Spanish report ties Pakistan spy agency to Taliban

By PAUL HAVEN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, October 1, 2008

MADRID, Spain -- A report marked confidential and bearing the official seal of Spain's Defense Ministry charges that Pakistan's spy service was helping arm Taliban insurgents in 2005 for assassination plots against the Afghan government.

The report, which was obtained by Cadena Ser radio and posted on the station's Web site on Wednesday, also says Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency _ or ISI _ helped the Taliban procure roadside bombs.

It alleges that Pakistan may have provided training and intelligence to the Taliban in camps set up on Pakistani soil. The report says the Pakistani agency planned to have the Taliban use the explosives "to assassinate high-ranking officials."

The August 2005 document does not describe its sources. Cadena Ser did not say how it obtained the report.

Western intelligence agencies have long suspected that elements of Pakistan's spy service have aided the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan. But this report appears to be the first leaked to the media that spells out such a connection in writing.

A Pakistani official on Wednesday vehemently denied that any such link existed.

Chief Pakistani army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the Spanish report was "baseless, unfounded and part of a malicious, well-orchestrated propaganda campaign to malign the ISI."

"ISI is the first line of defense of Pakistan and certain quarters are attempting to weaken our national intelligence system," Abbas said, without elaborating.

In Spain, the Defense Ministry and the prime minister's office said they had no comment on the document.

Fernando Reinares, a terrorism analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid and former chief counterterrorism adviser at Spain's Interior Ministry, said the document appeared to be an internal report intended for high-level officials. Spain has about 800 soldiers deployed in northwest Afghanistan.

The report says "it appears possible" that advanced training camps exist in Pakistan "where the Taliban receive training, help and intelligence from the ISI," and where they are also developing new improvised explosive devices. The report says the Taliban had also been receiving help from al-Qaida.

Reinares said the report on the alleged ISI-Taliban link is in keeping with information from other Western spy agencies.

The intelligence services have done nothing more then confirm a reality which has also been reported by other Western agencies," he told The Associated Press. Reinares said Spain has developed a strong military and police intelligence operation in Pakistan, particularly since the deadly terrorist attacks of March 11, 2004 on commuter trains in Madrid.

The ISI spy agency has helped kill or capture several top al-Qaida leaders since 2001, but there are lingering doubts about its loyalty _ not least because its agents helped build up the Taliban in the 1990s.

U.S. intelligence agencies suspect rogue elements may still be giving Taliban militants sensitive information to aid in their growing insurgency in Afghanistan, even though officially Pakistan is a U.S. ally in fighting terrorism.

Some analysts say elements in the spy agency may want to retain the Taliban as potentially helpful against longtime rival India and may believe that Pakistan's strategic interests are best served if Afghanistan remains a weak state.

India and Afghanistan _ and reportedly the U.S. _ suspect the ISI of involvement in the July 7 bombing outside India's Embassy in Kabul, which killed more than 60 people. Pakistan denies the allegations.

Pakistan's army chief this week named a general considered a hawk in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban to head the ISI.

The Taliban has regularly used roadside bombs to attack U.S. troops and Afghan security forces since the beginning of the insurgency following the fall off the movement in 2001.

The explosives used have become increasingly powerful in the past year and can rip through an armored military vehicle and kill everyone inside.

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Associated Press Writer Zarar Khan in Islamabad, Pakistan contributed to this report.

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U.S. raids hurt terrorism fight: Pakistan minister

By Jon Hurdle
Reuters
Thursday, October 2, 2008

PRINCETON, NJ (Reuters) - U.S. military raids against militants inside Pakistan threaten to hurt progress being made against them by Pakistani forces and are an intrusion on Pakistan's sovereignty, the country's new foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said recent attacks by U.S. forces on Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents in tribal areas on the Pakistan side of its border with Afghanistan may set back the government's efforts to fight terrorism there.

"I'm afraid that a relatively recent element in this already difficult war threatens to undo what we have already achieved," Qureshi said in a speech at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. "I am referring to U.S. attacks in Pakistani territory."

Relations between the United States and Pakistan have been strained since the attacks. U.S. officials say Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked fighters use the tribal regions as a base to launch attacks into Afghanistan.

The U.S. actions risk further alienating the population of the tribal areas and the wider populace, Qureshi said.

"The Pakistan public rightly sees such attacks as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty," he said. "We must not take any action that hardens the resolve of those already committed to violence."

