DPAOctober 6th, 2009
CAIRO - A car bombing at a market near the western Iraqi city of Fallujah killed at least nine people Tuesday, al-Jazeera reported.
Officials in the town of Amiriya said at least 31 people were injured. The explosion also set several nearby cars on fire.
In a separate incident, an insurgent was killed in the western city of Ramadi as he tried to hide explosives in the city centre, Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported.
Azerbaijan's Qabala radar station
October 06, 2009BAKU -- Six people have been found guilty of terrorism and sentenced to long jail terms by a court in Baku, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani and Russian services report.
Two of those found guilty of treason and espionage were from Lebanon and received 15-year sentences, while four Azerbaijanis were sentenced to 12 and 14 years in prison.
They were all convicted of having taken part in preparing terrorist acts in Azerbaijan and also found guilty of smuggling illegal weapons and drugs.
Prosecutors said the group planned to attack the Israeli Embassy in Baku and the Qabala (Gabala) radar station.
The trial was held behind closed doors.
The lawyers for the defendants said after the trial that their clients are innocent of the charges.
THE resurfacing of Baitullah's successor, Hakimullah, with Waliur Rehman his alleged rival right beside him, certainly casts serious doubts on official claims that these leaders had been killed. But a more pertinent issue arises on the strategy to deal with the Taliban and other extremist groups perpetrating terrorism in Pakistan. Clearly, the militaristic approach cannot work in isolation. Even when the military clears one area of terrorists, they simply re-emerge elsewhere, where the writ of the state is weak. Interestingly, there are also rumours that most of the Al-Qaeda leaders and the Taliban linked to them, have either died or moved out into other Muslim lands, primarily Arab. So in many ways the Taliban structures have become decentralised and functionally autonomous. In such a situation, the military's strategy of surrounding the militants in FATA, using covert means to disrupt them from within and using positive financial lures was a more comprehensive and viable approach. Now the US is determined to undermine this and compel the military into launching a full scale, conventional military action into FATA which will have serious repercussions for the country - including impacting our security on the Eastern border with a presently belligerent India. To make matters worse, Interior Minister Malik has declared that we will fight till we have rid the country of the last Taliban. Such ridiculous declarations make little sense since when will we know there are no more Taliban in Pakistan? Can we devise a way to read people's minds or see what is in their hearts? The only way we can ensure the end of extremist militancy and terrorism is to bring the marginalised people into the mainstream, to ensure security for the ordinary people and to give them access to speedy justice. Otherwise we will continue to see the backlash of a singularly punitive approach in the form of acts of terror across the country.
The suicide bombing of the WFP office in Islamabad reflects this fallout of a military approach where operation areas are not sealed off - which they cannot realistically be in one's own country. If this is the result of Taliban on the run, it is a result we cannot afford to tolerate. If the war on terror is against non state actors, then the peace must also be made with non state actors - but from a position of state strength which requires assertion of the writ of the state. This does not simply imply the use of force, but through all the economic, political and social tools available to the state. Wherever peace has come, it has come through this route, including in Northern Ireland. Of course, it should also be remembered that the rising tide of terrorism in Pakistan is directly related to the Pakistani state's increasing submission to US diktat.
M Saleem Pandit, TNN 7 October 2009, 03:07am ISTSRINAGAR: At least four people, including two troopers, were injured when militants hurled a grenade at a BSF vehicle at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on
Tuesday.
Kashmir range IG Farooq Ahmed said the vehicle was partially damaged in the blast. He identified the four injured as BSF troopers Shambu Singh and Om Prakash and pedestrians Mushtaq Ahmad Jan and Showkat Ahmad Chattabal.
A little known militant outfit Jamiat-ul-Mujhideen claimed responsibility for the blast, a local news agency reported.
Farooq said the police have identified the militants responsible for recent grenade attacks in the city. "We're hopeful that we'll arrest militants responsible for the Tuesday's attack as well,'' he said.
This was the second attack on security forces in a week. Three CRPF men were killed when terrorists fired at a patrol near a bus stop in north Kashmir town of Sopore on Tuesday last.
Meanwhile, one army jawan was injured in a gunbattle with terrorists at Pampore in south Kashmir's Pulwama district. "The encounter started after troops laid a siege around a terrorist hideout,'' a police officer said.
Source said security forces have launched a massive manhunt to track down around 10 militants who fled the encounter scene. "They are believed to be hiding in a forested area near Pampore, famous for its saffron production,'' a source said. The security forces started the operation following a tip off on the terrorist presence in the area.
7 Oct 2009, 0759 hrs IST, ET Bureau
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NEW DELHI: In a bone-chilling demonstration of red terror, Left-wing extremists beheaded an officer of the Jharkhand police, Francis Induwar, who
they had abducted five days ago. The officer’s mutilated body was found on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway on Tuesday morning.
CPI(Maoist) claimed responsibility for the brutal murder. “Francis has been awarded death to protest police repression,” a note found near the body stated.
Incidentally, Induwar’s beheading comes days after a local Maoist leader in Jharkhand sought that the officer be swapped for three arrested Maoist leaders — Kobad Ghandy, Chattradhar Mahato and Bhushan Yadav.
Union home minister P Chidambaram denied that any demand was communicated either to the Centre or the state government for a swap deal.
Reacting with outrage at the cold-blooded killing, the minister said that even if a swap demand had been made, there was no question of considering it. “We are governed by the rule of the law. Prisoners are under custody of the court, we cannot swap prisoners with those who are outside the law, who take law into their own hands,” he told a news channel.
“If there were any other genuine developmental demands that could have been considered. But the DGP tells me that no demand was placed upon the government. And all that they found was the mutilated body. They (Naxalites) had killed him in cold blood,” said Mr Chidambaram.
Ranchi DIG R K Mallik told news agencies that Induwar’s body was identified and sent for post-mortem. “Maoists killed him by slitting his throat.” There were however some conflicting reports on the timing of Induwar’s murder, with intelligence inputs indicating that he may have been killed over two days back.
Induwar was abducted on the evening of September 30 from the Hembrum market in Khuti district, about 65 km from here, where he had gone to collect information from a contact. On Saturday, a person calling himself Samarji and claiming to be secretary of the Maoist South Chotanagpur Committee of Jharkhand put forward the conditions for releasing Induwar.
“The abducted police inspector of intelligence department is in our possession. He is safe. He will be released after arrested leaders — Kobad Ghandy, Chatradhar Mahato and Bhushan Yadav — are released,” local newspapers had quoted Samarji as saying. Police suspect the role of the Kundan Pahan group in the killing. It is active in the border areas of Ranchi, Khuti and Jamshedpur.
