International News

Pak soil won’t be used to launch terror attacks: Prez

UNITED NATIONS: Angered by US raids into Pakistan in search of terrorists, Pakistan's new president warned on Thursday that his country cannot allow its territory to "be violated by our friends."

After placing a picture of his assassinated wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, on the podium, President Asif Ali Zardari told world leaders that such attacks strengthen the extremists the US and others are trying to destroy.

His speech at the UN General Assembly, which often emotionally described Pakistan's battle against terrorists, comes at a tense moment in US-Pakistan relations.

Pakistani soldiers fired at US reconnaissance helicopters along the Pakistan-Afghan border on Thursday, officials said, sparking a ground battle between American and Pakistani soldiers.

"Just as we will not let Pakistan's territory to be used by terrorists for attacks against our people and our neighbors, we cannot allow our territory and our sovereignty to be violated by our friends," Zardari said.

"Unilateral actions of great powers should not inflame the passions of allies," he said.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan is deemed crucial to US-led efforts to battle extremists in South Asia. The United States has pushed Pakistan to crack down on extremists using the border region with Afghanistan as a safe haven, and has stepped up attacks on suspected militants in Pakistan's frontier area, mostly by missiles fired from unmanned drones operating from Afghanistan.

But the unilateral incursions — especially a ground raid into South Waziristan by American commandos Sept. 3 — have infuriated Pakistanis already wary of their country's ties to the US and have strained ties between Washington and Zardari's new government.

Zardari, in his speech, called on the world to "take notice" that Pakistan is not the cause of terrorism.

Referring to last week's deadly hotel bombing in the Pakistani capital, Zardari said that, "once again, Pakistan is the great victim in the war on terror. And once again our people wonder whether we stand alone."

Pakistan's military has won American praise for a recent offensive against militants. Many in Washington, however, say Pakistan has not done enough with the billions in aid the US has provided to fight terrorists.

Thousands of soldiers and civilians, Zardari said, have died fighting terrorists. "We have lost more soldiers than all 37 countries that have forces in Afghanistan put together," he said. "We have fought this battle largely alone."

He urged world leaders to "stand with us, just as we stand for the entire civilized world on the front lines of this epic struggle." (Reuters)

Terrorist suspects arrested on plane

BERLIN: Police arrested two male terrorist suspects on a KLM aeroplane at Cologne airport in western Germany on Friday police said.

The men were suspected of wanting to take part in Islamist attacks and farewell letters had been found, a police spokesman told German television.(Reuters)

Major Nepal parties against merging Maoists into Army

Kathmandu: Two major partners of the Maoist led coalition government and the main opposition Nepali Congress have raised objection to the Maoists' proposal to integrate its 20,000 combatants into the National Army.

Second largest coalition partner CPN-UML and third largest coalition partner Madhesi Peoples Rights Forum (MPRF)along with the Nepali Congress are against integrating the Maoist foot soliders into the Nepal Army.

CPN-UML standing committee member Ishwor Pokharel said the People's Liberation Army of the Maoist cannot be merged into Nepal Army enmass without following proper procedures. Special Peace Committee should be set up to decide how to integrate the combatants and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement should be followed to integrate the army, he added.

The issue of Army integration is not that simple and cannot be implemented through a single declaration, he said.

Outrightly rejecting the Maoists move to merge the two armies Sharat Singh Bhandari, leader of MPRF, said the politically indoctrinated Maoist Army have their own ideology and they cannot be integrated into the national Army. We have talked about inclusiveness of the army, not the integration of the combatants, he pointed out.

If the government tries to deviate from the common minimum programme agreed upon among the major parties, their party will move out of the government, he warned.

Nepali Congress spokesman Arjun Chhetri said, the Maoist combatants cannot be integrated into the Army against the spirit of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. He however, assured that the party will not launch any protest programme aiming to dismantle the present coalition government for one year. (PTI)

Canadian guilty in plot to behead PM

BRAMPTON: A Canadian man accused of participating in military exercises and firearms training as part of a group authorities say plotted to storm Parliament and behead the prime minister was found guilty on Thursday.

