LONDON—Former President Pervez Musharraf has summoned a meeting of some Pakistani and Azad Kashmir based politicians in London on February 11, in an attempt to establish his own political party. Well placed sources wishing anonymity disclosed that the former president during the would-be meeting chalked out a strategy to play greater role again in national politics. Musharraf already contacted some of his trusted colleagues in the political sphere, the sources said adding that the former president also contacted leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) and Muslim Conference in Azad Jammu Kashmir through his former federal minister. However, the sources said … Continue reading Musharraf forming new political party after seeing Jihad – The Musical!

Peter Taylor, long time BBC documentary maker with experience and expertise in terrorism and security issues, has produced a three part documentary for the BBC on the Al-Qaida inspired ideology to which British born and British based Muslims are vulnerable.  The programmes will be broadcast on BBC 2 over the  next three Monday evenings at 9pm.  The first of the programmes will go out on 8th February. Many police and Government sources have assisted Peter Taylor by giving interviews, access to case studies, and introductions to local authority and other partners.  The aim in doing so is to enable a … Continue reading GENERATION JIHAD – BBC TONIGHT!

By Syed Saleem Shahzad ISLAMABAD – With the United States striving hard to establish dialogue with the Taliban, Asia Times Online sources privy to the Pakistan military establishment reveal that the army has clearly spelled out that Washington must make sure any Indian involvement does not go beyond development work in Afghanistan and that Delhi plays no part in any overall strategy concerning Afghanistan. The United States has said that it wants to reach out to second- and third-tier Taliban and, in doing so, exert pressure on the top Taliban leaders to seek reconciliation. Instead, Pakistan has emphasized that it … Continue reading Pakistan’s military sets Afghan terms

By Siddharth Srivastava NEW DELHI – India has proposed the first high-level bilateral talks with Pakistan since their peace process broke down following the terrorist attack on Mumbai in November 2008. New Delhi and Islamabad are still working on an agenda for meetings expected in late February, but they are likely to address long-stalled issues such as the divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir, joint anti-terror efforts and shared water resources. The offer of talks comes despite Islamabad not meeting New Delhi’s demands after the Mumbai attack that Pakistan convict those behind the November 26, 2008, atrocity, which left up to … Continue reading India-Pakistan thaw key to Afghan peace

By Gareth Porter KABUL – If peace talks do ultimately begin between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban leadership, they may well follow a “road map” to a political settlement drawn up by a group of ex-Taliban officials who have been serving as intermediaries between the two sides. The four Taliban mediators have been encouraging both Karzai and their leadership to begin with steps toward military de-escalation and confidence-building before proceeding to the central political-military issues that must be negotiated, a member of the mediation team, Arsullah Rahmani, told Inter Press Service (IPS) in an interview at his home … Continue reading Taliban go-betweens draw up road map

By Kaveh L Afrasiabi Days after announcing that Iran was willing to send its low-enriched uranium for further processing abroad, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad told the country’s Atomic Energy Agency to begin the enrichment process in the country. However, Ahmadinejad emphasized that Iran was still open to a “fuel-for-fuel” option. The US and its allies now face a dilemma: they can go ahead with the fuel swap, or allow Iran to come near to the threshold of “weapons-capable” uranium enrichment – 20%. On October 1, the International Atomic Energy Agency proposed a plan under which Iran would send the bulk of … Continue reading Dangerous steps in Iran’s nuclear dance

By Sami Moubayed DAMASCUS – The Middle East seemed to snowball into crisis last week, as war threats were fired back and forth between Syria and Israel. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman triggered the conflict on Thursday by saying that if war were to break out, the Syrians would lose, prompting Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem to respond that Israeli cities would not be spared by Syria. He described the Israelis as “thugs” and said that a new regional war would kill whatever chances there were of returning to the peace process. Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otari made similar statements, … Continue reading Israeli case for war with Syria – and Lebanon

By Willy Lam While the furor over cyber-attacks against Google has lapsed somewhat, the Sino-American confrontation over the larger issue of Internet security and global digital warfare is expected to intensify in the near future. This is particularly in light of the deterioration of bilateral ties due to issues ranging from the value of the renminbi to US arms sales to Taiwan. Even more significant is the fact that despite Washington’s criticism of Beijing’s censorship of the Internet – as well as China-originated sorties against the networks of American government agencies and multinationals – the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership … Continue reading Beijing beefs up cyber-warfare capacity

By Nikola Krastev The seminal coming-of-age novel, The Catcher in the Rye, came out in 1951 during a time of anxious, Cold War conformity. The book by J D Salinger, the reclusive American author who died last week at the age of 91, featured its immortal teenage protagonist – the anguished, rebellious Holden Caulfield. The book struck a chord with American teenagers who identified with the novel’s themes of alienation, innocence and rebellion. But when the novel was translated into Russian during the “Khrushchev thaw”, its anti-hero’s tormented soul-searching also reverberated among admirers throughout the Soviet bloc. Nad propastyu vo rzhi … Continue reading If you really want to hear about it …