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Imran leads peace march against US drone strikes
US waives legal requirements in aid to Pak
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Radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza is accused by the US of supporting Al-Qaida and plotting to open a training camp for militants in the US.
Ex-papal butler convicted, sentenced to 18 months in jail
Pope Benedict's former butler Paolo Gabriele.
9 released in Lt Gen Brar attack case
Mobiles on dinner table ‘ruin relationships’
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Imran leads peace march against US drone strikes
Ignoring security warnings by the government, hundreds of supporters of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Saturday set off on a motorcade "peace march" to the terrorists-riddled South Waziristan to protest US drone strikes in the tribal belt.
Imran and several key leaders of his Tehrik-e-Insaf party, including former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, set off in a motorcade of some 130 vehicles from the Islamabad Motorway. Talking to reporters, Imran claimed there was no threat to his march from the Taliban and only the government was trying to stop it. The tribes of Waziristan will provide security to the march, which is expected to culminate in Kotkai village of South Waziristan Agency on Sunday, Imran said. Thousands of people greeted the rally in Mianwali, home town of Imran, who is leading the march as a symbolic gesture to express solidarity with the tribal people who are facing civil strife and attacks by US drones. Briefly addressing the rally, Imran said the march is intended to arouse public opinion in Pakistan and abroad against the "so-called" war on terror and intermittent assaults by US drones. He said the war and the American attacks have killed hundreds of innocent men, women and children while tens of thousands of people have been uprooted in the area. Elated by the public response and media attention at home and abroad, Imran expressed the confidence that world conscience would be aroused against the senseless war that has devastated Pakistan and killed thousands of citizens and soldiers.
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US waives legal requirements in aid to Pak
Washington:
Encouraged by the recent "positive engagement" with Pakistan, the US has waived off the necessary legal requirements for the $2 billion aid to Islamabad, saying that the step was in America's national interest.
"Secretary Clinton has decided to exercise her authority to waive in FY 2012 certification requirements on certain civilian and security assistance to Pakistan. The Secretary has determined that such assistance is in the US national security interest," a State Department official told PTI today. "It is a critical component of US efforts to continue to build a strong, mutually beneficial relationship with Pakistan grounded in concrete action on areas of shared interest," the official said.
— PTI
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Abu Hamza extradited to US from UK to face trial
New York/Washington, Oct 6 Besides the hooked-hand Hamza, the others who were extradited are Adel Abdul Bary, Khalid al-Fawwaz, Babar Ahmad, and Syed Talha Ahsan; the last two of whom pleaded not guilty in a US court where they were produced soon after their arrival in the US. The other three — Hamza, Bary and al-Fawwaz — were scheduled to be produced before a New York court later in the day. US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, termed their extradition, after years of fighting a legal battle, "as a watershed moment" in US' efforts to eradicate terrorism. "As is charged, these are men who were at the nerve centers of Al-Qaida's acts of terror, and they caused blood to be shed, lives to be lost, and families to be shattered. "After years of protracted legal battles, the extradition of these alleged terrorists to the US is a watershed moment in our nation's efforts to eradicate terrorism, and it makes good on a promise to the American people to use every available diplomatic, legal, and administrative tool to pursue and prosecute charged terrorists no matter how long it takes," Bharara said. The India-born top Manhattan prosecutor said Hamza, Bary, and Fawwaz will finally face justice. FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Mary Galligan said: "The extraditions of Abu Hamza, Bary, and Fawwaz are a major milestone in our effort to see these alleged high-level terrorists face American justice". "The indictments allege the direct participation of these defendants in planning and carrying out some of the most odious acts of Al-Qaida terrorism. "When an indictment alleges the murderous intent of international terrorists, the government will not waver in its determination to achieve justice, no matter how long it takes," the FBI official said. Hamza 54, a naturalised British citizen, will be presented today before US Magistrate Judge Frank Maas and is scheduled to be arraigned on October 9 before US District Judge Katherine B Forrest, at which time an initial pre-trial conference will also be held.
— PTI
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Ex-papal butler convicted, sentenced to 18 months in jail
Vatican City, October 6 A Vatican spokesman said the pope, who reigns as a supreme monarch in the world's smallest city-state, would "most likely" pardon Paolo Gabriele, which would mean he would not have to serve his sentence. The court delivered its verdict after two hours of deliberations and closing arguments by the prosecution and defence. Judge Giuseppe Dalla Torre read the verdict aloud two hours after the three-judge Vatican panel began deliberating Paolo Gabriele's fate. Gabriele stood impassively as it was read out in the tiny wood-paneled tribunal tucked behind St. Peter's Basilica. The sentence was reduced in half to 18 months from three years because of a series of mitigating circumstances, including that Gabriele had no previous record, had acknowledged that he had betrayed the pope and was convinced, "albeit erroneously" that he was doing the right thing, Dalla Torre said. Gabriele was accused of stealing the pope's private correspondence and passing it on to journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, whose book revealed the intrigue, petty infighting and allegations of corruption and homosexual liaisons that plague the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. He has said he leaked the documents because he felt the pope wasn't being informed of the "evil and corruption" in the Vatican, and that exposing the problems publicly would put the church back on the right track. In his final appeal to the court today morning, Gabriele insisted he was no thief. "The thing I feel strongly in me is the conviction that I acted out of exclusive love, I would say visceral love, for the church of Christ and its visible head," Gabriele told the court in a steady voice. "I do not feel like a thief."
— AP
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9 released in Lt Gen Brar attack case
London, October 6 The New Scotland Yard in a statement said, “Three men remain in custody. The remaining nine are now bailed to return in November pending further inquiries”. Three others arrested on suspicion of immigration law violations, unconnected with the probe into the attempted murder, were referred to the UK Border Agency, the statement said. Lt Gen Kuldeep Singh Brar was stabbed in an attack by four unidentified men in Old Quebec Street, near Oxford Street, on Sunday. Following the attack, he was taken to hospital with a neck wound and has since been discharged. Brar, who had led ‘Operation Bluestar’ in 1984 to flush out pro-Khalistan militants from Golden Temple, was on a private visit when attacked by four men, suspected to be Khalistan sympathisers. He suffered a wound on his neck and cheek. The attackers were described as being of Asian appearance, all with long beards, and were wearing dark clothing.
— PTI
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Meningitis outbreak in US Anti-terror op in France Oppn to launch protest
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Vatican City, October 6
Russian aid to Syria