Clinton offers aid, seeks stronger Pakistan ties

July 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ISLAMABAD, July 19 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced more than $500 million in new aid projects for Pakistan on Monday, which Washington hopes will help win over a sceptical public in an ally vital to winning the war in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Clinton was in Islamabad for two days as part of the U.S.-Pakistan strategic dialogue, a series of talks aimed at strengthening the relationship between the wary allies in the struggle against al Qaeda and the Taliban.

“The United States does not only want a dialogue between governments, we also want a dialogue between peoples,” she said ahead of the second “strategic dialogue” meeting between the countries in Islamabad on Tuesday.

Clinton will later fly on to Kabul for an international conference as the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan runs into mounting doubt in the U.S. Congress. [ID:nKABCON]

She announced a string of new projects — including dams, power generation, agricultural development and hospital construction — funded under U.S. legislation passed last year that tripled civilian aid to Pakistan to $7.5 billion over the next five years.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For more Pakistan stories click [ID:nAFPAK]

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The projects, the first to be launched under a new aid plan, are seen as crucial to shoring up support for the U.S.-led struggle against militant extremists in a country where opinion polls show under one in five view the United States favourably.

“These aren’t one-time expenditures; they are long-term investments in Pakistan’s future,” she said.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi echoed Clinton’s optimism.

“This is a transformational phase in our bilateral relations,” he said.

Pakistan also wants enhanced market access, strengthening of its resources to take up the anti-terror fight and “non-discriminatory access” to energy and other technology.

The latter two requests are long-standing Pakistani desires for more military equipment and a civilian nuclear deal such as the one between India and the United States.

Clinton’s two-day visit includes talks with top military and civilian leaders.

The Pakistan and Afghan commerce ministers signed a trade deal during her visit that the United States also hopes will help boost cooperation between the countries. [ID:nN18171993]

HISTORY OF MISTRUST

The Obama administration sees nuclear-armed Pakistan as a pivotal player in the struggle against militant Islamist groups in both countries. But the two sides are divided by a history of mistrust and sometimes diverging goals over a war that is increasingly unpopular.

Opinion polls have shown many Pakistanis doubtful about long-term U.S. intentions, citing examples of abandonment, particularly after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan.

U.S. officials, meanwhile, are wary of the role Pakistan is playing in Afghanistan and believe it needs to do more to fight its own homegrown Taliban militants, which Washington blames for the attempted bombing in New York’s Times Square on May 1.

Richard Holbrooke, the Obama administration’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said there was a “dramatic acceleration” in cooperation between Washington and Islamabad, but conceded Pakistani public opinion was lagging. (Editing by Chris Allbritton)

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Factbox: What are the major issues between India and Pakistan?

July 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The talks between S.M. Krishna of India and Shah Mehmood Qureshi of Pakistan are widely seen as the first step in trying to revive a peace process broken off in the wake of the attacks on India’s financial capital.

Here are some of the main issues between the neighbors:

SECURITY

For India, security is the top issue. It has refused to resume a series of talks known as the composite dialogue until Pakistan takes more action against Pakistan-based militant groups.

In particular, India wants Pakistan to show it is serious in reining in the militants behind the Mumbai attacks, in which 166 people were killed.

This is complicated by Indian suspicions that the Pakistan security establishment backed the militants in some way. On the eve of the talks, Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai escalated the charges and directly blamed Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency for the attacks.

“It was not just a peripheral role,” he was quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper. “They were literally controlling and coordinating it from the beginning till the end.”

For its part, Pakistan accuses India of backing separatists in its Baluchistan province and providing weapons and funding to Pakistan Taliban groups, charges India denies.

KASHMIR

The divided, mostly Muslim Himalayan region of Kashmir is at the heart of hostility between the neighbors and was the cause of two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947. The third was over the founding of Bangladesh.

Separatists began an insurgency against Indian rule in 1989 — a movement almost immediately backed by Pakistan — and since then tens of thousands of people have been killed. Most fighters want all of Kashmir to become part of Pakistan but many ordinary Kashmiris want independence from both India and Pakistan.

Krishna and Qureshi will have to sidestep another danger — getting bogged down in a blame game over ongoing anti-government protests in a part of Kashmir held by India.

Violent anti-government protests have swept India-controlled Kashmir for almost a month. The region is under an army lockdown.

WATER

The two countries disagree over use of the water flowing down rivers that rise in Indian Kashmir and run into the Indus river basin in Pakistan.

The use of the water is governed by the 1960 Indus Water Treaty under which India was granted the use of water from three eastern rivers, and Pakistan the use of three western rivers.

Pakistan says India is unfairly diverting water with the upstream construction of barrages and dams. India denies the charge.

SIACHEN

Indian and Pakistani forces have faced off against each other in mountains above the Siachen glacier in the Karakoram range, the world’s highest battlefield, since 1984.

The two sides have been trying to find a solution that would allow them to withdraw troops, but India says it is unwilling to bring its forces down until Pakistan officially authenticates the positions they hold.

Pakistan has said it is willing to do so but on the condition that it is not a final endorsement of India’s claim over the glacier, a source of meltwater for Pakistan’s rivers.

AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan has become a major source of friction, although Indian and Pakistani differences over Pakistan’s western neighbor have not been a part of their official talks.

The two countries have long competed for influence there and Pakistan is deeply suspicious of a rise in India’s presence after the fall of the Islamabad-backed Taliban government in 2001.

It accuses India of using Afghanistan as a base to create problems inside Pakistan, including backing separatists in its Baluchistan province. India denies the accusations, saying its focus is on development.

This rivalry is complicating U.S.-led efforts to end an intensifying Taliban insurgency and bring stability to Afghanistan more than eight years after the Taliban were ousted.

(Compiled by Chris Allbritton and Zeeshan Haider in Islamabad; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

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FACTBOX-What are the major issues between India and Pakistan?

July 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – The foreign ministers of nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India are holding their first substantive talks since the Mumbai attacks of 2008 in Islamabad on Thursday. [ID:nSGE66D0EY]

The talks between S.M. Krishna of India and Shah Mehmood Qureshi of Pakistan are widely seen as the first step in trying to revive a peace process broken off in the wake of the attacks on India’s financial capital.

Here are some of the main issues between the neighbours:

SECURITY

For India, security is the top issue. It has refused to resume a series of talks known as the composite dialogue until Pakistan takes more action against Pakistan-based militant groups.

In particular, India wants Pakistan to show it is serious in reining in the militants behind the Mumbai attacks, in which 166 people were killed.

This is complicated by Indian suspicions that the Pakistan security establishment backed the militants in some way. On the eve of the talks, Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai escalated the charges and directly blamed Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency for the attacks.

“It was not just a peripheral role,” he was quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper. “They were literally controlling and coordinating it from the beginning till the end.”

For its part, Pakistan accuses India of backing separatists in its Baluchistan province and providing weapons and funding to Pakistan Taliban groups, charges India denies.

KASHMIR

The divided, mostly Muslim Himalayan region of Kashmir is at the heart of hostility between the neighbours and was the cause of two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947. The third was over the founding of Bangladesh.

Separatists began an insurgency against Indian rule in 1989 — a movement almost immediately backed by Pakistan — and since then tens of thousands of people have been killed. Most fighters want all of Kashmir to become part of Pakistan but many ordinary Kashmiris want independence from both India and Pakistan.

Krishna and Qureshi will have to sidestep another danger — getting bogged down in a blame game over ongoing anti-government protests in a part of Kashmir held by India.

Violent anti-government protests have swept India-controlled Kashmir for almost a month. The region is under an army lockdown.

WATER

The two countries disagree over use of the water flowing down rivers that rise in Indian Kashmir and run into the Indus river basin in Pakistan.

The use of the water is governed by the 1960 Indus Water Treaty under which India was granted the use of water from three eastern rivers, and Pakistan the use of three western rivers.

Pakistan says India is unfairly diverting water with the upstream construction of barrages and dams. India denies the charge.

SIACHEN

Indian and Pakistani forces have faced off against each other in mountains above the Siachen glacier in the Karakoram range, the world’s highest battlefield, since 1984.

The two sides have been trying to find a solution that would allow them to withdraw troops, but India says it is unwilling to bring its forces down until Pakistan officially authenticates the positions they hold.

Pakistan has said it is willing to do so but on the condition that it is not a final endorsement of India’s claim over the glacier, a source of meltwater for Pakistan’s rivers.

AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan has become a major source of friction, although Indian and Pakistani differences over Pakistan’s western neighbour have not been a part of their official talks.

The two countries have long competed for influence there and Pakistan is deeply suspicious of a rise in India’s presence after the fall of the Islamabad-backed Taliban government in 2001.

It accuses India of using Afghanistan as a base to create problems inside Pakistan, including backing separatists in its Baluchistan province. India denies the accusations, saying its focus is on development.

This rivalry is complicating U.S.-led efforts to end an intensifying Taliban insurgency and bring stability to Afghanistan more than eight years after the Taliban were ousted. (Compiled by Chris Allbritton and Zeeshan Haider in Islamabad; Editing by Sugita Katyal) (For more coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here)

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Kyrgyz ethnic clashes spread, Russia sends troops

June 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Kyrgyzstan (Reuters) – Russia sent at least 150 paratroopers to Kyrgyzstan on Sunday to protect its military facilities as ethnic clashes spread in the Central Asian state, bringing the death toll from days of fighting to 113.

World | Russia | Kyrgyzstan

Ethnic Uzbeks in a besieged neighborhood of Kyrgyzstan’s second city Osh said gangs were carrying out “genocide,” burning residents out of their homes and shooting them as they fled. Witnesses saw bodies lying on the streets.

“God help us! They are killing Uzbeks like animals. Almost the whole city is in flames,” Dilmurad Ishanov, an ethnic Uzbek human rights worker, told Reuters by telephone from Osh.

Rights activists said the authorities were failing to stop the violence, and occasionally joining in.

“Residents are calling us and saying soldiers are firing at them. There’s an order to shoot the marauders, but they aren’t shooting them,” said ex-parliamentary deputy Alisher Sabirov, a peacekeeping volunteer in Osh.

