Musharraf should obtain fresh vote of confidence: PM

Sunday, August 10, 2008
BEIJING: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday asked President Pervez Musharraf not to prolong his stay in office and suggested that he should obtain a fresh vote of confidence from parliament or else he would be impeached.

The prime minister is in Beijing. He attended the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

Talking to journalists here, the premier said the people had voted in the February 18 general election for a ‘clear-cut’ change and for putting the country on the track of true democracy. “The people will soon get good news about the dawn of democracy in the country,” Gilani said. “Musharraf is required to obtain a fresh vote of confidence from parliament. Otherwise, parliament, being a sovereign and independent body, has the option to exercise the right to impeach him.”

Gilani further said: “Parliament is sovereign and has the authority to take major decisions, including impeachment of the president.”

Gilani said he had been working with the president according to the requirements of the Constitution, and he did not feel it was appropriate that Musharraf should prolong his stay in office against the wishes of the people.

The session of the lower house of parliament – National Assembly – has been summoned on August 11, while the Senate is already in session. The PPP-led government will move an impeachment motion against Musharraf in parliament but prior to this, the four provincial assemblies will pass resolutions demanding that Musharraf should immediately seek a vote of confidence from parliament in line with a commitment he had made to the Supreme Court last year.




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President may face trial after being impeached

Sunday, August 10, 2008

By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Chances of President Musharraf's resignation grew after he was advised by his top legal aides and some key political allies that resigning or facing impeachment were the only options for him but using Article 58(2)b was not.

On the other hand, pressure from within the PPP and the PML-N is growing on the top leadership of these parties to try the retired general under Article 6 of the Constitution as soon as the impeachment process is over.

One thing is now clear that Musharraf cannot stay in Pakistan either after his resignation or following his impeachment.

A reliable source in the beleaguered presidential camp revealed that Sharifuddin Pirzada and Justice (retd) Malik Qayyum had clearly told Musharraf that he could not move a reference before the Supreme Court without the advice of the prime minister whereas the option of 58(2)b would remain a non-starter because it would lead to fresh elections within 90 days if the Supreme Court endorsed such a drastic action of the president.

Both Pirzada and Qayyum met the president together a few days back. The source said that Pirzada told Musharraf that if he had the required number, then the best option for the retired general would be to face impeachment.

The changing tone of Musharraf's fast depleting supporters, including those belonging to the PML-Q and the likes of Sheikh Rashid and Mushahid Hussain, is conveying clearly that the absolute ruler of the past is in serious trouble and does not enjoy the support of the required 148 MPs.

Regarding a reference by the president to the Supreme Court to block the impeachment or review the controversial NRO that he himself introduced last year to perpetuate his rule, Malik Qayyum told the president that it could not be done.

Musharraf was informed that according to a reported Supreme Court case decided in the mid ’90s, the apex court had ruled that the president could not file a reference before the Supreme Court without the consent of the prime minister.

The president wanted to know if he could stop the impeachment process through the judiciary's intervention. Even otherwise most of the constitutional and legal experts agree that no court could intervene in the impeachment process of parliament or any business under consideration of the National Assembly or the Senate.

However, as an ordinary citizen, once he is impeached, Musharraf would be at liberty to knock at the doors of the judiciary to get justice.

There has also been a consideration to file a review petition with the Supreme Court to get the NRO repealed. However, in this case too, the president would be dependent on the government, which actually is the authority under the Constitution to approach the judiciary in such matters.

Musharraf was advised by these legal aides against the use of Article 58(2)b, the constitutional provision which empowers the president to dissolve the National Assembly and dismiss the government.

The retired general was told that the present circumstances did not provide enough grounds to invoke the clause generally considered as an anti-democracy article of the Constitution.

Musharraf was told even if the Supreme Court endorsed the president's decision, he would be bound to hold elections within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly.

The president also asked as to what was the procedure for the impeachment. He was told that since this would be for the first time in our history that an impeachment motion was moved against the president, there did exist some grey areas as to how parliament would proceed, what the voting mode would be and who would probe the charges framed against the president. Musharraf was informed about the procedure adopted in the United States to impeach the president.

