Two Bangladeshi among five arrested in India

Five Chakma youths including two from Bangladesh have been apprehended with huge quantity of arms and ammunition in the Indian state of Mizoram.

A senior official of Border Security Force (BSF) in Agartala said the arrests were made on Thursday.

Their detention reinforces the assertions that Mizoram is being used as a corridor by gun runners, and insurgents of northeast India and Bangladesh for transporting arms and ammunition and drugs from Myanmar and Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) inside Indian territory.

“Aizawl frontier BSF along with Mizoram police during search of a vehicle on the airport road apprehend five Chakma youths,” said BS Rawat, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of BSF.

He said five M-16 rifles, 5100 round of live cartridges of M-16 and AKs, 10 cell phones and Indian rupees 60,000 and documents were found on them.

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Terrorist Are Planning To Hit India's Bhakra Dam

Intelligence inputs indicate terrorists are planning to target the Bhakra Nangal Dam in Himachal Pradesh.

Intelligence Bureau sources on Saturday said an advisory has been sent to the Himachal government to tighten the security at the dam.

It is believed that the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawah groups are likely to carry out the strike during the Monsoon, during which water level is very high in the dam.

Damage to the facility at that time could cause havoc in the areas downstream.

But we must remember it is not easy to blow up a dam though it might sound simple enough specifically dam of this size, it is not a small check dam. To blow it up you will need extreme amounts of explosives or some weapon which can penetrate the thick walls.

India Prepares To Pre-empt Terror Attack On Its Air bases

Against the backdrop of a deadly assault on a Pakistani military base, India is fortifying its air bases to improve their security and pre-empt any terror attack from within or outside the country, a top military commander said Wednesday.

'The (May 22) terror attack on Pakistan Navy air base at Mehran in Karachi was a wake-up call. In light of the incident, we are taking measures to improve security at all air bases across the country on top priority,' the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik, told reporters here on the margins of a conference here.

As the world's fourth largest air force after the US, Russia and China, the IAF has 60 operational air bases across the country under seven commands, with 170,000 personnel and 1,600 aircraft of different types, including fighters, transports and helicopters.

'Prior to the Karachi incident, we started a security audit and instituted measures to strengthen security in and around our air bases. As Kashmir's priority is greater, we have taken up fortifying the air bases in the western sector first as it is closer to Pakistan. Security at bases in the south, east and other regions will be beefed up in phases,' Naik said.

In one of the deadliest terror strikes by suspected Taliban militants on a Pakistan military base, about 20 people were killed, including 14 security personnel and four terrorists.

The IAF has also initiated measures to train its personnel for internal security duties as each base and its periphery is different.

'Security will be stepped up based on the threat perception. For instance, the threat level at Yelahanka base (in Bangalore) and Bidar base (in north Karnataka) may be higher compared to Hakimpet base (in Hyderabad). Each base will make its own appreciation and appraisal,' Naik pointed out after addressing commanders of the Training Command here.

'After the assessment, we will seek government approval for purchasing security equipment and installing at the bases. The exercise also involves training our personnel and creating awareness among the public, which can help us in being vigilant and respond quickly whenever and wherever a threat emanates,' Naik, who retires July-end noted.

In the context of the security scenario and tension prevailing in the South Asian region, especially in the western negibourhood, Naik asserted that the IAF was prepared to thwart any nefarious designs and threats arising from the enemies of the state and fully capable of facing any challenges.

'We remain committed and prepared to thwart any nefarious designs and threats arising from the enemies of the state. As an emerging strategic aerospace force, we are fully capable of facing any challenge,' Naik reiterated.

Noting that the IAF had embarked on a major modernisation plan, Naik said its major acquisitions and upgradations would give the air force a set of capabilities for meeting all perceived threats head-on.

'Our commands across the country have been training the generation-next with professionalism and dedication. With the modernisation and induction of the latest fighting assets, the commands face new challenges,' he said.

The IAF is also training its next generation force to absorb the latest technologies so as to maximise exploitation of its weapon systems, Naik said.

(Source IANS)

USA Commands Pakistan To Hand Over 5 Terrorists

The US has drawn up a list of five terrorists, including Ilyas Kashmiri who has been linked to the Mumbai attacks, it expects Pakistan to provide intelligence about immediately and possibly target in joint operations, according to a media report on Saturday.

The list was discussed during three meetings between Pakistani and US officials in the past two weeks, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's talks with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad yesterday, ABC News quoted a US official, a Pakistani government official and a Pakistani intelligence official as saying.

The list also includes Osama bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar, commander Siraj Haqqani and Atiya Abdel Rahman, the Libyan operations chief of al Qaeda.

The US views the list as a test of whether Pakistan is "serious about fighting terrorists who have long enjoyed safe havens within its borders", the report said.

An American source too confirmed the existence of the list to the Dawn newspaper and said the US softening its position on unilateral action against terrorists found in Pakistan was conditional.

"The message given to Pakistani leaders was loud and clear: you either cooperate with us on these...terrorists or we'll take care of them by ourselves," the source was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Ilyas Kashmiri has emerged as one of the most dangerous terrorists in recent years. He is a militant with international goals and connections across Arabia and South Asia.

Though the Pakistan Army officially denies it, Pakistani military officials admit he received military training.

He long ago turned his sights against Pakistan, and Pakistani officials believe he tried to kill former President Pervez Musharraf in 2003.

Siraj Haqqani is the operational commander of the Haqqani network, the most violent Taliban faction that is based in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region. Ilyas Kashmiri, a senior member of al Qaeda, was once dubbed "the next Osama bin Laden".

Atiya Abdel Rahman has emerged as a key intermediary between bin Laden and al Qaeda's affiliate networks across the world.

Afghan and American officials believe Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence maintains influence over the Haqqani network and can help target it or convince it to open a political dialogue.

