Global News Journal
Beyond the World news headlines
from Pakistan: Now or Never?:
Seeking Saudi cooperation on Afghanistan and Pakistan
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is making the first visit to Saudi Arabia by an Indian leader since 1982, seeking to build economic ties and to enlist the kingdom's help in improving regional security. While much of the focus is likely to be on securing oil supplies for India's growing economy, the visit is also part of the complex manoeuvres by regional players jostling for position on Afghanistan and beyond.
Singh told Saudi journalists ahead of the visit that he would discuss with Saudi King Abdullah how to promote greater stability and security in the region. "Both King Abdullah and I reject the notion that any cause justifies wanton violence against innocent people. We are strong allies against the scourge of extremism and terrorism that affects global peace and security," he said.
Junior Foreign Minister Shashi Tharoor also said India could seek Saudi support in persuading Pakistan to act against Pakistan-based Islamist militant groups -- later adding however this did not mean looking for Saudi mediation (anathema to India which sees no room for third party involvement in its relationship with Pakistan).
"Saudi Arabia of course has a long and close relationship with Pakistan but that makes Saudi Arabia all the more a valuable interlocutor for us," he said. "When we tell them about our experience, Saudi Arabia listens as somebody who is not anyway an enemy of Pakistan but rather as a friend of Pakistan, and therefore I am sure listens with sympathy and concern to a matter of this nature."
Sunni Saudi Arabia has close ties with Pakistan, seeing it in part as a bulwark against Shiite Iran, its main rival. Analysts say it shares Pakistan's concerns about Indian and Iranian influence in Afghanistan. It has also been cited as potential mediator with the Taliban. While it has shown little enthusiasm right now to act as a mediator, it is expected to play a powerful role in negotiating any eventual political settlement in Afghanistan.
India, meanwhile, invested heavily in Afghanistan after the fall of the Pakistan-backed Taliban in 2001, and built close ties with the government of President Hamid Karzai. It has been caught on the back foot by talk of reconciliation with the Taliban, which it fears could give Pakistan an opportunity to reassert its old influence over Afghanistan as well as bolstering its position as Washington's indispensable ally in the region.
Some analysts have argued that India should counter this by building its own relationships with both Saudi Arabia and Iran -- C. Raja Mohan made this point as early as May last year. Any improvement in the relationship between India and Saudi Arabia, including a deepening economic inter-dependency, could therefore be significant.
from Pakistan: Now or Never?:
Pakistan, India and the Kabul attack
As discussed in my last post, the place to watch for developments on relations between India and Pakistan right now is more likely to be Kabul than Kashmir. That may have been graphically illustrated when Taliban fighters attacked Kabul on Friday, killing 16 people, including up to nine Indians.
It is too early to say whether the attack specifically targetted Indian interests or whether it was aimed at foreigners more generally. But India has blamed earlier attacks on its interests in Afghanistan on Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency -- its embassy in Kabul has been bombed twice.
"These are the handiwork of those who are desperate to undermine the friendship between India and Afghanistan, and do not wish to see a strong, democratic and pluralistic Afghanistan," an Indian Foreign Ministry statement said after Friday's attack.
India invested heavily in Afghanistan after the fall of the Pakistan-backed Taliban in 2001 and has built close ties with the government of President Hamid Karzai. Islamabad accuses it of using its large presence there (it has four consulates along with its Kabul embassy) to channel money and weapons to militants seeking to destabilise Pakistan -- a charge New Delhi denies.
So one question to ask is whether the Kabul attack was an extension of an undeclared proxy war between the two countries in Afghanistan. And if so, what does it mean for their fresh attempt at dialogue begun with a meeting of their foreign secretaries on Thursday? In such a decentralised insurgency, the Kabul attack was unlikely to be timed specifically to follow those talks but it could sour the mood further.
