Zardari had assured US, UK, Kayani of Musharraf’s immunity

 

ISLAMABAD: Former army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani had played the most important role in brokering an immunity deal for former president General Pervez Musharraf in 2008, according to which Asif Zardari gave a firm commitment to the US, UK and Gen Kayani that indemnity for Musharraf would be forthcoming if he stepped down.
According to at least two leaked American diplomatic cables which had made their way to the international media on December 7, 2010, a series of political and strategic blunders by Musharraf had given cause and justification to both Asif Zardari and the then army chief General Kayani to work separately for his honourable exit.

In two separate cables written by then US ambassador to Islamabad Anne W. Patterson, details were given about how General Kayani (who had just been elevated as the army chief after Musharraf took off his uniform to retain the presidency), and Asif Ali Zardari, the leader of the majority party in the new National Assembly (after the 2008 polls), had systematically started to distance themselves from Musharraf.

In a ‘brief’ and ‘talking points’ prepared for Admiral Mike Mullen during his early 2008 visit to Pakistan, Ambassador Patterson states:

“As expected, Gen Ashfaq Kayani is taking slow but deliberate steps to distance the army from now civilian President Pervez Musharraf.” In a separate cable about a meeting of US Representatives Adam Schiff and Allyson Schwartz with Asif Zardari in May 2008, the American ambassador had given details of how the PPP co-chairman (who later became president following Musharraf’s exit) advocated an ‘honourable exit’ for Musharraf.

According to the cable, “Zardari blamed Musharraf for not taking enough responsibility for the war on terrorism in Pakistan”, which resulted in a marked increase in anti-US sentiments in the country.

“Anti-US feeling will go away when the old faces go away,” the leaked cable noted, adding that the American government should no longer rely on just Musharraf in fighting terrorism. In her own assessment of Musharraf’s public standing, Ambassador Patterson wrote in the cable that a year ago, his popularity was high. But “beginning with his decision to fire the Chief Justice (Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry) in March 2007, Musharraf has made repeated blunders culminating in a state of emergency and temporary suspension of the Constitution”. A detailed reading of some of these cables suggest that by this time all three major players, Asif Zardari, General Kayani and the American ambassador, had made up their minds that time was up for the former military ruler who had already been accused of involvement in the tragic assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto.

According to one of the leaked cables, the US ambassador wrote on August 23, 2008, during her meetings with Asif Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and General Kayani, immunity for General Pervez Musharraf was discussed besides some other issues. The US Ambassador met with Pakistan People’s Party leader Asif Zardari on August 23, 2008 with then prime minister Gilani on August 21 and with then army chief General Kayani on August 20, 2008.

“In separate meetings with Asif Zardari, PM Gilani and chief of army staff Kayani, the ambassador pressed for quick action on immunity for former Musharraf. Zardari and Gilani said flatly they were committed to providing immunity, but not until after the presidential election (now scheduled for September 6, 2008). Pushing immunity now, they believed, could jeopardize Asif Zardari’s candidacy. General Kayani expressed concern that if immunity becomes tied up with the ongoing debate over the judges’ future, it may never happen. Zardari plans to continue to slow roll action on the judges’ restoration but remains confident that Nawaz Sharif will not walk out of the coalition.

“Nawaz’s deadlines for action on the judges continue to pass unfulfilled; the next one is scheduled for August 27, 2008. The August 20 decision by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to back Zardari for president has strengthened Zardari’s hand against Nawaz Sharif. Nawaz is left with the option of walking out of the coalition, but having little prospect of forcing a new general election in the short term.

“Asif Zardari is walking tall these days, hopefully not too tall to forget his promise to General Kayani and to us on an immunity deal.”

According to the leaked diplomatic cables, “Asif Zardari told the US Ambassador that he was committed to indemnity for Pervez Musharraf.

The ambassador stressed that only the promise of indemnity had persuaded Musharraf to step down as president. We believed, as we had often said, that Musharraf should have a dignified retirement and not be hounded out of the country. Zardari (subsequently) cited a British anecdote about the Spanish empire and said: “Tell the most powerful man in the world that there is no way that I would go back on what I have said.” Zardari noted that he already had firmly committed to the US, the UK and chief of army staff Kayani that indemnity for Musharraf would be forthcoming.

As the ambassador urged him to do it quickly, Zardari said flatly that to do it before he was elected president would lose him votes, but he would pass both the legislation and a presidential pardon as soon as he was elected. Zardari then revealed that Musharraf had approached chief justice (Abdul Hameed) Dogar about issuing a restraining order against the impeachment motion, but Justice Dogar had refused. Zardari also alleged that Musharraf had planned to replace General Kayani as COAS if Dogar had blocked the impeachment. Zardari said he was trying to keep Nawaz in the coalition and was candid that he planned to tie up the judges’ issue for a long time. He added that parliament would debate the restoration of the judges; chief justice Dogar would then submit some rulings on the restoration of the judges; all this could take months. In the meantime, he was trying to persuade former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to become Governor of Balochistan.

