Afghan official gunned down on way to mosque

KABUL: Attackers gunned down a local government official on his way to a mosque in southern Afghanistan, authorities said Thursday, in the latest hit on a government figure. Hundreds of Afghan government officials have been killed in recent years as the Taliban pursue a sweeping assassination campaign seeking to weaken confidence in President Hamid Karzai’s administration and discourage people from joining the government. Haji Fazel Mohammad was shot on his way to evening prayers Wednesday in the volatile district of Sangin in Helmand province, the governor’s office said. The attackers escaped. Mohammad served on the local council for Sangin, which has been targeted by frequent insurgent attacks since US and Afghan forces...

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Posted in: INTERNATIONAL

Arab League turns to UN for help in Syria

DAMASCUS: The Arab League has turned to the United Nations for help after admitting “mistakes” in its Syria monitoring mission, which has come in for withering criticism for its failure to stem bloodletting. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Feltman, the US assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs, is to hold talks with the Arab League about the Syrian crisis in Cairo on Thursday, amid mounting frustration over the unrelenting violence. His meeting comes a day after President Bashar al-Assad’s regime accused the United States of “gross interference” in Arab affairs an “unjustified attempt to internationalise” the issue. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, who heads an Arab League task force on Syria, on Wednesday...

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India clears $1.2 bn missile deal with European firm

NEW DELHI: India has cleared a $1.2 billion deal to buy 500 air-to-air missiles from European firm MBDA as it undergoes a major programme to modernise its military, defence ministry officials said Thursday. The cabinet committee on security, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, passed the deal on Wednesday as part of a previously-announced package to upgrade India’s 51 Mirage 2000 planes, a senior ministry source told AFP. The overall $2.4-billion Mirage package was approved in July last year, with the French firms Thales and Dassault Aviation signed up for work expected to last 10 years. Two aircraft have already been flown to France for upgrades and the rest will be modernised at state-run Hindustan Aeronautics...

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Karzai concerned over role in Afghan peace talks: official

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is concerned over being sidelined in US efforts to bring Taliban insurgents to the negotiating table, a government official said on Thursday. The hardline Islamists announced this week that they planned to open an overseas political office, a move seen as a precursor to talks to end the long and bloody war in Afghanistan. A senior official in Karzai’s administration told AFP that the Western-backed leader was unhappy over the process as it had not involved his government. “Any peace process without Afghanistan’s government in the lead is meaningless,” the official said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “The US officials that we are in contact with say...

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Posted in: INTERNATIONAL