JNN 22.05.10 LAHORE: Five low intensity bomb explosions hit Pakistan’s cultural capital Lahore late Friday but caused no casualties, police said.

“These were low-intensity bomb blasts. Nobody has been hurt, we have surrounded the area,” Shafiq Gujar, a senior police officer told AFP by telephone.

“The blasts occurred seconds a part. These were just to create panic,” he said and added that a small amount of local made explosive were used in these bombs.

JNN 21.05.10 WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf said Thursday he planned to return from exile and re-enter politics, and did not rule out a new bid for the presidency.

Musharraf, who has mostly lived in London since losing power following 2008 elections, visited Washington this week and met quietly with prominent Pakistanis at a ritzy hotel to discuss his future plans.

In an interview with CNN, Musharraf said he intended to return to politics, although he was coy when asked about the time-frame.

“I certainly am planning to go back to Pakistan and also join politics. The question already of whether I am running for president or prime minister will be seen later,” he said.

Officials in Pakistan earlier said Musharraf had applied to register a new party with electoral authorities, setting the stage for a political comeback.

“There are security issues. Maybe my wife and my family is more worried than I am but there are security issues which one needs to take into consideration and that is why I’m not laying down any dates for my return,” he said.

“But I do intend launching and declaring my intentions formally, sooner than later,” he said.

But Musharraf could face a criminal trial if he returns to Pakistan for detaining judges in 2007 as he attempted to cling to power.

Musharraf is also wanted for questioning over allegations in a UN-led investigation that he could have done more to prevent the December 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Musharraf disagreed with the UN report, saying, “I think all the security was provided” to Bhutto.

“In fact, it was me who warned her about the threat to her,” Musharraf said.

Musharraf said he had previously stopped Bhutto from going to the venue where she was later killed.

“A lot of political aspersions were cast on me that her movements are being restricted. But she decided to go again,” Musharraf said.

Musharraf said that he fully supported the military campaign ordered by Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in the lawless northwestern tribal areas.

The operation has won wide praise in the United States, where officials were long suspicious that elements of the Pakistani establishment during Musharraf’s rule played a double-game of supporting extremists.

But Musharraf joined the government in criticizing the US deployment of unmanned drones to kill wanted extremists in remote parts of Pakistan.

Musharraf mused that Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American accused of trying to set off a car bomb in New York’s Times Square, was angered by the drone campaign.

“I wonder whether this Faisal Shahzad incident… has he been affected by indiscriminate bombing by the drones?” Musharraf said.

Musharraf also backed the Pakistani government in banning Facebook over a furor about a page hosting caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

“I am a great supporter of Facebook,” Musharraf said.

“And that is why my Facebook was launched and it’s going on very, very successfully,” said Musharraf, whose Facebook page has attracted more than 200,000 fans.

Asked by CNN whether the Pakistani decision to block Facebook was the right move, Musharraf said that “in Pakistan and in the Muslim world generally” there is extreme sensitivity over casting “negative aspersions” on prophets.

“One has to look into, to obviously take some measures, because people were agitating,” Musharaff said.

“These are sensitive issues,” he added. “And for the sake of independence of media, liberty of speech, we cannot hurt sensitivities of millions of people.

“We must not do that. I am against that,” he said.

The Pakistani authorites blocked Facebook on court order after caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) appeared on a Facebook page created by an anonymous member who said he was acting to promote freedom of speech.

Facebook has expressed disappointment at being blocked and said it was considering whether to make the offending page inaccessible in Pakistan.

20.05.10 A Pakistani army major has been arrested in connection with the failed bombing earlier this month in New York’s Times Square, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

If the report, which quoted Pakistani law enforcement sources, is confirmed it would represent the first time someone in Pakistan’s military establishment has been implicated in the botched car bombing plot.

Chief suspect Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-born US citizen whose father was a senior official in Pakistan’s air force, made his first court appearance on Tuesday in New York and did not enter a plea over the May 1 incident.

Shahzad, 30, was arrested apparently trying to flee the country on a flight to Dubai 53 hours after street vendors alerted police to smoke coming out of the vehicle in New York’s theater district on a busy Saturday night.

The Washington Post said the extent of the Pakistani major’s alleged involvement remained unclear, but that unnamed law enforcement sources told the paper he had met Shahzad in Islamabad and had cell phone contact with him.

According to the newspaper a second suspect being held by the Pakistani authorities acted as a liaison between Shahzad and the Pakistani Taliban —blamed by the US for being behind the attempted Times Square attack.

