42 replies to this topic

[Hellraiser006]

Have you noticed how mum the Yanks have become lately? They're praying and buying time. They're banking on time passing by and people forgetting the incident. They did the very same after the Raymond Davis incident. Only this time around there's a very stark difference. The Yanks are sorely mistaken about their miscalculations. They have killed many innocent soldiers of an army which they heavily rely upon for any success in Afghanistan. It would be fair to claim that the Pak army is the main jigsaw for any tangible success in Afghanistan. The Yanks have shot themselves in the foot willingly or unwillingly. Only, their arrogance hasn't allowed them to repair the damage inflicted which by the way is another blessing for Pakistan. It's a catch-22 situation for the Yanks and they know it. They can hold conferences to make themselves feel better. They can try to add Endia to the equation. Fact is, without Pakistani cooperation the Yanks are already fighting a lost war.

We need to maintain the pressure now. Giving into blackmail and pressure isn't going to help our cause one bit. Anyone professing otherwise is wrong. Keep the supply lines closed. Boycott as many conferences as possible. Boycott cooperation in the WoT. Block aerial and other routes through Pakistan. Take down any drones violating Pakistani airspace. Let it be known that Pakistan means business. Let's play a wait game and see who blinks first. I don't care how long it takes for the Yanks to blink. We mustn't blink first. Blinking first would amount to complete failure and rejection. Let the Yankee senators bark all day long. It's a clear sign of mounting frustration, inability and helplessness to achieve any form of success. The Yanks are on the losing side now. The Yanks know how to put things right. Let them put things right.

the best revenge we can extract from the Yanks for our dead sons is to draw out the war in Afghanistan and make them spend another trillion dollars tanking their economy, the dollar and sending back a few more thousand body bags filled with body parts, mixed and matched. They deserve nothing less for the sh.it they have been pulling for the last ten years. Dont let them leave!

Bosnia crimes





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWxHUDGKNrM


Kosovo crimes

http://www.vajzat.com/eng.htm


Bros, please watch EVERY minute of these videos and read every story on that last link as well. The serbs were the worst p.i.g.s to ever walk this planet, but what also you need to realize is that this was fully ignored (and even encouraged at some part) by other western powers

remember the Dutch 'peacekeepers' who stood by and watched Bosnian men and male children being taken away for execution. They stood by and watched an act of mass murder. May Allah destroy the Dutch and all those who have persecuted and massacred Muslims.

The only reason why the US got involved along with the European powers is that there were repeated warnings that if something isnt done there are literally tens of thousands of Mujahideen waiting to pour into Bosnia and could trigger a wider conflict. They didnt get involved for any love of Muslims.

(Curse word was censored the emotion has been left intact)

Edited by Magnus, 08 December 2011 - 01:36 AM.

[Jazba-e-Kashmir]

NATO said that Pakistan, once again, has opened liaison centres on Afghan border.

These communicating centres had been closed after NATO attacked Pakistani posts in Mohmand Agency on November 26.
NATO representative, while briefing the media in Kabul, said that Pakistani security forces have returned to these communicating centres.
According to Brigadier Gen Carsten Jacobsen, tension has reduced during present days.
These communicating centres had been built up to exchange information and protect security forces on both sides. After martyrdom of 24 soldiers, Pakistan had recalled its staff from these centres, he said.
He claimed that there is betterment in mutual ties after telephonic talk between ISAF Chief General Allen and Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

He urged Pakistan to restore NATO supply line, for it is better for economy of Pakistan.

http://dunyanews.tv/...iNOaWQ9NTU4NTg=

[Felicius]

http://tribune.com.p...ck-in-Pakistan/

hammer vehicles, dumpers, anti-aircraft guns, special carriers of anti-aircraft guns, vehicles specially built to jam communications, cranes and sophisticated weapons.

Anti-Aircraft Guns? Do the Taliban have any aircrafts?
Jamming Communications? Not to decipher or eves drop in communications, but to jam them; like incoming "guided" missiles or aircrafts, and communications between PA and GHQ in the region (example Salala where they claim the communications broke down).

What is the purpose I wonder, for American tax payers, to pay for such equipment, in a region where the enemy has neither; guided missiles nor aircrafts? Unless it wasn't meant for Afghans and Talibans at all.

[mHussain]

Taking a look at those jammers could prove to be very useful for Pakistan. These weapons were obviously not for use against the Taliban. I think those may not be AAA guns but perhaps SAM systems. I seriously think Pakistan should consider openly or by other means to take hold of this equipment ASAP.

[EagleHannan]

Last post on 30th December 2011, hmmm. What does it tell you about Pakistan? After 3 months were we able to get hold of said equipment or did anything about CLEAREST indications about USA gearing up against us for a sustained fight?

If something is missed, please share cause it looks like the same old Pakistan with same old ignorance with same old dogs barking everywhere.

[faizan khaliq]

National defense can not be left on armed forces alone,but present lot of politicians / media, civil society and ulema,s are unfortunately not able to bring up national cohesion which is a must for successful defense rather doing opposite and working for disintegration of Pakistan.In this situation it is unfair to expect PAF or all Pakistani armed forces to do miracle of doing successful defense against a super power

[khh]

Sir! the only way we can screw up the yanks is to stop trading internationally in US dolloars...We need to force Saudia and the middle east to stop the trade of oil in US $$ but instead in Gold or in Saudi Riyals....That will devalue the US$$ and screw them up financially....the next day they won't have anything to buy oil to attack any country.Their printed dollars will go useless then......

[Jazba-e-Kashmir]

khh;

sounds like a good plan brother, but which political leader or royal head has the courage to do so.

The last generation tried to do this was related to the Palestinian cause, where Shah Faisal lost his life and no oil-Arab leader has ever tried to even squeek any critical words against the western governments. Still this day Arab oil is being stolen from western governments; whether it's Iraq or Libya; even if the out-of-no-where Arab leaders try to stop the oil, Libyan and Iraqi oil well are being drilled for oil like if the Red Indians were being executed for being the Godgifted Land itself!

Or Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who tried to create a strong Islamic block was hanged, no Pakistani leader has ever tried to even criticize the us govt till this day regardless military of civilian, they are in reality scared of being slayed off by some undercover operation.
It happend to Zulfiqar or Zia (death penalty or plane-crash, doesn't matter at all!), why can't it happen now when us/cia operatives are in every corner of the country. Even ISI can't have fully control over whats going to happen 24/7 in their own playing field!

Or Yasser Arafat who tried to have a strong and vibrant Palestinian commitment, but now there isno focus on the Palestinian issue by the Palestinain themselves at first place, but dissolved into two political groups, Fatah or Hamas, and they are funded by Saudis or Iranians, thus focusing towards the tensions between KSA and Iran.

brother Khh, the plan sounds good on paper, but there isn't going to happen anything. There isn't any Arab leader speaking up for Pakistan or heck even the Palestinians!

Yes, we read the Kalima and Believe in One God, we see and meet each others like brothers as Muslims do and should forever do!!
But there can't be political unity due some sick and evil minded intentions/agendas ruling over the masses and suppressing them.
they are called sold-out politicians, sold-out military rulers, sold-out 2rakat-molvies and sleeping ulemas, and apologetic idiots for being Muslims who want to feel satisifaction from another civilization that in reality doen't care about any other civilizations.


