The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Obama, Maliki vow to fight Al-Qaida
Washington, November 2
US President Barack Obama and Iraqi leader Nuri al-Maliki discussed how to "push back" against Al-Qaida after the resurgent group whipped up the deadliest surge of violence in the country in five years. Obama welcomed Maliki to the Oval Office yesterday nearly two years after the last soldier left Iraq, but as fears mount that Al- Qaeda will send the country spiralling back into civil war.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki with US President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington on Friday. AFP

China to ‘stamp out’ Dalai Lama’s voice in Tibet
Beijing, November 2
China aims to stamp out the voice of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in his restive and remote homeland by ensuring that his "propaganda" is not received by anyone on the internet, television or other means, a top official said. China has tried, with varying degrees of success, to prevent Tibetans listening to or watching programmes broadcast from outside the country, or accessing any information about the Dalai Lama and the exiled government on the internet.

White House mole was Indian-American
Washington, November 2
It turns out that a White House mole fired recently for snarky anonymous tweets about top Obama administration officials and its policies was an Indian-American policy wonk. Jofi Joseph, 40, who served as a non-proliferation expert on the National Security Council, was a key aide of President Barack Obama, whose administration at over two dozen has more Indian-Americans in key jobs than any other previous US administration.

Police probes motive behind shooting at US airport
Los Angeles, November 2
The police was hunting for a motive today after a gunman opened fire at the Los Angeles International Airport, killing an unarmed security agent, terrifying hundreds, and sowing chaos at the busy transport hub. Panicked travellers scrambled to escape after the shooter — identified as 23-year-old Paul Anthony Ciancia — armed with an assault rifle, blasted through a security checkpoint at the airport shortly after 9 am (2130 IST) yesterday. Ciancia then walked calmly through the terminal seeking further victims.

US, Germany to ink no-spy deal, claims report
berlin, November 2
Germany and the US are to strike a two-way deal not to spy on each other in the wake of the diplomatic furore sparked by the Edward Snowden revelations, a German newspaper reported. A delegation of German chancellery and intelligence officials reached the deal during talks at the White House this week, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS) reported in its Sunday edition. The accord is set to be concluded early next year, it said, citing sources close to the German government.

Japan, Russia hold their first diplomatic defence talks
Tokyo, November 2
The foreign and defence ministers of Japan and Russia agreed today to cooperate in fighting terrorism and piracy as the neighbours, still at odds over territorial woes, held an unprecedented security dialogue. Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera held a so-called "2+2" meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu at the government's guest house in Tokyo.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (left) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Saturday. — AFP

Nepal polls: UN urges Maoists to maintain peace
Kathmandu, November 2
The United Nation today asked the hardline faction of Nepalese Maoists to help authorities in maintaining peace during the Constituent Assembly polls to be held later this month.

