Stay within your domain, says PM to courts

By Qaiser Zulfiqar

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani cautioned the apex court on Monday to remain within its constitutional bounds lest it provokes a clash between the three tiers of government.

"The powers of all institutions are described clearly in the constitution," said the prime minister, while addressing the Supreme Court Bar Association at the auditorium in the Supreme Court compound in Islamabad.

"Institutions should not enter each other's space. They should each work in their respective domains," said Gilani.

He did, however, hasten to clarify that the government had no intention of violating any orders passed by the judiciary, and believed in the separation of powers laid out in the constitution.

"We respect the Supreme Court and will respect all its verdicts," he said.

This is not the first time that the prime minister has issued a veiled warning to the judiciary. On several earlier occasions, notably involving the transfers of officials in the civil service and law enforcement institutions, the government had claimed that the court was interfering in administrative matters beyond the scope of its constitutional powers.

Monday's speech was less explicit in its rhetoric, focusing more on the building of institutions and the current administration's commitment towards strengthening the country's democratic set-up through the 18th and 19th amendments to the constitution.

Yet given the fact that the prime minister's speech comes on the heels of the restoration of Zafar Qureshi - the lead investigator in the embezzlement scandal at the state-owned National Insurance Company Ltd (NICL) - the remarks may be seen as the prime minister seeking to demarcate the scope of his powers as chief executive of the country.

Much of his speech was devoted to highlighting what the prime minister felt were the services of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to the cause of judicial independence.

For instance, he pointed out that, upon assuming office in March 2008, the government immediately ordered the release of all judges who had been placed under house arrest by the administration of then-president Pervez Musharraf.

While he did not mention it, the prime minister was also reported to have been advocating the restoration, in 2009, of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who had been ousted by Musharraf in 2007.

Poor reception

Despite announcing Rs200 million in government aid to construct a new building for the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), the prime minister's speech was neither well-attended nor well-received by the legal fraternity.

Only about 40 people or so attended the speech, and most of the prominent members of the SCBA - Aitzaz Ahsan, Ali Ahmed Kurd and the like - were not present.

Soon after his speech, the executive body of the SCBA - though not its president Asma Jahangir - condemned the prime minister's warning to the Supreme Court as being disrespectful of the judiciary.

Legal assistance

The prime minister noted that while the Lawyers' Movement (2007 - 2009) galvanised the nation around the idea that the judiciary should be independent and impartial, the country would need to move forward with the next phase of judicial reform: making justice affordable for all.

To that end, he said that the government had amended the Legal Practitioners' and Bar Council Act 1973 to make it mandatory upon the government to provide financial assistance to bar associations. He did not, however, link that aid to any provision of legal assistance to poorer citizens who do not have the means to afford representation in courts.

US support for Pakistan dam could help stem flow of bad blood

Saeed Shah

Washington weighs up backing huge Daimer Bhasha project as a means of improving battered relations with Pakistan

The proposed Daimer Basha dam would be built on the Indus River in northern Pakistan, above. Photograph: Christophe Boisvieux/Corbis

The US is considering financial support for a $12bn dam in Pakistan in an attempt to improve its battered image in the country.

The Daimer Bhasha dam would provide enough electricity to end Pakistan's crippling shortages. It is said its reservoir would hold so much water it could have averted last year's devastating floods.

Washington has not yet made a final decision on partial funding of the dam, but US money would be crucial in securing other international finance, especially from the Asian Development Bank.

"Getting involved in a long-term project like this is very compelling for us," said a senior US official. "This is the project we're spending our time assessing.

"This would demonstrate that Pakistan is the kind of country where you can do large, complex infrastructure projects. It's not all flood relief and sacks of flour."

At the end of last week, President Asif Ali Zardari met a team from the Asian Development Bank "to start the process of financing Daimer Bhasha dam as the project has been approved at all internal fora of the country", according to a statement from his office.

Although Washington is Pakistan's biggest international donor by far, the support has done little to improve perceptions of the US, which is seen as the enemy by many Pakistanis - a view exacerbated by continuing drone attacks in tribal areas and the killing of Osama bin Laden earlier this year. The dam, which harks back to similar projects supported by Washington in the 1960s and 1970s, could help reset relations between the two countries.

India is likely to object to US support for the dam, as it is located in the disputed Kashmir region. Opposition may also come from critics in the US Congress, who have called for all aid to be cut off after Bin Laden was found hiding in Pakistan.

The dam, on the Indus river, would provide 4,500MW of cheap, green energy, making up for a shortfall causing up to 12 hours of power cuts a day across Pakistan. The reservoir would be 50 miles long.

Shakil Durrani, chairman of the water and power development authority, said Islamabad had approved the dam project and he was confident of US backing.

"If we had a reservoir the size of Daimer Bhasha the floods last summer would not have occurred," he said. "This would be the largest project ever undertaken in Pakistan. It is our top priority."

Analyst Mosharraf Zaidi agreed the dam could boost relations. "The overwhelming aid transfers from the US have been to the military and whatever little has come for the civilian sector has not developed as far as the rhetoric has," he said.

"Daimer Bhasha would be tremendously good for Pakistan and would show that the US is invested in a long-term relationship with Pakistan, no matter how bad things look today."

US aid to Pakistan increased to $1.5bn a year under the Obama administration, but has been widely dismissed in the country as going mostly to consultants and lacking focus. It remains unclear how much of this cash has actually arrived in Pakistan since the new aid programme began in 2009.

"US aid is neither visible nor tangible," said Tariq Fatemi, a former Pakistani ambassador to Washington. "Unless the people of Pakistan can identify large, visible projects that make a difference to people's lives, the US is not going to get the kind of appreciation that it believes it deserves."

The US official said Washington had spent $2bn on civilian assistance since October 2009, including $550m on flood relief last year, though that came from a separate fund.

Daimer Bhasha would take around eight years to build. Pakistani authorities plan to shortlist contractors later this year.

The Indian embassy in Islamabad pointed to a statement issued by the Indian government in 2006, after the project was first proposed, which insisted that the dam was "in territory that is part of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of India by virtue of its accession to it in 1947".

Relations between the US and Pakistan have been plagued by accusations in Washington that Islamabad is playing a "double game" by supporting Afghan insurgents, while Pakistan believes it has been bullied into acting against its own interests.

The unilateral US raid that killed Bin Laden in May humiliated Pakistan's powerful military, all but halting anti-terrorism co-operation between the two countries.

Deadly ambush: Attack on Quetta Express leaves 3 dead, 19 injured

By Shehzad Baloch

At least three people were killed and 19 others injured when a group of armed men opened fire and lobbed rockets on a passenger train near Mach Town, some 60 kilometers southeast of Quetta on Sunday.

Qaim Ali, the assistant commissioner of Mach, told reporters that the Peshawar-bound Quetta Express had just crossed Irak Station in Kachhi district, popularly known as Bolan, when it came under heavy attack.

Armed men who had taken up positions at a nearby mountain top to ambush the passing train first launched three to four rockets and then opened indiscriminate sub-machinegun fire.

Personnel of Frontier Corps, Police and Balochistan Levies returned fire and chased the attackers who fled the scene, official sources said.

A spokesman from the banned outfit Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) later telephoned newspaper offices to blatantly claim responsibility for the attack.

The deceased and injured were taken to Provincial Sandeman Hospital Quetta where the three deceased were identified as Maqbol Ahmed, resident of Vehari, Mujeeb Ahmed, resident of Bahawalpur and Rahim Bakhsh, resident of Nasirabad. According to hospital sources, all victims received bullet wounds while four of the injured are in critical condition.

"I heard two explosions followed by intense firing and remained under my seat. It's a good thing the driver did not stop the train till reaching Mach station," one of the injured Mushtaq told The Express Tribune.

Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani, the chief minister of Balochistan has strongly condemned the incident and said the "Assailants don't deserve to be called Muslims as they did not spare innocent people during the holy month of Ramazan. This is terrorism and culprits will be dealt with iron hands."

According to security officials the train stayed at Mach station for three hours after the incident before resuming its journey to Peshawar.

Making Streets Safe For Pakistani Children

By Hasan Mansoor


Area14/8

Nadeem knows first hand the misery of life on the streets. Sexually assaulted as a child, he became a pimp of young boys - the only way he knew how to survive as a member of Pakistan's underclass.

He says he was 12 years old when he was attacked. Since then, he has been dragged into a vicious cycle of horrifying abuse allegedly aided and abetted by police and which few are willing to confront in the Muslim country.

"It was just the third night I slept on a street when a policeman picked me up and did bad things to me. I cried a lot but no one came to help me," Nadeem, now 17, told AFP.

He was sexually assaulted for a second time by the leader of a street gang, who then forced Nadeem to join the 17 other children in his gang.

By 14 he was a full-time sex worker. His pimp gave him a mobile phone to keep in contact with clients.

According to charities which work to protect street children in Pakistan, up to 90 percent are sexually abused on the first night that they sleep rough and 60 percent accuse police of sexually abusing them.

"Children on the street are beaten, tortured, sexually assaulted, and sometimes killed," said Rana Asif Habib, head of the Initiator Human Development Foundation (IHDF).

"Police (should) protect people. When policemen are themselves involved in molesting children, who will protect them?" he asks.

"What we have gathered in our research is that policemen make up more than 60 percent of those who physically torment, sexually harass street children," said Anwer Kazmi of the Edhi Foundation, the country's largest charity.

