More than 300,000 people trapped in Nepal-India's worst floods in 50 years have been rescued but nearly double that number remain stranded without food or water, officials said Saturday.
About 60 people have died and three million have been affected since the Kosi river breached its banks earlier this month on the border with Nepal and changed course, swamping hundreds of villages in eastern Bihar state.
"Large-scale evacuation will continue till all the marooned people are rescued in the next three to four days," disaster management official Prataya Amrit told AFP.
The government said the situation was unlikely to return to normal for months and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) voiced fears about illnesses breaking out at congested relief camps.
"We will have to provide food and shelter to the survivors until October as they will not be able to return home," the state's disaster management minister Nitish Mishra told AFP.
The government has set up more than 100 shelters, but officials said nearly 600,000 people were still waiting to be rescued.
The floods have caused extensive damage and disruption to roads, water and electricity supplies in the affected areas, UNICEF said.
"Essential commodities including food are now being transported by boat," the UN body said in a statement.
In New Delhi, a home ministry statement said 84 boats and five helicopters were being despatched to Bihar to ferry people to safety.
"More army personnel and medical teams have been sent to the affected districts with tents, rubber sheets, medicines and water purification tablets," a home ministry official said.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Nepal, where thousands of Indians seeking shelter from floods in Bihar have also migrated.
At least 15 people died and some were still missing after an army rescue boat carrying flood survivors capsized on Friday.
Soldiers were facing problems tracing possible survivors because of strong currents, disaster management official R.K. Singh said.
A family trapped on a tractor for several days made desperate pleas to be rescued as flood waters rose steadily around them, the Indian Express newspaper reported.
"We have been stuck here for the past 10 days with no rescue team reaching here. Our food and water stocks have run out. Our mobiles (phones) are working, but they too will fail any moment," Laxmi Singh was quoted as saying.
Survivors at relief shelters said they were not getting anything to eat.
"We have absolutely nothing with us here. We left everything behind," one woman at a crowded relief camp told NDTV news network.
Premier Manmohan Singh has described the situation as a "national calamity" and announced a relief package of 228 million dollars and 125,000 tonnes of grain.
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon has sent condolences to the families of victims.
"The Secretary-General was saddened to learn of the loss of life and damage to property in Bihar, due to flooding," his office said in a statement.
The Kosi, which flows into the Ganges, is known as the "River of Sorrow" due to its record of disastrous floods during the monsoon season.
More than 800 people have been killed in monsoon-related accidents following the heavy June-to-September rains across India.
Bihar officials said the death toll could climb further as many areas were inaccessible.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Maoists' move is likely to cause political turmoil in this Himalayan nation
Nepal's first president elected by new republic's governing assembly
Nepal's governing assembly has elected the new republic's first president, defeating the candidate backed by the former communist rebels who emerged in recent elections as the largest political party.
Senior leaders of the former rebels, formally known as Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), warned after the results were announced Monday that they would withdraw plans to form the new government.
Constituent Assembly Chairman Kul Bahadur Gurung announced the assembly has elected Ram Baran Yadav, a physician from the Madheshi ethnic community in southern Nepal.
Yadav's victory was a blow for the Maoists, who won the most assembly seats in April elections and hoped to form the country's new government.
Nepal's governing assembly has elected the new republic's first president, defeating the candidate backed by the former communist rebels who emerged in recent elections as the largest political party.
Senior leaders of the former rebels, formally known as Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), warned after the results were announced Monday that they would withdraw plans to form the new government.
Constituent Assembly Chairman Kul Bahadur Gurung announced the assembly has elected Ram Baran Yadav, a physician from the Madheshi ethnic community in southern Nepal.
Yadav's victory was a blow for the Maoists, who won the most assembly seats in April elections and hoped to form the country's new government.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Security Challanges in Nepal
Incident No 1
An unidentified group Sunday detonated a bomb at the newly constructed building of Malangawa municipility in Sarlahi district.
The explosion slightly damaged the ground floor of the building and broke five shutters.
Acting chief of the municipality Raj Kapur Mahato informed that none of the municipality staffers, who were working on the upper floor of the building, was injured.
He said that an underground armed outfit Terai Army had threatened the municipality demanding a ransom of Rs 5,00,000.
The group are suspected to have carried out the explosion.
Incident No 2
In what appears to be the first such case of collective revolt by junior security personnel against their high level officers in Nepal, the junior personnel of Shamshergunj battalion of Armed Police Force (APF), in Banke district, have taken hold of the battalion assaulting and repelling the officers.
Claiming that they were provided with 'sub-standard rations' and meted out 'unbecoming behavior' by senior officers, the 'revolting' personnel physically assaulted the chief of the battalion Superintendent of Police Hari Shankar Budhathoki – who has now been brought to Kathmandu for treatment.
The 'revolting' personnel have locked up the battalion and refused entry to other officials, media as well as human rights people since the 'revolt' broke out late in the evening on Saturday.
Incident No 3
Unidentified assailants murdered a school principal after abducting him in Dhanusha district Sunday.
Bindeshwor Mahato, principal of Rastriya Secondary School in Hariharpur VDC was abducted two days ago along with one other man Kapaleshwor Saha before being shot dead.
However, Saha had managed to escape from the clutches of the abductors.
What can a Nepali make out of these incidents going on in Nepal?
An unidentified group Sunday detonated a bomb at the newly constructed building of Malangawa municipility in Sarlahi district.
The explosion slightly damaged the ground floor of the building and broke five shutters.
Acting chief of the municipality Raj Kapur Mahato informed that none of the municipality staffers, who were working on the upper floor of the building, was injured.
He said that an underground armed outfit Terai Army had threatened the municipality demanding a ransom of Rs 5,00,000.
The group are suspected to have carried out the explosion.
Incident No 2
In what appears to be the first such case of collective revolt by junior security personnel against their high level officers in Nepal, the junior personnel of Shamshergunj battalion of Armed Police Force (APF), in Banke district, have taken hold of the battalion assaulting and repelling the officers.
Claiming that they were provided with 'sub-standard rations' and meted out 'unbecoming behavior' by senior officers, the 'revolting' personnel physically assaulted the chief of the battalion Superintendent of Police Hari Shankar Budhathoki – who has now been brought to Kathmandu for treatment.
The 'revolting' personnel have locked up the battalion and refused entry to other officials, media as well as human rights people since the 'revolt' broke out late in the evening on Saturday.
Incident No 3
Unidentified assailants murdered a school principal after abducting him in Dhanusha district Sunday.
Bindeshwor Mahato, principal of Rastriya Secondary School in Hariharpur VDC was abducted two days ago along with one other man Kapaleshwor Saha before being shot dead.
However, Saha had managed to escape from the clutches of the abductors.
What can a Nepali make out of these incidents going on in Nepal?
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Nepal arrests Tibetan leaders
Nepalese authorities arrested three Tibetan leaders and charged them with anti-China activities, leading to protest from a pro-Tibet group based in Washington.
Police said the three Tibetans - Kelsang Chung, director of the Tibetan Refugee Reception Centre in Kathmandu, Ngawang Sangmo and Tashi Dolma, senior officials of the regional Tibetan Women's Association - were taken in on Thursday on charges of "anti-China activities".
Their arrests came amid street protests on Thursday, which saw hundreds of Tibetan exiles, including nuns and monks, shouting anti-China slogans and scuffling with police in Kathmandu before being hauled into waiting trucks and taken to detention centres.
Nearly 600 protesters were detained on Thursday for trying to storm a visa office of the Chinese embassy but it was not clear if they had been charged.
Police officer Sarbendra Khana said on Friday the three Tibetan leaders were detained under Nepal's Public Security Act and could be held in custody for 90 days. Nepali authorities have not said what prompted their arrests.
Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) criticised the government for the leaders' arrest, and said the three Tibetans should be released immediately. "These arrests are deeply disturbing at a time of transition to a new government in Nepal, when Tibetans already vulnerable in Nepal, are very nervous about Chinese government influence and presence in Kathmandu," Mary Beth Markey, a vice-president of the Washington-based said in a statement.
"We call for the immediate release of these three prominent Tibetans," the group said on Friday.
Nepal is presently going through a political transition, with former Maoist rebels, who scored a surprise victory in the April elections for a constituent assembly, expected to form a new government soon. The impoverished Himlayan state considers Tibet part of China, a key aid donor, and does not allow anti-China protests by Tibetans who fled their homeland after the failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.
Beijing wants Kathmandu to do more to stop the protests and Nepali authorities have recently toughened their position against refugees living in Nepal.
More than 20,000 Tibetans have been living in the Himalayan nation after a failed uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule in 1959. Kathmandu allows the exiled Tibetans to live in Nepal, but they are prohibited from organising political activities against its influential neighbour.
Thousands of Tibetans have been detained and later freed in recent months in Nepal for protesting against the Chinese crackdown on protests in Tibet in mid-March.
Police said the three Tibetans - Kelsang Chung, director of the Tibetan Refugee Reception Centre in Kathmandu, Ngawang Sangmo and Tashi Dolma, senior officials of the regional Tibetan Women's Association - were taken in on Thursday on charges of "anti-China activities".
Their arrests came amid street protests on Thursday, which saw hundreds of Tibetan exiles, including nuns and monks, shouting anti-China slogans and scuffling with police in Kathmandu before being hauled into waiting trucks and taken to detention centres.
Nearly 600 protesters were detained on Thursday for trying to storm a visa office of the Chinese embassy but it was not clear if they had been charged.
