Pak Taliban Commanders Bury Rift

TOP PAK TALIBAN COMMANDERS JOIN HANDS TO FIGHT ‘ENEMY’

By Vaidehi Sachin
In a dramatic development, three prominent Pakistani militant commanders — Baitullah Mehsud, Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Maulvi Nazeer ñ on Friday set aside their differences and promised to jointly fight their enemy in future.A senior militant commander of Maulvi Nazeer group told The News on condition of anonymity that all the three militant commanders, in a meeting held somewhere in the South Waziristan Agency, resolved all their differences and promised to live peacefully with each other in future.
“I am extremely excited today. It’s an Eid for us. I even danced and fired shots in the air as we succeeded in removing misunderstandings created by the Pakistan government,” remarked the Taliban commander while talking to The News from Wana by telephone.
He said senior Pakistani and Afghan Taliban commanders had played a role in resolving differences among the three militant commanders. He said a 14-member Shura was formed after their final meeting that would comprise banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Taliban commander in North Waziristan and Maulvi Nazeer, militant commander in South Waziristan.
Ten other people had been drawn from Baitullah Mehsud’s tribe, Gul Bahadur’s Utmanzai Wazir tribe and Maulvi Nazeer’s Ahmadzai Wazir tribe. The Taliban commander said in an earlier meeting it was suggested to nominate Maulvi Nazeer as the new head of the organisation. However, Maulvi Nazeer expressed his unwillingness to head the organisation and left the matter to the next meeting of the Shura.
The commander said all the three militant groups pardoned each other for the previous killings of their people and material losses.When asked whether Gul Bahadur and Maulvi Nazeer would become a part of the TTP, the commander said it would be decided in the next meeting. Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who is the Taliban chief in North Waziristan, had signed a peace accord with the government on Feb 17, 2008 and was considered a pro-government militant commander as he ceased attacks on security forces and government installations. However, the frequent drone attacks by the US forces in his tribal region have annoyed him.On one occasion, when Baitullah Mehsud’s TTP became a serious threat to the government, the government tried to unite other militant groups against Baitullah Mehsud, thus, bringing together Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Maulvi Nazeer.
Maulvi Nazeer, who is the chief of Ahmadzai Wazir Taliban militants in South Waziristan, was until now considered a pro-government militant commander as he had led an armed campaign against the Uzbek nationals, evicting them from his soil after bloody clashes.He later lost some of his senior commanders in attacks by unknown people, but he blamed his rival Uzbeks for it.Nazeer also accused Baitullah Mehsud and his men of sheltering the Uzbeks on their soil but Baitullah always denied the charges.
If the three men, who now rule South and North Waziristan tribal region in true sense, got united, they could give a tough time to the government in future.The militants from Wana said now they had understood Pakistan’s divide and rule policy, and decided to get united and fight together against it in future. “Pakistan caused more losses to the Mujahideen than the US. It handed over 700 Arab Mujahideen to the US and jailed our people,” the commander alleged.Responding to a question, he said the issue of Uzbeks had been resolved but didn’t mention whether the Ahmadzai Wazirs would like to welcome them back to Wana and Azam Warsak. He, however, added: “We respect the Mujahideen.”

British Muslims Sending Electronic Devices To Taliban

BRITISH ARMY TELLS MINISTER, BRITISH MUSLIMS SENDING
ELECTRONIC DEVICES FOR ROADSIDE BOMBS
By Vaidehi Sachin

The Daily Telegraph, London, in an exclusive report says that British Muslims are providing the Taliban with electronic devices to make roadside bombs for use in attacks against British forces serving in southern Afghanistan.
Con Coughlin, Telegraph correspondent, who visited Helmand province in Afghanistan reports that the devices, which enable Taliban fighters to detonate roadside bombs by remote control, are either sent to sympathizers in the region, or carried by volunteers who fly to Pakistan and then make their way across the border.
Details of how British electronic components have been found in roadside bombs were given to David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, when he visited British troops at their military compound at Lashkagar, in Helmand province, earlier this week.
In a briefing on British operations in southern Afghanistan by Brigadier Gordon Messenger, the Royal Marine commander of the British battlegroup, Mr Miliband was shown examples of the crude, home-made devices that are being used in attacks against British patrols. They included mobile phones filled with explosives, which could kill or seriously injure British soldiers patrolling on foot, and more sophisticated devices that can be used against military vehicles.Explosives experts who have examined the devices say they have found British-made electronic components that enable Taliban insurgents to detonate their home-made, road-side bombs by remote control.The electronic devices smuggled into Afghanistan from Britain range from basic remote control units that are normally used to fly model airplanes to more advanced components that enable insurgents to conduct attacks from up to a mile away from British patrols.

