Pakistani Militant Chief Is Reported Dead

Mr. Kashmiri is considered one of the most dangerous and highly trained Pakistani militants allied with Al Qaeda. A former member of Pakistan’s special forces, the Special Services Group, Mr. Kashmiri was suspected of being behind several attacks, including the May 22 battle at the Mehran naval base in the southern port city of Karachi that deeply embarrassed Pakistani officials. He has also been implicated in the terrorist attack on Mumbai, India, in 2008, in which at least 163 people were killed, including some American citizens.

He was reported to have been killed Friday in a strike on a compound in Laman, near Wana, the main town of South Waziristan. Atifur Rehman, a senior government official in Wana, said the strike killed nine people. Mr. Rehman said there had been reports that Mr. Kashmiri had recently set up operations in Laman, and that a sharp increase in drone flights over the area had been noticed in the past few days.

A known Taliban militant in Wana contacted by telephone confirmed that Mr. Kashmiri had been killed. But an intelligence official in the capital, Islamabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had not received any independent confirmations of the report. And American officials — who cautioned that previous reports of Mr. Kashmiri’s death had turned out to be false, including a Pakistani claim he had died in a drone strike in September 2009 — said they were trying to confirm the new reports on Saturday morning.

Mr. Kashmiri’s death would certainly be welcomed by both American and Pakistani intelligence agencies, and could go some way to alleviating the strained relations between the two countries that have developed in recent months, in particular since the May 2 raid that killed Osama bin Laden 75 miles from Islamabad. Pakistan has accused the United States of pursuing its own agenda in Pakistan without coordinating with Pakistani security forces, running its own intelligence agents and conducting unilateral strikes that ride roughshod over Pakistan’s sovereignty.

The United States has sent three high-level delegations to Islamabad in recent weeks, the last one led by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, to try to repair relations. Mrs. Clinton said the United States was looking for specific actions from Pakistan in coming days and weeks, including intelligence sharing, which had all but broken down.

Mr. Kashmiri was wanted by both countries and could have been a good target for renewed intelligence sharing. He is reported to lead a unit called the 313 brigade, and belongs to the group Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami, which is suspected of a number of high-profile attacks, including an attack against the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, the garrison city next to Islamabad.

The attack on the navy base in Karachi, conducted by half a dozen commando militants, lasted 16 hours before security forces regained control of the base.

Mr. Kashmiri, 45, has a long history of waging guerrilla operations. As a Pakistani Army trainer of Afghan mujahedeen fighters, he lost an eye battling Russian forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Later, while working with Kashmiri militants attacking India, Pakistan’s archrival, he earned renown in Pakistan after escaping from an Indian jail where he had been imprisoned for two years. But he turned against the state when President Pervez Musharraf banned his group after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He was arrested four years later in connection with an attempted assassination of Mr. Musharraf in December 2003, but released because of a lack of evidence.

Mr. Kashmiri was indicted in 2009 along with two Chicago men accused of plotting an attack against a Danish newspaper that had printed a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. One of the men, David Coleman Headley, testified recently at the Chicago trial of the other man, Tahawwur Rana, that Mr. Kashmiri, angered by the American campaign of drone strikes, had asked him to research possibilities for attacking the defense contractor Lockheed Martin in retaliation.

After the Pakistani government laid siege to Islamic militants in the Red Mosque in Islamabad in July 2007, Mr. Kashmiri moved his operations to North Waziristan and took up arms with Al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban there. He is listed as the fourth-most wanted man by the Interior Ministry, according to Pakistani media reports.

American intelligence and counterterrorism officials say Mr. Kashmiri is among the most dangerous militant leaders in Pakistan today because of his training skills, commando experience and strategic vision to carry out attacks against Western targets.

Reporting was contributed by Ismail Khan from Peshawar, Pakistan, and Scott Shane and Mark Mazzetti from Washington.

View the original article here

Medical Workers Reported Missing in Bahrain

The group, Physicians for Human Rights, cited reports from Bahrain that “doctors are disappearing as part of a systematic attack on medical staff,” and that “many physicians are missing following interrogations by unknown security forces at Salmaniya Medical Complex” in Bahrain’s capital, Manama.

In a Web posting, the group published a list of more than 30 medical personnel, from ambulance drivers to consultants and surgeons, who it said had been held.

“Although families have tried to contact administration officials, the administration denies any knowledge of their whereabouts,” the posting said. “According to family members, the physicians are being held incommunicado in unknown locations.”

