14 INTERNATIONAL
Pakistanis attack Taliban over mosque blast
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) —
Pakistani tribesmen seeking re-
venge for a deadly mosque bomb-
ing attacked militant strong-
holds for a second day Monday,
while the country’s Taliban
leader faced rare denunciation
from within insurgent ranks.
Capitalizing on the anti-
Taliban sentiments, the mili-
tary’s top spokesman exhorted
all Pakistanis to rise up against
militants wherever they found
them.
Pressure is increasing on mili-
tants who have held sway in
parts of Pakistan’s northwest,
with the army already bearing
down in an offensive on their
one-time stronghold in the Swat
Valley region. Talk has now
turned to the possibility of an-
other operation against al-Qaida
and Taliban fighters in the near-
by tribal belt along the country’s
border with Afghanistan.
In the most striking example
of growing anti-Taliban senti-
ment, up to 1,600 tribesmen in
the Upper Dir district formed a
civilian militia force to fight mil-
itants they hold responsible for
last Friday’s suicide bombing
that killed at least 33 people in a
packed mosque. Such militia are
known in Pakistan as lashkars.
The group cleared three vil-
lages of Taliban fighters on
Sunday and focused Monday on
two more villages that are
known Taliban strongholds,
said Khaista Rehman, a local
police chief.
“The lashkar has destroyed
25 homes of Taliban comman-
ders and their fighters in vari-
ous villages,” Rehman told The
Associated Press by phone. “The
Taliban had set up their offices
in those villages but the local
residents and the lashkar have
Suu Kyi’s
lawyers hope
witnesses to
be allowed
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) —
Lawyers for Myanmar opposi-
tion leader Aung San Suu Kyi
expressed hope Tuesday that a
court would accept their request
to reinstate three defense wit-
nesses at a trial that has
sparked global outrage.
Defense lawyer Nyan Win said
the Yangon Divisional Court
planned to announce at 3:00 p.m.
whether it would reverse the de-
cision of District Court judges
presiding over Suu Kyi’s trial.
The lower court disqualified all
but one defense witness.
The 63-year-old Nobel laure-
ate is widely expected to be
found guilty of violating the
terms of her lengthy house ar-
rest because an uninvited
American man swam secretly
to her closely guarded lakeside
home and stayed two days. Suu
Kyi has been detained without
trial for more than 13 of the
past 19 years, including the
past six.
Are we heading
for 1984 or 2045?
From Page 4
would a commercial totalitarian
state also self-destruct?
When I met Peter Seidel three
years ago, he was keen to visit the
Holocaust exhibition at London’s
war museum. I did not know that
this book was cooking in his
mind. He says that, “The world
of 2045 was not consciously
planned. It was the consequence
of groups and individuals pur-
suing their own short-term
goals while ignoring the whole
and the future. The people of
2010 did not care or want to know
where this was taking them.” If
political, military, religious and
commercial power-elites cannot be
trusted to lead us in a better di-
rection, what is the alternative?
Perhaps Korean tradition pro-
vides an answer. In the past the
highest elites were the intellectu-
als (“yang-ban”), professionals and
military (“Jung-in”) were next,
and then farmers and commer-
cial cadres (“Nong-sang-min”).
We need a new international
cadre of intellectuals of integrity
to steer the world in the right di-
rection. But there is an impor-
tant proviso. As in Korea, those
intellectuals must be secular.
We should keep in mind that
the word “Taliban” comes from
“talib,” meaning scholar.
Hundreds of refugees, who fled a military offensive in the Swat valley region, stand in line outside the food distribution tent in Swabi.
attacked them, and we hope the
lashkar will succeed.”
At least 13 militants were
killed and two tribesmen
wounded in two days of fighting,
said Nawaz Khan, another po-
lice official.
Officials blamed Friday’s
mosque bombing in the town of
Haya Gai on the Taliban, saying
they were angry that local
tribesmen had resisted them
moving into the area, where mi-
British P.M. Brown faces down rebels
LONDON (AP) — British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown
faced down critics in his own
ranks Monday, vowing to im-
prove his performance after his
ruling Labour Party suffered
its worst electoral results in a
century and more ministers
quit his government.
Brown acknowledged fail-
ings in a 90-minute meeting
with several hundred Labour
lawmakers from both houses of
Parliament — and appeared to
have won support from all but
his most strident critics.
