Pakistani PM wants new rules of engagement with US

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani while addressing a meeting of Afghan and Pakistani parliamentary delegations said his country wanted new rules of engagement with the US with a guarantee to respect its sovereignty and assurance of "no Abbottabad-like unilateral action in future". 

Yousaf R Gilani said in case any credible and actionable information was available, it must be shared with Pakistan for necessary action.

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Iran Says It Shot down US Stealth Spy Drone

Tehran : Iran's military said on Sunday it had shot down a US reconnaissance drone aircraft in eastern Iran. 

Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam state television network quoted the unnamed source as saying. "Iran's military has downed an intruding RQ-170 American drone in eastern Iran, the spy drone, which has been downed with little damage, was seized by the Iranian armed forces".

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US drone strike kills three Egyptians in Pakistan

North Waziristan : A US drone strike in Pakistan's tribal region has killed three Egyptians, The Telegraph reported.

The three men were killed on Friday when a drone fired missiles at a car near Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, a fourth person was also killed but has not been identified.

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Iraq, siding away from US, sends essential aid to Syria

Baghdad : Iraq has offered key moral and financial support to the Syrian President Assad, undermining a central U.S. policy objective and raising fresh concerns that Iraq is drifting away from US policies.


Such an Iraqi stance has dealt an embarrassing setback to the Obama administration, which has sought to enlist Muslim allies in its campaign to isolate Syrian autocrat Bashar al-Assad. 

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Iraq wants No US Trainers from 2012

BAGHDAD : According to Iraqi government officials Iraq is considering multiple options regarding the future of the US military presence, ranging from a limited mission to no trainers whatsoever. 

The remarks from Ali al-Alaak, the general secretary of the cabinet, come amid an apparent impasse between Washington's requirement of legal immunity for any US troops serving here beyond year-end, and a statement from Iraqi political leaders that there was "no need" for such protections.

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Karzai demands more US Pressure on Pakistan

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanded more US pressure on Pakistan; the fresh demand was raised while he held talks with US regional envoy, Marc Grossman in Kabul 

“The Afghan president asked Grossman to put more pressure on Pakistan so that future meetings with them should bring a positive result,” one official at the presidential palace told AFP on condition of anonymity.

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US Drones Infected By Mysterious Virus

Washington: US Military Drones are Infected By Mysterious Virus. The mysterious virus logging pilot keystrokes is also quite benign, though its origin is unknown. 

So the humongous mystery that should be clouding everyone’s thoughts right now is: where did it come from? Nobody knows for sure. 

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US held a ''Frighteningly Simplistic'' view of Afghanistan; General McChrystal

WASHINGTON: General Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of allied forces in Afghanistan has claimed that the US held a ''frighteningly simplistic'' view of the country when it declared war on the Taliban in 2001, and after a decade still lacks the necessary know-how to bring the conflict to a satisfactory end. 

The General estimated that the US and its NATO allies were barely half-way to achieving their mission goals, adding that establishing a government in which Afghans retained confidence and which could stand up to the Taliban remained the biggest challenge.

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CIA Operative, Davis Raymond arrested in US

Colo, USA : Davis Raymond, a local CIA contractor, which was released from Pakistan after the U.S. paid millions of dollars to free him has been arrested in Highlands Ranch after a fight Saturday morning. 

According to Police Raymond Davis was arguing with a man about a parking spot outside of the Einstein Bagels at the Town Center at around 9 a.m. The verbal argument turned physical, according to Lt. Glenn Peitzmeier, a spokesperson for the Douglas county Sheriff’s Office. Peitzmeier says medical crews were called to the scene, but Davis and the other man involved refused treatment. 

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Series of Protests sprung up in US, Police Arrests 700 in New York

New York : New York Police arrests more than 700 Protesters from Wall Street protest movement as they blocked Newyork's Brooklyn Bridge. 

They were part of a larger group crossing the bridge from Manhattan, where they have been camped out near Wall Street for two weeks. Some entered the bridge's roadway and were met by a large police presence and detained, most for disorderly conduct. 

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Corps Commander Meeting Ends in Islamabad

Islamabad : The Corps Commander Meeting Ends in Islamabad which was called by Pakistan’s army chief General Ashfaq Kayani on Sunday of his top commanders to discuss the security situation, as the war of words with the United States escalated.

