EU reduces concessions for two years: Dr. Baig

KARACHI: The European Union (EU) has approved a draft trade concession for Pakistan, reducing the concessions period to two years due to pressure from some member states, having own textile industry.

This was stated by Federal Advisor on Textile Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig in a statement here Saturday. He said that the concessions will be subjected to assessments in third year.

He said the EU has also restricted that duty-free exports of fabric towel, women’s jeans and socks from Pakistan should not rise more than 20 percent per year and also slashed ethanol export from 100,000 tons to 80,000 tons.

EU has promised Pakistan to allow SGP Plus status from 2014, subject to Pakistan rectifying some treaties on human rights and good governance.

Dr. Baig pointed out that Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have indicated to oppose the trade concession to Pakistan at WTO and Commerce Minister and Secretary Commerce are already visiting these countries to muster their support.

He, however, said that these adjustments are not expected to lower considerably the expected benefits for Pakistan.

Haiti cholera death toll soars as election nears

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haiti’s cholera toll rose above 900 on Sunday, including dozens of deaths in the teeming capital, as the outbreak showed no sign of abating just two weeks ahead of presidential elections.

Health Ministry officials reported more than 120 new deaths since the previous toll, as authorities and international aid agencies struggled to contain the latest crisis afflicting the desperately poor Caribbean nation.

Nearly one month after cholera took hold, the confirmed fatalities rose to 917, up from Friday’s 796 recorded deaths.

The recent increase in fatalities has been steady and not a spike, but it nonetheless highlights the difficulties of tamping down an outbreak in a country desperate for better infrastructure and health services.

As concerns rise over massive health challenges in the aftermath of the country’s cataclysmic earthquake almost a year ago, Haiti confronts the hardening prospect of national elections two weeks from now in the midst of a series of disasters.

Of Haiti’s 10 provinces, six now have been touched by the cholera epidemic according to the health ministry, which said 14,642 people so far have been treated in hospital, about 2,300 more than on Friday.

At least 27 of the deaths were recorded in the teeming capital Port-au-Prince, including its largest slum Cite Soleil and its suburbs.

Most of those treated already have been released, but a wave of new infections is swamping understaffed and ill-prepared hospitals and clinics across the country.

Officials fear the scale of the epidemic could increase exponentially if cholera infiltrates makeshift camps in Port-au-Prince where hundreds of thousands of earthquake survivors live in cramped and unsanitary conditions.

A cataclysmic earthquake flattened much of the capital in January, leaving more than a quarter people dead and an estimated 1.3 million of Haiti’s 10 million population displaced.

Amid the crises, Haitians are due to vote for a new president and parliamentarians in late November.

Mirlande Manigat, the candidate who leads in polls ahead of the vote to succeed outgoing President Rene Preval, said it would be “unreasonable” for officials to postpone the election despite the crises.

“The general situation is not favorable for elections, because of the earthquake, health problems, cholera (and) hurricanes” among the pressing crises facing the country, Manigats told AFP.

But “we are now at a point when we cannot step back” from the election, “because there is a momentum within the population,” the former first lady and longtime opposition leader said.

Candidate Leslie Voltaire also urged authorities to hold the vote as scheduled on November 28.

“We can not postpone the election because of the cholera. You never know, if you postpone the election by a month or two, the cholera may be worse than it is today.”

The United Nations is asking for 164 million dollars to fight the epidemic, which has gained strength over the past week and spread to Port-au-Prince, and has warned that aid efforts could be “overrun by the epidemic” without urgent global financial assistance.

The bulk of the requested money – around 89 million dollars – will be used for water, sanitation and hygiene, while 43 million will be used for health, and 19 million for efforts in the camps housing people displaced by the earthquake, UN officials said.

Conditions were aggravated dramatically earlier this month when Hurricane Tomas brought heavy rains which caused rivers to burst their banks, including the Artibonite River, which is believed to be the conduit of the disease.

The Artibonite region in the northwest has been the hardest hit, with 595 recorded deaths.

