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Obama voices concern over safety of Pak’s N-arsenal
Beijing begins mapping disputed South China Sea
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MQM leader among 9 killed in Karachi
A man walks past a bus gutted after violent protests erupted in Karachi on Tuesday. — AP/PTI
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Obama voices concern over safety of Pak’s N-arsenal
Seoul, March 27 “We can’t afford to have non-state actors and terrorists to get their hands on nuclear weapons that would end up destroying our cities or harming our citizens,” Obama told reporters alongside Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani before the two leaders held private talks on the sidelines of the nuclear security summit here. The West is concerned over the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons as it remains vulnerable because the atomic facilities are located in areas where “the Taliban and Al-Qaida are more than capable of launching terrorist attacks”. At their first meeting since the killing of Osama bin Laden in a covert US raid on Pakistani soil last May, the two leaders tried to rescue a troubled anti-terror alliance which has been full of mistrust and recriminations in recent times. The bilateral ties plunged to an all-time low in November when a cross-border NATO air raid killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, prompting Islamabad to curtail ties with the US and launch a parliamentary debate on new terms of engagement with Washington. “There have been times, I think we should be frank, in the last several months where those relations have experienced strains,” Obama told reporters. Obama said it was important for the both countries to have candid and open talks. Obama said he expects Pakistan’s review of bilateral ties will result in a “balanced approach that respects Pakistan’s sovereignty but also respects our concerns with respect to our national security and our needs to battle terrorists who have targeted us in the past.” During the debate on new terms of engagement with the US, angry Pakistani lawmakers have demanded an American apology and taxes on NATO convoys into Afghanistan. “We want to work together with you,” Gilani told Obama, in an effort to rebuild the strained Pak-US ties. The two leaders also expressed a desire to stabilise and secure the situation in the war-torn Afghanistan. “I also wanted to express to the Prime Minister my appreciation for his recognition that it’s in both of our interests, and indeed in all of our interests, to see an Afghan-led reconciliation process that needs to take place,” Obama said. On his part, Gilani said: “Pakistan wants stability in Afghanistan. If there is stability in Afghanistan, there is stability in Pakistan. And we both, Afghanistan and Pakistan, want to work together with you for peace, prosperity and progress across the world.” “We are committed to fight against extremism and terrorism. It is in the interest of Pakistan, for a stable, peaceful, prosperous, independent and sovereign Pakistan,” he said. — PTI
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Beijing begins mapping disputed South China Sea Beijing, March 27 China may step up its exploration of South China Sea to reinforce its territorial claims following announcement that geographical surveys of the area are underway, state-run Global Times reported. “The majority of the disputed waters used to be beyond our reach because we seldom put our claims into action,” Zhang Yunling, director of the Institute for International Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the daily. “By drawing a map, the country can reinforce its jurisdiction claim in the South China Sea, and further actions may follow, such as exploiting resources near the Nansha Islands,” Zhang said. China claims the entire SCS as its own. Its claim, however, has been contested by Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan which assert it is part their maritime waters. — PTI
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IMF ex-chief charged in prostitution ring Lille (France), March 27 Prosecutors said the 62-year-old former Socialist finance minister and one-time presidential favourite had been released on $135,000 bail following the charges yesterday. Strauss-Kahn was called in by investigating magistrates in the northern French city of Lille two days earlier than expected and charged with an offence that could carry 20 years in prison if he is convicted. “He firmly declares that he is not guilty of these acts and never had the least inkling that the women he met could have been prostitutes,” said Richard Malka, one of Strauss-Kahn’s counsel. “Dominique Strauss-Kahn was placed under judicial control and was forbidden from contacting defendants, civil plaintiffs, witnesses and the press regarding the procedures,” prosecutors said in a statement. Strauss-Kahn’s name came up as police were investigating a pimping operation that saw sex workers from brothels over the Belgian border being brought to France for orgies in high-class hotels in Lille and Paris. — AFP
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MQM leader among 9 killed in Karachi Karachi, March 27 The gunmen entered the home of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Mansoor Mukhtar at PIB Colony this morning and gunned him down. Mukhtar’s brother succumbed to his injuries in hospital while his sister-in-law too was injured, MQM officials said. On hearing of Mukhtar’s killing, large number of workers of Mutthaida-e-Qaumi Movement (MQM), which has widespread support in the city, gathered outside the hospital where his body was taken. Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from various areas of Karachi, including Malir, Landhi and Nazimabad. Nine people were killed and scores injured in many parts of the city while miscreants torched at least 48 vehicles in different areas to escalate the tension, according to police and rescue officials. Pakistan’s biggest city was deserted as markets, banks, educational institutions were shut down after the MQM gave a called for a day of mourning. — PTI
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Assange runs for Oz Senate
as ‘libertarian’
Sydney, March 27 Assange, who is on bail awaiting a British court decision on his appeal against extradition to Sweden on sexual assault allegations, announced his plan to run for the upper house of Parliament earlier this month. In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian citizen said he would be a “fierce defender of free media”. Assange, who set up the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, also vowed to use parliamentary privilege to break court suppression orders and other “excessive constraints” on free access to information. The Australian government has previously blasted WikiLeaks, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard describing its release of US diplomatic cables as “grossly irresponsible”. Assange told the Herald the attacks by Gillard directly contributed to his decision to embark on a Senate campaign. WikiLeaks has said it will also field a candidate to run directly against Gillard in her lower house electorate of Lalor, in Victoria state, in elections due in 2013. — AFP
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Obama today voiced concern over safety of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, saying the world cannot allow non-state actors and terrorists to get their hands on the nuclear weapons and end up destroying cities.
Karachi, March 27
