US will ‘never’ be at war with Islam: Obama

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama, marking the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks at a time of bitter religious tensions, pledged Saturday the United States will “never” be at war with Islam.

In the wake of tense controversy surrounding a renegadeFlorida pastor’s threat to publicly burn hundreds of copies of the Koran to mark 9/11 and debate over plans to a Muslim community center and place of worship near Ground Zero, Obama urged his compatriots to be “tolerant.” As Americans, we will not and never will be at war with Islam,” he said at a memorial service at the Pentagon to remember the 184 people who were killed after a hijacked plane slammed into the Defense Department headquarters.

“It was not a religion that attacked us that September day. It was Al-Qaeda, a sorry band of men, which perverts religion.” The extremists who ordered and carried out the attacks that ultimately brought down the World Trade Center in New York, slammed into the Pentagon and crashed into a field in Pennsylvania “may wish to drive us apart but we will not give in to their hatred and prejudice” the president added.

“The perpetrators of this evil act didn’t simply attack America; they attacked the very idea of America itself.” Earlier, Pastor Terry Jones said his small Florida church, which has just some 50 followers, had dropped plans to burn Korans indefinitely.

“Not today, not ever,” he told NBC television’s “Today” show after global condemnation and pleas from Obama and other top US officials warning of a backlash against US troops.

However, tensions remained high and Jones’s stunt ensured that the controversy over the proposed cultural center took center stage.

Rival rallies by groups supporting and opposing the disputed project were to take place nearby soon after the official ceremonies at Ground Zero, breaking an unwritten taboo on open politicization of the anniversary.

Police said they would ensure the two groups were kept apart.

The still un-built community center, which organizers say would include dedicated prayer rooms for Muslims – but also for Jews and Christians as well – was originally proposed byNew York’s Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf as a chance to heal post-9/11 wounds just two blocks from Ground Zero.

However opponents – led by rightwing radio talkshow hosts and politicians campaigning on patriotic tickets ahead of November 2 congressional midterm elections – accuse the imam of seeking to honor the radical Islamic extremists responsible for the attacks.

Jones’s plans remained unclear. The obscure pastor insisted his truce depended on being at least able to meet with Abdul Rauf.

The pastor traveled to New York for what he has said was a planned meeting with Abdul Rauf, but he told NBC that no such meeting had been set up. – AFP

‘Rehabilitation decisions to be taken with consensus’

LARKANA: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Saturday that all the decisions regarding the rehabilitation of flood victims will be taken in consultation with the provinces.

Talking to newsmen in Garhi Khuda Buksh, Gilani said that the survey to assess the extent of the damages caused by the flood was underway in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. The interim report will be submitted by September 15, he added.

The premier said that on the basis of the report, a session would be convened by the United Nations for generating more assistance and a meeting of the foreign ministers would also be held in this regard.

He said that the federal government was well aware of the losses of the province of Sindh from the floods.

Regarding allegations of breaches made in embankments, he said that directive has been issued to the Sindh chief minister to conduct an inquiry into the matter.

About the rehabilitation of flood-hit people, he said that in the first phase each family was being paid Rs20,000 and after the survey they will be provided Rs100,000.

When asked about holding of the local bodies polls, he said that this was up to the provinces.

Earlier, PM Gilani visited a relief camp set up by the district government in Ghari Khuda Bux.—APP

Iran halts release of female US hiker

TEHRAN: Iran has cancelled Saturday’s planned release of Sarah Shourd, one of three US hikers accused of spying and illegally entering the country, saying none will be freed until the case is resolved.

“Up until the time that the legal procedure regarding the case of the three accused Americans is over, none of them will be released,” Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said in a statement carried by the ILNA new agency.

Any decision to free the three Americans would be taken by the judiciary, he added, repeating that this would not happen “until the investigation of their case is over.”Dolatabadi had earlier said that, because the the judicial process had not been completed in Shourd’s case, her release had been “ruled out.” Several officials had previously indicated that Shourd would be freed on Saturday.

