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ISPRs documentary wins Eserciti-e-Popoli award
Ahmadpur Sharqia: 21 injured in road accident
Separate US probe planned into NATO airstrike
Two key senators call for tough line with Pakistan
Afghan soldiers called in deadly NATO airstrike
Pakistan police seek US extradition over 'honour killing'
Egypt heads to landmark vote in turmoil, confusion
Moderate Islamist party wins landmark Morocco election
In unprecedented step, Arab League sanctions Syria
23 civilians killed in Syria rights group
Yemen opposition chief asked to form new government
Occupy LA deadline comes, many say they won't go
Karzai: Afghan forces to take lead in more areas
British soldier killed in Afghanistan
Federer beats Tsonga to win 6th ATP finals title

ISPRs documentary wins Eserciti-e-Popoli award

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Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) documentary has won the first prize in the recently held International Film Festival ‘Eserciti-e-Popoli’ (Army and People) held at Bracciano, Rome (Italy). The festival saw the participation of NATO and 24 countries with 60 films grouped into several categories: from ‘institutional training information, from environmental protection to the humanitarian mission for peace. The films, produced by renowned film makers were evaluated by the international highly qualified and experienced jury. Maintaining the tradition, Pakistan Army’s documentary “Glorious Resolve” received the jury’s special award from the President of the Italian Senate with the citation “A technically outstanding and emotionally powerful dramatization of the story of the courageous soldiers under fire in a dire combat situation”.. The award given by Gen. Giancarlo Fortuna, the President of the International Jury was received by a representative of the Pakistani Embassy in Rome. Glorious Resolve was the joint venture of ISPR and Mindworks Media.Brigadier Syed Azmat Ali was the Executive Producer whereas Brig Syed Mujtaba Tirmizi was the Executive Director of the film. Lieutenant Colonel Irfan Aziz was the project director and the writer of this film which was amicably directed by Sarosh Kayani. Dr Hassan Waqas Rana of Mindworks Media was the producer whereas Bilal Lashari was the Director of Photography.

Ahmadpur Sharqia: 21 injured in road accident

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According to details, 60 students and 12 teachers of a private school of village Basantpur Lodhran near Ahmadpur Sharqia went on a trip to Head Panjnad on two buses. On their way back, a bus turned turtle while saving a car, resulting in injuries to 17 students and two teachers. Two employees of bus service also received injuries in the accident. All the injured were shifted to nearby hospital where there condition is stated to be out of danger.

Separate US probe planned into NATO airstrike

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The US plans its own investigation into NATO s deadly airstrikes in Pakistan, while two senior lawmakers called for a harder line after Islamabad closed parts of its border to supply convoys into Afghanistan and demanded the US vacate a drone base. Gen. James Mattis, head of US Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the region, was expected by Monday to name an investigating officer to examine the incident, according to a defense official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. NATO has said it is conducting an investigation to determine the details of the Saturday airstrikes. The alliance has not commented on Pakistani claims the attacks killed 24 soldiers, but it has not questioned them. A key question to be examined by the US is who approved the airstrikes and why. Afghan officials say their soldiers called for help after being fired upon from the direction of Pakistani border posts. Pakistani authorities claim the airstrikes were unprovoked. NATO officials previously have complained that insurgents fire from across the poorly defined frontier, often from positions close to Pakistani soldiers, who have been accused of tolerating or supporting them. The incident threatens to send US-Pakistani relations to an all-time low. US officials were already reeling in the wake of the raid in May on Osama bin Laden s hideout in a Pakistani garrison town. The Pakistan government was outraged it hadn t been told about the operation beforehand, and US secrecy surrounding the operation underscored a deep mistrust between the two allies. Frustration is particularly acute among members of Congress, who amid an economic recession are being asked to support billions in military and civilian aid for Pakistan.

