US House passes sweeping health care overhaul

WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives late Saturday approved the broadest US health care overhaul in a half-century, handing President Barack Obama a major victory on his top domestic priority.

After hours of bitter debate and an appeal from Obama to ‘answer the call of history,’ lawmakers voted 220-215 for a 10-year, trillion-dollar plan to extend health coverage to some 36 million Americans who lack it now.

The chamber’s Democrats erupted in loud cheers and triumphant applause the moment the bill had the 218 votes needed for passage, about 11:07 pm (0407 GMT), a happy din that grew deafening when a gavel made it official.

The president had paid a rare visit to Congress to lobby for unity among his Democratic allies and reinforced it with a public speech, but 39 still joined 176 of the chamber’s Republicans in opposition to the proposal.

One Republican broke ranks, nominally fulfilling, in the barest terms, Obama’s vow to secure bipartisan support.

‘This is our moment to deliver. I urge members of congress to rise to this moment, answer the call of history and vote yes for health insurance reform for America,’ Obama said in the White House’s Rose Garden hours before the vote.

The fight to remake health care in the world’s richest country shifted to the US Senate, where its fate remained unclear amid a intra-party dispute among Democrats anchored on what role the US government should play.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, struggling to pull together the 60 votes needed to ensure passage, has hinted that the chamber may not act until next year.

That would put the issue front-and-center in the 2010 mid-term elections, when one third of the Senate, the entire House of Representatives, and many US governorships are up for grabs.

If, as expected, the two chambers pass rival versions of health care legislation, they will need to thrash out a compromise version and approve it in order to send it to Obama to sign into law.

Final House passage came after a flurry of votes, including a 240-194 vote to sharply tighten restrictions on government monies paying for abortions, seen as critical to cementing support from a group of anti-abortion Democrats.

The House then voted 176-258 to defeat the Republican alternative to the overall plan — with one lone Republican, Representative Timothy Johnson of Illinois, joining the Democrats in opposition.

The United States is the only industrialized democracy that does not ensure that all of its citizens have health care coverage, with an estimated 36 million Americans uninsured.

And Washington spends vastly more on health care — both per person and as a share of national income as measured by Gross Domestic Product — than other industrialized democracies, but with no meaningful edge in quality of care, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The bill would create a government-backed insurance plan, popularly known as a ‘public option,’ to compete with private firms and would end denial of coverage based on preexisting medical problems.

Under the White House-backed bill, Americans would have to buy insurance and most employers would have to offer coverage to their workers — though some small businesses would be exempt and the government would offer subsidies. —AFP

US, Brazil make Confederation Cup semi-finals

JOHANNESBURG: The United States staged a remarkable comeback to outclass Egypt 3-0 Sunday and join Brazil in the Confederations Cup semi-finals.

Pointless and minus-five on goal difference, the Americans appeared down and out ahead of the final Group B fixture in Rustenburg against Egyptian opponents who had upset world champions Italy in midweek.

But a goal midway through the first half from Charlie Davies and two more within nine minutes after half-time by Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey gave the USA an unexpectedly comfortable triumph.

And with Italy slumping again – 3-0 to dominant Brazil before a sell-out Pretoria crowd – the Americans squeezed through on goals scored having shared a minus-two goal difference with the Azzurri.

Egypt also collected three points, but a minus-three difference meant the team that lost in stoppage time to Brazil before stunning Italy finished bottom of the table after a thrilling climax to the group phase.

Spain, who topped Group A Saturday after a world record 15th consective win, will face the USA in Bloemfontein Wednesday with South Africa tackling Brazil in Johannesburg 24 hours later.

Form suggests a dream finale to the 2010 World Cup dress rehearsal next Sunday between Brazil and Spain while the host nation and the USA fight for third place and bronze medals.

Egypt goalkeeper Essam al-Hadary, a hero against Italy, gifted USA their first goal by fumbling a cross and allowing Davies to poke the ball over the line from an acute angle.

Bradley, son of coach Bob, got the second on 63 minutes and Dempsey the third before surviving a late ‘Pharaohs’ onslaught in which unmarked defender Wael Gomaa headed over.

So close was the second-place contest that if Egypt had snatched a consolation goal they would have sneaked through and the same applied to Italy, who began so well last weekend with a come-from-behind victory over USA.

The Americans had achieved the seemingly impossible and taken the spotlight away from the big match of the group phase at Loftus Versfeld that Brazil controlled after a cagey opening spell.

Brazil inflicted all the damage late in the first half wth Luis Fabiano scoring twice before Andrea Dossena turned a Robinho cross past Gianluigi Buffon into his own net.

Italy saw more of the ball in the second half as the title holders took their foot off the accelerator, but the goal that would have set up a game against Spain eluded them.

The last time Spain failed to win was at Euro 2008 when they edged Italy on penalties after 120 goalless minutes.

US, India agree to revive trade talks

NUSA DUA: New US and Indian trade negotiators met Monday in a bid to breathe life back into stalled negotiations on a global free-trade pact.

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk held talks with recently appointed Indian trade minister Anand Sharma and World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

The former Dallas mayor, who was appointed to the post by US President Barack Obama in March, also briefly met members of the Chinese delegation on the sidelines of a gathering of 19 major farm exporting countries.

Kirk made no comment but Sharma said the talks were ‘positive’ and both sides had reiterated their commitment to completing the WTO’s moribund Doha Round of negotiations, which collapsed in July.

‘There’s a shared and expressed commitment to take the negotiations forward and to work together for the resumption of the negotiations… to see the successful conclusion of the Doha Round,’ Sharma told AFP.

Developing countries including China and India want the industrialised world to scrap agricultural export subsidies, while Western powers are seeking greater access for their products in emerging markets.

The last round of Doha Round negotiations in Geneva in July fell apart over Washington’s refusal to accept Indian demands for measures to protect vulnerable Indian industries from a flood of cheap imports.

