SHANGHAI — Google’s search engine was apparently off limits for much of China late Tuesday, a sign that this country’s Internet censors may have decided to punish the company for its decision last week to move out of Beijing and operate an uncensored Web site from Hong Kong.
Users trying to access Google in Chinese and English were able to reach the home page of the Web site but unable to complete a search. The screen displayed an error message.
Some users in Shanghai said late Tuesday that they had occasional access to Google’s Chinese-language site, but mostly the site was inaccessible.
It was unclear whether Chinese censors shut down the site or whether there was simply a glitch in the system, but the widespread outage seemed ominous.
“It’s definitely the government,” said Duncan Clark, chairman at BDA Consulting in Beijing. “But we have to see if it’s sustained. Maybe they are just tweaking the filters.”
Beijing did not make any statements regarding Google, and the company, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., did not respond to a request for comment.
On a Web page that monitors the availability of its products in China, Google reported that its mobile search service had been “partially blocked” in China since Sunday. But that page showed no problems with its search engine there.
The incident is not surprising to analysts here. The so-called Great Firewall of China — the country’s powerful blocking system — has been known to cut off access to sites that run afoul of Beijing.
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, which is owned by Google, have all been inaccessible here for much of the past year.
As of 11 p.m. Tuesday in Shanghai, Gmail, Google’s e-mail service, was still accessible.
Because Beijing seemed to be angered by Google’s strident comments last week and in January about the country’s strict censorship controls, many analysts believed it was just a matter of time before China’s sophisticated Internet filters blocked the Google site.
Last week, citing frustration with Chinese censorship controls and online attacks that seemed to be coming from China, Google officially pulled its Chinese-language search engine out of the country and relocated it to Hong Kong, which still operates like an independent state.
The move ended Google’s four-year experiment with operating a Chinese-language search engine from Beijing under Chinese censorship rules.
Shortly after Google’s announcement, the state-controlled Xinhua news agency quoted an unnamed official at the State Council Information Office calling the decision “totally wrong.”
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Iran nuclear drive in focus at G8 talks
Group of Eight foreign ministers stepped up pressure on Iran Tuesday to abandon its suspect nuclear enrichment program or face new sanctions as they held key talks here.
"We urge a heightened focus and a stronger coordinated action including sanctions if necessary on the Iranian regime," Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said to G8 ministers.
"Tehran must halt its nuclear enrichment activities and engage in peaceful dialogue," he told the second day of talks focused on global security.
The ministers from the Group of Eight most developed nations -- Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States -- agreed on the need for further punitive measures against the Islamic republic.
But they remained divided over the sort and force of sanctions, according to a US official. Iran has already had three sets of UN measures imposed on it for its continued refusal to rein in its nuclear program.
"There is much at stake," Harper warned, amid Western fears that Tehran is trying to develop a nuclear bomb -- charges which Iran hotly denies.
"If nuclear proliferation leads to the use of nuclear weapons, whether by states or non-state the actors, then no matter where the bombs are set off, the catastrophe will be felt around the world."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton affirmed late Monday that China would participate in Iranian sanctions talks.
Beijing has been seen as the most hesitant member of the so-called "P5-plus-1" group -- the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany who are negotiating with Tehran.
But Clinton told Canadian television that China will play a role in efforts to forge sanctions at the United Nations against the Islamic regime.
"China is part of the consultative group that has been unified all along the way, which has made it very clear that a nuclear-armed Iran is not acceptable to the international community," she said.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said after a G8 working dinner on Monday that he still held out hope for negotiations with Iran, but echoed Japanese Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya's fears that "time was running out."
Katsuya wanted a "stronger response" to Iran's defiance, his spokesman said, but added that China and Russia must "get onboard" to make any UN Security Council decision "effective."
On the second day of talks just outside the Canadian capital Ottawa, G8 ministers were also to discuss an upcoming review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) at a New York conference in May and a nuclear security summit in Washington next month.
Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said last week that the NPT treaty was under pressure because of the actions of countries like Iran and North Korea.
But Friday's agreement between Moscow and Washington to further reduce their nuclear arsenals "should give us all hope that the future need not be an inevitable descent toward darkness," Harper commented.
The G8 ministers conference sets the stage for G8 and G20 leaders' summits in Muskoka, Ontario and Toronto in June.
Foreign ministers also touched on strategies for attacking the roots of unrest, cracking down on militant bases in Yemen and elsewhere, aid for quake-hit Haiti, and tensions in Bosnia and South America.
Late Monday, Cannon announced an initiative to bolster economic activity in depressed regions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, building infrastructure, creating jobs and boosting trade between the two countries.
The plan was developed in consultation with the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
"All of us have invested heavily, and at considerable cost in lives, in helping Afghanistan to build a peaceful and stable state that will never again be a haven for terrorists," Harper noted.
He and G8 foreign ministers called on Kabul to "assume greater responsibility for its own security," as well as live up to its promises to provide "good governance" and "basic services" to its population.
"We at this table must continue to provide support, while ensuring the Afghan government lives up to its commitments," Harper said.
"We urge a heightened focus and a stronger coordinated action including sanctions if necessary on the Iranian regime," Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said to G8 ministers.
"Tehran must halt its nuclear enrichment activities and engage in peaceful dialogue," he told the second day of talks focused on global security.
The ministers from the Group of Eight most developed nations -- Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States -- agreed on the need for further punitive measures against the Islamic republic.
But they remained divided over the sort and force of sanctions, according to a US official. Iran has already had three sets of UN measures imposed on it for its continued refusal to rein in its nuclear program.
"There is much at stake," Harper warned, amid Western fears that Tehran is trying to develop a nuclear bomb -- charges which Iran hotly denies.
"If nuclear proliferation leads to the use of nuclear weapons, whether by states or non-state the actors, then no matter where the bombs are set off, the catastrophe will be felt around the world."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton affirmed late Monday that China would participate in Iranian sanctions talks.
Beijing has been seen as the most hesitant member of the so-called "P5-plus-1" group -- the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany who are negotiating with Tehran.
But Clinton told Canadian television that China will play a role in efforts to forge sanctions at the United Nations against the Islamic regime.
"China is part of the consultative group that has been unified all along the way, which has made it very clear that a nuclear-armed Iran is not acceptable to the international community," she said.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said after a G8 working dinner on Monday that he still held out hope for negotiations with Iran, but echoed Japanese Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya's fears that "time was running out."
Katsuya wanted a "stronger response" to Iran's defiance, his spokesman said, but added that China and Russia must "get onboard" to make any UN Security Council decision "effective."
On the second day of talks just outside the Canadian capital Ottawa, G8 ministers were also to discuss an upcoming review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) at a New York conference in May and a nuclear security summit in Washington next month.
Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said last week that the NPT treaty was under pressure because of the actions of countries like Iran and North Korea.
But Friday's agreement between Moscow and Washington to further reduce their nuclear arsenals "should give us all hope that the future need not be an inevitable descent toward darkness," Harper commented.
The G8 ministers conference sets the stage for G8 and G20 leaders' summits in Muskoka, Ontario and Toronto in June.
Foreign ministers also touched on strategies for attacking the roots of unrest, cracking down on militant bases in Yemen and elsewhere, aid for quake-hit Haiti, and tensions in Bosnia and South America.
Late Monday, Cannon announced an initiative to bolster economic activity in depressed regions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, building infrastructure, creating jobs and boosting trade between the two countries.
The plan was developed in consultation with the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
"All of us have invested heavily, and at considerable cost in lives, in helping Afghanistan to build a peaceful and stable state that will never again be a haven for terrorists," Harper noted.
He and G8 foreign ministers called on Kabul to "assume greater responsibility for its own security," as well as live up to its promises to provide "good governance" and "basic services" to its population.
"We at this table must continue to provide support, while ensuring the Afghan government lives up to its commitments," Harper said.
McDonald's opens training site in China
SHANGHAI (March 30, 2010) McDonald's opened its first Hamburger University in mainland China, where the company expects to train an estimated 5,000 managers over the next five years as part of aggressive growth plans for the Chinese market.
Tim Fenton, president of McDonald’s Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa division, said the company plans to open as many as 175 McDonald’s units this year in China, where it already has 1,146 stores.
Since McDonald's opened its first location in Shenzhen, China, in 1990, it took 19 years for the chain to reach 1,000 stores in China, Fenton said, and the only country to hit that milestone faster was the United States. McDonald’s aims to open an additional 1,000 restaurants in China in six years, he added, which underscores the importance of the management training offered at the new Hamburger University, located at McDonald’s national headquarters in Shanghai.
“It’s a testament to our commitment to growth in China,” Fenton said in an interview with Nation’s Restaurant News. “It’s the fastest-growing market in the system. Before, the Chinese had to come to Hong Kong [to study at HU], and now everybody comes to the epicenter of the market.”
Fenton, who went through HU at McDonald’s Oak Brook, Ill., headquarters in 1978 and 1988, said the value of the program is the “opportunity to share best practices from all over the world and to be with peers who deal with the same issues day in and day out.”
HU China’s curriculum will focus on restaurant operations management and business leadership, and faculty members will come from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
“Ever since we opened our first restaurant in China 20 years ago, we have been strongly committed to giving back to society, developing local talent and contributing to the needs of the restaurant sector,” said Kenneth Chan, chief executive of McDonald’s China. “HU China will help us in attracting, retaining and developing local talent for the next twenty years of growth in China.”
While China presents unique cultural differences and aggressive growth projections, the curriculum at HU China doesn’t differ much from classes taught at campuses in McDonald’s other areas of the world, Fenton said.
“The curriculum doesn’t change much country to country beyond dialect and language,” he said. “We have 38 countries, 16 time zones, and 800 languages and dialects in APMEA. But we all speak McDonald’s. Scheduling is scheduling, training is training. We have a system that doesn’t matter if you’re in Tokyo, Sydney or Los Angeles -- you know what the expectations are.”
He said more than 80,000 people have graduated from one of Hamburger University’s campuses, which are located in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Germany, Brazil and, before HU China’s opening, Hong Kong.
“Hamburger University China provides a comprehensive range of curriculum so that our employees can learn, grow and realize their career dreams,” said Susanna Li, dean of HU China. “We are also pursuing partnerships and joint accreditation programs with China’s top business schools and educational organizations.”
One such partnership will be with the China Cuisine Association to develop a food safety and quality control program.
Fenton told BusinessWeek recently that McDonald’s was increasing its investment in Asia by about 20 percent compared with 2009.
Year-to-date through Feb. 28, 2010, same-store sales in McDonald’s APMEA region had increased 7.2 percent, compared with a 3.6-percent increase in the company's global same-store sales, which also reflected a 0.1-percent decrease in the United States and a 4.8-percent uptick in its European division.
According to The NPD Group's CREST service, which tracks commercial foodservice trends in several countries, Chinese consumers increased their total visits to restaurants and foodservice establishments by 3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with the third quarter of last year. Their frequency rose to 8.9 visits to a restaurant every two weeks.
China's economy grew 8.7 percent in 2009, compared with 2008, NPD found. Prices remained stable, the research firm added, and while China's consumer price index rose modestly in the fourth quarter, it decreased by 0.7 percent for all of 2009. NPD also indicated that per capita disposable income in China grew 8.8 percent in 2009, exceeding growth in GDP for the first time.
McDonald’s operates or franchises more than 32,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries.
Tim Fenton, president of McDonald’s Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa division, said the company plans to open as many as 175 McDonald’s units this year in China, where it already has 1,146 stores.
Since McDonald's opened its first location in Shenzhen, China, in 1990, it took 19 years for the chain to reach 1,000 stores in China, Fenton said, and the only country to hit that milestone faster was the United States. McDonald’s aims to open an additional 1,000 restaurants in China in six years, he added, which underscores the importance of the management training offered at the new Hamburger University, located at McDonald’s national headquarters in Shanghai.
“It’s a testament to our commitment to growth in China,” Fenton said in an interview with Nation’s Restaurant News. “It’s the fastest-growing market in the system. Before, the Chinese had to come to Hong Kong [to study at HU], and now everybody comes to the epicenter of the market.”
Fenton, who went through HU at McDonald’s Oak Brook, Ill., headquarters in 1978 and 1988, said the value of the program is the “opportunity to share best practices from all over the world and to be with peers who deal with the same issues day in and day out.”
HU China’s curriculum will focus on restaurant operations management and business leadership, and faculty members will come from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
“Ever since we opened our first restaurant in China 20 years ago, we have been strongly committed to giving back to society, developing local talent and contributing to the needs of the restaurant sector,” said Kenneth Chan, chief executive of McDonald’s China. “HU China will help us in attracting, retaining and developing local talent for the next twenty years of growth in China.”
While China presents unique cultural differences and aggressive growth projections, the curriculum at HU China doesn’t differ much from classes taught at campuses in McDonald’s other areas of the world, Fenton said.
“The curriculum doesn’t change much country to country beyond dialect and language,” he said. “We have 38 countries, 16 time zones, and 800 languages and dialects in APMEA. But we all speak McDonald’s. Scheduling is scheduling, training is training. We have a system that doesn’t matter if you’re in Tokyo, Sydney or Los Angeles -- you know what the expectations are.”
He said more than 80,000 people have graduated from one of Hamburger University’s campuses, which are located in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Germany, Brazil and, before HU China’s opening, Hong Kong.
“Hamburger University China provides a comprehensive range of curriculum so that our employees can learn, grow and realize their career dreams,” said Susanna Li, dean of HU China. “We are also pursuing partnerships and joint accreditation programs with China’s top business schools and educational organizations.”
One such partnership will be with the China Cuisine Association to develop a food safety and quality control program.
Fenton told BusinessWeek recently that McDonald’s was increasing its investment in Asia by about 20 percent compared with 2009.
Year-to-date through Feb. 28, 2010, same-store sales in McDonald’s APMEA region had increased 7.2 percent, compared with a 3.6-percent increase in the company's global same-store sales, which also reflected a 0.1-percent decrease in the United States and a 4.8-percent uptick in its European division.
According to The NPD Group's CREST service, which tracks commercial foodservice trends in several countries, Chinese consumers increased their total visits to restaurants and foodservice establishments by 3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with the third quarter of last year. Their frequency rose to 8.9 visits to a restaurant every two weeks.