Going by the same leaked cable which was written by the US ambassador, Zardari said he did not think Nawaz would leave the coalition, but he admitted the Pakistan Muslim League had become increasingly testy. He said that he had already agreed with Nawaz Sharif to curtail the powers of the president and then allow Nawaz to be eligible for a third term as prime minister; both measures would require constitutional amendments. Zardari said he also had leverage over Shahbaz Sharif, who through paperwork snafus, had been technically elected illegally for a third term as the chief minister.

This, too, would have to be resolved in parliament, Zardari said. “So I can give them something they want,” noted Asif Zardari, “that’s what politics is all about.”

According to the leaked cable, after an August 20 (2008) meeting with the visiting S/CT Coordinator Dell Dailey, General Kayani asked the ambassador to stay behind and discuss his concerns that Asif Zardari was delaying General Musharraf’s immunity bill. Kayani had heard the large meeting of coalition partners (chaired on August 19, 2008 by the newly returned Bilawal Bhutto) had discussed the judges primarily. Then they decided to take a 72-hour break to consult the party members.

General Kayani said he took Asif Zardari’s commitments to now ex-president Pervez Musharraf as the most important argument in persuading him to resign. Asif Zardari made very specific commitments to Kayani. Now, for Asif Zardari to delay makes him (Kayani) look bad within his own institution “and I have to take the Army along with me.” Kayani also noted that the delay does nothing for Zardari’s reputation for trustworthiness. If this issue gets conflated with the judges and with Zardari’s own desires to be president, it will become too complicated to pass, Kayani said.

The US ambassador met with Prime Minister Gilani and Interior Minister Rehman Malik for 30 minutes on August 21, 2008. Gilani said the PPP was going to provide immunity to Musharraf, but the timing was important.

They were afraid that putting forward immunity legislation would lose them votes for Asif Zardari‘s presidential campaign. The ambassador pressed on this issue, saying that Musharraf would never have agreed to resign without the promise of immunity. He assured the ambassador that he and the party did not want vengeance. Regarding immunity, Gilani said “many will say that we have done a deal with America, but I still understand that we have to do it.”

Six years later, Gilani revealed on Friday that an understanding had been reached with the establishment that Musharraf would be given an honourable exit if he resigned, instead of going through impeachment proceedings.

US authorised NSA to spy on Pakistan among 193 countries

WASHINGTON: US spy agency, National Security Agency (NSA), had been authorised to spy on most countries and some international bodies and political parties, Geo News reported Tuesday.

Under a 2010 certification approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA), NSA was permitted to spy on 193 foreign governments as well as foreign factions, political organisations and other entities, Washington Post reported.

According to the certification, the agency would require new certification approved by the court to permit such surveillance under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act.

Sparing Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand with whom US has broad no-spying arrangements, the NSA was allowed to spy on 193 countries including Pakistan.

The list also includes two factions of foreign nations Palestinian Authority; Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on NSA’s radar.
What was most shocking revelation was the fact that under the FISA court certification NSA was even authorised to spy on foreign-based political organisations including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from Pakistan and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from India.

The list also includes the Amal movement of Lebanon, Bolivaria Continental Coordinator, Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and te National Salvation Front.

Besides foreign countries, governments and political organisations NSA was also authorised to spy on international bodies such as the UN, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and many others.

US, EU pressure Putin to save shaky Ukraine truce

KIEV: US and EU leaders have heaped pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin to help his Western-backed counterpart in Ukraine end a separatist insurgency, as the clock ticks down on a shaky truce.

US President Barack Obama warned Wednesday that additional sanctions would be in store if Russia does not move swiftly to reduce tensions in restive eastern Ukraine.

In a telephone call with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Obama also vowed he would press Russia to persuade separatist groups to abide by the fragile ceasefire agreement and "stop the flow of weapons and militants across the border", the White House said.

Kiev and Washington still accuse Putin of covertly arming the rebels in retaliation for the February ouster of a pro-Russian administration.

US Secretary of State John Kerry echoed Obama Wednesday, saying at NATO talks in Brussels that Russia must take "many concrete" steps to de-escalate the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War.

Rebel commanders had agreed Monday to a temporary ceasefire set by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

However Poroshenko on Tuesday night threatened to unleash a powerful new military campaign after the downing by a pro-Russian militia of an army helicopter, killing nine servicemen outside the rebel bastion of Slavyansk, and the loss of two troops in sporadic attacks.

The 48-year-old chocolate tycoon´s ominous warning dented hopes of the sides mediating an end to 11 weeks of guerrilla warfare that has killed more than 435 people and brought the nation of 46 million to the brink of collapse.

The truce is set to end Friday after just two rounds of inconclusive talks. Poroshenko joined German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande for an urgently-agreed conference call with Putin Wednesday, which Paris said lasted more than an hour.

The French presidency said Hollande and Merkel "encouraged" Putin and Poroshenko to "work together, especially in order to put in place a mechanism to oversee the truce".

Poroshenko´s office added that the four agreed to continue the talks on Thursday in order to discuss a series of proposals made by Merkel that may be difficult for the Kremlin to accept.

US drone strikes set ‘dangerous precedent’: study

WASHINGTON: America´s reliance on secretive drone missile strikes against terror suspects has set a "dangerous precedent" that could be imitated by other countries and trigger wider wars around the world, former senior US officials said in a report Thursday.