Police officer Sarbendra Khana said on Friday the three Tibetan leaders were detained under Nepal's Public Security Act and could be held in custody for 90 days. Nepali authorities have not said what prompted their arrests.
Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) criticised the government for the leaders' arrest, and said the three Tibetans should be released immediately. "These arrests are deeply disturbing at a time of transition to a new government in Nepal, when Tibetans already vulnerable in Nepal, are very nervous about Chinese government influence and presence in Kathmandu," Mary Beth Markey, a vice-president of the Washington-based said in a statement.
"We call for the immediate release of these three prominent Tibetans," the group said on Friday.
Nepal is presently going through a political transition, with former Maoist rebels, who scored a surprise victory in the April elections for a constituent assembly, expected to form a new government soon. The impoverished Himlayan state considers Tibet part of China, a key aid donor, and does not allow anti-China protests by Tibetans who fled their homeland after the failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.
Beijing wants Kathmandu to do more to stop the protests and Nepali authorities have recently toughened their position against refugees living in Nepal.
More than 20,000 Tibetans have been living in the Himalayan nation after a failed uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule in 1959. Kathmandu allows the exiled Tibetans to live in Nepal, but they are prohibited from organising political activities against its influential neighbour.
Thousands of Tibetans have been detained and later freed in recent months in Nepal for protesting against the Chinese crackdown on protests in Tibet in mid-March.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Treaty review will not sabotage Special Indo-Nepal ties: Prachanda
Kathmandu, May 17
Allaying fears that reviewing the 1950 Indo-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty will "sabotage" bilateral ties, Maoist chief Prachanda has said he wanted a "close" and "special" relationship with India on the basis of a "new" understanding.
"There should be some sort of special relation between Kathmandu and Delhi.... We want a new relationship with India, which means better relation, better understanding and better cooperation," Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, said.
The Maoist leader, believed to be Nepal's prime minister-in-waiting, said he wanted "each and every" provision of the treaty to be reviewed in the "new changing context" for "better" relationship between two countries.
"People feel that that it (treaty) is not benefiting them, there is some kind of inequality in it, so people have, time and again, raised concern for reviewing the 1950 treaty," he told Karan Thapar here in an interview for CNN-IBN's Devil's Advocate programme. "I don't think reviewing the treaty will sabotage the relation," he said.
New Delhi has expressed its readiness to have a re-look at the 58-year-old treaty after the Maoists voiced the demand following their triumph in the April Constituent Assembly poll.
Prachanda, however, favoured "equidistant" from both New Delhi and Beijing at the "political level".
"At the political level we will never side one country against another," he said. "We will try to maintain equidistant between Delhi and Beijing in political sense, but not in practical sense and in matters of cooperation." Prachanda denied that he was indulging in doublespeak on ties with India--demanding review of the treaty and seeking "equidistant" from Beijing and New Delhi on one hand and favouring close ties on the other. But political observers think he is indulging in doublespeak.
What can people of Nepal and India make out of such a contradictory statements from Nepal's revolutionary PM waiting?
Allaying fears that reviewing the 1950 Indo-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty will "sabotage" bilateral ties, Maoist chief Prachanda has said he wanted a "close" and "special" relationship with India on the basis of a "new" understanding.
"There should be some sort of special relation between Kathmandu and Delhi.... We want a new relationship with India, which means better relation, better understanding and better cooperation," Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, said.
The Maoist leader, believed to be Nepal's prime minister-in-waiting, said he wanted "each and every" provision of the treaty to be reviewed in the "new changing context" for "better" relationship between two countries.
"People feel that that it (treaty) is not benefiting them, there is some kind of inequality in it, so people have, time and again, raised concern for reviewing the 1950 treaty," he told Karan Thapar here in an interview for CNN-IBN's Devil's Advocate programme. "I don't think reviewing the treaty will sabotage the relation," he said.
New Delhi has expressed its readiness to have a re-look at the 58-year-old treaty after the Maoists voiced the demand following their triumph in the April Constituent Assembly poll.
Prachanda, however, favoured "equidistant" from both New Delhi and Beijing at the "political level".
"At the political level we will never side one country against another," he said. "We will try to maintain equidistant between Delhi and Beijing in political sense, but not in practical sense and in matters of cooperation." Prachanda denied that he was indulging in doublespeak on ties with India--demanding review of the treaty and seeking "equidistant" from Beijing and New Delhi on one hand and favouring close ties on the other. But political observers think he is indulging in doublespeak.
What can people of Nepal and India make out of such a contradictory statements from Nepal's revolutionary PM waiting?
Monday, May 5, 2008
Dialogue with Beijing 'vital': Tibetan exiled government
The Tibetan government-in-exile said Monday a new round of talks with China had been "vital" and that it was pleased Beijing had committed itself to continued dialogue.
"The fact we are once again in contact is very vital for a solution to the Tibetan issue," said Thubten Samphel, spokesman of the northern India-based Tibetan government-in-exile.
"It is also very good that China agreed to honour a meeting later," he told AFP by telephone from the hill town of Dharamshala, home of the exiled administration of spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
The one day of closed-door talks, the first between the two sides in over a year, concluded on Sunday with no reported breakthrough in ending the Tibet crisis, but few other details emerged.
The meeting came after global leaders pressured China to reopen dialogue amid seven weeks of deadly unrest in Tibet that has marred the nation's Olympic build-up.
"The issue of Tibet is too complicated and one cannot expect one or two rounds of talks will lead to solutions, but what is important is that the two sides are talking, which will help in dispelling mistrust," Samphel said.
"There is no alternative to talks, and so once there is trust this dialogue process will move forward and so we need to keep talking," he added.
The envoys who held talks with Chinese officials in Shenzhen in southern China were due to return to India on Tuesday or Wednesday and would then brief the Dalai Lama, Tibetan officials said.
One senior Tibetan source, however, hinted that the lack of tangible progress was a disappointment.
"We were at least expecting an assurance that the crackdown would end. We await our representatives to return and brief us on what transpired," the Tibetan official said on condition he not be named.
China has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of wanting independence for his homeland and of fomenting the recent unrest in an effort to shine a world spotlight on Tibet ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.
The 1989 Nobel laureate has rejected these charges, but has accused China of widespread human rights violations of his people and maintained his push for greater Tibetan autonomy under Chinese rule.
Chinese troops entered Tibet in 1950 and annexed the region the following year. The Dalai Lama fled his homeland following a failed 1959 uprising.
"The fact we are once again in contact is very vital for a solution to the Tibetan issue," said Thubten Samphel, spokesman of the northern India-based Tibetan government-in-exile.
"It is also very good that China agreed to honour a meeting later," he told AFP by telephone from the hill town of Dharamshala, home of the exiled administration of spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
The one day of closed-door talks, the first between the two sides in over a year, concluded on Sunday with no reported breakthrough in ending the Tibet crisis, but few other details emerged.
The meeting came after global leaders pressured China to reopen dialogue amid seven weeks of deadly unrest in Tibet that has marred the nation's Olympic build-up.
"The issue of Tibet is too complicated and one cannot expect one or two rounds of talks will lead to solutions, but what is important is that the two sides are talking, which will help in dispelling mistrust," Samphel said.
"There is no alternative to talks, and so once there is trust this dialogue process will move forward and so we need to keep talking," he added.
The envoys who held talks with Chinese officials in Shenzhen in southern China were due to return to India on Tuesday or Wednesday and would then brief the Dalai Lama, Tibetan officials said.
One senior Tibetan source, however, hinted that the lack of tangible progress was a disappointment.
"We were at least expecting an assurance that the crackdown would end. We await our representatives to return and brief us on what transpired," the Tibetan official said on condition he not be named.
China has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of wanting independence for his homeland and of fomenting the recent unrest in an effort to shine a world spotlight on Tibet ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.
The 1989 Nobel laureate has rejected these charges, but has accused China of widespread human rights violations of his people and maintained his push for greater Tibetan autonomy under Chinese rule.
Chinese troops entered Tibet in 1950 and annexed the region the following year. The Dalai Lama fled his homeland following a failed 1959 uprising.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Nepal Royalists warn of civil war
Analyst believes ouster would push country into Maoist-Hindu violence KATHMANDU:
Allies of Nepal’s embattled king have warned that the Himalayan nation could slide back into civil war if landmark elections next month lead to abolition of the monarchy.
Several prominent royalists insisted many people in the deeply traditional Hindu-majority nation wanted the 239-year-old institution to stay and were opposed to the rise of former Maoist rebels, in interviews with AFP.
The April 10 polls will be a culmination of a peace deal between the republican Maoists and mainstream secular parties that ended a decade-long insurgency aimed at toppling the monarchy that claimed 13,000 lives.
The ex-rebels and the parties have already agreed King Gyanendra will have to go after the polls to elect a body that will rewrite Nepal’s constitution. But Major General Bharat Keshwer Simha, a long-time royal aide who accompanied the royals on foreign visits for decades, forecast a violent backlash in the impoverished nation wedged between India and China.
Maoist-Hindu: “If the Maoists can take up arms and come to power, Hindus will also take up arms. It will be worse than the Maoists’ war and many people will be killed,” he said. Kunda Dixit, editor of the English language weekly Nepali Times, agreed the king would not take the abolition of his dynasty lying down. “Given the personality of the king, he’s not the type that is going to step down quietly,” Dixit said. But he saw the monarchists’ dire warnings as a last-ditch bid to try to derail the elections that will lead to the abolition of the institution.