China's economy grew 8.7 percent in 2009, compared with 2008, NPD found. Prices remained stable, the research firm added, and while China's consumer price index rose modestly in the fourth quarter, it decreased by 0.7 percent for all of 2009. NPD also indicated that per capita disposable income in China grew 8.8 percent in 2009, exceeding growth in GDP for the first time.
McDonald’s operates or franchises more than 32,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries.
Ericsson Lands China Contracts Worth $1.8B
Ericsson has landed two contracts worth $1.8 billion with Chinese operators China Mobile and China Unicom to build out the their respective wireless networks.
Ericsson will provide China Mobile with radio access network equipment, including a multi-standard base station and mobile soft switching technology, to boost the network's capacity and evolve it into an IP network. The deal is worth $1 billion.
Ericsson's $800 million deal with China Unicom covers the deployment of a 3G, HSPA network and an expansion of its IP equipment contracts with the operator. Both the deals with China Mobile and China Unicom will happen this year.
Mats Olsson, who heads up Ericsson's operations in China, called the new deals with China Mobile and China Unicom "significant."
"We are confident that we will do an even better job in supplying the latest technology and best-in-class services in time to support Chinese operators in fulfilling the demand of this tremendous market growth," he said in a statement.
Mobile technology is growing steadily throughout China, which currently has a penetration rate of just 56.3 percent. In 2009 alone, the country's operators added 106 million new subscribers, bringing China's customer base to 747 million.
Ericsson estimates China's potential customer base to be 1.3 billion.
Ericsson will provide China Mobile with radio access network equipment, including a multi-standard base station and mobile soft switching technology, to boost the network's capacity and evolve it into an IP network. The deal is worth $1 billion.
Ericsson's $800 million deal with China Unicom covers the deployment of a 3G, HSPA network and an expansion of its IP equipment contracts with the operator. Both the deals with China Mobile and China Unicom will happen this year.
Mats Olsson, who heads up Ericsson's operations in China, called the new deals with China Mobile and China Unicom "significant."
"We are confident that we will do an even better job in supplying the latest technology and best-in-class services in time to support Chinese operators in fulfilling the demand of this tremendous market growth," he said in a statement.
Mobile technology is growing steadily throughout China, which currently has a penetration rate of just 56.3 percent. In 2009 alone, the country's operators added 106 million new subscribers, bringing China's customer base to 747 million.
Ericsson estimates China's potential customer base to be 1.3 billion.
Bodies of 21 babies found in China river
BEIJING -- The bodies of 21 babies, believed dumped by hospitals, have washed ashore a riverbank in eastern China, state media reported Tuesday.
Video footage indicated that the bodies - stashed in yellow plastic bags, at least one of which was marked "medical waste" - included some several months old. Some wore identification tags with their mothers' names, their birth dates, measurements and weights. The official Xinhua News Agency said they also included fetuses. Residents discovered the remains under a bridge in the city of Jining, Shandong province, over the weekend. Tags on the feet of eight of the babies traced them back to a hospital in Jining, according to the People's Daily Web site. Three of them had been admitted earlier to the hospital in critical condition, the report said. It did not say when.
The other 13 bodies were unidentified. The number of girls or boys was not reported.
More girls than boys are aborted in China because of the traditional preference for male offspring, especially in rural areas. Although gender-selection abortions are illegal in China, the practice remains widespread and has led to a skewed sex ratio at birth in China with 119 males born for every 100 females. In industrialized countries, the ratio is 107 to 100.
An official from the general office from the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical College confirmed it was involved.
"Several of the bodies of babies with (identification) tags were from our hospital, but not all of them. The officials from the health bureau are still in the hospital doing an investigation," said the official, who like most Chinese officials would not give his name.
Xinhua said medical staff were suspended after the discovery.
"The hospital medical staff involved have been suspended from their work during the investigation," Zhong Haitao, a spokesman at the Jining Health Bureau, was quoted as saying.
Local residents and firefighters recovered the bodies Monday after they were discovered under a bridge spanning the Guangfu River in the outskirts of Jining, Zhong said.
Interviews with residents who discovered the bodies floating near the shore over the weekend were broadcast on the Web site of the Shandong Broadcasting Company, IQILU.com.
The footage shows bodies lying on parts of the bank of the river. Some are uncovered, and others are in bags. They are all small and covered in dirt. A leg sticks out from under one bag. At least one of the bags has "medical waste" written on it.
The IQILU.com report said the babies ranged from newborns to several months old. One of the bluish-green identification tags visible in the video indicates the baby was born in April 2009.
People's Daily said all the bodies were babies, while Xinhua said several were fetuses.
An official from the information office of China's Health Ministry said she was not aware of the case, while telephone calls to the Jining Health Bureau and the Shandong Health Bureau rang unanswered Tuesday.
China executes thousands: Amnesty
714 executions reported in 18 countries, but Chinese data secret
A guard watches over inmates in their room at a drug rehabilitation centre in Shenyang, China. The country executes people for drug offences, something Amnesty International has pressured China to release details on. (Associated Press)
Amnesty International urged China Tuesday to release details on the "thousands" of people it is believed to have executed last year.
"Chinese authorities claim that fewer executions are taking place," the group's interim secretary general Claudio Cordone said. "If this is true, why won't they tell the world how many people the state put to death?"
Among numerous campaigns on behalf of human rights, Amnesty is perhaps most vocal in its opposition to capital punishment. The group keeps track of the official number of executions every year and publishes them in an annual report.
According to official data, at least 714 people were executed in 18 countries in 2009. But that figure does not include the thousands of people who are believed to be executed in China every year, as information on the death penalty is a closely guarded state secret in China.
"The death penalty is cruel and degrading, and an affront to human dignity," Cordone said.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry duty officer reached after hours in Beijing had no immediate comment. While there's no indication that China plans to make its execution figures public, the country's highest court issued new guidelines last month that said the death penalty should be limited to a small number of "extremely serious" cases.
Outside of China, the nations with the most executions were Iran with at least 388 executions, Iraq with at least 120, Saudi Arabia with at least 69 and the United States with 52 in 2009. The United States was the only country in North or South America to have carried out capital punishment.
Globally, the group says the number of countries that have removed capital punishment entirely from their laws rose to 95, as Burundi and Togo abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
No executions took place in Europe in 2009, the first time that has happened since Amnesty began collecting records in 1980. But the streak has already been broken, as two prisoners were executed in Belarus two weeks ago.
Death row prisoners in the authoritarian country are only given a few moments' notice before they're killed. They're then shot in the back of the head and their bodies are buried secretly, the group said.
Belarus is the only country in Europe to still employ capital punishment. Although the law exists in Russia and Ukraine, neither has executed a prisoner in more than a decade.
In addition to its criticism of Chinese secrecy, Amnesty took aim at Iran's use of the death penalty, because its use is often politically motivated. Of the 388 executions in Iran last year, 112 were known to have taken place in the eight-week period between the presidential election on June 12 and the inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second term as President on Aug. 5.
In addition to those executed, at least 2001 people were sentenced to death in 56 countries last year, the report said.
Among numerous campaigns on behalf of human rights, Amnesty is perhaps most vocal in its opposition to capital punishment. The group keeps track of the official number of executions every year and publishes them in an annual report.
According to official data, at least 714 people were executed in 18 countries in 2009. But that figure does not include the thousands of people who are believed to be executed in China every year, as information on the death penalty is a closely guarded state secret in China.
"The death penalty is cruel and degrading, and an affront to human dignity," Cordone said.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry duty officer reached after hours in Beijing had no immediate comment. While there's no indication that China plans to make its execution figures public, the country's highest court issued new guidelines last month that said the death penalty should be limited to a small number of "extremely serious" cases.
Outside of China, the nations with the most executions were Iran with at least 388 executions, Iraq with at least 120, Saudi Arabia with at least 69 and the United States with 52 in 2009. The United States was the only country in North or South America to have carried out capital punishment.
Globally, the group says the number of countries that have removed capital punishment entirely from their laws rose to 95, as Burundi and Togo abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
No executions took place in Europe in 2009, the first time that has happened since Amnesty began collecting records in 1980. But the streak has already been broken, as two prisoners were executed in Belarus two weeks ago.
Death row prisoners in the authoritarian country are only given a few moments' notice before they're killed. They're then shot in the back of the head and their bodies are buried secretly, the group said.
Belarus is the only country in Europe to still employ capital punishment. Although the law exists in Russia and Ukraine, neither has executed a prisoner in more than a decade.
In addition to its criticism of Chinese secrecy, Amnesty took aim at Iran's use of the death penalty, because its use is often politically motivated. Of the 388 executions in Iran last year, 112 were known to have taken place in the eight-week period between the presidential election on June 12 and the inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second term as President on Aug. 5.
In addition to those executed, at least 2001 people were sentenced to death in 56 countries last year, the report said.
China's Geely says costs of Volvo purchase goes well beyond the $1.8B to a planned $2.7B
BEIJING - Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group expects to spend hundreds of millions of dollars beyond the $1.8 billion purchase price for Volvo Cars to make the Swedish car company profitable, Geely's chairman said Tuesday.
Geely is projecting a total tab of $2.7 billion for its takeover of Volvo, with money beyond the purchase price to be spent on expanding production, chairman Li Shufu told reporters.
Li said three quarters of the total financing would come from Chinese banks and overseas capital markets while the rest would come from Geely.
In studying Volvo, Geely found the company's biggest problem was high research and development costs despite the fact that it makes cars on a much smaller scale than high-end rivals Daimler AG and BMW AG, said Li.
"We will find a way to let Volvo's technology play a better role and to expand their scale in order to lower the costs," said Li. He did not elaborate.
Geely's acquisition of Volvo from Ford Motor Co. has been heralded as a breakthrough deal for China's auto industry, giving one of its most ambitious automakers a well-known, prestigious global brand and access to top-tier technology.
Li said Geely would not seek to impose its own corporate culture on Volvo but rather find ways to let the Swedish company exploit its strengths.
"Geely is Geely; Volvo is Volvo. Geely will not produce Volvo, and Volvo will not produce Geely," Li said. He compared Geely's and Volvo's relationship to two brothers, not to a father and son.
As part of the deal, Volvo brings with it ownership of critical technologies and other intellectual property, including some that was developed under Ford's ownership, said Zhao Fuquan, Geely's chief technology officer. Zhao said Geely will have the right to use many of these technologies, though he did not say if they would be used on Geely branded models.
Volvo's labour unions, initially critical of the deal, ultimately backed the acquisition, said Li.
Geely, meaning Lucky in Chinese, has been looking for a critical edge in China, which is the world's biggest auto market and one in which foreign brands often dominate. At the same time Geely has coveted a solid foothold in Europe. Geely was earlier rumoured to have been bidding for Opel and Saab.
Geely's push abroad comes as the Chinese government has been encouraging companies to "go out" and take advantage of the global financial downturns.
But earlier this year, Tengzhong Zhonggong, a heavy industrial equipment maker in southwestern China, failed to win government approval to buy the Hummer brand from General Motors Co.
Geely is projecting a total tab of $2.7 billion for its takeover of Volvo, with money beyond the purchase price to be spent on expanding production, chairman Li Shufu told reporters.
Li said three quarters of the total financing would come from Chinese banks and overseas capital markets while the rest would come from Geely.
In studying Volvo, Geely found the company's biggest problem was high research and development costs despite the fact that it makes cars on a much smaller scale than high-end rivals Daimler AG and BMW AG, said Li.
"We will find a way to let Volvo's technology play a better role and to expand their scale in order to lower the costs," said Li. He did not elaborate.
Geely's acquisition of Volvo from Ford Motor Co. has been heralded as a breakthrough deal for China's auto industry, giving one of its most ambitious automakers a well-known, prestigious global brand and access to top-tier technology.
Li said Geely would not seek to impose its own corporate culture on Volvo but rather find ways to let the Swedish company exploit its strengths.
"Geely is Geely; Volvo is Volvo. Geely will not produce Volvo, and Volvo will not produce Geely," Li said. He compared Geely's and Volvo's relationship to two brothers, not to a father and son.
As part of the deal, Volvo brings with it ownership of critical technologies and other intellectual property, including some that was developed under Ford's ownership, said Zhao Fuquan, Geely's chief technology officer. Zhao said Geely will have the right to use many of these technologies, though he did not say if they would be used on Geely branded models.
Volvo's labour unions, initially critical of the deal, ultimately backed the acquisition, said Li.
Geely, meaning Lucky in Chinese, has been looking for a critical edge in China, which is the world's biggest auto market and one in which foreign brands often dominate. At the same time Geely has coveted a solid foothold in Europe. Geely was earlier rumoured to have been bidding for Opel and Saab.
Geely's push abroad comes as the Chinese government has been encouraging companies to "go out" and take advantage of the global financial downturns.
But earlier this year, Tengzhong Zhonggong, a heavy industrial equipment maker in southwestern China, failed to win government approval to buy the Hummer brand from General Motors Co.
Google launches online shopping tool in India
Search engine Google has added another tool, Google Shopping, to its platform, enabling users to get information about products and their prices online.
The new shopping tool for India gathers information about products and prices automatically by scanning millions of Indian Web pages and extracts product names, prices and images.
With the help of this new technology, Google users will receive information from more than 30 thousand Indian Internet sites enabling them to research a variety of products in just one page.
Vinay Goel, Google India (head of products) said,"This new tool is designed to help users make decisions faster and find deals online enhancing their research experience."
According to Google's research shows that, online search is an integral part of the product purchase decision process made by Indian users.Consumers on an average spend 35 per cent of their time researching for products online before they make a purchase decision.
Google which has a market share of about 80 per cent in the Indian search market has also introduced a new feature called sharping to refine the online search.
The new feature makes the web search results page more relevant to the specific type of information a user is looking for, he added.
The new shopping tool for India gathers information about products and prices automatically by scanning millions of Indian Web pages and extracts product names, prices and images.
With the help of this new technology, Google users will receive information from more than 30 thousand Indian Internet sites enabling them to research a variety of products in just one page.
Vinay Goel, Google India (head of products) said,"This new tool is designed to help users make decisions faster and find deals online enhancing their research experience."
According to Google's research shows that, online search is an integral part of the product purchase decision process made by Indian users.Consumers on an average spend 35 per cent of their time researching for products online before they make a purchase decision.
Google which has a market share of about 80 per cent in the Indian search market has also introduced a new feature called sharping to refine the online search.
