Pakistani official killed in suicide bombing

Pakistani official killed in suicide bombing

Bomber strikes guests greeting provincial law minister in Khyber Pakthunkhwa on first day of Eid al-Adha.

Police say a suicide bomber has killed at least eight people in northwestern Pakistan, including a provincial government minister, as the country marked the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

Israullah Gandapur, the minister of law for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was killed on Wednesday in his home near the city of Dera Ismail Khan as he greeted residents of his home village who had come to celebrate the first day of Eid.

More than 30 people were wounded in the attack, including the minister's elder brother, said Irfan Mahsud, the assistant commissioner, Dera Ismail Khan, located nearly 300km southwest of the capital, Islamabad.

"I saw so many dead people and injured people crying for help," said eyewitness Haseeb Khan, whose new white holiday clothes were drenched in blood. "There were arms, legs and heads everywhere."

The attacker first killed the guard at the house and then blew himself up inside the guest room of the minister's residence, another police official said.

The minister was rushed to the hospital in critical condition but died along the way.

The suicide bomber had managed to break into the area despite "very tight security", the Provincial Health Minister Shaukat Yousafzai told AFP news agency.

Wednesday's attack involved 8-10 kilograms of locally made explosive, Inayat Ullah, a bomb disposal expert, told AFP.

Group claims responsibility

Ansar al Mujahideen, a group allied to but not part of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The group's spokesman, Abu Baseer, said it was in retaliation for the deaths of men killed during a July jailbreak in the same city.

He was referring to a major operation by fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban who disguised themselves as police and broke 250 prisoners out of a jail.

The province is ruled by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), a party led by former cricketer Imran Khan, which favours peace talks with the Taliban.

Gandapur is now the third lawmaker from the province to have been killed following the general elections on May 11.

Farid Khan and Imran Khan Mohmand, killed in separate attacks in June, were also members of the PTI party.

The main Pakistani political parties including PTI last month backed a government proposal to formally seek negotiations with the militants, who have been waging a war against the state since 2007.

The Taliban have said they are open to talks, but they also say they will not disarm, do not recognise the Pakistani constitution, and will not talk to the government until the army pulls back from their strongholds and all their prisoners are released.

Britain and Iran Move to Repair Diplomatic Relations

By STEVEN ERLANGER

LONDON — In an effort to repair long-strained relations, Britain and Iran announced Tuesday that each would appoint a chargé d’affaires, a rank below ambassador, to work toward resuming full diplomatic ties. The diplomats will remain in their own countries, but will discuss reopening embassies in London and Tehran.

Relations between the countries were downgraded to the lowest level short of a break in 2011 after protesters in Tehran attacked the British Embassy.

Iranians still consider Britain, the former colonial power there, a powerful agent of opposition to Iranian independence and the Islamic Revolution.

The move to restore relations came after the British foreign secretary, William Hague, met with Iran’s new foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, at the United Nations. The two men spoke on the telephone on Monday, Mr. Hague told Parliament on Tuesday.

“I’ve made very clear to Mr. Zarif that we are open to more direct contact and further improvements in our bilateral relations,” Mr. Hague said.

The new Iranian government of President Hassan Rouhani has spoken of greater openness to the West as Tehran prepares for new negotiations next week with the United Nations Security Council on Iran’s disputed nuclear program. Iran is eager for the United States and the Europeans to lift harsh economic sanctions, which were imposed in response to Iran’s regular flouting of Security Council resolutions that it halt uranium enrichment and comply with International Atomic Energy Agency demands that it fully disclose its nuclear activities.

The Obama administration, while skeptical of Mr. Rouhani’s message of openness, would like to resolve tensions with Iran through negotiations, while Israel has warned that Iran may be trying to buy time for developing a nuclear weapon.

Mr. Rouhani, like the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, insists Iran has no intention of building a nuclear bomb. But for Western and Israeli experts, the Iranian program has no other logic, though American officials say they believe Iran has not yet decided to build a nuclear weapon.

Confirmation of the British announcement came from Tehran and the foreign ministry spokeswoman there, Marzieh Afkham.

