Pak Taliban vow to kill Malala on return to country
Islamabad, July 19
A senior representative of the Tehreek-e-Taliban has said they will shoot Malala Yousufzai if she chooses to return to Pakistan. The representative said the group had no sympathies with the teenager, who was shot last year for demanding education for girls.



A file photo of Malala Yousufzai at the UN. 

Washington, July 19
US President Barack Obama may cancel his scheduled visit to Moscow to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, as tension build up between two countries over fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, media reports have said.

While there was no official word from the White House, except that its Press Secretary, Jay Carney, avoided questions on this issue, media reports yesterday said the government is thinking over cancelling the Obama-Putin meeting, when the US president travels to Russia to attend the G-20 Summit in St Petersburg.

"President Obama's scheduled trip to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in September is in limbo because of uncertainty surrounding National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, who fled to Russia and is seeking asylum there," The Washington Post reported.

The Obama administration is asking Russia to send Snowden back to the United States where he is wanted on espionage charges for leaking classified information.

"In addition to the Snowden case, relations between the United States and Russia have become strained in recent weeks over the ongoing conflict in Syria, disputes over nuclear weapons and concerns about the Putin government's treatment of dissidents," the daily reported.

The New York Times also reported on similar lines.

"President Obama may cancel a scheduled trip to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin in September as the standoff over the fate of Edward J Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor seeking asylum there, takes its toll on already strained relations between the United States and Russia, officials said Thursday," the daily said.

"Cancelling the meeting in Moscow would be seen as a direct slap at Putin, who is known to value such high-level visits as a validation of Russian prestige," it said.

"While the White House may be using the meeting as leverage to win cooperation as it seeks the return to the US of Snowden, who is now staying at a Moscow airport, the reconsideration also reflects a broader concern that the two countries are far apart on issues like Syria, Iran, arms control and missile defence," The New York Times reported.

Carney on Wednesday refrained from answering questions on Obama-Putin meeting in Moscow in September. — PTI

Islamabad, July 19
Former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has said he would prefer going to jail rather than appearing before Pakistan's anti-corruption watchdog that is investigating graft charges against him.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had summoned Gilani yesterday to record his statement regarding a Rs 82-billion scam in the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority during the tenure of Tauqir Sadiq, who was appointed by the former premier.

Gilani said with every passing moment, every institution under the PML-N government was hatching conspiracies against his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and President Asif Ali Zardari.

“How can I appear before an institution whose credibility was challenged by the son of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, by not appearing before the NAB?” Gilani said in an interview with The Express Tribune in his hometown of Multan.

"I don’t expect justice from any institution," he said.

Sadiq was recently extradited from the UAE to face charges in Pakistan.

Apart from Gilani, another former premier Raja Pervez Ashraf is being probed for his role in Tauqir's appointment.

Ashraf, as Power Minister under Gilani, had approved the appointment.

Gilani alleged that the PML-N government was trying to involve him illegally in every inquiry.

The former premier was disqualified by the Supreme Court last year after being convicted of contempt for failing to implement an order to reopen corruption cases against Zardari. — PTI

Tokyo, July 19
After six years of political turmoil and a slew of short-term prime ministers, Japan looks set for stability if premier Shinzo Abe's ruling bloc wins the upper house election this weekend, analysts say.

But the question is whether Abe will continue his programme of economic reforms, or revert to nationalist type and risk a further fraying of relations with China.

"We need political stability to carry out policies," Abe told reporters. "We will get that political stability by winning the upper house election." Voters nationwide will elect half of the 242-seat upper house of Parliament on Sunday.

Opinion polls show Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition ally will win more than half the seats up for grabs. — AFP

Islamabad, July 19
A senior representative of the Tehreek-e-Taliban has said they will shoot Malala Yousufzai if she chooses to return to Pakistan. The representative said the group had no sympathies with the teenager, who was shot last year for demanding education for girls.

The representative said neither was Adnan Rashid, a senior commander of the Taliban, nor did the Taliban have anything to do with the letter that was written to Malala on Wednesday.

According to the Express Tribune, he said Malala had been targeted because of her efforts in promoting secular education in Pakistan.

The representative said the Taliban Council had obtained the draft of the letter that Rashid had sent Malala, and whether it had any content that went against the rules of the Taliban was being assessed.

He added that the council will also look into the purpose for which the letter had been written to Malala.

Taliban’s prominent leader in Pakistan Adnan Rashid said he was ‘shocked’ after Malala was attacked by the Taliban in October last year.

Rashid had been convicted in 2003 by the state of Pakistan for trying to assassinate former president Pervez Musharraf.

He wrote to Malala, advising her to return and join a religious school for women in Swat, the report added. — ANI 

Islamabad, July 19
Pakistan today said it wants the resumption of the formal composite dialogue with India to address "mistrust" between the two countries.

Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry made the remarks in response to questions from reporters at a weekly news briefing.

Referring to the start of back channel diplomacy with India' he said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had appointed former diplomat Shahryar Khan to conduct negotiations.

Khan has visited India and expressed the Pakistani leadership's "strong desire" for good neighbourly relations, he said.Officials from the two countries are currently working out dates for the next round of talks between the two sides.

Manmohan Singh is expected to meet his Pakistani counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in September. — PTI