New policy to give peace a chance,

ISLAMABAD: The political and military leadership of the country on Thursday decided to give a new direction to the war on terror and resolved at the All Parties Conference to initiate a dialogue with the people of the tribal areas, that is, the Taliban and militants. The decision will be implemented through a proper mechanism which was not defined in the resolution adopted by the APC but which will come as a surprise to US policy-makers who are planning to escalate their war against the Taliban and other groups inside Pakistan. The nation on Thursday spoke in unison at the All Parties Conference where the political leadership rejected the recent US allegations against Pakistan as being without substance and derogatory to the partnership approach and gave the loud and clear message that Pakistan would not allow anyone to undermine its sovereignty. The APC was held at the Prime Minister House and was attended by more than 55 political leaders and military officials of the country. The moot held a marathon session of nine hours and came out with a 13-point joint resolution. The consensus joint resolution adopted new guidelines for formulating foreign policy and the re-shaping of the dialogue process in the tribal areas of Pakistan. It envisaged a new direction and policy with a focus on peace and reconciliation. “‘Give peace a chance’ must be the guiding central principle henceforth,” the resolution read. The APC also agreed to form a parliamentary committee to oversee the implementation of earlier resolutions as well as the APC’s resolution and said progress on the same would be made public on a monthly basis. The 13-point resolution that emerged after the APC reads:-“As a peace-loving country, Pakistan desires to establish and maintain friendly and cordial relations with all countries of the world on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual interest and respect. All Parties Conference recognised that there has to be a new direction and policy with a focus on peace and reconciliation. ‘Give peace a chance’ must be the guiding central principle henceforth. Pakistan must initiate dialogue with a view to negotiate peace with our own people in the tribal areas and a proper mechanism for this be put in place. We need to further enhance our brotherly bilateral relations with Afghanistan at three levels on priority basis: government to government, institution to institution and people to people. The APC recognised the sacrifices of the people and the security forces of Pakistan, especially the people of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and tribal areas. The international community needs to recognise these tremendous sacrifices as well as the colossal magnitude of destruction in Pakistan. Pakistan can enhance its self-reliance comprehensively. Trade, not aid, should clearly be the way forward. We should also focus on internal economic and tax reforms as well as resource mobilisation and the curbing of corruption. Defence of Pakistan’s sovereignty and its territorial integrity is a sacred duty which shall never be compromised. National interests are supreme and shall guide Pakistan’s policy and response to all challenges at all times. Pakistan shall continue to endeavour to promote stability and peace at the regional and global planes, in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law. All earlier unanimous resolutions of the Parliament, the recommendation of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on National Security must be implemented. APC rejected the recent assertions and baseless allegations made against Pakistan. Such assertions are without substance and derogatory to a partnership approach. The Pakistani nation affirms its full solidarity and support for the Armed Forces of Pakistan in defeating any threat to national security. A parliamentary committee be formed to oversee the implementation of earlier resolutions as well as this Resolution and progress on the same be made public on monthly basis.” Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha briefed the participants of the APC on the challenges to national security. Khar apprised the participants of her meetings with US government officials during her visit to New York to attend the UN General Assembly session. She said she assertively presented Pakistan’s case during her meetings and highlighted the immense sacrifices rendered by the nation in the war against terrorism. The ISI DG briefed the meeting about the challenges the country was facing on the military front. The briefings were followed by a question-and-answer session. The meeting was attended among others by PML-N President Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, PML-Q President Ch Shujaat Hussain, Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi, MQM, ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Syed Munawar Hassan, Pakistan Terik-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, former PM Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, PkMAP, Senator Salim Saifullah Khan, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, PML-A, Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi, TJP, Haji Munir Khan Aurakzai, Fata, PPP-S chief Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Ghulam Murtaza Khan Jatoi, (NPP), Senator Mir Israrullah Zehri, BNP(A), Brig (r) Muhammad Iqbal Khan, Tahrik Minhaj ul Quran, Syed Shujat Ali Bukhari, TNFJ, Maulana Sami ul Haq, JUI-S, M Sarwat Ejaz Qadri, President Sunni Tahrik, Haji Muhammad Hanif Tayyab, President Nizam-e-Mustafa Party, Sahibzada Abu Khair Muhammad Zubair, JUP-N, Pir Fazal Haq, President Jamiat Mashaikh, Khan Amanullah Khan, President PML (Qayyum Group), Sahibzada Haji Muhammad Fazal Karim, Chairman Sunni Ittehad Council, Rasool Baksh Palejo, Awami Tahrik, Syed Jalal Mahmood Shan, Sindh United Party, Abid Hassan Manto, Pakistan Worker Party, Dr Paul Bhatti, Adviser to the PM on National Harmony, Ameer Hussain Gillani, Mufti Feroze Din Hazarvi, Muthidda Ulema Forum Pakistan, Abdul Qadeer Khamosh, Allama Tahir Ashrafi, Chairman Ulema Council Bait ul Aman, Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan, former PM AJK, Ch Nisar Ali Khan, Leader of Opposition in NA, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Leader of Opposition in Senate, Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, Leader of House in Senate, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Minister for Finance, Mrs Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Rehman Malik, Minister for Interior, Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah, Minister for Religious Affairs, Senator Jahangir Badar, Senator Dr Zaheeruddin Babar Awan, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Nazar Mohammad Gondal, Salman Bashir, Secretary Foreign Affairs, Lt Gen (R) Syed Athar Ali, Secretary Defence. Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Khalid Shamim Wynne, Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Lt Gen Shuja Pasha were also present. Earlier, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Leader of House in Senate Nayyar Bokhari, MNA Qamar Zaman Kaira and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf received the guests on their arrival at the PM House. Briefing the media at the conclusion of APC, Information Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan congratulated the nation on the passage of a unanimous resolution unanimously by all parties. She said Pakistan wanted to establish and maintain cordial, peaceful and friendly relations with all countries of the world on the basis of equality, mutual interest and respect. “Give peace a chance” should be the guiding light for all, she added. Talking to newsmen after the APC, Sheikh Rashid said that through the APC, Pakistan had conveyed a message of peace to the world and clearly exhibited that Pakistan stood united to protect its sovereignty. He said COAS Gen Kayani briefed the participants about his recent meeting with US military officials. He said the APC was clearly told that the ISI had no links with the Haqqanis but if there was contact with the political cell of the Haqqani network, it was only to reach a future political solution in Afghanistan. APP adds: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman couldn’t sit through the complete duration of the APC and left the conference after reportedly feeling dizzy and unwell. Talking to media before the APC, Maulana Fazl observed that such moots had taken place in the past. He said parliamentary resolutions on the issue at hand should be followed in letter and spirit to achieve the ends for which the APC was convened. He said Pakistan should review its policies vis-‡-vis US. He said the US was pressuring Pakistan to divert the world’s attention from its current failures in Afghanistan. PPI adds: Law enforcement agencies remained on high alert on Thursday as the country’s civil and military leadership gathered for the APC in Islamabad. Massive security arrangements were made for the Conference. Security was beefed up on Wednesday night in the federal capital with mounted police patrol and strict search at pickets.

