<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Police free 2 Hindus from abductors</b>
ISLAMABAD: In compliance with Supreme Court orders, the Sukkur police on Friday submitted a report to the apex court stating that it had recovered two kidnapped Hindu men, <b>while a third one was found dead.</b>
Taking suo motu action on an application by Sukkur Press Club President Saleha Pat for the recovery of three Hindus â Vikram, Mahendar Kumar and Govinda Lal â Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had ordered the immediate recovery of the abducted men. The Sindh provincial police officer (PPO) submitted a report to the SC on Friday, stating that police had arrested Ghulam Asghar Soomro, Ijaz Ali Jatoi and Zaman and recovered Vikram and Govind Lal safely, but Mahendar was found dead. The report said efforts were being made for the arrest of the remaining accused. staff report<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Five dead in suicide attack inside UN Islamabad office</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> ISLAMABAD: A suicide bomber dressed in military uniform struck inside a heavily fortified UN office in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Monday, killing four Pakistanis and an Iraqi working for the food agency.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Hakeemullah Mehsud resurfaces, meets journalists</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->PESHAWAR: New Pakistani Taliban chief Hakeemullah Mehsud appeared in a video clip broadcast on local television on Monday, dispelling rumours of his death and vowing 'severe' new attacks.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>KARACHI : Indian cricket bosses have made it clear to their Pakistani counterparts that the two countries cannot play any bilateral series on neutral soil.</b>
According to a report in an Indian newspaper, provisions for the Indo-Pak series have been made in the new Future Tour Programme of the International Cricket Council (ICC) â that will come into force from May 2012 â but the matches are unlikely to be played at neutral venues.
<b>According to DNA newspaper, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) has made it clear to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the ICC that it will not travel to a third country.</b> The PCB officials, one may note, have been making statements about BCCIâs willingness to play at neutral venues. <b>âWeâve made our stand clear,â a board official said. âThe series has to be in India or Pakistan, and only after governmentâs clearance.</b>â
The final draft of the FTP will come up for discussion, and also for approval, at the ICC executive board meeting getting underway in Johannesburg on Tuesday (today).
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan â <b>Steps by the United States to vastly expand its aid to Pakistan, as well as the footprint of its embassy and private security contractors here, are aggravating an already volatile anti-American mood as Washington pushes for greater action by the government against the Taliban.</b>
An aid package of $1.5 billion a year for the next five years passed by Congress last week asks Pakistan to cease supporting terrorist groups on its soil and to ensure that the military does not interfere with civilian politics. President Asif Ali Zardari, whose association with the United States has added to his unpopularity, agreed to the stipulations in the aid package.
But many here, especially in the powerful army, object to the conditions as interference in Pakistanâs internal affairs, and they are interpreting the larger American footprint in more sinister ways.
American officials say the embassy and its security presence must expand in order to monitor how the new money is spent. They also have real security concerns, which were underscored Monday when a suicide bomber, dressed in the uniform of a Pakistani security force, killed five people at a United Nations office in the heart of Islamabad, the capital.
The United States Embassy has publicized plans for a vast new building in Islamabad for about 1,000 people, with security for some diplomats provided through a Washington-based private contracting company, DynCorp.
The embassy setup, with American demands for importing more armored vehicles, is a significant expansion over the last 15 years. It comes at a time of intense discussion in Washington over whether to widen American operations and aid to Pakistan â a base for Al Qaeda â as an alternative to deeper American involvement in Afghanistan with the addition of more forces.
The fierce opposition here is revealing deep strains in the alliance. Even at its current levels, the American presence was fueling a sense of occupation among Pakistani politicians and security officials, said several Pakistani officials, who did not want to be named for fear of antagonizing the United States. The United States was now seen as behaving in Pakistan much as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan, they said.
In particular, the Pakistani military and the intelligence agencies are concerned that DynCorp is being used by Washington to develop a parallel network of security and intelligence personnel within Pakistan, officials and politicians close to the army said.
The concerns are serious enough that last month a local company hired by DynCorp to provide Pakistani men to be trained as security guards for American diplomats was raided by the Islamabad police. The owner of the company, the Inter-Risk Security Company, Capt. Syed Ali Ja Zaidi, was later arrested.
The action against Inter-Risk, apparently intended to cripple the DynCorp program, was taken on orders from the senior levels of the Pakistani government, said an official familiar with the raid, who was not authorized to speak on the record.
The entire workings of DynCorp within Pakistan are now under review by the Pakistani government, said a senior government official directly involved with the Americans, who spoke candidly on condition of anonymity.