The new feature makes the web search results page more relevant to the specific type of information a user is looking for, he added.
Shoot-at-sight orders issued in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: Communal riots spread to new areas in Hyderabad Tuesday even as shoot-at-sight orders were issued in the old city and curfew was imposed in the areas under eight more police stations.
While curfew continued the old city without any relaxation, it was imposed in new areas following fresh clashes.
Hyderabad police Commissioner A.K. Khan said Tuesday evening that indefinite curfew would be in force in Afzalgunz, Begumbazar, Shahinathgunz, Tappachaputra, Asifnagar, Mangalhat, Kulsumpura and Habibnagar police stations.
He also imposed prohibitory orders banning processions and rallies across this Andhra Pradesh capital after clashes in new areas.
The indefinite curfew in the riot-hit old city of Hyderabad continued Tuesday without relaxation. All 17 police stations under the south zone were brought under curfew Monday night to control the situation.
The communal violence, which was so far confined to the old city, spread to other areas in the city, triggering tension.
Groups belonging to two different communities clashed in Musheerabad, Bholakpur and Rani Gunj and other areas in central Hyderabad and its twin city Secunderabad.
Andhra Pradesh police chief Girish Kumar told reporters that police were ordered to shoot anyone carrying lethal weapons, stones or sticks in the curfew-bound old city. The order came after fresh incidents of violence that left over 30 people injured.
While the curfew-bound old city remained by and large peaceful, trouble broke out in Musheerabad area when some people allegedly pelted stones on a religious procession. Rival groups clashes with stones and sticks. The miscreants attacked houses and damaged over 20 vehicles.
The trouble spread to nearby Bholakpur and Rani Gunj areas. In Begum Bazar area near the old city, police opened fire in the air to disperse two clashing groups.
There was tension in several areas as various organisations took out processions to mark Hanuman Jayanti. As the tension was mounting, police ordered closure of shops and business establishments in almost all parts of the city as a precautionary measure. Almost the entire city wore a deserted look.
Sporadic incidents of stone pelting were reported from curfew-bound areas of Gulzar Houz and Shahali Banda near the historic Charminar but the police controlled the situation by resorting to baton charges and arresting the miscreants.
The violence, which broke out Saturday in Moosabowli area of Hussaini Alam over a dispute on putting up of religious flags, has so far left one person dead and over 80 injured while several places of worship were attacked and vehicles torched.
With rampaging mobs taking to streets in several areas Monday afternoon, police imposed curfew to bring the situation under control. Hundreds of policemen and paramilitary forces personnel were deployed across the communally-sensitive walled city.
The violence of last three days and the curfew has put the residents to severe inconvenience.
Police, with the help of some dairy farms, arranged supply of milk in curfew-bound areas Tuesday morning. Women were allowed to come out and buy milk from the suppliers.
Policemen from other parts of the state, neighbouring states and personnel of central forces like Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) have been deployed in the trouble-torn areas.
Police Commissioner Khan said any decision on relaxing the curfew would be taken after a review of the situation Wednesday.
He said police had formed special teams to identify the culprits behind the riots. "We have so far arrested 110 people in connection with various incidents and questioning them to identify the culprits," Khan said.
Authorities have postponed the Class 10 examinations in all curfew-bound areas. The education department announced that the examinations would be held for students in the old city at a later date.
While curfew continued the old city without any relaxation, it was imposed in new areas following fresh clashes.
Hyderabad police Commissioner A.K. Khan said Tuesday evening that indefinite curfew would be in force in Afzalgunz, Begumbazar, Shahinathgunz, Tappachaputra, Asifnagar, Mangalhat, Kulsumpura and Habibnagar police stations.
He also imposed prohibitory orders banning processions and rallies across this Andhra Pradesh capital after clashes in new areas.
The indefinite curfew in the riot-hit old city of Hyderabad continued Tuesday without relaxation. All 17 police stations under the south zone were brought under curfew Monday night to control the situation.
The communal violence, which was so far confined to the old city, spread to other areas in the city, triggering tension.
Groups belonging to two different communities clashed in Musheerabad, Bholakpur and Rani Gunj and other areas in central Hyderabad and its twin city Secunderabad.
Andhra Pradesh police chief Girish Kumar told reporters that police were ordered to shoot anyone carrying lethal weapons, stones or sticks in the curfew-bound old city. The order came after fresh incidents of violence that left over 30 people injured.
While the curfew-bound old city remained by and large peaceful, trouble broke out in Musheerabad area when some people allegedly pelted stones on a religious procession. Rival groups clashes with stones and sticks. The miscreants attacked houses and damaged over 20 vehicles.
The trouble spread to nearby Bholakpur and Rani Gunj areas. In Begum Bazar area near the old city, police opened fire in the air to disperse two clashing groups.
There was tension in several areas as various organisations took out processions to mark Hanuman Jayanti. As the tension was mounting, police ordered closure of shops and business establishments in almost all parts of the city as a precautionary measure. Almost the entire city wore a deserted look.
Sporadic incidents of stone pelting were reported from curfew-bound areas of Gulzar Houz and Shahali Banda near the historic Charminar but the police controlled the situation by resorting to baton charges and arresting the miscreants.
The violence, which broke out Saturday in Moosabowli area of Hussaini Alam over a dispute on putting up of religious flags, has so far left one person dead and over 80 injured while several places of worship were attacked and vehicles torched.
With rampaging mobs taking to streets in several areas Monday afternoon, police imposed curfew to bring the situation under control. Hundreds of policemen and paramilitary forces personnel were deployed across the communally-sensitive walled city.
The violence of last three days and the curfew has put the residents to severe inconvenience.
Police, with the help of some dairy farms, arranged supply of milk in curfew-bound areas Tuesday morning. Women were allowed to come out and buy milk from the suppliers.
Policemen from other parts of the state, neighbouring states and personnel of central forces like Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) have been deployed in the trouble-torn areas.
Police Commissioner Khan said any decision on relaxing the curfew would be taken after a review of the situation Wednesday.
He said police had formed special teams to identify the culprits behind the riots. "We have so far arrested 110 people in connection with various incidents and questioning them to identify the culprits," Khan said.
Authorities have postponed the Class 10 examinations in all curfew-bound areas. The education department announced that the examinations would be held for students in the old city at a later date.
Zain deal takes India's outbound M&A tally to $15 bn in 2010
NEW DELHI: With Bharti Airtel sealing the $10.7-billion takeover deal for African assets of Zain, corporate India's outbound merger and
acquisition (M&A) activity in 2010 so far has touched $15 billion.
The deal marks the second biggest overseas acquisition by an Indian company, after Tata Steel purchased Corus Group for $12.2 billion in an all cash deal in January 2007.
The Corus deal was the largest Indian takeover of a foreign company and made Tata Steel the world's fifth-largest steel group.
The acquisition of Zain's African assets would catapult Bharti Airtel to become the fifth largest telecom operator in the country with revenues of an estimated $13 billion and a subscriber base of over 179 million.
Led by Bharti-Zain, the outbound M&As by Indian corporate have touched $15 billion across 23 deals between January- March 23, 2010, according to Arun Natarajan, CEO of Venture Intelligence.
This is over seven-fold growth from $2 billion across 12 deals announced in January-March quarter of 2009.
"Confidence in deal-making is quite evident now. Although recovery in developed market is lagging, valuations in emerging markets are coming cheap leading to a lot of deals happening," Natarajan said.
Some of the acquisitions announced during the quarter include NMDC's $2.5 billion deal with Brazil's Ferrous Resources, Essar Group buying US-based Trinity Coal for $600 million also Bharti Airtel's $300 million buyout of Bangladesh's Warid.
The top 10 outbound deal involving India Inc has Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Hindalco Industries' acquisition of Canadian company Novelis Inc for $6 billion in February 2007 at the third spot.
This is followed by ONGC taking control of Imperial Energy Plc for $2.8 billion, in January 2009 and Tata Motors' acquisition of luxury auto brands -- Jaguar and Land Rover -- from Ford Motor for $2.3 billion in March 2008.
Also in May 2007, Suzlon Energy acquired the German wind turbine manufacturer REpower for $1.7 billion.
acquisition (M&A) activity in 2010 so far has touched $15 billion.
The deal marks the second biggest overseas acquisition by an Indian company, after Tata Steel purchased Corus Group for $12.2 billion in an all cash deal in January 2007.
The Corus deal was the largest Indian takeover of a foreign company and made Tata Steel the world's fifth-largest steel group.
The acquisition of Zain's African assets would catapult Bharti Airtel to become the fifth largest telecom operator in the country with revenues of an estimated $13 billion and a subscriber base of over 179 million.
Led by Bharti-Zain, the outbound M&As by Indian corporate have touched $15 billion across 23 deals between January- March 23, 2010, according to Arun Natarajan, CEO of Venture Intelligence.
This is over seven-fold growth from $2 billion across 12 deals announced in January-March quarter of 2009.
"Confidence in deal-making is quite evident now. Although recovery in developed market is lagging, valuations in emerging markets are coming cheap leading to a lot of deals happening," Natarajan said.
Some of the acquisitions announced during the quarter include NMDC's $2.5 billion deal with Brazil's Ferrous Resources, Essar Group buying US-based Trinity Coal for $600 million also Bharti Airtel's $300 million buyout of Bangladesh's Warid.
The top 10 outbound deal involving India Inc has Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Hindalco Industries' acquisition of Canadian company Novelis Inc for $6 billion in February 2007 at the third spot.
This is followed by ONGC taking control of Imperial Energy Plc for $2.8 billion, in January 2009 and Tata Motors' acquisition of luxury auto brands -- Jaguar and Land Rover -- from Ford Motor for $2.3 billion in March 2008.
Also in May 2007, Suzlon Energy acquired the German wind turbine manufacturer REpower for $1.7 billion.
Sania vows to keep playing for India
Hyderabad/Karachi: Announcing her marriage with Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik on April 15 in Hyderabad, tennis star Sania Mirza on Tuesday said she would retain her Indian passport and play for India in the 2012 Olympics for the country.
Flying back to Hyderabad after a lightning visit to Delhi where she secured visa from Pakistan High Commission for going to Lahore for a reception, she declined to go into "uncomfortable" details about where she met Shoaib but said she knew him for last seven years.
She made it clear that they would settle down in Dubai which she called a "home away from home" and just three hours' flight from Hyderabad.
During the brief interaction with the media in the company of her father at her residence, the 23-year-old Sania said she would be lying if she did not expect the development to be a shock but both of them and their families were happy about the marriage. She said she had received messages of best wishes from several people both in India and Pakistan.
"We are getting married. We are not also making any political statement or anything on (Indo-Pak) relations. It's a simple matter. We are getting married. We are very, very happy and our families are very happy," she said when a reporter asked whether she would like others to emulate her example.
Asked who she would support in case of an India-Pakistan cricket match, she said, "I will obviously support India but I will also support my husband."
To a question, she said she would continue to hold Indian passport and was looking to play for India in the 2012 Olympics.
"I'm not going to answer nor will Shoaib be comfortable answering personal questions," she said when asked when the two started seeing each other.
India says it is not stealing water
Jamaat Ali Shah and Oranga Nathan hold talks during their meeting in Lahore.—File photo
LAHORE: The three-day talks between Indus Water Treaty Commissions of India and Pakistan have concluded in Lahore. India said it is not stealing Pakistan’s water while Pakistan said that a fresh understanding between the two sides is required to end this dispute.
Tuesday’s meeting between the Indus Water Treaty Commissioners of the two countries was occupied with discussion regarding the construction of hydro power projects Nemoo Bazgo and Chutak in India.
The Pakistani side recorded its reservations regarding construction of the hydro power projects. India has denied all allegations of violation of the treaty.
Indian Indus Water Commissioner Aranga Nathan stressed that information about the hydro power projects has been provided to Pakistan from time-to-time and there has been no delay in this regard.
Pakistan Indus Water Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah suggested that the two countries should include a third party to resolve the differences.
He also requested for information on the agricultural land irrigated by the western rivers but his counterpart said that India’s usage of water inflow for agricultural purposes is negligible and is in accordance with the treaty.
The next meeting between the two delegations will take place in New Delhi in the end of May this year in which the two countries will discuss the pros and cons of the hydro power projects which India wants to pursue
Pakistan to get U.S. drones this year
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 30 (UPI) -- The Pentagon has stopped short of aiding the Pakistani military with armed unmanned aircraft saying it will press ahead with designs to deliver a fleet of U.S.-made unarmed drones to Pakistan.
Although a clear timetable for delivery hasn't been set, an anonymous Pentagon official told AOL News that the delivery would be made "within a year."
The decision to provide Islamabad with at least 12 Shadow drones, rests with Washington's decision to bolster Pakistan's ability to track militant insurgents along its rugged frontiers with Afghanistan.
Since that decision was announced in January, Pentagon officials have been in talks with their counterparts in Islamabad, deliberating over the model and number of drones to be dispatched to Pakistan.
"I would like to think that we would get them there within a year but quantity and so forth, I think, will depend on what are the right ones and how many make sense for the fight that they're in," the Pentagon official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, was quoted saying by Defense News.
The proposed Shadow drones, smaller than the armed Predator and Reaper aircraft, are about 11 feet long and have a wingspan of 14 feet. They feed video images to ground operators from the sensors and cameras mounted on the drones.
Unlike the Predator, the Shadow drones don't have missile capabilities to strike the targets they observe. Still, experts say, they represent the technological advancement in the growing U.S. military relationship with Pakistan.
While the United States has shared drone technology with allies, it has a controlled policy is sharing such hardware in volatile parts of the world.
U.S. officials have suggested that Pakistan also invest in specialized training to exploit the sophisticated hardware soon to be injected into its military.
The number of surveillance drones that the United States would eventually supply Pakistan with would hinge on the cost of the model to be chosen, the Pentagon official said.
"A key factor will be how quickly we can get the capabilities to them," the official said.
The Pakistani military is already using home-made drones for surveillance of Islamist extremists fighting along its borders. Those drones, however, are significantly behind the technologically superior U.S. models, military experts in Pakistan and the United States concede.
Drones have proven a vital asset for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told a U.S. Senate hearing last week he was advancing drone technology among allies despite limitations in exports spawning from an international pact called the Missile Technology Control Regime.
