Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts

DTN News - PAKISTAN DEFENSE NEWS: Nato Aircraft Making Pakistani Airspace unsafe

DTN News - PAKISTAN DEFENSE NEWS: Nato Aircraft Making Pakistani Airspace unsafe

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 22, 2012: The Nato aircraft changing their flying levels without taking orders from the traffic control department during the monsoon season, is creating issues for the other traffic flying on different levels and thus making the airspace near Afghan border area more vulnerable to any collision.

The Green 325 area in Balochistan has no radar coverage for 100 miles despite high air traffic frequency, while no data is available of flights taking off from Afghanistan due to telex problems between the aviation authorities of both the countries, sources said.

“Changing the flying levels by the Nato planes on their own in the monsoon season is the biggest issue CAA is facing currently, because this makes the country’s airspace vulnerable to any disaster in this highly sensitive zone of Pak-Afghan border areas,” sources said.

Sources in the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) informed that currently they were facing serious issues in Balochistan and near Afghanistan border areas where the frequency of air traffic was quite high.

“Due to the absence of radar coverage, we are not in a position to monitor the flying activities there and this is a very big security lapse,” sources said, adding that flights taking off from Afghanistan contacted the traffic control system of Pakistan CAA at the eleventh hour, which created complexities of routing the whole traffic and this could result in any untoward situation.

DTN News - OSAMA BIN LADEN'S FAMILY: Pakistan To Deport Osama Family to Avoid Further Embarrassment Revelations About Al-Qaeda Chief’s Life In The Country

DTN News - OSAMA BIN LADEN'S FAMILY: Pakistan To Deport Osama Family to Avoid Further Embarrassment Revelations About Al-Qaeda Chief’s Life In The Country

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 20, 2012: A Pakistani police commando stands guard outside the house where family members of slain Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden are believed to be held in Islamabad on April 20, 2012. 

The deportation of Osama bin Laden's family from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia will take at least a few more days and is being discussed between the two countries, their lawyer said.

The 9/11 mastermind's three widows, their eight children and a grandchild were held by Pakistan authorities after bin Laden was killed in a US special forces operation in the town of Abbottabad, north of Islamabad, last May.

DTN News - IRAN DEFENSE NEWS: Iran Can Be A Stabilizing Factor For Mid East, Iraq And Afghanistan - Ahmadinejad Willing To Cooperate With Arab Neighbours On Gulf Security

DTN News - IRAN DEFENSE NEWS: Iran Can Be A Stabilizing Factor For Mid East, Iraq And Afghanistan - Ahmadinejad Willing To Cooperate With Arab Neighbours On Gulf Security

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 17, 2012: The UN-Arab League special envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan involving Tehran and talks with senior Iranian official about unrest in Syria and hopeful on the outcome. Annan stated "Iran, given its special relations with Syria, can be part of the solution" if it helps the Assad regime to stand down.

Iran is strategically situated along the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which a major portion of global oil flows. Any changes or halt in oil flows can create havoc globally. 

Secondly, Iran has long borders with Iraq and Afghanistan., both the countries are facing
sectarian violence and internal insurgency with al Qaeda connections. Over the years, Afghanistan has seen NATO, ISAF and US security forces compromising from 42 countries are involved in bringing peace and stability in the land lock country. It is imperative Iran should be with coalition partners in both countries for betterment of the region.

Since 2011, it is clearly visible to USA and rest of the world that Pakistan is not a stable coalition partner to fight against terrorism in Afghanistan. 
Abbottabad raid episode; Ten years of doomed bids to capture the Al Qaeda leader haunted the operation. Countless searches in the mountains and caves of Tora Bora in Afghanistan had come to nothing, with the vast American military and CIA risking becoming a laughing stock for their failure to catch one frail old man with kidney problems. And serious doubts remained. Would the world’s most wanted man really choose to hide out in the heart of an army garrison town which is home to 400,000 people, and just half a mile from the Kakul Military Academy described as Pakistan’s equivalent of Sandhurst? The nation’s most senior army chiefs would virtually pass his door to attend events there, and the town is home to many retired members of Pakistan’s military and intelligence services – supposedly the West’s allies in the hunt for Bin Laden. On the other hand, several other Al Qaeda leaders had recently been found hiding in similarly built-up areas, in the Pakistani cities of Quetta, Karachi, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi.

