& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

US against talks with Pak Taliban chief

Pakistan to allow American drone strike on Laden

AFP, Islamabad/Washington
The United States does not approve of negotiations will) Pakistan’s top IXUban commander but backs Islamabad's talks with tribal elders near the Afghan border, a senior US envoy said yesterday.
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher added that Washington welcomes an ongoing operation by Pakistani forces against Islamic hardliners near the northwestern city of Peshawar.
"We don't support making concessions to Taliban leaders like Baitullah Mehsud." the Taliban chieftain who was accused by authorities of masterminding the slaying of former premier Benazir Bhutto last year, Boucher told reporters.
He said the United States backed the policy described in a statement by Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani last week "where he said the intention was to negotiate with tribesmen not militants."
Gilani's government launched talks with Taliban militants in Pakistan's tribal frontier regions after defeating allies of US-backed President Pervez Musharraf in elections in February.
The move was aimed at ending a wave of Thliban-linkcd suicide bombings, but caused alarm among Western nations who allege that Pakistan-based militants are attacking their troops in Afghanistan.
Mehsud declared a ceasefire in April after negotiations with Pakistani authorities, but he announced at the weekend that he was halting all peace talks because of military operations by governmentforces.
Security forces launched an operation in the Khyber tribal district on the outskirts of
Peshawar on Saturday, saying that the city was under threat from Islamic militants who were terrorising residents.
Khyber is also home to the main supply route for Nato and US forces in Afghanistan.
Pakistani officials say they have taken at least one town out of militant hands, but there has been little activity except for the demolition of several rebel hideouts and residents say most of the insurgents have fled.
Boucher however said the operation was a good step.
"The operation around Peshawar is very welcome. All people up there have had enough of the harassment by these groups, the threats to Peshawar," he said.
"But it's a reminder of how much of a problem there is up there."
During a three-day visit Boucher held talks with Musharraf, Gilani and army chief General
Ashfaq Kayani in Islamabad. He also met ruling coalition partner and former premier Nawaz Sharif in the eastern city of Lahore.
Boucher said the United States was trying to support the new government's efforts to tackle mounting problems, including militancy as well as spiralling food prices and power shortages.
Meanwhile, Pakistan long ago gave Washington the right to launch an immediate Predator drone strike on Osama bin Laden, without first notifying Islamabad, if he is located In Pakistani tribal areas, The Washington Times reported Wednesday.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf granted this exception to other limits on US counterterrorism operations in his country "early" in the war against al-Qaeda, launched in Afghanistan in October 2001, the Times said, citing "a knowledgeable official.”