Bhutto Aides Reject Government Claim

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - An Islamic militant group said Saturday it had no link to Benazir Bhutto's killing, dismissing government claims that its leader orchestrated the assassination.

Bhutto's aides also said they doubted militant commander Baitullah Mehsud was behind the attack on the opposition leader and accused the government of a cover-up.

The dispute and conflicting reports about Bhutto's exact cause of death were expected to further enflame the violence wracking this nuclear-armed nation two days after the popular former prime minister was killed in a suicide attack.

Roads across Bhutto's southern Sindh province were littered with burning vehicles as mobs of supporters continued their rampage. Factories, stores and restaurants were set ablaze in the city of Karachi, where 17 people have been killed and dozens injured, officials said.

Army, police and paramilitary troops patrolled the nearly deserted streets of Bhutto's home city of Larkana, where rioting left shops at a jewelry market smoldering.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif led a 47-member delegation of other opposition leaders to meet with Bhutto's family to express condolences, said Sadiq ul-Farooq, spokesman for Sharif's party.

President Pervez Musharraf called Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, promising to make every effort to bring the attackers to justice, state-run Pakistan Television reported.

The government blamed Bhutto's killing on al-Qaida and Taliban militants operating with increasing impunity in the lawless tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. It released a transcript Friday of a purported conversation between Mehsud and another militant, apparently discussing the assassination.

"It was a spectacular job. They were very brave boys who killed her," Mehsud said, according to the transcript.

Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema described Mehsud as an al-Qaida leader who was also behind the Karachi bomb blast in October against Bhutto that killed more than 140 people.

But a spokesman for Mehsud, Maulana Mohammed Umer, denied the militant was involved in the attack and dismissed the allegations as "government propaganda."

"We strongly deny it. Baitullah Mehsud is not involved in the killing of Benazir Bhutto," he said in a telephone call he made to The Associated Press from the tribal region of South Waziristan.

"The fact is that we are only against America, and we don't consider political leaders of Pakistan our enemy," he said, adding that he was speaking on instructions from Mehsud.

Mehsud heads Tehrik-i-Taliban, a newly formed coalition of Islamic militants committed to waging holy war against the government, which is a key U.S. ally in its war on terror.

Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party accused the government of trying to frame Mehsud, saying the militant - through emissaries - had previously told Bhutto he was not involved in the Karachi bombing.

"The story that al-Qaida or Baitullah Mehsud did it appears to us to be a planted story, an incorrect story, because they want to divert the attention," said Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for Bhutto's party.

After the Karachi attack, Bhutto accused elements in the ruling pro-Musharraf party of plotting to kill her. The government denied the claims. Babar said Bhutto's allegations were never investigated.

Bhutto was killed Thursday evening when a suicide attacker shot at her and then blew himself up as she left a rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near Islamabad. The attack killed about 20 others as well. Authorities initially said she died from bullet wounds, and a surgeon who treated her said the impact from shrapnel on her skull killed her.

But Cheema said she was killed when she tried to duck back into the armored vehicle during the attack, and the shock waves from the blast smashed her head into a lever attached to the sunroof, fracturing her skull, he said.

The government said it was forming two inquiries into Bhutto's death, one to be carried out by a high court judge and another by security forces.

On Saturday, about half a dozen police investigators were still sifting through evidence and taking measurements at the scene of the attack. More than a dozen officers diverted traffic and provided security for the investigators.

Mobs continued to wreak havoc across the country for a third day. Business centers, gas stations and schools were closed and many roads were deserted.

Rioters in Karachi set fire to three factories, a restaurant, two shops and several vehicles, said Ehtisham Uddin, a local fire official. Doctors at hospitals in the city said 26 people were wounded overnight by gunshots, many of them fired by protesters.

Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi said 17 people were killed in the city in the violence and other officials said dozens were injured. Police arrested 250 people, Farooqi said. More than two dozen people have been killed nationwide, officials said.

Desperate to quell the violence, the government sent troops into several cities. Soldiers patrolled several Karachi neighborhoods Saturday, and residents complained of shortages of food and gasoline.