The aid group Save the Children said 40 percent of those who have died in the epidemic were not in a hospital or clinic, suggesting they had no treatment or had not recognized symptoms of a disease that can kill within hours. — AFP

Somalia tops terrorism risk list, Yemen danger up

LONDON: Somalia has replaced Iraq as the state most at risk from terrorist attack, according to a ranking by global analysts Maplecroft, which sees threats also rising in Russia, Greece and Yemen but falling in India and Algeria.

A statement by the consultancy about its latest Terrorism Risk Index said increased dangers seen in Somalia and Yemen were caused by al Qaeda-associated violence while those in Russia stemmed from attacks by separatists from the North Caucasus.

The largest change in the rankings was Greece, which moved from 57 to 24 to become the European country most at risk, a trend the consultancy said was due to violent left-wing groups.

Pakistan, where more than 2,000 people have been killed in a wave of deadly attacks by extremist militants since 2007, moved up one place to become the country second most at risk, while neighbouring Afghanistan slipped from second place to fourth.

Iraq, where sectarian carnage unleashed after the 2003 US-led invasion is receding, is now in third place.

Security experts say the global risks posed by hardline extremist groups were most recently underscored by al Qaeda’s claim of responsibility for the planting of explosives on cargo planes flying to the United States from Yemen last month.

Maplecroft said Somalia suffered 556 terrorist incidents, in which 1,437 people were killed and 3,408 wounded, between June 2009 and June 2010, the period on which the rankings are based.

“Somalia is the most extreme risk country,” it said. “It has the highest number of deaths from terrorism per population and surpassed Iraq and Afghanistan in the number of fatalities per terrorist attack.”

Failed Cargo Plane Attack

Maplecroft said much of Somalia’s violence was attributable to the al Qaeda-aligned al Shabaab militant group, which has been fighting a weak transitional government for three years and now controls swathes of the south and centre of the country.

Yemen, across the Gulf of Aden, worries the West because it is home to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which claimed the failed cargo plane attack and a botched plot by a Nigerian student to bomb an airliner over Detroit on Dec. 25 2009.

The UK-based company’s index rates 196 countries on the number, frequency and intensity of terrorism attacks, plus the likelihood of mass casualties occurring. While based on historical data, it is intended as a forward-looking assessment.

The index’s reporting period partly overlaps with calendar 2009 data used in a previous ranking issued in Feb. 2010.

None of the main Western economies fall within the ranking’s high or extreme risk bracket. The United States is at 33, France 44 and Britain 46 — all in the medium risk category — while Canada at 67, and Germany at 70 are rated as low risk.

The index lists 16 countries as extreme risk — topped by Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan and followed by the Palestinian Territories in fifth place, Colombia 6, Thailand 7, Philippines 8, Yemen 9, Russia 10.

The company stated an increase in risk in Russia, which rose to 10 from 15, was due to a rise in big attacks by separatists from the North Caucasus including twin suicide bombings on the Moscow metro in March 2010 which killed 40 people.

Other major movers in the index included Algeria, which fell to 36 from 7, and India, which dropped to 15 from 6.

Pakistan well endowed to play role for peace: Gilani

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said Pakistan is well endowed to play a constructive role in promoting regional and global peace, security and development.

Addressing delegates of Pakistan Development Forum (PDF) here at Prime Minister House on Sunday night, Gilani said, “The challenge of development cannot be realized through aid alone and to realize this potential, we seek mutually beneficial partnerships.”

He said, “We seek growth which is holistic, sustained and all- encompassing.”

“Trade and market access are the centre piece of our vision for a peaceful, prosperous and progressive Pakistan. This explains why I have been advocating the theme of trade not aid during my interactions with the world leaders, business community and friends abroad,” he added.

Gilani said Pakistan Development Forum (PDF) offers a useful platform for in depth deliberations between Pakistan and its development partners on the entire spectrum of issues concerning the national development paradigm.

“The PDF is an opportunity to remind ourselves that there is a lot more to be done than fire-fighting. We cannot forget the bigger picture; while we are busy taking care of the immediate needs to the country,” he added.