Sharma said it was time to ‘pick up the pieces from where they are and move forward. We are not looking at the difficulties, we are looking at the possibilities, to do our best and take this process to its culmination,’ he said.

‘There are no obstacles which are insurmountable.’ The Indian minister said he would go to Washington mid-June for follow-up talks with Kirk.

Brazil’s WTO ambassador, Roberto Azevedo, who sat in on the Kirk-Sharma meeting, said it was important for Washington and New Delhi to send a clear “political signal” that they are ready to iron out their differences.

‘We have two new players, Ron Kirk and Anand Sharma, so it’s good to have an opportunity to listen to them and what they bring to the table,’ Azevedo said.

The talks were taking place alongside a ministerial meeting of the Cairns Group of farm exporters, including Australia, Brazil and Canada.

The group has called for a fresh start to the Doha Round and condemned rising signs of protectionism, including a new trade war between the United States and the European Union over dairy export subsidies.

Washington’s trading partners are also baulking at the ‘Buy American’ plan included in US economic stimulus legislation which requires projects funded with stimulus money to use only US-made steel, iron and manufactured goods.

Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean, who is chairing the Cairns Group meeting, said the US and Indian sides had shown a genuine commitment to re-engage over the coming months.

Further negotiations could be expected on the sidelines of upcoming meetings of the G8, the OECD and APEC, he said.

‘We have to use today’s meeting, if you like, as a starting point for what is going to be a period of intense negotiations at the technical level and the political level,’ he told reporters.

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said it was time for the leaders of world trade to ’show their commitment’ as the global financial crisis ravaged export industries.

‘Everybody knows the United States and India are the most important players in terms of setting the tone and providing how far the (Doha) agreement can go,’ she said.

The WTO talks, which started at the end of 2001 in the Qatari capital, aim to boost international commerce by removing trade barriers and subsidies.

US, Pakistan flew 12 joint missions over Fata

WASHINGTON, June 1: The US and Pakistan flew 12 joint drone missions in the tribal areas this spring until Islamabad stopped participating in the missions, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

Pakistan has long demanded joint ownership of US-led drone missions into the tribal areas but so far the Americans have been reluctant to accept the Pakistani demand.

In early spring, however, US forces offered a compromise: Pakistan could direct US military Predators over areas of its choice, transmitting images directly into its own intelligence channels.

After Pakistan refused to allow a downlink to be established on its side of the border, the ground equipment was set up at a joint cooperation centre on the Afghanistan side. Pakistani officials were taken to Turkey to observe a similar programme.

Twelve missions were flown over the tribal regions near the border. But in mid-April, the Pakistanis abandoned the project, the Post reported. “They just did not ask for additional flight information,” a US official familiar with the programme told the Post.

“Any time we have asked them if they need anything, they’ve come back and said, ‘No, thank you’.” According to US officials, between March 10 and 15 they flew the first ‘proof of concept’ mission for the Pakistanis.

“We told them, here’s how the system would work. Here’s how we can push data through your own networks so you would have capability available to you,” said a US military official who participated in the programme.

Although the Predators were armed, US and Pakistani officials said, no offensive operations beyond intelligence-gathering were contemplated or authorised.

A Pakistani official told the Post that his government expected the programme to continue eventually but that its attention was now focussed farther east, on the ongoing Swat offensive.

“US overflights there were not wanted,” he said. “We don’t want the American unmanned aerial vehicles going so deep into Pakistani territory,” he said.

The Post reported that US officials offered the compromise formula after noting that drone attacks killed civilians as well, stoking anti-American feelings in Pakistan that inhibit cooperation between Islamabad and Washington.

US, Pakistan flew 12 joint missions over Fata

WASHINGTON: The US and Pakistan flew 12 joint drone missions in the tribal areas this spring until Islamabad stopped participating in the missions, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

Pakistan has long demanded joint ownership of US-led drone missions into the tribal areas but so far the Americans have been reluctant to accept the Pakistani demand.

In early spring, however, US forces offered a compromise: Pakistan could direct US military Predators over areas of its choice, transmitting images directly into its own intelligence channels.

After Pakistan refused to allow a downlink to be established on its side of the border, the ground equipment was set up at a joint cooperation centre on the Afghanistan side. Pakistani officials were taken to Turkey to observe a similar programme.

Twelve missions were flown over the tribal regions near the border. But in mid-April, the Pakistanis abandoned the project, the Post reported. ‘They just did not ask for additional flight information,’ a US official familiar with the programme told the Post.

‘Any time we have asked them if they need anything, they’ve come back and said, ‘No, thank you.’’ According to US officials, between March 10 and 15 they flew the first ‘proof of concept’ mission for the Pakistanis.

‘We told them, here’s how the system would work. Here’s how we can push data through your own networks so you would have capability available to you,’ said a US military official who participated in the programme.

Although the Predators were armed, US and Pakistani officials said, no offensive operations beyond intelligence-gathering were contemplated or authorised.

A Pakistani official told the Post that his government expected the programme to continue eventually but that its attention was now focussed farther east, on the ongoing Swat offensive.

‘US overflights there were not wanted,’ he said. ‘We don’t want the American unmanned aerial vehicles going so deep into Pakistani territory,’ he said.

The Post reported that US officials offered the compromise formula after noting that drone attacks killed civilians as well, stoking anti-American feelings in Pakistan that inhibit cooperation between Islamabad and Washington.

US, Israel fanning Indo-Pak tensions, says Qadhafi

WASHINGTON: In an interesting article published in The Washington Times on Friday, Libyan leader Moammar Qadhafi blames the United States and Israel for fanning differences between India and Pakistan.

‘The Pakistanis are told that their enemy is the Hindus, not the Jews or Christians, and therefore their bomb should be directed towards them, the Pakistanis’ immediate enemy, and not anyone else,’ writes Mr Qadhafi.

