No forced return of Afghans from flood-hit Pakistan: UN

AZAKHEL: The head of the UN refugee agency, Antonio Guterres, called Thursday for more global relief to help Pakistan after catastrophic floods and ruled out any forced repatriation of Afghans.

Pakistan is home to 1.7 million Afghan refugees —1.5 million of whom live in areas affected by the country's worst humanitarian disaster, which has affected up to 21 million people overall and hit terrain the size of England.

“The government of Pakistan has guaranteed that despite this tragedy Pakistan will not force these refugees to go back to Afghanistan,” Guterres said after meeting elders from the devastated northwestern village of Azakhel.

Azakhel is the largest Afghan refugee camp that the floods destroyed. It had a population of 22,000 people, who lost everything, a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) official said.

“Some Afghan families wanted to go back and we will support their repatriation, but nobody will be forced to go back to Afghanistan,” Guterres told reporters.

Guterres said the floods destroyed 16 Afghan refugee villages in Pakistan and that 15 will be rebuilt. But he said there were “doubts” about Azakhel because of its “dangerous location”.

“Pakistan government has already warned that possible flood can again create problem in the area,” Guterres told village elders.

“UNHCR will do everything to support the people if this Afghan refugee camp is to be relocated.”

The refugee agency chief praised Pakistan for hosting such a large number of Afghans for nearly three decades -- an exodus precipitated by the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and called for more global support for Pakistan.
“International community needs to show similar generosity with Pakistan by extending maximum possible help and support,” said Guterres, adding that Pakistanis were facing an “unprecedented crisis”.

Village elders said their children wanted to return to Azakhel.

“We want to come back to the village. Our children want to come back because we have deep associations with it as we have been living here for the past 30 years,” village representative Sharaft Hussain told Guterres.

Nearly two months after the floods first struck, Azakhel is still a wreckage of flattened mud-bricked houses and rubble. Stagnant flood water emitted a foul smell, an AFP reporter said.

Punjab govt rejects ISI role in CJ Sharif report leakage

LAHORE: The Punjab government on Thursday rejected reports that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had any kind of involvement in the leakage of a report pertaining to a plan to assassinate Chief Justice Lahore high Court Khawaja Sharif.

A spokesman of the provincial government in a handout said that it was just an allegation.

He said the report came from the special branch and according to a set procedure the provincial government contacts the ISI after receiving such kinds of reports. Therefore, the ISI was contacted, but the agency had no role in the leakage of the report to the media.

Water dispute claims 13 more lives in Kurram

PESHAWAR: The ongoing water dispute in the Kurram tribal region deepened on Thursday as 13 more tribesmen were killed and 19 others were injured in clashes between the two rival groups.

According to sources, the dispute had taken a new turn after the involvement of militants in the clashes which took place in the tribal region’s Salozan and Tungi areas.

So far, 48 people have been killed and more than 80 injured in the past 13 days

India to try 'new strategy' to pacify Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Indian security forces said they have drawn up a new plan to tackle deadly unrest in Kashmir amid criticism of the government on Thursday over its handling of the crisis.

The army, police and paramilitary forces said Wednesday they had formulated a “joint strategy” to restore peace in the valley where scores of anti-India protesters have been shot dead.

“The meeting discussed the measures to effectively counter the protest calendar,” a statement by the military said, referring to a list of demonstrations set by separatists in the region.

No details were given about the strategy, which is to be implemented immediately.

The death toll from three months of unrest rose to 94 on Thursday after the cousin of top separatist Yasin Malik, who was injured in a clash last month, died in hospital, Malik's spokesman told AFP.

In New Delhi, the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh faced criticism from some commentators after a five-hour crisis meeting between political leaders held in the capital on Wednesday.

The meeting broke up with a decision to send a fact-finding mission to the area.

“Wars are won and insurrection defeated by leaders, not committees,” wrote commentator Manoj Joshi in the Mail Today newspaper.

“The Manmohan Singh government seems bent on defying this logic.” Samar Halarnkar, writing in the Hindustan Times, said “the all-party meeting in Delhi has utterly failed to address the (Kashmir) valley's realities.”

He warned of the danger of a new surge in violence in Kashmir, where the insurgency is at its lowest level in two decades, unless the grievances of local people are addressed.

The Express newspaper was more supportive of the government, saying that “no one would have expected the all-party meeting to end with a concrete consensus on how to move forward.”

It said the fact-finding mission was “welcome” and an indication that the nation's political energy was directed “towards dealing with one of India's most intractable problems.”

All major towns in Kashmir remained under curfew on Thursday for the fifth day. There was no report of any violence during the night from any part of the region, police said.

Court indicts four Khmer Rouge leaders for genocide

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia's UN-backed tribunal on Thursday indicted four former Khmer Rouge leaders for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the regime's most senior surviving member.