“Issues pertaining to the historical Iranian perception of the U.K. and its role in Iran, disagreements between the two countries on the nuclear issue, human rights and the Middle East are among points that Iran will discuss with the U.K. in their future talks,” said Ms. Afkham, an Iranian news agency reported.

Pakistan violates the ceasefire again

Pakistan violates the ceasefire again 

Pakistan violated the ceasefire agreement again, and on Tuesday its troops opened fire at Indian posts on the LoC in Mendhar sector of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting between PM Manmohan Singh and Pakistan’s PM Nawaz Sharif just concluded along the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly where it was decided that efforts will be undertaken to stop the violations of ceasefire across the borders. This incident happens after the PM returned to India. Small arms and automatics were utilized for this attack at 230pm on October 1. Indian soldiers responded with similar weapons and the firing continued for an hour. No casualty was reported in the firing. This adds to the ceasefire violations of the agreement signed in November 2003 inked by both India and Pakistan.

AFGHANISTAN: TALKING TO THE TALIBAN

by Cal Thomas

After 12 years of fighting, the Taliban in Afghanistan have announced they are ready to talk peace with the United States. The Taliban opened a political office in Qatar. The talks will take place there, but without the Afghan government, which is refusing to take part in the "peace" talks.

President Obama says there will be "a lot of bumps in the road" during the talks. More like sinkholes. The history of talks with Middle East terrorist groups, apparently, has taught us little. It appears such groups use talks like these to mostly re-arm and/or advance their cause until they can either get back to the killing field or enforce their political and religious will on the masses.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the United States a "great" nation Friday in a sharp reversal from his predecessors and expressed hope that at the very least the two governments can stop the escalation of tensions.

Wrapping up his first trip to the United States as Iran's new leader, Rouhani said President Barack Obama struck a new tone in his U.N. speech this week, which he welcomed.

He said he believes the first step to a meeting between the two leaders was taken Thursday at a meeting on Iran's nuclear program, where the foreign ministers of both nations talked for the first time in six years. The White House announced Friday afternoon that Rouhani and Obama spoke on the phone.

"I want it to be the case that this trip will be a first step, and a beginning for better and constructive relations with countries of the world as well as a first step for a better relationship between the two great nations of Iran and the United States of America," Rouhani told a press conference at a hotel near U.N. headquarters.

Two U.S. generals fired over Taliban attack on Afghanistan base where Prince Harry was staying that left two Marines dead

Major General Charles 'Mark' Gurganus and Major General Gregg Sturdevant have both been asked to retire over the September 2012 attack

Fifteen Taliban insurgents slipped into Camp Bastion and destroyed $200million in U.S. aircraft

Prince Harry was at the base at the time and Taliban said suicide squad had intended to kill him

Two Marine generals have been fired over the security lapses that allowed 15 Taliban insurgents to infiltrate the NATO base in Afghanistan where Prince Harry was housed last September.

The attack claimed the lives of two U.S. Marines, including a Lieutenant Colonel, and destroyed six $24million Harrier jets and a C-130 transport plane - the largest single loss of American air power since the Vietnam War.

Major General Charles 'Mark' Gurganus, the commander of Regional Command Southwest in Afghanistan, and Major General Gregg Sturdevant, the commander of the Marines' aviation wing, have both been asked to retire, it was revealed today.

India and Pakistan Agree to Take Steps to Ease Tension, Officials Say Countries' Leaders Meet on Sunday in New York to Improve Troubled Relationship

NEW YORK—India and Pakistan have agreed to take steps to reduce tension on the disputed part of their border, in a much-anticipated meeting that senior officials said made advances in the tense relations between these nuclear-armed neighbors.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif met in New York on Sunday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The talks went better than expected, officials from both sides said.

A series of deadly events in the weeks leading to the discussions had heightened tensions in the countries' already-fraught relationship.

Washington believes normalizing relations between India and Pakistan would help stabilize the region, as the hostility between the two countries feeds a detrimental competition for influence in Afghanistan. And Islamabad's concern over its eastern border with India prevents it from dealing with the al Qaeda-influenced militant groups that menace its northwest.