It seems Pakistan were forced into the group by Bush administration's ultimatum as US official allegedly threatened to bomb Pakistan ‘back to stone age’ if it did not completely support US. The helm of Islamabad mostly were self vested in benefiting their interest ahead of the country, The present head of state Zardari is known for his deeds and is on a billionaire list, inclusive of another top ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The Army has always supported jihadi elements in conjunction with Kashmir factor and proxy war.

It is high time Iran should be included in Afghanistan and Iraq to create peace and harmony in the region.

Today, April 17 2012 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivers a speech alongside military commanders during the Army Day parade in Tehran. Iran will respond with force to any threats to its territorial integrity, Ahmadinejad said, adding that it would prefer to cooperate with its Arab neighbours to maintain security in the Gulf.

Obama administration should initiate the first step by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Tehran, cooperate and resolve pending issues on nuclear factor and respect Iran being a mature nation with credit of 5,000 years history. Iran would appreciate the gesture.


DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT ~ OSAMA BIN LADEN NEWS: Pakistan To Deport Bin Laden Family

DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT ~ OSAMA BIN LADEN NEWS: Pakistan To Deport Bin Laden Family

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April  13, 2012: Pakistan will deport the widows and children of former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden to Saudi Arabia next week after their jail sentence for illegal residency ends, their lawyer said on Friday.

The three women and two children were detained by Pakistani security forces after a secret U.S. special forces raid killed bin Laden in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad in May last year
.
Earlier this month a Pakistani court sentenced the women to 45 days in prison for illegally staying in the country. It ordered their deportation after the prison term which began on March 3 when they were formally arrested.

DTN News - PAKISTAN NEWS: Pakistani Islamist Leader Hafiz Saeed Mocks U.S. Over $10Million Bounty At News Conference

DTN News - PAKISTAN NEWS: Pakistani Islamist Leader Hafiz Saeed Mocks U.S. Over $10Million Bounty At News Conference

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 4, 2012: The founder of Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has described a $10m (£6.2m) bounty on his head - announced by the US on Tuesday - as "regrettable and misdirected".

In an interview with the Associated Press news agency, Hafiz Saeed said that such rewards "are usually for those who live in caves and mountains".

Mr Saeed travels widely in Pakistan from his base in the city of Lahore.

He now heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) group, widely seen as a LeT front.

LeT is blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks in India. The three-day rampage by 10 gunmen in November 2008 left 165 people dead. Nine of the attackers were also killed.

Local media on Wednesday quoted Pakistan interior ministry sources as saying that the government cannot proceed against Mr Saeed without "hard and undeniable evidence that can withstand judicial scrutiny".

He has consistently denied any suggestion that either he or JuD - which he says is a charity - played any role in militant violence.

Pakistan arrested LeT's senior leaders after the Mumbai attacks. But most of them, including Mr Saeed, were later freed on appeal.

DTN News - RUSSIA DEFENSE NEWS: Russia's Defense Ministry Wants Strike Drone

DTN News - RUSSIA DEFENSE NEWS: Russia's Defense Ministry Wants Strike Drone

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 2, 2012: Russia’s Defense Ministry has issued a technical specification for development of a strike unmanned air vehicle (UAV), Izvestia daily said on Monday quoting a high-level source.

Tranzas company will build the UAV's on-board electronics as well as its navigation and control systems. The airframe, which will weigh about five tons, will be produced by the Kazan-based Sokol design bureau.

The new aircraft will have a modular structure, the source said, and will be able to carry various types of equipment and armament.

Russia’s Defense Ministry sealed contracts worth an estimated 3 billion rubles ($101.9 million) with Tranzas and Sokol in October 2011 for research work into creation of strike and reconnaissance UAVs.

In late March, Russian Air Force commander-in-chief Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin, told Moscovsky Komsomolets tabloid that strike drones will enter service before 2020. He did not specify how many drones will be acquired.

The United States has relied heavily on UAVs including the Predator system to carry out missile attacks on insurgents in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area.

