VISIT MY PAGE FOR PAKISTAN LATEST NEWS UPDATE DAILY
Tuesday 31 January 2012
PAKISTAN-DAILY BRIEF NEWS: DAILY LATEST NEWS UPDATE:01.02.2012
PAKISTAN-DAILY BRIEF NEWS: DAILY LATEST NEWS UPDATE:01.02.2012: Amnesty seeks legal basis of US drone strikes in Pakistan WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: The United States has officially admitted that it car...
DAILY LATEST NEWS UPDATE:01.02.2012
Amnesty
seeks legal basis of US drone strikes in Pakistan
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: The United States has officially admitted that
it carries out drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas with President Barack
Obama defending the use of unmanned aircraft in eliminating al Qaeda militants.After the US president’s candid confirmation, the Amnesty International on Tuesday asked the United States to disclose details of the legal and factual basis for use of drones in Pakistan.
President Obama made the rare public acknowledgment on Monday during an hour-long online video chat with users of the social network Google+.
In a statement, the Amnesty International also called for the US to monitor civilian casualties inflicted by drone attacks in Pakistan.
“The US authorities must give a detailed explanation of how these strikes are lawful and what is being done to monitor civilian casualties and ensure proper accountability, said Sam Zarifi Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director.
“What are the rules of engagement? What proper legal justification exists for these attacks? While the President’s confirmation of the use of drones in Pakistan is a welcome first step towards transparency, these and other questions need to be answered.”
In his remarks, President Obama said on Monday that the drone strikes, which are carried out by the CIA rather than the military, were a “targeted focused effort at the people who are on a list of active terrorists”.
Obama said that the strikes targeted “al Qaeda suspects who are up in very tough terrain along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
The Amnesty said because of the security situation and difficulty in accessing the terrain it has been impossible for organizations like Amnesty International to verify the number of civilian casualties caused by the drones.
In Islamabad, the Foreign Ministry termed the drone attacks as counterproductive and a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty.
“Drone attacks are unlawful, counterproductive and hence unacceptable. We cannot condone violation of our sovereignty,” Spokesman Abdul Basit said, according to the international media reports.
Responding to the questions in a “virtual interview” that was conducted via Google+ and YouTube, President Obama defended the use of unmanned aircraft to kill Al Qaeda operatives and other militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas, thus officially acknowledging the classified CIA drone program.
Over the years, US officials have refused to discuss the issue in public.
“I think that we have to be judicious in how we use drones,” Obama said.
The drones, he said, have been used for “very precise, precision strikes against Al Qaeda and their affiliates.”
Obama went on to say that “obviously a lot of these strikes have been in FATA,” (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) and have been used for “going after Al Qaeda suspects who are in very tough terrain along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
“This thing is kept on a very tight leash,” Obama said.
The US does not use drones “willy nilly” but in a way that avoids more intrusive military actions, he said.
According to The Los Angeles Times, Obama echoed the arguments of Pentagon and CIA officials, who often make the point in private discussions that the drones can perform targeted strikes and thereby substantially reduce the potential for civilian casualties associated with high-altitude bombing.
But Obama went well beyond that as he took issue with a Monday story in the New York Times, which reported that the State Department is operating a small fleet of surveillance drones to protect US embassies, consulates and personnel stationed in Iraq following the withdrawal of American troops.
Some Iraqi officials are angry about the program and see it as a violation of their sovereignty, according to the Times report.
But Obama said the US still respects the sovereignty of other nations even as it uses drones within their borders.
“The truth of the matter is, we’re not engaging in a bunch of drone attacks inside of Iraq,” Obama said.
“There’s some surveillance to make sure that our embassy compound is protected.”
Drone attacks unlawful, unacceptable: Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday said the drone attacks are
unlawful, counterproductive and hence unacceptable, Geo News reported.The
remarks from foreign ministry came as President Barack Obama confirmed for the
first time that drone aircraft had targeted militants in Pakistan s
semi-autonomous tribal areas on the Afghan border.'We are of the firm view that
these are unlawful, counterproductive and hence unacceptable,' ministry
spokesman Abdul Basit said.'Our view has always been very clear and position
principled,' he added.When asked about drones in a chat with web users on
Google+ and YouTube, Obama said 'a lot of these strikes have been in the FATA'
-- Pakistan s Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
|
Business News
|
Monetary
expansion declines
KARACHI, Jan 31: Monetary expansion, which shows penetration of
liquidity in economy, significantly declined in the first seven months of the
current fiscal year, reported State Bank of Pakistan on Tuesday.The State Bank recently stated that the end-year inflation would be 12 per cent. Despite double-digit inflation, low monetary expansion signifies poor economic activities.
