Posts Tagged ‘Obama’

Timeline: History of US-Pakistan relations

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Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, left, speaks as US President Barack Obama listens.—AP Photo

United States of America remains one of the first countries to have established diplomatic ties with Pakistan. Although the relationship dates back to October 20, 1947, it can be extrapolated that the relations have been based strictly on ,military and economic support,.

During the initial years of Pakistan, the country had the options of building allegiance with Soviet Union or United States, however, Pakistan opted for the latter.

,,1950-1953:
Pakistan’s first prime minister, ,Liaquat Ali Khan visited United States, to meet president Harry S Truman. It is alleged that during PM Khan’s first visit to US, president Truman requested Pakistan’s premier to let the CIA formulate a base in Pakistan, strictly to keep an eye on the activities of Soviet Union—a request which was not granted by Khan.

Throughout the course of these years many ,officials from Pakistan, such as commander-in-chief Ayub Khan, foreign minister Zafrullah Khan, foreign secretary Ikramullah, finance minister Ghulam Muhammad, defence secretary Sikander Mirza and special envoy Mir Laiq Ali visited US, aiming to receive financial aids from the country.

1954:
Pakistan signed, Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement ,with the United States in May. Under the agreement, many Pakistani soldiers went to United States for training whereas US also established a Military Assistance Advisory Group (Maag) in Rawalpindi.

1956:
President Dwight Eisenhower requested prime minister Suhrawardy to lease, Peshawar Air Station, to the American Army for keeping an eye on soviet Union and its ballistic missile programme. The request was granted by the prime minister.

,,1960s:
During the decade, the pro-American sentiments in ,Western side of Pakistan, were at an all time high. However, the military and financial assistance was directed more towards West Pakistan, which caused an uproar and feeling of distrust in East Pakistan.

Ayub Khan allowed United States to fly spy mission to Soviet Union from Pakistan’s territory and accompanied by his daughter visited United States of America.

United States, increased the amount of aid Pakistan, was designated to receive from the consortium of Pakistan, half a billion dollars of which were lost in 1965’s Indo-Pakistan war—war staged to cause a rebel in Indian occupied Kashmir. The war also led US to place economical and military embargoes on Pakistan, which resulted in an economic collapse.

1971-1974:
Being an important ally for US during the cold war, United States supported Pakistan, despite the ,arms embargo,. Pakistan also assisted president Richard Nixon in making his first visit to Peoples’ Republic of China.

During 1971’s war, US is speculated to have provided Pakistan with arms and military aid, in order to discourage India from ,penetrating further into the cities of Pakistan, because losing Pakistan meant losing an important ally in the soviet war.

,,Moreover, as per the elections result, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was elected as the president of Pakistan and later on became the prime minister in 1974.

Although Bhutto was considered a socialist, he was a close and respected friend of president Nixon, which went in Pakistan’s favour.

1976-1979:
President Jimmy Carter, an anti-socialist, won the presidential election of US and announced to seek a ban on nuclear weapons.

,Bhutto lost the favours, he enjoyed whilst Nixon was US president as Carter did not appreciate his policies and tightened already placed embargoes on Pakistan. However, Bhutto managed to procure items to enhance his atomic bomb project. President Carter and his administration allegedly threatened Bhutto to disrupt the process of atomic proliferation and research to which the latter did not agree, leading to his differences with the Americans.

1979-1988:
During Zia ul Haq’s regime, Pakistan and United States enjoyed a warm and congenial relationship, which was primarily based on military ties and advancements. During the decade, US, along with CIA and ISI, launched billions of dollars worth of operations to prevent Soviet forces from further advancing into the region.

,,It is during this period that United States granted billions of dollars to Pakistan in the name of military and economical aid. By the year 1981, Pakistan was discussing a ,$3.2-billion aid package, with United States and in 1987 Pakistan became the second largest recipient of aid after Israel.

However, by the end of General Zia’s regime, Congress adopted ,Pressler amendment,. The amendment banned major military and economical aid to Pakistan unless the state was able to justify and provide sufficient evidence that the funds are not being used for nuclear proliferation.

However it is alleged that although Pakistan disclosed that it could enrich uranium and assemble a nuclear device in 1984 and 1987 respectively, the sanctions were not imposed till 1990.

1990:
US, under the Pressler amendment,, imposed sanctions on Pakistan,, as the country by then had lost its strategic importance in soviet war.

1992:
The relations between US and Pakistan plummeted further when, US ambassador Nicholas Platt,, warned Pakistan of being included into state sponsors of terrorism list, in case it continued to support militants causing trouble in India.

,,1995:
Benazir Bhutto visited United States and requested president Bill Clinton to lift the embargoes on Pakistan and launch a joint operation to eradicate militancy from the region. As a reaction to Bhutto’s proposal, Brown amendment, which provided for the delivery of, $368 million of military equipment ,purchased but not received by Pakistan before the imposition of Pressler amendment sanctions in 1990, was passed; however, the sanctions on arms were not lifted.

1998:
Prime minister Nawaz Sharif conducted nuclear test in Balochistan, in retaliation to similar tests conducted by India, which invited the wrath of Clinton’s administration on both the countries. President Clinton imposed sanctions under Glenn amendment on India as well as Pakistan.