	Mehsud’s killing: Pak Taliban vow bloody revenge against US Islamabad, November 2 Pakistani Taliban fighters secretly buried their leader early on Saturday after he was killed by a US drone aircraft and quickly moved to replace him while vowing a wave of suicide bombs in revenge. The Pakistani government denounced the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud as a US bid to derail planned peace talks and some politicians demanded that the US military supply lines into Afghanistan be blocked in response. Mehsud, who had a $5 million US bounty on his head, and three others were killed on Friday in the militant stronghold of Miranshah in northwest Pakistan, Pakistani security officials and militants said. Mehsud's vehicle was hit after he attended a meeting of Taliban leaders, a Pakistani Taliban fighter said, adding Mehsud's body was “damaged but recognisable”. His bodyguard and driver were also killed. He was secretly buried under cover of darkness in the early hours by a few companions amid fears that his funeral might be attacked by US drones, militants and Pakistani security sources said. "Every drop of Hakimullah's blood will turn into a suicide bomber,” said Azam Tariq, a Pakistani Taliban spokesman. "America and their friends shouldn't be happy because we will take revenge for our martyr's blood." Mehsud took over as leader of the al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban in 2009. The group's two previous leaders were killed in attacks by U.S. missile-firing drones. Taliban commanders voted to replace him with the movement's number two, Khan Said, who is also known as Sajna. Shah Farman, a spokesman for the government of the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said provincial legislators would pass a resolution on Monday to cut NATO supply lines into landlocked Afghanistan. A main one passes through the nearby Khyber Pass. The supply lines through U.S. ally Pakistan have been crucial since the latest Afghan war began in 2001 and remain vital as the United States and other Western forces prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of next year. Residents of Miranshah, the capital of the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border, said Pakistani Taliban fighters were converging on the town and firing furiously at drones buzzing high in the sky. — Reuters
	US has sabotaged peace talks with Taliban: Pak Islamabad, November 2 Pakistan today accused the US of deliberately trying to sabotage its peace process with militants by carrying out the drone attack that killed Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, saying it would review the entire gamut of bilateral ties and cooperation. Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan accused the US of sabotaging the government effort to initiate peace talks. He said a three-member government negotiating team was scheduled to go to Waziristan for "exploratory talks" with the Taliban on Saturday. However, the government cancelled the talks due to the strike. In early June, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) withdrew its dialogue offer to the government after a US drone killed the group's deputy chief Wali-ur-Rehman Mehsud. Expert on tribal affairs Mehmood Shah said the peace talks would be postponed as it depended on the new TTP leadership. Political analyst Ikram Sehgal said Mehsud's death was a serious setback for the proposed peace dialogue and his killing was seen as a huge blow to the TTP. Senior political leaders also reacted to Friday's drone strike when the government and the TTP were set to enter into the long awaited peace talks aimed at putting an end to the bloodshed. Imran Khan, leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, said the US does not want peace process in Pakistan. He added that his government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province will block supplies bound for NATO-led troops in Afghanistan after approval of a resolution in the provincial assembly. Jamiat ulema-e-Islam, a powerful Islamic party, condemned the TTP chief's killing and held the US responsible for the failure of the peace process. — IANS Ask US to stop drone strikes: Afghan Taliban Kabul: The Afghan Taliban on Saturday urged Islamabad to prevent any further US drone strikes. "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly condemns this terror act by America and describes the martyrdom of Mullah Hakimullah Mehsud as a big loss," the Taliban said in a statement, using the group's formal name. “America can't create a vacuum or achieve their evil goals by martyring mujahideen. The Islamic Emirate calls on the Pakistani people and government to make more effort than at any other time to prevent such brutal attacks by the American invaders,” they said. — AFP
