Photo: Friday prayer in Karachi, Pakistan

Fri May 1, 8:28 AM ET

Muslim men take part in Friday prayers at Karachi’s New Memon Mosque May 1, 2009. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro (PAKISTAN SOCIETY RELIGION)

Photo: Pakistani man prays at a mosque near Islamabad

Mon Feb 9, 2:55 PM ET

A Pakistani man prays in a mosque on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Feb. 9, 2009.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Pakistani nuclear scientist under house arrest for 5 years ordered immediately released

Pakistani nuclear scientist released Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:36:52 GMT

Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan’s five-year-long house arrest has come to an end after a judge ordered his immediate release. The decision was made following a closed session between the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court, Sardar Mohammad, and lawyers for the government and Khan. “The petitioner is declared a free citizen and writ petition is disposed of,” said a written order issued by the court. The 72-year-old founder of Pakistan’s nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, was effectively put under house arrest in Islamabad in February 2004. Khan’s house arrest came after he confessed to passing nuclear secrets to other countries. The scientist, however, retracted his statement afterwards. Former general and president Pervez Musharraf pardoned Khan in 2004. The Pakistani nuclear scientist was nonetheless kept at his residence, guarded by troops and intelligence agents. His house arrest order was relaxed last year and Khan was allowed to talk to the press. Following his release, Khan thanked President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, and the Pakistani nation for his freedom. “This has happened because of the keen interest taken by the president and prime minister, and especially the advisor to the prime minister on the interior, Rehman Malik, who looked into the case and reviewed it,” Khan said. “As far as I have been told, I will go anywhere in Pakistan without any restrictions and I will get whatever security that I had with me previously. If I want to travel abroad, I will have to seek permission from the government,” he told reporters. Friday’s decision comes after Washington on January 12 imposed sanctions against Khan, his 12 associates and three firms linked to his nuclear proliferation network. Washington’s sanctions forbid state-run or private US firms to do business with the Khan and his affiliates. MP/MMN

State Department press conference with Secretary of State Clinton and French FM Kouchner

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/05/18568492.php

State Department press conference with Secretary of State Clinton and French FM Kouchner

by al-masakin
Thursday Feb 5th, 2009 4:42 PM

Press conference at the State Department with U.S. Secretary of State H. R. Clinton and French FM Bernard Kouchner

kouchner-clinton_state_department_5feb09.pdf
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By Edward Campbell

Missoula, Feb. 5 (Al-Masakin)—Secretary of State Clinton met with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner at the State Department today. The Secretary of State said that the United States was committed to its transatlantic alliance with the country which she called “oldest and closest that the United States has in the world.”

She praised French President Nicolas Sarkozy for helping achieve a ceasefire in the Republic of Georgia and said that the United States was both “proud and grateful” that France was a coalition partner in Afghanistan, noting that the Foreign Minister had “longstanding work in that country, going back many years,” and stating how impressed she was as the new hospital France has built in the capital Kabul.

She went on to say that France was working closely with the United States in the process of closing the American prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and said France and America have mutual concerns over the possibility that Iran may build a nuclear weapon pledging to use “smart diplomacy” to engage the international community, including Russia, to prevent Iran from achieving that aim, and said there was much ahead of the two nations with respect to “global financial reform.”

Foreign Minister Kouchner said that although he saluted President Obama’s victory in the election “we are not always a hundred percent in agreement,” but the relationship between the two countries is “a very sound friendship.”

The Foreign Minister went on directly into the question of the Middle East saying that the French government is “really very anxious about the situation of the people of Gaza, and we were in agreement together with Madame Secretary of State to make pressure on both side[s] to open the crossing.” He went on to stress the need to strengthen Abu Mazen in order to establish a “a government of national unity,” in Palestine.

He went on to assert that the French were in complete agreement with the Egyptian initiative.