The US president appears to have ruled out shrinking the war in Afghanistan to a smaller, counterterrorism effort, but gave no clear signal on whether he would send more troops to fight in the eight-year-old war.
Obama says he wants a clear strategy going forward before deciding on troop strength [Reuters]
Barack Obama met Republican and Democratic leaders of key war oversight and appropriations committees at the White House on Tuesday, part of an extensive review of the war effort in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The politicians praised Obama for his candour and interest in listening, but emerged from the 90-minute closed-door meeting much as they entered: Republicans pushing Obama to follow his military commanders' advice to boost troop numbers and Democrats saying he should not be rushed.
The president himself did no show his hand on either the 40,000 more soldiers his commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, wants, or a smaller build-up, officials said.
Extreme options dropped
But Obama did try to "dispense with the more extreme options on either side of the debate", as one administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, put it.
The president made clear he would not build up US forces into the hundreds of thousands, just as he ruled out reducing the campaign to a counterterrorism effort, with a large scale withdrawal and an emphasis on special operations forces focused on the region bordering Pakistan, senior aides said.
In video
A recent report by McChrystal, the head of US and Nato troops in Afghanistan, said the military mission risked failure unless more US troops were sent.
McChrystal is understood to be seeking between 30,000 and 40,000 more troops to be deployed, but some Obama administration officials have expressed concerns that too large a US military presence runs the risk of alienating the Afghan population.
Obama, who has already added 21,000 troops to the campaign this year, raising the total to 68,000 US troops, is under growing pressure from the US public and his political opponents over the war, which marks its eighth year on Wednesday.
Nearly 900 US soldiers have died in the war which was launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US after Afghanistan's Taliban rulers were accused of sheltering al-Qaeda fighters and leaders.
And the number of fatalities this year – more than 230 - is already the highest in a year so far.
The White House said prior to Tuesday's meeting that Obama considered it "tremendously important" to listen to congress about the war but would not base his decision on the mood on Capitol Hill or waning public support for the war.
"The president is going to make a decision - popular or unpopular - based on what he thinks is in the best interests of the country," Robert Gibbs, his press secretary, told reporters.
The president gave no timetable for a decision on troop numbers, which prompted a sharp exchange with John McCain, his Republican opponent in last year's election, according to officials at Tuesday's meeting.
Obama told the legislators he would show urgency but also be deliberate and decide on troop numbers only after settling on the strategy ahead.
Support and opposition
Harry Reid, the Democratic senate majority leader, said Democrats and Republicans told the president during the meeting that they would rally behind him whatever decision he made.
"The one thing that I think was interesting is that everyone, Democrats and Republicans, said, 'Whatever decision you make, we'll support it,' basically," Reid said. But Mitch McConnell, the senior Republican in the senate, put it differently.
"I think Republicans will be able to make the decisions for themselves," he said, adding, however, that a significant number of Republicans would back Obama's next move if he listened to his military commanders.
John Boehner, the House Republican leader, said he recognised that Obama had "a tough decision, and he wants ample time to make a good decision".
"Frankly, I support that, but we need to remember that every day that goes by, the troops that we do have there are in greater danger," he added.
Mike Soraghan, a congressional correspondent for The Hill newspaper, told Al Jazeera that US politicians were beginning to "go to their corners and stake out positions" on Afghanistan.
"A lot of Democrats are coming out against this plan by McChrystal ... they are expressing strong doubts about it. [But] Republicans are very much supporting the idea of escalating the war," he said.
"If [Obama] is going to order 40,000 more troops, he will probably need Republican votes to sustain that. It would probably come down to a vote on funding [for the war] next year."
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: In view of increased diplomatic pressure from the international community, especially from the US, to act swiftly against the Taliban; reports now suggested that Pakistan is now trying to push in surrendered militants into India.
According to intelligence inputs, Pak’s spy agency the ISI has given the surrendered Taliban fighters, as a result of its military offensive against the militia in the tribal regions, two options: Either rot in jail or continue with terrorism, but this time across the Line of Control (LoC) in India.
Intelligence agencies have recently intercepted telephonic conversations between top ISI officials and Taliban commanders about carrying more infiltration bids in the days to come.
With the continued military and financial aid from the US, Pakistan had increased pressure on the Taliban militia and tactically devised this new strategy of turning militia’s loss into its advantage. ISI wants to take advantage of Taliban’s experience of fighting the American forces and their knowledge of modern warfare against India in a clandestine manner.
However, the Indian security agencies and armed forces are fully prepared for Taliban’s possible attempt to push its fighters into the Indian side.
As per intelligence reports, as many as 60 Taliban fighters are waiting for the right time to infiltrate into the Indian side by crossing the LoC. Pakistan military choppers are being used to evacuate and carry surrendered Taliban fighters near the Indian border.
As of now, the Indian intelligence agencies are closely monitored the activities across the international border since ISI actually supports infiltration attempts along LoC.
According to reports, the inputs gathered by the intelligence agencies and the situation arising out of it were thoroughly discussed during a meeting of a high-powered central team led by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar and comprising Home Secretary G K Pillai, Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar and other senior officials in Srinagar.
Source: reuters
Mon Oct 5, 2009 1:28pm EDT
WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama faces key decisions in the coming weeks on the war in Afghanistan, where insurgent violence has reached its highest level since the Taliban was ousted from power in late 2001.
On one side of the White House debate are proposals to send 30,000 to 40,000 additional troops and trainers as part of a beefed-up counterinsurgency strategy advocated by the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
On the other side are proposals, backed by Vice President Joe Biden, to narrow the mission in Afghanistan and concentrate instead on attacking al Qaeda targets along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and in Pakistan itself.
Obama could opt for a hybrid approach, officials said, whereby the administration would increase the number of troops in Afghanistan by a more modest amount and at the same time push for a more concerted campaign against al Qaeda and Taliban "safe havens" along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and within Pakistani territory.
Washington has 65,000 troops in Afghanistan and that figure is expected to reach 68,000 later this year. Other nations, mainly NATO allies, have some 39,000 troops in the country.
The following are some possible courses of action Obama could choose to adopt:
BIG TROOP INCREASE
Top Republicans in Congress and some analysts believe the Afghan war effort is under-resourced despite this year's troop increases and requires a further big boost in military forces.
They have thrown their support behind McChrystal, who in a confidential assessment warned policymakers that the war would end in failure without additional troops and changes in strategy aimed at gaining the trust of the Afghan people.
