West says Iran deceives world on nukes

The U.S. and its Western allies bluntly accused Iran on Friday of deceiving the world and declared it could no longer dismiss evidence it is working secretly on making nuclear arms. The unusually tough accusations were bound to raise international tensions over Iran's nuclear program — even though the Western statements emphasized that the preferred solution was through diplomacy. Statements delivered to the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board by the United States, and on behalf of Germany, Britain and France, contained no mention of military action — an option that has not been discounted by either Israel or the U.S. if Tehran refuses to stop activities that can be used for nuclear weapons. Still, they pulled no punches, drawing heavily on a recent IAEA report based on intelligence from more than 10 nations that concluded that some alleged clandestine activities by the Islamic Republic could not be used for any other purpose than making nuclear arms.

PPP concerned over ‘memo gate’ scandal

ISLAMABAD: The core committee of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Friday discussed the controversy surrounding Ambassador to US Husain Haqqani over a secret memo alleged to have been sent by President Asif Ali Zardari to former chairman of US joint chiefs of staff Admiral Mike Mullen.
The committee meeting was held under the chairmanship of President Zardari who is also the party’s co-chairman.
The president took the party’s top leadership into confidence over his meeting with Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and said that an investigation would be held into the matter.
Party stalwarts termed the situation grim and said that the opposition was taking advantage of the circumstances and attacking the government on this front.
President Zardari directed PPP leaders to effectively counter the opposition’s propaganda.
The president also discussed Zulfiqar Mirza’s London visit and his meeting with Scotland Yard officials with party officials and assured the core committee that he was not directing the former minister.