He said Pakistan's fight against terrorism has been further damaged because the raids have been carried out by its ally.

"It hurts us even more when the transgressor is our friend and ally, the U.S.," he said. "If there are actions to be taken, those actions will be taken by Pakistan."

He said Pakistani government forces have been fighting militants in the remote and rugged border areas since 2004 and suffered hundreds of casualties.

But he said military force alone cannot win the war there or in Afghanistan where governments, including the United States, must win support of the people through other means.

"Force must be complemented by political, economic and social engagement," Qureshi said. "Force alone is an insufficient objective to win the hearts and minds of the populace."

Qureshi said he was "bewildered" that Pakistan is seen by some Americans as a source of terrorism rather than a partner in the war against it. He acknowledged the presence of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters in the border areas but rejected that there were safe havens there.

The minister called on the United States to provide more night-time fighting equipment, and urged Afghanistan to add hundreds more military posts along its side of the border to match those installed by Pakistan.

(Editing by Vicki Allen)

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UN raises Pakistan security level after hotel bomb

By STEPHEN GRAHAM
The Associated Press
Thursday, October 2, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The United Nations raised its security level for the Pakistani capital after the Sept. 20 truck bombing of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel, U.N. officials said Thursday.

The move underlines the deteriorating situation in Pakistan, which is under intense U.S. pressure to combat Islamic militants behind rising attacks at home and in neighboring Afghanistan.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon approved the move after the world body's agencies in Islamabad recommended it earlier this week, three officials told The Associated Press.

They said it also applied to the neighboring city of Rawalpindi and areas near the Afghan border.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity either because they are not authorized to speak to the media or did not want to go on record before an expected official announcement from U.N. headquarters in New York.

The decision means that U.N. international staff will no longer be allowed to live with their children in the capital. Some can relocate to areas deemed safer, such as Lahore or Karachi.

Others are expected to leave Pakistan, which is expected to cause some disruption to U.N. programs as the country faces severe economic difficulties and a crumbling of basic public services in militancy-torn areas.

Foreign missions have also been reviewing security since the Marriott bombing, which killed at least 54 people, including three Americans and the Czech ambassador.

Britain announced on Wednesday that the around 60 children of its diplomats in Pakistan will return home. Pakistan has long been a non-family posting for American embassy staff.

Pakistani officials have blamed the Marriott blast on extremists holed up in Pakistan's tribal areas along the Afghan border that are suspected of mounting a wave of suicide attacks stretching back more than a year.

Associated Press writer Nahal Toosi contributed to this report.
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Senate Approves Bailout

House to Take Up Bill With Added Tax Breaks, Higher FDIC Limits

By Lori Montgomery and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 2, 2008

The Senate last night easily approved a massive plan to shore up the U.S. financial system, but the measure faces a tougher test tomorrow in the House, where leaders will try to reverse the stunning defeat the legislation suffered earlier this week.

As the Bush administration issued fresh warnings that Congress's failure to act would have dire consequences for the economy, the Senate revived the package the House defeated Monday and voted to approve it, 74 to 25.

The proposal -- which calls for spending up to $700 billion to buy bad assets from faltering financial institutions -- was heavily revised to attract wider support. The bill passed last night would extend an array of tax breaks worth $108 billion to businesses and families next year. It would also temporarily increase the limit on federal insurance for bank deposits to $250,000 from $100,000.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, acknowledged last night that it was tempting to oppose a bailout and "stick a finger in the eye of the bankers and the tycoons whose greed brought us to this crisis."

"But after the rush of righteousness fades, what then?" said Dodd, an architect of the package. "We can take a cut at Wall Street, but Wall Street won't feel the brunt of the pain."

Nine Democrats, 15 Republicans, and one independent opposed the plan. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who is ailing, was not present for the vote.

The provisions added to the original bill infuriated fiscally conservative Democrats in the House, who have argued for months that the tax breaks should not be extended at the expense of increasing the federal deficit. Yet some congressmen who opposed the bailout Monday were newly interested in it yesterday.

Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), an influential conservative, said the new bill was "materially better" than the one that failed in the House, sending the Dow Jones industrial average plummeting a record 778 points.

"Much as I would like to see much more dramatic changes, there comes a point in time where we've got to send the signal to the U.S. markets, U.S. consumers and world markets that we're dealing with this," Shadegg said. "I'm inclined to hold my nose and vote yes."

