Pak arrests Denmark’s envoy near Osama compound

A diplomatic row has erupted after the Danish Ambassador to Pakistan, Uffe Wolffhechel, and his wife were arrested while travelling to Osama bin Laden's former hideout in Abbottabad.

Wolffhechel and his wife were detained for two hours for visiting the area without authorisation and then sent back to Islamabad, The Telegraph quoted officials, as saying.

Karim Khan, District Police Officer for Abbottabad, said that the couple were taken into custody since they had not obtained prior permission to visit the town.

Their detention provoked a diplomatic protest from the Danish Foreign Ministry, which insisted that Wolffhechel had the correct paperwork to make the trip, the report said.

The area around bin Laden's compound in the Bilal Town district of Abbottabad has been tightly guarded since the then al Qaeda chief was shot dead in a US special forces raid on his lair on May 02.

According to the report, security sources said the Danish envoy had been travelling in his official car and followed by intelligence agents after visiting the nearby Thandyani resort.

He and his wife were stopped as they reached Bilal Town, where bin Laden is believed to have spent years hidden in a high-walled compound.

The couple were taken to Nawan Sher police station and questioned before being sent back to the capital.

The Danish Foreign Ministry complained about what it called a misunderstanding, the report said, adding that a spokesman for the ministry said the ambassador had been on an information gathering visit for the embassy, but declined to give further details.

Meanwhile, the Dawn reported that according to sources, the Federal Investigation Agency has been asked to investigate the Danish envoy’s visit to bin Laden’s former lair.

Chinese language to be introduced in Sindh schools

The government in Pakistan's Sindh province has decided to make the Chinese language a compulsory subject in schools from 2013, sparking a debate in the educational and political circles over the reasons behind such a move.

The decision was taken at a high level meeting yesterday presided over by Chief Minister of Sindh province Qaim Ali Shah, an official statement said.

According to the announcement, Chinese language will be a compulsory subject from class six in all educational institutions, including the Cadet college of Petaro from the 2013 session.

Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq said the decision was taken keeping in mind the close ties with China and its growing role as a economic giant in the world.

"Our trade, educational and other relations are growing with China everyday and now it is necessary for our younger generation to have command over their language,? Mazhar said.

He pointed out this move would reap benefits in the longer run for Pakistan.

But the move drew a mixed reaction in education circles although the Vice Chancellor of the Karachi University Dr Peerzada Qasim supported the decision.

"China is not only a very close friend of Pakistan but also a major player in the global economy whose role will further strengthen in the future," he said.

But many termed it as a political decision and said that educational institutions lacked qualified teachers in the Chinese language and also the resources to implement the course.

Ather Mirza, the president of the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association, said it was a move by the political leadership to gain points with China and gain financial benefits from them.

He said the introduction of the Chinese language would put an additional burden on parents but also on students who were already made to learn three languages, English, Urdu and Sindhi as compulsory subjects.

Another educationist said the government decision came out of the blue as it was not discussed or debated in recent meetings of the education department with the Chief Minister or education minister.

It is reported that President Zardari's daughter Aseefa Bhutto has been planning to study Chinese in China after graduating from college.

Sources said that the provincial government also decided to award scholarships to educated people of Sindh for learning Chinese language from educational institutions in China.

Hafiz Saeed's son trained nabbed Pak man: FBI

A Pakistani national, who received commando training in an LeT camp as a teenager before moving to the US, has been arrested by FBI on charges of supporting the terror group, including making radical videos for it after being instructed by the son of the outfit's chief Hafiz Saeed.

24-year-old Jubair Ahmad, who has permanent legal residency in the US, was arrested for allegedly providing material support to LeT, according to FBI.

Ahmad received "indoctrination and training from LeT while he lived in Pakistan" as a teenager, said the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint unsealed yesterday.

If convicted, he faces a maximum potential sentence of 15 years in prison on the material support charge and eight years in prison on the charge of making false statements in a terrorism-related investigation.

Ahmad came to the US in 2007 along with other family members, and in 2009, the FBI launched an investigation after receiving information on his association with LeT, the US Department of Justice said.