“Things are pretty volatile and can be stoked - all it would take is a few acts” to force cancellation of the polls, he said. Diplomats close to the process have consistently warned that the political peace is fragile with all sides ready to resort to violence.
King Gyanendra, 60, was vaulted to the throne in 2001 after the massacre of his popular brother Birendra and most of the rest of the royal family by a drink-and-drug fuelled crown prince.
Conspiracy theories linking Gyanendra and his unpopular son Prince Paras to the massacre have made the king “the most unpopular man in Nepal,” said Dixit.
At the same time “the people make a distinction between a vote for the person of the monarch and the institution of monarchy,” Kunda said. “The latest polls have shown about half the population would prefer to keep some kind of symbolic monarchy,” he said.
Major General Simha said many people in the Hindu nation continue to revere the king as an incarnation of the god Vishnu, and consider the monarchy to be important for the small country.
“Hindu feeling in Nepal is very strong. It’s like a volcano that could erupt at any moment,” said Simha.
Kamal Thapa, who was home minister during the king’s direct rule, also predicted turmoil.
“There’s so much social diversity in Nepal and the monarchy has always been a binding force for national unity. So if the monarchy is abolished, the country will disintegrate,” he said.
Allies of Nepal’s embattled king have warned that the Himalayan nation could slide back into civil war if landmark elections next month lead to abolition of the monarchy.
Several prominent royalists insisted many people in the deeply traditional Hindu-majority nation wanted the 239-year-old institution to stay and were opposed to the rise of former Maoist rebels, in interviews with AFP.
The April 10 polls will be a culmination of a peace deal between the republican Maoists and mainstream secular parties that ended a decade-long insurgency aimed at toppling the monarchy that claimed 13,000 lives.
The ex-rebels and the parties have already agreed King Gyanendra will have to go after the polls to elect a body that will rewrite Nepal’s constitution. But Major General Bharat Keshwer Simha, a long-time royal aide who accompanied the royals on foreign visits for decades, forecast a violent backlash in the impoverished nation wedged between India and China.
Maoist-Hindu: “If the Maoists can take up arms and come to power, Hindus will also take up arms. It will be worse than the Maoists’ war and many people will be killed,” he said. Kunda Dixit, editor of the English language weekly Nepali Times, agreed the king would not take the abolition of his dynasty lying down. “Given the personality of the king, he’s not the type that is going to step down quietly,” Dixit said. But he saw the monarchists’ dire warnings as a last-ditch bid to try to derail the elections that will lead to the abolition of the institution.
“Things are pretty volatile and can be stoked - all it would take is a few acts” to force cancellation of the polls, he said. Diplomats close to the process have consistently warned that the political peace is fragile with all sides ready to resort to violence.
King Gyanendra, 60, was vaulted to the throne in 2001 after the massacre of his popular brother Birendra and most of the rest of the royal family by a drink-and-drug fuelled crown prince.
Conspiracy theories linking Gyanendra and his unpopular son Prince Paras to the massacre have made the king “the most unpopular man in Nepal,” said Dixit.
At the same time “the people make a distinction between a vote for the person of the monarch and the institution of monarchy,” Kunda said. “The latest polls have shown about half the population would prefer to keep some kind of symbolic monarchy,” he said.
Major General Simha said many people in the Hindu nation continue to revere the king as an incarnation of the god Vishnu, and consider the monarchy to be important for the small country.
“Hindu feeling in Nepal is very strong. It’s like a volcano that could erupt at any moment,” said Simha.
Kamal Thapa, who was home minister during the king’s direct rule, also predicted turmoil.
“There’s so much social diversity in Nepal and the monarchy has always been a binding force for national unity. So if the monarchy is abolished, the country will disintegrate,” he said.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Pak: Hindus threaten poll boycott over kidnappings
Islamabad (PTI): Hindus in two districts of Pakistan's Balochistan province on Wednesday warned that the minority community would boycott the upcoming general election if authorities fail to trace three kidnapped Hindu traders even as armed men abducted another businessman's son.
The panchayats of Jaffarabad and Nasirabad districts demanded that the government should trace Kundan Lal, Parkash Kumar and Dilip Kumar - who were kidnapped by four armed men on Saturday - within the next two days.
If this is not done, the Hindu community would boycott the February 18 parliamentary polls, Mukhia Manak Chand told a Hindu panchayat meeting in Dera Murad Jamali town.
Hours after the meeting, four armed men kidnapped Ravi Kumar, the son of rice mill owner Seth Haripal Das, in Jaffarabad tonight. Police said the armed men broke into the Baloch Rice Mill and abducted Kumar.
Police cordoned off the area and launched efforts to trace the kidnapped youth.
Manak Chand said the kidnapping of the men had created restlessness and panic among Hindus and this could be resolved only through the early release of the traders. He also emphasised the need for measures for the security of the Hindu community.
The three traders were kidnapped from a Jacobabad-bound van in Jaffarabad district. They had come to Dera Murad Jamali on a business trip from Jacobabad. The kidnappers, who were travelling in the same van, stopped the vehicle and abducted the traders at gun point.
Jaffarabad district police chief Sohail Ahmed Sheikh said "strenuous efforts" are being made to trace the traders as soon as possible.
The police investigation was proceeding in the right direction and would soon lead "to the gang involved in this heinous crime", he said.
The federal interior ministry has taken "keen interest" in the case and directed the Inspector General of Balochistan Police to ensure the early release of the traders and to take "concrete measures" for the security of the Hindu community in the province, sources told state-run APP news agency.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Pakistan dancing girls fear Taleban
On a chilly October night, a late visitor bangs the huge steel gate of a house in a narrow alley of Mingora city, the headquarters of Pakistan's troubled northern district, Swat.
But no-one answers.
A painted sign on top of the gate says: "No more singing and dancing from today - 8 August 2007."
A curious neighbour walks up to the visitor, telling him the girls inside "have got letters from the Taleban, advising them to put an end to their business if they don't want their house blown up".
Whisky and dance
People in the Bunrh neighbourhood, the so-called music street of Mingora, confirm this information.
"Dozens of families have shifted to other cities, while many others are stuck here without any means of a living," says Fazl-e-Maula, the father-in-law of a local dancing girl, Nasreen.
Local Taleban have been spreading their influence in Swat since 2005, and are currently holding large swathes of territory just north of Mingora.
This is too much - I don't feel like dancing any more Former dancing girl Nasreen
Last August, they distributed a dozen letters across the Bunrh neighbourhood threatening bomb attacks unless the dancers and musicians gave up their professions.
Swat has been long known for its fair-skinned dancing girls, popular with people who wish to have dancing at a wedding party or any other private party across most of northern Pakistan.
Unlike some dancing girls in the Shahi Mohallah area of Lahore, the women in this conservative city have never had a reputation for providing any sexual services.
Many people visit the girls in Swat at their houses in Bunrh for a glass of whisky and a dance.
Down the decades, many of the girls have shown themselves to be talented radio singers or movie stars.
But in recent years the tide has turned against them in a big way.
It started with the "Islamisation" policy of former military ruler, Gen Zia ul-Haq, in the 1980s, which saw the rise of the clergy's influence in social life. This made dance parties at weddings increasingly unpopular.
In 2002, a religious alliance, the MMA, came to power in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and banned all cultural shows where these girls performed.
At the turn of the millennium, many girls were on their way out of business.
"I was too old to dance by then," recalls Shah Bano, 38. "My daughter had her admirers, but when the MMA came to power, invitations to wedding parties began to get few and far between. And there was the risk of arrest and public humiliation."
Two years ago her husband, Babu - "the best drummer in Mingora" - died. This gave her son, a staunch opponent of dancing in the family, a chance to force his sister out of business.
"I work for a local butcher," says Shaukat Ali, Shah Bano's son. "The wages are not great, but I'm glad my sister doesn't have to dance for a living."
Violent campaign
The girls who turned to music concerts and stage shows, often held in Peshawar, the capital of NWFP, were thrown out of business when the cultural shows were banned.
Some of them benefited temporarily when the aficionados and businessmen on NWFP's dance and music scene diversified into the video CD business, producing and distributing long plays and dance sessions on VCDs and DVDs.
But a violent campaign by militant Taleban has caused this business to decline across large parts of NWFP. Hundreds of video outlets have been blown up. Others have voluntarily closed down or switched to other businesses.
These repeated reverses have frustrated many girls and their families. Nasreen, 26, a mother of two, is one of them.
She says she was "hurt when some maulanas [clerics] sighted her and banned her stage show in Peshawar four years ago".
"It was a problem because the men of the house - my husband and father-in-law - knew no other trade except to play musical instruments."
Optimists and rebels
In 2006, she received almost half a dozen contracts to perform for music video CDs, often recorded on private premises.
It brought her enough money to buy a passenger van for her husband. However, due to his inexperience the income from the van has been far from satisfactory.
She says she tried to supplement the household income by receiving guests at home, until the Taleban in Swat issued their threats in August, leading to a complete ban on all singing and dancing in Mingora.
"This is too much. I don't feel like dancing any more," she says.
But Mingora's music street is not without its optimists and rebels.
"My heart tells me that things will change for the better, but I hope I'm alive by then," says Palwasha, an enthusiastic 18-year-old novice.
And for a novice she has done very well so far.
Unlike Nasreen, she has taken risks and done more than 20 CD plays and video dance sessions, despite an explicit ban by the Taleban.
She has also sung numbers or performed on songs for the official Pakistan Television (PTV) and a Pashto language private TV channel, AVT Khyber.