He reminded that this year’s PDF gathering assumed greater significance in light of the economic fall-out of the recent floods.

He appreciated the gesture of the participating countries to share their knowledge and skills with Pakistanis.

He expressed the hope that deliberations at the Pakistan Development Forum would be productive and the forum would evolve strategies to help Pakistan fight off economic challenges in the backdrop of recent floods.

Gilani took note of the PDF deliberations on Sunday on damages and needs and as also on poverty alleviation and the provincial development agenda.

He said for Pakistan, its people and democratic government, development remained an overwhelming strategic priority.

“Our government’s economic philosophy is to put the country on a trajectory of sustainable growth by ensuring macroeconomic stability, domestic resource mobilization, restructuring of the public sector Enterprises and unleashing the productive potential of the private sector.”

The Prime Minister said that revival of the Pakistan economy was dependent on improvement in internal and external security caused by terrorism and the resolution of the energy crisis in the short term.

“It will require substantive investment in these areas as well as in development of trade corridors, improving agricultural outputs and social sectors,” he added.

The PM pointed out that some of Pakistan’s development challenges were structural and this government had made good progress in addressing structural problems like the issue of provincial autonomy.

“Other challenges faced by Pakistan are process-oriented. Our education system has been steadily bypassed by the private sector, and we have not invested as heavily as we need to,” he mentioned.

He said, “We must fix both processes and structures to build Pakistani institutions that our children can benefit from. Perhaps most importantly, as we improve the overall governance, we need to ensure that private enterprise has a chance to shine.”

The Prime Minister said in seeking and building partnerships of mutual benefit, Pakistan will always uphold its national dignity.

“As the democratic government of a sovereign Pakistan, accountable to its people, we have and will continue to subscribe to the principles of equity, equality and justice,” he added.

He underlined the need for job creation by entrepreneurs so that Pakistan could take advantage of its enormous demographic advantages.

Gilani said globalization is not simply a phenomenon of extensive communication and economic linkages but it is a process of human ties and concern.

Taking note of the help extended by the international community in natural calamities, he said, “The spirit of concern and solidarity exhibited by the entire international community during various international catastrophes as well as the recent floods in Pakistan reassured my belief that human feelings and shared values exist within the global family.”

In this global village, he said, nations cannot prosper in isolation and need to share and support one another for equitable socio-economic development.

“We have our collective stake in future and it must be our earnest effort to ensure a peaceful and prosperous life for our succeeding generations,” he added. – Agencies

Pakistan seeks $50bn foreign debt waiver

ISLAMABAD: As federal and provincial economic teams assured the international community on Sunday of their resolve to introduce wide-ranging taxation measures, including Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST) and taxes on agriculture and real estate, Interior Minister Rahman Malik made a plea for waiving the $50 billion foreign debt to help Pakistan move ahead with the war against terrorism.

On the other hand, representatives of the international community attending a two-day Pakistan Development Forum asked the government and people of Pakistan to take the lead in reconstruction and rehabilitation of flood-hit areas.

Most of the foreign delegates repeatedly asked the authorities about steps they were taking to mobilise resources.

Two provinces – Sindh and Punjab – informed the meeting that despite facing opposition they were moving ahead on the RGST and planned to raise substantial resources through tax on agriculture and property.

Interior Minister Rahman Malik said that Pakistan was fighting terrorism as a frontline state and deserved that its $50 billion foreign debt was written off.

He said that besides the challenge of terrorism the country was also engaged in reconstruction and rehabilitation of flood-hit people.

He said that around 40,000 to 50,000 people crossed the Pak-Afghan border daily, but all of them were not Taliban. They also included drug smugglers and criminals and hence Pakistan wanted the Afghan government to install biometric checkpoints to stop illegal cross-border movement.

He said Pakistan had been fighting terrorism for almost 30 years and had broken the back of terrorists along its western borders. The fight would go on with or without the international community’s help.