Karachi is home to Pakistan's biggest community of street children - tens of thousands of victims of domestic violence and broken homes, drugs and crime, in the steamy port city.

More than 170,000 street children live on the streets across the country.

Illiterate, uneducated and most without family, the children can grow into seasoned criminals, drug addicts or fall prey to Islamist militancy.

When Nadeem turned 16, he tried to escape. He received counselling from a charity and was taught photography. He tried to make it his profession.

"I was happy with my work, but a year ago, a policeman put me in the lockup on a false charge, confiscated my camera and abused me sexually," he said.

The experience turned him against the world.

"I decided to become stronger. Now I have my own gang and many influential people are my clients. No one can touch me now."

Nadeem says he acts as a pimp to 10 teenage sex workers aged 14-18, taking a sizeable cut of whatever the boys bring in earnings.

"Half an hour after finishing with one client I get another call and I forget all about wanting a respectable life."

Nadeem lives on a street in the downtown Saddar neighbourhood, but rents a room in a cheap hotel when he has surplus cash. He confesses that he too sexually assaulted a child.

"He insulted me and my family so I told him he had it coming. So I grabbed him and gave it to him. I still remember that night. I haven't done that to anyone else since then and I don't want to."

Rizwan is a fisherman's son. He insists he is 12, but he looks much younger. He left home three years ago because his family beat him and says he was abused by police. IHDF fears he too will be dragged into the sex industry.

"The police tried to make me do bad things six or seven times but I managed to get away," he said.

"But one day, one policeman took me by force, put a cloth over my mouth and took me to a place where he did bad things."

Shaukat Hussain, head of police in Karachi's southern district where many street children live, said any officers found guilty would be punished, but denied the force was anything like as culpable as reported.

"There are black sheep in our department who are involved in such acts. But we punish anyone whose crime comes to surface and is proved," he told AFP.

"The number of policemen who are involved in such acts is far less than what is being claimed by the media and NGOs," he added.

Pakistan offers little protection to vulnerable children.

"A draft bill for child protection has been pending with the interior ministry for two years," a senior official of the human rights ministry told AFP on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to the media.

The bill is designed to tighten the laws protecting children, bringing them in line with international conventions, doing more to help children in difficulty and bringing police and other offenders to book for abusing minors.

"There is a visible lack of interest on the part of the government on this issue… despite our constant pursuits," said the ministry official.

One former police official told AFP that he organised seminars to sensitise police on how to treat street children four years ago, but that the programme was abruptly abandoned when he retired.

Mirza K.O.s Rehman Malik

By Nasim Zehra


ZoneAsia-Pk

The analysis, that springs up in my mind, is based on several well known facts; but two stand out. Mirza and Zardari very close, MQM no more, all the other facts more or less already well known. So? It appears Zardari wants the action action against MQM now to eliminate it as a political challenge as well as get rid of Rehman. Mirza has played Zardari's game. High stake, but may work. Mirza didnt criticize Zardari, and protected even reputation of BB ferociously.

Editor's Note: Dr Mirza's resignation as Vice President PPP Sindh,an MPA & Ministerial post may not have rocked the nation but for the reasons disclosed. The text of his speech is neatly reproduced by THE NATION & can be read : http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/29-Aug-2011/Mirza-says-it-all Will Mirza be able to substantiate the allegations with proof? This needs to be investigated & not brushed under the carpet, claiming it to be a diatribe.For the Letter by Altaf Hussain to Britian's Ex-Prime Minister,click link: http://www.hurriyat.com/528/mqms-offers-counter-terrorism-support-to-uk/ If it is so,that too,needs to come out based on facts,not rhetoric. Pakpotpourri2 gives you a balanced analysis by Nasim Zehra.

Pakistani politics witnessed a new first. Holding the Holy Quran in his hand and then placing it upon his head, Sindh's senior minister Zulfiqar Ali Mirza made some very bold revelations against his friend's key, even if troubled, political ally as well as his friend's closest and most handy aide.

President Asif Ali Zardari perhaps now faces the biggest challenge of his political career as none other than his most loyal friend and senior minister Sindh, Zulfiqar Ali Mirza, at a press conference issued a loaded charge sheet. Mirza gave specific information along with alleged evidence, against all those he accused. He said the ongoing operation was meaningless and that the real killers were not being apprehended.

Zulfiqar Mirza's attack has produced a complex political dynamic. One with the 'evidence' that Zulfiqar Mirza claims he has against the MQM's alleged involvement in target killings, he has put the MQM under pressure. An MQM on the defensive provides political leverage to the PPP in its ongoing negotiations with that party. It may also help to stem the growing alienation of the Sindhis against the PPP leadership, especially earlier the mishandling of the revival of the local bodies.

The claims made by Zulfiqar Mirza can also potentially strengthen the PPP's hand in the Supreme Court's suo motto hearing on the Karachi target killing. The SC bench now meeting in Karachi is bound to call Zulfiqar Mirza to make good his claims in court.

But the most challenging for PPP's internal politics is Mirza's attack on Rehman Malik. Zulfiqar Mirza has made specific charges against the interior minister, holding him responsible for leading a "farcical operation" and for being primarily committed to keeping the MQM on board. In addition to his criticism at the press conference, Zulfiqar Mirza, later in a television program insisted that the interior minister "is Pakistan's enemy and if Pakistan breaks up, then Rehman Malik will be responsible for it."

Although Mirza insisted that he would remain loyal to the president till his dying day and would give his life in the party's service, within the immediate context he has created major political challenges for the president. He has alleged that the president's right-hand man is hand in glove with the killers of innocent citizens.

As for whether these extraordinary revelations will lead to any action against Rehman Malik or the MQM, the punch-line comes from Zulfiqar Mirza himself. While speaking on television he said, "I have rolled the ball, now the ball in the court of the president, army chief, the ISI chief, the PM, the speaker of parliament and the chairman of the senate." Mirza expects them to use the evidence that he has presented to take action against the MQM and the interior minister. He said the moment the CJP asks him to present himself in court, he will do so.

Zulfiqar Mirza may have become a thorn in the president's side. But Mirza is one PPP leader that the president will not find it easy to sideline. He will also not able to easily brush aside the alleged charge sheet presented against Rehman Malik nor the MQM. Clearly these moves by Zardari's closest friend puts the Karachi operation in an even greater spotlight and for all the wrong reasons. It also sharply exposes the weaknesses in Zardari's politics of "mufahimmat."

The questions that Mirza's charge sheet raises only confirms public criticism of the operation. Questions that have no easy answers but ones that will now be repeatedly asked by many political and non-political stake-holders from across the country.

The Evolving Democracy Of Pakistan

Pakistani politics can be infuriating, petty, violent and often downright incomprehensible. So it is easy to miss what is actually quite a remarkable transformation in the way it governs itself. For perhaps the first time in its 64 years of existence, Pakistan is trying to figure out in detail how to make democracy work.

In a country traditionally dominated by the centralising authority of the military, the government which took office in 2008 is devolving power to the provinces. It is talking about breaking up Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province and traditional recruiting ground of the army, by creating a new Seraiki province in south Punjab. It is extending some political rights into the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) by reforming the draconian Frontier Crimes Regulations, a British colonial-era system designed to control rather than govern the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

In other words, it is introducing into the system mechanisms which, in theory at least, make it easier for people to negotiate their disputes with the state without taking up arms. By decentralising, it could also become harder for the army to launch a military coup (though it currently shows no inclination to do so), thus beginning the process of making democracy irreversible. And perhaps most importantly, it offers a way of accommodating Pakistan's ethnic diversity.

As Pakistani columnist Mosharraf Zaidi wrote this month, "decentralisation has been, stealthily, one of the central and most definitive issues in Pakistani democracy." And whatever the petty and self-serving politics behind the various positions taken by different political parties, he wrote, "Pakistanis should be pleased that decentralisation represents the very heart of political discourse in Pakistan in 2011."

Pakistan's inability to accommodate ethnic diversity has a painful history. At its worst, it led to the bitter civil war in 1971 when then East Pakistan, resentful of the domination of West Pakistan, broke away with Indian help to become the new state of Bangladesh. But it is at its most insidious not for what it fails to do, but for what it requires in its place - an over-reliance on a particular, but contested, interpretation of Islam as the only force which can unite Pakistan, and a need for real or imagined external enemies (it used to be India, now it extends to the United States) to pull the country together in a defensive huddle.

So for all its fitful and frustrating progress, the effort to build democracy is likely to be the real story of Pakistan in the coming year or so, ahead of elections due by 2013. Rightly or wrongly, people believe the United States is preparing to leave the region, and attention is turning to domestic politics as the place where Pakistan's future will be contested. Relations with the United States and India will of course continue to play a role, as will the Islamist militants waging a campaign of gun and bomb attacks inside Pakistan, but many of the influences that will shape that political contest are less obvious.

Among these is the separatist insurgency in Baluchistan, Pakistan's largest but least populated province, where demands for outright independence appear to be gaining strength over aspirations for greater autonomy. The area is rich in resources, home to Gwadar port - meant to give China access to the Arabian Sea and Gulf oil supplies - and arguably more strategically significant than Afghanistan. Although the insurgency has not yet come to dominate political discourse, it is an unpredictable wild card which could prompt some to call for greater, centralised, and therefore military control, and others for even more decentralisation.