Although a clear timetable for delivery hasn't been set, an anonymous Pentagon official told AOL News that the delivery would be made "within a year."
The decision to provide Islamabad with at least 12 Shadow drones, rests with Washington's decision to bolster Pakistan's ability to track militant insurgents along its rugged frontiers with Afghanistan.
Since that decision was announced in January, Pentagon officials have been in talks with their counterparts in Islamabad, deliberating over the model and number of drones to be dispatched to Pakistan.
"I would like to think that we would get them there within a year but quantity and so forth, I think, will depend on what are the right ones and how many make sense for the fight that they're in," the Pentagon official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, was quoted saying by Defense News.
The proposed Shadow drones, smaller than the armed Predator and Reaper aircraft, are about 11 feet long and have a wingspan of 14 feet. They feed video images to ground operators from the sensors and cameras mounted on the drones.
Unlike the Predator, the Shadow drones don't have missile capabilities to strike the targets they observe. Still, experts say, they represent the technological advancement in the growing U.S. military relationship with Pakistan.
While the United States has shared drone technology with allies, it has a controlled policy is sharing such hardware in volatile parts of the world.
U.S. officials have suggested that Pakistan also invest in specialized training to exploit the sophisticated hardware soon to be injected into its military.
The number of surveillance drones that the United States would eventually supply Pakistan with would hinge on the cost of the model to be chosen, the Pentagon official said.
"A key factor will be how quickly we can get the capabilities to them," the official said.
The Pakistani military is already using home-made drones for surveillance of Islamist extremists fighting along its borders. Those drones, however, are significantly behind the technologically superior U.S. models, military experts in Pakistan and the United States concede.
Drones have proven a vital asset for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told a U.S. Senate hearing last week he was advancing drone technology among allies despite limitations in exports spawning from an international pact called the Missile Technology Control Regime.
Mumbai Terrorist Was US Agent
After terrorist conspirator and “former” U.S. government agent David Coleman Headley received promises of leniency and extradition protection from American prosecutors for his role in the 2008 Mumbai massacre, speculation about his true masters was set ablaze as outrage erupted across India. Headley — a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent and the son of a Pakistani diplomat — pled guilty to various criminal charges on March 18 in connection with his terrorist activities in India, Pakistan and Denmark. He is reportedly “cooperating” with investigators.
In exchange, the government vowed not to allow foreign authorities to question him or subject him to trial. Prosecutors also agreed not seek the death penalty, and he may not even serve a life sentence. Links to U.S. intelligence agencies will remain classified. And his guilty plea ensures that there will be no drawn-out trial that could publicly reveal any relationships with various intelligence agencies — most notably, the Central Intelligence Agency-linked Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence.
Headley admitted in the plea bargain that he helped plan the bloody massacre by conducting surveillance and selecting targets, gathering GPS coordinates for the terrorist team’s boat landing along the coast, and more. He was also helping to plan an attack on a Danish cartoonist. And while the Federal Bureau of Investigation was given almost 10 hours to question the only surviving attacker in India, a team of Indian investigators who traveled to the U.S. to interrogate Headley was turned away.
The plea deal and the lack of American cooperation immediately sparked fury and despair in India, as the U.S. is reportedly bound by treaty to surrender Headley to Indian authorities. It also fueled accusations in the media that Headley still may have been linked to the American or Pakistani governments in some capacity. He began his terrorist training around the time that he was working for the U.S. government. But the connections, however, remain shrouded in mystery.
The terrorist group he was known to be working with —the ISI-linked Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba— carried out the devastating Mumbai attack in November of 2008 that dominated headlines around the world. The terrorists rampaged through the city with machine guns and grenades, leaving over 150 dead and hundreds more wounded. And as it turns out, the terrorist group was actually created with the help of Pakistan’s secret services, which have well-known ties to the American Central Intelligence Agency and other government agencies.
“The LeT's close links with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) are legion and it is inconceivable that such a massive operation — with huge international ramifications and the potential to trigger war with India - could have been undertaken without the knowledge of the ISI, headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani, the present army chief, from October 2004 until October 2007,” wrote M.K. Bhadrakumar, a former Indian ambassador who served in Pakistan, the Soviet Union and Afghanistan, among other assignments.
Along with many prominent Indians, Bhadrakumar strongly condemned Headley’s plea agreement in the press. “The deal enables the US government to hold back from formally producing any evidence against Headley in a court of law that might have included details of his links with US intelligence,” he wrote in the article for Asia Times. “Headley's links with the US intelligence will now remain classified information and the Pakistani nationals involved in the Mumbai attacks will get away scot-free.”
He also noted that the Obama administration was “behaving very strangely” and that it had something “extremely explosive” to hide. “The speculation gaining respectability in Delhi is that Washington knew in advance about the Mumbai attack and deliberately chose not to pass on details to Delhi,” the ambassador noted in the piece, entitled ‘A spy unsettles US-India ties.’ “Clearly, the Obama administration was apprehensive that Headley might spill the beans if the Indians got hold of him and the trail could then lead to his links with the CIA, the LeT and the Pakistani military.”
Headley’s involvement with the U.S. government began when he was caught trafficking heroin. To reduce his sentence, the DEA convinced him to work as an undercover agent in Pakistan. And in exchange for his cooperation, he only served two years. After 9/11, the agency worked closely with other government outfits, and they were forced to share information. So anti-terror operations had to have been aware of Headley’s activities. These facts have led Indians to conclude that he was, in fact, still working for American intelligence.
“Many Indians are convinced that Mr. Headley is a CIA agent, perhaps gone rogue, and that the U.S. intransigence represents an attempt to shield him and his past activities from scrutiny,” said writer Akash Kapur in a piece published by the New York Times. Another New York Times piece, entitled ‘American Scout for Mumbai Attacks Was Jokingly Called ‘Agent Headley’ by Friends,’ points out that Indians who knew Headley had long suspected that he worked for the CIA.
“I had a hunch then and I have a hunch now that he was an American agent of some sort,” Headley’s Indian friend Rahul Bhatt told Channel 4 News. “I nicknamed him Agent Headley. I thought, and I suggested to him, that he worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, and he used to not like it.” Apparently, Headley even “begged” Bhatt to stop calling him “Agent Headley” in public.
An important former Indian government and counterterrorism official was blunt with his conclusions as well. “The mishandling by the US is due to its anxiety to prevent a public admission of the US intelligence community’s links with him and to protect Pakistan from the legal consequences of its role in the 26/11 terrorist strikes,” noted security analyst Bahukutumbi Raman, a former top counter-terrorism official with India’s foreign intelligence service.
“The plea bargain entered into by the FBI with Headley last week has created strong suspicions in India that the FBI wants to avoid a formal trial of Headley and was reluctant to allow Indian investigators to interrogate him because Headley was a deep penetration agent of the US intelligence,” he added. Raman explained that Headley “was not a double agent, but a quadruple agent.” He also allowed for the possibility that Headley may have gone horribly “out of control.”
Speculation about the U.S.-agent-turned terrorist continues to run rampant in the Indian press. But how much is really known? In court documents, Headley’s associates are referred to simply as A, B, C and D. So the truth about Headley may never be known to the public. And while that is a veritable tragedy, the truth must still be sought. The theories remain as varied as they are numerous, but the secrecy and strange deals seem to confirm people’s suspicions that their governments are totally out of control and out of touch with the citizenry. Pakistan and India have even moved their “proxy war” into U.S.-occupied Afghanistan, complicating matters even further.
But there are several lessons to be learned from the tragedy and its fallout. For the Indians, be much more careful when “cooperating” with “allies.” Also, examine your own government carefully — many of the theories surrounding the attack involve cooperation of at least some Indian officials.
Even more importantly, the government must respect the right of the people to keep and bear arms. The terrorists stormed through the city unhindered — slaughtering everyone in their path — for more than two days! As famed Indian pacifist Mohandas Gandhi wrote in his autobiography: “Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest.” And still, decades after independence, the government continues its counterproductive and dangerous policy of keeping law-abiding people disarmed, and therefore, easy targets.
For Americans, there are serious implications too. If the federal government would stick to the Constitution and quit meddling in foreign nations, these sorts of issues would not even crop up. The anti-American animosity and suspicion built up around the world would not exist. “Blowback” would not threaten American citizens and interests around the world. And the billions of dollars saved could be returned to the citizenry. So for the sake of U.S. taxpayers, victims of terrorism around the world and all of the casualties of the “war on terror,” it’s time for some serious changes in American foreign policy. The people must hold the government accountable, or the tragic consequences — death, oppression and confusion — will continue to mount.
Alex Newman is an American freelance writer and the president of Liberty Sentinel Media, Inc., a small media consulting firm. He is currently living in Sweden and has spent most of his life in Latin America, Europe and Africa. He has a degree in foreign languages and speaks Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian and a little Swedish and Afrikaans. In addition, he earned a degree in journalism from the University of Florida, with emphasis on economics and international relations.
UN to shut Pakistan offices over Bhutto report
All UN offices in Pakistan will close for three days from Wednesday as a security precaution with the world body set to release a report on the assassination of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto.
A United Nations panel, which began its investigations last July, was due to submit its findings to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on March 31.
Bhutto, the first woman to become prime minister of a Muslim country, was killed on December 27, 2007 in a gun and suicide attack after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near the capital Islamabad.
Her supporters cast doubt on an initial Pakistani probe into her death, questioning whether she was killed by a gunshot or the blast and criticising authorities for hosing down the scene of the attack within minutes.
"Offices are going to be closed for the next three days. All UN offices in the country," spokeswoman Ishrat Rizvi said on Tuesday, saying that staff are being advised to work from home in a bid to avoid any possible fallout.
"It's a precautionary measure to avoid any unwanted situation that may occur after the publication of this report, for the safety and security of staff members," she added.
On October 5, a suicide bomber dressed in military uniform attacked the heavily fortified UN World Food Programme office in Islamabad, killing five staff members.
Security is precarious in parts of Pakistan, where more than 3,150 people have been killed in suicide and bomb attacks over the last three years. The violence has been blamed on militants opposed to the government's US alliance.
"These are internal arrangements, there is no threat. It is a precautionary step," Rizvi stressed.
The UN's investigative team has met dozens of people since first visiting Pakistan last July to probe the circumstances surrounding the attack.
The three-member panel is headed by Chilean ambassador to the UN Heraldo Munoz and aided by Indonesian ex-attorney general Marzuki Darusman and Peter Fitzgerald, an Irish former police official.
The commission questioned former president Pervez Musharraf in November on issues central to its mandate and met Bhutto's widower, President Asif Ali Zardari last month while finalising the report.
Musharraf, who was in power at the time of Bhutto's death, was replaced in August 2008 as president by Zardari, whose party called for a UN inquiry to probe inconsistencies surrounding her killing.
But the UN team has stipulated that its mandate is limited to fact-finding and does not include a criminal investigation.
London's Scotland Yard, which also conducted an inquiry, ruled that Bhutto died from the force of a suicide bomb and not gunfire.
The commission's report will be shared with the Pakistani government and the UN Security Council.
A United Nations panel, which began its investigations last July, was due to submit its findings to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on March 31.
Bhutto, the first woman to become prime minister of a Muslim country, was killed on December 27, 2007 in a gun and suicide attack after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near the capital Islamabad.
Her supporters cast doubt on an initial Pakistani probe into her death, questioning whether she was killed by a gunshot or the blast and criticising authorities for hosing down the scene of the attack within minutes.
"Offices are going to be closed for the next three days. All UN offices in the country," spokeswoman Ishrat Rizvi said on Tuesday, saying that staff are being advised to work from home in a bid to avoid any possible fallout.
"It's a precautionary measure to avoid any unwanted situation that may occur after the publication of this report, for the safety and security of staff members," she added.
On October 5, a suicide bomber dressed in military uniform attacked the heavily fortified UN World Food Programme office in Islamabad, killing five staff members.
Security is precarious in parts of Pakistan, where more than 3,150 people have been killed in suicide and bomb attacks over the last three years. The violence has been blamed on militants opposed to the government's US alliance.
"These are internal arrangements, there is no threat. It is a precautionary step," Rizvi stressed.
The UN's investigative team has met dozens of people since first visiting Pakistan last July to probe the circumstances surrounding the attack.
The three-member panel is headed by Chilean ambassador to the UN Heraldo Munoz and aided by Indonesian ex-attorney general Marzuki Darusman and Peter Fitzgerald, an Irish former police official.
The commission questioned former president Pervez Musharraf in November on issues central to its mandate and met Bhutto's widower, President Asif Ali Zardari last month while finalising the report.
Musharraf, who was in power at the time of Bhutto's death, was replaced in August 2008 as president by Zardari, whose party called for a UN inquiry to probe inconsistencies surrounding her killing.
But the UN team has stipulated that its mandate is limited to fact-finding and does not include a criminal investigation.
London's Scotland Yard, which also conducted an inquiry, ruled that Bhutto died from the force of a suicide bomb and not gunfire.
The commission's report will be shared with the Pakistani government and the UN Security Council.
Iranian Diplomat Freed From Kidnappers in Pakistan
Iranian state television says an Iranian diplomat kidnapped in Pakistan in 2008 has been freed.
The report said Iran's agents freed Heshmatollah Attarzadeh Niyaki from his abductors Tuesday after "a complicated intelligence operation." Iran's chief diplomat in Peshawar Abbas Ali Abdullahi says Attarzadeh is now back in Iran.
Pakistan has had no comment on the Iranian report.
Unidentified gunmen kidnapped the Iranian diplomat in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar after killing his security guard in November 2008. A police officer said at the time gunmen ambushed Attarzadeh while he was driving to the Iranian consulate in the city.
Iran's Foreign Ministry denounced the abduction as a "terrorist act."
Last month, authorities in Iran said they captured the head of a Sunni militant group responsible for deadly attacks in the country. They claim Abdolmalek Rigi, leader of the militant group Jundallah, has been in contact with U.S. intelligence.
The report said Iran's agents freed Heshmatollah Attarzadeh Niyaki from his abductors Tuesday after "a complicated intelligence operation." Iran's chief diplomat in Peshawar Abbas Ali Abdullahi says Attarzadeh is now back in Iran.
Pakistan has had no comment on the Iranian report.
Unidentified gunmen kidnapped the Iranian diplomat in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar after killing his security guard in November 2008. A police officer said at the time gunmen ambushed Attarzadeh while he was driving to the Iranian consulate in the city.
