KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - An opposition group says its leaders, including a former president, have been meeting with the Taliban and other anti-government groups in hopes of negotiating an end to rising violence in Afghanistan.
The contacts have taken place between leaders of the opposition National Front and «high level» militant leaders during the last few months, party spokesman Sayyid Agha Hussain Fazel Sancharaki said in an interview Sunday.
He said among those at the meetings were former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, now a member of parliament, and Mohammad Qasim Fahim, who is President Hamid Karzai's security adviser and a powerful northern strongman.
Rabbani said Afghanistan's six-year war must be solved through talks, echoing a view held by many in the country. «There's no doubt that some inside the Taliban are not willing to negotiate, but there are some Taliban who are interested in solving problems through talks,» Rabbani, Afghanistan's president from 1992-96, told The Associated Press in an interview.
«We in the National Front and I myself believe the solution for the political process in Afghanistan will happen through negotiations,» he said.
Support for talks to end the increasingly bloody Afghan conflict have gained steam over the last year. Karzai said for the first time in April 2007 that he had met with Taliban militants in attempts to negotiate peace. Rabbani said opposition leaders will soon discuss and possibly select a formal negotiating team and that Taliban fighters, in their talks with Karzai, have also proposed sending a formal team for talks with the government.
The behind-the-scenes maneuverings come just as the United States is pouring more troops into the country. Some 32,000 U.S. forces are in Afghanistan, the most since the 2001 invasion to oust the Taliban for hosting al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. William Wood has said the U.S. supports talks with militants who will lay down arms and recognize the Afghan constitution. The U.S. does not support talks with al-Qaida fighters.
Across the border in Pakistan, where militant violence has spiked over the last year, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani late last month offered talks to militants ready to renounce violence there. Negotiations will ultimately be the only way to end the Afghan conflict, said Wadir Safi, a professor of public and international law at Kabul University. «Negotiations,» he said. «Find the address of all of the Taliban, find out what they want. They will have their own suggestions, and if it's not anti-civilization, you can come to terms with them instead of spending money on military budgets.
Karzai, in a news conference this month, said the National Front efforts are good for the country. He said many rebels are Afghans who need to be brought back into society. For months, Karzai has trumpeted reconciliation, even offering to meet with Taliban leader Mullah Omar. But the National Front says Karzai has not followed up his words with action. He needs to put a formal negotiations process in place involving all parties, Rabbani said.
«On the issue of the negotiations it is not right to take one step forward and then one step back,» he said. «This work should be continued in a very organized way.
Rabbani and Sancharaki declined to say who the National Front has met with. Sancharaki said their militant interlocutors were «important people.
The Taliban, through spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, denied there had been any contact. «If they are claiming they have contact with somebody, we don't know who,» he said. Thousands of former members of the hard-line Taliban regime, including a sprinkling of former senior commanders and officials, have made peace with the government through its national reconciliation commission.
But Safi, the university professor, said that because the National Front does not represent the government, its negotiations are «nonsense. He said the group, whose leaders fought each other and then the Taliban in Afghanistan's devastating civil wars during the 1990s, only wants to advance its own power. «They want the Taliban side to be on their side,» Safi said. «It's an unholy alliance ... and the Taliban want to use Rabbani and Fahim against Karzai.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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France has called on the international community for a unified action against piracy, after French military secured the release of 30 hostages from a luxury yacht off the lawless Somali coast. "The international community must mobilize for a determined fight against acts of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia," French Foreign and European Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a statement released by the French embassy in Manila Wednesday.
Kouchner stressed the significance of ensuring security in the Arabian Sea, saying humanitarian ships pass through the area. He said France has initiated Operation Alycon to escort ships from the World Food Program.
France considers it necessary to go further, especially at the United Nations, he said. Discussions have started in New York with our partners to move forward on this."
The 30 crew of French-registered Le Ponant -- six Filipinos, 22 French, a Cameroonian and a Ukrainian -- were freed Friday following negotiations that ended the standoff peacefully. Somali pirates seized them on April 4.
Six of the 12 Somali pirates were captured by French commandos following the release of the hostages. Sources close to the negotiations said the boat owner, Compagnie des Iles du Ponant, paid some $2 million to free the 30, and that a portion of the money was recovered when the six pirates were detained.
French Defense Minister Herve Morin on Saturday said Paris would no longer tolerate extortion attempts.
Kouchner also expressed "great joy" that the Le Ponant crewmembers have been released and are safe. "I am delighted at this happy outcome. My first thoughts go to the families and loved ones of our compatriots, and the other crewmembers who will soon be with theirs, he said. I also want to extend my warm thanks to all those who helped resolve this crisis."
The freed crewmembers were flown to Paris Tuesday and the six Filipinos, including a female cabin steward, arrived in Manila on Wednesday.
Somalia has been without an effective government since the 1991 ousting of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
See NOSI.org on the current state of FRENCH NAVAL AVIATION for hints why.
#2
What, without a 3-year debate, endless entreaties, and UN approval?