The social transformation of Pakistan - it is becoming more conservative, its attitude to religion less pluralistic, its view of the west more hostile - also forms an incongruent backdrop to the transition to democracy. Whereas for example in Turkey, the ruling Justice and Development party was able to occupy that socially conservative space to strengthen its hand against the secularist military, in Pakistan the situation is the reverse. The Pakistan Army, keen to find rallying call to unite the country, has been the main promoter of Islam; the secularists - or those few of them left who would still use that word - are in the mainstream political parties.

Meanwhile, the coalition government led by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), has been unable to create a convincing and inspiring narrative on the reasoning behind decentralisation and democratisation as it fights its own dirty political battles, most recently in a tussle for power over the commercial capital Karachi with the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) party in which several hundred people were killed.

The political elite continues to be defined by allegations of corruption (Pakistan was in 143rd place in last year's Transparency International index) and by its dynastic and feudal traditions. The government faces repeated accusations of inept governance - accusations it counters by pointing to an accumulation of problems beyond its control, from international financial crisis, to devastating floods, to the war in Afghanistan.

That absence of a convincing narrative has left space for others who as columnist Nadeem Paracha wrote wryly in Dawn, proffer simplistic solutions to Pakistan's many problems. If you talk to the religious parties calling for an end to corruption and the need for justice and welfare for the common man, it is hard to disagree with them in principle, it is only in practice it becomes difficult to implement while also creating a tolerant and pluralist democracy.

Most recently, the liberal-leaning English-language media has been full of warnings about what they see as military backing for former cricketer turned political Imran Khan - who shares a political platform with the Jamaat Islami, Pakistan's oldest religious party - to propel him to power in the next election. In this scenario, the judiciary would be called upon to rid Pakistan of its corrupt politicians, clearing the way for Khan's so far electorally unsuccessful Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) party to edge ahead of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of President Asif Ali Zardari and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Khan's reputation rests on him being seen as untainted by corruption.

"Clearly, Imran Khan is pinning his hopes on an army-judiciary move not just to oust the Zardari regime but to establish an interim government and permanent election commission and accountability process that sweeps aside the mainstream PPP and PMLN leaders, decimates their parties and paves the way for the PTI to emerge as the sole spokesman of Pakistan!" veteran columnist Najam Sethi wrote in The Friday Times, complaining that such a "malafide" intervention would set back Pakistan's messy transition to democracy, pit the mainstream parties against the army, and intensify ethnic rivalries.

For the outside world, these competing currents in Pakistan's domestic politics will be crucial in determining whether it emerges as a more stable country. But there may be little it can do to influence them constructively. The United States does not have great track record of intervening to promote democracy in Pakistan - like many of the country's chroniclers, its tendency has been to look to the military for quick and apparently simple solutions. And with world events happening at alarming speed, from financial crisis to Middle East uprisings, Washington is unlikely to have the attention span to deal with the delicate business of nurturing democracy. As Britain discovered, with a certain amount of irony, democracy is messy and unpredictable - it had only just stepped in to encourage Pakistan's warring politicians to end violence in Karachi when urban riots broke out at home.

Extended US Military Presence in Afghanistan & Its Implications On Pakistan

The Daily Telegraph reports that the status of forces agreement that the United States and Afghanistan are negotiating may allow a U.S. military presence in the country until 2024 . That's a full 10 years beyond the deadline for withdrawal of U.S. combat troops and handing over security responsibilities to Afghan forces.

The negotiations are being conducted under a veil of security, and we have no way of knowing, at this point at least, if the two sides are really talking about U.S. troops in the country for that long. ( The very fact that a decade after U.S. troops entered the country there is no formal agreement spelling out the terms of their deployment is in itself remarkable)

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Hazare-like movement need of the hour

Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi observed on Thursday that the solution to all national problems lied in elimination of corruption, saying Pakistan also needed Anna Hazare-like movement.

"The people of Pakistan will have to raise voice against corruption as it has plagued our society," he added while talking to the media persons on occasion of death anniversary of his father, former Governor Makhdoom Sajjad Hussain Qureshi. He said that corruption was at its peak in today's Pakistan and its elimination had become inevitable.

Referring to Karachi, he said that Army operation was no more a sustainable solution. "The civilian security departments will have to play an effective role for maintaining peace in Karachi," he added. He said that all political parties should unite against violence and play their role for ending this crisis. HE said that the government did not exhibit the level of seriousness it should have for resolving Karachi issue.

To a query on flood situation, he said that the government did not learn any lesson from past devastation caused by the flood. He claimed that the flood issue was being mishandled which could deliver serious harm to the citizens. "The government should adopt practical measures for offering relief to the flood victims instead of getting covered fake camps by the media," he maintained. He suggested that the federal and provincial disaster management authorities would have to evolve a comprehensive strategy for avoiding flood threats.

Answering a question on new provinces, he said that there was no harm in forming new provinces on administrative grounds. "But this issue is also being made controversial. Some elements are doing politics on this issue," he pointed out.

2,912 youth to get vehicles in Multan: The Punjab government is going to give out 2,912 vehicles to jobless youth in Multan division under Chief Minister Yellow Cab Scheme and the ballot for this purpose will take place at Multan Arts Council on August 29. Out of total, as many as 1082 vehicles are allocated for Multan district, 699 Khanewal, 724 Vehari and 407 Lodhran.

The government is going to deliver Suzuki Mehran and pick up vehicles under this scheme.

"We've received 9930 applications against 2912 vehicles. The balloting will be held by the Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif himself," the Commissioner Multan division Muhammad Khurram Agha disclosed while chairing a meeting to review arrangements for the ballot ceremony.

He added that the scheme would not only give honourable employment to the youth but also facilitate the masses in terms of traveling facilities. The Commissioner appointed additional commissioner Mian Muhammad Maqbool Abbasi as head of organizing committee and secretary RTA Malik Shafique focal person for yellow cab scheme.The representative of Bank of Punjab told the meeting that tough scrutiny of the applicants' document was being carried out.

Pakistan, Nowshera Blast Kills 11

At least 11 people were killed and 15 others injured when a remote-controlled bomb ripped through a crowded market in Risalpur, a town in Nowshera district, on Thursday night.

The blast took place just outside a restaurant in the market, a police official said. The restaurant was close to Risalpur Chowk, within the limit of the town's Cantonment. The police official told The Express Tribune that the remote-controlled device was attached to a bicycle. One of the injured was a policeman, said the official, adding that the casualty count may rise.

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Indian Police Savagely Beat Up Two Photographers

Area148

Reporters Without Borders condemns the beatings that two news photographers received from local police and members of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) while covering clashes between police and demonstrators on 19 August in the Nowhatta old town district of Srinagar, the capital of the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"By directly attacking journalists covering these clashes, the police are trying to suppress coverage of the events taking place in Srinagar," Reporters Without Borders said. "We urge the Indian government to order an immediate halt to this outright persecution of journalists. The authorities must allow journalists to cover demonstrations and must protect them from any violence that could be directed against them."

A group of young people gathered outside the historic Jamia Masjid mosque in Nowhatta after Friday prayers on 19 August in response to a call for a Martyrs Day march by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the chairman of one of two factions of the Hurriyat Conference, a political alliance formed in the 1990s that wants self-determination for Kashmir. Police and CRPF units intervened quickly, using batons and slingshots to disperse them.

Showkat Shafi, a freelance photojournalist employed by Al-Jazeera who helped produce an Al-Jazeera special report available online, "Kashmir: the forgotten Conflict", was beaten by police officers and taken to the Nowhatta police station.

A photographer who was with Shafi at the time told the Greater Kashmir online daily: "The police and CRPF appeared and shouted at us. We got scared and ran away from there. They caught hold of Showkat and beat him up with plastic and bamboo canes. They also kicked him and dragged him along the road."

Narciso Contreras, a Mexican photographer who works for the California-based Zuma Press agency, was also arrested and beaten by police officers. Rajesh Iyer, a journalist who was present said: "They used abusive language and beat him up with canes. They also kicked him. They dragged him and put him in the police station." Police violence was becoming "the norm," he added.

The two photographers were hospitalized after being released that evening. A Nowhatta police spokesman disputed these accounts, insisting that no one was injured during the incidents.

Reporters Without Borders also condemns the suspension of a religious programme on 92.7 Big FM, a privately-owned radio station based in Srinagar, without prior warning on 17 August. The programme, targeted at young people and dealing with social issues, was presented by Mohammad Umar Farooq, a religious leader and chairman of the other Hurriyat Conference faction.

"If the order came from a higher level than the Jammu and Kashmir state government, an explanation must be provided," Reporters Without Borders said. "It would be unacceptable if the federal government interfered - covertly and without giving any reasons - in the programming of the only privately-owned radio station broadcasting from Srinagar."

The programme is reportedly back on the air but Farooq is still banned from presenting it. Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah denied having any role in the ban. "I have not given any instruction that he should be stopped," he said.

Farooq blamed the federal authorities. "They said the decision had been taken by the higher-ups outside the state," he said.

India is ranked 122nd out of 178 countries in the 2010 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

Gaddafi On The Run

A beleaguered Muammar Gaddafi vowed on Wednesday to fight on to death or victory after rebels forced him to abandon his Tripoli stronghold in what appeared to be a decisive blow against the Libyan leader's 42-year rule.

