US trade deficit surges to $48.8b

 

Amid stronger US demand — spurred by the improving economy — the import of goods grew by $2.7 billion, outpacing growing exports.

 

“Thanks to a weak greenback, exports rose for the first time in a few months, up 0.7 percent in December or nine percent from a year ago. Imports also gained ground however,” said economist Jennifer Lee of BMO Capital Markets.

 

That took the full 2011 shortfall to $558 billion. Half that figure was thanks to the deficit with China.

 

“The deterioration in December was all in the goods space and the petroleum deficit narrowed to $26.9 from $27.6 billion,” said Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist with Mizuho Securities USA.

 

The publication of the figures prompted more hand-wringing about the politically sensitive trade deficit with China.

 

“Figures released this morning by the US Department of Commerce show that the US racked up a whopping new record annual goods deficit with China of $295.5 billion in 2011, a significant increase from the previous record of $273 billion in 2010,” the Alliance for American Manufacturing said.

 

“From an economic point of view, the trade deficit with China shows just how strong the headwinds are against  insourcing  jobs back to the United States.”

 

“From a political point of view, the trade deficit with China shows just how little leadership Congress and the president are providing on international economic matters.”
 

Rahul Gandhi takes on Mayawati in UP polls

AYODHYA: Millions of voters went to the polls on Wednesday in Uttar Pradesh, the first stage of an election that tests support for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s troubled government ahead of a nationwide vote in two years.

The election in Uttar Pradesh, a state that would be the world’s fifth most populous nation if independent, could have a bearing on who next governs India. It is a closely fought four-way race pitting Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the elite Gandhi dynasty, against Dalit leader Mayawati and two other parties.

Gandhi has staked his political reputation on reviving the Congress party in a state it has not ruled for 22 years.

A good result could breathe new life into Prime Minister Singh’s second term, which has been plagued by corruption and splits in the ruling coalition.

The son, grandson and great-grandson of former prime ministers, Rahul Gandhi is considered likely to take over as prime minister from Singh, but the timing is not clear. He said this week that becoming prime minister did not interest him for now.

A poor showing in Uttar Pradesh would leave the Congress party weaker than ever as the country gears up for a 2014 general election. Congress now holds 22 of 403 seats in the local legislature and the most optimistic forecasts would give it about 80.

‘OTHERS DID NOTHING’

Known as the queen of the lower castes for her power and lavish lifestyle, Chief Minister Mayawati has been criticised for building statues of herself and spending millions of rupees on diamond jewellery.

But supporters say she drove out violent mafias and made the state safe for former untouchable castes and other downtrodden groups after decades of abuse.

Uttar Pradesh, with 200 million people, is an unruly state that stretches southeast from New Delhi, divided along its length by the Ganga. To avoid violence, voting is staggered over seven days. Results from a total of five state elections are to be announced on March 6.

Elections in Uttar Pradesh have traditionally been decided by voters’ affiliation to the caste or religion they were born into. This year is no exception, with parties promising government jobs for the mostly poor Muslim and lower caste populations.

“Mayawati helped the poor with education, and distributed bicycles to students,” said 65-year-old wooden shoemaker Khairun Nisa, wearing a black traditional Muslim head-to-toe cloak. “She didn’t do as much as we hoped, but she did something, other governments did nothing.”

“We should give her one more chance,” she said after casting her vote on a rainy day at a primary school in Ayodhya. Turnout was thin in the chilly morning but was expected to pick up later.

The destruction of the Babri mosque by hardline Hindus at Ayodhya in 1992 sparked religious riots that killed some 2,000 people and brought the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, to national prominence.

This time, religious tensions have cooled and parties are trying to woo voters with promises of welfare programmes, food subsidies and affirmative action for government jobs.

Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party — which currently enjoys a majority in the state assembly — is expected to take a battering as she loses the support of higher castes who voted for her last time but feel she failed to deliver economic development.

Both BJP and Congress are expected to pick up some of the votes she loses.

A scandal over funds for a health programme and linked to the murder of four senior doctors has hurt Mayawati, and a purge of corrupt officials this year was seen as coming too late.

