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Snooping row: Germany summons US envoy
Explain spying on allies, EU to US
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Drone strikes: Pak PM fails to get US assurance Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday urged US President Barack Obama to stop drone strikes in Pakistan and sought to impress upon him his commitment to working with India to resolve all disputes, including Kashmir. 2008 Mumbai attack trial
White House to push Congress for immigration reform
Finally, Suu Kyi gets 1990 Sakharov Prize
Pak arrests 40 Indian fishermen
Military supplies to Nepal resume after eight-year ban India will be isolated if it boycotts
CHOGM: Lanka
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Snooping row: Germany summons US envoy
Berlin, October 24 Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will meet US envoy John Emerson later in what is seen as an unusual step between close allies. Germany yesterday demanded an explanation from the US over the claims and asked the US authorities with great urgency to provide "speedy and detailed clarification," a government spokesman said. Germany's external intelligence agency BND and the Federal Office for Security in Information Technology received indications for the suspected surveillance of the Chancellor during an investigation, according to media reports. Merkel called US President Barack Obama yesterday and made it clear that she “unmistakably disapproves such practices and if the indications turned out to be true, they are completely unacceptable,” the spokesman said in a press statement. She told the President that between Germany and the US, which are close friends and partners for decades, monitoring of a head of government should never happen. “If that happens, it will be a grave breach of confidence and such practices must be stopped immediately," she said. The Chancellor expressed the hope that the US authorities would provide clarification on the full extent of the surveillance operations against Germany, including answering the questions raised by the German government several months ago, the statement said. As a close NATO partner of the US, Germany expects that in the future, there will be a clear mutually agreed basis for the operation of intelligence services and their cooperation. The opposition Left party demanded chancellor Merkel to inform Parliament about the indications for a possible monitoring of her mobile phone. If the suspicions were proved true, “it will be the worst breach of confidence among friends”, co-chairperson of the party Katja Kipping said in an interview. — PTI What Merkel said to Obama
I unmistakably disapprove such practices and if the indications turned out to be true, they are completely unacceptable. Between Germany and the US, monitoring of a head of government should never happen. If that happens, it will be a grave breach of trust. Russian official denies spying on US
Moscow: A Washington-based Russian cultural exchange official who reportedly is the target of an FBI investigation is denying that he is a spy, a Russian news agency reported on Thursday. A source in Washington said the FBI was looking into whether Yury Zaytsev, the head of a Russian government-run cultural exchange programme, tried to recruit young Americans as intelligence assets. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe was still underway. Zaytsev dismissed the accusations as an attempt to hurt ties between Moscow and Washington. — AP |
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Explain spying on allies, EU to US
Brussels, October 24 Initially expected to be “a routine affair”, according to a senior diplomat, the two-day talks from 1500 GMT between the European Union’s 28 heads of state and government have been hijacked by the escalating row over covert US surveillance of its allies. As Germany summoned the US ambassador to Berlin over suspicions Washington spied on Merkel's mobile phone -- a highly unusual step between the allies — a French diplomatic source said she and Hollande will discuss "how to coordinate their response" on the issue. Merkel on the eve of the summit called President Barack Obama demanding answers, warning that proof of snooping on her phone would be considered "a breach of trust". It was Obama's second such embarrassing call this week after Hollande too picked up his phone to demand an explanation over reports of US spying on millions of phone calls in France. Rattled by the latest exposure based on leaks from US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, the White House has said it is not now listening in on Merkel —but it also did not reject the possibility her communications may have been intercepted in the past. Washington also denied reports of eavesdropping on France. As the row widens, the European Parliament on Wednesday asked for a key EU-US bank data-sharing deal aimed at fighting terrorism to be suspended. But whether the EU leaders will come up with a common stand is less than certain. — AFP
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White House to push Congress for immigration reform