But signing off on a 30,000 to 40,000 troop increase would be politically difficult for Obama due to the unease within his own Democratic party and fatigue among the American public after eight years of war in Afghanistan and six in Iraq.
It would also raise concerns among U.S. officials that Afghans will see NATO and U.S. forces as hostile occupiers if their presence is too large. Gates has in the past voiced this concern, although he has since said he accepts McChrystal's argument that Afghans' perceptions will be driven more by how the troops behave than their numbers.
MODERATE TROOP INCREASE
Obama could decide to add around 10,000 to 15,000 troops to provide more combat power and increase the training of Afghan forces. McChrystal's predecessor, U.S. Army General David McKiernan, had already signaled he wanted some 10,000 extra troops in 2010.
With the insurgency still strong in the south, regaining ground in the east and making new inroads in other parts of the country, the request for a moderate increase in troops may now be seen by military officers as the very minimum required. Politically, this option would provoke some opposition within Obama's party but probably not enough to make the administration change course.
PULL BACK
While Biden is the leading proponent of narrowing the mission in Afghanistan, he may not be the only skeptic at the White House when it comes to another troop surge.
National security adviser James Jones has made clear that more options are being considered.
Some analysts and commentators have argued that U.S. forces should withdraw from Afghanistan and stop devoting large amounts of resources to nation-building and fighting Taliban militants. Influential conservative columnist George Will voiced support for this option last month, arguing the United States should "do only what can be done from offshore."
But Defense Secretary Robert Gates has rejected the notion the war could be fought from a distance and dismissed talk of a U.S. military withdrawal as out of the question.
McChrystal, in a speech in London last week, said such a strategy would probably be short sighted.
HYBRID OPTION
Some officials and analysts said a moderate increase in troop levels could be paired with a stepped-up counterterrorism strategy, in partnership with Islamabad, to root out al Qaeda and Taliban strongholds in Pakistan.
Pakistan has mobilized its forces to launch a long awaited ground offensive against Taliban militants in their South Waziristan stronghold near the Afghan border.
Washington wants Islamabad to target "all insurgents" -- not just those threatening its power but also groups leading the fight against NATO in neighboring Afghanistan.
HOLD STEADY
Obama could decide to maintain the U.S. troop level at around 68,000. That figure represents an increase of about 36,000 since the start of the year.
(Reporting by Adam Entous and Andrew Gray; Editing by Patricia Wilson and Philip Barbara)
Basque tuna-fishing vessel Alakrana
A Spanish judge has charged two Somali pirates from a gang which hijacked a Basque tuna-fishing vessel last week with terrorism and kidnapping.
According to Spanish radio station RNE, Spain's High Court judge Baltasar Garzon charged the two men with terrorism and kidnapping. The two suspected pirates had
been captured as they navigated a small boat in the vicinity of the Alakrana. The two had just come off the Alakrana aboard a motorized skiff that carried 14 containers of fuel, rescue force commander Gen. Jaime Dominguez said.
One of the suspected pirates was shot and slightly wounded as Spanish naval personnel boarded the skiff, Dominguez said.
The Spanish-owned fishing boat Alakrana was hijacked by pirates early Friday. It is being monitored by two navy warships, Dominguez said.
Spanish frigate Canarias and Dutch warship Germinal caught up with the tuna-fishing vessel during the night and shadowed it as it made for the Somali coast, Domiguez said.
Dominguez did not specify which port the Alakrana had arrived at.
The boat had been fishing for tuna 800 miles from the nearest navy escort when it was boarded by pirates. It was the second attack on the Alakrana in less than a month after the captain had to take evasive action to dodge a pirate approach on Sept. 4.
Sun Oct 4, 2009 3:05pm EDT
MADRID, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The Spanish navy arrested two pirates on Sunday from a Somali gang which hijacked a Spanish tuna-fishing vessel in the Indian Ocean last week, state radio RNE said.
Spain dispatched the naval vessel "Canarias" on Friday after discovering that the "Alakrana", with 36 crew on board, had been captured while fishing off the coast of Somalia. [ID:nL2127916]
General Jaime Dominguez said a navy helicopter intercepted a skiff in which two of the pirates were trying to make their way ashore from the "Alakrana", which was anchored 135 nautical miles off the Somali coast.
"During the arrest, and as a consequence of a threatening response by one of the pirates, the latter was lightly wounded," Dominguez told RNE.
"We will not do anything that might put the wellbeing of the fishermen at risk," he added.
RNE added that High Court Judge Baltasar Garzon had charged the two men with terrorism and kidnapping. (Reporting by Martin Roberts)
| Mon, 10/05/2009 8:59 AM | Opinion
The Indonesian Military (TNI) has been the dominant player in the country’s political and security affairs ever since its establishment 64 years ago. Such a role – though significantly reduced after the reform movement marked by the downfall of military man president Soeharto in May 1998 – can still be felt to date as there are still a number of commitments it has yet to fulfill. Today, on its anniversary, we feel obliged to remind the nation again how to maximize the benefits we can take from the TNI while still sticking to principles of civilian supremacy.
We have always been thankful for the military, which has always been at the ready whenever natural disasters hit the country. It has been at the forefront in evacuation and rescue operations, including in the latest West Sumatra earthquake, where the death toll has passed 1,000 mark. But that is not enough to meet the prerequisites to be declared a professional institution, as the reform movement has recommended.
To be precise, to date there has been no concrete report or revelation of whether the military institution will be able to meet the five-year deadline – in October 2009, as stipulated by the 2004 Law on the Indonesian Military – to completely hand over all its business units.
While this month is the transitional period for the government and legislature, it is very unlikely the deadline will be met, and so it will be the responsibility of the new government – fortunately (or unfortunately) still under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s leadership.
Another case in point is how to ultimately and properly utilize – and not waste – the TNI’s experience and skills in counterterrorism and warfare, and in combating security disturbances. The separation of the National Police from the TNI in April 1999 has limited the military’s role to defense only, with internal or domestic security issues being handed over to, and the sole responsibility of, the police.
The police’s separation from the military was definitely meant to make both the police and the TNI professional institutions. But the fact that terrorism threats have reached an alarming level and expanded beyond state boundaries has made the counterterrorism campaign a tough task for the police to handle on its own.
It is therefore advisable for the state authorities to also involve the TNI in the war against terrorism. However, allowing the TNI to take part in the country’s antiterrorism campaign should also be followed by the establishment of strict rules of the game, to prevent abuses and irregularities as a result of unclear “rules of engagement”.
The last and most important item on the military reform agenda is the necessary review of the TNI’s continued territorial command role. Such a role — with TNI officers deployed to the smallest community units, known as Babinsa — has been under intense public criticism, as they were previously used as part of the ruling government’s repressive arms to silence all forms of criticism against the government and freedom of expression.