The list does not only include militants the US wants Pakistan to target, ABC News reported.

In the case of Mullah Omar, the US is "interested in determining whether he can be part of political reconciliation in Afghanistan, and is pushing the Pakistanis to facilitate such an outcome", according to two US officials.

The US has already opened a dialogue with a man believed to be an emissary of Omar, according to two senior Afghan officials, but is proceeding cautiously.

Hillary Clinton and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, during their meetings in Islamabad, urged Pakistan to support the reconciliation process in Afghanistan and do nothing to scuttle it, according to US administration officials.

Pakistani intelligence officials have in the past admitted they detained Afghan Taliban leaders who expressed a willingness to reconcile.

Speaking to the media in Islamabad, Hillary Clinton said the US expects Pakistan to authorize "joint action against al Qaeda and its affiliates".

She noted that "there is still much more work required, and it is urgent."

Hillary Clinton said after bin Laden's death in a US raid in Pakistan on May 2, the two countries had reached a "turning point" and American officials have said that if Pakistan does not provide more cooperation, the US could cut off some two billion dollars in annual aid.

Way Forward For Indian State Of Jammu And Kashmir

By Sushant K Singh

The political process in the Valley can only be reactivated fully once the security situation has been brought under control. However certain steps can be initiated to restart the political process immediately. These will have to be undertaken at many levels simultaneously within the state.

SECURITY CENTRIC MEASURES

1. The state police, supported by the central paramilitary forces, must lead an offensive that dis-aggregates the separatist leadership, local ring-leaders and mobsters from the average citizen. The former must be targeted and the latter protected. To signal a clean break from the happenings of last three months, the state government must effect a change in the leadership at the state, districts and police station levels. Policemen who hail from areas affected by violence, or have families residing in these areas, should be kept out of situations where they are publicly visible in the conflict. Instead of local police, teams of Rapid Action Force, with well-publicised shoot-at-sight orders and equipped with non-lethal means of crowd control, must be employed to control major public demonstrations and prevent mob violence.

2. The modes of financing of the separatists, mostly by hawala channels, must be unearthed, investigated and blocked. A special joint task force of the state government, Union Home Ministry and the Union Finance ministry must be established immediately with an independent and specific mandate---free of any local political interference---to pursue the money trail. The squeezing of financial support to the organisers and leaders of stone-pelting mobs will rapidly bring an end to these paid protests.

3. In the near-term, the state police force must be equipped, trained and re-oriented for tackling public demonstrations using non-lethal means. Sufficient quantity of modern non-lethal equipment, along with trained manpower has to be inducted into the state police. As more than 500 terrorists are still active in the Kashmir valley and attempts to infiltrate more into the state continue unabated from across the Line of control, the counter-terrorist capacities developed over last two decades must be preserved. This can be best achieved by training newly inducted police recruits in non-lethal crowd control and inducting them simultaneously with the new equipment in various districts of the state over the next 3-6 months.

4. The intelligence setup in the state needs to be reinforced and reformed. A mechanism must be put in place under the Governor to co-ordinate and optimally use all the intelligence resources in the state---of central agencies, army and the state government. As there are external agencies involved in aggravating the situation, the state government must establish a real-time connection with the central intelligence agencies to receive, collate and analyse the intelligence inputs available with them. These two exercises should be completed within the next one month, by institutionalising new standard operating procedures. This intelligence must be used to conduct specific targeted operations against the separatist leadership, ring-leaders and organisers of mob protests.

5. The Indian army must remain vigilant at the Line of Control and continue with its three-tier deployment to stall any attempts at infiltration by Pakistan before the winter sets in. The Rashtriya Rifles units deployed in the non-urban areas must ensure that any attempts to revive the jihadi insurgency in the state is nipped in the bud. Even if there is an increased involvement of the army in quelling street protests, there should be no dilution of its strong anti-infiltration posture on the Line of Control.

POLITICAL MEASURES

6. The Union government must not announce any unilateral concessions as they would pander to separatists and violent mobsters. Back-channel negotiations with the separatists must be started in the right earnest, but any political or economic packages must be preconditioned to reciprocation by the separatist leadership. All public negotiations or agreements with the separatists though must be entered into only by the duly-elected state government, and not by New Delhi. The divisions within the separatist leadership---Syed Ali Shah Geelani vs Massrat Alam, and Mr Geelani versus Mirwaiz Umar Farooq---must be highlighted and exploited by the state government.  

7.  The idea that Kashmiris are special must be publicly replaced by the idea that all Indians are special. New Delhi must specify that any political solution will have to be within the Indian Constitution. Any measures for devolving more political powers to the state will also be applicable to all the states of India, along with Jammu & Kashmir.

8. The proposal to review the provisions of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) or its application to various districts must be a political decision, based on security considerations. The need to review the provisions of the AFSPA has been identified by the Supreme Court and other government committees. A decision on it must be taken on its own merit without considering Jammu & Kashmir as a special case. The plan to review the application of AFSPA, however, can be a part of a quid pro quo deal with the separatists. Pending such a political agreement, the review should be based on security inputs and taken by the state government.

9. At the grassroots level, the National Conference and the Congress Party should re-invigorate their cadres and start a political movement in the Valley. Peace marches and public rallies must be held in the areas not afflicted by the separatist violence. They must challenge the separatists to dissociate their political message from religious tools. The dangers of this mixture must be exposed by highlighting the example of Pakistan. Calls from parents to re-open schools and from local businessmen,craftsmen and tradesmen to run their routine lives must be highlighted in these public events.In the affected areas, the local cadre of the mainstream parties must be supported by the party leaderships to conduct small word-of-mouth campaign in their localities.To break the momentum of the separatist protests, the demobilised counter-Restoring order in Jammu & Kashmir insurgent groups from the 1990s and the special operations group (SOG) may need to be revived and used in specific situations and locations.