Glenn amendment included ,suspension of aid,, including economic development assistance, credits and credit guarantees by the US government, US bank loans to the governments of India and Pakistan, loans from international financial institutions, such as the IMF and World Bank, and exports of dual-use nuclear or missile items.

However, in July of 1998, US lifted the sanctions on both the countries for purchasing ,agricultural products from US farmers,. Later in the year President Clinton exercised his waiver on lifting restrictions on the activities of US banks in Pakistan.

,,2001:
After the 9/11 attacks and US’s invasion in various countries to eradicate militancy, Pakistan became one of the most important strategic allies for United States.

Initially Pakistan tried to strike a negotiation deal with Taliban and al Qaeda members to handover Osama bin Laden to American authorities. However, when negotiations failed, Pakistan allowed American army to use its military bases for launching attacks on Afghan soil.

However, President Pervez Musharraf confessed that the country had no option but to support United States as it had threatened Pakistan of ,“bombing it into stone age”, if it did not join the fight against al Qaeda.

Simultaneously in 2001, US officials introduced a bill to lift all the sanctions, previously imposed on Pakistan under Pressler and Glenn amendments.

2003:
United States officially forgave $1 billion worth of loan it had granted to Pakistan in a goodwill gesture and appreciation for Pakistan’s cooperation.

,,2004:
President George Bush officially declared Pakistan as a non-Nato ally granting it the authority to purchase strategic and advanced military equipments.

Since 2004, US army has launched various drone strikes on the north-western side of the country. The drone strikes aim to target Pakistani Taliban and supporters of al Qaeda, however, the strikes have also resulted in latge civilian deaths and caused much opposition from Pakistanis.

2007:
A report was issued in which Pakistan was accused of using aid money provided by US to Pakistan for its cooperation on war on terror, for ,strengthening its defence against India,.

2008:
The trust, on both sides, has been missing since the war on terror started as US on several occasions has accused Pakistan Army to tip the Taliban and pro-Taliban factions off on US operations.

In the June of 2008, an air strike by the ,US Army killed 11 paramilitary soldiers of Pakistan Army Frontier Corps,, along with eight Taliban. The strike and deaths instigated a fierce reaction from Pakistani command calling the act to have shaken the foundations of mutual trust and cooperation.

,,2009:
,President Musharraf confessed, that the billions of dollars of aid that Pakistan received from United States, for being a partner in war against terror, were diverted and channelled in order to build better defence mechanism against India.

The famous, Kerry-Lugar Bill,, which invited much controversy and criticism, was passed in the October of 2009. The bill entailed the approval of granting $7.5 billion of ,non-military aid,, if the command of the country accepted certain condition. The bill clearly showed US’s distrust in Pakistan’s military command and considered Pakistani Taliban more threatening than Afghan Taliban, amongst many other essential points.

2010:
In the beginning of the year, Pakistan Army in a joint operation with US intelligence agencies, captured Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar,, a famous Taliban commander, from the tribal belt of Pakistan. The success of the operation was hailed by the United States and Pakistan was praised for its utmost cooperation.

2011:
In the beginning of 2011, ,Raymond Davis,, a CIA agent in Pakistan killed two Pakistani men in Lahore, claiming that they came to rob him. Davis was taken into custody for killing civilians, however, American officials claimed that he was entitled to diplomatic immunity and must be released immediately.

,,Raymond Davis was later ,acquitted of the murder charges, and was sent to United States.

In the May of 2011, ,Osama bin Laden, was killed in an operation conducted by US Navy Seals in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

President Barrack Obama claimed that the information pertaining to the operation conducted in Abbottabad was ,not shared with Pakistan Army,. However, ISI claimed that the operation was conducted, jointly,, a claim which was blatantly denied by President Asif Ali Zardari.

Since the war on terror started in 2001, Pakistan has received an estimated amount of $20 billion from United States; however, in the wake of OBL’s raid ,US withheld $800 million of aid, to Pakistan.

US-Pakistan relations plummeted again when ,24 Pakistani soldiers died in an air strike, by the US Army. Afghan and US officials claimed that the firing was a result of the attack launched from the Pakistani side of the border, however, the Pakistani military and government denied the claims.

As a result of the attack, Pakistani government ordered, US army to evacuate Salala air base, which was being used to launch offensive on Taliban and militants. Moreover, the government also halted Nato supplies for United Sates.

,,2012:
Since the beginning of 2012, various political parties along with the military command of the country, met and held discussions on restoring Nato supplies. Diplomats from United States also tried to reduce the friction.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that the supplies were blocked without any pressure and will be ,restored with consensus,.

Moreover, ,Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen ,urged Pakistan to reopen Nato ground supply routes to Afghanistan. However, Rasmussen also said that Pakistan had not been invited to the crucial 25th Nato summit to be held in May in Chicago.

Simultaneously, ,US Senator John Kerry,, a leading proponent of US aid for Pakistan, said that Pakistan needs to be more cooperative, in order to eliminate Taliban sanctuaries from the country.

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Via DAWN.com

Pals Obama and Clooney shoot hoops in LA

George Clooney, center, attends the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner headlined by late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel, Saturday, April 28, 2012, in Washington. – AP Photo 

LOS ANGELES: A day after raking in $15 million at a fundraiser hosted by George Clooney, President Barack Obama’s thriving rapport with his Oscar-winning buddy took a new turn – on the basketball court.

