Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
U.S. commander consults Pakistan on anti-Taliban campaign
Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:49am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Andrew Gray
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The top U.S. military officer arrived in Islamabad on Thursday for talks with Pakistani generals, as both sides seek to crank up pressure on Taliban fighters either side of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, had earlier visited Afghanistan, where just halfway through July the death toll for foreign troops in the eight-year-old war already matched the worst monthly total of 46.
Mullen was due to meet army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and General Tariq Majid, the chairman of Pakistan's joint chiefs of staff. Within Pakistan's military hierarchy the army chief is the more senior of the two.
The visit came a day after al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in an audio-recording posted on an Islamist website, urged Pakistanis to join a jihad against the United States and its allies within the Pakistani political and military leadership.
Pakistan's Western allies were relieved in April when the army went on the offensive against Taliban militants spreading out of their stronghold in Swat valley to another valley just 60 miles northwest of Islamabad.
The Taliban's increasing boldness, along with a spate of high profile attacks, notably in the eastern city of Lahore, and doubts about the stability of President Asif Ali Zardari's government had heightened worries about the nuclear-armed state.
Those fears were underlined by a suicide bomb attack on a bus carrying workers to a nuclear facility in Rawalpindi which killed one person and wounded 29 on July 2.
WAZIRISTAN UNCERTAINTIES
Mullen was expected visit a camp for some of the 2 million people displaced by the fighting in Swat later on Thursday, though authorities earlier this week began letting families go home.
The army is in the final stages of the operation in Swat, and the government has given it orders to mount a campaign against the Taliban redoubt in Waziristan, a remote, mountainous tribal region bordering Afghhanistan.
Air strikes and medium range artillery have been used to soften up the defenses of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, and U.S. drones also have begun targeting Mehsud territory more frequently in recent weeks.
Diplomats in Islamabad are speculating whether Pakistan wants to wait for the United States to deploy more troops on the Afghan side of the border before launching an all-out assault on Mehsud.
President Barack Obama's administration has made Afghanistan its top military priority. U.S. troop strength there is due to more than double from 32,000 to 68,000 this year, along with 36,000 troops from other Western allies. [nLF519706]
U.S. officials say Mehsud has trained many of the suicide bombers attacking Western and Afghan forces, while Pakistan blames him for a wave of violence that has engulfed the country since late 2007.
Mehsud is accused of being behind the assassination of Zardari's wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, in December 2007, but the militant leader has denied responsibility and there are several conspiracy theories. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Australia's "worst case scenario" 6,000 H1N1 deaths
Also On Reuters
California's needy may bear brunt of budget crisis
Wal-Mart to rate products' environmental impact
It's iPhone Impressionism, courtesy of Christie's
More International News
Black boxes recovered from crashed Iranian plane
| Video
U.N., U.S. move to increase pressure on North Korea
U.S. raises "fair treatment" in China after Rio case
India, Pakistan PMs to meet, Mumbai attacks cloud talks
Pressure builds on Japan PM; calls to quit may grow
More International News...
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Australia's "worst case scenario" 6,000 H1N1 deaths
Capitol police say suspect killed near Capitol
Obama's Supreme Court pick treads careful line | Video
U.S. sends condolences after Iranian plane crash
Obama prods Congress on healthcare; Senate panel acts
CIT talks fall apart, bankruptcy looms | Video
Russian rights activist kidnapped, found dead
China sweeping secrets laws leave Rio few options
Redford weds German girlfriend in private ceremony
Group blames Chechen leader for activist's murder
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Casualties mount in Afghanistan
US says Iran talks on the table
Obama makes first pitch at All-Stars
How to commemorate the moonwalk
Sotomayor back in the hot seat
12 killed in latest Mexico violence
Iran plane crash - all on board die
Israeli soldiers Gaza ''war crimes''
Lost UK hiker found in Australia
Lab mulls drunk vs high drivers
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
We want to hear from you
Join the Reuters Consumer Insight Panel and help us get to know you better
Please take a moment to complete our survey
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.