Posted by: no mo uro ||
04/17/2008 5:40 Comments ||
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#3
Freakin' Sarkozy, what a unilateral, war-mongering Cowboy!
*snicker*
Posted by: BA ||
04/17/2008 9:27 Comments ||
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#4
Well, first the UN will have to figure out what the definition of piracy is. They'll figure that out in about 25 or 30 years. Maybe.
And then the next step. Conferences at five star South Pacific resorts...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/17/2008 12:44 Comments ||
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#11
Thank you, Pappy. Old Patriot, that was the link I went to, but didn't understand the significance of all the numbers. I take it 155/235 is not a good ratio of working to grounded? But if the French are having airplane problems, why would they take on a new fight in which such things are needed? Or do they want the international community (meaning who?) to take up the burden for them?
#12
Charles De Gaulle, the only French carrier and already somewhat of a naval joke, is in drydock for 18 months.
Posted by: ed ||
04/17/2008 13:16 Comments ||
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#13
Highly effective techniques for combating piracy.
1) Sink the pirates vessels with the loss of all hands.
2) Instruct the Senior Chief Petty Officer to issue appropriate oral commendations for marksmanship.
#14
If those numbers are correct that works out to about 65%. it would be interesting to know the state of the US DOD aviation assets relative to this; based on the hand wringing in the press by the USAF and USN brass, they can't put 3 airplanes in the sky at any one time.. probably not that bad, but i would hazard a guess that our available assets are somewhere around 70% ( scheduled depot level rework, laid up due to lack of parts, lack of funding for repairs, etc)
#15
Hey, buy me the boat and me and my buds will take care of those pesky pirates.
a 3 million dollar yatch should do nicely.
Oh, and fuel, we'll need maps, charts, and fuel.
(we'll get the chicks en route)
#16
Translation: "international action" - the Americans should take care of it, and Europe will tell us how to do it as well as complain about it afterwards.
The Kingdom of Belgium has called the Algerian government to amend the law on the religious practices by non Muslim communities. It estimates that the law has contributed to the deterioration of the religious freedom in Algeria. This intervened in an audience held by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva yesterday dedicated to discuss the recommendations of a set of European and Latin American countries on the situation of human rights in Algeria.
The representative of Belgium expressed his disappointment as regards the deterioration of religious freedoms in Algeria and called the Algerian government to review the pertinent law issued in 2006. The representative of the Holy See called the Algerian authorities to pursue dialogue with religious minorities in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The Kingdom of Belgium has called the Algerian government to amend the law on the religious practices by non Muslim communities.
Why don't you start with something simpler---like training wolves to be vegeterians?
Law enforcers during the last two days recovered 14 grenades, four bombs, four firearms including a sub-machine carbine (SMC), two SMC magazines and 83 bullets abandoned at Brahmanbaria and Shariatpur. The nine grenades recovered at Brahmanbaria were locally made while the rest five recovered at Shariatpur were of Arges brand, a brand of grenades recovered several times before from activists of the banned Islamist militant group Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (Huji). Must be one of those "arms caches" I've heard about. Normally they only go looking from them at 2AM.
Our Brahmanbaria correspondent reports: Law enforcers recovered the grenades and firearms from a spot very close to which a bomb went off two days ago.
Witnesses and police sources said Sadequl Islam, 35, a farmer, went to his paddy field near Bhadughar Bhuiyan scrap metal shop yesterday and saw a taped bag abandoned on the aisle. Knowing that a bomb went off on April 13 at a shoe shop nearby, he informed locals about the bag around 10:00am. Later, when the news got around, Brahmanbaria Police Station Officer-in-charge Kamal Uddin, Rapid Action Battalion-9 (Rab) camp commander of Bhairab Majharul Islam and Rab Assistant Superintendent of Police Ali Ashraf rushed to the spot.
A bomb squad headed by Captain Manjur was called in. They opened the bag and found nine grenades, one 9mm pistol, two locally-made guns and 15 bullets. They were trying to deactivate the grenades last night, police sources said. On April 13, police recovered four bombs and a large quantity of bomb-making materials and a leaflet at Bhadughar Bus Stop in Brahmanbaria town.
Police arrested Sirajul Islam and Muhammad Ali in this connection. They were placed on a five-day remand for interrogation Monday. Police are also looking for Samsul Islam, a muajjin of a local mosque, for his alleged involvement in the matter.
Police recovered five Arges grenades, one sub-machine carbine (SMC), two of its magazines, and 68 bullets, including 30 SMC bullets, at North Damuddya of Damuddya upazila in Shariatpur Monday, our Madaripur correspondent reports.
The grenades, firearms and the ammunition were found in a sack dumped into Siddya canal. Police said the sack was pulled on to the bank around 3:00pm by Shafiq and his father who were fishing there with a net. Police later recovered the weapons but could not arrest anyone as of 8:30 last night. Too early for an arrest, not dark enough.
Superintendent of Police (SP) of Shariatpur Shahriar Rahman told The Daily Star that even though the grenades were under water, they were still alive.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
no stutter guns, nor disappearing accomplices, nor random wild (cross)fire......
looks like the RAB is mutating into ashadow of its former self.