Three months ago, she did a small role for a teleplay produced by Pakistan's Geo Entertainment TV channel.
She aspires to go to Lahore and act in movies, but neither she nor her uncle and guardian, Mohammad Saleem, have any contacts there.
And it is dangerous to stay on in Mingora.
"I have defied the Taleban's ban, and sometimes I suspect that they know it. I only hope to get out of here before they blow me up," she says.
Some names have been changed to protect the identities of the persons
But no-one answers.
A painted sign on top of the gate says: "No more singing and dancing from today - 8 August 2007."
A curious neighbour walks up to the visitor, telling him the girls inside "have got letters from the Taleban, advising them to put an end to their business if they don't want their house blown up".
Whisky and dance
People in the Bunrh neighbourhood, the so-called music street of Mingora, confirm this information.
"Dozens of families have shifted to other cities, while many others are stuck here without any means of a living," says Fazl-e-Maula, the father-in-law of a local dancing girl, Nasreen.
Local Taleban have been spreading their influence in Swat since 2005, and are currently holding large swathes of territory just north of Mingora.
This is too much - I don't feel like dancing any more Former dancing girl Nasreen
Last August, they distributed a dozen letters across the Bunrh neighbourhood threatening bomb attacks unless the dancers and musicians gave up their professions.
Swat has been long known for its fair-skinned dancing girls, popular with people who wish to have dancing at a wedding party or any other private party across most of northern Pakistan.
Unlike some dancing girls in the Shahi Mohallah area of Lahore, the women in this conservative city have never had a reputation for providing any sexual services.
Many people visit the girls in Swat at their houses in Bunrh for a glass of whisky and a dance.
Down the decades, many of the girls have shown themselves to be talented radio singers or movie stars.
But in recent years the tide has turned against them in a big way.
It started with the "Islamisation" policy of former military ruler, Gen Zia ul-Haq, in the 1980s, which saw the rise of the clergy's influence in social life. This made dance parties at weddings increasingly unpopular.
In 2002, a religious alliance, the MMA, came to power in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and banned all cultural shows where these girls performed.
At the turn of the millennium, many girls were on their way out of business.
"I was too old to dance by then," recalls Shah Bano, 38. "My daughter had her admirers, but when the MMA came to power, invitations to wedding parties began to get few and far between. And there was the risk of arrest and public humiliation."
Two years ago her husband, Babu - "the best drummer in Mingora" - died. This gave her son, a staunch opponent of dancing in the family, a chance to force his sister out of business.
"I work for a local butcher," says Shaukat Ali, Shah Bano's son. "The wages are not great, but I'm glad my sister doesn't have to dance for a living."
Violent campaign
The girls who turned to music concerts and stage shows, often held in Peshawar, the capital of NWFP, were thrown out of business when the cultural shows were banned.
Some of them benefited temporarily when the aficionados and businessmen on NWFP's dance and music scene diversified into the video CD business, producing and distributing long plays and dance sessions on VCDs and DVDs.
But a violent campaign by militant Taleban has caused this business to decline across large parts of NWFP. Hundreds of video outlets have been blown up. Others have voluntarily closed down or switched to other businesses.
These repeated reverses have frustrated many girls and their families. Nasreen, 26, a mother of two, is one of them.
She says she was "hurt when some maulanas [clerics] sighted her and banned her stage show in Peshawar four years ago".
"It was a problem because the men of the house - my husband and father-in-law - knew no other trade except to play musical instruments."
Optimists and rebels
In 2006, she received almost half a dozen contracts to perform for music video CDs, often recorded on private premises.
It brought her enough money to buy a passenger van for her husband. However, due to his inexperience the income from the van has been far from satisfactory.
She says she tried to supplement the household income by receiving guests at home, until the Taleban in Swat issued their threats in August, leading to a complete ban on all singing and dancing in Mingora.
"This is too much. I don't feel like dancing any more," she says.
But Mingora's music street is not without its optimists and rebels.
"My heart tells me that things will change for the better, but I hope I'm alive by then," says Palwasha, an enthusiastic 18-year-old novice.
And for a novice she has done very well so far.
Unlike Nasreen, she has taken risks and done more than 20 CD plays and video dance sessions, despite an explicit ban by the Taleban.
She has also sung numbers or performed on songs for the official Pakistan Television (PTV) and a Pashto language private TV channel, AVT Khyber.
Three months ago, she did a small role for a teleplay produced by Pakistan's Geo Entertainment TV channel.
She aspires to go to Lahore and act in movies, but neither she nor her uncle and guardian, Mohammad Saleem, have any contacts there.
And it is dangerous to stay on in Mingora.
"I have defied the Taleban's ban, and sometimes I suspect that they know it. I only hope to get out of here before they blow me up," she says.
Some names have been changed to protect the identities of the persons
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Chavez Loses Constitutional Vote
Chavez Loses Vote That Would Have Let Him Run for Re-Election Indefinitely
CARACAS, Venezuela
President Hugo Chavez suffered a stinging defeat in a vote on constitutional changes that would have let him run for re-election indefinitely, the chief of National Electoral Council said Monday.
Voters defeated the sweeping measures by a vote of 51 percent to 49 percent, Tibisay Lucena said.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) A vote on sweeping constitutional reforms that could let Hugo Chavez hold the presidency for life remained unresolved early Monday, with the government saying it was too close to call and the opposition pressing for results.
Tensions grew as hours passed after the official close of voting with no announcement of results. The referendum on constitutional changes was a critical test for a leader bent on turning this major U.S. oil provider into a socialist state.
An emboldened opposition and clashes during student-led protests in recent weeks prompted fears of bitter conflict if either side disputed the results.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said early Monday that "the time has come to announce the results to the country." Capriles earlier had noted that 97 percent of polling stations are automated.
Another opposition spokesman Leopoldo Lopez, mayor of the Caracas district of Chacao, claimed earlier that results seen by election monitors "indicate the 'no' vote is going to win."
Caravans of Chavez's supporters had taken to the streets after polls closed, honking horns and blaring celebratory music in anticipation of victory. But their enthusiasm appeared to fade as the hours wore on.
"The result of the referendum is close," Vice President Jorge Rodriguez said from Chavez's campaign headquarters. "We will respect the result, whatever it is even if it's by one single vote."
Chavez's opponents fear a win by the president could mean a plunge toward dictatorship. Supporters have faith that Chavez would use the reforms to deepen grass-roots democracy and more equitably spread Venezuela's oil wealth.
The changes would help transform the major U.S. oil provider into a socialist state. They would create new forms of communal property, let Chavez handpick local leaders under a redrawn political map, permit civil liberties to be suspended under extended states of emergency and allow Chavez to seek re-election indefinitely. Otherwise, he cannot run again in 2012.
Chavez warned opponents ahead of the vote he would not tolerate attempts to incite violence, and threatened to cut off oil exports to the U.S. if Washington interferes. Chavez calls those who resist his socialist agenda pawns of President Bush.
"He's going to be an elected dictator," 77-year-old voter Ruben Rozenberg said of Chavez. The retired blue jeans maker, who emigrated from Cuba in 1961, said that although Chavez's revolution is peaceful compared to that of Fidel Castro, "we've been violated all around" by the Venezuelan leader's progressive consolidation of power.
Across town, in a pro-Chavez slum, 40-year-old Jorge Blanco said Chavez "is giving power to the people" through the reforms.
"He opened that little door and now we're free." Of the wealthy elite, Blanco said: "What they fear is losing power."
The government touted pre-election polls showing Chavez with an advantage, while surveys cited by the opposition indicated strong resistance unfamiliar territory for a leader who easily won re-election last year with 63 percent of the vote.
Casting his ballot, Chavez called the electronic voting system "one of the most modern in the world, one of the most transparent in the world."
His opponents have questioned the National Electoral Council's impartiality, however, especially after Chavez named Rodriguez, its former chief, his vice president in January.
About 100 electoral observers from 39 countries in Latin America, Europe and the United States were on hand, the electoral council said. Absent were the Organization of American States and the European Union, which have monitored past votes.
All was reported calm during voting but 45 people were detained, most for committing ballot-related crimes like "destroying electoral materials," said Gen. Jesus Gonzalez, chief of a military command overseeing security.
At a polling station in one politically divided Caracas neighborhood, Chavez supporters shouted "Get out of here!" to opposition backers who stood nearby aiming to monitor the vote count. A few dozen Chavistas rode by on motorcycles with bandanas and hats covering their faces, some throwing firecrackers.
Opponents including Roman Catholic leaders, press freedom groups, human rights groups and prominent business leaders fear the reforms would grant Chavez unchecked power and threaten basic rights.
Cecilia Goldberger, a 56-year-old voting in affluent eastern Caracas, said Venezuelans were being hoodwinked and do not really understand how Chavez's power grab will affect them.
She resented pre-dawn, get-out-the-vote tactics by Chavistas, including fireworks and reveille blaring from speakers mounted on cruising trucks.
"I refuse to be treated like cattle and I refuse to be part of a communist regime," the Israeli-born Goldberger said, adding that she and her businessman husband hope to leave the country.
Chavez sought to capitalize on his personal popularity ahead of the vote.
He is seen by many as a champion of the poor who has redistributed more oil wealth than any other leader in memory. Chavez, 53, says he will stay in power only as long as Venezuelans keep re-electing him but has added that might be until 2050, when he would be 95 years old. The reforms would also grant Chavez control over the Central Bank and extend presidential terms from six to seven years.