Iran's Foreign Ministry denounced the abduction as a "terrorist act."
Last month, authorities in Iran said they captured the head of a Sunni militant group responsible for deadly attacks in the country. They claim Abdolmalek Rigi, leader of the militant group Jundallah, has been in contact with U.S. intelligence.
India and Pakistan Duke It Out Over Water At Annual Meeting
Every year, India and Pakistan sit down to talk about and decide on water use from the shared Indus basin. But as we know, the water use in India is skyrocketing while the availability is quickly diminishing. In fact, violence over access to clean water in residential areas is already making news. At this year's meeting, set to run until tomorrow, the two countries are at odds over use of the basin.
Edie reports that India is planning to build two new hydro power plants on the River Sindh, which Pakistan isn't too keen about, yet India rejected five of Pakistan's formal objections about the plants. According to Pakistani authorities, the damming required for the plants would mean blocking over 43 million cubic meters of water - a huge amount of a precious resource. Yet, for a country with a fast-growing economy and population as India is experiencing, it's no wonder they want to plow forward with plans for hydro-electric power plants.
In addition, Pakistan has asked India for open reporting on its plans to use water from the shared basin for agriculture. It seems a reasonable request - and actually one that should be done globally. Water use for agricultural purposes comprises a huge percentage of water consumption, and open reporting by all countries and businesses could lead to much smarter and more effective water regulations and usage.
The two countries have a history of tension around water use from the shared basin, and tensions will likely only rise as the global water crisis tightens.
U.S. and Pakistan Reached An Agreement To Reinforce Strategic Ties
Pakistan and the United States wrapped up two days of high-level talks on Thursday, with a raft of economic development initiatives, an agreement to hasten deliveries of military hardware and a promise to put their often mistrustful relationship on a new footing.
In a communiqué issued after the talks, the countries informed they would “redouble their efforts to deal effectively with terrorism” and would work together for “peace and stability in Afghanistan.”
Administration officials said Pakistan was likely to get swifter delivery of F-16 fighter jets, naval frigates and helicopter gunships, as well as new remotely piloted aircraft for surveillance missions. But the United States was silent about Pakistan’s most heavily advertised proposal: a civil nuclear agreement similar to the one the Bush administration signed with Pakistan’s archrival, India.
Given Pakistan’s history of selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea, such an agreement would realistically be 10 or 15 years away, a senior administration official said Thursday. Still, the administration was careful not to dismiss the idea out of hand.
“This is a new day,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in greeting Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi. “For the past year, the Obama administration has shown in our words and our deeds a different approach and a different attitude toward Pakistan.”
The “strategic dialogue” was by itself meant to send a message: The administration used the term reserved for the substantive, wide-ranging exchanges it carries on with important countries like China and India. Pakistan and the United States held three such dialogues during the Bush administration.
But last year, Mr. Qureshi asked Mrs. Clinton to upgrade the exchange to the level of foreign minister. On Wednesday, he informed he hoped the two days of higher-level talks would help Pakistan and the United States overcome a history that “did not always enjoy a sunny side.”
Mr. Qureshi said the United States had agreed to put on a fast track some longstanding Pakistani requests for military hardware.
Although Mrs. Clinton deflected a question about civil nuclear cooperation, she said, “We’re committed to helping Pakistan meet its real energy needs.”
Among specific announcements was an agreement for the United States Agency for International Development to help Pakistan upgrade three thermal power plants. The administration said it would try to push through legislation creating so-called reconstruction opportunity zones in Pakistan. And it hopes to set up a fund to stimulate direct foreign investment.
Pakistan’s military campaign against Taliban insurgents in the Swat Valley and South Waziristan has improved the tenor of its relationship with Washington. But success on the battlefield cuts both ways for Pakistan, analysts stated. It gives the country’s government in Islamabad a more credible argument for increased military aid. But it also imposes greater expectations from the United States about Pakistan’s counterinsurgency efforts and military cooperation.
“Yes, you get a pat on the back,” informed Bruce O. Riedel, an expert on Pakistan at the Brookings Institution. “But now that you’ve shown you can do something, you’ve got to do more.”
Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan also remains a subject of intense scrutiny in the United States. The Pakistani authorities cooperated with the Central Intelligence Agency to capture the Taliban’s military chief, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. But some analysts question whether the Pakistanis are rounding up other Taliban leaders, including shadow Afghan governors, simply to make sure that Pakistan has leverage in any future political bargaining in Kabul.
Mr. Qureshi insisted that Pakistan wanted Afghanistan to lead this process. “If they feel we can contribute, if we can help, we’ll be more than willing to help,” he informed. “But we leave it to them.”
On this subject, however, administration officials are more interested in hearing from Pakistan’s chief of army staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who was part of the delegation. General Kayani recently held talks in Islamabad with Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, and the general is viewed as critical to determining the role Pakistan will play.
Of all the raw nerves in the relationship, Pakistan’s nuclear ambitions may be the most sensitive. Islamabad yearns for an agreement with the United States because it would confer legitimacy on Pakistan’s existing program.
But Washington does not formally recognize Pakistan as a nuclear power. The selling of nuclear secrets by the father of its nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, and the country’s refusal to allow American investigators to have access to him ensures that this recognition may be a long way off.
“The question is, can you move somewhere toward giving legitimacy to a Pakistani nuclear program?” said Daniel S. Markey, senior fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Is there space between a civil nuclear deal and just saying ‘no’?”
In a communiqué issued after the talks, the countries informed they would “redouble their efforts to deal effectively with terrorism” and would work together for “peace and stability in Afghanistan.”
Administration officials said Pakistan was likely to get swifter delivery of F-16 fighter jets, naval frigates and helicopter gunships, as well as new remotely piloted aircraft for surveillance missions. But the United States was silent about Pakistan’s most heavily advertised proposal: a civil nuclear agreement similar to the one the Bush administration signed with Pakistan’s archrival, India.
Given Pakistan’s history of selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea, such an agreement would realistically be 10 or 15 years away, a senior administration official said Thursday. Still, the administration was careful not to dismiss the idea out of hand.
“This is a new day,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in greeting Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi. “For the past year, the Obama administration has shown in our words and our deeds a different approach and a different attitude toward Pakistan.”
The “strategic dialogue” was by itself meant to send a message: The administration used the term reserved for the substantive, wide-ranging exchanges it carries on with important countries like China and India. Pakistan and the United States held three such dialogues during the Bush administration.
But last year, Mr. Qureshi asked Mrs. Clinton to upgrade the exchange to the level of foreign minister. On Wednesday, he informed he hoped the two days of higher-level talks would help Pakistan and the United States overcome a history that “did not always enjoy a sunny side.”
Mr. Qureshi said the United States had agreed to put on a fast track some longstanding Pakistani requests for military hardware.
Although Mrs. Clinton deflected a question about civil nuclear cooperation, she said, “We’re committed to helping Pakistan meet its real energy needs.”
Among specific announcements was an agreement for the United States Agency for International Development to help Pakistan upgrade three thermal power plants. The administration said it would try to push through legislation creating so-called reconstruction opportunity zones in Pakistan. And it hopes to set up a fund to stimulate direct foreign investment.
Pakistan’s military campaign against Taliban insurgents in the Swat Valley and South Waziristan has improved the tenor of its relationship with Washington. But success on the battlefield cuts both ways for Pakistan, analysts stated. It gives the country’s government in Islamabad a more credible argument for increased military aid. But it also imposes greater expectations from the United States about Pakistan’s counterinsurgency efforts and military cooperation.
“Yes, you get a pat on the back,” informed Bruce O. Riedel, an expert on Pakistan at the Brookings Institution. “But now that you’ve shown you can do something, you’ve got to do more.”
Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan also remains a subject of intense scrutiny in the United States. The Pakistani authorities cooperated with the Central Intelligence Agency to capture the Taliban’s military chief, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. But some analysts question whether the Pakistanis are rounding up other Taliban leaders, including shadow Afghan governors, simply to make sure that Pakistan has leverage in any future political bargaining in Kabul.
Mr. Qureshi insisted that Pakistan wanted Afghanistan to lead this process. “If they feel we can contribute, if we can help, we’ll be more than willing to help,” he informed. “But we leave it to them.”
On this subject, however, administration officials are more interested in hearing from Pakistan’s chief of army staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who was part of the delegation. General Kayani recently held talks in Islamabad with Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, and the general is viewed as critical to determining the role Pakistan will play.
Of all the raw nerves in the relationship, Pakistan’s nuclear ambitions may be the most sensitive. Islamabad yearns for an agreement with the United States because it would confer legitimacy on Pakistan’s existing program.
But Washington does not formally recognize Pakistan as a nuclear power. The selling of nuclear secrets by the father of its nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, and the country’s refusal to allow American investigators to have access to him ensures that this recognition may be a long way off.
“The question is, can you move somewhere toward giving legitimacy to a Pakistani nuclear program?” said Daniel S. Markey, senior fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Is there space between a civil nuclear deal and just saying ‘no’?”
Pakistan's top court gives 24 hours to gov't for implementing verdict on NRO
SLAMABAD, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan Tuesday gave 24 hours to the government for implementing its verdict on the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).
A six-member larger bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Naved Ahsen to implement the court's verdict on the NRO by Wednesday.
The SC on Dec. 16, 2009 declared the NRO as repugnant to various provisions of the constitution and ordered the government to re-open all the cases including Swiss cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, which were eliminated under the NRO.
The NRO was an ordinance issued by former Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf on Oct. 5, 2007. It granted amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats who were accused of corruption, embezzlement, money-laundering, murder and terrorism between Jan. 1, 1986 and Oct. 12, 1999.
Incumbent President Zardari is among the 252 NRO beneficiaries. But he is immune from prosecution while still in office.
Appearing on notice, NAB Chairman Naveed Ahsen submitted his written statement. However, the court expressed dissatisfaction over it, ruling that no progress has been made so far by the NAB in implementation of its order on the NRO.
"Your report is not satisfactory, Mr. Chairman and you will have to assure implementation of our verdict of December 16, 2009 in letter and spirit," Chaudhry said while addressing the NAB chairman.
Secretary of Law Justice (Retd) Muhammad Aqil Mirza also assured the court to implement the court's order on the NRO by Wednesday including taking action against former Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum for writing to the Swiss authorities in connection of cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, removal of the NAB prosecutor general as well as taking measures for establishing extra accountability courts in the country.
The court recalled the law secretary as to why he failed so far to take action in this regard since the announcement of the court verdict on the NRO. The law secretary, however, assured the court to implement the court's verdict by Wednesday.
Meanwhile the court ordered the arrest of former head of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Finance Ahmad Riaz Shaikh and sent him to jail. The court directed the NAB chairman to seize assets of Riaz Shaikh and submit reports before the registrar of the apex court within three days.
The court, while hearing a revived corruption reference against FIA"s Additional Director General (Economic Crimes Wing) Ahmed Riaz Sheikh, restored his punishment of five-year imprisonment and fine of 20 million rupees (about 240,000 U.S. dollars).
The court ordered the arrest after he appeared before the court and withdrew his appeal he had filed in the apex court against his conviction, maintained by the Lahore High Court (LHC), originally awarded by the NAB court.
He was dismissed from service in 2002. Later, he was reinstated under the NRO in 2008 by extending benefit of doubt. Before his conviction he was serving as deputy director.
Moreover, he was also promoted to the position of FIA's Additional Director General even after the NRO was declared null and void.
A six-member larger bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Naved Ahsen to implement the court's verdict on the NRO by Wednesday.
The SC on Dec. 16, 2009 declared the NRO as repugnant to various provisions of the constitution and ordered the government to re-open all the cases including Swiss cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, which were eliminated under the NRO.
The NRO was an ordinance issued by former Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf on Oct. 5, 2007. It granted amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats who were accused of corruption, embezzlement, money-laundering, murder and terrorism between Jan. 1, 1986 and Oct. 12, 1999.
Incumbent President Zardari is among the 252 NRO beneficiaries. But he is immune from prosecution while still in office.
Appearing on notice, NAB Chairman Naveed Ahsen submitted his written statement. However, the court expressed dissatisfaction over it, ruling that no progress has been made so far by the NAB in implementation of its order on the NRO.
"Your report is not satisfactory, Mr. Chairman and you will have to assure implementation of our verdict of December 16, 2009 in letter and spirit," Chaudhry said while addressing the NAB chairman.
Secretary of Law Justice (Retd) Muhammad Aqil Mirza also assured the court to implement the court's order on the NRO by Wednesday including taking action against former Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum for writing to the Swiss authorities in connection of cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, removal of the NAB prosecutor general as well as taking measures for establishing extra accountability courts in the country.
The court recalled the law secretary as to why he failed so far to take action in this regard since the announcement of the court verdict on the NRO. The law secretary, however, assured the court to implement the court's verdict by Wednesday.
Meanwhile the court ordered the arrest of former head of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Finance Ahmad Riaz Shaikh and sent him to jail. The court directed the NAB chairman to seize assets of Riaz Shaikh and submit reports before the registrar of the apex court within three days.
The court, while hearing a revived corruption reference against FIA"s Additional Director General (Economic Crimes Wing) Ahmed Riaz Sheikh, restored his punishment of five-year imprisonment and fine of 20 million rupees (about 240,000 U.S. dollars).
The court ordered the arrest after he appeared before the court and withdrew his appeal he had filed in the apex court against his conviction, maintained by the Lahore High Court (LHC), originally awarded by the NAB court.
He was dismissed from service in 2002. Later, he was reinstated under the NRO in 2008 by extending benefit of doubt. Before his conviction he was serving as deputy director.
Moreover, he was also promoted to the position of FIA's Additional Director General even after the NRO was declared null and void.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Pakistan does not want Taliban to take over Afghanistan: Qureshi
* Foreign minister says Pakistan will only seek involvement in Afghanistan in accordance with country’s wishes
WASHINGTON: Today Pakistan does not want the Taliban to take over Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Thursday, adding, however, there was a time when there was a Taliban government in Afghanistan and Pakistan felt comfortable with that.
Talking to the National Public Radio, Qureshi rejected suggestions that Pakistan has quietly supported Taliban in Afghanistan. He pledged to work to bring stability to its neighbour.
