Afghan forces kill two Pakistanis

Some two dozen Afghan security force officers crossed the border on Friday and kidnapped the two Pakistanis, taking them back into Afghanistan, secretary of tribal affairs Naseebullah Bazai told AFP.

 

“Two Pakistanis were taken away by Afghan forces and shot dead inside Afghanistan,” Bazai said, adding that the government had called an immediate meeting with the Afghan Consulate General in Quetta.

 

“We have demanded immediate return of bodies and we shall lodge a strong protest with Afghanistan on Monday,” he said and added that the foreign ministry had been alerted about the incident.

 

Local intelligence officials confirmed the incident.

 

The southwestern Baluchistan province, of which Quetta is the capital, borders Afghanistan and Iran and is rife with domestic insurgency as well as violence blamed on Taliban militants. –AFP
 

Al-Qaeda leader voices support for Syria uprising

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has voiced his support for the Syrian uprising in a new video message released on jihadist forums, US website monitors said Sunday.

 

In the video titled “Onwards, Lions of Syria”, Zawahiri criticised the Syrian regime for crimes against its citizens, and praised those rising up against the government, the SITE Intelligence Group said.

 

Zawahiri, shown in front of a green curtain in the video released Saturday which runs for over eight minutes, urged Syrians not to rely on the West or Arab governments, whom he said would impose a new regime subservient to the West.

 

He called on Muslims in Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon to support the uprising and remove the current regime which he condemned as anti-Islam.

 

Since March last year, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad s government has carried out a bloody crackdown on an uprising in which more than 6,000 people have been killed.

 

Arab League foreign ministers will meet on Sunday in Cairo to discuss their next move over the crisis.

 

Long Al-Qaeda s number two, Zawahiri took over the helm of the group after Osama bin Laden was killed in May 2011 during a US special forces night raid deep in Pakistan.

 

The video is the latest of a number in which the militant chief has attempted to seize on the “Arab Spring” revolutions.

 

Al-Qaeda has been absent from the popular protests that swept the Arab world last year, leading to the fall of leaders in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia and provoking major unrest elsewhere.

 

Analysts argue that the phenomenon has left the global terror outfit weakened and increasingly irrelevant.

 

The United States said last year that it believed Zawahiri, who has been in hiding since the United States declared a “war on terror” after the September 11, 2001 attacks, was still in Pakistan.
 

Drones breed militancy, says Hina Khar

 

Attacks by US drones on Pakistani territory are illegal and cannot be tolerated, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told a Russian media outlet.

 

She also said the alleged involvement of Pakistani spy agencies with the Taliban is not even worthy of comment.
In a recent development, a US drone strike killed three suspected militants in the Pakistani northwest tribal region, AP news agency reported on Thursday.

 

According to the minister, the US attacks promote extremist moods in the region.

 

“Drones are not only completely illegal and unlawful and have no authorization to be used within the domains of international law but even more importantly, they are counter-productive to the objective of getting this region rid of militancy, and terrorism and extremism,” Hina Rabbani Khar said.

 

“Because if one strike leads to getting you target number one or target number three today, you are creating five more targets or 10 more targets in the militancy that it breeds, in the fodder that it gives to the militants to attract more people to join their ranks.”

 

“We are today in Pakistan suffering from the consequences of what many other powers of the world decided to do in that region to rid itself of the challenge that appeared in 1979, which was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan,” she added.
Allegations that the Pakistani security forces maintain close contact with Taliban and even sponsor them are old and do not even “worth a comment,” Hina Rabbani Khar said.

 

“I think every intelligence agency in the world maintains ties with one group or the other and all of them at some level,” she said. “These ties are now pretty much out at the open because people are openly talking about talking to these people. This is something which is not even worth a comment.”—News Trends Monitoring

 

Russia pushes Syria reforms as bloodshed mounts

 

Days after blocking a U.S.-backed peace plan at the U.N., senior Russian officials pushed for reforms Tuesday during an emergency meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, promoting a settlement to end the uprising without removing him from power.