An article appeared in monthly Herarld Karachi-sindh-Pakistn in August .2010 with title ^ Life , the name is adversity (an injured journalist struggles for survival all by herself) that perhaps created a ray of hope that journalists, print and electronic media organizations, the government i.e the President , the Prime Minister, Federal and provincial Information Ministers etc. would outpace one another in helping the ailing female journalist Zarnageen who received serious injuries during bomb blast took place at Jinnah Hospital on February 5, 2010.
The journalist was reporter of daily Aajkal in Karachi and before this she has been serving in Daily Times(which owner was late Salman Taseer,was Governor of Punjab).
She is a devoted and dedicated reporter of the said newspapers and she did all her assignment, job and task on war-footing basis and never cared of her life. She always remained forefront in cases of women and children and raised a voice for their rights by means of pen. One of major case of Miss Khushboo hailing from Ratodero is before us who was suffering from bone-marrow deficiency for that she struggle day and night till she received an amount of Rs. 18 lac for her treatment .
It is a matter of sorrow that a women who had been doing help for others is now passing a miserable life without job, money , help and treatment with her two minor daughters in a house of a friend because she was displace from a rented house whose rent she could not pay due to jobless situation Her one daughter lost her one year of education because of non-payment of exam fee. Only God knows how she manages her expenses of her house but in this regard some her friends help her financially.
She expressed grief over the attitude of the owners of the newspapers who did not pay the salary of six months and never asked for any treatment. Besides, the big guns of media including Senior Journalist,Editors,and Taj Hyder (PPP,when he was in Information Department Government Of Sindh)women media centre, who did nothing for her treatment or job though they promised for it and still C Vs lying with them.She is dismal because none from the journalists brethren has reached her for help, aid and solace.
It will be of no use when she would be no more in the world due to negligible attention towards her by the fellow workers, journalists organizations and the government have also done nothing done so far and if she left the world in such state, this colossal stigma left by this incident will never be washed or removed with afterward action.
Hence, all the national and international media organizations are appealed to take timely action so that we could save a pear of media from destruction. It may be recalled that she is a member of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Karachi Press club and she has also earned many professional awards.In the end, the APNS and CPNE should come forward to help ailing female journalist who is asset of the media.
 

نیلم  میں امن کے دشمن موبائل فون سروس کی فراہمی کے خلاف سازشوں کی 
کوششیں ناکام بنا دی جائیں گی
  اتوار  25 ستمبر  2011 
 آٹھ مقام ( بیورو رپورٹ ) پیپلز پارٹی کے مرکزی رہنماہ پیرازدہ سید اقبال شاہ نے اپنے بیان میں کہا کہ وادی نیلم میں ایس کام موبائل فون سروس کا آغاز خوش آئند ہے ڈائریکٹر جنرل سپیشل کمیونیکیشن ارگنائزیشن سیکٹر کمانڈر مبارک باد کے مستحق ہیں وزیر اعظم پاکستان سید یوسف رضا گیلانی کی خصوصی احکامات پر موبائل فون سروس کا آغاز کیا گیا ہے وزیر اعظم پاکستان جلد افتتاح فرمائیں گے دیگر موبائل کمپنیوں کو بھی سال کے اواخر تک کام کا آغاز کر دیں گی موبائل فون سروس کا دائرہ کار پوری وادی نیلم تک پھیلایا جائے گا وزیر اعظم پاکستان کی ہدایات پر تمام خدشات تحفطات دور کر دئیے گئے ہیں نیلم  میں امن کے دشمن موبائل فون سروس کی فراہمی کے خلاف سازشوں کی کوششیں ناکام بنا دی جائیں گی پیپلز پارٹی کو عوام کے مفاد سے زیادہ کوئی چیز عزیز نہیں ہے حکومت ان سازشی عناصر کا سختی سے نوٹس لے گی عوام 
کے مفادات کے ساتھ کھیلنے کی کسی کو اجازت نہیں دیں گے۔ 