Takhir Maksitov of human rights group Citizens Against Corruption said: “This is genocide.”

Renewed turmoil in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic, has fueled concern in Russia, the United States and neighbor China. Washington uses an air base at Manas in the north of the country, about 300 km (190 miles) from Osh, to supply its forces in Afghanistan.

RUSSIAN PARATROOPS ARRIVE

Several units of paratroopers arrived on Sunday to protect servicemen and families at Russia’s Kant airbase in the north of the country, a Kremlin spokesman said. A Defense Ministry spokesman said 150 armed paratroopers had been sent, while ITAR-TASS news agency, citing ministry sources, said at least 300 were dispatched.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he believed 15 Pakistani citizens were taken hostage and one killed in Osh. The Kyrgyz government said it was checking the reports.

The interim government in Kyrgyzstan, which took power in April after a popular revolt toppled president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has appealed for Russian help to quell the riots in the south.

Led by Roza Otunbayeva, the interim government has sent a volunteer force to the south and granted shoot-to-kill powers to its security forces in response to the deadly riots, which began in Osh late on Thursday before spreading to Jalalabad.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was alarmed by the scale of the clashes and ordered a special envoy to travel to the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, his office said in a statement.

The Red Cross said the humanitarian situation in southern Kyrgyzstan “is becoming critical.”

“We are getting reports of severe brutality, with an intent to kill,” it said in a statement.

The upsurge in violence has killed more people than the riots that accompanied the overthrow of Bakiyev. Otunbayeva, whose government has only limited control over the south, has accused supporters of Bakiyev of stoking ethnic conflict.

Bakiyev issued a statement from exile in Belarus, describing claims he was behind the clashes as “shameless lies.”

The situation worsened in Jalalabad region, which has become “the center of destabilizing forces,” government spokesman Farid Niyazov said.

Gunmen there shot at firefighters racing to a blaze at the Uzbek-run University of Friendship of Peoples, wounding a driver, Emergencies Ministry spokesman Sultan Mamatov said.

Retired builder Habibullah Khurulayev, 69, said he was afraid to leave his apartment in the besieged district of Osh. Uzbeks armed with hunting rifles manned improvised barricades to keep out Kyrgyz gangs with automatic rifles, he said.

“They are killing us with impunity,” he said. “The police are doing nothing. They are helping them kill us … There are not many of us left to shoot.”

The Health Ministry said 113 people had been killed — 92 in Osh and 21 in Jalalabad — and 1,405 were wounded. At least five policemen have been killed, the Interior Ministry said.

“Kyrgyz groups are driving in and setting homes on fire. When the people run out, they shoot at them,” Andrea Berg, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said by telephone from Osh.

APPEAL TO RUSSIA

Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan intertwine in the Fergana Valley. While Uzbeks make up 14.5 percent of the Kyrgyz population, the two groups are roughly equal in the Osh and Jalalabad regions.

The latest clashes are the worst ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan since 1990, when then-Kremlin leader Mikhail Gorbachev sent Soviet troops into Osh after hundreds of people were killed in a dispute that started over land ownership.

Otunbayeva has asked Russia to send in troops. This appeal was renewed on Sunday by interim defense minister Ismail Isakov, who said Russian special forces could quickly end the conflict.

Russia has said it will not send in peacekeepers alone but will discuss the situation on Monday within a Moscow-led security bloc of former Soviet republics known as the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday called Otunbayeva to discuss the violence, the Kremlin said.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan said in a statement it was in talks with the interim government on the supply of humanitarian aid, and called for “the immediate restoration of order.”

Meanwhile, thousands of women and children have crossed the border into Uzbekistan. Cholponbek Turuzbekov, deputy commander of the Kyrgyz border service, said Uzbek authorities had since closed the border.

Russia’s RIA news agency quoted an unnamed official in the Uzbek emergency ministry official as saying that 75,000 refugees may have crossed the border. A Red Cross official in Uzbekistan said the figure was far lower, but likely in the thousands.

Berg of Human Rights Watch said she understood thousands had fled. Some had crossed the border and others were massed on the Kyrgyz side, mainly women and children.

“The men stayed. They are either dead or in Osh, trying to protect the houses that haven’t yet been set on fire.”

(Additional reporting by Olga Dzyubenko in Bishkek, Andrei Makhovsky in Minsk, Robin Paxton in Almaty; Writing by Robin Paxton and Conor Humphries; editing by Mark Trevelyan)

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Kyrgyz ethnic clashes spread, Russia sends troops

June 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

OSH, Kyrgyzstan, June 13 (Reuters) – Russia sent at least 150 paratroopers to Kyrgyzstan on Sunday to protect its military facilities as ethnic clashes spread in the Central Asian state, bringing the death toll from days of fighting to 113.

Ethnic Uzbeks in a besieged neighbourhood of Kyrgyzstan’s second city Osh said gangs were carrying out “genocide”, burning residents out of their homes and shooting them as they fled. Witnesses saw bodies lying on the streets.