The extraordinary meeting of the corps commanders came against the backdrop of sharp US allegations that Pakistan army’s spy agency supported the Haqqani militant group Washington blames for the recent attack on its embassy and other targets in Kabul.

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Panetta, Mullen hammer ISI over Haqqani network

WASHINGTON: US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen has said that the presence of the Haqqani sanctuaries potentially jeopardised the outcome of the war. “Without that (Pakistani action), we can’t succeed in the overall effort,” 

He further said that Pakistan’s ISI intelligence agency had to sever all ties with the Haqqani militants, who allegedly operate out of sanctuaries in the country’s northwest. “I think that the ISI has to make the decision to strategically disengage.The ISI has been doing this, supporting proxies for an extended period of time,” he told an audience at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

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US Should cut UN Funding on Palestinian bid vote, Texas Governor

NEW YORK : The Governor of Texas in his first major foreign policy address since rising to the top of the field of Republican White House hopefuls said that  President Barack Obama's policy of Palestinian "appeasement" is dangerous and naive,  

Perry insisted that the U.S. government should cut funding to the United Nations and Palestinian territories and close the DC offices of the Palestine Liberation Organization should the UN recognize the Palestinian state by admitting it as a full member.

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Haqqani Network Announces Support for Taliban Peace Talks

The most feared faction fighting Nato troops in Afghanistan would support the Taliban leadership in any future peace talks.The statement was made by Sirajuddin Haqqani, the son of the legendary Mujahideen leader Jalaluddin Haqqani and now commander of the most ruthless insurgency militia.

Although the United States has put a $5 million reward on his head as his faction has been blamed for some of the most damaging assaults on Nato forces in Afghanistan, and his statement in an interview with Reuters has caused a wave of excitement among Afghanistan analysts and foriegn diplomats.

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No Retreat from Palestine UN bid, Says Abbas

West Bank: Despite pressure from US and threats from Israel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas vowed “no retreat” from plans to seek full UN membership for a Palestinian state next week.

Talking to an Egyptian TV, he said that, “Going to the United Nations to request full membership for Palestine in the international organisation is an inevitable thing and there is no retreat from it, Despite the pressures exercised on us, Palestine will go to the United Nations on the 23rd of the current month to request full membership”.

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Taliban suicide attack on US Advance Post wounds 50 US soldiers

JALALABAD: US army said on Sunday that a suicide bomber driving a truck loaded with improvised explosive device has attacked an advance Nato combat post in central Afghanistan, wounding 89 people including 50 American soldiers.

Immediately after the attack the Taliban claimed responsibility on their Internet site, news of which came as the world marked the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. 

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Turkish PM Erdogan slams US President Obama over US Flotilla victim

Ankara : Turkish prime minister says he has asked the Barak Obama whether he took no interest in American casualty who died onboard the Mavi Marmara because he was also of Turkish orign and for which Obama 'did not reply'.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday slammed US President Barack Obama, claiming he did not take interest in the Turkish-American citizen who died on board the Mavi Marmara during the 2010 IDF raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla. 

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Files show Close ties of Libyan spy Agency with CIA and MI-16

A faxed memo sent from the C.I.A. to a Libyan intelligence agency about the transfer of an arrested Libyan citizen and his wife.

TRIPOLI : The recoverd files from abondoned Libyan intelligency Headquarters reveal close relations between American CIA and Libyan intelligence service,  most notably suggesting that the Americans sent terrorism suspects at least eight times for questioning in Libya despite that country’s reputation for torture, The New York Times Reported.

It seems that the Western intelligence services began cooperating with Libya after it abandoned its program to build unconventional weapons in 2004, but the files left behind as Tripoli fell to rebels show that the cooperation was much more extensive than generally known with both the C.I.A. and MI-6 the British Intelligence agency.

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Pakistan let China visit crashed US "stealth" Helicopter

Islamabad : Pakistan gave China access to the previously unknown U.S. "stealth" helicopter that crashed during the commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May despite explicit requests from the CIA not to, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The disclosure, if confirmed, is likely to further shake the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, which has been improving slightly after hitting its lowest point in decades following the killing of bin Laden.

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An American citizen kidnapped from Lahore

LAHORE: An American citizen was kidnapped from his residence in Lahore on Saturday, police said.

Police identified the man as “J.E. Warner”, who they said was working on a development project in the country’s tribal areas, where Pakistani troops have been battling insurgents for years.

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