Islamabad, Feb.12 (ANI): The Taliban claiming responsibility for the death 26 people in suicide attacks on two government buildings in Kabul, Afghanistan, suggests that the militant outfit has the potential to come up with new and more violent responses in the coming days.

Given this latest scenario in Afghanistan, it comes as no surprise that security in Pakistan, and particularly in Islamabad, has been tightened to unprecedented levels.

According to Syed Saleem Shahzad, the Pakistan Bureau Chief of the Asia Times Online, the attack on Kabul comes even as both Barack Obama (US) and Gordon Brown (UK) have announced the appointment of Special Envoys for Pakistan and Afghanistan to strengthen Pakistan’s role against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as trying to bring India into the fold of their strategic partnership.

In an article for the website, Shahzad says that the Taliban has made its bloody presence felt, and the attack on Kabul, is “reminiscent of the Pakistan-linked terror attack on the Indian city of Mumbai last November”.

“The attack, the most complex and brazen in the (Afghan) capital since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, involved five armed militants”, and came a day ahead of a visit by US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke.

According to Shahzad, it “can be seen as a clear statement that even while furious diplomatic activity is taking place involving among others Washington and Moscow, the Taliban voice will be heard.”

He further says in his article that the attack “comes as something of a surprise as it was widely believed that the Taliban would lie relatively low ahead of this year’s spring offensive.”

He says that on the battlefields in Pakistan and Afghanistan, plans are afoot to launch the strongest offensive yet against militants.

“This could begin once Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani returns to Pakistan from the United States where he will discuss in detail the dynamics of the militancy and enhanced cooperation between Islamabad and Washington,” he says.

Across the border, in India, there are also murmurings of al-Qaeda terror cells exploding into action to deter India from aligning with Western forces against the Taliban-led resistance in Afghanistan.

Al-Qaeda assesses 2009 as the year in which it could fight its fiercest – if not decisive – battle: the flames of war could flare at any time, anywhere, he concludes. (ANI)

Islamabad, Jan.12 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani is reportedly holding consultations with key security and intelligence officials on whom to select as his new national security adviser (NSA), sources said on Monday.

The News quoted the sources as saying that the government is yet to take a final decision on who will replace sacked NSA Major-General (retired) Mahmud Ali Durrani.

The names of Tariq Aziz, former army chief Gen. (retired) Jehangir Karamat, Gen (retired.) Abdul Qayyum and former foreign secretary Riaz Khokhar are being considered for the vacant job.

Some reports said Aziz has expressed his unwillingness for the post.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani is consulting with heads of security agencies and other top officials for the appointment of a security adviser.

Some sections told that presidency was causing the delay in the appointment. (ANI)

Washington, Jan.12 (ANI): Carol M. Browner, US President-elect Barack Obama’s global warming czar-designate, was listed as one of 14 leaders of a socialist group’s Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which calls for “global governance” and says rich countries must shrink their economies to address climate change.

Browner’s name and biography has since been removed from Socialist International’s Web page, though a photo of her speaking June 30 to the group’s congress in Greece was still available.

Socialist International, an umbrella group for many of the world’s social democratic political parties such as Britain’s Labor Party, says it supports socialism and is harshly critical of U.S. policies.

The group’s Commission for a Sustainable World Society, the organization’s action arm on climate change, says the developed world must reduce consumption and commit to binding and punitive limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

Obama, who has said action on climate change would be a priority in his administration, tapped Browner last month to fill a new position as White House coordinator of climate and energy policies.

The appointment does not need Senate confirmation, Fox News reports.

Obama’s transition team said Browner’s membership in the organization is not a problem and that it brings experience in U.S. policymaking to her new role.

Browner ran the Environmental Protection Agency under President Clinton. Until she was tapped for the Obama administration, she was on the board of directors for the National Audubon Society, the League of Conservation Voters, the Center for American Progress and former Vice President Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection. (ANI)

Islamabad, Jan 12 (ANI): Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Naghmi has said that he would take legal action against the present management of the board for levelling baseless allegations against him and “maligning his name.”