The affidavit alleged that in September 2010, he produced and uploaded a propaganda video on YouTube on behalf of LeT, after direct communications with a person named 'Talha'.

In a subsequent conversation with another person, Ahmad identified Talha as Talha Saeed, the LeT founder's son who was his handler for producing radical videos to recruit 'jihadists' over Internet.

The video uploaded by Ahmad in September 2010 contained images of "Hafiz Saeed, so-called jihadi martyrs and armoured trucks exploding after having been hit by improvised explosive devices," it said. In October 2010, Talha had allegedly contacted Ahmad and requested him to revise the LeT propaganda video, giving Ahmad specific instructions.

Ahmad then allegedly revised the video and posted it on October 16, 2010. In August 2011, FBI agents interrogated him, where he denied any involvement with the video.

While it did not mention how Talha communicated with Ahmad, FBI said the son of the LeT founder and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed was the man behind production of such radical videos.

The FBI said a review of immigration records indicated that Ahmad was born in Sialkot and resided in Pakistan until the age of 19.

According to admissions he made during a number of communications analysed by the FBI, he received indoctrination and training from LeT while he lived in Pakistan.

"These communications demonstrate that, as a teenager, in or about 2004, Jubair attended an LeT training course known as 'Dora Suffa' where he received instruction in religious dogma and proselytising," the complaint said.

Thereafter, he attended LeT's basic training camp known as 'Dora A'ama', where he received additional religious indoctrination, physical conditioning and weapons instruction.

For example, when describing his training at Dora A'ama, Ahmad stated in one of the communications that recruits "listen to lectures, offer your prayers, exercise, study guns, fire them" and added that "where I got training from they do the commando training there now," the FBI said.

Subsequent to attending Dora A'ama, Ahmad reported for the next stage of LeT training -- the commando course known as Dora Khasa.

"He spent only a week at that course, however, because an instructor at the training camp told Jubair that he was too young, that he needed to continue his studies, and then he could return to complete Dora Khasa," said the complaint signed by FBI Special Agent, Daudshah S Andish.

Pakistan, US struggle to define their relationship

In the aftermath of the secret US raid to kill Osama bin Laden, Pakistani officials want a detailed agreement spelling out US rules of engagement inside Pakistan, officials in both countries say, but Washington's refusal to sign a binding document threatens to create another point of friction in the long-troubled relationship.

It will take some time for Pakistan to improve relations with the US, seriously strained after the Osama bin Laden’s killing, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday.

Pakistan military officials want the US to sign what is called a "memorandum of understanding”, an agreement they want to include such details as the number of CIA operatives working in Pakistan, notification before US drone strikes, intelligence gathered and a written promise about Pakistan's role if al Qaeda's new leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, is found in Pakistan.

The surge in trouble this year between Pakistan and the US began with the February killing of two Pakistanis by Raymond Davis, a CIA-contracted American spy working without Pakistan's knowledge. Davis pleaded self-defence but it took weeks of wrangling before he was released in exchange for so-called "blood money" paid to the dead men's relatives.

The bin Laden raid further infuriated the Pakistani military, which saw it as a violation of Pakistani sovereignty, and it now feels it needs the agreement to ensure it would be involved in — or be able to stop — any similar US attacks in the future. The agreement would also allay fears in Islamabad that the CIA is operating behind Pakistan's back, and shore up the military's reputation, which was badly battered when the US helicopters slipped into Pakistan air space undetected for the bin Laden attack.

But former and current American officials say the US will not commit any specifics to paper because it could limit the flexibility of its operations. Instead, the US is preparing a broad statement of principles that could be completed in the coming weeks.

Another senior US official said that while Pakistan would not get all the information it wants about US intelligence operations, it gets much more than Washington gives most other countries.

Similar negotiations are taking place between the US and Afghanistan, with Afghan officials seeking detailed guarantees on the future of US troops and aid, but Americans insisting on a vague agreement.