Iqbal wrote very well in Jawab-e-Shikwa:

If the son is alien to his learned father's traits,
How can he then claim his father's heritage?

All of you love to lead a soft, luxurious life,
Are you a Muslim indeed? Is this the Muslim style?

All of you desire to be invested with the crown,
You should first produce a heart worthy of renown.


Pakistanis or Muslims, stand along by themselves.
They don't have bazurqs/elders like Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) who was with his people regardless what happend and never made them feel he was better but gave the best to his people first and then for himself at last!
Khalifa-e-Rashidun (May Allah Bless them all), no present leader can be like the size of their shoe in comparison of being great in politics!

Other were defenders like Muhammad ibn Qasim - the defender and helper of womens rights against rapists, kidnappers and facists.
When Aafia Siddiqui, a sister and daughter of Pakistan, was sold off to the american, everyone wanted a hero like ibn Qasim to come for help, but he wasn't there and no political leader hasn't even the courage to sacrifice his own life to save her life...
Tariq ibn Ziyad - the defender of Muslims who were burned on the fire in pre-Islamic Spain for not believing in the God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus as the Lord. No political leader from the Muslim Ummah is today seen or even heard when Muslims in the west are mocked, insulted and even beaten up for being Muslims. Muslims in the west are alone and have the same mindset as tariq ibn Ziyad ordered to burn the ships, we're not going to return but stay and die as Muslims even if the laws become narrowed and harsh against Muslims, even if the western media, politicians and right-winged extremists (ie. Anders breivik) wants us to "go home and leave the world of the white people"!

Or in the 19th Century a defender like the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah (My Allah Bless his soul) - defender of Muslims who were going through the same mocking and hell like Gujarat riots in 2002, which was a civil war in reality. Jinnah also wanted to avoid in the first place which eventually occured in the Gujarat Riots or the mass killing of the Sikhs in 1984 or the attacks on the Christians which happend few years ago in India.

For Pakistan's situation, Pakistanis don't have any bazurq/elder (civil or military, doesn't matter) whose shade can be upon his own people so they can feel protected and satisifed that there is one on the top who can think for their future, their security, their social lives which would benefit the country till the End of Times without any country interferres in Pakistan, in the land and home of Pakistanis and in the land Pakistanis would like to feel their motherland respected regardless what happens and regardless which country it is, western, eastern, Muslim or non-Muslim.
Give us respect and you'll get respect, if not and someone wants to interferre in our internal matters, then sod off!
That is how strong and independent Pakistan's foreign policy should.

Peace

[TBA123]

Sir! the only way we can screw up the yanks is to stop trading internationally in US dolloars...We need to force Saudia and the middle east to stop the trade of oil in US $$ but instead in Gold or in Saudi Riyals....That will devalue the US$$ and screw them up financially....the next day they won't have anything to buy oil to attack any country.Their printed dollars will go useless then......

Yes! Economic independency is the right path. Militarily, we cannot contend with US.

However, we cannot force our WILL on other nations either. This will be akin to what US does and is disliked about.

Saudi Arabia and other nations in Middle East will care about their interests like most nations do. Also, Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Middle East have strong business relationship with US. Therefore, these nations cannot be realistically expected to act against US interests for the sake of Pakistan.

[1Pakistani]

What happened to their stuck equipment???? is it still stuck and under Pakistani control??? havnt heard a news about it and how are they able to continue this far without supply for now more than 6 months???? I guess they are getting supplies through Pakistan of which we are not being told about.

[Tipu-786]

What happened to their stuck equipment???? is it still stuck and under Pakistani control??? havnt heard a news about it and how are they able to continue this far without supply for now more than 6 months???? I guess they are getting supplies through Pakistan of which we are not being told about.

thats called under the table deal .......................... hamaray hukamran awam ko baywakoof bananna khub jantay hein
" ہمارے حکمران عوام کو بیوکوف بنانا خوب جانتے ہیں "

[Felicius]

We need to force Saudia and the middle east to stop the trade of oil in US $$

Who all are included in the "We"?
And if it's only Pakistan, then our trade is negligible, the first world couldn't care less, we need to be realistic.

Secondly, how do we force GCC, and other muslim countries perhaps, to do that? Just as much they couldn't force us to stop the deal with Iran, just as much we can't force anyone either.

What happened to their stuck equipment???? is it still stuck and under Pakistani control??? havnt heard a news about it

They paid us to re-ship the equipment. They use another costlier and longer route through Central Asian States, plus airlift a few.
This was all in the news a few months ago actually.

Edited by Shehz, 04 May 2012 - 12:31 PM.

[SUPARCO]

US ready to apologise over Salala attack
Wednesday 16 May 2012



US has hinted at offering apology for Salala attack by any 4-star American General.

According to Dunya News US has shown its willingness to apologise over the Salala attack, and has also requested Pakistani authorities to provide security to the NATO supply convoys. According to the sources Pakistan has demanded 2000 US dollars for each NATO truck.

Pakistan disallowed the NATO supplies through ground route and also got the Shamshi Airbase evicted from the US forces after the attack on a Pakistani military post at Salala on Nov 26, 2011.

Protesting over the incident the Pakistan government asked the US to apologise over the incident.

http://dunyanews.tv/...iNOaWQ9ODA0MzM=

[SUPARCO]

US to pay additional $365m a year for NATO supply
Wednesday 16 May 2012



NATO will pay fee of $1,500 to $1,800 for each truck if Pakistan restores supplies: US paper

The cost of the US-led war effort in Afghanistan is about to rise by $365 million annually under an agreement that would reopen a key NATO supply route through Pakistan that s been closed for nearly six months, an American magazine has reported.

The accord, which the Pakistani government announced late Tuesday, would revive the transport of vital supplies of food and equipment from Pakistani ports overland to land-locked Afghanistan.

In return, the US-led coalition will pay Pakistan a still-to-be-fixed fee of $1,500 to $1,800 for each truck carrying supplies, a tab that officials familiar with negotiations estimated would run nearly $1 million a day. The officials requested anonymity because they weren t authorized to reveal details of the agreement.

In return, the US is asking Pakistan to provide security for the supplies, which are trucked through the country by private local transport companies, and much speedier clearance of customs and checkpoints.

The NATO traffic in and out of Afghanistan through Pakistan is anticipated to be as many as 600 trucks a day between now and the end of next year.

In a major climb-down, Pakistan dropped its demand that Washington apologize for the deaths due to the November raids. There was also no agreement to end controversial strikes by American drone aircraft against suspected militants in Pakistan s tribal area, as demanded by a cross-party resolution of Pakistan s Parliament.

http://dunyanews.tv/...iNOaWQ9ODA0Mjg=

[SUPARCO]

Pakistan backs quick deal on Nato supplies
WEDNESDAY 16TH MAY 2012



PM Gilani chairs a meeting of the federal cabinet. – File Photo by APP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said Wednesday it had ordered officials to finalise an agreement as quickly as possible on lifting a six-month blockade on overland Nato supplies into war-torn Afghanistan.

Islamabad has stopped short of announcing when the transit lines will reopen, but has signalled President Asif Ali Zardari will attend key talks on Afghanistan in Chicago on May 20-21, after a last-minute invitation from Nato.