Burned out vehicles littered the road from Larkana to Karachi, and hundreds of people tried to hitch rides along the route. Protesters burned tires, and markets were deserted.

Train service in parts of the south were suspended because "of the bad law and order situation," a rail official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The army positioned 20 battalions of troops for deployment across Sindh province if they were needed to stop the violence, according to a military statement.

Bhutto's death plunged the nation deep into turmoil less than two weeks before parliamentary elections. The government said it has no plans to postpone the Jan. 8 poll despite a boycott by key opposition parties.

Polish Troops Face War Crimes Charges

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Reports that Poland's troops in Afghanistan may have committed a war crime against defenseless civilians has shocked the country's public, which remains sensitive to the performance of the Polish military abroad.

In August separate Polish and U.S. patrols were reportedly struck by explosive devices. Polish reinforcements soon arrived and opened fire on a nearby village. The mortar attack on the village of Nangar Khel, close to the Afghan-Pakistani border, killed eight Afghani civilians and left three women crippled. A pregnant woman and a child were among the dead.

"We are very concerned about a possible war crime -- a lot of Poles cannot believe our soldiers could commit such a crime," said Jacek Przybylski, deputy foreign editor of the leading Polish daily Rzeczpospolita.

Polish authorities have kept the flow of information about the incident under control, leaving the media the task of digging out the truth.

Many in Poland want exemplary punishment for the soldiers, a formal apology to Afghanistan and large sums to be paid to the victims' families.

If the war crime is proven, six of the seven perpetrators, who have been held in state custody, could face life in prison. Even more officers might be accused as the investigation unfolds.

On Nov. 13 the military prosecution, citing secret evidence, ascertained that there was no exchange of fire, and that the civilians had been fired upon with the intent to kill them. The prosecutor's office filed charges against seven soldiers, who stand accused of violating international law.

The prosecution sees no mitigating circumstances in the case and maintains that no error or hardware failure can account for the way the mortars were aimed by some of Poland's supposedly best soldiers.

No Taliban members are believed to have been in the village, though initially the soldiers accused reportedly told their commanders that they had been shot at from the village. The officers involved are also accused of hindering the investigation.

Citing unnamed sources, the prestigious daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported that the evidence could include video footage of a Polish soldier entering the bombarded village. According to this report, the behavior of the Polish troops was appalling.

In statements to the press earlier, commander of the Polish military contingent in Afghanistan Gen. Mark Tomaszycki said soldiers did not enter the village and only fired from a distance.

Tomaszycki said the soldiers did not claim to have been fired upon but said there had been some contact with Taliban.

Questions have since arisen about why commanders gave the order to open fire on the civilian settlement and why these orders were followed. It remains unclear how informed the soldiers' superiors were on the details of the operation and what their level of responsibility is.

Military prosecutors apparently have not interrogated senior officers yet, though this is required by North Atlantic Treaty Organization procedures, raising suspicion that responsibilities might be concealed and the soldiers used as scapegoats.

The daily Rzeczpospolita has based such claims on information given to it by an unnamed officer serving in Afghanistan.

The daily paper reports that the defense will consider responsibility by commanders and politicians, since it believes the contingent's commanders could have coordinated a version of the story with the soldiers, promising them the case would die out.

Citing court documents, Polish radio station RMF said one soldier refused to follow his superiors' orders and left, and that later a deputy commander told the remaining soldiers that they should not be concerned about rockets hitting the village.

The defense is also raising the possibility that the killing could have been caused by a faulty mortar gun or damaged ammunition.

"We have sources in the army that say that it was only an incident, and that they thought they were attacking the Taliban, getting their information from U.S. troops," Przybylski said.

The wives of two of the soldiers accused of war crimes have said the "suggestion" to open fire came from a U.S. command.

According to the Dec. 3 edition of Rzeczpospolita, the Polish soldiers were told by the base "the village needs to be f***ed up" but said they were still aiming at the nearby hills where they supposed the Taliban members were hiding. It is believed that Taliban members often come down from the hills and hide among the civilian population in villages, especially at night.

The prosecution said there is no proof indicating U.S. responsibility, but in Poland disillusionment with the U.S. is on the rise.