The US commander-in-chief and the screen heartthrob cum activist dubbed the celebrity-in-chief enjoyed an early morning game of hoops in Los Angeles, before Obama headed to Nevada to cap a two-day west coast swing.

In a match-up of superheroes, Clooney, who once played Batman, was joined by Spiderman actor Tobey Maguire, and members of Obama’s traveling staff at a recreation center near the president’s Beverly Hills hotel, officials said.

Later, Obama was asked at a stop in Reno, Nevada how the game had gone.

“Of course, George and I won but we’re all winners because nobody got hurt,” he told reporters, no doubt remembering the 2010 pickup game in which a stray elbow from a fellow player gave him a fat lip.

Obama is a passionate basketball fan, and sometimes plays on weekends with cabinet members and friends in Washington.

He also famously used to shoot hoops as a good luck tradition early morning on key election days during his race for the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton in 2008.

Clooney’s star-studded fundraiser, uniting Washington power and Hollywood glamour, was the most lucrative single day that Obama has spent piling up cash so far in his race to the November election against Republican foe Mitt Romney.

Around 150 guests paid $40,000 a ticket to get into the exclusive soiree, the latest in a string of big money events as Obama builds an expensive campaign machine for his re-election and buys top dollar advertising slots.

The guest list included A-listers from Barbra Streisand and Robert Downey Jr. to Jack Black, Billy Crystal, Maguire, Salma Hayek and fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg.

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Via DAWN.com

US resumes Bahrain arms sales despite rights concerns

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Bahraini Shia Muslims hold a slogan which is read in Arabic as “No to dictatorship” during a demonstration. – AFP Photo

WASHINGTON: The United States will resume some military sales to Bahrain, a key Gulf ally facing Iran, despite human rights concerns linked to months of popular protests against the island kingdom’s rulers, the State Department said on Friday.

The Obama administration notified Congress that certain sales would be allowed for Bahrain’s defense force, coast guard and National Guard; although it would maintain a hold on TOW missiles, Humvees and some other items for now, the department said in a statement.

“We have made the decision to release additional items to Bahrain mindful of the fact that there are a number of serious unresolved human rights issues that the government of Bahrain needs to address,” the statement said.

The State Department did not give a total value for the items being released but emphasized that the equipment being approved was “not used for crowd control” as the majority Shia community continues to protest against the Sunni royal family following a crackdown last year.

US officials said among the sales now allowed to go forward would be harbor security vessels and upgrades to turbo-fan engines used in F-16 fighter aircraft as well as legislation which could pave the way for a future sale of a naval frigate.

Items still on hold, besides the missiles and the Humvees, include teargas, teargas launchers and stun grenades.

 Decision Criticised In Congress

The decision was criticized by Senator Patrick Leahy, who wrote a provision Congress passed last year requiring the administration to consult lawmakers before allowing sales of teargas and other crowd-control items to governments of countries undergoing democratic transition in the Middle East.

“While I am pleased that the administration is continuing to withhold tear gas, small arms and other crowd-control items from the Bahraini security forces, this arms sale sends the wrong message,” Leahy, a Democrat, said in a statement.

“The government of Bahrain has yet to respect the Bahraini people’s legitimate demands, or to hold accountable its own police and military officers for arresting, torturing and killing Bahraini protesters,” Leahy said.

The resumption of military sales follows a visit to Washington this week by Bahrain Crown Prince Salman Hamid al-Khalifa, who met Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

“The Vice President expressed concern about the recent escalation of street violence, including attacks against security forces,” the White House said. Biden also pressed on the importance of safeguarding human rights and of government accountability for past abuses, messages that were reinforced by Panetta, the Pentagon said.

In October, the Obama administration delayed $53 million in planned sales to Bahrain pending the outcome of a local investigation into alleged human rights abuses since an uprising began in February 2011.

Bahrain has been the host of US naval headquarters in the Gulf for more than 60 years and is seen as a central bulwark for US efforts to deter Iran.

Human rights advocates have criticized Washington for its muted response Bahrain’s crackdown contrasted with strong US public support for popular protests in Egypt, Tunisia and Syria.

The State Department said Bahrain’s government had taken steps to implement reforms but that “the country is becoming increasingly polarized and much work remains to be done.”

“We are concerned about excessive use of force and tear gas by police. At the same time, we are concerned by the almost daily use of violence by some protesters,” the statement said, urging both sides to refrain from incitement.

The Obama administration has been under pressure to stick by Bahrain’s ruling family, notably from Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, in the face of protests by the country’s Shia’s.

The original $53 million sale proposal included 44 Humvee armored vehicles and several hundred TOW missiles along with associated equipment. Prime contractors would be privately held AM General and Raytheon Co.

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Via DAWN.com

Nato head urges Pakistan to reopen supplies in time for summit

File photo shows Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen remarks to reporters after meeting with US President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington, May 9, 2012. — Reuters

BRUSSELS: Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen suggested on Friday that Pakistan could miss out on important talks on the future of Afghanistan if it fails to reopen supply routes in time to secure a place at a Nato summit in Chicago on May 20-21.          