Gleeful rebels ransacked Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya bastion, seizing weapons and smashing symbols of a government whose demise will transform Libya and send a warning to other Arab autocrats facing popular uprisings.

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Despite Search, Gadaffi Missing

The six-month battle for control of Libya was all but ended, a rebel leader said Tuesday, even though pockets of fighting remained inside and outside of Tripoli.

"The fall of the capital means the fall of the regime," said Mahmoud Jibril of the National Transitional Council. "I wouldn't be exaggerating to say that, within the next couple of days, many other liberations will happen."

He added, "In Libya, you say: Chop the head and the veins will dry up."

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Pakistan Ensures Its Influence In The Gulf States

The tiny Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain has reported to have recruited 3,000 Pakistanis to serve in its security forces to quell protesters from the Shiite majority the government says are backed by Iran.

Pakistan has also rushed to the defense of Saudi Arabia in the current political upheaval roiling the Arab world, underlining how the embattled Asian state, the only Muslim nuclear power, is becoming increasingly influential in the Middle East.

Pakistan is now the eye of the storm in the conflict between the United States and al-Qaida, and day by day it's intruding into the political maelstrom of the Middle East.

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International ban demanded on MQM

Leader of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Karachi division Zafar Baloch has demanded the British and American governments that ban Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and its Chief Altaf Hussain after declaring terrorists.

Addressing a press conference along with local PPP leader Aziz Baloch at Karachi Press Club on late Monday night, he said that residents of Liyari would present a letter to foreign diplomats so that they press international community to ban MQM.

Baloch alleged that Farooq Sattar's press conference was nothing but a fake report and allegation, adding he (Sattar) won the election by rigging. He condemned Sattar's allegations and said MQM is busy deceiving people of the world especially, Pakistanis under the umbrella of reconciliation policy.

He alleged that innocent people including Urdu speaking community have been massacred for the last 18 months and after Sher Shah Tragedy it has become routine that Baloch youths have been killed after kidnapping. But we remained calm for the peace of Karachi and also accepted ban on People's Aman Committee, the popular organization of Lyari.

According to Baloch, recovering five gunny bag bodies of Baloch youths is part of the conspiracy that MQM wants to pave the way of operation in Lyari by declaring the incident gang war.

He lamented over the discrimination of media, saying yesterday Sajid Baloch s/o Ghulam Hussain, a police constable, was abducted from Baldia Town and was later released from the detention of MQM's provincial assembly member Mohammad Hanif Sheikh but media did not get it coverage.

He alleged that MQM's Burns Road sector is fully active in the killings of Baloch youths and MQM's terrorist are also involve in Chakra Goth tragedy.

The PPP leader said that MQM's terrorists who were arrested from Nazimabad -Rafique, Shah Nawaz and Naeem Mustafa - during interrogation accepted that they kidnapped and killed Baloch youths of Lyari, while over dozens Baloch youths are missing. He accused that industrialists are winding up their businesses from Karachi just because of MQM's terrorism and extortionist.

Replying a question, Zafar Baloch said there is no need to call Army in Karachi, local law enforcing agencies have potential to control the law and order situation of Karachi but there is need of political will. He said denizens of Lyari are ready for their complete cooperation to maintain law and order situation in Karachi.

Answering another question, he said Federal Interior Minister Rehman Maliks's regular visits to Karahi leave negative impression that provincial government is incompatible and people consider that Malik is involved in killing.

On the occasion, the family members of abducted and killed Baloch people were also present.

Ex-Governor Punjab, Pakistan's Funeral Prayer Leader Forced To Flee Pakistan

The cleric who led the funeral prayers for the late Governor Punjab, Salmaan Taseer has been forced to flee the country following threats.

According to a report by the Press Trust of India, Muhammad Afzal Chishti, the secretary general of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Ulema wing, had left the country after having received numerous threats against his life.

The report, quoting sources close to Chisti said that he had recently moved to an undisclosed location abroad after spending much of the past seven months in hiding since leading the funeral prayers.

In a related development, Chishti's son Moin Chishti had filed an application with the Punjab Police chief, requesting him to provide security to the cleric's family living in Lahore.

"Although my father has left Pakistan for abroad as there were threats to his life from different hardline religious groups, the other members of my family have received fresh threats," Moin said.

The religious community had almost unanimously refused to lead prayers of the former governor after Taseer had shown support to a blasphemy convict. Taseer was then killed for his voiced opinions against existing blasphemy laws. Despite immense pressure from the religious community, Chisti led the prayers for Taseer, who was also a senior PPP member.

Pakistani wins International Female Police Peacekeeping Award

Deputy Superintendent Shahzadi Gulfam of Pakistan received the 2011 United Nation's award for International Female Police Peacekeeper Award on Sunday.

The United Nations Police Division in the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI), Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), and the International Association of Women Police (IAWP) International Scholarship Committee had awarded the 2011 International Female Police Peacekeeper Award to Deputy Superintendent Shahzadi Gulfam from Pakistan.

She is currently deployed in the United Nations Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) as the United Nations Police (UNPOL) Team Leader posted in the Timor-Leste National Police (PNTL) Vulnerable Persons Unit (VPU) in the capital Dili.

After completing her studies, Officer Gulfam had joined the Punjab Police in March 1985. During her career of over two decades, she performed equally well at the national and international level.

Officer Gulfam was the first Pakistani female to be deployed in the UN Mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1997, and subsequently served in UN Missions in Kosovo in 1999 and Timor-Leste in 2007.

Officer Gulfam was redeployed in 2010 in the United Nations Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT).

Speaking on Gulfam, UNMIT Police Commissioner Luis Carillho said, "UNPOL Shahzadi Gulfam has shown enthusiasm, diligence and zeal in her work with the Vulnerable Persons Unit in Dili. Despite working in difficult conditions, Officer Gulfam has played an exceptional role in supporting and protecting vulnerable persons".

Currently, Officer Gulfam is responsible for facilitating the referrals to shelter and medical assistance to victims of domestic violence, as well as for reporting on missing persons and human trafficking. Her duties include liaising with the Justice Ministry to provide legal redress to victims. She also coordinates with health institutions on the provision of psychological support to victims.

The International Female Police Peacekeeper Award was delivered at the opening ceremony of the International Association of Women Police (IAWP) annual training conference on 21 August 2011 in Lexington, Kentucky, USA.

Twelve award applications, which represent female police officers from 11 countries serving in seven United Nations peace missions worldwide, were submitted for this competitive award.

Possible Change in Pakistan's Tribal Areas

On August 12, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari signed the extension of the Political Party Order (2002) to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), fulfilling one of his government's key pledges related to the militancy-ridden tribal belt. This is the first piece of good news for residents there since Zardari's announcement two years ago, on August 14, 2009, to introduce reforms to FATA's oppressive system of governance -- reforms later blocked by the military.

This move will allow political parties to operate legally in FATA for the first time. Since adult franchise was extended to the tribal belt in 1997, its parliamentarians were elected on a non-party basis and had virtually no authority to legislate for their constituents. Yet, with twelve seats in the lower house, the National Assembly, and eight seats in the Senate, the FATA bloc formed a sizeable source of votes in a legislature typically led by coalition governments with thin parliamentary majorities. Held by independents, these 20 votes were often for sale.

Now, as proper members of mainstream political parties, FATA's legislators will represent and be subject to party policy, and able to campaign on party platforms in the next election. Political party recruitment and activism, even in a controlled environment, will also help broaden participation beyond a relatively small tribal elite of maliks (tribal elders), and fill a political vacuum that militants, smugglers and other criminals, big and small, have exploited for decades. Nevertheless, much more still needs to be done to enfranchise FATA's more than four million residents, who remain second-class citizens due to a colonial-era legal framework, codified in the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) of 1901, which denies them fundamental constitutional rights.

The president has also reportedly amended the FCR to require that a prisoner be produced before the authorities within 24 hours of arrest, and given the right to bail, something that was previously denied to tribal populations. The president's spokesman said that FCR provisions that allow collective punishment of an entire tribe for crimes committed by a member or on their territory, would be "softened" -- indicating that perhaps women, children and elderly will be exempt from the collective punishment clause, as proposed in 2009. While this, too, is welcome, and could win some goodwill amongst the FATA public, overall the reforms are less ambitious than the package Zardari announced two years ago. In addition to the current measures, the earlier package envisaged auditing the funds received and disbursed by the political agent, the centrally-appointed bureaucrat who heads the administration of an individual tribal agency. Such accountability is vital, given a political agent's unchecked executive, judicial and financial authority in the areas he governs.

The last time the government announced the extension of the Political Party Order, key political parties set up offices in tribal agencies and began planning recruitment drives, only to have to vacate when the amendments to the extension were not formally adopted. We can, therefore, expect to see a surge of political mobilization, which could in turn move FATA closer to Pakistan's mainstream.

In the long term, however, to address the underdevelopment and public alienation that has resulted from an antiquated, oppressive system of governance that has in turn bred violent crime and religious militancy, there will be no alternative to incorporating FATA into the constitutional framework of Pakistan, without exceptions. This means: Extending the jurisdiction of the federal and provincial courts to the region; extending political representation to the provincial level; ending the concentration of power in the hands of unaccountable political agents; and making this vital region subject to all the laws of the land. Until then, FATA's bureaucracy, and not elected representatives, will continue to control day-to-day governance as it has since 1947. The president has taken a major first step. He should soon follow it up with more.