 آٹھ مقام ( بیورو رپورٹ ) مہتمم برقیات نیلم عبدالاکبر طاہر نے اپنی جاری پریس 
ریلیز میں کہا کہ اورلوڈنگ کے باعث بجلی گریڈ سٹیشن سے ٹرپ ہو جاتی ہے صارفین شام کے اقات کار میں بجلی کا کم سے کم استعمال کریں بجلی چوری کی روک تھام کے لئے خصوصی ٹیمیں تشکیل دی گئی ہیں تاکہ غیر ضروری ضیاع کم ہو سکے نادہندگان سے ریکوری کا آغاز کر دیا گیا ہے واجبات کی ادائیگی نہ کرنے والوں کے کیس ریونیوڈیپارٹمنٹ کو لینڈ ایکٹ ریونیو کے تحت وصول کرنے کے لئے ارسال کر دئیے گئے ہیں صارفین اپنی بلات کی بروقت ادائیگی کریں کسی شکایت کی صورت میں مقامی کمپین آفس سے رجوع کیا جائے لوڈشیڈنگ کا دورانیہ واپڈا کے شیڈول کے مطابق کیا جاتاہے پانی کی کمی کی وجہ سے بجلی کی پیداوار کم ہوگئی ہے محکمہ برقیات کا عملہ چوبیس گھنٹے عوام کی خدمت میں مصروف رہتا ہے۔


 آٹھ مقام ( بیورو رپورٹ ) دسویں کلاس کا طالب علم غائب پویس نے تحقیقات شروع کر دیں۔ تفصیلات کے مطابق ضلع آٹھمقام کے بالائی علاقہ لوات میں دسوین کلاس کا طالب علم یاسر ولد صفی اللہ گھر سے پرسرار طریقے سے غائب ہو گیا ہے ورثاءکی اطلاع پر مقامی پولیس نت تفتیش شروع کر دی ہے۔ 


 آٹھ مقام ( بیورو رپورٹ ) پیپکو نے آزاد کشمیر میں برائے راست لوڈ شیڈنگ کرنا شروع کر دی۔ تفصیلات کے مطابق پیکو نے گذشتہ شام سات بجے ایبٹ آباد سے آزاد کشمیر مظفرآباد ڈویثرن کی بجلی غیر اعلانیہ طور پر بند کر دی گئی جاگراں پاور ہاﺅس کی بجلی بھی نوسیری گریڈ اسٹیشن سے بند کر نے کے احکامات دئیے گئے جس سے مظفرآباد، نیلم، ہٹیاں مضافاتی علاقے پورا دویثرن تاریکی میں ڈوب گیا جس سے عوام کو شدید مشکلات کا سامنا کرنا پرا گریڈ اسٹیشن پر رابطہ کرنے پر بتایا گیا کہ مرکزی آر ایس ایس اسلام آباد سے بریک ڈاﺅن کرنے اور رات دس بجے تک کوئی فیڈر نہ چلانے کے احکامات جاری کئے گئے ہیں دارلحکومت مظفرآباد میں رات ساڑھے دس بجے کے قریب بجلی بحال کر دی گئی تھی جب کہ نیلم میں15 گھنٹے کے طویل بریک ڈاﺅن کے بعد بجلی بحال کی گئی ہے جبکہ اکثر مضفاتی علاقوں کی بجلی بند پڑی ہوئی ہے۔ 

Attacked against the editor condemned

Rawalakot (PR): 23 September, 2011

Press For Peace (PFP)-a human rights organization has condemned the attacked on the Chief Editor of local news paper and called upon the government to take action against the culprits.

Abid Journalist, Chief Editor of Daily Dharti(Rawalakot,Azad Kashmir) was attacked by some people who allegedly were furious over editorial which appeared on the paper few days ago.

Criticizing the corporate punishment by some teachers in the schools, the newspaper in editorial has asked the teachers to behave professionally and morally.

However, a group of local teachers attacked the newspaper and abused the staff of the newspaper, including threatening the chief editor, Abid Siddique for dire consequences.

Press For Peace (PFP) spokesperson Jalal-Uddin Mughal has condemned this act and urged the government to protect the journalists and take action against the people involved in the incident.

The role of press is to highlight the social evils and malfunctioning of national institutes, therefore, its criticism should be taken tolerantly by the society , the statement further said.

He said that attack on journalists and a newspaper is a lamentable act. Authorities should take action against the sacraments.  

Pakistan warns US: ‘You will lose an ally’ if accusations continue
                               

“You will lose an ally,” Hina Rabbani Khar told Geo TV in New York.

“You cannot afford to alienate Pakistan, you cannot afford to alienate the Pakistani people. If you are choosing to do so and if they are choosing to do so it will be at their (the United States’) own cost.”

Khar was responding to Senate testimony by the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, who said Pakistan’s top spy agency was closely tied to the Haqqani Network, the most violent and effective faction in the Afghan Taliban insurgency.

Mullen said on Thursday that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) played a role in the September 13 attack on the US embassy in Kabul, supporting militants known as the Haqqani network. That network, he said, is a “veritable arm” of the ISI.

The embassy attack was the latest in a series of violent episodes that have set back US efforts to bring the Afghan war to a peaceful close.

Mullen’s comments and Khar’s retort mark an unusual escalation of rhetoric between the allies in the struggle against militants and, at least in public, marks a low point in their relationship.

“At the operational level it will be appropriate to say that there are serious difficulties (between the two countries),” Khar told Geo.