The ex-officials acknowledged that the robotic aircraft are a useful tool that is "here to stay," but urged President Barack Obama to lift the veil of secrecy that surrounds their use, introduce stricter rules for the strikes and take a hard look at whether the bombing raids were genuinely effective.

"The increasing use of lethal UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) may create a slippery slope leading to continual or wider wars," said the report by a bipartisan panel sponsored by the Stimson Center think tank.

The employment of drones for attacks outside of traditional battlefields "is likely to be imitated by other states as well," fueling instability and increasing "the risk of widening conflicts in regions around the globe," it said.

"US practices set a dangerous precedent that may be seized upon by other states -- not all of which are likely to behave as scrupulously as US officials," it said.

In the eyes of the rest of the world, the United States has essentially claimed the legal right to kill anyone it believes is a member of the Al-Qaeda network or its allies "in any state on earth, at any time, based on secret criteria and secret evidence," the report said.

The pervasive secrecy made it difficult for lawmakers in Congress to serve as a check on executive power and threatened to undermine traditional legal principles that underpin international law, it said.

Obama has promised to curb the secrecy around the strikes and in May said that any operation should not "create more enemies than we take off the battlefield."

The number of strikes in Pakistan and Yemen have decreased since 2010, according to unofficial tallies based on media reports, but the level of secrecy has changed little.

But the US president has faced criticism that he has failed to live up to his own pledges on drones to "uphold standards that reflect our values."

Call to acknowledge strikes
The report called on the Obama administration to adopt a more transparent stance and acknowledge drone strikes after they have been carried out in a foreign country. At the moment, US officials barely acknowledge the existence of the drone raids and do not reveal who was targeted and whether civilians were injured or how many killed.

"While secrecy may be required before and during each strike, strikes should generally be acknowledged by the United States after the fact," it said.

To ensure more accountability for a campaign largely conducted behind closed doors, the report urged Obama to create "a non-partisan independent commission to review lethal UAV policy."

The panel also said the Obama administration should fulfill its plan to transfer most of the drone strikes from the Central Intelligence Agency to the military, which operates under more transparent legal parameters compared to the spy service.

The authors questioned the overall efficacy of the drone strikes, saying it was not clear that the government had ever conducted a thorough analysis of the strategic advantages and disadvantages of using the robotic aircraft for counter-terrorism efforts.

It was time for the administration to conduct a "rigorous strategic review and cost-benefit analysis" of the drone raids, looking at the effect of past strikes on terror groups, local communities, public opinion and the cooperation of allies and partners, it said.

The ten-member task force that examined the controversial drone attacks included former senior intelligence and legal officials and was led by retired four-star general John Abizaid, who served as head of US Central Command, and Rosa Brooks, a former legal adviser at the Pentagon who is now a law professor at Georgetown University.

Human rights groups have long denounced the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere as an unaccountable air war that operates virtually without scrutiny from Congress or the courts.

But the Stimson report was unusual as several of the authors were former high-ranking officials working in intelligence and counter-terrorism, including former legal advisers at the CIA, the State Department and the White House´s National Security Council.

US declares JuD, 3 other organizations ‘terrorist’

WASHINGTON: The U.S. State Department has named a self-proclaimed Pakistani charity as a "foreign terrorist organization", a status that freezes any assets it has under U.S. jurisdiction.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) calls itself a humanitarian charity but is widely seen as a front organization for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET), a Pakistan-based group accused of orchestrating attacks in India, including the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people.

British media quoted U.S. State Department and reported that all the four organizations, JuD, Infaal Trust, Tehreek-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool and Tehreek-e-Tahafuzz-e-Qibla-e-Awwal were different names of outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba and changing names to avoid sanctions.

The designation comes as NATO troops in Afghanistan are drawing down, and regional rivals Pakistan and India compete with each other for influence with Kabul.

Some fear the competition may spill into open conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations, who have fought three wars since independence.

Historically, Pakistan has used militant groups like LET to mount covert attacks on Indian soil, something the current government has vowed will not happen again.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa's listing will prohibit U.S. entities or citizens from dealing with the organisation, but will probably have little practical effect on its operations or fund raising.

The United Nations said in 2008 that Jamaat-ud-Dawa was a front for LeT and Pakistani authorities vowed to crack down.

More than 400 US military drones lost in crashes: report

WASHINGTON: The United States has lost more than 400 military drones in major crashes worldwide since 2001, The Washington Post said Friday in a report questioning the safety and reliability of the unmanned aircraft.

Citing 50,000 pages of accident investigation reports, the Post said military drones have since the 9/11 attacks "malfunctioned in myriad ways," including mechanical breakdowns, human error and foul weather.

"Military drones have slammed into homes, farms, runways, highways, waterways and, in one case, an Air Force C-130 Hercules transport plane in midair," it said.

Of the 418 known crashes between September 11, 2001 and the end of 2013, the Post said it had identified 194 so-called Class A crashes that resulted in either the total loss of a drone or damages in excess of $2 million.

The total figure is almost equal to the number of major crashes involving US Air Force fighter jets and attack planes during the same period -- even though the drones flew far fewer missions and hours.

Sixty-seven drone crashes occurred in Afghanistan, and 41 in Iraq, but 47 occurred within the United States during test and training flights, the Post said on its website.