At the conclusion of the first day’s PDF proceedings, US Special Envoy Richard Halbrooke said his government faced immense pressure at home because of high fiscal deficit, but it still wanted to contribute to reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in Pakistan. The lead, however, must be taken by the people of Pakistan because he would have to explain to the new Congress why Pakistan was so important for the international community.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was conspicuous by his absence.

Punjab’s Senior Minister Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa said floods had caused $3.2 billion losses in his province.

Mr Khosa said Punjab needed $900 million to set up model villages and his
government was improving the system of taxing agricultural income and property tax.
“Sindh believes in self-reliance and it is going to impose flood surcharge on agriculture crops and residential and commercial plots in urban areas,” said Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah.

Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister Kaiser Bengali said that progress had been made on the RGST and the provincial government would impose a flood tax for which a law would soon be tabled in the provincial assembly despite some opposition.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Owais Ghani said his province needed Rs107 billion over the next 18 months for reconstruction in social sector and infrastructure development.

Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti said the provincial government had suspended new development projects of Rs18 billion from a development plan of Rs69 billion.

Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said that talks had just started with presentations by provincial and regional governments and the federal government would brief PDF participants on Monday on the impact of floods on national economy and ways of dealing with consequences of the devastation.

MQM proposes alternative for RGST

KARACHI: MQM’s leader Dr Farooq Sattar confirmed on Sunday that an alternate option beside Reformed General Sales Tax had been put forward to the Government, and stressed that if it is implemented can generate revenue of Rs One thousand billion.

The proposed suggestions include, wealth tax on big feudals and landlords, agricultural tax, stoppage of additional-benefits in agriculture, deduction in non-development funds, an end for corruption, reforms in public and private sectors and a review of Afghan-transit agreement.

Sattar further said that the government had been cautioned numerously about the consequences of RGST, and that it will bring a Tsunami of inflation for the people of the country.

He demanded for the implementation of suggestions by MQM, in order to bring relief to the people.

US must ‘step up game’ to match Asia: Obama

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama said Sunday the United States needed to “step up” its game to compete with fast developing Asia, as he returned to Washington after a 10-day trip to the region.

Obama told reporters aboard Air Force One however that he also felt convinced after visiting four nations and two summits, that Asian leaders and people wanted an engaged America to play a leadership role.

“Those folks are moving. Korea, China, India, the entire southeast Asian region, Japan — all of them realize how competitive things are,” Obama said.

“They are thinking each and every day about how to educate their work force, rebuild their infrastructure, entering the new markets.” But Obama also argued that Americans were perhaps feeling down on their chances in the region after two years of deep economic crisis, and added that the United States had a key role to play as a Pacific power.

“I think everywhere in Asia what I hear from leaders and people is that we are still central and they want us there,” Obama said.

“We should feel confident about our ability to compete, but we are going to have to step up our game,” Obama said.

Obama returned to Washington after visiting India, his boyhood home of Indonesia, Seoul for the G20 summit and the Asia Pacific Cooperation Forum (APEC) leaders summit in Yokohama, Japan. – AFP

Karzai wants US to reduce military operations: report

WASHINGTON: President Hamid Karzai warned in an interview Sunday that the US military must scale back operations and reduce its “intrusiveness” into Afghan life or risk fueling the Taliban insurgency.

“The time has come to reduce military operations,” Karzai told The Washington Post in Kabul.

Karzai said it was time to lighten the US military footprint in his country and shift towards a more civilian operation in order to “reduce the intrusiveness into the daily Afghan life.” He also said the presence of about 100,000 US troops, in particular the raids conducted by American forces on Afghan homes, inflame the emotions of everyday Afghans and lead angry young men to join the insurgency.

“The raids are a problem always. They were a problem then, they are a problem now. They have to go away,” Karzai said.

Night raids were particularly offensive to Afghans, he said, describing the operations as “terrible.” The Afghan people don’t like these raids, if there is any raid it has to be done by the Afghan government within the Afghan laws. This is a continuing disagreement between us.” Karzai suggested that the United States should focus more intently on rooting out Taliban sanctuaries in neighboring Pakistan, and shift its emphasis in Afghanistan to development work.