The country shut its Afghan border crossings to Nato supplies on November 26 after US air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

As a result, Pakistani-US relations — already frayed by the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden — plunged into their worst crisis since Islamabad joined the United States in the war on al Qaeda after 9/11.

Now Pakistani and US officials are locked in talks to finalise a deal on again allowing thousands of trucks and oil tankers to carry non-lethal supplies from the southern port city of Karachi to landlocked Afghanistan.

Asked if there was any deadline for the talks, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said: "There is no deadline. All departments have been asked to conclude their negotiations in the quickest possible time." The cabinet on Wednesday welcomed Nato's invitation to Zardari, clearing the way for him to travel to the May 20-21 summit, and it is thought unlikely he would be willing to risk the wrath of Western leaders if the supply lines have not been restored.

By going to Chicago, Pakistan hopes to ease its international isolation and boost its leverage over the future of Afghanistan, as Western countries pull out their combat forces by 2014.

But Islamabad has essentially been forced to climb down on demands for an American apology for the air strikes and an end to drone strikes targeting Taliban and al Qaeda on its soil.

Sources familiar with the talks say transit fees for the vehicles are the main sticking point and the border will probably reopen by early next week.

Islamabad is looking to more than double the payments, which could earn the country up to $1 million a day.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani advised against "emotional decisions, which do not augur well for us in the long run".

He told the cabinet that relations with Nato and the United States were at "a delicate phase where we need to take critical decisions" for Pakistan's "strategic importance" in the region and in its national interest.

Analysts say Pakistan had no choice but capitulate to international pressure to reopen the border, with US cash needed to help boost its meagre state coffers as the government prepares to seek re-election.

The State Department said "considerable progress" had been made on ending the blockade.

"We will continue to work on this throughout the week. Obviously, it'll be a wonderful signal if we can get it done by the time of the summit," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

But the Pakistani government is likely to face an angry backlash over the U-turn from opposition, right-wing and religious parties keen to exploit rampant anti-American sentiment in an election year.

Nor lifting the blockade is likely to solve other problems in the relationship between Pakistan and the United States.
American officials remain deeply distrustful of Pakistan, whose territory is used by Taliban and other Afghan insurgents who have been fighting US troops for more than a decade.

Pakistan is still smarting from the American raid that killed bin Laden last year and deeply resents American calls to do more to clamp down on militant safe havens.

The United States has made increasing use of other routes into Afghanistan and the Pakistan supply routes now constitute as little as 25 per cent of what Nato needs to sustain itself.

The United States has guaranteed payment of at least $1.1 billion should the borders reopen as compensation for fighting militants, although Pakistan believes it is owed far more, one source said.

http://dawn.com/2012...-nato-supplies/

[SUPARCO]

US commandoes rehearsed Abbottabad raid at 'Camp Alpha' in Bagram
Friday, May 18, 2012

By Asif Mehmood

LONDON: The headquarters of the United States Department of Defence, Pentagon, has unveiled a precise scale model of Osama bin Laden's Pakistan compound used to plan the Navy SEALs raid that ended in the al Qaeda chief being killed.

Wheeled out onto one of the Department of Defence headquarters hallways, the one inch to seven feet scale model is an exact replica of the Abbottabad building that the terrorist mastermind lived in for five years before his death in May 2011.

Built in six weeks by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and considered top secret until last week, the detailed recreation even contains a parked red van that intelligence officials often observed at the site.

Every tree, bush, door and fence is as it was prior to that May evening, created using satellite imagery, pictures from drones and actual CIA ground surveillance.

"Nothing you see would have been included if we didn't see it there," said Greg Glewwe, who works with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

To keep the entire model built from Styrofoam and acrylic as precise as possible, measurements were produced using a process called photogenic measurement, which uses shadows to work out specific heights.

"The mock-up was an instrumental device in planning the raid that killed Osama bin Laden," said one unnamed US official involved with the planning and delivery of the US Navy SEALs raid to Fox News. Created months before the final go-ahead was given by US President Barack Obama, the model was first assessed by the CIA and other US intelligence agencies.

The scale model was then presented to military officials such as Admiral Mike Mullen, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General James Cartwright, Mullen's deputy, and Admiral William McCraven, head of Special Operations Command.

The model was used subsequently in the final preparations and planning for Operation Neptune Spear, the codename given to the helicopter-borne mission to kill Osama bin Laden.

In addition to the smaller US-based model, the US Navy SEALs practiced at a one acre full-scale replica of the compound built at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan, known as Camp Alpha.

The raid itself was completed shortly after 1am local time when bin Laden was shot once in the chest and once in the head by a US Navy SEALs who announced "for God and country Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo" because Geronimo was the codename given to the al Qaeda leader. The unveiling of the model came on the same day when US former defence secretary

Robert Gates said that he had doubts that bin Laden was in the compound.

"We didn't have one single piece of hard data that he was actually in that compound, not one," said Gates to CBS this Morning co-host Charlie Rose. "The whole thing was a circumstantial case built by analysts at CIA. My view was, let's kill him, but let's use a missile of some kind."

http://dailytimes.co...8-5-2012_pg7_18

[SUPARCO]

NATO summit: 'President's articulation of Pakistan position led to clarity'
Wednesday, May 23, 2012

CHICAGO: Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the impression that Pakistan was going to announce restoration of NATO supply routes during the Chicago summit as a condition for the country's attendance had been proven wrong.

Babar was briefing journalists along with Ambassador Sherry Rehman at the conclusion of the two-day summit, attended by President Asif Ali Zardari and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar. The spokesman noted that President Asif Ali Zardari's articulation of Pakistan's position on restoration of ground lines of communication and other issues has led to clarity and understanding of Islamabad's perspective.

In his interactions, President Zardari made it clear that the Salala incident on November 26, 2011, which resulted in deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers, forced upon Islamabad a review of the relationship. The president also stated that parliament has issued guidelines for the bilateral relationship and that Islamabad is bound to follow those guidelines.

"This impression has been wrong, there is now greater clarity on both sides whether it was meeting with Secretary Hillary Clinton or speech at the NATO-ISAF meeting or a brief encounter with US President Barack Obama, all these have resulted in greater clarity and understanding of the Pakistani position," Babar said.

He explained his point that clarity means recognition by President Obama that the two sides need to work through issues.

"If President Obama says we need to work through tensions and President Zardari says we are bound to follow parliamentary guidelines, it is clarity."

Pakistan, he said, has created space for diplomacy.

About conditions for resumption of NATO supply routes, Babar said the most important thing is that there is mutual trust and respect. He also briefed the media about President Zardari's meetings with his Turkish counterpart Abullah Gul and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Sherry Rehman said the democratic government has been dealing with issues unambiguously and transparently. Pakistan, she said, clearly has concerns.

"We cannot gloss over differences – we are dealing with issues without compromising Pakistan's strategic concerns, we are following parliamentary guidelines – we are looking for an apology."