"We have found electronic components in devices used to target British troops that originally come from Britain," a British explosives officer told Mr Miliband during a detailed briefing on the type of improvised explosive device (IED) used against British forces. When asked how the components had reached Afghanistan, the officer explained that they had either been sent from Britain, or physically brought to Afghanistan by British Muslims who had flown over.The disclosure is the latest in a string of suggestions from British commanders about the connections between British Muslims and violence in Afghanistan. In August, Brigadier Ed Butler, the former commander of UK forces in Afghanistan, told the Telegraph that there are "British passport holders" in the Taliban ranks. Other officers believe their soldiers have killed British Muslims fighting alongside the Taliban.And last year, it was revealed that RAF Nimrod surveillance planes monitoring Taliban radio signals in Afghanistan had heard militants speaking with Yorkshire and Midlands accents British commanders have recorded a significant rise in the use of IEDs during the past two years, partly the result of the success British forces have recorded in defeating the Taliban in conventional attacks."We've really hit the Taliban hard, and the only way they can respond is to rely more heavily on IEDs and similar weapons," said a British officer.
The number of IED attacks against British forces has risen from an average of 27 percent of attacks in 2007 to an estimated 55 percent so far this year. A significant proportion of the 145 British service personnel killed on active duty in Afghanistan have been killed by improvised roadside bombs.British military officers say the devices used in Afghanistan are not as sophisticated as those used against British forces in Iraq, and that Taliban insurgents need to be able to physically monitor British patrols when carrying out attack.
Details of the British link to IEDs were provided to Mr Miliband during his 48-hour fact-finding mission to Afghanistan earlier this week where he met military and government officials to assess the level of progress being made by British and coalition forces as the current military deployment enters its fourth year. British officials are expected to come under pressure from U.S. President Barack Obama to add to the 8,300 British service personnel currently serving in Afghanistan as Washington prepares to undertake a military surge similar to the one that was so successful in Iraq. Obama has already pledged to send an extra 17,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan this year, and he is now expected to pressure other Nato countries – including Britain – to follow suit. The original 2001 Western invasion of Afghanistan was triggered by al-Qaeda's September 11 attacks on the US. The Taliban regime in Kabul had sheltered the al-Qaeda leadership, which is now based in the lawless Afghan-Pakistan border region.
Some Western intelligence agencies believe Osama bin Laden's group is now able to operate largely freely in the area. However, bin Laden is facing an ideological revolt by one of al-Qaeda's founding leaders who blames, blaming him for "every drop" of blood spilt in Afghanistan and Iraq. Sayyid Imam al-Sharif, who goes by the nom de guerre Dr Fadl, helped bin Laden create al-Qaeda and then led an Islamist insurgency in Egypt in the 1990s. But after a change of heart, he has launched a public denunciation of the group. His latest book, which has been serialised in newspapers across the Arab world, amounts to a frontal attack on al-Qaeda's ideology and on the personal failings of bin Laden and his Egyptian deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

26/11 PROBE: MONEY FROM PAK USED TO BUY VoIP CARD

The FBI investigations into the November terror attack have established a Pakistan link to the payments made for the VoIP card from Callphonex of the US. VoIP allows one to make cheap phone calls over Internet and payment for it can be made by wire transfer from anywhere in the world. ‘‘We have traced the financial transactions to Pakistan,’’ a senior official said. At the same time, the official said that they have not been able to gather evidence admissible in court to pinpoint that the calls originated from Pakistan.
‘‘We are in the process of gathering further evidence and solve the jigsaw puzzle in the next few days. However, we have been able to obtain enough material linking Pakistan to the terror attack, but at this stage some of it is not admissible as evidence in the court,’’ the officer said. One of the virtual numbers from which the call to the terrorists was made was set up with a US company Callphonex by one Kharak Singh who claimed to be from India. The money for the same came through Western Union money transfer from one Javed Iqbal in Pakistan.

