Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Mumbai attackers should be tried in ICJ: US lawmaker-US-World-The Times of India
"So I think, when you have a pattern of behaviour, which Pakistanis exhibited in the past, by initially arresting the perpetrators and those involved in the planning after the attack on the Parliament and then releasing them, there is no reason for us to be secure in the belief that these planners would face justice," Royce said.
"These(Mumbai) attacks are crimes against humanity. The realisation that a terror training camp was being maintained and churning out terrorists across, has left us all with the realisation that we have to leverage Pakistan to close down those camps."
Pak has Qaida havens, admits Mush-US-World-The Times of India
“There are ‘sanctuaries’ in Pakistan for al-Qaida, which combined with the remote, mountainous terrain ‘makes the task difficult’ of finding the militants,” Musharraf said.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Pak Taliban commander summons dignitaries in its ‘court’-Pakistan-World-The Times of India
Most parts of Swat, once a popular tourist resort, are now controlled by the Taliban, who have banned girls' education in the area and directed men to wear skull caps and stop shaving their beards.
A former mujahideen was recently gunned down by the Taliban for not hiking up his salwar over his ankles.
The Taliban have bombed and torched nearly 200 girls' schools in Swat and targeted shops selling CDs and DVDs.
Friday, January 23, 2009
India hails Obama remark on terror from Pak-India-The Times of India
The defence minister said that al least 30 terror camps are still operating in Pakistan. The terrorist outfits operating from Pakistan soil should be disbanded, he said.
"Sympathy and solidarity is fine, but what India needs is action," said Antony.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Mumbai attack has the potential to be replicated: Obama
Washington (PTI): US President-elect Barack Obama on Sunday voiced fear that Mumbai-type attacks can be replicated by terrorists in other parts of world, including the US and said his administration will focus on putting more pressure on "our major target" al-Qaeda.
Asked about 26/11 terror strikes in an interview to ABC News, Obama said the "danger is always there" to have a Mumbai-type attack in an American city.
"When you see what happened in Mumbai, that potentially points to a new strategy, not simply suicide bombings but you have commandos taking over," he said.
"I think you have to anticipate that having seen the mayhem that was created in Mumbai, that there are going to be potential copycats or other terrorist organisations that think this is something that they can replicate," Obama said.
At a Congressional hearing on Mumbai attack this week, top US intelligence and police officials had expressed similar fear and said that this makes all the more necessary to ensure that those responsible for such an attack are brought to justice, given that US cities are always on top of the hit list of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
"So we're going to have to be vigilant in terms of our intelligence, we're going to have to make sure that we are more effective in terms of anticipating some of these issues, and we've got to continue to put pressure on al-Qaeda, which is our major target -- that's something that I talked about extensively during the campaign," Obama said.
"That has to be one of our primary areas of focus when it comes to our international security."
If Pak doesn’t get ’em , India will: Antony
That being the case, he warned, India would be left with no choice, but to examine all options to ensure that this terror infrastructure was demolished.
`There is no serious attempt to dismantle terror outfits working across the border. This is our major worry,’’ Mr Antony told reporters on the sidelines of a function here on Wednesday, in a clear indication of a hardening of posture on behalf of the Centre in the face of mounting evidence suggesting Pakistan’s involvement in the jihadi attacks across the country.
`We will examine all the available , possible options,’’ he said without elaborating the point further. Further proof of Pakistan’s gameplan , Mr Antony, came from the enhanced infiltration levels from across the border. `` Even in winters, militants have infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir. It is biting cold now. Militants will step up infiltration into the northern state from now onwards. Summers will see heightened infiltration. So armed forces should remain vigilant,’’ the defence minister charged.
Observing that it was Pakistan’s duty to `` book’’ those people who supported terrorists during the Mumbai attacks on November 26 last, the defence minister asked Islamabad to dismantle the over 30 terror outfits working from its soil.
`To prevent the repetition of infiltration and terror incidents, two things needed to be done. Those people who gave inspiration, direction and support to the terrorists in the 26/11 attack on Mumbai should be booked. The over 30 terror outfits working from across the border should be dismantled. It is Pakistan’s duty,’’ Mr Antony asserted.
India, he said, was not going to any time-frame for Pakistan (to dismantle terror infrastructure). `` However , New Delhi expected the world to react on the evidences that was shared with them on the Mumbai attacks ,’’ the defence minister added.
`We have some evidence. Not only India, even some other countries have some evidence. We have shown this evidence to other countries . They world has to react to these evidence. I hope the world will react ,’’ he maintained.
Asked about the operation launched by the security forces against the militants holed up in Poonch, Mr Antony said he had discussed it with the three Services chiefs in the morning and that they were sure of flushing out the militants soon.
To another query, he said the armed forces had a plan and had worked out a strategy against the holed-up militants, but the basis approach was to minimise casualty within the security forces’ ranks.