The PCB on Friday issued a press statement saying that the ongoing renovation work at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore had been halted after “discovery of massive irregularities” in the construction of the Far End Pavilion.

The present administration, led by chairman Ijaz Butt, placed the blame fully on Shafqat in a strong-worded, no-holds barred statement.

“I am sending a legal notice for this humiliation. The PCB management had launched a malicious campaign against him,” Shafqat said.

“The allegations against me are so preposterous and self-contradictory that it make me laugh at their mentality,” he added.

He said the architect of the Gaddafi Stadium pavilion was not selected for the job because he was his personal friend, but due to his experience in designing the Multan Cricket Stadium, Punjab Football Stadium and several other stadiums in the country.

“He was selected on the basis of an open advertisement that was published in all the leading newspapers in which about 11 individuals and companies applied.”

Shafqat said PCB managers Zahid Hussain (projects) and Javed Khan (procurement) recommended the appointment of M/s Khalil ur Rehman and Associates as consultant-architect and both of them were still working with the present management of the PCB.

“This selection was later approved by the PCB chairman and the governing board.” He claimed that 70 percent work was completed on the project when he left his job on October 26 and its cost was only Rs 140 million.

“How can the remaining 30 percent work cost Rs 330 million as claimed by the brainless and obtuse mind writing the media release. At best, the remaining work could only have cost a further Rs 60 million,” he said.

Shafqat said the present management was trying to humiliate him because he wrote to the federal sports ministry to carry out a five-year audit of the PCB affairs through the Auditor General of Pakistan. (ANI)

Washington, Jan.10 (ANI): Former United Nations Ambassador Richard Holbrooke will be incoming President Barack Obama’s special envoy on South Asia.

According to people familiar with the appointment, Holbrooke, 67, is a veteran diplomat who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize seven times.

He was also the chief architect of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia, Holbrooke also has been ambassador to Germany.

Holbrooke was an early and vocal supporter of Clinton’s run for president, throwing his support to Obama only after the Illinois senator secured the nomination.

Currently he is vice chairman of Perseus LLC, a Washington- based private equity firm, and chairman of the non-profit Asia Society and the American Academy in BerlinExperienced People’ (ANI)

London, Jan.10 (ANI): The British Government has done it again! It has lost a computer memory stick that contained the data of more than 6,000 prisoners in the country, besides some of their medical records.

The culprit, according to The Telegraph, is a health worker of the Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust.

The device was lost last month by a member of staff and contained details on 6,360 prisoners from HMP Preston and was lost on December 30.

It is the latest in a long series of data losses to hit the Government and prison and health staff are now having to trawl records to track those affected down and inform them.

It contains details of some prisoners’ ailments, such as diabetes, asthma, mental health and sexual health, but not full medical history, as well as prisoner surnames, their age range, cell location, prison number and clinic appointment times.

The member of staff has been suspended while the investigation is carried out. (ANI)

Sharif blames country”s woes on Zardari”s continuing with Musharraf’s policies

Lahore, Jan. 4 (ANI): The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief, Nawaz Sharif has said that the current PPP led Pakistan government is only implementing the policies of the former Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf.

While participating in lawyer’s long march, Nawaz criticized the Zardari government for presenting a guard of honour to Musharraf who comprised on the country’s sovereignty and arrested judges, the Daily Times reported.

He termed the re-appointment of deposed judges illegal and also blamed Musharraf for the current dismal state of judiciary in Pakistan.

“The problems being faced by people could not be resolved without independent judiciary,” he said

Rejecting the speculations of his party’s possible alliance with PML-Q, he said that he would prefer to ally with Musharraf rather than forming a coalition with the PML-Q.

Nawaz also said that his party would not make any effort to destabalise the Zardari government, as he had no differences with anyone.

Nawaz, however, said that PML-N was against ‘undemocratic forces’ and no compromise would be made on the country’s sovereignty.