There was no immediate response to the allegation from authorities in Bahrain, which enlisted military help from more than 2,000 troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to put down a pro-democracy uprising last month, and sent army and security forces to crush dissent.

The government forces have expelled protesters from Pearl Square, a traffic circle that had taken on symbolic importance for demonstrators, who likened it to Cairo’s Tahrir Square in the days before President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt was toppled in February. The government forces also moved on to the grounds of the Salmaniya hospital after it became a hub of opposition activities.

The confrontation drew on Bahrain’s tense divide between majority Shiites and the Sunni monarchy that rules them. Most of Bahrain’s doctors are Shiites and the opposition is predominantly, though not exclusively, Shiite.

This month, it was estimated that at least a dozen doctors and nurses had been arrested and held prisoner since March, and more paramedics and ambulance drivers disappeared. Ambulances were blocked from aiding wounded patients, according to health care workers and human rights advocates.

“You have an assault on the health care system and the people who practice in it,” said Dan Williams, a senior researcher for the New York-based group Human Rights Watch, said this month. “Hospitals are supposed to be used for health care and not as arbitrary detention centers.”

At a news conference this month, the acting health minister, Fatima al-Balooshi, accused scores of doctors and health care workers at Salmaniya and elsewhere of joining “a conspiracy against Bahrain from the outside” — usually a code for Iran — to destabilize the government.

Richard Sollom, the deputy director of Physicians for Human Rights, denounced the apparent assault on medical personnel in the Web posting, writing: “Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals have an ethical duty to prevent and limit suffering of patients in their care and a duty to practice medicine in a neutral way without fear or favor.”

 

Incumbent Reported Leading in Nigeria Vote

Results from a watershed presidential election in Nigeria began to trickle in Sunday after the voting unfolded peacefully the day before — a first for a country with a history of rigged and violent votes in the 12 years since the end of military rule. News reports on Monday said the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, had secured a strong lead, prompting protests by his rival’s supporters in the north of the country.

Votes counted from all but one of Nigeria’s 36 states showed President Jonathan, from the southern oil producing Niger Delta, had beaten Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler from the Muslim north, in the first round, Reuters reported.

Nigerians have never voted before in such favorable conditions, analysts and election monitors said: ballot materials appear to have arrived on time, there were few reports of violence and the registration process before the voting on Saturday appeared to have gone smoothly.

The implications of the clean vote, for a new democracy still struggling to establish itself after years of dictatorship, are big. Analysts noted that the winner would most likely have a legitimacy denied to his predecessors elected under murky circumstances, including ballot stealing, a fraudulent polling list and the violent intimidation of voters, all features of the last presidential election, the widely denounced 2007 vote.

None of those flaws appeared to be a significant part of the electoral landscape on Saturday.

“It appears to be going quite smoothly,” said the leader of the National Democratic Institute’s observer mission, Joe Clark, a former Canadian prime minister, speaking from the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

“It’s gone in a quite orderly fashion,” he said, as large numbers of voters waited patiently. “Their numbers were called, and they queued up.”

Compared with earlier years, relatively few people, about 39, were killed in pre-election violence, according to the Election Situation Room, a Nigerian civil society group. There have been several bomb blasts as well, notably in the north, home to a militant Islamic sect. But the systematic manipulation that plagued previous elections appeared to be absent, experts said.

On Saturday, electoral officials were using an uncomplicated procedure for cutting down on fraud, Mr. Clark said. They were asking voters to remain near the polling places. “Their simple presence is supposed to deter what happened before,” he said. “The reason they are staying is to protect their vote.”

Their watchful eyes are credited with deterring fraud and their numbers are seen as preventing intimidation of voters and poll workers. In addition, President Jonathan is considered a credible candidate who is almost certain to be the eventual winner, although he could face a runoff. He has repeatedly called on his supporters to refrain from intimidation and acts of violence. Mr. Jonathan’s main opponent, Mr. Buhari, said Saturday that he would not contest the results of the vote.

Nigeria, which is America’s fourth biggest supplier of crude oil, Africa’s most populous country and home to major investments by American energy companies, is considered by the United States to be “one of the two most important countries in sub-Saharan Africa,” Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson said in a conference call with reporters from Nigeria and elsewhere last month. The other major country usually cited is South Africa.

This year’s election was being closely watched by American officials because, despite shaking off military rule in 1999, Nigeria has maintained an ambiguous, less-than-democratic status, undermined by large-scale corruption, fraud and an elections agency that appeared to increase rather than combat those flaws.

