On the India-Pakistan border, a cold peace

SURATGARH: It has been nearly eight years since India and Pakistan agreed a ceasefire over

Kashmir – long enough for residents to start building brick houses and plant paddy fields up to the edge of one of the world’s most heavily militarized borders.

Libya’s Gaddafi presses offensive after son killed

TRIPOLI: Muammar Gaddafi pressed an offensive against rebel forces, and his supporters burnt Western embassies after the Libyan leader survived a NATO airstrike that officials said killed his son and three grandchildren.

Funerals were expected to be held on Monday, an occasion that might bring an awaited appearance or declaration by Gaddafi who authorities say was in the Tripoli house when it was destroyed by at least three missiles late on Saturday.

Gaddafi, fighting a rebellion against his authoritarian 41-year rule since mid-February, has not been seen in public since the attack, though a spokesman said he was unhurt. His son Saif al-Arab, 29, was killed with three young grandchildren.

The embassies of Britain and Italy were attacked and burnt, along with the U.S. commercial and consular affairs department after Gaddafi loyalists were shown on Libyan television vowing vengeance. The buildings had been vacated weeks earlier.

Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said the strikes were a fourth attempt to assassinate Gaddafi. He denied allegations in some media that the deaths had been fabricated to discredit NATO. The alliance said it hit a command and control centre.

Any appearance of an assassination attempt against Gaddafi is likely to lead to accusations the British and French-led strikes are exceeding the U.N. mandate to protect civilians.

French surgeon Gerrard Le Clouerec, who does not work for the Libyan government, was asked to independently identify the bodies of Saif al-Arab and two children. He said all three had died due to a blast. He said the children’s faces had been obliterated by the blast so they were difficult to identify.

Le Clouerec said he also saw the body of a young man of about 30, with a beard and a thin moustache whose face matched a photograph he had been shown of Saif al-Arab.

ROCKETS HIT MISRATA PORT

Gaddafi’s forces fired rockets at the port in Misrata on Sunday as an aid ship was trying to unload, rebels said, and the shelling forced two other vessels to wait offshore. The port is the lifeline for Misrata which has been under siege for weeks.

“Shelling the port is disastrous for us because it will sabotage all the humanitarian aid we are getting,” said rebel spokesman, Ahmed Hassan. “God help us if this happens. God protect our port.”

Libyan state television said the port was shelled to stop NATO from delivering weapons to the insurgents. The rebel spokesman said that was a lie.

Rights groups say hundreds of people, including many civilians, have been killed in Misrata, about 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli. Officials in Tripoli deny targeting civilians, and say they are fighting armed gangs and al Qaeda sympathisers.

Rebels have repelled government troops from the centre of Libya’s third largest city in recent days and now say they have gone on the offensive to try to capture Misrata airport.

The frontline in eastern Libya has been static west of the town of Ajdabiyah for a week with government troops digging in and rebels attempting to train and regroup.

In the west, Libyan government forces are fighting to dislodge rebels from the Western Mountains after they seized control last month of the Dehiba-Wazin crossing, opening a passage for food, fuel and medicine.

The sound of heavy bombardment and small arms fire echoed through the mountains on the Libyan side of the border.

Artillery shells fell on and around the town of Dehiba on the Tunisian side of the border, residents told Reuters, the site of an incursion on Friday by forces loyal to Gaddafi that provoked fury in Libya’s western neighbour.

Refugees poured across the border into Tunisia on Sunday.

“I never thought I would have to leave my house but today, at the age of 80, I find myself forced to flee with my family, without taking any possessions and without knowing where I’m going to stay here in Tunisia,” said a Libyan man who fled the rebel-held town of Zintan.

U.N. WITHDRAWS STAFF

Britain expelled the Libyan ambassador and Italy condemned the attack on its embassy as a grave and vile act. Most Western countries closed their embassies in Tripoli before the NATO military intervention began several weeks ago.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kaim called the attacks on the embassies “a regrettable action. These actions happened after 3:30 in the morning. That’s why our police force were outnumbered by the number of demonstrators.”

The United Nations withdrew its international staff from Tripoli after a crowd entered their compound.

“A crowd of people entered a U.N. compound and some vehicles were taken. All U.N. staff are safe and accounted for,” Martin Nesirky, a U.N. spokesman, said. “The decision to leave the country was based on the overall security situation in Tripoli.”

The U.N. sent international staff to Tripoli only last month after it reached an agreement with the Libyan government on a humanitarian presence. These staffers would now cover Western Libya from neighbouring Tunisia, the United Nations said.

