[B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Al Qaeda confirms Bin Laden death, vows revenge[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B]

WASHINGTON:
Al Qaeda confirmed the death of Osama bin Laden on Friday in an Internet message that vowed revenge on the United States and its allies, including Pakistan, according to the SITE monitoring service.

Five days after President Barack Obama announced bin Laden’s death in a US raid in Pakistan, al Qaeda vowed not to deviate from the path of armed struggle and said bin Laden’s blood “is more precious to us and to every Muslim than to be wasted in vain.”

“It (Bin Laden’s blood) will remain, with permission from Allah the Almighty, a curse that chases the Americans and their agents, and goes after them inside and outside their countries,” the militant network said in a statement released on Internet forums and translated by SITE.

[B][COLOR="Sienna"]“Their happiness will turn into sorrow, and their blood will be mixed with their tears,[/COLOR][/B]” al Qaeda said.

[B][COLOR="#a0522d"]“We call upon our Muslim people in Pakistan, on whose land Sheikh Osama was killed, to rise up and revolt to cleanse this shame that has been attached to them by a clique of traitors and thieves … and in general to cleanse their country from the filth of the Americans who spread corruption in it.”[/COLOR][/B]

[B]Source: [URL="http://tribune.com.pk/story/163170/al-qaeda-confirms-bin-laden-death-vows-revenge/"]Death of Osama[/URL][/B]

Finally, he come-up
 

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[B][I][COLOR="Sienna"][SIZE="4"][url=http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/may2011-daily/11-05-2011/u70412.htm]1 - Number One Newspaper of Pakistan - Daily Jang- Jang Group[/url][/SIZE][/COLOR][/I][/B]

Pakistani mountaineer Hassan Sidhpara conquers Mount Everest
 

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[B][I][SIZE="4"][url=http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/may2011-daily/12-05-2011/u70456.htm]1 - Number One Newspaper of Pakistan - Daily Jang- Jang Group[/url][/SIZE][/I][/B]

[B][I][COLOR="DarkRed"]SKARDU: A Pakistani mountaineer Hassan Sidhpara has conquered the highest Mount Everest on Thursday.

Hassan Sidhpara reached on the top of Mount Everest this morning and hoisted Pakistani flag at 6.00am to dedicate his extra ordinary victory to his beloved country.

Sidhpara is second mountaineer of Pakistan who has succeeded to conquer world’s highest Mount Everest. Prior to him, Nazir Saba successfully climbed to the top of Mount Everest.

Hassan Sidhpara and Nazir Saba both belong to Gilgit.[/COLOR][/I][/B]

[B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Saudi national killed as gunmen attack consulate car in Karachi[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B](1 hour ago) Today[/B]

KARACHI: A Saudi national was killed when gunmen attacked a car belonging to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Karachi on Monday, police said.

The Saudi national who died in the attack was a security officer reportedly posted at the mission, DawnNews quoted the police as saying. His body was shifted to the Jinnah hospital, police said.

A Saudi official requesting anonymity told AFP that one security official was shot dead in his car a kilometre from the consulate this morning.

He was not immediately able to confirm whether the official was a diplomat.

The attack came days after unidentified attackers threw two hand grenades at the Saudi consulate in the city. No one as hurt in that attack.

Al Qaeda is violently opposed to the Saudi government and has vowed revenge for the killing of its leader, Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, by US special forces in Pakistan on May 2.

[url=http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/16/saudi-consulate%e2%80%99s-car-attacked-in-karachi-driver-killed.html]Saudi national killed as gunmen attack consulate car in Karachi | Latest-News | DAWN.COM[/url]

United Arab Emirates Confirms Hiring Blackwater Founder’s Firm
 

The United Arab Emirates confirmed on Sunday that it had hired a company run by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of Blackwater Worldwide, to provide “operational, planning and training support” to its military. But it gave no details of the company’s project to build a foreign mercenary battalion for the Emirati government.
Multimedia
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Copy of Mercenary Contract
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Secret Desert Force Set Up by Blackwater’s Founder (May 15, 2011)

A written statement from a top Emirati general, issued through the U.A.E.’s official news agency, said that the country had relied extensively on outside contractors to bolster its military, and that all work with contractors was “compliant with international law and relevant conventions.”

