Pakistan buries troops amid fury over NATO strike

Cargo trucks, including those carrying supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan, are seen halted along the Pakistan-Torkham border, after it was shut down to traffic November 26, 2011. NATO helicopters attacked a military checkpoint in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing up to 24 troops and prompting Pakistan to shut vital supply routes for NATO troops fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistani officials said.

Pakistan today buried 24 troops killed in a NATO cross-border air raid that has pushed a crisis in relations with the United States towards rupture.

The attack was the latest perceived provocation by the United States, starting with the secret raid which killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May, and the question is whether ties will break or whether the two sides will remain stuck in a bad marriage of convenience.

NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two Pakistan military outposts yesterday, killing the soldiers in what Pakistan said was an unprovoked assault.

NATO and US officials expressed regret about the deaths of the Pakistani soldiers, but the exact circumstances of the attack were unclear.

“US stabs Pakistan in the back, again,” said a headline in the Daily Times, reflecting fury over the attack in Pakistan, a regional power seen as critical to US efforts to stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan.

Pakistan stops NATO supplies after deadly raid

Student supporters of Islami Jamiat Talaba, a student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, protest against NATO forces in front of a burning tyre in Lahore, November 26, 201


NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two military outposts in northwest Pakistan yesterday, killing as many as 28 troops and plunging US-Pakistan relations deeper into crisis.

Pakistan retaliated by shutting down NATO supply routes into Afghanistan, used for sending in nearly half of the alliance’s land shipments.

Islamabad also said it had ordered the United States to vacate a drone base in the country, but a senior US official said Washington had received no such request and noted that Pakistan had made similar eviction threats in the past, but did not follow through.

Afghans Say Pakistan Fired First in NATO Attack

As Pakistan's top leaders gathered Sunday to bury 24 Pakistani soldiers killed by NATO airstrike, Afghan officials said Pakistani forces fired first and challenged the Pakistani claim that the helicopter attack was ...

US drone strikes must stop, says American lawyer

A Global Hawk UAV is seen flying over an unidentified location in this US Air Force image.




Prominent international human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith was impressed by the 16-year-old boy who wanted to draw attention to civilian deaths caused by US drone strikes in Pakistan.

Tariq Aziz had volunteered to take pictures of people killed by the remotely piloted aircraft to help Stafford Smith highlight what he calls illegal killings.

Three days later, on October 31, he and his 12-year-old cousin were themselves killed by a drone missile strike in the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border, Stafford Smith said.

For the veteran lawyer, the deaths highlighted major flaws in the CIA-run drone campaign, which US officials say is invaluable in the war on militants.

“What they did to Tariq was absolutely disgusting,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Agents intercept military flare in mail

Federal agents at Chicago's O'Hare Airport averted "a potential catastrophic event" when they stopped a package containing a live military flare from being loaded onto a flight to Japan, says a federal agency.

The Customs and Border Protection said the Vietnam War-era device, identified as an M49A1 phosphorous trip flare, was found in the mail as it was passing through the busy facility on Thursday.

Brian Bell, a customs supervisor, said he did not know whether the package that contained the device would have been routed onto a passenger or cargo plane.

UN report reinforces worries over Iranian threat

Germany says it will push for resolution urging Iran to return to negotiating table; Hague: Britain considering how to raise pressure on Iran.

Obama planning next steps in Afghan drawdown

US President Barack Obama delivers remarks on education at the University of Colorado in Denver on October 26, 2011

The White House has asked the Pentagon for initial recommendations for the US troop presence in Afghanistan in 2014, a first step in planning the final US drawdown there despite a bleak security outlook.

Sources familiar with the discussions said President Barack Obama’s top aides have asked for scenarios for 2014. As part of that process, the Pentagon must look at troop levels for 2013 ― suggesting deeper withdrawals beyond the removal, by next September, of the 33,000 surge troops Obama deployed in a bid to turn around the flagging decade-old conflict.

“Planning for troop levels in 2013 and 2014 is now in a preliminary phase,” said Bruce Riedel, the former CIA officer who chaired the review of Afghan policy Obama ordered when he took office in 2009 and retains close White House ties.