‘Similarly, the Indians are led to believe their real enemy is Pakistan and that the Pakistani bomb was directed towards them rather than the Israelis or Americans.’

The Libyan leader claims that this policy aims to preoccupy Pakistan with India and India with Pakistan. ‘Perhaps this is why America has not been willing to contribute to solving the Kashmiri problem, whereas the Israelis will try to keep it always flammable.’

Mr Qadhafi predicts that tension and anxiety between India and Pakistan will continue, as will the danger posed by a nuclear Pakistan. ‘Attempts by the Israelis and Americans to extricate themselves from this quagmire, by all means, also will never cease. Either way presents a dangerous endgame to the region and the world.’

The Libyan leaders claims that the West, particularly America, and Israel never wished for Pakistan to possess a nuclear bomb. ‘But on May 28, 1998, they woke up to the fact that Pakistan had become a nuclear state and blamed their intelligence services for failure to anticipate the nuclear tests.’

He notes that countless books, articles and speeches called Pakistan’s nuclear bomb the Islamic bomb, ‘as loaded a term as any, as many considered it a doomsday weapon directed against their interests.’

Mr Qadhafi claims that every effort was made to dissuade Pakistan from owning the bomb, noting that the then US Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger frankly told then Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, ‘If you make the bomb, we’ll make an example out of you.’

‘Mr Bhutto, the founder of Pakistan’s nuclear programme, was hanged. Gen Zia, who Islamised Pakistan and consolidated its nuclear programme, was murdered. More recently, Benazir Bhutto, Mr Bhutto’s daughter, was assassinated. Others still may face a similar fate,’ writes Mr Qadhafi.

The Libyan leader then analyses the internal and external threats confronting Pakistan and concludes that the country is surrounded by a hostile environment that provokes its very Muslim essence.

‘This is the reason behind the formation of violent Muslim groups affiliated with the fierce tribes in Afghanistan as well as Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden,’ Mr Qadhafi argues.

‘The danger such fanatic groups constitute for the Israelis and Americans is that they may hold the reins of power, to which they indeed aspire,’ he notes. ‘If these groups governed the state – which is a possibility – it would be a very dangerous outcome for the Americans and Israelis.’

On the other hand, ‘if political parties, such as the PPP, or even the army, ruled, things would be relatively safe because they presumably constitute responsible institutions.’

‘Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that they can form sustainable governments,’ he concludes.

US, Pak, Afghanistan and NATO forming joint strategy: Haqqani

WASHINGTON: Islamabad’s ambassador to Washington Hussain Haqqani says that Pakistan, United States, Afghanistan and NATO are trying to outline a joint strategy to fight militancy.

In an interview with a British TV today (Friday), he said that the government of Pakistan is fully determined to stamp out the militants from Malakand region.

“The recent bomb attacks in Pakistan shows that pressure is mounting on extremists following the launch of military operation,” he said.

Haqqani said that Pakistani government had started military offensive against the terrorists with the people support.

To a question, he said that bomb blasts and suicide attacks were not a new approach of the militants as they had adopted same tactics in Iraq and Afghanistan too.

“Pakistan, United States, Afghanistan and NATO are trying to devise a comprehensive plan to counter such attacks from the terrorists,” Haqqani said.

He told that the significant aspect of the new strategy was to stop the militants from fresh recruitments.

Pakistan army, he said, had rendered countless sacrifices in the war against terrorism. And added that Pakistani people realize that militancy is a big threat to the country’s existence.

Haqqani stated: “Pakistan has practically proved that it is a frontline state in the war against terrorism.”

US, Pak collaborated in a dozen drone strikes: LA Times

WASHINGTON: According to the Los Angeles Times, the United States has undertaken at least a dozen drone attacks in Pakistan in close co-operation with the local armed forces.

The report cited unnamed US officials as saying that the moves were aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries, and that they followed repeated Pakistani requests to be given access to drone technology.

The LA Times also quoted officials as saying that there were no plans for the US military to become directly involved in the drone attacks, currently carried out by the CIA as part of its covert operations.

The New York Times also reported that the US was providing Pakistan with a ‘broad array of surveillance information’ collected by drone patrols over Pakistan’s restive tribal areas.

According to the Times, these images were meant to ease Pakistan’s mounting concerns over drone attacks which have escalated in recent weeks, inflaming local public opinion.

However, US officials continue to deny the reports, with one senior defence official at the Central Command going so far as to calling the news ‘grossly inaccurate,’ DawnNews reported.

Past efforts at co-operation have been plagued my mistrust on both sides, with US officials blaming Pakistani security lapses for leaking vital information directly to enemy agents, and Pakistan’s officials questioning US motives in the conflict.

US, allies ‘don’t dare’ drop Afghanistan: Gates

KABUL: The United States and other countries helping to fight Islamist extremists ‘don’t dare’ turn their backs on Afghanistan, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Friday, wrapping up a short visit, AFP reports.

The September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States were a consequence of the neglect of Afghanistan after Washington and others helped Afghan fighters end the Soviet occupation, Gates told US troops.

‘We helped these people throw the Soviets out 20 years ago,’ he said in the strategic province of Wardak, near Kabul, in a final meeting with US troops before heading back to Washington.

‘Then we neglected Afghanistan and we paid the consequences for it in 2001. We won’t do that again. You are here to make sure we don’t do that again,’ he told about 100 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division.

Four years after the Soviets left, Al-Qaeda — which used Afghanistan for training camps — staged its first attack on the United States with the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre, Gates later told reporters.

‘If there is a lesson for Americans and the international community, it is that we don’t dare turn our backs on Afghanistan,’ said Gates, who was involved in the anti-Soviet effort during his years at the CIA.