He said Pakistan was striving to be a “moderate, democratic voice” since its return to civilian rule in 2008. “Friends can also change,” he said.
“What the American people need to understand is that people and democracy in Pakistan are getting their act together,” he said. Qureshi said Pakistan would only seek involvement in Afghanistan in accordance with the country’s wishes.
“We are going to do whatever we can do to achieve the objective of a peaceful, stable, friendly Afghanistan,” he added.
Partnership: Meanwhile, after a meeting with US Vice President Joseph Biden on Thursday, Qureshi said he expressed the US administration’s willingness to transform the US-Pakistan relationship into a mutually beneficial and sustained partnership, according to APP. Biden dropped in a White House meeting between National Security Adviser James Jones and top Pakistani officials including Qureshi, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani and Islamabad’s Ambassador in Washington Hussain Haqqani.
“We exchanged views on the discussions we had at the strategic dialogue and his (Biden’s) expression of support reinforced my understanding that this administration is ready to turn bilateral relations into a partnership,” Qureshi told reporters after the meeting.
He said the top US officials paid tribute to the Pakistani people for their courage in simultaneously dealing with certain serious issues. “Pakistan has taken some tough decisions, some very difficult economic decisions, which burdened the ordinary people. The US officials acknowledge this and agree that delivery (of US aid) has been slow. And they are ready to review that,” the foreign minister added.
Speaking particularly about Biden’s views, he said, “He (Biden) clearly sees a huge change in the congressional approach towards Pakistan (following the country’s anti-terror strides).” agencies
WASHINGTON: Today Pakistan does not want the Taliban to take over Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Thursday, adding, however, there was a time when there was a Taliban government in Afghanistan and Pakistan felt comfortable with that.
Talking to the National Public Radio, Qureshi rejected suggestions that Pakistan has quietly supported Taliban in Afghanistan. He pledged to work to bring stability to its neighbour.
He said Pakistan was striving to be a “moderate, democratic voice” since its return to civilian rule in 2008. “Friends can also change,” he said.
“What the American people need to understand is that people and democracy in Pakistan are getting their act together,” he said. Qureshi said Pakistan would only seek involvement in Afghanistan in accordance with the country’s wishes.
“We are going to do whatever we can do to achieve the objective of a peaceful, stable, friendly Afghanistan,” he added.
Partnership: Meanwhile, after a meeting with US Vice President Joseph Biden on Thursday, Qureshi said he expressed the US administration’s willingness to transform the US-Pakistan relationship into a mutually beneficial and sustained partnership, according to APP. Biden dropped in a White House meeting between National Security Adviser James Jones and top Pakistani officials including Qureshi, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani and Islamabad’s Ambassador in Washington Hussain Haqqani.
“We exchanged views on the discussions we had at the strategic dialogue and his (Biden’s) expression of support reinforced my understanding that this administration is ready to turn bilateral relations into a partnership,” Qureshi told reporters after the meeting.
He said the top US officials paid tribute to the Pakistani people for their courage in simultaneously dealing with certain serious issues. “Pakistan has taken some tough decisions, some very difficult economic decisions, which burdened the ordinary people. The US officials acknowledge this and agree that delivery (of US aid) has been slow. And they are ready to review that,” the foreign minister added.
Speaking particularly about Biden’s views, he said, “He (Biden) clearly sees a huge change in the congressional approach towards Pakistan (following the country’s anti-terror strides).” agencies
Pakistan-India water talks begin in Lahore
Boats parked at the banks of Indus River due to shortage of water. – APP (File Photo)
The nine-member delegation of Indian water commission is headed by G Aranga Nathan while Jamaat Ali Shah is heading the Pakistani water commission.
According to Shah, the Indian commission has come to hear Pakistan’s point of view on the water dispute. The agricultural and hydroelectric uses of water allowed under the treaty will also be discussed.
The main agenda of the first day was the decrease of water level in River Chenab and the construction of Nemobaaz Go and Chutak power plants at the River Sindh by India that will block 35,000 foot per acre water.
While speaking to the media after the end of the first day's session of talks with his Indian counterpart, Shah said that Pakistan
Shah said that the Indus Water treaty Commission wants to resolve all pending issues so that the trust of public could be built on the commission.
While the Indian Commissioner Nathan said that they will examine the Pakistan's point of view
The Indian delegation has handed over the construction plan and map of the Nemobaaz Go power plant and briefing has been given in this regard by the Indian technical officers.
Moreover, the commissions have agreed to keep the free board height of Neemobaaz Go dam at one metre.
Contingency plan ready to respond to threats: PAF
ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman said on Saturday a contingency plan was ready to counter any threat to the country’s security and made it clear that any misadventure by the adversary would invite a ‘massive reaction’.
Speaking at a briefing here at Air Headquarters, he said Pakistan did not harbour aggressive designs against any country, but was capable of beating back any aggressor.
He said Pakistan believed in peace with honour and observed that peace cannot be maintained from a position of weakness.
In reply to a question about the threats of surgical strikes inside Pakistan by India in case of another Mumbai-like terror attack, the PAF chief said “the neighbours know that in case of a sneak attack by them, reaction will be coming within hours”.
He said India would not be able to penetrate deep inside Pakistan’s territory, and the most they would do in such a case would be to choose an area near the border for a hit-and-run operation.
He said when the President House received a hoax call from ‘the Indian foreign minister’ after the Mumbai episode, the Pakistan Air Force identified certain targets across the border.
Air Marshal Qamar Suleman said permission from the government for replying to any aggression had been obtained and preparations made for a matching response.
He said India would not be able to defeat Pakistan in a conventional war.
He said the High Mark 2010 was not aimed against any country, but aimed at evaluating capabilities in an environment where dimensions of threat were changing warranting new concepts. He said the exercise was different in nature from the previous ones because the other two services were also actively taking part in it.
He noted that a future war would be swift and intense and said that is why the high tempo operation with a component of time sensitive targeting was being undertaken.
He said the budget for the exercise had been managed by savings as a result of 20 per cent reduction in flying from June, without asking for additional funds for the mega event from the Government.
Responding to question, he indicated that there was no plan to set up an air base in Azad Kashmir saying that the base in Skardu was sufficient to meet operational requirements of the PAF.
The Air Chief said Pakistan would start receiving 18 F-16 planes paid for it years back from June and the process would be completed by December. He disclosed that the United States had agreed to provide another 14 block 52 F-16s to Pakistan shortly. He said the existing fleet of F-16s would be upgraded in Turkey from September. He said all the F-16s would be upgraded to block 52 by 2014.
He said he said he never wanted a deal with the US for purchase of drones since it would be very expensive, but said it would be welcomed if sensors were provided by the US. He said Pakistan develops its own surveillance drones and would invest in research and development to make its own armed drones if a need was felt.
Earlier Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Plans) Air Commodore Javed Ahmad briefing reporters on the concept of High Mark 2010 said the primary target was to put to test the high state of combat readiness while gearing up all supporting units and validate the lessons learnt to improve deployment tactics.
He said since international, and domestic situation impinges upon the security calculus, the near realistic exercise was in line with the transformation in PAF’s concept of operations. He said new acquisitions had been operationalised in minimum possible time to take part in the exercise that will continue till the mid of May.
Speaking at a briefing here at Air Headquarters, he said Pakistan did not harbour aggressive designs against any country, but was capable of beating back any aggressor.
He said Pakistan believed in peace with honour and observed that peace cannot be maintained from a position of weakness.
In reply to a question about the threats of surgical strikes inside Pakistan by India in case of another Mumbai-like terror attack, the PAF chief said “the neighbours know that in case of a sneak attack by them, reaction will be coming within hours”.
He said India would not be able to penetrate deep inside Pakistan’s territory, and the most they would do in such a case would be to choose an area near the border for a hit-and-run operation.
He said when the President House received a hoax call from ‘the Indian foreign minister’ after the Mumbai episode, the Pakistan Air Force identified certain targets across the border.
Air Marshal Qamar Suleman said permission from the government for replying to any aggression had been obtained and preparations made for a matching response.
He said India would not be able to defeat Pakistan in a conventional war.
He said the High Mark 2010 was not aimed against any country, but aimed at evaluating capabilities in an environment where dimensions of threat were changing warranting new concepts. He said the exercise was different in nature from the previous ones because the other two services were also actively taking part in it.
He noted that a future war would be swift and intense and said that is why the high tempo operation with a component of time sensitive targeting was being undertaken.
He said the budget for the exercise had been managed by savings as a result of 20 per cent reduction in flying from June, without asking for additional funds for the mega event from the Government.
Responding to question, he indicated that there was no plan to set up an air base in Azad Kashmir saying that the base in Skardu was sufficient to meet operational requirements of the PAF.
The Air Chief said Pakistan would start receiving 18 F-16 planes paid for it years back from June and the process would be completed by December. He disclosed that the United States had agreed to provide another 14 block 52 F-16s to Pakistan shortly. He said the existing fleet of F-16s would be upgraded in Turkey from September. He said all the F-16s would be upgraded to block 52 by 2014.
He said he said he never wanted a deal with the US for purchase of drones since it would be very expensive, but said it would be welcomed if sensors were provided by the US. He said Pakistan develops its own surveillance drones and would invest in research and development to make its own armed drones if a need was felt.
Earlier Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Plans) Air Commodore Javed Ahmad briefing reporters on the concept of High Mark 2010 said the primary target was to put to test the high state of combat readiness while gearing up all supporting units and validate the lessons learnt to improve deployment tactics.
He said since international, and domestic situation impinges upon the security calculus, the near realistic exercise was in line with the transformation in PAF’s concept of operations. He said new acquisitions had been operationalised in minimum possible time to take part in the exercise that will continue till the mid of May.
There is no infiltration into India: Pakistan Rangers
, March 28 (IANS) Sticking to their earlier stand, Pakistan Rangers Director General (Punjab) Muhammad Yaqub Khan Sunday reiterated that no smuggling and infiltration was taking place from the Pakistani side into Indian territory.
'The international border with India is effectively protected and well guarded. Presence of heavy security and fencing on Indian side makes infiltration and smuggling difficult,' Khan Sunday told reporters here, around 25 km from Amritsar.
Khan, accompanied by a 15-member delegation from Pakistan, had reached India Sunday, through the Attari-Wagah check-post. He will participate in the four-day biannual meeting (March 28-31) with the top brass of Border Security Force (BSF) in Amritsar, around 250 km from the state capital Chandigarh.
'We are here for a high-level dialogue with the BSF in connection with border-related issues. We carry out meetings in a congenial atmosphere to discuss sensitive issues like infiltration, smuggling from both the sides and the firing instances,' stated Khan.
While talking about the recent instances of firing of rocket shells into Indian territory from Pakistan, Khan said: 'We looked into these allegations by the BSF but nothing concrete was traced. No such thing was found in the massive search operation conducted in Pakistan. Even India has no proof that the rockets were fired from our side.'
'However, we had lodged strong protest with the BSF when they fired at the pickets of Pakistan Rangers,' he pointed out.
According to the BSF, nearly 15 rocket shells were fired from Pakistan towards the Amritsar area in June and September last year and in January this year.
Besides, cases of illegal infiltration and smuggling across the border are also on the rise.
In the last 10 days, in two separate incidents on the border, BSF officials have gunned down three Pakistani intruders and recovered 26 kg heroin and fake Indian currency with a face value of Rs.83 lakh.
India-Pakistan Article Index
We Have Created A Monster
March 28, 2010: The U.S. has convinced a growing number of Pakistani military and political leaders that cracking down on Islamic militants (especially the Taliban and al Qaeda) is a matter of life or death for the nation. But many individual Islamic terrorists are simply moving to the anti-India terrorist groups (dedicated to chasing India out of Kashmir, and killing Hindus in general). The Kashmir issue is very popular in Pakistan, and the politicians and media are afraid to touch it. Most Islamic terrorists, for tribal and religious reasons, will stay in the tribal territories. But the fighting there is helping build up the anti-Indian groups. This just gets worse for Pakistan. For example, the U.S. has arrested a Pakistani American Islamic terrorist, David Headley, who admitted that he had worked with Pakistani army officers while helping plan the November, 2008, terror attack in Mumbai, India. Pakistani eventually admitted that Pakistani Islamic terrorists were responsible for this attack, but have resisted admitting that Pakistani military and intelligence officials helped out. The U.S. and India insist there's lots of evidence to back this up. The Pakistani government does not want the political and media blowback from going after Islamic radicals in the military and intelligence services, so they insist these connections do not exist.The Pakistani Air Force has made it official; its doctrine no longer concentrates on fighting India. For the last year, the air force has been getting lots of valuable combat experience using smart bombs in the tribal territories. Pilots have also been using targeting pods in action, and generally learning how to deal with rebellious tribesmen. So the air force has made this experience part of the official playbook.
Despite the success in the tribal territories, many senior Pakistani generals are still fixated on war with India. Pakistan has fought several, and lost them all. Even after several years of peace talks, with India Pakistani officials still complain that they can't do more in the tribal territories, because more troops must be sent to the Indian border. This perplexes India, which accepts, but can't really comprehend, this Pakistani obsession with defending against an Indian attack which the Indians say they have no intention of launching. Especially in light of the fact that both countries have nuclear weapons.
The Indian offensive against communist Maoists is having some success. Dozens of villages and settlements have been returned to government control. But most of the Maoist gunmen have fled the police and troops. The crunch will come the Maoists attempt to continue their criminal activities. The big one is extorting money from businesses. This is believed to bring in over $300 million a year. Most of the thousand or so Maoists attacks last year were in support of their extortion operations. If the new offensive can put a dent in Maoist extortion income, the communist group will have suffered a major setback. But the Maoists have been fighting back, increasing their attacks on railroads, and ordering urban allies to stage anti-government riots.
March 27, 2010: In Pakistan's North Waziristan, an American UAV fired two missiles at a building where "foreigners" were staying. At least four people were killed. The U.S. UAV attacks concentrate on "foreigners" (usually Arabs) because it's easier to get informants in the tribal territories to provide information about al Qaeda "foreigners." These Arabs have been around since late 2001, and there's been a lot of friction. Sometimes there's been violence, so the locals find it convenient to get paid to tell the Americans where they can kill the foreigners without involving any local tribesmen. Elsewhere, near the Khyber pass (Orakzai), Pakistani troops clashed with a force of al Qaeda gunmen, killing 21 while losing five soldiers.