“They have the right to do so because of what happened this morning,” Kaim said. “My understanding is it is a temporary withdrawal.” AGENCIES

North Korea border guards kill five defectors to China: report

SEOUL: North Korean border guards, in a rare cross-border pursuit, shot dead five defectors and wounded two others who fled the reclusive state into China, a South Korean newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The Chosun Ilbo reported that North Korean border guards had never before shot at defectors once they had reached the Chinese side of the border, adding that guards could have been issued with new instructions for dealing with defectors.

The daily quoted a high-level source in Changbai in the Chinese province of Jilin as saying the seven had left Hyesan in Yanggang province and walked across the frozen Yalu River and reached the Chinese side on Dec. 14.

Five were shot dead by North Korean border guards who were in pursuit and two were wounded and taken to the North, it said.

Momhand Agency: Forces kill 40 militants in retaliation

At least 40 militants were killed in retaliation when helicopters gunships pounded their hideouts in Mohmand Agency on Saturday.

Security forces launched a search operation in Mohmand tribal district, next to the border with Afghanistan, after co-ordinated insurgent attacks on five check posts Friday in which 11 paramilitary soldiers were killed.

At least 24 militants had already been killed in Friday’s fighting. Since yesterday Pakistani security forces helped by helicopter gunships carried out raids on suspected militant hideouts and killed 40 militants, Mohmand’s top administration official told.

A senior security official and local military officials confirmed the militant toll. The operations took place in Baizai and Lakro villages.

US seeking to expand raids into Pakistan: NYT

United State News: Top US military commanders in Afghanistan are seeking to expand ground raids by Special Operations Forces across the border in Pakistans tribal areas, The New York Times reported Monday.

Amid growing US frustration with Pakistans lackluster efforts at removing militants from strongholds there, the officials are proposing to escalate military activities in the nuclear-armed nation, the Times said in its online edition.US forces have been largely restricted to limited covert operations and unmanned drone strikes in Pakistan due to fears of retaliation from a population that often holds strong anti-American sentiment in a country rife with militants.Even these limited operations have provoked angry reactions from Pakistani officials. The drones are believed to be largely operated by the CIA.Amid a looming July deadline for American troops to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan, military and political leaders pointed to a renewed sense of urgency.Military commanders told the newspaper that the Special Operations plan which has not yet been approved could help them secure much-needed intelligence if militants were captured, brought back across the border into Afghanistan and interrogated.US officials said they were particularly keen to capture rather than kill militant leaders from the Taliban or the Haqqani network in order to obtain intelligence about future operations.Weve never been as close as we are now to getting the go-ahead to go across, a senior US officer said.But a senior official from President Barack Obamas administration said he did not favor cross-border operations, saying they have been mostly counterproductive unless they targeted top al Qaeda leaders.The official also worried that political fallout in Pakistan over the operations could counter any tactical gains.CIA-backed Afghan militias, previously believed to only carry out intelligence-gathering operations, have also crossed the border into Pakistans tribal belt during secret missions, including one in which a militia destroyed a militant weapons cache, officials told the Times.An Afghan political leader said one of the raids by the Paktika Defense Force one of six CIA-trained Afghan militias was initiated to capture a Taliban commander in Pakistan. The mission was ultimately unsuccessful but Pakistani militants opened fire on the Afghans.Another CIA-backed force near the eastern Afghan province of Khost was recently deployed in the mountains along the Pakistan border, where it is due to try to intercept Taliban fighters during the winter, an American military officer told the Times, saying the militia has so far proven effective.

Bin Laden ‘hiding in Afghan-Pakistani border area’

JAKARTA: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday the “heart” of Al-Qaeda remained in the Afghan-Pakistan border area even as the network spreads its influence to the Arabian peninsula and northern Africa.

While Al-Qaeda’s leaders, including founder Osama bin Laden, continued to operate out of the border area, “they provide the guidance, they provide the priorities, they provide legitimacy to other Al-Qaeda affiliates that are developing in other places, including in the Arabian peninsula, in Yemen in particular and in northern Africa, in the Maghreb,” Gates told reporters.

“I would say the heart of Al-Qaeda remains … in the border areas of Afghanistan and Paksitan,” he said during a visit to Kuala Lumpur.