Speaking at a news conference, Rasmussen made no explicit reference to excluding Pakistan – which closed transit routes to Afghanistan after 24 of its soldiers were killed in a Nato cross-border air attack last November.

But he noted that other countries providing supply routes to Nato had been invited to the summit, which will map out a future for Afghanistan after most foreign combat troops are withdrawn at the end of 2014.

“As I mentioned we have actually invited a number of countries from the region, neighbours of Afghanistan, Central Asian countries, Russia, because they provide important transit arrangements to the benefit of our operation,” he said in response to a question.

“But as you also know our transit routes through Pakistan are currently blocked so we have to continue our dialogue with Pakistan with a view to finding a solution to that because that’s really a matter of concern.”

Pakistan has demanded a formal apology from the United States for the cross-border attack before it reopens the supply routes, and has also called for an end to US drone strikes on its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

With neither of those demands likely to be met, the government faces the choice of making an embarrassing climb down – politically tricky at time anti-Americanism is running high in Pakistan – or continuing to hold out.

Pakistan boycotted an international conference on Afghanistan in Bonn in December in protest against the Nato air strikes.

Earlier in April, diplomatic sources had told Dawn that the US hopes Pakistan will reopen supply routes before President Asif Ali Zardari arrives in Chicago to attend the summit.

The US would welcome Pakistan’s “potential participation” in the Nato summit, White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes had said.

“And obviously, the United States expects Mr Zardari to reopen the supply routes before the summit as it would be too embarrassing for him to attend a Nato meeting while his forces are blocking Nato supply lines,” said an official dealing directly with the summit.

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Via DAWN.com

Pak-US tensions mount as focus shifting to Zawahiri issue

WASHINGTON – With Islamabad-Washington relations taking a turn for the worse, the Obama administration has again underscored the need to work out an arrangement with Pakistan leading to reopening of the land routes that transport supplies for U.S. troops deployed in landlocked Afghanistan.
“We’re still seeking to come to an arrangement on how we can get the  ground lines of …

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House panel backs $642 billion US defense bill

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The Republican-controlled House will vote on the spending blueprint next week, but is expected to get stiff resistance from the Democrat-controlled Senate. -File Photo

WASHINGTON: The House Armed Services Committee on Thursday overwhelmingly backed a $642 billion US defense bill that calls for construction of a missile defense site on the East Coast, restores aircraft and ships slated for early retirement and ignores the Pentagon’s cost-saving request for another round of domestic base closings.    

Despite the clamor for fiscal discipline, the committee crafted a military spending blueprint that’s $8 billion more than the level President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans agreed to last summer in the deficit-cutting law. The panel vote early Thursday morning was 56-5.

Rep. Howard ”Buck” McKeon, the Republican chairman of the committee, said in a statement that the legislation meets his goal of ”keeping faith with American’s men and women in uniform; restoring fiscal sanity to a defense budget that is inconsistent with the threats America faces and rebuilding a force after a decade of war.”

The Republican-controlled House is expected to vote on the spending blueprint next week, but the legislation will be significantly changed in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where lawmakers are sticking to the lower spending level.

Over hours of sometimes testy debate, the committee backed construction of a missile defense site on the East Coast, rejecting Pentagon arguments that the facility is unnecessary and Democratic complaints that the nearly $5 billion project amounts to wasteful spending in a time of tight budgets.

Republicans insisted that the site is necessary in the event that Iran or North Korea develops an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of attacking the East Coast.

Democrats countered that throwing billions of dollars at a missile defense system plagued by failures made no sense, especially when the threat from the two nations is highly uncertain and many in Washington are demanding fiscal discipline.

This ”would be spending up to $5 billion in the next three years on a missile defense system that doesn’t work,” said Rep. John Garamendi, a Democrat who offered an amendment to eliminate the project from the Republican-backed bill.

The chief proponent of constructing the site, Rep. Michael Turner, a Republican, said, ”We need to proceed with missile defense whether this president wants to or not.”

On a largely party-line vote, the panel rejected Garamendi’s effort, 33-28. Since the mid-1980s, the Pentagon has spent nearly $150 billion on missile defense programs and envisions another $44 billion over the next five years. But it is not looking to construct a facility on the East Coast.

Gen. Charles Jacoby, the head of US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, told Congress earlier this year, ”Today’s threats do not require an East Coast missile field, and we do not have plans to do so.”
The progress of Iranian and North Korean programs remains unclear. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of using its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons. Iran insists it is producing nuclear energy.

North Korea suffered a failed rocket launch last month when its Unha-3 rocket broke apart, raising questions about the immediate threat to the United States from a North Korean long-range missile.

Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O’Reilly, the head of the US missile defense program, told Congress recently that North Korea lacks the testing for a capable system and has made little progress in its spaceflight program.

Nevertheless, the committee envisions construction of the site by the end of 2015, with the Pentagon deciding on a possible location. The bill includes $100 million to study three potential sites.

The committee rejected the Pentagon’s call to mothball 18 Air Force Global Hawk drones, and it restored four Navy cruisers slated for early retirement in next year’s budget.