#2
The WFP has an operation in North Korea after reaching an agreement with the communist state to provide 75,000 tonnes of food a year to 1.2 million of the Norths 23 million people.
Well at least the the NorK military will be fed. The simple solution to famine in the north is the repudiation of communism and Kim at the end of a rope.
A nuclear device detonated near the White House would kill roughly 100,000 people and flatten downtown federal buildings, while the radioactive plume from the explosion would likely spread toward the Capitol and into Southeast D.C., contaminating thousands more.
The blast from the 10-kiloton bomb similar to the bomb dropped over Hiroshima during World War II would kill up to one in 10 tourists visiting the Washington Monument and send shards of glass flying the length of the National Mall, in a scenario that has become increasingly likely to occur in a major U.S. city in recent years, panel members told a Senate committee yesterday.
"It's inevitable," said Cham E. Dallas, director of the Institute for Health Management and Mass Destruction Defense at the University of Georgia, who has charted the potential explosion's effect in the District and testified before a hearing of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. "I think it's wistful to think that it won't happen by 20 years."
The Senate committee has convened a series of hearings to examine the threat and effects of a terrorist nuclear attack on a U.S. city, as well as the needed response.
Yesterday's panel stressed the importance of state and local cooperation with federal authorities in the wake of an attack, assistance from the private business sector to aid recovery and the dire need to boost the capabilities of area hospitals. They recommended expanding emergency personnel by training physicians like pharmacists and dentists to aid in all-hazards care, monitoring the exposure of first responders to radiation and clearly disseminating information to the public.
Apparently no thought of making sure prepetrators couldn't do it in the first place.
"The scenarios we discuss today are very hard for us to contemplate, and so emotionally traumatic and unsettling that it is tempting to push them aside," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut independent and committee chairman. "However, now is the time to have this difficult conversation, to ask the tough questions, and then to get answers as best we can and take preparatory and preventive action."
Mr. Carter described a more destructive blast effect. He said the ground-based detonation of a 10-kiloton bomb would result in near-total devastation within a circle about two miles in diameter, or the length of the Mall. The zone of destruction is projected to be less than that of Hiroshima, where the bomb was dropped from an airplane and detonated above the city. A similar blast in a more densely populated city than the District, such as Chicago or New York, would result in an injury toll up to eight times higher. A plume a few miles long could also dole out lethal doses of radiation, Mr. Carter said.
However, the experts emphasized that the explosion would not impact most of a major city and that in many cases, residents could remain safe by not evacuating immediately and clogging area roadways. "It is also expected that, due to lack of information getting to the public, many people will try to flee by car or on foot, often in the wrong direction, again exposing themselves to high levels of radiation, as vehicles provide virtually no protection," Mr. Carter said.
Mr. Dallas said a major problem facing most cities is a lack of available hospital beds for victims of burns that would result from a nuclear blast. He said up to 95 percent of such victims would not receive potentially life-saving care. "We're completely underprepared," he said. "Most of them will die."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Compare wid YAHOO > GOVERNMENT TO COLLECT DNA FROM EVERYONE THEY ARREST; + TOPIX > ARE CELL PHONE COMPANIES TRACKING YOUR LOCATION? + USDOD MAY IMPLANT RFID CHIPS IN SERVICEMEMBERS.
OTOH, WORLDNEWS > THE US HAD SECRET PLANS TO NUKE VIETNAM, LAOS. To stop Commie guerillas, espec during TET + INVASION OF CAMBODIA.
#2
Compare wid YAHOO > GOVERNMENT TO COLLECT DNA FROM EVERYONE THEY ARREST; + TOPIX > ARE CELL PHONE COMPANIES TRACKING YOUR LOCATION? + USDOD MAY IMPLANT RFID CHIPS IN SERVICEMEMBERS.
OTOH, WORLDNEWS > THE US HAD SECRET PLANS TO NUKE VIETNAM, LAOS. To stop Commie guerillas, espec during TET + INVASION OF CAMBODIA.
#3
Several years ago, I read an article in Scientific American, (I mean, as opposed to Time Magazine or The National Inquirer), that concluded in a dirty bomb attack in Manhattan, many more would die in the stampede than from radiation.
Anyone think it'd be different if it was a real bomb? We'd all just line up and walk out of town, single file?
A lot of folks would lose their jobs, at least for a while, and who would feed them? We would also, no doubt, have to import workers to rebuild, because those unemployed by the blast could not be expected to work with their hands, now, could they?
Salmon-pink Steve got it right - no one is thinking of the easy way to avoid it.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/17/2008 5:59 Comments ||
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#4
The zone of destruction is projected to be less than that of Hiroshima, where the bomb was dropped from an airplane and detonated above the city.
Because having secured a nuclear device it is impossible for the jihadis to load it onto an airplane and fly it over their target.
/sarc
Even assuming a working CAP over DC - which I do not - there is nothing to stop a flying suicide bomb from taking out Disneyworld, Las Vegas or any other profile target that comes to mind.
