PM calls APC | Says Washington hurting feelings, 180m ready to defend motherland

KARACHI - Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday warned the US against issuing irresponsible statements and increase contacts with its indispensable ally in war on terror to remove any misunderstandings.

Talking to media persons after inaugurating three expanded berths at Karachi Port, Gilani said the Americans cannot live with us and they cannot live without us, and if they can’t live without us, they should increase contacts with Pakistan to end any misgivings.

The clear message form the prime minister that the US “cannot effectively fight the ongoing war in Afghanistan without Pakistan’s support” came in response to allegations levelled by Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Admiral Mike Mullen and Defence Secretary Leon Panetta that Pakistan’s ISI is backing Haqqani group that carried out attacks on US Embassy in Kabul, and telling a Senate committee that Pakistan was “exporting violence to Afghanistan”.

PM Gilani also advised the US to avoid issuing statements unacceptable to the Pakistani people and said the US should take care of the feelings of millions of Pakistanis while commenting on important issues. Giving a blunt reply to threats issued by various US officials over the past week that they could carry out attacks inside Pakistan, Gilani said: “180 million Pakistanis will always stand to defend their motherland and its sovereignty” and no compromise will be acceptable on country’s independence and sovereignty.

The prime minister said that a stable Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan. “We have good relations with our neighbours and a sovereign, independent and prosperous Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s interest.” Pakistan was a part of solution in Afghanistan and not a part of problem, he added.

Speaking in a soft tone, Gillani said: “We want our relations with the US to be based on mutual respect and mutual interest.“ In a way of giving a wise suggestion, he said, “Our request to US would be that it should keep political space for us so that we can communicate their political importance to our people.“

Admiral Mike Mullen had testified before the Senate Armed Forces Committee that Pakistan’s ISI was closely tied with the Haqqani network and had played a role in the September 13 attack on US Embassy in Kabul. He declared that the Haqqani network was a “veritable arm of the ISI”.

Meanwhile the prime minister has called an all-party conference (APC) to deliberate on the issue of strained ties with the US, and seek suggestions from all the political quarters to formulate a comprehensive policy on the nature and extent of relationship with the US

Shoaib was a problem and remains a problem: Akram

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram on Saturday ridiculed Shoaib Akhtar and his controversial autobiography, which has made several tall claims, saying that the pacer was a 'problem' when he was an active player and remains just that even in retirement.

Akram pooh-poohed Shoaib's claims of making Sachin Tendulkar uncomfortable with his pace in the Faisalabad Test in 2006 and also rejected some of the other allegations he has made in the book titled 'Controversially Yours'.

"I remember one of Sachin's knocks in the Sialkot Test. It was the fourth Test and the wicket had lot of grass, I was 22 and Waqar was 19 and we were very fast," Akram recalled.

"Waqar hit him on his chin and he came back after taking treatment and scored a 50. If a 16-year-old can't be scared, I don't think any batsman can be scared. It hardly matters what Shoaib says," Akram told reporters here.

Akram said Shoaib, who was a controversial figure all through his playing career, was just trying to sell his book with tall claims and also rejected allegations that he tried to destroy the tearaway pacer's career.

"Whatever the Pakistan Cricket Board says, I am with them. He was a problem when he was in the team and he is a problem when he is out of the team," Akram said.

"He knows, I know and the world knows that he was himself responsible for destroying his career. There is a lot to talk but I don't want to humiliate him. There is an unwritten code among players that some facts should not be revealed before the media," he warned.

"You guys (media) will ensure that his book is a bestseller," he said

Abdullah Haroon warns of consequences of Pakistan attack

Pakistan’s representative at the UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon has warned that any US aggression on Pakistan can be counterproductive.

During an interview to an Indian TV channel, Haroon said that strain in Pak-US ties would not serve the interests of any country, adding that this even would not give any benefit to India. He said that no Pakistani was involved in the 9/11 attack but the Pakistani nation paid the highest price in the war on terror. The representative to the UN said the US must have Vietnam in mind before launching any offense against Pakistan. He further said that the issues should be resolved through dialogue and that there are no permanent friends and foes of the US in international politics

'Rabbani killer duped us with peace CD' - Hamid Karzai

Officials at the very highest levels were deceived by the suicide bomber who killed Afghanistan's peace talks chief, President Hamid Karzai says.

Burhanuddin Rabbani was killed in his own home on Tuesday while meeting two men claiming to be from the Taliban.

The attacker purported to have a "message of peace" from the Taliban and had sent a CD which even the president heard, to get access to Mr Rabbani.

Officials say they believed the message would signal a major breakthrough.

