Power couple steps up push to free hero doctor- Official: Bomb kills 14 at pro-Taliban rally in Pakistan

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The California activist behind a campaign to free a Pakistani doctor who helped hunt down Usama bin Laden has put the issue before the men and women who risk their own lives and freedom fighting for America.

An advertisement in Military Times magazine, which goes out to some 275,000 homes, asks if service members would rather be “captured and tortured” or “rescued and set free.”  The ad directs readers to the magazine’s website, where they can cast their vote and watch a clip of Secretary of State John Kerry discuss the plight of Dr. Shakil Afridi, who has been imprisoned in Pakistan for more than two years for helping locate the world’s most wanted man and paving the way for the Navy SEALs raid that killed him.

The ad is the latest phase in the “Free Afridi” campaign by health care executive Robert Lorsch and his actress wife Kira Reed Lorsch, who both took up the cause earlier this year just before the Academy Awards, where “Zero Dark Thirty,” a movie about the SEAL raid, was up for several Oscars. The pair has so far spent $70,000 of their own money trying to raise awareness about Afridi’s plight.

The Lorsches say the poll, posted on www.freeafridi.com, is aimed at sending a message to the White House and State Department to address the plight of the doctor and moral dilemma of leaving him behind.

Afridi was convicted by a tribal court in North West Pakistan on May 23, 2012, on a charge of colluding with terrorists, though it is widely acknowledged he is being punished for his ruse in the CIA-led Bin Laden operation. To positively identify bin Laden’s presence, Afridi set up a Hepatitis B vaccination program and collected DNA samples to verify the Al Qaeda leader and his family’s were living at a compound in Abbottabad, 80 miles from the capital, Islamabad. He was sentenced to 33-years in jail, of which he has nearly completed a year, and has been subjected to severe interrogation tactics at Pakistan Intelligence Agency’s prison. 

The advertised poll posted on www.freeafridi.com is aimed at sending a message to the White House and State Department to address the plight of the doctor and moral dilemma of leaving him behind.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., Afridi’s most vocal supporter in Congress, introduced a bipartisan resolution in February to recognize Afridi as an American hero and called for his immediate release or cancellation of billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan.

“Quiet diplomacy toward Dr. Afridi’s imprisonment is not working,” Rohrabacher said in a statement Monday, in which he accused the Obama administration of acting “cowardly” on the matter.

Afridi is now in a hunger strike over denial of access to visits from his family and legal counsel, as well as harsh treatment in prison.

“The U.S. ambassador should be recalled and legislation should be passed to withhold foreign aid to Pakistan as long as they are doing the bidding of terrorists and persecuting the likes of Dr. Afridi,” said Rohrabacher.

Afridi’s court hearings have been adjourned up to a dozen times since he was sentenced last May. His family fears the next court hearing, scheduled for June 13, won’t yield any results unless there is more pressure from the U.S.

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Dodgy Burmese courts hurt Pakistan

Abandoned ... Pakistan's Aqeel Khan plays a shot on the "unplayable" surface. Source: Soe Than Win / AAP

Pakistan said it would protest to tennis authorities over a referee's decision to award a Davis Cup tie to New Zealand because of an unplayable court surface at a neutral venue.

The Asia Oceania group II tie was played in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma) after the International Tennis Federation (ITF) declared the security situation in Pakistan was not conducive to host the second-round matches.

Pakistan were leading 1-0 after Aqeel Khan defeated New Zealand's Artem Sitak 7-5 3-6 6-2 7-5 and Pakistan's Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi was leading in the second singles when Sri Lankan referee Ashita Ajigala stopped the match.

The referee declared the tie as abandoned and awarded it to New Zealand as the courts were Pakistan's responsibility, a decision Pakistan Tennis Federation president Kaleem Imam said was unjust.

"We are devastated at the decision," Imam told AFP. "If the surface had any problems why didn't the referee tell us before the tie started, or why did he allow the first match to go on.

"We are going to lodge a protest against the decision."

Pakistan has been forced to play their home ties on neutral venues since 2010 after all international sports were suspended in the country following terrorists attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore in March 2009.

Imam said Pakistan has already been suffering because of no home matches.

"We have not been able to play at home and now after we chose to play in Myanmar, this untoward incident has taken place. This has left my players devastated and we will follow this matter through our protest," said Imam.

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Dodgy Burmese courts hurt Pakistan

Abandoned ... Pakistan's Aqeel Khan plays a shot on the "unplayable" surface. Source: Soe Than Win / AAP

Pakistan said it would protest to tennis authorities over a referee's decision to award a Davis Cup tie to New Zealand because of an unplayable court surface at a neutral venue.

The Asia Oceania group II tie was played in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma) after the International Tennis Federation (ITF) declared the security situation in Pakistan was not conducive to host the second-round matches.

Pakistan were leading 1-0 after Aqeel Khan defeated New Zealand's Artem Sitak 7-5 3-6 6-2 7-5 and Pakistan's Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi was leading in the second singles when Sri Lankan referee Ashita Ajigala stopped the match.

The referee declared the tie as abandoned and awarded it to New Zealand as the courts were Pakistan's responsibility, a decision Pakistan Tennis Federation president Kaleem Imam said was unjust.

"We are devastated at the decision," Imam told AFP. "If the surface had any problems why didn't the referee tell us before the tie started, or why did he allow the first match to go on.

"We are going to lodge a protest against the decision."

Pakistan has been forced to play their home ties on neutral venues since 2010 after all international sports were suspended in the country following terrorists attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore in March 2009.

Imam said Pakistan has already been suffering because of no home matches.

