Pakistan’s UN envoy in Geneva said on Tuesday that reconstruction in northern areas alone could cost 2.5 billion dollars, after floods stretching to the south ravaged an area “the size of England”.

Zamir Akram, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said the country had received more immediate multilateral relief aid through the UN and direct bilateral aid totalling about 301 million dollars.

UN agencies have warned that funding for their 460 million dollar multilateral appeal for emergency relief aid launched last week is not coming in fast enough.

Just 35 per cent — 160 million — has been paid in so far, although the pace has accelerated in recent days.

Pakistan hoped for “a greater international commitment” during a special session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Akram said, dismissing concerns that aid money could be diverted by corruption or Taliban influence as exaggerated.

“The affected area is about the size of England,” Akram told journalists, also pointing to huge longer term needs to rebuild homes, roads and farming and secure river beds over five years.

“Initial indicators are that just for the northern part of Pakistan, the requirement would be somewhere to the tune of about 2.5 billion dollars, so it’s going to be massive effort for reconstruction and rehabilitation,” he added.

A full damage assessment is likely to take another week to 10 days to complete, said Akram.

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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced more than $500 million in new aid projects for Pakistan on Monday, which Washington hopes will help win over a sceptical public in an ally vital to winning the war in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Clinton is in Islamabad for two days as part of the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue, a series of talks aimed at strengthening the relationship between the wary allies in the struggle against al Qaeda and the Taliban.

“For too long our two countries have been hampered by a trust deficit which has held us back. We understand the reasons for that and we accept responsibility for the role that our actions have played. But we need to rebuild that trust,” she said at a town hall meeting.

Earlier, at a joint news conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, she said: “We have moved beyond a standoff of our misunderstandings that were allowed to fester and not addressed … to a position where we’re engaged in the most open dialogue that I think our two countries have ever had.”

Clinton will later fly on to Kabul for an international conference as the US-led war in Afghanistan runs into mounting doubt in the US Congress.

For Pakistan, she announced a string of new projects – including dams, power generation, agricultural development and hospital construction – funded under US legislation passed last year tripling civilian aid to $7.5 billion over the next five years.

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Seven soldiers and at least sixteen were injured as militants ambushed an army convoy in North Waziristan on Friday.

Two officers were among the dead in the ambush in Dattakhel, a Taliban stronghold and recent target of US drone missile strikes, about 20 kilometres (10 miles) from North Waziristan’s main town Miramshah.

“It was a pre-planned attack. Dozens of militants first fired several rockets and then used other weapons and guns,” an intelligence official based in Miranshah said, adding that four military vehicles were destroyed.

A military statement said the convoy was on a routine mission from Miramshah to Dattakhel.

“In the ambush, seven soldiers embraced shahadat (martyrdom), including an officer and a junior commissioned officer, while 16 soldiers were injured,” the statement said. Two of the wounded are in a critical condition.

This is the first major attack against the military in North Waziristan this year, as so far the major attacks and fighting has taken place in South waziristan which was the focus of Operation Rah-e-Nijat, which was aimed at breaking the hold of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

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Hamid Karzai’s behavior during the past week has been erratic and alarming to say the least, particularly for the US-led coalition in Afghanistan. According to media reports, the Afghan President made a number of disturbing statements, which set off alarm bells in Washington and allied capitals. Karzai’s dramatic outbursts came after President Obama’s recent visit to Afghanistan, during which Obama reportedly pressed him to get his act together.

First, Karzai conceded that last year’s Afghan elections were plagued by fraud, but in a bizarre twist he publicly accused western governments and the United Nations for perpetrating the fraud (a charge that his own administration has been accused of). Next, he reportedly threatened to join the Taliban if the west continued to pressure him on issues such as corruption, transparent elections, and accountability. Sparring with Afghan parliamentarians over control of the election commission, Karzai reportedly said, “If you and the international community pressure me more, I swear that I am going to join the Taliban.” According to the New York Times, Karzai has also warned that the US-led coalition in Afghanistan was increasingly being seen as a foreign occupation force. Finally, to add insult to injury, he invited Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a staunch opponent of the West, to Kabul for an official visit.

Supporters of the Afghan President claim that the Obama administration and US media have launched a smear campaign against Karzai, as part of their exit strategy from Afghanistan. Essentially, they argue that the Americans are planning to use Karzai as a fall guy to justify their withdrawal from the war-torn country.