Hindutva and the Dalit Question

By Bhanwar Meghvanshi

The curious fact, however, is that it has no intention whatsoever of promoting the genuine 'assimilation' of, leave alone equality between, the various castes. A clear indication of its attitude to the caste question is that from the very beginning it has been strongly opposed to reservations or any other form of protective discrimination for Dalits, Adviasis, OBCs and religious minorities.

The truth is that 'samarasta' for the Hindutva camp means that the varna system should remain, as should the different castes and the hierarchies and inequalities that divide them. So, too, must untouchability, and poverty and the enormous differences between the rich and the poor. The Hindutva forces want that the present system, wherein some people continue to have a virtual monopoly over resources and power, while millions of others live in the most pathetic conditions, continues unscathed. It wants, in other words, that the status quo in terms of caste and class relations should continue and that no one should in any way revolt against this. This is what is meant by its jargon about samarasta, which Hindutva ideologues constantly harp about. So that the oppressed Dalits and others do not begin to assert themselves for their rights it is necessary for the Hindutva forces to keep talking about the mirage of samarasta.

The Hindutva forces have always been opposed to social equality. When two brothers cannot be the same, Hindutva ideologues often argue, how can there be equality in society at large? That is why, they say, equality is impossible, and the most that one can seek is samarasta, as they understand the term. In other words, for them the 'high' and the rich must remain high and rich, the 'low' and the poor must remain low and poor, but society must somehow 'assimilate' the two categories harmoniously, as if this were possible.

It requires no great intelligence to understand that this defence of the status quo by Hindutva forces in the name of samarasta brilliantly serves the interests of the exploiting classes, such as capitalists, the feudal class as well as the priestly class, and that is why these three classes are among their most staunch supporters. This trio of classes faces the greatest threat from social equality. The priests want that they should be left to monopolise their profession so that they can continue to fleece people, exploit their faith and comfortably live off their donations. The former rajas and maharajas still want to fancy themselves as rulers of this land and the rest of Indians as their subjects. The Banias want to maintain their hegemony in the economic sphere, and they want no change in the system wherein a tiny class owns almost all the wealth, while the rest are landless, poverty-stricken labourers. For these three classes, the slogan of samarasta serves to maintain the iniquitous system that favours them. To maintain this grossly unequal system in the guise of samarasta, these days Hindutva forces are now trying to woo the Dalits and Adivasi and fool them by presenting themselves as committed to their welfare. Their activists tour Dalit and Adivasi localities, and try to win them over by eating with them or by setting up religious centres for them. In this way, they are trying to create and reinforce the completely fallacious notion that there is no one so committed to the Dalits and Adivasis as they themselves.

But the real face of the Hindutva forces, their true stance on Dalits and other oppressed castes, is easily understood from their position on reservations for these communities. This brutal reality strips the masks under which they seek to hide. From time to time, Hindutva leaders, including top bosses of the RSS, issue confusing statements about reservations for the oppressed castes, but, overall, these are calculated to negate their importance and seek to do away with them. Some years ago, Sudarshan, the then head of the RSS, issued a statement that such reservations had become a tool to mobilize votes. Indresh Kumar, another important RSS leader, declared that reservations on the basis of caste had divided India against itself and had even, so he had the gumption to claim, threatened its unity and integrity and the love and harmony between its different classes. Devendra Swaroop, a key RSS ideologue, also stridently opposed reservations as allegedly undermining democracy and as promoting advancement through greed and by means of crutches. Moreover, he condemned reservations as supposedly divisive and anti-national. He contended that students who believe in 'merit', 'all intellectuals', the media, the industrialist class, the judiciary and other 'Constitutional bodies' 'have stood up in opposition to this divisive and anti-national reservation policy. A massive movement [against the policy] is beginning to emerge throughout the country.'

Another top Hindutva boss, Pravin Togadia, General Secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, once infamously declared that by providing reservations to the Backward Classes, the government was 'fulfilling the incomplete task of Khilji and Ghazni'-this being an allusion to medieval supposedly anti-Hindu Muslim invaders, whom the Hindutva forces regard with horror. 'Through reservations, a conspiracy is being carried out to divide the country', he announced. Summing up the Hindutva stance on reservations for the oppressed castes, BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi quipped, 'It is wrong to provide reservations on the basis of caste.' The Shiv Sena, a key member of the Hindutva combine, is notorious for its consistent opposition to reservations for the oppressed castes. It is said that the almost defunct Hindu Mahasabha, at one time in the recent past began showing signs of being revived in order to oppose such reservations. Himani Savarkar, top Mahasabha leader, and daughter-in-law of one of its key founders, VD Savarkar (she belongs to the Godse family), announced, 'The Hindu Mahasabha has always been opposed to reservations. Even before Independence, the Mahasabha, at its Karnavati and Bhagalpur conventions, had opposed reservations based on caste and religion.'

The RSS keeps harping that 'All Hindus are Brothers', but when it comes to reservations for the oppressed castes, it turns, as these examples illustrate, against its supposed co-religionists-the oppressed castes. Hindutva forces are also said to be campaigning under the cover of various other outfits to end the system of reservations, sometimes hesitating to reveal their true intentions for fear of losing the support of the oppressed castes. So much for its claims of being committed to the 'assimilation' of the different castes and for its rhetoric about social 'harmony'.

End Of Gaddafi Nearer Than Near

Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi's four-decade-long rule over the country was crumbling at breakneck speed as hundreds of rebel fighters swept into Tripoliand took control Monday of the symbolically significant Green Square in the heart of the city.

With rebel leaders saying late Sunday that Gad­dafi's compound was surrounded, that his son Saif al-Islam had been captured and that his presidential guard had surrendered, thesix-month-old battle for control of Libya appeared to be hurtling toward a dramatic finale.

In a written statement, President Obama said: "Tonight, the momentum against the Qadhafi regime has reached a tipping point. Tripoli is slipping from the grasp of a tyrant."

Early Monday there were reports of heavy clashes near Gaddafi's compound. Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Rahman said that tanks had emerged from the complex and began firing, AP said.

Only a few residents in Tripoli ventured out to greet the rebels, and there was an overall sense of nervousness on Green Square. Posters of Gaddafi had been ripped to pieces, and young men were shooting off guns and fireworks.

In a brief broadcast on state television, Gaddafi made what came across as a desperate plea for support. "Go out and take your weapons," the Libyan leader said. "All of you, there should be no fear."

The rebel advance had unfolded with surprising speed throughout the day as fighters converged on the capital from three directions. In areas under rebel control, opposition flags fluttered, while jubilant residents honked horns, set off fireworks and stomped on posters of Gaddafi.

With communications to the capital sporadic, some rebel claims could not be confirmed, and some experts cautioned that a tough urban battle may yet lie ahead between the lightly armed and untrained rebels and the elite government forces kept in reserve for the defense of the capital.

But reporters traveling with rebel forces said Gaddafi's defenses were melting away faster than had been expected. There were reports of entire units fleeing as rebels entered the capital from the south, east and west, and his supporters inside the city tearing off their uniforms, throwing down their weapons and attempting to blend into the population.

A Tripoli-based activist said the rebels had secured the seaport, where several hundred reinforcements for the opposition had arrived by boat, and were in the process of evicting Gaddafi loyalists from the Mitiga air base on the eastern edge of the city.

"The Gaddafi regime is clearly crumbling," said a statement issued by NATO, whose five-month-old aerial bombing campaign, ostensibly launched to protect civilians from attacks by the government, contributed enormously to the erosion of Gaddafi's defenses.

A U.S. official closely tracking intelligence reports from Tripoli said there was no independent confirmation of reports that Gaddafi's sons had been captured but added that events were moving so rapidly that confirmation was difficult. The official said rebel forces appeared to be benefiting not only from strong momentum but also from smart strategic planning going into the capital.

"We could be watching the game-changer unfold," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence reports. "Whether or not Gaddafi reads the tea leaves the same way is the big question."

In the rebel capital, Benghazi, where huge crowds gathered to celebrate what they hoped was the imminent capture of Tripoli, Transitional National Council leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil announced that Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam had been captured.

Rebels in Tripoli also said that Gaddafi's eldest son, Mohammed, had surrendered after fighters stormed his home.

There was no information about Gaddafi's whereabouts, though he had issued a defiant speech earlier in the day in which he insisted that he was in Tripoli and would not surrender. "We cannot go back until the last drop of our blood. We will defend the city. I am here with you," he said in the audio statement, purportedly broadcast live. "Go on, go forward!"

But it appeared that his control had already unraveled as the rebels swept into the capital, encountering only pockets of resistance along the way.

The rebels urged journalists not to remain on the square for too long, illustrating the general sense of uneasiness about their victory. There were rumors that Gaddafi's forces would try to retake the square, but that did not happen.

"This is the happiest day of my life," said Abdul Hamid, who had driven in from outside Tripoli to be on Green Square.

People on the square said that rebels had seized the symbolic location around 10 p.m. and that they faced little resistance.

Checkpoints and neighborhood watches had been set up all over the western part of the city, but on the road from the rebel-held city of Dawiya, hundreds of cars and trucks could be seen bringing reinforcements to secure the capital.

"I never thought I'd see a day like this, it's like our independence day. This is the end of the colonel," said Adel Bibas, as he stood on a street in the western portion of Tripoli. Elsewhere, there were rumors that Gaddafi's forces were on the way, and young men urged people to seek refuge inside, a sign of the tension that still weighs on the capital.