Many Chavez supporters say he needs more time in office to consolidate his unique brand of "21st century socialism," and praise other proposed changes such as shortening the workday from eight hours to six, creating a social security fund for millions of informal laborers and promoting communal councils where residents decide how to spend government funds.
Tensions have surged in recent weeks as university students led protests and occasionally clashed with police and Chavista groups.
Some 140,000 soldiers and reservists were posted for the vote, the Defense Ministry said.
Electoral council chief Tibisay Lucena called the vote "the calmest we've had in the last 10 years."
Associated Press writers Frank Bajak, Edison Lopez, Fabiola Sanchez, Jorge Rueda, Christopher Toothaker and Sandra Sierra contributed to this report.
CARACAS, Venezuela
President Hugo Chavez suffered a stinging defeat in a vote on constitutional changes that would have let him run for re-election indefinitely, the chief of National Electoral Council said Monday.
Voters defeated the sweeping measures by a vote of 51 percent to 49 percent, Tibisay Lucena said.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) A vote on sweeping constitutional reforms that could let Hugo Chavez hold the presidency for life remained unresolved early Monday, with the government saying it was too close to call and the opposition pressing for results.
Tensions grew as hours passed after the official close of voting with no announcement of results. The referendum on constitutional changes was a critical test for a leader bent on turning this major U.S. oil provider into a socialist state.
An emboldened opposition and clashes during student-led protests in recent weeks prompted fears of bitter conflict if either side disputed the results.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said early Monday that "the time has come to announce the results to the country." Capriles earlier had noted that 97 percent of polling stations are automated.
Another opposition spokesman Leopoldo Lopez, mayor of the Caracas district of Chacao, claimed earlier that results seen by election monitors "indicate the 'no' vote is going to win."
Caravans of Chavez's supporters had taken to the streets after polls closed, honking horns and blaring celebratory music in anticipation of victory. But their enthusiasm appeared to fade as the hours wore on.
"The result of the referendum is close," Vice President Jorge Rodriguez said from Chavez's campaign headquarters. "We will respect the result, whatever it is even if it's by one single vote."
Chavez's opponents fear a win by the president could mean a plunge toward dictatorship. Supporters have faith that Chavez would use the reforms to deepen grass-roots democracy and more equitably spread Venezuela's oil wealth.
The changes would help transform the major U.S. oil provider into a socialist state. They would create new forms of communal property, let Chavez handpick local leaders under a redrawn political map, permit civil liberties to be suspended under extended states of emergency and allow Chavez to seek re-election indefinitely. Otherwise, he cannot run again in 2012.
Chavez warned opponents ahead of the vote he would not tolerate attempts to incite violence, and threatened to cut off oil exports to the U.S. if Washington interferes. Chavez calls those who resist his socialist agenda pawns of President Bush.
"He's going to be an elected dictator," 77-year-old voter Ruben Rozenberg said of Chavez. The retired blue jeans maker, who emigrated from Cuba in 1961, said that although Chavez's revolution is peaceful compared to that of Fidel Castro, "we've been violated all around" by the Venezuelan leader's progressive consolidation of power.
Across town, in a pro-Chavez slum, 40-year-old Jorge Blanco said Chavez "is giving power to the people" through the reforms.
"He opened that little door and now we're free." Of the wealthy elite, Blanco said: "What they fear is losing power."
The government touted pre-election polls showing Chavez with an advantage, while surveys cited by the opposition indicated strong resistance unfamiliar territory for a leader who easily won re-election last year with 63 percent of the vote.
Casting his ballot, Chavez called the electronic voting system "one of the most modern in the world, one of the most transparent in the world."
His opponents have questioned the National Electoral Council's impartiality, however, especially after Chavez named Rodriguez, its former chief, his vice president in January.
About 100 electoral observers from 39 countries in Latin America, Europe and the United States were on hand, the electoral council said. Absent were the Organization of American States and the European Union, which have monitored past votes.
All was reported calm during voting but 45 people were detained, most for committing ballot-related crimes like "destroying electoral materials," said Gen. Jesus Gonzalez, chief of a military command overseeing security.
At a polling station in one politically divided Caracas neighborhood, Chavez supporters shouted "Get out of here!" to opposition backers who stood nearby aiming to monitor the vote count. A few dozen Chavistas rode by on motorcycles with bandanas and hats covering their faces, some throwing firecrackers.
Opponents including Roman Catholic leaders, press freedom groups, human rights groups and prominent business leaders fear the reforms would grant Chavez unchecked power and threaten basic rights.
Cecilia Goldberger, a 56-year-old voting in affluent eastern Caracas, said Venezuelans were being hoodwinked and do not really understand how Chavez's power grab will affect them.
She resented pre-dawn, get-out-the-vote tactics by Chavistas, including fireworks and reveille blaring from speakers mounted on cruising trucks.
"I refuse to be treated like cattle and I refuse to be part of a communist regime," the Israeli-born Goldberger said, adding that she and her businessman husband hope to leave the country.
Chavez sought to capitalize on his personal popularity ahead of the vote.
He is seen by many as a champion of the poor who has redistributed more oil wealth than any other leader in memory. Chavez, 53, says he will stay in power only as long as Venezuelans keep re-electing him but has added that might be until 2050, when he would be 95 years old. The reforms would also grant Chavez control over the Central Bank and extend presidential terms from six to seven years.
Many Chavez supporters say he needs more time in office to consolidate his unique brand of "21st century socialism," and praise other proposed changes such as shortening the workday from eight hours to six, creating a social security fund for millions of informal laborers and promoting communal councils where residents decide how to spend government funds.
Tensions have surged in recent weeks as university students led protests and occasionally clashed with police and Chavista groups.
Some 140,000 soldiers and reservists were posted for the vote, the Defense Ministry said.
Electoral council chief Tibisay Lucena called the vote "the calmest we've had in the last 10 years."
Associated Press writers Frank Bajak, Edison Lopez, Fabiola Sanchez, Jorge Rueda, Christopher Toothaker and Sandra Sierra contributed to this report.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Musharraf Sets Date for End of Emergency Rule
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 29 — Hours after being sworn in to a second term, President Pervez Musharraf announced Thursday that he would lift his state of emergency on Dec. 16, leaving barely three weeks for election campaigning and setting the stage for further confrontation with his opposition.
Mr. Musharraf made his promise to lift the emergency a day after he ended eight years of military rule, moving him a step closer to meeting the most urgent demands both at home and abroad to return the country to democracy.
“I fully intend to lift the emergency on Dec. 16, to end the Provisional Constitutional Order and to hold fair and free elections according to the Constitution,” he said in an address to the nation on state television and radio Thursday evening.
“No destabilization or hurdle will be allowed in this democratic process,” he added. “Elections, God willing, will be held on Jan. 8 according to the Constitution and no one should create any hurdles.”
Yet even before his announcement, an umbrella movement of opposition parties, the All Pakistan Democratic Movement, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said they supported a boycott of the parliamentary elections in protest of the lack of democratic norms under the emergency.
Two leaders of the lawyers’ movement against Mr. Musharraf, who were released from detention Thursday, also called for a boycott. One, Munir Malik, a constitutional lawyer and former president of the Supreme Court Bar, left an Islamabad hospital in a wheelchair and said the lawyers would renew their struggle.
Lawyers protesting Mr. Musharraf’s swearing-in clashed with the police in the city of Lahore, and threw bricks, glasses and sticks at the police who blocked their demonstration. Several lawyers and police officers were injured.
Meanwhile, even as Mr. Musharraf announced a deadline for the end of the emergency, he showed no relaxation on the detention of the former judges and senior advocates of the Supreme Court, or of the continued suspension of radio and television stations.
Somber and dressed in a traditional black tunic favored by civilian leaders, Mr. Musharraf took his new oath in a ceremony layered with contradictions, lecturing diplomats afterward on what he termed their obsession with democracy.
The Constitution that Mr. Musharraf vowed “to preserve, protect and defend” was suspended three weeks ago when he imposed the emergency, which only he holds the power to rescind.
The presidential oath was administered by the Supreme Court chief justice, Abdul Hameed Dogar, whom Mr. Musharraf appointed after dismissing the previous Supreme Court, which seemed about to rule another term for him illegal.
The former chief justice, Mohammed Iftikhar Chaudhry, and a number of other dismissed Supreme Court justices remain under house arrest, meanwhile, as do four senior advocates who work at the court since the emergency was imposed.
Once the emergency is lifted, decrees Mr. Musharraf made in recent weeks are to remain in force. These include tougher curbs on the news media, antiterrorism charges against lawyers and even an amendment allowing civilians to be tried by military tribunals for offenses like sedition. Two popular FM radio stations remain off the air, as does the private television station, Geo, all of which were known for their strong news content.
Still, at the official ceremony, Mr. Musharraf warned assembled foreign diplomats not to force democracy and human rights on developing countries, but to let them evolve in their own time. Many of the diplomats had been highly critical of his recent actions.
“There is an unrealistic or even impractical obsession with your form of democracy, human rights and civil liberties, which you have taken centuries to acquire and which you expect us to adopt in a few years, in a few months,” Mr. Musharraf said, addressing the diplomats.
“We want democracy; I am for democracy,” he said. “We want human rights, we want civil liberties, but we will do it our way, as we understand our society, our environment, better than anyone in the West.”
Mr. Musharraf defended his record in power, saying that he had always intended to lead the country toward democracy and to remove his uniform, but had to act in the interest of Pakistan’s stability.
He said he had to impose emergency rule on Nov. 3, and delay removing his uniform, because of a clash between state institutions, namely the judiciary and the government, and the growing threat of terrorism.