State news agency IRNA reported President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s office as saying her release had been postponed.

“The freedom of the American citizen which was to happen in a ceremony has been postponed as Saturday was a holiday,” it quoted an unnamed presidency source as saying.

Releasing Shourd could have eased tensions between Washington and Tehran, which have heightened in recent months over Iran’s controversial nuclear programme of uranium enrichment.

The 31-year-old was arrested along with fellow hikers Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal on July 31, 2009 after straying across the border from neighbouring Iraq.

Iran has accused the three of spying and illegal entry, but they insist they entered the country by mistake after getting lost during a trek in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Sarah’s mother Nora told AFP last month that Shourd was being held in solitary confinement despite suffering from a pre-cancerous cervical condition, a lump in her breast and depression.

The mothers of the trio had voiced hope that news of one of them being released signalled an end to their battle for freedom.

“We have seen the news reports and are urgently seeking further information,” Cindy Hickey, Nora Shourd and Laura Fattal said in a joint statement.

In May, Iran had allowed the mothers to visit, and they later reported that Shourd and Bauer had become engaged while behind bars.

US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Nobel Prize winners and international rights groups have repeatedly urged Iran to release them.

Last month, Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said an investigation on the USdetainees was nearing completion.

In May, Iran released French academic Clotilde Reiss who was detained nearly a year earlier during the post-election protests. – AFP

Trade-linked aid to Pakistan tops Europe talks

BRUSSELS: Europe is likely to offer trade-linked aid to help Pakistan battle flood devastation and fears of rising extremism at an EU summit next week, diplomatic sources said Saturday.

Hosting a two-day informal parley of foreign ministers from the 27-nation bloc, EU diplomatic supremo Catherine Ashton said Pakistan needed wide support —ranging through aid, institution-building, anti-terror assistance, reconstruction and trade.

“Everyone agrees we have to think comprehensively,” Ashton said.

“If we want to stabilise Pakistan, so that it doesn't degenerate into extremism and fundamentalism, we have to address the economic consequences of this natural catastrophe,” said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

After the floods turned some 21 million lives upside down and left 1,760 dead, Ashton suggested special exemptions from trade tariffs.

“It is in the vital strategic interest of the European Union to help Pakistan in the longterm with trade,” said British Foreign Secretary William Hague as the talks wound down.

“I hope there will be agreement on it” at the September 16 summit, he added.

“There has been really strong support from the foreign ministers for some decisive action to be taken.”

EU leaders will have three options to ease Pakistani goods into Europe —offering duty-free access on some goods, deciding a unilateral waiver with WTO agreement, or lowering Most Favoured Nation tariff on some products.

Most EU nations favoured a waiver for a limited list of products, diplomatic sources said.

The European Commission, which polices EU trade matters, asked ministers to consider ditching tariff barriers on 13 types of textile product, in an effort to kick-start an economic fightback.

“We cannot stand on the sidelines,” said Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere, after the issue of “how we'll do it” was passed up from trade to foreign ministers.

The idea of preferential treatment caused consternation within the industry. A European association of textile producers (Euratex) articulated fierce resistance.

Euratex told EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht last week that the “Pakistani government is (repeatedly) using all sorts of excuses to demand free access to the EU market,” citing the “fight against terrorism, economic crisis and now the floods”.

It said Pakistan is “already a major world player” on a par with India or China, and warned that unilateral EU moves “will certainly be attacked” in the WTO and could “seriously jeopardise” negotiations on a free-trade deal with New Delhi.

According to an EU source, though, the list of product areas qualifying for exemptions was drawn up with likely objections in mind, and aimed at providing some 25 million euros of annual benefits to Pakistan.

Europe has also been criticised by humanitarian organisations for struggling to produce a coherent, collective position on Pakistan.

