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Old Saturday, September 20, 2008
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Default Saturday , September 20, 2008

‘Pakistan, US agree on alternative training site’: US army trainers coming in weeks
* Mullen says US has no desire to get into engagement with Pak military
* LAT says Islamabad initially resisted trainers


LAHORE: A long-delayed plan to send dozens of US military advisers to Pakistan to train the Pakistan Army in counter-insurgency could begin in a matter of weeks under a new agreement on a training base, a Los Angeles Times (LAT) report said.

The LAT quoted Joint Chiefs Chairman Michael Mullen as saying the US and Pakistan had cleared the remaining obstacles to the arrival of the advisers.

Washington has been urging the Pakistani military to accept the training team for months, the report said. However, Pakistan has resisted such advice, and asked for additional weaponry and equipment that the paper said “some US officials believe is best suited for its standoff with regional rival India”.

Mullen said in an interview that the primary stumbling block had been the fact that Pakistan could not build the training site, near Peshawar, quickly enough, and the two sideas had now agrred to use an alternative base north of the capital.

“We’re still going through some administrative delays, but I do see it happening,” Mullen was quoted as saying. “I think it’s in the next few weeks.”

Mullen said he had made his latest visit to Pakistan because of accusations that the US had violated Pakistan’s sovereignty in a raid this month near the Afghan border. The attacks made Pakistani officials issue a warning that they might open fire on foreign troops crossing into Pakistani territory.

Mullen believed Pakistani officials were insisting on their right “to defend their country, which I understand, which anybody understands”, the LAT said. The paper also quoted Mullen as saying, “Clearly, we have no desire to get into any kind of engagement with the Pakistani military.”


US military in contact with Pak leaders: Gates


LONDON: American military chiefs are in close contact with the new Pakistani leadership and the ‘most productive path’ in dealing with Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other insurgents is co-operation with the country, United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates said, a report in The Guardian said on Friday. Gates was in London for the NATO defence ministers’ meeting in which the United States is seeking $20 billion from its allies to help stabilise Afghanistan by sending more troops to confront the growing insurgency.

US, Pakistan close to deal on border strikes: Brown
LONDON: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown voiced opposition on Friday to US strikes against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan but said the two sides were close to reaching a deal on the issue. He was asked about US drones striking targets in the Tribal Areas. Brown told Sky news television, “We’ve made it absolutely clear that is not what we would do…I believe America and Pakistan will reach an agreement about the best way forward.” He added, “We, of course respect the territorial integrity of Pakistan.”

5 killed in JUI madrassa blast
* Witnesses claim suicide bomber blew himself up at madrassa gate

QUETTA: A bomb exploded at a madrassa (religious school) run by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam in Quetta on Friday, killing five people and injuring 10 more.

Television footage showed a gaping whole in the external wall around the seminary on the outskirts of the city of Quetta and one partly demolished adjacent room.

“The madrassa people say that someone threw explosives into the madrassa, but we are investigating,” police official Wazir Khan Nasir told Reuters.

But police officer Raja Ishtiaq told AP the blast occurred inside the room and that police were investigating how the bomb got there.

The walls had fallen outwards, another police official said, suggesting there could be some explosives inside the room. “We are looking into all possibilities including whether they were preparing some explosives.”

A witness who identified himself as Shahbaz Ahmad said students had been scuffling with a man who tried to push past them after they asked him why he wanted to enter the compound.

“When they barred his way, he blew himself up,” Ahmad, a young man with a black beard, told reporters at a city hospital.

Ahmad had no visible wounds, but moments later, he collapsed unconscious and doctors rushed to revive him. The madrassa is situated about 15 kilometres north of Quetta. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the explosion so far.

Later on Friday, unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle fired at a police patrol vehicle in Quetta, killing one officer and wounding a policeman and a passer-by, Ishtiaq said. It was unclear if the two incidents were related. Two men were wounded after unidentified attackers lobbed a hand grenade into a house here at Killi Chashma Achozai area of Balochistan in another incident, police said. The motive behind the incident could not be ascertained. Area police have registered a case.

Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, has a history of sectarian violence. The province has been the scene of a low-level insurgency waged by ethnic Baloch nationalists seeking more autonomy. Hundreds of people have died in violence in the province since the insurgency flared in late 2004. The province has also been hit by attacks blamed on Taliban militants. agencies


Four more judges reappointed to SC
ISLAMABAD: The government reappointed two sacked judges of the Supreme Court (SC) and promoted one sacked and one serving judge of the Sindh High Court (SHC) to the SC on Friday. Two separate notifications by the Law and Justice Division said sacked SC judges Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan and Justice Nasirul Mulk have been reappointed, and sacked SHC chief justice Sabihuddin Ahmad and serving Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany have been promoted to the SC.

President, PM and COAS hold first meeting: Troika denounces US raids
* Meeting decides to defend Pakistan’s sovereignty at all costs
* Army chief briefs meeting on security along Pak-Afghan border


ISLAMABAD: President Asif Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani met at the President’s House on Friday and said they would defend Pakistan’s sovereignty at all costs.

The maiden meeting between the country’s three most powerful leaders discussed the prevailing security situation and reiterated Pakistan would not allow military action by United States-led forces inside the Tribal Areas. The rules of engagement were clear, they said, and all partners must respect them.

Sources privy to the meeting said the army chief briefed the president and the prime minister on the security situation along the Pak-Afghan border.