He blamed Mr. Chaudhry, the former chief justice, for derailing his planned transition to democracy and suggested it was a conspiracy hatched against him.
“I feel this derailment could have led the nation to chaos,” Mr. Musharraf said. He said he had not wanted to impose the emergency rule but in light of a growing threat from terrorism and the clashes between the judiciary and the executive, he had acted in the country’s interests.
“This was an extraordinary circumstance, ladies and gentlemen, it needed extraordinary measures to control,” he said. “No half-hearted measures could have delivered.”
Mr. Musharraf said he supported the return of the two former prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, whom he had deposed in a coup in 1999. He said he had prepared a level field for elections and invited the opposition to take part.
Yet he also indicated that he intended to remain in charge even without his military uniform.
“Unfortunately, this period has been more turbulent,” Mr. Musharraf said in his speech to diplomats and Pakistani dignitaries. “It carries on being turbulent, but I think we are coming out of the storm.”
Mr. Musharraf made his promise to lift the emergency a day after he ended eight years of military rule, moving him a step closer to meeting the most urgent demands both at home and abroad to return the country to democracy.
“I fully intend to lift the emergency on Dec. 16, to end the Provisional Constitutional Order and to hold fair and free elections according to the Constitution,” he said in an address to the nation on state television and radio Thursday evening.
“No destabilization or hurdle will be allowed in this democratic process,” he added. “Elections, God willing, will be held on Jan. 8 according to the Constitution and no one should create any hurdles.”
Yet even before his announcement, an umbrella movement of opposition parties, the All Pakistan Democratic Movement, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said they supported a boycott of the parliamentary elections in protest of the lack of democratic norms under the emergency.
Two leaders of the lawyers’ movement against Mr. Musharraf, who were released from detention Thursday, also called for a boycott. One, Munir Malik, a constitutional lawyer and former president of the Supreme Court Bar, left an Islamabad hospital in a wheelchair and said the lawyers would renew their struggle.
Lawyers protesting Mr. Musharraf’s swearing-in clashed with the police in the city of Lahore, and threw bricks, glasses and sticks at the police who blocked their demonstration. Several lawyers and police officers were injured.
Meanwhile, even as Mr. Musharraf announced a deadline for the end of the emergency, he showed no relaxation on the detention of the former judges and senior advocates of the Supreme Court, or of the continued suspension of radio and television stations.
Somber and dressed in a traditional black tunic favored by civilian leaders, Mr. Musharraf took his new oath in a ceremony layered with contradictions, lecturing diplomats afterward on what he termed their obsession with democracy.
The Constitution that Mr. Musharraf vowed “to preserve, protect and defend” was suspended three weeks ago when he imposed the emergency, which only he holds the power to rescind.
The presidential oath was administered by the Supreme Court chief justice, Abdul Hameed Dogar, whom Mr. Musharraf appointed after dismissing the previous Supreme Court, which seemed about to rule another term for him illegal.
The former chief justice, Mohammed Iftikhar Chaudhry, and a number of other dismissed Supreme Court justices remain under house arrest, meanwhile, as do four senior advocates who work at the court since the emergency was imposed.
Once the emergency is lifted, decrees Mr. Musharraf made in recent weeks are to remain in force. These include tougher curbs on the news media, antiterrorism charges against lawyers and even an amendment allowing civilians to be tried by military tribunals for offenses like sedition. Two popular FM radio stations remain off the air, as does the private television station, Geo, all of which were known for their strong news content.
Still, at the official ceremony, Mr. Musharraf warned assembled foreign diplomats not to force democracy and human rights on developing countries, but to let them evolve in their own time. Many of the diplomats had been highly critical of his recent actions.
“There is an unrealistic or even impractical obsession with your form of democracy, human rights and civil liberties, which you have taken centuries to acquire and which you expect us to adopt in a few years, in a few months,” Mr. Musharraf said, addressing the diplomats.
“We want democracy; I am for democracy,” he said. “We want human rights, we want civil liberties, but we will do it our way, as we understand our society, our environment, better than anyone in the West.”
Mr. Musharraf defended his record in power, saying that he had always intended to lead the country toward democracy and to remove his uniform, but had to act in the interest of Pakistan’s stability.
He said he had to impose emergency rule on Nov. 3, and delay removing his uniform, because of a clash between state institutions, namely the judiciary and the government, and the growing threat of terrorism.
He blamed Mr. Chaudhry, the former chief justice, for derailing his planned transition to democracy and suggested it was a conspiracy hatched against him.
“I feel this derailment could have led the nation to chaos,” Mr. Musharraf said. He said he had not wanted to impose the emergency rule but in light of a growing threat from terrorism and the clashes between the judiciary and the executive, he had acted in the country’s interests.
“This was an extraordinary circumstance, ladies and gentlemen, it needed extraordinary measures to control,” he said. “No half-hearted measures could have delivered.”
Mr. Musharraf said he supported the return of the two former prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, whom he had deposed in a coup in 1999. He said he had prepared a level field for elections and invited the opposition to take part.
Yet he also indicated that he intended to remain in charge even without his military uniform.
“Unfortunately, this period has been more turbulent,” Mr. Musharraf said in his speech to diplomats and Pakistani dignitaries. “It carries on being turbulent, but I think we are coming out of the storm.”
Monday, November 19, 2007
Global warming could make it to Senate floor
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., talks about the environment to Sun Microsystems workers at Sun headquarters in Santa Clara in August. Boxer visited Sun to survey examples of eco-friendly processors and programs that help businesses reduce their energy consumption. The visit was an advance of a field hearing she is chairing with the Environment and Public Works Committee on the issue of green jobs.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Parliament cannot declare republic, Sujata
A central leader of Nepali Congress (NC) Sujata Koirala has said that the 1990 Constitution should be revived to resolve the current problems faced by the country.
She said that reviving the 1990 statute without the King's power and authority and including provisions to accommodate Maoists is the need of the hour.
After the success of 2006 movement, the 1990 constitution had been scrapped and replaced by interim constitution of 2007.
Sujata also accused the Home Minister Krishna Sitaula of 'ambushing' the party and the country.
"In the hope that the Maoists will improve, the NC gave up all its stands. And now Sitaulaji has ambushed not only the party but also the country," said Sujata, who is also the daughter of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. She made the allegations pointing at the role played by Sitaula – who is also an NC leader - in reaching understanding with the Maoists on many occasions.
Speaking at an interaction at the Reporters Club, Saturday, she said that the parliament cannot declare republic.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Body of Nepalese activist found
The body of an abducted political worker, Bechan Yadav, has been found in southern Nepal.
Mr Yadavan, an officer from the Nepali Congress party, is the latest victim of escalating violence threatening a peace accord signed nearly a year ago.
Police said they believe another corpse found recently may be that of a journalist, Birendra Shah, abducted exactly a month ago.
Many of the kidnappings have been blamed on former Maoist rebels.
The Maoists' youth league in particular has been accused of violent practices and of acting in contravention of last year's peace agreement.
While law and order has deteriorated, politicians in Kathmandu have continued to argue about the country's future political structures.
Elections planned for this month were postponed indefinitely after the Maoists abandoned their cabinet posts and vowed to disrupt the polls.
They insist they will not go back to war.
Mr Yadavan, an officer from the Nepali Congress party, is the latest victim of escalating violence threatening a peace accord signed nearly a year ago.
Police said they believe another corpse found recently may be that of a journalist, Birendra Shah, abducted exactly a month ago.
Many of the kidnappings have been blamed on former Maoist rebels.
The Maoists' youth league in particular has been accused of violent practices and of acting in contravention of last year's peace agreement.
While law and order has deteriorated, politicians in Kathmandu have continued to argue about the country's future political structures.
Elections planned for this month were postponed indefinitely after the Maoists abandoned their cabinet posts and vowed to disrupt the polls.
They insist they will not go back to war.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Activist group says Tibetans fired upon by Chinese while crossing into Nepal
BEIJING - Tibetans trying to cross a mountain pass to exile in Nepal were fired upon by Chinese border police, an activist group said Wednesday.
A group of more than 30 Tibetans, including Buddhist monks nuns and two children, were trying to cross into Nepal using the icy Himalayan Nangpa Pass on Oct. 18 when they were fired upon by China's People's Armed Police, the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said, quoting several members of the group who reached Katmandu in Nepal.
A group of more than 30 Tibetans, including Buddhist monks nuns and two children, were trying to cross into Nepal using the icy Himalayan Nangpa Pass on Oct. 18 when they were fired upon by China's People's Armed Police, the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said, quoting several members of the group who reached Katmandu in Nepal.
It said there were no reported injuries or fatalities, but that several members of the group including three monks were taken into custody.
The report follows a similar case in September last year when a group of international climbers witnessed a Buddhist nun being shot dead from the same location. The incident was captured on video by a Romanian cameraman climber, leading to international condemnation. The activist group said incidents also took place in 2002 and 2005.
A man who refused to provide his name at the Tibetan government's media office said: "I have no idea of this. It should not have happened in Tibet."
Telephone calls to the police in the Tibet capital of Lhasa rang unanswered Wednesday.
According to the Campaign for Tibet, the Tibetans were chased by an armed group telling them to stop. About seven police officials fired at them. Whether the shots came before or after the shouting at the Tibetans is unclear from the report.