The source, who was present in the said meeting, said that the president, who was otherwise fond of speaking, did not speak much or speak his mind to his lawyers as to what he would do.

The said meeting, the source said, was held a day before the ruling coalition formally announced to impeach the president. After that, the president did not approach either of the two legal experts – Pirzada and Qayyum.

As the tide seems to have turned against Musharraf, his political supporters are fast changing their tone and statements, which no longer portrays an encouraging future for Musharraf.

The old commando is now advised to resign even by those who saw unprecedented heights when the sun was shining.

On the other side, there is a growing demand within the PPP and the PML-N seeking trial of Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution for abrogating the Constitution on Nov 3, 2007.

The top leadership of the ruling coalition has so far avoided such demands and is prepared to give a safe exit to Musharraf if he resigns. After his impeachment, it is said, it might not be possible for the PPP-PML-N top leadership to stop their own leaders to take the impeached president to a court of law for trial under Article 6.



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Pakistan cuts supply lines to Nato forces

Saturday, September 06, 2008

By Nasrullah Afridi

BARA: In a major development, the federal government on Friday announced disconnection of supply lines to the allied forces stationed in Afghanistan through Pakistan in an apparent reaction to a ground attack on a border village in South Waziristan agency by the Nato forces.

Political authorities of the Khyber Agency claimed to have received verbal directives to immediately halt transportation of all kinds of goods meant for the US-led Nato forces in Afghanistan for an indefinite period.

Authorities claimed the decision was taken in the wake of the growing unrest in the Khyber Agency that provides for the only ground link of the country to the war-torn Afghanistan. "Until now, drivers of the vehicles carrying goods meant for the foreign forces in Afghanistan were directed to reach the tribal agency between 7am to 10am, which were then escorted to the border town of Torkhum by the Khassadar force," the authorities told The News.

The authorities claimed that due to repeated attacks on the personnel of the Khassadar forces during the last one week and abduction of a few personnel, it had become difficult for the security forces to provide foolproof security to the supply lines.

Independent sources, however, claimed that the government feared retaliation by the tribesmen against a recent ground attack conducted by the Nato forces in Angoor Adda of the South Waziristan Agency that triggered condemnation from various quarters, including the government of Pakistan itself.

NWFP Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani had likened the attack to an aggression against a sovereign state, saying the people of the country expected the Pakistan Army to give a befitting reply to the attack. He said that some twenty innocent people lost their lives — most of them were women and children.

The US government had accepted responsibility for the attack but did not offer any apology for the same and instead announced to launch more such attacks against the militants across the border, if so required in future.


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Lawmakers elect president today

Saturday, September 06, 2008



By Shakil Shaikh

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is all set to have its new president today (Saturday) and Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, is almost certain to return successful with overwhelming support of central and provincial legislators.

Zardari, whose party expects between 450 to 500 votes out of a total of 702 votes comprising members of the Senate, the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies, faces challenge from lightweight opponents - PML-N’s Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui and PML-Q’s Mushahid Hussain Sayed.

Today’s presidential election is being held following resignation tendered by Pervez Musharraf, who escaped impeachment by stepping down under mounting pressure. The date of presidential election coincides with the Defence Day, and Zardari is fully geared to be head of the state in a democratic set-up, which was put in place as a result of the February 18, 2008, elections.

The PPP announced candidature of Asif Ali Zardari for the office of the president by annoying its major coalition partner Nawaz Sharif's PML-N. In retaliation, Sharif announced his party's decision of putting up a candidate, Justice (R) Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, against Zardari.

Siddiqui was the one who unseated his own chief justice of that time through an alleged superior judiciary coup in connivance with Sharifs and others.

Mushahid Hussain Sayed is put up against Zardari just for the sake of formality, as PML-Q is desperate to keep its identity intact. The PPP's move to occupy the highest office in Pakistan is a well-conceived decision, as last time Benazir Bhutto nominated her own party stalwart Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari, who later sacked her government.