Results are notoriously hard to predict in Uttar Pradesh — where millions live in distant villages without electricity or clean water — but several opinion polls suggest the Congress party could win enough to form a government with the leftist Samajwadi Party, which could emerge as the largest party.

The Samajwadi Party has a strong presence in the national parliament, and a tie-up could allow the Congress party to reduce the influence of another volatile ally — the Trinamool — that has prevented Singh’s government from passing major economic reforms. AGENCIES

US lawmakers back stronger ties with Philippines

 

They said Congress soon will approve the transfer of a second ship to help the ally s navy defend its waters.

 

Republican Rep. Ed Royce told a House of Representatives Foreign Affairs hearing on US-Philippine relations that the congressional review process for transferring the Coast Guard Cutter Dallas will be finished this week, and the ship should soon be on its way to Manila. Another aging US cutter, the Hamilton, was transferred to the Philippines last May.

 

The US has sought to boost the Philippines  ability to maintain its maritime security because of its ally s concern over assertive Chinese behavior in disputed waters of the South China Sea.

 

While the United States has no territorial claims in the region, the top US diplomat for East Asia, Kurt Campbell, reiterated that the US has a national interest in such claims  peaceful resolution and the freedom of navigation in seas that carry about a half the total tonnage of world trade.
 

Congress move for Dr Afridi’s US citizenship not legally binding

 

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher had moved a bill on Friday with the recommendation to grant US citizenship to Dr. Shakeel Afridi, who has been under custody in Pakistan on charges of covertly running a vaccination campaign in Abbottabad to help CIA reach Osama bin Laden s compound.

 

The US state department s spokesperson, Victoria Nuland said “we are aware of the Congress resolution forwarded for granting US citizenship to Dr. Shakeel Afridi”.  She, however, stressed that the bill had not been finalized as yet, and neither had it been formally presented in the Congress.

 

“Such resolutions forwarded by individual members, even if approved, are only recommendations and have no legal binding on the administration”, she stated. The Pentagon spokesman, George Little also declined to publicly comment on the case of Dr. Shakeel Afridi in a separate briefing.

 

He, however, emphasized that “anybody helping US to reach Osama bin Laden was working against al-Qaeda and not against Pakistan”, hinting that the US was not realy happy with the treatment meted out to Dr. Afridi, who was being accused of treason for helping a foreign country s forces covertly.

 

The spokespersons of Pentagon and State Department also expressed ignorance about a letter written by Pakistan s lobbyist in Washington, DC, Mark Siegel to US officials seeking apology for the NATO airstrike on November 26 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The incident has led to heightened tensions between both countries. 

 

“We are not aware of Pakistani lobbyist s letter  to US officials asking for apology on NATO attacks”, Victoria Nuland said. She, however, sought to press home a point that “we don t conduct our business with Pakistan through private lobbyists, but through officials channels like Ambassador Munter in Islamabad and Ambassador Rehman in Washington”.

 

“We are respectful of the time Pakistan wants to complete its parliamentary review and remain open to discussion on every issue”, she said while disagreeing that communication lines with Pakistan were suspended as the US was awaiting the parliamentary recommendations.

 

“Our civilian programmes in Pakistan are going forward without any change or impediment. It s only a question of where we go on security and counter-terrorism issues with Pakistan”, she pointed out.

 

George Little, while saying that he was unaware of any such letter, said that “we signaled our willingness after the NATO airstrike to brief Pakistan after the completion of NATO attack inquiry report”.

 

“We have not had a chance to discuss the report with Pakistani authrities in person, but will welcome the opportunity to do so”, he observed while adding that there was no word from Pakistan yet on re-opening of ground supply routes for NATO forces that were closed down in protest after the incident. 

- Contributed by Awais Saleem, News Trends correspondent in Washington, DC
 

Lahore: 19 bodies recovered from factory rubble

 

As per details, the three-story factory collapsed on Monday in Lahore after a gas explosion, killing at least 19 people and trapping dozens.

 

“The factory has completely collapsed and two houses next to it as well,” an emergency official said, adding that authorities were having trouble getting heavy rescue machinery to the area because of narrow streets.

 

According to sources, at least 60 people including 25 women were at work when the factory, which produced veterinary medical products, crumbled.