After initially seizing control of the strategic western town of Zawiyah last week, the rebels pushed rapidly east throughout the day, capturing a major military base that was home to the Khamis Brigade, an elite force led by Khamis Gaddafi, one of the Libyan leader's sons.

Exultant rebels seized weapons from the base and were seen carrying away boxes of brand-new Belgian munitions, as others raced by in trucks filled to the brim with weaponry.

By nightfall, the rebel force


had reached suburban Janzour, where witnesses said government forces had abandoned their posts earlier in the day. Residents took to the streets to cheer the rebels as they swept past in their pickups into the southern edges of the city.

At the same time, rebels advancing along the eastern coastal highway were reported to have linked up with opposition fighters in the strategically located eastern suburb of Tajura, long a stronghold of opposition to Gaddafi, effectively cutting off the capital.

In a late-night briefing for journalists confined to the Rixos hotel, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said that at least 1,300 people had been killed since noon, in addition to 930 the previous day, and blamed NATO for the bloodshed. The figures could not be independently confirmed, and though rebels said there had been many deaths, they were skeptical that the number was that high.

The lightly armed opponents, who have spent months quietly organizing for this moment, were within a mile and a half of Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound by Sunday night. They were hoping to launch an assault on the headquarters as soon as they linked up with the rebel reinforcements arriving in the city, according to Tripoli resident and rebel organizer Abdel Azzuz.

He said that the rebels are convinced that Gaddafi is still in Tripoli and that they are in the process of setting up checkpoints across the city in case he tries to slip away.

A rebel leader who asked to be identified only as Haj said the Libyan independence flag, which has been adopted as the symbol of the opposition, was flying from numerous mosques, government buildings and a shopping mall in areas they had seized. He said fighters could be heard singing the rebel national anthem, the words "Oh, my country" floating through the streets amid the near-constant crackle of automatic-weapons fire.

Haj said he was confident that the opposition fighters could hold out at least another day until the rebel army arrives. "With the efforts of our revolutionary youths and our children, we will be able to make it through tonight," he said.

He seemed unsure whether they would last longer than that, however, and it was unclear what level of control the anti-Gaddafi forces exert in the neighborhoods they claim to have seized. The rebels said they have a good supply of Kalashnikovs, smuggled into the city covertly since the initial uprising was crushed in March, as well as 9mm pistols and homemade bombs. In Tajura, the opposition forces had seized a sizable quantity of weapons from a government unit that fled, according to Azzuz, the rebel organizer.

In Washington, a second U.S. official said: "The opposition is gaining ground and putting more pressure on the regime each day. When this translates into a tipping point and what the endgame will look like is hard to determine. Gaddafi isn't sure what he's going to do from one moment to the next."

State Department spokes­woman Victoria Nuland said officials there are turning their attention to a post-Gaddafi Libya. "Gad­dafi's days are clearly numbered," she said. "If Gaddafi cared about the Libyan people, he would step down now."

Manipur: The Slippery Slope, Again

India

On August 1, 2011, five persons were killed and eight others injured when militants triggered a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion near a barber's shop at Sanghakpam Bazaar in Imphal East District. The explosive, planted on a two-wheeler, killed two Manipuri girls and two persons from Bihar - the barber and his son. Later, on August 2, Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh announced that the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM) was behind the blast, and revealed the identity of the fifth person killed in the incident as an active cadre of the NSCN-IM, named Anthony. He noted, further, that the NSCN-IM cadre, who rode the scooter with the explosives, might have had a specific target, but the device may have exploded prematurely. The Chief Minister claimed that the blast was aimed at the members of Autonomous District Council (ADC), who are housed in a nearby guest house complex of District Councils. The explosion reportedly occurred just after the vehicles of ADC members had passed past the spot.

Earlier on July 23, 2011, suspected NSCN-IM militants exploded a bomb in the office of the ADC in Ukhrul District, bordering Myanmar. On May 28, 2011 three persons were injured when a powerful bomb exploded at a sports stadium (Khuman Lampak) complex in Imphal West District. The blast was apparently intended to target members and officials of the ADC, who were functioning from this location due to the threat held out by the NSCN-IM.

Significantly, the United Naga Council (UNC), the NSCN-IM linked apex Naga body in Manipur, had opposed the ADC 2010 elections, held in two phases, on May 26 and June 2, 2010, under the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Councils (3rd Amendment) Act, 2008, since these were not under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution of India. The UNC argues,

'Local adjustment' has been spelt in the form of the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Councils (3rd Amendment) Act, 2008, which has been carefully doctored and stripped off of all the provisions that go into self governance and the rights of the hill people over their land and resources and removing the primacy of the traditional institutions of the tribals which is enshrined in the Constitution of India. The 6th Schedule of the Constitution of India has provisions of self governance and the rights of the hill people over their land and resources and the primacy of the traditional institutions of the tribals.

The UNC's relations with the State Government have been deteriorating since the killing of two students in Police firing on supporters of NSCN-IM 'general secretary' Thuingaleng Muivah, while they were taking out a rally at Mao Gate in Senapati District, when the State Government blocked Muivah from entering Manipur on May 6, 2010. The situation worsened further with the ADC elections, held after a gap of 20 years, and the UNC announced a severing of ties with the Government of Manipur. The UNC approached the Union Government with the demand for an 'alternative administrative arrangement', declaring that the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Councils (3rd Amendment) Act 2008 failed to meet tribal aspirations or to provide any sort of autonomy, leaving the ADCs at the mercy and under the control of the State Government.

Subsequently, in a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on September 14, 2010, the UNC stated that on July 1, 2010, the Nagas in Manipur had resolved, through their highest decision-making forum, the Naga People's Convention (NPC), that the Nagas would sever all political ties with the 'communal' Government of Manipur and, consequently, the vacuum in governance and administration created as a result, must be filled with an 'alternative arrangement' by the Government of India (GoI) in consultation with the Naga people at the earliest possible. It was also asserted that the 'imposed' ADC elections were "null and void" and, under no circumstances, would the ADCs be allowed to function in the Naga areas.

Shortly thereafter, on October 12, 2010, the Manipur Police Department received intelligence inputs that the NSCN-IM had decided, at the 'highest level', to selectively target and eliminate elected members of the ADCs belonging to the Naga community, since they had failed to 'honour' the group's diktats for the boycott of ADC elections and, after getting elected, refused to resign from their posts despite specific 'directives'.

On June 30, 2011, however, the UNC demand for an 'alternative administrative arrangement' for the Nagas living in Manipur received a severe blow, with both the State and Central Governments categorically setting aside this option during tripartite talks held in Senapati District. The outcome of these talks was in line with Chief Minister Ibobi Singh earlier declaration that a separate administrative model for the Nagas of Manipur was out of the question. The State Government indicated that the elected ADCs in the Hill region had enough power to develop their Hill Districts and redress grievances of the tribal people. Moreover, the Joint Secretary (Northeast) in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Shambhu Singh, added, "We could not understand what 'alternative arrangement' means and the Centre is not going to do anything on the issue."

Meanwhile, on April 15, 2011, eight persons, including six Policemen, were killed and six injured in an ambush laid by the NSCN-IM on the convoy party of the Phungyar Member of the Manipur Legislative Assembly (MLA), Wungnaoshang Keishing, near Riha village in Ukhrul District. On April 19, 2011, the outfit accused Wungnaoshang of working hand in glove with the Ibobi Government's policy to 'disintegrate Naga territories' by creating a new cosmopolitan District, Phungyar. Keishing, who supported the initiative, had been warned of "drastic action" by the UNC, if he did not withdraw his support for the new District. As the demand for the creation of Phungyar District becomes sharper, the UNC, on April 8, 2011, without naming the Phungyar District Demand Committee, stated.

It is implicit that the demand for new District(s) at this point of time in Naga/Hill areas of Manipur is the handiwork of the adversaries to vitiate and derail the 'Alternative Arrangement' process which is in progress peacefully and democratically. The UNC reminded that the Naga people in the State of Manipur have severed all political ties with the Government of Manipur, demanding the intervention of the Government of India for an 'Alternative Arrangement' outside the Government of Manipur.

Despite the threat to his life, Keishing has said that there was no question of his withdrawing support to the demand for the upgradation of the Phungyar Assembly Constituency into a full-fledged revenue District, in the interest of bringing about development and the meeting the aspirations of the people.

In another gruesome incident on July 24, 2011, a young couple was killed at Lungpha village in Ukhrul District. Claiming responsibility for the killing, the NSCN-IM said that Vareignam Mahongnao was killed for his anti-Naga activities as he was allegedly working with the Manipur Naga Revolutionary Front (MNRF). However, on July 28, MNRF denied any links with Vareignam. MNRF, an NSCN-IM splinter group in Manipur, was formed in 2008 under the leadership of Allen Siro, and claims to be an autonomous revolutionary group with the avowed aim of protecting the territorial integrity of Manipur and working for communal harmony between different ethnic groups in the State.

Evidently, the whole issue is intertwined with the NSCN-IM's larger ambition for the integration of Naga areas under one administrative unit, and this is the cause of the spike in violence by the group in Manipur. According to the partial data compiled by South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), out of the 43 insurgency related killings in 2011, 15 are associated with the NSCN-IM, including eight civilians and seven Security Force (SF) personnel. In 2010, out of a total of 138 fatalities, the NSCN-IM was involved in only one incident - on May 18, 2010, one of its cadres was killed while the bomb he was planting under a bridge along the stretch of the Imphal-Mao section of the National Highway-39 in Senapati District, blew up accidentally.