Indeed, the Western media has been awash with negative reports about the Afghan leader, but it can be argued that his questionable actions and dismal record have invited the unwanted attention.

The rocky American-Karzai relationship has serious implications for neighboring Pakistan as well. On one hand, the Karzai regime has hardly masked its mistrust and hostility toward Pakistan. The Afghan President has publicly accused Pakistan of meddling in domestic affairs and even supporting the Taliban on numerous occasions during his stint in power. Karzai has also actively encouraged Indian support and involvement in Afghanistan, which has been of great concern for the Pakistani establishment. Yet, if Karzai’s government were to crumble following a US withdrawal, the consequences for Pakistan could be disastrous. A Taliban resurgence in Kabul would undoubtedly bolster the insurgency in Pakistan, where the military and security forces are already spread thin battling homegrown militants, and the population is reeling from frequent suicide attacks. Like all other stakeholders, for Pakistan, there are no easy solutions in Afghanistan. Perhaps one reason for optimism is that in contrast to the 1980’s, the US has indicated a firm and balanced resolve to support and engage Pakistan in the long run, at least under the Obama administration.

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Twin suicide attacks seconds apart targeted the Pakistani military Friday, killing 39 people in the second attack to hit security forces in the country’s cultural capital this week, reports Dawn.

The bombers walked up to Pakistani army vehicles in the densely populated R A Bazaar area of Lahore, blowing themselves up as people sat down to eat before the Friday prayers were to begin, a senior official said.

The bombers targeted the cantonment of Lahore, an area home to army officials and military installations, as well as hospitals and schools run by the military. The area includes civilian homes, shops and restaurants.

Mohammad Nadeem, a young man in his 20s whose white shalwar khamis was stained with blood down the front, told AFP he was saying prayers in the mosque when he heard the first blast and rushed out.

“I saw people crying and running in different directions. They were panicked,” he said.

“The second blast took place very near a military vehicle. I sensed real danger and started running.

“There were scenes of destruction in nearby restaurants and shops. There were broken chairs and tables and other items lying everywhere on the ground.”The army cordoned off the tree-lined street with security officials saying at least five soldiers were among those killed when the twin blasts shattered windows and sent debris flying from nearby buildings.

“Thirty-nine people were killed and 95 wounded in the attacks,” Tariq Saleem Dogar, the Punjab provincial police chief, told reporters on live TV.

“We have collected concrete technical evidence, which will help identify the attackers,” he added.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Pakistan’s mainstream Taliban faction claimed a suicide attack Monday that destroyed offices used to interrogate militant suspects, killing 15 people, and pledged further attacks.

“We have the heads of both the bombers. There was an interval of 15 seconds between the two attacks. They were on foot. Their target was army vehicles,”added police official Chaudhry Mohammad Shafiq.

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Pakistan’s army said Tuesday it had captured a key Taliban and Al-Qaeda complex dug into rocky mountains close to the Afghan border after killing 75 local and foreign militants.

Commanders gave journalists a guided tour of the bastion, which one general said numbered 156 caves developed over five to seven years, and carved into sheer rock within clear view of the snow-capped peaks in eastern Afghanistan.

The visit follows Pakistan’s latest offensive against militants in its semi-autonomous tribal badlands, launched under US pressure to eliminate Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked groups who attack Western troops in Afghanistan.

Major General Tariq Khan accompanied journalists to the warren of caves in the area of Damadola that he said served as a key militant headquarters until troops overran the complex in an offensive launched in January.

“There were Egyptians, Uzbeks, Chechens and Afghans killed in the operation,” he told reporters.

Journalists saw bedding such as pillows and mattresses, which suggested inhabitants had camped out for significant periods.

“The first Pakistan army uniformed soldiers have arrived in Damadola after a recent operation and the Pakistan flag has been raised for the first time since (independence in) 1947,” said Khan.

Damadola, in the Bajaur tribal region, was the scene of a 2006 US drone strike that targeted Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who managed to escape.

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Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed for the first time that it has the Afghan Taliban’s No. 2 leader in custody, and officials said he was providing useful intelligence that was being shared with the United States.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was arrested around 10 days ago in a joint operation by CIA and Pakistani security forces in Karachi, US and Pakistani officials said on condition of anonymity Tuesday. The army on Wednesday gave the first public confirmation of the arrest.

”At the conclusion of detailed identification procedures, it has been confirmed that one of the persons arrested happens to be Mullah Baradar,” chief army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said in a written message to reporters.