#5
This is what I don't understand; They aren't going to bomb rural Missouri, they want DC or NY, so the you'd think the assholes there in the govt. would be a little more worried about Iran/NKor, Syria, ect.
#6
If I was a terrorist, I would chose a target that would have a good body count, but be fairly unguarded while stating I would hit DC, LA, NY or somewhere like that. While the press and the feds are looking into it, Seattle would vaporize.
#7
Does anyone find it remotely ironic that the Congress-critters only appear to be concerned about their *home base* (D.C.)? It mentions NYC and Chicago, but this is all about their turf.
Posted by: BA ||
04/17/2008 9:50 Comments ||
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#8
And even if a nuke takes out DC, it would be smuggled in through a low profile means, making detection difficult if they aren't serious about the ports and borders. It certainly wouldn't be on a commercial airline!
#9
Somebody, either Newt Gingrich or Tom Clancy, said the first nuke into this country would be disguised as a ton load of cocaine.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
04/17/2008 10:46 Comments ||
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#10
If a small pick up truck nuke [small 3rd world nuke] were to take out Congress while in session to pass important pork votes would the country be better or worse off?
Never happen. We've got dozens and dozens of cops in cars idling all over the Federal areas of the city, and jersey barriers/ bollards/ magnetometers/ 100% ID check/ iris scanners at the entrances to every agency.
#12
I believe its possible to get a device near enough to destroy Congress, but it would have to be a modern small sophisticated and well shielded device. Something the Terrs do not have access to, in general.
Killing ALL the members of Congress might not be all that bad, other than the horrid loss of life and the collateral damage. There are only a few Senators and Reps that I would miss. The rest of them...
#15
While Washington, DC, would be a political feather in the cap of Al-Qaida, I'd expect the first nuke to be in a southern port - Houston, New Orleans, Mobile, Tampa, Miami, Savannah, or Charleston. It would be easier, it would cause tremendous panic, and it would be an economic disaster for the US. Of course, if John-boy is president, I'd expect a complete and total nuclear response in the muddled east that would more than equal the damage to the United States. If hillarity or BO were president, they'd probably surrender.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/17/2008 12:11 Comments ||
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#16
The areas of concern are border and port cities, then areas with high transient populations.
Mr. Dallas said a major problem facing most cities is a lack of available hospital beds for victims of burns that would result from a nuclear blast.
Some 25 or so years back, there was a push to have DoD coordinate with civilian hospitals to develop capacity to be able to take in combat casualties (with a secondary of dealing with mass casualties). The medical community pushed back for 'political' reasons and the capacity was never developed.
#17
There is no way we are going to invest in the needed medical facilities to deal with this hypothetical. Just is not going to happen. Should an attack like this actually take place, the loss of life and physical damage would be absorbed, as it were, over the course of 30+ years, same as in Japan. I do think there would also be some areas of the planet that would have a far longer recovery period.
#18
The only way to prevent this from happening is to stay on the offensive against terrorists and rogue regimes that might or already have access to nuclear weapons. Not only do we need to aggressively pursue and eliminate terror groups that have threatened such attacks on the US-- such as AQ-- and the leaders of states that harbor, support, or encourage them-- such as Iran, Syria, NK, et al.-- but we also need to put the whole world on notice- LOUDLY AND CLEARLY-- that the response to any such attack will be swift, lethal, unmitigated, and indiscriminate.
In other words, you all better do all you can to prevent such an attack from happening because if you don't and such an attack takes place and we find out it came from you, near you, or around you, you and your people, your society, your culture, and your way of life will cease to exist now or ever again.
#19
Agree w/ OP; and a pick up (truck-sized) nuke or dirty bomb would be fairly easy to get into the middle of DC or any city. Unless intell picked up that news, there is no way to stop annd search every incoming vehicle.
#20
I'd expect the first nuke to be in a southern port - Houston, New Orleans, Mobile, Tampa, Miami, Savannah, or Charleston.
Hopefully, the jihadis *would* be that stupid, OP. You'd see every redneck and good ol' boy in the South storming the beaches of Pakistan and Iran in their bass boats after that. And, boys, there's NO bag limit on jihadis.
Posted by: BA ||
04/17/2008 16:01 Comments ||
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#21
If they really wanted to damage the economy, they'd detonate 20KT warhead at deck level on a barge in the Houston Ship Channel, which would demolish the port, the refineries, petroleum and rail nexus, trashing the city itself, and send a radioactive tsunami up the river to flood out the plains N of Houston and make it unlivable. Thats in addition to the fallout spreading all the way to New Orleans.
#23
If something like this happens, the world and the country will never be the same. "Business as usual" will be the first casualty. There's a lot of idiocy currently happening in this country that would stop immediately, and most of it is coming from the left. Those folks would need to be walking pretty damned softly or they'd find themselves decorating trees in short order. Read what happened in Galveston, Texas, after the 1900 hurricane, for a preview of the likely response.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
04/17/2008 18:31 Comments ||
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#24
While there are more tactically important targets, the jihadis are fixated on New York and DC. Myself, if I had two nukes, I'd go for Norfolk and San Diego at Christmas. Try to get as many carriers in port as possible.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/17/2008 20:50 Comments ||
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#25
they'd be disappointed at SD (ixnay on the "ansay iegoday" talk, k?) there is rarely more than one of the three SD-based carriers in port. A large jump from when I first had an office window view on the bay ('97....geeez, who was prez?)