Pakistani law enforcement sources told the paper Shahzad met the suspect three times last summer and at one meeting gave him an undisclosed sum of money for the attempted bombings. Unnamed US officials told the newspaper the amount was 15,000 dollars.

US officials say Shahzad is connected to Pakistani Taliban insurgents and President Barack Obama sent two senior national security aides this week to Islamabad to join the investigation.

Federal agents last week also arrested three Pakistani men in the northeastern United States and said they were suspected of funneling money to Shahzad. However, they were not charged with terrorism.—AFP

JNN 20.05.10 KARACHI: Seventeen people became victims in renewed start of target killings in the city on Wednesday.

Police said the incidents of target killings took place in Sir Syed Town, Kuti Pahari, North Karachi, Abul Ispahani road and other areas.

Meanwhile, President Awami National Party Shahi Syed, heading a delegation, called on Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah to discuss the issue of target killings.

The chief minister took strict notice of the killings started during the last 24 hours and called for effective steps to maintain law and order.

He assured the ANP delegation that killers involved in target killings would soon be arrested and awarded exemplary punishment.

He directed the law enforcing organisations and administration to bring the criminals to book

JNN 19.05.10 The UN says Pakistan had the highest number of internally displaced people in the world in 2009.
According to a recent study by the United Nations, over three million Pakistanis are homeless, mainly due to attacks by militants and Islamabad’s large-scale military operations that are being carried out to put down the insurgency.

“The military operations of governments and armed non-state actors caused most displacement, and many people were displaced more than once,” the UN report said.

The Pakistani military recently launched a series of operations to clear the tribal areas of militants.

In addition, nearly 4,000 people have been killed in bombings and other attacks by militants throughout Pakistan since July 2007.

Meanwhile, the UN has warned that aid programs for the displaced people would have to be cut back due to the poor international response to an appeal earlier this year.

The world body appealed for more than a half a billion dollars, but donors have only pledged a quarter of that amount so far.

JNN 19.05.10  The US claims to have made an agreement with all veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council on a draft sanctions resolution against Iran.
“We have reached agreement on a strong draft with the cooperation of Russia and China,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, referring to talks with permanent members of the UN Security Council Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany.

Clinton told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the draft would be presented to all 15 members of the Security Council on Tuesday –one day after Iran announced a nuclear declaration following trilateral pro-diplomacy talks with non-permanent UNSC members Brazil and Turkey.

Russia and China have long resisted the US campaign for sanctions and urged other powers to seek a diplomatic solution to the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program. Both countries welcomed the nuclear declaration issued by Iran, Turkey and Brazil.

“We attach importance to and support this agreement,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said on Tuesday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also welcomed the declaration as “the politics of a diplomatic solution.”

Moscow has stressed that it would never support sanctions meant to “strangle Iran” or harm the Iranian people.

Iran’s partners in the trilateral talks are both non-permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) opposed to the US-led campaign for slapping tougher UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Despite the declaration that paves the way for the realization of a nuclear fuel swap proposal, the US has rebuffed the Iranian announcement, saying that it will continue efforts to impose a fourth round of sanctions on the Islamic Republic, which it accuses of pursuing a covert military nuclear program.

Tehran rejects the Washington-led accusations, arguing that as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) it has the right to a civilian nuclear program.

The artificial lake emerged on January 4 as a result of a massive landslide that killed 20, left about 25,000 people stranded and blocked the Hunza river in a remote Himalayan region about 750 kilometres (450 miles) north of Islamabad.

“We are preparing for a caseload of 40,000 that could be affected by flooding,” Nadeem Ahmed, chairman of national disaster management authority, told a press conference in the capital.

There were 4,000 people in the villages of Gulmit, Ayeenabad and Shishkat, where water had submerged some areas and from people have moved to safer areas, he said. Only a few of the displaced are going to government-provided tents.

“Most of the people had gone to live with their relatives or sheltered in school buildings, very few have opted to live in tents but the government is providing rations to all of them,” Ahmed said.

Flooding would put at risk 13,500 people downstream and about 25,000 people upstream who were “less threatened”.

He said evacuation had been completed in up to 34 villages downstream, but was not able to release a total number of people.

“There was some distress as people were compelled to abandon their homes, but it was necessary for their safety,” he said.

Ahmed said food, non-food items and generators had been stockpiled in the area and a distribution system set up. The United Nations has been asked to provide sanitation facilities in the area.