Washington, October 24 US President Barack Obama believes that passage of comprehensive immigration reform is still achievable this year, a promise he made when he was sworn in for the second term in January. “We are talking with members and staff members in Congress about how to move forward,” the White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters at his daily news conference after the Speaker of the House of Representatives Jon Boehner said that he believes it is an important issue that can be and should be addressed. The leaders of the House have to decide how they want to proceed. “The Senate has passed a comprehensive bipartisan bill, a very significant achievement. And it doesn’t match word-for-word what the President necessarily would have written, but it meets the criteria that he set, and he would sign it if the House were to pass essentially the identical version,” he said. “The way that it, as I understand it, needs to work is the House still has to produce its own bill or bills, and that that would have to be conferenced,” Carney said in response to a question. “I still think immigration reform is an important subject that needs to be addressed. And I’m hopeful,” Boehner told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference. The White House says Obama will call on Congress to act when he speaks in the East Room of the White House. — PTI Indians to benefit
Early passage of the reform will provide path of citizenship to over 11 million undocumented people, including 2.4 lakh Indians. |
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Special to the tribune Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday urged US President Barack Obama to stop drone strikes in Pakistan and sought to impress upon him his commitment to working with India to resolve all disputes, including Kashmir. Obama and Sharif jointly addressed reporters after their two-hour meeting at the White House, but declined to take questions. Sharif said he had informed Obama of his “sincere commitment to build a cordial and cooperative relationship with India and our efforts to peacefully resolve all our outstanding issues, including Kashmir.” “Terrorism constitutes a common threat. It is as much a concern to us as it is for India. We need to allay our respective concerns through serious and sincere efforts without indulging into any blame game,” he added. Hours before the meeting, India accused Pakistani troops of firing on more than 50 Indian border posts in Kashmir. Obama praised Sharif for taking “a very wise path in exploring how decades of tension between India and Pakistan can be reduced.” Sharif said he also “brought up the issue of drones in our meeting, emphasising the need for an end to such strikes.” Obama did not refer to drones in his remarks, but said the two leaders agreed to continue to find constructive ways to partner together and “respect Pakistan’s sovereignty, that respect the concerns of both countries. US officials say unmanned predator drone strikes have significantly degraded Al-Qaida’s core in Pakistan. While the drone strikes in Pakistan have reduced in intensity over the past few months, the Obama administration has shown no indication of halting them altogether. Pakistani officials say the strikes violate Pakistan’s sovereignty. Acknowledging that many Pakistani civilians had been killed by terrorists, Obama said Sharif “is very much committed to trying to reduce these incidents of terrorism inside of Pakistan's borders, and the degree to which these activities may be exported to other countries.” “It’s a challenge. It’s not easy,” he added. The US-Pakistan relationship hit a low point in 2011, a year notably marked by the US commando raid that killed Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in his hideout in Abbottabad. Some of the frostiness has thawed since then and US officials said this month that the Obama Administration had quietly decided to release more than $1.6 billion in military and economic aid to Pakistan that was suspended in 2011. Obama said there will “inevitably” be some tensions between the US and Pakistan and “occasional misunderstandings.” Obama and Sharif also discussed Afghanistan, and while the president promised to brief the Prime Minister on a long-term strategy for stability in the region, the two leaders agreed that a stable and secure Afghanistan, its sovereignty respected, is in the interests of both the US and Pakistan. Domestic challenges facing Pakistan, including energy security and the economy, were also on the agenda for the White House meeting. Sharif described his first meeting with Obama since taking office in June as “a most cordial and comprehensive exchange of views.” No stopping yet
Pak ‘endorsed’ attacks in secret deal Notwithstanding its public denouncements against US’ “unilateral” drone attacks, Pakistan approved the controversial strikes by the CIA for years under a secret deal with America, a media report said on Wednesday. Top officials in Pakistan’s government for years have secretly endorsed the programme and routinely received classified briefings on strikes and casualty counts, ‘The Washington Post’ reported citing “top-secret” CIA documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos obtained by it. “The documents detailed at least 65 strikes in Pakistan and were described as 'talking points' for CIA briefings that occurred with such regularity that they became a matter of diplomatic routine. The documents are marked
'topsecret' but cleared for release to Pakistan,” the report said.