Zardari's readiness to contest the election was widely hailed, as he belongs to a party which has its roots in the entire federation and he has already vowed to save the federation. Many see no contest between Zardari and his opponents, who have no hope to give a tough challenge to the most powerful politician in the country.

Zardari, however, avoided giving any number of votes. But he certainly claimed that the central and provincial legislators would support him massively. "I do not believe on numbers but to put in my best with no element of revenge in my mind," Asif Zardari told The News in a recent informal chat.

He also talked about his would-be style of working in the Presidency, as he has in hand a plan to uplift national economy, reconciliation, dealing with law and order and making his best to put Pakistan on road to progress and prosperity. "I will also give pardon to Musharraf," one of the closest aides quoted Zardari as saying.

In the election, the new president will be elected by an electoral college comprising members of both the Senate (100 senators) and the National Assembly (342 members) while votes of each of the four provincial assemblies will be counted equivalent to the 65 seats of the Balochistan Assembly which has minimum number of voters.

Votes of the provincial assembly's of the Punjab, Sindh and NWFP will be multiplied by 65 and divided by the total number of votes in that particular assembly, to get the weighted value of the vote.

The constitution envisages that the candidate for the president must be a Muslim, aged 45 or more and having qualification to be a member of National Assembly. The polling will be held in the Parliament House and in all the four provincial assemblies and there will be a secret balloting to take place from 10.00 in the morning till 3.00 in the afternoon. The unofficial results would be announced soon after the count is complete.

The Election Commission (EC) has already completed printing of the ballot papers and finalised arrangements for today's poll. The chief election commissioner, in his capacity as the returning officer, has nominated Justice Sayed Zahid Hussain, Chief Justice of Lahore High Court, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Chief Justice of Sindh High Court, Justice Jehan Zaib Rahim, acting Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court, and Justice Amanullah Khan, Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court, as presiding officers for the provincial assemblies of the Punjab, Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan respectively.

In a healthy tradition, the contesting parties did not raise any objection to each others' candidate, though the EC rejected nomination papers of 28 candidates out of 33 for filing incomplete documents or for not fulfilling the requirements.

According to the counting procedure released by the EC:

"(1) The Chief Election Commissioner shall determine the result of the election in the following manner, namely: (a) the number of votes cast in the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) in favour of each candidate shall be counted; (b) the number of votes cast in a Provincial Assembly in favour of each candidate shall be multiplied by the total number of seats in the Provincial Assembly for the time being having the smallest number of seats and divided by the total number of seats in the Provincial Assembly in which the votes have been cast; and (c) the number of votes calculated in the manner referred to in clause (b) shall be added to the number of votes counted under clause (a). Explanation: In this paragraph, "total number of seats" includes seats reserved for non-Muslims and Women."

Babar Dogar adds from Lahore: The Punjab Assembly is all set to hold the presidential election today. The PA speaker on Friday got a resolution passed for using the assembly chamber as the polling station for the presidential election.

Justice Syed Zahid Hussain will chair the Saturday's session to conduct the electoral process. The Speaker during session guided the provincial legislators about the process of casting votes.

Our Peshawar bureau adds: All 124 members of the NWFP Assembly will cast their votes to elect 13th president of the country today. Speaker Karamatullah Khan Chagharmati has summoned the provincial assembly session for the election.

Our correspondent from Karachi adds: Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza Friday said foolproof security arrangements had been made for the presidential election to be held at the Sindh Assembly building today. He said further said there would not be a big crowd. Only MPAs and some political leaders would be in the assembly.


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Votes in abundance for Zardari today

By Tariq Butt

ISLAMABAD: There are different estimates of votes to be secured by the winning presidential candidate, Asif Ali Zardari, in Saturday's election.

"We will get up to 450 votes," PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar told The News on Friday. "We will be well over the 400 mark. We don't need 51 per cent to win because there are more than two contestants in the run."