In a separate interview with India’s NDTV, Khar added: “Pointing fingers at each other will not help. Finding scapegoats will not help … We want to be a mature, responsible country that is fighting terrorism with a lot of maturity.”

The tensions could have repercussions across Asia, from India, Pakistan’s economically booming arch-rival, to China, which has edged closer to Pakistan in recent years. A complete break between the United States and Pakistan – sometimes friends, often adversaries – seems unlikely, if only because the United States depends on Pakistan as a route to supply US troops in Afghanistan, and as a base for unmanned US drones.

Pakistan relies on Washington for military and economic aid and for acting as a backer on the world stage. Washington does not want to see further instability in the nuclear-armed country.

But support in the US Congress for curbing assistance or making conditions on aid more stringent is rising rapidly. And Mullen, CIA Director David Petraeus and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have all met their Pakistani counterparts in recent days to demand Islamabad rein in militants.

پاکستانی کشمیری رہنماء کا سری نگر میں خطاب

بھارت کے زیرانتظام کشمیر میں بائیس سال کی علٰیحدگی 


پسند 


تحریک کے دوران یہ پہلا موقع ہے کہ پاکستان کے زیرانتظام


 کشمیر کے کسی سیاستدان نے وادی کے تجارتی مرکز لال


 چوک میں لوگوں سے خطاب کیا۔

وادی کے تین روزہ دورہ پر آئے پاکستانی کشمیر کے سابق 


وزیراعظم بیرسٹر سلطان محمود چودھری نے وزیراعلیٰ 


عمرعبداللہ ، سید علی گیلانی اور دوسرے رہنماؤں سے 


ملاقات 


کی ہے۔ منگل کے روز وادی کے تجارتی مرکز لال چوک میں 


انہوں


 نے عوامی اجتماع سے خطاب کیا۔

سری نگر سے بی بی سی کے ریاض مسرور نے بتایا کہ 


جموں


کشمیر لبریشن فرنٹ کے رہنماء محمد یٰسین ملک نے 


بیرسٹر


 سلطان محمود چودھری کے اعزاز میں وادی کے حساس 


ترین


علاقہ مائیسمہ میں ایک استقالیہ کا اہتمام کیا تھا۔

ایک بااثر کشمیری تاجر کی دعوت پر وادی کے تین روزہ

دورے پر

آئے بیرسٹر چودھری نے



 لوگوں سے خطاب کے دوران کہا کہ وہ بھارت اور پاکستان

کے


درمیان منقسم کشمیری خطوں کے اتحاد کی کوششوں کی

حمایت کرینگے۔

 

انہوں نے کہا ’آزادی بہت قریب ہے۔ یورپی ایوانوں سے بھی

اب

آزادی کی آواز آرہی ہے۔ یہ کشمیریوں کی قربانیوں کا نتیجہ

 ہے۔

میں واپس جاکر اپنے لوگوں کو یہی پیغام دوں گا کہ دونوں

طرف

کے لوگ مل جل کر اس تحریک کو آگے بڑھائیں۔‘

اس موقع پر لبریشن فرنٹ کے رہنماء محمد یٰسین ملک کے

جموں

 کشمیر کو تقسیم کرنے والی عبوری سرحد لائن آف

کنٹرول کو

دیوارِ برلن سے تعبیر کرتے ہوئے کہا کشمیریوں کو آپس میں


دوبارہ متحد ہونے سے کوئی نہیں روک سکتا۔ انہوں نے کہا

’جرمنی کی تقسیم فطرت کے خلاف تھی۔ ساری دنیا کو

پھر دیوارِ

 برلن کو توڑنا پڑا۔ اسی طرح وقت قریب ہے کہ دنیا خود اس دیوار

(کنٹرول لائن) کو بھی گرائے گی۔‘

پاکستانی کشمیر کے وزیراعظم کے سابق وزیراعظم

بیرسٹر

سلطان محمود نے اپنے دورے کے دوران وزیراعلیٰ

عمرعبداللہ اور

معروف علیٰحدگی پسند رہنماء سید علی گیلانی کے ساتھ

ملاقات

 کی۔

منگل کے روز انہوں نے علی گیلانی کے گھر میں ان کے 


ساتھ


 ایک گھنٹہ تک گفتگو کی جس کے دوران علیٰحدگی پسند 


رہنماء 


نے بیرسٹر چودھری سے کہا کہ انہوں نے عمرعبداللہ کے 


ساتھ 


ملاقات کر کے کشمیریوں کے زخموں پر نمک پاشی کی ہے۔

علی گیلانی کا کہنا تھا کہ دورے پر آئے بیرسٹر چودھری نے 


اُسی شخص سے ملاقات کی ہے جو انسانی حقوق کی 


خلاف 


ورزی کرنے والی فورسز کی پشت پناہی کررہے ہیں۔ تاہم


 پاکستانی زیرانتظام کشمیر کے سابق وزیراعظم نے اس 


کے 


جواب میں کہا کہ عمرعبداللہ کے ساتھ ان کی ملاقات محض


 ایک 


اتفاق تھا۔

قابل ذکر ہے کہ ایک نامور کشمیر تاجر ظہور احمد وٹالی نے 


اپنے 


فرزند کی شادی کی تقریب پر پاکستانی زیرانتظام کشمیر 


کے 


سیاستدانوں کو مدعو کیا تھا جن میں سردار عتیق احمد اور 


بیرسٹر سلطان محمود تھے۔ سردار عتیق کا اصرار تھا کہ وہ 


کنٹرول لائن کے راستے اپنی گاڑی میں کشمیر آنا چاہتے 


ہیں،


 تاہم حکام کی طرف سے اجازت نہ ملنے پر انہوں نے دورہ 


منسوخ کیا۔

بیسرسٹر چودھری نے دورے کے دوران بتایا کہ بھارت نے 




انہیں 


ویزا فراہم کر کے امن کے عمل کے ایک نئے دور کا آغاز کیا 


ہے۔

             ISI exporting violence to Afghanistan: US 

WASHINGTN

 The US military's top officer bluntly accused Pakistan on Thursday of "exporting" violent extremism to Afghanistan by backing militants that attack American and NATO troops.

