Kandahar police chief survives suicide attack

KANDAHAR: The police chief of Afghanistan’s troubled Kandahar province Wednesday survived a suicide bombing just behind his fortified office, officials said.

The militant wearing an explosives-packed vest and posing as a civilian visitor had made it to the waiting room of General Abdul Raziq’s office before detonating.

“We think it was a premature explosion. The explosion took place at the waiting room of the police chief,” Ghorzang, Raziq’s secretary, told AFP.

The police chief, who at the time of the blast was in his office, was separated from the waiting room by a middle room and survived the attack unhurt, he added.

Ghorzang, who like many Afghans uses only one name, said the bomber had disguised himself as an ordinary resident and told security guards that he wanted to file a complaint.

The interior ministry in Kabul confirmed the suicide bombing within the police facility and said there were no casualties. An investigation is underway, the ministry said in a statement without giving further details.

The Taliban, the main insurgent group, have used suicide bombers disguising themselves as local residents to attack high profile government officials.

The former police chief of Kandahar, General Khan Mohammad, was killed in a suicide bombing inside the police headquarters in April 2011.

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Car bomb blast kills Iran university professor

TEHRAN: Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency said a bomb blast killed a university professor, in an attack coinciding with the second anniversary of an explosion that killed a senior Iranian nuclear scientist.

Fars said an assailant on a motorcycle attached a magnetic bomb to the car of Mostafa Ahmadi on Wednesday morning, killing the professor and injuring two others. The incident took place near Gol Nabi Street in north Tehran, it said.

It was not immediately clear if Ahmadi was involved in Iran’s nuclear program, or in what department he was teaching.

However, several Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated in recent years.

Tehran has blamed the killings on Israel and the US. Both countries deny the accusations.

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Memogate scandal: US scholars concerned over Haqqani’s safety

WASHINGTON: Sixteen US scholars from think tanks in Washington have written to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to express concerns over the safety of Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, asking the Obama administration to “make appropriate public statements to ensure that Husain Haqqani is not physically harmed and that due process of law is followed.”

The letter, dated January 7 and co-signed by the academics and experts from various think tanks, states, “It has come to our attention that ambassador Haqqani is under intense pressure in Pakistan, including possibly threats to his life, over the so-called ‘Memogate’ affair.”

The letter also cites concerns raised by Haqqani’s former counsel Asma Jehangir over the Supreme Court’s judicial commission formed to investigate Memogate, including a claim made by Jehangir that the former ambassador “could be picked up by Pakistan’s intelligence services and intimidated, and even possibly tortured, into providing a statement that suits their interests.”

The scholars say that they find it troubling that Haqqani was asked to surrender his passport, and cited examples of the assassinations for governor Salmaan Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti and Saleem Shahzad, that they say have created a culture of intimidation and fear that is stifling efforts to promote a more tolerant and democratic society.”

The letter adds, “Significant segments of the Pakistani media have already judged Haqqani to be guilty of treason, which could inspire religious extremists to take the law into their own hands as they did with Taseer and Bhatti.”

Last week, three U.S senators including Senator McCain had also expressed reservations about the treatment of the former Ambassador.

The scholars added, “In keeping with its traditional support for human rights and its deep interest in a firmly democratic Pakistan, the U.S. government should do all it can to ensure Haqqani receives due process without any threat of physical harm. We commend the State Department for its statement on Friday calling for fair and transparent treatment of Ambassador Haqqani in accordance with Pakistani law and international legal standards. We would urge the U.S. government to continue to weigh in with key Pakistani leaders and to make appropriate public statements to ensure that Husain Haqqani is not physically harmed and that due process of law is followed.”

The authors of the letter include writer and academic Dr. Stephen Cohen at the Brookings Institution, former CIA officer and expert Bruce Riedel and former Ambassadors Terseita C Schaffer and Howard B. Schaffer amongst others.

State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland confirmed to reporters at the daily press briefing that they had received the letter.

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