On the Kashmir border, for the second time in four days, Islamic terrorists were caught trying to sneak into India. These two attempts have left at least 13 terrorists dead. There have been sixty such attempts so far this year. The existence of these terrorists in Pakistani Kashmir, where terrorists training camps and bases operate openly, is a major issue between Pakistan and India. But in both countries, ownership of Kashmir has been turned into a major issue by decades of media and political exploitation. It gets worse because the Pakistani Islamic terrorists have, over the last decade, expanded their "free Kashmir" (from Indian rule) campaign to include major terror attacks throughout India. Pakistan cannot halt this without risking attacks on the "free Kashmir" militants. Meanwhile, Indian media and politicians increasingly call for "stronger measures" against this Pakistani lack of cooperation against terrorists. Since both countries have nuclear weapons, "stronger measures" could escalate into the use of nukes. Despite that, the Pakistan based Islamic terrorists have increased their efforts this year, to commit violent acts in Kashmir. Their main goal is to drive out all non-Moslems, and two that end, homes, and other property, of non-Moslems are attacked. Non-Moslem religious places are also prime targets, and nearly 200 non-Moslem religious facilities in Kashmir have been attacked. For both nations, Kashmir has become a monstrous problem, one that defies resolution, and that could destroy everyone if it ever escalated to nukes.
March 25, 2010: Over the last two days, near the Pakistan's Khyber pass, troops raided Qaeda safe houses and camps, killing 36 terrorists.
The changing politics of Nawaz Sharif
ISLAMABAD: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s slip of the tongue about requesting the Taliban to spare the Punjab may have triggered graver concerns as to the inner thinking of the party supposedly in waiting to hold power in Islamabad. The changing style of Nawaz Sharif’s cult politics, the pointed-top organisational pyramid and his party’s ambivalent position on crucial issues like the growing religious militancy and terrorism, the security paradigm, economic revival, and stance towards the US, India and Afghanistan necessitates more explanations than are available from the second biggest party of Pakistan.
The PML-N offers a vague one-size-fits-all policy on most issues. The idea is to keep the mainstream swing voters in a flux and show the real teeth once the levers of power are in control. The same strategy is in practice within the party where nobody knows who is going to do what in a future power set-up. A deliberate chaos has been created where all PML-N leaders are saying all things to all people. The real position, if there is one, is only known to Nawaz Sharif.
The party is likely to perform better than its earlier governments, if their hopes of returning to power in Islamabad materialize, or definitely better than the PPP government. But the PML-N is far short of the nirvana its sympathisers are hoping it to deliver.
The PML-N, to be fair, has fought a historic fight and bounced back from a near oblivion to stake its claim for a third round of power in Islamabad. It seems to have learnt a few lessons this time around. There has not been a major corruption scandal against the party. The PML-N seems to have developed respect for public opinion as shown in the case of supporting the judiciary movement and also by sacking elected members when found on a wrong foot. It has supported a democratic continuity and has refrained from becoming a tool in the hands of the establishment to dislodge the PPP government in the Centre — even after the provocative dissolution of their government in the Punjab. The party took a firm stance against the Army’s involvement in politics and did not fall in line to please the Americans overly.
Nawaz Sharif stands taller as a political leader with his closest rivals, after Benazir’s assassination, placed at a distant second position. He has the longest tenure in power than Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and even dictators Ayub, Zia and Musharraf. In his 27-year political career, he has been in power for 13 years -- two years as Punjab minister, five years as Punjab chief minister and almost six years as twice prime minister.
Yet we still don’t know enough about him. What are his habits; his likes and dislikes? What does he read, if at all he does? There is more emphasis on his food habits than his mental and intellectual growth, particularly after his return from exile. What are his perceptions about the rapidly changing Pakistan and the world around him?
All we know is that Nawaz Sharif has been sucked into alarmingly dynastic politics of his family, his Kashmiri clan and few loyalists. The involvement of his family in politics and decision-making continues to grow.
First, it was just Nawaz Sharif. Then brother Shahbaz Sharif came along followed by Abbas Sharif, who did a stint as member of the National Assembly. There was always some issue about their late father Mian Sharif’s role as a guide from the back seat. Nawaz Sharif’s exile created a situation where his wife Kalsoom had to enter politics and exposed the next generation of the Sharifs to politics. Nawaz Sharif’s eldest Hussain was put in jail and younger Hassan had to travel all over the world for seeking help for the family.
The two brothers are out of active politics but son-in-law Safdar has entered the arena with an extra vigour. Shahbaz Sharif’s son Hamza learnt the ropes of politics through tough times in jail and has since joined active politics. His younger brother Salman is also politically ambitious and wants to join this charade of family grandees. Shahbaz Sharif’s third wife Tehmina Durrani, an author and an able person in her own right, is believed to be quite an influence on his political thinking. Ishaq Dar is also in the family after his son got married to Nawaz Sharif’s daughter.
If this jigsaw of family tree in politics was not enough, the involvement of the larger Kashmiri clan makes it more complicated. Kashmiris, they say, have a common grandmother. This web of distant relatives commands much more power than earlier, particularly in the central Punjab. MNA Khawaja Saad Rafiq is handy as a helping hand to manage Lahore and so are his MPA wife Asma and MPA brother Salman. Another Kashmiri Khawaja Ehsan is prominent all around and so are Sohail Zia Butt and his MNA son Omer in Lahore. Ghulam Dastgir and his MNA son Khurram oversee Gujranwala; Sher Ali and his MNA son Abid control Faisalabad, while Khawaja Asif is the ultimate authority in the affairs related to Sialkot — and much beyond.
It is widely believed in Lahore that if your name has a suffix of Kashmiri castes like Butt, Mir, Lone, Khawaja, Dar or Banday, you have a better chance of your grievance being addressed. The joke around town is that, like the clannish Chaudharies of Gujrat who tried to envision ‘Jattistan,’ the new move is to create the Islamic Republic of Butt-istan.
In the earlier PML phase, most political heavyweights like Gohar Ayub, Ejazul Haq, Majid Malik, Sheikh Rashid, Chaudhary Shujaat had grown in politics together with Nawaz Sharif. They had the collective weight to exercise more participation in decision-making. The crucial decision-making in the new PML-N is confined to a small number of close family members. The only outsiders with some weight are Chaudhary Nisar, Ahsan Iqbal and Pervaiz Rashid. All three of them have learnt the ways to survive in the dominant Kashmiri culture where food is discussed more than foreign policy.
Others like Raja Zafarul Haq, Zulfiqar Khosa, Tehmina Daultana, Mehtab Abbasi, Ghous Ali Shah are given lots of respect but this is more ceremonial than concrete. Everybody knows that Javed Hashmi is out of favours yet nobody talks about it. It is only in muted whispers that people will tell you that he was almost sold out to hijack PML while Nawaz Sharif was abroad. Everybody will deny this on record but it is obvious that he is given a cosmetic respect.
The ultimate decision making power, everybody agrees, is Nawaz Sharif. He forms an opinion by discussing things with the members of the family, clan and a handful of loyalists. A facade of consultation is devised where party elders are asked for their opinions. In nine cases out of 10, they try to give the opinion, which they think the great leader has already arrived at.
Nawaz Sharif then makes announcements, which are final. Nobody dares question his word and never in public. Welcome to democracy -- the PML-N style.
The PML-N offers a vague one-size-fits-all policy on most issues. The idea is to keep the mainstream swing voters in a flux and show the real teeth once the levers of power are in control. The same strategy is in practice within the party where nobody knows who is going to do what in a future power set-up. A deliberate chaos has been created where all PML-N leaders are saying all things to all people. The real position, if there is one, is only known to Nawaz Sharif.
The party is likely to perform better than its earlier governments, if their hopes of returning to power in Islamabad materialize, or definitely better than the PPP government. But the PML-N is far short of the nirvana its sympathisers are hoping it to deliver.
The PML-N, to be fair, has fought a historic fight and bounced back from a near oblivion to stake its claim for a third round of power in Islamabad. It seems to have learnt a few lessons this time around. There has not been a major corruption scandal against the party. The PML-N seems to have developed respect for public opinion as shown in the case of supporting the judiciary movement and also by sacking elected members when found on a wrong foot. It has supported a democratic continuity and has refrained from becoming a tool in the hands of the establishment to dislodge the PPP government in the Centre — even after the provocative dissolution of their government in the Punjab. The party took a firm stance against the Army’s involvement in politics and did not fall in line to please the Americans overly.
Nawaz Sharif stands taller as a political leader with his closest rivals, after Benazir’s assassination, placed at a distant second position. He has the longest tenure in power than Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and even dictators Ayub, Zia and Musharraf. In his 27-year political career, he has been in power for 13 years -- two years as Punjab minister, five years as Punjab chief minister and almost six years as twice prime minister.
Yet we still don’t know enough about him. What are his habits; his likes and dislikes? What does he read, if at all he does? There is more emphasis on his food habits than his mental and intellectual growth, particularly after his return from exile. What are his perceptions about the rapidly changing Pakistan and the world around him?
All we know is that Nawaz Sharif has been sucked into alarmingly dynastic politics of his family, his Kashmiri clan and few loyalists. The involvement of his family in politics and decision-making continues to grow.
First, it was just Nawaz Sharif. Then brother Shahbaz Sharif came along followed by Abbas Sharif, who did a stint as member of the National Assembly. There was always some issue about their late father Mian Sharif’s role as a guide from the back seat. Nawaz Sharif’s exile created a situation where his wife Kalsoom had to enter politics and exposed the next generation of the Sharifs to politics. Nawaz Sharif’s eldest Hussain was put in jail and younger Hassan had to travel all over the world for seeking help for the family.
The two brothers are out of active politics but son-in-law Safdar has entered the arena with an extra vigour. Shahbaz Sharif’s son Hamza learnt the ropes of politics through tough times in jail and has since joined active politics. His younger brother Salman is also politically ambitious and wants to join this charade of family grandees. Shahbaz Sharif’s third wife Tehmina Durrani, an author and an able person in her own right, is believed to be quite an influence on his political thinking. Ishaq Dar is also in the family after his son got married to Nawaz Sharif’s daughter.
If this jigsaw of family tree in politics was not enough, the involvement of the larger Kashmiri clan makes it more complicated. Kashmiris, they say, have a common grandmother. This web of distant relatives commands much more power than earlier, particularly in the central Punjab. MNA Khawaja Saad Rafiq is handy as a helping hand to manage Lahore and so are his MPA wife Asma and MPA brother Salman. Another Kashmiri Khawaja Ehsan is prominent all around and so are Sohail Zia Butt and his MNA son Omer in Lahore. Ghulam Dastgir and his MNA son Khurram oversee Gujranwala; Sher Ali and his MNA son Abid control Faisalabad, while Khawaja Asif is the ultimate authority in the affairs related to Sialkot — and much beyond.
It is widely believed in Lahore that if your name has a suffix of Kashmiri castes like Butt, Mir, Lone, Khawaja, Dar or Banday, you have a better chance of your grievance being addressed. The joke around town is that, like the clannish Chaudharies of Gujrat who tried to envision ‘Jattistan,’ the new move is to create the Islamic Republic of Butt-istan.
In the earlier PML phase, most political heavyweights like Gohar Ayub, Ejazul Haq, Majid Malik, Sheikh Rashid, Chaudhary Shujaat had grown in politics together with Nawaz Sharif. They had the collective weight to exercise more participation in decision-making. The crucial decision-making in the new PML-N is confined to a small number of close family members. The only outsiders with some weight are Chaudhary Nisar, Ahsan Iqbal and Pervaiz Rashid. All three of them have learnt the ways to survive in the dominant Kashmiri culture where food is discussed more than foreign policy.
Others like Raja Zafarul Haq, Zulfiqar Khosa, Tehmina Daultana, Mehtab Abbasi, Ghous Ali Shah are given lots of respect but this is more ceremonial than concrete. Everybody knows that Javed Hashmi is out of favours yet nobody talks about it. It is only in muted whispers that people will tell you that he was almost sold out to hijack PML while Nawaz Sharif was abroad. Everybody will deny this on record but it is obvious that he is given a cosmetic respect.
The ultimate decision making power, everybody agrees, is Nawaz Sharif. He forms an opinion by discussing things with the members of the family, clan and a handful of loyalists. A facade of consultation is devised where party elders are asked for their opinions. In nine cases out of 10, they try to give the opinion, which they think the great leader has already arrived at.
Nawaz Sharif then makes announcements, which are final. Nobody dares question his word and never in public. Welcome to democracy -- the PML-N style.
U-Turn by Nawaz exposed PML-N politics: Elahi
LAHORE: Challenging Sharif Brothers to hold transparent elections under the supervision of judiciary in PP-111 (Gujrat), President Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) Punjab Chapter, Chaudhary Pervez Elahi has said that the u-turn taken by PML-N over reforms package showed their political ethics.
Talking to different leaders and delegations of his party, the former Punjab Chief Minister said that the rigging and attacks by workers of N-League on Assistant Women Presiding Officers and polling staff exposed the so-called high values of PML-N.
Chaudhary Pervez Elahi said that the U-Turn taken by PML-N over constitutional reforms after Gujrat Elections clearly exposed its hypocrisy and double standards.
He said that Sharif Brothers, before Gujrat by-elections tried to get support of PPP and soon after the issuance of the notification of results, deceived PPP.
Commenting on financial situation of the province, he said that the poor policies of Shahbaz Sharif plunged the province into further crisis and the overdraft of Rs. 27 billion obtained by Punjab from the State Bank of Pakistan reflected the bankruptcy of the province.
Talking to different leaders and delegations of his party, the former Punjab Chief Minister said that the rigging and attacks by workers of N-League on Assistant Women Presiding Officers and polling staff exposed the so-called high values of PML-N.
Chaudhary Pervez Elahi said that the U-Turn taken by PML-N over constitutional reforms after Gujrat Elections clearly exposed its hypocrisy and double standards.
He said that Sharif Brothers, before Gujrat by-elections tried to get support of PPP and soon after the issuance of the notification of results, deceived PPP.
Commenting on financial situation of the province, he said that the poor policies of Shahbaz Sharif plunged the province into further crisis and the overdraft of Rs. 27 billion obtained by Punjab from the State Bank of Pakistan reflected the bankruptcy of the province.