Eid protests hit Indian-administered Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Prayers to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan turned into anti-India demonstrations and rallies Saturday in Kashmir which has been racked by weeks of unrest.

Tens of thousands of Muslims, mostly young men, chanted, “Go India, go back!” and “We want freedom!” after they assembled in the main city of Srinagar to offer prayers on the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr.

Government forces have been battling to contain three months of violent demonstrations in the mainly Muslim region by Kashmiris that were ignited by the killing of a 17-year-old student by police on June 11.

A total of 70 protesters and bystanders — some just children — have been killed, mostly by security forces who have used live ammunition to disperse demonstrators after being pelted with stones.

“The protests are a form of referendum showing that Kashmiris want freedom from India,” leading separatist and key Islamic cleric Umar Farooq told AFP.

Kashmir is in the grip of a 20-year old insurgency against Indian rule that has left more than 47,000 people dead.

At a prayer ground grounds in Srinagar, tens of thousands attended Eid prayers, where Farooq asked people to march to the city’s historic and business centre of Lal Chowk.

After the Eid prayers ended, the worshippers marched towards Lal Chowk, where protesters hoisted green Islamic flags atop a clock tower shouting slogans such as: “Blood for blood.”

Riot police were deployed across Srinagar in a bid to keep a lid on tensions and security forces fired shots in air in a bid to disperse the protesters.

Farooq read names of the 70 people killed in the unrest in an emotional speech ahead of the prayers that sparked shouts like: “Indians leave our Kashmir.”

Muslims rode motorbikes, cars, buses and jeeps emblazoned with green Islamic flags to join the protests.

Another leading separatist, Yasin Malik, urged the demonstrators to be peaceful.

“India should read this writing on the wall and take steps to resolve this lingering dispute forever,” Malik said as five Kashmiris built a human pyramid in a bid to scale a high electric pole and hoist an Islamic flag. —AFP

No room for Musharraf in politics, say critics

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's top political parties on Saturday ridiculed former military ruler Pervez Musharraf's claim of a return to politics, saying there is no room for him in the country's political arena.

Musharraf said that he would return to politics, form a new political party and stand for parliament at the next general election in 2013.

His comments, given in an interview with the BBC in London, were greeted with scorn from political rivals.

“The former president is a coward man and he will not return to Pakistan,” a leader of Pakistan's largest Islamic party Jamat-i-Islami, Liaqat Baloch, told AFP.

“The entire country is engulfed in a serious crisis because of the culture that Musharraf introduced in Pakistan.

“Neither does he enjoy public support nor will he find courage to return to Pakistan,” he added.

The 67-year-old Musharraf said he was not scared of the threat of legal action against him and insisted that he had to try to lift Pakistan out of its “pathetic situation”.

“The brave former army commando preferred to run away instead of facing courts of law in Pakistan,” Siddiqul Farooque, spokesman for Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), told AFP.

Musharraf ousted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999. He was president from 2001 and has mostly lived in London since resigning in 2008.

“He (Musharraf) lives in fool's paradise if he thinks he will again become Pakistan's president,” Farooque said, referring to his current status as “hibernation”.

He said: “Musharraf must remember that whenever he gets out of this hibernation and comes back to Pakistan, he will have to face the courts.”

But Musharraf said possible legal cases against him were not putting him off a swift return. However, he admitted his popularity had waned but said it was still strong among the majority of Pakistanis who do not vote.

“Two hundred per cent I will participate in the next election. Standing for myself. Standing for a party that I'll create,” Musharraf said Friday in London, where he lives in exile.

“I do intend creating a new party because I think the time has come in Pakistan when we need to introduce a new political culture: a culture which can take Pakistan forward on a correct democratic path, not on an artificial, make-believe democratic path.

“I have fought wars, I have faced dangers and I'm a lucky man. I'll try my luck again and I'm not scared of that,” he said.

A former minister in his government welcomed the announcement.