 

Thousands of flag-waving government supporters cheered the Russians in the Syrian capital of Damascus, while to the north, Assad s forces pounded the opposition city of Homs underscoring the sharp divisions propelling the country toward civil war.

 

The violence has led to the most severe international isolation in more than four decades of Assad family rule, with country after country calling home their envoys.

 

France, Italy, Spain and Belgium pulled their ambassadors from Damascus, as did six Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia. Germany, whose envoy left the country this month, said he would not be replaced. The moves came a day after the U.S. closed its embassy in Syria and Britain recalled its ambassador.

 

Turkey, once a strong Assad supporter and now one of his most vocal critics, added its voice to the international condemnation, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying his country cannot remain silent about massacres in Syria. He said Turkey would “launch a new initiative with countries that stand by the Syrian people instead of the regime.”

 

His comments reflect a growing movement by the U.S., Europe and countries in the region to organize a coalition of nations to back Syria s opposition, though what kind of support remains unclear. Over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called for “friends of democratic Syria” to unite and rally against Assad s regime.

 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov flew into Damascus on Tuesday, accompanied by his foreign security chief, to try to boost a plan that would keep Assad in power, even though many prominent members of the opposition reject that entirely.

 

“It s clear that efforts to stop the violence should be accompanied by the beginning of dialogue among the political forces,” Lavrov said, according to the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass. “Today we received confirmation of the readiness of the president of Syria for this work.”

 

The visit was also a sign that Moscow wanted to get a firsthand assessment of the situation on the ground in Syria
 and the raucous welcome the diplomats received from thousands of regime supporters appeared aimed at showing that Assad s grip is firm, at least in Damascus.

 

Syria has been a key Russian ally since Soviet times, and Moscow remains a major arms supplier to Damascus even as Assad unleashes his forces to crush not only peaceful protesters, but army defectors who are fighting the regime.

 

The U.N. estimates the government crackdown has killed more than 5,400 people since March, making Syria s conflict one of the deadliest of the Arab Spring. Hundreds more are believed to have died since the U.N. released that figure in January, but the chaos in the country has made it impossible for the world body to update its figures.

 

Tuesday s visit by Lavrov and intelligence chief Mikhail Fradkov was evidence that Russia does not want to be seen as giving Assad a free hand to crush his opponents in the wake of Saturday s veto at the U.N. Security Council.

 

Both Russia and China blocked a Western- and Arab-backed resolution supporting calls for Assad to hand over some powers as a way to defuse the 11-month-old crisis.

 

Russia has opposed any U.N. call that could be interpreted as advocating military intervention or regime change. Russia and China also used their veto powers in October to block an attempt to condemn the violence in Syria.

 

On Tuesday, Moscow delivered its own message to Syria, calling on all sides to hold a meaningful dialogue.

 

“Necessary reforms must be implemented in order to address legitimate demands of the people striving for a better life,” Lavrov told Assad, according to ITAR-Tass.”
 

Romania’s PM designate holds talks to form government

BUCHAREST: Romania’s prime minister designate Mihai Razvan Ungureanu on Tuesday started talks on forming a new government.

Ungureanu arrived shortly after 0700 GMT at the government offices where the ruling coalition parties will discuss the new team.

Several key ministers should keep their jobs, according to political sources quoted by Mediafax news agency. They include Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu, European Affairs Minister Leonard Orban and Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu.

However, some changes are expected at the ministries of finance, economy and internal affairs, according to sources quoted by Mediafax.

Ungureanu, the head of the intelligence services since 2007, was designated prime minister on Monday by President Train Basescu after Emil Boc resigned following wide protests over austerity cuts.

He has 10 days to form his new team and win parliament’s approval.