One army drone crashed near an elementary school playground in Pennsylvania in April, while a Reaper belonging to the air force disappeared into Lake Ontario in upstate New York in November.

The hefty Predator -- arguably the best-known American military drone -- was involved in 102 Class A crashes, followed by the smaller Hunter and larger Reaper models with 26 and 22 losses respectively.

The Post´s investigation comes as the Federal Aviation Administration drafts a set of regulations to govern an expected surge in the use of commercial drones in the coming years.

The United States owns about 10,000 drones, from the one-pound (0.5-kilogram) Wasp drone that combat troops can deploy in a firefight to the huge Global Hawk high-altitude reconnaissance platform.

US warns Russia against sending troops into Ukraine

WASHINGTON: The United States warned Friday it would not accept any use of Russian troops in Ukraine as it confirmed that Moscow had redeployed "significant" military forces near the border.

"We are monitoring the situation carefully. We will not accept the use, under any pretext, of any Russian military forces in eastern Ukraine," said Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman.

"Reports from Moscow that the Russian defense ministry is considering creating military cordons in eastern Ukraine are also troubling.

"A Russian defense ministry source told RBK news agency this week that troops were prepared to enter Ukraine´s insurgent regions in order to "put up barriers between the civilian population and the Ukrainian army.

"Ukrainian officials have separately told EU and G7 teams in Kiev that they have evidence of 10 additional tanks and sealed trucks coming over the border close to Lugansk in the past 24 hours.

"We have our own information that Russia has redeployed military forces to its border with Ukraine," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

"This is the closest Russian troops have come to the Ukrainian territory since their invasion of Crimea.

"Moscow has annexed the southern Ukrainian peninsula, after invading the territory earlier this year.

Ukraine´s Western-backed President Petro Poroshenko meanwhile declared a weeklong unilateral ceasefire to give pro-Russian rebels a chance to disarm and released a sweeping peace plan for curbing the uprising.

The 14-point initiative came after two calls made by Poroshenko to Russian strongman Vladimir Putin to try to garner his support.

The US Treasury Department blacklisted seven Ukraine separatists, saying their activities threaten the peace and sovereignty of the country.

Topping the list was Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, the rebel leader in the eastern separatist stronghold of Slavyansk whose group kidnapped observers from the European security body OSCE in May and continues to hold them.

The US is "confident" that Moscow sent tanks and rocket launchers last week from the deployment site in southwest Russia into eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian separatists are fighting to break away Kiev, Psaki said.

Washington has information that "additional tanks have been prepared for departure" at the same site, she added, saying artillery had also been gathered at a deployment site.

Three US troops killed in Afghanistan explosion

WASHINGTON: Three American soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device in southern Afghanistan on Friday, US defense officials said.

NATO had earlier indicated that the service members -- working under the alliance´s International Security Assistance Force -- and a dog were killed in the Taliban attack in the southern province of Helmand.

Iraq PM berated as US mulls air strikes on advancing militants

BAGHDAD: Top US officials turned on Iraq´s leader, blaming his "sectarian" policies for the country´s crisis as Washington Thursday weighed calls for air strikes on Sunni militants bearing down on Baghdad.

The sharp criticism of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki came as he scrambled to repel an insurgent onslaught that has seen an entire province and parts of three others fall out of government control in an offensive that could threaten Iraq´s very existence.

The militants´ swift advance has sparked international alarm and the United Nations has warned that the crisis was "life-threatening for Iraq".

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been displaced in the nine days of fighting and an unknown number killed, while dozens of Indians and Turks have been kidnapped.

With President Barack Obama mulling a request by Baghdad for air strikes on the advancing militants, US officials castigated Maliki, publicly echoing long-held criticisms among his domestic opponents of sectarianism.

US Vice President Joe Biden urged greater political inclusion in Iraq in phone calls with Maliki and other Iraqi officials, the White House said.

Biden "stressed the need for national unity in responding to the ISIL threat against all Iraqi communities," in calls with Maliki, Iraqi Council of Representatives Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, and President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani, it said.

The top-ranking military officer, General Martin Dempsey, and former US commander David Petraeus both also rounded on the premier.

"There is very little that could have been done to overcome the degree to which the government of Iraq had failed its people," Dempsey said.

Petraeus warned at a conference in London that Washington risked becoming an "air force for Shiite militias" and supporting "one side of what could be a sectarian civil war" if political reconciliation were not agreed.

Iraq requests strikes
The remarks came after Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters in Saudi Arabia that Baghdad had asked Washington "to conduct air strikes against terrorist groups".

Zebari acknowledged "the need for drastic political solutions.

"Washington has deployed an aircraft carrier to the Gulf and sent military personnel to bolster security at its Baghdad embassy, but Obama insists a return to combat in Iraq is not in the cards.

The United States spent billions of dollars over several years training and arming Iraqi security forces after disbanding the Sunni-led army following the 2003 invasion that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.

But the security forces wilted when faced with the militant offensive on June 9 which saw insurgents quickly capture Mosul, a city of some two million people, and then parts of Salaheddin, Kirkuk and Diyala provinces.