“God help us! They are killing Uzbeks like animals. Almost the whole city is in flames,” Dilmurad Ishanov, an ethnic Uzbek human rights worker, told Reuters by telephone from Osh.

Rights activists said the authorities were failing to stop the violence, and occasionally joining in.

“Residents are calling us and saying soldiers are firing at them. There’s an order to shoot the marauders, but they aren’t shooting them,” said ex-parliamentary deputy Alisher Sabirov, a peacekeeping volunteer in Osh.

Takhir Maksitov of human rights group Citizens Against Corruption said: “This is genocide.”

Renewed turmoil in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic, has fuelled concern in Russia, the United States and neighbour China. Washington uses an air base at Manas in the north of the country, about 300 km (190 miles) from Osh, to supply its forces in Afghanistan.

RUSSIAN PARATROOPS ARRIVE

Several units of paratroopers arrived on Sunday to protect servicemen and families at Russia’s Kant airbase in the north of the country, a Kremlin spokesman said. A Defence Ministry spokesman said 150 armed paratroopers had been sent, while ITAR-TASS news agency, citing ministry sources, said at least 300 were dispatched.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he believed 15 Pakistani citizens were taken hostage and one killed in Osh. The Kyrgyz government said it was checking the reports.

The interim government in Kyrgyzstan, which took power in April after a popular revolt toppled president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has appealed for Russian help to quell the riots in the south.

Led by Roza Otunbayeva, the interim government has sent a volunteer force to the south and granted shoot-to-kill powers to its security forces in response to the deadly riots, which began in Osh late on Thursday before spreading to Jalalabad.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was alarmed by the scale of the clashes and ordered a special envoy to travel to the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, his office said in a statement.

The Red Cross said the humanitarian situation in southern Kyrgyzstan “is becoming critical”.

“We are getting reports of severe brutality, with an intent to kill,” it said in a statement.

The upsurge in violence has killed more people than the riots that accompanied the overthrow of Bakiyev. Otunbayeva, whose government has only limited control over the south, has accused supporters of Bakiyev of stoking ethnic conflict.

Bakiyev issued a statement from exile in Belarus, describing claims he was behind the clashes as “shameless lies”.

The situation worsened in Jalalabad region, which has become “the centre of destabilising forces,” government spokesman Farid Niyazov said.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Facts on south Kyrgyz ethnic tinderbox [ID:nLDE65A0Q3] Facts on Kyrgyzstan's second city of Osh [ID:nLDE65A1RA] Political risks in Kyrgyzstan, click on [ID:nLDE64O01A] Timeline on the new clashes, click on [ID:nLDE65A0LM] here

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Gunmen there shot at firefighters racing to a blaze at the Uzbek-run University of Friendship of Peoples, wounding a driver, Emergencies Ministry spokesman Sultan Mamatov said.

Retired builder Habibullah Khurulayev, 69, said he was afraid to leave his apartment in the besieged district of Osh. Uzbeks armed with hunting rifles manned improvised barricades to keep out Kyrgyz gangs with automatic rifles, he said.

“They are killing us with impunity,” he said. “The police are doing nothing. They are helping them kill us … There are not many of us left to shoot.”

The Health Ministry said 113 people had been killed — 92 in Osh and 21 in Jalalabad — and 1,405 were wounded. At least five policemen have been killed, the Interior Ministry said.

“Kyrgyz groups are driving in and setting homes on fire. When the people run out, they shoot at them,” Andrea Berg, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said by telephone from Osh.

APPEAL TO RUSSIA

Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan intertwine in the Fergana Valley. While Uzbeks make up 14.5 percent of the Kyrgyz population, the two groups are roughly equal in the Osh and Jalalabad regions.

The latest clashes are the worst ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan since 1990, when then-Kremlin leader Mikhail Gorbachev sent Soviet troops into Osh after hundreds of people were killed in a dispute that started over land ownership.

Otunbayeva has asked Russia to send in troops. This appeal was renewed on Sunday by interim defence minister Ismail Isakov, who said Russian special forces could quickly end the conflict.

Russia has said it will not send in peacekeepers alone but will discuss the situation on Monday within a Moscow-led security bloc of former Soviet republics known as the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday called Otunbayeva to discuss the violence, the Kremlin said.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan said in a statement it was in talks with the interim government on the supply of humanitarian aid, and called for “the immediate restoration of order”.

Meanwhile, thousands of women and children have crossed the border into Uzbekistan. Cholponbek Turuzbekov, deputy commander of the Kyrgyz border service, said Uzbek authorities had since closed the border.

Russia’s RIA news agency quoted an unnamed official in the Uzbek emergency ministry official as saying that 75,000 refugees may have crossed the border. A Red Cross official in Uzbekistan said the figure was far lower, but likely in the thousands.

Berg of Human Rights Watch said she understood thousands had fled. Some had crossed the border and others were massed on the Kyrgyz side, mainly women and children.