Politics of intransigence very dangerous: Farahnaz
ISLAMABAD: Politics of intransigence over reconciliation will prove disastrous for the federal democratic structure and a quick resolution of points of conflict over the constitutional package must be achieved quickly, parliamentarian and Media Adviser to PPP Co-chairman Farahnaz Ispahani said on Friday. Commenting on the latest political developments, she said President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had adhered to the politics of reconciliation, but some political forces have continued to play the politics of intransigence, which they proudly refer to as “part of the game”. The PML-N has taken a position completely opposed to the words and spirit of the Charter of Democracy. She said that people were better judges of the political situation in the country, and that the government was fully prepared to bring the 18th amendment bill to parliament to restore parliamentary supremacy in the country’s political structure and had the backing of all parties, including PML-N’s members of the constitutional reform committee. “It was highly surprising and perturbing for the man on the street that last minute objections were raised without any cogent reason,” she added.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
India warns Pakistan to stop encouraging terrorism
Warning Pakistan that its policy of restraint should not be taken as weakness, India has again asked Islamabad to cease encouraging terrorism saying it can deal effectively with those 'that pursue destructive agendas against India.'
'Despite the provocations we have faced constantly from terrorists whose linkages we have traced back to Pakistani soil, we have not abandoned the path of dialogue,' Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said in an address Monday at the Woodrow Wilson Centre, a Washington think tank.
Prefacing her remarks about Pakistan in more general terms Rao said like the US administration, 'India, too, is concerned at the terror infrastructure that has been allowed to be established, take root and be used as an instrument of state policy in our immediate neighbourhood.'
'Our heartland, our cities and our people, are exposed to the threat of terrorism in a constant and almost unremitting way in a manner that the United States well understands, given the similar threats that are directed against the American people,' she said.
India's approach has been to deal with the challenge of terrorism with restraint, Rao said. 'However, our restraint should not be confused with weakness or unwillingness to act against those that seek to harm our people, create insecurity, and hamper our developmental goals,' she said.
'We are a strong country and we possess the capacity to deal effectively with those that pursue destructive agendas against India and its people,' Rao warned.
'Despite the brazen and malignant nature of the threats we face, India has made several genuine efforts to restore trust and confidence,' she said.
'We have, time and again, made genuine attempts to address outstanding issues, most importantly, the issue of terrorism through dialogue with Pakistan,' Rao said referring to her recent meeting with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir as the latest such move.
At this meeting 'India's approach was to focus on our concerns regarding terrorism, pending humanitarian issues, and some bilateral visits that have been planned or spoken of, but have not taken place,' she said.
'But it continues to be our conviction that for this dialogue to really make progress, Pakistan should take meaningful steps to address our concerns on terrorism, and cease the encouragement of terrorism targeted against India.'
Recalling that India had resumed its Composite Dialogue with Islamabad after the then Pakistani leadership made such an assurance in January 2004, Rao noted: 'Today, Pakistan claims that it is in no position to give us such a guarantee that terrorism can be controlled by its authorities.'
'In such a situation, the people of India who are already bitterly affected by the series of terrorist attacks directed against them, can hardly be expected to support the resumption of a full-blown Composite Dialogue with Pakistan,' she said.
Referring to US military aid to Pakistan Rao said, it is 'also important that there are strict accountability criteria that apply to defence assistance rendered to Pakistan for operations against terrorists and insurgents on the border with Afghanistan'.
India's past experience regarding such assistance has taught it to be vigilant to the possibility of it being used for purposes that generate tension and hostile actions against India, said.
India does 'not have aggressive designs against Pakistan and we want it to be a stable and prosperous country,' Rao said 'But we will be vigilant about our security. That is our sovereign right,' she asserted.
India yet to send formal proposal for next round of talks: Pak FO
Welcoming External Affairs Minister SM Krishna's statement that the next foreign secretary level talks between India and Pakistan would take place soon, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Abdul Basit has said New Delhi has still not sent any formal proposal for the high level deliberations.
"The statement made by Indian External Affairs Minister, S M Krishna is really encouraging and Pakistan welcomes it but it was his personal desire not the official stance," Basit told The Dawn.
Basit also stressed that both countries must have a 'mutual understanding' while proceeding for further talks.
Earlier, talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi, Krishna had indicated that a team of Indian delegates headed by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao might visit Islamabad for the next round of talks.
"We have already taken the initiative. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is in good faith. Provided the backdrop of having talks at the level of foreign secretary," Krishna had said.
"The foreign secretary of Pakistan came here, and then, perhaps it is time for the foreign secretary of India to go to Pakistan," he added.
"The statement made by Indian External Affairs Minister, S M Krishna is really encouraging and Pakistan welcomes it but it was his personal desire not the official stance," Basit told The Dawn.
Basit also stressed that both countries must have a 'mutual understanding' while proceeding for further talks.
Earlier, talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi, Krishna had indicated that a team of Indian delegates headed by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao might visit Islamabad for the next round of talks.
"We have already taken the initiative. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is in good faith. Provided the backdrop of having talks at the level of foreign secretary," Krishna had said.
"The foreign secretary of Pakistan came here, and then, perhaps it is time for the foreign secretary of India to go to Pakistan," he added.
Kidnapped British boy found safe in Pakistan
Akila Naqqash holds a picture of her five-year-old son Sahil Saeed, in Oldham, Manchester, England, on March 4
Sahil, a British citizen of Pakistani descent, was on the last day of a two-week vacation in Pakistan before he was to return home to Oldham, in northern England.
Gunmen barged into Sahil's grandmother's home in Jhelum, in the eastern province of Punjab, and took him at gunpoint on March 3. They reportedly demanded a ransom of 10 million rupees ($118,000).
Soon after the abduction, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the captors included someone close to the family.
"There is someone who is very close to the family because the way the situation happened, the way the entry was made," Malik told reporters.
Musharraf hints at comeback through 'registered' All Pakistan Muslim League
Former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has hinted of a come back to the country's political stage through a party named the All Pakistan Muslim League.
Talking to media persons before a lecture in Seattle, Musharraf said his party has been registered, but reiterated that he would return to Pakistan only when he believes there is enough support for him.
"I think the party has been registered. If I have to just go there and join the political fray and be involved in accusations and counter-accusations...like most politicians are doing, then I am not interested in that kind of politics,"The Seattle time quoted Musharraf, as saying.
Later,talking to an audience of hundreds of people, largely Pakistani Americans, in Bellevue, Musharraf said the Taliban's brand of Islamic extremism poses a serious threat to the nation.
"We need to ask ourselves, do we or don't we want a Taliban and Al Qaeda culture in Pakistan ... because every action then flows from that decision," Musharraf said.
Reports regarding Musharraf, who is currently living in London on an 'unannounced' exile, coming back to Pakistan have been doing the rounds for the past year or so with the former general saying he would return if the country wants him to do so.
Musharraf, however, has not set a date for his return to Pakistan.
Some believe that he may never come back as he fears being prosecuted for imposing emergency in the state through unconstitutional steps in 2007.
Talking to media persons before a lecture in Seattle, Musharraf said his party has been registered, but reiterated that he would return to Pakistan only when he believes there is enough support for him.
"I think the party has been registered. If I have to just go there and join the political fray and be involved in accusations and counter-accusations...like most politicians are doing, then I am not interested in that kind of politics,"The Seattle time quoted Musharraf, as saying.
Later,talking to an audience of hundreds of people, largely Pakistani Americans, in Bellevue, Musharraf said the Taliban's brand of Islamic extremism poses a serious threat to the nation.
"We need to ask ourselves, do we or don't we want a Taliban and Al Qaeda culture in Pakistan ... because every action then flows from that decision," Musharraf said.
Reports regarding Musharraf, who is currently living in London on an 'unannounced' exile, coming back to Pakistan have been doing the rounds for the past year or so with the former general saying he would return if the country wants him to do so.
Musharraf, however, has not set a date for his return to Pakistan.
Some believe that he may never come back as he fears being prosecuted for imposing emergency in the state through unconstitutional steps in 2007.
Monday, March 15, 2010
How We See the Future
" A majority now believes, after the end of the so-called American Century and victory in the Cold War, that the world is looking elsewhere in terms of future success or direction."
The State of the American Dream Survey
You might expect that the American Dream would appear to be in trouble in the midst of the longest recession since the great Depression. However, the first State of the American Dream Survey from Xavier University's Institute for Politics and the American Dream indicates the problems perceived by Americans are much deeper than this recession.
To recover the 8.4 million jobs lost so far in this recession would already require creation of 175,000 new jobs every month for 48 consecutive months --- just to get even with December 2007.
The only time in US history when new job creation equaled 175,000 per month was in the 1990s when the Internet was commercialized and the world was first digitized, monies were transferred electronically, all glitz/no substance dot.coms grew like typhoid, cell phone usage and the stock market exploded and real estate blossomed at "Tulip Mania" multiples.
Here's the point amplified by the Dream Survey.
The American people know that there is no new industry or set of industries on the horizon capable of creating 175,000 American jobs per month in the global economy.
This can only come from beyond the horizon --- in currently UNKNOWN industries.
Let's face it, 76% of the jobs in America's economy are service jobs. This is the highest such percentage in the developed world. Service jobs are primarily about maintenance, not growth. US tech firms have been moving to emerging markets because they can get the same work at 1/5th the cost.
Technology as we know it cannot save the day, because it relies on newer and cheaper iterations of increasingly mature industries and worn technologies. This may well lead to productivity increases, but that creates profits, not jobs. As legendary Wall Streeter Leon Levy writes, "one point of productivity eliminates about 1.3 million jobs." As a point of context, it took the entire decade of the 1980s to create 1.3 million jobs.
For the first time in 100 years, a majority of Americans doubt that the US will create the future.
75% of us "don't think the rest of the world looks up to America and our society the way it used to. This has nothing to do with the recession but it has a lot to do with doubting the achievement of the dream for next generations.
Americans have not lost confidence in themselves. Nearly two-thirds still see themselves as achieving the Dream. It's their kids and grandkids they're worried about.
But they have lost confidence and have little faith in the stable of leaders in the political and corporate world. There is no political advantage here for anyone. Americans know that the structural changes in this global economy give no credit for past performances.
Perhaps we are inured to the "legacy problem." America's traditional confidence that each generation's lot will improve over the last has eroded, and we seem to be getting used to it.
What will happen? What can happen is what happened in 1961 when the US emerged from the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union; when the Cold War peaked. It was the year when the Berlin Wall was constructed. Tension between the US and Soviet Russia was the central global fact.
Also in 1961, Soviet Premier Khrushchev promised at the 22nd Communist Party Congress that within 20 years the Soviets would outproduce America in all of the major industrial sectors --- coal, steel, cement, fertilizer, tractors etc.
And they did too.
This would have been a major achievement if it had been 1951 and not 1981. The US had moved on with an explosion of imagination and invention, and created a new technological world to which the rest of the world had to conform.
The American people want to believe that we still possess the daring-do leadership and burning inventiveness to do it again --- but they doubt it right now. Who could blame them when we look around at political warriors engaged in Pyrrhic warfare and timid corporate leaders concerned for the next quarter not the next decade.
Inventing the future is the Dream's signature because that is what freedom and opportunity uniquely allow --- but cannot guarantee.
The State of the American Dream Survey
You might expect that the American Dream would appear to be in trouble in the midst of the longest recession since the great Depression. However, the first State of the American Dream Survey from Xavier University's Institute for Politics and the American Dream indicates the problems perceived by Americans are much deeper than this recession.
To recover the 8.4 million jobs lost so far in this recession would already require creation of 175,000 new jobs every month for 48 consecutive months --- just to get even with December 2007.
The only time in US history when new job creation equaled 175,000 per month was in the 1990s when the Internet was commercialized and the world was first digitized, monies were transferred electronically, all glitz/no substance dot.coms grew like typhoid, cell phone usage and the stock market exploded and real estate blossomed at "Tulip Mania" multiples.
Here's the point amplified by the Dream Survey.
The American people know that there is no new industry or set of industries on the horizon capable of creating 175,000 American jobs per month in the global economy.
This can only come from beyond the horizon --- in currently UNKNOWN industries.
Let's face it, 76% of the jobs in America's economy are service jobs. This is the highest such percentage in the developed world. Service jobs are primarily about maintenance, not growth. US tech firms have been moving to emerging markets because they can get the same work at 1/5th the cost.
Technology as we know it cannot save the day, because it relies on newer and cheaper iterations of increasingly mature industries and worn technologies. This may well lead to productivity increases, but that creates profits, not jobs. As legendary Wall Streeter Leon Levy writes, "one point of productivity eliminates about 1.3 million jobs." As a point of context, it took the entire decade of the 1980s to create 1.3 million jobs.
For the first time in 100 years, a majority of Americans doubt that the US will create the future.
75% of us "don't think the rest of the world looks up to America and our society the way it used to. This has nothing to do with the recession but it has a lot to do with doubting the achievement of the dream for next generations.
Americans have not lost confidence in themselves. Nearly two-thirds still see themselves as achieving the Dream. It's their kids and grandkids they're worried about.
But they have lost confidence and have little faith in the stable of leaders in the political and corporate world. There is no political advantage here for anyone. Americans know that the structural changes in this global economy give no credit for past performances.
Perhaps we are inured to the "legacy problem." America's traditional confidence that each generation's lot will improve over the last has eroded, and we seem to be getting used to it.
What will happen? What can happen is what happened in 1961 when the US emerged from the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union; when the Cold War peaked. It was the year when the Berlin Wall was constructed. Tension between the US and Soviet Russia was the central global fact.
Also in 1961, Soviet Premier Khrushchev promised at the 22nd Communist Party Congress that within 20 years the Soviets would outproduce America in all of the major industrial sectors --- coal, steel, cement, fertilizer, tractors etc.
And they did too.
This would have been a major achievement if it had been 1951 and not 1981. The US had moved on with an explosion of imagination and invention, and created a new technological world to which the rest of the world had to conform.
The American people want to believe that we still possess the daring-do leadership and burning inventiveness to do it again --- but they doubt it right now. Who could blame them when we look around at political warriors engaged in Pyrrhic warfare and timid corporate leaders concerned for the next quarter not the next decade.
Inventing the future is the Dream's signature because that is what freedom and opportunity uniquely allow --- but cannot guarantee.
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