Some abandoned their vehicles and uniforms when faced with the insurgents, which are led by ISIL fighters but also include Saddam loyalists.

The Sunni fighters have been led by the powerful Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, but also include a wide coalition of other Sunni Arab militant groups, as well as loyalists of executed dictator Saddam Hussein.

Though the alliance has made significant territorial gains, the wildly divergent ideologies of its constituent groups means it may struggle to survive over time, analysts say.

And while they struggled in the early part of the offensive, Iraq´s security forces appear to be performing better in recent days, managing to make advances in certain areas, though militants have made their own gains elsewhere.

Kerry expected to travel to Iraq 'soon': US sources

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to travel to Iraq "soon," congressional sources said Thursday.

There was no further information about when Kerry might visit the country amid a militant offensive.

President Barack Obama earlier announced a new diplomatic initiative saying he was dispatching the top US diplomat this weekend for talks in the Middle East and Europe.

US lawmakers pass bill to curb NSA

WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives approved late Thursday a bill that would restrict the electronic surveillance powers of the National Security Agency (NSA).The margin was wide, 293 to 123, for the bill attached to the defense budget for 2015, which begins October 1.For now, however, the bill will have no effect on the NSA as it has not been debated by the Senate.

But the message from the lower house is clear.

It wants to embrace a court ruling and bar the National Security Agency from using personal electronic information from US citizens without a prior court order.

As it currently stands, under the so-called Prism program, the NSA focuses on foreign targets on the Internet via Facebook, Gmail and other services.

But the NSA has acknowledged it used information taken from the servers of such companies, without approval from a judge.

The Constitution and US laws require that the government obtain a court order before searching among data of US citizens.

Thursday´s amendment would bar the NSA from carrying out any search without a court order, including information from Americans, even if their communications were picked up inadvertently. The bill would bar the NSA and the CIA from including secret "back doors" allowing the NSA to skirt coded gateways and gain access to users´ personal data. The NSA is accused of having done this for several years. A year after the revelations made by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, Congress is still debating how to reform US surveillance programs.

Russia to challenge US sanctions at WTO

MOSCOW: Russia will contest US sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine at the World Trade Organisation, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Friday.

"The United States has introduced sanctions against Russia which will have negative consequences for external trade. We have decided to challenge them at the WTO," Medvedev said in televised comments.

Washington has slapped sanctions on high-ranking Russian officials and businesses belonging to close allies of President Vladimir Putin over Moscow´s annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March and accusations the Kremlin is stirring up a separatist rebellion. Russia -- which joined the WTO in 2012 -- has already launched several challenges against similar punitive measures by the European Union but this is the first time it has taken on the US sanctions.

Medvedev said that challenging the US penalties would "not be simple as the United States is the authority at the WTO." The West has said it is ready to impose a fresh round of broader economic sanctions on Russia if it continues to destabilise the situation in eastern Ukraine. (AFP)

US leaders assured of operation against TTP, Haqqani Group

WASHINGTON: Before initiating the recent North Waziristan offensive, the top Pakistani leadership took the US in confidence, saying that Pakistan was ready to take action against all the militant groups, which included the notorious Haqqani Network. The US has been watchful of the ongoing operation but remains sceptical of the reported results given the history of distrust between the countries.

Over the last few weeks, senior officials of the two countries addressed the issue in different meetings, where the political as well as military leadership of Pakistan assured the US officials about their decisive action against the militants.

The assurance came not just from one quarter but from almost all the stakeholders tasked with security of the country.Ambassador James Dobbins, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, told the US Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday: “We have been assured by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, army chief Raheel Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar and the head of the ISI Gen Zaheer.”

Dobbins went on to say that according to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Rashad Mahmood, “They [Pakistan] are going to treat all militant groups similarly and that they are going to force all foreign militants out of North Waziristan and Pakistan.”General Mahmood is visiting Washington this week, and has had numerous meeting with state and defence department officials.

Answering a question raised by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Robert Menendez about the willingness of Pakistan to confront the Haqqani Network during the operation, Ambassador Dobbins said that there were concerns that were justified but “we will be examining this carefully, we have gotten the right assurances but there is a historical pattern of activity which indicates that there are habits here that are going to be difficult to break.”

Referring to the military action against the militants, he said: “We have made our position clear that it’s a right thing.”For years, the United States has been pushing Pakistan to root out the Haqqani Network, who allegedly were given sanctuary in the country’s tribal areas. The State Department in its latest country report on terrorism highlighted the issues once again: “Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network leadership and facilitation network continued to find safe haven in Pakistan, and Pakistani authorities did not take significant military or law enforcement action against these groups.”

Lately, the US has also linked military aid, including the Coalition Support Fund payments to Pakistan, directly to an operation in North Waziristan. According to the terms of the National Defence Authorisation Act for the upcoming year, senior US officials had to issue a waiver certifying that “Pakistan has undertaken military operations in North Waziristan that have significantly disrupted the safe haven and freedom of movement of the Haqqani Network.”

Testifying before the committee members on US policy in Afghanistan, Ambassador Dobbins said: “It’s notable that among the targets that Pakistan is going after vigourously are the Uzbek groups.”