“The men stayed. They are either dead or in Osh, trying to protect the houses that haven’t yet been set on fire.” (Additional reporting by Olga Dzyubenko in Bishkek, Andrei Makhovsky in Minsk, Robin Paxton in Almaty; Writing by Robin Paxton and Conor Humphries; editing by Mark Trevelyan)

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One Pakistani killed and 15 abducted in Kyrgyzstan

June 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – One Pakistani student has been killed and around 15 reportedly taken hostage in Kyrgyzstan’s riot-stricken southern city of Osh, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Sunday.

At least 83 people have been killed — 72 in Osh alone — in gun battles over the past three days in the Central Asian state’s worst ethnic violence in two decades.

“One student has been killed and there are reports that 15 have been taken hostage for ransom. We are trying to confirm these reports,” Qureshi told Reuters.

“Our first priority is to ensure the safety of our brethren stranded there. We are trying to establish contact with Kyrgyz authorities,” he said.

Around 1,200 Pakistanis, mostly students, live in Kyrgyzstan, although many of them have returned to Pakistan for summer vacations, Qureshi said. Universities in the former Soviet states are attractive to many Pakistanis for their cheaper training in medical and engineering fields.

Obaid Ansari, who studies medicine in Osh, said he fled the city and returned to Pakistan shortly after riots broke out.

“I am receiving text messages from my colleagues and friends that have taken refuge in basements. They informed me that 15 have been abducted,” Ansari said by telephone from his home town of Jacobabad in southern Pakistan.

“I and four of my friends managed to flee as we were outside Osh when trouble started. When we returned, there was fire all over,” he said, adding the situation in Osh was “very dangerous.”

The interim government of Kyrgyzstan, an ex-Soviet republic hosting U.S. and Russian military bases, gave its security forces shoot-to-kill powers after deadly riots between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in Osh and Jalalabad.

Osh is a stronghold of former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was toppled in riots in April. Interim government leader Roza Otunbayeva has accused supporters of Bakiyev, who is in exile in Belarus, of stoking ethnic conflict.

Bakiyev has denied any role in the riots.

(Additional reporting by Asim Tanvir in Multan; Editing by Chris Allbritton and Paul Tait)

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One Pakistani killed, 15 abducted in Kyrgyzstan

June 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ISLAMABAD, June 13 (Reuters) – One Pakistani student has been killed and around 15 reportedly taken hostage in Kyrgyzstan’s riot-stricken southern city of Osh, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Sunday.

At least 83 people have been killed — 72 in Osh alone — in gun battles over the past three days in the Central Asian state’s worst ethnic violence in two decades.

“One student has been killed and there are reports that 15 have been taken hostage for ransom. We are trying to confirm these reports,” Qureshi told Reuters.

“Our first priority is to ensure the safety of our brethren stranded there. We are trying to establish contact with Kyrgyz authorities,” he said.

Around 1,200 Pakistanis, mostly students, live in Kyrgyzstan, although many of them have returned to Pakistan for summer vacations, Qureshi said. Universities in the former Soviet states are attractive to many Pakistanis for their cheaper training in medical and engineering fields.

Obaid Ansari, who studies medicine in Osh, said he fled the city and returned to Pakistan shortly after riots broke out.

“I am receiving text messages from my colleagues and friends that have taken refuge in basements. They informed me that 15 have been abducted,” Ansari said by telephone from his home town of Jacobabad in southern Pakistan.

“I and four of my friends managed to flee as we were outside Osh when trouble started. When we returned, there was fire all over,” he said, adding the situation in Osh was “very dangerous”.

The interim government of Kyrgyzstan, an ex-Soviet republic hosting U.S. and Russian military bases, gave its security forces shoot-to-kill powers after deadly riots between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in Osh and Jalalabad.

Osh is a stronghold of former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was toppled in riots in April. Interim government leader Roza Otunbayeva has accused supporters of Bakiyev, who is in exile in Belarus, of stoking ethnic conflict.

Bakiyev has denied any role in the riots.

(Additional reporting by Asim Tanvir in Multan; Editing by Chris Allbritton and Paul Tait) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here)

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One Pakistani killed, 15 abducted in Kyrgyzstan

June 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ISLAMABAD, June 13 (Reuters) – One Pakistani student has been killed and around 15 reportedly taken hostage in Kyrgyzstan’s riot-stricken city of Osh, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Sunday.

“Our first priority is to ensure safety of our brethren stranded there. We are trying to establish contact with Kyrgyz authorities,” Qureshi told Reuters. (Reporting by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Chris Allbritton) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here)

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Bihar told to speed up issuing voter cards

May 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Patna, May 31 (IANS) A three-member team of the Election Commission (EC) visiting Bihar Monday asked officials to speed up the process of issuing voter identity cards ahead of the assembly polls in October-November this year, official sources said.

The team headed by Election Commissioner S.Y. Qureshi discussed the election preparedness with government officials here, sources said.

‘The EC team reviewed election preparedness with divisional commissioners and district magistrates and the progress on voter identity cards,’ a source said.

The EC has already instructed the state officials to issue voter cards to at least 85 percent of the voters. The final list of electoral roll is to be published June 15, sources said.

According to official figures, there are 54,324,000 eligible voters in Bihar but only 40,171,917 have photo identity cards.

