Af-Pak Jihad attracting foreign fighters: Officials

 

The Afghan-Pakistan jihad is attracting fewer foreign fighters following the death of Osama bin Laden, the growing threat posed by US drones, and lack of funds, Western security officials say.

 

While no precise figure is available, it would appear that the number of would-be jihadists from abroad has been drying up, according to one security official who declined to be named.

 

However, more Pakistanis are willing to take up the fight and make up the numbers, he also warned.

 

“Over the past six months, young Frenchmen there have nearly all left Pakistan. There were 20 to 30 of them, who had either converted (to Islam) or had links to the Maghreb; today there are hardly any left,” he said.

 

“Other European countries whose nationals used to go to Pakistan to join the jihad have drawn the same conclusion — a drastic reduction over recent months,” he added.

 

The “Arab Spring” revolts also acted as a magnet, with a number of jihadists moving to Libya to join the fight to remove Moamer Kadhafi from power, he said.

 

“Fighting in Afghanistan is also less attractive because of the idea that the Afghan taliban want to concentrate more on home fighting and that world jihad is less and less their cup of tea,” he added.

 

For Frank Cilluffo, who co-authored “Foreign Fighters” for the Homeland Security Policy Institute, “first and foremost, military actions, including the use of drones, has made the environment less hospitable to foreign fighters traveling to the region, by disrupting Al-Qaeda s (and associated entities ) training camps and pipelines.”

 

Direct and indirect accounts by jihadists also speak of disarray within Al-Qaeda in northwestern Pakistan where activists avoid coming together for fear of being attacked and whose weapons training now takes place indoors because of aerial and satellite surveillance.

 

In a report, entitled “Militant Pipeline” describing the links between the northwestern Pakistani frontier and the West, researcher Paul Cruickshank quotes one Ustadh Ahmad Faruq, described as a Pakistan-based Al-Qaeda spokesman who recently acknowledged his network s difficulties.

 

“The freedom we enjoyed in a number of regions has been lost. We are losing people and lack resources. Our land is being squeezed and drones fly over us,” he reportedly said in an audio cassette.

 

“It s difficult to have reliable figures,” on the number of foreign fighters, according to Cruickshank, who is a fellow at New York University s Center on Law and Security.

 

“I think the drone strikes have been a major issue for the militants, the death of bin Laden is going to be a very big challenge as well. He was so important for a lot of these militants — he was the Al-Qaeda brand.

 

“By going over there they were joining his cause. The fact that he has been removed from the scene is likely to be a great recruiting challenge for Al-Qaeda,” he said.

 

“But the conflict is still going on in Afghanistan and in the radical circles it is still viewed as a very legitimate jihad. So it s likely that the number of volonteers is going to be diminished, but as long as there are US soldiers to fight, I don t think it s going to dry up entirely,” he added.

 

Hafiz Hanif, a 17-year-old Afghan who trained in northwest, recently told Newsweek magazine the number of foreign fighters there was dwindling.

 

“When new people came they brought new blood, enthusiasm and money. All that has been lost. Now leaders seem to spend all their time moving from one place to another for their safety,” he said.
 

Crude prices higher in Asian trade

 

Crude prices edged higher in Asian trade Thursday on hopes that protracted talks over a Greek debt deal were set for a conclusion, analysts said.

 

New York s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude for delivery in March, gained 18 cents to $98.89 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for March was up 21 cents to $117.41 in the afternoon.

 

“Crude futures rose… on hopes that a deal to bail out debt-strapped Greece was near,” said Phillip Futures in a commentary.

 

Greek government coalition talks on austerity measures ended on Wednesday with the prime minister s office saying one remaining point of disagreement remained — cuts to pensions. It added that it hoped for a complete deal to be reached by Thursday evening.

 

Representatives of the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, have been organising massive bailout loans for the debt-ridden country.