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Pakistan Seeks End To Drones

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Pakistan Seeks End To Drones

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 21, 2012: A Pakistan parliamentary commission called for the U.S. to end drone strikes on its territory and to formally apologize for killing 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.

The demands were made as part of a debate in Parliament Tuesday over how the country should pursue relations with the U.S. in the wake of public anger over the unintentional killing of the Pakistan soldiers by firing from U.S. helicopters.

Pakistan's government retaliated last year by stopping the North Atlantic Treaty Organization from using its territory to provision troops in Afghanistan, forcing NATO to route more of its equipment and other supplies through Central Asia.

Islamabad said it wouldn't reopen the supply routes until Parliament had a chance to re-evaluate the country's relations with the U.S. High-level military and civilian visits to Pakistan by U.S. officials have been suspended in recent months until Parliament can conclude its debate, which has been delayed many times.

White House and State Department officials said they were awaiting the full parliamentary process before responding to requests for an apology. Washington is waiting to hear from the Pakistani government about how they would like to move forward, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Although U.S. officials say much routine business, including civilian aid projects and lower-level military contacts, has continued unaffected, the tensions have destabilized bilateral relations at a time when the U.S. was hoping Pakistan could play a role in helping develop peace talks with the Afghan Taliban.

The level of public anger in Pakistan toward the U.S. has been rising. Many Pakistanis oppose drone strikes against Taliban militants, which they believe kill large numbers of civilians.
U.S. officials deny sizable civilian casualties, and the Pakistan military says it has shared intelligence occasionally on strike targets.

The NATO raid in November along the Afghan border that killed the Pakistani soldiers sent relations to a new low. The Obama administration's failure to apologize, despite calls from the U.S. State Department to do so, further aggravated the strained relationship.

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: U.S. Forces Provided Security Convoy Bringing Supplies To U.S. Military Bases Arrives At Forward Operating Base Bostic In Kunar Province

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: U.S. Forces Provided Security Convoy Bringing Supplies To U.S. Military Bases Arrives At Forward Operating Base Bostic In Kunar Province

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada – March 19, 2012: A convoy bringing supplies to U.S. military bases arrives at Forward Operating Base Bostic in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan March 19, 2012. 

U.S. military forces provided security to a huge convoy that travelled two days from Jalalabad bringing supplies to U.S. military bases in Kunar province near the Pakistan borders.

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: U.S. Army Soldier SSG Chand Anuresh Talks To Afghan Drivers Prior Providing Security To Afghan Drivers Bringing Supplies To U.S. Military Near Pakistan Borders

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: U.S. Army Soldier SSG Chand Anuresh Talks To Afghan Drivers Prior Providing Security To Afghan Drivers Bringing Supplies To U.S. Military Near Pakistan Borders

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada – March 19, 2012: U.S. Army soldier SSG Chand Anuresh of 325th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry talks to Afghan civilian drivers before the second leg of a mission bringing supplies for U.S. military bases at Forward Operating Base Joyce in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan March 18, 2012. 

U.S. military forces provided security to a huge convoy that travelled for two days from Jalalabad bringing supplies to U.S. military bases in Kunar province near the Pakistan borders. Picture taken March 18, 2012.

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: U.S. Army Soldier Sergeant Stephanie At Platoon Briefing Prior Providing Security To Afghan Drivers Bringing Supplies To U.S. Military Near Pakistan Borders

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: U.S. Army Soldier Sergeant Stephanie At Platoon Briefing Prior Providing Security To Afghan Drivers Bringing Supplies To U.S. Military Near Pakistan Borders

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada – March 19, 2012: U.S. Army soldier Sergeant Stephanie of 325th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry talks during a platoon briefing before leaving for the second leg of a mission bringing supplies to U.S. military bases at Forward Operating Base Joyce in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan March 18, 2012. 

U.S. military forces provided security to a huge convoy that travelled for two days from Jalalabad bringing supplies to U.S. military bases in Kunar province near the Pakistan borders. Picture taken March 18, 2012.