Two key senators call for tough line with Pakistan

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Senior lawmakers suggested Sunday that the US take a harder line with Pakistan, after Islamabad retaliated for NATO s deadly misfire by closing parts of its border with Afghanistan and demanding the US vacate a drone base. The comments by Sens. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican, and Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, show how strained Pakistan s relationship with the US, and Congress specifically, has become in recent months. Lawmakers approve billions of dollars in military and civilian aid for Pakistan with the expectation that its government will help target al-Qaida operatives and push Afghan militants toward peace talks. "There s a lot of diplomacy that has to occur and it has to be tough diplomacy in the sense that they need to understand that our support for them financially is dependent upon their cooperation with us," said Kyl, the Senate s No. 2 Republican. Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, said Pakistan s latest move is further evidence that the US must end its military involvement in the region and bring troops home. "As difficult as it is to fight our way thru this diplomatic morass between the incompetence and maybe corruption of Afghanistan and the complicity in parts of Pakistan, our soldiers are caught right in the middle of this at a time they are trying to bring peace to the region," Durbin said. NATO says it is investigating its likely involvement in Saturday s attack, which killed 24 Pakistani troops along the Afghan border. Afghan officials say their soldiers called for help after being fired upon from the direction of Pakistani border posts. Outraged by the attacks and claiming they were unprovoked, Islamabad swiftly closed its border to trucks delivering supplies to coalition troops in Afghanistan and demanded the US vacate within 15 days a base used by American drones. The blockade is guaranteed to frustrate Congress, already incensed that Pakistan never tipped off the US to Osama bin Laden s hideout within its borders. While calling for tougher diplomacy with Pakistan, Kyl said he would stop short of cutting off US aid entirely to Pakistan. He said that severing ties in the past has only led to an increased influence of Islamic extremists among Pakistan s military ranks. "It s very important to maintain the relationship for the long haul," he said, without offering more specifics on how that might be done. Durbin suggested the US back out from the region from a military standpoint. "We ve got to leave it to Afghan forces," he said.

Afghan soldiers called in deadly NATO airstrike

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Afghan troops who came under fire while operating near the Pakistan border called in the NATO airstrikes that allegedly killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two posts along the frontier, Afghan officials said. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said it s unclear who attacked the Afghan troops before dawn Saturday, but that the soldiers were fired upon from the direction of the Pakistani border posts that were hit in the strikes. The border area where the soldiers were operating contains a mix of Pakistani forces and Islamist militants. The incident has driven to new lows the United States  already tattered alliance with Pakistan, a relationship that is vital to winding down the 10-year-old Afghan war. The Pakistan army has said the alleged NATO attack was unprovoked and has insisted there wasn t militant activity near the border posts in the Mohmand tribal area. Outraged by the strike, Islamabad closed its border to trucks delivering supplies to coalition troops in Afghanistan and demanded the US vacate a base used by American drones within 15 days. NATO has said it is likely that its aircraft carried out the attack that caused Pakistani casualties and is conducting an investigation to determine the details. The Pakistan-Afghanistan border is disputed and not marked in many areas, adding to the difficulty. On Sunday, Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani attended the funerals of the victims, including a major, as the US sought to minimize fallout from the crisis, which plunged Washington s already troubled relationship with Islamabad to an all-time low. The relationship took a major hit after the covert US raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town in May. Pakistan was outraged it wasn t told about the operation beforehand. The US has been consistently frustrated by Pakistan s refusal to target militants using its territory to attack American and other NATO troops in Afghanistan. But there are forces working against a total rupture in the relationship. Pakistan still relies on billions of dollars in American military and civilian aid, and the US needs Islamabad s help to push Afghan insurgents to engage in peace talks. Tensions could rise further if militants unleash attacks against hundreds of trucks carrying supplies to US-led forces in Afghanistan that were backed up at Pakistani border crossings Sunday after Islamabad closed the frontier. Suspected militants destroyed around 150 trucks and injured drivers and police a year ago after Pakistan closed one of its Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies for about 10 days in retaliation for a US helicopter attack that accidentally killed two Pakistani soldiers. The situation could be more dire this time because Pakistan has closed both its crossings. Nearly 300 trucks carrying coalition supplies are now backed up at Torkham in the northwest Khyber tribal area and Chaman in southwestern Baluchistan province. Last year, Pakistan only closed Torkham. NATO has reduced the amount of non-lethal supplies it ships through Pakistan from a high of around 80 percent by using routes through Central Asia. The northern logistics link could be expanded to make up for the Pakistani closure, but it would leave NATO heavily dependent on Russia at a time when ties with Moscow are increasingly strained. Some critical supplies, including ammunition, are airlifted directly to Afghan air bases. Pakistan eventually relented and reopened Torkham last year after the US apologized. But the number of alleged casualties is much higher this time and the relationship between the two countries is much worse.