The statement, by Gen. Juma Ali Khalaf al-Hamiri, said that the U.A.E. had signed a contract with Reflex Responses, Mr. Prince’s company, but made no mention of the hundreds of Colombian, South African and other foreign troops now training at an Emirati military base. The statement did not mention Mr. Prince by name.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that the company last year signed a $529 million contract with the Emirati government to recruit and train a foreign battalion for counterterrorism and internal security missions, according to former Reflex Responses employees, American officials and corporate documents.

Former employees said that the company had a separate lucrative contract to help protect a string of nuclear reactors planned in the U.A.E. and to provide cybersecurity for the nuclear sites.

The U.A.E is a close American ally, and officials in Washington indicated that there was some support in the Obama administration for the foreign mercenary battalion. But the State Department is looking into the project to ensure it does not violate American laws regulating the export of defense technology and expertise.

General Hamiri’s statement said his country’s military had gone through an “extensive process of development and Emiratisation,” which has allowed Emirati forces to make “meaningful contributions” in recent conflicts in places like Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

Kateri Carmola, a professor at Middlebury College in Vermont who researches the use of private security companies, said that it was common for countries to hire contractors for military training, but that it appeared that Reflex Responses had more ambitious goals both in the U.A.E. and elsewhere.

“There is no real legal precedent for a company like this, where the U.A.E. would be used as a launch pad for a wide range of missions, and potentially for a wide range of clients,” she said.
[URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/world/middleeast/16prince.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss"]http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/world/middleeast/16prince.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss[/URL]

UAE allocates $100 million for projects in Pak
 

[COLOR="DarkRed"][SIZE="3"]UAE allocates $100 million for projects in Pak[/SIZE][/COLOR]

ISLAMABAD, (SANA): The UAE has allocated $100 million dollars to Pakistan for the construction of more than 51 schools (primary & secondary), technical institutions, several healthcare centers, building roads and bridges, infrastructure and supply of safe drinking water schemes, the UAE embassy has said.

The money has been allocated on the special instructions of President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the people of Swat, South Waziristan, other North Western districts and the tribal area. The construction of such projects is in progress.

During the devastating floods in Pakistan last year, UAE Armed Forces successfully carried out grand operations of rescue, distribution of relief goods, and logistics to different parts of Pakistan.

Chinooks rigorously participated in the humanitarian assistance activities in the most flood affected regions of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochitsan.

UAE Military Field Hospitals in many remote areas of the country treated thousands of affectees and launched effective vaccination campaigns to save children, women and elderly people from different diseases. Water purification plants were also set up to provide clean drinking water in the hard-hit areas.

The Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates in Islamabad Saif Al Awani said that UAE will continue it support to the people and government of Pakistan as the UAE rulers have deep-rooted ties with Pakistani brethren.
[url=http://www.sananews.net/english/2011/05/16/uae-allocates-100-million-for-projects-in-pak/]UAE allocates $100 million for projects in Pak | Business | South Asian News Agency (SANA)[/url]

Nato helicopter fire wounds Pakistan troops
 

Nato helicopters have injured two soldiers in the Pakistani region of North Waziristan, local officials say.

Western military sources say two helicopters came under attack twice before they opened fire. But local witnesses say the aircraft fired first.

It is not clear if the helicopters crossed the border.

The reports come two weeks after Osama Bin Laden was killed by US commandos in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad - prompting Pakistani condemnation.

Two helicopters had been sent to support a coalition base, which was under intermittent fire in eastern Afghanistan's Khost province, an unnamed Western military official told the BBC.

The helicopters came under fire twice from across the border, and only returned fire when they were attacked a second time, the official said.

Local witnesses say the helicopters targeted the post from Afghanistan.