She said that Pakistan and the United States are trying to work through their differences. "Pakistan's national interest cannot be traded for positive feedback at conferences," she said in answer to a suggestion that Pakistan's gestures could have won it international appreciation. "No country is trading their interests. Pakistan, the US and NATO are all searching for common ground." She said Pakistan has been very clear about its sovereignty. app

http://dailytimes.co...3-5-2012_pg7_22

[butterfly]

Zardari is about as articulate as a wart. I wonder why no one has taken a pop at him yet?

[SUPARCO]

NATO supply: US senator terms Pak demand ‘extortion’
Thursday May 24, 2012



US senator John McCain has termed Pakistan demand as ‘extortion’ to restore NATO supply.

Senators John McCain said the US should not pay up to $5,000 per truck which he called “extortion” to Pakistan to allow NATO supply lines to pass through its territory into Afghanistan.

In a fresh warning to Pakistan, a Senate panel Tuesday approved a foreign aid budget for next year that slashes President Obama’s request for assistance to Islamabad by more than half and threatens further reductions if it fails to open supply routes to NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Senators John McCain and Carl Levin, the chair and ranking members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the US should not pay up to $5,000 per truck which McCain called “extortion” to Pakistan to allow NATO supply lines to pass through its territory into Afghanistan.

Speaking to a US news outlet ‘The Cable’, Senator McCain said: “We can’t look at aid in that light. It’s now becoming a matter of principle.”Senator Carl Levin said that the US should not pay Pakistan fees anywhere near that level.

http://dunyanews.tv/...iNOaWQ9ODE1NDg=

[SUPARCO]

Pak-US thaw can be a debacle for NATO forces
Wednesday May 23, 2012



A summit meant to symbolize a thaw between the US and Pakistan has only worsened the bad blood.

The troubled relationship is casting a pall over NATO plans on Afghanistan.

The Western alliance at the last minute invited President Asif Ali Zardari to a summit in Chicago on the future of Afghanistan, with officials predicting a deal with Pakistan on reopening supply routes vital for US and allied troops.

But no deal materialized, in an apparent dispute over how much to pay Pakistan. Zardari left Chicago jilted after President Barack Obama only agreed to see him in passing, while US officials increasingly voiced exasperation on finding a way forward with Pakistan.

Obama, speaking Monday at the end of the conference, admitted frustration, saying: "There s no doubt that there have been tensions between (NATO forces) and Pakistan, the United States and Pakistan over the last several months."

But Obama said that US priorities remained the same -- that "Pakistan has to be part of the solution in Afghanistan, that it is in our national interest to see a Pakistan that is democratic, that is prosperous and that is stable."

Obama, soon after his election, determined to put a new focus on Pakistan amid US concerns that part of the country s powerful military and intelligence still supports Islamic extremists after a decade of war in Afghanistan.

Obama has stepped up drone attacks deep into Pakistani territory but has also hoped to empower civilian institutions. Zardari took office in 2008 after a decade of military-backed rule and, despite deep unpopularity, is on course to be the first democratic Pakistani leader to complete a full term.

Bruce Riedel, who led the administration s initial strategy review on Afghanistan and Pakistan after Obama took office in 2009, criticized the US decision not to hold a full-fledged meeting with Zardari in Chicago.

"Maybe I m old-fashioned, but that s bad form," said Riedel, a former US policymaker who is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

"Zardari is an extremely proud person and to be snubbed in the way that he was, I think is going to come home to haunt us," Riedel said.

While not uncritical of Zardari, Riedel said that the president was the Pakistani power-broker most in tune with the US vision for the region.

Zardari -- whose wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated in 2007 -- has called on Pakistan to do more to battle Islamic extremists and worked to ease tensions with India, last month paying a rare trip to the historic rival.

"I hope that what happened in Chicago won t discourage him, but I have a bad feeling that this is a very significant setback for us," Riedel said.

For Pakistanis, the Chicago snub could reinforce their long-held suspicions -- that the United States will abandon their country once it completes its withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in 2014.

Some Pakistani analysts have cited the specter of a US departure to justify maintaining contact with hardliners in Afghanistan. The United States has accused Pakistani intelligence of close coordination with the Haqqani network, which is blamed for attacks on US troops.

Pakistan, which helped create Afghanistan s Taliban regime, threw its support behind the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

But it shut down its supply routes on the border after US air strikes killed 26 Pakistani troops in November on the border. Obama has voiced regret, calling the deaths an accident, but has refused demands for an apology.

US officials said that plans to reopen the supply routes broke down after Pakistan dramatically raised its demands on payment for each truck going through the border.

The United States has provided Pakistan more than $18 billion in assistance since 2001 and the aid is highly sensitive. A number of lawmakers have sought to end assistance after US forces killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last year, raising allegations that intelligence services may have abetted the world s most wanted man.

Some US officials suspected privately that Zardari was being undercut in Chicago by the military, which wanted full control of the war effort and to deprive the civilian leader of a success.

Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said there was no "personal snub" to Zardari.

"It was simply making a statement that Pakistan is not helping with the Afghanistan effort. If Pakistan wants to help, it will be welcome at the table, but so long as it remains outside that effort and is in fact undermining that effort, then Pakistan should be snubbed," she said.

http://dunyanews.tv/...iNOaWQ9ODE0MDg=

[SUPARCO]

Amnesty criticizes US for 'unlawful' Bin Laden raid
Thursday May 24, 2012



The Amnesty International has criticized US for “unlawful" killing of Osama bin Laden.

Amnesty International criticized the United States on Wednesday for its use of lethal force, particularly for the "unlawful" killing of Osama bin Laden in a clandestine US commando raid in Pakistan last May.

"The US administration made clear that the operation had been conducted under the USA s theory of a global armed conflict between the USA and Al-Qaeda in which the USA does not recognize the applicability of international human rights law," it said in its annual report.

"In the absence of further clarification from the US authorities, the killing of Osama bin Laden would appear to have been unlawful," it said.

Amnesty said a request for clarification over an apparent US drone strike in Yemen last September that killed US-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi, his Al-Qaeda co-conspirator Samir Khan and at least two others had also gone unanswered.

"These killings appeared to have amounted to extrajudicial executions," the rights watchdog said.

Amnesty also hit out at human rights violations committed by former president George W. Bush s administration and condemned the "impunity" with which his officials operated.

The global rights monitor also criticized Canada for failing to arrest Bush when he visited in October, "despite clear evidence that he was responsible for crimes under international law, including torture."

"There was no accountability for human rights violations committed under the administration of president George W. Bush as part of the CIA s program of secret detention and rendition," Amnesty said, referring to the transfer of individuals from one country to another without access to legal process.

http://dunyanews.tv/...iNOaWQ9ODE1NDY=

[SUPARCO]

ISAF commander sees progress in US-Pakistan relationship
Thursday May 24, 2012



The ISAF commander Gen. John Allen has termed recent Pak-US talks as a positive sign.

America s relationship with Pakistan has been battered by a string of recent setbacks, but a top U.S. general said Wednesday that the fact that the two countries have finally started talking again is at least a positive sign.

Marine Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, cautioned that "we need to be careful about overstating the progress that we re making, but I think that we ve made real progress in the last several weeks with respect to having conversations with Pakistan we were not even having before."

It was telling, however, that Allen could point to no concrete improvements in U.S.-Pakistan relations, or even hint at any movement in the negotiations to open the ground supply routes into Afghanistan. Pakistan shut down the supply routes six months ago after U.S. airstrikes accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two border posts.