10. The state government must immediately announce the holding of elections to local bodies on the return of normalcy in the Valley. Powers must be devolved to the local bodies, on par with other states of the country on completion of the elections. In 2005, there was over 80 percent voting in the local body polls in the state. The announcement of such polls will re-invigorate the dormant political cadre of the mainstream parties in the state.

11. Although Article 370 of the Indian Constitution has kept the state of Jammu & Kashmir secluded from the rest of the country, it is a constitutional provision and can not be revoked or violated without the due political consensus. However, the isolation of the Valley caused by this Act must be nullified by providing better inter-connectivity among all the regions of the state. Better physical connectivity through newer and wider roads,expeditious completion of the Jammu-Anantnag railway line and cheaper and smaller flights will facilitate and spur freer movement of people and ideas within the state. This will lead to greater economic activity and also redress the social imbalance that has crept into the Valley.

INFORMATION & STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS

12. Local, national and international media must be encouraged to visit normal areas of the Valley, outside of the three affected districts, to expand the coverage of Kashmir. Doing so will demonstrate the separatist violence is confined to a small fraction of the state and its populaton. Srinagar also needs to craft its own public diplomacy campaign, to showcase the normal areas in the Valley, and in other parts of the state. The Hindu-and Buddhist-dominated regions of Jammu and Leh deserve greater media attention, so too the Shia-dominated regions of Kargil and Gurjar-dominated regions of Rajauri-Poonch, all of which oppose separatism. The Islamist agenda of the separatist leadership must be exposed.

13. The state government must select a number of government schools in Srinagar town and make sure they stay open amidst all calls for strike and protests. The students and teachers must be escorted and ferried to the school and back under police protection. The symbolism of this one step will hurt the credibility of the separatists and enhance the legitimacy of the state government in the mind of the citizen.

Maoists Are Loyal Only To Money Minted Through Extortion: DGP

The CPI(Maoist) has been targetting marginal farmers, tribals and the poor, besides collecting huge extortion money from construction companies, Jharkhand police chief G S Rath said here on Monday.

"The so called ideology of the Maoists that they are fighting for the cause of poor, the downtrodden and tribals are hollow. They are now only collecting huge amount of levy (extortion) from companies engaged in construction of roads, bridges and other works," Rath told PTI here after visiting Morangi where the Maoists had on Sunday razed 30 vehicles of a construction company.

The Maoists had reportedly collected over Rs ten crore last year, the DGP said. "In recent months, eighty per cent to 90 per cent of the Maoist crime was perpetrated against marginal farmers, tribals and the poor. They are not loyal to the nation, but only to money by way of collecting levy (extortion)," he added.

About the Morangi incident in which the Maoists set fire to 30 vehicles of a road construction company, the DGP said the Maoists were frustrated as the company shifted its stone crusher plant to Morangi as the previous site at Daroo village was located in forest, which was within their reach.

The DGP expressed displeasure at the company officials for not seeking security from the administration after the shifting of their camp, which would have prevented the loss.

"Had not the night patrolling police force from Hazaribagh reached there the company would have lost the entire camp and more costly machinery and mixing plant installed for the construction work," Rath claimed while praising Hazaribagh SP Pankaj Kamboj for reaching the spot in the shortest possible time and take on the Maoist mite.

The DGP claimed that the Maoists responsible for the attack have been identified and police would nab them at the earliest.

The DGP once again appealed to the Maoists to surrender and join the main stream.
Over 25 naxalites from different extremist outfits had last year surrendered before the police and availed the benefits of a government's surrender policy.

Senior Maoist Leader Dunna Kesava Rao Surrenders

A senior Maoist leader wanted for several offences in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh and carrying a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head surrendered before the police here on Wednesday.

Dunna Kesava Rao alias Azad, working in Orissa State Organising Committee (ORSOC) and Andhra-Orissa Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC), the Maoist outfits, surrendered before Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police K Aravinda Rao.

The surrender of Kesava Rao is a big blow to AOBSZC and ORSOC of CPI (Maoist), police said.

Kesava Rao, a native of Mandasa mandal of Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh, who was involved in Maoist activities since 1990 and involved in several cases in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh including attacks on police stations, killing policemen among other crimes was carrying a reward of Rs 10 lakh, they said.

Kesava Rao joined CPI (ML) People's War in 1990, worked in Uddanam area of Srikakulam district in different capacities till 1997. Then he worked as Deputy Commander of Yellavaram Dalam of CPI (ML) PW and later as Deputy Commander of Basadhara Divisional Committee of AOBSZC.

When asked about any specific reason for the surrender of Kesava Rao, a police official said "Kesava Rao surrendered to join the main stream of society."

Deputy Commander Of Taliban Vows To Complete Osama's Mission

The slaying of Osama bin Laden has given the Pakistani Taliban "new zeal" to complete the al-Qaida chief's mission of waging holy war against the West, the deputy commander of the militant group told The Associated Press.

The comments by Waliur Rehman appeared designed to deflate expectations that the extraordinary May 2 raid by U.S. Navy SEALs that killed bin Laden in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad would slow down insurgent groups allied with or inspired by al-Qaida. It also could be an attempt to raise morale among the insurgents.

The Pakistani Taliban is a network of militant groups that is distinct from but linked to the Afghan Taliban.

The primary target of the Pakistani Taliban has been the Pakistan state itself, which the militants claim is essentially a slave to the United States. But the group also has been linked to plots in the West, including a Pakistani American's failed attempt to detonate a car bomb in New York's Times Square.

Rehman spoke to the AP on Monday along the border between North and South Waziristan, two lawless tribal regions where Islamist militants are strong.

"After the martyrdom of Sheik Osama, the mujahideen will continue jihad to complete his mission with a new zeal, " he said, referring to his fighters.