Admiral Mike Mullen said the country's main intelligence agency ISI was actively supporting Haqqani network militants blamed for an assault on the US embassy in Kabul last week.
"The Haqqani Network, for one, acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency," Mullen told the US Senate Armed Services Committee.
With ISI backing, Haqqani militants this month carried out a truck bombing on a NATO base in Afghanistan that wounded 77 Americans; assaulted the US embassy and NATO headquarters in the Afghan capital; and in June staged an attack on the Inter Continental Hotel in Kabul.
“In choosing to use violent extremism as an instrument of policy, the government of Pakistan -- and most especially the Pakistani Army and ISI -- jeopardizes not only the prospect of our strategic partnership, but also Pakistan's opportunity to be a respected nation with legitimate regional influence," he said.
“By exporting violence, they have eroded their internal security and their position in the region. They have undermined their international credibility and threatened their economic well-being,” he added.
Mullen, who is due to step down at the end of the month as chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff after four years, defended his efforts to build a dialogue with the Pakistani military.
He said more than a dozen meetings with army chief General Ashfaq Kayani were crucial despite Islamabad's refusal to meet Washington's demands.

Burhanuddin Rabbani killed in Kabul bombing

Kabul—A suicide bomber hiding explosives in his turban assassinated former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who headed a government peace council trying to cultivate contacts with Taliban insurgents. Four of Rabbani’s bodyguards also died and a key presidential adviser was wounded in the attack at Rabbani’s Kabul home Tuesday.

President Hamid Karzai cut short a visit to the U.S. over the killings, which dealt a harsh blow to peace efforts after a decade of war.

The turban bomber entered Rabbani’s house in the evening and blew himself up inside, said Mohammad Zahir, the chief of criminal investigation for the Kabul police. Fazel Karim Aimaq, former lawmaker from Kunduz province and a friend of Rabbani’s, told reporters outside the former president’s home that a man who arrived to meet Rabbani was not properly searched. The visitor shook Rabbani’s hand and bowed as a sign of respect, Aimaq said.”Then his turban exploded,” he said.

Rabbani’s death will also dent efforts to keep the regional and ethnic rivalries that partly feed the insurgency in check. As one of the wise old man of Afghan politics and the leader of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, Rabanni’s role in the attempts to reach out to the Taliban and seeking a political deal with them — with the U.S. blessing — will be hard to replicate in the near future. His death could unleash a well of resentment building up among some senior Northern Alliance members, who accuse Karzai of colluding with the Taliban.

President Barack Obama said the killing would not deter the U.S. and Afghanistan from helping that country’s people live freely. He said the former president’s death is tragic because he was a man who cared deeply about Afghanistan. Obama commented at the top of a meeting in New York with Karzai.

Shukria Barakzai, a lawmaker from Kabul, was visibly shaken as she stood outside Rabbani’s house in the Wazir Akbar Khan area of the city, near the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters.

“We don’t want the whole peace process to get stuck,” she said. “We have to continue, we have to.”

Rabbani, who was about 70 years old, headed the country’s High Peace Council, which was set up by the Afghan government to work toward a political solution to the decade-long war. However, it had made little headway since it was formed a year ago.

Just last week, Rabbani led a conference of provincial governors and officials who met in the southern city of Kandahar to develop policies for reintegrating insurgents who want to give up the fight.

The reintegration of lower-level militants has started alongside the push for higher-level peace talks as a way to whittle away at the insurgency on both ends. At the conference, he urged those in the provinces to work to counter insurgent propaganda claiming that international forces were invaders in Afghanistan.

Rabbani was president from 1992-1996, heading the Afghan government that preceded the Taliban rule. After he was driven from Kabul in 1996, he became the nominal head of the Northern Alliance, mostly minority Tajiks and Uzbeks, who swept to power in Kabul after the Taliban’s fall. Rabbani, an ethnic Tajik, headed the Jamiat-e-Islami political party.

“We lost our leader. We lost our leader,” Habibullah, a close friend of Rabbani’s, said as he stood crying outside a hospital.

Already Afghanistan’s ethnic minorities have begun to re-arm in the face of negotiations with the Taliban. Rabbani’s death is likely to accelerate the re-arming and lay the foundation for a bitter civil war once U.S. combat troops leave the country or take on support roles by the end of 2014.

Karzai’s adviser Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai was wounded in the attack. A relative who answered Stanekzai’s phone said that the wounds did not appear to be life-threatening, but Stanekzai was in the hospital. The relative declined to give his name because of the sensitivity of the situation

Stanekzai is chief executive of the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program, a highly touted program funded by the U.S. and its coalition allies to bring mid- and lower-level Taliban back into Afghan society.

The programme has so far only managed to reintegrated about 2,000 of the estimated 25,000-40,000 insurgents in Afghanistan.