House Republicans said the new package could attract as many as 100 GOP votes -- enough to put it over the top if Democrats can garner as many votes as they did on Monday. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said he and other fiscal conservatives are "angry" about the addition of the tax provisions but unlikely to abandon the package.

"Frankly, we really don't have much flexibility, and this is important to do," Hoyer said.

Across Washington yesterday, politicians and interest groups worked frantically to build support for the bailout, which seeks to prop up U.S. financial institutions and calm investors.

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. also worked the phones, participating in conference calls with banking groups and business associations. Other organizations joined the campaign, including the AARP, whose members have inundated lawmakers with more than 110,000 e-mails in recent days.

"People's nest eggs are disappearing," AARP chief executive Bill Novelli said. "It's no secret that people are angry about bailing out Wall Street. But Wall Street is us. These are our stocks, our retirement funds and our futures."

House leaders, meanwhile, leaned on rank-and-file members to fall in line behind the new plan, plucking out provisions to sell to specific constituencies. Party leaders hoped to lure African American lawmakers, who voted "no" on Monday in surprisingly large numbers, with a new property tax deduction of up to $1,000 for homeowners who do not currently itemize deductions on their federal income taxes. Advocates say 30 million people would be eligible for the benefit.

The homeowners' deduction is part of a massive tax package that has been batted back and forth between the House and Senate for months and was tacked onto the bailout legislation. That package includes new tax breaks for renewable energy and a much longer list of expired tax cuts that would be extended for two years. The largest, which would be extended for one year, would restrain the growth of the alternative minimum tax, a parallel tax structure that would add thousands of dollars to the tax bills of more than 20 million families next year without congressional action.

The tax package also would extend federal deductions for sales taxes in states that do not levy an income tax, as well as for tuition and for teachers who spend their own money on classroom supplies. There are also tax breaks worth nearly $40 billion for businesses over the next 10 years, including incentives for conducting research and development domestically, for opening new restaurants and for doing business in the District.

The measure also would require insurance companies to provide the same level of coverage for mental illnesses as for other heath problems, a long-sought priority for Democrats.

The cost of the package would be offset somewhat by new taxes on hedge-fund managers who avoid taxes by transferring income offshore, as well as by a new reporting requirement for stock brokers that would make it easier to tax capital gains on stock sales. Still, those provisions would come nowhere near covering the cost of the package, which the Joint Committee on Taxation yesterday estimated at $110 billion over the next decade.


The new bill was assembled behind closed doors on Tuesday. In an unusual bipartisan power play, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) collaborated to produce a package that could easily pass the Senate and build momentum in the more reluctant House.

They also saw an opportunity to force through the Senate-drafted tax package, even though House leaders earlier had insisted it be accompanied by other tax increases to avoid adding to the deficit. Reid's main priority was securing the renewable energy tax credits, which would benefit his home state. The provisions reward investments in wind and solar energy and the purchase of plug-in electric cars.

Senior Democratic aides who were involved in the negotiations said Reid kept Hoyer informed but did not engage him because Hoyer led the House opposition to the Senate tax package. But Reid spoke with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) at least three times Tuesday, aides said.

Negotiators said Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) played a minor but important role in courting Democratic holdouts, contacting individual lawmakers from the campaign trail. He also announced his support for an increase in the FDIC insurance limit; his opponent in the presidential race, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) did so as well.

During Senate debate yesterday, Obama echoed President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first fireside chat to the nation during the Great Depression, calling on the American people to have "confidence and courage" through what is likely to be an extended period of economic turmoil.

"This is not just a Wall Street crisis. It's an American crisis," Obama said. "Passing this bill can't be the end of our efforts to support the economy; it must be the beginning."

McCain was elsewhere in the Capitol and did not speak during the debate. He later supported the measure.

Minutes before the vote started, senior aides predicted the "yeas" could be as few as 60, the minimum needed to pass. But when the moment arrived, senators sat at their desks, appearing grave and intent, and the "no" votes were surprisingly few. Only three senators who face tough re-election battles -- GOP Sens. Elizabeth Dole (N.C.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.), and Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu (La.) -- were opposed.

Bush issued a statement last night applauding the Senate for passing the bill. The White House said the president planned to remain in Washington until after the House vote on Friday, then depart for a previously scheduled trip for the weekend.