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Via DAWN.com

George Clooney, Obama’s celebrity activist-in-chief

George Clooney, center, attends the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner headlined by late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel, Saturday, April 28, 2012, in Washington. – AP Photo

LOS ANGELES: George Clooney, who hosts a star-studded fundraiser for Barack Obama Thursday, is a Hollywood A-lister turned activist for liberal causes like Sudan, Haiti – and now the US leader’s re-election.

The movie heartthrob’s $40,000-a-plate dinner is being tipped as possibly the biggest presidential fundraiser ever, bolstering Obama’s coffers to the tune of $12 million as he gears up for a fierce re-election fight.

Clooney will welcome at least 150 people at his 7,400-square foot home in Studio City, where catering and security preparations have been underway for days. Locals are bracing for snarled traffic when the celebrities descend on Clooney’s mansion.

The 51-year-old Oscar-winning actor has long been used to turning heads, but his stature has been further enhanced by his campaigning activities of recent years, arguably making him Obama’s celebrity activist-in-chief.

It is all a long way from the young actor who made his name as a doctor in TV medical drama “ER” in the 1990s.

Even though his first big-screen lead role, in 1997′s “Batman and Robin,”was widely panned, Clooney became an A-list star with role in the high-seas blockbuster “The Perfect Storm” in 2000.

In that year he formed his own production company with director Steven Soderbergh, Section Eight Productions, and together they turned out such hits as 2001′s “Ocean’s Eleven,” followed by sequels in 2004 and 2007.

But Clooney also broached more thoughtful fare like in the 2005 spy thriller “Syriana,” which earned him a best supporting actor Oscar, and the black-and-white film “Good Night, and Good Luck” about freedom of speech and governmental abuse of power.

His growing political interests also came to the fore in last year’s primary season thriller “Ides of March,” while Hawaiian-set family drama “The Descendants” won a best adapted screenplay Oscar.

Clooney’s rise has been matched by an increasing activism.

He has campaigned tirelessly to draw attention to the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region. In 2010 he was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in recognition of his work.

Also that year Clooney was one of the driving forces behind a star-studded telethon which raised more than $58 million for victims of the Haiti earthquake.

In March this year Clooney was handcuffed and arrested along with several members of the US Congress outside Sudan’s embassy in Washington DC, as they demanded an end to an offensive they fear will cause thousands to starve.

He was released three hours later after paying a $100 fine for crossing a police line.

In the same month Clooney visited the White House to brief the president on a clandestine visit he had made to war-torn Sudan. He also attended a state dinner for British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Obama appears to be keen on wooing wealthy donors in Hollywood and Silicon Valley, as money from Wall Street may be harder to come this election cycle as he gears up to take on likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney in November.

Tim Groeling, an associate professor at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), said Clooney’s fundraiser was important both for the cash raised and the impact of his celebrity endorsement.

“Most successful Hollywood entertainers are well-liked by the public, or else they wouldn’t have been successful in the first place,” said Groeling, UCLA’s head of communication studies and an expert on political communications.

“Although they are not always regarded as politically knowledgable, if someone you like endorses something or someone, that connection should be at least somewhat credible to you,” he told AFP.

Organization for Thursday’s dinner has been spearheaded by DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, the president’s major entertainment industry fundraiser, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The soiree is expected to make $5-6 million, while a further $6 million had been made by an online sweepstakes, in which the winner gets two seats at the head table with Obama and Clooney, the industry paper reported.

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Via DAWN.com

Al Qaeda chief slams US apology for Quran burning

Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri. – File Photo by AP.

DUBAI: Al Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahiri rejected the US apology over the burning of Quran copies at a base in Afghanistan, urging all Muslims to support the Taliban, SITE Intelligence Group reported Wednesday.

“The Crusaders once again repeated their crime by insulting the holy Quran, and once again mocked the messenger of Allah,” Zawahiri said in a SITE English-language translation of his nearly seven-minute message.

In February, thousands of Afghan protesters attacked the biggest US military base in their country, at Bagram near Kabul, reacting to reports that troops inside had burned copies of the Quran.

Around 40 people were killed in several days of violent protests.

American officials say the Qurans had been confiscated from prisoners as they used them to communicate between each other. The incident led US President Barack Obama to apologise for what he described as an error.

In Wednesday’s video which the US-based SITE said was posted on extremist forums, Zawahiri criticised Obama’s apology.

“After each of their crimes, they pretend to be sorry, and they claim they will investigate what happened, which is a silly farce that Obama and his secretary repeated this time also,” said the chief of the terror network.

“The American Crusaders and their allies showed over and over again their hatred and envy of Islam, the book of Islam, the prophet (of) Islam,” Zawahiri said.

He urged Muslim across the world to “fight the enemies of Allah and the enemies of His Messenger.” Zawahiri delivered a similar message in March, urging Afghans to rise up against “Crusader pigs” after US Marines were shown in an Internet video urinating on the corpses of Taliban militants.

A fresh scandal has rocked the alliance between the United States and the Afghan government every month this year in their joint efforts against Taliban insurgents.

A US soldier in March went on the rampage and murdered 17 Afghan villagers in their homes.

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Via DAWN.com

Kidnappings threaten aid work in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The grisly murder of a Red Cross worker and a video showing an American hostage pleading for his life highlight a perilous security situation in Pakistan that aid groups say is endangering their work.

