Pentagon wants restoration of Pak posts on Afghan border

WASHINGTON: Pentagon Tuesday expressed hope that Pakistan would restore all posts at Afghan border.

Earlier, Pakistan temporarily recalled some troops from border posts meant to coordinate activity with international forces in Afghanistan.

According to the Pentagon spokesman, this would certainly have an impact on the operations and risks the chances of incidents like the one that happened last month. He said that availability of centres would help to stop such incidents.

He said they wanted to get back a level of greater cooperation with Pakistani military.

Spokesman said that Pakistan did not recall all of its personnel, adding that they left one officer in each centres.

Obama phones Zardari; condoles Pak soldiers death

WASHINGTON: US president Barrack Obama on Sunday telephoned President Asif Ali Zardari and offered condolences over the martyrdom of Pakistani soldiers in Nato air strike.

A White House statement said Obama placed a call early Sunday to Zardari expressing his regrets over the "tragic loss" and promising a "full investigation" into the incident, which has plunged the two uneasy allies into a diplomatic crisis.

Obama "made clear that this regrettable incident was not a deliberate attack on Pakistan and reiterated the United States' strong commitment to a full investigation," the statement said.

Islamabad has so far refused to take part in a US investigation into the November 26 air strikes on the Afghan border.

But the White House said Obama and Zardari nonetheless "reaffirmed their commitment to the US-Pakistan bilateral relationship, which is critical to the security of both nations, and they agreed to stay in close touch."

In the wake of the strikes, Pakistan decided not to take part in the Bonn Conference on the future of Afghanistan that opens Monday -- a decision which, together with the Taliban's boycott, has cast the event's usefulness into doubt.

Pakistan has also shut down NATO's vital supply line into Afghanistan and ordered American personnel to leave Shamsi air base.

The base is widely understood to have been a hub for the covert CIA drone war on Taliban and Al-Qaeda commanders in Pakistan's troubled border areas with Afghanistan.

US officials say Pakistan leaving liaison centers

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is pulling its troops out of at least two of the three centers meant to coordinate military activity across the Afghan border in apparent retaliation for NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, US military officials said.

A senior Pakistani military official says the force is temporarily pulling back some of its troops from centers meant to coordinate activity with international forces across the Afghan border.

The official said on Tuesday the troops are returning for several days of "consultation" to determine how to improve coordination with NATO forces in Afghanistan after coalition airstrikes last month killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Both the Pakistani and the US officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The move will hamper US efforts to liaise with Pakistani forces, increasing the risk that something could go wrong again, said the officials late Monday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The US and Pakistan have offered different accounts of what led to the NATO attacks against two army posts along the Afghan border before dawn on Nov. 26, but the deadly incident seems to have been caused in part by communication breakdowns.

US officials say Pakistan leaving liaison centers

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is pulling its troops out of at least two of the three centers meant to coordinate military activity across the Afghan border in apparent retaliation for NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, US military officials said.

A senior Pakistani military official says the force is temporarily pulling back some of its troops from centers meant to coordinate activity with international forces across the Afghan border.

The official said on Tuesday the troops are returning for several days of "consultation" to determine how to improve coordination with NATO forces in Afghanistan after coalition airstrikes last month killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Both the Pakistani and the US officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The move will hamper US efforts to liaise with Pakistani forces, increasing the risk that something could go wrong again, said the officials late Monday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The US and Pakistan have offered different accounts of what led to the NATO attacks against two army posts along the Afghan border before dawn on Nov. 26, but the deadly incident seems to have been caused in part by communication breakdowns.

US given 15 days to close Shamsi Airbase

ISLAMABAD: The Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) in its emergency meeting chaired by Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Saturday evening reiterated the resolve of the Pakistani people and Armed Forces to safeguard the country’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity at all costs.

The meeting held here at the Prime Minister House was attended by federal ministers, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), Services Chiefs and members of the DCC.

In accordance with the resolution of the Joint Session of the Parliament of May 14, 2011, the DCC decided to close with immediate effect the NATO/ISAF logistics supply lines. The DCC also decided to ask the United States (US) to vacate the Shamsi Airbase within 15 days.

The DCC decided that the government will revisit and undertake a complete review of all programmes, activities and cooperative arrangements with US/NATO/ISAF, including diplomatic, political, military and intelligence, according to a statement issued from the Prime Minister House after the DCC meeting.

The meeting strongly condemned the attack by NATO/ISAF aircraft on Pakistani border posts in the Mohmand Agency which has resulted in the loss of precious lives of officers and men of Pakistan Army and injuries to several.

The DCC expressed heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the families of brave soldiers who fought valiantly and embraced Shahadat, and also prayed for the early recovery of injured.

The prime minister will take the Parliament into confidence on the whole range of measures regarding matters relating to Pakistan’s future cooperation with US/NATO/ISAF, in the near future.

The DCC noted that strong protests had been lodged with the United States and at NATO Headquarters in Brussels conveying in the strongest possible terms Pakistan’s condemnation of these attacks, which constituted breach of sovereignty, were violative of international law and had gravely dented the fundamental basis of Pakistan’s cooperation with NATO/ISAF against militancy and terror.

The DCC also noted that NATO/ISAF attacks were also violative of their mandate, which was confined to Afghanistan. Pakistan had clearly conveyed to US/NATO/ISAF its red lines which constituted an integral element of Pakistan’s cooperation that was based on a partnership approach.

The attack on Pakistan Army border posts is totally unacceptable and warrants an effective national response, the DCC added.

Pakistan stops NATO supplies

PESHAWAR: The political administration of Khyber Agency has halted supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan after the federation’s order, Geo News reported Saturday.

According to the agency’s political administration, the government ordered to stop supplies to NATO after a Pakistani check post was attacked early Saturday morning, killing at least 20 security men including two officers.

Hundreds of containers and oil tankers are now standing at a check post in Tehsil Jamrood where the supplies were stopped after the orders.

Pakistan has developed world's smartest nuclear device

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s nuclear programme has made some extraordinary progress by developing one of the world’s smartest nuclear tactical devices, it has been learnt.

According to a western diplomat, the former dictator and the then President General Pervez Musharraf, during one of his meetings with US officials, had deemed it proper to convey it to the Americans what Pakistan possessed and how the country’s nuclear scientists had secured the defence of Pakistan.

The diplomatic source said that New Delhi also knows what Pakistan has produced and what is really unmatched. The Indians got this source said and believed that Musharraf intentionally conveyed this to the Americans so that the country is not treated by the US like Afghanistan and Iraq Pakistan is neither a signatory to NPT nor CTBT, however, it has unilaterally decided to use its nuclear programme only as deterrence against any foreign aggression.

After becoming the target of the Western capitals particularly Washington, which have been unleashing all sorts of propaganda against Pakistan’s nuclear programme, Islamabad has developed one of the most credible and foolproof command and control systems for its nuclear programme. The US authorities have acknowledged the credibility and security of Pakistan’s nukes.

Wikipedia quotes a Washington-based science think tank as saying that Pakistan is increasing its capacity to produce plutonium at its Khushab nuclear facility. The website said that the estimated Pakistani nuclear weapons was probably in the neighbourhood of more than 200 by the end of 2009.

It, however, adds that the actual size of Pakistan’s nuclear stockpile is hard for experts to gauge owing to the extreme secrecy, which surrounds the programme. Pakistan’s nuclear programme was started by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto while the country conducted its nuclear test on May 28, 1998 during Nawaz Sharif’s tenure.