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US will continue drone attacks on Qaeda in Pakistan g
Us defence secretary says al Qaeda militants pose danger to Pakistan as well as Washington NEW DELHI
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AFP
eNTAGON chief Leon Panetta on Wednesday said the US would continue to launch drone attacks against al Qaeda in Pakistan despite complaints from Islamabad that the strikes violate its sovereignty. “We have made it very clear that we are going to continue to defend ourselves,” US Defence Secretary
Panetta said in India, a day after the US announced the killing of al Qaeda’s number two, Abu Yahya alLibi. “This is about our sovereignty as well,” Panetta added, arguing that al Qaeda militants who orchestrated the September 11 attacks on the United States were in the Tribal Areas. “The leadership of those who were involved in planning this attack are located in Pakistan, in the FATA,” he said. Panetta confirmed the strike on “another deputy leader” of the terror group, referring to Libi who once es-
caped from a US jail in Afghanistan and had escaped previous assassination attempts. The former CIA chief, who oversaw an expansion in the drone progamme during his stint as head of the spy agency, said the United States had made clear to Islamabad that the US would go after al Qaeda “and we have done just that”. “We have gone after their leadership and we have done it effectively,” he said. A trusted lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, Libi appeared in countless al Qaeda videos and was considered
the chief architect of its global propaganda machine. Pakistan has lodged a protest with Washington over a recent uptick in drone attacks on its northwestern tribal areas which it has branded as “unlawful, against international law and a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty”. But Panetta said al Qaeda militants pose a danger to Pakistan as well as the United States. “And very frankly, the terrorists who threaten the United States, threaten Pakistan as well,” he said.
Peerzadas demand Rs 1 billion from Pakistan Today LAHORE StAFF RePoRt
MuZAFFARGARH: Garrison Commanding officer umar Farooq presents medals to the father of Major Zakaul Haq who was martyred in Gayari Sector, during his funeral ceremony at Kot Sarwar Shaheed Chowk on Wednesday. oNLINe KOHISTAN DEATH DEcrEE
SC wants girls’ proof of life ISLAMABAD AGenCieS
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the authorities to airlift the five girls decreed to death by a local Kohistan cleric, to the capital in order to assure the court that they were alive, while a brother of two boys dancing in the video once again claimed that the girls had been killed on the orders of a jirga. The local administration of Kohistan assured the apex court that the girls would be presented on Thursday. The girls were allegedly killed under a punishment awarded by local jirga for clapping during a wedding ceremony to cheer two young dancing males. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had directed the authorities concerned to airlift the five girls in a helicopter to validate their stance that they were still alive and had not been killed. Attorney General Irfan Qadir told the bench that he had summoned all the officers concerned, and enquired them about the incident, but they had denied the reports of murder. he said that due to the conservative culture in the area, the girls could not be flown in a helicopter occupied by men. CONTINUED ON PagE 04
China vows bigger role for regional bloc in Afghanistan BEIJING AFP
China, Russia and four Central Asian countries have vowed to play a bigger role in Afghanistan, Chinese President hu Jintao said in comments published on Wednesday, as NATO forces prepare to pull out. he said the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) – a group intended as a counterweight to US influence in Central Asia and dominated by China and Russia – had also decided to strengthen Afghanistan’s role in the organisation. The comments came as leaders of the SCO member states met in Beijing for a two-day summit on security and economic issues across the region. “We will... play a greater role in the peaceful reconstruction process in Afghanistan,” hu said in an interview published in the People’s Daily newspaper, the ruling Communist Party mouthpiece. “The SCO supports Afghanistan becoming an independent, peaceful, prosperous, neighbourly country, free from terrorism and drugs,” he said. hu said the organisation – which has invited Afghanistan as a guest at
The Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop has demanded Rs 1 billion from Pakistan Today for “defaming” the group by reporting the termination of aid for its “Sim, Sim hamara’ program by USAID because of alleged financial irregularities and abuse of aid money. The legal notice served on the newspaper states that the Rafi Peer group had “adhered strictly and transparently with all USAID compliance guidelines pertaining to procurement, finance and human resource, and all accounts pertaining to the abovementioned heads had been duly subjected to internal and external audits by independent auditors employed by RPTW and USAID and no iota of financial embezzlement, misappropriation and fudging of accounts had been raised against RPTW”. however, a US State Department spokesman on Tuesday confirmed that funding for the Pakistan Sesame Street Program had been terminated after allegations of fraud and abuse of aid money against the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop were found to be credible. State Department Deputy
this year’s summit – had decided to grant the troubled country observer status, amid general concern as NATO forces prepare to pull out by the end of 2014. Russia has criticised the withdrawal timeline, and President Vladimir Putin — who is currently attending the SCO summit in Beijing — has cited the stability of Afghanistan as an issue of “common concern”. India, meanwhile, has voiced fear that Islamic radicals will gain strength once Western forces pull out of the country. Liu Weimin, spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, confirmed on Wednesday that Afghanistan had been given observer status, saying the development of the situation in the country was of concern to the SCO member states. “The two sides will be able to enhance their cooperation in security, economy and social areas,” he told reporters. The SCO has experience and capacity in fighting terrorism, narcotics, transnational crimes as well as economic development, and it is ready to strengthen cooperation with Afghanistan.”
Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore.
Editor: Arif Nizami
lAHoRe: Faizaan Peerzada (R), head of the Rafi Peer theatre Workshop, which manages the ‘Sesame Street’ program in Pakistan, and his brother usman Peerzada address a press conference on Wednesday. the uS has cut funding to a popular Pakistani version of the children’s program ‘Sesame Street’ amid allegations of fraud and abuse, a uS official said. AFP Spokesman Mark Toner said the Pakistan Sesame Street Program totaled $20 million and that $6.7 million has already been spent by the Rafi Peer Theater Workshop. The project was canceled after several calls were made to an anti-fraud hotline set up by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in Pakistan alleging misappropriation of funds. The US looked into the allegations and found them credible. A full investigation is still underway as to how and where the money was spent. “No one is questioning, obviously, the value and positive impact of this kind of programming for children,” said Toner. “But this is about
allegations of corruption.” “We deemed that the allegations were serious enough that we wanted to suspend or cut off the program until we were able to complete this investigation,” he said. “We do acknowledge the programming is beneficial, but we had what we believe were credible allegations, so rather than continue to throw good money after bad, we thought it was prudent to cut off this program,” Toner said. “These are valuable programmes teaching kids worldwide values as well as math, reading skills, et cetera. This is simply two very different cases – but in the latest case, in Pakistan, concerns that US taxpayer money was being misused,” he added.