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Pak tightens border QUETTA (PAKISTAN), Nov 15: Pakistan has stepped up security along its southern borders with Afghanistan in case Saudi-born militant Osama Bin ........more NAM
shall work unitedly UNITED NATIONS, Nov 15: Warning that terrorists might lay their hands on weapons of mass destruction, India has asked the Non Aligned......more Mullah Omar in Kandahar, controls Taliban: AIP ISLAMABAD, Nov 15: Saudi-born militant Osama Bin Laden, the world’s most wanted man, and his protector the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad ......more US
hopes firmer ties WASHINGTON, Nov 15: The United States has hoped that its strengthening of relations with both India and Pakistan would provide the two neighbours ....more |
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UNSC adopts resolution UNITED NATIONS, Nov 15: The UN Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution supporting the international community’s efforts to provide....more US
not to endorse WASHINGTON, Nov 15: The United States is not prepared to endorse a UN call for a multi-national security force to police the Afghan capital while the........more Time
stands still on ANJOMAN PASS (AFGHANISTAN), Nov 15: As a caravan of horses wound its way slowly up the Anjoman Pass, only the gentle songs of their Afghan masters broke the snow-muffled ..........more White House sees illegal drug use slowing in America MEXICO CITY, Nov 15: The top White House drug official has said illegal drug use in america had slowed and........more |
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Pak tightens border fearing Laden entry QUETTA (PAKISTAN), Nov 15: Pakistan has stepped up security along its southern borders with Afghanistan in case Saudi-born militant Osama Bin Laden tries to sneak into the country to evade a US hunt, border officials said today. "We have tightened security on the border to check the entry of people after hearing rumors that Osama Bin Laden may try to cross into Pakistan," one border official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. On the Afghan side of the border, many more Taliban troops were also patrolling in trucks and heavily armed with weapons and rocket launchers, the official said as they apparently tried to prevent the entry of tribals eager to seize power in the south from the embattled fundamentalist militia. The official reported a heavy US aerial bombardment in Kandahar and Spin Boldak, near the border, but said there no reports of fighting in Kandahar, bastion of Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. The bombardment was at its fiercest when Taliban trucks of troops retreated back toward Kandahar, the border official said. (REUTERS) |
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NAM shall work unitedly for elimination of nuke weapons UNITED NATIONS, Nov 15: Warning that terrorists might lay their hands on weapons of mass destruction, India has asked the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) countries to work unitedly for total elimination of nuclear weapons. While the principal nuclear weapon powers have taken "welcome" steps to draw down their arsenals and reduce tensions, the danger posed by nuclear weapons would remain as long such arms exist, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said while addressing the NAM ministerial meeting here yesterday. "Now, more than ever, in the awareness of the even more danger posed by terrorists who might lay their hands on weapons of mass destruction, the movement must work unitedly for a total nuclear disarmament, our original," he said. Stressing that terrorism should be defeated through every "legal" means at the disposal of the international community, Singh also emphasized the need to launch a collective fight against poverty. "If all civilized countries, whether rich or poor, have a common interest in working together to overcome global challenges and shaping a shared future, we will need a war against poverty much as we collectively wage war against terrorism," he said. Reminding the developing nations that many of them face violence brought about by political, economic and social stresses, Singh said poverty takes more lives daily than the worst conflicts do. The Minister lamented that all are bound by the decisions of the United Nations Security Council on which the movement has no permanent member. "Most of us are props, rather than actors, on the world’s economic stage." Urging members to act together, Singh said NAM must speak with once voice at major international conference if it has to be effective. "We must promote our collective interests. We can do that only if we are united and if we can hold a true dialogue with our partners," he said. The movement, he added, needs to recover the vigour of its heyday. "In disarmament, on political matters, on international legal issues, on human rights, even on peacekeeping, the more it speaks with one voice, acting as representative, the greater the chances of our collective interest being promoted," he said. Singh said it was once a norm for NAM to be the sole negotiator on behalf of the developing world on many of these issues. "For quite sometime now, this has become the exception than the rule. This must change," he told the meeting.(PTI) |