”The place of arrest and operational details cannot be released due to security reasons.”

Baradar was the second in command behind Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar and was said to be in charge of the day-to-day running of the organisation’s leadership council, which is believed based in Pakistan. He was a founding member of the Taliban and is the most important figure of the movement to be arrested since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

The White House has declined to confirm Baradar’s capture. Spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters the fight against extremists involves sensitive intelligence matters and he believes it’s best to collect that information without talking about it.

Baradar, who also functioned as the link between Mullah Omar and field commanders, has been in detention for more than 10 days and was talking to interrogators, two Pakistani intelligence officials confirmed.

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Yousuf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister of Pakistan, on a visit to Downing Street, today rebuffed Gordon Brown’s comments that Pakistan could do more to apprehend Osama Bin Laden, says The Times. “I doubt the information which you are giving is correct because I don’t think Osama bin Laden is in Pakistan,” Gilani said.

Brown, speaking in Islamabad at the weekend, rebuked Pakistan, complaining that nobody had been able “to spot or detain or get close” to Bin Laden or his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri. “If we are putting our strategy into place, Pakistan has to show that it can take on Al-Qaeda,” Brown said.

At today’s joint press conference, Brown praised Gilani for his role in taking on Al-Qaeda in the Swat Valley and South Waziristan. He also acknowledged the “huge sacrifices” made by Pakistan in combating terrorism.

“I think it’s important that the Prime Minister has signaled, as he has done in recent months, the real importance that Pakistan attaches to dealing with these problems and I can assure him of the UK’s full support in this matter,” Brown said.

Over 2,000 Pakistani civilians have died in terrorist attacks over the last year. These attacks have been sparked by government offensives against Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants operating in the Swat Valley and South Waziristan regions.

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US President Barack Obama’s plans to boost troop numbers in Afghanistan need to ensure there is ‘no adverse fallout’ on Pakistan, the country’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday, according to Dawn.com.

‘Pakistan looks forward to engaging closely with (the) US in understanding the full import of the new strategy and to ensure that there would be no adverse fallout on Pakistan,’ the ministry said in a statement.

Pakistani officials fear a dramatic increase in US troops in Afghanistan will push militants and refugees across its borders and complicate its own battle against the Taliban.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reports that Pakistan fears a US troop surge in Afghanistan would force fighters to flee to its border areas, particularly in the southwestern Baluchistan province where the government is already struggling to end a low-level insurgency by tribal fighters.

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Former German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung spent Thursday trying to hold on to his position as labor minister. But on Friday, after widespread calls that he throw in the towel, he gave in. Ulrich Wilhelm, the government’s spokesman, confirmed before gathered journalists in Berlin that Jung will no longer be a part of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet, reports Der Spiegel.

On Thursday evening, Jung had defended his handling of a controversial air strike in Afghanistan in September. But his defense appeared to rely on his not having read important documents related to the attack before he passed them along to NATO, leading to an increase in opposition calls for his head. The defense committee in the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, is set to meet to discuss the scandal.

In a brief statement on Friday, Jung said he was taking “political responsibility” for having misinformed the German public due to, he claims, a lack of knowledge regarding civilian casualties stemming from a Sept. 4 airstrike Afghanistan. He repeated his Thursday claim that he had “correctly informed both the public and the parliament” to the best of his knowledge at the time.

Germany’s top soldier, Bundeswehr Inspector General Wolfgang Schneiderhan, and Deputy Defense Minister Peter Wichert, resigned on Thursday. Having taken over the Defense Ministry in 2005, Jung moved over to head the Labor Ministry following Merkel’s re-election in September. His Friday resignation came after just 30 days at his new job.

The furore centers on Jung’s immediate claims following the Sept. 4 airstrike that no civilians had been killed. At the time, he announced that it was only members of the Taliban who had been killed when a German colonel called in a US air strike on two tankers that had been seized by the insurgents in Kunduz, near a German military base. However, it has subsequently emerged that civilians were most likely among the victims, with estimates ranging from 17 to 142 casualties.

Jung said on Thursday that he had told the public and parliament what he knew at the time regarding the events in Afghanistan. But a Thursday report in the tabloid Bild suggested that reports about civilian casualties had reached his ministry by the evening of Sept. 4, reports that he then forwarded to NATO headquarters. He claimed on Thursday that he did not read the report before sending it further and had not knowingly lied to the German public and parliament.

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