"We have the same target, program and mission," he added. "Our enemies are NATO, Jews and Christians."

Rehman, dressed in a traditional white Pakistani long shirt and trousers and carrying an AK-47, spoke of bin Laden in a composed manner, but also questioned some of the details that have emerged from the raid.

He said he believed bin Laden detonated a suicide jacket to avoid arrest, and that was the reason the U.S. had resisted releasing a photo of his corpse.

The White House says it will not release the photos to avoid sparking outrage and potential violence from bin Laden supporters.

Egyptian Saif Al-Adel Acting Leader Of Al Qaeda

An Egyptian who was once a Special Forces officer has been chosen "caretaker" leader of al Qaeda in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death, according to a source with detailed knowledge of the group's inner workings.

Al Qaeda's interim leader is Saif al-Adel, who has long played a prominent role in the group, according to Noman Benotman. Benotman has known the al Qaeda leadership for more than two decades. He was once a leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), a militant organization that used to be aligned with al Qaeda, but in recent years renounced al Qaeda's ideology.

Benotman said that based on his personal communications with militants and discussions on jihadist forums, al-Adel, also known as Muhamad Ibrahim Makkawi, had been chosen interim chief of al Qaeda because the global jihadist community had grown restive in recent days about the lack of a formal announcement of a successor to bin Laden.

According to Benotman, this was not a decision of the formal shura council of al Qaeda, because it is currently impossible to gather them in one place, but was rather the decision of six to eight leaders of al Qaeda in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area. Al-Adel was already one of the top leaders of the group.

However, Benotman said, the choice of an Egyptian may not sit well with some Saudi and Yemeni members of al Qaeda, who believe bin Laden's successor should come from the Arabian Peninsula, a region that is holy to all Muslims. Bin Laden was from a wealthy Saudi family.

The presumed successor to bin Laden is his long-time deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is also Egyptian. Benotman, who has long been a reliable source of information about al Qaeda, said the temporary appointment of al-Adel may be a way for the leadership to gauge reaction to the selection of someone from beyond the Arabian Peninsula as the group's leader.

Al-Adel fought the Soviets in Afghanistan during the 1980s. After the fall of the Taliban in the winter of 2001 he fled to Iran. According to senior Saudi counterterrorism officials, from there al-Adel authorized al Qaeda's branch in Saudi Arabia to begin a campaign of terrorist attacks in the Saudi kingdom that began in Riyadh in May 2003, a campaign that killed scores.Some reports in the past year have suggested that al-Adel had left Iran for Pakistan.

One of the key issues that al-Adel has to reckon with now is the fallout from the large quantities of sensitive information that was recovered by U.S. forces at the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where bin Laden was shot on May 2. That information is likely to prove damaging to al Qaeda operations.

The selection of an interim leader allows al Qaeda to begin the process of collecting allegiance, or baya, from al-Qaeda affiliates such as the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the North Africa-based al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

Baya was a religious oath of allegiance to bin Laden rather than to the organization itself, in the same way that Nazi Party members swore an oath of fealty to Hitler rather than to Nazism. That baya must now be transferred to whomever the new leader of al Qaeda is going to be, which is likely to be al-Zawahiri, given his long role as bin Laden's deputy.

However, there is scant evidence that al-Zawahiri has the charisma of bin Laden, nor that he commands the respect bordering on love that was accorded to bin Laden by members of Al Qaeda.

Now that bin Laden is dead there is a real opportunity for the Taliban to disassociate itself from al Qaeda, as it was bin Laden who, sometime before the 9/11 attacks, swore an oath of allegiance to Taliban leader Mullah Omar as the Amir al-Muminin, "commander of the faithful," a rarely invoked religious title that dates from around the time of the Prophet Mohammed.Mullah Omar could now take the position that the new leader of Al Qaeda does not need to swear an oath of allegiance to Omar as commander of the faithful.

Such a move would satisfy a key condition for peace talks with the U.S. and Afghan governments: that the Taliban reject al Qaeda, something that they have so far not done. Al-Adel has been involved in militant activities since the late 1980s, according to an interview with him published in spring 2005 in the Arabic-language London-based daily Al-Quds al-Arabi. In the article, written by Fuad Husayn, a Jordanian journalist and writer, Al-Adel recalled that he was detained for militant activities in Egypt on May 6, 1987. "The case pertained to the assassination attempt against ex-Egyptian Interior Minister Hasan Abu-Basha. ... I was then a colonel in the Egyptian Special Forces," he said.

Al-Adel also has been involved for years in anti-American activities, other sources indicate. Mohamed Odeh, one of the bombers of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya in August 1998, told FBI interrogators that in 1993 he was ordered by al-Adel to go to Somalia to link up with local tribes and train them to fight and attack U.S. forces who were then serving there in a humanitarian mission to feed starving Somalis.

And a British-Ugandan, Feroz Ali Abbasi, who had trained in an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan before 9/11, recalled in a memoir that Adel instructed him and other recruits to fight U.S. forces around Kabul or in the southern city of Kandahar during the American invasion of Afghanistan in the fall of 2001

In the interview published in Al-Quds al-Arabi, al-Adel also explained al Qaeda's motivations for the 9/11 attack: "Our main objective, therefore, was to deal a strike to the head of the snake at home to smash its arrogance."

After the fall of the Taliban, Adel recalled that he and other members of al-Qaeda found refuge in Iran: "We began to converge on Iran one after the other," he said. "...We began to rent apartments for the fraternal brothers and some of their families. The fraternal brothers of the group of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar" -- an Afghan militant then living in exile in Iran who is now a leader of the insurgency in Afghanistan -- "offered us satisfactory help in this field. They provided us with apartments and some farms that they owned."

But Al-Adel said that the Iranians subsequently arrested a large number of these "brothers."