He also said that the civilian and military point of view was to give the TTP a chance to disarm and respect the Constitution. The US, he said, had no objection to it. The move was to appeal some of the elements of the insurgency off, Dobbins said adding, “They needed to go into the massive operation of this sort — which was going to produce a lot of refugees, a lot of cost, a lot of damage to innocent people as well as to the guilty, on the basis of a strong national consensus.”

Dobbins said that Pakistan now had a strong national consensus. He maintained that civilian and military leadership in Pakistan had had their differences but the said operation suggested that both parties were on the same page now.

“Historically, there has been a strong distinction between civilian and military leadership, and while this has not gone entirely away, the two are a lot closer and civilian authority over the military is gradually being demonstrated,” Dobbins said, adding that “the prime minister has authorised and directed this particular action, while I think military might have had a different view throughout this period they saluted and done what they have been told.”

Obama: US will help but Iraq must mend divisions

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama said Friday that he is examining options short of sending ground troops to help Iraq counter a extremist offensive, but warned the country must heal its own divisions.

"We will not be sending US troops back into combat in Iraq, but I have asked my national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support Iraqi security forces," Obama said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki´s government has asked the United States to provide military assistance to counter a stunning advance by ISIL, an extremist movement.

But, in brief remarks to reporters at the White House, Obama warned the Baghdad government that it had brought disaster on itself by failing to heal the divides between Sunni and Shiite camps in the country.

"The United States will not involve itself in military action in the absence of a political plan by the Iraqis that gives us some assurance that they´re prepared to work together," he said.

"We won´t allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation in which while we´re there we´re keeping a lid on things and, after enormous sacrifices by us, as soon as we´re not there, suddenly people end up acting in ways that are not conducive to the long-term stability of the country.

"The United States withdrew the last of its occupation forces from Iraq in 2011, eight years after they overthrew the then dictator Saddam Hussein, but Obama said he was studying options to increase ongoing support for the Iraqi military.

He added, however, that "any action that we may take to provide assistance to Iraqi security forces has to be joined by a serious and sincere effort by Iraq´s leaders to set aside sectarian differences.

"Nobody has an interest in seeing terrorists gain a foothold inside of Iraq and nobody is going to benefit from seeing Iraq descend into chaos," he said.
"So the United States will do our part, but understand that ultimately it´s up to the Iraqis as a sovereign nation to solve their problems."

Obama: US will help but Iraq must mend divisions

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama said Friday that he is examining options short of sending ground troops to help Iraq counter a extremist offensive, but warned the country must heal its own divisions.

"We will not be sending US troops back into combat in Iraq, but I have asked my national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support Iraqi security forces," Obama said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki´s government has asked the United States to provide military assistance to counter a stunning advance by ISIL, an extremist movement.

But, in brief remarks to reporters at the White House, Obama warned the Baghdad government that it had brought disaster on itself by failing to heal the divides between Sunni and Shiite camps in the country.

"The United States will not involve itself in military action in the absence of a political plan by the Iraqis that gives us some assurance that they´re prepared to work together," he said.

"We won´t allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation in which while we´re there we´re keeping a lid on things and, after enormous sacrifices by us, as soon as we´re not there, suddenly people end up acting in ways that are not conducive to the long-term stability of the country.

"The United States withdrew the last of its occupation forces from Iraq in 2011, eight years after they overthrew the then dictator Saddam Hussein, but Obama said he was studying options to increase ongoing support for the Iraqi military.

He added, however, that "any action that we may take to provide assistance to Iraqi security forces has to be joined by a serious and sincere effort by Iraq´s leaders to set aside sectarian differences.

"Nobody has an interest in seeing terrorists gain a foothold inside of Iraq and nobody is going to benefit from seeing Iraq descend into chaos," he said.
"So the United States will do our part, but understand that ultimately it´s up to the Iraqis as a sovereign nation to solve their problems."

The immediate agenda to get us out of this mess

DUBAI: This may sound a bit drastic to many interested parties and vested interests and some may say I have gone out of my mind, but the fact is that Pakistan and its critical institutions have collapsed and it is now time for a major, immediate, almost earthshaking, political and administrative renovation effort, to get back control before everything spins out of hand.
This major effort would need input and agreement of everyone, whether within or even slightly outside the strict ambit of the constitution and whether someone likes it or not. Legal or judicial approval has to be and will be quickly obtained for this effort.

This has to be done quickly as the military launches a decisive operation against the terrorists, now in close coordination with the US/Nato help, definitely inviting a severe blow back from terrorists all round the country.

Politicians who know or have been given hints and desperate political forces have already launched what they think would be a decisive strike against the existing inefficient and collapsing political set up. Once these forces get unleashed, the steering wheels would get jammed and there would be no going back.

The collapse that I am talking about is at various levels and these include:

- Non-existent civilian control, direction, vision and responsibility on matters of national importance and survival, including national security, safety and protection of the people and safety of vital institutions, installations and organisations.

- Failure of parliament, federal and provincial governments to inspire confidence and give hope in the present supposedly democratic system, elected though it may be but dysfunctional as it is.

- Lack of leadership by giving confidence and assurance to the people that this leadership can handle and protect national, regional and international geo-political and strategic interests of the country.

