Interpol issues notice against 2 Pak Army majors

The Interpol has issued Red Corner Notice against five accused persons, including two serving Pakistani Army majors, for their alleged role in the Mumbai terror strike of 2008.
The Interpol issued the Red Corner Notice after securing a non-bailable warrant from the court Additional Sessions Judge.
The warrants were issued on the basis of disclosures made by American terrorist David Headley, who was extensively questioned by the NIA officials in June this year.
The Red Corner Notice has been issued against Major Sameer Ali, and Major Iqbal, both serving in the Pakistani Army, Illyas Kashmiri, an LeT terrorist, Sajid Majid and Syed Abdur Rehman Hashim.
The security agencies have already secured Red Corner notice against Lashker’s founder Hafeez Sayeed and his close aide Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi in connection with the 26/11 attacks that left over 160 people dead.
These people, according to NIA officials, had worked in close coordination with Headly for carrying out terror strikes in Mumbai.

Interpol issues notice against 2 Pak Army majors

The Interpol has issued Red Corner Notice against five accused persons, including two serving Pakistani Army majors, for their alleged role in the Mumbai terror strike of 2008.
The Interpol issued the Red Corner Notice after securing a non-bailable warrant from the court Additional Sessions Judge.
The warrants were issued on the basis of disclosures made by American terrorist David Headley, who was extensively questioned by the NIA officials in June this year.
The Red Corner Notice has been issued against Major Sameer Ali, and Major Iqbal, both serving in the Pakistani Army, Illyas Kashmiri, an LeT terrorist, Sajid Majid and Syed Abdur Rehman Hashim.
The security agencies have already secured Red Corner notice against Lashker’s founder Hafeez Sayeed and his close aide Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi in connection with the 26/11 attacks that left over 160 people dead.
These people, according to NIA officials, had worked in close coordination with Headly for carrying out terror strikes in Mumbai.

Obama backs Indian access to Mumbai planner

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Sunday voiced support for giving India access to Mumbai attack planner David Headley, in talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a senior Indian official said.

Headley, the US-born son of a former Pakistani diplomat and American woman, has pleaded guilty to surveying targets for the 2008 bloodbath in Mumbai. US prosecutors in exchange agreed he would not face extradition to India or the death penalty.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said Singh asked for access to Headly in talks with Obama on the eve of a major nuclear summit in Washington.

“He was fully supportive of our request for provision of such access,” Rao told reporters.

CJ takes suo moto against corruption in LNG tender

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry Thursday took suo moto notice against misappropriation allegedly done in a government’s tender concerning with Liquid Natural Gas (LNG), which also caused loss of $1 billion to national treasure, Geo news reported.

In a statement issued Thursday from Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP), CJP took notice in response to a news of embezzlement allegedly done while awarding LNG tender from government officials, which was published in Thenews international newspaper of Jang Group of Companies.

According to details, SCP’s registrar office sent a summary to CJ Chaudhry, prompting him to take suo moto notice under article 184 of the constitution of Pakistan.

The Apex court is now all set to hold hearing of a case in this connection tomorrow (Friday) with CJP himself leading the hearing.

Meanwhile, justice Chaudhry has also summoned in SCP a senior journalist of Thenews newspaper namely Rauf Klasra, directing him to present the record, which made him file the news concerning alleged embezzlement of one billion dollars in national treasure through a tender of LNG.

US seeks Pakistan action on anti-India groups

WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday called on Pakistan to curb anti-Indian militants, praising Islamabad”s recent efforts against extremism but saying it could do more to improve ties with New Delhi.

Robert Blake, the assistant secretary of state for South Asia, in late March held talks in India and Pakistan where he said he voiced support for the recent resumption of dialogue between the longtime adversaries.

Blake hailed the “enormous” progress in Pakistan in fighting Islamic extremists, pointing to its offensives against homegrown Taliban in its restive northwest and recent arrests of militant leaders.

“I think one can argue there is a lot of important progress that has been made but we think there also needs to be progress against these Punjab-based groups,” Blake told reporters.

He was referring to groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, which India holds responsible for a 2008 assault on Mumbai, and Jaish-e-Mohammed, believed to have joined Lashkar in a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament.

Blake said Punjab-based militants “are targeting Pakistan as well,” pointing to attacks in the provincial capital Lahore including a deadly 2009 ambush on Sri Lanka”s visiting cricket team.

Blake said he also relayed to Pakistan the concerns of New Delhi that militants are infiltrating India to carry out attacks.

“I reminded them that from 2004 to 2007 both of those countries made quite important progress in their bilateral relations, and that progress was made possible in part by the significant efforts the government of Pakistan made at the time to stop cross-border infiltration,” he said.

The United States has walked a delicate balancing act in its relations in South Asia.
The United States is trying to curb anti-Americanism in Pakistan and has launched a 7.5-billion-dollar aid program to build the country”s infrastructure and democratic institutions.

But Washington has warming relations with New Delhi and has voiced hope for a broad alliance between the world”s two largest democracies.

In one source of strain, India is seeking access to David Headley, the US-born son of a former Pakistani diplomat and American woman who surveyed targets in Mumbai before the siege that left 166 people dead.

US prosecutors last month reached a deal with Headley in which he agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with US investigators. In reutrn, he will avoid the death penalty and extradition to India.

Blake said the United States was “fully committed” to sharing information gleaned from Headley but had not decided whether to give Indian investigators direct access.

“He was scouting out some possible sites and so obviously the government of India has a great interest in anything to do with that and we have a great interest in sharing as much information as we can,” Blake said.

Some Indian commentators have voiced outrage, questioning what the US reaction would be if India hesitated at giving access to a suspect involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Level Operative:David Headley Was No Low

TrendPK.com Level Operative:David  Headley Was No Low:The extensive use of terrorist tradecraft by Pakistani American terror suspect David Headley makes it evident that he “was not merely a low-level cannon fodder-type operative”, according to US strategic think tank Stratfor.
The December 7 indictment of Headley, charged with scouting targets for the 26/11 [...]