His government will be made up of members of the ruling coalition parties: the Liberal Democrats (PDL), the Hungarian minority (UDMR) and the National Union for the progress of Romania (UNPR). AGENCIES

Indian BSF arrest 12 Pakistanis in Kutch Creek area

Twelve Pakistani nationals were arrested and their boats seized from Creek area in Gujarat s Kutch district, BSF officials said.

 

BSF Crocodile commandos caught the Pakistanis from the district s west coast by following footmarks left by them in the mud, they said.

 

The twelve had arrived in two boats, officials said, adding their trawlers got stuck in the marshy creek area as the sea water had receded.

 

The Pakistani nationals were handed over to Narayan Sarovar police station, from where they would be taken to the Joint Interrogation Centre in the district headquarters of Bhuj for questioning by various intelligence agencies.

 

Besides fishing equipment, nothing incriminating was found from the seized boats, BSF officials said.

 

The creek, which opens into the Arabian Sea, divides the Kutch region of Gujarat with the Sindh province of Pakistan.

 

On February 1, the BSF had seized three boats and arrested a Pakistani national while five of his accomplices had managed to escape.

India becomes biggest arm importer

 

India s planned purchase of 126 fighters from France s Dassault marks the latest stage in a huge military procurement cycle that has turned the world s largest democracy into its biggest arms importer.

 

The final Dassault contract is expected to be worth $12 billion and India is preparing further big ticket purchases over the coming years, including of helicopters and artillery.

 

In a report to be published next week, Jane s Defence Weekly forecasts that India s aggregate defence procurement spending between 2011 and 2015 will top $100 billion.

 

What is less clear — and the subject of some heated debate — is why New Delhi is so hungry for costly modern weaponry and where the country s strategic priorities lie.

 

Some argue that India is simply playing catch-up and using its growing economic wealth to effect a pragmatic, and long overdue, overhaul of a military arsenal still loaded with near-obsolete, Soviet-era hardware.

 

But others sense a more combative impulse, driven by the military modernisation efforts of its rivals and neighbours Pakistan and China, as well as the need to secure energy resources and supply lines outside its borders.

 

In testimony Tuesday to a Senate Select Committee, the director of US national intelligence, James Clapper, said India was increasingly concerned about China s posture on their disputed border and the wider South Asia region.

 

“The Indian military is strengthening its forces in preparation to fight a limited conflict along the disputed border, and is working to balance Chinese power projection in the Indian Ocean,” Clapper said.

 

In order to secure the modern weaponry it needs to buttress its defence imperatives, India has little choice but to spend big in the global arms market.

 

Its long-stated ambition of sourcing 70 percent of defence equipment from the home market has been hampered by weak domestic production — the result of the stifling impact of excessive bureaucracy.

 

Consequently, statistics from the Ministry of Defence show that India still imports 70 percent of its defence hardware.

 

“Where India has had some success is in joint ventures, and building foreign equipment under license,” said James Hardy, Asia Pacific analyst at Jane s — a respected industry publication.

 

“The licensed production route seems to be working and at this point in India s development is a good way of overcoming the bureaucratic challenges of indigenous production.”

 

The proposed contract with Dassault envisages the purchase of 18 Rafale aircraft, with the remaining 108 to be built in India.

 

India s need for a multi-combat fighter is, in part, based on its geographical size which spans several operational theatres with wildly varying topographies.

 

“The aircraft they have just get worn out,” said Hardy. “They want aircraft that can fly, land and take off anywhere from the Himalayas to the deserts of Rajasthan.” While the Indian Army has traditionally taken the lion s share of the national procurement budget, the focus has begun to shift in recent years toward the air force and navy.
In December, Russia handed over a nuclear-powered attack submarine to India on a 10-year lease — a deal greeted with alarm and anger by Pakistan.

 

The Akula II class craft is the first nuclear-powered submarine to be operated by India since it decommissioned its last Soviet-built vessel in 1991.

 

India is currently completing the development of its own Arihant-class nuclear-powered submarine and the Russian delivery is expected to help crews train for the domestic vessel s introduction into service next year.