 ہفتہ 17 ستمبر 2011
 آٹھ مقام ( بیورورپورٹ ) ایس سی او کی غفلت، ٹیلی فون لائنوں کا نیٹ ورک مصروف کال ملنا ناممکن ہوگئی صارفین کو مشکلات کا سامنا پی ٹی سے سے نوٹس لینے کا مطالبہ۔ سول سوسائٹی سیاسی و سماجی مذہبی رہنماﺅں سردار اعجاز سلطان ایڈوکیٹ، چیئرمین شاہنواز خان، رستم بٹ، مفتی اشفاق احمدخان، چیئرمین خواجہ عبدالرشید، ابراراحمد خواجہ نے صحافیوں کو بتایا کہ وادی نیلم میں مواصلات ٹیلی فون کی سروس فراہم کرنے والا صرف ایک ادارہ سپیشل کمیونکیشن ارگنائزیشن ہے جو کہ لینڈ لائن فون سروس کی سہولیات مہیا کر رہا ہے لیکن مسابقت نہ ہونے کی وجہ سے ٹیلی فون سروس نہایت ناقص ہے وادی نیلم میں ایس سی او کی طرف سے 06 ڈیجیٹل ایکس جینجز چلہانہ، میرپورہ، جورا ، کنڈل شاہی آٹھمقام نگدر کا آپٹیکل فائبر سے میڈیا کی سہولت ہونے کے باوجود بیک وقت سینکڑوں صارفین صرف ساڑھے تین سو افراد بات کر سکتے ہیں میڈیا نیٹ ورک مصروف ہونے کی وجہ سے صارفین ایمرجنسی کال سمیت گھنٹوں بیٹھ کر ایک نمبر کو بار بار ی ڈائل کرنا پڑتا ہے ٹیلی فون پر موجود دیگر سہولیات ایس ایم ایس سروس، کال ویٹنگ، کانفرنسنگ کی سہولت کی دستیاب نہیں ہے پری پیڈ سروس سے کال ملنا مشکل بلکہ ناممکن ہوتا ہے پیکیج کالنگ کارڈ سے ملائی گئی کالز کو بھی ماہانہ بلات میں ڈال دیا جاتا ہے بوگس بلات کے ذریعے عوام کو لوٹنے کا سلسلہ جاری ہے بلات درستگی کے لئے ہزاروں روپے خرچ کر کے مظفرآباد جانا پڑتا ہے ایس سی او کی ٹیلی فون سروس عوام کے لئے سہولت کے بجائے عذاب بن گئی ہے انھوں نے حکومت پاکستان، پی ٹی اے سے آزاد کشمیر کا مواصلاتی نظام پی ٹی سی ایل کے حوالے کرنے کا مطالبہ کیا ہے۔


 آٹھ مقام ( بیورورپورٹ ) محکمہ بہبود آبادی کو نارمل میزانیہ پر نہ لایا جا سکا، تین وزراءاعظم کے اعلانات کے باوجود سینکڑوں ملازمین کا مستقبل داﺅ پر لگ گیا۔ تفصیلات کے مطابق آزاد کشمیر میں محکمہ بہبود آبادی کو تین سابق وزراءاعظم کے اعلانات کے باوجود ملازمین کو نارمل میزانیہ پر نہیں لا یا جا سکا ہے پاکستان میں این ایف سی ایوارڈ کے بعد محکمہ صوبوں کو منتقل کر دیا گیا تھا جبکہ آزاد کشمیر میں محکمہ بہبود آبادی کو کشمیر کونسل کے سپرد کیا گیا ہے محکمہ کا باقاعدہ سیکرٹریٹ قائم کیا گیا ہے روان مالی سال میں محکمہ بہبود آباد ی کو نامل بجٹ میں شامل کرنے کے اعلان پر بھی عملدرآمد نہیں ہوا ہے کشمیر کونسل سے ملازمین کی تنخوائیں ری وائز نہیں ہو سکی ہیں تنخواﺅں کی عدم ادائیگی سے سینکڑوں ملازمین مشکلات کا شکار ہو گئے ہیں محکمہ کا مستقبل داﺅ پر لگ گیا ہے ملازمین کے ورثاءنے ارباب اختیار سے نوٹس لینے کی اپیل کی ہے ۔

Haqqani Network

Named after its leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Haqqani Network is a group within the insurgency in Afghanistan that is based out of North Wazirstan in the Pakistani Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The group has been active mainly in the east of Afghanistan—in Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Ghazni Wardak and even Kabul provinces.

Leadership

The group is still believed to be led by the old (estimated over sixty years) and ailing Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani. Mawlawi Haqqani is a former anti-Soviet resistance commander known for ruthless effectiveness as a fighter.  His ties to Pakistan, and his base in and around Miram Shah, go as far back as his exile during the Republican government of Sardar Daud in early 1970s.  He was initially a part of the many mujahideen leaders that formed Hizb-e-Islami. When Hezb-e Islami fractured in the late 1970s, Haqqani followed Yunis Khalis rather than Hekmatyar, and became one of the most important commanders in the Hezb-e Islami (Khalis) or HIK.  When Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan, Haqqani was in Pakistan with the other key mujahideen leaders.  Haqqani later became a field commander in Mawlawi Yunis Khalis’s Hizb-e-Islami.  He received significant support from the CIA and from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI), and built up a sizable and competent militia force by the mid-1980s. Haqqani is believed to be influenced by radical Islamist principles drawn from the early Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt , which were prevalent among many of the religiously-motivated Afghan mujahideen of that time.  Mawlawi Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani run a number of madrassas and training camps in North Wazirstan.¹  Due to his father’s ill health, Sirajuddin Haqqani is reported to be in charge of the day-to-day operations of the movement.