The man's attorney says the plot was a "jihadi fantasy" and that his client knew nothing about it.

A judge ruled on Thursday that evidence of a terrorist group was ‘overwhelming.’ The man is the first person to be found guilty of a terrorist offense in Canada since the country enacted anti-terrorism laws in 2001.

The arrests of the 18 group members, known as the ‘Toronto 18,’ made headlines around the world and heightened fears in Canada, where people believe they are immune from terrorist strikes.

Prosecutors said there were plans to truck-bomb nuclear power plants and a building housing Canada's spy service.

Seven of those arrested have since had their charges either withdrawn, or stayed. The trials of 10 adults, including the alleged ringleaders, have yet to begin. The young man was the first to go on trial.

Superior Court Justice John Sproat found the man guilty of participating in a terrorist group. As the 94-page judgment was handed down, the defendant's mother wept quietly in the back of the court.

The man has not been identified because he was 17, a legal minor, when he was arrested in 2006. He is now 20.

Prosecutors argued he attended a training camp where he participated in military exercises and firearms training and that he knowingly participated in a potentially deadly conspiracy. He had pleaded not guilty to terrorism-related charges.

He faces a maximum 10-year sentence. (Agencies)

Malaysia PM to quit early, policymaking frozen

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's prime minister is to accelerate his departure from office, but his failure to set a date leaves a lame duck in charge at a time when his coalition is in disarray and the opposition is claiming power.

At the same time, Malaysia's economic growth is slowing, inflation is at a 27-year high and much-needed reforms promised by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi have not been done.

The United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the biggest party in the coalition that has ruled Malaysia for 51 years, agreed on Friday to delay to March from December a leadership vote that could have seen Abdullah defeated.

But Abdullah declined to say whether he would quit on that date or run in the party poll. The premier had already said he would quit before the next election, which must be held by 2013, saying he would cede power to his deputy Najib Razak in 2010.

"He's buying time, but I don't think he will be able to push for reforms in the meantime," said one diplomat based in Kuala Lumpur who spoke on condition of anonymity. "UMNO won't allow him to do that."

UMNO and the Barisan Nasional coalition it heads are for the first time facing the prospect of losing power to a re-energized opposition alliance led by former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

Abdullah has come under increasing pressure to quit since Barisan stumbled to its worst election result in March this year when it lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority.

Najib, 55, has an impeccable political heritage.

He is the son of Malaysia's second prime minister and the nephew of its third. (Reuters)

Bangladesh’s ‘battling begums’ rule the roost again

DHAKA: Bangladesh's ''Battling Begums'', behind bars and suspected to be heading towards the end of their careers just a few months ago, are back with a vengeance at the helm of the country's politics as elections approach.

That fact has analysts worried that changes needed to rid the country of corruption and put its politics on a more stable and less violent course are not going to come anytime soon.

The pair, Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia, were heirs to political dynasties and alternated as prime ministers in the 15 years through 2006.

But after they jointly ousted a military ruler in 1990, they seldom even spoke to each other as they vied for power, gaining the ‘Battling Begums’ nickname.

‘Begum’ is an honorific for Muslim women of rank in the Islamic country.

The two leaders' squabbling and lack of trust in one another was blamed by many analysts for unrest and violence that brought a takeover by a military-backed government on January 11, 2007, which postponed the election scheduled for that month.

''Had the major political parties and their allies not been involved in ... political mayhem, the country probably would not have gone through the changes of 1/11,'' Ferdous Ahmed Qureshi, chairman of the Progressive Democratic Party, told reporters.

The interim government of the impoverished Indian Ocean nation initially hit hard at the two women, detaining them on charges of corruption and abuse of power.

Until mid-2008 it looked like they might spend most or all of their remaining lives in jail as they faced dozens of charges, which they said were false and politically motivated.

But their respective political parties held firm behind their long-time leaders, while the general public lost much of its initial enthusiasm for the interim government because of rising food and other commodity prices. (Reuters)