At the press conference which followed the opening remarks of the Madame Secretary and the Foreign Minister, the Secretary of State said that Ambassador Holbrooke was on his way to London then Munich where he will meet with Foreign Minister Kouchner tomorrow, then on to Pakistan, then Afghanistan, with a stop in India, hoping to overcome an impasse with Kyrgyzstan over the possible closure of the NATO air base there which is badly needed as a line of communication to Afghanistan especially after the NATO supply line was cut by Islamic militants at Khyber near Peshawar Feb. 3. She went on to note that she was especially thankful to be working with FM Kouchner who was a doctor in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion and therefore had a great deal of first hand experience in the region.

Her French counterpart went on to say that “Afghanistan will be the hardest and the most important task of President Obama’s…However, I think that the key word about Afghanistan is what I call “Afghanization.” That means we must give the people in Afghanistan control of their own destiny in the sense that with the progress that has been made already, it’s there. They have elected their own government. They have a parliament that has been elected, with women in the parliament, two members, which we didn’t dream of some time ago. So we need to make it known to the Afghan people that they are in control of their own progress and their own future, and that they have something to look forward in terms of their family and their future in one of the poorest countries of the world, where 80 percent of the population works in farming. I think that this is what we need to do.”

The French Foreign Minister went on to say that although France has indirect talks with Hamas through other nations such as Turkey in the process of supporting the Egyptian Initiative, it does not have direct talks with the organization because France feels that Hamas is “not part of the peace process.” He went on to say that France would consider talking to Hamas only after Hamas recognized the signatures of the PLO on the Arab Peace Initiative.

The Secretary of State went on to stress that the United States “will not in any way negotiate with or recognize Hamas until they renounce violence, recognize Israel, and agree to abide by, as the foreign minister said, the prior agreements entered into by the PLO and the Palestinian Authority.”

EHC / EHC
———————————–
Al-Masakin News Agency
http://almasakinnewsagency.wordpress.com/

World diplomats at Islamabad conference commit to changing Western perceptions of Islam

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/04/18568096.php

World diplomats at Islamabad conference commit to changing Western perceptions of Islam

by al-masakin
Wednesday Feb 4th, 2009 8:51 AM

World diplomats at Islamabad conference ‘Future of Change’ commit to changing Western perceptions of Islam
Iranian Envoy Recounts Major Muslims Concerns

future_of_change_islamabad_4feb09.pdf
download PDF (94.9 KB)

TEHRAN, Feb. 4 (FNA)—Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Mashaallah Shakeri Wednesday pointed to the West’s biased stance towards the world of Islam as among the Muslims’ major concerns.

Criticizing some Western countries’ stance toward Muslims and linking them to terrorism, Shakeri said in a seminar dubbed as ‘Future Agenda of Change, Role for the Muslim World’ in Islamabad, that Muslims believe that the war on terror is for crushing them.

He noted that another reason for Muslims’ concern is that the West resists against recognition of Islamic countries’ changes, including what happened in Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

He also described major powers’ unilateralism in South Asia and the Middle East as another cause for Muslims’ concerns.

The Iranian diplomat also expressed hope that US President Barack Obama’s policies regarding Muslims would be different from those of Bush, and said Iran would positively respond to any change by the new US administration.
Reminding the world nations’ hatred for war and bloodshed, he urged the new US administration to work on democracy and peace and respect Muslims.

In international relations, war is not the solution to problems, the Iranian diplomat reiterated.

Ambassadors of Islamic countries ask Obama to address root causes of terrorism

Islamabad, Feb. 4 (APP)—Muslim world is hopeful of a change in US policy towards the Islamic world with arrival of the Obama administration, said ambassadors of prominent Islamic countries. Ambassador of Saudi Arabia Ali S. Awadh Assery, Ambassador of Syria Riad Hussain Ismat, Ambassador of Iran Masha’s Allah Shakeri, Ambassador of Iraq Kais Shbhi Al-Yacoubi and diplomats of Morocco and Nigeria agreed that election of President Obama points towards long desired change.

They were speaking at a roundtable conference on “Islam and the West and future agenda of change” held under the auspices of Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) here on Tuesday.

Diplomats of Germany, USA, Russia and Japan also spoke on the occasion.

They expressed optimism that President Obama would see the Islamic world with a different perspective and the practice to bracket Islam with terrorism would be stopped. They stressed that the new US administration should seek to root out the real causes of terrorism.