Humanitarian organisations are reviewing operations in Pakistan after the killing of Khalil Dale, whose decapitated body was found on April 29, four months after he was abducted in Quetta.

The savage murder of the 60-year-old British convert to Islam sent shockwaves through the aid community, particularly as his employer, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has a reputation for neutrality that allows it to work safely even in the most hostile situations.

Aid groups spend millions of dollars on helping millions of Pakistanis, yet attacks on their staff are increasing, according to the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum (PHF), which represents nearly 50 international organisations.

Since 2009, at least 19 aid workers have been murdered and more than 20 abducted across Pakistan by militants and criminals, the PHF said.

“This trend of increased targeting of humanitarian aid organisations and personnel will further impede the ability of humanitarian agencies to provide life-saving and life-enhancing support to the most vulnerable population,” the PHF warned.

According to the PHF, at the end of 2011 there were more than 200 foreigners and 10,000 locals working in Pakistan for international aid organisations under its aegis. The ICRC is not part of the PHF.

On Sunday a video emerged of kidnapped US development worker Warren Weinstein urging President Barack Obama to save his life by agreeing to his abductors’ demands.

The 70-year-old was snatched after gunmen tricked their way into his Lahore home in August last year, and Pakistani officials believe he is being held by al Qaeda and Taliban extremists in the northwest.

The kidnapping of Weinstein in Lahore, and an Italian and a German in Multan – both cities previously regarded as relatively safe – has further rattled NGO nerves.

“A few people have pulled out of coming for monitoring visits – we’ve had auditors coming from Europe and at the last minute they’ve decided not to come,” an official with one major Western aid group told AFP.

“We’ve really tightened up our security. For Islamabad our security guy says the risk is still low, but kidnappings are increasing, and from places like Multan – we never would have expected that.”

Many in the aid community have been deeply critical of the CIA’s decision to run a fake vaccination programme in a bid to identify Osama bin Laden before he was killed last May, saying the link with espionage has endangered aid workers.

Pakistan arrested the doctor recruited by the CIA to run the programme. Bin Laden’s killing in Pakistan ignited a wave of restrictions on foreigners across the country, limiting their movements and restricting visas.

A staff member with another international NGO said that while most aid workers accepted that a certain level of danger is part of the job, the ICRC’s reputation made the Dale case all the more shocking.

“The ICRC is considered to be globally one of the most non-partisan, objective organisations. It does its utmost to tread the centre ground, so that is a concern to individuals like me,” the staff member said.

Senior ICRC officials from Geneva travelled to Pakistan after Dale’s murder to meet authorities and review the organisation’s presence in the country.

A few days before Dale’s abduction, the ICRC had already said it was planning to scale back its presence in Pakistan.

An internal source said this was to do with tensions with the authorities and problems getting visas for foreign staff, but the process could be sped up following the murder.

One option being considered, the source said, is to cut ICRC operations back to their level before a 2005 earthquake in Kashmir that killed more than 75,000 people.

That would leave just five expatriate staff in Islamabad and a hospital in Peshawar, down from about 100 foreigners at the start of the year.

US foils plot to bomb plane

WASHINGTON – The United States has foiled a Qaeda plot to blow up an airliner and recovered an explosive device in Yemen, according to the White House and FBI officials on Monday.
National Security Council deputy spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said President Barack Obama had been informed about the plot last month. “The disruption of this improvised explosive device (IED) plot underscores the …

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Drone strikes against Pakistan illegal: US writer

WASHINGTON – An American writer Tuesday lashed out at President Barack Obama increasingly hawkish foreign policy, asserting that the US leader lacked constitutional or international authority to pursue drone attacks against Pakistan.
“Obama and his administration have not given us any real reasons why the US needs to keep launching airstrikes over an allied nation (Pakistan) that has not …

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US aid worker: Investigators track down Weinstein kidnappers

Warren Weinstein, 71, was abducted from his residence in the upscale Model Town neighbourhood of Lahore on August 13, 2011. He was the country director for JE Austin Associates, a US-based consultancy which works with the US Agency for International Development.

An FBI team visited the offices of the deputy inspector general of police (investigation branch) and superintendent of police at Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) to get updates on the investigations.

The team was told that Pakistani agencies have arrested two al Qaeda operatives who were part of the eight-member ring involved in Weinstein’s kidnapping, sources told The Express Tribune. One of them took part in the kidnapping while the other was the facilitator.

However, the remaining six members of the network, including al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri and his Pakistani cohort Afzaal Hussain, could not be arrested because they are hiding in the tribal regions and neighbouring provinces of Afghanistan.

The FBI team’s visit coincided with the release of a video message by al Qaeda’s media arm in which Weinstein has been shown pleading for his life and asking President Barack Obama to accept his captors’ demands.

Although he didn’t spell out the demands, last year al Zawahiri had said that Weinstein would be freed if the US stopped drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen and released al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners, including the 9/11 suspects in Guantanamo Bay.

According to the Joint Investigation Report, the eight members of the network also include Saifur Rehman, a resident of Chak No 37, Pakpattan district, Hafiz Muhammad Imran, alias Abbas, a resident of Sodhraan More, Gujranwala district.