There are sharp divisions over whether the nation needs to let the TNI maintain its territorial role. Should the nation agree to have it reviewed or even revoked, the vacuum of responsibility must not allow any security disturbances to crop up at any point. And again, as experience has taught us all, we need to have a complete set of rules to regulate alternative necessary measures against such disturbances.
We must not let irresponsible people or groups of people steal and take advantage of such a power vacuum. Happy 64th anniversary, TNI
ZAMBOANGA CITY — The military has launched yesterday an anti-terrorism hotline via text messaging, Major Gen. Benjamin D. Dolorfino, Western Mindanao Command chief, said, to empower the public in the campaign.
"Security authorities with the help of the civilians could not be complacent about the threat of terrorism," he said.
The anti-terrorism hotline — 0928-994-4361 — is being manned round the clock by a military unit.
Mr. Dolorfino said the information will be treated with strictest of confidence. The campaign, called "I-text Mo Ang Terrorista Kay Sarge," was launched amid a series of activities in line with the city’s celebration of Fiesta Pilar this month.
Task Force Zamboanga, which operated against lawless groups, earlier raised the security level to prevent any untoward incident during the celebration.
In recent weeks, the military has stepped up efforts to eliminate the bandits in the neighboring island-provinces of Basilan and Sulu. Almost 30 combatants from both sides, including two American soldiers, have been killed during recent hostilities.
Mr. Dolorfino said they are taking extra measures, including setting up the hotline, to avert the spillover of the armed conflict to the city and the rest of Mindanao.
The military has said militant groups launch attacks in other areas to divert military operations against them.
Lt. Col. Romeo S. Brawner, Jr. spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said that soldiers, particularly those stationed in Sulu, are bracing for more attacks from the Abu Sayyaf group after a series of ambushes on military detachments and roadside bombings in recent days.
He said they have augmented troops to protect civilians from bandit attacks.
The attacks came after the military overran the bandits’ main camp during the celebration of Eid’l Fitr on Sept. 20, killing at least 17 militants. — Darwin T. Wee
Dr. Harinda Vidanage
This article attempts to avoid towing with the plethora of views, analysis and arguments on foreign interference on Sri Lankan domestic political matters. It specifically focuses on the Tamil diaspora politics as a serious category of analysis in the post war conflict situation in Sri Lanka. The Tamil diaspora has over the years transformed into a transnational power house which has interlinked and networked with multiple agents, organizations and has developed the ability to influence powerful states that can implement and affect policy decisions in Sri Lanka.
In this article I locate the problem of terrorism in the global scale, what I try to argue is that the new morphologies of terrorism and the problem of terrorism linking with modern agents of democracies, justice movements where modern transnational terror movements are able to implement devastating blows on sovereign nation states flourishing in the guise of democracy and rights.
The use of the term ‘terror organization’ maybe hugely controversial and a contested term, especially since I am linking the term with democracy but this is no fallacy of conflation but an exposure of the ability of certain anti state movements to be driven by the vehicles of democracy in transnational spaces where terror, violence and democracy share a complex but strong relationship.
My focus is based on the events that were taking place in the final few days before the fall of the LTTE and current developments, simply the military defeat of the LTTE and the death of its leader Prabhakaran on 18th May 2009. The article emphasises on the impact of the transnational developments parallel to these events and global political processes that seem to be affecting Sri Lanka. These include massive anti Sri Lankan propaganda campaigns, debates conferred at main international bodies around Sri Lanka, UN and European officials visiting Sri Lanka as fact finding missions, global media campaigns and even the rise of number of visas rejected of Sri Lankans to western destinations. The article is based on the investigation of the above mentioned phenomena to seek if such trends form a continuum or are they just isolated incidents.
The writer strongly believes the former, these are incidents which are identified as ‘assemblages’. The term assemblage has diverse meanings both in political theory and philosophy. The term was heavily used by the French post structuralist philosopher Giles Deleuze and later influenced modern day theorists such as Michael Hardt. The notion of assemblage is important in recent developments of the school of ‘complexity theory’. The notion of assemblage pertaining to this article can be defined as a set of objective relations based on a material structural formation that configures relationships among diverse sites and things.
This text does not try to bring in a theoretical insight into complexity theory instead it attempts to locate the problem of why an assemblage of terror cannot be dealt with network analysis and policy decisions based on such network analysis, isolated responses to assemblage politics maybe counter productive. Indeed the LTTE formed networks both globally and locally and these networks especially the local networks were identified and eliminated in the recently concluded fourth Eelam war. There are many terrorism experts local and global who have clearly researched on LTTE networks and networked agents from Rohan Gunaratne to Chris Smith. There is a substantial literature around it and most of these experts gave interviews to national and international newspapers sharing their analysis of the expansive LTTE networks and its contribution to the conflict.
To a certain extent the writer endorses the tracking of these networks, but argues that the LTTE’s local demise was thanks to such networking and the networked nature of the organization which created pathways for it to be defeated as networks and their connecting nodes were infiltrated and tracked. The reasons for weakening of such networks because they were increasingly predictive, standardized, routined and these enduring connections was transformed into its inherent weakness and point of vulnerability. From the arrests of LTTE members in the USA for weapons procurement, Indonesian generals for aiding them to the apprehension of KP, LTTE’s most illusive international leader was a result of the network which kept them transforming into its own nemesis.
The current operations of the LTTE, mainly the diaspora membership has started to evolve into an assemblage and not a network. This has been the key reason why the Sri Lankan state and its policy makers on counter terrorism and counter terror propaganda seem to be struggling to handle the effects of the terror assemblage. Some classic examples for the writer’s argument can be identified in the LTTE’s online operations. Tamilnet.com on 7th June came out with an editorial which first suggested what the new LTTE or post Prabhakaran LTTE operations were going to be like. The editorial was titled ‘historic task awaits all freedom fighters’. In this editorial rather than carrying out a post mortem of events leading to the defeat of the LTTE militarily the first hint of a new global structure of the LTTE was outlined. Again on 15th of June Tamilnet.com announced in its editorial the need for setting up a ‘transnational government’ for the LTTE. The local media and some defence and international experts scoffed at this idea and identified it as a mere Tamilnet virtual stunt.
