Awaz Apni

At least four people have been killed in a drone strike in South Waziristan on Sunday. As per the reports reaching here, an unmanned US aircraft fired four missiles at a house in Sararogha area of Shaktoi. It merits to mention that Shaktoi is the native place of late militants leader Baitullah Mehsud. Two days ago, US missiles destroyed a compound used by militants killing at least 16 militants in South Waziristan. The house of Haneef Masti Khel was targeted in the area. The militants were believed to be members of Moulana Nazir clan. At least four people were killed and five others injured in a drone attack by a US surveillance plane in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) area of Shaktoi Algad, Awaz Apni News reported Sunday. According to sources, the US spy planes fired at least four missiles on the hideouts of militants in Mehsud area of Shaktoi Algad, where four people were killed and another five injured. The tribes kick-started relief activities after the attack. The fli...

  G8 sets timeframe for Afghan withdrawal Awaz Apni: The G8 group of major world powers set a five-year timeframe for the government of Afghanistan to take increasing control of its own security. The communiqué, released at the end of the two-day Muskoka summit in Canada, represents the first time the international community has put a clear timescale at the highest level for the conclusion of the foreign intervention in Afghanistan, which began in 2001. And it sets a probable end date for the withdrawal of Britain’s 10,000-strong deployment in the country. It came a day after Prime Minister David Cameron indicated that he envisages the bulk of UK troops coming home from Afghanistan by the time of the next general election due in 2015. The agreed communiqué by G8 members Britain, the US, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan – calls on the Afghan government to set out ...

CNews MUMBAI: Subhash Ghai's magnum opus Yuvvraaj has emerged one of the biggest setbacks in the international markets. The film has failed to generate required business in U K, US and Australia.While Ghai's reputation as a filmmaker has taken a severe beating, the dismal business also reflects terribly on Salman Khan's standing, who seems to be slipping rapidly with every flop. Meanwhile, Dostana continues to be the first choice of moviegoers in the three markets. The combined total from U K, US and Australia in 10 days is approx. Rs 11 crores, which is excellent. International film Slumdog Millionaire, starring Indian actors Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan, has caught on in a big way in America. It continues to dominate the American box-office charts with a staggering weekend average.

CNews BANNU: Six militants including a major Al-Qaeda operative of Arab origin was in US missile strike in northwest Pakistan, a foreign news agency claimed Wednesday.Local residents however refuted the claims of killing of Al-Qaeda operative Abdullah Azam and other foreign militants in the strike. The foreign news agency quoted a security personnel who identified the Al-Qaeda militant as Abdullah Azam Al-Saudi, a senior member in Osama bin Laden's terror network.At least six persons including Abdullah Azam were killed and various others injured when a missile hit Indikhel area of FR Bannu, the report said.The targeted house was fully destroyed in the attack.However the local sources have refuted the claim of killing of foreign militants in the strike.

CNews NEW YORK: Prosecutor of Dr. Afia Siddiqui case David Raskin said Wednesday that there was "not a shred of evidence" that Siddiqui had been in the hands of US or allied forces in Pakistan or Afghanistan prior to her arrest."I can say to the court we have found zero evidence that Ms Siddiqui was abducted, tortured -- any of the things we hear repeated."Raskin said that Siddiqui's unexplained disappearance during that period more logically suggested that she was an Al-Qaeda agent who "went underground."The defense says Siddiqui is an innocent victim of a dirty war run by US and allied agents and was secretly incarcerated for five years prior to the alleged incident in July.Judge Richard Berman told the federal court in New York that Aafia Siddiqui, a US-educated neuroscientist extradited in August from Afghanistan, is "not currently competent to proceed."Judging from an initial medical report, "the course of treatment should continue,...

CNews NEW YORK: Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who is under U.S. detention on charges of attempted murder, does not have faith in the American judicial system and insists that the case against her is false and baseless, according to the head of a Pakistani parliamentary delegation which met her in Texas on Tuesday. Mushahid, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told a press conference in New York on Wednesday evening that Dr. Siddiqui, a U.S.-educated Pakistani neuroscientist, wanted the case against her dropped and she wished to be returned to Pakistan. Ms. Siddiqui, 36, who was shot in the abdomen by U.S. agent after she allegedly grabbed an American soldier's gun during questioning in July, was brought to New York on August 4 to face charges of attempted murder and assault. Mushahid, who met her for 2 hours 45 minutes at at Carswell Medical Centre in a military prison compound at Fort Worth near Dallas, Texas, said Ms. Siddiqui told them she had no faith in the U.S. courts he...