"We have not been able to play at home and now after we chose to play in Myanmar, this untoward incident has taken place. This has left my players devastated and we will follow this matter through our protest," said Imam.

View the original article here

Dodgy Burmese courts hurt Pakistan

Abandoned ... Pakistan's Aqeel Khan plays a shot on the "unplayable" surface. Source: Soe Than Win / AAP

Pakistan said it would protest to tennis authorities over a referee's decision to award a Davis Cup tie to New Zealand because of an unplayable court surface at a neutral venue.

The Asia Oceania group II tie was played in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma) after the International Tennis Federation (ITF) declared the security situation in Pakistan was not conducive to host the second-round matches.

Pakistan were leading 1-0 after Aqeel Khan defeated New Zealand's Artem Sitak 7-5 3-6 6-2 7-5 and Pakistan's Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi was leading in the second singles when Sri Lankan referee Ashita Ajigala stopped the match.

The referee declared the tie as abandoned and awarded it to New Zealand as the courts were Pakistan's responsibility, a decision Pakistan Tennis Federation president Kaleem Imam said was unjust.

"We are devastated at the decision," Imam told AFP. "If the surface had any problems why didn't the referee tell us before the tie started, or why did he allow the first match to go on.

"We are going to lodge a protest against the decision."

Pakistan has been forced to play their home ties on neutral venues since 2010 after all international sports were suspended in the country following terrorists attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore in March 2009.

Imam said Pakistan has already been suffering because of no home matches.

"We have not been able to play at home and now after we chose to play in Myanmar, this untoward incident has taken place. This has left my players devastated and we will follow this matter through our protest," said Imam.

View the original article here

Firm whose product kills US troops eyes tax break- China, Pakistan reach deal on nuke plant, report says

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A Pakistani fertilizer maker whose chemicals have been used in 80 percent of the roadside bombs that have killed and maimed American troops in Afghanistan is now seeking U.S. taxpayer subsidies in order to open a factory in Indiana. 

The request appears to be on hold pending further review, but the situation has stirred outrage in Congress, where some accuse the Pakistani government of halting efforts to clamp down on the bomb-making. 

For the past seven years, the U.S. government has known that the raw material calcium ammonium nitrate, or CAN, is making its way across the border into Afghanistan where the Taliban use it to fuel their most deadly weapons, namely the improvised explosive device. IEDs have long been the number one killer of U.S. and coalition troops. 

The material largely comes from Pakistani fertilizer maker the Fatima Group. But the Pakistani government has stymied attempts by the Pentagon to stop the flow of the fertilizer used in these homemade bombs, according to the director of military Joint IED Defeat Organization, Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero. 

"The producers within Pakistan have been less than cooperative," Barbero told a congressional committee late last year. "Despite making minor packaging, tracking and marketing changes, they have not implemented any effective product security or stewardship efforts. Pakistani-based CAN producers can and must do more. Frustratingly, all direct communication and engagement with the leaders of Fatima Group was halted by the government of Pakistan." 

The Pentagon enlisted help from the State Department to intervene and pressure the Lahore-based Fatima Group to change their formula. In an interview with Fox News, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said those efforts by the State Department "completely failed," and he blames the Pakistani government in large part. 

"The Fatima organization was willing to work with our U.S. military to curtail the cross-border transaction of calcium ammonium nitrate until (the) Pakistani government told them 'no, you aren't going to curtail it, stop talking with Americans, we are going to keep shipping across the border the way that we have been'," he said. 

What's worse, Hunter said, is that now this same fertilizer group wants to open a factory in Indiana, taking advantage of U.S. taxpayer subsidies meant to help Indiana recover after recent flooding. 

"Not only was this company Fatima able to still ship calcium ammonium nitrate  to make bombs across the border  into Afghanistan, but they were almost getting ready to take advantage of taxpayer-subsidized loans to set up shop in Indiana to make more fertilizer while they were sending bomb making material across the border from Pakistan to Afghanistan," Hunter said. 

Indiana's state officials have suspended Fatima's request pending a further investigation and now, for the first time in 12 years, the fertilizer maker appears willing to take simple steps to make its fertilizer non-explosive. 

In a statement, Barbero called the developments "positive" and said "Fatima confirmed to me in writing that it has suspended sales of CAN fertilizer products in the border provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, affecting 228 dealers in those areas." 

The Fatima Group also recently released a video that it says shows a test of a new, less explosive fertilizer they are trying to produce. "As you can see from the video testing, the Fatima Group has successfully created a more inert formulation of ammonium nitrate fertilizer," Fatima said in a statement to Fox News. "Our extensive research and rigorous testing have led to the development of a formulation that has made it extremely difficult -- if not impossible -- to modify ammonium nitrate fertilizer into an explosive." 

U.S. Defense officials are still awaiting visas from the Pakistani government to visit Pakistan to see the facility themselves and whether the company's claims that they have made their fertilizer more inert are true. 

Still, many believe it's too little progress, too late. Last year, nearly 1,900 U.S. casualties were caused by these homemade bombs. And during the past two years in Afghanistan, roadside bomb events increased 80 percent. 

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., wrote to the departments of Homeland Security and Treasury last month asking for a review of the company's request, noting it could impair national security. 

The Treasury Department, in a response dated March 4, suggested that this particular case would fall under the purview of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The letter, citing the confidentiality of the process, did not say for certain whether and how this case was being reviewed. 

"Pakistan not a good actor," Hunter said. "At some point a few months ago this corporation and the Pakistani government cut off all talks with the U.S. military about curtailing the transportation of this explosive across the border until this happened in Indiana. ... Then they reopened up the lines of communication because once again the almighty American dollar prevails."

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