Gates arrived in Kabul Wednesday on an unannounced trip to inspect preparations for the deployment of an extra 21,000 US soldiers as Washington escalates its war against Taliban insurgents.

He travelled to military bases in the southern flashpoint provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, which see some of the heaviest fighting between troops and the Al-Qaeda-backed insurgents.

It was his first visit to Afghanistan since US President Barack Obama took office in January and unveiled a sweeping new strategy to turn the tide against a growing Islamist insurgency challenging the Kabul government.

‘This will work, if we stay engaged,’ Gates said.

His visit coincided with public anger over US-led air strikes in western Afghanistan that local police say killed dozens of civilians.

Gates said he was buoyed by talks he held on Friday with local government and tribal leaders from the Wardak area.

The leaders touted an experimental programme recently launched in the area with guards chosen by community leaders protecting public buildings and mosques in support of the police and provincial authorities.

‘Actually the conversations that I had this morning are some of the most encouraging that I’ve had,’ said Gates.

He also said he was reassured that recent decisions to provide more helicopters for medical evacuations and improved armoured vehicles had helped save the lives of American troops.

‘The Pentagon is so huge you never know where you have an impact,’ he said.

Washington plans to have its reinforcements in place in Afghanistan by September. There are currently about 38,000 US forces serving in the country but US officials say this could rise to 68,000 by the end of the year.

Source: Dawn News

US, Pakistan face common threat, enemy: Holbrooke

ISLAMABAD: The United States on Tuesday reiterated its pledge to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty and will not deploy its troops inside Pakistan.

US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke and top military commander Admiral Mike Mullen held a joint press conference with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

‘The United States and Pakistan face a common threat, a common enemy and common challenges,’ Holbrooke said.

Top US diplomatic and military officials are meeting with Pakistani leaders to evolve a broad consensus over an integrated approach to counter terrorism.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Qureshi stressed that the terms of engagement (with the US) are clear.

‘The US has announced that it will respect Pakistan’s demand of no foreign boots on its (Pakistan’s) soil,’ DawnNews quoted Qureshi as saying.

Holbrooke and Mullen are scheduled to meet PML(N) leader Nawaz Sharif today in a bid to seek his support for an integrated strategy to meet the challenge.

This follows an overnight meeting with President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

This is the first time the top US diplomat is accompanied by a top military commander.

The meetings are taking place at a time when the US is shifting its focus from Afghanistan to al-Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Ignoring repeated requests from Pakistani leaders, the US administration is continuing drone attacks in FATA.

In a meeting with the top US officials on Monday night, President Zardari reiterated Pakistan’s resolve to fight militancy and extremism.

He said Pakistan is fighting the war against militants for its own survival and will not surrender to the pressure by Taliban.

PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif will, for the first time, go to the US embassy today to meet the US officials. In the last few months, US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson has been a regular visitor to the Sharifs’ residence in Raiwind.

Nawaz Sharif in particular has been avoiding commenting on his views about how to counter the growing influence of Taliban which has now spilled out of the tribal areas.

US, Afghan troops kill 20 Afghan militants

KABUL: Afghan and US-led troops killed 20 militants in ground fighting and air strikes in the southern province of Helmand, the US military said Saturday.

The battle erupted Friday in the strategic Kajaki district after a patrol was ambushed by numerous men in a ‘known Taliban stronghold,’ it said in a statement.

‘The combined forces returned fire with small-arms fire and called for close air support destroying six enemy fighting positions and killing 20 insurgents,’ it said.

Insurgents in Kajaki are known to be heavily involved in bomb-making and weapons smuggling, and attacks on troops, the statement said. They were also involved in narcotics, it said.

Afghanistan produces more than 90 per cent of the world’s opium, most of it in the desert province of Helmand which shares a largely open border with Pakistan.

Kajaki district is the site of one of Afghanistan’s largest hydropower dams, a Soviet-era facility that fell into disrepair during the country’s decades of conflict and which the United States is working to rehabilitate.

Troops control the area around the Kajaki but most of the district is known to be heavily influenced by the Taliban as are large swathes of southern Afghanistan.

Friday’s battle was one of a series in the past week that the military says has inflicted heavy insurgent casualties, with 20 reported killed in Helmand on Wednesday and 30 in the Helmand-Uruzgan area on Monday.

Southern Afghanistan is the main battlefield of the insurgency, led by hardcore Taliban fighters whom commanders say have some support from al Qaeda.

Responding to calls from military commanders for more troops to the fight, US President Barack Obama in February announced he would send 17,000 extra US soldiers to Afghanistan, most of them headed to the south.

Source: Dawn news

US, NATO supplies attacked in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Militants using guns and petrol bombs attacked a terminal in northwest Pakistan on Friday holding supplies bound for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, damaging five shipping containers, said police.

International troops in Afghanistan transport up to 75 percent of their supplies via routes through Pakistan, but frequent attacks have forced the U.S. military to explore alternate paths. Reliable supply routes will become even more crucial as the U.S. deploys thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan this year.

Militants attacked the terminal on the outskirts of Peshawar city before dawn Friday, torching five shipping containers before escaping, said police official Jarod Khan.

“The terrorists first opened fire and then threw petrol bombs,” he said.

Suspected Taliban militants have repeatedly struck transport depots near Peshawar in recent months, destroying scores of military vehicles, while attacks on the road through the Khyber Pass to the Afghan border have repeatedly forced its temporary closure.

U.S. and NATO officials insist the attacks have little impact on their operations, but are looking at ways to bring more supplies into Afghanistan through Central Asia — a key goal as the U.S. prepares to send 21,000 additional troops to the country this year to fight Taliban militants and train Afghan security forces.

The U.S. is expected to sign a formal agreement Friday for a new major supply route into Afghanistan, U.S. defense officials said.

While defense officials would not name the country, several Central Asian nations have recently told the U.S. they would allow cargo to transit their borders, including Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, told Congress on Thursday that the military has found “decent alternatives” for the safe shipment of nonlethal goods, including three northern routes that weave through Uzbekistan.