“Musharraf's return to politics is the need of the hour and only he can safeguard Pakistan and its interests,” Dr Sher Afgan Niazi said, adding that the former president had the “vision and wisdom” to save the country.

“He (Musharraf) is an asset for this country, who did a great job by protecting vital national interests and strengthening economy and social sector during his tenure.”

US losing in Afghanistan, should withdraw: Taliban

KABUL: The Taliban marked the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States on Saturday by calling on American forces to withdraw unconditionally and end the “illegal occupation” of Afghanistan.

In a statement that also coincided with the Eid holiday marking the end of Ramazan, the Taliban said the United States had no chance of bringing peace to Afghanistan after nearly nine years of war.

As Nato allies pulled out their troops, Americans had become targets both at home and abroad, said the statement, emailed to news organisations.

“Nine years after September 11, despite using all possible military solutions in Afghanistan, now they have lost any possible chance for peace,” the statement said of the United States.

“They are left with only one option and that is to withdraw their forces from Afghanistan without any preconditions.

“They do not have the right to impose conditions and preconditions for leaving Afghanistan because, first, their occupation of Afghanistan was illegal and also, second, they have been defeated in this illegal invasion,” it said.

The United States and Nato have 150,000 troops in Afghanistan fighting to quell the Taliban insurgency, which began soon after the Islamists' brutal five-year regime was toppled in a US-led invasion.

Military leaders, including the commander of international forces US General David Petraeus, agree that the Taliban's footprint has spread in recent years, especially to the once-peaceful north.

The insurgency is concentrated in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, populated largely by ethnic Pashtuns who are the bedrock of the Taliban and its fight against the Kabul government.

President Hamid Karzai, kept in power by the coalition forces, is trying to open a dialogue with the Taliban leadership to bring the war to a speedy end, as United States troops are expected to begin drawing down next July.

The Dutch have already withdrawn and the Canadians are due to end their mission next year.

The Taliban has used US President Barack Obama's deadline for the start of a drawdown against the coalition, saying it shows how the war has turned in its favour.

“The international coalition they (the United States) befriended at the beginning, now realising the reality, have started to withdraw their forces from Afghanistan to free themselves from this problem,” the statement said.

“Instead of choosing a logical withdrawal solution, they keep insisting on implementing plans that are causing security, political and financial instability, not only for Afghanistan but for the region and the America itself.”

The “wrong policy” toward Afghanistan had fostered hostility worldwide against the United States and Americans, who were unsafe at home and abroad, the statement said.

“Being an American has become a threat for every American in every part of the world, it has taken away the grace of having a peaceful life for the American nation even inside America,” it said.

“Their houses, their cities, their offices, their airports, their military barracks have become battlefields for them. They cannot feel safe anywhere...they have become known across the globe as occupiers and invaders.”

The statement is signed by the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” as the Taliban styled themselves during their five years in power. —AFP

Three cricketers accused in fixing scandal arrive home

KARACHI: Three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of match-fixing allegations returned home from Londonearly on Saturday.

Salman Butt, Muhammad Amir and Muhammad Asif, who have been provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC), flew into Lahore where a large crowd, made up of both protesters and supporters, and a heavy police presence awaited them.

The three players, who were interviewed by London’s Metropolitan Police as part of an inquiry into allegations of spot-fixing during Pakistan’s tour of England, left the airport by a back door and were driven away in waiting vehicles.

Television pictures showed crowds waiting outside the terminal, some carrying banners in support of the players and others waving placards accusing them of disgracing the nation.

Some people carried shoes in their hands.

A large contingent of police was at the airport to avoid a repeat of the scenes last week when Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Ijaz Butt, was jeered and heckled on his return home.

Pakistan’s interior minister Rehman Malik told the media that the three players were able to fly home after giving assurances that they would return to Britain if needed.

“We have given Scotland Yard surety that if required the cricketers will be available for further investigations,” Malik said.