In Pakistan, the US is negotiating with the civilian government, it's not clear whether the country's powerful military establishment would veto a broad statement of principles.

Relations between Pakistan's spy agency, the ISI, which falls under the military command, and the CIA hit rock bottom after the bin Laden raid. Pakistanis were particularly angered by then-CIA director Leon Panetta's stinging comments the ISI was either incompetent or complicit in not finding bin Laden, who was hiding not far from Islamabad. Two senior Pakistani officials, including a former security officer, said Panetta sought to assuage Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani with an apology following those statements.

Pakistan, US struggle to define their relationship Yet Panetta's words continue to reverberate. Pakistani officials fret that there were will be repeat of the bin Laden raid if al-Zawahri is found in Pakistan. They also worry about the new director of the CIA, David Petraeus, who Pakistani officials say has a frosty relationship with Kayani.

Petraeus wanted the ability to take the fight into Pakistan while serving as military commander in Afghanistan, according to a Pakistani official says and a former senior US official. Now that he has the authority to run covert operations at the CIA, the Pakistani official says his government fears he might decide to ramp up unilateral operations in Pakistan.

Without an agreement, Pakistani officials say there were will only be an atmosphere of distrust.

But US officials counter that while relations have sunk very low, the CIA and the ISI have never stopped sharing intelligence, with one saying the relationship is getting "incrementally better”. They point to information sharing with the FBI from local law enforcement after the August 13 kidnapping of an American in the Pakistani city of Lahore.

And on important fronts like securing Pakistan's nuclear weapons, the US and Pakistan continue to cooperate.

35 Indian cos in Forbes Asia's 'Best Under a Billion' list

Thirty-five Indian companies are ranked among the top 200 Asia-Pacific corporations in Forbes Asia's 'Best Under a Billion' list for this year. The number of Indian companies was second only to the 65 firms from both China and Hong Kong that found a place in the list. Among the Indian companies that made the grade are SRF, which manufactures chemical-based industrial intermediates;

Polyplex, which makes polyester film; and Glodyne Technoserve, an IT services company, Forbes Asia said today.

However, India's largest storage-battery producer, Exide Industries -- which was present in the list last year  grew too big to be included in the 200-company list for 2011, having breached the $1 billion sales mark in the past 12 months.

The Asia-Pacific list ranks public companies in the Asia-Pacific region with annual revenues between $5 million and $1 billion. The companies were also evaluated in terms of return on equity, said Forbes Asia.

Tim Ferguson, the Editor of Forbes Asia, said: "Essentially, these are our picks of the companies that have
best managed through the economic volatility that began in 2008. Most navigated the global credit crunch with little to no debt on their balance sheets. On average, the companies on the list have a 13% debt-to-equity ratio and 67 of these companies carry no debt at all."

Pakistan has two companies on the list, namely Millat Tractors, which builds agricultural tractors, and software company Netsol Technologies.

Sri Lanka has four companies on the list -- Asian Alliance Insurance, Ceylon Investment, Renuka Holdings and chicken processing company Bairaha Farm.

China blames terror camps in Pakistan

China on Monday blamed "extremists" trained in terror camps in Pakistan for orchestrating attacks on civilians in the troubled Xinjiang province, where 20 people, including alleged militants, were killed in violent incidents over two days.

While nine people were killed in a violent attack on Saturday, another 11, including five suspected militants, were killed in another attack on Sunday night.

The regional publicity department said in a statement that a "group of armed terrorists" broke into a restaurant in the city centre in Kashghar about 4 pm yesterday and killed the restaurant owner and a waiter besides setting fire it.

"They then ran out and hacked civilians indiscriminately, leaving four dead and 12 injured, while police and fire fighters were striving to put out the fire," it said.

Terming it a "premeditated terrorist attack", it said police opened fire and killed four suspects at the scene, while another suspect died later in hospital.

The area was cordoned off and traffic restrictions were imposed on major roads and squares.

A statement by the Kashgar municipal government said militants trained by the 'East Turkistan Islamic Movement' in Pakistan were responsible for the recent flare up in violence.