CNews WASHINGTON: US President George W Bush on Tuesday called President Asif Ali Zardari to greet him on his election and vowed Washington’s full support for the elected government’s efforts to defeat violent extremism. “This morning I called Pakistan’s newly elected leader President Zardari. I pledged the full support of America’s government as Pakistan takes the fight to the terrorists and extremists in the (Pakistan-Afghan) border region,” Bush said at the National Defense University, where he announced additional deployments for Pakistan’s insurgency-hit neighbor Afghanistan. The United States, he underscored “must also help the government of Pakistan defeat Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters hiding in the remote border regions of their country” as they pose threat to democracy in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the past year, the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other extremist groups hiding in these regions stepped up their attacks against the Pakistani government to stop the democratic progr...

CNews LONDON: Pakistan does not need to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for money in the next10 months if the government cuts spending and gets other sources of funding to offset falling reserves, a senior IMF official said.Mohsin Khan, IMF's director for the Middle East and Central Asia, said Pakistan had not asked the IMF for loans.He said Pakistan would not need an IMF loan in the fiscal year to June if the government abolishes all fuel subsidies by December as planned, and stops borrowing from the central bank to pay for its budget deficit.Khan said the government needs to stick to its privatisation plans to raise money, secure over $1 billion worth of loans from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, and get Saudi Arabia to defer an estimated $5.9 billion worth of oil payments."If things fall right for them in all these things that they are planning to do, I don't believe there will be any need for them to come to the IMF," Khan, who was in ...

CNews NWFP: A suspected US missile strike has killed 10 militants at a training camp in a Pakistani tribal area, while 25 people died in fresh clashes near the Afghan border, officials said. The violence in the ethnic Pashtun tribal regions along the mountainous frontier comes amid mounting US pressure for Islamabad to tackle rebels who are launching attacks on international forces in Afghanistan. Four missiles hit the Islamist camp in the troubled South Waziristan region, which was run by a militant from the Hezb-i-Islami group of wanted Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, security officials said. "At least 10 militants were killed in the strikes" late Tuesday, a senior Pakistani security official said. "There were reports about the presence of Arab, Turkmen and local militants." "This is their work," he added, referring to US-led coalition forces deployed across the border in Afghanistan. In Kabul, the US military said the missiles were not fired by eith...

CNews NEW YORK: Pakistani woman under US custody, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s bail petition will come up for hearing in the US Federal Court today.Dr. Aafia Siddqui will be presented in the New York Federal Court at 2.30 P.M. local time today. Prior to this, the Attorney of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui will address a press conference besides the US Human Rights Organizations have announced staging demonstrations on this occasion. Recently, two officials of Pakistan embassy had met Dr. Aafia Siddiqui at Brooklane detention centre. Embassy sources told that Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s meeting with her family members also would be arranged today, when she would be presented in the court.

CNews NEW YORK: The United States has allowed Pakistan consular access to Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist, who is being held without bail in New York after a federal court Tuesday charged her with attempting to kill F.B.I. agents and other US personnel last month while in Afghan custody, according to well informed sources. Faqir Saeed, a counsellor at the Pakistan Embassady in Washington, is arriving here later Saturday to meet Ms. Siddiqui, who was transferred to New York from Afghanistan on Monday. The exact time for the meeting will be set after consultations with the U.S. authorities, the sources said. Ms. Siddiqui, who has a bullet wound, is awaiting bail hearing on Monday afternoon. Her lawyer, Elizabeth Fink, denied the charges that Judge Ellis of United States District Court read out during her appearance on Tuesday. The criminal complaint claimed that Ms. Siddiqui, who was behind a curtain at the police station, managed to grab a U.S. soldier’s rifle and fire two er...

