DINA for the Issue of February 20, 2012

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D A W N I n t e r n e t N e w s A l e r t
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February 20, 2012 Monday Rabi-ul-Awwal 27, 1433
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The DAWN Internet News Alert (DINA) is a free daily news-service
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(c) Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan - 2012

The link at the end of each extract can be used to access the
complete story on DAWN - the Internet Edition.


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Major economic targets to be lowered
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By Khaleeq Kiani
ISLAMABAD, Feb 19: The government is working on a plan to lower major economic targets for next financial year because of economic difficulties and transfer the responsibility of financing social sector projects to the provincial governments from the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

According to sources, a major restructuring of the planning process is under way. "Not only the composition of the PSDP will change in the next budget but the Planning Commission will see induction of provincial members to represent their provinces in major policy formulation and development planning in accordance with the 18th Amendment," they said...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/20/major-economic-targets-to-be-lowered-centre-plans-to-move-out-of-social-sector.html


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'Resolve the issue or lose Balochistan': Altaf
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By Azfar-ul-Ashfaque
KARACHI, Feb 19: Altaf Hussain, the chief of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, has said that wrong policies and suppression of the voice of Baloch people have brought Balochistan to the verge of separation from the country.

"If we fail to find a solution we may lose Balochistan," he said while addressing on phone a large gathering of women at the Bagh-i-Quaid on Sunday...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/20/resolve-the-issue-or-lose-balochistan-womens-empowerment-key-to-progress-altaf.html


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Khar to seek UK help against drone raids
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By Amir Wasim
ISLAMABAD, Feb 19: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar left for the United Kingdom on Sunday on an official visit to hold wide-ranging talks with her British counterpart and other officials to persuade them to use their influence on the United States to end drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas.

Ms Khar has undertaken the four-day visit two weeks after an interview given by Pakistan's High Commissioner in London Wajid Shamsul Hassan to an English newspaper in which he urged Prime Minister David Cameron to condemn drone attacks and help stop them...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/20/khar-to-seek-uk-help-against-drone-raids.html


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Hizb urges role of all groups in endgame
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ISLAMABAD, Feb 19: Peace efforts in Afghanistan are likely to fail if they do not include all militant groups, a senior member of one of the country's militant factions said on Sunday.

"If any group is isolated or ignored, that group then becomes the centre of the resistance, and can cause problems," Ghairat Baheer of Hizb-e-Islami told Reuters in Islamabad. ..

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/20/hizb-urges-role-of-all-groups-in-endgame.html


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9 volunteers killed in Tirah bunker blast
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By Our Correspondent
LANDI KOTAL, Feb 19: Nine volunteers of Zakhakhel lashkar were killed and six others injured in a bomb blast in Tirah valley early on Sunday.

Sources said that an explosive device, planted inside a bunker previously held by the banned militant Lashkar-i-Islam organisation, went off when Zakhakhel lashkar volunteers entered it after capturing it following a fierce gunbattle...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/20/9-volunteers-killed-in-tirah-bunker-blast.html


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Faltering peace talks need rethink, says Karzai aide
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KABUL, Feb 19: Government efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiation table are faltering and bold steps are needed to ensure that a council spearheading the reconciliation process can win the trust of militants, according to an adviser to President Hamid Karzai.

Assadullah Wafa on Sunday also expressed concern that Afghans, subjected to one conflict after another, were losing hope that peace was possible from a process that so far has been shrouded in secrecy. The government has made some contacts with the Taliban, who have made a strong comeback after being toppled by a US invasion in 2001, but there are no signs that full-fledged peace talks will happen anytime soon...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/20/faltering-peace-talks-need-rethink-says-karzai-aide.html


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US respects Pakistan's sovereignty: embassy
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ISLAMABAD, Feb 19: The United States respects the territorial integrity of Pakistan, as the bills introduced by members of US Congress on numerous foreign affairs topics do not in any way imply the US government endorsement.

"Members of Congress introduce legislation on numerous foreign affairs topics and these bills do not in any way imply US government endorsement of any particular policy," a US Embassy spokesman said in a statement here on Sunday...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/20/us-respects-pakistans-sovereignty-embassy.html


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