Petraeus said about 1 percent of the roughly 3,600 containers that have moved through the Khyber Pass, which links Peshawar with Kabul, were damaged or destroyed before they reached the Afghan border because of the attacks and other mishaps.

China, US, Japan assure support for FoP moot

WASHINGTON: The United States, China and Japan have vowed their support for next month’s Friends of Pakistan meeting in Tokyo, where major economic powers are expected to back the South Asian country’s economic development programmes.

In their separate meetings with Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani, the chief Chinese and Japanese envoys based in Washington and top US officials expressed their willingness to shore up Pakistan’s initiatives for its speedy economic progress.

The meeting, taking place on April 17 in Tokyo, would be attended by leaders and representatives from several Asian and Western industrialised and oil-rich Gulf nations.

Haqqani held meetings with the US State Department officials, Chinese ambassador to the US, Zhou Wenzhong and Japanese ambassador to US, Ichiro FUJISAKI to coordinate efforts towards a productive outcome of the conference.

In addition, the Pakistani diplomat had meetings with US Special Representative Richard Holbrooke and visiting Japanese Prime Minister’s special envoy over the last week.

The US diplomats have also been meeting separately with envoys of other countries toward the objective.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to represent Washington at the meeting, which is likely to be chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari.

The top Pakistani democratic leaders, President Zardari and Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gilani believe that international assistance will not only help meet economic development of people but also serve as a bulwark against violent extremism afflicting its border regions.

The economic stability of Pakistan, the frontline partner against violent extremism, is considered key to regional peace and stability.

Pak, U.S. ties depend on Army chiefs bond: Report

NEW YORK: The Obama administration’s hopes of stabilizing Pakistan increasingly rest on the strong bond between military chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen and Gen. Ashfaq Kayani.

According to a report published in Wall Street Journal, the two men spoke daily during the recent political crisis, in which growing opposition protests threatened to undermine the government until Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari also under pressure from Gen. Kayani and senior U.S. officials made significant concessions.

During the crisis. Gen. Kayani assured Adm. Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, that he wasn’t contemplating a military coup, according to U.S. officials.

These officials said Adm. Mullen trusted the assurances — but they acknowledged that some senior U.S. military officials harbor doubts about Gen. Kayani’s capabilities and intentions.

He and Adm. Mike Mullen have developed a bond that U.S. officials say aids efforts to ensure Pakistan’s stability and its support in fighting militants along the border with Afghanistan.

Gen. Kayani ultimately helped resolve the crisis by mediating between Mr. Zardari and his chief rival, Nawaz Sharif, U.S. and Pakistani officials said.

The relationship offers potential dividends for both countries. American officials want Islamabad to take stronger steps against the militants working to destabilize Pakistan and Afghanistan, and need Gen. Kayani’s help as an ally in the fight, which they say he supports. Pakistan wants to continue receiving American financial aid and military assistance, which requires maintaining close ties with Adm. Mullen’s Pentagon.

Clinton pressed Pak to defuse political tension: US

WASHINGTON: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Pakistan’s president and opposition leader over the weekend U.S. aid could be at risk unless they defused a crisis over a top judge, U.S. officials said on Monday.

In a surprise move, Pakistan’s government announced on Monday it would reinstate Iftikhar Chaudhry as chief justice, aiming to defuse a crisis and end protests by lawyers and activists that threatened to turn violent.

The officials said Clinton telephoned on Saturday both President Asif Ali Zardari and his rival, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who had backed the anti-government lawyers.

The officials said Clinton, who coordinated with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, had exerted strong pressure for a deal.

Clinton told reporters the decision to reinstate Chaudhry was a first step for much-needed reconciliation and political compromise in Pakistan.

She avoided answering when asked if she had linked continued U.S. aid to a deal.

The stability of nuclear-armed Pakistan has emerged as a key worry in Washington, which also needs its help to combat a Taliban insurgency in neighboring Afghanistan

Asked if the political turmoil was distracting Islamabad from taking on the militants, Clinton replied: “They understand what is at stake.”

U.S. officials said Clinton told both Zardari and Sharif congressional lawmakers might balk at sending Pakistan more aid while the crisis persisted.

“She warned them that congressional appropriations would be at risk,” said one U.S. official, who asked not to be named.

A senior State Department official said “many” in Congress had expressed concern over what was happening in Pakistan.

“The secretary’s friendly advice to the Pakistani leadership is that we have got to get this situation under control,” the official said.

U.S. special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, also spoke several times over the weekend to Pakistani politicians.

“This was all done with great respect for Pakistan’s sovereignty and sensibility but with great concern for the strategic and political implications of a protracted confrontation,” a Holbrooke aide quoted him as saying.

US lauds restoration of CJ

WASHINGTON: The United States is praising Pakistan’s plan to reinstate a fired Supreme Court chief justice whose supporters had threatened to march on the capital.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters Monday that the decision by Pakistan’s leaders had “brought Pakistan back from the brink.”

Wood says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s calls over the weekend to U.S.-allied President Asif Ali Zardari, who had refused to restore the independent-minded justice, and to opposition leader Nawaz Sharif were meant to signal a concern over the situation and a desire for a nonviolent outcome.

Wood was careful to note that there were no U.S. demands and “no threats at all” in Clinton’s calls.

source : jang.com.pk

Obama calls AIG bonuses an ‘outrage’

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama Monday said multi-million-dollar bonuses planned for executives and traders at bailed-out insurance giant AIG were an “outrage” and vowed to pursue a clampdown.

“How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?” he said at the White House, pledging to “pursue every legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole.”

source : jang.com.pk

US soldier convicted in killing of four Iraqis

LONDON: A US soldier has been convicted of murder for his involvement in the killing four Iraqis who were shot and dumped in a Baghdad canal in 2007, a British news channel reported.