	Obama, Maliki vow to fight Al-Qaida Washington, November 2 US President Barack Obama and Iraqi leader Nuri al-Maliki discussed how to "push back" against Al-Qaida after the resurgent group whipped up the deadliest surge of violence in the country in five years. Obama welcomed Maliki to the Oval Office yesterday nearly two years after the last soldier left Iraq, but as fears mount that Al- Qaeda will send the country spiralling back into civil war. “We had a lot of discussion about how we can work together to push back against that terrorist organisation that operates not only in Iraq but also poses a threat to the entire region and to the United States,” Obama said. But he did not offer specifics of US aid. Before the visit, US officials privately hinted that they were willing to offer increased intelligence help to Iraqi forces battling extremist fighters - many of whom have crossed into the country to flee violence that is rending neighbouring Syria. Amid some criticism that the United States left Iraq to fend for itself after an eight year occupation, Obama said that he appreciated Maliki's work to honour the sacrifice of 4,500 US troops that were killed in the war by building a "prosperous, inclusive and democratic Iraq." Some Maliki critics in Washington feel the prime minister has not done enough to include all of Iraq's minorities in the political system and has therefore fostered a well of sectarian resentment that has offered an opening for extremists. After an hour and a half of talks, Obama also encouraged Maliki to pass an election law so national polls can take place on time early next year, and stressed the need for a peaceful solution to the Syria conflict and the Iran issue. Maliki said he hoped that the US would help rebuild Iraq and stressed his government's commitment to a strategic agreement governing their relations following the US withdrawal. — AFP
	China to ‘stamp out’ Dalai Lama’s voice in Tibet Beijing, November 2 China aims to stamp out the voice of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in his restive and remote homeland by ensuring that his "propaganda" is not received by anyone on the internet, television or other means, a top official said. China has tried, with varying degrees of success, to prevent Tibetans listening to or watching programmes broadcast from outside the country, or accessing any information about the Dalai Lama and the exiled government on the internet. But many Tibetans are still able to access such news, either via illegal satellite televisions or by skirting Chinese internet restrictions. The Dalai Lama's picture and his teachings are also smuggled into Tibet, at great personal risk. Writing in the ruling Communist Party's influential journal Qiushi, the latest issue of which was received by subscribers on Saturday, Tibet's party chief Chen Quanguo said the government would ensure only its voice is heard. “Strike hard against the reactionary propaganda of the splittists from entering Tibet," Chen wrote in the magazine, whose name means “seeking truth”. The government will achieve this by confiscating illegal satellite dishes, increasing monitoring of online content and making sure all telephone and internet users are registered using their real names, he added. "Work hard to ensure that the voice and image of the party is heard and seen over the vast expanses (of Tibet) ... and that the voice and image of the enemy forces and the Dalai clique are neither seen nor heard," Chen wrote. China calls the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama a "wolf in sheep's clothing" who seeks to use violent methods to establish an independent Tibet. The Dalai Lama, who fled to India after a failed uprising in 1959, says he simply wants genuine autonomy for Tibet, and denies espousing violence. Chen said the party would seek to expose the Dalai Lama's "hypocrisy and deception" and his "reactionary plots". China has long defended its iron-fisted rule in Tibet, saying the region suffered from dire poverty, brutal exploitation and economic stagnation until 1950, when Communist troops "peacefully liberated" Tibet. Tensions in China's Tibetan regions are at their highest in years after a spate of self-immolation protests by Tibetans, which have led to an intensified security crackdown. — IANS Stern action Beijing to ensure the Dalai Lama’s “propaganda" is not received by anyone on the internet, television or other means. In Communist Party's journal Qiushi, Tibet's party chief Chen Quanguo said the government would act hard on splittist forces
	White House mole was Indian-American Washington, November 2 It turns out that a White House mole fired recently for snarky anonymous tweets about top Obama administration officials and its policies was an Indian-American policy wonk. Jofi Joseph, 40, who served as a non-proliferation expert on the National Security Council, was a key aide of President Barack Obama, whose administration at over two dozen has more Indian-Americans in key jobs than any other previous US administration. Joseph, who was said to be part of the team working on negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme, was fired after it was discovered he was the author of the @natsecwonk Twitter feed known for its snarky blasts about the Obama administration. Under the cover of his alias, Joseph took aim over two years at high-ranking administration officials and Republicans alike, slamming their intellect and criticising their appearance. "I'm a fan of Obama, but his continuing reliance and dependence upon a vacuous cipher like Valerie Jarrett concerns me," he once reportedly tweeted of the president's senior adviser. Summing up his colleagues, he tweeted another time, "'Has shitty staff.' #ObamaInThreeWords." Joseph did not spare Rice either when Obama appointed her National Security Adviser (NSA) a few months later. “What's with the dominatrix-like black suit Susan Rice is wearing at this announcement?" he anonymously tweeted when Rice was formally introduced as the new NSA at the White House on June 5. Born in Germany where his parents, both Indians, were stationed in the early 1970s, he came to the US with his family when he was only six months old. — IANS Tweet bombs Jofi Joseph, 40, served as a non-proliferation expert on the National Security Council. He was the author of the @natsecwonk Twitter feed known for its snarky blasts about the Obama administration. On the President's senior adviser, he tweeted: "I'm a fan of Obama, but his continuing reliance and dependence upon a vacuous cipher like Valerie Jarrett concerns me," On his colleagues, he tweeted, "Has shitty staff." #ObamaInThreeWords."
