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Pak secretly backs drone attacks: Ex-envoy
New sanctions risk war with Iran, says US
Maldives ousted from C’wealth panel over Prez poll vote delay
Obama’s daughter, Malala among Time’s most influential teens
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UK Parliament
gets new all-party Hindu group
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Pak secretly backs drone attacks: Ex-envoy
Although publicly Pakistan condemns drone strikes, privately it has often asked the United States to use the weapons to eliminate Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leaders, says Islamabad’s former ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani. Baitullah Mehsud, former TTP chief who was killed in a drone strike in 2009, was among those targeted following such requests, he said. In his latest book “Magnificent Delusions,” Haqqani describes General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as “personally always agreeable to civilians” but claims that the Pakistan army “still remained a long way from accepting the right of civilians to debate, let alone define, national interest.” The 350-page book provides an informed definition of Pakistan’s relations with the United States since the very beginning but fails to give much information about events that happened during Haqqani’s tenure as ambassador, such as the US raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, the Raymond Davis affair and the so-called memogate scandal. While talking about America’s drone policy, Haqqani recalls that in the summer of 2008, then chairman US Joint Chiefs, Admiral Michael Mullen, travelled to Pakistan to demand action against several specific groups, including the Haqqani network. In one of the meetings, “the Pakistan army put in its own request for US drones to target Baitullah Mehsud, whose Pakistan Taliban group threatened the Pakistani military directly.” Following the request, “US officials added Pakistani Taliban to their list of targets … and a hellfire missile fired from an American Predator subsequently killed Mehsud.” The memogate affair In a brief description of the so-called memogate scandal, Haqqani does not name Mansoor Ejaz who wrote an op-ed article in The Financial Times on October 10, 2011 that led to the controversy. Ejaz wrote that Ambassador Haqqani had asked him to deliver a memo to Admiral Mullen, seeking US help in thwarting a military coup against then president Asif Ali Zardari. Haqqani writes that to prove his “fidelity to Pakistan,” he returned to Islamabad and resigned from his position as ambassador. Several months after he was allowed to leave Pakistan, a commission of inquiry set up to probe the affair alleged that “I had acted against Pakistan’s interests and had authorised the memo. Pakistani hard-liners claimed I was an American agent of influence, with access in Washington’s power corridors,” Haqqani writes. The former ambassador fears that the commission’s report “could lead to charges of treason, a conviction that carries the death penalty.”
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New sanctions risk war with Iran, says US
Washington, November 13 The US, Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran and Russia will send top nuclear negotiators to Geneva next week to see whether they can push for a transparent nuclear programme in Iran. “This is a decision to support diplomacy and a possible peaceful resolution to this issue,” Carney said. Iran maintains that its uranium enrichment is for energy production and medical research, not for any covert military objective. But until the recent election of President Hassan Rouhani, it refused to compromise in talks with world powers. Carney said Americans “justifiably and understandably prefer a peaceful solution that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and this agreement, if it’s achieved, has the potential to do that.” Responding to Rouhani's promise of flexibility, President Barack Obama is keen on securing a diplomatic agreement. His telephone chat with Rouhani in September was the first direct conversation between US and Iranian leaders in more than three decades. The unprecedented outreach has angered US allies like Israel. “The alternative is military action,” Carney said. “It is important to understand that if pursuing a resolution diplomatically is disallowed or ruled out, what options then do we and our allies have to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon?" Carney said. — PTI Kerry to brief senate on curbs
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Maldives ousted from C’wealth panel over Prez poll vote delay
Male, November 13 The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which can recommend the expulsion of countries from the 53-member bloc, ejected the Indian Ocean islands during a meeting in the Sri Lankan capital today. "As long as Maldives remains on the agenda of CMAG, it can't be a member of this panel," the diplomat said after the Commonwealth issued a statement confirming that the Maldives was discussed today. The country faces a constitutional crisis after three presidential elections were cancelled, with Western and Indian diplomats increasingly vocal in their criticism of the regime of incumbent Mohamed Waheed. Opposition leader and former president Mohammed Nasheed has won two votes in the last two months with more than 45 percent of ballots, but a run-off election has been repeatedly delayed by the Supreme Court. “Ministers will continue to monitor the situation in Maldives closely,” the Commonwealth said in a statement. "The chair of CMAG will brief Commonwealth heads of government on November 15. — AFP
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Obama’s daughter, Malala among Time’s most influential teens
New York, November 13 Time's list, out yesterday, comprises young singers, sports stars, technology and science whiz kids, authors and media icons who have become inspirations for youngsters across the world due to their spectacular achievements through their work. The magazine said Malia, 15, and her younger sister Sasha act with the "poise of adults" at high-profile events like their father's second presidential address. Malala's activism for girls' right to education made her a target of the Taliban, who shot her in the head as she was returning home in a bus in Pakistan last year. — PTI |
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UK Parliament gets new all-party Hindu group London, November 13 “I have been working towards the creation of a strong forum for British Hindus to interact with Parliament since being elected, so I am delighted that this group has now formed and is receiving a lot of support across the board,” said Blackman.
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27 killed as militants target Shiites in Iraq
Prachanda escapes bomb blast in Nepal 3 Taliban militants killed in Karachi shootout 8 killed as mob storms Philippines rice store 2 Indian-origin sisters get jail for theft World’s largest orange diamond sells for $36 m
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