Saif told investigators that he had rented a room in Dogar Plaza, situated near the Tokhar Niaz Baig neighbourhood of Lahore, where the kidnappers had stayed for three days (August 11 to 13). Saif also confessed that he had only arranged accommodation for the kidnappers.

Hafiz Imran told investigators that he had done recce on the residence of Weinstein for two days before his kidnapping. Later he also actively took part in the kidnapping. The pair identified the remaining three members of their network by their pseudonyms as Saeed, Talha and Ali.

During the identification parade in the court of Judicial Magistrate of Model Town, Syed Naeem Abbas, the security guards who were posted at Weinstein’s residence on the day of kidnapping identified Hafiz Imran, sources told The Express Tribune. The guards have been included in the list of witnesses in the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2012.

US envoy to Pakistan to depart this summer

WASHINGTON: The US ambassador to Islamabad, Cameron Munter, plans to step down this summer, and the Obama administration, hoping to improve dismal ties with Pakistan at a crucial time for its war in neighboring Afghanistan, is considering a senior official at its Kabul embassy to replace him.

The White House is focusing on Richard Olson, who has orchestrated US development and economic activities in Afghanistan since June 2011, to succeed Munter when he departs in coming months, sources familiar with the discussions said. Olson would have to be formally proposed by the White House and confirmed by the Senate. The White House declined to comment on a personnel matter.

Munter, who was sworn in as ambassador to Pakistan in October 2010, has served during a period of unprecedented turbulence and suspicion between the two countries, whose uneasy alliance since the September 11, 2001 attacks has centered around the fight against Islamist militants operating from Pakistan.

The series of bilateral crises in the past 18 months has included Pakistan’s arrest of a CIA contractor in early 2011; the top-secret US raid that killed Osama bin Laden just 50 km (30 miles) from Islamabad a few months later; and Pakistanis’ outcry over ongoing US drone strikes in western tribal areas.

The event that plunged those ties into deep freeze was the US air assault in November 2011 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. For months afterwards, Pakistan refused visits by senior US officials; only in the last few weeks have visits resumed.

Munter’s tenure has also coincided in a shift in US policy toward Pakistan, as hopes in the early days of the Obama administration for a more robust US-Pakistan engagement, including high-level visits and massive civil and military aid, have slowly been overtaken by mutual mistrust and frustration.

Today, many officials in Washington appear to have resigned themselves to what they call a “transactional” relationship, limited largely to a degree of cooperation on counter-terrorism and some US military and civilian assistance.

The expected nomination of Olson, who served as US ambassador to the United Arab Emirates until 2011, does not appear to represent a change to US policy toward Pakistan, but it could enable a fresh start after a dark period.

“When two governments understand one another as poorly as those in Washington and Islamabad do, the interpretive abilities of a good ambassador become paramount,” said Ronald Neumann, a former US ambassador to Afghanistan, Bahrain and Algeria, and the current president of the American Academy of Diplomacy

Typical posting of two years in ‘hardship posts’   

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Munter informed his staff on Monday that he had decided not to extend his tenure in Islamabad for a third year.

“Ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president, but given the grueling pace and difficult working conditions, the expectation for hardship posts like Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan is that ambassadors would usually serve for two years,” another US official said. “Some have served longer terms; some have served shorter terms.”

A productive relationship with Pakistan over the next two years will be crucial if the Obama administration is to withdraw most of its troops from neighboring Afghanistan as planned without letting the country slide into civil war.

In a speech last fall, Olson warned of the perils the United States would face if it walked away from central and South Asia when the West’s war in Afghanistan winds down.

After the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, “the United States rapidly disengaged from Afghanistan and Pakistan in a series of decisions for which we would ultimately pay a significant price,” Olson said.

A central theme – and stumbling block – in US-Pakistan ties has been US belief that Pakistan has failed to act against militants attacking U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Some US officials have openly accused Pakistan of direct support for certain militants allied with the Taliban. The switch also comes at a sensitive moment in Pakistan, after the head of its weak civilian government was convicted of contempt of court and its parliament demanded an end to drone strikes and a US apology for the soldiers’ deaths.

Munter was an ally of Richard Holbrooke, Obama’s larger-than-life envoy to the region before he died in 2010. Munter came to Islamabad from Baghdad and also served as US ambassador to Belgrade.

Obama to host Nato’s Rasmussen at White House

— Photo by Reuters

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will host Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in the Oval Office on May 9, the White House said late Monday.

“The two leaders will discuss final preparations for the Nato Summit the President will host in Chicago on May 20-21,” the White House said in a two-sentence statement.

The United States will push to modernize the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, deepen partnerships and hammer out details of the Afghanistan withdrawal at the summit, White House officials said earlier.

The United States also hopes to use the summit, set to be held in Obama’s hometown of Chicago, to highlight and deepen Nato’s global partnerships.

There are some 130,000 foreign soldiers, most from Nato nations, fighting alongside some 350,000 Afghan security personnel in a bid to help Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government reverse the Taliban-led insurgency.

On Monday Karzai summoned the Nato commander and the US ambassador to warn that civilian casualties in military operations threatened a strategic pact he has signed with the United States.