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2008 22:02 Comments ||
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#26
See related on WAFF.com > FEAR OF NUCLEAR ATTACK ON THE RISE. ALso from WAFF > FEARS OVER RUSSIA'S DECLINING OIL OUTPUT.
Again, in the absence of Islamist-led/only batlefield victory over the US in Iraq-Afghani, and failing to induce US withdrawal from the ME, to save their Jihad and fight another day the Islamists are recognizing their iimdiate = near-term need to acquire NUKES-WMDS IN QUANTITIES + UTILITY POTENT ENUFF TO CAUSE THE US-ALLIES TO THINK TWICE OR THRICE ABOUT MIL ENGAGING ISLAMIST MILITANT GROUPS. By definition, this includes the ability to attack the USA = US-ALLIED WID NUKES-WMDS AT WILL AND INSIDE THE LATTER'S OWN SPECIFIC NATIONAL TERRITORIES. Iff the Islamists don't have any already, they need Nukes-WMDS now.
E.G. GEORGIA > Govt reportedly fears that RUSSIAN suppor and aid to its breakaway regions of ABSKHAZIA + SOUTH OSSETIA are deliberate Russ threats to Georgian sovereignty + national territor integrity.
REGIONAL MAP > Collectively, I don't know what other RB'ers see but what I see is poten geographic-territor expansion of Iran + Islamism into RUSSIA + CENTRAL ASIA???
*FOX + MSNBC > Iff NOTHING IS DONE ABOUT NUCLEARIZING IRAN, THEN AMERS SHOULD EXPECT TO SEE BOTH IRAN + ISLAMIST MILITANTS-TERRORISTS, ETC. RADICAL GOVTS + ROUPS HAVE NUKE WEAPONS, + IN THE VERY NEAR-TERM, qs early as 2009[Israel-USDOD-NATO Reports], and CERTAINLY BY 2010.
The Homeland Security Department has launched its blogs partially because the agency wanted a dialog with the public. According to DHS Web Communications Director Gwynne Kostin, the agencys Leadership Journal was born partly from the intense debate surrounding the now-defeated Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act. DHS officials found they also wanted to put out their own views on the immigration issue.
The Leadership Journal is unusual because DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff contributes to it, making it one of two blogs cabinet officers contribute to. The other is run by Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, who launched his after HHS experimented with a temporary open-discussion blog about pandemic flu in May 2007.
Kostin said the blog has already paid off. An April 4 posting by Chertoff emphasized the importance of restricting hand-carried liquids onto commercial aircraft, referring to an ongoing trial of eight Britons who planned to blow up seven trans-Atlantic flights by using liquid explosives.
DHS also allows people to comment anonymously on entries. Although the agency combs comments for offensive material, moderators allow sometimes-heated discussions to take place on the blog. Kostin said these discussions are a good way to engage the public on current issues, which is the blogs primary function.
I really think social media and these tools are really a way to bring people closer to the government, she said.
#1
maybe instead of talking about how expensive the war is, they might look at how expensive the illegal aliens are to our country and enforce our laws and borders.
Posted by: Jan ||
04/17/2008 3:20 Comments ||
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The US has promised to curb air strikes by drones against suspected militants in Pakistan, as part of a joint counter-terrorism strategy agreed with the new civilian government in Islamabad, the Guardian has learned. That strategy will be supported by an aid package potentially worth more than $7bn (£3.55bn), which is due to go before Congress for approval in the next few months.
The package would triple the amount of American non-military aid to Pakistan, and is aimed at "redefining" the bilateral relationship, US officials say.
Pakistan will also be given a "democracy dividend" of up to $1bn, a reward for holding peaceful elections and forming a coalition government. Of that, $200m could be approved in the next few days.
The aid package, being put together by the Democratic senator Joseph Biden, will mark a decisive break in US policy on Pakistan, which for much of the past nine years focused on President Pervez Musharraf and the Pakistani military as Washington's primary partners in the "war on terror". Officials in Washington said yesterday that the shift had already been made.
"Senator Biden wants to show the relationship is much broader than a military one, and that we are willing to sustain it over time," one of the senator's senior aides said yesterday.
A US administration official said: "Each day Musharraf's influence becomes less and less. Civilians are in control. People aren't meeting with Musharraf any more ... we are very pleased with the new civilian government."
Pakistani officials say much of the new counter-terrorism aid will be spent on civilian law enforcement institutions, such as the interior ministry, the intelligence bureau and the federal investigation agency, rather than being channelled almost exclusively through the army and the military-run Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) organisation.
The new government says it has also won American support for its policy of opening a dialogue with Pashtun tribes along the Afghan border, led by an ethnic Pashtun group, the Awami National party, that is part of the government coalition.
The new understanding on air strikes by US Predator drones is seen in Islamabad as a critical benchmark for the new relationship.