Family Visits May Be Allowed For Guantanamo Bay Detainees

By Peter Finn and Julie Tate

The Pentagon is considering allowing the families of detainees at Guantanamo Bay to visit them, an unprecedented step to ease the isolation of inmates who in some cases have been held at the U.S. facility for close to a decade, according to congressional aides.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which monitors conditions at the military prison in Cuba and facilitates videoconferences between detainees and their families, has been in serious discussions with the Pentagon about a visitation program, the aides said.

Some Republicans, after hearing about the talks, appeared to balk at such access to the Guantanamo Bay naval station. In an early version of the annual legislation to authorize the activities of the Defense Department, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (Calif.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, inserted language that would ban family visits, which have never occurred at the prison.

But the latest version of the bill states only that Defense Department funding appropriated for fiscal 2012 may not be used “to permit any person who is a family member of an individual detained at Guantanamo to visit the individual.”

That would not rule out a visitation program underwritten by the Red Cross.

“My efforts are aimed at protecting U.S. personnel at Guantanamo and sensitive national security information from being compromised,” McKeon said Wednesday. “Allowing family members to visit detainees at Guantanamo Bay would create major security concerns for our nation.”

A spokesman for the ICRC, Simon Schorno, said the organization would not comment on its confidential dialogue with the U.S. government. But he said that “regardless of where detainees are held, particularly in the context of long-term detention, the ICRC will always work for the detainees and their families to be in contact with one another, including through family visits.”

The Pentagon also would not discuss any potential visitation program or its talks with the ICRC. In response to questions, the department said in a statement that “we are constantly reviewing detention policies with regard to our detention operations globally.”

Congressional aides familiar with the talks spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.

Because Guantanamo is off-shore, families would not necessarily need to enter the mainland United States to reach the prison, and the visits could be staged from a neighboring country willing to allow the families to move into and out of the base.

The “high-value detainees” held at the top-security Camp 7 — including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — would almost certainly not be allowed to participate in any family-visit program. They are currently forbidden to communicate by phone or teleconference, although they can send letters to relatives.

The prospect of family visits is another tacit acknowledgment that Guantanamo is unlikely to close anytime in the near future, and it follows the creation of a review process for those detainees whom the Obama administration said it plans to hold indefinitely without trial.

There are 172 detainees remaining at Guantanamo, 48 of whom are expected to be held indefinitely under the laws of war. Most of the detainees live communally in barracks or open prison-style wings.

Family visits to detainees in U.S. custody are not without precedent, and the ICRC advocates around the world for the principle of visitation.

The United States allows face-to-face contact at a visitation facility at Bagram air base, the largest U.S. detention center in Afghanistan, and both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, working with the Red Cross, have expanded the ability of detainees at Guantanamo to communicate with their families.

Inmates at the facility were first allowed to send letters home via the Red Cross in 2002, shortly after the detention center opened. The contents of letters are reviewed and in some cases censored by the military. The ICRC says it has facilitated the exchange of more than 50,000 messages between Guantanamo detainees and their families.

Starting in 2008, detainees who met certain conditions set by the military were allowed one phone call home each year. That was later expanded to allow several calls each year. More than 700 telephone calls have been made since the system was set up, according to the ICRC.

The military has refused to describe what conditions detainees must meet to be permitted to make phone calls, or whether the calls are a reward for what it calls “compliant” behavior.

In October 2009, the military began to allow one-hour videoconference calls between detainees and their immediate families or other close relatives. Video-call locations have been set up in 20 countries, according to the ICRC.

All conversations are monitored by the military, and the participants are cautioned to limit their topics to family news and other matters that don’t raise security concerns.

The ICRC is the only independent organization that monitors conditions at Guantanamo and has access to the detainees, including the high-value inmates. The ability of people outside the U.S. government to visit the prison is strictly limited.

Defense lawyers can meet their clients at Guantanamo, and journalists and human rights activists can attend legal proceedings. Some relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks have also attended military commission proceedings at the base.

70 killed in PAKISTAN as Taliban claim bin Laden revenge

Pakistan's Taliban Friday claimed their first major strike in revenge for Osama bin Laden's death as at least 70 people were killed in a double suicide bombing on paramilitary police.

More than 100 people were wounded in the deadliest attack in the nuclear-armed Muslim country this year, which came with the government deep in crisis over the killing of the Al-Qaeda chief by US forces on May 2.
Pakistan's senior military officer General Khalid Shameem Wynne cancelled a visit to the United States, a military official said, citing the "prevailing environment".

But despite a Pakistani vow Thursday to review intelligence cooperation, CNN reported that US intelligence agents had interrogated three of bin Laden's widows who were apprehended in the raid and taken into Pakistani custody.

The women were interviewed as a group, despite US wishes to question them separately, and were openly "hostile" to the US officials, CNN said, quoting a Pakistani official and two US officials.

Pakistan's intelligence agency, which CNN said also attended the meeting, was not immediately available to comment on the report.

Friday's explosions detonated in northwest Pakistan as newly trained paramilitary cadets were getting into buses and coaches for a 10-day leave after a training course, and they were wearing civilian clothes, police said.

"This was the first revenge for Osama's martyrdom. Wait for bigger attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan," Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.
"Two of our fedayeen (suicide bombers) carried out these attacks," he added.

The bombers blew themselves up outside a police training centre in Shabqadar town, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) north of Peshawar in the northwest region where Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants repeatedly attack security forces.

Ahmad Ali, a wounded paramilitary policeman, recalled the horror when the explosions turned a festive Friday morning into a bloodbath.

"I was sitting in a van waiting for my colleagues. We were in plain clothes and we were happy we were going to see our families," he told AFP by telephone from Shabqadar hospital.