"It was not a peace message. It was a trick," President Karzai told reporters after he cut short his visit to the US following the killing.
"The messenger was the killer," he is quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.
The death of Mr Rabbani, who was chair of the country's High Peace Council and a former president, is a severe blow for the Afghan president and analysts say it could be the biggest setback for peace in Afghanistan for years.
No group has said it carried out the attack but Afghan intelligence officials say they believe it must have taken months to plan.
On Wednesday, the Taliban issued their first public statement on the killing, saying they did not want to comment.
Turban bomber
President Karzai said that before he left for the US last weekend one of his advisers, Masoom Stanakzai, who was also injured in the blast told him that the Taliban had an significant message for the High Peace Council.

Continue reading the main story

Burhanuddin Rabbani

• Senior figure in the mujahideen who fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s
• President of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996 and then again in 2001
• Senior member of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance from 1996 to 2001
• Made leader of Peace Council constituted by Afghan President Hamid Karzai tasked with negotiating with the Taliban

• Obituary: Burhanuddin Rabbani
• Rabbani death endangers Taliban talks

They had sent an audio recording to the peace council: "There were a couple of questions and suggestions mentioned regarding peace," Mr Karzai is quoted by the AP news agency as saying.

Officials have said Mr Stanakzai was very optimistic about the contents of the CD. A document found by investigators in the pocket of the suicide bomber, and shown to the BBC, is a transcript of the CD.
The peace council had been in touch with a man purporting to represent the Taliban high command based in the Pakistani city of Quetta, and who said he would send a messenger to Kabul.
''Mr. Masoom Stanakzai believed that the High Peace Council was on the verge of a major breakthrough. That it was achieving something big. The visitors had stayed at a High Peace Council Guest House for several days," an intelligence official told the BBC's Bilal Sarwary.
Mr Rabbani cut short a visit to Dubai on hearing that the visitors were waiting for him and within an hour of arriving in Kabul, Mr Rabbani went to his house to meet them.
The two men went to embrace Mr Rabbani, and one of them then detonated a bomb concealed in his turban.
Series of assassinations
When the High Peace Council was set up in October 2010, Mr Karzai described it as the greatest hope for the Afghan people and called on the Taliban to seize the opportunity and help bring peace.

But many members of the council are former warlords who spent years fighting the Taliban and their inclusion led to doubts as to whether it could succeed in its mission.

Our correspondent says Mr Rabbani's appointment as head was a surprise. Some had even called for him to be indicted for war crimes in his previous role with the mujahideen.

In the 1970s it was Mr Rabbani who founded the parties that ended up becoming the Afghan mujahideen who took on the Soviets, and many blame him and his friends for the death and destruction of the civil war days.

Mr Rabbani was ousted as president by the Taliban in 1996. After that he became the nominal head of the Northern Alliance.

When they swept back into Kabul, backed by US forces, and toppled the Taliban in 2001, he was still recognised by the UN as the official president of Afghanistan.

The killing is the latest in a series of assassinations of senior figures.

In July, President Karzai's half-brother Ahmed Wali Karzai was killed at his home in Kandahar. Two months earlier, Gen Daud Daud, the top police commander in northern Afghanistan was killed in a suicide bomb attack

PM leaves for Kabul to condole Rabbani’s assassination

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Thursday left here for Kabul to condole with Afghanistan’s leadership over the death of Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani, Chairman of High Peace Council. Talking to reporters prior his departure, Gilani described Prof Rabbani “a personal friend and a great leader of Afghan people” and said it would be hard to fill the vacuum caused by his death. He recalled two of his very successful meetings to discuss the peace process with Prof. Rabbani and said his leadership was acceptable both to Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said the late Afghan leader had convinced the Afghan government that Pakistan was a friend of Afghanistan.

Pakistan brushes aside US allegations of waging proxy war

Pakistan has said that it was not waging proxy war against any country. Foreign office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua in a weekly briefing on Thursday told media the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was not waging proxy war and the Haqqani network was not being used as proxy. Brushing aside US allegations of regarding Haqqani’s presence in Pakistan she said the issues had been raised with the United States on military and State Department levels. “If they have any evidence in this regard they should share with us,” she said. The spokesperson said that Pakistan condemned act of terrorism that take place in Pakistan, Afghanistan or any other country and was determined to fight against terrorism.

Sattar terms Wikileaks May 12 allegations baseless

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Farooq Sattar has termed the Wikileaks allegations regarding May 12, 2007 carnage as baseless. Speaking at a news conference here on Thursday the MQM leader said that his party was not involved in the May 12 incident instead it was itself a victim. “ May 12 was a conspiracy against the MQM”, he said, adding that 14 party workers were killed and 50 wounded in the carnage. The allegations that have been attributed to me are baseless and I reject them.