The comments appear to put the Afghan president squarely at odds with US commander General David Petraeus, who is said to favor the raids as key to his counterinsurgency strategy.

It also runs counter to the US plan of intensifying military operations against the Taliban ahead of the start of a planned American military withdrawal in mid-2011.

President Barack Obama’s administration has sought to shift the emphasis away from that drawdown timetable in recent weeks, instead stressing the goal of handing over security to Afghans by 2014.

An unnamed NATO military official expressed skepticism about Karzai’s comments.

“We understand President Karzai’s concerns, but we would not be as far along as we are pressuring the network had it not been for these very precision operations we do at night,” the official told The Washington Post.

“I don’t see any near-term alternative to this kind of operation.” Lindsey Graham, a leading Republican senator who dined with Karzai during a recent visit to Afghanistan, said Sunday he was “just stunned” by the leader’s remarks.

“We were briefed by our military commanders that we own the night militarily and are making a huge impact on the Taliban, (on) the insurgency as a whole,” he told the ABC News program “This Week.” To take the night raids off the table would be a disaster,” Graham said.

“The Petraeus strategy must be allowed to go forward for us to be successful.” The senator also said US troops should begin coming home by summer of 2011 but that a “substantial number” would need to stay until 2014, when Karzai said his forces would be able to take the lead in security operations.

Karzai told The Washington Post he was speaking out not to criticize the United States but in the belief that candor could improve what he called a “grudging” relationship between the countries.

He acknowledged an abrupt withdrawal would be dangerous, but said US soldiers should be more confined to their bases and limit themselves to necessary operations along the Pakistani border, The Washington Post said. – AFP

Honorary Oscars for film legends Coppola, Godard

LOS ANGELES: Hollywood paid respect Saturday to leading lights of film, bestowing honorary Oscars on directing legends Francis Ford Coppola and Jean-Luc Godard, among other industry luminaries.

At a private banquet in Los Angeles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented the biggest lifetime accolade, the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for producing, to the 71-year-old Coppola.

“It;s wonderful. I have all my family here, and all my friends and colleagues. I couldn’t be happier,” said Coppola, who won his first Academy Award for co-writing the script of “Patton” way back in 1970.

“Star Wars” director George Lucas hailed Coppola’s cinematic legacy, saying: “He’s been my brother, he’s been my mentor.”

“Francis was never afraid to do whatever it takes to make sure that his artistic vision was completed the way he wanted,” Lucas said.

Coppola sealed his legendary status by writing and directing the multiple Oscar-winning mafia movies “The Godfather” and “The Godfather, Part II” in 1972 and 1974 respectively.

Over a career spanning six decades, Coppola was also nominated for Academy Awards for “The Conversation” (1974), “Apocalypse Now” (1979), and “The Godfather, Part III” (1990).

Coppola, who was born in Detroit, Michigan to an Italian-American family and grew up in New York, produced several other iconic, critically-acclaimed films such as “The Black Stallion” and “American Graffiti.”

“New Wave” director Godard, who turns 80 next month, was not present to receive his lifetime achievement award, which rekindled charges of anti-Semitism against the avowed anti-Zionist and defender of Palestinian rights.

Over the years, Godard has given numerous interviews critical of the Israeli government and the influence of Jews in Hollywood.

The controversy has raged throughout Jewish media in recent weeks and was picked up by the mainstream press, with The New York Times publishing an article titled “An Honorary Oscar Revives a Controversy,” while the Los Angeles Times asked: “Jean-Luc Godard and his honorary Oscar: does it matter if he’s an anti-Semite?”
The Academy attempted to brush aside the controversy, issuing a statement in the weeks leading up to the ceremony saying it was not convinced of the veracity of the allegations against Godard.

“Anti-Semitism is of course deplorable, but the Academy has not found the accusations against Mr Godard persuasive,” the statement said.

The French-Swiss filmmaker, whose body of work includes “Breathless”(1960), “Contempt” (1963), “Band of Outsiders” (1964), “Masculine-Feminine”(1966) and “Two or Three Things I Know About Her” (1967), was praised for his passion in creating “a new kind of cinema.”