"A group of religious extremists led by culprits trained in overseas terrorist camps were behind the weekend attack on civilians in China's far-western Xinjiang," state run Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

 It said, "Initial probe has shown that the heads of the group had learned skills of making explosives and firearms in overseas camps of the terrorist group East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) in Pakistan before entering Xinjiang to organise terrorist activities."

The Xinjiang region witnessed massive riots in 2009, when almost 200 people were killed in its capital Urumqi, following which China launched a major crackdown againsUyghur Muslim separatists.

This is perhaps the first time that China has pointed fingers at its close ally Pakistan while referring to ETIM camps there. Xinjiang shares its borders with Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and a lot of trade between China and Pakistan is routed through Kashghar as it is located close to the border.

The attacks resembled the 2009 riots and following up incidents in which Uyghurs had attacked Chinese Han settlers in Urumqi in what police called "a severely violent terrorism case" organised and premeditated by terrorist groups.
A crackdown ensued by security forces on ETIM, which China accuses of fomenting trouble in the region, besides Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer, who lives in US in exile.

Pakistan Foreign Minister: visited Ajmer

The 34-year-old Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar had visited India twice before she was appointed the foreign minister over a week ago.

 She arrived at the Jaipur International Airport from Delhi today and after a brief halt due to bad weather proceeded to Ajmer, where she will visit the revered Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.

Airport officials told that Khar arrived here at around 12.30 p.m. by a Pakistan Air Force plane and was received by state government officials.

She was waiting at the VVIP lounge of the airport when it started raining.

An airport official told, "She was to leave for Ajmer by a chopper immediately after arrival, but due to rain, the air traffic control did not give the clearance. So the authorities decided not to take a chance,"
Sources said that she stayed in the VVIP lounge and had breakfast. She also discussed with authorities the possibility of going for sightseeing in Jaipur.

However, as the weather improved, she proceeded to Ajmer.The shrine, dedicated to the Sufi saint who came to Ajmer from Persia in 1192, attracts thousands of pilgrims throughout the year.

After offering prayers at the famous shrine, Khar plans to return to Jaipur and fly back home, ending her three-day visit.

Earlier, Khar, who is in India on her maiden visit as Pakistan foreign minister, had expressed her desire to offer prayers at the Jama Masjid in New Delhi, but this did not work out due to security reasons.

Khar held wide-ranging talks with India's External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Wednesday. Krishna invited her to visit south India, specially Bangalore, India's IT hub.

  

India Pak relations on right track

Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday and expressed the hope that both countries can and would "move forward" as good neighbours with a stake in each other's future. "

Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan will be meeting in New Delhi on toay, a day after the foreign secretaries of the two countries met to decide on the agenda that will be taken up.

A number of issues are likely to figure in the talks, including counter-terrorism measures, the Kashmir issue, new confidence building measures to help bilateral relations move forward and bringing the perpetrators of the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai to justice.

Hina Rabbani Khar also expressed the hope that Pakistan and India "have learnt lessons from history, but are not burdened by history and we can move forward as good, friendly neighbours who have stake in each other's future and both the countries understand their responsibilities to the region and within the region."

Prior to her talks with Indian External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna, Khar stirred controversy in Indian government circles by meeting Kashmiri separatist leaders at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi last evening.

She is said to have met Democratic Freedom Party (DPF) chairman Shabir Ahmad Shah, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) chief (hardline faction) Syed Ali Shah Geelani, All Party Hurriyat Conference chairman (moderate faction) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik.

Geelani said after the meeting,He had raised the Kashmir issue with Khar.

While the delegation led by hardliner Geelani did not appear enthused about the talks, the moderate Hurriyat faction led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq welcomed the exercise saying the talks were necessary for resolving all issues.

On Tuesday, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir had very cordial and positive discussions, during which they reviewed the progress in talks between different ministries and organizations of the two countries in the preceding months.

Building on the official-level talks, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Kher will discuss all aspects of the bilateral relations, with a particular focus on issues like terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, trade and promotion of bilateral exchanges. joint statement is expected after today's meeting.