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Mullah Omar in Kandahar, controls Taliban: AIP ISLAMABAD, Nov 15: Saudi-born militant Osama Bin Laden, the world’s most wanted man, and his protector the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar have said they would stand defiant and choose death over compromise, media said. "America can never arrest Osama Bin Laden alive," spokesman Mullah Abdullah told the Pakistan-based AIP of the man who is suspect number one in the September 11 suicide airliner attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center and sliced into the Pentagon. "Osama has already decided that death will be preferable to being arrested by America," Abdullah said. He dismissed rumours that Bin Laden had been caught in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have been routed from one province after another in a matter of days. "I called my headquarters in Kandahar at 1000 Ist this morning and there was no mention of Bin Laden." Confusion surrounded the control of Kandahar, with the Taliban saying it held the city, the opposition Northern Alliance saying the town was in chaos and a tribal leader in the area saying the Taliban have thrown up a defensive circle round their last major bastion in Afghanistan. Local ethnic Pashtun tribal leaders were also advancing on the city, their representatives said, apparently eager to seize power from the Taliban before the mainly minority Tajik and Uzbek Northern Alliance reach there. Mullah Omar’s message, relayed by a spokesman in an interview with the BBC Pashtun service, was defiant. He said his forces would regroup and fight on, and would prefer death to participation in any broad-based Government imposed on the country. "The Taliban might have committed some mistakes but it is a big development for them to regroup and reorganise," Omar was quoted as saying. "Four to five provinces are still in our control," he said, speaking two days after the capital, Kabul, fell into the hands of the Northern Alliance while his fundamentalist turbaned fighters retreated under cover of darkness. "It makes no difference if we control one, two or 20 provinces. Once we did not even have a single province, but later we captured all the provinces," he said of his militia’s race to power in the mid-1990s when they too swept into kabul in a day without a shot fired. "We have lost the captured provinces but it makes no difference." Asked whether the Taliban would participate in a future broad-based Government, Omar was quoted as saying: "We would prefer death to the Government of fascists." The Taliban’s reclusive leader, who lost an eye doing battle with the Soviet invaders in the 1980s, was in his bastion in the southern city of Kandahar and in command of his Taliban forces, spokesman Abdullah told the Pakistan-based AIP said. "Amirul Momineen (leader of the faithful) is at a safe location in Kandahar, he is not hurt," Abdullah said. "The command is still in the hands of Mullah Omar. The Taliban are completely obeying him," the spokesman said. The bombardment on Thursday was one of the heaviest since the United States launched its attacks 40 days ago to punish the Taliban and hunt down Bin Laden, officials said. (REUTERS) |
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US hopes firmer ties with India, Pak will bring peace in S Asia WASHINGTON, Nov 15: The United States has hoped that its strengthening of relations with both India and Pakistan would provide the two neighbours an opportunity to explore new ways to bring stability in South Asia region. However, it said it was not possible now to speculate about future Indo-Pak relations though the two countries were in the US-led coalition against global terrorism. "Our improved relations with these two South Asian rivals may now present an opportunity for both countries to explore new ways of thinking about stability on the sub-continent," Secretary of State Colin Powell wrote in the "electronic journal" of the State Department. He emphasised that global terrorism posed a multidimensional threat and "this will be a long, hard campaign, measured in years and fought on many fronts. For such an effort, our coalition will have the flexibility to evolve." Asked if India and Pakistan are closer to settling the Kashmir problem when they are in the same coalition and would work within Afghanistan after the military aspect is over, State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said "I am not sure I would draw these conclusions at this point." He said the two countries were interested in doing what they can. "They each have important contributions to make. We have had very good discussions with the Indian Government and they have, frankly, over time, a lot of history of helping out in Afghanistan with economic development, things like that. Pakistan obviously has a very important role as a neighbour, too." Powell said well before September 11 terrorist attacks on the US President George W Bush made it clear that "putting our relationship with India on a higher plane is one of his highest priorities. With the strong support we have received from the Indian Government since September 11, we are seizing the opportunity to accelerate the pace of change. "We have also seized opportunities to improve our relations with Pakistan. President (Pervez) Musharraf made the strategic decision to end his Government’s support of the taliban. As a result of the actions taken by Pakistan in support of our campaign, we can see the beginning of a strengthened relationship that will grow and thrive in the years ahead," Powell wrote. (PTI) |