Even more than the outcome, with Mr. Jonathan’s victory largely assumed, the process has been under scrutiny. Already, with Mr. Jonathan’s appointment of a respected political scientist, Attahiru Jega, last year to run the Independent National Electoral Commission, a will to reform appeared evident. Mr. Jega has received high marks for the expeditious cleaning of a voter list that included thousands of illegitimate names — of dead people and celebrities — using a computer registration system deployed at thousands of polling places in the vast country of 150 million, and taking electronic fingerprints of every voter.

Already, before Saturday’s vote, the parliamentary elections last week were “peaceful and credible in most parts of the country,” said Peter Lewis, a Nigeria expert at Johns Hopkins University. “This is the first poll they’ve had under a civilian administration where they’ve had a reasonable degree of organization,” Mr. Lewis said.

 

Clashes Reported in Several Libyan Cities

 Edward Yeranian | Cairo ?April 16, 2011

Libyan rebel fighters load a truck with ammunition on the outskirts of Ajdabiya, Libya, Saturday, April 16, 2011.

Fighting is being reported in at least three Libyan cities Saturday, including the besieged port of Misrata, where living conditions continue to deteriorate. Human rights groups are also accusing Gadhafi loyalists of using cluster bombs in the city.

Desperate residents of the besieged rebel-held city of Misrata express their grief and anguish as the battle for the city continues unabated. Witnesses report shelling and rocket attacks by pro-Gadhafi forces around Misrata port where hundreds of civilians have been hunkering down.

Al Jazeera TV showed images of buildings around the port ablaze, with fire coming out their windows, after an intense rocket barrage. Witnesses say large portions of the city have been abandoned due to the intense shelling and hundreds of families are living in cramped conditions, without running water and electricity.

The group, Human Rights Watch,? is also accusing pro-Gadhafi forces of using dangerous cluster bombs, banned by most countries, in Misrata. Human Rights Watch spokesperson Emma Daley says an observer from the group witnessed Gadhafi forces using what she thinks were cluster bombs.

"We actually witnessed what we believe were three cluster munitions strikes a couple of nights ago over a populated neighborhood of Misrata. And, we interviewed a couple of witnesses who believe that they saw cluster munition attacks on earlier occasions. And finally, our researchers in Misrata found physical evidence. They found sub-munitions from cluster munitions that they were able to identify as a Spanish weapon manufactured in 2007," he said.

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, however, denies that Gadhafi forces are using cluster bombs, insisting that it would be foolish to do so, since the evidence would be obvious. "We challenge them to prove this. To use these bombs, you know, the evidence will remain for days and weeks and we know the international community is coming en masse [to] our country soon. So, we can't do this. We can't do anything that would incriminate us, even if we were criminals," he said.

Ashraf Mohammed, an Egyptian man who worked in Misrata and was recently evacuated by sea to the rebel-held city of Benghazi, describes conditions in the city before he left. He said that more than 80 missiles fell on Misrata port, in the 24 hours before he was evacuated from the city. He notes that even more shells fell on the rest of the city, and three Egyptian workers were killed in the attacks.

Mohamed Abu Tunyan, a worker from Bangladesh, explains that the shelling and the lack of food and water made living conditions dire for himself and hundreds of other Bangladeshis. He said he and about 1,500 other Bangladeshi workers were hiding in the Masna steel factory in Misrata for about 15 days. He complains that the shelling on the port area, along with the lack of food and water made living conditions extremely difficult.

Heavy fighting was also reported Saturday around the eastern city of Ajdabiya. Rebel forces have reportedly taken some new ground from Gadhafi loyalists on the road to the oil port of Brega. The fighting comes amid a recent flurry of diplomatic activity, and conferences in Berlin, Cairo, and Doha, Qatar.

Follow our Middle East reports on Twitter
and discuss them on our Facebook page. 16-04-2011 Pale Horse (usa)

“First black President, bombed Africa... How ironic.”

16-04-2011 eriuhdlkj (oz)

"... government forces have been accused of using dangerous cluster bombs in an ongoing assault." oh well, at least the other bombs aren't dangerous.

16-04-2011

Regime change is the main focus of the allied coalition and the rebels couldn't care if their western allied coalition carpet bombed all of Libya to achieve their aims. 2 things are now going to happen. 1 - The destruction of Libya. 2 - The killing of untold numbers of Libyan soldiers and civilians.