The Haqqanis hail from the Zadran qaum (tribe), who are mostly based in Paktia and Khost provinces in the east of Afghanistan.   Their support base has always been in that area with a base in the FATA’s North Wazirstan.

The Battles for Khost, 1985-1987

The mujahideen had isolated the Soviet/Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) garrison at Khost early in the war, taking advantage of the fact that there is only one major road linking Khost with the rest of Afghanistan—the Khost-Gardez road that runs through the Satekandav Pass.  In summer 1985, Haqqani gathered several thousand fighters and assaulted the city of Khost itself, overrunning Soviet and DRA outposts and requiring a significant Soviet counter-attack to save the city.²  Heavy fighting continued in 1986, including operations during which Haqqani was reportedly burned by napalm while leading his soldiers.³  On each occasion, Haqqani and other key leaders in his group withdrew to Waziristan when it became clear that the temporary Soviet firepower would overwhelm them if they continued to resist.  The Soviets lacked any overall operational concept for their efforts in the Greater Paktia area (and, generally, in the war), and never attempted to maintain military dominance in the area over the long term.
 

In 1987, the Soviet leadership decided to undertake a major effort to open the Khost-Gardez road long enough to get supplies in to the town and its garrison.  Operation MAGISTRAL (MAINLINE), as it was called, was the major Soviet military effort of that year, overseen directly by Colonel General Boris Gromov, commander of Soviet forces in Afghanistan.  Gromov made numerous attempts to negotiate with Haqqani and Zadran tribal elders to secure safe passage for supplies to Khost without fighting.  It is not clear whether or not Haqqani himself participated in negotiations, but Zadran tribal elders certainly did and they drew out the discussions intentionally to allow time for their forces to react.  Two weeks of hard fighting allowed the Soviet forces to secure the Satekandav Pass.  The arrival of Soviet reinforcements and the elimination of a key insurgent base convinced Haqqani to withdraw his forces temporarily. The Soviets resupplied the garrison and then withdrew from the area.⁴  By 1989, all Soviet forces had withdrawn from the country.

Haqqani had consolidated his military position in Greater Paktia, establishing a Shura (Council) to coordinate military operations in the area, but he did not attempt to establish political control as Ismail Khan did in western Afghanistan.  Nor was he able to extend his reach by forming regional coalitions, as Ahmad Shah Masood did in the north.⁵  His forces were, however, able to capture Khost in 1991 from the communist government of Dr. Mohammad Najibullah—becoming the first mujahideen commander to seize and hold a major Afghan city after the Soviet withdrawal.  (The final assault on the city was led by his brother Ibrahim Haqqani. Jalaluddin was in Miram Shah at that point.)  Haqqani received a ministry in the new government of Burhanuddin Rabbani, but defected to the Taliban in 1995.⁶

The relationship between Haqqani and the Taliban government was not smooth.  Haqqani is a member of the Ghilzai tribe of Pashtuns, whose lands lie generally east of Kandahar, whereas the Taliban leadership was largely from the Durrani tribe and particularly from sub-tribes around Kandahar itself.  Ghilzais prided themselves on the role they had played in defeating the Soviets, and Haqqani and other Ghilzais resented the primacy of the Kandahari Taliban.  Haqqani received a large sum of money to recruit soldiers after the Taliban's massive 1997 defeat in Mazar-e Sharif, but tensions with the Kandahari officers he was assigned, among other things, led to mass desertions from among his forces.⁷ He nevertheless remained loyal to the Taliban government, becoming Minister of Tribal Affairs. In late September 2001, Mullah Omar appointed Haqqani the commander-in-chief of the Taliban armed forces.⁹

 

Arab/al-Qaida ties

Haqqani speaks fluent Arabic and one of his two wives is from the United Arab Emirates¹⁰  – assets that have helped him raise a great deal of money from Saudi Arabia and individuals in the Persian Gulf. He also frequently travels to Gulf Arab states, where he is highly respected and has key contacts from the times of the anti-Soviet war.¹¹  Haqqani established a close relationship with Osama Bin Laden in the 1980s and:  “It's not a coincidence that the first camps that bin Laden created in Afghanistan, Lion's Den and some related infrastructure that he started to build, were in Haqqani's territory.”¹²  The Haqqanis currently run a network of religious seminaries and training bases of Afghan and foreign fighters in North and South Waziristan.¹³  A U.S. military spokesman in eastern Afghanistan, Maj. Chris Belcher, has accused the Haqqanis of inviting foreign fighters from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Chechnya, Turkey and Middle Eastern countries into Afghanistan.¹⁴ 

Pakistan Connection

Haqqani’s connection with the ISI dates back to the times of the Soviet jihad. According to U.S. Special Envoy and Ambassador to Afghanistan (1989-1992), Peter Tomsen, the ISI has maintained its Jihad era ties with Haqqani.¹⁵  Right after the U.S. invasion in October 2001, Haqqani was invited to Islamabad for talks about a post-Taliban government.¹⁶  In a transcript passed to Mike McConnell, the Director of National Intelligence in May 2008, Pakistan’s army chief General Ashfaq Kayani was heard referring to Haqqani as “a strategic asset.”¹⁷  A top ISI official was reported to have held talks with Sirajuddin Haqqani, one of Jalaluddin’s sons who has replaced him as the leader of the movement due to his father’s ill-health, in Miranshah of North Waziristan in early March 2009.¹⁸  In a prisoner exchange with Pakistani Taliban led by Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani government released three family members of the Haqqani family in November 2007 – Haqqani’s brother Khalil Ahmad, son Dr. Fazl-i-Haqqani and brother-in-law Ghazi Khan.¹⁹  Haqqani is said to have mediated peace deals between the Pakistani government and Waziri and Mehsudi commanders of the Pakistani Taliban in North and South Waziristan.²⁰