 

Greece desperately requires emergency funds from its eurozone partners to avoid defaulting on 14.5 billion euros ($19.2 billion) worth of payments to bond holders due on March 20.

 

Other analysts however cautioned against raising expectations too high.

 

“At present, we await the outcome of a Greek meeting today but I wouldn t suggest anyone clears their diary for this,” Justin Harper, head of research at IG Markets Singapore, told AFP.

 

“We ve seen too many meetings and deadlines postponed, moved and cancelled altogether for people to get too worked up about this latest  line in the sand ,” he added.

 

Traders were also closely watching developments in Iran, where lawmakers backed unspecified “retaliatory measures” prepared by Tehran s oil and trade ministries against a European oil embargo.

 

“In our view, unless Iran is able to secure an alternative buyer, the decision is likely to remain in the form of rhetoric and a threat,” Barclays Capital said in a commentary.

 

However the situation surrounding the Islamic republic remained tense, “with the risk of miscalculation resulting in a messy military endgame rising”, it added.

 

Western countries have accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons but Tehran has insisted its atomic programme is for civilian purposes.

Gunmen attack police station in Cairo: security

 

Gunmen torched a police station in eastern Cairo on Friday and freed detainees, security officials told AFP, amid nationwide unrest following football-related violence that left scores dead.

 

The gunmen, carrying automatic weapons, stormed the police station in the Al-Marg district, freeing the detainees before setting fire to the building.
 

China criticizes Iran sanctions

 

China s main ruling party criticized sanctions on Iran as German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Friday with President Hu Jintao after urging Beijing to press Tehran to avoid developing nuclear weapons.

 

Western efforts to pressure Iran with an oil embargo are “casting a shadow over the global economy,” said People s Daily, the main Communist Party mouthpiece. It appealed to other governments to “keep calm and restrained and not escalate tensions.”

 

China has rejected sanctions. The world s second-largest economy gets about 10 percent of its oil imports from Iran.

 

Chinese analysts say an embargo could be damaging because Beijing would be hard-pressed to replace those supplies.

 

Merkel appealed Thursday to Beijing, the biggest buyer of Iranian crude, to help persuade Tehran to renounce the possible development of nuclear weapons. At an appearance with Premier Wen Jiabao, the German leader said sanctions were unavoidable.

 

Also Thursday, Wen said Beijing might contribute to European bailout funds but made no financial commitment.

 

On Friday, Hu told Merkel that Beijing wants to develop a “strategic partnership” and commercial relations with Germany, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. There was no mention of whether the leaders discussed Iran.

 

The European Union imposed an oil embargo on Iran last week and froze the assets of its central bank. In December, the United States said it would bar financial institutions from the U.S. market if they do business with Iran s central bank.
 

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.
 

Oil prices dip near $99 a barrel

 

Oil prices are down on concerns that the U.S. economy could slow and investors  worries eased about supply disruptions in the Persian Gulf.

 

Benchmark crude fell by 34 cents to $99.22 per barrel in New York on Monday. Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oils that are imported by U.S. refineries, lost 28 cents at $111.18 per barrel in London.

 

The Commerce Department said Americans kept a tighter grip on their wallets in December. Consumer spending was flat, even though incomes rose by the most in nine months. The economy relies heavily on consumer spending, and analysts say the economic recovery could stall and energy demand may stay weak if spending doesn t pick up.

 

Meanwhile, Iran welcomed international weapons experts into the country in hopes of refuting claims that it is building a nuclear weapon. That eased concerns about possible military action in the region. Still, Europe plans to embargo Iranian oil this summer to pressure Iran about its nuclear program. If that happens, Iran says it could retaliate by blocking passage through the Persian Gulf, where tankers carry one-sixth of the world s oil exports.

 

The U.S. is ready to implement sanctions on Iran s central bank that will make it harder for Iran to sell oil.
In other energy trading, heating oil was flat at $3.07 per gallon and gasoline futures fell 5 cents to $2.88 per gallon. Natural gas futures fell by 1 cent to $2.75 per 1,000 cubic feet.
 