Roman Kuzniar, the head of the strategic studies department at Warsaw University, said that while the Polish contingent in Afghanistan is part of NATO's peacekeeping mission, Polish troops have been made subordinate to U.S. troops, impairing the quality of the Polish mission.

"It was certain that our soldiers would soon adopt the methods of combat of their American superiors and colleagues. These methods involve ignoring completely all rights and limitations under international humanitarian law," Kuzniar wrote in the Nov. 21 edition of Warsaw Dziennik.

Recent statements by U.S. President George Bush have done little to improve Washington's image in Poland.

"Bush recently forgot to mention Polish troops when mentioning U.S. allies in Afghanistan," Przybylski said. "For Poles it is especially important to be recognized as allies of the U.S."

Both the Iraqi and the Afghani missions are unpopular among Poles. The withdrawal from Iraq has been scheduled for 2008, but there are still no plans to reduce the 1,200-strong contingent in Afghanistan. It could, however, be changed into one of a more civilian nature.

A poll conducted shortly after the prosecution announced its findings shows that the Afghani mission has almost equaled the Iraqi mission in unpopularity, with 85 percent of Poles opposing both missions.

Poles also overwhelmingly supported an official apology to the Afghanistan government. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has made that conditional on the investigation's conclusions.

The villagers have been given medical assistance, food and money, but some say the compensation is insufficient and could be interpreted as an attempt to buy their silence.

"One might get the impression that an attempt was made to cram these people's mouths shut with rice and rolls of banknotes," the Warsaw Dziennik wrote on Nov. 15. "Real compensation should be paid out to the families of those killed and injured, rather than our resting satisfied by tossing scrap to them."

Expelled EU, UN envoys leave Afghanistan

KABUL (AFP) - The second most senior European Union official in Afghanistan and a top UN political advisor left the country Thursday after being expelled by the government for posing a threat to national security.
The governor of the southern province of Helmand insisted meanwhile that the EU official, a deputy head of mission, had made contact with the Taliban during a recent visit.
The claim was dismissed by the United Nations and by the insurgents themselves who accused Kabul of creating “a drama” and trying to show it was independent of its international backers.
The men-Irish national Michael Semple with the EU and Briton Mervyn Patterson-flew out of Kabul early Thursday after being declared persona non grata on Tuesday and given 48 hours to leave.
An unknown number of their Afghan colleagues were being questioned by authorities, Afghan officials said, refusing to give details. The United Nations said the affair was a “misunderstanding” that arose after the men visited the Helmand town of Musa Qala to finds ways to bring stability after it was taken back from Taliban occupiers this month.
“Our discussions and negotiations are ongoing with the government of Afghanistan so we can see the return of these vital members of staff,” spokesman Aleem Siddique told AFP.
President Hamid Karzai’s office has not expanded on its issue with the men-who are considered authorities on the country and speak local languages-only that they “posed threats to the national security of Afghanistan.”
But Helmand governor Asadullah Wafa said Semple had been in contact with the Taliban during regular visits to his province that were conducted without proper authorisation.
“He was inviting Taliban and was talking to them,” the governor told AFP, adding, “He should have consulted with me.”
Helmand is the epicentre of Afghanistan’s opium production, which makes up 93 percent of world supply, and a stronghold for insurgents from the extremist Taliban movement that was in government between 1996 and 2001.
Britain is the lead nation in the province of a NATO-led force working on security and reconstruction and has thousands of troops there.
Wafa, said to be trusted by Karzai, added an Afghan general who had been travelling with Semple had been found to be carrying 19,000 dollars and a flash-disk with a list of high-ranking officials.
The governor did not elaborate, adding though he had no suspicions about the UN official.