A Zardari aide told this correspondent that the PPP co-chairman would bag over 500 votes in the 702-member electoral college. When asked by The News last week about the expected tally of votes he would get, Zardari himself avoided a guess, saying he did not want to indulge in it.

However, an independent estimate, based on numerical strength of the PPP and its allies and their rivals, shows that Zardari will get more than 400 votes. He is likely to secure the maximum percentage of votes from the Balochistan Assembly to be followed by Sindh, the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Punjab. His position is better in the National Assembly than the Senate.

The PML-N knows that Zardari will face no problem in getting himself elected comfortably. It has not put any obstacle in his way. But its main concern is to keep not only its own votes in parliament and the Punjab Assembly intact but also those of the PML-Q defectors, who have switched to its side mainly in the Punjab.

"We are well aware that if a major bloc of the PML-Q turncoats slipped away because of the handiwork of Governor Salmaan Taseer or Adviser Manzoor Wattoo, we will be in trouble in the Punjab. If Zardari succeeds in getting 51 per cent of the votes from this provincial assembly, the PPP will prove that the Shahbaz Sharif government is in minority," a PML-N leader said.

He said instead of paying any significant attention to the lobbying among MNAs and senators, the PML-N had concentrated on the Punjab to establish that it had the majority there and the PPP and its supporters were in a minority.

All the three presidential candidates – Asif Zardari, Justice (retd) Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui and Mushahid Hussain Sayed – avoided mudslinging against each other during the campaign. By and large, they showed restraint and control. However, efforts were made to put Siddiqui under pressure through writ petitions filed in different high courts. Zardari did not say a word about his two challengers.


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Daddy begged mother not to go to Pakistan: Bakhtawar

Saturday, September 06, 2008

By Hamid Mir

ISLAMABAD: In a rare interview on the eve of her father becoming the next president of Pakistan, the politically active 18-year-old Bakhtawar has revealed the existence of a political plan her mother had written a few days before her assassination.

She revealed to me in Islamabad that before her death, Benazir Bhutto had written a political plan, in her own handwriting, which she accidentally found in her purse after her death. “Removal of Musharraf was the first point in the plan. There are many more,” she said.

Bakhtawar says her father is determined to implement all the points written by Benazir in her political plan. The excited daughter of Benazir is planning to raise the slogan of ‘Jeay Bhutto’ in the presidency when her father Zardari takes oath as the strongest man in the country.

“This will be my revenge for the death of my mother,” Bakhtawar told me in Islamabad as she waited for her father’s election and take over of the country’s highest political office. Bakhtawar says the history of Pakistan could have been different today if Benazir Bhutto had listened to Asif Ali Zardari exactly one year ago in Dubai. Her father tried his level best to stop Benazir Bhutto from going back to Pakistan because he never wanted to lose her.

In one of the conversations in Sept 2007 in Dubai, Zardari begged Benazir Bhutto to delay her return just for the sake of her children, who could not afford to lose their mother, but Benazir Bhutto was determined to come back at any cost.

Young Bakhtawar is a witness to that historical conversation. She confirmed to me: “Yes, my father begged my mother many times that she should not return to Pakistan. My father was sure that enemies of the PPP will definitely target my mother but my mother never listened to him because she had already spent 10 years in exile and she wanted to come back before the elections. She had a debate with our father but she won the debate with strong arguments.”

Bakhtawar is sharp and intelligent like her mother. She was born in 1990 when her mother was the prime minister of Pakistan. Now she is learning politics from her father, who would soon be the new president of Pakistan. She is staying with her father these days and witnessing the whole political exercise for the elections of the new president. She is lucky as well as unlucky because her family paid a very heavy price for this kind of politics.

She was a few months old when her father was arrested in 1990. He was released in 1992 and arrested again in 1996 to be released in 2005. Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Assefa spent their childhood without their father and they finally lost their mother on Dec 27, 2007.

After the presidential election, she will go back to Dubai for completing her studies. She is waiting for the oath-taking ceremony of her father as the president of Pakistan. She thinks that oath-taking of her father as the president will not only be a change of the face but it will be the beginning for the change of the whole system.