UN nuclear inspection gets under way in Iran

 

Iran s foreign minister expressed optimism Sunday that a visit by U.N. inspectors to Iran s nuclear facilities would produce an understanding, despite world concerns that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons.

 

The three-day inspection tour by the International Atomic Energy Agency team comes during spiking tension. The West is imposing new sanctions to try to force Iran to slow or halt its nuclear program, and Iran is threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil passage, in retaliation.

 

Visiting Ethiopia, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi appeared to be trying to defuse the crisis.

 

“We are very optimistic about the mission and the outcome” of the IAEA mission, Salehi was quoted as saying by Iran s semiofficial Mehr news agency.

 

“We ve always tried to put transparency as a principle in our cooperation with IAEA,” Salehi said. “During this visit, the delegation has questions and the necessary answers will be given,”

 

The findings from the visit could greatly influence the direction and urgency of U.S.-led efforts to rein in Iran s ability to enrich uranium which Washington and allies fear could eventually produce weapons-grade material. Iran has declined to abandon its enrichment labs, but claims it seeks to fuel reactors only for energy and medical research.

 

The team is likely to visit an underground enrichment site near the holy city of Qom, 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Tehran, which is carved into a mountain as protection from possible airstrikes. Earlier this month, Iran said it had begun enrichment work at the site, which is far smaller than the country s main uranium labs but is reported to have more advanced equipment.

 

The U.N. nuclear agency delegation includes two senior weapons experts Jacques Baute of France and Neville Whiting of South Africa suggesting that Iran may be prepared to address some issues related to the allegations that it seeks nuclear warheads.

 

In unusually blunt comments ahead of his arrival, the IAEA s Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts who is in charge of the agency s Iran file said he wants Tehran to “engage us on all concerns.”
 

Gaddafi defiant, govt said talking with rebels

TRIPOLI: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi urged his people early on Monday to “liberate Libya” from NATO and traitors, a day after rebels captured a key town on the road west to Tunisia, severing Tripoli’s main supply route.

Late on Sunday, representatives of Gaddafi’s government were holding talks with rebels at a hotel on the southern Tunisian island of Djerba, a source with direct knowledge of the talks said — though the government spokesman denied it.

The talks followed a dramatic advance by the rebels that won them control of the town of Zawiyah, 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli on the coast, enabling them to halt food and fuel supplies from Tunisia to Gaddafi’s stronghold in the capital.

Tripoli was not under immediate threat from a rebel attack, but rebel forces are now in their strongest position since the uprising against 41 years of Gaddafi’s rule began in February, controlling the coast both east and west of Tripoli.

The rebels are helped by NATO aircraft which, under a U.N. mandate to protect civilians from Gaddafi’s forces, are bombing military facilities and equipment that are trying to crush the rebel fighters.

Gaddafi’s speech on Monday, delivered over a poor quality telephone line and broadcast by state television in audio only, was his first public address since rebel fighters launched their latest offensive, the biggest in months.

“The Libyan people will remain and the Fateh revolution (which brought Gaddafi to power in 1969) will remain. Move forward, challenge, pick up your weapons, go to the fight for liberating Libya inch by inch from the traitors and from NATO,” the Libyan leader said.

“Get ready for the fight … The blood of martyrs is fuel for the battlefield,” he said, in what state television said was a live speech.

In Djerba late on Sunday, security staff turned away a Reuters reporter from the hotel where the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the talks between rebel and government representatives were being held.

Lights were on inside the hotel and a man in jeans and t-shirt, a list in his hand, was standing outside with hotel security staff.

In Tripoli, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim blamed Western leaders and the media for the spread of rumours that the government was engaged in talks on the leader’s departure from Libya.

“This information is absolutely incorrect and it is part of a media war against us. Their target is to confuse us, break our spirit, and shake our morale,” he said.