Despite some grumbling, Democratic proponents of the bailout package said they did not expect many lawmakers who supported the bailout plan Monday to switch their votes tomorrow. "How do you say, if you voted yes already, now that it has tax cuts and FDIC insurance, that you're going to vote against it? That just doesn't make sense," noted one senior Democratic lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity so he could speak candidly.

Conservative Republicans remained among the most fervent opponents. But Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, sent a letter alerting members that the new measure "contains far more tax relief than tax increases" and is not considered "a taxpayer pledge violation" by the anti-tax group Americans for Tax Reform.

Meanwhile, a handful of more moderate House Republicans yesterday signaled that they were at least studying the changes in the bill. Reps. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-La.), Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) all voted against the measure Monday, but their aides said yesterday that they were undecided on the latest version.

House lawmakers said that calls and letters to their offices yesterday remained overwhelmingly against the bailout but that there had been a shift since Monday's gut-wrenching drop in the stock market. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who cheered on the House floor as the bill went down, said her office was hearing from slightly more people who support it.

"There's been more media attention," she said. "People are talking. People are getting more educated."

Staff writers Jonathan Weisman and Dan Eggen contributed to this report.
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Pakistan official: War until 'terror free'

By ASIF SHAHZAD
The Associated Press
Friday, October 3, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's war against Islamic extremists will go on until the country is "terrorism-free," a senior official said Friday after mounting violence prompted the United Nations to raise its security stance.

Pakistan is under intense pressure from the United States to combat militants responsible for rising attacks at home and in neighboring Afghanistan.

Its faltering efforts so far have been met with a blur of suicide bombings that have killed nearly 1,200 people since July 2007, according to army statistics released this week.

In remarks broadcast Friday, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said the government was undaunted.

Previous Pakistani military campaigns against Islamic militants in the wild tribal belt along the Afghan frontier were halted too soon, he said _ an apparent reference to the policies of former President Pervez Musharraf.

Malik said the current government, which came to power after February elections and forced Musharraf to resign in July, will fight until militants are either killed or forced to flee Pakistan.

"There is no other option," Malik told Express News television. "We will not stop any operation unless we reach its logical conclusion. That means that this war will continue until we make Pakistan terrorism-free."

Pakistan's army is battling militants in at least three areas of the northwest. The most intense fighting has been in the Bajur tribal region, where the military claims to have killed 1,000 rebels for the loss of about 60 troops.

Most recent suicide attacks have been in the northwest. A blast on Thursday killed four people in a failed bid to assassinate a prominent anti-Taliban politician in the region.

There have also been several attacks in the capital, Islamabad, including the Sept. 20 truck bombing of the Marriott Hotel, which killed 54 people, including three Americans and the Czech ambassador.

The U.N. reacted to that blast on Thursday by ordering the children of its international staff out of the city _ putting it on a par with trouble spots such as Kabul and Mogadishu.

It insisted the move was temporary and would not affect its operations.

Britain announced Wednesday it was repatriating its diplomats' children and other countries may follow suit. Pakistan has long been a non-family posting for U.S. diplomatic staff.

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American Qaeda figure says U.S. still runs Pakistan

Reuters
Saturday, October 4, 2008; 5:17 AM

DUBAI (Reuters) - American al Qaeda militant Adam Gadahn described Pakistan's new leaders as U.S. puppets in a war against Islamic militants, in an Internet video posted on Saturday.

"The Pakistan Army ... and the professional spreaders of lies at their service are trying to make us believe that the state of Pakistan has turned a new leaf (after U.S-allied former President Pervez Musharraf left power)," Gadahn said in the video posted on Islamist websites.

"These are not the leaders Pakistan wants and deserves. They are the leaders America wants and preserves in order to reach its policy objectives, hinder the jihad against the Crusaders in Afghanistan ... and ensure that nuclear-capable Pakistan remains docile, contained and sharia-free," Gadahn said.

"Their battle has always been and remains to be America's battle, not Pakistan's. And this battle (against Islamic militants) is what has brought Pakistan to the verge of break-up," said Gadahn, also known as Azzam the American.

Gadahn, born Adam Pearlman, is a California-born convert to Islam and the first American to be charged with treason since the World War Two era. He is believed to be in Pakistan.

Faced with an intensifying Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, U.S. forces in the past month have carried out missile strikes with pilotless drones and a commando raid on the Pakistani side of the border.