Bakhtawar revealed that removing Musharraf was the top priority of her late mother. She said: “After a few days of the assassination of our mother, I was just checking her purse and I found a paper in it. My late mother had written some points as an agenda of the PPP after coming into power. The first point was to remove Musharraf.”

Bakhtawar said her mother had lost half of her trust in Musharraf after the bomb blasts on her rally on Oct 18, 2007 in Karachi. The rest of the trust was lost after the imposition of emergency on Nov 3, 2007.

Benazir Bhutto was sure that Pervez Musharraf could not contribute to resolving the ongoing problems of Pakistan, she said, adding, “My mother was in fact of the view that Musharraf was part of the problem and must be removed.”

The Bakhtawar story of a political plan on a piece of paper written by Benazir was also confirmed by Asif Ali Zardari. “Bakhtawar had found a paper from the purse of her mother and it was clearly written on the paper that removal of Musharraf will be the top priority of the PPP after coming into power and we have implemented the plan of Benazir by removing Musharraf,” claimed Zardari.

Bakhtawar is also aware that a big test of her father will start after becoming the president of Pakistan. She said: “There are big challenges and big problems, I am sure my father will try to raise new hopes in the hearts and minds of my generation for a better and prosperous Pakistan.”



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Army ordered to hit back

Friday, September 12, 2008
Corps commanders discuss latest US strategy

RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Army has been ordered to retaliate against any action by foreign troops inside the country, Geo News quoted ISPR spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas as saying on Thursday night.

Shakil Shaikh adds from Islamabad: Pakistan's military commanders resolved to defend the country's borders without allowing any external forces to conduct operations inside Pakistan.

The military commanders expressed this resolve on the first day of the two-day Corps Commanders conference, which began here on Thursday at the General Headquarters. Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani chaired the all-important conference against the backdrop of the new strategic developments taking place in the region.

General Kayani has already rebuffed the American policy of including Pakistani territory in their operations against terrorists and those hiding in the areas bordering Afghanistan. Reports say that the US President Bush has allowed air raids from drones and ground operations in Pakistani areas including FATA.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has termed General Kayani's response to the Americans as a true reflection of the government's policy. The military commanders are understood to have discussed the implications of the American attacks inside Pakistan and took stock of the public feeling.

"In his statement, Genral Kayani has represented the feeling of the entire nation, as random attacks inside Pakistan have angered each and every Pakistani," said a senior official. As the corps commanders continue their discussion on Friday, the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has supported the Bush administration's policy of conducting attacks inside Pakistan.

President Zardari is expected to talk to Mr. Brown on this issue during his first visit to Britain next week. Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani, is also learnt to have already talked to senior security officials in Washington. The latest spate of attacks from drones in Fata has killed many innocent people recently, which has only added to the gravity and complexity of the situation.



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Nato not to intrude into Pakistan

Friday, September 12, 2008

BRUSSELS: Nato will not take part in a proposed US strategy of conducting raids into Pakistan from Afghanistan against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants, a spokesman said on Thursday.

"The Nato policy, that is our mandate, ends at the border," James Appathurai told a regular news briefing. "There are no ground or air incursions by Nato forces into Pakistani territory."Appathurai said he was sure the issue would be discussed when 26 Nato defence ministers debate Afghan strategy at a Sept 18-19 meeting in London. But he added: "Let me stress, it is not Nato that will be sending its forces across the border."

The spokesman said a solution needed to be found to growing extremism in tribal areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan."Pakistan needs to take effective action in cooperation with the rest of the international community and the Afghans to address the problem that is increasingly threatening Pakistan's stability as well as Afghanistan's," he said.



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Bush approved US raids in Pakistan: officials

Friday, September 12, 2008



WASHINGTON: President George W Bush secretly approved US military raids inside Pakistan against alleged terrorist targets, according to current and former US officials with recent access to the Bush administration's debate about how to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban inside the lawless tribal border area.