Pakistan police seek US extradition over 'honour killing'

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Pakistani police say they are seeking the extradition of an American man suspected of murdering his daughter and her British-based husband during a family holiday this month. Uzma Naurin, 30, a US national, and her Pakistani husband Saif Rehman, 31, were killed on November 1 in Lala Musa town, 145 kilometres (90 miles) east of the capital Islamabad, on their way back from a shopping trip. Naurin s father, 58-year-old Muzaffar Hussain, who was in hospital in Pakistan on the day of the killings, has since fled to the United States but is now the chief suspect in the murder case, police told AFP on Saturday. "We have gathered evidence against him. We will present a detailed report in court and try to get red warrants (extradition) against him," said Nasir Mehmood Butt, head of the investigating police station in Gujrat district. "Once we get him into custody, we will be able to obtain all the information and this case will be solved," he said. Naurin married Rehman without her family s permission in the British city of Manchester but relatives later attended a full wedding ceremony in the Scottish city of Glasgow, where Rehman was based, earlier this year. The couple and Naurin s father arrived in Pakistan last month to attend a wedding. Hussain was then admitted to hospital with chest pains, police said. On November 1, Hussain asked his driver to take the couple shopping in the city of Gujrat. On their way back, they were stopped by four gunmen and killed. Butt said the driver, Adeel, had "admitted" his role in the crime and that records show Hussain made dozens of telephone calls to the driver during the shopping trip, with a last call from Adeel to Hussain minutes after the murder. Mohammad Zakir, Rehman s father, wants police to extradite Hussain from the United States. "We want action against this man... He should be brought back and legal action should be taken against him," he said.

Egypt heads to landmark vote in turmoil, confusion

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Egyptians prepared to vote Monday in the first elections since Hosni Mubarak s ouster, a milestone many hoped would usher in a democratic age after decades of dictatorship. Instead, the polling is already marred by turmoil in the streets and the population is sharply polarized and confused over the nation s direction. Nine months after the popular uprising that pushed Mubarak out, protesters are back in the streets. This time, they are demanding that military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and his council of generals step down immediately, accused of bungling the transition. Nine days of clashes that have left more than 40 dead have heightened fears of violence at polling stations. More critically, the political crisis has cast doubt on the legitimacy of the vote, which is expected to be dominated by Islamic parties. That could render the parliament that emerges irrelevant. "We have no idea who we are going to vote for," said Mustafa Attiya Ali, a 50-year-old barber in Cairo. "We don t know any of the candidates, but I and my friends will get together tonight and decide who to vote for." Egypt s military rulers decided to forge ahead with the elections despite the new wave of unrest, scenes starkly reminiscent of the first uprising. On Sunday night in Cairo s Tahrir Square, the centre of the original uprising, a relatively small crowd of a few thousand braved a rare rainstorm to keep the round-the-clock protests going. Egypt has not had a fair or clean election in recent memory. The last parliamentary vote held under Mubarak was in November and December a year ago and it was so fraudulent, the ruling party won all but a handful of seats. Tantawi and other generals have pledged to ensure a clean election and troops and police began deploying on Sunday evening to protect thousands of polling centers. Foreign groups sent missions to witness the vote, but officially the military banned international election observers. A high turnout will likely benefit the military because the vote is a crucial part of a road map it proposed for a transfer of power to civilian authorities ending with presidential elections before the end of June 2012. High turnout may also undermine the tens of thousands of anti-military protesters many of them see the vote as inconsequential. It could also dilute the Islamist vote because the majority of Egyptians, while pious, prefer separation of religion and politics.

Moderate Islamist party wins landmark Morocco election

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A moderate Islamist party won the most seats in Morocco s parliamentary elections, final results showed Sunday, giving it the right to lead a coalition government for the first time. The victory comes less than a month after a moderate Islamist party won Tunisia s first free election and days before their predicted surge in Egyptian polls in other elections brought on by the Arab Spring uprisings. The Justice and Development Party (PJD) captured 107 seats in the 395 assembly in Friday s polls, the Moroccan interior ministry said. It had 47 seats in the outgoing parliament, which made it the main opposition party. "Our goal has always been the stability of the country even as we firmly demanded reforms. The results are better than we expected," PJD leader Abdelilah Benkirane told cheering supporters at the party s headquarters in Rabat. Under a new constitution proposed by King Mohammed VI in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings that was approved in a July referendum, the monarch must now choose a prime minister from the the winning party instead of naming whoever he pleases. The king, the latest scion of a monarchy that has ruled the country for 350 years, proposed changes to the constitution that curb some of his near absolute powers as autocratic regimes toppled in nearby Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya and pro-democracy protests brewed at home. Through the campaign Benkirane, who sports close-cropped white hair and matching beard, said his party would be willing to form an alliance with any party if it won the election. "This is clear victory but we need to form an alliance to work together," he said after the final results were announced. "We are going to wait for King Mohammed VI to nominate a prime minister before we start talks with other political parties." Two parties that make up the outgoing governing coalition -- the Independence Party of the incumbent prime minister and the Socialist Union of Popular Forces -- have said they would be willing to govern with the Islamist party. Benkirane acknowledged that his party would have to tailor its programme to appease its coalition partners.