 

Sabzazar Police have registered a case against the factory owners.

 

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has also taken the notice of the incident and sought report within 48 hours.
 

Hina leaves for Russia today

 

Hina is visiting Russia on the invitation of her Russian counterpart Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov.

 

Foreign Minister Khar will hold talks with her Russian counterpart on expanding and diversifying Pakistan-Russia relations. Regional and global issues of mutual interests would be focused during the visit.

 

Khar will also meet Russian parliamentarians and address the Institute of Oriental Studies.
 

Israeli attack on Iran is likely, concludes Panetta

 

For the first time in nearly two decades of escalating tensions over Iran s nuclear program, world leaders are genuinely concerned that an Israeli military attack on the Islamic Republic could be imminent an action that many fear might trigger a wider war, terrorism and global economic havoc.

 

High-level foreign dignitaries, including the UN chief and the head of the American military, have stopped in Israel in recent weeks, urging leaders to give the diplomatic process more time to work. But US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has reportedly concluded that an Israeli attack on Iran is likely in the coming months.

 

Despite harsh economic sanctions and international pressure, Iran is refusing to abandon its nuclear program, which it insists is purely civilian, and threatening Israel and the West. It s beginning to cause jitters in world capitals and financial markets.

 

“Of course I worry that there will be a military conflict,” Britain s deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, said in a magazine interview last week. He said Britain was “straining every single sinew to resolve this through a combination of pressure and engagement,” rather than military action.

 

Is Israel bluffing? Israeli leaders have been claiming Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons since the early 1990s, and defense officials have issued a series of ever-changing estimates on how close Iran is to the bomb. But the saber-rattling has become much more direct and vocal.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu frequently draws parallels between modern-day Iran and Nazi Germany on the eve of the Holocaust.

 

On Thursday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak claimed during a high-profile security conference that there is a “wide global understanding” that military action may be needed.

 

“There is no argument about the intolerable danger a nuclear Iran (would pose) to the future of the Middle East, the security of Israel and to the economic and security stability of the entire world,” Barak said.

 

A day earlier, visiting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon implored Israel to find a peaceful solution to the nuclear standoff.

 

Israel views Iran as a mortal threat, citing Iranian calls for Israel s destruction, Iran s support for anti-Israel militant groups and Iranian missile technology capable of hitting Israel.

 

On Friday, Iran s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called Israel a “cancerous tumor that should be cut and will be cut,” and boasted of supporting any group that will challenge the Jewish state.

 

When faced with such threats, Israeli has a history of lashing out in the face of world opposition. That legacy that includes the game-changing 1967 Middle East war, which left Israel in control of vast Arab lands, a brazen 1981 airstrike that destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor, and a stealthy 2007 airstrike in Syria that is believed to have destroyed a nuclear reactor in the early stages of construction.

 

Armed with a fleet of ultramodern U.S.-made fighter planes and unmanned drones, and reportedly possessing intermediate-range Jericho missiles, Israel has the capability to take action against Iran too, though it would carry grave risks.

 

It would require flying over Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria or Turkey. It is uncertain whether any of these Muslim countries would knowingly allow Israel to use their airspace.

 

With targets some 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away, Israeli planes would likely have the complicated task of refueling in flight. Iran s antiquated air force, however, is unlikely to provide much of a challenge.

 

Many in the region cannot believe Israel would take such a step without a green light from the United States, its most important ally. That sense is deepened by the heightened stakes of a U.S. election year and the feeling that if Israel acts alone, the West would not escape unscathed.

 

The U.S. has been trying to push both sides, leading the charge for international sanctions while also pressing Israel to give the sanctions more time. In recent weeks, both the U.S. and European Union have imposed harsher sanctions on Iran s oil sector, the lifeblood of its economy, and its central bank. Israeli officials say they want the sanctions to be imposed faster and for more countries to join them.

 

Last week, The Associated Press reported that officials in Israel all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss Iran were concerned that the measures, while welcome, were constraining Israel in its ability to act because the world expected the effort to be given a chance.