The Saudi Ambassador said the international community should give more funds to Pakistan so that it can be in a better position to counter terrorism and extremism. He said Saudi Arabia has adopted a soft anti-terror policy by integrating and rehabilitating those who got misled and went on the path of terrorism.

The Iranian ambassador spoke about the policies of previous US administration which proved counterproductive. “President Bush spoke enough to the world now the US requires to listen prior to talking,” he added.

He said Iran is waiting to see what change President Obama will bring in its policy towards his country.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that if Iran witnessed any substantive change in US policy it will be replied positively.

The Iraqi ambassador said miracles should not be expected of Obama administration. He pointed out that Israel has always wasted opportunities to secure permanent peace in the Middle East.

He said Islam is about peace and co-existence and the Muslims want that when they extend the hand of cooperation, the outside world should reciprocate in a spirit which promotes unity and harmony.

Speaking on the occasion, a representative of embassy of Japan said idea of co-existence should be promoted to strengthen relations between Islam and the West. He said quest for achieving peace in the world is a laudable initiative taken by the Council of Islamic Ideology.

A representative of Russian embassy said today’s world is interdependent and there is a need for understanding each others point of view on issues.

He said, “Russia as observer at OIC, wants to build good relations with OIC and its member countries including Pakistan.”

He said Russia gives due respect to Muslim Ummah and its proof is that in Russia there are 4750 mosques among 10,000 places of worship.

Katrina, representative of the embassy of Germany appreciated the role of participants in pointing out the problems faced by the Muslim countries and said the issues needed to be addressed in a spirit of reconciliation. She said more than six million Muslims are living a peaceful and respectable life in Germany. She underlined the need for resolving issues through negotiations and by giving due respect to each other.

A representative of the US embassy said people in America believe in the idea of change, adding “America is a land of Christians and Muslims. We need to work together and understand each others point of view.” More than eight million Muslims are living in America.

Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi said Islam is a religion of peace and it does not believe in taking lives of innocent people.

“Bloodshed and suicide attacks have nothing to do with Islam,” he said and added there are some hidden hands who are carrying out such activities to defame Muslims. He said religious seminaries have vital role in Muslim society as these are source of producing useful citizens.

Minister of State for Religious Affairs Shagufta Jumani expressed the hope that the conference will prove to be a good effort to bridge gap between civilizations and religions.

Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, who conducted the conference, said such interaction would help bridge gap between Islam and the west.

He said recommendations of participants of the meeting would be compiled and forwarded to the government.

He said the election of US President has created cautious optimism and there is hope of reversal of wrong policies of the past.

Chairman Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Dr. Khalid Masood in his welcome address said CII is a constitutional body which reviews legislation, presents reports to the government and proposes amendments in laws.

He said the Council had almost completed the process of reviewing all existing laws in the country to bring them in line with the Holy Quran and Sunnah.

Fars / APP / EHC
———————————
Al-Masakin News Agency
http://almasakinnewsagency.wordpress.com/

Photos: NATO supply line cut at Khyber, Peshawar Pakistan

Tue Feb 3, 10:03 AM ET

A truck lies on a bridge destroyed by alleged Islamic militants Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009 in the Pakistani tribal area of Khyber near Peshawar. Islamist militants blew up the bridge in northwest Pakistan, cutting a major supply line for Western troops in Afghanistan, a government official and a NATO spokesman said. The attack was the latest in a series on the Khyber Pass by insurgents seeking to hamper the U.S.-led mission against the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.(AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

Tue Feb 3, 9:46 AM ET

Local residents carry their possessions after a bridge was destroyed by Islamic militants Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009 in the Pakistani tribal area of Khyber near Peshawar. Islamist militants blew up a bridge in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, cutting a major supply line for Western troops in Afghanistan in the latest in a series of attacks on the Khyber Pass by insurgents seeking to hamper the U.S.-led mission against the Taliban. A NATO spokesman in Afghanistan confirmed that supplies along the route had been halted ‘for the time being,’ but stressed the alliance was in no danger of running out of food, equipment or fuel.(AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