The three leaders also discussed the presidential address to a joint session of parliament, and agreed that the president should discuss the US incursions with the parliament, and give a clear policy statement.

“Matters of national and international interest came under discussion during the meeting,” an official press release said.


Militancy and US frustration to dominate Zardari’s address
PESHAWAR: Increasing home-grown militancy, mounting American frustration at the continued Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and alleged militant ‘safe havens’ in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas will dominate President Asif Ali Zardari’s maiden address to the joint session of parliament in Islamabad today (Saturday), according to analysts and coalition government sources. “I think the president should give the nation a new direction,” said Asfandyar Wali Khan, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs chairman and Awami National Party central president. He said the new direction did not mean moving away from the international coalition, but reinventing Pakistan’s role in the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. iqbal khattak


Pakistan says no to IMF assistance
* Govt announces macro-economic stabilisation package
* Oil subsidy abolished, power subsidy to go by July 2009

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Naveed Qamar unveiled a policy package on Friday to restore economic stability, ruling out seeking assistance from the International Monetary Fund.

The package includes elimination of subsidies, reduction in development expenditures, financing through non-inflationary instruments and arranging foreign exchange through privatisation of oil, gas and power sector entities.

“The package will bring down the fiscal deficit and current account deficit and protect our reserves,” Naveed Qamar told a news conference.

He said the measures had been decided by the government, and hoped the IMF would endorse them.

Elimination of subsidies: Qamar said elimination of subsidies on fuel and electricity was a key element in the package.

“I can safely announce today ... [that] we have eliminated the entire fuel subsidy and there is no additional subsidy today,” he said.

Qamar said the government would do away with the subsidy on electricity by the end of the 2008/09 (July-June) fiscal year, but the bulk had already been phased out.

State Bank Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar said the immediate target of the package was to increase foreign exchange reserves to provide an import cover two to three months.


Rupee unlikely to stabilise soon’ KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee fell to a new record low against the dollar on Friday, on weak economic fundamentals and the global financial crisis. Brokers said it was unlikely to stabilise soon. They said the rupee was traded at 78.25 rupees to the dollar but was quoted closing at 77.60/80. The previous record low was 78.15, in early trade on Friday. The brokers said the market was short of dollars because of the State Bank of Pakistan’s buy and swap operations.



Efforts on for economic stability, says Zardari

ISLAMABAD: The country’s economy will be managed in accordance with sound economic principles, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Friday. Talking to International Monetary Fund Middle East and Central Asia Department Director Mohsin S Khan at President House, President Zardari said Pakistan both needed and welcomed development partners but was capable of managing its economy on sound principles. The meeting discussed the country’s economic situation.

Singh, Zardari to discuss terror, infiltration

NEW DELHI: President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh are expected to discuss cross-border terrorism in an upcoming meeting in New York.

In what will be their first meeting after Zardari’s accession to the Presidency, the two leaders are also expected to discuss cross-Line of Control confidence building measures, including announcing the dates for lunching trade on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route.

Officials said Singh was likely to underline cross-border terrorism and infiltration needed to cease to ensure a conducive atmosphere for continuing the dialogue process. Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Friday emphasised that an environment free from terrorism was necessary for the normalisation of relations with Pakistan. “We want an end to cross-border terrorism and ceasefire violations, and would like Pakistan to abide by its commitments,” he said.

Menon hoped that the upcoming meeting between Singh and President Zardari would help normalise relations. Singh is leaving for the United States on Monday to address the UN General Assembly in New York and to sign a nuclear agreement with George W Bush administration. iftikhar gilani


Delhi bombing suspects killed in shoot-out
NEW DELHI: Indian police killed two militants during fierce shooting in a Muslim-dominated area of New Delhi on Friday, it said.

The encounter took place near the Jamia Milia Islamia University after police raided an apartment in which five militants were hiding. One was injured and two escaped through the narrow streets in the area.

One of the dead named as, Atif, was an explosive expert and senior leader of militant organisation Indian Mujahideen, which has claimed responsibility for attacks in Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and New Delhi, Delhi Police Commissioner YS Dadwal told reporters.

The commissioner said Atif had visited Ahmedabad and Jaipur just before the serial blasts, adding an operation had begun to arrest militants at large.

Businessmen closed shops in protest at what they claimed was a ‘fake encounter’. They allege the deceased were arrested from their apartment at midnight, and police killed them later after returning them.

The commissioner however rejected the claim, and said the militants first attacked the police, adding three policemen were wounded during the encounter. iftikhar gilani


Pakistan considers buying N-power plants
* Prime minister approves satellite communications project, forms committee to formulate purchase modalities

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday met senior officials to discuss the possibility of buying nuclear plants to meet the country’s energy shortages.

Project: Sources told Daily Times that Gilani approved a satellite communications project and set up a committee to work out the modalities regarding the purchase of nuclear plants. The Reuters news agency quoted an official as saying that the committee would also decide on “the financial arrangements before a formal decision is made on the purchase of nuclear energy plants”.

The Planning Commission deputy chairman, the finance, foreign affairs and water and power secretaries and the Strategic Plans Division (SPD) director general comprise the committee that will execute financial arrangements before a formal decision is made regarding the purchase of nuclear energy plants and satellite communications system.

The prime minister was earlier briefed on nuclear energy and satellite communications projects by Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen Tariq Majeed, the Planning Commission deputy chairman and the SPD director at the Prime Minster’s House.

Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, Finance Minister Naveed Qamar, federal secretaries and senior government officials also attended the meeting.
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