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: U.S. Forces Provided Security To Afghan Drivers Bringing Supplies To U.S. Military Bases Near Pakistan Borders

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS:  U.S. Forces Provided Security To Afghan Drivers Bringing Supplies To U.S. Military Bases Near Pakistan Borders

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada – March 19, 2012: Afghan drivers wait to leave with U.S. Army soldiers from 325th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry to the second leg of a mission bringing supplies to U.S. military bases at Forward Operating Base Joyce in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan March 18, 2012. 

U.S. military forces provided security to a huge convoy that travelled for two days from Jalalabad bringing supplies to U.S. military bases in Kunar province near the Pakistan borders. Picture taken March 18, 2012.

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: U.S. Army Soldier SPC Mike Hains Preparing Prior Providing Security To Afghan Drivers Bringing Supplies To U.S. Military Near Pakistan Borders

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS:  U.S. Army Soldier SPC Mike Hains Preparing Prior Providing Security To Afghan Drivers Bringing Supplies To U.S. Military Near Pakistan Borders

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada – March 19, 2012: U.S. Army soldier SPC Mike Hains of 325th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry carries a machinegun while preparing to go on the second leg of a mission providing security to a convoy bringing supplies at Forward Operating Base Joyce in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan March 18, 2012. 

U.S. military forces provided security to a huge convoy that travelled for two days from Jalalabad bringing supplies to U.S. military bases in Kunar province near the Pakistan borders. Picture taken March 18, 2012. (Photo - Reuters)

DTN News - PAKISTAN TALIBAN NEWS: Kidnapped Swiss Couple 'Escape' Pakistani Taliban After Eight Months In Captivity

DTN News - PAKISTAN TALIBAN NEWS: Kidnapped Swiss Couple 'Escape' Pakistani Taliban After Eight Months In Captivity

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada – March 15, 2012:  Swiss couple David Och and Daniela Widmer wave upon their arrival at Qasim military base in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on Thursday, March 15, 2012. 

A Swiss couple held captive for nearly a year by the Taliban in Pakistan turned up at an army post close to the Afghan border on Thursday, claiming to have escaped from their captors, the Pakistani army said. They were swiftly flown to safety by the military.

DTN News - OSAMA BIN LADEN NEWS: Bin Laden Was 'Betrayed By One Of His Jealous Wives' Who Revealed Location Of His Secret Pakistan Compound

DTN News - OSAMA BIN LADEN NEWS: Bin Laden Was 'Betrayed By One Of His Jealous Wives' Who Revealed Location Of His Secret Pakistan Compound

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 11, 2012: Oldest wife wanted revenge because aging terrorist was 'bedding' his youngest spouse, investigator claims.

Betrayed: Osama Bin Laden may have been outed by one of his jealous wives, a retired Pakistani Brigadier has claimed.

Osama Bin Laden was betrayed by one of his wives who revealed the location of his Pakistan hideaway because she was jealous of the Al-Qaeda leader's youngest spouse, it was claimed today.

Khairiah Saber, the oldest of his five wives, was motivated by revenge because the aging terrorist was 'bedding' Amal Ahmed Abdel-Fatah al-Sada while she slept in abedroom on the floor below, according to a Pakistani official.

Retired brigadier Shaukat Qadir, who has investigated the U.S. operation which killed Bin Laden in May last year, also controversially claims that Saber may have been working with Al-Qaeda itself.

He believes word that 'someone very important' was living in Abbottabad got out to the Taliban, Pakistan’s ISI military intelligence service and ultimately the CIA.
 
Qadir suggests that Al-Qaeda was looking to cash in on the $25m (£16m) bounty on his head. But he said he has no proof.

Pakistan claims it had not been warned about the raid, but Qadir's claims suggest elements in the intelligence service may have been aware.

DTN News - PAKISTAN NEWS: Pakistani Religious Group Rally To Condemn Quarns Burning At Bagram Airbase In Afghanistan

DTN News - PAKISTAN NEWS: Pakistani Religious Group Rally To Condemn Quarns Burning At Bagram Airbase In Afghanistan

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 8, 2012: Supporters of a Pakistani religious group Tanzeem-e-Islami hold a rally to condemn the disposal last week of a number of Qurans at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, in Karachi, Pakistan, Saturday, March 3, 2012. (Photo - AP)

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: The Defense Budget And American Power

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: The Defense Budget And American Power

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 7, 2012: Mr. Chairman, Mr. Ranking Member, other Members of the Committee, it is an honor to appear before the committee today. That is especially true for a Congressional Budget Office alum like myself who remembers well working for senators Domenici and Sasser and others some two decades ago, when the Cold War ended and we were collectively trying to reduce defense budgets responsibly. 

