Pak situation a matter of concern, says Clinton

There are 'contradictory communications' emanating from Islamabad about what it intends to achieve in the peace deal with Taliban in the restive Swat valley, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.
"I want to get the whole picture of what it is they're attempting to achieve," Clinton said in Tokyo during her first official visit after taking over as the Secretary Of State. She said US will 'thoroughly study' the deal, before reacting to it, but expressed concern over the situation in Pakistan.
"The entire situation in Pakistan is a concern," Clinton told the ABC news in an interview, her first as the Secretary of State to a TV news channel.Clinton, who is currently traveling to Tokyo, said she would like to thoroughly study the peace deal between Pakistan and the Taliban militants before making any comments.
"Obviously, we believe that the activity by the extremist elements in Pakistan poses a direct threat to the government of Pakistan, as well as to the security of the US, Afghanistan and a number of other nations," she said, according to a State Department transcript of the interview.
"So before I comment on what its meaning might be, I want to be sure that we have as good an understanding of both the Pakistan government's intention and the actual agreed-upon language. And that I don't have at this time, so I want to wait until we can provide that," she said.

No formal request made for Kasab's custody: Pak

Islamabad: In a day of flip-flops, Pakistan on Wednesday said it had not "as yet" sought custody of Ajmal Amir Kasab from India, hours after a top legal official here claimed that a formal request had been made and it would be "very difficult" to prosecute other accused in the Mumbai attacks if he was not handed over.
Pakistan "has made no formal request to India as yet" for the custody of Kasab, the lone gunman captured alive during the November 26 Mumbai terror strikes, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said in a brief statement.
The statement came shortly after Deputy Attorney General Sardar Mohammad Ghazi, who has been appointed Special Public Prosecutor for the trial of Pakistani suspects linked to the Mumbai attacks, said Kasab is the "prime suspect" and it would be "very, very difficult to prosecute the other suspects" in this country if he is not handed over to Pakistan.
In New Delhi, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee made it clear that India will react only after it receives an official communication from Pakistan.
Ghazi told Dawn News channel, "the government of Pakistan has formally requested the Indian government to hand over the custody of Ajmal Kasab because he is the prime suspect and the rest of these suspects, they are abettors, they abetted the crime"

Pakistani journalist killed in Swat

Islamabad: Pakistani journalist Mosa Khankhel, a correspondent for Geo TV and The News, died with his boots on as he headed for Swat in the country's restive northwest to report on peace talks between a radical cleric and his son-in-law who heads the Taliban that controls the area.
Unidentified gunmen shot Khankhel dead at Matta, near Swat, where the peace talks were to be held.
In his last report before his death on the departure of cleric Sufi Mohammad of the Tahrik-e-Nifaz Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) for talks with Maulana Fazlullah, the journalist said: "The convoy is departing for Matta. Sufi Ahmed will go with the convoy to Matta.
"Attempts are being made to restore peace in the area," Khankhel added.
The TNSM had Monday signed an agreement with the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government to impose Shariat laws in the provinces Malakand region, which includes the once picturesque tourist destination of Swat.
President Asif Ali Zardari has said he would approve the pact if the Taliban, whose writ runs in the Malakand region, laid down their arms and restored peace in the area.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Information and Broadcasting Minister Sherry Rehman, immediately condemned the journalist's killing, terming it an unacceptable act.
Khankhel is the fourth journalist to be killed in terrorist violence this year.
Tahir Awan and Mohammad Imran were killed in an explosion at the scene of a suicide blast they were reporting on at the NWFP's Dera Ismail Khan town.
Awan freelanced for local dailies Eitedal and Apna Akhbar while Imran was a trainee cameraman with Express News.
In Rawalpindi adjacent to Islamabad, unknown assailants gunned down Aamer Wakil who worked with Rohi TV and edited the local daily Awami Inqalab.
A week later, journalist Kamal Azfir survived an attempt on his life in a firing incident near Kohat in NWFP.

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