Brown in hot seat over 'Taliban contacts'

LONDON (AFP) - Claims that top officials talked to the Taliban in Afghanistan threatened fresh embarrassment Thursday for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who had previously ruled out negotiations with the militia.
Two senior officials — the second most senior European Union official in the country and a top UN political advisor — have been expelled by the Afghan govt amid claims they had contacts with the Taliban.
In addition, Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph newspaper said that agents from Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service MI6 repeatedly met Taliban representatives earlier this year.
Talking to the Taliban would be in contradiction to Brown’s stated policy of not talking to a militia that is currently fighting 7,000 British troops as part of an international force in Afghanistan, critics said.
“We will not enter into any negotiations with these people,” Brown told lawmakers earlier this month.
He added, though, that he supported Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s efforts at reconciliation, adding that there was a place in society for former insurgents if they were prepared to renounce violence.

US impressed by Pakistan new Army Chief: Robert Gates

WASHINGTON: US Defense Minister, Robert Gates said that US was impressed by the Pakistan new Army Chief, Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani and his country would continue to work with him for stamping out terrorism.

Talking to the newsmen here, he said that the Pakistan Army has made some successes against the terrorists in Swat. He said the US was impressed by the new Army Chief, Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani and his country would soon initiate talks with him, in which, it would be reviewed as to how best the terrorism could be effectively tackled with better training and equipments.

Replying to a question, US Defense Minister told that the number of terror incidents in Afghanistan as compared to the previous year has increased. He said that the challenge of the New Year-2008 was the consolidation of whatever achievements made in Afghanistan.

French president visits Afghanistan

KABUL: French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Kabul on Saturday in a surprise visit to Afghanistan, a reporter of an international news agency travelling with him said.

It is Sarkozy's first visit to Afghanistan since he became president of France in May.

He is expected to meet President Hamid Karzai and the head of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, General Dan McNeill.

Tehrik-i-Taliban offers talks to govt

PESHAWAR: Naib Amir of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Maulana Faqir Muhammad has shown his readiness for talks with the government for removing differences between them as a third party has been using the situation for achieving their ulterior motives.
"Neither we have been targeting the security forces nor we are committing acts of terrorism and the impression that local Taliban are involved in these activities is totally wrong," a source quoted Maulana Faqir Muhammad as telling to an emissary sent by the government to him.
"We just want enforcement of Shariah at least in our areas. We are peaceful citizens believing in co-existence," the Maulana said.
He said that the Taliban had still been honouring the agreements reached with the government of Pakistan. "It is always the government forces, which have violated the agreements as we never committed any crime," he added.
He said that there were some people, who have been defaming the name of Taliban. "Taliban strictly follow the injunctions of Islam and the impression that Taliban have been committing the acts of terrorism is totally wrong," he added.
The source said that Maulana Faqir Muhammad and other Taliban leaders have extended full cooperation to the political authorities for maintenance of peace in the agency.
"We are even ready to provide our own men for maintaining peace and security in the agency," he added.
The source said that the political authorities initially rejected the offer of Taliban leaders, but now they had been considering a new deal with Taliban.
"Taliban want release of some their men before striking an deal with the government," he added.

Karzai calls for ‘terror’ focus outside Afghanistan

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday the US-led "war on terror" should be directed at terror sanctuaries outside his country which he said was not a "hideout for terrorism" but a victim.
Karzai's comments to media come days after the Pentagon said the US military and its NATO allies were reviewing plans for the troubled nation, where violence from a Taliban-led insurgency has soared in recent years.
The president told a press briefing to mark the first day of Eidul Azha that for almost three years he had called for the international community to "revise their strategy in the war on terrorism."
"Their presence in Afghanistan must be against terrorism which has hideouts that are outside (of Afghanistan), its training and support bases that are outside," he said.
There are more than 60,000 international troops helping the Afghan government to battle Taliban and other insurgents and to train up its own forces and establish its authority across the fractured country.
The foreign troops are not allowed to conduct their operations outside Afghanistan even though it is acknowledged that many militants are trained in extremist sanctuaries in neighbouring Pakistan.
Karzai has argued that the intense fighting here exacts a high cost in civilian life and damage to property but does not target the roots of the problem.
"Afghanistan is not a hideout for terrorism," he said Wednesday. "It is the victim of terrorism."
Karzai also reiterated that the international forces should reduce the use of air power - said to cause the most civilian losses - as it "takes the struggle on terrorism to nowhere."
Afghanistan has seen a sharp spike in violence in the past two years, with 2007 the bloodiest since a US-led invasion toppled the brutal Taliban regime six years ago.
Karzai has this year increased his emphasis on reconciliation with Taliban fighters who accept the country's new constitution.
He repeated the message in his Eid address, particularly reaching out to Taliban forced from a key stronghold in the southern province of Helmand in a high-profile military operation last week.
"I call on Taliban brothers, the Taliban in Musa Qala, you are the sons of this land, come back to your homes and lands and live in Musa Qala and avoid war," he said.
Musa Qala was recaptured last Monday after being in Taliban control for 10 months.