The tensions are erupting as the United States is pressing Pakistan to take on not only those Taliban groups that have threatened the government, but also the Taliban leadership that uses Pakistan as a base to organize and conduct their insurgency against American forces in Afghanistan.
<b>In a public statement, the American ambassador, Anne W. Patterson, suggested last week that Pakistan should eliminate the Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, a onetime ally of the Pakistanis who Washington says is now based in Baluchistan, a province on the Afghanistan border. If Pakistan did not get rid of Mullah Omar, the United States would, she suggested.</b>
Reinforcing the ambassador, the national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones, said Sunday that the United States regarded tackling Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan as âthe next stepâ in the conflict in Afghanistan.
The Pakistani army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, in an unusually stern reaction last week, said that missile attacks by American drones in Baluchistan, as implied by the Americans, âwould not be allowed.â
The Pakistanis also complain that they are not being sufficiently consulted over the pending White House decision on whether to send more troops to Afghanistan.
The head of Pakistanâs chief spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, or ISI, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, met with senior officials at the Central Intelligence Agency last week in Washington, where he argued against sending more troops to Afghanistan, a Pakistani official familiar with the visit said.
The Pakistani Army, riding high after its campaign to wrench back control of the Swat Valley from the Taliban, remains nervous about Washingtonâs intentions and the push against the new aid is reflective of that anxiety, Pakistani officials said.
<b>Though the Zardari government is trumpeting the new aid as a triumph, officials say the language in the legislation ignores long-held prerogatives about Pakistani sovereignty, making the $1.5 billion a tough sell.</b>
âNow everyone has a handle they can use to rip into the Zardari government,â said a senior Pakistani official involved in the American-Pakistani dialogue but who declined to be named because he did not want to inflame the discussion.
The expanding American security presence has become another club. DynCorp has attracted particular scrutiny after the Pakistani news media reported that Blackwater, the contractor that has generated controversy because of its aggressive tactics in Iraq, was also in Pakistan.
<b>Recently, there have been a series of complaints by Islamabad residents who said they had been âroughed upâ by hefty, plainclothes American men bearing weapons, presumably from DynCorp, one of the senior Pakistani officials involved with the Americans said.</b>
Pakistanâs Foreign Office had sent two formal diplomatic complaints in the past few weeks to the American Embassy about such episodes, the official said.
The embassy had received complaints, and confirmed two instances, an embassy official said, but the embassy denied receiving any formal protests from the Foreign Office. It also declined to comment about the presence of Blackwater, now known as Xe Services, in Pakistan.
American officials have said that Blackwater employees worked at a remote base in Shamsi, in Baluchistan, where they loaded missiles and bombs onto drones used to strike Taliban and Qaeda militants.
The operation of the drones at Shamsi had been shifted by the Americans to Afghanistan this year, a senior Pakistani military official said.
Several Blackwater employees also worked in the North-West Frontier Province supervising the construction of a training center for Pakistanâs Frontier Corps, a Pakistani official from the region said.
There was considerable unease about the American diplomatic presence in Peshawar, the capital of the North-West Frontier Province, one of the senior government officials said. Politicians were asking why the United States needed a consulate in Peshawar, which borders the tribal areas, when that office did not issue visas, he said.
Another question, he said, was why did the consulate plan to buy the biggest, and most modern building in the city, the Pearl Continental hotel â which was bombed in a terrorist attack this year â as its new headquarters.
<b>As Parliament prepared to discuss the American aid package Wednesday, the tone of the debate was expected to be scathing. On a television talk show, Senator Tariq Aziz, a member of the opposition party, called the legislation âthe charter for new colonization.â
âPeople think this government has sold us to the Americans again for their own selfish interests,â said Jahangir Tareen, a former cabinet minister and a member of Parliament, in an interview. âSome people think the United States is out to get Pakistan, to defang Pakistan, to destroy the army as it exists so it canât fight India and to break down the ISIâs ability to influence events in India and Afghanistan. Everyone is saying about the Americans, âTold you so.â â</b>
<b>Ch. Nisar says âIndia cannot be Pakistanâs friendâ
</b> Updated at: 1940 PST, Monday, October 05, 2009
ISLAMABAD: The PML-Nâs leader of opposition in National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Monday said, âwe cannot welcome India to be part of Friends of Democratic Pakistan,â adding âIndia cannot be a friend of Pakistan.â
He said Hafiz Saeed is a Pakistani citizen and no treatment could be meted out to him on Indiaâs dictation.
Criticizing Kerry-Lugar bill, Chaudhry Nisar said it safeguards US interests more than of Pakistanâs.