The raids have strained relations between the allies. The Pakistani government has protested that the attacks violated territorial sovereignty and undermined its own long term efforts to crush militancy in a country where anti-American sentiment runs high.

But Gadahn dismissed Pakistan's protests as a "cynical public relations ploy."

Gadahn has made a number of videotaped messages on behalf of al Qaeda. In January, he urged Islamist militants to welcome President George W. Bush with bombs when he visited the Middle East and tore up his U.S. passport on camera.

Security analysts had speculated in recent months that Gadahn may have been killed in a U.S. air strike.

(Reporting by Firouz Sedarat; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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Suspected US missile strike kills 20 in Pakistan

By ISHTIAQ MASHUD
The Associated Press
Saturday, October 4, 2008.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan -- Militants on Saturday buried the bodies of Arab comrades who were among at least 20 people killed when suspected U.S. missiles hit a house near the Afghan border, Pakistani officials said.

The United States has launched a flurry of strikes in recent weeks against suspected al-Qaida and Taliban targets in northwestern Pakistan, straining ties between the two anti-terror allies.

Pakistan has been unable or unwilling to eliminate militant sanctuaries blamed for rising violence on both sides of the border. The frontier region is believed to be a possible hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

The latest strike reportedly took place Friday in Mohammadkhel, a village in the North Waziristan region. The area is a stronghold of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran Taliban commander whom U.S. generals count among their most dangerous foes.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials, citing reports from field agents and informants, said 14 Taliban militants and eight Arabs died in the attack about 28 miles west of Miran Shah, the region's main town.

The Taliban included a Haqqani commander who had invited the others to dinner, they said. The commander, his father and two young sons were among the dead Taliban, the officials said.

Six of the Arabs were buried in the village Saturday morning, while militants took the other two bodies to an undisclosed location, they said.

The officials, who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said they had no information indicating that a senior militant leader was killed.

Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said initial reports indicated that 20 or more people were killed. He said there was speculation that many were foreign militants but cautioned that the army was still awaiting a detailed report.

"One has to establish how many foreigners, or whether they were militants, how many civilians," Abbas said.

The intelligence officials said there was a second missile strike Friday in the nearby village of Khata Kaly, but they had no reports of casualties.

Lt. Nathan Perry, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, said he had "no information to give" about the reported attacks. He did not deny U.S. involvement.

The strike in Mohammadkhel appeared to be the deadliest of 11 reported cross-border operations by U.S.-led forces since Aug. 20.

U.S. officials have acknowledged some of the strikes. However, they have provided few details, and casualty reports from the dangerous and remote border region are nearly impossible to verify.

Pakistan's military and civilian leaders have complained that the attacks violate the country's sovereignty, kill civilians and anger the local population, making it harder to crack down on the militants.

Militants on the Pakistan side of the border are blamed for a surge in attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, where violence is running at its highest level since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban.

Extremists based in the border region are also blamed for rising attacks within Pakistan, including the massive Sept. 20 truck bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that killed more than 50 people.

The attack prompted the U.N. and the British Embassy this past week to order the children of their foreign staff to leave the city.

The Marriott announced Saturday that its laundry and catering services had reopened. The owner of the hotel, a popular hangout for Pakistan's elite and its expatriate community, plans to reopen it within three or four months.
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Associated Press writers Zarar Khan and Stephen Graham in Islamabad contributed to this report.
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Rice in India, may not sign nuclear deal

Reuters
Saturday, October 4, 2008; 2: 06 AM

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in India on Saturday after Congress ratified a historic nuclear pact, but was unlikely to sign the deal during her visit because of a bureaucratic "glitch."

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said an enabling legislation had not yet been formally "enrolled" in the U.S. Congress - a required step before the pact is sent to President George W. Bush for signing into law.

In Washington, a Senate Democratic aide said such a delay was not that unusual because legislation needed to be carefully reviewed before being sent to the White House.

Indian officials too confirmed that a "signing ceremony" had not been planned during Rice's visit during which she is expected to also nudge New Delhi to buy American technology.

The deal, overturning a three-decade ban on U.S. nuclear trade with India, is seen as bringing two of the world's largest democracies closer while opening up the Indian nuclear energy market worth billions of dollars.

Analysts said Rice, instrumental in rallying support for the pact in Congress which ratified it this week, would make a strong case for American companies such as General Electric and Westinghouse Electric, a unit of Japan's Toshiba Corp..

