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Arab League suspends Syria mission
Beirut, January 28 The Arab League called last week for President Bashar al-Assad to step down after 10 months of revolt against his rule and will take its suggestion for an Arab peace plan to the UN Security Council next week. "Given the critical deterioration of the situation in Syria and the continued use of violence ... it has been decided to immediately stop the work of the Arab League's mission to Syria pending presention of the issue to the league's council," Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby said in a statement. A delegate at the league said no date had yet been fixed for a meeting of the council on Syria. A Syrian official said the government could not comment on the statement until it received confirmation of the suspension from the Arab League. The mission's mandate was to observe implementation of a peace plan and had been extended for a second month. Fighting raged outside three rebel-held suburbs of Damascus on Saturday, activists said, expressing concern that the army was trying to prevent insurgents from solidifying a stronghold just 15 minutes outside the capital. Activists told Reuters by telephone that some military forces were firing from tanks and had used anti-aircraft gunsand mortars. They said fighting in the afternoon subsided into an exchange of gunfire between soldiers and insurgents who control the towns of Saqba, Kafr Batna and Jisreen. Diplomatic pressure has so far failed to end Syria's crackdown on unrest it blames on foreign-backed militants. — Reuters
UN draft resolution asks Assad to transfer powers to deputy
United Nations: Amid the political unrest in Syria, a fresh draft resolution has been circulated in the UN Security Council, calling for an immediate end to the government crackdown on civilians as it asked President Bashar al-Assad to transfer his powers to his deputy. The draft introduced on Friday offers that if Syria does not comply with the provisions of the resolution within 15 days, the UNSC can "adopt further measures, in consultation with the League of Arab States," against the Syrian regime.
— PTI
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Dutch government approves burqa ban The Hague, January 28 “It is very important that people in an open society meet each other in an open way,” Minister of Interior Affairs Liesbeth Spies said after the cabinet meeting. The burqa ban was already part of the government coalition agreement. In September 2011, the proposal was sent for advice to the council of state, which issued a negative opinion. The council considered the proposal contrary to the prohibition of freedom of religion and contrary to the standards of non-discrimination. The government’s main advisory body also wondered whether a burqa ban was too heavy a measure. However, the cabinet neglected the advice and claimed the European Convention on Human Rights offers the opportunity to limit religious freedom when it is in the interest of the public order. “We think we have to make a legitimate exception to the freedom of religion,” Spies said. In April last year, France introduced a burqa ban and became the first European country to ban people from concealing their faces in public in many manner.
— IANS
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Someone in Pak knew about Osama’s hideout: Panetta
Washington, January 28 Bolstering his hunch, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, who headed the Central Intelligence Agency at the time when US Navy SEALs killed bin Laden in Pakistan’s Abbottabad town, said there were intelligence reports of Pakistani military helicopters passing over the compound where the Al-Qaida chief was hiding. “I personally have always felt that somebody must have had some sense of what - what was happening at this compound. Don’t forget this compound had 18 foot walls... It was the largest compound in the area. So you would have thought that somebody would have asked the question, ‘What the hell is going on there?’”, Panetta told CBS ‘60 Minutes’ profile. Pakistan was not made aware of the US raid on the compound, Panetta said as he explained: “We had seen some military helicopters actually going over this compound. And for that reason it concerned us that, if we, in fact brought (Pakistan) into it, that - they might... give bin Laden a heads up”. Pressed whether he knows for sure that the government of Pakistan knew where bin Laden was, Panetta said: “I don’t have any hard evidence, so I cannot say it for a fact. There’s nothing that proves the case. But as I said my personal view is that somebody somewhere probably had that knowledge.” In the interview, Panetta for the first time acknowledged publicly that a Pakistani doctor, Shakil Afridi, provided key information to the US in advance of the successful Navy SEALs assault on bin Laden’s compound last year. Afridi was arrested and charged with treason by the Pakistani government. “I’m very concerned about what the Pakistanis did with this individual...who in fact helped provide intelligence that was very helpful in the operation,” Panetta said. “He was not in any way treasonous towards Pakistan... Pakistan and the US have a common cause here against terrorism... and for them to take this kind of action against somebody who was helping to go after terrorism, I think is a real mistake on their part,” the defence secretary said. Quoting unnamed Pakistani officials, the US media said that the Pakistan government had hoped to resolve the Afridi matter quietly, once media attention died down, perhaps release him to the US custody.