	Police probes motive behind shooting at US airport Los Angeles, November 2 The police was hunting for a motive today after a gunman opened fire at the Los Angeles International Airport, killing an unarmed security agent, terrifying hundreds, and sowing chaos at the busy transport hub. Panicked travellers scrambled to escape after the shooter — identified as 23-year-old Paul Anthony Ciancia — armed with an assault rifle, blasted through a security checkpoint at the airport shortly after 9 am (2130 IST) yesterday. Ciancia then walked calmly through the terminal seeking further victims. He was eventually stopped when police shot and wounded him. TV footage showed people diving to the floor at the sound of gunfire and scrambling to escape. The dead agent was the first Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employee killed in the line of duty since the group was set up following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The lone gunman, who reportedly had a grudge against the TSA, also wounded seven people in the rampage. But he was still carrying plenty of ammunition when he was arrested, said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. "There were more than 100 more rounds that could have literally killed everybody in that terminal today," he said, praising airport police. "If it were not for their actions, there could have been a lot more damage," he said. While reports suggested Ciancia was a disgruntled loner, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it could not rule out terrorism. Police found a note on the gunman voicing "disappointment in the government" but that he did not want to harm "innocent people," a law enforcement official told the Los Angeles Times newspaper. — AFP Suicide note The police found a note on the gunman voicing "disappointment in the government" but that he did not want to harm "innocent people While reports suggested Ciancia -- who was shot several times before he went down -- was a disgruntled loner, the FBI ivestigation said it could not rule out terrorism.
	US, Germany to ink no-spy deal, claims report berlin, November 2 Germany and the US are to strike a two-way deal not to spy on each other in the wake of the diplomatic furore sparked by the Edward Snowden revelations, a German newspaper reported. A delegation of German chancellery and intelligence officials reached the deal during talks at the White House this week, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS) reported in its Sunday edition. The accord is set to be concluded early next year, it said, citing sources close to the German government. A government spokeswoman declined to comment. Spy claims have been ricocheting across the Atlantic in a row that has frazzled ties between US and allies. Top German envoys were in Washington on Wednesday to rebuild trust after alleged US tapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone. — AFP
	Japan, Russia hold their first diplomatic defence talks Tokyo, November 2 The foreign and defence ministers of Japan and Russia agreed today to cooperate in fighting terrorism and piracy as the neighbours, still at odds over territorial woes, held an unprecedented security dialogue. Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera held a so-called "2+2" meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu at the government's guest house in Tokyo. It was the first such diplomatic-defence talks between the two countries, which remain at odds over the sovereignty of a cluster of windswept islands to Japan's north and Russia's far east. During the one-day meeting, the two sides agreed to carry out joint drills between Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force and the Russian Navy . They also agreed to launch "Japan-Russia cyber-security talks" while stepping up other security and defence talks, their joint statement said. — AFP
	Nepal polls: UN urges Maoists to maintain peace Kathmandu, November 2 The United Nation today asked the hardline faction of Nepalese Maoists to help authorities in maintaining peace during the Constituent Assembly polls to be held later this month. UN Resident Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick, who met CPN-Maoist chairman Mohan Vaidya, inquired about the party's plan to boycott the election. CPN-Maoist is a breakaway faction of the Unified CPN-Maoist. During the meeting, McGoldrick urged Vaidya to extend his party's support to the election scheduled for November 19. Party vice-chairman C P Gajurel, who was present during the meeting, told media that McGoldrick wants peace and prosperity for Nepal. The party assured McGoldrick that the polls would be peaceful, Gajurel said. — PTI