By Yvonne Ridley The only thing that surprised me when I heard that the Algerian kidnappers had called for the release of  Dr Aafia Siddiqui was that it hadn’t happened sooner. Don’t get me wrong, as a former hostage myself, there is no way I condone the actions of what has unfolded in a remote corner of the Algerian desert. And my heart goes out to the families of those who have lost loved ones in the unfo ...

By Zaheerul Hassan On 16 January 2012, Director General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of Pakistan and India established contact with each other on hotline and decided to tone down the tension between the deployed troops on Line of Communication (LoC). Meanwhile Hina Rabbani Kher, Foreign Minister of Pakistan has also spoken to her Indian counterpart to play his positive role for reduction of tension on Kas ...

By Felicity Arbuthnot It is the first genocide of the 21th century. Poor Iraq and Iraqis. The silence of the world pushes me to lose faith in humanity. – Anonymous Incredibly it is twenty two years to the day since the telephone rang in the early hours and a friend said: “They are bombing Baghdad.” It was not alone Baghdad, of course, Iraq was being systematically destroyed, from ancient southern Basra to h ...

By: Shahid Aziz Kargil, like every other meaningless war that we have fought, brings home lessons we continue to refuse to learn. Instead, we proudly call it our history written in the blood of our children. Indeed, our children penning down our misdeeds with their blood! Medals for some, few songs, a cross road renamed, and of course annual remembrance day and a memorial for those who sacrificed their tomo ...

By Jay Janson Panetta said the Pope said to him, “Thank you for helping to protect the world.” said he replied, “Pray for me.” Fellow Catholics, can only hope that the Pope said something else that Panetta was reluctant to mention to US foreign policy promoting reporters. One paragraph re Panetta’s crimes, Reagan’s Assist. Sec of Treasury quoted, and the usual plea for a responsible public to call for prose ...

By Ben Schreiner The French military intervention into Mali on Friday — France’s second in as many years into a former African colony — was reportedly “seconded” by the United States.  This ought to come as no great surprise, given the Pentagon’s deepening penetration into Africa. According to the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), the Pentagon plans on deploying soldiers to 35 different African countries in 20 ...

Quetta Masacre 10 Jan 2013 - Terrorists'  Bombs Kill 98 Innocent Civilians, "Baloch United Army" Claims to be Responsible - The Myth or Truth?   By Agha Gul A bomb exploded in the heart of Quetta City in the afternoon on 10 Jan 2013, killing 12 and wounding some 24 people. Only 5 hours later, in two successive bombings separated by a few minutes, another 98 innocent people were killed, 87 wounded on Alamdar ...

By Sajjad Shaukat On the one hand, India has been emphasising to strengthen the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) with Pakistan to normalise relations between both the countries, but on the other, it has continuously been giving a greater setback the CBMs in one or the other way, which shows Indian dubious approach. In this regard, Indian soldiers crossed over the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir on Janua ...