The pact covers relations between the two countries when US-led Nato forces helping Karzai’s government fight a Taliban insurgency pull out in 2014.

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Via DAWN.com

US will not deal with al Qaeda over aid worker

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Press Secretary Jay Carney. – File Photo

WASHINGTON: The White House said on Monday that it would not negotiate with al Qaeda over the fate of an elderly US aid worker seized in Pakistan, after he made an emotional video plea to President Barack Obama.

“We cannot and will not negotiate with al Qaeda,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said, adding that officials were greatly concerned for the safety of the aid worker Warren Weinstein, and were working to find him.

On Sunday, Weinstein appeared in an al Qaeda video for the first time since he was kidnapped in Pakistan just days before he meant to return home in August.

The two-minute, 40-second video was posted on jihadist forums by al Qaeda’s media arm as-Sahab, according to the US-based monitoring service SITE.

Dressed in a traditional Pakistani tunic and speaking impassively in English, he urged Obama to respond to his kidnappers’ demands.

“If you accept the demands, I live; if you don’t accept the demands, then I die,” he told the president in the video.

Weinstein, 70, suffers from asthma, heart problems and high blood pressure.

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has demanded that Washington end air strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, as well as release the 1993 World Trade Center bombers along with relatives of Osama bin Laden.

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Via DAWN.com

US envoy to Pakistan to depart this summer

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US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter. — File Photo by Reuters

WASHINGTON: The US ambassador to Islamabad, Cameron Munter, plans to step down this summer, and the Obama administration, hoping to improve dismal ties with Pakistan at a crucial time for its war in neighboring Afghanistan, is considering a senior official at its Kabul embassy to replace him.

The White House is focusing on Richard Olson, who has orchestrated US development and economic activities in Afghanistan since June 2011, to succeed Munter when he departs in coming months, sources familiar with the discussions said.

Olson would have to be formally proposed by the White House and confirmed by the Senate. The White House declined to comment on a personnel matter.

Munter, who was sworn in as ambassador to Pakistan in October 2010, has served during a period of unprecedented turbulence and suspicion between the two countries, whose uneasy alliance since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks has centered around the fight against militants operating from Pakistan.

The series of bilateral crises in the past 18 months has included Pakistan’s arrest of a CIA contractor in early 2011; the top-secret US raid that killed Osama bin Laden just 50 km (30 miles) from Islamabad a few months later; and Pakistanis’ outcry over ongoing US drone strikes in western tribal areas.

The event that plunged those ties into deep freeze was the US air assault in November 2011 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.

For months afterwards, Pakistan refused visits by senior US officials; only in the last few weeks have visits resumed.

Munter’s tenure has also coincided in a shift in US policy toward Pakistan, as hopes in the early days of the Obama administration for a more robust US-Pakistan engagement, including high-level visits and massive civil and military aid, have slowly been overtaken by mutual mistrust and frustration.

Today, many officials in Washington appear to have resigned themselves to what they call a “transactional” relationship, limited largely to a degree of cooperation on counter-terrorism and some US military and civilian assistance.

The expected nomination of Olson, who served as US ambassador to the United Arab Emirates until 2011, does not appear to represent a change to US policy toward Pakistan, but it could enable a fresh start after a dark period.

“When two governments understand one another as poorly as those in Washington and Islamabad do the interpretive abilities of a good ambassador become paramount,” said Ronald Neumann, a former US ambassador to Afghanistan, Bahrain and Algeria, and the current president of the American Academy of Diplomacy.

Typical Posting Two Years

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Munter informed his staff on Monday that he had decided not to extend his tenure in Islamabad for a third year.

“Ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president, but given the grueling pace and difficult working conditions, the expectation for hardship posts like Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan is that ambassadors would usually serve for two years,” another US official said.

“Some have served longer terms; some have served shorter terms.”

A productive relationship with Pakistan over the next two years will be crucial if the Obama administration is to withdraw most of its troops from neighboring Afghanistan as planned without letting the country slide into civil war.

In a speech last fall, Olson warned of the perils the United States would face if it walked away from central and South Asia when the West’s war in Afghanistan winds down.

After the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, “the United States rapidly disengaged from Afghanistan and Pakistan in a series of decisions for which we would ultimately pay a significant price,” Olson said.

A central theme – and stumbling block – in US-Pakistan ties has been US belief that Pakistan has failed to act against militants attacking US troops in Afghanistan.

Some US officials have openly accused Pakistan of direct support for certain militants allied with the Taliban.

The switch also comes at a sensitive moment in Pakistan, after the head of its weak civilian government was convicted of contempt of court and its parliament demanded an end to drone strikes and a US apology for the soldiers’ deaths.

Munter was an ally of Richard Holbrooke, Obama’s larger-than-life envoy to the region before he died in 2010.

Munter came to Islamabad from Baghdad and also served as US ambassador to Belgrade.

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Via DAWN.com

US?hostage makes video plea to Obama

ISLAMABAD  - Elderly US development worker Warren Weinstein has appeared in an Al-Qaeda video for the first time since he was kidnapped in Pakistan just days before he meant to return home last August.The two minute, 40 second video was posted on by Al-Qaeda’s media arm as-Sahab on Sunday, according to the US monitoring service SITE. There is no sign of when the video was made and …

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