The court has decided to “send forward these four accused for trial”, judge You Bunleng said at a press conference, before listing a long series of charges against the former top regime members, including torture, murder and rape.

Nuon Chea, 84, who was known as “Brother Number Two” and served as deputy to Khmer Rouge founder Pol Pot, will face trial in 2011 alongside former foreign minister Ieng Sary, his wife and ex-social affairs minister Ieng Thirith and former head of state Khieu Samphan.

International judge Marcel Lemonde said the investigation into the case, the tribunal's second after the July sentencing of former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch to 30 years in jail, had taken so long because it was much more complex.

US supports civilian set-up in Pakistan: Holbrooke

KARACHI: US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke categorically stated on Wednesday that his country supported a civilian and democratically-elected government in Pakistan.

Answering a question at a press conference which he addressed after meeting Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah following a visit to some flood-affected areas, Mr Holbrooke also said the US supported the civilian government and “also worked closely with the army which was part of that government”.

The chief minister gave a detailed briefing to the US official on the devastation caused by floods in Sindh.

Referring to his visit to Thatta where he met displaced persons in camps, Mr Holbrooke said that he had extended discussion with leaders in Karachi and Islamabad about the disaster.

He said Pakistan needed massive support and said the US which was the first to come to Pakistan’s help, had opened its heart to the people of Pakistan.In reply to a question, Mr Holbrooke said the Kerry-Lugar Act provided $7.5 billion assistance which was meant for water, power, health and education with priorities to water and power projects. However, he said, the Congress had allowed $15 million for emergency assistance.

Washington has donated $261 million for relief and recovery of the flood-hit people.

He recalled that in July this year he and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had come to Islamabad and announced how “we want to spend that money with emphasis on energy and water projects”.

Mr Holbrooke said the US was helping Pakistan to overcome the effects of flood not because of the war on terror or Afghanistan, but because Pakistan needed it. He said the US government would fully participate in every phase of rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood-hit people. The governments in Islamabad and Karachi would have to come up with priorities, he said.

The US envoy also said that if there was a risk of floods in future new dams should be built and old dams should be improved.

Answering another question, Mr Holbrooke said: “We have no troops in Pakistan. Your country is dealing with the situation in tribal areas.”

Five UCs, fuel pipelines face flood threat

DADU: A 400-foot “controlled cut” was made in a dyke at Dadu’s Bagh-i-Yousuf on Wednesday to reduce water level in Manchhar lake.

The breach between RD-11 and 12 was made after water level in the lake rose to 121.5RL and overtopped at RD-96, 97, 98, 99 and 100.

Irrigation officials made the cut to drain 250,000 cusecs of water from the lake into the Indus through Karampur. About 15,000 cusecs was flowing into the river through Aral canal.

Up to 40,000 cusecs was flowing into Manchhar from the Main Nara Valley drain.

The heavy flow caused leakages in the lake’s dyke at Zero Point.

The cut will inundate the Dal, Pakka Channa, Talti and Bubak union councils.

The Jamshoro district administration alerted people of Dal area before breaching the dyke, but did not inform the residents of Pakka, Talti and Bubak.

About 250,000 people will be affected by the breach and Bakhtiarpur, Arazi and Talti towns in Sehwan taluka will be inundated.

People started vacating villages in the area, but faced a shortage of vehicles.

The waters diverted through the cut will pass over the Jamshoro-Larkana section of the Indus Highway and railway tracks at different places.

PIPELINES: The floodwaters may damage four pipelines of Parco and the SSGC and submerge an oil station in Bubak and the Shahbaz airport in Sehwan.

The main valve and two high pressure pipelines of the SSGC and two of Parco were under threat.

SSGC Chief Engineer Kazi Anwar Keerio said that since the pipelines supplying petrol from Karachi to Faisalabad and gas to Karachi / Hyderabad were three kilometres from the breach, these were likely to be affected. Dadu SSGC Senior Manager Mumtaz Bughio said the pipelines would be damaged if the valve was affected, leading to suspension of gas supply to a number of towns from Sehwan to Karachi.

Hyderabad GOC Maj-Gen Shaukat Iqbal told reporters at the breach site that the step had been taken to reduce the water level in Manchhar and pressure on its embankments because breaches in them could inundate Bhan Syedabad and other towns.

Jamshoro DCO Samiuddin Siddique claimed that a warning had been issued to people of Bhan, Bubak, Dal and Talti and the administration was helping them leave the area. But people were reluctant to move to camps because arrangements had not been made for their animals.

The administration and Wapda have decided to raise the height of the Indus link canal’s embankment to protect Bhan Syedabad.

Former UC nazim Roshan Buriro said the town was under threat of flooding from the MNV drain and Manchhar lake, but the administration had not provided transport to local people to leave the area.

The flow in the drain at Chhandan near Dadu remained dangerous, while the water level rose along the Johi and Mehar embankments.