That is again our challenge today. As former chairman of the joint chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, has persuasively argued, federal debt and with it the possible erosion of our national economic foundations have become national security threats themselves. I begin from the premises that the right dose of defense budget cutbacks, as part of comprehensive deficit reduction, can strengthen American power and influence over time. Put differently, it can be the least risky option—accepting some near-term, modest, and calculated reductions in military strength now to help shore up our longer-term economic prospects and with them our long-term national security. 

As I argued in my 2011 book, The Wounded Giant, no great power in history has remained great while its economy eroded. Trillion dollar deficits are not compatible with U.S. economic health, as Brookings colleagues such as Alice Rivlin have convincingly shown, and thus they are not compatible with long-term American global leadership. And as another Brookings colleague, Robert Kagan rightly argues in his new book, there is no credible alternative to U.S. leadership at present. Absent such leadership, the general stability among major powers that we take for granted in today’s world would no longer be such a given, and extremist states such as Iran and North Korea might feel further emboldened to assert themselves aggressively in their respective regions as well. The trick is to get the balance right, and to combine defense budget reductions of the right magnitude and character with other measures of fiscal restraint and revenue increases. 

The Obama administration’s new defense strategy and budget plan, building on earlier cuts made by Secretary Gates during his tenure in office, is a good step in the right direction in my eyes. In fact it gets us, responsibly, most of the way towards where we need to go in defense—even if I would submit respectfully that neither the administration nor the Congress has done as well in regard to entitlement spending or tax reform. As a result of this budget, national security spending would decline from current levels of about 4.5% of GDP to just over 3%. (For comparison, norms were 8 to 10 percent of GDP in the 1950s and 1960s, 5 to 6 percent in the 1970s and 1980s, 3 percent by the end of the 1990s, and 4 percent during most of the Bush presidency). Looked at differently, U.S. defense spending as a share of the global total will decline from about 45 percent in recent years to 35 percent or so, and the American military edge over China might decline from roughly 4:1 today (using Pentagon estimates of China’s actual military spending adjusted for purchasing power parity) to 3:1 within half a decade. 

DTN News - FUNDAMENTALS OF TERRORISM: Detection Points In The Terrorist Attack Cycle

DTN News - FUNDAMENTALS OF TERRORISM: Detection Points In The Terrorist Attack Cycle

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 1, 2012: Last week's Security Weekly discussed the fact that terrorism is a tactic used by many different classes of actors and that, while the perpetrators and tactics of terrorism may change in response to shifts in larger geopolitical cycles, these changes will never result in the end of terrorism. Since that analysis was written, there have been jihadist-related attacks in Afghanistan, Nigeria, Yemen and Pakistan, an assassination attempt against the president of Abkhazia, and a failed timed-incendiary attack against the Athens subway. (The latter incident, which militant anarchists claimed, reinforces that jihadists are not the only ones who practice terrorism.)

But while terrorism is a continuing concern, it can be understood, and measures can be taken to thwart terrorist plots and mitigate the effects of attacks. Perhaps the most important and fundamental point to understand about terrorism is that attacks do not appear out of nowhere. Individuals planning a terrorist attack follow a discernable cycle -- and that cycle and the behaviors associated with it can be observed if they are being looked for. We refer to these points where terrorism-related behavior can be most readily observed as vulnerabilities in the terrorist attack cycle.

The Attack Cycle

Many different actors can commit terrorist attacks, including sophisticated transnational terrorist groups like al Qaeda; regional militant groups like India's Maoist Naxalites; small, independent cells like the anarchists in Greece; and lone wolves like Oslo attacker Anders Breivik. There can be great variance in attack motives and in the time and process required to radicalize these different actors to the point that they decide to conduct a terrorist attack. But once any of these actors decides to launch an attack, there is remarkable similarity in the planning process.

