Saturday, December 24, 2011

Around 120,000 people protest in Moscow: organisers

8:40 AM McGhori


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MOSCOW: Around 120,000 people on Saturday attended a rally against Vladimir Putin’s domination of Russia, organisers said, as a protest leader vowed to bring one million out on the streets for the next demonstration.
“120,000 people have come,” Russian politician Vladimir Ryzhkov who organised the protest, said. “Next time, we will bring one million people onto the streets of Moscow,” blogger Alexei Navalny, who has emerged as a figurehead of the protest movement, said in a speech.
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CIA suspends drone missile strikes in Pakistan: report

3:18 AM McGhori


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LOS ANGELES: The US Central Intelligence Agency has suspended drone missile strikes on gatherings of low-ranking militants in Pakistan due to tensions with that country, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Citing unnamed current and former US officials, the newspaper said late Friday the undeclared halt in CIA attacks is aimed at reversing a sharp erosion of trust between the two countries.
US-Pakistani relations deteriorated last month after a series of US air strikes killed 24 Pakistan soldiers near the border with Afghanistan.
A joint US-Nato investigation concluded that a disastrous spate of errors and botched communications led to the deaths. Pakistan has rejected the findings.
The pause in the missile strikes comes amid an intensifying debate in the administration of President Barack Obama over the future of the CIA’s covert drone war in Pakistan, the paper said.
The CIA has killed dozens of al-Qaeda operatives and hundreds of low-ranking fighters there since the first Predator strike in 2004, but the program has infuriated many Pakistanis, the report noted.
Some officials in the State Department and the National Security Council say many of the airstrikes are counterproductive, The Times said.
They argue that rank-and-file militants are easy to replace, and that Pakistani claims of civilian casualties, which the United States dispute, have destabilized the government of President Asif Ali Zardari.
Some US intelligence officials are urging the CIA to cut back the paramilitary role it has assumed since the September 11, 2001, attacks to refocus on espionage, the paper pointed out.
They suggest handing the mission to the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command, which flies its own drones and conducts secret counter-terrorism operations in Yemen and Somalia, The Times noted.
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Ruling party official shot dead in Indian Kashmir: police

3:17 AM McGhori


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SRINAGAR: Suspected militants on Saturday shot dead an official of the ruling party in Indian-ruled Kashmir, police said, days after rebels made a failed bid on the life of a senior government minister.
Bashir Ahmed was killed the main city of Srinagar, a police officer said, asking not to be named.
“He was shot in the head and died before he could be taken to a hospital,” he said, blaming anti-India rebels for the daylight killing.
No rebel group has claimed responsibility so far.
The killing came days after suspected rebels killed a policeman in an attack on December 11 on senior minister Ali Mohammed Sagar, who escaped uninjured.
Like Sagar, Ahmed was also associated with the ruling National Conference.
Militants who oppose Indian rule in Kashmir have in the past killed ministers and pro-India politicians.
Kashmir has been hit by an insurgency since 1989 that has left more than 47,000 people dead by official count.
Militant violence has dropped sharply in Kashmir since India and Pakistan, which each hold the region in part but claim it in full, started a peace process in 2004.
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Pakistan ties ‘too important’ to fail: US

3:14 AM McGhori


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WASHINGTON: The United States said on Friday that it was committed to working with Pakistan and pledged support for democracy, amid friction between the war partners and a political showdown in Islamabad.
“The issues that we face – the challenges we face – are too important,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
“We desire a closer, more productive relationship with Pakistan both militarily and as well as politically. And we’re constantly working to build that closer cooperation,” he said.
Relations between the United States and Pakistan have severely deteriorated this year.
On November 26, US air strikes near the Afghan border killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, leading Islamabad to halt supply routes for Nato forces.
The Pentagon on Thursday released a probe that acknowledged significant US responsibility and pinned blame on mistrust between the countries. But the investigation said that US forces responded only after coming under fire.
Pakistan denied any fire and rejected the probe.
It has pressed President Barack Obama for an apology.
Tensions have also been rising within Pakistan, with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday delivering unprecedented sharp criticism against the military and accusing “conspirators” of plotting to bring down his government.
Asked about the dispute, Toner said: “We support the democratic process in Pakistan; we support the constitution and the rule of law, as well as the will of the Pakistani people.”
But he added: “This is a matter for the Pakistani people to resolve within their own political process.”
Pakistan’s army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, on Friday denied that the military was plotting to seize power.
The military has a long history of intervening in politics in Pakistan.
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