On August 2, 2011, the Manipur Chief Minister, disclosed that the State Government has advised the Central Government to revoke the ongoing cease-fire with the NSCN-IM, since it continued to engage in open acts of terrorism in the State. Such advice is, however, unlikely to impact on the 'peace process' that has survived continuous breaches of 'ground rules' since the ceasefire agreement of 1997.

Amidst rising NSCN-IM activities in Manipur, reports indicate that major Meitei insurgent outfits in the State are making serious efforts to form a "united front" in pursuit of their own ethnically polarized goals. On August 9, 2011, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs M. Ramachandran told the Lok Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) that these groups included the People's Liberation Army (PLA), United National Liberation Front (UNLF), Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), Noyon faction of Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP-Noyon), Vice Chairman faction of People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK-VC), Progressive faction of PREPAK (PREPAK-P) and United People`s Party of Kangleipak (UPPK).

Manipur has experienced rapid improvement in its security scenario as steep declines in fatalities have been recorded in the State since 2008. All this is now in jeopardy, with the NSCN-IM's rising ambitions, and the 'reactivation' of a coalescing Meitei insurgent front. Much of the escalating NSCN-IM violence has, of course, been directed against Naga leaders who have refused to toe the rebel group's line. Nevertheless, the fundamentals of this violence are directed against the integrationist impetus of the Valley based politics and Meitei insurgent groups. Unless these inherent contradictions are managed - if not resolved - the spiral of violence can only push this unfortunate State back into the cycles of bloodletting that have wracked it for nearly five decades now.

Sri Lanka

On August 4, 2011 the Government of Sri Lanka rejected the Tamil National Alliance's (TNA) two-week ultimatum to come out with 'devolution' details saying it is now set to embark on the process of Parliament Select Committee (PSC) to find a political solution to the ethnic conflict that has engulfed the nation for over three decades. The TNA had set the deadline earlier in the day, during the course of 10th round of talks.

The talks between the two sides, which commenced on January 10, 2011, appear to have hit a dead end for now. The TNA, which had publicly dropped the demand for a separate State immediately after the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009, was hoping to reach what it called an "acceptable political solution". Alleged to be a proxy of the LTTE, the TNA had even dropped the demand for a federal-style solution and had agreed to talks under the provisions of the controversial 13th Amendment, which excludes any devolution of Police and lands powers.

Meanwhile, elections for 299 of the 335 local authorities in the country were held in two phases on March 17 and July 23, 2011. The elections for another 23 local authorities, including the Municipal Councils of Colombo, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya, which were postponed under the Public Security Ordinance (PSO) due to the Cricket World Cup and other reasons, as noted by Election Commission, are now scheduled to be held on or before October 17, and the tenure of these local authorities has been extended up to December 31, 2011. Surprisingly, all, except one in Ampara, of the postponed elections fall outside the Tamil dominated Northeast region. Elections to another two local authorities in Mullaitivu District are due, but have been repeatedly postponed due to alleged delays in resettling internally displaced persons (IDPs). The elections to the remaining 11 local authorities in the Northeast were held in 2008-09, and were not due in the present cycle. Local authorities are elected for a term of four years, which can be extended up to five. The last round of these elections for all other constituencies was held in 2006, when elections were conducted for 288 of the then 330 local authorities. Elections were not held in the remaining constituencies due to the then ongoing civil war.

The ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) dominated the elections and won 249 local authorities, (including two contesting as the National Congress). The TNA won 32 local authorities (including two contesting as the Tamil United Liberation Front, TULF); the United National Party (UNP) won 9; the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) won 4; and a UPFA-backed independent group won one local authority. There was no overall control in the four remaining local authorities, but the UPFA was the largest group in three, and the Up-Country People's Front (UPF) in one. The UPF, which represents Tamils of Indian origin, is an ally of UPFA.

Predictably, the UPFA swept the polarised elections in the South. It also dominated the elections in the Eastern Province, winning 23 out of 35 local authorities, leaving just 7 for the TNA, 4 for SLMC and 1 for UNP. However, in the Northern Province, unsurprisingly, the TNA - as was the case in the 2010 General Elections when it won 14 out of 24 parliamentary seats in the North and East in the 225-seatre Parliament - swept the local bodies' elections this time as well, winning 25 local authorities out of 30 and thus leaving just five for the UPFA.

The latest results have simply confirmed the deep and unchanging ethnic divide in the country, and will have an inescapable impact on TNA's stand and politics. Indeed, immediately after the election results, the TNA stepped up its bargaining with the Government. In a Press Statement on August 4, 2011, it served its two weeks' ultimatum on Colombo to come out with 'devolution' details, the structure of governance, the division of subjects and functions between the Centre and the devolved units, and on fiscal and financial powers. The statement argued, further, "As no response has been forthcoming for several months from Colombo's side, no meaningful or purposeful discussion could be held on the discussion papers tendered by the TNA." In addition, "Immediate concern was resettlement and rehabilitation of the IDPs, removal of High Security Zones, disarming the para-military forces operating in the North and East and the issue of political prisoners and detainees." The TNA had talked about almost same set of demands in its Election Manifesto for the General Elections of April 2010.

The Government's response has been far from encouraging. On August 4, 2010, the Government rejected the TNA's demands, alleging that the Tamil party's ultimatum for future talks reflected the attitude of the LTTE. UPFA parliamentarian Sajin Vas De Gunawardane, who is also the Secretary of the UPFA delegation, declared,

It is certainly not possible, nor is it consistent with the national interest, to make a final pronouncement on all these crucial issues, hastily and without wider consultation, at this stage. As much as the SLFP does not solely represent any community in particular, the TNA also does not solely represent the Tamil community. In the circumstances which have now arisen on account of the demarche of the TNA, the government will proceed with the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC).

The proposed PSC will comprise 31 members, including 19 nominated by the UPFA and 12 by the Opposition. In response to TNA's allegation that this was no more than a delaying tactic, President Mahinda Rajapakse argued that the PSC could work within a time frame to reach its mandated conclusions, avoiding any undue delays.

As of now, the PSC has not even been constituted. Even if it is assumed that, once constituted in the proximate future, it would come out with a report within a given (yet to be decided) time frame, its possibilities of success are already in question, with focused opposition coming from the TNA. Even if it were able to arrive at a consensus, its implementation would remain in question, as was the case of the Final Report of the much talked about All Party Representative Committee (APRC), submitted on July 19, 2010. The Final Report, based on a total consensus among all members on a power sharing solution within a "unitary" constitutional framework, has been swept under the carpet by the Rajapakse Government, and is now all but forgotten.

Meanwhile, international pressure to start a war crimes' probe as well as to reach a political solution to the ethnic problem has increased, in the expectation that this would force Colombo to reason. The impact, however, has been far from salutary, provoking an even further hardening of stances. On August 9, 2011, Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne noted that, although the LTTE no longer existed in Sri Lanka, pro-LTTE organizations such as the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), British Tamil Forum (BTF), Tamil National Council (TNC) and anti-Sri Lankan NGOs, backed by western countries, were working under an agenda to tarnish the Sri Lankan image. With TNA and other political parties seeking to secure political benefits out of the international demands and pressures, the Government has become more inflexible.

Unsurprisingly, any solution to the ethnic conundrum in Sri Lanka remains as elusive as ever. Colombo evidently feels it has a mandate which cannot be challenged. Asked for his comments on the TNA winning a majority of local authorities' elections in the Tamil areas and the consequent necessity of devolution of powers, Basil Rajapakse, Senior Advisor to the President, declared, brusquely, "The President has a bigger mandate not to give those powers. They are talking of the mandate, how about ours, one accepted by a larger majority in the country?" Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, claiming that that the "political solution talk is simply irrelevant", observed, "We don't have to talk about solution and various things any longer, because we have ended this terrorism in Sri Lanka. We have a Constitution. If there is further amendment needed then Government can speak with the elected representatives. Now we have representation from these areas."

At least some residual problems do, however, persist. Despite resettling almost 95 percent of the IDPs (28,5000 out of 30,0000) and over 8,000 ex-LTTE cadres, out of 11,664 who were arrested or surrendered, the country is still under a state of emergency. Moreover, reports continue to emerge that LTTE cadres are in the process of re-grouping in Tamil Nadu (India), Canada and Europe. Cells of the Tigers allegedly survive in France, Great Britain, Norway and several Asian countries. A concerned Government has requested the European Union to ban all LTTE front organisations.

Colombo rightly sees no imminent danger from the surviving fragments of the LTTE, but this is poor grounds for the continued neglect and alienation of a large segment of the country's population. Over time, the present orientation can only produce increasing frustration among the Tamils, and will eventually come to jeopardise the peace that has been won at tremendous cost, even as it slows down Sri Lanka's recovery and the quantum and quality of support that would otherwise flow from the international community.

Bangladesh

Government won't allow its land for use of terrorism, states Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed on August 10 said that the present Government will not allow anyone to use land of the country for terrorism. Hasina added, "Terrorists have no borders they are the problems of the whole world. We all have to fight against terrorism in a united form as it is not possible to eradicate this problem by solo effort." Financial Express, August 11, 2011.