At the same time, direction of monetary growth mostly remained towards government papers.
The State Bank reported that broad money (M2) growth during the seven months was 4.24 per cent compared to 7.7 per cent during the corresponding period of the previous year.
It further indicated that Rs283 billion went to economy during seven months compared to Rs444 billion the previous year.
Monetary experts said that less monetary expansion means less economic growth.
However, the State Bank for more than four years kept the monetary policy tight, fearing high inflation but inflation remained there despite this policy. The consequences of tight monetary policy resulted in lower economic growth for last years.
However, since the beginning of new fiscal year 2011-12, the State Bank eased up monetary policy by slashing policy interest rate which is now 12 per cent.
Monetary experts say that the economy would not perform unless the deep penetration of money does not take place.
“This is more troublesome that most of the monetary expansion is due to flow of liquidity towards government papers which means less money is being used by the actual economy,” said a senior banker.
The State Bank said that the government had so far borrowed Rs813 billion for budgetary support, including Rs166 billion from State Bank and Rs621 billion from scheduled banks.
Government borrowing from scheduled banks has crossed the total borrowing made in FY-11.
The State Bank has been critical of the government borrowing from banking system and once again, in the first quarterly report, the government was advised to reduce borrowing from scheduled banks.
The doubt over GDP growth target for the current fiscal was another indicator that low monetary expansion was not even in the right direction.
Though volume of government borrowing was not as big as its borrowing from scheduled banks, still it was much higher than the borrowing it made during the same span of time last year.
Borrowing from the State Bank was Rs166 billion against Rs98 billion of previous year.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monday 30 January 2012
PAKISTAN-DAILY BRIEF NEWS: DAILY BRIEF NEWS UPDATE: 31.01.2012
PAKISTAN-DAILY BRIEF NEWS: DAILY BRIEF NEWS UPDATE: 31.01.2012: Obama confirms US drone strikes in Pakistan WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Monday confirmed that the US drone aircraft have ...
DAILY BRIEF NEWS UPDATE: 31.01.2012
Obama
confirms US drone strikes in Pakistan
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Monday confirmed that the US
drone aircraft have struck Taliban and Al Qaeda targets within Pakistan –
operations that until now had not been officially acknowledged.When asked about the use of drones by his administration in a chat with web users on Google+ and YouTube, Obama said “a lot of these strikes have been in the FATA” – Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
“For the most part, they’ve been very precise precision strikes against Al Qaeda and their affiliates, and we’re very careful in terms of how it’s been applied,” Obama said.
“This is a targeted focused effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists, who are trying to go in and harm Americans, hit American facilities, American bases, and so on.”
Explaining that many strikes were carried out “on Al-Qaeda operatives in places where the capacities of that military in that country may not be able to get them,” Obama confirmed that Pakistan’s lawless tribal zone was a target.
“So, obviously, a lot of these strikes have been in the FATA, and going after Al Qaeda suspects who are up in very tough terrain along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said.
“For us to be able to get them in another way would involve probably a lot more intrusive military action than the ones we’re already engaging in.”
US officials say Pakistan’s tribal belt provides sanctuary to Taliban fighting for 10 years in Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda groups plotting attacks on the West, Pakistani Taliban who routinely bomb Pakistan and other foreign fighters.
Sixty-four US missile strikes were reported in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt last year, down from 101 reported in 2010, according to AFP tallies.
According to the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, drone strikes in Pakistan over the past eight years have killed at least 1,715 people, and as many as 2,680 people.
The United States had until now refused to discuss the strikes publicly, but the program has dramatically increased as the Obama administration looks to withdraw all foreign combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
In October, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta acknowledged the CIA’s drone program, but did not specifically indicate they were used in Pakistan.
When asked by AFP if Obama’s remarks signaled a change in US policy about the drone program, a White House spokesman refused to comment.
The Pakistani government is understood to agree to the program despite popular opposition at home.
