Hillary to reverse pro-Musharraf policies
March 08, 2008
LAHORE: US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said on Friday that after coming to power she would reverse President Bush’s pro-Musharraf policies and would play a role in improving ties between Pakistan and India.
Geo News quoted her as saying that President Bush had ignored key Pakistani political leaders and the civil society during the last seven years, relying on one man. She said the February 18 elections were a clear indicator to the US that it should change its policies towards Pakistan.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...8-3-2008_pg1_5
PML-Q central joint secretary resigns
March 08, 2008
ISLAMABAD: Dr Nabila Tariq, central joint secretary of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), on Friday resigned from the party, saying she would no longer like to be associated with the party.
Citing reasons for her resignation, she told a private television that the PML-Q leadership did not show any political maturity, and she would not like to get involved in such kind of politics.
Nabila said she had discharged her responsibilities with complete dedication.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-3-2008_pg7_26
Haque leaves for Dakar today to attend OIC summit
March 08, 2008
ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Foreign Minister Inamul Haque will leave for Dakar today (Saturday) and lead a delegation in the 11th summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) on March 13 and 14.
“He is leaving today and would represent Pakistan in the summit in the absence of the president and prime minister,” a source in the Foreign Office told Daily Times on Friday.
Members of the delegation include Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan, Additional Secretary (UN) Khalid Aziz Babar and Organisation of Islamic Conference Director General Kausar Ahsan Iqbal.
The foreign secretary left for Senegal on Thursday to attend preliminary meetings. The summit will focus on the implementation of OIC’s 10-year programme of action, adoption of revised Organisation of Islamic Conference charter, and two brainstorming sessions on economic cooperation and knowledge-sharing among the member states.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-3-2008_pg7_31
Reinstatement of judges impossible, says Shujaat
March 08, 2008
QUETTA: PML-Q President Shujaat Hussain said on Friday the reinstatement of the Supreme Court judges sacked on November 3 had now become impossible. Talking to journalists at the end of his two-day trip to Quetta, he said political parties were exploiting the issue to gain political mileage. The PML-Q president said that reinstating the judges was now a constitutional issue and he saw no possibility of it. The PML-Q president rejected the impression that President Pervez Musharraf was giving up his office. He asked political parties opposing the president to give up the demand and let the president complete his five-year term for which he had been elected by parliament. “Musharraf will not quit on the insistence of a single party,” he said. To a question, he said he wanted the next parliament to complete its five-year term without interruption. “We pray that the next government is formed soon and a new prime minister is elected,” he said. Shujaat termed his trip to Balochistan very successful. He denied media reports of differences in the PML-Q provincial leadership. He said he had talked to all the MPAs-elect of the party and they had authorised him to make the final decision on government formation in Balochistan and the nomination of the party’s candidate for chief minister. “We will hold consultations with the JUI-F and other parties in Islamabad to ensure the smooth formation of the next Balochistan government. The name of the candidate for chief minister will be announced in two days,” he said.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-3-2008_pg7_34
US economy has slowed down: Bush
March 8, 2008
WASHINGTON: In the face of a gloomy US government economic report, President George W Bush said Friday that "it's clear our economy has slowed" but tried to reassure an anxious public that the long-term outlook is good. "Losing a job is painful and I know Americans are concerned about our economy. So am I," Bush said during a hastily arranged appearance on the economy at the White House. "I know this is a difficult time for our economy. But we recognized the problem early and we provid the economy with a booster shot." Congress passed and Bush signed a stimulus package that will send tax rebates to many families and businesses. But some fear it will come too late - or that people will use the money to save or pay off debt, rather than go on a spending spree that will boost the economy.
Bush gently urged people to do the latter. "When the money reaches the American people, we expect it to boost consumer spending," he said.
Earlier, the president's top economic adviser said that US economic growth could dip into negative territory for the current quarter. That tracks with the assessments of many outside experts but is the most pessimistic word to come so far from the White House.
"We don't really know whether it will be negative or not," Edward Lazear, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters at the White House.
http://www.thepost.com.pk/IntNews.as...148772&catid=1
Al Qaeda planning large attack in US’
March 08, 2008
WASHINGTON: Al Qaeda is planning to attack the United States, perhaps urgently, so that its leadership could show tangible results after repeated threats, a senior US general said on Thursday.
General Gene Renuart, head of the US military command responsible for homeland defence, said recorded messages from Al Qaeda leaders such as Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri showed that the group was “looking for a way to have a big impact again”.
“If an organisation like Al Qaeda is to maintain credibility and continue to increase the number of its extremists, it has to show tangible results,” said Renuart, adding, “So I think there might be a certain sense of urgency among the terror organisation to have an effect.”
“I do think they are continuing to work at it, maybe harder than ever,” he told reporters at the Pentagon. Renuart said he believed groups sympathetic to Al Qaeda were operating inside the United States.
But the Air Force general also said that the US military, intelligence and law enforcement agencies were doing well in detecting and deterring activities of those groups. Renuart said he did not see any direct effort to influence the US presidential elections in November. “Right now, I don’t see a direct threat to any of that activity,” he said.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...8-3-2008_pg4_1
Iraq wants 'solid' relations with Turkey: Talabani
March 08, 2008
ANKARA: Iraq wants a sound strategic relationship with Turkey, its president said Friday during a visit to Ankara to soothe tensions after a Turkish military offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.
"The aim of this visit is to be able to establish strategic and solid relations with Turkey," President Jalal Talabani said during a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul.
Talabani, himself an Iraqi Kurd, said he wanted closer energy, economic, cultural and political ties so that cooperation between the two countries could serve as a model for the region.
Before taking questions from reporters, the two presidents did not directly address Turkey's offensive. Gul said Iraq could understand Turkey's fight against the rebels since it also faced what he termed terrorist attacks.
Talabani said his country's constitution did not allow for organisations that could harm neighbouring countries to exist on Iraqi soil. "We are obviously opposed to an organisation that launches attacks against a neighbouring country and we will not allow it," he said.
The Kurdish administration of northern Iraq had been ordered to pressure the PKK to leave their camps in the area, he said. Asked whether Turkey planned to make political overtures to the PKK, Gul said "an organisation implicated in terrorism" could not be tolerated, adding that the rebels must lay down their arms.
The two-day visit comes a week after Turkish forces ended the week-long incursion against the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), whose militants have secret rear bases in northern Iraq.
The United States had feared the incursion might escalate into a broader conflict with the Kurdish administration of northern Iraq.
Gul had invited Talabani to visit on February 21, hours after Turkish forces stormed into northern Iraq to crack down on PKK camps serving as a springboard for attacks on Turkish targets across the border.
Ankara has warned it will continue to pursue the PKK, both at home and in northern Iraq. The PKK is blacklisted as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community.
It took up arms to fight for self-rule in Kurdish-majority southeast Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed more than 37,000 lives.
Washington backed the Turkish incursion by supplying its NATO ally with intelligence on PKK movements. But wary of tensions in a relatively stable region of conflict-torn Iraq, the United States also pressed Turkey to end the offensive quickly and step up cooperation with Baghdad and Iraqi Kurds to resolve the problem.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=39562