Pakistani soldiers and army engineers had deployed to provide assistance to civilian administration and seven helicopters would be in the area to evacuate any stranded people.

“An early warning system has been established in the area and people would also be warned via SMS if there is any danger,” he added.

The official said that a ferry service to connect the people stranded due to lake formation had been stopped today because of rain forecast.

Water in the 332-feet (101-metre) deep and 16-kilometre (10-mile) long lake was rising by one meter (yard) daily.

“The water could start flowing downstream through spill ways in the next five to six days. Our aim is that there should be no loss of life, though many houses and buildings would be submerged,” Ahmed said.

JNN 18.05.10 Indian External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna says his country wants a developed and prosperous Iran, lauding Tehran for standing up for its rights.

“India praises Iran for fighting for its interests,” Krishna said in a meeting with Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Iranian capital Tehran on Tuesday.

“We are both developing nations and we should make use of each other’s capabilities and experiences in order to make progress,” he added.

The Indian minister further called the G15 summit in Tehran successful and effective.

The Iranian president, for his part, referred to the common perspectives of Tehran and New Delhi, and stressed that “common cultural and historical backgrounds as well as regional interests require the two countries to expand cooperation to control the current regional conditions.”

“The global situation is changing rapidly and the powers which dominated the economic and political sectors are now facing a defeat,” Ahmadinejad further explained.

The Iranian president also had a separate meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicholas Maduro where both sides stressed expansion of bilateral and multilateral relations.

JNN 18.05.10 It is a matter of great national pride when your country tops headlines in the international news media. But Pakistanis only seem to make the news for actions that leave their compatriots blowing down their heads in utter shame and disappointment. Ajmal Kasab and Faisal Shahzad, for instance, have truly disgraced the country, and it remains a sad reality that we don’t get to hear stories of Pakistanis who show courage and determination in times of distress.

Thankfully, a recent article published by the BBC is a rare exception that deserves to be shared with the world, and especially with the Pakistani youth who are discontented with the way their country is portrayed abroad.

The article tells the story of Meena, a young girl from Pakistan whose own brother and father beat her because they wanted her to be a suicide bomber. The article claims that there is no proof that her account is accurate, but the police consider it crucial information in the fight against terrorism.

Meena is only 13 years old and comes from a rural, uneducated background. She miraculously managed to escape the nightmare that her pro-Taliban brother and father made her go through every day. They wanted her to stay in the confines of their home and obey their every order. Worse, they threatened to mutilate her if she went against their word.

Meena describes the heinous activities of her brother to help the Taliban carry out terrorist acts throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan. She also recalls the horrific story of her younger sister whose youth and innocence were snatched away when her brother forced her to become a suicide bomber. It was heartbreaking to read how the wailing protests of her mother fell on deaf ears as her sister was taken away in a car with the burden of not only the bomb that was attached to her tiny frame, but also of the gruesome mission looming ahead of her.

Fortunately, Meena managed to escape from her traumatic life when one day she followed a pet goat to a nearby stream just when a helicopter gunship attacked her house and turned it into rubble right in front of her eyes. Uncertain of the fate of her family members, she kept on walking until she reached a nearby town.

Her story is inspiring, if not unusual. There are probably hundreds of girls like her who go through such nightmares every single day. Anne Frank’s story of courage and motivation in the face of adversity may have inspired many, but, unfortunately, we rarely get the opportunity to hear other such life stories. The reality is that there are far too many Anne Franks living a life of obscurity in our world today, and each and every one of their stories would be a source of inspiration for us.

Meena’s story deserves our attention not because it is unique, but because of her determination and courage to come forward and make her experience public. I admire her for taking a bold stand against the Taliban and having the audacity to question their motives. Her doubts about the Taliban might not impress us, but we have to understand the background that she comes from: the men in her family did their best to brainwash her and make her believe that suicide bombing is an act pleasing to God.

Unlike too many other young Pakistanis, Meena made the effort to think rationally, despite her lack of education and exposure to the world. She easily could have fallen through the cracks and have given in to her brother’s ideology. She could have been any one of those nameless suicide bombers who blow themselves up in the name of God. But she broke through that false ideology. She had faith in God’s message of peace and tolerance and in the real meaning of jihad.

Meena has certainly fulfilled her duty as a Pakistani, and in doing so she gives us the conviction to do the same. She wasn’t bestowed with luxuries or even a supportive family, but she had a strong faith and character that kept her going despite her traumatic life. We should take a page from Meena’s book and harness our education and achievements to promote a positive image of Pakistan and to make our voices heard.