War Strategies/Tactics
 

 

U.S. military officials says the Haqqanis were behind most of attacks in eastern Afghanistan in 2008.²¹  Sirajuddin has been working to expand his father’s traditional operational base of Khost, Paktia and Paktika to other provinces in the east, such as Ghazni, Logar, Wardak and Kabul.²²  He has also sought closer ties with foreign terrorist groups and adopted far more brutal tactics. “Siraj Haqqani is the one who is training, influencing, commanding and leading,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Dave Anders, Combined Joint Task Force-82 director of operations. “Kidnappings, assassinations, beheading women, indiscriminate killings and suicide bombers - Siraj is the one dictating the new parameters of brutality associated with Taliban senior leadership.”²³

The Haqqanis, with the help of ISI, are alleged by Afghan and American intelligence officials to have been behind the recent simultaneous attacks on government buildings in Kabul,²⁴ a suicide attack on the Indian Embassy on July 7, 2008,²⁵  and an assassination attempt against President Hamid Karzai in April, 2008.²⁶  The Afghan National Security Directorate said it had destroyed a terrorist network involved in at least six suicide bombings in the capital, Kabul, which was run jointly by the Haqqanis, Harakat-al-Mujahedin, and ISI.²⁷  The Haqqanis collaborate with the Mullah Omar-led Taliban forces, but try to keep their leadership in the east. A letter reportedly issued by the Haqqanis in 2008 grieving about the loss of Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah Lang called on the Taliban forces to replace Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders in Quetta.²⁸  While the letter praised Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, Siraj Haqqani has repeatedly voiced loyalty to Mullah Omar.
 

KHAWAJA FIAZ HUSSAIN
خواجہ فیا ض حسین

24 Killed In Ramban Bus Mishap

Srinagar, Sep 13, KONS: At least 24 people were killed and 20 others injured in yet another road accident in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, adding more victims to the interminable list of fatalities due to lax police and traffic authorities.
The tragedy occurred this afternoon in the Digdol area of Ramban on the Srinagar-Jammu highway when an overloaded passenger bus from Banihal dropped 1000 feet into a gorge, official sources said.
Sixteen occupants were said to have been killed on the spot, while the others succumbed to their injuries at various hospitals, including the Government Medical College in Jammu.
The 26-seater minibus, carrying 44 passengers, had shot off the road after its driver lost control, officials claimed.
Rescue operations by the army, the police and the civil administration were said to have pulled out 23 survivors from the wreck, airlifting them to hospitals where 8 succumbed to their critical injuries.
The minister for higher education, Abdul Ghani Malik, who rushed to the scene of the accident, announced ex gratia relief of Rs 1 lakh to the kin of each of those killed, and Rs 10,000 for each of the injured, from the chief minister’s relief fund.  
Almost all accidents in the valley and the mountainous Doda region in the Pir Panjal range in recent months involved passenger busses carrying over twice the authorized capacity of passengers and reckless driving by operators.
The government’s repeated claims to enforce strict traffic management and regulation, particularly on the treacherous roads in the Doda, Kishtwar and Badarwah belt, have failed to check overloading and over-speeding by passenger transporters, leading to a unconscionably high loss of life in traffic accidents.

Nato-led forces killed BBC reporter in Afghanistan

This round-up of Friday's main media stories reports on the findings
of an investigation into the death of a BBC journalist in Afghanistan.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in
Afghanistan has admitted it mistakenly killed BBC reporter Ahmed Omed
Khpulwak when troops responded to a militant attack in southern
Uruzgan province in July, reports BBC News.

"The BBC said it recognised that Isaf had provided clarification,
ending a period of uncertainty, but it would study the details of the
findings on receiving the full report."

The BBC director general Mark Thompson has told business leaders he
hopes Greater Manchester will become "one of the most significant
creative clusters in the UK", reports the Manchester Evening News.

The paper says: "the BBC is relocating three networks - BBC Radio 5
Live, Cbeebies and CBBC - to MediaCityUK, at Salford Quays, as well as
BBC Sport and some shows, such as BBC Breakfast. A study by the
Northwest Development Agency says the BBC's relocation had the
potential to create 10,000 jobs and add £170m to the regional
economy".

It quotes from the study: "The BBC's presence has helped attract small
and large media companies - including ITV (and the production
facilities for Coronation Street) - and institutions with media
interests such as the University of Salford."

Celebrity Big Brother was won last night by Paddy Doherty, star of My
Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. Tonight it segues into a new series of Big
Brother. The former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson is a surprise
additional housemate for the opening weekend, reports the Daily
Mirror.

Celebrity Big Brother has been a ratings success for Richard Desmond's
Channel 5, reports the Guardian. "An average audience of about 2.6
million, and a 12.1% share of all TV viewers in its timeslot, is a
respectable showing - particularly when compared with the final series
of Celebrity Big Brother, which aired on Channel 4 last January" says
the paper.

The inquiry into Baha Mousa's death painted a "devastating picture of
military culture", says the Guardian. It says prosecutors will
consider bringing fresh charges but the Daily Telegraph asks if that
is necessary as what happened was "mercifully rare", as reported in
the BBC's newspaper review.