In January senior US intelligence officials flew to Islamabad and struck an agreement with Musharraf to give the American military a freer hand in the use of Predators against targets in Pakistan's tribal areas, which have become havens for al-Qaida and other foreign jihadists as well as Taliban forces fighting Nato forces and the government in Afghanistan.
The subsequent increase in Predator strikes - estimates of the number range up to eight - caused outrage in Pakistan. Britain also broke with Washington over the reliance on air strikes often guided by uncertain intelligence.
Pakistani officials say they have been given assurances by Washington that there will be close consultation with the civilian government, not with Musharraf, before any future strikes.
However, the use of Predators is held as a closely guarded secret and US intelligence is reluctant to share information about targets, and there is some scepticism in Islamabad over whether the deal will stick.
"We'll have to take them at their word, won't we," said the new information minister, Sherry Rahman, in an interview in Islamabad. She added that Washington's previous emphasis on ties to Musharraf and the Pakistani military "hasn't provided the results that were supposed to happen on the ground".
The US has given Pakistan about $10bn in military aid during the past seven years, but it has not diminished the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, while Pakistani extremism is also on the rise. Some officials in Washington believe most of the money has been used to build up Pakistan's conventional forces for use in a possible future conflict with India, rather than spent on counter-insurgency.
Furthermore, much of the money being used for counter-terrorism is being misspent, both Pakistan and US government officials say. As an example they say that Musharraf distributed the $25m reward money for capturing or killing "high value" al-Qaida targets in the form of an "inverted pyramid".
"A few thousand would go to the police constable on the ground who actually spotted the guy, but the millions go to the generals up the chain," a Pakistani official said. No wonder, he added, that the tip-offs stopped coming in and the number of high-profile arrests dropped.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/17/2008 06:17 ||
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[4 views]
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#1
when will the west realise that terrorism is a foreign policy by perv & Co to gtee cqs from the west!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
04/17/2008 6:41 Comments ||
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#2
So they want to borrow 7 billion and give it to these clowns to line their pockets with and with demand zero results. This sounds just like a plan made in Washington DC where not one of these bastards has to worry about paying the bill. I say we get some results from the money we already have giving them first.
Security forces are planning to conduct a military operation in the Khyber Agency, after militants kidnapped nine security personnel of the Khasadar Force on Wednesday.
According to a Dawn News report, helicopter gunships took to the air in the area after unknown militants kidnapped a line officer and eight other Khasadar Force security personnel, along with an official vehicle, in the Khsar Khor area of the Khyber Agency. The security forces were ready to act against the militants and contingents of the Frontier Constabulary had also been ordered to arrest the kidnappers.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
A grand jirga of tribal elders from Tappa Sultan Khel, Totakan and Malakand Agency has demanded the administration ensure security of life and property in the Malakand Agency. According to a press release issued on Wednesday, the jirga held a meeting in Totakan in which they condemned an increase in cases of abduction, robbery, murder and other heinous crimes. It asked the authorities concerned to clamp down on such crimes, adding that if no action were taken, the locals would be forced to protest. The jirga also urged the inspector general of police to devise a better mechanism for establishing checkposts in the area. It demanded the establishment of an elite force and bomb disposal squad, as well as spot checks at all entry and exit points of Malakand.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Former Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim has alleged that an assassin has been hired to kill him, Geo News reported on Wednesday.
The channel also quoted Arbab as telling a press conference in Karachi that the people could witness increasing lawlessness in the country. My name has been added in the Exit Control List (ECL) although there is no criminal case against me, he said.
He said cases should be registered against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, if anything untoward happened to him. He added that fake cases were being registered against him.
Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza told a press conference, The former Sindh chief minister is mentally ill and being a doctor I know well how to treat such patients. He said certain measures would be taken to improve the performance of the Sindh Police, adding that the salary structure of the Sindh Police would be brought to the same level as that of the Punjab Police. Sindh Inspector General Dr Shoaib Suddle was also present on the occasion.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
WASHINGTON: A Pakistani official was quoted here on Thursday as accusing Washington of concealing information about detainees from Pakistan held at Guantanamo. The list of the detainees obtained by the Associated Press (AP) contains the names of 22 Pakistanis. The Pakistani Interior Ministry official, who is familiar with Pakistans efforts to secure the release of its nationals from Guantanamo, told the news agency that as recently as last month, Pakistan thought only seven of its citizens were being held there.
According to the latest information provided to us by America, 22 Pakistanis are still detained there, he said. It is a fact that they have been concealing information from us about our people detained at Guantanamo Bay.
A Pakistan embassy official told this correspondent a couple of months ago that only three Pakistanis were now being held at Guantanamo. AP said, quoting the Interior Ministry official, that US officials recently shared the new information with Pakistan. It wasnt clear if the additional inmates were detained more recently than the seven the Pakistani official mentioned.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
If we give you $7 billion will you shut up and go away???????
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Wednesday he was more confident than ever of defeating Al-Qaeda and its allies, the day after a wave of attacks left over 60 people dead. "We are determined to defeat terrorism," the Iraqi leader told the European parliament's foreign affairs committee during a visit to Brussels. He declared "we are more confident than ever that we are close to a definitive victory over Al-Qaeda and its lawless allies."