In the modern political context the strength of the virtual was totally overlooked, the Tamilnet.com along with its support web operations, international agents, global media and Tamil diaspora activists were able to push through the notion of transnational governance and establish it in the Western States as a next level of struggle of the Sri Lankan Tamils against the Sri Lankan state. Their transnational operation has become alarmingly hostile to Sri Lanka with an inherent ability to activate different forms of international, diplomatic and aid based assaults on the country. The highly controversial ‘Chanel Four’ video which appeared very close to the deliberations on the GSP plus concessions for Sri Lanka, is not merely coincidental it is a current and classic example of the new terror assemblage at work.
This new phenomenon of non linear organization of people, events, institutions and ideologies and positioning them strategically as a threat to a nation state is identified by Karin Knorr Cetina as a new form of terrorism which she claims cannot be identified through network analysis, but only by looking at them as ‘micro structures’. She claims these terror organizations are, ‘forms of connectivity and coordination that combine global reach with microstructural mechanisms that instantiate self-organizing principles and patterns.’ Urry calls such organizations ‘Global fluids’, mainly because of the nature of dispersion as fluids do not have intended paths of central points of origin or convergence. This is why suddenly Sri Lanka finds itself today at a critical conjecture after winning the internal war on terror, the country has to fight the new shadowy assemblage that has begun its convergence and we are witnessing the primary salvos fired against Sri Lanka. For the Lankanist mind which applauded the suppression barrages of MBRL rockets fired upon the LTTE in the final phases of the Eelam war, we are now at the receiving end. This is a time that we need to act cautiously and also respond in a manner that can neutralise these points or origins of threats. It is imperative that we unpack the workings of new forms of fluid and micro structural terror before the country finds its borders and sovereignty meaningless amidst new forms of terror.
About the writer,: Harinda Vidanage is currently ‘Director academic affairs and research’ at the Bandaranaike centre for International studies (BCIS).
Source: TOI
TNN 5 October 2009, 02:15am IST
NEW DELHI: Terror groups in Pakistan may now find it difficult to squeeze out of tight spots by renaming their organisations.
In a move that could have significant implications for groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari promulgated an ordinance on Friday extending the anti-terrorism law against such rebadged groups.
Amending the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997, the ordinance, effective immediately, stated that if “office-bearers, activists or associates of a proscribed organisation form a new organisation under a different name, upon suspicion about their involvement in similar activities, the said organisation shall also be deemed to be a proscribed organisation”.
The government may then “issue a formal notification” about the proscription of the new group formed by members of a banned organisation, it said.
In light of the fact that terror suspects routinely walk free because of the 30-day rule, the duration of remand has been increased from 30 days to 90 days in the amended ordinance of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Pakistani media reports said the word ‘terrorism’ had been redefined and expanded, which now provides that those funding, providing logistic support and directly or indirectly being involved in any terror activities would be treated as terrorists and would be punished at par with central terrorists who execute terror activities.
The amended ordinance also says that those providing information about the targets, the target’s residence and transport, and those involved in plotting terrorist attacks would be considered as terrorists.
October 5, 2009: The U.S. has found that al Qaeda has been using Afghan prisons as a recruiting and training venue. This should come as no surprise, as American and European counter-terror officials have found the same phenomenon in local prisons. The problem showed up in Iraq as well. Last year, it was noted that several dozen of the 100,000 or so Iraqis who had been held in U.S. prisons in Iraq over the previous five years, have been murdered by Islamic terrorists while in prison. The killings were done to enable the Islamic radicals to gain control over the more moderate inmates. This makes it easier for the Islamic radicals to plan attacks on guards, or even escape. Such control also provides the militants with better living conditions, at the expense of the prisoners they have intimidated. Finally, the radicals find it easier to find new recruits.
This is not a new problem. American military police first encountered it during World War II, when hard core Nazis, among German prisoners of war, got organized and terrorized the other prisoners, including "executions" of those who put up the most resistance. Their goals were the same as the Islamic terrorists. During the Korean War (1950-53), Chinese and North Korean prisoners did the same thing, with the communist true believers terrorizing everyone in the name of "party discipline." Same deal during the Vietnam war.
The fix for the intimidation problem has always been the same; more careful screening of prisoners. This is easier with military prisoners, as it's easier to identify who is who. But with irregulars (as in Vietnam and Iraq), the hard core types will try to hide their true beliefs. These guys always have to deal with the possibility that they will end up in a part of the prison where they have few friends, and many people who don't like their kind, and are inclined to express their feelings violently.
The hard core prisoners also try to recruit less enthusiastic cell mates to a more fanatical position. But in most cases, the best the hard case prisoners can do is impose a reign of terror among their less motivated cell mates, and exploit them.
 Assam has been plagued by violence since the 1970s |
Separatist rebels have killed at least 11 people in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, police say.Nine other villagers were injured in the attack on Sunday night in the state's Sonitpur district.
Police blamed the attack on a hardline faction of the separatist National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).
The NDFB has been negotiating with the government for the past five years, but a hardline group led by its former chairman Ranjan Daimary have fought on.
Mr Daimary's supporters were blamed for explosions in four towns in Assam last October, in which 87 people were killed.
Officials said militants belonging to Mr Daimary's faction attacked two villages on Sunday evening and began firing indiscriminately at its residents.
Five villagers were killed on the spot, police said. Six others died of their wounds in hospital. The dead included women and children.
Police have cordoned off the villages and nearby areas and are carrying out a combing operation, officials say.
Aftermath of the blast in Islamabad
A suspected suicide bomber has attacked the UN World Food Programme offices in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, killing three people and injuring several more.Two of the dead are local women, and the third is an Iraqi man.
It is unclear who is responsible but suspicion will fall on the Pakistani Taliban, correspondents say.
They promised revenge for the killing of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a US drone strike in August and have been behind a series of recent attacks.
Last week at least 16 people died in two suicide car bomb attacks in north-western Pakistan.
'A huge explosion downstairs'
Local television TV footage showed smoke rising from the heavily fortified UN building and shattered windows - shortly after the early afternoon attack.
The bomb exploded in the building's reception area.
The explosion happened early in the afternoon
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the bomber was dressed in an Frontier Corps uniform and asked to go inside to use the toilet.
The BBC's Orla Guerin, outside the UN compound, says sniffer dogs have been brought in and investigators are on the roof. The building is now ringed by heavily armed anti-terror police.
For Pakistan this is an unwelcome reminder that their capital remains vulnerable, our correspondent says.
It is further proof that the militants can still strike in spite of increased security precautions and ongoing army operations.
Mr Malik said the attack would not "slacken the resolve" of Pakistan's efforts to counter the Taliban.
'Terrible tragedy'
Earlier, a WFP employee, Sajjad Anwar, told local television the explosion took place within the compound, close to the main building, where there were about 100 people working at the time.