A military court at a US Army base in Vilseck, Germany, late Friday convicted Sgt. Michael Leahy following his confession that he shot an Iraqi in the back of the head from close range.

The victims were a group of Iraqis who were detained briefly and questioned over an attack on a Baghdad military base.

Leahy was one of a group of soldiers who took detainees away after it was decided there was not enough evidence to charge them. Blindfolded and gagged, the four were then shot and dumped in a canal, the report said.

The soldier faces a possible sentence of life without parole. The military court has not yet handed down a sentence.

Meanwhile, his lawyers argued that the stress of being in a conflict zone for so long meant he was unable to reason properly.

Last year, two other soldiers were sentenced to seven and eight months prison as accomplices in the murder of the four Iraqis.Two more suspects in the crime are still to be tried by the US military court.

source : jang.com.pk

Saudi crown prince back in U.S. for medical checks

RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz has arrived in New York for follow-up medical checks and treatment after convalescing in Morocco, the royal court said.

source : jang.com.pk

Kyrgyzstan set to approve US air base closure

BISHKEK: Kyrgyzstan’s parliament is set to approve a government proposal on Thursday to close a U.S. airbase, which is a vital transit point for U.S.-led troops fighting in nearby Afghanistan.

The closing of Manas, the last remaining U.S. air base in Central Asia, poses a challenge to new U.S. President Barack Obama’s plans to send additional troops to Afghanistan to boost NATO and U.S. military efforts to defeat Taliban insurgents.

US seeks unconditional release of abducted UN official

WASHINGTON: The United Sates has urged the abductors to release official of UN refugee agency in Pakistan.

At a news briefing, State Department Deputy Spokesman Gordon Duguid said expressed sympathies with the family of John Solecki and said we are constantly in touch with international agencies. He, however, expressed concern over security of abducted UN official.

John Solecki, who heads the UNHCR office in Balochistan, was kidnapped on February 2 by gunmen who killed his driver. The Balochistan Liberation United Front has claimed responsibility for the abduction.

source : jang.com.pk

Oil mixed in Asian trade

SINGAPORE: Oil prices were mixed in Asian trade Thursday ahead of a report expected to show a build-up in US crude inventories during the recession, dealers said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for March delivery, eased a penny to 34.61 dollars a barrel, within sight of the 32.40 dollars hit on December 18, when prices hit their lowest point in nearly five years.

Brent North Sea crude for April delivery was 36 cents higher at 39.91 dollars.

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U.S. air strike kills Afghan boy among a dozen dead

HEART: U.S. forces killed at least one child, video footage obtained on Wednesday showed, in an air strike in western Afghanistan that Afghan police say killed 12 civilians and U.S. forces said killed 16 militants.

Videos taken in the Gozara district of Herat province in the aftermath of the attack on Monday showed mangled, unrecognizable clumps of flesh – all that remained of several people and dozens of animals killed in a tented nomad encampment. One body that was recognizable was that of a young boy. “The information we have is 12 civilians, including six women, four men and two children have been killed in the bombardment,” General Ikramuddin Yawar, chief of police in western Afghanistan told.

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US in contact with Pakistan over Swat agreement: State Deptt.

WASHINGTON: The United States State Department had no specific comment to offer on the Swat peace agreement, saying it is in contact with the Pakistani government to learn about the full strategy.

“We are in touch with the government in Pakistan, we are discussing the issue, but that is all I have for you at the moment,” a State Department spokesman said at the daily briefing in his cautious response to questions on the development that Pakistan said would help bring peace to its restive valley in the northwestern province, bordering Afghanistan.

Spokesman Gordon K. Duguid, asked to comment on enforcement of Shariat-based justice system in Swat said, “As I understand that Islamic law is within the constitutional framework of Pakistan, so I don’t know that is particularly an issue for anyone outside of Pakistan to discuss.”

Pressed if Washington saw the agreement as a good or bad development, he said “We have seen these sorts of actions before, what is important is that we are all working together to fight terrorism, and particularly to fight the cross-border activities that some Taliban engage in, in attacking in Afghanistan.”

Asked if the United States shared NATO’s comments on the possible impact the agreement may have in terms of providing sanctuaries for militants, he said: “We are a part of NATO, I saw those comments, I did not see the full context of them, however. So I won’t, I don’t have anything further to offer on that.

source : jang.com.pk

Syria wants better ties with US

DAMASCUS: Syria’s president has told a visiting US senator that his country wants to develop relations with the United States after several years of tensions.

Syria’s official news agency says Assad held talks Wednesday with Sen. Benjamin Cardin, a Maryland Democrat that focused on developing bilateral relations through serious dialogue.

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Iran denies holding missing US ex-agent

TEHRAN: The Iranian judiciary denied on Tuesday that it was holding former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who went missing almost two years ago on an island in the Gulf.

“We do not have anyone with this name in our prisons, no cases have been formed in prisons or by judicial authorities,” judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi told reporters when asked whether Levinson was being held in a secret jail in Iran.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month called on Iran to release Levinson, who retired from service a decade ago. According to his family, Levinson travelled to the Iranian island of Kish in March 2007 to investigate cigarette counterfeiting in the region. Florida Senator Bill Nelson told this month that he believed Levinson was alive and that “he’s being held by the Iranians.”

The report further said that “some US intelligence officials” believe Tehran may consider releasing Levinson as part of a swap for several Iranians seized by US military forces in northern Iraq in 2007. The mystery of Levinson’s disappearance is a further strain in relations between the United States and Iran, which have had no diplomatic ties for nearly three decades and remain at loggerheads over the Iranian nuclear drive.

source : jang.com.pk

Germany names envoy for Afghanistan, Pakistan

BERLIN: Germany on Monday followed the lead of the US and Britain in announcing the appointment of a special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The appointment of Bernd Muetzelburg, currently Germany’s ambassador to India, to the role will “further intensify Germany’s diplomatic engagement in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the foreign ministry in Berlin said.