After months of stalemate, Pakistani leaders last week signaled that negotiations on the supply routes were progressing, just in time to secure an invitation to the weekend NATO summit in Chicago. But since then officials have acknowledged that the two sides have yet to forge an agreement or settle on new, higher fees Pakistan wants for the NATO supply convoys.

Meanwhile in Pakistan on Wednesday, a Pakistani doctor who helped the U.S. track down Osama bin Laden was sentenced to 33 years in prison for conspiring against the state. U.S. officials have called for the doctor, Shakil Afridi, to be released, insisting that his assistance was an act against al-Qaida, not against Pakistan.

The latest problems don t suggest the relationship with Pakistan is deteriorating, Allen said during a Pentagon briefing, but he agreed that doesn t mean things are back on track.

He added that the supply route closures have not hampered his ability to fight the war. By using northern ground routes that skirt Pakistan, plus air cargo flights, the military was able to avoid coming running low on supplies.

Allen said there was a dip in surplus gasoline, but it didn t go below a 30-day supply.

Asked about U.S. troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, Allen said he will begin "very shortly" to start pulling out some of the 23,000 troops that must be out by the end of September. That will leave about 68,000 American military personnel in Afghanistan

Officials have said the bulk of the 23,000 probably will not come out until shortly before the deadline.

As those troops come out, he said, Afghan forces will be used to fill in the gaps in the eastern and southwestern parts of the country. They will be buttressed by U.S. advisory teams that will work with the Afghan units.

Once the 23,000 U.S. troops are out, he said he will review how the fighting season is going and will then begin to put together an analysis for President Barack Obama on how troop withdrawals will proceed next year.

"We re going to need combat power, I don t think anyone questions that," Allen said, referring to 2013. But he said some of the combat power will be Afghan forces or troops provided by other NATO nations.

U.S. combat troops are slated to be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

http://dunyanews.tv/...iNOaWQ9ODE1NDc=

[SUPARCO]

Dr Shakil Afridi sentenced to 33 years



PESHAWAR: A Pakistani surgeon recruited by the CIA to help find Osama bin Laden was on Wednesday sentenced to 33 years in prison for treason, officials said.

Shakeel Afridi, who was sacked as a government doctor two months ago, was found guilty under the tribal justice system of Khyber district.

In addition to his jail sentence, he was fined 320,000 rupees ($3,500). The doctor had worked for years as a surgeon in lawless Khyber, part of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda infested tribal belt.

Afridi was not present in the court and not given a chance to defend himself, officials said. Under the tribal system, he would not have had access to a lawyer.

"He has been sentenced for 33 years on treason charges and has been moved to Peshawar central jail after the verdict was announced by the local court," said Mohammad Siddiq, spokesman for the administrative head of Khyber.

In January, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta confirmed Afridi had worked for US intelligence by collecting DNA to verify bin Laden's presence and expressed concern about Pakistan's treatment of him.

He was arrested shortly after US troops killed the Al-Qaeda leader on May 2, 2011 and in October a Pakistani commission recommended that he be tried for treason.

"He was not in any way treasonous towards Pakistan," Panetta told CBS television in January.

"For them to take this kind of action against somebody who was helping to go after terrorism, I just think is a real mistake on their part."

Panetta said he believed someone in authority in Pakistan knew where bin Laden was hiding and as a result Islamabad was not warned about the raid.

Pakistan reacted furiously to what it called a violation of its sovereignty. It insisted it knew nothing about bin Laden's whereabouts and the operation severely damaged relations with the United States.

Afridi's trial took place over several days under assistant political agent Nasir Khan in Khyber. The verdict was confirmed by his boss, the political agent, in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday, the officials told AFP.

Under Pakistan's tribal justice system, Afridi has the right to appeal.

Critics said Wednesday that he should not have been tried under tribal law in the tribal belt for an alleged crime that took place outside their jurisdiction.

He was sentenced under penal code clauses related to offences against the state, conspiracy or attempt to wage war against Pakistan, concealing with intent designs to wage war against the state and on charges of working against the country's sovereignty, a Khyber administration official told AFP.

British newspaper The Guardian reported last July that Afridi set up a fake vaccination programme in the hope of obtaining DNA samples from the house where the CIA suspected bin Laden was living.

The United States was not 100 percent sure that the Al-Qaeda chief was living in the Abbottabad house when President Barack Obama gave the approval for Navy SEALs to raid the compound on May 2.

The Guardian said the doctor had been recruited by the CIA for an elaborate scheme to vaccinate residents for hepatitis B, a ploy to get a DNA sample from those living in the house to see if they were bin Laden family members.

Reuters adds:US officials were strongly critical of the sentencing.

"Without commenting on specific individuals, anyone who helped the United States find bin Laden was working against al Qaeda and not against Pakistan," said Pentagon spokesman George Little.

http://www.geo.tv/Ge...l.aspx?ID=50562

[SUPARCO]

US Senate sub-committee votes to cut Pakistan aid by 58%



By Reuters

WASHINGTON: The US Senate’s appropriations sub-committee on foreign aid has voted in favour of a 58 percent aid cut to Pakistan in fiscal 2013.

The panel has also threatened to withhold more aid if Islamabad does not reopen its supply routes for NATO soldiers in Afghanistan.

The action by the panel followed a weekend NATO summit in Chicago at which Washington had hoped to reach a deal with Islamabad to end the supply line dispute.

Pakistan closed the supply routes through its territory to Afghanistan in protest when a NATO raid in Salala killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last November. NATO has been seeking to compensate via expanded shipments of war supplies via Afghanistan's other neighbors but those routes are more expensive.

The senators voted $1 billion for Pakistan, including $800 million in foreign aid. However, funding for the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund was limited to just $50 million, and that money was tied to the supply lines' reopening, said Senator Lindsey Graham, the panel's top Republican.

"We're not going to be giving money to an ally that won't be an ally," Graham told reporters.

The counterinsurgency fund was established several years ago to help train and equip Pakistan's military.

The panel's spending blueprint must still be approved by the full Senate and the House of Representatives before it can become law. But criticism of Pakistan in Congress and demands for a complete aid cutoff have been growing, especially after Osama bin Laden was found and killed by US forces in a Pakistani city a little more than a year ago.

Pakistan has been one of the leading recipients of US foreign aid and in recent years.

US lawmakers have approved more than $20 billion in aid and reimbursements since 2001.

The administration suspended $800 million in aid for Pakistan's military last year but American officials have suggested the aid could be restored if Pakistan would display more commitment to counter-terrorism operations.

http://www.geo.tv/Ge...l.aspx?ID=50536

[SUPARCO]

Dr Shakil Afridi did not commit treason: US Department of Defence



WASHINGTON: The US department of defense has reacted to Dr. Shakil Afridi's sentence and repeated the stance that Dr. Afridi helped provide intelligence that was very helpful with regards to this operation, and he was not in any way treasonous towards Pakistan.

The department spokesperson added that Pakistan and the United States have a common cause here against terrorism, have a common cause against al Qaeda. The spokesperson said that the Secretary has already said "It is a real mistake on Pakistan's part."

