Christian community protests burning of the Holy Quran

GAINESVILLE: The Christian community in Lahore protested against the proposal of a Florida church to burn copies of the Holy Quran.

Hundreds of Christians gathered outside the Lahore Press Club on Thursday and staged a protest against the plan.

They raised slogans against the authorities of the church and burned an effigy of the pastor.

Addressing the protestors, leaders of the Christian community said the Holy Books have descended from God and show the right path to humanity, it is the moral duty of every person to protect the Holy Books and pay respect to them.

The leaders said they will support Muslims in raising their voice for the honour of the Holy Quran.

Church defiant

The Church shrugged off global outrage and vowed to go ahead with a Quran burning ceremony amid growing fears it will ignite a wave of Islamic rage.

Condemnation rained down from top US officials, the military, the Vatican and other religious and world leaders, but the church refused to halt plans to torch the Islamic holy book on Saturday’s anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

“As of this time we have no intention of canceling,” Pastor Terry Jones told a press conference here Wednesday, adding his evangelical church, the Dove World Outreach Center, had received numerous messages of support.

Jones had indicated he was praying for guidance on whether to go ahead with the incendiary event after warnings from US Afghanistan commander General David Petraeus that US and allied troops could be targeted in revenge.

“We understand the general’s concerns and we are still considering it,” Jones said, but swiftly added he had been contacted by a special forces soldier who told him “the people in the field are 100 percent behind us.”

‘This is a friendship that will never break, no matter what happens’

LONDON: “This is a friendship that will never break, no matter what happens,” said President Asif Ali Zardari outside the prime minister’s weekend retreat of Chequers, northwest of London.

The leaders of Britain and Pakistan moved Friday to shelve a row over a British attack on Islamabad’s security record, pledging to step up their cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

President Asif Ali Zardari had vowed to confront British Prime Minister David Cameron over recent claims suggesting that elements in Pakistan back the “export of terror,” which triggered the diplomatic spat.

But both leaders put on a show of unity after their talks near London, saying the bond between Pakistan and Britain was unbreakable, while Cameron accepted an invitation to visit Islamabad soon.

“This is a friendship that will never break, no matter what happens,” Zardari said outside the prime minister’s weekend retreat of Chequers, northwest of London.

‘Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar not in Pakistan’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday categorically stated that neither Mullah Omar nor Osama bin Laden are in Pakistan and if any one has any credible and verifiable information it should be shared.

Talking to media at the Prime Minister House, Gilani said that bin Laden was not included in the agenda of the meeting with US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.

He said that if the United States has any evidence regarding bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan, then it should share it with Pakistan.

Just a day earlier, Clinton, in a television interview, had said that she believed bin Laden was still in Pakistan. “I believe (bin Laden) is here in Pakistan and it would be very helpful if we could take them (Al Qaeda leaders),” Clinton said.

Nato seeking long-term partnership with Pakistan: Rasmussen

ISLAMABAD: Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) said the organisation is seeking a long-term partnership with Pakistan, noting that Pakistan’s relation with Nato is not limited to Afghanistan only.

The  Nato  secretary general was speaking to the media in a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during his first official visit to Islamabad. He further said that reports of al Qaeda’s presence in Pakistan are baseless.

Rasmussen said that Nato will not leave Afghanistan prematurely emphasising that a premature exit can result in a Taliban take over.

UK says Iran gas pipeline Pakistan’s internal matter

British Foreign Sec @WilliamJHague is in Pakistan. Send your questions on the region with tag #fsinpak. Answers here tmrw http://ht.ly/223vzISLAMABAD: Iran continued to dominate the political and diplomatic scene on Wednesday as Pakistan cautioned British Foreign Secretary William Hague that sanctions against the Gulf country beyond the ones mandated by the United Nations could have serious repercussions for Afghanistan and the Middle East.

The warning, Dawn has learnt, was conveyed by Pakistani diplomats during their talks with Mr Hague, who is in Pakistan on his first visit as foreign secretary.

According to Foreign Office sources, a significant part of the talks focussed on the latest UN sanctions on Iran and the subsequent efforts by the US and EU to take punitive measures against Tehran’s oil and gas sector.

Pakistan had on June 14 finalised a $7.6 billion gas pipeline deal with Iran, which is considered crucial for averting the energy crisis Pakistan is currently confronting. “Mr Hague was told that the US and EU sanctions could prove counter-productive and may force Iran to react,” a senior foreign ministry official informed Dawn.

MQM opposes VAT, seeks power tariff hike withdrawal

ISLAMABAD: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has expressed reservations over the government’s plan to impose the value-added tax and called for withdrawal of the recent increase in the electricity tariff for consumers in Karachi.

The issues were raised during a meeting between an MQM’s parliamentary delegation, headed by Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Farooq Sattar, and the government’s team of finance managers led by Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, sources told Dawn on Saturday.

MQM’s legislators urged the government to accord priority to the mass transit system for Karachi. The finance minister had especially invited Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Nadimul Haq to the meeting to listen to the points in support of the mass transit system.

What’s wrong with this picture?

The vehement denials that have lately been pouring out of Islamabad with reference to Matt Waldman’s controversial discussion paper on the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate’s embroilment with the Afghan Taliban offer little cause for surprise. Even a relatively milder indictment of the ISI’s role in Afghanistan would have been greeted with a dismissive counter-offensive.

At the same time, however, even a cursory perusal of the report demonstrates that what’s disconcerting about it goes well beyond the striking allegation that President Asif Zardari (whose name is consistently misspelt as ‘Zadari’ in the discussion paper) actually visited incarcerated Afghan Taliban in a Pakistani prison and harangued dozens of them for half an hour.

India backs US aid to Pakistan, says Blake

WASHINGTON: India supports the US economic package for Pakistan, although it does have concerns about the military assistance, a senior US official said on Tuesday. “They believe we have a shared interest in helping to stabilize Pakistan,” said Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia.

“They’re certainly well aware that a spiral-down would not be in India’s interests,” he told a State Department blog forum.

In an earlier briefing on Monday afternoon, Mr Blake said the US had been “in the forefront of countries” urging Pakistan to not only continue its operations in Swat and South Waziristan, but also to address the problem in Punjab.

50 oil tankers, trucks torched

ISLAMABAD: In a brazen attack, unknown gunmen set on fire 50 oil tankers and trucks parked in Tarnol on the outskirts of Islamabad by lobbing petrol bombs and opening indiscriminate fire, which also left at least seven people dead on Tuesday night.

At around 11 pm, the assailants launched this first-of-its kind assault near the federal capital on a fleet of tankers and trucks which transport fuel and military hardware to Nato forces stationed in Afghanistan.

The blaze engulfing the fleet was so intense that 50 tankers and trucks were completely gutted in spite of the brave fire-fighting effort mounted by rescuers.

US sees Afghan ‘jirga’ as boost to Karzai

WASHINGTON: The United States wants next week’s peace “jirga” to boost Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s credibility but is counting on him not making major overtures to the Taliban until momentum has shifted on the battlefield.

“What we hope is that this process will help demonstrate Karzai as a true national leader,” said a senior Obama administration official of next week’s jirga, a traditional gathering of Afghan elders and notables to discuss prospects for peace in the nine-year war.

“This is really just the beginning of an important process and the Afghan government will be seeking some consensus on how to proceed,” added the official, who declined to be named.