Germany is currently raising troop levels in Afghanistan to around 4,500 under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Most of Germany’s soldiers are based in the relatively peaceful north.

Last Monday Britain appointed Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles as its envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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Clinton vows to deepen US bonds with Asia

NEW YORK: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged Friday to deepen US bonds with Asia in order to tackle the global economic crisis and climate change as well as prevent nuclear proliferation.

On the eve of her tour of Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China, her first foreign trip, Clinton said in a speech she is “ready to deliver a message about America’s desire for more rigorous and persistent commitment and engagement.”

She added she is “ready to work with leaders in Asia to resolve the economic crisis and to strengthen our historic partnerships and alliances while developing deeper bonds with all nations.”

In her first foreign policy speech, which she delivered before the Asia Society, a non-profit educational institution, Clinton said she also is “ready to help prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Asia.”

Clinton added that North Korea’s nuclear program remains “the most acute challenge to stability in northeast Asia.”

She said President Barack Obama’s administration would build a strong relationship with the reclusive Stalinist regime if it scraps its nuclear program, which alarmed the world in 2006 with the test of a nuclear device.

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Afghanistan to take part in US review: Karzai

KABUL: US President Barack Obama has accepted Kabul’s request to be part of a major review of US strategy in the “war on terror” in Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai and a US envoy said Sunday.

Karzai said he asked Obama by letter for Afghanistan to have a role in the review, which is under way amid concerns about worsening security in this country seven years after a US-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime.

US envoy Richard Holbrooke brought the message to Karzai on Saturday that Obama had accepted, the Afghan leader told a joint press conference. A delegation from Afghanistan chaired by Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta would travel to Washington “and will be working jointly with the US government in the review of the strategy in the war on terrorism,” he said.

Holbrooke arrived late Thursday and met with a range of Afghan officials and politicians, international military commanders and diplomats before holding talks with Karzai late Saturday. He has held similar wide-ranging meetings in Pakistan and is due to continue his tour of the region in India.

source : jang.com.pk

China, US to resume military talks: report

BEIJING: China and the United States will resume military consultations this month that were postponed last year when Washington announced a planned weapons sale to Taiwan, state press said Sunday.

The defence consultations will be held in Beijing on February 27-28, the People’s Daily reported on its website, citing an unnamed official with the US Department of Defence. “We want to continue exchanges with China and are seeking positive cooperative ties,” the official was quoted as saying.

The defence talks will resume only days after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton makes her first visit to China from February 20-22 as the top envoy of the new administration of US President Barack Obama, the report said. The talks will take place once a year and could include discussions on the fight against global terrorism, it said.

China called off high-level military exchanges last October after the Pentagon notified Congress that it planned to sell 6.5 billion dollars of military hardware to Taiwan.

source : jang.com.pk

Over 20 SWA victims in US drone attack buried

WANA: Over twenty victims, who were killed in yesterday’s drone attack in South Waziristan Agency (SWA), were buried here in tears and sobs.

US drone continued hovering over North and South Waziristan and Kurram Agency even today. Over thirty persons were killed in US drone attack on Saturday at Ladha area of South Waziristan, out of which over twenty persons’ burial prayer was offered and later buried in different areas.

On the other hand, drones continued hovering over North and South Waziristan and Kurram agency. The drones are flying low on the militants’ hideouts, which is creating harassment and panic among the local people.

source : jang.com.pk

Top US general condemns Kabul attacks

KABUL: The top international military commander in Afghanistan condemned Wednesday a series of deadly attacks on government offices in the capital, as the “barbaric” face of the Taliban.

At least seven Taliban suicide attackers stormed the justice and education ministries and the prisons directorate in attacks that killed at least 19 people and wounded more than 50 others, officials said.

“This attack shows the real face of the Taliban, who have claimed responsibility for this barbaric action,” US General David McKiernan said.

“Once again the Taliban have displayed that they have no respect for Afghan citizens or any desire to see a peaceful future in Afghanistan,” he said, offering sympathies for the “callous and indiscriminate attack.”

McKiernan heads a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force of about 55,000 soldiers from nearly 40 nations. A separate US-led coalition, which focuses on hunting insurgents, also falls under his command.

The general praised the “swift” reaction of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in dealing with the multiple attacks.

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US urges nations to battle global recession

WASHINGTON: The United States called for swift action to rescue the crisis-hit global economy as Japan and the European Union issued appeals Tuesday against protectionist measures.

US President Barack Obama warned lawmakers of a “catastrophe” if they do not quickly pass a massive 838-billion-dollar stimulus package stuttering its way through Congress.

As America’s dire economic plight cast a dark shadow, South Korea predicted further job losses and a shrinking domestic economy, while activity continued to weaken in China, which sank further toward deflation.

Obama’s comments came with the Treasury set to unveil a plan later Tuesday to boost financial confidence and restore credit flows. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner earlier called on other Group of Seven finance ministers to act “promptly to restore health to the global economy.” Geithner and finance ministers from the G7 group of industrialised nations — the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada — are to meet Friday in Rome as governments redouble their efforts against a global recession.

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Kyrgyzstan says decision on US base closure final

BISHKEK: Kyrgyzstan says its will not reverse its decision to close a key U.S. air base on its territory that is key to American and NATO operations in Afghanistan.

Kyrgyz National Security Council chief Adakhan Madumarov says there is no doubt that the base will be shut.

Madumarov told a news conference Friday that he was confident he would get parliament’s support for the decision. Parliament is due to consider the move next week.

Madumarov’s announcement appears to dash U.S. hopes of securing a last-minute reprieve for the Manas air base located just outside the Kyrgyz capital.