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JADE GOODY SECURES WEDDING DEAL FOR £700,000

Former reality TV star Jade Goody, who is battling cervical cancer, has secured a 700,000 pounds deal with a magazine for the rights to capture her wedding to 21-year-old Jack Tweed on Sunday. OK! Magazine has bought the rights to Sunday's ceremony for 700,000 pounds and has also secured the rights to the pictures of the christening of Goody's sons ahead of the wedding ceremony, her publicist Max Clifford said.
Living TV had already paid a reported 100,000 pounds to show it as part of their series, 'Jade'. Goody, who earned notoriety for her racist remarks directed at Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty in the UK reality show Celebrity Big Brother, has been reportedly told by the doctors that her disease has become terminal and has decided to use the media to raise funds for her sons. Clifford said that after the wedding there "won't be more episodes of the series they have been filming." A spokeswoman for Clifford's office said Tweed would not receive any money from the deal and has agreed that the entire amount would be passed to Goody's sons -- five-year old Bobby and four-year-old Freddie. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown shared the concern of her well wishers. He said last night the entire country was concerned about Goody's health and that it was "tragic" her treatment had not worked.

Vilasrao Deshmukh turned Writer

By Vaidehi Sachin

The wheel has come full circle for veteran Congress leader Vilasrao Deshmukh who ruled as Maharashtra chief minister for two times. Vilasrao had to leave his post accepting moral responsibility of 26/11 terror attack. Now day he is busy writing book on his political journey. From a village sarpanch in Latur district to the top post for the two time, 59-year-old Deshmukh has extensive experience in the legislature and administration.
He hails from the economically backward region of Marathwada and is known for his administrative acumen. He had been a minister in various governments in Maharashtra from 1982 to 1995 holding the portfolios of revenue, cooperation, agriculture, home, industries and education.
A widely traveled man, he visited several foreign countries to study agricultural and industrial development trends. He became chief minister in 1999 but had to step down in January 2003 and make way for Sushilkumar Shinde, a prominent dalit face of Congress, following factionalism in the state unit of the party.

A known Sharad Pawar-baiter, Deshmukh suffered a major setback in the 1995 assembly polls when Janata Dal candidate Shivajirao Patil Kavhekar defeated him by over 30,000 votes in Latur assembly constituency. He won the seat in 1999 and retained it in that election.
During his entire political carrier he was trapped in so many controvercies, every time he had to quit his post due to some or other set back. This book will be about his political journey and the experiences he shared with various political leaders. Deshmukh is known for his silent and sober taunts he was never vocal and loud on any issue. When ever reporters used to ask him for explanation he used to answer then in very humorous way.There are so many minister so far written their biography, most of the biographies were authored by some well known people but vilasrao is writing his book himself. Let say their something better than nothing. At last Deshmukh got involved in some constructive task.When we asked Narayan Rane his opinion on writer Deshmukh “ smart rane very diplomatically said, that’s good I wish him all the best and wait for its launch.”After a great struggle he could get assure his stay with congress party, looking at the risk he avoided commenting further. Any ways this news made Rane giggle from bottom of his heart. People have seen lawyer vilasrao Deshmukh, politician, and educationnist now they will get to read hidden secreats of his life.When asked about the tiltle he told this paper “ it is yet to be decided, he wants to put his thought process in words and then he will decide about the title. This book will be dedicated to Party high command his mentors and Party.

OBAMA ANNOUNCES 17,000 SURGE IN US TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN

AFTER PAKISTAN, TALIBAN NOW PLAN TO TARGET INDIA
After Pakistan, Taliban has now set its sights on India, intelligence sources said on Tuesday. Pakistan has gambled that an offer to introduce Islamic law to parts of the northwest will bring peace to the troubled Swat valley, but analysts fear any lull won't last long and appeasement will embolden the Taliban.
Western officials fear Pakistan is taking a slippery road that will only benefit al Qaeda and the Taliban, but Pakistani authorities believe the alternative of using overwhelming force on people who are, afterall, Pakistani posed a greater danger.

