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| ‘Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan part of one large family’ |
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Thursday, September 25, 2008
By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir
UNITED NATIONS: President Mahmoud Amedinejad of Iran has warned that enhancing the US-led Nato troops and stepping up their activities in the neighbourhood could destablise the region.
Addressing a crowded news conference after delivering his address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) he said, “Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan are part of one large family and they have historic ties and cultural links.”
He said that such forces cannot achieve their objectives since the history of the region bears testimony to the fact that every invader met with a disgraceful end. Earlier addressing the world body in its 63rd summit session, the Iranian president vowed that Iran would pursue nuclear technology despite Western “bullying” as Russia apparently scuttled a push for new sanctions against Tehran.
To a question, he warned that any one, who disturbed the equilibrium of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan would “fall headlong to the ground”. He said foreign troops in Afghanistan and Iran have always suffered disgrace and defeat. Without naming the United States, he said it is unaware of the history of the region. He cited the examples of the British and the former Soviet Union that had invaded Afghanistan and had to leave it in utter disgrace. There is no guarantee, he added, that the Nato forces now in Afghanistan will fare any better.
“They do not understand our culture, nor our system, nor our traditions. Human relations cannot be established or conducted with military might,” he said. In another cutting reference to the United States in Afghanistan, Ahmedinejad said, “They are fighting terrorism and extremism but it has multiplied. They are not successful.”
The problem of terrorism needs a political and negotiated settlement and not a military solution, he added. To a question about the Iran-Pakistan pipeline, he said, “I met the President of Pakistan today and we noted progress on this project and we hope to sign an agreement in the near future.” The Iranian president earlier delivered a defiant speech to UNGA. He said that Iran “will resist the bullying and has defended and will continue to defend its rights.”
In a clear reference to the United States and its allies, he said: “They oppose other nation’s progress and tend to monopolise technologies and to use those monopolies in order to impose their will on other nations.”
He also lashed out at Israel, saying, “the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters.”Despite three rounds of UN Security Council sanctions, Iran continues to defy calls by the United States and its Western allies to halt uranium enrichment — a process the West and Israel fear is being used to make an atomic bomb. Whereas Iran has always said that it aims only for peaceful civilian nuclear energy, he added.
However, with the UN Security Council divided, Ahmadinejad was confident that Iran was unlikely to face tougher action soon.In the latest evidence of splits among world powers, Russia’s foreign ministry rejected a US-led call for a new meeting on Iran.
“We do not believe that the US policy perspective, looking at the rest of the world as a field of confrontation, will give good results,” he told a newspaper. “We do not see any fire that requires us to toss everything aside and meet to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme in the middle of a packed week at the United Nations General Assembly,” the ministry said in a statement. The United States wants to impose new sanctions against Iran, but Russia and China are resisting the move.
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KP floods toll reaches 408
By Nisar Mahmood
PESHAWAR: Casualties due to rain and flood-related incidents were on the rise as more deaths were reported from various areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Friday.
Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain p more |
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‘US has no plans to send troops to Pakistan’
WASHINGTON: The United States (US) has brushed aside an Afghan demand to strike at militant safe havens across the border, saying it has no plans to send combat troops to Pakistan.
“We have no plans to s more |
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PM’s directive to HEC is illegal
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: The chairman of the NA Committee on Education has formally sought from the prime minister withdrawal of his recent directive barring the Higher Education Commission (HEC) from directly reporting to t more |
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Flash floods kill 102 in a narrow Shangla strip
By Ikram Hoti
BISHAM, Swat: Out of over 500 people killed by torrential rains and flash floods across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 102 were killed only in a 10-kilometre narrow mountainous strip in Shangla in the 78 hours of Wednesda more |
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95 victims of plane crash identified, Malik tells Senate
By Muhammad Anis
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Friday claimed that 95 out of the 152 dead bodies of the plane crash victims had been identified and 78 handed over to relatives.
Responding to points of orde more |
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Zardari to visit UK despite Cameron snub
By Tariq Butt
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari is going ahead with his four-day official visit to Britain, starting from Aug 3, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said in categorical terms on Friday.
This b more |
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14 die in G-B rains
By our correspondent
GILGIT: Fourteen people, three of them girls, died on Friday in various parts of Gilgit-Baltistan as torrential rains continued to wreak havoc in Gilgit-Baltistan, senior government officials said.
Four more |
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Mullen asks ISI to shift its focus ‘strategically’
WASHINGTON: Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has asked the Pakistani spy agency to “strategically shift its focus” as any ties with the terrorist outfits that had come to light in more |
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Security concerns main reason
By Murtaza Ali Shah
LONDON: President Asif Ali Zardari’s official visit to the UK from August 3 to 7 will cost the taxpayers of Pakistan tons of British pounds as sources have revealed the details of what arrangements are being ma more |
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Fake degrees: SC rejects appeals of three MPs
By Sohail Khan
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday dismissed the appeals of one National Assembly and two provincial assembly members and upheld the decisions against their fake degrees.
A three-member bench of more |
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ECP to check assets of all MPs from next polls
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: In what would serve as a great step towards political reformation in the country, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is finalising a proposal to verify all the declarations of the members of t more |
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Indo-Pak experts want to use water as tool for cooperation
NEW DELHI: Use water as a tool to build trust and cooperation, urged delegates at an Indo-Pak seminar ‘Water is life’ organized by Aman ki Asha and the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation here to discuss the more |
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Cameron’s remarks: ISI team cancels visit to UK
ISLAMABAD: Following the shocking remarks made by the British Prime Minister David Cameron against Pakistan, an ISI’s anti-terrorism experts delegation has cancelled its visit to Britain.
Defence sources more |
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CCP issues notice for tying ticket with food coupons
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has issued a show cause notice to a company for tying the sale of cinema ticket with food coupons.
According to the CCP, the show cause notice was more |
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US needs to change war strategy: Haroon
NEW YORK: Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, said that there might have been a relationship between the ISI and the Taliban, but in a war such contacts were considered necessary.
“ more |
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briefs...
Average inflation for FY11 projected at 11-12 pc
By Shahnawaz Akhter
KARACHI: In an unexpected move, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday tightened the monetary policy stance by enhancing th more |
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ISSN 1563-9479 
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