And although the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, Thomas Ruttig at the Afghanistan Analysts Network asks where this would leave the statement made by Taliban leader Mullah Omar that his movement did not represent a threat to any other country. "Does that not apply to India?" he writes. "Or has this attack been carried out by other elements: Pakistani Taleban, the Haqqani network or those linked to groups like Lashkar-e Taiba or al-Qaeda that has declared ‘Hindu’ India a target, too?"
In the meantime, U.S. media appear to be stepping up calls on Washington to do more to try to nudge India and Pakistan back into peace talks, judging by these editorials in The Christian Science Monitor and The New York Times. "The administration knows how important it is for India and Pakistan to lower tensions," said The New York Times. "At India’s insistence, it has decided to take a low profile role, nudging the two sides discreetly back to the table. It should nudge harder."
Like sun is the source of all energy, Pakistan is source for all acts of terrorism all over the world . Recent attacks in Kabul is blatant example where Pakistan backed taliban militia killed innocent people, doctors etc . It is incumbant upon international community put more pressure Pakistan, Pak military, ISI to stop all terror camps and prevent using of Pak territory .
U.N. official clarifies ‘elation’ at Haiti rape reports
The deputy head of the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, Anthony Banbury, raised some eyebrows this week when he told journalists that reports of only three recent rapes in the impoverished Caribbean nation “almost elates me” — ostensibly because the situation could be much worse.
A day later Banbury issued a statement clarifying his views on the issue: “My remarks make clear my strong commitment to human rights protection issues, and my conviction that three rapes is ‘far too many’. I said that reports of only three rapes ‘almost elates me’ because of deep concern – by myself and human rights protection experts – that the large numbers of people who are living in cramped and onerous conditions in displaced persons camps could lead to serious protection issues, especially with regard to sexual violence against women and children. If the total number of rape cases is indeed three, while ‘far too many’, it would show that efforts by the U.N. and our partners to enhance protection measures for women and children in the camps were working to a large extent, and our worst fears were not materializing. This would be a source of encouragement. I have dedicated many years to protecting the human rights of vulnerable populations, and my career to public service. Far from belittling the crime of rape, my clear intention was to convey a sense of U.N. commitment and concern about human rights protection.”
What do you think about Banbury’s remarks?
photo credit: Reuters/Carlos Barria (A U.N. soldier in Port-au-Prince)
One can easily see why Banbury was elated. He was not elated by the rapes but rather by the very low number of rapes , 3 and that statistic is something to be pleased about.
The comic books that brainwash North Koreans
SEOUL, South Korea — Heinz Insu Fenkl, a literature professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz, has cracked one secret to understanding the bizarre regime of North Korea: by reading its comic books.
The academic, who refers to himself as an American-Korean, spends hours in his office tucked away in upstate New York, churning out English translations of the rare books (called “gruim-chaek” in North Korea) after he gathers them at shops in China and from colleagues who travel to Pyongyang.
The plots are often wacky, usually pinning blame on loud-mouthed Americans and opportunist Japanese for cursing their promised land with vice. Most books are leaked to China through the border town of Dandong — a hub of smuggling in North Korean goods. Others end up in a single shop in Tokyo that specializes in hermit-state memorabilia. Still, others mysteriously make their way to university libraries in the U.S.
Of the “gruim-chaek” I’ve located, those published this decade tend to be spy thrillers probably aimed at young boys and teenagers. The cartoonists establish the storylines strictly as moralistic good-versus-evil tales. And almost all the books are printed in black-and-white on poor quality paper.
“I’ve also seen some covers of more recent comics that seem to be re-establishing a mythic narrative by referring back to old folktales,” Fenkl said, adding that he’s planning a single massive web archive for all his North Korean comic books.
So what, America has ben doing it for many decades. Then comes TV and the controlled news media so USA citizens are unaware of the real war going on within Iraq, Pakistan, etc. It is so bad over there that hundreds of soldiers have committed suicide!
Getting back to comics, this is normal propaganda in many countries. Even the Federal reserve gives away free comic books about having fait in the US dollar and to believe and trust your bankers.
from Pakistan: Now or Never?:
Pakistan, India send in their professional diplomats to break the stalemate
The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan, meeting in New Delhi to end a diplomatic freeze which followed the November 2008 attack on Mumbai, did what they were expected to do -- laid out all the issues which divide the two countries and agreed to "keep in touch".