After more than a dozen res-
ignations from his government
over the last week and his par-
ty’s failure in elections to local
councils and the European
Parliament, Brown had faced
loud calls to quit from a group of
dissident Labour lawmakers.
But legislators who crowded
into a wood-paneled
Parliament committee room
clapped loudly as Brown ar-
rived to address the private
meeting, and offered round af-
ter round of applause as he
vowed not to resign.
“I have my strengths and I
have my weaknesses. I know I
need to improve. There are
some things I can do well, some
things I do not so well. I’ve
learned that you’ve got to keep
learning all the time,” Brown
told the meeting, according to a
text supplied by his office.
The rebels needed the back-
ing of 71 of Labour’s 350 law-
makers for a particular chal-
lenger to trigger a leadership
Power-sharing is key to calm in post-poll Lebanon
BEIRUT (AFP) — Lebanon’s
U.S.-backed ruling majority
must try to accommodate the
Hezbollah-led opposition backed
by Iran which it defeated in hot-
ly-contested polls to spare the
country fresh turmoil, analysts
said Monday.
They said the two camps
must form a new unity govern-
ment after the majority headed
by Sunni leader Saad Hariri
beat the Shiite-led opposition
and its allies in Sunday’s vote,
but the negotiations are expect-
ed to be difficult.
It is unclear what shape the
cabinet will have and if
Hezbollah and its allies will se-
cure their demand for a veto
right on key issues. “There is no
way out of forming a coalition
government, otherwise the coun-
try risks paralysis again,” said
Osama Safa of the Lebanese
Centre for Policy Studies.
“The country is polarized and
nor clashes between the two
sides occurred for months.
Army chief spokesman Maj.
Gen. Athar Abbas urged civilians
to consider the kind of rule the
Taliban was trying to impose —
they stand accused of whippings
and beheadings in the name of
Islamic law in Swat — and join
the fight against them.
“Citizens should ponder upon
the way of life they are introduc-
ing, if that is acceptable to us,”
Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown attends a meeting in Stratford, east London where he spoke
with local Labour Party activists on Sunday.
contest, and even though there
was no formal vote at the meet-
ing, that figure now appears
out of reach for the mutineers.
Repeated cheers and the
stamping of feet could be heard
from the meeting, which was
held behind closed doors.
“There was a massive show of
unity,” Culture Secretary Ben
Bradshaw said. “He made the
speech of his life.”
It leaves Brown almost cer-
tain to survive calls for his
NEWS ANALYSIS
deeply divided around sectarian
issues and we should not rejoice
because the majority won. The
road is long and arduous,”
Safa warned.
Paul Salem, head of the
Beirut-based Carnegie Middle
East Centre, agreed that the elec-
tion winner “cannot proceed as if
the other side does not exist.”
“Over the next two weeks there
will be negotiations about form-
ing a new government. It would
be preferable to have a govern-
ment without a blocking (minori-
ty),” said Salem. “The March 14
(majority) must discuss this with
Hezbollah ... and understand
why Hezbollah wants the block-
ing third ... If Hezbollah has
enough confidence they might
drop their demand.”
But for Hilal Khashan, who
heads the political science de-
Abbas told the News1 television
network. “If not, they have to
raise a voice against them, they
have to rise against them.”
A recent wave of violence
across Pakistan blamed on mili-
tants appears to be creating ten-
sions within the country’s
Taliban leadership.
Qari Zainuddin, the leader of
a Taliban faction in South
Waziristan, on Monday de-
nounced Pakistani Taliban
ouster, and means he will like-
ly lead the party into a nation-
al election which must be held
by June 2010.
“I think the plot is dead and
buried and let’s move on,”
Labour lawmaker Geraldine
Smith said.
Brown’s Labour finished
third in Britain in voting for
representatives to the
European Parliament, behind
the main opposition party
Conservatives and the U.K.
partment at the American
University in Beirut, the “par-
liamentary majority cannot
undo the minority otherwise it
would be an invitation to politi-
cal disaster.” “If the March 14
coalition creates a cabinet that
does not give the opposition veto
power and passes legislation
that counters the interest of
Hezbollah, Hezbollah could
storm Beirut the next day.”
“This political system is ac-
commodationist and not democ-
ratic. In Lebanon, we accept the
principle of sectarian rights.”