"I heard someone shouting 'Allah Akbar' and then I heard a huge blast. I was hit by something in my back shoulder. In the meantime I heard another blast and I jumped out of the van. I felt that I was injured and bleeding."

Police officials confirmed that at least 70 people had been killed, making it the first attack of such magnitude in Pakistan since November 5 when a suicide bomber killed 68 at a mosque in the northwest area of Darra Adam Khel.

"Both attacks were suicide attacks. The first suicide bomber came on a motorcycle and detonated his vest among the Frontier Constabulary (FC) men," said the police chief of the Charsadda district, Nisar Khan Marwat.

"When other FC people came to the rescue to help their colleagues, the second bomber came on another motorcycle and blew himself up."

He said that around 20 shops and 12 vehicles were destroyed in the intensity of the blasts and put the death toll at 70.

"Sixty-five of them are from the paramilitary police. Five dead bodies of civilians were taken to Shabqadar hospital," he added.

The Pakistani Taliban last week threatened to attack security forces to avenge bin Laden's killing in a US helicopter raid north of the capital Islamabad.

There has been little public protest in support of bin Laden in a country where more people have been killed in bomb attacks in the past four years than the nearly 3,000 who died in Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks.

But under growing domestic pressure to punish Washington for the bin Laden raid, Pakistan's civilian government said Thursday it would review counter-terrorism cooperation with the United States.

It was unclear if the move was intended as a threat, but it showed the extent of the task facing US Senator
John Kerry as he prepares to embark on a mission to shore up badly strained ties with Washington's fractious ally.

Washington did not inform Islamabad that an elite team of Navy SEALs had helicoptered into the garrison town of Abbottabad until the commandos had cleared Pakistani airspace, carrying with them bin Laden's corpse.

The covert night-time raid has plunged Pakistani politics into turmoil with both President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani are facing calls to resign.

Pakistanis have been outraged at the perceived impunity of the US raid, while asking whether their military was too incompetent to know bin Laden was living close to a major forces academy, or, worse, conspired to protect him.

Gilani chaired a defence committee meeting that decided "to institute an inter-agency process to clearly define the parameters of our cooperation with the US in counter-terrorism", an official statement said.

Washington is pressing Islamabad to investigate how bin Laden and several wives and children managed to live for five years under the noses of its military in Abbottabad, just 40 miles (65 kilometres) north of the capital.
New details of the 40-minute raid on the high-walled compound have emerged according to CBS News, which said the SEALs recorded the action on tiny helmet-mounted cameras.
US officials who have seen the footage said the only firefight took place outside the main compound building, where one of bin Laden's couriers opened fire and was himself shot dead, it reported.
The commandos then fired at bin Laden when he appeared on a third floor landing, but missed and he retreated into a bedroom.
The first SEAL entered the room and pulled aside bin Laden's daughters who were there with him, while a second commando was confronted by one of his wives who either rushed him or was pushed in his direction, said CBS.
According to the report, that second commando pushed the wife out of the way and fired a round into bin Laden's chest, while a third shot bin Laden in the head.

Afghanistans Second Largest City Kandahar Under Taliban Attack

Intense fighting has taken place in Afghanistan&s second city of Kandahar amid co-ordinated militant attacks, including at least six suicide bombs.

The Taliban said it was behind the triple assault on the provincial governor's office, the Afghan spy agency and a police station. At least two people were killed and 23 injured in the fighting, which spread panic on the streets. One official linked the attack to the recent escape of hundreds of prisoners.

Gunmen in a four-storey shopping centre exchanged fire with security forces in a compound belonging to Governor Tooryalai Wesa. "This clearly was intended to be a spring offensive spectacular attack which was thwarted by Afghan National Security Forces," said US Marine Maj-Gen James Laster, a spokesman for the international coalition in Afghanistan. Firing continued until late on Saturday, but officials told Reuters news agency that this was mainly from clearing operations.

Earlier, a spokesman for the Afghan spy agency, the National Directorate of Security, told that the attack on the governor's compound was now over and two Taliban fighters had died. He added: "But they are still attacking my office from a nearby Kandahar hotel. Fighting is still intense.
"They are using heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and AKs [AK-47s].

"The Taliban could use the cover of darkness to launch more attacks. "They planned this well in advance. They wanted to take control of government offices and take senior Afghan officials hostage. There were at least seven explosions, paralysing the city.

At least two suicide bombers who tried to attack police were shot dead before they could reach their targets. Witnesses described civilians running through the streets for safety and shopkeepers closing their stores in case of looting.

Military helicopters were hovering above the city. "Forget human, even the birds have fled the city," a shopkeeper in Kandahar's Chowke Madad district told our correspondent. Two schools and a municipal traffic office were also reported to have been attacked.

Amid the fighting, Governor Wesa appeared on private Shamshad TV to say: ''I am alive and well, sitting with my friends here in my office."No matter how many fighters the Taliban have got in the city, they will be killed one by one.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the militants were attacking civilians to hide their defeat, caused by the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

But Taliban spokesman Yusuf Ahmadi said the Kandahar attacks had been planned for some time as part of the insurgents' annual "spring offensive", announced last week, and had nothing to do with Bin Laden's death.

Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban and a hotbed of the insurgency, has been the focus of military operations by the Western-backed government over the past year.

A senior Kandahar police official blamed the attacks on last month's escape by about 500 prisoners, many of them Taliban, from the main jail in the city.

The official, who did not want to be named, told our correspondent: "If 106 Taliban field commanders - some of them the very backbone of the insurgency - had not escaped from the prison, attacks like this would have not occurred."

Also last month, Kandahar's police chief was killed by an attacker in a police uniform, while in January the provincial governor's deputy was killed.