The players were accused in a Sunday newspaper of fixing incidents in matches, such as deliberately bowling no-balls.

They say they are innocent.

A fourth player, left-arm pace bowler Wahab Riaz, who is still in England and with the one-day squad, is due to be questioned by Scotland Yard on Tuesday over the allegations.

The Pakistan team still have four one-day matches remaining against England, having already lost the test series 3-1 and a Twenty20 series 2-0. -Reuters

Flood victims celebrate Eid in tents

MUZAFFARGARH: Millions of flood victims celebrated Eidul Fitr in donated tents and makeshift shelters on Saturday as the country's leaders — criticised for an inadequate response to the disaster — pledged more aid.

The water has receded in many places, but remains head-high in others, forcing victims to stay outside their villages in camps or alone on roadsides.

Girls gathered at one camp near a power plant in the city of Muzaffargarh, sitting on a rug unfurled on the ground near the road as aid workers decorated their hands with intricate henna designs.

Their mothers, hovering behind, said even this small pleasure would soon be gone.

''We don't have the happiness of Eid. What is the happiness?'' said Amana Bibi, 25. ''We don't have homes.''

Charities sent bags of gifts such as shiny plastic wrist bangles and candies to children displaced by the floods, which have affected some 18 million people.

The three-day festival is celebrated at the end of the fasting month of Ramazan. The festival begins when the first visible crescent of the new moon is spotted in the skies. Eid started Friday in Pakistan's northwest and Saturday in most other parts of the country.

The government has been criticised by victims for its inability to deliver adequate aid.

''We will provide you financial help for rebuilding homes,'' Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told survivors at a camp in Balochistan province, one of the hardest-hit regions. He also distributed gifts.

President Asif Ali Zardari, criticised for travelling to Britain and France as the crisis developed, was also planning to visit victims.

Waqar Younis not hesitant to play Wahab Riaz

CHESTER-LE-STREET: Pakistan coach Waqar Younis has no qualms about fielding Wahab Riaz in the remaining one-day internationals against England despite the seamer being caught up in the spot-fixing row engulfing the team.

“He’s in the (squad of) 15. All 15 are available,” fast bowling great Waqar told reporters.

The 25-year-old Riaz is to be interviewed by police who have already questioned team-mates Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif over claims that they took money to deliberately bowl no-balls in last month’s fourth Test at Lord’s.

Riaz was making only his second Test appearance in that match, where he bowled two wides and eight no-balls.

Butt, Amir, and Asif have all been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and returned home on Friday.

Even before the global governing body, sparked into action by a report in Britain’s News of the World Sunday tabloid, imposed the suspensions, England had made it clear they would be unhappy to play against the trio in this month’s one-day series.

Riaz missed the opening contest, a 24-run win for England at the Riverside here on Friday, but Pakistan insisted his omission was purely tactical and Waqar, speaking after that defeat, insisted: “I’m told by the management that he is available, and that’s where my line comes.”

Meanwhile England captain Andrew Strauss was glad both sides had played their part in the first of a five-match series.

England thrashed Pakistan in both last week’s Twenty20 internationals in Cardiff, with Waqar’s men dismissed for a record low of 89 in the second encounter in the Welsh capital.

It looked as if a schedule of six Tests in seven weeks, two against Australia, allied to all the controversy, were conspiring to create a climate that would see Pakistan’s tour end in both on and off-field misery.

But although England won the first one-dayer, after piling up 274 for six in a rain-reduced 41 overs, the fact Pakistan replied with a spirited 250 for nine suggested they could look forward to Sunday’s second one-day international in Leeds with some optimism.

“There is a bigger responsibility for us as cricketers at this stage,” said Strauss, in a thinly veiled reference to the spot-fixing row after 87 from wicket-keeper batsman Steven Davies, in only his second match at this level, and Jonathan Trott’s 69 provided the platform for England’s victory.

