UK Iraq war report delayed over secret documents

LONDON: Britain’s public inquiry into the Iraq War said on Thursday it would not deliver its conclusions until next summer at the earliest as it seeks the release of secret government documents.

The five-member inquiry team began hearings in November 2009 and had hoped to deliver its verdict by the end of the year or 

early 2012. But in a statement on its website, it said that timescale was no longer possible.

“The inquiry has advised the government that it will need until at least summer 2012 to produce a draft report which will do justice to the issues involved,” it said.

“Very considerable progress has already been made, but there is still much to be done.”

The inquiry was negotiating the declassification of a “significant volume” of secret material for use in the report, or to be released alongside it, the statement said. Some progress had been made but further requests would have to be made.

“The inquiry has made clear that it will need co-operation from the government in completing this in a satisfactory and timely manner,” it added.

The inquiry, under former civil servant John Chilcot, was set up by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown to learn lessons from the 2003 US-led invasion and its aftermath.

It has heard from senior politicians, including Brown and Tony Blair, the prime minister at the time of the invasion who appeared twice, as well as former diplomats and military commanders.

When it does report, much of the focus will be on its conclusions about Blair’s decision to commit 45,000 British troops to the invasion and on the legitimacy of a war in which 179 British soldiers were killed.

Critics have long argued Blair deliberately misled the public over the reason he gave for war — former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s illegal weapons of mass destruction, which were never found.

Chilcot has repeatedly stated the aim of the inquiry is not to allocate blame, but has said it would not shy away from being critical.

“If the inquiry concludes that it wishes to criticise any individual…the individual would be informed of the inquiry’s views
and offered the opportuity to make representations to the inquiry,” the statement said.

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Pakistani family stand trial for ‘honour killing’

BRUSSELS: A Pakistani family of four go on trial Thursday in connection with the “honour killing” of a 20-year-old woman who defied them by living with a Belgian and refusing an arranged marriage.

Sadia Sheikh, a Belgian law student of Pakistani origin, was shot dead by three bullets fired by her older brother Mudusar on October 22, 2007, when visiting her family who had pledged to patch up their quarrel.

Her parents and sister are accused of aiding and abetting the killing.

She had left the family home to study after her shopkeeper parents tried to arrange a marriage with a cousin living in Pakistan she had never met.

Before moving in with a Belgian man her age named Jean, she spent some time in a centre for victims of domestic violence where she drew up a will as she felt threatened.

She nonetheless agreed to visit the family in hopes of making peace.

Her parents and sister have denied involvement in the murder, saying Mudusar, now aged 27, killed his sister in a fit of anger.

But her father Tarik Mahmood Sheikh, mother Zahida Parveen Sariya and sister Sariya will be in the dock with Mudusar on Thursday in a jury trial in the town of Mons, and will also face charges of “attempting to arrange a marriage.”

The four face sentences of life imprisonment if found guilty by the jury in hearings expected to last three to four weeks.

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Mullen’s spokesman admits existence of secret memo

WASHINGTON: The spokesman for former Chairman US Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Mike Mullen confirmed the existence of a secret memo alleged to have been sent by President Zardari to Admiral Mullen.

A Pakistani businessman alleged in a column in the Financial Times last month that a senior Pakistani diplomat asked for assistance in getting a message from Zardari to Admiral Mike Mullen, at the time chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The author, Mansoor Ijaz, alleged that Zardari feared a military takeover following the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May and brought unprecedented public scrutiny on Pakistani leaders.

Asked about the memo referred to in the Financial Times column, Captain John Kirby, who was Mullen’s spokesman until the admiral stepped down earlier this year, said Mullen initially had no recollection of such a memo but was later able to track it down.

“Neither the contents of the memo nor the proof of its existence altered or affected in any way the manner in which Adm. Mullen conducted himself in his relationship with Gen. Kayani and the Pakistani government,” Kirby said. “He did not find it at all credible and took no note of it.”

He gave no further details.

Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington has offered to resign after reports that his boss, President Asif Ali Zardari, asked Washington for help to stave off a military takeover.

There has been speculation in the Pakistani media that Haqqani had been involved in the conception or communicating of the memo.

“I have not been named so far as having done anything wrong by anyone except through innuendo. No memo of the kind being discussed in the media was drafted or delivered by me,” Haqqani said.

“I should like to add that since I was appointed ambassador in 2008, some people have consistently vilified me as having been involved in undermining the Pakistani armed forces. Which I have never done.”

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Rocket hits near major Afghan meeting: officials

KABUL: A rocket exploded on Thursday near the venue of a major gathering in the Afghan capital discussing controversial future relations with the United States, officials said.

Two rockets were fired into the city shortly after 8:00 am, before day two of the loya jirga, a traditional meeting of elders, had started.

“It’s apparently rocket shots fired into Kabul,” said the city’s police Chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi after witnesses reported two loud explosions.

Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said one of the rockets landed by the side of a road in an area next to the Intercontinental Hotel, which an AFP reporter said was roughly 500 metres (yards) from the jirga venue.

One civilian had been “slightly injured” by the other rocket which landed several kilometres (miles) from the jirga venue, Sediqqi said.

In a text message sent to journalists, the Taliban claimed it launched two rockets at the loya jirga tent late Wednesday.

The Islamist militants, leaders of a 10-year insurgency against roughly 140,000 Nato-led forces and Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government, are known to distort and exaggerate their claims in relation to attacks.

They had threatened to attack the loya jirga, convened by Karzai to discuss a strategic partnership being negotiated with the United States and a peace strategy with insurgents.

During Afghanistan’s last loya jirga in 2010, militants fired rockets at the event in a breach of security that led to two ministers resigning.

On Wednesday, Karzai outlined conditions for a US troop presence in his country after Nato combat forces leave at the end of 2014.

He called on the US to take steps including stopping night raids and respecting Afghan sovereignty in order for Afghanistan to agree to host US troops in the long-run.

Washington insists it is not seeking a permanent presence in Afghanistan and the Pentagon said Wednesday that it was “too early” to define exactly how a partnership between the US and Afghanistan would work post 2014.

“We do want to have a long-term strategic partnership but specific components of that partnership are still to be defined,” said Pentagon press secretary George Little.

An AFP reporter at the scene of the rocket impact in northern Kabul, some distance from the jirga, said the projectile hit a pile of dirt in an area where people parked handcarts used to sell vegetables on the street.

Windows in buildings nearby were shattered and police sealed off the area, the reporter added.

A witness who did not want to give his name said: “The sound of the explosion was huge. I thought it was a suicide bombing.

“When we came out, I saw the injured person lying down. He had injuries to his shoulder. The flesh on his shoulder had gone.”

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