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UNSC adopts resolution supporting security measures in Afghanistan UNITED NATIONS, Nov 15: The UN Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution supporting the international community’s efforts to provide security and work towards a political settlement in Afghanistan following the collapse of Taliban forces. The 15-member council voted for the British-French resolution encouraging all countries "to support efforts to ensure the safety and security of areas of Afghanistan no longer under Taliban control, and in particular to ensure respect for Kabul as the capital for all the Afghan people." The resolution does not explicitly provide for an international force but provides enough authority for coalition troops already in Afghanistan to help maintain law and order in Kabul and areas vacated by the Taliban. Diplomats said the provision authorised US and Britain to provide the security initially. Besides, France and Russia have offered troops and Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey and Bangladesh have also shown interest to join the force. The UN has said it would like a group of countries to provide security under authorisation of the council but is opposed to peacekeeping or the security forces under UN command, arguing that it would take a long time to organise such a force. The resolution also calls for convening an urgent meeting of the various Afghan factions to form a broad based multi-ethnic provisional Government which respects human rights of all people, combats terrorism and fights drug trafficking. Lakhdar Brahimi, Annan’s special representative to Afghanistan, told the council yesterday that the UN should convene a conference with the Northern Alliance and representatives of factions backed by Iran and Pakistan "as soon as humanly possible." The council has welcomed his statement and call on all the parties "to accept his invitation to that meeting without delay, in good faith and without preconditions." Brahimi has also decided to send his deputy for political affairs, Francesc Vendrell, to Afghanistan to gather representatives from the factions. He would later head for the emirates. Meanwhile, reports from the emirates said that the country had agreed to the UN request to host the meeting of the Afghan factions to discuss Afghanistan’s political future. Afghan conference "The United Arab Emirates has agreed to a UN request to host a conference of Afghan factions," the Abu Dhabi television said. "The aim of the conference, expected to be held within the next few days, will be to form a broad-based Government in Afghanistan", the network said. (PTI) |
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US not to endorse multinational security force to police Kabul WASHINGTON, Nov 15: The United States is not prepared to endorse a UN call for a multi-national security force to police the Afghan capital while the world body works with Afghan groups to set up an interim Government, media report said quoting US officials. They rejected UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi’s call in the Security Council for the formation of such a force, from mainly Muslim countries, "as early as humanly possible," The Washington Times said. A senior State Department official and other sources told the paper that the US has in fact "never been hot on" using UN forces to deal with the volatile, proud and warlike Afghans. The Bush Administration, the official said, would prefer to see an all-Afghan security force replace the Taliban. The US, the paper said yesterday, is also reluctant to see UN member nations or officials do more in Afghanistan than reinforce the sense of security, prevent human rights violations and distribute humanitarian relief. "We are asking two questions: do we need some international role in an interim administration, and do we need some role in an interim security arrangement?" said the official on condition of anonymity. "Those are not yet decided by the administration or the international community. The chief thrust is to get the Afghans to organize themselves as soon as possible into a broad-based Government." The paper also quoted "a source" as being not only cool to the idea of an international force but "especially reluctant to see a troop presence in Afghanistan from neighbouring Pakistan, where President Pervez Musharraf yesterday offered such a role." Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that he remains more concerned with pursuing Osama bin Laden and his supporters. "First priority," he said, "is unquestionably tracking down the leadership in Al Qaeda and Taliban. I would say the second priority is destroying the Taliban and Al Qaeda’s military capability, which is what props up that leadership, and tracking it down, finding it, and destroying it. Third (priority is) to create a presence that is professional and will be stabilising in those cities. And fourth (is to) begin the kinds of humanitarian assistance that these people are clearly going to need." Under Brahimi’s proposal, the UN would organize a multi-ethnic Government, possibly headed by ex-king Zahir Shah, to serve for two years. During that period, a loya jirga or grand council of prominent Afghans would draw up a constitution. A second gathering would approve and create a permanent Afghan Government.(PTI) |