American Double Standard Cancel All Contracts Of American Companies

If this is not double standard then what is I do not know, hundreds of people have been killed in India over the past 30 year. Mumbai,Akshardham,Parliament,Serial Blast are just few examples.
Please can anybody tell me what is the difference between the life of an American Citizen and an Indian Citizen, is it cheaper or do Indian citizen come in dime a dozen.
Mr Manmohan Singh has made America and Pakistan as the corner stone of his foreign policy but both of these countries could care less for India, then why is the Indian PM so hell bent upon favoring both these nations over others.
Is there something that we do not see , is it true that our Government is being run by foreign powers?
Is it true than Congress party and its top leaders are amassing huge wealth everywhere at the cost of India?Why is the Indian Government so sheepish about the Swiss money trail? Why inspite of serious home pressure the Government refuses to go after the swiss money? Is there something they don't want us to find?

Salman Bashir calls India's demand for action against terrorists in Pak 'outdated'

We are going to talk to the same guy about Siachen and Sir Creek this May. Is the Indian government on payroll of the US or is it more concerned about Pakistani interest rather than Indian interest

CIA Assessing All Captured Osama Documents

U.S. intelligence agencies are racing to exploit a trove of documents and computer files that Navy SEALs collected from Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan before other al-Qaida groups or leaders can change communication methods or move to safe houses.

Many files are written in multiple languages, and some appear in code, U.S. officials said.

"At first blush, there appears to be some value," said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., who was briefed on the effort Wednesday.

The CIA has created a special task force in Afghanistan to analyze bin Laden's material for clues to terrorist plots, the location of other al-Qaida leaders, funding streams and other fresh intelligence.

The material also will probably lead to additional people being added to the government's no-fly and terrorist watch lists, Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday.

Holder, speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee, said a team of federal intelligence and law-enforcement agencies "will make appropriate decisions with regard to who might be added to the terrorist watch list, the no-fly list, all those things."

About 10,000 people are on the no-fly list, U.S. officials have said. The government's master terrorist watch list is one of roughly a dozen lists or databases used by counterterrorism officials.

Eavesdroppers at the National Security Agency also have stepped up efforts to pick up unusual "chatter" from al-Qaida leaders or sympathizers around the globe after the predawn raid Monday by Navy SEALs that killed bin Laden and four others.

U.S. counterterrorism officials worry al-Qaida cells or franchises may accelerate existing plots to make sure attacks are launched before U.S. intelligence can chase down new leads.

Attack timelines also could be moved up in order to avenge bin Laden's death quickly.

Experts say major terrorist operations, especially those involving attacks on multiple targets, usually take months or years of planning.

Any attempt to change or speed up those plans could create an opening for eavesdroppers to intercept a message or gain other intelligence to help foil a plot.

President To Honour Tripura Police, First For Eastern India

Tripura, which has earned kudos in India for stamping out three decades of terrorism, will get another feather in its cap later this month when its police force, which traces its history to 686 years back, will be conferred the President's Colours in recognition of the distinguished service it has rendered.

'After India's independence (in 1947), the Tripura Police will be the first police force in eastern India to be conferred the President's Colours,' state police chief K. Saleem Ali told IANS.

According to Ali, the police forces of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Tamil Nadu have been accorded this distinction in the past.

'President Pratibha Patil is expected to come to Tripura to confer the Colours at a function to be held later this month. The date for the function has not yet been finalised,' said Ali, a 1978 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.

'After the president's ceremonial conferring of the Colours, every member of the Tripura Police unit would be given a badge containing an impression of the Colours,' he added.

He said that the Tripura Police's most elite unit, the Tripura State Rifles (TSR), has earned kudos from the prime minister of India and many state governments, besides various central paramilitary forces, for successfully flushing out terrorism.

The TSR has also successfully discharged election-related duties in many states, including Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal, besides the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi last October.

The Tripura Police recently launched 'Prayaas,' a multi-pronged community policing scheme to reach out to the people, root out crime against women and to completely flush out terrorism.

According to an official document, Tripura's police force, one of India's oldest, was constituted during princely rule in 1325.

'Raja Ratna Manikya (1325-1350) was considered to be the first king of Tripura who brought considerable reforms in the administration as well as in the indigenous police system in the line of Muslim administrative system of Bengal during his regime,' the official document says.

At the end of several hundred years of rule by 184 kings, on Oct 15, 1949, the erstwhile princely state came under the control of the government of India according to a merger agreement signed between Kanchan Prabha Devi, the regent maharani, and C. Rajagopalachari, the governor general of India.

During British rule, the princely state of Tripura extended up to what was called 'Chakla Roshanabad' comprising Comilla, Brahman Baria districts in entirety and parts of Habiganj, Sylhet and Noakhali districts that are now in Bangladesh.

At that time there was also the 'Binidias', a special type of police under the direct control of the king.

'They acted as conduits to inform the tribal chiefs about the firmans (orders) of the king and also were empowered to arrest any person for defying the king's orders,' Panna Lal Roy, a writer and historian, told IANS.

He said successive kings had reformed the policing systems during the princely rule.

'Tripura's last king Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur's (1923 to 1947) reign was the most turbulent period in the history of Tripura and India also. Political activities got new momentum. During communal riots in Bengal, a large number of refugees entered the state causing demographic change and ethnic tension in some places,' Roy said, quoting from 'Rajmala', Tripura's official royal history book.

This, according to an official document, triggered the first organised armed tribal rebellion, known as 'Senkrak,' and which manifested itself in the mid-1960s in parts of northern and western Tripura. 'This movement was started as a reaction to settling down of non-tribal refugees in the tribal reserve forest areas.'

'Strong feelings of social and economic deprivation and insecurity combined with communal feeling and ambition for political power deposited in the minds of a section of tribal youth. These feelings, mixed with adventurism and aid from foreign agencies, got stronger in the later part of the 1970s. As a result, the unfortunate ethnic riots took place in June 1980 when more than 1,300 tribals and non-tribals got killed by each other and large-scale arson and damage of properties also took place,' the document said.