With Al-Qaeda “spreading its tentacles,” the United States was able to cope with the threat partly thanks to help from allies who see the dangers

Wahga border parade not to change: DG Rangers

Director General of Pakistan Rangers Major General Yaqub Khan has said that the parade on the Wahga border would be continued with traditional zeal and fervor and no request has been received from India to change this traditional style, trendpk.Com reported on Saturday.

According to a press release by the Pakistan Rangers a six-monthly session of talks between the Border Security Force of India and Pakistan Rangers in which it was agreed by the two parties that the parade commanders would shake hands during the parade. DG Rangers further said that if India forwards any such request it would be given a consideration. He said that parade is the proud of a soldier and that the traditional style of the parade would be maintained and continued. He said that the media would be soon invited to the border so that it could witness itself that the traditional parade is continued.

Karzai holds ‘secret talks’ with Taliban

Three Taliban figures met secretly with Afghanistan’s president two weeks ago in an effort by the Afghan government to weaken the US-led coalition’s most vicious enemy, a powerful al-Qaeda linked network that straddles the border region with Pakistan.
A former Afghan official said the meeting in Kabul included an ex-Taliban governor, Maulvi Abdul Kabir. He comes from the same Zadran tribe as the leaders of the Haqqani network, an autonomous wing of the Taliban responsible for many attacks against US and Afghan forces, the former official said over the weekend. US and Afghan officials hope that if Kabir agrees to quit the insurgency, it could split the Zadran tribe and undercut the pool of recruits from which the Haqqanis currently draw fighters. But it was unclear whether any progress toward that end was made during the talks.
Weakening the Haqqanis’ grip over the Zadran tribe could help shift the power balance in eastern provinces where the network poses a major threat. The Haqqani network, led by ailing Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin, is believed to be sheltering top al-Qaida leaders across the border in Pakistan. Kabir served as governor of Nangarhar province and deputy prime minister during the Taliban rule, which ended with the U.S.-led invasion of 2001. He is believed to run the Taliban council in the Pakistani city of Peshawar but is not considered a powerhouse in the Taliban. The two other Taliban who took part in the talks were Mullah Sadre Azam and Anwar-ul-Haq Mujahed. Mujahed is credited with helping Osama bin Laden escape the US assault on Tora Bora in 2001, the former official said. He has been in Pakistani custody since June last year when he was picked up in a raid in Peshawar, where one of several Afghan Taliban shuras, or councils, is located. The men were brought by helicopter from Peshawar and spent two nights in a luxury Kabul hotel before returning to Pakistan. The US earlier this month acknowledged facilitating some Taliban trips to Kabul but provided no specifics. The Pakistani military has not commented on such reports. The former Afghan official, who asked not to be named because of his relationship with both the government and the Taliban, described Kabir and his associates as midlevel contacts because they have little, if any influence over more powerful Taliban factions. Karzai has formed a 70-member council to try to reconcile with the Taliban and find a political solution to the insurgency. The Taliban’s top leadership has denied that any of their representatives have been involved in talks. They claim their leaders will not discuss peace with the government unless foreign troops first leave Afghanistan.

Need to reaffirm dialogue with Pakistan, China: Manmohan

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday reaffirmed the need for dialogue with both Pakistan and China to resolve outstanding issues, and said his meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao saw both sides concurring on the need to remove misunderstandings between each other.

One reflection of China’s desire to narrow the areas of differences was Mr. Wen accepting Dr. Singh’s invitation to visit India in the near future, during which they would attempt a practical, pragmatic and satisfactory solution to the border problem.

Till the border issue was solved, the Hanoi interaction saw both Prime Ministers agreeing on the need to maintain peace and tranquillity on the Line of Actual Control.

The possible meeting between the two Prime Ministers in Delhi before the end of the year would be preceded by the arrival of senior Chinese leader Zhou Yong

Need to reaffirm dialogue with Pakistan, China: Manmohan

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday reaffirmed the need for dialogue with both Pakistan and China to resolve outstanding issues, and said his meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao saw both sides concurring on the need to remove misunderstandings between each other.

One reflection of China’s desire to narrow the areas of differences was Mr. Wen accepting Dr. Singh’s invitation to visit India in the near future, during which they would attempt a practical, pragmatic and satisfactory solution to the border problem.

Till the border issue was solved, the Hanoi interaction saw both Prime Ministers agreeing on the need to maintain peace and tranquillity on the Line of Actual Control.

The possible meeting between the two Prime Ministers in Delhi before the end of the year would be preceded by the arrival of senior Chinese leader Zhou Yong

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