<b>Kerry-Luger bill for Pakistan criticized internationally
</b>
LONDON (UNN) -- The Kerry-Lugar aid Bill, which promises 1.5 billion dollars of annual assistance to Pakistan over the next five years, has been receiving flak from different quarters in the country is criticizing now Renewed Islamic Personality's of world.
<b>
The conditions mentioned in the Kerry-Lugar bill are in fact against the sovereignty of an Muslim state</b> said, Faisal Muhammed âinternational mediatorâ and Observer Islamic Countries.
He said the âText and the conditions on the aid bill terming humiliating of Pakistan and it's nation.
<b>
The international Mediator said if the government to make efforts to changed conditions or canceled to implementation this Bill, The Muslim world agree to provide â1.00 billion dollars â annual assistance to Pakistan for same period. </b>
<b>Obama war council focuses on Pakistan</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"The fact is, we all know if the Taliban comes back, Al-Qaeda will come back," McCain said, drawing parallels between Afghanistan and the under-resourced US effort in Iraq blamed for fanning the insurgency.
"I am very convinced that General McChrystal's analysis is not only correct but should be implemented as quickly as possible."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Either ISI is so good or media just make stories.
If we compare ISI with RAW , RAW is just dud.
ISI every mission is very successful. RAW is just busy spying opposition leaders or their dogs.
<i>* Terrorist leader Libi accuses Beijing of oppressing Xinjiangâs Muslims and looting their wealth</i>
DUBAI : <b>A prominent Al Qaeda militant urged Uighurs in Xianjiang to make serious preparations for a war against "oppressive" China and called on fellow Muslims to offer support.</b>
Abu Yahya al-Libi, in a video posted on a website on Wednesday, <b>warned China of a fate similar to that of former communist superpower, the Soviet Union, which disintegrated some two decades ago.</b> "The state of atheism is heading to its fall. It will face what befell the Russian bear (Soviet Union)," he said in the message in which he accused China of committing massacres against Uighurs and seeking to dissolve their identity.
Uighurs are Muslim native to Xinjiang province and have cultural ties to Turkic peoples in Central Asia. "There is no way to remove injustice and oppression without a true return to their (Uighurs) religion and ... serious preparation for jihad in the path of God the Almighty and to carry weapons in the face of those (Chinese) invaders," he said. <b>"It is a duty for Muslims today to stand by their wounded and oppressed brothers in East Turkistan (Xinjiang) ... and support them with all they can," said Libi.
âOppressionâ : He also accused China of using "satanic ways" to oppress Muslims in the province and replace them with other ethnicities while "looting their wealth and undermining their culture and religion." Libi said Muslims around the world needed to be made aware of the situation of Uighurs in China. "Consecutive Chinese governments have worked hard to sever every link between the wounded people of Turkistan and the Muslim nation,"</b> he said. "They are applying (policies) for their demise and destruction so that their numbers would decline and its Islamic identity would be dissolved."
In August, the leader of a group calling itself the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) urged Muslims to attack Chinese interests to punish Beijing for what he described as massacres against Uighur Muslims.<b> TIP, which has claimed violent attacks in the past including bombing two public buses in Shanghai in May 2008, has launched violent attacks in the past and accused China of committing "barbaric massacres" against Muslims in Xianjiang.</b>
The province witnessed a wave of violence in July when Uighurs attacked Han Chinese in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, after police tried to break up a protest against fatal attacks on Uighur workers at a factory in south China. The violence saw 197 people killed and more than 1,600 wounded, mostly Han Chinese. About 1,000 people, mostly Uighurs, have been detained in an ensuing government crackdown. reuters
[url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=202063
Thread to Car Conglomerate Dewan Groupâs financial tailspin leaves Pakistani Banksâ Hanging by a Thread
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><i>Seven companies post losses in 2008-09</i>
KARACHI : The <b>glory days of thread-to-car conglomerate Dewan Group seem numbered</b> as seven of its companies on Wednesday posted steep financial losses in fiscal 2008-09 <b>after taking a hit from the economic downturn</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Suicide car bomb kills 49, wounds 100 in Pakistan</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->PESHAWAR, Pakistan â A suicide bomber blew up his vehicle near a crowded market in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing 49 people and pushing the country closer to an offensive against militants in their main stronghold along the Afghan border.
The attack, which wounded more than 100 people in Peshawar, was Pakistan's deadliest in six months and was a reminder of the ability of insurgents to strike in major cities despite operations against them and the death of their leader in a U.S. missile strike.
