Commenting on Pak-India ties, Holbrooke said that easing tensions between India and Pakistan would help western efforts in Afghanistan. However, he said it was up to Islamabad and New Delhi to find their own path towards better ties. – Reuters photo Sci-Tech “World’s least known bird” found breeding in Afghanistan HIDDEN NO MORE “World’s least known bird” found breeding in Afghanistan KABUL: A video of a Pakistani Taliban leader with the bomber who killed CIA agents in Afghanistan indicated cross-border links between Afghan, Pakistani and Al Qaeda militants, the US regional envoy said on Sunday. Special Representative Richard Holbrooke said … Continue reading TTP video indicates cross-border links, says Holbrooke

Pakistani police escort US militant suspects as they depart an anti-terrorist court following a hearing in Sargodha on January 18, 2010. – AFP SARGODHA: Five Americans held in Pakistan on suspicion of using the Internet to contact militants said on Monday they had been tortured as police asked a court to indict them on terrorism charges. The students, in their 20s and from the US state of Virginia, were detained last month. Police produced them before an anti-terrorism court on Monday after completing their interrogation. “We are being tortured, we are being tortured,” several of the men shouted in English … Continue reading Detained Americans complain of torture in Pakistan

Dawn Editorial State and society must recognise that the creative and performing arts have an indispensable role to play in the formation and understanding of the national identity. –File photo Art & Culture Reality check MEDIA Reality check A number of film and television artists in Karachi recently criticised what they termed as the government’s indifference to their fields, and the resultant stagnation of associated professions. They have raised a pertinent point, though the unresponsiveness of official quarters should be blamed on the state rather than on any one government. Decades of apathy towards the creative and performing arts have … Continue reading Entertainment apathy – Time to teach Mullahs to dance!

The P Word By Khuroum Ali Bukhari Earlier this year, a homemade video of Prince Harry, the impish grandson of the British Queen whose colourful exploits have earned him tabloid darling status, was leaked to a delighted UK press. Training to be a soldier in Her Majesty’s Army, Prince Harry is shown referring to a British Pakistani Muslim colleague as ‘our little Paki friend,’ amongst other questionable remarks. Headlines exploded, the Pakistani community went on the offensive, and race relations experts came out of the woodwork in force to attack the prince. Prince Harry unreservedly apologised for his comments, and … Continue reading The P Word – Pakis 4 Parties!

William Maclean, // LONDON (Reuters) – A report that a Nigerian who tried to down a U.S. airliner joined al Qaeda as a student in Britain has raised concerns about radical Islamists on UK campuses in a test for authorities trying to balance security and free speech. Radicalization is a growing security worry after the botched December 25 airliner attack, a December 29 Afghanistan suicide bombing that killed seven CIA employees and the November 5 killing of 13 at a U.S. army base by a gunman linked to a Yemen-based preacher. The December 25 attack stirred fears that a new … Continue reading Plane plot stirs concern over UK campus militants

| il Written by Joe Wolverton, II // Yemeni intelligence officials asserted Friday that their investigation revealed that Umar Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian accused of attempted to bomb Northwest Flight 253 on Christmas Day in Detroit, met in Yemen with known al-Qaeda operatives, probably including American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. The source of the report, Rashad al-Alimi, is the Nigerian Deputy Prime Minister for national security and defense. The investigation described by al-Alimi further indicates, however, that Yemen was not where Abdulmutallab obtained the explosive device intended to bring down the airliner. According to the document, the bomb and the syringe that … Continue reading Al-Qaeda Uses Popular Radical Clerics to Recruit Trainees

Muslim group Minhaj-ul-Quran issues fatwa against terrorists // // // // // // <!– Remove following to not show photographer information –> (Minhaj-ul-Quran International) <!– Remove following to not show image description –> The 600-page document, drawn up by Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, declares that attacks on innocent citizens are “absolutely against the teachings of Islam” <!– Remove following to not show enlarge option –> <!– –> // Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent <!– –> A leading Muslim organisation in Britain has issued a fatwa against suicide bombings and terrorism, declaring them un-Islamic. Minhaj-ul-Quran, a Sufi organisation based in East London which … Continue reading Muslim group Minhaj-ul-Quran issues fatwa against terrorists