Video of Gaddafi killed Saddam Hussein hanging execution and dictators death.

The world's infamous dictators and how they met their violent ends

Cut down in the cross-fire between loyalists and rebels, then flung in a truck and executed in front of a baying mob, Gaddafi’s final moments were as brutal as his crimes.

Covered in blood and dirt, he had pleaded for his life - the answer was a bullet to the temple.

So how does it compare to the grisly deaths of other ruthless dictators such as Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Nicolae Ceausescu and Rafael Trujillo? The circumstances varied, but the cold and bloody nature of their final seconds did not.

The end: Saddam Hussein was hanged by vengeful countrymen after overseeing a brutal regime - his death signalled by a loud crack of his neck
'Caught like a rat': Saddam Hussein after being tracked down by U.S. forces
The body of Saddam Hussein in an undated image obtained by the Associated Press from an Arab language web site. Seemingly shot on a camera phone, the image appears to show the former Iraqi leader's corpse, with a gaping neck wound

Gaddafi met a merciless and brutal death

In the end Muammar Gaddafi's death was as violent as his life, gunned down without mercy in the crumbling ruins of his home town - wounded and begging for his life while cowering in a drain pipe.

His love of comic-opera uniforms, exotic female bodyguards and Bedouin tents provided a theatrical backdrop for 42 years of bloody repression that, in the end, could not withstand a determined uprising backed by NATO air power.

Chased out of Tripoli by rebel forces, Gaddafi disappeared - some said into the empty desert spaces in the south of his vast country.

In tandem with his eccentricity, Gaddafi had a charisma which initially at least won him support among many ordinary Libyans. His readiness to take on Western powers and Israel, both with rhetoric and action, earned him a certain cachet with some in other Arab states who felt their own leaders were too supine.

While leaders of neighbouring Arab states folded quickly in the face of popular uprisings, Gaddafi put up a bloody fight, taking on NATO as well as local insurgents who quickly seized half the country.



Together: Nurse Galyna was always close by.Gaddafi's female bodyguards seemed to prove that he ran Libya almost on a whim.Eccentric style: Gaddafi was known for his love of over-the-top military-style uniforms, variously seen in different colours and with a vast array of military awards and medals.Synonymous with terrorism: A young Gaddafi, right, is seen in an undated photo with notorious Ugandan leader Idi Amin.Shunned by the West: Links to revolutionaries , such as Cuba's Fidel Castro, made Gaddafi many enemies around the world

Gaddafi Dictator Mad Dog begs for his life after being dragged from a drain. Seconds later he was summarily executed

# Gaddafi tried to flee in a convoy hit by American drone
# Vehicles were also shelled by Nato fighter jets...
# ... before being driven back to his compound in Sirte
# Gaddafi in final attempt to flee before final push by rebels
# 'Found in a hole' wearing military-style clothing, shouting 'Don't shoot'
# Rebel forces executed him in front of a baying mob
# His body was paraded through the streets of the city
# Eldest son Saif shot in leg in Sirte day before - some reports say he is dead
# Other son Mutassim confirmed killed in Sirte
# Barack Obama hails 'momentous day' in history of Libya


Pleading: Muammar Gaddafi begged with his captors for his life after he was found cowering in a storm drain.Paraded: Gaddafi struggled with his captors in video footage taken by rebel fighters after he was captured.Chaotic: Gaddafi was pushed around by rebel fighters, one of whom filmed the incident on a mobile telephone.Fear: Becoming increasingly desperate, Gaddafi asked a rebel fighter 'What did I ever do to you'.Terrified: Moments after he begged for his life Gaddafi was shot dead by rebel fighters.Struggle: Video footage shows Gaddafi being hauled off a rebel fighter truck minutes after his capture.Manhandled: Rebel fighters pictured being taken off a truck shortly after he was detained.Arguing: Gaddafi pictured in chaotic video footage minutes before he was killed

Obama's secret death warrant on al-Awlaki revealed

President Obama's secret memorandum authorising the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki was only legally valid if he could not be taken alive, it has emerged.