The blast was heard several miles (kilometers) away and left the charred skeleton of a bus flipped on its side in the middle of the road, next to the twisted remains of a motorbike. Passers-by pulled out the wounded and the dead, including a young girl wearing an orange dress who was heading to a wedding with family members.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><i>* 0.9 million tonnes sugar shortfall forecast for next year</i>
ISLAMABAD : <b>The government has missed the target of sugarcane production by 13.98 percent as initial estimates reveal that 48.621 million tonnes have been achieved as against the set target of 56.527 million tonnes for 2009-10</b>, sources told Daily Times on Thursday.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Saturday, 10 Oct, 2009 5:09 pm P S T - 4:09 pm IST
RAWALPINDI : <b>Gunmen wearing military uniforms and wielding assault rifles and grenades attacked Pakistan's army headquarters Saturday, sparking a ferocious gunbattle outside the capital that killed four of the assailants and at least six soldiers, <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>including one brigadier and a lieutenant colonel,</span>media reported.</b>
Two of the attackers managed to infiltrate the heavily fortified compound, and troops were trying to flush them out hours after the initial assault, the military said. An Associated Press reporter at the scene heard four gunshots from inside the compound - long after an army spokesman said the situation was under control.
The audacious assault was the third major militant attack in Pakistan in a week and came as the government said it was planning an imminent offensive against Islamist militants in their strongholds in the rugged mountains along the border with Afghanistan.
<b>It showed that the militants retain the ability to strike at the very heart of Pakistan's security apparatus despite recent military operations against their forces and the killing of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in a CIA drone attack in August.</b>
Pakistani media said that the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, and Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the ongoing assaults strengthened the government's resolve to launch the offensive.
"We have been left no with other option except to go ahead to face them," he told a private television.
The attack began shortly before noon when the gunmen, dressed in camouflage military uniforms, drove in a white van up to the army compound and tried to force their way inside, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said.
The assailants shot at the guards at one checkpoint, killing some of them, and then jumped out of the van and ran toward a second checkpoint, he said. Abbas said the guards were likely confused by the attackers' uniforms.
The heavily armed attackers then took up positions throughout the area, hurling at least one grenade and firing sporadically at security forces, said a senior military official inside the compound. The official, who said top army officials were trapped in the compound during the assault, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
After a 45-minute gunfight, four of the attackers were killed, said Abbas, who told a private television channel that the assault was over and the situation "under full control."
But more than an hour later, gunshots rang out from the compound, and Abbas confirmed that two more gunmen had eluded security forces and slipped into the headquarters compound in Rawalpindi. The city, adjacent to the capital of Islamabad, is filled with security checkpoints and police roadblocks.
Troops were closing in on the men, he said.
Abbas said six troops were killed and five wounded, one critically. An intelligence official said eight soldiers were killed. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Khan Bahadur, a shuttle van driver, was standing outside the gate of the compound when the white van pulled up, and the shooting erupted.
"There was fierce firing, and then there was a blast. Soldiers were running here and there," he said. "The firing continued for about a half-hour. There was smoke everywhere. Then there was a break, and then firing again."
The gunbattle was the latest in a string of attacks on Pakistani cities, following a car bombing that killed 49 on Friday in the northwestern city of Peshawar and the bombing of a UN aid agency, Monday, that killed five in Islamabad. The man who attacked the UN was also wearing a security forces' uniform and was granted entry to the compound after asking to use the bathroom.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> we just talked to my uncle in Rawalpindi and he was fuming. He couldnt understand why we always wait until something bad happens before we make a move. <b>Rehman Malik will give operation date in few days as if he is going to announce arrange marriage</b>.
What are we waiting for...launch operation in Waziristan and keep these takfiris busy there.
If there is any silver lining its the fact that Talibans are getting desperate and they can sense something bad coming their way.<b> Bombing in Peshawar was meant to send a signal that they will target urban centres and to scare off civilian population and demoralize them.</b>
Apparently the area around GHQ is pitch dark and no camermen are allowed. I sense the rescue operation is imminent. The goal is to get at least one Taqfeeri alive.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Photographs of terrorists killed during the attack at Security Forcees Check Post at General Headquarters on Saturday. Photo ISPR
Check they had even stripped these guys to check whether they are Muslims. http://www.ispr.gov.pk/front/main.asp?o=t-..._release&id=926
<b>Pakistani army storms its own house</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>What happened in Peshawar, Islamabad and today, all roads lead to South Waziristan,â </b>Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Saturday.
âThe TTP (Taleban Movement of Pakistan) is behind all of these attacks, and now the government has no other option but to launch an offensive,â he said.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
