RAWALPINDI: Following successful operation against militants in Lower Dir, security forces on Tuesday afternoon launched an offensive against the Taliban militants in the Buner district. “The aim of the offensive, which began at 4 pm, is to eliminate and expel the militants from Buner,” Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Maj-Gen Athar Abbas told a news […]
The point of no return could be crossed in the near future if the Taliban are not subjected to decisive and telling action. The government dithered and the army stayed its hand even as the militants who want nothing less than the state’s overthrow flexed their muscles and moved from Swat to Buner and then […]
‘Operation Pathway’ was perhaps destined for failure the moment the UK’s top counter-terrorism officer was photographed with files providing details of planned police raids on Pakistani students. The officer concerned was forced to resign and the police action, which had been in the works for months, was moved forward at short notice. The result: mass […]
Is it racist to oppose the African National Congress? Of course not. And the very question can reveal a deep-seeded, self-serving cynicism on the part of those who would levy such an accusation. At the same time, there is one reality that makes that cynicism practicable: While it is not racist to oppose the ANC it […]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to Beirut this past weekend to voice American support for the pro-Western March 14 coalition of Sunni and Christian leaders in the upcoming election. She delivered a letter to President Sleiman from President Obama declaring that the United States would not “sell out” Lebanon in any deal made in […]
Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean arrived today in Oslo, Norway to embark on a three-day tour of the country meant to bring the two states closer together. The Governor General is the official representative of the Queen of England. She remarked that Canada and Norway’s shared northern geography makes them “brother and sister in the […]
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the Afghan government in Kabul and with British troops in Helmand Province yesterday and is on to Pakistan today. Brown was there to show his support for his nation’s troops and offer support to President Karzai and his government. Brown announced that he would ‘announce‘ a new British strategy […]
Zimbabwe’s coalition government has approved an ambitious profram of privatization. One of the first tests of that policy will be the sale of NetOne, Zimbabwe’s state-owned cell phone service provider. If private investment provides any gauge whatsoever about the belief that Zimbabwe is on the right course, the fact that private companies are clamoring to […]
Palestinian reconciliation talks in Cairo managed a minor breakthrough, even though the entire discussions seem futile in achieving a final agreement. Fatah and Hamas negotiators agreed to permit the PLO to serve as a “national reference,” essentially a de-facto decision making body until proper elections for a legislative council occur. Hamas initially sought a more […]
State Department Special Envoy Dennis Blair will visit the Gulf and Egypt next week in a likely effort to obtain support for U.S. initiatives aimed at curbing the Iranian nuclear program. While the State Department did not specify the details of issues to be discussed, Ross may also attempt to enlist support for a resolution […]
The Interior Advisor, Rehman Malik, says an operation by the Frontier Corps and the Pakistan Army in Lower Dir has killed 30 militants, but maintains that the operation has nothing to with the Swat deal. In the next breath he also says, “If the militants do not lay down arms after the enforcement of Sharia laws in […]
Anyone who was hoping for the wounds in Kenya’s coalition government to heal over time might be in for a rude awakening. While there have been moments when it looked as if an uneasy peace might hold, rhetoric in the last few days indicates that tensions might be re-mounting in Nairobi. Prime Minister Raila Odinga, of […]
ISLAMABAD: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged on Monday £10 million in assistance to help Pakistan fight extremism and militancy, but expressed no regrets over the arrest of Pakistani students against whom no evidence has been found. ‘We will stand up to extremism together. We will reverse this trend and take them (extremists) on. We […]
On Friday, the European Union will mark the 5th anniversary of the “Big Bang” enlargement, when 15 mainly Western European Members were joined by 10 Central & Eastern European members in the EU. 5 years on many historical issues remain that have tended to divide these countries. Slovenia is currently blocking the entry of Croatia to the EU, due to a dispute […]
The International Monetary Fund is predicting what most of us have suspected: That the Global economic crisis is going to have a negative impact on African growth, which, the constant flow of horrible news from the continent notwithstanding, has actually been reasonably impressive. The news is not apocolyptic, however. While growth in 2008 was more […]