Dr. Afridi was sentenced to 33 years in prison for treason for his part in assisting the US in its hunt of Osama bin Laden.

Shakeel Afridi, who was sacked as a government doctor two months ago, was found guilty under the tribal justice system of Khyber district.

http://www.geo.tv/Ge...l.aspx?ID=50606

[SUPARCO]

Pak sees itself in war with US: Rohrabacher



WASHINGTON: US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher in reaction to Dr Shakil Afridi's sentence said that the decision was 'decisive proof' that Pakistan sees itself at being at war with the US.

He said "this is decisive proof Pakistan sees itself as being at war with us." He added that "I think his work on behalf of the effort to take down Bin Laden was in Pakistan's interest, as well as the US interest."

The congressman has already spoken openly against Dr Afridi's arrest.

In a press statement, Rohrabacher said "There is no shared interest against Islamic terrorism".

"On 9/11, Pakistan was coordinating the efforts of the Taliban who were in league with Osama Bin Laden. In 2012, Pakistan is still working very closely with the Taliban, whose leader Mullah Omar was plotting with Bin Laden right up until he was killed, according to documents taken from bin Laden's Pakistan home," he added.

http://www.geo.tv/Ge...l.aspx?ID=50635

[SUPARCO]

US says no basis to charge Dr. Shakeel Afridi



WASHINGTON: The US State Department said that Pakistan had no basis to hold or charge a surgeon who was sentenced Wednesday to 33 years in prison for helping in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

The court in Khyber convicted surgeon Shakeel Afridi of treason after he agreed to collect DNA for US intelligence to verify the presence of the most-wanted Al-Qaeda leader.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland recalled that both US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had earlier raised concerns with Pakistan about the doctor's case.

"Our views on it haven't changed. We continue to see no basis for Dr. Afridi to be held," Nuland said. "We will continue to make those representations to the government of Pakistan."

When asked why she only referred to Afridi's charges and did not acknowledge his actual conviction and sentencing, Nuland said: "It's not clear that the legal process is over, OK? There may be other options for him legally."

Her muted remarks came as Washington and Islamabad, allies in the war on terror, struggle to repair ties that hit a low when US forces staged a secret raid into Pakistan that killed bin Laden in May last year.

They were strained to breaking point in November when US forces staged a botched raid that killed 24 Pakistani troops, prompting Islamabad to cut off the land route for supplies to NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AFP)

http://www.geo.tv/Ge...l.aspx?ID=50665

[SUPARCO]

US should respect decision to imprison Dr Afridi: FO
Thursday May 24, 2012



By Reuters/Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: The United States should respect a Pakistan court's decision to imprison Dr. Shakil Afridi accused of helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden, the Foreign Office spokesman said on Thursday.

"I think as far as the case of Mr. Afridi is concerned, it was in accordance with Pakistani laws and by the Pakistani courts, and we need to respect each other's legal processes," Moazzam Ali Khan told reporters.

Dr. Afridi was accused of running a fake vaccination campaign in which he collected DNA samples, which may have helped the American intelligence agency find Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.

Foreign spokesman Moazzam Khan said Pakistan had decided to attend Nato's summit in Chicago due to Afghanistan.

Khan added that Pakistan's stance on Drone attack was clear and they were unlawful and Islamabad could approach the UN Security Council in this regard.

In reply to a question regarding where Drones were being flown from, Khan replied that Islamabad was not aware of whose land was being used against Pakistan.

Khan further said that the Drone issue would have to be resolved on a bilateral level through dialogue.

In response to statements made by US Senators McCain and Levin regarding the NATO supply route, the Foreign Office spokesman said that their stance of calling the fees extortion was not that of the US governments.

http://www.geo.tv/Ge...l.aspx?ID=50718

[SUPARCO]

US panel cuts Pakistan aid over doctor row
Thursday May 24, 2012



WASHINGTON: A Senate panel voted to cut aid to Pakistan by a symbolic $33 million on Thursday, $1 million for each year of jail time handed to a Pakistani doctor convicted of treason for helping the United States track down Osama bin Laden.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the amendment to the $52 billion US foreign aid budget in a 30-0 vote in a sign of growing outrage here over Pakistan's conviction of Shakeel Afridi.

"We need Pakistan, Pakistan needs us, but we don't need Pakistan double-dealing and not seeing the justice in bringing Osama bin Laden to an end," said Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who pressed for the measure.

Afridi was found guilty of treason, sentenced Wednesday to 33 years in prison and fined 320,000 rupees ($3,500).

Afridi ran a fake vaccination program designed to collect bin Laden family DNA from the compound in Abbottabad, where the Al-Qaeda leader was shot dead in a US commando raid in May 2011.

The US government says Pakistan has no basis to hold Afridi.

"He is not a spy, I can tell you," said Dianne Feinstein, the Democratic chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "He should be praised and rewarded."

"If this is how Pakistan is going to treat a friend and hero, I don't know about these funds," Feinstein said.

The mammoth appropriations bill, which includes a total of $1 billion in assistance for Pakistan, will go now to the Senate floor after passing out of committee on Thursday.

That represents a 58 percent cut in the amount of aid Obama had requested for Pakistan -- an expression of the anger in Congress at Islamabad for not reopening supply routes frozen since US air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November. (AFP)

http://www.geo.tv/Ge...l.aspx?ID=50817

[SUPARCO]

Treatment of Pakistan doctor 'unjust, unwarranted:' Clinton
Thursday May 24, 2012



WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday denounced as ‘unjust and unwarranted’ the treatment of a Pakistani doctor who was jailed for helping in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

"We are raising it (the case of doctor Shakeel Afridi) and we will continue to do so because we think that his treatment is unjust and unwarranted," Clinton told a press conference. (AFP)

http://www.geo.tv/Ge...l.aspx?ID=50818

[safdar]

Treatment of Pakistan doctor 'unjust, unwarranted:' Clinton
Thursday May 24, 2012

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday denounced as ‘unjust and unwarranted’ the treatment of a Pakistani doctor who was jailed for helping in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

They are the ones that dumped him into it! Besides he was convicted in a Pakistani court according to the Pakistani constitution, just because we do everything wrong, we cant be forced to change something we done right just becuase it seems odd and out of character!. There was evidence that he knew who he was looking for, because he asked for more money, couldn’t he have gone to Pakistani authorities and claimed the bounty money through that route rather then become a hero I his own mind.

If people remember going back a few years there was a polio or some sort of vaccination program up in the remote regions, and where the Pakistani mullahs were preventing people from taking the vaccination, alleging that the vaccination contained certain drugs to stunt child birth rates in that region? Anyone remember?

And now we don’t even know if its true they really needed this fake vaccination program to find bin laden, it could be to spread even more mistrust for people living in those remote regions to not take vaccination . So shakeel afridi has caused a great deal of damage just to chatch one old man, he has put his family at risk and his profession in disrepute only for few thousand dollars. serves him right.

[SUPARCO]

White House admin blamed for identifying Dr Afridi to Pak
Friday, May 25, 2012

By Asif Mehmood

LONDON: A New York congressman, who leads the House Homeland Security Committee, has blamed the White House administration for identifying Dr Shakeel Afridi to Pakistani authorities.