The officials spoke on Thursday on condition of anonymity to describe the classified order.The New York Times reported that the July move allowing Special Operations forces to carry out assaults within the borders of a key "war on terror" ally marked a turn for the Bush administration which has struggled with Islamabad over how to combat al-Qaeda and a resurgent Taliban.

A senior US military official last week confirmed that a special forces attack had taken place about a mile across Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. That official spoke on condition of anonymity because the internal debate over the US response to rising violence along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border includes discussion of classified intelligence.

The presidential order, first reported by The New York Times, was issued over the summer to give new authority to US special operations forces to target suspected terrorists in the dangerous area along the Afghanistan border, a former intelligence official said. More recently, the administration secretly gave conventional ground troops new authority to pursue militants across the Afghan border into Pakistan, the former official said.

The "rules of engagement" have been loosened, allowing troops to conduct border attacks without being fired on first if they witness attacks coming from the region, the former official said. That would include artillery, rockets and mortar fire from the Pakistan side of the border.

A US official familiar with South Asia said the new rules were adopted in response to increasing frustration with Pakistani counterterrorism cooperation. This frustration came to head with the discovery of evidence that Pakistan's intelligence service had been compromised by militants and that some members of the service, known as the ISI, were helping extremists, particularly with the attack on the Indian embassy in Islamabad, the official said.

"Up to that point, the idea was to share intelligence with the Pakistanis and then proceed but there was a lot of frustration with delays and problems, including leaks to militants, in sharing the intelligence," the official said.

"This (the new order) is a reaction to that and it was sped up by the revelations about the penetration of the Pakistani intelligence service," the official said."It was decided that we had no choice but to free up the hands of our commanders."

The new authority allowed last week's unprecedented US-led ground assault into the volatile region known as the tribal areas. The US forces were apparently seeking specific Taliban or al-Qaeda leaders. The senior US military official said the assault targeted "individuals who were clearly associated with attacks on US forces in Afghanistan".

The Sept 4 raid left at least 15 people dead, and embarrassed Pakistan's new civilian-led government. Pakistani officials have also said US forces were involved.Bush's decision to endorse cross-border attacks from Afghanistan without alerting Islamabad leaves President Asif Ali Zardari with a major foreign policy challenge.

Zardari and other politicians have called the cross-border attacks unacceptable and a violation of their country's sovereignty. COAS Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani took things a step further on Wednesday, when he said Pakistan's territorial integrity would be "defended at all costs".

"Reckless actions" which kill civilians "only help the militants and further fuel the militancy in the area", Kayani said, reflecting the views of many Pakistanis.

At the crux of the dispute are militant havens that have grown on Pakistan's side of the border at the same time that a resurgent Taliban has been increasing its attacks inside Afghanistan, leading Bush to commit on Wednesday to sending more troops there. Washington wants Pakistan to do more to crack down on its side of the border.

"Until we work more closely with the Pakistani government to eliminate the safe havens from which they operate, the enemy will only keep coming," Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.

"Frankly, we are running out of time." Pakistan says it is doing all it can.Pakistan's inability or unwillingness to mount a counterinsurgency campaign inside the tribal area was discussed at a National Security Council meeting held this week, according to notes of the meeting provided to The Associated Press.

The notes said Pakistan is still focused on fighting India and is "still denying the counterinsurgency problem".Top US and Pakistani military officials conducted a secret strategy session in August on an aircraft carrier off Pakistan to discuss the problem.

Senior White House officials this summer were debating whether to adopt a new, more aggressive military stance to attack the maturing al-Qaeda safe haven adjacent to the Afghan border.

The old strategy, relying on Pakistan to keep a lid on the tribal areas, was meant to support strong ally Musharraf. The official said Musharraf's waning fortunes heavily influenced the debate in favour of stronger action.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to comment on the matter on Thursday but said the US, Pakistan and the rest of the world share an interest in cracking down on militants along the Pakistani-Afghan border.