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced the closure of the base Tuesday on a visit to Russia after securing more than $2 billion in financial aid and credit from Moscow.

source : jang.com.pk

Asia stocks rise on hopes for US stimulus

HONG KONG: Asia stocks rose on Fridayahead of a vote on a massive U.S. stimulus package, while the yen edged up against the dollar, with U.S. employment data likely to reflect a deep recession.

Most other currencies beside the dollar and U.S. Treasuries were stuck in a narrow trading range, with the market’s attention focussed on the fate of stimulus measures and a “bad bank” scheme to separate the toxic assets plaguing financial institutions, which is set to be announced next week.

Economic data in most countries has overwhelmingly pointed to severe weakness, but investors would like to see the size and scope of the next U.S. stimulus effort to determine how quickly a recovery could take shape. The U.S. Senate is debating a $920 billion plan but it could shrink before being passed.

“Expectations for some fresh development in the U.S. economic measures next week, including the establishment of a ‘bad bank’ scheme, and a weaker yen are encouraging investors to pick up stocks,” said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, manager at SMBC Friend Securities in Tokyo.

Japan’s Nikkei share average rose 1.6 percent, with Softbank Corp stock among the biggest boosts to the index after the country’s third-largest mobile phone operator reported a 2percent rise in quarterly profit and retained its forecast for the year.

After close of trading hours, Toyota Motor Corp warned its full-year loss would be three times what it expected just six weeks ago as the world’s biggest automaker struggles to cut production fast enough to match plummeting sales.

The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan climbed nearly 3 percent, tacking on a second consecutive week of gains.

Australian shares rose 1.2 percent as gains in miners offset losses in National Australia Bank and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group after their warnings of higher bad debts.

Hong Kong shares surged 3.6 percent in their third straight day of gains, taking cues from the mainland market where hopes of an early economic recovery sent the Shanghai Index soaring by 4 percent.

But PCCW, which resumed trade on Friday, fell 2.9 percent as uncertainty loomed over its privatisation bid, despite the bid receiving shareholder approval on Wednesday, as the securities watchdog began its investigation into vote-buying allegations.

Seoul shares closed 2.8 percent higher, with steelmakers rising on expectations the U.S. administration will soften its stance on steel imports.

Taiwan stocks rose 2.5 percent, their highest finish in more than three weeks, as bellwether TSMC led technology shares up on hopes of a U.S. economic rescue package. Indian shares also rose by more than 2 percent, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.6 percent.

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Afghanistan welcomes new US troops: defence minister

DAVOS: Afghan Defence Minister Mohammad Rahim Wardak backed US plans to send more troops to Afghanistan to help ensure security until the national army is ready to take over.

“There is a gap that has to be breached (until Afghan troops can take over) and there will be a requirement of international forces,” he told a panel at the Davos forum.

US President Barack Obama is reviewing Afghan policy after receiving a request from the US commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, for a 30,000-troop buildup. Some troops are to be moved from Iraq to Afghanistan.

“The final solution has to be an Afghan solution,” Wardak said, explaining that the national army had to be built up and trained.

source : jang.com.pk

US seven major firms layoff over 72,000 employees

NEW YORK: US seven major business firms Monday on the first day of the week further relieved of over 72,000 of their employees in the wake of the global recession.

Among the companies, which resorted to massive downsizing, machinery manufacturing giant firm Caterpiller topped the list by relieving of their 20,000 employees, while the world’s largest pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and telecommunication organization Sprint Nextel have announced 8,000 job cuts. Besides, Home Depot, Dutch Financial Group sacked 7000 of their employees and Texas Instrument 3,400. American economy continued its downward spiral with business economists predicting many more U.S. job losses in 2009.

source : jang.com.pk

US ready to cut Karzai adrift

WASHINGTON: The US administration hinted that President Barack Obama would take strong stance about Afghan President Hamid Karzai whereas new US policy for Afghanistan would be based on war rather than development.

US officials said Karzai is considered to be a big hindrance in the way of attainment of US objectives in Afghanistan.

International support for Mr Karzai has waned spectacularly, amid worsening violence, endemic corruption and weak leadership. But until very recently, diplomats insisted there were no viable alternatives even as fighting has intensified and the Taliban insurgency in the south has grown.

Mr Obama has already started getting to grips with the challenge of Afghanistan; he received a briefing on the coming American troop “surge” from General David Petraeus, his first full day in the Oval Office. Last night, Mr Obama appointed the veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke as his new special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

source : jang.com.pk

Ehud Barak cancels US trip due to Gaza tensions

JERUSALEM: Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak canceled his planned departure on Wednesday for talks in Washington due to renewed tensions in Gaza, a senior ministry official said.

“Barak decided to cancel his trip to the United States during which he planned to meet his US counterpart Secretary of Defence Robert Gates and other senior officials in the administration due to the security events in the south,” he said.

Barak was due to leave for Washington after meeting US President Barack Obama’s new Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell in Jerusalem.

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US welcomes Israel’s unilateral ceasefire in Gaza: Rice

WASHINGTON: The United States on Saturday welcomed Israel’s unilateral ceasefire in its 22-day offensive on the Gaza Strip that sought to deter the Islamist movement Hamas, the US State Department said.

“The United States welcomes the cessation of hostilities in Gaza announced by Israel and expects that all parties will cease attacks and hostile actions immediately,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement.

She reiterated the US position that “the goal remains a durable and fully respected ceasefire that will lead to stabilization and normalization in Gaza.”

“The United States commends Egypt for its efforts and remains deeply concerned by the suffering of innocent Palestinians,” Rice added. Egypt, a longtime broker of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, was to host an international summit Sunday to seek a permanent truce in Gaza.

Rice added that the US welcomes “calls for immediate coordinated international action to increase assistance flows and will contribute to such efforts.”

source : jang.com.pk