It is the responsibility of each and every Pakistani individual to make the most of his or her life to improve the country’s increasingly tattered image. We can do it by the power of our pen and the impact of our words; yes, this is our jihad and we can do it without guns and bombs.

JNN 18.05.10 China welcomes a nuclear fuel declaration Iran released in talks with Brazil and Turkey, signaling that it may oppose a US-led drive to impose sanctions on Tehran.

The presidents of Iran and Brazil and the Turkish prime minister issued a landmark nuclear declaration in the Iranian capital Tehran on Monday.

Based on the declaration, Iran will ship around 12 hundred kilograms of its low-grade fuel to Turkey, giving Iran enough objective guarantees to exchange it with higher enriched uranium based on a proposal discussed with the West in 2009.

Reacting to the declaration, Beijing said it hoped the deal would lead to a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear dispute.

“We attach importance to and support this agreement,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said on Tuesday.

“We hope this will help promote the peaceful settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations,” he added.

The US and its European allies have been trying to impose another round of sanctions against Iran at the UN Security Council. They have been seeking Beijing and Moscow’s support to push through the embargoes.

However, the new declaration released by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Barzil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to have turned the tables as Russia has also welcomed the declaration.

Western powers came close to ending their nuclear dispute with Tehran in October 2009, when representatives from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran, Russia, the United States and France gathered in Vienna to discuss a nuclear swap deal.

The US-proposed UN-backed proposal required Iran to send most of its Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) abroad for further processing and conversion into fuel rods.

Iran agreed to the IAEA-backed proposal but said it needed guarantees that the other side would deliver the fuel.

The new nuclear declaration released with Turkey and Brazil gives Iran the assurance that Ankara is to hold Iran’s LEU and return it if Tehran does not receive the higher enriched uranium from either France or Russia in a specific time period.

18.05.10New figures released by the Pentagon show a significant spike in the number of US soldiers diagnosed with and treated for serious mental disorders.

For the first time, more US soldiers are hospitalized for serious mental disorders from their military service than for injuries and battlefield wounds, according to new medical data released by the Pentagon.

In 2009, there were 17,538 US soldiers put into hospitals for mental health problems compared to 17,354 for battle wounds and injuries sustained during military service.

The revelation cast a harsh spotlight on the problems that have been simmering for years in Washington since the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan that have left numbers of soldiers frustrated. Many of them, who are now veterans of two wars, have found themselves incapable of even leading a normal life when they come home.

Numbers head back — not only with physical injuries from Afghanistan and Iraq but also with psychological problems, including post-traumatic stress syndrome, drug abuse, depression, anxiety and difficulty readjusting to civilian life, Press TV reported.

Meanwhile , both the Pentagon and the US Department of Veterans’ Affairs have voiced grave concerns over the operating costs of treating those suffering from mental disabilities. The treatment appears to have busted the Pentagon budget with Pentagon chief Robert Gates saying: “it is costing way too much.”

The US Secretary of Defense also admits that the healthcare costs are ‘eating the Defense Department alive,’ and much of it involves expensive military psychiatrists and psychologists, who have had to be hired to deal with it.

Multiple deployments of the troops and heavy pressure upon the forces in places, in which the population is not very friendly, are all contributing to the spike in mental health disorders, according to the Pentagon medical report.

“People don’t want to concentrate on the stress, this shows the logical result of that years-long policy”, Carl Osgood of the Executive Intelligence Review told Press TV correspondent Mike Kellerman in Washington.

Pentagon figures also indicate that one out of every 10 US Marines is hospitalized for mental disorders with similar numbers in the Navy and Air Force.

Ten percent of those returning soldiers will end up in medical treatment centers for mental problems; those are the lucky ones that don’t kill themselves.

“There will be more soldiers this year to commit suicide than did last year, and last year was the worst year since the Army started tracking the statistics, so that is just the most serious marker of the overall decline of the mental health situation.” Carl Osgood added.

The US Army, which has undertaken the bulk of the ground missions in Afghanistan and now has nearly 140, 000 of its troops in Afghanistan and Iraq , had 10,222 mental health hospitalizations last year, which added up to 90 percent of all army hospitalizations.

The rising number of mentally unstable former soldiers is playing havoc with their social life when they come home.

“This has been the reason for the number of murders committed by veterans, because they basically went off the deep end” said Mr. Osgood.

The latest suicide rate figures in the US military are the highest since the closing days of the Vietnam War in the mid 1970s.