In unprecedented step, Arab League sanctions Syria

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In an unprecedented move against a fellow Arab nation, the Arab League on Sunday approved economic sanctions on Syria to pressure Damascus to end its deadly suppression of an 8-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad. But even as world leaders abandon Assad, the regime has refused to ease a military assault on dissent that already has killed more than 3,500 people. On Sunday, Damascus slammed the sanctions as a betrayal of Arab solidarity and insisted a foreign conspiracy was behind the revolt, all but assuring more bloodshed will follow. The sanctions are among the clearest signs yet of the isolation Syria is suffering because of the crackdown. Damascus has long boasted of being a powerhouse of Arab nationalism, but Assad has been abandoned by some of his closest allies and now his Arab neighbors. The growing movement against his regime could transform some of the most enduring alliances in the Middle East and beyond. At a news conference in Cairo, Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim said 19 of the League s 22 member nations approved a series of tough punishments that include cutting off transactions with the Syrian central bank, halting Arab government funding for projects in Syria and freezing government assets. Those sanctions are to take effect immediately. Other steps, including halting flights and imposing travel bans on some, as-yet unnamed Syrian officials, will come later after a committee reviews them.

23 civilians killed in Syria rights group

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The latest violence came as the Arab League voted to impose a raft of  diplomatic and economic sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad s regime for defying an ultimatum to allow observers into the country. Seven civilians were killed by security forces gunfire across the central province of Homs, including one shot dead from the roof of a building in the town of Qusayr, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Further north, in the restive province of Hama, three people, including a 17-year-old boy, were killed by gunfire when security forces and troops raided the town of Karnaz, the Britain-based group said. Near Damascus, 10 people were killed, including a 14-year-old boy, and 13 civilians were wounded as troops fired "indiscriminately" and made arrests in a raid on Rankuss district, the Observatory said. Security forces killed at least two people and wounded eight others when they shot at mourners during the funeral of a man in the eastern oil hub city of Deir Ezzor, it said. Another person was killed in the Kafarnubol area of Idlib province in the northwest after being arrested by security forces "for selling fuel to militants," the group added. Clashes also erupted between regular troops and deserters in the region of Talbisseh, another town in Homs province, said the watchdog in statements received in Nicosia. "Two troop transporters were destroyed." In the southern province of Daraa, cradle of eight months of dissent against Assad s autocratic regime, mutinous soldiers attacked a military bus, wounding several troops, it said. Security forces also arrested 17 people in raids on the village of Muhsen in Deir Ezzor province, it added. Syrian authorities said security forces killed 12 gunmen during clashes with "terrorist groups" in Homs, state-run news agency SANA said, adding that similar clashes had occurred in Idlib and Daraa. The Observatory s chief also reported that regime forces carried out acts of vandalism in the Kafarnabuda region of Hama, further north of Homs province.

Yemen opposition chief asked to form new government

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Mohammed Basindawa was tasked with forming a new government to rule until the departure of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, set for February. "Mohammed Salem Basindawa was charged to form a national reconciliation government," the decree said, which according to state-run Saba news agency was issued by Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, to whom Saleh transferred power under a Gulf deal signed on Wednesday. Basindawa, a former member of Saleh s ruling party, was picked on Friday by the opposition to head an eventual unity government. Born in Aden, the capital of former South Yemen, Basindawa quit Saleh s General People s Congress a decade ago, becoming an opponent but without joining a party. The former foreign minister now has two weeks to form a unity government in which Saleh loyalists and opposition figures are to share key posts until February when Saleh is due to leave power and early elections held. Saleh, 69, has ruled Yemen for 33 years and signed a deal brokered by the Gulf states in which he agreed to step down in return for immunity from prosecution for himself and his family.