 

India is particularly keen to strengthen its maritime capabilities, given China s pursuit of a powerful “blue water” navy which Delhi sees as a threat to key shipping routes in the Indian Ocean and Indian energy assets in the South China Sea. But many Indian observers reject suggestions that India is even thinking of getting into an arms race with China.

 

“The Chinese have a huge, huge lead. They are in a different league,” said strategic analyst Uday Bhaskar.

 

“The gap in conventional terms and WMD (weapons of mass destruction) is so wide in China s favour, that it s just not valid to say India is trying to catch up or seek any kind of equivalence.

 

“India is simply seeking what it sees as a level of self-sufficiency, and is being constrained by its modest outlay and a decision-making process that drives everyone up the wall. That s why we top of the list of arms-importing nations,” Bhaskar said.

 

China, meanwhile, seems content to gently mock what the Communist Party mouthpiece, the People s Daily, in December described as the “persecution mania” driving India s military modernisation.

 

US, Israel discuss Iran’s nuclear plan

 

The head of Israel s intelligence service paid a secret visit to Washington last week to discuss Iran s nuclear programme, the CIA director and a top US lawmaker said Tuesday.
 

Mossad chief Tamir Pardo flew to the US capital to consult with his American counterparts amid speculation over a possible Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, CIA director David Petraeus and Senator Dianne Feinstein revealed at a congressional hearing.

 

Sensitive trips by intelligence chiefs are usually kept secret but Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, mentioned Pardo s visit at a televised hearing as she discussed how Israel views Iran s nuclear ambitions.

 

“Well, the vice chairman and I have just met this past week with the director of Mossad, so that is a classified meeting,” Feinstein said at the hearing.

 

The Central Intelligence Agency director confirmed the meeting and said he was frequently talking to Israel s leaders, who he said viewed Iran s nuclear program as an “existential threat.”

 

“Like you, obviously, I met with the head of Mossad when he was here,” Petraeus said.

 

“That is part of an ongoing dialogue that has also included conversations that I ve had with Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu and with (Defense) Minister (Ehud) Barak — the latter almost on a monthly basis in the nearly five months that I ve been in the job,” he said.

 

Feinstein cited her meeting with the Mossad director after asking US intelligence chiefs about the likelihood of possible pre-emptive military action by Israel against Iran s nuclear sites.

 

US National Intelligence Director James Clapper replied that sanctions would hopefully convince Tehran to abandon its nuclear work but said he would prefer to answer the question in a closed-door session.

 

Israeli officials have sent conflicting messages about potential military strikes on Iran.

 

President Shimon Peres on Tuesday reaffirmed that “no option should be excluded against the program of Iran, which seeks to acquire weapons of mass destruction.”

 

“The regime of the ayatollahs is the most corrupt in the world, from a moral point of view,” Peres told a conference in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv.

 

The United States and other Western governments accuse Iran of seeking an atomic weapons capability, something Tehran has always denied.

 

Israeli leaders fear a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an existential threat to the Jewish state, which has the Middle East s sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal.

 

Some Israeli media reported in October last year that the option of pre-emptive air strikes on Iran was opposed by the country s intelligence services but favored by Netanyahu and Barak.
 

Karachi: 50 couples tie knot at mass wedding ceremony

 

At least couples got married at a mass wedding organized by a non-governmental organization in Karachi.

 

The DCO Karachi, Roshan Ali Sheikh was the chief guest at the ceremony. Speaking on the occasion the chief guest said that the expenses of the weddings have been borne by President Asif Ali Zardari.
 

Lahore: CNG stations to remain shut for three days

 

According to Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) load management plan, the CNG stations in Lahore, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Sahiwal and Multan regions will remain shut for three days.

 

The CNG stations will remain closed from 6:00am today to 6:00am on Thursday. On the other hand, gas supply to textile industry in Lahore region will resume for two day from 6:00am today.
 

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