DTN News - PAKISTAN NEWS: Sectarian Violence From Kohistan To Karachi

DTN News - PAKISTAN NEWS: Sectarian Violence From Kohistan In Karachi

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 29, 2012:  Pakistani Shiite Muslims chant slogans during a protest against the killing of their community members in Karachi on February 28, 2012. Sectarian gunmen disguised in military fatigues hauled 18 Shiite Muslim men off buses on February 28 and shot them dead in cold blood in a usually quiet region of northern Pakistan. 

Authorities blamed the assault on Islamist militant groups, without naming a specific organisation. The attack took place in the northern district of Kohistan, which neighbours the Swat valley, a former Taliban stronghold.

DTN News - PAKISTAN TODAY: Analysis ~ On Trial - Yousuf Raza Gilani

DTN News - PAKISTAN TODAY: Analysis ~ On Trial - Yousuf Raza Gilani

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 17, 2012: Yousuf Raza Gilani is creating history of sorts: With just one month to go before he completes his fourth year in office, he is already the longest serving prime minister of Pakistan. With a mix of luck, guile, compromise, concessions and even confrontation, he would expect to pull off another historical feat — of surviving his full constitutional term in office.

His chances of success appear to be slim. When the opposition took the memo issue to the Supreme Court late last year and the army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha supported a judicial probe into the affair, everyone thought time was up for Gilani and his government as well as President Asif Ali Zardari. When Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry appointed a high-powered judicial commission to probe the memo case, and followed it up with a string of contempt of court notices to senior government functionaries, including Gilani, the end was deemed nigh.

Many thought that the prime minister and other members of his ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) were making a bad situation worse by indulging in a war of words with the military. From his December 2011 speech in the National Assembly, warning that he will not allow a state within a state to exist, to his statement to the Chinese media that Kayani and Pasha acted illegally and unconstitutionally by contradicting the government version of the memo in front of the Supreme Court, Gilani was either bluffing or calling the other side’s bluff. In any case, he was certainly living dangerously.

It all now appears to have receded behind closed doors. Gilani has retracted his belligerent statements against the military and intelligence chiefs, of course, after claiming the not-so-prized scalp of the defence secretary as a face-saving measure. The memo probe appears destined for the long haul and contempt and corruption cases are subject to procedural adjournments and legal hair-splitting among the lawyers and the judges. From being on the brink only days ago, Gilani looks like he is back in charge — for the time being at least.

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: U.S.-Taliban Talks Only "Exploratory" Says Afghan Envoy

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR  NEWS: U.S.-Taliban Talks Only "Exploratory" Says Afghan Envoy

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 16, 2012:  The Afghan Taliban and the United States have made only "exploratory" contacts for possible reconciliation which do not involve the Kabul government, the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan said on Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal said that the U.S. and Afghan governments had begun secret three-way talks with the Taliban, based on an interview it conducted with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

"I must emphasize that word 'exploratory'. They are not talks," Afghan ambassador to Pakistan Umar Daudzai told Reuters.

"When there's talks, it's supposed to be between the Afghan government and the Taliban. We have not reached to that stage although we wish to reach to that stage."

The Wall Street Journal quoted Karzai as saying the Taliban were "definitively" interested in a peace settlement to end the 10-year war in Afghanistan, and that all three sides were now involved in discussions.

It said Karzai had declined to specify the location of the talks or go into further detail, saying he feared this could damage the process.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also said the group had not held talks with the Karzai government.

The Afghan Taliban announced last month it would open a political office in Qatar, suggesting the group may be willing to engage in negotiations that could likely give it government positions or official control over much of its historical southern heartland.

"At a high level, (there are) secret talks and American-Taliban talks. I'm not aware of any other than the Qatar process," said Daudzai.

"The Qatar process is exploratory contacts between Taliban and the United States."

The Afghan ambassador said the Kabul government's contacts with the Taliban were limited to communications between low-level officials and local insurgent commanders.

Washington wants to accelerate contacts with the Taliban so it can announce serious peace negotiations at a NATO summit in May, officials say, in what would be a welcome bright spot in Western efforts to end the war in Afghanistan.