“No-one likes to see the game battered and bruised, and we need to heal any wounds that have been caused as quickly as possible.

“There’s no doubt it has got to have been a tough time for them (Pakistan) over the past two weeks.

“For them to continue coming out and putting in spirited performances is important for them, and the game of cricket.”

The opening batsman added: “I said before the game that as cricketers we feel a real responsibility at the moment to get cricket in the headlines for the right reasons.

“I think both sides achieved that...Cricket was the winner today (Friday).”

Waqar was heartened by the way Pakistan had upped their game from the Twenty20s.

“It was a definite improvement from the Twenty20, and we looked a much better unit,” he said. —AFP

Pakistan observes Jinnah’s 62nd death anniversary

KARACHI: Pakistan was observing the 62nd death anniversary of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah on Saturday with a pledge to transform the country into a progressive and enlightened state.

The day commenced with prayers for the country's progress and various government officials and non-government organisations were holding programs to bring to light the different aspects of the Quaid's life.

On the occasion, President Asif Ali Zardari also visited the Quaid’s mausoleum to pay his respects and offered fateha.

President Zardari in his observations in the visitors’ book paid homage to the Quaid and to all those who rendered sacrifices for the country and for ensuring its democratic polity.

Low-key Eid celebrations in Pakistan amid flood fallout

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Muslims on Saturday took part in low-key celebrations for the Eidul Fitr festival, as millions still languish without shelter after the nation's worst-ever floods.

Eid is the most important festival in the Islamic calendar — marking the end of the fasting month of Ramazan — but celebrations were muted Saturday as the fallout from devastating floods continues.

The deluges have left 10 million people without shelter nationwide, according to UN figures, with UN spokesman Maurizio Giuliano describing it as “one of the worst humanitarian disasters in UN history.”

Some 21 million people have been affected by the floods, which began more than six weeks ago and have dragged on through Ramazan, with more than eight million reliant on aid handouts for survival.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani mentioned the “miseries and grief” of the flood victims in their separate Eid messages to nation.

“We cannot celebrate the day with traditional fanfare and festivities when millions of our countrymen have been rendered shelter-less as villages, towns and cities have been destroyed by the floods,” Zardari said.

He said: “We bow our heads in gratitude to Allah on this day for blessing us with the bounties of the holy month of Ramazan.”

“For the Muslims it is a thanksgiving day and I wish to greet all Muslims of the world on this occasion.”

In his message, Prime Minister Gilani said: “This year's Eid festival is being celebrated on such a moment of history, when a large part of country is under the devastation caused by floods.”

”Millions of fellow countrymen are homeless and facing severe difficulties.”

He said the nation had demonstrated come together with generosity to lessen the hardship faced by the flood victims.

“No doubt, brave nations face the challenges with courage and mettle,” he said.

Gilani will celebrate Eid with flood affected people in different camps all over the country on Saturday and Sunday, an official statement said.

The floods inundated vast swathes of Pakistan and killed 1,760 people but disaster officials have said the number of deaths is likely to rise “significantly” when the missing are accounted for.

Global cash pledges have been slow coming to bolster rescue and relief efforts and the UN warned it could impede relief operations as Pakistan faces a triple threat to food supplies — with seeds, crops and incomes hit.

Advancing floodwaters continue to threaten parts of Sindh province, with 19 of its 23 districts deluged and 2.8 million people displaced, according to provincial authorities.

Fresh rains have also hampered rescue efforts in Sindh as thousands of people trying to leave flood-threatened towns remained stranded.

Two prisoners killed in Mach jail blast

QUETTA: A bomb blast in the Central Jail in Balochistan’s Mach city killed at least two prisoners on Saturday, television reports said.

The prisoners were planting a remote-controlled bomb, which went off, killing them, sources said.

Jail guards opened fire after the blast and some of the prisoners were injured as a result.

Soon after, Frontier Constabulary personnel reached the site and took control of the situation.