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2008 Mumbai attack trial
Washington, October 24 Sharif, on his first visit to the US after coming back to power in May last, met Obama for over two hours at the White House yesterday but he appears to have made no headway on his objective of stopping US drone attacks and American intervention on Kashmir. "He (Obama) asked, why the trial of the (Mumbai) terrorist attack in India has not started yet," Sharif himself disclosed this to reporters immediately after holding talks with Obama. Reflecting India's concern over the slow pace of progress in the 26/11 case in Pakistan, Obama posed questions to Sharif over the delay of the trial that has already been hampered by a number of roadblocks. Saeed, accused by India of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 166 persons, including six Americans, is the chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). The JuD has been declared a front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba by the UN Security Council. Speaking in chaste Urdu, Sharif said Pakistan's relationship with India, including the Kashmir issue, was discussed during talks with Obama. But Sharif did not give details of what aspect of the Kashmir issue he raised nor did he talk about the response from Obama on this issue. It is obvious that Sharif's pitch for US intervention on the Kashmir issue had failed to strike a chord with the American leadership with Obama making no reference to any US role in resolving the issue. The US, this week, had said there has not been an "iota of change" in its policy on Kashmir, which remains a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan, as it dismissed Sharif's efforts to seek American intervention to settle the dispute. "He (Obama) has raised the issue of (Dr Shakil) Afridi. He spoke about cross-border movement. He also talked about Jamaat-ud-Dawa," the Pakistan Prime Minister said, without giving details. Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA track down Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, is under detention in Pakistan. Obama, after the meeting with Sharif, said that the Pakistan Prime Minister was taking a "wise path" in exploring how decades of tension between India and Pakistan can be reduced. "I think he (Sharif) is taking a very wise path in exploring how decades of tension between India and Pakistan can be reduced, because, as he points out, billions of dollars have been spent on an arms race in response to these tensions and those resources could be much more profitably invested in education, social welfare programmes on both sides of the border between India and Pakistan, and would be good for the entire subcontinent, and good for the world," Obama said. — PTI
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Finally, Suu Kyi gets 1990 Sakharov Prize
Strasbourg, October 24 Lawmakers gave a standing ovation to the 69-year-old Nobel peace laureate and current Myanmar opposition leader, who could not collect the prize 23 years ago for being under house arrest. “We have made progress since 1990, but we have not made sufficient progress,” Suu Kyi, who was freed in 2010, told the European Parliament. “Our people are just beginning to learn that freedom of thought is possible, but we want to make sure that the right to think freely and to live in accordance with a conscience has to be preserved," she said. — IANS
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Pak arrests 40 Indian fishermen
Islamabad, October 24 The fishermen, arrested by the Maritime Security Agency, were taken to Karachi for further investigation, Dunya News reported. The fishermen would be booked for illegally entering Pakistani waters, the report said. Pakistan and India routinely round up fishermen who inadvertently cross the unmarked maritime boundary in the Arabian Sea. Last month, Pakistan arrested 58 Indian fishermen on a charge of violating the maritime boundary. — PTI
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Military supplies to Nepal resume after eight-year ban
Kathmandu, October 24 Over 360 vehicles, including 25 mine-protected vehicles, have already arrived while arms and ammunition, which are in the pipeline, will come soon, sources in the Nepal Army headquarters said yesterday. — PTI
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India will be isolated if it boycotts CHOGM: Lanka New Delhi, October 24 “Human rights violation takes place in every country in the world. We have our share of it and we are making effort to correct them. All the governments in the Commonwealth had decided unanimously that the Commonwealth Summit will be held in Sri Lanka, so there is no boycott. Isolation will happen to those who do not participate not the other way round," Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam said here. Last week, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said the Prime Minister has been invited by the Government of Sri Lanka for CHOGM but the government has not taken any decision. — PTI Suspend Lanka: TN Govt Chennai: Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday demanded that India should seek temporary suspension of Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth body and insisted on a boycott of CHOGM, respecting the “sentiments and opinion” of the state’s people. — PTI
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