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Where talent is groomed, foundations are laid

May 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

When S Chikkarangappa broke the news of having begun playing golf to his parents, the biggest grouse his father had was that it wasn’t ‘their kind of sport’. “Our relatives used to tell him that it was a rich man’s game,” says the Bangalore player whose family lives on a farm in the village of Rangagodaddi.

Luckily for Indian golf, Chikkarangappa had enough persuasive powers to convince his father and the Golf Foundation had already been established.

Amit Luthra realised the need of supporting golfers who had the talent but not the means to stick to the sport when Ashok Kumar, who caddied for the 1982 Asian Games gold winner once in a while, wanted to play full-time. The Foundation, currently funded by HSBC, tries to do that and a little more.

“We keep around 10 players on our rolls at any time, with the two main criteria being talent and financial need,” Luthra says. “Then we give each of them a fixed monthly emolument, arrange for their travel for tournaments throughout India and sometimes abroad, pick up the tab for their training with any coach of their choice in India, help them with equipment and apparel and find them a sponsor.”

But apart from finances, as board member and Delhi Golf Club coach Nonita Lall Qureshi explains, the organisation also helps the youngsters get a “kickstart in life through golf”. English lessons and classes on formal table manners are also a regular feature. “The lack of education or knowledge of English can often turn out to be a big setback when you travel abroad. It can come as quite a shock, sometimes bringing out all their insecurities,” Qureshi says. “We just try to prepare them best for all situations.”

The list of players is reassessed each year, and non-performers can even be dropped. There is no age limit for the player to be picked up, but Qureshi says once a player turns professional, they don’t keep him on the list for more than two years. “That’s when you’re expected to support yourself,” she adds.

On the current list, Rudresh Sharma is the only professional; most others are juniors. Chikka and Rashid Khan were on the roster for long, but have been graduated recently. “I was gifted a ladies club set by a member at Eagleton when I started. The only set that I’ve used after that is the one that the Foundation helped me get,” says Chikka.

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US forces Pak into new anti-Taliban war

May 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

After intense pressure from the United States, Pakistan has reportedly agreed to launch a full-scale offensive against the Taliban and other extremist organisations in their stronghold North Waziristan, but has also clarified to the Obama administration that the timing of the military offensive would be decided by it.

A top Pakistani official confirmed that during the meeting between US National Security Adviser General James Jones and Central Investigation Agency (CIA) chief Leon Panetta and President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the Pakistani leadership agreed to expand the counterinsurgency offensive to North Waziristan.

US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson also attended the meeting.

“Pakistan is sincere and committed in combating terrorism and is ready to expand its anti-militancy operations to North Waziristan. However, for that we will require time to do the necessary shaping up. The operation will be started according to our own judgment,” The Dawn quoted the official, as saying.

A joint statement issued after the meeting also confirmed that Islamabad is ready to open a new front against militants in the volatile tribal region.

“Discussions focused on measures that both the countries (the US and Pakistan) are, and will be, taking to confront the common threat we face from extremists and prevent such potential attacks from occurring again. Both sides pledged to do everything possible to protect our citizens,” the statement said.

Sources privy to the meeting said Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership categorically told Obama’s top security aides that the country’s armed forces were not in a position to move immediately into North Waziristan because of a number of limitations, including efforts being made to consolidate gains made in the areas cleared of the Taliban and capacity and resource issues.

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Terror to be core issue of talks between India and Pakistan: Krishna

May 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 20 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has said that terror continues to be the core issue of talks between India and Pakistan, and it would be one of the most important issues that would be taken up between the two nations during his forthcoming visit to Pakistan beginning July 15.

“Terror will continue to be the core issue for us even when I go to Islamabad. I will be talking to Foreign Minister Qureshi on terror, on terror instrumentalities and how those terror instrumentalities are operating from the soil of Pakistan,” said Krishna.

“But at the same time, Pakistan also says they are afflicted by terror. The Taliban and other terrorist outfits are active even in Pakistan against the establishment. So, that has to be factored in while making an assessment of the impact of terror on India and Pakistan,” he added in an interview to Raj Chengappa, Editor-in-Chief, The Tribune.

On efforts by Pakistan to dismantle the terror apparatus and cut off link with it, Krishna said: “In the light of the terror attacks they have been experiencing in their own country, they are in a position to assess what terror is all about. Terrorists can strike any country, anywhere, and, they can do it at will.”

“That is what they have proved in Rawalpindi. That is what they have proved in Swat and various other areas. So, I am sure, Pakistan would be looking at terror perhaps in the same prism with which India views it in,” he added.

On the prosecution of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, the suspected mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Krishna said India has the evidence and Pakistan should proceed against him.

“We have been telling them that we have given you enough evidence to prosecute Hafiz Sayeed, who is the mastermind behind the Mumbai attacks. We have the evidence and that evidence is provable in a court of law. So, I think, they should proceed against him.”

“But both the times it was the court of law which let him out of custody. But, we still insist that Hafiz Sayeed is the brain behind the Mumbai attacks and he has to be brought to justice,” he added.

Krishna said the main mission of his Pakistan visit would be to foster friendly relations between the two nations and eliminate the prevailing distrust.