Maliki said the jihadist movement was in a state of "total isolation" in Iraq and was seeking "refuge beyond the borders" in neighbouring nations. "We call on neighbouring countries to dry up the roots of terrorism and prevent the terrorists from filtering into Iraq," he said.
Asked repeatedly by the assembled European deputies about Iran's role in the violence in Iraq, Maliki was similarly firm saying, without mentioning Iran, that Iraq would take "all possible measures to prevent foreign interference. We reject all interference from neighbouring countries" and "we will prevent it."
"Iraq refuses to be a theatre for regional powers," he insisted, calling on neighbouring nations to stop their countries from becoming "a training camp for terrorists."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces have released the head of a psychiatric hospital in Baghdad after holding him for two months on suspicion of supplying mental patients to al Qaeda for suicide bombings, a health official said on Wednesday.
The U.S. forces released him yesterday after taking a bond from me to bring him any time they need him, said Ali Bustan, head of the health directorate for the eastern half of Baghdad.
Sahi al-Maliki, acting director of the al-Rashad psychiatric hospital in eastern Baghdad, was held by U.S. forces in a raid on the hospital in February, 10 days after two bombings in popular pet markets killed 99 people and wounded more than 150. U.S. and Iraqi officials said at the time they believed the bombings were carried out by female teenaged mental patients who became unwitting suicide bombers in an operation planned by al Qaeda Sunni Arab militants.
Bustan said Maliki had only started working at the hospital in mid-January and would not have had time to hand over patients to al Qaeda for a suicide bomb plot. He is innocent, this is why they released him, he added.
A spokesman for U.S. military detention operations was not immediately available for comment.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
Returning to Jerusalem after the session, Mr. Carter toured a crowded marketplace wearing the snug vest which he said must be made of some kind of expensive, heavy fabric.
Asked if he planned further talks with Hamas, Mr. Carter said, Yes. In fact, I expect theyll call me soon to trigger the next round.
heh - good catch, mojo :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2008 20:18 Comments ||
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2008-04-15) As former President Jimmy Carter meets this week with Hamas leaders in the West Bank and Syria, sources at the State Department say President George Bush will soon honor Mr. Carters decades of freelance diplomacy by appointing him as the first U.S. Ambassador to Hell.
Bush just wants Carter to go there, said an unnamed State Department source, and to set up an embassy, and try to be a good listener, open a communication channel, find common ground.
I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
04/17/2008 22:40 Comments ||
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There is a heightened sense in the security establishment that a broad-scale ground incursion inside the Gaza Strip is necessary this summer to deal a severe blow to Hamas's infrastructure, sources in Jerusalem said Wednesday, following the death of three soldiers in a Gaza ambush.
According to the sources, the incursion - similar but more difficult than Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank in 2002 - would not take place until about a month or a month-and-a-half after US President George W. Bush's planned visit here in mid-May. By then, the last of the world's leaders to have come here to celebrate the country's 60th anniversary would have left. The timing would also place the operation in the middle of summer, considered an optimal time for this type of operation.
The sources said there was recognition that such an operation would be extremely costly, both in terms of soldiers and Palestinians killed. Nevertheless, the operation is being considered out of a widespread sense that the current situation in the Gaza Strip cannot continue festering indefinitely. A current (since Mohammad) situation in the Middle East is intolerable
A Hamas delegation crossed into Egypt from Gaza on Wednesday for talks with Jimmy Carter after Israel barred the former US president from visiting the Palestinian territory.
The delegation, which includes leaders Mahmud Zahar and Said Siam and four others, headed to Cairo by car as at least 17 people were killed in Gaza violence, including three Israeli soldiers, two Palestinian children and a cameraman.
Carter "affirmed the legitimacy of Hamas and that it is a national liberation movement despite the fact that he did not say so officially," Zahar added.
Carter and his wife Rosalynn flew to Cairo from Tel Aviv in a private jet, an airport official said.
Hardline Hamas leader Zahar hailed the prospective meeting with Carter, although Carter Centre officials would neither confirm nor deny plans for the encounter.
"President Carter can break all the Israeli retraints that they want to place between him and Hamas and so we and our brothers in Damascus are determined to meet with him," Zahar told reporters at the Rafah border crossing.
The former president is expected to meet exiled Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal in Damascus on Friday, despite strong opposition from Israel and the US administration.
Carter "affirmed the legitimacy of Hamas and that it is a national liberation movement despite the fact that he did not say so officially," Zahar added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Do they know Carter isn't president any more? Do they know 70% of the country thinks he's a total retard? Do they know that just being associated with him will set them back 5 years?
Representatives from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany and the European Union met for about three hours. The envoys had been trying to reach agreement on a proposal to present to Iran for resuming negotiations on its nuclear programs.
Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful production of electricity, but Western nations suspect Iran wants to make a nuclear weapon.