 

Even a limited Israeli operation could well unleash regionwide fighting. Iran could launch its Shihab 3 missiles at Israel, and have its local proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, unleash rockets. Israel s military intelligence chief, Aviv Kochavi, warned last week that Israel s enemies possess some 200,000 rockets.

 

While sustained rocket and missile fire would certainly make life uncomfortable in Israel, Barak himself has said he believes casualties would be low suggesting it would be in the hundreds.

 

Iran might also try to attack Western targets in the region, including the thousands of U.S. forces based in the Gulf with the 5th Fleet.

 

An Israeli attack might have other unintended consequences. A European diplomat based in Pakistan, permitted to speak only under condition of anonymity, said that if Israel attacks, Islamabad will have no choice but to support any Iranian retaliation. That raises the specter of putting a nuclear-armed Pakistan at odds with Israel, widely believed to have its own significant nuclear arsenal. To some, the greatest risk is to the moribund world economy.

 

Analysts believe an Israeli attack would cause oil prices to spike, since global markets so far have largely dismissed the Israeli threats and not “price in” the threat. According to one poll conducted by the Rapidan Group, an energy consulting firm in Bethesda, Maryland, prices would surge by $23 a barrel. The price of oil settled Friday at $97.84 a barrel.

 

“Traders don t believe there s anything but bluster going on,” said Robert McNally, president of Rapidan and an energy adviser to former President George W. Bush. “A potential Israeli attack on Iran is different than almost every scenario that we ve seen before.”

 

McNally said Iran could rattle oil markets by targeting oil fields in southern Iraq or export facilities in Saudi Arabia or Qatar and withhold sales of its own oil and natural gas from countries not boycotting.

 

Iran also could attempt to carry out its biggest threat: to shut the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world s oil passes. That could send oil prices soaring beyond $200 a barrel. But analysts note Iran s navy is overmatched.

 

If a surge in oil prices proved lasting, financial markets would probably plummet on concerns that global economic growth would slow and on the fear that any conflict could worsen and spread.

 

For the U.S. economy, higher gasoline prices would likely result in lower consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of U.S. economic activity. That could have devastating consequences for an incumbent president seeking re-election.

 

Nick Witney, former head of the EU s European Defense Agency, said “the political and economic consequences of an Israeli attack would be catastrophic for Europe” since the likely spike in the price of oil alone “could push the entire EU, including Germany, into recession.”

 

He said this could lead to “messy defaults” by countries like Greece and Italy, and possibly cause a collapse of the already-wobbly euro. Witney, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, added that “the Iranians would probably retaliate against European interests in the region, and conceivably more directly with terrorism aimed at Western countries and societies.”

 

Oil disruptions or higher oil prices will also dent growth in Asia. China, India, South Korea and Japan all buy substantial amounts of Iranian crude and could face temporary shortages.

 

China s fast-growing economy, which gets 11 percent of its oil from Iran, has urged all sides to avoid disrupting supplies. Any impact on China s economy, the world s second-largest, could send out global shockwaves if it dented Chinese demand for industrial components and raw materials.

 

Why is the issue coming to a head with such unfortunate timing, with the U.S. election looming and the global economy hanging by a razor s edge?

 

The urgency is fueled by a belief in Israel that Iran is moving centrifuges and key installations deep underground by the summer combined with doubts about whether either Israel or the United States have the bunker-busting capacity to act effectively thereafter.

 

At last week s security conference, Vice Premier Moshe Yaalon, a former military chief, said all of Iran s nuclear installations are still vulnerable to military strikes. In a startling threat, he appeared to contradict assessments of foreign experts and Israeli defense officials that it would be difficult to strike sensitive Iranian nuclear targets hidden deep underground.

 

American officials acknowledge the current version of its bunker-buster bombs considered the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal may not be able to penetrate Iran s heavily fortified underground facilities. The Pentagon is asking Congress to reprogram about $82 million in order to make the 30,000-pound bunker-buster bomb more capable.

 

But U.S. officials also say there are a number of ways to cripple or disable the sites, such as targeting entrance and exit routes to an underground facility, rendering it inaccessible.

 

Israeli officials at the conference asserted that Iran has already produced enough enriched uranium to eventually build four rudimentary nuclear bombs and in what would be a new twist was even developing missiles capable of reaching the U.S.