- Failure to provide for the day to day lives of the people, their present, their future, their economy, education, health or whatever. The sense of despair has aggravated beyond limits.

- Failure of governments, political parties and organisations to take a high moral ground by taking control and accepting responsibility or carrying out any accountability at any level, be it for failure to perform their duty or for financial loot and plunder, in the past or the present.

- There is not one case when anyone in authority has taken responsibility for any big or small blunder or lapse whether while running the government, managing the economy or providing security.

- Failure of government and politicians to frame policies without keeping personal vested interests in mind. Every party, big or small has been showing lack of leadership and confidence, taking major and minor U-Turns and demonstrating a lack of wisdom, vision and authority. Except blaming others there is nothing common in uttered words and deeds and acts of omission and commission.

- Every major economic initiative has back-fired, including the hundreds of billions spent, almost wasted, on load shedding, circular debt, inflation, oil and gas prices, exports and remittances. At best the economy is drifting, big claims and fiddling with the figures apart.

- All government successes claimed have been in borrowing billions of dollars and signing long-term projects, which may end up in smoke if all other prerequisites like physical and economic security, infrastructure development and uninterrupted flow of goods and services, are not guaranteed. No one is in a position to do that.

- The military has been bogged down, unnecessarily on external, internal and even political fronts, pitched against the terrorists and the politicians lately, weakening its confidence and resolve at worst and confusing it at best. This is not a good sign for a major war against local and foreign terrorists that is about to be waged.

- With no one to lead, or take control or accept responsibility, the country is spiralling towards internal and social anarchy leading eventually to be declared a failed state.

-So what to do in such a mess. Here are some suggestions that are being discussed and debated in drawing rooms but many agree the time for action on these lines has come:

- An immediate declaration of national emergency is needed, administrative and constitutional

as well as on security and economic fronts.

- Security and running of all key installations must be handed

over to the army including airports, seaports, sensitive buildings like Parliament etc so that the verbal diarrhoea on the media exchanging blame and responsibility for failures can be avoided.

- Parliament should be suspended for six months to a year.

- Cabinet must be dissolved and a 10 to 12-member Emergency Council be set up, with honest, competent civilians (politicians or technocrats or both), representing each province and the centre, the judiciary and the army.

- This Council should hire competent, honest and experienced/tested people to run the affairs of key institutions and installations without political influence or favouritism. Short and Medium Term tasks should be given and strictly monitored. Those not up to the mark must be quickly replaced.

- Provinces should be handed over to similar Emergency Councils, with clean politicians, judges, technocrats and generals on the same pattern as the centre.

- The first task given to them should be to fight the terrorists and run the affairs through a clean, effective and transparent administration, with zero tolerance for corruption, past or present.

- All unnecessary and juicy mega projects must be scrapped or put on hold until the country settles down on the internal war front.

- The media should be told to understand the needs of the national emergency and cooperate.

- Politicians should be told to take a back seat for a while.

This agenda will, as obviously expected, be described by many as a recipe for a military takeover.

In fact what is needed is not a takeover but implementation of this agenda to prevent a military takeover.

Muscle and push to implement it must come from supporting political parties, the civil society, a responsible media, an understanding judiciary and a military not having political ambitions.The firepower to help this national agenda get on the track should be provided by the army, using force at times, if need be. The alternate to this will ultimately be a ruthless military intervention which no one will like. So better take a bitter pill now than face an invasive surgery soon.

US mulls air strikes as Iraq militants advance on Baghdad

KIRKUK: Militants have seized the Iraqi city of Tikrit as a jihadist offensive sweeps closer to Baghdad, prompting the UN Security Council to convene crisis talks Thursday while the US mulls air strikes on the rebels.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized the second city of Mosul on Tuesday and has since captured a large swathe of northern and north-central Iraq including Tikrit -- the hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein.

ISIL spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani promised the battle would "rage" on the capital Baghdad and Karbala, a city southwest of the capital that is considered one of the holiest sites for Shiite Muslims, the SITE Intelligence Group said.

The UN Security Council swiftly convened a meeting to discuss the crisis in a sign of growing international alarm at the fast-moving situation.

Diplomats said the closed consultations would begin at 11:30 am (1530 GMT) and will include a briefing by video link from the UN special representative to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov.

Washington is considering several options for offering military assistance to Baghdad, including drone strikes, a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Resorting to such aircraft -- used in Afghanistan and Pakistan in a highly controversial programme -- would mark a dramatic shift in the US engagement in Iraq, after the last American troops pulled out in late 2011.State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US was committed to "working with the Iraqi government and leaders across Iraq to support a unified approach against ISIL´s continued aggression.

"But there is no current plan to send US troops back into Iraq, where around 4,500 American soldiers died in the bitter conflict.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Washington "strongly condemns" the ISIL attacks and "will stand with Iraqi leaders".

And UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the international community to unite behind Iraq, warning that "terrorism must not be allowed to succeed in undoing the path toward democracy in Iraq."

Afghans to vote in run-off election as US troops exit

KABUL: Afghans head to the polls Saturday for a second-round election to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, with the threat of Taliban attacks and fraud looming over the country´s first democratic transfer of power.

The vote pits former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah against ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani in a head-to-head contest to lead Afghanistan as US-led troops withdraw after 13 years of fighting Taliban insurgents.