Kashan also believes that
“the next government will be
one that will continue to man-
age the crisis in Lebanon until
... there is change in the (Middle
East) region” at large.
The pro-Western coalition
widened its majority in the 128-
member parliament from 67
seats to 71, filling seats which
were left vacant, against 57 for
Reuters-Yonhap News
leader Baitullah Mehsud for re-
cent attacks that have killed
civilians.
“Whatever Baitullah Mehsud
and his associates are doing in
the name of Islam is not a jihad,
and in fact it is rioting and ter-
rorism,” Zainuddin told The
Associated Press. “Islam stands
for peace, not for terrorism.”
Zainuddin’s motive for attack-
ing Mehsud was not clear.
Mahmood Shah, a former se-
AP-Yonhap News
Independence Party, an anti-
European Union fringe group.
The results, announced
Sunday, were Labour’s worst in
a nationwide vote since 1910 —
showing the damage wreaked
by a scandal over lawmakers’
excessive expense claims.
Local results in simultane-
ous elections for district and
city hall assemblies wiped out
Brown’s party in parts of
southern and central England,
regions that helped former
Hezbollah and its Shiite and
Christian allies.
In the outgoing parliament, in
which several members were
assassinated or who switched
allegiances, the opposition held
55 seats.
“In reality the election did not
change anything and I would
rather speak of an honourable
majority,” said Khashan. “In the
Lebanese system, everybody
must be a winner, there is no
room for losers.”
The rival factions have been
locked in a national dialogue since
March 2006 to patch up differ-
ences, namely over Hezbollah’s
weapons and the need for a na-
tional defense strategy.
The militant group Hezbollah,
which fought a devastating 2006
war with Israel, said on Monday
that its impressive weapons ar-
senal is not up for discussion.
“The majority must commit
not to question our role as a re-
WEDNESDAY JUNE 10, 2009
curity chief for the tribal regions,
said Mehsud is facing disquiet
from some other militant leaders
who view his policies in South
Waziristan as too brutal, though
he is still powerful in the region.
Zainuddin was “a lesser evil”
than Mehsud and may be trying
to paint himself as a more mod-
erate leader whom local tribes-
men and government officials
could support, he said.
“Baitullah Mehsud is facing
some problems due to the revolt
by Qari Zainuddin, but I think it
would be more appropriate if
the government encourages an
uprising against Baitullah
Mehsud with help from tribal
elders in the same way the
lashkar is fighting Taliban in
Upper Dir,” Shah said.
Washington strongly backs
the Swat offensive, and officials
have said privately they would
like Pakistan to follow up by
launching an operation in near-
by South Waziristan. The gov-
ernment has announced no
plans to attack the area, where
hardened al-Qaida and Taliban
fighters are well entrenched.
The government has encour-
aged citizen militias in the past
to oust Taliban fighters, espe-
cially in the semiautonomous
Afghan border regions where
the central government has lim-
ited powers. But the willingness
of villagers to do so has often
hinged on confidence that au-
thorities will back them up if
necessary.
With the army reporting ad-
vances against the Taliban in
Swat — an operation that also
reaches into Lower Dir district
and is seen as a test of the gov-
ernment’s resolve to fight mili-
tancy — that confidence ap-
pears to be growing.
Labour Prime Minister Tony
Blair win three successive vic-
tories.
Brown tried to pre-empt the
bad news with a hasty recon-
figuration of his Cabinet last
week — promoting loyalists
and handing high-profile jobs
to his likeliest successors. He
pledged to refocus his legisla-
tive program on reviving the
economy and cleaning up
Britain’s political system.
By law, Brown must call a
national election by June 2010
— ending Labour’s 5-year term
won in 2005. His party’s drub-
bing at the polls this weekend
has been read by most as a por-
tent of catastrophic defeat.
Britain’s Conservatives are
seen as virtually assured of re-
turning to power for the first
time since 1997.
A projection for the Sunday
Times newspaper based on lo-
cal election results suggested
the Conservatives would win
power with a majority of 34.
Labour, which currently has a
63 seat majority, would lose
about 140 seats — 40 percent
of its total of 350 — according
to the analysis.