About 2,000 Tibetans arrive in Nepal each year according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Many attempt to reach Dharamsala, India, the base of the Tibetan government in exile led by the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama, Tibet's traditional leader, fled in 1959 amid an abortive uprising against Chinese forces, who had moved into the region after the Communist takeover of the country.
Tibetans crossing into Nepal often are ordinary people from East Tibet, who want to send their children to Tibetan schools, or monks who want to study and don't feel that is fully possible in Tibet, said Robbie Barnett, who teaches modern Tibetan studies at Columbia University.
East Tibet has been the site of increased economic and social changes as part of China's development of the region which may be "culturally very unsettling for them," he said.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Nepal House resumes debate on Maoists` demand
Kathmandu, Oct 29: Nepal's Parliament on Monday resumed a crucial debate on the Maoists' resolution for a new political and electoral system that has stalled the landmark peace process.
The special session of the interim House resumed amid Maoists' supporters staging a sit-in near the Parliament demanding the immediate declaration of Nepal as a Republic and adopting a fully proportional electoral system for the Constituent Assembly polls.
The session was called earlier this month, but postponed for festival celebrations after the two sides failed to resolve the deadlock.
Hundreds of women activists affiliated to the CPN-Maoist and other Leftist organisations under the banner of the Women's Forum for Democratic Republic organized a rally and sit-in near Singhdurbar secretariat.
At least 100 student activists of the ruling alliance were arrested from the Parliament Gate today as they staged sit-in demanding early elections.
"We wanted to caution the leaders that they have to keep their unity intact and find a way out of the political deadlock," said Gagan Thapa, leader of Nepal Students Union affiliated to the Nepali Congress.
The Speaker Subhash Nemwang held separate meetings with Maoist chairman Prachanda and CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal before the session started, according to sources.
Nepali Congress has already decided to vote against the Maoists' motion.
"The Parliament session has started, and if we fail to reach any consensus, voting will be conducted to decide on the fate of our proposals in a day or two," Maoist leader Dev Gurung was quoted as saying in the media.
The special session of the interim House resumed amid Maoists' supporters staging a sit-in near the Parliament demanding the immediate declaration of Nepal as a Republic and adopting a fully proportional electoral system for the Constituent Assembly polls.
The session was called earlier this month, but postponed for festival celebrations after the two sides failed to resolve the deadlock.
Hundreds of women activists affiliated to the CPN-Maoist and other Leftist organisations under the banner of the Women's Forum for Democratic Republic organized a rally and sit-in near Singhdurbar secretariat.
At least 100 student activists of the ruling alliance were arrested from the Parliament Gate today as they staged sit-in demanding early elections.
"We wanted to caution the leaders that they have to keep their unity intact and find a way out of the political deadlock," said Gagan Thapa, leader of Nepal Students Union affiliated to the Nepali Congress.
The Speaker Subhash Nemwang held separate meetings with Maoist chairman Prachanda and CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal before the session started, according to sources.
Nepali Congress has already decided to vote against the Maoists' motion.
"The Parliament session has started, and if we fail to reach any consensus, voting will be conducted to decide on the fate of our proposals in a day or two," Maoist leader Dev Gurung was quoted as saying in the media.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Women In Americas
According to the surveys, the centre-left Fernandez, 54, would obtain 42-46 per cent of the vote and would not need a runoff to be declared president-elect.
Preliminary official results were expected later Sunday.
The closest of her 13 rivals, Christian Liberal Elisa Carrio, would only get 23-25 per cent of the ballots, exit polls showed. Some 27 million Argentine citizens were entitled to vote.
To avoid a run-off, the winning candidate must reach one of two results: at least 45 per cent of the vote, or 40 per cent with a lead of more than 10 percentage points above the second-place finisher.
Preliminary official results were expected later Sunday.
Polls opened at 1100 GMT and were originally scheduled to close 2100 GMT. Electoral authorities extended voting in Buenos Aires by one hour after some polling stations were delayed in opening, and because of many long queues.
No serious incidents were reported.
In theory, no exit polls are allowed to be made public before the first official results are known, although Argentine media have a history of violating this embargo.
"Today is a very special day. When I was 18 I could not vote," Fernandez said when she cast her ballot in the southern city of Rio Gallegos.
"Nobody could decide on anything," Fernandez recalled, with reference to the dictatorship of 1966-73.
Outgoing President Kirchner (2003-2007) also stressed the importance of "institutional normality" as he cast his ballot.
Carrio voted in Buenos Aires and claimed she was "very happy and very calm" awaiting the result of her campaign.
The new president is set to be inaugurated on December 10.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Allergan to launch Botox in SAARC in November
The US based pharmaceutical and medical device company, Allergan Inc, is expanding its business activity in the Asia Pacific. The company is planning to launch its one billion dollar pharma drug 'Botox' in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh in November 2007.
Botox is the flagship product of Allegan Inc and has been approved for 20 unique indications in more than 50 countries. Over the past decade, the uses of Botox have expanded as scientists and physicians continue to recognize its broad applicability. It is used for the treatment of certain ophthalmic movement disorders. Botox therapy is now widely accepted in many regions around the world as the gold standard for indications ranging from therapeutic neuromuscular disorder and related pain to cosmetic facial aesthetics.
Speaking to Pharmabiz, Patrick T Welch , vice president, managing director Asia Allergan medical aesthetics and neuroscience said, "We are committed to delivering innovations in the field of medical science. Botox is looked upon to provide benefits to patients in 20 approved indication across the world. We are planning to launch Botox in Pakistan by the end of next month. We are making huge investment in the terms of awareness programme. In the near future we may start educational institution in India for the physician or to the consumer. The aim is to give them proper knowledge and benefits from the Botox. Recently we have commissioned our clinical office at Bangalore and planning to commission more clinical office across the Asia in the near future".
Botox has been in existence in India for more than a decade. It is widely used by diverse speciality physicians as well as for cosmetic purposes. It is a US $one billion pharma drug in the world. Numerous estimates suggest that Botox is set to continue with its growth rate over the years.
Botox is the flagship product of Allegan Inc and has been approved for 20 unique indications in more than 50 countries. Over the past decade, the uses of Botox have expanded as scientists and physicians continue to recognize its broad applicability. It is used for the treatment of certain ophthalmic movement disorders. Botox therapy is now widely accepted in many regions around the world as the gold standard for indications ranging from therapeutic neuromuscular disorder and related pain to cosmetic facial aesthetics.
Speaking to Pharmabiz, Patrick T Welch , vice president, managing director Asia Allergan medical aesthetics and neuroscience said, "We are committed to delivering innovations in the field of medical science. Botox is looked upon to provide benefits to patients in 20 approved indication across the world. We are planning to launch Botox in Pakistan by the end of next month. We are making huge investment in the terms of awareness programme. In the near future we may start educational institution in India for the physician or to the consumer. The aim is to give them proper knowledge and benefits from the Botox. Recently we have commissioned our clinical office at Bangalore and planning to commission more clinical office across the Asia in the near future".
Botox has been in existence in India for more than a decade. It is widely used by diverse speciality physicians as well as for cosmetic purposes. It is a US $one billion pharma drug in the world. Numerous estimates suggest that Botox is set to continue with its growth rate over the years.
Monday, October 22, 2007
A Kurdish Lesson
A debate among U.S. military brass over whether to declare victory over al Qaeda in Iraq coincides with threats by Turkey to strike terrorist camps in northern Iraq belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Note the irony: The PKK, which in recent days has killed scores of Turkish soldiers, was itself declared dead as a terrorist group in 1999.
There are excellent reasons to avoid pronouncements concerning AQI's defeat. One is to deny the group the chance to offer testaments in blood to its own resilience. A second is to avoid another political embarrassment of the "Mission Accomplished" kind. But the main reason is that the experience of terrorist organizations world-wide shows that even in defeat they are rarely truly finished. Like Douglas MacArthur's old soldiers, terrorist groups never die. At best they just fade away.
Some examples: In its heyday in the 1980s, Peru's Maoist Shining Path was every bit as brutal as al Qaeda. The 1992 capture of its charismatic leader, former philosophy professor Abimael Guzmán, was supposed to have dealt a fatal blow to the group's capacity to operate, as was the capture seven years later of his successor, Óscar RamÃrez. Yet as recently as last year, the Peruvian government was forced to declare a state of emergency in the Huánuco region to deal with terrorist activities by the group.
Or take the Taliban. In April 2005, American Gen. David Barno told reporters he believed that, with the exception of a few bitter-enders, the Taliban would be a memory within two years. The opposite happened. In 2006, the rate of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan soared, and the Bush administration was forced to deploy 6,000 additional troops to recover territory lost to the Taliban and turn back their anticipated spring offensive.
[Abdullah Ocalan]
What about the PKK? Late in 1998 Turkey massed troops on its border with Syria, with the declared intention of expelling the PKK and its leader Abdullah Öcalan from Damascus if the Syrians didn't do so themselves. (A banner headline in the Turkish paper Hurriyet declared "We're going to say 'shalom' to the Israelis on the Golan Heights.") The late Syrian strongman Hafez Assad got the message, and sent Öcalan packing. He was eventually captured by Turkish intelligence in Nairobi, and sentenced to death by a Turkish court (commuted to a life sentence when Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2002). Öcalan has since apologized to the Turkish people for the 37,000 deaths he caused in the 1980s and '90s and called for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue. The PKK itself declared a ceasefire.
That should have been the end of it. As Turkish analyst Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy observes, Öcalan was a cult-of-personality figure in an organization that, unlike the cellular structure of al Qaeda, was run along strictly hierarchical lines.