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Time stands still on Hindu Kush ANJOMAN PASS (AFGHANISTAN), Nov 15: As a caravan of horses wound its way slowly up the Anjoman Pass, only the gentle songs of their Afghan masters broke the snow-muffled silence. The Hindu Kush, the forbidding mountain range, which straddles northeastern Afghanistan, has tested history’s great conquerors and still has the power to defeat modern-day invaders. And for a brief moment during the US-led war against the ruling Taliban, it provided enterprising locals with an opportunity to make money. In winter, the most powerful four-wheel drive vehicles are useless on the 5,000 metre Anjoman Pass, the land route from rugged northeastern Afghanistan to the capital Kabul. "So what now?" asked a television cameraman when the car refused to move forward or back in knee-deep snow. "Horses," said the driver, flashing a gold-toothed smile. Within an hour, 12 horses and guides were ready to go for a fee of 60 dollars each. The price, said the driver, was at least six times the local rate. Three journalists, two television cameras, video editing equipment, a generator, satellite telephones and bottled water were loaded high on the backs of the downtrodden horses. The guides, in thin jackets and Wellington boots, were in good humour on the steep trek through thin mountain air to the top of the pass. A falcon glided below. Even the occasional tiger is said to roam the Hindu Kush, or "Hindu killer", which got its name many centuries ago after thousands of slaves brought from India died in its snow-blocked mountains. At the summit, the spectacular views of craggy peaks and glacier melt lakes were left behind. The horses kicked up snow as they descended into the winding passage that leads eventually to the Panjsher Valley and the lush Shomali plain to the north of Kabul. The mystical passes of the Hindu Kush once provided the access to the northern plains of India for Alexander the great and the Tartar Hordes of Genghis Khan. Indian armies pushing north came unstuck and the abandoned wrecks of tanks bear testament to the ill-fated Soviet invasion in 1979 that ended in defeat a decade later. More recently, the mountains divided territory held by Afghanistan’s opposition Northern Alliance, which finally captured and entered Kabul on November 13 after fighting its hardline Taliban rulers for five years. With no operational airstrip, resupplying troops on the front line north of Kabul was all but impossible in the winter months. Until US forces started their bombing campaign against the Taliban in October, the opposition had made little headway. After six hours on the mountain, darkness set in and the wearied horses started faltering on the icy track. Home for the night was the mud floor of a freezing stable. It was a seller’s market. The initial asking price was 200 dollars a night — comparable with hotel rates in international capital cities. But with Kabul in the hands of the Northern Alliance, that seller’s market will be short-lived — unless a hoped-for peace in post-Taliban Afghanistan proves elusive. (REUTERS) |
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White House sees illegal drug use slowing in America MEXICO CITY, Nov 15: The top White House drug official has said illegal drug use in america had slowed and cocaine consumption was falling. Edward Jurith, Acting Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the Bush administration had good news from a recent national survey of 70,000 households on the use of illicit drugs. "That survey showed that drug use in america is relatively flat. The abuse of cocaine, marijuana and heroin are not increasing. In fact, we were pleased that our cocaine use level was at the lowest ever," Jurith said during a visit to Mexico. The survey indicated that seven per cent of Americans used drugs in the previous month, down from 14 per cent in 1980, he told a news conference. It showed cocaine use had dropped 70 per cent since 1985 and drug use was declining among young people. "Our drug trends are relatively flat right now and that’s good news," Jurith told a news conference. "We still have a high drug use problem, with 14 million users and five million addicts, but we’ve made significant progress in the past two decades in reducing prevalence of drug use in the United States." US President George W Bush has made reducing demand a centerpiece of his drug control effort, and Jurith was here for a bilateral meeting on the issue. Jurith said Bush plans to increase treatment funding by 1.6 billion dollars over five years, boost community-based prevention programmes and promote public education through the media. Unlike the United States, Mexico has seen cocaine use grow sharply in the past decade. Mexico is a key transport route for andean cocaine headed to the United States, and in recent years traffickers have begun paying for passage with drugs instead of dollars, said Guido Belsasso, National Anti-addiction Commissioner in the Mexican Health Ministry. He and Jurith said new trafficking patterns may be emerging in light of tightened security at the US-Mexico border following the September 11 aerial attacks on New York and Washington, with more of the drugs possibly remaining in Mexico and central America. After years of joint efforts that have often been marred by suspicion and hostility, the United States and Mexico appear to have opened a new chapter in cooperation in fighting the drug trade. The two Governments released a joint statement yesterday saying they would share information and coordinate efforts to reduce demand while continuing to fight powerful drug cartels that ship cocaine and other drugs through Mexico and into the United States. "Because we are neighbours who share a border, a culture and a future, there is no alternative to cooperation in the campaign against drug use and its consequences," Bush said in a letter to officials attending the three-day bilateral meeting. (REUTERS) |
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