“But our efforts will certainly be to eliminate the prevailing distrust. The central theme of my visit to Pakistan is to make an effort to eliminate the distrust among us. I think, if we succeed, something would have been achieved,” he added. (ANI)

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Pak agrees ‘in principle’ for North Waziristan offensive under intense US pressure

May 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, May 20 (ANI): After intense pressure from the United States, Pakistan has reportedly agreed to launch a full-scale offensive against the Taliban and other extremist organisations in their stronghold North Waziristan, but has also clarified to the Obama administration that the timing of the military offensive would be decided by it.

A top Pakistani official confirmed that during the meeting between US National Security Adviser General James Jones and Central Investigation Agency (CIA) chief Leon Panetta and President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the Pakistani leadership agreed to expand the counterinsurgency offensive to North Waziristan.

US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson also attended the meeting.

“Pakistan is sincere and committed in combating terrorism and is ready to expand its anti-militancy operations to North Waziristan. However, for that we will require time to do the necessary shaping up. The operation will be started according to our own judgment,” The Dawn quoted the official, as saying.

A joint statement issued after the meeting also confirmed that Islamabad is ready to open a new front against militants in the volatile tribal region.

“Discussions focused on measures that both the countries (the US and Pakistan) are, and will be, taking to confront the common threat we face from extremists and prevent such potential attacks from occurring again. Both sides pledged to do everything possible to protect our citizens,” the statement said.

Sources privy to the meeting said Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership categorically told Obama’s top security aides that the country’s armed forces were not in a position to move immediately into North Waziristan because of a number of limitations, including efforts being made to consolidate gains made in the areas cleared of the Taliban and capacity and resource issues. (ANI)

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Krishna’s visit to Islamabad would help promote regional peace: Rehman

May 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Peshawar, May 19 (ANI): The proposed visit of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to Islamabad and talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on July 15 would certainly help both countries establish and promote peace in the region, Pakistan National Assembly’s Kashmir Committee chairman Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said.

Interacting with reporters in Swabi, Rehman said meaningful dialogue was in the interest of both neighbouring nations.

“We will welcome Krishna in Pakistan as meaningful dialogues are in the interests of both the neighbours,” The Dawn quoted Rehman, as saying.

Earlier, during his meeting with Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal, Rehman demanded the participation of the Kashmiri leadership in any upcoming India-Pakistan talks.

It is pertinent to mention here that Qureshi has already said that all issues would be discussed with Krishna, and Islamabad would not hesitate to present its stated positions on all issues bedevilling bilateral ties.

He has also made it clear that people should not expect any ‘miracle’ from the upcoming meeting.

“Don’t expect miracles overnight. It is an uphill task. The two foreign secretaries will meet on the sidelines of the SAARC conference to do the ground work for the foreign ministers meeting which will take place on July 15. I will be visiting New Delhi after the Islamabad meeting at a mutually convenient date for the next round of talks,” Qureshi had said earlier. (ANI)

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Three injured in Uttar Pradesh communal clash

May 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Bijnor (Uttar Pradesh), May 16 (ANI): At least three people were injured in a clash that broke out between two communities over parking of a rickshaw in Uttar Pradesh”s Bijnor town on Sunday.

The argument over the rickshaw parking soon led to a major clash. It was alleged that the rickshaw was wrongfully parked in front of a house.

Members of the two communities pelted stones at each other.

Police had to resort to baton charge to quell the irate mob.

“A heated argument took place between members of Ramgarh and Qureshi communities over the parking of a rickshaw. It led to stone pelting. Police immediately rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. Peace has been established,” said Shyam Bahadur Singh, Sub-Divisional Magistrate.

The local police have registered a case and are trying to get hold of the culprits. (ANI)

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Krishna confirms meeting with Qureshi in Islamabad on July 15

May 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi/Islamabad, May 11 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Tuesday confirmed that he will be visiting Islamabad on July 15 for talks with his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Addressing media ahead of his three-day visit to Kazakhstan, Krishna said: “I had a telephonic conversation with the foreign minister of Pakistan. This was a follow-up for the meeting of our two prime ministers”in Thimphu, where it was decided that the Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries will work out a methodology as to how the dialogue between both the countries can be carried out, so that all outstanding issues can be discussed in an atmosphere of mutual trust.”

The call for resuming talks at the foreign ministers level came from Qureshi this morning.

Addressing the media in Islamabad, Qureshi said all issues would be discussed with Krishna, and Islamabad would not hesitate to present its stated positions on all issues bedevilling bilateral ties.

“Don”t expect miracles overnight. It is an uphill task. The two foreign secretaries will meet on the sidelines of the SAARC conference to do the ground work for the foreign ministers meeting which will take place on July 15. I will be visiting New Delhi after the Islamabad meeting at a mutually convenient date for the next round of talks,” he said.

“Recognising that this is a very important engagement and step forward in our bilateral relations, I have decided to undertake a number of steps for preparation, consultations and national consensus building on some very sensitive issues that are outstanding between India and Pakistan,” he added. (ANI)

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Qureshi assuages India’s fears over diversion of US supplied weapons

May 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Lahore, May 8 (ANI): Allaying India’s concern over the misuse of weapons that Pakistan is receiving from the United States, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has assured New Delhi that the armaments would be put to use only against the extremists.