16-04-2011 Richard (Nigeria)

President goodluck is the wenan

16-04-2011 NFM (South Africa)

Nato has moved from wanting the libyian government to stop violence against its people (which is unjustifiable), now wanting regime change. A political solution need to be found with AU and UN as the forefront. We need an african solution to our problem not NATO missiles. Libyans must find the solution through peaceful negotiations and democratic elections.

16-04-2011 Ram (UK)

Human Rights Watch is merely doing the job it was set up to do.

16-04-2011 solardiva (USA)

Hold up - Spain's shipment of munition and arms have never been delivered. HRW only saw and collected evidence of cluster munitions. Uncanny coincidence that Israel is using them too? Lets find out who Spain sold the munitions to and then decide if they were Gadhafi's or maybe someone is setting someone else up. Weren't the CIA in Libya? This is their tactics we have seen them before. Digg people - wake up from your slumber.

16-04-2011 Unu (USA)

Is US using cluster bombs? I guess so.

16-04-2011 Johnnie (USA)

In the interest of fair disclosure and journalistic ethics VOA should have mentioned that while most countries have banned cluster munitions, the United States is not one of them. VOA is owned by the US Federal Government after all.

16-04-2011 Colin Trent (UK)

Good luck Gaddafi . You have a lot of support world wide. The coalition forces headed by Obama are bullies forcing regime change.

16-04-2011

Cluster bombs were used by USA/NATO in Serbia war capaign. 100% civilian death achieved. Qadaffi has cluster bombs?

16-04-2011 ryeatley (UK)

"Rebels who have been receiving some assistance from NATO"? Had NATO not become paid-for-in-oil mercenaries serving the few anti-Gaddafi rebels, the whole thing would have finished weeks ago, with little loss of life. As for cluster munitions, who has not signed the Convention on cluster munitions which prohibits the use, transfer and stockpile of such, and has used them rather receently, even in populated areas?

16-04-2011 zabi urrahman mamnoon ahmadzai Journalist of KhbyerWeekly (Afghanistan)

We know that Freedom is important but we all must think about life of people so Mr.Obama and Mr.Gaddafi make a way to solve all problems. i think peace is important and we all need it.

16-04-2011 Jim Kendall (USA)

Perspective: Every man, woman and child - on both sides of the issue - who dies in Libya is dying - for all he cares - for Gaddafi. All Gaddafi is concerned for is his personal sustenance. Such imperial selfishness deserves TERMINATION.

16-04-2011

Can we really believe anything the "rebels" claim. We know we can't believe the UN, Nato and the US. So why believe the rebels?

16-04-2011

Because the claim of cluster bombs was investigated by human rights watchdogs

16-04-2011 (US)

So basically they are just allegations without any proof. The propaganda media can say whatever they want--does not make it factual. People need to realize they are being manipulated. It all comes down to stealing the natural resources of Libya . For humanitarian reasons of course.

16-04-2011 Chien-Wei Wu (Taiwan, R.O.C.)

While the U.S. is one member of the NATO organization, we should be aware that VOA is also under the jurisdiction of the U.S. BUT, the VOA news is reporting with justice and detachment, showing no partiality to any side. That's what the news industry has been working on. So, there's no doubt that the VOA is performing well on this issue.

16-04-2011 LibyaisforLibyans (Arabia)

Its very surprising to notice that on the internet everyone is skeptical at this bomb to peace operation .. but on our tv's its all good vs bad especially if the bad is unproven or simply not intentional and the good is riddled with bad... such as being a racist bunch of unknowns and being publicly supported by al-qaida and a bunch of crying armed gang with jet fighters attack helicopters dozens of tanks and artillery for every truck.. why are we bombing .. OIL .. why do we like the rebels.. OIL

16-04-2011 Kwame (Ghana)

Gaddafi must stand firm so that after good conquers evil he will know how to use another strategy to let Nkrumah' s dream: UNITED AFRICA with an African High Command come true. He is the only true African leader left. Americans and their allies want to "kick the ladder" and yet descend for our indispensable resources. Hide the ladder for now Gaddafi!

* Required By using this form you agree to the following: All comments will be reviewed before posting. Be aware - not all submissions will be posted. VOA has the right to use your comments worldwide in any VOA produced media. Terms & Conditions [All VOA blogs...]

Now You Know
Watch Todd Grosshan's report - "What is Radioactivity?"