Security and terrorism expert Manas Paul Said: 'In 2000, insurgency in Tripura was at its peak when a total of 453 civilians and 61 security personnel were mowed down by different separatist outfits.'

'From 2001 onwards, the local police, supported by the ruling political leaders and people in general, embarked upon to defeat the separatist outfits decisively,' Paul said, adding that in 2009, only eight civilians and a security man were killed while since last year, only one civilian has been killed.

Western Countries Ask Is Pakistan Doing Enough?

The news about Pakistan army protecting Osama and treating him as a state guest who lived in a palatial house right in the middle of their military town has angered many in the US. They have started asking the question that is Pakistan on our side or is it playing a double game. It must be noted most Indian's were telling US the same thing and most US generals knew abut the ISI and Pakistani armies two faced strategy.

Now th US lawmakers want to know if Pakistan is supporting the same militants that US is fighting and paying the Pakistani army to fight.

The United States has a "complicated but important relationship" with Pakistan, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday.

Carney told reporters that U.S. officials need to learn more about the "support network" that sustained bin Laden in Pakistan. But he also warned against "tarring" everyone in Pakistan's government because of the revelation that bin Laden had been living so close to Islamabad.

There has also been "a great deal of important cooperation" in the fight against Islamic extremism, he said. "The idea that these kinds of complications exist is not new."

Monster Laden Is Dead

Source Reuters


The U.S. is conducting DNA testing on slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and used facial recognition techniques to help identify him, a U.S. official said on Monday.

Bin Laden was identified by the assault force that killed him in a firefight in Pakistan in which he resisted and was shot in the head, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Results of the DNA tests should be available in the next few days, the official told Reuters.

The strike force was on the ground for less than 40 minutes and the operation was watched real-time by CIA Director Leon Panetta and other intelligence officials in a conference room at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., the official said.

“When word came in that the operation was a success, CIA officials in the conference room had a rather large applause,” the official said.

ORDERS TO KILL

Bin Laden was killed in a U.S.-led operation involving helicopters and ground forces in Pakistan on Sunday, ending a nearly 10-year worldwide hunt for the mastermind of the September 11 attacks.

US charges 4 more Pakistanis in Mumbai attack case

US prosecutors on Monday charged four Pakistanis, including the mysterious "Major Iqbal" of ISI, in connection with the 2008 terrorist carnage in Mumbai, just a day after it emerged that Washington considers Pakistan's spy agency a terrorist outfit.

Also charged in a second superseding indictment filed in the US District Court in Chicago are alleged LeT operative and former Pakistani armyman Sajid Mir, and two other men, Mazhar Iqbal and Abu Qahafa, who allegedly helped train the 26/11 attackers.

The new defendants were charged with aiding and abetting the murder of US citizens and others in India, conspiracy to murder and maim, and providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba. In addition, Mir, Qahafa, and Iqbal also were charged with conspiracy to bomb public places. None of the accused is in American custody and it was not immediately clear how the US justice system will proceed with the case.

Washington has an extradition treaty with Pakistan that pre-dates its creation (inherited from British India and invoked occasionally), but it also has other levers with Islamabad that it has used for extraordinary rendition on other occasions.

The fresh indictment, coming at a turbulent time in US-Pakistan relations including the outing of ISI as a terrorist outfit, precedes the scheduled trial later this month of Chicago businessman Tahawwur Rana on charges of helping to plan the Mumbai rampage. Prosecutors say Rana, who owned First World Immigration Services in Chicago, helped another Pakistani expat, Daaod Gilani aka David Coleman Headley, open an office in Mumbai as cover so that he could scout sites for the attack.

Headley has pleaded guilty to the charge in a plea bargain to escape death penalty and it is believed he provided the names of Major Iqbal, Sajid Mir and others added in the superseding indictment. A previous indictment in the Rana case also named former Pakistani special services commando Ilyas Kashmiri and a retired Pakistani military man Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed.

Headley told Indian investigators in June 2010 that his trip to Mumbai in 2006 was sponsored by Maj. Iqbal, who handed him $ 25,000 to open an office and set up a house in Mumbai to be used as a front during his scouting trips. Maj. Iqbal then served as the supervisor of Lashkar's planning, helping to arrange a communications system for the attack and overseeing a model of the Taj Mahal Hotel, so that gunmen could find their way around the hotel.

Pakistan has played smoke and mirrors ever since the nexus between ISI and LeT and their role in the Mumbai carnage was exposed by the fortuitous capture of Ajmal Kasab and subsequently confirmed by David Headley. In the ever-shifting narrative, Pakistani officials have sometimes suggested Major Iqbal is a former ISI officer and may have been part of a rogue operation with LeT leading to the Mumbai attacks. But the state has done little to reel in all the players and prosecute them.

The country's jihadi-sympathetic courts, combined with lack of political will, a constant sense of denial and false grievance, and an extremist mindset have all combined to protect the accused from prosecution for the murder of more than 170 people in Mumbai. The intelligence community believes Pakistan deliberately creates "cut outs" of its service personnel so that it can maintain operational deniability.

But with both the US and Indian justice system moving ahead relentlessly to bring the accused to book, the spotlight is squarely on Pakistan to act, particularly since it has now again come close to being named a state-sponsor of terrorism following the red-flagging of ISI.

On Tuesday, Pakistan reacted angrily to its spy agency being dubbed a terrorist outfit saying it was being defamed internationally. "The ISI is a patriotic organisation which has a huge role in combating terrorism. Those who are trying to bring the ISI into disrepute would never succeed in their design," the country's interior minister Rehman Malik was quoted as saying, a day after WikiLeaks cables showed US investigators considered the ISI a terrorist group.