Pakistan's Express 24/7 television channel quoted officials saying that the helicopters were about to enter Pakistani territory when gunshots were fired. They moved back and fired retaliatory gunshots which dislodged rubble on nearby mountains, injuring the Pakistani soldiers, the channel said.

Last September, Nato aircraft crossed the border from Afghanistan in an attack which Pakistan says killed three soldiers. Subsequently Pakistan temporarily blocked a key Nato supply route from Pakistan into Afghanistan.

The alleged attack comes one day after two US drone missiles struck the restive border area of North Waziristan, killing at least seven suspected militants.

US drones frequently strike the tribal areas along the Afghan border, which are are considered to be a haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who launch attacks in Afghanistan.

Correspondents say only US forces have the capacity to deploy such aircraft, but that drone attacks have the tacit approval of the Pakistani authorities. Pakistani leaders deny secretly supporting them.
[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13421568]BBC News - Nato helicopter fire wounds Pakistan troops[/url]

[B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Female suicide bombers attack Quetta checkpost[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B]

QUETTA:
Security forces including Frontier Corps and police personnel have foiled an attack on a security checkpoint in Quetta, killing five foreigners.

Five suspects, including three women and two children, were approaching a check post in the residential area of Kharotabad when security forces discovered they had explosive materials. The forces tried to arrest the group, at which point, one of the females blew herself up to avoid arrest, reported Arzoo Rehman for Express 24/7.

One of the attackers threw a grenade at the checkpoint, injuring a security personnel who later died in hospital.

One woman was of 20-25 years of age while another one was 15-20 years old, suggest initial reports.

The Frontier Corps (FC) said all the attackers, including three women and two men, were foreigners of either Chechen or Uzbek origin. The women were reportedly equipped with hand grenades.

Police officials also recovered several hand grenades as well as Russian and Iranian passports from the site.

“All five attackers have been killed,” Quetta police chief Daud Junejo said. He added that the attackers showed their suicide jackets to the police at the checkpost but police officials ran away to fetch more security officials.

“The troops retaliated and killed all of them,” he said. “No security official was hurt, it’s all ok, it’s over now.”

He also denied any suicide attack took place.

The CCPO Quetta said they had received intelligence of a possible attack in the city, which had prompted extra security checks during the day.

[B]Source: [URL="http://tribune.com.pk/story/170427/blast-at-checkpost-in-quetta/"]Female suicide attack[/URL][/B]

Security forces arrest senior al-Qaeda operative
 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have arrested senior Al-Qaeda operative Muhammad Ali Qasim Yaqub, alias Abu Sohaib Al Makki, in the southern port city of Karachi, the military said Tuesday.

“According to preliminary investigations, Al Makki is a Yemeni national and has been working directly under Al-Qaeda leaders along Pak-Afghan borders,” the military’s media wing said.

“The arrest of Al Makki is a major development in unravelling the Al-Qaeda network operating in the region,” it said.

The arrest follows a US covert operation in the garrison city of Abbottabad near Islamabad on May 2 that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and comes a day after US senator John Kerry visited Pakistan to smooth a damaging row caused by the raid.

Pakistan’s civilian and military leaders were left angry and embarrassed after the unilateral US assault that killed the Al-Qaeda chief, who had been living, possibly for years, two hours drive from the capital.

The raid rocked the country’s powerful security establishment, with its intelligence services and military widely accused of incompetence or complicity over the presence of bin Laden in a suburban house in Abbottabad.

Al Makki is apparently not on the list of internationally most wanted Al-Qaeda operatives but the military’s statement mentioned his network was operating in the region.

His arrest came a day after a Saudi Arabian diplomat was killed in a hail of bullets on his way to the Saudi consulate in Karachi.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik blamed Al-Qaeda for the attack which was the second on Saudi interests in Pakistan’s biggest city in less than a week, media reports said.

[url=http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/17/security-forces-arrest-senior-al-qaeda-operative.html]Security forces arrest senior al-Qaeda operative | Metropolitan | DAWN.COM[/url]