"Walls of the building have cracked because of the intensity of the blast," he said.
"I don't know how this could have happened. We have private security as well as government-provided police."
The WFP said three of its staff members had been confirmed dead and several others had been injured - two were in a critical condition.
WFP deputy executive director Amir Abdulla, described the attack as "a terrible tragedy for WFP, and for the whole humanitarian community in Pakistan".
"Our deepest condolences go to the family, friends and colleagues of those who died or were injured in this incident.
"These were people working to assist the poor and the vulnerable on the frontlines of hunger in Pakistan."
Photographs and other incriminating evidence have been found revealing links between the Maoists and Chhatradhar Mahato, convener of the Police Santrash Birodhi Janasadharaner Committee (PSBJC), that led the agitation at Lalgarh and its adjoining areas in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district, Manoj Verma, the district’s Superintendent of Police told The Hindu on Sunday. Details of the PSBJC’s funding have also emerged in the course of the investigation.
The involvement of certain individuals based here, in funding and advising the agitation at Lalgarh was also confirmed during Mr. Mahato’s interrogation, said Raj Kanojia, Additional Director-General of the West Bengal police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
There were reports that funds given to the PSBJC from various sources ran into several lakhs of rupees.
The assistant treasurer of the PSBJC, Sukh Shanti Baske, who was arrested in the Lalgarh area on September 28, was brought to Kolkata for interrogation on Sunday. Mr. Baske has been charged with several sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Mr. Verma said.
When asked to comment on reports that certain Maoist leaders had been identified by Mr. Mahato during his interrogation by the CID, Mr. Verma said: “We have got information that would aid the progress of the operations here.”
There were also reports that police have found links between Mr. Mahato and some students and even faculty of the Jadavpur University, but officials refused to comment on this.
On Saturday, the State’s Chief Secretary had said that those supporting and associating themselves with Mr. Mahato directly or indirectly were also liable to be punished under relevant sections of the UAPA.
At least 11 people were gunned down and nine injured in an attack by suspected militants of the Ranjan Daimari-led anti-talks faction of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) at Bhimajuli in northern Assam’s Sonitpur district on Sunday night.
Police said five persons died on the spot while six persons succumbed to injuries in hospital.
The deceased included women and children. The condition of several of the injured was stated to be critical. The victims belonged to the Nepali and Assamese communities. Army troops and Assam Police contingents have cordoned off the affected villages and nearby areas and launched combing operations.
2 villages attacked
Official sources said the suspected militants attacked two villages at Bhimajuli about 35 km off the Biswanth Chariali police station. The militants started firing indiscriminately with sophisticated weapons around 6.30 p.m., killing five persons on the spot at Bhimajuli located close to the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.
COLOMBO - At least 13 civilians, including 12 children, were injured when a van exploded in Sri Lanka’s central district of Kurunegala Friday morning.
China’s official Xinhua news agency quoted security sources as saying that the bomb explosion happened around 7 a.m. local time at Udawalpola, about 100 km northeast of Colombo.
Twelve school children and the van driver were injured.
Kurunegala police said the driver had just started the vehicle when the bomb went off inside the garage of a local resident. hey said a personal dispute might be behind the explosion.
This was the first major explosion after the government troops defeated Tamil Tiger rebels in May and further investigations are underway,Malaysia’s Bernama news agency reported. (ANI)
That is what The Dallas Morning News reported about Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, the 19-year-old Jordanian accused of trying to blow up a downtown Dallas skyscraper. He was caught by an F.B.I. sting operation that culminated in his arrest nearly two weeks ago — after Smadi parked a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac, supplied by the F.B.I., in the garage of a Dallas office tower.
“Inside the S.U.V. was a fake bomb, designed to appear similar to one used by Timothy McVeigh in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing,” The News wrote. “Authorities say Smadi thought he could detonate it with a cellphone. After parking the vehicle, he got into another vehicle with one of the agents, and they drove several blocks away. An agent offered Smadi earplugs, but he declined, ‘indicating that he wanted to hear the blast,’ authorities said. He then dialed the phone, thinking it would trigger the bomb. ... Instead, the agents took him into custody.”
If that doesn’t send a little shiver down your spine, how about this one? BBC.com reported that “it has emerged that an Al Qaeda bomber who died last month while trying to blow up a Saudi prince in Jeddah had hidden the explosives inside his body.” He reportedly inserted the bomb and detonator in his rectum to elude metal detectors. My God.
Or how about this? Two weeks ago in Denver, the F.B.I. arrested Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old Afghan immigrant, and indicted him on charges of planning to set off a bomb made of the same home-brewed explosives used in the 2005 London transit bombings. He allegedly learned how to do so on a training visit to Pakistan. The Times reported that Zazi “had bought some bomb ingredients in beauty supply stores, the authorities said, after viewing instructions on his laptop on how to build such a bomb. When an employee of the Beauty Supply Warehouse asked about the volume of materials he was buying, he remembered Mr. Zazi answering, ‘I have a lot of girlfriends.’ ”
These incidents are worth reflecting on. They tell us some important things. First, we may be tired of this “war on terrorism,” but the bad guys are not. They are getting even more “creative.”
Second, in this war on terrorism, there is no “good war” or “bad war.” There is one war with many fronts, including Europe and our own backyard, requiring many different tactics. It is a war within Islam, between an often too-silent Muslim mainstream and a violent, motivated, often nihilistic jihadist minority. Theirs is a war over how and whether Islam should embrace modernity. It is a war fueled by humiliation — humiliation particularly among young Muslim males who sense that their faith community has fallen behind others, in terms of both economic opportunity and military clout. This humiliation has spawned various jihadists cults, including Al Qaeda, which believe they have the God-given right to kill infidels, their own secular leaders and less pious Muslims to purify Islam and Islamic lands and thereby restore Muslim grandeur.
Third, the newest and maybe most active front in this war is not Afghanistan, but the “virtual Afghanistan” — the loose network of thousands of jihadist Web sites, mosques and prayer groups that recruit, inspire and train young Muslims to kill without any formal orders from Al Qaeda. The young man in Dallas came to F.B.I. attention after espousing war on the U.S. on jihadist Web sites.
Fourth, in the short run, winning this war requires effective police/intelligence action, to kill or capture the jihadists. I call that “the war on terrorists.” In the long run, though, winning requires partnering with Arab and Muslim societies to help them build thriving countries, integrated with the world economy, where young people don’t grow up in a soil poisoned by religious extremists and choked by petro-dictators so they can never realize their aspirations. I call this “the war on terrorism.” It takes a long time.