Peter King, in an interview with the Fox News, said that this has been handled very poorly by the US authorities right from the time of the raid. While accusing the Obama administration in the light of Dr Shakeel's sentence for treason by Pakistani authorities, King said, "They put him there. They disclosed his identity." The sentence is viewed by Western officials as punishment for humiliating the nation which claimed not to know it was harbouring the al Qaeda leader.

Dr Shakeel Afridi helped the CIA by running a fake vaccination programme that allowed him to collect the DNA of bin Laden's children from the family compound in Abbottabad. Sample analysis confirmed the terror leader was probably there and triggered the deadly mission by US Navy SEAL last May. It sparked a major rift between the US and Pakistani leaders.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta confirmed in January that Dr Afridi collected DNA in an effort to help locate the al Qaeda leader, but added he "was not in any way treasonous towards Pakistan. For them to take this kind of action against somebody who was helping to go after terrorism is a real mistake".

US officials have already started rallying on the doctor's behalf, urging the Pakistani government to overturn the sentence which is said to include hard labour and extensive fines. "What Dr Afridi did is the furthest thing from treason. It was a courageous, heroic and patriotic act, which helped to locate the most wanted terrorist in the world," Senators John McCain and Carl Levin wrote in a joint statement.

It is not clear if Dr Afridi knew who the target of the investigation was when the CIA recruited him, or what DNA he actually collected in the fake hepatitis B vaccination programme. Dr Afridi was accused of having taken half a dozen cooler boxes without authorisation.

Earlier, the Conservative legal group Judicial Watch revealed that the Obama administration arranged for Hollywood filmmakers to have special access to government officials involved in the commando operation that killed Osama bin Laden.

http://dailytimes.co...5-5-2012_pg7_13

[SUPARCO]

Dr Afridi 'weak and depressed'
Friday, May 25, 2012

PESHAWAR: The doctor sentenced to 33 years for treason after being recruited by the CIA to help find Osama bin Laden is in poor health and under medical watch, officials told AFP on Thursday.

Shakeel Afridi is being held at the central prison in Peshawar and was twice examined on Thursday by doctors who found him "weak, depressed and complaining of a bad stomach", a senior health official said.

"Afridi was first examined by a team of local doctors, then another team of senior doctors visited him in jail," the official told AFP.

"Doctors prescribed some medicine, which was immediately provided. He will remain under medical observation inside the jail."

On Wednesday, officials said the surgeon had been convicted and jailed for 33 years under the tribal justice system that has governed Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt since British colonial rule.

A jail official said Afridi was being held in a private cell with extra security, with paramilitary and commandos deployed outside. Earlier on Thursday, jail official Samad Khan said Afridi was in poor health and being kept away from other prisoners to avert any danger to his life.

A court operating under the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), which date back to the 19th century, found him guilty of waging war against the state. Afridi comes from Khyber, one of the seven districts that make up the tribal belt. But critics said he should not have been tried under tribal law for an alleged crime that took place outside tribal jurisdiction, in Abbottabad where he ran a fake vaccination programme designed to collect bin Laden family DNA.

A senior official in Khyber, Nasir Khan, defended Afridi's trial. "We have powers to try a resident of FATA under the FCR enforced in tribal areas," he told AFP. "The trial was kept secret so that no one can attack him. We did not reveal even the name of the jirga members to avoid any risk."

There have been conflicting accounts about whether Afridi was present during the proceedings. Nasir Khan said he had appeared on Wednesday when the verdict was announced in Peshawar. Under the FCR, cases are heard by a five to seven-member jirga, or council of tribal elders, along with two officials from the local political administration, he explained. afp

http://dailytimes.co...5-5-2012_pg7_15

[SUPARCO]

Pak-US tensions rise over Dr Afridi's conviction
Friday, May 25, 2012

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's problematic relationship with the United States sailed into fresh controversy on Thursday as US lawmakers warned of aid cuts after the jailing of a surgeon who helped the CIA hunt down Osama bin Laden.

Shakeeel Afridi was found guilty of treason, sentenced to 33 years in prison and fined Rs 320,000 under a tribal justice system that has governed Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt since British rule. His sentencing was announced two days after US President Barack Obama appeared to snub Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari at a NATO summit in Chicago over Islamabad's refusal to lift a six-month blockade on NATO transit rights into Afghanistan. Afridi was not entitled to a lawyer but was given a chance to defend himself and has a right to appeal the verdict, officials said.

Critics said he should not have been tried under tribal law for an alleged crime that took place outside the tribal belt, in Abbottabad where he ran a fake vaccination programme designed to collect bin Laden family DNA. The US government said Pakistan had no basis to hold Afridi, whom an official at Peshawar central jail said was in poor health and being kept away from other prisoners to avoid any danger to his life.

"Anyone who supported the United States in finding Osama bin Laden was not working against Pakistan, they were working against al Qaeda," Pentagon Press Secretary George Little told reporters.

Senators Carl Levin and John McCain, from the two major parties on the Senate Armed Services Committee, demanded Afridi be pardoned and freed "immediately", saying the decision could put US financial assistance at risk. "What Dr Afridi did is the furthest thing from treason. It was a courageous, heroic and patriotic act which helped to locate the most wanted terrorist in the world – a mass murderer who had the blood of many innocent Pakistanis on his hands," they said.

The United States has given Pakistan more than $18 billion in assistance since the September 11, 2001 attacks, but US officials have persistent concerns that some elements of the establishment have maintained support for extremists. Pakistan was tight lipped about the threatened cuts. "We respect their legislative process but obviously the case of Doctor Shakeel Afridi will be decided in accordance with Pakistani laws and by the Pakistan courts," Foreign Ministry spokesman Moazzam Ahmad Khan told AFP. Pakistani-US relations went into free fall last year, starting when a CIA contractor shot dead two Pakistanis, then over the American raid that killed bin Laden on May 2 and lastly over US air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.

After the air strikes, Pakistan shut its Afghan border to NATO supplies and ordered US staff out of an air base reportedly used as a hub for drones. In March, parliament agreed to reset US relations but on condition that Washington apologise for the soldiers' deaths and end drone attacks on its soil. Islamabad, which is understood to have given its tacit approval for the attacks on al Qaeda and Taliban targets in the past, has become increasingly vocal about its opposition to the perceived violation of national sovereignty.

In Pakistan, analysts conceded Afridi's sentencing had increased tensions with the United States, but said he could be quickly forgotten if Pakistan agrees to reopen the NATO routes, the cheapest and quickest route into Afghanistan. "There are a lot of strains in Pakistan-US relations and at this time this sentence would obviously be met by a lot of criticism in the US, particularly in Congress," said political analyst Hasan Askari. "I can't understand why they can't make their mind up. If they want to reopen it, fine, open it and if they don't want to open it, don't and face the consequences." There are many in Pakistan who believe the United States abandoned Afridi after bin Laden was killed, saying they should have taken him out of the country for his own safety, knowing that his activities would come to light. Eight months after the raid, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta confirmed that Afridi had worked for US intelligence and expressed concern about Pakistan's treatment of him. afp

http://dailytimes.co...5-5-2012_pg7_16

[SUPARCO]

Osama bin Laden wives gave little away: Pakistani interrogator
Saturday, May 26, 2012

ISLAMABAD: Osama bin Laden's three wives were fiercely loyal to him and gave little away when they were interrogated after the al Qaeda chief was killed in a US raid over a year ago, a Pakistani intelligence agent who questioned them said.