Taliban say poll observers not welcome

PESHAWAR: The insurgent Taliban have warned foreign media and observers, who are due in the country to monitor January 8 vote, to keep away from Pakistan.
"As America and its coalition partners will send their men to sanctify the January 8 election in Pakistan, Taliban will act against them because all that is happening in the country is un-Islamic being done on the direction of atheists," says a letter in Urdu from Tehreek-e-Islami Taliban, an unknown faction of Taliban, received by the Mashriq Group of Newspapers on Wednesday.
"Everybody knows the present government has been promoting vulgarity in the country on the direction of foreign countries. And now the current regime (led by Musharraf) is trying to re-elect its men to continue the game it has been playing for the last six, seven years. But now we (Tehreek-e-Islami Taliban) have decided to stop the drama being played under the patronage of Jews," it adds.
Taliban warned the foreign media and observers to avoid their programmed visit to Pakistan

Senate okays $555b spending bill including $70b for Iraq, Afghan wars

The US Senate late Tuesday approved a half-trillion dollar budget bill for 2008 that includes 70 billion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, handing a major victory to President George W Bush. The Senate voted 70-25 to approve the catch-all 555 billion dollar budget bill but added extra war funds after the House of Representatives version passed Monday included $31b solely for US-led efforts in Afghanistan but none for Iraq. The version passed by the Senate does not include any of the restrictions that Democrats hoped to pin on the release of war funds, such as linking them to a withdrawal date for US troops. The bill returned to the House for a vote and was expected to vote on Wednesday, though lawmakers were only to vote on the war-funding portion added by the Senate. If it passes, Bush has indicated he will sign the spending package. Amid deep differences with the Congress over the Iraq war, the White House had threatened to veto the entire spending bill if it contained no funding for Iraq. “Obviously, the full funding that we requested since February is what the troops need - not just what they want, but what they need. But this will help us get through this period,” said Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino. Democrats, who took over the US Congress in November 2006 elections fuelled by anger at the war in Iraq, have tried without success to use their power of the purse to impose a timetable for withdrawal from the strife-torn country where nearly 4,000 US troops have died since the March 2003 invasion. Democrats reportedly also gave up several billion dollars’ worth of other budget demands rejected by Bush, in order to see the spending measure passed before the year-end recess. They have also been concerned about being seen as unsupportive of US troops in battle at Christmas. Democratic House majority leader Steny Hoyer told CNN that the House initially passed the $31b in funding for Afghanistan “so that we could confront terrorism and defeat the Taliban.” The package, known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, includes 11 of 12 annual appropriations bills, leaving out defence which has already been approved by lawmakers. Among other things, the bill funds veterans’ health care, emergency spending on border security, firefighting to tackle massive wildfires on the West Coast, bridge repair and even funds for peacekeeping in Darfur. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who introduced the amendment to add funding for the Iraq war, said the House version “underfunds” troops in Iraq and hailed the advances made by General David Petraeus’ plan to “surge” the number of US troops. “Since the implementation of the Petraeus Plan, we’ve marvelled at the improving security situation in and around Baghdad. Attacks on US troops are down. Civilian casualties in Baghdad are down 75 per cent. “There is simply no question that on the military and tactical levels, the Petraeus Plan has been a tremendous success. “Even those of us who have disagreed on this war have always agreed on one thing: troops in the field will not be left without the resources they need.” However, Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy voiced his opposition to the Republican plan. “It’s wrong for Congress to write still another blank check to the President for the war. It’s obvious that President Bush wants to drag this process out month after month, so he can hand off his Iraqi policy to the next president.”