India

Nearly 40000 persons killed in Jammu and Kashmir in militancy-related violence since 1990, says Union Government: Nearly 40,000 people have been killed in militancy-related violence in Jammu and Kashmir in the last two decades, the Government said on August 10. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Jitender Singh told the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) in reply to a question that 39, 918 persons have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir in violent incidents between 1990 and 2011(April). 13,226 civilians were killed and 5,369 Security Force (SFs) personnel lost their lives. All together 21,323 terrorists were killed SFs during the same period, the Minister said.

In the first six months of 2011, 52 terrorists attempted to infiltrate into the Indian Territory from the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) as against 489 in 2010, the Rajya Sabha was informed on August 10. Replying to a question on infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir, Defense Minister A. K. Antony said, "As per the assessment of Multi Agency Centre (MAC), till June 2011, 52 terrorists attempted to infiltrate as compared to 489 in 2010." PTI; Daily Excelsior, August 11, 2011.

Intelligence inputs suggest al Qaeda planned to target India: The Centre on August 10 said intelligence inputs have suggested that al Qaeda and one of its terrorists Ilyas Kashmiri were planning to target India. Minister of State for Home Jitendra Singh stated, "There are some intelligence inputs, though not specifically, regarding plan to target India by al Qaeda and Ilyas Kashmiri, an al-Qaeda-HUJI operative and his group". Times of India, August 11, 2011.

Manipur militants coming together to form 'united front': There are reports to suggest that major Meitei insurgent outfits in Manipur are making serious efforts to form a "united front", the Parliament was told on August 9. Minister of State for Home Affairs M. Ramachandran told the Lok Sabha (Upper House of the Parliament) that these groups included the Revolutionary People's Front/People's Liberation Army (RPF/PLA), United National Liberation Front (UNLF), Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), Noyon faction of Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP-Noyon), (PREPAK-VC), Progressive faction of PREPAK, and United People's Party of Kangleipak (UPPK). Sentinel, August 11, 2011.

ISI has reactivated terror camps in PoK, says Minister of State for Home Affairs Jitendra Singh: The Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) has 'reactivated' terror camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) with some 2,500 terrorists present there. "The Government is aware that the ISI has reactivated terrorist training camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir," Minister of State for Home Affairs Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) in a written reply. IANS, August 10, 2011.

ISI trained ULFA, says ULFA's 'Foreign Secretary' Sashadhar Choudhury: During the last two decades United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) received help from Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and Bangladeshi agencies. ULFA 'Foreign Secretary' Sashadhar Choudhury, who joined ULFA in 1985, said, "Pakistan's ISI trained ULFA. In 1991, I was part of the first batch of ULFA members to go to Pakistan for training in small arms, including main battle rifles." Times of India, August 9, 2011.

Pakistan and China flooding FICN into India: A secret report prepared by Research and Analysis Wing, Intelligence Bureau and the Department of Revenue Intelligence and the Central Bureau of Investigation reveals that the infusion of Fake Indian Currency (FICN) into India to destabilize the economy and fund terror activities were being actively supported by Pakistan's High Commissions in Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Kathmandu (Nepal) through Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). It has also been reported on August 12, that China was emerging as a major staging post for FICN flooding into India. DNA, August 13, 2011.

Government extends SoO with Kuki militants by another year: A meeting of the Joint Monitoring Group of Suspension of Operation (SoO) on August 11 approved the extension of the agreement by another year on August 11. It had been approved earlier by the state cabinet during a recent meeting. Kangla Online, August 12, 2011.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announces new surrender package for Maoists: Renewing her appeal to the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres to give up arms and return to the national mainstream, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on August 12 announced a fresh financial and rehabilitation package for those who surrender. The package includes a revised incentive for every weapon laid down. The Hindu, August 13, 2011.

Nearly 1,300 Pakistanis missing in India: Nearly 1,300 Pakistanis on visit to India are traceless after their visa expired, and the Government has created an online data sharing system to track every person travelling from Pakistan, the Government said on August 10. Minister of State for Home Affairs Jitendra Singh said "As per information available, 1,283 Pakistani nationals remain untraced and missing as on June 30, 2011". Times of India, August 11, 2011.

Nepal

"I resigned for sake of peace, statute, National unity Government", says Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal: Prime Minister (PM) Jhala Nath Khanal on August 15 said that there was no alternative to National unity Government. PM Khanal stepped down on August 14. ekantipur, August 15-16, 2011.

Pakistan

55 militants and eight SFs among 70 persons killed during the week in FATA: A soldier was killed when a landmine planted by terrorists exploded, while six terrorists were killed in a retaliatory attack in Orakzai Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on August 14. In addition, three paramilitary soldiers were killed and 25 others injured in a rocket attack on their camp in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan Agency (NWA).

Six militants were killed and five others injured during a search operation conducted by Security Forces (SFs) in Sholaam area of Sarokai tehsil (revenue unit) in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) on August 13.

Five persons, including three women and two children, were killed and one minor was injured as a result of a landmine explosion in the house of peace lashkar (militia) commander Shah Jee, in Zaka Khel village in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency on August 11.

A US drone strike killed at least 25 suspected Haqqani Network militants near Miranshah in NWA on August 10. Also, nine persons, including five militants, were killed in clashes between local tribesmen and militants in the Shawal area of SWA.

A United States (US) drone fired two missiles killing at least seven militants of the Haqqani Network and injuring three others near Miranshah in NWA on August 10. Separately, five Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants were killed and two others received injuries in a roadside explosion in Mamozai area of Orakzai Agency.

Six militants were killed and four others injured when SFs targeted their hideouts in upper tehsil of Orakzai Agency on August 8. Dawn; Daily Times; The News; Tribune, August 9-16, 2011, 2011.

49 persons killed in Sindh during the week: A total of 49 persons were killed in Sindh. Seven persons were killed in Karachi on August 8; another five on August 9; nine on August 10; one on August 11; five on August 12; eight persons on August 13; six on August 14 and eight on August 15. Dawn; Daily Times; The News; Tribune, August 9-16, 2011, 2011.

28 civilians and three SFs among 31 persons killed during the week in Balochistan: A blast at a hotel on the National Highway close to Dera Allah Yar town in Jaffarabad District of Balochistan killed 15 persons and injured 23 others on August 14.

Four people, including to two Bugti tribesmen, were killed in a gun battle between two groups in the Eastern Bypass area of Quetta on August 8. Dawn; Daily Times; The News; Tribune, August 9-16, 2011, 2011.

168 children killed in drone attacks, reveals Bureau of Investigative Journalism: EAmerica's covert drone war on al Qaeda and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has killed up to 168 children in Pakistan over the last seven years, an independent study released on August 11 said. The London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism said its research showed there had been many more Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) attacks on alleged militant targets, leading to far more deaths than previously reported. It said 291 CIA drone strikes had taken place in Pakistan since 2004, and that under President Barack Obama there had been 236 strikes - one in every four days. Dawn, August 12, 2011.

Over 3,000 terrorists arrested over the past three years in Pakistan: Pakistani Law Enforcement Agencies arrested 3,143 terrorists over the past three years, with a majority of the arrests being made in the restive northern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. A total of 4,240 weapons were seized from the arrested terrorists, including rocket launchers, missiles, suicide jackets, bombs, grenades, mines and anti-aircraft guns. Times of India, August 12, 2011.

Security agencies struggle to dismantle Hizb-ut-Tahrir network: Security Agencies are trying to dismantle a 'multi-faceted' communication network of Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) but there has been little headway so far, an unnamed senior military official said on August 8 after some mid-ranked army officers were detained for alleged links with the organisation. The revelation came three months after Brigadier Ali Khan, a serving army officer, and some other unnamed personnel were detained for their alleged links with the HuT, an organisation that seeks to establish a caliphate in Pakistan by overthrowing the democratic Government. Tribune, August 9, 2011.

Karachi will be de-weaponised in phases, says Federal Minister of Interior Rehman Malik: Federal Minister of Interior Rehman Malik on August 8 said that no arms licences, except issued by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), would be valid after August 31 while all the arms licences issued by the Ministry of Interior would stand cancelled with effect from September 1. He said that Karachi would be de-weaponised in phases and extensive measures would be taken for the purpose. Daily Times, August 9, 2011.

Pakistani intelligence officer passed the information of Osama bin Laden's whereabouts to US, says report: A Pakistani intelligence officer, who wished to secure American citizenship for his family, gave details of Osama bin Laden's whereabouts to the US, in a deal worth USD 25 million, a Daily Mail report said. The Pakistani officer also informed the US officials that Saudis were paying off Pakistan and ISI to keep bin Laden hidden in the Abbottabad compound. Indian Express, August 4, 2011.

Sri lanka

150 rehabilitated LTTE cadres to be released on August 12: Sri Lankan authorities are making arrangements to release another batch of 150 rehabilitated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres on August 12 in Vavuniya District upon their completion of the rehabilitation program. The former combatants were given training vocational, language and communication training to improve their skills and their educational knowledge. Colombo Page, August 10, 2011.

All Ceylon Makkal Congress calls for devolution of Police and land powers: An ally of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC), called for the devolution of land and Police powers to the provinces. ACMC General Secretary Y.L.S. Hameed said that the Muslim community was concerned over the Central Government handling all these subjects and the party was supportive of a joint commission to handle land and Police powers. Colombo Page, August 9, 2011.