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, India's top diplomat, focused on what India calls "cross-border terrorism". India also handed three new dossiers of evidence to the Pakistani delegation, including one on Hafez Saeed, the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, who New Delhi accuses of masterminding the Mumbai attack. Pakistan had said it did not have enough evidence to prosecute Saeed.
Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said both countries were victims of terrorism but that dialogue should not be held hostage to a single person or single incident. In a news conference after the talks he stressed the need to reach a settlement on Kashmir, to resolve territorial disputes over the Siachen and Sir Creek regions and to improve cooperation over the sharing of Himalayan river waters.
He also raised India's role in Afghanistan, saying it was using its presence there to provide money and funding to militants to destabilise Pakistan. India denies this.
But despite their widely different views on what should be on the agenda, there was little suggestion of rancour during the talks, which Bashir described as a genuine attempt to bridge differences. Both Rao and Bashir are seasoned diplomats with long experience of the many ups and downs of the relationship between India and Pakistan.
The next step to watch is whether Rao now travels to Islamabad for a further round of talks. No dates were announced. The prime ministers of the two countries will also have a chance to meet at a regional summit in Bhutan in April.
Progress will be slow. India and Pakistan have yet to agree even on what format their talks should take. India is believed to have some doubts about the usefulness of the composite dialogue -- a formal structured process meant to cover all areas of contention -- and broken off by New Delhi after the Mumbai attack. Bashir appealed against discarding the composite dialogue, which been the foundation for many years of negotiations, complaining that if this were relegated, there would be no starting point for future discussions.
Dear Myra,
I am very curious (in the litteral sense of the phrase, not the ironic one) about the last paragraph of your article in which you say
“A while back, many analysts argued that the road to peace in Afghanistan ran through Kashmir. The quickening timeframe for the Afghan war suggests there is no longer the time for such a lengthy detour. Now it runs through Kabul.”
I am currently doing research for my Masters dissertation on the balance of power between Afghanistan, Pakistan and India and I found your comment very interesting (as is the rest of your blog may I add). Could you develop what you mean by your last paragraph further, why and how does it run through Kabul now?
Many thanks in advance and bonne continutation.
Alex
Of Greece, the EU and high-stakes financial chicken
Fitch, one of the big three credit ratings agencies, has made some positive noises on behalf of Greece, briefly bucking the onslaught of negative comment.
Speaking in an interview with Reuters, a Fitch analyst said there was no reason to cut the country’s credit rating from its current BBB+ just yet, although he was keeping a very close eye on the situation and maintaining a negative outlook.
That should have given the eurozone, so worried about the potential implosion of one of its members’ sovereign debt markets, cause to breathe more easily, at least briefly.
But the analyst added a comment that is exactly what the European Union and the 16 countries that make up the euro zone do not want to hear.
“If there was concrete EU help (for Greece), available on certain terms known in advance, then clearly it would be a strong point for the rating,” he said.
And therein lies the rub.
Concrete EU/eurozone support for Greece — for example a guarantee that EU members would buy a fixed amount of Greece’s debt for the rest of the year — might be helpful for ratings agencies to determine that a Greek default is therefore less of a risk and the rating can be increased, but it’s precisely what could make Greece’s debt problems worse, not better.
from Pakistan: Now or Never?:
Towards a regional settlement in Afghanistan (Redux squared)
Regular readers of this blog will know we have been talking for a long time about finding a regional solution to Afghanistan. The argument -- much touted during President Barack Obama's election campaign -- was that you could stabilise the country if you persuaded the many regional players with a stake in Afghanistan -- including Iran, Pakistan, India, Russia and China -- to cooperate rather than compete in finding a political settlement to what was effectively an unwinnable war.
The argument looked at best utopian, at worst a description of the delicate balance of power in the early 20th century that was meant to keep the peace but in reality led to the outbreak of World War One. It is now resurfacing again as public opinion in western countries -- including in staunch U.S. ally Britain -- turns against the long war in Afghanistan.