Occupy LA deadline comes, many say they won't go

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The protesters whose tents line the lawn of Los Angeles City Hall made it clear that they received the eviction notice issued by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Whether they ll heed it is much less certain. With hours left before the Monday at 12:01 a.m. deadline the mayor and the police chief gave for Occupy LA, very few of the occupiers were packing, and many were instead making plans for what to do when they stay. Some handed out signs Saturday mocked up to look like the city s notices to vacate, advertising a Monday morning "eviction block party." Dozens attended a teach-in on resistance tactics, including how to stay safe in the face of rubber bullets, tear gas canisters and pepper spray. Police gave few specifics about what tactics they would use if protesters ignored the deadline. Chief Charlie Beck said at Friday s news conference that officers would definitely not be sweeping through the camp and arresting everyone just after midnight. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times published Sunday, Beck said that despite the lack of confrontations in the camp s two-month run, he s realistic about what might happen. "I have no illusions that everybody is going to leave," Beck said. "We anticipate that we will have to make arrests." But he added, "We certainly will not be the first ones to apply force." Villaraigosa announced Friday that despite his sympathy for the protesters  cause, it was time for the camp of nearly 500 tents to leave for the sake of public health and safety. The mayor said the movement is at a "crossroads," and it must "move from holding a particular patch of park to spreading the message of economic justice." But occupiers showed no signs of giving up the patch of park too easily. Will Picard, who sat Saturday in a tent amid his artwork with a "notice of eviction" sign posted outside, said the main organizers and most occupiers he knows intend to stay.

Karzai: Afghan forces to take lead in more areas

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that the nation s forces will soon take charge of security in areas of the country that are home to half of Afghanistan s population. The handover, expected to begin by early next year, is the second step in a transition that Karzai hopes will leave Afghan forces in control of the entire country by the end of 2014, when the U.S.-led coalition s combat mission is scheduled to end. After that date, a much smaller foreign force will remain to continue training Afghan soldiers and police and battle militancy. A successful handover is key to NATO s plan to withdraw most of its combat forces from Afghanistan after more than a decade of fighting there. Western officials and experts have expressed pessimism about the ability of Karzai and his armed forces to assume command of their country. If they fail, the militant Taliban could stage a comeback. Karzai s announcement means that Afghan forces already are, or soon will, lead security in eight of Afghanistan s 34 provinces and nearly a dozen provincial capitals. Most of the areas on the second list are in the north and west, but it also includes places that have experienced recent attacks, as well as parts of the country near Taliban-controlled areas. Marjah district of Helmand province the site of a major offensive by coalition forces last year is included in the second round. Security has improved in Marjah, where the police once were so corrupt that residents feared them more than the Taliban. Coalition operations to rout the Taliban in February 2010 yielded slower than expected returns, but a troop buildup later in the year pushed insurgents out of the main center of the district. Though excited, many governors in the newly listed provinces have complained the transition can t succeed unless they receive more police, soldiers and equipment. At a meeting last month in Kabul, some governors predicted the transition would go smoothly in their regions while others worried insurgents would move in and overwhelm still nascent Afghan security forces. Several governors made the plea for extra manpower and equipment.

British soldier killed in Afghanistan

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A British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Sunday while out on patrol in the restive southern province of Helmand, the Ministry of Defence said. The soldier, from the 5th Battalion The Rifles, is the 390th British military fatality since operations in Afghanistan began ten years ago. "I have the sad duty to inform you that a soldier from the 5th Battalion The Rifles was killed earlier today after an explosion while on a foot patrol to disrupt insurgent activity in the Babaji area of Nahr-e Saraj district in Helmand province," said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Mackenzie. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this very difficult time." Britain has about 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, most of them battling Taliban insurgents and training local security forces in Helmand.

Federer beats Tsonga to win 6th ATP finals title

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Roger Federer held off a resilient Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Sunday to win a record sixth ATP World Tour Finals title with a 6-3, 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory at the season-ending tournament. Federer failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set and then wasted a match point in the tiebreaker as Tsonga threatened to stage another improbable comeback against the former No. 1. Tsonga became the first player to rally from a two-set deficit to beat Federer in a Grand Slam tournament in this year s Wimbledon quarterfinals, but the hard-serving Frenchman couldn t pull off another surprise this time. Playing in his 100th career final, Federer broke for a 5-3 lead in the decider and served out the match to love, sealing his 70th career title with an easy volley. The victory means Federer surpasses Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras, who both won five titles at the season-ending event for the world s top eight players, previously known as the Masters Cup. The Swiss former No. 1 has not lost a match since the U.S. Open semifinals, and finished the year with a 17-match winning streak following titles in Basel and Paris before coming to London. The capacity crowd included Pippa Middleton, Cristiano Ronaldo and London Mayor Boris Johnson who was initially cheered when showed on the big screen but received boos when he and his party were late to return to their seats after a changeover, holding up play as Tsonga was about to serve at 2-1 in the third set. It was the third Sunday in a row that featured a meeting between these two players, as Federer beat Tsonga in the Paris final two weeks ago and again in their first round-robin match in London last weekend.

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Monday, November 28, 2011

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