Our operation in Afghanistan after 9/11 was, for me, only about “the war on terrorists.” It was about getting bin Laden. Iraq was “the war on terrorism” — trying to build a decent, pluralistic, consensual government in the heart of the Arab-Muslim world. Despite all we’ve paid, the outcome in Iraq remains uncertain. But it was at least encouraging to see last week’s decision by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to run in the next election with a nonsectarian, multireligious coalition — a rare thing in the Arab world.
So, what President Obama is actually considering in Afghanistan is shifting from a “war on terrorists” there to a “war on terrorism,” including nation-building. I still have serious doubts that we have a real Afghan government partner for that. But if Mr. Obama decides to send more troops, the most important thing is not the number. It is his commitment to see it through. If he seems ambivalent, no one there will stand with us and we’ll have no chance. If he seems committed, maybe — maybe — we’ll find enough allies. Remember, the bad guys are totally committed — and they are not tired.
| Source: Al jazeera | |||
Suspected Maoist rebels have killed 16 people in an attack on a village in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. A senior police official in the Khagaria district, 200km north of the regional capital Patna, told AFP on Friday that "more than 50 armed Maoists attacked the village and started killing people". Ajay Pandey, a deputy superintendent of polilce, said that five children were among the dead. "The victims were sleeping in their houses". The attack in Amausi Bharen village reportedly took place after farmers defied Naxal demands. A journalist working for the private NDTV television station said land disputes and caste issues were also likely behind the attack. The provincial government has sent two Special Task Force units to investigate, though acces to the remote area is difficult. Bihar has seen a number of deadly Maoist attacks in the last couple of months. On August 23, five policemen were killed and two others injured in an attack in Sono Bazar area of Bihar's Jamui district. In the first half of 2009, 56 Maoist attacks have been reported. The Maoists in India are also known as Naxals, given that the first armed uprising took place in a small village called Naxalbari in the neighbouring state of West Bengal some 40 years ago. | |||
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The Indian Air Force (IAF) does not want to operate in Naxal-hit areas with its hands tied.
It has sought the government’s permission to shoot Naxals in self-defence, a reflection of the worsening Maoist problem.
Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik said on Thursday, “We have put up a case before the defence ministry. It is absolutely important that the air force be allowed to fire in self-defence whenever its helicopters or aircrew comes under attack.”
He was concerned about IAF choppers or the aircrew being attacked while supporting anti-Naxal operations.
IAF choppers have been fired upon several times by Naxals. A flight engineer was killed in one such attack last year.
The armed forces are not directly involved in the fight against Naxals. They do not want to be involved, either. Naik said, “I firmly believe that the role of the armed forces is not inside the country but to defend (the country) against external aggression.”
But the military provides vital support to the police and paramilitary forces, which are in the forefront in the fight against Naxals.
If the army is imparting training, the IAF has deployed unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance and providing intelligence to the security forces. Helicopters are being used for ferrying troops, reconnaissance and evacuating casualties.
On using airpower against Naxals, Naik said foolproof intelligence would be required to launch such operations because the risk of collateral damage (common people getting killed) was extremely high.
There are no plans to rope in the military to fight Naxals. He said the air force had rarely used airpower against the citizens of the country. Referring to US drone attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan, he said, “Even these attacks have taken place outside US territory.”
On a day Beijing marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China with a display of military might, Naik said a repeat of 1962 (when India suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of China) was not possible. Responding to a question, he said, “We have acquired a set of capabilities…we are building capabilities and infrastructure. No one in (his) right mind wants to wage war …”
NEW DELHI: Maintaining that the spectre of nuclear terrorism is a formidable challenge, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday supported
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (C) with Mohamed ElBaradei, Deputy General of International Atomic Energy Agency (R) and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee (L), during the inauguration of the conference. (PTI Photo)
strengthening of global efforts in improving nuclear security and welcomed US President Barack Obama's initiative to hold a summit on nuclear security next year. ( Watch Video )
India, he said, has an updated, effective and comprehensive export controls system and is "committed to not transferring sensitive technologies and equipment to other countries that do not possess them."
Holding that India has been sponsoring a resolution at the UN General Assembly calling for measures to address the nuclear terrorism threat, he said, "We support strengthening the international efforts in improving nuclear security and in this context, welcome President Obama's timely initiative to hold a global Summit on Nuclear Security in 2010."
Inaugurating the International Conference on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, he said, "India is proud of non- proliferation record and is committed to global efforts for preventing the proliferation of all weapons of mass destruction.
"We are committed to a voluntary, unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. As a nuclear weapon state and a responsible member of the international community, we will participate constructively in the negotiation of a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) in the Conference on Disarmament," he said.
The Prime Minister said global non-proliferation regime has not succeeded in preventing nuclear proliferation and its deficiencies have had an adverse impact on India's security.
"Global non-proliferation, to be successful, should be universal, comprehensive and non-discriminatory and linked to complete nuclear disarmament," the Prime Minister said, pointing out that there was growing international acceptance for this viewpoint.
IAEA Director General Mohammad El Baradei, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao were among the other participants at the Conference which has been organised as part of the year-long programme to mark the birth centenary of Homi Jehangir Bhabha, founder of India's nuclear programme.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee released a commemorative coin on the occasion.
SINGAPORE: If the suicide bombers who targeted two luxury hotels in Jakarta this year hoped their attacks would strike a significant long-term
blow against Indonesia's economy, the reaction of financial markets suggests they were wrong.
Economic warfare is at the heart of the tactics of terrorism. A few militants with primitive and low-cost weaponry can cause economic destruction that reverberates far beyond the physical damage they inflict, impacting whole industries and countries.
But the overwhelming evidence from militant attacks over recent decades is that the impact is almost always temporary. In the long run, economies and markets are remarkably resilient. From the hijacked airliner attacks in the United States on Sept.11, 2001, to the suicide blasts at nightclubs in Bali in 2002 and the Madrid and London train bombings of 2004 and 2005, markets have reacted in a highly consistent pattern.
Domestic equities, bonds and the local currency suffer a knee-jerk sell-off. Risk appetite drops sharply and there is a swift flight to quality, with investors seeking the sanctuary of U.S. Treasuries, and sometimes selected commodities and gold.
But within weeks, and usually days, asset prices recover. In the first trading session after the 2002 Bali bombings, the Jakarta stock market plunged more than 10 percent and the rupiah dived 3.7 percent. But within 24 days stocks were back at pre-attack levels, and the rupiah recovered within 5 weeks.
Subsequent bombings in Indonesia had far less impact even in terms of short-run reaction. After the hotel blasts in July, stocks sank 2.7 percent but ended trade just 0.6 percent down.