As discussed in this analysis, we are now seeing some fresh signs of regional cooperation. The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan hold talks on Thursday to try to break a diplomatic freeze which followed the 2008 attack on Mumbai. And Pakistan and Iran may have cooperated on the arrest of Jundollah leader Abdolmalek Rigi.
The utopian argument may finally about to have its day. That said, none of this is following a U.S. script. So we could also see -- as happened before 1914 -- the best efforts at balancing out every nation's interests turning out for the worst.
(File photo: Children in Arghandab, Afghanistan)
It continues to amaze me how every issue in Afghanistan is considered only in relation to how it effects Western interests and their plans to quit. I have been scouring the various articles and no one is talking of the Afghan people and their interests. Its all about US plans to exit, the timetable and rising disenchantment with the war. They are all looking at a solution to the war, not Afghanistan.
So we get Kashmir thrown in, drugs and warlords, but not what went wrong these lat 7 years. How many times was Kashmir mentioned by the US as a cause of instability in the Afghan region? How often did they discuss clashing Indian and Pakistani interests before they walked into Afghanistan? Now every self appointed anlayst and commentator is talking just that and nothing else. Isn’t it strange that India, just a few hundred miles away is considered a problem. And those from thousands of miles away come and go looking after their own interests. And that is perfectly justified. They are part of the problem still, they want to be part of the solution…..people in this part of the world have infinite patience, we are watching but not holding our breath. The outcome is already known. Quit and run one fine morning.
‘”Only the countries of the region can decide whether they want to build on the multitude of existing regional bodies, or create something new and Afghanistan-specific,” British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said last week.’ Pity Jack Straw and Blair didn’t seem to want anyone to interfere with their plans 8 years ago and were deaf to any talk of restraint on their part. Similarly Coll is talking of the US being stymied by India’s refusal to let the US dominate talks or interfere and the slow nature of Indo Pak talks. Yet, he got the bottom line right when he said “The U.S. doesn’t seem to be able to construct a breakthrough.” Amen.
I think that what is urgently needed is to get the UN involved more deeply in everything. Leave it to the UN to negotiate and confer with the regional parties and then finally suggest an amicable and just solution. Let the others chill out and take a backseat. Will the Security Council with more or less the same culprits calling the shots allow this to happen? Only if they do, there is hope.
from Africa News blog:
What can Nigeria expect now?
The return of Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua three months after he left for a Saudi hospital might normally have beeen seen as a sign that a long spell of debilitating uncertainty was over.
But this was no ordinary return for a long absent president with an army band and a red carpet.
Yar’Adua was moved under cover of darkness from a plane to an ambulance and then driven to the Aso Rock presidential villa in Abuja. No pictures. No comment.
In fact, nobody outside his immediate circle has had a chance to see him and that apparently includes Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, who two weeks ago assumed executive powers with the support of parliament to end a power vacuum.
A statement from Yar’Adua’s spokesman thanked Jonathan for his help and said he would continue running affairs of state while the president convalesces. Before seeing the president, he was due to meet his wife, Turai.
Yar’Adua’s return was welcomed by many in the country of more than 140 million although there were widespread doubts about whether he would return to office and questions over what would be the role of his aides and powerful wife.
What will the new arrangement mean for chances of addressing problems such as unrest in the Niger Delta, power shortages, ensuring fair elections and corruption? What will it mean for the political intrigues ahead of an election due within just over a year?
Dam its time 4 change…… change….. change. Dont yall understand change????
Sniping mars EU image and unity
The European Union seems to have developed a habit of shooting itself in the foot.
The latest self-inflicted wound was an attack on Wednesday by a euro-sceptic British member of the European Parliament who dismissed Herman Van Rompuy, the new EU president, as a “damp rag” who had no legitimacy and threatened democracy.
The former Belgian prime minister sat just metres away in the assembly, fiddling awkwardly with his tie.