— PTI
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Ex-President Musharraf defers return to Pakistan Dubai, January 28 Heeding the advice of the executive committee of his party and his friends and supporters, Musharraf has decided to defer his return to his home country, the official said. All Pakistan Muslim League secretary-general Mohammed Ali Saif said told reporters that political developments in Pakistan took a turn following the announcement of his intention to return by the end of the month. Saif said that the party has asked Musharraf to postpone his return home, “until the situation in Pakistan becomes conducive to the return.” 68-year-old Musharraf had announced earlier this year that he would return to Pakistan from more than three years of self-imposed exile in London and Dubai, despite threats to arrest him. There were also reports of senior officials from Pakistan visiting him in Dubai to dissuade him from taking the step. According to Ali, the former president agreed to take into account the changed scenario in his country. “This decision (of returning) will be deliberated by the core committee of the party,” he told reporters. The party has concluded that “it would not be beneficial to the party’s interest that (former) president Musharraf returns to Pakistan” in the current conditions, he added. Senior officials in Pakistan, including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, had recently said that Musharraf will be arrested on arrival if he returned to the country. Gilani told CNN from the World Economic Forum in Davos today that Musharraf will “certainly” be arrested if he returns to Pakistan. “The party has concluded that it would not be beneficial to the party’s interest that (former) president Musharraf returns to Pakistan in the current conditions,” Ali said. Musharraf faces two arrest warrants on his arrival in the country. An arrest warrant is pending against the former general for his alleged failure to cooperate in the probe of assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. Musharraf who left the country in 2009 is also an accused in the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti in a military operation in August 2006. — PTI
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Memogate
Citing security concerns, Mansoor Ijaz, the central character in the memo scandal, on Saturday asked the Supreme Court to allow him to record his statement before a judicial commission outside Pakistan. Ijaz's lawyer Akram Sheikh filed the request in the apex court this afternoon, officials said.
Sheikh contended that the Supreme Court-appointed commission should be allowed to travel abroad and record Ijaz's testimony in some other country. Sheikh claimed a "deal" had been struck with the US by Pakistan's government and security establishment to sweep the scandal under the carpet. He gave no information to support his claim. He further claimed that Ijaz feared he might be arrested on false charges or that evidence about the memo scandal might be taken away from him when he comes to Pakistan. Ijaz has failed to make two scheduled appearances before the judicial commission, which has given him a final opportunity to come to Islamabad and record his statement on February 9. The commission has turned down Ijaz's request for his testimony to be recorded in London or Zurich.
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Obama’s Indian-American IT head Chopra quits Washington, January 28 Announcing the departure of Chopra, Assistant to the President and the federal government’s first Chief Technology Officer, Obama said: “Chopra did groundbreaking work to bring our government into the 21st century. “Aneesh found countless ways to engage the American people using technology, from electronic health records for veterans, to expanding access to broadband for rural communities, to modernising government records.” “His legacy of leadership and innovation will benefit Americans for years to come, and I thank him for his outstanding service.” While the official announcement gave no reason for his resignation, the Washington Post citing unnamed Democrats said he was widely expected to announce that he will run for lieutenant governor in Virginia. Chopra has flirted with running for statewide office in Virginia for years, building up support among Democratic activists and serving on Obama’s transition team in 2008, it said. The eldest son of Indian immigrants, Chopra, 40, was sworn in into his White House job on May 22, 2009, after serving as Secretary of Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia. — IANS
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Twitter’s censorship policy under US watch Washington, January 28 “As the Secretary (of State) said in her Internet freedom speech, the choices that private companies make have an impact on how information flows or doesn’t flow on the Internet and mobile networks. They also have an impact on what governments can and can’t do and on people,” she said. She said smart companies need to develop broad principles that guide their actions. “I think in the Twitter case, what we see here is a company making very clear what its policies are going to be in these circumstances where the choice is operate not at all or operate in a constrained way,” Nuland said. “So from that perspective, being honest about what you’re up to is in keeping with these standards. But until we see how they are implemented and how it influences content, we obviously can’t evaluate whether this is, you know, a good thing or not for Internet freedom,” she said. Nuland said there are a number of examples of companies that are not as up-front about what they do. “And, you know, at least this way, Twitter users can know what is up. But again, until we see how this is implemented, I don’t think we’re in a position to evaluate,” she said. Twitter, she pointed out, has stated publicly that it is committed to abiding by fundamental freedoms of expression and association and assembly, and to being transparent. The United States, Nuland asserted, would only set out broader principles, and not dictate to companies. “We’re not going to dictate to companies. We’re setting out the general principles.” There are many companies out there that make these decisions without being transparent, either to their users or to the world, she said. — PTI
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The Dutch government approved a ban on face-covering clothing, such as a
burqa, a niqab, a forage cap, or a full face helmet, reported Xinhua. People going on the streets with one of these now risk being fined for up to 380 euros ($499).
Washington, January 28