Referring to Defence Minister A K Antony’s statement that India is concerned about the possibility of weapons being diverted towards the Indian border, Qureshi said India should not worry, as the weapons would only be used in anti-terror operations.

“The military equipment that we are getting from the United States should not worry India, because it is meant for counter-terrorism and to enhance our capacity to fight terrorist networks,” The Dawn quoted Qureshi, as saying.

“They (India) should not be afraid of this because it will be used against terrorist networks who have made this region unsafe,” he added.

On Friday, Antony had said that New Delhi has already warned Washington about the possibility of the equipments supplied by it to Islamabad to fight against the Taliban being diverted to target India.

“We have already conveyed our concern about transfer of (U.S.) equipment to Pakistan. We told them (Americans) our fear, even though US is giving equipment to Pakistan to fight against Taliban,” Antony had told media persons media on the sidelines of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Border Road Organisation (BRO) in New Delhi.

“We feel there is every possibility of (Pakistan) diverting most of them to the Indian borders. We told the U.S. that they have to be careful about that,” Antony said while replying to a question about Pakistan using U.S. supplied weapons in a military exercise focusing on India’s western borders. (ANI)

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Kasab’s death sentence would not hinder talks with Krishna: Qureshi

May 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, May 8 (ANI): The death sentence awarded to Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving November 2008 Mumbai carnage gunman, would not affect any future talks between New Delhi and Islamabad, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said.

Talking to reporters here, Qureshi clarified that the Mumbai special anti-terror court’s judgement against Kasab would not hinder the proposed talks between the foreign ministers of the two neighbouring countries.

He said the date and venue of the meeting would soon be finalised.

Qureshi said Pakistani experts were yet to review the judgement in the Kasab case.

It may noted that during their meeting on the sidelines of the XVIth South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit in Thimpu last month, both Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani had mandated their respective foreign ministers and foreign secretaries to meet and work out the modalities for resuming deliberations between the two estranged countries.

Condemning the ghastly Mumbai terror attacks, in which 166 people were killed and over 200 injured, Qureshi said Pakistan has also been a victim of terrorism.

“Those who lost their relatives in terror incidents in the country could feel the pain of people who suffered in the Mumbai attack,” The Daily Times quoted Qureshi, as saying. (ANI)

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US piling up pressure on Pak to act over botched Times Square bombing investigations

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 6 (ANI): The United States is piling up pressure on Pakistan to follow the leads being provided to it over the attempted Times Square bombing with substantial action.

In a series of meetings and telephonic conversations with the Pakistani leadership, the Obama Administration has made it very clear that Islamabad would have to act after ‘clear links’ were established with Pakistan in the failed bombing plot.

Addressing a press briefing here, Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley said Washington has been in constant touch with Islamabad regarding the investigations, and that it has specifically been told what it should do.

“The purpose of the meetings was to inform Pakistan that there are clear links to Pakistan and that we would fully expect them to do what they should do and what they have been doing. Whatever leads are generated here in the United States … we would fully expect Pakistan to follow up on,” Crowley said.

“Pakistan, as you are seeing, has already taken its own steps. I”ll defer to the Pakistani government to describe what it is doing,” he added.

Crowley said US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson had detailed meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari, Foreign Minister Shah Memmood Qureshi and also talked to Interior Minister Rehman Malik over the issue.

President Obama’s Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke also had a telephonic conversation with Qureshi, The Dawn reports.

When asked whether the US was satisfied with the action initiated by Pakistan, Crowley said : “I think it’s more a matter of what we do from this point forward.”

Crowley also clarified that the White House has not given Islamabad any list of things it wanted it to concerning the botched bombing attempt, but added that Washington will make specific requests as the probe proceeds.

“I expect we will make specific requests of Pakistan in terms of cooperation,” he said.

Crowley said that the attempt to bomb Times Square had “international implications” and the United States expected Pakistan to help explore those implications. (ANI)

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Pak Foreign Minister likely to visit Delhi in end May

May 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

By Naveen Kapoor

New Delhi, May 5 (ANI): Keen on taking the bilateral dialogue process forward, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is expected to visit New Delhi to meet his counterpart S M Krishna, which will be followed by a meeting of Foreign Secretaries in Islamabad, according to the diplomatic sources.

The Prime Ministers” of both countries met during the XVIth SAARC summit at Thimphu last week and asked their foreign ministers and foreign secretaries to work on modalities for restoring trust and to meet as soon as possible.

It is expected that the two foreign ministers may meet before the Indo-US strategic dialogue to be held in Washington on June 3.

Although the dates for Foreign Minister Qureshi”s visit to India are still being worked out, it is most likely to take place at the end of the month, sources said.

Islamabad is keen for a resumption of the suspended composite dialogue, whereas New Delhi says both countries should not get stuck in nomenclature and have an “all encompassing” dialogue on all issues of mutual concern. (ANI)

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