Rice was also likely to bring up the issue of terrorism in South Asia and the need for Pakistan and India to cooperate toward stability in Afghanistan.

"There are several components in her visit -- the business component is a logical aspect," Robinder Sachdev, head of Imagindia Institute, an Indian think tank, told Reuters.

"Terrorism is the other important issue and there could be tactical discussions. In business, too much is at stake for the Americans."

Speaking to reporters in Germany, Rice said there should be a "regional integration strategy" of closer economic ties between Afghanistan and Central Asian states such as Kazakhstan -- where Rice will also visit this weekend -- as well as Pakistan and India.

Rice, who said the relationship between India and the United States was at a "very, very different level" in the wake of the nuclear deal approval, said the two countries were already discussing military sales, and should also boost cooperation in economic, educational, and agricultural programs and humanitarian aid to other countries.

Rice will meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Lal Krishna Advani, leader of main Hindu--nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party which opposed the deal for making India an unequal partner.

The India-U.S. deal could open up around $27 billion in investment in 18-20 nuclear plants in India over the next 15 years, according to the Confederation of Indian Industry.

There is global competition for that business with France's Areva, U.S.' General Electric, Japan's Hitachi Ltd and Russia's atomic energy agency Rosatom vying for contracts.

Some analysts say India could buy nuclear technology from the French or even Cold War ally, Russia, which is already building two 1,000 megawatt reactors at in southern India as part of a deal signed in 1988.

Also, India could expect to get a hefty discount from Russia on major deals, as it competes with the United States for influence over New Delhi.

Critics of the deal say it does grave damage to global efforts to contain the spread of nuclear weapons, by letting India import nuclear fuel and technology even though it has tested nuclear weapons and has never signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

U.S. officials, though, brush aside that criticism, emphasizing instead the importance of establishing deeper ties with a country that is a counterbalance to China's rise.

(Reporting by Krittivas Mukherjee; Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Valerie Lee)
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Al-Qaida: US economic crisis equals Muslim victory

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI
The Associated Press
Sunday, October 5, 2008; 12:15 AM

CAIRO, Egypt -- An American member of al-Qaida pointed to economic troubles in the United States as proof that "the enemies of Islam" face defeat, in an English-language video released Saturday.

In a half hour video message, California-native Adam Gadahn urged Pakistanis to unite against their government and U.S. forces, and taunted Americans over their economic crisis, relating it to their military interventions.

"The enemies of Islam are facing a crushing defeat, which is beginning to manifest itself in the expanding crisis their economy is experiencing," said Gadahn, in a clip of the message distributed by the SITE Intelligence Group, a Washington-based monitor of militant Web sites.

"A crisis whose primary cause, in addition to the abortive and unsustainable crusades they are waging in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, is their turning their backs on Allah's revealed laws, which forbid interest-bearing transactions, exploitation, greed and injustice in all its forms."

Gadahn, 29, grew up in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana in 2005 and charged with one count of treason and two counts of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

The FBI says Gadahn moved to Pakistan in 1998 and attended an al-Qaida training camp six years later, serving as a translator and consultant.

Gadahn also urged Pakistanis to unite and establish an Islamic state. Al-Qaida's media arm, al-Sahab, is increasingly using English-language videos to address Muslims in Pakistan who are unlikely to speak Arabic.

Gadahn warned Pakistanis to continue to fight their government which, according to him, bows to American interests.

"Someone wanted us to imagine that the same Pakistani government, which is probably responsible for the death of more Muslims in Pakistan than the Americans are, and the same Pakistan army (is) suddenly prepared to fight kufars (infidels) instead of Muslims," Gadahn said.

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Officials say Taliban mad over alleged US strike

By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD
The Associated Press
Sunday, October 5, 2008; 3:44 AM

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan -- The Taliban are unusually angry about the latest suspected U.S. missile strike in Pakistan, a sign a top militant may have died in the attack, officials and residents said Sunday amid reports the death toll rose by two to 24.

Elsewhere in Pakistan's northwest, an official said some 15,000 Afghans had left a tribal region the military is trying to wrest from insurgents, but that tens of thousands more had yet to meet a government ultimatum to get out by Sunday.

The U.S. has ramped up cross-border strikes on alleged al-Qaida and Taliban targets along Pakistan's side of the border with Afghanistan, straining the two nations' anti-terror alliance.

