Pakistan

Kiyani in sync with Pak Government’s Taliban appeasement policy

Kiyani in sync with Pak Government’s Taliban appeasement policyLondon, Apr 28: Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Kiyani has done an about-turn from his quiet, but shocking position that the Government’s appeasement of the Taliban in the Swat Valley was a necessary step, a leading UK based daily has said.

His view, it has emerged in the year and a half since his appointment, is that the army was built to fight India, not Pakistanis, The Times has said.

General Kiyani seems to suggest that the Taliban is merely an uncomfortable phenomenon.

Pak Army offensive in Lower Dir displaces 30,000

Pak Army offensive in Lower Dir displaces 30,000Peshawar, Apr 28: More than 30,000 people in Lower Dir have been displaced by a Pakistani military offensive to flush out Taliban militants.

Thousands of terrified women and children left the area after troops and helicopter gunships launched Operation Black Thunder

“Up to 30,000 people have left Maidan in Lower Dir district over the past few days,” Iftikhar Hussain, the NWFP Information Minister, told reporters here.

“We are making arrangements for them in Peshawar, Nowshera and Timargarah districts,” he said.

Sharif asks Brown to make US shun its drone attack policy

DroneIslamabad, Apr 28 : Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif has urged British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to use his influence to make the US shun its policy of drone strikes in the Tribal Areas.

The appeal came at a meeting between Sharif and Brown who had called on the PML-N chief at Punjab House.

At the 40-minute meeting, the two leaders exchanged views on several issues of mutual interest.

Sharif said that the drone attacks were compounding anti-American sentiments in Pakistan, and such strikes would be counter-productive in the long run.

Boycott of Swat’s ‘blood emeralds’ urged

 Boycott of Swat’s ‘blood emeralds’ urgedLahore, Apr 28 : A campaign is already afoot to boycott the purchase of Swat's famous emeralds, because the money could be used to buy mortars, roadside bombs and suicide belts for the Taliban.

The "blood emeralds" have joined the Afghan opium as a source of Taliban lucre.

Swat is rich in orchards, timber - and gems. The Taliban have seized two of the emerald mines, declared them a trust and are mining them round the clock.

India gets lion''s share of 2011 World Cup matches

2011 World Cup matchesMumbai, Apr. 28 : India will get the lion’s share of the 2011 World Cup matches, given the unstable and precarious security and political situation in the three other host countries – Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Addressing a press conference here, International Cricket Council (ICC) CEO Haroon Lorgat said that India will host 29 matches in eight venues, Sri Lanka would host 12 matches in three venues and Bnagladesh would host eight matches in two venues, adding that in all, 49 matches would be played at 13 venues in three countries.

Seventy militants killed in Dir, 450 more holed up in Buner: Malik

Seventy militants killed in Dir, 450 more holed up in Buner: MalikIslamabad, Apr 28 : Pakistan's Minister for Interior Affairs Rehman Malik said on Tuesday that nearly 450 militants were reportedly holed up in Buner and security forces killed 70 militants in Lower Dir.

Talking to journalists outside the Parliament, Malik said the government would take strict action against the miscreants.

He said that at least 70 militants had been killed in Dir operation so far while 450 others were still present in Buner.

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