Lessons learned
So what are the lessons for investors and risk managers? Firstly, the initial market impact from terror attacks is likely to be overdone and to unwind over subsequent days.
The reasons can be found in human nature, behavioral economists have shown that people tend to be naturally risk averse and prone to panic and a herd mentality in the face of uncertainty and danger. For bold investors, asset price weakness in the wake of militant attacks is a clear buying opportunity.
Second, once the initial panic eases, investors take a more rational look at the medium-term economic impact. The direct economic impact in terms of physical damage and loss of human capital is much less of an issue than the question of whether the attacks have spill-over consequences that magnify their cost.
To give one extreme scenario, a militant attack that led to conflict between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan could have a devastating global effect far beyond the initial damage.
Thirdly, the micro impact of attacks can be more serious than the macro. While economies are resilient, sectors such as airlines, tourism and insurance are much more vulnerable. Portfolio diversification can reduce this risk. Finally, the extent to which attacks have a long-term market impact on industries and countries depends on whether they cause investors to re-evaluate their long-term risk assessments.
The 2002 Bali bombings fundamentally changed perceptions of Indonesian risk for investors and tourists. Later attacks had less impact because the higher risk level was already priced in.
Worst-case scenarios
In the southeast Asian context, this means that even if militants in Indonesia or the Philippines are able to launch new attacks, the risk for portfolio investors is limited. A much more significant issue would be if the risk profile of other countries in the region changed dramatically.
Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia are key flashpoints, the risks that militants launch damaging attacks on major economic or tourist targets is widely regarded as low, but the long-term economic impact would be disproportionately high because country risk estimates would be fundamentally re-rated.
For Indonesia and the Philippines, many of the risks are on the upside, if either country can demonstrate it is making sustained progress on reducing the threat from terrorism, country risk ratings will be revised in a favorable direction. But this does not make Indonesian or Philippine markets immune from negative terrorism risk. The key issue is whether insurgents can launch attacks that would cause political turmoil.
Indonesia has been a highly bullish story for investors this year due to improved economic and political stability and expectations that President Susilo Bambang Yodhoyono, newly returned for a second term with a strong mandate, will pursue much needed market-friendly reforms and crack down on graft.
But risk analysts worry that Indonesia's progress is highly dependent on Yudhoyono's personal power and popular support. He has no obvious successor who would have the powerbase and determination to maintain stability and continue reforms.
After the July bombings, Yudhoyono said militants were using his photograph for target practice. Police said they had foiled a plot by militants to launch a suicide mini-bus attack on the president near his residence. Were such an attack ever to succeed, it would profoundly impact Indonesia's future.
Wagha Border, Oct 1(ANI): Former Pakistan High Commissioner to India, Humayun Khan, on Thursday said that terrorist networks are still operating from Pakistan's soil and contended that it has been unable to root them out completely.Khan was speaking to the media persons at the Wagah border post in Punjab on Thursday.
He is in India as a part of eight-member team to attend the 150th anniversary of the Bishop Cotton School in Shimla. An alumnus of the school, Khan and other seven members will be in Shimla for a couple of days to attend the week-long celebrations at their alma mater.
"Terrorism has created a lot of problems. Our misfortune is that many terrorist centres are still operating from our soil, in tribal areas and elsewhere. Whatever they do, we are blamed for their actions. This is the biggest problem of today's time," said Humayun Khan.
"Any incident related to terrorism - for instance the attack in Mumbai last year, they generally say that Pakistan is not doing anything to control this. I hope there is an understanding that terrorism is the enemy of both countries. We should fight it together. This is how we can improve the situation," Khan added.
He also admitted that Pakistan had patronised terrorist outfits in the past and this policy has now boomeranged.
"I am ready to accept that there were some agencies in the Government that used to patronise them (terrorists). The time has changed. They have turned against us. Our agencies have failed to weed them out completely. In my opinion, now they (terrorists) don't work on government agencies orders," Khan said.
"Now, they are acting on their own will. May be we failed to control them completely. But, you know eliminating terrorism is ot an easy thing. We are the biggest victims of this. Every day, people in Pakistan are dying because of blasts and attacks. To an xtent its Government's fault how they failed to control it," he added. (ANI)
KHAGARIA: In the first ever carnage during the NDA regime led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, 16 people were gunned down by suspected Maoist
cadres in a village in Bihar's Khagaria district late Thursday night, a top police official said on Friday.
"Around 100 people, suspected to be Maoists, armed with automatic weapons attacked the village Amosi Bharen Diara and fired indiscriminately late last night, killing 11 men and 5 children on the spot," Inspector General (Operations) S K Bharadwaj said.
According to police, the cultivation on the disputed 30 bighas of land is said to be reason behind the attack on the victims belonging to backward caste.
When contacted ADG Headquarters Neelmani said that the attack was carried out on the villagers by the suspected naxalites with the intention of grabbing the land.
The victims, belonged to Amdaicharua village and had been living in the makeshift camps on the land for cultivation, he added.
"Senior police officials, IG Operations and IG Bhagalpur, are camping at the site and special task force had been deployed for combing operations in the riverine area to nab them," Neelmani said, adding also, police patrolling has been increased as tension prevailed in the area.
Neelmani said bodies have been kept at Morkahi police station from where it would be sent to a government hospital for post-mortem.
A watch list of suspected and known terrorists, compiled by the US authorities, has ballooned and contains more than one million names, the American Civil Liberties Union said Monday.
The ACLU said it derived that figure from a Justice Department report on the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center, which consolidates terrorist watch list information.
The Center "had over 700,000 names in its database as of April 2007 and that the list was growing by an average of over 20,000 records per month," according to a report by the Justice Department Inspector General, the rights group said.
"By those numbers, the list now has over one million names on it," the ACLU said in a statement.
Among those on the watch list are deceased people, such as former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein who was hanged in 2005, decorated war veterans, and US Senator Ted Kennedy, the ACLU said.
Nobel Peace Prize winner, former South African president Nelson Mandela, was also on the list until an act of Congress removed his name -- the only way, according to the ACLU, to get off the list.
"The watchlist is a perfect symbol for what's wrong with the administration's approach to terrorism: it's unfair, out of control, incompetently administered, a waste of resources, and is a very real impediment in the lives of billions of travelers," the director of the ACLU Technology and Liberty Program, Barry Steinhardt, told reporters in Washington.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) flatly denied the allegation that the list contained one million names.
"Assumptions about the list are just plain wrong," the TSA said in a posting on its website, estimating that there were less than 450,000 people on the watch list.
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