The legal writ, issued by the Justice Department, tackled the issues surrounding the targeted killing of a U.S. citizen by the American government - on the surface an unconstitutional act.



The issuing of the document followed fraught negotiations between administration officials and lawyers at the DOJ.Constitutional? Anwar al-Awlaki - a U.S. born citizen - was killed using secret authorisation from the justice department

Killed: Anwar al-Awlaki, left, and Osama bin Laden have both died following attacks by the U.S.legal? Officials at both the White House and the Justice Department have since refused all requests to answer how fifth amendment rights - guaranteeing a fair trial for all U.S. citizens - were satisfied by the secret memorandum

Oxford University PhD student mistaken for suicide bomber after going for run in weights vest

# Police ordered Goudarz Karimi to put his hands in the air and drop everything
# He had to remove his 30kg vest while officers checked it for explosives


An Oxford University student told last night how he was mistaken for a suicide bomber as he jogged around the city's streets.

Armed police swamped a road and trained their sights on the Iranian man after reports of a suicide bomber, only to discover he was a jogger wearing an exercise vest.

The suspect was ordered to stop running, put his hands in the air and drop everything in his hands as sub-machine guns were trained on his body.

Shocked: Iranian student Goudarz Karimi said he could not believe the police response even after they realised he was not a suicide bomber

Afghan leader signs deal to deepen ties with India

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (left) shakes hands with India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a photo opportunity ahead of their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on October 4, 2011.


Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a wide-ranging agreement with India on Tuesday to deepen ties between the two countries, including to help train Afghan security forces, in a deal likely to irk Pakistan as tension grows in the region.

India is one of Afghanistan‘s biggest bilateral donors, having pledged about US$2 billion (RM6.38 billion) since the 2001 US led-invasion for projects from the construction of highways to the building of the Afghan parliament.

On a two-day visit to New Delhi, Karzai and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sealed a strategic partnership that spanned closer political ties to fighting terrorism. It signals a formal tightening of links that may spark Pakistani concerns India is increasingly competing for leverage in Afghanistan.

The agreement is one of several being negotiated by Kabul, including one with the United States, that are part of an Afghan bid for greater security as Nato troops head home.

US Navy intercepted North Korean ship sending missile material to Myanmar

The guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell transits the western Pacific Ocean during combat system ship qualification trials in this US Navy handout photo dated May 26, 2010.

The US Navy intercepted a North Korean ship suspected of carrying missile parts to Myanmar two weeks ago, media reports and a US official said yesterday.

The New York Times reported late on Sunday, citing senior American officials, that a North Korean cargo ship was forced to return home after a standoff at sea and several days of diplomatic pressure from Washington and Asian nations.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed the interception, but declined to comment on the cargo or destination of the North Korean vessel.

“We talked directly with the North Koreans to stress the importance of not engaging in proliferation-related transfers,” he said.

“We learned that the ship, the vessel, changed course at sea, and we believe it returned to North Korea,” said Toner.

UN sanctions imposed on North Korea after it conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 include a ban on trade in nuclear and missile technology with North Korea. A UN resolution adopted last year authorised UN member states to inspect North Korean sea, air and land cargo.

According to the Times, the destroyer USS McCampbell caught up with the cargo ship M/V Light south of Shanghai on May 26 after American officials began tracking the vessel, which was believed to have been involved in previous illegal shipments.

The destroyer asked to board the vessel under authority given by Belize, but the North Koreans refused, Toner said.

“The ship’s master refusing us permission to board it, as well as the fact that it turned around and headed back to North Korea, speaks to ... some of our concerns about its cargo,” he said.

Pakistan arrests CIA’s bin Laden informants

Members of the anti-terrorism squad are seen surrounding the compound where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad May 4, 2011.


Pakistan’s top military spy agency has arrested five CIA informants who fed information to the US spy agency before the raid last month which killed Osama bin Laden, The New York Times reported today.

One of the detainees was reported to be a Pakistani Army major whom officials said copied license plates of cars visiting the al Qaeda leader’s compound 30 miles northwest of Islamabad.

The fate of the CIA informants arrested in Pakistan is unclear, the newspaper reported, citing American officials.