For the next few years the Turkish government made real, if limited, strides in accommodating peaceful ethnic Kurdish cultural demands in education and broadcasting. What remained of the PKK -- 5,000 or so fighters -- mainly retreated to northern Iraq, where their bases were attacked by Turkish forces no fewer than 24 times.
So might things have remained had the U.S. invasion of Iraq not rearranged the strategic chessboard. The Turks did not help themselves by failing to support the war, which caused strains with Washington and prevented them from carrying out further cross-border raids. That, in turn, created an opening for Iran, which until then had been the PKK's sole remaining state sponsor. Concerned about its isolation in the region, and sensing an opportunity to make common cause with the moderately Islamist government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Tehran abruptly switched sides, going so far as to shell PKK positions in northern Iraq. Not surprisingly, the Turks began to take a more favorable view of Iran.
The U.S. role is scarcely more creditable. The Ankara government has been pressing the Bush administration to hit PKK bases for at least four years. The administration has responded with a combination of empty promises of future action and excuses that U.S. forces are already overstretched in Iraq. For the Turks, who contribute more than 1,000 troops to NATO's mission in Afghanistan, U.S. nonfeasance is a mystery, if not an outright conspiracy. "How is it that Turkey fights America's terrorists, but America does not fight Turkey's terrorists?" is how Mr. Cagaptay sums up the prevailing mood.
Yet the real mystery isn't U.S. behavior, which was mainly dictated by a desire not to rock the boat in what was (at least until this month), the only relatively stable region of Iraq. It is the forbearance shown to the PKK by Massoud Barzani, Kurdistan's president, who has otherwise sought to cultivate better relations with Ankara and Kurdish moderates in Turkey, and who would have much to lose if an invading Turkish army turned his province into a free-fire zone. One theory is that Mr. Barzani wants to use the PKK as a diplomatic card, to be exchanged for Turkish concessions in some future negotiation. But all that depends on his ability to rein in the PKK at the last minute and avert a Turkish invasion. Yesterday's kidnapping (or killing) of another eight Turkish troops puts that in doubt.
Meanwhile, the PKK has fully reconstituted itself as an effective fighting force under the leadership of Murat Karayilan, who was canny enough to see Congress's Armenian genocide resolution as an opportunity to take scissors to the already frayed U.S.-Turkish relationship. The resolution was turned back at the 11th hour, but it remains to be seen whether it has already done its damage.
All the more reason, then, for the U.S. to pre-empt the Turks by taking the decisive action against the PKK it has promised for too long. But the story of the PKK's resurgence should also remind us of the dangers of premature declarations of victory against terrorist groups, especially when such declarations foster the illusion that you can finally come home. Against this kind of enemy, there are no final victories, and no true homecomings, and no real alternatives other than to keep on fighting.
There are excellent reasons to avoid pronouncements concerning AQI's defeat. One is to deny the group the chance to offer testaments in blood to its own resilience. A second is to avoid another political embarrassment of the "Mission Accomplished" kind. But the main reason is that the experience of terrorist organizations world-wide shows that even in defeat they are rarely truly finished. Like Douglas MacArthur's old soldiers, terrorist groups never die. At best they just fade away.
Some examples: In its heyday in the 1980s, Peru's Maoist Shining Path was every bit as brutal as al Qaeda. The 1992 capture of its charismatic leader, former philosophy professor Abimael Guzmán, was supposed to have dealt a fatal blow to the group's capacity to operate, as was the capture seven years later of his successor, Óscar RamÃrez. Yet as recently as last year, the Peruvian government was forced to declare a state of emergency in the Huánuco region to deal with terrorist activities by the group.
Or take the Taliban. In April 2005, American Gen. David Barno told reporters he believed that, with the exception of a few bitter-enders, the Taliban would be a memory within two years. The opposite happened. In 2006, the rate of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan soared, and the Bush administration was forced to deploy 6,000 additional troops to recover territory lost to the Taliban and turn back their anticipated spring offensive.
[Abdullah Ocalan]
What about the PKK? Late in 1998 Turkey massed troops on its border with Syria, with the declared intention of expelling the PKK and its leader Abdullah Öcalan from Damascus if the Syrians didn't do so themselves. (A banner headline in the Turkish paper Hurriyet declared "We're going to say 'shalom' to the Israelis on the Golan Heights.") The late Syrian strongman Hafez Assad got the message, and sent Öcalan packing. He was eventually captured by Turkish intelligence in Nairobi, and sentenced to death by a Turkish court (commuted to a life sentence when Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2002). Öcalan has since apologized to the Turkish people for the 37,000 deaths he caused in the 1980s and '90s and called for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue. The PKK itself declared a ceasefire.
That should have been the end of it. As Turkish analyst Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy observes, Öcalan was a cult-of-personality figure in an organization that, unlike the cellular structure of al Qaeda, was run along strictly hierarchical lines.
For the next few years the Turkish government made real, if limited, strides in accommodating peaceful ethnic Kurdish cultural demands in education and broadcasting. What remained of the PKK -- 5,000 or so fighters -- mainly retreated to northern Iraq, where their bases were attacked by Turkish forces no fewer than 24 times.
So might things have remained had the U.S. invasion of Iraq not rearranged the strategic chessboard. The Turks did not help themselves by failing to support the war, which caused strains with Washington and prevented them from carrying out further cross-border raids. That, in turn, created an opening for Iran, which until then had been the PKK's sole remaining state sponsor. Concerned about its isolation in the region, and sensing an opportunity to make common cause with the moderately Islamist government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Tehran abruptly switched sides, going so far as to shell PKK positions in northern Iraq. Not surprisingly, the Turks began to take a more favorable view of Iran.
The U.S. role is scarcely more creditable. The Ankara government has been pressing the Bush administration to hit PKK bases for at least four years. The administration has responded with a combination of empty promises of future action and excuses that U.S. forces are already overstretched in Iraq. For the Turks, who contribute more than 1,000 troops to NATO's mission in Afghanistan, U.S. nonfeasance is a mystery, if not an outright conspiracy. "How is it that Turkey fights America's terrorists, but America does not fight Turkey's terrorists?" is how Mr. Cagaptay sums up the prevailing mood.
Yet the real mystery isn't U.S. behavior, which was mainly dictated by a desire not to rock the boat in what was (at least until this month), the only relatively stable region of Iraq. It is the forbearance shown to the PKK by Massoud Barzani, Kurdistan's president, who has otherwise sought to cultivate better relations with Ankara and Kurdish moderates in Turkey, and who would have much to lose if an invading Turkish army turned his province into a free-fire zone. One theory is that Mr. Barzani wants to use the PKK as a diplomatic card, to be exchanged for Turkish concessions in some future negotiation. But all that depends on his ability to rein in the PKK at the last minute and avert a Turkish invasion. Yesterday's kidnapping (or killing) of another eight Turkish troops puts that in doubt.
Meanwhile, the PKK has fully reconstituted itself as an effective fighting force under the leadership of Murat Karayilan, who was canny enough to see Congress's Armenian genocide resolution as an opportunity to take scissors to the already frayed U.S.-Turkish relationship. The resolution was turned back at the 11th hour, but it remains to be seen whether it has already done its damage.
All the more reason, then, for the U.S. to pre-empt the Turks by taking the decisive action against the PKK it has promised for too long. But the story of the PKK's resurgence should also remind us of the dangers of premature declarations of victory against terrorist groups, especially when such declarations foster the illusion that you can finally come home. Against this kind of enemy, there are no final victories, and no true homecomings, and no real alternatives other than to keep on fighting.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Afghan president says region must tackle terrorism
By Sayed SalahuddinSat Oct 20, 9:01 AM ET
Afghanistan and its neighbors must launch a regional campaign against terrorism in order to make the most of their natural resources and develop trade, President Hamid Karzai said on Saturday.
Karzai was addressing the final session of a conference of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), a 10-nation group which was founded by Iran, Turkey and Pakistan.
Afghanistan, where a Taliban-led insurgency -- backed by al Qaeda -- has intensified in the past two years, could serve as a bridge bringing ECO nations together, Karzai said.
"Our homelands are resourceful homelands. We have abundant resources and our people are thirsty for progress," Karzai said, adding economic development would help bring stability.
"...Terrorism, drugs...and organized crime...form our difficulties and are the main block to regional development."
He emphasized terrorism was the most serious obstacle.
"And this (development) will not be possible if we do not isolate the handful of terrorists wherever they are and organize ... a joint campaign against them."
Located on the old Silk Route, Afghanistan has rich copper and iron reserves and some precious stones.
Iran, one of the world's leading oil exporters, Turkey and Pakistan set up the ECO in 1985. Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and the five central Asian nations have since joined.
Turkmenistan has long wanted to export its gas to Pakistan and beyond through Afghanistan, but the multi-billion dollar project has been held up due to insecurity in the country.
Along with Iran, Turkmenistan would help Afghanistan build a rail network that would enable Iran and Turkey to link up with central Asia, an Afghan official said.
During the four-day conference, ECO representatives discussed investment, transit and transport facilitation, energy, trade, exploration as well as export of gas and oil.
Afghanistan is largely a consumer market for the products of its neighbors. Its annual trade with them has grown to some $4 billion since the Taliban's ouster in 2001, according to Afghan government estimates.
The country has not seen any major foreign and local investment since 2001, largely due to poor infrastructure, corruption and the growing insurgency.
The conference, the first such major gathering hosted by Afghanistan for decades, was held in the western city of Herat, which is regarded as one of the safer areas of the country.
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