“The leader is here in Libya, fighting for the freedom of our nation. He will not leave Libya,” Ibrahim said.

Gaddafi’s characteristically defiant speech followed a day of action across a swathe of northwest Libya during which rebels said they had seized the town of Surman, next door to Zawiyah, there was fighting in the town of Garyan that controls the southern access to Tripoli, and shooting could be heard near the main Libyan-Tunisian border crossing.

REBEL FLAG

Rebels from the Western Mountains region to the south advanced into Zawiyah late on Saturday, and early on Sunday, about 50 rebel fighters were milling around near the central market, triumphantly shouting “Allahu Akbar!” (“God is greatest”).

The red, black and green rebel flag was flying from a shop. At the point where it passes through Zawiyah, the main highway linking Tripoli to Tunisia was empty of traffic.

Rebel fighters told Reuters there were still forces loyal to Gaddafi in the town, including snipers on tall buildings. Bursts of artillery and machinegun fire could be heard.

One rebel fighter said Gaddafi’s forces controlled the oil refinery on the northern edge of Zawiyah — a strategic target because it is the only one still functioning in western Libya and Gaddafi’s forces depend on it for fuel.

The fighting was spreading west from Zawiyah along the coastal highway towards the main Ras Jdir border crossing with Tunisia. A rebel spokesman called Abdulrahman said rebels had seized Surman, the next town west along the coast from Zawiyah.

But at the border crossing to Tunisia, Libyan customs and immigration officers were operating as usual, despite reports of clashes between rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces in the area late on Saturday.

On another front in Sunday’s fighting, heavy gunfire could be heard from the town Of Garyan, a Reuters reporter in the area said. A rebel fighter told Reuters “We control 70 percent of Garyan. There is still fighting taking place at the moment.”

Government spokesman Ibrahim said Zawiyah and Garyan were “under our full control” but that there were small pockets of fighting in two other locations in the area around Tripoli.

The coastal highway between Tripoli and Tunisia had not been blocked by the fighting, Ibrahim said in a telephone interview on Sunday, but foreigners were not being allowed to use the route “to save them from any bullets here or there”.

Rebels, backed by NATO warplanes, have been trying since February to end Gaddafi’s rule in the bloodiest of the “Arab Spring” uprisings convulsing the Middle East.

After a period of deadlock, the rebels’ advance to the Mediterranean coast near Tripoli represents a major shift in the balance of forces.

Gaddafi says the rebels are armed criminals and al Qaeda militants, and has described the NATO campaign as an act of colonial aggression aimed at stealing Libya’s oil. AGENCIES

Sindh not to cancel old arms licences

Those weapon licences issued by the federal government will be cancelled next month (September).

A few weeks ago, Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik announced that all weapon licences across the country will be cancelled soon to tackle the bogus licences after which new weapon licences will be issued and registered by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).

Contrary to Rehman Malik’s announcement of cancelling all weapon licences, the Sindh government has now announced that it will not cancel its provincial weapon licences.

Meanwhile, the federal government has announced that a ban has been imposed on Weapons Permit-144 and all federal weapon licences will be cancelled in September.

Sindh’s weapon licenses will not be cancelled: Sindh Home Department

KARACHI: All weapon licenses issued by the Sindh government will not be cancelled, said the Sindh Home Department today.

Those weapon licenses issued by the federal government will all be cancelled next month (September).

A few weeks ago, Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik announced that all weapon licenses across the country will be cancelled soon to tackle the bogus licenses after which new weapon licenses will be issued and registered by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).

Contrary to Rehman Malik’s announcement of cancelling all weapon licenses across the country, the Sindh government has now announced that it will not cancel its provincial weapon licenses.

Meanwhile, the federal government has announced that a ban has been imposed on Weapons Permit-144 and all federal weapon licenses will be cancelled in September . TrendPK

Next Page »