 

Tue Feb 3, 9:47 AM ET

Local residents walk after a bridge was destroyed by Islamic militants Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009 in the Pakistani tribal area of Khyber near Peshawar. Islamist militants blew up a bridge in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, cutting a major supply line for Western troops in Afghanistan in the latest in a series of attacks on the Khyber Pass by insurgents seeking to hamper the U.S.-led mission against the Taliban. A NATO spokesman in Afghanistan confirmed that supplies along the route had been halted ‘for the time being,’ but stressed the alliance was in no danger of running out of food, equipment or fuel.(AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

 

Tue Feb 3, 9:50 AM ET

Local residents walk past a bridge destroyed by alleged Islamic militants Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009 in the Pakistani tribal area of Khyber, near Peshawar. Islamic militants blew up the bridge in northwest Pakistan, cutting a major supply line for western troops in Afghanistan, a government official and a NATO spokesman said. The attack was the latest in a series on the Khyber Pass by insurgents seeking to hamper the US-led mission against the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.(AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

NATO seeks new supply route to Afghanistan through Iran

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/03/18567932.php

NATO seeks new supply route to Afghanistan through Iran

by al-masakin
Tuesday Feb 3rd, 2009 8:24 AM

Defence
US in Dire Need of Iran’s Help to Fight Afghan War

nato-afghanistan-iran_3feb09.pdf
download PDF (82.3 KB)

TEHRAN, Feb. 3 (FNA)—As Afghanistan moves to the center-stage in US foreign policy, the new administration in Washington will need more than a troop surge to defeat the Taliban and bring peace and it will have to engage Iran.

President Barack Obama’s administration is conducting a full policy review on Iran which is expected to include Tehran’s role in Afghanistan, while the head of NATO, which leads some 55,000 troops in Afghanistan, said dialogue with Iran was crucial to fighting the insurgency there.

“It is absolutely essential, you cannot stabilize Afghanistan without Iran,” said Ahmed Rashid, author of a widely acclaimed book on the Taliban.

Germany, the third largest troop contributor in Afghanistan, has also joined the chorus of diplomatic voices for dialogue with Iran, suggesting recently a “contact group” of nations to kick-start rapprochement.

With the US planning to deploy up 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan in the next 12 to 18 months, and faced with supply-line challenges over insecure routes from Pakistan, the need for wider regional cooperation is acute and urgent.

“Pakistan has only been partially helpful in fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban … talking to Iran will put a lot more pressure on Pakistan and neighboring countries to cooperate with NATO and American forces in Afghanistan,” Rashid said.

When asked whether any future talks with Tehran might touch on Afghanistan, US State Department spokesman Robert Wood said there needed to be a regional approach to Afghanistan and that included Iran last week.

Alternative routes to Afghanistan for US and NATO supplies have been agreed with Central Asian states to the north, but given its access to major ports on the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf, Iran would be an invaluable transit route, though the likelihood of military supplies coming through Iran is a distant prospect.

NATO’s top military commander said Monday that the alliance would not oppose individual member nations making deals with Iran to supply their forces in Afghanistan as an alternative to using increasingly risky routes from Pakistan.

“Those would be national decisions. Nations should act in a manner that is consistent with their national interest and with their ability to resupply their forces,” Craddock, an American who is NATO’s supreme allied commander, told the AP. “I think it is purely up to them.”

Securing alternative routes to landlocked Afghanistan has taken on added urgency this year as the United States prepares to double its troop numbers there to 60,000 to battle a resurgent Taliban eight years after the US-led invasion.

It also comes at a time when the main supply corridor through neighboring Pakistan is becoming increasingly dangerous as insurgents attack convoys that supply the foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Some political and military leaders have hinted at the need for closer cooperation with the government in Iran over the war in Afghanistan, where some 70,000 NATO and US troops are currently trying to beat back the resurgent Taliban.

The Islamic Republic has a long history of opposing Taliban rule.

Some experts suggest that nations with good relations with Iran such as France, Germany and Italy may try to set up an alternate supply route to western Afghanistan via Chah Bahar, a port in southeastern Iran.