This unseemly scene followed an attack on EU leaders this week by Greek Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos, who is frustrated by the EU’s handling of his country’s debt crisis.
”The question is what the quality of leadership is and the quality of leadership today in the Union is very, very poor indeed,” Pangalos told BBC World Service radio.
He harked back to what he clearly regarded as better times at the EU by praising former European Commission President Jacques Delors, late French President Francois Mitterrand, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
” I don’t think the situation would be what it is today if that programme (to tackle Greece’s economic problems) had been discussed with Jacques Delors, Mitterrand, Thatcher and Kohl. This is another level of leadership which we don’t have today, most unhappily,” he said.
‘Stop me before I bet again in Singapore’
A performer holds over-sized deck cards in front of the Resorts World Sentosa casino Feb. 14 (REUTERS/Pablo Sanchez)
At least 264 people in Singapore have asked to be put on a list that would prevent them from entering the city state’s newly opened casino. Except for nine housewives and 19 unemployed people, the rest had jobs and probably families that they did not want to hurt with a gambling problem. Family members who think a relative might have a gambling problem can also apply to have them banned.
The $4.7 billion Resorts World Sentosa opened on Feb. 14, Valentines Day and the first day of the Chinese New Year, which was considered auspicious. It is the first of two casinos resorts (and a Universal Studios theme park) that is meant to help transform Singapore from a manufacturing and shipping center to a global hub city built on financial services and a playground for wealthy visitors. This is quite a change for a country often called the “nanny state” because of its many prescriptions and prohibitions, famously for instance, banning chewing gum for its irksome tendency to land up on sidewalks and onto people’s shoes.
For decades Singapore had banned gambling as well, noting a Chinese proclivity towards gambling and its often attendant ruinations on families. But the ban didn’t stop folks from taking a bus across the Singapore Strait to neighbouring Malaysia, which sports a hilltop casino in the Genting Highlands.
The government has taken a number of precautions, besides the voluntary exclusion list, to help people hedge their gambling habits. An on-site counselling service is available for problem gamblers, who can also set gaming limits for themselves with the house. You won’t find ATM machines in the casinos. But the biggest discoruagement is the US$70 entry fee for Singaporeans and permanent residents. The high rollers won’t be bothered, but it will be a strong deterrent to the chap who wanders in with just a a couple of hundred dollars in his pocket.
The precautions don’t seem to be hurting business much. Within a week of opening the Resorts World casino had already attracted 128,000 visitors.
Singapore hopes casinos will generate spin-offs like luxury services and increased business for private bankers in a city which many say is fast becoming Asia’s premier wealth management center.
There’s much more to Singapore than just casinos! This guide is great for people who are thinking of going there- http://www.whichoffshore.com/city-guides /singapore
@ Magic786: “But when does a girl become “balig” – adult – in your eyes… as I know living in England there are girls that are around that age ten just above or less who are pregnanet and have babies. How I know I can see them pushing prams to the job centers”
Your lack of intellectual capacity isn’t lost on this blog as you’ve graced it one stupid comment after another but this one takes the cake. So there are 10 yr old mothers strolling around the streets of UK? LMAO! So, I guess UK must be a pedophilia haven with girls having super-human biological powers to be delivering kids at that age. FYI, in most civilized countries, having sex with girls below the age of 18 is considered as ‘statutory rape’ even if it’s consensual.
@ “First you answer in simple terms – YES-NO- Do you worship hand made idols and bow down to them and ask them for help and even give them milk to drink. In some instances the idol has even drank it NOT!lol….ooohh”
I haven’t answered your question because I don’t know the answer & frankly I don’t wanna know either. I believe that religion is a very personal & private matter & whether a person finds his/her faith in a stone, tree or a snake is no one’s but that individual’s business. You, me or anyone, has no right to question or mock someone’s faith because at the end of the day God is one despite the different names given and by insulting someone else’s faith or religion, you are actually insulting God. It’s as simple as that but maybe you’re just too bigoted, hateful & moronic to get this into your thick skull.