Olympics minister Tessa
Jowell said Brown plans to call
an election in May 2010 — al-
most the last possible moment
— hoping that an upturn in the
economy will revive his politi-
cal fortunes. “Labour cannot
win with the present prime
minister,” Labour lawmaker
Frank Field wrote on his web-
site Monday.
sistance party, the legitimacy of
our weapons arsenal and the
fact that Israel is an enemy
state,” Hezbollah official
Mohamed Raad told AFP.
Analysts believe that
President Michel Sleiman, who
was elected in May 2008 after
the rival factions buried their dif-
ferences at reconciliation talks in
Qatar, must act as a “bridge” be-
tween the two camps.
“The president must play a
stronger role, he must be an ar-
bitrator. He has the capability
and the opportunity to play an
important role,” said Safa.
Safa said the majority leaders
had “learned some sobering
lessons” since the last elections
in 2005 and “know that they
cannot govern on their own, and
need a coalition.”
“There is an opposition armed
and dangerous, and they must
keep their eyes on the regional
situation,” he said.
BRIEFLY
Death toll from
Mexican fire rises
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A
short circuit or overheating in an
air conditioning system in an ad-
jacent warehouse may have
caused a fire that killed 44 young
children in a day care center in
northern Mexico, the state’s at-
torney general said Monday.
The Sonora state health de-
partment reported that one child
died Sunday from injuries suf-
fered in the blaze at the ABC day
care in Hermosillo, and 2-year-
old girl died Monday shortly be-
fore she was to board a flight to
California for treatment.
The deaths brought the total
from Friday’s fire to 44. More
than 30 children and adults with
severe burns and smoke inhala-
tion were struggling to survive
in hospitals in Mexico and the
United States. Sonora Gov.
Eduardo Bours vowed to fully
investigate the fire and said au-
thorities have called in the day
care center’s owners, employees
and others for questioning.
China quarantines
New Orleans mayor
WASHINGTON (AFP) —
Chinese authorities have placed
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin
under quarantine at a hotel in
Shanghai, after a fellow passen-
ger on his flight fell ill with a
suspected case of swine flu, his
office said.
Nagin, his wife Seletha and a
security guard were “placed in a
designated quarantine location in
Shanghai and they remain symp-
tom-free,” Nagin’s spokeswoman
Ceeon Quiett said Sunday.
Another spokeswoman in the
mayor’s office told AFP on
Monday that the trio was still
held at the location.
A passenger on Nagin’s flight
was “confirmed to have signs
and symptoms of an influenza-
like illness suspected to be of the
H1N1 subtype and the passen-
ger is undergoing quarantine
and treatment,” Quiett said.
Man held for
Obama threat
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A federal
judge in Las Vegas has ordered a
man be transferred to Utah to
face a charge of threatening
President Barack Obama, even as
the man’s defense attorney and
family pleaded that the suspect
get mental health treatment.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert
Johnston said Monday that while
36-year-old Daniel James
Murray’s “mental health status
seems to be severely compro-
mised,” the former armored car
company employee was a threat to
the community and a flight risk.
Murray’s court-appointed
lawyer had argued that Murray
was mentally ill and did not
pose as serious a threat as pros-
ecutors had alleged. Murray,
who was arrested Friday out-
side a casino in Laughlin, was
not asked to enter a plea to the
charge of threats against the
president. The charge carries a
possible sentence of five years in
prison and a $250,000 fine.
Lee, Obama
From Page 1
was signed in 2007 but has yet
to be ratified by both countries’
legislatures.
During their first meeting in
London in early April, the two
leaders committed themselves
to move the FTA forward, noting
it would be mutually beneficial
to both economies.
Last month, Obama said the
deal would enhance and pro-
mote bilateral ties and co-pros-
perity between the two allies,
when he met the new Korean
Ambassador to Washington,
Han Duck-soo.
During his presidential cam-
paign, Obama called the trade
deal “badly flawed,” demanding
measures to address the imbal-
ance in auto trade.
U.S. lawmakers are con-
cerned that it could further
damage the American auto in-
dustry, which is already deep in
trouble.
Korean opposition parties
claim Seoul’s ratification would
deprive it of leverage in future
renegotiations. They also called
for measures to protect the agri-
cultural industry from its impact.
Korea is the seventh largest
trade partner for the United
States, with two-way trade
equaling $83 billion in 2008. It is
estimated the deal will increase
annual trade by $20 billion.
(jjhwang@heraldm.com)