"We have clear interests there. The Pakistanis have clear interests, obviously, in combating the threat of violent extremism in their own country and how that effects others around them and others globally," he said.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he'll discuss a new approach to policing the Afghan-Pakistan border in talks with US President George W Bush.Brown said the two leaders were holding a video conference on Thursday to assess the work of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Brown says a new strategy is needed to halt the flow of Taliban and militant fighters between Pakistan and its neighbour.He told reporters that he'll soon meet in London with Pakistan's new president Asif Ali Zardari to discuss authorisation for cross-border raids.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday backed a proposed US strategy that would involve hitting al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in neighbouring Pakistan, saying he had been calling for a changed approach for years.

"Change of strategy is essential," Karzai told a news conference. "It means that we go to those areas which are the training bases and havens of (terrorists) and we jointly got here and remove and destroy them."




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100 militants killed in Bajaur clashes

Friday, September 12, 2008
Arabs, Uzbeks among the dead



ISLAMABAD: Security forces killed up to 100 militants in fierce clashes near the Afghan border in Bajaur Agency on Thursday, a security official said.

"Eighty to 100 militants were killed in Bajaur today. Most of them are foreigners," the official said on condition of anonymity. He said the nationality of the foreigners was being ascertained. He said two soldiers were also killed in the fighting.

Mushtaq Yusufzai adds from Peshawar: PAF jet fighters and Army's gunship helicopters on Thursday continued pounding suspected militant hideouts in the restive Bajaur Agency, killing dozens of suspected militants, including foreigners, and destroying a big market housing a militant centre in Inayat Killay.

There were also reports that 80 militants were killed in the daylong bombing by planes and mortar and artillery shelling by the security forces.Military authorities said the FC and the Pakistan Army succeeded in retaking Rashakai, Tang Khatta and a strategically important location, Loisam, from the militants, thus cutting supply line to the militants from the rest of the country.

They said fresh clashes started on Thursday when the militants hiding in the roadside maize fields opened fire on the troops. The soldiers were moving towards Loisam from Khar and Siddiqabad.

The troops, when came under fire, called for air support and sources said two jet fighters and a similar number of gunship helicopters quickly reached the scene. Military officials said they had received confirmed reports that several Arab and Uzbek fighters were fighting alongside the tribal militants affiliated with Baitullah Mehsud-led defunct Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) against the security forces.

Major Murad, a spokesman for the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) based in Rawalpindi, told The News that more than 12 militants, including Arabs and Uzbeks, were killed in Tang Khatta village near Loisam.

He said they had received reports that dozens of militants were killed in the bombing and mortar and artillery shelling, adding that they had learnt from militant intercepts that several foreigners were injured in the aerial bombing by jet fighters and gunship choppers.

Major Murad said a number of Arabs and Uzbeks were also killed in the fighting with the security forces on Wednesday near Rashakai and Tang Khatta villages.Military authorities said the troops faced tough resistance near Tang Khatta, Rashkai and Loisam areas where an Afghan Taliban commander, Qari Ziaur Rahman, was leading the foreign fighters against the troops.

Residents of Salarzai subdivision, where the tribesmen had raised a 'Lashkar' that burnt militants' houses, recovered three bodies which they claimed were of the security personnel gunned down by suspected militants.

Abdullah, a self-purported spokesman for Afghan Taliban commander Qari Ziaur Rahman, phoned The News from an undisclosed location and claimed that their fighters were still in control of Rashkai, Tang Khatta and Loisam areas.

He claimed that seven civilians, including women and children, were killed when a mortar shell hit a mud-house near Tang Khatta.Tribal sources told The News that two fighter jets bombed the Gole Market at Inayat Killay bazaar, where the militants had reportedly set up their centre for holding meetings. The market was levelled to the ground.

The residents said there were 200 shops in the market, including bargain centres, cloth and mobile phone shops in the markets.Meanwhile, the people complained that continuous curfew for the past eight days in most parts of the troubled region was causing them acute hardships.

"The markets have been closed for the past several days, causing food shortage in the area. The government and particularly the military authorities should take note of the problems being faced by the tribesmen," remarked Mohammad Ikramullah, a resident of Siddiqabad village near Khar.




http://thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=17193

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