April´s first-round vote was hailed a success as turnout topped 50 percent and Islamist militants failed to launch any high-profile attacks on polling day.

But Saturday presents another major challenge in the prolonged election process, which began with campaigning in early February and will end when the final result is announced on July 22."There is concern that the enemy who failed in the first round will seek revenge, but we can assure you they will fail again," General Afzal Aman, head of Afghan army operations, told reporters.

"We have been conducting missions all over Afghanistan for election security for the past two months."

Ahead of the vote, the Taliban issued a warning to voters, saying that polling booths would be targeted by "non-stop" assaults.

"By holding elections, the Americans want to impose their stooges on the people," the insurgents, who were ousted from power by a US-led offensive in 2001, said on their website.

International fears have focused on the risk of tension between the candidates´ supporters after the result, which may be contested if the count is close and serious fraud allegations are raised.

"No one should be complacent about what is at stake in the coming weeks," US ambassador James Cunningham said in a statement. "We call on both candidates to direct their campaigns and supporters not to engage in fraud."It is our fervent hope that the two candidates, with the future of their country in their hands at this unprecedented time, will not seek a winner-take-all outcome.

"The last presidential vote in 2009 was riddled with fraud, damaging relations between the Afghan government and the US-led donor nations on which it relies for funding.

Abdullah eventually pulled out of that election, allowing Karzai to retain power, but this year neither candidate is likely to back down if the result is close.

US T20 cricket tournament abandoned due to weather

DALLAS: American cricket T20 team competition which was held in Dallas was abandoned due to inclement weather.

The sixteen teams’ competition was reduced to 8 teams for the quarter final stage when the tournament was abandoned.

The prize money of twenty five thousand dollars was equally distributed among eight teams who qualified to quarter finals.

According to details the T20 cricket tournament was organized in Dallas with special permission from ICC (California) America.

This cricket tournament was participated by Sri Lanka, West Indies, India, USA and Pakistani international players.

Pakistani players Shabaz and Naveed Latif attended the tournament as special guests as the PCB did not allow them to play in Dallas.

Some of the Pakistani national team players who participated in this tournament included, Shabbir Ahmad, Mansoor Akhtar, Shahzad Hasan, Saud, Sharyar Ahmad, Khalid Latif, Noorul Qamar. Indian player Sharma, West Indian Andrew Paul, and other prominent players also attended the tournament.

The tournament had sixteen teams contesting for the final cup including Star Eleven, US Open Florida, AFL Gladiators, Smart Choice Houston, Punjab Lion, and Alumina Cricket Club Chicago, Punjab (India) 20/20, Mama Cricket Club Houston, PIS Royal, Royal Cricket Club, Midland Club Midland, and GTCC.

The bad weather and raining for the whole week forced the organizer to abandon the tournament before the final.

The prize money of twenty five thousand was equally distributed among the finalist’s teams.

US drones hit Miranshah after six-month gap

 

PESHAWAR: After a gap of almost six months, the US drone strikes resumed in Miranshah of North Waziristan Agency (NWA) on Wednesday, the latest attack killing six suspected militants. It was the first strike by the CIA-operated spy planes after December 25, 2013 in the North Waziristan tribal region.
In the second strike, six missiles were fired on Danday Darpakhel area of Miramshah. There were no reports of casualties till the filing of this report. Official and local tribal sources said the first drone fired two missiles and hit a mini-truck in Tabi Tolkhel village, eight kilometres northwest of Miranshah, the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan, along the Afghan border.

“According to intercepts of the militants, six people were killed and some others injured in the drone strike on the mini-truck in Tabi village on the Miranshah-Ghulam Khan Road,” a local administration official said.

Pleading anonymity, he said a large number of armed people reached the spot after the drone disappeared.The militants reportedly retrieved the bodies of the slain men and shifted them to an unknown location.

Official sources in Miranshah said that four among the six killed in the drone attack were Uzbek militants and two were members of the so-called Punjabi Taliban.

On December 25, 2013, the drone had fired four missiles and struck a mud-house in the Qutabkhel village, located two kilometres east of Miranshah, and killed four people, two of them reportedly Arab, one Punjabi and another a local tribal militant.

Tribesman in the area saiddrone strikes in Pakistan after the Pakistan government started peace negotiations with the local Taliban in late January 2014.However, now when the talks have almost fizzled out after the recent devastating Taliban attack on the airport in Karachi, the government is reportedly preparing to launch a military operation in North Waziristan.

Abdullah Bahar Mehsud, a senior Pakistani Taliban commander and spokesman for commander Shehryar Mehsud group that claims to represent the faction of Hakimullah Mehsud and having links with Uzbek militants, told this correspondent on phone that the Karachi airport assault was a joint work of the Pakistani Taliban and Uzbek militants.

“It was our joint operation in which our Uzbek brothers played an important role. I can’t tell you about the nature of support they provided us but in operations like the Karachi airport, one group provides fighters while another arranges finances for weapons and explosives,” he said.

Abdullah Bahar said they were working with their Uzbek brothers and there would be more devastating attacks in the near future. “The government will forget the Karachi attack after we carry out other attacks on them,” he threatened.