The central government has said the Sharia Nizam-e-Adl, or the judicial system governed by Islamic sharia law, won't be implemented in the Malakand division of North West Frontier Province, which includes Swat, unless the guns fall silent. The Taliban announced a 10-day ceasefire on Sunday, while the NWFP government has said that while the military will remain deployed in Swat, there won't be any offensives, only reactive actions. Amnesty International estimates that between 250,000 and 500,000 people have fled their homes since late 2007, when the Taliban revolt began in Swat, an alpine region 130 km (80 miles northwest of Islamabad. Tens of thousands have fled since August last year after an earlier peace deal broke down.
US President Barack Obama has approved the deployment 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, as he said the situation in the Afghan-Pakistan region demands immediate attention.
"This increase is necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which has not received the strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires," Obama said in a statement as he approved his commander's request to send more troops to the war-torn country. Immediately, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced the deployment of more than 12,000 troops to Afghanistan. This includes 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, consisting of 8,000 Marines and 5th Stryker Brigade of 4,000 soldiers. While the Marines would hit the ground late spring 2009, Stryker's are likely to be in Afghanistan in mid-summer. Deployment of another 5,000 additional troops to support these combat forces would be announced at a later date, the Pentagon said.
Such an announcement was being anticipated for the past several days. Making the announcement, Obama said the Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan, and Al Qaeda supports insurgency and threatens America from its safe-haven along the Pakistani border. The "responsibly draw down" of forces from Iraq, gives him the flexibility to increase US' presence in Afghanistan. "This reinforcement will contribute to the security of the Afghan people and to stability in Afghanistan," Obama said. The US President, however, clarified the surge of troops in Afghanistan does not pre-determine the outcome of Afghan strategic review, which is currently being done by his administration. "Instead, it will further enable our team to put together a comprehensive strategy that will employ all elements of our national power to fulfill achievable goals in Afghanistan," Obama said. "As we develop our new strategic goals, we will do so in concert with our friends and allies as together we seek the resources necessary to succeed," Obama said. Even before taking over presidency, Obama had announced his intention to increase the US troops in Afghanistan as he believes the main threat to the United States comes from the safe haven of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Easy money for City human guinea pigs

By Vaidehi Sachin
Poverty and greed, dragging city youth and housewives for clinical trials.
Mumbai’s huge illiterate population is in danger of being misused by unethical firms to test suspect drugs-this time helping in the search for a cure for various diseases. poor susceptible to pharmaceutical giants Lured by the money being offered by dozens of international pharmaceutical companies carrying out clinical trials, human guinea pig
Sarita, house wife, residing at Borivali lend her body to get tested sixth drug-this time helping in the search for a cure for asthma. While speaking to this paper she said “I am not educated enough to get some good employment, my husband has deserted me long back I have three growing children, I am the only earning member. Twice a month I help these medicine Companies to conduct clinical trial on my body, they pay me minimum 6 to 7 thousand. Per month I earn more than fifteen thousand. Some times these trials lead to side effects, but what to do? This earning is better than flesh trading.”
She further said its not only needy people, even college students come here, and after the age of eighteen any one can lend their body for clinical trial”. When asked she refused to disclose the location and company name.
She said most of us, has no knowledge at all about the drugs we have allowed doctors to introduce into our body over the past two years. For now, she has no regrets.
Every year there are so many volunteers they die or become disable due to overdose of tested samples.

When asked State Health Minister Rajendra Shingne he told this paper “foreign drug companies taking advantage of poverty and recession. This is serious issue; I am not much aware of this problem but will soon definitely look into the same. He has also appealed people to make immediate police complaint if they come across such companies.”
1000's of volunteers who are driving nascent clinical research industry, which has attracted global pharmaceutical firms.
According to a report by consultants McKinsey and Co, the city clinical research industry can earn revenues of some thousand millions by 2010, at which time the country will need 50,000 professionals and about 300,000 'subjects' or patients.

Dr Mohanti a Critic say “ not only Mumbai but India's huge illiterate population is in danger of being misused by unethical firms to test suspect drugs. But industry officials say each trial follows a strict code of ethics. Government has banned clinical trial on human body but it is never implemented”. These kind payments made to their human guinea pigs are so attractive generally no one reports against these research institutes.”

The volunteers undergo health tests such as blood, urine, chest X-rays and heart check-up. If they fail research institute do not enroll them for the test. Under Indian laws, only testing of new and generic drugs which have gone off patent and are manufactured in the country are permitted. All other pre-clinical trials, except those on rodents, are banned.

But as soon as pre-clinical trials on animals are over in a foreign country and the new drug has been tested on healthy volunteers in that nation, the drug can be used in India for so-called second and third phase trials.

Industry officials say it costs upwards of US$1 billion to make a new drug, with clinical trials accounting for almost two-thirds of the cost. Carrying out trials in India can cut costs by more than 55 percent, due to cheap and skilled scientific manpower and the availability of volunteers.

Department of Medical ethics has already published in their literature guide that “government should have some provision, to investigate such rackets and save their country men but such provision is not available. Moreover corrupt system can never create deterrence in such clinical laboratories.”
As a rule, studies that involve invasive medical procedures are more lucrative—the more uncomfortable, the better the pay—and in this study subjects had a fibre-optic tube inserted in their mouths and down their esophagus’s so that researchers could examine their gastrointestinal tracts.
Volunteers are paid not to do things but to let things be done to them.