Mental health care accounted for 40 percent of all the days spent in hospitals last year by members of the US military and 5 percent of those stays lasted more than a month.

The US military has recently complained about the $ 3000 a day cost to treat a mentally wounded soldier.

The Pentagon hospital bill has mushroomed to a level never seen before.

JNN 18.05.10 The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says trilateral nuclear meeting between Iran, Brazil and Turkey was a big blow to imperialism and hegemony.

Chavez made the remark in a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart on Tuesday.

“Venezuelan Revolution will back Islamic Republic’s efforts to fight against Imperialism and reform oppressive structures,” Chavez said.

The Venezuelan president further expressed his deep sorrow for not attending the G15 summit despite previous arrangements.

“It was quite hard for me not to take part in such an important summit,” he asserted.

Ahmadinejad, for his part, referred to the deeply-rooted ties between Iran and Venezuela and said, “both countries should boost mutual collaboration at various levels” by proposing new projects in all fields of technology.

The Iranian chief executive further highlighted that Iran and Venezuela have common approaches towards various global issues and Tehran and Caracas “will stay together to fight against Imperialism.”

On Monday, Iran, Brazil and Turkey issued a nuclear declaration whereby Tehran is to ship 1200 kg of its 3.5 percent enriched uranium over to Turkey in exchange for 120 kg of 20 percent enriched uranium.

Composed of countries from North America, South America, Africa and Asia, the G15 focuses on cooperation among developing countries in the areas of investment, trade, and technology.

JNN 17.05.10 Tehran has agreed to a draft proposal whereby Iran will ship its domestic low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for 20 percent enriched uranium in return.

After several hours of intense negotiations on Monday, the trilateral meeting between Iran, Brazil and Turkey ends with Tehran agreeing to send some 1,200 kilograms of its 3.5 percent enriched uranium over to Turkey in exchange for a total of 120 kilogram of 20 percent enriched uranium, Press TV reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki read the ten-point detailed declaration on the nuclear swap deal at a press conference held in the Iranian capital Tehran.

1. We reaffirm our commitment to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and in accordance with the related articles of the NPT, recall the right of all state parties, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy (as well as nuclear fuel cycle including enrichment activities) for peaceful purposes without discrimination.

2. We express our strong conviction that we have the opportunity now to begin a forward looking process that will create a positive, constructive, non-confrontational atmosphere leading to an era of interaction and cooperation.

3. We believe that the nuclear fuel exchange is instrumental in initiating cooperation in different areas, especially with regard to peaceful nuclear cooperation including nuclear power plant and research reactors construction.

4. Based on this point, the nuclear fuel exchange is a starting point to begin cooperation and a positive constructive move forward among nations. Such a move should lead to positive interaction and cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear activities replacing and avoiding all kinds of confrontation through refraining from measures, actions and rhetorical statements that would jeopardize Iran’s rights and obligations under the NPT.

5. Based on the above, in order to facilitate the nuclear cooperation mentioned above, the Islamic Republic of Iran agrees to deposit 1200 kilograms LEU in Turkey. While in Turkey this LEU will continue to be the property of Iran. Iran and the IAEA may station observers to monitor the safekeeping of the LEU in Turkey.

6. Iran will notify the IAEA in writing through official channels of its agreement with the above within seven days following the date of this declaration. Upon the positive response of the Vienna Group (US, Russia, France and the IAEA) further details of the exchange will be elaborated through a written agreement and proper arrangement between Iran and the Vienna Group that specifically committed themselves to deliver 120 kilograms of fuel needed for the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR).

7. When the Vienna Group declares its commitment to this provision, then both parties would commit themselves to the implementation of the agreement mentioned in item 6. The Islamic Republic of Iran expressed its readiness to deposit its LEU (1200 kilograms) within one month. On the basis of the same agreement the Vienna Group should deliver 120 kilograms fuel required for TRR in no later than one year.

8. In case the provisions of this Declaration are not respected, Turkey, upon the request of Iran, will return swiftly and unconditionally Iran’s LEU to Iran.

9. We welcome the decision of the Islamic Republic of Iran to continue as in the past their talks with the 5+1 countries in Turkey on the common concerns based on collective commitments according to the common points of their proposals.

10. Turkey and Brazil appreciated Iran’s commitment to the NPT and its constructive role in pursuing the realization of nuclear rights of its member states. The Islamic Republic of Iran likewise appreciated the constructive efforts of the friendly countries Turkey and Brazil in creating the conducive environment for realization of Iran’s nuclear rights.