“Jean-Luc Godard could not be here with us tonight. That is unfortunate,” said Academy president Tom Sherak.

“But his absence in no way diminishes our respect and appreciation for his work as a filmmaker. And I want you to know that this award is meaningful to him.”

Also honored were British film historian and preservationist Kevin Brownlow, 72, and veteran American actor Eli Wallach, 95, whose credits include “The Magnificent Seven” and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”

The gala dinner, which gathered stars from Clint Eastwood and Warren Beatty to Robert De Niro and Oliver Stone, marked the start of the Hollywood awards season which culminates on February 27 with the Oscars. — AFP

Formerly British-based radical cleric faces Lebanon retrial

TRIPOLI: Lebanese police on Sunday arrested radical Islamic preacher Omar Bakri, just days after the formerly British-based cleric boasted he would “not spend one day” of a life sentence behind bars.

He now faces a retrial because his first trial was held in absentia.

“He was arrested by a patrol of intelligence agents from the Internal Security Force in his home in Tripoli,” a security official told AFP.

Police said that Bakri tried to flee in a car as the patrol closed in on his house in the main northern city, prompting an officer to open fire to prevent him from escaping.

“As the patrol went to arrest him… he tried to flee. A member of the security forces opened fire and two bullets hit the back tyres” of Bakri’s getaway vehicle, a police statement said.

He was duly arrested and transferred to Beirut, police said.

A judicial source told AFP that Bakri must be retried before a military court in line with Lebanese law because he had been sentenced in absentia.

Bakri, a fundamentalist Sunni Muslim who has praised the September 11, 2001 attacks and hailed the hijackers as the “magnificent 19,” was sentenced to life by a military court on Thursday.

The 50-year-old, who lived in Britain for 20 years, was found guilty, along with more than 40 other Lebanese, Palestinians, Syrians and Saudis, of “incitement to murder, theft and the possession of arms and explosives.”

The day after the sentence was handed down he vowed he would “not spend one day in prison.”

“I will not hand myself in to any court. I do not believe in the law in Britain as in Lebanon,” he told AFP at his home.

Bakri, who failed to show up for sentencing on Thursday, said he had not been formally told the court would issue a verdict and insisted he was innocent.

The Syrian-born cleric, who also has Lebanese nationality, denied he had any links to Al-Qaeda.

“I have no ties to Al-Qaeda, direct or indirect, other than the fact that I believe in the same ideology,” he said at his home in Tripoli’s Abi Samra neighbourhood, a hub for radical Islamist groups.

On Saturday Bakri appealed to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah for help.

“I urge Hassan Nasrallah to look at the injustice facing Omar Bakri who backs all resistance (movements) against Israel,” Hezbollah’s arch-foe, he said in an interview on the private television station NTV.

Bakri was banned from Britain in 2005 as part of government measures following the London underground and bus bombings that year.

He sparked outrage in Britain in the wake of the bombings for saying he would not hand over to police Muslims planning to launch attacks.

He also called Britain’s former prime minister John Major and Russia’s former president Vladimir Putin “legitimate targets.”

Upon his arrival in Beirut in 2005, Bakri was detained but freed the next day. No charges were pressed against him at the time.

Born in 1960 to a wealthy Syrian family, Bakri began studying Islam at the age of five and at 15 joined the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood.

He later abandoned the Brotherhood and joined the Hizb ut-Tahrir (Arabic for Party of Liberation), a movement that aims to join all Islamic states under one caliphate.

He split with Hizb ut-Tahrir in 1983 and founded his own group, Al-Muhajirun (The Emigrants), in Jeddah that year.

When expelled from Saudi Arabia in 1986, he moved to Britain and gained a following as a preacher before his expulsion. Al-Muhajirun has also been proscribed under the UK Terrorism Act 2000.

Bakri has two wives – British and Lebanese – and seven children. He is expecting an eighth child with his Lebanese wife. — AFP