CNews ISLAMABAD: Dr. Fauzia Siddiqui has arrived in Islamabad to raise the voice for the release of her detained sister Dr. Afia Siddiqui. Talking to CNews News at the Islamabad Airport, Dr. Siddiqui said her sister was severely injured and was not being given proper medical treatment in US prison.She further said that Dr. Afia didn’t have proper access to her lawyer. About her visit of Islamabad, Dr. Siddiqui said she would apprise the media about inhuman treatment given to her sister.

CNews ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will leave for Colombo, Sri Lanka on August 2 to attend 15th SAARC Summit. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani will lead Pakistani delegation to the Summit from August 2-3. Heads of state or governments of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka will also attend the Summit. The Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani will return to the country tonight after completing his first official tour to the US.

CNews ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Army Staff, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani Friday held separate meetings with the President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.According to sources, the meetings held in Presidential House and PM House reviewed the international war on terror, operation underway in tribal areas of the country and overall law and order in the country.Views were exchanged in connection with the Prime Minister’s scheduled visit to the US and it was decided that Pakistan would continue to remain firm on its stand on the ongoing operation tribal areas. This means only Pakistan’s own security forces will carry out action on its soil and the NATO and US forces will not be allowed to launch operation within the limits of the country.

Q: 1.It is rumored in some areas that al-qaeda is supported by the united states. How would you respond? Ans.1.This is a ridiculous charge. It was exposed when sheikh osama bin laden proclaimed jehad against the united states. Al qaeda launched a series of attacks against us installations and interests in kenya, tanzania, parts of yemen, somalia and finally the wtc on 9/11. This proves, beyond any shadow of doubt, that the accusation of al-qaeda being supported by the us, is a blatant lie. “qaeda-al-jehad” was founded by sheikh osama bin laden, sheikh abu obaida panjsheri and abu hafs misri so as to make afghanistan the global centre of mujahideen who had gathered there from all over the world. Q 2. Sheikh said, why is al -qaeda waging jehad against the us? Ans.2.Jehad was launched against the united states since it has assumed the role of a modern day pharoah, the evil empire - leading crusades against the muslims. The us backs and supports israel in its repression and occupation of ...

CNews WASHINGTON: The US Senate has approved the spending of $48 billion over the next five years to treat and prevent the spread of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa and elsewhere around the world. The legislation more than triples the current $15 billion programme that has brought lifesaving drugs to some 1.7 million people with HIV/AIDS. The bill passed by a vote of 80-16. That sets up negotiations with the House on a final compromise. President George W. Bush has been a strong advocate for the global AIDS program and supports the bill.

CNews MIRAMSHAH :US spy planes on Saturday morning flew over various border areas of Waziristan creating panic and distress among the people of the tribal region. According to reports the area that a US spy plane violated the Pakistani airspace and flew high on Syedgai, Miramshah, Mir Ali, Razmat and other towns of the agency.

CNews PESHAWAR: Chief of Awami National League Sheikh Rashid has said on Saturday that government’s days are numbered and it will have to go.  Talking to media after condoling to federal minister Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilor on his mother death, Sheikh Rashid said present government was operating without any vision and direction.  Answering a question, he criticized the government’s current policies, adding on one hand it was signing peace pact with the militants while on the other hand they didn’t want to annoy the US also. Government’s present policies have led to many crises in the country, he noted. Rashid said, “Price hike, electricity, unemployment and many other issues have messed up the peoples lives.”

CNews KARACHI: A high-level meeting is due today at Chief Minister House to review the law and order situation in the province in post Karachi blasts scenario.Sindh CM Syed Qaim Ali Shah would chair the meeting that would be attended by the high-ups of provincial government and law enforcement agencies.Meanwhile, Sindh police on Tuesday started its probe into a string of blasts which killed two persons and wounded 37 in Karachi, the second deadly attack in as many days to hit the frontline state in the US "war on terror".Five men were being questioned on Tuesday after they were arrested in connection with the blasts, said Babar Khattak, the police chief of Sindh province."We have detained five people from different parts of the city after our investigators got some leads about their involvement in the blasts," Khattak told reporters."We cannot disclose to which group they belong or what we have recovered from them," he said.Police said that the blasts were...

CNews WASHINGTON: As part its economic assistance programme, the US has approved aid worth 150 million dollars to Pakistan. US declared the above assistance as a gift for the new democratic set up in Pakistan. US will also hand over 4 F-16 aircraft to Pakistan in July.