Awaz Apni

Pakistani officials, diplomats and spokespersons do not consider the otherwise mind-boggling conditions included in the just passed Kerry-Lugar aid bill in the US Senate as of any serious significance but they are not prepared to state on record that all Pakistani stakeholders, the Army, the intelligence agencies, the people of Pakistan, have been taken into confidence, or even told before hand, that such conditions were being imposed. The Secretary of State has to issue a certificate on these sensitive subjects before each instalment of the US aid is to be disbursed and Pakistanis are wondering how all, or any, of these conditions will be met, if at all. The Secretary of State, under the direction of the president, has to certify to the appropriate congressional committees that: 1. the Government of Pakistan is continuing to cooperate with the United States in efforts to dismantle supplier networks relating to the acquisition of nuclear weapons-related materials, such as provid...

CNews GUWAHATI: Eleven bomb blasts in quick succession ripped through the main city of India's troubled northeastern Assam state and three other towns on Thursday, killing at least 58 people and wounding 342, police said. No one has claimed responsibility for the bomb blasts. Assam has been a focus of a separatist insurgency for decades, but it has also recently suffered bomb attacks blamed on Islamist militants from neighboring Bangladesh. Many of Thursday's blasts were in crowded markets in the state and many bombs were hidden in motorcycles or scooters. Firefighters doused the smoldering remains of cars and motorcycles at one of the blast sites in Guwahati. One of the blasts targeted a high-security zone with a court as well as offices and the homes of senior police officials. Television channels showed some people lying on the streets, their clothes soaked in blood. Some of the walking wounded were helped into ambulances by local people and police. "Immediately after t...