The three women were arrested by Pakistani security forces after the US Navy SEAL raid on bin Laden's safe house in Abbottabad.

Slowly puffing on a cigarette in a rundown Islamabad villa as he described months of questioning the women, the agent said he struggled to glean any worthwhile information. Yemeni-born Amal al Sadeh, the youngest of the three, was headstrong and showed fury when asked questions, while the others, Saudi citizens, expressed displeasure by mostly keeping silent behind their veils, the agent said.

All appeared to strongly support bin Laden, despite the terrorist's long and bloody record of orchestrating violence across the world. "They were all nostalgic whenever they talked about him," said the intelligence agent, a slim man in a dark suit. "I could sense Amal was always angry whenever I spoke with her," he added. "She objected to being questioned and rarely gave away anything."

But at times Amal was somewhat flexible. "Amal once told me that she and bin Laden liked Che Guevara. She seemed like a rebel so I questioned her about Latin American leftists. I found her very interesting," said the agent. It was not possible to independently confirm his account.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara was an Argentine Marxist who was a major figure in the Cuban revolution. He was executed in Bolivia in 1967. Amal, who was wounded in the raid that killed bin Laden, travelled to Afghanistan to marry bin Laden when she was 18 years old and he was in his early 40s, her father told Reuters in an interview in Yemen in 2011. "The other wives didn't say much. They were boring," said the agent.

He did not say whether other Pakistani or US officials questioned the women. He also did not give details on whether his questioning included anything about the night of the raid. reuters

http://dailytimes.co...26-5-2012_pg1_6

[SUPARCO]

Panetta all but rules out apology for Pakistan
Saturday, June 23, 2012

WASHINGTON: United States (US) Defence Secretary Leon Panetta all but ruled out an apology over an air strike last year that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and badly set back efforts to improve Pak-US ties, saying it was “time to move on”.

Pakistan banned trucks from carrying NATO supplies into neighbouring Afghanistan after the air strike, a move that costs US taxpayers $100 million a month given the need to use more expensive, longer routes to the north.

To re-open the routes, Pakistan wants to impose high tariffs on NATO supplies and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said last week that Islamabad was still seeking an unconditional apology.

But Panetta, in an interview on Thursday, suggested that past expressions of regret and condolences were enough and held out hope that troubled talks on re-opening Pakistani supply routes for the NATO war effort could succeed anyway.

Asked whether he would oppose any further apology, Panetta said, “We’ve made clear what our position is, and I think it’s time to move on.”

“If we keep going back to the past, if we keep beating up each other based on past differences, we’ll never get anywhere,” he said.

“The time now is to move forward with this relationship, on the (supply routes), on the safe havens, on dealing with terrorism – on dealing with the issues that frankly both of us are concerned about,” Panetta said.

Panetta acknowledged pressures building in Congress to put conditions on aid to Pakistan.

“It’s not something that we’re pushing in the Congress. But the reality is that the more problems we have, the more difficult it’s going to be in the Congress to continue to provide assistance without conditions,” Panetta said. reuters

http://dailytimes.co...ry_23-6-2012_pg7_5

[SUPARCO]

Salaam,

Blockade of Nato supply routes has entered the eighth month.

Salaam.

[SUPARCO]

US pays high price for Pakistan route cut-off: admiral
Wednesday June 27, 2012




WASHINGTON: Moving supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan via Central Asia costs three times as much as routes through Pakistan, which Islamabad shut seven months ago in anger, a senior US officer said Wednesday.

"On the ground, it's almost three times more expensive to come from the north as it does from Pakistan. More expensive and slower," said Vice Admiral Mark Harnitchek, director of the Defense Logistics Agency.

NATO now uses an alternative network of northern routes that pass through Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Transporting a container from the United States to Afghanistan costs about $20,000, he told a group of defense reporters.

But the cost of ferrying cargo to the Pakistani port of Karachi and then over roads to the Afghan border amounts to only a third of that price, he said.

Pakistan imposed a blockade on NATO supply convoys after 24 of its soldiers were killed in a US air strike in November along the Afghan border.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said earlier this month that the Pakistan border closure costs the United States an additional $100 million a month.

Before the route cut-off, about 30-40 percent of the fuel used by coalition forces came through Pakistan.

Fuel is now transported over land via the northern routes, while food is flown in on cargo aircraft, he said.

"It was challenging initially and we took a bit of a dip there in terms of days of supply. But now our stocks of food and fuel have never been higher," Harnitchek said.

The supply routes will be on the agenda when the commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen, meets his counterparts in Pakistan on Wednesday, officials said.

US officials raised expectations in May that a deal was imminent with Pakistan on the reopening of the routes, but no announcement came and Washington withdrew its team of negotiators.

The United States has refused to issue a formal apology over the air strikes, despite appeals from Pakistan.

Amid continued deadlock, the Pentagon on Wednesday expressed hope that a deal eventually could be reached on the supply routes.

"I think there is reason for optimism. I think we're reaching a point in our relationship with Pakistan that suggests that things are settling down a bit," spokesman George Little told reporters at a Pentagon briefing.

"I think the basis for some kind of agreement on the GLOCs (ground lines of communication) is there and is real and we hope that we reach a resolution," he said. (AFP)

http://www.geo.tv/Ge...l.aspx?ID=56316

[Dizasta]

"On the ground, it's almost three times more expensive to come from the north as it does from Pakistan. More expensive and slower," said Vice Admiral Mark Harnitchek, director of the Defense Logistics Agency.

Transporting a container from the United States to Afghanistan costs about $20,000, he told a group of defense reporters.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said earlier this month that the Pakistan border closure costs the United States an additional $100 million a month. Before the route cut-off, about 30-40 percent of the fuel used by coalition forces came through Pakistan.

The reason why it is cheaper to have US-NATO supplies through Pakistan, is because the illiterate, uneducated, thieves, murderers, criminals of zardari-ppp (and PML-N, PML-Q, PML-F, JSQM, PML-Ju, BNP, MMA, MQM, ANP), are happy to receive scraps, since all of it will be pocketed by them.

[Simpleton]

http://youtu.be/rwF_mlI-8F0

dunya news reporter goes to Salala. Shows there's no way that NATO or ISAF didn't know about Pak Army posts. The Pak Army had cleared the area by the 18th and from then to 26th there was lots of coordination. The posts were well marked with Pak flags, as well as being within clear visual range of ISAF/NATO bases across the border without the need for binoculars. The U.S used at least six airborne assets which included 2 apache gunships, 2 f-15 1 ac-130, and a surveillance asset. The U.S forces used up all their munitions including the use of Hellfire and each Pakistani soul was targeted individually by the Americans. The Pakistani posts did not engage in any instigating activity that could be misconstrued by the U.S. The U.S. first attacked Volcano, at which point Maj. Mujahid at Boulder post used whatever means available to him to aid Volcano post, and then Boulder was also targeted.

Just ignore the idiotic self-important commentary upon the difficulty faced by the reporter to climb up to the posts but otherwise offers good insight.