“NATO is looking at flexible, alternate routing. I think that is healthy,” Craddock said, when asked about the possibility of using Iranian territory for supply.

“Options are a good thing, choices are a good thing, flexibility in military operations is essential,” he said. “What nations will do is up to them,” he said, without elaborating.

Craddock’s comments came after US Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus said last month that America had struck deals with Russia and several Central Asian states close to or bordering Afghanistan to allow supplies to pass through their territory.

US and NATO forces in Afghanistan get up to 75 percent of “non-lethal” supplies such as food, fuel and building materials from shipments that cross Pakistan.

FNA/EHC
————————————-
Al-Masakin News Agency
http://almasakinnewsagency.wordpress.com/

Iran threatens to invade Pakistan to combat terrorist groups hiding there

Iran Ready to Act against Terrorists in Pakistan TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran is ready to fight and annihilate Pakistan-based terrorist groups in case Islamabad voices content and issues the required permit, Deputy Police Chief Ahmad Reza Radan said.

Radan’s remarks came as terrorist militants killed a number of Iranian soldiers in an ambush in the country’s southeastern borders with Pakistan on Monday. The terrorists crossed Iran’s southeastern borders in Sistan and Balouchestan province and fled back to Pakistan after conducting their sabotage operation. Iran’s southeastern border with Pakistan is a sensitive region and has been the scene of deadly clashes between Iranian security forces and armed drug traffickers and militants. “There has been found no relation between these events and Abdul Malik Rigi (a well-known gang leader whose group has already staged several terrorist operations in southeastern Iran),” Radan said, adding that further investigations are underway. Urging Pakistani police to be accountable for the events, he described Pakistan’s role in border control as important and said, “The Pakistani border guards have not contributed their role properly while they also lack the necessary abilities.” “If Pakistan permits, we are ready to enter its territory and start an operation for uprooting and annihilating the terrorists,” Iranian deputy police chief reiterated.

Gunmen murder Pakistani journalist Amir Wakil in Islamibad

Tue Jan 27, 2:45 AM ET

Pakistani journalists shout slogans during a protest rally in Karachi in November, 2008. The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders Tuesday urged Pakistan to control violence after the recent killing of a journalist and an attack on a privately owned TV station.(AFP/File/Asif Hassan)

Media group raps Pakistan after journalist killed

Tue Jan 27, 8:19 am ET

ISLAMABAD (AFP) – The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders Tuesday urged Pakistan to control violence after the recent killing of a journalist and an attack on a privately owned TV station.

“If the climate of violence is not quickly brought under control, the government will not be able to say it is doing everything possible to ensure that Pakistani journalists can work in a free and safe environment,” it said.

A gunman shot dead freelance journalist Amir Wakil near his home in Islamabad’s twin city Rawalpindi late Saturday, his brother told AFP. The killer’s motive was not immediately clear.

“The man fired two shots when [Wakil] was entering his home after buying milk from a nearby shop,” Kamal Azfar said.

“We have no rivalry in Rawalpindi or in our village,” he said, adding that police were trying to locate the killer.

Reporters Without Borders condemned the killing.

“Although there is so far no evidence that it was linked to his work as a journalist, we call for the deployment of additional resources for the investigation and the prosecution of those responsible,” it said.

“Similarly, the authorities must consider new measures to protect privately owned media after the attack on Samaa TV in Quetta.”

On Monday, stone throwers shattered windows in the Samaa TV building in the southwestern city of Quetta, where the sectarian killing of a local Shiite politician and businessmen sparked protests Monday.

The channel‘s Quetta bureau chief told AFP there were no casualties.

“The attackers also opened fire with pistols but the staff had a miraculous escape as the shots hit the ceiling,” said Zahur Baloch.

PHOTO: Lahore women protest Gaza massacre

Sun Jan 4, 8:48 AM ET

Pakistani women shout anti-israeli slogans during a protest in Lahore. Thousands of Israeli troops and scores of tanks have advanced into Gaza, battling Hamas fighters and surrounding the main city on a mission to end militant rocket attacks.(AFP/Arif Ali)