China's Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei represented Beijing. He said they agreed on the main content of the plan, but said there are still some problems to be worked out. He says on the whole, the six countries agreed to continue diplomatic efforts and work in a creative way to seek a comprehensive, durable and proper solution to the Iranian nuclear issue. He refused to say what the disagreements were about or to give any specifics on the draft proposal.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
It's O'k---the problem has already been submited to the proper agency.
Irans President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday reaffirmed his doubts about the accepted version of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, describing the strikes as a suspect event.
Four or five years ago a suspect event took place in New York, Ahmadinejad said in a speech to a public rally in the holy city of Qom broadcast live on state television. A building collapsed and they said that 3,000 people had been killed, whose names were never published. Under this pretext they (the United States) attacked Afghanistan and Iraq and since then a million people have been killed, he said.
This was the third time in just over a week that Ahmadinejad has publicly raised doubts about the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, allegedly carried out by Al Qaeda militants, which killed nearly 3,000 people. He first raised the theme at a ceremony on April 8, Irans national day marking its controversial nuclear programme, which the West fears could be used to make nuclear weapons.
A day later, he voiced his doubts at an address in the northeastern city of Mashhad. The speech in Qom, which was the first time he had described the September 11 attacks as suspect, took place at the shrine of Massoumeh. Ahmadinejad did not say who he believed was behind the September 11 attacks. On April 8, he questioned how the two planes supposedly piloted by Al Qaeda militants could have evaded surveillance to crash into the World Trade Centre.
At the time, the government of Irans then reformist president Mohammad Khatami condemned the attacks. However, newspapers have occasionally described the attacks as a conspiracy that was devised by the White House to justify its eventual attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan.
World order: Ahmadinejad also reaffirmed Wednesday his determination to change the international order. We have two missions, Ahmadinejad proclaimed. To construct Iran and change the global situation. It is impossible to reach the summits of progress without changing the corrupt and unjust order of the world.
In an echo of Ahmadinejads comments, a top Iranian army commander warned on Tuesday that Iran would eliminate Israel from the global arena if it were attacked by the Jewish state. Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic relations since the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran in the wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution and remain at loggerheads over the Islamic republics nuclear programme.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
3dc doubts Ahmadinejad is human. Assumes he is a jinn escaped from the 4th circle of hell.
#4
A building collapsed and they said that 3,000 people had been killed, whose names were never published.
Yeah, those names they read EVERY year on the anniversary of 9/11 at ground zero are *non-existent* aren't they, dinnerjacket?
Posted by: BA ||
04/17/2008 9:25 Comments ||
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#5
I'm sure when I sit down and talk with him one on one with no preset agenda, he'll understand this actually might have happenned.
Posted by: B. H. O. ||
04/17/2008 9:32 Comments ||
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#6
I doubt Mahmoud is spouting this for our consumption.
Although Rosie O'Douchebag, Charlie Sheen and their Troofer friends probably consider this another link in the neverending chain.
The U.N. Security Council called for the disarming of Hezbollah and all other militias in Lebanon and greater progress toward a permanent ceasefire and long-term solution to the conflict between Lebanon and Israel.
A statement adopted by consensus Tuesday by the 15-member council reiterates its commitment "to the full implementation of all provisions of Resolution 1701" which ended the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in August 2006.
That resolution reiterates a call for the disarming of all militias and bans arms transfers to them. It calls on the government to secure its borders and entry points "to prevent the entry into Lebanon without its consent of arms or related materiel."
It also calls for Israel and Lebanon to support a permanent ceasefire and long-term solution based on full respect for the U.N.-drawn Blue Line along their border, security arrangements to prevent the resumption of hostilities, and the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon so "there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state."
The statement took note of the progress and concerns expressed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his latest report on implementation of the resolution "and emphasizes the need for greater progress on all the key issues required for a permanent ceasefire and long-term solution."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - An opposition group says its leaders, including a former president, have been meeting with the Taliban and other anti-government groups in hopes of negotiating an end to rising violence in Afghanistan.
France has called on the international community for a unified action against piracy, after French military secured the release of 30 hostages from a luxury yacht off the lawless Somali coast. "The international community must mobilize for a determined fight against acts of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia," French Foreign and European Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a statement released by the French embassy in Manila Wednesday.
Law enforcers during the last two days recovered 14 grenades, four bombs, four firearms including a sub-machine carbine (SMC), two SMC magazines and 83 bullets abandoned at Brahmanbaria and Shariatpur. The nine grenades recovered at Brahmanbaria were locally made while the rest five recovered at Shariatpur were of Arges brand, a brand of grenades recovered several times before from activists of the banned Islamist militant group Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (Huji). 
A nuclear device detonated near the White House would kill roughly 100,000 people and flatten downtown federal buildings, while the radioactive plume from the explosion would likely spread toward the Capitol and into Southeast D.C., contaminating thousands more.
Security forces are planning to conduct a military operation in the Khyber Agency, after militants kidnapped nine security personnel of the Khasadar Force on Wednesday. 
consensus Tuesday by the 15-member council reiterates its commitment "to the full implementation of all provisions of Resolution 1701" which ended the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in August 2006.