 

Amos Yadlin, the former head of Israel s military intelligence, said the world needed less discussion on the issue. “There is the danger that an escalation could get out of control,” he said. “Israel should go back to what it does best: Shut up.”

 

US Archives unveils Magna Carta after repairs

 

The National Archives unveiled its 715-year-old copy of Magna Carta on Thursday after a conservation effort removed old patches and repaired weak spots in the English declaration of human rights that inspired the United States  founding documents.

 

A $13.5 million gift from philanthropist David Rubenstein funded conservation and a new case for the only original Magna Carta in the United States. Rubenstein bought the historic document at auction in 2007 for $21.3 million and sent it to the National Archives on a long-term loan.

 

Rubenstein, who is co-founder of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group, said he bought the document previously owned by Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot because he wanted to keep it from leaving the country. The only other copies are in Britain and at Australia s parliament.

 

The U.S. copy was one of four reissued in the year 1297. It still carries the wax seal of King Edward I of England, which is attached by a ribbon under the document.

 

As a history buff, Rubenstein, 62, has become somewhat of an expert on Magna Carta s legacy dating to 1215. That s when noblemen came together to declare their rights to King John, including the right to a trial by jury and the first limits on arbitrary taxation that led to the principle of “no taxation without representation.”

 

“This became something that set the trend of common law” in Britain and later in the United States as founding fathers such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison referred back to Magna Carta, Rubenstein said.

 

Rubenstein said he became interested in the ideas behind the Constitution while working for Congress in his 20s, which led him to study the Magna Carta. The document will likely remain at the National Archives permanently, he said.

 

“You can t be buried with these documents as far as I know,” Rubenstein said.

 

Magna Carta will return to public view at the National Archives on Feb. 17. A new interactive display will allow visitors to zoom in on an image of the parchment and see how it was repaired. They can read an English translation of Magna Carta s Latin words and see comparisons to language in the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

 

On Thursday, conservators showed the document in its new protective case developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

 

Rubenstein s gift also is funding an upcoming exhibit that will open in 2013. There, Magna Carta will be shown as a forerunner to the freedoms imagined in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights and will be paired with other documents declaring human rights for African Americans, women, immigrants and others.
 

Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive

 

Biden spelled out a blunt reelection message for his boss President Barack Obama on Tuesday — “Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.”

 

Biden s comment at a Texas fundraiser came as Obama stepped up his drive to claim credit for rescuing the iconic US car industry, as he took a spin around the Washington auto show and declared “the US auto industry is back.”

 

The vice president boiled down Obama s State of the Union message into some pithy sound bites at a fundraiser in Fort Worth expected to raise more than $150,000 dollars for the reelection campaign.

 

Biden hailed Obama as a champion of America s hard-pressed middle classes as they emerge from the deepest recession since the 1930s and said the president had kept his promise to pull US troops out of Iraq.

 

“But the best way to sum up the job the president has done — if you need a real shorthand — Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive,” Biden said, adding that he was passing on a line suggested to him by a supporter.

 

Biden also suggested that the bitter race for the Republican nomination was helping his and Obama s chances in November s presidential election.

 

“For the first time, the Republicans are not hiding the ball. … They are saying what they believe, God love them. They are not even pretending.”

 

“This is going to be one heck of a race. I think we are doing better and better every day, … in no small part because they are making it clear what they are for.”

 

Obama earlier made a more prosaic attempt to claim credit for an auto bailout which is credited with saving General Motors and Chrysler from going bust, as he toured a selection of gleaming new hybrid vehicles at the Washington auto show.

 

The bailout plan featured prominently in his annual address to Congress last week, along with the US special forces raid that killed Al-Qaeda leader bin Laden last year and bolstered Obama s national security credentials.

 

“When you look at all these cars, it is testimony to the outstanding work that s been done by workers — American workers, American designers,” Obama said.

 

“The fact that GM is back, number one, I think shows the kind of turnaround that s possible when it comes to American manufacturing,” said the president, who favors using government to create conditions for jobs growth.

 

“It s good to remember that … there were some folks who were willing to let this industry die. Because of folks coming together, we are now back in a place where we can compete with any car company in the world.”