The U.S. says pockets of Pakistan's border region, especially in its semi-autonomous tribal areas, are bases for militants attacking American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. It has pushed nuclear-armed Pakistan to eliminate the safe havens.

The frontier region is believed to be a possible hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, and several Arab militants were said to be among the dead in Friday's strike in North Waziristan tribal region.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials said that over the weekend two people wounded in the attack died at a hospital in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. The officials sought anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

Based on information from informants and agents in the field, the intelligence officials said the Taliban appeared extra-perturbed over the latest strike. The anger was a signal that a senior militant may have been killed, but that has yet to be confirmed, the officials said.

The insurgents were moving aggressively in the area while using harsh language against locals, including calling them "saleable commodities" _ a reference to people serving as government spies, the officials said.

Two local residents said Taliban fighters had warned people not to discuss the strike, including with the media, or to try inspecting the rubble at the site. The residents asked not to be named for fear of Taliban retaliation.

The strike in Mohammadkhel appeared to be the deadliest of 11 reported cross-border operations by U.S.-led forces since Aug. 20. The area is a stronghold of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran Taliban commander regarded by the U.S. as one of its most dangerous foes.

The U.S. rarely acknowledges such attacks. Lt. Nathan Perry, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, said he had "no information to give" about the reported attacks. He did not deny U.S. involvement.

The information is nearly impossible to verify independently because of the remote, dangerous nature of the areas.

The frontier region is believed to be a possible hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, and several Arab militants were said to be among the dead in Friday's strike in North Waziristan tribal region.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials said that over the weekend two people wounded in the attack died at a hospital in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. The officials sought anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

Based on information from informants and agents in the field, the intelligence officials said the Taliban appeared extra-perturbed over the latest strike. The anger was a signal that a senior militant may have been killed, but that has yet to be confirmed, the officials said.

The insurgents were moving aggressively in the area while using harsh language against locals, including calling them "saleable commodities" _ a reference to people serving as government spies, the officials said.

Two local residents said Taliban fighters had warned people not to discuss the strike, including with the media, or to try inspecting the rubble at the site. The residents asked not to be named for fear of Taliban retaliation.

The strike in Mohammadkhel appeared to be the deadliest of 11 reported cross-border operations by U.S.-led forces since Aug. 20. The area is a stronghold of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran Taliban commander regarded by the U.S. as one of its most dangerous foes.

The U.S. rarely acknowledges such attacks. Lt. Nathan Perry, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, said he had "no information to give" about the reported attacks. He did not deny U.S. involvement.

The information is nearly impossible to verify independently because of the remote, dangerous nature of the areas.

Taliban spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday. Neither could Pakistani government and military spokesmen.

Earlier, however, Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said initial reports indicated that 20 or more people were killed. He said there was "speculation" that many were foreign militants, but cautioned that the army was still awaiting a detailed report.

Pakistan's military and civilian leaders have complained that the attacks violate the country's sovereignty, kill civilians and anger the local population, making it harder to crack down on the militants.

Extremists based in the border region are blamed for rising attacks in Pakistan, including the Sept. 20 truck bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that killed more than 50 people.

The prime minister's office announced Saturday that a special joint session of parliament would be held Wednesday so intelligence agencies could privately brief lawmakers about the militant threat facing the country.

The Pakistani military has been carrying out its own operations against insurgents in the northwest, most notably in Bajur, a tribal region Abbas called a "mega-sanctuary" for militants.

The U.S. has praised the military offensive in Bajur, but it has also led to a major humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced by the fighting.

Many are in refugee camps in Pakistan, but some 20,000 Pakistanis have sought crossed the border into eastern Afghanistan, according to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, a three-day ultimatum from the government for Afghans living illegally in Bajur to leave was due to expire later Sunday. But of an estimated 80,000 Afghans, only about 15,000 had left, said Abdul Haseeb, a local government official.

He said the exodus appeared to be continuing, and that "the administration may be lenient and give them another couple of days."

"They are leaving with all their belongings and cattles and hopefully most of them will leave in another two days, but if they don't there would be a massive crackdown," Haseeb said.

It was unclear, however, whether the Afghans were all heading back across the porous, disputed border to Afghanistan or simply going to other parts of Pakistan.
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Associated Press writer Habib Khan contributed to this report from Khar.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...100500410.html

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