Drones have reportedly killed dozens of Al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives and hundreds of low-ranking fighters since 2004.
But the missile strikes fuel widespread anti-American resentment, which is running especially high in Pakistan since US air strikes inadvertently killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.
A US-Nato investigation blamed the deaths on a litany of errors and botched communications on both sides. But Pakistan rejected the findings, insisting the strikes had been deliberate.
Obama said drones had “not caused a huge number of civilian casualties” and that it was “important for everybody to understand that this thing is kept on a very tight leash.”
Islamabad is now reviewing its entire alliance with the United States and has kept its Afghan border closed to Nato supply convoys for two months.
It ordered US personnel to leave Shamsi air base in western Pakistan, widely believed to have been a hub for the CIA drone program, and is thought likely to only reopen the Afghan border by exacting taxes on convoys.
The State Department said on Monday it had used small, unarmed surveillance drones to protect US diplomats in so-called “critical threat environments” overseas.
The news emerged after The New York Times reported that Iraqi officials have expressed outrage at US use of a small fleet of drones to help protect the embassy, consulates and American personnel in Iraq.
“The State Department has always used a wide variety of security tools and techniques and procedures to ensure the safety of our personnel and our facilities,” spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
“We do have an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program used by the State Department,” she said, adding the UAVs are “tiny” and “not capable of being armed” but designed to provide pictures of US government facilities.
|
Business News
|
|
Tue, 31 Jan 2012
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
|
EU signs up to Germany-led fiscal treaty
BRUSSELS: Chancellor Angela Merkel cemented her political ascendancy in Europe on Monday when 25 out of 27 EU stat |
|
|
|
|
-
|
Honda''s first business jet to hit markets next year
TOKYO: Honda Motor Co (7267.T) expects to grab at least a quarter of the world market for small business jets soon |
|
|
|
|
-
|
Karachi stocks land in red zone
KARACHI: Local shares ended lower on Monday as local investors cashed in on mid-cap stocks after the main index cr |
|
|
|
|
-
|
Euro slips ahead of EU summit
TOKYO: The euro slipped against other currencies in Asia on Monday as market players awaited a European Union summ |
|
|
|
|
-
|
Asian markets lower after weak US growth data
HONG KONG: Asia s first full day of trading following the Lunar New Year holiday saw markets mostly slip on Monday |
|
|
|
|
-
|
Oil prices lower over eurozone debt worries
SINGAPORE: Oil prices were lower in Asian trade Monday as the market awaited the outcome of a European Union summi |
|
|
|
|
-
|
Lahore: CNG stations closed for 3 days
LAHORE: All the CNG stations, under the gas load management plan, in Lahore region have been closed at 6:00 AM tod |
|
|
|
|
-
|
India won''t cut Iranian oil imports: finance minister
CHICAGO: India, the world s fourth-largest oil consumer, will not take steps to cut petroleum imports from Iran de |
|
|
|
|
-
|
Iran says oil price could reach $150 per barrel on EU
embargo
TEHRAN: Iran said on Sunday that oil prices could reach $150 per barrel as a result of the European Union s ban on |
|
|
|
|
-
|
Sindh CNG stations reopen after 24 hr suspension
KARACHI: CNG stations in Sindh including Karachi reopened on Sunday at 9 am after facing 24 hours suspension, Geo |
|
|
|
|
-
|
World leaders slam eurozone foot-dragging on debt
crisis
DAVOS: World economic leaders turned their fire on the eurozone Saturday at a Davos forum increasingly frustrated |
|
|
|
|
-
|
CNG stations closed for 24 hrs in Sindh
KARACHI: All the CNG stations across Sindh province including Karachi, under gas load management plan, have been s |
|
|
|
|
-
|
Greek debt talks still cloud more upbeat Davos
DAVOS: The global elite had talked itself into an upbeat frame of mind as the Davos forum neared its climax on Sat |
|
|
|
|
-
|
Rupee secures a firm close vs greenback
KARACHI: The rupee, in the currency market, Friday ended firmer at 90.22/27 to the dollar, compared with Thursday |
|
|
|
|
-
|
KSE vaults as investors indulge in OGDC
KARACHI: Stocks at the local equities market ended higher on Friday as investors bought energy shares such as Oil |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)