Outgoing CIA Director Leon Panetta raised the issue of the informants’ detention during a trip to Islamabad last week where he met with Pakistani military and intelligence officers, the newspaper said.

Some in Washington see the arrest as another sign of the deep disconnect between US and Pakistani priorities in the fight against extremists, the Times reported.

The United States kept Islamabad in the dark about the May 2 raid by Navy SEALs until after it was completed, humiliating Pakistan’s armed forces and putting US military and intelligence ties under serious strain.

Libyan rebels make fresh gains, Nato drops leaflets

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A Libyan rebel fighter distributes pizzas to his comrades inside a mosque taken from forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, after rebels pushed several kilometres in the direction of Zlitan, west of the rebel-held port city of Misrata, June 13, 2011.

fresh gains on the western front yesterday, pushing back forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi in a string of clashes that brought them closer to the capital Tripoli.

Late yesterday, Nato resumed bombing the Libyan capital with strikes hitting the east of the city.

A Reuters correspondent in the capital heard at least three loud explosions and saw smoke in the sky and a fire. He could hear planes flying above.

President Obama and PM Cameron dish up burgers at honouring American and British veterans in UK Visit.

* Taliban must make 'decisive split' with al Qaida, says Cameron in joint press conference with Obama after garden party

Forget table tennis - this is the ultimate photo opportunity for Barack Obama and David Cameron.

The UK and U.S. leaders forged a special culinary relationship today as they manned the grill at a barbecue in honour of servicemen in the garden at No. 10.

It was a moment of fun after this morning's in-depth talks on issues ranging from military campaigns in Libya and Afghanistan to global economic reform.

 Obama and Cameron diligently serve a burger to a soldier wounded in service during the garden party

 U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron, wife of the Prime Minister, serve food at the barbecue for British and American service members and veterans

 Michelle Obama, the wife of the U.S. President, and Samantha Cameron, wife of the Prime Minister, pose with their husbands on the steps of 10 Downing Street yesterday

 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton walks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague to join Obama at 10 Downing Street

 Mr Obama made the short journey in Cadillac One - his bombproof limousine known as 'The Beast' - from Buckingham Palace

Mr Obama's motorcade travels along the Mall as it leaves Buckingham Palace to go to Downing Street this morning

Barack Obama and David Cameron serve food from a barbecue as they entertain British and American service members and veterans at 10 Downing Street today

 Obama and Cameron wave to members of the media outside the Prime Minister's official residence, prior to their meeting

Mr Obama speaks during a joint press conference with David Cameron at Lancaster House today. The Prime Minister said the next 12 months represented a 'vital year' in Afghanistan

North Korea leader’s armoured train arrives in Chinese capital

 North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (right) and his youngest son Kim Jong-un (left) gesture next to a military official during a gala evening to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang on October 10, 2010.

North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il’s armoured train arrived in Beijing today, setting the stage for a summit with Chinese leaders that he will want to underscore the bond between his isolated state and Asia’s biggest economy.

A motorcade later swept down central Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue under unusually tight police guard, suggesting the secretive Kim was in the Chinese capital.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said Kim was there “apparently for a summit meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao”.

Neither China nor North Korea has confirmed the visit.

Taliban chief has disappeared in Pakistan

he Afghan intelligence agency says the reclusive leader of the Taliban has disappeared from a suspected hideout in Pakistan and has been out of contact with his commanders for days - adding further questions about Mullah Mohammad Omar after a media ....

Kabul—Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was killed in Pakistan, a private Afghan television channel reported on Monday. “Mullah Omar was killed on his way from Quetta to North Waziristan,” TOLO television said in its news bulletin. ...

The Taliban says its spiritual leader, Mullah Omar, is alive and well. Western diplomats, as well as Pakistani tribal and intelligence sources, also downplay reports that Omar — who gave shelter to Osama bin Laden after 9/11 — is dead.

Afghanistan's intelligence services on Monday confirmed that the one-eyed Taliban leader Mullah Omar, with a US$10 million bounty on his head, had disappeared from his Quetta hideout in Pakistan. "We can confirm about the disappearance of Omar five ...