 

Obama s comments appeared to be a swipe at Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney over his initial criticism of the idea of shoring up iconic auto giants General Motors and Chrysler with federal funds.

 

The president argues that his federal funding and bankruptcy plan for the two firms, inherited from former president George W. Bush, saved the US auto industry.

 

Romney, apparently seeking to capitalize on public fatigue with bailouts, argued that the firms should have gone through bankruptcy — which they later did — without a prior cash injection which eventually hit $82 billion.

 

Obama signed off on the risky and unpopular bailout, seeking to save thousands of jobs, after concluding that if GM and Chrysler had failed, the entire auto parts support industry, as well as a third firm, Ford, could have also gone under.
 

US confirms possible release of Taliban from Gitmo

 

U.S. intelligence officials acknowledged Tuesday that the United States may release several Afghan Taliban prisoners from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as an incentive to bring the Taliban to peace talks.

 

Meanwhile, Afghan officials told The Associated Press that a plan to give Afghanistan a form of legal custody over the men if they were released satisfied their earlier objection to sending the prisoners to a third country.

 

Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper told Congress Tuesday that no decision had been made whether to trade the five Taliban prisoners, now held at Guantanamo Bay, as part of nascent peace talks with the Taliban. He and CIA Director David Petraeus did not dispute that the Obama administration was considering transferring the five to a third country.

 

U.S. officials and others spoken had previously only vaguely, and usually anonymously, about the proposal to send the prisoners to Qatar, a Persian Gulf country that has played a central role in framing talks that might end the 10-year U.S. war in Afghanistan. The lead U.S. negotiator trying to coax the Taliban into talks also had acknowledged publicly the possibility of a release but had said there was no final decision.

 

The prisoners proposed for transfer include some of the detainees brought to Guantanamo during the initial days and weeks of the U.S. invasion that toppled the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001. At least one has been accused in the massacre of thousands of Shiite Muslims in Afghanistan, according to U.S. and other assessments, but none are accused of directly killing Americans.

 

“I don t think anybody harbors any illusions about it, but I think the position is to at least explore the potential for negotiating with them as a part of this overall resolution of the situation in Afghanistan,” Clapper said during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.

 

The Obama administration recently has embraced the possibility of negotiations much more openly, saying that although they remain cautious they are also encouraged that the militants may be ready to bargain. Peace talks, if they should happen, would include the elected Afghan government and, at least at the outset, representatives of the U.S. government. With nearly 100,000 troops in Afghanistan and a war and development budget in the billions of dollars, the U.S. remains the largest power broker in Afghanistan.

 

Afghan President Hamid Karzai supports a prisoner release as a means to build confidence among the Taliban militants that talks are worthwhile, but he had balked at the U.S.-backed plan to send them to Qatar instead of home to Afghanistan. That plan appeared to undercut his authority and offend Afghan sovereignty, Afghan officials said. Karzai yanked his ambassador from Qatar, saying Qatar had not kept him properly informed.

 

Recent discussions between Karzai and U.S. negotiators found a way around the Afghan objections, a senior Afghan diplomat and another official said. Speaking on condition of anonymity because the arrangement still is under discussion, the officials said Afghanistan could assume a sort of legal custody over the prisoners and then, with the prisoners  own consent, agree to consign them to house arrest in Qatar.

 

An Afghan delegation would prepare the way for that arrangement by visiting the prisoners at Guantanamo and signing off on the transfer plan, one official said. The Obama administration does not want to send the prisoners to Afghanistan, in part for fear they might be released. The men are considered “enemy combatants” who were, at least until recently, considered too dangerous to release.

 

Afghan custody of the men, even if only on paper, could provide sufficient political cover for Karzai against criticism at home that the arrangement is a snub. Karzai already has reluctantly endorsed Qatar publicly as the site for a militant political office that would serve as a headquarters for talks.

 

U.S. officials would not confirm the possible solution but did not dispute it.

 

Separately, Afghan officials said their government plans to explore talks with militants under the auspices of Saudi Arabia or others. Those talks would complement talks in Qatar, not undermine them, and carry at least an implicit stamp of approval from U.S. negotiators, the officials said.
 

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